Dec 16 2009
I love cookbooks and recipes, but sometimes I really want to see the food being prepared. If you’re addicted to the Food Channel, be sure and check out this very cool website/blog that contains video recipes. Even better, the recipes are based on supremely healthy ingredients that your family will love. You don’t need to tell them it’s good for them; they’ll know at the first bite it’s good-tasting.
Nov 02 2009
Which would you rather do to decrease your risk of developing a chronic illness such as diabetes: make some changes to your lifestyle, or take medication?
A new 10 year follow-up study from the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) trial followed 2800 adults at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The results, published in the October 2009 issue of The Lancet, show that lifestyle changes work better than medication.
Just what are lifestyle changes? We’re talking about healthier eating habits, maintaining a healthy weight, regular daily activity and exercise, not smoking, and finding healthy ways to deal with stress. The folks who utilize these methods reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 34%. Only 18% of the people who took medication (in this study, the medication used was metformin) reduced their risk of developing diabetes.
Sure, making changes to your usual eating, exercise, and stress management habits takes some time and effort. Popping a pill is comparatively easy. However, if you truly want to decrease your risk of chronic disease, making even small changes to your daily habits will give you vastly improved results.
This is where coaching can help. Set long term goals, and then break those goals down into realistic and achieveable 3-month goals. Develop a weekly strategy to meet those 3-month goals, and then set new 3-month goals. Personal coaching helps you through this entire process, giving you support, encouragement, and accountability. If you want to live a healthy, active, fulfilled life; don’t you owe it to yourself to get started, today?
Oct 25 2009
I often find that nutrition is a lot like the Goldilocks story. You know how the porridge was too hot, too cold, or just right? And the bed was too hard, too soft, or just right?
The same often holds true for nutrition. Some foods are packed with good-for-you nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals. Other foods contain lots of calories, typically from fat or sugar (and sometimes both!) but very few healthy nutrients. Other foods fall squarely in the middle; their calorie content is balanced by a good amount of nutrition.
The problem is, it’s not always easy to decipher where foods fall on the nutrient-rich spectrum. Sure, some of the choices are no-brainers. We all know that a piece of fresh fruit contains more healthy nutrients than a candy bar, but what about comparing zucchini to celery, or chicken thighs to water-packed tuna?
If you really want to make sure you’re choosing the most nutrient dense foods for you and your family, check out the nutrient-rich shopping list available here: http://www.nutrientrichfoods.org/living_nutrient_rich/nutrient_rich_shopping_list.html
The folks at the Nutrient Rich Foods Coalition have a wealth of materials on their website. In addition to the shopping list, you’ll find recipes and ideas on eating out.
You certainly don’t have to make 100% of your food choices high in nutrients. However, the more often you swap in a higher nutrient food for one lower in nutrients, the more energy and better health you’ll enjoy. Use the nutrient-rich shopping list the next time you go to the grocery store, and remember to thank Goldilocks.
Aug 18 2009
It seems like just about every woman I know wants to lose weight. Or she talks about her problem areas, usually her stomach, hips and thighs. Perhaps we want to lose weight so we look good on our wedding day, or because our child is getting married and we can’t bear the thought of ourselves in the wedding photos. Maybe we love the idea of walking or running a 5K, 10K, or half-marathon but think we can’t possibly succeed until we lose some weight.
Why do we let our weight and body image hold us hostage?
There’s no easy answer to this question, but there are answers that we can find if we’re willing to put in some work. Here are three of my favorite sources for information, help and empowerment:
May 25 2009
Every day someone tells me how they satisfy their emotions with food. When they’re under stress they grab chocolate; when they’re bored they munch on chips; when they’re tired they reach for the ice cream; and when they’re lonely cookies are their favorite friend.
My response is often to encourage them to ask this question: Am I hungry? If I’m not physically hungry, what is it that I truly need?
There are several great books on the market to help you figure out how to effectively deal with emotions without using food. One of my favorite authors is Michelle May, MD, at www.amihungry.com. I love her books and her insight into how we’ve learned over the years to use food to satisfy our emotions.
If you’re trying to solve this puzzle, here is something to guide you along your way from Michelle:
When I’m hungry, I eat what I love.
