O.k. of course not.  But today when I was finishing up my morning workout at my athletic club I noticed something.  I looked over into the lounge area and there was a huge tray of donuts there for the taking.  Free of charge.  Congratulations on a good workout it said!  I couldn't believe it.

Wow. I've talked about mixed messages before and how detrimental it is to your nutritional well-being.  This is just one glaring example of how it can get out of hand. There are two things that are important to recognize.

1. It's very easy for people to distract you with bad or over-simplified advice

The headline "Donuts are good for your workout" certainly caught your attention.  It's something we want to be true, but unfortunately it's not.   When you read nutrition advice on the web, or see and hear it on radio and television, you need to take a look at the motivations of the qualifications of the person providing the advice.  Do they really just want to sell you pills? or food? their book? or advertise their thigh master?  If so they still might have credible advice, but remember that it's always going to be skewed towards their own product, not your health.  Also take a look at the credentials of the people providing nutrition advice.  If that person is not a registered dietitian (RD) then they are not focused 100% on nutrition and diet.  Even a licensed M.D. generally only has a small amount of training in nutritional science.

At Nutrition for You we are clear about our motivation and credentials.  We want you to lose weight and we want you keep it off permanently.  We want you to be proud to tell everyone that meets the "new you" how you did it with sound nutrition, not fad-diets, gimmicks, or pills.    Our program was created and is maintained by Manuel Villacorta, MS, RD, CSSD a board certified registered dietitian, and certified specialist in sports dietetics and a team of people that want you to succeed.

2. Mixed messages do not help you with weight loss

Everyone has to eat, so it generally fools all of us to think we are food experts.  We're not.  If we were we wouldn't have an obesity epidemic in the United States.  What works for one person may not work for you.  Each of us is an individual.  If you follow food, nutrition, and weight loss expertise from everyone you'll get many conflicting messages and end up even more confused.

What do I mean by mixed messages will not help?  Here are some examples:

• Your friend telling you that carbs are bad (they aren't) and that they lost 25# on Atkins while snacking on a muffin is a mixed message.
• Your grocer telling you that Organic is always better even if the food was shipped overseas using a lot of fuel rather than locally cultivated.
• Web sites that give you solid nutrition advice but have ads saying "How I Lost 44 Lbs Fast!" on the same page is a mixed message.
• and yes, Donuts in your gym is a mixed message.
  

Nutrition for you will not give you mixed messages to confuse you. We really want you to succeed so we want you to focus on what we teach you.  We are experts at weight loss and weight management.  Work with us with your mind open and ready for a change and you will succeed.

Whether or not to buy organic or conventionally grown foods is a big topic that many of our members contemplate. Read on to learn more about which items you should consider buying organic and where convential foods are ok.

The Clean and Dirty Details of Organic!
Organic foods can be 50% more expensive than conventionally grown foods. However, the more organic foods you eat, the less pesticides you consume. It is especially important for children to consume organic foods. New studies suggest that pesticides are linked to ADHD, obesity, diabetes and learning disorders in kids who don't yet have the immune system to be able to flush out these toxins.

Produce:
Here are two lists: one for produce that we recommend you buy organic and one for produce where conventional is ok.

Produce "Dirty Dozen" *Highest in pesticide residue: buy organic if you can.	Produce "Not-So-Dirty-Dozen" *Lowest in pesticide residue: ok to buy conventionally grown.
Peaches Apples Sweet bell peppers Celery Nectarines Strawberries Cherries Pears Grapes (imported) Spinach Lettuce Potatoes	Papayas Broccoli Cabbage Bananas Kiwi Sweat peas (frozen) Asparagus Mangoes Pineapple Sweet corn (frozen) Avocados Onions

Meat and Poultry:
It is very important to buy meat and poultry that has not been treated with antibiotics. Public health authorities recognize that antibiotic use in live-stock (used to fatten them up and prevent disease caused by over crowding and unsanitary living conditions) has led to people contracting antibiotic-resistant infections. The World Health Organization and the American Medical Association have urged farmers to stop using antibiotics. However, many farmers still continue to use antibiotics. So, when it comes to meat and poultry definitely buy meat that has not been treated.

