by Lucy | Jun 20, 2017 | Transformation Tuesday
#TransformationTuesday
Like many moms out there I have struggled with my weight and healthy eating habits. I tend to put myself last as I have 4 awesome kids that take precedence of my attention, time, energy, and money for that matter. At the end of every day I would say to myself as soon as I get the kids to bed I will workout, and well it would occasionally happen, but it never lasted. Sometimes weight would come off, but I was tired of feeling sluggish, I wanted a real health change not only for myself but for my kids.
How I started my well-balanced journey
I wanted to figure out what I could do differently and that is why I started working with Well-Balanced Nutrition, and let me tell you, my life has changed so much in less than a year. I did not want a quick fix, a fad diet, or to shame my body because I have children that are learning from everything they see me do. I wanted to provide my children with lifelong tools that will help not only me but the kids be healthy and well-balanced.
Timing is everything
I knew that I did not want to focus entirely on the scale, but more so about how I felt, how my clothes fit, and the fuel I was putting into my body. I began to meet with Lucy, who I was introduced to through my employer, and she was sent to me at the perfect time in my life. Lucy helped me have a better relationship with food and quickly I started to eat more of the rainbow, as she referred to it. This was my first tool. Make my plate colorful, the more color the better, and I am not talking about food coloring, folks. Natural colors and boy what an adventure it has been to explore so many different fruits and veggies as well as different grains. I can tell you, my 4-year-old son, he’s the youngest, loves salad, any kind, and will eat any green leafy lettuce you put in front of him with a meal and often 3 servings. It is truly his favorite food.
Tips for busy moms
As moms know we are busy, but that does not mean we do not have time for a well-balanced meal with our family. Eggs are budget friendly and can be mixed with so many veggies for a filling and healthy dinner when in a rush. It is a go-to meal for me. This has been my power tool. Healthy food does not have to be fancy or expensive. During the week I get our meals on the table in 30 minutes or less and I use the time I have saved to be more active with the kids and they love it.
I recently set up our trampoline in the backyard for the kids again. Now, after dinner, instead of dessert their treat is mommy going out and bouncing with them for 30 minutes! The old saying, a body in motion stays in motion, is very true and we really have fun. Last year, I told the kids, “No, I am too old, I cannot jump on the trampoline,” but ever since I have been practicing a well-balanced lifestyle, and with Well-Balanced Nutrition’s help of keeping me motivated and their tools I have so much more energy to be active, stay active and eat healthy every day.
Every day is a new start, I get up, weigh myself each day to make sure I am staying on track, and with Lucy’s help, I have been able to lose and keep off 15 pounds and counting. But it is not the weight that I am interested in as much as how I feel each and every day, and how I am able to show my children that a happy and active life is better than the life of a couch potato.
Author: Bridget Vazquez Bennett
by Lucy | Jun 13, 2017 | Uncategorized
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
I started with Well Balanced Nutrition because I had gained weight and I wanted a boost to continue my weight loss journey and to get healthy.
Where it all started
I had been exercising and trying to eat right, but the scale wasn’t moving. My husband contacted Lucy because he works for The City of Durham. Lucy met with both of us then I switched to one-on-one appointments. She is a very kind and considerate person who wants you to succeed. She explained about the Well-Balanced Plate and how it works. Lucy also suggested I write down everything I ate. This helped until I got stuck again and we figured I was eating too many carbohydrates so she recommended I cut down to eating one carb per meal. Once I started doing this the scale started to move again and I achieved my goal.
How I know I’m on track
I knew I was on-track when I saw the scale started to show my progress and boosted my confidence. I have a habit of weighing myself every morning, but this helps me because if I ate too much then I know how to get back on track.
I know I can make mistakes but I get myself turned back around and just keep going and stay positive. Sweet foods have always been my weakness and I know they cause me to overeat. When this happens, I get myself turned back on track when I see that the scale has gone up. I start eating more fruits, vegetables, and protein to get full verses something sweet. I stay positive with the help from family and friends.
Secrets to success
The best strategy I learned from WBN is writing in my food journal daily and knowing I can do this with help and support. Lucy has helped me get to where I am and I am someone special and will continue to strive to be the best I can be!
by Lucy | Jun 9, 2017 | Well Balanced Wisdom
Monday, June 5, 2017
It’s Friday night, you made it through another busy week… Time to celebrate.
So often our celebrations include food and maybe an adult beverage or two. Nothing says “happy birthday” like cake, “thank you” like a bottle of wine, or “I love you” like chocolate candy. For many of us, food is our love language and as the saying goes, the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?
We are emotional creatures and we have to eat. Sometimes those feelings – or “all the feels” as Kristen and I say – cause us to eat emotionally.
The birthday cake incident
After a particularly unique week, I found myself in celebration mode last Friday night. It was my nephew’s birthday and naturally, we had cake to celebrate. As my clients will tell you, I practice abstinence when it comes to baked goods with frosting, but my rebel brain decided “it’s an ice cream cake so what’s the harm?!” I had one spoonful from my generous boyfriend, and that’s when the sugar dragon started to roar. I followed that one bite of cake with a large spoonful of marshmallow fluff, potato chips, and hot fudge (a real bedtime snack of champions). Secretly, after everyone was done eating the cake, I went into the freezer and had several more spoonfuls. Looks like I’m human and face the same temptations as everyone else. Luckily, the next morning I was reminded I don’t need to make up because There’s nothing wrong with indulging sometimes and I got right back to practicing the well-balanced way.
