Wells Weighs In: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

BLACK FOREST HAM – ONLY 290 CALORIES AND 4.5 GRAMS FAT!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Learn more. Click here.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Easy ways to cut breakfast calories

The following suggestions are courtesy of America on the Move:

Select nonfat or 1% milk instead of whole milk.
Use a small glass for your juice and a small bowl for your cereal
Savor a bowl of bananas, berries, low-fat milk, and sugar substitute instead of a sweet roll.
Choose light yogurt made with no-calorie sweetener.
Split a bagel with someone, or wrap up the other half for tomorrow's breakfast.
Substitute a no-calorie sweetener for sugar in your coffee, tea and cereal.
Use a nonstick skillet and cooking spray in place of butter or margarine to prepare your eggs.
Spread your muffin, bagel, or toast with 2 tablespoons of fat-free cream cheese in place of regular cream cheese.
Substitute no-sugar-added jelly or jam for the sugar-rich varieties.
Select lean ham or Canadian bacon in place of regular sausage or bacon.
Fill your omelet with onions, peppers, spinach and mushrooms instead of cheese and meat.
Lighten up your omelet, frittata, or scrambled eggs by using 4 egg whites or 1/2 cup egg substitute.

TURKEY BREAST & HAM – ONLY 300 CALORIES AND 4 GRAMS OF FAT!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

New dietary guidelines

Every five years, the USDA and HHS update the dietary guidelines that form the basis of U.S. nutritional policy. The new 2010 guidelines, more than ever before, focus on scientific evidence as distilled from last summer's advice from an expert advisory panel.

The new dietary guidelines focus on two major themes:

• watching calories to achieve and maintain a healthy weight
• tipping the balance of calorie intake: More calories from nutrition-rich foods, fewer calories from solid fats, sugars, and refined grains

Monday, March 21, 2011

March Weigh-Ins

Congratulations to all of the Wells Weighs In participants for your weight loss efforts to date. We are now at the halfway point. With two months left, there is still time to push through any setbacks you may have had and reach your weight loss goals. You can do it!

Eat (a good) Breakfast

Every. Single. Day. If you don't, your body goes into starvation mode (it's paranoid like that), so your metabolism slows to a crawl to conserve energy, Berardi says. And the heartier your first meal is, the better. In one study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, volunteers who got 22 to 55 percent of their total calories at breakfast gained only 1.7 pounds on average over four years. Those who ate zero to 11 percent of their calories in the morning gained nearly three pounds. In another study published in the same journal, volunteers who reported regularly skipping breakfast had 4.5 times the risk of obesity as those who took the time to eat.

What should you be having? Morning munchies that are slow to digest and leave you feeling fuller longer. Try a mix of lean protein with complex carbohydrates and healthy fats, like this power breakfast, recommended by Berardi: an omelet made from one egg and two egg whites and a half cup of mixed peppers and onions, plus a half cup of cooked steel-cut oats mixed with a quarter cup of frozen berries and a teaspoon of omega-3-loaded fish oil.

Learn more, click here.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Why you're not seeing fitness results this year

CNN.com:

Remember those resolutions in the beginning of the year -- you were going to get in shape, exercise regularly and take fitness classes?

It's now the end of January. Are you still doing it?

It's cold -- there's snow outside. Work and family demands are too much. There's no time to squeeze in a workout.

January is the busiest month of the year for Mike Littrel, president and CEO of X3 Sports gyms in Atlanta.

"January is the natural reset point for people -- it's the beginning of the year. The holidays are over. It's a natural time for people to make a change and a shift in their life," he said....

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Study: Kids' weight increases when mom works more

CNN.com:

The length of a mother's employment is associated with an increase in her child's body mass index, according to a study in the journal Child Development.

It's not the first study to suggest that moms' working hours and kids' weight might be related, but it's likely to peeve some mothers.

"It's not causal, it's an association," said lead author Taryn Morrissey about the trends.

"Nobody found a single smoking gun as a cause of childhood obesity. We found quite a small, but (statistically) significant increase in the body mass index of children. This increase is associated with maternal employment."

Morrissey and her co-authors observed the increase in children's BMI -- which, at third grade, was approximately a 1-pound gain for every six months the child's mother worked. The weight gain was cumulative and the link became stronger as the children matured into fifth- and sixth-grade in the analysis of 900 children....

Learn more, click here.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Former football pro helping fattest state get fit

CNN.com:

(CNN) -- Mississippi, the most obese state in the United States, needs to shed pounds. A former pro football player turned fitness coach wants to make it happen.

The Magnolia State has an adult obesity rate of 33% and has the highest rate of overweight and obese children in the country, but Paul Lacoste said he's inspired to help his home state get fit.

"It's time for Mississippi to get in shape and show the world we can beat obesity," said the 36-year-old coach from Madison.

Lacoste attended high school in Jackson, played football at Mississippi State University where he was an All-SEC and All-America selection in 1996, and then had a brief career in the NFL, CFL and XFL . He said his football career provided him with the tools he needed to be in top physical shape and he now wants to share these lessons with his home state.....

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Holy mole and nopales: A taste of Austin

CNN.com

Eatocracy’s got boots on the ground at the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, and we’re prepping for the third edition of our Secret Supper . While we're down here, we're immersing ourselves in the local tastes that not only “keep Austin weird” but also make it uniquely delicious.

Here’s what’s on the menu.

Blue Bell – Although technically based out of Brenham, Texas, a little ways south of Austin, the Blue Bell brand of ice cream has a cult following in the capital city and is sold in many places around town.

Despite only being available in about a quarter of the nation’s supermarkets, Blue Bell ice cream is consistently found in the top three best-selling ice creams in the United States. It offers year-round flavors like Cookies n' Cream and Homemade Vanilla, and seasonal.....