Today, we have an inspirational interview with Jacques Courseault – a medical student at Tulane University School of Medicine and Co-Founder/Program Designer of Don’t Weight to Lose.

Don’t Weight to Lose (DWTL) is a 501c(3) non-profit organization designed by Tulane medical students, to promote long-term behavioral changes in terms of diet and exercise habits. DWTL ultimate goal is for each program participant to develop practical lifestyle changes without diet or exercise fads. They aim to promote small changes in nutrition habits, without sacrificing cultural characteristics in taste; and to increase physical activity, without needing sophisticated exercise equipment.

Q: Can you tell us a little more about Don’t Weight to Lose?

Jacques Courseault: Don’t Weight to Lose (DWTL) is a faith-based non-profit health and wellness organization based in New Orleans. Basically, Ryan Jupiter and I came up with this idea as first-year Tulane medical students. There was a program that I ran, as a personal trainer, called “Fat Tuesday,” where we offered free body composition and cardiovascular screenings at the Reily Center (Tulane’s gym). Ryan and I were working out one day and were discussing ways to bring a program like Fat Tuesday out into the community. After a year of research and development, DWTL was born. DWTL is now an 8-week program, held twice a year at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. Components include physician speakers, health screenings, free exercise equipment, exercises classes and personal counseling from medical students. At this point, we have seen around 500 participants, and many noted significant health improvements.

Q: How does someone become a participant in the Don’t Weight to Lose program?

Jacques Courseault: Visit www.dontweighttolose.org and sign up for our newsletter. We release dates 2 months in advance for people to sign-up. If you don’t want to wait, we have tons of exercise and nutrition information available on our affiliate websites www.ExerciseMenu.com and www.DrGourmet.com. I am the Chief Editor of Exercise Menu, and Dr. Timothy Harlan is a chef turned Tulane Internist who developed Dr.Gourmet.com.  There is tons of great information on both sites.

Q: How much personal attention do the participants receive?

Jacques Courseault: One of the great aspects about DWTL is the personal attention that participants receive from our medical students. We have about 25 volunteer medical students that are trained in exercise and nutrition counseling, in addition to, what they are learning in medical school. Each student is assigned to three to five participants. Students review body composition readings, nutrition diaries and workout logs with participants during each session. There is really a strong bond that develops…

Q: You mentioned it’s faith-based health and wellness program – can you explain that a little more?

Jacques Courseault: Faith-based meaning that we address health issues from the mind, body and spiritual perspectives. Obviously, you have to take physical action, by increasing physical activity and making health food choices to improve your overall health. What is not so obvious is that many of these issues have a psychological and spiritual basis to them that should also be addressed. Having a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, I have designed this program based on particular theories to address behavior change. Obesity and other chronic diseases have also been linked to psychological disorders, such as stress and depression. Last but not least, is the spiritual component. Making sustainable lifestyle changes is difficult. By making the connection that God has blessed us with the gift of life and health, I try to teach our participants not to take this time we have for granted. In addition, the church offers a support network that provides encouragement when the temptation to revert back to previous ways arises.

Q: What inspired you to start Don’t Weight to Lose?

Jacques Courseault: I love New Orleans and the potential that this city has. Nothing can compare to the culture of this city. At the same time, I realize that overindulging in our food and leisurely activities can lead to serious health problems. So, I asked myself “How can we improve the health of this city and still eat great tasting foods and enjoy ourselves?” The answer is to teach small and practical changes that can drastically improve health. The people of New Orleans want to be healthy; however, it’s not always clear how to do that, especially with the day-to-day fads that pop up in mainstream media. Therefore, it is my passion as a personal trainer, physician and citizen of this great city to teach these practical changes.

Q: Have you reached out to former participants?  Have they maintained the new habits they developed during the program?

Jacques Courseault: Being a member of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and from seeing previous participants at various health fairs or at other functions, we realize that our changes look to be sustainable. We have also received many testimonials about the positive changes people are noting in their lives. One participant reported at 40-pound weight loss, and we have had quite a few that reported 25 pounds or more. We are working to set up a screening session of all of our former participants to see if these changes have been sustainable as we hoped.

