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Even the best planned diet can come unstuck at a Christmas party, birthday dinner or barbecue. Often the temptations are just too great. Yet models have some of the most active social lives of anyone, so exactly how do they do it and stay so slim?

It take real discipline, but there are also plenty of tips and tricks that we use as models. Events like these are not just for fun, they are a part of the social networking that goes into a successful modeling career.

This page is about how models manage to diet successfully without compromising a fun social life.

Restaurant Food

When faced with a delicious menu, its all too easy to let your stomach do the ordering rather than your brain! Here are some tips to help you stay on track when eating out in a restaurant.

• At buffets, pick up the smallest plate you can find. Whatever size you choose, you will usually feel compelled to fill it!
• Drink a Diet Coke or a cup of green tea before dinner, both will help to reduce your appetite. Going to a restaurant when you’re really hungry is tempting fate.
• Don’t follow the crowd and order a 3 course meal. If you feel that you have to, try to choose light options like a consommé, fruit plate or sorbet.
• Order an appetizer instead of a main course – portions have grown in recent years and you really don’t need more.
• Don’t order anything with sauce. That grilled chicken may sound light, but not if its drowning in a creamy sauce! In an Italian restaurant, order the tomato-based sauces rather than the cream-based ones.
• Order your food steamed, baked, grilled or poached, rather than fried or deep fried.
• Substitute salad for the fries or potatoes that come with your meal.
• Watch your salad dressing! Caesar salad can be just as fattening as a burger.
• If the waiter brings you bread before the meal, send it right back or you’ll end up full before the meal.
• You don’t need to finish the whole meal, or have that extra helping. Most restaurants are happy to provide a doggy bag.
• Be prepared to face diet saboteurs – when your friend says “go ahead, the cheesecake here is divine, one piece won’t hurt”, remember that you chose a healthy main course. Why blow it with an extra 400 calories!

Cocktail Parties

After a couple of drinks and a few rounds of the hors d’oeuvres tray, you suddenly realise that you’ve consumed about 3,000 calories without even realizing it. That’s a pretty typical experience around Christmas time, but there are simple ways to survive a cocktail party without putting on five pounds.

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• Foods to avoid on the snacks table – samosas, chicken nuggets etc. Stay away from anything fried or covered in sauce.
• By drinking Diet Coke with your cocktail, you can control your appetite and be better prepared when the hors d’oeuvres come around.
• Find a place far away from the snacks table and do all your socializing there. Don’t be one of those people loitering around the hors d’oeuvres
• Limit yourself to one snack at a time. Eating slowly will help you to eat less.
• Aim for dishes like the hummus platter, with carrot and celery to dip. Even though hummus has a lot of calories, eating the vegetables will help.

During the holidays it’s important not to tell yourself it’s the holidays and pig out thoughtlessly. Before you know it from Thankgiving until New Years will add up to 10-15 lbs. You can keep the scale from creeping too much up if you try to stay on track somewhat.

Alcoholic Drinks

When you have a birthday party or a work event to go to, its often extremely hard to avoid having a drink or two. Here are some tips to make sure that you don’t ruin your diet in the process.

• Light beers have fewer calories and will slow down your drinking.
• Order your drinks with soda instead of tonic. Tonic has a surprising number of calories. The fruit juices in bars are full of sugar and even worse.
• For a little more flavor to your drink, try Diet Coke or Diet Sprite as a mixer.
• Try a white wine spritzer (white wine and soda). Its a great low calorie summer drink.
• If you need to have a glass of wine, drink it with your meal rather than beforehand. Otherwise it will stimulate your appetite and destroy any willpower

1. Keep a Food Diary

Writing down every bite and sip in your food journal can be an invaluable tool for a successful diet. It can help you track what you are eating, and make you understand how much you are really consuming. Try writing down the calories net to each entry too.

2. Keep Snacks in the House

A common mistake of most dieters is to take all snacks out the house. Models know that snacking throughout the day is actually a key element of successful dieting. Everyone gets hunger pangs – just make sure that when you lose your willpower its with healthy, low-fat snacks rather than pizza or icecream.

Great ideas for healthy snacks are low-fat yoghurt, sweet potatoes, edamame and salted popcorn. Try to carry snacks with you when you leave the house too. A healthy nut bar in your purse will prevent you from stopping in at McDonalds on the way home.

3. Quit the Emotional Eating

Let’s face it life is difficult! Many of us make excuses that bottle of wine or box of chocolates on a bad day. Perhaps you’ve lost your job, broke up with your significant other, or had a disagreement with a friend. Learning to deal with the pains of life without turning to food is an important habit to create.

Try to get stuck into doing something you love, like a hobby or your favorite exercise, when life deals you a blow. Alternatively, consider seeking professional help with emotional eating issues.

4. Don’t Order the Sauce

Believe it or not, restaurant food doesn’t have to be a dieter’s nightmare. Dishes like salads, grilled meat and fish are perfectly fine for calorie-counting diners.. as long as you don’t put a thick, creamy sauce on top of them.

Order dishes without sauces if you can. If you really have to, go for something light like a soy sauce or vinaigrette. In an Italian restaurant, try the sauces with a tomato base as they will generally be lighter.

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5. Grill, Baby, Grill!

OK, baking and steaming are fine too, but you get the point! You have to steer clear of fried food if you want to lose weight. When you cook, try to use the absolute minimum of oil. Many foods contain natural oils that speed the cooking process anyway, there’s just no need for spoonfuls of cooking oil.

6. Spice It Up!

Boost your metabolism with spicy food, it really works! Spicy food can make you feel more full, and it also gives your system a kickstart, forcing it to burn more calories.

You have to be careful though – lots of spicy dishes in restaurants are extremely high in calories.

Add ingredients like black pepper, ginger and chilli peppers to your home cooking for a flavourful way to increase your weight loss.

7. Frozen Fruit

Before you go to bed at night, throw some fruit in the freezer. It can be grapes, berries, or whatever’s left in your fruit bowl just sliced up. The next day you have a nutritious, healthy snack ready for you.

