The Groups: What I Learned: Pt. 5

Food & Nutrition: What comes next…?

We need to change our food selection so that what we consume is rich in ‘micro-nutrients’. This will mean we move away from a diet heavily emphasizing animal protein, processed carbohydrates and fat. No, you don’t need to become a vegetarian, but you do need to eat lots of foods that are nutritionally dense per calorie consumed. You often hear the expression “everything in moderation”. If that has any validity, it doesn’t apply to food. There are some foods that have no nutritional value whatever: French fries, potato chips, soda, to name just a few (see my post of June 27^th “All Calories Are Not Alike…”). Conversely, you will discover some wonderful foods you may never have tried like quinoa, kale, tofu and all manner of beans. It also helps to begin your meal with a salad and have veggies rather than potatoes or pasta.

About now is a good time for a word about the “toxic trio”: most of us already know fat and sugar (including sugar substitutes like high fructose corn syrup) are “dangerous”; so is salt, but why? There is nothing inherently bad about their natural occurance in the fresh, unprocessed foods we eat. In fact, appropriate quantities of each are necessary for a healthy, well-balanced diet. For example, if we only ate foods with a high nutrient density score, our diet would be too low in fat. So we have to pick some foods with lower nutrient density scores (but preferably the ones with the healthier fats) to include in our high nutrient diet.

The problem with the “toxic trio” is that they are addictive. Remember that Lays Potato Chip commercial: “I bet you can't eat just one…”?  Yeah, one bag – who can stop crunching and really close the bag after a just couple of chips? And it’s not because they’re just sooooo tasty as the ad would suggest; they’re addictive and the culprit is salt. And any idea why soda has so much sugar or other sweeteners? Again, to mask the huge amount of…salt. And, why all the salt in soda? To make you thirsty so you’ll drink (read as ‘purchase’) more. Don’t you just love the Processed Food Industry – they’re really concerned with our wellbeing!

In order to identify which foods give you the most bang for your calorie, Eat Right America created the ANDI scoring system. ANDI stands for ‘Aggregate Nutrient Density Index”. ANDI was developed so people can quickly view the total micronutrient content of a food. ANDI Scores are calculated by evaluating an extensive range of food factors, including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidant capacities, based on an equal number of calories for each food. After completing the calculations, foods are ranked on a numerical scale of 1 to 1000, with the highest nutrient foods given a score of 1000. All other foods are then scored relative to them. Kale, a dark leafy green, scores 1000 while Coke scores 1. You can access ANDI tables for "VEGETABLES", "FRUITS" AND "BULK PRODUCTS" here or on my Healthy Cooking...with Howard page.

Making the transition takes time and practice. One size doesn’t fit all and you will need to discover what food substitutions work for you. There’s a gazillion “healthy’ food sites on line: some are awesome; others, not so much. Two of my favorite “go-to” resources are both on the New York Times: Mark Bittman, the The Times Magazine’s food columnist and an Opinion columnist, and author of “Food Matters,” which explores the crucial connections among food, health and the environment, and  Martha Rose Shulman who’s Recipes for Health series offers recipes with an eye towards empowering you to cook healthy meals every day; another is Kerri Hawkins’ blog Dietitian Drive.

“Experimenting” is a crucial part of the journey to a healthier, fit lifestyle; embrace the process!

The Groups: What I Learned: Pt. 4

Food & Nutrition: Where to begin…?

Let’s start with an observation about what the ‘food piece’ is not:

• It’s not a diet in the sense of depriving yourself; yes, you’re ‘eating less’ because portion control is important, and yes, there’s stuff you really want to avoid (like soda and French fries) but after your transition, you may actually find yourself adjusting to the healthy stuff and eating “less” quite nicely
• You don’t count calories (well, you can if you want to)
• You don’t exclude all carbs, or all protein or fats
• You don’t buy specially prepared foods from a ‘weight-loss’ vendor

