Week 9: Myth-busting
You all asked some GREAT questions and I'm excited to get to answer them for you! This is a long one, but full of great information. Question and Challenge at the bottom. Here we go!
Q: “What exercise do you suggest if I can’t lift over 25 pounds & can’t twist, bounce, or bend over? I already walks but would like to do a little more. I had back surgery (can’t recall how long ago).”
A: If you are already walking (aerobic exercise) I recommend a strength training program and a stretching/flexibility program. MU Extension’s Stay Strong, Stay Healthy is a safe, low-impact strength training program that helps individuals start where they are and gradually increase their weight, repetitions, and sets. Maybe we can get a class started in Barton County soon! (Click HERE for the exercises) Strength training programs should include 8-10 exercises that target all major muscle groups. These exercises should be done 2-3 days a week to allow a day of rest and recovery in between each training. There are many ways to strengthen the muscle that don’t have to involve weights. Resistance training in a pool is a great workout, and body weight workouts can do the body good too!
As for flexibility, I recommend doing a series of stretches that target all of the major muscle groups. These stretches should be done slowly, for 10-20 seconds each for a total of about 10 minutes. Flexibility training can, and should be done daily.
In addition, I would encourage you to continue doing the exercises prescribed to you as you rehabilitated from your back surgery.
Q: “Is macronutrients a new term?”
A: It’s not a new term, but I can’t tell you how long it has been a term. It’s not widely used. I doubt you would hear it unless you took a nutrition course (the first time I learned of the term), read a nutrition/diet book, stayed current on nutrition research and studies, or participated in a program like the Summer Lovin’ Health Challenge. I hope the discussion of “macros” made things a little easier to see and understand rather than making nutrition foggier.
Q: “What are some great healthy snacks what are low in calories? When you are in a hurry, what’s a healthy meal?”
A: First, I want to clear something up. A healthy snack can be high in calories and still be healthy. Calories are filling and the goal of a snack is to hold you over until the next meal, right? So if you’re snack wasn’t filling you might feel the need to eat more. For example, nuts are a great snack. They are filling because they are a great source of protein, as well as heart-healthy fats.
On the same token, a low-calorie snack could be unhealthy or contain “empty calories.” Nonetheless, a healthy, low-calorie snack would be something like fruits or veggies, like handful of grapes or baby carrots, or whole grain crackers/bread and hummus. I recently discovered two new “chip-like” snacks that are healthy that I really like. One is Off the Eaten Path Chickpea Veggie Crisps. They are delicious and one serving (15 crisps) is 130 calories with decent amounts of fiber and protein. The other is Harvest Snaps. These are a variety of snacks made from beans, peas, and lentils. They are a good source of fiber and protein (filling) and low in carbohydrates.
If you are like me, you like a variety of food groups in your meals and snacks. I prefer snacks like Sargento Balanced Breaks when I’m at work. Other snacks I enjoy are low-fat cottage cheese with fruit and veggies or pita bread with hummus.
Q: “Is corn oil healthier than canola oil?”
A: Both corn and canola oils are unsaturated plant oils, so they are both healthy. In a recent study done by the American Heart Association (click HERE), it was found that when replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats (PUFA’s) were better at decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than monounsaturated fats. However, monounsatured fats (MUFA’s) still decreased the risk of CVD when replaced for saturated fats. Corn oil is higher is PUFA’s than canola oil. Canola oil is higher in MUFA’s. Bottom line, both are healthy and both have a high smoke point (can withstand high temps when cooking), so use with the one you like or fits your budget.
Q: “Keto is a big trend right now. It requires high fats, moderate protein, and very low carbs. Would you consider this a healthy lifestyle? How do you lose weight without being low carb?”
