DIET COLUMN

We’re ringing in the new year with a good friend, Roni from RonisWeigh. You’ll recall she recently took runner-up for Best Diet Blog and her site GreenLiteBites won Best Healthy Recipe site category in our first Diet Site Awards. Today, Roni guest blogs about what a day is life for her as a Weight Watchers follower.

Hi, my name’s Roni and I’m a Weight Watcher.

Sounds cheesy, doesn’t it?

Well, it’s true! Never in a million years would I have thought to describe myself as a member of one of the more popular weight loss plans out there. I was a serial dieter. A yo-yo’er. I conceded to the fact that I would never be happy with my body. It was just the way it was.

Today, Molly Wangsgaard, Corporate Dietitian and Program Development Manager for Jenny Craig, Inc., joins us as the featured guest blogger for the final time. Throughout December she shared her insights on surviving the holiday and impending new year in a healthy and enjoyable manner.

It’s that time of year when many people make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat more nutritiously or become more active.  Unfortunately for many of us, by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, these goals are but a distant memory.

Often this occurs because we set goals that are too ambitious or too vague, or because we fall victim to the “all-or-nothing” mentality that suggests we’ve “failed” if we lapse just once.

This year, make kinder, gentler and more realistic goals.  Create an action plan of healthy habits you’d like to learn, with reasonable milestones for achieving them.  And treat the process itself as a journey where you discover more about yourself along the way.

Monica Shaw is a freelance writer who specializes in science, health, fitness and food. She is the primary author of the website and blog, SmarterFitter.com.

Looking to weather the financial storm without sacrificing flavor or nutrition?  Then look no further than lentils, a vegetarian Super Food that will nourish you and your family without breaking the bank.  Economic crisis or not, there are plenty of reasons to love lentils:

• Lentils are high in protein, including the essential amino acids isoleucine and lysine.  And when combined with whole grains, lentils give your body all of the amino acids it needs to form a complete protein.

• Lentils are rich in complex carbohydrates and high in fiber, helping your body balance its blood sugar levels while providing steady, slow-burning energy to keep you fuller for longer.

• Lentils are high in iron.  This is especially good for vegetarians, growing children, and pregnant women, all of whom have greater needs for iron in their diet.

This month, we’re pleased to have Molly Wangsgaard join us in the Diet Blog as our Featured Guest Blogger. Molly is a Corporate Dietitian and Program Development Manager for Jenny Craig, Inc., and will be sharing some helpful strategies on how to maintain your healthy eating and exercise behaviors during this tempting time of year.

It’s only the second week of December, and you may already be concerned about the possibility of a calorie-laden month ahead.  For some, Halloween candy may have started an extra month of unplanned eating; for others, Thanksgiving may have been the official kickoff of the “it’s-the-holidays-so-I-might-as-well-splurge” mentality.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  In fact, many of our successful Jenny Craig clients began their weight loss journeys specifically at this time of year. These people chose to not just survive the holidays — but to thrive all year long.  And you can too!  It may not always be easy (we all know holiday temptations are all around us), but with a can-do attitude and a healthy, weight loss mindset, you can start taking control of your weight and your health today.

Yuri Elkaim is a registered holistic nutritionist, certified kinesiologist, and former professional soccer player.  He is the owner of Total Wellness Consulting, a world-renowned fitness, nutrition and conditioning expert, and the co-creator of the Total Wellness Cleanse™.

When you eat a diet that is predominantly packaged and fast foods, you are throwing your body way out of balance. Over toxicity in your body will weaken each and every system in your body, clogging your organs of detoxification and making you feel unwell.

When your detoxification organs are clogged, acidity will pool up in the body. How does this happen?

Well, when you eat a poor diet, over the years your body reaches what is know as its “toxic load.” In the beginning stages of toxicity, most of the symptoms will not be visible to the naked eye, so if you have not seen any symptoms yet, it doesn’t mean you don’t have any!

Where does all this acid end up?

Your fat cells!

Fat cells are your body’s way of storing excess energy and toxicity. For example, if your diet is very high in sugar, and therefore very high in acid, your body will do whatever it can to pull that acid away from your vital organs and into your fat cells. This is a defense mechanism used by your body to protect its precious organs and delicate tissues.

But storing fat is not the only way that your body deals with excess acid, so if you are thin it doesn’t mean that you are healthy! In fact, it may mean that you are in even more danger because your entire body is in a chronic state of acidosis, which means that your body is being destroyed from the inside out!

Susan is a NESTA Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach, a regular contributor on Gyminee.com, and writes about fitness and nutrition via her blog, Catapult Fitness Blog. Gyminee is the premier fitness social network for detailed tracking, online accountability, and motivation. Whether you are trying to lose weight or get fit, it’s time to start taking your fitness seriously. Enjoy this holiday season by staying in shape! Gyminee provides free tools for finding and tracking workouts, monitoring caloric and macro-nutrient intake, and a motivational support system to keep you focused and true to your goals.

