Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain

Like you, I have to really watch my weight over the holidays as I gain weight very easily, especially when I indulge in sugary baked goods (which I love!). Here are some things that i'm trying to do as much as possible to stay on track over the next couple of weeks.
1. Load up on protein in the morning - i'm skipping the whole grain muffin/bread/oatmeal for a couple of weeks and just having cottage cheese or greek yogurt (I like vanilla which has a little extra sugar but not too much) in the morning. This allows me a few extra 'treat' calories later in the day. This is NOT a healthy long term approach as whole grains are important for optimal health but in my opinion its ok temporarily (plus i'm getting whole grains in later in the day)
2. Sip Soup - I wish I cooked more. If I did I would make a giant pot of vegetable soup and eat at least 2-3 cups a day to ward off hunger between meals and even as a quick snack before heading out to a party. Instead i'm using canned soup, mainly progresso light vegetable and vegetable barley, to fill me up with fewer calories. Yes, its a bit higher in sodium but it really helps me and I do everything I can to keep sodium down in the remainder of my diet.
3. Squeeze in exercise early - I'm lucky enough to live in LA where its sunny most of the time (although very rainy today). Over the holidays, in addition to my daily walks with the dogs and treadmill workout, I try to squeeze in mini workouts whenever I think about. Whether its dancing around the living room or putting in a great CD and doing 5 minutes of knee lifts, jumping jacks or pushups, it can all add up to working off a sugar cookie or two so I think it's worth it
4. Don't have the 'last christmas' mentality - it's not the last time you will have access to any of the treats you enjoy over the holidays. Don't feel like you have to get everything in to make it count. Have your favorites of course, in moderation, but try to spread them out - even if its saving a cookie for the next day if you've had a full meal. I don't agree at all with the idea of just letting go because it's the holidays - research shows that people who keep the weight off eat pretty much the same year round so find a balance between treating yourself a little bit and going overboard which will lead to tipping the scale in January.

Happy holidays!

Heart Disease: Many don't know the signs. Help educate your friends and family!

Heart Disease: Many don't know the signs. Help educate your friends and family!

Would you know if you were having a heart attack? Unfortunately, many people don't know that chest pain is not the only symptom of a heart attack. In fact, a significant percentage of women NEVER experience sudden chest pain. In addition to chest pain warning signs include shortness of breath, back pain, nausea, fatigue and unexplained anxiety, and even indigestion like symptoms. That's why education on heart health is so important, and why I've teamed up with Nature Made and WomenHeart: The National Coalition of Women with Heart Disease for the 100,000 Heartbeats campaign.

As part of my involvement with the 100,000 Heartbeats campaign, I've learned about some inspiring women, the WomenHeart Champions, who travel around their communities to educate women about the risks of heart disease. I invite you to watch these videos to hear a few of their personal stories:

Meet Carrie Vincent

Meet Carrie Vincent - 100,000 Heartbeats For Women from Nature Made on Vimeo.

Five days after giving birth to her son, Carrie experienced a massive heart attack and spent the next few months recovering and learning about her condition. She's subsequently had 4 stents placed in her heart and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She has established a heart-healthy lifestyle, and continues to learn about heart health, as well as educate others.

Meet Cordelia Clapp

Meet Cordelia Clapp - 100,000 Heartbeats For Women from Nature Made on Vimeo.

At 16, Cordelia began noticing that her heart would have episodes of irregular heartbeats. She survived several hospitalizations over the next 30 years until finally, during a routine blood pressure check, she was referred to a cardiologist. As an American Indian Public Health Nurse for the past 9 years, she has conducted screenings and educated patients in a population genetically predisposed to heart disease.

The fact is that more women die from heart disease every year, than from all cancers combined including breast cancer. Educate yourself, your family and friends by visiting the 100,000 Heartbeats campaign website WomenHeart.NatureMade.com . You can help spread the word about heart health and unlock a $100,000 donation from NatureMade to WomenHeart.

For Your Heart – Nature Made® and WomenHeart 100,000 Heartbeats Campaign

For Your Heart – Nature Made® and WomenHeart 100,000 Heartbeats Campaign


As an MD and specialist in nutrition, my mission is to help people get healthy. That’s why I am excited to join forces with Nature Made® and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease on the 100,000 Heartbeats campaign. The campaign strives to help Americans get proactive and start living a heart healthy lifestyle today, which aligns with my firm belief in the role of nutrition in preventative medicine and achieving optimal health.

