5 Healthy Reasons to Eat Chocolate (as if You Needed Them)

High-quality dark chocolate also comes with plenty of health benefits, meaning you can think of it as more than just a decadent dessert.

4 Reasons Why It’s Hard to Lose Weight in the Fall

You spent the whole summer on point with your wellness routine, and you’re determined to not let a single extra pound sneak onto your frame now that it’s fall. But you know what happened last year. (Five—or more—pounds crept on, are we right?) So why is it so hard to lose weight in the fall? And what can you do about it? We’ve rounded up 4 reasons why it’s hard to lose weight in the fall, plus some dietitian-approved tricks for how to combat the oh-so-infamous holiday weight-creep.  1. Marketers are really good at what they do. All summer, we’re bombarded with reminders to stay accountable to our wellness goals. The swimsuit ads, produce-pushing recipes, and beach vacation plans motivate us to stay on track. It’s easy to choose the unsweetened iced green tea or pick up the light and refreshing salad for lunch when these reminders are in your face all season long. But then autumn comes along. The sweaters come out and rather than seeing Instagram posts of your friends’ toes on a beach, you’re seeing snuggly socks in front of a fireplace. Fall advertisements push comfort foods, hot sweet drinks, and pie. Lots of pie. Don’t fall for the slick fall marketing! Stick to what you know works for you all year round, making simple substitutions here and there, but without too much deviation from the Hot Girl Summer track you’ve been on. PRO TIPS:  Instead of summer berries on your morning yogurt, toss in some diced apples.  Go for an ounce of cheese on a high-fiber cracker with a thin slice of pear instead of the harvest Danish you might otherwise grab in a fit of fall-foodie desire.  Don’t swap your morning oatmeal and walnuts for a pumpkin muffin—add this healthy pumpkin pie spice to your oats instead.  RELATED: Healthy, Gluten-Free Morning Glory Muffin Recipe 2. Holidays overstay their welcome. Doesn’t it seem like the candy jar is just emptied from Halloween and you’re already cooking your Thanksgiving bird? Do turkey leftovers feel like they linger into Christmas and you’re still eating Valentine’s chocolates when Easter rolls around? Sometimes it feels like a big blur of holiday foods, sweets, treats, and free-for-all buffets from Halloween until Easter. It’s hard to lose weight in the fall (and winter) when you’re surrounded by holiday foods and festivities. PLAN FOR THIS. PRO TIPS: Decide how you’re going to handle the holidays before each one creeps up on the calendar. Our reco? Start planning now, because you know how quickly the holidays creep up. Consider doing a gentle food-based cleanse in early fall. It’s a great way to reset your habits and energy before the holiday swirl begins. You’ll go into the season feeling refreshed, in control, and already on track. Learn more about our 5-Day Nutritious Life Cleanse here. At Halloween, allow yourself five pieces of candy. Eat them all at once, or one per day, it’s up to you! At Thanksgiving, make a no-leftovers rule (except for Grandma’s cranberry sauce or this cranberry relish).  Whatever your plans are, tell them to a buddy so they can help you stick to it! 3. Coats and sweaters do a great job of hiding things. Maybe you’re thinking that nobody can tell you put on a few pounds because you’re layered up and coated in outerwear. And it’s true—maybe they can’t see it, but YOU can. Knowing you’re carrying extra weight may make you feel lousy and less fit, and it can definitely mess with your head. PRO TIPS:  Keep yourself in check by actively not hiding. Keep one item you feel great in (maybe a pair of summer shorts or a dress or a swimsuit you’d typically hide away in the fall) some place where you can see it all year long. Try your special summer article on from time to time to keep yourself honest. Maybe even wear it underneath your long johns to remind you there is no hiding from yourself.  Or, just go ahead and sit in front of that fire in your bikini. Yes, you can wear socks, and no, we won’t laugh.  4. Nobody wants to put Baby or pie in the corner. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: it’s no fun depriving yourself. There’s not a lot of immediate glory in not eating the caramel apple pie. Nobody is going to give you a prize for saying no to the mouth-watering pumpkin-spiced latte with whipped cream. You have to be your own biggest cheerleader when the treats are calling your name, and that’s not easy. PRO TIPS:  Instead of having that yucky deprivation feeling, focus on what you CAN have, and you’ll find great satisfaction.  You can have a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on your ricotta with diced apples.  Pumpkin (straight from a can, who needs to put in all that work?) can be a super healthful and delish seasonal ingredient in everything from soup to muffins to pancakes.  Even cocoa can be healthful if you indulge consciously.  RELATED: 6 Genius Ways to Use Canned Pumpkin Keep lacing up those sneakers every season of the year. Keep drinking the same green tea throughout the year and just add ice cubes when necessary. Keep eating the oats for breakfast and switch up whether they come out of the microwave or the fridge before hitting your mouth. Stick to what works, and learn to indulge consciously, rather than constantly. Cheers to a great fall and congratulations on preventing those five pounds from finding their way onto your body this season. Doesn’t it feel great? Make Nutrition and Wellness Your Career Learning about how food and nutrition support a healthy body and lifestyle is such a joy. Bonus? It’s something you can share with others… and make money while doing it. Our Become a Nutrition Coach course gives you everything you need to turn your passion for wellness into the career of your dreams. Request a sneak peek of our program today and

