Congratulations!

Congratulations on completing the Choose to Lose Program! Remember to reward yourself for your efforts. Hopefully, you've made at last small changes and improvements in your health. If you need more personalized assistance with weight loss, diabetes, or any other nutrition related issues, feel free to contact me at mwhitenutrition@yahoo.com or marywhite.tsfl.com. Good luck!

Mary White, RD, LD
WellNutrition Services, LLC

Diet Excuses

It is really easy to fall into the trap of making excuses for putting off a change to a healthier lifestyle. The following responses can help you or others get and stay motivated to make these important changes.

 “Diet food just does not taste good.”

Just use “regular” food on your diet, not “diet food.” It is not necessary to purchase special food items, if you practice moderation and proper portion control.

“I just don’t have the willpower.” “Diets never work for me.”

You can not look at it as a “diet.” It really is a change in lifestyle. If you slip up on one particular day, you have not fallen off the wagon. You are just living your life with some good nutritional days and some days that could used some improvement. All that you can do is simply reassert your desire to live a healthful life every day. Your tastes will literally change as you embrace a different kind of diet. You will not crave the same foods as strongly or as often any longer. You will find yourself unconsciously reaching for healthier choices with time.

 

“Diet food is expensive.”

Numerous studies on this claim have shown various outcomes. The key to eating healthfully on a budget is creativity. Try stretching food, so that the same ingredients are used for multiple meals. Plan your menus before going to the grocery store, and look at serving sizes before choosing what to purchase. For instance, maybe fresh pineapple is expensive, but you could mix it into yogurt or oatmeal, use it in stir-fry, or pair it with cheaper fruits for a fruit medley. Even though a food may seem expensive, it could serve as an ingredient for many dishes.

 

“I am not a good enough cook.”

Cooking is an art, and baking is a science. This means you do not need to follow most recipes for main dishes, salads, etc concisely in order to get good results. If you know what you like, you purchase a basic low-fat cookbook and experiment. You will get the hang of putting together quick, basic meals. However, you do not even necessarily need to cook to follow a healthy eating plan. Plenty of products are available that take away the burden of food preparation, and they can still fit into your new eating plan.

“The (holiday, special event, etc) is coming up. I will start dieting once it’s over.”

If you are waiting for the perfect time to make any major lifestyle change, it is not going to happen. The perfect time will never occur, because a special event or a stressful situation always will appear just around the corner. The best thing that you can do for yourself is to just start and deal with the tough situations as they arise. Fear of the future is what stops most people from making positive changes in their lives.

“I will need to prepare separate food for my family.”

This rarely is the case. You should not need to cook two completely separate meals, because what you will eat is usually not that different from what everyone else will eat. If for a special occasion your family would want something that you are abstaining from, such as fried chicken, you could either have a small portion or bake yourself a chicken breast at the same time.

“I get so confused. Much of the information about dieting is contradictory.”

It is true that nutrition is a science and that new information becomes available regularly. However, the basic keys of a good diet remain the same—variety, moderation, and balance. No one is going to have a perfect diet every day. Trying to do so will drive you nuts. Instead, do the best that you can with the information that is available to you at any given time.

Share your success

We are nearing our last week of the program and want to hear from you. What are some healthier changes you've made so far? Share your accomplishments or achievements you are proud of

Identifying Sources of Salt

 Most of the sodium in our diet comes from the processing of food. If you are concerned about your sodium consumption, get in the habit of reading food labels and check for the sodium content.

Sodium is found in:

·         Salt

·         Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

·         Baking Soda

·         Baking Powder

·         Disodium phosphate

·         Garlic Salt, Seasoned Salt, etc. (any compound that has “salt or sodium” in its name).

Sodium Claims on Food Labels

When trying to decide how much sodium you need, you can use the following guidelines.

Label Term	Definition
Sodium Free	Less than 5 mg. sodium per serving
Salt Free	Meets the requirements for sodium free
Very Low Sodium	35 mg. sodium or less per serving
Low Sodium	140 mg. sodium or less per serving
Reduced Sodium	At least 25% less sodium when compared with a reference food
Light in Sodium	50% less sodium per serving; restricted to foods with more than 40 calories per serving or more than 3 g of fat per serving (if pertaining to sodium content)
Unsalted, without added salt, no salt added	1.     No salt added during processing 2.     The product it resembles and substitutes for is normally processed with salt. 3.     The label bears the statement “not a sodium-free food” or “not for control of sodium in the diet” if the food is not sodium free.

A Healthier Diet

The more balanced overview is that salt is one component of a diet that affects blood pressure. Despite differences, researchers agree on one thing: the need for Americans to adopt a healthier diet.

The positive message, in terms of both blood pressure and overall [heart] health, is people should pay attention to their overall diet; avoid obesity, avoid eating too much salt, and make sure they eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Remember to Reward Yourself

How to Pat Yourself on the Back

Rewards create a feeling of doing something you want to do, not just what you’re forcing yourself to do. Even the smallest of rewards can work wonders as you travel from milestone to milestone, pound to pound, and mile to mile.

Here’s how to set up a good rewards system:

Choose some benchmarks and reward levels. You can also reward yourself for levels of consistency.

• Make the reward meaningful to you. As a reward, a new pair of shoes may not hold as much motivation as a simple night alone with a book. Then again, it might.
• Choose two or three options from the Reward Roster below or come up with a few reward options of your own. It doesn’t take much. Sometimes, the best rewards are those you can’t buy.
• A lot of small rewards, used for meeting smaller goals, are more effective than relying solely on the bigger rewards that require more work and more time.
• Don’t use food as a reward. Even good food. It’s just too much of a slippery slope. Don’t even mess with it.
• Plan to celebrate. Figure out now how you’re going to celebrate reaching your health, fitness or nutrition goal. Involve other people, tell them about it. Create a celebration that you can anticipate and then keep it within sight all the time.
• Be honest with yourself. Fudging the numbers mentally, or "borrowing" against the next reward hurts the cause of building a lifetime habit. Remember to keep your focus on building a habit, not just figuring out how to get the reward.

