For New Moms

Bouncing Back into Shape after Baby

Returning to Fitness Once the Baby Arrives
  -- By Krista Carroll, BabyFit.com Expert
That new bundle of joy can make dramatic changes in your life. The vast majority of changes are worth it, but some make it hard to keep up with the important things like regular exercise and adequate sleep.

You're not alone. Just about every woman, at one time or another, has struggled with exercise after pregnancy. Here are some ideas to help you get back into exercising and get back into shape!

Make exercise a priority
Not only is your body sleep deprived, but it has also just gone through intense labor which requires healing. You find yourself watching the dust, dishes, and laundry pile up while you tend to your little one. Feel like exercising? Probably not! However, exercising can be the energizer you need to get more motivation. Make it a priority.

Baby steps
Start out slow. Within the first 6 weeks after delivering your baby, your body is healing and requires extra time to get back into shape. Taking care of your baby and managing the basic housework is enough exercise for you now. Be sure to discuss postpartum precautions and limitations with your doctor.

Be creative
Once cabin fever has set in and your body feels up to it, head to a mall and enjoy some cardiovascular exercise: mall walking style. Set a goal to walk for a certain number of minutes before you go. Don't over do it. If you get tired, sit and rest on one of the mall benches. If the weather is nice, opt for a walk in the park or through your neighborhood.

Exercise time doesn't have to be separate from baby time. Let your baby watch you exercise. Place him or her in a bouncy seat or swing while you do your favorite exercise tape, perform sit ups and other exercises on a large exercise ball, or run on a treadmill. Some days just playing and carrying your baby can be a good workout in itself!

Get by with a little help from your friends
Exercise with a friend or relative, or another new mom. Having someone to exercise with is a big motivator. Plan on a day and time to meet and stick with it. It's amazing how time flies when you're walking with a friend and chatting about baby stuff. Join a fitness center and enroll in classes or contact a local mom's club if you have trouble scheduling times with friends.

You can also get online and chat with other new moms. Find somebody interested in exercising and keep in contact with her each week. Motivate and encourage each other. Having a friend to set exercise goals with will help you succeed and stay motivated.

You can do it, mom!
By staying fit, you will be able to keep up with your little one's activeness. You will have more energy to play with your baby. Keep in contact with other new moms to share your stories and keep each other motivated. Stay in shape and enjoy every moment of motherhood.

Make your own Flour Tortillas FAST

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (not bread flour, AP)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup hot milk

 

1 Light up the stove or griddle. Get a large non-stick surface hot and ready to go. I like these to cook fast, so fire that baby on up. Set out a heavy plate (that will hold heat) and a spatula to handle the hot bread.

2 Put a smidgen over 3/4 cup of milk into the micro and set on high for 60 seconds and leave it. We'll cover why it's just over 3/4 cup shortly...

3 Measure out all of the dry ingredients into the mixer of your Kitchen Aid or a large bowl that you can mix in by hand.

4 Add in 2 tsp of vegetable oil. Yes, vegetable oil. No, I don't mean butter. It works, trust me. Now mix those items together just a bit.

5 Slowly mix the hot milk in until the dough ball comes away cleanly. You may need to add a little more or less and you may need to adjust with additional flour.

7 Mix the dough for 3-4 minutes then turn out on a floured surface and knead once or twice to shape it some. (Note: To this point you should have taken no more than 5 minutes tops! Yes, the clock is running, come'on! Didn't you read the post title?)

8 Divide the dough into 12 equal balls, if you are measuring with scales each ball will be somewhere around 2oz in size.

9 Here's the fun part that you may want some help with the first couple of times. Roll each ball into a 6" circle on a lightly floured surface and cook them on the skillet/griddle. Each one will take about 30 seconds per side to cook so you can put one on and roll out a second tortilla. Once the second one is ready you can flip the first one and place the second one on the surface. By the time the third one is ready the first will come off and the second will be ready to flip. Lather, rinse, repeat until done.

10 Be standing at the door when your SO walks in with one of these lathered up in butter and waiting for him/her. Don't ever send them to the store again for something that's so easy for you to whip out. Seriously, that's just mean. :)

Cooking time (duration): 25 Number of servings (yield): 12 Meal type: snack Culinary tradition: Mexica

Fat Farm: ALTON BROWN'S DIET

Beverly forwarded this to me this morning and it is GREAT.  All we need now is a weekly menu.  Please everyone think of good menus for a day or a whole week and send them to me to post.  If you do that I'll develop the shopping list and I'll even do the math for everyones nutritional break out. - jughandle



Alton Brown on Good Eats told how he lost 50lbs in 9 months. He has 4 lists that he goes by.

