by Lucy | Dec 18, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
Monday, December 19, 2016
Fold your laundry! Do the dishes! Why do you always leave your toys on the floor??
A few years ago, I received a book called The Gift of Feedback from my mentor and friend, Heather Miranda. Prior to receiving this book, I had a serious conversation with a supervisor regarding my tendency to be late. At the time, I did not see the feedback about my tardiness as a gift. It felt more like a punch in the gut!
What happens if you criticize or offer constructive feedback to someone? Likely, they get defensive and tell you why you’re wrong. Or they start making excuses to explain or defend their behavior.
Sometimes, especially during the holidays, (aka the season of sugar) we make decisions that we think are bad or wrong. The “bad food” does not perfectly follow our diet or we may have overeaten the good stuff. For example, a friend of mine went to a holiday party last week and decided not to eat any sweets, but after being persuaded by coworkers she ate a few bites of dessert. The next day, my friend checked her weight at the gym and instantly felt terrible because of the number on the scale. She attributed the weight gain to the 3 bites of dessert she ate the day before. Inside, she was highly critical of herself and the story in her mind focused on the “mistake” that she made.
As discovered by the world-famous psychologist, B. F. Skinner, animals learn more rapidly when rewarded for good behavior versus being punished for bad behavior. Studies show this concept applies to us humans too. Some parents may agree they are more likely to get their kids to do chores or homework when praised versus being nagged or threatened.
Food for thought:
If we know criticizing doesn’t work why do we keep doing it ourselves…? As my lovely business partner, Kristen, says: Would those comments in your head be the same thing you’d say to your best friend or mother?
What are 3 accomplishments you are proud of from the past year?
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What are 3 choices that you’re proud of from the last week?
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by Lucy | Dec 14, 2016 | Well Balanced Wisdom
It’s 2pm and you’re starting to feel exhausted. Your brain is a little slow and you are day dreaming about a nap. There’s a good chance that you are on a sugar crash from all those holiday treats or maybe it’s just been a really long day. You could reach for another sugary pick me up from the break room OR you could try some peppermint tea instead! A study found peppermint tea improves brain function and alertness – a boost we could all use when the afternoon slump has us feeling foggy.
This study took 180 participants and randomly allocated them to receive a drink of peppermint tea, chamomile tea or hot water. Analysis of the results showed that peppermint tea helped improve long-term memory, working memory and alertness compared to both chamomile and hot water. Chamomile tea significantly slowed memory and attention speed compared to both peppermint and hot water.”
From this study, we also see that chamomile tea lives up to its reputation of being a sleepy time tea. Have a mug of it before bed to slow down and relax.
Cheers!
by Lucy | Dec 9, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
Monday, December 12, 2016
I have a client, we will call her Clare, and last week she told me how she is such a procrastinator after not implementing the evening exercise routine we discussed at her previous appointment. Clare works a desk job in Durham from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday-Friday. After work, she has a 30 minute commute home, a puppy to take outside, and dinner to fix for her elderly father. When finished with dinner, cleaning up, and getting ready for the next workday, Clare enjoys lounging on the sofa watching TV or visiting with her father. This is not the time of day she feels motivated to get up and start exercising!
Clare spent 4 weeks between appointments feeling guilty about not getting into the exercise routine we had planned. She continued to work hard monitoring her eating and portion sizes; however, all of that work was overshadowed in her mind by her lack of physical activity.
What went wrong?
We can see the exercise strategy we put together was not conducive to Clare’s lifestyle. The other underlying issue, that’s less obvious, is the story that played in her mind over those 4 weeks. Clare was convinced the only way she could be successful at exercise was to walk or do another activity that raised her heart rate for 30 consecutive minutes. In this scenario, Clare demonstrates a fixed mindset, meaning when she was not successful she could not think of other options that would work better for her. In our conversation, I gave Clare a gift – the gift of a growth mindset! Now she can use these barriers or “problems” as learning opportunities instead of brick walls that stop her from achieving her goals.
Food for thought
Have you been hitting your head against a brick wall?
Most of us have a personal or professional improvement goal, and sometimes all we see are the barriers keeping us from reaching that goal.
Today, take a moment to think of your barriers as learning opportunities instead of problems. What can you learn and do differently?
by Lucy | Dec 7, 2016 | Well Balanced Wisdom
Cough, hack, sneeze! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hearing this everywhere! From work to daycare to friends and family… everyone is coming down with something. It has me thinking about these 3 things we all could be doing to stay well this winter.
