Confessions of a Carb-A-Holic: A Little Help From My Friends ...

Confessions of a Carb-A-Holic:
A Little Help From My Friends

...: "A Little Help From My Friends By Leanna Skarnulis WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Feature ..."

A Little Help From My Friends

By Leanna Skarnulis
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Feature                                  support
Reviewed By Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, LD
You've decided to turn over a new leaf and you're telling everyone about it. You announce proudly that you're committed to your new diet and exercise routines. Your best friend catches your enthusiasm, and suggests you take an aerobics class together.
But not everyone is so supportive. During the family dinner, your mother keeps pressuring you to have some of her homemade desserts, which have always been your weakness. When you ask her to stop, she says you shouldn't deprive yourself.
You can almost hear the buttons being pushed. Something about announcing your intentions to start making healthy choices about diet and exercise seems to bring out both the best and the worst in family members and friends.
As a nutrition specialist for Kaiser Permanente Department of Health Education Services, Bob Wilson has heard it all. He's also lived it: He's lost 250 pounds and kept it off for 30 years.
"Support for positive changes increases the likelihood of it happening," he says. "But people have an image of us, and some will resist our changing."
Some friends and family members, he says, may fear that if you change your habits, YOU will change. Or your new healthy ways may make them feel guilty about their own fitness foibles. Further, food sometimes helps to define relationships with the friend you meet for lattes on weekend mornings, the spouse who shares chips with you on the couch, the mother whose goodies you've always had a soft spot for.
So what should we do to gain the support we need? Here are some tips from Wilson and other experts.

1. Don't make food the focus

First off, Wilson advises renegotiating relationships that revolve around food.
"My grandmother used to fry a pound of bacon and a dozen eggs for me, give me half-gallons of ice cream, and we'd go to all-you-can-eat restaurants together," he tells WebMD. "When I told her I was committed to losing weight, I suggested exploring new ways we could connect.
We found that we both like gardening and going for walks, so that's what we did. She became willing to show that she loved me without using food."

2. Look for support in the right places

Further, experts say, you shouldn't set yourself up by looking for support in the wrong places. Remember that people do things for their own reasons, not for your reasons.
Maybe you have a mental image of your spouse going for walks with you in the evening, like other couples you've seen. He has a right to say "No," and you have a right to do what will make you fit. Walk with a neighbor, take an aerobics class or hire a personal trainer.
The same strategy applies to diet. Wouldn't it be sublime if co-workers swore off Krispy Kremes and walked a half hour at lunch, the kids begged you to buy broccoli at the store, and your mother offered nothing but kind encouragement?
Give up the fantasy. Instead, hook up with a friend who's as ready to change as you are and become diet buddies. Find a role model who's successfully lost weight and can help you past the rough spots. Enroll in a "Healthy Cooking" class. You've already made a huge step by joining WebMD Weight Loss Clinic. Be sure to check out our community for support and inspiration. You might consider professional help, as well, say a weight management clinic or counselor. The point is to build a support system that enables you to become your own best support.

3. Foil Your Fitness Foes

 "If one factor is working against you, make sure other factors encourage compliance," he says. "For example, choose exercise activities that are fun, convenient and not cost-prohibitive."

Another key to dealing with lack of support is to know your temptations, such as going out to eat with friends, and develop a strategy to deal with temptation.
"Friends may pressure you to make bad choices," says Joseph Quatrochi, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Human Performance, Sport and Leisure Studies at Metropolitan State College of Denver. "Make a couple of decisions in advance."
One of these decisions is to select foods based on their preparation: for example, broiled or baked instead of fried. The other is not to clean your plate. "Often, you can take home one-third to one-half of a meal," Quatrochi tells WebMD.
This advice seems particularly pertinent when you consider the findings of a recent study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. That research found portion sizes have ballooned anywhere from 23% to 60% over the past 20 years -- not just in fast food places, but in restaurants, packaged snacks, and even our homes.

4. Keep it quiet

Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health System Weight Management Center, also suggests that you not draw others' attention to your eating.
"When you announce you're on a diet, people automatically urge you to eat," she tells WebMD. "In situations where people offer you food, accept it, but remember you're not obligated to eat it all or even most of it."

