Diet Bites!

Wheat Horror Story (just in time for Halloween)

2011-10-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Very recently it has been noted that more and more people are developing Celiac Disease.

"Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats."

It seems like everyone around me is what my friends like to call, a "glu-tard". So many products now have gigantic lettering advertising that they are gluten free products. Even the gluten free section in the grocery store has turned into an entire asile. Something is up. A new book called "Wheat Belly" written by William Davis, exposes just how bad wheat products are for you. It claims that even people that do not suffer from Celiac disease should cut wheat from their diets. Below is a link to an article written by the same author explaining the science of why wheat is literally TERRIBLE for you. TRUST ME, you're going to want to read this. I especially love that the article ended with a challenge,

"If the health benefits of a wheat-free diet sound hard to believe, why not conduct your own little experiment and see for yourself: simply eliminate all things made of wheat for four weeks -- no bread, bagels, pizza, pretzels, rolls, donuts, breakfast cereals, pancakes, waffles, pasta, noodles, or processed foods containing wheat (and do be careful to read labels, as food manufacturers love to slip a little wheat gliadin into your food every chance they get to stimulate your appetite). That's a lot to cut out, true, but there's still plenty of real, nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruit, nuts, cheese and dairy products, meat, fish, soy foods, legumes, oils like olive oil, avocados, even dark chocolate that you can eat in their place. If after that 4-week period you discover new mental clarity, better sleep, relief from joint pain, happier intestines, and a looser waistband, you will have your answer."

I may just have to take you up on that Mr. Davis. And so begins, the wheat free four week challenge!

Click here to read William Davis' article, author of Wheat Belly

Delight of the Week: Chop't

2011-10-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Every week on my blog I will feature some food product, restaurant, or something diet related that is an absolute delight and must be shared with you all. Up first, Chop't. Chop't can best be described as Coldstone for salads. It's a gigantic salad bar where they chop all of your salad ingredients right infront of you! You can make your own (which most of the time, is healthier) or you can have one of their specialty built salads! My personal favorite right now is the Mexican Caesar. Full of flavor and an all around delight.

Some believe that these kind of salads are just as bad as picking up a burger over at Five Guys however another great thing about Chop't is that their nutritional value is a click away.

http://www.choptsalad.com/Chopt_Nutritionals.pdf

Pretty awesome.

Burger or Bust

2011-10-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Last night my boyfriend and I had our hearts set on going to Fuddruckers. I'm sure when you think of Fuddruckers images of their buttery buns and delicious (but high calorie) toppings flood into your mind. It is not typical to hear Fuddrickers and diet muttered in the same sentence however there are some things dieters should know! There is always a loophole.

Fuddruckers and many other burger/fastfood chains such as Johnny Rockets and Subway offer their famous specialty sandwitches but with a very low calorie substitute: the veggie burger.

The miracle of the veggie burger is that they are VERY low in caloric value but still accomplish checking off the necessary protien element to a meal. Veggie burgers are normally under 100 calories (2 Weight Watchers points). I've observed that most restaurants use Boca Burgers as their veggie burger which all finish at about 80 calories a patty. Compare to: Turkey patties at 170-200 and beef patties that clock in at around 200-250 calories. Woof.

The best part about ordering this low calorie subsitute is that you get to have the same specialty burger with all the same toppings but HALF the calories. And to be completely honest, after how many toppings and flavors they pile onto those burgers at Fuddruckers, I promise you will not miss out on flavor.

What I've observed is that MANY fast food chains offer this substitue but rarely make it very easy to find on the menu. If it is on the menu it will be in small print somewhere almost completely unrelated to the main entrees. The best thing you can do is simply ask, most of the time it's no skin off their nose in the kitchen to whip up a veggie burger and put the specialty burger toppings on top.

Weight Watchers Revisited

2011-10-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

In an effort to stay current with my research about Weight Watcher's I have rejoined! As of September 25th, I have been on Weight Watcher's new point flex online program. I have been equip with a great couple of crucial tools this round, an online account AND an phone. Like anyone my age I am constantly on my phone so having all of my diet tools literally in the palm of my hand is pretty fantastic. Weight Watchers now has an iphone app that does the exact same things as their website program (just condensed, of course). This app includes a PointsPlus tracker, Weight tracker, Healthy Checks (daily water/veggie/vitamins), Cheat Sheets, Shopping list, Featured Recipes, Articles, Success stories and much more. However the most important by far is the PointsPlus Calculator. With a click of your finger you can type into the calculator Fat, Carbs, Fiber and Protein and the calculator generates the number of points your food item is! Pretty simple and less obvious if you're trying to get point values in the grocery store.

