Exploring Mindful Eating Through the Seven Hungers
Am I Really Hungry?
Understanding Your Relationship to Food through a Silent Meal
Mindfulness exercises are woven into many of our programs at Green Mountain at Fox Run. As it relates to food and eating, mindfulness invites us to bring ourselves more fully to the table. The practice of mindful eating can be profoundly enlightening and healing. We can learn about our relationships to food and notice our habits. We can feel our body’s signals more clearly, recognize physical hunger and fullness, and even notice the places in between.
The Seven Hungers
Inspired by the teachings of Jan Chozen Bays, MD, author of “Mindful Eating” and teacher for the Zen Community of Oregon, we have been exploring the model of the seven hungers at Green Mountain. Observing eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, mind hunger, cellular hunger, and heart hunger offers us a new way eat mindfully with a greater level of discernment. Often these sensory hungers lead us to eat when we are not physically hungry. However, when we are physically hungry, feeding these senses, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, can enhance the satisfaction and nutritional benefits of a meal.
At Green Mountain, one of our most popular mindfulness exercises is the silent meal we do each week, the purpose of which is to raise awareness of the entire eating experience and get to know our hungers better. Many women have told us the experience is incredibly powerful, revealing much about their relationships with food and themselves. We encourage trying a silent meal at home to help your observe your own relationship with food. Below is a step-by-step process to help you make your own discoveries:
Before the meal, ask:
• Are you physically hungry or not?
• What part of your meal are you looking forward to eating the most?
• What part of you is hungry right now?
During the meal, notice:
• Look at your plate. What part of your body wants to eat first? Is it your mouth? Your hand? Your eyes?
• Let your eyes linger on the food and feast on the color, shape and composition.
Choose a piece of food to begin.
• Bring the food to your nose; does it increase your desire for the food or not?
• Put it in your mouth and feel the texture as you begin to chew.
• Does the taste change when you start to chew the food?
• When you swallow, can you sense how it’s feeding and nourishing your body?
• Notice what your mind might be saying about the food, e.g. “this is good,” or “this is good for me,
so I should eat more of this.” Often, at this step a “should” might show up. Just observe it.
• As you eat, check in with your feelings. Notice if there is any connection with comfort, soothing,
memory, happiness, warmth, or connection.
Why This Mindful Eating Strategy Works
A silent meal can help you have a full sensory experience of the food. Being present to the visual appearance, smell, taste, of the food and how it feels in our bodies makes it possible for us to derive pleasure from food and eating, a unique gift we have as part of the human experience. While some may believe that the joy of eating is slippery slope on the way to indulgence, we believe that feeding ourselves with pleasure is necessary. Denying ourselves the full experience of presence and pleasure is one of the factors that can lead us to overeat. When we’re really there, at the table, with the food, and when we can give ourselves full permission to eat and enjoy eating, most of us find we don’t need to eat as much.
With mindful awareness, we may be able to identify hungers that can only be satisfied with food, and those hungers that cannot be fully satisfied with food. As we connect with these different aspects of hunger, we can use this as a bridge to self care, to feeding and nourishing our whole selves, with and without food.
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Strawberry Parfait with Orange-Custard Sauce
Spring is a time for strawberries. One glamorous way to show them off is in a parfait. You can make a Strawberry Parfait with frozen yogurt, ice cream, pudding or custard -- all relatively easy and pretty to serve. This version calls for a made-from-scratch soft custard.
(Makes 4 servings)
2 strips orange peel
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cointreau*
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest*
2 teaspoons chopped mint (optional)
With vegetable peeler, cut 2 wide strips of orange peel (orange part only) from orange and add to milk. Heat milk in small saucepan (or in microwave about 3 minutes) until hot but not boiling. Meanwhile, in top part of a double boiler, whisk together eggs, sugar and salt. Gradually add heated milk to egg mixture, stirring constantly. Set mixture over simmering water and cook (low heat), stirring constantly, until mixture coats a metal spoon (about 10-15 minutes). Remove from heat. Remove orange peel and add vanilla. Chill.
Toss strawberries with cointreau, grated orange zest and mint. Let mixture stand for 15 minute or longer.
To serve, layer strawberries and custard in a parfait glass. Garnish with dollop of whipped cream and mint sprig.
*Option: Substitute 2 teaspoons lemon juice for cointreau and orange zest.
Microwave Method:
Combine all ingredients (except vanilla) in a microwave proof bowl. Cook on simmer (3) about 8 minutes. Stir and continue to cook another 8 minutes. Stir and cook another 4-5 minutes or until custard is thick. Stir vigorously with a wire whip. Add vanilla and chill.
Causes of Weight Gain: The Last Supper Effect
Anyone who has dieted, and especially repeat dieters, can tell you that feelings of deprivation kick in before the diet has even begun.
It’s 6 AM on Saturday morning. You just weighed yourself and decided to “take control” of the situation. You’ll start a(nother) diet on Monday. At precisely 6:01 AM, feelings of deprivation strike.
Dieting, no matter the type, creates deprivation.
• Physical deprivation comes in the form of not enough food or essential nutrients.
• Emotional deprivation shows its face as not being able to eat what we want.
Knowing that certain foods or food in general will be “taken away” triggers the thinking “get it all now while the getting’s good.” At Green Mountain, we call that the Last Supper Effect. And it just causes more weight gain.
The Last Supper Effect in Action
Which of these Last Supper Effects have you experienced?
• You overeat all weekend long in preparation for the diet
starting on Monday, or every night because you keep
telling yourself, “I’ll be good tomorrow.”
• You finish all the “goodies” in the house in preparation for
“being good tomorrow.”
• You eat something you don’t even like or aren’t in the
mood for because you think it’s your last chance to have
that food.
Three Steps to Eliminate the Last Supper Effect
Step #1: Don’t restrict or diet!
Once the fear of not having enough to eat or not being able to eat your favorite food is taken out of the equation, it’s no longer about this being your “last chance to eat it.” Instead choosing what to eat becomes about
• whether you are hungry
• whether the food in front of you is the type of food you are
in the mood for at the moment
• whether the food is the type your prefer or the best quality
• how that food makes you feel physically and if that’s how
you want to feel
Step #2: Talk to yourself differently.
