Don’t Buck Up Your Weight Loss Plans

If you know me, you know I love my Starbucks.  Or “S-bucks” as we simply call it around my house.  I am at S-bucks almost every day, at some point, to stop in for my usual: a grande bold blend with a bit of cream (yes, cream) and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  We even grind and brew S-bucks at home every morning.  Really… I should have shares.

That’s nothing special, though.  S-bucks is everywhere these days.  When I schedule a walk or park playdate for our New Toronto Moms Meetup (www.newtorontomoms.com), I often choose a Starbucks as our meeting point.  Not just because I’m an addict.  They really are everywhere.  They have change tables, they’re breastfeeding friendly, and they have such a wide variety on their menu (both food and drink) that they can usually make everyone happy.

OK, so I like Starbucks.  But the lovefest ends here.

Here’s a question for you: What’s your usual Starbucks order? Is it a “tall soy latte, easy foam” or a “venti iced coffee with milk” or maybe a “grande mocha frappucino, hold the whip”…?

Starbucks (or Second Cup, or Tim Horton’s or whatever your poison is) can be the pick-me-up in your day.  But it can also really mess up your diet.

Starbucks drinks range from 0-500+ calories per serving.  500 calories? That’s a meal!  Here are a few drinks to avoid when visiting S-bucks next time.  Loaded with saturated fat, sugar and calories, these drinks are diet bombs! Is your drink on this list? (all nutritional info is for grande size)

• Double Chocolatey Chip Frappuccino – 500 calories, 9 g fat
• Strawberry Vivano Smoothie – 280 calories, 2 g fat
• White Chocolate Mocha – 400 calories, 11 g fat
• Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha – 470 calories, 12 g fat
• Dark Cherry Mocha – 320 calories, 8 g fat
• Caffe Mocha – 260 calories, 8 g fat
• Iced White Chocolate Mocha – 340 calories, 9 g fat

Those calorie counts are all without whipped cream!  Add the whipped cream topping and you’ve added an additional 70 calories and 6 g fat to your “drink”!  You’d be better off drinking a regular cup of coffee and selecting a small pastry than choosing one of these beverages.

Here are a few tips to down-size your fat and calorie intake the next time you’re placing your order:

• avoid anything ending in “frappuccino” or “mocha”
• select hot or iced coffee or tea, unsweetened, and sweeten yourself with one packet of sugar for just 25 calories
• order sugar-free syrup when flavouring your drink
• not a fan of artificial sweeteners?  ask for just “half-sweet” iced coffee or tea
• skip the whipped cream
• order skim milk instead of 2% to save 40 calories per cup
• ask for a “light” version of your favourite drink and save up to half the calories of the regular version

Remember, S-bucks is not in the business of making you skinny.  They concoct their beverages to taste as yummy as possible.  And, like most cafes and restaurants, that means adding the sugar and fat necessary to give you that “WOW” flavour that keeps you coming back.

Be aware and you’ve taken the first step to changing your eating habits. Make yourself aware; check out the nutritional information for your favourite beverage on the Starbucks website.  Then order a plain coffee and be on your way…

Surviving Summer Workouts

the trainer’s toolbox

- Beth Beauchemin (Read About Beth)

Whoo-hooo!  Summer has officially arrived (this week, anyway)!  Long sunny days, warm nights, daily gelato runs (the power walk to the gelato café“justifies” the calories…. or something like that…).  I am so excited that summer is here, and with it the season for rock star outdoor workouts.  Well, right now I’m busy teaching rock star Belly Bootcamp stroller classes, and hoping to join them by mid-August after baby #2 is born… fingers crossed!

With today’s unseasonally high temperature, the ladies and I played it cool in the shade – lots of strength work with our very portable elastic tubing and utilizing all the great surfaces that Toronto’s parks provide us with (love picnic benches to get legs looking great!) However, sooner or later, it’s inevitable that we will be exercising under the hot summer sun.  With all the recent controversy about how to play it safe in the sun, what’s a gal to do? (Don’t know about all the recent sunscreen controversy?  You may be interested in checking Environmental Work Group’s recent posts on sunscreen:  http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen)

Here are our tips to surviving summer workouts safely, and in better shape than ever!

1.  Build up to it gradually.  After Canada’s long and cold winter, this sudden switch to summer has everyone jumping for joy.  But….  remember that our bodies have had the past 8 months to get used to being in the cold – take time to acclimatize to our new season, and give yourself a few weeks of more moderate workouts to get your body ready and able to handle the heat.

2.  Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate!!! Aim to drink about 2 cups of water 2 hours before the workout, and then continue to sip water throughout the workout.  Always be sure to drink water after each workout to replace fluids lost.  If you have been exercising for a long time or in extreme heat, consider weighing yourself before and after the workout, and drink 2 cups of water for every pound lost.  If you are nursing this is even more important, because mommy needs to be hydrated in order to produce milk.

