Thriving Through the Holidays

As the days darken and the air takes on a crispness, the approach of HOLIDAY SEASON can bring high levels of stress around family gatherings, office parties and the general over-abundance of bad-habit foods. Take heart! There are ways to not only survive the holidays, but have an enjoyable and rewarding experience!

Focus

Remember you have all the tools you need to stay on track with your plan to improve your overall health.

Remember you have support in family and friends that have seen you through all your changes and challenges so far.

Remember that food is just that: food. The emotions and rituals and gatherings that include food can be enjoyed with or without all the caloric trimmings (take a lesson from the Whos down in Whoville...)

Tips

Encourage family and friends to gather around activities rather than food. Try suggesting a walk in the park if the weather is nice or going bowling if it isn’t. Visiting and making that emotional connection is not dependent on food being available at every sitting. 

Get creative! There are lots of ways to update old family recipes to make them healthier and there are literally thousands of healthy recipes available that can become new traditions. Have a “bring something you’ve never made before” pot-luck or challenge participants to make a dish representing a favorite healthy aspect of the season.

Opt for non-alcoholic beverages and water water water. 

Stick to serving sizes: 2-4 ounces of lean meats, 1 tsp butter or oil, 1/2 cup of cooked whole grains...

Enjoy lean meats, lots of veggies, have sweet potatoes instead of white ones, and have one favorite dessert per week (remember, it’s only the first two bites that really satisfy the taste you’re looking for). Spoil yourself by choosing the very best of everything! Don’t settle for imitation or low-quality foods.

Avoid unknown dips and spreads, mashed potatoes, fatty gravies and anything made with hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup.

And please don’t forget to MOVE. It is vital that you keep up your exercise program throughout the year. Exercise helps you deal with stress, gives you a great excuse to take a break from family and festivities, and it helps you handle any extra calories that make it through. 

Maintaining Weight and Wellness During the Holidays

Below is the press release going out this week to Bay Area news centers, many thanks to William Freed of Motv Marketing!

Get REAL! for the Holidays!

Get REAL! – Realistic Eating & Active Lifestyle™ Presents Three Quick Tips to Maintain Weight and Wellness During the Holidays

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – December 7, 2010 –  Getting through the holidays while maintaining a healthy weight poses a challenge for even the most fit of individuals.  For the rest of us, the eating and drinking associated with holiday get-togethers can mean packing on pounds that can add to lifelong weight gain.*  To avoid those extra holiday pounds, Get REAL! – Realistic Eating & Active Lifestyle™ presents three simple and memorable holiday tips for maintaining holiday health and wellness:

• Drink Water – lots of it!  A simple rule is one glass of water per cocktail or glass of beer/wine.  You’ll avoid lots of alcohol calories, fill up faster and be less tipsy at the end of the night.  Not to mention, feel better in the morning!

• Eat Realistically – holiday drinking and eating is about celebration, not about deprivation.  Focus on eating lightly throughout the day not starving yourself before a big dinner, and eating protein to maintain energy and stoke your metabolism.  When indulging, get really picky about your choices.  Don’t just settle for a commercial sheet cake; hold out for great aunt Sally’s fudge made with love especially for you!  Experiment with smaller portions of high-calorie treats like cheese, bread and cookies/sweets. Studies show that it’s really the first two bites of anything that you get the most taste enjoyment out of anyway so make them count!

• Be Active and Reduce Stress – take a walk at lunchtime, take the stairs, walk around town to visit with neighbors/friends if possible.  Most any activity will increase your metabolism, so go for it!  Get plenty of sleep and avoid spending lots of time in front of TVs and glowing computer screens.

While following these tips is no guarantee that you won’t gain any weight during the holidays, they are a good start and part of a reasonable, achievable way to maintaining health and wellness, and reducing stress.  This practical approach is integral to Get REAL!™ – a lifestyle program created by Clinical Nutritionist and Counselor Kia Sanford, MS/CN, an expert in working with individuals and groups around the country to help people find an individual path toward long term health.