There are two reasons why this is a great diet tip. Firstly, you will be forced to eat the frozen fruit slower than if it were at room temperature. Secondly, the lower temperature makes your body work harder, increasing your metabolism and helping you to burn off more fat.

8. Drink Lots of Water

I’ve mentioned it several times on my site, but when it comes to weight loss, water is a model’s best friend. Staying fully hydrated will increase your metabolism, stave off hunger pangs, improve your complexion and slow down the aging process. What’s not to love?

9. Green Tea

Studies have shown that drinking green tea between meals results in weight loss. Its not just the caffeine either, so coffee is no substitute. Buy some green tea and give it a try – it has plenty of other health benefits besides weight loss so you have nothing to lose.

10. Ditch the Mayo

In every model’s list of foods to avoid, one of the tops spots is always taken by Mayonnaise. Low in nutrients, high in fat, adding Mayo to your sandwich can turn a healthy treat into a high-calorie nightmare! Try mustard instead, its much healthier and will help keep your snacks low in calories.

It’s almost Thanksgiving.  Since we tried deep-frying a turkey about 3 or 4 years ago, nobody wants it any other way.  It is very tasty.  It’s moist and no, it is not greasy.  Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (depends on who makes it) and rolls.  I like carbohydrates.  I will even have dessert.  It isn’t the one day of overindulgence that gets us in trouble is it?  No, it’s the day before and the two days after that get us into trouble.  Moderation in everything is a great idea and how many of us will take that approach?  Very few.  We are having fun, talking, eating and drinking (water, of course) and being together.  For some folks,  holidays are a very stressful time and they use food and/or alcohol as comfort or an escape.  It’s okay if your willpower is a little out of whack for a short time.  Just get back to your normal schedule and go forward.  Just be regular with your exercise program and don’t skip meals.

Eating too much and too fast?   GERD will probably flare-up

Eating too much fat?  Arthritis may flare-up

Be aware of what your triggers are if you have: Migraines, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Acid Reflux, Crohn’s Disease

Have a great Turkey Day.

p.s.  Don’t forget to talk to and play with the kids that are seated at the “children’s” table.

Photo by Ashton Smith

Eat more, not less!

It always amazes me how a lot of people won’t eat certain foods. And I don’t mean they don’t like peas, or they’re cutting sugar out of their diet. I mean whole food groups. There are even people out there that LITERALLY DON’T LIKE CHEESE! Weirdoes.

I’m the opposite of most people. I love vegetables and I hate frozen pizzas and crap like that. But I know exactly what I adore and what I’m not keen on because I’ll try anything. A lot of people simply won’t.

It seems really weird to me that some people are unhappy with their weight or their skin, or complain that they have no energy, when all they have to do is change their diet slightly.

People really are mard-arses when it comes to food. What’s the worst that’s going to happen; your wickle sensitive taste-buds are going to taste something a teensy bit nasty? Oh you poor little thing.

You know what? Just because you didn’t used to like a certain food, that’s not necessarily the case for the rest of your life. You can try a new food, one that you don’t like the look of or haven’t eaten for twenty years, and discover that you like it.

If you feel like you really hate a particular food, it’s probably because last time you tried it:

It wasn’t cooked properly:

Perhaps it was undercooked or overcooked. Any food can be delicious if it’s cooked and served properly, and many foods are disgusting when over or under cooked. Overcooked vegetables that have been left to go cold are particularly revolting.

You had an immature palate:

Children’s taste buds are different to adults. Children instinctively spit out anything they find bitter. This is to protect them from poisons. Remember, the way your body functions comes from caveman times. Children are naturally attracted to sweet foods, because foods with natural sugars in are meant to be eaten. The plant puts the sugar in the food so that creatures will eat it and poop out the seeds.

Honey, which is just about the sweetest and most delicious substance in the natural world, is high-energy bee food. This shit is supposed to be eaten. As a cave-child you’re taking your chances with leaves, some of which may be very poisonous. So children’s palates are naturally inclined more towards sweet foods and away from anything that tastes bitter. Even if it doesn’t taste bitter to an adult.

If you’ve eaten, or worse still been forced to eat something as a child which you instinctively wanted to spit out, never touching it again is a natural reaction. But you’re not a kid any more. Recognise the emotional baggage for what it is and try again.

It was the wrong temperature:

If what should have been a crisp, steaming bright green floret of broccoli was a cold, sloppy slug-like blob on the side of your plate, it would have looked and tasted like a lump of snot. I don’t blame you for not eating it.

If you were forced to clear your plate then your cave-child self would have been freaking out. You would have been upset and resentful, and never want to eat that food again. I’m sure there are therapy groups in California for ‘food trauma’ and yes, I do feel for the child inside but you’re not seven any more, get over it.

Something grossed you out:

I used to like beans on toast as a kid. Then my little brother said something really gross about beans as I was eating them. I won’t inflict the same charming mental picture on fellow bean-lovers, but it was seriously gross. Upon seeing my reaction, he decided to open up his bean-filled mouth and chomp at me like the back end of a bin-lorry. He found it highly amusing for 30 seconds or so. I didn’t eat beans for nearly ten years after that. The feeling of disgust is there to protect you from bad food, poison and bacteria. It’s extremely effective, but can often be reversed in things that are genuinely not dirty or poisonous.

Someone told you it was gross:

My ex boyfriend was from one of those numpty families that mistrusts all foreigners on general principle. When they went on holiday they would insist on Proper Food, i.e. overcooked meat and potatoes. His Dad would not touch foreign food at all. He was particularly freaked out by sauces, which he referred to as ‘slop’.

His son, my boyfriend at the time was totally grossed out by my cooking! The sight of homemade soup, pasta sauce and curry made him almost retch. When I chopped carrots and chucked them into the soup-pot, he looked at me as though I were some kind of third-world savage. He wouldn’t even taste any of it. We lived together for six years, and he never once tasted any of my cooking.

