Smart Food Choices

Every day we make food choices, and for those of us seeking healthy options often find ourselves tripped up by seemingly safe if not favorable choices, only to find, well, read on…

Men’s Health exposed unhealthy ingredients lurking in many popular foods, serving up a reminder that we should always read the labels when buying any packaged foods.

Read Nutritional Labels

For regular readers of Dr Oksana Aron’s weight loss blog, you already know to read nutritional labels with special attention to sodium, sugar and fat, and especially artificial sweeteners especially high-fructose corn syrup.

She’s even advised that certain organic foods aren’t always good calories.

Make Smart Choices

Here are a couple more key examples of how food labels can expose the hype:

Duck the Dip

Even seemingly healthy avocado goes incognito when packaged as “guacamole dip” — watch out for such products offering even as little as two percent avocado. (Do you even want to know what the other 98% is?)

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that American men eat 7% more calories than they did in 1971; American women [are eating] 18% more—an additional 335 calories a day!”

Low Hanging Fruit

Popular yogurt cups with fruit on the bottom are often really laden with so much sugar negating any real benefit of favoring yogurt for your diet. Consider adding your own fresh fruits to healthier yogurt brands.

Get More Help

Dr. Oksana Aron is here to help. She can help you make smart choices with your diet plan, and lose weight quickly under physician supervision.

Consider Antoinette who recently shared with us how her love for her native foods were adapted to suit her weight loss plan.

Visit WeightLossNYC.com for more information about Dr Oksana Aron and her medical weight loss program.

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Backward Trends

A recent public health study showed that among 4 year olds: nearly 13 percent of Asian children were obese, along with 16 percent of whites, almost 21 percent of blacks, 22 percent of Hispanics, and 31 percent of American Indians.

Obesity is the reason our children will for the first time ever live shorter lives than their parents.

Pain Point

Obesity is the reason our children will for the first time ever live shorter lives than their parents.

Many school sells fruity and sugary drinks after school (every Friday afternoon) as the children are leaving school. Many of the kids get one and the other parents who do not want to get one are almost forced to as all the other kids are getting one.

Things need to have to change in our society regarding food and the marketing of food. This can start with your guidance at home.

Help Yourself

Improving your own health habits can have reverberations at home. Start your own medical weight loss journey with Dr Oksana Aron — visit WeightLossNYC.com to learn more.

Sources: AP, NBC News, Red Deer Advocate

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Slip away from the chips…

Even healthy dieters need to snack throughout the day. But what should you do when you suddenly crave something that’s oh so bad for your weight loss goals? Don’t reach for your salty, greasy standby, the potato chip. Instead, grab something else that not only satisfies that same craving but is much healthier—and tastier.

Life has its ups, life has its dips…

A recent Harvard study found that potato chips are one of the top contributors to weight gain, and it’s no surprise, considering that they are fried and covered in grease. The snack options below, however, have fewer calories and fat.

Healthier Alternatives to Potato Chips

• Baked or sweet potato chips
• Apple chips
• Taro chips
• Kale chips (easy to make at home!)
• Plantain chips
• Soy crisps
• Lightly salted dried Fruit or Veggie
• Try this: Dehydrated Green beans

Step up to the plate

If you still need help in developing healthy eating habits, schedule an appointment to speak with Dr. Oksana Aron to work on a weight loss plan and fast weight loss diet plan.

Schedule Appointment today, 718-491-5525

Dr Aron Medical Weight Loss Center is here for you. Visit us at WeightLossNYC.com

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Food labels often don't tell the full story. Viewing the ingredient list can often give you more details than the numerical summaries indicate.

Many foods are marketing as having less sugar than they do by using other names for the sugars that are added. Dozens of terms including fruit juice concentrate, beet sugar, [barley] malt syrup, evaporated cane juice, corn sweeter (and many other corn syrups including the nefarious HFCS) are just some of the more innocent sounding names of added sugars.

