What We Can Learn From the Winter Olympics

With the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics underway, many things come to my mind. These athletes have worked their whole lives for a single moment to shine in their sport. Their attitudes, backgrounds, and personal struggles have inspired us all to achieve our dreams. I have realized there are a couple of things we can learn from these great Olympians.

1. Set Goals: By setting short and long term goals, you will less likely to be overwhelmed. By breaking your goals down, you will find they are more realistic and attainable.
2. Work Hard: No one ever said it was going to be easy to get to the top. Try to keep your focus on your goals and finish line.
3. Positive Attitude: Think like an Olympian. You can do anything if you believe in yourself.
4. Have a Support System: It always helps when you have a group of fans, friends, or family members cheering you on. You may find you enjoy the encouragement, feedback, and competition from your peers. By creating a team, you can all lean on each other for help in order to reach your goals faster.

February is American Heart Month

Heart Healthy Nutrition: A Smart Start to 2010

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. February is American Heart Month. Do you know your cholesterol levels? If not, the time is now for a heart healthy check-up!

Desirable Cholesterol Numbers

Total Cholesterol LDL Cholesterol HDL Cholesterol Triglycerides

< 200 mg/dL (5.2 mmol/L) < 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L) > 40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) < 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L)

High Cholesterol Numbers

Total Cholesterol LDL Cholesterol HDL Cholesterol Triglycerides

> 240 mg/dL (6.2 mmol/L) > 160 mg/dL (4.1 mmol/L) < 40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) > 200 mg/dL (2.3 mmol/L)

Here are 10 ways to keep your heart healthy:
1) Make time for exercise. Exercise needs to be nonnegotiable. Aim to exercise daily, at least 30 minutes. Always speak to your physician prior to starting an exercise program. Exercise helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, strengthens your heart, decreases stress, and improves your circulation.
2) Decrease stress in all aspects of your life. Constant stress may increase inflammation, which may make arteries vulnerable to plaque.
3) Get adequate sleep. Lack of sleep may lead to weight gain and higher blood pressure.
4) Shake the salt habit. Excess salt can increase blood pressure, so keep your sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams a day.
5) Choose more whole, fresh foods over packaged, processed foods. Colorful fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants, which are great for heart health.
6) Limit your sweets. Keep trigger foods (sweets) out of your house. High blood sugar levels may increase your risk for heart disease.
7) Fill up on fiber. Try adding more oatmeal, beans, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to your daily eating routine. Choose foods that contain at least 3 grams of dietary fiber per serving.
8) Small, gradual changes. Baby steps! When you gradually change your eating and exercise habits for the better, this usually leads to longer lifestyle changes.
9) Snack smart. By eating every 3-4 hours, your hunger, blood sugar levels, and portions will be controlled. By eating heart healthy snacks (small handful of raw almonds or walnuts) between meals, you can avoid overeating at meals.
10) If you do drink, choose red wine in moderation. Red wine has a high concentration of the antioxidant resveratrol, which can help maintain blood vessels’ health. Aim for only 1 drink per day (5 oz of wine).



References:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/ncep/index.htm
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200010

Positive Body Image

Our society places so much emphasis on what we look like on the outside, not the inside. A positive body image allows you to feel good inside and out.

The best way to have a positive body image is to feel positive about yourself as a person. Stay active, exercise regularly, and be confident. Nurture your body with nutrition and exercise. Keep a positive support system around you; avoid people who are negative about weight and being healthy.

Try yoga, meditation, pilates, or relaxation strategies daily if you are struggling with body image. These activities will help you feel less anxious about food and more positive about your body. Try focusing on your health, not your weight.

Healthy eating and exercise habits, along with a realistic attitude toward body image will lead to optimum wellness, performance, and confidence. Do not be discouraged if you fall into unhealthy habits occasionally--every day is a new day! Try to return to your healthy habits as soon as you can.

In times of stress, relax. Keep exercising regularly, and make sure you fuel yourself with nutrition. When you lose inspiration, focus on how good a workout feels. Do not deprive yourself of calories and nutrition. You can still 'treat' yourself occasionally. Drink plenty of non-caloric fluids, control your stress, and make yourself as happy as possible.

Maintaining a healthy body image and weight requires work and patience, just like anything that is worthwhile. In time, you will feel great about how you look and how you feel every day!

Boost your Immune System with Nutrition

Do you find yourself always coming down with a cold or sinus infection during the winter? With the stress of the holiday season and plenty of leftover sweets and junk food to go around, you may find yourself susceptible to getting sick. Don't throw your healthy eating habits out the window this winter...build your winter immunity with nutrition!

To function optimally without illness, your immune system needs a variety of nutrients, particularly vitamins A, C, E, B complex, iron, selenium and zinc. Give your body the support it needs by eating nutrient dense, whole, unprocessed food, such as veggies, fruit, legumes, whole grains, and healthy fats (monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids). Diets that are high in fat seem to depress the immune response and thus increase the risk of infections. Reducing the total fat content in your diet can increase immune activity. Limit your intake of saturated and trans fats, alcohol, and sugar, all of which suppress the immune system. Regular consumption of fermented dairy products such as yogurt may enhance immune defenses in the gut. Recent studies suggest that yogurts made with probiotics may have a beneficial effect on the immune system.

