How to Cook Oatmeal in Advance
Oatmeal is probably one of the best things that you can eat for breakfast. It is low in calories and full of complex carbohydrates. Those are the types of carbs that keep you fuller longer. If you eat things such as donuts or pastries, those are made up of simple carbohydrates, and you will be hungry very soon.
When you are trying to lose weight, the goal is to eat food that is low in calorie and keeps you full for a long time. Of course you should always have some lean protein with every meal as well.
There are three problems with oatmeal. The first, is that the pure, healthy oats take time to cook. The second, is that if you choose to eat the instant oatmeal, it is generally full of sugar and you lose most of the benefit of eating oatmeal. The third problem, is that when you cook oatmeal in advance, it can be very unappetizing to eat the next day!
On an earlier show of Fat2Fit Radio, Jeff discussed his method of preparing oatmeal ahead of time. He cooks his oatmeal in a large batch and then divides the servings into containers. He then adds in scrambled eggs full of vegetables on top of the oatmeal and then keeps it in the fridge. His breakfasts will last for two weeks without spoiling. In the morning, they are microwaved together and then mixed together. With a little ketchup on top, it is a very filling breakfast. It will not win any awards for presentation, but it actually tastes better than it sounds.
We recently received two other suggestions from listeners to the show:
#1 - Fried Slices of Oatmeal! - from Ellen
“I listened with interest about your experience of cooking oatmeal for later & here’s how I do it. I cook a large batch of steel-cut oatmeal & put the leftovers in a cake pan. Then, I cover & refrigerate it, so it solidifies into a loaf. When I’m ready for breakfast again, I slice off a piece & sauté it in a little bit of butter or olive oil. You can also pour some maple syrup or honey on it. It tastes so much better this way than trying to re-create the porridge texture for the leftovers.“
#2 - Make Your Own Instant Oatmeal! - from Gail
“Here’s a recipe for instant oatmeal packets, so you can control the sugar and salt.
Makes 8 packets
3 cups quick oats, salt, sugar (or sweetener)
8 zip sandwich bags
Process 1 cup of oats in a blender, 1/2 cup at a time, until it is as fine as flour.
In each sandwich bag measure 1/4 cup oats, 2 tablespoons oat flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 T sugar or equivalent sweetener
To prepare:
Mix a packet with 3/4 cup boiling water, stir, and let set 2 minutes.
Variations:
Apple Cinnamon: add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons chopped dried apples to each packet.
Cinnamon Spice: ad 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and a scant 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg to each packet
Raisin Brown Sugar: replace white sugar or sweetener with brown sugar or sweetener and add 1 tablespoon raisins to each packet.
Wheat germ: add 2 tablespoons wheat germ to each packet”
Enjoy Everybody!
Why Pharmacies Sell Fad Weight Loss Supplements
When you look at the Weight Loss Supplements such as Xenadrine, Trimspa, Ripped Fuel etc, it may surprise you that these are not medications. They are only considered as “dietary supplements” and are regulated by the FDA as food products, not drugs. They do not have to go through regulations regarding their quality, safety or effectiveness like regular medications do. If they claim of cure or treat any disease they would then be classified as a drug and have to prove effectiveness, safety and go through stringent quality controls.
When one looks for the scientific studies and evidence of effectiveness for these products it is very slim indeed. Some may show some temporary short-term weight loss, but none are proven for any significant or long terms weight loss. Many of their ingredients are proven harmful and stressful to your body. For example, Zantrex 3 has the equivalent amount of caffeine of 30.6 cans of cola in its daily dose. It is common knowledge that caffeine can cause severe headaches and a poor night’s sleep.
You will be very hard pressed to find a competent Pharmacist who would recommend any of these products, so why do the Pharmacies sell them?
Profit - simple as that. The corporations that run the large chain pharmacies will all claim that it is a question about choice and they are in the business of promoting health.
That argument falls flat on its face for all of the Pharmacies that sell cigarettes. Have you ever gone to your Pharmacist and asked which cigarette is the healthiest for you and will promote your active and healthy lifestyle? Of course you haven’t because it is clearly obvious that they are not healthy. For that matter, you could ask the same question about the candy and junk food that they sell…
Products like cigarettes are commonly known to be bad for you, but when Pharmacies sell questionable weight loss supplements so near to “real” medicines, it adds a legitimacy to them, and I think that is morally wrong. People should have an expectation that “medicine-like” or “medicine-looking” products that they purchase at a Pharmacy are backed by scientific evidence, are quality controlled, and proven effective.