Despite attempts back in 2016 to have FDA mandated labeling for added sugar, efforts have stalled:

“Currently, the official Nutrition Facts Label does not require disclosure of the amount of "added sugar" in a product. "Added sugar" is the amount of sugar in a food or beverage item beyond what naturally occurs in the item.” ^[1]

Ultimately the best plan is to seek and eat least-processed foods and prepare them with ingredients you fully know. Barring that, start to take note of the colorful names in your ingredient labels and start to educate yourself on what items are really in your foods and if they are counter-productive to your goal to lessen sugars in your diet.

As always, you can discuss your food concerns with Dr. Aron during any of your visits. She can help you make healthy food choices for your weight loss dieting needs.

Sources: [1] Forbes, Here is how sugar is hiding in your snacks

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Delicious dieting
By eating healthy, fresh foods you can get a great variety of flavor and lose weight at the same time. Here, we share a few tips on how to incorporate healthy foods in your diet and tell you what you can cut out for faster weight loss. It's not as complicated as you think, so read on.

1.) Eat your veggies
Filling your plate with a lot of fresh vegetables can help you lose weight. They can also keep you satisfied with their high water and fiber content.

Tip: Fill your plate with three different veggies so you not only get those nutrients in your diet, but also take in less calories. Also: season them with spices, lemon juice or olive oil and skip the salad dressing for a low-fat alternative.

2.) Soup it up
Including a healthy soup in your daily diet can keep you from eating too many calories. The key is to find a healthy soup that's broth-based, not creamy, and is low in sodium (many popular brands are very high in sodium, so look out).

Tip: Choose a low-calorie, low-sodium soup with a high vegetable content. Other healthy ingredients may include lentils and beans for extra fiber and protein.

3.) Tall drinks
Of course, it helps to only drink water, but whenever drinking a beverage, opt for a tall, skinny glass instead of a short, wide one. The reason? Studies show the tall glass provides a visual cue for you to drink as much as 25 to 35 percent less.

4.) Fresh breath
Looking for a simple way to keep snack attacks away? Chewing sugarless mint gum with a strong flavor has shown to be effective at preventing mindless snacking.

5.) A better pizza slice
When you eat or make your own pizza, you can make it healthier with the right toppings and ingredients.

Tip: Try low-fat or skim cheese, thin whole wheat crust and all-veggie toppings to lower the calories.

6.) Phase out soda
By replacing one soda a day with water instead, you can save yourself an extra 450 calories a day. One study showed that participants who drank soda regularly gained 2.5 pounds in a four-week period. By cutting out the unnecessary sugar, your teeth and waistline will thank you.

7.) Say no to bacon
Cutting out two slices of bacon can save you at least 100 calories a day, which can total a loss of up to 10 pounds in one year.

Tip: Instead, substitute other proteins such as tofu or eggs. Healthier bacon substitutions can include a turkey version (just make sure it is low in fat).

Lose weight fast with a customized diet plan. No surgery or diet food required! Schedule your appointment with WeightLossNYC today by calling 718-491-5525.

Source: webmd.com

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Snacking 101: The granola bar

A granola bar can be the perfect healthy snack for an afternoon pick-me-up or a post-workout nosh, but if you pick the wrong kind, you may be grabbing something that is just as bad as a candy bar. Here, we explain what to look for when checking out granola bars in the snack food aisle.

What's in your granola bar?

Always check the nutrition facts and list of ingredients on your granola bars. If it contains a lot of sugar, fat and calories, then it's probably a candy bar in disguise. Some granola bars even contain just as much sugar and calories as bad-for-you candy bars, so beware.

Your ideal granola bar

Look for a granola bar that has less than 5 grams of sugar per bar, not per serving, to make sure you aren't getting too much of a sugar fix. Also be on the lookout for fat and calorie content, as chocolate and peanuts are common contributors to all of the above. Natural and organic granola bars are also a better buy because they aren't going to contain artificial ingredients. Still, check the ingredients to be sure of what's in your granola bar!

Tip: Make your own healthy, quick snack by mixing plain granola with a small amount of fruit for no-sugar-added natural sweetness.

Source: shapefit.com

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What's in YOUR Diet?

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently conducted a study examining the relationship between beverage consumption and changes in weight with results confirming what doctors and dieticians have been telling patients all along: sugary drinks are not good for the waistline.