He hadn’t grown up around home cooking, and was shocked when he realised that vegetables have a distinct smell when they are cooked. His extreme reactions were a direct result of his stupid, ignorant father and lazy cow of a Mother, who got their ideas about food from their own stupid, ignorant parents. The negative comments from his family were powerful enough to make him feel physically sick.

Looking on the bright side, if he continues to live on stuff from jars and packets, he’ll probably die of bowel cancer.*

*I’m not suggesting that I think people who don’t like sauce should get cancer. Just him.

If one of your parents detested peanut butter or the kids at school screamed and made silly noises when they smelled an egg sandwich, it’s going to put you off. It’s the caveman equivalent of saying ‘don’t eat the stripy caterpillars, they’re poisonous,”

If you haven’t eaten an egg sandwich since the girls in the first year screamed when they smelled one on a bus trip, think about it this way. Are you going to let some ignorant little snot-noses stand between you and perfect protein? No!

Sometimes it’s relatively simple to like a food you previously avoided. My fella Matt lived on microwave burgers, fry ups, ready made pizzas and other total shite when I first met him. He was totally gob smacked when he saw my trolley in the supermarket, full of fruit, veg, fish and brown rice. He eats like a horse and he’s always hungry. I was cooking all this strange stuff (fresh pasta, couscous, homemade curry, and pan-fried salmon) and he just tried everything. He put some broccoli in his mouth and discovered to his amazement that he liked the taste of it, because it wasn’t overcooked or cold.

Last reason – you’re just not much for it:

OK, maybe it just doesn’t set your taste buds on fire. Maybe you would genuinely prefer to chew on gravel than a handful of hazel nuts. If you really aren’t into certain, specific food e.g. sardines or pineapple, then it’s not going to kill you to ignore it the rest of your life. But at least give it a chance.

Let’s take a look at prescribed drugs for the seasonal and swine flu that, in all likelihood, is causing far more harm than good – Tamiflu.

According to a recent study into the use of Tamiflu for children with flu symptoms – the most extensive research of its kind, so far – Tamiflu falls flat.

The researchers, who analyzed four studies of children aged one to 12, published their findings in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on August 11, 2009. They found that the anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza:

• Put children at higher risk of dangerous complications (death)
• Had little impact on the length of the illness
• Had little impact on the spread of the swine flu
• May cause drug-resistant strain mutations

Children given these drugs were found to recover LESS THAN ONE DAY earlier, compared with simple rest and recuperation.

According to the researchers, the risks of Tamiflu and Relenza far outweigh their negligent benefits, and children should therefore NOT be given these drugs for the swine flu.

I have a better idea.  How about instead of treating the symptoms first let’s prevent the cause.  Let’s get to the source.  Feed your child real food.  Fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, seeds, organic free range meats, wild caught fish.  Make sure your child is subluxation free.  Make sure your child exercises daily.  For every 50 minutes of sitting they need 10 minutes of motion.  Hydrate your child.  And while your doing this for your child, maybe think about doing it for yourself too.

Stay well,

Dr. Vince Hassel

Spinach

It kept Popeye healthy, so what are you waiting for? Spinach is a rich source of the antioxidant lutein, which protects against cancer, cardiovascular disease and several types of eye diseases, including cataracts and macular degeneration. Spinach is also high in iron, calcium and a host of other vitamins and minerals, making it a great choice to promote health and prevent disease.

Chili Peppers

A compound called capsaicin holds the key to the chili pepper’s health-promoting powers. Research suggests capsaicin can do everything from reduce cancer-cell growth to prevent sinus conditions to lower cholesterol. What’s more, capsaicin increases metabolism, helping promote weight loss. If you can handle the heat, chili peppers are a great food to include in your diet.

Walnuts

Walnuts are an excellent source of alphalinoleic acid (ALA), which has been shown to protect against cardiovascular disease.

They also contain an antioxidant known as ellagic acid, which supports the immune system and may help prevent cancer. And what’s more, walnuts provide magnesium and copper, both of which fight free-radical production, promoting healthy, disease-free aging. 

Health= eat well x move well x think well x function well

You cannot have optimal health unless you complete the whole equation.  Your health is your reponsibility.  If you put crap in don’t complain about your poor health, it’s your poor choices.

 Eat Well,

Dr. Vince Hassel

One of the best ways to reclaim and maintain health, and even take years off of your appearance, is to control something called inflammation. Simply put, inflammation is heat, swelling or pain. When it is chronic, inflammation can make us age prematurely, and has been associated with diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, depression, cognitive decline and other conditions.

Inflammation can take many forms. Many of us have chronic, smoldering inflammation that causes digestive disorders such as gas, bloating, heartburn and irritable bowel. Others exhibit inflammatory problems in the form of acne, eczema or psoriasis. Sources of inflammation in Americans’ lives include stress, obesity, smoking, drugs and sedentary lifestyles. One of the leading inflammatory triggers is unhealthful food, including sugars, red meat, artificial ingredients, gluten, trans fats and alcohol. Packaged and processed foods, especially those laden with hormones, antibiotics and preservatives, also contribute to inflammation. An inactive lifestyle, combined with a diet favoring inflammatory foods, can lead to free-radical damage, which might spur disease and appear in the skin as lines and wrinkles.

The first step toward looking and feeling better is an improved diet that includes plenty of vegetables, lean, organic protein sources, green drinks, beans and raw foods. It’s also important that inflammatory grains, such as white pasta and white bread, be replaced with foods such as Ezekiel bread, buckwheat and wild rice, which are more easily digested by most people.

