How often should I weigh myself? We recommend only weighing yourself once a week, or even less frequently.  The reason for this is that the body can fluctuate  by 2-3 lbs daily. Temporary weight increase (usually water retention) can be caused by lack of sleep, stress, a high sodium or carbohydrate meal, alcohol consumption, or a woman's menstrual cycle.  Since there are so many variables, daily weighing can lead to confusion and disappointment.  Too much emphasis on losing pounds can lead to unhealthy eating habits and the very unfortunate loss of lean muscle vs. stored fat. When you are enrolled in our Venice Nutrition program, we will weigh you every 2 weeks, but also measure your body fat to be sure you are losing just fat, not muscle.  You can purchase scales for home use that will measure your body fat along with weight.  This would be a wise investment as you can become aware of actual fat loss and make adjustments should you see any muscle loss.

Hot flashes are among the most common symptoms associated with the changing hormonal balances during menopause.  These sudden feelings of intense heat accompanied by sweating and rapid heartbeat can last from 2 - 30 minutes... they are not over in a 'flash'. Women experience disrupted sleep, work, and social activities, and may feel more anxious or depressed.  Women with higher body mass index (BMI) report more frequent or severe hot flashes compared to women with lower BMI.  A 2010 clinical study showed that overweight or obese women can benefit from behavioral weight loss efforts to decrease the burden of their menopausal symptoms.   Many problems associated with aging are significantly improved or eliminated when extra pounds are shed.  Avoiding Type II Diabetes, back and joint pain, heart disease and stroke are some additional health incentives to keep in mind as you embrace a healthy lifestyle and gradually lose weight through eating well and regular exercise.

Have you noticed that restaurant food is often more salty or fat-laden than anything you eat at home?  When you cook, even simple meals or microwaved steamed vegetables, you have the perfect opportunity to control what you and your family are ingesting, so use that to your advantage.  Cook with a good quality non-stick pan to cut down on cooking oil which has 199 calories and 14 grams of fat in just one tablespoon. (Olive oil has less, and using a spray like PAM is even better.)    Ditch the salt and experiment with herbs and seasonings, or a quick and simple variety of 'Mrs. Dash'.  Did you know you can substitute applesauce for cooking oil in recipes you bake? There are many healthy substitutions to try which will surprise you because neither you nor your family will miss the old ingredients.  Small changes in cooking methods and recipes add up to big health improvements!

During an extended period of time focused on weight loss, there will be weeks when there are more pounds lost than expected, sometimes less than expected and sometimes there are 'plateaus' where the scale just seems stuck for a while.

In Monday's Kaizen Healthy Lifestyle class we discussed how to deal with plateaus so they aren't too discouraging nor lengthy.  Again, keeping a food log is one of the best tools anyone has used which helps us not only be more mindful during the day but can provide important clues when weight loss plateaus and we aren't sure why. Class members shared that looking at the food log helped them break a plateau period by making them more conscious of portion sizes, how much water they were drinking, how frequently they were eating out at restaurants, and how much fiber they ate each day.

In addition to a high-fiber diet reducing your risk of diabetes, digestive disorders, hemorrhoids, certain cancers and heart disease, getting plenty of fiber assists with weight loss and weight maintenance.  The USFDA recommends including 20-30 grams of fiber each day.  Eating fiber adds no calories yet helps to keep you feeling full and satisfied.  When class members paid attention to getting enough fiber they found they were eating more desirable foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and feeling satisfied. They decreased overeating and junk food snacking.

Keeping your eye on fiber has many benefits, and if you want to give your weight loss efforts a boost, read your food labels and choose higher fiber products. For example, for cold cereals, look for more than 5 g of fiber and less than 5 g of sugar per serving.  Adding sliced almonds or walnuts boosts any cereal's fiber without sugar, so try that also.

