Megan Nechanicky

Kate taking to the Central Park streets for a morning workout.

I spent last weekend in NYC with one of my best friends to celebrate our birthdays. Kate and I met on the Saint Joe’s rowing team during our first year at the University. We spent countless cold, dark mornings rowing on the Schuylkill River—Kate of course in her Boston-inspired pearls and cable knit sweaters, and me in a Gore-Tex jacket and waterproof spandex. Kate didn’t take a huge liking to the sport and stopped after her freshman year. Despite no longer being teammates, Kate and I did everything together from walking to Starbucks every weekend to study (we had “no wheels” as Kate would say), to dinners, to lacrosse parties to taking summer family trips together. Even though we haven’t lived in the same city since our collegiate days, Kate and I have remained friends for over 10 years.

 
Kate was married a little over two years ago and lives with her husband Garrett and their dog Libby in Philadelphia. Along with 2 years of wedded-bliss and changes in her lifestyle, Kate has packed on 30 undesired pounds. As she puts it, “I have no idea when I put on all this excess weight.”  Every time I see Kate we do a morning workout and the conversation naturally goes straight to weight loss and this weekend was no different. As we walk/ran in Central Park amongst hundreds of avid exercisers, I spoke with Kate in length about how to approach a successful weight loss plan (emphasizing the word “successful”).

Kate and Meg take to the city streets at night.

Here are some of the tips I shared with Kate:
1. Find Your Motivation: On a daily basis, people tell me they want to lose weight and I always ask “why do you want to lose?” and “what’s motivating you to want to lose weight?” I get countless responses from things such as to return to my normal size 8, to increase my energy level, to reduce my disease risk, etc. I think motivation is incredibly important and should be unique to you and should also be measurable. Whether it’s pounds on the scale, sizes in your clothes or numbers in your blood pressure or cholesterol, this will help you track how well you’re progressing. Kate has a huge motivator in that she wants to be healthier as she begins to start a family and can track how she’s doing by periodically weighing herself.

2. Create a Starting and Finishing Line: Know what you’re starting with. I told Kate to go home, take her current weight, and—even though she wouldn’t reveal it to me—she would know where she’s starting. She needs to be aware of where she is today and where she would like to be in the future. I told her to get specific about her goal of weight loss by stating the amount she wants to lose and the timeframe in which she wants to lose it.  For Kate we landed on a weight loss of 30 pounds in 6 months.

3. Move Away from the Scale: Kate has been unsuccessfully trying to lose weight for months and gets frustrated by the numbers not moving quickly enough on the scale. So many people working to lose weight are obsessed with the numbers and addicted to taking daily weights.  Take your weight in the beginning to have your “start line” and then move away from the scale. Don’t take your weight any more than once every two weeks. When you do take it, be consistent with using the same scale and stepping on at the same time of day wearing similar types of clothes each time.

4. Use Behaviors to Lead to Outcome: We all want the outcome—weighing less, having more energy, being able to run 5 miles, etc. Constantly focusing on the outcome without thinking about the behaviors will not lead to success. What bring about these outcomes are behaviors. I’ve advised Kate to focus on behaviors that will lead to her desired outcome. A few of the behaviors we discussed were: (1.) Workout at least 30 minutes each day (2.) Eating 3 meals during the day (3.) Reduce the amount of alcohol at dinners. It’s these very behaviors that will lead to Kate’s desired outcome of weight loss.

I will periodically be sharing Kate’s ups and downs, highs and lows and successes and failures. I invite you to come along on Kate’s weight loss journey to return to her pre-wedding weight by losing 30 pounds in 6 months.

Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

This past week, I started a new rotation at Children’s National in Washington, D.C., and spend time in the weight management clinic. With millions of overweight and obese kids in the United States, I have the unique perspective of going inside some of their lives to hear about their eating behaviors and habits. It is shocking how many kids and families make the same mistakes when it comes to food and are completely unaware that those decisions propel them into the upper percentiles of the child growth charts and into classifications of “overweight” or “obese.”

 
After countless weight loss counseling sessions, here are the five weight loss tips that every family should live by:

 
1. Reduce the Juice- Over and over again I hear families tell me they consume huge quantities of juice, upwards of 500-600 calories per day.  Just because juice comes from a fruit doesn’t mean you can or should consume an unlimited quantity. Juice usually comes with added sugar, and the calories can be consumed very quickly without much satisfaction. Limit juice consumption to 8 ounces or less per day—or better yet, only have it on rare occasion. Stick to water or zero calorie beverages.