Get Adjusted,

Dr. Vince Hassel

SecretsOfDiet is your source of freshly new diet and fitness articles updated regularly .Here you can find diet tips and tricks, product reviews ,fitness guides etc.It also features a BMR calculator ,a vitamin wheel and a calorie counter helping you to get a more healthy way of life .

http://secretsofdiet.com

SecretsOfDiet is your source of freshly new diet and fitness articles updated regularly .Here you can find diet tips and tricks, product reviews ,fitness guides etc.It also features a BMR calculator ,a vitamin wheel and a calorie counter helping you to get a more healthy way of life .

http://secretsofdiet.com/

One of the most important ways you can manage your PCOS symptoms is to manage your weight.  Even a 10% reduction in body weight can really help.  I have written many posts about meal planning and eating clean.  I believe that planning your weekly meals and eating whole, clean foods are the two main factors that have helped me lose 50 lbs of  postpartum weight over the last 9 months.   However, there are several things I do everyday that help boost my weight loss efforts and I thought I would share some  of them with you.

1.  Eat regularly. 3 meals and 3 snacks a day to keep blood sugar stable.  NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST.  Eating breakfast fires up your metabolism for the rest of the day.


2. Get a good night sleep. Lack of sleep disturbs your hormone balance.  It increases cortisol which decreases metabolism.  If you have trouble sleeping, try my tips for catching some extra ZZZs.

3. Drink green tea. It has so many health benefits.  I will post info more soon about all the benefits of green tea.  Just one quick fact – Studies at the American Society for Clinical Nutrition found that compounds in green tea reduce the amount of fat your body absorbs by 30%.

4. Drink water with apple cider vinegar before every meal.  See my article on ACV for more details.  Apple cider vinegar helps control your blood sugar which leads to weight loss. I use Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar.

5. Eat a half of grapefruit every day. Grapefruit reduces insulin levels which leads to a reduction in body fat. I usually enjoy mine at breakfast.

6. Consume virgin coconut oil. One to two tablespoons of unrefined organic coconut oil will help boost your metabolism.  I use Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil.  See my article for more information.

Here are some tips, not really diet tips but more of health tips. I guess some people would consider them to be diet tips but they’re really just a reminder for me friend. This isn’t some pro-ana crap, you could find that easily on teh interwebzzzzz. These are just a few things that have helped me keep my weight in check and keep my midsection small, even though all of my weight goes to my bum anyway. Not even my hips…

:3

You had the problem of not eating good food lately – well here’s some good food tips, at least in my opinion.
Spinach + Garlic + Olive Oil = Yummy. It’s also low in calories, good for you and quite filling.

Soups from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s taste good and they’re also low in calories and they’re filling. Make sure that they don’t have too much sodium though (they shouldn’t, but check anyway).

By soup I don’t mean Lobster Bisque.

Hahaha.

Also, STAY AWAY FROM TAKE OUT AND FAST FOOD. If you must get Chinese Food you can go with Broccoli with Garlic Sauce with no oil. Get it with brown rice. It’s filling and yummy. Don’t get McDonald’s (IT’S POISON) or Burger King…not even Wendy’s really. Everything is still high in calories, it’s just slightly less poisonous than McDonald’s. Also, NO TACO BELL. Not even the rice. My body now thanks me for eating fast food by HATING me. I get really nauseous and tired and it’s not fun. I just stay away from the crap now.

I don’t know how to stress this enough -

DON’T DRINK YOUR CALORIES!

I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE THAT DRINKING A CRAPLOAD OF SODA WILL MAKE THEM GAIN WEIGHT.

So

1. NO SODA.

2. NO SNAPPLE.

3. NO ARIZONA ICED TEA.

pretty much – nothing except for water.

You like Red Bull, don’t you Daisy? Get the low calorie Red Bull. Coffee is fine, try to not add a bunch of sugar or milk to it though. I love double espressos black, especially if they’re made well. They happen to be low in calories and um…pretentious…but that’s okay. They’re lovely. If they’re made well they’re better than many things.

Also, try to drink soy milk rather than regular milk. It has less calories and it’s better for you. Trader Joe’s soy milk has 90 calories per serving!

Also, try to drink as much water as possible before and during meals. People might think you’re bulimic/ a raver / a junkie and that’s not really okay but who cares. You’ll eat less and you’ll be healthier. Also, water is good for your body.

Also, don’t eat a bunch of desserts. If you’re an emotional eater then TRY TO FIX THAT. I don’t understand eating when you’re all sadface because it’ll just make you feel worse about yourself when you can’t fit into any of your clothes and people start telling you that you look like you’ve put on the pounds. Also, don’t even bother with trying to be bulimic, to anyone reading this, because no one truly feel bad for you if you’re bulimic. It’s also not that easy to lose weight and you end up being bloated. It’s an actual EATING DISORDER and it’s NOT BADASS TO BE BULIMIC. I’ve never been bulimic but I do have bulimic friends and it’s actually like omgznotglamorousandfun! If you want to end up dying and and actually lose weight, go do hard drugs instead. You won’t even have buy food then.

So yeah. No ice cream, no cake, no binging on crappy chocolate or anything else for that matter. Figure out how to portion your food. They say you shouldn’t eat anything larger than the size of your fist. I have small hands. Screw that. Learn your calories and learn what’s actually bad for you, you lard. Some Americans think that McDonald’s is a restaurant so you never know what they think is healthy.

They say you shouldn’t eat food after 7 but who the hell is going to follow that. Don’t eat LARGE AMOUNTS OF FOOD after 7. If you must eat large amounts of food, try to eat all of that crap before 9.

Avoid fried food as much as possible. Also avoid anything like cream because food with cream is obviously fattening.

Try to eat more veggies and fruit. Especially more veggies. Also try to eat less processed food.

If you get a sandwich every morning, take the top part of bread off, it saves calories.

xo, that’s all I can think of right now.

Secrets of the Super-Healthy

 We all know someone, maybe even several people, who are healthy no matter what “bug” is going around. You know, the ones who show up on the job every day, who never use a single sick day all year. They seem to have been born with super healthy genes or powerful immunity to disease that helps them move easily through their lives – upbeat, positive and happy.

What are they doing that you’re not? Maybe if you do what they do you’ll get what they get! Here are some tips for healthy living that you can use to be more like them, instead of being envious of them!

