Energy Crisis

Seasonal Drops:

Do you ever notice your energy slipping away as the cool winds start to blow in? Summer tends to boost our energy because the days stay lighter later and we tend to be energized by the sun and beautiful weather. As Fall nears, I start to think about my energy levels and how each year they slowly decline until I find myself in the depths of Winter struggling to keep my eyes open on the train ride home. Here are a few tips:

• Get your ZZZ's. When you lack sleep you energy level obviously takes a nose dive. They have connected lack of sleep with increased weight gain as well. Getting enough ZZZ's can help to keep your energy level consistent. Try for 7-8 hours per night. Also, try to keep your routine fairly consistent during the weekend as well. If you bounce around between 8 hours during the week and only 5 hours on the weekend, your body is likely to have more trouble getting into a sleep routine. You will deplete the energy that you gain from the week and find it hard to "catch up".


• Take your vitamin. Although, I never recommend that people fall back on their multivitamin in lieu of an adequate diet, they can certainly help to fill in the gaps of a diet missing a few essentials like B's for example. You don't necessarily have to go spending tons of money on fancy vitamins. Consumer labs had issued a report that showed that generic brands were just as potent as more expensive brands. I even like Flintstones myself.


• Drink plenty of fluids. Water too boring for you? Throw some lemon or lime slice in. You can also dilute 100% fruit juices down so that you avoid the calories and sugar, but get the flavor. You can also make your very own Juice Cubes to pop right into your water bottle for a dash of flavor!This works particularly well for kids because you can get cute ice cube trays and give them 1 or who cute shapes in their water glass.


• Strike up a comfort food Balance your plate. Don't fall prey to hunkering down and only eating "comfort foods" during the Fall and Winter. Balance your plate and your weekly meals between typical high calorie, higher fat comfort foods such as chili and cream based soups, macaroni n' cheese, and heavier meat based dishes with healthier comfort foods such as minestrone soup or vegetable based soups, veggie filled casseroles, warm fruit desserts and tarts and vegetable and fruit breads.
• Move! This sometimes gets more difficult to do as the weather cools down. It can be hard to leave the warmth of your cozy apartment or house to get to the gym or yoga studio, but exercise is just what the doctor ordered for lagging energy. Mark your calendar with the days you will make it to the gym that week. After each workout write down a few words about how the workout made you feel. Whenever you feel like backing out of a workout look at that calendar on the fridge and read the motivating words you wrote to yourself. Also, keep your workout clothes right in your car and drive straight to the gym. It is much harder to come home and leave than it is to just get yourself there.

Daily Drops:

It is natural for energy levels to wax and wane throughout the day, but 3-5 pm is an actual documented energy lag time for our natural body clock. Fight the clock with a few important steps.

• Drink water. Avoid the caffeine trap here. The caffeine will give you a quick boost, but may actually make your lethargy worse in the long run. Water will sufficiently hydrate you without the calories and caffeine to boot.


• Get up! Move around your office, take a walk down the hall or walk up and down a few flights of stairs. It gets the blood moving and rejuvenates you to continue on with your day.


• Close your eyes and do 8 solid deep breathes. Breathing helps to boost our oxygen uptake within our cells. Your spirit will feel rejuvenated and you will also feel a nice stress relief as well.
• Eat a piece of fruit. You get the added benefit of the natural sugar boost, but you also get additional fiber and vitamins that you wouldn't get from a Milky Way.

7-Day Nutrition Goals: Note when you start to feel an energy drop throughout the day. Take one action step today or this weekend to stay energized!

Stoking the Metabolic Fire

Have you ever connected the frequency of your meals to your hunger levels? Most of us, if we looked back would see that when we went too long without eating, we inevitably ate more than we wanted to. A recent study conducted by the USDA outlined the 3 main factors that keep people from staying on track with their structured, healthy eating plan.
1. Long gaps between meals
2. Eating away from home more often
3. Working longer hours (stress)

The researches also pointed to a new trend in "hunger management" vs. "dieting". Industry is taking note of this shift and starting to formulate new products that increase our feelings and delay our onset of hunger. You can do this already by eating more fiber and water (i.e. the volumetrics strategies we talked about earlier).

