The Essentials of Nutrition - What Every Body Needs to Know

It seems like food fantasies pop up with every new fad diet and diet pill.  There are so many rumors and confusion around food choices. Many diets result in poor nutrition and deteriorating health, rather than actually promote it! Learn the real truth about the food groups.  In this lecture you will learn how to

• Master the Basics: Learn what real macronutrient balance is about. This includes several kinds of healthy fats, energy promoting complex carbohydrates and lean proteins (what constitutes a lean protein?). Consider how and why water is key to a strong metabolism. These basics are all important to a well rounded and healthy food plan.
• The Good, The Bad & the Ugly:  Learn the truth about fats. There is one kind fat which most of us are deficient in, and it is actually involved in over 60 different important conditions!
• Carbohydrates for Life: The right carbohydrates promote good health. Learn why and how carbohydrates are your body’s preferred form of fuel, as well as how they are responsible for overall good mood, sleep and even appetite control! Learn why carbohydrates are your biggest defense in all major health conditions.
• Protein: The key role protein plays to encourage and sustain muscle growth. But it really goes well beyond that!  And, how much protein is enough? How much is really too much? 
• Fiber:  It is far more than just another five letter word!
• Water: How much is enough and why is it so necessary? 

The Magic Pill

It seems like every where you look there’s always a new diet gimmick luring us to believe all the claims that every fad diet pill proclaims. The fact is that many of these products simply don’t work.  What is the real scoop on the newest weight loss formulas, energy bars/shakes, and meal replacements? In this lecture these points will be covered: 

• Is there really a magic pill that will help you lose weight fast?
• Will you really reduce your stress and lose the belly fat?  
• Do energy bars give you lasting energy?
• Learn to pick the appropriate bar for the right function.
• Learn the best ingredients for more optimal nutrition (and taste).  
• Are meal replacements adequate for all our nutritional needs?
• What makes up a healthy meal replacement?
• How much does a person need to help you lose weight and remain healthy and feel satisfied? There are healthier convenient alternatives.  

Sizing up Servings and Labels 

Many people say that they need to watch their portions.  But how do you know the amount of servings that you need of any given food item?  Learn how to answer the following questions:

• How do you KNOW how much you are eating?
• Have you ever really measured/weighed your serving sizes or have you just guessed?
• Do you know what a typical serving looks like for any given food group?
• It’s actually been proven that overweight people under report their food intake by as much as 40%. Even normal weight people under report by 20%. (Heymsfield SB, the Calorie Myth, Measurement and Reality. Am J Nutr 1995:62)  

Dining Out 

Dining out presents a challenge to us all but it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming one.  You can dine out healthy if you know how.  The key lies in knowing how to make appropriate choices. 

Such as:        

• It’s all about portion control!
• Save some calories and fat
• Hidden calories (there are plenty)
• How to order your way
• Look for cue words

Goal Setting = Keys to Success  ** Attaining your New Year’s Resolutions any time of the year  

Over 65% of our population is overweight.  Ninety five percent of those who lose their weight do not keep it off!  Statistics are even higher for people who are living with weight related and lifestyle health problems; such as heart disease and diabetes.  People struggle with change, whether be with weight or other unhealthy habits.  Keep in mind, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you got!” In other words if you don’t make the active changes, you’ll stay exactly the same.  Find your solution to the resolutions at this workshop! Learn important keys to long lasting success!  Make this a Happy New YOU this year!

• Frustrated with making the same resolutions every year?
• What blocks you from attaining your goals?
• Why resolutions fail, why resolutions succeed.
• Learn the stages of change and find out where you are so you can be successful. 
• Turn a resolution into real action!
• Make change permanent. 

Planning Ahead = Planning for Success 

Do you think of planning meals and shopping generally as a big drag and a time consuming chore? Look at the big picture instead. It can actually be something that simplifies your life and frees you up, once you know how to simplify it!

• Learn how to save time (and money) in a hectic week, yes, by planning…
• Relieve yourself of the burden of having to make cumbersome food choices and possibly even guilt around food choices
• Planning ahead is one key that has been proven by successful dieters that help you achieve long term success with weight management!
• Utilize quick and easy ideas to create healthy (and satisfying) meals in minutes!
• If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.           

Metabolism: Turn Up the Heat and Keep the Fat Burning

“I’m doing all the right things and I just can’t seem to lose weight; I must have slow metabolism!” Put the puzzle pieces together to reveal the picture on how the metabolism really works. 

Metabolism – Fate or Choice?: 

• Discover whether it’s genetics or personal habits
• Macronutrients: Learn the optimum balance between proteins, carbohydrates and fats and how it all relates to metabolism.
• H20:  Does water consumption serve as a factor?
• The Keys to a Faster Metabolism:  Find out the details on how to rev up your metabolism
• Dieting, Stress and Metabolism:  Severe dieting, excessive fat consumption and the impact of stress 
• Exercise & Sleep:  Energize and revitalize  
• Women & Fat Storage: Learn why women burn fat more slowly and what can be done to speed up the fat burning process.   

Got Energy? Caffeine, Sugar & Stress – The Great Pretenders

What kind of role do caffeine, sugar and stress play in our health?  Why is it important to know?

• Come learn why and how 90% of Americans consume caffeine on a daily basis.
• Learn what caffeine, sugar and stress does to affect the body, and sleep cycles.
• How does sugar become “disguised” in food labels?  
• How does stress trigger cravings?
• And, finally, learn some personal solutions so that you’ve Got Energy!   

Diabetes, the Growing Epidemic

18.2 million people in the United States have diabetes.  Even worse, an estimated 5.2 million, or one-third of the United States population is actually unaware they may even have diabetes! Are you one of them?

