Archive Monthly Archives: September 2017

How To Avoid Restaurant Diet Traps

September 25, 2017
Nutrition Advice

Don’t fall in the supersize trap.

I’ve had patients tell me that when they’re trying to watch what they eat, they’ll sometimes just stop eating in a restaurant altogether. Between the tempting menu descriptions, the huge portions and no way of knowing how many calories they’re eating, they often feel like they’re simply better off just staying home.

Since going out to eat is a pleasure you probably don’t want to give up forever, I think that learning your way around a menu and figuring out how to ‘dine responsibly’ are skills worth mastering.

If you only eat out a few times a year, I’d probably just tell you to go out and enjoy yourself. On average, we eat about a third of our meals away from home, so it’s worth paying attention to some of these common restaurant diet traps.

• Don’t get derailed from your usual meal plan. You should have a general plan in mind for what you usually eat for your meals, and you should stick to it. If you normally eat some combination of protein, veggies and salad for lunch, then look for something similar on the menu. And don’t let your eyes wander towards a sandwich or a pasta dish.

• Watch out for foods that sound healthier than they are. Sandwiches can be healthy if they’re made with lean meats, veggies and whole grain breads. But the calories can add up fast if you add cheese or mayonnaise, or if the sandwich is a foot long. Watch those healthy-sounding salads, too. A Chinese chicken salad can rack up more than 1000 calories, thanks to the crunchy fried noodles and heavy dressing.

• Beware of the daily specials. Your server might come by with a mouth-watering description of the daily special, so watch out. A lot of times specials can’t be modified, meaning that you might not be able to skip the sauce or gravy, or have the fish grilled rather than pan-fried. If the special fits the bill, great—but decide on something from the regular menu ahead of time. That way, you’ll have a backup.

• Don’t fall in the supersize trap. You really need to stand firm when you’re offered more food than you want, even if it sounds like a good value. When your server says, “For just a dollar more, you can have a side of fries with that,” think to yourself: “For just a dollar more, I’ll be getting 600 more calories and an extra 40 grams of fat.”

• Read calorie counts on menus carefully. A recent study showed that the calories you eat might be nearly 20% higher than what the menu says. Also, the calorie counts usually list the items separately, not the calorie count for the whole meal as it’s served. So, while you’re noting the calories for the entrée, don’t forget to add in the calories for the sides.

• Finally, restaurant portions can be huge. Split an entrée with your dining partner and order an extra side of veggies, or have your leftovers packed up as soon as you’ve eaten your portion. When it comes to supersizing, restaurants may be able to afford to pile it on—but you can’t.

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Get a Gym Partner: 6 Ways to Convince a Friend to Work Out

September 25, 2017
Fitness Advice

Mutual support helps achieve goals.

Fitness is fun when you include a partner. Using these six tips will help get your friends up off the couch and into a workout with you.

You know why you should be active, but now it’s time to spread your knowledge and help your friends and family in on the action. When you dedicate your time and energy to improving your health, the results are often visible for all to see. Your improved confidence, body image and glowing skin may be all the convincing those around you need to see. But for your friends and family members who are reluctant to get active, you may need to use some additional convincing tactics to help get them going.

It’s all in the timing

Right after a workout is the perfect time to talk with a friend about how great you feel. Try to meet up with or call them right after your workout. The energy boost you get right afterward is very natural, so they’ll hear or feel the positive energy radiating from you and share in your enthusiasm. It’s the perfect time to invite them to join you for your next gym session to do a partner workout.

Exercise can be therapeutic

Be a great friend to someone who may be feeling stressed out or down. Tell them that you’ll be the perfect listener on the go by taking them for a walk or hike for some fresh air. Having a gym partner doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to be confined to an indoor gym. Share with your friend that the path to a better mood can be as simple as just getting outside and being active. When you’re active, it promotes the release of natural, feel-good hormones in your body.

Get back on track together

If you and your friends attend a party and indulged a little too much, you can suggest continuing the party the next morning with a workout or healthy breakfast to get back on the right track. Your friends may dislike the idea of waking up early after a night out, but once they’re awake and ready to go they’ll thank you. You may even find a regular gym partner for weekends because of this suggestion.

