The New Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers

The Promise

Pasta, steak, cheese, ice cream... You can eat what you want on Weight Watchers. While the popular weight-loss plan has been revamped, the basic principle of eating what you love remains -- though the program steers you toward healthier foods with its points system.

In its new program, called Beyond the Scale, fitness also takes a bigger role. You'll be encouraged to move more every day.

Weight Watchers isn’t so much a diet as a lifestyle change program. It can help you learn how to eat healthier and get more physical activity, so you lose the weight for good.

You can follow the plan online on your own. You'll track your food choices and exercise, chart progress, and find recipes and workouts. There’s a coaching option if you prefer one-on-one consultations by phone, email, and text. Or you can go to in-person group meetings, where you’ll weigh in.

A Consumer Reports survey found that people who went to meetings were more satisfied with the program and lost more weight than people who used only the online tools.

What You Can Eat and What You Can't

No food is forbidden when you follow this plan, which doesn’t make you buy any prepackaged meals.

Weight Watchers assigns different foods a SmartPoints value, which replaces its long-standing PointsPlus plan. The concept is the same, though. Nutritious foods that fill you up have fewer points than junk with empty calories. But the eating plan now factors sugar, fat, and protein into its points calculations to steer you toward fruits, veggies, and lean protein, and away from stuff that's high in sugar and saturated fat.

You’ll have a SmartPoints target that's set up based on your body and goals. As long as you stay within your daily target, you can spend those SmartPoints, however, you’d like, even on alcohol or dessert.

But healthier, lower-calorie foods cost fewer points.

Look for my Ebook offer, “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, on all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com,  or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Can't Do Yoga? Think Again

If you think you're not the yoga type, think again. Just about anyone can do it, and it's not about bending yourself into a pretzel.

For men and women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities, yoga builds strength and balance. It's also a great way to ease stress.

"In a gym, you're really pushing yourself to go further when you're working out. In yoga, it's the opposite. The poses encourage all the range of motion that the body is designed to do," says Megan Dunne Krouse, a yoga instructor in Chicago.

Doing Yoga When You're Overweight

When Megan Garcia signed up for yoga at Smith College, she felt intimidated because she was the only overweight person in the class. She stuck with it, though, and noticed she started gaining strength, plus feeling and sleeping better, too.

Now she is a plus-sized model and Kripalu-certified yoga instructor who teaches in New York and specializes in teaching yoga to people of all shapes and sizes.

Garcia found that yoga changed her in unexpected ways. "Before I started doing yoga, I really lived life from the neck up," she says. "After yoga, I began to really feel at home in my skin. If I didn't have yoga, I can't imagine feeling so good in my body. Yoga has made it comfortable for me to sit on the floor, to twist, to bend. It grounds me in my body."

RaeAnn Banker, who owns River Yoga in Lahaska, PA, started taking yoga classes on her 42nd birthday as a present to herself.

"I was overweight, and since my mother was morbidly obese, I knew I better do something or I was going to end up just like her," Banker says.

"It took several months of driving by the yoga center before I got up the courage to go in. But once I started, I loved the classes. I was the weakest student in the class, but I kept going," Banker says. "I ended up losing 35 pounds over the next 2 years and becoming a yoga teacher. Yoga literally changed my life."

I personally started yoga at the age of 70. They were offering free classes at the senior center so I thought I'd try. I felt a little out-of-place at first, but after a few weeks, I was getting the hang of it. The instructor was older than me and most of the students were my age. After a few months, I started to lose body fat and build strength. The senior center only offers a class twice a week, but I do Yoga at home on the other days. I'm always trying to do the poses better each time. I don't have to go to class anymore. I know most of the poses but I go anyway, the instructor always adds new poses when she has time to fit them in. 

Today I'm a happier person who has more confidence and strength. I don't care how old I am, it's about how old you feel and I feel 30 years younger. If you're interested in changing your life I wrote a book on the subject.

Look for my Ebook offer, “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, on all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com,  or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Average Americans Are 15 pounds Heavier Than 20 Years Ago.

This post by this author is trying to do the same thing that I'm doing every day.  The average American does know or doesn't care what they are doing to their health when my keep adding body fat. Americans think that because they're older they will automatically  lose their health and that's not true. You will lose your health by neglecting your body. Read the post below and pay heed. Don't become another statistic.

