That's Fit

I have not stepped foot in a Sam's Club wholesale food warehouse in at least three years. We don't have much shelf space for 30 rolls of toilet paper. But when a neighbor called today and invited me along on her Sam's Club adventure, curiosity bit.

Beyond the row of plasma TVs awaiting the eyes of entering customers -- the cheapest was $999, there goes half the tax stimulus -- everything appeared the same. I was already facing the fact a trip to Sam's Club meant walking in with money and walking out with no money and a cart piled with junk food. Today proved me wrong.

Here are the heart-healthier items I picked up at Sam's. Food I felt proud to buy for my family:

• A bag of frozen tilapia fillets. Physically I feel like a winner when I eat grilled or baked fish.
• A double box of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal -- I was excited to see Kashi products at Sam's!
• 34 Go-Gurts which will probably last the kids a month.
• A plastic barrel of Snyder Snap pretzels -- we can use that barrel for arts and crafts post-snacking.
• Parmesan-encrusted chicken breasts -- higher in fat than I prefer (9 g per breast), but not bad if served up with a double portion of fresh veggies or a salad.
• One 48 oz whoppin' bag of trail mix -- 10 g of fat per serving is high, but a preferred snack over that big box of chocolatey granola bars I nearly pulled the trigger on.

Warehouse shopping is not as scary as I remember, just stick to the healthier items and try and avoid the pastry creme puff sample lady if at all possible. If you can't resist, pop the puff in whole or the creme will squirt on your shirt. Just ask my neighbor. Also, don't miss AOL Body's Diet Basics to learn a few nutritional tips. Armed with healthy diet information, march on over and join AOL Body's America Takes It Off weight loss challenge today!

Arthritis impacts 27 percent of the general population, but people with diabetes are even more at risk. Fifty-two percent of diabetics have arthritis -- about twice the rate of the general population.

Using approximately 800,000 phone surveys collected between 2005-2007, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report the evidence does not suggest diabetes and arthritis are causal of one another, but both conditions do share key risk factors such as obesity. Surprisingly, both young and old diabetics were just as likely to have high rates of arthritis. While exercise can help regulate blood glucose levels in diabetics and relieve arthritic joint pain, CDC researchers learned about 30 percent of adults with diabetes and arthritis are inactive -- a real conundrum. This is significantly higher than those inactive with a single condition -- 21 percent of people with diabetes alone and 17 percent of people with solely arthritis.

As a fan of everything fitness, and as a sister and daughter of two brothers and both parents with type 1 diabetes, this new study is concerning. Arthritis can prove a major barrier to regular exercise. However it's not all bad news -- there are specific exercise programs/protocols designed to benefit people with arthritis. A couple years ago I wrote a non-profit grant application highlighting spectacular participant results thanks to an arthritis swim program at a local YMCA in my area. Stay tuned for a more comprehensive report on the general exercise philosophy for arthritis sufferers in a future post. Here's a link to order an informative Arthritis and Diabetes publication (pictured) available through the Arthritis Foundation.

What came first, the chicken or the egg? A question for the ages, or at least until everyone agrees that they don't care. But while scientists and lay people alike wrestle with this life cycle conundrum, we'll step aside and focus on a different question: Which is healthier?

All things considered, I feel the chicken is the clear winner of this battle. And, a recent piece in Maximum Fitness magazine on the health benefits of a five-ounce piece of skinless chicken helps support my decision. Here's the nutrient rap sheet on what a piece of chicken provides:

• 67 percent of RDA of protein, promoting muscle growth and the maintenance of muscle tissue
• 72 percent of RDA of niacin, which helps convert food into energy
• 32 percent of RDA of vitamin B6, an essential vitamin for forming hemoglobin for red blood cells
• 40 percent of RDA of selenium, an antioxidant which also prevents injuries to cells
• 8 percent of RDA of magnesium, which is necessary for the proper conversion of food to energy
• 7 percent of RDA of iron, which enables hemoglobin to carry oxygen to all body cells

How long does it take McDonald's to make a hamburger? My guess is around 30 or 40 seconds. How long does it take to make a healthy meal at home? Much longer, right? Not quite, says Keri Glassman, registered dietitian and part of the Women's Health magazine team. Glassman suggests the following ten easy food flips to help you prepare healthier meals in a jiffy.

1. SWAP THE MAYO (or the sour cream). Instead use nonfat Greek yogurt as a much healthier, low-fat substitution. In addition to being much lighter in the calorie department, nonfat Greek yogurt is high in protein, calcium, and also contains digestion-aiding probiotics.

