Feb
27
2011
Hello fans. I have just come back from a week long cruising adventure aboard one of Celebrity’s newest ships called ECLIPSE. In one word it was-amazing! I decided to experience a week on the ocean, in one of the latest mega ships to cruise in the Caribbean and write about it to you, my adoring fans. From the abundance of food, quality, and food choices to the excellent service, it was a great time away and I recommend the cruise highly! However, as a result of this review and of course tasting the delicious food offerings, I am now going to go on a post cruise diet. That’s right, I am going on a specially prepared diet-The Best Diet In The Universe-and you can follow it with me! I will give you the goal amount of calories for each meal-but since I believe in moderation, nothing will be specific. I think too many times, we focus on the numbers, when we should be focusing on the food and the exercise. Oh, did I forget to mention exercise. Yes, that’s right, along with the food details, there will be an exercise to follow as well.
Now I know that most of you are ready to take off a few unwanted pounds. You are tired of that extra bulge around your waist. You are tired of the pants ...
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Feb
11
2011
Well, there it is my friends. The reports are finally out-over a half billion of us-that’s right us-the people and residents of planet Earth, are obese. And this represents a doubling since 1980. These studies, led by researcher Majid Ezzati of the Imperial College of London and Harvard University, were published recently in the Lancet journal. And you know what happens with 500 million people with obesity? You are right again-a rise in the secondary medical problems that result from the obesity like heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Can you imagine a rising population of people with heart problems and diabetes? Our medical system will be overloaded with new patients. Not to mention-seeing many young obese individuals that develop secondary problems earlier and prior to adulthood. It’s catastrophic. What can be done? Cutting portion sizes and increasing exercise will help. Our medical treatment for elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol is getting better. But that won’t stop the tidal wave of kids and adults that will develop these problems. Maybe we should all feel better that we can treat these secondary problems effectively. But we really need to focus on primary prevention. We need to start the nutrition and fitness education at an early- preschool age and continue this until adult hood. We need to teach our young generation of kids how to eat, what to eat that ...
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Jan
14
2011
Wow, by the response from my last blog, you guys and gals are ready! It seems that many of us are ready to get the weight off. I am proud of all of you honest folks-yes, we let it out-we are honest-we gained weight and we are not happy campers. And now, you took the first five steps: 1. You got rid of all of the junk food in your kitchen-had to be done 2. You have weighed yourself-good or bad-had to be done 3. You set a weight loss goal that is realistic-had to be done 4. You made an exercise schedule and finally you went for (or have scheduled) a checkup with your medical provider-had to be done. Great job! Had to be done! Must be done! You are well on your way to success. Now you are all wondering, what’s next? What other secrets can you tell me? Tell me Graehm, please, please!
So let’s talk food! That’s right “da food!” What type, how much and when can I eat it? Isn’t that what we all ask several times a day? In my family, we ask it before we even finish our first meal of the day. We need to know! And we need to know now! We all think about food incessantly. It makes us feel good knowing what ...
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Oct
12
2010
I am back, my friends after a brief respite. Since my last column, I have had many long hours to read the papers, journals and listen to the chatter. So I guess that means I am ready to resume my ranting. Are you ready?
Well, this week’s column pertains to those derogatory and disparaging names that we hear all the time: terms like fat, obese, and overweight. That’s right, I am taking this time to discuss the categories that most of us feel we fit into. Many research studies point out that we don’t appropriately categorize our own body type. And in fact we don’t do it for our children either. Many overweight people consider themselves in the normal weight range. Individuals that are obese and even morbidly obese consider themselves a “bit overweight.” So is being fat the new “normal”? What really is in a name?
When was the last time you looked at your child and felt he or she was “obese,” or even “overweight?” And certainly we never would call our kids fat! Or have anyone call them fat for that matter! Do we as parents look at ourselves or our children based on the BMI scale? I don't think so. I can recall my mom calling me “chunky.” That didn’t make me feel any better, ...
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Oct
07
2010
Pronunciation – (x-ser-sīz)
n. a noun
v. a verb
What you do when you move; Get on your feet. What you need to do to increase your heart rate. The opposite of “couch potatoing”, put it into action; exert yourself; start with a little- get to a lot; less TV- more fresh air; move – move - move; get fit – don’t just sit; EXERCISEWord
Posted in: Nerdel's Words
Sep
06
2010
I read an article recently that indicated the incidence of childhood obesity in the kindergarten population of most cities is still high. How can this be? There has been a dramatic change in the constituents of the diets-notably the elimination of transfats, the switch to low fat dairy products, the elimination of sweetened drinks and candies from school vending machines, the increased postings of nutritional information and the restriction on salt. So how can the majority of our kids still be obese and overweight? Okay-let’s break this down. In some school systems, besides the dietary changes, there is a push for more exercise time. As noted previously in this column, there is even a push to change recess into a structured exercise program. That’s important since a healthy child is one that has a balance of good nutrition and physical fitness. Adding more nutrition and fitness education into the curriculum from pre-school through middle school is also showing positive effects (Dr. Gary D. Foster-Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University, Philadelphia-June 27th, The New England Journal of Medicine). So why are our kids still over weight? Well, as we all know, our kids spend only a portion of their day at school-between six to eight hours. The rest of the afternoon and evening is devoted ...
