3 Top Steps to Promote Heart Health for a Longer ... · 3 Top Steps to Promote Heart Health for a Longer, Healthier Life Call Transcript Liz: Okay, we have the conference being recorded,

Lisa Nelson RD PO Box 534, Custer, SD 57730 Phone: 406-600-7783 Web: www.lisanelsonrd.com, Email: [email protected] © 2007-2015 Lisa Nelson RD and HeartHealthMadeEasy.comTM, All Rights Reserved

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3 Top Steps to Promote Heart Health for a Longer, Healthier Life

Call Transcript

Liz: Okay, we have the conference being recorded, so I’ll say welcome

everybody to the Happy, Healthy, and Wealthy Telesummit. This is Liz

Copeland your host for this week. A little bit of housekeeping – we’re going

to be going over to lecture mode in a little bit and we won’t be able to hear

you, only Lisa and me. So, Lisa can you hear me.

Lisa: Yes, I can hear you.

Liz: So, welcome everybody. Tonight we have Lisa Nelson with us. Lisa

Nelson is a registered dietitian and licensed nutritionist with over 10 years

experience specializing in heart health and weight loss. She's currently the

lead expert for The Health Central site, one of the top two online consumer

health programs. She’s also collaborated with anti-aging expert (and an

Oprah guest!) Dr. Cynthia Shelby-Lane. Lisa currently provides heart health

and weight loss education to over 1500 individuals via online forums,

educational programs, group coaching, and individual coaching.

Lisa is the founder and owner of the private practice eNutritionServices,

which offers support, education, and guidance so clients achieve their heart

health and weight loss goals. She provides an easy to understand, practical

approach that allows clients to make the necessary changes for results.

So, welcome Lisa it’s lovely to have you hear tonight.

Lisa: Thank you, I’m happy to be here and help kick off this telesummit

series.

http://www.lisanelsonrd.com/

mailto:[email protected]


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Liz: So tell me a bit more about what you do?

Lisa: I work with both men and women struggling to lower cholesterol,

lower blood pressure, and lose weight. Most of my clients are committed to

making lifestyle changes, but are confused by all the information and they’d

prefer not to take medications. I help by giving clear steps to achieve lower

blood pressure and cholesterol levels and weight loss to promote heart

health, for a healthier, longer life that’s not dependent on medication.

Liz: Fantastic and are you dealing with clients face to face or through your

ecourses or. . How do you do that?

Lisa: I do both, I work with some clients face to face, but the majority of

my clients are through online forums and coaching programs.

Liz: And so when clients come to see what are the biggest challenges they

face?

Lisa: Most of my clients struggle with the typical concerns anyone faces

when they try to make diet and lifestyle changes.

I’m going to answer your question in a round a bout way. There are 5

stages of change. The first is pre-contemplation, the people at this stage of

change don’t even realize there’s a problem. They’re not aware that high

blood pressure increases their risk of having a heart attack. The second

stage is contemplation, these people recognize they have a problem and

they’re considering making a change. This stage is usually where there’s a

lot of confusion. They no they need to make changes, but they don’t know

what they need to do. The third stage is preparation. These individuals are

preparing to take action, whether there’s educating themselves or buying

the necessary equipment, such as walking shoes for the new fitness routine.

The fourth stage is action, pretty self explanatory, and the fifth stage is

maintenance.




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The people I work with are in the second and third group –

contemplation and preparation. They know they need to make changes, but

they have no idea what steps to take or they’re feeling overwhelmed by all

the options.

Is it all right if I share a few stories about a couple clients?

Liz: Yes, that would be great.

Lisa: Let me share a couple stories about a few of my clients.

Late last year I had a client learn he had high blood pressure and high

cholesterol level with a low HDL. Let me give a quick aside here for those

not familiar with cholesterol levels. There are two types of cholesterol – LDL

and HDL. LDL is generally considered to be the bad cholesterol and HDL the

good cholesterol. So, the higher your HDL the better. This particular client

had a high total cholesterol and low HDL. He was only in his late 30’s and

very concerned about reversing the damage that might’ve been done, but he

didn’t know where to start or what to do. So, we worked together and he

was very proactive and made the necessary diet changes, he increased his

activity, and lost between 10-15. After just 2 months, he more than

doubled his HDL cholesterol levels and his total cholesterol was back within a

healthy range. He still has some work to do, but is definitely on the right

path and has decreased his heart disease risk.

