Foods that are good for memory

As people age, their memories tend to get foggy. In this video, Dr. Oz reveals the foods that are crucial to maintaining a good memory.

Transformation Nation fitness tip

Here is today's FITNESS GUIDE tip:

Try Something New

The number one enemy of fitness? We mean, besides grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches. It's boredom. Now that you're accustomed to your regular routine, try shaking things up!

New activities challenge both your body and your mind. If you do the same exercises over and over, you'll work the same muscle groups. You will see benefits in the beginning, but once your body becomes accustomed to the exercise routine, you'll reach a plateau.

This week, treat your exercise life the way couples who've been together for a long time are supposed to treat their sex lives. Spice things up. Sign up for a new class or try a new sport. Rock climbing, yoga, surfing, dance -- be adventurous! Even if you stick to your usual exercise routine, you can still make it different. Speed up your pace, incorporate sprints or intervals, and change your course and add some hills to your route.

Keep moving towards your $1 million Transformation »

Great video message from Tyler Perry: "How to be Successful"

Hey guys, I just recorded a new video message called "How to be Successful." Check it out!

32 years ago, the doctor's told my mother I was born with a heart murmur and a tiny pin hole in my heart.  As I got older, the doctor's told her, I no longer had a heart murmur and the tiny pin hole in my heart was closed.  Growing up, I continued to have irregular heart beat and still do 'til this day.  When I was pregnant with my first child, I was concerned, and followed up with a Cardiologist.  He told me, I had minor form of "mitral valve prolapse".  Mitral valve prolapse is a heart problem in which the valve that separates the upper and lower chambers of the left side of the heart does not close properly.  

I found my irregular heart beat kept me from pushing my self harder, fear that I would put my heart in distress.  Over the weekend, I noticed my heart felt "sluggish", made an appointment today to see my Cardiologist, just to make sure I'm not doing too much with my workout.  I feel it's going to be another set back in my weight loss plan but know it's all for a good reason.

I started researching foods good for the heart and came across this article on CNN.com, found it very interesting, and wanted to share!

The 'heart attack proof' diet?

See show times »

By David S. Martin, CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr.'s diet has no meat, eggs, dairy or added oils
• CEO of American Heart Association says there are other key factors to consider
• Esselstyn says his diet works because it keeps the lining of the blood vessels free of plaque

Editor's note: Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: The Last Heart Attack at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Friday, November 25.

(CNN) -- Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. didn't become a doctor to change the way America eats. He was a general surgeon.

But researching cancer, he stumbled on a fact that changed his career: Certain cultures around the world do not suffer from heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the Western world.

Esselstyn's practice took a dramatic turn -- from performing surgery to promoting nutrition. For more than 20 years, the Cleveland Clinic doctor has tried to get Americans to eat like the Papua New Guinea highlanders, rural Chinese, central Africans and the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico.

Follow his dietary prescription, the 77-year-old Esselstyn says, and you will be "heart attack proof" -- regardless of your family history.

"It's a foodborne illness, and we're never going to end the epidemic with stents, with bypasses, with the drugs, because none of it is treating causation of the illness," Esselstyn says.

The Esselstyn diet is tough for most Americans to swallow: no meat, no eggs, no dairy, no added oils.

Bill Clinton's new vegan diet

Esselstyn has written a book to spread the word, "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease -- The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure," and he has given talks around the world.

He is also a focus of the new documentary "Forks Over Knives." Esselstyn has won some high-profile allies -- such as Dr. T. Colin Campbell, co-author of "The China Study," and Dr. Terry Mason, chief medical officer at Cook County Hospitals in Chicago and the city's former health commissioner.

"We've eaten ourselves into a problem, and we can eat ourselves out of it," Mason says. But Esselstyn's prescription goes against conventional wisdom, which considers diet only one factor in preventing heart disease.

"Diet alone is not going to be the reason that heart attacks are eliminated," says Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association.

Ornish: Asking the right health care questions

Other key factors include physical activity, cholesterol, blood pressure and weight, she says. The meat, dairy and egg industries defend the benefits of their protein-rich foods, all of which remain on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPlate dietary guidelines for healthy eating.

Esselstyn's plant-based prescription also runs up against a culture where meat is served at most meals.

"Most doctors eat meat because most Americans eat meat, and if they don't really see for themselves or for their family why it might be a good idea to cut down or even cut meat out of their diet altogether, they might not be so inclined to recommend it to their patients," says Michele Simon, author of "Appetite for Profit."

Tests predict heart attack risks

Even doctors who see the benefits of Esselstyn's diet may not prescribe it for their patients.