3.  Avoid exercising between the hours of 12 and 2pm.  Exercising during the hottest part of the day puts you at a greater risk for dehydration, heat illness (exhaustion or stroke), and overall bad workouts.  My ideal day has my workout earlier in the morning, then a fabulous nap with the terrible toddler at mid-day.   It’s one of my favourite indulgences!

4.  Stay in the shade or “create” shade by covering up. Stay in the shade is pretty evident, but if you are going to be in the sun try to wear more than just a sports bra and shorts.  Experts are divided on sunscreen, but they are unanimous in saying that the best sun protection is to reduce your exposure.  Long sleeved “surf” shirts are a great (and trendy) way to stay cool and protected in the sun.  Your shades are also more than just a fashion accessory – they are a “must have” in the summer to protect your eyes from the sun’s dangerous rays.  Last, but not least, don’t forget your hat!  We make our kids wear hats for a reason – because it’s VERY important!

5.  Find a good sunscreen, buy 5 of them (one for every bag…. just like lip gloss!), and slather it on! No need to go out and buy the latest SPF 100+ (yes, they make that).  Find something you like between SPF 15 and 50, and wear it!  Sunscreen needs about 30 minutes to be effective, so aim to put it on a bit before you head out the door, and make sure to reapply at least every 2 hours, or every hour if you are working up a sweat.

That’s it!  Have a fabulous summer of outdoor fun – I’m looking forward to seeing you lunging up one of Toronto’s many hills with the other Belly Bootcamp mommies!

Granola Bars for Your Inner Cookie Monster

trainer-approved recipes

- Beth Beauchemin (Read About Beth)

It is no secret that I am the Cookie Monster incarnate – I can scarf down my favourite oatmeal chocolate cookie (yep, the typical fat and sugar laden one that I find at my favourite coffee shop!) faster than you can blink an eye!  However, those delicious treats don’t really provide much more than a quick sugar high, followed by a more devastating crash.  Add to the mix my crazy 7 1/2-month pregnant state PLUS just life in general with a toddler, and you have me wanting NEEDING a yummy, but good for me, substitute for those delectable cookies.

At first, I turned to everyone’s favourite, and hopefully somewhat healthy, pocket snack – granola bars.  I think I kept Nature Valley in business for the first 6 months of my toddler’s life!  However, upon closer inspection, it turns out that my awesome snack food was not so good!  I won’t go into specifics, but suffice it to say that those sweet and salty bars have sugar listed 7 different times.  (The plain old crunchy bars only have it listed 1-2x, but as the second ingredient.)   While I’m not one to cut dessert out of my life, I do try to be selective about where and how much sugar I’m ingesting.  The occasional gelato run in the summer is all good (in my books, anyway) but my “healthy” snack food is not the place for sugar. (FYI – sugar has been linked to bloating, excessive flatulence, loose stools, insulin resistance, increased LDL (bad) cholesterol, decreased immune function, and obesity.  Can you blame me for wanting to minimize its appearance in my food?)

So, snackless and desperately needing a quick, easy, and portable pick-me-up, I turned to a fabulous friend and nutrition expert for some advice!  Counselling me away from processed sugars and empty calories, Lianne from Sprout Right has given me my newest fast and delicious treat.  These bars are officially for our little ones, but I think that they are just about perfect for almost any busy person who’s on the go.  The other great thing about these bars… start to finish (including loading the dishwasher) takes less than 20min.  Perfect!

Sprout Right “Go Faster” Granola Bars

Sprout Right founder, Lianne Phillipson-Webb

Yields 16 bars.

• 1 cup Nature’s Path Millet Rice Flakes
• 1 cup whole rolled oats
• ¾ cup dried fruit (raisins, dates, apricots, etc.), chopped
• ¼ cup sunflower, pumpkin, or sesame seeds
• ¼ cup chopped almonds or cashews
• ½ cup brown rice syrup
• 2 tbsp coconut butter or unsalted butter
• ¼ cup almond or peanut butter

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a bowl.  2. Gently heat brown rice syrup, coconut butter, and nut butter in a large saucepan until melted and smooth.  3. Add dry ingredients to saucepan and quickly stir well to coat completely.  4. Press into a 8” square pan.  5. Refrigerate for at least 1hr and cut into squares.  Store in the fridge or freezer.

Nutrition Information: (per serving; varies slightly) 128 calories; 5.5 g fat; 3.1 g protein; 18.3 g carbohydrate; 1.7 g fiber

• slow releasing carbs and healthy fats for longer lasting energy

• good source of vitamin E, calcium, zinc, vitamin B1, manganese, magnesium, protein, copper, selenium, phosphorus, vitamin B5, folate

My other go-to portable snack bar is from Weelicious.com.  Blogger Catherine McCord isn’t a nutritionist but a busy mom who loves good food.  Weelicious is a fabulous resource not only for when you need to feed the little people, but also for when you need to keep yourself going!  Her protein bars (a Lara Bar knock off, but WAY more affordable when you have the time to make them) are awesome!

