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Darlene: My friends are saying, "Oh my God, you look so great!"

Client of the Month

No More Miss Grumpy Pants

It all started at the mall.  That’s where Darlene Forsythe Beacham, our Client of the Month, first learned about Lite for Life.  Last May, shopping for new clothes at Valley Fair she got to feeling more than a little grumpy about the size of her new pants, or maybe it was shopper’s fatigue that had her down.
Lite For Life of Saratoga was at the mall too that day, presenting at a health fair.  Coming out of Nordstrom tired and grumpy, Darlene decided to sit down with the Lite For Life Counselors.  She perked up at what she heard.

“It was the first time I’d ever spoken with diet counselors who sounded like they knew what they were talking about,” she says.  “The focus was on frequent small meals to keep your blood sugar level and it all made sense.”

Darlene decided right then and there to give Lite for Life a try.  She committed to a goal of losing 10-12 pounds over the next eight weeks.  She even commuted over to Saratoga from San Jose to meet with counselors, Karen and Breanne, because she liked them so much.  “They’re a great team,” she says.  They really know how to work with the individual client."

Like many Lite For Life clients, Darlene leads an active life.  She comes from a big family who gets together almost every weekend to hike, boat, or jet ski, and of course to eat.  Her Lite For Life counselors helped her meet those challenges head on.   “The counselors helped me figure out healthy food substitutes and how to plan ahead for when I’m out with family and friends,” she says.  “I learned to make better choices: brown rice instead of white.  Fresh fruit instead of hitting the candy jar.  Of course, it was the protein deserts that saved me!”  In the evenings, Darlene now enjoys the key lime protein desert instead of her old stand-by, ice cream.

 “My sugar cravings are completely gone,” she says.  “My mood is better too.”  Thanks to the wide variety of choices and the emphasis on frequent, small meals, Darlene says she never felt like the counselors were asking her to give anything up.  “I didn’t feel hungry or deprived.  I learned to get the bad stuff out of the house. No more dry cereals or white bread for breakfast.”  She now starts her day with eggs or cottage cheese and whole grain crackers.

In eight weeks Darlene dropped a full dress size.  “I lost 12 whole inches,” she says.  “My friends are saying, ‘Oh my God, you look so great!’  I feel good about myself, about life in general.  And I had fun with the counseling team.  They were so positive.  Everything they said came from the heart.”

Darlene enjoyed the Lite for Life program so much that in January she bought a franchise in San Jose and now is a counselor herself.  She’s speaking out in the community too. “I’ve got a school fair coming up and an open house with my massage therapist.  The nice part is that I can empathize with others who are trying to lose weight.”  She tells them her story, about how she lost the weight and improved her temperament. “My clothes are looser, my body is better and I’m happy with my new business.”  No more Miss Grumpy-pants.  Darlene’s got a lot to smile about!

Nutrition in the News

Plain yogurt is healthful for many reasons, but can it help you lose weight?  New research suggests that it might. You may not know it, but your very own digestive tract is home to billions of friendly bacteria.  Experts estimate that approximately four pounds of your body weight is in fact not you at all; but the weight of the bacteria living in your intestines.  However, this is four pounds of weight that we definitely don’t want to lose!

In a healthy digestive tract, these bacteria, also known as intestinal flora, ensure that we properly digest our foods.  They also act as a first line of defense against viruses and other bacteria that are not so friendly.  Now there is evidence that imbalances in different types of gut bacteria may play a role in obesity.

About a year ago, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis discovered significant differences in the types and proportions of intestinal flora found in thin people and obese people.  Some of these microbes play a role in how efficiently food is used for energy, leading scientists to believe that they can affect body weight.

 Although the differences these microbes make in the efficient use of calories is small, over time they can add up and contribute to steady weight gain.  It’s like the difference drinking just that one extra can of soda every day can make in your weight over the course of a year.

Scientists are still not sure if these differences in intestinal flora are genetic or environmental.  The balance of intestinal flora can be thrown off by a number of things, including antibiotics which kill good and bad flora indiscriminately, excessive alcohol use, stress, disease or even the use of spermicides and antibacterial cleaning products. 

Whether or not any kind of obesity treatment will result from these findings is unclear, and in any event, it is many years away.  In the meantime, there are many things you can do right now to make sure that the bacteria living in your intestines are the right kind, all of which are well in keeping with eating the Lite For Life way.

Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in fat and processed grains generally makes for a healthier intestinal tract.  Eliminating or greatly reducing your refined sugar intake also really helps, because sugar feeds certain yeasts that thrive in the digestive tract and their overgrowth can cause imbalances.

Another easy thing you can do to help make sure your intestinal environment is healthy is to eat lots of plain yogurt.  Plain, unsweetened yogurt contains good bacteria that colonize your intestines and help maintain a good ratio of beneficial bacteria. 
It’s especially important to eat well following a course of treatment with antibiotics.

Although there is more research on obesity being done now than ever, and many exciting new discoveries are being made, it is far from clear which of these discoveries will result in safe and practical weight loss solutions and which ones will simply remain interesting discoveries. 

In the meantime, working with the body you have to eat well and follow healthy lifestyle habits is the best way to control your weight and maintain good health.

Resources:
http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Colon%20Health/evidence.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/magazine/13obesity.html?ex=1172379600&en=71f63c62d6ebd48f&ei=5070

Pure, simple mint water

Since its introduction two years ago, Metromint’s wake up your tastebuds flavor and jazzy packaging have been winning over style and health conscious consumers who expect more from their bottled water.  Now with two new flavors, Lemonmint and Orangemint, you can enjoy Metromint in more ways than ever before.

Whereas the original spearmint and peppermint flavors are “super cool” according to the chill meter on the bottle, Lemonmint’s hint of lemon essence adds a slightly warmer dimension and a light sparkly flavor note.  For fans of stevia liquid flavors, try Lemonmint with the vanilla crème, peppermint, lemon and even dark chocolate.

The Orangemint flavor is downright citrusy and fragrant.  It’s great on it’s own, but combined with dark chocolate stevia it’s sinful—like one of those chocolate orange candy balls you used to get in your Christmas stocking.