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Summertime — and the living is easy. But getting your kids to stay on a nutritious diet is a different issue completely.

“During the school year, kids are seeing those fruits and vegetables,” said Kristi Murphy, a dietitian and supervisor of the Child Nutrition Department with the Abilene Independent School District. “It’s important for kids to continue eating fruits and vegetables during the summer.”

Late hours and easier access to junk food can derail parents’ efforts to keep their child on healthy eating habits, but Murphy said involving children in the selection of fruits and vegetables could help them eat healthier during the summer.

“One thing you can do is take your child with you to the grocery store and let them help select the fruits and vegetables,” she said. “You can get them to try new things.”

Murphy said people might be surprised at what children may be willing to try and might eat after they eat it a few times.

“When we first started serving sugar snap peas, some of the kids asked, ‘What are these?’ ” she said. “Now they take them. the same with kiwi fruit and whole pears. a lot of the kids weren’t used to seeing whole fruit. a lot of people have the perception that kids don’t want to try anything new, but a lot of times they want to try new foods.”

Murphy said a good way to serve fruits and vegetables is in smoothies. Fruit can cover the taste of some of the vegetables without getting rid of any of the nutrients, she said.

“You can add spinach to a smoothie and the kids will think it’s kind of cool,” Murphy said. “It makes it a Green Monster.”

It was just as important to avoid excessive amounts of some foods, such as fried food and fast food, which may be more accessible in the summer than during the school year, she added.

Murphy said it is important to keep juice, water and low-fat milk on hand for kids rather than sugary drinks. However, she is not among the critics of flavored milks.

“I know there are some people who don’t like the flavored milks because of the sugar, but I think the nutritious benefits of them outweigh the sugar,” she said.

AISD is sponsoring a summer program that provides breakfasts and lunches at 15 locations throughout the city from June 4 to Aug. 10. the meals are available to any child 18 and younger at no cost. However, even if a family doesn’t take advantage of the service, the menus can provide parents with some good ideas about feeding their kids during the summer.

For instance, an easy summer breakfast is peanut butter and jelly between graham crackers and served with milk or juice. String cheese and milk can be a good snack as well as a healthy alternative to chips.

In addition to keeping the kids on a healthy diet, Murphy also recommended physical activity.

“It doesn’t have to be structured exercise,” she said. “Just playing is good. Get them away from the video games and out of the house for a while. Eating and exercise go hand in hand.”

Help your stressed out student by finding balance and time to relax. (Shutterstock)

Exam stress is boiling over. Students are feeling the heat in the high-octane academic pressure cooker.

“like deer in the headlights, they are often immobilized by all the stress,” says expert Eli Bay, of the Relaxation Response Institute in Toronto.

It’s an annual ritual that causes panic and anxiety for students, and parents too. In our society, exams are a mark of success.

“A student with high marks is simply better than the rest. even if a child has raised her ability significantly throughout the year and has worked hard, for too many children and parents the mark is the only thing that counts,” says Kathy Lynn, a parenting expert from B.C.

“Competition for marks is stronger than ever, so high school students are under tremendous pressure to not only pass but to excel. the reality is that many of them can’t,” adds Lynn, of Parentingtoday.ca.

The stress experienced by today’s high school students is unprecedented, says Bay, of Elibay.com. “Advanced education beyond high school is now required for those who are not capable or interested in post-secondary education, and for those wanting to get into good schools or programs, the standards are very high and one bad grade can cause significant grief.”

Even middle school kids are worried about high school performance and university entrance.

Stoking the stress: “Future prospects are uncertain; youth unemployment rates are high; students are fearful about experimenting within an expensive post-secondary option,” adds Carmela Giardini, program coordinator for guidance, cooperative education and Student Success at Toronto Catholic District School Board.

According to Bay, high levels of stress and its manifestations impair concentration and memory and work against one’s best performance.

Experts agree that being chained to networking devices 24/7 further feeds the monster.

Introduce the fourth R to the curriculum — relaxation. In this super rushed society, “it doesn’t serve anyone any good to always be striving and never arriving,” says Michael Eisen, founder of Youthwellnessnetwork.ca.

Pressure to conform to the norms and unhealthy expectations produces a toxic learning environment. on top of that, “they are never even given tools to manage the insane workload that is being put on them at such a young age.”