5. Learn to handle sabotage

Perhaps touchiest of all is handling those people who seem bent on sabotaging your efforts
So try turning it around. For example, when your mother pushes her baked goodies on you, ask for her support instead, Wilson says.
"Say, 'Mom, I know you care about me, and I really need your help. Your desserts are a barrier. Will you consider supporting me in this way?'"
"If she accepts, thank her," he says. "If she continues to sabotage, the voice in your head should tell you that you're growing each time you go through this process. Cultivate a positive belief in yourself, and trust that you're getting stronger."
Sabotage, Quatrochi says, is just one factor influencing "compliance," the term professionals use for "stick-to-itiveness."
Fernstrom advises simply ignoring would-be saboteurs.
"This works once you adopt a core belief that you are accountable to yourself," she says. "Understand that the only behavior you can change is your own."

6. Draft a survival script

Since it's guaranteed you'll encounter obstacles, experts say it's a good idea to create a survival "script" for dealing with less-than-supportive loved ones. Imagine various scenarios, and rehearse your responses like an aspiring Academy Award winner:

• "No, thank you."
• "Thanks, but I just ate."
• "I appreciate your making these especially for me. I'll take them home." (And straight to the garbage disposal.)
• "I don't want to ruin our Friday night tradition, but tonight could we go to Pizza Works instead of Geno's so I can order a salad?"
• "I've failed to keep weight off in the past, but I'm learning new strategies."
• "About 300,000 deaths each year are associated with overweight and obesity. I don't want to be a statistic."
• "I need your support, not your criticism."
• "I haven't lost weight yet, but I feel better and have more energy when I'm eating right and exercising."

No matter how skilled you become in dealing with your fitness foes, there are times when you really need someone in your corner. But you shouldn't expect one person to be your all-purpose supporter. In fact, Wilson advocates looking for support in six categories:

• Setting goals. Connect with someone who can help you explore your reasons for adopting a fitness plan and set meaningful, specific goals.
• Living by example. Not all the fit people you know were always that way. Identify someone who has become fit to use as a role model.
• Bashing barriers. Time, money, and other factors can be barriers to your fitness plan. A spouse who's unwilling to exercise might agree that the cost of your joining a health club is worthwhile, and agree to watch the kids three evenings a week while you attend aerobics class. Your employer might allow you a more flexible schedule so you can take a yoga class.
• Building a supportive environment. Your old playmates and playgrounds can hold you back. Find a diet or exercise buddy, and agree that if one of you falters, the other will act as enforcer. Go to a nutrition class. Join a group.
• Dealing with setbacks. Accept relapse as a normal part of a lifestyle change. Identify someone who will help you get past it. Understand that it can take from one to three years to make new behaviors a permanent part of your life.
• Celebrating success. Everyone needs a cheering squad. As you reach interim goals, celebrate with people who will be proud of your progress.

 weight loss buddy

Your Own Worst Enemy

Weight-loss help: Gain control of emotional eating

Find out how emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts and get tips to regain control of your eating habits.

By Mayo Clinic staff Sometimes the strongest cravings for food happen when you're at your weakest point emotionally. You may turn to food for comfort — consciously or unconsciously — when you're facing a difficult problem, stress or just looking to keep yourself occupied.
But emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts. Emotional eating often leads to eating too much, especially too much of high-calorie, sweet, fatty foods. But the good news is that if you're prone to emotional eating, you can take steps to regain control of your eating habits and get back on track with your weight-loss goals.

The connection between mood, food and weight loss

support 

Emotional eating is eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Both major life events and the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts. These triggers may include:

• Unemployment
• Financial pressure
• Health problems
• Relationship conflicts
• Work stress
• Bad weather
• Fatigue

Although some people actually eat less in the face of strong emotions, if you're in emotional distress you may turn to impulsive or binge eating — you may rapidly eat whatever's convenient, without even enjoying it. In fact, your emotions may become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically reach for a sweet treat whenever you're angry or stressed without stopping to think about what you're doing.
Food also serves as a distraction. If you're worried about an upcoming event or stewing over a conflict, for instance, you may focus on eating comfort food instead of dealing with the painful situation.
Whatever emotions drive you to overeat, the end result is often the same. The emotions return, and you may also now bear the additional burden of guilt about setting back your weight-loss goal. This can also lead to an unhealthy cycle — your emotions trigger you to overeat, you beat yourself up for getting off your weight-loss track, you feel badly, and you overeat again.

