BLOG POST: Your new fall food plan

Now that Labor Day has come and gone, most of us find our schedules changing.  Whether you are getting your kids off to school, attending it, teaching it, or working around colleagues' new family schedules, many of us end up with a new routine that affects our meal times and exercise patterns at this time of year.
Make the best of your new routine!

Try to implement the following tips into your day in order to optimize your health and feel your best:

1. Commit to going to bed at a specific time and getting up at a specific time. Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep nightly. Catching up on the weekend and changing your sleeping pattern has been shown to negatively affect food choices.
2. Eat breakfast, or at least something within 2 hours of waking up. If you're not a big breakfast person, at least have a snack to get your body going and then follow it up with another snack a few hours later.
3. Pack your lunch. Food you bring from home tends to have less calories, be more balanced, and be more affordable than meals you buy out.
4. Plan ahead to avoid getting too hungry or too full. Try to eat something at least every 4 hours. For example, if your lunch was a reasonable size and you ate it at noon, you will probably be hungry again by 4:00, so have a snack ready.
5. Keep food at work or bring balanced snacks. Depending on when you eat meals, you may need an additional 1-3 snacks during the work day.
6. Incorporate a high-protein food into your meals and snacks. Foods that are high in protein include yogurt, milk, eggs, cheese, nuts, nut butters, soy products like veggie burgers, beans, meat, seafood, and poultry.
7. Eats lots of vegetables. They are low in calories, high in fiber, and packed with vitamins and minerals. Strive to eat a variety of different colors.
8. Limit sugar. Sugar can spike and drop your blood sugar causing spikes and drops in energy, prematurely age you, and make you crave more food when you don't need it.
9. Drink plenty of fluid, preferably water. Try to stay hydrated by drinking throughout the day. Shoot for drinking half of your body weight in pounds. If you weigh 150#, that's 75 oz or about 9 cups (4 2/3 pints) a day.
10. Take steps to destress. Whether it's meditating, reading, journaling, yoga, knitting, or going for a walk, incorporate time to wind down daily.

Happy fall!

BLOG POST: How to avoid weight gain on vacation

VACATION!  It's time to spend with your family and friends, to relax, have fun, and for many ... INDULGE.  However, you don't have to OVERindulge in decadent foods to have fun and relax and you don't need to deprive yourself either.
When presented with a food choice, you may find yourself saying (as many of us do), "Whatever, I'm on vacation."
This is not a good reason to eat something. 

Good reasons to eat something:

• You are hungry
  
• It is not available very often and you really enjoy it
• You have decided (before choosing to eat it) that it is worth eating (worth the calories and their affect on your body weight)
• It is healthy for you and you are hungry
• It is something you have never tried before (but don't finish it if it's not as delicious as you imagined)

Not-so-good reasons to eat something:

• You are on vacation
• You are not hungry, but it's there
  
• You are overtired
• You are emotional and need comfort, reward, entertainment, etc.
• You feel like you should because someone made it for you
• Everyone else is doing it

If you are trying to lose weight, take a vacation on vacation.  Decide not to try to lose weight while on your trip, just try to maintain your body weight while you are gone.  If you are trying to maintain your figure and just don't want to gain weight on your trip, accept that if you are eating differently and in a different routine, your weight may go up, but if you make smart choices it will go right back down (usually within a week or sooner) once you get home and back into your usual routine.

Ten tips for maintaining your weight on vacation:

• DON'T LET YOURSELF GET TOO HUNGRY - It will make it easier to make poor choices and once you do eat, you will likely eat too fast and too much.  So ...
• KEEP SNACKS WITH YOU - single servings of almonds, a yogurt, a protein bar, a cheese stick, fruit (preferably something that is high is protein and/or fiber and well-balanced to keep you full longer)
• CHEW WELL AND EAT SLOWLY - this practice often results in people eating less
• STAY ACTIVE - if you exercise regularly, keep it up!  Try to workout at least every other day on vacation.  You know you'll feel better if you do!
• THINK AHEAD - before making a food choice, ask yourself, "Is this really worth the calories?"  "How will I feel after I eat this?"  Also, be mindful of when you may eat next to help determine portion size.
  
• DON'T LOSE FOCUS AT THE END - Many of my clients report that they do well for most of their trip and then let themselves go at the end.  Perhaps it's like a reward to them.  However, they all say that they regret doing it, so it really wasn't a reward.
• STAY HYDRATED - drink plenty of water and alternative a glass of water for every alcoholic drink if you drink it. 
• CHOOSE LOWER-CALORIE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES - If you drink, opt for light beer, wine spritzers, or mixed drinks made with calorie-free mixers.
• LIMIT SUGAR - Try not to indulge in too many sweets, it will just make you crave more.
• BE PROUD - Remember that if you indulge less than the people you are with, you are not depriving yourself, you are empowering yourself to make the choices that you truly want to make.
  

When you get home, get right back into your eating and exercise routine and if you weigh yourself, don't weigh in for a week.
 

BLOG POST: When to eat around your workouts

Perhaps you have made a New Year's Resolution to begin exercising or start working out more. Maybe you've just always wondered, "when is the best time to eat? Should I eat before I work out? Should I eat after? Both?"

Well, it depends!
The three main variables are:

• Your comfort level
• Your exercise goals, and
• The timing of your work out

When you eat, more blood moves to your digestion system to help absorb and process your meal. Some people experience cramping, nausea, and/or discomfort if they eat before they exercise. If this is you, it is likely best to work out in the morning BEFORE eating. Let your body focus on your heart, lungs, and muscles while you are active. If you feel more comfortable and better fueled for your workout if you eat before, go for it.

If you are exercising to try to lose weight, the timing of your meals doesn't really matter. Do what feels best so that you have strength for your workout and feel comfortable doing it. If you are trying to gain weight/gain muscle, you should try to eat right after you workout. Immediately after is best. The sooner you eat after a workout, the more glycogen you store. By maximizing the amount of glycogen you have stored in your muscles, you increase your endurance for your next workout. Same rule applies if you are an athlete. Eat asap after practice or a game. Keep bars or dried fruit and nuts with you if you can't get to a kitchen right away.