Through the 100,000 Heartbeats campaign website WomenHeart.NatureMade.com, you can help spread the word about heart health and unlock a $100,000 donation from NatureMade to WomenHeart. The site includes tips, videos featuring real life stories of women with heart disease, and information about simple lifestyle changes that can support heart health that you can share with friends and loved ones via social networks, like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.


Each interaction on the website, such as sharing information via social networks, watching a video, or participating in the interactive tools on the site, unlocks a $3 or $5 donation from Nature Made to WomenHeart. All you have to do is click and share and you can help make a difference – one heartbeat at a time.

Delicious Summer Treat - Luigi's Italian Ice

I've been on the look out for tasty summer treats and found a terrific one at Costco - not sure if its available elsewhere. It's called Luigi's Real Italian ice and comes in lemon and cherry flavored and actually has real cherry juice which is loads of disease fighting anti-oxidants. Each cup has only 60 calories and 1 gram of sugar! How about that!! It takes quite a while to eat giving you lots of satisfaction. Enjoy :)

Weight Loss & Fitness Tools

Check out my latest appearance on ABC's View From the Bay to learn about some interesting new weight loss and fitness tools including Weight Watcher's iphone app, Bodybugg weight management systems, Philips direct life, Zeo personal sleep coach, Omron pedometer that counts cardio steps, and a fantastic new Tanita body composition scale that even measures belly fat! Can these tools help you lose weight? Absolutely, especially if you are someone who responds well to personal data. Let me know what you think.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/tech_gadgets&id=7352506

Win $25,000 with Post Grant for Good Health

I’ve been working with Post Cereals as a nutrition consultant for a few months now, creating healthy eating tips, diet plans and more for PostNatural.com. This month, Post announced a worthwhile new grants program to help improve the health and wellness of one lucky community in America! Community wellness is near and dear to my heart, and I’m excited to be helping judge the entries for the $25,000 grant!



The Post Grant for Good Health essay contest will award $25,000 to the winning entrant with the best health and wellness initiative idea for their community, town or local area. The Grant for Good Health is designed to empower individuals to make strides to improve the health of communities across America and can have a broad range, from planting public gardens, to building a playground to creating a community fitness center.



From now until May 17th, applicants can submit 300-word essays on PostNatural.com, alongside a budget outlining the intended use of the grant's funding. A team of members from Post Foods, the National Wellness Institute and I will evaluate the proposed projects, and in May, 10 finalists will be selected. Up to 10 finalists will be featured on the Post Web site, where the public can vote for the project idea they find most meaningful. The winner of the $25,000 grant will be presented their award at the National Wellness Institute's 35th Annual National Wellness Conference in Stevens Point, Wis., in July.



How can you help improve the health and wellness of your community? I’m sure you have some great ideas out there – check out the Web site and apply!

In good health,
Dr. Melina

Funky Monkey Dried Fruit Snacks

As many of you may know, i'm not a fan of dried fruit despite it's convenience as it is a very concentrated source of calories (due to removal of all the calorie free water) but I LOVE freeze dried fruit because it's packed with calorie free air instead of water. I was very excited to sample Funky Monkey Freeze-Dried fruit and I was not disappointed. With fun flavors like banana with acai (Purple Funk) and Jivealime (pineapple with lime) and kid friendly packaging this is a terrific snack for both kids and grown-ups. All flavors are made with 100% real fruit with no sugar added and calories for a fairly good size serving range from 90-120. I'll be snacking on these whenever I run out of fresh fruit in the house!

Dr. Melina Pick

Get your kids moving!!!

This press release continues to reinforce the value of exercise in the prevention of childhood obesity. I personally believe that exercise is even more important and certainly easier to understand for kids than nutrition in helping kids get to or stay at a healthy weight. So if you have kids, do everything that you can do make sure that they get at least an hour of exercise each day and limit 'screen time' (television, computers) to 2 hours a day if possible!!

MONDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- Does carrying a gene tied to obesity doom a teenager to becoming obese? Not if that teen stays physically active, a new study shows.

