Christmas Calories Don’t Count December 2, 2009

I saw this statement on a Christmas plate this weekend at Cracker Barrel and couldn’t decide if I could buy it as a joke or if it went against everything I stand for. I decided on the latter. This is just the motto that gets us all into trouble, doesn’t it?!

Instead, how about making up your own eating motto for this holiday. For instance, “Dinner at home will happen” or “I will eat my veggies before the cookies.” These are just some silly ideas but still possibly true. What if you planned on eating at home every night regardless? What if you ate a piece of produce before you ate a cookie? What if you were active every day regardless? Would these things make this holiday different for your waist line? One small change to your holiday mindset may make a huge difference and prevent those extra pounds from coming on. Think about your eating motto and post below what your’s will be.

Here’s what I think mine will be: I will eat a piece of produce before I eat a sweet.

Skinny Jeans are Not a Good Thing for the General Female Population November 24, 2009

Who seriously thought skinny jeans were a good idea for women? I tried on my first pair of them today. The only reason was because they were $12 at Target and I figured for that price I’d give them a try. Little did I know a total self-esteem bashing was waiting!

As I perused the wall of jeans, I realized there were a lot of sizes 1,3, 15, and 17. I should have gotten the hint right then and there. Since teeny bopper sizes run, let’s just say, “slightly smaller” than normal woman sizes I grabbed one size up from my normal size. The color I really wanted was only available in 2 sizes up so I grabbed them too…just in case. In the dressing room I began to attempt to cram my leg into the one size-uppers. I COULD NOT EVEN GET MY CALF INTO THEM! Now, I consider myself decently in shape and certainly not blessed with killer, Olympic-sprinter calf muscles. But seriously, you would have to have NO muscle period to fit into these jeans. The moment I squished my leg into them I felt claustrophobic. So on I went to the next size up. I was able to actually pull them up to my waist and button them. I quickly realized that they felt more like leggings then jeans. This can’t be right. I then go back out to the floor to find 3 sizes larger but have no luck. The dressing room attendant tries to help me find them but exclaims “What’s wrong with those (the 2 sizes bigger pants)? They look fine.” So I guess spandex-like and slightly uncomfortable is the mark of a good pair of skinny jeans.

I ended up getting the 2 sizes larger skinny jeans because hey, they were 12 bucks and the attendant said they looked fine. I’m in then right now and still feel slightly uncomfortable. I think I may need to go back to look for the 3 sizes larger if this new skinny jean relationship is going to last.

I share this rant with you because I realized, yet again, that fashion is not a good self-esteem builder sometimes. It’s who you are on the inside and the steps you take to be the person who you want to be that are truly meaningful aspects of life. Enjoy today who you are and not just what size you can fit into.

Have a healthy holiday and watch out for skinny jeans.

Happy Thanksgiving! November 23, 2009

The holiday of eating is eating upon us. What is a healthy eater to do?

The holidays can be a daunting time for those watching their waistline, but it doesn’t have to be. Remember that holiday eating (aka overindulging) needs to be monitored….by you. You have to stay conscious of your eating every day! One of the best ways to do this is by keeping a food journal. It is so helpful for you to have accountability by writing down everything you eat. Most people dread food journaling but if you are the only one looking at it, what’s the big deal about being honest? Just write down EVERYTHING — every nibble and graze — and stay connected with just how many calories you are eating. This is step one.

The next step for healthy holiday eating is to plan and think through your schedule. Start by making a game plan for your daily eating. This means that you write down what you plan to eat before the day starts. For instance, if you are going shopping for several hours, you need to plan where you are going to get a healthy lunch and if you need to bring some snacks with you. If you have long work days and parties after, think through how you are going to ensure a healthy lunch since you will be at the mercy of party food later in the day. Plan to not shop or party on an empty stomach.

If you are traveling elsewhere or having extended guests, try to control as many factors of your eating as possible. For instance, buy your own breakfast foods and snacks to ensure you start the day off right. If you are entertaining, you don’t have to have candy out in every room or sweets always available. Set treats out at set times instead of leaving them out for grazing.

Truly one of the most crucial keys for a healthy holiday to stay active! Get involved in a local run or walk this Christmas season. Make sure you take the time to take care of you and be healthy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On the Menu this Week November 8, 2009

Here is my meal plan for our dinners this week:

Monday: Braised Chicken (sounds fancy but very easy) with vegetables over brown rice

Tuesday: Barilla Plus pasta and spaghetti with ground turkey

Wednesday: Possible dinner with friends. If that doesn’t work out, I will be home early so I am going to try  cooking a new fish, wahoo, that I picked up from our local seafood market on Friday.