Another awesome addition to this app is the cheat sheets. They are broken down into categories: Pizza, Cocktails, Pasta, Salad and a Portion Estimator. Click on one and it opens up a visual of the cheat sheet, and then the various toppings that go with it. As you add more toppings to your food the cheat sheet adds up the points. For example when clicking the pasta cheat sheet first you are given options for the type of pasta, regular, whole-wheat, cheese ravioli. Then sauces, marinara, peso, Bolognese, alfredo and vodka. Lastly there are toppings from broccoli to meatballs that you can click and add to your virtual pasta bowl. Not only is it very informative but it's also just fun to play around with.

As far as progress... well I have lost 5 pounds in a week! I also attribute my weight loss to how unpredictable my diet had been leading up to re-joining weight watchers. I was eating out at least 3-5 times a week because of my work schedule. However I am pleasantly surprised and I hope I can continue to see results.

My one criticism is that right now Weight Watcher's marketing campaign is saying you can join free right now through October 15th. However if you look closely there is a cute little * next to the word free. Aka, be prepared to pay to join. I payed a $50 joining/activation fee that I did not really expect to pay since they were claiming it was free.. however after joining it's $18 a month which is not bad at all.

Project Weight Watchers Part 1

2011-09-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

My first diet: Weight Watchers (old school)

How did I join the masses of America on the trendy Weight Watchers diet you ask? Well, my relationship with Weight Watchers goes back all the way to 7th grade. I might as well just tell you the entire story of how it came to be. I've always been an atheletically built person and in middle school I carried a decent amount of weight for a 7th grader. I was 13 years old and a size 12-14. Bottom line, I got teased.. a lot. Infact, one boy in particular once said to me that I would be hotter if I lost 20 pounds... Pretty sweet. Eventually the teasing got to be intolerable and my mother and I made the decision to try weight watchers.

During the time that I went on Weight Watchers (2001/2002) the diet was a simple points system. It also involved going into a Weight Watchers location, getting weighed and attending a meeting every week.

The point system:
I was given a points system table that calculated calories & nutritional value and would produce a number of points your food item was. The diet was pretty simple as long as I kept the table with me at all times. There was also a helpful mini book full of predetermined points for popular food items, restaurant foods, ect.

The weigh in:
Once a week my mom would drive me to our Weight Watchers location for a weigh in. The room was set up somewhat like a airport check-in desk would be like. Wait in line, each person goes up with their paper work, put your luggage (or in this case, YOU) on the scale and get weighed. This was a tough thing for someone of my pre-teen age to face. The mere admittance of me having a weight issue made my cheeks red, let alone standing on a scale infront of another person as she writes my weight down. But it must be said that the cliental were very supportive and sensitive.

The meeting:
I hated it. But what 13 year old wouldn't? I was too young to understand why these meetings make the Weight Watchers diet completely unique. The meeting was an open floor, a place where dieters could come together to vent, ask questions, share recipies, feelings, or just simply listen. Therapy. Group therapy. Honestly, I think it's brillant. It is scientifically proven that people who suffer from depression and or anxiety are also sufferers of obesity.* Weight Watchers understands that dieting is not just a diet change but a mental one as well. A mental change that needs support from friends, family and other dieters.

*http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/0002335/63/

Conclusion:
I will go out on a limb and say that Weight Watchers is the only diet I have encountered that has really been concerned with overall health, not just physical. I honestly believe that until the problems are fixed internally, nothing can be done about the outside and it is clear that the creaters of Weight Watchers believe this as well.

A dieting debacle?

2011-09-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

I've decided to create a diet blog. Now before you roll your eyes and find something less cliche to read I'll give you a background about myself. I am 22 years old and have been dieting on and off for ten years, almost half of my life. In those ten years I have used Weight Watchers, Weight Watchers online, Nutrisystem (two times), Slim In 6, Special K diet, Slim Fast, low carb, no carb, and vegetarian. So if your looking for someone that knows A TON about dieting, you've found the right blog. First, I will say that each of these individual diets have their positives and negatives. I'm going to outline these diets, explain my experience with them and hopefully inform all of you hopeful dieters out there!

It seems today that we are constantly being bombarded with information on the "next best diet". I'm going to navigate through all of that confusion while documenting it here in my blog! Enjoy!

Up first: Weight Watchers