The weight loss supplements that look like medications should stay in the health food and supplement stores, because they are “food supplements” and not quality controlled medicines.
For more information, we discuss this in detail in Fat 2 Fit Radio Show #18.
Exercising Heart Rate Speed vs. Fat Loss
If you see an older heart rate chart in your local gym, you will see that most will have a “fat burning” and a “cardio” range.
The “fat burning” range was based upon studies that looked at the first few minutes of exercise at different intensity levels. It is now accepted that the total amount of calories expended is more important than the intensity for overall fat loss.
We live in a world where fat loss occurs over a 24 hour period, not just when we exercise. At the end of the day, it is still the old saying “calories in vs calories out”. Exercise helps you to increase your negative caloric intake and helps to speed up your metabolism.
When you are exercising for cardiovascular and muscle endurance results, you do need to push yourself to a reasonable level. There is a difference between activity and exercise if you want significant results, but for fat loss, your body really cares about negative calories at the end of the day.
Here is an example: Lets say that you burn 500 calories on an elliptical trainer or stair climber. If it took you 30 or 40 minutes to accomplish this, you still have the same negative calories at the end of the day. Your overall “fitness” workout is better with a higher intensity, but weight loss would be similar.
Think of it this way. If you are a new runner and you go out and try to run as fast as you can for as long as you can, you may only last 3 minutes and burn 25 calories. It is intuitive that if you walked/jogged for half an hour you may burn 250 calories. It’s clear that in this instance, the slower runner has the superior workout if the goal is fat loss.
You do need to be aware of the extremes with regard to heart rate and exercise. The rule of thumb is to subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate. Think of this as the “extreme danger level”. Once you have this level, don’t exceed 85% of this number while exercising. If you are close to this number, you are close to your maximum safe level of exertion.
For Example: 35 years old
Maximum Heart Rate: 220-30 = 185 beats per minute
Max Safe Exercise Rate: 185 X .85 = 157 bpm
If you are exercising at a lower intensity and your heart rate is very fast, don’t be too concerned. As your cardiovascular fitness increases, your heart rate will lower. If you are on a fitness machine that keeps your heart at a constant rate during exercise, you will find that over time, you will be working out harder and harder at the same heart rate.
How To Set Your Last Weight Loss Goal - Ever!
If you never want to go on a diet again, the simplest way is to start eating like a person at your goal weight and keep doing it. You will lose weight faster at the start and it will slow as you approach your goal weight, but you will never be “on a diet” again.
First of all, you need to know your BMR (basal metabolic rate), which is how many calories your body burns in a day to stay alive. If you were asleep for 24 hours, your BMR would be the amount of calories you would burn.
Here is an online BMR Calculator.
To get a realistic measure of the total calories that you burn in a day, you need to multiply your BMR by a number that represents how much activity that you do in a day.
- If you get little or no exercise, multiply your BMR by 1.2.
- If you exercise lightly or take part in easy sports one to three times a week, multiply your BMR by 1.375.
- If you are moderately active — three to five times a week — multiply your BMR by 1.55.
- If you are very active — hard exercise or sports six to seven times a week — multiply your BMR by 1.725.
- If you are extra active — very hard exercise or sports and a physical job — multiply your BMR by 1.9.
Here are some ballpark figures that I worked out for a weight loss of 50 lbs.
5′5″ woman, 30 years old who exercises lightly (BMR x 1.375)
175 lbs - 2165 calories per day
125 lbs - 1850 calories per day
If this woman eats 300 calories per day less on a continuous basis, over time she will lose 50 lbs and maintain that weight. With eating 300 calories less per day, she can expect to lose about 0.6 lbs per week at the start.
5′10″ man, 30 years old who exercises lightly (BMR x 1.375)
225 lbs - 2950 calories per day
175 lbs - 2550 calories per day
If this man eats 400 calories per day less on a continuous basis, he will also have a 50 lbs weight loss. With eating 400 calories less per day, he can expect to lose about 0.8 lbs per week at the start.
This is how most people put on weight in the first place. They simply eat a few more calories per day on a continual basis and over time they store more and more fat. They eat the calories of a heavier person, and gradually become that heavier person.