It is a shift to nutritionally ‘dense’ foods from the stuff we have been consuming all our lives. As was the case with the ‘Exercise and Activity’ components (see my prior posts "The Groups: What I Learned: Pts. 1,2 and 3") there is science behind the changes you need to make. I recommend you check out this piece from Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s PBS presentation, “3 Steps to Incredible Health” here, but to summarize, the way I understand it is that at the cellular level, our bodies expect a regular supply of what’s known as ‘micro-nutrients’ that are crucial for our health. When we are prompted to eat, unfortunately, the message doesn’t specify just what is needed. So, if we eat any old crap, our bodies will, figuratively, throw a tantrum if it doesn’t get what it needs: 1^st we feel this uncomfortable craving and are prompted to eat to make that feeling go away. Then, after a couple of hours, the “feed me” mantra will continue and the cycle will be repeated. That’s one way we become obese. By the way, the “feed me” mantra is known as ‘toxic hunger’ – not the real kind; if the body gets what it needs, we just don’t feel hunger – until meal time or when we haven’t eaten when we normally do.

So, how do we make the changes we need? A good place to start is by reducing both the total amount as well as portion size we consume. We – or at least most of us in this country – are blessed to be surrounded by abundance. But that doesn’t mean we need to eat it all! Consider the following:

• Limit the piece of steak, fish or chicken you eat to something approximating the size of your clenched fist; if you’re in a restaurant, take the balance home.
• Eat lots of fruits and veggies
• Skip dessert (unless it’s fresh fruit) and “pass” on alcoholic beverages (at least in the beginning) and sodas and other sugared drinks altogether. If you are a regular soda drinker you will likely need to identify a healthier substitute
• Close your kitchen after 8pm – no snacks!

The Groups: What I Learned: Pt. 3

For the strength (resistance) piece, you don’t need to join a gym or health club but I did. As much as I knew and had experienced about walking, that’s how little I knew about strength and resistance conditioning. True, I had likely joined more than a half dozen health clubs, gyms or Ys in my life, but never succeeded in staying with it and, consequently, wasted time and money.

 

I interviewed two establishments and went with the less plush – Gold’s Gym in Arlington Heights – in October 2010. Good facility, reasonable price, competent staff and trainers, not too crowded, right off the Minuteman BikeTrail so I can walk there, weather permitting (BTW, I view the trip there and back ( 2.8 miles each way) as ‘activity’ – not ‘exercise’ and do not include the mileage in my stats because my typical Nordic-walk is way longer). 

You get a free orientation session with a trainer who set me up with 2 1-hour routines. I’ve been going on a regular basis – mostly twice a week. My dues are ~ $40/month for unlimited use. Do the math; that’s less than $5 per visit!! Oh, and my health plan reimburses me $150 per year. How great is that!! But even without the refund, aren’t you worth the investment in a healthy and hopefully long life? Of course you are! By the way, this is a mantra we need to repeat again and again – “I am worth the investment in time, effort and $$ to achieve a healthy lifestyle and sustain my physical and emotional wellbeing”.

 

It first became clear to me how much the “gym” thing had improved my general body strength in December 2010 when we had our 1^st big snow fall of the season. Shoveling was a breeze, so much so that after finishing our place, I helped some of my neighbors, all with no evident strain or aftereffects. That was a big difference from my recollection of prior years.

 

If all this weren’t enough, in the summer of 2011, I experienced what I call the “cross-over” effect. My aforementioned daughter Ali was in from Columbus OH for a visit. As she was training to do a ½ triathlon, she asked if I would do some biking with her. I hadn’t been on a bike in at least 10 years but agreed. Bottom line, we rode from The Bike Stop near Arlington Center where she rented a bike (nice place by the way) to the end of the bike path at Railroad Ave. in Bedford and back, about a 16 mile loop. Even though we pushed it, the only place I felt it – either during or after -- was in my butt. Just amazing!

 

And as an unintended side effect of coping with my broken toe, as per my prior post, I am adding biking to my exercise regimen. I’m not a linguist but someone once said the Chinese character for ‘crisis’ and ‘opportunity’ are the same.

“Once in a while you get shown the light

in the strangest of places if you look at it right…”
"Scarlet Begonias" Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia

The Dog Days of Summer…

…are upon us and I’m sorting thru the attic of my mind to see which of the more recent acquisitions are worth sharing.

