HOLIDAY WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE

On average, we can gain anywhere from 5-10 pounds over the holidays! At Windham Pilates, we are going to buck the average and NOT gain weight over the holidays! To top it off, we are going to hit the new year hard and after maintaining thru November and December, we are going to LOSE weight from New Years until Valentine's Day! Come into the studio this week and sign up for the HOLIDAY WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE. Remember - Valentine's Day is going to come wether you join or not. Wouldn't you rather be several pounds lighter than 10 pounds heavier when it comes?? Cash prizes!!! Are you in?? Noreen Gallo MSRD

The holidays are here!

TIPS FOR HEALTHY EATING AT THE HOLIDAY TABLE

Thanksgiving is a great time of the year. The start of the holiday season, time to spend with family and friends and enjoy family traditions. Many of these traditions are centered around food and when you are trying to follow a healthy food plan – this can create stress. There are several steps you can take to help alleviate this stress and continue with your healthful plan.
Take the 80/20 approach. If you can stick to your healthy habits 80% of the time that will leave you with a 20% wiggle room buffer.
Make sure to have a high protein snack before leaving the house or pack one if you have a long drive. Examples are cheese stick and fruit, almonds, greek yogurt or peanut butter and whole grain crackers. This helps to avoid getting too hungry and making bad choices.
Alternate a bottle of water with every alcoholic drink you consume. This has a two-fold effect. Fills your stomach so you may eat less and cuts in half the amount of alcohol you will consume. (Saving calories)
Before you pile your plate, scan the table and choose only the foods that you truly enjoy. Don’t waste calories on something that you don’t really want.
It is ok to not eat everything on your plate – we have outgrown the clean you plate club! If this is difficult, use a smaller plate. This creates the illusion of eating more.
Don’t hang out next to the food table. It is too easy to nibble and graze while we chat with family and friends.
Be aware of what you are eating. Enjoy it and move on. Mindless eating is dangerous as we lose track of what we are consuming.
I will be going into this topic in depth over the next few weeks. Check in often for tips and motivation. Lastly – join us in our Holiday Weight Loss Challenge. Hold your weight over the holidays and then hit the New Year hard with the weight loss portion of the challenge! Prizes, consult with me (registered dietitian) and much more! Happy Holidays - Noreen Gallo ,R.D.

Whittle your Middle during Menopause!

Remember when you could eat pretty much anything you wanted and remain at the same weight? Remember when you could just go for a walk or 2 a week and notice your jeans getting looser? Remember?? For many of us, those days are gone. What is going on? This is a question I get from clients many times a week. Seems like we have to work twice as hard just to maintain our weight, let alone lose a few pounds. Guess what? There is a physiological reason for this and luckily there are some concrete solutions as to how to deal with this issue. It is related to peri menopause and menopause. 90% of women experience increased weight between the ages of 35-55 years old. It is a gradual weight gain, that tends to sneak up on us and suddenly we have 10-20 extra pounds to lose. These pounds are more difficult to lose due to several factors.
HORMONES,STRESS, INSULIN RESISTANCE
I cannot help much with the first 2 factors but there are things we can do in relation with diet to combat insulin resistance. Insulin Resistance can be a huge contributor to weight gain and occurs when our bodies convert most of the calories we eat to FAT due to fluctuations in blood sugar.
What can we do about this?
1. GET RID OF THE DIET MENTALITY - this is a lifestyle change. You need to focus on changes that you can live with over the long haul. Gone are the days of having a shake for breakfast and lunch and a frozen diet dinner at night. If you cannot live with your dietary changes and go back to old habit - the weight will come right back. Additionally, scientific research has proven that quick weight loss from a very low calorie diet can slow down our metabolism. We want to keep the metabolism burning calories constantly all day.
2. Eat several small meals a day. This helps to level out your blood sugar. WIld swings in blood sugar increase appetite and cravings for refined carbohydrates. Going long periods of time without eating slows metabolism and consequently the next meal eaten - your body will hold on to every calorie. Shoot for a meal or snack every 3-4 hours.
3. Increase your protein intake. Protein comes from meat, fish, nuts, seeds, eggs, legumes, nut butters etc... The body has to work harder to break down protein than carbohydrates and thus burns more calories eating protein. This is referred to as the Thermic Effect of Food. Protein also keeps us full longer than carbs. Always combine a protein and a carb when you eat. For ex. Have a handful of almonds or a cheese stick with your fruit or put peanut butter on your toast instead of jelly or butter. You will notice a difference in your fullness level almost immediately.
4. Cut down on the WHITE STUFF - sugar and white flour based foods. Much research on menopause has proven that when we take the white out of our diet - weight loss increases!! If you are going to have a sweet or dessert - have it within the context of a meal as oppose to skipping lunch to have an ice cream cone.

