4 Reasons NOT to Go On a Liquid Cleanse Diet
Q: What are your thoughts on doing a liquid cleanse diet? A: I’m a fan of a cleanse diet. However, I’m not a fan of a liquid cleanse diet. It’s hard to feel empowered when you’re drinking your breakfast. And your lunch. And your snacks. And your dinner. . . I need to chew. You? I prefer a real food cleanse diet. I believe in eating whole foods to fuel and energize your body. Eating proper portions of fiber rich, high antioxidant foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and also eating lean protein and healthy fat, will give you the results you want for your health and weight for the long term. You don’t need to go to the extreme of liquid cleansing to achieve this. Yep, as boring as it may sound, eating healthy foods as part of an overall balanced diet is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. 4 benefits from a real food cleanse diet for a few days include Now, there are exceptions to every rule. I may green light a liquid cleanse for a specific situation or condition such as an individual needing to recover from GI distress. Sometimes bowel rest can be helpful to get a client back on a healthy track. Very infrequently I may have a client who needs something extreme to break a cycle and get to a new starting point on a healthy diet and a food cleanse isn’t an option because they’re overwhelmed by the prep (simple as it may be) or really resistant to alternatives. But, 99% of the time I recommend a whole, real solid food cleanse, not a liquid cleanse. Here are 4 reasons why I don’t like a liquid cleanse diet: Steer clear of liquid cleansing. If you want to take your healthy diet up a notch and give yourself a nutrition boost and weight loss push, try one of my real food cleanses!
Don’t Sabotage Your Diet By Eating Late At Night
Ask Keri: Is it bad to eat past 7 or 8pm?And will eating late at night ruin my diet? Keri Says: Maybe you worked late last night and needed extra fuel. Or you had a dinner date across town that didn’t start until 8:30 p.m. Or you had 10 errands to run before you made it home to whip up dinner. Whatever your reason for eating late at night, (whether it’s your actual dinner or an after-dinner snack) the good news is that your body does not have a built in calorie clock. The bad news is, this doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want whenever you want. You knew this bad news already, so no surprise there. Your body processes and manages caloric consumption over many days, weeks and months. It’s not the exact time you stop eating that’s most important. It’s about not eating more calories than you need and about eating the right types of calories. I don’t advocate counting calories. Keeping your calories in check is going to be a result of eating whole real foods, consistently through the day and listening to your body. If you are a late sleeper, you may start your day at 10:00 a.m. and have dinner later than 8:00 p.m.—that’s potentially okay. If you eat breakfast within and hour and a half of rising and eat consistently through the day your lateish dinner may be perfectly acceptable. And if you’re an early riser, your dinner may be at 5:00 p.m. and an 8:00 p.m. nutrient-dense snack may be just what your body needs. The problem isn’t necessarily what time you’re eating dinner, it’s that most calories eaten after dinner are additional calories that you don’t need and they’re usually the wrong types of calories. Cheese fries sound familiar? Nibbling post dinner or eating late at night is commonly mindless eating due to a habit, boredom or other emotional eating. Regardless of the reason, it’s generally additional calories you don’t need. When you eat late at night you’re usually also missing out on the break to the digestive system that we could all use. Even if you’re not an intermittent faster, most of us could still benefit from a 12 hour fast. If you eat your dinner at a more traditional time, but find yourself still hungry later on, you need to be aware of the why you’re hungry. Did you not eat consistently throughout the day? Did you get in adequate protein throughout the day? Was your dinner well balanced and proportioned? Is your stress level off the charts? Are you eating healthy foods and an overall healthy diet or are you shoveling in mostly highly processed foods? Reflect on your day, and as a rule of thumb, you should fuel your body with healthy snacks or meals every three to five hours. It’s a better guideline than the time on the clock. If you find yourself walking to the kitchen but you shouldn’t really be hungry, check in with your emotions, tweak that night time routine and go for a cup of herbal tea instead. If you’re starving because it’s 3:00 a.m.? Go to bed!
