Dr. Joe's article great read!

I follow  http://twitter.com/#!/drjoesDIYhealth on Twitter (highly recommend) and he often has great articles relating to weight loss, overweight and obesity.  I highly recommend reading his latest post which supports "behavior change" rather than "gastric surgery".  I posted my comments on this page (hopefully it worked) supporting his stand - with my twist on encouraging people to forget gastric surgery and put all that energy on changing behavior and thought process. 

In case your were wondering :)  My book  WiTHIN You Now!™    will be out soon!  Stay tuned!

Click on this link for Dr. Joes' article and my comments:

Obesity – A Behavioural Not Surgical Problem http://nblo.gs/bGOKw

Great Success Story - NO SURGERY!

Great article in USA Today (Thurs. Feb 3, 2011) Life Section page 10D.  A 49 year old man lost 181 pounds in 18 months to get ready for a golf trip to Scotland.  He now "walks and carries", feels great and had a wonderful golf trip to Scotland!  He went to Weight Watchers (great organization).  The most interesting statement he made was the following:  "I have to think and concentrate on my food and exercise choices every day"!! 

Stay on top of what's going on with nutritional guidelines!  Check out the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture's 2010 update on Dietary Guidelines at:

www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines very interesting!  Notice on the food Pyramid the guidelines for "fats".....very, very small portion of the diet should consists of fats and oils.  Also, the guidelines for anything containing sugar (baked goods, sugary soda, etc.) are interesting!

Bottom line, according to the HHS and USDA statements, only 10% of Americans follow a healthy diet - we are a nation of overweight and obese (2/3rds of our population is either overweight or obese).  It's time to lose weight and get more exercise!

Get informed, get in shape -  Today is the best day to start!!  Check out the guidelines and let me know what you think of them and how you are doing on your weight management plan!

A nice success story!

Great article in USA Today (Thurs. Feb 3, 2011) Life Section page 10D.  A 49 year old man lost 181 pounds in 18 months to get ready for a golf trip to Scotland.  He now "walks and carries", feels great and had a wonderful golf trip to Scotland!  He went to Weight Watchers (great organization).  The most interesting statement he made was the following:  "I have to think and concentrate on my food and exercise choices every day"!! 

Stay on top of what's going on with nutritional guidelines!  Check out the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture's 2010 update on Dietary Guidelines at:

www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines very interesting!  Notice on the food Pyramid the guidelines for "fats".....very, very small portion of the diet should consists of fats and oils.  Also, the guidelines for anything containing sugar (baked goods, sugary soda, etc.) are interesting!

Bottom line, according to the HHS and USDA statements, only 10% of Americans follow a healthy diet - we are a nation of overweight and obese (2/3rds of our population is either overweight or obese).  It's time to lose weight and get more exercise!

Get informed, get in shape -  Today is the best day to start!!  Check out the guidelines and let me know what you think of them and how you are doing on your weight management plan!

Specific Recommendations - Carbs and Grains

YEAH!!  Someone left a great comment on my blog posting regarding my recent comments on daily intake of Carbs and daily intake of Grains.  Thank you for your comments and thank you for being interested and informed regarding the importance of a healthy diet.  Diet recommendations (particularly the low carb high fat diets) are still controversial, and much research is being conducted to determine the best route to a healthy lifestyle.  My reader referred to an article http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/20/health/la-he-carbs-20101220/2 which referenced a study wherein a group of people with metablic syndrome were put on either a low carb, high fat diet or a low fat high carb diet (each group was allowed 1,500 daily calories).  The results demonstrated the lower carb, high fat group showed lower trigs and higher HDLs (these are good things) at the end of the study. I looked further into the study and it showed the HFLC diet ratio of 59F/28P/12C vs the LFHC diet ratio of 24F/20P/56C. This study may prove that this type of restricted diet may be suited for people who don't metabolize or tolerate carbs well (such as the cohort involved in the study who had metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance).  I agree that most people DO eat too many carbs and not enough of the "right" type of carbs (should stick to complex carbs)! Even so, many dieters may find living with extremely small amounts of carbs and large amounts of fat and protein (as suggested in the popular diet plans marketed), impossible to keep up for the long term. Americans as a group do suffer from carb, calorie overload and lack of exercise, which can have an impact on the development of "metabolic syndrome". Too many carbs and calories and not enough exercise are a nationwide problem. My reader also indicated that the recommendations of 6 servings of grains daily was a bit much.  The 6 servings of grains daily is probably difficult to maintain, yes. The new US Dietary Guidelines just released and US.Gov Food Pyramid recommends for daily intake of whole grains:  "3 oz equivalents for adults" with "one ounce" equaling in general 1 slice of ww bread, 1 cup of ready to eat cereal, or 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, cooked whole wheat pasta, or cooked ww cereal.  (Some refined grains such as white rice, white pasta are tasty and can be good for us because they may be fortified with folic acid and other essential nutrients, but need to be limited). If we can encourage people to eat at least 3 servings daily of whole grains along with some fruits and veggies and a diet that is satisfying, healthy and easy with which to comply, and plenty of exercise, we may be able to make some headway in fighting the battle of obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes that is plaguing our country.    Thank you again for your comments and insight!