The public health study finds that not only are both liquid and solid calories associated with weight changes, but reduction of liquid calories can significantly affect weight loss after a 6-month follow-up, Benjamin Caballero, MD, PhD, told ScienceDaily.

“A reduction in liquid calorie intake was associated with a weight loss of 0.25 kg at 6 months and 0.24 kg at 18 months. Among sugar-sweetened beverages, a reduction of 1 serving was associated with a weight loss of 0.5 kg at 6 months and 0.7 kg at 18 months. Of the seven types of beverages examined, sugar-sweetened beverages were the only beverages significantly associated with weight change.”

Other study findings include that sugar-sweetened beverages were the only type of beverage associated with significant weight change over periods of 6 and 18 months, supporting recommendations to reduce liquid calories, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages, to aid weight loss.

Call WeightLossNYC™ at 718-491-5525

Source: ScienceDaily.com, April 2, 2009

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Are You Eating to Satisfy Non-Hunger Needs?

Dr. Aron admonishes snacking, favoring proper nutritional meals as the signpost to health and happy weight loss. Her prescription for traditional meals favors real table time with place settings and people.

“Building and keeping a structure to your meals maintains a signal to yourself to relax and eat normally, rather than snatch and grab snacking when under duress. [Furthermore] providing a healthy outlet for socialization helps you manage daily stress and foster stronger relationship and communication bonds.”
— Dr. Aron, Weight Loss Expert

Honest Food Needs and Fumbles

Many of the reasons people eat do not relate to true physical hunger. Being aware of physical and emotional needs and eating triggers is a step towards addressing them constructively. Dr. Aron can provide support in learning to address physical and emotional needs in non-food ways.

Address Your Physical Needs

• Tend to your health needs. Discuss with Dr. Aron if you have a pain or problem. Follow your treatment plan. Take your medication(s).
• Drink 6-8 glasses of water per day. You may need more on hot days, after exercise or eating salty foods, or based on medications you may be taking. Often people confuse hunger with thirst.
• Get enough sleep. It has been documented that lack of sleep makes some people eat more.
• Move your body. Human bodies are designed to move. After years of cutting back on requirements for physical exercise, the current recommendation is to exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes/day.
• Make exercise fun. If exercise isn't your thing, combine it with meeting other needs such as:
  
  • Socialization. Bike or walk with a friend. Take a class with a partner. Join a softball league. Learn a new dance.
  • Spiritual. Yoga or walking at the beach can feel spiritually satisfying.
  • Fresh air. Take a 20-30 minute walk—even in winter. Choose a sunny or less cold day, bundle up and walk. It clears your head, leaving you energized.
  • Care-taking. Take your children on a hike. Walk or run with your dog.
  • Personal Growth. Try a new sport. Take swimming or tennis lessons.

Satisfy Your Emotional Needs

Listen to your inner voice and work on giving yourself what you need. Everyone needs the following to varying degrees:

• Companionship/socialization. Spend time with people you love and enjoy; connect with them often. Eliminate (or minimize if that's not possible) contact with people you feel bad or stressed around.
• Time to be alone. This may include sitting in silence for ten minutes per day.
• Spend time doing what you love. If you can't do this every day, make some time every week.
• Find constructive ways of dealing with interpersonal conflict. Take a class or read a book on what ails you. See a therapist or other healer if you need support.
• Identify your stresses and find coping mechanisms. Try new ways of coping if you still feel overwhelmed.
• Pay attention to and work on eliminating negative thought patterns. Re-program negative thoughts such as
  "I'm never as good as X"
  into
  "I'm learning _____."

Healthy Lifestyle is Your Choice

Healthy eating is a lifestyle choice. A physically and emotionally tuned in you will create more positive outlets and feel less need to overeat.

Start Losing Weight Today

You can lose 10-20 lbs per month safely and easily under Dr. Aron's care and supervision. Her medical weight loss plan is fast and effective, and backed by FDA clinical approval.