Will Counting Macros Help Me Lose Weight?

Ask Keri: I see a lot of people posting about counting macros. What exactly does that mean and will it actually help me lose weight and get lean?   Keri Says: Tracking what you eat can be a helpful tool for weight management, but there isn’t any strong research to suggest that counting macros will offer greater weight-loss results than other calorie-counting diets.  The same pitfalls of counting calories also apply to counting macros — it’s tedious, hard to sustain, and ignores food quality. You may know, I’m not a big calorie counting fan. Unlike some popular diets today, macro counting doesn’t eliminate or demonize a single macronutrient group. Fans of this diet approach argue that it provides flexibility, as you can still enjoy your favorite foods as long as they fit into your macro and calories goals (#IIFYM).  When you’re counting macros, you’re calculating and monitoring how many grams or calories you consume from three macronutrients (aka macros) — carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Specific target numbers will depend on sex, age, physical activity and weight and fitness goals, but the premise is the same — properly portion how much protein, carbs, and fat you eat each day and you’ll achieve your desired weight.   Counting Macros Lacks Evidence With any form of calorie restriction, you’ll probably see weight-loss at least in the short-term. But, there isn’t evidence to suggest that specifically monitoring macronutrients will provide greater weight-loss benefits. A 2012 meta-analysis of randomized control trials found that both low-carb and low-fat diets produced similar weight-loss results. Similarly, a 2-year clinical trial randomly assigned participants to four different reduced-calorie diets varying in macronutrient composition; however, they did not find any clinically meaningful differences in weight loss.  What macro counting does do is ensure that you’re consuming all three macronutrients — they all play a different and vital role in your health. But you don’t need to count macros to make sure you’re getting enough. What’s easier — just look at your plate!  Fill it up with healthy veggies including lots of greens, high quality lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fats should be enough to achieve a healthy balance.  Just be mindful of those portions.  Counting Macros is Not Sustainable Counting macros may not offer additional weight-loss benefits when compared to calorie-counting, but it probably will add additional stress. While there are apps and fitness trackers that can help you monitor your macro intake, it still requires a lot of legwork on your part. Calculating, planning, and tracking your macros every day can be time-consuming and difficult to sustain over time. Plus, monitoring your intake can promote an unhealthy obsession with food and induce stress and anxiety. Healthy eating needs to be fun and enjoyable if you’re going to stick with it for the long-haul.  Counting Macros Ignores Food Quality While this dieting approach takes macronutrients into account, it still ignores essential micronutrients and overall food quality. Eating 100 grams of carbs from bagels, chips, and cookies will not provide the same health benefits as eating 100 grams of carbs from whole grains, vegetables, and fruit. Research shows that quality, not just quantity, matters when it comes to your diet’s impact on your overall health. One randomized controlled trial found that participants gained weight on an ultra-processed diet and lost weight on an unprocessed diet — even though the diets were matched for calories and macronutrients.  So what you are putting in your body matters. Not all calories are created equal. The Bottom Line There’s nothing magical about this diet approach aside from creating a calorie-deficit and ensuring you’re consuming all three vital macronutrients. And, really, what’s so magical about that? For many, calculating and monitoring macronutrient intake will just cause unnecessary stress and be difficult to maintain.  Rather than putting stress on yourself to track every bite you take, focus on eating whole, unprocessed foods and listen to your hunger and fullness queues, which will naturally produce a healthy weight and provide essential nutrients for overall health.   

