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12 Weeks No Diets – Week 6 – Making Peace With Food

Estela - Weekly Bite — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:07:23 +0000

We’re at the halfway mark of 12 Weeks No Diets.

I hope you’ve been enjoying reading these posts as much as I love writing them!

To recap, these are goals we’ve covered so far:

This week I wanted to talk about making peace with food. The biggest thing I believe in when I talk about not dieting, is the importance of NOT following a restricted eating regimen. The way human nature works… or at least with me… the minute I try to restrict myself from any food, or say I won’t let myself eat a certain food… I instantly want that food.

For example, how long would you last if you vowed to not eat sweets for the next six weeks. I know myself all to well… I would crack.

If we tell ourselves that we can’t or shouldn’t have a particular food, it can often lead to intense feelings of deprivation and uncontrollable cravings. When we finally “give-in” to a “forbidden” food, its often done with such strong intensity that it can result in the Last Supper syndrome where we just eat and eat and eat. Or, it could be followed by extreme guilt.

It’s extremely important to NEVER deprive ourselves of the foods we love. In my book, there is no such thing as a good or bad food, but there is such a thing as an bad portion. Eating healthy is important, but how much we eat is even more important. I’ve mentioned before that I believe in the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of what I eat is healthy, twenty percent is whatever else I want. There’s no particular order of how this happens either. I’ve had days where I’ve eaten a healthy breakfast, a cheeseburger for lunch, and something small and healthy for dinner. Or, I might have a piece of chocolate after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It changes everyday.

Goal for this week:

Every day this week, I want for you to think of one food you truly love, and eat it. For example, if you’re craving pizza, there’s no need to eat the entire pizza. Wait until you’re truly physically hungry, and eat a mindful portion. When I say “mindful portion” you want to eat enough until you are satisfied. Not overly full, but satisfied. If you’ve been overly restricted with your diet in the past, this can be challenging. Take your time and slowly start to mindfully incorporate more of the foods you love, or food you thought you loved. When you start to eat them, you may even realize that you don’t like it too much.

I know this can be tough for some, so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me

Don’t forget your workout of the week!

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone!

Sports Nutrition – Tips for fueling your workout

Estela - Weekly Bite — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:32:17 +0000

Hi There Happy Wednesday! I hope you’re having a great day!

Looks like lots of you liked my PB Chocolate Chip Banana Bread! It’s pretty tasty.

I got an email yesterday asking why I post some recipes that aren’t healthy, and asking me about eating to fuel endurance workouts. If you’re familiar with my blog and have read my BIO, you know my food philosophy. I believe in practicing moderation. To me, there is no such thing as a good or bad food, but there is such a thing as a bad portion. I eat healthy, but never deprive myself of the foods I love. Probably 80% of my eating is healthy, and the rest is game for whatever I crave. As far as exercise goes, between taking care of a nine month old and getting my workouts in, I stay pretty active. I’ve ran a couple of marathons and still run… but my marathon days are over. My husband competes in Iron Man’s, so between my marathon experience and his training, I’m pretty familiar with how to fuel for endurance training.

Exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle. Whether your goal is health maintenance or training for an endurance event, fueling properly is key. It’s also important to recognize the difference between the two. Eating to fuel a daily power walk is different than eating to fuel a long distance runner or a triathlete. Factors to consider include the right balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat, the right amount of vitamins and minerals, as well as the proper amount of fluids. Here are some tips for my endurance training readers.

Carbohydrates:

Best fuel for working muscles
It’s important to include carbs at all meals.
Our muscles are fueled by carbohydrates for energy, it’s important to make our carb choices count by focusing on whole grains and produce.
A serving of fruit or veggies is about the size of a baseball.
A serving of whole grains is about the size of our fist (1 cup). A 1-cup serving of grains averages about 175-200 calories.

