Moderating Candy Consumption

Halloween is here! Trick or treating is on your mind and undoubtedly is on your children's minds. As the evening approaches and the dressing up begins, have a plan set for moderating candy consumption. We've all eaten too much sugar before and probably remember that feeling we had in our stomach. To avoid eating too many sweets and the sugar crash that follows, you need to remember one thing: portion sizes.

Portion sizes are always important whether it comes to our daily meals or the candy we get on Halloween. There are a variety of ways to keep candy consumption to a single serving. One is by eating a balanced dinner the night of trick or treating. Getting full on the good food will help limit eating a lot of candy and chocolate.

Predividing candy and chocolate into single-serving portions in Ziplocs is a great way to keep sugar consumption low. Allowing a child to have just one bag a day or every other day to satisfy their sweet tooth without as many calories.

Give away extra candy to eliminate the temptation. Or you can use the trick of "out of sight, out of mind" to keep you or your children from overeating.

And I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Halloween Fruit Recipe

Below is a great, healthful Halloween treat for you and your kids. Plus, it allows your kids to get creative!

Ingredients: 
-6 medium oranges
-2 16-oz cans fruit cocktail
-1 16-oz can pineapple chunks
-1 sharpie marker; black

Directions:
1. Cut the tops off of the oranges (as if it was a pumpkin you were carving). 

2. Scoop out the orange being careful not to rip the peel. 

3. Cut up the oranges to use with the fruit mixture. 

4. Using the sharpie marker, draw jack o’ lantern faces on the oranges. 

5. Set them aside to dry. 

6. In a large bowl combine the fruit cocktail, pineapple chunks, and the orange pieces. 

7. Scoop fruit mixture into the oranges and chill for at least one hour before serving.

This snack is sweet with the natural sugars from the fruit cocktail, pineapple, and oranges, without adding the calories from the added sugars of the usual Halloween candy and chocolate treats. Holidays do not have to be full of high calorie foods to treat yourself. 

Lifestyle Changes

Nutrition Tip: Take your time in this challenge. Good nutrition needs to be a lifestyle change, something you follow the rest of your life. Don’t make the mistake of trying to change everything overnight. Remember it took your life thus far to adopt your current eating habits; it will take a time to change them. When you make a change, focus on reaching a week or two doing it, then review how you have been doing and look into how you can improve. Many small changes lead to bigger and better changes. That is how you reach a goal.  

 

Fitness Prescription: Walk 30 minutes. Doing at least 30 minutes of activity most days of the week (4-5 days) is the goal. Continue to walk and add in a variety of exercises to your workout routine. Keeping physically active is the key to losing weight and keeping it off.

 

You can do this. This is the last daily email of the Cynergy Health Challenge; however, we will continue to email you weekly throughout the challenge. Never hesitate to email or call us with any questions or to make any appointments.

 

As of this date, we have a collective weight loss of 31 lbs! (That is only counting the one-sixth of the participants who have done a second weigh-in so imagine what our weight loss really is!) Keep it up!

Dieting & Eating Out

Eating out can be hard to do on a diet but dieting does not mean you cannot eat at a restaurant occasionally.

 

In general, 400-500 calories for a meal is ideal. Again, plan ahead. If you know you are going to a specific restaurant, look up the nutrition information before you go. Almost every restaurant has their nutrition facts displayed either on their website or on their menu. If you don't see calories listed, you can always ask an employee for that information.

 

Some tips: Order off the kids' menu at a restaurant to save money and calories from eating smaller portions sizes (Some restaurants let you do this, others will not. It won't hurt to ask). Split your meal with a significant other or a friend. And you can always ask to have your meal cooked a certain way to meet your needs.

 

Fitness Prescription: walk 25 minutes at a brisk pace. Do 5 jumping jacks, 5 crunches, 5 lunges (each leg), 5 squats.

 

We have almost completed a month of the challenge! Rewards are known to keep motivation strong. Reward yourself. Rather than using food as reward, choose an activity that you will enjoy. Make an appointment for a relaxing massage with our massage therapist, Kelly. Go to the mall to get new clothes for your wardrobe. Do anything you feel would be a reward, but stay clear of food and drink rewards.

 

And remember, you could win a free 6-month massage membership...

Drinking Calories

Nutrition Tip: After breakfast tomorrow, make water your primary drink. At breakfast, drink your cup of coffee or your glass of orange juice. However, throughout the rest of your day, focus on water instead of juice or soda. The average American consumes an extra 245 calories daily from caloric beverages. Research shows that despite the calories, these drinks don’t trigger a sense of fullness the way that food does and leads to us taking in more calories than we expend, which results in weight gain.

Fitness Prescription: Walk 25 minutes at a brisk pace. Do 25 jumping jacks and 25 crunches.

Grocery Lists

Make a grocery list before you head to the store. This will save you money and keep you from buying high calorie foods that look appetizing. If you shop when you are hungry, you are more likely to have a cart full of soft drinks, chips, and sweets. By having a list, you are planning ahead, which helps you stay on track to only buy foods that fit into your meal plan. For ideas on healthful groceries to buy, make an appointment with our dietitian, Megan. She is more than happy to help!

Fitness prescription: Walk 25 minutes at a brisk pace. Walk with weights. Pick weights that are appropriate for you at your current fitness level. If you don't have hand weights, use cans of food, carry a heavy book, etc. Be creative. Everything counts, whether you use hand weights or substitute in a heavier object.

Planning & Weight Loss

Plan ahead. Successful weight loss and maintenance comes to those who plan. Plan when and how long you will exercise each day. Do mornings work best; do you have time during lunch; do evenings work best? Making physical activity part of your daily routine will make it easier to do each day. Also, plan when you will go grocery shopping each week and when you will cook. The more you plan, the more physical activity and eating at home will become a normal part of your routine.

Fitness prescription: walk 25 min at a brisk pace; do 10 lunges, 10 crunches, 10 jumping jacks.