Tag Archive for: wellness
We Were All Born As Intuitive Eaters
Did you know the “non-dieting” approach has been around since 1995? Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch MS, RD, CEDRD, FADA were the first to develop and publish this concept in their book, Intuitive Eating: The Revolutionary Program that Works. Intuitive eating is not a diet, but an approach to improve your relationship with food, exercise, and body image. Through this, studies have shown this method can additionally help improve blood pressure, cholesterol, decrease depression, enhance self-esteem and often result in weight loss for chronic dieters. Information below is a highlight of each principle and directly from the Intuitive Eating book:
PRINCIPLE 1: |
| REJECT THE DIET MENTALITY
Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you the false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating. |
PRINCIPLE 2: |
| HONOR YOUR HUNGER
Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for rebuilding trust with yourself and food. |
PRINCIPLE 3: |
| MAKE PEACE WITH FOOD
Call a truce; stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can’t or shouldn’t have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing. When you finally “give in” to your forbidden foods, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating and overwhelming guilt. |
PRINCIPLE 4: |
| CHALLENGE THE FOOD POLICE
Scream a loud “no” to thoughts in your head that declare you’re “good” for eating under a thousand calories or “bad” because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The food police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created. The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the food police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating. |
PRINCIPLE 5: |
| FEEL YOUR FULLNESS
Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you’re comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or snack and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what your current fullness level is. |
PRINCIPLE 6: |
| DISCOVER THE SATISFACTION FACTOR
The Japanese have the wisdom to keep pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living. In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence – the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide you’ve had “enough.” |
PRINCIPLE 7: |
| COPE WITH YOUR EMOTIONS WITHOUT USING FOOD
Find ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your emotional issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, and anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won’t fix any of these feelings. It may provide comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover. But food won’t solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You’ll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating. |
PRINCIPLE 8: |
| RESPECT YOUR BODY
Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect realistically to squeeze into a size six, it is equally futile (and uncomfortable) to have a similar expectation about body size. Respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It’s hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical of your body shape. |
PRINCIPLE 9: |
| EXERCISE – FEEL THE DIFFERENCE
Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, like being energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the booze alarm. If when you wake up, your only goal is to lose weight, it’s usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time. |
PRINCIPLE 10: |
| HONOR YOUR HEALTH – GENTLE NUTRITION
Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel good. Remember that you don’t have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency, or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters. Progress, not perfection, is what counts. |
This book is a great read! If you are wanting to implement these principles in your life, and would like guidance/one-on-one counseling, the “BN” Dietitians are in your corner. We understand the role diet culture has played on one’s mind and body. Get back to the basics and learn to listen to YOU! LN
Which Came First? Lack of Sleep or Nutritient Shortfalls?
How are you taking care of yourself? Taking care of yourself directly impacts your ability to care for others. Think – are you getting the sleep you need, managing stress in a positive way, meeting your nutritional needs, getting in physical exercise?
Which came first? Are nutrient shortfalls secondary to lack of sleep or lack of sleep secondary to nutrient shortfalls?
The answer – either one can cause an impact on the other. There are some common nutritional deficiencies that may prevent us from getting adequate sleep and/or caused by lack of sleep. Ideally, we should get 7 to 9 hours of sleep at night. However, less than 1% of the population falls into the “exception” category of needing less or more than this. If you are not meeting this guideline, you are likely putting yourself at risk for nutrient deficiencies and causing your sleep to be worse.
Adults with less than 7 hours of sleep at night have been found to have nutrient shortfalls in vitamin D, vitamin E, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium, vitamin K, potassium and omega 3s.
- Did you know 96% of Americans don’t eat enough vitamin D?
- Vitamin D plays an important role in lung health, insulin secretion, bone health, brain health, heart health, inflammation, muscle health, and our immune system.
- Did you know 55% of Americans don’t eat enough magnesium?
- Magnesium plays an important role in our bones/teeth, regulation of heartbeat, muscles, nervous system, metabolism, and cellular energy.
- Did you know 95% of Americans don’t eat enough omega 3s?