Protein:

We need protein for muscle growth and for recovery (to repair muscle damage after exercise).
Protein is needed to make red blood cells, which moves oxygen to muscles, and white blood cells, which help fight infection.
Our body uses protein to make hormones and enzymes, which helps regulate our metabolism.
Our maximum protein needs are only about 1 gram per pound body weight. This can easily be met with “real” food.
Three ounces of lean meat provides about 21 grams of protein. Three ounces is about the size of a deck of cards.
A good rule is to eat a portion of lean protein the size of the palm of your hand (at least 3 ounces) for lunch and dinner (breakfast if possible).

Fat:

We need fat for energy
Fat helps our body utilize some vitamins.
Fat helps move substances in and out of cells, and it helps keep your brain and nervous system healthy.
Fat provides a “satisfaction” factor at each meal.
Try to include a serving of healthy fats with your meal. A serving is a tablespoon (about the size of your thumb).
Healthy fats include: almonds, mixed nuts, peanuts, peanut butter, ground flax meal, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, avocados, canola oil, and olive oil.

Vitamins & Minerals:

Help unlock the energy stored in food so your body can use it as fuel.
Our body needs calcium, magnesium, fluoride, and vitamin D to keep bones strong.
Include a serving of veggies (1 cup) at lunch and dinner… preferably dark leafy greens.
Include a serving of fruit (1/2 cup) at breakfast and lunch.
Make sure your veggies are not fried or swimming in butter.
Take a daily multivitamin. This is a great insurance plan to ensure our bodies are getting the nutrients it needs.

Fluids:

Water is the most important nutrient. If your body weight drops just 1% from losing fluids, your performance will suffer.
Be sure to replace the fluids you lose through sweat when you are active.
For high intensity or endurance workouts (90 minutes or longer) it is extremely important to replace your fluids.
Weigh yourself prior to your workout.
Hydrate during your workout as usual.
Weigh yourself after your workout – make note of the number of pounds lost post workout. Consume 3 cups (24 ounces) of water or sports drink for every pound of body weight that your lost while you were active.

Sports Drinks:

Sports drinks such as Gatorade and Power-Ade are really only needed when you will be working out for 90 minutes or more. For daily exercise up to 1-hour, water is the best choice for hydration.

Always eat breakfast

Make it a point to eat a good breakfast every morning. This is extremely important for endurance athletes. The level of glycogen in our liver is lower in the morning. We need to refuel our body to replace the energy it used while we slept.

Before an Endurance Workout

3-4 hours before a workout, practice, or competition, eat a carb loaded meal such as rice, pasta, yogurt, fruit smoothie, fruit, breads, rolls, etc…

Eat Often

It’s extremely important to NEVER let yourself go hungry. If you’re training for a marathon or an Iron Man, your calorie intake will be very high. I know when my husband is in peak training mode, he’s taking in between 4000 & 5000 calories per day. Plan your meals and time them around your workouts for proper digestion.

For Morning Exercisers

If your workouts will be no longer than one hour, it’s not vital to eat something prior to our workout… unless you are STARVING from the night before. If you will be going for a long run, cycling, or any other activity that will be 90 minutes or more, fueling prior to exercise is key. Have an energy bar, granola bar, ½ bagel, large banana, etc… Consume at least 12ounces or more prior to your workout, and make sure you hydrated properly the day before.

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Question of the day: How do you fuel your workouts? What pre-workout meal works best for you?

If I workout out super early, like 5 or 6am, I don’t really eat anything because I’m not hungry. I do eat a good breakfast within an hour of finishing my workout. I don’t do endurance training anymore, but if I decide to go for a longer run (8-10 miles for me) I’ll make sure to eat some type of easily digested food like a balance bar a couple of hours before my run.

Resources: American Dietetic Association, Jon Vredenburg MBA,RD, CSSD

12 Weeks No Diets – Week 4

Estela - Weekly Bite — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:49:04 +0000

Hi There

Today we start week 4 of 12 Weeks No Diets!

To recap, here are the goals we’ve worked on so far:

Mindful Goals:

Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re satisfied.
Identify any mindless eating routines you may have, think of a different activity to work on breaking those routines.

