Contents

• Saratoga Woman Avoids Scalpel Through Determination and Positive Attitude
• Eggs-onerated – at Last!
• Featured: Singing a Different Tuna
  
• Counselor's Corner - Avoiding Insidious Sugars
  
• Recipe: Zucchini French Onion Soup
  
  
  
  

Vicky: Lost 86 lbs -- "Now I bounce out of bed and I can't wait for the day to begin."

Client of the Month

Saratoga Woman Avoids Scalpel...Through
Determination and Positive Attitude

About a year ago Vicki Johnston’s doctor gave her an ultimatum to lose weight. Her cholesterol and triglycerides were high, and being overweight was impacting her health. He suggested two options: bariatric surgery, or Lite for Life. His own daughter had tried the Lite for Life program and had tremendous success.

Vicki met with the surgeon first. After a 1 1/2 hour consultation, she decided surgery wasn’t the right option for her. She made an appointment with Lite for Life of Saratoga the next day. That’s when everything fell into place. "It just sort of clicked for me," she explains. "I made up my mind, accepted it, and I haven’t looked back since."

"I remember when I first started the program, I sort of challenged my counselors," Vicki remembers. "This is what you’re telling me is going to happen, so I better see some results!" She needn’t have worried. Since starting the Lite For Life program, Vicki has lost 86 1/2 pounds and over 80 inches. She tossed her size 24 clothes and replaced them with a brand new wardrobe of size 12’s. Her cholesterol and triglycerides are down to healthy levels and her doctor is singing her praises.

And so are a lot of other people. "At first the compliments from people were a little overwhelming," she says, but she’s gradually become comfortable with them. "Now when people tell her how great she looks, she replies, "Thanks! And I feel great too!"

"Vicki is fantastic," says Laurel Garwin, one of Vicki’s Lite For Life Counselors. "She follows the Program to a ‘T’. She’s been really driven and dedicated."

Beyond the weight loss, Vicki has noticed a huge difference in her energy levels and how she feels on a daily basis. In the morning, she says, she bounces out of bed, ready for the day to begin. "I love how I feel when I eat this way. I love the energy. I don’t get up in the morning thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m still fat’."

Vicki credits her counselors with helping to educate her so that she can make the right decisions regarding her food choices. "I know how foods will affect me, so now I choose foods for what they can do for me rather than what they’re going to do to me."

She has put that knowledge to work in the kitchen. Formerly a self described "lazy, drive-thru-ATM eater," Vicki has found ways to turn healthy food into fast food. On Sundays, she cooks turkey burgers and chicken breasts and measures them into 3 oz. portions that she puts into ziploc bags. She also has fresh vegetables peeled and prepped so they’re easy to grab and go. "All you need to add is some fruit and some healthy starch, and you’re set for lunch," she explains.

With most of her protein prepped, she microwaves vegetables and potatoes to have hot dinners ready in minutes. Vicki has found that experimenting with spices has kept her from getting bored with her foods. "I used to never cook," she says, "but the Lite for Life recipes are easy and keep my meals interesting and tasty."

Her advice to others hoping to lose weight is to stay focused on the present. "It may seem like you need a long time to lose the weight, but be proud that you’re doing something about it. Then you become happy right away, and time flies when you’re having fun!"

She’s inspired four of her co-workers and several family members to join Lite for Life. But most importantly, Vicki is feeling great, everyday. "The sense of accomplishment is so tremendous! It’s the best thing I’ve done since having my daughter" she says.

Congratulations Vicki! We’ll see you at Lite for Life of Saratoga for your weekly weigh-in on the maintenance program.

Eggs-onerated, at Last!

Concerns about cholesterol and heart disease have turned many people into chickens when it comes to eating eggs, especially the yolks. But fear no more. Newer research has unscrambled the truth about the links between cholesterol and heart disease, vindicating the egg in the process.

For many years it was believed that eating foods containing cholesterol caused high blood cholesterol levels. Public health advocates recommended that people limit their cholesterol intake to 300 mg per day. With roughly 213 milligrams of cholesterol, eggs seemed like a food that should be restricted.

Gradually a more complex picture of cholesterol and its workings in the body emerged and we began to talk about an alphabet soup of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol numbers. Now health experts are beginning to recognize that dietary cholesterol is not the main culprit for high blood cholesterol at all.

