| Vol.2, Issue 10 | June 2008 .. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Contents:
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Featured Client 80 lb. Weight Loss Aids Breast Cancer Survival by Elizabeth Fergason Jennifer Torres is a three-time breast cancer survivor. She’ll be the first to tell you she has a lot to be thankful for. She’ll also tell you that one of those things is Lite for Life. During two bouts of cancer and eight years of medical treatment, Jennifer’s weight steadily increased. Once her treatment was completed, she knew it was time to focus on whole body health so Jennifer set her sights on losing weight. Counselor Tris Harms still remembers when Jennifer walked into the San Carlos store and declared, “The only thing I want to worry about when I get up in the morning is maintaining my weight – so let’s get this done!” Jennifer was an enthusiastic beginner and losing three pounds right away was enough to motivate her to stick with the program and resist old eating habits. “Before Lite for Life, I thought I was eating healthy, but after a few counseling sessions, I began to understand that I’d been consuming too much processed food, too much caffeine and too much sugar. That was why I was hungry all the time and why I felt so low in energy.” A few months later, when she was almost at her goal weight, Jennifer found an enlarged lymph node just inside her collarbone. When she saw her doctor, she learned that the lump had been there for a while. “We wondered why we hadn’t noticed it in past exams. Then we figured out that we couldn’t see or feel it earlier because of my weight. It was a good thing I’d slimmed down because I may have never found it until it spread!” Jennifer’s doctor also told her that her weight loss would improve her chances of survival ten-fold so she carried on with her Lite For Life program. “Thanks to the help of my counselors, I’ve been able to continue the program throughout my chemotherapy,” says Jennifer. It’s really amazing how much energy I have. I look forward to being active every day. I plan, I organize, I even exercise. My counselors are there to support me. They’ve been with me at my best and at my worst! Jennifer persevered until she met her goal. Overall, she took off 80 pounds and 89 inches! Soon she’ll begin the maintenance program. She says, “Life is a precious thing and I now know I’ll be ‘Lite for Life’ for the rest of mine!” Elizabeth Fergason is a Counselor at Lite for Life in Menlo Park.
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To Lose Weight, Get a Good Night’s Sleep by Elizabeth Fergason It may sound too good to be true, but sleeping more can help you lose weight. It is no coincidence that as Americans have trimmed their average sleep time by about 2 hours a night over the past four decades, their weight has increased. Forty years ago, only one in four adults was overweight. Today, two out of three are overweight. Doctors have known for years that certain hormones are directly connected to sleep. Recent medical research links levels of these sleep connected hormones directly to appetite, leading to the inescapable conclusion that how much you sleep influences the hormonal activity tied to your appetite, and that affects your weight. Hormones are chemical messengers that travel throughout the body telling it how to function. Two sleep-influenced hormones, ghrelin and leptin, represent the "yin-yang" of appetite regulation. Ghrelin is produced in the stomach and communicates hunger and appetite. Leptin, produced by fat cells, does just the opposite, indicating satiety, telling the body when we have eaten enough. Have you ever noticed that after a night too short of sleep, no matter what you eat, nothing seems to satisfy? If so, then you’ve experienced the workings of ghrelin and leptin. A 2004 research study at the University of Chicago tested how the balance of the two hormones was affected by sleep deprivation. Research subjects who slept only four hours a night for two consecutive nights had an 18 percent decrease in leptin, the hormone that tells the brain there is no need for more food, and a 28 percent increase in ghrelin, the hormone that triggers hunger. Sleep deprived volunteers reported a 24 percent increase in appetite. Not only that, the researchers noted that as hunger increased, food preferences changed. After two nights of curtailed sleep subjects experienced a surge in desire for sugary foods such as candy and cookies, salty foods like chips and nuts, and starchy foods such as bread and pasta. "This provides biochemical evidence connecting the trend toward chronic sleep curtailment to obesity and its consequences, including metabolic syndrome and diabetes," said Eve Van Cauter, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and director of the study. Why do food choices shift when sleep-time decreases? The answer is still unclear, but Dr Van Cauter believes it has something to do with blood sugar levels. "Since the brain is fueled by glucose, we suspect it seeks simple carbohydrates when distressed by lack of sleep.” Simple carbohydrates, like bread, pasta, cookies or chips quickly increase blood glucose, because carbohydrates are easily digested – too much blood glucose can lead to weight gain and insulin resistance. But, replacing reduced sleep with added calories and compromising our good health is never a beneficial trade. Sources: University of Chicago Medical News University of Illinois Extension webmd
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Featured Product: As health professionals point the finger at soda consumption as a key factor in obesity, beverage companies are responding by bringing new healthier options to market. But often times ‘healthier’ is a matter of degree and what you’re comparing it to, as many of these options are still loaded with chemical sweeteners, caffeine or cane juice, which has much the same effect as sugar. For a soda that’s truly healthier, try Virgil’s micro-brewed diet sodas. They are made with all natural ingredients and sweetened with stevia and xylitol, two natural sweeteners that don’t spike blood sugar or cause tooth decay. Best of all, they have just 6 calories in a 12 oz. bottle. They come in Root Beer, Cream Soda and Black Cherry.
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Maureen's Tips Proper eating can help you with falling asleep, staying asleep and waking up rested. The ideal way to eat for a good night’s sleep is to eat your dinner at least four hours before bedtime, and follow with a light snack about two hours before bedtime. For example, if you go to bed at 10 pm, eat dinner by 6 pm. Avoid late dinners. Having a heavy meal in your stomach forces your body to use its energy on digestion instead of repair and rebuilding. This will affect the quality of your sleep and you may not feel as rested on waking. Nor do you want to go to bed starving. If your blood sugar is too low, you may not even be able to fall asleep in the first place, or you may experience a drop in blood sugar that will wake you up. This typically happens around 3 or 4 a.m., when there is a hormonal shift that corresponds to the late afternoon blood sugar dip of our waking hours. Having a light snack two hours before bedtime will prevent either from happening. The best before bed snack is one that includes a little bit of carbohydrate and some protein—a fruit and protein powder smoothie, cheese and crackers or a protein dessert should do the trick. You definitely want to avoid foods that will spike your blood sugar only to drop it in the middle of the night—sugary snacks, wine, or anything with caffeine in it. Sleep tight!
Maureen Sullivan, MA, CNC is the founder of Lite For Life.
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Grilled Salmon Salad with Orange-Basil VinaigretteThis scrumptious salad will satisfy your palate while filling you up with fish and veggies. The salmon can be grilled on a barbecue or electric grill. Ingredients:
Preparation:
Counts as: Per serving: 3 protein, 1 fruit, 2 cups vegetables |
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