Get REAL!™ holds participatory workshops, field study and hands-on cooking experiences around the country, that enable students to “put it all together” and take control as they embark on a healthy way of living for the long term.  In addition to Get Real! ™, Ms. Sanford offers private, one-on-one services in clinical nutrition and psychotherapy through Kailo Nutrition & Counseling. For more information about Get REAL! ™, please visit www.GetRealLifestyle.com.

* According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, average holiday weight gain is less than two pounds, but can add to lifelong weight gain because it is never lost.  See:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=10727591&dopt=AbstractPlus

Stalking the Sprout

I have to admit, I used to really hate Brussels sprouts. I mean truly gagging hate them. And then I moved to Santa Cruz, California, for college in the county where these little alien-looking gems grow, and some blessed soul actually cooked them for me without draining the life from them. It’s that time of year again and so many folks I talk to get that same look on their faces that I know I used to have at the mention of these cruciferous goodies. So, here you go, one delectable and exceedingly simple way to prepare fresh from the stalk sprouts...

First, procure a stalk of sprouts! (If you happen to be in the California San Francisco Bay Area, they are even in Trader Joe's right now). Then carefully cut the needed number of sprouts from the stalk (about 6-8 per person is a good serving).

Remove the outer leaves of these mini cabbages, take off any remaining stem, and cut in half. Don't worry if some additional leaves fall off in the process, they'll crisp up when cooking.

Add about 1 tablespoon of organic butter and 4-8 tablespoons of dry white wine, sake or broth to a sauce pan and heat on medium-low until butter is melted.

Add the sprouts and season with fresh ground black pepper and a little salt (I like kosher salt or Himalayan pink).

Stir or shake the pan to coat the sprouts and then cover. Let the sprouts cook for a couple of minutes before lowering the heat to a simmer.

After about 4-5 minutes shake or stir the sprouts and cover again for a couple more minutes. Start checking for doneness and to be sure your pot doesn't boil dry. Your sprouts should be nicely browned on one side and all the liquid should be gone. The sprouts should be slightly soft but still a little crunchy in the center. 

Serve immediately! You want them hot! Here is the dinner I had tonight with lamb, quinoa and a yogurt cilantro sauce, flanked by a few slices of crunchy apples. Fantastic! 

Sugar: the rational approach (Part 2 on the sugar topic)

Some of you may have seen the recent article I was interviewed for here in Marin County, CA. It was quite timely as it was about the Halloween sugar issue that got me going to write the first part of this missive. As promised, I've got some more info for you on our sweet friend/foe.

Keep in mind one of the things I say over and over: you can take any item we ingest and make it into a poison if you take in enough of it. Even excessive consumption of water can cause huge issues such as hyponatremia which is an electrolyte imbalance that produces symptoms that look like drunkenness. When it comes to sugar, the body doesn't actually need the refined stuff. It needs the unrefined versions that come with a complete package of nutrients. As I mentioned last time, there is a big difference between the amount of fructose in an apple and the amount in a 12 ounce soda. Add in the fact that the apple also brings with it fiber, vitamins A, C, K, folate, choline, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and even a few omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. That soda? Nothing but sugar, artificial flavors and colors, and probably caffeine.

When you look at sugar itself as we think of it, the white granulated kind, there is a good website that has translated sugar content equivalents into stacked sugar cubes so you get a clear visual on the amount of sugar in various foods. Check out Sugar Stacks with your kids sometime. It's an eye opener for sure. They also use the visual of the equivalent amount of carrots which is a fun alternative when you consider that a 20 ounce bottle of Coke has the same amount of sugar as about 3 pounds of carrots...

I'll say it again: Sugar that comes in the form of food isn't bad in and of itself. It's the amounts of the refined stuff that we have become accustomed to consuming that are the problem. One of the things that often confuses my clients is that the whole food group called carbohydrate is partially defined by the fact that these foods all end up being at least partially converted into blood sugar. Carbohydrates include table sugar and bread, but also spinach and peaches, broccoli and strawberries. It is all the veggies, fruits and grains and everything made from them. This is a HUGE food group. The key is that each unrefined carbohydrate also contains other vital nutrients, as in the example of the apple above. To eliminate this entire food group is a big mistake in the long run. The Atkins people learned this the hard way and have now modified their approach to include the foods that turn into blood sugar more slowly.

