Eat a variety of colors!

Eat your way through a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day; not only will it help keep you thin for life, since they are lower in calories, but these foods are chock full of antioxidants to keep you healthy and youthful.

Red:

Red foods are full of lycopene, which reduce risk of several types of cancers.  Foods in this group include: Red apples, beets, red cabbage, cherries, cranberries, pink grapefruit, red grapes, red peppers, pomegranates, radishes, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes and watermelon.

These carotenoid-rich foods help reduce risk of cancer, heart disease, and improve immune system function; people who eat these types of foods are less likely to have eye disorders and blindness associated with age.  Foods in this group include: Yellow apples, apricots, butternut squash, cantaloupe, carrots, grapefruit, lemons, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, yellow peppers, persimmons, pineapple, pumpkin, rutabagas, yellow summer or winter squash, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, tangerines and yellow tomatoes.

A never-ending selection of colors to choose from!

Paul and Sonja on Waikiki Beach, August 2011

Researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical Center say if we triple our intake of these age-defying antioxidants, we can add at least four healthy years to our lives.  I think it’s amazing that there are so many different colors of fruits and vegetables to choose from.  How entertaining to color-code our food!  It keeps things simple.  Just eat a variety of colors, and you don’t  have to know the names of everything inside, plus, fruits and vegetables will help keep you healthy, young — and thin.

Are "they" trying to keep people fat?

The diet industry rakes in $59.7 billion dollars a year.  Keeping one-third of Americans overweight is a very lucrative business.   Dieters need to beware of ways the diet industry may want to pull — and keep, the wool over our eyes, such as:

1) Using words like “Fat Free” on packaging, tricking dieters into thinking they are eating less calories.  For example, Yoplait advertises their yogurt as ”99% fat free;” however, one container has 170 calories.  Dannon Fit ’N Light Yogurt only has 60 calories per container; it’s what I eat every morning for breakfast.  Did you know that if you eat 100 more calories than you burn in a day, you will gain one pound in a month, or 12 pounds in a year — or 120 pounds in 10 years?  It adds up.

2) Watch out for clothing retailers that trick people into feeling thinner than they really are, by

Sonja in Haleiwa, Hawaii, August 2011

making them fit into “smaller” sized clothes — or so it says so on the tags.  Old Navy is mentioned on MetaFilter as one of these, with women saying they fit into a size 4 or 6, when they are 8s and 10s anywhere else.  Men are quoted as saying the clothing there is “wildy big,” and while they are a large or XL at all other stores, at Old Navy they are a medium.  I think this sets people up to think they can now eat more because they feel thinner — and, of course, they will want to shop at the store with the “smaller” size.

3) The very lucrative $59.7 billion-dollar weight loss industry, and all the diet programs that go along with it (I know, I have probably been on every diet out there).  They all work.  I even lost my final 50 pounds on a nationally known diet, and bought food, products and supplements from them.  It’s not the diet, I have found, it’s living thin and keeping it off afterwards that is tricky.  Eighty to ninety percent of dieters gain their weight back after they quit dieting.  The diet industry keeps dangling new diets in front of our noses, telling us what was wrong with the last diet, and telling us why the new diet is going to work.  Aren’t we smarter than that?  Quit financing the diet industry, and live thin, my friends!

Sonja, summer of 2011, Utah mountains

One thing I did after losing fifty pounds ten years ago was give away all my fat clothes.  My closet used to range in clothing sizes 8-18, perfect for a person used to yo-yo dieting for most of her life.  Getting rid of the larger-sized clothing was a huge commitment – it said, “this time, I’m going to stay thin.”

After reaching your “happy weight,” just go ahead and do it.  Get some new clothes to show off that new figure, and dispose of those larger-sized clothes.  Here are some ideas:

1)  Bag them up and take them to a donation site like Goodwill, Deseret Industries, the Veterans Association, your local church or any place looking for clothing.  Many will come and pick them up at your house.

2)  Take the clothes to a consignment store, where you can receive some money, nice when you are going to be spending a bit on a new wardrobe for your new figure! (but oh so worth it!).

