READ THIS.

Last time, I gave you “Part A” of the nutrition label / math lesson so you could become more knowledgeable about your favorite foods.  Today, as promised, I am going to go through the section “Total Fat.”  Once you’ve read the information below, take out some of your favorite foods from the pantry.  After figuring out the percentage of fat calories to total calories, next see what KIND of fat this food contains.  Better equipped, you can now decide if it’s worth the health risk.  

Consider fat.  There’s no doubt that just reading that word made some of you cringe.  If there’s a scarier word to those of us who are confounded by our attempts to get healthy, I don’t know what it is.  Do you know that we are the only culture that uses the same word for what shows up on our thighs and rear ends because we overeat, and the nutrient? 

There are three essential nutrients in the food kingdom.  Essential means you have to eat them, because your body doesn’t manufacture them on its own.  Just as a 3-legged stool would never balance upright if you knocked one of the legs out, your diet (as in, the generic term for what we eat) will never be balanced without taking in protein, carbohydrates and fats.  I’m going to save the first two for future food label blogs, because fats, in my humble opinion, are the most misunderstood of all three.

So we MUST eat fats.  They have all kinds of benefits, but the main reason this vain woman includes them in my diet is because I care about how my hair, skin and nails look.  They must be eaten if you hope to reap the benefits of the fat soluble vitamins D,A,K or E (and believe me you WANT to reap those benefits.)  Another great thing fats do is slow down how fast we digest and absorb the food in our system, giving us the sensation of feeling full longer.  Finally, in the absence of fat in your food, you’re likely never going to feel satiated after eating.  As in happy and full and content.

Here’s the catch.  There are some really great healthy fats and then some pretty awful ones, I’m not gonna lie.  There are 3 types; I’ll give you the lowdown on each.  2 are found in nature, and 1 comes from a science laboratory.  

Unsaturated fats, usually liquid at room temperature, are the GREAT ones.  They are good for your heart, they help lower your bad (LDL) cholesterol and raise your good (HDL) cholesterol and they help lower your triglycerides.  To increase your intake of unsaturated fats, include oils such as olive, sesame, peanut and canola.  Increase the amount you eat of things like nuts and seeds, olives, avocados, and flesh fish like salmon, tuna and mackerel.  Yum, right?

Saturated fats, generally solid or semi solid at room temperature are largely found in animal products.  Beef, pork, chicken, turkey and dairy products* contain saturated fat.  Dairy products have an asterisk because you can find reduced fat and fat free varieties to reduce the amount of saturated fat you eat.  Don’t forget that butter is actually a dairy product too.  There are 2 tricky exceptions of plant based saturated fat, and they are coconut and palm oil, found in lots of processed things in your pantry right now.  They are used in processed foods because they have an unbelievably long shelf life.  Haven’t you heard about the twinkie experiment, where a time capsule revealed an old-as-dirt twinkie that was still “fresh?”  Look for the palm, palm kernel and coconut oil on the labels.  Reduce or eliminate these saturated fats.

The 3^rd category, unfortunately, is a double whammy on your poor cholesterol, because it lowers your good percentage AND raises your bad.  These are partially hydrogenated fats.  You’ll find these fats in things like margarine, salad dressings, canned soups and sauces.  (Also known as “trans fats.”)

Now that you know a little more, how are you reacting?  Does this make you want to go read every label in your house or does it make you say, “nobody’s come out of here alive, I may as well die happy?”  Somewhere in between would be a great place to start, in my opinion.  

So here’s your action:  1.  Become aware of what kinds of fats you are eating.  2.  Try to reduce the amounts of saturated and partially hydrogenated fats.  3.  Increase your unsaturated fats.  

Simple enough?  Great!  Anybody have any “ew. Ick.” moments?  Care to share?

P.S.  If you keep each individual food item percentage to below 30%, the totals for your day should pretty much stay in line.  The exception is when you eat something that is 100% fat calories, and that’s why you use these things 

S-P-A-R-I-N-G-L-Y. 

Thank you Uncle Sam!

I wrote the promised blog on fats, and I was thisclose to uploading it, but decided to wait until after my weekly Kroger run.  While there, I overheard a conversation that reminded me of a story... and has changed my mind about how I want to talk about fats.

Back in the day, I worked as a nutrition counselor for a treatment center specializing in eating disorders.  Every so often, they would hold an intensive weeklong program and my role as part of the treatment team would be to teach clients how to care for themselves through their meal plans.  Because they were smaller classes, I could get creative with the presentations.  If that meant traipsing into the gigantic pantry to prove that there was no magic to the food in tiny podunk Texas, we did it.  I also took them on field trips; sometimes we went out for lunch to give them a chance to practice their new found menu skills with me before getting stuck in the airport restaurant on their way home.  I also took them to the grocery store so they could ask questions about their favorite things, and to get my feedback and help in tweaking their shopping habits.

I never, ever had one of these classes without a curious bystander stopping to listen. I’ll never forget this one sweet little lady who approached us as we were standing in front of the popcorn section.  As she reached for the box of microwave popcorn that boasted a flavor just like the movies, she said, “Excuse me...I just need to get my husband’s favorite snack.  I finally convinced him to switch from ice cream to something healthier.”  God love her.  She had no idea that between ice cream and the extra heaping helping of butter on the popcorn popped in heaping helpings of trans fats, hands down ice cream is the healthier option.  If only she knew how to read the labels...

