So you want to hire a trainer

I have been a personal trainer now for about 16 years and have really seen a change in the industry. It is an industry that unfortunately is not regulated and you can get a “certification” over a single weekend. There is no way for you to know the difference unless you do a bit of investigating yourself. I will do my best in the following article to guide you to a decision that you are happy and safe with.

I have been hearing more and more horror stories about people hiring personal trainers on at local clubs and paying an arm and a leg for a year long contract, the trainer then leaving and still being stuck with the sessions to “transfer” to another trainer!

This is not a story I have heard only once, but a story I have heard many times over.

Some trainers feel the need to work multiple times each week with a client to help him/her reach their goals. This practice is ludicrous to say the least!
Provide a client the proper education and they should be able to graduate onto their own in no time at all.
Though there are lots of other little examples I could share, those are the two that really seem to get under my skin.

Meeting with a trainer 10-15 times a year for updates could work fine if you do your homework and keep at it.

Let’s take a look at how to hire a personal trainer and what to expect.

1. Watch them in the gym, or get a referral from someone you trust

2. Ask them about their education ( I will add a list of the most recognized ones )

3. Never sign a contract or commit to a certain number of sessions

4. Your first meeting should not be a workout, it should be an in depth health history with some discussion of goals, policy etc

5. Ask to see their insurance policy, they will need to be certified to obtain a policy

6. Ask what they would like to see you achieve

7. Interview more than one…you are hiring them to work for YOU and paying with your money

8. Don’t hire a strength coach to teach you to run and vice versa

9. Ask about small group rates, it’s a lot cheaper to share a trainer with a spouse or friend

10. Discuss pricing up front

Now what to expect from the trainer

1. Health questionnaires, Par Q , Written copy of policy

2. A fitness test to start with, this will allow him/her to identify any weak areas and set a baseline to compare you to in the future

3. Goal setting and plans to get there with timelines

4. Punctuality

5. Be able to provide you with physio, dietitians etc. in the vicinity

6. A written workout plan for the next 4-6 weeks with explanation as to why you are doing the exercises he/she has picked out for you

7. Measurements (if it fits into your goals)

8. A list of activities you can do around your neighbourhood

9. A lesson plan for your next few workouts

10. 100% of their attention


I certainly hope this will help you weed out a possible wrong fit for you, or a long contract worth thousands of dollars in training you don’ t really need.

List of some recognized certifying bodies:

American Council on Exercise
American College of Sports medicine
Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology
YMCA YWCA Canada
National Strength and Conditioning Association
Human Kinetics BSc
Algonquin College Fitness and recreation

Neo Citran

I came home from work today with a sore throat and generally feeling unwell with a body ache, sniffles and a headache. Just a typical cold that I know my body will fight off within the next few days. Although I know there isn't a cure for the common cold, I take comfort in Neo Citran when I feel this way.

Unfortunately, there isn't any nutritional information on the boxes. However, I still purchased my trusty tonic, came home, boiled some water, and looked up the calories by doing a Google search before sipping away.

With only 80 calories per serving, all of those calories came just from sugar. The information on http://www.thedailyplate.com/ reported 20g of sugar, which means there are 5 teaspoons of sugar per serving!

In order to burn off these extra calories, I'd have to clean my house for about 20-25 minutes. I don't feel well enough to do anything but rest, so those calories are sticking close to me for a while.

Luckily, Neo Citran has a sugar-free option.

Wishing everyone a healthy fall and winter!

Salty News

The Sodium Working Group was developed in 2007 to develop goals to bring the sodium levels down to the recommended amounts. A typical North American diet supplies us with over 3500mg of sodium, while the recommended amount is 1500mg.

To put this into perspective, one teaspoon of salt contains 2300mg of sodium. The BBQ Chicken Pizza at Kelsey’s contains 3850mg of sodium!

Luckily, sodium is receiving quite a bit of attention over the last few years. Not only will a reduction in sodium save 1 in 4 strokes, but will also have a large impact on blood pressure and kidney disease. In fact, three quarters of the people who have high blood pressure is influenced by too much sodium in their diet.

Considering that 80% of our sodium intake comes from pre-packaged goods, thankfully, there are food companies that are changing the way they manufacture foods. Products like Blue Menu Minestrone Soup or Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper soup boasts low sodium with only 140mg. Clover Leaf and Blue Menu both have “no added salt” canned salmon.

The Sodium Woking Group has made a goal to reduce Canadians diet to 2300mg of sodium by 2016 and by 2020 down to 1500mg of sodium per day.

Unfortunately, it can take a while to reduce sodium in our diet. Not only because our taste buds get used to a certain amount of sodium, and food tastes bland if there is a large reduction all at once, but also, it will take time to get food manufacturers and restaurants on board with this goal.

What can we do in our kitchen to reduce sodium?

1. Eat out less often. Restaurant foods wall always have more salt than home made food.
2. Make your own freezer meals instead of relying on pre-packaged goods.
3. Rinse canned veggies and canned beans extensively. Use frozen veggies instead of canned and you’ll reduce the sodium further.
4. Look for products that have less than 400mg of sodium per serving for a meal and less than 200mg of sodium per snack.
5. Sodium can hide in strange places like bread – one slice of Country Harvest bread contains over 200mg of sodium per slice!

• Jarred or canned tomato sauce can have over 400mg of sodium per ½ cup serving
  A ¼ cup of cottage cheese contains over 40mg of sodium. Although great for protein, unfortunately it’s high in sodium
• Reduce or eliminate the sodium in your recipes and replace with double the amount of herbs and spices the recipe calls for.
• Change celery salt of celery seeds or garlic salt for garlic powder
• Make your own chicken broth instead of relying on manufactured products
  

Winter...Again?

How was your summer? Have you been keeping up your walking, running, cycling, kayaking and all or any other fitness quests you have taken on this season? Well if you have congratulations, it has not been the best summer for outdoor enthusiasts but none the less, it’s our summer so hope you enjoyed it.

Now it’s about to get tough.
The days are shorter, the temperature is dropping and pretty soon there may even be snow on the ground. This is the most common time for people to start shifting away from their healthy habits they worked so hard on all summer, to a much more sedentary winter routine of television and curling up in a blanket. It’s a crucial time for you to start planning winter outings and activities you can enjoy that will keep you from falling off the wagon again this year.

