Calories, calories, calories. So important, yet so frustrating. We know eating more calories than we burn will cause weight gain, right? So, why don’t we all just track our calories daily and everyone will be at a healthy, happy weight? Simple! America’s weight problems SOLVED!
You and I know it’s not that simple. If this method worked, Lucy and I would need to start looking for another job.
Calories aren’t everything. Eating a low-calorie diet does not equate to eating healthy. If you are on the twinkie diet, a fast food diet or possibly a fad diet, you may be malnourished. Plus your body reacts differently to a 100 calorie cookie compared to 100 calories of fruits or vegetables. Processed foods can signal your body to store fat, while whole and natural foods can help you burn fat AND feel more satisfied.
At some point in your well-balanced journey, you might wonder how many calories you need and seek guidance getting there. You may find it helpful to keep track of your calorie intake for a few days. Monitoring how many calories we eat can help us maintain or lose weight in the short term, it can waste valuable time and energy in the long term.
Recently, two of my clients came to realize this truth. For a few days, calorie counting was a great opportunity to see part of the puzzle. It was a good experiment. But it was only a small part of their puzzle and it had its downfalls. They were finding themselves thinking about food all the time, obsessing over the calorie counts, and feeling anxiety about it all day long. That’s no way to live.
We can help you figure out how many calories you need but more importantly we help you figure out how to eat well balanced without being a slave to daily calorie counting.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Rather than focusing time and energy on counting calories, take a step back and look at the whole picture. Spend more time and energy on preparing home-made food, slowly enjoying your food, balancing your plate and filling it with mostly natural or plant-based foods, taking care of yourself and managing your stress.
Monday, Oct 24th
I often have people bring me food containers to determine if it’s a healthy option or not. You may have seen or heard that the FDA is working on redefining the term “healthy” on food labels due to an ongoing battle with Kind Bars.
Here’s the quick and simple Well-Balanced Way to know if you are making a healthy choice:
- Can you read, pronounce and explain all the ingredients on the ingredients list?
Polydextrose, soy lecithin, anhydrous milk fat, glycerin, hydrolyzed gelatin… These are just a few ingredients found in the Atkins Advantage Bar.
A good guideline for the ingredients issue, can you explain to a 3-year old where it came from and why it is in your food? See Mindfulness starts here – thinking about the entire process.
- How many ingredients does it include?
I made an interesting discovering while looking at a label for lightly salted dry roasted peanuts – you’re thinking it’s peanuts and salt, right? Yea, plus the 13 other ingredients to add flavor and shelf-life. Yikes!
- How big is the portion size?
Portion size is at the very top of the label because it’s super important! Some companies still use an unusually small portion size (I’m looking at you ice cream containers) that many people do not follow. The consumer assumes they are doing great because “it’s only 220 calories per serving!” Nevermind, that they polished off the entire pint and now that 220 calories has turned into an extra 880 calories. WOW!
- What is the sodium content?
This is more important for some than others, especially if you have salt-sensitive hypertension (high blood pressure). Most of us would benefit by decreasing our sodium intake; however, at Well-Balanced Nutrition we want you to season your foods! The amount of salt added at restaurants and fast food chains will almost always be significantly more than what you prepare at home.
- What’s the goal?
Is this a snack or a meal? If you have not had the pleasure of playing Lucy’s game good vs better it’s important to note there is no “bad food.“
There are good choices and better choices. Of course, I’m not encouraging cookies for breakfast, but that may be better than going hungry. A better choice than cookies is whole wheat toast, peanut butter, and a piece of fruit.
Food for thought:
Is your food really as healthy as the label claims? There may be more to the story than they want you as the consumer to know. Now you have more tools and knowledge to arm yourself for your next trip to the grocery store!
List the top 3 foods you will compare next time you go grocery shopping:
- _______________________________
- _______________________________
- _______________________________
One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. -L. Pavorotti
Crumbs fell on my desk… It’s about 10:30 am and I was listening to the audio version of the Blue Zones Solutions, a book by Dan Buettner on the secrets to longevity. In my ear, I heard Buettner tell stories about 5 different communities where the majority of the people live long lives free of afflictions like heart disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes.
I was learning about the lives of centenarians who were still vibrant and full of life. Each one of them had their own unique story – full of tragic moments and triumphant ones. When it came to the question of what they ate to live such healthy lives, the answer varied a bit but there was one thing I noticed they all had in common. Food wasn’t something they got at the grocery store or a restaurant. Food was an integral part of their everyday lives. From planting a seed, harvesting the fruit, to soaking the beans, food was something they cultivated from the ground up. They were fully involved in the entire process.
