Archive for July, 2010

For those of you who don’t know, Interstitial Cystitis (IC) is a condition that consists of recurring pelvic pain, pressure, or discomfort in the bladder and pelvic region. You may feel like you are having a bladder infection, with a lot of pelvic pain and feeling like you constantly have to urinate. The trouble with this condition is that it is very hard to diagnose.

We received a copy of the book “Interstitial Cystitis- A Guide for Nutrition Educators” by  Registered Dietitian, Julie Beyer and although this book is very helpful for us in treating IC, we wanted to share this information with our readers, regarding this unique condition.  This book goes to show how important the role of the Registered Dietitian is in treating interstitial cystitis nutritionally. First, the dietitian knows how to incorporate necessary, healthful foods into a diet with certain food and beverage restrictions.  We can also provide the tools and suggestions for nutrient modifications so the body is still functioning despite the condition.  Many people with IC tend to feel scared and frustrated when they cannot find the right answers on how to modify their diets.

If you or someone you know has IC please consider seeing a Registered Dietitian. We can help identify your trigger foods, instill problem-solving skills to maintain your health and offer support in helping you rediscover the pleasures of eating.  We help you recognize your trigger foods, teach you how to modify your diet, and allow a testing period for introducing new foods.

Furthermore, diet is now going to be considered a first line treatment in the new American Urological Association’s treatment protocols for IC patients.

Hey everyone! We have had a lot of requests to have another exercise challenge for our readers. We decided to do a 2-week long challenge starting Sunday August 1^st through Saturday August 14^{th “}Let’s Beat the Heat!”. For this challenge we would like you to participate in some type of exercise 5 days a week for these two weeks and comment on this blog so we can keep track of your exercise! We know it has been a hot summer so we want you to be creative with your workouts, even walking up and down the stairs 5 times is a great workout!

One of our clients, Sarah Costello has some experience with creative workouts after participating in the program at The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge. She wanted to share some tips for exercise and motivation that she learned!

Hi, my name is Sarah Costello and I have been a client of Bobbi’s since March.  It was around then that I really started focusing on my health.  When I began with Bobbi, an exercise challenge to work out 5 days a week for 30 minutes began to celebrate Nutrition month.  She encouraged me to participate and afterward said that maybe I could be an inspiration to others because I do such a variety of exercise.  I hope that this could be true – exercise can be and is fun and there are so many ways to do it!

We are about to embark on another exercise challenge – Let’s Beat the Heat!! Don’t let the heat be an excuse – there are ways to get around it.

I knew I wanted to go away to celebrate my 30^th birthday as I enjoy traveling. I saw the commercial for The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge in Utah and knew that is where I wanted to go.This was the best birthday present a person could get or give themselves = health! So many people celebrated birthdays there. I went to Fitness Ridge because I wanted to start the 30s off right. I wanted to embark on my journey of a healthier lifestyle.  I was able to return again in June.  My experience there has been life changing.  The people that I met there will be a support to me throughout my journey.  I hope that this blog can form the same sort of support, accountability and encouragement to reach our goals!

You may question yourself sometimes – why are you doing this – committing to getting healthy by eating right and exercising. But the question you should be asking (which was brought up in my time at Fitness Ridge) is Why not? You are worth it, you deserve it, and you can do it! This was said frequently during my time at Fitness Ridge and I believe it for all of you!

If there is only one message that I share with you – IT’S THAT YOU ARE WORTH IT AND YOU CAN DO IT!

So let’s Beat The Heat together and commit to working out at 5 days a week! We can do this!  Throughout this exercise challenge I’ll share things that I learned at Fitness Ridge and quotes from lectures and speaker, Matt Hoover, Biggest Loser Season 2 Winner, who was on my team in June.

Everyone get ready! I will post a blog on the first day of the challenge!

Here are some great tips from the American Diabetes Association for eating healthy on a budget! Have you tried any of these?

• Limit impulse purchases. Go to the store with a shopping list and stick to it!

• Buy in season. Blueberries are a cheap treat in the summer but practically an investment once it’s fall. Consider growing some of your own produce as well.

• Use coupons. Sign up for your supermarket’s shopper discount card too.

• Purchase sale items in bulk. Use the same main ingredient and dress it up differently. Turn ground been into chili, burritos and a topping for baked potatoes. Plus, freeze some beef for the weeks to come.

• Buy generic. Follow this rule except when you know a certain brand is of higher quality. A major national brand of sliced Swiss cheese recently sold for $4.49 per half pound versus $3.49 for the store brand.

• Think whole foods. The more processed foods you buy, the higher the price. Even a banana in pricey New York City only costs a quarter whereas a small candy bar costs at least 75 cents.

• Do it from scratch. You pay more for convenience. Grate your own cheese and shred your own lettuce.

• Shift those portion sizes. Use pricey meats as an accent, not the main event. For instance, skip the pork chops and cook up a pork stir-fry.

• Load up on the beans. Meat is expensive. A pound of 85% lean ground beef costs $3.29. A 1 pound can of black beans? A mere 50 cents!

• Shop at wholesale food stores. Some examples include Sam’s Club or Wal-Mart Superstores. Make sure your know prices, though, to guarantee savings.

“Diabetes Meals on $7 a day- or Less!” Available on www.diabetes.org.

Have you heard of the Gene SNP? After sending in a sample of your DNA and completing an online questionnaire, you can receive all the personalized details to help you achieve optimal health. The report will tell you how you process your foods, how you react to exercise, how your environment affects your body, and how family history plays a part in your health. Gene SNP DNA Analysis is the first nutrikinesio test combining customized nutrition with personalized fitness based on your genetic profile. The exclusive Health Action Plan is designed specifically for you and can be achieved in 4 simple steps:

1. Order your Gene SNP kit
2. Send in your DNA (a simple cheek swab)
3. Complete your secure online profile
4. Receive your comprehensive Health Action Plan

Here is an interview from Registered Dietitian, Angela Moore, who recently completed her own Gene SNP.

