We’re here today to suggest, on the cusp of the eating season, that now’s exactly the time to start living healthier. And that typically means two things:

• Moving more
• Eating better

We’re about to introduce a program for moving more through the holidays. We’re still working out the details, but should be ready to share details next week. Keep an eye out.

Meanwhile, we came across the following blog from five years ago about not letting the holiday feeding season get the best of you. Six simple, easy-to-follow suggestions from Shelly Wegman, a registered dietician with Rex Nutrition Center in Raleigh. You can still enjoy the holidays — and you won’t wake up January 1 with a 10-pound holiday hangover.

Toward that end, Wegman suggests:

Keep a food journal. “Writing it down makes you aware of what you are eating,” Wegman says. If you religiously document your intake, it will help you realize not only how much your are eating but you’ll also be better able to make the connection, say, between all the sugary, fatty stuff you ate and why, a little while later, you felt so sluggish and sleepy.

Think seasonal, think fresh. You don’t have to sacrifice your taste buds to survive the holidays, says Robert Brener, longtime chef and associate professor in the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University’s Charlotte campus. “Healthier options are readily available for the holidays,” he says. “I suggest trying to remain seasonal in your vegetable choices. Winter greens are plentiful this time of year: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, turnip, mustard, collard and carrot greens are all packed with nutrients and can be flavored with onion, garlic or even smoked lean meats like chicken or turkey.”

Watch what you drink. “Sugary beverages are where a lot of people get into trouble,” Wegman says. Be especially vigilant when it comes to holiday punches, often saturated with sugars, sodas and juices, and alcohol. “Watch for anything with an umbrella in it,” she cautions, and keep an eye on serving size. “The typical portion size of a glass of wine is five or six ounces; it can be twice that over the holidays.” Want a good holiday drink that makes you appear festive yet keeps you light on your feet? Try soda water with lime.

Use healthy substitutes. Do those lemon bars you’re baking for the office party really need a cup of butter? Probably not, Brener says. “Excellent substitutions for butter and oil include sour cream, apple sauce and fat-free buttermilk. Often these items are used because they provide the moisture, enrichment, binding and texture that fats provide.”

Eat visually First, when you’re at a holiday party, use the smallest plate you can find – our tendency is to fill it to capacity, Wegman notes. Next, she adds, fill that small plate this way: half with veggies (easy on the dips), a quarter with lean protein (salmon, tofu, chicken breast), a quarter with a whole grain starch (whole grain crackers) and fruit. And don’t be afraid to top off with a (that’s one) holiday treat. “Good nutrition is about moderation. You can enjoy all foods, just do it in the right portions.”

Remember breakfast. Especially during the holidays, it’s the most important meal of the day. If you start the morning with a couple of doughnuts or a big bagel, you’ll have trouble recovering for the rest of the day. Get a good balance of protein and carbohydrates, advises Wegman. High on her breakfast list: Greek-style yogurt, spinach and veggie omelet, cottage cheese and fruit, cheese toast.

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I wrote the following for The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer; it originally appeared in both newspapers on Tuesday, July 2.

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We’ll spend the first few weeks of 2013 looking at issues of particular relevance to many of you as the new year unfolds. Today, the first working day of the year, we start our Happy, Healthy New Year — heretofore shorthanded to HHNY — segments with what’s likely at the top of most of your lists: losing weight. I originally wrote the following for the Charlotte Observer, where it appeared last month. Click on each section entry for more information.

You want to lose 25 pounds and live a healthier lifestyle, but do you know why?

If the reason is simply because you think you should, then your resolve to lose weight in 2013 is already in deep trouble.

“It’s all about determining goals,” says Julianna P. Canfield, director of fitness for YWCA Central Carolinas. “Why do you want a healthier lifestyle? Is if for an upcoming trip? That’s good, but what is your next goal?” To keep pace with your kids? To not fit into your pants like sausage into casing? Your goals, she says, need to be specific and sustainable.

“It needs to become a behavior,” adds Dr. John Tomcho with the Carolinas Weight Management & Wellness Center in Charlotte. “It need to be something you can embrace, something you can picture yourself doing 10 years from now.”

And, your goal needs to be realistic.

“Some people think they should get back to the weight they were at 21,” says Tomcho. “But even reducing your weight by 10 or 15 percent, you’ll see a lot of health benefits.”

Now that we’ve got the big picture out of the way, what other advice do Canfield and Tomcho have for dropping weight — and keeping it off — in the new year?