Don’t wait for the first snowfall, start planning now.

So what can you do in winter you ask? Let’s have a look…

Outdoors

1. Snowshoeing
2. Cross country skiing
3. Walking
4. Skating the canal
5. Outdoor hockey
6. Downhill skiing
7. Running
8. Learn to speedskate at Brewer park outdoor oval http://www.ottawapacers.ca/
9. Wolf calls in Gatineau park http://www.rezoe.com/amicigatineau/english.htm
10. Geocaching http://www.geocaching.com/

Indoors
1. Swimming
2. Spinning classes
3. Dance classes
4. Martial arts
5. Buy a trainer for your bike http://www.tacxbushido.com/en_home.html
6. Mall walking
7. Yoga classes
8. Indoor rock climbing
9. City of Ottawa booklet is packed with activities
10. Join Ottawa sport and social club for fun recreational sports

These are just a few ideas that you can look at and start planning for. Winter is not as crippling as you may think, providing you don’t let it be.

Good Luck

Dr. Freedhoff on CTV National News and Canada AM

Tune in September 16th for the 11:30am EST CTV National News and/or September 17th at 7:15am EST to hear me chat about the proposal to tax sugar sweetened beverages.

Dr. Freedhoff on CTV's Canada AM Tuesday August 4th

Tune in Tuesday August 4th at 8:05AM to CTV's Canada AM to see me discussing the hypocrisy of Ottawa hospitals serving junk food!

If you'd like to read more about my adventures in Ottawa's hospital cafeterias click here and you can read my post on my blog Weighty Matters, click here to read the Ottawa Citizen's story on same or click here to read the Citizen's editorial.

Dr. Freedhoff on CTV National News Monday August 3rd

Tune in Monday August 3rd to CTV Newsnet at 10pm or CTV National News at 11pm to see me discussing the hypocrisy of Ottawa hospitals serving junk food!

If you'd like to read more about my adventures in Ottawa's hospital cafeterias click here and you can read my post on my blog Weighty Matters, click here to read the Ottawa Citizen's story on same or click here to read the Citizen's editorial.

Dr. Freedhoff on Air Wed. July 22nd

For those of you in the Ottawa area, I will be filling in for the vacationing Dr. Barry Dworkin on CFRA's Rob Snow's Afternoon Edition on Wednesday July 22nd from 3-4pm.

If you're not in Ottawa you can also listen live online at www.cfra.com

Portion Sizes

One of the most common questions is “how much should I have of ___.”

The answer: portions are always determined by the number of calories you want to spend.

Ask yourself a few questions:
- What is the smallest amount of chips that I can be happy with today?
- Is the taste and satisfaction worth the number of calories with 2 cups of cereal rather than 1 cup?
- Is today a day that I don’t mind spending an extra 300 calories on a small piece of celebration cake?

There are foods that are definitely worth spending a few extra calories on – maybe 2 cups of pasta is more appeasing than 1 cup; or you’d rather spend another 100 calories on an extra 2oz of salmon at supper as it’s your favourite food. Other foods you may not mind having a smaller amount.

There are also times where overindulging is very appropriate – like a birthday, anniversary or holiday.

There are no set portions that everyone needs to adhere to. Everyone has a different way they would like to spend their calories. It’s like budgeting our money.

Dr. Freedhoff on CBC's Ottawa Morning Monday June 22nd!

So we're leaping from social media to real media on Monday morning when following the 7:30AM news I'll be on CBC Radio One's Ottawa Morning.

Tune in to hear about the initiative to have the Citizen provide its readers with nutritional information and about the bizarre concerns of the Dietitians of Canada with NDP MPP Frances Gelinas' private members bill set to put calories on the menus of chain restaurants!

Spread the word!

Help get nutritional information into the Ottawa Citizen!

Unfortunately it seems this may become a recurrent Thursday topic.

A few weeks agoI blogged about how I had written a letter to the editor of the Ottawa Citizen asking that they publish nutritional information for its Food Section recipes.

It didn't get published.

I then wrote Ron Eade, the Citizen's Food Editor with the same request and he informed me that it was a budgetary issue and suggested I contact Wendy Warburton the person in charge of making the decision to spend the $16.99 it would cost to buy the software to analyze the recipes.

And so I did.

She didn't write me back.

So I'm at it again.

The issue here is simple. There are tens of thousands of Citizen readers for whom nutritional information would be beneficial. Readers with diabetes, hypertension, obesity, kidney disease and those who simply are concerned about their nutritional health. Those individuals would greatly benefit from having the Citizen publish nutritional information along with their recipes and frankly it's dead simple and dirt cheap to provide it.

How dead simple and dirt cheap?

It can't get any easier than this:

If the Citizen provides ME with their recipes 24hours before their copy deadlines I will personally take the time to calculate the nutritional information for each and every Food Section recipe they print.

So what say you Ron and Wendy?

Zero cost, zero effort.

Feel free to email Ron and Wendy by clicking here.

If you're a local blogger or Twitter'er please repost. If you're not into blogging and such, just email this to your friends. Perhaps we can make enough noise to affect change for as you may recall, the Citizen's editorial board in their piece on posting calories on menus suggested that legislation isn't necessary to get restaurants to post calories but rather than consumer demand would do the trick. Please consumers - make some demands.

Until I hear back from them I guess you'll have to tune in here for breakdowns.

Here's the breakdown for this week's batch of Citizen recipes:

Saucy Spinach-Dressed Baked Spuds
(per serving assuming 1/16 teaspoon of salt per): 449 calories, 10g saturated fat, 826mg sodium, 25g total carbs [A lot of salt and calories for a side dish and even if you leave out the salt altogether sodium only goes down to 692mg per].

Smoked Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Glaze
(per serving if you serve 6 and use 1/8 teaspoon salt to taste spread over the entire recipe): 487 calories, 817mg sodium (can easily trim this to 487mg by using light soy sauce and not adding salt to taste), 4g saturated fat, 53g total carbohydrates.

Grilled Brats in Beer
(per serving): 482 calories, 9g saturated fat, 832mg sodium, 31g total carbohydrates [This one will really vary dependent on your bun and bratwurst. I would take the numbers here as low estimates and figure they could easily double depending on what you buy - read your labels!]