Be the motivation

So often we’ll happily help a friend get motivated to work out, but we don’t keep that momentum going when it comes to ourselves. If you feel that you need a gym partner to keep you on track, ask an inactive friend to come and support you. You’ll be helping them to get moving as they help you keep moving. I know that so many people tend to gravitate toward their fitness savvy friends when they need motivation, but an inactive friend can give you just as much support. It may motivate them to take action and improve their own habits, too.

Share your story

When you start living a healthy, active life, friends might become worried or threatened by the changes that you’re making. If you know that your new active lifestyle may take you away from your regular friends and family activities, try to communicate your goals. Make an effort to invite an occasional gym partner to join you whenever possible.

Get fit in fashion

There’s nothing more appealing than wonderful workout clothes. One of the best ways to inspire a friend to get active is to take them shopping for new fitness apparel and shoes. Once they find the perfect outfit, they’ll need a good excuse to wear it. At that point, you can simply suggest a great spin class or hike they can try with you.

We’re all motivated by different factors. As you become more healthy and fit, it’s natural for you to want to shout about it from the rooftops, and have your nearest and dearest experience the same positive feelings. From my experience, if you truly want to help people in your life to adopt healthier habits, you must keep your thoughts and opinions very positive and encouraging. No one likes to be told that their current lifestyle is bad. To convince a friend to be your gym partner, use gentle persuasion. Encourage your family and friends with positive and fun ideas to help them achieve long-term health changes at their own pace.

That old saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” comes to mind. My takeaway quote for you is “If you keep leading by example, eventually your loved ones will join you.”

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10 Ways Makeup Can Help You Look Younger

September 25, 2017
Beauty

Choose a lip color that contains a hint of pink.

Let’s take plastic surgery out of the equation and focus on those little makeup tips and tricks that we can all follow in pursuit of a more youthful appearance.

Let’s face it, we all want to look our best, and a more youthful appearance is what we all strive for. Of course, our appearance always starts with the basics that we’ve all come to know and love. We must practice a healthy, daily skin care regimen. Sunscreen is a must, and eating a healthy diet that includes lots of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables is essential. And we always want to keep our bodies hydrated by drinking lots of water.

These little steps are an important part of maintaining our most youthful appearance—and they’re not an option, they’re a must. But what else is there? Let’s take plastic surgery out of the equation and focus on those little makeup tips and tricks that we can all follow in pursuit of a more youthful appearance.

10 Makeup Tips to Make You Look Younger Instantly

1. Go glossy

For choosing your lipstick shades, ditch the darker colors for lighter ones. Reach for the perfect nude, natural, rosy or mauve shades that contain just a pinch of pink. Apply your lip shade as you normally would, then add a splash of gloss to the center of your lips. That little touch of gloss will give you a much more youthful and sexy pout.

2. Lift those lids

Besides curling your lashes to open up those beautiful eyes, your eyelash curler can actually help lift the appearance of those sagging eyelids. Also, avoid applying mascara on your bottom lids to lift your look even more.

3. Easy on the powder

Look for loose powders and use them with a light hand. The less powder you apply to your skin the more dewy and youthful it will look. Remember, those powders have a way of seeping into any fine lines and wrinkles that you may have. When they do, they draw attention to those lines—and not in a good way.

4. Hide the imperfections

As we age, we tend to build up skin imperfections. Let’s hide those little imperfections in an effort to turn back the hands of time. Choose a lightweight foundation or tinted moisturizer with medium coverage. Silicone-based foundations will provide your skin with a more dewy or glowing appearance that will lend perfectly to a youthful appearance.

5. Line the eyes

You definitely want to accent your top lash line with eyeliner to make your eyes pop, but be careful. Choose a beautiful, deep brown color instead of black. Remember, no need to go too thick and heavy.

If you have lids that are more droopy or hooded, then you may want to create a very thin line or skip lining all together. Should you choose to wear liner, try angling it at 45 degrees to give the appearance of more lift. If you simply can’t go without liner on your lower lid, choose a lighter shade such as a very light brown or grey.