"Anyone who is able to do that diet can have dramatic success. The problem is that many people are unable or unwilling to make these changes so in my practice, I try to take baby steps -- one step at a time," says Dr. Erin Michos, a cardiologist at the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease at Johns Hopkins University.

Esselstyn diet worked for me: One patient's story

To help heart patients and others make the leap to his diet, Esselstyn holds a monthly, five-hour seminar at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute to explain the science behind "plant-based" nutrition.

Esselstyn's wife, Ann, offers practical advice on how to prepare kale, bok choy, collard greens and other foods that may not be on the typical family's shopping list.

What causes a heart attack?

Leading indicator for heart disease

Signs of a heart attack

RELATED TOPICS

• American Heart Association
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Diet and Nutrition
• Heart Attacks

Esselstyn began recruiting patients in 1985 and says his diet has worked even on people deemed too sick for surgery. Esselstyn has published results from a small group of patients showing how his diet either halted the progression of heart disease or reduced the blockages in the blood vessels leading to the heart.

"We know if people are eating this way they are not going to have a heart attack," says Esselstyn, whose father had a heart attack at 43.

Anthony Yen, an entrepreneur who emigrated from China and came to love the fried foods, meat and desserts of the American diet, adopted the Esselstyn program in 1987 after undergoing bypass surgery.

"I'm still alive because of this diet," Yen says, now 78.

Esselstyn says people shouldn't hold off on starting his diet until after they develop symptoms of heart disease because most heart attacks strike with no warning.

"The reason you don't wait until you have heart disease to eat this way is often, sadly, the first symptom of your heart disease may be your sudden death," he says.

Esselstyn says his diet works because it keeps the lining of the blood vessels free of the dangerous blisters or bubbles or cholesterol-laden plaque that causes heart attacks.

Two decades after Esselstyn started trying to spread the gospel of his plant-based diet, the American Heart Association says 83 million Americans have some form of cardiovascular disease and many of the traditional risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity, are at all time highs. The association says the cost of treating heart disease tops $270 billion and is expected to more than double by 2025.

Esselstyn, a member of the U.S. gold medal rowing team at the 1956 Olympics, is not someone who gives up easily.

"We are on the cusp of what could be an absolute revolution in health -- not dependent on pills, procedures or operations, but on lifestyle," Esselstyn says.

Challenges and Successes for this week

This week overall was pretty darn good!

Successes:

didn't exceed my weekly Weight Watcher's point
worked out over 7 hours
full of energy
no sugary or salty cravings
able to wake up at 4:30 w/o any problems to meet with my trainer
worked out for 2 hours in 1 day
my increased dedication and well power has motivated my husband and co-worker.  (My husband ran 2.8 miles twice this week and my co-worker started his P90X workout plan).  I am thrilled and hope I my journey to getting healthier can motivate more to come.

Challenges:

my irregular monthly cycle decided to start this week
it rained on Friday and Saturday so I wasn't able to walk my 5.6 miles
cramps were pretty bad that I didn't have it in me to do cardio-kickboxing on the days it was raining
POPCORN -even though it's 100% whole grain and Dr. Oz says popcorn is a good snack of choice.  I found myself eating it 3-4 days out of the week, started off at 1/2 serving and increased to 1-2 servings size, and ate it at the worst possible time ever at NIGHT.



Solutions:

Next week I will have 2 days 2 hour workout, not to exceed 1/2 servings of popcorn no more then 2 days, and most of all continue to enjoy what I do! :-)

Psychology Today Article: Spring The Fat Trap "Weight fluctuations are avoidable"

Springing The Fat Trap

Weight fluctuations are avoidable.

Published on January 11, 2012 by Judith J. Wurtman, Ph.D. in The Antidepressant Diet

Tara Parker-Pope at The New York Times recently authored one of the more depressing articles about the obesity problem. She accurately described research and personal history that supported the sorrowful conclusion that diets do not guarantee permanent weight loss. She then went on to report that weight gained after a diet may push the now ex-dieter into an even heavier weight than before the diet started.

What the article pointed out was how fast weight is regained after a diet. People with multiple sizes of clothes in their closets know the peril of thinking dieting will result in permanent weight loss. They know that every low weight will be followed by a return to a higher weight, if not immediately, then soon thereafter. Over a lifetime, their weight profile will resemble the stock market during one of its more chaotic years. Apparently, after substantial weight loss, the levels and activities of hormones and other substances that control hunger, fat stores and metabolic rate are impaired, thus causing the body to veer to its pre-dieting weight. Those people with a genetic profile associated with obesity might as well stock up on Rocky Road ice cream and potato chips because their fat trap is deep enough to prevent any rescue.