Which brings me to my point today.  You can complain all you want to about the US government getting in your business, but one thing you should thank Uncle Sam for is the nutrition facts label that MUST be on every food container you buy.  (Note-if it’s not there, that means it’s either imported or kind of homemade.   Your workaround is to find a similar product that does have one and reasonably compare.)  Welcome to “Nutrition Facts” class, friends!  Go get your favorite snack out of your pantry for your visual and come right back.

Now at the very top, underneath “Nutrition Facts” you’ll find the most overlooked , ignored details, “serving size,” and “servings per container.”   Key information.   Literally, the rest of the label means nothing if you don’t have a basis for the numbers.

Next, you’ll see “Calories” in bold print. Like I’ve said before, I don’t count calories, but calories count.  Pick up a few different types of soups in your pantry and see for yourself how the calories vary.  Under that, you’ll find “Fat Cal” (no bold print.)  Now dust off your math skills and do some percentages.  If there’s 60 calories per serving, and 20 of those are “fat calories,” that means that 20/60, or 33% of this stuff is made up of fat.  Generally, a good rule of thumb is to keep your fat percentage under 30%.   Anything more than 30%, use sparingly.  (Wait till I talk about butter and oils!)

I think that’s enough for the nutrition label today.  Tomorrow,  we’ll go into the next section on this label under the bold heading “Total Fat.”  By the time you’ve read that one, you’ll understand what all the “good fat” and “bad fat” noise is about.  Did I lose anybody?

Bum-around Special

While I work on my next blog on fats, I want to post a few links that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

I told you about the iPhone app called MyNetDiary.  While I still love my Moleskin, (I mean who doesn't love Moleskin, right?) I must admit having the food journal on my phone makes a lot of sense, because I have my phone with me always.

Next, there's a hungrygirl.com and I may be the only person on earth who hadn't heard of her.  Last weekend I was sitting on my yummy couch watching Netflix (you DO know Netflix, yes?  OMG--Mr. Netflix is very very sorry he is only charging me 10 bux a month.  I'm in Season 3 of the Tudors.  Wow.)  when a cooking channel show came on called Hungry Girl, and she caught my eye because she was doing a "swap" for chips.  Definitely one of my red light foods.  Anyway, long story short, I googled her, (you realize of course that the word "google" has replaced the word "research?) and up popped all SORTS of links.  She even does a daily email!  And it's a good source for recipes.  She recommends brands and "finds" and keeps your interest for new stuff pretty peaked.  I'm definitely a fan.  (By the way--her two "swaps" for chips are baked KALE, and baked PASHMA.  One whole sheet of this pashma business is only 200 calories and she swears they bake up crispy and taste good with salsa.  I've got the nicest man in the world on the hunt for pashma on his Central Market adventures. (He's nice, he's cute AND he loves to explore grocery stores!  How lucky am I?)

Finally, I am humbled and tickled that I have a few dear friends reading this.  My technology guru, Kelsey quietly and sweetly convinced me that I should Twitter, so I am. Apparently, if I post this on twitter and you're following me, you'll get a tweet and be able to find it easier.  So my twitter address is @alicia_haley.  I would love to have yours because this Twitter thing is very intriguing and interesting, and touches my nosy rosy nerve like no other!

Finally, finally, I'm bragging here, but my practically perfect daughter is blogging as well, and it's a great little read, filled with pictures and recipes...If you'd like, you can peek at tworecipes.blogspot.com.  We're toying with the idea of being each other's "guest blogger!"  

Have a great weekend folks!  Happy Birthday to two of my favorites, Lana and Jenna!

A Useful Traffic Sign

RED Light!  GREEN Light!  Do you remember that childhood game?  Even as children, we learned what action to take at a red or green light.

I think I told you that 100 years ago, I worked for a national weight loss company who used these universal symbols to teach about “good food” and “bad food.”  I’ve actually tweaked the concept so that it is useful to ME.  Read on…

I’ll show you what my red light list looks like: stove popped popcorn, Wheat Thin Stix, original little Fritos, AJ’s dips, interesting bread and French fries.  These are all foods that I could and would eat and eat and eat some more, if I let myself.  My body would accommodate as long as my brain looked the other way.  (Nuts and peanut butter used to be here, but no more.  I’ll blog about that later.)

There's a whole other category of foods that could easily make it on my red light list if it weren’t for that small voice in my head reminding me of the physical consequences of indulging.  Thankfully, I have learned to connect the dots between what I eat and how I feel.  So these are on my yellow light list.  (Proceed with caution!)  This list includes red wine, (I love red wine, but only one glass---experience has taught me that even a sip out of glass #2 makes my head pound.  SO not worth it.)  It includes all forms of my beloved Mexican food, which thankfully makes me so full so fast that I can't overeat.  Also on this list would be the “sweets” category that I only want every so often, because I don’t like that yucky aftertaste sugar leaves in my mouth.

My green light list, as you might imagine, has all things healthy and wholesome and good. Beans (legumes) TOP this list for me: full of protein, fiber, carbs and they are delicious with salsa!  J 

Now make your lists.  Sit and think about this for a while.  Mentally go through a couple of days’ worth from your food journal.  What color list did you eat the most from?  What were you feeling afterward, both physically AND mentally?  What foods could you practice portion control with?  Why?  Conversely, which ones do you say, "I've already eaten this much...may as well finish off the box?"  What have you eaten that made you think, “I got this!  I can do healthy.”  Do you need to put restaurant food on your red light list because you can’t separate the value from the cost? Are you in tune enough to listen when your body gives you feedback about your choices? 

