Daylight Savings Time: An opportunity for a new routine

Have you ever wanted to work out in the morning but just hit that snooze button? With Daylight Savings Time today, your body will naturally wake up earlier, making tomorrow a perfect time to try that AM workout routine! Set a goal to exercise two or three times in the morning this week. Research studies show people who exercise in the morning were more likely to eat less calories, make healthier food choices throughout the day, and have a slightly faster metabolic rate. Additionally, early bird exercisers who are diabetic or pre-diabetic have better control of their blood sugars throughout the day. Sounds like a win-win to me!

With the Halloween candy binge fest being over, this week is perfect to set new goals. Setting health goals can help you navigate through other holidays and events. At Nutrition & Weight Management Centers, we help patients set smart goals to be successful. WebMD's Dr. M.W. Smith explains S.M.A.R.T. goals best when trying to use a Fitbit or Garmin to track burning calories. Below is his advice for a S.M.A.R.T. Goal:

S: Specific. Rather than simply saying, “I’m going to exercise more,” you’ve specified how many calories you’ll burn.

M: Measurable. Your device will track the calories you burn, so you’ll be able to clearly know when you succeed.

A: Attainable. Since you’re already burning 1,000 calories a week through exercise, bumping it up a bit should be manageable. To burn 1,250 calories, you’ll need to add about one extra workout.

R: Relevant. Exercise is totally relevant to weight loss! So exercising more fits into your larger weight loss plan.

T: Time-bound. This is your goal for this week. Period. You can choose to pursue this goal again next week, or you can set a new goal. It's easier to commit to a goal -- and be successful -- if you do it for a set amount of time.

To help me meet my goals of a good morning workout, I always set my workout clothes, sneakers, phone with arm holder and headphones out. They seem to stare me down when I look at the snooze button. And as always, you feel so good after it is done.


Cheers,

The Dieting Dietitian

P.S. Looking to get rid of your candy? Great site to unload and make a soldier happy! http://www.operationgratitude.com/halloween-candy-buy-back-2012/

When You Get Knocked Off Your Routine

A few situations usually throw people’s eating habits out the window. Weekends, traveling and sickness are known diet sabotagers. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten hit by of them the past three weeks. In that time frame, I ran with my 5 and 6 year old girls for their first 5K, a 10 mile Tough Mudder with amazing patients, and celebrated birthdays with my siblings at Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival (can you guess which one was way more fun than the others?).


The sickness lasted 2 ½ weeks and prevented me from my typical workouts, which completely affect me both physically and emotionally. Exercise allows me (and you!) to maintain my weight, feel confident, and have that occasional class of wine and sweet. Thankfully, I painfully logged my eating on myfitnesspal.com which increased my awareness to eat more veggies or fruits. A simple task of logging my meals on the phone kept me honest during times that would normally sabotage me.

Of course I didn’t log during Epcot’s Wine and Food Festival, but chose mostly lean protein, fish and vegetable dishes. The portions were all small about 2 oz. I did have dessert in France, and it was worth it! The entire night was delicious, fun and we managed to walk over 7 miles! The next day, logging began (thanks to the reminder on my phone!). Meals were focused around vegetables, fruits and lean proteins. Once you make the decision to make healthy choices and execute it, it gets easier. You feel better (and look better). Airport eating was not difficult, I found Starbucks to be a great place for coffee with only skim milk, hard boiled eggs and fresh fruit.

Being around family, who love you and know you best, wasn’t difficult. My brother and his family are healthy eaters, who focus on local, organic cuisine. However, there were quite a few situations that involved “you have to try this” “just have a bite” and I was able to politely decline with a smile. I will stick with chocolate mouse from France, thank you!

Life is meant to be enjoyed. Every day. Food and drink are often part of that enjoyment. Finding balance when you are out of your routine eating, traveling, or visiting family is hard but definitely doable when you have a plan and set goals. Remind yourself why you exercise and eat healthy. Remember how you feel when you don’t hit your health goals. I hope you enjoy the food pictures from “around the world”. If you always wanted to explore different cuisine from various regions, Epcot’s Wine and Food Festival I would not miss! Happy Birthday Shawn and Tracey my favorite foodie family!