Avoid fad diets. “Take a balanced approach to your diet,” says Tomcho. Diets that eliminate all  carbs or fats may result in short-term weight loss but aren’t sustainable, says Tomcho. While that balance varies from person to person, you should shoot for 30 percent of your diet to be protein (which will make you feel full longer), 45-50 percent should be from healthy carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables and whole grains), and 15-20 percent from unsaturated fats (nuts, avocados, fish, certain oils).

Avoid sugary drinks. Fruit drinks, sodas, sweet tea all can quickly pile on the calories. “Switch to flavored water, with or without bubbles,” suggests Tomcho.

Pace your weight loss. You may want to lose weight as quickly as possible but losing too much too quickly can be unhealthy. A general rule of thumb, endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is to lose no more than two pounds per week.
Be accountable. When it comes to New Years’ resolutions, Canfield says, “People are all gung-ho in January, then fizzle.” You’re less likely to fizzle, studies have found, if you’ve shared your goals with others. To that end, the YWCA will launch a program in February that will match people by age, the time they like to work out, the exercises they like to do, among other things. Then, says Canfield, they’ll be encouraged to workout together and keep in touch to monitor one another’s progress.

Keep a journal. “Studies have shown that an important factor in watching your diet is journaling,” says Tomcho. Recording what you eat, in particular, makes you conscious of exactly how much you’re eating and how many calories you’re consuming. Also record your activities and how you’re feeling. The latter can help you in figuring out better ways to …

… deal with stress. When we get stressed we have a tendency to eat. A lot, and typically not healthy foods. Not a good response, says Tomcho. Rather, he suggest you first figure out what stresses you then try to avoid it. Since that’s not always possible (unless, say, you can stop going to work or battling rush-hour traffic) figure out another way to deal with the stress. “Go for a walk, write in your journal, talk to a friend,” says Tomcho. “Anything to keep you from eating.”

Get active. Moving is key, say both Tomcho and Canfield. However, a lot of people think that once they start exercising they can eat anything. “Most people really don’t burn a lot of calories exercising,” says Tomcho, especially when they’re first starting out. But being and staying active is vital toward establishing healthy, long-term habits. Plus, exercising releases endorphins which can help you deal with the stress that causes you to eat in the first place.

Mix it up. Part of the February fizzle Canfield referred to results from people becoming bored with doing the same exercise over and over. Not only do you get bored but your body gets used to the routine and becomes more efficient at performing the exercise; as a result, you burn fewer calories. To combat the double whammy of boredom, for instance, the YWCA, for instance, offers an 11-week Winter Boot Camp in which no two workouts are the same.

Don’t deprive yourself. If you grew up in a house where your mom was constantly surviving on cottage cheese and grapefruit, you’re likely of a mind that healthy eating is boring eating. Not so, says Canfield. One of the YWCA’s programs aimed at New Year’s Resolutioners, New Year, New You, includes a grocery store tour and a cooking class conducted by a local business specializing in vegetarian and vegan dishes.

“You’re going through a healthy lifestyle change,” says Canfield. “The key is to do things in moderation.” Of that piece of cake or slice of pie, she advises, “You can have it as long as you’re paring it with with good diet and exercise.”

* * *

More info

• For more information on the healthy living classes offered through the YWCA of the Carolinas, go here.
• For information on recommended dietary guidelines, check out the USDA’s Food Pyramid here.
• For an overview of healthy weight loss, check out what the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has to say on the subject:

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I wrote the following story for the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh. It appeared in both papers on Nov. 20,2012, it reappears here with helpful (and occasionally entertaining) links.

If it feels like there’s a conspiracy afoot to make you gain weight over the holidays, well, you may just be right. Sadly, there’s science to prove it.

Research has found that foods high in fats – including holiday favorites such as cookies, pastries and muffins — raise our levels of serotonin, the body’s so-called “feel-good” chemical. During times of stress (the holidays) that chemical can seem in short supply, hence the tendency to prescribe an extra piece or two of pecan pie. And when we get stressed, the body releases extra cortisol, a hormone shown to increase our appetite – especially for foods laden with sugar and fat.

Care to hear the latest on neuropeptide Y? We didn’t think so.

So yes, biochemically speaking, the deck is stacked against you come the stress-filled bacchanalia that approaches. Which isn’t to say there isn’t hope.