With your red light list in hand, take a look in your pantry and refrigerator.  GET RID of those foods that you know are “triggers” for you.  (Dry cereal.  I wish I had a dime for every client that can't be in the same zip code as a box of dry cereal.)  Why oh why would you torture yourself?  From your yellow light list, take a lesson in cause and effect.   Be grateful that you have accepted you really ARE what you eat, and moderately enjoy these foods.  Stock up with green light foods and make them your basis for meals.  

Learn this go-round.  This time things are different.  This time, you're figuring out how to eat for the rest of your healthy life.  You got this!

Less confusion, more common sense.

If you skimmed every article in every magazine and website homepage about how to eat to get healthy, you’d likely be swimmy headed from following all the 180’s the experts claim.  Take the incredible edible egg, for example.  One month it’s the very worst thing you could possibly eat, then the next, eggs are way healthy and you should enjoy them daily.  Dairy has also confused the experts.  You aren’t sure if it’s ok to drink milk, are you? (Absolutely!)

There is, however, one piece of advice that just won’t go away.  That’s because it is nutritionally sound, as long as you read the fine print, which most of us typically don’t bother with.  We’re busy; we read the bullet points in bold font and move on, learning maybe half of the story.

It’s true that in order for our bodies to perform optimally, we should eat 5-6 smaller* meals a day and forgo our 3 square meals.  (A previous blog added breakfast.  You ARE eating breakfast, right?) The asterisk here though should boldly point to this:  SMALLER THAN WHAT?  Isn’t this just a dangerous exercise in relativity unless someone QUANTIFIES smaller*?

It’s been my experience that the cons to this rule far outweigh the pros.  Most people interpret this as license to virtually double the amount of food they eat.  So instead of 3 times daily, they get 6!  Wow!! Ummm, no.

I had a client once who bragged that she was doing 6 minis, but was puzzled that she had actually gained weight.  When I looked over her food journal, it was clear…this isn’t rocket science friends….the intent is to take 3 meals and spread them out over 6.  Instead, she just added her usual intake to mid morning, mid afternoon, then ended the day with a late night snack.  So I tweaked her portions.  The next week, she whined that one reason it wasn’t working for her was because when she went out with family or friends, they “got” to eat more than she did, and it was “torture” sitting there watching them eat.  (Does this sound crazy or can you relate?)  Gosh a’mighty, so many things to say here, but I’m going to stick to the science of it.  Maybe we’ll get into the head games another time.

I won’t argue that your metabolism DOES run better with a steady stream of energy, fueled in small batches.  Has it worked for anyone out there?  If so, will you share your story?  (And you celebrities who have a personal chef fixing and plating your minis don’t count.) 

Here’s your habit to break for today, and it’s a doozie.  Stop eating between meals. 

Stop snacking. Stop with the bites of this or that. You’ve already stopped the cokes, right?  Train your brain that don’t actually “get” a snack. You might be hungry when you stop, but guess what!  Hunger will NOT kill you.  (When did we get so scared of hunger?)  If gnoshing is such a habit, chances are it’s mindless.  (Have you ever found yourself eating something one day and honestly couldn’t remember how or why it ended up in your mouth?) No more.  It’s time to be mindFUL. When you do sit down to a meal, after breaking your snack habit, you’ll be so ready for it that you’ll be tempted to wolf down your food.  We’ve already covered that bad habit in a past blog so set your watch for 20 minutes and take your time.

And another thing:  let’s revisit your food journal for a sec.  Are you looking over it?  Are you learning anything from it?  Did you stop using it altogether after the burst of enthusiasm wore off?  Big mistake.  Huge.  If you haven’t given that up, now’s the time to read back and have a few “aha” moments.  Are you writing down your snacks?  What will you be eliminating if/when you stop eating between meals?  Carrot sticks or brownie bites? 

By the way, if you have a smart phone with downloadable apps, my friend Barbara shared a great free find today if you’re having a hard time remembering your food log.  It’s called MyNetDiary and it’s handy, handy.  I’m especially interested (and shocked) by the sodium totals….Geez.  But sodium totals are perhaps the least of your worries, and I’ll save that for another blog.  For now, quit eating between meals.

Does this sound familiar?

I have a friend at work who is a little like Mikey when it comes to losing weight:  he’ll try anything.  He has told me about his various cleanses, his “king and pauper” diet, his numerous liquid attempts, and his gigs at only eating one meal a day, which always, always included some variation of biscuits and gravy.  Even though he knows what I did for a living in a past life and we’re pretty close friends, he has never asked me for help, so I’ve never given him unheeded advice.  There were times when I literally had to hold my lips together to keep from becoming that person who thinks she knows everything about something, but nobody asked.  Until recently....I couldn’t.  I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut... 

His latest diet comes from a national chain.  It includes bars and shakes, and one “sensible” meal a day.  He goes in once a week to be weighed and “counseled” and to buy another week of “food.”  (Sorry for all the quote marks.  They are overused, but I must.  How else can I convey my sarcasm?)

So Friday, he comes in my office to tell me that he had lost a little over 9 pounds in one week!  Maybe winning the lottery would’ve made him happier, but I don’t know.  This man was jazzed.  He went on to say that the woman who “counseled” him said that “she’d never seen a ketone stick THAT red” in all the years she’d be “counseling,”  and to “KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.”

No. No.  No.  No. NO.

