Losing Weight to Improve Your #Fertility: How to Start Developing Healthy Habits Today

You have been trying to get pregnant and now you’ve been told you need to lose weight.  Losing weight can be difficult under any circumstances, but the added pressure of losing weight to improve the likelihood of becoming pregnant can make the task seem even more challenging.  Fortunately, losing as little as 10% of your body weight can make a dramatic impact on your fertility.

How can you enhance your overall health and improve your likelihood of becoming pregnant?

Shift your focus

While your doctor may advise you that weight loss is important to improve your chance of pregnancy, it’s not the sole reason to make a change.  With pregnancy and children come additional responsibilities so why not take ownership of those responsibilities now? Shift your focus from losing weight to something more like “nutritional self-nesting.”  Use this as an opportunity to phase-in the changes you would make during pregnancy anyway. You can develop the healthful habits you want to model for your family in the future and, as a result, position your body to be more receptive to fertility treatment.  Following are just a few ways to get started.

Eat your vegetables

Most of us are not getting the 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables our bodies need to maximize our health.  Fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants to help repair the daily wear and tear life puts on our bodies.  They also are loaded with fiber to help you feel full and stay regular.

Fruits and vegetables help you stay hydrated and deliver essential vitamins and minerals your body needs to function.  Look for ways to increase your fruit and vegetable intake by filling up half your plate with these nutrient-packed foods.  You can add fruits or vegetables to just about everything –-eggs, pasta, smoothies, yogurt, pizza –- to meet your daily needs.  Making this change will help you feel full longer and crowd out room on your plate for less nutrient-dense food choices, which will reduce your overall calorie intake.

If You Drink, cut out (or at least cut back) the Alcohol

You probably have no intention of drinking once you get pregnant or start nursing, but if you sometimes consume alcohol now, why not cut down or cut out alcohol to prepare your body for pregnancy?  Alcoholic drinks are heavy hitters when it comes to calories, but do not provide any nutritional gain in return.  Depending on the number, size and sugar content, alcoholic drinks can easily derail your weight loss goals even if you only imbibe on the weekends.  Additionally, you are more likely to make unhealthy food choices while under the influence.  Yes, there can be cardiovascular gains to a glass of red wine here and there if you already drink, but recommendations for women are still limited to no more than one serving of alcohol a day.

Model behaviors you can be proud to hand down

My daughter is only one year old and is already deep into her mimicking phase.  She repeats gestures and sounds and even prefers to eat what we are eating.  The “pre-conception” phase is a good time to begin habits that you will want your child to mimic.

Take inventory of some of the behaviors that you intend to change with pregnancy or post-partum.  If you have promised yourself to stop smoking, cut out caffeine or start exercising because you know it will be good for your baby, start now.  These are not small undertakings and it would be better not to go “cold turkey” when you get that wonderful positive pregnancy test.  Working on these changes now gives you more time to solidify these healthful habits and get your body ready for pregnancy.  Best of all, you will already be modeling healthy behaviors when that little one makes his or her appearance.

My philosophy is that improving nutrition and exercise is akin to the fabled race between the tortoise and the hare. ”Slow and steady” lifestyle changes are going to help you cross that finish line to a healthy life.   If you take the “quick-fix” hare approach (read: “fad diets”), you may see initial results, but they are typically not sustainable and do not lead to winning the long-term weight loss race.

You certainly do not have to make these improvements all at once, but taking them on in the near-term will not just mean putting your body in the right condition for fertility, but starting lasting, healthful behaviors that will support a healthy pregnancy and help you raise a healthy family.  Of course, you do not have to develop a plan alone.  Seek the help of a Registered Dietitian to help you set realistic and attainable goals for pre-conception and beyond.