2. PUREE. Freeze your favorite fruits and vegetables and then days or even months later you can puree them in large batches. In a matter of seconds you can have a healthy and tasty snack. For kids, Glassman suggests purchasing the containers that ice cream manufacturers usually use to make push-pops and filling it with a fruit puree.

3. INCREASE VOLUME. Make your meals bigger without adding any calories. Trust me, it's easier than it sounds. For some easy ways to do this, click here.

4. GO FOR CHICKEN STOCK. Using the low-sodium version, add chicken stock to mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower instead of butter or cream. You can also use chicken stock when you steam vegetables for added flavor rather than using butter or oil.

5. CONDIMENTS. Steer clear of those high in fat and sugar and instead opt for herbs, spices, and even low-sodium soy sauce, lemon juice, brown mustard, vinegars, and salsa.

• Olive oil

• Sunflower seeds

• Almonds

• Avocado

• Dark or semi-sweet chocolate

• Flaxseed oil

• Macadamia nuts

• Natural peanut butter

• Pistachios

• Walnuts
  
  

It's all about the beer. So say that ads, anyway. And, there's no harm in cracking open a cold one once and a while, so long as you're not drinking them with near abandon.

This also applies for those so-called "healthy" beers. You know, the Michelob Ultras and other brands that feature very fit people exercising in their ads, as if the beer was a sports drink. While it is true that these beers tend to have less calories (thereby making them the better choice in that department), drink a six pack a night and you're guaranteed to look nothing at all like the men and women pictured in the ads.

Simply put, one Michelob Ultra = 95 calories. A six-pack of Michelob Ultra = 570 calories. Considering that the FDA recommends a daily caloric intake of around 2,000, you will have less than 1,500 to spare after your "healthy" beer binge.

It's no wonder we're always hearing horror stories about young women starving themselves in efforts to look like so many emaciated celebrities -- our minds seem to actually be complicit in that health crime.

A new study in the American Journal of Public Health sheds some interesting light on self-image and how our perceived health plays a role in our actual health. Researchers surveyed over 150,000 adults to answer questions about their current weight, their ideal weight, and how often they felt unhealthy. Researchers found that the less happy people were with their size, the less healthy they felt -- irrespective of how much they actually weighed.

So, it would seem that thinking you're out of shape can actually play a role in feeling out of shape, even if you're weight tells a different tale. You may not look like this person or that person, but that doesn't mean that you're too fat or too skinny or too anything. Listen to the people around you -- and not the glamorized, celebrity-obsessed media -- when they tell you that you look great, because chances are you do.

Losing weight is tough enough, but keeping it off -- now that can be really tough. Statistics show that 90-95 percent of overweight people who lose weight will regain it all (and in some cases, even more) within five years.

So, what's a person to do to stay slim? Work out harder, say researchers from Brown University. This may seem like a no-brainer at first, but what their study found was that duration during exercise does not matter as much as intensity when it comes to maintaining weight loss over time.

The good news is that you won't have to spend as long in the gym; the data shows that around 25 minutes per day is perfect. The bad news is that you won't be spending long, leisurely walks while reading a book on the treadmill anymore, because you're going to have to kick your workout into high gear.

That's what Credit Suisse restaurant analyst Keith Siegner did for all of April 2008 and somehow managed to lose five pounds. Yep, that's right, he only ate at fast-food chains like McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway and Domino's for 30 days straight. But unlike Morgan Spurlock, of 'Super Size Me' fame, he actually lost weight.

This week I've been sampling Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt, and I absolutely love it. Before I go any further though, let me tell you how I feel about yogurt. I like it, but only if I feel like I'm getting a high in calcium, low in sugar, legitimately fruit-filled snack. Now, there is always yogurt stacked up in my fridge, because I have two little children. But, rarely do I even open up a cup for myself. Not that I would ever buy my babies anything "bad"... cause I don't. But I regularly expect perfection of the things I put in my mouth. I'm simply not willing to waste 100 calories on a teeny cup of yogurt. I'd rather have two big pieces of fruit.

So! I was thrilled instantly by the calorie count on Dannon's new Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt. Each cup boasts only 50 or 60 calories, depending on the flavor. That I can do! The fruity varieties are also full of real fruit chunks. Fresh and healthy fruit chunks, not the icky stuff dumped in from a can. On top of all that, each flavor has proven to be delicious to both my children and me, and then a few of my personal training clients as well.

Before you go give Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt a try, I encourage you to do a side-by-side comparison of it's nutritional content versus that of other yogurts. I did this a few days ago and couldn't find anything as good. This is the type of thing you want to put in your fridge if you're trying to lose weight. It's a great fix for your sweet tooth, while providing a decent amount of protein, calcium, vitamin D and other important nutrients.