- Omega 3s play an important role in eye health, maintaining healthy triglycerides, healthy blood pressure, brain health, heart health, and inflammation.
Having a balanced diet with a variety of produce and protein sources can help prevent nutritional deficiencies. Nutrient-dense food sources include:
- Vitamin D: Egg yolk, mushroom, fatty fish, cod liver oil, fortified foods/beverages (cereal/orange juice/milk)
- Vitamin E: Almonds, avocado, fatty fish, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, spinach, butternut squash, olive oil, kiwi
- Vitamin C: Kale, broccoli, green chili pepper, bell pepper, coriander, kiwi, strawberry, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, orange, papaya, tomato
- Vitamin A: Liver, cod liver oil, spinach, butternut squash, mustard greens, tomato, fatty fish, carrot, sweet potato, cantaloupe, red bell pepper, parsley
- Vitamin K: Kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cucumber, asparagus, kiwi, avocado, cheese, eggs, chicken, butter
- Magnesium: Pumpkin seeds, almonds, spinach, quinoa, beans, dark chocolate, peanuts, edamame, cashews, cacao powder, oatmeal, avocado, broccoli, banana
- Calcium: Milk, cheese, yogurt, fish, spinach, kale, collard greens, beans, lentils, walnuts, edamame, fortified drinks (almond milk/orange juice), chia seeds, sesame seeds, almonds, broccoli, tofu
- Potassium: Pistachios, beet greens, salmon, white beans, potatoes, milk, mushrooms, avocado, tomato, flaxseed, pumpkin seed, peanuts, almonds, banana, acorn squash, broccoli, brussels sprouts, celery, watermelon
- Omega 3s: Fatty fish (anchovies, sardines, herring, trout, salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna), basil, chia seeds, flax seeds, spinach, walnuts, edamame, brussels sprouts, avocado
Whether lack of sleep causes nutrient abnormalities or nutrient abnormalities causes a lack of sleep, it is important to make both a priority to help the body function properly. They both play a key role in overall health. Speak with your Dietitian about ways you can improve stress, sleep, and nutrition. LN
Tele-health/Tele-nutrition Video Conferencing
Have you been pondering an appointment with a dietitian to help you improve your diabetes management, food allergy or celiac disease issues, lipid challenges, improve your athletic performance, lose weight or once and for all heal from your eating disorder? Scheduling and keeping appointments are a hassle, sometimes inconvenient and an expense.
Beyond the actual cost of the medical nutrition therapy appointment there are additional costs. How much does it cost you to take off an hour early from work to schedule an appointment? Are you driving across town or from Clinton, Guymon, or Muskogee for an appointment? Gas is not cheap. If you are driving to the city from out of town you will likely have meal expenses involved also. Do you have to pay child care costs while you are at an appointment?
The additional costs and inconvenience can be eliminated with “tele-nutrition video conferencing” appointments. Banister Nutrition now provides the option for you to schedule an appointment with one of our dietitians and you can be in your kitchen, office or favorite coffee shop, where ever you please. We have a HIPPA compliant software program that allows us to easily connect with you via an e-mail address you provide. We offer packages of 3-4 appointments at a reduced cost, payable at the time of purchase with credit card.
“If” you want your insurance to cover your medical nutrition therapy appointments, insurance companies have placed limitations on what they will cover. These restrictions include:
- Your referring physician must be located in a medically deprived area of the state which of course means rural Oklahoma.
- At the time of your video conference you must be sitting in your physicians’ actual brick and mortar office space.
- Medicare will cover 3 appointments per year for diabetes and renal disease only.
To assist patients with insurance coverage, if you have a rural physician you would like for us to approach regarding making this service available to you please provide us with your physicians name, office address and phone number . We will contact your physician to try make these arrangements for you.
Our experience has been that both physicians and patients living in rural Oklahoma have been very pleased with having medical nutrition therapy available via video conferencing. Initially we all (physicians, patients and dietitians) thought video conferencing would be a little awkward, relationships would not be easily built, and nutrition therapy via this platform would not be effective. We are pleased to say this has not been the case. Everyone involved has found this new, convenient resource to improve your health care has been very appreciated and helpful.