Now, another client she had to deal with lowering cholesterol and she

wanted to lose weight. She wasn’t obese, but her weight had increased into

the overweight category and she wasn’t happy with how she looked or her

lack of energy. We worked together through an online 8 week coaching

program I offer. We went through setting realistic goals, buying the right

foods, balancing her meals, increasing activity, boosting her metabolism,

and several other steps. One of her real struggles was juggling her full time

teaching job, plus a part-time position, along with having her boyfriend

move in with her. The boyfriend was probably the biggest struggle because

he had a habit of snacking late at night that was causing her to have




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problems sticking with her plan of action. Over the 8 weeks we

worked through her issues and by the end she felt making healthy choices

had become second nature and not something she had to constantly be

thinking about. This is the goal I have for everyone I work with. It’s not

realistic to live on a diet all your life. You want healthy choices to be a habit

you don’t have to think about.

Liz: And it sounds as if the way you’re coaching your clients and after

they’ve been through a coaching program with you they actually don’t need

to be on a diet for the rest of their life because they have healthy eating

sorted out.

Lisa: Exactly, my goal is not to put someone on a diet. It’s about looking

about what they’re eating and making small changes so they don’t have to

think about counting calories or being on a diet.

Liz: Yep, yep and what you mentioned early on – somebody doubling their

HDL in 2 months – I mean that’s fantastic. He must have reduced his heart

disease risk a lot.

Lisa: Absolutely. He did a fantastic job. What’s important there is he was

very proactive. He didn’t just talk about making the changes he actually did

it. So that’s the key you have to actually take the steps.

Liz: And so, what proportion of your clients come to you with purely the

intent of reducing their heart disease risk? What’s sort of the balance of

those who are overweight and those who are not?

Lisa: Most of my clients it goes hand-in-hand. Weight places such a role in

heart disease that I’d say most of my clients, say 90%, that comes to me to

improve heart health, but also to lose weight because by losing the weight

they also reduce their risk. So the majority.

Liz: And would you say that ummm, would it matter to you at what stage

they come to you? You know whether they are just a bit overweight or




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morbidly overweight, would it matter to you? What would you

recommend to people.

Lisa: To me, know it doesn’t matter to mean as far as what stage they

come to me. As far as what stage it would just impact the length of time

we’d need to work together before they start getting the results they want.

But I work with individuals at all different areas. Some, like a small percent

are within a normal weight category, but some are obese – so a wide range.

Liz: And do you feel people are taking on exercise as well when they start

on your program?

Lisa: Absolutely! Exercise is a critical part and I’m actually going to talk

about that a little today, but if you want to lose weight you have to include

exercise. Not only for your weight, but also for the strength of your heart.

Liz: So, it sounds like the results that people are getting from you - They

are reducing their heart disease risk, they are losing weight, and they are

getting more energy.

Lisa: Yes, absolutely – yes.

Liz: So, anymore examples you want to give to us?

Lisa: That is all the examples have to give you today.

Liz: So, how did you come to do this work?

Lisa: I’ve actually always been interested in health. I have a strong family

history of heart disease that lead to my pursing a degree in nutrition

followed by specializing in heart health and weight loss. My grandmother

passed away from a heart attack at the age of 69, I have a grandfather I

never met due to a heart attack the year before I was born, and just a year

and a half ago I lost my other grandfather when he didn’t recover from




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quadruple by-pass surgery. I myself have a cholesterol level that

hovers around 200, which makes me that much more interested in

prevention.

Liz, if you’re ready I’d love to dive into some steps listeners can take to be

proactive about their health.

Liz: Yes.

Lisa: I want to cover three top steps you must take to be heart healthy: 1.

Take Responsibility for Your Health, 2. Educate Yourself, 3. Take Action.

When we get to step 3, I’m going to give you some specific steps you can

take today to start promoting heart health.

So, take responsibility. You are the one most affected by your health and

it’s your responsibility to take care of yourself. It really irritates me when I

go to the doctor’s office and have lab work done or my blood pressure taken

and the only thing I’m told by my physician or nurse is that “everything

looks good”. Now, how do I know their definition of good is the same as

mine? I want to know my numbers, so I know what’s going on. I encourage

you to be involved in your health and don’t think “what I don’t know can’t

hurt me”. Become proactive and learn your numbers. Now, if some of you

are thinking, you don’t have a clue what the numbers mean, then that

brings us to step number two.

Step number two – education yourself. If you do not understand what your

body mass index means or how good or bad a blood pressure of 130/80 is

it’s time to start educating yourself. Now, I don’t mean you need to become

an expert, but you need to arm yourself with the basics. If you do not

understand you will not be able to make informed treatment decision and

you’ll be dependent on your doctor to decide what’s best for you. I’m not

implying you shouldn’t listen to your doctor, but there is frequently more

than one treatment option and if you do not understand your situation, you

won’t be able to determine what the best route is for you and you won’t be

involved in making the treatment decision. You have to let someone else




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make that decision. So, ask questions. Doctors and health

professionals are there to help you and answer your questions until you fully

understand your situation.