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 3, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- There's no doubt about it: Americans are getting heavier and heavier. But new U.S. estimates may still come as a shock -- since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the average American has put on 15 or more additional pounds without getting any taller.

Even 11-year-old kids aren't immune from this weight plague, the study found. Girls are more than seven pounds heavier even though their height is the same. Boys gained an inch in height but also packed on an additional 13.5 pounds compared to two decades ago.

When looked at by race, blacks gained the most on average. Black women added 22 pounds despite staying the same average height. Black men grew about one-fifth of an inch, but added 18 pounds, the study found.

"We are not doing nearly enough to control and reverse the obesity epidemic and doing far too much to propagate it. This is another notice of that sad fact," said Dr. David Katz. He directs the Yale University Prevention Research Center and is president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

The new statistics were released Aug. 3 in a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. The statistics for 2011-2014 are based on an analysis of a sample of 19,151 people who underwent medical examinations and were interviewed at home.

According to the report, the average weight of men in the United States rose from 181 pounds to 196 pounds between 1988-1994 and 2011-2014. Their average height remained the same at about 5 feet, 9 inches.

The average woman, meanwhile, expanded from 152 pounds to 169 pounds while her height remained steady at just under 5 feet, 4 inches.

How big of a deal are these weight gains?

"A 15- to 16-pound weight gain is fairly significant and typically would be consistent with a couple of points increase in body mass index," said Anthony Comuzzie. He's an obesity researcher at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio.

Body mass index, or BMI, is a rough estimate of a person's body fat using height and weight measurements. The BMI classifies people into several categories, such as normal, overweight and obese.

"From a practical point," Comuzzie said, the average weight gain "means that someone who was on the high end of normal weight would have likely moved into the overweight category, and those at the high end of the overweight category would have likely moved into the obese category."

This matters because "we know that increasing BMI is a good indicator of overall risk for a variety of diseases, including heart disease and diabetes," he said.

The reasons behind the increase in weight are complex, according to Comuzzie. In part, he suggested, it's related to trends toward less exercise and more access to food that's rich in calories.

Could the U.S. population be getting fatter because it's getting older overall, and developing lower metabolisms?

Both Comuzzie and Katz discounted this explanation since the new report matches age groups for the two time periods.

Comuzzie said the findings reveal that the U.S. population is still gaining weight at "a fairly rapid rate, and such an increase does not bode well for the overall health of the nation. The findings suggest there will likely be an associated increase in chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the coming years," he noted.

As for next steps, Katz said there's much to be done. Whether that will happen is another matter.

"There are many active efforts to combat obesity, but our culture at large is in the business of propagating it for profit, from big food to big media to big pharma. It's that simple. We do much more, across the expanse of our culture, to foster obesity than to defend against it," Katz said.

I agree totally with the researchers,  but because our economy depends on making money, and Congress will listen to the Lobbyists first, we will continue to be served this "frankenfood" that fills the shelves in our food stores.

Look for my Ebook offer, “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, on all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ibooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com,  or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Do Diets Really work?

I wrote a similar post a couple weeks ago. So I wanted my readers to see another author who has the same conclusions.  I found this post on WebMD.

Do Diets Really Work?

Men and women have struggled for years, searching endlessly for that magic diet pill to reverse all the bad diet and lifestyle decisions they’ve made in the past. Diet pills come in all shapes, sizes and colors with different fantasies attached to each one. They range from celebrity-endorsed campaigns to more science-based programs that guarantee success. However, the major question still persists as to whether or not all this diet talk is simply a lie.

Don't Fall for Diet Myths and Illusions

People are sick and tired of being sick and tired. To make matters worse, a majority of the confusion about diet myths stems from the fitness and nutrition experts, who cannot seem to agree on anything diet related. 

The Importance of Behavioral Change

I would like to break here and mention that I’m not writing this article to point fingers at diet experts. I want to give the truth, and the truth is that diets don’t work. They are a temporary fix with failure built right into them. The sadness lies in that we as a highly intelligent society continue to fall for the ridiculous and glorified diet trap.

The title of my “diet” plan was  No Diet Plan: Food is just the habit, not the root cause. My aim was to address my client's 'why' or root-cause.  

The idea is to intercept the negative chain of emotions by introducing a new positive point of view instead. This pattern disruption would help redirect lifestyle choices and create environmental changes, which would ultimately result in positive sustainable outcomes. In addition, I created simple nutritional awareness strategies, such as understanding the psychology of the supermarket and combined these easy to follow strategies with moderate exercise.  

