Halloween Candy Sucks

Before you hunt me down and punch me in the face, let me explain. OK, yes, Halloween has traditionally been a holiday where one "trick-or-treats." This dates back to the early...................times when villagers were scared of ghosts or aliens or something and they put treats out in front of their houses in order to appease the "spirits." I don't really have time to go into exact detail of dates or specific countries or religions, so just trust me. I know what I'm talking about here.

Anyway, wherever the tradition came from, we have turned Halloween into a giant diabetes celebration. We dress up and then (before the age of 21 when candy turns to booze) stuff our face with more chocolate and sugar than one should eat in an entire lifetime. (Except for those loser kids whose parents used to ration out their candy throughout the year.)

I'm am not going to tell you that trick-or-treating is bad or that candy is bad, I'm just going to give you a good idea for this coming holiday. Or, for those of you that don't change your ways, at least make you feel a little guilty. What if you gave out a treat that didn't have a negetive effect on a child's life - with obesity leading to many chronic and sometimes even deadly diseases, you are basically killing the youth of America via Snickers. Yay!

What about handing out pencils, stickers, bouncy balls, spider rings, or other fun toys? Kids love them!! With all the other candy they will be receiving, they will actually welcome the change!

That way, you are not contributing to each child that comes to your door's future heart disease, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, low self esteem, breathing difficulties or osteoarthritis. Also, as a tax payer, I would appreciate the break on America's healthcare crisis. Thaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnks!!!!!

Happy Halloween:)

- Inspired by Dr. Kristi King, Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville

Grieving and Fat

Sorry for my absence the last few days - I have been away from my normal routine.

I recently experienced the death of someone close to me - a mother of one of my best friends. Obviously, there are countless issues involved that have nothing to do with nutrition that are MUCH MORE important. However, I can't ignore the fact that this is a nutrition blog:), and I like to use experiences from my daily life as inspiration for my postings. My friends and I have been "grieving" for a while, but with the actual passing of this wonderful person, it has been much more intense this past week. Like I have said many times before, nutrition applies to all areas of life. In times of grief, food is the number one way people choose to show their love and support.

A child gets his yearly shots - you give him a sucker.
A teenager is feeling blue after a breakup - you make her favorite dinner.
An adult loses a parent - you send lasagna, brownies, bagels, meatloaf, cookies, cheesy garlic bread, pastries, broccoli cheese soup, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and chocolate covered cake. The more people that love you, the more "comfort" food you receive. Judging by my friend's refrigerator right now, she is a grieving celebrity.

Here is the issue: When a person feels grief, their body is in stress. I am sure you have heard of the "fight-or-flight response" - the hormone driven physiological response to stressors. It causes symptoms like increased heart rate and blood pressure, slowing of the digestive track, glucose release by the liver, and much more. This response would be useful if you were being chased by a lion or trying to catch a wild boar for dinner; however, the U.S. is getting pretty short on lions, so..... Unfortunately, the body can not differentiate between emotional and physical stress. So, either way, you have the same reaction. If you do not use these "symptoms" for increased physical activity like....running away from a lion, they can be very damaging to the body.

During periods of grief, this stress response can cause harm to your body. The functioning of your immune system can be decreased and you can get sick, physically sick. When your body's defenses are down, there are many things you can do to decrease your chances of getting sick. Some examples include getting enough sleep and eating a healthy, balanced diet.

Well, its hard to eat a well balanced diet when there is no time to get to the store and there's a HUGE apple pie in the fridge calling your name. The pie and a 2 liter of coke that your neighbor "Sal" sent over become your dinner. See the problem here?

During periods of grief or stress, nutritional intake becomes very important. Is your sister-in-law dealing with the loss of her father? Send over baked chicken with mixed fruit. Send over homemade vegetables soup. For breakfast, send over a box of oatmeal, bananas and low-fat milk. How about some grilled tilapia and couscous? Or some mixed greens and a variety of dressings?
Next time your co-worker is dealing with the loss of a loved one, try sending something nutrient packed - instead of a refined sugar based meal like pasta and bread. That way, you are not only showing them your love, but you are also helping them prevent illness - doesn't that show more love than anything?

