Do Your Favorite Foods Add UP?

In a study published in 2010, it was found that a product’s calories could be 8% higher than what is written on the label. The FDA is responsible for making sure these labels are accurate, but with 3000+ new products coming out each quarter, they can not keep up with the demand. Until the FDA becomes more productive, we are left to decide for ourselves if products are being truthful. The following are three ways to spot inconsistencies:

1. The numbers don’t add up. For instance, total carbohydrates should be the same or greater than the grams of sugar and fiber added together. If a chocolate chip cookie has 3 grams of fiber and 8 grams of sugar, but only has 8 total carbs, it is incorrect and the total calories are wrong as well.

2. 100% nutrients. Cooked foods and pasteurized juices are unlikely to contain high amounts of certain nutrients such as Vitamin C because heat reduces these nutrients. If one of these products states there is 100% of your Vitamin C needs, make sure ascorbic acid is in the ingredient list, meaning it was add\ded after the fact.

3. Sodium is missing. If salt, or any form of it, is on the ingredient list, then it should also be on the label, even if it’s only 5 mg. Always compare the ingredient list to the label.

For more tips on how to read labels, go to www.mindyblack.com

Looking For a Healthy Energy Drink?

The word “energy” has popped up on everything from granola bars to crackers, but what is actually HEALTHY that can give you that energy boost at 3pm? Energy drinks like Red Bull are just caffeine and sugar cocktails bottled in cute little 8 oz. cans. Check out these healthier alternatives to your usual 5 hour energy or Red Bull vice:

- Fruit Smoothies. Fruits carbs and yogurt or protein powders protein help keep blood sugars stable for much longer than your caffeinated soda. Blend 1/2 cup skim milk, 3 tbsp. low fat yogurt, and 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries for the same amount of calories but more fiber and protein than your usual pepsi break!

- Dark Chocolate covered almonds. They have the same filling combo of carbs and protein plus a serving of healthy fat. 13 pieces are just 210 calories, less than the typical latte at Starbucks!

- Yerba Mate tea. Not only does this drink come pre-prepared, but if you by the bagged tea option, you can control the caffeine. The longer it sits, the more caffeine you get in this 5 calorie treat.

- A banana and peanut butter. Same as the smoothie, the protein and carbs help with saitety & with only 170 calories it’s a great pick me up mid day!

For more tips go to www.mindyblack.com

Ever Had a Fried Twinkie?

No? You better find your closest fair and purchase one soon!

Hostess Brands Inc. is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as this week. The privately held Irving, Texas, company, has been facing a cash squeeze amid high labor costs and rising prices for sugar, flour and other ingredients, according to people familiar with the matter. Nearly 36 million packages of Twinkies were sold last year, but that’s not all Hostess produces. They also supply us with Hostess HoHos, DingDongs, Mini Muffins, Snoballs, Fruit Pie, and Donettes. So in honor of this American tradition that soon may be a memory, a recipe to make twinkies “slightly” more nutritious:

Twinkie Kebobs
Items Needed:
•Hostess Twinkies, 1 for each serving
•Strawberries, kiwi, berries, mandarin oranges

DIRECTIONS: Cut each Twinkie into four equal pieces. Stick Twinkies (Through the cake, not the cream!), strawberries and other fruit on kebob rods. Enjoy

For more nutrition know how, go to www.mindyblack.com!

Has the New Year Started to Produce a New You?

As week 1 of the new year comes to an end, have you kept your resolutions? Truth is, 30% of people have already dropped their resolutions after week 1, and only 30% of people will keep their resolutions past 6 months. How can you improve your odds this year?

1. Make a plan- not a goal. If your resolution is to lose weight, choose a timeline for the weight loss- such as “I will lose 5 pounds a month”, create steps to help you achieve that weight loss- such as “walk on the beach every Monday after dinner”, and write it all down so that you can hold yourself accountable.

2.Place your resolution in a visible place so that you can remind and encourage yourself to achieve your goal often.

3.Tell your friends and family. This will help create a support system & they may have similar goals that you can support them with.

4.Put yourself in the position to achieve. If you plan to quit smoking, stay out of smoke-filled bars.

5.Reward yourself when you achieve small successes. If you are working to cut down on how much you spend at restaurants, go out for just a dessert or an appetizer after saving $100 by eating in.

The majority of New Year’s Resolutions deal with becoming healthier. Below are some tips to help you ease into a healthy lifestyle:

· “I want to eat more fruits & vegetables/add fiber/add nutrients to my diet”- bring a piece of fruit to eat with your lunch & shave a carrot to mix in with your mac & cheese or finely shred broccoli for your spaghetti sauce tonight for dinner.

· “I want to cut back on my salt intake”- start playing with seasonings. For instance, try sprinkling cumin or lemon pepper on your steak instead of salt. Or cook with basil, rosemary, and chives to create flavor over using the salt shaker.

