Finding Time To Work Out

Whether we work full time or manage a house full family, everyone is busy. Finding time to work out and fit in fitness isn’t always easy to do, but it is important for your health, and to set a good example for your family, children and friends.

Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, FACSM, is an associate professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the mom of two teens who works 60 to 70 hours a week, and still manages to find time to work out. In this blog, she discusses her own fitness goals, and how she finds time to exercise.



I work 60 to 70 hours a week, I’m the mother of two teens, and I work out three to five times a week.

In the past, I kept up with my workout schedule by setting a goal to train for a particular running event. I’ve done many 10-mile and half-marathon races in the Philadelphia area. I’m not fast, but by setting a goal for myself, I was able to focus and train for a specific event, even if I wasn’t the fastest person there.

The last race I trained for was the Broad Street Run in 2011. I trained to do this 10 mile event with a breast cancer survivor who was participating in one of my studies and who wanted to do the race but didn’t know whether she could.

We crossed the finish line together with our arms raised high.

I decided it was a terrific note on which to end my long races. You see, I have never enjoyed running long races. I just set the goal of completing a particularly long running event so that I would be motivated to stay on my training schedule.

But since I haven’t been training for an event, I needed a new way to set goals. Late last year I found a terrific one on the blog of a cancer survivor fitness professional by the name of Alwyn Cosgrove. Mr. Cosgrove set a goal of completing 200 workouts a year. I liked this idea so much that I’ve adopted it for 2012. I’m three months in and have 48 workouts to show for it!

Finding time to work out

I fit in my workouts in the evening. I have a rule that I cannot sit and watch television in the evening, I have to be lifting weights, stretching or on the treadmill if the television is on. This limits my television viewing and motivates me to exercise if there is a particular show I like to watch.

I also use exercise time to spend time with my family. My partner and my children and I work out together sometimes. Those are my favorite workouts because we get to spend time together, and I know I am setting a good example for my children.

We also make it fun. My 14-year-old son and I make faces when we are lifting weights and that makes us both laugh. Then we find ourselves remembering those faces later and we laugh again!
The bottom line is that for me, setting fitness goals helps me stay on track and focus on personal fitness achievements. You don’t have to run a race, or climb a mountain to focus on getting exercise. Do what works for you, find time when you can, and remember to have fun.

Do you struggle to find time to work out? How do you do it?

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Snacking Tips During Football Season

Cara Stewart, RD, LDN, member of the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team, provides tips for healthy eating during the football season.

Football season is here, and for so many of us, that means snacking during the game. Avoid taking a time-out from healthy eating during football season by following these easy tips:

• If you are hosting the game, provide healthy foods for you and your guests to enjoy. If you are going to watch the game at someone's house, offer to bring a healthy snack like one of those listed below.
• Use a small bowl or plate. Eating from a small plate helps limit portion sizes and reduces overall intake.
• Designate half-time as the only time to eat. Grazing during the game can lead to mindless eating.
• Avoid high calorie beverages. Drink calories can add up quickly, especially if they contain alcohol. Instead, opt for low-calorie beverages such as coffee, tea, water with lemon or sugar-free soft drinks with fresh fruit slices. For low-calorie alcoholic beverages, choose light beer or a mixed drink with a sugar-free mixer.
• If you do overindulge, stay positive and get back on track the next day.

These healthy and tasty snack ideas can help you stay on track.

• Cottage cheese and lemon pepper dip with fresh vegetables
• Whole-grain crackers and hummus
• Oven-fried chicken tenders with light ranch dip
• Baked tortilla chips with bean dip and salsa
• Thin-crust, whole-wheat pizza loaded with vegetables

Many more healthy snacks and recipes can also be found online.
- Cara Stewart, RD, LDN

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Healthy Snacks While Losing Weight

Cara Stewart, RD, LDN, member of the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team, explains the benefits of healthy snacking.


Now that school is back, and everyone is getting back to daily routines, it's easy to forget to eat healthy an dhave healthy snacks throughout the day.