• Learn what exactly is diabetes: What happens in diabetes? What is the difference between Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Pre-diabetes, and Gestational  diabetes. 
• What are the health problems associated with diabetes?  Take another look at CVD, kidney disease and nerve damage.
• What are the signs of diabetes? Are you tired and hungry all the time and don’t know why? Do you just have to work too hard to keep your weight under control? Is your vision changing? 
• What are the causes and risk factors? What part does food really play in diabetes? What particular ethnic groups are at particular risk?
• What role does diet, sugar, caffeine and stress play in diabetes? It’s not just  sugar…
• What natural solutions are there? What can you do with food and lifestyle to minimize risk? There are special nutrient helps and food combining to help regulate blood sugar highs and lows. Lifestyle can and does have an impact on health. 

Micronutrients: Supplements and Water      

Micronutrients:  The real truth with vitamins & minerals 

• Meet the “ACEZS”:  Crucial cancer and disease fighters
• RDAs versus ODAs:  Learn the new gold standard for optimum nutritional health in today’s stressful and increasingly toxic world
• Powerful, Magical Water:  Navigate with us water’s vital role for health and discover why you need to learn to quench your thirst 
• Tap, Bottled or Filtered Water:  Is there any difference between them, other than cost? 

Cardiovascular Dis-ease

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States resulting in over $33 billion dollars in medical costs. One in four adults has some form of cardiovascular disease. Even more alarmingly is the fact that it is known as the “silent killer” because it often goes undetected until the first heart attack occurs!  These conditions are directly attributed to diet and lifestyle factors!

• What assessments determine cardiovascular risk? Waist to hip ratio and Body Mass Index are just a few ways to determine risk.
• How important are genetics in determining your risk?
• What do all those numbers mean when it comes to high blood pressure and cholesterol testing?
• What are some sustainable healthy diet and lifestyle change solutions to cardiovascular disease?  

Motivation: More Than Will Power

• What are the hidden skills that keep motivation as the driving force helping us to accomplish our goals?
• How do we keep it going when life throws us all its day to day stresses and challenges and our world seems to revolve around food?
• How do we resist the lure of the newest fad diet, the newest quick fix solution that promises us everything but ultimately delivers nothing but disappointment in the end?
• Come to this highly interactive workshop and learn how to: Find your deepest motivators and then keep them alive! 
• Employ little tricks to keep you going when the going gets rough!

Stress Eating: Finding the Inner Solution

Stress is increasingly a reality of our lives.  In fact, companies in North America spent more than $300 billion dollars on stress related employee matters last year! It’s no secret that stress affects our health, sense of well being, and our food choices! 

• Stress and addictive habits:  Discover the relationship between stress and emotional eating, workaholism, and/or alcoholism
• Change your stress with food:  Find out how and what you eat can increase or reduce stress levels
• Stress and Emotional Eating: Change your mind, change your stress level.  See how stress can lead to eating when your body is not hungry. Master this underlying cause of overeating and weight management finally becomes do-able! 

Why Am I Not Losing Weight? 

Our weight loss can slow down or plateau for many reasons.  If you are experiencing “weight loss woes” you need to figure out what’s going on.  You may be innocently doing things that are inadvertently undermining your own best efforts.In this class we will discuss:

• What a plateau really is in weight loss.
• Points to consider: Food and portions, eating out, balance of macronutrients, alcohol consumption, keeping a food diary, repetition, unconscious eating and emotional eating.
• We will also touch on other factors, such as: metabolism, exercise and water. 

Some Secrets of Success-Keeping the Weight Off Permanently!  

Tired of the yo-yo dieting scenario? Feel like your whole life has been spent in the pursuit of thinness? Maintenance is not about willpower, it is about skill-power!

• Learn maintenance from day one!
• Make your food plan truly a lifestyle that promotes health and permanent weight maintenance.
• Deal with long term commitment, “loving limits” for yourself, accountability and complacency. 
  
• Make your food plan a “live-it” program, not a “die-t”.

The Holiday Sugar Roller Coaster – How to Avoid Being Taken for a Ride

Ahhhhhh sugar!  It is sweet, yummy and so easily found in our foods!In this workshop we will discuss:·   

• The sugar madness with our foods
• How sugar likes to be disguised in our food products
• How to decode our food labels
• How the holidays, with extra sugar, stress and mood changes affect us.
• You will be supplied with some healthy tips to get you through the holidays and parties; which will give you a lifetime of healthy habits!  

Health for the Holidays 

Join us in the fun workshop where we will cover how: 

• You Can Succeed During the Holidays
• Understanding Holiday Challenges
• Discover what are Your Personal Challenges?
• Develop a Plan of Action
• Traditional Holiday Dinner vs. Healthier Holiday Dinner
• Portion Control
• Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Strategies
• Planning Ahead and Being Successful  

Small Bodies Need Big Nutrition

The Importance of Proper Nutrition for Kids, Presented to Parents.  Come and learn about your child’s nutrition needs and how to give them the gift of health through food. 

In this lecture we will discuss:

• The statistics of health among children, including: obesity, ADD, and other learning disorders
• Cooking healthy foods and getting the family to eat them
• The rewards of making food fun.  
• Three steps to a healthy child    
• How to overhaul the kitchen     
• How to “merchandise” food    
• Identify the hidden (empty) “liquid calories"   
• Food Allergies
• Food colorings/Food additives/Binders/Fillers
• “Normal” diet vs. “Healthy” diet¨     
• Encouraging the right activity both inside and outside of the home  
• Educational Tips/Advice for today