When you think of wanting to lose weight, you probably think about fruits and veggies, and hitting the gym, not so much your smart phone. Thanks to today’s technology smart phones are helping pave the way to easier weight loss!

With thousands of different apps available, many free, smart phones are helping make it easier for people to track their food and exercise goals, which in turn can help them lose weight. According to the Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research, people who track the food they eat tend to lose more weight than those who don’t.

Check out some of the top rated food trackers for your smart phone and get started making healthier choices today!

MyFitnessPal – FREE
MyFitnessPal is a free app available for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows. This app has over 3 million food choices and helps you easily track everything you eat based on the calories. Each time you log in, you can see your progress and keep up to date with your food and exercise tracking.

Fooducate – FREE
Fooducate is another great app, with similar features as MyFitnessPal. The bonus to Fooducate is that it digs deeper than just calories and allows you to see the pros and cons of what food you are thinking about eating.

Eat This, Not That! Restaurants – $4.99
Need help making healthier choices when you are out to eat? Eat This, Not That! Restaurants, which is based off of the best selling book, shows you different choices at restaurants.  For example, the meatball marinara sub might sound great, but it has 580 calories versus the 390 in a steak and cheese sub. This app will help you make better choices when dining out and make you think before you order.

Weight Watchers Online – $5.00 a week (Membership Plan)
This membership plan is tailored to you and allows you so many points a day, based on your body profile, which you complete online. Instead of tracking calories, you track Weight Watchers Points. This app, like most others, includes thousands of food choices, a barcode scanner and tips to help you on your weight loss journey.

March is National Nutrition Month and this year’s theme is: “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day,” which encourages personalizing your own healthy eating style and recognizing food preferences, lifestyle, cultural and ethnic traditions and health concerns which all impact individual food choices.

Remember:

1. ALWAYS include the foods that you like. When making healthy menu selections it is always best to include the foods that you like and not to try fad type diets.  Fad diets tend to eliminate or exclude certain food groups.  It is best to consider and include all of your food groups: dairy, meat, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats
2. Think about how your plate SHOULD look.  By utilizing the plate method you ensure that you include all of your foods groups.
3. Watch portion sizes.  Too much of a healthy food is not always a good idea.  Meaning eating a lot of something that is considered healthy will still have calories.
4. Plan mini meals. The best way to control hunger and over eating at a meal is to eat small frequent meals during the day.  You should eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking and then eat something every 3 hours.  Eating 5 to 6 times a day is what is recommended in small portions.  Snacks are good ideas so don’t forget your healthy snacks.  By eating this way you are never so hungry that you don’t care what you eat or how much you eat.

As we work through our, “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day,” always remember the key points above so as to stay on track with your own personal goals!

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Need a little help eating healthier?  We can help you with weight loss, diabetes, cholesterol and much more. Schedule a free appointment with our dietitian at a health center nearest you.

Take heart — You’re not alone.

You’ve joined the “feeling unpleasantly plump” club that, according to a joint report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, includes a startling 30 percent of Hoosiers.

Now that the New Year is here, put “LIVE A LITTLE HEALTHIER” on your 2013 “to-do” list. Make this the year you will purpose to pitch the diets, the “all or nothing” thinking and the “no-pain, no-gain” fitness goals. Make this the year you will resolve to use common sense to move more,  eat less junk food  — and have fun doing it.

Remember what it was like when you were a kid and you thought nothing of playing tag for hours on end? That spirit still lives. You just need to wake it up. Check out these 52 Ways to Leave Your Blubber – practical, down-to-earth tips to live a little healthier in 2013!

Happy New Year from HealthNet!

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Tell us about your New Year’s resolutions to live healthier this year!

Post by Rick Reifenberg, MD

The generally accepted conversion is that one pound of stored fat is equal to about 3,500 calories. 

This could be thought of as an extra 500 calories per day for one week (7 x 500 calories is 3,500 calories) would be one pound of weight gain.  This is a formula that can be used to estimate either gain or loss of weight.

