Portion size

Portion size tool by Web MD

So, above is a very cool site from Web MD. I found it on another RD's blog and thought it was a great way to help consumers. It gives you a visual of how big or small your portion size should be if you are eating anything from a hamburger to a bagel to an apple. Many of my clients don't realize that a bagel from a bakery, can count as 4-5 servings of grains. That is almost half of the RDA for the day. Since the site has such great visuals, I think you'll have a good chance of remembering what your portion should look like the next time you grab a bite to eat. Since we have become accustomed to huge portions, this is a great tool to use to keep portion sizes in check.

Why I always recommend Yoga to my clients...

Yoga and mindful eating

The above link is why I love to incorporate Yoga into my practice. Yoga is not about how many calories you burn or how much you sweat (although both will happen) it's all about centering yourself and getting into tune with you body. It's also a great way to nourish yourself and do something that is a real treat for your soul. We get so bogged down in our daily routine of taking care of the house and the kids and the spouses, we begin to tune out completely. This is also why I can't stress enough the importance of clients taking "me" time. Even though you love your kids and spouse and house, it's impossible to begin to tune into your inner wisdom until you can take time, quiet your mind and Lord knows you can't quiet your mind with kids running around, or at least, I can't.

Creating a dream board is another great tool to begin to quiet your mind and let your intentions for your life begin to flow. My dream board contains some material things- like that new kitchen I want, but also some other important items like balance in my life, and more time with my spouse.

If you have never tried Yoga, meditation, or setting an intention (as with a dream board), I recommend you pick one and try it, although the 3 together is extremely powerful! I am on my 3rd dream board already because everything I had listed on number 1 and 2 have already manifested- except that darn kitchen...

An answer to "What should I eat"

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/07/healthiest-foods-nutrition-lifestyle-health-healthiest-foods.html?partner=relatedstoriesbox
Above is a link to the healthiest foods, this is in response to so many of clients who ask me, " what should I eat". Surprisingly, or maybe not to some of you, meat and tea are both mentioned. I thought the above article was a good overview, and worth a look.

I could get used to this self care stuff!

So it's week 2 of my transformation and I feel fine! Better than fine actually, GREAT! Who knew this whole self care stuff could really make me happier? For those of you new to my blog, or those who don't know me that well, here is a quick review of my life. Born the middle child to my parents who were married at 20 and had their first child 3 years later, my mom was the traditional stay-at-home mom, your basic martyr. Dad went to the office all day and spent some time with us on the weekends in between yard work, painting, etc.  I always felt that I would be single, men-who needs them- and I was never interested in having children either. But, I met my soul mate while I was in the 10th grade and we have been together ever since. Married at 24 and had my 1st child 2 years later. Somehow, I ended up in the same role as my mom. Fast forward-3 kids later and I had been home for 7 years and was starting to go a little nuts. I decided to start my own business- I thought it would be something that I would do for myself, it turns out starting your own business isn't really that nourishing, it's a lot of hard work. Because of the type of person I am, read, not patient, I worked like mad to get the business up and running and when I look back I feel pretty proud at how far I have come in the last 9 months, but with all that work on the business- I spent almost no time doing self care. Of course when I was home raising my kids, self care was pretty non-existent as well. Finally, since it's been about 8 years of putting my self on the back burner, I decided it was time to balance my life. I also preach this "balance" to my clients so it was time for me to walk the talk.

Funny how once I made the decision to start taking care of my self things just fell in place. I met a wonderful woman (the sister of one of my sister's best friends) who has horses. I have wanted to take riding lessons since I was a kid. She offered to give me lessons, and even though I offered to pay her she refused to be paid. I have had about 5 or 6 lessons so far and I am having a blast! I also met up with an old friend who is a personal trainer, and he has really been the one to help me "see the light". With his expert guidance, I did a write and burn session about my resistance to exercise (I would be seen as selfish, bad mom, etc) and then he showed me an awesome routine that I can do at home with no equipment. 

Getting back to the original point of my blog, I thought I would feel exhausted and sore and selfish from working out, it turns out I am really beginning to love it because I feel strong and powerful and proud for finally doing something for my self. The fact that I feel more balanced is making me feel happier and feeling happier makes me a better mom. And maybe I am a slow learner, but I realize that even though I am spending time on self care, I get the same amount done for my business because I am more efficient with the time. It's all finally coming together for me- balance with my eating, family, house, business and SELF. It's taken me awhile to get it, but at least I finally did! 

