Diet Books...They are Everywhere!

On a recent trip to Ireland I was browsing in a gift shop when my friend and fellow dietitian said, "check out the diet book section." Sure enough, just like in the U.S., diet books are big sellers. A quote attributed to Andy Ronney is one of my favorites, "The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books--how not to eat what you've just learned to cook."

All diet books are basically the same--low calorie meals, encouragement to be physically active, and some secret gimmick that all authors throw in to make you think that their diet is superior to all of the others.

Losing weight isn't that hard--it is the keeping it off that is the real challenge. Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating says we make about 250 food decisions a day. Most of those decisions have little to do with hunger. We eat because we are with others who are eating, we eat for recreation, we eat because we smell freshly baked cookies in the mall, and we eat because it tastes good. By trying to cue into why we eat and pay more attention to hunger and portion control we may have a fighting chance against weight gain, or as I like to call it, weight creep. Face it, no one gains 20 pounds overnight but we do gain a few pounds a year as we age and that can end up as an extra 20 pounds over the years.

Evelyn Tribole, author of Intuitive Eating suggests we make peace with food and honor health. Don't label foods as good or bad, think about food in terms of health and nourishment. A handful of almonds and a orange for an afternoon snack provides more nourishment than vending machine candy bar--and the almonds and orange taste pretty good, too.

Another strategy is to stop multitasking when eating--don't text and drive? Well, don't eat and drive. Distracted dining is a sure fire way to increase calories without enjoying food.

Lastly, we all know weekends are "special." Dawn Jackson Blatner, Chicago-based spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association told me about a 2003 Obesity Research study that showed that we eat 115 more calories each day Friday through Sunday...that is an extra 350 calories each weekend that can result in a 5 pound weight gain a year. So, watch those weekends and don't go on the Monday diet....that is, don't eat whatever is in sight all week and they say, "I'll start my diet on Monday." Brian Wansink says the "best diet is the one you don't know you're on." Couldn't agree more!

Cancer Survivors and Lifestyle Changes

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and I just reached survivor status this month by being cancer-free for 5 years. The American Cancer Society estimates that there are 11 million cancer survivors and by the year 2020 there will be 20 million of us.

Every cancer survivor celebrates beating cancer but also worries about it coming back. The good news is that simple lifestyle changes can stack the odds in your favor. Try these 5 things to help fight your cancer from coming back.

1) Be active every day. Exercise can help control your weight and excess weight increases levels of estrogen and insulin--two hormones that fuel cancer cells. Exercise also fights other chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis.

2) Eat and least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day. It is easier than it sounds because a small glass of juice, blueberries on your breakfast cereals, a veggie-packed salad at lunch, and an apple gives you the 5 servings needed for good health. One on my favorite quick dinner meals is a saute of veggies (green and red peppers, broccoli, asparagus, and onions) with olive oil and tossed with spaghetti noodles and sprinkled with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Yummy and a 2 to 3 serving of vegetables meal.

3) Decrease or eliminate processed meats--no more bologna (I grew up on bologna and fried bologna sandwiches were a staple in my family), bacon, sausage or processed luncheon meats.

4) Get more the of the sunshine vitamin--vitamin D. This nutrient is showing promise as a cancer fighting vitamin. Ask your doctor to check your vitamin D level to get a baseline before you start supplementing with vitamin D pills. But eat vitamin-D rich foods every day such as fatty fish and dairy foods fortified with vitamin D. Yogurt is a popular dairy food for its calcium and protein but did you know that not all yogurt has vitamin D? Turn the carton over and look for vitamin D and don't be surprised if you find zero vitamin D in your yogurt. The exception? Yoplait yogurt has 20% of the daily value of vitamin D in a serving so kudos to Yoplait. And, Yoplait also is a big supporter of breast cancer research--their save the lids campaign benefits Susan G. Koman for the Cure and so far they raised over $1.6 million from this year's campaign. So dig your spoon into that!