 

Things to Eat Everyday

Fruits

Whole Grains

Leafy Greens

Nuts

Carrots

Green Tea

Breakfast

 

Three Times a Week

Oily Fish

Yogurt

Broccoli

Sweet Potato

Avacodo

 

Once A Week

Red Meat

Pasta

Dessert

Alcohol

 

Never

Soda Drinks

Fast Food

Processed Meals (Frozen Dinners)

Canned Soup

Anything Diet

Fat Farm: FIGHT FAT WITH FIBER

Poop, Crap - have I gotten your attention, I hope so!

This article is from Menshealth.com

This is very important to read.  Our daily allotment of fiber is hard to get unless we concentrate on it.  - jug

30 Tricks to Make Fiber Taste Better

If a rabbit doesn't eat enough high-fiber foods, its teeth may grow uncontrollably, piercing the roof of its mouth and knifing the base of its brain.

Your brain is safe, but we're not so sure about the rest of your body. Forgo the fiber and you extend an open invitation to several different cancers. You also raise your risk of diabetes and heart disease by up to 20 and 40 percent, respectively.

And in the fate-worse-than-death category, you increase the odds that you'll end up fat and impotent. So while you may not die like a bunny rabbit, you won't be doing it like one, either.

Notice, we haven't even mentioned the c-word (constipation).

But even if you have the will to eat more fiber, you almost certainly don't have the way. Especially since the recommended daily dosage was recently raised from 25 to a throat-choking 38 grams.

The obvious solution—eating 19 slices of whole-wheat bread a day—isn't practical. What you need instead is subterfuge. Dietary deception. In other words, this plan for smuggling more roughage into your life.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/high_fiber_foods/?cm_mmc=ABSNL-_-2010_01_11-_-HTML-_-dek#ixzz0cPJZNSSM

At Breakfast

1. Fill your juice glass with nectar instead of a watery juice from concentrate. Nectar is apricot, peach, pear, or papaya juice, mixed with fiber-rich pulp. It packs more than a gram (g) of fiber per 8-ounce glass.

2. Drop a whole orange into the blender to flavor your morning smoothie. (Uh, peel it first.) One orange has nearly 3 g more fiber than even the pulpiest orange juice.

3. Spice up your eggs. A third of a cup of chopped onion and a clove of garlic will add a gram of fiber to a couple of scrambled eggs. Or fold the eggs omelette-style over a cup of cooked broccoli for 2 additional grams.

4. Heat up a bowl of oat bran instead of oatmeal; it has nearly 2 g more fiber. And add even more flavor and fiber by stirring in a quarter cup of raisins or chopped dates before nuking it.

5. Sprinkle toasted wheat germ over your favorite cold cereal, or stir a few spoonfuls into yogurt. Two tablespoons equals close to 2 extra grams of fiber.

6. Grab an Asian pear instead of the regular kind. They taste similar, but the Asian variety has significantly more fiber—4 g per pear.

7. Buy spreadable fiber, a.k.a. almond butter, for your whole-wheat toast. Two tablespoons adds a couple of grams of fiber, along with a healthy dose of heart-protecting fats and vitamins like E.

8. Whip up a pack of hot-chocolate mix instead of a second cup of coffee. Most instant-cocoa mixes have up to 3 g fiber per cup.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/high_fiber_foods/?cm_mmc=ABSNL-_-2010_01_11-_-HTML-_-dek#ixzz0cPKBzDLa

At Lunch

9. Hate whole wheat? Make your sandwiches with rye bread. One slice has almost 2 g fiber—twice the amount found in white bread.

10. Opt for burritos instead of tacos. Flour tortillas have more fiber than taco shells. Even better, make the burrito whole wheat for still more fiber per serving.

11. And order that burrito with meat and beans instead of meat alone. Half a cup of beans adds 6 g fiber to your meal.

12. Stow some microwavable soup in your desk for when you need to work through lunch. Lentil, chili with beans, ham-and-bean, and black-bean each have between 6 and 10 g fiber per cup.

13. Shower your pizza with oregano or basil. A teaspoon of either spice gives you an extra gram of fiber. Order it with mushrooms and you'll get one more.

14. Build your burger with a sesame-seed bun instead of the plain variety. Sesame seeds add half a gram of fiber per burger.

15. Order your dog with sauerkraut. Every quarter cup you pile on adds close to a gram of fiber to your frank.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/high_fiber_foods/?cm_mmc=ABSNL-_-2010_01_11-_-HTML-_-dek#ixzz0cPKiGFH0

In the Afternoon

16. Pop a pack of light popcorn instead of popping open a bag of potato chips. There's 8 g fiber in every bag of popcorn.

17. Drink bottled chocolate milk, not white. The combination of the chocolate and the compounds needed to keep it suspended in the milk provides 3 g fiber in every 16 ounces.

18. Say nuts to candy bars. Bars with almonds—like Almond Joy and Alpine white chocolate with almonds—have almost twice the fiber content of bars without.

19. Don't tell yourself you could have had a low-sodium V8. Have one. Unsalted V8 has 2 g fiber. The V8 that comes spiked with salt has half that amount.