 • Exercise to raise your heart rate, oxygenate cells, increase circulation (which increases white blood cell count – the cells that fight disease), release endorphins (“feel good” brain chemicals), strengthen bones and muscles, release stress, gain energy and lose weight. There are so many benefits to exercise and you can accomplish all this with a 30-minute brisk walk daily!

• Drink green drinks and eat plenty of broccoli and apples. They contain an antioxidant (quercetin) that helps the immune system when it’s under stress.

• Stop worrying – worry produces stress, which produces high levels of cortisol and other stress hormones. These stress hormones lower immunity, and consequently increase your chance of becoming ill.

 • Maintain a positive attitude – those who think positive thoughts, despite what’s going on around them, have healthier lives as well.

• Develop a diverse network of friends – according to research, those who are extroverted and who spend time among different groups of people are less prone to heart disease and live longer.

• Sleep – 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, night after night, builds immunity to keep you healthier.

• Breathe- During your day take diaphragmatic breathes.  Use the whole capacity of your lungs by using your diaphragm to fill them up.  Inhale for a count of 4.  Hold for a count of 16.  Exhale for a count of eight.

 • Avoid excessive caffeine intake and mood-altering lifestyle drugs that can have some serious long-term negative health effects.

• Hydrate-  Drink a minimum of half your body weight in ounces of water a day.

• Avoid processed foods, fast food and sugar – incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. A high fiber, low calorie, low fat diet is the best way to eat to stay heart healthy.

And, of course, it goes without saying that maintaining a healthy nervous system through regular chiropractic adjustments is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Many of our long-term patients claim that they are never sick, no matter what “bug” is going around or how much stress is in their lives. They feel equipped to deal with anything that comes their way and their yearly physicals confirm that fact!

Stay well,

Dr. Vince Hassel

Dinner as the major sit down meal in our culture probably adds to our overall health problem.  Instead of skipping breakfast and gorging at lunch and dinner, we should eat all three meals in a similar way and sprinkle in healthy snacks to keep us going. 

What to eat for dinner is as varied as the types of foods in the Fantasy Healthball Food Formation.  Lean meat and poultry, beans, and fish are all good options.  Think about how they are prepared and choose accordingly:  two pieces of battered fish with tartar sauce?  Let say about 550+ calories.  Grilled trout with lemon juice? Less than half the calories.   Check out this post for the World’s Healthiest Foods.

Yum!

One way to think about dinner is to think about what you had for breakfast and lunch and what you are missing in terms of servings.  Had a ham omelet for breakfast and the meatloaf for lunch?  You may have met your meat needs and want to focus more on a bit of pasta and veggies.  If you had a piece of cake at the office birthday party, you probably would benefit by skipping sweets as a desert and have fruit instead.  In this way, you can kind of back into what to have for dinner.  Haven’t had a salad yet today?  Now’s the time!   Make sure you are getting all the nutrients your body needs!

People “feel full” at different times and after eating different amounts.  It is that full feeling that tells our brain, “hey, stop with the face feeding, the belly getting crowded” or something to that effect.  If you are trying to watch portion size, try drinking a glass of water or more before you eat.  The water combines with the food to make you feel full faster.  Even if this doesn’t work for you, water is always good for you!  You can also try eating more slowly, so your body has a chance to tell your mind that it is full.  At Fantasy Healthball, we believe in listening to your body.  If it is complaining after you eat, you probably ate too much or the wrong things.  Check out our nutrition and exercise challenges, and make your body happy today!   – Jim Ballard

I have LOST 150 POUNDS WITHOUT EXERCISING! I’ve lost weight slowly over the past four years. I lost about 5 pounds a month for the first year…about 3 pounds a month for the next two years…and now I’m losing 0-2 pounds a month. I’ve lost about 13 pounds during the last 12 months.

My ideal body weight is in the range of 105 to 135 and I’m averaging about 125 now. It’s harder to lose weight now and it takes a whole lotta Mindfulness and determination to maintain my weight and to lose any weight.

I was modestly active most of my life, but the last 15 years has been high work, two kids, and little else…and mostly desk time. When I was planning how I would diet, I did not want to add exercise to my lifestyle because I realized it was VERY unlikely that I would maintain that lifestyle for any length of time. I felt it was a set up for failure…start slipping with exercise…start feeling bad about myself…and here I go…relapse fixin’ to happen! I chose to focus on diet alone and obviously this has worked very well for me.

I knew how to do “diet” because to maintain normal body weight for the first 30 years of my life, I had to keep calories low…so, I already had those skills. So, I chose to focus on what I would have the highest likelihood of success with…and avoided anything I felt could increase the likelihood of failure. I sat down and completed a DBT-CBT Therapy Workbook “Game Plan” for weight loss.

I included every diet tip I could think of and I reflected on how I used to do things when my weight was low. I decided I would drink a lot of water, not starve myself, eat breakfast to get my metabolism going for the day, eat what I was REALLY craving…and work to balance things out, count calories, eat something before leaving work so I wouldn’t arrive home starving to death, avoid food fests, avoid temptation, do the chocolate binge and get rid of the leftovers…etc.

Overall, the first four years of the diet were fairly easy, but now I’m struggling. I smoked for the last 18 months through June 2009 – recently quit…and it’s been harder to keep calories low. Weight is still good, but the struggle is certainly there. It’s not easy anymore! I was always aware that as I got my weight down, I’d probably begin to exercise so I would look better…well, I think it is time to exercise so I’ll look better, but the biggest impetus is to be able to eat about 100 calories more per day!

I’ve STARTED to exercise twice during the last year…but haven’t maintained it for more than a week at a time! Once I got that shoulder blade muscle cramping thing…the one with horrible pain that just doesn’t go away…and you can’t even breathe or move for awhile. The last time, I started to get sick…was exhausted…and didn’t want to stress my body! I am going to try to do a little at a time…not get so excited and ambitious and increase the amount or intensity so fast…just going to try to have some balance! Me, balance….ha! But, I’m going to try so I don’t sabotage myself AGAIN!!!!!