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Aug
23
2010
My friends, we are back to school. Summer has come to an end and the fall school schedule quickly approaches. In many parts of the country, school has either started or is about to today! That’s right, those yellow Thomas school buses will be crowding the streets. The slow speed school zones are in force and kids are crossing the streets-so watch out! Lunches and snacks are being prepared at home. Please make them healthy! After school activities are being scheduled. And parents, the driving begins again! OMG! Another season is upon us. It seems that this summer went quicker than most. I guess it was because it was filled with so many activities. There was barely enough time to enjoy the peaceful time off the road. Oh well, here we go again.
So I begin my new season with another issue that has caught many by surprise as we all go back to school-there is a new push to eliminate “unstructured” playtime-also called recess and morph it into structured time-like physical exercise (PE). The reason-from the “more exercise time will help stop childhood obesity” side-is just that. These advocates feel that our children need to burn off more calories in a structured exercise program to balance the calories/food being consumed. There is a good point there-balance. Remember as I have said in many articles, the calories-as food that are consumed must ...
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Aug
07
2010
How many times do we say, “I need to exercise,” in any given day. Okay, maybe not say it out loud but think it. A hundred, a thousand, more? We all say it-mostly after a big meal. Sometimes we get the motivation and go into the gym at the end of the day or maybe an evening run for a few miles-and it feels great. But how many times do you think about taking a long walk to get your metabolism moving? Probably less than 5 % of all of our exercise thoughts focus on walking. Most of us think that walking can’t burn off as many calories as running. And that’s correct. Usually we burn about 100 calories for every mile we walk. Now if you run, maybe at a pace of 6 miles an hour, you may burn off 150 calories for that same mile. That’s really pretty close. In fact several studies (the original concept from Dr. Hatano in Japan-circa 1965) have revealed that walking 10,000 steps daily was equivalent to walking approximately 5 miles. And, if you walked 10,000 steps, these studies (D. Basset-University of Tennessee, C. Tudor-Locke- Walking Behavior Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA) showed that you were able to reduce your body fat, control diabetes and reduce waist to hips ratios. So there it is, walking, preferably a long walk at ...
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Jul
14
2010
As you read in my article on The New Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) Part 1, the new guidelines offer many differences and some similarities to the 2005 DGA. There are encouragements to eat more good mono and poly unsaturated fats (e.g. fish and plant varieties) over their bad cousins-the saturated fats (meats, poultry and dairy). There is more emphasis on eating whole grain products (e.g. brown rice, whole grain breads and pastas) over the refined and processed white starches. There is a new buzz word that has emerged from these guidelines-the SoFAS-solid fats (animal fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils) and added sugars (sugars and syrups and other caloric sweeteners added to foods during processing, preparation or consumed separately), which according to the statistics, have contributed to 35% of the total calorie (energy) intake of all Americans. These SoFAS are said to be responsible for the overconsumption of saturated fats, cholesterol, and added sugars and have taken the place of the important dietary fibers and nutrients (like vitamin D, calcium, potassium and unsaturated fatty acids like omega-3s) in the diet. There is a recognition that portion control in the home and at restaurants needs to be monitored and is responsible for the overconsumption of calories. In fact, restaurants and the food industry are being encouraged to offer lower calorie, foods with lower SoFAS, portion ...
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Jul
06
2010
I can’t believe how quick five years has been. The last Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005 (DGA 2005) came out five years ago. And now here comes the 2010 report. Does everyone reading this article know what I am talking about? Okay-let’s review. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is a joint project between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to provide advice for people (two years and older), on how and what to eat, and how good nutrition and fitness (physical activity) can help promote good health and reduce the risk of major diseases. Information about choosing a nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy weight, achieving adequate exercise (part of the Physical Activity Guidelies for Americans), and food safety were all included in the 2005 report. The committee that makes these recommendations is composed of experts in the fields of nutrition, exercise, medicine and science. The committee takes into consideration many factors including the current status of chronic diseases in our society like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and bones loss. The current levels of physical activity, obesity, food insecurity and nutrient ...
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