“You need an attitude change over the holidays,” says Shelly Wegman, a registered dietician with Rex Wellness Center in Raleigh. “You need to honor your hunger, you need to slow down and savor your food, you need to think about food as fuel to feed the body for the life you want to live.”

To that end, these suggestions:

• Keep a food journal. “Writing it down makes you aware of what you are eating,” Wegman says. If you religiously document your intake, it will help you realize not only how much your are eating but you’ll also be better able to make the connection, say, between all the sugary, fatty stuff you ate and why, a little while later, you felt so sluggish and sleepy.
• Think seasonal, think fresh. You don’t have to sacrifice your taste buds to survive the holidays, says Robert Brener, longtime chef and associate professor in the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University’s Charlotte campus. “Healthier options are readily available for the holidays,” he says. “I suggest trying to remain seasonal in your vegetable choices. Winter greens are plentiful this time of year: brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, turnip, mustard, collard and carrot greens are all packed with nutrients and can be flavored with onion, garlic or even smoked lean meats like chicken or turkey.”
• Watch what you drink. “Sugary beverages are where a lot of people get into trouble,” Wegman says. Be especially vigilant when it comes to holiday punches, often saturated with sugars, sodas and juices, and alcohol. “Watch for anything with an umbrella in it,” she cautions, and keep an eye on serving size. “The typical portion size of a glass of wine is five or six ounces; it can be twice that over the holidays.” Want a good holiday drink that makes you appear festive yet keeps you light on your feet? Try soda water with lime.
• Use healthy substitutes. Do those lemon bars you’re baking for the office party really need a cup of butter? Probably not, Brener says. “Excellent substitutions for butter and oil include sour cream, apple sauce and fat-free buttermilk. Often these items are used because they provide the moisture, enrichment, binding and texture that fats provide.”
• Eat visually First, when you’re at a holiday party, use the smallest plate you can find – our tendency is to fill it to capacity, Wegman notes. Next, she adds, fill that small plate this way: half with veggies (easy on the dips), a quarter with lean protein (salmon, tofu, chicken breast), a quarter with a whole grain starch (whole grain crackers) and fruit. And don’t be afraid to top off with a (that’s one) holiday treat. “Good nutrition is about moderation. You can enjoy all foods, just do it in the right portions.”
• Remember breakfast. Especially during the holidays, it’s the most important meal of the day. If you start the morning with a couple of doughnuts or a big bagel, you’ll have trouble recovering for the rest of the day. Get a good balance of protein and carbohydrates, advises Wegman. High on her breakfast list: Greek-style yogurt, spinach and veggie omelet, cottage cheese and fruit, cheese toast.

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The following story appeared yesterday in both the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer. The basic reporting was done by The New York Times; I provided the local comments. Yesterday, I ran more of those local comments in this space. The story below appears in expanded form, with links.