20. Graze on trail mix instead of a granola bar. Most granola bars have only 1 g fiber, while trail mix with dried fruit has nearly 3.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/high_fiber_foods/?cm_mmc=ABSNL-_-2010_01_11-_-HTML-_-dek#ixzz0cPL44FHM

At Dinner

21. Toss 1/2 cup of chickpeas into a pot of your favorite soup. They'll take on the flavor of the soup and tack 6 g fiber onto your bottom line.

22. Swap a sweet potato for your standard spud. Sweet potatoes have 2 g more fiber per tuber than the typical Idaho variety. Not a fan? At least eat the skin of the regular potato—it alone has 1 g fiber.

23. Shake 'n' bake some fiber into your chicken by coating it with a mixture of 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon thyme, 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, and 1/2 cup flour. You'll get 4 g fiber, thanks to the flaxseed.

24. Go wild when you make rice. Cup for cup, wild rice has three times the fiber of white.

25. Doctor your favorite jarred pasta sauce with 1/2 cup of frozen chopped spinach. The spinach will adopt the flavor of the sauce and pad the fiber count by more than 2 g.

26. Prepare whole-wheat or spinach pasta instead of the regular semolina kind. A cup of either has 5 g fiber.

27. Cook your broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and you'll take in 3 to 5 g fiber per serving, up to twice what you'd have gotten had you eaten them raw. (Heat makes fiber more available.)

28. Use uncooked oatmeal instead of bread crumbs in your next meat loaf. Add 3/4 cup of oats per pound of ground meat and you'll boost the total fiber count to more than 8 g.

At Dessert

29. Top a bowl of ice cream with sliced fresh berries in lieu of syrup. A half cup of raspberries provides 4 g fiber; strawberries and blueberries pack half that amount.

30. Introduce your pie hole to a slice of apple, cherry, or berry pie and you'll be up a couple of grams of fiber. Cake doesn't have nearly as much fiber—unless you eat the candles.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/high_fiber_foods/?cm_mmc=ABSNL-_-2010_01_11-_-HTML-_-dek#ixzz0cPLY0EET

Fat Farm: WHAT IS IN YOUR FOOD?

  Another article taken from Men's Health Mag.

The Fat Farm says - This is just the tip of the iceburg!  Read your labels.  If an item has more than 5 ingredents, think twice about buying it let alone eating it!!!!

What is in Your Food?

Once upon a time, back when Ray Kroc was still pushing milk-shake machines, a hamburger and fries meant a wad of freshly ground chuck and a peeled, sliced, and fried potato. Now, these two iconic foods—like nearly everything we consume—has taken on a whole new meaning. Sadly, many of our favorite foods today (especially fast foods) weren’t merely crafted in kitchens, they were also designed and perfected in labs. We uncovered the ugly truth when doing research for our latest, most up-to-date book yet: Eat This, Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide. What we found was not pretty.
 
Before you mindlessly chew your way through another value meal, take these mini-mysteries (conveniently solved in this slideshow) into account. Sometimes the truth is tough to swallow.

What’s in a Wendy’s Frosty?

Wendy’s Frosty requires 14 ingredients to create what traditional shakes achieve with only milk and ice cream. So what accounts for the double-digit ingredient list? Mostly a barrage of thickening agents that includes guar gum, cellulose gum, and carrageenan. And while that’s enough to disqualify it as a milk shake in our book, it’s nothing compared to the chemist’s list of ingredients in the restaurant’s new line of bulked-up Frankenfrosties.
 
Check out the Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty, for instance. It seems harmless enough; the only additions, after all, are “coffee syrup” and “coffee toffee pieces.” The problem is that those two additions collectively ­contain 25 extra ingredients, seven of which are sugars and three of which are oils. And get this: Rather than a classic syrup, the “coffee syrup” would more accurately be described as a blend of water, high-fructose corn syrup, and propylene glycol, a laxative chemical that’s used as an emulsifier in food and a filler in electronic cigarettes. Of all 10 ingredients it takes to make the syrup, coffee doesn’t show up until near the end, eight items down the list.

What’s in a Filet-O-Fish?

The world’s most famous fish sandwich begins as one of the ocean’s ugliest creatures. Filet-O-Fish, like many of the fish patties used by fast-food chains, is made predominantly from hoki, a gnarly, crazy-eyed fish found in the cold waters off the coast of New Zealand. In the past, McDonald’s has purchased up to 15 million pounds of hoki a year, each flaky fillet destined for a coat of batter, a bath of oil, a squirt of tartar, and a final resting place in a warm, squishy bun. But it seems the world’s appetite for this and other fried-fish sandwiches has proven too voracious, as New Zealand has been forced to cut the allowable catch over the years in order to keep the hoki population from collapsing. Don’t expect McDonald’s to scale down Filet-O-Fish output anytime soon, though; other whitefish like Alaskan pollock will likely fill in the gaps left by the hoki downturn. After all, once it’s battered and fried, do you really think you’ll know the difference?

