Six Tips for a Safe, Healthy, Happy New Year’s Eve and New Year

For most people, the New Year is a time for reflection and usually elicits memories of events from the passing year – some happy and some sad. But starting a New Year also provides an opportunity to make a commitment to lead a safer and healthier lifestyle. If you’re looking for ways to do so, read these tips below.

Sunset at Moonlight Beach - Encinitas, CA - June 2016 by Carole Jakucs. Image subject to copyright.

Distracted Driving – Don’t text, talk on your cell or do anything that takes your eyes off the road while driving. Distracted driving has caused a huge increase in the number of traffic accidents and fatalities. Ask yourself – is reading or sending this text so important that it can’t wait? Is sending it worth slamming into another car and injuring someone else? Just like driving under the influence – there is no reason to drive while distracted as doing so can very well cause someone else’s permanent injury or death (and possibly even your own).

Don’t drink or do drugs and drive. Even one drink can alter your mental acuity. It’s not worth it. Why place yourself and others in harm’s way. With the existence now of ride/driving services and the old standard taxi – there is truly no excuse for driving under the influence. If you have an alcohol or drug problem, consider joining AA, NA or talk to your healthcare provider to get the support you need to quit.

Start exercising – If you already engage in the minimum recommended amount of 150 minutes of physical activity per week then bravo - keep it up! If not, why not? Start with 30 minutes of walking three times a week. If you don’t think you have the time – find the time. Take walks on your lunch break or wake up 30 minutes earlier to work-out. If you're a boss, try holding occasional walking meetings to break up the boredom for staffers and invigorate minds and bodies. Regular exercise helps to reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes, decreases stress levels and helps to maintain a healthy weight and better mood.

Eat healthier – Increase your intake of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Reduce the bad fats such as trans and saturated and increase your intake of good fats such as omega 3’s. Limit or eliminate junk and processed foods. If you want to indulge in a treat – just have a taste. Try the “my plate” method to help guide you on portion control. If you’re going to a party, don’t arrive hungry – have a nutritious snack one to two hours before hand so you don’t overeat. A glass of milk or apple  wedges with natural peanut butter can help take the edge off your appetite.

Don’t smoke – Whether you smoke cigarettes, marijuana, cigars, electronic cigarettes – none of them are healthy. They all damage the lungs. And second hand smoke hurts those around you too. If you want info on where to start with how to quit smoking, read here.

Live your dreams – Whatever goals you have such as going back to school, changing jobs, learning a language or taking that special vacation – use the New Year as a motivator to reassess your goals in a positive way and focus on what you want to do with your life.

Heart Healthy Habits are Life Saving Habits

Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in the United States. February is “American Heart Month”.  Take the time to learn about heart healthy habits to also help improve brain and blood vessel health and reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and Type II Diabetes. 

• If you smoke, STOP! Smoking causes a variety of Cancers and COPD. It also damages blood vessels which can lead to high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and kidney disease.
• Exercise at least 30 minutes daily most days of the week. Walking is a great way to start, it’s easy to do and inexpensive. Call your doctor or health care provider before beginning any exercise program.
• Eat a healthy diet that includes lean proteins, fresh organic produce (vegetables and fruits), whole grains and low in saturated fat, salt and sugar. Try to incorporate healthy monounsaturated fats in your diet such as olive oil. Following a Mediterranean diet is generally considered a heart healthy diet.
• Maintain a healthy weight for your height and frame size.
• Monitor your blood pressure. High blood pressure damages blood vessels setting the stage for heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease.
• Alcohol: Consider not drinking alcohol but if you choose to drink, do so only in moderation.  Alcohol can cause heart rhythm disturbances. It also damages the heart, brain and liver and leads to high blood pressure.
• Talk to your doctor about fish oil and low dose aspirin therapy to see if these are right for you.
• If you have existing heart or cardiovascular disease, follow your doctor or nurse practitioner’s orders regarding medication usage, appointment follow ups and all other advice he or she gives you.