· “I want to eat less high-fat fast food”- start pulling through healthier drive-thu’s. Pick a baked potato and salad at Wendy’s or chicken noodle soup and a fruit cup at Chick-Fil-A over chicken nuggets and fries.

· “I want to drink more water”- set a timeline. For instance, drink 1 bottle of water on the way to work, or make the rule that you must drink 2 bottles of water before you reach for the mid-morning diet coke

For more information on how to stay healthy this year, call or email me to set up an appointment!www.mindyblack.com

Avoiding New Year’s Party Pitfalls

Say good-bye to 2011 and ring in the New Year – healthfully.

If you are throwing a New Year’s Eve party, try some of these healthy and tasty ideas to make your party a hit.

Snacks and appetizers:
•Slice fresh vegetables and serve with low-fat dip.
•Low-fat popcorn, pretzels with mustard dip and baked tortilla chips and salsa make great snacks that can remain out for hours.
•Fat-free yogurt tastes great when mixed with salsa and spinach served with low-fat crackers.
•Mix salsa with black beans, baby white corn and cilantro with baked tortilla chips.
•Hummus on flatbread or vegetable sticks.

Desserts:
•Make apple slices and serve with warm, low-fat caramel dip.
•Fruit parfaits with fat-free yogurt.
•Fruit kabobs or angel food cake with powdered sugar and dark chocolate sauce.

And, because New Year’s Eve parties can often last several hours, guests will more than likely be drinking alcohol. If you are one of those guests, try some of these tips to help prevent a hangover on New Years Day.

Go out on a full stomach
When your stomach is full you won’t get drunk as fast, and usually you won’t drink as fast either. It has an effect on both mind and body. This also gives fuel for your body to recover from the alcohol. If going to a party that supplies food, eat a small snack before arriving.

Don’t mix alcohols
Mixing different kinds of alcohols such as beer, liquor, wine and whiskey is a disaster waiting to happen. Not only can it cause painful hangovers, but your body can reacts different to each kind of alcohol.

Stay away from sweet drinks
Sugar is a killer when it comes to drinking. The sugar can cause a spike and crash in your blood sugar level, and therefore spike the intensity and possibility of getting a hangover. Stay away from too many Rum and Cokes, Daiquiris, Margaritas or any other high sugar containing mixed drinks. Not only do these contribute to hangover symptoms, but they also contribute to an excess amount of unwanted calories!

Take vitamins before going out
Many say that our bodies get depleted of nutrients when drinking alcohol, so if you have some Vitamin C and B hanging around, take it before you go out.

Hydrate
Drink as much water or healthy fluids as possible. Drink water all day before you go out, and try to have a glass between alcoholic drinks during the night. Finish the night off with a glass of water or an electrolyte-filled drink such as Gatorade.
The less sleep you get, the harder it is for you body to recuperate. Shoot to get a bare minimum of 6 hours of sleep, preferably 8 or more hours. Resting gives your body more time to recover from the alcohol.

For more information on how to survive the upcoming celebrations, call or email me to set up an appointment!www.mindyblack.com

Food News of the Weird

Instead of reminding you of how to behave this holiday season, or what nutrients to include at your holiday meal, I thought I would review with you the most interesting news to come out of 2011 on nutrition…

1) Man shot dead for eating popcorn during ‘Black Swan’In a screening of the Oscar-nominated film “Black Swan”, a 42 year old man was killed by a 27-year-old man. The reason for the conflict and thereby shooting was that the man was eating popcorn loudly which irritated the other man to such an extent that he got furious and ending in killing the other man. The shooting incident took place in the central multiplex cinema in the Latvian capital, Riga.

2.) Centurion walks 3 miles a day to get a free burgerFor more than 20 years, Catherine Reddoch, has walked 3 miles to reach her local branch of McDonald’s on New Zealand’s North Island. Her mile-and-a-half each-way pilgrimage takes her around an hour where she places the same order every day which is a cheeseburger with no salad or relish, and a hot chocolate. She now receives her order for free.

3.) Mexican woman on hunger strike for royal wedding inviteA 19-year-old woman went on hunger strike outside the British Embassy, demanding tickets for the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton this past February. The woman wanted to attend the wedding as she is the big fan of the royal family and attending the wedding would be a dream come true. The Embassy officials insisted that it’s completely impossible to arrange.

4.) PETA wants town to change name to ‘Tofurky’ People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a group that sounds good on paper. They’re against animal cruelty in any form, including the killing of said animals for the purpose of eating them. Unfortunately for all of us, sometimes PETA executes quite silly publicity stunts.
This Thanksgiving, PETA is attempted to draw attention to the suffering of turkeys by petitioning the town of Turkey, Texas, to change its name to Tofurky, Texas. What will this accomplish? Why, nothing, of course. Although it does help keep PETA’s name in the news. A preemptive press release from the city of Ankara simply said, “Don’t even think about it.”