The third and most important step is to take action. You can master steps

one and two, but if you don’t take action they do you no good. So, let’s

discuss four areas you can begin to make changes to promote heart health

now.

I’m going to give you tips on healthy fats, the right type of dietary fiber,

physical activity, and weight loss.

Okay, so take action tip 1 – Balance Your Fats. You need to examine the

fats in the foods you eat and make adjustments to increase the heart

healthy fats and decrease the harmful fats. To be heart healthy, you need

to decrease your saturated fat and trans fat intake. Replacing saturated and

trans fats with unsaturated fats, especially omega 3 fatty acids, to raise HDL

(good) cholesterol and lower total cholesterol. Your total fat intake should be

~30% daily calories. This means if you eat 1800 calories a day, 540 of

those calories should come from healthy fat sources. You don’t want to cut

fat intake too low. This will not only restrict the unhealthy fats, but you’ll

also limit the healthy fats that promote a strong heart.

Some sources of saturated fats that you want to limit include high fat milk,

cheese, ice cream, butter, lard, and coconut oil. Animal meat also contains

saturated fat, which is why it’s important to select lean cuts of meat. Loins

and rounds tend to be the leaner cuts. This would include sirloins,

tenderloins, and cuts of meat like eye.

You also want to strictly limit trans fatty acids in your diet. Sources of trans

fatty acids include chips, cookies, crackers, shortening, French fries, fried

chicken, doughnuts, and some margarine. Most food manufacturers are now

required to list the trans fatty acid content of a product on the food label. If

you read food labels as you shop you’ll be able to avoid many foods that

contain trans fats.




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And Liz, I don’t know, here in the US as of January 2006 food manufacturers

must list trans fatty acids on the label. Do you know in the UK is that the

case for you?

Liz: They are listed on some foods, but not all of them. In fact some don’t

even distinguish clearly between saturated and unsaturated fats.

Lisa: Okay, I want of to talk for a minute about butter versus margarine.

This seems to be an area of confusion for many people. Some swear by

butter only and others opt for margarine.

First of all, both are fats. Therefore, the number of calories in 1 tsp of

butter is equal to the number of calories in 1 tsp of margarine. The

difference is the type of fat they each contain. Butter consists of saturated

fat. Saturated fat is found mainly in animal sources. I’ll run through a few

saturated fat sources again, which include meat, milk, cheese, ice cream,

shortening, lard, coconut oil, and palm oil. The more saturated fat a product

contains the more solid it will be at room temperature. For example, a stick

of butter has more saturated fat than tub butter. Saturated fat leads to

increased cholesterol levels.

Margarine is made of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Vegetable oils

are unsaturated. Unsaturated fats are better for our health than saturated.

The key words to make note of are “partially hydrogenated”. To make oils

solid, hydrogen is added resulting in a trans fatty acid byproduct. These

trans fatty acids have given margarine a bad rap, because they are just as

bad for our hearts as saturated fat. So what is the solution? Read labels

when you are shopping. Like I mentioned already, most food manufacturers

list the content of trans fats on the food label. Therefore, check the

margarine food label to make sure trans fats equal zero. Some products

have also added a label that states “no trans fat” or “trans fat free”.

Regardless of which you choose, margarine or butter, you still need to limit

the amount you add to foods. One tablespoon of margarine or butter equals

approximately 100 calories. The bottom line is margarine is the better




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choice over butter for your heart health. Select margarines that

have zero trans fats. Even better, opt for a “light” margarine with “no trans

fats”.

Now, you want to replace the above fat sources with healthy unsaturated

fats, such as olive oil, canola oil, avocados, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, and

fish. Omega 3 fatty acids are especially heart healthy. They’re involved in

the regulation of heart rate, blood pressure, and blood clotting. The best

source of omega 3’s is fish.

I have a real passion for educating people on the benefits of omega 3 fatty

acids and why you should get more in your diet. What omega 3’s can do for

your health is amazing and results can be seen within just 3 days.

I’m going to share a little bit about how heart disease and blocked arteries

develop, so you can understand how beneficial omega 3 fatty acids are.

Let’s say you eat a food high in fat and cholesterol, such as a juicy steak.

The fat and cholesterol enter your digestive system and are picked up by the

liver. The liver takes the fat and cholesterol and puts them into packages

that it sends out into the blood stream. These packages are called

lipoproteins. Now, you don’t need to remember that term, but LDL and HDL

are lipoproteins. So, they’re the packages the livers put together. As LDL

moves throughout your system it drops cholesterol along your artery walls.

