The Top 6 Secrets to Successful Weight Loss

welcome to abcday.blogspot.com
At any one time more than 80 million Americans are on a “diet”.  With 72.3% of women and 64.1% of men overweight or obese it is clear “dieting” does not work.  Emerging research suggests that  people who have been overweight or obese for long periods of time are not only battling environmental and psychological influences but physiological ones as well.  So what can you do if you want to lose some weight?  Here are the top 6 essential steps you need to get started on a successful weight loss program.

1. Assess  your motivation:  Determine how motivated you are to do what it takes to adopt a new healthier lifestyle. On a scale from one to ten, one being “Fuggedaboutit” and ten being “YES 1000% motivated”, where does your motivation fall?  If it is below about 8 then perhaps this is not the best time for you to begin healthy lifestyle changes.
If you do not feel motivated, ask your self why?  What is getting in the way? A fear of deprivation, hunger, feeling overwhelmed, and stress can all contribute to a lack of motivation. Also not knowing how or where to begin can quash your good intentions.  Seeing a registered dietitian is a great way to start. She can help you create a healthy eating plan that works for you.  Go to www.eatright.org and plug in your zip code to find an RD near you.   There are some decent online programs.  Weight Watchers is one that seems to have been helpful for  people.

2. Set realistic goals.  Once you decide you are truly motivated set some realistic goals.  You are not going to lose 10 pounds in 3 days. Focus on making doable, practical choices first. Take into account where you live and work and what is realistic in terms of your daily life, budget and food preferences.  For example: losing 1-2 pounds/week, eating breakfast or adding exercise to your daily routine.  Make a list of your goals.

3.  Create a very specific game plan.  Write a meal by meal menu and a shopping list to help you get organized.  Set  simple steps for yourself each day.  For example: instead of skipping breakfast have a 100% whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter; tonight, do not eat in front of the TV;  get up earlier and walk 15 minutes in the morning; eat whole grain cereal with unsweetened soy milk, strawberries & 1 tbls of walnuts for breakfast.

4. Be positive and patient.  Always give yourself a pat on the back for making healthy choices.  But do not berate yourself for falling off the wagon.  Look at the event as a learning experience and move forward.  Remember, weight loss takes time and behavior change is a process.  Be kind and patient with yourself.

5. Never starve yourself or follow a fad diet.  Adopting habits that you can keep forever is what will stick with you for the long haul.

6.  Keep a food diary.  Write down everything you eat & drink, even a few grapes or a guzzle of juice.  This will help you eat consciously and increase your awareness of how much and what you are choosing to eat.  Food diaries will help you see what your triggers are; for example, stress, boredom or eating at night, so you can then create strategies for managing them.

Finally, your goals should be about being healthy and feeling great not being skinny.   Seek support from friends, family and health professionals.  Find a partner with whom you can exercise, exchange recipes or share experiences.  Choosing healthy foods more often than not and adding regular physical activity to your day will help you reach and maintain a healthier weight.

7 Important Tips for Healthy Eyes

Welcome to abcday.blogspot.com
While the eyes may be the windows to one’s soul, if they are not cared for properly your view of the world may be cloudy, dark or even totally obscured.  Food, computers and makeup can all affect eye health.  Here are some tips to help keep your eyes healthy for the fore-see-able future and beyond.

1) Have periodic eye exams.  The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends the following if you do not have any risk factors for eye disease such as diabetes or a family history of eye disease:

Ages 3-19  Every one to two years

Ages 20-39  at least twice in this time frame

Ages 40-64  Every 2-4 years

Over 65 Every one to two years

If you do have risk factors see your eye care professional more frequently.

2)  Reducing the risk of macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease of the eye that is the leading cause of blindness for people aged 65 years and older and affects more than 10 million Americans. AMD is caused by a deterioration of the retina. Risk factors for AMD include older age, white race, and smoking.

There are two types of AMD: dry and wet.  The dry type of AMD is more common and is associated with small, yellow deposits (drusen) in the macula (the macula is a light sensitive spot in the center of the retina which is in the back of the eye).  Dry AMD causes the macula to lose its function. The most common symptom of dry AMD is blurred central vision that worsens slowly. If dry AMD affects only one eye, symptoms may not be noticeable. Wet AMD accounts for approximately 15% of all cases of the disease. In wet AMD, abnormal blood vessels beneath the macula start to leak fluid, causing the retina to become distorted. This type of AMD can be severe and rapid. A common symptom of wet AMD is that straight lines appear wavy, and central vision degrades rapidly.

The National Eye Institute reports that healthy eating may have a positive effect on eye health.   Many scientific studies have found a link between eating foods rich in carotenoids –  such as lutein and  zeaxanthin including green, leafy vegetables such as collard greens, kale, and spinach — and a reduced risk of developing AMD and cataracts.  The AREDS study found that following a low glycemic diet, meaning whole grains, vegetables, legumes, fruits and lean protein, was associated with a reduced risk of AMD.

Healthy compounds such as vitamins E, C, A, beta carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, selenium, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B6 and folic acid help keep eyes healthy. These vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are found in colorful fruits and vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, spinach, berries, peppers and oranges.