Cholesterol is essential to life and performs many functions in the body. You couldn’t live without it. In fact, one of the signs that death is imminent is a drop in cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is the building block for all of our hormones and cell walls. It insulates nerves, helps brain function and bolsters the immune system.

Most of the cholesterol in our bodies is made in the body itself in the liver. But the biggest dietary culprit in excess cholesterol production is not eggs or other foods containing cholesterol. In fact, some experts believe that if you don’t eat enough dietary cholesterol your body will raise its own levels of production. Surprisingly, a diet high in sugars has been shown to be the biggest dietary contributor to excess cholesterol production.

Refined grains, sugary snacks, soda and fruit juices cause a rapid increase in levels of blood glucose. The body can only handle about 4 grams (the equivalent of a teaspoon’s worth of sugar) circulating in the blood at any one time. Anything left over must go into the liver where it is converted into triglycerides and cholesterol.

High cholesterol is linked to heart disease, although not in the way previously believed. All of this extra sugar in the bloodstream also causes glycation (the process where glucose links with proteins, stiffening tissues and leading to the complications of diabetes), rapid aging, and inflammation. The coronary disease that causes heart attacks is now considered to be caused mostly by chronic inflammation.

One of the many functions of cholesterol is to keep our cell membranes from falling apart. It is a necessary ingredient in any sort of cellular repair. Rather than being the direct cause of heart disease, excess cholesterol production is a by product of the body’s effort to repair the damage created from inflammation.

The upshot of it is that we no longer need deprive ourselves or one of nature’s most bio-available sources of protein. Egg whites are high in protein, but it’s the yolk that is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The yolk holds most of the nutrition, including Vitamin A, and the energy boosting B Vitamins. Ironically, Choline, one of the B vitamins found in egg yolks is actually needed by the body to break down excess cholesterol!

Eggs are inexpensive and have a relatively long shelf life for a protein food. Hard-boiled they make an easy, portable snack, all of which make them a great choice on the Lite For Life program. If you’re concerned about your cholesterol, swap that sugary breakfast cereal for a couple of eggs in the morning. And that’s no yolk.

Singing a Different Tuna

Minimal Mercury tuna is here! Lite For Life is pleased to offer a low mercury canned tuna from Wild Planet for those who love tuna and the health benefits it offers but are concerned about mercury levels Wild Planet also offers canned salmon, shrimp and crab, all of which are delicious. The company tests its seafood for purity, guaranteeing that all of their products contain minimal amounts of mercury.

Mercury is of particular concern with Albacore tuna. Albacore tuna can become enormous, and older, larger fish accumulate concentrated levels of mercury. Wild Planet’s Minimal MercuryTtuna uses only three year old fish weighing from 9-12 pounds, guaranteeing a lower mercury content than many other brands.

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that a person consume no more than .7 micrograms of mercury per kg of body weight per week. One ounce of a national brand of albacore averages 10 micrograms of mercury compared to 3.8 micrograms of mercury in one ounce of Wild Planet minimal mercury albacore.

The benefits of tuna are tremendous. One 2 oz. serving of Wild Planet albacore delivers 1.77 grams of Omega 3 Fatty Acids which is 177% of the American Heart Association’s recommended daily value. It is also typically high in the metabolism boosting, and heart healthy Omega 3 fatty acids.

This high quality protein is wonderful in salads and sandwiches (with the low-carb Alvarado flax seed bread of course!) Mix the shrimp up with some Latin Lemonaise and eat on crackers for a tasty snack. You’ll be getting your beneficial Omega 3’s, while minimizing your exposure to mercury.

Counselor’s Corner - Avoiding Insidious Sugars

This month's tip comes from our counseling team in Palo Alto.

Sugar is added to a wide variety of foods these days, not just cookies and cakes where you’d expect to find it, but also in soups, breads, salad dressings and other unexpected places. Since avoiding hidden sugars is one of the keys to losing weight and keeping it off, always check the nutrition facts panel on food label for sugar. The fewer grams of sugar, the better, so compare brands of similar products.

If it helps you to visualize how much sugar is in an item, realize there are 4 grams of sugar in one measured teaspoon. So, a can of soda with 40 grams of sugar per serving is the equivalent of putting 10 teaspoons of sugar in your Hint water! Knowing this conversion can really help you keep "hidden" sugar out of your diet. Next time you are at the grocery store check out the labels of the most popular brands of salad dressing, jam, peanut butter, ketchup, or breakfast cereal. You will see how quickly the sugars can add up!