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I hate to say or even think it, but the truth is that summer is coming to an end.  But, there is one more fun, summer event to look forward to and that is the classic, all-American Labor Day picnic.  This last summer hurrah is the rite of passage from carefree summer days to time to “get back to _____” days.  So, enjoy a long, leisurely picnic day but in true Vtrim fashion, picnic responsibly.  One day of picnic eating is not an excuse to plead ignorant on your calorie intake.  There are ways to have your cake and eat it too, so to speak.   Keep these picnic tips in mind for a successful day.

1. Think veggies and hummus. A great way to start a picnic is with a simple appetizer like veggies and hummus.  Just bag up some sliced bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery and a tub of hummus and you’ve got a healthy and tasty appetizer.

2.  Make healthier versions of your favorites. For a salad you can go for a green, potato, pasta, or egg salad…whatever you like.  Egg salad is a fan favorite but typically high in calories and fat.   Check out Marni’s recipe for a healthier version of this tried and true picnic staple.  An easy trick to cut down on calories and fat in all mayo-based salads is to substitute non-fat yogurt or sour cream for the mayo.

3.  Think Ahead. Prepping the night before will make for a calmer pre-picnic demeanor.  This is about relaxing, remember!   Marinate boneless, skinless chicken thighs the night before and refrigerate overnight.  Avoid BBQ sauce or any type of creamy marinades.  Just brush the chicken lightly with some olive oil and lemon juice then season with garlic and rosemary.  This type of marinade is quick and keeps chicken moist.  Be sure to keep them in a cooler the next day with plenty of ice or cold packs.   You’ll be the envy of your hot dog eating friends.

4.  Non-traditional picnic fare. You don’t have to succumb to the traditional high calorie, high fat options at a picnic.   Take thinking ahead one step farther and prepare a basic wrap.  Use a whole wheat flour tortilla as a base then pile on fresh vegetables like lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers plus some lean deli meat like turkey or chicken.  Add some low fat cheese if you like and top with mustard or some low fat dressing then roll it up.  Prep your wraps the night before but be sure to add the mustard or dressing the day of your picnic to avoid ending up with a soggy mess.

5.  Vtrim-friendly traditional fare. What is a picnic without a big slice of watermelon?  Be the hit of the party by slicing up some fresh watermelon or bring along a bowl of fruit salad for dessert.  There is no better way to end a picnic than with fresh fruit.  The fruit bowl will be empty!

In our Vtrim classes, we always remind people that picnics and parties are not a license to overeat.   Enjoy your downtime by eating mindfully and catching up with some good friends.  A little planning will go a long way to preventing a lapse in those weight managment behaviors you have worked so hard to put into action!

Okay, true confessions…I’m a cereal eater. I love cereal. My pantry is stocked with cereal and I keep plenty of boxes on hand. And I’ve mastered cereal sales so I never pay too much for cold cereal. My family can all wake up in the morning and slowly take their time getting around to breakfast. But not me. I eat breakfast the MINUTE I wake up…because I’m HUNGRY when I wake up! So by the time the rest of the group gets out of bed and starts discussing what extravagant things they want for breakfast, I’ve long polished off my morning bowl of cereal.

Boring as it may sound, I think cereal is great…if you choose carefully. If you are in a time crunch, a bowl of cereal with skim milk and a piece of fruit can come in under 250 calories and start your morning with 3 food groups, protein, and fiber. And cold cereal, served up dry, can be an excellent snack when you need something to get by. I’ve been known to keep Ziploc baggies (snack size of course) stashed in my desk drawer or glove compartment to tide me over when hunger strikes.

But let’s face it…the cold cereal aisle in the grocery store is a wall of color, nutritional claims, and freebies in the box begging to go home with your kids. So what are your best bets when you hit the cereal section of the grocery store? Well, it depends on what you like. But here are a few tips to help you choose wisely, along with my personal favorites (not that there aren’t some other great ones out there, these are just some of my staples).