See more at: http://www.givf.com/specialfeatures/enewsjuly2013.shtml#art2

Advertisement

Eat Your Way, Every Day…the Tex-Mex Way for National Nutrition Month

Happy National Nutrition Month (NNM)!  I wanted to kick of my blogs this month by discussing something near and dear to my heart, how to eat healthy as a Mexican-American – which I am.  Growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas I had access to flavorful food that evolved from the mingling of Mexican dishes given a Texas-flare and simply called “Tex-Mex”.  The spices are plentiful, the meat is abundant, and the portions are well, Texas-sized.  So when I moved to Northern Virginia and started to reevaluate my eating habits, I realized I needed to revamp how I ate as a Mexican-American if I wanted to stay healthy.  Here are a few dos and don’ts that I adopted to help me enjoy the flavors of my heritage while keeping my waistline and health status in check:

• DO fill half your plate with the wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that are native to Texas and Mexico including tomatoes, tomatillos, lettuce, onion, bell peppers, chili peppers, squash, cactus, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, corn, jicama, avocados, bananas, strawberries, melon, oranges, mangos and papaya.
• DO watch your portion-sizes.  Everything is bigger in Texas.  So much so, you hardly notice how big your plates and portions are while dining out.  MyPlate is a great way to keep these things in check.  First it helps you limit protein and grains each to 1/4 of your plate, leaving you room to pile on your fruits and veggies on the other half. Most people just need 3-4 ounces of protein (about the size of your palm).  This includes beef, chicken, pork, fish, beans and eggs.  It helps to think of the protein as more of a “supporting actor” and not the star of the show. Finally, consider leaner protein options including poultry, fish and beans.
• DO opt for healthier fats and cooking methods while cooking.  I’m not going to lie, I grew up on food cooked with lard and bacon grease.  Today, I typically cook with olive and canola oil which have higher amounts of poly- and monounsaturated hearty-healthy fats (liquid at room temperature) versus the artery-clogging saturated fats found in lard and animal fats (typically solid at room temperature).  I also bake things like tortillas for chips and chalupas instead of frying.  I sauté chicken, fish and vegetables with a little oil which absorbs much less fat versus deep-frying.
• DO take advantage of the zest, spice and flavors of Tex-Mex cooking by a using lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili pepper, cilantro and onion in your cooking.
• DO cut out the sugar-sweetened beverages.  While not Tex-Mex specific, their use is certainly rampant in my home town and the size of these beverages is astonishing.  Almost every fast-food chain and restaurant lets you treat yourself  to unlimited beverages.  What I did not realized until after college is how that was affecting my blood sugar, mood and frankly ,waistline.  A Big Gulp – and that is the small one these days – has 350-400 calories and 90-100 g of sugar depending on how much ice you take. I would rather eat my calories and make them nutrient-dense.
• DON’T overdo the carbohydrates.  Only a 1/4 of your plate should be grains and mostly whole grains at that.  For most people this means one slice of bread, 1/2 cup of cooked rice, 1 small (6 inch) flour or corn tortilla OR 1/2 cup of cooked pasta.  As Mexican-Americans, we tend to overdo this area of our plate.  We have to choose between the rice and the tortilla and limit ourselves to one, not the typical two to three tacos that come with most meals.
• DON’T overdo the dining out.  In Texas, it takes a lot of discipline to maintain a healthy MyPlate while eating out.  You should probably only eat 1/2 to 1/3 of what your are served at some Texas restaurants to keep proper portions (take the rest home for tomorrow’s lunch).  Also, you don’t know how the food is prepared so it’s likely to be full of unhealthy fats and salt that you can better control when cooking at home.
• DON’T derail your healthy plate with calorie-dense condiments like full-fat sour cream, salad dressing, mayonnaise and/or shredded or melted cheese.

Here are some healthy Mexican-American MyPlate dishes and recipes you can try:

• Taco salad – Baked flour tortilla bowl filled with beans or lean ground meat and topped with shredded spinach, tomato and avocado
• Turkey chili – Lean ground turkey, with beans, corn, bell peppers, onions and a small cornbread muffin
• Chicken fajita or grilled fish tacos – Flour or corn tortilla filled with grilled chicken or fish, jicama, bell pepper and pineapple salsa
• Beef carnita tacos
• Baked bean or chicken chalupas – Baked corn tortilla, beans or chicken, shredded spinach, tomato and mango salsa
• Breakfast burrito – Tortilla, egg, beans, salsa and grapefruit slices on the side
• Cilantro-lime chicken with avocado salsa
• Southwestern vegetable and chicken soup
• Chiles rellenos with chicken
• Chicken with quick mole sauce
• Mexican polenta pie
• Two-bean enchilada casserole

Look for additional inspiration by browsing MyPlate Recipes on Pintrest.

