New Year's Resolutions

I don't typically like New Year's Resolutions. A date on the calendar isn't going to make you ready to change. Often, resolutions are unrealistic and people tend to have an all-or-nothing attitude. Once they fail to meet their lofty goals, they revert back to old unhealthy behaviors.

Having said that, if you are one of the 70% of Americans that vow to lose weight and eat healthier come January 1st, here are some tips to help you keep that resolution:

1. The first 10 days are the hardest. The novelty will wear off about the third day and by the 10th day (or so) you will find it much easier, mostly because you will the notice the difference in how you feel (for the better). Don't let yourself give up early on because any change worth making is going to take dedication.
2. DIETS DON'T WORK! You may lose weight but you won't keep it off because you won't know how to handle all the foods you said "no" to for so long. And those foods you said "no" to can lead into preoccupations will food, feeling deprived and can lead to binges and gaining the weight back. There is no need to give up carbs, eat only cabbage soup or forget about ice cream (in fact, you need carbs to fuel your brain, muscles and cells and they will help you in feeling physiologically and psychologically fed). Instead of telling yourself what you CAN'T eat, tell yourself what you CAN. Instead of, "I won't eat anymore candy", say "I will choose to eat more fruit". By focusing on what you CAN do, your attitude will change and these lifestyle changes won't seem like a chore. Also, by focusing on what you will eat, you will naturally replace less healthy options with healthier ones.
3. Make lifestyle changes. Forget diets and work on leading a healthier lifestyle. The great thing about that is it is something that can fit into YOUR lifestyle. Again, don't put unrealistic expectations on yourself. It will backfire every time. Just learn what will fit into your healthy lifestyle and do the best that you can given the situation your in. That's all it takes! Just do what you can.
4. Forget the all-or-nothing attitude. 90% of the time eat well and save the other 10% for those less healthy options that you can still have! Don't beat yourself up for overdoing it at times. Health isn't a straight line, it is more of a squiggly one.
5. Make short achievable goals and reward yourself for meeting those goals. Take it a day at a time and a few changes at a time. Instead of cutting out something cold turkey, just cut back and see where it gets you. Or, instead of adding a lot of new foods at once, try a new one every once in a while.

I am very interested to know what all of your New Year's Resolutions are!

Emily Fonnesbeck RD,CD

Snow in Southern Utah

Last week it actually snowed about 3" here in Ivins. Don't get me wrong, I can take the snow - coming to Utah from the Chicago area has me very used to multiple inches of snow at a time along with incredibly cold temperatures (was back there last week and was greated with -20 wind chills....). But come one - one of the perks of moving to Southern Utah was that there wasn't going to be any snow....you know maybe it would drop down to the high 20's at night...but nothing more than that.
Last week my mom was in town visiting...and we actually had to leave Stop Sign early due to the heavy snow shower and icy conditions. In fact, many of the hikes last week were called off due to the icy conditions. But don't worry - this doesn't happen too often down here - at least that this what the locals are telling me. And, we still got in our 2 hour workout each morning in the gym. It's tough to be inside and workout but I personally burned quite a few calories in the gym.
We were able to hike today - although the forecast calls for rain and snow through tomorrow. Hmm....a white Christmas. Never thought that would happen down here.

Holiday Recipes

I thought I would share some of my favorite holiday recipes!

Homemade Granola

Makes great gifts!

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds (or pecans, walnuts, peanuts)
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
1-2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine oats, almonds and coconut. Set aside. Melt maple syrup in microwave just until runny. Add oil, brown sugar and vanilla and combine. Pour liquid over oat mixture and toss to coat. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and cooking spray and spread mixture out evenly. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Stir and cook another 5 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup
We have soup and salad every Christmas Eve. A nice way to keep it light!

1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
3 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
2 small yellow squash, diced
9 cups water
1 cup skim milk (10 cups of liquid, you can put in less water and more milk if you wish)
10-12 low sodium crushed chicken bouillon cubes
4 chicken breasts (cooked and diced)
1 bag whole wheat eggs noodles
1/2 bag frozen peas

In a large pot, saute celery and carrots in cooking spray until tender. Add zucchini and squash for the last few minutes as they will take less time to cook than the other vegetables. Add water, milk, bouillon, and cooked chicken and bring to a boil. Add egg noodles and peas and cook until noodles are just tender (they will continue to cook as they sit in the hot liquid so be careful they don't get mushy). Leftovers are great the next day!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

I use cookie cutters on Christmas morning to make fun Christmas shapes!

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups skim milk

2 eggs

3 tbsp applesauce

Mix ingredients and pour onto hot, greased (with cooking spray) griddle. I actually sometimes make waffles with this batter too.

Emily Fonnesbeck RD,CD

Thought I Would Share...

FDA Clears Use of Herb As Sweetener

Thoughts?

Emily Fonnesbeck RD,CD

Battle of the Bulge II

Well, Friday concluded another Battle of the Bulge competition here at Fitness Ridge.  Here are some fun numbers to consider:

• 11 of 18 participants had double-digit weight loss.
  
• Overall the 18 people lost a total of 224.5 pounds, which equaled 11.51% of their combined weight.
  
• The overall individual winner lost a total of 29 pounds or 9.86% of their total weight.
  

Here are a couple of photos from the last two weeks, as well as the snowman that the kitchen staff built in the "storm of the century" for St. George this week:

Gift Guide

Here are some of my picks for healthy gifts this holiday season!

1.  Sigg Water Bottles:  These are a great option for just about anyone!  They are eco-friendly reusable water bottles and come in great colors and patterns.  You can even design your own.  They have kids bottles, sports bottles, thermal bottles, etc.  My three year old loves his and we have gotten a few for friends and family members for Christmas.  

