Archive for the ‘Weight Loss’ Category

Mini-Fast Your Way to Health

Friday, July 29th, 2011

If you really want to lose weight, I recommend that you try something new this summer. It’s a program we use here at the Whitaker Wellness Institute that is so simple, so logical, so easily implemented, and so inexpensive that it’s like the missing glasses you finally find resting on your nose. It’s the “mini-fast” coupled with exercise.

Here is how it works. Simply get up in the morning and drink a glass of water or a cup of coffee or tea with a little creamer or low-calorie sweetener like xylitol or stevia. You can also take your supplements if they don’t upset your stomach, but do not eat breakfast or drink anything else.

Then put on your workout gear and do some aerobic exercise. You can walk briskly, jog, or cycle; use a treadmill, stair-stepper, mini-trampoline, or stationary bike; or take an aerobics class or work out with an exercise video at home. The important thing is that you exercise for 30–45 minutes with moderate effort. (Don’t go overboard. You don’t want to burn yourself out before you get started.)

After you exercise, get on with your day, but continue fasting until lunch. Drink water, of course, and feel free to have coffee or tea. And don’t worry about being too hungry to make it through the morning. You may have to try this to believe it, but this fasting/exercise combo seriously dampens your appetite, and the caffeine in coffee and tea helps blunt hunger as well.

At lunchtime, break your fast and eat normally for the rest of the day. Get plenty of lean protein and low-fat, low-glycemic carbohydrates. You don’t have to count calories, but you don’t want to pig out at lunch or dinner, either. Fortunately, you’ll find that eating sensibly for two meals a day requires far less discipline than cutting calories all day long. This mini-fast program also makes sticking to the routine much easier over the long haul.

If you’re burning fat, you’re losing weight. Obviously, if you miss one meal per day every day of the week, you’re making a significant dent in your overall food intake. This caloric restriction in and of itself contributes to weight loss. Furthermore, regular exercise also burns calories. What’s unique about this program, however, is that exercising while in the fasting state burns mostly fat.

You see, when you eat no food from dinner until breakfast, your body burns up available carbohydrates. This puts you into ketosis, which means you’re burning fat instead of carbs. Skipping breakfast and then exercising accelerates the process, allowing you to rapidly burn fat. And if you want to eliminate fat from your body, you’re going to have to burn it.

Try the mini-fast today! If you want to lose weight or are dealing with any of the many health concerns associated with obesity, I urge you to give this regimen a try. By maximizing the substantial benefits of exercise and calorie restriction, the mini-fast with exercise can be your ticket to weight loss, lower blood sugar and blood pressure, better health, and a longer life.

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How to Lose Belly Fat Before Summer

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Potbelly, spare tire—or maybe your six-pack abs have turned into a pony keg. Whatever you call it, you need only look around you to know that abdominal fat is the most common type of obesity. It is also the most dangerous. Fat, or adipose tissue, on the hips, thighs, arms, and elsewhere may not be any prettier, but it poses less of a health risk. That’s because it’s stored right under the skin. Most belly fat (visceral adipose tissues or VAT) lies within the abdominal cavity, surrounding the intestines, liver, kidneys, and other organs. Excess fat in this area is linked to increased risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, even cancer and dementia.

The good news is that visceral fat is responsive to weight loss interventions. I’m not talking about spot reduction—there’s no such thing. However, when you do lose weight, abdominal fat goes first. So what can you do?

For starters, eat less and exercise more. As stored fat is mobilized for energy, those adipocytes in your belly will be the first to shrink. Regarding diet, my experience has been that a low-carbohydrate diet works best. It puts your body in a fat-burning mode and helps control appetite by cutting down on blood sugar swings that cause food cravings.

Other lifestyle factors include sleep—or lack thereof. People who get inadequate sleep tend to be heavier. Furthermore, untreated sleep apnea is clearly linked with obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. If you’re struggling with any of these conditions, especially if you snore, talk to your doctor about getting tested for sleep apnea.

