Thursday, October 4, 2012

5 tips for getting more sleep

May these sleeping puppies
 inspire you to go to bed.
We have all heard that we should sleep at least eight hours a night.   However, most of us function with some level of sleep deprivation.  I, too, have a long history of being sleep-deprived, so this post is as much of a reminder to me as it is for you.

When we are well -rested, we make smart decisions, feel emotionally balanced, and feel ready to face the world.  It turns out that we are also healthier. Here are a few things about sleep and health outcomes that you may not know (research compiled by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care):

Obesity:
Several studies have linked insufficient sleep and weight gain.  One study found that people who slept fewer than six hours per night on a regular basis were much more likely to have excess body weight, while people who slept an average of eight hours per night had the lowest relative body fat of the study group.

Diabetes:
Studies have shown that people who report sleeping fewer than five hours per night had a greatly increased risk of having or developing type 2 diabetes.  Studies have also shown that improved sleep can positively influence blood sugar control and reduce the effects of type 2 diabetes.

Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension:
A recent study found that even modestly reduced sleep (six to seven hours per night) was associated with an increased risk for heart attack and heart disease.

Immune Function:
Several studies suggest that sleep deprivation may decrease the body's ability to fight off infection.

The Common Cold:
In a recent study, people who averaged less than seven hours of sleep a night were about three times more likely to develop cold symptoms than those who got eight or more hours of sleep when exposed to the virus that causes colds.  And those who got better quality sleep were the least likely to come down with a cold.


So, knowing all of that, how do we get more sleep?  Here are five tips.

1) Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning.  This will help your body set an internal clock and help it understand that it's time to sleep when you go to bed.

2) Go to bed before 11pm.  There is evidence to show that our bodies create a new "awake cycle" at 11pm and that it's more difficult to fall asleep after that time.

3) Create a regular evening ritual. You want this ritual to signal to yourself that it's time to get ready for sleep.This could involve turning off your electronics and turning down the lights an hour before bed or cuddling up with a book and some herbal tea.

4) Avoid caffeine in the evening.  It can interfere with your ability to fall asleep at bed time.

5) Do something relaxing before bed.  Try taking a bath or doing some restorative yoga before bed to relax your muscles and your mind.


Have you had success in getting 8 hours of sleep a night?  If so, I'd love to hear about it. Write below or shoot me an email! And good luck getting those ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz's.











Thursday, September 20, 2012

Exercise: A little bit's better than nothing

September, for me, is a month of chaos.  

New schedules begin, a slew of commitments I've been talking about all summer suddenly materialize.  I have a slew of new students, clients, and artistic projects.  There are less daylight hours.  Staying grounded and sticking to an exercise schedule can be very difficult.

So, today's post is a little reminder.

All studies show that even a little bit of exercise will improve your health.  That walking 10 or 20 minutes a day actually is VERY beneficial compared to not being active at all.  

For most of us, this is a difficult way to think.  We want to get back into the best shape of our lives.  We feel like the choices are either work out like a fiend or not work out at all.  The truth is, not exercising at all is terrible for your health.  

So, your mini goal is to remind yourself to get little bits of exercise during the day.  Take the stairs.  Take a walk during your lunch break.  Move your body in some way.


And if you need some pointers, here's a link to 10 ways to increase your daily physical activity, one of my earliest blog posts.  

If you've found some success incorporating small amounts of physical activity during the day, I'd love to hear about it.  Either post here or email me.  

Sunday, September 9, 2012

You got questions?

My dear readers,

Do you have topics you'd like to see covered in this blog? Which posts have you particularly enjoyed and would you like to see more of?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Tips for playing well with others

If you're working to build a healthy relationship with someone else, be it a partner, a friend, a family member, or a coworker, you might notice that the path is fraught with bumps and detours.  For today, let's talk about the four relationship destroyers (as defined by Dr Brad at the Daily Worth):


criticism
             contempt
                             defensiveness
                                                    disengagement

Hugs never hurt, either.
If you really look at your behavior, you will note that at least one of these nasty little guys creeps in upon occasion.  Here's a quick set of tips for consciously cutting the relationship destroyers out of your life.

1) Notice when these nasties creep up on you.  Is it when you feel threatened?  When you don't get what you expect? When you're running late?  During breakfast?  When you didn't get enough sleep?

2) Ask yourself why you default to this behavior.  What is it about the situation that particularly brings these out?

3) Create a scenario in your mind where you are put in one of these aggravating situations.  Now imagine yourself responding in a different way.

4) Take action.  Instead of following your same old script the next time you're in that situation, consciously choose a different response.


Choosing a different response and creating new habits will not happen overnight, but if you can work to change your behavior consistently, you will find that the relationship in question improves significantly.

Any other ideas for changing negative behavior in your relationships?  Share below or shoot me an email.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Your mission: Eat really well for one week and pay attention to how you feel

In the spirit of my last post about how pleasure reinforces good habits, this week's simple step to wellness is about focusing on enjoying eating well and the pleasure that brings.

For one week, eat food that is healthy, fresh, and delicious. Don't count calories or worry about portion sizes.  Just eat good food and enjoy it.




This includes:

lots of fresh vegetables and fruits

whole grains like quinoa, wild rice, millet

Eat protein with little or no processing.  If you eat meat, buy your meat at the farmer's market or from a butcher.  If you don't eat meat, eat fresh, clean dairy and eggs. Sprouted grains are the best way to get protein if you are vegan.  Stay clear of soy products unless they are fermeted (like tamari or tempeh).

Unsweetened (or very lightly sweetened) beverages

Lots of water

Homemade treats made with good ingredients   (now's the perfect time to experiment with that home made creme brule recipe you always wanted to try!)



For this week, notice how your body feels before, during, and after your meals made with whole foods.  As you eat, slow down.  Notice how good the food tastes and really ENJOY EATING.  If you need some recipe tips, check mine out here.