Thursday: Boboli individual whole wheat pizzas with spinach and 2% mozzarella cheese;  side salad

Nothing too crazy this week but my schedule. The Boboli whole wheat individual crusts have been a life saver lately! They are so quick and yummy.

Take a little time to meal plan this week and enjoy healthy eating!

It’s November 1st… November 1, 2009

It’s November 1st and that means it’s the day after October 31st and you probably have a lot, or at least some, candy laying around the house. This is not usually a good thing, at least for us. My hubby and I love sweets and all the Reese’s peanut butter cups will get eaten if they stay at my house. A little bit of candy is fine. But 1 peanut butter cup leads to another and another and …. I also know that I have a full and hectic week coming up and I love to soothe myself with chocolate.

So what do we do with all this candy? Well, I think you should do something with it. Is there a place you can send it to? School, work, church, favorite store? You could keep some in your purse or on your desk and give one piece to every person you encounter — along with a “have a great day!” I just committed my husband to taking his into work and giving it out to his students or fellow coaches. Don’t take it into your work place if you know you will just end up eating them there.

There are some dentist offices who collect candy in exchange for money or other prizes. There are also some organizations that collect excess candy to send to US troops abroad. Both of these are great ideas.

If you have kids at home who are pumped about their candy, I recommend using a guideline for consumption. My husband shared with me what his parents did and I think it’s a great idea that I will share. Set a limit for the pieces of candy that your children can take in their lunch and the number they can consume after dinner. For my husband it was 2 at lunch and 3 after dinner. If you  have older children that you would like to teach a deeper nutritional lesson, give them a calorie budget for each (like 200 calories after dinner from candy) and help them add the information up.

Does anyone else have any good ideas of what to do with Halloween candy?

Colon Cleansing September 9, 2009

Colon cleansing is definitely a health trend right now. There seems to be all kind of products available to help you detox. I am often asked if detoxing/cleansing is necessary. At this point, no research has suggested that it is particularly helpful. It is more about the food you eat day-to-day then the substance you put in your colon, that makes a difference.

To address the idea that there is layers of “crud” building up in people’s guts: My mother-in-law is an OR nurse who often does scoping procedures. She has seen her share of people’s intestines. I asked her if she has ever seen any build-up in someone’s colons and she said “never.” Hmmm.

Here (http://www.webmd.com/balance/natural-colon-cleansing-is-it-necessary) is a great article on Webmd that really evaluates the pros and cons of colon cleansing. Here is an exert that I like.

Why Colon Cleansing is likely not Needed:

• Natural bacteria in the colon detoxify food wastes.
• The liver also neutralizes toxins.
• Mucus membranes in the colon keep unwanted substances from reentering the blood and tissues.
• The colon sheds old cells about every three days, preventing a buildup of harmful material.
• The normal number of bowel movements varies from person to person. It may be as often as a few times a day or as little as a few times a week.
• Increasing the number of bowel movements doesn’t improve weight loss. That’s because the body absorbs most calories before they reach the large intestine.

The best way to detox and cleanse is to increase your fiber intake to about 30 grams a day, drink lots of water and eat fruits and veggies. It’s also a lot more fun.

Have a healthy day!

Stress Totally Stinks September 4, 2009

I have had a stressful week. I work between 3 and 5 regular jobs (all less than part time) and every few months all of them demand my time. Thus has been the past 2 weeks. My mind has been filled with a long to-do list and trying to stay organized all the while remembering where I am driving to. It gets really confusing sometimes.

So yesterday I was driving to my third location (and third technical job) of the day. I was pressed for time, didn’t have copies made for my group, was trying to help a co-worker who was confused about an important issue, and did not have internet access all day! I realized I was hungry and pulled out my snack from lunch bag, an apple, I think. After about 15 minutes I realized I had eaten 3 snacks, was no longer hungry, and didn’t care. In a moment of panic I realized I was stress eating! We have all been there and it really is a good moment when you catch yourself. I immediately put in a relaxing cd which helped calm me down and reconnect my brain to my belly.

We all handle stress in different ways. Food is so magical, though, in that it seems to make our cares float away in a moment of chocolate (or salty, or crunchy, or creamy) delight. I think if we have this reaction to food, it’s essentially good. We should enjoy food! Life would stink without our favorite foods. But we cannot abuse it!

Breaking stress-eating habits takes some effort. First, you have to think about when you stress-eat and what you choose. Second, make it difficult to get your hands on that food (don’t buy it or keep it at work). Third, make a plan to substitute a healthier food (bring it with you) or habit (exercise, phone call, read, etc).  You will need a plan to change your habits. It just won’t happen all of the sudden.