Adds Eisen: “I find it very disturbing when I hear an 11 or 12 year old talk about how worried they are because they don’t know what they want to do with their life.”

He says we need to quash societal norms and relentless expectations and “allow each student to define and determine success for themselves … and teach them that success does not create happiness, but rather happiness creates success.”

Eisen, 26, admits he was ruled by expectations for many years and, instead of experiencing success and happiness, he experienced depression, sickness and anxiety.

Now he runs Youth Wellness Network, which is based in Toronto and implements wellness programs in schools across North America to boost well being. A healthy body and a healthy mind equal exam success – and overall success.

Stress expert Eli Bay of the Relaxation Response Institute works with organizations across Canada. “Learning ways to control our personal reactions to the stresses of life is a 21st century life skill that belongs in the school curriculum,” says Bay. he offers a new free program called Stress Lessons, from the Psychology Foundation of Canada, that teaches stress management to 10 to 12 year olds in Canadian schools.

“It’s about balance,” says Toronto social worker Jeanne Middleton, who along with guidance counsellor Michelle de Braux have initiated Stress Buster workshops at North Toronto Collegiate.

Hosted prior to exams, workshops include yoga, sound therapy and guided meditation, and arm kids with coping strategies to handle the stress before it escalates into distress and anxiety.

Meanwhile, exam stress can be particularly challenging but it is not necessarily all bad, stresses Giardini. “Some of the adrenalin production actually helps to raise performance.”

But managing stress is key. she adds that building resiliency and skills that help students adapt and cope is actually a better approach than eliminating stress altogether.

Defuse stress with tips from relaxation expert Eli Bay:

— Stay positive and don’t catastrophize. Affirm positive thoughts to replace negative ones. Visualize success.

— Take regular short breaks from studying. go for a walk. Exercise. Listen to music.

— Eat well. Forego the pop and pizza for veggies and fruit.

— Breathe to relax and clear the mind. Breathe in through your nose slowly and deeply into the tummy and fill the lungs from bottom to top; then exhale slowly for five, 10 or more minutes. Do this when feeling drowsy, overloaded, agitated or when trying to fall asleep.

— Do a deep relaxation for at least 20-30 minutes a day during exams; see Elibay.com for a free 25-minute deep relaxation breathing exercise.

Beginning your with a nutritious well balanced diet is the best thing you do for yourself and your baby. This way, you’ll only need to manufacture a few adjustments during the pregnancy.

If you find it tough to take care of a balanced diet within your first trimester, you can rest assured that your particular not alone. Due to queasiness, some women will eat every single time and gain a lot of weight along the way. other women have problems getting food down and subsequently shed weight.

Preventing malnutrition and dehydration are your most important factors during first trimester.

When you are expecting, you need to eat around 300 calories over usual every day. The best way to travel about doing this is enjoying your body when you find yourself hungry. you should try to eat as many foods as you can from the bottom from the food pyramid.

If you gain excess weight too slow, try eating small food and slightly increase the fat in what you eat. you should always eat when you are hungry, as you are now eating for just two instead of one.

Fiber can help to counteract constipation, which is a common pregnancy problem. you can find fiber in whole grains, fruits, and even vegetables. Fiber supplements such while Metamucil and Citrucel are safe to take during pregnancy.

Unless you happen becoming a strict vegetarian, your protein intake isn’t normally a problem for girls who eat a healthy diet.

A lot of women begins their pregnancy off with a certain amount of iron deficiency. good sources of flat iron include dark leafy green vegetables and meats. Iron supplements should always be avoided, as they can cause internal symptoms such as cramping, constipation, or diarrhea.

Seeing as how you get many the vitamins you need in your diet, you may want to discuss prenatal vitamins with your doctor. Folate is one of the very important, and if you increasingly becoming enough of it, you may be competent to avoid vitamins all together – just ask your doctor to make sure.

Basically, your approach shot is the shot onto the natural. one of the things I love to say is this, “you know your game is improving when you start fixing more ball marks about the green”. To fix a ball mark within the green most likely shows that you hit it in your approach, which is a positive thing.

Here are a few tips to bear in mind, and then we’ll are able to the heart of this post.

