Tell Your Waistline to ‘Lighten Up’
Monday, November 07, 2011
This is the latest installment of SuzySaid's "Moms at Work" series that profiles local entrepreneurs who are balancing career and motherhood and contributing to our community.
By Eileen Weber
We all have busy lives. Unfortunately, the one the thing that often takes a back seat is our health and nutrition. Most people think a diet means starving yourself. But if you’re Annette Alfieri, a clinical nutritionist and wellness coach and the owner of Lighten Up in Fairfield, “diet” is a dirty word.
She says it’s about making a lifestyle change. We have to alter what foods we keep in the house to reflect the way we wish to eat. It’s a little self-defeating to try to lose weight when you’ve got Doritos and Chips Ahoy by the metric ton in your pantry.
“I learned how to look at food in a different way,” said Candy Perusi who lost 43 pounds working with Alfieri in her 6-week weight loss program. “It’s about how food affects my body, how sugar affects it, and how important protein is.”
Anne Mignone agreed with Perusi. She said her lifestyle changes began the minute she started Alfieri’s program. “The most important thing is eating breakfast, never did that my entire life,” she said. “[Learning about] eating enough, certain foods you should eat together, what not to eat late in the day. I can now go out to eat or on vacation and control my eating.”
Alfieri says that too often people have a preconceived notion of what a diet should be. Whether it’s that grapefruit diet you did in college or your girlfriend’s suggestion to only eat cabbage soup for the next three weeks, it’s just not healthy eating.
We caught up with Alfieri to ask about her program.
You focus on a lifestyle change rather than dieting. What are some of the typical changes needed?
We’re so hooked on that whole dieting paradigm. When people restrict themselves too much, that’s a diet. I teach people how to eat. You know, the eating basics: good food, whole food. Forget all the weight loss rules you’ve learned. Everyone has that ‘pre-made’ diet in their heads. How did your Paleolithic ancestors eat? It’s about awareness of what you’re eating and how it affects your body. Weight gain happens when you’re not paying attention.
How is your philosophy different from any other weight loss program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig?
I’ve been showing people how to gain control of their eating with what I call the 80/20 rule: 80% is eating well and 20% is eating what you want. It’s also important to keep a food log. The food log doesn’t lie. If you’re food log is clean, the scale is going to show it. You’ve got to get your head in the game. What foods are available in your house? Are they good for you? Be aware of portion sizes. You need to answer the question: What are your food goals? If you eat when you’re not hungry, how will you know when you’re really full?
With the winter months coming up, how can we eat healthy when fresh produce is less abundant?
You can still eat seasonally with what’s fresh and what looks good. But, don’t discount frozen foods. Many of them are flash frozen shortly after they’ve been picked, so it’s a good way to eat healthy all year round. Most of the food we eat is “fake” food. They’re convenient, but they’re Styrofoam. Foods that have an expiration date. Breakfast foods that come in a box. Anything that lasts longer than regular food. People think they’re eating healthy when too often they’re not.
Are there any diet fads that totally send the wrong message about food?
When you cut one piece out—no carbs or only protein—you’re messing with your hormonal balance. You need all of it. You can’t crash diet because you lose muscle mass. Muscle mass is what helps you lose weight. I take it very personally if you don’t do well in my classes. I’m very passionate about it.
Lighten Up is located at 61 Sherman Street in Fairfield.
For more information about Annette Alfieri’s program, call 203-450-1064 or e-mail her at
www.lightenup.biz
By Eileen Weber
We all have busy lives. Unfortunately, the one the thing that often takes a back seat is our health and nutrition. Most people think a diet means starving yourself. But if you’re Annette Alfieri, a clinical nutritionist and wellness coach and the owner of Lighten Up in Fairfield, “diet” is a dirty word.
She says it’s about making a lifestyle change. We have to alter what foods we keep in the house to reflect the way we wish to eat. It’s a little self-defeating to try to lose weight when you’ve got Doritos and Chips Ahoy by the metric ton in your pantry.
“I learned how to look at food in a different way,” said Candy Perusi who lost 43 pounds working with Alfieri in her 6-week weight loss program. “It’s about how food affects my body, how sugar affects it, and how important protein is.”
Anne Mignone agreed with Perusi. She said her lifestyle changes began the minute she started Alfieri’s program. “The most important thing is eating breakfast, never did that my entire life,” she said. “[Learning about] eating enough, certain foods you should eat together, what not to eat late in the day. I can now go out to eat or on vacation and control my eating.”
Alfieri says that too often people have a preconceived notion of what a diet should be. Whether it’s that grapefruit diet you did in college or your girlfriend’s suggestion to only eat cabbage soup for the next three weeks, it’s just not healthy eating.
We caught up with Alfieri to ask about her program.
You focus on a lifestyle change rather than dieting. What are some of the typical changes needed?
We’re so hooked on that whole dieting paradigm. When people restrict themselves too much, that’s a diet. I teach people how to eat. You know, the eating basics: good food, whole food. Forget all the weight loss rules you’ve learned. Everyone has that ‘pre-made’ diet in their heads. How did your Paleolithic ancestors eat? It’s about awareness of what you’re eating and how it affects your body. Weight gain happens when you’re not paying attention.
How is your philosophy different from any other weight loss program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig?
I’ve been showing people how to gain control of their eating with what I call the 80/20 rule: 80% is eating well and 20% is eating what you want. It’s also important to keep a food log. The food log doesn’t lie. If you’re food log is clean, the scale is going to show it. You’ve got to get your head in the game. What foods are available in your house? Are they good for you? Be aware of portion sizes. You need to answer the question: What are your food goals? If you eat when you’re not hungry, how will you know when you’re really full?
With the winter months coming up, how can we eat healthy when fresh produce is less abundant?
You can still eat seasonally with what’s fresh and what looks good. But, don’t discount frozen foods. Many of them are flash frozen shortly after they’ve been picked, so it’s a good way to eat healthy all year round. Most of the food we eat is “fake” food. They’re convenient, but they’re Styrofoam. Foods that have an expiration date. Breakfast foods that come in a box. Anything that lasts longer than regular food. People think they’re eating healthy when too often they’re not.
Are there any diet fads that totally send the wrong message about food?
When you cut one piece out—no carbs or only protein—you’re messing with your hormonal balance. You need all of it. You can’t crash diet because you lose muscle mass. Muscle mass is what helps you lose weight. I take it very personally if you don’t do well in my classes. I’m very passionate about it.
Lighten Up is located at 61 Sherman Street in Fairfield.
For more information about Annette Alfieri’s program, call 203-450-1064 or e-mail her at
www.lightenup.biz