MY TOE: is much better. Last week I began biking (with a sandal on my left foot) – a 9-miler followed by a short (for me) 4-mile Nordic-walk with no ill effects. Did it 5 days; sort of like I’m doing ⅔ of a mini-triathlon (is there such thing as a biathlon??). This week, I’m trying it with my New Balance instead of the sandal; so far, so good. Despite the progress, I’ve decided to forego the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk this September; bummer, as I love the challenge, but probably a wise decision.

HCwH: Last week, we began post-production on Episode #1 with a couple of run-thru’s to get a sense of what was captured during the shoot. Truth be told, I expected my initial reaction to be replete with cringes of embarrassment; instead, I was surprised, bordering upon “shocked” to see how good it was. Yes, I hold myself to unrealistic expectations (nothing new about that!!) and yes, I need to insert more ‘palaver’ while I’m engaged in doing the cooking and to relax and smile more. But my main take-away from the viewings was: “This guy looks like he knows what he’s doing and is comfortable in the process”. Couldn’t be happier, especially for the 1^st time before a camera. Episode #2 is already in the planning stage. It will be shot during either the last week in August or the 1st week in September on a date to be determined.

DIETING VS EXERCISE FOR WEIGHT LOSS: An interesting piece about a couple of studies addressing this dichotomy in the NYT, last week. Bottom line, calorie for calorie, it’s easier to lose weight by dieting than by exercise: people are more likely to stay with a diet than with an exercise regimen; metabolic rates drop as we lose weight so, we burn fewer calories with the exercise. But, as I’ve posted in The Groups: What I Learned: Pts. 1 & 2, exercise and activity are important in their own right. If you want to be healthy and fit, especially as you age, you gotta do both…and you don’t get the endorphin boost with diets!

And speaking of dogs, my daughter Ali was in from Columbus, OH for a visit last month with her 2 Border Collies – Tobey, age 4 and Chance, 2 – whom she rescued and have, under her guidance, matured into reasonably well-behaved animals with really good character and singular personalities. Tobey’s the smart one, Chance has the looks (its ok, they can’t read…yet). It was fascinating to observe them interact with us, each other and behave in a public stetting (we took them to Bertucci’s outdoor café in Lexington Center). Here's some photos:

 

The Groups: What I Learned: Pt. 2

Aerobic exercise saves your life; strength training makes it worth living.

Yes, exercise is important as an ‘activity’ but for other reasons as well: it will strengthen your body, elevate your mood and increase your sense of well-being, relieve stress and resist regaining the weight you’ve lost. You need to adopt a regimen that includes both aerobic/cardiovascular and resistance (strength) exercise.

Let’s start with the aerobic.

First, pick something you enjoy doing (or think you might enjoy) so you will be motivated to make doing it a habit for life. Let me emphasize that: the changes we are urged to make are not short-term remedies – not just something to do for a while and then revert to our prior inactive behavior pattern. There’s walking, jogging, biking, elliptical, swimming, Zumba, just to name a few. I recommend you begin modestly to establish a “duration” baseline during which you can comfortably do the routine. Then, whatever you do, make doing it a habit.

I Nordic-walk – that’s ‘power walking’ with hiking poles. You can check out the benefits of Nordic-walking here. I love it. My body loves it. In fact, Suzanne (my lovely wife) says that she can tell if I’ve gone more than a day or two without walking by the change in my mood. (Unfortunately, I am currently suffering some withdrawal symptoms: since breaking my left big toe July 10^th – I dropped a 20 lb. cutting board on it while unloading stuff from my car at home after shooting the initial episode of the Health Cooking …with Howard video series at the LexMedia studios – I have been without my favorite regular aerobic exercise, mostly inactive and, frankly, going a bit nuts without it. I can ride a bike with a Teva sandal on my left foot and I’ve done 8 miles at about a 10 mph pace several times but it’s not the same.)