The Last Supper Effect is what we call a thinking error.
Say we decide life would be easier if that cake weren’t sitting in the kitchen. The Last Supper Effect tells us how to get rid of it – eat it! Life will be simpler tomorrow, and in the meantime, we’ll have been able to eat the cake.
When we look at it rationally, though, we see that’s not a real solution. Try reframing your thinking in these situations. You could say:
• That was my old way of thinking and it hasn’t worked for
me in the past.
• I’m NOT going on a diet tomorrow, Monday, or ever again.
Diets don’t work and I know this.
• Do I really want to eat some of the cake now? If I do, I can
have it. If I don’t, there’s no need to eat it. It will be there
tomorrow.
• Is having the cake in the house too big a challenge right now?
If so, what can I do with it – give it away, freeze it, throw it away?
I can still have cake when I eat out, and I can also work towards
being able to have cake in the house without feeling I need to
eat it all.
Step #3: Make peace with food.
Which sounds more pleasant?
• Enjoying a couple slices of pizza when you really want them.
• Having no pizza all month, then eating a large pie over a
weekend as you tell yourself you just can’t control yourself
around pizza and really, must, just have to swear off pizza
for good.
Experiment with this strategy for learning to eat foods that previously triggered the Last Supper Effect for you.
• Tackle one food at a time.
• Plan to eat it when you want it. Note that you may have an
exaggerated desire for something if you’ve been restricting it.
Once you really give yourself permission to have it, over time
you will find you don’t want it as much.
• Eat it as part of a balanced meal for greatest physical
satisfaction. Ex: Enjoy a few pieces of chocolate at the end
of lunch.
• Eat it in a supportive environment. If keeping a half gallon
of ice cream in the freezer at home feels too challenging,
enjoy it out with friends. You can create a supportive
environment at home, too, by eating it like Geneen Roth
suggests, “with the intention of being in full view of others.”
This is also about learning to eat without shame, giving
yourself permission to enjoy what you choose to eat
regardless of size.
• Eat mindfully, savoring every bite, fully enjoying the experience.
• Speak positively to yourself about your experience, then let it go.
Avoid reverting to defeating thoughts that label foods or yourself
as “bad.” Move on to the other things that make your life
meaningful and enjoyable.
Key to making this strategy work for you is truly giving yourself permission to eat what you want and, truly, as much as you want. Knowing you can and will have certain foods in the future, if you want them, can help you decide whether you really want them and how much.
Here’s to happiness and health, eating the foods you love!
Are you ready to end struggles with eating and weight?
We've been helping women make lasting changes since 1973.
T: 800.448.8106 E: info@fitwoman.com | www.fitwoman.com
How to Stop the Binge Eating & Emotional Eating Cycle: Self-Care Strategies
As stress increases, self care decreases and you are more vulnerable to binge eating and emotional or compulsive eating. However, there are many self-care strategies you can use before, during and even after an emotional eating episode to reduce the chances of it happening again.
Stop binge eating before it starts
Make sure to front load self care throughout the week by finding ways to move into a sense of well-being. Important ways include:
• Eating at predictable times and feed yourself well.
• Recharging by finding laughter through a funny You-Tube video, talking to a friend who is upbeat and inspiring, downloading new music to your playlist and dancing to it.
Make it count: A mindful binge
Yes, it’s an oxymoron, but it’s also possible. In the middle of a binge is an opportunity to tune in, to taste, even if just for one bite.
During, as with before and after, is filled with many tiny moments. One way to think about these moments is that each one offers the possibility of choice: To eat the next chip in this moment or not to eat it. To sit with the pain and feel it, or to stuff it down with chocolate?
Sometimes in a choice moment you can muster the awareness to gently ask yourself a tangible question.
Try: “If I had a 9-year-old girl living with me, how would I feed her?”
Not: “I shouldn’t feed a 9-year-old girl this way.”
The “shouldn’t” can trigger your rebel energy and ignite you to keep going.
After a binge: Love and learn
After is the part that can be the most damaging. What you say to yourself next is almost always hurtful and self-esteem robbing. The after is what invites the next binge… maybe in that moment, the next day or the next week.
Try acknowledging that the binge was only trying to help because you were trying to be too strong, because you needed comforting you couldn’t find elsewhere. Maybe it was befriending you, helping you with loneliness that you didn’t know how else to handle.
The greatest gift you can give yourself after is self compassion. It may not seem like it, but you are hard wired for self compassion.
- Try “hand on hand on heart.” Put one hand on your heart, then the other hand on top of that hand and say to yourself three times, “May I be gentle with myself in this moment.” As arguments and negative self talk emerge, keep going back to hand on hand on heart and repeat. Notice how this tactic can shift how you feel.
Are you ready to end struggles with eating and weight?
We've been helping women make lasting changes since 1973.
T: 800.448.8106 E: info@fitwoman.com | www.fitwoman.com
Managing Type 2 Diabetes with Mindful Eating
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Most people might think that if anyone needs a strict eating plan, it’s a person with Type 2 diabetes. After all, eating to manage diabetes is simple if we understand food exchanges and count carbohydrates, right?
Not so fast. If that were true, there probably wouldn’t be so many people who struggle to keep their blood sugars in a healthy range even though they’re pretty clear on what they’re “supposed” to eat.
Mindful Eating Makes Eating to Manage Diabetes Easier
The practice of mindful eating may yield far greater results than “book knowledge.” That’s because we’re listening to the true expert on our bodies – ourselves!
What is mindful eating? In a nutshell it’s paying attention to what your body tells you when you’re thinking about eating, when you’re actually doing it, and after you’ve eaten, too.
- You focus on eating when you’re physically hungry and not eating when you’re not, at least most of the time.
- You pay attention while you eat to enjoy and determine when you’ve had enough.
- You consider how your body feels in response to certain foods, certain quantities, timing of meals, etc., and use that information to drive future food choices.
Benefits of Mindful Eating for Diabetes
How can this be useful for managing type 2 diabetes? Paying more attention to what your body is telling you about your need for food and your reaction to food offers tremendous benefits. Here are just a few.