I will discuss blood sugar and diet in depth in another newsletter but for now - work on cutting back as much as you can and replacing these foods with protein and healthy fats and complex carbs. It will make a difference.

Please feel free to give me a call or e-mail me with further questions on this topic. I have many clients right now that are successfully losing weight after telling me they never thought they could, following these methods.

To your health!

Noreen Gallo MSRD
Registered Dietitian
Nutrition Counseling
(603)598-0292 tel

Being prepared!!

Being prepared is probably the best advice I can give to someone who is interested in losing weight or trying to live a healthier life. It always seems that the best laid plans always seem to fall to the wayside when life gets busy. It is times like these when being prepared can be a lifesaver. We all know how 3 o'clock feels and we are in the car, need to pick up the kids and bring them to practice and are STARVING! Or just coming out of a meeting at work and suddenly your belly growls just when you are walking by the vending machine. If you knew you had a tasty, healthy snack in your drawer at work or the glove compartment of your car, this might be just the trick that will get you to drive by the fast food place or avoid the candy in the vending machine. I have pulled together a list for your emergency "stash" and I hope you find this helpful.

1) Baggies of nut. Buy a big jar of almonds, peanuts or walnuts and put 15-20 in each baggie. This with a bottle of water will fill you up for a couple of hours. FYI - Pistachios are the lowest fat nut and take longer to eat if you buy them in the shell.
2) Kashi TLC granola bars. Only 140 cals, 6-8 grams of protein and not high in sugar.
3) Toss a piece of fruit in your car every morning - this will fit the bill when you want something crunchy.
4) Keep some packets of oatmeal in your drawer at work. Kashi GO LEAN truly vanilla oatmeal has 9 grams of protein to help keep you full and you just need to add water and microwave.
5 )Keeping a jar of natural peanut butter and a box of whole wheat crackers at work can be a lifesaver for those days when you forget your lunch.
5) Protein bars for when you do have to delay lunch or perhaps forgot to eat a balanced breakfast. Watch the sugar content as some are rather high. Think Thin bars have about 20 grams of protein and taste pretty good.
6) Always have 2-3 bottles of water as back ups, remember one of the symptoms of dehydration is hunger. Many times we think we are hungry but in reality we are thirsty.
I keep a case of flavored seltzer water in my car at all times - saves money when the kids want to stop for a drink after practice and has zero calories!

I am sure if you brainstorm, you can come up with some additional ideas that will fit your needs. But remember - this is your emergency stash. Make packing meals and snacks for the day a habit and only save these items for the days you dash out the door with your lunch on the counter!

The Meltdown to Summer is officially over and the results are in! All participants did a great job and worked really hard for 90 days! Congratulations to ZOEY who lost 8.94 % for a total of 11 pounds and Cookout Mom who lost 5.26% for a total of 8 pounds!

Participants tracked food intake and exercise and made major strides in changing their behaviors!