I live near the Minuteman Bike Trail which is a delightful ~12 mile course that follows the route of an old commuter railroad bed from Alewife Station in Cambridge MA, through Arlington, Lexington and terminating at Railroad Ave. in Bedford. It’s mostly level, mostly wooded, mostly quiet, no auto fumes, lovely flora and fauna all year round (I even saw a coyote). It can also be quite social; I usually encounter several regulars doing their thing (walking like me, biking, jogging, inline skating or just out with their kids and/or dogs) whom I greet either by name, a nod or a wave.

For more about walking, see the tab “Walking with Howard…” above as well as a prior post of the same title.

Scene 1; Take 1; “Marker”…

Yesterday, the initial episode of Healthy Cooking…with Howard was shot in Studio K at LexMedia’s facilities in Lexington.

I have been anticipating this event since I conceived of the idea in March and had been preparing for it for at least a month: planning the menu, designing a concept, scripting it, rehearsing for it “in my head”, watching other LexMedia’s cooking shows, testing the kitchen facilities, etc. I even took a series of courses in filming and editing offered by LexMedia to get a sense of what producing a show entails. Suffice it to say all of that did not prepare me for the experience of simultaneously articulating a message and cooking a meal on camera. Sort of takes the “walking while chewing gum” dichotomy to a whole new level (I guess that’s what rehearsals are for).

That said, the experience was generally a positive one for me. So, if we can edit the footage and get a 30 minute show out of it, I’m committed to making it the 1^st in a series. And, unless it’s just awful, I’ll post it to the Healthy Cooking…with Howard page when the editing is done. The recipes for the food I prepared will shortly be available on my Recipes page.

Finally, my sincere thanks to the LexMedia staff and crew for their effort and expertise; to my “studio audience” for their support; and, as with all things in my life, to my wife, Suzanne, for her encouragement and collaboration.

“Inspiration, move me brightly
Light the song with sense and color, hold away despair…”
"Terrapin Station" Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia

All Calories Are Not Alike...

Great piece by Mark Bittman in the NYT today:

“One of the challenges of arguing that hyperprocessed carbohydrates are largely responsible for the obesity pandemic (“epidemic” is no longer a strong enough word, say many experts) is the notion that “a calorie is a calorie.”

Accept that, and you buy into the contention that consuming 100 calories’ worth of sugar water (like Coke or Gatorade), white bread or French fries is the same as eating 100 calories of broccoli or beans. And Big Food — which has little interest in selling broccoli or beans — would have you believe that if you expend enough energy to work off those 100 calories, it simply doesn’t matter.

There’s an increasing body of evidence, however, that calories from highly processed carbohydrates like white flour (and of course sugar) provide calories that the body treats differently, spiking both blood sugar and insulin and causing us to retain fat instead of burning it off.

In other words, all calories are not alike….”

Check it out! WhichDiet Works?

Unfortunately, our friend Calvin hasn’t got the message.

Calvin and Hobbes is © to Bill Watterson.

 

The Groups: An Overview…

In a couple of my earlier posts and elsewhere on this site I have referred to a series group Wellness and Nutrition programs and how the changes I made toward a fit and healthy lifestyle and a nutritious diet produced a significant loss in my weight and inches in my waist. Thinking you might be interested in some specifics, here’s an overview.

Known technically as “Wellness Group Visits for Weight Management and Lifestyle Change”, they are conducted by Dr. Wayne Altman and licensed dietitian, nutritionist and personal trainer Kerri Hawkins, both of the Family Practice Group, Arlington MA. To become a participant, you need to be either a patient of a provider in the practice or referred to the FPG by your personal care physician.

I joined in September 2010. We met Tuesday evenings for 15 sessions over a 4 month period. Each week, our vitals were taken and we completed a weekly questionnaire. Each session had a theme which allowed for give-and-take on the subject as well as general sharing about how we were doing, issues we may be having, etc. The themes were generally directed at a behavioral modification we were urged to undertake including: exercise and activity; food selection, meal planning and nutrition; mindfulness; mutual support. Other than being urged to eat less and eliminate foods with no or low nutritional value for the calorie consumed, there was no “diet” as such. Instead, the program is about changes made gradually but “for life”.

Seems pretty straightforward but if you look beneath the surface, something special was happening.

