Weather you’re looking to lose weight, lower your cholesterol or just get your digestive tract more “regular”, you may want to take a look at amount of fiber you get in your diet.  Most Americans consume an average of about 11-14 grams of fiber per day, which is only about half of what is recommended.  Increasing the amount of fiber you get in your diet may help with the following:

• Weight Loss: Fiber tends to be very filling and keeps people satisfied after a meal, and thus tends to decrease total calorie consumption throughout the day.
• Better Blood Sugar Control:  Increasing fiber intakes can help to lower insulin levels.
• Helps with Bowel “Regularity”: Fiber helps to prevent constipation by adding bulk to the stool which makes it easier to pass.  If you have trouble with diarrhea, fiber can also help to bind things up to keep you more regular. 
• Helps Prevent Several Digestive Problems: It can help to prevent diverticulosis, hemorrhoids, and possibly certain types of cancer.
• Lowers Blood Cholesterol Levels:  Soluble fiber can help to lower LDL (often referred to as “bad”) cholesterol levels.

The recommendation for fiber is to eat between 20-35 grams per day.  However, it is important to increase the amount of fiber you eat gradually.  If intakes are increased too quickly, people often experience bloating, gas or constipation.  As you increase your intakes, you will also want to increase the amount of water you are drinking.  (This helps to keep things moving along.) 

There are two types of fiber in the diet, soluble and insoluble.  Soluble fiber is the one that helps to improve cholesterol levels and reduces your risk of heart disease.  Insoluble fiber affects the speed at which your body processes waste and helps to keep things moving along.  This is the type of fiber that helps prevent constipation, diverticulosis and hemorrhoids.  Good sources of each type of fiber are as follows:

• Soluble Fiber: Oats, legumes, fruits, vegetables and psyllim (a grain found in some cereals).
• Insoluble Fiber: Whole Wheat Products and Bran Cereals.

How much fiber is in some of the foods you eat?  Click the following link for a list of the fiber content of some high fiber foods:

http://mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582

Check back this week for some tips to help increase fiber in your diet.

Most of us have heard that if you are trying to lose weight you shouldn’t eat after 8:00 at night.  So is it true or is it a myth?  Let’s sort through fact and fiction.  The truth is that a calorie is a calorie, and it doesn’t matter what time of day you eat those calories.  If you eat more calories than you burn throughout the day, then you will gain weight.  If you eat fewer calories than you burn throughout the day, then you will lose weight.  Therefore, it is the total calories that are consumed throughout the day, NOT THE TIME at which you eat them.

With that said, food is our body’s source of energy, and we need that energy more throughout the day then we do when we are going to sleep.  So, to maximize energy levels and to keep your metabolism up and running efficiently throughout the day, it is often recommended to frontload your calories (eat a nice breakfast and lunch and a lighter dinner).  This may give some merit to the following saying: “Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner”.

My strongest recommendation would be to plan, plan, plan!  It’s absolutely fine if you want a snack at night…just plan that into your day, and save some calories for the evening snack.  Otherwise, what you eat in the evening will often put you over your daily calorie allotment which will cause weight gain.  Also, think about healthy snack choices in the evening and use pre-portioned items to help keep the serving sizes in check.

There is no longer a need to ask “where’s the beef” when fast food burgers now pack in up to 1,420 calories.  That is an entire days worth of calories for many people in one sandwich alone.  Take a look at the following link to see how burgers at other fast food restaurants compare:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6504934/

Experts have believed that exercise can help with depression for years, but now there is scientific evidence to support these beliefs.  In fact, research has found that exercise works as well to help with the symptoms of depression as psychotherapy and pharmacological treatments.  This is very important since 20-59% of people discontinue antidepressants within 3 weeks of receiving their prescription.

The following are several reasons why exercise can help improve mood:

• People who exercise often receive positive reinforcement from family/friends which can improve their feelings of self worth
• Learning to master a new skill can create a “positive diversion from negative thoughts”
• Exercising with other provides “social contact” which improves mood
• Exercise releases endorphins which are hormones that alter brain chemistry and can improve well being

So how much exercise is needed to improve mood?  It has been found that even “moderate amounts of physical activity provide powerful benefits.”  However it is important to be patient.  While you may experience some benefits in the beginning, research has found that after nine weeks of participation in physical activity benefits have been shown to increase.  Other research has found that benefits improve with “increasing frequency, intensity and duration.”

Some key points when choosing exercise to help boost mood:

1. Choose activities you enjoy.
2. Find a workout buddy or join a group class for social support
3. Try a variety of activities to keep things interesting
4. Reward yourself for accomplishing workout goals
5. Try to exercise outside on sunny days…after all, sunshine can boost mood too
6. Have fun!

The following article was used as the source for this post:
Muth ND.  Clients and depression: How Exercise Can Help.  American Council on Exercise Certified News.  2008; 14: 3-5.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a tool used to help classify if an individual underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese.  While BMI is not a direct measure of body compositions (i.e. body fat), it can be a useful tool to help identify possible weight problems. You can visit the following website and follow the directions below to calculate your own  BMI:

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/

• Click on “Adult BMI Calculator”
• Enter your height and weight into the designated boxes
• Click on Calculate

This website will let you know what your BMI is and what weight category you fall into (normal weight, overweight, etc.).  One thing to keep in mind when calculating BMI, is that it can overestimate body fatness in fit individuals.  For example, if someone is very muscular, it could classify them as “overweight” even though they may have very little body fat.  The website listed above is a good resource for more information about BMI.

Did you ever watch an infomercial for workout equipment and get drawn in by how quickly they claim you can lose pounds and inches.  Can you really can get the “long, lean look of a dancer’s body” in “just two 30-minute workouts a week” using the Fluidity Bar?  If you’ve ever wondered if there is any merit behind the claims, then you may want to pick up a copy of the January issue of Consumer Reports Magazine.  In this issue they compared exercise devices to determine if the equipment measures up to the claims made by the company.

What they found is that for most of the workout equipment, “it would take 165 pound person anywhere from one to nine months” to lose just 1 pound of fat.  They also bring attention to the fact that most of the “amazing results” are achieved by using the machine along with a strict diet and additional aerobic exercise.  The claims are also usually “not typical” and this is often footnoted in the infomercial.

So how about the claims made with the Fluidity Bar?  The truth is, if you did two 30-minute workouts per week, it would take 16 weeks to burn 1 pound of fat.  So how long would it take to get the “long, lean look of a dancer’s body”?   I’ll let you do the math. 

Some things to remember while watching infomercials:

• If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
• It takes time to lose weight; a realistic goal is ½ – 2 pounds per week.
• You don’t need expensive equipment to lose weight.  For most people, a good pair of sneakers .
• While exercise can help to burn calories and lose weight, a proper meal plan is often a key component to any weight loss plan.