Consider supplements. When it comes to supplements for weight loss, one of the most impressive is green tea. In addition to its immune and cardiovascular benefits, it is a great aid in the fat-burning process. Resveratrol, the phytonutrient in red wine that has gained fame as an anti-aging agent, may also be helpful. I also recommend the herbal extract Irvingia gabonensis. It facilitates weight loss, helps correct leptin levels, and improves many of the symptoms of metabolic syndrome.

As you lose your belly fat, other areas of your health will perk up as well. Your blood sugar and blood pressure will go down, and your cholesterol, triglycerides, and C-reactive protein levels will improve. Your risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, cancer, and liver disease will all decrease. And, as an added bonus, you’ll look and feel better than you have in years.

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Sugar-Free Ways to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Since the dawn of time, humans have been indulging in sweets—from the fruits and berries gathered by our cave-dwelling ancestors to the sugar-laden treats that take up multiple aisles in today’s supermarkets. The desire for something sweet is innate. It is the first taste recognized by newborns, and the sweet foods our ancestors were drawn to contained nutrients necessary for survival.

Today, however, we’ve just gone overboard. Americans consume a whopping 165 pounds of sugar per year, most of it coming from candy, sodas, and the like. We guzzle nearly 57 gallons of “liquid candy” per person annually, and 99 percent of all US households purchase candy at some time during the year. Now, that’s a lot of sugar.

In the late 50s, scientists opened a whole new can of worms: artificial sweeteners with low or non-existent calorie counts. This was music to America’s ears. In 1963, Tab, the first diet soda, debuted, and, over the next few decades, thousands of diet products flooded the market. The nation was hooked.

Problem was, numerous studies conducted in the 1970s linked these artificial sweeteners to serious problems, including cancer. Yet these findings were swept under the rug as these chemical additives were accepted with open arms by the FDA and approved for use by the general population. Today, it seems new sugar-free products are introduced almost daily and each claims to be the best, safest, and tastiest. But as far as I’m concerned, artificial sweeteners are not the answer—especially when far safer natural alternatives exist.

Topping my list of favorite natural sweeteners is stevia. This herb has been used for over 1,500 years in South America and continues to boast world-wide popularity. It is calorie-free and does not affect blood sugar levels, making it safe for people with diabetes. Just a few drops of a liquid concentrate or a dusting of powdered stevia is all you need to lend sweetness to any dish. It’s the sweetener of choice at the Whitaker Wellness Institute, and if you haven’t tried it yet, you should.

Running a close second is xylitol. This sweetener looks and tastes like sugar, making it ideal for baking. Better yet, it’s good for your teeth: Xylitol actually reduces cavity and plaque formation, a dental claim approved by the FDA. Although xylitol is not calorie-free, it is metabolized much more slowly than regular sugar and has an extremely low glycemic index, so it too is safe for diabetics. The only reported side effect is gastrointestinal (GI) distress when large amounts are ingested.

Finally, there’s erythritol. It looks like sugar, it tastes like sugar, and you can even cook and bake with it just like sugar. But unlike sugar’s 16 calories and 4 carbohydrates per teaspoon, it has zero calories, no carbs to speak of, and it doesn’t affect glucose levels, which makes it perfect for diabetics and people watching their weight. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol naturally present in many fruits and vegetables. While many sugar alcohols are notorious for their laxative effects, erythritol has far less potential for causing GI issues when consumed in moderation. As for safety, an entire issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology was dedicated to this sweetener, and only minimal side effects were noted at high doses.

I know as well as you do that cravings for treats aren’t going to disappear, but there are good and bad ways to satisfy your sweet tooth. An occasional sugar splurge isn’t going to hurt you, but overindulgence can contribute to a host of health problems. When the urge hits you, get your “fix” with stevia, xylitol, or erythritol. You can find these natural sweeteners in health food stores, some grocery stores and supermarkets, and through various online retailers.

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Testing for and Treating Sleep Apnea

Friday, February 25th, 2011

If you snore, chances are, someone around you has let you know about it. But snoring is more than just a nuisance. It’s a symptom of a far more serious problem.