Try this for a week, and let me know how it goes.  Happy eating!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Sticking to your healthy habits: Focus on Immediate Pleasures

Jumping up and down on the beach looks fun. Good idea!
I recently read this article on the 99U, reinforcing that most people don't stick to healthy eating habits or an exercise routine if the only thing they are focused on the long term benefits of those things.

If you want to stick to your exercise and healthy-eating habits, one of the best things that you can do is focus on the immediate positive experiences while you do them.   Notice how great it feels to take that fantastic yoga class with the teacher that you love, or how sumptuous it is to eat a healthy brownie or homemade granola.

In fact, the reason that most people eat junk food, and why obesity is such an issue in this country, is really due to the fact that we like the immediate pleasure of consumption.   The more you focus on the immediate pleasure of making healthy choices instead, the more you're likely to stick to them.   This shift in focus will both help you be present in the world and will also help you feel the short term benefits of making healthy choices.  It can also lessen the overwhelming, unattainable, feeling that we often have when we think of long term goals for ourselves, and generally just makes us happier.  (And who doesn't want that?)


Here are some of my own ideas for enjoyable healthy activities to enjoy this summer.

Taking a long bike ride at sunset.
Biting into the summer's ripest fruit
Sweating during a nice workout at the gym
Resting your mind and body during a yoga class
Hiking to the top of a mountain
Enjoying an active and fun sex life
Eating a delicious homemade treat
Picking berries with a friend

Now, you.  Name one pleasurable, healthy activity that you are going to do this week and happily enjoy!





Thursday, July 26, 2012

7 tips to improved body image

Following up on last week's post, Stop Being Mean to Yourself, I wanted to share a few concrete ideas on how you can get out of your head about your body image.  The more you can integrate your mind and your body, the better you will feel.  In the spirit of being healthy physically AND mentally in this image-obsessed culture, here are a few ways that you can feel good about your bod.


1) Stop using the mirror
Go a month without using a mirror, and notice how it makes you feel.  (If you're paranoid, Ask a housemate or a co worker that you trust to be on duty to tell you if you've got green stuff in your teeth.)  There's a great article about this here at whole living magazine.

2) Stop counting calories and weighing yourself
Instead focus on exercise, eating healthy, and taking good care of yourself.   Pay particular attention to how good those things make you feel.

3) Wear clothes that make you feel good
They need not be expensive.  (I get most of mine at thrift stores and at clothing swaps.)  Ladies, I'd like to recommend this fantastic blog, Already Pretty, which focuses on dressing for your body type and feeling good in your own skin.

4) Have more sex
Enjoying your sexuality is a GREAT way to feel good in your body.  I recommend listening to the Savage Love Podcast for tips on how to enjoy your sexuality.   Get playful with your partner or get a new toy for yourself.  You'll feel better, really.

5) Go outside
If you live in a city, go to the park.  If you live in the country, go for a walk in the woods.  Being a part of the world will help you get out of your head.

6) Cancel your magazine subscriptions
Celebrity Magazines, fashion magazines, fitness magazines, and even yoga magazines are usually photoshopped to make the models look skinnier.  Even if you enjoy the articles, the images can worm themselves into your mind, making you think that you need to look like that.  I recommend finding bloggers you like instead. I love this post at fit and feminist, where the author recommends that we stop paying attention to celebrity culture because it only encourages us to objectify our own bodies.

7) Spend time with the people you love
People who feel connected to their community lead happier, longer lives.  If you're feeling crappy about yourself, call someone who you really like and make a date with them.


Have you had success in reducing your judgement of your own body?  I'd love to hear about it! Please share either here or by email.






Thursday, July 19, 2012

Stop being mean to yourself

I went to an event last weekend where not one, but three of my female friends casually talked about parts of their bodies that they thought didn't look good.

Look, I get it.  I'm not immune to this way of thinking at all.  I'm a dancer.  I've spent my life in front of mirrors scrutinizing my body in an attempt to get it to perform better.  I've also recently had a baby, so I can criticize the shape of my abdomen all day if I let myself.  For all of us, and women especially, It's easy to look at your (insert body part here) and think bad thoughts.

But, honestly, these thoughts aren't healthy.  We don't need them.  Most of us who have these self-loathing thoughts would never be so mean to someone else.

Unfortunately, this way of thinking is everywhere in our culture, and reinforced in lots of subtle and not-so-sublte ways.  In the documentary Miss Representation, the film maker poses the question, "What would happen if everyone who spends time worrying about how their body looks instead spent that time improving the world?"  A good question, indeed.

So I'm wondering if today we can just all decide to stop.  I mean, really.  Just stop being a jerk to yourself.  And I promise I'll stop being a jerk to myself, too.  Okay?

In the spirit of being a healthy person, take care of your body.
Exercise.  Eat healthy food.  And stop being mean.


Thursday, July 5, 2012

5 ways to eat less junk food

All it takes is a little creativity & creativity.
1) Go cold turkey, and have a plan
Going cold turkey might be for you if you're not good at moderation or self-limiting. If you just decide that you are completely going to stop eating junk food, make sure that you have a snack plan.  Are you going to eat fruit instead? Other great options are homemade snacks, healthy crackers, or nuts. You can also try drinking water.


2) Don't keep junk food in your house
If it's not in your home, you (or your housemates or family members) won't go to it as a default.  Again, it's helpful here to have healthy, replacement snacks for when you need to nosh.

3)Ban the vending machine
If you tend to eat the majority of your junk food at work where there is a vending machine, make a rule for yourself that the vending machine is off-limits.

4) Learn how to make your own sweets & savories
Make a rule for yourself that the only snacks you're allowed to have are ones that are home made.  In my household, we've spent several years cultivating our cooking skills.  Instead of boxed cookies and crackers, we now eat homemade granola, homemade cocoa and mocha, lots of fresh fruit and yogurt, homemade fruit & nut bars, fresh whole-grain banana bread, nuts, cheese, homemade coconut-date rolls, house made oat squares, homemade dips, and healthier no-bake cookies.  (I promise to post more of these recipes soon!)

