Redesign your eating habits with a local health coach.
 Health counselor, author and health contributor on the NBC 10! show, Ali Shapiro, is hosting her five-week Truce with Food program starting March 6th. This popular program will provide a combination of weight-loss, nutrition and lifestyle coaching to help women decipher “emotion-eating” and reconfigure their diets. Participants will learn to develop a different relationship with food by learning body functions essential to weight loss, foods that work for and against one’s body, how to resist cravings and curb self-judgment. Shapiro draws lessons from her own 30-pound weight-loss success, three degrees, and five years of client success—and if the testimonials are any indication, it’s the real deal. Learn more and sign up here.
$299 tuition, Tuesdays, March 6, 13, 20, 27, and April 3 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The seminars are run over conference call, so you can dial in from home. Registrants receive call-in details ahead of the program.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
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Why? Because we really, really need to get over our salt addiction.
 Image from Photodisc Given all the extra salt Americans consume—on average, more than 1,100 milligrams above the recommended daily limit—it’s no wonder the DASH diet, which aims to lower high blood pressure, took the top spot overall in this year’s Best Diets list compiled by U.S. News & World Report.
DASH is the brainchild of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It’s pretty simple to follow: just eat more of the foods you know you should be eating (whole grains, fruits and veggies, lean meats), go easy to the sweets and high-fat foods, and break your salt habit. While not specifically aimed at trimming your waistline, the diet’s guidelines help you determine your daily caloric needs from the get-go, so if you stick to the plan, weight loss will likely follow.
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Remember that scary diet we told you about last month? We were right.
When you’re right, you’re right.
Last month, we included a diet called the HCG diet in a list we dubbed, “10 Terrifying Diets“. In fact, we put it at the top of that list. Why? Because the diet directs adherents to consume a protein called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is found in human placenta and extracted from the urine of pregnant women. Creators of the diet, who brand it as “homeopathic,” claim that the protein will cause your body to burn off its own fat reserves. Reported side effects include morning-sickness-like symptoms (vomiting, nausea), which, I’m thinking, probably have more to do with the diet’s purported “success rates” than the actual pill does.
Anyway. The Associated Press is reporting today that the Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on companies who sell HCG pills, sprays, and pellets as a weight loss method, saying its effectiveness is unproven and that the pills can be dangerous when taken as directed. The FDA sent letters to seven companies, ordering them to stop selling HCG immediately.
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So you wanna lose weight before the holidays, right? Here are 10 ways not to do it.
 People going to extremes to lose a few pounds isn’t a new phenomenon, but some diets push the boundaries and enter a whole new realm of weight-loss insanity. From injecting pregnancy hormones to foregoing food for sunlight, we picked the top 10 wacky fad diets that you wouldn’t want to try.
Amy Tuttle, a registered dietician and licensed clinical social worker, offers commentary on the dangers associated with these diets. Director of Philadelphia’s Valley Green Counseling and co-founder of Feast Upon Life, a mindfulness-based, no-diet program, she suggests cutting out the fads all together and focusing on what your mind and body need.
“Diets take us away from our natural ability to regulate our food and weight,” she says. “All these diets will work until they don’t work—they’ll fail you.”
Plus, Tuttle says, all diets result in one thing: deprivation-driven eating. By limiting and restricting food, you’ll be affected both physically and psychologically. And all of this can lead to binge-eating, ticking the scale right back up to the weight you were before you started dieting in the first place.
So before getting caught up in a diet fad, check out the nasty, sometimes shocking, side effects that accompany these get-slim-quick schemes.
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A new study shows how to naturally lower your cholesterol. (Hint: It's more than just Cheerios.)
 If you have high cholesterol, take a look at this Canadian study before considering a statin regimen. University of Toronto researcher Dr. David Jenkins found that participants who followed a special cholesterol-lowering diet saw decreases in overall and LDL cholesterol over a six-month period—without the help of meds.
