Diet Treats That May Be Tricking You
I’m a nutritionist who believes in sweets and treats. (Gasp, right?!) I use the term “conscious indulgence” to help my clients find an accepting spot for decadence in their diets. So many of us are looking for ways to lose weight, stick to a healthy meal plan, but also indulge. We’re looking for “free” foods and “sweet” foods that we can eat without “guilt” (a food term I despise by the way) or fear of derailing our efforts. So this Halloween, I wanted to point out how some of those kinds of treats may be tricking your brain and body. Tricks are fine on All Hallow’s Eve, but when it comes to your nutrition, trying to trick your body can derail you from your goals. Re-sensitize your wagging tongue. Are you looking forward to walking your kids through the ‘hood with a diet soda in your hand? Or, do you eat gorgeous salads at lunchtime and pair them with a diet drink? Even though these practices would be condoned by some, I am not a believer in artificial sweeteners and I’d say the comfort, sweetness, and pleasure of diet soda is nothing but smoke and mirrors. I’m picking on diet soda right now, but there are artificial sweeteners in so many foods: yogurts, chewing gum, candy, salad dressings, and more! I’ll tell you that this treat is a devil in disguise. While I could support this argument from many angles (artificial sweeteners as appetite stimulants and triggers for cravings to name a couple), I’m focusing on the pleasure sensors on your tongue. As we age, our taste buds become less sensitive. We load up on salt, sugar, and fat to really concentrate flavors, and our tongues become even more dulled to the natural sweetness of foods. Since artificial sweeteners are 180 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar, people who use them like their sweets sweeter, denser, and richer and it may take more to satisfy the indulgence than their sugar-eating counterpart. My advice: wean or cold turkey yourself from artificial sweeteners. Once you get ‘em out of your system, your tongue will forgive you and you’ll be surprised how much more delish that mango tastes than it did before. Replace artificial sweeteners with the real deal and, instead of diet soda, opt for seltzer, green tea, or drinks with ingredient lists that are clear of chemicals. I’d argue that a spoonful of honey in your green tea can be just as indulgent and much more satisfying. Don’t give candy a hierarchy. You may think the jelly beans are a better choice than the chocolate coins because “they’re just sugar, whereas the chocolate has fat,” but truth be told, any extra calories you eat get turned into fat—whether they come from sugar, fat, or carbohydrates. You are not eating the gummy bears for their vitamins or minerals (there are none), fiber (none again), or health benefits (nada, nil, zilch). You’re eating your treats for their taste and the pleasure of indulging. Sit down. Enjoy your treat so that it will be mindful, conscious, and satisfying, rather than eating it standing up, in the car, or when you are distracted. While you aren’t eating Halloween loot for the health benefits, can you go healthier? Yes! Choose a chocolate that is made with 70% cacao. Look for gummy candy that is made with organic ingredients and are dye-free. Heck, roll your caramel apple in flax meal and coconut flakes. You won’t be tricking your body, you’ll be treating your mouth… and you’ll reap a little nutritional benefit along the way. So no more tricks with your treats, okay? Keep ‘em separate, and rock an honest bod. Be real with your conscious indulgences—there’s a place for them in your Nutritious Life. Tried it all, but your weight still won’t budge? Could you be struggling with emotional eating? Emotions are the cause behind overeating an estimated 75% of the time and learning how to manage emotional eating can change your health—and your life! Our Emotional Eating course provides you with the knowledge and expertise you need to ease your own food struggles and to help others if you decide to start a side hustle as a coach. (You can even go all in and Become a Nutrition Coach.) Learn more about our Nutritious Life Emotional Eating course and we’ll see you inside.
3 Ways to Stop Emotional Eating This Holiday Season
Emotional eating is totally a thing, and if there’s ever a time that it’s more likely to happen, it’s the holidays. What exactly is emotional eating? For starters, emotional eating is a response to both bad and good emotions—although emotional eating due to positive emotions usually gets a lot less attention. Some of us are self-proclaimed stress-eaters. I’m thinking about the college students cramming for exams and downing bags of chips and M&Ms while they’re studying. Power-eating popcorn during a suspenseful movie also comes to mind. RELATED: Healthy Eating 101: How to Eat Healthy in College Others of us chomp our way through disappointment, sadness and loneliness. You pick up the pint of ice cream when you find out your end-of-year bonus isn’t coming through, or comfort yourself with a pound of holiday fudge because you can’t get home for Christmas. The holidays are filled with mixed emotions and it is usually a stressful time. Couple that with celebrating the togetherness of the holidays with a stocked fridge and pantry. And when I say stocked, I don’t mean with healthy foods. I mean packed full of all the I eat this once-a-year-foods—things like peppermint bark, snowflake cookies and eggnog. Emotional eating has nothing to do with hunger, nutrition or wellness goals. Food is not made up of only vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber. It’s also made up of stuff that connects us to our feelings. So, how do you stop emotional eating? And how can you make it through the emotional roller coaster of the holiday season without throwing your goals out the (perfectly trimmed) window? Great question. RELATED: Enroll in Keri Glassman’s 4-Part Emotional Eating Course Here are my top tips for how to stop emotional eating. Keri Glassman’s Top Tips to Stop Emotional Eating Reframe your intentions Yes, you could choose to go through the holidays focusing on the guilt for not remembering to buy your colleague a gift, sleep-deprived because you’ve been burning the candle at both ends to get everything done, stressed out because the holiday cards haven’t arrived … and so on and so on. You could also