Cool and Enjoyable Summer Exercise

By admin on July 26, 2010

Dedicated to beauty, both inside and out, Dr. David Whiteman of Southern Plastic Surgery often advises cosmetic surgery patients to follow an exercise regime both before and following any procedure to facilitate healing and further enhance their satisfaction with their surgical results.  Read below for some of our latest exercise tips.

Summer is a difficult season for exercise, especially here in the notorious Atlanta heat. However, here are some easy and creative ideas for summer workouts that can get you outside.

Swimming – You don’t have to own a pool to swim. There are many public pools around Atlanta that are open in the mornings for lap swimmers. Swimming is a great way to burn a ton of calories in very little time. It’s a great morning workout routine as it wakes you up and really gets you ready to start the day. Many YMCA’s have outdoor pools in addition to their workout facilities, so if a public pool is far from your house, there are other options for swimming as well.

Biking – Biking, no matter where, is a great form of exercise, because just like swimming it can help burn lots of calories with little time commitment. In the summer heat, the best biking paths are on trails. All over the Atlanta area, city parks offer bike trails. They’re usually shaded by trees and can be a cool alternative to pavement. Sometimes following a river or stream, you can burn easily burn calories while enjoying the scenery.

Subscribe to Dr. Whiteman’s blog for the latest plastic surgery news and health and wellness tips.  Should you wish to learn more about the procedures Dr. Whiteman offers or to schedule a consultation contact his office or visit his website.

Posted in Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery, Health and Wellness |

If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Get INTO The Kitchen: Healthy Recipes Perfect for Summer

By admin on July 20, 2010

Diet and exercise are an invaluable aspect of any type of weight-loss related procedures. In order to attain the best results, Dr. Whiteman often has patients follow a diet plan both before and after their respective surgical procedure. We’ve put together a list outlining several ideas for easy summer recipes, in addition to the other information on the health and wellness portion of our blog, that can help you improve your look (whether you’re having cosmetic surgery or not.)

Easy Summer Eat’s

Summer is all about cool, fresh, and light ingredients. Beautiful produce is available in any local grocery store that is both healthy and delicious; you just have to know what to look for! For vegetables, it’s all about the color. Vegetables that are deep and vibrant in color are often rich in beta-carotenes and other important nutrients.  Peppers, tomatoes, spinach, beets, carrots, and broccoli are all good examples of vitamin rich, healthy vegetables. As far as fruits are concerned, peaches, nectarines, and plums are good snack ideas because of their high water content.   They will fill you up without giving you the unwanted calories that many fat-laden snack foods contain.

Here are some ideas of healthy summer recipes:

Grilled Pepper Salad

4 bell peppers, (mixed colors), halved, seeded and stemmed

1/4 cup halved and pitted oil-cured black olives

1/4 cup rinsed and chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1/8 tsp salt

Grill peppers on medium-high, intermittently turning until soft and charred in spots (usually 5 minutes per side.) When cool enough to handle, chop the peppers and gently mix with olives, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, and salt in a large bowl.

Braised Green Beans & Summer Vegetables

1 small onion, halved and sliced

1 tb finely chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)

1 lb. green beans, trimmed

1 medium summer squash (or zucchini) halved and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup halved cherry (or grape) tomatoes

1 tb extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup white wine (or reduced-sodium chicken broth)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and oregano and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown (about 2 minutes. Add wine (or broth) and bring to a boil. Add green beans, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add summer squash (or zucchini) and tomatoes and continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes more.  Season beans with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve.

Read Dr. Whiteman’s blog for the latest plastic surgery news and health and wellness tips.  Should you wish to learn more about the procedures Dr. Whiteman offers or to schedule a consultation contact his office or visit his website.

Posted in Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery, Health and Wellness, Healthy Recipes, In the News |

Southern Plastic Surgery Discusses Dr. Oz and Tips on Eating Fruit the Right Way

By admin on June 14, 2010

We have all heard sayings such as, “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away” and other friendly reminders about how including fruits in our diet is good for our health. But did you know there is a right and wrong way to eat fruit? With the help of the popular television personality Dr. Oz, Southern Plastic Surgery has compiled some tips about how to properly include fruit into your diet:

• Only eat fruit on an empty stomach! You sometimes hear people complain that they cannot eat fruit because it causes them to bloat, have gas, or feel like they have to go to the bathroom. The real reason for this is that the food you eat before eating your fruit, ferments in your stomach and turns to acid. Once fruit comes in contact with the acid, it causes gas and bloating and prevents the fruit from being quickly digested; robbing it of the nutrients and health benefits it has to offer.
• Know the right way to drink fruit. Make sure it is fresh juice and not from concentrate and avoid drinking juice that has been heated. And remember, even though fruit juice does have its benefits, the best way get the full vitamins and nutrients from fruit is to eat it whole!
• Avoid cooked fruit. Once you cook a fruit, you rob it of the valuable vitamins and all you are left with is the taste.
• Know the right types of fruit to eat.
  • Apples: Rich in flavonoids and antioxidants, apples help to lower the risk of colon cancer, stroke, and heart attack.
  • Strawberries: Fruit with the most powerful antioxidants, protecting you from free radicals, blood clots, and some types of cancer.
  • Kiwi: With twice the amount of vitamin C that an orange has, kiwi is also a great source of vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, and fiber.
  • Papaya: Has one of the highest vitamin C contents; Also rich in carotene which improves eye health.
  • Watermelon: Contains glutathione which boosts the immune system, vitamin C and potassium. Also has lycopene (also found in tomatoes) which helps protect against cancer.
• Be aware of the benefits of fruit and take advantage! Fruits can detoxify your body while simultaneously providing you with the energy needed for everything from day-to-day activities to strenuous exercise.

For more information about diet and exercise tips and healthy recipes, visit the health and wellness section of our website. As always, feel free to contact Dr. Whiteman’s office if you have any questions are wish to schedule a consultation.

Posted in Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery, Educational, In the News | 2 Comments

Dr. Whiteman Introduces Daryl Madison, Personal Trainer and Fitness Expert

By admin on April 26, 2010

If you are trying to live a truly healthy and fit lifestyle, diet alone is a sure fire way to set yourself up for failure. While diet is an essential part of any health plan, you must not ignore the fitness aspect of health – which includes keeping up with a regular exercise routine. Because it is so important for plastic surgery patients to maintain their health before and after surgery, Dr. Whiteman of Southern Plastic Surgery would like to introduce Daryl Madison, personal trainer and fitness expert in the local Atlanta area.

Daryl Madison is an American Council on Exercise (ACE) Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Lifestyle Fitness- an in-home personal training company. With 10 years of experience in personal training and numerous certifications, Daryl can help any patient get on the road to the best shape of their life.

For those who don’t have the time or money for personal training, but still need and want help with a regular exercise routine, Daryl has created the Chair-A-Cise exercise DVD series. Chair-A-Cise is a fitness program that is customizable to ALL fitness levels; and the unique thing about this fitness program is that all of the exercises can be performed while seated in a chair. This makes it perfect for beginners, the overweight, the elderly or anyone easing into an exercise routine after surgery. By adding simple hand weights the exercises, Chair-A-Cise also transforms into a rigorous fitness routine, challenging even to the most fit and athletic of people.  

Daryl’s fitness expertise has been featured in several Atlanta Journal Constitution and DeKalb News Sun articles and he has also been featured on an episode of CW Network’s Ultimate Makeover series.

Feel free to contact Daryl at 404-272-3996 if you would like to set up a personal training session and visit the Chair-A-Cise website if you are interested in DVDs. 

This blog should serve as a reminder that you cannot neglect your health, especially when getting a cosmetic surgery procedure! Visit our recently launched Health and Wellness Section for more exercise tips, nutrition tips, and healthy recipes.

Posted in Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery, Health and Wellness | 1 Comment

Meet the Author

By admin on April 21, 2010

Rebecca was one of Dr. David Whiteman’s medical students and is also a registered dietitian. Rebecca has co-authored some of the entries for this website and will continue to submit more healthy recipes in the future. Here is quick introduction of Rebecca:

Rebecca is from Bethesda, MD.  She obtained a BS in Nutrition at The Pennsylvania State University and completed her dietetic internship at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center before becoming a Critical Care Dietitian and Chief of Clinical Dietetics Branch for the Army.  She was the President of the Augusta District Dietetic Association, Board member of the Georgia Dietetic Association, Manuscript Reviewer for Critical Care Nurse Journal, and Nutrition Support Preceptor for the Augusta Area Dietetic Internship where she was named “Preceptor of the Year.”  She has given lectures at various conferences, schools, churches, and women’s groups and has publications in multiple medical journals.  She is currently a fourth year medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Georgia Campus.  She loves to cook and bake and in her free time she enjoys hiking, playing sports and running.  She is currently training for the Atlanta ING Marathon and hopes to see some of you there!