Remember, slow and steady wins the race. I have been working with a client successfuly for quite a while and he has lost just about 30 pounds. He recently had to take some time off due to a stressful work issue. We have started back up again and happily reported that he had only gained 1/2 pound. He was thrilled! It really opened his eyes to all the progress he has made. He mentioned that in the past, he would have re-gained much of his weight during stressful times and was so happy to have maintained! He is ready to finish his "race" and attain goal in the next few months! IT WORKS!!! Call me if you need some help attaining your GOALS!!

Enjoy your Spring!! Noreen MSRD

Spring Clean your Diet

I think it is safe to say - Spring is coming! I know we had snow last week but as I look out my window, I see some purple and white crocus flowers blooming and I am given hope. Pretty soon the winter jackets will be put away and shorts and t-shirts will be coming out. ARE YOU READY?? Here are some tips to get ready for spring.

Set realistic goals for yourself. Exercising 3 hours a day and never having sugar pass our lips is a great thought but is it achievable? Probably not because if it was - we would have already done it. It is much easier to choose a couple of do-able goals that we can accomplish and build from there. Place the written goal on the fridge where you can see it daily.

Do not get sucked into a quick fix. We will be bombarded with so called quick easy ways to lose weight before summer. They do not work. Again, if they did, you would be at goal. Steady, consistent weight loss is the way to go. My most successful clients are the ones who lost the weight the right way. Making behavioral and dietary changes that they could live with for the long haul. Guess what? These are the clients that are still at or below their goal weight.

Clean up your diet. Take a look in your pantry and cabinets. Get rid of the junk. Look at food labels. If you cannot pronounce the ingredient, it is probably not too good for you. Try to stick to as many whole foods as possible. Reducing white flour and sugar will have a dramatic impact on both your weight and how you feel. Try not to make the mistake of replacing sugar with artificial sugar. This can impact your metabolism and hunger in a negative way. Increase your consumption of fruits and veggies. This will help to keep you full and give your bodies some important antioxidents and vitamins.

Eat frequently. Small meals throughout the day keeps your metabolism fired up so you are always in fat burning mode. If you go too long between feedings your body is more likely to convert the food to fat.

Drink water! This helps to keep you full and flush out your system. One of the symptoms of dehydration is hunger. Often we think we are hungry when in reality we are just thirsty.

Increase your exercise! Move more! Play catch with your kids in the back yard, rake, weed - MOVE! Purchase a pedometer and count your steps. I recently did this and am amazed with how competitive I have gotten with myself and the number of steps I get each day. One easy way to increase steps is to toss a pair of sneakers in the back of the car. Walk around the perimeter of the baseball or lacrosse field this spring while your kids team is practicing. Every time you sneak in some exercise - you have just fired up your metabolism which translates into more calories burned.

Most importantly lose the diet mentality. The goal is to find a balance that you can live with. If you follow the plan 80% of the time, this gives you a 20% cushion for the other stuff! Remember - this is a LIVEIT! Not a DIet.

I am always around to answer questions or set up an appointment. Feel free to contact me and we can discuss further!

HAPPY SPRING - Noreen Gallo MSRD

What Type of Fat should I eat and Why???

Hmmm... Why does Noreen tell me to eat fat when that is exactly what I want to lose?? The days of the low fat/non-fat diet are over! That being said, don't hop in the car and head to the fast food restaurant. There are different types of fat and some are better than others.

Saturated Fat - This is the type of fat that I would like you to try to cut back on. This is animal fat, lard etc... Who uses lard, I know but it is an example of a saturated fat. A good way to understand saturated fat is that it is solid at room temperature. When you make a beef stew and put it in the fridge over night, that layer of white, waxy stuff that is floating on top the next morning, that is saturated fat. Skimming it off will make a big difference in the calorie and fat content of the food. This does not mean you have to give up meat, as you know, meat is a very good source of protein, something that will help you to lose weight. My suggestion is to choose leaner cuts of meat. Watch for marbleing when you are selecting red meat, marbeling is the fat within the meat. You can easily cut fat off the outer edge of a steak but it is difficult to remove it from within the meat. Choose white meat over dark meat when selecting poultry and try to choose non fat or low fat dairy products. Another way to "defat" ground beef is to brown it on the stove and then put it in a strainer in the sink and "wash" the meat with warm water, you will be amazed at how much fat you can rinse off the beef. SImply return it to the pan after rinsing it and season as usual. Very similar to what you would do if you were rinsing canned kidney or garbanzo bean to rid of excess salt. Saturated fats can be a factor in clogging your arteries which can lead to heart disease. There is also some research indicating saturated fat may be linked to type 2 diabetes.