AHERE: The ketogenic diet is beneficial, and was even created for a very specific population to help with seizures and other neurological disorders. While the ketogenic diet has been successful in helping some individuals lose weight, it has to be followed very strictly to achieve weight loss. Furthermore, one has to remain in a state of ketosis to continue to lose weight. This is not sustainable (can’t be done for a lifetime), and we don’t know how that increased fat intake will affect your health in the long run. If a diet plan isn’t something that you can be on for your entire life, it is not recommended. You have to ask yourself, “What happens when I get off this diet?” is a great summary of the benefits and concerns of the ketogenic diet.
Fats are not bad. We need them in our diet as they serve many important functions just like the other two macronutrients, protein and carbohydrate. But fats shouldn’t be our main source of calories. There is flexibility within the Dietary Guidelines for Americans acceptable macronutrient intake ranges. If one wanted more fat in their diet, they could consume up to 35% of their calories from fat and still be within a healthy range. Most of these fats should be unsaturated fats from plant sources.
Q: “What do you think of the keto diet?”
A: See above. Also, If you are bound and determined to do it, I encourage you to talk to your doctor to make sure it’s healthy for you to start the ketogenic diet. Individuals with diabetes should not be on the ketogenic diet.
Q: “How do I maintain the lifestyle? I eat so healthy but I know that isn’t likely forever. (To eat ONLY healthy).”
A: Life is a journey, right? So is healthy eating. You will (hopefully) continuously learn about and find new foods you like or new ways to prepare them, or you will find tricks/methods/strategies that help you maintain that healthy lifestyle. We don’t have to ONLY eat healthy all the time. Enjoy a sweet treat or a guilty pleasure every now and then. If you all think I only eat healthy, you are sorely mistaken. My trick is I don’t keep the sweet treats in my home that tempt me. I purchase thoughtfully and intentionally.
It’s my hope that you find ways to make healthier versions of your favorite foods. Sometimes it’s our mindset we have to change, rather than our eating habits. For example, someone told me they always wanted to have ingredients on hand to make cookies for when their grandchildren came to visit (who visit on almost a daily basis). She said it was how she nurtured them. I asked her to re-frame what nurturing meant in her mind. Have homemade snacks/goodies for your loved ones, but help them and help yourself by making healthier snacks/goodies. Make them ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins) or strawberry shortbread with whole grain pie crust (skip the cool whip and sugar). Or even change up your cookie recipe to use more whole grains, nuts, dark chocolate and dried fruit. Swap the stick of butter for a healthy plant oil.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle becomes easier when your surroundings support a healthy lifestyle: good sidewalks, safe streets, nearby stores with healthy foods, restaurants with healthy menus, schools with healthy concession stands and no pop machines.
You maintain a healthy lifestyle by making all these things that we talk about a habit. And it takes time, so be patient.
Q: “How many steps is reasonable for the average person daily?”
A: Start where you are. First, track how many steps you normally get in a day and try to add to that over time. Everyone’s goal is going to be different depending on their current activity level and their fitness or weight loss goals. Rather than steps, you may want to focus on your minutes of physical activity. Adults need 150 minutes of aerobic activity each week. HERE is more great information from Mayo Clinic.
Q: “Why does it seem like healthy food is so much more expensive? Trying to read labels & knowing if what I eat is really healthy.”
A: It may seem like healthy food is more expensive because sometimes foods are marketed as healthy and have a high sticker price. It is absolutely possible to eat healthy on a budget. Here are my tips:
1. Don’t fall for the gimmicks. Know what is healthy and avoid the marketing trap. You don’t need to worry about any messaging on the front of the package. Go straight to the nutrition label and ingredient list.
Limit saturated fat, sodium, cholesterol, and added sugar intake by checking the percent daily value column on the nutrition label. Choose foods that have 5% or less for each of these items. Choose foods that are high in (20% or more in the percent daily value column) fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Look for whole grains (first ingredient), fruits, and veggies on the ingredient list.
2. When buying fresh produce, buy in-season produce to save money. Otherwise, opt for canned or frozen varieties.
In-season produce is typically highlighted toward the front of the produce section. Visit Seasonal and Simple for what’s in-season near you.