Does anyone succeed? Yes, but the number is far fewer than those who fail. But it is important to realize that an estimation of how many have succeeded is totally inaccurate because most former fatties do not announce their success to folk who know them only as thin people.
"Hi. My name is Judy and when I was in second grade, my classmates called me Fatso." This is true—I was called that awful name—but I usually do not greet people with this self-revelation. I learned that my skinny primary care doctor was quite pudgy in high school when his wife told me. He never said a word. A close college friend tried every popular diet while we were in school without success. When she graduated, she lost 40 pounds in a year and has never gained an ounce back. Even her husband never knew her as fat. Our stories don't make it into magazine articles or onto talk shows, and we rarely offer our bodies to researchers so that the reasons for our success can be discerned.
There are obvious reasons why weight is regained after diet:

1. Muscle is lost, calorie output is decreased, metabolism is slowed and a permanent decrease in calorie intake is necessary to maintain weight loss.
The solution: Quickly build muscle mass, increase physical activity and resign yourself to eating less.

2. Quick weight loss is pathological. The body is stressed just as if weight were lost because of a serious infection, surgery or inability to digest or absorb food. Forces in the body are mobilized to regain and restore body mass.
The solution: Avoid these kinds of diets.

3. Triggers that caused weight gain crawl out of wherever they were hiding while you were on a diet and cause you to start overeating again.
The solution: Identify these triggers before starting on a diet to remove or disarm them. Practice techniques to stop them from interfering with your eating while on the diet and, like physical therapy after a bad back flare up, never stop protecting yourself against their reoccurrence.

4. The longing to return to a pre-dieting eating and drinking style pre-empts healthy, calorie-controlled food choices made on the diet.
The solution: Either drag out your larger-sized clothes or decide to give up the uncontrolled eating that caused weight gain. This may seem harsh, but so is being condemned to a chronic medical problem caused by obesity.

5. Successful stretching of the stomach by gradually increasing portion size so eating large amounts of food becomes easy.
The solution: Make yourself feel full before starting a meal by increasing serotonin. Do this by eating about 130 calories of a fat-free or very low-fat carbohydrate food 30 minutes before a meal. Serotonin causes satiety so portion size can be easily controlled.

6. Food becomes the go-to recreation.
The solution: Try non-eating recreations while on a diet. By its conclusion, you will have an itinerary of non-caloric distractions. This could include activities that range from pole dancing to dating websites to learning ancient Greek.

7. Emotions overwhelm willpower and eating to feel less stressed, less depressed and more calm is more important than maintaining weight loss.
The solution: Eat about 30 grams of a low or fat-free carbohydrate snack twice daily on an empty stomach. This is best done as a late afternoon and mid-evening snack. Serotonin will be produced and your mood will shift from distressed to tranquil.

8. Inadequate sleep and persistent tiredness cause automatic, mindless eating in order to stay awake.
The solution: Do not go to the kitchen. Go to bed. Search out ways of getting enough sleep. Its lack not only causes weight gain—it even affects cognitive function.

9. Genetic predisposition to obesity seems a convenient rationalization for weight gain.
The solution: Regardless of genes, everyone loses weight in a famine. You don't have to starve, but watchful eating and consistent exercise trump an inherited tendency to gain weight.

10. Antidepressants and related medications cause substantial weight gain. A side effect of these medications is inhibition of satisfaction after eating.
The solution: Avoid food plans that avoid carbohydrates. Increase a sense of contentedness and satiety by increasing serotonin before a meal. A small fat-free or low-fat carbohydrate food (like a small roll) eaten 45 minutes before the meal counteracts the effect of the medication by making you feel full.

You don't have to be stuck in the fat trap described by Ms. Parker-Pope. Follow these simple suggestions and you will be released to live a healthy, thin life.

Psychology Today Article: Thin from Within "How inner conflict keeps people stuck"

How Much Weight Can You Really Lose?

What can I do if my body resists my efforts?

Published on January 13, 2012 by Terese Weinstein Katz, Ph.D. in Thin from Within

Just as we all start resolving to lose, we're hit with the news that it may never work.  If you've been overweight for a while, if you've dieted only to keep regaining, the problem may well exceed willpower.

In this season of "20 Lbs in 20 Days!"  other headlines ask "Do You Have to be Superhuman to Lose Weight?"  Or, "Are We Programmed to Pack on Pounds?"  Unpopular questions, for sure, but ones to which science increasingly answers "probably".