What’s in my salami sandwich?

Salami, the mystery meat: Is it cow? Is it pig? Well, if you’re talking Genoa salami, like you’d get at Subway, then it’s both. Most salami is made from slaughterhouse leftovers that are gathered using “advanced meat recovery,” which sounds like a rehab center for vegans but is actually a mechanical process that strips the last remaining bits of muscle off the bone so nothing is wasted. It’s then processed using lactic acid, the waste product produced by bacteria in the meat. It both gives the salami its tangy flavor and cures it as well, making it an inhos­pitable place for other bacteria to grow. Add in a bunch of salt and spices—for a total of 15 ingredients in all—and you’ve got salami. But now that you know what’s in there, you might need to check yourself into an advanced meat recovery center.

What’s in a Chicken McNugget?

You’d think that a breaded lump of chicken would be pretty simple. Mostly, it would contain bread and chicken. But the McNugget and its peers at other fast-food restaurants are much more complicated creatures than that. The “meat” in the McNugget alone contains seven ingredients, some of which are made up of yet more ingredients. (Nope, it’s not just chicken. It’s also such nonchicken-related stuff as water, wheat starch, dextrose, safflower oil, and sodium phosphates.) The “meat” also contains something called “autolyzed yeast extract.” Then add another 20 ingredients that make up the breading, and you have the industrial chemical—I mean, fast-food meal—called the McNugget. Still, McDonald’s is practically all-natural compared to Wendy’s Chicken Nuggets, with 30 ingredients, and Burger King Chicken Fries, with a whopping 35 ingredients.

What's in an energy bar?

One word describes what Americans want from their diet these days: Convenience. So stock the supermarket with compact “energy-on-the-go” food touted to fight fatigue, fuel muscle growth, or help you lose weight and it’s guaranteed to fly off the shelves. That’s why sales of energy bars have seen incredible growth over the last decade, with more than $700 million in sales, according to research in Dietitian's Edge.
 
Cut through the hype and flashy packaging, and you're often left with a hefty (and expensive) dose of sugar, oil, and a mass of added vitamins and minerals. With little research to back up the bars claims, many are nothing more than protein-containing candy in disguise. And here's the worst part: They may not have as much protein as you think. You won't find pig's feet or cattle hide listed in the fine print, but that's because they're hidden behind names like gelatin, hydrolyzed collagen, or hydrolyzed gelatin. Both collagen and gelatin lack an essential amino acid required to make them a complete protein. That means the quality of the protein is inferior to products that lack gelatin or collagen.

What's in fruit juice?

You may be a savvy enough grocery shopper to be able to spot the juice impostors (we’re looking at you, sugar-jacked cranberry cocktail). But when you smugly pull a Tropicana Pure 100% Juice Pomegranate Blueberry off the shelf, do you know what kind of juice you’re actually buying?
 
Drinks may be labeled 100 percent pure juice, but that doesn’t mean they’re made exclusively with the advertised juice. With respect to the Tropicana in question, pomegranate and blueberry get top billing, even though the ingredient list reveals that pear, apple, and grape juices are among the first four ingredients. These juices are used because they’re cheap to produce and because they’re super sweet—likely to keep you coming back for more. Labels loaded with of-the-moment superfoods like açai and pomegranate are especially susceptible to this type of trickery. Beware.
 
To avoid the huge sugar surge, pick single-fruit juices. POM, Lakewood Organic, and R.W. Knudsen all make some reliably pure products.

What's in pre-made guacamole?

Not all pre-made guacamole dips are truly made with avocados. In fact, Dean's "Guacamole" dip is comprised of less than 2 percent! The rest of the green goo is a cluster of fillers and chemicals, including modified food starch, soybean oils, locust bean gum, and food coloring. Dean's isn't alone in this guacamole caper; most guacs with the word "dip" attached to them suffer from a lack of avocado. This was brought to light when a California woman filed a lawsuit against Dean's after she noticed "it just didn't taste avocado-y." Similarly, a British judge ruled that Pringles are not technically chips, being that they have only 42 percent potato in them.
 
If you want the heart-healthy fat, you'll need avocado. Wholly Guacamole makes a great guac, or mash up a bowl yourself.

What's in an energy drink?

Most energy drinks laud their herbal supplements, but the science behind the add-ins is somewhat fuzzy. Ginseng, for example, won't give you an energy blast, although it might boost your brainpower. For instance, Australian researchers found that people who swallowed 200 mg of the extract an hour before taking a cognitive test scored significantly better than when they skipped the supplement. And guarana's benefit may simply be due to its caffeine content-a guarana seed contains 4 to 5 percent caffeine (about twice as much as a coffee bean). And taurine? What is taurine, anyway?
 
Every can of Red Bull boasts the exotic-sounding ingredient. So do AMP Energy and Sobe Adrenaline Rush, among a slew of high-octane others. But can it really spike your performance, hone your concentration, and keep you up for hours? In a word: No. See, taurine is an amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter. And researchers at Weill Cornell Medical found that it might actually work more as a sedative than a stimulant. Meaning: It doesn’t give you wings—it clips them.

