Geometry what? Volumize your foods!

Yeah, you read that right!

As in Volumetrics.  It is one of the best nutrition books around.  It has been well-rated at Amazon and by different consumer rating organizations since its release in 2000.  It can be used by 99.9% of people to make almost anything that they eat healthier.  An updated version of this book will be out in April and I have already pre-ordered it.





The basic concept:  We tend to eat about the same amount volume-wise each day.  For example, if I feel satisfied on 10 cups of food on Monday, I will probably eat about 10 cups of food on other days of the week to feel equally satisfied.  The 10 cups can be low calorie foods or high calorie foods but the total volume or amount will usually be equally filling and consistent.

If you eat 10 cups of foods that are lower in calories, you can get full/satisfied and consume fewer total calories.

Also, you can pretty much each anything you want, you just need to decrease the amount of the unhealthy, high calorie ingredients (but still keep some) and add a lot of low calorie ingredients in to add volume to your dish.

How to put it into action:
1)  Start paying attention to every ingredient in all of the meals that you eat.
2)  Figure out the the calories that each ingredient contributes to the dish or recipe.
3)  Determine how much of the high-calorie ingredient(s) you want to eliminate.  A good starting point is to begin with at half.
4)  Add in low-calorie ingredients to increase the volume of what you are eating.
5)  You can focus on increasing your portion size and keeping calories consistent OR keeping your portion size consistent and decreasing calories  

Can you think of a favorite recipes or meal that would work well with Volumetrics?  If you would like assistance with some healthier substitutions, let me know and I can help you out.

Ideal Weight...What Is Yours?

Many of us have unrealistic goals in terms of our ideal weight.  We think back to what we weighed in high school, when we got married, had children or a size that we associate with a positive period in our lives.  Others often base their magic number on what relatives or friends weigh.  In the end, you need to learn to base the number(s) on you, your body type and something that is realistic to maintain.  Disclaimer:  there will always be people that will not conform to the weight ranges below.  Especially those that have a large percentage of muscle mass.  However, I think the information below tends to provide very realistic and healthy ranges for most of us.

First:

Determine your frame size by placing your right thumb and middle finger around your left wrist.

Small frame: your fingers overlap when you place your thumb and middle finger around your wrist.

Medium frame:  your fingers touch when you place your thumb and middle finger around your wrist. 

Large frame: your fingers do not touch when you place your thumb and middle finger around your wrist.

Next:

Find the correct chart for your gender.  Locate your correct place on the chart.

Ideal Body Weight Chart For Women 25-59 years of age.

Height in Feet&Inches	Small Frame	Medium Frame	Large Frame
4'10"	102-111	109-121	118-131
4'11"	103-113	111-123	120-134
5'0"	104-115	113-126	122-137
5'1"	106-118	115-129	125-140
5'2"	108-121	118-132	128-143
5'3"	111-124	121-135	131-147
5'4"	114-127	124-138	134-151
5'5"	117-130	127-141	137-155
5'6"	120-133	130-144	140-159
5'7"	123-136	133-147	143-163
5'8"	126-139	136-150	146-167
5'9"	129-142	139-153	149-170
5'10"	132-145	142-156	152-173
5'11"	135-148	145-159	155-176
6'0"	138-151	148-162	158-179

Ideal Body Weight Chart For Men 25-59 years of age.

Height in Feet&Inches	Small Frame	Medium Frame	Large Frame
5'2"	128-134	131-141	138-150
5'3"	130-136	133-143	140-153
5'4"	132-138	135-145	142-156
5'5"	134-140	137-148	144-160
5'6"	136-142	139-151	146-164
5'7"	138-145	142-154	149-168
5'8"	140-148	145-157	152-172
5'9"	142-151	151-163	155-176
5'10"	144-154	151-163	158-180
5'11"	146-157	154-166	161-184
6'0"	149-160	157-170	164-188
6'1"	152-164	160-174	168-192
6'2"	155-168	165-178	172-197
6'3"	158-172	167-182	176-202
6'4"	162-176	171-187	181-207

This should give you a healthy weight range to aim for when setting your goals.  Is your idea weight range higher or lower than you expected?

Don't Put All Of Your Eggs In One Basket...

Also known as...don't put all of your trust in one measurement when it comes to your body shape.  There are many different ways to quantify your level of health and body composition.

Weight in pounds or kilograms

Many people fixate on weight and get frustrated when they do not see changes that they consider equal to their effort expended (ME!).  It is important to remember that you might be the same weight or even gain weight when starting to exercise.  Not always a bad thing.

Body fat
I consider body fat to be the most important indicator of health.  There is no cheating your way around this measurement.  It proves that a thin person can still have too much body fat and that a 250 pound body builder can be really lean.  There are so many factors that can affect overall weight like height and build (endo, ecto and mesomorph).  Body fat measurements allow a way for you to track yourself against yourself.  After all, your body is not built like the body of anyone else.

How to measure it:
Body fat scale
Skin calipers
Water submersion
Taping
DEXA Scan

The American Council on Exercise uses the following categories based on percentage of body fat: 

Muscle mass
I think this measurement is most important for competitive athletes and body builders.  Keeping track of this number over time helps you assure that you are losing fat vs losing muscle when trying to get lean.

Body water percentage
Very important for women to track throughout the month.  It can let you know that a 5-pound gain is not related to fat or muscle, rather you are just bloated and retaining extra water weight.  Another application is based upon the fact that our bodies naturally tend to hold on to fat.  If your body thinks that it is being deprived, it will actually break down some muscle and dump water weight in order to hold on to its fat reserves.  Fad diets often suggest that you can lose 7- 10 pounds in a week, without specifying the type of weight being lost.  However, it is physically impossible to lose more than 2-3 lbs of body fat in a week.  Water volume measurements can also be used to assess hydration if one is exercising intensely in sessions longer than an hour.