Cheers,

The Dietitian Dietitian

Free Nutrition Weight Loss Boot Camp in Kennett Square

So excited to announce this:

Get the info you need to lose weight and eat right! Babysitting and a light meal provided during nutrition class.

Tuesdays, starting April 7th - April 28th
6:00 p.m.-6:45 p.m. Nutrition Boot Camp
6:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Jump Start Your Fitness*

Located at
Kennett Masonic Lodge
121 W. Cypress Street, Kennett Square


REGISTER TODAY, SPACES FILL QUICKLY!
Call 484-680-5366 or email jennifer@kennettnutrition.com

My Inner Warrior

To date, I am positive this summer was the most unhealthiest I have been since college. I cringe admitting the truth of my sloth like eating and lack of consistent physical activity. As when all weight starts climbing up, we had a major life change in our family. My husband tells me this summer he is going to pursue becoming a principal, which means his glorious summers home with us will be ending all to soon. As a family, we decide to take an adventure every other week that summer.  We ate our way through small beach towns in  New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina. I'm not going to lie it was simply amazing eating anything that looked delicious and local to the area.  My wine glass was full must of the nights, another item that creeps up the lbs.  There was some sort of nutritional balance and activity, but not my normal eating healthy 95% of the time. I found myself on the last day of July rushed to medical care with a ridiculous fever and kidney infection.  My primary care provider's statement still haunts me, "you ran your body and your immunity down, you just need to eat better and take care of yourself."  Me! The Dietitian! My respected and intelligent doctor is telling me to eat better.  It was like a punch to my stomach. I was...devastated. How can I be a role model if I made myself sick!

That night I vowed to come of off this vacation lifestyle and poor eating habits. I thought of my mom and her recent heart episode this past year. Not only did I want to motivate myself to be healthier but I wanted to motivate her.  I Googled 10 K races and where my mom lives in Rehobeth Beach. The Rehobeth Beach Half and Full Marathon December 6th, 2014 glared back from my search. That's it! I can run the half marathon 13.1 miles, what a great exercise goal! I told no one in my family, only one patient who himself set a similar large goal.

Using the Nike Running app, I set my goal for 13.1 miles for December 6th.  Every week that clever little app had me on a running plan. Each week were a few small runs and a long run on the weekend. My first 3 mile long run was horrible. I thought I was going to die.  Then something happened and my inner warrior came out.  I ran the 3 miles and then kept going. I went to 6 that day.  The next days I ran about 3-5 miles, up hills, on a treadmill, and through the town of West Chester. I got the running bug. The cars with stickers such as Runner Girl, 13.1, and 26.2 I now officially got it.

My eating was balanced and I enjoyed the extra 3 whole grain or fruit servings the day before my long runs.  My weight and own body image was comfortable.  Running allowed me to eat more and feel good.  By October I was at 18 miles on my weekend long runs and I upgraded to the full marathon.  My mom even started walking more! Then life happened. My sweet six year old became severely ill the week before Halloween.  Nights became praying sessions with my husband that our sweet girl would be okay.  Routine and exercise went out the window. Meal planning for the week was a distant memory. I skipped long runs to monitor breathing treatments and slept in the morning recovering from our tough nights.

By mid November, I contacted the race organizer, (Mary Beth you are the most amazing race director!), and changed my bib to the half marathon. I had no doubt I can run 13.1 miles at that point. It was disappointing not to reach a goal I set, but I was relieved and confident about running in December.  When I got on the scale the weeks before the race, I was shocked my weight and body fat sky rocketed.  Apparently stress eating got involved during this time.   For those of you who aren't runners, gaining 10 pounds a week before the race, will completely kill your race time.  AND IT DID, BY ALOT.



I'm still running and ran almost every day on vacation.  My weight is not back to where it should be, but it is just a number. The important factor is I feel good and am back to healthy meal planning.  I froze a bunch of meals in case "life happens" and I can have a few days out of the kitchen.

As with most people, the arrival of a new year has cemented my health goals and I am ready to bring out my inner warrior gain.  My question to you is, will your inner warrior come out? Need help?  Meet me for a run:)

Cheers,

The Dieting Dietitian