Tag: whole foods

Small changes, big results

I often wonder why people announce they are on a diet while looking longingly at a much desired food item.  Staring at a fresh, hot pizza pie and saying, “No, I can’t have that, I’m on a diet.” is setting yourself up for failure. It’s probably the biggest reason people abandon the new “diet” they are on.   Is it realistic to think you will never, ever again eat a slice of pizza, or cake, or chips.  Heck no!   If you try to go that route, I will guarantee your failure.  Unless you are banned medically from eating a certain food, you should never expect to remove it permanently from your diet.  It’s all about making some simple changes and balance.

My three biggest indulgences are chocolate, pizza and wine.  I can most definitely say I will never give them up completely.  Rather, I have learned to live in balance.  Allowing myself these items provides my brain and emotions with high satisfaction.  Denying myself these items puts me in binge mode every time.  Deprivation leads me to eat other things seeking satisfaction.  And so the cycle begins again.  Small changes is how I’ve lost thirty pounds and kept them off.  Sure my scale goes up and down slightly, but that’s normal too!

First up is chocolate.  It’s a must for me and I seriously need it daily.  Especially following lunch and dinner, I am seeking its decadent sweetness to complete my meal.  My small change is that I’ve found a healthier version.  Combat crunch protein bars (chocolate brownie flavor) are very low sugar, high protein bits of heaven.  I allow myself one bar a day.  Usually, I split it across the entire day, but some days it’s gone by 10:00 AM.  After lunch, I break off a piece and eat it with my green tea.  After dinner, if any is left I finish it off.  Well worth the 200 calories and far less than any other chocolate treats I was shoving in my mouth prior.

Pizza is something I could eat every single day, in a perfect world.  When I was twenty I really could eat it endlessly, but those days are over.  My small change to keep this food is homemade pizza, once a week.  Seriously guys, homemade everything is so much better and healthier.  I love the control of ingredients.  I make my dough in an inexpensive bread maker.  Start to finish in ninety minutes.  It has a timer, so work is no worry.  Just put all ingredients in, set it and forget it.  There are many healthy recipes for dough, including gluten free.  Stretch out the dough, put your favorite toppings on and bake for thirty minutes.   For me, it’s plain with fresh mozzarella every time.  Sure it’s got some calories in it, but it’s also got emotional satisfaction.  I eat two slices and I’m happy.  Far less calories than store bought as I don’t put all that oil on it, the cheese is not processed and the sauce is made my be.  Not a sugary store version. This is my Friday night dinner each week and I truly look forward to it.

Last up, my sugary red wine obsession.  Still struggle here with this one at times.  This week was high stress at work and I indulged in a glass two nights.  To balance it, I immediately followed with a large glass of water.  Did you know the actual serving size for us is 5 oz.  My gosh that’s like a shot glass.  My goblets are huge.  Hence the reason I still struggle.  The only key to success for me is no wine in the house   That’s it!  Anything else won’t work   So, Friday on my way home from work I pick up one small bottle of wine.  The one with maybe three glasses in it.   I have glass Friday and Saturday nights.  Then it’s gone.   Emotional satisfaction and built in control all in one.   We had some left over wine this week from Easter and just knowing it was there was my downfall.

In the past, when I tried to ban foods from my life, if I had a slice of pizza or piece of chocolate I felt like a failure.  I’d get so upset that it felt like the flood gates opened.  Once that happened I was out of control and on my way to bad eating again.  Usually, that’s when the “diet” failed and I was right back where I started.  It truly is a vicious cycle.  Just remember balance is they key.  Eat the piece of cake, but maybe not the whole piece.  Keep it small, keep it regulated (not every day) and you’ll find a lifestyle instead of a diet.  I work in an elementary school surrounded by cupcakes for birthdays.  If I want one, I take one.  I take a bite and throw the rest away immediately as I’m chewing.  Balance and control.