What labels mean:

BEST: Certified Organic: Meat that bears this label is raised without the use of antibiotics or related drugs and meets other rigorous standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). When organically raised animals become sick, they are treated with antibiotics but do not receive the organic label. A third party certifies these standards.

BEST: No Antibiotics Added/Raised without Antibiotics: This label indicates that the animals have not been fed antibiotics at any point in their lives. Meat from sick animals treated with antibiotics cannot be sold under this label claim. Although the USDA approved the use of this claim, compliance is not certified by a third party.

OK: Natural/All-Natural: The USDA defines a "natural" meat product as one that "contain[s] no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed." Meat labeled "natural" may or may not have been treated with antibiotics.

DOESN'T MEAN MUCH: Free-Range/Free-Roaming: These labels have been approved by the USDA for poultry that have been allowed access to the outdoors (though they may never actually go outdoors) but the claim implies nothing about the antibiotic use practices of the producer.

Milk:
Many dairy farmers use the bovine growth hormone (bGH) to increase cattle weight as well as milk production. Though the FDA concluded that there are no risks to drinking milk from cows treated with this hormone, the issue is still being researched. bGH has been banned in Europe and Canada. Since there are so many dairies that don't use this hormone, we suggest buying from them if you can. Buy milk/milk products labeled organic or "rbGH free."

Whether you buy organic or not, here are some tips:

• Buy local produce whenever possible.
• Reduce pesticide residues and other contaminants by:
  *Washing and scrubbing all produce (even produce with skin) under streaming water (don't use soap).
  *Remove peel from fruits and vegetables.
  *Remove outer leaves of leafy vegetables.
  
• Discard produce that has been out of refrigerator for more than 4 hours.
• Trim visible fat and skin from meat and poultry (pesticides residues collect in fat).
• Eat a variety of foods from different sources.
• Prioritize: The majority of your organic food dollars should be spent on avoiding produce which carry the most pesticides.

Created by Kate Haisch, BS, Dietetic Intern

Resources:
Brannon, Carol Ann. "Organics: Separating Science Fiction from Fact." Today's Dietician 10.4 (2008): 8-14
Bareuther, Carol. "Mission Organic: 2010." Today's Dietician 10.4 (2008): 30-34
UCS: What's in the Meat You Eat?

The economy is something that is on everyone's mind these days.  In fact it's pretty easy when looking at your expenses to consider dropping that gym membership, or putting off joining Nutrition for You to save money.  It reminds me of a comment made by a friend of mine, "It's expensive to eat healthy."

It's not.

In fact eating healthy will save you money.  It really comes down to where you eat and what you eat.  Members of Nutrition for You work with real nutrition experts on more than just calories and macronutrients.  We work with you to find ways to make real long-term changes to your life-style. One of the aspects of working with us is how you approach what and where you eat and how that can make you healthier and save you money.

Saving money by where you eat

Many of us love to dine out.  We have our favorite restaurants and eat out a few times a week.  But dining out is expensive and you often have to pay more to be healthy at a restaurant.  How often have you seen something like $1 extra for egg beaters ™ or egg whites instead of eggs? And you know that filet mignon (a lean meat) is a lot more expensive than at rib-eye (medium fat meat).

The price of a single meal at a moderate priced restaurant for one person can often feed an entire family if you cook a meal at home.    The cost of common food items, flour, bread, milk, fruits and vegetables are all sky rocketing.  You feel this at home, but you fill feel it even more at your favorite restaurant because restaurants pass that cost on to you with their service markup.

Another problem with dining out is that you really don't know how the food is prepared.  You might find that the entree you ordered is drenched in butter when it arrives to your table.  You've already ordered and paid for your food so you're not turning back now!  This is not healthy and expensive.

Dining out is not necessary a bad thing, but it can be very expensive.  Don’t give up your health and fitness tools so that you can dine out.  If you have grown accustomed to dining out try to cut back and prepare your own meals at home. You’ll find that you can easily incorporate egg whites at a fraction of the cost of a restaurant and you can save significant money by choosing leaner cuts of meat from your grocer rather than from a restaurant.    Get to know your kitchen again and you may find that you are a great cook and that you will be eating better, healthier, and certainly save yourself some money.  

