The allure of a new diet is tempting. Starting over. Renewed hope. Maybe this one will work. This time I’ll stick with it. 20 pounds in 30 days! But as the days and weeks pass, the new diet becomes overwhelming. The strict rules are frustrating. If you eat something you’re supposed to avoid, you feel guilty. If you’re at a social event flush with foods not allowed on your diet, you feel miserable and alienated. There’s another way. It’s not a fad. It’s not sexy. It won’t promise you rapid results. There are no foods or food groups to avoid (yay carbs!). No restrictive guidelines. It can be adapted to every social situation. And you can indulge in your favorite treats without feeling guilty on occasion. It’s what I call … [Read more...] about Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have to Be So Damn Complicated
Nutrition
The Problem with Meal Plans
“Will I get a meal plan?’ This is a question I hear from potential clients quite a bit – and the answer is no. Let me explain. Meal plans and diets simply aren’t useful or sustainable for the vast majority of people. Clients often feel like they’re either “on” them or “off” them. The black and white nature of a meal plan suggests that people have to eat perfectly at each meal (to match what’s listed in the plan) — or else they’ve failed. It’s psychologically unpalatable and unsustainable. Even more, meal plans are frequently too inflexible. They don’t work with the reality of people’s busy lives. Work meetings, children’s activities, meals out, dogs that need walking, cars that break down, family members that get ill, … [Read more...] about The Problem with Meal Plans
How Much Protein Do We Need?
Back in February, one of my clients expressed an interest in experimenting with a whole foods plant based diet (WFPB). A fancy way of saying vegan – without all the processed junk food. Because Oreo’s and Fruity Pebbles are technically vegan. I’ve coached vegetarian clients (dairy + eggs are permitted), but never a vegan client (zero animal products). I had questions. What might we need to supplement?How will she get enough protein?What are good sources of information and recipes? Ever the curious student, I dove in head first. In fact, I challenged myself to eat exclusively WFPB for two weeks - to fully understand what it’s like + what it takes to eat this way. In the weeks leading up my own WFPD experiment, I was certain I’d … [Read more...] about How Much Protein Do We Need?
The Myth of Comfort Food
Traci Mann, Ph.D. heads up the Health and Eating Lab at the University of Minnesota. When she and her colleagues heard that NASA was looking for scientists to study stress and eating among astronauts, they jumped at the chance. The team conducted a series of research studies testing whether comfort food did in fact provide comfort. What they discovered was shocking… “…comfort food does not provide more comfort than any other foods, or no food at all.“ The idea that comfort food does in fact provide comfort was so widely accepted that no one ever bothered to test it scientifically. Well, Dr. Mann's lab took it on and the results are in... "We tell ourselves that we need or even deserve unhealthy treats when we have endured something … [Read more...] about The Myth of Comfort Food