The truth is, I am not a nutritionist. The other truth is, I cannot afford a nutritionist’s co-pay. Solution? A new favorite website of course! Health Castle is a fantastic way to get nutritional information and diet planning advice. The site is written and sponsored by REAL M.D.’s to guide readers to healthy living and nutrition. The coolest thing about the site is that it isn’t just for weight-loss! They have fabulous tips and information on nutrition for pregnant women, people with diabetes, cancer victims and even tips for a gout diet.

However I will obviously be using the weight loss diet section for my help. I snagged this little gem off the website and I thought I’d share it with you all:

Top 4 Reasons Diets Fail

1. Something’s Missing
   Diets eliminating an entire food group (such as carbohydrates) and not using the full spectrum of My Pyramid are difficult to follow, and will likely lead to a slip. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, “Can I eat like this forever?” A successful diet should allow choices from all food groups in moderation, and be something that you can follow for the long term.

   The low calorie thing I am doing isn’t bad in terms of taste, it sucks in terms of time. Like seriously, how do you eat well when you have no time to cook?! However I think I am not doing to bad; I treat myself to a piece of candy or a sweet every now and them to remind myself I deserve little indulgence.
   

2. Going Low
   If you eat too few calories and are constantly hungry, you risk an eventual willpower blowout, leading to a major diet setback. Successful diets are adequate enough in calories so you don’t experience prolonged deep hunger, but low enough to allow for a moderate weight loss of 0.5-1 lb per week. Looking beyond weight loss, it’s also important to understand that consuming less than 1,200 calories per day for an extended period of time is never a good idea because it isn’t enough to give your body the nutrients it needs to function best.

   Uh YIKES! Keep in mind especially with my diet…

3. Diet. Period.
   If you’ve embarked on a weight loss regime, but have no plans to incorporate exercise, your weight loss will most likely hit a frustrating plateau. Adding exercise can keep you motivated to stick to your diet, even on the weeks when the scale won’t budge, since exercise can help you whittle off the inches. Regular exercise also increases the rate at which your body burns calories, helping you to see results faster than diet alone. Multiple research studies have concluded that the most successful diets include a combination of diet and exercise.

Dude, I need to start going to the gyms!

1. Friend or Foe?
   A 2007 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that those who surround themselves with overweight or obese family and friends are more likely to be overweight or obese themselves. The study found that a possible explanation for the conclusions may be that your sense of “normal” weight and eating behavior can be influenced by those around you. For example, if everyone close to you is overweight or obese, your opinion may be that being overweight or obese is normal, thus you may not be motivated to lose weight. For the best success, surround yourself with family and friends sensitive to your goal, and make a personal commitment to follow through on your plans. If you have overweight family or friends, why not make a group resolution to work together for better health?

Ah, this one, this one I have down to a science. I am so so, so very lucky to have the most supportive, loving and wonderful people around me helping me along my way. Really guys, you’re the best. I love you all so much, even if I don’t know you that well, for taking time to care about me.

Until next time!

I’ve gone through a very hard time in recent months with my “diet”…or better said, “my eating plan.” My positive eating patterns had become a habit and little emotional energy was invested in the process. I had peace and stability in this area of life. People would ask, “Isn’t it hard to stay on a diet?” No, it really wasn’t because I HAD developed good eating habits…and eating in this manner was natural for me. It was more of a lifestyle than a diet.

But, SOMETHING HAPPENED and these past few months became the most trying time during my four year diet. Not sure what happened, but somehow things got Out-of-Control. I struggled through…and regained fairly good control. Naturally, I’ve been reflecting on WHAT HAPPENED…because I don’t want to let this lifestyle slip through my fingers and for things to get out of hand! I don’t want to get fat again…I don’t want to start the weight gain cycle…AGAIN.

Here’s some things I have thought about. I FINALLY quit smoking in June after 6 attempts this year! Quitting smoking leads to increased eating because my hands and mouth aren’t busy…and reduced metabolism because I’m not loaded with nicotine…HELLO WEIGHT GAIN…and increased appetite!

Another thing that has changed in the last couple of months is that I started taking a daily multivitamin. Now, I haven’t studied recently, but from what I remember, vitamins increase appetite. Not sure why that happens…or if that’s really true. Just some tidbit of information I picked up and think is true.

Another thing…I began living on fruit…fruit was my mainstay…the largest source of calories per day. I loved the fruit diet! However, something was going on and I was craving sweets more…like CHOCOLATE! I was eating the Snickers protein bars…Mmmmm good…however, they are 290 calories each. When I seek to keep calories below 1300 or so a day…that adds up F-A-S-T!!!!

So, I’ve stopped eating fruit…and this has led to a major decrease in the sweet munchies. I’m thinking the sugar in the fruit did something to increase my appetite for SUGAR! In my four years of dieting, I would chocolate binge about once every 4-6 weeks…and while on the fruit diet, the craving for CHOCOLATE was STRONG…and something I gave in to. I believe in “have a craving…satiate it and go on with life.” That has worked very well for me…because I’d eat 800 calories of chocolate…eat less dinner or no dinner…and suffer little net gain in calories that day…and little effect on the monthly average…and little effect on my weight…until recent months!

Another thing that happened in July…is that an overwhelming workload greatly increased…and the type of stress changed…from internal pressure to get the job done…to external pressure…like performance counseling…and a 30-day deadline! I expect the extra stress and the type of distress affected me, too.
Anyways, lots of changes…radical physiological and psycho-emotional changes (nicotine withdrawal and loss, diet change with increased fructose and then refined sugar…and EMOTIONAL STRESS from work…and stress from my daily diet spiraling out of control! You know, I’m sure there are other factors too…that I’m not currently aware of…but, those are the biggest ones on my mind right now!!!! You know…I may have gotten cocky too…had my weight down real good…had this diet thing “down to a science”…and then…slacked off a bit!

