Bodies By M.E.

To enjoy a guilt-free Thanksgiving dinner, consider these tips:

1. If you’re in charge of Thanksgiving dinner, plan your dinner with plenty of low calorie plant based side dishes. For desert I recommend pumpkin pie, if you can try to find or prepare a pie crust with out arterial clogging trans fat..
2. If you’re worried about food choices at the dinner table, bring your own low-fat or nutritious appetizer.
3. Don’t skip breakfast or lunch on Thanksgiving Day as this is a sure way to overeat at the dinner table.
4. Remember our bodies aren’t meant to handle 2,000-3,000 calories all at once (the typical Thanksgiving meal packs about 3,000 calories) and will store excess calories as fat.
5. Control portion sizes: Draw a 12-inch dinner plate in your mind and divide it into three-inch-sized circles with each one representing one food group: proteins, vegetables and starches. The key is to stay within your circle for each food group. If you like turkey and ham, fit a little of both in one circle.
6. Be mindful of your alcohol intake: Mixed drinks tend to have a high amount of concentrated sugar and quickly add empty calories. One glass of wine may be reasonable, but remember alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, which makes it nearly twice as fattening as carbohydrates or protein.
7. Be active: Go for a bike ride, a long brisk walk, a run or spend at least one hour at your local gym to burn calories before Thanksgiving dinner. End dinner with a family walk around the neighborhood or some other form of physical activity (e.g., a game of touch football instead of watching it on the tube).

We all know it’s important to start each day off  with breakfast, a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition states that eating a meal made with slow release carbohydrate such as oatmeal or bran cereal may help you burn more fat prior to exercise.

Researchers examined the rate of fat oxidation among eight women after eating the following breakfast meals, high fiber cereal with milk, peaches, yogurt and apple juice ; cornflakes with skim milk , white bread with margarine and jam and a energy drink on another day. The first meal was a low glycemic meal: the second a high gylcemic meal. Glycemic index measures how much a certain food raises blood sugar. Lower glycemic foods generally contain more protein, fat or fiber. They are also digested more slowly which explains the slower sugar spike and a lower release of insulin. A higher release of insulin signals the body to store more fat.

The researchers discovered that when a low glycemic meal was eaten the women burned twice as much fat during a 60 minute walk than when they ate the high glycemic meal. The reason, the low glycemic meal did not spike sugar and in turn did not raise insulin levels which explains why the fiber eating women oxidized fat more efficiently.

Take home message- very simple eat a high fiber meal prior to exercise to increase fat burning benefits.

Eat fruit stay slim. Those who ate more fruit and drank more fruit juice are more likely to be healthier than those who do not was a recent topic presented at the 2009 Experimental Biology conference. People who eat more fruit and drink more fruit juice tend to lead a healthier lifestyle ( no surprise) avoiding high sugar/high fat food and tend to be leaner. One good habit leads to another, monitoring food portions and engaging in daily exercise where also observed.

Word of caution- Fast liquid calories can be consumed with fruit juice and some fruits can be high in calories.

Here is a great way to get rid of all your Halloween candy called Halloween candy buy back- Halloweencandybuyback.com- go ahead and part with it!

“Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.” –Mark Twain