*Contact your physician or health care provider for any questions or concerns you may have about your health.

7 Tips to Prevent Super Bowl Sabotage - Don’t Let the Party Blow Your Diet

While is fun to meet with family and friends at Super Bowl parties, it’s easy to completely blow your diet while doing so.  While no one can eat perfectly every day; (remember the 90/10 rule or 80/20…) try to aim for eating properly at least 80 % of the time, 90 % is even better.  Here are seven tips to help you stay on track at any party:

1. Don’t go famished: Eat a healthy snack an hour or two before you go, such as a piece of lean cheese like mozzarella and some whole wheat crackers.
2. Drink plenty of water at the party to help keep you full to prevent overeating and keep you hydrated so you don’t over indulge on alcohol and soda pop.
3. Limit your alcohol intake: Alcohol is loaded with empty (non-nutritious) calories and will impair your judgment which can lead to overeating.
4. Limit your soda intake: Soda is loaded with empty calories too and both diet and regular usually contain unhealthy ingredients.
5. Fill up on fresh veggies such as carrot and celery sticks, zucchini and squash slices and broccoli flowers. You can offer to bring these if they’re not on the menu.
6. Look for hummus, Greek yogurt dips and salsa and opt for these on your plate to dip your veggies in or whole wheat crackers.
7. Don’t load up on high fat foods such as mayo based dips and salads, fried chicken wings and chips.

5 Tips for Staying Slim During the Holidays and After

It’s cold outside and the holidays are here with many temptations to overeat and miss an exercise session (or more) due to all the fun activities and busy schedules we all keep this time of year. Here are five tips on how to stay on track with healthy eating and maintaining your exercise habits.

1. Pay yourself first: No matter what you have scheduled, make sure you get in your work-out. If you usually exercise five days per week, try to maintain that schedule. You keep your energy level high and burn calories at your normal rate.
2. Drink plenty of water before and during parties and dinners. It will help prevent you from overeating. (Add a twist of lemon or lime for a tasty touch).
3. Don’t drink alcohol: Alcohol is loaded with empty calories (meaning it provides absolutely no nutritional benefits) and helps to pack on the pounds really fast for everyone. Remember, don’t drink and drive and don’t let others drink and drive. Call a taxi or have a designated driver who is not drinking alcohol take people home from parties.
4. Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains each day to help keep your blood sugar and energy levels stable.  These foods also have a high nutritional value so are good for your health and help to keep you slim. When you need fat or oil, use omega 3 fats on your foods at the table and when cooking such as olive oil and canola oil. These are heart and brain healthy fats.  
5. Remember to use half the sugar and replace shortening or butter with canola oil when baking. This truly helps to reduce the number of calories on some of your favorite recipes and still tastes good. 

4 Tips to Prevent Summer Snacks from Sabotaging Your Diet

Whether it’s a party in the park or a day at the beach, many people use chips and soda (pop) as a staple for parties and barbecues. But, high fat, high sugar and low fiber junk foods add extra calories quickly and don’t provide any of the good stuff for us such as fiber, vitamins, minerals and various nutrients. Try these tips to stay slim and healthy.

·        Whole wheat organic crackers for snacking (made without hydrogenated oil) and air popped popcorn (drizzled with olive oil or canola oil) – all better options instead of potato and tortilla chips.

·        Whole wheat pasta salad (a great side dish or main dish) dressed with olive oil and wine vinegar and filled with fresh veggies such as chopped olives, onions, celery, cherry or plum tomatoes with chopped mozzarella cheese as your protein – a healthier alternative to a heavy mayonnaise based macaroni salad that has no veggies or protein.

·         Hummus dip made with olive oil, fresh salsa and non fat Greek yogurt based dips for dipping whole wheat crackers and fresh cut up vegetables – all good choices instead of prepared dips that are high in fat, chemicals and preservatives.