Research from around the world concurs.   Once we've carried the weight, our bodies seem to adjust to that new "normal".  Our chemistry then seems to fiercely defend the larger body size.  We'll experience this as relentless hunger as well as painfully slow losses and discouragingly quick regain.    The ramped-up hunger, the sluggish metabolism, the rapid accumulation of fat:  all of these are hormonally driven, arising from the extra weight itself.  Losing weight, then, becomes at the very least a mighty struggle against biology.

Long-term studies have emerged from obesity labs at Columbia, Brown, Yale, and other U.S. sites as well as from Britain and Australia.They do agree on the complexity of the problem, and they've identified some hormonal culprits.  No one, however, is telling people to stop trying to manage their weight.  The health benefits, all will point out, accrue even with small (5 or 10 percent of body weight) losses.  Plus, key questions about what might help remain unanswered.  It's not entirely clear, for example, whether or not losing slowly aids in permanent loss.  It's also not clear whether or not a single episode of gain and loss lead to the "packing on the pounds" phenomena, or whether this requires repeated episodes.

While this news can seem to dash all hope for those who seek slimness, researchers don't necessarily see it that way.  "It's helpful for people to know what they're up against," summarizes the concensus.  Some dieters do succeed, after all, against the biological odds, even if they represent a minority.  And, it does indeed seem that those who keep weight off are those who hold no illusions about the problem.   In the "Do You Have to be Superhuman...." article, New York Times' Tara Parker-Pope interviewed people from the National Weight Loss Registry.  The registry, uniquely, follows people who've kept weight off.  Kelly Brownell, Ph.D., of Yale, points out there that thousands who've kept weight off don't register for the data bank.  However, nowhere else can we look at what many (10,000) dieters do to maintain losses.   (To register, one must have kept off at least 30 lbs. for at least a year; on average, 70 lbs. have been lost for over six years.)

What's clear is that the work of keeping weight off never stops.   Those who successfully maintain losses, whether 30 or 130 lbs., exercise, a lot.   They continue to keep track of what they eat.  They allow little or no room for "treats" or holiday lapses.  They treat weight maintenance as if they've known all along what science confirms:  that without such care, they'll regain, plus some.

The "Are We Programmed...." article appeared recently in my local paper.  Based on some of the international studies, a smaller sample of anecdotes and case studies suggested, additionally, what many therapists, diet coaches, nutritionists, personal trainers, and physicians tell you from experience.   That is, that getting help or support can move the process of lasting change along.  And that often small changes, to start with, open doors to new habits.  Those who keep weight off for good change how they think and behave, solve problems as they arise, and stick with it despite occasional setbacks.

In the end, we're left with this question:  "What can I do then, if my body resists my efforts to slim?"    Knowing what you're up against now seems crucial.   Then, set out to make habit, ultimately lifestyle, changes.  Think of them as forever ones, if you don't want to be stuck with pounds forever returning.  Know that you may not reach size 6, and that none of it will happen overnight.  Get help if you need it and pick yourself up, again and again, if you fall.

Finally, consider that "Thin From Within" remains important.  Whatever weight you can ultimately reach, you'll feel better about yourself if you're not binge eating.  You'll feel more confident and peaceful if you aren't medicating emotions with food.  And hard as it is, learning to handle feelings and stress without food may prove more achievable than a 70 lb weight loss.    Reducing those behaviors alone will shed some pounds and minimize gains, in any case, even if some unwanted poundage remains.

None of this is popular news.  But it confirms the difficulty of the enterprise-familiar to any chronic dieter.  And dealing with this reality may allow for a freedom from self-blame and a new degree of self-acceptance.  You do what you can, and stop making things worse by fighting what may not fully, always, be in your control.      

2 Hours in 1 Day...

Today was the first day EVER! I worked out for 2 HOURS!!  1 hour this morning at 6am with my trainer (who kicked my butt) and 1 hour at 11am during my lunchtime on the elliptical.  I am starting to feel "I can do really do this".  Loving it!! :-)

Did you know....

that you can register up until April 9th for Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You? Get started today and tackle the seven key steps to weight loss and healthy living!


http://doctoroz.sharecare.com/

Transformation Fitness Tip

Here is today's FITNESS GUIDE tip:

What's Stopping You?

Between the job, the house, and the fact that your phone has dropped 44 calls today, it's been a stressful day. You know you should exercise, but instead you find yourself on the couch watching TV and mindlessly eating. Or maybe you meant to get up early and go for a walk, but you stayed up too late fiddling on the computer, and when the alarm went off you hit snooze (and snooze and snooze and snooze) and rolled over.