Anyways, things have gone fairly well the last 3-4 weeks…actually regained some semblance of peace and stability in my eating. Revisited the 124-125 range…the size 7’s fit again…(size 9 slim fits are sized like a 7!). Went out of town a few days…and did alright. Not a major pig out…ate some restaurant food, but did well with that. Got favorite foods and ate about half. Some extra calories…but nothing Out-of-Control! Back to work tomorrow, will tighten up again…and go on with life. Average calories for October was in the normal range for me…similar to the last 4 years…so,, that’s good!

The last couple of posts in October note what I did to try to get control, so I don’t want to restate EVERYTHING here…cuz I can’t remember and I’m too tired to go back and check!!!! I am Mindful right now that I greatly increased Mindfulness of my eating plan…by reminding myself of my goal (stability in eating, weight management, not get fat again!), counting calories all day so I’m not engaging in mindless eating and CALORIE SHOCK at the end of the day when entering data in the Excel file, controlled portions and food selection (toting certain foods to work and not toting others…and choosing how much to bring, deciding what I’d eat when I got home, eating a little something before I leave work so I don’t go home STARVING TO DEATH…and ready to scarf everything in sight), and temptation management (telling family about my struggle and how to help…DON’T BUY FATTENING FOOD AT THE STORE…and certainly don’t bring it in and let me see it…AND me not buying fattening foods at the store…the ones that are MY favorites!) So, I went back to my early days of dieting…what I did then that worked best for me…to attempt to regain control over my eating.

Another thing I considered is that my weight is low…calorie needs are lower than the early days of dieting…I may be reaching my low…and this may be as low as things naturally go…and I may need to revise MY goal to go lower…and just focus on maintaining this weight…that it may be unreasonable to push myself to lose more. So, with all this in mind…I’m TRYING to be Mindful and to approach this diet thing with Rational Mind and Wise Mind…because Emotional Mind is eating me up!

At the hotel that I stayed at this last weekend I stopped by the cafe to buy a bottled water, while standing in the check-out line I noticed a large cardboard cut-out of a doughnut fixed above the register.   There were bold red letters that stated:  “Warning Health Alert: Doughnut Contains Almonds.”

I had one of those surreal moments when you actually stifle your natural reaction long enough to suspiciously look around for the hidden camera.  Surely this was a set-up.  Someone must have arranged to have me standing in this very line, at this very moment, reading this very sign.  

Unfortunately, there was no set-up.  The joke is on all of us.  We have actually come to the point where we can intellectualize the need for a warning sign about almonds on a doughnut.  Please don’t get me wrong; I am totally sensitive to the nut allergy issue.   I have cared for hundreds of families who are faced with this serious challenge – an issue that has a made a recent appearance on our list of new healthcare epidemics.  In fact, it adds to the irony of this situation. 

How we have lost sight of the forest for the trees.

The only “food” in this picture is the almonds.  The only element in this picture that was “food” 100 years ago is now being identified as a threat.  Albeit, there is a growing population of our children that are mysteriously allergic to nuts – everyone is at risk from every other element in that doughnut. 

A doughnut is nothing short of a delivery system for high fructose corn syrup, refined flour, sugar, saturated/trans-fats, and a multitude of other chemical additives and preservatives that have been unequivocally proven to cause diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  Where’s the Health Alert cardboard cut-out?

Tuesday November 3rd, I will be giving a discussion on how to gain unlimited energy at Connxions Bookstore in Urbandale, 3901 121st St.  Just west of the Pilot truck stop off of Douglas Ave. and I-80. 

You don’t want to miss this information, I promise you it is critical for you to take your health to the next level.  It costs nothing!  I am selling nothing!  There is no catch!  I simply want to help you complete your equation for amazing health.

Stay well,

Dr. Vince Hassel

Before I get to the main topic of discussion today, let me start off with the following:

WOOHOO!  I FINALLY LOST WEIGHT AGAIN!

It’s not a lot, but well earned nonetheless.  At least it’s going in the right direction!  Check out my stats page.

Now that I got that piece of news out of the way…

Last night was taco night in our household.  The kids love ‘em and my hubby loves ‘em.  I love them too!  In the spirit of healthy living, I was thinking about how I could make them healthier but still enjoy eating them.  So I decided to have a “taco salad” instead of a regular taco.  I nicely arranged the insides of a regular taco on a plate, added a dollop of “real” sour cream, and voila, a healthy version of the delicious tacos that everyone else was eating, without having to make myself special “diet” food.

Taco salad

Everything was great until about one hour after dinner, when I started to feel hungry.  I then proceeded to pick at things from the cupboards and the fridge, until I had eaten more than I would have if I had just stuck to a regular taco, shell and all.  This just goes to show that sometimes there is no substitute for the real thing.  Sometimes it’s better to have a small amount of something you love, rather than try to turn it into a leaner version that just won’t satisfy you.  Anyway, it never hurts to try!

Ooh the cookies, the candy, the cupcakes, and the cocktails…how do we survive this weekend?? If you are attending a Halloween party it’s good to eat a meal before you go, so you will curb the hunger and avoid snacking on tasty treats. Also, if you are bringing an appetizer, bring a veggie tray! This way you know that there will be something healthy to snack on.  HERE’S A TIP: Don’t socialize around the food table…I like to say, “Out of sight, out of mind.” It works.

If you plan on drinking, opt for a low-calorie beer like Michelob Ultra. It serves up only 96 calories per 12 oz serving.  I usually try to avoid mixed drinks because of all the hidden sugar and calories in the mixers.  Also, did you know that tonic has more sugar and calories than Coca-Cola??

It’s nice to be back blogging about some of my daily faves.

I had class all morning and we talked about weight management issues in primary care. It was a good review, and a few great points were made about healthy eating! We discussed eating disorders of all types, as well as strategies for weight loss and maintenance! I’ll share a few of the “pearls” from the lecture after I show you how I’m eating!

For breakfast I had a bowl of banana blended oats and red quinoa with almond milk and a sprinkle of pumpkin granola. The frozen blueberry stash is still going strong from when I picked them with a friend in July!! I knew I’d want them into the fall!