5) Save the planet: Eat bugsWould you eat the bugs to save the rainforest, cut global carbon emissions? If Mealworm quiche, grasshopper spring rolls and cuisine made from other creepy crawlies was the answer to the global food crisis, shrinking land and, climate-changing carbon emissions would you agree on this? A professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands said insects have more protein than cattle per bite, cost less to raise, consume less water and don’t have much of a carbon footprint. So look for Bugs to come to a menu near you!
Have a great holiday!www.mindyblack.com

Online Weight Loss?

We are 3 weeks away from 65% of you starting some sort of weight loss program- and online scammers have caught on! In years past scammers have created fake blogs telling you how successful “Mary from California” was while using their product. Now, you will notice products ads on reputable sites such as the Wall Street Journal or Dr. Oz’s page. Don’t get suckered in to the hype! Follow these steps to avoid the online weight loss scammers:

1. Ignore where the ad is. Most sites sell their space to ad networks so just because it is seen on a reputable news sites page, does not mean that they endorse it.

2. Don’t fall for before and after pictures. With Computer software, we can change our looks tremendously & usually the “doctors” in the ads are also actors.

3. Beware of free trials. This is a way for companies to sign you up. Your credit card will automatically be charged for monthly deliveries unless you call and cancel. Some companies make it incredibly hard to do so.

4. Don’t buy without a street address. This usually means the supplement is coming from offshore and will be harder to reach if there is a problem.

5. Check for complaints. Go to complaintsboard.com, ripoffreport.com, or consumerlab.com to see if the company already has complaints filed on them.

As always, there is no magic gimmick for weight loss. More exercise, less empty calories will help you to reach your goals. If you need help this year, contact me to set up an appointment at www.mindyblack.com

Stuff Your Stockings, Not Your Waistline this Holiday Season!

Holiday parties frequently offer an abundance – or overabundance – of food choices, large portions and alcohol. The average American takes in an extra 500 calories a day between Thanksgiving and New Years. That’s equal to 4.7 pounds of fat in little over a month!

Just because you’re trying to eat healthfully doesn’t mean you need to avoid celebrations or accept a few extra party pounds. The secret is moderation and balance.

With some forethought, you can enjoy any holiday gathering and keep a healthy perspective:
· Eat small frequent meals throughout the day prior to a holiday party – don’t “save” your calories until the party- you will end up overeating.
· Drink a glass of milk or eat a piece of fruit beforehand – to ward off hunger
· Scan the buffet line first, then walk through limiting your selections
· Limit cookies, cakes and other holiday treats to smaller portions
· Socialize away from the food & always use a plate to eat
. Alternate alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic drinks; drinking alcohol can cause you to eat more

. Bring a healthy option as a gift- that way you will know at least ONE thing is waist friendly!

For more ideas, visit www.mindyblack.com

Happy New Year?!

It’s holiday season, and with that comes the feelings of the right to endulge in anything and everything for the next 30 days! Unfortunately, that leaves us feeling defeated and 5 pounds heavier at the the beginning of the new year. Instead of being 5 pounds further away from your goals 30 days from now, be an over-achiever! Establish your new years’ goals today!

1. Set 2-5 goals:

George Miller, a 1950′s psychologist, proposed that we can only deal with 7 bits of information at any one time. Any more information and we need to group things into more memorable, manageable chunks. So when you create your New Year master plan, keep goals down to a manageable number and group similar areas.

2. The proof is in the details:

Keep New Years resolutions by writing your goals in enough detail for everyone to understand and agree what’s meant. So if your goal is to run a 5K, set out a weekly plan of when and how far you will be running as well as a date that you will run the 5K.

3. Keep it real!

You are more likely to achieve realistic goals. That’s not to say you can’t shoot for the stars and pursue your dreams; break up your mega goal into smaller, more manageable mini goals, and you’re more likely to achieve your dream. If your goal is to eat clean, but currently eat most meals out of a to-go paper bag, start with one meal a day that is fresh and non-processed.

For more information on how to stay healthy this winter, go to www.mindyblack.com to set up an appointment!

Last Minute Thanksgiving Tips

1. Eat a normal breakfast.
2. If your meal is at 3 or so, eat a large snack at lunch time.
3. If your meal is not until evening, have a small lunch, and a small
snack around 3.
4. Make sure you can see your plate under your food. Leave spaces between
food choices.
5. Try not to nibble beforehand. If you must, nibble from a plate and
socialize away from the food table.
6. Drink LOTS of water!!!
7. Have a start and stop point for your alcohol drinking.
8. Realize that there will be leftovers, so watch your portions!!!
9. If you are cooking, use splenda brown sugar, light butter substitutes,and herbs & seasonings over salt.
10. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

for more ideas on how to stay on track during the holidays, go to www.mindyblack.com