Living Healthy and Happy: To Cleanse or Not to Cleanse

If you are someone that is trying to lose weight or start a healthy eating lifestyle, I can almost bet you have done a google search and have found numerous articles about cleansing. There are many detox drinks, smoothies, waters, teas, workouts and pills that claim "to kick start your weight loss with a clean slate." I love snacks and foods that are not always so healthy for me (hence the goodies above) and can understand why people think a cleanse is necessary. 

So, do they work?  

Are they necessary?

What does a dietitian recommend?

First of all, our bodies are amazing and have their own internal cleansing system. Otherwise known as your gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, gallbladder and liver. Our bodies have a natural way of taking out the good stuff, using the good stuff and ridding of the bad stuff. Why mess with something natural and proven to work? 

Also, there is this fascinating beverage called water, yes plain old H2O, that aids in the function of our natural detoxification system.

Here is the cleanse I recommend:

3 days of all natural foods, no packaged or processed products (fruits, vegetables, brown rice, quinoa, chicken breast, fish-1 fist size serving of each food group for 3-4 meals/day) and consume 80-100 ounces of plain water throughout the day. No soda, no coffee, no caloric beverages.  

I usually recommend trying the above first before considering any other cleanse. You are then more than ready to continue eating healthy and clean. I guarantee your energy will increase, your pants will fit better and you will be ready to increase your physical activity. 

And after those 3 days, follow-up with a nutrition expert, a registered dietitian, to continue the success of your jump-start. 

Living Happy and Healthy: Craving and Control Foods

In each wellness coaching session I have with an individual, we always spend a session revolving around hunger. It is important for everyone, even a registered dietitian, to understand the difference between hunger and being hungry. Hunger is a physical reaction to not having adequate food. Your body releases physical pain that comes from your stomach and there isa decline in chemical reactions occurring in your body.  Blood sugar levels decrease, your body starts to lose muscle mass and stores more fat in fear of starvation. “Being hungry” is a result of maybe missing a meal or a snack and is usually out of boredom, depression or certain foods you eat that leave you wanting more.

Scientifically, a calorie is a calorie and being a healthy weight involves controlling your calorie intake and being physically active. There are some foods and some calories that affect individuals differently. There is not a one-size-fits-all calorie and there is not a one-size-fits-all food. Certain foods may have different effects on an individual’s food intake over the course of the day. I call these “craving” and “control” foods. These foods are very different for each individual and they go hand-in-hand with a person feeling hungry, not having hunger.

What are “control” foods?  These are foods that can calm your feelings of being hungry. Most commonly, “control” foods include foods with protein such as meat and dairy; foods that create volume such as non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, cucumbers, greens; and foods that are high in fiber such as legumes, nuts and seeds.  When “control” foods are consumed with a balanced meal or snack and in the right portion size, an individual will experience more physical satiety resulting in the communication of fullness to the brain.  Basically, a control food is “stopping” the individual from overeating or wanting more food.  

What are “craving” foods? These are foods that leave you wanting more. Common “craving” foods are simple carbohydrate foods that are low in fiber and protein such as desserts, candy, baked goods, soda (including diet), white bread and pastas, crackers, chips and juice. “Craving foods” are quickly digested and absorbed by the body, so our brain does not register the amount of food it has consumed and larger quantities of these foods can be eaten to satisfy the feeling of being hungry. But not all craving foods are unhealthy by definition. You might have a craving food that is full of fiber and protein. It is important to be aware that even a healthy food can be a food that causes you to overeat.

Get to know your control and craving foods. Keep a food journal for a week. Write down each food you consume and indicate how it makes you feel. This will help you identify foods that may be preventing you from living a healthy and happy life. I know my “control” and “craving” foods. It took time to figure out that certain foods lead me to eat more or eat less. I have also learned I can combine a control food with a craving food and find satisfaction with my feelings of being hungry. I also need to start my day with control foods to prevent me from wanting craving foods throughout the day. Not only do I eat less food, but I eat a higher quality of food and never have the feeling of being hungry.

For more information on how to start living YOUR healthy life and discuss an individualized plan for you, call or email me at 515.285.7266 | acundiff@hy-vee.com

Living Healthy and Happy Series

As a dietitian, I get the same question in different forms hundreds of times each year.....wait for it....."I want to be healthy, how do I get healthy?  How can you help me get healthy?" So I decided with the start of the new year I am going to spend some time blogging about my philosophy on living healthy. Last week, I have you a little kick-off to the basic building blocks of a healthy living lifestyle. Check back each week for all the reasons you need to seek nutrition advice from a nutrition  expert (that's me!) and apply this to your own life. I use it with my family, my clients and myself.  Guess what?  It works. Looking forward to starting this journey with you! 

Top 3 Health Tips for 2014

Happy 2014!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the new year and looking forward to all it has to bring. I am excited for a new year. This is the most exciting (and busy) time of year for dietitians. I look forward to the new challenges of helping individuals with their health goals and also working on my own. What are you challenging yourself with this new year? Here are my top 3 health suggestions for the new year:

ONE

This picture sums up your overall health in a nutshell. Food first. This has always been my mantra as a dietitian and with my own personal health goals. If the fuel isn't fantastic, there is no way anything else can make up for it. Get back to basics, eat real food!  70% of your grocery cart should be foods with minimal ingredient lists (think 1 to 3 ingredients) and the other 30% should be less than 5 ingredients. The only exception is if you are making something from scratch of real whole food ingredients. The more ingredients the less you really know what you are eating. Simplicity is best.

TWO

Portion control and balance. We need to get it together people. We eat wayyyy to much of most foods!  Pay attention to what you're eating more of and stop. I highly doubt you are over-eating on vegetables. Our meals focus on large amounts of carbohydrates and starchy foods (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, corn) and high-fat foods (meat, cheese, ranch dressing, mayonnaise). This does not a balance make. It is all about balance. When you do not have balance with your meals (veggies, lean protein, whole grains, fruit and dairy) you will body will keep craving food because it is not getting what it needs. So what do we do?  We continue to feed ourselves with the wrong foods, over-eat and never catch up on our nutrients. The size of YOUR fist (not your big brother's or husband's) is a great place to start with portion control and it's so portable, you can use it anywhere!  Once you make it through 2 weeks of adjusting to actual portion control and balance your body will thank you with energy, better sleep and weight loss. 

THREE

Take Chia seeds, every day. I get asked numerous times a week about the newest pill that is talked about on television for weight loss. Guess what?  There is no magic pill. It is all about #1 and #2 above. If you find yourself still struggling with increased appetite and cravings, chia seeds are where it's at. Start with 1-2 tablespoons a day and divide it according to the times of the day you notice increased appetite and cravings. I get so very hungry at around 10 am, so I put a tablespoon in my dairy delicious Greek yogurt (extra protein at snack time doesn't hurt) and boom!  Hunger and cravings be gone!  Now this won't be an instant fix, give it about 2-3 weeks to notice a change, but you will notice it, trust me. 

There are many more tips I have upstairs and I will be sharing them with you throughout the month of January to help keep you focused on YOUR health. Make 2014 your year to take care of you and make it permanent!