I am going to repeat my premise that most people don’t know how to lose weight in a healthy way, and make this story the poster child of my theory.  

On the bright side, he has lost 9 pounds, and it seems that’s all that matters, both to him and the diet company laughing all the way to the bank.  The bad news is, though, that he’s sacrificing his health on the altar of the scale.  

In a nutshell, ketosis is when your body is self-cannibalizing.  But isn’t that the goal, you say?  Don’t you want to make your body burn stored fat?  The body is an amazing machine that has all kinds of “Plan B” workarounds, and finding energy for fuel is one of them.  Our dreamworld fantasy includes eating so little that your body will burn from the fat stored right on the very place you’d like to get rid of by Saturday night so you can get in those jeans.  But ketosis is when your body is burning PROTEIN, found in muscles, and the by product, these ketones, get dumped into the waste system, ultimately through your kidneys.  

Suffice it to say, this is not good.  In no way could this be interpreted as healthy.   Which is what I told my friend.  He was surprised that his “counselor” didn’t spell it out for him, so he appreciated the information, and said that he only had 2 more weeks until his ski trip, but he wanted to lose another 7-10 pounds, so after that, he’d “eat healthier.”

I guess there you go.  If all you care about is losing weight, you and I both know that you can, no matter the cost to your health.  But if your goal is to reclaim your health through your diet,  (“diet” to me is a generic term to use when talking about food) then stick around.  

Here is the truth:  It’s a simple math equation.  What you eat minus what you burn up = what you keep.  To lose or gain weight, you play with both those addends.  (I can’t be sure that’s the right word---is that what they’re called before the equals sign in the math world?  Hats? Jenna?  Help me out here!)  

It’s a function of calories.  The unit measurement for energy that goes in for fuel.  I don’t count calories, but calories count.  They matter.  So stick around.  We’re going to start getting to the nitty gritty of getting healthy.  

And I REPEAT, IN ALL CAPS, NO LESS.  I DON’T GIVE A FIG WHAT YOU WEIGH.  I AM 100% CERTAIN THAT YOU WILL REACH A HEALTHY WEIGHT IF YOU TREAT YOUR BODY WITH A HEALTHY RESPECT.  

Till the next time, please give thanks that your body hasn’t given up you even after everything you’ve put it through......

That's a fact, Jack!

Did you know?

Fact:  It takes TWENTY minutes for your brain to have time to process that it first saw food, then smelled it.  Then chewed, tasted and swallowed this food.  A full TWENTY minutes later, your brain will have had the time it needs to signal to your stomach that it has food in it, and it just MIGHT be full and need NO MORE FOOD.

Are you a fast or slow eater?  How long does it take you to finish your meal?  

The next time you sit down to eat, glance at your watch.  Then when you’re done, look again.  Did it take you less than 20 minutes?  If so, do you still feel hungry? Did you go back for seconds or nibble on whatever is in front of you (or off someone’s plates?)  If it took you more than 20 minutes, did you ultimately stop eating because you were full and wanted no more?

The benefits of taking your time to eat are many.  Digestion is so much easier when your food is mixed with plenty of saliva, which is added by chewing.  The risk of choking on food chewed well is way less than it is when you chew a mouthful 2 or 3 times then try to swallow.  You actually take in less air when chewing thoughtfully than when you gulp food down, which means less air in your stomach.  (Air in your stomach comes out, one way or another...) and yes, you will become acquainted with the sensation of fullness.  If you recognize full, the next logical signal will be to recognize hunger.  What a surprise!

I don’t really have any pearls of wisdom to pass on if you need to slow yourself down.  I’m hardly one to talk, because I don’t eat slowly.  I can offer what sometimes works for me.  For example, if I notice someone around me that is way behind me (as in, I’m nearly done and they’re just beginning) I set my pace with her.  I take smaller bites.  I try to chew more times.  I try to switch from my default left side teeth to my right.  I try to chew more slowly.  I try to put my fork down between bites or to take a sip of water in between.  Unfortunately, though, if I’m eating at my desk at work, or with my even-faster-eater Joe, my nature returns and I am finished before I know it.

If all else fails and you are utterly unable to slow down, one old school trick to keep yourself from overeating is to drink a cup of hot tea about 20 minutes before you eat.  This sort of fools your brain into sending the signal that you’re not completely empty and you only eat the appropriate amount.

Just one more step to realizing the habits that make you YOU.  How can you fix what you don’t know needs fixing?

PS  It’s Friday as I write this, and I’ve got that little feeling in my stomach the weekend brings!  How AWESOME is it that every WEEK has a built in break?  

Non-negotiable #1

(Remember I said I was going to challenge you....read on.)

STOP WITH THE COKES*.  *cokes=soft drinks. 

BOOM.  Hands on my hips, eyebrow raised, I mean it.

I was in the break room today and overheard (isn’t that a much nicer way to say I was eavesdropping?) two women who recently started a well-known weight loss program that is currently being endorsed by an almost American Idol.  Who, by the way, looks a-maz-ing.  This program is based on points, and each day you get a certain amount of points to spend.  Hopefully, you’ll learn about nutrition values and spend your daily quota in a well balanced, moderate way.  I actually worked as a leader for this company 100 years and many “new programs” ago.

Um, Mr. Weight Loss Company, if you include point values for everything under the sun, including junky, yucky, nasty stuff, a) don’t be surprised when your followers stop coming because “this didn’t work”, and b) if they do somehow reach their goals, consider the consequences of teaching them how to trade healthy, honest food for twinkies, sodas and beer.  