When Linda Helms first tried Weight Watchers four years ago, she lost weight using the venerable weight-loss program’s popular points system, but she didn’t feel like she was eating healthy.
“Sugar-free cookies, Fig Newtons, Snackwells, those used to be my snacks,” says the Mount Ulla resident. “It’s not really a bad thing,” she says of the low-calorie but processed foods, “but they’re not as healthy. Done before, you didn’t touch a banana. It was a lot of points.”
But when Weight Watchers revisited its approach last year, then tweaked it in December, Helms and her husband, Rex, were ready to recommit.
“The best part for both of us is having fruit,” says Helms, which Weight Watchers now tells the devout they can have as much of as they like. “Fruit is a far more sensible snack, and under the old points system it was almost out of the question.”
Diane L. Robrahn of Cary, who dropped out of Weight Watchers in the 1980s, agrees. “In the 80s, you had the choice between a cookie and a banana. Well, you’d choose the cookie.
“I’m so happy about the push toward natural food,” adds Robrahn, who has lost 106 pounds since rejoining Weight Watchers less than a year ago.
Millions of people around the world belong to Weight Watchers International, ranked best commercial diet plan by U.S. News & World Report last year, and even nonmembers look to it for guidance and recommendations. The 51-year-old program is best known for its points system, which assigns specific values to different foods and permits each member a daily allotment. At its weekly group meetings, healthy eating and exercise are emphasized over rapid-fire results.
The latest iteration of the weight-loss plan, called Points Plus, is intended to steer people toward more healthy food choices, encouraging people to eat more fresh fruits by giving them zero points, as most vegetables already were.
The change, Weight Watchers’ first adjustment in 13 years, annoyed some who said they haven’t been able to lose as much weight. In December, in a move that seemed to acknowledge the difficulty some dieters were having, Weight Watchers recommended that all members consider reducing their daily food intake, or points allotment, by 10 percent, not counting fruits and vegetables. (For those who’ve missed a few meetings, that means most women might cut their daily Points Plus allotment to 26 per day, down from 29.)
Weight Watchers officials say the change in points allotments was optional – that members could adjust their daily points up or down – and insist that it was not a response to members’ failure to lose weight.
“I don’t believe the pounds come off quite as fast as before,” agrees Helms, “but not being hungry keeps us from wanting to give in to bad food temptations.”
Company officials insist that the only reason Weight Watchers modified the plan was because they had become convinced members were getting more than adequate nourishment under the new plan and would not be harmed by eating less.
“We chose to be conservative when we introduced the plan, because we wanted to make sure that the things we stand for, nutritional health and well-being, weren’t going to be compromised,” said Karen Miller-Kovach, a registered dietitian who is chief scientific officer of Weight Watchers.
Still, she said the company had been following the progress of members who use online tracking tools and had found that dieters have been gaming the new system.
“People were having to circumvent the system in order to lose weight at a healthy rate,” she said.
While weight loss is important, many say they like the new program because it continues to push them in the direction of lifelong healthy eating.
“It reframes how I use food and view food,” says Swooz Brazzell of Charlotte. “As you can tell by my slow progress” — she’s lost 25 pounds in nearly two years and expects, eventually, to lose 20 more — “this system is retraining me over time to have a healthier relationship with food.”
One aspect of the new approach that has raised a professional eyebrow or two regards fruit: Under the new plan, participants can eat as much as they like.
“No single dietitian I know would count fruit as a ‘free’ food if someone is on a diet and trying to lose weight. You have to account for it,” said Marjorie Nolan, a New York City dietitian who speaks on behalf of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
She expressed surprise that even bananas (which used to cost two points under the previous Weight Watchers plan) are zero points.
“That just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “They’re a denser fruit.”
But Dr. Jeffrey Mechanick, vice president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, said there was no evidence that indulging in fruit impedes weight loss.
The reason fruit and most vegetables are zero points is that the formula actually “prepays” those points, Miller-Kovach said; the daily points allocation includes an allowance for what the plan has determined is a typical daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. Miller-Kovach said she could not divulge the number of fruits and vegetables used in the calculation because the information is proprietary and not revealed even to participants.
But since average consumption of fruit is low in this country, usually not reaching the five to nine servings a day recommended by government health experts, the prepayment may underestimate the effect of more liberal fruit consumption on waistlines.
Joanne Latham of Cary is on her third try with Weight Watchers. On her first two go-rounds, “We ate a ton of pretzels and a lot of frozen meals.” Low on points, low on nutrition as well. Now, she packs four to five servings of fruit in the morning and snacks on it throughout the workday.
“It keeps you from doing the vending machine thing,” says the 51-year-old Latham, who has lost 50 pounds since joining Weight Watchers May 20.
“I’m in the best shape of my life.”
Results of randomized clinical trials of the new Points Plus program have not been published in peer-reviewed journals. But two brief reports have been presented at scientific meetings on obesity, and the authors found no difference in weight loss between the old and new points plans.
In one of those studies, participants lost an average of 8.2 pounds over 12 weeks and saw significant improvements in their total cholesterol and triglyceride measures. But only 111 overweight adults completed the 12-week trial, and only 55 people were following the new Points Plus program.
Weight Watchers officials said the number of participants was sufficient to provide statistical proof that the new diet system works.
The new Points Plus plan also was evaluated in an earlier unpublished trial, Miller-Kovach said. And Weight Watchers has been following more than 12,000 members in Germany since the introduction of the new Points Plus program there. So far no differences in weight loss have been found between users of the new and old programs, she said.
Sherry Casey joined Weight Watchers the same day as Latham and has lost 35 pounds (their Weight Watchers chapter at work, Allscripts in Raleigh, has lost a cumulative 1,500 pounds between 55 participants). For her, the healthier diet promoted by the new system has had a more profound impact than weight loss.
“My family has a history of heart disease, and I had high blood pressure and cholesterol,” says Casey, of Cary. Now, she says, those numbers are in check.
“My grandmother died at 56,” Casey said. “I’m 51. I felt that’s just too young to die.”

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