My Guide to Breaking a Sweat for the Uninspired

Ok, I do belong to a gym.  Yet workouts are hard and I’m not a huge fan of sweat.  But I do it because it is important for so many reasons.  It helps osteoporosis and bone preservation.  It is also can help delay the muscle loss that starts at age 30. Exercise burns calories, but more importantly it strengthens the hormonal communication that keeps a person feeling full and stops them from storing excess fat.  And as we all know, cardio is excellent for the heart.

There are those that are athletes.  They take to athletics young, continue with their sport through adulthood and never need to be prodded or urged to workout.  They are able to make the time for exercise no matter what life throws at them because they love it and because it is a priority.

That has not always been the case with me.  I’ve tried being a gym rat but failed miserably.  Somehow, spending hours on an elliptical machine didn’t give me the results I wanted but did succeed in boring me.  I tried jogging.  Surely all those people I see running morning noon and night must be onto something.  I made it about a mile.  I then traded in my running shoes for rollerblades.  I

wiped-out before I fully stood up!

Finally, I had an epiphany.  I’m not by nature an athlete.  At my core, I am a creative-type, having been an actress through my childhood and early adulthood.  What types of exercise do I enjoy?  That would be exercise that isn’t just repetitive but where I actually get to create something. 

I first realized this as an adult taking figure skating lessons.  Now, learning to figure skate as an adult is admittedly somewhat humiliating.  You are in a rink with 8-year-olds leaping to the left and right of you while you are struggling to glide on one foot.  I grew up far from any ice skating rink and put on ice skates for the first time as a teenager.  I liked ice skating because it involved more than rote exercises.  I got to put moves together and make up little routines.

I then tried some dancing classes.  My goal was not to be the next Misty Copeland.  My goal was for better movement, to become stronger and to challenge myself.  I really saw a lot of changes in my body from dancing, especially my abdominals since everything is supported by your core. 

Next I tried ariel hammock.  The first thing I have to say about that is that I’m terrified of heights.  The next thing I have to say is that I had so much fun.  I loved challenging myself and I got to put on a little show.  Again, the creative aspect of exercise distracted me from the fact that I was working out.

So that is how I got into shape.  I’m still not a great runner and I still get bored on the elliptical machine.  That hasn’t changed.  You don’t get to change who you are.  You can change your approach.  Doing so worked for me.

 What type of exercise excites you?

Summer Iced Tea Spritzer

Ok, I spend a lot of time talking about food as nourishment which is all well and good.  At the end of the day though, food isn’t just a conglomeration of vitamins, minerals, protein, fat and fiber.  In truth, food is a representation of our social customs and traditions.  It marks certain occasions, comforts us in cold or hot weather and creates a space around which families often gather.

For me, cold food and drinks are integral to my summer experience.  I have amazing memories of playing outside throughout the humid, sticky Florida summers as a little kid.  My salvation: my mom kept the freezer stocked with Otter Pops.  If you’ve never had an Otter pop, it is a long, thin pop that you suck out frozen, sugary goodness from a plastic wrapper.   It is labeled as a popsicle, with a texture somewhat similar to a snow cone.  Aaah! 

At nine years old, we drove north to set up residence in Pennsylvania.  What did I discover when I got there?  The happy chimes of the ice cream truck!  I can’t imagine the reason, but there were no ice cream trucks where I lived in Florida.  I had never even heard of the concept.  It was a novel, albeit wonderful realization that icy goodness could be delivered daily to my street.  I started with the snow cone and moved on to many of the ice creamy options.

Then I hit my teen years and I spent a few summer weeks with my friend at the Jersey shore.  That is when I discovered the chipwich.  I’m pretty sure the chipwich was created by some super genius ice cream God.  What more could you ask for than a chocolate chip covered vanilla ice cream scoop that is sandwiched between not one, but two yummy chocolate chip cookies?

Now that I’m an adult, I’ve moved on to iced drinks as my chilly comfort from the blazing summer rays.  Sitting outside with a cold drink, packed with extra ice and dripping with condensation is my current salvation from the summer heat.  I mentioned a few weeks ago that coffee (my normal go-to summer beverage) is not an option for me right now due to my taxed adrenals.  So, I’ve been on the hunt for a yummy, chilly summer drink and I think I have finally found it!

I call it Fruity Iced Tea Summer Spritzer.  The thing I love about it is that no ice cubes are needed.  My fridge has ice making capabilities, but sadly my non-renovated, 1940s bungalow does not have water hook-ups for the freezer.  My landlord said it was something about not wanting to ruin the apartment’s 1940s authenticity.  Personally, I would be willing to compromise authenticity for bountiful ice cubes, but I digress.  I’m stuck making ice cubes in the little trays, which means trying to smash the cubes out of the tray into my drink.  This frustrates both me, and my loud noise hating poodle who takes any ruckus is indication of an intruder.  I try to explain to her that I was just making ice, but she is too busy furiously barking out the window to listen.  So, an ice cube-less cooling beverage is a double win for me.

Ingredients

8 ounces chilled iced tea

splash of seltzer water

squeeze of lemon

½ cup frozen berries

½ cup loosely packed mint leaves

I started off by brewing the iced tea.  This time I used Tropical Crimson herbal iced tea by Rishi Tea.  I love it because it is a reasonably priced organic herbal tea that is tasty and refreshing. I think this would go especially well will with an iced green tea, but try it with your favorite.  I brewed the iced tea ahead of time (according to the directions on the box), so I had plenty of time to let it chill.  With the heat we’ve been having lately, I want my beverage to be good and cold before drinking.

Once the tea was ready, the rest was easy.  I started by placing my mint leaves on the bottom of the glass.  Then I poured the iced tea , filling the glass ¾ of the way.  Then I added just a splash of club soda (or any sparkly water).  The goal was to add bubbles without completely watering down the drink.  There is nothing I hate more than a watered down drink.  I then added just a quick squeeze of lemon.  I wasn’t going for lemonade.  I just wanted to give the tea some depth of fruitiness.

The final ingredient is frozen berries.  I added about ½ cup, but add as many as appeals to you. The berries keep the drink cold just like ice without having to bang out any cubes and without ending with a watered down drink as the beverage cools!  It is pretty to look at, chilly to drink and yummy to eat all the sweet berries once you get to the bottom of the drink. 

So that is my current summer obsession.  It is also rich in antioxidants and fiber.  But who wants to think about nutrition that when soaking in the summer rays.  To me, it is an Otter Pop for the slightly more mature seven year old in me. 

A Plea for Rain, Hay and Plentiful Avocados in California

So it is raining here in Los Angeles.  And when I say rain, I mean a very slight drizzle.  But hey, my fellow Los Angelinos can attest, drizzle is for us what a downpour is to most other parts of the world.  We see rain here so rarely that when it happens, it is often the top story on the news.  Reporters will do man on the street interviews to discuss local resident’s experience of the treacherous trickle.  No joke.

