Thursday, May 21, 2009

What's Your Diet Type? -- Find Yours Today!

Common Weight Loss Mistakes

Registered Dietician Gives the Skinny on Getting Thin

Heather Jones R.D., has some startling news: your plans to lose pounds could actually make you not only gain weight, but also make you less healthy.  Jones, author of the new book What’s Your Diet Type?, points out the key ways to stay slim and healthy with her list of the top eight most common mistakes made by dieters.   

 

Not eating enough:  Drastically cutting calories sends your body into starvation mode. The “starving” body actually slows down its metabolism so it can maintain its weight.  The trick is to reduce your calories enough to lose weight, but not so much that you negatively affect your metabolism.

 

Not exercising: Diet and exercise go together like Ginger and Fred and peanut butter and jelly.  Both are good parts that, together, make an even better pair. In fact, studies show that weight loss results are much more effective with a combo of decreased calories and increased physical activity.

 

Completely cutting out favorite foods:  No food or drink is so high in calories, fat, or sugar that including it on occasion within overall healthy eating habits is going to cause a problem.  It’s better to moderate than to try to eliminate.

 

Changing what you eat, but not what you drink: Drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are an easy way to load you diet with extra calories. Sodas, coffee drinks, cocktails, and even nutritious drinks—like milk and 100% juice—can spell trouble for your caloric bottom-line. 

 

Skipping meals: When you skip meals, your metabolism drops and you may also tend to overeat at your next meal. Research show people who eat breakfast (the most commonly skipped meal) are more successful at weight loss then people who ditch their morning meal.

 

Following the latest fad diet: Fad diets, which usually promise speedy weight loss and insist you cut out certain foods or even entire food groups, are not long-term solutions.  Not only are these unbalanced diets unhealthy, dieters regain any weight lost more often than not.

 

Taking diet pills: Diet pills don’t teach you how to make long-term, healthy changes, and they don’t build fat-burning muscle.

 

Forgetting about your own wants and needs:  Research shows that a moderate weight loss of around two pounds per week through healthy, varied food choices, physical activity and permanent lifestyle solutions is the best (and only way) to lose the weight and keep it off.  Bottom line: You have to find lifestyle solutions that work for you and your own unique personality. 

 

Learn more about dieting do’s and don’ts in What’s Your Diet Type? available on Amazon.com, Hatherleighpress.com, and all other major book retailer websites and stores. 

 

What’s Your Diet Type? by Heather K. Jones R.D., Mary Miscisin M.S. and Ed Redard M.D will help you find a weight loss approach that will work for you—for good. With a short, simple Quiz based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®), the world’s most trusted and widely used personality type assessment, you can match your personality to one or more of the four Diet Types: the Diet Planner, Diet Player, the Diet Feeler, and the Diet Thinker. Then, learn how to take advantage of your personality’s unique strengths to lose weight and keep it off—forever.  You’ll learn the basics of nutrition and diet and you’ll find solutions that will work for YOU, including healthy eating strategies and quick tips.

 

 

# # #

What’s Your Diet Type?

Use the Power of Your Personality to Discover Your Best Way to Lose Weight

A Hatherleigh Book, Distributed by Random House

978-1-57826-287-8, cloth $19.00

# # #

 

For interview requests, review copies, or additional information, please contact Mary Woodward at 718-786-5338, ext. 207 or mary@hatherleighpress.com.

 

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Volunteers Needed for Diet Test Panel in NYC

Prevention Magazine is looking for men 35 to 65 who want to drop pounds and inches around the midsection with a new, flexible meal plan. The plan comprises 2 phases. The first is 4 days of structured meals and snacks to jumpstart your weight loss. The second phase is 28 days of eating 5 mini-meals from a host of quick meal ideas and easy-to-follow recipes. Your meal plan will provide adequate calories and a balance of protein, carbohydrate, fat and fiber.

If you meet ALL of the following criteria:

Age 35 to 65
Have 15 to 50 pounds to lose
Physician clearance to lose weight
Are willing/able to follow the plan for a month (32 days)
Are willing to be interviewed and have your photo in a book and/or national magazine
Are willing to come to New York City for a meeting in mid June and once in mid July
Are willing to maintain brief daily communication (i.e., email, one-on-one e-chat, or phone) with a registered dietitian during the month

If you're interested, please send a digital full body photo to Milton Stokes, MPH, RD, CDN at miltonstokes@gmail.com by May 27, and include the following information:Name Email address Phone number (daytime & evening) Age Occupation Current Weight Height
Highest adult weight
Lowest adult weight
Desired weight
What is your weekly exercise schedule?Have you lost weight in the past? If so, how much? How did you do it?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Toddler Nutrition

A post I did for Toddler's Dad blog:

Question: My child is underweight. How can I get him to eat more?