Fat Farm: CRAVINGS

Thanks to Steve for his input on caffeine yesterday.  All comments, corrections and additions are always welcome. - jug

The following information is from an article in Men's Health Mag:

8:00 a.m.: A Box of Cap'n Crunch

A big appetite in the morning is your body's way of coming out of starvation mode after hours of not eating. Going without food triggers your brain to release a substance called neuropeptide Y that helps to increase your appetite, says Janine Whiteson, M.Sc., a New York City nutritionist and author of Get a Real Food Life. The longer you've gone without food, the greater your hunger when you wake up.

Give in or Fight It?
Give in—just don't go overboard. "It's fine to eat a doughnut or a bowl of sweetened cereal in the morning, as long as you also eat some high-protein food with it," says Laura A. Lees, Psy.D., a Wisconsin-based eating-disorders specialist. Studies show that protein keeps your appetite in check longer than carbohydrates or fat can. So go ahead and eat a bowl of Cap'n Crunch, but combine it with a couple of slices of Canadian bacon or a small block of cheese.

(The Fat Farm says - that may be true but you'd be better off finding a cereal that is high in protein and low in sugar in the first place- jug)

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/weight_loss_food_cravings/8_00_a_m_A_Box_of_Cap_n_Crunch.php#ixzz0c1IHxWS9

8:45 a.m.: A Jelly Doughnut

Why?
You probably didn't eat enough at breakfast. "It's normal for cravings to pop up every 2 to 3 hours," says Heidi Skolnik, M.S., a sports nutritionist for the New York Giants and a contributing editor to Men's Health. That's roughly how long it takes for your body to break down the sugars in the food you eat, release them into your bloodstream, and convert them into energy, she explains.

Give in or Fight It?
Fight it. Instead of sugar, you need something that's high in fiber—it'll fill you up now but won't interfere with snack time later. "Mid-morning snacks are great, but this isn't midmorning, and you don't want to break out your big snack too early," says Skolnik. Instead of the doughnut, reach for dried fruit, a handful of nuts, or an energy bar. "Eat enough to satisfy your craving, but not enough to keep you from being hungry an hour or two later," she says.

(The Fat Farm says Drink a glass of water, it will help fill you up and give you some of the H2O you need - Jug)

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/weight_loss_food_cravings/8_45_a_m_A_Jelly_Doughnut.php#ixzz0c1Iq2UB8

10:30 a.m.: A Coke

Why?
You could be craving the caffeine. The coffee or soda you drank on the way to work is wearing off, and you want another hit to get your energy level back up to what feels like normal.

Give in or Fight It?
Fight it. Swear off the regular soda and opt for the caffeine-free diet variety. "Caffeine gives you a false sense of energy because it doesn't give your body any real fuel to burn," says Lynn Grieger, R.D., C.D.E., a Vermont-based nutritionist. If you switch to caffeine-free soda, not only will you break the caffeine/craving connection, but you probably won't even notice a difference in the taste. In a study from Johns Hopkins University, researchers found that fewer than 10 percent of people were able to tell the difference between regular and caffeine-free soft drinks.

(The Fat Farm says, "I can tell the difference and you are still taking in sugar which will continue the blood glucose spikes.  Drink water and have a couple of salted nuts to kill the cravings")

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/weight_loss_food_cravings/10_30_a_m_A_Coke.php#ixzz0c1JauJ8z

Noon: Macaroni and Cheese

Why?
You're stressed out about your boss, your dog dying, your boss's dog dying, something—and that craving is your body's attempt to make you feel better. "Carbs trigger the production of a feel-good hormone called serotonin, which helps to boost your mood and temporarily relieve your stress," says John Foreyt, Ph.D., director of behavioral-medicine research at Baylor University.

Give in or Fight It?
Give in—occasionally. "Using food for temporary relief from a problem is fine, as long as you don't do it all the time," says Lees. A better alternative: Trick your mind into thinking about something else. "Use your lunch break to go running or lift weights," says Skolnik. "Or try to outthink your craving. When the urge to eat strikes, rate your hunger on a scale of one to 10. "Unless you're at a level of seven or eight, don't allow yourself to eat."

Still Hungry?
Go ahead and eat, but opt for a very small portion and eat it along with a high-protein food like steak, chicken, or tuna salad. "The last thing you want for lunch when you're working is something like macaroni and cheese," says Deborah Gleason, Ph.D., a psychotherapist in Rochester Hills, Michigan. A few carbs may boost your mood, but too many can overload your brain, leaving you sluggish and tired, she says.