Back In The Saddle

Weight-loss help: Gain control of emotional eating

Tips to get your weight-loss efforts back on track

Although negative emotions can trigger emotional eating, you can take steps to control cravings and renew your effort at weight loss. To help stop emotional eating, try these tips:

• Tame your stress. If stress contributes to your emotional eating, try a stress management technique, such as yoga, meditation or relaxation.
• Have a hunger reality check. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don't have a rumbling stomach, you're probably not really hungry. Give the craving a little time to pass.
• Keep a food diary. Write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you're feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. Over time, you may see patterns emerge that reveal the connection between mood and food.
• Get support. You're more likely to give in to emotional eating if you lack a good support network. Lean on family and friends or consider joining a support group.
• Fight boredom. Instead of snacking when you're not truly hungry, distract yourself. Take a walk, watch a movie, play with your cat, listen to music, read, surf the Internet or call a friend.
• Take away temptation. Don't keep supplies of comfort foods in your home if they're hard for you to resist. And if you feel angry or blue, postpone your trip to the grocery store until you're sure that you have your emotions in check.
• Don't deprive yourself. When you're trying to achieve a weight-loss goal, you may limit your calories too much, eat the same foods frequently and banish the treats you enjoy. This may just serve to increase your food cravings, especially in response to emotions. Let yourself enjoy an occasional treat and get plenty of variety to help curb cravings.
• Snack healthy. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie snack, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip, or unbuttered popcorn. Or try low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.
• Get enough sleep. If you're constantly tired, you might snack to try to give yourself an energy boost. Take a nap or go to bed earlier instead.
• Seek therapy. If you've tried self-help options but you still can't get control of your emotional eating, consider therapy with a professional mental health provider. Therapy can help you understand the motivations behind your emotional eating and help you learn new coping skills. Therapy can also help you discover whether you may have an eating disorder, which is sometimes connected to emotional eating.

If you have an episode of emotional eating, forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Try to learn from the experience and make a plan for how you can prevent it in the future. Focus on the positive changes you're making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that'll lead to better health.

Confessions of a Carb-A-Holic: *Ketones, Ketosis, what the heck is it?

Confessions of a Carb-A-Holic: *Ketones, Ketosis, what the heck is it?: "Straight Forward Answer   What are ketones      Ketones are a normal and efficient source of fuel and energy for the human body. They are..."

*Ketones, Ketosis, what the heck is it?

Straight Forward Answer                    Tips and Ideas For A Healthy Lifestyle

 What are ketones     

Ketones are a normal and efficient source of fuel and energy for the human body. They are produced by the liver from fatty acids, which result from the breakdown of body fat in response to the absence of glucose/sugar. In a ketogenic diet, such as Atkins, or diets used for treating epilepsy in children, ketogenic and kids
the tiny amounts of glucose required for some select functions can be met by consuming a minimum amount of carbs - or can be manufactured in the liver from PROTEIN. When your body is producing ketones, and using them for fuel, this is called "ketosis".

Ketosis an explanation                                                                       
   Low Carb Lifestyle


How will ketosis help me to lose weight?  

Most reducing diets restrict calorie intake, so you lose weight but some of that is fat and some of it is lean muscle tissue as well. Less muscle means slowed metabolism, which makes losing weight more difficult and gaining it back all too easy. Ketosis will help you to lose FAT.   ketosis and weight loss


Being in ketosis means that your body's primary source of energy is fat (in the form of ketones). When you consume adequate protein as well, there's no need for the body to break down its muscle tissue. Ketosis also tends to accelerate fat loss --- once the liver converts fat to ketones, it can't be converted back to fat, and so is excreted.
Low Carb High Protein Diet
Low Carb Plan

But, isn't ketosis dangerous?

