6 Tips to Deal with Daylight Savings Time

Time-Tested Ways to Cope with the Time Change
It’s that time of year again, when we reset our clocks and try to readjust to the time change associated with Daylight Saving Time (DST). Some of us breeze through the change seamlessly, yet others feel out of sorts for days. If you have trouble dealing with this sudden disruption in your routine, it is for good reason.

Even though your brain knows that the time on the clock has changed, your body's internal clock does not. In the fall, when you’ve gained an hour of sleep, you might not feel tired, but you may get cranky when you have to wait an extra hour before your lunch break or when it feels like work should have ended an hour ago. When the clocks move forward in the spring, you'll be robbed of an hour of sleep. That night, you may not be able to fall into your normal sleep rhythms an hour earlier than you’re used to, and you won’t get as much quality sleep as you need.

Since its inception in the early 1900s, DST has been the subject of controversy. Studies are contradictory, showing that DST has both positive and negative impacts on health, safety, energy consumption, and the economy. A sampling of the issues includes:

• Health: DST provides more daylight for outdoor exercise and yard work in the evenings, which could improve fitness levels. It also provides more opportunities for sun exposure, which triggers vitamin D synthesis in the skin. However, more sun exposure could lead to higher rates of skin cancer, according to some experts. And some new research shows that heart attacks increase the days following the spring time change (when we lose an hour), but decrease after the fall time change (when we gain an hour).
  
• Safety: In the weeks following the spring time change, there are more traffic accidents. But overall, during the course of DST there are fewer traffic fatalities than during standard time.
• Energy Consumption: While it had been hypothesized that DST would help to conserve energy, several studies have shown that DST leads to increased energy and fuel consumption.
• Economy: Some industries, like retail businesses and golf courses, benefit from DST, as consumers have more time to shop and play. But other industries including farming, theaters, and prime time television suffer.

Despite the controversy, one thing is certain—DST will be around for a long time. So here are some time-tested tips for dealing with the time change:

• Start early. The time change is usually scheduled for the wee hours of Sunday morning, in order to reduce the disruption of the workweek. To give yourself more time to adjust before the workweek begins, reset one of your clocks at the start of the weekend, such as Friday night or Saturday morning. Try to eat meals, sleep, and wake according to that clock. When Monday comes, you’ll be on your way to feeling adjusted. However, if you have activities and events during the weekend, make sure you don’t get confused about the correct time!
  
• Exercise. Working out releases serotonin, a chemical in the brain that helps our bodies adjust. Exercise regularly, preferably outdoors, and early in the day. A brisk morning walk is perfect. Avoid exercising too late in the evening though, as this could interfere with the quality of your sleep. Learn more about the connection between exercise and better sleep.
  
• Nap wisely. Try to resist the urge to take long naps late in the day. If you get tired, take a short, energizing walk around the block instead. If you must nap, keep it earlier in the day and limit your snooze time to no more than 20 minutes.
  
• Don’t imbibe. Alcohol interferes with normal sleep cycles, so don't rely on a nightcap to fall asleep. Find out about other foods and drinks that help (and hurt) your sleep.
  
• Digest. After the time changes, you may be hungry for meals earlier or later than before. Be sure to give yourself ample time to digest your dinner before heading off to bed. A heavy meal in your stomach will interfere with the quality of your sleep, too.
  
• Lighten up. The right combination of light and dark can help your body's circadian rhythm readjust so you can fall asleep on your new schedule and sleep more soundly. In the morning, open the shades and brighten the lights. Try to spend time outside during the day, if possible. Dim the lights in the evening, so that your body understands that it’s time to wind down.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you adjust more easily to the biannual time changes. If you’ve tried all of these suggestions, and you’re still having trouble adjusting to the time change after a few weeks, call your health care provider for more assistance.

By Liza Barnes, Health Educator

5 Worst Halloween Candies...

(and 10 best Survival Tips!)

A cocker spaniel weighs about 24 pounds. You know what else weighs 24 pounds? The heft of candy the average American gobbles down each year, a big chunk of that falling to our waistlines in the days before and after Halloween. Fun size? I don't think so—unless it's fun being size 16. These stats could very well turn you as white as a ghost:

• Three miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups—the kind you find in office candy bowls and trick-or-treat-bags—fill your belly with more sugar than a glazed doughnut.
• Half a pack of Skittles has more sugar than a scoop of Haagen-Dazs Cookies and Cream Ice Cream.
• Nine Twizzlers carry as many calories as a Wendy’s Double Stack Burger.

These are some spooky treats. And Halloween is only the beginning of the eating season: Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. If you want to see your feet come January, start by conquering the sugar fest that’s nearly upon us. Here's your plan for surviving the scariest night of the year for your waistline. (And speaking of frightful food, check out the Scariest Food Creations of 2010!)

