Good carbs vs. Bad carbs

Carbohydrates are all the same, right?

Not quite.  Yes, all of our bodies eat food and metabolize food for energy but how our bodies metabolize the different foods can be very different.

In the past five years the reputation of carbohydrates has changed drastically. Carbs are now the feared food in a lot of diets.

Why do we need carbs?
In September 2002, the National Academies Institute of Medicine recommended that people focus on getting more good carbs with fiber into their diet. The following statements are based on information given in the report (www.goodcarbs.org):

• To meet the body's daily nutritional needs while minimizing risk for chronic disease, adults should get 45% to 65% of their calories from carbohydrates, 20% to 35% from fat, and 10% to 35% from protein.
• There is only one way to get fiber -- eat plant foods. Plants such as fruits and vegetables are quality carbohydrates that are loaded with fiber. Studies show an increased risk for heart disease with low-fiber diets. There is also some evidence to suggest that fiber in the diet may also help to prevent colon cancer and promote weight control.

Their recommendations:

• Men aged 50 or younger should get 38 grams of fiber a day.
• Women aged 50 or younger should get 25 grams of fiber a day.
• Because we need fewer calories and food as we get older, men over aged 50 should get 30 grams of fiber a day.
• Women over aged 50 should get 21 grams of fiber a day.

Think your getting enough fiber?


All about good carbs:
Most of us know what the good carbs are: plant foods that deliver fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals along with grams of carbohydrate, such as whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits. Certain types of fiber found in oats, beans, and some fruits can also help lower blood cholesterol.  Other good sugars are unprocessed or minimally processed whole foods that contain natural sugars, like fructose in fruit or lactose in milk.

The problem is that the typical American diet is really lacking "good carbs". 

How to get more "Good Carbs":

• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, 9-11 servings a day is recommended
• Include some beans and bean products in your diet
• Instead of regular pasta try brown rice and quinoa pastas

All about bad carbs:

• Sugars
• “Added” sugars
• Refined “white” grains

Americans are eating more sugar than ever before. In fact, the average adult takes in about 20 teaspoons of added sugar every day, according to the USDA’s recent nationwide food consumption survey (www.webmd.com). That’s about 320 calories, which can quickly up to extra pounds. Many adults simply don’t realize how much added sugar is in their diets.

Another thing to know is that most "low fat" or "reduced fat" products have sugar being substituted for fat, so its essentially trading fat for sugar.
The USDA (www.usda.gov) recommends that we get no more than 6% to 10% of our total calories from added sugar, that’s about nine teaspoons a day for most of us.

Here are the "Bad Carbs" to avoid:

• soda, pop, juice
• white bread, bagels, muffins, wraps
• white rice
• candy
• cake
• alcohol
• high fructose corn syrup

Here are a few example days that contain good carbs.

Here is a list of foods that are good carbs:

Good luck on your journey with good carbs!

 

All about food!

A lot of you made new years resolutions 22 days ago to eat better, workout more or to just be healthy.  Here are some general tips we have for you to keep those resolutions up in regards to nutrition.  There are also some great recipes and sample food days below.

• Timing! You have to plan your days.  Make larger dinners at night so you can take leftovers for lunch the next day.
• All Carbohydrates are not the same. (brown vs white rice, cereal vs oatmeal) Be wise when you are choosing your carbs.
• Breakfast, the most important meal of the day.  Always start your day with breakfast and make sure it includes protein.
• Protein, protein, protein (at every meal, all throughout the day) It will help you feel full and also help your body repair.
• Good fats, good fats, good fats (because something is low-fat dose not make it healthy)
• The rainbow (try to eat foods from all the colors of the rainbow, everyday)
• Supplements, there are a lot of them out there.  Make sure to look for quality reliable companies.
• Most people will benefit from:
• Protein powder
• Fish oil
• Multi Vitamin
• Probiotic
• Water, H2O, Aqua, no matter what you call it, make sure your urine is light yellow to clear all day.
• Olive oil makes a great dressing without a lot of work.
• Use brown rice or quinoa pasta for spaghetti, soups and other dishes.
• Have large cups of water with lemon or lime for dinner if you want more taste.
• Sea salt is a great seasoning.
• When cooking at high temps use coconut oil.
• Stir fry is a great way to get protein and vegetables in that will not take a lot of time.
• Keep healthy snacks with you at all times so you are not tempted by bad decisions when you are out.

Here are some examples of healthy and great tasting food days:

 1.