Body Mass Index (BMI)
Commonly used at health fairs and in doctors offices.  It is an acceptable measurement for about 90% of people.  However, weight lifters and anyone who has a high percentage of muscle mass can often fall into overweight or obese categories.

Click here to calculate your BMI.

Body taping (neck, chest, waist, arms, legs) in inches or centimeters
Pick a few specific spots and measure them at consistent times of the day over a month.  The measurements can show loss in size that might not be reflected in weight.

How clothes fit
The least scientific but one of my favorites.  If you have a favorite pair of jeans, use those as a gauge as to how you are losing or gaining.  As you drop weight, get a smaller size and use those as your gauge.

My favorite scale

EatSmart Scale

Buy this scale at Amazon.com.


What I plan to try in the future:
A DEXA Scan is the most accurate measurement for body fat.
You can read more about it by clicking here.

Find a few of these techniques that work the best for your needs and try to use them consistently.  

Calories Out > Calories In

Which “diet” is the best to follow?  Easy answer!  The one that you fits into YOUR life and that you can stick with for the duration of your life.

I am often asked, what diet works best:  Low-carb, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins, Ornish, Paleo, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-free etc.  The answer is that they all can work because they all focus on caloric deprivation of one kind or another.  But can you eat THAT way for the rest of your life? 

Losing weight is about creating a deficit or difference in the number of calories your body burns vs. how many calories you eat.  At the end of the day, you’ve got to eat in a way that is sustainable for you, allows you to lose weight in a reasonable time frame and also that allows you to feel physically and emotionally satisfied.

Another question that people often ask me – Can you lose weight without exercising?  You can lose weight without exercising!  However, it will be a much slower process and your body will physically not look as good.  Once you lose excess fat, it is nice to have a little muscle definition to balance out your body shape.  Think of a thin person that does not exercise and how they look in tight pants.  Their butt may be small but it is not firm.  Their legs are straight but show no definition to accentuate their hips and waist.  Working out is like the icing on the metaphorical weight-loss cake! 

I will use myself as example.  This is my daily caloric differential graph from SparkPeople.com.  In my case, my basal metabolic rate (BMR) or the calories I need to maintain my body, my current weight and basic daily activity = 1,667 calories.

 What I eat is my caloric intake (CI).  I aim to eat about 1,200 calories every day.

NO EXERCISE  1,667 (BMR) -1,200 (Caloric Intake)     467 (Differential) If I have a difference of 467 calories a day, I know I should lose 1 pound every 7.5 days. 3500 (calories in 1 Lb) =  467 calories per day   7.5 days to lose 1 Lb

EXERCISE – 250 calories/day  1,917 (BMR + exercise) -1,200 (Caloric intake)     715 (Differential) If I have a difference of 715 calories a day, I know I should lose 1 pound every 5 days. 3500 (calories in 1 LB) =   715 calories per day   4.9 days to lose 1 Lb

I don’t know about you, but I would rather lose a pound every 5 days vs. every 7.5 days.  It just means you have to give up a little bit of your time to make it happen!

It my personal experience, it does not really matter what you do regarding diet or exercise, as long as you keep a daily caloric difference great enough to keep you satisfied with YOUR weight loss.  Of course, you should try to eat clean, real, unprocessed food.  However, if I ate 1,200 calories of Snackwell cookies every day, I would/could still loose at about the same rate, my body just would not look or feel as good (physically, mentally or emotionally) as it could on 1,200 calories of healthy stuff.  You just have to figure out what you can sustain long-term and find YOUR perfect balance between healthy eating, exercising and feeling like you can still occasionally indulge in your favorite foods.  What works for you will not be a great fit for others and vice-versa.

In the end, weight-loss is all about creating a grand science experiment with your body.  You need to record what goes in (food) and what goes out (exercise).  By doing so, you can make small changes and adjustments to keep losing or to maintain a weight loss.  It was not until I started charting everything that I was able to make the connections and to fill all of the voids that had sabotaged my weight-loss and fitness efforts in the past.  

Two new pins at Pinterest!

http://pinterest.com/mistybetancourt/planyourwellness-pins/

Help end the lower belly pooch.

This is a problem that I have dealt with on and off for years. After having two children and attempting to lose weight and get fit after each pregnancy, I did not pay attention to this imbalance. Awesome reminder that we need to continually assess our flexibility and posture as we exercise. 


http://woldfitness.com/2011/07/one-exercise-to-end-lower-belly-pooch/ 

Skinny fat?

Can not say it better than one of the commenters, "Thick or thin, we all need to get out of our chairs on a regular basis in order to have the best chance of maintaining good health."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704762904575025313433081780.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Dcomments

Estrogen > Biochemistry/Physics

I love SparkPeople!  However, as a science nut, it annoys me that my body does not always obey the laws of science!  Estrogen > Biochemistry/Physics = according to this chart, I should be losing a little bit faster.  I guess I will be the slow and steady turtle!

Little charts like this are just one of the many reasons that I love using the SparkPeople website.  I used Weight Watchers online for a month to track everything that I ate.  I switched because I thought SparkPeople was a much better fit for the kinds of foods that I eat (a lot of 0 point WW foods).  Check it out!  It takes less than 5 minutes a day to log my food and exercise and it can be done from my computer or phone.  I can honestly say that as much as I LOATHED the idea of tracking my dietary intake, it makes such a huge difference in how I eat.  HUGE!  I also realize that the tracker is motivating me to exercise more than normal.