2.  Magazine subscriptions:  My best friend last year gave me a subscription to Cooking Light Magazine and I love it.  Some other good options would be Runner's World, Clean Eating Magazine, Prevention or  Eating Well.  

3.  Cookbooks or Kitchen Tools:  These are great for the cooks in your life, especially if they happen to be cooking for you!  Here are a few links to some products I like:

Whole Grains Every Day Every Way

Veganomicon

Healthy Homestyle Cooking

Cooking Healthy Across America

The Food You Crave

Calphalon Pans

Salter scales

Flavored Oils

3.  Fitness Equipment:  You have to be careful with these so you don't offend!  But if someone on our list is into fitness, this could be a great gift.  Some ideas would be a workout DVD (I love my pilates DVDs), free weights, bands or balls, gift card to REI or Dick's Sporting Goods, or a yoga mat.  Here are some fun links I came across - 

Aqua Bells

Perfect Push Up

The Fitness Challenge

Personalized Yoga Mats

Nike Plus

Polar Heart Rate Monitors

4.  And last but not least....a trip to the spa! Who wouldn't want that!?

Any other ideas?

Emily Fonnesbeck  RD,CD

Do you really need to have strength training as part of your fitness routine?

Yes. Strength training is important on many different levels - here are a few that pop into my head:
1. Being strong is empowering. You are much more independent when you are strong. You can carry your own groceries and do daily tasks more effectively. You are also less likely to become injured when your muscles are in shape and used to activity.
2. Strength training keeps your workouts varied. If all you do is cardiovascular work you may become bored. Adding in a simple strength training workout can vary your workouts just enough to keep you interested. You can burn quite a few calories with an effective weight training routine. Strength training is also a great way to punch yourself out of a plateau.
3. It helps keep osteoporosis at bay. The process of lifting weights puts pressure on your bones which in turn makes them stronger.

Strength training doesn't have to take a long time either. If you are thoughtful with your exercise choices, your whole body weight training routine can take as little as 25 minutes. Or you can do a circuit training workout where you work your strength training in with your cardiovascular work. You need to work the major muscle groups (legs, back, chest, arms and core) at least twice a week and there are so many ways to do this. You can work a few muscles each day or leave them all for one workout. The possibilities are endless really.

Also, ladies, most of you will not bulk up by lifting weights. The female who bulks from a couple of weight training routines a week is probably about one in a million. We are just not set up for this. To bulk you have to focus everyday on lifting heavy weights. If you are really worried about getting too big, just make sure you are doing 15 reps minimum in each set - this will build endurance as well as strength and keep the muscle size under control.

Supplements

I recommend a multi-vitamin mineral supplement for anyone on a low-calorie meal plan. If you are trying to lose weight, chances are you are lowering your calorie level and it may be difficult to get all the vitamins and minerals that you need. Here are a few key things to look for in a supplement:

1. No more than 100% of the DV for any ingredient. It should be used as a supplement. You will still be eating food so don't go crazy. More is not always better and some nutrients (fat soluble vitamins like A,D,E and K) can build to toxic levels easily or have adverse effects if taken in large doses.

2. Be sure you can pronounce what is in the supplement. Just look for a straightforward multivitamin/mineral supplement.

3. Look for a USP symbol on the package. Because supplements are not regulated by any governing body, manufacturers don't have to prove that what they claim is in the supplement is actually in it or that what is in it will be absorbed. When the USP symbol is present, that company has volunteered for an outside lab to come in and test their product to ensure that they are being truthful with their claims. Below is what the symbol looks like.

4. Finally, it isn't a bad idea to look for a well-known brand. But don't do so at the expense of the USP symbol.

Questions?

Emily Fonnesbeck RD,CD

What is my max heart rate? And why is this important?

Your max heart rate is 220 minus your age. So if I am 50, my max heart rate would be 170 (220-50). So, theoretically, my heart rate should not go above 170 beats per minute (BPM).
This is an important number to know because it gives you a general sense of how hard you should be working out. So, if you are wanting to keep your heart rate around 78% when you run, then you would multiply 170 x 78% (.78). This would give you 132.6 BPM as your target heart rate for that run. It's a good general tool to use for an effective workout.
With that said always remember that these equations are often based on a one-size-fits-all theory. This doesn't mean the equation isn't accurate - but you may need to leave a little room in there for individuality.
The good thing is that your body has a built in mechanism that will be triggered if your heart rate gets too close to your max heart rate for too long. You usually will have so much burning in your legs (lactic acid build up) or you will begin to feel ill. That is your body's way of saying, 'Hey! Slow down!' It's good to listen to this....
Also - if you are not so into doing all this math - purchasing a heart rate monitor is a quick and easy way to keep track of your heart rate.

Battle of the Bulge, Part 2

Well, we have kicked off our 2nd Battle of the Bulge competition here at Fitness Ridge. We have about 19 different people participating, split into two different teams.

Our first team competition was a calorie food guess. Each team had to guess the calorie content in a Stuffed Crust pizza from Pizza Hut. The team with the closest guess didn't have to eat the pizza.

We have determined that the penalty for losing this challenge was cruel and unusual punishment, so we probably won't use pizza again.

The Red Team won the challenge

All or Nothing Thinking

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and were surrounded with friends, family, loved ones and, of course, yummy food. I am sure we all indulged a bit but I hope none of you are feeling guilty about the food choices you made. If you overate, just remember that tomorrow is a new day. One meal or snack is not going to do you in. It is the diet mentality of "I blew it so I might as well quit trying". You'll never get anywhere with all or nothing thinking because none of us will ever be "perfect" (whatever that is!). Be kind to yourself, have realistic expectations, and realize that being healthy comes one day at a time.

How do you get back on track?

Emily Fonnesbeck RD,CD