Food Choices For Dieting

Have you ever wondered what to eat while you are dieting? Well today is your day. These are just a few suggestions for you to supplement on those tough days.

Food Choices Meats: avoid using anything cured or processed with honey. You may try boiled ham. If you would like to purchase lunch meat these are great too, but use only low fat or fat free. All the lean cuts are legal, as long as they are prepared using healthy methods.

Chicken is permitted as well as turkey but limit the quantity of dark meat. You may want to snack on rolled up lunch meat wrapped in lettuce. Add a bell pepper, scallion or some avocado to add a little flavor. You may want to add condiments that do not have sugar. Stay away from ketchup unless it is sugar free.

Try adding a little fish and shell fish. You can have 1% or fat-free cottage cheese, milk, or plan yogurt, but remember no more than two servings a day. Remember to stick to cheeses containing no more than six grams of fat per serving. Use egg whites and egg substitute. Try scrambling two egg whites with a small amount of vegetables, or eat a hard boiled egg. Eat as many as you would like!

Vegetables are a great choice. Cut up and dip sparingly into hummus (see website for recipe) or some fat free, sugar free dressing. Good snacks are cauliflower, cucumbers, snow peas, zucchini, celery, and asparagus. Try a few nuts. Peanuts (20 small), pecan halves (15), and pistachios (15) are all great snacks to eat during the day. These items are suggested to supplement your diet. Please use them sparingly, so it does not hinder your weight loss goals. To your success in living healthy,

In Obesity, Brain Becomes 'Unaware' Of Fat
Critical portions of the brain in those who are obese don't really know they are overweight, researchers have reported in the March issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press. These findings in obese mice show that a sensor in the brain that normally detects a critical fat hormone - causing a cascade of events that keeps energy balance in check - fails to engage. Meanwhile, the rest of the metabolic pathway remains ready to respond. [click link for full article]

Research In Childhood Obesity In Children Highlights Physical Activity Levels
A British study, involving 5,500 children and published in the latest issue of PLoS Medicine, used accurate methods to measure the 'fat mass' of the children and the amount of physical activity they were taking. The researchers, based at the University of Bristol, concluded that low levels of activity, particularly moderate and vigorous activity, play an important role in the development of obesity. [click link for full article]

Potential Link Between Obesity And Environmental Chemicals
A team of researchers at the University of New Hampshire is investigating whether the increasing ubiquity of chemical flame retardants found in foam furniture, carpeting, microwaves and computers might be related to the climbing rate of obesity in the United States. [click link for full article]

Rochester Study Connects Common Chemicals To Rising Obesity Rates
Exposure to phthalates, a common chemical found in everything from plastics to soaps, already has been connected to reproductive problems and now, for the first time, is linked to abdominal obesity and insulin resistance in adult males, according to a study by the University of Rochester Medical Center. [click link for full article]

High BMI Associated With Lower Likelihood Of Being Discharged Home After Hospitalization For Stroke
Individuals with a higher body mass index (BMI) tend are less likely to be discharged directly home after hospitalization for an ischemic stroke, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. An ischemic stroke occurs when the flow of blood to a part of the brain is blocked or reduced and sufficient amounts of oxygen cannot be delivered to brain tissue. [click link for full article]