Buffalo Exchange consignment & thrift clothing store

3)  Invite a friend to go through your bags before they go to the donation site, if it would make you feel better if your clothes went to a good home.

4)  Alter something only if it’s worth it to you.

When you go through your closet and drawers, be ruthless.  Get rid of everything that is too big now.  Baggy clothes do not look good!  Besides, you worked hard to lose weight, and it’s time to show off. 

Only having thin clothes in your closet is a huge commitment, and can be a bit scary.  But it shows that you are now living the thin lifestyle, and that is who you are now — a thin person, now and for the rest of your life!

Read:  “Act Like a Thin Person,” and “Think Like a Thin Person.” 

For other ideas:  “Yo-Yo Dieting: Stop the Insanity!” and “Life After Dieting; What Now, That the Pounds Are Gone?”

Read the labels to know for sure

How many sneaky diet words can you think of that are designed to pull the diet-wool over our eyes so we think we are eating better?

Low Calorie.  Low Carb. Low Fat. Organic.

A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research reported that when “diet words” are used, it actually caused people to eat more, especially dieters, since they are focused on trying to eat less forbidden foods. Non-dieters were less likely to fall for the “diet words.”

Most dieters assume that if it has a healthy name, then it is.  Wrong.  There’s no way to know unless you read the label.

Recent research also suggests that organic food benefits from a “halo” effect, tricking people into thinking it’s healthier, that there is significantly less calories and fat and more fiber in organic food — also not necessarily true.

Sonja by fountain in Las Vegas

These foods can be the exact same thing:

Fruit Chews = Candy Chews

Veggie Chips = Potato Chips

Fruit Smoothie = Milkshake

Salad = Pasta

Can you think of others? 

Before you buy something because it has one of those words on it, read the label first.  Read Harvard Study Reveals “Calories In, Calories Out” because no matter what you eat, that’s what it boils down to when trying to lose or maintain weight.  Don’t let the sneaky words, designed to coax even more money out of your already diet-weary wallet, get  you.

Sonja in Santa Monica, California, close to where the stars live

Movie and TV stars are in the public eye, and scrutinized for their figures every day.  Talk about pressure!  Want to know their Living Thin secrets?  I did a little research, and found out what some of our favorites do to stay thin:

Cameron Diaz:  This beach beauty actress loves to grill fresh vegetables, chicken, fish, steak and shrimp, with just a little oil and salt.  For breakfast, she eats egg whites, sauteed tomatoes, and steel-cut oatmeal, all mixed together, and stays away from pasta or white bread.  And although she loves fried chicken and french fries, she doesn’t eat them anymore because she felt like it was becoming too much of a strain on her body to digest.  Cameron’s treat:  Hot dogs and beer at a Los Angeles Dodgers game (including all the works and mayo).  

Valerie Bertinelli:  America’s Sweetheart from the TV Show “One Day at a Time,” Valerie lost 40 pounds on Jenny Craig and became one of their most famous spokeswomen — and she’s kept it off for over for over three years.  Valerie likes chicken on the barbecue, lean proteins and vegetables, and also Jenny Craig meals like Orange Chicken and Chicken Marsala, and turkey burgers.  When she found her weight creeping up on her a little when she approached 50 (“I’m Italian and cooking and eating are in my blood!”), she jumped right on it and got back down immediately.  Valerie’s treats:  White cheddar popcorn, grilled fresh fruit kabobs, reduced fat pound cake topped with a mountain of berries.

Britney Spears:  This hot mama is always getting scrutinized for her figure, and always seems to be able to pop back into shape.  Britney says: 1) no fruit juice, 2) eat plenty of fresh fruit, and avacados, 3) cut out french fries and other bad eating habits, 4) drink coffee with skim milk, instead of frappucinos.  When Britney really wants to get slim, she sticks to a 1,500-calorie-a-day food plan and makes choices like baked fish with broccoli.  Britney’s treat:  Sundays are cheat days.

