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Do Dairy

July 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

These days, many foods are getting a bad wrap. Sadly, some of these foods are being slammed based on on “scientific study,” so on and so forth. It’s tempting to jump on a bandwagon, but also silly. Thanks to the internet, lots of information is available out there – both good and bad.

Today I would like to defend one food category that is often judged: dairy. Some studies will tell you that dairy is bad for you. Or will make you fat. Or cause cancer. Yada, yada, yada.

Dairy is also high in vitamin D, calcium, protein and sometimes fat. Fat isn’t all bad. Remember, fat is a necessary part of your dietary needs. If you are running and/or working out, dairy is an important (and delicious!) part of your daily diet.

So, before you jump on a nutrition bandwagon, do your research, One “study” is not enough. You wouldn’t base many important decisions on one study, would you? I’d say your diet, what you put into your body, is a pretty big decision. Do your homework.

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Caloric Cocktails and Naughty Noshes

June 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

In honor of summer, and the many garden parties, social events, happy hours, vacations, and other celebratory events on your calendar, I have decided to write a blog in honor of the lovely cocktails and noshes that we will all be consuming.

Many people sabotage their diet plans and weight-loss goals without knowing they are doing it. Social gatherings alway involve food and drink, and can cause a person to feel in a bit of a trap: how to partake in social events without completely sabotaging a weight-loss goal?!?

Fear not, I have a few tips to help.

Avoid fried foods. Yes, they are delicious, and very popular at social events. They also pack an extremely high caloric-punch. Stick to non-fried alternatives and you can eat more while consuming fewer calories.

Beware of cheese. This one makes me want to cry, since cheese is one of my top five foods. If you aren’t looking to lose weight, I say go ahead and have your cheese. If you are looking to drop some weight, avoid cheese. You don’t know how much cheese went into that yummy, melted dish, and knowledge is power. If there are cheese slices out, you can eyeball what an ounce is, and indulge a *little.*

Avoid “salads.” chicken salad. Potato salad. Lobster salad, yada, yada, yada. Why? These summer staples are often loaded with mayonaise and/or sour cream, which are extremely high in calories and fat. If you choose to have some salads, be honest with how much you are eating. One cup of chicken salad can easily pack 400-500 calories. One cup. Yeah.

Avoid sugary cocktails. I love a good pina colada as much as the next gal. Margaritas are delicious. Mojitos? Divine. If you are watching your figure, don’t have any of them. One margarita can pack 400-600 calories. One cocktail. Do you know how many vodka cranberries or glasses of wine you could consume for those same calories? Try 2-3. look, if you want to have one sugary cocktail it won’t completely ruin your diet goals, but combine that margarita with fried mozzarella sticks and a cup or two of chicken or potato salad, and you start to see the whole picture.

What should you indulge in while at your dozens of summer social events? My advice: for beverages, stick to wine, beer (careful, a 6 pack of beer is over 1000 calories!!!!), martinis, rum and diet coke, vodka cranberries – cocktails that contain 150-250 calories per drink. That way, you can still partake in the party, but at a fraction of the calories you’d consume if you have the same amount of margaritas.

For food, stick to what’s raw. Veggies and hummus. Fruit salads. Cheese slices (remember, you can keep an honest eye as to how much cheese you are nibbling), tossed salads, grilled chicken.

251443_660133989274_8009646_nI know it’s hard to “behave” while most friends will be loading up their plates without a care in the world, but remember the big picture. You have some sort of fitness goal, which is way more important than that damn tray of mozzarella sticks, right? Think of that number on the scale, that target dress size, that string bikini, that goal race – whatever your goal may be.

I’ll raise a martini glass to you, being fit and fabulous!

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Veggie and Fruit Monster

April 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

img_6337-editMost people are unsuccessful at weight-loss for different reasons, though a common trend is diet. Often people think they must starve themselves or give up everything yummy, and end up bingeing after a given time of sacrifice.