I got a bit of a hankering after writing this post that I had baked taco salad with grilled chicken for dinner last night 

I hope this first NNM post helps other Tex-Mex lovers see that they don’t have to sacrifice their favorite flavors when eating healthy.  With a few modification and tweaks you can still Eat Your Way, Every Day, the Tex-Mex Way!  Let me know any healthy twists you have made on your Tex-Mex favorites!

My #KISS #Nutrition Message: Cook at home, balance your plate, getting moving and be the change.

When you are in the throws of studying nutrition and surrounding yourself with others who are nutritionally minded, it’s possible to forget who really needs our message – and how complicated those messages can be.  I was in the chair of my favorite stylist last week who is a working mom with two lovely children and is just trying to make the right food choices for her family.  Her previous client was telling her she needed to buy organic foods for her family (most likely with the implied “if you want to be a good mother”).  Health messages are confusing and with limited time (and money), it made me really think about what are the key nutrition messages I want to be sharing to help focus the conversation and eliminate the noise.  In the business world, we call it the elevator pitch.  If you only have a few minutes riding up the elevator (or chatting at a party) with a person, what would your message be?  The other business mantra that kept swirling in my head was “Keep it Simple, Stupid” or KISS which speaks to the clarity and focus of the message.  I want to have clear, succinct, actionable messages that my friends, family and soon-to-be clients can understand and act on to make healthy changes in their lives.

It made me ponder what my elevator pitch should be.  I do buy many organic/grass-fed/cage-free/farmer’s market items, but I that isn’t where I would start given what I know of my friends, family and the public in general.

So this is what is important to me:

Cook at home

I don’t think we are cooking at home as much as we should.  Don’t get me wrong, in my family, we go out to eat and even order take-out a few times a week, but it is still a special occasion.  A recent study shows children are eating more and those calories are being eaten away from home.  Cooking at home let’s you control what you put in your meals.  You are bound to use less salt and sugar as a result.  It’s reconnects you with your food.  It helps you take pride in serving your family something you made with love.  It is the first step in sitting down and having a meal with your family which is a critical component of family communications and keeping childhood obesity at bay.  I usually look up Cooking Light recipes from MyRecipes.com if I need to shake things up a little. Strive to try one new recipe, order takeout one less day a week or sit down as a family one more night than you usually do.

Build a balanced plate

The conversion of MyPyramid to MyPlate provides us with a valuable visual tool to help spread the message of “eat more fruits, vegetables and whole-grains.” The MyPlate approach is perfect KISS message.  When you meal plan, it helps you think about how to balance your plate across all categories.  It makes you think twice about steaming some veggies or tossing a salad to add to that turkey burger or chicken and pasta your were going to serve alone.  It helps with portion control as well.  We are talking about a 9-inch plate, so there is only some much that can be piled on there.  Also if 3/4 of the plate is filled with fruits, vegetables and whole-grains then there is only so much room for protein.  Hopefully, it also reminds us to swap out soda for serving of low-fat dairy.  If you start with a balanced plate, it really does crowd out the other stuff that is less nutritious.

Get moving and step it up

And by that I mean exercise.  I don’t think it is possible to live a healthy life without exercise.  You need to “step up” what ever you are doing now by getting off the couch, taking the stairs, adding 10 minutes to your walk/run or going to the gym one more day a week. You can’t do it by diet alone. There are so many wonderful benefits to exercise, I argue you wouldn’t want to do it by diet alone.  It’s going to boost your metabolism, help you sleep,  give you more energy and yes, you might even lose some weight while you are at it. You don’t have to join a gym – though not a bad option if you can afford it.  Walking or running is a great way to start.  Buy a video if you need to build your confidence at the beginning. The important thing is that you keep moving.