Q: How do you feel about the health and fitness scene in New Orleans?

Jacques Courseault: The health and fitness scene in New Orleans has notably improved after Katrina. The greatest improvement that I have seen is at City Park, with the addition of the new walking and biking tracks. New Orleans provides many avenues for outdoor exercise. One can walk through the French Quarter, bike on the levees, play pick-up soccer at Audubon or join any of the many run/walks that are held here each year. Unfortunately, there is a lack of indoor facilities. To address this problem, I have developed ExerciseMenu.com, which allows people to workout in the comfort of their own home. Resistance training, or weight lifting is important, but we can maintain better health if we regularly participate in outdoor activities.

Q: We hear you are graduating this year – what’s next for you? Will you be staying in New Orleans?

Jacques Courseault: I will never leave this city. I had a wonderful four years at Tulane University School of Medicine, but will now hang up the green and white for the LSU purple and gold. Starting in July, I will begin my residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. I love this field because I can combine my exercise passions with medicine, in order to help people maintain their physical health. I will also continue to make sure that DWTL contributes to improving the health and wellness of this city.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, at 6:00pm, at the LGBT Community Center of New Orleans, the 2010 Weight Loss Challenge will host its second, open to the general public, Discussion Panel, and its third Contestant Weigh-In.  Remember, last month the panel was cancelled due to the Saints Parade. The guest speakers from February have been rescheduled for March. Special guest speakers for the night will include:

The Fit Gourmet, Chef Dione Duhon: Discussing the importance of having a fully stocked pantry with it comes to making diets work. Visit www.fitgourmetofneworleans.com for more information.

Executive Chef from Ralph’s on the Park, Chef Chip Flanagan: Discussing different cooking techniques to lower the calories in your meal and how to make healthy choices when dining out.

Executive Chef from Oceana Grill, Chef Louis Brown: Discussing different cooking techniques to lower the calories in your meal and how to make healthy choices when dining out.

Creator of Bayou Brew, Renee Brown: Discussing the importance of natural ingredients and the harmful effects of artificial preservatives.

From the Mind-Body Center of Louisiana, Melinda “Mindy” Milam, L.C.S.W.: Discussing staying mentally healthy when it comes to dieting and weight loss and some of the pressures that go with it.

NO/AIDS Taskforce’s Behavioral Health Therapist, Juliet Clayton, LCSW: Discussing how Good Mental Health Leads to a More Fulfilling and Happier Life.

Odyssey House’s and NO/AIDS Taskforce’s Substance Abuse Clinician, Kristin D. MacRae, MSW, GSW, DMHC, LAC: Discussing addictions and mental blocks concerning weight loss.

Salire Fitness’ Life Coach Nolan Ferraro: Discussing Keeping Your Head on Straight When Losing Weight: Maintaining Balance in Your Life.

This is really a great opportunity for people to gain some great insight and get the chance to ask experts some questions.

When: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 8pm
Where: LGBT Community Center of New Orleans (2114 Decatur Street)
What: Weigh in and Panel Discussion

Last night I attended an event for the LGBT Community Center 2010 Weight Loss Challenge at Oceana Grill.  (Oceana is a sponsor of the contest) Although you will not find any items on the Oceana menu that is under 700 calories, the Oceana Executive Chef – Chef Louis Brown prepared a special menu for the contestants.

The menu was as followed:

Appetizer:

The Famous Oceana Crab Cake Seared and served on top of Creole Mustard.

Entree:

Baked Ahi Tuna in fresh herbs layered over angel hair pasta tossed in a lemon garlic sauce, topped with fresh bell peppers.

Dessert:

Fruit medley

The seared crab cake was heavenly.  When Chef Louis presented his crab cake he explained how searing the crab cake in olive oil instead of putting them in a batter and frying them made a difference of 610 calories.  The seared crab cake only had 112 calories – as opposed to 722.