Among genes related to obesity, mutations in the so-called fat mass-and-obesity-associated gene (FTO) appear to be particularly important. In fact, each copy of a mutation in this gene has been tied to an average jump in weight of about 3.3 pounds, the researchers say.

However, an hour of physical activity a day largely negated the gene's effect, the new study found.

"These findings have important public health implications, and indicate that meeting the physical activity recommendations may offset the genetic predisposition to obesity associated with the FTO [gene variant] in adolescents," said lead researcher Jonatan R. Ruiz, a scientist in physical activity and fitness epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Huddinge, Sweden.

The report is published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Debbie Durkin's Eco-Oscars "Green Carpet" Lounge

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending Debbie Durkin's annual Oscar hospitality lounge at a private estate in Beverly Hills. The event benefitted the American Red Cross-Haiti Relief and as always, had some terrific sponsors. Here are some of my favorites.

Riceworks whole grain brown rice crisps (www.riceworkssnacks.com) - These gourmet brown rice crisps are wheat & gluten free (vegan and celiac friendly) and contain no preservatives or cholesterol. With delicious flavors like Sweet Chili and Salsa Fresca (among other's), it was hard to stop at just one serving of these tasty, whole grain chips.

Bod-Health Nutrition Meal Programs - These tasty meals, created by celebrity nutrition chef Alex Fioroni, a nutrition specialist and exercise scientist, were delicious and healthy. This San Diego bawsed company offers flash frozen healthy, custom meals designed to help you meet your fitness or nutrition goals delivered right to your doorstep (anywhere - not just San Diego). I'm definitely going to give them a try after having my baby to take off the baby weight. www.bodhealthnutrition.com

Dirtee hollywood - I scored an adorable bright blue track jacket from this fun LA based company. You can work out Hollywood style in these brightly colored clothes (perfect for exercising at night). www.dirteehollywood.com

Traverse Bay Farms - This company featured lots of products centered around one of the most anti-oxidant rich fruits, cherries. They had tasty dried cherries and an amazing peach salsa (which went really well with the riceworks chips!!) and some impressive cherry based supplements designed to support joint health among other things (there is very good research on cherries and joint inflammation/health - visit their website for more information). www.traversebayfarms.com

There were also some amazing little desserts (yes I indulge on occasion) with Luscious Organic Desserts (www.lusciousorganicdesserts.com)and beautiful flower arrangements by Let Petit Gardenia (www.lepetitgardenia.com).

Vitamin D and Heart Health

More good news for Vitamin D which is rapidly becoming a very important disease prevention nutrient! I recommend getting your vitamin D levels checked, especially if you are overweight (vitamin D is stored in fat so not as much is available, over the age of 50 (vitamin D formation by the sun in your skin decreases as you age), or do not get much sun exposure. If you can't get your levels checked, you might want to consider taking a Vitamin D supplement of 400-1000 IU/day. Its inexpensive and worth it!

MONDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that extra vitamin D could make a major difference in heart disease risk among people who have low levels of the nutrient.

Researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray, Utah, report in two new studies that vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk of other chronic diseases, too.

"Vitamin D replacement therapy has long been associated with reducing the risk of fractures and diseases of the bone," study author Dr. J. Brent Muhlestein, director of cardiovascular research, said in a center news release. "But our findings show that vitamin D could have far greater implications in the treatment and reduction of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions than we previously thought."

The researchers found that patients who boosted their vitamin D levels to 43 nanograms per milliliter of blood or higher reduced their rates of diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure and heart disease. They were also less likely to die during the study period.

According to the researchers, a level of 30 nanograms per milliliter of vitamin D is considered normal.

"Although randomized trials would be useful and are coming, I feel there is enough information here for me to start treatment based on these findings," Muhlestein said, adding that increasing vitamin D intake by 1,000 to 5,000 international units a day may be a good idea in some cases.

ShopHealthy! My new iphone app

I am very excited to launch my first iphone app ShopHealthy! which provides you with a comprehensive shopping guide including over 100 factoids outlining specific things that I look for in various food products, aisle by aisle food rankings of thousands of products allowing you to compare foods within specific categories, and information on choosing and storing fruits and vegetables. In addition, the app allows you to save your favorites so that you can build your own healthy shopping list. It's like having me walking down the grocery store aisle with you!
If you have an iphone or ipodtouch, check it out for only .99 cents!!