The cholesterol gradually builds up and narrows the artery. There many

additional steps that take place here, but for simplicities sake I’m not going

to go into to detail, but let’s leave it at an accumulation of cholesterol within

your arteries eventually results in plaque formation. Plaque is dangerous

because plaques can be unstable and if they rupture they spill harmful

substances into your blood stream. This rupture can lead to three events –

stroke, heart attack, or arrhythmic death (racing heart or heart stops due to

electrical instability).

If you begin eating a diet rich in omega 3 fatty acids, within three short days

the omega 3’s can penetrate the plaque, decreasing the rate of plaque build-

up and reducing the risk of plaque rupture. The omega 3’s also decrease the




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damage to your artery wall and your risk of sudden death from

heart attack, stroke, or arrhythmia. The omega 3 fatty acids also help blood

vessels relax to achieve reduced blood pressure, decrease stress placed on

artery walls and reduce blood thickening, which decreases your risk of blood

clots.

Liz: Can I just stop you there Lisa. So, I want to emphasize that point.

What you’re saying is when you have the omega 3 fats inside your system

it’s actually reversing some of the damage done inside your artery walls.

Lisa: Yes.

Liz: It’s actually removing the cholesterol.

Lisa: Yes, omega 3’s are actually one way you can reverse the effects of

heart disease.

Liz: How much omega 3 would you need to eat to do that?

Lisa: Well, it’s recommended that you eat a wide variety of fish at least 3

times a week and supplement omega 3’s daily too, which I’m going to get

into in just a little bit. But a gram a day of EPA and DHA (they are specific

types of fish oil and omega 3 fatty acids that you need) and I’ll explain that

in just a minute.

Liz: Great, thank you.

Lisa: Let me go through all the benefits you will have from eating more

omega 3’s:

Decreases lipoprotein A and triglycerides (blood fat)

Reduces blood pressure

Increases HDL (good) cholesterol

Reduces arterial wall inflammation

Improves endothelial function (inner layer of artery wall)




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Makes blood less likely to form clots (decreased fibrinogen)

Slows and may reverse plaque build-up (decreased atherosclerosis)

Prevents plaque rupture – Within three days, fish oil can penetrate

plaque build-up in your arteries and make it less susceptible to rupture.

Improves heart rhythm (decreases arrhythmia)

To sum up the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids: By reducing inflammation,

relaxing blood vessels, and decreasing the clot factor, omega 3 fatty acids

decrease your risk of heart disease. I believe this is so important that I

want you to go away from this call with concrete steps you can take to boost

omega 3 intake. So, let’s talk about the different types of omega 3 fatty

acids.

There are several different types of omega 3 fatty acids. I want to touch on

three of them:

ALA – alpha linolenic acid

EPA – eicosapentaenoic acid

DHA – docosohexanenoic acid

Now, all you need to remember are the acronyms, ALA, EPA, and DHA. All

three promote heart health, but studies find DHA to be the most effective,

with EPA second, and ALA third in regards to effectiveness. The body can

convert ALA to EPA and EPA to DHA, but the conversion process is not

efficient. It’s best to include food sources rich in EPA and DHA as part of

your daily diet.

Fish is a source of omega 3 fatty acids rich in DHA. You want to select types

of fish rich in omega 3’s, such as anchovies, Atlantic sturgeon, herring,

mackerel, salmon, sardines, rainbow/lake trout, and albacore tuna.

Flaxseed is another good source of omega 3 fatty acids, specifically ALA.

You can buy flaxseed two different ways - whole seed or ground. In order

for the body to utilize the omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseed must be ground. If

the flaxseed is not ground it passes straight through the body without being

absorbed. Flaxseed is high in fiber, so by ingesting whole flaxseed you have




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increased your fiber intake, which is beneficial, but if you grind

your flaxseed you will have the added benefit of increasing your omega-3

fatty acid intake to promote heart health.

Here are some omega 3 sources.

Nuts and Seeds including walnuts, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, sesame

seeds, butternuts, and pecans.

Vegetables such as legumes – pinto, navy, or lima beans; peas or split peas;

green soybeans and green leafy vegetables like broccoli, avocados, spinach,

lettuce, greens, kale, mustard greens, and collards.

Citrus fruit contains some omega 3’s as well as omega 3 enriched eggs.

Oils that contain omega 3 fatty acids include canola oil, soybean oil, and

flaxseed oil.