Polyunsaturated Fats - These are fats coming mainly from plant based foods and oils. Corn, safflower, sunflower oil. Omega 3 fatty acids are also polyunsaturated fats, these are the types of fats also referred to as fish oils. Found in several types of fatty, cold water fish, walnuts, ground flax seed and flax oil. There is strong evidence that this type of oil can be very helpful in warding off heart disease.

Monounsaturated Fats - These are the fats obtained from olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, nuts, seeds and avocados. I guess we could call these the healthy fats. These are the types of fats to focus on while staying within your fat budget.

Trans fats - This is a type of fat that for the most part is created during food processing when trying to make a liquid fat more solid. It aids in extending the shelf life of a food and makes some fats easier to cook with. AVOID these fats as they can be harmful to your heart. It is required for the food processor to label a food that has trans fat in it so check the label. Although many food companies have eliminated trans fats, some margarines still contain them.

This is a lot of information regarding fat, bottom line. There is a place for healthy fats in the diet. They help to maintain blood sugar and keep you full. But remember - they also have calories. Become aware of the calorie content of the types of fats you enjoy. Peanut butter is great when you stick to 1 or 2 tablespoons. Several more and you will not see the scale change. Nuts are another type of food that you need to check the portion size. About 23 almonds is a portion, not 1/2 the can.

Stay Healthy - Noreen

Roasted Vegetables

Roasting vegetables is a great, flavorful way to prepare veggies.

In the summer, we can just throw the vegetables on the grill and roast them. I don't know about you, but my grill is hidden in the back of the shed in my yard, a shed that has a 3 foot pile of snow in front of it!

It is possible to roast veggies in the oven. SImple prep your vegetables, onions, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, whatever you like. Lightly coat them with olive oil or cooking spray. Toss them together with some seasoning and garlic and place in a shallow roasting pan. Best not to crowd the vegetables. Bake at 425 for about 5-7 minutes. Remove pan from oven and stir veggies. Roast for an additional 12-15 minutes, turning twice during this time.
ENJOY!

Hunger?

Question of the day - When are you most hungry during the day? Morning, late afternoon or perhaps 8pm while you are getting the kids to bed or finally sitting down to relax. Take a moment to really think about this question and then ask yourself, am I really hungry, or bored, or tired, or stressed? Figuring out your hunger cues can help you in the weight loss process. Many times in the afternoon you may be hungry because you skipped lunch or just "grabbed something", rather than having a balanced lunch with enough protein, fat and carbs. Perhaps you want to eat because your kids are having a snack and suddenly you need one. Snacks are very important, they help to level out our blood sugar and get us to the next meal without being SO hungry we eat everything in site. Make a quick list of the snacks that you like and plan to have one. Taking a few bites of what your toddler left on his snack plate or grabbing a few cookies on the run is not satisfying and many times we are not even aware we are eating. Another thing to keep in mind is thirst - one of the symptoms of dehydration is hunger. We often only connect dehydration with hot summer days and long workouts. You can just as easily start to become dehydrated in the dead of winter if you simply go all day just drinking coffee (diuretic effect) and not having adequate water. Pour yourself a glass of water or seltzer before you snack and see how you feel.
I am reading a really good book by Michelle May, MD - Eat What you Love, Love What you Eat, in which she works on the steps to get away from the diet mentality and really tries to give people the tools to return to normalized eating. If you watch a naturally thin person eat, you will see that they usually only eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. She used the analogy of filling up your car with gas. "If you ask yourself if you are hungry before you eat, this is like checking the gas gauge on your car before stopping for gas. It is a waste of time to stop for gas at every gas station if you don't need gas. If you overfill your tank, it will just spill over to the ground." Consequently, If you eat when you are not hungry, every time food is available, where does the surplus go - you got it - your waist. I found this example intriguing. Something to think about.
This week, try to make it a habit to always ask yourself "Am I hungry?" before you eat - see what happens.

