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Archive for the ‘Healthy Eating’ Category

Weight Loss Success: Keep a Food Journal

Monday, March 5th, 2012

When it comes to weight loss success, portion control is one of the key determinants . It can be difficult to accurately determine how much you eat over the course of a day. One way to track the amount of calories that you consume is to keep a food diary.

Keeping a food journal can be helpful even if you only record your eating habits for a few days. This is still enough time to begin to identify patterns of behavior and find out when you miscalculate your food consumption. This can be another good way to identify triggers in your life that can lead to overeating. If you decide to make a habit of keeping a food diary, you can continue to hold yourself accountable whenever you sit down for a meal or grab a snack on the go.

After recording what you eat for a few days, you can decide for yourself whether this is a helpful practice or not. Chances are, it will be an eye-opener as to how and what you eat, and this can be a way to create a more mindful and conscious attitude towards your healthy diet.

Use a food journal to control your portions for weight loss success.

Written by Cara Harbstreet, Nutritionist at Camp Shane weight loss camp for children and teens.

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Tags: food journal, healthy diet, weight loss camp for children and teens, weight loss success
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Tips to Fight Childhood Obesity

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

There are many different ways you can use food to your benefit to shrink belly fat and promote weight loss for your healthy lifestyle.

Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day. You will flush out the extra sodium from water retention in your body to ensure you’re not bloated.
Switch your morning snack to one 100 calorie almond pack and a small apple.
Eat whole grain OR pasta plus with added protein and fiber for your healthy diet. Fiber removes LDL cholesterol from the body.
Drink more milk. Calcium helps to break down fat and stops it from forming. Check out our weight loss blog on milk to see which kind is best for your weight loss diet.
Drink more green tea (recent research shows that catechins may also affect body fat accumulation).

Catechins

Researchers recently looked at the effects of catechins on body fat reduction and weight loss in a group of men with almost the same BMI and waist sizes. The men were divided into two groups. For three months, one group drank black tea and the other group drank green tea. During the time of the study, the men consumed identical diets. Over the three month period, the study found that the men who drank green tea lost almost 3 pounds more than those who drank black tea. The green tea group also saw significant decreases in BMI, waist size and total body fat.

Try drinking a cup of green tea with every meal and before bedtime. You can also opt for caffeine free green tea which also has the same benefits to promote a healthy lifestyle and fight childhood obesity.

Written by Adrienne Pellechia, Nutritionist at Camp Shane weight loss camp for children

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Tags: fat reduction, healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, obesity, weight loss, weight loss camp for children, weight loss diet
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Setting Weight Loss Goals

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Why is goal setting important? It can keep you motivated, make weight loss progress measurable, and give you direction when you are trying to lose weight. However, unrealistic dieting goals can have the opposite effect. Impractical weight loss goals may make you work harder in the beginning, but when it seems unreachable, you will be more likely to give into temptation and shy away from future weight loss attempts. Here are a few tips on how to set accessible, reasonable goals to make your weight loss diet easier, rather than setting you up for failure. Here are three tips to help you on your path to a healthy lifestyle:

Set short term and long term goals. Having a goal you can reach sooner rather than later keeps things interesting and gives a sense of accomplishment. They should be measurable
Set realistic weight loss goals for yourself and your children, stay motivated, and you will see positive results!

and reachable in about a month’s time. This goal might be a certain clothing size or a number on the scale. Let your long term goals be less specific and more abstract. For example, a positive feeling, body image or a weight loss goal would help keep you on track and give you motivation to set short term goals in accordance. Just remember to take it one step at a time!
Track your progress in a way that works for you. Keep a journal or use an online resource. Focusing on how much improvement you have already will help you continue to reach for the stars and set realistic goals in the future. Even if you hit a rough patch, it won’t take away all of the improvement you have already make. Documentation of your weight loss is a good way to remind yourself of how good your success feels.
Realize that it is unrealistic to lose a lot of weight all of a sudden. Here at Camp Shane weight loss camp for children, your child might lose 5 pounds a week, but that is because they are in a controlled environment with a controlled diet. In the real world, it is only healthy to lose about 1-2 pounds a week. Do the math, and only set your goals along with that. It is ok to set your goal a little bit high to give you something to work harder for, but don’t expect to lose twice as much as you should.