- Reduced amount of non-hunger eating.
- Fewer blood sugar highs and lows as a result of paying attention to how certain foods or eating patterns affect sugar levels.
- Feeling physically better after identifying foods that don’t make you feel well. Example: Realizing that eating sugary snacks mid-afternoon causes fatigue that interferes with being active in the evening.
- Becoming more particular about what you eat, which can affect how much you eat. Example: After mindfully eating fast food, you might realize that you don’t really like fast food hamburgers, both the taste and how they make you feel. You find yourself less drawn to the drive-thru as a result.
- Enjoying food more as a result of paying attention while eating, which often means you find you are satisfied with less.
- Eating less because you’ve taken feelings of deprivation out of the equation. Practicing the mindful eating principle “eat what you want” may actually reduce intake of certain foods once feelings of guilt, deprivation, restriction, or rebellion no longer factor into your decision to eat something or not.
- Learning to eat for activity. Being active is one of the best strategies for blood sugar management. Fear of low blood sugars or fatigue from highs can prevent a person from being active. Mindful eating offers a better understanding of how your body responds to food and activity, increasing your likelihood of being active.
To learn more about mindful eating, check out our past FitBriefing Mindful Eating: When Are We Really Hungry for Food?
Is Your Exercise Plan Just Another Diet?
Either you’re in or you’re out. You’re on or you’re off. This sounds like a diet but it can also describe how you approach exercise. It’s diet mentality thinking, which is marked by extreme thinking and judging yourself and your body as good or bad. There’s no in-between. This polarizing thought pattern sabotages women who struggle with weight and weight management.
Is Your All-or-Nothing Thinking Getting in Your Way?
Here’s how diet mentality thinking plays itself out with food:
You spend days (weeks if you can make it that long) sticking to a diet or “being good.” Then, after successfully ignoring your hunger cues and tuning out what your body actually wants, the inevitable occurs: You break free… big time… overeating or even binge eating. You’ve “been bad,” so you say “to hell with it” and start a cycle of overeating or binge eating, followed by self hate, then desperation, until finally, you decide to be “good” again and start a new diet.
Now think about how the same scenario can play out with exercise:
You work hard to burn calories, exercising even though you really don’t like it, often pushing your body to its limits day after day. You ignore feelings of fatigue, minor injuries, boredom and dread and just keep going. Until one day you can’t. So you don’t. All-or-nothing thinking sabotages you as one day turns into several, then into weeks and even months because the idea of working so hard isn’t something you can motivate yourself to do again. So you sit on the couch, often overeating, until you get so disgusted with yourself, you start the cycle again.
What is Mindful Exercise?
Green Mountain has worked with women since 1973 to help them achieve lasting change through mindful eating, also known as intuitive eating. They learn to listen for and trust their internal cues for hunger, appetite and satiety. They pay attention to physical hunger and satisfaction. They select foods they are in the mood for or that make them feel good, and they enjoy the food as they eat. This, they are finding, is finally a sustainable approach to food and to life.
Mindful eating may be fairly well-known, but what about mindful exercise? At Green Mountain, we encourage women to apply the same mindful or intrinsically driven approach to exercise. This means letting go of the need to run a certain number of miles, burn a certain number of calories, or lift a certain amount of weight to make a workout count. Intrinsic movement is about listening to what your body wants and needs – and quieting the “shoulds.” Following these steps will help you build a foundation for healthy living and erase the diet mentality to exercise:
4 Tips for Becoming Successful at Exercise
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Think beyond calorie burning. If you exercise solely to change your thighs, tone your abs, or lose weight, it might motivate you for a while, but probably not long-term. In this state of mind exercise feels more like torture than pleasure and you’re less likely to stick with it.
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Be in the process. Be present to your body during exercise. Notice your energy, expression, joyfulness and playfulness. Use those good sensations to reconnect you to your sense of power, freedom and possibilities. Envision feeling stronger, more flexible and celebrate each session as a success.
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Try anything and everything. You never know what exercise you’ll end up loving until you try it. Go figure skating, try snow shoeing at your park, pick up a hula hoop, drop into a Nia class, or go horseback riding. How do these make you feel? Chances are you’ll find something you want to keep doing.
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Remember it all counts. The body is designed to move and to move in a variety of ways. You may not even think of it as “exercise.” Activities such as gardening, walking to the post office, and playing with your kids (or playing like a kid) count as movement. It doesn’t all have to be 20 minutes of structured activity at your target heart rate.
Final Thoughts about Creating Lasting Success
Find your passion. In order to make exercise a consistent part of your life, it’s about enjoying it. Notice how doing an activity you like makes your body and mind feel. Mindfully focus on the internal benefits rather than the external. Most importantly, be active because you want to, not because you “should.”
**A version of this FitBriefing was originally published in Fit Bottomed Girls.
Are You Ready for a Different Approach?
We've been helping women make lasting changes since 1973.
T: 800.448.8106 E: info@fitwoman.com | www.fitwoman.com
Thai Turkey Soup
(Makes 10 cups)
This is a much requested soup at Green Mountain. This hearty and savory soup goes well with a whole grain roll and a fresh mixed berry fruit cup for dessert.
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
½ cup chopped carrots
2 (14-ounce) cans light coconut milk
2 (14-ounce) cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons curry powder*
1 teaspoon salt
1 (16-ounce) package frozen cut green beans
1 (6-ounce) bag fresh baby spinach
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 ½ cups (8 ounces) baked and torn turkey breast
In large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic and carrots and sauté about 6-8 minutes or until carrots are soft. Add coconut milk, chicken broth, sugar, curry powder and salt; stir over heat until blended. Add green beans and heat about 2 minutes. Add spinach and cover briefly (about 2 minutes) to wilt the spinach. Remove cover; add cilantro and turkey and heat through. Serve.
* For a spicier soup, increase curry powder to 2 tablespoons.
Do Your Expectations Sabotage Your Success at Achieving & Maintaining a Healthy Weight?
