Become A Picky Eater
Avoid The Salad Snafu
Follow The Grocery Guide
Learn The Label Lingo
Waist Watchers
The Meal Skipping Myth
Build Bone Before Menopause
Trimming Trouble Spots
Do High Protein, No Carbohydrate Diets Work?

Become a Picky Eater
If you’re like most people, you’ve grown accustomed to eating without considering the impact of your choices. Unfortunately, “The Carefree Diet” is not one that will support you in reaching your personal fitness and weight loss goals. The following tips will help you make better food choices in the grocery store, at restaurants and at home.

1) In the grocery store,  look for the “Low Fat” label:
There is actually a federal guideline regulating the use of the term “low fat”.  Low fat foods contain no more than 3 grams of fat per serving. Just read the label to make sure you only eat one serving. For example, a typical serving of cereal is two thirds of a cup – not the 1-2 cups many of us eat for breakfast!

2) At restaurants, ask the Waiter to “Hold the Fat”: 
Most restaurants will gladly make minor modifications to entrees at your request.  Look for words like fried, creamed, buttered or cheesy. Request that they grill instead of fry and put butter, dressings and sauces on the side. Then remember to use them sparingly.

3) Modify Recipes at Home:
Remove the skin from chicken and turkey. Use low fat milk and cheese and start using a butter substitute such as Smart Balance.  Use half of the recommended sugar and salt, and avoid red meats and processed foods such as sausage and bacon.

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Avoid The Salad Snafu
Did you know that the average woman between the ages of 19 and 50 gets more fat from salad dressing than any other food? You can avoid this salad snafu by selecting a low-fat dressing. Look for dressings that contain no more than three to five grams of fat per serving. If you give them a try you may be pleasantly surprised to find that many of these dressings are actually pretty tasty.

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Follow The Grocery Guide
Good health and fitness begins with knowing what foods to buy at the market. Keep these tips in mind for your next supermarket run.

1)  Learn the layout of your favorite store so that you can find items quickly and avoid impulsive buying.

2)  When possible, shop around the outer perimeter of the store where healthier choices such as fruits, vegetables, milk products, lean meat, poultry and whole-wheat breads are kept. Avoid the processed foods.

3)  Read food labels for nutrient content. Look at the "daily value." If the "% Daily Value" for a nutrient is 5 percent or less, it’s considered low. If the "% Daily Value" exceeds 20 percent, it’s high.

4)  Most importantly, don’t shop when you’re hungry. You will be likely to buy more food and give in to some fatty temptations.

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Learn The Label Lingo
"Low calorie", "high fiber", "lite", "fat free" — ever wonder what these nutrition claims really mean? Nutrition claims can be used on a label only if the food meets strict definitions set by the government*. But be careful, these claims can sometimes be misleading.

*The above information was sourced from the FDA

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Waist Watchers
The cute and pithy cereal ad that got Americans pinching their inches stopped short of explaining why this self assessment is so important.  Carrying extra weight around your waist is not just something that looks less than flattering in a bathing suit; it can actually increase your risk of certain health problems such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.  Although there is no such thing as spot reduction, there are some practical things your personal trainer can help you start doing today to lower your overall body weight and in the process reduce your mid-drift health risks.

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The Meal Skipping Myth
Meal skipping and weight loss go together, right? While it may sound like a logical approach, the reality is that meal skipping is about as effective in helping you lose weight as a bowl of Ben and Jerry’s.  Here’s why. Your body needs a minimal level of fat, calories, protein and carbohydrates in order to function properly. When you starve yourself your body shifts into survival mode and actually holds onto your body’s fat reserves.  The bottom line is that meal skipping lowers your body’s metabolism and retards your progress.  So while you absolutely want to reduce your caloric and fat intake, you don’t want to skip meals.  Make sure you’re eating three low fat and balanced meals each day along with two or three small snacks in between.

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Build Bones Before Menopause
Older women know all too well the threat associated with brittle bones. But this message is for those Generation X-ers who couldn’t be less concerned.

What you do today could dramatically impact your risk tomorrow. Studies have proven that the earlier you start bone building the better. Your body builds bone density over time. And just like your 401 K, the sooner you start contributing the better.


So here’s a test that you can take to see if you’re being "bad to your bones", or if you should be crowned bone building beauty of the week.

1)  Do you eat at least 2-3 servings of low fat dairy products each day?

2)  Do you regularly eat calcium-rich leafy green vegetable such as broccoli, kale and collards?

3)  Do you do weight bearing exercises at least three times per week?

So how’d you do?  If you said no to any of the above, you could be setting yourself up for problems down the road. You should ask a personal trainer to help you begin to add weight bearing exercises to your workout regime, and you should make sure you’re eating several servings of dairy and vegetables products each day.  BONEappetit!!

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Trimming Trouble Spots
So you’ve been hitting the ab machine like a mad man at the gym and doing killer crunches for breakfast, lunch and dinner but you’re still not seeing any signs of a six pack.  That’s because muscle building is only one part of the equation. In order to trim flabby abs, hips or any other problem area you have to reduce your overall body fat as well as build muscle.  Here are some common suggestions from personal trainers:

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1)  Do some form of aerobic exercise for 40 minutes three to four times per week.

2)  Reduce the amount of calories and fat in your diet, such as replacing whole milk and cheese with 1 percent milk and part-skim cheese. 

3)  Reduce your portion size.

Depriving your body of carbohydrates forces your body to break down your muscles for fuel. The water created by this process is then excreted from your body. Therefore, most of your weight loss on a high protein, no carbohydrate diet is due to water loss rather than a significant reduction in body fat. When you return to your normal eating habits, the weight will return as well.

Most high protein diets severely limit your intake of fruits and vegetables. Fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods contain important nutrients and dietary fiber, which may reduce your chances of developing heart disease and many forms of cancer.

Burning excess body fat in the absence of glucose (which is contained in carbohydrates) produces waste products called ketones. Excessive "ketosis" can cause coma or even death.