Angelina Jolie:  One of the best-known hot bodies in Hollywood, Angelina likes the six-small-meals-a- day plan.  She enjoys steamed sea bass, steamed beef and vegetables, watches her portions and sticks with a high protein, low carb food plan.  Angelina also likes soy milk and stays away from sugar.  Whenever Angelina needs to detox, she does a popular celebrity weight loss cleanse called the Lemonade Detox Diet for 3-5 days that consists of drinking a mixture made up of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper & water (no solid food).  

Brad Pitt:  Our designated male for this post had to be a hunk, one who has had to show his bod in movies like “Thelma and Louise,” ”Fight Club” and “Troy.”  To get in shape for those roles, Brad followed a high protein, low carb plan, eating chicken, turkey, lean meats, eggs, tuna and cottage cheese; and also whey protein powder drinks and protein bars.  He ate whole wheat grains, green vegetables, oats, rice cakes, salads, bananas, brown rice and some pasta.  For other times, Brad also likes the 6-small-meals-a-day plan (like wife Angelina Jolie), and always watches his carb instake.  For treats: Now that Brad’s a dad, he believes in a little treat every now and then, and for Easter this year Brad bought his kids goody bags full of chocolate-covered pretzel rods, gummy butterflies, gummy cherries and jelly beans.

From the above, I like these ideas best:

1)  Portion control (Calories in, calories out)

2)  Getting back on track (Diet Redemption; You always get another chance)

3) Let yourself have treats (No More Bad Foods)

MyPlate Replaces Food Pyramid

MyPlate is the latest in over 100 years of nutritional guidance from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).

1894: USDA’s first dietary guidelines are published by Dr. Wilbur Olin Atwater, as a farmer’s bulletin.

1916: USDA publishes its first food guide, Food for Young Children.

1943:  The Basic “7″

1956: The Basic “4″ (Milk, meats, breads, fruits & vegetables).

1992: The Food Guide Pyramid

2005: MyPyramid (added the suggestion of physical activity for health).

2011: MyPlate

MyPlate is meant to inspire the public to make correct eating choices, especially in supermarkets and restaurants.  First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement the first of June 2011.  The icon will be placed on food packaging and in nutrition education in the United States.

Since Michelle Obama is actively involved in the “Let’s Move” program, aimed at ending childhood obesity, the re-naming of the Food Pyramid may have had something to do with re-naming it “MyPlate” aimed at all ages. 

Food Pyramid

MyPlate recommends making half of your selections fruits and vegetables; this is my favorite part.  It’s not so helpful for people who are lactose intolerant, abstain from dairy, or for people from other cultures who do not drink milk beyond infancy.  It is also not helpful for vegetarians, vegans, or those following low-carb, high-protein diets like Atkins. 

As for people like me, who believe in the Harvard Study for weight maintenance (read: “Calories In, Calories Out”), it’s not telling me much more than I didn’t already learn from my beloved Food Pyramid.  However, if it helps those who need instruction on healthy choices, and children learning about healthy choices, then I’m all for it.  Thank you again, Michelle.

I also find it slightly amusing that things are ever-changing in the world of diet opinion. For example, we used to think egg yolks were bad for us; now we can eat the whole egg with wild abandon.   Avacados used to be bad because they are high in fat; now we hear it’s “good” fat; (I say they make my coat shiny); and now, last month a study was released saying salt is okay after a University in Belgium studied 3,681 people over a period of 7.9 years and found that salt didn’t hurt their health at all.

How about: Everything in moderation (has that been said before?)

Your thoughts?

Eat healthy foods

Weight loss is not something that happens and then you’re done with it. There have been over thirty studies done on dieters that have lost weight; the majority gain it back.  Read “Yo-Yo Dieting; Stop the Insanity!” because I was one of the people who did that, until eleven years ago.

Here are 7 secrets that can turn weight control into a lifestyle, and help turn those hard-earned lost pounds into forever-lost pounds:

1) Weigh yourself daily. (read: The Bathroom Scale: Friend or Foe?)

2) Exercise.  Walk for 20-30 minutes, 3-7 times a week. Add some weight training, even 20-30 countertop push-ups on a regular basis.  More is even better. Just stay active.

3) Stay accountable.  Have a weight maintenance buddy.  Keep a food journal. Whatever works for you.