These two were ACTUALLY CONSIDERING blowing NINE points on a 12 ounce soda.  One lady said she HAD to spend these points because she couldn’t go a day without her “fix.”   The other said she didn’t believe that one coke could possibly be that bad for you, so what would it hurt to just not count it?  Huh?

If you’re a coke drinker, please leave a comment and tell me why.  When you’ve finished that big hog 64 ounce fountain soda you got because of the great ice, do you think of the cheeseburger you could’ve eaten instead?  When you reach for a coke, what’s going on in your brain?  Are you thinking of your thirst?  Your sweet tooth?  Your caffeine addiction?  These are things I want to know.

Now the nicer, sweeter Alicia would tell you to reduce your quantity by half this week.  Do it again next week, and the week after that, you should be able to eliminate them altogether.  She might tell those of you who don’t have a taste for diet cokes to mix them ½ and ½ with your sugary ones, slowly increasing the amount of diet and reducing the amount of real.  Don’t be confused, though…even the good witch Alicia doesn’t endorse drinking diet cokes all day long either. She’s been known to advise those with a caffeine addiction to start first by switching to a caffeine free coke until that headache stops.  Having broken free from the addiction of caffeine, her advice then would be to tackle the sugar addiction. 

But she didn’t show up to write today, and my purpose, if you’ll recall, is to CHALLENGE you to become healthier.  It’s time to get a little uncomfortable.  It’s time to see what you’re capable of.  Dust off that will power and put it to good use.  

Anyone confused?  If so, let me be clear.  STOP WITH THE COKES.

Eyelashes and Sass

I remember precious little about my childhood; I must’ve skipped the day the good Lord passed out memory, which is probably why He gave me double doses of eyelashes and sass.  I do remember though Sunday lunches after church when my family would go out to eat at the Artillery Club.  This was a Big Deal. Huge.

I wonder if our children will look back and their Big Deal memory will be the occasions  when they actually sat around the kitchen table and took their meals at home?

This is not a social commentary on the demise of family values because we don’t break bread together.  Neither is this a message from your accountant who just totaled up how much your “travel and entertainment” expenses were over the course of the year. Rather, this is an OBNOXIOUS WARNING BELL, CLANGING WILDLY about eating out more meals than in and the havoc this bad habit wreaks on your health.  

Listen.  Restaurants are in business to do one thing:  to make you come back.  Have you ever wondered what their tricks are and why they work so well?  Just exactly what do you think they put in their food to make it taste so dang good?  

High fat, if not lots of salt, or both.  

They serve “free” breadsticks, baskets of chips or cheese biscuits before you eat (like these don’t count?), and they keep ‘em coming.  They serve you your choice of entrees, and it’s enough food to feed Coxes’ army.  They bring you a huge glass of your beverage of choice, and keep it full.  They have the nerve to ask you if you’d like some dessert with your coffee...  Why it’s a conspiracy!  :)  A few blogs ago, I talked about portion sizes.  Would you believe I’ve actually been asked if there was something wrong with my meal after practicing portion control and leaving the rest?  

So today’s blog is about taking a look at this restaurant habit.  (My apologies to my friends who own restaurants.  No worries---I’m a lone voice telling a few readers my opinion....your fortunes are safe!) I’m going to ask you to cut back, by HALF, the amount of times you eat out this week.  This means for you folks who go out to lunch with the gang from work then drive through somewhere on your way home to pick up dinner will need to start (cute) brown-bagging it for lunch.  No?  You’ll miss out on too much socially and before you know it, you’ll be passed over come review time?  Then by golly, plan on cooking dinner at home.  (I’m assuming you’re eating breakfast there too, a la blog, day 2.)

Key word here: PLAN.  I’ll help you with that if you’d like.  Tomorrow.  For now, go pack a turkey sandwich, some baby carrots and an apple.  Here’s an idea!  Start a (cute) brown-bag lunch bunch at work!

Getting gut-level honest.

True story:

I have a salt tooth.  Most people swing the other way.  Me?  I’d pick a crunchy, salty, savory chip or cracker over something sweet any day.  I am one of those freaks that even likes rice cakes, as long as they have a little salt on them.

So I’m always interested in new chip and cracker finds.  Usually, I find one that I love, love, love, and I’ll buy a box every time I go to the store (We shop once a week.  Period.  Don’t fret; I’ve got a blog ready that tackles all things grocery store related), but don’t think I won’t stalk the cracker aisle on the lookout for the next great snack food.

Back in the day, it was plain ole Wheat Thins.  Nearly perfect, they’re pretty hard to beat.  Thanks to the nutrition facts label (again, a future blog), I would count out my portion and give thanks to the geniuses at Nabisco for making me so happy.  Then along came the rise of non-cereal Special K products, and I discovered a mighty taste for graham flour.  Have you tried those Special K crackers?  That little wangy taste is graham flour!  Yum.  But the new queen on my salty throne is once again a Wheat Thin cousin, cleverly called Sticks.  These sticks are crunchy, salty, delicious and addicting.  Oh my.

All this intro is to let you know that alas!  She, the one who lectures about controlling portions and striving to be the example of healthy eating, is human after all.

The other day, I opened a new box of Wheat Thin Sticks.  But when I went to get my daily “fix” yesterday, there were 2 left!  WHAT happened?  (Side note:  Joe and dad don’t snack on these, though I can’t imagine why.)  