Aim for the middle on the green, not the flag. Pin placements and greens increasingly becoming tougher to stick at all times. Don’t be a “sucker” and choose a pin that you’ll more than likely miss, which will leave you within a bunker or some other position to add strokes to your rounded.Focus on alignment, not distance. That leads us into the main perhaps the article.as you know, it’s not an easy task to find out the approach shot, but there are some methods you can drastically improve accuracy of the picture. Alignment is the key to improving your tactic shots. most golfers don’t practice their alignment an excessive amount of on the practice variety, but they should.

OTTAWA, Ill., June 5, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ – Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating (SSHE), the premier meal replacement company in the country, kicks off its DuPage County weight loss contest called Seattle Sutton’s 2012 Slim Down.  for 15 weeks, 10 chosen contestants will compete for prizes and improve their health by making a positive lifestyle change.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090714/CG46329LOGO)

Seattle Sutton’s 2012 Slim Down contest is the first of its kind for this area, having had its first successful weight loss contest for the Chicago area in 2010, when 10 contestants lost a total of 372 pounds in 14 weeks. And recently concluding a contest for LaSalle County residents, where 9 contestants lost a total of 510.5 pounds in 15 weeks.

“I’m happy to help these 10 people change their lives for good through providing our freshly prepared meals for the contest. Healthy eating is essential in overall good health and good health is the most important asset one has in life, without it, nothing else matters,” said Seattle Sutton, RN, BSN, Founder and President of Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating.

“Taking on a weight loss challenge like this in the public is very courageous. I give the contestants a great deal of respect for doing so. I know habits can be difficult to break, but they are breakable and health can be re-gained through healthy eating. I’ve seen it time and again as a registered nurse and through helping people with our freshly prepared meals the last 26 years,” Sutton said.

Sutton continued, “I want each and every one of our 10 contestants to succeed and live a healthier life for them and their families.”

The local, family owned company based in Ottawa, Ill., is headed by 80-year old Seattle Sutton, who founded the company in hopes of helping to improve people’s eating habits and overall health by providing the healthiest meals possible. The company has never veered off the mission Sutton created since it began in 1985. Since the company’s inception, the company has prepared and provided clients coast-to-coast with more than 80 million meals to date.

The contest is a 15-week weight loss challenge beginning June 4, 2012 through September 17, 2012 and will provide the chosen contestants with the 1,200-calorie SSHE meal plan. Meals included in the contest are every breakfast, lunch and dinner for the contestants (21 meals per week), a total of 315 meals in all, for the entire contest. Contestants are to add 2 glasses of fat-free (skim) milk each day and a minimum of eight glasses of water per day.

The contestant who loses the most weight based on percentage of body weight will be heading to Riu Palace Riviera Maya, Mexico with a guest. second place prize will win $1,000 cash from Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating. third place prize will win a year adult membership to the Kroehler Family YMCA of Metro Chicago.

Contestants will also have blood work completed, once at the beginning of the contest and once at the end, to measure cholesterol (including LDL, HDL, triglycerides and total cholesterol), fasting blood sugar and AlC, as well as their blood pressure taken. this is a free service provided by ACL Laboratories, as part of the contest. Contestants will be weighed each week at their DuPage County distributor location when they pick up their SSHE meals.

The 10 Seattle Sutton’s 2012 Slim Down contestants competing for improved health and great prizes are:

John Batke, 53 of Wheaton Steve Cerka, 51 of Elmhurst Julie Detwiler, 34 of Roselle Michelle Enz, 36 of Glendale Heights Kathy Madura, 56 of Bensonville Judy Meyers, 50 of Darien Sandy Richards, 54 of Downers Grove Debbie Rovtar, 58 of West Chicago Chitashia Smith, 34 of Glendale Heights Stephanie Tarrant, 34 of Naperville

The 10 contestants were chosen from entries accepted from April 25, 2012 through may 9, 2012 from web and mail entries. To learn more about the contest visit seattlesutton.com and read the official rules.

The contest is sponsored by Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating in cooperation with ACL Laboratories, Apple Vacations and Riu Palace Riviera Maya and Kroehler Family YMCA of Metro Chicago.