Call for your first appointment, 718-491-5525

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You Are What You Eat…

Extreme Eating: Do you want some lard with that burger?
In some Chinese-American restaurants customers can choose a dish from column A and one from column B. These meals typically come with soup and an egg roll. The menu items below may lead customers to choose the road to heart attack, diabetes, stroke and/or obesity. They come with the proverbial over-sized salt shaker and a superabundance of fat.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet set a date for implementation of a new law which will require restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to disclose calorie counts to customers, many chains’ websites already contain jaw-dropping nutritional facts.

Applebee’s New England fish and chips, as an example, packs almost an entire day’s calories in one fatty over-salted meal:

Calories: 1910
Fat: 137 grams, 12 grams saturated
Sodium: 1350

In addition to the high caloric content, this meal contains the fat equivalent of ¾ cup of mayonnaise and more than half a day’s sodium requirement.

Calorie Guidelines

Do you consider a tuna fish sandwich a typical light lunch? Think again when it comes to Quizno’s tuna melt sub. It weighs in with:

Calories: 1520
Saturated fat: 21 grams
Sodium: 2020 milligrams

A healthier option would be to share it with a friend (or two) and have an apple for dessert if half a sub isn’t satisfying. Ordering a plain tuna sandwich on sliced bread without the cheese would also greatly reduce calorie, fat and sodium content.

Another head spinner is Outback Steakhouse’s full rack of baby back ribs served with Aussie fries:

Calories: 1956
Fat: 133 grams, 56 grams saturated
Sodium: 2741 milligrams

The total fat is comparable to eating nearly a stick and a half of butter!

Sadly these examples are not isolated instances. Restaurants have found salt and fat to be inexpensive ways to make food tastier. Diners keep returning for more.

In the search for new and different enticements, the food industry seems to make many dishes and foods more fattening over time. Fried chicken morphs into KFC’s Double Down sandwich by adding two slices of bacon and two slices of cheese. Creative chefs roll chocolate covered pretzels in M&M’s, nuts and toffee chips, adding calories and fat. Cheesecake becomes gluttonous with the addition of Reese’s peanut butter cups, fudge cake and caramel as in the Cheesecake Factory’s Reese’s peanut butter cheese cake.

Start Losing Weight, Today

Choose your indulgences carefully and sparingly. Check restaurants’ websites ahead of time to select healthier options. Limit portions consumed. And find yourself en route to a healthier, slimmer you.

Sources:
Nutrition Chart, What's Cooking America
"Restaurants put obesity on the menu," Washington Post, 10.21.10, p.E1.

Call Weight Loss NYC now @ 718-491-5525

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Don't Judge a Box by its Cover

Nutritional labels on prepared foods are meant to guide consumers in making healthy choices. What has evolved in recent years are scores of empty and misleading claims requiring time and perhaps a college degree to decipher which foods really are “good for you.”

Common misleading food labeling includes empty claims that imply health benefits which have no backing. Among these are “Made with natural flavor,” “Doctor recommended,” and “Made with natural goodness.”

Some claims are accurate but don't give the consumer additional information such as pasta packages labeled “no cholesterol” — Plain pasta does not contain cholesterol! More misleading are labels such as on Edy's Dibs Bite Sized Snacks. They boast “0 grams of trans fat!” giving the impression that these chocolate covered morsels of ice cream are heart healthy when in fact a serving contains 16 grams of saturated fat. The Center for Science in the Public Interest recommends that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibit companies from boasting of “0 grams trans fat” on products with more than one gram of saturated food per serving.

Don't Believe the Hype

Many labels for fruit-flavored items suggest that products offer the health benefits of fresh fruit when in reality, real fruit is found in small quantities if at all. Gerber Graduates Juice Treats-marketed for preschoolers- depict six different fruits on the package. The product actually contains grape juice concentrate and less than two percent raspberry and apple juice concentrate. The main ingredients are corn syrup and sugar, 17 grams worth, or about four teaspoons of refined sugars per serving.