Here I was mindlessly snacking to tame my mid-morning hunger. As I looked down at the fallen crumbs on my desk, I thought of how far removed most Americans, including myself, have come from the entire process. We eat several times without having to do any of the growing, the tending, the harvesting or even the preparing of the food. We just consume without thinking twice about who, what, when, where and how this food came to be sitting in front of us. In fact, food is so much of an afterthought in our culture. Everything else is more important and food is sometimes the last thing we think about. Convenience and multitasking have somehow become things we value most and this left me wondering how we can make our way back to the mindset that food is worth our time, effort and appreciation because food gives us life.
There is something to be said about being connected to where our food comes from, having a hand in preparing it and sitting down to mindfully enjoy it. It was something that just came naturally to these centenarians. I think it can come to us all naturally if we just tune in a little more. We can grow some of our own food, get to know and buy from our local farmers, stop and think about the work that went into our food when someone else grows and prepares it, and focus on eating it. While it was only one component in the lives of the centenarians, it is an important one that we can learn from. It’s really where mindfullness begins.
So, I turned off the audiobook. Looked at my granola bar and savored that last few bites. Food is a wonderful thing. It sustains us and nourishes us. It gives us the fuel we need to move, love, think and serve. Any small step we can take toward participating in the entire process is worthy of our time and effort.
What can you do today or this week to be more mindful of your food? Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking.
- Plant some kale or lettuce in a container for the cool months ahead.
- Get to know a farmer from your farmer’s market this weekend or sign up for a CSA or produce box.
- Prep some meals in advance this weekend and get family and friends involved in the process
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
Monday, October 17, 2016
As your favorite dietitians, Kristen and I strive to give you lots of motivation, inspiration, and information to eat and live well-balanced. It is our goal to fill, not just your inbox, but your mind and wellness toolbox with plenty of resources and ideas to live a healthy and fulfilled life.
In the height of the election season, I cannot get used to what each of us is subjected to daily – if not hourly – with all the news, social media, and other interferences constantly bombarding us with negative messaging.
Politics aside, I’d like to speak about how you feed your mind. Aside from your weekly Motivational Monday and Wellness Wednesday articles how are you choosing to input information into this computer system we call our minds? Darren Hardy says it best in a recent Darren Daily episode that likens our brains to a Google search. The search engine is only as good as the information available – do you have enough reliable information on living well in your database?
I am always seeking to further develop my personal growth and continue to improve myself. I choose to listen to podcasts such as EntreLeadership that build me up and feed my mind with new and motivating ideas to be a better leader. I enjoy reading books like Farmacology that provide information to using food as medicine. I attend Grace Church as a regular reminder of how to continue to grow spiritually.
Food for thought:
Here’s your chance to put this to practical application. Take a moment to list your common media diet (such as what news you watch or read, what social media you enjoy, or what radio stations or podcasts you’re listening to)
- ____________________________ ________
- ____________________________ ________
- ____________________________ ________
Next rank each one on a scale 1 to 5 – 1 being “junk food” for the brain and 5 include thoughtful, well-balanced resources or information.
For example, Snapchat is on my list and I’d give it a 2, because realistically that is fluff in helping me reach my personal development goals (but it’s so much fun!)
Bonus points! Take a moment to list two or three resources you would like to utilize to reach your own personal goals
- ______________________________________
- ______________________________________
- ______________________________________
Monday, October 10, 2016
On occasion, I get the surprising question in the middle of a client session “well, what do you eat?!” It’s human nature to be curious – plus most people figure out early on that I’m an open book.
I had the opportunity to order and take lunch to our new office (yay!!!) to share with my lovely business partner, Kristen, and our small business lawyer, Richard Bobholz, a couple weeks ago. I noticed a few things that make us dietitians unique in our eating habits.
During lunch, Kristen pulled out the BBQ chicken from City Barbecue, which was probably about 10 to 12 ounces. Seriously y’all, this chicken breast was the same size as her head!
As dietitians, we do not assume the portion at the restaurant is one serving size. Everyone needs a different amount of energy each day, but most people are satisfied by 3-6 ounces of protein per meal.
Don’t forget the sides! Before picking up lunch, I was on the phone reading Kristen the long list of side options, including but not limited to coleslaw, french fries, baked beans, hush puppies, etc. Our lawyer picked baked beans and mac & cheese; meanwhile, the dietitian got coleslaw and green beans. To break it down, Kristen’s plate was covered with half vegetables and a more personalized serving of chicken. (She also enjoyed some of the Texas toast included!)
We may not eat much, but we do eat often! During lunch, Richard mentioned he had not eaten anything for over 7 hours because he got busy during the workday. Kristen and I sighed as we both would have passed out or become quite hangry. There is no magic formula to eating 3 times versus 6 small meals, but I know first hand if I wait too long in between eating I’m much more likely to overindulge and much less likely to gravitate toward healthy foods.
Food for thought:
There is not a one-size-fits-all diet – different approaches work for different bodies. There are, however, lots of little things each of us can do to make well-balanced choices every day.
Let us know in the comments below how you eat like a dietitian!