10 Amazing Healthy Food Options at Baseball Stadiums Across the Country

From rooftop-grown veggies at Fenway Park in Boston to poke bowls at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

How Visualization Can Change Your Life (and Weight)

By Patricia Moreno For a long time, I felt so much fear that I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my dreams and struggled with weight fluctuations, depression, drug use, and feelings of anxiety about my life. Then, I learned to harness the power of my mind, exercise my brain, and strengthen the power of my relationship to my word. After more than 15 years of using various techniques on myself, my family, and my community of students, the amazing results people experienced piled up. My students lost pounds, overcame life-threatening health issues, healed their hearts, and quit unfulfilling jobs to pursue purposeful careers. I wanted to make this available to people worldwide, so I created The Practice, a personal transformation training that helps you develop the mental, physical, and spiritual muscle needed to create sustainable change. When you exercise your power to choose what you think, say, and do on a daily basis, you can elevate your mind, body, and life—one day at a time. The Power of Visualization Visualization is a great place to start. It’s one of the seven strategies I use in The Practice, and it’s something we’re doing all of the time. I’m just teaching you to control it. It can work for any daily challenge, including weight loss. RELATED: Can Food Journaling Really Help You Lose Weight? Whenever you’re about to make a change, there’s always going to be a challenge. Otherwise, you would have already made the change. The biggest obstacle is the future you’re projecting in your mind. If you think something’s going to be hard, you’re already rehearsing it as hard in your  mind. Starting a diet, for instance, you imagine yourself feeling deprived and sad and missing out on all of these things you’ll never, ever, ever be able to have. This starts to weaken your willpower, and we do need to apply some willpower to make changes. RELATED: Why Self-Discipline is a Muscle You Should Start Flexing What you need to do is visualize each challenge and rehearse yourself succeeding at it, just like an elite athlete before a game, including the outcome. Say you’re following a certain meal plan and you’re going to a family party. You know it’s going to be challenging because you love your mom’s cooking, but it doesn’t fit into your current plan. Close your eyes and literally walk through the event. See yourself going through the challenge as your best self, feeling empowered and positive. I’d imagine myself saying “Thank you, mom, for doing this. Everything looks so amazing. I’m going to pass this time because right now I’m really developing a new level of self-discipline, but I can’t wait for next time.” And then rehearse your mom’s response. Instead of her being upset or hurt that you’re not eating, rehearse your mom saying, “I’m so proud of you. I’m going to support you in this. If this is really what you want, I’ve got your back.” Whether that actually happens or not, what you’re doing is saying, “This is my intention. This is the way I’m going to see it. Instead of putting rocks in my backpack before I set out, I’m going to lighten my load and be on my own team.” Yes, your brain might protest and say, “My mom would never say that!” But that’s the voice of someone who is using an excuse not to put in the effort. We give up our power by blaming other people, the circumstances, the event—all of these other things. If you’re giving someone else or something the power, you don’t have the power to change. Visualize your own power. About Patricia: Patricia Moreno—a Guest Expert for The Nutrition School—is all about helping people awaken their inner bad-ass by combining practices that exercise mental, physical, and spiritual muscle so they can live a life of Thinner Peace. She is the creator of the intenSati method, and her secret recipe is the integration of mind, body, and spirit and the deliberate development of self-love and self-mastery. Sign up for her new 12-month transformation training program, The Practice, here.