Saving money by what you eat

A couple of the latest trends with supermarkets and food companies are increasing prepared and pre-packaged foods for convenience.  Supermarkets and companies like Weight Watchers save you time by creating prepared foods and they charge you a lot of money for it.  Prepared foods that aren't "boxed" generally don't have enough nutrition information for you to know what was used in them and sometimes you pay up to $6 and $7 a pound for prepared foods.  Just think about how many dietary staples you can buy for a pound of prepared food!  Prepared foods like Lean Cuisine at least provide you nutrition information and many of them are a good way to have a quick meal while on the go, but don't make every meal come from a box.   They are selling you portion control.  Portion control is extremely important, but you can prepare the healthy food yourself and freeze the extra portions for later meals.  Make your own portable healthy entrees and don’t pay extra for a box.

Beware of packaging gimmicks.  Remember that re-packaging foods into smaller convenient packages costs you money.  Those 100 calorie packs are a waste of money.  Beside the fact that most of them are nutritionally useless, they cost more and you are getting less for your money.  They are great for portion control, but you can do the same thing with a snack bag and a kitchen scale.    Remember that if you see individual portions and single serving portions you are paying a lot of money simply for the convenience.   Make your own snack packs and you will have healthier snacks and save a lot of money.

Plan for the future

Just like any financial plan you should also plan for the future for your health.  We teach people to lose weight and get healthy and to keep it off for the long term.   Eating well and being at or near your ideal weight and body fat will help you stay healthier.  And staying healthier is great way to reduce the likelihood of costly weight related problems in your future.    

So remember it doesn't cost more to eat healthy.  It will save you money, and you will be happier in these tough economic times if you commit to improving your nutritional quality of life.

Key to the Cure is a women’s cancer initiative in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund and Saks Fifth Avenue. Fertile Hope is pleased to return as the beneficiary of this charitable shopping initiative to help fight women’s cancers.

Nutrition for You will be participating in the Women's Health & Wellness Fete in the  Saks Fifth Avenue on Friday October 17th and Saturday October 18th, 2008.

We will be joining the great folks working with Key to the Cure, and providing Nutrition information regarding an anti-inflammatory diet to help reduce the your risk of cancer.  Join us downtown.  We'll have information, free body fat testing, and great nutrition advice.

As a co-founder and developer for Nutrition for You I am always trying to see what our competition is doing and to keep track of the latest trends with online companies.  Not just other companies that are direct competitors, but with how other companies are packaging their services.  One of the most common is Facebook.  Today Facebook was in the news because one of their cofounders Duston Moskovitz and their "top engineer" Justin Rosenstein are leaving to create a new startup.

The reason this is important to Nutrition for You and makes me post periodically about sites like Facebook is advertising.  So many online sites are writing content and updating their site with the main goal of getting as many users as possible.  Not to build a community, but to advertise to you. Facebook founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg has done a wonderful job of bringing together people with social content that they find useful and entertaining.  Advertising on Facebook should be fine with most people, because if you don't like it, you can quit any time.  No committment required.

But for nutrition and health and weight loss it is a completely different story. Most free nutrition, health, and weight loss sites are trying to sell supplements, and food products, weight loss machines, books, and gimmicks.  All of these are conflicting messages.  By simply going with a free or cheap online service driven by advertising or product sales you cannot be certain that they really have your best interest in mind.

Everyone likes a good deal.  And free is the best deal for many. However it isn't always the best deal if you are trying to commit to something like losing weight permanently.  You need to invest in yourself.   By joining Nutrition for You you will be more likely to commit because you do have a small amount of money invested.  We also provide expert coaching and all of our coaches want you to succeed, and will help you stay committed.  Invest in yourself.  Prioritize yourself.  More importantly commit to changing your relationship with food.  When you commit, so do we. We want every single person that joins our site for weight loss to lose weight and succeed.  We don't want to advertise to you. That makes us feel good and we hope it makes you feel good too.