Answer:
Underweight could be related to medical problems or just to a restricted diet. Either way, I make sure each pediatric patient’s growth is charted on a growth chart. We need to monitor trends and patterns. Sometimes underweight really isn’t a problem; trending positively in the right direction matters more. Provided there are no medical abnormalities, then we can quite simply address diet.

What parent hasn’t experienced concern and frustration when a toddler doesn’t eat what we think they should eat. But take note: A little one’s ability to regulate dietary intake is in fact as close to perfection as it’ll ever be for his entire life. Yes! They may not finish everything on their plate or eat their cruciferous veggies. This is normal. Children are true experts at regulating their intakes: one meal might be scant; another quite large. The result is ideal balance. Overall intake is what matters most. It’s not until well-intentioned adults (i.e., grandparents?) who interject insisting a child clean his plate that problems arise. This teaches the child to override his inherent ability to regulate dietary intake. In my practice, I insist families eliminate membership in the Clean Plate Club. Eat when hungry; stop when full.

Another consideration for a child’s eating pattern is that introducing new, unfamiliar foods takes time and patience. Research and my professional experience confirms that what a parent does—role modeling during meals—is the most important way to encourage healthful eating. Avoid food fights and food struggles. Gentle episodes of exposure to new foods—as many as to or more separate occasions—may be required ten successfully expand a child’s intake.

Happy eating!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Eating Healthfully on a Budget

A Low-Cost Bill Of Health

Dietitians Dish Out Advice On Filling Your Plate Without Emptying Your Pockets

By THERESA SULLIVAN BARGER
Special to The Courant

March 19 2009

If you're looking to stretch your grocery dollars, the freezer is your friend. So are store brands, sales, grocery-store circulars, unit prices and shopping lists.

The complete article can be viewed at:http://www.courant.com/features/food/hc-nutrition-budget.artmar19,0,2356253.story

Visit Courant.com at http://www.courant.com

Sunday, March 15, 2009

10 Reasons to see a Registered Dietitian

American Dietetic Association’s Top Ten Reasons Why Consulting with a Registered Dietitian Can Benefit You

You have diabetes, cardiovascular problems or high blood pressure. An RD serves as an integral part of your health-care team by helping you safely change your eating plan without compromising taste or nutrition.

You are thinking of having or have had gastric bypass surgery. Since your stomach can only manage small servings, it’s a challenge to get the right amount of nutrients in your body. An RD will work with you and your physician to develop an eating plan for your new needs.

You have digestive problems. A registered dietitian will work with your physician to help fine-tune your diet so you are not aggravating your condition with fried foods, too much caffeine or carbonation.

You’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant. A registered dietitian can help make sure you get nutrients like folate, especially during the first three months of pregnancy, lowering your newborn’s risk for neural tube or spinal cord defects.

You need guidance and confidence for breastfeeding your baby. A registered dietitian can help make sure you’re getting enough iron, vitamin D, fluoride and B vitamins for you and your little one.

Your teenager has issues with food and eating healthfully. A registered dietitian can assist with eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia and overweight issues.

You need to gain or lose weight. A registered dietitian can suggest additional calorie sources for healthy weight gain or a restricted-calorie eating plan plus regular physical activity for weight loss while still eating all your favorite foods.

You’re caring for an aging parent. A registered dietitian can help with food or drug interaction, proper hydration, special diets for hypertension and changing taste buds as you age.

You want to eat smarter. A registered dietitian can help you sort through misinformation; learn how to read labels at the supermarket; discover that healthy cooking is inexpensive, learn how to eat out without ruining your eating plan and how to resist workplace temptations.

You want to improve your performance in sports. A registered dietitian can help you set goals to achieve results — whether you’re running a marathon, skiing or jogging with your dog.

To locate a registered dietitian in your area, visit the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org/.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Doing Dietetics Right


Writing. Editing. Counseling. Teaching. Speaking. Managing. Volunteering.

Just a brief list of some of the wonderful opportunities afforded me as a Registered Dietitian (RD)!

Many people think, "Dietitians work in hospitals." And yes, that's true. But we also work in all aspects of public health, including health promotion, wellness, research, and service. Furthermore, we have private nutrition counseling practices (view mine at http://www.onesourcenutrition.net/); write freelance articles for magazines, such as Men's Health, Cooking Light, and Prevention; edit culinary nutrition textbooks, like The Art of Nutritional Cooking (3rd edition, Pearson/Prentice Hall 2008); and serve as media spokespeople for profit and non-profit groups.

These things I have done, and more!

In nearly 10 years I've enjoyed a career comprising wonderful experiences. Whether helping a patient improve her weight and cholesterol, writing an article for a consumer magazine, teaching a nutrition class to graduate school students, or educating and training under-served populations at health fairs, it's all fulfilling. Few careers allow so much flexibility and variety. I owe it all to obtaining my RD credential.

If you'd like to learn more about RDs and "doing dietetics right," visit http://www.eatright.org/ and email me at info@onesourcenutrition.net. From high school student to career changer, I'm happy to field your questions about nutrition and dietetics.