But let’s say you don’t you’re going to get enough omega 3 fatty acids from

your diet, you can select supplement. With fish oil supplements start with

the smallest bottle you can find and make sure you do not have the

unpleasant side effect, such as burping a fishy aftertaste. Not everyone has

this problem, so you may be fine. To decrease likelihood of this problem I

recommend taking the supplement and then eating, so food “sits on top” of

the fish oil. Fish oil has a tendency to go rancid, so keep supplement

refrigerated, especially if you buy a bottle of 250 or more.

Flaxseed oil supplements are another option, just remember flaxseed

contains the omega 3 fatty acid ALA. Now, ALA is not as effective as DHA

and EPA, but still promotes heart health. Again, they may go rancid so

refrigerate.

This is under debate and more research is being done on how many omega

3 fatty acids you should include in your diet each day. Right now the range




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experts recommend is from 500-2000 mg/day. Here are the

current American Heart Association (AHA) recommendations.

The AHA recommends that individuals without heart disease eat a

variety of fish twice a week, use heart healthy oils (flaxseed, canola,

soybean oils), and consume flaxseed and walnuts.

For individuals with heart disease, the AHA recommends 1 g of EPA +

DHA daily, preferably from fatty fish.

Now, higher doses of 2-4 grams may be warranted if you are

struggling with high triglycerides. However, don’t supplement over 3

grams without consulting your physician. There are mixed reviews,

but high doses of omega 3’s may lead to excessive bleeding.

My general recommendation is to supplement 1 gram of fish oil daily and out

of this 1 gram 850 mg need to be from DHA and EPA.

Let’s move into the second take action tip which is to increase dietary fiber.

Fiber not only promotes heart health by lowering cholesterol and blood

pressure, but it also promotes weight loss. When you eat fiber it swells

making you feel full longer and decreasing your urge to snack or overeat.

There are two types of fiber – insoluble and soluble. Soluble fiber is linked

with lower cholesterol levels. For every 2 grams of soluble fiber you eat, you

can lower cholesterol levels by up to 10%. Sources of soluble fiber include

oatmeal, legumes, nuts, rye, flaxseed, fruits and vegetables. You should eat

25-35 grams of fiber everyday and out of this, 15 grams should be soluble

fiber. To get 15 grams of soluble fiber, you could eat oatmeal for breakfast,

include fruits and vegetables with eat meal and snack, increase your meals

that contain legumes, like kidney beans and pinto beans.

If you do not currently eat very much fiber, you want to increase your intake

slowly. If you jump from 10 grams of fiber per day up to 35 grams, you’ll

experience some unpleasant digestive side effects. Gradually increase your

intake by adding a few extra grams of dietary fiber each day.




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Take action tip 3 is to be active. You can not expect to spend

most of your time sitting on the couch or desk and promote heart health or

weight loss. You have to get up and get moving. You’ll see health benefits

from as little as 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity each week. This

would equal a 30 minute brisk walk 5 days a week. If time’s a factor you

can see the same benefit from 75 minutes of vigorous activity. So, bump up

to a jog or run 15 minutes 5 days a week. If you want to take it to the next

level and maximize health benefits, shoot for 300 minutes or 5 hours of

activity each week.

Let me tell you about the talk test. If you work out regularly, but you’re not

seeing results it could be because your intensity level isn’t high enough. So,

the talk test is pretty basic, but it’ll give you an idea of where you are. So, if

you can talk when working out with no trouble, you need to pick up the

pace. If you can talk, but need to take a breath every 3-5 words, you’re

right on track. This is a good indication you’re within the fat burning zone.

If you’re gasping for breath after every word, you should slow down! So,

when you work out next, think of the talk test and see where your intensity

level falls.

Also, when it comes to activity, don’t automatically think of a treadmill or

gym membership. I have two girls and working out in a traditional gym

setting 5 times a week isn’t always realistic for me and I’m sure many of you

on this call don’t like the idea of working out at a gym. To be active

everyday all you need to do is think outside the box, such playing tag with

your kids, going to the park and walking laps while your kids play, and if you

don’t have kids things like going dancing or something fun like rollerblading

all count as activity, they get your heart pumping which is the goal. We

recently purchased the Wii Fit and Wii Outdoor Challenge, which works great

for us because we have limited space in our home, so we can pull out the

little mat right in our living room and get a decent workout everyday.

It’s very important you don’t forget strength training! You want to include all

major muscle groups on two or more days each week. This is especially




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important as we age and see a decline in metabolism (and

corresponding weight gain) if muscle mass is not maintained.

Now the last take action tip I want to give you is related to weight loss.