Reaching Self-Management

My goal was for my client to self-manage his obesity and chronic conditions by first mastering the ability to self-manage his lifestyle behaviors. I simply drew upon Maslow's Hierarchy, which helped lead me to creating positive momentum at each level of that Hierarchy until my client was able to develop self-management or self-actualization. The levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy from the bottom up are physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization, which is the goal for self-management. 

Yet, I still needed to address my client's 'why' or reason for whatever or whoever brought him to this point.  I wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t become triggered in the future long after he and I went our separate ways. He might have chosen a habit other than food to suppress his negative emotions. I felt that in order to create a sustainable resolution, I had to have him resolve the trigger that brought him to obesity because it would be very difficult for him to make the needed small consistent changes within his daily eating behaviors if this emotional trigger were to resurface in the future.

Making Eating Habit Changes

Small, consistent behavioral changes can lead to a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Research conducted by Dr. Brian Wansink of the Cornell Food Lab found this:

"Making small easy changes to our eating habits on a consistent basis can lead to sustainable weight loss. The challenge lies in figuring out which changes work for each individual and how to stick with them long enough to make them second nature. 

The No Diet Plan stems from the likes of Maslow and follows the principles implemented by Dr. Brian Winsink. This same kind of program, which I developed along with my colleagues, is now being utilized by the employees of Mt. Sinai Hospital.

There is nothing sexy about this program. It will not get me a book deal. It will not have me on any social media pages posing with my shirt off or plastered throughout the pages of popular fitness magazines. Figuring out your 'why,' disrupting negative patterns, and making small consistent behavior changes is a crucial step towards creating long-term and healthy-lifestyle outcomes. 

Miseducated Equals Misguided

In 2012, Miley Cyrus tweeted, "Gluten is crap anyway!" I'm not about to say that Cyrus started the gluten-free trend. But, with the burgeoning popularity of the gluten-free diet and the almost nine-billion dollar value it has, the marketing of this label is only being fueled by uneducated bloggers, celebrities and social media who are doing more harm than good. 

More than 70 million Americans are trying to cut back on gluten, but only people with celiac disease need to be concerned with gluten. Celiac disease only affects about 1 percent of the population, which makes it hard to explain the popularity of the gluten-free diet. Celiac disease is a serious condition and should be addressed by a physician -- not a blogger, social media nutritionist or your roommate.

Let's Go Food Shopping

The grocery store is set up to have you spend money on food that you do not need. They aim to have you eat from a box, while you live in a box, so you can keep visiting your doctor in a box, telling him/her all about your illnesses that will eventually lead you to dying and being placed in a box.

Studies like the University of Notre Dame's Psychology of the Grocery Store clearly illustrate the clever ways marketers and brands make highly unhealthy foods into attractive choices. They also use a host of colors, smells, and visual imagery ensure that people are fooled into purchasing them time and time again.

Weight Loss Tips

To help find your way to successful weight loss, follow these simple tips:

• Focus on small consistent behavioral steps.
• Surround yourself with friends and loved ones who support your journey.
• Understand that what the food and beverage labels really mean.
• Realize that what people say on social media may not always be the truth. 
• Diets and exercise programs have failure already built into them and will send you down a path to more failure, so don’t fall victim to these typical ploys.
• Give you body a break and stop judging yourself by your weight.

Look for my Ebook offer, “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, on all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ibooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com,  or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Lack of Fitness Second Only to Smoking as Predictor of Early Death

By Maureen Salamon
HealthDay Reporter

This post verifies my views on increasing your activity. At some point, people need to take their health seriously. After you lose the ability to exercise and make a change in your life, coming back will become very difficult.

Latest Prevention & Wellness News

WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Poor physical fitness ranks right behind smoking as leading risk factors for an early death, new long-term research suggests.

Analyzing nearly 800 men starting at midlife, Swedish scientists also found that each measurable increase in fitness levels translated into a 21 percent lower risk of death over 45 years of follow-up.