5) Buy snacks that are minimally processed
If you know you aren't going to cook and you want some healthy options for snacks, you can still buy them.  These options are certainly more expensive than regular junk food, but they're also more satisfying and filling.  Great options for savories are Mary's Gone Crackers, Dr Kracker, crispbread, nuts or sprouted bread.  For sweets, fresh fruit and dried fruit are excellent options.  Organic Dark chocolate is low in sugar and has health benefits if eaten in moderation--great brands are green & black, taza, Theo, Equal Exchange, and Scharffen Berger

Related Posts: Which Sweetener is best?, 6 ways to reduce your sugar consumption, 10 ways to reduce portion sizes


Friday, June 29, 2012

The basics: Want to lose weight or get healthier? Stop eating junk food.

And he wonders why he's not seeing results.
At the risk of saying something very, very basic this week...I'm going to say it anyway.

If you're trying to lose weight, or just trying to be healthier, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to cut out the crap.

I tend to write a lot about what TO eat, instead of what not to eat, because,  that wI find that way of thinking about making changes is the most effective.  But you can eat produce, healthy fats and good protein till the cows come home.  If you're still eating junk food, your health and your weight will suffer.

Junk food--even the salty kind--spikes your blood sugar and creates an irregular metabolism, causing your body to create insulin and eventually fat.  The sugar-free stuff is full of chemicals that your liver processes as toxins, impeding its ability to metabolize the food efficiently.  (These foods still cause your body to create fat, as well as cause all kinds of other health problems.)  We know for sure that eating junk food taxes your heart and your gut, and there is increasing evidence to show that eating it also taxes your brain.

We all occasionally have treats, but unfortunately the cycle that most Americans are on is a stress-eating cycle.  We are anxious, stressed, overworked, or underslept, and as a result we feel tired.  We "reward" ourselves for surviving the tough time or the exhaustion by eating garbage and calling it a treat.  The problem is that we do this every day or even multiple times a day.   Junk food is addicting, so when your taste buds and your stomach have some of it, they both crave more.  

A great goal is to wean yourself off sweets and junk snacks so that treats are just that--something special that you eat upon occasion (not even for once a day.)

Here is a basic list of things you should work to take out of your diet.

potato chips
corn chips
chip-like products such as cheetos
fried vegetable snacks (they are actually chips)
soda
diet soda
bottled drinks like sweet tea, energy drinks, etc
bottled juices and juice drinks
packaged cookies
most packaged crackers
microwaved popcorn
candy
candy bars
fruit snacks
packaged cakes like little debbies or twinkies
packaged pastries like poptarts or toaster strudels
packaged donuts and cakes from the deli like entenmenn's
most ice creams
packaged popsicles (even the juice ones are full of HFCS)
ice cream products (in the novelty aisle at the grocery store or from a ice cream truck)
cupcakes
muffins
donuts
fast food


Remember: the bulk of your grocery shopping should be done in the perimeter of the store.  You want to be buying the fresh foods, not the packaged ones.


Have you had success reducing the amount of junk food that you eat?  If so, I would love to hear how you did it!  Post here if you're comfortable, or email me.









Thursday, June 21, 2012

10 ways to hydrate in hot weather

Is this what your body feels like today?
Here in the Northeast, we've hit some scorching weather.  In order to take care of yourself in this heat, it is crucial that you hydrate.  You don't just lose water when you sweat, you also lose salts.

Although it's true that most Americans eat too much sodium through processed foods, salt itself is not inherently unhealthy. In fact, your body needs salt in order to function properly and in order to absorb the fluids that you are drinking.  When you are dehydrated, replacing salt in the body is just as important as replacing water.  (You don't need much, but you do need some.)

The important thing to remember is that if you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated.  In order to not get sick from the heat, you need to be replacing the fluid in your body at a rate faster than that of your thirst.

Here are some tips on keeping yourself hydrated and healthy during this heat. I recommend trying several of them in tandem.

1) Keep a big water bottle or pitcher by your desk
Most of us forget to drink water while we're working.  We get sucked into a project, and before we know it, it's 3 hours later and we're thirsty.  Nip this in the bud by preparing for your day with a big pitcher or bottle of water nearby.  This way you don't have to remember to get up.

2) Stay clear of caffeine.
Caffeine in coffee, tea, or soda will dehydrate you faster.

3)Drink Mineral Water or Seltzer Water
Mineral water often has naturally-occurring salts that will help replenish the electrolytes you've lost from sweating.  Although seltzer water doesn't have salts, I find that the bubbles  and flavor make it an easy way to drink more water.  Stay clear of sparkling water that has sugar added or zero-calorie sweetener.

4) Add fruit and a sprinkle of sea salt to your water
The salt will help you absorb the water faster, and the fruit will give your water a little flavor.  This can be done with lots of fruits (and even some veggies!) If you're new to this, try the following: lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, melon, mint, cucumber, celery, strawberries, pineapple, peaches, or experiment with your own.

5) Drink Coconut water (or add Coconut water to your water)
Coconut water has natural electrolytes which will allow you to hydrate faster.

6) Drink Herbal Iced Tea
Herbal Iced tea has no caffeine, and also no sugar if you can find a place that makes it from scratch.  Herbal iced tea is refreshing over ice, and can help you drink water faster.  (Insider tip: my friendly Starbucks Barista told me this morning that they can brew ANY of their herbal teas iced if you're willing to wait.  Booyah!)

7) Try drinking Ultima
We drink this in my house instead of sports drinks because it does not spike blood sugar, but still supplies the body with electrolytes.  We buy ours through amazon. (Subcribe & Save, baby!)

8) In a pinch, drink a Sports Drink
As you know by now, I believe that sweet things should be saved as a treat and that treats should not be consumed every day.  Sports drinks like Gatorade and Vitamin Water have TONS of sugar, and should also not be drank every day.  Consuming excessive amounts of sugar ABSOLUTELY leads to weight gain, obesity, and diabetes.  That being said, I do occasionally drink these.  The sugar is not good for you and the electrolytes are synthetic, but if the choice is a sports drink or passing out, the sports drink is a better choice.  If you must, use one of these drinks to get you through until you can get to one of the other options mentioned above.  Don't drink multiple of these drinks per day, as they are ultimately very bad for your health.