3)  Wear sunglasses with 100% UV protection. ultraviolet rays from sunlight may contribute to cataracts, cornea damage and even macular degeneration.  Use photochromatic lenses if you do not want to have to change glasses every time you go in and outside.

4) We all spend far to much time staring at our computer screens.  It is a good idea to get a computer eye exam.  Prolonged use of a computer screen can result in what has become known as computer vision syndrome (CVS). The most common symptoms include headaches, focusing difficulties, burning eyes, tired eyes, general eyestrain, aching eyes, dry eyes, double vision, blurred vision, light sensitivity, and neck and shoulder pain.

Computer eyestrain is often caused by excessively bright light coming in from outside and excessively bright light inside. When you use a computer, your ambient lighting should be about half that used in most offices.

Eliminate exterior light by closing drapes, shades, or blinds. Using fewer light bulbs or florescent bulbs or use lower intensity bulbs can reduce glare caused by overhead lighting.

Place your monitor directly in front of you, not off to one side. Optimally, it should be about 20 to 28 inches away from you.

5)  Throw out your old makeup!  Replace mascara and eyeliner every 3 months and all other eye make up every 6 months.  If you develop an eye infection see your physician right away and discard any make up you have been using.  Don’t share eye makeup.

6)  Contact lenses.

• Wash and dry your hands before handling lenses

• Keep your contact lens case clean and replace it every 3-6 months

• Do not use spit to lubricate you lenses

7) If you have diabetes keep your blood sugars in control.  High blood sugars can damage sensitive eye structures like the retina and the optic nerve.

Back to Home

Healthy and Delicious Easter and Passover Treats

Welcome to abcday.blogspot.com

I was invited to appear on WFSB’s Better Connecticut and asked Chef Greg O’Gorman to help create a few healthy Easter and Passover treats.  We came up with the easy and tasty recipes below.   The fruit filled shredded wheat baskets are so pretty and delicious the kids won’t miss the traditional chocolate eggs and jelly beans. For a new sweet and tangy twist on carrot muffins Greg added Granny Smith apples.  The macaroons are made with almonds instead of coconut which saves on calories and saturated fat.  Whole wheat Matzo with almond butter makes for a great lunch or snack for Passover. Of course these are great recipes all year round! 

Chocolate Macaroons
1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds (1 3/4 oz.)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (1 1/2 oz.)
2 large egg whites
2 oz. fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
2 tablespoons No Fat half-and-half

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Pulse almonds with cocoa and 1/2 cup confectioners sugar in a food processor until very fine and powdery.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks, then add remaining 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar, a little at a time, beating until whites just hold stiff peaks.

Fold one third of almond mixture into whites with a rubber spatula, then fold in remaining almond mixture gently but thoroughly.

Transfer batter to pastry bag and pipe 24 (1 1/2-inch-wide) rounds (1/3 inch thick) about 1 inch apart onto baking sheet. Tap down any peaks with a finger dipped in cold water. Bake until macaroons are puffed and edges are slightly darker, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack 20 minutes.

While macaroons bake, heat chocolate and half-and-half in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and chocolate is completely melted. Cool to room temperature.

Pipe a small mound (1 teaspoon) of chocolate filling onto flat sides of 12 macaroons, then top with remaining 12 macaroons to form sandwich cookies, pressing flat sides together gently. (You may have some filling left over.)

Carrot MuffinsCarrot muffins give your morning a healthy boost with fiber, beta carotene, and protein. You can make these regular size or mini-muffins.

1 ½ Cups all-purpose flour
½ Cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cups sugar
1/4 pound carrots
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 Large Egg
2 Egg Whites
1/2 cup corn oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 Granny Smith apple

Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and whisk in sugar. Coarsely shred enough carrots to measure 2 cups and chop pecans. Add shredded carrots and pecans to flour mixture with raisins and coconut and toss well.

In a bowl whisk together eggs, oil, and vanilla. Peel and core apple and coarsely shred. Stir shredded apple into egg mixture and add to flour mixture, stirring until batter is just combined well. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them three fourths full, and bake in middle of oven until puffed and a tester comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

Cool muffins in cups on racks 5 minutes before turning out onto racks to cool completely. Muffins keep in an airtight container at room temperature 3 days.

Shredded Wheat Baskets½ box (about 7 ounces) Original Shredded Wheat
4 Ounces sugar
4 Ounces Smart Balance lite-melted
3 Ounces Dark chocolate-melted
24 Ounces fresh/frozen fruit –  try grapes, berries, cut up mango and apples

Crumble shredded wheat into a bowl add sugar and toss together.
Melt Smart balance and add to shredded wheat mixing well
Divide mixture into 12 muffin pans pressing into bottom and sides.
Place into preheated 350 degree oven for six minutes.

While baskets are baking carefully melt dark chocolate (microwave works fine).

After six minutes remove from oven and allow cooling for several minutes then drizzle chocolate over baskets and allow to cool completely.

Fill with favorite fruits or berries and serve.