WORST “FUN SIZE” CANDY BAR
Butterfinger Bar (fun size bar)
100 calories
4 g fat (2 g saturated)
10 g sugars
Again, fun for whom? Your cardiologist? By calling it “fun,” food marketers are cleverly pulling your attention away from the fact that candy bars are flab-inducing logs of concentrated fats and sugars. And Butterfinger is the worst offender—there's no quicker way to swallow 100 calories.

Eat This, Instead!
3 Musketeers (fun size bar)
63 calories
2 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
10 g sugars

SURVIVAL TIP #1: Toss the candy bowl
Alabama researchers found that people who have snacks within reach when they're watching TV consume more calories per day overall. But instead of simply relocating the bowl to another table, limit the potential for mindless munching by keeping the candy bagged and in the cupboard.

SURVIVAL TIP #2: Consume drinks before treats
Drinking 16 ounces of water before a meal fills the stomach, quells hunger, and helps you lose weight, according to a study presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. Use this strategy to help tamp your candy cravings. Just don't substitute a sugary beverage for the water or this strategy will backfire: A can of soda has more sugar than two Hershey’s Take 5 bars. (Get more food shockers and instant weight loss tips by following me right here on Twitter, and check out these 20 Worst Drinks in America to learn what other beverages you should avoid.)

WORST FRUITY CANDY
Brach’s Airheads (3 pieces)
140 calories
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated)
19 g sugars

Here’s the basic formula for an Airhead: Sugar and filler carbohydrates, artificial colors and flavors, and partially hydrogenated oils—a source of trans fat. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like our Eat This Instead, Dum Dums, are nutritional paragons, but they do have two noteworthy advantages over Airheads: They have no heart-wrecking oils, and they're hard candy. That means they dissolve slowly on your tongue, letting you enjoy the sweetness over time.

Eat This, Instead!
Spangler Dum Dum Pops (3 pops)
77 calories
0 g fat
105 g sugars

SURVIVAL TIP #3: Work out on Halloween morning
Lifting weights reduces levels of blood sugar by 15 percent for more than 12 hours after you’ve left the gym, according to research from Syracuse University. Why does that matter? Some of the sugar you consume will stay in your blood stream, providing energy to your cells, instead of pitching a tent in your belly. (For more strategies that will keep you thin and healthy for life, check out The Best Fitness Tips Ever!)
SURVIVAL TIP #4: Switch to dark chocolate
It won’t necessarily save you calories, but dark chocolate boasts a bevy of health benefits that milk chocolate can’t claim. Flavonoids in the cocoa help keep your arteries soft, decreasing your risk of cardiovascular disease. And according to new research, a compound called epicatechin might help prevent brain damage from stroke. Keep a bar on hand to nibble on any time you have a craving. Seek out those bars with at least 60% cocoa.

WORST MINIATURE CANDY BARS
Twix Miniatures (3 pieces)
150 calories
8 g fat (6 g saturated)
15 g sugars

Twix has the worst saturated fat profile of any candy in your kid’s trick-or-treat bag. Think about it like this: Each one of these bite-sized candies carries 10 percent of the saturated fat you should consume in an entire day. Switch to Tootsie Rolls and you’ll cut your calories by more than half and trim your total fat intake by a whopping 81 percent.

Eat This Instead!
Tootsie Roll (3 pieces)
70 calories
1.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
9.5 g sugars

SURVIVAL TIP #5: Chew gum
Sort through any trick-or-treat bag and you’ll undoubtedly discover a handful of Super or Dubble Bubble—those small pink cubes wrapped in old-fashioned, end-twisted candy papers. Instead of plowing through the chocolates and taffies, throw a big gob of the gum in your mouth. The chewing suppresses cravings, and each piece has only about 15 calories.

SURVIVAL TIP #6: Don’t hand out your favorite candy
If your favorite candy is Milk Duds, and you’re handing out Milk Duds all night, doesn’t it seem likely that you’re going to wind up with a pound of chocolate and caramel in your stomach by night’s end? Of course! And that’s not even factoring in how many Duds you’ll plow through as they sit on the counter in the days leading up to Halloween. Choose something less tempting. And for tips to help you stay slim the other 364 days of the year, check out our 25 Best Nutrition Secrets.

WORST CHEWY CANDY
Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels (4 pieces)
160 calories
4.5 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
16 g sugars

"Milk Maid” sounds a lot like "Milk Made,” doesn't it? Very clever, Brach's! This candy contains a couple milk derivatives (whey and “lipolyzed butter fat”), but it hardly constitutes a dairy product. Plus, 90 percent of the fat is saturated. That’s bad news for your heart. If you enjoy the challenge of fighting chewy candy out of your teeth, switch over to Now and Later and save more than 100 calories per serving.