9) Eat Fruit
Naturally juicy with lot of healthy fiber.  Eating fruit will help your body get fluid naturally.

10) Eat Sushi!
If you like sushi, you're in luck.  The humid weather is the perfect time for eating soy sauce. The salt will help your body replenish electrolytes that it's lost from sweating.  So enjoy, but don't forget the water.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Strengthen Your Core

One of the best ways you can improve your regular workout is to add core strengthening exercises.  When done properly, core work can help prevent injuries, improve your posture, and even reduce back pain.  Contrary to popular belief, however, core work is NOT just about using your abs.  There are multiple muscle groups involved in order to do the exercises properly.

When doing core work, it's important to remember the following principles:

1) Use your pelvic floor.  The deep muscles of your pelvis support your organs and connect to your abdomen and your back.  When you are doing a core exercise, engage these muscles.  You'll know that it's working if you feel like you are doing a kegel exercise, or as though you are trying to not go to the bathroom.

2) Use all of your abdominal muscles by pulling them in.  There are several different kinds of ab muscles.  In order to use them in a way that strengthens your back and prevents injury, you want to feel your belly button pulling in toward your spine and feel the sides of your waist cinching toward each other.  It should feel like you are wearing a corset.

3) Use your Lat muscles.  These are the big muscles of your back.  You'll know that your engaging them if you can feel the muscles under your armpits engage and your shoulder blades feel wide and as though they are spreading apart.  Your whole back should feel wide and strong, and your shoulders should be sliding down your back.

4) Avoid using your shoulders and your neck.  These muscles should feel soft and relaxed while you are doing core work.  ( And most other exercises, for that matter.)

Here are Five Core Exercises that you can add to any workout.


Forearm Plank
Notice the excellent placement of his shoulders over his
elbows, the widening of his back and shoulders to
engage his lat muscles and the stomach pulling up away from
the mat.

Shoulders should be aligned right over elbows and legs should be straight and active.  Most beginners make the mistake of piking the pelvis up the ceiling.  Make sure the butt is dropped so that the spine is in one long line.  Hold this position as long as you can, andrepeat 3 times. 






Froggy Crunches
step 1: prep


Feet are together and knees are apart.  Hands behind head.  Start by engaging the back and sliding the shoulders away from the ears. Keep elbows wide. Pull your stomach muscles in and kegel as you curl the back up and away from the mat.  Head should be heavy in your hands.  
You should feel the work
step 2: curl up
 in your torso and in your back, 
not in your neck.  
Repeat 25-30 times.












                                         
                                         
Position 1: Long spine with abdomen active


Side Plank Hip Raises




Position 2: Use the sides of the waist to lift hips into the air
Come on to your forearm and cross the top leg in front of the bottom leg.  Lift your hips until your body is in one long line.  You should feel the sides of your waist active.  


   Press the hips up to the ceiling, and then lower them back to the straight body position.  Repeat 10-15 times on each side.










Single Leg Stretch
 
Alternate from one side to the other, coming back into table top each time.
An excellent pilates exercise for the obliques.  Lie on your back.  Use your pelvic floor and your abdominal muscles to lift one leg and then the other up into tabletop position.  Reach your arms up to the sky and then down toward your hips, using your lats to curl your upper body up.  Extend one leg long as you keep the opposite leg in tabletop.  Do not let your belly pooch as you extend.  Bring the leg back into table top and then repeat on the other side.  Repeat 10 times on each side.  (If this exercise hurts your lower back, extend the legs up to the ceiling instead down toward the floor.)







                                          Core Twist
Step 1: Scoop and Round the Spine back
Sit up, and press your feet firmly into the mat.  Clasp your hands out in front of your chest.  Tuck your tailbone, scoop your belly, and round half way back.  Keep your pelvis square and drill your sitting bones into the mat as you twist your torso (torso only!) from one side to the other.  This can be done with a 5lb or 8lb weight if you'd like more resistance.  This exercise can be done for speed.  Repeat 30-50 times, adding speed as you get stronger.  The most common mistake here is to move the hips as you twist the torso.  Don't let that happen.
Step 2: Twist from side to side
















A very special thanks to my amazing husband, Jack Rizutko, for modeling!



Thursday, May 31, 2012

Which Egg is best?

Eggs have gotten a bad rap over the years.  There are still a lot of people out there throwing out egg yolks or buying liquid eggs under the premise that they are healthier for the body than real, whole eggs.  Forgive me as I get geeky here for a moment, but I'd like to provide some context for the accusation of eggs affecting our health negatively.

Not surprisingly, much of the hubub around eggs and their bad-cholesterol-reputation are a bit political in origin.  In the late 1960's, there was a disagreement in the food science community about whether or not dietary cholesterol had a significant effect on the blood cholesterol levels. Some scientists were opposed to the very idea of it, while others believed there was a firm correlation.  After years of haggling, they came to a compromise and issued the following statement: That we should not consume more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day.  Unfortunately, there is not one bit of scientific evaluation in that number.  Eggs immediately were seen as a bad food, because one egg can have more than 200 mg of cholesterol.
Note the noncommittal word "can."
Better to eat the real thing.

However, we know a lot more about the science of cholesterol now than we did then.  What we know now is: what the body DOES with the cholesterol is much more important than the number of milligrams we consume.  And it turns out, the kind of fat and cholesterol in a food have a huge affect on how the body processes them.  After some scrutiny, it was discovered that the studies linking eggs to heart disease were using dehydrated eggs, which had been liquefied, pasteurized, and spray-dried, causing the cholesterol in the eggs to oxidize.  Oxidized cholesterol causes artery walls to thicken, thus the connection to heart disease.

When some studies were finally done on real, whole eggs in the late '90s, the results were clear.  Not only was there no evidence of a significant association between egg consumption and heart disease, but people who ate 5 or 6 eggs per week had a lower risk of heart disease than those who ate less than 1 egg per week.  After all of the hype, what we discover is that eggs are good for you.