Posted in Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery, Health and Wellness, Healthy Recipes |

Diet, Exercise, and a Healthy Lifestyle are Vital to Any Cosmetic Surgery Procedure Dr. David Whiteman Launches Health & Wellness Section to Southern Plastic Surgery Website

By admin on April 14, 2010

In every consultation, Dr. Whiteman tells his patients that he will do his part in enhancing their appearance with a cosmetic surgery procedure, but is careful to remind his patients that it is of utmost importance that they do their part to maintain the results. For ALL patients, that means maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Especially for liposuction, tummy tuck, and breast reduction patients, keeping up with regular diet and exercise is the only way to maintain their results. But even cosmetic surgeries of the face, patients must maintain their health – such as quitting smoking – in order to facilitate healing.

Because plastic surgery and healthy lifestyles go hand-in-hand, Dr. Whiteman decided to launch a health and wellness section to southernplasticsurgery.com. The health and wellness section will provide patients with diet and exercise tips including: Common Diet Mistakes, Tips for Diet Success, Hidden Calories in Foods, Healthy Snacks, and a feature on how to correctly read food labels.

The health and wellness section will also contain a section of healthy, delicious, and low calorie recipes. All of the recipes have been personally made and approved by members of the Southern Plastic Surgery staff.

Dr. Whiteman hopes that, with the help of the health and wellness section of his website, that all his patients will make strides towards healthy, fit lifestyles to keep them looking and feeling their best!

Posted in Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery, Educational, Health and Wellness, In the News | 1 Comment

Healthy Recipes

By admin on March 4, 2010

Just because you are on a diet, does not mean that the food you eat should taste like diet food! Below are some healthy, low calorie, and (most importantly) delicious recipes. By incorporating these recipes, and recipes like these, into your diet, you will be well on your way to improving your overall health and achieving your ideal weight.

Butternut Squash Soup with Toasted Walnuts

Ingredients:
8 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 2 1/4 pounds)
Cooking spray
¾ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp freshly ground pepper, divided
4 cups warm skim milk, divided
1 (14 oz) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Methods:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray, place squash on sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper, spray with cooking spray and toss. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
Place half of squash, ½ of milk and ½ of broth in a blender, process until smooth. Pour pureed mixture into a large saucepan. Repeat procedure with remaining squash, milk and broth.
Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not bring to a boil).
Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 6 bowls; Sprinkle each serving with 1 ½ tsp nuts. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrient Info
Calories: 150.9 kcal. Fat: 2.9g Protein: 6.9g Carb: 28g Fiber: 3g Chol: 2.5 Sodium: 305.9mg Ca: 240mg

Tarragon Chicken Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
1 green apple, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
2 ribs celery, diced
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
½ red onion, chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries
2 cups cooked chicken breast, diced
2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
Salt and pepper, to your taste

To slow down the browning of the apple, squeeze lemon juice over the chopped apple. Combine apple with chopped celery, walnuts, chopped red onion, currants or raisins or dried cranberries, chicken and yogurt. When salad is well coated in yogurt, mix in tarragon leaves and season the salad with salt and pepper. Stir salad to combine flavors and then taste to adjust seasonings.
You can also place salad on baguettes cut in half and split sideways.

Kcals: 298 fat: 7.8g CHO: 21.3g Sodium: 93.3mg Protein: 23.6g

Light and Fit Yogurt and Peanut Butter Dip

Ingredients:
6oz vanilla light yogurt
1 heaping tbsp peanut butter

Directions:
Mix yogurt and peanut butter in a blender or food processor.
Serve with a sliced apple or other fruit of your choice.

Grilled Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
¼ cup sugar or sugar substitute
¼ cup passion fruit juice
½ lemon juice
2 pinches mint leaves (fresh)
Blueberries (2 containers)
Strawberries (about 2 cups)
Bananas (3 bananas cut into 2-3 pieces)

Directions:
Pour passion fruit into a large bowl. Add mint leaves and blueberries and set to the side.

Toss bananas and strawberries with ¼ cup sugar then place on the grill for a couple minutes until sugar creates golden crust and you can see grill marks. GENTLY take off the grill.

Mix blueberry and grilled fruit mixture and serve warm.

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
Cake:
1/4 Cup Smart balance
1/4 cup Splenda
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup egg beaters
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup skim milk
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Topping:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons smart balance
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method:
Cream together smart balance, sugar, Splenda, and egg. Add flour, salt, baking powder and milk, stirring until well blended. Carefully fold in berries. Spoon into greased 10 inch spring form pan. In separate bowl, mix together topping ingredients of brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, smart balance, and chopped pecans, using a pastry cutter or fork to blend. Sprinkle topping mixture over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Hints:
Can use glass 9 x 12 pan and bake at 375 for 35 minutes.
Can freeze after baking.
It is better to use frozen blueberries because they don’t bruise/break apart as easily.