Which brings me to today’s hint.

You need to WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU EAT.  (Clearly, so do I!)

This is a perfect time to get you a new notebook, journal, or whatever paper strikes your fancy, as long as it’s portable.  This goes where you go.  On paper, in ink, write down every single thing you put in your mouth.

When you drink a glass of water, write it down.

When you eat a bite of the cake that’s in the coffee break room, write it down.

When you eat, write down your meals.  Include the butter on your roll if you used any.  Every detail.

When you snack, write down your snacks.  Count how many WTS you eat and write it down.

When you drink, write down your beverages.  If you use cream and sugar in your coffee, write it down.

Because this is YOUR tool, you must be honest.  Nobody will ever see this except you.  The purpose of course is to make you aware of what, and how much, you ingest on any given day.  You can’t hope to fix anything if you don’t know what’s broken, right?

We’ll visit this in about a week, so be faithful. 

Get a grip!

Go on a scavenger hunt around your house and gather these things:  a pair of dice and a deck of cards, a golf and tennis ball, a set of measuring cups and spoons, and a dinner plate.

Now come back and set those beside you while you read on....

HAVE MERCY! Let’s talk portions.

My sweet Joe and I went out to dinner last night and I was doing my best to concentrate on him.  But plate after plate after plate passed by us and I couldn’t help but be distracted.  (We were actually talking about my blog too, so it’s not like I totally switched gears.) Each plate was filled with enough food to choke a mule.  Mind you, we weren’t at Billy Bob’s Steakhouse.  We were in a nice, quiet, on-the-fancy-side place.

Our nation has become so uber super sized that I swear it’s the norm now.  If I had to point to one thing that has singlehandedly earned Americans our place in the hall of shame as the unhealthiest people on earth (yep.  google that) it would have to be that no one knows what a serving of ANYTHING is anymore.  So read on.  From here on out, you still may eat the whole bowl of never ending pasta, but you’ll at least know that you’re eating SIX servings of pasta, per bowl, not one.

Beginning with your dice and your deck of cards, let’s talk proteins--Meats, including fish and cheeses.  A 3-4 ounce serving of meat looks like a deck of cards in length and width.  Believe it or not, that’s about the amount of protein you ought to be getting twice daily.  Collectively, we eat wayyyy more protein than our bodies need.  Cheese.  Yummm.  But an ounce looks like 2 dice.  (Or my thumb.  But I don’t share this relative measure because who knows what your thumb looks like.)  Think back to how many “dice” you’ve mindlessly popped in your mouth from the cheese tray while trying to figure out what you wanted to eat.  Cheese is not a filler, nor it is a freebie topper.  So the next time you eat out and your protein looks like the Dallas phone book, eat your deck of cards and doggy bag the remainder and make it the star of “round two” the next day. 

Get that golf ball in front of you.  That’s ONE muffin--don’t get me started about “healthy” muffins the size of softballs...Likewise, your golf ball is ONE ounce of chopped ham, turkey, egg or cheese from the salad bar.  

Tennis ball:  that’s ONE serving of round fruit, or wait for it...ONE serving of baked potato.  I’d like to meet Mr. Football sized potato farmer so I can ask him how on EARTH he can sleep at night.

Now get out your measuring cups.  Look inside your 1/2 cup and use your imagination.  That’s how much a single serving is of most starches (or carbs):  mashed potatoes, pasta, corn, peas (huh?  Corn and peas are starches? Yes.) beans, oatmeal, grits...I’m leaving lots off, but you get the drift.  It’s also the portion size for “wet” fruit, like applesauce, canned pineapple, etc.  While we’re looking at the cups, hold in your hand the 1/3 cup.  This is the cup to use for one serving of rice.  Are you gasping remembering the last time you ate chinese?  

Finally, take a look at your measuring spoons.  They are mostly for fats (peanut butter, cream cheese, butter, oils) and we’ll talk lots more about these in blogs to come.  Here’s a sneak peak though:  get acquainted with your TEAspoon.

I asked you to get your dinner plate in front of you, because once you have eyeballed all the relative comparisons, imagine them on your dinner plate.  If you drew a line down the middle, top to bottom then side to side, your meat and starch should each take up about one quarter section, and the other half would be covered by vegies.  Of course, that’s a rough guide, but it’s a great beginning visual.

I think that’s enough information for now.  If you want to know more about portions, google “exchanges” and you’ll find measurements for any food in the world.  My advice, though, is to be cautious that you don’t blow a breaker with too much information.  I only wish I could see the lightbulb go off and the “aha” look on your face as you continue down this path toward better health!  

Attitude Alert!

Day 3.  You're the boss of you.

ALERT ALERT:  Studies show that our collective interest in any new approach to a healthy lifestyle peaks on day three, leaving day 4 on top of the “tried it, didn’t work” heap.  (You’re thinking of all those Monday “diets” that you went ON, only to go OFF by Thursday, Friday at the latest, right?)  This won’t be the first time I ask you to take a look at your WILL POWER.  That’s a blast from the politically incorrect past, but somehow, I think we have become such affirmers that literally anything is ok, and nobody dares to point out any small quirks for fear of damaging our delicate egos.   But this boils down to YOU deciding what is right for YOU.  Remember these 5 words:  You’re the boss of you.  You’re in charge!

Drinking water.  Check.

Eating breakfast.  Check.