Should You Drink Water While Eating?

Ask Keri: I’ve heard it’s a bad idea to drink water while eating. Is this true? Keri says: Hydration is one of my favorite topics, and I encourage you to be sipping on H2O as often as possible—that includes water during meals. Read on to find out about the basics of digestion, the three most common myths about drinking water or other liquids during a meal, plus the benefits of drinking plenty of H20. How Digestion Works As you likely know, digestion starts in the mouth. As soon as food enters the mouth, it signals to the salivary glands to produce saliva. Within saliva are enzymes which start breaking down the food to make it easy to swallow. The food then travels down to your stomach and gets mixed with gastric juices that break it down even more. The next stop is the small intestine where digestive enzymes from your pancreas and bile from your liver enter the process. The food is broken down even further, readying the nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream. 3 Myths of Drinking Water While Eating The misconception that you should skip fluids while you eat comes from some flimsy theses. Here we take a look at three of the myths surrounding drinking water with a meal and the science that debunks them. Myth 1: It Hampers Your Digestion There are claims that drinking water while eating can affect your digestion by diluting the acid and digestive enzymes your digestive tract uses to break down food. That, they claim, can prevent your body from absorbing nutrients properly and lead to bloating. RELATED: How to Stop Bloating in 5 Easy Steps But that theory is not supported by research, and even if we did find out there was some truth to it, the benefits of drinking water during meals would far outweigh that effect. (More on that later!) Myth 2: It Negatively Affects Saliva Production Water isn’t the only liquid claimed to affect digestion. Some people argue that drinking acidic drinks, such as alcohol, with meals dries up your saliva, which in turn makes it tougher to digest food. While it’s true that alcohol does decrease saliva flow, it’s the higher alcohol concentrations found in hard liquor that are mostly responsible for this. There’s no scientific evidence that a glass of wine or beer with dinner (when consumed in moderate amounts, of course!) will negatively affect digestion. Myth 3: Liquids Speed Up Stomach Emptying This argument claims that drinking water or other liquids with meals will ramp up the rate at which food is moved through your digestive tract. This is thought to cut down on the time the food comes in contact with stomach acid and digestive enzymes, thus leading to poorer digestion. While this sounds feasible, the truth is that liquids have no effect on solids in the digestive process. While liquids obviously do pass through the digestive tract quicker than solids, studies have shown they don’t impact the digestion speed of food and how quickly it empties from your stomach. Benefits of Drinking Water While Eating Now that we’ve dispelled the three major myths surrounding drinking water and other liquids during a meal, let’s dig into the benefits of drinking while eating. Here we go: Water Aids Digestion Not only does drinking water with a meal not hinder digestion, it actually helps it. Water (and other liquids) help break down food so your body can better absorb the nutrients you’re eating. Water Helps Prevent Constipation Drinking water with your meal helps to move food through your digestive tract smoothly and softens your stool. So your water intake could actually prevent bloating and constipation. Score! Water Helps Curb Weight Gain Research has shown that water during meals can help curb weight gain by preventing overeating. (We’re talking about a couple glasses; don’t get so excited that you start chugging from that Swell bottle pre-dinner.) RELATED: Does Drinking Water Lead to Weight Loss? Finishing off a glass while you wait for your steak salad to show up? It turns out, that may cause you to feel full sooner. In one study, adults who drank water right before digging into dinner lost more weight than those who didn’t. Other studies have shown that stopping for sips slows down the speed at which you eat, causing you to eat less overall. Eating at a slower speed allows you to check in with your hunger signals and usually makes a meal more enjoyable. And we all know enjoying what you eat is a big part of maintaining a sustainable, balanced diet. Drinking Water Before, During and Between Meals: The Bottom Line Finally, did I mention I LOVE talking about the overall importance of hydration? Drinking enough water throughout the day is associated with weight loss, improved moods and energy, and better skin. With all that going for it, it definitely makes sense to keep it up before, during, and between meals. More Reading Feeling Dehydrated? Here’s How to Hydrate Like a Boss (Image: Shutterstock)

Is Drinking Vinegar for Weight Loss Effective?