With additional research, we also understand now that not all eggs are created equal. Chickens that are exposed to pasture, where they can eat grass, insects, grubs and worms, lay the healthiest eggs.  These eggs are dramatically denser than their counterparts in omega-3 fats, which prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and depression.


So, which egg is best?

The egg closest to the one you can get in nature.

An egg rich with all the healthy fats will have a yolk that is a deep, vibrant orange color.  In fact, the darker the yolk, the healthier the egg. 

If you have access to eggs raised on a pasture, these are the best.  If you live in a rural area, these are the eggs you get on a farm.  If you live in an urban area, these are the eggs that you can get at a farmer's market.

If buying eggs from a farmer is not an option for you, your next best choice is the egg is labeled high in omega-3s.  

The label "vegetarian fed" eggs is rather mixed news.  On the plus side, you know that your chickens have not been fed other chickens or any other random industrial meat product, which surely would not be that beneficial to you.  On the other hand, recall that chickens are naturally omnivores.  A vegetarian chicken has not had any exposure to the outside where it could possibly eat an insect.

Eggs to avoid? Those that have been dehydrated and gone through the oxidation process.  The government DOES NOT require labels to differentiate between eggs and dehydrated eggs.  A dry cake mix with the ingredient "eggs," for example, absolutely is using dehydrated eggs.  And those liquid egg products some folks use instead of the real thing?  Those have gone through a dehydration-liquefication process as well.  Any fast food joint serving eggs will be serving a processed egg product instead of actually cracking the real thing in the kitchen.

A malnourished chicken will lay an egg with a light yellow yolk.  I've purchased "organic" eggs at the grocery store that look like this.  And in that case, I'm the sucker.  I paid more for an egg that tastes bland and offers very little nutritionally.  


References in this post are mainly from the research in the book  Real Food, by Nina Planck




Thursday, May 24, 2012

Take a hard look at your exercise habits, part 2

As you're working toward being a healthier you, it's time to take another scrutinizing look at your exercise habits.  I've written before about setting a goal of between 3 and 7 hours per week.  Now's the time to take your regular routine and step it up.

How many hours a week do you really exercise? If it is less than 7, now is the time to look at your schedule and figure out how you can ADD one more hour of exercise to your regular weekly routine.

Remember, there are lots of options.  Just because you go to the gym twice per week now doesn't mean that your third hour of exercise needs to be at the gym. In fact, this is a great opportunity to try something new.

Reading this post may seem simple.  "Yes, Josie," I can hear you saying as you roll your eyes, "I know that if I exercise more I will be healthier."  I know you know that.  What I'm interested in is for you to DO IT.

Look at your schedule.
Make a plan.
Follow through.

As for me, I've started being experimental and taking some new fitness classes at the gym. What about you? How are you going to add an hour of exercise to your schedule each week?

Thursday, May 17, 2012

What the heck is Real Food, anyway?


As this blog goes forward, I'm going to be making a lot of references to "Real Food" as a way to make food choices.  While there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of blogs out there focusing on Real Food, many of them are for people who are already immersed in the real foodie culture, and some of the blogs are also religious in nature.  

What's compelling to me about Real Food is that the more science studies it, the more we realize that it is EXACTLY what we are supposed to eat.  People who eat Real Food have significantly less incidences of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.  People who eat real fats actually loose body fat.  (Yes, you can eat fat and lose fat, it's true.  You can also eat fat and improve your health.  But more about that later.)

My work as a trainer and in my own family has been simple.  I'm interested in how real food can help regular people.  So I'm always going to refer to this kind of eating in the baby steps approach, with the complete understanding that we are all living in the modern world, most of us work full time, and we are all juggling multiple commitments in addition to our desire to be healthy and lead a long and happy life.

Here is how I remember what choices to make.  

These are all real foods and healthy fats that
 I buy at Trader Joe's.  Organic Coconut and
Olive Oils, Grass-Fed Cheeses, and butter
 made from grass-fed cows.
Think of us as the omnivores and mammals that we are.  Before the industrial revolution, we spent thousands of years evolving next to our food. We foraged, we hunted, we grew our plants in dirt, we raised our animals on pasture. And as our food evolved and adapted, we evolved and adapted. If a food made us sick, we stopped eating it.  Like every other species, we evolved WITH our environment.  Our lifespans were shorter because we died of diseases and infections that modern medicine has since found ways to prevent or treat, but there was no diabetes or obesity.  As our food has been increasingly industrialized, so has increased our problems with weight gain and food related health.

So, when I'm making choices, I think "Is this a food that I could have eaten before our food was made in factories? Is this food that my great-grandmother could have eaten?" If the answer is no, our bodies have probably not evolved to eat it.


Food our ancestors ate: (depending on the culture)
Wild fish that ate smaller fish and plants natural to their habitat
Animals that got plenty of exercise, lived in the wild, or were raised on grass pastures
Milk and cheese from animals that ate grass
Lots of grains and plants and fruits and nuts
Sugar occurring naturally: in fruit, from trees, from bees
Naturally occuring fiber in plants
Fermented Soy
Fats that came from animals: grass fed butter, lard from pigs who foraged, eggs from chickens who ate grass and grubs, cheese from cows, sheep, and goats that have been fed fed on a pasture
Fats that came from plants: olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, peanut oil, chocolate


Foods that have been invented in the last 150 years: (or less)
Cultivated corn and corn products
Industrialized soy and soy products
Fish that have been fed cultivated corn and raised in cages
Poultry that has been raised vegetarian (on corn) and in cages
Large Animals that have been fed cultivated corn, and other animal parts, and raised in cages
Skim milk from cows that have been fed corn
Processed cheese from corn-fed cows
Processed fiber products
Fake Meat
Snacks that come in packages
Fruit juice that has had all the fiber removed
Refined sugar, candy, and soda
New animal fats: eggs from 'vegetarian' chickens, egg-product substitutes, butter from corn-fed cows, industrial lard from corn-fed pigs
New plant fats: crisco, margerine, palm oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, partially hydrogenated anything (that's the "trans" in trans-fat)


As we move forward I'll talk more about how to incorporate more Real Food into your life, and how to get rid of all that poser processed food that's been tricking you into thinking it's healthy.  Here is a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets (the ones made in a factory are the furthest from real food you can get) and here's a reminder about my great bacon and brussels sprouts recipe.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

10 ways to reduce portion sizes

"Eat food. Not too much.  Mostly plants."
--Michael Pollan

Today we'll be focusing on the "not too much" part.  Most of us enjoy eating, and most of us (especially here in the US) consume more food than we need. The fascinating thing about this is that eating more food than we need is something that often happens accidentally.  We can train ourselves to be satisfied with less. 