This study was able to tease out how many extra calories were consumed in relation to how many additional hours the eaters went between eating occasions. If one was to go 5 hours instead of 4 hours between meals they would take in an additional 52 calories. If one was to go 6 hours instead of 4 hours, they would take in an additional 91 calories. Not only would the person consume more calories, but the quality of the foods taken in would decline as well.

So how long should you go between eating occasions? Our general guidelines are to encourage people to consume food every 3-4 hours in order to stoke the metabolic fire or keep the "engine running". When you go too long between meals your body starts to slow it's engine down and works to conserve energy, not burn it. You want to be just the opposite, a burning machine!
By the time you realize you are hungry, symptoms like headaches, stomach growling, fatigue have already manifested. You want to stay one step ahead of your hunger and become a "hunger management" expert.

• Set your outlook calendar or watch to chime when 3-4 hours has gone by.
• Plan to have a set schedule that connects with things you do daily. Before the shower, eat breakfast. After the daily meeting, eat lunch. After picking up the kids from school, have a snack.
• Set your snacks out on the kitchen table or your work desk. If they are tucked away, you lose out on the reminder to eat them.
• Use "hunger management" strategies we have talked about in the past--add volume to your food choices: fiber, water content add volume (choose grapes over raisins for example, or whole grains vs. processed grains).

7-Day Goals: Don't know how long you go between meals? Keep a little journal of the times you eat for 3 days (2 weekday and 1 weekend). Notice any trends?

FYI: Link to snack pack article

Here is a link to an article on snack packs that just came through the wire today. I had posted about this last week.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26396295/

Make time for you!

A friend who has recently transformed her life through diet, exercise and increased mindfulness, recently told me a little story that gave me quite a chuckle at first, but then got my little wheels turning. She was standing with her neighbor when another neighbor walked by on her daily, fast paced power walk. After the woman walked by, my friend's neighbor said "I see her walking all the time. She must have some sort of condition that her doctor told her to walk for"......my friend and I thought "yeah, like the condition of LIVING"....or "being healthy".
The comment made me think how adults often need a major life altering or life threatening issue to force them into taking better care of themselves. Children adapt easily to new situations and games and "exercise" just for fun. Adults, on the other hand, frequently udder the words "I hate exercise".
What if you saw it as a way to manage your condition of "living" instead though?
Ever think about how much time in your day or week that you carve out to take care of yourself or put yourself first? Many of us have a huge priority list and we fall somewhere down near the end. We forget that the best way to be our best selves and tackle our long to-do list is to start by putting ourselves first! Putting ourselves low on our priority list is very common, so do not feel bad if you are nodding your head right now!
Now if putting yourself "first" feels too selfish, how about just thinking about treating yourself as good as how you treat those around you! Sounds like a no brainer, right?
Sit down and design a "dream priority list" for your "friend" who has come to you for advice. Create 3 columns.
In the first column, ask her some questions and jot down some of the areas that the friend needs to improve or already feels good about. Here are a few examples:
-Sleep-How many hours does she get? Do you think she needs more?
-Exercise-Does she do this at all? Is she getting bored with her routine? Does she lose motivation have way through? Does she have a buddy?
-Eating-Does she feel like she eats a balanced diet? What would she like to eat more of or less of? What types of foods does she think that she would like to learn more about? What areas of her diet does she feel good about?
-Stress and happiness-Does she feel burdened in any one area of her life (home, work, school)? Does she have anyone that she can talk to? Does she take time out for herself to do "fun activities"? Does she treat herself to 'me time'?
-Negative talk-Is she too hard on herself? What things does she come down on herself about that aren't warranted?
-Miscellaneous category: work, school, beauty
Voila! A list of areas that your friend "in a dream world" would work on and perfect or already feels good about....but this is a dream list like I said because it is the list that works flawlessly only on the moon! Here in the real world your "friend" has kids, work, school, friends that tend to get in the way of all of the "me time".
Here is where column 2 comes into play. In the second column, next to each priority area, write down the barriers that may be keeping her from attending to the priority.
In the 3rd column, brainstorm ways that she can circumvent the barriers and find deeper happiness, even if it is just some of the time.
Take for example:
-column 1-Feels like exercise isn't worth it if it isn't daily, so currently not exercising, but wants to try for 30 minutes every day after work".
-column 2-Barrier: Two days a week (Thurs and Tues), the kids need to be picked up from school after work and brought to soccer.
-column 3-Compromise: M, W, F drive straight from work to gym for exercise. Tuesday and Thursday forgo gym, but walk around the park while kids play.
Ahhh, compromise!!

