Fitness Fridays

My favorite philosophy on food is that everything is ok in moderation. If I were to say that you could never have a carb again, you might be able to stick to that instruction for a while but, at some point, temptation will strike and you’ll fall of the wagon. I always cringe when I hear people say they have cut out such-and-such completely because I know there is a day coming when they’ll have that forbidden food item again…and then feel like a failure because they didn’t demonstrate more self control.

A second thing I tell my clients is to avoid mindless eating. Know what you are putting in your body and put certain concepts in place to protect yourself from making mistakes that set you back. A few suggestions on conscious eating:

- #1: begin slowly cutting back your fried and fats. A lot of people have a hard time giving this up cold-turkey but incremental changes prove to be very successful. For example, if you typically get the #1 at Chick-fil-a (which has the fried sandwich and the fried french fries), try substituting the fruit cup for the fries. It will save you more than 250 calories. If you love your fries, maybe the solution is to get the Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich (not the club with bacon) and get a small fry. The sandwich substitution will save you 13.5 grams of fat and 130 calories.

- Remember that a salad can be as high in calories as a regular entrée, depending on what salad dressing you load on it (or what toppings: cheese, croutons, tortilla strips really add up!). Cream based dressings are going to be the highest in fat and calories. Another trick: NEVER order your salad with the dressing already on it. Ask for it on the side and don’t pour it on the top. Instead, dip your fork (don't scoop) in the dressing and then pick up your salad. This way, each bite gets a bit of dressing and you save all of the extra calories you don’t need.

- Don’t ever go to the grocery store or cook hungry. Have a small, healthy snack and wait about 20 minutes. This will allow your blood sugar to come up and level out, therefore reducing your need to graze as you cook or fill your basket with everything in sight while you shop.

- Pre-plan. If you know you are going to a certain restaurant with family or friends, go online and search for their nutritional data before you go and decide ahead of time what you will have. It saves you from making a poor impulse choice and can save you from exceeding your daily intake (which causes weight gain). A good rule of thumb: if the restaurant won’t post their nutritional content on their website, they probably aren’t proud of the fat and calorie content of their menu items.

- Watch your portion sizes: a portion of meat is about the size of the palm of your hand, a serving of peanut butter is the size of a ping pong ball (1 oz or 2 tbs), a racquetball is equal to ¼ cup, and a baseball is equal to 1 cup (the serving size of many food items). 1 oz of cheese or deli meat is about the size of a CD.

It’s my belief that you need to set limits for yourself, but allow small concessions that don’t leave you feeling deprived (i.e. I won’t eat ice cream every night, but I will allow myself to have one serving on Saturdays). In the long run, you’ll be much more successful.

Amy Walker is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise and holds additional certifications through the Cooper Institute of Dallas that include: Nutrition and Dietary Guidance, Special Populations, and the Biomechanics of Resistance Training. Amy owns and operates FitLab Metabolic Services.