• Egg white omelet with vegetables, side of fruit
• Protein shake 
• Tuna with olive oil mayo, celery, lettuce, tomato and pickle
• jerky
• grilled salmon with vegetables and quinoa

2.

• Oatmeal with side of deli meat
• peanut butter and celery
• lemon pepper grilled chicken breast, fruit and vegetables
• Protein shake
• grilled red meat, brown rice and vegetables

3.

• full egg omelet and side of fruit
• almonds
• Salad of sliced ham, spinach, tomatoes, slivered almonds, olive oil
• grilled peppers
• lean pork, black rice and vegetables

4.

• oatmeal with walnuts and flax seed
• banana and peanut butter
• lettuce wrap of turkey, sprouts, tomatoes
• larabar or Kit bar
• broiled tilapia, vegetables and sweet potato fries

Here are some other websites with ideas, recipes and more to help you live a healthy life!
www.gf-blog.com
www.healthylivinghowto.com
www.mayoclinic.com/health

The MOG in the News

Did you read about our MOG a couple of weeks ago?

If so here is a great piece done on a MOG in Maine:

WPFO FOX 23 | Maine, Local, News, Entertainment, ME

They are doing great work with regular MOG members, medical members and the community.


As a reminder the MOG at OSR is our new option for fitness.  It is a great way to reach goals, make new ones, help recover from injury and get started making healthier choices.

 For more information or questions regarding the MOG at OSR Physical Therapy please contact Stephanie at Stephanie.Winters@osrpt.com or 952-873-7400

Post Cancer Fatigue: Look to Exercise For Answers!

Research is showing that exercise is the most effective method at managing fatigue in cancer survivors. See this video by Dr. Anna Schwartz, an international expert on the topic.

 

Do you want to get started on your road to improvement with a staff educated and dedicated to working with medical conditions? OSR Physical Therapy in Eden Prairie, MN can help through the MOG, More than and Ordinary Gym. See this link for more information or contact Stephanie at Stephanie.winters@osrpt.com.

Should I journal my food intake?

This is the time of year everyone is trying to eat better and lose weight.  Have you been thinking about keeping a food journal and wondering if you should? 

Here are my top reasons as to why you should journal your food and some quick resources to do so:

1. Food Journals build an awareness of eating patterns and food choices

2. Improves Accountability

3. Helps you eat with a purpose

4. It can be as easy as using a pen and paper or as complex as an online website/phone app, I like picture journals.  Take a picture of all your meal throughout the day and then reflect on them that evening.

5. You will get success if your honest with yourself 

6. Makes it easier to know how you feel after eating certain foods

7. I have experienced that people eat less since they are having to keep track of everything and don't want to write that they ate that 3rd cookie


Websites I have used to journal food: 
Fatsecret.com - they also have an app 
Myfitnesspal.com - they also have an app 
Livestrong.com - they also have an app


Good Luck!

Rewarding Goal Achievement

What are your goals for 2013?

Some of our last few articles have talked about determining your vision and how to set SMART goals for 2013. Many times, achieving goals requires a behavior change. Behavior change often requires feedback.

Here is an example of one way to provide yourself feedback on whether you are achieving your goals.

What you need:

1. A container to put small objects in. This is your GOALS feedback jar.
2. A set of color coded objects such as sticky tabs, marbles, different types of coins, etc.
3. A list of a few goals.

Here's how it works:

1. Pick key behaviors that lead to a few of your goals.
2. Assign each behavior a specific color or object.
3. At the end of the day, see which behaviors you performed well. For each behavior you performed well, put the appropriate object in the jar.
4. Set goals for yourself on how many objects you would like in the jar each week.

Here's an example:
I will use color-coded sticky tabs to represent each behavior.

Here are sample key behaviors to change, along with their colors:

• Pink = Sleep 8 hours each night. I know I have one really busy day/night, so my goal this week is achieving this 6 out of 7 days. At the end of the week, I want 6 pink tabs in the jar.


• Blue = Drink 8 glasses of water/day. At the end of the week, I want 7 blue tabs in the jar.


• Yellow = Take 15 min each day to review my plans & key items due for the week/upcoming days. At the end of the week, I want 7 yellow tabs in the jar.


• Green = Eat 5 servings of vegetables/day. I'm not sure I'm ready to commit fully to this yet, so my first goal is to have 3 tabs in the jar by the end of the week. This will indicate that I met my goal 3 of 7 days this week.