What Yo Yo Dieting Does to your Body and Why the Holidays are a Trigger
You’re officially familiar with yo-yo dieting if you’ve ever said something like this more than once: “I want to be X pounds by Christmas.” “I want to wear my size X dress to the holiday party in 3 weeks.” “I refuse to get rid of my smaller belts because I know they’ll fit when I get back to working out this spring.” All of these quotes come from actual clients of Nutritious Life founder and celebrity nutritionist, Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN. They’re familiar, or at least very relatable, to so many of us who work hard to lose weight, only to have it creep back on (plus a few more pounds), to then again buckle down to lose again, gain again, lose again… sigh. We can all agree this is a really frustrating cycle, and there’s no more dreaded time for this challenging head/body game than the holiday season. And here we are, in the thick of the season, trying once again to figure out how to lose weight. But between the lingering Halloween candy, the leftover Thanksgiving pie, and the endless Christmas cookies, you’re exhausted from the overload of constant hard choices you have to make—eat it, don’t eat it, eat just a little, skip it altogether, ok have a nibble, cut a whole piece, no wait a half piece, maybe if I eat it fast enough it won’t count, get it away from me because if I see it I’ll eat the whole thing, can I have just a taste, darn I can’t believe I ate that, ugh my pants are getting tight… Have you ever said or thought these things? Same here. So obviously losing and gaining weight messes with your head, but did you know that yo-yo dieting really messes with your body, too? What Yo-Yo Dieting Does to your Body Hormonal Havoc Extreme dieting, including severe calorie restriction and dramatic dietary changes can increase the hormone cortisol, which wreaks havoc on your health—to the tune of increasing your risk of developing certain diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Yikes! There are tons of evidence that people who live the longest, with the best mortality rates, are those who are constantly eating slightly less than they need to be satisfied, and who maintain a low body weight for their height. This is, in part, due to hormonal actions being optimized. If the caloric restriction is too severe, hormones don’t work as efficiently and health is compromised. You can see this as nutrient deficiencies that pop up with symptoms such as dry skin, brittle hair and nails, and poorer immune functioning. The bottom line is that seriously decreased caloric intake negatively affects hormones that you need for good health. RELATED: What to Eat for Better Balanced Hormones Metabolic Meltdown Here’s the deal: if you over-restrict your calories, your body responds by slowing down your metabolic rate, or your ability to burn calories. It also causes muscle loss. The truth of the matter is that yo-yo dieting doesn’t appear to permanently ruin metabolism, but the process of losing muscle (which is what your body uses for fuel when there isn’t enough food calories coming in) is damaging to your wellness. You need your lean body mass to support your bones and keep you fit, strong, and burning calories, so don’t compromise it by breaking it down to use for fuel! A word about exercise too, here: Try reframing your view of exercise as a way to lose weight and think of it more as maintaining your lean body mass (which helps with weight loss). This will help keep your brain focused on your fitness, and feeling fit is a great motivator to say no thank you to the second helping of those not-so-healthy side dishes. Nutritional Neglect Extreme weight loss is hard on your vital organs, including your brain, heart, liver and kidneys. These organs need carbohydrates and calories to do their jobs. Without enough nutrition, these organs are at risk for damage. Severely decreased calories can also lead to nutrient deficiencies, which, in prolonged states, may cause damage to bones, skin, and immune functioning. Do yourself a favor and don’t cut out all carbs or fats. Reduce ‘em, (the “bad” ones), yes. But eliminate a whole food group entirely and you’ll end up back on that whole yo-yo dieting cycle again, guaranteed. RELATED: Why Healthy Fats Don’t Make You Fat How to Get Out of the Yo-Yo Dieting Cycle Rather than dramatically reducing calories, or dropping all fats or carbohydrates, try eating a little less of everything at every meal and snack, so that you’re ‘satisfied’ rather than ‘full’ in order to get and keep a healthy weight. Eat a balanced diet and choose clean, healthy foods. This is something Keri always stresses when she has her clients gauge their appetite using the hunger quotient (HQ). Of course, implementing all 8 pillars of living a Nutritious Life will keep you off the yo-yo cycle too. So, to summarize: rather than binging on candy, mashed potatoes, latkes, or fruitcake through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Christmas, and then sticking to 600 calories a day for the next two weeks, choose to eat a little less all the time, and strategically place your indulgences. This is easier said than done, but it can be done. Stay focused, consistent, and patient. Listen to your body telling you it is “slightly satisfied” and “slightly hungry”. And plan for your indulgences. Yo-Yos are toys for kids—they’re not how you should manage your weight. This holiday season, choose to focus on your healthiest goals and your weight will find its perfect place. Learn More About Nutrition and Wellness Love nutrition and wellness, and want to immerse yourself even more? Our Become a Nutrition Coach certification course gives you a solid foundation in nutrition science, plus techniques for coaching clients so you can share your knowledge and earn an income, if you choose to. (Or, you can use the information for
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)
Brilliant Female Entrepreneurs Share Their Number One Tip for Getting Ahead
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Can Food Journaling Really Help You Lose Weight?