Stay warm and to the Meltdown Girls - KEEP MELTING! Noreen

How often should you step on the scale??

The scale can be a very powerful tool, useful in helping us to both lose and maintain our weight. I am often asked by clients how often they should weigh themselves. There is no concrete answer. If the number on the scale helps to motivate you that is great, but I have seen many people become so attached to that number that it can determine wether or not they have a good day. If it is up a pound or two on any given day, they think their diet is not working. This can often impact what types of food they eat during that day. Weight naturally fluctuates, you cannot gain 2 pounds of fat in 1 day, more likely than not the 2 pounds is coming from sodium retention or your muscles reaction to a hard workout. The best rule of thumb is to weigh yourself about 2 times a week. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you have anything to eat or drink and then be done with it. Remember it is just a number, if you are eating healthy, drinking enough water and getting in enough exercise, you will lose weight. Some weeks more than others but it WILL come off. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat and so as you increase your workout intensity, lose body fat and gain muscle, the scale may indicate this. DO not let this throw you off your game. Muscle may weigh more than fat but guess what - it takes up less space!! That is why your clothes will be looser and fit more comfortably. This is much more important than a single number on the scale. Stay consistent with your plan and you will be happy with the results!

Remember - once you get to your goal weight, you still need to check the scale at least once a week, as this is the way to catch small gains before they become big. It is much easier to lose 3 pounds than 13!!

Keep it up!! Noreen

Why is protein so important?

Why is protein so important in a balanced diet? Protein is a very important component of the diet. Protein provides satiety. This is just a fancy way of saying that protein helps to keep us full longer than most carbohydrates. When you incorporate a good source of lean protein every time you eat you will find that your urge to snack diminishes and you have less cravings for carbohydrates. For example, if you have a piece of toast with jelly in the morning, I promise you that you will be hungry very soon after, and most likely, you will be scrounging for another carbohydrate. If you make one small change, replace the jelly with peanut butter (protein), you will find that you stay full for a longer period of time. Although fruit is a great snack, it does have natural sugars which can impact your blood sugar. If you have a cheese stick or a handful of nuts with your fruit at snack, again, you will stay full longer. This simple trick of always combining a protein with a carb each time you eat, will have a huge impact on how you feel and how successful you are in your weight loss attempt.
Another interesting fact about protein is that protein requires more calories to digest than carbs or fats. This is called the Thermic Effect of Food. In a nutshell, your body uses more calories to burn protein than it does carbs and fats. So by eating more protein we can stay full longer and our bodies will burn more calories. Seems like this may be a great first step in our Melting process.
Some good sources of Lean Protein are : Fish, eggs, poultry, lean beef and low fat/non fat dairy products. Legumes such as chickpeas, kidney and black beans are also great sources. Keep in mind that greek yogurt as almost 3 times more protein than regular yogurt and can be a great mid-afternoon snack.
You can get a good idea of how many grams of protein you are consuming by logging your food intake on your phone or computer. There are many great apps and programs available. Feel free to contact me if you have difficulty finding one.
KEEP ON MELTING! Noreen

Time to Meltdown!!