Monday's Kaizen Healthy Lifestyle class involved everyone in reviewing common food choices and identifying at least one nutritionally superior alternate.  The alternate had to be similar and tasty...no sense pretending you would just as soon eat cottage cheese as vanilla ice cream.  Many pairs were discussed - one item to Choose, one item to Lose.  For example, when looking at sugar content, their is no contest between orange Crystal Lite (choose) and carton orange juice (lose).  Significantly lower in sugar and calories are Emerald's Cocoa Roasted Almonds vs. peanut M & Ms.   Lose a lot of saturated fat by choosing olive oil over butter. Lose a ton of sodium by choosing low-sodium chicken broth over bouillion cubes.  Add fiber and a healthier carb by choosing rolled oats instead of bread crumbs in your recipes calling for filler.   You may have seen the book series 'Eat This - Not That', which is the same concept.  The problem with those books is they are NOT presenting a truly healthy choice with each 'Eat This' recommendation. They are simply saying one of the pair is better than the other... but it is often the lesser of two evils.  The Kaizen Healthy Lifestlye class is much more discerning.  Handouts from the 'Choose It-Lose It' class will be free to visitors at the upcoming Love Your Life Health Expo March 26 at Kaizen Total Wellness center in Lakewood Ranch.

Healthy Substitutions was the nutrition topic discussed in Monday's Healthy Lifestyle class. The Kaizen approach is not about deprivation, it is about making choices that will help you get your optimum nutritional value out of each calorie.

Smart substitutions are ones that provide more 'good stuff' like fiber and vitamins and less 'bad stuff' like saturated fats and sugar. The smartest substitutions do this without making you feel you are missing out on anything, like flavor, texture, or sense of fullness.

Here are some of my favorite substitutions. Please share yours with me!   

• For vegetable oil called for in a baking recipe, substitute the same amount of unsweetened apple sauce.
• Instead of mayo, use guacamole (healthy, home-made) on a sandwich. 
• Instead of grits with poached eggs, have half a piece of whole grain toast and ¼ cup black beans.
• Rather than M & M’s, have a few Emerald's cocoa roasted or cinnamon almonds.
• Instead of sugar for iced tea, use stevia and fresh mint leaves.
• Rather than lettuce for sandwiches or salads, use raw spinach and/or arugula.
• Use no-sodium chicken stock to make soup and spice it with pepper or cilantro.
• For a change from broth soups, use unsweetened almond milk to make it ‘creamy’.
• Instead of granola crumbles, add sliced almonds to yogurt or cereal.
• Use cinnamon instead of brown sugar to top oatmeal.
• Dip apple slices into natural peanut butter or almond butter, not caramel.
• For 2/3 of the usual amount of lean ground beef when making meatballs or hamburgers, substitute ground turkey breast and rolled oats.
• For the bread crumbs needed to make crab cakes or salmon cakes, substitute half the amount with whole grain bread crumbs or crushed original Fiber One cereal,  and half shredded raw zucchini.
• Make a gallon of orange Crystal Lite to keep in the fridge instead of orange juice.
• Instead of the usual cocktail, make a mixed drink with club soda, diet cranberry juice and lime wedge.
• Cut an apple into small chunks, sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice and stevia then microwave 2 min. and ‘dessert’ is ready.
• Marinate chicken in buttermilk instead of high-sodium marinades - very tenderizing! 
• Instead of a butter or cream sauce for fish, make a mango salsa, Kaizen's recipe for Georgia Relish, or other interesting fat-free topping.
• Use plain yogurt and a variety of seasonings instead of sour cream and salt to make dips.
• Wrap your hors d'oeuvres like cantaloupe bites with smoked salmon instead of prosciutto.
• Peel and core an apple, then cut across into ½ rings to use as a ‘bagel’ for lox and fat-free cream cheese.
• Blend a smoothie with skim milk, vanilla whey protein powder, diet root beer and ice and you’ve got a ‘Root Beer Float’.

Monday's Healthy Lifestyle class offered new information about what to eat, and not eat, to lower risk of heart disease or stroke, reviewing my 'Ask the Dietitian' article in February's Living Out East Magazine. http://www.livingouteast.com/digital/LOEOB_February_2011. We reviewed food labels on packages... so tricky! 

     Annette Schuchert  http://www.kaizentotalwellness.com/about-us   also led a lively discussion where the participants learned about the four questions to stop and ask yourself when you reach for food, especially an unplanned snack.  1. Am I hungry?  2. Is this what I feel like eating? 3. Is this what I feel like eating now? 4. Is there something else I could eat instead?   (from The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size by Julia Cameron, bestselling author of  The Artist's Way.

 This really helps us be more mindful, more conscious of what we 

are putting in our mouths and bodies.   Ask the questions gently. 

For one week, keep a journal handy and write your answers. 

   http://www.kaizentotalwellness.com/nutrition