Q: Can food journaling really help me lose weight? I despise it and never seem to stick with it. A: You know I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Of any kind. But, this bad news (for all of you despisers out there) isn’t too bad. You may even turn into food journaling lovers by the end of this blog. Food journaling can be your weight loss secret weapon for a whole lotta reasons, and it’s been around since, well, forever, for good reason: it works. So just like you may not love flossing routinely, you do it because it’s good for you and you want a pretty smile too. Need more specific reasons than that to break out a new food diary? Here ya go. 3 Reasons Why Food Journaling Can Help You Lose Weight Accountability.Whether it’s a drill sergeant friend, your nutritionist or simply your sturdy Ticonderoga pencil keeping tabs on what goes in your mouth, accountability works. Food journaling is definitely one way to be accountable either to yourself or to whoever is reading them. One study showed that keeping a food journal doubled a person’s weight loss. It found that the best predictors of weight loss were 1) how frequently food diaries were kept and 2) how many support sessions the participants attended. Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records at all. Another study showed that the more food journals people kept, the more weight people lost. So basically those that maintained focus, diligence, and consistency with journaling were rewarded with fitting into smaller pants. Also, if you’re working with a dietitian or health coach, you’ll get a lot more out of that partnership if you’re sharing all your food deets. The good, the bad and the in between. Putting it all out there will help your nutrition guru help you. Food journaling can be kinda like getting a new gym membership and a fresh pair of kicks…you’re all excited to use them for the first few weeks, but when the novelty wears off, often so does your motivation and consistency. You gotta find a way to get comfy in your new kicks, even after they’re not new anymore, and realize that the more they get broken in, the better you might look in your LuLus. Honesty. Always a good thing, right? Food journaling keeps you honest – even if it’s just with yourself. When I ask clients about a typical a day of eating, I often get this for an answer: “I eat really well, not sure why I’m not losing. I eat a couple eggs for breakfast with a slice of whole grain toast, a kale salad, usually a few nuts for a snack and pretty balanced dinner of some kind of protein and usually a little rice or potato and a salad.” When I have them write down every detail, and I mean every detail, it goes something like this: “Two eggs prepared with butter and a drop of cheese. Slice of toast and two bites of my son’s waffle. Kale salad with dressing and parmesan cheese (I usually skip the cheese though), croutons and chicken. Three handfuls of nuts, diet soda and three bites of my daughters chocolate chip cookie (it was her friend’s birthday)…” You get where this is going. It’s easy to think you eat super clean but until you really hammer it out on paper, you often unintentionally don’t even realize just how much (or in some cases how little) you’re eating. Honesty and food journaling is always the best policy. Besides, your waistline is terrible at keeping secrets. Growth.Growth in all areas of life is always good idea. When it comes to weight loss, health, and food journaling, food journaling can be a wise sage that guides us in a new right direction. Food journaling allows us to reflect and analyze. What worked? What didn’t work? And, finally, how can I improve what I’m eating or the behaviors and habits I’m exhausting? There will come a day when you’ve nailed your diet and you don’t have to spend time food journaling anymore. That’s the ultimate goal, right? But there also may come a day when you need to go back to basics and clean things up again, and food journaling is the first thing you should turn to. It’ll be like riding a bicycle. It’ll feel familiar and easy even if it’s been a long time, and you’ll quickly remember how great it feels to have that wind in your hair…in a smaller pair of shorts.
