Health Coach Q & A
Why is eating meat every day of the week not good?
That’s a great question! There are many drawbacks to eating meat like beef and pork on a daily basis. For example, fatty meats are high in calories, which can get in the way of weight control.
They’re also high in saturated fat, which raises blood cholesterol levels and increases heart disease risk.
Consuming high amounts of red meat is associated with higher rates of chronic conditions like heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes. In fact, red meat also has compounds that your body metabolizes into more harmful compounds called TMAO. Red meat is linked to risk for kidney stones and gout, too.
There are few more reasons to consider eating less meat if you’re consuming it regularly.
- Producing red meat is less environmentally friendly than producing poultry or plant-based foods. It takes a lot of land and water, and has a high carbon footprint.
- Eating more red meat may mean eating less of certain high-nutrient foods, like fish with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids or beans with fiber.
When you do choose red meat, consider leaner cuts and choose unprocessed meats instead of processed meats like hot dogs, sausage, and lunch meats. If you want to cut back, try swaps like lean ground turkey instead of ground beef, or chicken breast instead of ham or pastrami in sandwiches.
What do you do when you reach the 2 month goal? Just make another goal?
That’s a great question! At 2 months (or whenever you have set the deadline for your SMART goal), it can be a good idea to assess where you’re at. Did you achieve your goal? Has it become a habit that’s easy for you to fit into your daily (or weekly) routine?
It’s time to set a new goal based on how the 2 months went. If you achieve the first goal and it’s something that’s easy for you to maintain now because it’s part of your routine, you might consider setting a more challenging goal. For example, if your goal had been to walk for 10 minutes, three times a week, you might set a new goal to walk for 20 minutes, three times a week.
Or, you might turn to a new area of focus. For example, if you’re feeling good about your 10 minutes, 3 times weekly, you might next want to look at what you’re eating and aim to order a salad instead of French fries twice a week when you eat out.
If you didn’t quite hit your goals during those two months, it may be time to try to figure out why not. Were you too busy most days at the time you’d intended to walk? Did you forget to walk? Did you leave your walking shoes at home but you meant to walk from work? Try to assess what may have gone wrong, how you can change it, and how you might set a new goal that helps you achieve your objective. For example, your new goal might be, “For the next 4 weeks, I will walk in the mornings for 10 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays, and for 10 minutes on Wednesday before dinner.”
How do I motivate getting an exercise routine going?
It’s important to be motivated if you want to start an exercise program! It can help to identify your reasons for exercising - is it for mental health, for physical health, or for other reasons?
Here are some tips on getting motivated to exercise.
https://www.lark.com/resources/ten-ways-to-overcome-lack-of-motivation-to-exercise
In addition to thinking about motivation, it can help to identify barriers and ways to overcome them. In other words, why haven’t you started exercising?
- If you “hate exercise,” try various activities until you find something you like.
- If you don’t know what to do, try a group fitness class or workout videos.
- If you’re bored, try phoning a friend while you walk, walking with a friend, listening to music or podcasts, or watching a movie while on the treadmill or elliptical machine.
- If you dread feeling tired or out of breath, try a slower warm-up and tell yourself it’s okay to stop after your warmup if you want to.
Is pure sugar cane better than regular sugar?
Overall, sugar cane has similar effects as regular sugar. They both have 4 calories per gram, and they both have a high glycemic index; that is, they lead to spikes in your blood sugar levels. They are both sucrose, or a mixture of glucose and fructose.
Sugar cane is less processed than regular sugar. It retains some natural nutrients. However, the amounts are so small that they are unlikely to affect your nutritional status.
Whether you are opting for sugar cane or regular sugar, it’s best to have it in moderation for health and weight loss.
I need more ideas for breakfast. Once I eat a bad breakfast, it seems my day goes that way!
That’s an important observation. It’s so helpful to observe what works for you and what some triggers may be!
A healthy breakfast general has 3-4 of the following components.
- A source of lean protein like egg whites, lean ground turkey, or meatless breakfast sausage
- A low-fat dairy product like plain nonfat yogurt, skim milk, low-fat cottage cheese, or low-fat cheese.
- A small amount of healthy fat like ¼ medium avocado or 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter
- A serving of fresh or unsweetened frozen fruit
- A serving of vegetables
- A high-fiber starch like whole-grain cereal or oatmeal, whole-wheat toast, or baked sweet potato
Here are some basic ideas for breakfast.
https://www.lark.com/resources/12-heart-healthy-breakfast-ideas
https://www.lark.com/resources/best-breakfasts-for-weight-loss-and-health-d
Here are some recipes.
https://www.lark.com/category/breakfast
Are protein drinks good for you?
Protein is an essential nutrient. It’s important to get enough, which is about 0.8 grams of protein per day per kilogram of body weight. That’s 80 grams a day for someone who weighs 220 lb (100 kg).
Most people can get this amount from nutritious foods by eating a balanced diet. Include a high-protein food at most meals and snacks, and you are likely to achieve your protein requirements. Here’s a sample meal plan with 1,600 calories and 90-100 grams of protein per day.
If you can’t get enough protein in your diet from food and beverages like milk and soy milk, protein drinks are an option. Be sure to check the label for sugar content, and choose a low-sugar option. It’s also important to remember that drinking calories in a protein shake may not fill you up as much as eating calories in solid foods, so that can make weight loss more challenging.
How do you maintain your protein intake if you cut out meat and beans are not an option, (I don't like them very much.) I drink whey protein drinks but still can't get to 140g a day.
That’s a good question. Protein is important for weight management, maintaining lean muscle mass, and supporting immune function, among other things.
The adequate daily intake for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per day per kilogram of body weight. For someone who weighs 220 lb (100 kg), that’s 80 grams of protein per day. An active individual may need 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. If you weigh 100 kg (220 lb), that works out to 120 grams of protein per day.
Here are some sources of protein and approximate protein content per serving.
- Cottage cheese (14 grams per half-cup)
- Low-fat cheddar or other hard cheese (7 grams per ounce)
- Greek yogurt (18 grams per cup)
- Lentils (7 grams per half-cup cooked)
- Tuna, fresh fish (25 grams per 3-ounce serving)
- Peanuts, almonds, pistachios (6-7 grams per ounce)
- Eggs (7 grams each)
Vegetables and whole grains have smaller amounts of protein.
I need protein ideas for vegetarians.
If you consume dairy and eggs, you can try cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, plain nonfat yogurt and plain nonfat Greek yogurt, beans, lentils, and split peas. Other options include tofu, tempeh, and meatless products like veggie burgers, black bean burgers, meatless hot dogs, and meatless sausages.
Some sources of protein and their protein contents are listed above.
Should we be logging water intake with our meals? Can that be added so we can track more easily?
That’s a great question. Water consumption is so important for health and weight management. We do suggest that you log water (and any other beverages) when you log your food so that you can stay aware of what you’re drinking and how much you’re drinking.
I live far from a store... so I don't get fresh vegtables
I wish Lark would track my steps from my apple watch.
We believe this may help you get Lark to track your steps from your Apple Watch.
If not, please feel free to open a ticket with Lark Customer Support!
https://support.lark.com/hc/en-us/requests/new