It is clear that diets don’t work because as soon as people go off of a diet, they start eating like they did before the diet. The best approach is to know your goal weight and then figure out how many calories per day you will need to eat to maintain that goal weight.
Start to eat your “maintenance” calories at the start of your weight loss. If you eat like a thinner person, you become that thinner person. You will gradually lose the weight and never feel deprived along the way. It’s not a sexy weight loss plan, but it works in the long term.
Previously on Fat 2 Fit Radio - 2007 Recap
Filed under: Calories, Exercise, Fat Loss, General, Nutrition, Obesity
As time goes by the latest posts and podcasts push down the older ones on the front page. Those older posts and shows get lost in the archive. There’s a lot of good information in there, and we don’t want that to happen. In this post you’ll find a summary of the previous 12 shows. This time it also happens to be all of 2007.
Show #1 - We introduced ourselves and our philosophy about weight loss and what the show was going to be about. Additionally we talked about the Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR, the rate at which your body burns calories when you’re at rest.
Show #2 - Are you an ectomorph, endomorph or mesomorph and does that affect the shape of your body? What if your body is a pear, apple and hourglass?
Show #3 - We discuss different workout goals and focus on the basics of cardio for burning fat. We talk about the smart way to get into a fitness program so that you can see constant improvement with minimal soreness.
Show #4 - We continue to chat about doing cardio and the different exercises that you can do for fat loss. The different options all burn varying amount of calories, but the most important factor is to find activities that you will enjoy and actually do on a regular basis.
Show #5 - Our main discussion topic of the week was the basics of nutrition. Carbohydrates, protein and fat - what are they, how much of each should you really eat? What is really the difference between all of the popular diets out there anyway?
Show #6 - We talked about food on this episode, particularly about the five tiers of food on something called Michi’s Ladder. We also discuss the weight loss drug Alii.
Show #7 - Our main topic of the show was support in weight loss and fitness. Where do you get your support, from home, a spouse, friends, a local group or an online group?
Show #8 - The main topic of this show was how to find out how much you should weigh, what your Body Mass Index should be, and what body fat percentage you should aim for.
Show #9 - In this show, we give you the basics of weight lifting including why you should lift weights and a good starter workout for the novice.
Show #10 - We run down all the diet books we’ve read and followed and discuss what we liked, learned from them, and why we don’t follow these particular diets any more.
Show #11 - This show contained the launch of the Fat 2 Fit Support group at Traineo.
Show #12 - In this special Christmas episode, we talk about the top 12 fitness gifts that you may not have received for the holidays, but you should buy for yourself.
Happy New Year!!!!
Gifts That Always Get Guys In Trouble!
As a man, I have learned that buying a non-traditional gift for a woman can be a potentially dangerous proposition fraught with unexpected misunderstandings.
For example, what if you don’t know the exact size of clothing that your female recipient wears? Is it worse to give some ‘intimate apparel’ that is too big or too small? If it is too big, you are in the doghouse because “you think she is THAT fat!”. If it is too small, you are in the doghouse because “you think she is fat and are trying to send her a message!”
Don’t even get me started on giving chocolates because you are either “trying to make her fat” or “being insensitive about her weight”.
What guys tend to do, is go for what we think are the safe stuff. You know, things that we might like as a gift and simply assume that a woman would like it too. Why wouldn’t anyone want the gift of fitness?
All guys imagine that women will appreciate a gym membership, some exercise clothes, a subscription to ‘Weight Watchers’ magazine, some aerobics videos, a big tub of protein powder, some dumbbells, an exercise ball or a Tony Little’s Gazelle!
The sad reality is, ANY gift that is fitness related for a woman, has the undertones that you think she is fat. For the men out there in the world, just accept the fact that women do not think anything like a man.
For the men, think of your shoes right now. You will easily have a clear picture of your two pairs. To see if you are on the same wavelength as the woman in your life ask her “which of your two pairs of shoes do you like the best?” - If you even considered asking her this, you should just accept the fact that you will never understand any female.
What is the ultimate gift that you don’t have to worry about giving to a woman? A diamond… well, I guess not, if it is too small and makes her fingers look fat.
On the next podcast of Fat 2 Fit Radio, we’ll discuss those gifts that people might just want to purchase for themselves.
Negative Calorie Foods - Fact or Fiction
You might have heard this one: It takes more calories to digest celery than you get from eating it.