Yet we need rain to nourish the land.  California is in a horrible drought which means all of us locals need to be mindful of when and how we use water.  It is destroying crops. I read a statistic that 17,000 agriculture workers are expected to be out of a job this year.  I even read somewhere that the possibility exists of needing to migrate people out of California.  Whoa.  Personally, I’m opting to be migrated to Hawaii.  I was born in New York, not too far from the Canadian border but I’ve gotten way too used to sunshine to turn back now.

California is supposedly the number one state for US agriculture.  Yup, amazingly we have more than movie stars and botox factories here.  Who would have guessed?  It is amazing for us Los Angelinos to remember that California isn’t just a conglomeration of coffee and juice bars, but is very much a large expanse of farmland.  I wonder if the farmers, toiling in the dry sun all day laugh at those of us who thrive on spray tans.  But I digress. 

So, we have a lot of agriculture here in California.  Do you like cheese?  Amazingly, we have a lot of cows here.  California is also a really good state to find organic raw milk (if you are so inclined and don’t happen to have your own cow.)  We are also great growers of grapes, apples, almonds, walnuts, lemons and hay (yes, I said hay.) (http://norml.org/legal/item/california-top-10-cash-crops)   Personally, I am a big fan of the California avocado.  I’d never had an avocado before moving here and was shocked to find it is served on EVERYTHING.  I become judgmental when I go back East, shaking my head at the dismal selection of available avocados.  I look sadly at my fellow shoppers and wonder if they have a glimmer at what they are being denied based on geography.

There are, of course, other reasons to be concerned about a drought than food.  Fire is a huge concern and dry conditions create the ideal setting for an out of control blaze.  As much as we like to feel in control of the elements, Mother Nature can overpower us.

So if those of you who have more access to the wet stuff could kindly do a rain dance for us, it would be greatly appreciated.  Even if you aren’t a great dancer.   It will benefit you too by keeping pricing down for some of your favorite commodities.  A slow down in production means less availability and high prices for everyone.

And if you are into entrepreneurship, you may want to invest in a galosh manufacturing company.  See somebody is going to have to sell us Californians rain gear once it starts raining again.  Seriously, do you have any idea where I might have left my umbrella?  If I retrace my steps I last saw it in 2011.

An Ode to Coffee (I Love You Despite Your Flaws)

Aah, coffee.  How I love the smell of you.  I know there are people who scatter satchels of potpourri around their houses.  I would love satchels of coffee beans so I can be surrounded by coffee aroma at all times.  One of my last waking thoughts at night is often of excitement over the next morning’s freshly brewed cup of coffee.

Seriously, I am jealous as all hell at those who could be happy with a cup of tea.  I think of tea drinkers as refined, peaceful and earthy.  Nothing at all like us hyped up, overly excited coffee drinkers.  I aspire to be like those happy tea drinkers.  Alas, I crave coffee and you don’t always get to choose who you love.

My desire goes way beyond the jittery buzz.  I like the taste of coffee that is raw and unembellished.  It is just the gritty black stuff for me.  I used to favor flavored creamers and even further back in the day I would add packets of Equal.  This was before realizing artificial sweetener was probably going to bite my health in the butt.  These days, I will crave something like a caramel macchiato every once in a while.  In the end though, sitting outside sipping a black ice coffee on a summer day tastes perfect to me.

My heart breaks at the next point I’m going to make.  Unfortunately, there are health consequences from drinking too much coffee.  Currently I need to vigilantly avoid the java as even decaf will aggravate my overly taxed adrenals.  We live in a time when almost everyone is stressed, sleep deprived and exposed to too many toxins.  Since caffeine further aggravates this adrenal stress, I must say sayonara to my beloved.

It is also a pretty well know fact that coffee is super dehydrating.  You basically need to drink two cups of water to replace the water lost from drinking one cup of coffee!  And who has time to drink all that water when you are busy sucking down coffee?

Some additional sad trivia about coffee.  Coffee is very acidic, meaning it can throw off the acid/alkaline balance of your body.  If you drink a bunch of coffee, and don’t compensate by, lets say, eating a bunch of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts), your body will become acidic.  An acidic body leaches nutrients from its bones and organs so it can return to its natural alkaline stasis.  There is much talk of how being acidic increases your odds for diseases like cancer.  This is due to the imbalances created from being acidic.  The ideal ph of the human body is slightly alkaline at about 7.2.  Wondering if your body is acidic?  There are tests you can buy where you can test your morning pee on litmus paper to see where you fall on the scale.

Another sad coffee fact.  Coffee will aggravate the gut.  Drink too much coffee and your gut could become permeable (a.k.a. leaky gut) which will lead to inflammation, weight gain and an increased chance of disease.  Leaky gut could contribute to you developing a sensitivity to some of your favorite foods.  Oh java, why do you have to be that way?

On the bright side, there are some ways to make better choices with coffee.  First of all, purchase organic.  Ack, another thing to buy organic!  Yes, but here is why.  Coffee beans come from different countries with various regulations about pesticides.  There are many pesticides that are banned in the US as toxic but are liberally used elsewhere.  Coffee beans are a crop that is heavily sprayed.  Down cup after cup of this pesticide laden crop and it is going to be a toxin party in your stomach.

Feeling jittery?  Well, there is always decaf.  Unfortunately, even decaf can be problematic.  Decaf gives you additional chemical exposure from the chemicals used to eliminate the caffeine.  You’re trading caffeine for even more inflammation-causing toxins.  Look for decaf coffee that is labeled decaffeinated via Swiss water process.  This is much gentler to your system.  There is a decaf coffee by Groundworks (based in Los Angeles, but can be purchased online-groundworkscoffee.com) called Angel City which I love.  It is organic, Swiss water processed and 99.7% caffeine free.  If you want decaf coffee, this is the way to go. 

Ok, and finally, there is a product I tried recently that is a perfect compromise between coffee and tea.  I’m not saying it will make you want to give up coffee altogether, but it could be a nice drink for the afternoon when you know you’ve really reached your caffeine limit.  It is a coffee substitute called Teeccino (www.teeccino.com) and it is made of organic healthy grains and nuts like barley, chicory and almonds.  It can be brewed in a teabag in just a few minutes and it has a smooth coffee-like flavor without the added caffeine, acid and toxins!  Quite frankly I am in love with this stuff since I’m living in a no-coffee zone.

So coffee, please don’t be mad that I pointed out your flaws.  I love you despite the fact that we’ve needed to “see other people”.  I know that sometimes you are bad for me, but I was told I have a penchant for loving the heartbreakers. 