2. Mind Your F’s & V’s (fruits and vegetables) - I am shocked by the lack of fruits and vegetables kids are eating, with some even saying they dislike them altogether. Your F & V’s come packed with nutrients your bodies need, are low in calories and high in fiber. Make eating these natural treasures sweet and fun—try fruit smoothies, kabobs or dip into low-fat yogurt or hummus.

3. Enact the 3-4 Hour Rule - Skipping breakfast, skipping lunch and not eating until late in the afternoon is not setting yourself up food success. I heard from the kids that skipping most daytime meals is the norm. Additionally, all of them tended to eat throughout the entire evening and into the night. This eating pattern packs on the pounds due to unhealthy choices when the body has gone for hours without food. Stick to eating every 3-4 hours—meals or snacks don’t need to be large, but this will keep energy level high and allow you to avoid overeating later in the day.

4. Eat From Your Own Kitchen - Almost everyone I counseled was eating the majority of their meals outside of the home, with zero pre-planning. Convenience stores, school cafeterias and fast food restaurants have become the new kitchen. These places are not going to offer many healthy options and usually come in large quantities which equal greater everything (calories, fat, sugar & sodium). Bring it back to the home. Pack or grab your breakfast from home, pack a bagged lunch and home-cooked dinner from your very own kitchen.

5. Healthy is Not Punishment - Providing your kids with healthy foods while limiting the unhealthy ones is not a punishment! Saving your child from diseases such as diabetes and heart disease is a gift—one you can’t put a price on. Teach your kids healthy habits early—make them fun and for the whole family.

I spent last past week traveling, with the majority of my time spent in a hotel right outside of the Disneyland Park in Anaheim, CA. I must say, even with all the training I’ve had in nutrition, it is truly a challenge to eat healthy while on the road. Since I spent this trip with soon-to-be dietitians, I wanted to share the tricks-of-the-trade (or the things I saw all of us doing) to try and maintain normal eating habits while in the land of magic and pixie dust.

Soon-to-be Registered Dietitians dining out in Disney.

1. Make a grocery store run— On day 2 of the conference, one of the girls had a PB&J sandwich in a Ziplocked bag, an apple and whole wheat pretzels. It looked nothing like the unhealthy food we were offered at the hotel. When I asked where she got it, she said she stopped at the local grocery store the first day.  Stopping by the local grocery store is a great way to have food on hand and not eat out breakfast, lunch and dinner.

2. Doggie-bag dinner— After struggling to find lunch on the first day due to limited time and transportation, many of us decided to save half our dinners to eat for the lunch the following day. Not only does this reduce the amount you eat for dinner, but also ensures you have a meal the next day. We found a microwave in the hotel convenience store/gift shop and nuked leftover dinners for lunch.

3. Use the mini-fridge— Stock the mini-fridge with your own foods. Whether purchased at a local grocery store or leftovers meals—stock healthy foods and beverages such as pre-cut fruits & veggies, yogurts and water bottles.

4. BYOB Bring your own bottle—reusable water bottle that is. Almost every girl on the trip had brought along their own bottle and continuously filled it up from water coolers the hotel offered or water fountains. This ensures proper hydration, even while potentially being dehydrated by long plane rides and climate changes.

The People's Garden at the USDA in Washington, D.C.

I arrived early to a meeting at the USDA Headquarters on Jefferson St. in Washington, D.C., and in order to check my emails, I found the closest bench and took a seat. Little did I know I was sitting inside The People’s Garden, the USDA’s garden which was planted a little over a year ago to bring attention to growing healthy foods and to be used as a teaching tool to showcase where produce comes from.

 
It was fantastic that, in the mist of the hustle and bustle of the city filled with business people rushing around and tourists taking in sights during their spring break, I had stumbled into a garden.  The garden allowed me to take a few minutes away from my emails, walk through and look at what was growing, and read the plaques.  I then exited quickly when bees started swarming around me!

Growing up, my family had a nice-sized garden in our backyard. My mom would plant various vegetables at the start of every season, and if I was up for getting my hands dirty, I would help.  Being the only girl with three brothers, I never liked being dirty or doing too many chores.  What I did enjoy was being given a challenge and then setting my mind toward achieving it. My mom told me worms were good for the garden, so when she was out planting, I would dig in the dirt for hours trying to find as many worms as possible. I also enjoyed the organization of making the straight rows and digging the holes where seeds would eventually be placed.