What this means is that a 500 calorie per day deficit could be created by cutting 250 calories from one’s diet along with an additional 250 calories “burned” while doing exercise.  If you could create this 500 calorie per day deficit then you could expect to lose one pound per week.  Let’s get some examples of each:

To cut 250 Calories from your diet each day you could ELIMINATE:

• One and a half regular 12oz sodas (Mountain Dew 170 calories per 12 oz, Pepsi 150 per 12 oz)
• One 20 oz regular soda is about 250 calories
• One medium order of McDonald’s French fries is 380 calories
• 26 Pringle’s potato chips are about 250 calories
• 4 slices of Wonder bread are 262 calories
• Doritos chips snack bag (46 gm 1 1/2oz) is 250 calories
• 3 Oreo cookies are about 240 calories
• 24 Tostitos nacho chips are about 250 calories  

To burn an additional 250 calories though exercise, a 200 lb person could:

• Walk for 35 minutes at a brisk (4 mph) pace
• Walk at a slow (2 mph) pace for about 60 minutes
• Do low impact aerobics (like an exercise video) for 30 minutes
• Swim laps for 30 minutes
• Do yard work (vigorous things like cutting grass with push mower) for 30-40 minutes
• Mop floors/clean and vacuum the house for 45 minutes

The general idea is that by making small changes to the amount of calories we take in and ALSO increasing our daily activity level, we can make gradual and long-lasting changes to our weight. 

Look for ways to eliminate unnecessary calories while at the same time find ways to get more active and burn calories.  Put together, this can be a simple yet effective recipe for success.  Give it a try!

When it comes to heart health, is it better to be thin or fit?

The short answer, of course, is that it is best to be both at a healthy weight and fit.  But if you could only be one, which would be better? 

The answer from this 2012 article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology may surprise you.

What did they study?

Researchers followed over 3,000 patients for 6 years and kept track of their weight and body fat percentage, their fitness level (measured by a treadmill test), and their relative chances of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or metabolic syndrome (an early form of diabetes).

What were the results?

The patients received at least 3 medical examinations over a six year period.  Maintaining or improving fitness level went along with a lower risk of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or metabolic syndrome.  Not surprisingly, patients who gained weight during the study had a higher risk of developing all 3 problems.  However, in the patients who gained weight but still managed to improve their fitness level, they had a much lower risk of developing any of the 3 problems than those who gained weight but were not fit.

What does this mean?

Improving fitness and working towards having a healthy weight are both important to reduce the risk of developing heart risk factors in otherwise healthy adults.  Keep in mind that keeping a high fitness level (regular exercise!) can protect you from heart disease even if your weight is higher than ideal.

What are YOUR hopes & dreams for weight loss? How are you making them a reality?

Here are some healthy ideas for celebrating this fun holiday:

1. Walk the parade route. The parade kicks off at North and Pennsylvania streets at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 17, and ends at Vermont and Meridian streets.
2. Go green. Skip the car and walk or ride bikes to the day’s destinations whenever possible. Our friends at SustainIndy and the IBJ can help you get started! 
3. Eat greens today. Leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and Romaine lettuce pack in vitamins, iron and fiber. Or, try adding broccoli snap peas or cabbage to potato, rice or noodle dishes.
4. Skip the sweet treats slathered in green frosting. For a healthier green treat, try lime gelatin or add mint flavoring to sugar free vanilla pudding, along with a few drops of green food coloring.
5. Enjoy some healthy St. Patrick’s Day fun with your kids!
6. Don’t leave your health to the luck of the Irish. HealthNet’s Health Promotions offers FREE one-on-one nutrition counseling and FREE personal coaching on how to quit smoking. Make an appointment at the health center nearest you.
7. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by making Indy a healthier place to live! Last year, HealthNet’s Health Promotions program assisted more than 6,000 in our community with services like free cervical cancer screenings, nutrition and tobacco cessation counseling, and childbirth classes. With your help, they can do even more.