One of the most widely used claims capitalizes on the food pyramid's recommendation that “at least half of recommended total grain intake should be whole grains.”^[5] Bread, cereal, cracker and even cookie packages often feature their whole grain and high fiber content. Yet these products often have refined flour as the first ingredient and a minimal amount of whole grains. Furthermore, a number of products which claim to be good sources of fiber are peddling fiber not from traditional sources such as whole grains, beans, vegetables or fruit, but from “isolated fibers” made from chicory root or purified powders of polydextrose and other substances. Unlike traditional sources of fiber, isolated fibers have not been shown to lower blood sugar or cholesterol, two of the key benefits of eating fiber.^[3].

Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal boxes tout “Good Source of FIBER & Made with WHOLE GRAIN.” (A green leaf adorns the ampersand further fostering the image of healthy food.) While Froot Loops boxes list whole grains among the first five ingredients, the first ingredient is sugar. Ditto for many cereals and cookies labeled “made with whole grains.“

While the Center for Science in the Public Interest continues to urge the FDA to crack down on false and misleading food labeling, consumers can take proactive steps towards better nutrition. Read labels discriminately. When faced with choices among products (such as different yogurts), compare the nutritional facts and choose products with less saturated and trans fats and sugar, fewer artificial ingredients, and more nutrients such as protein and vitamins.

Eat more foods without labels, the foods your great-grandparents would recognize. As food guru Michael Pollan says, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

– Healthcare Author, Sima Michaels Dembo

References:

1. Center for the Science in the Public Interest, www.cspinet.org/new/200912291.html
2. Niman, Nicolette Hahn “Defending &rlquo;Foodies’: A Rancher Takes a Bite out of B.R. Myers,“ February 17, 2011, theatlantic.com/life/archive
3. Parker-Pope, Tara, “Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels,“ New York Times, January 28, 2010.
4. Wikipedia, Nutritional Facts Label
5. DietaryGuidelines.com

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Fast Weight Diet Program

Trimming the fat in one's diet can be a great way to lose weight,and for those with high LDL cholesterol, it can pack a double punch by lowering cholesterol as well. Sometimes one change yields a huge difference. One patient just cut the weekly block of cheddar cheese out of her diet. After two weeks, she was surprised and thrilled to find that her pants were looser.

In most cases, particularly when high cholesterol is an issue, bodily changes may take longer. The steps below provide guidelines of where to look for unnecessary fat within your diet. Many programs suggest making changes gradually so that they can become part of your lifestyle and not leave you feeling deprived and prone to binge-ing on "forbidden foods." Our fast weight loss program encourages you to take more serious steps forward.

— Dr. Aron, Weight Loss NYC

Here are some of Dr. Aron’s low fat diet tips:

• Don’t Be Chicken

  Stick with naturally lowfat chicken, turkey and fish. Limit red meat consumption to once a week or less. Trim all visible fat from meat. Remove the skin from poultry. Look up fat content in fish. While the fat in fish can be heart healthy omega 3s, if weight loss is the goal, choosing lower fat options can speed progress.

• No Day is Fry Day

  Baking, grilling, broiling and roasting meat/poultry/fish serve up less fat than pan or deep frying. Note that sauté means "fry" in French so don’t be fooled that sautéed foods are healthier than fried dishes when reading recipes and menus.

• Butter or Not

  Cut back on butter. Lowfat or fat free cream cheese is an option as are some of the butter alternatives on the market. Read the labels to make sure margarine is free of partially hydrogenated oils (transfats). When cooking, use cooking spray on pan surfaces. Sprays come in olive oil, butter and other varieties so you can choose what works best for dinner dishes, baking or the morning omelette.

• Moo-ve on over

  Switch to low or nonfat dairy products. Lower fat versions of mozzarella, cottage, feta or ricotta cheeses hardly taste different from their full fat cousins, if at all. For dessert, nonfat frozen yogurt, sherbet , sorbet or soft-serve ice cream are generally lower in fat than hard ice cream. Be sure to check nutritional labels though because some brands do have high fat content despite their "frozen yogurt" or "sorbet" label. Experiment with various low fat dairy products to see which suit your taste. Some brands of the same product taste and/or work better in recipes than others.