When women talk about their biggest obstacles to successful weight and health management, we often hear about hurdles like not enough time or knowledge to prepare healthy meals. Or frequent social occasions that involve food. Or hectic schedules, or stress in their lives, or transitions they're currently going through. The list goes on. But if you're like many of us, it's really none of these. Instead, our biggest obstacle is unrealistic expectations.
All the menu planning, exercising, and positive behavior change in the world will not help the woman who has set goals that are impossible to achieve. Unfortunately, too many of us are that woman – driven, all-or-nothing, compulsive perfectionists. Because of feelings of insecurity or inferiority, or simply because we've internalized someone else's standards, we hold a very limited definition of what it means to be successful. We try to mold ourselves into "perfect" people with "perfect" behavior. The irony is that this strategy leaves us feeling worse about ourselves. The more perfectionistic we become, the less likely we are to adopt these changes long-term.
It's easy to understand intellectually that healthy eating, physical activity and a balanced lifestyle are key to getting and staying fit. The hard part is ‘doing it'-- dealing emotionally with the slow, ordinary, day-to-day process called moderation. Rigid expectations don't blend well with everyday life. After a while, it's easy to stop trying.
Often, we identify family and friends as saboteurs to our efforts to take care of ourselves. We're angry when we realize that, rightly so. But how often do we fail to identify the biggest saboteur of all: ourselves. We set the unrealistic expectations that cause failure. On the other hand, realistic expectations promote success. Success builds confidence. Confidence creates a feeling of self-efficacy – that we can do it. That makes it easier to maintain a high level of commitment and to accept that changing behaviors takes time and is a less than perfect process.
Consider starting to support yourself by being moderate. Learn to live, breathe, dream moderation because moderation helps you move your life towards balance. That, in and of itself, can be success. Know that change is a back-and-forth process that is only perfect in its erratic course. Look at mistakes as learning opportunities. Be kind and gentle to yourself.
Our New Year’s Resolution for Healthy Living and Healthy Weight
Make it a Best New Year!
For our New Year's resolution, notice we said 'best' instead of 'happy.' To us, best exemplifies our philosophy for successful living...making the best of each opportunity rather than striving for unattainable perfection.
Learning how to look for the best in each situation is what makes and keeps women successful in managing their stress, their life, and their health and weight. Think about the pursuit of a healthy weight – if you view it as an impossible, painful struggle, well, it probably will be. But if you can change your mind, thinking of the pursuit of health as a worthwhile effort, you've already won.
With that in mind, we've compiled a list of ways to help make each year your personal best year, to help you take the time/find the way to explore the moments of your life for the best. When you've got a moment to reflect, look them over, and see what feels right to add to your life.
A New Take on New Year's Resolutions
- Make time for you. Whether it's meditation or just doing something that soothes and gives you pleasure, shoot for half an hour in the morning and evening. For help in starting to meditate, read our FitBriefing "Mindfulness Through Meditation."
- Be mindful. Each day a myriad of thoughts pass through our minds. When negative thoughts intrude, note them for what they are, become the observer and let them pass by without clinging to them. Learn how to actively "let it go" – read our FitBriefing "Stopping the Negative Self-Talk" and "Lose the Dead Weight."
- Be patient. Learn to respond instead of react. Does blowing your horn in traffic help? What can you do instead to really help yourself? Automatic reactions often happen when we're presented with situations we've encountered in the past; work on not taking it personally.
- Think before you act. It often seems easy just to "give in" to what we think our body or mind want. The answer isn't in willpower, but in giving yourself the time to really understand what you want. Take time to think - an attitude of mindfulness can be an invaluable tool when a "craving" starts to arise.
- Eat intuitively. Instead of following the latest diet advice, make a small commitment to yourself to eat balanced meals on solid schedule. Tune into how that makes you feel. You'll be surprised that patience, moderation and kindness can follow on the heels of a balanced (not extreme or perfect) way of eating.
- Speak rightly. Being honest about choices in your life will help you make better food choices because there are no feelings of frustration or dishonesty to keep stuffed down. When someone decides to 'help' you by saying, "Wouldn't you rather have a head of lettuce than that sandwich," an honest reply of 'no' will save lots of calories later...really! Read more about coping with people at home.
- Be generous...to yourself. Would you speak to someone the way you speak to yourself? Do you have the same thoughts about someone else that is going through a difficult time that you have about yourself in a similar situation? Would you treat anyone other than yourself with indifference? Read more about weight loss expectations.
- Persevere. Remember, life is a journey, not a destination. Each day gives us another opportunity to continue the journey to ourselves.
Our New Year's resolution for healthy living and healthy weights: We wish a best New Year for you!
Let us help you make 2012 your best yet!
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Amazing Veggies
With the New Year heralding the resolve to better take care of ourselves, a brief look at how to prepare vegetables everyone wants to eat sounds like just the ticket.
We know you're familiar with the feel-good benefits of vegetables – fiber, antioxidant vitamins, potassium, etc., – so we won't go into that. Instead, we'll look at the challenges of those oft-heard groans: "I don't like them;" "My family won't eat them;" "They take too much time to prepare!" Does this sound familiar?
Notching Up the Taste
At the heart of many of these complaints is the simple fact that most people think they don't like the taste of veggies. But these ideas might amaze and delight even the most die-hard vegetable haters among us.
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Toss steamed or microwaved broccoli, green beans, asparagus or spinach with a little extra virgin olive oil and experiment by adding one or more of these options:
- A splash of balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
- Sprinkle with fresh herbs such as thyme, basil or mint
- Top with chopped, toasted walnuts, almond, pecans or sunflower seeds
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Crumble a bit of gorgonzola, goat cheese or parmesan cheese
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Marinate vegetables like broccoli, green beans or asparagus with a basic marinade. For example, in a small container or jar, mix or shake ¼ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup olive oil, 3 medium cloves of garlic, chopped. Toss with fresh herbs; add thinly sliced pears, apples or fresh orange sections. Sprinkle with toasted nuts for a great alternative to the basic green salad.
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Grill almost any vegetable to produce a tasty version you can serve right away or at room temperature. Just toss your chosen veggie in a little olive oil and sprinkle with lemon pepper, then grill according to the grilling guide.