I hope you’ve been doing the exercises I ask each week and have a handle on where you are in this journey.  Next Saturday, I’ll be setting up my free accountability group.  It will be a private Facebook group that I need to add you too.  I’ll also lay out a plan for you with some goals .  Email me, or leave me your email here and I’ll contact you to get your Facebook information to add you to the private group   Nobody has access to the group so you will be free to share openly.  Together we I’ll continue on our journey to reclaim our health.

Have a great week!

 

Coffee, Wine or Me

We’ve been talking a lot about making small changes to reclaim our health.  We talked about taking inventory of where we are on this journey.  Part of this inventory must include everything that enters our bodies, including liquids.  What we are, or aren’t drinking matters a lot.

This week we will focus on journaling every drink that enters our mouths.  Write it down for a week and let’s talk about the patterns you notice.  For me, I noticed I was drinking on any given day, one cup of coffee with flavored creamer in the morning.  During the day, I drank two to three cups of green tea with Splenda.  At night, with dinner, I usually drank two glasses of red wine. One while cooking, because let’s face it cooking and wine go together and one with my meal.  In looking at this, I immediately noticed three things.  One, I was drinking a lot of sugar! Two, I was not drinking any water.  Three, I was using an artificial sweetener which research now shows is tied to wreaking havoc on our autoimmune systems. Clearly this was another problem area that I hadn’t even thought about.

I am not a fan of water, never was, but research shows it’s essential for our health. It also helps your skin, so ladies the best wrinkle reducer is proper hydration.  One way to make it easier to drink for me included, getting a subscription to home delivery of spring water.  This only cost me 30 per month and is well worth it.  Tap water has far to many chemicals and additives that I don’t want in my body and it just tastes better.  I also put one in my office.   Please, whatever you do, don’t buy cases of bottled water  in plastic containers.  Don’t ever freeze, or leave these in your car.  There is tons of research that links these bottles with cancer.

How much water you need to drink is super easy to figure out.  You need to drink half your body weight in ounces.  So, if you weigh 160 lbs you need to drink approximately 80 oz of water per day.  You can easily make fruit water at home by cutting up fresh lemon and cucumber and adding to a pitcher of water.  You can add any fruit you want.  I personally just like it plain.   In order to meet my daily intake, I keep a refillable glass bottle on my night table. I always wake up thirsty and can start sipping when I wake.  The bottle is 16 oz and I’ve got half down before I hit the ground.   I take my vitamins with the other half before breakfast.  I refill the bottle and sip and finish following my morning workout. So, I’ve already got 32 oz of water down before I even leave the house for work.  Carrying the bottle at all time encourages me to sip the day away. I’m not going to say it’s easy at first, but making those simple changes gets you on the path.  When you notice the change in your skin you’ll be motivated to keep sipping.

As for the coffee,  I still have one cup a day.  It’s not negotiable.  I still use flavored creamer too. Hey, it’s all about keeping it real and balanced.  Just keep it at one and you’ll be OK, unless of course you have a health issue.  Then listen to your doctor.  One thing I do to address any coffee fix I’m craving outside this one cup is to drink a coffee protein shake.  This is the healthiest latte ever!

If you have Splenda, or any other artificial sweetener in your house throw it out immediately.  That includes the blue, yellow and pink packaged version.   Read the research!  Google it.  I use only Stevia natural sweetener or agave.  I’ve also learned to like the taste of food without the sweetener, but that takes time.  I didn’t go cold turkey, believe me.  You can buy both of these items at any store.  I don’t buy Truvia.  I buy Stevia in the raw at Trader Joes and agave at Costco.  I rarely use the agave anymore though.