·        Sparkling mineral water (without sugar, artificial sweeteners or colors), or plain water with a twist of lemon or lime, a great way to stay hydrated  - instead of soda pop which is high in sugar (or artificial sweeteners), artificial coloring/flavoring, and phosphoric acid, all of which are not healthy.

   

Recharge Your Resolutions

February is nearly over.  Do your New Year’s Resolutions seem like a far off dream, a hazy memory of an agreement you made with yourself a few months ago? It’s not too late to reignite your goals and get back on track. February is the month for Heart Health awareness and a good time to review where you are at, and where you want to go. Also, habits that are good for the heart are good for the rest of the body too.  Here are a few tips to get started.

• Set Realistic Goals for weight loss, exercise and diet:
• Weight Loss – Did you plan to lose 15 pounds in 8 weeks (by the end of February) and you realized you have only lost 2 pounds thus far? Lofty plans can easily get sabotaged and lead us to giving up entirely. Reset your goal for a 4 pound loss in 8 weeks,which is one half (1/2) pound per week. This is much easier to achieve and better reflection of reality.
• Exercise – Did you aim for daily exercise and found it was too much and have now stopped exercising all together?  Reset your goal for exercising to 3 days per week for one month.  Once you have worked that into your schedule and get use to it, you can add a 4^th day per week for the 2^nd month, a 5^th day the 3^rd month etc.; adding another day per month until you reached your goal of 6 or 7 days per week of exercise. 

• Diet – You wanted to eat healthier and know that one of the best ways to do that is packing a healthy lunch for work or school every day containing fresh produce, whole grains and lean proteins.  If daily brown bagging is too much for you, start off with 2 days per week. Just as with the “exercise” plan above, add another day per week each month, until it becomes 2^nd nature for you to plan healthy meals and pack your lunch. You will save money too.

*Contact your doctor before beginning any weight loss, exercise or diet program.

• Medical and Dental Checkups – Have you scheduled your annual physical/preventative care visit with your doctor? How about your next dental cleaning and check up? These are important for everyone; both males and females at every age for health maintenance, to obtain preventative care and also important to catch any problems that may be developing that require testing and, or, treatment.
• Sleep – Are your getting 7 hours of sleep per night? Chronic Sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, depression, hypertension and predispose you to Type II Diabetes. It also decreases your cognitive function during the day. Adults should try to get 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night for optimum health. Infants, children and teenagers need more than that.

For a quick acronym to help keep you on track, see this link: http://carole-jakucs.blogspot.com/2012/01/doing-these-5-things-leads-to-better.html

Make this year the best yet, by reaching the goals you have set for yourself and your health! *Contact your doctor for any questions or concerns you have about your health.

Doing These 5 Things LEADS to Better Health

Here are 5 tips (in an easy to remember acronym) that can help LEAD you to an improved level of health. 

L – Lose Weight if you are overweight or obese.

E – Exercise at least 20 minutes per day most days of the week.

A – Alcohol in moderation (or not at all).

D – Diet: Try to eat lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, go easy on the salt and eliminate fatty junk foods and sugary drinks.  See this article for more info on foods that help maintain and regulate blood pressure at: http://carole-jakucs.blogspot.com/2012/01/foods-that-lower-your-blood-pressure-3.html

S – Stop Smoking (if you currently smoke).

Lead yourself to healthier you by trying to incorporate these steps above into your lifestyle. Contact your doctor before beginning any exercise program, for diet advice and info on smoking cessation. 

New Year’s Eve Party Strategy: 4 Tips to Stick to Your Diet

For most people, New Year’s Resolutions usually include goals pertaining to diet, such as eating healthier foods, reducing alcohol intake, and, or, eating less  food overall to facilitate losing weight. Why wait, start now. Here are 4 tips, beginning with that New Year’s Eve Party or New Year’s Day Dinner you may be attending.