What Yo-Yo Dieting Actually Does to Your Body
Yo-yo dieting sounds something like this: “I want to be 130 pounds by bikini season.” “I want to wear my size 4 dress to the bridal shower in three weeks.” “I won’t get rid of the size small belt because I know it will fit when I get back to working out.” All of these quotes come from actual clients of mine, but chances are they sound awfully familiar to you or someone you know. You work hard to lose weight, only to find it creep back on with a few extra pounds to boot, to then again buckle down to lose again, gain again, lose again, gain again. You have your fat jeans and your skinny jeans, you have your handy rice cake and boiled chicken repertoire on standby, and you’ve bookmarked all your favorite drop-weight-fast workouts on your laptop for when it’s time to get serious. You’re a pro at this. Now, here you are trying to figure out how to lose weight, yet again. But, honestly, between weekend pizza you can’t seem to nix and the bag of candy that speaks to you every day at 3 p.m., you’re exhausted from constantly having to choose whether or not to deprive yourself. Eat it, don’t eat it, eat just a little, skip it altogether. OK, have a bite, cut a whole piece. No, wait, a sliver. Maybe if you eat it fast enough with your eyes closed, it won’t count? Ugh, you can’t believe you ate that! You already know how losing and gaining weight messes with your head, but do you know how yo-yo dieting messes with your body? What Yo-Yo Dieting Is Actually Doing To Your Body Whoa, hormones. Yo-yo dieting, including severe calorie restriction and dramatic dietary changes can increase the hormone cortisol, wreaking havoc on your health. It increases your risk of developing diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. There’s tons of evidence that people who live the longest are those who are constantly eating slightly less than they need to be satisfied and maintaining a low body weight for their height. This is, in part, due to hormones being optimized. If you restrict your calories too severely, hormones don’t work as efficiently and your overall health becomes compromised. Nutrient deficiencies pop up and you may end up with dry skin, brittle hair and nails, and a crappy immune system. The bottom line is that dropping too many calories messes with your hormones, which messes with your health. Metabolic meltdown. So here’s the deal: if you over-restrict your calories, your body responds by slowing down your metabolic rate, or your ability to burn calories. It also causes muscle loss. Yo-yo dieting doesn’t appear to permanently ruin metabolism, but the process of losing muscle (which is what your body uses for fuel when there aren’t enough calories from food coming in) is never anyone’s goal. You need your lean body mass to support your bones and keep you fit, strong, and burning calories. So don’t compromise it by breaking it down to use for fuel. Here’s a new way of thinking: don’t exercise to lose weight, exercise to maintain your lean body mass (which helps with weight loss) and to keep your brain focused on your fitness. The more fit you feel, the more motivated you’ll be to skip dessert. Eliminate eliminating. Extreme weight loss is hard on your brain, heart, liver, and kidneys. These vital organs need carbs and calories to do their jobs, and without enough nutrition, they’re at risk for damage. Severely decreased calories can also cause nutrient deficiencies, which in prolonged states can damage bones, skin, and immune functioning. Bottom line: Reducing carbs and calories is fine. Cutting them out completely is not. If you eliminate a whole food group entirely, you’ll end up back on the whole yo-yo dieting cycle again, guaranteed. Say no-no to yo-yo. Rather than embarking on a ridiculous 1000 calories a day diet or ditching all carbs for good, solid research promotes eating a little less of everything at every meal and snack in order to maintain a healthy weight. Learning to feel “satisfied” instead of “full” is key to ending that up and down cycle. Eat a balanced diet and choose clean, healthy foods. Learn how to gauge your appetite by learning about your hunger quotient (HQ). And, plan for your indulgences. It’s easier said than done, but it can be done. Be focused, consistent, and patient.
3 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Microbiome
When you think of health and wellness, you probably think of how much you weigh, what you eat, and how much you exercise…NOT your microbiome. Your micro-what?! Your microbiome, which is a fancy word for the bacteria living in your gut (and in other spots all over your body, like in your mouth and on the skin). But you should! Yep, believe it or not, there are trillions of different kinds of bacteria living in your GI tract. We used to think these teensy-tiny bacteria were only connected to digestion and nutrient absorption, but they have a far greater impact on your overall health than originally believed. Over the past several years, scientists have found that gut bacteria affect how we feel, how much we weigh, and how well we can fight off infections. So yep, your microbiome may not sound sexy, but it certainly contributes to how sexy you feel. 3 things you didn’t know about your microbiome: Your microbiome affects your mood If you seem to always feel tired, sluggish, or just in a funk, it might be time to look inward—and by inward I mean your GI tract. Your gut bacteria influences chemicals (dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin) that send messages in your brain. Interestingly, these chemicals are actually produced in the gut and delivered back to the brain. These chemicals