Most things that seem too good to be true usually are - except this one. This is True. So let me explain why.
Humans cannot digest cellulose in plants, so vegetables and fruits with a high cellulose content are not efficiently digested. Think of a cows or horses that eat grass. They can thrive by eating grass, but as humans we would starve to death.
All foods have calories in them. An 8 inch celery stalk has about 6 calories that we can digest. When you subtract the amount of energy that our body takes to digest the celery, the net caloric effect may turn out to be nothing at all. This is why celery has turned out to be a dieter’s staple food.
By eating a sensible diet that includes several of the “negative calorie” foods, you can lower the net amount of calories that you are eating. As well, if you are eating a calorie reduced diet and are finding that you are not satisfied with the amount of food that you are eating, you can eat more of these “negative calorie” foods to add more bulk to your food, and this should help you feel a little fuller from your meals.
Keep in mind, in the same way that you can’t survive on grass, you can’t survive on just these foods alone. You still need to be eating other quality foods for the nutrients, minerals, vitamins and calories that your body needs.
Here is a list of some of the more common “negative calorie” foods.
Vegetables - asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage (green), carrots, cauliflower, celery, chicory, chili peppers, cucumbers, endive, garlic, lettuce, onions, papayas, spinach, turnip, and zucchini.
Fruits - apples, cranberries, grapefruit, lemons, mangos, oranges, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries, and tangerines.
I’m sure that I left some out. If you know some more, leave us a comment and let us know.
Another Diet Scam: Kimkins
If you’ve been listening to the show, then you know we’ve talked about diet scams quite a bit. They are a huge waste of money and time. But while most scams will take your money and give you nothing more than promises in return, the worst diet scams will harm you physically. This is apparently the case with the Kimkins diet.
The Kimkins diet showed up on my radar while cleaning out the garage for a yard sale. I turned on the television that I keep in there to see if it was still working. Up on the screen popped the Fox Morning show. Their topic was the Kimkins diet. They had on a couple of women that had been harmed by the diet, (Below I’ll list some of the side effects of this diet.) and a couple women that were advocates of the diet. So I hadn’t thought too much of it. There is always controversy regarding diets. I made a mental note to check out the Kimkins diet. When I did look into it a couple weeks later, boy was I surprised.
One of the next things I found was a video of a deposition of the founder of the Kimkins diet. She went by the name Kimmer on the web site and supposedly lost 198 lbs. in 11 months. Her actual name is Heidi Diaz, she hasn’t lost 198lbs. and in the video she confesses to forging testimonials and photographs on her web site kimkins.com.
What is the Kimkins diet? Well, I’m not joining, so from the information that I’ve read on other web sites and reviews of the diet, it’s loosely based on the induction phase of the Atkins diet. The induction phase has the dieter eat no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day to force the body into ketosis. Last week we talked about the Tony Furguson diet that works in the same manner as Atkins. However the Kimkins diet goes further by being an extremely low calorie diet. The lowest of the different plans would have you eat NO MORE THAN 500 CALORIES A DAY. People who’ve used the Kimkins diet complained of side effects like hair loss, heart palpitations, fainting, and confusion. Some women that have used this diet have even had their menstrual cycle stop. The Kimmer also apparently advocated the use of laxatives to aid in weight loss. The list of bad things that have happened to Kimkins dieters goes on, but there are still those that claim the diet works. If you eat 500 calories a day you will lose weight, but that lifestyle is not sustainable.
Today I visited the site and found a statement about the “Kimkins Controversy” which tries to explain away everything that was said on the video linked to above: Why she has hair loss, why she concealed her identity. At the same time she does come clean that she did NOT lost 198lbs in 11 months, but a new version of the truth is revealed. She now has supposedly lost 100lbs in 6 months, but she gained it all back. That says a lot about the sustainability of the Kimkins diet. You cannot live on 500 calories a day. This is substantially below any BMR, basal metabolic rate of any adult. Your body would be consumed from the inside out trying to keep you alive, and you may in fact fail.
There is no quick fix for weight loss. Any diet that you cannot maintain for the rest of your life, is not the answer. By all means, look for the diet that works best for your lifestyle, but when someone offers you a magic pill for weight loss, don’t walk, run the other way.
