DIET COLUMN

Just try and say that five times fast! And when you’re done, start doing it, as all kinds of diet programs vouch for the success that writing down your food intake can bring. Bodybuilders do it, Jenny Craigers and Weight Watchers do it, and now there are programs cropping up that are nothing more than journal support groups. How does writing it down work? Let’s take a look.

When you need to get something done, do you write a note to yourself? Of course you do! So why not put at the top of that list “lose weight” or “maintain weight”? Isn’t that just as important as picking up the dry cleaning? In fact, why bother picking up the dry cleaning at all if you can’t fit into it? Making healthy weight management a “to-do” sets the wheels in motion.

So now you are cruising along, you’ve started your program, and things are going great. You’re motivated, you are feeling lighter, and you are looking forward to reaching your goal. Wanna know a secret? Professional athletes of every sport take the time to write down DAILY what they did that day to develop their skills, how they felt, how they slept, and yes, what they ate. Why do they do this? One, because their trainer teaches them and tells them to, but two, because they know that by writing it down, they are creating awareness for themselves as to what is working and what is not. Even athletes have a strong inner-critic; in fact, that inner critic is probably what drives them to great success. But the difference between you controlling the inner-critic and the inner-critic controlling you, is writing it down, analyzing the situation, and closing the book until the next meal, allowing you to focus on other important areas of your life.

There is a reason why CEOs have an accounts payable department. If every CEO could just write checks willy-nilly, rather than having to ask AP for a check, he/she would easily overspend the cash flow. A successful dieter needs to be their own accounts payable, and before they “spend” their calories on something they are about to eat, they need to ask themselves “can I afford this?” . Use your journal as a “check book”, to keep a check on your food choices. If you don’t like doing it, well, experts say you are probably the person who needs it the most. Need more encouragement? It’s free, and it works.

The benefits of a Mediterranean Diet have been well documented. The best known benefit is optimal heart health. But now research is pointing towards more, like preventing asthma and allergies in your offspring.

It’s tough enough to get the time and energy to stay committed to an exercise regimen. And, when you hit those inevitable plateaus, it can be downright frustrating. Usually the best thing you can do is change things up. An article on Health.com has some handy tricks of the trade that will shake things up and have you burning more fat, more efficiently.

When Ellen De Generes learned that Oklahoma City was listed as one of the fattest cities in the nation, with a 28% obesity rate, she made one very simple and seemingly obvious suggestion to the city’s mayor to help the problem. “Wouldn’t it be fun if he was just asking them to move?” joked Ellen.

Fortunately for the citizens of Oklahoma City, Ellen’s plan of relocation will not go into effect. However, Mayor Mick Cornett’s plan will- a challenge to the city to lose one million pounds. January 1 the city launched its weight loss initiative “this city is going on a diet.” To date, those registered on the site have lost more than 9,000 pounds. It’s a long way from the one million pound goal, but one the mayor anxiously supports in both launching the challenge and making the city more exercise friendly. OKC has 300 miles of sidewalks planned and adding 47 new gyms to area grade schools. Before leaving, Mayor Cornett named Jan. 26 Ellen day in Oklahoma City.

Do you  know who was also on Ellen today? Biggest Loser’s WHITE TEAM!! Neill and Amanda were part of what was shaping up to be a Sooner state day on the show. They were all smiles and looked fantastic! Neill’s lost 30 pounds since leaving the show, a total of 55, with 170 to go to meet his goal of 190. A lot of numbers in there, so keep up with me! Amanda has lost another 26 since leaving Biggest Loser, a total of 45, with 39 to go to meet her goal of a sexy-thin 120 pounds! They feel more successful than back at the ranch because it’s part of their daily routine, in their environment and it’s not as extreme. Plus, they have the support of their family. How about this? They continue to workout two to three hours each day. Great job guys!

Is it just me but for those of us who live in cold climates, do you also have cravings for warm food while rejecting the idea of eating a cold salad or sipping a glass of iced tea this time of year? As I delve more into the study of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of health and healing, I find that some of its main principles, such as how our eating patterns change from season to season, are right on target with what I am experiencing. In the summer, my body can’t get enough of leafy salads, fresh fruit and the occasional soft serve ice cream cone, but when the first snap of winter hits, my taste buds quickly switch to begging to be fed with warm bowls of soup and cups of hot tea with threads of steam hovering over it. According to Ayurveda, we should combat the coldness and dryness of winter by opting for food choices and lifestyle changes that employ the opposite qualities. So my insistence on warm food or perhaps your need to slather yourself in rich lotion each morning to thwart off the dry skin that winter also brings is not that far off from what the ancient Indian sages recommended thousands of years ago.

So many health foods, so little time. Do you want to kick it up a notch? There are plenty of healthy foods, but there are some that you should try to eat every day. Their heath benefits are so powerful, so essential, you need all you can get. Here’s a well-illustrated article on the eight most important foods to your optimal well-being.

