The Great American Obsession

When you are on a mission to lose weight quickly, do you try to severely restrict your caloric intake, then wonder why you don't see the pounds slipping away?

Searching for a quick fix for shedding unwanted pounds seems to have become the "great American obsession."

Yes, cutting calories is crucial to weight loss, but go too low and your body goes into starvation mode, which slows your metabolism.

Our amazing bodies become accustomed to working with less energy and will begin preserving instead of burning calories. Longer periods of calorie deprivation can inspire your body to begin burning muscle, which in turn, lowers your metabolism by as much as 20 percent. Wow!! Talk about scary.

And if you ever puzzled over why it is recommended to only lose 1 or 2 pounds a week, it is because if you lose more, you will be losing valuable nutrients and muscle. (If you want to lose a pound a week, eliminate 500 calories per day.) According to the American Heart Association's Guidelines for Weight Management Program in Healthy Adults, women should not reduce their caloric intake to below 1,200 calories per day and men should not go below 1,500 calories per day.

When you go on very low-calorie diets, as well as many other diets, the scales may indicate you have lost weight, but the reality is you will have lost water and muscle weight, along with some of the fat. When normal eating habits are resumed, the water and fat will be regained, minus the muscle mass.

Reducing calories without introducing exercise into your weight loss program will further depress your metabolism. In a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, people who cut 230 calories out of their daily diet for a year and did not include exercise, lost muscle mass, strength and aerobic capacity. Research tells us that resistance training is a valuable tool for prevention of weight gain, however for weight loss, you need to change your caloric intake and add aerobic exercise.

Nine tips to burn fat

1. Resistance Training: Strength training will replace lost muscle tissue. Strengthening large muscles around thighs, arms, shoulders and back are key players in preventing muscle loss. With more muscle and less fat, you'll naturally be more active, which will help you burn still more calories.

2. Aerobic Exercise: You need an hour of aerobic exercise — at least five times per week —if you seriously want to lose weight. That doesn't need to be in one concentrated dose, because calorie-burning effects accumulate over time.

3. Mixing Cardio: When performing an aerobic activity, mix the steady-rate endurance, where you go nonstop for a certain amount of time, with interval workouts, where you vary the pace from somewhat easy to hard. If walking, alternate between fast walking and slower walking. Intervals burn a large amount of calories while offering a cardiovascular workout.

4. Challenge the Muscles: For building muscle tissue, it is important to gradually overload the muscles by increasing the weight load. Lifting weights that are too light doesn't send the right kind of signal for the muscles to get bigger and stronger.

5. Be a Fidgeter: People who physically move a lot, or fidget, burn on average 350 additional calories per day. So go ahead and talk with your hands or pace while talking on the phone, instead of sitting down.

6. Frequent Meals: Eating frequent meals during the day doesn't boost your metabolism, but keeps it working efficiently and at a steady state. However, it is easier to lose weight if you eat more little meals during the day as opposed to three big meals (at which people tend to eat more). The small meals during the day also help to keep your blood sugar at a much more healthy level.

7. Add Variety to the Workout: As the body adapts to what you are doing and reaches a plateau, vary the exercise movements: Change tempo, mix up the order of the exercises, add new exercises.

8. Keep a Journal: This will help to keep you on track with your exercise and eating habits. List your long-term and short-term goals; record your progress (good days and not so good days). And don't forget to give yourself little rewards when goals are accomplished.

9. Ignore Quick Fixes: Accept the fact there are no long-term magical quick fixes and commit to a lifetime of healthy nutritional eating habits and regular exercise. Learn to be patient!

Small steps will get you there.

Guilt-Free Turkey Gravy

Gravy! I gotta have it on my turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. If you follow the directions to "defatten" the pan juices (try to give yourself a little extra time to do this before dinner), it will turn out great....and not attach itself to your thighs.

Gravy

4 cups turkey broth and defatted pan juices (see note below)
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. cold water
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring turkey broth and pan juices to a boil. Meanwhile, blend cornstarch and water until smooth. Whisking contantly, slowly add cornstarch mixture and continue stirring until the gravy is thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

NOTE: To defat pan juices, pour poultry drippings into a glass measuring cup and refrigerate until the fat solidifies. Remove the fat layer and discard.

Per Serving:
12 calories, 2 g. carbohydrates, 1 g. protein, 0 g. fiber, 0.5 g. fat, 0 mg. cholesterol, 10 mg. sodium

Tip: While food is an important element of celebrating the season, it's not the only part. Know that you can entertain for the holidays and still stay focused. During the party, reduce your own exposure to food cues by keeping yourself moving. Walk around and visit with guests, play games, take pictures....anything to keep you busy and your hands occupied in a way that does not involve food.

Thanksgiving and Pumpkin Pie

I don't know about all of you, but I love to eat! And one of my favorite times of the year to eat is, of course, Thanksgiving. But boy do I feel those guilt pangs afterwards trying to remember (maybe I'm trying to forget) the long list of foods that I over-indulged in. But...I have come up with some recipes that will help me, and now you, feel less guilty while still being able to eat the foods that are so tasty. I will post these recipes over the next few days, and also throw in a few helpful hints and tips as well.

So I am going to kick start my recipe posts with my favorite....Pumpkin Pie! I could eat just the pie for my meal and be quite content. And what's a better way to start off a meal than with dessert?! Okay, that's backwards, but I really could start any meal on any given day with dessert.

Pumpkin Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie shell (4 cup volume)
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites
1 15-oz. can Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 12-oz. can Nestle's Carnation Evaporated Fat Free Milk

Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger and salt in small bowl. Beat egg whites lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell. Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees; bake for additional 30-40 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Garnish with light whipped cream, if desired. Do not freeze.

Serves: 8
Per one slice serving:
220 calories, 39 g. carbohydrates, 2 g. fiber, 6 g. protein, 5 g. fat, 5 mg. cholesterol, 300 mg. sodium

TIP: Using egg whites instead of whole eggs is a great way to reduce the fat content of a recipe while keeping the protein.

The Holidays!!!

Okay, the season has officially begun. The time of sweets, treats, and lots of yummy, hard-to-say no food. This is such a difficult time for many of us....me included, when it comes to having some sense of control over ourselves and what we put into our mouths as we celebrate each holiday. Did you know that in the time frame from Halloween to the Super Bowl, the average American puts on 8-15 pounds. Yikes...SCARY!!!

I have tried to adopt the frame of mind that it is a holi-day, not a holi-week or a holi-month. So within reason, celebrate for that day, then you are done. Learn to say "no" to yourself and to others when they offer you food. Don't skip meals, plan ahead for social situations, and lighten up recipes. Instead of drippings and whole milk or cream in your gravy, try fat-free broth or skim milk. Instead of butter/margarine or oil in cookies or quick breads, use applesauce, nonfat yogurt or fruit puree.

Keep in mind that the holidays are for celebrating the people who are in your lives, not in how much we can eat. Because when it is all said and done, what do you want to remember most? Who you were with on that holiday, or what you ate that added a few pounds that you have worked so hard to get off in the first place? And if it is what you ate....isn't it usually the chocolate, toffee, fudge, pies, etc. that you remember that lead to your weight gain. Gain control, celebrate the holi-day, allow some room for a splurge, and once the day is over, back to your regular routine of taking care of the healthy you.