Moral of the story: Show your love with food, but show it with healthy, nutrient rich food!

It's not 1990 anymore! No more "fat-free"!!

If one more person makes the argument "Well, its fat-free" to me, I'm going to scream!! This debate came up to me yesterday when someone was trying to argue that Twizzlers were "healthy" because they were fat-free. The 1990's "fat-free" craze is over people. It doesn't matter! If you take the fat out of something, then you are just going to add sugar instead. So now, you're increasing your carbohydrate intake - which after a long process of glycolysis, the kreb's cycle, and some other stuff I don't remember, it turns into fat. So, now, you have Twizzler a$$. Congrats! That fat-free diet really worked out for ya, didn't it!
Remember the ole' peanut butter debate. The same rules apply to ALL FOODS. Just because something is fat-free, doesn't mean it doesn't have calories or that its healthier for you.
Take ice cream for example: the marketing gets you every time!

Breyer's Vanilla Ice cream - 1 serving (1/2 cup) - yeah right, who eats 1/2 cup.......anyway........
Ice cream                   Calories               Fat              Carbohydrates
All Natural                   130                    7g                       14g
Fat-Free                       90                     0g                       21g
Carb-Smart                  90                     6g                        13g
Light                            100                    3g                        17g

Notice that the fat-free has more grams of sugar than any of the others! Your best bet with foods (as a general rule) is to go with the natural or overall "light" versions. Notice that the "Carb-Smart" only has 1g less of sugar than the All-Natural.......hilarious.

Read your food labels, don't always go for the "fat-free" or the "low-carb" versions. These do not in ANY WAY mean "healthier."

Sorry for ragging on the 90's - obviously, they were awesome!! Where else could you get awesomeness like "aiight," "as if," and "the bomb!"?

I LOVE THE 90's!!!

- Inspired by Michael Pollan!

Overeaters Anonymous

I made a realization the other day (thanks to a very interesting encounter) about the idea of addiction to food. Many people suffer from food addiction just like people suffer from addictions to smoking, drugs, and alcohol. Those prone to addictions are affected by their "drug" hormonally, making it very difficult to escape.
However, in my opinion, a food addiction is much more complex than even the worst drug addiction. Here's why - the kicker........you can be abstinent from drugs or alcohol........but you can NEVER stop eating.

When the issue was presented to me like this, it blew my mind. I had never thought of it that way. An alcoholic can avoid alcohol during recovery. They can keep it out of their home, avoid public establishments having alcohol, etc. But, imagine if your drug was food.

You have to have food in the house, you have to go to the grocery, you have to get gas at the gas station, you have to go to work, you have to drive down the road, you have to see billboards. The never ending barrage of food that we encounter all day, every day is unavoidable.

I am not an addiction expert, but for those suffering from any kind of food disorder, whether its under-eating or overeating, the world is a torturous place.

The book I mentioned a few month's back, "Woman, Food, and God" by Geneen Roth dives into the world of food addiction. Those with any kind of food addiction said that it provided wonderful insight into this world of suffering.

Usually, people deal with their addiction by abstaining from their "drug." This is not an option for food addicts. Therefore, so much more counseling and education has to go into recovery from this issue. Its an interesting topic overall - I just wanted to share my eye-opening realization.

Overeaters Anonymous Website

Find a meeting near YOU!

Money, Money, Money!.......Money!

With extra body weight comes loads of complications including physiological and psychological issues. We all know this. However, in addition to all of these problems, go ahead and add 'broke' to the top of that list.