This brings me to the Glycemic Index. This is a way to look at the speed at which sugar enters the system. Each carbohydrate you can eat "clocks in" on a speedometer that goes from 0-100. A simple rule of thumb is that your speed limit should be 55 or lower. You can look up any carbohydrate to find it's Glycemic Index here. An easy way of thinking about the speed is by thinking about how refined or processed a food is. The more it's been broken down outside the body (by mechanical processing, heat, pressure, etc.) the less time it takes your body to absorb it and so the higher it is on the Glycemic Index. That said, it is important to also consider the serving size and what other foods you are eating at the same time. For example, watermelon clocks in at about 75 on the Glycemic Index, but when you take into consideration that the amount water and fiber in watermelon is pretty high, the actual load of a 120g serving is only about 5. This is an extreme individual food example, but you will see some of the same sorts of interesting numbers when you combine foods. If you look at a plain corn tortilla, it's Glycemic Index is about 52. If you add refried beans and salsa, then that tortilla clocks in at about 39 on the same scale. However, if you fry that tortilla (corn chips) you end up at around 74! Same base material, but processing and food combining have dramatically different effects on the blood glucose outcome.

So the trick here becomes HOW to eat carbohydrates, yes, including sweets. It is important to make a mess for your body to sort through to find the sugars. As I sometimes say in sessions with clients, think of your stomach as a teenager's bedroom. You want it to be really messy. You want to have to search hard to find a clean pair of socks (the sugar). So if you want that dessert? The best way to do it is to have it immediately following your meal, not 2 hours later. And, as you learn more about real foods, make lower glycemic choices more often.

Get smart. Get healthy. Get REAL.

Post Halloween Sugar Crash

Hi All - sorry for the radio silence of late. Loads going on in my world and I'm happy to say "it's all good!" I just got interviewed here in Marin for an article on the post-Halloween sugar overload nightmare. I find it so interesting how as a culture we continually set ourselves up for disaster and then bemoan it's arrival. That pathology is the root of so many of our culturally based ills... and the subject of a dissertation at another time. Today I want to dive shallowly into sugar.

Myth: Sugar is bad.
Fact: Sugar is essential to life, just not anywhere near the quantities in which it is currently consumed. Overconsumption of sugar-laden foods and high-glycemic index carbohydrates is one of the root causes of many chronic diseases we see in the US.

Myth: Artificial sweeteners are a healthy substitute for sugar.
Fact: Long-term use of ANY artificial sweeteners leads to weight GAIN. The metabolic breakdown products of aspartame includes formaldehyde -- yes, the same stuff those pickled rats from high school biology lab were stored in, AKA embalming fluid. Sucralose is a chlorinated hydrocarbon in the same chemical family as agent orange. 'Nuff said.

Myth: Agave syrup is a healthy alternative to table sugar.
Fact: High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is about 65% fructose/35% glucose. Agave syrup is about 95% fructose. Concentrated fructose ingestion is far more damaging than an equivalent amount of table sugar. Even moderately high doses of fructose lead to fatty streaks in the liver, increases the production of triglycerides, and an increased risk of heart disease to name only a few problems. Another thing those HFCS commercials aren't telling you is that the levels of mercury found in HFCS is dangerously high.

Industry Supported Myth: Sugar consumption has no effect on children's behavior.
Fact: Just ask any parent or school teacher... I beg to differ from the industry sponsored "studies" that show there is no change in children's activity levels pre/post sugar consumption! Empirical evidence overrides this "finding" repeatedly...

Fact: Evaporated Cane Juice is sugar. The least amount of processing you can find the better as the nutrients that accompany the sweetness are still largely intact. Try unrefined sugars that still have their natural molasses brown color. (Standard "brown sugar" is actually refined white sugar with some of the molasses added back in, or food colorings and flavorings...) The refining process uses chemicals like formic acid, phosphoric acid and sulfur dioxide.

Fact: Unrefined cane sugar is about 50% glucose/50% fructose. The fructose and glucose actually act synergistically to help the body use the sugars appropriately when found in that ratio. Surprise, the body actually knows what to do with it.