If you are a tea drinker, then you probably don’t have much use for my ode to coffee.  If you are a bean lover like me, then hopefully you relate.  Coffee may but a lovable but unhealthy crutch.  The good news is that there are ways to be a healthier coffee drinker.  Coffee, you may be the “bad boy” of the beverage world (though certainly not as mischievous as your step-brother whisky), but I know you have a good heart.  We may be star crossed lovers currently but we will be together (in moderation) soon.  

A Healthier Way to Live in an "On The Go", Takeout World

Ok, you know you want to eat healthy.   You would just prefer to be able to do so without actually having to cook.   With all the nonsense that fills your week, who has the time?  It is takeout or frozen dinners because you don’t have the energy for anything more.   Think you are doomed to clot your arteries?  Well, while it is preferable to have healthy and fresh home-cooked meals, there is a way to clean up your diet significantly while eating your meals from a restaurant barstool.  Don’t believe me? Well here I am in my tights, cape and super-power goggles to help you navigate restaurants for a healthier lifestyle. (Ok, I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but whose counting?)

I’m going to start with an old standard.  A salad can often be a very good option, but it all depends on the type of salad you choose.  Avoid the fillers like croutons, wontons and tortilla strips.  Those just provide empty calories.  Minimize the deli slices, bacon bits and the cheeses as they are heavily processed and salted.  Also, it probably goes without saying but filling your salad with deep fried foods is probably not the best option.  Grilled or broiled meat with a colorful array of veggies, maybe some beans all tossed together would be a much better option.  Now here’s the clincher.  The dressing is the make or break item of the salad.  It isn’t enough to just choose a low fat salad dressing.  Low fat dressings usually compensate with sugar which can be worse for your heart and waist line than the added fat.  I often try to make my own dressing right there in the restaurant.  Ask for oil and balsamic vinegar and a little side of Dijon mustard.  Mix the oil and vinegar and put in a smidge of mustard to taste.  Add a dash of salt and you have a no-sugar added, heart healthy salad dressing on the fly!

Of course, if you spend your life eating out, you eventually have to venture beyond just roughage.  This is a good time to talk to the waiter.  Are you in an Irish pub with everything smothered in cream sauce?  Ask if they can just serve you a simple piece of chicken covered in basic spices that is grilled or baked.  Most restaurants would have the ingredients to do that.  Or are you just dying for an occasional burger?  Ask for it to be served on a green salad instead of a bun.  Or ask for it on type of brown rice if you are missing your carbohydrates.  Removing the bun isn't about limiting carbohydrates.  It is about removing the sugar filled (yes, bread is usually made with sugar) refined carbohydrates that quickly turn to sugar in your body.  Oh, and on the topic of sugar, avoid the most common condiments.  Ketchup has tons of sugar and mayo is made out of oils that easily go rancid.  Better options are mustard and Worcestershire sauce that usually have less sugar and bad fats.  They are still often high in sodium so don’t go overboard!

Another great place to look for nourishing restaurant options is ethnic food.  Now I’m not talking about the “American” version of certain ethnic foods that you will see at Panda Express or Del Taco.  I’m talking about the small family run restaurant where everything is made from scratch from whole food ingredients.  Foods that you will find at most Indian and Ethiopian restaurants tend to be unprocessed other than the breads and flavored with spices as opposed to sugar.  Sushi is also a good option as it is often made of just basic, whole ingredients.  That isn’t to say that you can’t get into trouble at these restaurants.  If you go to Sushi and order just the fried tempura or the Philly roll stuffed with cream cheese, you will be missing out on much of the nutrient potential that sushi has to offer.  So let’s talk about the popular Chinese food.  Is that a good option?  “American” style Chinese food sauces are often filled with sugar, salt and much of the food is friend.   A better way to order Chinese food is to order it steamed. The vegetables will be crisper, offering more nutrient potential.  You can add a little soy sauce for taste (high in sodium but no sugar) or enjoy a little bit of the sauce on the side if feeling deprived. 

So that brings me to the final stop in our healthy bites restaurant tour.  What about eating at fast food restaurants?  While fast food will never be the best choice, sometimes you are driving cross country or you’ve got a small child in your backseat or you are just in a rush with limited options.  In general, even the “healthier options” at burger joints aren’t the best.  For instance, the granola/yogurt cup advertised as a “healthy option” is often filled with so much sugar filled cereal that you might as well be eating candy.  So what should you choose?

Rotisserie or grilled chicken places can make better options.  The best option is to remove the skin which will remove a not so heart healthy form of fat but will also remove a lot of the salt filled sauce.  Part of the charm in many of these places is that you can load up on more nutritious sides like steamed vegetables or a salad.  Then again, load up on the extra butter mashed potatoes and you’ve now turned your meal into much more of a blood pressure hazard.

Something like Chipotle can be a better option (though load up on the sour cream, cheese and tortillas and your meal is now an artery clogging nightmare).  Choose as many whole food ingredients as possible to make the healthiest creation.  Maybe today you may be in the mood for vegetarian.  If you choose lettuce, black beans, brown rice and maybe the sautéed peppers, your meal will be lower sodium, low sugar and filled with foods that have nutritional value.  Skip the salsa and use the hot sauce on the side to further reduce your sugar intake.

Finally, what about Subway?  After all, they advertise themselves as being diet-friendly.  I prefer people choose the salads over the sandwiches to avoid so much refined carbohydrate.  Subway advertises there sandwiches as heart healthy if they are low calorie and fat.  I prefer to look at the total nutrient content. A big roll that will be quickly metabolized into sugar can lead to a blood sugar imbalance and weight gain.  Again, the best option will be a salad without the packaged salad dressing.  Flavor your salad with oil, vinegar and maybe some hot or sweet peppers.

Now let’s get real.  You aren’t going to deprive yourself of ever eating a double burger with fries, or an ice cream sundae ever again.  Eventually you are going to go to a restaurant as a treat because they serve your favorite foods.  This guide isn’t for the occasional restaurant dweller in good health.  When you find yourself frequenting restaurants as a larger part of your diet, it is important to understand how to get more nourishing options.  Restaurant food ideally will not replace home cooked sustenance.  Yet when it does, this guide is the best bet to lead you to a healthy, well balanced, nourished life!

The Best Ways to Eat Your Way to a Chill Summer

Is anyone else feeling the heat out there?  Summer is in full swing, and as much as I enjoy getting to wear shorts, sundresses and sandals, it is getting mighty toasty inside.  In my fantasies, my apartment is regulated by central air at a perfect 70 degrees.  In reality, my 2^nd floor apartment is just a few degrees cooler than hell by about 4pm everyday, and stays that temperature well into the night. I ran my little wall AC last night, and according to the temperature gauge, it took four hours for my apartment to re-enter the high 70s.  As I imagine I am not the only one feeling the heat, it seems this was a great time to pull out some of my favorite ways to stay cool! 