"Fitness in middle age is of importance for mortality risk for several decades," said study author Per Ladenvall, at the University of Gothenburg. "Persons with low fitness are associated with an increased mortality risk throughout life.""Smoking was the risk factor that was [most strongly] associated with mortality," Ladenvall added. "We were somewhat surprised that the effect of aerobic capacity was even more pronounced than that of high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

"Heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries, also known as ischemic heart disease, is the most common cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Using exercise testing, which is traditionally used to diagnose ischemic heart disease, the study authors set out to determine the impact of physical fitness on early death from all causes. They also looked at established risk factors of heart disease such as smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

The new research analyzed 792 men born in 1913 who performed an exercise test in 1967, at 54 years of age. More than 650 of the healthiest men also did an exercise test measuring maximal oxygen uptake, called VO2 max. The higher a person's VO2 max measurement, the more physically fit they are.

Tracking the men and using information from several physical exams in intervening years, the researchers obtained data on deaths from all causes. To determine the association between predicted VO2 max (physical fitness) and death, study participants were divided into three groups ranging from low to high VO2 max.

Each increase in predicted VO2 max (physical fitness) levels was linked with a 21 percent lower risk of death over 45 years of follow-up, even after adjusting for other risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

U.S. cardiologists agreed with Ladenvall that the study's long follow-up period strengthens the value of the findings.

But how much exercise is enough to lower a person's risk factors for dying earlier?

This question wasn't addressed in the study, Ladenvall said, "but on a general note, the amount of exercise needed to increase fitness is dependent on the baseline fitness in that individual."

"In people with low fitness, even small increases in activity levels can have beneficial effects," he said.

"It doesn't have to be fast, and people don't have to go out and run marathons," Weintraub said. "We need to think of something on the order of 30 minutes to an hour a day of activity. Get home from work and go for a walk. There's evidence that more activity is better up to a point, but any activity is good."

Look for my Ebook offer, “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, on all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Click any of the links below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Check out the book. 

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Ibooks

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How to Read Food Labels

How to Read Nutrition Labels to Lose Weight

Reading food labels can be very confusing. This post from WebMD will help you to understand the important stuff.  Reading Food Labels can be the best way to start losing weight.

You might know how to read nutrition labels, but do you know how to read food labels to lose weight? If you’re trying to slim down, there are a few important numbers that matter more and a few numbers that matter less. If you can learn to scan the Nutrition Facts label quickly for essential information, you’ll be able to shop faster, eat better, and lose weight with greater ease.

Learn to Read Food Labels for Weight Loss

As you read through this guide, keep in mind that the Nutrition Facts label changes from time to time. The label you see in the store today will be changing in the coming years to reflect the newest health guidelines established by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By 2018, most food labels will need to use the new design. The new design includes larger text for “Calories,” “Serving size,” and “Servings per container.”  These changes will help you to find the most important weight loss information.

The images throughout this guide will show an example of an older version of the nutrition label on the left and an example of the newer version on the right. So no matter which version you find on a package, you will know how to read food labels correctly to lose weight.  

Serving Size

Portion control is essential when you are trying to lose weight. And counting calories accurately matters, too. So it’s essential that you check the serving size on the food label because it will help you to eat correct portions for weight loss and to count the right number of calories each day.

• Use “Serving size” to manage portions. The serving size on the package is notthe amount of food you should eat. It is the amount of food that a typical eater consumes during a single eating occasion. So you shouldn’t use this number to decide how much food to eat. Instead, use this number only to determine how many calories are in a typical serving of that food. To find out how much of it to eat, use my guide to correct portions for weight loss.
• Use “Serving Size” to calculate calories correctly. If you use a diet app or a website like Calorie Count or MyFitnessPal, you will enter foods and food amounts into your daily food journal to count calories and manage your diet. Most of these services use “Serving size” as the default amount. Be sure that you change the amount if your portion size is different than the serving size listed. 

Calories

No matter what kind of weight loss plan you follow, calories matter. You’ll lose weight faster if you eat the right number of calories each day. When you read nutrition labels at the grocery store, check the calorie count to see how many you'll gain when you eat the portion of that food that you usually consume. Then compare different brands and products to see if you can find one that provides fewer calories to keep your daily intake on track. 

Fat

Eating some healthy fat is good for your body and will help you to stay satisfied throughout the day. If your belly feels comfortable, you’re likely to eat less and slim down faster. But fat is full of calories, so you need to choose your fat carefully and eat it sparingly. When you read food labels, first check the total number of fat grams (red arrows) provided by the food. Then check the numbers below (yellow arrows) for further information. 