Sometimes just sitting down and raising the bar for yourself gives you just the boost you needed! Remember, treat yourself today like you would treat your very best friend!
7-Day Goals: Got 5 minutes today? Would you carve out time for someone you cared about today to help her prioritize her time to lead a happier life? How about yourself!!

Navigating the Eating Maze at a Wedding/Event

Weddings and events are special days full of fun, laughter, sometimes tears and lots of delicious food! It can be really tricky to navigate for those that are trying to stick to a healthy eating plan. I have a little road map for you that may help. Here are some ideas and strategies that I have used at some events this summer.....I say "some events" because inevitably sometimes I fell prey to my sweet tooth or worse, my puffed pastry tooth, but overall looking back, I feel these strategies made sense and kept me on track.

Passed Appetizers:
If you are anything like me, you really love bite size passed horde avers with little names like "mini phyllo triangles filled with fig and marscapone cheese" or "baby bella stuffed mushrooms" or even worse, "pint size piggies in a blanket"...ooohh. It can be difficult to just take 1 and then even more tricky to say no when they make their way around a second and third time. Remember though, this is just the first course of the night, take it slow!

• Take a peak at what is being passed and choose your favorite 2. Then enjoy those two like they are the last puffed pastries on the planet. After enjoying them, make your way over to the veggies or fruits to fill up on volume without breaking the bank. This strategy leaves you feeling satisfied.

Buffets:
Ever gotten to the end of the buffet and realized that your favorite food is at the very end and now there is no more room on your plate? What happens next is you find yourself plotting how you can make your way up to the buffet for a second trip. I am convinced they know this and this is why all the best things are at the end of the buffet.

• Take a trip around the buffet before you grab your plate. Plan it out.
• Pile your plate with veggies first (remember volume), then protein (satisfying), then starch. Imagine your plate as a divided picnic plate. The biggest section is full of veggies, the next biggest is protein, smallest is carbs.
• If you must go back for seconds practice this strategy, fill your seconds plate with 80% of the plate still clearly visible.

Plated Meals: Chicken or beef? This is usually the scope of the decision making when it comes to plated meals at these events. Generally the plate is filled as described above ~veggie, protein, carb.

• Don't fall prey to "no crumb left behind" thinking! It is okay to leave a little behind. Envision your plate as four quadrants. Leave one quadrant behind.
• Eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to clue your mind in that you should stop eating before you need to loosen the belt or god forbid, loosen and unbutton. Anyways, slow down. Enjoy the music, conversations, people watching. Whatever you need to do slow down.

Desserts: My favorite part of the night. I was at a wedding last weekend and everyone was saying how full they were. Then the cake came out and everyone said "oh no, I don't think I have room". One of my husband's cousins wife said, "it's okay, it's a different compartment"...I loved that! There is always, always, always room for a little dessert in your life. Notice, "little", because yes, portion control is the key!