Finally, take charge and make a change

You need to be an active participant in living a healthy lifestyle.  No one else can do it for you! Don’t be passive and let the fast food marketers and food package designers tell you want to buy.  You will need to work to make it happen.  This can be something small such as visiting your local farmer’s market, trying Meatless Mondays, packing your lunch or reading the nutrition label on the snack bar you have every day.  It can be more more involved like looking up nutritional information on restaurant websites before you go, tracking your calories or packing snacks when you travel.  Before you know it you’ll be wanting more.  You might educate yourself by reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food or watching Food Inc.  Maybe you’ll wanted to plant herbs or a small garden.  Everyone has their own evolution, but it starts with you  making one small change and then another.

It makes me think of the Mahatma Gandhi quote:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” …and I would add “in yourself”

I’m sure every dietitian (or to-be dietitian) has their own elevator pitch depending on their experiences, but here is mine –

Cook at home, balance your plate, getting moving and be the change. 

Hopefully that is KISS enough for you 🙂

Keep It Simple Clipart from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/92501682@N00/5067471752/

I’m having an Eat2Win day :-)

So I didn’t think I’d have time to blog today, but I was having such an Eat2Win day, that I wanted to shout it out!

7:15 AM Woke up.  Finally caught up my sleep from my hectic weekend.  It’s so important to get enough sleep for your body to repair itself and ensure that your hunger hormones don’t get out of whack.

8:00 AM Broke my fast with a banana and coffee.  I call it my AM snack.

10:00 AM Breakfast – Smear of natural crunchy peanut butter and apple butter on whole wheat toast with skim milk.  Healthy fats and carbs to fill you up plus some fat-free dairy.  Good pre-workout meal.

12:00 PM Spinning interval workout (65 mins). I didn’t intend to go that long so I have to thank my Tivo and Oprah re-runs.  My workout is my ME time and I get to catch up on what I call ME TV.  This could mean Oprah, Ellen, American Idol, Top Chef, Friday Night Lights  (read:  all the TV shows my husband won’t watch with me).  Today it was Oprah re-runs.  I did 6 interval of 7 mins moderate intensity and 3 mins out of my seat high intensity with a 5min  cool down.  We were in perfect sync.  I fast forwarded through commercials during my moderate intensity segments and always made it through my high intensity minutes without hitting a commercial.  Just when I thought I was done, Oprah brought out Bon Jovi and I had go another interval and sing a little It’s My Life from the Australia episode.

It also could have been the shot of OJ I put in my water bottle.  You need fuel if you are going to extend your workout.  I also use G2 which is low cal and has some sodium and potassium to replenish your electrolytes.  Most important is that your are drinking before, during and after your workout.

1:15 PM Recovery Lunch – Morning Star spicy bean burger, whole-wheat tortilla, 1 slice reduced-fat pepper jack cheese, cilantro from the garden, 1 pack 100-calorie Wholly Guacamole, spinach, tomato, 6 multigrain Tostitos with a glass of skim milk.  I smear about 1/2 of the guacamole over the bean burger and enjoy a few chips with the other half.  It’s about a 500 calorie lunch with a mix of carbohydrates, healthy fats and protein which is going to stimulate muscle recovery and replenish my glycogen stores.

4:30 PM Wrote this blog and had a PM snack – Chobani Nonfat Greek Yogurt.  Yummy and great source of protein.

Key takeaways from today:

• Don’t skip breakfast! You need it to wake your metabolism up and kick it into high gear.  You are not doing yourself any favors by starving yourself until lunch.
• You need to fuel to win.  If you don’t eat, you won’t workout as long and hard and you want to.
• Eat after you workout to help your body recover with a mix of carbohydrate and protein
• Drink plenty of fluids
• Have a snack.  It will help sustain you and ensure that you aren’t ravenous come meal time
• Sleep does a body good (not to mention milk)
• Do something fun when you exercise…get outdoors, dance, walk with a friend…or watch your ME TV!

I hope you had a great day as well.  If not, there is always tomorrow.

Now off to figure out dinner!