About SSHE Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating (SSHE), a family-owned, Illinois-based healthy meal replacement company offers a no-gimmick approach to convenient, healthy eating nationwide. The meal program is scientifically designed and taste-tested. Founded by Seattle Sutton, RN, BSN, in 1985, SSHE helps to address patients’ desire to lose weight and improve overall health. Seattle Sutton’s dedication to health continues today, since all SSHE menus are analyzed on an ongoing basis and adhere to recommended dietary guidelines. SSHE prepares thousands of fresh meals weekly and its innovative approach has helped thousands of people achieve and maintain weight loss without planning, shopping or cooking for themselves. for more information, seattlesutton.com or 1-800-442-DIET (3438). for business-related inquiries, 1-888-442-DIET (3438).

SOURCE Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating

Eating healthy is easy when you’re at home, or have your favorite market nearby, but if you’re in a new town or planning a road trip, it can be easier to just drive through a fast food joint to grab a bite. Well, no more: the Eat Well Guide has over 25,000 healthy eating options, from cafes to stores, where you can grab a bite that’s good for you, whether you’re in an unfamiliar place or you’re in the car on the way to your destination.

The Eat Well Everywhere travel map is a service from the Eat Well Guide, which can help you find CSAs, farmer’s markets, stores, restaurants, and other healthy dining options anywhere you go.

The travel map can do the same—just type in where you are in the “start” field and you’ll see the options near you. Type in your start and end addresses and select how far off your route you’re willing to drive for healthy eats, and the app will give you a list of places you can stop for a bite along the way. from there, you can filter the list so you only see restaurants, markets, and stores. Once you’ve decided on where to stop, you can head out knowing you won’t have to resort to the drive through just because you’re not familiar with the area.

How do you manage to eat healthy when you’re on the move, or in an unfamiliar town? Share your tips in the comments below.

Eat Well Guide – Travel Map

Chatiana M. lives in Michigan. for her, going to the grocery store involves smartly comparing the cost of healthy foods her doctor would like her to eat to the cost of foods more affordable for someone on food stamps like herself. the following is an excerpt from her writing, “The Cost of Eating Healthy.”

Although doctors may try to get a person to eat healthy, it isn’t always the easiest thing to do because of a person’s income. for example, I was told to eat healthier foods three years ago. I was at risk of having diabetes and high blood pressure because I was (and still am) overweight. A food specialist talked to me about how eating healthy is a good way to stay alive and lose weight. As she tried to get me to see the light, all I could see was the price.

After she was finished talking, she gave me a very long list of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats that would be good for me to eat. Every three to four weeks when I had to go back to get a check up from my doctor, she would ask me if I was eating the foods on the list. I told her a few because I couldn’t afford the rest. She eventually asked why I couldn’t buy all the foods and I told her it was because I live with three other people and we all share food stamps.

As told by Hilary Seligman, a doctor in the Department of Health, “ Studies show that getting the average American to the recommended target of just one nutrient, potassium, would cost an additional $380 each year” (see article here). just imagine how it would be for Americans in poverty who can’t afford to spend an additional $380 a year just for food.

Now I will say that there are some healthy foods that don’t cost much, but you will rarely come across them. for instance, ground turkey doesn’t cost as much as I thought it would. At a discount grocery store it would cost $1.79 a pound, so instead of buying ground beef, which is $2.50 a pound, I buy turkey. Turkey meat is healthy because there is less fat in this particular kind of meat.

Another food that doesn’t cost much is iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce costs $0.78 per head. Whereas you have romaine lettuce that costs $1.20 per head. to me iceberg lettuce is healthy because it’s a green vegetable and it doesn’t take a lot out of my food stamps.

Another scenario that I have come across was at a large grocery store. I went to the deli and saw that they had good meats like low sodium turkey breast and low sodium ham, but the price for the meats was way too high for me. It was $3.65 a pound for any of the lean meats. then I saw some other meats that weren’t exactly healthy, like honey roasted ham and roast beef, and the price per pound was $1.50.

I asked why low sodium meats cost more than others. the deli man told me that when people buy low sodium meats, they are actually paying for the longer process it took to cook the meat. I then asked how often low sodium meats were purchased. he said rarely, because they cost too much and people want more for their money.

