News

With so many choices at the grocery store shopping can become overwhelming and confusing!

Join us for our February Grocery Store Tour

February 25^th 12-1pm

Cost $30

Contact us at admin@rbitzer.com or call (301)474-2499 to sign up!

Great news for all of our patients in and around the Columbia area! One of our Registered Dietitians, Kait Fortunato, will be seeing patients in the Columbia office every Wednesday starting January 2012.

Address: 9881 Broken Land Parkway, Suite 105
Columbia, MD 21046

Phone Number: 301-474-2499

Feel free to give our office a call to set up an appointment with Kait in the Columbia office for the new year!

By: Kathy Kendall, RD

If you are a baby boomer and you are seeking answers to questions about health and diet, look no further than this book! It is jam-packed with practical research-based info on all things healthy from how to pick a good dietary supplement to how to eat healthy for your disease state if you have one.  If you don’t currently have a diagnosis, Piergeorge explains how to stave off that diagnosis!

As a baby boomer myself, I’ve found myself seeking answers to many questions—what about supplements:  Which ones should I be taking?  How do I know how to pick a good one?  Also:  What about my arthritic knee from that old injury?  What can I do to lessen the pain?  What are the best resources on the internet for health, diet and exercise?  This book covered them all and then some.  It is brimming with links to excellent resources for improving your eating, exercise and overall health.

Piergeorge has written an entire section discussing the various types of medicine and those who practice it.  She clarifies the difference between Naturopaths, Chiropractors, Registered Dietitians and other health professionls and what types of training they have. The book also contains dozens of wonderful recipes.

You will find no hype or quick fixes in this book just the latest and the best of what you are seeking culled from the latest research on all things healthy for the baby boomers that we are!  The author is careful not to attempt to treat any health condition, but does encourage the reader to seek medical help when their concerns or needs go beyond the scope of this book.

I especially appreciated the discussion in the chapter on making changes.  The author has an infectious enthusiasm and supportive cheerleader voice that leaves the reader convinced that you really can make lifestyle changes and stick with them!

I also enjoyed the friendly but professional tone of the book.  Piergeorge has a knack for reaching you where you are and drawing you forward to where you can be.

The book can be used as a reference book or can be a good read from start to finish.  Either way, you are bound to find valuable information based on the latest scientific research that will help you find your way to better health. Visit Susan Piergeorge’s website.

Each month Rebecca Bitzer and Associates holds a Grocery Store Tour with our Dietitians to help you learn how to shop mindfully on a budget. Not sure what food to buy? Start your New Year off on a healthy foot and join us for our next tour on January 23, 2012 at the Greenbelt Safeway.

Grocery Store Tours are a great way to apply what you have learned about nutrition to the real world. You will be able to go up and down each aisle, to the produce and dairy sections, as well as the deli with a Registered Dietitian who can help you make smart, health-conscious choices. Have you ever asked yourself “What would my nutritionist say if I bought this?” in the middle of your grocery shopping? Now is your opportunity to ask those questions and get the right answers!

What: RBA Grocery Store Tour

When: January 23^rd from 6-7 PM

Where: Greenbelt Safeway

Cost: $30

Please call our office at 301-474-2499 to sign up for our New Year Grocery Store Tour!

Stay in the know about other upcoming events by signing up for our newsletter at http://empoweredeatingblog.com/

By Elizabeth Haaser

I had a friend in high school who described her relationship with a boyfriend of three years as “the worst and best thing” in her life. She would tell me story after story of how he was rude to her or of how he made her cry, yet what was obvious to me was not obvious to her: she should ditch him. “He may be a jerk, but he’s my everything. I’m not sure who I’d be without him.”

Cheryl Kerrigan relates this same dependent/abusive relationship structure of a boyfriend and girlfriend to that of a person with an eating disorder, and (for the sake of furthering the comparison) even refers to the condition as “Ed,” who takes on human-like qualities in his determination to control his victim. Kerrigan’s book, Telling Ed No!, is not a typical self-help guide in that it reads like a memoir of her own detrimental relationship with Ed, who entered her life at a very young age. Each chapter presents a reflection for the reader to consider, and while her book is filled with over 100 strategies for recovery, Kerrigan permits a personal look into how these tools worked for her, rather than simply listing them in manual-style. The novel-like writing and short, topic-focused sections make this an easy and enjoyable read.

One of my personal favorite chapters is one that describes Kerrigan’s Gratitude Journal, which is just one of the many ideas she presents throughout the book. In an effort to become less “Ed focused” and to think more about the positive aspects of her life, she writes five things that she is grateful for at the end of each day. Even for someone without an eating disorder, this is a wonderful idea. (I have been doing my own version of this for a few months; when in bed at the end of each day, I say out-loud three things I am grateful for, and three things I am proud of myself for).

This is one of the most personal and honest books about eating disorders that I have come across in a while, and I strongly suggest this to anyone who struggles with food, or who even has seen just a glimmer of Ed.

Starting January 3rd, this exercise and nutrition program is led by certified personal trainers from Fitness Matters Gym and registered dietitians from Rebecca Bitzer and Associates.  We can help you safely train for a 5 K race in March**.

