Wal-Mart has recently agreed to offer healthier food options. Over the next 5 years Wal-Mart will be making changes to reduce the salt, fat, and sugar content of its ‘Great Value’ brand of packaged foods. This healthy move will also include lowering the price on healthy fruits and vegetables.

Wal-Mart announced this decision in Washington D.C. alongside First Lady Michelle Obama who has made healthy eating and physical activity her top priorities.

This is great news for families trying to make ends meet on a tight budget. It’s hard to select healthy foods when pricing makes unhealthy options more budget friendly.

Does this affect you?

Continue reading ‘Will Wal-Mart be the ‘new’ health food store?’ »

If you are like many people across the US it’s a new year and you are thinking about tackling diet and lifestyle changes to lose weight and be healthy.

Here are two top weight loss tips for you to implement this year:

1. Create an action plan.

It takes more than setting a goal to actually achieve your goal. You need to outline a plan of action. This means writing down specific steps you have to take and when/how you are going to take them to ensure you your success.

2. Be realistic.

Continue reading ‘Top Weight Loss Tips for 2011’ »

Hitting weight loss plateaus are a part of the weight loss journey. Don’t let them discourage you!

Here are four areas to begin evaluating first so you can overcome this hurdle and continue losing weight:

1. Too few calories

Continue reading ‘4 Steps to Overcome a Weight Loss Plateau’ »

An FDA panel consisting of 20 experts voted 13 to 7 in favor of approving the weight loss drug Contrave, with an abstention that additional studies be conducted related to heart risks. Safety concerns were considered, but it was determined that the pros of the medication outweighed the cons. Two weight loss drugs were rejected by the FDA panel just this past October due to safety concerns.

What is Contrave?

The weight loss drug Contrave is a combination of the antidepressant buproprion and the anti-addiction drug naltrexone. Some of the side effects reported by the FDA include high blood pressure, dizziness, and insomnia.

Continue reading ‘A New Weight Loss Drug’ »

A study conducted by the American Cancer Society examined the link between waist circumference and mortality in 48,500 men and 56,343 women. All participants were age 50 or older. Over a 14 year period, 9,315 men and 5,332 women died.

The study found that large waist circumferences were linked to about twice the risk of death during the study period. A large waist circumference was defined as 47 inches or greater in men and 42 inches or greater in women.

A large waist circumference was linked to increased risk even in individuals with a normal body weight.

What is a healthy waist circumference?

Continue reading ‘Are you abdominally obese?’ »

If you typically do not eat breakfast your body adapts to this and you will not feel hungry. Also, serotonin levels are actually highest in the morning and serotonin reduces hunger. So, yes to increase your appetite for breakfast start small and work your way up. Even when you are doing a very small breakfast it’s important to have a balance of protein/carbs/fat. For example, have 1 Tbsp of peanut butter with your banana.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Health Made Easy
http://lisanelsonrd.com/behearthealthy.html

Breastfeeding and moderate maternal weight gain during pregnancy can both play an important role in preventing childhood obesity, according to a review of the medical literature highlighted in the current issue of the new bimonthly, print and online journal Childhood Obesity, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

About 1 in 3 children in the United States older than two years of age is overweight or obese. Clinical researchers are taking a close look at maternal and nutritional factors during pregnancy and infancy that could contribute to an increased risk of obesity during childhood.

Ruth Lawrence, MD, DD (Hon), Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Gynecology at the University of Rochester (NY), describes the “strong” and “consistent” evidence that maternal weight gain of 40 pounds or more during pregnancy increases the risk of childhood obesity. She also reviews studies that demonstrate a link between breastfeeding and a reduced risk of obesity compared to infant formula. Dr. Lawrence explores the possible mechanisms that could explain this protective effect of breastfeeding in the paper entitled, “Does Breastfeeding Protect Against Overweight and Obesity in Children?” These include differences in feeding patterns and the act of suckling, milk volume consumed and satiety cues, and the nutritional and hormonal contents of breast milk compared to formula and how they regulate metabolism and energy balance.

Continue reading ‘Breastfeeding Protects Against Childhood Obesity’ »

Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of education to improve diet in family members of hospitalized cardiovascular disease patients. They used the stages of change questionnaire to determine participant’s readiness to reduce saturated fat intake.

Participants were divided into 2 groups. One group was the control (received no education) and one group received special intervention with diet education tailored to each individuals starting “stage of change”.

At the start of the study, cholesterol and saturated fat intake was lowest for participants in the maintenance phase. After 1 year, participants in the special intervention group saw the greatest reductions in cholesterol and saturated fat intake. This group was also less likely to revert to a prior stage of change. For example, they were less likely to go from “action” back to “contemplation”.

Why am I sharing this study?

Continue reading ‘Changing Habits – How successful will you be?’ »

If you are overweight or obese it’s necessary to make diet and lifestyle changes to lose weight and reduce your health risks. However, this means changing your habits.

If you typically grab fast food for lunch are you willing to switch and start packing a well balanced lunch instead?

If you include very little physical activity in your daily routine are you willing to shift your priorities to fit in physical activity?

Just how great is your desire to lose weight? Is it enough to change your habits?

Continue reading ‘5 Stages of Change – Where do you fall?’ »

Did you know when you diet you are frequently sacrificing vitamins and minerals?

When you diet, you don’t just cut calories, you also reduce your intake of vitamins and minerals.

Standford University researchers evaluated the effects of different diets (Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish) of 300 overweight and obese women. The women reduced their daily caloric intake by 500 calories and all women reduced their overall vitamin and mineral intakes. Vitamin E was reduced the most – 65%.

Researchers were surprised to note that women following the Zone diet actually saw an increase in vitamin A, E, and K intake and no reduction in other nutrients.

When losing weight it’s important to not compromise your overall health. The best bet is a balanced weight loss plan you can stick with long term.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://lisanelsonrd.com