4) Stay motivated.  Think about yourself in that bikini.  Those tight jeans.  Naked.  Whatever works.

5) Eat breakfast.  Mine is 60-calorie yogurt and 1/2 grapefruit.  Every day.

6) Adopt Lifelong Weight Maintenance Methods (live thin!).  Read all my blogs.  Choose the ones that work for you. 

Mackie's graduation, May 2011 (proud mom, Sonja)

 

7) Don’t fall back into unhealthy eating habits. 

Throw out the Little Debbie Nutty Bars and Jeno’s Pizza Rolls.  They just don’t fit this lifestyle anymore!

Traci Mann, UCLA Associate Professor and lead researcher who studied all the studies of people who lost weight, says the truth is that the majority of people who lose weight on a diet will gain it back.  Sometimes gaining even more weight than before. Oh, the insanity!

According to one study, from the Archives of Internal Medicine, subjects who had slimmed down still need to exercise every day, and continue to closely watch what they eat, to sustain weight loss. 

A 2009 Finnish study published in the International Journal of Obesity, tracked 16 same-sex twin pairs (chosen because they had the same genetic makeup) for decades and found that the twin who had been more physically active over a 32-year period accumulated 50 percent less belly fat than the twin who didn’t exercise. 

I watch what I eat every day of my life.  If I’m up on the scale, I get back down — immediately. It’s called “living the thin lifestyle,” and it’s what this blog is all about.  Easy? No.  Worth it? Yes! (read: Nothing Tastes as Good as Thin Feels).

Matthew Ruiz (left), an exercise science instructor at Huntington University, measures the height of Andrews Elementary School student Jagger Underwood while HU student Mariah Town records the numbers. They were assisting in a study to record the heights and weights of students across Indiana to get a composite picture of the state.

When I heard they had brought back the public weighing of students in the school gyms of some elementary schools, it brought back all kinds of memories.

“Hey, Fatso,” the boy said to me, as we waited in line to be weighed and measured.  We were in fourth grade at Longfellow Elementary, 1971, and this was a dreaded annual occurence, especially for overweight girls like me.  Deep down, I only wanted boys to like me.

This set off the boy next to him.  “Yeah, Tub ‘o Lard! Why don’t you go on a diet or somethin’?” Both boys then went off into a fit of giggles, and I averted my eyes and tried to ignore them like my mom had told me.  “Kids can be so cruel,” she said.

Being twenty pounds overweight at nine years old seemed devastating, and I felt like there was something horribly wrong with me.  By the time I was eleven, I went on my first diet to lose weight — followed by almost thirty years of yo-yo dieting.  Ten years ago I decided to stop, and simply live a thin lifestyle (see: Yo-Yo Dieting; Stop the Insanity!), and have kept off 50 pounds since then.

It’s with mixed emotions that I look at elementary schools that have started this public weighing and measuring again in the school gyms.  Do they have proof that it helps children with their weight, or eating habits?  Where are all those kids from my fourth-grade class of 1971?  Did they follow the path of diet insanity, or did it teach them to be thin for life?  And how can they have accurate height and weight charts for children at any age group, since all kids grow at different rates until they reach their adult height?

I like a more positive approach, like Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, started over a year ago,

Sonja and son Mackie, who didn't ever get weighed and measured in the school gym

that gets kids moving.  One in three kids are overweight in the United States. Making physical activity fun, and teaching kids good eating habits like stopping when you’re full, and making healthy choices, goes a lot farther than potentially publicly humiliating them in front of their peers in a school gym.  

The only way I can ever see weighing and measuring an overweight student is if it was done in private, behind closed doors like in the nurse’s office, with the parent and child’s permission, and with a helpful and encouraging spirit — and tips on how to life thin for life. Your thoughts?

Only eat the muffin top!

Is there a magic formula for keeping a weight loss off for life?  

Here are some odd things I do that have helped me maintain a 50-pound weight loss since 2001(I would also love to hear some of your weird weight maintenance ideas).