Tired of that cycle? I don’t blame you, it’s a bad cycle and one I fought for a long time. What worked for me, and what I recommend to those looking to lose a few pounds is not focus on what you “can’t” have, but to instead focus on what you should be eating. Nobody likes to be told what they cannot do, and the same is true when it comes to our food choices. Therefore, if you focus on what you should be adding to your diet, you aren’t actually depriving yourself of anything.

I am a firm believer in the consumption of fruits and veggies. In fact, personally, I try to eat at least ten servings per day. If you focus on getting those nutrient-packed fruits and veggies into your meals everyday, you’ll be surprised how little you will be craving all of the other stuff and how full you will feel. Combine all of those yummy fruits and veggies with the amount of protein and complex carbs you’ll need for fueling and refueling for your workouts, and you won’t have room for much else.

Find fruits and veggies you like. Pack fresh veggies in a bag to take to work as a healthy snack at your desk, or pack a couple pieces of fruit. Saute veggies if you want a hot meal, and mix it up. Eating salads everyday can get boring, and all of the added “goodies” on a salad can add a lot of fat and calories without realizing it. Salads don’t always equal “healthy.” Sweet potatoes are an awesome complex carb, full of all kinds of nutrients.

Adding fruits and veggies to your diet, regardless of goals, will make you feel better and energized. Whether you are completely happy with your physique and athletic performance, or looking to improve, fruits and veggies can be your secret weapon. Bonus: they will also keep your immune system strong.

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Weight Loss Rut

March 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Liz Corkum 516We’ve all been there. You’ve gained 10 lbs., or 40 lbs, or whatever – and you freak out and look for the “easy” way to shed those extra pounds. You look into quick solutions, which include diet pills, cleanses, delivery food plans, fad diets, etc. You are miserable on said “easy” diet plan, and within a few weeks gain any weight you lost on your “quick fix” back, and are exactly where you started – only even more frustrated.

Let’s stop that cycle, for once and for all. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, there is no quick fix, and fad diets should be avoided at all cost. Personally, I probably tried a dozen of them (maybe 2 dozen!), and I know first-hand how that cycle can continue.

if you take anything away from this blog, consider this: You need to be honest with yourself about how many calories you need to consume in a day to maintain your current weight, and what would be a healthy amount to consume for weight loss. Most people I know are SHOCKED when they find out how many calories they consume in a day, or what a serving size actually looks like.

For example, as a 5’7″, 20-something athlete, calculating my body fat, BMI, etc – on days I am stationary (not training), I only need 1500-1800 calories per day. PER DAY. Most people eat 1500-1800 calories in ONE MEAL. This is why Americans are so obese.

The good news: the more you exercise, the higher that number of necessary calories.

Know your body, your lifestyle, your needs – and you will begin to have the tools to take control of the scale, your abilities and your body fat.

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Fad Diets

March 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment

img_6239-editLadies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls – I am going to tell you the truth, which you probably already know but are still hoping isn’t true – Fad Diets do not work and should be avoided at all cost.

Magic pills, fasting, cleansing, juicing, Atkins, Paleo, the Acai Berry Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, Medifast, hCG, The Tapeworm Diet (yes folks, that’s a real thing!) – DO NOT DO IT!!!! There is NO factual evidence that any extreme diet or lifestyle has any benefit at all. On the flip side, they could all be extremely dangerous.

Yes, you will probably lose weight from one of the above diets, but it will be water weight, or worse yet – muscle weight. If you are training, you need water weight (dehydration is very dangerous), and you should be aiming to gain muscle, not lose it.

At the end of the day, a balanced diet is all you need. What does that mean? Well, you’d have to go into that with your coach in greater detail.

The point is, unless you KNOW that a diet is healthy, it’s probably too good to be true. By all means, add juicing to your already-balanced diet, or incorporate some aspects of the Paleo diet – but jumping on the bandwagon is bad. And stupid.

Commercial, magazines, ads in magazines – they are all out to make money, not to help you lead a healthy life style. Got it? Good.

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