In retrospect, my experience was that participation in this endeavor as a group member was crucial: the mutual support and accountability it fostered and the emotional connection or bond (and, yes, even affection) that developed between and among the group members as we traveled the path together toward the common goal of living a healthy and nutritious lifestyle were the keys to the successes that we achieved. Yes, you have to do the “work” but it’s a lot tougher going it alone.

We use a private e-list – to share our insights, vent our frustrations, ask for help and, yes, “crow” about our successes. When one of us experiences a ‘win’, it gives the rest of us hope; when one confesses to difficulty achieving a goal, we discover we weren’t the only one. Sounds simple but my observation was that it’s crucial to help keep each other on track, not just during the 4-month term but even afterwards. In effect, the Wellness and Nutrition programs seem to have propagated, perhaps as an unintended by-product, a caring community of like-minded compatriots that continues to grow as the new groups are formed and mature.

Following my initial 4-month session, I have maintained my involvement with the Wellness and Nutrition programs by re-upping in a subsequent group, then as a visiting ‘alum’ to the sessions of newly minted groups and more recently, in an “advanced group” iteration of alums that met monthly during the period September 2011 and June 2012. To me, the common thread of the fabric of success remains the commitment to “mutual support and accountability” either in person or via email. For me, I expect that will continue, going forward.

Walking with Howard…

As you may have surmised from previous posts, I love to walk; have for many years. However, since my retirement in May 2010, and with the encouragement of my primary care physician, walking has become a major focus and passion for me – perhaps even a healthy obsession (hey, you could be obsessed with worse things!!).

 I walk a lot – typically, 20-30 miles per week – and when training rigorously for a long-distance, charity event like Project Bread’s 20-mile Walk for Hunger or Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, I may discover I’ve done a lot more (e.g., I just tallied my workouts for April and was surprised that I had walked 120+ miles – way, way more than necessary to prepare for an event like May 6^th’s Walk for Hunger, but I just love it and the miles just seem to accumulate). I also have a strong desire to ‘pass on’ the physical and emotional benefits I experience thru walking and thus: “Walking with Howard…”, a walking clinic/club whose goals are:  

• to assist those who are interested in ‘walking’ for its cardiovascular/aerobic benefit, in getting started
• to help those who have already begun a walking program, in raising it up a notch
• to serve as a resource and sounding board about appropriate training, technique, stretching exercises, footwear, apparel, accountability, etc.
• for those interested in any or all of the prior goals, to create a “community” that meets, periodically, to walk and have fun

‘Though both knowledgeable and experienced “walking the walk”, I was novice as a coach when it was launched in the fall of 2011. Initially (and at least for the indefinite present), “Walking with Howard…” is at ‘no charge’ so those interested can get the benefit of my expertise; in return, I get the opportunity to “pay it forward” and to hone my skills as a coach and trainer.

It has been the practice for our group to “meet-up” mostly on a weekly basis (currently, Saturday afternoons at the “Uncle Sam” statue in Arlington Center near where the Minuteman Bike Trail resumes, heading West). I’m also available for 1-on-1 sessions, schedules permitting.

But what if you don’t live in the Boston area or can’t make the meet-ups? Not a problem: a lot of what I have to offer can be communicated online; the rest is implementation and practice. Hey, I’m self-taught and this isn’t ‘rocket science’.

If you are interested (or merely curious) in “Walking with Howard…”  I’d love to hear from you – all levels or no experience – are welcome!!

Contact me: walkingwithhoward@comcast.net

Bringing my "narrative" forward…

A piece about my experience losing weight and getting fit – including “before-and-after” photos – appeared last month in Kerri Hawkins’ blog, Dietitian Drive. She, along with Dr. Wayne Altman (my PCP), created the Wellness and Lifestyle Program at the FamilyPractice Group, Arlington MA, which got me started and with which I remain involved. I’m humbled by her kind words.

So, now that I've pretty much brought you, my audience, up-to-date, I expect the frequency of my posts will taper off in a bit; it’s just that a lot of stuff has accumulated in my head which I need to flush out.