When you snore, the soft tissues in the back of your throat rattle around, partially blocking the airway. This blockage frequently becomes complete, and breathing stops altogether until oxygen deprivation arouses you enough to start breathing again. These episodes of breathing cessation are called sleep apnea, and apart from cutting off your oxygen supply, they wreak havoc on sleep, blood pressure, weight, and several other areas of your health.

At the Whitaker Wellness Institute we use a simple test to screen for sleep apnea. All it involves is wearing a sensor and a small mask that are attached to a device that records your pulse, blood oxygen levels (oxygen saturation), and air flow throughout the night.

Several studies have shown that this simple test is surprisingly reliable—almost as effective as a full-blown sleep study in detecting sleep apnea. We also test patients who don’t have classic signs of obstructive sleep apnea but have related problems such as headaches upon awakening, poor exercise tolerance, hypertension, memory loss, history of stroke or heart attack, and lung disease.

This test is reasonably priced and you can do it in the privacy of your home. If the test indicates sleep apnea, it can be treated with a continuous or automatic positive airway pressure (CPAP/APAP) machine, which blows pressurized air into the nose via a small mask and prevents the soft tissues in the throat from collapsing.

Although CPAP and APAP are the Cadillacs of treatment options, they aren’t the only ones out there. There are exercises you can do to strengthen the tissues at the back of the throat. Some people have success with dental appliances that increase the diameter of the airway by bringing the jaw slightly forward, or prevent the tongue from relaxing back into the airway. Others do well by simply breathing oxygen through a nasal tube at night. Still others turn to surgery, but I would consider that a last resort.

Almost everyone with sleep apnea will benefit from losing weight. In fact, adequate weight loss completely eliminates the condition in many, and losing 20 to 30 pounds will result in significant improvements. Avoiding alcohol may also be helpful. This is especially true for individuals with mild cases, who may snore and have episodes of apnea only after having a drink. Taking sedatives or analgesics at bedtime can have similar effects, so getting off such drugs may help.

For more information on sleep apnea, visit our website.

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Six Steps for Increasing Your Activity Level

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Physical activity is important if you want to get—and stay—healthy. Definitive research has shown that aside from not smoking, regular physical activity is the most beneficial lifestyle change you can make to positively impact your overall health. This doesn’t mean that you have to join a gym or embark on some crazy fitness regimen. You just need to get moving. Here are six easy steps for boosting your activity level.

1. Not to be overly dramatic, but research shows that multiple hours spent in front of the TV may be deadly. Though it may not be realistic to get rid of your TV completely, make a conscious effort to severely cut back on the amount of time you spend in front of the boob tube. Get outside, play games with family or friends, engage in activities with your children or grandkids, or whatever—just don’t spend your idle time sitting around.

2. Get a pedometer. Many people have no idea how much—or how little—they actually walk each day. To qualify as being moderately active, experts recommend you shoot for 10,000 or more steps daily.

3. If you are going to play video games, make them interactive. Several manufacturers have created games that involve dancing, sports, and other movements that require getting up off the couch to participate.

4. Household activities such as laundry and cleaning count. As do yard work, gardening, and other chores that involve a little physical exertion.

5. Doing errands can also counteract inactivity, provided you implement a few simple strategies. You can start by walking or riding a bike to your destination. If you drive, park in the far corners of the lot. Opt for stairs instead of an escalator or elevator. And finally, pick up the pace when you’re walking around the aisles.

6. I realize that many people have jobs that require them to sit in front of the computer or at a desk for most of the day. By law, you are allowed to take breaks. Do some research regarding your company’s policies and use this time to do a few laps around the office, run a nearby errand on foot, or to move around and stretch in your office.

Trust me, these small changes can make a big difference.

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Grocery Shopping Guide for Healthy Eating

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

If you’re like most people, you want to eat healthy. But wanting and doing are two different things. Grocery stores contain thousands upon thousands of products, and trying to figure out what’s good for you and what should be left on the shelves can be mind boggling. To make things a little easier, use these tips the next time you go shopping.