The thing I love about summer is all the juicy fruits and vegetables that are in season.  Some of the sweetest, juiciest fruits are in season this time of year like blueberries, cherries, plums, apricots and watermelon.  It is also a great time of year for water filled veggies like green beans, cucumbers and corn.  Nice to know that Mother Nature is working with us to keep us cool!

This is a perfect time to institute having a light meal for supper.  Who wants to turn on the stove a cook a four course meal?  You could make a fulfilling salad with greens, corn, black beans, berries, cucumber, string beans and maybe some goat cheese for fun.  Make it a complete meal by cooking your meat in the morning on Sunday when it is cooler in your home so you can add it to your salad on Monday or Tuesday night.  Want something healthier for your family than bottled vinaigrette?  There is a link for lots of homemade vinaigrette recipes at the bottom of this page.  They are easy to make and most of them don’t require a stove.

As a special note, this is a great time of year to whip out the jalapeños and the cayenne pepper.  Eating spicy foods will help cool you from the inside.  When you eat spicy, it triggers your body to glisten. (That’s woman talk for sweat!)  This is your body’s natural mechanism to cool yourself down.  Eat something spicy while going into the full heat of the day and your body will help regulate your temperature before you get the chance to heat up!

What about when you want something quick to help cool you down?   I personally love to just take a frozen berry and let it defrost in my mouth.  It is a burst of sweetness that is portable and sweetened by nature.  It also takes no preparation time.  It is just pop and go.  If you want something fancier, I have a super easy recipe for homemade Italian ice.

Erica Mesirov Food Coach

Take one heaping cup of berries and ½ cup water.  Blend them together, pour into a ramekin or small bowl and freeze.  Viola!  You have a super easy and healthy dessert.  If the natural sweetness isn’t enough for you, add a touch of stevia or agave.  Personally, I find the natural sweetness perfect but you decide for yourself!

Here is another recipe to cool you down.  I call it:

Chilled gazpacho that’ll make you sweat.

It will cool you in two ways: 1) from the chilled vegetables and 2) from the spiciness of the jalapeños.  

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ready in: 1 ½ hours 

This should yield about 2 large bowls or 4 smaller bowls of gazpacho. 

3 medium tomatoes

½ or 1 whole jalapeño (omit or reduce if don’t like spice.  If you include a whole jalapeño it will be “stick a fire hydrant in your mouth” spicy!)

1 cup cucumber

½ cup red pepper

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon cilantro

1 cup water

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Trader Joe’s 21 Season Salute (or mixed herbs you have available)

¼ cup olive oil

1 cup water

salt/pepper to taste

First, I sliced the tomatoes and the onions and grilled them (on my Foreman Grill – yes, I live in an apartment!)  I grilled them until charred to give them a smokier flavor, removed from heat and chilled them for 1 hour.  If you are short on time or prefer raw, go ahead and skip this step.

While the tomatoes and onions were cooling, I diced the cucumber, red pepper, jalapeño (again, warning: will be very spicy with a whole jalapeño) and cilantro and set them aside in a bowl.  I added the 21 Season Salute (if you don’t have that, add some extra herbs or spices like basil, thyme, etc) and the salt and pepper.    

Once the tomatoes and onion were chilled I removed the charred areas, peeled the onion and chopped them into small pieces, removing as many of the tomato seeds as possible.  I added this whole mixture to the rest of the prepared ingredients I had just set aside.

I then took this mixture and poured it into my blender.  I added the water, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and blended for 60 seconds.  The consistency should be slightly lumpy.  Since gazpacho is served cold, it was ready to eat!  Easy peasy, totally tasty and super cooling!

Given that, at least where I live, this heat is only going to get worse through about October, finding ways to keep cool can be a life saver.  Even if you are luckier than me with your central air, setting the thermostat a few degree higher will ease your tears when your electricity bill arrives.  These are some of my favorite icy options.  Surely you have a few favorites up your sleeve as well.  Feel free to share my recipes and share your ideas so we may all keep just a little bit cooler.

*Homemade Vinaigrette Recipes: http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-vinaigrette-dressing-with-8-variations-213989

Body Brushing for Detoxification– Is it part of your daily routine?

Erica Mesirov Food Coach   http://www.ericamesirov.com

So I’ve heard of people going to extremes to detoxify, which can be great with doctor supervision.  Yet, there’s something that I absolutely love that I use daily to improve my detoxification.  Its call body brushing and I wanted to talk about it because I’m not sure who else out there in the “non-hippie” masses is engaging in this easy and wonderful, health promoting activity.  So if you don’t do it, you might want to consider including it in your routine.

What is body brushing?  Well, as you might imagine, it is something done with a big brush to brush the skin while it is dry.  The skin is one of the largest organs in our body and it needs to be taken care of like the rest of us.  Eating well and exercising helps the skin, but sometimes your skin craves some TLC of its own.  On a very basic level, body brushing helps remove dead skin cells and exfoliate the skin.  I’ve also heard that it can help better distribute the fat deposits under the skin.   That’s pretty good, but the benefits go deeper than that.  It also helps get things moving under the skin, getting both the blood and lymph (part of the immune system) moving.  Now, your blood can depend on your heart to pump it through your arteries.  Your lymph system doesn’t have a pump and its main job is to detoxify your body and kill germs.  If the lymph doesn’t move, the body stays congested and immunity is compromised.  This is why the movement gained from body brushing is so valuable!

How does it feel?  Put yourself in your dog’s shoes for a second.  My poodle gets constant knots which turn into Bob Marley wannabe dreds if I don’t work them out.  She hates getting her knots pulled, but she puts up with it for one reason; it feels good on the rest of her body to be brushed. One of the best times to brush is in the morning before showering.  Doing so stimulates the body and an added plus is that it will leave you feeling invigorated going into your day (A much better bargain than those $5 lattes).  For that reason, it makes sense not to do this right before bed as it could contribute to insomnia.  A shower afterwards helps wash away dead skin cells and toxins.

Here is what a body brush looks like.

It is good to have one with a handle so you can reach the back another tough to reach spots.

The brushing technique is quite important.  The brush should go in small circles and should always be going in the direction of your heart.  That means that if you are brushing your legs, you should be brushing upwards.  If you are brushing your lower back, you should still be brushing upwards.  If you brush your upper back, you should be brushing downwards because your upper back is above your heart.  Make sense?

This only takes a minute or two a day, so it is not a bad time investment.  While you probably won’t see a dramatic, immediate result body brushing, the long term benefits are worth it.  In a world where we are exposed to more toxins than people ever were before in history, it is worth taking a couple of minutes to strengthen our immunity.  This is also a great opportunity to do something on the outside that will make the inside stronger.  It is way cheaper than a cold pressed juice, vitamins or organic produce.  It will help make you healthier.