Eat This, Instead!
Now and Later (4 pieces)
53 calories
0.5 g fat (0 g saturated)
10 g sugars

SURVIVAL TIP #7: Keep the candy-calorie load to 400
The fewer calories you take in during candy season, the better off you’ll be heading into turkey season. So if you worry that you risk overindulgence, set a caloric limit and hold yourself to it. Four hundred is a good number—indulgent yet not overly destructive. That means you could eat every “Eat This Instead” on our list, and have 65 calories left for one of your personal favorites.

SURVIVAL TIP #8: Don’t skip dinner
A healthy dinner will take the edge off your candy craving, not to mention temper the blood-sugar rush that converts your body into a flab factory and puts you at risk for diabetes. What you want is a meal rich with fiber and lean protein—think chicken breast with vegetables.

WORST NOVELTY CANDY
Reese’s Pumpkin
170 calories
10 g fat (3 g saturated)
16 g sugars

This one should send your gimmick radar into the red zone. It’s simply an oversized peanut butter cup shaped like a pumpkin. What price novelty? Nearly two-thirds more calories than a regular Reese’s peanut butter cup! Grab two bite-size Reese's instead—you'll save more than half the calories, fat, and sugar.

Eat This, Instead!
Reese's Bite Size Peanut Butter Cups (2 pieces)
72 calories
4 g fat (3 g saturated)
6 g sugars

SURVIVAL TIP #9: Take it outside
The worst thing you can do on Halloween night, after most of the trick-or-treaters have cleared off the street, is set your candy bowl by the door where you can grab a handful every day on your way out. Noshing 300 extra candy calories a day will add a pound of flab to your frame in less than two weeks. Instead, set the bowl on the porch before you go to bed. The leftover candy will be gone by morning, guaranteed.

SURVIVAL TIP #10: Remember: Halloween is a one-day event
A study in the journal of Nature Neuroscience found that eating junk food doesn’t just satisfy cravings—it creates them. That’s right; junk food is addictive. Limit your sugar splurging to October 31. If you start a week early, you’re going to have a serious candy habit to break after Halloween. You might find it to be frightfully difficult.
Bonus Tip! The NEW edition of Eat This, Not That!, completely updated for 2011, is on sale now! Pick up your copy today, and you could lose 10, 20, or even 30 pounds without giving up the foods you love.

By David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding for Men's Health

No Weigh-IN on Halloween!

We will not have a weigh-in next Monday, 10/31 because of Halloween!
Our next weigh-in will be Monday, November 7th.

Don't Let Halloween Do Your Diet In!

For many people, the giant plastic pumpkin filled with tempting treats is what's most frightening about Halloween. Sure, the goodies are supposed to be for the trick-or-treaters, but many of us find ourselves dipping into the candy bowl to satisfy our sweet tooth. This year, instead of being haunted by this diet derailer, use my simple strategies to conquer candy cravings.

Buy late. Avoid stocking up on Halloween candy ahead of time, even if it's on sale. Giant bags of sweets sitting on your table or in your cabinet several days or even weeks before the big day is way too tempting. Head to the store next week, or even the day before, and buy only as much as you think you'll need.

Be picky. When shopping for Halloween candy, choose sweets you don't like. If you can't fight your love of chocolate, opt for Skittles or Sour Patch Kids instead of M&Ms and Hershey bars. That way, even if they're lying around, you're not tempted to dig in.

Give out other goodies. The neighborhood kid may not agree, but you don't have to give out candy on Halloween. Healthier treats, like packaged pretzels or dried fruit, are good alternatives. You can even opt for non-food goodies, such as pencils or stickers.

Go trick-or-treating. Head outside with your kids for a walk around the neighborhood. You'll burn off some calories and get a break from the candy bowl.

Lighten your load. If you notice you have a lot of candy left in your bowl towards the end of the night, start giving out more generous portions to the trick-or-treaters. Your ultimate goal is to end the day with an empty bowl -- without you having to eat any of it!

Eat before you go out. If you're heading to a Halloween party, be sure to have a healthy meal or snack beforehand. A piece of fruit and part-skim string cheese, or even peanut butter and jelly on whole-wheat bread, are both good choices. That way, you'll keep your appetite in check, which will make it less likely that you'll give into the treats at the party.

Share leftovers. If you do have any candy left over afterward, bring it into work and share with co-workers.

Indulge wisely. It's OK to allow yourself to enjoy a little candy -- just be sure you do so carefully. For instance, pay attention to portion sizes. Mini-sized candies can be a good choice as long as you can cut yourself off after one or two. If not, you might want to opt for hard candies or lollipops because they're lower in calories and they last longer.

Exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer Bob Greene has helped millions of people slim down, most recently with his online program TheBestLife.com. The best-selling author shares the sure-fire strategies for losing weight, protecting your health and living your best life.

How Can I Lose My Belly Fat?

Question: What can I do to lose weight in my stomach? I've been doing lots of crunches but they don't seem to help.

Expert Answer:
There is no way to target weight loss to a specific area of the body because your body decides where it wants to put on weight and where it wants to take it off. The midsection is a common "problem" area for many people.

The best way to lose fat is through cardiovascular exercise. It is important to do a variety of abdominal exercises (including crunches) to keep your core strong, but until that excess fat is gone, you will not see the muscle definition. So if you're not doing cardio, crunches are not going to help get the 6-pack you've been hoping for. Regular cardio exercise at a level that's challenging for you is your best bet.

Exercise Extra: "Apple" shapes (fat storage around the belly) have been shown to have a higher risk of certain cardiovascular diseases, whereas storing fat in your lower half, known as a "Pear" shape, is actually a healthier site for fat accumulation.

HALF WAY MARK!

Week 5 results are up and boy oh boy, look at those top spots! Amazing!
If you are not in the top 10, now is the time to really push yourself. Don't throw in the towel! You still have 5 weeks to make a BIG difference! Look what the folks in the top 10 spots did in 5 weeks! You can do that too!

The winners of our week 4 mini challenge were:
Jaime Heilman
Peter Perez
Kathy Guinnane
Donna Payne
They each won a Biggest Loser Food Journal for tracking what they ate at least 3 days last week by either writing it down or logging it in an app on their phones or computers!

There are lots of prizes waiting for winners next week.... will you be a winner? Lose 2 lbs this week and you have a good chance!

The Case for Brisk Walking

For those who haven't exercised regularly in years, certain exercise programs require more than they can wrap their minds or their physical ability around.  A walking program can be an easy way to get back moving.  Walking is, in fact, America’s most popular exercise. And if the intention is to keep your weight in check, research shows you’d better pick up the pace.  Brisk walking continues to receive accolades for its health benefits as well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, “brisk walking has been shown to reduce body fat, lower blood pressure, and reduce risks of bone fracture.”  A Mayo Clinic professor, Michael Joyner, MD says, “I personally think that brisk walking is far and away the single best exercise.”

What’s Brisk?
A study by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health found brisk walking was associated with preventing weight gain and maintaining weight loss whereas slow walking was not.  The difference between the two lies with you.  While the CDC reports brisk walking to be ≥ 3.5 mph, your level of exertion determines if brisk walking is the moderate intensity activity it is intended to be.  Ideally a brisk walk means you are between 50 and 70% of your maximum heart rate (MHR).  If you don’t know your MHR, use the talk test: you should be breathing harder than usual and be able to speak in long sentences, but not able to sing. Brisk walking isn’t just a faster leisurely walk; it requires proper posture and total body effort, complete with relaxed shoulders, eyes looking forward, and hands relaxed. As one arm moves forward, the other moves back, while alternating with each step.    

How much is enough?
The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week and two or more days of muscle strengthening activities.  So if you’re just starting out, brisk walking can have far-reaching benefits for your overall health. A review of a number of studies by Timothy Church, MD showed that, in general, a sedentary person’s risk of dying prematurely fell by almost 20% if they began brisk walking for 30 minutes five times a week. Another study by the CDC found diabetics who engaged in brisk walking three to four hours a week, reduced their risk of dying from any cause by 54%. On the weight loss tip, the amount of brisk walking you need hinges on how many calories you want to burn. Generally speaking, brisk walking doesn’t burn a lot of calories in comparison to other more vigorous exercise. For example, a 150-lb person would only burn approximately 258 calories per hour walking at 3.5 mph.  But don’t dismay, if you are sedentary, it is literally a great first step to exercising regularly.

Improved Endurance

Brisk walking also improves endurance, which can prepare you for more intense activity down the road. Hiroshi Nose, MD, PhD, a professor of sports medical sciences at Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, enrolled thousands of older Japanese citizens in an innovative, five-month-long program of brisk, interval-style walking.  The program incorporated three minutes of fast walking, then three minutes of slower walking, repeated ten times. Dr. Nose reports, “Physical fitness — maximal aerobic power and thigh muscle strength — increased by about 20%, which is sure to make you feel about 10 years younger than before training.” What’s more, symptoms of chronic diseases including hypertension, hyperglycemia, and obesity also decreased by about 20% after the study.

To get started try this 12-week walking program from the Harvard Medical School.

caloriecount.about.com