1. Plan your meals and make a list. Before you head out to the store sit down and plan your meals for the week. Once you have your menus written out, create a new list of the items you will need to make these meals. Some people find it helpful to group the list by grocery store sections, i.e. all the produce first, dairy next, etc. Preparing your list this way will help streamline your shopping experience and keep you from running back and forth all over the store.

2. Try health food stores. As a general rule of thumb, health food stores tend to carry a bigger variety of nutritious items, from organic produce to hormone- and antibiotic-free meats. Whole Foods and Henry’s are two popular national chains that may be in a city near you. Don’t worry if you don’t have access to one of these stores. It’s still easy to find healthy foods in regular grocery stores.

3. Stick to the perimeter. One of the best tips I can give you is to stick to the perimeter of the store. The outside edges are home to produce, poultry and fish, dairy, and fresh deli items, while the inner aisles are chock-full of processed foods. Doing the majority of your shopping on the perimeter will ensure healthier food options. (A few exceptions to this rule include frozen and canned vegetables and fruits, provided the canned varieties are packed in water.)

4. Read labels. Reading labels can be a little tricky until you get the hang of it. Here’s a website to give you a general overview of what to look for. Healthy meals should consist of adequate protein from sources such as eggs, tofu, reduced-fat dairy, lean poultry, or seafood, plenty of fiber-rich vegetables or legumes, a little fruit, and occasional whole grains. (If you are trying to lose weight or maintain healthy blood sugar levels, I recommend eliminating starches from your diet.) Try to stay away from excess sugar, high fructose corn syrup, additives, and chemicals. And the fewer ingredients listed on a product’s label, the better.

5. Go organic. Going organic is a great way to eat healthy. But it can be pricey. Some vegetables and fruits are more heavily treated with pesticides than others. If you have to be choosey about when to buy organic, be aware that the following tend to contain higher levels of chemicals: apples, celery, cherries, domestic blueberries, imported grapes, lettuce, nectarines, peaches, potatoes, spinach, kale and collard greens, strawberries, and sweet bell peppers.

6. Ask for help. Ever wondered which cuts of meat are leaner or how you should prepare those pork chops or fish? Don’t be afraid to ask your local butcher or deli manager for help. They can often clue you in on healthier ways to make meals or let you know how the items in the case have been prepared or cooked. This valuable information can aid in your quest for healthy eating.

7. Don’t shop hungry. It should go without saying but if you shop when you’re hungry, you’re more likely to fill you basket with impulse items and unhealthy foods. Eat a nutritious meal or snack before you head to the store, and stick to the items on your shopping list.

 

I hope these tips will help you become a savvy and healthy shopper.

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Avoiding Senseless Snacking

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Mindlessly munching as you meander through your day is one of the easiest ways to gain weight. While sensible snacking can actually aid in your weight loss efforts, eating unhealthy foods between meals can have disastrous effects. Before you reach for that mid-morning or afternoon snack, consider the guidelines below.

Eat Smaller Meals, More Frequently
The traditional three square meals a day recommendation is a thing of the past. If you want to keep your metabolism and energy going strong, focus instead on eating five or six smaller meals throughout the day. Make sure each meal contains a good source of lean protein such as chicken, turkey, fish, tofu, or reduced-fat dairy, and load up on fiber-rich veggies and legumes. Both protein and fiber will help fill you up and tide you over until your next meal.

Identify Mood Triggers
Often our moods dictate food cravings. Keep a food journal and note how you are feeling when that urge to eat something unhealthy hits. Do you eat when you are bored, sad, tired, etc.? If so, the next item—distraction—is the key.

Distract Yourself and Wait It Out
The next time the craving for a particular food hits, distract yourself. Go for a walk, play on the computer, call a friend—anything that gets your mind off food. If after 20 minutes the urge has not passed, go ahead and have a small portion. If you completely deny yourself, you’re more likely to indulge later on.