 
It was always thrilling when the first zucchini and first squash would arrive—they were always huge and unlike anything I had seen in our local Giant. I wasn’t very interested in the various lettuces growing because they didn’t magically appear on the plants like the squash, zucchini and tomatoes. However, I did know when the lettuce in our dinner salads came from the garden—it always tasted gritty and had leftover dirt on the leaves, which I always complained about. We now take for granted that food manufacturers triple-wash our lettuce before putting it in their Ziplocked packages with little to no dirt left for consumption.  By the end of the summer, it seemed like the garden never stopped growing, and a child can only take so many meals of sautéed zucchini and squash.

 
I have such fond memories thinking back to the Nechanicky garden (really, Nancy’s garden). Even though I don’t think of myself as the gardening type—wearing gloves, long khaki pants, straw hat and rubber boots—I have a great appreciation and taste for fresh fruits and vegetables, and an understanding of how and where they come from.

 
I think it’s outstanding that gardens are now popping up in cities, schools, communities and even the White House, and are being used as teaching tools for healthy eating. I challenge you to plant a garden this spring, even if you start very small and just have one tomato plant. And if you really don’t want a garden, visit a farmers market in your area and taste the full flavors of local fruit and vegetables. Trust me, the secret will be out that local produce is the way to go—even with a little dirt!

With all talk turned to brackets, upsets, game-winning shots and Cinderella stories, it’s hard to get through March knowing the NCAA basketball tournament is underway. Even though I don’t have much time to sit down to watch a game in its entirety, it’s impossible to avoid watching parts of games when I’m in a house full of brothers. I happened to see a night early on in the tournament with a huge upset of Lehigh over Duke.

 
The game was extremely fun to watch, and had to be indescribable as a player on either side of the court. As someone that spends every day promoting health, one thing stood out to me so clearly.  Not for a minute were these players thinking about getting in their 20, 30, 60 or 90 minutes of daily exercise. They were so focused on the game that they most likely didn’t even realize that they were exercising, other than the fact that they were breathing hard, their legs were exhausted and their jerseys were drenched in sweat. These young men were playing with such intensity and grit down to the very last buzzer. They were clearly playing a “game” that took strategy, training, teamwork and was also a lot of fun (if you won, of course!).

 
This same week, I had the opportunity to attend and work two youth-based athletic events. The first was a “Mini Olympics” to highlight the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London with the First Ladies from the US and UK. I acted as the “Captain” of two teams and took the kids around to sports stations where, based on their performance, they earned points for their school. These middle schoolers displayed such intensity and determination as they ran relay races, shot baskets, hit tennis balls, and kicked goals. They were so focused on the “game” that they never complained, never wanted to rest and never wanted to end.

One of the teams at the Let's Move! Mini Olympics

The second event I stood at the finish line of the ING Kids Rock one-mile race and celebrated the runners with huge smiles as they crossed the line. The kindergarten through 6th graders were so excited to wear their orange shirts, run with classmates, have cheering fans and be honored at the finish with medals.  They weren’t thinking about how hard it was to run the mile or that their legs were tired or they were out of breath. This was a race, they had their teachers and parents cheering and they wanted to cross over the line.

Start line of the one-miler ING Kids Rock race.

This past week at my tennis lesson, I was playing doubles and the last game would never end. Deuce, add out, deuce, add in, deuce, etc.  As the sun began to set and the clock ticked closer to 7:30 pm, my pro Fred said we would call it a game.  Being extremely competitive, I quickly yelled out that tennis never ends in a tie and there was no way I was walking away from this game.  Fred allowed us to keep playing and the game did eventually end a few points later. In the intensity of the game, my focus was not on getting home or what I was planning to eating for dinner or all the work I needed to get done. I wanted to keep playing.

 
From NCAA basketball, to mini-Olympics, to one-mile road races to my own tennis match, these are all games that bring so much fun while also getting in a whole lot of fitness. One does not need to be a college athlete or Olympian to play. Exercise does not need to be dreadful and timed to the very minute. Learn to play and you might actually get to the point where you don’t want to stop (even if the sun is setting). Create your own fitness fun and don’t ever stop.