Tag: Overweight and Obesity

A Teaspoon of Sugar: A Mountain of Cravings

June 30, 2013

Are you craving the taste of sweet food?  Do you continue to eat even after you’re full?

If you can’t stop eating food with added sugar, you need to cut down, or eliminate it.

Sugar is difficult to avoid.  It’s added to most packaged, restaurant and fast food. 

Kick The Sugar Habit

Get rid of the food that makes you crave.  Have a mango, instead of ice cream.  Replace ketchup with a slice of tomato.

Mangoes are a tropical fruit that provide a healthy source of natural sugar.  They are low in calories, contain vitamin A, vitamin C,  antioxidants, and flavonoids.

Add More Fiber

Replace sugary food with fruits, and veggies. Eating more produce adds fiber to your diet, improving digestion, and elimination.  As long as you drink plenty of water, you won’t need laxatives, when your diet is high in fiber.

Fresh fruit and vegetables make you feel full because of their fiber content.  Known as roughage or bulk, fiber isn’t digested or absorbed.

Read food labels for added sugar.

When you eat food with added sugar, you’re ingesting calories from the sugar, plus the calories from the food itself.

Eliminate Packaged Food With Added Sugar

If you buy packaged food, read the label to find out if it contains added sugar.  A few examples are canned fruit, tomato sauce, frozen food, and condiments such as ketchup.

Sugar Cravings May Cause Overeating

Some sugars have more calories than others, some have trace minerals, some are lower glycemic.  Xylitol has fewer calories per teaspoon than sucrose, but its sweet flavor, may cause overeating.

Avoid Overweight and Obesity

Health benefits in honey, or maple syrup are of little value, if you experience cravings for more of the sweet stuff. Overeating leads to overweight, and obesity.

Copyright 2013 Irene Pastore and Blue Moon Personal Training

Car Dependency Is A Health Risk

September 19, 2012

A car gets you where you’re going, gives you freedom to move about, almost everyone owns one, and if they don’t, they can always rent one.  America is a nation dependent on 4 wheels.

With the exception of cities like Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and San Francisco, public transportation in most American cities is inadequate. Automobiles are a necessity in many towns and cities.

Lack of sidewalks, urban sprawl, and unreliable mass transit, make it necessary to use a car.  Americans have become lazy, habitual car-drivers. It’s easy to hop into the car, and take it around-the-corner errand-hopping.

Car dependency is now under scrutiny.   An awaking is dawning about the downside to driving.   In many ways, it’s a health risk.

Physical inactivity, overweight and obesity, death and injury from crashes, cardio-respiratory disease from air pollution, noise, commuter stress, and social isolation are the negatives associated with driving a car.

Car dependency makes it harder to get the recommended 150 minutes weekly of exercise.  Obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

For more about the subject of cars and public health, read  “Are Cars The New Tobacco?” from The Journal of Public Health, and  “Car-Driven Society Poses Health Risk To America’s Health,” from Reuters Health News.

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Copyright 2012 Irene Pastore and Blue Moon Personal Training

Heart Attack Grill

July 9, 2012

Heart Attack Grill is the name of a controversial restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada, specializing in high calorie food, rich in saturated fat.  One of the top menu choices is the 8,000 calorie Triple Bypass Burger.  Their high calorie Butter Fat Shake is made with butter fat cream.  Sodas high in sugar are also served.  French Fries are cooked in lard. Customers weighing over 300 pounds, eat for free. Continue reading “Heart Attack Grill”

Letter To America

July 4, 2012

July 4, 2012

Dear America:

This letter isn’t meant to hurt your feelings, especially on your birthday.  I know how busy you are, working long hours, taking care of yourself, your family, paying bills, food shopping, doctor’s visits, and all.  The main reason for this letter, is to let you know how concerned I am about your health.  Please realize it might be difficult for me to express my worries, without being blunt.  Continue reading “Letter To America”