1. Scope out the healthier choices and include them on your plate such as fresh veggies/crudites, green salads and fresh fruits. Be careful regarding high fat/high calorie dips. Use salsa or hummus. They both taste good and are healthier, lower calorie alternatives to sour cream and mayonnaise based dips.
2. Limit your alcohol intake. Alcohol is high in calories.  Drink water or diet sodas as low calorie alternatives to fill you up. *Don't drink and drive and and prevent others from doing so.
3. Prioritize: If you are going to indulge, go with a small portion of something you don’t routinely have.  Pass on the usual high calorie foods that you can eat anytime. This will help prevent you from taking in too many empty calories at the event.
4. Don’t go to the party hungry.  If you do, you will set yourself up to overeat and pig out when you arrive. It is difficult to restrain ourselves when we are starving. It is easier to control ourselves if we are not famished, but  slightly to moderately hungry. *Try to eat a healthy snack approximately one to two hours beforehand, such as; organic peanut butter on whole wheat crackers (look for products that do not contain hydrogenated oil), string cheese (part skim) and a piece of fruit, or some Greek yogurt with a piece of fruit.

Happy New Year! 

Stressed from the holidays? Four tips to help reduce it.

Most people are in full swing with the hustle and bustle of holiday planning (including me). It’s easy to get caught up with so many tasks and go into mental and physical overload with too much to do in too little time.  When we put too much pressure on ourselves with endless lists, we may lose sight of the true meaning of the holiday. We can easily set ourselves up for increased fatigued, illness and changes to our mood feeling stressed, depressed and angry, to name a few. Try these tips to help regain control of your life regardless of which holiday you are planning for and celebrating.

1. Streamline your “to do” list.  Do you really need to bake 8 different kinds of Christmas cookies? Cut it down to only 2 kinds. How about greeting cards? Go for e cards to family and friends that have email and save the hard copy cards for those that live far away or older relatives and friends that don’t have email.
2. Don’t cut back on your sleep to squeeze in more tasks. If your normally get 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night, try to maintain it so you don’t get run down, which can reduce your immunity, making you more susceptible to infections (colds and flu). Long term sleep deprivation has been linked to the development of Type II Diabetes, Obesity and High Blood Pressure.
3. Stick to your regular diet. Try to maintain your regular meal times. Spending hours shopping can distract us making it easy to skip meals.  Skipping meals sets us up for overeating when we do eat.  Also, think twice before indulging in high fat foods at parties and gatherings.  There may be 6 different desserts in front of you; pick 1 that really want to enjoy and have a small portion of it. Remember that alcohol is high in calories. It’s very easy to gain 5 pounds or more over the holidays in 1 or 2 weeks, however, it takes a lot longer and hard work to get it off. Try to keep that in the back of your mind to help prevent you from overeating.
4. Maintain your regular exercise routine. Daily exercise helps us control our weight (along with a healthy diet), helps our cardiovascular and immune systems work better, and helps to improve our mood. Stick to your work-out schedule.  “Pay yourself first”; we can only take care of others and accomplish a lot, if we are in good shape ourselves.

5 Tips for a Fall Fitness Plan – Keep it Simple

Labor Day has passed and fall is almost here.  For most people lives become busier this season with increased work-loads and resumed school schedules. This is the best time to re-evaluate your health and fitness goals and fine tune your plan so you stay on track. Here are some tips to do just that:

1.      Eat less - Try not to overburden yourself with elaborate diets that you may not stick with.  Just get started; eat smaller portions, eliminate junk food, switch to whole wheat bread, increase your vegetable and fruit intake. Eliminate fatty meats and go for lean proteins.

2.       Exercise More/Start moving – Increase your energy expenditure by exercising more.  Do what works for you, whether that is walking every day; or switching it up with one or two exercise classes in addition to walking, either on your own or with a friend; keep it interesting so you stay engaged and invested in exercising. *Remember to contact your health care provider before beginning any exercise program.