CB
Gut Microbiome and Nutrition
The large intestine contains the highest concentration of microbes in our bodies and these microbes are different for everyone. The different types depend on genes, age, gender, diet, hygiene and even climate and occupation. Studies show that gut microbes even affect pain, mood, sleep, stress, and how our bodies use the food we eat to fight infection and keep us healthy. The microbes in our gut also affect how the nutrients we eat are stored in our bodies, as well as regulate our appetites and have some control in our weight.
Diets high in fat and refined sugars can cause the good and bad bacteria in our gut to become unbalanced. This can cause inflammation and increase our risk for infections. The gut microbiota actually act to crowd out bad bacteria that can cause infection. It can also decrease inflammation throughout the body by releasing specific compounds to prevent attacks on the immune system.
Foods that are good for gut health include high FIBER foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and pre/probiotics!
Fiber Foods:
- Bran cereal, FiberOne bar
- Beans (lentils, kidney, black, lima, etc)
- Berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
- Quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, whole wheat bread
- Spinach, collard greens, peas, broccoli, squash
- Almonds, sesame seeds, pistachios
- Pears, apples, dried fig, prunes, oranges
Probiotic Foods:
- Aged cheeses, greek yogurt, kefir
- Kimchi, kombucha, olives, sauerkraut, soybeans
- Sourdough bread
Prebiotic Foods:
- Berries, bananas, tomatoes, vegetables
- Barley, flaxseed, oatmeal, wheat
- Beans, chickpeas, lentils
For more in-depth info check out this link>> http://www.nutritionnews.abbott/nutrition-as-medicine/the-role-of-the-microbiome-in-gut-health-.html?fbclid=IwAR2R1aisahO4KeNLiZNXXiszzbQoZDqtCoT-5jLopPYlI-PXhMeHVepZ464
KM
Intuitive Eating
Are you tired of dieting and being confused by all the latest diet trends? Do you feel like you don’t know how to get on track and establish a consistent eating pattern? Are you unsure of how food connects with your mental and physical health? If you answered yes to any this, the concept and practice of intuitive eating will be great to apply to your lifestyle.
Intuitive eating in a nutshell is a mindset or philosophy that honors internal body cues that we are innately born with such as eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are satisfied, and it rejects the diet mentality that is heavily marketed. There is more that is involved in becoming an intuitive eater but here are the 10 principles that were first developed by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in their book titled intuitive eating.
- Reject the Diet Mentality – Avoid fad diets and all the rules surrounded about eating
- Honor your Hunger – Listen to the cues your body gives you to tell you to fuel up. Keep yourself fed.
- Make Peace with Food – Give yourself permission to eat and enjoy all foods. Restriction leads to overeating which creates a poor relationship with food
- Challenge the Food Police – Stop the thoughts in your head that make you believe your “good” for eating low calories or “bad” for having some ice cream.
- Respect your Fullness – Listen for the signals your body gives you to tell you that you are no longer hungry. A hunger scale can be great to use for this.
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor- Enjoy the food and meal experiences you encounter. Remember that food is to be both nourishing and satisfying.
- Honor Your Feelings without using Food – Find ways to cope with emotions you may struggle with. Practice guided mediation, talk with a friend, or dive into a great book.
- Respect your Body – Accept your genetic blueprint and be proud of the skin you’re in! Your worth is not determined by your size.
- Exercise, Feel the Difference – Get active in an activity you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be at the gym to be considered exercise. Go on a walk or get some yard work done. It all counts. Shift your focus from solely burning calories to how energized you may feel. It’s a great stress reliever too!
- Honor your Health – Avoiding diets doesn’t equate to not being aware of or caring about what you eat. Choose nutrient dense foods the majority of the time also knowing that’s its totally fine to have some indulgences
Remember that intuitive eating doesn’t happen overnight and it takes consistent practice and time. You can work with any of the dietitians at BN to help apply these principles into your way of life long-term.
UC
How Does Your Bar Add Up?