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthy Recipes | 2 Comments

Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery

By admin on March 4, 2010

Diet and exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle can help improve your Plastic Surgery results. Whether you wish to firm certain areas or slim down the body in general, you can help shape your body with good diet and exercise habits.

In order to help you look your best, Dr. Whiteman will do his part to make sure you receive the treatments that will enhance your body. But you also need to make sure to do your part—maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise—to help achieve your best results. In some cases, difficulty losing weight can be a symptom of a medical problem. If you suspect this to be your problem, check with your doctor to rule out medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism or polycystic ovarian disease. In the majority of cases, people have difficulty losing weight because they are consuming too many calories and not burning enough off with exercise.

Common Diet Mistakes:

Skipping Meals
If you skip meals, you will likely be extremely hungry and may overeat at the next meal. Aim to eat 3-6 small meals or snacks per day. Listen to your body and do not ignore your hunger cues. Eat when you are truly hungry, and do not eat when you are not.
If your diet is too strict, you are not going to follow it. Make small changes in how you eat in order to build healthy life-time changes to last for a lifetime.

Fad Diets
Fad diets frequently lack important nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins and/or minerals). They usually lead to short-term weight loss (losing weight in muscle and water) – BUT not FAT loss. They often lead to clinical symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, fatigue, depression, illness, and decreased metabolism.
You can recognize Fad diets because they boast “magic” or miracle foods (like the grapefruit diet), bizarre quantities, rigid menus, specific food combinations, rapid weight loss (“lose 30 pounds in 30 days!”), and usually no increased physical activity.

Not counting the small stuff
Even a piece of candy from a co-worker’s candy dish, a food sample in the grocery store, a special coffee drink with whipped cream or some extra mayo on your sandwich can add extra inches on your waist. Review your diet for sources of “Hidden Calories”—foods that add calories, but not much nutrition.

Cutting out food groups
Food=Nutrients. Each food group contains certain vitamins and minerals you will not get from other food groups. Include all foods from the food guide pyramid to get all your vitamins and nutrients. Instead, choose smaller portions to help you shed the pounds.

Not planning out meals/snacks
When you don’t plan ahead, your diet choices might not be as smart. Make sure to have healthy snacks in the fridge and pack your lunch (if possible).
Eating “low fat” or “low carb” food items
Be careful with foods with these labels, they may have less fat or carbohydrates, but these foods are not calorie free. Many “low fat” products add extra sugar and “low carb” items often add extra fat, which adds extra calories— READ THE FOOD LABELS!!

Skipping exercise
Exercise is vital for maintaining long term weight loss. When you lose weight, you will lose some muscle. In order to maintain your muscle mass (and therefore your metabolism), make sure to exercise—cardio to burn calories and lifting weights to build muscle (and then later burning calories at rest!)

Tips for Diet Success:

Make small changes to your current diet
Gradual changes are easy to make and stick to in order to keep off weight long-term. Whether it be cutting out one extra juice/soda/sweet tea, changing from whole milk to 2%, or trading in sugar or honey in your coffee for a non-calorie sweetener, these small changes add up in a big way.

Exercise
The Joslin Diabetes Center conducted a study where those who followed a diet and exercise for 6 weeks lost weight. Those who maintained their exercise programs for 6 weeks after stopping their diets maintained their weight loss, whereas only some who continued following their diet for 6 weeks maintained their weight loss. This is because when we exercise, we build muscle. Muscle burns calories. The more muscles we have the more calories our bodies burn—and therefore, the amount of calories we need to maintain our weight is higher.

Decrease your intake of soda, juice, sweet tea, and alcohol.
One 16oz glass of soda, juice, sweet tea or beer is about 240 calories. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. If you cut out one soda, juice or sweet tea per day, you could lose nearly one pound per week. If you drink mixed alcoholic drinks, the amount of calories you are drinking is even higher. Since you get calories from the juice or mixer and the liquor (which contains about 150 calories per one ounce.)

Instead choose water, lowfat or fat free milk (cow, soy, etc), or diet soda. You can flavor your water with lemon, lime, or even a cucumber slice.

Cut your portion sizes in half
When eating out in a restaurant, dishes are twice as big as they were 20 years ago and are often seasoned with extra cream, butter and salt to add flavor. Main entrees can contain more than 1000 calories at most restaurants. Ask your server to wrap up half of your meal before you even are served your dish so you won’t be tempted to finish your entire meal, or share with a friend!

When at home, take half of what you think you want to eat – our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs. If you also slow down to enjoy your food, you might find that your hunger is satisfied with a much smaller portion.