Being in ketosis by following a low carbohydrate diet is NOT dangerous. The human body was designed to use ketones very efficiently as fuel in the absence of glucose. However, the word ketosis is often confused with a similar word, ketoacidosis.

Ketosis, ketogenic and danger
Ketoacidosis is a dangerous condition for diabetics, and the main element is ACID not ketones. The blood pH becomes dangerously acidic because of an extremely high blood SUGAR level (the diabetic has no insulin, or doesn't respond to insulin .... so blood sugar rises ... ketones are produced by the body to provide the fuel necessary for life, since the cells can't use the sugar). It's the high blood sugar, and the acid condition that is so dangerous. Ketones just happen to be a part of the picture, and are a RESULT of the condition, not the CAUSE. Diabetics can safely follow a ketogenic diet to lose fat weight ... but they must be closely monitored by their health care provider, and blood sugars need to be kept low, and stable.

Ketosis, the myth the legend

How do the ketone test strips work, and where can I get them?

Ketone urine-testing strips, also called Ketostix or just ketone sticks ... are small plastic strips that have a little absorptive pad on the end. This contains a special chemical that will change color in the presence of ketones in the urine. The strips may change varying shades of pink to purple, or may not change color at all. The container will have a scale on the label, with blocks of color for you to compare the strip after a certain time lapse, usually 15 seconds. Most folks simply hold a strip in the flow of urine. Other folks argue that the force of the flow can "wash" some of the chemical away, and advise that a sample of urine be obtained in a cup or other container, then the strip dipped into it.

The chemical reagent is very sensitive to moisture, including what's in the air. It's important to keep the lid of the container tightly closed at all times, except for when you're getting a strip to take a reading. Make sure your fingers are dry before you go digging in! They also have an expiry date, so make note of this when you purchase the strips ... that's for the UNopened package. Once opened, they have a shelf-life of about 6 months -- you may wish to write the date you opened on the label for future reference.

Ketone test strips can be purchased at any pharmacy, and are usually kept with the diabetic supplies.
(not pool supplies, I know they look like ph test strips!) In some stores they're kept behind the counter, so if you don't see them on the shelf, just ask the pharmacist; you don't need a prescription to buy them.

I'm following Induction strictly; why won't my strips turn purple?
Ketones will spill into the urine ONLY when there is more in the blood than is being used as fuel by the body at that particular moment.
You may have exercised or worked a few hours previously, so your muscles would have used up the ketones as fuel, thus there will be no excess. You may have had a lot of liquids to drink, so the urine is more diluted. Perhaps the strips are not fresh, or the lid was not on tight and some moisture from the atmosphere got in.
Some low carbers NEVER show above trace or negative even ... yet they burn fat and lose weight just fine. If you're losing weight, and your clothes are getting looser, you're feeling well and not hungry all the time .. then you are successfully in ketosis. Don't get hung up on the strips;    they're just a guide, nothing more.

Will I lose weight faster if the strips show dark purple all the time?

No. Testing in the darkest purple range all the time is usually a sign of dehydration -- the urine is too concentrated. You need to drink more water to dilute it, and keep the kidneys flushed.
stay away from sugar alchohols
The liver will make ketones from body fat, the fat you EAT, and from alcohol --- the ketone strips have no way of distinguishing the source of the ketones. So, if you test every day after dinner, and dinner usually contains a lot of fat, then you may very well test for large amounts of ketones all the time. However this does not indicate that any BODY fat was burned.
just say no to sugar alchohols
The strips only indicate what's happening in the urine. Ketosis happens in the blood and body tissues. If you're showing even a small amount, then you are in ketosis, and fat-burning is taking place. Don't get hung up on the ketone sticks.

Ins and Outs of Ketosis
Does caffeine affect ketosis?