First, look for whole grains and fiber content. More and more cereals are being made with “whole grains.” But whole grain Fruit Loops are still pretty high in sugar and lacking in fiber. So move beyond just what the box says and check your ingredient list and nutrition facts panel for fiber content. Aim to get at least 3 grams of fiber per 100 calories of cereal. This helps balance cereals that are more dense and higher in calories by providing more fiber in the calories you get per serving.

Pay attention to added sugars. Sure cereals are going to be higher in sugar if they contain all natural fruit like raisins. But watch out for a lot of added “goodies” in cereal like yogurt coated nuts/raisins, chocolate chunks, or “cookie/candy-like” mix-ins. If it sounds like dessert masquerading as cereal, it’s probably not your best choice.

Heather’s Top Picks for Breakfast Cereal

I tried to choose a variety of cereals here to represent the whole aisle and not leave you with just a boring bowl of All-Bran every day (don’t get me wrong…I like All-Bran and you can make some AWESOME bran muffins for a quick and easy breakfast…but I’ll save that for another post).

• Multi-Grain Cheerios: With 3 grams fiber in 110 calorie serving, these Cheerios are lightly sweetened and a bit more exciting to look at than regular Cheerios. And they are great to snack on dry!
• Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats or Post Frosted Spoon-Size Shredded Wheat: A great source of fiber, this cereal provides a little more “stick with you” fullness in the morning.
• Total or Wheaties: another high fiber cereal in flake form so it is much lower in calories per serving than some of the more dense breakfast cereals.
• Wheat Chex: This is my standby. A bowl of Wheat Chex, 1/2 cup skim milk, and 1/2 a banana sliced on top…easy enough.
• Bear Naked Fit Granola: This is a new-found favorite of mine. Granola can be so high in calories AND fat. This cereal is only 120 calories and 3 g fiber for 1/4 cup of granola and has just 2.5 g fat. I love it topped on a 4-ounce yogurt.

So there you have it…some of my favorite picks for breakfast cereal. What are your favorites? I’d love to hear…I’ll pick it up and give it a try (next time it’s on sale)!

All of us here at Vtrim were psyched to see the Vtrim Weight Management Program highlighted by MizFit Online.  Yes, I used the word psyched on a research-based, very serious weight loss program blog!  After reading through all of the informative, practical and frankly hysterical posts by “MizFit” herself – Carla Birnberg – I’m inspired to jazz up my post today.  Thanks, Carla.

First, I must say that the amount of comments made on MizFit’s blog made me realize just how many people she reaches. Readers weighed in on Heather’s top five tips to trim calories from your daily diet – and had some great things to say about the Vtrim approach.

We want to know what you’re thinking! Chime in and leave a comment, question or story for us – we’d love to hear from more of you. You can also let me know what you want to know more about (and what you’ve heard enough of!).  I promise Heather and I will oblige. (I’ll admit I’m still getting up to speed on all things blogosphere, Twitter, and Facebook).

I was happy to see that the comments regarding MizFit’s Vtrim post were exactly what we think up here in the far northeast neck of the US.  Weight management doesn’t have to be incredibly complicated to work.  Science-based does not mean the latest, quick-fix formula in a bottle that will solve all of your weight issues. If only it were that simple! Well, it almost is. Vtrim is about embracing the simple formula of “eat less, move more” on an everyday basis.

From research, we do know that the formula is in fact that simple, but the implementation is not so easy in the crazy, fast-paced world most of us live in.  Simple and easy just aren’t interchangeable words.  Modifying ingrained behaviors and having lots of support to change an old mindset is what’s critical to making the changes stick.

Take a peak at the MizFit post – we even got a “Vtrimmer,” as we like to call our participants, to pipe in on the comments section and speak from experience.  Thanks, ubervixen – your story was inspiring!

The support people feel in their Vtrim online group (plus a lot of hard work) is what helps propel them from wanting to lose weight to actually losing weight.  There is no better day than today to evaluate where you are and where you want to be.  Vtrim can help you get there.