Not a bad investment of a couple minutes of your time.  So is body brushing part of your daily routine?

Healthy Habits that you Will Actually Look Forward to

Erica Mesirov Food Coach
 http://www.ericamesirov.com

The phrases “living healthy” or “healthy choices” often are associated with deprivation or denial.  We know that we should make choices in our lives that strengthen our bodies, improve our health and increase our potential for longevity.  Unfortunately, we often think of living healthy as giving up all the “fun stuff” to do things that are “good for us”.  Blah!

Yes, any healthy lifestyle includes moderation in certain aspects.  Having said that, there are plenty of health-supporting options that we could actually see ourselves looking forward to.  That’s right, there are downright awesome and fun filled things you could do every day that will improve detoxification, help you lose weight and even build a stronger brain.  Don’t believe me?  Well keep reading.

1. Get together with a friend or a loved one and give each other a massage.  Yes, massage is good for relaxation, but that isn’t the only health benefit!  Everyday we are exposed to viruses and toxins in the air, in our food, on the printers and copy machines at work and even in our carpets and mattresses at home.  To maintain good health, our bodies need to properly detoxify all these contaminants via our lymphatic system.  Our lymph system circulates through our body to pick off toxins to be disposed.  There isn’t a pump to keep the lymph system working like with the heart.  That is where massage can be oh so beneficial.  Massage can stimulate the lymph system and really rev it up and keep it moving.  What does this mean?  The toxins in your body will be quaking in their boots, keeping our bodies working and maintaining our health longer!

2. Take a warm bath with Epsom salts.  Ok, so most people know that Epsom salt baths are good to take after strenuous exercise.  Did you also know that an Epsom salt bath can help lull you to sleep?  The salts are made from magnesium, and magnesium is one of your body’s main tools to support relaxation throughout.  Feeling really wound up at the end of the day?  An Epsom salt bath might be just what your body needs to help you drift into a long, peaceful slumber.  Sleep isn’t just needed to make you feel good in the morning.  Sleep is the main opportunity that your body has to repair the damages of your day.  Improve your sleep quality and you won’t just need less caffeine.  You will also have a stronger body supporting vibrant health.  Just make sure the bath isn’t too hot or you might just wake yourself up more!

3. Eat healthy fat.  For years, fat got a really unfair bad rap.  Now Time magazine has come forward to announce to the world that it is time to start eating butter again.  Eating healthy fats is one of the tastiest, best things we can do to support our health.  Did you know that your brain is predominately made of fat?  Well, when you eat the wrong kinds of fats like from hydrogenated oil, you are building misshapen cells in your brain.  Ouch!  But if you don’t eat fat, your brain can’t carry out many of its functions. No wonder you feel so blah.   When you eat the good kind of fat, you keep your brain the brilliant powerhouse that it is.  So grab a handful of nuts, scoop on some avocado and pour a little coconut oil.  These foods taste great and including them in your diet is a wonderful, health-strengthening choice for your body and brain!

 

Erica Mesirov Food Coach

4. Paint a picture, play an instrument or go to a museum.   Keeping with the topic of the brain, studies have shown that participating in the arts can strengthen other pathways in your brain.  For instance, when kids participate in the arts, their math scores also tend to improve.  Not only that, but the arts can send “feel good” signals to your brain.  By relaxing the body, we reduce the amount of stress hormones present.  Stress hormones disrupt digestion, keep you up in the middle of the night and can throw off your hormones that control food intake.   Want to lose weight?  Incorporating any enjoyable, stress-relieving activity into your routine will help regulate all your hormones, including the ones you need to cooperate to lose weight!

5. Spend time outdoors.  This could mean riding your bike, playing a sport or walking along the beach.  The trick is timing.  One of the best times to go outside is in the morning, before the damaging rays of midday arrive.  First of all, bright light at the beginning of the day helps set our internal clock and regulates your sleep/wake cycle.  It tells our bodies that it is daytime, helps wake us up which will also help us fall asleep at a proper time at night.  Just leave the sunglasses at home because the sun must come through the eyes to reap the benefits.  Sun is also great for vitamin D.  We all know we need vitamin D for good health, yet we also know that if we spend too much time outdoors without sunscreen, we can help bring on skin cancer.  A morning walk is a great time to soak in the rays and give you the half-hour of sun exposure you need without the damaging rays!

My dog Sadie

6. Catch up on conversation with your pet.  Have you felt like you and your dog or cat just haven’t had a good chance to talk lately?  Studies show that spending time with a pet can actually boost your self esteem which is a huge plus for your health.  There is also some research that indicates spending time with a pet can actually protect you against heart disease.  Pet owners are shown to have lower cholesterol, lower triglycerides and are more likely to survive a heart attack if it does happen.  Not only that, but you can spill all your secrets to your pet, and it will still love you unconditionally. (Ok, I know your cat looks like she is judging you, but trust me…she secretly thinks you’re ay ok!)

See, being health conscious isn’t all drudgery.  Fancy that!  There are plenty of healthy habits that you will actually look forward to.  What are your favorite healthy habits?

The Lesson that Lena Dunham’s Naked Body Taught to Me.

So, I watched a marathon of Girls season three this weekend.  Previously I saw a bit of season two, but this was my first real encounter with this much-discussed show.  It was also my first encounter with the most talked about topic of the show: Lena Dunham’s liberal exposure of her naked, very normal, “non-Hollywood” physique.

I put the terms Lena Dunham’s nudity in quotation marks on Google and got 76,000 results.  And if you take out the quotations, boy are you left with a lot of people jabbering about her naked body.  I did find it interesting how she throws her character into toplessness at times when it isn’t needed for the events of the scene.  Yet I read somewhere that she does it because in life, people are just naked sometimes and she wants her show to be a slice of life.  Ok, I guess I buy that.

This got me thinking.  Maybe the general discomfort that many feel towards Lena Dunham’s “normal” body reflects a discomfort that we as a nation have towards our own “real” bodies.  I watched the Chilean film Gloria some months ago and it portrayed scenes of an older couple falling in love.   Their love story included scenes of them having sex and nudity.  I’ll be honest; I was a bit shocked to see a sex scene that included flabby skin and a little extra huffing and puffing.  That isn’t anything I’ve ever seen in a Hollywood film.  Don’t other countries say that Americans are uptight about nudity? 

In the United States a sex scene includes two ripped, glistening bodies contorted as the couple mutually climaxes to a screaming, exemplary orgasm.  In this country, when we see a naked body we see it airbrushed, in perfect lighting from the perfect angle and after the actor or actress has paid a personal trainer thousands of dollars to whip them into the shape they need to be in to go naked.  No, famous people don’t let the world see them in their “regular shape” (which quite frankly, for most of us would seem pretty awesome).  Our celebrities have to get themselves to a place of molded perfection.