• Saturated fat. While there is some emerging evidence that saturated fat may not be as bad for our bodies as we thought, most experts still recommend that you eat less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat or monounsaturated fat for good health. So it’s best to choose foods that have the lowest number listed here.
• Trans fat. Experts agree that trans fats are not good for your body. Try to choose foods with as little trans fat as possible. 

Carbohydrates

If you’re on a low-carb diet for weight loss, you should check this number right away. Keeping your carb intake low will make a big difference in the success of your diet.

But even if you’re not counting carbs, choosing better sources of carbohydrates is important for good health. The food label can help you make better decisions about which food to choose. But you’ll need to look underneath the “Carbohydrates” listing to get the information you need.

Check these numbers to choose good carbohydrates for your diet.

• Dietary fiber. Fiber is a dieter’s friend. You’ll feel full longer and you’ll keep your net carb intake low if you choose foods with more dietary fiber. So if you can choose foods with a higher number in this area, you may have an easier time sticking to your diet. Packaged foods that contain whole grains or vegetables like spinach are often good sources of dietary fiber.
• Sugars. It's smart to watch your sugar intake if you want to reach and maintain a healthy weight. So you’ll want to check this number and choose foods that contain less sugar. But not all sugar-rich foods are the same. The new Nutrition Facts label makes it easier to choose healthier foods with sugar. On the new label, you will see a listing for “Total Sugars” and “Added Sugars.” Try to choose foods with the fewest “Added Sugars.” Foods with more added sugars provide empty calories that can increase your daily calorie intake and provide very little nutrition.  

Protein

Protein is another important macronutrient for dieters. When you select foods at the grocery store, read food labels and try to choose some foods that provide protein. Lean meat products and low-fat dairy products are good examples.

But when you check the nutrition label for protein, scan the fat grams to make the number is not too high. Many protein-rich foods are also high in saturated fat. And some foods in the dairy aisle contain unhealthy trans fat. 

Food Label Numbers That Matter Less for Weight Loss

All of the information on the nutrition label can help you to eat a healthy diet. But there is some information on the label that matters less when you’re trying to lose weight. It doesn’t mean you should ignore the numbers. But if weight loss is your primary goal, these numbers may be less important for you.

• Percent Daily Value. As a dieter, the numbers listed under “Percent Daily Value” may not matter to you. In fact, depending on your specific diet, you may want to ignore these numbers completely. Why? Because the numbers tell you how much a particular nutrient contributes to your total daily diet if you consume 2,000 calories per day. Most dieters will consume far less than that. Many diet plans for women are based on a 1,200 calorie intake per day and many diets for men recommend a total daily intake of 1,600 – 1,800 calories. If you consume fewer than 2000 calories per day, then the percents listed in this column will not be accurate for you.
• Cholesterol. Your doctor may have told you to reduce your dietary cholesterol intake. If so, this number is important for you. But choosing foods based only on cholesterol won’t necessary help you to lose weight.
• Sodium. Most experts recommend that healthy eaters keep their sodium intake under 2,300 milligrams per day. For that reason, this number is important. But low-sodium foods aren’t necessarily better for weight loss than foods that contain more sodium.
• Vitamins and Minerals. The numbers listed under the thick black bar give you important information about the healthy micronutrients in your food. If you choose foods that are more nutritious, it will be easier for you to build a strong, fit body. In a perfect world, dieters would choose foods that are low in calories and high in nutrition. But vitamins and minerals don’t actually cause weight loss to happen faster.

Look for my Ebook offer, “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, on all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Click any of the links below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Check out the book. 

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Can I Eat Pasta And Still Lose Weight?

You already know that the fish and chips, or the burger and fries might not be the best option considering your current goals. 

You find yourself debating between a “healthier choice” of either grilled chicken or sautéed fish. You get the chicken, and then the waiter asks you to choose a side. You have 3 options: (1) a baked potato, (2) penne pasta, or (3) brown rice.

Which option would you choose, and why? In the context of losing weight, which side dish do you think best supports your goals?

Do you have your answer? How many of you chose brown rice? 

What if I told you that the penne pasta would be the best choice? You might be surprised to learn that of those 3 side dishes, penne pasta has the lowest glycemic index.

The Glycemic Index and Fat Loss 

While glycemic index (GI) is only one measure of evaluating a food, the fact that pasta has a lower GI does make it a more attractive option. 