As a Dietitian, I always recommend real food over meal replacements, shakes or bars. In a perfect world, we would sit down and eat a balanced meal three times a day. However, if you are in a time crunch, having a nutrition bar is better than skipping a meal. So that leads us to the big question – “how do I choose the right bar?” Choosing the right bar for you can be very challenging. Several bars on the shelves are full of sugar with similar nutrition content as a candy bar. Here are a few guidelines and things to look for when choosing a nutrition bar:
- Carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates are a great source of sustainable energy, so look for bars that have fiber content. Also, look for bars that contain natural sources of sugar, like fruit. Try to limit added sugars.
Rule of thumb: 2 gm or more of fiber and 8-10 gm or less of total sugar content
- Protein: Protein is needed to help you feel full and keep you feeling full between meals, so this is an important one. Your body can only absorb a certain amount of protein in one sitting, so getting a bar with 30-40 gm protein is not helpful.
Rule of thumb: 8-20 gm protein content
- Fat: Look for a bar that contains healthy sources of fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) and avoid bars high in saturated or trans fats.
Rule of thumb: less than 3 gm saturated fat content
Here is a list of bars that meet the guidelines above:
- Kashi GOLEAN Plant Powered Bars: Salted Dark Chocolate and Nut; Crunchy Peanut Butter
- KIND Breakfast Protein Bars: Dark Chocolate Cocoa; Almond Bar; Maple Cinnamon; Peanut Butter Banana Dark Chocolate
- KIND Sweet and Spicy Bars: Roasted Jalapeno; Thai Sweet Chili; Sweet Cayenne BBQ
- CLIF Whey Protein Bars: Mint Chocolate Almond Flavor
- CLIF Mojo Bars: Honey Srirocka
- CLIF Luna Bars: Lemonzest; Chocolate Peppermint Stick; Sea Salt Caramel; Nutz Over Chocolate; White Chocolate Macadamia; S’mores; Chocolate Cupcake
- POWER Bar Plant Protein Bars: Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt
- EPIC Bars: Chicken Sesame BBQ; Turkey Almond Cranberry
- Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bar: Honey Peanut Almond
- Think Thin Protein + Fiber Bars: Pumpkin Spice
- KIZE Bars: Cocoa; Peanut Butter; Vanilla Almond; Cinnamon Roll; Pumpkin Seed; Peanut Butter Crunch with Pumpkin Seeds
Note: The above recommendations are for healthy adults. If you have a chronic disease, please talk to your Dietitian to see if there are any other specific recommendations for you to look at. The bars pictured were found at Crest Foods and Target.
LN
Winter Blues
It’s easy to be a little more relaxed with your diet and exercise habits during the winter. Even I have noticed lately that I have been lazier because it’s dark when I get home from work or I just don’t want to get all bundled up to venture out into the cold. It seems to be easier to maintain the healthy lifestyle during the summer months with all the fun recipes for fruits and vegetables that are in season, and the outside activities that keep us moving all day long. To keep you on track and ready for Spring, here are some tips on how to stay motivated through this Winter season.
- Accept that it is COLD and gear up! Go pick up a couple pieces of extra warm clothing (hats, socks, gloves, coats) to make it easier to head outside for a trip to the gym or grocery store.
- Wear bright colors. (If you’re into that) Wearing a bright coat or hat could help you feel happier and more upbeat. I tend to wear a lot of black and grey during the winter but mixing in a bright green or purple would be great for creating a fun and colorful mood for the day.
- Surround yourself with positive people. The people around you influence your mood and behavior, especially during the dark winter months.
- Cook something new. Try out a new recipe with a food you have never tried before, trying new things can be fun and rewarding. The whole point is to make a wholesome meal for yourself and rekindle the flame for making yummy home cooked meals. Some “winter mood” foods include: sweet potatoes, eggplant, and squash.
Here is a Winter Squash Soup recipe!
Prep time: 15 minutes / Cook time: 45 minutes / Servings: 4 / Calories: 346 kcal
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
2.5 pounds winter squash peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon honey
5 cups chicken stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parsley (Fresh) chopped to serve (optional)
Directions:
-Melt the butter and oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and celery, and gently cook until really soft – about 15 mins.