That was another great part of the meal, Chef Louis, as you can imagine, is a very busy man at Oceana but he took the time to explain each dish to the contestants, answer questions and share pointers.  He really drove home the importance and value of eating white meat and white fish (fish that turns white when cooked) such as what was part of our main course – Ahi Tuna.

Chef Louis opted to bake rather than sear the tuna, the spices he used and the parmesan cheese topping really did the trick.  Chef Louis chose to serve angel hair pasta since that is the lightest pasta option the restaurant carries.

For dessert the contestants and guests enjoyed a fruit medley.  Not one person sitting at the table got up feeling hungry and everyone was pleased and satisfied.  The point was well made that just because you are eating healthy and watching your calorie intake – that does not mean you have to be dissatisfied with what you are eating.

I wish Oceana Grill would choose to have these items on their regular menu…so others who live in New Orleans and come to visit could enjoy a healthy meal under 700 calories.

This was my first time meeting the contestants and hearing their story.  They are truly an inspirational group.  I plan on doing a Question and Answer session with each contestant so you can find out about them and learn from their story.  This contest has been a real commitment for all the contestants who have lost a combined weight of 50 pounds or 13% overall body weight.

The next event for the contestant that is open to the public is an upcoming panel discuss on March 9^th at the LGBT Community Center.  I will post more information about it in the next couple of days.

As you know, we have been encouraging people to take part in the Pound for Pound Challenge because we believe it is such a wonderful opportunity to do something good for yourself, while at the same time, do something amazing for your community.

How exactly will you be helping your community? Watch this video and learn more about Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana and how the donation from General Mills for every pound you pledge to lose will help people in need.

As of this post, 18,686 pounds have been pledged by 578 people for New Orleans.

Be Fit Nola Interviews Second Harvest Food Bank from BeFitNola on Vimeo.

Willpower After Eycken by Tim Brown

Here’s a quick recap from Part I of this series on Willpower. Studies show human beings only have a limited amount of willpower and if overtaxed…you will run out of willpower and the ability to say no to temptations or yes to things you must do but hate doing.  This means that if you’re planning to survive the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras and living in New Orleans by relying on your willpower to not over eat and over drink…you are guaranteed to eventually give in and fail.

No One Wants to Be a Failure

There nothing good or appealing about failure.  Failure is demoralizing, depressing and discouraging. We’ve all heard the saying “You don’t plan to fail – You fail to plan”.

If Not Willpower Than What!??!

If you can’t rely on your willpower to live a healthy lifestyle…than what can you reply on?  What can you do, a mere human being, to be able to withstand New Orleans and all her temptations?

Plan, Structure and Boundaries

Without a plan, structure and boundaries you have a bit of chaos and free for all.  You keep yourself open and vulnerable to every temptations and weaknesses you have.

In order to not overtaxed your willpower – you need to craft a plan, establish some structure and set boundaries in order to create an environment where you are no longer exposed to constant temptations and your weaknesses.

From within the comfort of your plan, structure, and boundaries you can strive and achieve your goal of living a healthy lifestyle.

Can you see it now!?! Starting to?  Not at all…

Willpower Meter

Have a look at that list of everything that was taxing your willpower meter in a 24 hour period.  Can you see how, if you had a plan, structure and boundaries you would forego quite a few things on your list?

Going to give you some time to think about it; we’ll pick this conversation back up next week!

Our weight-in was last Sunday; we did a virtual weight-in at home and posted our results to include how many pounds each of us have pledged.  Together we have pledged to lose more than 100 pounds – that equates to a 100 pounds of food donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana.

After the weight-in, our journey to lose a pound or two before next Sunday began. Losing weight is not easy…but we’re leveraging the Be Fit NOLA Ning network and Twitter to keep each other motivated, share information, pointers and give one another support.  The first few weeks are always the hardest so it’s important for us to stick through this together.

The first couple of weeks are when the cravings are the worst and the crankiness is at an all time high.  Until the scale starts showing good downward progress and clothes get a little looser…it’s hard to find the motivation say “No’ and resist when your body craves the sugar, fat, and salty foods you’ve gotten used to.