Next up, and I may lose some of you here but I ain’t skeered, is another habit to form, rather than break.  Let’s hold fast to that momentum from days 1 and 2 and use it to your best advantage.  I’m talking about movement.  I’m making no promises, but I don’t think I’ll use the word “exercise” too much, because it wasn’t so long ago that I would curl my lip and growl like DevilDog when I let my conscience bring up the exercise piece.  Who has the time?  Who has the money to join a gym or work with a trainer?  Most importantly, who has the cute outfits and the latest shoes? 

Get a load of this:  Any movement is better than no movement at all.   5 minutes here, 10 minutes there adds up.

Would you like to know the science of it?  Raise your hand if you’ve ever said these words.  “I was born with a slow metabolism.”  Well guess what?  Not so.  Simply put, metabolism is the rate at which you burn energy, which you are doing right now, sitting at your computer reading this and breathing.   Anytime you press the pedal on your idling car, you burn more gas, right? So it is with moving your body.  

Once I understood that I didn’t have to commit to a big chunk out of my already busy day, I accepted that it was up to me to create ways to get me moving that I wouldn’t resent.  For example, in the Kroger parking lot, my sweet Joe will drive around and wait for someone to unload their buggies to get that close, prime spot.  I pick the farthest spot I can find.  I work on the 16^th floor, and one day got irritated by the smoke breakers.  I decided if they could take 15 minutes away to smoke, then I could take 15 minutes to move.  So, I started climbing the stairs.  Believe me, I started out slowly, but I knew I was on to something when my calves were so sore in the mornings that  I nearly fell out of bed!  I now climb 21 floors, both ways!  (And still miss Alex!)  Another trick.  Pick up a pair of cheapy, 5# hand weights and carry them around with your arms bent and swinging. O-U-C-H.   For you lucky people with a hot tub, get in the center of it and walk against the blowers.  Bowl.  Wii.   Get your love to take you out and DANCE!!!!  Just get UP.  MOVE. 

I’ll make you a bet.  I’ll bet that if you incorporate more movement into your daily lives, there will come a day when you haven’t or couldn’t be active.  I’ll bet you your attitude will be a little sucky but you won’t know why.  I’ll bet you figure out one of your options to get past the funk is to move.  I think you’ll act on that positive, healthy decision.  And finally, I’ll bet you AFTERWARD, you feel like a million bucks.  Is that a big enough payoff?  

Breakfast of Champions

Day #2

Welcome back, oh water-logged friends!  Check in.  Physically, do you feel (or look) better, worse or the same?  Mentally, what’s going on up there?  Can you concentrate longer?  Are your thoughts harsh or kind about what you are attempting to do?  

I know it’s soon.  I know that after only drinking water for one day, little change is going to be evident.  But while you’re sipping on your first glass today, consider this.  How did Rome get built?  (One stone at a time.)  How did you learn to walk?  (One step at a time.)  Get it?  One habit at a time, and you’ll be a new person.  Trust in this.

So now what?  Today’s challenge is another “start this”.  The “stop that” days are coming soon.

Eat breakfast. 

Now just like that, your brain went to either one of two places.  For you, “I already eat breakfast...what’s the big deal?” people, hang on.  We’ll tweak in a minute.

For you, “I never eat breakfast, never have, hate breakfast food” diehards, consider these facts:

1. Your body, like the car it is compared to, runs on fuel.  We all know that mileage on the highway is better than city driving because we don’t start and stop on the open road.  Just as you would run better and more efficiently if you didn’t starve and stuff with your meals.  You’ll learn about the simplicity of your metabolism if you read for a few weeks.
2. You don’t eat breakfast.  So the first time you DO eat, you have an “I haven’t eaten all day” sense of entitlement, and you aren’t picky choosy about what, or how much you eat when you do break your fast.
3. Who says breakfast food has to be the usual?  There is NO breakfast po po  (I will start a glossary.  Po po=police.)

For you, “I already eat breakfast” folks, alright alright!  Now take an honest look at WHAT you’re eating and think about these things:

1. If you are eating anything that’s coated with sugar or has obvious runny, gooey sugar on it, you are wreaking havoc on your poor blood sugar.  (Who hasn’t heard of the midmorning slumps?  Not rocket science here:  you blood sugar peaked about an hour before that, and has crashed to the basement!)
2. If you are driving through some gross fast food place and getting your breakfast in a greasy white sack, that’s worse than not eating at all.  I’m going to blow your mind here and ask you to learn (or remember) one  simple thing.  There’s only a certain amount of food your body needs on a daily basis, and anything over that amount goes where all extra calories live:  (insert here your own body geography.  Mine goes straight to my rear end.)  If you haven’t taken the time to investigate the nutritional value of fast food fare, pull your head out of the sand and do it today. 

Go to the grocery store, then come home and make friends with your kitchen again.  I will pound that home bunches and bunches throughout the next year.  At the grocery, pick up things like fruit, a loaf of whole grain bread, low fat cream cheese, along with some low fat cheese slices, some bacon and eggs (yes, bacon.  How on earth we find ourselves thinking 2 slices of crisply cooked bacon is “worse” for you than eating a big ole burrito stuffed with eggs, sausage and cheese is beyond my comprehension) some real fruit, a few yogurts, some low fat milk and a box of cereal that is yummy, but good for you.  ***If you don’t know how to figure that out, don’t feel bad.  A future blog will explain that for you.  For now, ask!

Then eat a little.  Fix yourself a nice little plate of something, take a moment, and sit down and eat.  Don’t tell me you don’t have the time.  Yes you do, if you make the time.