The holidays are a time to celebrate with family and friends and so often, also a time where many of us tend to go overboard on the smorgasbord! Office parties, family dinners and New Years revelry, along with the stress of the holiday season, make it easy to pack on unwanted pounds. The good news is that with a little planning you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Suggestions for staying on track this holiday season include:

Plan Your Workouts: You know how busy you’ll be between Thanksgiving and New Years so start off on the right foot by committing now to a regular exercise routine.

Amy lost 54 lbs in 4 months by eating low carb and changing her attitude towards food. She has an online cooking show called Eating Low with Amy that teaches people how to cook low hassle, low carb recipes. She also runs the Eating Low web site and forum.

You’ve got the latest diet book. You’ve read it from cover to cover. You’re psyched up and ready to go. Or are you? Preparation is one of the keys to successfully losing weight and is especially important when you are starting a new plan.

Make sure you understand the diet guidelines. Even if you think you know what the plan is all about, go back and reread the guidelines again. The better you understand the plan, the easier it will be to shop for the right foods or even stay on plan if you are caught without your planned food and need to eat out.

Get rid of food that is not on your plan. Don’t even keep it in the house. It’s too easy to cheat if you keep a bunch of junk in your pantry. If your family eats food that is not on your plan, store it in a separate cabinet or have them hide the junk from you.

Make out your menu for the week. Most plans offer sample menus. Go through the sample menu and make any substitutions. Write out your plan so you know exactly what you will be eating during the week. You don’t want any surprises.

This month we’re pleased to have Lisa Chernick join us in the Diet Blog as our Featured Guest Blogger. Lisa is the Executive Food Editor at Weight Watchers, where part of her job is sharing nutritious and exciting dinner ideas in her series “What’s for Dinner?” Tune in to the Diet Blog every Tuesday in November to hear Lisa’s advice for living a healthy lifestyle.

OK, so what I didn’t mention last week (in 5 Tips for Surviving Thanksgiving) is that I’m having Thanksgiving dinner this year at a restaurant. In Philadelphia. Mind you, it’s a wonderful place where the food and the setting are undeniably fantastic. My six-year-old daughter thinks it’s the most glamorous thing. And I am a pushover for roast boar and venison, which they serve along with the turkey, not to mention the variety and excellence of their side dishes and desserts. It really is something.

However great it may be, part of me misses cooking. I love making stuffing and the way our house smells with a turkey roasting in the oven. And I love leftovers. I never tire of the parade of turkey sandwiches and salads. So this year after the holiday, when we’re home from Philadelphia, I intend to roast a bird with all the trimmings. OK, not all the trimmings, but some of the best. And I’m not making it a high-calorie blowout, either. We’ll have already done that. Rather, I’ll pick my Weight Watchers.com favorites and keep portions modest. And when it’s all over and I’m back on plan, I intend to make a pot of this amazing soup. It’s fantastic and has zero POINTS® values per serving. For that, I am very thankful.

Lisa’s Favorite Thanksgiving-Anytime Dishes

Apricot Glazed Turkey with Sweet Potatoes

This month we’re pleased to have Lisa Chernick join us in the Diet Blog as our Featured Guest Blogger. Lisa is the Executive Food Editor at Weight Watchers, where part of her job is sharing nutritious and exciting dinner ideas in her series “What’s for Dinner?” Tune in to the Diet Blog every Tuesday in November to hear Lisa’s advice for living a healthy lifestyle.

Thanksgiving is a big deal in my family. Like some people’s Oscars or Super Bowl, it means months of anticipation and a big day when we all go nuts. For most of my life, my aunt’s kitchen has been our family’s holiday nerve center. But once my kids reached full-price-airplane-seat-age, schlepping them and my husband from NYC to Buffalo became very expensive. So it’s been a few years, and during those years I’ve hosted Thanksgiving twice. I did nearly all of the cooking myself, both times and I was shocked by all the work involved. Much more than I ever suspected. In fact, after my first time cooking, I phoned my aunt and gushed with 30 years worth of overdue, under-expressed gratitude for her efforts. The lessons of Thanksgiving planning, cooking and serving may have been lost on me in my formative years, but I have learned on the job. And now I’d like nothing more than to share some of the best things I’ve figured out.

Yuri Elkaim

Have you ever wondered why certain people rarely get sick, look younger than they really are, have glowing skin, and seem to have boundless energy?

Well, their secret lies in what they do and do not eat!

What you put into your body ultimately determines how you look, feel, and function.  Most people attribute getting sick or lacking energy to “external” factors such as the latest “bug” or the aging process, respectively, but fail to realize that what’s happening inside their body at a cellular level is much more important.

Your body (your blood specifically) is constantly working to maintain a slightly alkaline pH in order to function properly.  When this pH gets out of balance (i.e. becomes acidic), your energy is depleted, you more readily pack on weight, and you experience problems such as fatigue, stress, depression, and various diseases.

Unfortunately, the modern Western lifestyle and diet has led most people to live in an overly acidic state.  This has led to numerous health problems.