Drink a Glass of Water
With all of the fad diets and expensive gimmicks out there, it’s ironic that water may turn out to be one of our most effective weight-loss tools. In a recent study, researchers found that people who drank a full glass of water before each meal lost more weight than a control group that didn’t drink water before meals. Just make sure the water you drink is filtered.

Avoid Eating In Front of the TV or Computer
Ever accidentally snacked your way through a whole bag of chips or popcorn during a movie or while you were playing around on the computer? If you answered “no,” you’re either telling a fib or you’re very disciplined. Snacking while you are engrossed in a TV program or a computer task can cause you to ignore portions and distract you from heeding feelings of satiety. It’s better to take a break to eat. That way, you’re aware of exactly what—and how much—you are putting into your body.

Don’t Buy Foods You Can’t Resist
If you know that cake and cookies are your weakness, don’t buy them. I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but resisting the urge at the grocery store is where it starts. Take it a step further by purging your refrigerator and cupboards of unhealthy items. Instead, stock up on healthy foods like almonds, fresh veggies with humus dip, and lean protein like turkey deli meat, hard-boiled eggs, and reduced-fat string cheese so you have better snacking options.


Step Away From the Snack Table
This time of year, holiday parties abound. Do yourself a favor and distance yourself from the food. If you have to cross the room to get to the appetizers, you’ll eat less—guaranteed. Focus instead on conversation and camaraderie and you’ll be well on your way to a slimmer you.

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Commit to Get Fit

Monday, November 8th, 2010

It’s November and you know what that means—the start of the holiday season. With parties, big meals, and diet-busters popping up constantly until New Year’s, there’s no better time than now to get on track with an exercise program. The following tips will help you start—and stick with—an exercise regimen and hopefully aid in avoiding those extra holiday pounds.

1. Sign a commitment contract. Decide on a fitness goal, for instance, exercising for a minimum of 30 minutes, four times a week. Come up with some disincentive that hits you where it really hurts—and for most people, that would be the wallet. Pledge a significant sum of money to your least favorite charity, payable if you renege on your commitment. Write the details of your “contract” down, sign it, date it, have it witnessed, and then—and this step is very important—make it public. Tell everybody, family, friends, and co-workers about your pledge and its consequences, and keep them abreast of your progress.

2. Find an Exercise Buddy. It’s a lot easier to stay on track if you have another person or a group of people who share your exercise goals. My wife Connie and I have a standing walking/jogging date several times a week, and knowing that she’s counting on me helps keep me motivated. One of our clinic employees started a “Biggest Loser” competition in her neighborhood. She gets up weekday mornings for exercise sessions with her neighbors that are not only fun, but also provide a sense of camaraderie and competition that keeps everyone focused. 

3. Purchase a Pedometer and Start Walking. One of the best forms of exercise—and one nearly everyone can do—is walking. If you’re like most people, you rack up about 1,000-3,000 steps doing household chores and moving about through your day. But increasing the number of steps you take daily to 10,000 or more can have tremendous benefits on your health. An easy way to keep track of your progress is to purchase an inexpensive pedometer. These step-counting devices are available online and in drugstores and sporting goods outlets.

4. Buy or Rent Workout Videos. Another option is to get your hands on a workout video. Yoga, aerobics, weight lifting, tai chi—you name it, there’s a video out there that will walk you through it. Videos are a great alternative if you’d prefer to exercise in the comfort of your own home. From beginner to advanced, you’ll find several options in various formats to suit your activity level.

5. Vary Your Activities. One of the biggest reasons people fail to stickwith an exercise program is because they get bored. That’s why it’s important to vary your activities. Jog, cycle, swim, walk, do yoga, take a group exercise class—it doesn’t matter what you do, just get active.

6. Don’t Use Bad Weather as an Excuse. Cold temperatures and poor weather can make exercise a drag, but don’t use them as an excuse to be a couch potato. Several of the activities mentioned above can be done right in your living room. Pop in an exercise video. Use your stairs as a stair-stepper. Buy a mini-trampoline, treadmill, or stationary bike. Join a gym. You can also pick up the pace during household chores such as dusting and vacuuming. Again, as long as you get your heart rate up and your blood pumping, it counts as exercise.