Finally, my beloved red wine.  Darn this was the hardest one for me. I love it and it was a part of my routine.  It’s unrealistic to think you will never have a glass of wine again.  Like coffee, this was not negotiable.  I could however, certainly cut down on the amount I was drinking.  First step was to  buy smaller bottles.  The ones that are not cost effective and only contain three to four small glasses.  Buy this on the weekend and that’s your treat for the week.  No more open bottle to tempt me during the week.  The second change I made was to buy organic flavored seltzer (in glass bottle only) at Costco.  Taking out the cutting board to cook had long been synonymous with pouring a glass of wine.  This was a time of great want for me.  Now, I take out my beautiful wine glass and fill it with the seltzer.  It works like a charm.  I’m sipping, satisfying my craving and not adding all that red wine sugar to my body. Win-win-win

I buy a certain type of shake for my coffee and sweet fix.  Feel free to contact me through Facebook, or email and I’ll share that information with you.

A great book for green shake recipes is

 

This week’s small change is to log your liquid intake for the week   Notice any patterns   in your consumption, particularly sugar intake.  Figure out your daily water requirements also.  Enjoy the week and be sure to let me know how it’s going for you!

 

 

Putting Your Health First

This week we are going to talk about taking inventory of our current health status.

The first step on this crazy journey for me was understanding that I was causing my own problems.  In 2009, I constantly had flu like symptoms.  Most nights I had a low grade fever.  I had trouble staying awake past 8 o’clock, yet couldn’t sleep through the night.  During this time, I noticed I had a lump on my neck.  I went to get checked out and doctors found that I had a small tumor on my thyroid. I had to have a biopsy to rule out cancer.  Wow, what an eye opener that was.  Thankfully it was benign, but the scare prompted me to find answers as to why I was always sick.  After tests, I was diagnosed with Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I was put on methotrexate, which is chemotherapy pills, and steroids.  I did feel better but the steroids caused me to gain weight.  When I learned about the long term effects of these medications, I was determined to get off no matter what it took.

I started reading about these diagnoses and discovered there is a strong connection between nutrition, lifestyle and autoimmune diseases.  I also began to notice just how many people were struggling with the same issues.    I learned there were other approaches to treatment that did not involve medication.  I decided to wean off steroids and began looking at my eating habits.

The first change was the elimination of all those fast food choices.  Dinner in those days was usually found in the phone book.  I purchased some cookbooks and a Vitamix.

I am the worst eater, always have been.  As a kid my favorite food category was pasta, twinkies and ring dings.  But, I was always super skinny.  As a middle age woman, my diet consisted of pasta, pizza, wine, fast food.  But, thanks to middle age and steroids, I was no longer skinny, or healthy.

So you ask, how does someone who hates vegetables get them in her diet?  My Vitamix was my secret weapon and worth every single penny.  You can’t compare it to a blender as it really breaks the food down. Even coarse food like broccoli. Every morning I started my day with a green shake.  I used spinach, kale or broccoli as a base.  Add to that a small handful of berries, blueberries or blackberries.  Add some Almond milk a scoop of organic whey protein or half an avocado, flax seed and tsp of coconut oil and blend.  I drank these every morning in place of a muffin, bagel or sugary cereal. One simple change and I was able to add vegetables to my diet.  A true first for me. I only ate corn! I noticed my energy increase pretty quickly.  I noticed my skin improved.  I noticed there were indeed ways to get vegetables in my diet! I could do this and so can you

Of course, I had more work to do, but like I keep saying, one small change can lead to big results.  So, for this week’s task on our journey, take a moment to reflect on your food choices.  When I first worked with a nutrionist, she told me to write down every single morsel of food I put in my mouth.  At the end of the day, reflect on how you feel. Did you have high energy, or feel sleepy at around 3 o’clock?  Did you snack a lot in the afternoon, or evening?  Any cravings?  Write this down too.  You’ll be surprised just how much you can learn about yourself from doing this.  You’ll also be surprised how one small change, like drinking a healthy breakfast shake will impact you.

I’d to hear what you notice if you journal this week.  Feel free to email me.  Have a great week and make one healthy change this week to your eating habits.

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