3.      Get your sleep - Research shows that getting less than 6 hours sleep per night increases our appetites and fatigue levels.  Try to get between 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night to help keep your appetite in check and to have enough energy to exercise on most days of the week.

4.       Weigh yourself daily – Daily weigh-ins can help you stay on track better with weight loss goals.  If you gain, you can catch it early on and be better equipped to trace what caused your weight gain, then, change your behavior(s).  If you weigh in only weekly it’s more difficult to trace the behaviors that caused your weight gain.  Also, it is easier to lose 1 or 2 lbs than a 5 lb gain that may have occurred in a one week time period.

5.       Create Concrete and Realistic Goals – Be specific.  Write it down on a card and keep it visible and read it at least once each day.  Examples: “I will lose 10 pounds and weigh 135 lbs by November 1^st, 2011”; or, “I will take a 30 minute walk 5 days each week”.

Barbecue Temptations - 3 tips to prevent over-eating at parties

It’s easy to get caught up in over indulging at gatherings.  It can be done, however, with a little planning and willpower.  

1.       Have a solid protein based snack with a healthy (complex) carbohydrate about 1-2 hours before you hit the party.  Here are some good ones to choose from:  String cheese (made with skim/non-fat milk) along with 3-4 whole wheat organic crackers, plain non-fat organic Greek yogurt with some fresh organic berries, Carole’s fruit-walnut snack (with a small organic apple or pear chopped and mixed in-, see my previous posting for the recipe).  By doing this, you won’t be famished when you get to the party which will empower you to control what you eat and enable you to choose your food wisely when you do.  When we're hungry, we tend to overeat and reduce our ability to control ourselves; we consume too much, too fast and with a tendency to choose high calorie/high fat foods to fill ourselves up quickly.  

2.       Limit your alcohol intake as alcohol quickly adds calories.  (Please don’t drink and drive any type of vehicle.) Try to stay hydrated with filtered tap water or unsweetened mineral water so that if, and when you do take a drink, you won’t be inclined to gulp it down fast and you will consume less.

3.      Choose your foods wisely. If you can’t resist that home-made potato salad, then don’t eat the dinner roll (have one, but not both). If you want that gooey brownie for dessert, then have it in lieu of more macaroni salad or a 2^nd glass of wine.  Watch the chips and dips; chips are high in fat and carbs and most dips are sour cream based which are high in fat and calories.  Limit your carbohydrates to help control your weight.

Have fun with your family and friends and enjoy the party, while staying on track with healthier eating.

Here's a nutritious and delicious snack (or light lunch)

Carole's Walnut/Yogurt/Fruit Snack

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of walnuts, chopped
1 small organic apple, chopped
1 cup of nonfat plain Greek Yogurt or nonfat plain kefir

Directions:
Place the chopped walnuts and apple in a small bowl; mix in nonfat Greek yogurt or pour kefir into the bowl.

• This snack packs a powerful nutritious punch; Omega 3's from the walnuts, fiber and other nutrients from the apple and protein, calcium and probiotics from both Greek yogurt or kefir.  It also tastes great!  Try this dish with your favorite type of apple or pear. Berries work well too.
• Using Greek yogurt will boost the amount of protein you will be getting and provide a thicker consistency to the final dish. Total calories, approximately 300 - 350 (depending on the size of the fruit and brand of the kefir or Greek yogurt you use).
• Use "plain" Greek yogurt or kefir, so only the naturally occurring milk sugars will be present, instead of  "flavored" kefir or yogurt which has added sugar (and added calories).

Maintaining a healthy weight

If you have a craving for goodies and just cannot resist, such as a piece of cake, cookies or ice cream; "just have a taste".  If you are at a birthday party, instead of a whole piece of cake, cut it in fourths and just have 1/4 of a piece.  If you have a nightly dish of ice cream, cut back to one night a week. Limit your intake of sweets if you want to stave off pounds.