Energy intake seems to have an important influence on immune activity. Undernourished people are at greater risk from infections. Be careful of weight loss schemes after the holidays! Eating less than 1200 calories per day can also reduce immune function, an excellent reason to avoid unhealthy 'crash diets'. Excessive energy intake may also compromise the immune system's ability to fight infection. Control your calories by cutting your portions in half, reading food labels, and keeping a food journal.

Don't forget about exercise and stress management! Exercise has the capacity to protect and even enhance the immune response. Some past studies have shown that a regular exercise program may bolster many defenses of the immune system. Thirty minutes of brisk walking five days per week is an ideal training program for maintaining a healthy immune response. To try to reduce the stress and anxiety in your life, consider yoga, tai chi, walking, breathing exercises, or keeping a journal. In addition, to keep an abundant supply of your natural killer cells, try to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.

To maintain the strongest immune system possible, you must have a nutritious diet, get regular exercise, and reduce stress in your life. You must attend to all three of these areas to achieve your optimum health. No better time than now to start this wellness routine!

Cheers to a New Year and a New You!

New Year's Eve brings about reflection, resolutions, and goals. How was your 2009? Did you accomplish everything you wanted to? What are your plans for 2010? The wonderful thing about life is that it keeps presenting us with one opportunity after another to do better. Every day is a new day; every year is a new year. Wipe your health report card clear, and start fresh!

What is your take on life? Attitude is everything. Stay positive and focused on creating a healthier lifestyle. This year create realistic goals for yourself. By making your resolutions broad, you won't let yourself down if you fail to meet them. Think in terms of what you need to include in your diet or exercise routine instead of what you need to avoid.

If you think it, ink it! Try writing down your resolutions this year. If possible try keeping them on sticky notes; post them around the house to remind you of your goals often...on the refrigerator, on your bathroom mirror, in your car, or on your nightstand.

Remember, making a lifestyle change is hard, but the more a healthy lifestyle is practiced, the more normal it will begin to feel. Begin to visualize your new healthy eating and exercise lifestyle. See yourself as a person who prefers to eat healthy and loves to exercise. If you believe in yourself, you can do anything!

Here are some resolutions for a healthy New Year in 2010:
-Resolve to get more exercise
-Resolve to manage your stress
-Resolve to make healthier choices when eating out
-Resolve to keep healthy foods in your kitchen and pantry
-Resolve to control your portions
-Resolve to have healthy expectations for yourself

Have a Healthy Merry Christmas!

I love this time of year, especially having so many holiday traditions to keep up with. Plus, we all get to enjoy a white Christmas! Take advantage of this winter holiday by trying some winter sports...sleigh riding, ice skating, snow tubing, skiing, or snowboarding. Remember though, play it safe on the ice or snow!

Speaking of holiday traditions...most traditions involve special foods. These foods tend to be high in calories, saturated fat, and sugar. Challenge yourself this Christmas to make healthier meal choices and make time for exercise. Go for a winter wonderland walk after dinner or try exercising to your favorite holiday music. Don't forget about fruits and vegetables this Christmas. Add some berries to your favorite salad or dessert. Toss some spinach, broccoli, or green beans into your favorite side dish. By setting one simple, realistic goal each week, you can reach your long-term nutrition and exercise goals for the year!

If you are motivated to start new eating habits during Christmas, try keeping food records. By writing down what you are eating, how much you are eating, when you are eating, and where you are eating, you will become more nutritionally conscious. You may also want to consider weighing yourself once a week (make sure you are consistent with the same scale, day, and time each week). Lastly, try to avoid putting comfortable clothes on during this time of year...the elastic waistband is allowing you to gain weight!

Aside from the holiday food traditions this time of year, remember the true reason behind the season: "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." ~Charles Dickens

Wishing you a happy, healthy Merry Christmas!

With Love, Faith, Hope, Peace, and Joy,
Shore Dietitian

Quote of the Week:

Registered Dietitian or Nutritionist?

What is the difference between a registered dietitian and a nutritionist? Most people do not know the difference. Well, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. But, not everyone can call themselves a registered dietitian.

A registered dietitian is the nutrition expert in the field of food and nutrition. Registered dietitians provides nutrition education or counseling based on evidence-based information. They have successfully earned a minimum of a bachelor's degree with course work approved by the American Dietetic Association’s Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education, completed an accredited, supervised dietetic internship, and passed the national dietetic registration examination administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration. Registered dietitians must also complete continuing professional educational requirements to maintain registration.

If registered dietitians are the nutrition experts, what exactly is a nutritionist? Unfortunately, in the state of New Jersey, there is no legal definition for the term nutritionist, so anyone can call themselves by that title regardless of their education and training. Nutritionists may have varying levels of education.

Registered dietitians may refer to themselves as “nutritionists”, but nutritionists may not call themselves dietitians. Remember, nutrition is a science, not an opinion or point of view. A registered dietitian is the most credible source of nutrition information. If you seek nutrition advice, knowledge, and counseling, the credential to look for is the RD.

References:
http://www.eatright.org