1)  Muffins.  Only eat the top.  Then throw the rest away.  Muffins are treats, and I won’t deny myself one if I really want one.  I simply eat the top (that’s where all the good stuff is), and don’t feel guilty if I throw the rest away.   

2) Do combo meals.  Combine breakfast/lunch, or lunch/dinner.  I find this easier to do on weekends, whenever I’m a little out of routine.  It helps save calories.  This means eating only two meals a day, instead of three.  This is easy to do if I have slept in and by the time I eat breakfast it’s almost time for lunch (breakfast/lunch), or by the time I eat lunch it’s fairly close to dinner (lunch/dinner).  Who made up that three-meals-a-day rule anyway?

3)  Skip a meal every now and then.   For example: If I eat too much at lunch, I don’t eat dinner.  On days like that, my husband will be a good sport and fix something for himself, and I miss the calories of dinner that night.  And no weight gain on the scale for me the next day.

4) Use salsa for salad dressing.  This a great calorie saver.  I use it at Chipolte fast-food Mexican

Sonja and son, Mackie, visiting Mom & Dad's farm in Colorado, March 2011

restaurant, on grilled chicken salads, or at home.  I love salsa and will look for any excuse possible to eat it, so this is an easy, low-calorie, low-fat, tasty option.

5)  Find a favorite, low-cal snack.  My favorite snack is 10 salted almonds and a small can of V-8.  It’s only 100-120 calories, satisfying, heart-healthy — and doesn’t make me gain weight.  I eat that snack morning and afternoon.  Read “Confessions of a V-8 Addict” for more information and a funny video.

6)  Eat a “safe” breakfast and lunch 4-5 days a week. Have low-cal yogurt (60 calories) and 1/2 grapefruit for breakfast; salad with six different kinds of vegetables and 3 ounces of turkey for lunch, 4-5 days per week.  If I stick with this, the weight stays off — if I vary it too much, I’m in trouble. Why mess with the formula?  

7)  Have treats.   I love Peanut M&Ms every now and then, 250 calories a bag. It helps me break the deprivation  ”Binge/Diet” cycle.  You gotta have treats.

8)  Dance.  Whenever you can, do something fun — like dance!  You don’t have to go anywhere official — just remember to have a good time.   My husband and I like to dance out on the back porch, or around the pool table when we play pool upstairs at our house.  My friend, Wendy, likes to crank up the tunes while she cleans the house.  Dancing burns calories, and makes you happy.  Perfect for living the thin lifestyle!

Sonja and Swordfish at Smithsonian Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

What is it about fish?  If I’m up a few pounds, all I do is eat grilled fish that night, along with some vegetables (preferably thermic vegetables). The next day, I’m back down on the scale.  It’s magical.  That’s why I weigh myself every morning; and one way I have maintained a 50 pound weight loss since 2001. 

Why does it work?

1)  Fish is easier to digest than other meats, i.e., beef, pork, chicken, etc. 

2)  Fish is a protein, not a carbohydrate, so it doesn’t cause an insulin spike when eaten. (the theory behind the high protein/low carb diets).

3) Fish is super low in fat.

Sonja, fly fishing for Brook Trout in Colorado

4)  Fish is extremely low in calories, yet satisfying.  Just look at these calorie counts of some of my favorites (no breading, not fried):

    a)  Alaskan King Crab Legs, 3 oz. = 109 calories 

    b)  Flounder, 4 oz. = 132 calories

    c)  Mahi Mahi, 3 oz. = 90 calories

    d) Salmon, 3 oz. = 160 calories

    e) Talapia, 3 oz. = 110 calories

    f) Tuna, canned, in water, 3 oz. = 109 calories  

When I was a little girl, I didn’t like fish, but now I love it! I used to disguise the taste of fish, but now I love it grilled, and find that, along with chicken, it is my favorite form of protein.  I love Mahi-Mahi sandwiches, prefer grilled fish tacos, get excited when my husband decides to grill fish on the grill, and give a nod of approval when I see fish skewers on the menu at restaurants.  

Fish helps me live the thin lifestyle, and maintain a 50-pound weight loss, so fish is my friend — and, as I said before — fish is definitely “magical!”