I’ve always wondered if anyone has ever thought about why healthy foods cost more than unhealthy foods. has anyone ever thought that some people like myself don’t always have the funds to buy healthy foods all the time?

Chatiana says some ways to help people cover costs might include healthy food fee waivers for nutrition plans prescribed by doctors, or more, easier-to-find coupons in newspapers for healthy foods.

How are you helping connect people with affordable, accessible fresh foods? Comments are welcome below.

Tags: food, guest post, health, hunger

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 9:25 am and is filed under Guest Posts, Policy. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. you can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

by Judy BuchenotBuchenot@comcast.net may 30, 2012 4:30PM

Chef Amaury Rosado shows off the Copper River salmon fillets. | Judy Buchenot~For the Sun

storyidforme: 31272589 tmspicid: 11395277 fileheaderid: 5203944

3 organic free-range eggs

2 teaspoons organic heavy cream

Sea salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons small diced red pepper

2 tablespoons small diced onion

1/2 avocado, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon grated sharp cheddar

2 slices lean roast turkey, chopped

2 spears asparagus, sliced on the bias

Coat a nonstick frying pan with a thin layer of olive oil. Cook red pepper, asparagus and onion until tender. Add spinach, which will wilt. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a bowl and set aside. in the same pan, add 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil, and heat until butter melts. in a bowl, beat together eggs, cream and water with salt and pepper to taste. Pour into pan. Over low heat, slowly cook eggs. Lift up edge of eggs as they cook to allow uncooked egg to flow under. keep cooking until mixture is set. Cover and cook one more minute. Add cheese, turkey, vegetables and avocado. Cover and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Fold omelet in half and serve.

Amaranth Mushroom Risotto with Vegetables

Pinch of salt

8 ounces mushrooms (portabella or shitake)

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups sugar snap peas, strings removed

1 red pepper, cut into strips

1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh basil for garnish

Toast amaranth lightly and then rinse for five minutes in fine colander under running water. Bring 5 cups water to a boil in a nonstick pan. Add salt and amaranth. Bring to a boil again and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook and stir until amaranth is al dente, about 15 minutes. Set aside mixture. Coat the bottom of a pan with a thin layer of olive oil and sauté mushroom. Remove mushrooms and set aside. Sauté onions and pepper until tender. Add garlic and sugar snap peas and sauté about a minute. Add mushrooms and amaranth to mixture. Stir in enough vegetable stock to make a moist mixture. Heat until very warm and then stir in cheese. Remove from heat and add butter. Garnish with fresh basil.

Article Extras

Updated: may 31, 2012 12:38AM

Chef Amaury Rosado comes bearing the plate like a gift. He gently places it on the table and then steps back in anticipation of the first bite.

“Taste it. It is so amazing. It is Copper River salmon from Alaska. For three to four weeks a year, the salmon swim upstream in a 300-mile journey to spawn and lay their eggs,” says the chef, so excited that he is unable to sit at the table.

To prepare for this journey, the Copper River salmon store extra fat and oils resulting in extraordinarily tender and flavorful flesh. Strict limits are set on the amount of salmon that can be caught, and the fish are only in the river for a few weeks, so being able to secure this delicacy is a feat. the flesh of the fish is a brilliant orange red. Chef Amaury carefully sears the surface of the filet, cooking it only until it is slightly warm with a cool, moist red center. the flavor of the flake-tender, rich salmon is both nutty and sweet.

“Isn’t it amazing?” questions Amaury, nodding his head in agreement and grinning because he knows the answer.

Rosado freely admits that he is a “foodie,” a person who expends great energy in finding and securing the best ingredients to be prepared in a way to complement their unique flavors. the Aurora resident owns and operates 33 West, a restaurant at 33 W. New York St. in Aurora, where he is able to share his food treasures with his customers. although the restaurant has been in operation for two years, Rosado has decided to change his menu to focus on organic and healthier entrees. He also will be adding a small plate option so patrons can enjoy small servings of his delicious dishes.

“I started eating healthier and have lost nearly 40 pounds,” Rosado says.