LA Times Health

I've been following a blog about two crazy guys who are "into" the LA scene and trying to lose weight on a 6 week challenge @LATimesHealth (I'm following LATimesHealth on Twitter).  Lots of fun to actually witness (blog style witness) people realizing that weight loss and weight management is not an "event" or "episode", rather it is a lifestyle and forever.  I love these guys.

Watched "The Hills" yesterday just for fun.  WOW, those girls have their own dialect...amazing (and I don't use that word often).  Somehow they speak from the back of their throat, words run together with no emphasis on either vowels or consonants - basically unintelligible.  It is a "version" of Valley Girl speak of the 80's.  AND -  they drink like Sailors.  They must have rich parents, because like June Cleavor, I never see them work!?!?!?

Bottom line and "in line" with this blog....they are very thin - don't ever see them eat either.  Not a lifestyle that meets my parameters for healthy living and would not consider them "role models".  My suggestion - let's stop watching that dumb show.

YOUR Plan

Atkins just revised the diet - now adding more carbs. Good.  Very difficult to digest proteins without carbs.  Digesting proteins without carbs is like trying to water ski in a lake full of peanut butter...not fun.  Think more in terms of Weight Watchers and using your own good sense to make the right choices - life at every turn presents new challenges, no matter what "plan" you are "planning" to follow.  The best plan is one that incorporates how to deal with all of those "not planned" events - you know, the event that smacks you upside the head and then you put off until tomorrow what you need to be doing today - 

In today’s world of instant information access overload, discerning what, when, how, where and why to eat is challenging!  Indeed, careful consideration and some professional counsel are essential in determining the best plan for you and your lifestyle.  However, the greatest challenge is finding the answer to the ever present, ever elusive question of how to consistently implement the best and healthiest plan every day and for a lifetime.

Stay tuned for the answers in WiTHIN You Now!™  by Dr. Stacey Hilton-Davis  ....coming soon on e books and print.  I will keep you posted.

Allow your carbs to be as complex as YOU!

About a decade ago (or more), the big push was for a low carb high protein diet.  Everyone went coo coo over eliminating carbs from their diet and chowing down on high fat proteins such as beef, bacon and cheese.  America's desperation to lose weight was so HUGE that they refused to look at the lack of science behind the claims and looked at the new "low carb high protein diet" as their instant pathway to losing weight.  A colleague (Registered Dietitian) and I had a scary experience with the public's madness over "low carb" that almost got us beaten up by an angry mob of people who came to listen to our lecture entitled: "Facts about the new low carb diet craze"....  The people attending the lecture thought we were going to tell them how wonderful a low carb diet is and WOW were they angry when we tried to enlighten them on the benefits of complex carbohydrates!!  They did everything but throw fruits and veggies at us!!  Fortunately for everyone, since that time, the low carb frenzy has died down, and people are coming to grips with the truth about the necessity of eating foods rich in complex carbohydrates.  As a matter of fact, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans issued by the Department of Human and Health Services recommend that 55% of daily total calories should consist of foods rich in complex carbohydrates.  This means you should be consuming 2 1/2 cups of veggies, 2 cups of fruit, six servings of grains (including three servings of whole grains such as whole-grain breads, cereals, pasta, rice and beans. 

Learn to love complex carbohydrates - they are rich in fiber, which aids in weight loss.