Even the lowly beet can be great when grilled. Brush thick slices of a cooked (roasted or microwaved) beet with oil and grill 2-3 minutes. Immediately top with crumbled gorgonzola, salt and pepper to taste. Delicious!
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Stir-fry vegetables such as broccoli, snow peas, onions, peppers, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, green beans – even pre-packaged frozen mixed vegetables.
Heat a wok or large skillet over medium heat; add 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic or chopped green onions, 1 teaspoon of finely chopped ginger root and 3-4 cups of vegetables. Sauté briefly; add 1 cup broth and cook until liquid evaporates. Stir in a 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce and serve.
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Roast root vegetables such as white or sweet potatoes, yams, winter squash, turnips and parsnips for a truly special treat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cut-up vegetables with a small amount of olive oil and place in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with a little chopped garlic and top with herbs such as rosemary or thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 40 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are golden brown and crisp.
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Soup is a great vehicle for veggies. Puree carrots, winter squash, or green vegetables such as spinach or asparagus for a luscious lunch or appetizer. For example, try the Butternut Squash-Apple Cider Soup in our other recipes.
All those leftover vegetables in the frig can make for a delicious soup, too. Or add them to canned soups as a way to make them tastier and more nutritious.
Mindful Holiday Eating, Eat What You Love
Don’t Worry, Be Happy! Eat What You Love this Holiday
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It’s not the New Year yet, but it is a perfect time to toss those old ways of doing things in favor of ones that really make us feel great.
What we’re talking about here is the typical holiday eating advice that’s all about treading carefully for fear we’ll overdo. For most of us, that just ensures we do. Rather than enjoying what we eat and staying in touch with how we feel, stopping when our bodies tell us we’ve had enough, we spend our time worrying that we can’t have what or as much as we want. We lose touch with what or how much we really do want, eating instead out of feelings of deprivation.
Our holiday eating advice: Embrace the wonderful food of the holiday (and year round). Eat what you love in a way that makes you feel great. Consider these steps for doing that.
- Eat when you’re hungry. For most of us, that means breakfast, lunch and dinner and a snack or two. But it can also mean brunch and dinner with a snack in between. Or any variation on the theme. The key is listening to your body to tell you when it’s time to eat. Also know that if we don’t eat when we’re hungry, we get too hungry. That’s a set-up for overeating. If we do it too often, we can knock our internal cues out of whack, meaning they can start to give us wrong information about what and how much we need.
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Remember you can always have more later. Telling yourself that you really shouldn’t be eating something, or that you’ll never have it again can lead to overeating. If you truly give yourself permission to have the foods you enjoy, and know you can have them later, there won’t be the urgency to eat them all now.
- Move your body in ways you enjoy. It’s key to feeling good. And if we don’t feel good, can we really enjoy what we eat?
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Enjoy. Embrace the many wonderful things the holidays have to offer – friends, family, celebration, sharing. Keep food in its place as only one of the delights of the season. You’ll have a much easier time doing that when you follow these three steps.
Are You Ready to Take the Next Step?
Let us share more how our healthy living program for women can help you.
t: 800.448.8106 | e: info@fitwoman.com | Read more about Green Mountain here
Holiday Hassle or Mindful Moments? Ways to Reduce Stress during the Holidays
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Is it possible that more minutes are crammed into a day in November and December? Or is it just that we expect the days to expand because our lists of things to do are impossibly long?
Clearly, time management rules during this season of doing and going. It's one of the best ways to reduce stress during the holidays.
Ways to Reduce Stress:
Give Yourself the Gift of
Time Management Strategies
You might want to think of time management tricks of the trade as stocking stuffers. Each and every one of us can use the gift of a time management strategy.
- The Swiss Cheese Method When you are overwhelmed with a project, bite a hole in it just like a little mouse. Set a time and work for 10 minutes. Lots of times the hardest part is getting started.
- Picking Your Moment What’s the best time of day for you, the time when you can get the most accomplished? Plan for success by doing the things that are most difficult for you to do at your best time of day.
- Come On, Baby, Light Your Fire Take time to dance to your own music. Take part in activities that regenerate you, inspire you, help you feel in balance.
So when you want to beat the holiday blues, or emulate Santa by just checking things off your list, or find a moment of peace in the swirl of the holidays, refer to your time management stocking stuffers and put the ease back into season.
7 Steps to a Better Body Image
Body image. These two small words sum up so much of the struggle around eating and weight. Because we don't feel good about our bodies, we treat them in ways that perpetuate the struggle. We diet...and binge. We overexercise...and injure ourselves. We do both...and burn out. So that self-care isn't on the docket anymore.
It's odd that starting to feel better about ourselves can have such an impact in helping us start to feel better in our bodies. The mind-body connection is indeed a powerful thing.
How to Improve Your Body Image
Improving body image is about starting to talk nicely to ourselves. It's about giving up the negative thoughts and actions that interfere with taking care of ourselves and perpetuate the idea that we are what we weigh.
Try these seven steps to improve your body image. Focus on one step at a time, taking only one a day. In just a week, you can find yourself in a better place.
Step #1: Raise your awareness. Pay attention to how you talk to yourself about your body. Do you even know when you are criticizing it? Once you notice, figure out just what you are saying. Are your feelings of self-worth based on your body size? Is that a fair judgment?
Step #2: Practice looking at yourself in an objective way, non-judgmentally. Once you become more aware of the ways you talk to yourself about your body, practice thinking differently to plant seeds that can grow into a new body image. Take small steps if large ones seem unrealistic. For example, try just being neutral about your body, not negative or positive. When you stand before a mirror, refrain from making any judgment about your body. You’ll lay the groundwork for moving further when you’re ready.
Step #3: Aim for healthy self-talk. Come up with a list of affirmations that sound and feel authentic to you: “I am more than my reflection.” “I appreciate my body for what it does for me.” Give up fat talk: “I’m so fat.” “Does this make me look fat?”
Step #4: Practice self-compassion. Focus on your self-worth rather than your self-image. Acknowledge what you do well rather than spending time thinking about how you lookl or images that don’t fit you.