The 351 dieters received only a one-hour counseling session with a nutritionist at the start of the study, with a 30-minute follow-up later on. At the initial session, they were advised to follow either a low-fat vegetarian diet or the new cholesterol-lowering diet, which included cutting out meats and eating more soy protein—think soy milk, tofu—as well as beans, fruits, nuts, lentils, and whole grains.
Both groups saw equal weight loss, about four pounds. The cholesterol levels of those in the vegetarian group improved moderately: On average, the overall level decreased from 249 to 246, and LDL dropped from 167 to 161. But the cholesterol-lowering dieters saw much bigger results: Total cholesterol tumbled from 256 to 230, while LDL levels fell from 173 to 148.
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Two new studies say no-cal soda is bad, bad, bad
You may think you’re doing yourself a favor when you trade a can of aspartame-sweetened soda for the high-fructose type, but you’re actually setting yourself up for a big gut—plus diabetes. A pair of recent studies shows that artificial sweeteners may be “free of calories but not of consequences,” says Helen P. Hazuda, of the University of Texas’s school of medicine. READ MORE
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New season, new habits
 Lithe Instructors Amy Larkin and Heather Burt: Totally different, totally beautiful. Loving your body is one of those things that’s sometimes easier said than done. As the weather begins to turn and we slip into those jeans from last year—even if they’re a little tight from all the summer indulgences and missed workouts—I’d like to inspire you put the thought into action and pave your own body-loving path.
Make a choice to get into the habit of focusing on the positive. We all have bad days. I work with some of the fittest women in Philly, and trust me… they all have them too. The next time you catch yourself battling the mirror or saying something like, “Ugh, my arms are looking so fat,” change your focus to what you love about you. There are a few things that I do when I have one of those days: Instead of focusing on my thighs, I’ll say, “Wow, I have a great waist; I’m going to show it off with a belt.” Or, “ I have big, beautiful eyes.” I’ll play them up, and put some eyeliner on them.” When I’ve gained a few pounds, I won’t torture myself, but I will put on a pair of heels and see how great I feel. I love wearing heels. It’s my feel-good-immediately go-to. Focus on the positive, and eventually your mind will start to change. It does take time—it’s a habit—but just like anything else, over time, you can change your mindset. READ MORE
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From Osteria's pizza to South Street's cheesesteaks and street pretzels, here's how to eat the Philly fat traps you love without gaining weight
 Illustration by Justin Renninger Philly’s a food town, and we—even our nutritionists—can’t help but be tempted by the seemingly never-ending array of mouthwatering burgers, pizza good enough to dream about, and perfectly seasoned fries. Which is why we got the low down on the local indulgences Philly’s nutritionists can’t live without—and how to enjoy them without hurting your health. — Kelly O’Shea
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You eat right, take a multi ... but there's one vitamin you could still be short on. Daniel A. Monti, director of the Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, shares what you need to know
 Illustration by Justin Renninger Vitamin D is an increasingly popular topic among medical professionals, patients and the media. I get asked about it all the time and I check Vitamin D levels on almost all of my patients. The available research and data on Vitamin D has grown exponentially over the past few years and it is becoming clear that this nutrient is more important that we ever could have imagined a few decades ago. That is why everyone needs to know why Vitamin D is important and how to get enough of it. The answers to the following three questions should demystify Vitamin D and illuminate the path to a healthier you. READ MORE
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Oprah detoxes, Beyoncé detoxes. But you don’t have to swear off solid food to rid your body of toxins. A Philly expert offers these tiny tweaks to look and feel your best by summer
 Longer, warmer days call for everything from a new wardrobe to a change in your sleep schedule, but don’t forget to change the one area often overlooked: your diet. “The change of season is a great time to check in on what you’re eating,” says Maura Manzo, managing director and health counselor at Ryah Yoga and Health in Conshohocken. “From a holistic approach, as you look around in nature and you see things coming back to life, the same things are happening in our bodies. The days are longer and we need more energy to stay active than we did during the winter.” Which, Manzo says, means cutting back on the heavier foods you reached for during cooler months and ridding the body of toxins.
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