Please note:   This post is for people who regularly eat medium to large portions and who generally do not pay attention to calorie content.  If you are someone who has suffered from anorexia, body dysmorphic disorder, or have used other forms of extreme calorie limitation, this post is not for you, and you should seek help from a medical professional.

Here are some tips for those of you attempting to balance your health by eating smaller portion sizes.

Exactly.
1) Order the small
When you order any food out, always order the small size.  Sometimes even the 'small' is more than you need, and it's really appropriate to order the kiddie size. 

2) Keep the serving dishes off the table where you're eating
Research has shown that we actually eat less when we need to leave the table to refill our plates.  When the serving dishes are in the center of the table, and the post-dinner discussion lingers on, we will continue to nibble and consume more.

3) Don't clear the table until the meal is over
This is counter-intuitive.  We tend to think that seeing the remainder of the food we've already eaten in front of us won't affect how much we continue to eat.  It turns out, we eat more when the dishes have been cleared.  You'll notice that most servers at restaurants completely clear the table before they ask if you want dessert.   (Apparently, we humans have a pretty short memory.)

4) Don't eat in front of TV and Computer Screens
We eat more in front of screens.  We aren't paying attention to our food, to its taste, or to how much we've eaten.  Creating a general rule for yourself that screen time and eating time are separate will help you out.

5) Buy smaller dinner plates and bowls
Again, this is counter-intuitive.  We tend to think that if we get a smaller dinner plate, we'll go back more often for the same amount of food.  Not so.  Researchers have found that across the board, we consume less food if we eat it off of smaller dishes. (And to get really meta on this, test subjects who ate off larger dishes and who had been told the data about consumption thought that they WOULDN'T eat more.  They still did.  That means you do, too.)

6) Never eat snacks right out of the package; put them in a smaller serving dish instead
By now you've probably figured out that I'm not a huge fan of packaged snacks as a healthy choice anyway, but if you are going to eat them, don't eat them right out of the package.  You will eat less if you put the snacks in their own small dish.

7) Drink more water
It sounds so simple, but it really helps.  Make a plan to drink more water throughout your day and throughout your meals.

8) Add an extra veggie to your meal (as suggested here)
By adding an extra veggie to your meal, you're putting more vegetables on your plate and filling up with more of the good stuff.  Even better: serve the extra vegetable BEFORE the meal as an appetizer. 

9) Slow Down
Eat slowly.  Enjoy your food and savor its taste. Take breaks between bites (a great time for drinking water!)  Before you go get seconds, sit for a few minutes to digest and to feel if you're really still hungry, or if it's really your taste buds wanting more stimulation.

10) Be mindful when you are at parties or going out to dinner with friends
We all eat more when we are in larger groups of people.  It's helpful to have an action plan before the event. You don't have to order an appetizer or an extra cocktail just because you're out with friends.  Try sharing fewer dishes among the group or ordering a dish that is heavy on the veggies.

Much of this research came from the book Mindless Eating:Why We Eat More Than We Think, by Brian Wansink

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Tiny steps: Keep a journal

If you're journaling on paper,
a nice pen can really make writing feel special.
In a simple steps approach to improving your health and well-being, it's important to develop habits that not only support you physically, but support you mentally and emotionally as well.

Keeping a journal is one of the simplest steps you can take to support your mental and emotional health.  Like all of your other healthy habits, the most important thing about keeping a journal is finding a way that it fits into your life.  Some folks like to keep them online.  For me, I just keep one of those black and white composition books.

Journaling can help you organize your thoughts, increase your attention span, and help you focus.  It can also help you get out the mental clutter each day that's getting in the way of your productivity and preventing you from being your best self.

New to keeping a journal?  Here's a great way to start.  Decide whether you'll keep an electronic journal or a paper one.  Set aside a time each day, with no distractions, and write for three pages without taking a break to do anything else.  (If you're working online, that can be a real challenge!)

Things to remember:
*It's the habit of writing that's important, not the content of the journal
*Do not edit as you write.  This exercise really is about getting your thoughts out as they come to you
*Finding a quiet space with no distractions
*Resist the temptation in the middle of your writing to check your email or facebook.  You really are working to increase your attention span
*Choose a time of day when you know you can be successful.  (If you know that your morning is all about getting out the door, that's a bad time to try to journal.)


Give it a shot this week and let me know how it goes!


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Maximize Fat Burn, Minimize Boredom

Nope, watching him won't improve your workout.
Won't improve a lot of things, actually.
Are you getting tired of your regular routine at the gym?  Bringing yourself several times each week only to find yourself on the elliptical, AGAIN, watching Geraldo, AGAIN? Do you feel like you aren't getting the results you want from your workouts?

It's time to try interval training.  Interval training does two really great things to help maximize the effectiveness of your workout. First of all, it helps to keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone by changing exercises frequently and mixing cardiovascular work with strength training.  Second, it helps to keep your mind engaged in what you're doing so that you aren't just phoning in your workout.

Here is a very simple interval format, which should take you about an hour.  If you're feeling really geeky, get yourself a heart rate monitor so that you can follow your results.