After class the rains poured in that cold, icky way. I heated up some vegan chili we had on hand. I topped it with some avocado.

Not beautiful, but delcious and filling!
Braeburn apple with Naturally More PB! Yummers.

 

I wanted to share a bit from today’s weight management lecture because I found it helpful for my own nutrition behaviors! For those of us who need to watch out for overeating, here are a few tips.

• Be careful about habitually eating at certain times of the day.
  I am in the habit of eating when I get home from a clinical rotation, even when I had a great lunch and maybe even a snack! It seems to help if I take a short walk after I get home instead of plopping on the couch. That eating is totally comfort and stress-related and not based on hunger whatsoever!
• The colder the room, the more people overeat. (I feel like this happens every winter, anyone else? )
• Dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel warm and fuzzy, is released when we eat delicious foods. Overweight and obese people become tolerant to dopamine so that they need to eat more to attain the same level of dopamine stimulation. A vicious cycle begins.
• The sleep-weight connection is legitimate. Even partial sleep deprivation changes hunger-regulating hormones and makes us crave more calorie dense/sugary foods. Get 8 hours a night!
• Use a smaller spoon! A study was published in Psychological Science in which bowls of M&Ms were left in the lobby of an apartment building with an “Eat your fill” sign. A mean of 66% more M&Ms were consumed when a larger spoon was placed in the bowl than when a smaller spoon was used!

I hope those were informative, and perhaps you can relate to some of the points! I just loved the spoon study!

Have a great day – stay warm and be well!

Heading off to the gym this morning

I think that I have been reading too many books, magazines and web sites about healthy eating.  I am starting to get confused and to doubt myself!  I have been reading how carbs in any form are no good for you.  I have been reading about how bad meat is for you.  I have also read about how unhealthy dairy products are.  If you’re susceptible (like me) you can start to question every thing that you put in your mouth.  Every diet is accompanied by a claim that you will gain vitality, lose weight, and rarely get sick if you just stick to the plan.  Every time I read something like this I am convinced that finally here is the answer to all my health problems – I would be thin and all my cravings would disappear, I wouldn’t get depressed anymore, and all my allergies would clear up.  Then I start to feel guilty because I can’t seem to stay on a diet that is obviously so good for me. 

So… I want to get back to basics and remind myself what a healthy diet looks like:

Lots of veggies and fruits

Lean meats

Whole grain carbs

Low fat dairy

Nuts, seeds, beans

Water

This is what I want to include in my diet.  Notice that guilt is not on the list.

I need to apologize, I have been doing my patients a disservice by not having workshops to teach information that can save their lives.  I have information on how you can add unlimited energy to your life, be able to live life to the fullest, and avoid what causes 75% of chronic disease in the U.S.

Join me on Tuesday, November 3rd at 6:20 p.m.

Connxions Event Center,   3901 121st Street in Urbandale, Iowa (just off Douglas Exit off of I-80)

to learn critical information on how you can Maximize Your Life!!!! 

All for NO CHARGE!!!!!!  The price of admission is to bring a guest.

You don’t GET sick, you DO sick.

To understand that the best minds in science can all agree on one thing: the way that you choose to live is the greatest predictor of your health.

Science also tells us that our lifestyle choices are not only additive, they are multiplicative.  In other words, it’s not EAT + MOVE + THINK, it’s actually EAT X MOVE X THINK.  Now get this:  your choices actually COMPOUND over time.   The longer you practice healthier behaviors, the benefits actually accrue geometrically – compounding wellness. 

So what are you going to do about it?  Come learn more next Tuesday.

Email me at hasselchiro@hotmail.com to reserve your spot.

You don’t want to miss this,

Dr. Vince Hassel

Monday & Thursday

CHEST			BACK				ABS
Bench Presses		Chinups (4 sets until failure)	Leg Raises
Incline Presses		Bent-over Rows
Pullovers		Deadlifts (3 sets - 10,6,4)		

Tuesday & Friday

SHOULDERS	    ARMS			   FOREARMS
Clean & Press       Barbell Curls		   Wrist Curls
Lateral Raises	    Seated Dumbell Curls	   Reverse w.Curls
Heavy Upright Rows  Narrow-grip Press  	           ABS
Push Presses	    Barbell Tricep Extension	   Incline Situps

Wednesday & Saturday

THIGHS	CALVES			LOWER BACK		ABS

Squats	Standing Calf Raises	Straight Leg Deadlifts	Leg Raises
Lunges
Leg Curls

* Perform 5 sets - 8 to 12 reps for each movement.
* For ab exercises, do 5 sets of 25 reps each.

Arnold's Competition History


1980 Mr. Olympia - 1st
 1975 Mr. Olympia - 1st
 1974 Mr. Olympia - 1st
 1973 Mr. Olympia - 1st
 1972 Mr. Olympia - 1st
 1971 Mr. Olympia - 1st
 1970 Mr. Olympia - 1st
 1970 AAU Mr. World Professional - 1st
 1970 NABBA Mr. Universe Pro - 1st
 1969 Mr. Europe Professional - 1st
 1969 NABBA Mr. Universe Pro - 1st
 1969 Mr. Olympia - 2nd
 1969 IFBB Mr. Universe Pro - 1st
 1968 IFBB Mr. International - 1st
 1968 IFBB Mr. Universe tall - 1st
 1968 IFBB Mr. Universe - 2nd Overall
 1968 NABBA Mr. Universe Pro - 1st
 1967 NABBA Mr. Universe Amateur - 1st
 1966 Mr. Universe Amateur Tall - 2nd
 1966 Best Built Man of Europe - 1st
 1966 Mr. Europe Amateur - 1st
 1965 Jr. Mr. Europe - 1st
 1965 Mr. Styria - 1st
 1964 Mr. Austria - 3rd
 1964 Jr. Mr. Austria - 1st

Click Here to Watch Arnold Workout Video