Establishing new, healthy habits is difficult, and often our old routines have a sneaky way of sabotaging our best efforts. If you find you are having trouble sticking to your new exercise routine, take some time to identify what is getting in your way. If it's the lure of the couch after work, don't let yourself come home or turn on the TV until you've exercised. Make a rule that you can't use the computer past 10 pm, and lay out your exercise clothes the night before to strengthen your commitment.

Little actions like these go a long way toward breaking old habits and establishing new ones. The key is to identify what is getting in your way, and figure out a way to overcome those obstacles. Read more about changing bad habits, and start changing yours!

Keep moving towards your $1 million Transformation »

5.6 Miles a day

Today I am feeling good!!!  Over the weekend I've been walking 5.6 miles a day and I feel GREAT!  It's been cold in Atlanta and I made no excuse to back out from walking 5.6 miles each day.  I almost shed a tear while I was walking because I was so proud of my self for making no excuses.  "I can really do this" :-)

Your Health is Your Wealth - Black Enterprise

A great article I read in Black Enterprise over the weekend.

Your Health is Your Wealth - Black Enterprise

HOT TOPICS:

David Banner's Top Money Lessons

Your Health is Your Wealth

by Earl "Butch" Graves Jr. Posted: November 28, 2011

A-   A   A+  

 

           

Earl "Butch" Graves Jr., President & CEO, Black Enterprise

I recently read a powerful quote that has stuck with me. It was a statement related to the obesity problem that consumes our nation: “We are slowly digging our graves with a knife and fork.” I can think of no assertion that more accurately reflects the condition faced by large numbers of African Americans. To be blunt: Due to our dietary habits and inactive lifestyles, African Americans—including some of my family members, friends, and colleagues—disproportionately place ourselves in harm’s way. And the sad truth is that we have the power to control the outcome.

If you think I’m being too harsh, just review the statistics on the status of African Americans’ waistlines. According to the Office of Minority Health, we are 1.5 times more likely to become obese than whites. The agency also found that African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese versus other groups in the U.S.; about four out of five African American women are overweight or obese. This trend extends to our children as well: theyare 30% more likely to become overweight than whites.

Our tendency to contract debilitating, life-threatening diseases is directly linked to eating habits and lack of exercise. Medical research bears out this conclusion, and the impact on our individual and collective well-being has been devastating. We are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as whites, and suffer complications from diabetes, including renal failure and lower extremity amputations. African American women are 35% more susceptible to heart disease than white women. While African Americans have the same rate of high cholesterol, we are 50% more prone to suffer a stroke than our white adult counterparts.

This prognosis should raise an alarm; bringing home the realization that ultimately our health represents our wealth. If we don’t commit tobeing fit then we cannot be at our most productive at home or in the workplace. If sidelined by a long-term ailment, you will quickly find your wealth-building prospects diminished and your bank account depleted by hefty medical bills—the No. 1 cause of bankruptcy. This scenario has befallen hundreds who have reached their peak earning years—that is, if they lived long enough to enjoy them.

We must also discard superficial, harmful practices that serve to sabotage our health maintenance. For example, UnitedHealth Group Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs Reed Tuckson recently teamed with Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin to launch a campaign to encourage African American women to develop regular exercise regimens. One of the chief barriers: Benjamin found many don’t exercise because they don’t want to get their hair mussed up. My response: It’s your hair or your life—literally. Don’t let false vanity put you into an early grave. (Read, “No More Excuses,” this issue.)

The more common excuse among busy professionals is that they don’t have enough time to work out or properly plan meals. My advice: Approach your health in the same manner as your career, business, or finances—with discipline and diligence. These days, you have no reason not to embrace such practices. For one, you can go online and access any number of websites to help you design meal plans, and track your caloric intake. Keep a barometer of health basics—body mass index, cholesterol, and blood pressure—and, by all means, make sure you get regular check-ups.  Also, schedule workouts as if they were business meetings.

I know many of you may think it’s odd that I’m sharing such life-and-death advice in an issue that our editors devoted to a passion for food. Read our editorial package and you’ll find a myriad of entrepreneurs and professionals who embrace healthy eating. Moreover, I am not advocating that you should deprive yourself of a good meal now and again.

Whether you’re reed thin or tilting the scales, such treats should come in moderation while plotting a healthy menu should be a daily routine. Let nothing get in the way of good health. You’ll find that it’s your most valuable asset.