(The Fat Farm recommends that you eat something crunchy like celery or radishes.  Those will satisfy your oral needs and sprinkle a little hot pepper salt or sauce on the greens to add capsaicin.  The chemical that makes the hot, hot, will increase your metabolism for up to 3 hours.- Jug)

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/weight_loss_food_cravings/Noon_Macaroni_and_Cheese.php#ixzz0c1KpEZJH

2:45 p.m.: Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Why?
You might not be getting enough magnesium. Semisweet chocolate chips are one of the top sources of magnesium, and, according to one theory, not having enough of the mineral in your system could generate a desire to eat chocolate. Or, if you eat chocolate all the time, maybe you're a chocoholic. Spanish researchers found that chocolate and cocoa contain some of the same potentially mood-altering compounds found in alcohol.

Give in or Fight It?
Give in. "If you have an intense craving for a bit of a very specific food like chocolate, it's best to go ahead and eat it," says Skolnik. "If you don't, your craving is going to get more intense until you eventually give in anyway, and you'll have eaten a lot of unnecessary calories in an attempt to make it go away."

Make sure you keep your portions under control, meaning take two or three cookies at most—and then put the rest away. You may feel as if you want more, but according to a study from Pennsylvania State University, people who were served the smallest portions of a food felt just as full and satisfied after eating as people who were given unlimited helpings of the same food.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/weight_loss_food_cravings/2_45_p_m_Chocolate-Chip_Cookies.php#ixzz0c1KyKQGr

8:00 p.m.: Potato Chips

Why?
You want to relax. In this case, the craving is less about the food and more about what the food signifies. "A lot of guys feel stressed out and tired all day, and when they get home, they just want to relax and forget about their day with a bag of chips and the remote control," says Skolnik. "They feel like they've been in control and used restraint all day, and the chips are part of their reward for that good behavior."

Give in or Fight It?
Fight it. You're eating for the wrong reason. "It might not seem so bad in the short term, but over time, this kind of emotionally driven eating is one of the primary reasons men gain weight," says Skolnik. To break the habit, go cold turkey: no food while the TV's on. "Even healthy snacks won't help break the association between food and relaxing," says Gleason.

To make the process easier, rearrange your living-room furniture or watch your favorite show in a room where you typically spend less time. Studies from Brookhaven National Laboratory suggest that hanging out in a spot where you've indulged past cravings can help trigger future ones.

(The Fat Farm says - most bad eating is about habits.  Break the habits by making changes.  Find something else to do while relaxing, scratch your ass, groom your dog, read instead of watching TV, anything, just change those evil ways)

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/weight_loss_food_cravings/8_00_p_m_Potato_Chips.php#ixzz0c1MX0XCO

11:00 p.m.: Ice Cream

Why?
You want to watch Letterman but your body wants you to go to bed. Men may crave foods like ice cream and crackers late at night because carbohydrates help to boost levels of a sleep-inducing compound called tryptophan. As tryptophan levels in your brain increase, you naturally become sleepier, say researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Give in or Fight It?
Give in. "Hunger can keep you awake at night, so you're better off eating something than eating nothing at all," says Lees. Her advice: Keep the serving small and pick a regular, full-fat ice cream, not the fat-free kind. According to a study from Purdue, tastebuds can detect fat, and that may be why fat-free foods aren't as satisfying as full-fat foods.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/weight_loss_food_cravings/11_00_p_m_Ice_Cream.php#ixzz0c1N0jEBI


Jughandle says - Nice article, but the sooner you remove ALL processed sugar from your diet the sooner the cravings will stop.   No gum, no candy no cookies, no ice cream.  The sugar actually creates a cycle in your system where your blood sugar level rises and falls creating the cravings.  Balance your blood sugar level and you will not have cravings.  You can't fool mother nature, or your body for very long.

Facts about Caffeine from Steve Wooden, CNP-CRNA

Fat Farmers,
I just wanted to add something to the Blog that might be of help. The
information about Caffeine might be a little misleading, so if you don't
mind I will occasionally submit information from some of my most trusted
medical information sites. I will try to provide balanced information,
because as we all know, knowledge is constantly changing and I hope I can
provide some additional information from alternative sources when I can.
I also want to thank Jerry for getting this started again. If nothing else,
it help us all understand the importance of paying attention to what we eat.
Steve

Question
Caffeine: Can it help me lose weight? Does caffeine increase weight loss?
Answer
from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
A few studies indicate that drinking coffee or tea with caffeine may
slightly boost weight loss or prevent weight gain. But there's no evidence
that increased caffeine consumption results in significant or permanent
weight loss. And some of the studies looking at caffeine and weight were
poor quality or done on animals, making the results questionable or hard to
generalize to humans. In addition, some studies found that decaffeinated
coffee may contribute to modest changes in weight, suggesting that
substances or factors besides caffeine may play a role in weight loss.
Although the research about caffeine and weight isn't definitive,
researchers have several theories about how caffeine affects weight:
│Appetite suppression. Caffeine may reduce your desire to eat for a brief
time, but there's not enough evidence to show that long-term consumption
aids weight loss.
│Calorie burning. Caffeine may stimulate thermogenesis - one way your body
generates heat and energy from digesting food. But this probably isn't
enough to produce significant weight loss.
│Water loss. Caffeine acts as a diuretic, which means it increases the
amount of urine you excrete. This water loss may temporarily decrease your
body weight.
While you may be tempted to try caffeine to aid weight loss, keep in mind
that caffeine's a stimulant and too much can cause nervousness, insomnia and
other problems. Also, some caffeinated beverages, such as specialty coffees,
are high in calories and fat. So instead of losing weight, you might
actually gain weight.Steve Wooden DNP-CRNA