See you tomorrow!  I’m going to fix my 2 egg omelette with melted cheese, a slice of toast and an orange.  And here’s how:

In a small saute pan, spray well with Pam.  In a small bowl, crack 2 eggs (or 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites, which cuts down the fat  and cholesterol from eliminating the yolk) and whip with a fork.  Over medium high heat, pour the egg mixture and let sit.  Tear one slice of low-fat cheese (Laughing Cow is yummmmy!) and let melt on top of your untouched eggs. If you have any fresh spinach, top your eggs with this as well as the cheese for some extra nutrients!  (Thanks Barbara!)

When the gloss of the eggs is gone, flip halfway over and let melt and cook a little longer.  Top with salsa, natch!

First Order of Business

Day #2

Good morning, and welcome back.  You’ve already made a positive change just by clicking your way back to me.  This is called curiosity and open-minded-ness, (or at least nosy-rosy-ness) and we can be friends.  Mention your  tambourine or your karaoke microphone and you’ll never get rid of me!

I am struggling not to dump too much information into each day, because as one of my balcony people reminds me, she doesn’t want to know the “why.”  She just wants to know the “how to.”  But I am hard-wired to make sense out of things, so you’ll just have to glaze over during the times that I get too uppity with the facts, and jump right to the action portion of the program!

Your new habit today is simple.  DRINK WATER.

I’m not telling you (yet) to stop drinking the sodas and the Starbux and the rest of what you drink because you “hate” water.  (Sidenote...I don’t get that.  What does that mean, you hate water?)

But I will touch briefly on why you MUST drink water.  #1 reason is because your body needs the liquid.  Think of your body from this point forward as a car.  Now I don’t know much about cars, nor do I care.  But I know that gas is a must and so is oil.  Without gas, you stop, and without oil, you burn up.  So think of the water that you’re putting in your body as the oil going in the car.  

#2 reason you need to drink water is to get rid of water.  True story:  one Chan’s chinese meal later, I’m +2.4 pounds.  Now I know logically that I couldn’t have gained that in weight.  So I drank water, got rid of water, and just like magic, the next day, it was flushed.  Literally.  It takes water to lose water.  

#3 reason.  It keeps your stomach from feeling so dang empty you reach for anything.  

Lots of people eat when they’re thirsty because they don’t know the difference.  

I have a client who emailed me not long ago and said that she HATES (her all caps throughout, not mine) water, and the ONLY way she can CHOKE any down is to put Crystal Light in it, and she KNOWS that drinking something with artificial sweetener in it ALL DAY LONG is probably not good for her, but isn’t it better than no water at all?    

No.  I’m going to give it to you straight, friends.  This is not where you come for permission to treat your body badly.  We’re going to talk a lot about my three legged stool in the coming blogs, but suffice it to say that drinking anything but water all day long is NOT moderate.  Would you agree?

So for today, your new habit to begin forming is simple.  

For each drink of something that isn’t water, drink the same amount of water.  (My trick, for what it’s worth, is to drink water less than ice cold.  It tastes different and it goes down much easier!)

The goal, of course, is to replace your liquids with water ultimately.  But I’m not telling you to give anything up today.  I’m telling you to match your junky liquid with good, pure water.  

And one more thing?  I don’t mean to offend anybody when I talk about how much I weigh or what I’ve gained or lost. But like it or not, weight is a benchmark.  A measure of how you’ve treated your machine.   No, this project’s goal to worth to change old habits into new ones is not about your weight.  I don’t care what you weigh, and though I know you will arrive at a healthy place by following these simple steps,  this isn’t about how much you’re going to lose.  I mean this:  my daily goal is to FEEL good in my skin.  My goal is to live a long, healthy, active life.  Does that sound like something you’re interested in?  

See you tomorrow!  Nature calls! 

This is my plan...

You already know me (or you know someone who does) or you wouldn't be reading this intro.  So I'll spare you the resume and the history lesson.  You know that my family means everything to me: that I am married to the nicest man on earth and that my two kids are practically perfect. You know that THIS go-round, I'm making my career in the oil and gas industry.  I have the most wonderful job and work with and for the nicest people.  No complaints, truly.

But my LAST career was and is still a huge part of who I am, how I live, and what I care about.  And that's how to get and stay healthy through food.  I worked for a fairly well-known (about to be wayyy more known, thanks to reality tv) treatment center specializing in eating disorders for 7 years.  I have had the pleasure of working with men and women in professions ranging from an medical doctor to a nun, between the ages of 13 and 77, who have struggled to stay healthy, in spite of their eating habits. And the resounding theme that I have come to know is that people don't know how or what to eat.   Nor, for that matter, do they know where to start.  Anyone who reads a magazine or their home page is inundated with 10 or 100 or 1000 "tips" to a better life.  But that's too much for anyone to take in and apply.

I have had a notion for a while that the average person just doesn't KNOW where to begin.   My idea is to present you with ONE healthy idea or habit to start, or a yucky habit to stop, with each new post.  There is no rule; you might miss a few posts; don't beat yourself up.  My theory is that any positive change is better than no change at all.

Finally, I welcome your comments.  Maybe if comments become a "forum," you can create a responsive community on here.  But I don't think I'll respond.  That would come dangerously close to counseling, and I would need LOTS more information about you to work with you individually.

To recap:  a few stories, a few pictures, a few recipes, and a few ideas to chew on....I'm in!  Anyone?