are super important because they help relieve stress, control your mood, and raise alertness. They’re also linked to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. So, if your gut bacteria becomes imbalanced, it can cause a delay in the delivery of the chemicals to your brain and ultimately result in an altered mood. Bottom line, a happy gut = a happy you! Your microbiome influences your weight If you can’t lose that stubborn extra weight and you’re doing everything else right, it might have something to do with the bacteria in your gut. Research shows there are both “good” and “bad” types of bacteria located in your GI tract. When the bad bacteria outnumber the good bacteria, the imbalance can silently wreak havoc on your body and cause it to store excess fat. Some contributors to this overgrowth of bad bacteria include overuse of antibiotics, chronic stress, and a low fiber diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. The good news is there are simple things you can do to increase the number of good bacteria in your gut! Eat a high fiber diet, from whole food sources, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts. Some of my favorites are buckwheat, quinoa, beans, broccoli, raspberries, apples, figs, pears, avocados, and almonds. Incorporate foods that are considered a “prebiotic”. Prebiotics are a type of fiber that feeds the good bacteria. These nondigestible or partially digestible fibers are found in bananas, garlic, asparagus, sunchokes (aka: Jerusalem artichokes), leeks, and onions. Incorporate a probiotic! “Pro”-biotics are different than “pre”-biotics. Probiotics are good bacteria that can be naturally found in fermented foods. Probiotics are often thought of as packaged supplements, and while they can be, you can also get probiotics through food sources. The most common probiotic food is yogurt, but probiotics are also found in other fermented foods such as cheese, kefir, sauerkraut, pickles, tempeh, and miso soup. I recommend adding as much of these foods to your meals as possible or start taking a probiotic supplement daily. Your microbiome develops your immune system Believe it or not, 75-80% of your immune system resides in your gut. However, this hasn’t always been the case. Babies are actually born with a bacteria-free gut since the womb is a sterile environment. Once you’re born, your gut bacteria starts taking shape and you begin to build your immune system. You’re exposed to bacteria on a daily basis. Whether it be in the air you breathe, the food you eat, or simply by wiping your eyes or nose, you come in contact with bacteria. Your body is amazing in that it fights off the bacteria and remembers how it did it. Therefore, the more exposure you have to bacteria, the more diverse your internal ecosystem and the stronger your immune system becomes. I think we can all agree that the body is a complex system. But would you ever have guessed the bacteria in your GI tract play such a big role in your overall health? If you’ve never given much thought about the trillions of little creatures hanging out in your gut, try incorporating some probiotic foods, a probiotic supplement, and more prebiotics foods on a daily basis. You just might realize you’re happier and healthier and may even lose a pound or two! (Image: Shutterstock)
How to Become Slim and Still Enjoy Summer BBQs
When it comes to striking a balance between having the body you want and oh, that thing we call enjoying life, many people get stuck in a conundrum: how to become (or stay) slim and still have F-U-N. One of the reasons so many people end up being yo yo dieters is because they feel they have to give up their social life (and for that matter life) in order to drop a few lbs. A little FOMO later, they throw in the towel. But there is a better way. I promise. Learning how to incorporate healthy eating without sacrificing your life is KEY to long term success, and happiness! No matter what is being served, who you’re with, and where you are, you can make good food choices – or at least the best possible choices for the given situation. Once you learn how to do this, you’ll finally be able to answer the question of how to become slim and still maintain a social life. And, you’ll be living proof you know what you’re talking about. Many of my clients find the summer in particular to be the most challenging time of the year to eat clean. Friday nights scream for happy hour Rose, Saturday afternoons are synonymous with lobster rolls and chips and guac and Sundays become decadent Fundays before you’ve finished your first bloody. This year, let’s do things a little differently. How to Become Slim and Still Enjoy Summer BBQs Have a filling food before you go. I always say “ruin your appetite” – eat a snack that provides satiety so you don’t get to the BBQ famished. And don’t “hold out” ! NOT eating all day in prep of a big BBQ is the worst thing you can do. You’ll slow down your metabolism and end up eating fast and furious, likely consuming double the calories of what you would have had you just eaten regular meals throughout the day. Two slices of fresh turkey or an apple with 2 teaspoons of peanut butter can go a long way pre-partying. Assess the situation when you arrive. Sometimes your whole attitude going in can make or break your cocktail party/BBQ experience… If you see spinach dip when you walk in you may think (even subconsciously), “It’s all over, there’s nothing healthy here, I might as well go hog wild…” Then you notice chicken skewers, shrimp cocktail, crudités. Be patient. Check out the scene. You can usually pull together a perfectly proportioned meal in what appears to be the most