Losing weight isn’t easy, but it is possible to successfully lose weight and

keep it off. Losing as little as 5-10 pounds can have a positive impact on

your risk for heart disease. Being overweight increases the hearts workload

and tends to raise blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

There are 3,500 calories in a pound. To lose a pound you need to either

restrict your intake by 3500 calories or workout to burn 3500 extra

calories. The best and most realistic way to lose 1 pound per week is to plan

a 500 calorie deficit each day, which totals 3500 calories for the week.

You can divide this 500 calorie deficit between food and activity. Look at the

foods you eat each day and determine where you can cut 250 calories (skip

the bottle of regular soda or cutting back on your serving of pasta with

dinner) and then determine where you can bump up your activity to burn an

extra 250 calories, such as adding a 30 minute brisk walk.

I know so many people want to lose weight quick. I answer questions all the

time, like “Can I lose 20 pounds in a week?”. Well, it’d be very difficult and

if you were successful it probably wasn’t by taking healthy steps.

Liz: You could lose 20 pounds by chopping an arm of but. . .

Lisa: Exactly, liposuction is what I think of. If you want to lose weight and

keep it off you should shoot for losing 1-2 pounds each week. Gradual

weight loss ensures you’re holding on to your muscle mass and burning fat

which you’ll be more likely to lose the weight and keep it off. To successfully

lose weight you must maximize your metabolic rate ( and that’s the rate of

calories your burn doing typical everyday activities) and you need to follow a

healthy diet, increased muscle mass, and a balanced lifestyle, while creating

a calorie deficit to burn fat stores and lose weight.




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Liz, how are we doing on time.

Liz: Oh, we’re doing great on time. Could I ask you some questions?

Lisa: Yes, go right ahead.

Liz: I mean, what you said about calories about reducing calories by 250

per day and increasing activity level I think that’s excellent advice. One thing

I would say is that some people can easily drop 250 calories just by

dropping the alcohol.

Lisa: Oh, absolutely.

Liz: You know half a bottle of wine with an evening meal that’s 250

calories. So that’s an easy way to do it. And then in terms of taking action

and getting exercise, obviously the exercise recommendations that you’ve

given will work, but what if you’ve got somebody who’s very, very

overweight and they have to start on an exercise program. What would you

recommend that they started with?

Lisa: Well the first thing if you are very overweight and you’re not active

you need to check with your doctor first to make sure you are even able to

start an exercise program, but the first step is just to start slow. If you are

inactive it’s not realistic to think you can go out and run a mile or workout

for 30 minutes. You need to take it in steps, you know, work with 5 minutes

on the treadmill and gradually after a few days move yourself up to 10

minutes.

Liz: Yep.

Lisa: You need to take it really slow, don’t expect to suddenly expect to be

at that 150 minutes a week right away.

Liz: And also, you can fit exercise into your day when you’re not thinking

about it like pace around my kitchen when I’m waiting for the kettle to boil.




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And if I’m having a lazy day I’ll pace around very energetically

which is better than just standing there watching the kettle. So you can do

all sorts of things in your daily activity to up the exercise level.

Lisa: And little things, like at work take the stairs instead of the elevator if

that’s an option or even parking your car further from the door is a way to

add extra steps in your day. So little things, even shopping like when you

go to the grocery store park further away so you get extra steps.

Liz: And then going back to what you were saying about fiber. You said

that we should have 25 to 35 grams of fiber a day, I read a report recently

that said in the standard British diet we have about 10 grams of fiber a day

so we eating about half of what we need. And that’s because they’re not

eating the fruits and vegetables. I think as you say if you have too much

fiber all at once after a low fiber diet you’ll get digestive disturbances, so it’s

best to increase it gradually.

Lisa: Right, so the study you read showed you the average intake as 10

grams.

Liz: Yes and the documents are recommending that you have 25-35 grams

a day. So you know, more than doubling the intake for most people.

Lisa: Yes, so take it slow if you’re not eating a lot of fiber, that’s for sure.

It could be bloating, sometimes people get diarrhea, just unpleasant, so

increase your intake slowly and add those fruits and veggies in and whole

grain pastas. Sometimes people don’t think of that. If you eat pastas or

your breads be sure to get the whole grain options.

Liz: Yes, so if you’re having spaghetti or whatever you can have the whole

grain version. I think as well people get intimidated by the thought of eating

a whole plate of veggies and I always advise people to start of slowly. I’ll

say well can you eat half a carrot a day, you know they’ll start of with that

and then gradually increase their intake as time goes on.




18

Lisa: And it doesn’t have to be a dramatic switch you can

gradually make your meat and pasta servings smaller and start filling up on

the veggies a little more.

Liz: That’s right. Going back to what you said about the healthy fats and

the flaxseed and the walnuts and so on. Obviously they are quite high

calorie foods, so if someone were having nuts or flaxseed in their diet what

sort of quantity would you recommend per day?