Bon appétit!

the truth about breastfeeding & fat loss

You’ve heard it before, probably even from your OB-GYN or your midwife when she was listing the benefits of breastfeeding to you.  Your mom, sister, aunt, girlfriend or coworker might have told you.  Maybe you googled “baby weight” or “benefits of breastfeeding” and read it there.

hello baby, bye-bye treadmill?

Breastfeeding an infant burns about 500 calories per day. Wow!  500 calories a day!  That’s like jogging an entire hour.  Or doing two back-to-back bootcamp classes!

Only… it doesn’t quite work that way.  It’s true that maintaining a supply of breastmilk requires a woman to eat approximately 500 calories more than she normally would to maintain her own healthy bodyweight.  BUT… that’s the key – it requires you to EAT those calories.  If you don’t eat enough calories, you might not make the same quantity or quality of breastmilk.  So dieting is not really an option when you’re breastfeeding.  The LaLeche League recommends you consume a minimum of 1500-1800 calories per day in order to safely lose a healthy amount of baby weight while still providing quality milk for your little one.

The female body is an enigma.  No matter how much we learn about dieting, fitness and fat loss, we are still at the mercy of Mother Nature.

healthy baby, chubby mommy... fair trade.

I breastfed my first child for 23 months.  That’s right.  When I found out I was pregnant with #2 I was concerned about being active, nursing my toddler and providing enough calories for my growing baby, so I decided to wean my toddler.  After weaning, I actually LOST about 5 pounds that had, despite all my efforts and all my knowledge about fitness and weight loss, been clinging to me for 2 years since giving birth.  Now I’m nursing my second and, almost 5 months in, I am reigning in my expectations, settling in for a long chubby period and expecting to lose those last few pounds with some hard work once I’ve finished breastfeeding for once and for all.  And it’s not just me.  Friends, clients, acquaintances have all told me they’ve experienced the same sudden weight loss during and after weaning.

So what gives?  If nursing burns calories, why do you LOSE weight when you wean?  Shouldn’t the weight melt off while you’re nursing instead?

The truth is that a breastfeeding body is in many ways like a pregnant body.  Hormones produced during the breastfeeding stages help a woman (without asking her opinion, mind you…) maintain fat stores to help feed her and baby in the event of a famine.  Once baby is weaned, many women see a weight loss as hormone levels return to normal.

The best formula for losing that baby weight is to eat according to your hunger (read: not your cravings, your hunger), drink according to your thirst and exercise at least 3-4 days per week with a combination of strength training to boost your metabolism and cardiovascular exercise to burn off extra calories.

And patience.  The other part of that formula is patience.

How have your postpartum weight loss efforts worked?  Did you find you lost weight at certain stages more easily than others?  Share with us!



Fit Facts You’ve Got Time For

My newest child is just 3 months old and – I’m sure you can vouch for me on this one - I have to use my time wisely while he’s catnapping to tackle housework, regular work and the odd on-demand episode of The Biggest Loser.  As moms, sometimes all we’ve got time for are little snippets of information.  From one mom to another, here are a few great little fitness tips you have time to read and implement in your hectic, mommy life!

You’ll learn a little something for the water cooler and add some strategies to your healthy lifestyle armory.  Happy reading!

Enlist a walking buddy to keep you on track...

fact: the average person walks only about 4,000-5,000 steps per day.

fit: experts recommend 10,000 steps per day for basic fitness.  30-60 minutes of brisk walking will tack on 4 to 5,000 steps to your total!

Eat 'round the clock to stay in control...

fact: individuals who eat 4 or more times daily are 45% less likely to be obese than those who eat 3 or fewer times daily.

fit: don’t get caught up in the cycle of starving & binging!  Eat every 3-4 hours to boost your metabolism and to avoid getting so hungry that you throw all those great resolutions right out the window!  Download nutritional guidelines from Health Canada & the Dieticians of Canada…

Banish belly fat & the blues all at once...

fact: women who suffer from depression have, on average, 24% more belly fat than women who aren’t depressed.

fit: winter brings seasonal blues for many of us and can intensify depression for those who suffer year long. Stress hormones are powerful enemies against your metabolism and depression often manifests in women through overeating, making weight gain a common symptom of the blues.  See your doctor if you feel unable to cope with your everyday routines and consider adding exercise to your treatment plan. Not only will exercising rev your metabolism and help you remove any excess fat, it has been shown in several studies to be more effective against clinical (and mild) depression than medication alone.  For best results, exercise at a moderate to high intensity at least 3 times per week.