Share your diet with your family #TheStubbornFatFix #DrKeithBerkowitz

If you eat one way while everyone else in the family eats another way, you won’t stay on the diet for long. There’s no reason not to introduce the Stubborn Fat Fix way of eating to your entire family. We’re talking about real food. More than one in five kids is overweight, and type 2 diabetes affects kids as young as age four. Both overweightness and diabetes are related to diets rich in processed foods and fast food. To get your kids on board, introduce pure foods such as fresh fruit, vegetables, and other whole foods. The only reason children like Twinkies is because grown-ups let them taste them. We know kids who say, “McDonald’s? That’s yucky!”. That’s because their parents taught them this view, and, more important, never took them to a fast food restaurant during their formative years. Get your kids involved in choosing healthful foods when shopping. Let them put the carrots, apples, another foods in the cart. Save less-healthy snacks for special occasions.

Choose Carbs with Fiber #TheStubbornFatFix

We allow bread, fruit, and other carbohydrate foods on all of our plans, but we recommend choosing higher fiber, naturally lower carb versions of these foods so you can maximize the nutritional value form the carbs you eat. To do so, calculate a food’s fiber score. What’s that? The fiber score is the number you get when you divide the grams of fiber in a food by the grams of carbohydrates and multiply it by 100. Try to choose the foods with the highest scores in each food category, opting for the highest fiber veggies, fruits, grains, and other foods. (Keep in mind that you should combine high-carbohydrate foods with some protein and fat to minimize the blood sugar response.

Fats 101: Polyunsaturated Fats #TheStubboenFatFix

These fats are found in plant oils, and some types decrease both LDL and HDL. There are many types of polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3 fats, omega-6 fats, and omega-9 fats. Of these, omega-3s are most beneficial to heart health- they’ve been shown to lower triglycerides and blood pressure and prevent blood clots. They are found in salmon, mackerel, herring, halibut, scallops, and shrimp. Plant foods such as flaxseeds and walnuts contain a type of fat called alpha-linolenic acid that is converted into the usable form of omega-3 by the body. Other sources of omega-3s are dark green vegetables such as seaweed, broccoli, spinach, and kale. It’s thought that consuming a diet high in omega-6 fats (found in vegetable oils, such as corn and soy) and low in omega-3 fats increases the risk of heart disease.

Decrease your #insulin levels, increase your life span. #CBHealthNY

Researchers have long known that people who reduce their insulin levels either through exercise or calorie restriction ten to live longer than people with higher insulin levels. For example, studies show that centenarians tend to have lower insulin levels than people who die earlier, and their cells tend to be more sensitive to the hormone’s effects. High insulin levels have been shown to speed the aging rate of cells and tissues throughout the body. When insulin levels remain low, cells more easily fight off age-related diseases such as cancer, dementia and stroke.

The importance of the right amount of movement at the right time #CBHealthNY

On our #StubbornFatFix plan, you exercise only once you feel ready. For many people, that’s only after losing a considerable amount of weight. Trying to force your body through intense cardio or weight lifting routines from the very beginning of a diet usually backfires. Why? In the beginning, with your metabolism out of balance, exercise just causes even more imbalance by keeping you in a burned-out state. It taxes your body at a time when you need rest. Plus, you feel tired. Who wants to exercise when they’re tired? It’s much better to change your eating first and then slowly add in exercise once you feel more energetic.

Watch your cheese portions #TheStubbornFatFix

We recommend you eat only 3 to 4 ounces daily, for many reasons. Cheese is easy to overeat. Many people head to the fridge thinking that they will have just one slice, then find they can’t stop until they’ve polished off a half pound. Dairy products contain carbohydrate in the form of lactose. Although cheese is lower in lactose than milk is, it’s still not a food you can eat without limits. Cheese also contains high amounts of salt, which can raise blood pressure and cause bloating in susceptible people. When you bloat from excess salt, you retain water. Your weight does not go down on the scale and you feel pudgy around the middle. If you have done a low-carb diet in the past and your LDL levels have not fallen, cheese may have been one of the culprits.

Know Yourself & Your Food Risk Situations #TheStubbornFatFix

We all have trigger foods that are addictive. Not only can you not hold yourself to a reasonable portion of these foods, but they actually induce physical sensations, such as sweating and a racing heartbeat. If you want to indulge in chocolate but you know you cannot stop at two squares, then do not indulge in chocolate. If you have an insulin disadvantage, this is extremely important because any dessert has the potential to swing your blood sugar up and down, triggering intense cravings for more sweets. Make the best choice you can in any given situation, get back on the plan as soon as possible, and look at ways to solve the problem that caused you to go off the plan in the first place.