FREE Introductory Meeting, Tuesday, January 3, 2012 6:00 PM at Rebecca Bitzer, MS, RD and Associates (www.rbitzer.com)

Program includes:

¨    2 exercise sessions/week with a Certified Personal Trainer, Tuesdays & Thursdays, outside

(www.fitnessmattersgym.us)

¨    3 Nutrition sessions with a Registered Dietitian on Saturday mornings

¨    $135 per month for January – March, 2012

5K Race:  Saturday March 24^th, 2012, at Bowie Town Center

Call Cornelia Randolph 301-655-3196 for details

No previous running experience required!

301-655-3196

ctrandolph@idsdc.com

** Last year, ALL of our participants

completed the training and

participated in a 5K. Call us today!!

By: Elizabeth Haaser

Here’s a Christmas miracle for you: pasta that can be eaten by people diagnosed with diabetes! Appropriately called Dreamfields Pasta, this product has been receiving a lot of attention, and was even featured on the Rachel Ray show. What’s all the buzz about?

Dreamfields Pasta has a low GI of just 13 (65% lower than regular pastas), has twice the fiber of normal pasta, and is low in digestible carbohydrates. There are several versions of pasta, including spaghetti, elbow, angel hair, and rotini, and each is a healthy option for those with diabetes. But Dreamfields Pasta isn’t just for diabetics; their products are a good choice for anyone’s meal! (I’ve made it twice for dinner so far, and absolutely love the texture.)

Visit their website at www.dreamfieldsfoods.com for recipes and a $1.00 coupon!

By: Amy Bortnick

Holidays are a time to cherish family, friends, and all the wonderful gifts we’ve been given in this life. It is a time to focus on the positive and to express generosity to our loved ones and those less fortunate. However, holidays can also be a source of anxiety and become overwhelming for those struggling with an eating disorder. The key to a happy healthy holiday is planning, preparing, and staying mindful.   Focus on positive details that will minimize stress, anxiety, and fear associated with parties, meals and gatherings. Here are some quick tips to make the most of a wonderful time of year.

1. Allow yourself to focus on celebrating and spending time with family instead of counting calories and excessive thoughts of food
2. Keep a journal, before going to a party write down why you are going what you will focus on at the party and reflect on your entry after the party.
3. Avoid good food bad food talk
4. Be aware of your stress level and do not overbook your schedule. Choose the events that mean the most to you and allow time for yourself to relax.
5. Stay connected with your treatment professionals; work with them to carefully balance meals in advance. If you regularly attend supports groups keep going and seek strategies for the holiday season.
6. Before a holiday event consider calling and asking the host what foods will be served and if it is necessary bring along safe foods.
7. If you’re feeling up to the challenge let holiday events be an opportunity for progress. Practice a three-meal-a-day schedule. Do not go to a holiday meal hungry with the plans to skip meals in preparation for a larger one.
8. Surround yourself with people who have healthy relationship with their food, their body, and their weight. Try and bring a trusted friend to holiday events if you can.
9. Keep lines of communication open and involve your family and friends in your challenges, victories, and goals.

By : Amy Bortnick

As an athlete and nutrition major I am well informed about the importance of proper hydration in both, athletics and everyday life.  However, it was not until I was training for my second marathon that concept of proper hydration and programmed drinking to replace fluid loss really hit home with me. Nutritionally, I strive to eat mindfully and intuitively the problem with hydrating in athletics is that, an athletes’ thirst mechanism often fails as a proper signal for fluid loss because the intensity of exercise and the mind can mask the effect of thirst, allowing an athlete to loose a dangerous amount of water.

What is a dangerous amount of sweat loss?

Dehydration is defined as losing 2% of your body weight from sweating and even losing 1% (1.5 lbs) can significantly impair your physical performance, by raising your body temperature, causing your heart to beat 3 to 5 times more per minute. Dehydration takes away from an athletes mental edge, physical ability, and can be deadly if your body loses its ability to cool itself down and heat illness occurs. When I began marathon training I would always bring water with me on long runs but I would drink mainly before and after running, I had no clue how much I needed to drink, and usually blamed the headaches I would get afterwards on my homework and waking up early.

How can sweat loss be monitored?

The headaches persisted to get worse in the summer and in the warm weather training. In the absence of homework and a lack of sleep I came to the realization that dehydration was the primary cause of my discomfort. Eager enhance my mood and performance I learned a great way to monitor hydration Is through the color and quantity of your urine. I have attached Urine Color Chart to help you identify what a well hydrated urine color should compare to. However, in marathon training and endurance sports it is important to pay special attention to your sweat loss which is individual and influenced by many factors such as age, temperature, genetics, gender, and fitness level. In order to know how much sweat you loose during exercise you must determine your sweat rate by weighing yourself nude before an hour of exercise and then again right after. By knowing the amount of sweat you loose you can determine the amount you need replace which should be 80-100% of what is lost.  Approximately 16 oz or .5kg of water should be consumed for ever pound lost. For example, I found that I loose 3lbs of water weight while exercising for one hour this means I need to drink 38.4-48 oz of water.

Overall, maintaining the proper amount fluid balance essential to life, and specifically during exercise when your muscles generates 20 times more heat than at rest .There is no one size fits all recommendation for fluids so it is important to learn and pay attention to your own sweat rate and replace lost water accordingly.

Resource: Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guide Book, Chapter8.