Fact: The 13 grams of fructose you would find in an apple is not dangerous. The 30 grams of fructose found in a 12oz soda is a problem.

I will post more on this topic very soon, so watch this space. If you have any specific questions you'd like to see addressed, please email me or comment here. Get educated about your food. Get REAL.

Re-Inventing Yourself

As we move into Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere, now is usually the time we move from extroversion to introversion, from energy expanding outward to a more contemplative way of being in the world. I like to think of this transition as a time to think about the intentions we want to set for our winter cocoon so that when we split that shell and climb out in the Spring, our new wings are fully formed for the next season of expansion. Now is a great time to think about what aspects of yourself you are ready to shed like a maple leaf. What doesn't serve you anymore? What can you let go of so you can reach for something that pulls you forward in a positive way?

Often in my discussions with clients I find that there is a tendency to hold on with a death grip to the past, to those things that we know aren't good for us and yet are too afraid to let go of. Sometimes those things are habits of thought ("I'm not good at ____" or "I always/never _____"), sometimes habits of the body (having coffee instead of breakfast, inactivity, addictions), and sometimes they are things we carry for others (guilt, shame, "shoulds" handed down from family and culture). Often I find that we allow our habits to govern our lives, we think it's easier that way. The problem is that although many of these habits were developed in response to an original need (and we responded the best we could in that situation), those habits have outlived their usefulness and are now leading us down a path that causes more problems than it solves.

To externalize this idea, take a look at most political struggles, especially around environmental issues. One of the common responses to the question of "Isn't there another way to do this that could be more beneficial and less damaging?" is a response from the habit which says "Why should we change? We've ALWAYS done it this way! What worked for my father and grandfather is good enough for me!" The trouble with this response is that it isn't a response, it's a habitual reaction. It is identical to what I hear in sessions with clients: "I've always eaten this way and it's been fine" or "I've never liked vegetables and plain water". When you hear those words "always" and "never" echoing in your head, stop and ask yourself who's talking. Is it the adult you with your best interests in mind? Or, is it the old habit that doesn't want to be told it's been fired?

I encourage you to take some time as the leaves change and the weather cools to take stock of your habits. Are there any that no longer serve your highest good? Are there any that actually endanger your long-term health? Is there just one that you can envision changing into a beautiful red maple leaf falling from a healthy tree and becoming nourishing soil at your feet? Peel off the old and make room for the new REAL you...

Harvest

August is here. Finally. And how. I'm not sure about where you're living, but here in the San Francisco Bay Area it's been living up to John Muir's complaints until yesterday when we blew through heat records. Yesterday my car thermometer registered 107F in Mill Valley which has been fogged in and regularly in the 60s most of the summer. The happy news is that this heat wave means my tomato plants are finally producing! Well, at least the ones that the deer haven't bonsai'd. There's just nothing like a vine ripened tomato you've been fussing over all summer. Having been spoiled by my green-thumb mother who had 1/4 acre gardens during my childhood, I just can't bring myself to buy tasteless, hard, pale commercial tomatoes. They're more like packing material than food.

You know, I find myself saying things like that about so many commercial foods. Think about it, when have you ever bought produce that was actually full of flavor from the local Safeway or Albertsons or A&P? They're starting to get a clue and offering organic versions which are slightly better, but so many of the organic producers are trying to create shippable products that can be picked too early and with a density that doesn't fit all fruits and veggies. Even the produce that is supposed to be dense, like a carrot, remains tasteless when compared to one pulled from your back yard, or from a local farm stand.

Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a trip to a farmers' market or roadside stand in the next few weeks. Even if you can't find an organic offering, get some fruits and vegetables that are ripened in the field. The taste will blow you away if you're used to everything tasting the same. You don't have to prepare them in any fancy way. Let the flavors of the produce speak for themselves. Have a little butter on your corn or green beans. Have sliced tomatoes with a little fresh basil, sea sale and olive oil. Try a green salad topped with as many different colors as you can find and then just a quick squeeze of lime, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Great food doesn't have to be complicated, it just has to start with great REAL ingredients.