Don't overlook the benefits of snacking when trying to lose weight. Snacking helps you fuel up between meals and can prevent you from overeating and making unhealthy food choices. The healthiest snacks include a mix of complex carbohydrates and protein to keep you feeling full throughout the day.

In fact, many nutrition experts suggest shifting away from the traditional three-meals-a-day diet. Instead, they recommend eating small, nutritious meals every three hours or eating five to six times a day. Although it may seem counter-intuitive to weight loss, eating smaller, more frequent meals helps you maintain consistent blood sugar levels throughout the day, and prevents ravenous hunger that often leads to overeating and poor food choices.

If you are tired of your usual snacks or looking for healthier alternatives, here are a few ideas to liven up your healthy snack options:

• Celery sticks spread with one to two tablespoons of almond or peanut butter
• Fresh vegetables (i.e. carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes or fresh green beans) with two tablespoons of hummus
• One serving of whole grain crackers topped with one ounce of reduced-fat cheese and sliced green grapes
• One small apple, sliced with one tablespoon of peanut butter for dipping
• Half a cinnamon raisin, whole-grain English muffin topped with low-fat cottage cheese, no-calorie sweetener (i.e. Splenda^®, Truvia or Pure Via™) and cinnamon
• One serving Greek yogurt with fresh fruit
• One cup homemade vegetable soup
• One brown rice cake with pesto, canned salmon and diced tomatoes
• Three handfuls of air-popped popcorn seasoned with spray butter and herbs
• One brown rice cake topped with a sliced hard-boiled egg, light mayo and fresh herbs

- Cara Stewart, RD, LDN

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Believe it or not: Carbs are an Essential Part of Your Healthy Diet after Weight-Loss Surgery

Cara Stewart, RD, LDN, member of the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team, explains the importance of carbohydrates for a healthy diet after weight-loss surgery.

Carbohydrates often get vilified in weight-loss circles, with claims of preventing weight loss and even contributing to weight gain. But the truth is that carbohydrates, or carbs for short, are actually your body’s main source of energy and an essential component of a balanced diet.

In fact, your body relies on carbs to power everything from breathing to walking to thinking! So, while it is important to focus on eating adequate protein after weight-loss surgery, it is also essential to incorporate good carbs into your diet. 

The first few months after weight-loss surgery, your diet should primarily consist of protein since your stomach is too small to consume much else. Once your stomach is ready for a more diverse selection of food, aim to get half of your daily calories from carbs. That should amount to approximately 130 grams of carbs per day. Remember, it might take several months or up to a year after surgery to get to this point, so it is important to be patient and set short-term goals along the way.

Consuming adequate carbs from good food sources allows your body to use protein for healing and maintaining muscle mass, instead of being diverted for energy. The best sources of carbs contain fiber, which slows digestion, keeps you full longer and helps regulate your bowel. Examples of healthy carbs include:

• 1 piece of fruit (i.e. an apple the size of a baseball) = 15 grams of carbohydrate
• 1 cup of milk = 12 grams of carbohydrate
• ½ cup of oatmeal = 15 grams of carbohydrate
• 1 slice of whole-grain bread = 15 grams of carbohydrate
• ½ cup cooked beans = 15 grams of carbohydrate 

Try to avoid simple carbs like white bread, white rice, white pasta and sweets. They contain minimal nutrients, promote hunger and can cause blood sugar spikes.
Keep in mind that your carbohydrate needs may vary depending on medical issues such as diabetes, so check with your dietitian or health care team to determine your personal dietary goals.   

- Cara Stewart, RD, LDN

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What to Eat After Weight-loss Surgery

There is a misconception that after weight loss surgery, people can only eat tiny morsels of food, are malnourished and no longer enjoy food.

While patients do, in fact, need to restrict the amount of food they eat – especially in the first few weeks after surgery – most people can resume healthy, moderate eating.

Patients cannot eat large quantities of food they ate before surgery, because their digestive tract is physically different and can no longer accommodate large amounts of food.

