Sit Down, Slow Down, and Unplug

I saw this photo by Suspended Coffees on Facebook (link below) and it reminded me of one of my mantras.
Suspended Coffees

Sit down, slow down and unplug.  If every day we made it a priority to do those three things when we ate, we would actually be able to:

1. Taste and enjoy our food, thereby receiving more nutrition from food that appeals to us.  (The science behind this is called the cephalic phase of digestion and basically when we eat food that is appetizing to us, we absorb more nutrients such as iron from that food as compared to food that doesn't appeal or engage our senses.)
2. Give time for our bodies to register fullness or satiety.  When we slow down, we actually eat less and achieve a more comfortable level of fullness.
3. When we remove distractions and focus on food and company or conversation, we are much less likely to over eat, and more likely to find satisfaction in our eating experience.
4. And lastly, it's just good manners.
 

So when you are about to eat something - consider my three simple pieces of advice: sit down, slow down and unplug - and find real enjoyment in food.

Resolve to Re-work Your Recipes

Healthful eating doesn't require giving up your favorite flavors or recipes.  Rather, take a look at your favorites, standbys and go-to recipes and see if there are ways you can improve the nutrition without sacrificing the flavor you love.  To give you an example, here is a example of a recipe re-work:

Original recipe:
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions: Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg.  Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with applesauce to creamed mixture.  Mix in oats and chocolate chips.  Fill 12 muffin papers 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Re-worked recipe (green indicates changes made):
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins
1/4 cup canola oil, margarine or butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg (can substitute 2 egg whites)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (can use skim milk)
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions: Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg.  Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with applesauce to creamed mixture.  Mix in oats and chocolate chips.  Fill 12 muffin papers 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

The reworked recipe is lower in fat, calories and sugar yet higher in fiber.  Swapping unsweetened applesauce for whole milk reduces the fat and makes for a wonderfully moist muffin.  If you don't care for a moister texture, stick with skim milk.  I also added a little cinnamon because I love how the flavor approximates an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. 

Keep an eye out for ways to add fiber, fruits, veggies and whole grains to your recipes while keeping fat and sugar content in check and you'll soon be a whiz at recipe modification.  

3 Positive New Year's Nutrition Resolutions

When you think about making new years resolutions, diet and exercise often top the list.  If you think about the way you make exercise resolutions you don’t focus on what not to do “I won’t sit on the couch as much, I won’t be a sedentary lounge-about” instead you make goals that add positive change “I will go to the gym 3 days a week or I will train for a race”.  However when it comes to diet, we often focus on the negative: “I will give up chocolate or sugar, or I will cut out carbs”.  Instead it would be much more productive, sustainable and enjoyable to focus on positive change to add in to our diet.  

Fresh Living Segment 

3 things to add into your diet to get the most bang for your buck:

• Drink 64 oz water daily - naturally crowds out soda or other less nutritious beverages (water bottle display)

• Eat 9 fruits & veggies/day - naturally crowds out convenience, high calorie foods (produce display)

• Add a few meatless meals to your weekly menu - helps increase the fruit and veggie intake, higher fiber, lower saturated fat = heart healthy/weight management friendly (beans, nuts, soy display)

Notice there is nothing hear about eliminating foods - even convenience, dessert or fast foods.  But if you really commit to adding in the healthy components of nutrition, the fun/play foods will recede back into the cameo role they should be playing in your diet. These changes keep you from feeling deprived, and is much easier to maintain longer than the second week of January, instead they become life-long habits that can improve how you feel now and increase healthy longevity.