When I’m bored, I do something I love.
When I’m lonely, I connect with someone I love.
When I feel sad, I remember that I am loved.
If you’ve worked through this on your own, please let us know some tips that you found especially helpful.
May 14 2009
We all know we’re supposed to eat lots of fruits and veggies, right? But did you know that the color of the foods you eat has a big impact on your health? That’s because different colors of foods contain various phytochemicals and antioxidants - beneficial chemicals produced by plants that give us a huge health benefit.
Here’s a wonderful video that beautifully showcases the variety of colors of foods available to us. Caution: do NOT watch this if you’re hungry!
May 10 2009
Is healthy food expensive? Is it possible to spend less money, and still choose healthy foods?
These questions are on everyone’s mind today as we figure out ways to save money. But who wants to sacrifice good health?
Check out these 9 often overlooked ways to save money at the grocery store - without scrimping on taste or health: http://www.foodandhealth.com/cheapshop.pdf
What are your favorite ways to spend less on healthy food? Let’s share!
Apr 10 2009
About this time last year I spent a glorious week in Sicily, learning about the Mediterranean Diet by enjoying it first-hand. I’ve been a fan of the Mediterranean Diet principles: whole grains, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seafood, and of course - olive oil. It’s amazing how delicious fresh asparagus dressed with only pepper and fragrant olive oil can taste.
Oldways, a group dedicated to translating nutrition science into healthy and delicious foods, pioneered the concept of encouraging Americans to adopt the Mediterranean diet principles in order to improve our health. They recently published an updated Mediterranean Food Pyramid, available at http://www.oldwayspt.org/med_pyramid.html
Here are my top 5 recommendations for bringing the Mediterranean diet, and all of its health benefits, into your kitchen:
1. Make plants - fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, seeds - the centerpiece of your meals. Start lunch with a tossed salad, adding in chickpeas and pumpkin seeds.
2. Include olives or olive oil in as many foods as possible. Toss your salad with olive oil or add olives to your favorite recipes.
3. Use nuts as part of your protein choices. Add a handful of nuts to your salad or sprinkle nuts over breakfast oatmeal.
4. Choose fish or shellfish at least twice each week. Toss pasta with tuna and olive oil or coat salmon with crushed pistacchios.
5. Flavor your foods with herbs and spices instead of salt.
Jan 31 2009
New research is just that - something new. One of the latest reports describes evidence that a common human virus may lead to obesity. It appears that 11% of lean people have antibodies to Ad-36, but nearly 30% of obese people possess these antibodies. Apparently the Ad-36 virus causes some of our body’s cells to contain more fat, leading to obesity (Medical Hypotheses, January 10, 2009).
Does that mean we should throw healthy eating and regular exercise out the window? Not yet.
This is new reserach, remember? That means it needs to be repeated, investigated, and dug into to figure out exactly what’s going on.
Plus we also know that the vast majority of us simply don’t get enough activity and eat more than we need. Wouldn’t it be great to get an annual obesity vaccine, similar to a flu vaccine? High-fat food, here we come!
But we forget that healthy eating and regular physical activity have benefits beyond just our body weight. Eating well improves our immune system, decreases our risk of heart disease, and increases our energy levels. Getting regular physical activity strengthens our muscles, including our heart, and provides a welcome stress relief.
Frequent handwashing helps prevent catching a cold or the flu. I wonder if it works for obesity? Or should we just stick with eating more fruit and vegetables and heading outside for a 30 minute walk? Stay tuned.
Jan 04 2009
It seems like whenever January rolls around we’re bombarded with a slew of products promising effortless weight loss. We may suspect that the worst thing that could happen is we don’t gain weight - but think again.
The FDA recently released a report on several weight loss products that are tainted with various chemicals that have the potential to cause harm such as seizures, depression, insomnia, increased blood pressure, and increased heart rate.
We all know that losing weight involves changing our eating habits and getting more activity, yet wouldn’t we dearly love to lose weight simply by taking a pill? That’s not only a fantasy, it’s also a potential health disaster.
Check out the FDA’s information and recommendations here: http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/weight_loss_products.htm