The body is supposed to have curves, right?  I mean, even if a person is a healthy weight, isn’t there still some curve in the natural body?  Lena Dunham’s physique would have been considered ideal some generations ago.  Take a trip to your local museum and you are likely to find a painting of a beautiful voluptuous woman.  Throughout much of history, people would have judged her curves as a sign of fertility and wealth.

What percentage of us has difficulty looking at ourselves naked in the mirror?  Show of hands?  Do you see my hand in the air?  Because that isn’t my favorite pastime.  So maybe Lena Dunham’s body represents something much deeper in the general population.  Because, quite frankly, Lena Dunham looks much more like the rest of us than any glistening celebrity body shot from the perfect angle.  Maybe people have trouble looking at her, because people feel uncomfortable with themselves.

Lena Dunham’s naked body taught me that, as a country, we need to start to embrace the way we look naked.  I mean, the way we really look when we are naked.  If we can’t look at a reflection of a real body on television, how will we ever be able to make peace with ourselves?   As a food and weight loss coach, I haven’t forgotten the importance of being healthy.  And the healthy body for most people includes at least some curve.  Yet we can’t be healthy, no matter what size we are, if we can’t make peace with what we are at our core.

So I guess watching a marathon of Girls wasn’t such a mindless experience.  And I’m sure as long as there is lots of nudity in the show, people will keep talking.  Society’s view of the ideal body changes as generations change.  We can blame Hollywood, but at the end of the day, we are the ones buying the tickets.  As individuals, we get to decide for ourselves what is normal and what is beautiful. 

So what do you choose as your model of beauty?

You may learn more about Erica at http://www.ericamesirov.com

An Action Plan to Master your Market’s Produce Section

Erica Mesirov Food Coach  http://www.ericamesirov.com

So you arrive at your favorite grocery store.  You missed the festivities of your local farmer’s market so you are on the hunt for the freshest, best tasting, healthiest fruit and veggies.  Before you just randomly start picking out your produce – stop!  Do you have an action plan or a strategy?  Then do not pass go, do not collect $100 and do not fill your shopping cart just yet.  Did you know that there is a way to better your chances of choosing the most health promoting produce for your family?

Ok, I’m going to get the obvious out of the way first.  Yes, organic is healthier.  Why?  Because less pesticides and chemicals are used, you say? Well, that is part of the answer.  Think deeper, and when I say deeper, I mean deep into the plants’ roots.  Conventional farming strips minerals from the soils used to grow food.  When minerals are stripped, this is reflected in an absence or reduction of minerals in the foods the soil grows.  Organic farming methods replace the minerals lost in the soil, allowing the food to grow with more nutrients.  So when you eat organic, you are literally buffering your body’s nutrient reserve.

Can’t afford organic?  Unfortunately, organic can be more expensive which limits many people’s access to these nutrient rich foods.  Still, when you get to the market, peruse the organic sections for sales.  If it is on sale, grab it!  It is probably now very similar in price to conventionally grown fruits and veggies.  Also, while you may be drawn to shop at Whole Foods market for your organic produce, that might not be the best bang for the buck.  I find my local chain grocery store has more sales and in general, more affordable pricing on organic produce.  If possible, focus on purchasing organic the most pesticide laden foods like apple and celery.  Not sure how your favorite food ranks?  Here is a list of fruits and veggies in order of pesticide data findings for 2014:  http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php

Ok, now that we’ve passed the organic aisle, we can look at the rest.  Do you think if it isn’t organic, that it is all the same?  The answer is decidedly no.  If you look at the signs by the produce, they should list where the food was grown.  If the food was grown in a different country, it is wise to research their laws regarding pesticide and chemical use.  I often see signs for foods grown in a variety of countries.   Yet I go online and see documentation that suggests certain countries’ pesticide regulations tend to be lax.  I use this information to help determine my produce purchases. 

The best non-organic purchases are foods that are currently in-season, meaning they are grown now, and only need to travel a short distance to reach your market.  For me, that means I look for California local.  Now, I believe it is phenomenal to support your local economy, but that isn’t the main impetus for shopping local.  The real value in choosing produce from your local growers is those precious fruits and vegetables have only a short distance to travel to reach you.  What happens when you buy from across the country?  To accommodate the long travel time, items must be picked before they are ripe and then the ripening process must be chemically halted.  Otherwise, these foods would ripen and go bad before they ever get near your grocery shelves.  Then the produce must embark on a long journey to reach your grocery shelves. 

This journey involves being packed up and placed into hot (or cold in the winter) trucks to embark on the long journey towards your home.  The food is often stored in warehouses for long periods of time awaiting placement on store shelves.  Then, when the food is ready to be placed, it is chemically ripened and chemically altered to look fresh.  This chemical ripening means not only more chemicals in your body upon consumption.  It also means less nutrients for you.  This is because when a food is chemically ripened, it grows differently and loses much of its nutrient value.

So this brings us to the last part of the store to buy good quality fruits and vegetables.  Hint: you won’t find it near the fresh produce section.  A great place to buy good quality fruits and vegetables when you can’t find good quality fresh selections is the frozen food aisle.  “What?”, you gasp!  Isn’t fresh always the best option.  No, it isn’t!

If you can always buy fresh foods that are local and in season, then there is no advantage to buying frozen.  Since most of us eventually crave something that is out of season or isn’t grown locally, frozen is a good alternative.  Frozen foods are picked fresh and immediately frozen.  This means that they aren’t chemically altered for transport and they don’t need to be chemically ripened.  Purchasing frozen can also sometimes be a more affordable way to buy organic for those whose budgets preclude organic merchandise.  When food isn’t local and in-season, frozen is better.

One final thought for your fruit and vegetable picking.  Always choose items that are the brightest and richest in color.  Fruits and vegetables have things called phytonutrients which is part of their nutrient powerhouse.  The brighter the color, the more phytonutrients!  The more phytonutrients you consume, the better off your body will be. 

So there is your action plan for the produce department.  And if all this overwhelms you, still eat your fruits and veggies.  It is better to pick lesser quality fruit and vegetables than to not eat them at all!

The Beautiful Art of Doing NOTHING

Erica Mesirov Food Coach  http://www.ericameirov.com

I strive to do less.  Can this be me talking?  I never thought I would hear those words come from my lips.  I’m the epitome of the type A personality.   I have to be creating, achieving or embarking on something at any moment in time or I feel lazy and time negligent.  I am always striving towards something far in the future that I need to have, and only my hard work will bring it to me.