Almond butter and honey on whole wheat MatzoWhole wheat matzo
Almond butter (no sugar or salt added)
Fresh fruit e.g. bananas, strawberries
Honey

Spread a thin coating of almond butter on whole wheat matzo broken into pieces. Add a few slices of banana or strawberries. Drizzle with a little honey.

Everyday Heart Health Tips

Everyday Heart Health Tips

If you're not convinced about the need to develop an exercise program for your life, you can at least try following some of these tips in your everyday routine. Take advantage of any opportunity for exercise. Try some today.

• Take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator at school or the mall. Just start with one flight. Soon, you'll be ready for two.
• Park your car at the far end of the parking lot. The short walk to and from the store or school helps your heart.
  
• If you ride a bus or subway, get off a stop before your destination. Walk the rest of the way.
• If you can, spend a few minutes of your lunch break taking a stroll around the campus grounds. It should help you stay awake after lunch.
• Think of housework as an extra chance to exercise. Vacuuming briskly can be a real workout.
• Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, and raking leaves are chores that can be done yourself as a chance to exercise.
• If you have a dog, think of the dog as an exercise machine with fur. A brisk walk with the dog is good for both of your hearts. Make it a part of your daily routine.
• If you have a family, schedule an after-dinner walk. Make it quality time.

Diabetes drugs tied to pancreatic cancer risk

A new study links the diabetes drug metformin to fewer cases of pancreatic cancer — at least in women — but finds other diabetes medications are associated with a higher risk of the disease.
The differences in medication history among people who did or didn’t get pancreatic cancer were small, researchers said, and it’s unclear why the drugs might affect cancer risks in men and women differently.
Still, the new finding is in line with previous research suggesting that metformin may decrease the risk of multiple cancers, said Dr. Peter Butler, a diabetes researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
“One theme that seems to be coming through… is that the oldest drug we have for diabetes, metformin, is undoubtedly the best drug we have for diabetes,” he told Reuters Health.
Pancreatic cancer is relatively rare as far as cancers go, but progresses quickly; most people don’t survive more than a couple years after diagnosis. The National Cancer Institute estimates that about 44,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States this year, and close to 38,000 will die from the disease.
Research has suggested that people with pancreatic cancer may have an increased risk of diabetes, but it’s unclear how diabetes — and the drugs used to treat it — may affect pancreatic cancer risks in previously cancer-free people.
To help answer that question, Dr. Christoph Meier of the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland and his colleagues consulted a database of more than eight million people in the UK, including about 2,800 who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 1995 and 2009.
For each of those people, they found another six of the same age and gender that didn’t have pancreatic cancer to serve as a comparison group.
Using records from primary care doctors, the researchers determined how many people in the pancreatic cancer and cancer-free groups had previously been diagnosed with diabetes and were on an anti-diabetes drug, such as metformin or sulfonylureas, which include glimepiride and glyburide.
Those drugs cause the body to make or absorb less glucose (metformin) or to produce more insulin (sulfonylureas) to keep blood sugar levels in check.
One in nine people with pancreatic cancer had a prior diagnosis of diabetes, compared to about one in twelve in the cancer-free comparison group, according to findings published Tuesday in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
According to their medical records, two percent of people with pancreatic cancer had been taking metformin long-term before they were diagnosed, compared to 1.6 percent of the group without cancer — a difference that could have been due to chance.
But when the researchers separated the records by gender, they found that significantly fewer women with a new diagnosis of pancreatic cancer had been taking metformin for at least a few years, compared to cancer-free women.
That was after the researchers had already taken into account whether women were overweight or obese and if they smoked or drank alcohol.
The association in one gender but not the other was “somewhat unexpected,” according to Meier’s team, and there’s no clear biology-based way to explain why metformin might help protect women against pancreatic cancer, but not men.
The findings were reversed for insulin and sulfonylureas in the study population. Significantly more people with pancreatic cancer had a history of long-term use of those drugs than cancer-free people.
Craig Currie, who has studied diabetes drugs and cancer at the Cardiff University School of Medicine in the UK, said it makes sense that insulin and sulfonylureas would increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. Insulin promotes cancer growth, he said, and also acts directly on the pancreas.
The study’s investigators “raise doubts about these treatments,” he told Reuters Health in an email.
“There is a possibility that exogenous insulin (insulin that’s not made naturally by the body) is of questionable safety in people with type 2 diabetes,” added Currie, who didn’t participate in the new research.
Still, absolute differences in medication use were small even in people with cancer: less than one percent of those with or without pancreatic cancer had taken insulin long-term. Sulfonylurea users accounted for just over three percent of people with a new pancreatic cancer diagnosis and two percent without cancer.
Butler said it’s hard to tease out what cancer risks may be due to the drugs, and what could be a result of poor diet and lack of exercise, for example, in people with diabetes. He said that more research will be needed to tease out those specific effects.
“Honestly for patients at this point, I think this is another piece of the jigsaw puzzle,” Butler said.
“This paper in itself would not cause me to recommend a change in treatment for people.”
That said, Butler concluded that evidence suggests most people with type 2 diabetes who don’t have any medical reasons not to take metformin should be on the drug, either alone or in combination with other anti-diabetes medications.