He improved his personal diet by eating more vegetables and fruits, adding whole grains, watching fats and reducing sugar without sacrificing the flavor and quality of his meals. He wants to offer this healthy option to his patrons by changing menu items. For example, instead of using rice in his risotto, he is using amaranth, a healthier grain option. He serves grass-fed beef, which has a higher concentration of beneficial omega-3 oils. He is using eggs from free-range chickens, seasonal produce from Panda Grove Farms in Dixon and continually looking for healthier menu options.

“Food is still my passion,” Rosado says. “I am just looking at it in a healthier way.”

Supporting small business is also a focus at 33 West. almost 80 percent of the produce served comes from local small farms. the bar serves beer and wine made by local brewers and vintners.

“I am a small business who is dedicated to supporting other small businesses,” Rosado says. “There is a sort of synergy created from using all independent businesses.”

Rosado is continuing this quest to promote healthy eating by being involved in a new festival slated for August 2013 at Naper Settlement in Naperville. the Fusion Festival will feature a blend of yoga, art, music, street performers, environmentalism and food. Rosado and his wife, Trisha, are co-chairs for the food portion of the festival.

“We are focusing on organics,” he says. “The whole festival also is going to be very green. every little detail is being carefully examined — even things like how to get rid of the trash that is collected during the event.”

As a dedicated foodie, Rosado is excited about sharing his recent finds with his customers. the salmon will be available for a few more weeks, and as local crops ripen, they will be prominently featured at 33 West. He invites everyone to give healthy eating a try there, but also offers recipes for his favorite healthy breakfast omelet and his healthier risotto option for everyone to try at home.

Know someone who really likes to cook and is good at it? Contact columnist Judy Buchenot at Buchenot@comcast.net.

ScienceDaily (May 30, 2012) — Women in their seventies who exercise and eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables have a longer life expectancy, according to research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University studied 713 women aged 70 to 79 years who took part in the Women’s Health and Aging Studies. this study was designed to evaluate the causes and course of physical disability in older women living in the community.

"a number of studies have measured the positive impact of exercise and healthy eating on life expectancy, but what makes this study unique is that we looked at these two factors together," explains lead author, Dr. Emily J Nicklett, from the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Researchers found that the women who were most physically active and had the highest fruit and vegetable consumption were eight times more likely to survive the five-year follow-up period than the women with the lowest rates.

To estimate the amount of fruits and vegetables the women ate, the researchers measured blood levels of carotenoids-beneficial plant pigments that the body turns into antioxidants, such as beta-carotene. The more fruits and vegetables consumed, the higher the levels of carotenoids in the bloodstream..

Study participants’ physical activity was measured through a questionnaire that asked the amount of time the spent doing various levels of physical activity, which was then converted to the number of calories expended.

The women were then followed up to establish the links between healthy eating, exercise and survival rates.

Key research findings included:

* More than half of the 713 participants (53%) didn’t do any exercise, 21% were moderately active, and the remaining 26% were in the most active group at the study’s outset.

* during the five-year follow up, 11.5% of the participants died. Serum carotenoid levels were 12% higher in the women who survived and total physical activity was more than twice as high.

* Women in the most active group at baseline had a 71% lower five-year death rate than the women in the least active group.

* Women in the highest carotenoid group at baseline had a 46% lower five-year death rate than the women in the lowest carotenoid group.

* when taken together, physical activity levels and total serum carotenoids predicted better survival.

"given the success in smoking cessation, it is likely that maintenance of a healthy diet and high levels of physical activity will become the strongest predictors of health and longevity. Programs and policies to promote longevity should include interventions to improve nutrition and physical activity in older adults," said Dr. Nicklett.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. for further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

1. Emily J. Nicklett, Richard D. Semba, Qian-Li Xue, Jing Tian, Kai Sun, Anne R. Cappola, Eleanor M. Simonsick, Luigi Ferrucci, Linda P. Fried. Fruit and Vegetable Intake, Physical Activity, and Mortality in Older Community-Dwelling Women. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2012; 60 (5): 862 DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2012.03924.x

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: this article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Literally getting off the couch will help you eat less, a new study finds. Likewise, cutting time in front of the TV or your computer is likely to spur you to each more fruits and vegetables.

The research shows that like the butterfly effect, one simple change in behavior can have a domino effect, causing healthy habits.