Canned veggies with no salt added
Canned fruit in 100% juice or water
Buy frozen veggies without sauces
3. Buy in bulk in the produce section if you have space for it and if you can finish it before it goes bad.
4. Buy the less convenient item, i.e. the whole carrot rather than the shredded carrot.
5. Stock up when foods are on sale- bread can be frozen for up to six months. Yogurt can be frozen too, it just has to be stirred with thawed.
6. Compare unit prices rather than retail prices (orange square below).
Q: “I have been studying nutrition for the last year & am very irritated by the “low-fat” diet that has been forced upon us for the last 30+ years. When I started eating healthy fats-several things changed in my body & I realized I had been depriving my body of an essential nutrient. My skin changed, my appetite changed & I fell in love with fats. I believe spikes in blood sugar & then insulin are the reason we gain weight. What are your thoughts on this?”
A: Nutrition is a science. It is constantly studied, and we are constantly learning more than we did before. I know it can be frustrating, especially with all the other noise in the media about nutrition information that comes from unreliable sources. The low-fat diet was a mistake, but they were doing what they knew as best at the time. Nutrition recommendations have stepped away from that now. It came about as a response to increasing cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events. It was known that arteries covered with plaque lead to heart disease, so it was recommended to decrease fat intake. Now we know the type of fat matters. We still recommend limiting saturated fats in the diet, but unsaturated fats actually help decrease circulating LDL (bad) cholesterol and increase HDL (good) cholesterol. You are right though, our bodies NEED fat.
As for the reason we gain weight, there can be several contributing factors in each individual, but the biggest and simplest reason we gain weight is because we take in more calories than we burn.
Q: “I would like to know healthy alternatives for people who do not like vegetables. I only eat lettuce, canned green beans & raw carrots.”
A: First of all, I would encourage you to try new vegetables prepared in new ways with different seasonings. Veggies can take on all kinds of different flavors and textures depending on how they are prepared and what they are eaten with. If you still don’t like them, then I would encourage you to hide them in various dishes. I love hiding shredded veggies like carrots and zucchini in pasta sauce. Or you can blend them up in a smoothie. Finding the right flavor combos can be tricky so I recommend searching for recipes. Lastly, if none of these tips work for you, I recommend taking multi-vitamin to make sure you aren’t missing out on any essential vitamins and minerals.
Q: “How do you make quick easy meals but are low in sodium?”
A: We need sodium in our diet, as it is a mineral that serves important functions in our body like aiding in muscle contraction. However, if we eat several meals away from the home or too many “convenience” foods, we may be taking in more sodium than we need. Here are a few tips to reduce sodium intake if you think you may be getting too much sodium, or your doctor has told you to reduce your sodium intake:
Cook with ingredients that are low in sodium. Buy canned veggies/beans/broths/soups that are low in sodium or have no salt added, or if you can’t find those options and your recipe calls for salt, reduce it or skip it since there’s already extra sodium in some of your ingredients.
Use salt “to taste” rather than using all the salt in a recipe.
Don’t add salt at the table if it’s already been added during cooking.
Q: “I would like to know opinions on different exercises and programs, the best ones for different things and such.”
A: The best exercise program is the one that you will do. There are so many different exercise programs out there, I don’t know if I could even begin to evaluate “the best.” Here are some key guidelines: You need 150 minutes of activity each week that elevates your heart rate. This could be walking, swimming, jogging, dancing, workout videos, exercise classes, you name it.
You also need 2-3 days a week of muscle training activities. Aim to work the whole body, starting with low weights, repetitions, and sets and progressing when ready. Make sure you have a day of rest in between. You can use body weight, purchase free weights, weight machines. It is not recommended to use household products like canned goods or milk jugs for weight lifting. You should give your body a day of rest between each muscle-training workout.
Lastly, you need to do flexibility training daily. Perform a variety of stretches to stretch the arms, back, chest, core, lower back, front and back of legs, and even your hands and feet. Flexibility helps you keep range of motion. Yoga can be a good flexibility workout that also improves muscular strength and endurance.