Fat Farm: WAYS TO FOLLOW

Just to let you know, you can follow the Fat Farm by going to the
following site:
http://jughandlesfatfarm.blogspot.com/

Once there, you can find past posts, make comments, subscribe to the
blog and a number of other things.

Tips to get started

Here are a few tips to help you decrease your caloric intake without "dieting" or feeling deprived.  These are from Sparkpeople.com

Don’t eyeball it
Studies show that people tend to underestimate how much they really eat every day. In doing so, we consume too many calories without realizing it. Research shows that keeping a log by recording exercise and food intake is one of the best predictors of successful weight loss.

• A written record can point out your eating patterns (eating in front of the TV or in the car, eating the same breakfast every day), triggers (stress, sadness, boredom, time of day), and areas where nutritional changes can be made. You may find that you are eating less fruits than you thought or drinking too much soda, for example. Then you’ll know where you can implement healthy changes.
  
• Reading food labels is key to healthy portion sizes. At a quick glance, a bottle of juice (or bag of chips, candy bar, or frozen entrée) may appear to contain 100 calories, but a closer look will reveal that the package includes two or more servings, which doubles the caloric content.
  
• After familiarizing yourself with portion sizes, be sure to measure. Be exact if cooking at home, but when eating out, think about common objects. Two tablespoons of peanut butter, mayo, or dressing is about the size of a golf ball. A serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand. A medium piece of fruit is similar to a baseball.
  
• Having trouble stopping at one serving of pretzels or chips? Buy single-serving packages of your favorite foods for built-in portion control, or measure out single servings into baggies or containers.

Hold the fat It’s important to remember that not all fats are bad. Certain oils (olive, canola), and nuts are nutritious and healthy to eat. However, fat does have more than twice the calories per gram than carbohydrates and protein (9, 4, and 4, respectively). And generally, people consume too much and the wrong kinds of fats, which means excessive calories.

• When cooking, limit the amount of oil you use by using a non-stick pan. You can also use spray-able oils (avoid substitutes and go for the real olive and canola oil sprays) to coat your pans with virtually zero calories. A MISTO sprayer, available in department stores, can evenly distribute 1/2 teaspoon of oil or salad dressing, compared to the 2-3 teaspoons that you would usually pour on for the same purpose—a savings of 100 calories.
  
• Skimp on butters, dressings, and creams, using just enough for taste. Try a baked potato flavored with salsa rather than butter, and forgo the "secret sauce" on your favorite burger. Search for lite or reduced-fat versions of certain condiments, like dressings and sauces. One serving of lite mayo has less than half the calories (85) of regular mayo (200), but is almost identical taste and texture.
  
• Blotting the fat from greasy foods like cheese pizza or burgers is also worth the effort. One could easily soak up a teaspoon of grease, 5 grams of fat, and 40 calories from two slices of pizza alone.
  
• Add flavor to foods without excess calories and fat by using herbs, fresh or dried. An added bonus: studies show that spicy foods, flavored with red peppers or chili peppers, may boost metabolism and help you to stop eating sooner.
  
• When cutting out high-fat and high-calorie foods, replace them with fruits and vegetables. These essentials are low in calories, but high in volume, fiber and nutrients, which can give a feeling of fullness. They make great snacks and are easy to pack. Stick to whole foods as much as possible. A potato is a better option than an order of fries, just as an apple is healthier than a slice of apple pie.

Drink water, not alcohol
Not only does alcohol contain 7 calories per gram, but it also lowers self-control when it comes to food. Limit your alcohol intake and your body will thank you. Save alcohol for a post-meal indulgence, rather than drinking it before or with food. Studies show that alcohol lowers inhibitions and control when it comes to eating, causing people to eat more than those who waited to drink after finishing a meal.

Drink water throughout the day, before, and during meals to help curb your appetite. Oftentimes, people think they are hungry when they are actually thirsty or dehydrated. Dehydration can slow metabolism, but the process of drinking water and warming it to body temperature involves energy and burns calories. Plus, being well hydrated gives body at least 10 minutes more energy for exercise, according to a study in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.


To lose a healthy one pound of fat per week, all it takes is a 500-calorie deficit per day (which can be achieved by reducing calories, exercising more, or a combination of both). For a healthy lifestyle, not a diet, that is easy to stick with, try incorporating some or all of these easy strategies to reduce calories without giving up the pleasures of eating.