Ciao for now!  Beth

I was perusing the web on all topics weight loss the other day, which is a frequent pastime of mine.  I like to know what is out there and what people are reading since there is a good chance it will come up in an online meeting I am leading.  I came across the Weight Control Information Network (WIN) site, a service provided by the National Institutes of Health.  I was curious how Vtrim measured up to their standards knowing that we would be really close to what they recommended.  I was pleased to see we meet all of their criteria for a safe and responsible weight loss program.  Click here to read more on their site, but in a nutshell, below is how Vtrim meets their high standards.

WIN says, safe and effective weight-loss programs should include:

1. Healthy eating plans that reduce calories but do not forbid specific foods or food groups. This is a core tenet of the Vtrim philosophy.  Each person figures out how to manage their food intake based on their own personal circumstances.  A calorie and fat gram goal is provided to help guide the process but individuals get to choose what they want to eat within those parameters.

2. Tips to increase moderate-intensity physical activity. Vtrim provides tips but more importantly takes it one step further and provides a systematic, graduated exercise program so people can incorporate moderate intensity activity into their life in a gradual, sustainable way.

3. Tips on healthy habits that also keep your cultural needs in mind, such as lower-fat versions of your favorite foods. Sustainable behavior change is the goal so Vtrim encourages people to modify recipes and problem solve ways to continue to incorporate favorite foods but in a smart way that takes calories into consideration.

4. Slow and steady weight loss. Depending on your starting weight, experts recommend losing weight at a rate of 1/2 to 2 pounds per week. Weight loss may be faster at the start of a program. Vtrim assigns a reduced calorie weight loss goal that will achieve a 1/2 -2 pound weight loss per week.  Slow, gradual and sustainable is the approach.

5.  A plan to keep the weight off after you have lost it. Because maintaining weight lost is often more challenging than losing weight, Vtrim offers a monthly maintenance program for graduates of our weight loss program.  Our goal is to partner with people on their weight management journey for as long as we are needed.

Check out what Vtrim has to offer on our website.  We start online classes every month.  We’d love to “see” you online!

“When motivation lags, try self-discipline.” That thought will carry you through a lot of days when you “you just don’t wannaaaa.” You know that whiny thought that creeps in your head and tempts you to say the heck with it, it’s too hard. You need to talk back to that voice and recommit to why you are working so hard to change your life through conquering weight management. If you rely on willpower in these moments, you might find yourself curled up with a good book. Willpower is never enough. Self-discipline, a plan and strategies to stay motivated when you’d rather say “forget it” are absolutely essential to long-term success. Discipline yourself to make some of these strategies work when you need them most:

1. Exercise first thing in the morning. Get it out of the way and start your day on the right foot. This is a guaranteed way to get you to be mindful about food throughout your day. You won’t want to negate the calories you’ve already burned.
2. Pack your exercise bag the night before and leave it by the front door. And we mean right in front of the door so you’d have to trip over it to forget it.
3. Ditto for your lunch. Do the work when you have brain room and aren’t rushed. Don’t give yourself reasons to quit by not being prepared.
4. Take an exercise class. Sign up for Zumba or kickboxing. Shake up your routine to keep it fresh.
5. Fake it ‘til you make it. Who do you want to be? Do you want to be that person who is jogging down the street in their jogging gear? What are you aspiring towards and then be that person today. Look in the mirror and decide you are there and then act accordingly.
6. Sign a contract with yourself and have a supportive friend or family member sign it too. Putting your goals down on paper and recommitting with a witness is very powerful. You’ll want to follow through.

As you know, weight management is not easy. Sometimes you have to fight the tide of old engrained patterns. You can do it by relying on strategies to keep yourself in the game and flowing with the new current of a healthier lifestyle!

These days waistlines aren’t the only things getting tight in America. Current economic times have people pinching pennies and trying to stretch their dollars further. But what you may not realize is that healthy eating CAN save you money! In fact, if you follow a few simple strategies, you’ll find your dollars going further and your waistline getting smaller.