Try to eat out at restaurants less.
Due to the higher calorie foods and bigger portions, this can be costly on your waist line.
But, if you are going to eat at a restaurant, try to choose wisely:
Have it “your way”. Ask for food to be baked, broiled, boiled, grilled or stir fried rather than fried. Have sauces and dressings on the side. Order vegetables instead of high-fat sides like French fries.

Avoid items that are described as: crispy, battered, breaded, creamy, rich, “stuffed with” and super-sized. These items are all high in fat and/or calories.

You might say, but I HAVE changed my diet and I eat well, but are you consuming hidden calories?

Hidden Calories:

• Skin on poultry*
• Cheese* (100 calories, 8g fat for each ounce of full fat cheese)
• “Fat free” foods
• condiments* (butter, margarine, sour cream, guacamole, mayo, salad dressing, bacon bits, croutons, whipped cream)
• High calorie drinks: Soda, sweet tea, juice (150+ cals/ 12oz can), Milkshakes (a large chocolate frosty is 560kcal, 29g fat medium chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard is 950kcal, 36g fat)
• Specialty coffees (Can have as many as 700 calories per large drink with whipped cream)
• Snacks from vending machines/food carts*
• Alcohol
• Peanuts/Sunflower seeds* (180 to over 200 calories per ¼ cup).
• Dried fruit (serving size: ¼ cup =60 calories)
• Fried foods*
• Whole milk* (Has 150 calories and 8g fat per 8oz serving versus skim milk has 80 calories).
• *High in fat

Healthy Snacks:

• A piece of fruit (pear, apple, orange, melon)
• Low-fat/Light Yogurt
• Raw Vegetables (Broccoli, celery, peppers, carrots, cucumber, string beans, snow peas, cherry tomatoes, Jicama) with low-fat Dip (Ranch, hummus)
• Half cup of low-fat Cottage Cheese & Fruit
• ½ Grapefruit
• ½ bag Air-popped light Popcorn
• Frozen grapes
• Veggie Pizza without Cheese
• Unsweet Applesauce
• Cooked Plantain
• ½ Lean Turkey Sandwich
• Gingersnaps
• Low-fat Mozzarella String Cheese
• Hummus & Toasted Pita Chips
• Baked Sweet Potato Strips
• Non-fat Frozen Yogurt
• Granola Bar
• Frozen Fruit Bars
• Cold Sugar-free Cereal & Skim Milk
• Low-fat Pita Chips
• Instant Oatmeal & Fresh Fruit
• Natural Peanut Butter on Celery
• Pizza Sauce on Whole Grain English Muffin
• Apple Butter on Toast
• Tomato Stuffed with Cooked Brown Rice
• Baked Potato Chips
• Fat-free Cookies
• Rice Cakes
• Toasted Pita Wedges & Low-fat Cheese
• Ice Milk
• Walnuts (1oz)
• Non-fat Plain Yogurt & Fresh Berries
• Vanilla Wafers
• ½ English Muffin w/ Fruit Spread (like Smuckers sugar-free strawberry preserves)
• Low-fat Crackers w/ Low-fat Cheese
• Whole Grain Breadsticks
• Green Salad w/ Low-fat Dressing
• 20-30 Baked Tortilla Chips & Salsa
• Baked Potato & Low-fat Cottage Cheese or salsa
• Fruit Canned in its Own Juice
• Fruit and yogurt parfait (vanilla light n’ fit yogurt with cut fruit and branbuds)
• Cooked Asparagus Spears w/ Lemon
• Apple Slices Sprinkled w/ Cinnamon
• Sugar-free Jell-O & Fat- free Cool Whip
• Fat-free Pudding
• Bean Dip & Veggies
• Zucchini, Pumpkin, or Banana Bread
• Potato Skins with Fat-free Sour Cream
• Soy nuts (3/4 cup)
• Edamame (steamed soy beans) with salt.

Reading Food Labels:

When reading a food label, there are a couple places you should look.
First, look at the total calories per serving. Then look at the serving size.
Make sure you multiple the calories in your food by the number of servings you are going to eat. So, if we were going to eat 2 servings of this food above, it would be 500 calories.
Then look at the Fat. For each 100 calories in a food, it can have 3g of fat to be considered low in fat (i.e. a 200kcal food can have 6g fat, 300kcal can have 9g fat, and so on.) This food above is not low in fat because it contains 12g of fat for 250 calories.
Also look at Fiber. Foods that have 5g or more fiber per serving are high in fiber. Fiber can fill you up more without giving you extra calories because you do not break fiber down the same way you do other carbohydrates, protein or fat.

Posted in Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery, Health and Wellness, In the News | 1 Comment