Category: Nutrition

Don’t be Fooled by Labels

I am pleased to announce that I have passed my exams and am now a certified fitness nutritionist specialist! I hope you don’t mind if I start posting more blogs on nutrition as well as exercise and yoga. Proper diet and exercise go together and it is not possible to be truly fit and healthy without a combination of both. That being said, there is a lot of information about food  that is not based on sound scientific principles and they are mostly shared with the intent to sell a particular supplement or diet. Some dietary information is shared because…

Dieting Too Much? You Could Be Hurting More Than Your Metabolism

If you’ve ever dieted properly through the education of a dietitian, a support group such as weight watchers or through an online app that calculates your calories for you such as myfitnesspal.com, you may already understand that there is a certain amount of calories you need to eat everyday in order to maintain your weight. There is also a certain amount of calories you need in order to fuel basic functions other than exercising such as digestion, hormonal activities, brain and neurological activity, blood circulation etc. For the average person, about 70% of the calories we burn goes to just…

A Breakdown of Popular Diets from a Registered Dietician’s Perspective

Sona Donayan MS, RD is a registered dietitian who has been teaching at Glendale Community College and Calstate Northridge for last ten years while doing  outpatient nutrition consulting. She recently joined the food service management company Sodexo as a patient services manager at Huntington Memorial Hospital. I interviewed her so that my followers can get expert advice on things to consider when starting a dieting plan. Sona’s knowledge is vital when considering what kind of diet program to use if you plan to lose weight, especially if you wish to make weight loss a permanent goal that doesn’t jeopardize your…

How Bloating can lead to a Large Belly, Part II of my series on what to do about belly bulge

The human gastrointestinal tract is over 30 feet long. When it is not functioning properly, along with your digestive organs, this can lead to swelling and bloating in the abdominal region. Swelling can be caused by overeating, stress, food sensitivities or allergies, poor nutrition, gastrointestinal disorders; or eating too much salt, sugar or msg. On overeating: When you gorge yourself with food, you are taking in more than your body has time to digest. This can throw your digestive system out of whack and lead to bloating. Remember to eat slowly, as it takes time for the body to realize…