• You can save a lot of money simply by limiting the number of times you eat out. Packing a lunch as well as planning ahead so you have dinner figured out rather than stopping for take-out on the way home will save you big bucks.
• Make a grocery list and stick to it. Impulse purchases at the grocery store can run your food bill up. Additionally, those impulse purchases are often foods that are high in calories and fat.
• Take time to plan meals for the week. Make a dish that will provide a few extra servings so you can wrap them up for brown-bag lunches later in the week to save you time and money by not eating out. And by planning ahead, you’ll make fewer trips to the grocery store, which can ultimately save you more money.
• Stock your pantry and your fridge/freezer so that the ingredients to make healthy and fast meal options are available to you at home when you need them. If you have the ingredients on hand, it is often faster to make a simple meal at home than it is to go out for fast food.
• Stock up on staples when they are on sale (soups, grains, pasta, rice, etc). Most are shelf stable and will last a long time.
• Pay attention to product placement on the shelf in the store. Look high and low on the shelves. Eye-level products pay a premium for their prime placement—and you’ll pay for it in the cost. So look for store brands and lesser known names on the shelf. And pay attention to unit pricing—bigger containers may not always be cheapest. Look at how much you are paying per ounce/pound/etc. The price tag on the shelf usually provides this information.
• Plan meals around healthy and inexpensive ingredients like beans, whole wheat pasta, whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and bulgur. These staples can provide bulk to your meal at little cost. Dry beans/legumes are dynamite sources for protein and fiber at pennies per serving. Chili made with beans, lentil soup, black beans and rice, or lowfat refried beans in a whole grain tortilla are powerpacked meals for a small price.
• Buy produce in season and utilize canned and frozen fruits and vegetables to add more variety. Look for low-sodium canned veggies and fruits canned in lite syrup or their own juice to improve the nutritional breakdown of your canned goods.

Have other ideas to stretch your food dollar while eating a healthy diet? We’d love to hear them!

Do you tend to eat on a regular schedule each day or do you find yourself grazing your way through the day, eating at different times each day? A research study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared the effects of a normal eating schedule with a random, grazing style of eating. The women in the study who ate at fixed, routine times each day burned more calories after each meal than women who ate unscheduled meals randomly throughout the day. Additionally, the women who ate regularly had lower peaks in insulin levels after meals, suggesting the possibility of better insulin control when eating regularly.

While it was a small study, it raises some thoughts about the benefits of an eating routine or schedule. Random eating times and grazing can set you up to consume more calories through mindless eating. Having a routine makes it easier to plan ahead and be prepared with healthier options to eat.

Need another reason to implement an eating schedule or routine? Having a plan in place for eating behaviors helps facilitate greater weight management success. Afterall, healthy habits don’t just happen–they take effort and planning.

At Vtrim, we distinguish programmed exercise from lifestyle exercise very clearly.  However, both play an important role in lifelong weight management.  Programmed exercise is exercise you do specifically for weight control.  You plan it into your day and you take time to burn calories.  That calorie burn, along with a reduced-calorie intake, creates the calorie deficit necessary for weight loss.  Regular exercise is critical to keeping weight off.  People in Vtrim build up slowly to burning 2000 calories per week (20 miles of walking) through programmed exercise.  Think walking, biking, swimming…

But what about lifestyle exercise?  What is it and how does it fit into  a weight management program? Lifestyle exercise represents the choices you make to be more active on a daily basis.  Think, stairs instead of elevator, parking farther away, raking leaves, walking to the store instead of driving.  All of these choices add up to burning more calories than if you had chosen their sedentary counterpart, elevator instead of stairs, park in the closest spot, pay the neighbor to rake your leaves, drive .25 mile to the store.

Think of lifestyle exercise as insurance.  You will NEVER be 100% accurate in calculating exactly how many calories you are eating and how many you are burning through exercise.  But just the act of recording in a food journal gets you closer to your actuals.  Lifestyle exercise covers this margin of error.  By moving more on a daily basis you are making up for the inevitable errors of journaling.  It is a fact that people underestimate what they eat and typically overestimate the calories burned through exercise.

Take stock of your daily routine.  Do you value “efficiency” over moving more?  This can be deceiving.  You’ll typically beat people waiting for the elevator when you take the stairs to the lower floors.  It is always a good feeling to make it to your destination at the same time as those who rode up but you burned a few extra calories to boot.