It’s inarguable that calorie intake has the biggest impact on the whole fat loss equation, but controlling your blood sugar levels by opting for lower glycemic foods definitely plays a role in weight and fat loss as well.

So, contrary to popular opinion, you can eat pasta and still lose weight. But this doesn’t mean you should make pasta the foundation of every meal. The key to eating pasta and getting a lean is to control your portions.

Strategies to Stay Lean While Eating Pasta 

These 3 strategies will help you eat pasta while losing body fat:

1. Keep Your Portion Size In Check 

Look to the Italians on this one. They love their pasta in Italy and eat it pretty much every day, sometimes even multiple times a day! How many obese Italians do you see? Not many. 

The issue with pasta is that it’s very calorie dense (meaning that it contains a lot of calories per gram of food), making it very easy to overeat. But it all comes down to portion sizes. A single serving of pasta will do very little harm to your fat loss goals.

So if you keep your portion sizes under control, you should be just fine. One serving equals 1 cup of cooked pasta.

Pro Tip: When eating pasta, make it your side dish to complement a bigger portion of protein and veggies. See recipe below.

2. Choose Your Sauce Carefully (Or Make Your Own) 

When I was a kid, I used to love fettuccini alfredo. The cream, the cheese, the fettuccini – it was incredible! I would order it every time my family went out to dinner. 

But now that I’m an adult, I don’t eat it anymore. That is, unless I’m looking to pack on some weight. Why? Because alfredo sauce is loaded with calories – almost 900 calories in one jar!

When you decide to eat pasta, watch out for any cream-based sauces, especially when you eat at a restaurant. These dishes are guaranteed to be loaded with calories, and generally contain a much larger serving than if you were to make it at home. 

But even if you avoid cream-based sauces, it’s important to be mindful of any store bought tomato sauces as well. Most contain added sugars, some variety of low quality refined oil, and possibly even corn syrup.

When you buy pasta sauce at the store, select one that’s tomato-based, contains no added sugars, and is made with olive oil. 

Otherwise, you can try making your own sauce. It doesn’t have to be complicated and actually can be done in less then 5 minutes. Check out the recipe below

Pro Tip: Make your own basic sauce with garlic, olive oil, and basil with the simple below recipe. 

3. Eat Pasta Post-Workout 

After an intense workout, your muscle cells are more receptive to carbohydrates meaning you can safely consume carbohydrate-rich foods with little damage to your fat loss goals. There are two primary reasons for this:

• You need to replenish your glycogen (carbohydrates) stores, which get depleted by intense exercise.

• Intense exercise induces specific hormonal responses that make you more insulin sensitive post-workout.

This is why the bodybuilders at the gym freak the hell out if they can’t get their protein and carb shake right after a workout. It’s this post-workout anabolic window that they are trying to take advantage of. 

While the research differs slightly on the duration of this post workout window, it is a safe bet to consume pasta within a 2-hour period post workout. 

It’s important to note – this is a variation of “nutrient timing”, which is an advanced nutrition strategy that only works if you have a solid nutritional foundation already in place. 

Pro Tip: Plan a pasta night after an intense strength workout that you do later in the day, preferably within 2 hours of eating dinner.

Regular vs Whole Grain Pasta 

While regular pasta can definitely be a part of a fat loss diet, the same serving size of whole grain pasta packs a lot more nutrition with fewer calories.

Regular Pasta 

Sure, regular pasta might be enriched with specific nutrients, including iron and b-vitamins, but it lacks dietary fiber which means that it’s less satiating. Without dietary fiber, regular pasta is digested faster and the sugars are released into your bloodstream more rapidly. This could cause you to be hungrier sooner, especially if you don’t include lean protein, vegetables, and healthy fats in your pasta dish.

Whole Grain Pasta 

Whole grain pasta, on the other hand, contains trace minerals like selenium in addition to b-vitamins and iron, and also has more dietary fiber. You’ll probably find a bowl of whole grain pasta to be more satifying, keeping you full for a longer period of time. If you add some protein and vegetables, you have a nutrient-dense meal that also keeps your blood sugar levels more stable.

Nutrition	Regular Enriched Spaghetti	Whole Grain Spaghetti
Calories	220	174
Carbohydrates	43 g	37 g
Fat	1 g	1 g
Protein	8 g	7 g
Dietary Fiber	3 g	6g

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