• Read the Labels

  Read nutritional labels and steer away from foods containing partially hydrogenated oil, palm oil, coconut oil or lard. These are notoriously high in bad cholesterol. Beware of store bought baked goods which often contain these ingredients. Look for low fat alternatives or bake your own using small amounts of unsaturated oils and fats (e.g., vegetable oil, lowfat yogurt).

• Be Fruitful

  The healthiest lowfat or nonfat dessert is fruit. Try new fruits in season. Combine them with Cool Whip topping and angel food cake (which are also lowfat) for special occasions. Other lowfat desserts to satisfy a sweet tooth include sugar free jellos and puddings, flavored lowfat/nonfat yogurts and frozen fruit bars (that don't contain cream). If overall healthy eating is a goal, steer clear of products containing artificial sweeteners.

• Salad Days

  Use salad dressings, homemade or store-bought, that contain olive oil or other unsaturated oils. Mix together with vinegar, lemon juice and/or mustard and fresh or dried herbs to taste. If the dressing has fat of any type, use it sparingly. Many a healthy vegetable salad has turned into a high fat sabotage due to liberal use of dressing.

• Dining Room

  Restaurant eating can pose special challenges since diners are not aware of all ingredients used. Some basic guidelines: order meat/fish/poultry that is grilled, roasted or baked. If choosing broiled meat, ask them to broil without oil. Request sauce and dressings on the side so that the amount consumed can be limited. Skip the butter on the bread. Ask for lowfat milk instead of cream for coffee. Stay away from soups unless the fat content is known; many restaurant soups contain high amounts of oil or cream.

Weight Loss Consultation

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Get a Leg Up on Legumes

Foods that are high in fiber and protein will keep you full longer because they take longer to digest. The meat and bean group has the most protein; it includes meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, and legumes. Beans and legumes are high in fiber as well, as are whole grains, and fruit and vegetables eaten with their seeds and peels. Vegetables are very filling and very low in calories too.[1]

Dieting Tip: Make a Sensible Start

Planning your daily caloric intake to achieve your target goal takes skill and practice; Making your menu of favorites and alternates for each meal is a helpful diet practice too. You can always switch things around to keep it fresh not boring, but ultimately your motivation is to find healthy nutritious meals you enjoy to eat, not to deprive or punish yourself daily!

Process This: Eat Fresh or Frozen

Americans eat 31% more packaged food than fresh food ... A sizeable portion is … read-to-eat-meals like frozen pizzas and microwave dinners, and salty or sweet snack foods.[2]

Choosy Dieters, Choose This..

Choosing foods with least amount of processing and processed ingredients gives you far more control over the quality as well as the quantity of food. Remember you never need to eat any portion of ANY meal that's before you. Knowing the right amount to eat is as much as having the right foods in front of you to enjoy.

[1]Source Hartley
[2]New York Times

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Lose Weight for a Lifetime of Life!

Having a thinner body is possible. Just follow these steps below if you want to ditch those extra pounds. These ideas aren't short-term quick fixes — they're lifestyle changes that will leave you healthier and happier for years to come.

Eat healthy

This one's obvious, but be sure that you are eating whole, real foods — not processed junk. Get those whole grains, lean meats, fruits, vegetables, fiber, vitamins and minerals in your diet to maintain a lean physique and avoid serious health problems.

Go ahead and snack

Believe it or not, frequent snacking throughout the day helps you stay thin by increasing your metabolism. Eat healthy snacks such as fruits, vegetables and low-calorie or low-carb snacks between meals to curb your hunger — and prevent eating too many calories at meal time (or any other time).

Be active

You can't lose weight by cutting calories alone. You will also need to do vigorous exercise a few times a week and physical activity every day. Exercise keeps weight down, metabolism high and your heart happy.

Rest up!

Get enough sleep each night to stay healthy. For adults, this means 7-8 hours. Not getting enough rest on the other hand can impair your memory, raise blood pressure and even cause weight gain.

Relieve stress

Manage your stress by engaging in relaxing activities. Why? Lower stress levels can help regulate insulin and keep your immune system in top condition.

Read More Weight Loss Tips & Start Losing Weight Today

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