To-Die-For Decadent Burgers
(per burger with NO fixings): 776 calories, 29g saturated fat, 592mg sodium, 22g total carbs [Obviously these numbers will climb with the fixings.]

Roast Rack of Lamb
(per serving with no salt to taste): 1,501 calories, 54g saturated fat, 871mg sodium, 34g total carbs.

Sweet and Sour Cucumber Salad
(per serving): 36 calories, trace saturated fat, 98mg sodium, 7g total carbs.

Tube Steaks (Hotdogs) with Pickled Onions
(per serving not including ketchup or mustard): 554 calories, 13g saturated fat, 2,219mg sodium, 42g total carbs [Really, are hot dogs worth more than a day's worth of sodium? Your call of course].[All recipes calculated using Mastercook 9.0. Today it took roughly 4.5 minutes per recipe]

Post courtesy of Dr. Freedhoff's blog - Weighty Matters

Dr Freedhoff Challenge

So the Dr. Freedhoff challenge has come and gone again this spring leaving many people smiling ear to ear.

For those of you who are not in the know…let me explain the Dr. Freedhoff challenge to you.

The first year we opened up I decided to entice some patients into doing what is known as a Try-a-Tri which consists of a 100m swim, 11.2km cycle and a 2km walk/run. So it is simply a chance for folks to try a triathlon and not have to spend thousands on fancy bikes or training camps. Well, Dr. Freedhoff got wind of what I was doing and because he suffers from “workaholism” he saw it as an opportunity to get away from his desk and train as well. It became a challenge; if I was able to gather 20 participants to take part in the race, he would train and race the longer race. I completed the task as once I told folks he would have to race as well, seemed like a bunch of folks wanted to help him start training. (I am not sure if they were trying to help him or wanted to see him suffer)

While we were doing this and having a lot of fun promoting here at BMI, Terry from Somersault Promotions got wind of it and offered to give us an actual race! Well, it’s been 4 years running now and it sells out each year. There are no age group or gender group prizes, it is all for the fun of it. It welcomes walkers, runners, and children all the same. It even allows for some couples to ride tandem during the event.

All this to say this past May 16th weekend was a blast and I wanted to thank everyone who took part in it. I know I speak for both myself and all the staff here when I say this is one of the best parts of the job. Seeing folks cross a finish line and pump their arms in the air with a smile you can see from Google earth is really a huge joy.

Thanks to all of you for making such a great weekend for us and inspiring others here to achieve!

Feel free to have a look at the pictures on our site

If you are feeling the least bit inspired to try a triathlon yourself, the folks over at Somersault do an excellent job for first time racers and elites alike.

Happy Training

Gravitophobia - the irrational fear of weighing.

Gravitaphobia tends to happen when folks who believe weight management involves strict control (often to the exclusion of using food for pleasure or comfort) have a difficult time (go figure) living their overly strict lifestyles and then consequently indulge.

Suddenly the scale that they had been stepping on multiple times daily due to their scale addiction - suddenly they want nothing to do with it. Going into the bathroom many will even avert their eyes rather than glance in its direction. Certainly they didn't consume enough calories to make a dent. A piece of chocolate cake, even a rich piece, probably doesn't even contain a quarter pound of calories, yet it's often enough to trigger gravitaphobia.

For some gravitaphobia lasts a day or two. Others it can be weeks and some months or years, and often scale avoidance goes hand in hand with giving up on many or all healthy living strategies.

Let me be clear. The scale isn't your friend or your enemy. The scale is just something to provide you with another piece of information with which to help inform your decisions.

If you're trying to lose weight - weigh weekly.

If you're trying to maintain your weight - weigh daily.

But either way, never ever let the scale push you around and remember that life is dynamic and so too is your weight and your healthy living efforts.

Sometimes life is worth more calories. Sometimes it just happens that way and sometimes it's for great reasons, but at no time should you let that scale have the power to push you around. Don't spend your emotional energies on overt avoidance or guilt - they're certainly not going to help you any they might even hurt.

[Adapted from Dr. Freedhoff's blog Weighty Matters]

Nutrition Myth #2: Eating Healthy Facilitates Weight Loss

Eating healthier certainly has considerable perks. It can reduce our risk of diseases like heart disease, type II diabetes, strokes, cancers, diverticulosis.

Choosing whole grain options over the white version can increase our fibre intake and not only reduce risk of heart disease and type II diabetes, but also helps to keep us feeling full longer. Reducing sodium will reduce one in four strokes and eating less red meat and more vegetables will reduce the chance of cancers.

What healthy eating doesn’t do is speed up the rate of weight loss. In fact, healthy eating and weight loss are two separate topics.

When we talk about weight loss, it’s all about the calories. We can consume the same number of calories from unhealthy choices as we can if we choose healthier options.
If we exceed the number of calories we need, we’ll gain weight, regardless of where the calories come from. For example, 500 calories from chicken, brown rice and broccoli is the same as 500 calories of ice cream.

Your body will treat the calories the exact same way, but will treat the nutrients very differently. The calories from the ice cream will get digested quicker than the chicken dinner and will probably leave hunger lurking around. Although ice cream tastes great and makes a nice treat, it isn’t the healthiest choice for a supper meal.

If you find yourself feeling guilty because you had a brownie or an extra handful of salty chips, ask yourself this: “How many calories did I eat?” and "Could I honestly live without this choice forever?" Instead of chalking it up to a “poor choice” and feeling guilty, understand the number of calories you spent. Chances are, it’s not as bad as you think it was!

When I help people design a sustainable way of eating, it most certainly includes healthier choices, but also food we truly enjoy like pizza, fries and cake. I encourage the “80/20” rule. That is 80% of the time, we’ll probably do a great job choosing healthy choices, but 20% of the time, we need to live and enjoy the treats!

If you can't live without chips, cookies or Chinese food forever, decide the number of calories that are worth spending on these items. Ensure you are including them in an amount that is sustainable.

Do you suffer from Scale Addiction?

It's certainly not a condition written about in medical textbooks.

I'm talking about scale addiction. An affliction that causes the sufferer, usually someone in the midst of a weight loss effort, to step on the scale multiple times a day whereupon if the scale does not go down or goes up, they suffer mild to severe mental anguish.