1)      Who would you recommend the Gene SNP to? I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in being proactive about their health and use the information to make personalized lifestyle changes based on the results. This is custom nutrition at it’s best in my opinion. The profile uses both an extensive lifestyle questionnaire with the genetic test to make health and wellness recommendations.  Also, I would recommend this to athletes who want an edge with their training and racing. Nutrition and exercise related snp recommendations are made based on results for pre-workout, recovery, and overall performance. I would recommend this to someone dealing with certain chronic diseases or struggling with weight loss to see if they are missing anything that might help them progress in the right direction for their goals and health.

2)      How does the Gene SNP work? Gene SNP is an “at home” kit that consists of 1) a laboratory analysis of specific gene variants in your genetic material (DNA) that have been found to influence health and 2) an Online Customer Profile survey that provides valuable information about various lifestyle habits that relate to the gene variants being tested. The goal of the Gene SNP DNA Analysis is to provide you with genetic information about yourself that may have positive implications for your nutrition and fitness, to help you take more strategic control of your own wellness and guide your diet and lifestyle choices in your quest for optimal health.

3)      How much does it cost? The suggested retail fee for this is $395 (plus tax and shipping).  It is recommended that you discuss your results with your nutritionist. If you already have a nutritionist, then your results can be discussed at your usual appointment, if you do not have a nutritionist, we can offer you a special package to discuss your results.

4)      What are the main parts of the comprehensive action plan? The comprehensive online health action plan offers solutions related to diet, exercise, lifestyle changes and supplementation. The main areas that are focused on are: exercise performance and recovery, B-vitamin metabolism, cholesterol metabolism, phase 1 and 2 detoxification, antioxidant function, bone integrity, glucose balance, inflammatory response, salt sensitivity, and alcohol metabolism.

5)      What was the most helpful part of your comprehensive action plan? I learned I would benefit from antioxidant support, phase 1 detox support, low glycemic diet, b-vitamin status needs monitoring, and exercise helps my weight management (very true!!)

6)      Would you recommend seeing a Registered Dietitian along with taking part in the Gene SNP? Yes, an RD can be the key to helping understand the results and put recommendations into action based on one’s goals. The report is well laid out and has a lot of info so helping pinpoint important areas can help with the step by step action plan!!

To order the Gene SNP kit, email Rebecca@rbitzer.com and let her know you are interested in the DNA analysis.  Rebecca can also email you a copy of Angela Moore’s Gene SNP results and report so you can see what her report looks like.

Please feel free to ask your Registered Dietitian if you have more questions or are thinking about completing this!

This past weekend, Rebecca, Bobbi, and I had the pleasure of attending Soul Collage with some of our friends from Rebecca Bitzer and Associates. The workshop coordinator told us at the beginning of the event that this was about us and not to worry about remembering other people’s names or asking them questions, rather we should be communicating with ourselves. We started the event by finding a picture from a magazine that best represents who we are. We went around the circle saying “I am one who….”, finishing the sentence with something related to ourselves and the picture. This transitioned us into the main focus of soul collage, again using these magazine pictures to create “soul cards” that related to our lives.

My first one was about what I enjoy most in life, summer and taking vacations, exercising and being outside, and being home near the Jersey shore.

My second soul card represented my excitement and uncertainty for the future, a picture of someone looking ahead.

For those of you who attended what did you think?

Fruits and Veggies- More Matters is an organizations that motivates people to eat more fruits and vegetables to improve public health. They have a great amount of marketing and education programs and are very involved in school systems. They were kind enough to send us their recipe book for kids to review for all of our readers!

This cool fuel cookbook gives recipes for breakfast, side dishes, main dishes, smoothies, and snacks, and the main purpose is to incorporate lots of fruits and vegetables in each dish. Each recipe gives ingredients, directions, nutritional information, and what the recipe is a good source of, such as fiber or vitamin C. This book is easy for parents to follow and fun for kids to help out. Each recipe is titled creatively to make the experience enjoyable for children. Examples include Purple Party Parfait, Banana in a Blanket, and Crazy Curly Broccoli Bake.

If you have children or are even just trying to include more fruits and vegetables into your diet I would definitely recommend this cookbook.

For more information about this organization please visit, www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org

Happy Fourth of July from all of us at Rebecca Bitzer & Associates.

We hope you all have a fun, safe and healthy holiday.

For those who do not know Shelley (pictured above),  she is our Chief Registered Dietitian.  Shelley was recently sailing our boat during our office staff party and I thought that this photo illustrated her positive, fearless attitude and her never-ending smile.  We are fortunate to have Shelley on our team.

I also like the way that the photo includes the American flag, symbolic of our freedom and independence which we celebrate this weekend.  As Washington said about our American Flag: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty.”

Happy Birthday America!

Feed your soul   Nourish your body   Tantalize your taste buds   Blow your mind   Let your imagination go

This exquisite photograph took up the greater part of the first page in yesterday’s dining section of the New York Times.  I am memorized by the composition and eye popping color.  I would rather frame it than eat it.  The photo is accompanied by a great list, 101 foods to grill, written by Mark Bittman.  Mr. Bittman is renowned for his minimalist and healthful approach to life.

I have a husband who doesn’t grill.  How that happened I don’t know.  I grill on a gas grill on my cook-top in the kitchen.  I am so inspired by these endless grilling possibilities I am going to master the outdoor grill.  On occasion it feels great to wear the pants in the family!

The article and list can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/dining/30mini.html?ref=todayspaper