We all know we must stick with it!  We must fight the cravings and temptations to continue to eat the same way.  We each must make the changes necessary to eat healthier and drop the extra pounds we’ve pledged to lose.

Once we start getting results, it will become all worth it and the cravings will ease up and eventually go completely away.

It’s not too late to join us.  You can pledge to lose weight at PFPChallenge.com between now – June 30, 2010.  We do our weight-in every Sunday so you can just jump in there with us.

This is a great cause, it’s free to join, and you get to lose weight, meet new people and learn lots of new things about healthy, fitness and dieting.

I’m very excited that Be Fit NOLA is grabbing the bull by the horn and has challenged the people of New Orleans to join the Pound for Pound Challenge. From what I’ve seen of my Boot Camp classes – I know that people in this great city can rise to the challenge. I’m definitely here to help.

I’ve put together 5 easy weight loss tips to get you started:

1. Eat 5-6 Times a Day:  The hardest part to shedding pounds is fighting the hunger pains. No one likes to be hungry (p.s. that’s why you’re pledging to lose weight because in New Orleans we have 1000s of people who go hungry each day).  If you eat 5-6 times a day – three small meals of about 300 calories and 2-3 snacks of about 50-150 calories (depending on sex, activity level and amount of weight desired to lose) you will find it easier to stick with the lower calorie intake. By eating 5-6 times a day, you keep yourself nourished and you also keep your metabolism burning calories for you.

Many people think that not eating will help them lose weight; however, this simply does not work as well as some people might think. When your body doesn’t get the food it needs, it tries to conserve its energy…this means your body begins to burn less fat. In addition, when your body lacks the essential vitamins and nutrients it needs and gets from healthy food, you begin to feel tired and weak and can’t do as many activities…which means you burn fewer calories. Such a vicious and senseless cycle; prevent it by eating 5-6 times a day.

2. Drink Lots of Water: Here are some things you might not have known about the functions of water in the human body – Water:

• Transpsort nutrients and oxygen into cells
• Moisturizes the air in lungs
• Helps with metabolism
• Protect our vital organ
• Helps our organs to absorb nutrients better
• Regulates body temperature
• Detoxifies
• Protect and moisturizes our joints

(Source Mangosteen-Natural-Remedies.com)

Drinking (8) 8oz. glasses of water a day will have tremendous benefits to you and it will also curb your appetite.  Start drinking!

3. Avoid Processed Foods: Processed foods have been altered from their natural state for safety reasons and for convenience. The methods used for processing foods include canning, freezing, refrigeration, dehydration and aseptic processing. Not all processed foods are bad but there are the ones to avoid:

• Canned foods with lots of sodium
• White breads and pastas made with refined white flour, which are not as healthy as those made with whole grains
• Packaged high-calorie snack foods, like chips and cheese snacks
• High-fat convenience foods, like cans of ravioli
• Frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners
• Packaged cakes and cookies
• Boxed meal mixes
• Sugary breakfast cereals
• Processed meats

(Source About.com)

4. Reduce your Fat Intake: Fat contains twice the caloric density of carbohydrates and protein, so limit the amount that you consume. Fill your diet with lean protein (chicken with no skin, fish, egg whites, and leaner beef) and carbohydrates from plants and whole grains.

5. Add Fiber to your Diet: Two great things about fiber: it keeps everything in your stomach and digestive system moving – keeps you nice and regular. Secondly, foods high in fiber fill you up and help curb hunger pains. Check-out the Mayo Clinic chart of food high in fiber to know what to eat from now on. You’ll find fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds listed.

Just by following these tips, you will find that you are able to lose weight quickly and effectively, while ensuring that you are still healthy and able to keep doing everything you usually do activity-wise. This helps to ensure that not only are you able to continue losing weight, but you are able to enjoy yourself while doing it. These quick weight loss tips are a sure way to help get you on track towards the weight you desire.