Step #5: Practice random acts of kindness -- directed towards you. Step out of your usual and do something spontaneous that pleases you. Instead of walking on past the salon at the mall, stop for a massage, pedicure, manicure. Spend an afternoon reading that delicious novel you’ve been hearing about. Enjoy the day with your girlfriend doing things you both love; leave the kids at home with the hub. Spend five minutes at an art gallery to find one piece of art that sings to you. Sit in a chair with your child and tell secrets about wishes or dreams.
Step #6: Surround yourself with images and art that represent women of all ages, shapes and sizes. Toss those magazines that feature air-brushed women who don't really look like they appear on the magazine. Seek out books that feature heroines who look different than what’s usually pictured. Try Pearlsong Press, which specializes in Rubenesque romances. Sculptor Joyce Ann Mudd offers beautiful depictions of women of size.
Step #7: Feed and move your body in pleasurable ways. Then make it a habit -- keep doing it!
A version of this article originally appeared on SpryLiving.com.
Autumn Chicken and Butternut Squash Stew
(Makes 8-10 cups)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ½ pounds bone-in chicken breast, skin removed*
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 6 ounces white wine
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 4 cups peeled, chopped butternut squash**
- ½ cup frozen peas (optional)
Heat oil in a large (4 1/2 quart Dutch oven. Add chicken and brown about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove chicken and add onion, garlic and celery to pan; sauté on medium heat about 5 minutes. Return chicken to the pan with vegetables. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, wine, salt, pepper, sage, thyme and bring to a boil; simmer about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Add squash, bring to boil and simmer 30 minutes or until squash is tender.
Stir in frozen peas (optional) and reheat for a minute or two.
Serve with a whole-grain roll, Grilled Pear Salad (Recipes for Living) and a glass of skim milk.
*We think that bone-in chicken adds a little more flavor and bones can be removed after cooking but before serving stew. As a short cut, you can use boneless, skinless breasts, or if you like dark meat, substitute chicken thighs for some or all of the chicken breasts.
**Acorn squash or pumpkin is a good substitute for butternut squash.
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Do You Need to Go Gluten Free?
If we had to pick one trend in healthy eating that seems to be showing up almost everywhere we look, it would be gluten-free eating. From popular books, magazines and websites to grocery-store shelves and restaurant menus, it seems everyone is jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon.
If we had to choose a reason, it would be the notion that cutting out gluten can help with weight management. Is there any science to support that claim?
The fact is many more people are sensitive to gluten than was believed only a few short years ago. It’s estimated that one out of 20 of us have some form of gluten intolerance, the most severe of which is celiac disease. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Most oats are contaminated with it also.
How do you know if you’re gluten sensitive?
It’s not easy to diagnose. For celiac disease, which involves a severe negative reaction to gluten, blood tests and intestinal biopsies are generally advised. For milder forms of gluten intolerance, conclusive tests are not yet available. The bottom line is to remove it from your diet and see if symptoms you are experiencing go away.
Symptoms of gluten intolerance range from migraines, diarrhea, constipation and bloating to muscle and joint pain to autoimmune diseases and more. And for some, symptoms may also include cravings and dysregulation of hunger cues that cause us to think we’re hungry when we’re not.
So does that mean everyone who struggles with eating and weight gain should try going gluten-free?
Not necessarily. One likely cause of weight gain associated with gluten sensitivity is chronic inflammation. That’s because chronic inflammation can lead to insulin resistance, which can create all kinds of havoc with our bodies. But if you’re not gluten sensitive, even if you are insulin resistant, cutting out gluten won’t help.
If you believe you might be gluten sensitive, we encourage you to work with a registered dietitian (RD) or certified clinical nutritionist (CCN). These professionals can help you accurately determine whether you are, and if you are, help you chart your best course for gluten free eating.
It is critical that people get tested for celiac disease before eliminating gluten. Once you have eliminated it, it's difficult to get an accurate diagnosis. Both blood and biopsy testing requires a person to be on a gluten-containing diet for at least 6-8 weeks and in some cases for months for the tests to be positive.
One final word about gluten-free eating.
Healing your body of damage caused by a gluten or other food sensitivity requires a nutrient-rich diet that’s best obtained by eating whole foods. Just substituting gluten-free treats in an eating plan that’s low on nutrition won’t do the job. Enjoy plenty of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, whole grains, including gluten-containing ones if you’re not sensitive, and sustainably-raised protein foods to give your body what you need to feel great.
A version of this article was originally written by Green Mountain at Fox Run for Spry Living 2011.
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Fresh Strawberries Italian Style
(Makes 2 cups)
One of the many healthful secrets we learned on our cooking tours to Italy -- Recipes for Living: An Italian Adventure in Mindful, Exquisite Eating -- was how to use the best and freshest ingredients to make wonderful but healthy meals. Whether it's Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar made in the traditional way, or the fresh produce of the season, Italian chefs know that the natural flavors of the finest ingredients are about all you need to make great taste. So when strawberries are in season, it's the favorite dessert served in Italian homes. You can't beat the great taste, health, and easy elegance of this simple version of fresh strawberries.
2 cups sliced, fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon sugar (or less, if your strawberries are sweet enough already)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons chopped mint (optional)
Combine ingredients and let mixture stand about 15 minutes. Garnish with a mint sprig; eat by itself, or serve with a cookie, biscotti or over frozen yogurt.
Sleep Deprivation & Weight Gain: The Value of Zzz’s
Ah, sleep…the stuff of dreams. It can be elusive and difficult to embrace in a consistent way. Interrupted sleep and not getting enough sleep leaves us tired. And when we are tired, many things get more difficult such as making decisions, feeding ourselves at predictable times and having enough energy to include exercise in our day.
But the hot news about sleep deprivation is that it can lead to weight gain due to effects on the hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin. When you don't get enough sleep, it drives leptin levels down. Leptin is the hormone that helps us feel satisfied, so when we have less of it, we tend to need more food to be satisfied. Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates appetite, and sleep deprivation causes us to produce more of it. The result: We feel hungrier than usual. It's a perfect storm for weight gain.