I've met many folks who are scale addicts.

They tell me that rationally they understand that getting on the scale multiple times a day won't make a difference, but that they just can't help themselves.

For those folks I usually offer to babysit their scales in my office or I recommend that they turn them over, take out the batteries or put tape on the solar strip.

The thing is scales are truly frustrating devices because they don't simply measure caloric intake vs. caloric expenditure. They measure clothing, water retention, constipation and time of day differences.

Folks who do weigh frequently will know that weight fluctuates both day by day and within a day.

So for scale addicts out there, here are two things you need to know.

Firstly, there's 3,500 calories in a pound, and while bodies are not mathematical instruments whereby if you do or don't eat 3,500 calories you'll see a pound change on the scale, bodies do obey the laws of thermodynamics and if you step on a scale on a Wednesday and it's 3 pounds heavier than Tuesday, unless you consumed at least 10,500 calories more than you burned, the scale is weighing something other than true weight.

Secondly, your weight doesn't matter. What do I mean by that? To put it simply, what moves the number on the scale is not the act of standing on the scale, it's what you're doing and choosing during the times you're not standing on the scale. It's your lifestyle and your choices that change your weight. You need to determine how you're doing by how you're doing. What have your dietary choices been like? How's your fitness? Are you being thoughtful? Are you organized and consistent?

Scales can be helpful to illustrate trends, but weight fluctuation, both inter and intra day fluctuations are normal.

At the end of the day, it's your life that can change the scale, not the other way around.

My recommendations? During a weight loss effort weigh yourself once a week, stark naked Wednesday morning before breakfast. During a weight maintenance effort weigh yourself daily and get to learn your body's weight fluctuations and more importantly, use the scale to nip any weight regain in the bud.

Break the habit, stop the weighing.

(P.S. Those aren't my feet, just a scary picture from the internet)

[Via Dr. Freedhoff's blog Weighty Matters]

Couples that play together...

Last month we looked at ways to get moving while including the kids. This month let’s have a look at some fun things that can be done as a couple.

“Couples that play together stay together” Let’s see what’s out there…

A lot of couples get into routine of going to work, then going home, once the weekend hits it’s chores, going out for dinner and sleeping in. If this sounds like your life, why not shake it up a bit with some activity together.

One very good idea this time of year is to start hitting a local gym together. Go in together before work or stop in and meet there on the way home. You don’t need to devote hours of you day there, but 60min start to finish is more then enough. It’s also a great way to unwind and let go of your work stress before getting home.

I always encourage couples I work with to try something new together.

Here are some activities you may enjoy doing as a couple.

Spinning can be a lot of fun, and because of the way you control your bike in the class, you can have different levels of fitness and still each have great workouts.

I think every couple should try dance lessons at some point. You can check out some local dance schools but I generally find the community centres are a great way to investigate the activity first to see if you want to pursue it. I would recommend either ballroom or salsa if you are looking to work as a couple. Hip hop or Zumba classes are great if you want a great cardio workout and possibly a good laugh if you move like I do…

Another great activity is tandem cycling. A bike built for two has romance written all over it…unless you sit back and let you spouse do all the work. You can usually rent one first to try it out as they can be a rather expensive investment to find out it’s not for you. Once you spend a bit of time getting used to it, you can head down to Niagra for a bike tour of the vineyards. Now that is a nice weekend!

Other really great activities to try out are: hiking, hike with a picnic, walking to a restaurant for dinner, taking in a museum together,couples yoga, rock climbing is a great couples sport, and simply lacing up and enjoying a public skate or roller blade can be a nice afternoon together.

The sky is really the limit when it comes to choosing and activity, be creative.

Remember not every activity has to be a heart pounding workout to make it count.

Taking in a museum together may add 2000-6000 extra steps on to your pedometer, and provide you a wonderful rainy day activity at the same time.

So think outside the box when it comes to activity and have a great time together.

The Cost of Healthy Eating

According to a report from Dietitians of Canada that came out on March 3, 2009, the cost of food in Alberta has increased 10% over the past six months. To feed a family of four, it costs about $773.94 a month.

There’s no question that the cost of food has increased in Ontario as well. My grocery bill has gone up by a third each month despite lots of careful shopping, watching sales and clipping coupons.

I often hear from patients that their grocery bill has increased when they start shopping for healthier food. A package of yogurt is unfairly more costly than most containers of ice cream.

Every few weeks (if not weekly for some stores) food stores have big sales and big savings. As an example, Loeb had whole chickens on sale for $1 a pound last week. Food Basics had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for just over $2 a pound (you’d easily pay over $5 a pound regularly). If you shop carefully and plan your meals around the food that is on sale, there can be lots of money saved.

Here are some other ideas:

1. Buy sale items in bulk and freeze them. There are only two items that don’t do well in the freezer – whole potatoes and eggs. Anything else can be frozen without much change to the defrosted product.

2. Shop seasonally. During the winter months, frozen fruit and vegetables contain more nutritional value than the fresh produce. And, they are far less expensive! During the summer months, local produce is less expensive.

3. Don’t go food shopping when you’re hungry. We’ve all been to the food store on an empty stomach and arrived home with far too many groceries. Hunger will influence how much we buy.

4. Take advantage of some coupon websites. Here is a list of Canadian sites for groceries and household items:
http://www.mysavings.com/
http://www.frugalshopper.ca/
http://www.allgoodcoupons.ca/
http://www.save.ca/

5. Shop at more than one grocery store. Different stores will have different sales on various items. If you have a few stores that are close together, follow the sales and shop at all of them.

6. Cook food from scratch. Dining in and making your own food instead of pre-packaged goods can put money back in your wallet.

7. Go shopping with a list. We’re all subject to impulse buying, but a list can help you organize what you need for the week. Plan your weekly meals and shopping list with the food that’s on sale.

My grandmother always said that there is money to be saved in the kitchen.

Happy saving!

Dr. Freedhoff on Air February 21st

For those of you in the Ottawa area, I will be speaking this afternoon with Barry Dworkin on his nationally syndicated show, Sunday House Call. I'll be on just after the 3:30 news and will be talking about regulating Canada's weight loss industry.