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Jonas Deffes, New Orleans Exercise Specialist

Provides the therapeutic benefits of health and exercise at companies and events throughout New Orleans along with his very popular New Orleans Boot Camp for women. I am very serious about building long-term relationships, achieving positive results and upholding my commitment to excellence.

I started watching the Biggest Loser two seasons ago and when I heard about the Pound for Pound Challenge, I thought it was one of the most wonderful idea/program/challenge I’d ever heard…but until last night, I had not pledged in the challenge.

Yesterday was the premier of The Biggest Loser – Season 9 and when they started to talk about the Pound for Pound Challenge, I jumped on Twitter.  I need to lose 20lbs  – I really can’t think of anything more motivating and inspirational than to know that losing 20lbs will help feed those who suffer from hunger in the Greater New Orleans area.

The Pound for Pound challenge is really simple

Pledge to lose weight at PFPChallenge.com between December 8, 2009 – June 30, 2010

Lose Weight & Feed Your Community. For every pound you pledge, The Pound For Pound Challenge will donate 14¢ to Feeding America® – enough to deliver one pound of groceries to a local food bank. Maximum donation of $800,000.

Local Food bank for New Orleans: The local food bank for New Orleans who will receive the gift of pounds of food is the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana

The one common denominator for people served through Second Harvest is HUNGER. Poor families and single parents with infants at nutritional risk face the day-to-day dilema of feeding their children. The newly unemployed find themselves in an unknown situation in providing food for their families. The elderly need a nutritionally balanced diet to maintain their health. Second Harvest Food Bank can help.

Current Status

As of 10pm last night for New Orleans – 8,406 pounds were pledged by 247 team members. Louisiana actually went from 32^nd place tonight to 30^th place – would love to see it in the top 15.

As of last night – the people who answered the challenge on Twitter are:

shercole @befitnola I pledged 25

nolamaven @befitnola I pledge 5 lbs!

BrookeAshleyB @befitnola i just pledged to lose 15lbs….i’m gonna count on you to keep me motivated

JenZenator @befitnola My husband is going to do it with me! We’re thinking a Sat or Sun weigh in.

Congratulations to all who have pledged – you are changing your life and helping feed someone in desperate need!!

It would be great to find the other 242 people who have pledged so that we can all connect, support and help each other.

I invite all those taking the challenge to join the Pound for Pound Challenge New Orleans Group and/or the Be Fit NOLA Facebook Group so we can communicate with each other.

Of those who join Be Fit NOLA to get this done – I will keep updates of our progress on this blog and twitter.  Ideally, we’ll find a way to get together once a week for weight in and in-person support, get-to-know each other, workouts etc.

I’m really excited about this and I hope you are too! If you haven’t pledged – GO DO IT and leave a comment letting us know how many pounds you’ve pledged.

I will make sure the Be Fit NOLA blog is kept with quality content to help us all make this happen!

What can you do to simplify your life, lose weight and stay on a budget all at once?

Eat the same basic food on a regular basis – that’s what!!

I know that in a culinary Mecca such as New Orleans the thought of eating the same basic food on a regular basis might be a repulsive and insulting thought, but lets face it – although we would love to constantly partake in our New Orleans’ yummy favorites…it’s not something our wallets or waistline can handle.

Eating the same basic food on a regular basis has three major benefits: It simplifies your life, it’s ideal to maintain or lose weight and it will allow you to stick to a budget (well at least a food related budget).

Simplifies your Life

One of the most common questions in all households is: What’s for dinner?!? Well, if you are eating the same meals/food on a weekly basis than you always know what’s for dinner. There’s a lot of comfort to be gained from this.  No wondering, stressing, and worrying about what you’re going to eat.  Your meals are planned out for the entire week.

It also makes grocery shopping a snap. You can easily be in and out of the grocery store because you know exactly what you’re looking for, where to find it and how much of it you need.  This leads us to how you are able to stick to a budget.