REWARD ROSTER CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITES AND USE THEM LIBERALLY

• Compliment yourself. Write down what you would say to anyone else who accomplished what you did.
• Create an actual plaque or trophy.
• Give yourself badges of honor for different levels of accomplishment.
• Take a vacation or weekend getaway.
• Take a day off from any goal activities.
• Put $1 in a jar every time you meet a goal. When it gets to $50, treat yourself.
• Create a Trophy Scrapbook, where you keep mementos from your accomplishments.
• See a movie.
• Make a grab bag of little prizes. When you reach a significant goal, reach in and get your reward!
• Go for a spa treatment or massage.
• Buy yourself a gift certificate.
• Take a limo ride.
• Subscribe to a magazine you always wanted.
• Go canoeing or do something outdoorsy.
• Watch your favorite TV show.
• Buy something for your hobby.
• Read a funny book.
• Celebrate "100% Days". If you reach 100% of your goals that day, choose two rewards.
• Find some time to be by yourself.
• Pay someone to do the yardwork or house cleaning this week.
• Fly a kite.

Herbs: A Guide for Cooking With Herbs

Adding herbs to food reduces the need for salt, sodium, MSG, and less healthful seasonings. Herbs boost flavor, nutrition, and freshness. Many people are wary of cooking with fresh herbs, because they do not know how to do so. Some people are afraid that they will overcook or improperly handle the leaves and flowers, which can make herbs turn black, slimy, or bitter. The following information can help you learn about how to handle and cook with herbs, and make the most of herbs in your diet.

Basil

Famous in pesto, basil has a spicy aroma and a flavor that tastes of pepper, clove, mint, and licorice. Many varieties exist, but basil is usually a pointed, oval-shaped leaf. For best flavor, use very little basil in the cooking process, but add it to a finished dish. Tear the leaves, rather than chopping with a knife to prevent blackening. Basil combines well with garlic, olive oil, lemon, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, beans, and rice.

Mint

Mint is a very hardy and highly fragrant crop. It is best used fresh, but may be dried and added to soups, stews, and stuffing. The leaves of the mint plant have a coarse texture and are ragged on the edges. They grow on stalks or in stemlike clusters. Mint enhances the taste of carrots, potatoes, eggplant, beans, grilled fish, and lamb. It is also compatible with ginger, cumin, cardamom, and cloves. It is famous for enhancing iced teas.

Thyme

Essential in Western and Middle Eastern cooking, thyme has a close tie to zahtar, a similar Middle Eastern spice. Thyme has a very earthy scent, with a taste of clove, camphor, and mint. Dried thyme does not lose its powerful scent or flavor. Thyme is often found dried and tied with a string. Fresh thyme has woody stems and small leaves. Best known in long, slow-cooking recipes, thyme combines well with garlic, onion, red wine, basil, bay, lavender, marjoram, parsley, and savory.  Use it when cooking tomato- and wine-based sauces, vegetable soups, and marinades for pork and poultry. It also works well with mushrooms, leeks, eggplant, corn, tomatoes, and dried beans.

Marjoram

Sweet and spicy, marjoram tastes and smells like camphor. Marjoram has dark green, smooth oval leaves. It is used in a variety of dishes, but because its flavor is easily lost with the addition of heat, add it to foods at the last minute, after they have finished the cooking. Add to salads and soft cheeses, and use to flavor artichokes, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, eggs, and poultry.

Oregano

More robust than marjoram, oregano has an intense pepperiness and more distinct flavor. It comes in a variety of leaf shapes and sizes, and is famous on the tables of pizza restaurants around the world. Oregano is preferred in its dried form, and is best used in pizza and tomato sauces, baked fish, lamb, stews, beans, marinades, and flavored oils and vinegars.

Parsley

Found in curly and flat-leaf varieties, parsley is fresh and spicy with a hint of pepper. The stems are more flavorful than the leaves of the parsley herb and are used in cooking. Most famous as a garnish, parsley enhances stuffing, omelets, salads, tabbouleh, and fish. Parsley is good for digestion.

 

Cilantro

Perhaps the most ubiquitous herb in the world, cilantro is earthy with a parsley, mint, and lemon characteristic. Cilantro pairs well with almost any savory food, doing well when combined with garlic, basil, mint, parsley, lemon, lime, chilies, and coconut. Cilantro is also wonderful in chutney, relishes, and salsas. This herb also does well when paired with fish, seafood, beans, chickpeas, plantains, rice, root vegetables, and squash. It is best added at the end of cooking to preserve its fresh flavor.

 

Rosemary

Rosemary both smells and tastes of lavender, camphor, and nutmeg. It combines well with thyme, bay leaves, garlic, and wine. Rosemary grows on stems with lovely purple flowers and is best when used fresh. Use rosemary when cooking pork, lamb, and poultry, and add to marinades, eggplant, beans, cabbage, zucchini, potatoes, and tomatoes.

Herb Garlic Beans

Here's a quick bean recipe...lot's of fiber that will fill you up without filling you out. Please post some of your own favorite recipes using our list of "Superfoods" listed from Week 10.

Herb Garlic Beans

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 small celery stalk, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 (16oz.) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (16oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

½ c chopped canned whole tomatoes

1 tsp fresh thyme

2 tsp white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

1.                  Heat oil in medium sauté pan.  Add onions, celery and carrots.

2.                  Cook over medium heat until tender, adding garlic during last two minutes

3.                  Add beans, tomatoes, thyme and wine.  Salt and pepper to taste.