This is questionable. There ARE a few studies that suggest caffeine may cause blood sugar to rise, with consequent effect on insulin ... The studies involve consuming 50 gm glucose orally, followed by a dose of caffeine. This is quite different from a low carber, who is consuming only 20 gm carbs, in the form of high-fiber vegetables, spread throughout the day.
low carb stalls, hidden carbs
Many low carbers continue to enjoy caffeine-containing beverages with no serious impact on their weight-loss efforts. However, there are some sensitive individuals ... and persons who are extremely insulin resistant may need to restrict or even eliminate all caffeine. If you have been losing successfully then find your weight loss stalled for a month or two, and you are following your program to the letter, you might consider stopping all caffeine for a while, to see if that will get things started again.
stop the low carb stalls

Will drinking alcohol affect ketosis?  

No and yes. The liver can make ketones out of alcohol, so technically, when you drink you'll continue to produce ketones and so will remain in ketosis. The problem is ... alcohol converts more easily to ketones than fatty acids, so your liver will use the alcohol first, in preference to fat. Thus, when you drink, basically your FAT burning is put on hold until all the alcohol is out of your system.

 This rapid breakdown of alcohol into ketones and acetaldehyde
(the intoxicating by-product) ... tends to put low carbers at risk for quicker intoxication ... especially if no other food is consumed to slow absorption.
I have personally found this to be true.
 low carb success story
Click Here For Tips and Ideas on a Healthy Lifestyle 

* Playing Hide and Seek With Carbs

This morning, I sent someone to get donuts for my employees. She came back with all different kinds and proceeded to tell me that she even got 2 for me. The were the old fashioned cake donuts. She said they don't have any filling or icing on top so you can have breakfast with the rest of us.

It dawned on me after I thanked her for thinking of me, that what carbohydrates are is still somewhat a mystery to a lot of people. They were to me. I always thought just like she does, that they are sugar. It has been the hardest thing to try and educate myself and others what they are and where they are. They are hiding everywhere!

All food that you eat turns to sugar in your body. Carbohydrate-containing foods alter your sugar levels more than any other type of food. Carbohydrates are found in starchy or sugary foods, such as bread, rice, pasta, cereal, potatoes, peas, corn, fruit, fruit juice, milk, yogurt, cookies, candy, soda, and other sweets.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000007000000000000000.html

http://www.medhelp.org/medical-information/show/1920/Starchy-foods

They exist in virtually everything! The trick is to know what the source of the carb is. Is it a natural carb or a manufactured carb? I had to learn this quick, thinking I could supplement all sugar free or no sugar added for a lot of the foods I liked. I was sadly mistaken. Most of these products are full of sugar alcohols that simply are not all that good for you if you are on a low carb diet. I can personally say that I don't feel so good after eating food with them in. The body just does not digest them easily.        http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/sugaralcohols.htm

When shopping at the grocery store, stay away from the carbs that include the following words in their ingredients: bleached, enriched, processed or refined. These processed and altered foods are void of critical nutrient value and will do very little to fuel and energize your body.

Sugar substitutes are also suspect as they do contain a low amount of carbs. I do use Splenda, but I use it sparingly.http://www.caloriecontrol.org/sweeteners-and-lite/sugar-substitutes

Carbs are hidden everywhere, so you have to read the labels. The carbs that come from fiber are certainly better than the carbs coming from sugar but they must be counted in your daily intake.

http://wilstar.com/lowcarb/hiddencarbs.htm 

Read the labels. If the label lists sugar, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, white or “wheat” flour, they contain simple carbohydrates. If these ingredients are at the top of the list, they may contain mostly simple carbohydrates, and little else. They should be avoided.

Look for foods that have not been highly processed or refined. Choose a piece of fruit instead of fruit juice, which is very high in naturally occurring simple sugars. Choose whole grain breads instead of white bread. Choose whole grain oatmeal instead of packaged cold cereals.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/85180-calculate-net-carbohydrates/

When you read the labels on foods in your supermarket, it's no surprise that you find plenty of sugar in products like cake mix, ice cream, jelly, cookies, and soda. But it can be downright shocking to see 12 grams of sugar in bottled pasta sauce or barbecue sauce -- and even more so to find 50 grams of sugar in a healthy-sounding bottled tea!                                                           

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/sugar-shockers-foods-surprisingly-high-in-sugar

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/sugar-shockers-foods-surprisingly-high-in-sugar