If you have specific questions about an exercise program you are interested in starting, shoot me an e-mail or give me a call and I’d be glad to go over the specifics with you.
Q: “Is there a good website or place to look for easy & healthy recipes that use common ingredients, ones you can find at Walmart? I especially need to find dairy free/gluten free recipes that my family would like. I need these somewhere where I don’t have to search for hours to find something.”
A: As a general rule, I don’t recommend going gluten-free or dairy-free unless you have Celiac Disease, you have a gluten allergy, you are gluten intolerant, or lactose intolerant. I just want to clear up a few misconceptions first. Gluten isn’t unhealthy, it is just a combination of proteins found in SOME grain products like wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten doesn’t cause you to gain weight.
Dairy products are actually very nutritious and cheap. Yogurt and cheese have probiotics which are vital for gut health. Cow’s milk provides 8 grams of protein and nine essential vitamins and minerals. The only milk alternative that comes close to that is soy milk, but it lacks the vitamins and minerals so those are added during production. Our bodies like what is naturally present and intact in a food, rather than what is added. This is one of the reasons cow’s milk is preferred. There has been a lot of misinformation in the news about hormones in milk and raw milk. Here is what you need to know:
Anything you eat that is living or was once living has hormones it.
Cow’s milk used to have an added hormone that helped the cows produce milk. This was a protein hormone that wasn’t harmful to humans and it was actually good for the cow and the environment. It is no longer in milk because consumers got misinformation in the media and quit buying cow’s milk.
Raw milk is not safe. Raw milk hasn’t been pasteurized or homogenized. There isn’t anything unhealthy about the pasteurization and homogenization process. Pasteurization heats milk to a certain temperature for a set amount of time to kill off any bacteria that may be present in the milk (think of how a cow swats flys away… now think of what that “fly swatter” is close to). Homogenization just blends the fat with the liquid component of the milk.
All that being said, this is the only recommended website I know of for individuals trying to avoid gluten and dairy products in their diet.
Q: “How can a 62 yr. old with bad knees keep the aerobic part up? I'm going to the gym every workday except when I work 12/5 hrs, but now my knees are acting up when I push it.”
A: First, I recommend talking to your doctor about your knees if you already haven’t. It could be that you need to build up your leg strength to support the knee joint or there is a discrepancy between the strength of the front of your leg versus the back of your leg. It could also be a flexibility issue. The ligaments and tendons surround the knee joint (and there are a lot) may need stretched out. You could also talk to a personal trainer at your gym. They should be able to show you exercises and stretches to avoid, or that can help.
Next, I recommend getting a good pair of sneakers. Not all shoes are created equal. I learned that lesson at 26 when I started jogging more and my knees started hurting. You have to invest in a good pair of shoes that are meant for the task at hand. Often times, when shoes are labeled as “running shoes” that means sprinting, i.e. not suitable for walking and jogging. I promise it will make a world of a difference.
If that option doesn’t work for you or doesn’t sound appealing, I would recommend trying a different type of aerobic workout. Many people with joint problems find that they can get a great workout in a pool, and we have a great indoor pool in our county.
Q: “I don’t seem to have enough time to cook so I have been buying “healthy” I thought frozen dinners and pre-made salads. I need something simple I can make without weird ingredients that is simple and fast. That when all the meals are put together have all my macros & stuff. Any suggestions?”
A: Hopefully some of these questions got cleared up in the prior weeks about meal planning and meal prepping. In a nutshell, whether the food is healthy or not, it’s going to take time. We don’t have quick fixes or magic bullets so we must learn to manage our time depending upon our priorities. That means we may have to not doing something else in order to get a good meal in our bellies. The best method I have found is meal prepping with a friend or family member. You get social interaction, you get help in the kitchen, and you save time and money. The best way to get all of your macros is to make sure you eat from all five food groups every day, or at least three food groups in each snack or meal.
Question: What has been your most and least favorite part of the 4th Annual Summer Lovin' Health Challenge so far?
Challenge: Go for a walk in the park or your neighborhood and snap a selfie.