5 Tricks to Fighting the Holiday Pudge

As you chew on your favorite Halloween candy while reading here are a few of our favorite tips to avoid overeating and gaining weight during the Holidays:

SMALLER PLATE

When at parties or at the relatives house for meals, ask for a smaller plate, such as a dinner salad plate.  These will hold about the perfect portion of food and will only allow you to put about 3 things on your plate as opposed to 5.

DRINK PROTEIN SHAKES

The National Health Institute recently published a study showing that taking two 30 gram protein shakes a day helped with weight loss regardless of calories consumed.  The reason being that protein helps you feel full, helps prevent fat storage hormones from going out of control, and helps feed lean body mass.  We have a great recipe using the Whey Active shakes to make a hot chocolate that tastes like REAL hot chocolate and is a great substitute for the sugary stuff in the packets and get this.....it is about the same price!

 

DRINK WATER

In between each bite drink 2-4 oz of water (that's about 1-2 mouthfuls).  This will not only make you chew your food slower, but you'll also fill up faster and maybe avoid seconds or thirds.  Water also keeps the body cleansed of any impurities that might be in the food you are eating.  It's also essential to flush out any excess sodium from all the eats that the season.

FUN FUN FUN

Fun is the word. With all the new active video games it's not hard, but also find creative ways to stay healthy and incorporate physical activity this season. Build a snowman (if we happen to get enough), go ice/roller skating, play a game like charades, hokey pokey or "rock" around the Christmas tree with some upbeat Christmas music (the kids love to see the grandparents dancing)!

WALK

The holidays can be stressful and one of the best ways to combat that stress is to get out and get active.  A good walk will not only allow you to get some stress relieving Vitamin D, it will also reduce the stress hormones.  Oh yeah and the calorie burn is great too. 

www.purebodynutrition.net

Don't Let Your Kids Get Fat!! Obese Kids Arteries Look Like Adults Arteries with Heart Disease!

The hazards of being an obese child go beyond schoolyard teasing or being picked last in gym. The arteries of obese children exhibit a stiffness normally found in adults with heart disease, according to a new study from BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver.



Here is a previous blog on supplements that can help.  Two Supplements to Help Prevent Childhood Obesity


Canadian researchers looked at 63 obese children and 55 children of normal weight, both groups with an average age of 13. The obese children had abnormal results on an ultrasound test of the heart and blood vessels, which measures how quickly blood flows through the body. Of particular concern was the aorta, the body's largest artery, which carries blood to the rest of the body's arteries.
"The normal aorta has elastic qualities that buffer the flow of blood. When that elasticity is lost, aortic stiffness results -- a sign of developing cardiovascular disease," said study author Dr. Kevin Harris, from BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, in a news release. "Aortic stiffness is associated with cardiovascular events and early death."

Harris says that it's as if the obese children are experiencing the aging process at an accelerated pace, and it's unclear whether weight loss through diet and exercise could reverse the hardening of the arteries.
Dr. Carolyn Landis, who heads the Healthy Kids, Healthy Weight program at Cleveland's Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, says that parents need to take action and not wait to see if being overweight is something their child will "grow out of."

"There are many studies coming out about how obese children are physically different, and it starts as young as preschool," she told AOL Health. "With preschoolers, it's not about putting them on a diet, but you can slow the rate of weight gain over time. Institute healthy changes like more fruits and vegetables, less screen time and an increase in activity," she suggests.

Landis also emphasizes the importance of making changes for the whole family. "As a family, get rid of calorically dense foods. Parents should be eating and drinking in a healthy way, too. Go for hikes together as a family or take up a new sport. Even normal-weight kids in the family should join in."

In her practice, Landis sees many kids who want to eat what their friends are eating, even if it's unhealthy. Kids don't want to be singled out. But she is hopeful that studies like this one will serve as a call to action.

"Hopefully pediatricians who see this study will help parents and notice when children are gaining weight too rapidly," says Landis. "The key is to do something before they become obese, before they turn into teens who weigh 300 to 400 pounds. It's about early intervention."

By Ronnie Koenig and Will Burgin