I hope everyone is surviving all this snow! I think it is a very appropriate time to start our Meltdown to Summer program. For those of you participating in this program you already know the drill, for those of you who are unfamiliar, it is a 90 day challenge to improve exercise and eating habits before slipping into a bathing suit this summer. I will be posting often with tips, motivation and recipes to help everyone stay on track. If you have questions and comments please post right here on the log. If you have a question, idea, success story, let us all hear about it. FYI, there is quite a bit of info already here, so just click back and look at some of my old posts. Especially for the Meltdown girls, you may want to review my posts on sugar and protein from earlier. We briefly disused this when we met but I do go into more detail here. FIrst challenge - LOG YOUR FOOD INTAKE. Research indicates that people who log their food intake lose twice as much weight as those who don't. Grab a pencil and notebook, find an app on your phone or log on to the computer. There are several free programs, Spark People is one, or the one I really like is Calorie King (not free) but you can purchase the software from me at the studio. This is not suppose to be a good food, bad food thing, but more a tool to help you identify what is working and not working. Take a look at your protein intake for the day and if you want, shoot me an e-mail with that number. If you don't consume enough protein, it will be much more difficult to lose weight. Protein comes from lean meats, fish, chicken, low fat/non fat dairy, legumes (bean such as kidney, chick peas and black beans), nuts, seed and nut butters. Protein helps to keep you full, stabilizes your blood sugar and aids in the reduction of carbohydrate cravings. Second challenge this week, write down 1 thing you want to work on - for me it is logging daily, for you it may be eating every couple of hours or increasing you water consumption. Whatever it is, write it down or even better tell someone - if we work on one new thing each week or 2 think of all the progress that will be made in 3 months. Ok, keep up the good work! As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.

Keep on MELTING! Noreen

Great Recipe!

With all this cold weather, soup is a great solution for lunch or a quick dinner. I came upon this recipe for Minestrone soup in Prevention magazine. I have modified it a bit and it is delicious! I would reccomend tossing in a little cut up cooked chicken to increase the protein, especially if it will be your dinner meal. You all know how I feel about getting in enough protein!! Either way the beans add protein and lots of fiber Enjoy! Noreen


Minestrone Soup

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped, 1 cup
4 cloves minced garlic
1.5 tsp dried basil
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 fennel bulb cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth
1 can (4.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 bag (5 ounces) baby spinach
15 ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
DIrections

1 Heat oil in a large saucepan over med high heat. Add onion, garlic, and basil. Cook, stirring occaisionally until onion softens. Stir in squash and cook until starts to soften. Add broth and tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until veggies are crisp-tender, about 15 minutes.

2 Stir in spinach and cook until wilted, 5 minutes. Add beans and pepper, cook until hot. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Tips - I did not add the fennel, was pretty sure my kids would not eat it and I also threw in a handful of whole grain pasta. Enjoy!!

Want to lose more weight? LOG!

To log or not to log - that is the question. Well, I guess the next question should be - how much weight do you want to lose? Research has backed up what we have known for a long time, people who write down what and how much they eat - lose more weight! There are many ways to log your food intake, some clients keep a small notebook in their bag or at their desk at work, others write down what they are going to eat the day before, while others use their computer of phone to help them keep track of what they eat. I know in my own practice that the clients that are committed to logging are the people that lose the most weight. Why?? because they can see what works and what does not work. If you have really good week, you can go back and see why it was good, and if you have an off week, again, you can go back and see what may have thrown you off. For example, just last week, I had a client who told me she was hungry all week. SInce she had logged on the computer, we could easily go back and identify the culprit, she had significantly decreased the protein she was eating and barely drank any water. If she had not logged, this would have been much more difficult to figure out. Give it a try. I, myself, have started using the Calorie King computer program that we have at the studio, this is a great, user friendly program but there are apps for phones and always the trusty old notebook. Whatever you choose, stick with it. I bet that the chocolate chip cookie will not be as appealing if you know you have to write it down. Feel free to contact me if you would like to take a look at the Calorie King program or if you would like a list of other programs that are available.

Stay focussed! Noreen