If you're not in Ottawa you can also listen live online at www.cfra.com

If you have kids, you know first hand how tough it can be to find time to add activity into your lifestyle. It’s a barrier that a lot of people have to work around and quite honestly, you can make it a lot easier with a bit of "outside the box" thinking.

Let's look at a few ways you can add activity to your hectic schedule…

Make a calendar like your child has for hockey or soccer practice and stick it on the fridge with your exercise times on it. The entire family will know your activity schedule and learn to work around it. I know it is hard to imagine, but it really can work.

If you take a child to the rink, field or dance lessons, you have 40-90 min that you can use for activity.

For example, if you are at the field while your son is practicing soccer, do laps of the field for the entire time you are there.

If you have a daughter at hockey practice, there are usually stairs at the rink.

Go for a walk while you child is at dance lessons. If they join a martial arts club, join with them.

For new parents, there are classes that incorporate the baby into them. In Ottawa we have

http://www.newottawamom.com/drupal/node/67

You bring your child and stroller and head out for an interactive workout as you walk around the city.

Use a bike carrier and head out for a ride. I advise most to get a carrier that also converts to a running stroller.

http://dsp.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p3582934p275w.jpg

There are also mom and me courses all over the city which incorporate babies into the workout.

Most gyms will offer day care of some sort for a nominal fee which gives you yet another option.

Don’t forget to delegate!

You are up for about 119 hours per week! Have others help out around the home.

There are endless ideas out there for fitness for those with hours to spend right down to those who are budgeting every minute of everyday…just think outside the box!

Here is a sample workout for the busy biker…

You attach the bike carrier to your bike

Head to somewhere equal to your skill .

After warming up, send your spouse out to ride as fast as they can for 5min

At the end of the 5min, your job is to try and catch the person who is 5min ahead

Try 3-5 sets

ENJOY

Those 100 Calorie Snack Packs

One hundred calorie packages of snacks are convenient; they’re portion controlled, non-perishable and easy to eat as they take the guess-work out of calorie counting.

If we take a moment to analyze these snacks, we may find these products are often loaded in sugar, sodium and probably won’t keep you full for very long.

I’ve seen them in many varieties like Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers, Chips Ahoy cookies, popcorn, nuts, Craisins.

Special K has a granola bar for 100 calories. It contains 9g of sugar, which is more than 2 teaspoons of sugar and makes up 45% of the calories. The first ingredient in Ritz Crackers, is enriched flour and has only 2g of protein. To get enough protein to equal a serving, you’d need to eat at least 3 packages.

Snacks are the best way to control hunger and manage evening cravings if they contain enough calories and protein. Ideally, try and make your snacks minimum 100-150 calories and include a source of protein.

The best 100 calorie packages are those that contain at least 5g of protein and lower than 200mg of sodium. Even if you have a Thinsation chocolate bar for an afternoon snack, pair it with 1oz of cheese or chicken, 1/4 cup of cottage cheese or an egg or maybe 1oz of nuts.

This isn’t to say that these packages of cookies or popcorn don't play a role in managing calories. It offers a great way to have a treat in a pre-portioned amount, they help to visualize what 100 calories looks like and can help us think about the calorie transactions when we open each bag.

Dr. Freedhoff on Air

For those of you in the Ottawa area, I will be filling in for Barry Dworkin's regular weekly appearance on Rob Snow's afternoon show on CFRA tomorrow (Wednesday February 4th) between 3pm and 4pm.

If you're not in Ottawa you can also listen live online at www.cfra.com

Well it’s that time of year, the days are getting longer and we start looking forward to spring again.

It’s also the time of year that I start bugging you to set your first goal of 09 if you have not already done so.

Why not do what hundreds of BMI patients have already done, your first triathlon?

No, that is not a typo…

Every year Terry, Christine and a huge group of volunteers from Somersault Promotions put together a variety of events that cater to all abilities with their motto being “events for everyone, from start to finish”

More specifically they put on what is known as a “try a tri” for folks who may not be ready to tackle a long distance triathlon or may just want to try it out and see what it’s all about. They have even gone so far as to give us a race (though it’s open to all) called the “Dr Freedhoff challenge” which is described on their site as…

the dr. freedhoff try a tri challenge
This is for anyone, but especially for beginners and healthy people who have always wanted to "Try a Tri". The roads are traffic-free for your safety. Most healthy adults can complete this event.

Many of Dr. Freedhoff's BMI Bariatric Medical Institute clients have found that setting a goal of the completing a Try A Tri has had a positive affect on their pursuit of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy body weight. More than 50 BMI clients participated in last year's Early Bird Try A Tri; many for the very first time.

For those interested in learning more, I am holding a triathlon meeting at BMI Monday Feb 16th from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. where I will be answering all your questions and concerns while talking to you about the entire even to see if it’s for you.

The race distances and average times are as follows:

Swim 100meters 2min-5min

Bike 11.4km 35min-75min

Run/walk 2.0km 10min-20min

The way it works is that 50 competitors or more from BMI means that Dr Freedhoff has to do the longer triathlon that day!

This is your chance to make him work!

The Dr Freedhoff Challenge is not competitive and is set up to allow competitors to focus on the experience and just enjoy the day.

If you do have a great time, who knows…maybe Hawaii Ironman next year!

Have a look at the link below as there is a lot of useful information through out it.


http://www.somersaultpromotions.com/eventearlybird.htm

Enjoy

The Missing Link

According to the National Weight Control Registry, 78% of the people ate breakfast everday. The registry includes people who, on average, have lost over 60lbs and kept it off for 5.5 years.

That brings me to speak about the Breakfast BELT from Tim Horton's. It doesn't sound like a terribly unhealthy choice, so I decided to try one myself. It took me about 12 minutes to drive there and back and waited in the drive-thru line at the local Tim Horton’s for 7 minutes, a total of 19 extra minutes was added to my usual morning routine.

After looking at the nutrition values, I wasn't shocked to see it packed 440 calories and 940mg of sodium!

The next morning, I made one myself. It took me only 4 minutes to toast my bagel, cook the egg and slice the tomatoes and cheese. I revamped the tradition BELT and made a CELT. Instead of bacon, I used leftover chicken from the night before – less sodium, more protein and less saturated fat.