"just making two lifestyle changes has a big overall effect and people don't get overwhelmed," said Bonnie Spring, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and lead author of the study published in Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Americans have all these unhealthy behaviors that put them at high risk for heart disease and cancer, but it is hard for them and their doctors to know where to begin to change those unhealthy habits," Spring said. "this approach simplifies it."

with this simplified strategy, people are capable of making big lifestyle changes in a short period of time and maintaining them, according to the study.

Spring wanted to figure out the most effective way to spur people to change common bad health habits: eating too much saturated fat and not enough fruits and vegetables, spending too much sedentary leisure time and not getting enough physical activity.

she and colleagues randomly assigned 204 adult patients, ages 21 to 60 years old, with all those unhealthy habits into one of four treatments. The treatments were: increase fruit/vegetable intake and physical activity, decrease fat and sedentary leisure, decrease fat and increase physical activity, and increase fruit/vegetable intake and decrease sedentary leisure.

during the three weeks of treatment, patients entered their daily data into a personal digital assistant and uploaded it to a coach who communicated as needed by telephone or email.

Participants could earn $175 for meeting goals during the three-week treatment phase. But when that phase was completed, patients no longer had to maintain the lifestyle changes in order to be paid. they were simply asked to send data three days a month for six months and received $30 to $80 per month.

"We said we hope you'll continue to keep up these healthy changes, but you no longer have to keep them up to be compensated," Spring said.

The results over the next six months were surprising. "We thought they'd do it while we were paying them, but the minute we stopped they'd go back to their bad habits," Spring said. "But they continued to maintain a large improvement in their health behaviors."

from baseline to the end of treatment to the end of the six-month follow-up, the average servings of fruit/vegetables changed from 1.2 to 5.5 to 2.9; average minutes per day of sedentary leisure went from 219.2 to 89.3 to 125.7 and daily calories from saturated fat from 12 percent to 9.4 percent to 9.9 percent.

about 86 percent of participants said once they made the change, they tried to maintain it. There was something about increasing fruits and vegetables that made them feel like they were capable of any of these changes," Spring said. "It really enhanced their confidence."

"We found people can make very large changes in a very short amount of time and maintain them pretty darn well," Spring said. "It's a lot more feasible than we thought."

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master’s degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. the conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

7 Surprising Ways Junk Food Makes you Miserable

The researchers who conducted the study say that this single strategy: simply extending the nighttime fast is a cheap and easy weight loss approach free from side effects, but I’m not sure I agree. as a health professional my primary goal is always optimal health, so when I hear about studies that essentially send the message that you can eat poor quality food and still lose weight, I feel like it does a real disservice to consumers. Any time you lose weight, no matter how you do it, even the most unhealthy way possible, you’ll see some positive health indicators, perhaps a reduction in cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc. but long-term, to optimize energy, wellness, and even looks (hair, skin, etc.), the nutrients found in healthy foods need to show up for work day after day.

Junk Food that’s good for You

Over the years I’ve met numerous clients who have lost weight eating restricted amounts of unhealthy food, but they struggled with side effects from dry skin and dull hair to bad breath, constipation, fatigue, crankiness, and a run down immune system. and if it was an approach they couldn’t maintain, they gained all the weight back.

Also, my private practice clients who eat meals at consistent times (breakfast within an hour of waking up and the remaining meals three to five hours apart) do far better long term than those who try to eat a larger breakfast, taper the size of the meals as the day goes on, and stop eating earlier in the evening. In my experience the latter just isn’t sustainable or practical for most people. but eating a healthy dinner at say 6:00 p.m. and a healthy snack at 9:30 p.m., then going to bed at 11:00 p.m., keeps hunger from getting out of control, curbs cravings, fits better with most people’s social life, and can be sustained, which is the real key to losing weight and keeping it off. 

Many of my clients are long-term or even when we’re not actively working together we’re in touch regularly so I “follow” them for a long time, sometimes years. Seeing what really works for people after months or years, and what fizzles out, what makes people feel good, and what robs them of their energy, gives me a bird’s eye perspective that makes me skeptical of oversimplified approaches but I’d love to hear from you. what do you think? Would limiting your eating time to your most active eight hours of the day work for you? and do you think the quality of your diet is important?

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Cynthia Sass is a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health. Frequently seen on national TV, she's a SHAPE contributing editor and nutrition consultant to the new York Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays.