While some type of food treatment is important for
food safety and food storage, important nutrients and vitamins are lost in each
processing step.
When nutritionists refer to processed foods, they're typically
referring to products that are heavily modified and contain a long list of
ingredients, including many snack foods, sweets, frozen prepared foods, sugary
drinks, and packaged meats.
These foods have minimal nutritional value. On
average, processing usually removes 50 – 80% of nutrients from a food. Avoiding processed foods will improve how you look and feel and lead to lasting weight loss. Even better - you may reduce or completely eliminate symptoms associated with common health disorders.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Guest Post: The Dos and Don’ts of Clean Eating
Clean eating is a catchy, popular phrase that can basically
mean eating healthy. Although the exact meaning of clean eating can vary, in
general it refers to eating whole, unprocessed foods. It limits consumption of
fast food or packaged, processed foods that many Americans have grown to rely
on.
The idea of eating clean is not new, but the term clean
eating is. Whether you call it clean eating or not, eating more unprocessed
foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds and lean proteins is
beneficial for overall health. Here are some practical dos and don’ts tips for
clean eating that can be a guideline for you to follow.
Cut out processed
food
Cutting out processed food is the main focus of the clean
eating movement. Processed food is a catch all term for any food that comes in
a bag, box, can or other packaging that can sit on a shelf for a good amount of
time without spoiling. Processed food is notorious for being high in sugar,
unhealthy fats, sodium, preservatives and low in nutrients like vitamins, minerals,
antioxidants and fiber.
By cutting out processed food, your food should be “cleaner”
because it doesn’t have added artificial ingredients and is true to its purest
form from nature. A word of caution: cutting out processed food can be hard!
This is especially hard if you are used to eating packaged food and not used to
cooking. However, the health benefits are well worth it.
Bump up fruits and
vegetables
Besides cutting out processed food, which is a great first
step, make sure to eat a high amount of fruits and vegetables for clean eating.
Some people suggest clean eating also entails eating organic fruits and
vegetables when possible to lower pesticide residue.
Focus on eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables when
they are in season. This can be done easily by shopping at farmer’s markets or
purchasing a community supported agriculture (CSA) share from a local farm.
Fruits and vegetables have many important nutrients, plus
they are high in fiber which can increase satiety. Don’t cut out processed food
without bumping up your fruit and vegetable intake; these two steps should go
hand in hand.
Stay away from hard
to pronounce ingredients
Staying away from hard to pronounce food ingredients can be
much easier when you cut down on processed foods. Most hard to pronounce words
in ingredient labels are preservatives meant to prolong the shelf life of food
products. Clean eating focuses on eliminating these preservatives and other
chemicals in the food system.
Know where your food
comes from
Eating local is sometimes associated with clean eating
because eating local also focuses on minimizing processed food. Knowing where
your food comes from means trying to eat locally grown fruits and vegetables or
locally raised proteins when possible. If you have the choice of buying locally
grown blueberries or blueberries from South America, choose local if you can.
Eating foods from a local food system can increase nutrient
density of food, as local foods are usually not harvested before they are ripe
which can increase vitamin and mineral content.
Be balanced
Something to avoid with clean eating is to get over obsessed
about eating perfect food. Food is meant to be enjoyed and nourishing for the
body and mind, but it should not be exhausting or obsessive. Also, keep in mind
whatever diet you follow, balance and moderation are important concepts. Keep
meals balanced with healthy carbohydrate, protein and fat sources.
The term orthorexia is defined as having an unhealthy
obsession with eating pure (or clean). Clean eating should be a healthy
lifestyle, not a rigid eating pattern. If you need to eat something out of a
package while trying to eat clean it is not the end of the world. As with
anything, keep healthy choices the majority and easiest choice but learn to
deal with situations where you may not be able to eat exactly how you want to
or are used to.
Learn what you can adapt from clean eating principles and
know where you may need to adjust these guidelines, depending on your
circumstances. Eat balanced meals that include the major food categories unless
you have food illnesses or intolerances.
Conclusion
Clean eating is a popular term for healthy eating with a
focus on fresh, natural food. Clean eating limits intake of processed food and
fast food, which can be difficult with the usual busy American lifestyle. Clean
eating focuses on eating a high number of fresh fruits and vegetables, and some
would say this also includes eating organic foods when possible.
Eating a wide
variety of fruits and vegetables is also recommended.
Other additions to clean eating can be trying to eat as
local as possible and knowing where your food comes from. An important
consideration for ay diet or health trend is to remember food should be enjoyed
and is meant to nourish the body, not be an obsession with strict eating rules.
+++
Guest post provided by Holly Klamer. Holly is a registered dietitian with a MS degree in nutrition and exercise science. She teaches nutrition at 2 colleges in Denver and has her own nutrition consulting business, Step Ahead Nutrition. You can connect with Holly on her Google+ page.
Guest post provided by Holly Klamer. Holly is a registered dietitian with a MS degree in nutrition and exercise science. She teaches nutrition at 2 colleges in Denver and has her own nutrition consulting business, Step Ahead Nutrition. You can connect with Holly on her Google+ page.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Healthy food option at the mall food court
Eating away from home is challenging when you try to eat clean.