Vinegar is a product of fermentation that has been linked to everything from treating illnesses to cleaning furniture to detoxing. Here’s what you need to know about what it can really do for your healthy diet.

Why Bad Words Can Make You Fat

Sayings like “having willpower”, “eating in moderation”, and “guilt free” are thrown around all of the time. They’re generally thought to help you, to guide you in the right direction when it comes to eating healthy. But rather than empowering, inspiring, and helping you achieve your health goals, what if I told you that this “inspiration” might actually be sabotaging your valiant efforts towards becoming your healthiest self? These terms—dare I say “bad words”—are used…overused…even abused! And they can be detrimental when it comes to supporting your weight goals and even your happiness. For my clients, I find that these terms are too vague, are negative energy, cause them to think about and focus on unhealthy foods even more, and at some point, put them in a losing situation. While these words don’t have to be completely thrown out of your vocabulary, it’s important to realize how even simple words can have a huge effect on your health. Why Bad Words Can Make You Fat

How to Overcome a Weight Loss Plateau

How rewarding is it when you set out to lose weight and it actually works?! In the beginning, you set your mind to it and the weight started to come off.  At first the weight dropped off steadily, and then there probably was a little weight loss plateau, but then you felt better than you had in a while, and the success from dropping the first few pounds helped you keep at it. Now, you’re really getting to your goal, when all of a sudden you feel stuck with those last few pounds. Sound familiar? In the beginning, it was easy. You may have started by cutting out what you knew was keeping the weight on . . . the soda, the office muffins, the extra slice of pizza . . . and your body responded, which motivated you to keep going. When you hit that little weight loss plateau you started pulling back on portions (even of the healthy stuff), drinking more water and switching the sandwich at lunch for a gorgeous salad. Go you! You’ve been doing everything right. You feel great. You are almost there. You are almost there. You are almost there. What the *$&%@*?! Those last lingering pounds aren’t budging. Maybe they’re just there to mess with your head? What’s the deal?   How to Overcome a Weight Loss Plateau   Diet trumps exercise in weight loss. I struggle when I have a client a few pounds from his or her goal weight who is so fixated on the number on the scale that nothing else matters. I always tell them not to give that number too much power. Easier said than done? I know. To lose weight, the most important thing is to change your diet. However, especially when those final few pounds won’t budge, you also need to take a really close look at other pillars of your wellness. Let’s focus on exercise and stress here. Exercise: Sometimes you’re feeling fit, your clothing is fitting better than ever but the scale wants to show 148 pounds, instead of 145. If those 3 pounds simply must come off, you may need to pull back on the spin classes, heavy strength training or swimming and head over to a low and slow treadmill workout or a yoga or barre class to meet your number goal. Intense exercise, like spin and boot camps can build muscle, which is dense and adds to the higher number on the scale. Let’s not forget though, that changing up your routine in this case is just to accomplish that number goal! You may actually feel better at 148, so maybe this is a good time to assess if 145 still is the goal. Another thing to consider, is that we all have a set point, which is the weight our bodies tend to hover around naturally. You don’t get to choose your set point (boy, wouldn’t that change the world!), but with hard work you can lower it. It will take time. Not days. Not weeks. But months and months of consistent work. Finally, instead of yelling profanities at the scale every morning, try measuring your waist, thighs, hips, arms and chest, or get a body fat analysis to see how you’re doing. Your scale has feelings too. Stresssssss Is there more to those three pounds than diet and exercise? Is it possible that you’re fighting your biology with mixed goals? If you’re like too many people, you’re living a busy, stressful life. You’re also trying to live a healthy life. Those two things don’t always work together so well. When you’re stressed, your body produces adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that make it harder to lose weight. Your heart may feel racier and you may find yourself craving junk, thanks to sabotaging hormonal effects. Look honestly at your stress and how you’re managing it. It’s just as important as your diet and exercise. What will help YOU manage your stress so you can kick those few pounds to the curb and also boost your health? Try one of these stress reducing methods daily: meditate for 10 minutes a day, take a long shower or bath nightly, or read a book instead of getting back on your computer before bed. Of course there are more than a couple reasons (age, sleep deprivation, hydration, medications, yo yo dieting history…) why you’ve hit that weight loss plateau and those few extra pounds may be lingering, but exercise and stress are two biggies that are super important and often overlooked. Good for you for getting sooooo very close to your goal. Tweak and refine what is already working for you by switching up your exercise and ditch the stress. And if it’s any consolation, we think you look great;)   Tried it all, but your weight still won’t budge? Learn why your hard work isn’t paying off and how to re-channel your energy to lose the weight. Check out my e-book: Why Can’t I Drop the Weight?    