It is well known that socioeconomic status and weight are correlated due to the lack of healthy food resources for certain populations, but I am NOT talking about that correlation. I'm talking about the opposite effect - the idea that the heavier you become, the poorer you become. According to Wallet Pop, a personal finance and advice website, overeating itself costs over $258,000. That is more money than it would cost to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day for 64 years. These numbers take into account the price of health care costs, lost years of life, and discrimination of salary in the work place.

It was found that overweight, white women were the most discriminated against in the workplace (for body weight reasons). The cultural bias stating that larger people are lazy, unmotivated, and non-compliant might have a lot to do with it. John H. Cawley, associate professor of human ecology at Cornell University, reports that "a weight increase of 64 pounds above the average for white women was associated with 9 percent lower wages." - Weight and Wages: A Woman’s Dilemma

Weight is seen as such an individual issue that one can't help but blame or discriminate against a person for this particular characteristic. There are obviously other factors factored in here - not trying to get into that debate - just thought the facts were interesting.

Being overweight or obese is a never-ending, vicious cycle that few can pull through. Fat?....check. Low self-esteem?....check. Broke?......check. Awesome, now I can for sure concentrate on getting back into shape. Uplifting idea, I realize. Happy freakin' Tuesday.

Healthy Fashion

VS.

There is no arguing that you feel better on days that you look better. If I walk into work with draw-string scrub pants, no make-up and a loose fitting shirt, its safe to say that I woke-up feeling like a fat-a$$ that day. However, if I have on some fitted pants or a high-wasted skirt with shirt tucked in, its safe to say that I've had a good week!

What you wear on a daily basis can have a lot to do with what you eat. The things that you wear and the things that you eat, alike, show to the world how you feel about yourself. Clothes in general, better than actual weight, can tell you where you are with your health status. If you have to wear dress pants on a daily basis, and all of a sudden those dress pants aren't buckling, you know that something is changing. However, if you wear scrub pants on a daily basis, you can just keep tying them a little looser, a little looser, and a little looser. Its much harder to grasp the idea that your waste line is getting bigger.

Mental health wise, "dressing in clothes that make you feel confident can make you want to take better care of yourself all around. Its nice to wear pj's, but everybody likes to feel professional every once in awhile," says Lauren, a college admissions rep. in the Louisville, Kentucky area.

Lauren is exactly right! You have to spruce yourself up every once in a while and put on clothes that "don't give" in order to keep your body weight in check.

If your job requires these detrimental "unhealthy fashions," try and dress up when you run errands, go to the doctor, go to meetings, or go out to eat. Its easy to fall into a pattern of scrubs and pj pants. DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Moral of the story: SCRUB RESPONSIBLY 

Grocery Week Part V: Final Tips!!

You are ready now! Your Sunday grocery run is going to be top notch this week! Go back to Preparing for the Grocery when its time to make your list!

Here are some last minute tips to complete your grocery shopping makeover!

1. Stick to the list! Don't start pouring random items into your cart. You will end up spending more money and buying things you don't need.
2. Obviously, don't go hungry. Never a good idea to surround yourself with food when your stomach can be heard 3 aisles over. Grab a quick snack before hitting the market.

3. Buy a couple "back-up" meals. Try spaghetti, a frozen stir-fry mix, mac & cheese (the new whole grain version of course:), or a frozen veggie pizza - for those emergency situations.
4. Buy frozen veggies. They are easy to fix and won't go bad!
5. When you're running low, write it down. When you're out of something, its too late.

6. Check out your grocery's website. There are tons of recipes, coupons, shopping tips, etc. that you could be missing out on!
7. Check prices. My college roommate has taken Kroger for all its worth with this tactic. She watches the register like a hawk because if something rings up incorrectly, they give it to you for free!
8. The simplest rule there is AVOID THE JUNK FOOD!!!!!!!!!!! You don't need it! You will have plenty of great meals and snacks available for you to munch on in a crunch! A frozen pizza every once in while is fine. Cheetos as a daily appetizer is not!

Happy Shopping!!