Author Archives: Kinsey

Ruby Turns to Faith to Support Weight Loss Struggles

I have mentioned the Ruby show several times in my blogs, and how important social support is in aiding healthy weight loss and maintaining the pounds dropped. How many of you considered spirituality/religion to be a component to social support? In Ruby’s case, she turns to her church family and God to pray for her and help keep her strong and motivated to meet her weight loss goals.

Spirituality can be and is different for everyone. Whomever or whatever you believe in tends to give people a strong sense of being and helps with having a healthy lifestyle. When enduring a diet and focusing on having a healthy lifestyle, you can think if this as a time of self-reinvention. A few ideas behind spirituality/religion and weight loss/being healthy are: (more…)

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Kinsey

Sugar as Addictive as Cocaine and Heroin?

A new study has shown a relation between sugar and addiction. This study, conducted at Princeton University, has found evidence of how sugar affects brain functions the same way as cocaine and heroin do. Bart Hoebel, Princeton psychology professor, conducted this research by examining how sugar effects the brains of rats. The researchers were able to find that a sugar binge alters brain function and fuels the desire for more sweets. These alterations closely resemble the functions of a brain addicted to cocaine or heroin. When sugar was denied, the same withdrawal psychological and physical symptoms were seen in the sugar deprived rats just like the cocaine and heroin deprived rats. (more…)

Posted on December 16, 2024 by Kinsey

Don’t Fall Victim to a Fad Diet – Know What to Look For

It’s getting to be that time of the year… diet season. Right now decorations are going up and people are getting festive by baking and sharing holiday treats for all to enjoy. Right now you aren’t even thinking about being healthy or following your weight loss plan, instead you’re enjoying the plethora snacks.

The truth is, it could save you a few extra pounds to lose with your New Year’s resolution by not overdoing it right now and staying focused. Honestly, this is a rarity and too many of us fall into temptation. So, I want to help you remember a few things when trying to lose weight. My biggest advice would be to avoid fad diets. How do you know if you are falling into a fad diet? (more…)

Posted on December 15, 2024 by Kinsey

Ruby Converts Fear Into Motivation

Ruby was faced with an almost life and death situation that really made her think about her current weight issues. Ruby has been holding back with her trainer at the gym because she had been too scared to push herself during her workouts out of fear of hurting herself. One day, a terrible storm hits her area and house goes under a tornado warning. During this time Ruby puts her younger friends in the bathtub because that’s the safest place for anyone to be during a tornado, but due to Ruby’s large size she is forced to ride the storm out without any extra protection because she was forced to stay in her hallway. (more…)

Posted on December 11, 2024 by Kinsey

Major Food Brands Adopt New Smart Choices Logo

Some of the nation’s largest food and beverage companies are implementing a common nutritional standard and using a universal logo on packaging to denote healthier foods in our grocery aisles, which they are hoping will help consumers identify and purchase healthier foods. This logo and packaging are part of the Smart Choices Program, which is expected to hit our grocery stores the middle of next year.

This logo will appear on the front of the products’ packaging and will include the Smart Choices logo, a check mark, the calories per serving and number of servings in the package. The Smart Choices Program logo signifies foods that limit unhealthy ingredients and feature healthy ones.

(more…)

Posted on December 10, 2024 by Kinsey

America’s Healthiest and Unhealthiest States

This Wednesday the United Health Foundation, together with the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Partnership for Prevention, released the 15th annual report ranking our states’ health. The number one healthiest state this year goes to Vermont, followed by Hawaii, then New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Utah completes the top five. Filling in the bottom five spots are, sadly, my state of Florida at #45, followed by Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, and finally Louisiana as #50, meaning the least healthiest state.

This year’s report reveals a 17.5 percent improvement in America’s overall health during the past 15 years. However, the rate of improvement, unfortunately, is slowing significantly due to a combination of personal, community and public health issues. (more…)

Posted on December 5, 2024 by Kinsey

Join Ruby in the Hourglass Weight Loss and Fitness program

While getting educated in nutrition, learning how to eat and cook healthy, and learning portion control, Ruby’s diet consists of three meals and two snack daily provided by Hourglass Weight Loss and Fitness program (I’m going to call it HWLF for short).

This program is only available in Georgia, with two locations in Savannah and one in Pooler. HWLF provides a great approach to weight loss, offering fully prepared, never-frozen, preservative-free, calorie-conscious meals (the website claims to feed you for $7/day). The meals from this program are in line with the guidelines of the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, and the American Cancer Society to improve your health and help you lose weight. (more…)

Posted on December 3, 2024 by Kinsey

The Truth About Denise Austin’s Idaho Potatoes

Well-known fitness expert Denise Austin is the new spokesman (or should I say woman) for Idaho Potatoes. Here’s one of her new commercials (see the other Denise Austin Idaho Potato commercial here).

Let’s discuss. First off, she does a great job of noting that things should be consumed in moderation. This I 100 percent agree with and have mentioned numerous times. Moderation is key. You can eat just about anything as long as you practice moderation (both serving size and how frequently you consume an item). After that, she mentions that diet and exercise are essential for healthy living, another point I totally agree with. Then she gets into her potato sales pitch, mentioning potatoes have only “110 calories and zero fat and cholesterol”.

Let’s break this info down. (more…)

Posted on December 1, 2024 by Kinsey

Ruby Battles with Temptation

On this week’s episode, Ruby faces several dieting bumps in the road. Ruby is battling with resisting temptation and sticking to her pre-packaged meal plans. Sticking to the diet and avoiding temptation are two huge factors for slipping up and causing you to cheat. Ruby avoids her temptation by staying headstrong and determined along with the help of her support system, her friends. Ruby did slip a little and veered off her diet by ordering a smoothie with her friends. Although she slipped, she did do a couple of good things, 1) she only drank half of her smoothie instead of finishing all of it and 2) she went to her team of experts and asked for their help so she wouldn’t slip again.

The only thing that bothers me about the show is their constant wording of “diet”. Everyone, including Ruby, continuously repeats that Ruby is “on a diet”. Personally, I think if they shifted their wording to say she is changing and improving her lifestyle everyone would be better off. (more…)

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Kinsey

Alton Brown Promotes Polyphenols for Your Health

A new ad featuring Alton Brown promotes Welch’s concord grape juice as a way to help boost your health and immune system due to its polyphenol content.

What are polyphenols?

  • Polyphenols are a type of antioxidant
  • Found mainly in fruits, but also in some vegetables, chocolate, tea, and coffee
  • There are at least 5,000 individual polyphenols reported in scientific literature
  • All polyphenols have an antioxidant effect, but the magnitude of the the effect can vary quite a bit (meaning some are more potent/helpful for your health then others) (more…)
Posted on November 24, 2024 by Kinsey

What You Need to Know About Protein

We often hear protein is an important part of a healthy diet. Here I explain what it is, how much you need and the right way to make it a part of your healthy lifestyle.

What is Protein?

  • Found in muscle, bone, skin, hair, pretty much every other body part or tissue
  • Makes up enzymes that are part of numerous chemical reactions in the body
  • As hemoglobin, it carries oxygen in your blood
  • Proteins are built of many amino acids; in which the amino acids come together, form a protein, and take on one its numerous roles in the body. Unlike fats and carbs, the body doesn’t store amino acids, so a daily supply is needed to make new protein.

How Much Do I Need? (more…)

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Kinsey