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.

Why You Should Stop Counting Calories

Ask Keri: If I eat 100 calories of jelly beans, isn’t that the same as eating 100 calories of another snack like turkey and avocado? Keri Says: There’s a reason why people say “a calorie is a calorie.” In all fairness, a calorie is a calorie in its most simple form. And for years, it was drilled into our heads that counting calories was the only way to lose weight. Calories are a measure of the energy generated from food once inside the body, and they abide by a simple law of physics: energy in minus energy out equals weight loss or gain.  This is true both in a test-tube and in tightly controlled weight-loss experiments, where people are basically locked-up and fed exactly the same number of calories from different types of diets. Time and again, subjects will lose roughly the same amount of weight, regardless of whether the calories come from low-fat, low-carb, or diets somewhere in between. However, this is far from the complete story. The human body is quite complex and there are many factors at play at all times. Hormones, emotions, cravings, and even our social schedule influence the amount of calories we consume and how our body processes them. So, I’m going to explain why 100 calories of jelly beans is not the same as 100 calories of fresh turkey and a slice of avocado. Stay with me. Why You Should Stop Counting Calories If all calories were created equal, many of us would choose to live in a land of gummy bears and Swedish fish. But food isn’t made up of calories alone. Let’s go back to those jelly beans. The only nutrient jelly beans provide is sugar. Sugar does nothing good for our bodies and actually does a whole lot of harm. During digestion, sugary treats stimulate the hormone insulin to be released. Insulin is good in the way that it helps cells uptake nutrients we eat, but it also inhibits the breakdown of fat and encourages the creation of it when we take in those excess calories. Translation: if we don’t need those jelly bean calories they’ll be turned to fat—fast. This spike in insulin and blood sugar also causes us to feel hungrier sooner, which likely means our hand goes right back into the candy bag and pops another 100 calories in our mouth before we’ve had time to even think about it. And the last nail in the coffin for living on calories from sugar alone is that we will actually die from it. Seriously… sugar alone would eventually kill us. We need nutrients, vitamins, and phytonutrients that real whole foods provide to fuel all bodily processes. Now, a portion of turkey and avocado can also provide the body with 100 calories. But, these calories are loaded with protein, fiber, healthy fats, iron, zinc, B vitamins, and many other vitamins and minerals our bodies needs to perform at an optimum level of health. These nutrients help with body processes from building muscle to improving energy to boosting the immune system to helping prevent cancer, heart disease and a whole host of other benefits. Guess what else these calories do for us? They help to keep you satisfied and full—so we aren’t as likely to go back for seconds—and they keep fat storage hormones in check. By helping to control blood sugar, our insulin release is more stable and we release less fat storage hormones. So, the important takeaway is to watch your total calorie intake, but most important is to eat whole, real, unprocessed foods. And, don’t forget to read the ingredient list of any packaged foods you do eat to get the full nutritional picture. Jelly beans can never replace the nutritional benefits provided by consuming whole, real foods—even if you eat the same amount of calories. Alas, a calorie is not a calorie!

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.