Simple Interval Training Workout

6-7 minutes: warm up on the elliptical or treadmill

1 set of 10-15 reps of an upper body exercise
1 set of 10-15 reps of a lower body exercise
1 set of 10-15 reps of a DIFFERENT upper body exercise
1 set of 25-35 reps of an abdominal/core exercise

6-7 minutes on a DIFFERENT cardio machine than you warmed up with (great examples are bike, elliptical, treadmill, stair-climber, UBE, trampoline, or slide)

Repeat the above set of exercises, in the same order

6-7 minutes on a DIFFERENT cardio machine than you've used so far

1 set of 10-15 reps of a DIFFERENT lower body exercise than you've done
1 set of 10-15 reps of a DIFFERENT upper body exercise
1 set of 10-15 reps of a DIFFERENT lower body exercise
1 set of 25-35 reps of a DIFFERENT abdominal/core exercise

6-7 minutes on a DIFFERENT cardio machine than you've used so far

Repeat the second set of exercises, in the same order

Stretch for 5-10 minutes

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

6 ways to reduce your sugar consumption

I can't emphasize enough the importance of reducing your sugar consumption.   Eating less sugar will reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and being overweight.  Eating less sugar will stabilize your metabolism, help your gut create an environment for good bacteria and improve overall digestion.  Additionally, reducing your sugar consumption will greatly improve your mood.  As I wrote a few weeks ago, your ultimate goal should be to reduce your treats to less than one per day, but if you're currently a multiple-treats-per-day person, start with the goal of going down to one a day instead.

Indulged in a few too many cookies, did we?
1) Eat Grains or Veggies, Protein, and Healthy Fats for Breakfast
The easiest way to reduce your sugar cravings are to start the day off WITHOUT sugar, and without foods that your body turns to sugar.  That means choosing not to eat sweets or cereal (even the "whole-grain" kind) and instead eating whole foods that your body will digest slowly.  Examples of grains that make good breakfast are steel cut oats or quinoa.  This fast and easy steel cut oats recipe was just shared with me by one of my readers. Farm fresh eggs are also an excellent choice (pastured chicken with access to its natural omnivore diet is by far the best).  If you need to be quick in the morning, try making hard boiled eggs  or roasted vegetables ahead of time.   Great examples of healthy fats are unrefined coconut oil (you could add a bit of it into your jars of oats!), olive oil, sesame oil, or grass-fed butter.  The fiber in the grains or the vegetables combined with the healthy fat will give your body something to be satisfied on for several hours.

2) Replace Afternoon Sweets with Fruit
Try eating fruit in the afternoon instead of reaching for cookies or candy. If you work, this will mean bringing fruit choices to work with you, and being prepared to say "no" when someone else at work offers you junk food.  While it's true that there is natural sugar in fruit, it also has fiber, which helps to slow down your body's metabolism and improve digestion.

3) Keep a Big Bowl of Fruit on the Table at Home
While you're at it, buy more fruit than usual this week and keep it in a big bowl on the table at home.  When you roam to the kitchen foraging for a snack, let that fruit be your first option.  Although a couple of the pieces of fruit may go bad by the end of the week, that is much better than having not bought fruit and having eaten cookies and candy all week instead.

4) Eat Dark Chocolate
Eat real dark chocolate--72% or higher, and organic is best, up to three times per week.  Obviously, the chocolate REPLACES other sweets you might be eating, and moderation is key.  But really good dark chocolate, eaten in moderation, actually has health benefits.  You can also get benefits from Cocoa powder, which has no sugar in also naturally high in fiber.   (My most recent chocolate recipe is here.)

5) Stop Drinking Juice
Piggybacking on the soda discussion, Juice is essentially sugar water.  Unlike eating the whole piece of fruit, drinking juice has few nutrients, no fiber and is all sugar.  Find ways to drink less juice, either by diluting it heavily with seltzer, or by switching beverage of choice to iced herbal tea, milk, or water.

6) Go Homemade
A friend of mine has a rule in her home that the only time her family can eat sweets is when they make them.  If you are someone who tends to eat a lot of packaged cookies or cakes, this rule could really benefit you.  By making your own foods, you're likely to eat less of it. You can also control how much you make by choosing to make a half-batch or to give some of it away. And, when you make it, you control the amount and kind of sweetener in the recipe, and you actually have to exert physical effort in order to get the treat.  (Although the calories burned cooking certainly don't make up for the ones you'll be consuming, you will be getting more physical activity than you would have just grabbing a packaged treat.)

Friday, April 13, 2012

Try Something New!


One of the best ways you can make a workout more effective is to engage your brain. If your mind is bored while you're exercising, you will see less results and experience less benefits than if your mind is curious and interested in the process of moving your body.

As you take a hard look at your exercise habits and make a commitment to getting 3-7 hours of moderate exercise a week, choosing exercise forms that are interesting to you are going to be vital to your success in creating and sustaining good exercise habits.
Not the most effective workout.

This week, make a plan to try a new exercise form.  Even if you eventually decide it's not for you, the creative process of learning something new will engage your body in ways that your same old workout never will.






Not sure what you'd like to try? 
Start with one of these!



Yoga
Horseback Riding
Ultimate Frisbee
Zumba
Pilates
Dance Classes
Soccer
Baseball
Volleyball
TRX Suspension System
High Intensity Interval Training
Qi Gong
Tennis
Swing Dancing/Social Dancing
Hiking
Running
Tango

Salsa
Kayaking
Canoeing
Sailing
Skiing
Sledding
Ice Skating
Roller Skating
Roller Blading
Skateboarding
Windsurfing
Weight Lifting
Football
Swimming
Walking 
Trapeze
Aerobics
Gymnastics
Rock Climbing (or indoor Wall Climbing)
Nia
Jujitsu
Spinning
Tai Chi
Dance Party!




Thursday, April 5, 2012

Which Sweetener is best?

A question sent by one of my readers:


Lately I've been wondering about the healthiest sweeteners.  It seems like there are a lot of options nowadays--stevia, honey, agave nectar, probably some I've never heard of--and I don't know much about what is good for you, besides that good ol' Dominos isn't the best option.  I know that many artificial sweeteners can be carcinogens and I try to avoid them in general because of IBS as well.  