Lisa: Well with flaxseed it could just be a tablespoon or two added to

yogurt or on top of cereal, which would be an easy way to add flaxseed.

With nuts it needs to be small amounts due to the high calorie reason, like

an 1/8 of a cup or a small handful as a snack. Nuts make a good snack and

I didn’t touch on this, but when you have snacks you want to have a balance

of your protein versus carbohydrates so you prevent blood sugar spikes. So,

nuts are a great snack because high fat, high protein prevents blood sugar

spikes so your energy level stays higher. So, a handful of nuts is a great

snack.

Liz: But one thing you don’t do with the nuts is put the whole jar in front of

you and allow yourself to snack away.

Lisa: Right. Portion is out and put the jar away first.

Liz: Yes, exactly. Measure them out and then put the jar away and that’s

what you need to do. Okay, so that’s fantastic.

Lisa: I put together seven tips on how to prevent stress related weight

gain. Would you like me to run through those real quick or are we needing

to wrap up?

Liz: I would love that, that would be fantastic. Yes, please.

Lisa: Okay, so if you’re trying to lose weight, being under stress is going to

make the weight loss more difficult and this has to do with a hormone called




19

cortisol, which is spelled c-o-r-t-i-s-o-l. When you are living with

chronic long term stress, the production of this hormone increases and

causes the breakdown of muscle and promotes fat storage. I’m going to

give you 7 steps you can take to counteract the affects of stress and

promote decreased levels of this cortisol hormone.

Step #1 is push-ups. Push-ups are an effective, instant stress reliever that

tricks the body into thinking you’re escaping stress. Push-ups cause your

blood to circulate quickly, transporting cortisol to your kidneys and removing

it from your system.

Step #2 is to eat slowly. Stress typically leads to consuming meals very

quickly, which equals bigger portions to fill full, and adds to your belly fat.

Being mindful and eating slowly, savoring every flavor/texture, may actually

lower cortisol, decrease your calorie intake, and move fat away from the

abdominal area.

Step #3, you need to avoid strict calorie restricted diets. If you’re always

“on a diet”, cortisol levels may rise as much as 18 percent. The rise in

cortisol causes a blood sugar spike followed by a drop. This roll coaster ride

makes your brain feel deprived of sugar, because sugar is it’s main source

for energy and your ability to stick with a strict diet plan falters.

And step number 4 do not fight cravings. If you need something sweet it’s

okay to satisfy your sweet tooth just do so in moderation. It’ll cut off your

cortisol response before things get out of control.

Number fiber, limit caffeine. The combination of caffeine and stress raises

cortisol levels.

Step number 6 – don’t skip breakfast. Being deficient in certain vitamins,

such as B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium, and magnesium cause your body

stress and boosts cortisol levels, along with food cravings. Breakfast is a

great quick and easy way to add these nutrients to your diet everyday. If

you have some yogurt with fresh strawberries provides vitamin C, calcium,




20

and magnesium. Add whole grain toast with peanut butter and

you’ve boosted your B vitamin intake. As an additional bonus the healthy

fatty acids in peanut butter slow the production of stress hormones.

And the last step, step number seven, get enough sleep. Adequate sleep is

the most effective way to cut stress. If you get an average of 6 ½ hours of

sleep nightly or less cortisol levels may increase, appetite increases and you

typically gain weight. Ideally shoot for 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

So, those are the seven tips. Any questions Liz?

Liz: I think that is all fantastic, Lisa. That’s amazing, so that’s an extra

added bonus we weren’t expecting on this call. Thank you so much and that

interaction between overeating, drinking too much coffee, and being

stressed and not getting the exercise that’s what leads to that abdominal fat

which is really difficult to shed. They’re really good tips, thank you.

So, Lisa you’ve given us excellent information, so what’s the best way for

people to find out more about what you do?

Lisa: I’d like to invite everyone on this call First, I’d like everyone on this

call to go to www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com and signup for The Heart of

Health ezine where I share heart health and weight loss tips. When you

sign-up you’ll also receive the free report How to Make Heart Healthy

Changes into Lifelong Habits. This report is great if you know what you need

to do, but you’re stuck and not taking action. Or if you’re someone that

starts a plan, but can never stick to it. I give you specific strategies and

steps you can take to follow through and make new behaviours into habits.

Liz: Fantastic, thank you very much. Well, that’s a huge amount of

information. Can we open up the lines just to see if anyone has any

questions?

Lisa: Sure.



http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com/


21

Liz: Let’s see if I can open up the lines, just bear with me on this

one. Okay, so the line should be open now. Does anybody have any

questions for Lisa?