I have distant memories of sitting in my middle school classroom, drowning in a messy cry.  Tears have dribbled down onto my face, shirt, corduroy pants (why, I don’t know) and have even created a slipping hazard in the space around me.  Did someone die?  No, I was lucky never to experience a close death in childhood.  The tragedy was an item I was holding clenched in my grief stricken fist:  My final paper for French class with a C marked on top which would serve as my entire grade for the trimester.  C meant adequate (barely), which was an unspeakable atrocity in my universe.

So here I sit in life with my plate full and mountains of obligations before me.  I have dust on the floors, laundry to clean, dishes that have done there fare share of soaking and a dog with a leash in her mouth waiting to be walked.  I have a master’s degree thesis with notes scrawled in piles of notebooks that are pleading for organization.  I have social media for my business that needs updating.  I have a paid gym membership waiting to be used.

So with all these obligations before me, what am I asking myself to do?  The answer, for me, is difficult to say.  Yet here I say it: I strive to do absolutely nothing. 

I’m not doing this out of preference.  This has to do with some health challenges that have come up.  There was a series of deaths in my life in the last couple of years, along with a busy schedule, crazy partying neighbors and a little too much coffee, which created high levels of stress and shot my adrenals. Now my adrenals are sub-par during the day and fighting my ability to sleep at night.   I did the damage to myself.  Now I need to create healing and my body is screaming at me to rest.

So I sit here in uncharted territory.  I feel my body lie into the couch and I ponder what nothingness should feel like.  I start reading a book but quickly drift away by making a to-do list in my head.  No, that’s not it.  I pop in a yoga and meditation DVD, but start planning on how to excel on my thesis while losing this valuable time.  Ok, that didn’t work.

Then it hits me.  You don’t just achieve things by doing.  Sometimes you can gain the most just by being.  I’ve never given myself a chance to “just be” in my life.  Heck, I’m the person who went up to my kindergarten teacher to complain that there was too much coloring and not enough reading instruction.  What will I gain by taking time for myself to get healthy?  I don’t know yet.  I imagine I will learn things about myself I never knew.  At the very least, I will learn the art of doing nothing, which I currently score a C, at best, in my current ability. 

And what about my thesis?  Well, I may get a C on that too…or an A.  Who knows? Because I’m old enough to know a grade doesn’t define me, one achievement doesn’t encompass all of who I am and that you can control your effort but not the results. I’m also starting to become aware that there are surprises found in silence.  I’m going to have to let that be enough. 

So right now I am nothing more than enough.  Yes in this moment I’m just purely adequate and average.  And in about a minute I will be closing my computer to do nothing.  To tell you the truth, that feels pretty good.

The Health Essential Benefits of Leisure Time

Erica Mesirov Food Coach http://www.ericamesirov.com

Want to do something super supportive of good health?  What if I told you there was something you could do that involves no deprivation and would not only make you feel wonderful but also improve your health?  “Sign me up right now!”, you scream!  Ok, great!  I want you to close your e-mail, hide your smartphone, put your textbooks away, get someone to watch the kids and….

You still with me?  Great because this is the good part.

I want you to take some time each day to unwind and relax.  This could mean lighting candles, taking a bath, journaling, meditating, reading a book or whatever else allows you to center yourself and de-stress.

Hello?  HELLO?  Is anybody there?

Gosh, why when I mention taking a little time each day for down-time does everybody leave the room?  Relaxation has gotten a bad rap these days.  It is often equated with being slothful, selfish, lazy and worse.  Leisure time is as vital to your health and well being as eating vegetables, running on the treadmill or reducing sweets!

What happens if you decide not to charge your smartphone?  It eventually dies right?  And your computer?  I bet when you don’t use it after a certain amount of time, it eventually goes into sleep mode.  What about the electricity in your house?  I imagine you don’t run every high powered electric device at once or you will soon be in the basement looking for the fuse box.

We realize our electronics have limits, but we refuse to believe that our bodies do too.  Running non-stop elevates our stress hormones.  We can exist without outward repercussion for a period of time in this inflamed, elevated state.  This fools us into thinking that there isn’t a negative consequence to this lifestyle.  We tell ourselves, we are fine, we feel fine and even though we are teetering on the brink, we don’t yet have tangible signals of the combustive tension building up in our internal organs.

Then one day it happens.  We get a small sign that something is amiss.  Maybe we gain 10 pounds, maybe we have trouble falling asleep, or perhaps we have a little indigestion.  The imbalance and inflammation in our bodies is trying to give us a clue…which unfortunately we don’t have time for because we have a deadline.  Skip ahead about five years, and now we’ve gained fifty pounds, or gone weeks without a good nights sleep or have full blown IBS.   And all these negative side affects of too much stress feeds back into the inflammation and hormonal imbalance that is making us feel crappy in the first place.

Taking leisure time isn’t a luxury.  It is an essential piece of the health and weight-loss puzzle.  Constant pressure and stress is as toxic to our bodies as eating at McDonalds on a daily basis. 

Not convinced?  Here are some added benefits of leisure time.  It allows your clients to have the best and most capable you.  It allows you to work faster in the office.  It makes you more cheerful and patient at home.  It will make you healthier and potentially allow you to live longer to be with everyone who cares about you.

Yes, there are situations like being a single parent that make finding time for you much more demanding.  Take whatever time you can.  If you can only find 10 minutes at a time, that will have to work for the moment.  Just make sure to find it. 

The crazy thing is, after you try it, you might actually find you like it.  So what do you do daily to relax?

The Real Skinny on Going Gluten-Free

So, the world is a-buzz with conversations about going gluten free these days.  Does a gluten-free diet equal a healthy diet?  Is this just a fad like low-carb or low-fat?  Will going gluten-free benefit me?  Good questions!  Here I answer some of your top questions about gluten-free diets!

1) Isn’t this just a fad?  If gluten were a problem, people would have been suffering from this for 1000s of years and yet I just heard of this a few years ago.   Well, it makes sense you are confused. But let me ask you a question.  When your grandparents were little kids, did they eat food bought in a box and warmed up in a microwave, or were most of their meals cooked fresh from whole foods?  Look around your local supermarket.  The only places we see fresh whole foods these days are in the periphery of the market like in the fruit and vegetable section.  The rest of our food is bought in cans, bottles, boxes, frozen etc.  Do you know what helps give these processed foods their texture?  Gluten!  For the first time in history gluten has been separated from the grain and is being artificially added to almost everything we eat. This is why we are one of the first generations to be suffering from the effects of gluten.

2) If I choose options that are gluten-free, that means I’m eating healthy, right?  I hate to disappoint you, but the answer is no.  Many people go gluten-free and fill their diets with gluten-free pastas, crackers, cookies and cake.  These foods are just as processed, sugar filled and nutrient depleted as their gluten filled counterparts.  The difference is the gluten has been removed so they won’t cause a reaction in the gluten intolerant.  In fact, certain gluten-free food products can actually be worse for you.  For instance, many gluten-free pastas are made out of GMO corn.  GMOs can take a toll on health when eaten as a large part of the diet.