It is now Friday and a long, relaxing weekend is ahead. I am so glad. Hopefully my mind will slow down and re-coop after some rest, healthy food and hard exercise. Take a few moments to de-stress from your week with something other than food. Take a walk, go to your favorite website, call a good friend…whatever works.

Have a healthy and relaxing weekend!

A Little Redemption August 20, 2009

Just for the record, my trainer, Katie, kicked my booty this morning during our workout. I figure I deserved it, and now I feel a whole lot better. Sometimes you just need a good kick in the pants from intense exercise to get you back into the swing of things.

Make a healthy choice today!

Cookies are my Kryptonite August 19, 2009

I’m going to put myself out there and share my deep dark secret. I hope you can handle it. The fact is I love to bake. There, I said it. I am a dietitian who loves to make all things sweet. (God and I have had many conversations over why this truth exists.)  And if I really had to get specific, I would say that my favorite food in the whole wide world is cookies. If I could live off cookies, I would, and in heaven, I will be. =)

Well, this week seems to have been all about baked goods for me. I try to limit my baking because honestly, I eat what I make. But this week, I had offered to make something for two events and then was also blessed by friend’s World’s Best Cookies (I capitilize this because I mean it). So here it is Wednesday and I have eaten more cookies than I care to admit. I also don’t feel very good. I really want to go run a long distance (at 9pm at night) to make up for it. I know when I feel the “make up for it” mentality, I have gone a little too far. (Like I said, I am really putting myself out there.)

So why am I telling you this? I tell you this because I have a decision to make just like everyone else. What is the next healthy decision that I am going to make? I sometimes feel like poor eating choices come in about tens. One quickly leads to another and another and another. When I start eating a lot of sweets (over a few days time) it sometimes feels difficult to stop. Have you ever felt that way? It’s like it’s so hard to get into the habit of healthy choices and so easy to fall into a string of poor choices.

Now I need a plan for the rest of  my week to get myself back on track. Step 1 – throw out all remaining sweets. No wait, my hubby took care of that one already. 2 – Think through tomorrow’s decisions including a little extra cardio time, planned lunch, and smart snacks.  3 – Gear up for weekend eating by thinking through where I will be eating and how I can make calorie appropriate decisions.

The point of my confession today is that we all struggle with our food kryptonite, whatever it may be. We will always love that food too. There’s no getting around it. But we have to identify habits that allow us to have a healthier relationship with that food. Mine starts with limiting my baking. This is something I choose to do for my own well-being.

Think about your kryptonite food(s) today and start coming up with strategies to help you fit it into your life in a healthy way. It takes continual effort. I am certainly not superwoman yet.

Have a healthy day and save your calories for a really awesome cookie!

The Great World of Food and Health August 17, 2009

Warning: Today’s post is a little random and kind of deep. Enjoy, I think.

In the past 12 hours I have had some interesting thoughts float through my head. It all started last night as I read someones blog and noticed they had traveled around the world. The focus of their trip, as far as I could tell, was simply to learn how other cultures live and seek good health. This is a fascinating concept to me – that people approach health very differently in other parts of the world. I can’t help but wonder who has it right. Is it the non-animal-protein eaters? Is the whole-grain obsessed? Is it the eat-local-only people? There are so many approaches to eating and many of them are good.

As a dietitian my practice of nutrition is based on science. This is what the essence of being a RD is. I can’t just make up something  (or use one person’s story) about eating and how it effects the body and then tell everyone to do it. The scientific method is a good process that I do not resist, but it leaves me wanting more information sometimes. Science is a slow process that doesn’t always give clear answers to the original question.

I have always felt that one of my greatest roles as a dietitian is to help the public understand the scientific messages of nutrition and how to apply them to their daily lives. But what about the other nutrition concepts that have no research behind them (yet) but produce fantastic health in other cultures? I really want to learn more about how other people (non-Americans) go about health and nutrition. This is probably going to become a life-long quest. Food is such an important element to life. It brings people together and obviously promotes health. I hope I get the chance over the course of my life to learn from other cultures around their meal table.

In conclusion, I hope my thoughts haven’t left you more confused about how you should eat. On the contrary, be encouraged that there are many good approaches to eating. Remember, eating healthy is simple. You don’t need expensive food and tons of time, necessarily. Healthy eating comes in many levels and I encourage you to continue to make small changes, one at a time, toward healthier eating.  Ask yourself this today,” What does it mean to me to ‘eat healthy’ ? What am I working towards?” We all have a different answer to that question which is great. Just don’t forget the basics: produce, whole grains and fiber, reduce saturated fat, and be mindful of calories. 

And in the meantime, I think it’s ok to be influenced by others philosophy of eating. Please post some of your impressions of eating that you’ve learned from other cultures or even other people in your immediate life. I am so curious.

Have a healthy day!