Stick to a Budget

Because you are eating and buying the same foods from week to week – you can budget your weekly grocery bills and stick to it. It might differ by $5 – $15 dollars a week based on the price of meats and some other products but for the most part; you’ll know exactly what you can expect to spend.

Maintain and Lose Weight

To maintain your weight, you must maintain the same calories intake – to lose weight, you must reduce your calorie intake.  Simple.  Even simpler once you have figured out your calories and nutritional recommended daily allowances; the optimal breakdown of calories, Fat, Protein, Carbs, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.  You can then appropriately plan your meals and stick to the same meals; it takes all the guess work out of maintaining and losing weight.

The majority of us don’t want to think about eating as a means of fueling our bodies but that is exactly what eating is…especially healthy eating.  It’s all about ingesting on a constant basis the right nutrients to perform at our best.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t get creative with spices, seasoning and flavoring – as long as it’s with little to no calorie impact spices and seasoning.

Also, you can definitely allow yourself some cheat meals where you do eat out or cook your absolute favorites.

Do you think this is something you could do?  If not, why not?

Many people feel they need professional help losing weight and to be honest, enlisting professional help will increase your chances of being successful and ensuring you lose the weight the right way. Here is a list of professional to consider reaching out to:

Family Physician: The first and most obvious place in New Orleans to seek assistance from is your doctor’s office. Whenever starting an exercise or weight loss program; it’s best to always make sure you get the green light from your doctor…particularly if you already have health issues.

Ask him or her about the best and safest way to lose weight. Your physician should give you a healthy diet plan to follow or one for you to use as an example to start eating better, so you can shed some pounds.  Your physician will probably be thrilled to hear that you’re ready to take your health in your own hands and lose some weight.

When it comes to losing weight, a lot of people are always looking for shortcuts. You might be tempted to ask for help losing weight in the form of diet pills and weight loss medications. This is a valid way that some people lose weight when they can’t seem to do it alone.  Ask your doctor if this is a good option for you. In most cases, starting a healthy diet and a regular exercise program is all you need.

However, your doctor will know your medical history and your current health and be able to advise you on which medications might be an option, or explain why you shouldn’t bother taking any diet pills/medicine.  Don’t be discouraged if your doctor is against the idea of prescribing weight loss medicine; millions of people have lost weight without taking pills or using other aids, and so can you.

Counselor/Psychologist: Other professional help losing weight that might be beneficial to you, besides your doctor, is a counselor or psychologist. While this isn’t an often recommended step in losing weight, for some people, it can be an important one. Quite a few people have trouble losing weight because they eat compulsively, and very often this has roots in an emotional or psychological cause. Changing your whole mindset on how you eat in New Orleans could possibly be one of the most difficult aspects of losing weight.

It’s very difficult to eat healthy or even just stop overeating if you have emotional triggers that cause this compulsive behavior.  Talking to a counselor or a psychologist can help you get to the root of what is causing your eating problems, and put you one step further down the road to healing yourself emotionally while you’re getting healthier.

Some local hospitals even have programs about nutrition and exercise. Ask about their different programs.  Most people who run such programs are happy to talk to you about them and help you get started on the right track.

Nutritionist/Dietician: If you can afford it, you might want to visit a nutritionist or dietitian because they can really offer you needed knowledge, advice and help with losing weight.  These experts on food, eating and nutrition can put together an eating plan that is designed to be right for you and the foods you eat. They will use your food choices and modify them into a healthy diet that will let you lose weight.

Personal Trainer: Also, a few visits or consultation with a personal trainer can offer you help losing weight by ensuring you’re exercising correctly.

As you have read professional help losing weight in New Orleans is a viable option for everyone who is willing to seek it out. Don’t hesitate! Get the help you need…a good place to start finding the help you need is in the Health and Fitness Directory.

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Jonas Deffes, New Orleans Exercise Specialist

Provides the therapeutic benefits of health and exercise at companies and events throughout New Orleans along with his very popular New Orleans Boot Camp for women. I am very serious about building long-term relationships, achieving positive results and upholding my commitment to excellence.

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