Lack of sleep may also lead to chronic inflammation which can play havoc with our health as well as our weight. Studies have linked sleep deprivation with increased risk for metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
How Much Sleep Is Enough?
It seems that the magic number for how much sleep we need each night is no less than seven hours and as much as nine for some people. In our harried, busy lives this can seem like a lot of time.
So how do you help the Zzz’s visit you each night?
Falling asleep is a process of allowing. You can’t make yourself go to sleep. You have to create an environment that is attractive to sleep. This is unique to each person and by exploring what is helpful to you, you can create a Snuggle In plan against sleep deprivation.
Create predictability. Your body has a natural rhythm but sometimes when we use food to cope we get disconnected from it. We ignore body signals and don’t know when we are hungry or full or when we are sleepy or tired. Just like feeding yourself healthy food at predictable times interrupts binge eating, creating a predictable time and routine for sleep can reduce sleep difficulties.
How to Sleep
- Use your bed for sleeping and making love, not watching TV.
- Avoid caffeine for at least 8 hours before bedtime and alcohol for at least 3 hours. Many people think that alcohol is a relaxant and will help them sleep, and alcohol actually interferes with deep sleep and may create the need for urination during the night due to its diuretic effects.
- Include regular exercise in your day, but give yourself 3 hours without rigorous exercise before bed.
- Get at least 15 minutes of sunlight each morning to help regulate melatonin production.
- Create a nighttime routine before bed. Such as when we help children learn how to go to sleep and have a bedtime ritual such as a bath, a story and some soft music to aid in helping them settle.
- Try to go to sleep at the same time each night.
- Darken the room: Light interferes with the normal biorhythm of melatonin production, which can prevent you from falling asleep.
- Limit computer, iPad, smartphone use one hour before bed to decrease stimulation from light.
- Keep room between 68 and 72 degrees. A slight drop in body temperature can help us fall asleep.
- Reframe your awake time: Instead of saying: “Oh, no! I just can’t sleep…say, "Ah, yes, I have two more hours to sleep.”
- Try 4,7,8 breathing: Inhale for 4 counts, hold your breath for 7, and exhale for 8. The counting allows you to focus on your own body and get out of the ruminating mind.
- Write down your concerns before you get into bed and go to a relaxing scene in your mind.
- Talk with your healthcare provider whether nutritional or herbal supplements could help.
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Last but not least, get out of bed, rock in a rocking chair, swaddle yourself and pet your cat or dog.
If you aren't rested after 7-8 hours of sleep and/or you snore, get evaluated and treated for sleep apnea.
Learning how to sleep is an allowing process. Be your own detective and notice what helps you to sleep and what interrupts your sleep. You can work at creative bedtime activities that invite Morpheus to spend the night.
How Negative Body Image Affects Your Weight…and Life
- When you eat a large meal and feel too full, do you start tothink you're fat?
- When you're in a bad mood, do you usually mentally criticize your body?
- When you wear something unflattering, do you tend to blame it on your body size or shape?
- Do you often find yourself thinking negatively about your body when you're feeling stressed?
If you're taking the time to read this article, you probably answered ‘yes' to the above questions. You might also say, ‘So what if I have a poor body image? Most of the women I know don't like their bodies!”
What most of us don't completely understand, however, is that a negative body image actually interferes with our ability to lose weight and achieve the fit, healthy bodies we want. To say nothing of the disastrous impact it has on the quality of our lives.
Body Image & Weight Loss
According to the behavioral health therapists at Green Mountain at Fox Run, when our motivation to lose weight is appearance, it doesn't hold up. It works against us because we get depressed. We think we have too far to go, or things aren't changing quickly enough. When we compare ourselves to others, we're likely to give up right then.
Add to that our tendency to project our thoughts onto others. For example, we might think the person at the next table is watching us eat, questioning why we would choose certain foods because we're fat. In all likelihood, the person at the next table isn't thinking about us. But because we are criticizing ourselves, we believe others are doing the same.
There are inappropriate people in this world, however, people who believe they have the right to pass judgment on others. What we think about ourselves counts here, too. Other people's comments may hurt the most when they fit with what we already believe about ourselves. It's up to us to choose whether we're going to take on what others say, or brush it off and get on with living our lives the way we want to.
Building a Better Body Image is the Beginning for Healthy Weight Loss
Building a better body image has a relatively simple focus: getting and staying focused on taking care of ourselves. Because when we're taking care of ourselves – feeding ourselves well, moving our bodies regularly, staying positive – we feel better, have more energy, are better able to accomplish the things we want in life.
Indeed, the amount of time we waste criticizing ourselves could be spent in the infinitely more worthwhile endeavor of building a supportive lifestyle and life. When we're actively engaged in finding fault with ourselves, we drain away the energy we need to create a fulfilling life.
Changing a negative body image and learning to be comfortable and content in our bodies is possible when we understand how we've learned to judge ourselves based on criteria that is impossible to achieve. And while it also may be virtually impossible to have a completely positive body image in a society where body bashing is a group sport, keep faking it until you make it. Even if we don't ever reach our ultimate destination, at least we're going in the right direction.
For more help in improving body image, consider a stay at Green Mountain at Fox Run. Our program is dedicated to helping women feel better about themselves now, instead of putting their lives on hold until they lose weight or get fitter. Also check out Thomas Cash' book The Body Image Workbook from which we've taken the above questions that exemplify how a negative body image can pervade our lives.
A Love Affair with Food: Being a Foodie Can Mean Good News for Healthy Weights
A love affair with food sounds like a recipe for weight struggles. Yet our chefs at Green Mountain both have lost a significant amount of weight after taking over the helm of our culinary services. They haven’t given up a thing to do that, either. Instead, they’ve done it the Green Mountain way – learning how to eat the food they love in a way that makes them feel great. The weight loss – well, it’s just something that happened naturally on the road to feeling great.
Do You Love Food But Fear It?
In our Healing with Foods class at Green Mountain, director Marsha Hudnall, MS,RD, talks about a new personal mission for her at Green Mountain: To help all the women who come to us become foodies. That is, if they love food.