• Red = Spend 30 min/day giving 100% of my attention to family & pets. At the end of the week, I want 7 red tabs in the jar.

Each night, I put a colored tab in the jar for each behavior I fully accomplished. At the end of the week I count them up and see how close I am to my goals. I adjust how many tabs I want to accumulate in the upcoming week to keep my behaviors and goals realistic. Repeat this process until the new behavior is a habit.

With our upcoming fitness and health challenge, now is a great time to give this process a try! 

You can use this process, or another similar one to modify any behavior or work toward most goals. What are your goals? What behaviors do you want to change? What methods of feedback and/or rewards do you find to work well? Share your ideas with us in a post!

OSR Physical Therapy is now part of the M.O.G.

OSR Physical Therapy is now a part of the M.O.G. (medically oriented gym)

The M.O.G. is Nationally recognized organization for their expertise in combining rehabilitation services with medical fitness programming.  The M.O.G. is a full service Health and Fitness Club that provides evidenced based fitness programs for not only the healthy motivated population but also the medically compromised members of their community.

For more information on the M.O.G., a free week pass or if you want to sign up please contact Stephanie at Stephanie.Winters@osrpt.com or at 952-873-7400

January Health Challenge

It is that time of year again!  New Year resolutions are in full swing!

How about you stick to that resolution this year of eating better and getting active with our January Challenge!

2013 January Challenge

Details:

1. It is free
2. There are prizes for most % of body comp lost
3. It will be over in time for your Valentines day decisions
4. We will be pushing more of a maintenance phase this time when its over so you are really ready for those spring break vacations
5. You will have support from OSR and all the others competing with us!

Recommendations:

1. Drink 80oz of water per day
2. Eat at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day
3. Eat protein at each meal
4. Completely avoid processed and fried foods
5. Avoid gluten, high fructose corn syrup and trans fats
6. Workout at least 3 times per week
7. Take a fish oil or similar supplement daily
8. Limit alcohol to 1 drink per week
9. Limit dairy to 1 time per day
10. Stick to these recommendations at least 80% of the time.  The closer to 100% you are the better the results you will have.

Initial measurements start 1/7 and all final measurements must be completed by 2/16.

If you want to join us let me know so we can set up your initial measurement time for next week.  I will also supply you with a food list and other helpful info!

If you have friends, family or co-workers that also want to join they are welcome.  You will be more successful with support.

For more motivation and help "like" our Facebook pages or follow us on twitter:
www.facebook.com/osrptep
www.facebook.com/osrptchan
twitter.com/osrptmn

Creating a 2013 Vision

Our last post discussed some areas you may want to focus on for 2013, as well as the basics of SMART goal setting. Have you ever considered creating a 2013 Commitment board? It visually represents what you will commit to for 2013. Place it somewhere in your home where you can review it daily or weekly.

Here are the steps to creating your own!

1. Gather items you need:

• Presentation board (less than $4 at Target and similar retailers)
• Sticky Notes
• Computer/Printer or other method of creating headings
• Tape or glue
• Pen or markers

2. Decide on topics that you want to commit to growing in 2013. This image of the 6 Dimensions of Wellness provides a great starting point:

3. Use the sticky notes to write down whatever comes to mind. Put the sticky note under the appropriate category on your board.

4. Fine tune your board.

• Did you write down several tasks? If so, do you want to subgroup them under a common outcome or goal?
• Did you write down several outcomes? If so, do you want to add sticky notes that have supporting tasks on them?
• Do your sticky notes have deadlines? For example, is this a weekly task to be done on Sundays? Is this a goal with multiple parts that you want to accomplish by the end of first quarter? Consider adding time frames.
• Consider refining some of your notes to become SMART goals. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Action-Oriented, Realistic, Time-Sensitive). 
• You don't need a full business plan on your board, however, you might want to make reference to reviewing a separate business plan quarterly for example. 
• Share your board with someone who will keep you accountable.

5. Review your board daily or weekly. The sticky notes allow for a flexible structure that you can alter as your year changes. Here are some changes you might make:

• Move sticky notes up or down based on priority
• Take sticky notes off if you changed your mind about a goal or task
• Add sticky notes to work toward new goals
• Change due dates on tasks/goals

This also makes a great activity to do as a family or with a spouse! It can come in many formats, from a notebook to a computer document.  Give it a try and see what you want to commit to for 2013! Feel free to share what works for you and what doesn't, as there are so many options!