2012 Project Bread Walk for Hunger

“It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away…”
"Beautiful Day" Words and music by U2

I didn’t. Last Sunday was another amazing day, another amazing Walk!!

Performance-wise, we achieved all we set out to do, and more. Financially, we blew past our initial goal of $720, with contributions currently just under $770 – that means my commitment to double my pledge has been triggered. Equally important, that so many offered their financial and/or spiritual support and well-wishes. Not sure you can appreciate what that means – how up-lifting it is – to a participant.

I’m also going to add an additional as yet undetermined sum so that the total amount raised will be a multiple of $18 (the letters of the Hebrew alphabet that comprise the numerical value of “18” are Chet and Yod . Pronounced ‘Chai’ (rhymes with ‘Hi’ with a guttural ‘kh’), it means “life” – a uniquely appropriate multiple with which to base a donation to a cause like fighting hunger!).

Physically, I completed the 20 mile course in 6 ½ hours. Kind ‘a slow for me but I was walking with a new friend (see below), talked all the way and we took a break at Newton Center to stretch and re-fuel and another at the Arsenal Park Snack Stop just before the 12 mile marker (BTW, the food they offer is awful – I bring my own – but someone (maybe me?) should set them straight). During the Walk I never felt better. And at the end I felt no different than at the conclusion of my usual 9 milers. Now some of that may be because of the wonderful post-Walk massage I got in the Heart & Sole Circle tent (for those who raise more than $500). My ongoing walking regimen, including the intervals I started doing last month at the suggestion of Kerri Hawkins Put Some Pep inYour Step… Exercise of the Week: Intervals | Dietitian Drive, the pre-and during-the-Walk hydration and nutrition and the stretching at the re-fueling stops also had a lot to do with it. Bottom line, I felt like I could do some more. Seriously. And the next morning…not an ache or discomfort in sight!

It seems like everything I do now has a story and this one is no exception. It’s Sunday morning, about 6:30 am. I’m sitting in the Red Line train at Alewife waiting for it to depart when a tall, lanky guy with a bright engaging persona and dressed for the event sits down across from me. Naturally, we converse. It’s Bruce’s 28^th Walk, he’s a Heart & Sole Circle participant too and we decide to walk together. Well, for the next 6 ½ hours plus, I don’t believe our conversation stopped except to “you-know-what”. About 10 years my junior, lives in NH, just across the MA border, a lot of similar interests and experiences and an outlook in common so, much to share.

Don’t really know how to account for it but I guess when one is open to new experiences, making a friend like Bruce under the circumstances of participating in a physically taxing event like the Walk is entirely possible.

Nothing more to add.

In The Beginning...

So, I guess for my initial post, I should begin at the beginning which, for the purposes of this commentary, is September 2010.

At the urging of my primary care physician, I joined a 4-month wellness and nutrition group he and a licensed dietitian in his practice were conducting. They had been leading them since the fall of 2009. I was willing but skeptical – nothing I’d tried over the past 50+ years of my adulthood ever worked (or worked for very long). I was mostly a “couch-potato” with issues relating to high blood pressure, cholesterol, and glycemic index. I was pre-diabetic and my BMI was at the upper range of the “obese” segment.

The results were transformative. Over the ensuing 12 months, I lost almost 20% of my body weight – about 35 lbs. – and 8 inches in my waist. I’m also healthier and in better shape by far than in decades, if not ‘ever’. I Nordic-walk at least 20 miles per week at a sustained 15 min/mile pace. I also do strength/resistance exercises at the gym twice a week. A year later, I did the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk – all 26.2 miles – in about 7 hours.

I sleep like a babe and my mood is generally ‘happy’ in the sense of being content. My diet now emphasizes fruits, veggies and other nutritionally “dense” foods. At my annual physical in the spring of 2011, my doctor informed me all my test results were normal. Oh, and I should mention I turned 70 in 2011. I guess results like those would allow the experience that produced them to qualify as “transformative”.

So, why a blog? Well, I seem to have a lot to say about these experiences and the changes I’ve made. Second, my observations appear to be well received by others. Lastly, despite having achieved the successes I have, I’ve discovered the need to ‘pay it forward’. I hope you find something of value here.