When she asks who loves food, many in the class laugh sheepishly. They think their love of food is something that has caused their weight problems. Yet could the seeming conflict between enjoying food and weight be one more example of diet thinking? Diets essentially teach us that food is the enemy.
That’s where Marsha’s personal mission comes in.
What is a Foodie?
Foodies are defined as someone who
- Has a refined or ardent interest in food
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Has an enthusiastic interest in the preparation and consumption of good food
When preparing to eat, a foodie makes sure it’s something she really wants to eat. It’s usually high-quality food – very few highly-processed foods prepared quickly meet her standards. And it’s varied. She’s interested in exploring the world of wonderful food.
If it takes time to make a meal or snack, she’ll invest the time. But that doesn’t mean all her meals and snacks take hours in the kitchen. She knows that sometimes a hunk of cheese, slice of great bread, and juicy piece of fresh fruit is all she needs to satisfy her hunger.
As she eats, she savors. Her food has her attention; she enjoys the taste, eating just enough until her hunger subsides. Then she’s done with eating, getting on with other things in life that are important to her. Which may mean shopping for a future meal or something that has nothing at all to do with food.
You could also call a foodie a mindful eater.
The Time is Ripe
Summer in our part of the world means fresh fruits and vegetables that actually taste like, well, fruits and vegetables. As farmers markets pop up in more places, we have the opportunity to rediscover the taste of pampered produce, enjoying old favorites as well as finding new ones to feature in meals and snacks.
But there are many other routes to becoming a foodie, too. Television cooking shows abound. Okay, you have to be somewhat choosy about which ones you learn from – go for those that feature olive oil as the primary cooking fat. Cooking magazines can be instrumental in helping us understand the art and science of cooking; one of our favorites is Cook’s Illustrated. Then there are the kitchen supply stores where we can spend hours perusing all the clever gadgets that make cooking easier as well as the quality ingredients that take food preparation to a higher level.
Bottom line: Now is the time to ramp up the attention we pay to our food, enjoying it fully, understanding that enjoyment includes how it makes us feel as well as how it tastes. And understanding, too, that that enjoyment can play a central role in helping us achieve our goals, not only with health and healthy weights, but also in life.
Enjoy!!
Women, Calcium and Osteoporosis
Keeping up with Calcium
So you've been trying to eat healthy for some time now. And getting enough calcium is something you know you should do. After all, women run four times the risk men do for osteoporosis, a disease that can set you up for brittle, broken bones later in life. And currently, over 20 million of us suffer from the problem. So how are you doing in getting what you need?
If you're like most women, you're still falling short on this critical nutrient. Studies show on average American women get only about half the recommended amount. We're supposed to be getting 1000 to 1200 milligrams (mg) a day; we average around 600 mg.
And that's why, in survey results released this week, nearly 98% of the nation's leading nutrition experts ranked calcium intake as one of the top health issues for women today.
But that's not the whole story. Moving your body regularly is also critical. So here's some easy-to-follow advice from Green Mountain at Fox Run to help put you solidly on the path to healthy bones and feeling great throughout life.
How to Up Your Calcium Intake, and Keep It Up
- Eat what you like. Remember, the #1 reason people choose the foods they do is taste. If it doesn't taste good, they won't eat it regularly. So to consistently get enough calcium, look for sources that you enjoy. At Green Mountain, we encourage you to savor at least three servings of dairy foods every day, fat-free or 1% milk or yogurt, regular and reduced fat cheeses (as long as they're tasty), soups made with milk, puddings made with milk, even ice cream on occasion. Why dairy foods? Because they are not only great sources of calcium, dairy foods also contain lactose, which helps you absorb calcium better. Plus, milk is fortified with vitamin D, another nutrient important for healthy bones. Other excellent non-dairy sources of calcium are fortified orange or grapefruit juice, and fortified ready-to-eat cereal (check the label to find the calcium fortified varieties and how much they contain).
- Expand your taste horizons. Okay, we can't avoid it. We have to advise you to eat more vegetables, especially the dark-green leafy ones like spinach, kale, turnip greens. Not for calcium*, however. Instead, it's the vitamin K in dark-green leafies that may be key. A recent study at the USDA Nutrition Research Center on Aging showed that women who ate more dark-green leafy vegetables had fewer hip fractures than those who consumed less of these foods.
- Eat regularly. If you've been to Green Mountain already, you'll recognize this piece of advice! It's key to helping yourself eat well consistently. Enjoy a mix of grains/starchy vegetables, protein foods and fruits &/or vegetables at most meals, and at snacks at which you are particularly hungry. And don't go too long between meals. That way, you won't get too hungry, which can lead to overeating. You'll also find yourself less drawn to richer foods. By eating this way, you'll find it easier to stop yo-yo dieting; the more you yo-yo diet, the more bone you may lose.
Laying It Down
Getting enough calcium into your body is the first step. The next is getting it into your bones. And that means physical activity. What kind? While you may have heard that weight-bearing exercise is key, maybe it's reassuring to reinforce that there are more choices here than lifting weights. Just walking regularly helps your body lay down calcium in bones, thereby helping to preserve or increase bone density. And that makes for stronger bones. What's more, regular physical activity improves muscle strength, balance, coordination and flexibility, all of which can help prevent falls and fractures.
Already Have Osteoporosis?
How to reverse osteoporosis is the subject of plenty of studies right now. Researchers believe getting plenty of calcium can help, along with plenty of weight-bearing activity. Here's a new type of activity that can be fun and effective: A pilot study at the University of California showed that working with resistive balls (a form of isometric exercise) just 10 minutes a day for two months helped women who had signs of osteoporosis significantly strengthen their bones. While this is only one small study, it supports what we already know and encourage at Green Mountain: Regular weight bearing exercise such as walking, biking, or resistance training will help you stay healthy for life!
*Actually, while calcium-containing plant foods like some vegetables, fruits and tofu can contribute to calcium intake, you generally have to eat more than you would want to get enough, such as 7 cups of broccoli to get the same amount of calcium in a cup of milk! Milk contains about 300 mg calcium per cup; broccoli only about 45 mg.