While food courts are loaded with places serving fast food, there also places for healthier options. Not all the food in the food court is as bad as we often think it is.
To survive the mall food court I check out all the food offerings and choose the healthiest options.
I am happy to share that I avoided high-calorie, unhealthy food court temptations and found two healthy options for eating at the mall I go to frequently. This food is consistent with the Eat Like Me approach and expands the variety of food I eat. On the left are delicious veggie fries. Spinach salad with grilled chicken on the right. Will take a picture of the second option soon.
While food courts are loaded with places serving fast food, there also places for healthier options. Not all the food in the food court is as bad as we often think it is.
To survive the mall food court I check out all the food offerings and choose the healthiest options.
I am happy to share that I avoided high-calorie, unhealthy food court temptations and found two healthy options for eating at the mall I go to frequently. This food is consistent with the Eat Like Me approach and expands the variety of food I eat. On the left are delicious veggie fries. Spinach salad with grilled chicken on the right. Will take a picture of the second option soon.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
We don't eat enough fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and some cancers.
They are also a key part of weight management, and hold many key nutrients that keep the human body running efficiently.
Only 13 percent of Americans are eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. What's your excuse?
I eat lots of fruits and veggies every day. Together with lean protein (chicken breast, fish or turkey white meat) they are part of all of my meals. I select fresh low-sugar fruits and fresh non-starchy vegetables.
Eating large amount of the right food is my key to success. Vegetables and fruits provide me with fiber, which in combination with lean proteins practically assures that I don’t feel any hunger.
Certain fruits like pineapple, watermelon and bananas are high in sugar, and they don't promote weight loss. I don’ t eat starchy vegetables - potatoes and corn, either.
They are also a key part of weight management, and hold many key nutrients that keep the human body running efficiently.
Only 13 percent of Americans are eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. What's your excuse?
I eat lots of fruits and veggies every day. Together with lean protein (chicken breast, fish or turkey white meat) they are part of all of my meals. I select fresh low-sugar fruits and fresh non-starchy vegetables.
Eating large amount of the right food is my key to success. Vegetables and fruits provide me with fiber, which in combination with lean proteins practically assures that I don’t feel any hunger.
Certain fruits like pineapple, watermelon and bananas are high in sugar, and they don't promote weight loss. I don’ t eat starchy vegetables - potatoes and corn, either.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Misconceptions about weight loss
Widely popular assumption that in order to lose weight
you must eat less and exercise more has been the foundation of many weight-loss
programs. Unfortunately, it also reinforces the incorrect opinion that that
weight loss has to be a struggle and a painful experience.
The first part, portion control, is not the most effective way to lose weight. Reducing your portions to the point that you feel hungry at the end of a meal will not work. It is hard to force yourself to eat less. It is hard to stop eating when you are still hungry. It goes against human nature. In my opinion hunger is the most significant problem with weight loss and a diet that results in hunger will never be successful. Unless you are super-human, and hunger does not bother you. For the rest of us, when we are hungry, the feeling of an empty stomach is very difficult, if not impossible, to tolerate.
The second part, exercise more to lose weight, is simply not realistic. Some find it hard to accept but exercise isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. Even if you exercised every day, in order to achieve any noticeable weight reduction, you would have to do it for hours each day. Exercise is great for our physical health and state of mind, and for preventing weight gain in the first place, but it has a disappointingly small effect on weight loss.
The first part, portion control, is not the most effective way to lose weight. Reducing your portions to the point that you feel hungry at the end of a meal will not work. It is hard to force yourself to eat less. It is hard to stop eating when you are still hungry. It goes against human nature. In my opinion hunger is the most significant problem with weight loss and a diet that results in hunger will never be successful. Unless you are super-human, and hunger does not bother you. For the rest of us, when we are hungry, the feeling of an empty stomach is very difficult, if not impossible, to tolerate.
The second part, exercise more to lose weight, is simply not realistic. Some find it hard to accept but exercise isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. Even if you exercised every day, in order to achieve any noticeable weight reduction, you would have to do it for hours each day. Exercise is great for our physical health and state of mind, and for preventing weight gain in the first place, but it has a disappointingly small effect on weight loss.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Developing routines
Battling excess weight is one of the most frustrating, challenging and emotionally draining experience. Many people struggle with a never ending battle to lose weight and get healthy. If you make appropriate changes for a period of time you will lose weight, but when you go back to your previous eating you will gain all the weight back.
You have to realize that losing weight involves a major lifestyle change. If no changes are made to your lifestyle, the moment you stop eating healthy (your diet), you are likely to return to your previous eating, which leads to the Yo-Yo phenomenon. When you go back to your previous eating you will gain all the weight back.
Since you will be making some huge changes to your diet, you need to condition your brain so that eventually, making better food choices will be automatic. To change your lifestyle you must take psychological and behavioral actions. Your attitude and perspective are essential. Your thoughts will guide you to success or to failure. If you are in the wrong state of mind, you will not follow the eating approach.