Fat Farm - Foods that raise your metabolism

Reproduced from an article in Men's Health Mag.

Milk, Whole Grain Cereal, Oats

Secret Ingredients: Calcium, complex carbohydrates, and fiber

How they work: Complex carbohydrates and fiber pump up metabolism by keeping insulin levels low after you eat. That's good, because spikes in the production of insulin send a signal to the body that it's time to start storing fat. And in order to stockpile fat, your body has to slow down your metabolism, causing you to burn fewer calories, says Margaret McNurlan, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition and medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Since oatmeal breaks down slowly in the stomach, it causes less of a spike in insulin levels than foods like bagels, she says.

Besides helping to keep insulin production down, eating breakfast can also help stoke your daily calorie burn. When the U.S. Navy studied the metabolisms and eating habits of a group of its personnel, it found that eating breakfast helped raise the men's metabolisms by as much as 10 percent. "By skipping meals, you slow down your metabolism and prime your body to store fat," says McNurlan.

The calcium in milk is a metabolic trigger as well. A University of Tennessee study found that dieters who consumed between 1,200 and 1,300 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day lost nearly twice as much weight as dieters getting less calcium.

Jalapenos, Habaneros, Cayennes

Secret Ingredient: Capsaicin—the chemical in peppers that gives them their bite

How it works: By speeding up your heart rate.

A study from the late '80s found that eating a single spicy meal can boost your metabolism by up to 25 percent, with the spike in calorie burning lasting for up to 3 hours after you finish eating. More recently, a study from Laval University in Quebec found that men who consumed coffee plus red pepper-packed snacks and meals were able to burn nearly 1,000 more calories a day than a control group.

Small snacks can also help keep your body from running out of fuel-preventing those 3 p.m. office blahs. "When you restrict the number of calories your body has for fuel, your metabolic rate can drop temporarily," says Susan Roberts, Ph.D., chief of the energy-metabolism laboratory at Tufts University in Boston. That makes it easier to pack on the pounds and harder to burn them off again

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs_diet_foods/Jalapenos_Habaneros_Cayennes.php#ixzz0bNGaPZYO

Green Tea, Coffee

Secret Ingredients: Caffeine and a chemical in the tea called EGCG

How they work: Caffeine helps speed up your heart rate. The faster your heart beats, the more calories you burn. EGCG works in a similar way, but instead of revving up your heart, it causes your brain and nervous system to run more quickly-again helping you burn more calories.

In studies, researchers found that a combination of caffeine and a 90-mg dose of EGCG taken three times a day can help you burn an extra 80 calories a day. And that's just when your body's at rest. A study conducted by the Canadian government found that soldiers who consumed caffeine in the 12 hours prior to a physical-fitness test not only were able to work out longer before becoming exhausted, but also consumed more oxygen while working out. The body's oxygen requirements are directly related to the speed of-guess what-your metabolism, so the more oxygen you use, the more calories you burn during your workout.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs_diet_foods/Green_Tea_Coffee.php#ixzz0bNGqbtBH

Lean Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey

Secret Ingredient: Protein

How it works: It takes more energy for your body to digest the protein in meat than it does for it to digest carbohydrates or fat, according to Doug Kalman, R.D., director of nutrition at Miami Research Associates, a nationally recognized pharmaceutical-research facility. "That means that the more protein you eat, the harder your body has to work to digest it, and the more calories you'll burn in the process," he says.

When researchers at Arizona State University compared the benefits of a high-protein diet with those of a high-carbohydrate diet, they found that people who ate a high-protein diet burned more than twice as many calories in the hours following their meal as those eating carbs. Even better, researchers in Denmark found that men who substituted protein for 20 percent of the carbs in their diets were able to boost their metabolisms, increasing the number of calories they burned each day by up to 5 percent.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs_diet_foods/Lean_Beef_Pork_Chicken_Turkey.php#ixzz0bNGwBAFG

Salmon, Tuna, Sardines

Secret Ingredient: Omega-3 fatty acids

How they work: By altering levels of a hormone called leptin in your body. Several recent studies suggest that leptin directly influences your metabolism, determining whether you burn calories or store them as fat.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that mice with low leptin levels have faster metabolisms and are able to burn fat more quickly than animals with higher leptin levels. The best way to lower your leptin? Eat fish.

Mayo Clinic researchers studying the diets of two African tribes-one of which frequently ate fish and one of which didn't-found that fish eaters had leptin levels nearly five times lower than the levels found in tribes that primarily ate vegetables.

The good news, if you don't like fish: Fish-oil supplements may work just as well as the stuff with scales. French researchers found that men who replaced 6 grams of fat in their diets with 6 grams of fish oil were able to boost their metabolisms and lose an average of 2 pounds in just 12 weeks.

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs_diet_foods/Salmon_Tuna_Sardines.php#ixzz0bNH2FvGF