Thanksgiving is full of challenges for the health-conscious among us. What can we do to fight back against the "normal" weight gain of 1-2 pounds in one day?
Here are my top 5 tips for a healthier holiday:
1. Go for a run in the morning.
...Or any form of exercise, really! Cardiovascular exercise helps to suppress the appetite for most people. Just don't buy into that little voice when you're done telling you you deserve an extra piece of pie.
2. Get all the food set up on the counter for serving, not the table. It is easier to think twice about an extra serving when the food is out of easy reach.
3. Start your meal with a full glass of water. Water suppresses the appetite and increases satiety. Better yet, try this at every meal!
4. Dawdle. Take small bites. Take your time and enjoy each and every morsel. Most Americans chew 5-6 times a bite when it should be 15! Put your fork down between bites and focus on the conversation, and your friends and family around you more than the food.
5. Stay the course. One hard day doesn't minimize the positive effects of your previous week's efforts. Get right back on track Friday... why not pack a lunch with fresh veggies before you head out to shop?! No need to add one more line to wait in Friday if you can skip the drive-thru.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
$40 billion
$40 billion...
This is the amount Americans are currently spending every year on their efforts to lose weight. Is it working? Well no. We are fatter than ever. We try time after time, jumping on the latest fad diet or pill or exercise machine. Let’s take a look at some of the craziest diets in history:
1820 – the vinegar diet (side effects include vomiting and diarrhea – yep, weight loss!)
1830- Graham’s Cracker Diet –eat crackers and bread, they won’t make you promiscuous
1857 - Zander Rooms – fat massagers
1903 – Chew and Spit it Out
1920s – the grapefruit and coffee diet
1925 – the cigarette diet (they were allowed to advertise the appetite-suppressing benefits)
1930s – slimming soap (hand soap that “firms, tones and de-fats”)
1935 – Dinitrophenol – a weed killer that mysteriously caused factory workers to lose weight…so 100,000 dieters consumed before discovering it was causing blindness and death
1954 – the Tapeworm Diet
1964 – The Drinking Man’s Diet – you can drink gin and vodka, just don’t eat carbs
1970s – the “last chance” diet – consumers drank Prolinn, a juice made of
slaughterhouse byproducts. And then they died.
1979 -The Martinis and Whipped Cream Diet
1970s - The Sleeping Beauty Diet – just go to bed for a week (Elvis)
1980 - Breatharian Diet – who needs food when there’s yoga
2000 - Vision Dieter Glasses – food is less appealing
2000 - Cotton ball diet
This isn’t just history folks. We still have electronic ab belts, the Lemonade Diet, The Jello Diet, The BananaSlim diet. “No pills – just bananas”… That is just bananas. Is there a better way? Stay tuned!
This is the amount Americans are currently spending every year on their efforts to lose weight. Is it working? Well no. We are fatter than ever. We try time after time, jumping on the latest fad diet or pill or exercise machine. Let’s take a look at some of the craziest diets in history:
1820 – the vinegar diet (side effects include vomiting and diarrhea – yep, weight loss!)
1830- Graham’s Cracker Diet –eat crackers and bread, they won’t make you promiscuous
1857 - Zander Rooms – fat massagers
1903 – Chew and Spit it Out
1920s – the grapefruit and coffee diet
1925 – the cigarette diet (they were allowed to advertise the appetite-suppressing benefits)
1930s – slimming soap (hand soap that “firms, tones and de-fats”)
1935 – Dinitrophenol – a weed killer that mysteriously caused factory workers to lose weight…so 100,000 dieters consumed before discovering it was causing blindness and death
1954 – the Tapeworm Diet
1964 – The Drinking Man’s Diet – you can drink gin and vodka, just don’t eat carbs
1970s – the “last chance” diet – consumers drank Prolinn, a juice made of
slaughterhouse byproducts. And then they died.
1979 -The Martinis and Whipped Cream Diet
1970s - The Sleeping Beauty Diet – just go to bed for a week (Elvis)
1980 - Breatharian Diet – who needs food when there’s yoga
2000 - Vision Dieter Glasses – food is less appealing
2000 - Cotton ball diet
This isn’t just history folks. We still have electronic ab belts, the Lemonade Diet, The Jello Diet, The BananaSlim diet. “No pills – just bananas”… That is just bananas. Is there a better way? Stay tuned!
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