Daily Nutritional Guide: What You Need To Know

One of the biggest obstacles in losing weight & keeping it off is knowing how much & of what to eat. With the help of the daily nutrition guide, it makes life a little bit easier. It doesn't take away the cravings for the foods that have the most calories but deliver nearly nothing in nutritional value, but with this information, you can at least decide if it is worth it in the long run (answer: usually no!).

Each individual will have different nutritional & caloric needs, such as pregnant & nursing moms. So this is meant only as a guide. You need to tweak it where most needed.

	Women age 25-50	Women over 50	Men over 24
Calories	2,000	2,000 or less	2,700
Protein	50g	50g or less	63g
Fat	65g or less	65g or less	88g or less
Saturated Fat	20g or less	20g or less	27g or less
Carbohydrates	304g	304g	410g
Fiber	25g-35g	25g-35g	25g-35g
Cholesterol	304g	304g	410g
Iron	18mg	8mg	8mg
Sodium	2,300mg or less	1,500 or less	2,300mg or less

I hope this chart gives you the basic knowledge to make informed nutritional choices. Contact me for more information.

Dr. Oz's "10 Years Younger in 60 Days" Challenge Day 1

I don't know anyone that doesn't at least respect what Dr. Oz has to teach us. I am a self confessed mega fan of his. If you didn't know, he now has his very own show. I highly recommend it if you haven't caught it yet.

He started today a "10 Years Younger in 60 Days" Challenge that he is doing in conjunction with Bob Harper from "The Biggest Loser". Here is what they have prepared for this challenge:

Day 1:

• 1. THE EVERYDAY BASICS:
  

• This is your daily to-do list.
  
• Walk 30 minutes. Walk consecutively at a rate that slightly elevates your heart rate or 3 times for 10 minutes.
• Floss and brush your teeth.
• Drink lots of water. If you're drinking coffee, try to replace it with green tea.
• Take your pills. Omega-3s 30 minutes before lunch and dinner and a multivitamin and calcium 2 times a day. Women over the age of 40 and men over the age of 35 should take 2 baby aspirin (165mg) with a half glass of warm water before and after — with your doctor's approval.
• Sleep. 7-8 hours a night.
  

• 2. TAKE STOCK

• Do your Everyday Basics!
• Buy the following items, which should run you less than $115: a tape measure, heart-rate monitor, pedometer, blood pressure cuff, a good pair of walking or running shoes, and a notebook or access to a computer in order to record your results. Record and date answers to all self-tests in your notebook.
  
• Measure your blood pressure, heart rate (first thing in the morning and at the height of your daily exercise — remember, you're walking 30 minutes a day!), height and waist size. You should measure your waist be circling the tape measure at your belly button while taking a deep breath and sucking in. Your waist should be half your height. Record all of your measurements
• Make a doctor's appointment for blood testing.
• Clean your pantry. Toss any food with any of the following as the first 5 ingredients: saturated fat, hydrogenated fat, primary omega-6 fat (corn oil, soybean oil), simple sugars ending in —ose or —ol, syrups, and any non-whole grain, and anything with 4+ grams of sugar per serving.
• Shop for healthy foods. Avoid the above and pick up items like those featured in the Dr. Oz Diet Plan.
• 3. ASK THE TOUGH QUESTIONS:

• Ask yourself these big-picture stress questions, which can help identify things to work on while on the 60-day plan. Remember, be honest with yourself!
  
• Is your perceived level of stress more than you enjoy? Remember that actual stress is a more predictable driver of aging than our perception of stress.
• Do you control most of the stress in your life or do you feel like a rat in someone else's environment?
• What activities did you do 5 years ago that you can't do today?

This is just Day 1 of 60. I will continue to post the days, but this can also be found at www.DoctorOz.com.