Here are some more great links about the Kimkins diet:
- Kimkins Dangers
- KTLA Coverage Part 1
- KTLA Coverage Part 2
- KTLA Coverage Part 3
- About.com:The Kimkins Diet Controversy
- Kimkins Survivors
- Kimkins: Anatomy of a Diet Scam
Supplements - The Diet Industry’s Dirty Little Secret
Like any industry out there, the goal of the Diet Industry is to make money. It is the perfect business to be in because of all the repeat business. Almost all diets fail because 95% of the successful dieters, put the weight back on within a few years. The only way to be truly successful with a diet is to NOT go on a diet, but go on a “lifestyle” change. Simply put, if you want to look like a slender person, eat and exercise like a slender person - you will eventually get there.
Over the last few years, the diet industry realized that they can make more money after selling a diet program, than they made from selling the diet program in the first place. They started making and selling their own diet supplements - everything from meal replacements, vitamins, nutrition bars, fiber supplements etc.
Take a look at the Atkins Diet. You can buy Atkins Vitamins and Atkins meal replacement bars. The same is even true for diets such as the Zone and South Beach diets. Even the regular “Diet Centres” such as Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig sell their own supplements and vitamins.
This is such a lucrative business that companies are now creating supplements and meal replacements and then creating the diet program in order to sell them.
The most well known diet that did this was “Body For Life” by Bill Phillips. Bill Phillips is the owner of the giant supplement company EAS which makes the meal replacement called Myoplex. It is no surprise that the suggested menus in this program all list 2 meals per day of Myoplex.
In almost every instance, it is better to eat “real food” instead of a meal replacement shake or bar. To digest real food, your body burns calories in the digestion process, so your net calories are lower than the actual calories that you just ate. This is great if you are concerned with losing weight, not to mention that real food isn’t as painful on your pocketbook!
Many of these diet programs that are based on a supplement product are not necessarily bad though. If the program suggests a balanced diet, there is nothing wrong with an occasional supplement product once and while. There is also nothing wrong with eating a sensible balanced meal instead of a suggested supplement and still have success on any program.
Unless you are planning to continue to take all of these extra supplements and meal replacement products for the rest of your life after you reach your goal, it would be wise not to become used-to or dependent on them for long term weight loss.
How Much Should I Weigh for Optimal Health?
In the 50’s, Insurance Companies began releasing height and weight charts for men and women which told you how much you should weigh depending on your height. These charts fell out of favor with the public because only a small segment of the population fit into their ideals. Similar charts are still used today by some physicians, sports teams and the military.
BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is the latest measure of what an ideal body weight should be. It is technically your weight (in kilograms) divided by your height (in meters) squared. There is no distinction between men and women. Here is an online BMI calculator from the NIH.
Here are the BMI categories:
- Underweight = <18.5
- Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
- Overweight = 25-29.9
- Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Don’t just rely on BMI and an indicator of your health and fitness because there are some major problems with BMI. First of all, there is no distinction between men and women. Men naturally have more muscle than women and are heavier. A man and a woman at the exact height and weight would have the same BMI, but the man could look very skinny and the woman quite overweight. Secondly, people with a high body fat composition and low weight, may seem healthy according to BMI, but they may be just as unhealthy as a much larger person.
The BMI is a good measure for looking at populations as a whole, because all physicians have height and weight data. For example, you can compare average Americans to Canadians to see which country on average is heavier. As an individual, we vary too much to have a “one size fits all” approach. However, if you are out in the extremes of BMI, either underweight or obese, it is obvious that you are in a poor health category.
So how much should you weigh? The bottom line is, it doesn’t really matter. Body fat percentage is the true measure of obesity, not weight.
The good news is that it is fairly easy to find out your own body fat. There are regular scales that can now tell you your weight and body fat on a daily basis, and their prices have come down quite a lot in that last couple of years. When you stand on the scale in your bare feet, a very small current goes up one leg and back down the other (You can’t feel it) to measure your body fat.
Body fat percentage is now considered the most important factor, because that is a fair measure for everybody. According to “Shape up America”, which is the former Surgeon General’s (Dr. Koop) anti obesity initiative, it issued an advisory stating that one’s body fat percentage is superior to the currently accepted body mass index (BMI), as a measure of healthy weight.
For more information and specific body fat percentage guidelines, here is the link to Shape Up America’s advisory against using BMI and rather to use body fat percentage.
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