The best raw honey still has pollen in it.
Well, there are a few things you should know about sugar and sugar alternatives.


The first is, that one of the best things you can do for your health is to reduce your consumption of sugar.  One of the reasons that drinking less soda is so important--even if it's diet--is because the taste of sweet things makes us crave more sweet things.  You probably know this from your own habits.  If your breakfast is sweet, you're more likely to eat additional sugar throughout the day. Additionally, many sugar cravings come from not eating enough healthy fat.  If you are trying to eat less sweets, try putting more healthy fats into your diet and see if that helps to curb the cravings.


Don't get me wrong--we all eat treats.  But making it your goal to only eat them occasionally (as in not even once a day) will vastly improve your health and support your weight loss goals if you have them.


Secondly, if you do want to have sweet things, there are some healthier choices that you can make. You want to steer your choices toward the least processed sugars available. So, if you are baking, better to use raw honey, maple syrup, or molasses than white sugar. If you must use sugar, go for small amounts of the least processed one you can fine.  I use wholesome sweeteners or sugar in the raw if I must, but even then will often reduce the sugar in a recipe by half and it's still plenty sweet.  There are also several kinds of less processed sugars that I haven't tried yet--coconut sugar, date sugar. I haven't researched them that much because I just assume they'll be expensive, and if I can focus my energy instead on reducing the overall sugar content on the foods I prepare, it's a win-win.


Cinnamon and healthy fats slow down the blood sugar spike, and help prevent your metabolism from going crazy when you eat sweets.  For example, a home made creme brulle is a much better choice than a package of candy.  Other great dessert choices are stewed apples with cinnamon and cream or dark chocolate (the higher the % cocoa content, the less sugar).  Stay clear of sweets that have been made in a factory.  Again, remember that dessert is a treat, not to be eaten every day.


Ground whole leaf stevia, which is green in color and not white, is an excellent choice for sweetening.  It is much sweeter than sugar and should be used sparingly, but no adverse effects have been found with it.  That being said, I'm a believer in moderation for everything.  You can buy green stevia at Mountain Rose Herbs.


Agave nectar is a highly processed sweetener that is all fructose, and unfortunately is not a better choice than sugar.  (I know, they had me fooled for a while, too.)











Thursday, March 29, 2012

Take a hard look at your exercise habits


This week, I'm asking you to take a hard look at your exercise habits.  You should be getting 3-7 hours of moderate exercise each week.

You might know that people who exercise regularly reduce their chances of emergency room visits and of overall medical intervention.  People who exercise lead longer, happier, healthier lives.


If you aren't exercising regularly, it's time to look at your schedule and make some changes.  A 3-hour-per-week goal is a great start.


It's time to add 3 hours a week.
Consider the following:

First: What kind of exercise do I really enjoy, can I do easily, and can fit into my budget?
Be realistic and choose an activity that is easily attainable to you.

Then: How can I fit 3-7 hours into my schedule each week?
Remember that unlike playing video games, watching movies, or hanging out with your friends or your kids, you aren't going exercise accidentally.  YOU NEED TO PLAN IT. 

Lastly: How will I hold myself accountable and be consistent?
It can help to share your exercise plan with a friend, a family member, or a coworker and ask them to help you stay on schedule.  

Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

5 ways to reduce your wheat, gluten, and flour consumption

Nope. It really doesn't.
The science is still not complete on gluten, flour, and wheat. The gluten-free industry is huge right now, and there are always big food companies trying to make a buck on a new trend.  GF products are no exception.

What I will say is the following: the more research is done on the subject of food, the more we find that humans best digest the foods that we evolved WITH.  When we deviate far from these foods, we tend to get sick.

If you were to map out our history as a species, we really have only very recently started eating refined carbohydrates.  Incidence of digestive-based disease increased after the invention of steel-rolling mills, which greatly reduced the fiber content of the flours we were using, and also allowed us to invent white flour.

So, while I don't think that everyone should go flour, wheat, or gluten-free, I do think that most of us could stand to reduce our consumption of these things.  And if we go back to that concept of balancing your metabolism for optimal health, you'll find that refined carbohydrates cause large spikes in blood sugar, just like sugar does.

Here are some ways to reduce your consumption of refined carbohydrates.

1) Use vegetables instead of pasta
Admittedly, this takes a bit of experimentation, depending on the recipe.  My husband and I have gradually done this over time.  When we make shrimp scampi, we make it with kale instead of pasta.  We make meatballs with brussels sprouts instead of spaghetti.

2) Try sprouted bread
Sprouted grains are easier to digest and provide much more fiber than a bread made with flour.  I have friends who sprout their own grains (good for you guys), but I don't really have time for that.  I buy it instead frozen in the health food section my supermarket.  It can also be found at Trader Joe's, which is the cheapest I've found.

3)Stop buying cereal and try something new for breakfast
Cereal is made with processed wheat and corn, neither of which is particularly good for stabilizing your blood sugar.  Try some of these instead:  Yogurt and Fruit, Steel-cut oats or homemade oatmeal (buyer beware: most oatmeal bought out is full of sugar), Farm Fresh Eggs, Sprouted toast/english muffins/bagels, Sauteed Veggies, Roasted Veggies (I recommend making them in advance and keeping a pile in your fridge).  Here's a great recipe for homemade granola.

4) Experiment with more traditional flours
Again, this takes some trial and error.  I reduce refined carbs by replacing some of my regular wheat or white flour with unrefined flours, like Buckwheat, Spelt, GF flour, Coconut flour.  Because we're not gluten free in my home, I tend to mix these flours with the white or wheat flour in order to keep the original consistency of whatever I'm making. Folks who absolutely must go GF should know that spelt is not gluten-free.

5) Learn to cook with grains
If you've never tried cooking with quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, barley, or wild rice, now is the time.  Barley does contain gluten, but is a good alternative to wheat and pasta for those of us who are not keeping a strict GF diet.   Here's an amazing quinoa recipe to try for dinner!