A friend of mine had a baby several months ago and is struggling to take off about 40 pounds.  It’s an accumulation from two pregnancies - she never lost 20 from the first pregnancy and now is up 20 more from the second pregnancy.  It’s not an uncommon scenario.  With 2 kids to focus on, she said her main problem is she has no time or energy to focus on herself.  She rarely sits down for breakfast or lunch, grabbing whatever is within sight, and for dinner takeout pizza or burgers has become the norm.  Her toddler is a picky eater so PB&J or yogurt tend to be his meal choices, and she often just eats his leftovers. 

As someone who faces some of the same challenges - 3 kids, one a picky toddler, one a 3 month old baby - and hears about them routinely from clients and other friends, I know she’s not alone in her struggle.  You may be dealing with the same challenges - let’s face it, who’s doesn’t feel time and energy crunched? Luckily, I have some suggestions that can work and get her and you on the right track - and the scale moving in the right direction. 

1. Stock up on nutritious foods - frozen and canned work just fine.  Getting to the grocery store is tough and not fun with little kids.  So, I only go once a week - but I always buy loads of fruits and veggies and extras of canned beans and frozen veggie mixes.  I figure out what I need for a few days worth, since fresh doesn’t last that long, then I fill in the rest of the week with the frozen variety.  Having more frozen or canned produce than you need for the week is fine — it lasts. I also buy double the amount of lean protein (chicken breasts, ground turkey, fish, pork tenderloin) than I use in one meal so we can have leftovers for a second night. 

2.  Make it visible. I know I won’t eat the food in the back of the fridge or tucked in some drawer. So I wash the fruit and put it in a bowl on the top shelf. I leave bananas on the counter. I have a bag of baby carrots and hummus on the shelf along with fat free yogurt and light cheese sticks, so I can grab good stuff as soon as hunger strikes.

3. Keep it simple.  I’m not going to start cutting, chopping or prepping anything so food needs to be ready to go.  Whole peaches, plums, apples, blueberries, bagged, precut broccoli - check.  Peppers, melons, cucumbers that need to be washed, peeled and/or sliced - not happening.  Dried fruit, nuts and high fiber granola bars are easy to grab also, just stick to a single serving.

The key to taking off the baby weight for me has been to have good, nutritious food readily available so I’m less likely to reach for a bag of chips or cookies or some other junky convenience food.  Exercise has been crucial too, but I find that feeding my body the healthy stuff gives me more energy to get moving.  Give it a shot - you’ll see that one healthy decision leads to another.

Tags: baby fat diet tips, lose weight, pregnancy weight, produce, stock up

A study by Danisco USA with over 300 children showed that probiotics twice a day may help cut cold symptoms (click here for more details).  Low fat yogurts are a great source of carbs, calcium, protein and probiotics — throw some fruit in and you have a great breakfast, snack or addition to your lunch.  In my house we all drink a Danactive every morning and throughout the day will eat a yogurt — all of us, including kids and hubby.  Try it!

Tags: baby fat diet, healthy eating, probiotics, weight loss

It is easy to get stuck eating more carbs than you should.  With that said, carbs are important for energy and mental well being.  It is the preferred fuel for your muscles and is the fuel for your brain — so, it is important to eat your carbs.  (Stick with whole grain sources and try for 6-8 servings of carbs/day — notice serving sizes.  To review serving sizes go to mypyramid.gov.)  But it is also important to eat healthy, low-saturated sources of protein.  Many times, our sources of protein also contain high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol.  Here are a few easy ideas to help you add healthy protein to your day.

Breakfast -

- add tofu to your scrambled eggs, include one whole egg, some eggs whites or Egg Beaters and add as much tofu as you want.  For extra protein (and international flair) you can eat your scrambled eggs with 1/2 cup of beans.

- eat low-fat yogurt with fruit

- eat bowl of whole grain cereal made with skim milk

- add wheat germ (2 tbsp=4 g protein) to your cereal, oatmeal, yogurt and even your eggs

Snack

- eat 1-1 1/2 ounces of nuts = 7-10 g protein

Lunch and Dinner

- eat 1/2 cup cooked beans, lentils, soy beans

- add tofu to your sauces, stir-frys and casseroles

- add wheat germ to your sauces, stir-frys, casseroles and baked goods (replace up to 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup wheat germ)

- drink skim milk with meal

Tags:

By now you probably know that omega-3s offer an abundance of health benefits to you and your baby, right? DHA, a type of omega-3, is crucially important to babies eye and brain development. It’s the reason most infant formulas are fortified with DHA and why pregnant and nursing moms should be taking a prenatal vitamin with DHA (eg. CitraNatal + DHA) or a separate DHA supplement (eg. Expecta Lipil).  It’s why many foods are now fortified with DHA, such as Yoplait Kids yogurts, Horizon Organic milk W/DHA Omega-3, Silk soymilk Plus Omega-3 DHA, and Minute Maid Blueberry Pomegranate Juice. 