Don’t let motivation get you down! Keep these things in mind when setting weight loss goals and you will be sure to make it a healthy one.

Written by Amanda Yazbek, Nutritionist at Camp Shane weight loss camp for children and teens

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Tags: fitness goal, healthy lifestyle, lose a lot of weight, lose weight, weight loss camp for children, weight loss diet, weight loss goals
Posted in Fitness, Healthy Eating, Healthy Lifestyles | 1 Comment »

Weight Loss Tips: Broaden Your Food Horizon

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

It can be difficult to prepare a healthy meal for a child, even if they are open to trying new food. However, a child who is a picky eater is even more difficult to feed. A child who is a picky eater will most likely not try a food they aren’t familiar with. They will absolutely shy away from new foods.

To get your child to eat healthy diet foods, like fruits and vegetables, try introducing new foods to them very gradually, such as one new food a week. The best thing to do is to start when they are young, introducing new foods periodically.

Always have fresh vegetables like carrots, broccoli and celery around the house for your child to graze on to prevent them from reaching for junk food, which can lead to an obese or overweight child. Try pairing vegetables with low-fat ranch, yogurt or peanut butter dips to encourage healthy eating for any weight loss diet.

Another tip is getting your child involved in meal preparation. If you make cooking more interactive, they will more likely be willing to try what they have created. If all else fails don’t be discouraged; it takes almost 5-6 times for a child to accept a new food. Keep trying to introduce nutrient dense foods, and they will be eating healthy in no time!

With our tips and a little patience, your child will be eating vegetables and other healthy foods in no time!

Written by Adrienne Pellechia, Nutritionist at Camp Shane weight loss camp for children

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Tags: Camp Shane, healthy diet, overweight child, weight loss camp for children, weight loss diet, weight loss tips
Posted in Childhood Obesity, Healthy Eating, Parenting | No Comments »

Weight Loss Diet- Know What You’re Eating

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Food product labels can be confusing and misleading when shopping for your weight loss diet, but if you look closely, the food label can help you make smarter food decisions. How can you know if what you’re eating is good for your healthy lifestyle? Here are a few tips.

-The first thing you should look at is how many servings per container. A bag of chips may be only 150 calories per serving, but if there are 2.5 servings per bag, you could consume an extra 225 calories without knowing it! Many times companies manipulate serving size and servings per container in order to keep their food seeming healthy, but this can ultimately lead to overeating which is a cause of weight gain. For example, did you know that one serving of Pop-tarts is only one pastry, even though they are in packages of two? Don’t subject yourself to becoming overweight or obese by eating more than the serving size!

Weight Loss Diet: Read the Nutrition Label

Read the nutrition label carefully! Things to limit: sugar, fats, cholesterol and sodium.

-Consider the food label information more than the price. Your body is an investment, so pay the extra 50 cents for the baked chips and it may help you lose weight!

-Things to limit for your weight loss diet: sugars, fats, cholesterol, sodium.

-Things you want to get enough of: potassium, fiber, vitamin a, c, iron, and calcium.

-The percent of your daily value on the side is based on a calorie intake of 2,000. If your calorie intake is only 1,500, then the percents of things like protein, fat, and carbohydrates will be high.

-If the percent daily value is over 20 percent, the food is considered ‘high’ in that category. For example if the product advertises being ‘high’ in calcium, one serving must contain more than 20 percent of your calcium daily value.

-If the percent daily value is less than 5 percent, the product is considered ‘low’ in that category. For example, if the product advertises being ‘low’ in fat, then one serving will contribute to less than 5 percent of your daily value of fat.

-The shorter the ingredients label, the healthier the product is. If the label goes on for paragraphs, then there are probably a lot of artificial flavorings, colors, emulsifiers, and preservatives present.

Remember that it is important to know what you put into your body. If you treat your body well now, it will treat you well later in life and it will help you to avoid the adverse health effects that come with childhood obesity! Always look at the nutrition label and make smart choices for your healthy diet.

Written by Amanda Yazbek, Nutritionist at Camp Shane weight loss camp for children

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Tags: healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, lose weight, obese, obesity, overweight, weight gain, weight loss camp for children, weight loss diet
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