Get your Vitamin D level checked. Our vitamin D levels are lowest in the winter months which means we may be missing out on some helpful immune benefits. One research study reported that adults who have low vitamin D levels are more likely to have had a recent cough, cold or upper respiratory infection. There is still a lot of research to be done about vitamin D but we do know that the active form of vitamin D can tame inflammation and boost production of microbe-fighting proteins in your body.
Dietary sources of vitamin D include salmon, tuna, fortified milk or juice, liver, cheese and egg yolks. It is not likely that you will be able to meet your needs through diet alone and the level of vitamin D supplementation you need will depend on your blood level. So talk to your doctor today if you think your vitamin D levels are low. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to be taking a multivitamin that includes some vitamin D.
Stay hydrated. If you are anything like me, a glass of cold water doesn’t sound great this time of year. That’s trouble considering we still need to stay hydrated in the winter months. The good news is we can choose other ways to fill our bodies with the fluids we need. My favorite options? Tea and soup! Now doesn’t Candy Cane Green Tea sound delightful? Or what about unwinding with a little a cup of honey lavender stress relief tea?? And I can’t tell you how excited I am about this new local product for making soups. Thank you, Kate Elia, for transforming high quality, under-appreciated local scraps into a heavenly tasting kitchen staple that I can’t wait to get my hands on for winter cooking.
Move more. The shorter, colder and sometimes gloomy days of winter can encourage us to stay inside at our desk, on the couch or snuggled in bed longer. It can be hard to be as active as we are in the warmer seasons. It’s worth the effort though. Exercise makes you feel healthier and more energetic, it can ward off depression and it keeps our waist line slim. I love to find creative ways to move more in the winter. After sitting for a bit, I will get up and shake my sillies out (can you tell I have a 3 year old?) or I might run to my car instead of walk. Sometimes I do push ups while letting the kids play in the bath tub or do squats while I brush my teeth. These may seem small and insignificant but every lit bit of movement adds up. Of course, it’s also great to do more stretching, walking or a weight-lifting, too.
Food for thought:
What are you doing to stay well this winter?
Tell us:
What is your favorite winter wellness tip?
Looking for an immunity boost in your diet and lifestyle? We can help!
by Lucy | Dec 3, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
Monday, December 5, 2016
I have an awesome job. I get to sit and talk to healthy people every day, learn about their strategies and hear their success stories. What I’ve learned is each of us has our own system and strategies to be healthy and well-balanced. We’ve talked about different diets such as Paleo, Atkins, and I have even referenced the military diet… Ice cream every day y’all! As you know, Kristen and I do not promote diets because we want you to have a lifestyle that is conducive to living well without restrictions. We believe in the Well-Balanced Plate.
Lately, I’ve heard a recurring message from family members and clients as they strive to eat well through the holiday season. First step… Cut out the fat. For many years fat has endured a bad reputation and not surprisingly, it’s a pretty complex macro nutrient. For example, 1 g of fat has 9 calories versus 1 g of protein or carbohydrate has 4 calories. That means foods with fat are more energy dense.
Recently, I came across an article, Sugar and heart disease: The sour side of industry funded research. I felt empowered and frustrated while reading about how the Sugar Research Foundation paid the scientists and doctors doing the research to detract attention from any evidence linking sugar and coronary heart disease.
What we know now: Fat is our friend.
How fat is our friend:
- Makes food tastier
- It fill us up
- Keep us full longer
- Helps us absorb other nutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins.
About a year ago, I got really frustrated with my sugar cravings and talked about it with my good friend and fellow dietitian, Brenna Thompson. She helped shine light on the benefits of incorporating more fat (and protein!), which essentially makes less room for my body to crave sugar. I changed my diet gradually over the past year and typically include at least 1 to 2 tablespoons of fat with most meals. Not surprisingly, breakfast includes peanut butter or almond butter, at lunch I usually have salad dressing or mayonnaise (not necessarily the healthiest choice). I typically cook with olive oil or butter on my vegetables at dinner. When I first made this change I was genuinely upset after finishing dinner and realizing I was so satisfied and did not have any room for the chocolate or other sweets I typically indulged in after a meal.
Food for thought:
As we are surrounded by sweets, treats and goodies this holiday season I wonder if you will make fat your friend too? If you’re struggling with cravings, I suggest a tablespoon of peanut butter or handful of almonds.
What’s one way you can add, our friend, fat into your diet?___________________________________________