7. Join My Diabesity Challenge. If you need a little extra motivation, I’d like to invite you to join thousands of my patients and readers and take my Diabesity Challenge. This exercise with mini-fast protocol is the most effective weight-loss tool I’ve seen in more than 30 years of practicing medicine. Furthermore, it’s easy—and free. Just visit www.drwhitaker.com/challenge for complete details. Don’t wait; the deadline to get started is November 30, 2010.

If you have tips of your own for staying on track with exercise, I’d love to hear about them. Just comment on this blog post or send your thoughts to info@whitakerwellness.com.

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Easy Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Sunday, September 26th, 2010

On average, Americans only consume three servings of fruits and vegetables each day. And that’s a crying shame. Study after study reveals that people who regularly eat five-plus servings of nature’s bounty enjoy several health benefits. Want to decrease your risk of stroke by 26 percent? Eat five or more servings per day. Want to lose weight? Focus on eating more fiber-rich vegetables. Want to combat free radical damage that can lead to a variety of health concerns? Load up on antioxidant-rich fruits.

You see where this is going. If you want to get healthier, you need to follow Mom’s advice and eat those veggies (and fruits). If you can make them organic, all the better. The following are 10 easy ways to incorporate more of these healthful foods into your daily routine.

1. Drink a glass of Low-Sodium V8 Juice with breakfast. (At the Whitaker Wellness Institute, this is the only “juice” that you’ll find on the tables.)

2. Eat an apple or a pear for a snack or before a meal to help fill you up so you’ll eat less.

3. Instead of a sandwich at lunch, have a salad with lots of colorful veggies. If you must have the sandwich, go open-face and pile it high with tomatoes, lettuce, onion, sprouts, olives, and peppers.

4. Freeze a bunch of grapes and enjoy them as an afternoon treat or as “dessert.”

5. Make a berry smoothie using plain, non-fat yogurt, ice, and a little stevia or xylitol as a sweetener.

6. Top your fish dishes with mango salsa.

7. Try a grilled portabella mushroom for dinner.

8. Add extra frozen veggies to canned or homemade soups or other dishes.

9. Dip snap peas, baby tomatoes, carrots, celery, or broccoli florets in hummus for a tasty and healthy snack.

10. Add blueberries, cranberries, or strawberries to your salads.

There you have it. If you have tips of your own for upping your vegetable and fruit intake, I’d love to hear them. Send your comments to testimonials@whitakerwellness.com.

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Healthy Tips for Dining Out

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Going out to eat can be a real treat. You don’t have to cook, you can opt for dishes you wouldn’t normally make at home, and it’s nice to get out every now and again. But if you’re not careful, you may be getting a whole lot more than you bargained for.

For instance, did you know that a typical restaurant meal contains around 60 percent more calories than homemade meals? Or that more than three-quarters of the 4,000 mg of sodium we eat daily comes from restaurant fare and processed foods? Couple these unhealthy statistics with the fact that most portions found in a single restaurant dish could serve two, three, even four people and you’ve got a real problem.

The good news is it is possible to eat sensibly at your favorite restaurant. Here are a few healthy tips for dining out.
 
* Don’t go into a restaurant when you are starving. Try eating a small snack
   beforehand to take the edge off.
* Drink a full glass of water before you eat your meal. Studies show that this 
   simple step helps you feel full so you eat less.
* Many restaurants serve chips or bread as a starter. Send these away from
   the table to avoid temptation.
* Ask questions about how food is prepared and request substitutions.
* Choose  items that are grilled, sautéed, baked, or broiled as opposed to 
   breaded or fried. Instead of creamy, rich side dishes or starch-riddled rice
   and potatoes, ask for steamed vegetables.
* Order all dressings and sauces on the side and use sparingly.
* Share an entrée or immediately upon receiving your meal ask for a to-go   
   container and place half the portion in the box for later.
* Just say no to dessert.

I hope you put these tips to good use. Feel free to pass this information along to family and friends so they too can stay healthy while dining out.

Bon Appétit!

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