Do whatever it takes to make eating healthy a positive experience. An early win helps enormously for anyone trying to achieve a difficult task. The new behavior starts to feel normal. It will take less discipline to repeat the action. Developing routines and making it your lifestyle is the key. Once you have created new routines and stick with them, those routines will eventually turn into habits and become your new lifestyle. When your decisions, food choices, and lifestyle become an energizing routine you will be setting yourself up for weight loss success.
Losing weight and sustaining that healthy lifestyle is a process and journey. It is never over.
Monday, May 25, 2015
It is not that easy
First it took me a while to start doing
something about my surprising weight gain. I kept delaying action time, because
I “knew” that I would be easy. I lost 91 pounds before, so I thought I would
lose the recently gained 20 pounds as soon as I start my efforts.
And, as expected,
when I stopped allowing myself to relax healthy eating on week-ends and was
strong while watching TV in the evenings (no unhealthy snacks), the weight
started to come down. I got to 180 pounds relatively quickly. Losing 10 pounds felt
good. It confirmed that when I made efforts I lost weight.
Something else also
happened. Since I was successful again, I did not keep going to get to my healthy
weight of 170 pounds. I relaxed my eating
and I stayed at the 180-182 level. My arrogant thinking that “I can lose weight
easily any time I want” prevailed and I am remaining at the 180 pounds point.
I
am weak.
Monday, April 6, 2015
I gained weight while training for marathon
I avoided writing about running on my blog, because I did
not want anybody to think that you must exercise to lose weight. I am
mentioning it now, because I want to share something strange I experienced.
Something that is related to weight loss and running.
I tried to start running when I was obese. I weighed 261
pounds then and it was very hard. It felt terrible. I pushed myself to run for 20
to 30 seconds and got tired quickly. Few weeks later I injured my knee and had
to have a surgery. After the knee surgery I had to wait several month to try to
start running again. I was already eating healthy and managed to lose
significant amount of weight. After I lost weight and started running again, it
was so different. Running was much easier. It felt like if I were another
person. I fell in love with running, and according to many, who successfully lost
weight, it helped with maintenance.
Last year learned something that enhanced my knowledge and understanding of weight loss and running.
I learned that nutrition for marathon running and nutrition for health do not
go together. The energy gels that I started to eat on the long run days during
the two last months of marathon training are among the least beneficial for
overall health. They contain simple sugars like sucrose and glucose. I now know
why I gained 10 pounds while training for marathon.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Real food diet
The secret of successful weight loss is not
about forcing yourself to eat less and exercise more. It is about finding what works
best for you, what you can follow, and continuing to follow it until you lose
weight, improve your health, and stay that way. Changing what I eat to real
food was what worked for me.
If you switch from a processed food diet to a real-food diet, you will lose weight. Once you rid your diet of addictive fake foods, and eat the right combination of real food your weight loss will be much easier. When you make the switch to a real-food diet, you avoid the pitfalls that make fake factory foods addictive, fattening, and unhealthy.
When you stop eating processed foods, you remove from your diet added sugar, refined curbs, and harmful additives and preservatives that contribute to weight gain and stand in the way of weight loss. And for an added bonus, removing the above ingredients from your diet will result in better overall health.
I used this strategy for my weight loss and I firmly believe that this is the easiest and healthiest way to shed pounds and keep them off for life. The first step is to become informed what is, and what is not, real food.
If you switch from a processed food diet to a real-food diet, you will lose weight. Once you rid your diet of addictive fake foods, and eat the right combination of real food your weight loss will be much easier. When you make the switch to a real-food diet, you avoid the pitfalls that make fake factory foods addictive, fattening, and unhealthy.
When you stop eating processed foods, you remove from your diet added sugar, refined curbs, and harmful additives and preservatives that contribute to weight gain and stand in the way of weight loss. And for an added bonus, removing the above ingredients from your diet will result in better overall health.
I used this strategy for my weight loss and I firmly believe that this is the easiest and healthiest way to shed pounds and keep them off for life. The first step is to become informed what is, and what is not, real food.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
New Year's’ resolutions rarely bring the lasting change
New Years’ resolutions rarely
bring the lasting change that you hope for. The number one resolution - losing
weight - makes sense considering the epidemic of obesity and related diseases,
and our genuine desire to look and feel better.
But since only 8% of people who
make resolutions actually stick to them, the question remains why do we keep
making resolutions, especially if we know we are probably not going to keep
them?
Anyone who has ever made and
broken a New Year’s Resolution can appreciate the difficulty of behavior change.
When we think of behavior change, we usually are at one the following three stages.
Not Ready - You are not
intending to take action in the near future, and can be unaware that your behavior
is a problem.
Getting Ready - You are
beginning to recognize that your behavior is problematic, and you start to
reflect on the pros and cons of your continued habits.
Ready - You are intending to
take action in the immediate future, and may begin taking small steps toward behavior
change.
Action - You have made specific
actions in modifying your problem behavior or you have begun acquiring new
healthy behaviors.
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