In retrospect, I would have used my new handy mindful eating tool, HALT. This acronym – HALT – stands for hungry, angry, lonely, tired and is sometimes used in addiction counseling. The research shows we are more vulnerable to make our worst decisions when we are responding emotionally. Some of us experience more than one at a time (hello, hangry).
What I didn’t mention before, we started the birthday celebrations at 10:45 PM. That is 15 minutes after my bedtime and not surprisingly I was pretty tired. In hindsight, I realized if I had been true to my self-care I would have graciously said goodnight at 10:30 and prevented the whole sugar binge episode. As I often remind my clients, when our brains are tired they tell us to eat sugar because it’s a quick source of energy.
The solution
First, identify vulnerable moments. Many people I speak with identify as emotional eaters. I would argue that we are all emotional eaters. Some of us turn to food when we are happy, others when we are sad, and some eat food for comfort if we’re lonely. It can turn into a problem when you find yourself doing it often and habitually. Are you making less healthy choices when you get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired?
Food for thought:
Next time you find yourself tempted to grab food outside of a regular meal or a well-balanced snack, consider this handy tool and ask yourself “am I really hungry or am I angry, lonely, or tired?”
Tell us in the comments below, how do you choose to give yourself loving-kindness in place of using food?
by Lucy | Jun 1, 2017 | Well Balanced Wisdom
Thursday, June 1, 2017
The kids are out of school, summer weather is here, and today is the first day of June. Hellllloooo summer!
I was reminded recently that we can let our summer happen to us, or we can be proactive and design the summer we want. I don’t know about you, but one full of adventure, magic, and memories sounds nice.
A summer like that won’t happen all on its own, but with a little bit of thought, we can make it happen. All it takes is a little break from our everyday routines – an adventure or two.
In a recent podcast, Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, pointed out that when we disrupt our routine a little bit, and embrace the magic of summer, it can make time feel as if it’s slowing down. Having a break in our year, something fun and different to look forward to, can make our life more rich and memorable.
Doesn’t that sound lovely??
Even for busy, full-time professionals, summer can be a chance to break up our routine. Here are some really simple ideas I’ve come across that could make your summer special.
- Have a fun lunch date every week with friends, family, and coworkers – switch up your date or your location each time
- Try a new group activity each weekend like free yoga in the park, local hiking or swimming.
- Have a cook-off competition with your friends and family.
- Explore new foods! Try as many summer vegetables (ones that you don’t normally eat) as you can.
- Explore a different park in NC each week.
- Design your own bucket list of adventures to complete by the end of summer.
- Join us on our Well-Balanced community adventures!
Food for thought:
Will your summer just happen to you or will you make it magical?
Tell us in the comments how you will design your summer!
by Lucy | May 27, 2017 | Well Balanced Wisdom
Y’all, I just found out my boyfriend used to be a couponer! How awesome is that? I’m frugal too but in a different way. I’ve been joking for years that I’m actually a 90-year-old woman because I frequently wash and reuse Ziploc baggies, I save all the plastic soup containers from the Chinese restaurants, and I have no problem buying the store brand.
Recently, while talking with a client and learning about all the delicious fresh produce she has been throwing away, I decided it’s time to share some of my frugal secrets with the tribe. A major key to saving money is making the most of the food you buy and not letting it go to waste. Make your food bill stretch a little bit further by doing these 5 things.
1. Don’t throw away perfectly good leftovers! Some folks throw away leftovers 2 days after cooking them. According to the Mayo Clinic, we can keep leftovers up to 4 days. Cooking on Sunday? Eat it or freeze it by Thursday.
| In America, we throw away an average of $1,200 in groceries every year! Yikes! |
2. Make friends with your freezer. At one point I found 9 different kinds of cheese in the refrigerator and thought “that’s a little excessive.” I put a couple blocks in the freezer because then I don’t feel obligated to put cheese on everything – not there’s anything wrong with that. :-P. It’s not just cheese that can store well in the freezer until you need it. Here is a great list of all the things you can freeze. Another great freezer tip I love is how some folks buy meat in bulk at the local market, such as Kenyon’s Meat Market, in Mebane and then they pull out what they need for dinner each morning. Brilliant!
3. Buy in season. Have you noticed that asparagus gets to be really affordable in March? That’s because asparagus is an early Spring crop. Seasonal produce is not only more affordable, it tastes better too! And if you buy local produce from the farmer’s market, you will typically find the most nutritional value as those foods are picked when fully ripe. Check out what’s in season now.
4. Chop it up immediately. You know those sad green onions, celery stocks, or bags of lettuce you find wilted and juicy at the bottom of the refrigerator? Instead, we recommend designating one day to wash chop, and store in Ziploc baggies or other see-through containers all those delicious colorful foods you intend to eat that week. Doing so increases your chances of eating them, not wasting them.
5. Don’t put produce in the beer drawer! Seriously, the drawers in the refrigerator especially the old less fancy refrigerators aren’t doing you much good. When we hide our fruits and vegetables in drawers we tend to forget about them until it’s too late. Instead, let’s refer back to tip #4 and keep our washed and ready to eat fruits and vegetables on the top or middle shelf where we will see them and enjoy them regularly.
Food for thought
When you throw away food consider looking at that as throwing away $5 or $10 bills. That sounds crazy!
You can save money, time, and guilt by implementing one or two of these tips. Which one will you try this week? Tell us in the comments below!