Nutrition Goals:

Drink at least 12oz of water with each meal, and 8-12 oz between meals
When hungry, eat at least one piece of fruit per day, and veggies of some sort (preferably fresh) for two meals.
Meal Timing: keep an eye on the clock. Never go longer than 5 hours without eating, and be sure to ask yourself “Am I truly hungry?” before eating.
Portion Control: use your hand to control your portions sizes. When eating out, make it a rule to order what you truly want but only eat half of what’s served. Take the rest home for delicious leftovers

Week 4:

This week we will only have one goal. The goal is to take a step back and PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY. When I say “pay attention to your body” I’m talking about eating consciously. This is about getting to know your body and phasing out the mindless eating. Now that I have a baby, I’m quickly becoming the queen of multitasking, and that includes eating as well. When eating and doing something else at the same time, its easy to over eat. To avoid this, it’s important to slow things down a bit and really take your time when eating.

The phrase “Pay Attention to Your Body” means so much. One habit I catch myself doing is mindlessly “tasting” while cooking. Often times when cooking or baking, the food finds its way into my mouth… then when its time to eat, I’m not hungry, but may eat anyway. This is an area where I need to “Pay Attention.”

If I taste a lot when cooking, then its important to balance that out with a lighter dinner, or, just don’t taste mindlessly. There’s a difference between tasting the food for flavor and straight up eating it.

Goal for this week:

Pay Attention – Really take time to pay attention to your body and identify any habits where you mindlessly eat. This involve more than just eating consciously. Take time when you eat and really taste your food. Enjoy what you’re eating. Make sure you love what you’re eating. And most importantly, remember that you are the one in control of your mind, body, and choices.

Workout of the week:

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home!

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Question of the Day?

What are some areas where you feel you need to be more conscious?

For me, I find when I’m watching the Food Network, I often find myself wanting or craving the food thats on TV even when I’m not hungry.

12 Weeks No Diets, Week 3

Estela - Weekly Bite — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:06:24 +0000

Today we start week 3 of 12 Weeks No Diets!

To recap, here are the goals from the past two weeks.

Mindful Goals:

Eat when you’re hungry, Stop when you’re satisfied.
Identify any mindless eating routines you may have, think of a different activity to work on breaking those routines.

Nutrition Goals:

Drink at least 12 oz of water with each meal, and 8-12 oz of water between meals.
When hungry, at at least one piece of fruit per day, and include veggies in some form (preferably fresh) for two meals.

Week 3 Goals:

This week we’ll be focusing on meal timing and portion control. These two really go hand in hand.

Meal Timing

This can be so confusing. We’ve heard so many conflicting things. Eat six small meals per day, eat three meals and two snacks, don’t snack, don’t eat past 7 p.m., etc…. If we google “how many meals to eat per day” there will be tons of websites all with conflicting information. The bottom line is… it’s different for everyone. You have to do what works best for your body! You are responsible for setting your own rules. Some people work best eating many small meals per day, and others don’t. I know for me, three meals a day works with a snack or two when I’m hungry. I have friends that eat smaller portions several times per day, and that works for them. What I’m trying to say is don’t force something that doesn’t work. You have to listen to your body and eat when you’re hungry.

If you’re trying to follow a plan that makes you eat every 2-3 hours, but are never hungry, that could your bodies way of telling you not to eat. You want to feel a little hungry right before you eat. Not starving, but a comfortable hunger.

The body typically will ask for food every 3-5 hours depending on how big of a meal you ate last. I NEVER recommend going longer than 5 hours without eating. Keep an eye on the clock and be realistic. If you ate a cheeseburger and french fries and have the urge to eat again two hours later, that’s not real hunger. Be realistic. You know you just consumed a very high calorie meal, so you shouldn’t be feeling hungry. On the other hand, if you ate a smaller than normal breakfast and feel hunger 2.5-3 hours later, it makes sense to have a small snack to stretch yourself to lunch.

Portion Control

Watch your portions. This is a big one. The very first goal I set was “Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re satisfied.” Technically this should help us control our portions, but sometimes we need a little more help. When we cook for ourselves its relatively easy to serve ourselves the proper portion. I like to give the simple rule of using your hand as a tool. Protein should be the size and thickness of the palm of your hand. Carbs should be the size of your fist, fat should be the size of your thumb, and non starchy veggies are unlimited.