• Four bite rule! I love this and it works. Imagine back to a time when you were last eating a decadent dessert. Imagine the first bite...you savor it and enjoy all of the flavors. Bites 2,3 and 4 are pretty good too. Do you notice anything though after those bites? Yup, it is true. Your taste buds get a little bit less interested in the flavors with each consecutive bite. After about 4, the flavors fizzle a little and you are simply on auto-pilot eating. Try enjoying, savoring and being mindful for those first 4 bites, then pushing away or sharing with a friend. Again, it is all about preventing feelings of deprivation, which often lead people to over consume in the long run. Enjoy yourself, just be more mindful to consume in moderation.

Exercise minutes: Going to a function later in the day? Start the day off right with exercise or make a plan the next day to build some minutes into your day. Build you goal to get 30 minutes of exercise (can be accumulated) per day or 175 minutes or more per week. Some people have pedometers and count steps. Aim for 10,000 steps per day.

7-Day Goals: Focus on being mindful today. Think about those first four bites. Enjoy the flavors of your foods.
~K

Figs-Food of Olympians

Figs aren't just in cookies, I mean fruited cakes these days. Figs are my new favorite food! I was at a wedding this weekend that served fig with mascarpone cheese, wrapped in a phyllo dough and I nearly ate the whole tray. I literally almost borrowed a trick out of the old lady handbook when I nearly wrapped a few in a napkin and put them in my purse. They were so delicious.
Figs were first brought to the United States by the Spanish in 1759. They were planted in San Diego Mission. Figs history began way before that point however and in fact are the most mentioned fruit in the Bible. Fig trees were held sacred in all countries in Southwest Asia, Egypt, Greece and Italy. Michael Phelps dines on plates full of waffles, sausages, and omelettes and maybe even figs, which were once used as Olympic fuel over in Greece. The winners of the first Olympics were even presented with laurels of figs as the first "medals".

There are hundreds of varieties of figs. California is home to about a half dozen of these varieties.

• Black Mission: blackish-purple skin and pink colored flesh


• Kadota: green skin and purplish flesh


• Calimyrna: greenish-yellow skin and amber flesh


• Brown Turkey: purple skin and red flesh


• Adriatic: the variety most often used to make fig bars, which has a light green skin and pink-tan flesh
  

Figs have the highest fiber content when compared to other fruits. One serving (1/4 c) or 4-5 Mission Figs contains 20% of your total recommended fiber intake for the day (~140 calories). One small serving of 1 1/2 dried figs is equivalent to 1 fruit serving. They are also known for their high potassium content, an important mineral in maintaining blood pressure control.

There are so many ways to use figs as well! One of my favorite things to do is to use a fig spread on top of goat cheese and tiny toasts. Here is the link to my favorite fig spread, Dalmatia fig spread: http://www.dalmatiaimports.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30

You can also dip dried figs into chocolate or yogurt (vanilla and lemon are two good choices). One idea that I just found was to chop and combine with olive oil, rosemary, basil and garlic, then spread on a focaccia bread and bake....yum!
I found these great ideas on the California Fig site:
http://www.recipe-serve.com/californiafigs/recipes/index.html

Figs are extremely perishable and should be eaten within 2-3 days of purchasing. They should be kept in the fridge and they should have a sweet, fragrant scent, not sour. They should be slightly soft to the touch, but not mushy. If you have a bag of dried figs, make sure to keep them tightly sealed to prevent insects from being attracted to their sweet scent and to prevent them from getting to tough and hard.

7-Day Goals: Ask yourself if your palate has gone bland. Do you find yourself eating the same 3 fruits? Venture out today.

Snack Packs

I recently saw an interesting advertisement in a magazine I was thumbing through. At first I thought it was an article about healthy eating. It showed a family and they were unloading their groceries and it described how busy their lives were. I noticed the "article" kept coming back to how they were so glad to be healthy and include chips in their diet. I thought it was a little strange until I realized it was a clever advertisement by a chip company promoting their new chip-snack-packs. The message encouraging eating chips was so hidden within the dialogue about how healthy this family was that it completely caught me off guard.