-Add the squash and cook, stirring for 5 mins.
-Add the honey and chicken stock, bring to a simmer and cook until the squash is tender.
-Remove from heat and using a hand blender, blitz until smooth (adding a bit more stock or water if the soup is too thick).
-Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reheat before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Recipe Notes
For the winter squash – you can buy whole squash and prepare them yourself or buy bags of ready to use.
Sourced used for tips and recipe:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/therese-borchard-sanity-break/ways-fight-off-winter-blues/
https://www.errenskitchen.com/winter-squash-soup/
KM
Feeding Your Metabolism
Metabolism refers to the energy produced to perform all functions of the body. Improvements in metabolism can help with weight management, increase overall energy and lead to a healthier lifestyle. Here are the top tips to give your body that extra boost:
- Get adequate water intake:
Water is required by the body to work more efficiently. You wouldn’t run a car without gas or oil, so why would you deprive your body of water? Drink 8 ounces when you first wake up to help cleanse your body and allow for a more favorable environment for nutrient absorption. Aim for a minimum of 64 ounces per day.
- Eat a balanced breakfast:
Breakfast is a great way to get your metabolism started in the morning. Aim for a balanced meal including lean sources of protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. Alternating your breakfast meals and eating within 90 minutes of waking can work to boost your metabolism.
- Build lean body mass:
The more lean body mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate. Incorporate weight or resistance training into your workout routine to help build lean muscle. This will cause your body to burn more calories at rest and help with weight loss.
- Even out caloric distribution:
Waiting till the evening meal to consume the majority of your calories, can lead to increase in insulin levels, promote fat storage and result in weight gain. Your metabolism works more efficiently in the morning and slows down as the day progresses, so aim even calorie distribution.
- Improve sleep:
Lack of sleep leads to increase in hunger hormone, ghrelin and decrease in fullness hormone, leptin. No wonder your feel so hungry on the day after only 4 hours of Zzzs!! To promote a more efficient metabolism and prevent weight gain, aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
- Fuel properly:
Skipping meals will actually slow down your metabolism, so eat every 3-4 hours to promote a more efficient metabolism. Getting a variety of foods and adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat from your diet is important for proper metabolism and nutrition.
Wondering what your metabolism is? Banister Nutrition performs metabolic testing for patients to provide more individualized care and recommendations for proper nutrition. Help your metabolism by implementing these tips!
CARBS – The Facts
The basics –
Our bodies need fuel to continue to work properly and do all of the amazing things we want to do. That fuel comes from protein, fat, and… you guessed it – carbohydrates! The amazing thing about carbs is that they instantly break down into sugar/glucose that the body is able to use immediately. Glucose is super important for your body; it’s also the type of fuel that your brain uses. When we aren’t getting enough carbohydrates the body decides to break down fat for fuel which sounds like a GREAT thing right? Not necessarily… When the body uses fat for fuel, ketones are formed. Ketones raise the level of acid in your blood, and that can be unhealthy over long periods of time. Think about this next time you are planning on restricting or taking carbs out of your diet completely. Removing major food groups from your diet is a BIG DEAL and should only be considered when recommended by a licensed dietitian or your primary physician.
Simple versus Complex –
REMINDER: There are no good and bad carbs; everything is OK when eaten in moderation.
Simple carbohydrates: Easily broken down by the body, raise blood sugar levels quickly, include foods like candy, pastries, and desserts.
Complex carbohydrates: Take longer to be broken down by the body which raises blood sugar levels more slowly than simple carbohydrates, include foods like multigrain bread, pasta, beans, potatoes, other vegetables.
We want our blood sugars to stay as consistent as possible, meaning we need to be including more complex carbs into our diet. A good rule of thumb to live by would be to fill HALF of your plate with complex carbs (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, & dairy) and keep simple carbs to a minimum.
For some healthy MyPlate approved meals click this link>>> https://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy/photos/myplate-meals
KM