Portion control can be a little harder when we eat out. I’m a big fan of ordering what I really want. The key is to not eat it all. Always take your time when you eat. Only eat half of what’s served and take the rest home. Think about the “hand rule” and keep those portions in mind. If you’re going to a restaurant that has a dessert you love, order a light dish and split the dessert with your dinner mate, or, just order the dessert.

Goals for this week:

Meal timing – keep an eye on the clock. Never go longer than 5 hours without eating, and be sure to ask yourself “Am I truly hungry?” before eating.
Portion Control – use your hand to control your portion sizes. When eating out, make it a rule to order what you truly want, and eat only half of what’s served. Take the rest home of delicious leftovers.

Workout of the week:

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home!

12 Weeks, No Diets – Week 2

Estela - Weekly Bite — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:14:11 +0000

Hi!

Today we start week two of 12 Weeks No Diets!

To recap, here were last weeks goals.

Eat when we’re hungry, stop when we’re satisfied
Drink at least 12 oz of water with each meal, and 8-12 oz between meals.

How did we do?

Like I mentioned in my last post, drinking water is pretty tough for me! I literally felt like I was constantly guzzling water. The first few days felt like work, but after a while I started to feel so much better! As far as eating when I’m hungry… I pretty much do this already, but this time I REALLY focused on it! Before I ate, or wanted to eat I asked myself “Am I REALLY hungry?” Sometimes the answer was yes, but other times it wasn’t. I had moments of boredom where I wanted to eat, but didn’t. I also had moments where those lovely “female hormones” kicked in and made think I wanted food. Boy was this hard work! As frustrating as it was, I waited it out and low and behold, my tummy eventually started growling, hunger pains kicked in, and before I knew it, it was time to eat! I have to say it felt almost like a victory!

Moving forward to this week, I wanted to focus on eating routines and fiber.

Mindful Tip #2

Break Mindless Eating Routines

Do you have any routines where you eat mindlessly? I had/have a couple. Sometimes I like to snack a little while working on the computer… like right now! I’m righting this post from a cute little bakery/coffee shop. There are people all around me working on their computers, sipping coffee, and eating. I smell the yummy quiche that the women sitting next to me is eating, I smell the warm cinnamon roll that the man across from me is eating. I am not the least bit hungry at all… not even a tingle of hunger… but I feel like I should order something because a) I’m working on the computer, and b) because everyone else around me is eating.

Another mindless eating routine I did/do is eating as soon as I get home from work. For the longest time the first thing I would do when getting home from work was eat. I would pull my car into the driveway, get the mail from the mail box, let Shiner (my dog) out, and sift through the mail while eating either pretzels or pita chips. Majority of the time I wasn’t even hungry.

Breaking mindless eating routines takes some time. I had to take a look at my day and identify the routines where I ate mindlessly. Then I had to work on them. I did this my focusing on breaking my routines. It took a conscious effort, but over time, I developed new routines.

Nutrition Tip #2

Eat your Fiber!!

Fiber is good for us. Fiber helps makes us feel full. Fiber comes in the form of whole grains, fruits, and veggies. The daily fiber requirement for women is 25 grams, and for men it’s about 40 grams. Instead of trying to count fiber grams, just try to make better choices. I like to choose bread that has at least 4 grams of fiber per slice. As far as fruits and veggies go, I REALLY need to work on this!!! I don’t know why this is so hard for me, but it is. I can manage to eat a salad most days to get my veggies in, but other than that, I need work. I don’t know why, but when I’m hungry, I rarely go for fruits or veggies.

Goal for this week:

Try to identify any mindless eating routines, think of a different behavior/activity to work on changing those routines
When hungry, at at least one piece of fruit per day, and include veggies in some form (preferably fresh) for two meals.

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home!

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Do you have any questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. I started a “12 Weeks No Diets” page. Every Mondays post/tip will be on that page.

If you have any workout specific questions, go to Jessica’s Blog at How Sweet It Is.