choose to get through the holidays mindfully. Making the choice to focus on celebrating the company you keep, being in the moment and giving attention to your holiday traditions. This may help keep from getting too stressed, overwhelmed, and reaching for the soothing arms of that hot cocoa with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. For when you do feel stressed (hey, it happens!), try keeping a warm mug of tea on hand. It will serve many purposes: The heat and smell will soothe and relax you and your feelings, it will hydrate you, and it will serve as a reminder to keep your wellness a priority. Know that YOU are in control You do not have to be a victim of the stress and general emotional energy-suck of the holidays. Instead, try this: Decide in advance what you’re going to bring to Aunt Edna’s holiday potluck (rosemary spiced nuts, anyone?), so you know you have a healthy snack on hand. Have a satisfying and healthy dinner before you head out to the office party so you don’t wind up making puff pastries your meal. Or, go ahead and make the decision to stick to seltzer with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds instead of champagne. Keeping a food journal is also helpful. For one, it will help you see that the “binge” you thought you had was actually just a little too much brie, but it will also help you eat less. Knowing you will have to write it down will make you think twice before going for seconds of the pie. Bottom line: Feeling empowered helps you control your emotions and your eating. Triple D yourself Finally, use the three Ds when you’re trying to stop an emotional eating situation. Delay. Slow yourself down. Don’t head straight for the food. Start with a glass of water, tea or seltzer and make a conscious decision to slow your intake. Nobody is going to rip your plate out from under you and the appetizer tray will still be there in 15 minutes. Slow down, friend. Distract. You should be catching up with friends and family. That is what the holiday season is really about. Distract yourself by talking to your loved ones, checking out the ornaments on the tree, or lending a hand to the host. Disarm. Don’t keep unwanted food in the house. Don’t hover over the buffet table. Out of sight, out of mind. On a similar note, don’t bring sweets and treats home. Keep your home focused on health and wellness by stocking up on winter produce such as grapefruit, clementines, pomegranate and root veggies. RELATED: How to Add Winter Produce to Your Diet (and Why You Should)
Why You Should Eat Pumpkin Pie And Enjoy Every Calorie
Ask Keri: Pumpkin pie has a gazillion calories, and I’m trying to lose weight. Should I skip it? Keri Says: Pumpkin pie. Cranberry sauce. Stuffing. Mashed Potatoes. Butter. Butter. More butter. Thanksgiving is coming and you already have anxiety just thinking about the decadence that will be staring you in the face on the holiday table, right? You’re imagining the moment you’ll get to dig into your favorite pumpkin pie, topped with freshly whipped cream and surrounded by a crumbly, sweet, and buttery graham crust. You’ll “try to be good” and only have one bite. But when you wind up eating a whole piece, you won’t be able to enjoy it because you’ll immediately start kicking yourself for falling off the healthful path. You’ll say “I’ve blown it!” and maybe even have a second piece, because you know what? You “earned it.” And if everyone else can enjoy it then why can’t you? And you might as well enjoy everything on the table—twice—because Thanksgiving only comes once a year and you’ll just get back on track on Monday morning. Sound familiar? The next day, when you step on the scale, you’ll throw your hands up in the air and curse yourself for eating that “dang piece of pie!” and blame it for the extra pound you’re up or shame yourself for staying the same when you’re trying to lose. Just thinking about all of this negativity is exhausting, isn’t it? Wouldn’t you like to simply eat your favorite piece of pumpkin pie one day in your life and not feel bad about it? Don’t you want—more than anything—not to feel disgusted with yourself and unhappy in your body and eat that piece of pie in peace? That’s not asking too much, and you can have that right now. How to Actually Enjoy Your Pumpkin Pie THIS holiday season, you just gotta try it the Nutritious Life way, and turn it into YOUR way. The Nutritious Life way means that you’re always working hard at living your most Nutritious Life. Most of the time, it has you feeling good about your food, fitness, and wellness choices. There are things that are super easy for you to do (i.e. have your favorite salad at lunchtime) and there will always be areas you need to work a little harder on (i.e. getting yourself to the gym before work). This is normal, and you don’t beat yourself up for not being “perfect.” You just keep trying and improving. Are you working hard on all of your nutrition and wellness work 90% of the time? Good for you! If you’re truly doing great health and nutrition work 90% of the time, you should be… enjoying dessert, a glass of wine, or a savory treat a few times every week. These are what I call conscious indulgences. What is a Conscious Indulgence? A conscious indulgence is a planned treat that you add to your lifestyle only because it’s delicious, makes you happy, and is a part of being an empowered eater. So put that Nutritious Life hat on and change your thinking. Empowered You is now contemplating that same pie and thinking, “I cannot wait to eat a peace (pun intended) of my favorite pie! I’m going to savor every bite.” Empowered eaters can have their cake, pie, chips, or french fries and be satisfied once they’ve eaten it, rather than triggered to want more and more. This mindset reduces stress over food because there’s nothing illicit about the gravy. You planned on eating it. This is the Nutritious Life way—a mindset—deliberate, planned and empowered. Try it out. You’ll see that you’re really proud of your good work and savoring and enjoying your conscious indulgences, and the negative brain power is a forgotten memory. You’ll continue to reach your weight and health goals. Farewell to the Frustrated Old You. You like this You much more. Have a healthful and fabulous Thanksgiving (to make it utterly spectacular check out my healthy Thanksgiving menu). Enjoy your holiday and your conscious indulgence.