Here are the nutrient differences:

My CELT (made with a Weight Watcher's bagel, low fat cheese and a poached egg): 342calories, 8.4g fat, 2.8g saturated fat, 515mg sodium, and 32.6g protein

Tim Horton's BELT: 440 calories, 14g fat, 6g saturated fat, 940mg sodium, and 21g protein

Although Tim Horton’s provides the nutrition information online, we should still think about adding an extra 20% to allow for any discrepancies.

BELT +20%: 528 calories, 16.8g fat, 7.2g saturated fat, 1128mg of sodium, and 25.2g protein

Time wise, I saved myself 15 minutes by making my own. Nutritionally, I saved myself 613mg of sodium (almost halt a day's worth of sodium!) and 186 calories.

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day - it can combat those pesky evening munchies and get us thinking better through the day. Relying on convenience to feed ourselves may seem healthy, but can also add extra calories.

Try making your own breakfast tomorrow instead of eating out. Here are some suggestions for a quick breakfast:

1. Make a peanut butter sandwich the night before and lay it beside a piece of fruit

2. Leave food at work, if that's a more convenient time to eat

3. Put the ingredients for a shake in a blender the night before and whiz it up in the morning. Drink it during the car-ride to work

4. Pre-package nuts and cereal in little baggies. Grab that and a yogurt and/or a peice of fruit.

Something for everyone in 2009

"Getting in shape" seems to top most new years resolution lists year after year.

If this is one of your goals this year, why not look for something new and exciting to try.

Improving your level of fitness does not have to be at the local gym or alone in your basement. You can get fit almost anywhere with a bit of creativity and initiative.

Here are a few activities I have found that will help improve your level of fitness and your level of FUN!


Your first Triathlon…

http://www.somersaultpromotions.com/eventearlybird.htm

http://www.triathanewbie.com/index.html

Do you want to run?

http://www.events.runningroom.com/hm2/?running=true

http://www.ncm.ca/

https://www.cibcrunforthecure.com/html/login.asp?session=y


If you like to dance…

http://www.dancestudios.ca/product_info.php?products_id=202

http://www.fredastaire.ca/

http://maps.google.ca/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_en___CA303&um=1&q=ottawa+dance+schools&fb=1&view=text&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=1&ct=more-results&cd=1


For people who enjoy the water…

http://www.ottawarivercanoe.com/Partners3.asp

https://ottawa.ca/residents/parks_recreation/swimming/schedules/west/index_en.html

http://www.nmsc.org/

Walking and hiking…

http://www.bytownwalkers.ca/

http://www.rideautrail.org/

Martial arts…

http://www.douvris.com/

http://www.ottawajudoclub.com/

http://central.canada.taoist.org/

Want to cycle?

http://www.ckap.ca/

http://www.ottawabicycleclub.ca/

http://www.ottawabicycleclub.ca/rlct

http://www.mssociety.ca/en/events/biketour/default.htm

Enjoy the winter this year…

http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/

http://www.campfortune.com/en/ski/home.php

http://mcgoldrick.ca/xc-skiing/

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/parks_recreation/seasonal/fw/xc_skiing/index_en.html

Something more EXTREME!!!

http://www.wildernesstours.com/

http://www.scottwalking.com/destinations.cfm

http://www.verticalreal.com/home/index_e.php

http://www.coyoterockgym.ca/

http://www.mont-sainte-anne.com/1/Lamontagne/Autresactivites/Traineauachiens/tabid/216/Default.aspx

I Hope you gained Weight over the Holidays

That's what I'm telling my patients.

Frankly I think for many (certainly not all), significant losses over Christmas and New Years carry a worse prognosis than small gains.

Why?

Simple.

To lose weight over Christmas and New Year for many would require an overly strict approach, a slap-your-wrist, wish you could have seconds, damn than stupid pie, type approach. An approach otherwise known as a "diet".

"Diets" by definition are temporary.

Lifestyles are forever.

Life includes Christmas.

Hope you enjoyed yours.

(And if you did lose, don't feel guilty, just ask yourself if you were reasonably indulgent and if not, perhaps loosen your reins just a touch)

[Blog first posted on Dr. Freedhoff's Weighty Matters]

So you want to join the gym...

So it’s that time of year again!

The local gyms will be overflowing with those who have decided to once again attempt their dream of rippling muscles and unsurpassed aerobic endurance. Well at least for the next three months until they quiet down and leave the regulars alone so they can have their gym back.

This year, why don’t you become a regular and not one of the majority who simply donate to the gym.

First of all, let’s look at the number that a gym works on.

The gym I worked at for years was allowed by fire regulations a max of 180 people at a time, yet was able to sell 5000 memberships!

It’s simple, when you sign up to a gym they know you won’t be there for long. The average is less than 3 months, yet they insist you buy a year membership to their facility. They operate knowing that only about 30% of the memberships sold will be used regularly.

With a bit of planning, you can increase your chance of becoming one of the 30% that use the gym all year round.

1. Find a gym close to home or work, convenience goes a long way for adherence.

2. Don’t rely on a workout buddy, this system rarely works. All it will do is provide you a great excuse not to go if your workout buddy can’t. (if someone who is already part of that elusive 30% club invites you to join them, they can be an effective partner)

3. Set a small goal for yourself to start with. I find planning a number of visits per week is a great goal you can set every Sunday. (if you have a busy week, plan to reduce your visits that week)

4. A lot of gyms will provide you a one to three complimentary sessions with a trainer to help you get to know the equipment. It is a great idea to take full advantage of this to get started.

5. Try to add your gym visits into your daily commute or lunch hour. This makes it less likely to interfere with other commitments. Once you get home, there is a lot less chance you are going to head back out for your workout.

6. Make your workouts short; 30 to 45minute visits to the gym are best. You don’t want this to become a part time job.

7. Don’t expect to see your body change in the first 3-6 months of working out. You will however start to experience health benefits from the first week.

8. Meet people at the gym, don’t be shy to chat with the staff a bit or say hi to the regulars there. It can be a very social place. Each month my father and the early morning crew at the YMCA have a bacon and eggs meeting at the diner down the below it.