Don’t underestimate the importance of lifestyle exercise and get creative with new ways to move more throughout the day.  We like creative out of the box ideas.  Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is tried and true.  But, do you have any unique suggestions you’d like to share?

We at Vtrim were not surprised by the latest study in the New England Journal of Medicine that concluded, “Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize.”  In other words no matter what your diet consists of, be it low fat, high protein or low carb, reducing calories on a regular basis is what leads to weight loss.

This has been the Vtrim mantra since day one.  It’s all about calories in and calories out.  You need to create a calorie deficit in order to lose weight.  The most sustainable way to do this is to decrease your food intake and ramp up your exercise expenditure.  The kicker is YOU decide what you eat.  Of course, we encourage eating a healthy, balanced diet in line with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans but ultimately it is your choice to eat what you want within your calorie goal.  Eat less and move more will achieve weight loss regardless of your diet composition.  Your heart won’t appreciate a diet high in saturated fat but your heart health and your weight loss are not one in the same.  Best to do both but it is not necessary for weight loss.

Principal Investigator Dr. Frank Sacks of Harvard said a restricted calorie diet gives people greater food choices which makes the diet less tedious and boring.  We agree wholeheartedy.  You need to find what is going to work for you in the context of your life.  A reduced calorie diet puts the onus on you to eat within your weight loss calorie goal.  If you are making choices that work for you, the chances of sustaining those behavior changes is greater.  Eat less and move more is a very simple concept that once again has been backed by scientifc study.  We at Vtrim know that simple concepts aren’t alwasy easy to consistently implement.  That is why group support within a program can be so beneficial to staying the course when you’d rather hang a hard left.  Check out what Vtrim has to offer.  Our methodolgy mirrors what the NEJM article says is most effective for weight loss.  Bottom line: Eat less, move more!

Research tells us that successful weight losers are burning an average of 2800 calories per week in exercise.  This is the equivalent of about 9 hours per week of regular exercise.  We acknowledge that sets the bar pretty high, but we encourage you to see that as perspective on what you are currently doing.  If you feel like you have reached the summit after burning say 900 calories in one week, think again.  Please don’t take anything away from burning 900 calories, the equivalent of walking 9 miles, but know that others who are keeping weight off for the long haul are doing more.  With that perspective, you might feel inspired to bump it up.  Perhaps take an exercise class in addition to regular walking, walk to the store instead of drive, tack on another 10 minutes to your current walks.  You get the picture.

With the bar set so high, you certainly can’t slack off in the winter time or when weather is less than ideal.  At Vtrim we give you the tools to keep up regular exercise even when snuggling up with a good book seems preferable to braving the elements.

Follow these suggestions and know that you’ll feel like a million bucks after you follow through and exercise even when you’d rather not.

Dress Right: Most people overdress for winter. Exercise raises body temperature significantly. Even a moderate workout will make you feel that it is 30 degrees warmer than it really is. So, when you are going out on a 20 degree day, dress for 50 degree weather. Wear several layers of loose fitting clothing. Layers trap warm air that acts as insulation to keep you warm. You’ll be able to take off layers as you get warm.

First Layer: Should be made of material that draws sweat away from your skin to keep you warm and dry. Polypropylene, Capilene or Thermax work well. Avoid cotton. It absorbs moisture and will make you feel cold.

Second Layer: A wool sweater, synthetic turtleneck and/or a pile jacket work well. Sweatpants or tights will keep your legs warm. Add leg warmers or thermal underwear when it’s really cold.

Outer Layers: A waterproof jacket that is also wind-proof but breathable works well. Gore-Tex is an excellent synthetic material for this layer. An ordinary windbreaker is OK for a short workout.

Hats: Be sure to wear a hat. This also keeps your feet warm. So much heat escapes through the head because it is not well insulated.

Mittens: Mittens work better for warmth than gloves because they keep your fingers together which means less surface area from which heat can escape.

Shoes: Consider the snow and ice when buying shoes. Look for a pair that will have traction on ice. While walking or running, take smaller steps; it’s safer.

Excuses become roadblocks to your goal.  Take charge and make it happen for yourself!