Archive for October 2012
Organization Tips
Posted on: October 26, 2012
1. Take a Sharpie your wallet: To easily distinguish between credit cards in your wallet (where is my license!?) use colored permanent marker along the thin edge. (My license is the pink one ;] ).
2. Rubber Band-it- Keep a stock of rubber bands to bag up frozen foods.
3. Tape your receipt to the inside of your cabinet. This serves multiple purposes- Lets you know how much you spent, and how long it lasts. Also shows you exactly what you have when you are hungry or looking for ingredients. Reading a receipt (vs staring down the food in your fridge/cabinet) is much less likely to trigger your eating-habit-reward system.
4. Date the packaging: When putting food away, mark the purchase date with a Sharpie. This lets you know when the food is fresh, but it also helps you gauge how quickly you’re consuming. If you look at a package that you know you bought yesterday, you may be less apt to scarf it down.
I may be a bit of a nerd, but I am fascinated with the brain and the way neurotransmitters (NTs for short) effect -and are affected!- by our behavior. The idea that we can change our brain chemical layout is pretty amazing.
The article below talks about what serotonin, dopamine, and other NT’s do during eating disorders, but also about what we can do to re-route them into better behavior. What’s even cooler is that by changing these behaviors, we can actually alter the levels of the NTs in our brain.
Read it here:
http://www.eatingdisorder-institute.com/?tag=neurotransmitters
Posted on: October 23, 2012
Juice: Is 100% any better?
Posted on: October 21, 2012
“Why does no sugar added grape juice have 160 calories per serving?”
Most juices are highly processed. Despite the 100% claim, lots of people are surprised to find out that some natural juices actually have more sugar than their sugar-added conterparts. A typical “100%” juice can have a nutrition label that looks like this :
Carbohydrates (Sugar) contain 4 calories per gram. At 39 grams, that’s 39×4- which is where you get your 160 calories. And that’s for 8 oz. We all know you don’t just drink a sippy cup of juice when you’re thirsty. Especially considering it’s super sugary, which triggers you to want more.
Juice marketers will hype it up to contain “real fruit juice,” “100% juice,” and “High/All Daily Vitamin C.” Big whoop- you can get your vitamin C from the citric acid added to lots of sugar drinks, too. The process that a fruit goes through to become store juice strips it of fiber, reduces vitamin content (so they add it back in with supplements), and concentrates it into a syrupy solution that is later reconstituted with water.
>>Some motivation: If you have 1 glass of juice a day (being gracious and saying you really only have 8 oz) that is 160 extra simple carbohydrate/sugar calories.
160×7 = 1,120 calories per week. Since 1lb is 3,500 calories, you could lose half a pound a week just by switching juice to flavored water. <<
“If you were to buy a tasty juice from the store that’s actually healthy, what would you recommend?”
Unfortunately, the juices I’ve found that are as good as if you juiced them yourself typically run a bit more expensive- and they won’t exactly cut your calories. The best ways to steer around your juice craving are these:
1. Add water. Or, to be more accurate, add juice to your water. You’d be surprised at how little you need to get a great burst of flavor.
2. Try seltzer mixes. Get the $1-2 store brand flavored water, but watch out for sneaky sweeteners! Get plain, and check diligently for aspartame and sucralose, which can lead to headaches, cancer, and lead you to depend on sugar even more than usual. Add the seltzer to your favorite juice for a nice kick.
3. Freeze some fruit. Ice cube trays work great for fitting a few berries or slices of lime, orange, and lemon. Once frozen, these can be tasty additions to regular or seltzer water. (Or wine if you’re like me and can’t turn down some homemade “sangria.” I try to be fancy and call it that, but it’s really just wine with frozen fruit).
4. Juice your own. This is definitely the most ambitious, but juicing your own fruit ensures that you know exactly what’s in it. Juicing fresh fruit minimizes vitamin loss, and you can add in pulp for extra filling-up-ness, vitamins, and fiber.