The diet season is in high gear. So, the airwaves are filled with diet programs and products proclaiming that they’re the best solution for you. One of the commercials in heavy rotation right now comes from Weight Watchers. ”Stop dieting, start living” is the commercial’s slogan. It cautions viewers about all the crazy schemes to help you lose weight, pleading with you to stop dieting. I don’t know why Weight Watchers doesn’t consider themselves a diet, but in any event…Weight Watchers has been around for a long time, so they must be doing something right. Most likely it’s how they structure their point system and in-person meetings. As in most dieting, Weight Watchers has generally been a lady’s destination. But the company is out to change that. NutriSystem has hit the male market hard, and so Weight Watchers is following suit. As you might suspect, they try to cater to men’s stubborn eating habits. Men want their burgers and pizza, and there’s not much you can do to change that. So, these foods are marketed, just in a sensible way. Weight Watchers is sure to point out what sets them apart, which is that you eat “real” foods, not the prepackaged variety.I don’t know how successful the program has been so far, but it seems like an uphill battle to get guys to join a structured diet plan, especially one that entails keeping track of food points. For more on the program, check out our formal review of Weight Watchers for Men.

Your digestive health might be compromised by an entirely unlikely source. According to German doctors, products like sugar-free gum may cause bowel problems. It’s all in the sorbitol.

It seemed like tonight’s episode of Biggest Loser: Couples finally got a little juicy. It’s like the past two weeks have been this careful dance where everyone is just trying to feel out themselves, their teams and competitors to see how this whole thing is supposed to work. Tonight was that first glimpse of the drama that only reality TV can spawn. Scripted TV? Nah- who needs it?

The orange team has been this sort of silent giant. Not too in your face, not really in the shadows and then they go and dominate at both of the past two weigh ins. They were rewarded tonight for that feat… with a hike up a mountain! No pain, no gain I guess. At the top of the mountain were three envelopes, Gameplay, which they chose. Inside gave them an extra vote at this week’s elimination. They passed up Luxury- which would have given them and a team of their choice massages for the week and Family- a 24 hour visit with the person of their choice. They ended up not even using the extra vote, so I say the reward was a wash. I’ll take a massage- for each day of the week- any day of the week.

It was an incredibly emotional week for the pink team. Bette-Sue, who I’m seriously starting to pull for- she’s a wild one!, had this revelation while walking with 20 pound weights. Two weeks ago she was 22 pounds heavier, so she was essentially walking around with the weight she’d lost. Pretty powerful. Jillian encouraged, more forced, Ali to come to terms with the emotional reasons for her weight and being on Biggest Loser. Ali and Bette-Sue met to discuss Ali’s years of pent-up angst, abandonment issues with her mother. It ended up in a tearful, positive hug and kisses from Jillian. Yah! The “Bully” kissed them both on the cheek. SHE HAS A HEART!

I liked the challenge this week. Dirty, messy and mean- it was all about strategy and for the first time the black team did not win. Grey came out on top. Relay race through a muddy pond, carrying medicine balls, place them in any other team’s bucket, first team with 8 balls is out. Last team standing wins. Definitely called out the teams people have issue with- white and orange were out first, followed by black and yellow- and then I guess the “good guy” teams. They won immunity- but like the orange team, didn’t end up needing it at the vote.

Alright- the juicy part. Weigh in was so exciting tonight, but I’m going to cut to the chase and just say that I really thought the white team, with Neill and Amanda, was going to pull through. I thought they were going to blow everyone away at weigh-in, but sadly they did not. Up against purple, in their third straight appearance in elimination, the white team was unanimously asked to leave tonight. UGH! I am so sad. Amanda- total power player, she could have taken it all the way home. Neill- MAN! What is up?! Just quit touching the treadmill already. I was torn on the elimination because you’ve got purple team on one hand who has been in every single elimination and on the other the white team who keeps trying to give it their all, but everyone’s mad at Neill. Three strikes rule doesn’t apply here.

I was glad to hear that Neill and Amanda are sticking with the plan at home, playing with their son more easily with the 20-some additional pounds they’ve both lost since leaving Biggest Loser. Great try guys! Keep it up.

Now, if this post could get ANY longer… this Saturday and Sunday the Biggest Loser Million Pound Match Up is stopping in Wichita, KS. I’ll be covering the entire event- inside and out- and be back next week with the scoop on that.

… and I can’t help it. I bite pencils, I bite my children (not hard, more like a love nip), and I love foods that I can bite into, like crisp carrots or chewy licorice. And I’m not alone. Time and time again, today’s dieter is demanding a wider variety of healthy snacks to supplement their menu plan, while satisfying the need to chew. If you are a biter too, then you need to bite into Glenny’s snack line. Made in New York with only the finest ingredients, you can find chips, oven baked fries, bars and brownies which not only support your weight loss program, but they are healthy and delicious. I love having healthy snacks around for my boys to grab, and nothing about Glenny’s screams “diet”, making them perfect for the whole family.

The marshmallow treat is gluten-free, dairy-free (vegan) and certified kosher. I’m particularly impressed with the company’s committment to source non-genetically modified soy, a hot topic that many “healthy” snacks seem to ignore. Check them out here, and let us know what you think.