Essentially chip companies have found a creative way to anchor themselves within the typical American diet simply by repackaging their high calorie, high fat snack option into little baggies. Most people know that chips wouldn't be the healthiest snack in the bunch, but this advertisement went ahead and put chips on the list with apples, bananas and oranges. How confusing for most, right?

Not so fast. While it is an extremely clever way for makers of higher calorie, higher fat snack items to sustain themselves amongst the ranks of most utilized snack options, it isn't the answer to healthy snacking.
I see snacking as a tiered system, similar to the Stop Light Diet concept. Red-stop, rarely consume these foods, Yellow-better, but still limit frequency and amount, Green-go full speed ahead. Many packaged snacks actually fall into the red and yellow categories. In fact looking at some of the labels you will see that although they contain 100 calories in each baggie, they also bring with it 3-5 grams of fat, most of which comes from artery clogging saturated fat. Also, the list of ingredients go on and on and include things that are unrecognizable and even difficult to pronounce. Most seem to be glorified candy, repackaged for "healthy snacking".

The only pros that I can see with these 100 calorie snack packs is that they are pre-portioned, so as long as you do not go back for 2 or 3, you don't have to guess how many calories have been deducted from your daily calorie bank. They also may help people avoid feelings of restriction by enabling them to splurge on something that they normally wouldn't be able to control the portion of, like cookies. When you restrict yourself or your children, there tends to be a backlash effect that leads to eventually over consuming the restricted foods. Children of parents who are never allowed to partake in "kid foods" are actually more like to crave and overeat the restricted foods when they are on their own away from parental influence. The snack packs at least serve as a teachable moment for children because they show what a proper portion looks like.

My suggestions would be to use these processed snack packs infrequently. Situations that call for the use of these snack packs may be:

• They are the best choice in the bunch at the time! This might be if you are on a road trip for example and did not pack snacks ahead of time. You find a convenience store and you have the option of the big bag of chips or the 100-calorie-snack-pack...grab the snack pack!
• You are craving a cookie, ASAP-You think you can't control having a whole bag of regular size cookies in the house because you will undoubtedly eat way more than 100 calories worth...again, grab the snack pack!
• You have a child-I suggest that you create a snack box with your child to eliminate the ever frequent question of "what can I have for a snack now....how about now.....what now?". If you have the snack box for the week that they fill on Sunday night, you can make sure that they put in mostly fruits and homemade snack packs (examples below), but you can throw a few "treats" in there that are still within calorie limits. This means the child will not feel restricted and will also learn about moderation.
• Add fruit or veggie slices. Every time you eat one, pair it with a fruit or veggie. At least then you get some added fiber and nutrients and you get on serving closer to your 5-9/day!

Make your own snack packs with foods that pack more of a nutritional punch. While this takes a little bit more effort, it is truly worth it. Here are some combinations that are equal to about 100 calories. (100 calories isn't a magic number, it is just easy to remember by the way).

• Babybell cheese (light) + fruit
• 17 pretzels
• 2 tsp of nutella or peanut butter + rice cake or fruit slices or graham cracker sheet
• pudding
• 3/4 cup Honey Nut Cheerios
• Oatmeal packet (~160 cals)
• 4 oz cottage cheese (skim) + jam or simply a 4 oz 2% cottage cheese
• 1 slice deli meat + fruit or veggie slices
• 1 hardboiled egg + fruit or veggie slices
• 10 Kashi TLC cracker
• 8 wheat thins
• 1/2 cup Kashi Crunch
• Popcorn-100 calorie mini bag
• 1 frozen waffle with a little pb or jam
• applesauce
• 2 tbsp hummus + veggies, tortilla chips

7-Day Goals: Ready for the weekend? Here it is again. Think back on last weekend. Was it a blowout or did you make some positive strides in your healthy eating plan? If not, try again this week. Don't give up!

~K