Random thoughts to ponder...

The following is a list of quotes from a book by Dr. Robert Anthony called Think Big. 

• If you don't start, it's certain you won't arrive. 
• The biggest risk in life is not risking. 
• Excuses are your lack of faith in your own power. 
• There are no victims, only volunteers.
• Worry comes from the belief you are powerless.
• Hoping and Wishing are excuses for not Doing.
• The rewards in life go to those who are willing to give up the past.
• If you don't change your beliefs, your life will look like this forever. Is that good news?
• The best way to predict your future is to create it.
• If you want to know what your true beliefs are, take a look at your actions.
• Wishing is a goal without energy behind it.
• It's impossible to be depressed when you take action.
• Consciously or unconsciously, you always get what you expect

I just thought these were all so true and relevant in so many ways to my clients who are trying to get healthier, lose weight or achieve any personal goal. I think as human beings our brains tend to think in the extremes, and I know for myself, I have to keep bringing my brain back to the middle road. For instance, my personal trainer and friend Pete Mattis told me I have to cut out all fried food this week. And even though the goal was this week, my brain started freaking out and I started thinking that I would never be able to have another donut or taco chip or funnel cake for the rest of my life. WAIT!!!! But, on my way home from the gym I started to think about the goal rationally- I know, concept. I realized that by saying no fried foods this week, didn't mean that the next time I am at a carnival, I couldn't share a funnel cake with the kids. So, I am 2/3 of the way through the week and although I did have a few chips and salsa at a BBQ yesterday, that was the only fried food I have had. I began to tell myself, if I can choose a non-fried food item at that meal I will. 

We get so focused on the "how" - how will I ever lose weight, how will I ever reach my goal that we sometimes become too paralyzed to start. Hoping and wishing is like thinking that if you read the latest diet book you will finally lose weight, you have to do more than read the book. Funny how we think we can't predict the future, but we really can by taking action today. This works both ways: If we start creating our goals today we can't possibly be in the same spot tomorrow, and if we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we have always gotten.

Feel free to post your own ways of extreme thinking!

I must be doing something right!

Just a quick intuitive eating story involving my 8 year old. On Friday, he went to a birthday party and had pizza for lunch and a slice of birthday cake. The party was from 12-2PM. At 3 he had his piano lesson and every week at the end of the lesson his teacher gives him a piece of chocolate. So, this week Mr Didden says, "what type of chocolate would you like Charlie." And, here is the best part!!! Charlie replied, "nah, I don't want any this week, I just had cake at a birthday party." After I nudged Charlie to say, "No, thank you" I wanted to jump up and down and cheer. The kid gets it! Needless to say, Mr Didden was so shocked by a kid turning down chocolate, he almost didn't believe Charlie, he thought Charlie was joking. I just beamed with pride at that moment.

Even though the dietitian in me cringes whenever Mr. Didden offers chocolate as a reward, I have to have faith in my kid's ability to know when they are full and when they are not. If I never let Charlie have chocolate there is no way in He** he would have turned it down no matter how much birthday cake he had before. Way to go Charlie!!

Stress and weight loss

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/06/20/12-Compelling-Reasons-to-Ditch-Stress-from-Your-Life.aspx  This is a great short video clip on how and why stress causes us to struggle with our weight. Interesting thoughts especially if you are one of those people who the more you stress about following your diet the less successful you are at losing weight. I know this is or was true for me back when I was trying to diet! Maybe this is part of why we moms have such a hard time losing weight after the baby is born- I don't know about the rest of you, but for me, baby equals increased stress. I would lose a lot of weight in the post-partum period, but then 9 months down the road the weight would start to creep back up, for me, chasing a 9 month old was a little stressful, especially since my babies were active all day and waking up at least once in the middle of the night! Baby's cause stress in other ways too- they cost a lot of money and they leave little time to meditate or exercise or spend time with other loved ones (read, spouse). And the stress doesn't end when they are no longer babies. This is just another example of how eating intuitively and mindfully can be a better way to lose weight.