3) If I’m not celiac, doesn’t that mean I can eat gluten without repercussion?  Well, not so fast.  Only 1% of the population is celiac.  Statistics show that about 40% of the population is gluten sensitive.  What does gluten sensitive mean?  Well, gluten sensitivity isn’t a conventional allergy and symptoms may take up to 72 hours to appear.  How may you suspect that you are gluten sensitive?  There is a wide array of symptoms.  If you have stomach problems, acne, eczema, depression, mental illness, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis or frequent flu and colds, you may be suffering from gluten sensitivity. 

4) But, if I took a blood test and it came back negative, that means I don’t have a problem with gluten?  Blood tests are good to measure allergies.  Sensitivities are a bit harder to decipher.  There are some naturopaths who claim to diagnose gluten sensitivity through muscle testing.  The best way I know how to discover gluten sensitivity is to do an elimination diet.  You will eliminate gluten for a two week period and remain aware of how you feel.  Then you reintroduce it and see if any symptoms that went away during the elimination period return.  If you see no improvement in symptoms during the elimination or worsening of symptoms during re-introduction, it means one of two things.  You don’t have a problem with gluten, or there is more than one food that is causing you problems and you need to eliminate the other food as well.  You should always eliminate dairy with gluten since these sensitivities are often seen together, but the foods should be re-introduced apart to track symptoms separately.

5) If I eliminate gluten, the only thing I have to look for on food labels is the word wheat?  Gosh, I wish it were that easy, but finding gluten on a food label can be tricky business.  Grains such as wheat, barley, rye and most oats contain gluten.  Since much of what is being added to processed food is a processed food product, it becomes even more difficult to find it on a label.  For instance, the word starch could mean gluten, soy sauce almost always contains gluten and natural flavoring has the possibility of containing gluten.  The best way to be sure is to look for foods that are labeled gluten-free.  Many stores also have a list that can be accessed online of most of their gluten-free products.

6) I suspect I have a gluten sensitivity.  It is too much trouble to eliminate it, so I just try not to eat it most of the time.  Isn’t that almost as good as eliminating it?  You would think, but it doesn’t quite work that way.  One of the main things a gluten sensitivity does is it creates what is called leaky gut.  Leaky gut, as it sounds, means food is literally leaking through your gut into your blood stream.  Gross, right?  Things like partially digested foods are getting into your blood stream that shouldn’t, creating all sorts of imbalances and havoc.  Once this happens, your gut won’t start to heal if you are continually exposing it to gluten, even if the exposure is less than before.  You need to eliminate it for a period of time and after a number of months, you may or may not be able to tolerate it one or two times a week.  If you are celiac, you can never have gluten again, even if you don’t have symptoms when you eat it. 

7) Will going gluten-free make me lose weight?  The gluten-free diet on its own is not a weight loss diet.  Completely eliminating gluten may help you lose weight only if you are gluten sensitive.  Healing the gut over time will help lesson inflammation, support better detoxification and aid other imbalances that are getting in the way of being a proper weight.  A gluten-free diet isn’t a weight loss diet on its own, but the effects can help those who are sensitive with their other weight loss endeavors.

Well, that is my primer on going gluten-free.  Did I answer the question you wanted to ask?  If not, leave it in the comment section below and I will make sure to address it!

The #1 Tip to Help you Eat Healthier

Erica Mesirov Food Coach http://www.ericamesirov.com

Eating nutritiously can be a drag…well that is how it seems at first.  You know you want to be healthy, but you also know that you don’t want every meal to be a tasteless, bland, unimaginative ordeal.  Eating is one of the joys in life. So how do you balance being in tip-top shape with some type of joie de vivre?

We often begin a diet after a period of less than desirable eating.  With our stomachs full of pastries, pizza and deep fried decadence, we decide it is time to make a change.  Starting TOMORROW, we will eat nothing but nutritious, wholesome and slimming sustenance. 

In my humble opinion, this is the set-up for failure.  When making a diet change, we shouldn’t do anything that we can’t see ourselves maintaining for a lifetime.  Otherwise, our exciting, new healthy eating plan has failure built right into it.  Can you really see yourself resisting cookies, cream sauce and macaroni and cheese for the rest of your life?  Then you shouldn’t set up that type of expectation from the get-go.

A better way to request change from ourselves is to ask ourselves to transition away from the bad for you foods and towards better quality diet choices.  When eating a plate full of sugary, oily, refined carbohydrate-rich indulgence, our taste buds become dulled.  Healthy options are tasteless and diet feels like deprivation.  Give yourself time to transition to a better way of eating, and you will eventually taste all the crisp, fresh, naturally sweet goodness in a plate full of lightly steamed vegetables or a big chicken salad with olive oil and lemon. You will also have the opportunity to balance your blood sugar which will help keep cravings at bay

Here is how transitioning works.  Let’s say that you begin every morning with a big bowl of granola.  The problem with most granolas is that they have tons of added sugar.  They also have a good deal of refined carbohydrate which quickly turns to sugar in the body.  Therefore, you may want to transition to a more nutritious option.  First you may choose a more natural granola made with whole grains, nuts and fruit and only lightly sweetened with agave or honey.  You will eat this for a week while you get used to the taste of lower sugar.  Then the next week you will instead make a big bowl of oatmeal with nuts and just a small amount of maple syrup or maybe some granola sprinkled on top. Again, you are transitioning towards a low sugar, whole food option.   Then finally the next week, you will remove the maple syrup and granola completely, keep the nuts and add lots of fresh berries.  You will have given your taste buds time to transition away from a sugary breakfast and appreciate the subtle sweetness of fruit sweetened whole grain cereal.

You can do this without setting up the false expectation that you will never eat your favorite foods again.  As you transition to a wholesome diet, you will increasingly enjoy the taste of vitamin and mineral-filled health supportive options.  When you eat what used to be your favorite sugar filled cereal, you will notice that the blood sugar rush makes you feel kind of crappy.  When you have achieved stable blood sugar, you can eat your former favorite foods without them throwing you off your game.   Instead of making you want to binge, now the sugar cereal will make you feel depleted, leading you back to your fruit and nut oatmeal the next day.  You’ll enjoy your favorite foods, but not to a point where you WANT to eat them everyday.

Be kind to yourself when changing your diet and make sure to get all the support that you need.  Diet isn’t something you start Monday.  When we slowly adjust our meal plan, our taste buds steadily change and adapt, our blood sugar normalizes and “diet” becomes something that makes us feel good.  Now is that worth taking the time for?