9. Ask the trainer not only to show you the machines, but to also educate you on some of the etiquette at the gym, ie: sharing equipment, proper attire, not resting on machines etc. this will help you feel a bit more like you fit in

10. Remember, those people you see with the fabulous bodies should not intimidate you at all. They too had a first day at the gym and had to learn everything you are learning. Don’t think they were born with special gym knowledge and proper workout technique. They know better than anyone the hard work and dedication it takes to get that point.

Tips on selecting a gym for you;

• Tour a few facilities

• Do their hours work for you?

• Tour the time of day you will be training, this will give you an idea of the crowds

• Are the change rooms clean to your standards?

• Avoid pushy sales people. This is not a small investment take your time to decide. Reputable gyms don’t have specials that make you feel you need to buy now.

• Pay as you go for the first couple workouts to see how you like it

• I generally lean towards the YMCA’s or local community centers as they are usually less crowded, and more affordable and don’t lock you into a year contract


A couple other points to note is that not everyone enjoys the gym and the gym is not the only way to a fit and healthy lifestyle. It is simply one way to fit activity into a hectic schedule, but not the only way. If it's not for you, explore as many other options as you would like.

For example: Cross country skiing, snowshoeing, skating,walking,running,swimming,dancing,martial arts, geocaching...the list goes on.

Just make sure you stay active for life!

Travel advisory

According to this morning radio's newscaster, today is the busiest day for travel of the year at the airports. As we enter the Holiday stretch, many of us will be visiting with family and friends, or taking a well-earned vacation.

Maintaining good food habits while away has its own set of challenges.

While away from your home, it is a given that we will have a larger number of meals in settings that don't allow for easy calorie awareness. Whether it is from an airport snack, a generously hosted family meal or a sumptuous buffet; our ability to estimate calorie intake is affected. And sometimes, this can lead to feelings of defeat and anxiety.

It probably makes better sense to approach the time away with a good mix of enjoyment, but also mindfulness. A bit of planning can help you enjoy those special get togethers with less stress. We all celebrate around food, and this enjoyment is natural and memorable. There are usually a handful of important meals that should be viewed as exceptional, and should be pleasurable, not guilt-ridden. A few meals within a few weeks will not ultimately derail all our good efforts.

Those meals are best approached with the right mindset and a little bit of preparation:

1.Recognize them as special, and exceptional, and often prepared with love and generosity. When you can, contribute to the meal effort with a tasty lower, calorie option.

2. Recognize that there is usually more food served than usual, and often richer, and with lots of variety.

3. Come prepared! Stay satisfied the days leading up to the events. Eat your snacks between meals, and at the same intervals that you normally would at home. You may want to ask your host for help on this, or you may choose to stock up on a few portable high quality snacks at a local grocer. A good snack will satisfy you longer, and remember that protein rich sources do this well.

4. Eat enough at the meals and snacks before, and after all special meals. By maintaining enough calories consistently at each sitting, we are not as likely to embark on a roller-coaster of of hunger and cravings. This allows for more careful portions, and choices.

5. When it is time to overindulge a bit, please do so. Feeling like we have missed out is not only disappointing, but leads to resentment, and undermines self-confidence, and our efforts in the following days.

6. Enjoy a sampling a many different types of foods, and in small portions. Fill half your plate with veggies you like, and try not to create a forbidden category of foods. Stuffing, potatoes and dessert can be chosen, and in small quantities.

7. Remain grateful and positive!


Ultimately, you will be in a better position to resume your good habits if you try and maintain a minimal amount of preparation. New Year's is around the corner, and you won't be needing a new health resolution in 2009 - you are already living it!

Happy holidaying!

Holiday Eating

The holidays are a time to celebrate with family, friends and food and it's easy to gain weight. Instead of avoiding the festivities to maintain weight, here are some tips to help us cope:

1. Don’t skip meals! Skipping meals or snacks only makes us hungry. Hunger will always make us choose larger portions and crave more goodies. Start your day with a good breakfast and eat every 2-3hrs with protein to ward off hunger.

2. A day of celebration will be a high calorie day. There is no need to save calories or compensate the next day as this will only make us hungry! We celebrate with food, so it makes sense that from time to time we will moderately overindulge and have a high calorie day. One day of overeating isn't going to make-it-or-break-it. The days in between may be more realistic to focus on.

3. Focus on portion control rather than choice control. It’s not what we eat, but how much we eat. Remember, a healthy choice doesn’t mean it’s lower in calories. Concentrate on having smaller portions of whatever is offered.

4. If it’s a potluck, bring a dish for which you know the calories. Calculate the calories per serving and enjoy the dish and the event.

5. Pay attention to how quickly you eat—pace, don’t race. Holidays happen once a year—take time to enjoy the flavours.

6. If you are holding a holiday party, add lots of vegetable dishes and reduced calorie favourites. Dips made with low fat plain yogurt mixed with herbs and spices can be 35 calories per ¼ cup.

7. Use smaller plates. People will eat 20-30% less if they have smaller plates and are served from smaller dishes.

8. Plan ahead; take a look at the calories of some of the common holiday meals and treats. Make use of your Calorie King book or visit their website (www.calorieking.com). Here’s a comparison of some commonly offered indulgences:

Compare THIS: 1 cup Egg Nog 240 calories
To THIS: 1 cup light Egg Nog130 calories

Compare THIS: 1oz (30g) of Brie cheese 100 calories
To THIS: 2 Tbsp hummus 70 calories

Compare THIS: 6 Meatballs in sauce 260 calories
To THIS: 6 Shrimp cocktail 60 calories

Compare THIS: Toblerone (four triangles) 160 calories
To THIS: Shortbread cookie 60

Compare THIS: Candy Cane (small) 55 calories
To THIS: 1 slice Christmas cake 140 calories

9. Alcohol is calorie dense and offers 7 calories per gram! Be the designated driver or bring diet pop to reduce your caloric intake. A typical 5oz glass of wine is 130 calories, whereas a wine spritzer could be 70 calories.

10. Plan on a few realistic and healthy lifestyle changes for the New Year instead of a diet.

Have a wonderful holiday and a very happy and safe New Year!

Is this the Future of Childhood Obesity Treatment?

Lord I hope not.