Recommendations:
Naked Juice
Carrot juice (surprisingly sweet and lower in calories)
Green juice – various brands. Contains kiwi, and most brands slip in vegetables while remaining tangy and delicious
Low Sodium Tomato or Vegetable Juice
Grapefruit juice – harder to drink a lot, and contains a ton of vitamins
Unconventional fruit juices – acai (thicker, be warned), pomegranate. These aren’t primed by our childhood memories and feel-good commercials, so you are less likely to go overboard.
I think the best way to go is to fruit-or-dilute. Eventually, after stepping it down a notch by adding water, the highly concentrated sugary juice becomes too much for your palate to handle. You end up picking the seltzer with strawberry slices to drink instead.
Other articles on Juices:
Times of Old: Write Your Goals!
Posted on: October 20, 2012
My Goals from bodybuilding.com — from a couple years ago:
” Goal is to burn fat to 145 (or better!), Reduce body fat % to 15-17%, increase muscle mass and strength, and eat mostly organic!
Goal: Burn 1-1.5 lbs of fat per week until maintenance stage (145)
Have slimmed down face,
toned arms,
muscular but sleek legs,
flat, strong core and abs
smooth back– no folds when i put my arms down!!My family and I have huge food issues. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life battling with calories and fitness. I really need to break free from it. I think about it too much right now, and I want it to be such a lifestyle that it just flows. I want to practice healthy habits now so that when I’m older I won’t have to think about it! I want to stop being a slave to food and have actions that maintain a fit body automatic and totally ingrained into my brain! (I’ve been listening to Tom Venuto)
i.e.- eating organic, stopping when I’m 80% full, developing other coping strategies other than eating, and dedicating my time to more creative endeavors like songwriting, singing, and learning how to dance without embarrassing myself!
also want to learn natural ways to clear up my face and have a smooth, no-makeup-necessary complexionI am burning fat toward a total body weight of 145, with 16-19% bodyfat (or better).
All my life I’ve been slightly-under-satisfied with having an average body. I made excuses because I am healthier than many people who surround me, but today I am deciding to up my level and remind myself it is POSSIBLE to have an “A-list” body. It’s not just possible for other people, other artists in pictures and videos, other women at the gym. It is possible for *ME*!!
I want to sing with confidence, wearing whatever I want, dance with strength and flexibility, stand next to my boyfriend and feel lean and sexy, and I want to WANT to take head shots, performance shots, videos, and fun album photos!”
Which Foods Leave You Hungry?
Posted on: October 18, 2012
A little fun fact I learned from “The End of Overeating”– The rate at which a macronutrient leaves your stomach affects how hungry you are during and after eating.
Protein leaves your stomach at a rate of 4 calories per minute. This is relatively slow, and the brain quickly picks up the signals that communicate when you have eaten enough protein.
Sugar leaves your stomach at 10 calories per minute (which is why we are hungry again so quickly after eating a sugar-based snack)
Fat leaves your stomach at a rate of 2 calories per minute— but wait! Why do we continue to eat fatty foods if it has such a slow rate? (This goes out to you, fellow peanut butter mongers). The reason: fat may move slower, but it takes our brains longer to register that we have eaten a large amount of fatty foods. The signals are slower, so we continue eating before our brain and body realize we have eaten too much. Take it easy on the PB; Divide up your portions, eat slowly and consciously, and give yourself some time to let it sink in.
Conquer Your Habit of Indulgence
Posted on: October 16, 2012
The more I learn about the brain and obesity, the more I realize that our HABITS are the biggest tool we have to changing our lives.
“In marketing indulgence, the food industry knows something about us that we don’t know about ourselves.
By encouraging us to consider any occasion to eat as an opportunity for pleasure and reward, the industry invites us to indulge a lot more often. That theme populates food industry marketing reports and conferences that drive new food products and services.” – The End of Overeating, David Kessler
Once you conquer the habit to “indulge,” your desired result will become the reward in itself. Better energy, a longer life, and a healthy, lean body are much better rewards than the momentary taste of engineered food.