6. A pinch of blush will do

Here’s a little trick for you. Lightly pinch your cheeks, the same way you do before you take a photo, and try to match this flushed color to your blush. It’s more natural and youthful looking. Don’t apply your blush too low on your cheekbone. The higher the blush the more definition you’ll have, and your features will be lifted. Remember apply lightly, build gradually and brush upwards and outwards.

7. Lighten up the shadow

Try wearing eye shadow shades in lighter, shimmery colors found in a more natural palate. And avoid the darker browns, purples and black colors. For a bit of a pop, apply your lightest shade near the peak of your eyebrow, under and over, and the inner corners of your eyes.

8. Fill your brows with light

We all like to fill in our eyebrows so they look fuller and have stronger definition, especially when they start to get a bit thin as we age. So, lighten up a bit on both color and application to look more youthful. Brows that are too dark can really drag down a beautiful face. By choosing a lighter shade you can fill away and create gorgeous, full-looking brows without adding years to your
appearance.

9. Look for length, not weight

Lashes tend to get a bit thinner with age, unfortunately. We start to think that we need to thicken them up a bit by applying thickening formula mascara. Makes sense but, here’s the thing: our lashes are already thinning and they can’t really support the heavy mascaras used to thicken the lashes. Instead, try a nice lengthening mascara that will provide you with gorgeous color but won’t look too weighted down and heavy for your eyes.

10. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

This is the easiest and probably the most important tip. We need to hydrate inside and out. Drink plenty of water throughout the day and apply your day and nighttime moisturizers regularly. When it comes to your makeup, keep an eye open for moisturizing and hydrating products as well. Avoid the powders and hunt down the creams. Hydrated skin looks soft and supple, and it’s one of the very best things you can do for your body.

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Southwest Sirloin Steak Salad

September 23, 2017
Nutrition Advice

Juicy steak slices served over a bed of greens.

Here’s a quick and easy meal. This combination of juicy steak slices served over a bed of greens, avocado and beans will make the perfect meal for those lazy days. Done in few minutes and full of flavor, this southwest sirloin steak salad has 40 grams of protein and 600 calories. Enough to make you go OLÉ!

 

25 g / 400

Protein (approx.) / calories (approx.)

 40 g / 600

Protein (approx.) / calories (approx.)

  
  ½ cup Cooked corn kernels (only in the 40-gram side)
½ TBSP ½ TBSP Olive oil
½ cup 1 cup Sliced green or red bell pepper
½ cup 1 cup Sliced onion
4 cups 6 cups Mixed greens
½ cup 1 cup Canned black beans, drained
¼ ½ Small avocado, diced
3 oz. 5 oz. Grilled top sirloin steak, thinly sliced
Any amount Any amount Pre-prepared tomato salsa to taste

In a small frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add onions and peppers and sauté 4-5 minutes until soft and just starting to brown. Remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine mixed greens, black beans, corn (if included), avocado and salsa and toss well. Top with steak and sautéed vegetables.

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Shrimp and Spinach Pasta Salad

September 20, 2017
Nutrition Advice

Pasta and shrimps, a family-favorite dish.

Full of fresh ingredients, this pasta salad with shrimp will become a favorite dish in no time. Whole grain pasta to give you the right amount of carbs, shrimp to add protein, lots of greens to meet your vegetable needs, and olive oil with garlic to add lots of flavor will make this dish your perfect choice for a special occasion.  It’s a complete meal in no time, with 40 grams of protein and 600 calories.

 

 

25 g / 400

Protein (approx.) / calories (approx.)

40 g / 600

Protein (approx.) / calories (approx.)
½ TBSP ½ TBSP Olive oil
2 tsp 2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
Dash Dash Garlic powder or ½ clove fresh garlic, minced
¼ tsp ¼ tsp Dried basil
Any amount Any amount Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups 6 cups Baby spinach leaves
1 cup 1 cup Raw vegetables, diced (bell pepper, cucumber, red onion, tomato)
1 cup 2 cups Chopped, cooked and chilled vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, broccoli)
3 oz. 5 oz. Cooked shrimp
½ cup 1 cup Cooked whole grain pasta
1 TBSP 1 TBSP Parmesan Cheese

In a mixing bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Add spinach, vegetables, shrimp and pasta and toss well. Top with Parmesan cheese.

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