A new study is showing that we should not only focus on having our omega-3s when we’re expecting or nursing, and give them to our children, but they are just as important as we age. This study from the American Journal of Pathology found that a diet high in omega-3s may prevent one of the leading causes of blindness in people over 65 called macular degeneration.  Thanks to numerous health benefits, such as reducing risk of heart disease, stroke and possibly mental decline as we age, omega-3s are turning out to be one super nutrient.  In addition to the fortified foods I mentioned before, fatty fish and enriched eggs (eg. Egglands Best) are rich in omega-3s.

Tags: blindness, CitraNatal, DHA, Egglands Best, Expecta Lipil, fatty fish, heart disease, Horizon Organic milk, macular degeneration, Minute Maid Blueberry Pomegranate juice, omega-3s, Silk soymilk Plus, stroke, super nutrient, Yoplait Kids

Summertime is a great time to enjoy a cool drink.  I stick a pitcher of water in my fridge with some kiwi slices and strawberries — you get a hint of flavor from the fruit and it definitely encourages me to drink more water.  Cucumber and lemon slices also work well for a refreshing make-your-own flavored water. Let the water steep for a few hours in the fridge to develop the full flavor.

Here’s a great recipe for a smoothie that’s an excellent breakfast, snack or even dessert choice when you want something refreshing with a well-balanced nutritional profile.  With the fiber and protein, this will tide you over for a while.  

Orange Mango Smoothie

2 Weetabix Whole Grain biscuits

1 1/2 cups plain soy milk

1 1/2 cups frozen mango chunks

1/2 ripe banana

1/2 cup orange juice

Combine biscuits and the soy milk in a blender; let stand for 2 minutes. Add the mango, banana and orange juice. Blend on high for 1 minute or until smooth. Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition facts (1 serving = 1 1/2 cups): 291 calories, 7 g pro, 3 g fat (0 g sat fat), 0 mg chol, 61 g carbs, 5 g fiber.

Tags: drink recipes, make-your-own flavored water, orange mango smoothie, refreshing

I’ve found a quick, healthy and yes, delicious dinner idea that even my kids gobbled up – it’s salad. I know it sounds silly - salad for dinner?! - but these are no ordinary salads. These are make-your-own, throw-in-everything-in-the-fridge, mega salads. I pull out all of the ingredients I can find in the house and each person gets to pick the items that go in his salad.  This meal is perfect for when you are completely unprepared and have no idea what to make for dinner.  (That happens to be how I discovered this meal idea in the first place.)  Here are some of the ingredients that made up our yummy creations:

• peppers (red, orange, green, yellow)
• cucumber
• tomatoes
• onions
• carrots
• celery
• strawberries
• dried cranberries
• blueberries
• apple or pear, diced
• mango cubes
• mandarin oranges
• sunflower seeds
• slivered almonds
• chick peas
• black beans
• edemame
• shredded cheese
• cubed, cooked chicken breast
• deli turkey or ham
• cooked shrimp 
• tuna
• dressing of your choosing     

Believe it or not, I had almost all of these ingredients in the house – some were canned and frozen versions, a great thing to stock up on for just these times.  My husband and I have our picks over a bed of chopped romaine lettuce on big dinner plates. The kids don’t always like the lettuce so they can pick other veggies and fix-ins.  I have to say, it’s one of the easiest and most filling meals.  Plus, I felt so good about our well-balanced dinner.  There are a million other ingredients you can throw in salad.  What other ideas do you have?

Tags: dinner idea, easy meal, filling meal, salad

A new survey finds that while many people (75%) say they want more healthy items on their menus when eating out, not as many (51%) are actually ordering them.  Expense and taste are two of the main reasons cited. 

As a dietitian, I stress to patients that you have to consider health when eating out. We do it far too often (yes, takeout is “eating out”) to think that we can lose or even just maintain weight without taking into consideration the calories in our restaurant meals.  Luckily establishments are starting to recognize this also and have begun offering healthier fare that does taste great and cost the same as the fattier choices.  Subway has been promoting their new Tuscan Chicken Sandwich, which comes in at less than 9 grams of fat — my husband just tried it and said it’s definitely a tasty lunch.  Dunkin Donuts Flatbread egg white sandwiches are a great bet for breakfast.  And for dinner, the Guiltless Grill Honey Mustard Glazed Salmon at Chili’s comes in at only 420 calories.  The point is there are lots of healthy, delicious choices available and you can always special order what you want to make a healthier meal. The key is that we need to do it, and do it often.

Tags: eating out, healthy meals, restaurant, survey