Awareness is not enough- our brains are hardwired from years of the same old behaviors. It will take a conscious effort to say NO to ourselves, and start making better choices. We cannot continue to stimulate our reward centers with sugar, fat, salt, and the chemicals of processed food. The food present in America that is always in your face is not designed to satisfy your hunger. It is designed to keep you eating (aka buying) more, more, more– it is designed to STIMULATE appetite, not alleviate it.
Pick whole, fresh, foods. Use spices instead of salt. Stop using sugar to reward yourself and start associating pleasure with more productive things- reading, walking, talking to a loved one. Your future self- healthy, happy, and not controlled by low-brain behavior, will love you for it.
If you indulge more frequently than you like, have an obsession with food, want to gain control, or if you are a dork who loves neuroscience and applied behavior analysis like me, I urge you to pick up a copy of The End of Overeating by David Kessler.
http://www.theendofovereatingbook.com
Excerpts found at: http://theendofovereatingbook.com/blog.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/louise-mccready/d-kessler-author-of-emthe_b_195676.html
Lots of love!
Andrea
Check it out – literally
Posted on: October 10, 2012
Made a visit to one of my top favorite places: the library! The audio books that people donate never cease to amaze me. I am constantly learning in my car.. Right now my current entertainment and education is:
The End of Overeating by David Kessler
How the food industry uses ratios of sugar, fat, and salt to keep America addicted.
http://www.theendofovereatingbook.com/
If your library has it, go check it out! Literally 🙂
Make it Part of Your Identity
Posted on: October 10, 2012
Recently, I officially bought my package to study and take the Personal Trainer Certification Exam.. I have 180 days to complete the exam.
I’m pumped! I chose NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine)- I read it is widely accepted, pays well in most gyms, and has strong ties to science.
With that said, today’s advice is, when you are trying to achieve something:
Make it part of your Identity
You undoubtedly associate yourself with variety of things. Especially in our teenage years, we struggle to find out what type of people we are. We use our surroundings- friends, family, what we do, how we act, what people think of us- to try and come up with a conclusive self. In adulthood, we learn to look within, but sometimes we do not shed the beliefs that we snagged up along the way. They may have served their purpose and are now old news to our wiser selves. We have quite literally outgrown our younger beliefs and need to reexamine them in order to grow further.
At the very peak, you can associate with your body and say “I am a fat person” or “I am a skinny person.” Then you can associate with your wants/desires: we have “I am a chocolate lover,” “I am addicted to ___,” “I love fast food.” Then, as teens do, you can view your actions and identify with them: “I always eat dessert after dinner,” “I eat in my car.” It definitely helps to explore these beliefs and become aware of our pitfalls. However- there is a better way. Fortunately, we can fast track our success and counter our negative beliefs by a simpler route.
Pick New Beliefs:
Act first, and the true belief will come.
A lot of traditional couch therapy focuses on delving into old beliefs in order to shed them. However, if you have nothing to replace them with- you are left with awareness but no way to apply it. Instead, what if we deliberately begin to add in new beliefs about ourselves to our current belief systems?
1. Stop focusing on what you think you can’t change
2. Choose what you WANT to believe about yourself.
3. Act accordingly.
If you decide you want to be a healthy eater, you have to believe that about yourself. You have to retrain your consciousness to believe health is part of your identity.
You can use the following statements to reinvent yourself:
“I am,” I love,” “I like,” and “I act”
“I am a healthy eater, I like choosing healthy foods, I love the feeling of eating clean, and I choose these foods every day.”
The choice to add self-serving beliefs into your routine will force out beliefs that need to be shed. Choose wisely and consciously.
Supplemental Information and Reading:
http://www.nasm.org (National Academy of Sports Medicine)
Mindset – C. Dweck
Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul – Deepak Chopra
The Body Fat Solution – Tom Venuto
Headstrong Health: The Psychology of Getting Fit 