indulgent scenario. How does a plain burger with pickles and grilled veggies, crudités and an ounce of cheese sound? Hold out on the first drink when you arrive. Try to skip that first drink and grab a glass (or Solo cup) of water instead. When you’ve downed your first beer before you’ve even said hello to your hosts you’re probably off to an overindulgent night. You’ll end up consuming too many calories from alcohol and the alcohol will most likely cause you to consume too many calories from food. Slow down. Hydrate. Sip. And, then have a glass of water between each drink. Fill your plate one time. Have you ever gone back for thirds? I bet if you’d filled your plate one time with 6 ounces of meat you probably would have been satisfied. But going back 3 times for 3 ounce portions somehow is barely satisfying you. Take a serving of meat, chicken or other vegetarian protein that is being served (bbq chicken or fish is usually the leanest option) and then fill the rest of your plate with the healthiest options available such as grilled vegetables, roasted corn, tomato slices, pickles and salad. Enjoy what you put on your plate and then be done. Stop and go enjoy the people (not the food!) around you. Be prepared at home. Have you ever been really “good” and drank seltzer at a cocktail party, nibbled on crudités, had a bite of a chicken skewer and then gotten home and ATTACKED THE REFRIGERATOR? Often we make the mistake of thinking “I already ate” when our belly is still truly hungry. So, you begin picking and picking and you’ve soon you’ve consumed 1000 calories of who knows what from your refrigerator and pantry. Make sure to have a mini meal ready for when you get home if you’re going to a party where you won’t eat a “real” meal. It can be as simple as sliced turkey and frozen vegetables or chickpeas sautéed with olive and spices and tossed over bagged lettuce. So there you have it. Learning how to become and still keep your summer weekends jam packed with BBQs is all about being prepared before you go, making the best choices while you’re there, and setting yourself up for success when you get home. Happy bbq’ing.
3 Incredible Benefits of Coconut Oil
Just like we can’t remember a time pre smart phones, it’s almost hard to remember the days when the benefits of coconut oil were singular – a killer tan – and the only way we ate coconut was in the form of a colada or candy bar. We used to be afraid of fats in general and coconut has the – dare we spoke of – saturated fats. Fortunately, we smartened up and learned that some fats are healthy. And, then, we got even smarter and learned that even some saturated fats are healthy. While coconut is high in fat, the type of fat in coconuts is a good form of saturated fat, medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). Plus, many coconut products found in grocery stores today are not the same as the coconut products used in the past that were highly processed and/or loaded with sugar. Today, there are more pure and healthier options available. So, no, you can’t run out and grab a Mounds bar for your snack today, but you definitely should be stocking your pantry with loads of other coconut products. A breakdown of the coconut The white part, or meat, of the coconut is what gives us coconut oil and milk. When the meat is soaked and pressed, the liquid that comes out is coconut milk. Coconut oil also comes from the meat – it is extracted from the meat either by pressing or by using chemicals. Famous as nature’s sports drink, coconut water is the liquid found inside the coconut. 3 Incredible Benefits of Coconut Oil 1. It’s good for your heart Coconut oil is full of saturated fats and is solid at room temperature like butter or cheese. Normally, if a fat is solid at room temp, we think of it as more likely to be solid in your blood, which is generally linked to raising your bad cholesterol and increasing risk for heart disease. Not so in this case, so don’t get scared. One of the benefits of coconut oil is that the saturated fats help raise your good, HDL, cholesterol and lower triglycerides, helping to protect your heart. Remember, coconut oil has a similar calorie and fat count to olive oil. One tablespoon has 122 calories. I’m no calorie counter, but you can’t ignore this completely. You’ll want to replace other fats, like butter in baked goods or on toast or use in a stir fry instead of another oil. But, don’t go putting coconut oil everywhere with a heavy hand. It’s still easily over consumed. 2. Coconut aids in weight loss Another benefit of coconut oil is that it can help with weight loss because it provides satiety like other fats. In other words, it helps you feel satisfied. The MCTs in coconut oil are also readily used for energy versus being stored as fat like other types of fat. I always recommend a little bit of fat at every meal to help you feel full and for the health benefits. Again, just remember to swap out another fat, don’t just add this in. 3. Coconut is anti-bacterial One of my other favorite benefits of coconut oil is that it’s loaded with lauric and caprylic acid, both of which have antibacterial properties. These compounds play a role in preventing acne, boosting immune function and fighting infection. Lauric acid converts to monolaurin in the body helping to kill bacteria. On the skin, monolaurin creates a protective layer helping to fight acne. When buying coconut oil look for organic and cold pressed. Cold pressed means that no chemicals have come in contact with your oil. When buying milk look for organic, not from concentrate. You also want to read the ingredients list and make sure there are no flavorings or added sugar.