Following surgery, meals will likely consist of two to four tablespoons of food. As you advance your diet, you should be eating "regular" food within six to eight weeks of surgery.

Smoothies, shakes and purees

Following weight-loss surgery at Penn, you meet regularly with a dietitian who offers nutritional support. And, since protein plays an important role in both the healing and weight loss process following surgery, it is recommended you incorporate high protein drinks that are low in fat and sugar into their diets.

As you are able to eat more and increase the variety in your diet, you should rely on high protein foods to help meet your protein goal as outlined by the nutrition team.

Try this recipe for a Banana Berry Smoothie.

Get more information about weight-loss surgery at Penn

Learn if bariatric surgery is right for you by attending a free information session about the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program.

At this free session, you will learn more about weight-loss surgery at Penn, and meet physicians and team members from the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program.

Register for this free event here.

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5 Weight-loss Apps for Your Smartphone or Notebook

Research shows that people lose more weight when they track their food and exercise and receive a lot of motivation and support throughout their entire weight-loss journey.

Here are 5 weight-loss apps for your smartphone or notebook.

My Fitness Pal (iTunes®, free)

This app was designed to support the features of the website, My Fitness Pal. With its large database of foods, and simple design and functionality, you can track food and exercise, take photos of bar codes to identify foods and servings, and share your success with friends.

Weight Watchers® Mobile (iTunes, free)

You don’t have to be a Weight Watchers member to enjoy the perks of this weight-loss app. If you are a Weight Watchers member, you have access to the full benefits of this application. It helps you track your points, find recipes, locate a meeting, and track your weight. Not a Weight Watchers member? No worries. You can still use some of the features this app offers like recipes and Weight Watchers articles.

LIVESTRONG® MyPlate Calorie Tracker (iTunes, $2.99)

If you’re a fan of LIVESTRONG brands, you might enjoy this app for counting calories, too. LIVESTRONG MyPlate Calorie Tracker helps you determine your calorie needs based on your weight and weight goal. It has an extensive database of foods to help you track, and an easy-to-read design that inspires you to be well and eat nutritiously.

Lose It!® (iTunes, free)

Lose It! is another app for tracking food and exercise. While the database is not as large as some other apps might be, its barebones and simplistic approach to logging food and exercise keeps people motivated to lose on the go.

The Eatery® (iTunes, free)

The Eatery lets you take advantage of your phone’s camera to decide if you are eating balanced meals. What we like about this app is that it forces you to look closely, and think about what you are eating. While other people’s reviews of your plate may not be inspiring, we think it’s a great way to be mindful of how and what you eat.

Have you used an app to help you lose weight? What would you recommend?

Note: Penn Medicine does not specifically endorse any of these recommended apps. 

Penn Medicine can help you lose weight with weight-loss surgery. Learn more about weight-loss surgery at Penn in a free information session about weight-loss surgery. 

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How Much Weight Will I Lose with Weight-loss Surgery?

Here’s an exercise:

Imagine losing 1/3 of your weight.

Take your weight and multiply it by .30. Now subtract that number from your current weight. Imagine what your life would be like if you weighed that number.

Could you move easier? Would your knees still hurt? Could you keep up with your kids or grandchildren?

Would you be able to stop taking some of the medications you take every day? What would it be like to regain your health?

On average, someone who undergoes weight-loss gastric bypass surgery can expect to lose approximately 30 percent of his or her starting weight. Most of this loss is experienced during the first few months following surgery with the weight loss continuing for 12 to 18 months after surgery.

Weight loss associated with the adjustable gastric band and sleeve gastrectomy may not be as rapid and the weight loss may not be quite as great.

Each person’s weight-loss progress is different, but one thing is clear: healthy eating habits, exercise and ongoing support are critical for continued success.

Get more information about weight-loss surgery at Penn
Learn if bariatric surgery is right for you by attending a free information session from the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program.

At this free session, you can learn more about weight-loss surgery at Penn and meet physicians and team members from the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program.

Register for this free event here.

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