Cindy: Lisa, this is Cindy from New Zealand. First thanks for so much great

information. I took pages of notes, that was fabulous. I did have a couple

questions, the first one was can you recommend, I know fish oils can be kind

of tricky. They do go rancid and they are kind of delicate and I’m wondering

if you have a favourite that you can recommend.

Lisa: I do not have one that I recommend. No, I just encourage you when

you shop, where ever it is, start looking at the labels and look at the DHA

and EPA because that’s going to vary between the fish oils. Try to get one

as close to the 850 mg as you can, which is hard. Some of the highest I

have found are in the upper 600’s, so just keep searching around until you

find one close to the 850 is the goal. There’s not going to be one brand

better than another as far as how well your body absorbs it.

Cindy: Oh great, great and one more quick question regarding coconuts. I

know you said that that was a solid fat that we should avoid, but there’s

been so much hype around coconut milk lately and how good it is for you.

Do you have any suggestions around that?

Lisa: You know, I haven’t researched coconut milk. Liz, have you?

Liz: Not as such, no.

Lisa: The coconut oil that is high in saturated fat, so I encourage you to

limit the amounts of that, but I haven’t looked into coconut milk to tell you if

it would be good or not.

Cindy: That’s okay. I think my intuition has been some of it is just like

dairy milk. There has been a higher fat content in some of the milk that has

a high or hard film on top of it for about maybe an inch or two and I think if




22

I just scoop that off and have what’s underneath it would

probably be better for my heart.

Lisa: Yes, I don’t know if in New Zealand, but if you have the option of 1%

or fat free milk are ideally the goals to get to. Try to avoid the 2% and

whole milk.

Cindy: Okay, New Zealand is a big dairy country so we have lots of milk.

Lots of fat over here.

Lisa: If it’s coming straight from the dairy, that’s probably the cream rising

to the top. So, yes if you scoop that off it’ll be better for you.

Cindy: Thanks Lisa.

Liz: Okay, anybody have any other questions for Lisa?

Well that’s absolutely fantastic Lisa. A huge amount of information and top

notch stuff. I have a degree in nutrition and biochemistry and I would back

up everything that Lisa has shared. She’s absolutely expert in her field. So,

if you have any heart health problems or no anybody in your family who has

concerns about heart disease I would heartily recommend that you use one

of Lisa’s programs. Because I think that was excellent information. And all

this about saturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids it is complex, but it is

important that people no it and understand it and no how to apply it in their

diet. And Lisa can help you with all of that. I will put the url’s in a follow up

email for all listening. So, I just want to wrap up by thanking all of you for

listening on this call. Do call in tomorrow night. We have Cindy, who’s

actually been on the call tonight talking to us. That’s the same time

tomorrow.

So, thank you Lisa and thank you for everybody who’s been on the call

tonight.




23

Lisa Nelson RD

Heart Health Nutrition Specialist

I am passionate about helping you lower cholesterol

and blood pressure so you can live the life you want and enjoy your family for years to come. My passion

for health comes from my own family history of heart disease, so I don’t dispense trendy treatments; I

‘practice what I teach’ in my own daily life. Because my own health is the foundation of my expertise, you can

trust that I will make it truly possible for you to see dramatic changes in your health, without crazy fads or

impossibly difficult techniques.

I am Lisa is the founder and owner of HeartHealthMadeEasy.com, which offers support,

education, and guidance as you achieve your heart health goals. Receive regular heart health and weight loss tips from dietitian Lisa Nelson when you

subscribe to The Heart of Health ezine and the free special report "How to

Make Heart Healthy Changes in to Lifelong Habits".

Working with Lisa is One of the Best Moves I Could Have Made! "I found Lisa's website on the internet and decided to take a gamble and

sign-up for a Mini Diet Makeover. The whole time my wife thought it was a bad idea and I knew she was just waiting to say "I told you so!", but I went

ahead and finalized the purchase - one of the best moves I could have made! Lisa has been a GODSEND.

I have to say that I am very impressed with Lisa. She is very knowledgeable

and a true professional. Lisa sincerely thinks that she can help me and I believe that also. With my willingness to change and her expertise I think I

can lose those thirty pounds and hopefully more before my next trip to the cardiologist office. I'm down 20 pounds and if I continue like this I will be

close to my thirty pound goal!" ~ David Craig, Retired, Madison, NC

Contact Lisa

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.lisanelsonrd.com




http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com/



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3 Top Steps to Promote Heart Health for a Longer ... · 3 Top Steps to Promote Heart Health for a Longer, Healthier Life Call Transcript Liz: Okay, we have the conference being recorded,