Food Attack! How to keep the weight off for good

Did you know that eating animal protein is as harmful to your health as carbohydrates (sugar, potatoes, bread)?
Did your parents tell you that dairy products and cheese are 'good for you'? They are not!
Did you know that you increase your risk of cancer by eating animal protein whether it is red meat, white meat, chicken or fish?
Do you know that adding raw fruit (not blended) and nuts to what you are already eating, you can lose weight and reduce your cholesterol?
Have you bought into the myth that Olive oil is healthy oil, meanwhile it is making you sick and helping to hold onto weight?
These facts and  many others can be found in an amazing book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman called "Eat to Live". I strongly suggest you read it as soon as possible.

In the meantime, weight loss is on everyone's New Year's resolution list so here are some tips to help you lose weight and keep it off:

Throw away butter and margarine (solid oils), only eat the amount of these that you are comfortable depositing in your arteries because that is where it is going as soon as it leaves your mouth. The more solid it is at room temperature the more it will deposit in your arteries.

Do not buy things you know you don't want to eat. If it isn't in the house you probably won't eat it.

Limit animal protein to no more than 3 days a week, this includes chicken, fish and pork.

Start every evening meal with a massive salad and then eat whatever you want afterwards until you feel full.

Eat a handful of nuts and beans daily.

Do not snack.

Eat 3 to 4 fruits a day as raw fruit. Do not drink your fruit!

 Do at least 5 to 10 minutes of exercise  of some sort every 2 hours.

Try this for 6 weeks and see what happens to your weight and cholesterol.

If you need to do the weight reduction program for 6 weeks to lose 20 to 40 pounds as a jump start please call the office. There is a 5% discount until February.

Roses don't put weight on you :)

Happy Valentines! Its so hard that Valentine's day comes right after all those New Year's resolutions to lose weight :(
The good news is that receiving roses doesn't put weight on you so the whole day doesn't have to be a bust.
Still, its nice to be able to navigate the other traditions of the day without gaining 5 pounds.

When did 'love' get so caught up in 'sweets'? So long as it is heart shaped you can feel loved and cared for by consuming it. ....But then there's tomorrow.

A lot of people ask me how I maintain my weight and I tell them honestly, my first rule of thumb is not to gain weight in the first place. That sounds a little trite but it is so much harder to lose weight than to gain it. Therefore, we have to take that into consideration in the first place.

I may not do all the things I preach but once I see the scale go up by 5 pounds I don't make any excuses, I adjust my activities to make sure it comes off and I can return to baseline.

I think it is easy to allow your weight to keep creeping up with a variety of excuses "it's the holidays", "It's cold outside", "when I retire/start my new job/join the gym, I will start working on my weight " and then you look around and your weight has crept up 15 pounds.

Sometimes when your weight reaches a certain level you get discouraged and think "what's the point I'm always going to be overweight!" Now, you have an excuse for not even trying. But remember rule number one is NOT to put the weight on in the first place.

 A patient of mine the other day who was 199 pounds said she just didn't know what to do, so she would just do nothing. I told her that if she continued to gain when she hit 220, all of a sudden 199 would look mighty good to her!

Whatever your weight is, it is worth starting where you are.  Even if you don't lose weight but have not gained you are still ahead of where you would have been if you didn't try. So its always worth it to make the effort even when it doesn't seem like it.
Keep rule number one rolling around in your head as you take a pinch of those Valentine candies or better yet just smell the roses!
have a happy and healthy Valentines Day!

HOW TO GET MORE SLEEP

Getting more sleep

Here are some tips on how to get better sleep: #1 Make it a priority Allow time for 7 to 9 hours of sleep Exercise regularly (no less than 4 hours before bedtime) Avoid caffeine in the PM and alcohol within 2 hours of sleep Warm bath before bed Sleepytime and other teas Manage stress Watch diet Make your bedroom quiet both noise wise and activity wise Only use the bed for sex and sleep: don’t use it for eating, reading, watching television, studying, work, hobbies Remove clutter Sleep alone, no pets, children, other Try Yoga and Acupuncture TRY HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS: Clinical Sleep, Melatonin, Holy basil, Passion Flower Lower lights change the bulbs outside the door if necessary Keep a regular sleep schedule • Go to bed and get up around the same time • Limit naps Limit stimulating behaviors before bedtime • Limit caffeine after 2 pm • Limit alcohol after dinner • Limit large or spicy meals • Limit vigorous exercise 4-6 hours before bed – De-stress, learn relaxation techniques – Physical and mental – Maintain a regular physical activity routine – Physical activity helps with stress – Do not go to bed hungry or full – Light snack of carbohydrates and foods with tryptophan – Practice stimulus control: – Go to bed when you are drowsy – If you don’t fall asleep within 10-15 minutes • Get up, leave the bedroom • Read or watch something dull • Make your room and bed comfortable • No pets on/in the bed • Temperature Cool • Lighting low, expose yourself to bright lights during day • Bed, sheets, PJ’s comfortable and not binding • – Treat the underlying problem, with menopause that is the hormonal imbalance (estrogen deficiency) Treat medical conditions like restless legs, sleep apnea and obesity • Obstructive Sleep Apnea treatment options include: – Mouth appliance – Surgery-tonsils and/or adenoids – Weight reduction if obese – CPAP-Continuous positive airway pressure

Originally Published by Dr. Tuakli April 25th 2016

Lack of sleep can kill you!

Lack of sleep can kill you!

I gave a talk on Sex, Sanity and Sleep yesterday and wanted to share some of the amazing information I found out about sleep. Sleep is one of those wonderful things that we take for granted but it can increase not just the quality of your life but the QUANTITY of it too! One extra hour of sleep a day can decrease your mortality by 50%. Do you forgo leisure and sexual activities and sacrifice exercise because you are "too tired", gulping down caffeine to keep up. Stop! Besides making you tired,lack of sleep severely impacts your health. One in five auto accidents involves drowsy driving. Lack of sleep increases your blood pressure, your tendency to diabetes, arthritis, weight gain,heart disease and premature aging.When you are sleep deprived you are cranky and your decision making skills are reduced which affects your social relationships among other things.Improved sleep improves your thyroid function and immunity which controls your ability to fight off infections and cancer. So insomnia is no joke! Make sleep a priority. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog: It takes great sleep to make a great life. Check out that blog for tips on how to get better sleep and if that's not working, seek help.