Last week I attended a talk at the Family Medicine Forum in Toronto (the largest Canadian family medicine conference of the year). The talk was entitled,

"Childhood obesity in 2008: A growing challenge for family physicians"

and according to the conference program the learning objectives for this talk included,

"1. to increase awareness of the importance of childhood obesity,
2. to improve participants’ clinical skills towards children and adolescents,
3. to introduce a multimodal, integrative treatment strategy including practical instruction on exercise, nutrition, family
recruitment, medications, and more invasive options, and
4. to work to improve advocacy and prevention strategies at the patient as well as community levels."

To help frame their talk the speakers used a hypothetical case of a 16 year old, obese, socially withdrawn, depressed female and then highlighted what they thought treatment should include.

Want to know their proposed treatment plan?

One hour of exercise daily.

No TV.

No Internet.

No going out to eat.

No junk food.

Plate regular portions and then take away 10% weekly

What was not included? Any strategy to reduce hunger (ie. eating every 2-3 hours, including protein with every meal and snack, having sufficient numbers of calories per meal and snack, improving the quality of her carbohydrates by switching to whole grain versions, fueling properly for her hour of exercise etc), any discussion regarding calories and tracking food with a food diary (despite the recent study showing those who keep them lose twice as much as those who don't), any discussion regarding her depression (important given that an active depression is a contraindication to initiating an effort of intentional weight loss).

Basically they took this socially withdrawn, depressed obese teen and told her that all the things she actually enjoys doing in her life she can't do, that she's got to go from not enjoying exercise to plodding through an hour of it a day (without ascertaining whether or not she's got time), that she's simply going to have to learn to eat less calories than before without any adjustments to how she uses food to minimize hunger and that she's now no longer able to access the only social venue she's got where she doesn't have to be the obese girl (the anonymous internet). There was also no mention of family counselling to determine family habits and lifestyles, no mention of exploring her social history to look for things like physical or sexual abuse, no mention of teaching her how to read a nutrition facts panel, etc.

This girl needs guidance, not guilt. There was no mention of treating her like a living, breathing, complicated human being and instead the message being given to her was the classic and useless - eat less and exercise more.

Perhaps the only thing worse than the messages these physicians were providing was the room full of family doctors nodding their heads in agreement.

If this is the future of childhood obesity treatment in Canada we're all in big trouble.

[Adapted from Dr. Freedhoff's weekdaily blog Weighty Matters]

Why wait until January?

We’ve all done it and we will probably all do it again sometime.

We plan to start fresh on a certain day...a sort of magical day. A day that somehow will change everything and allow us all the time we need from that day on. A day that will no doubt hand us both the ability and availability to become healthier, stronger and more fit then ever before.

This is the time of year when I start hearing people speak of this magical January 1st as the day it all starts.
No more smoking, fast food or swearing and the obligatory start of the new fitness commitment.

I guess my question is why wait?

What would happen if you started chipping away at these ideas now in preparation for this new lifestyle you will be starting in 2009.

Being in the fitness industry for over 15 years has allowed me to see a lot of great intentions. Just go to your local YMCA January 2nd and treat yourself to a gym full of people starting their new exercise regime, take a head count. Now head back to your local gym for a head count in March and you will notice something very different in the number of people there. This is usually because people fail to plan any more than a start date.

Imagine you are going back to work after being off a year on maternity leave.
You wouldn’t walk into a local daycare the day you go back to work and drop your child off would you? You would start looking around, checking prices, hours, staff, locations, you may even start a few weeks early to make the transition seamless when you go back to work.

You see by chipping away at your final goal of dropping your child off, you make it much easier to implement the change when it’s time to do so.

You can do the same thing with your exercise regime…

I think the easiest way to get into the shape you want to be in for 2009 is to start chipping away at it now. You don’t need the pressure of changing your life in one day.

Some things you can do now to help chip away at your new lifestyle

· investigate local gyms: price, hrs, location, clientele
· adjust child care (some gyms offer it)
· delegate chores at home
· interview personal trainers
· try a few classes at the community centre
· plan an event day, maybe a local 5km
· start a walking program

Start chipping away now at your exercise goals, you will be a month closer to your goals come January 1st and that will give you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Following Meal Plans

I frequently come across meal plans in magazines or newspapers that guarantee rapid and significant weight loss. At first glance, they appear to be thorough, organized, easy to follow, and healthy.

There are benefits to following a meal plan. In today’s fast paced society everyone is short on time. Meal plans can help us organize our food choices, keep us on track, and simplify grocery shopping. Implementing and following this planning technique can ensure healthy, timely, and well balanced meals.

Unfortunately, meals plans also present some challenges. Plans rarely include realistic food choices such as treats. There is an expectation that overnight, an individual will be able to give up all foods lying outside of the plan. In addition, plans often contain only minimal calories and consequently are likely to contribute to cravings, late night snacking, or binging. People tend to feel a sense of guilt if they cannot stick to the plan resulting in a negative overall experience. Finally, plans do not cater to the food likes, dislikes, allergies and intolerances of individuals ulitimately leading most adoptees to abandon their menus.

Recently, I came across a plan in Chatelaine magazine. Shockingly it averaged 1100 calories per day. This is alarming considering that women may have difficulty meeting their daily nutritional requirements with consumption levels below 1200 calories and often don’t feel satisfied eating fewer than 1400 calories.

A closer look at the 330 calorie breakfast recommendation reveals that 110 of those calories are from liquids alone. Consuming liquid calories tend to make you feel hungry again in a much shorter period of time. Also, it very neatly described three meals a day, no snacks and very low protein, all of which will make you feel hungry faster and contribute to cravings, evening struggles and eventually you “falling off the wagon”.

I believe meal plans are a useful tool, if used properly. I give out meal plans during initial visits at BMI; however, my recommendation is to use it only as a guide rather than a step-by-step manual. Ideally my job is to teach you enough about nutrition, weight management and hunger prevention to allow you to design your own meal plans so that you’ll never need any type of external help again. If you are working on your own planning, it’s very important to customize it around the way you like to eat. Ensure it includes all the foods you enjoy eating and that it includes a realistic number of calories that you feel you can live with comfortably with and frankly enjoy for the rest of your life.

Making lifestyle modification takes time, planning and realistic changes. Attempting to stick to a plan that suggests foods you dislike or insufficient number of calories won’t be sustainable.

As the old same goes, “everything is good for you in moderation.” Make sure to include your favourite foods when meal planning!