One Surprising Reason to Have a Healthy Sex Life
I talk a lot about having a healthy sex life and the benefits of sex, but today’s reason might surprise you. Did you know that having sex improves your sense of smell? After sex, there is a surge in the production of the hormone prolactin, which causes your brain’s stem cells to form new neurons in the olfactory bulb, also known as the brain’s smell center. Why am I talking about this? Well, you know I always support having a healthy sex life, because research shows it’s a best way to lose weight. And we know that how well you can taste your food is tied to how well you can smell. Research also shows that there are certain aromas that will actually curb your appetite. So, the more sex you have, the better your ability to smell these foods, the more weight you may be likely to lose! Now if that’s not a beautiful trifecta of benefits, I don’t know what is. How a Healthy Sex Life and a Better Sense of Smell Relate One study showed that strong aromas can cause you to grab a smaller forkful of food, so think chiles and onions if you need a little help in the not devouring-your-meal department. Another study found that the smell of bananas and green apple can actually curb your appetite, so reach for a whiff of these when you’re trying to lessen the amount of times you open the pantry door every afternoon. Licorice works well here, too. Grapefruit has been shown to lower appetite and weight. I love having my clients eat half of a grapefruit with cinnamon as a snack when they are cleansing or trying to lose weight. And here’s a fun fact: my mom started dinner every night with a half grapefruit on all of our plates. I have no idea why, and it had nothing to do with weight loss, but there is a special place in my heart for these citrus powerhouses. So, back to why I originally started writing this. You should have more sex. It’s part of a Nutritious Life, and there are so many other benefits we didn’t cover here today. Clients always raise their eyebrows when I ask them about sex in our nutrition counseling sessions but it truly does have a place in a nutritious life. I don’t want the private details – I want to know they are using it as a secret weapon to manage stress, burn some calories (sexercise, anyone?), and in the end, lose more weight. See, it’s not all about the food.
New Years Resolutions Start Today
I’ve never been a big fan of new years resolutions. Even though I love that google search histories are dominated by “healthy dinner ideas” and “healthy snacks” and “how to eat healthy” around the new year, by February the healthy eating novelty often wears off and January’s healthy searches are replaced with “weight loss supplements” and other quick fixes that aren’t part of a healthy diet or a healthy life. And don’t even get me started on just having willpower to lose weight every January. I believe we should be working on improving ourselves daily, and that we don’t need a holiday date to begin self-improvement work. However, there is something to be said for taking a minute to reflect on the past year and take action moving forward. That I am down with. There are many “rules” to follow in life but looking ahead at a new year, there is one rule I would like to focus on: be responsible. It translates into your personal, professional and social life in a proactive and productive way. We don’t need a million guidelines. There shouldn’t be a hundred messages telling you how to govern yourself as you navigate the world. Moving through life with the mantra ‘be responsible’ should cover you in most situations. As we approach the New Year, it’s a good time to revisit the simple message of being responsible and perhaps use it as an alternative to your usual new years resolutions that never seem to last into spring. New Years Resolutions the Healthy Way: 1. Be responsible for your health. Make choices that keep you accountable to your physical, mental and emotional health. Find a way to be responsible when you are indulging and enjoy yourself with a thoughtful recognition of your actions with food, exercise and well being. Make and keep your doctors’ appointments, schedule regular dental check-ups and be proactive in eating empowered by keeping your refrigerator and pantry responsibly stocked with healthy foods. 2. Be responsible in your environment. Take a New Year’s minute to look at the space you spend the most time in. Do you love your home? Is your bedroom a sanctuary? Are you proud of the desk you keep and spot where you relax? No? Then take some action and make the spaces you live in spaces you love. Take ownership of improving your world you live in so that you can feel good about your choices. 3. Be responsible in your love. Release some oxytocin, the love hormone that is responsible for managing your stress and negative feelings. While sex is a great way to release oxytocin, there are plenty of G-rated ways to do it, too: cuddle more puppies, hold more children’s hands, hug your loved ones. You deserve to have a year that is full of feelings of being loved, so take responsibility for it by incorporating a little love into each day.
