Tag: Healthy Living

Variety Is The Spice Of Fitness.

Posted on by Sarah Kesseli

Variety is the Spice of Fitness. Keep Your Heart Healthy With These Workouts

As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life. This is also applicable to your exercise routine. If you do the same type of workout day after day, week after week, not only will it be boring; you might start losing some fitness.

Why? If you focus on only one type of exercise (say, running) you will build great endurance and strong calves, but you might have incredibly weak hips, poor mobility, and no upper body strength. This scenario extends in pretty much every direction — stick to one type of workout and you’ll have an imbalance in the body, which can lead to injury or overtraining.

Having a well-rounded workout routine will both challenge and strengthen your inner-athlete. Here are five types of workouts you should add to your routine to keep your heart healthy and both your body and mind happy. We promise; Variety Is The Spice Of Fitness!

 

Steady State Cardio Training

Pretty much anything that gets your heart pumping above your resting heart rate is considered cardio. So yes, steady state cardio doesn’t have to be running — it also includes power walking, biking, swimming, cross-country skiing, and hopping on the elliptical. Steady state cardio training is pretty straight forward, and a great way to build endurance and maintain a healthy heart. Simply move at a pace and intensity that you can maintain for at least 30 minutes; this should feel manageable but not too easy.

 

Weight training

Getting a good workout in on the gym floor can have numerous benefits, from strengthening muscle endurance and muscle strength to keeping your heart healthy while your body lean. While many people might be wary of “getting big” in the weight room, you can approach weight training in many ways to fit your style of exercise. Some folks like to lift heavy with shorter reps, while others like to lift lighter weights while upping the numbers of reps and sets. The opportunities are endless when it comes to getting a workout in; you can strengthen anything from your core to your shoulders, quads to your back, with weights.

 

Yoga

Flexibility goes far beyond being able to ace the V sit-n-reach test. While flexibility might not seem as important as other types of exercises, stretching and flexibility routines can increase your range of motion and give space to your fitness goals — helping you stay injury-free while strengthening key muscles and ligaments.

One of the most common (and fun!) types of flexibility workouts is yoga. While the type of yoga you can do runs the gamut from vinyasa and hot yoga to restorative Yin and grounding Kundalini, all practices focus on integrating body and breath through stretches, isometric bodyweight exercises, and moving meditation.

 

High-Intensity Interval Training

For a type of cardio workout that is more intense than steady-state, consider HIIT (high-intensity interval training). These types of workouts will be shorter, more powerful, and focus on fat burning. Typically, HIIT intervals around broken up into work-to-rest ratios, where you do something intense — like sprints or pushups — for a certain amount of time, followed by rest, followed by the exercise once more. The nice thing about HIIT is that you can experiment and change up the types of movements, numbers of intervals, and lengths of work and rest, to push yourself to your edge. In general, your heart rate should be elevated to about 70% of your maximum heart rate.

 

Mobility Work

Another type of flexibility workout that’s important for your muscles is mobility work. If you want to release tight muscles, massage the fascia, and increase your range of motion, then you should consider foam rolling, using devices like a lacrosse or tennis ball to roll sore spots, and doing certain stretches and exercises that target your hips, glute, and hamstrings. All of these types of stretches and movements will help with deep tissue release, and you can do ‘em either before or after your typical workout routine.

 

Salt. How Much Is Too Much When It Comes To Your Health?

Posted on by Sarah Kesseli

If you’re anything like us, you like to add salt to everything (well, mostly everything). We’ve been known for keeping a small salt shakers in our purses, and tend to go through Costco-sized salt containers faster than we’d like to admit.

While salt is part of any healthy diet, as with most things, it’s best in moderation. So how much salt is too much? And how much should we consume on the daily? Lastly, what does a certain amount of salt even look like? We’ll dive into all that salty goodness now.

Salt. How Much Is Too Much When It Comes To Your Health?

Salt 101

Salt — often referred to by its chemical element, sodium — is found in almost everything we consume. It either occurs naturally in many foods, is added as a preservative, or is used as a way to flavor a dish, from tomato soup and Italian dressings to sea salt caramel.

It’s important to note that our bodies need salt. The sodium that’s found in our bodies actually lives in our bloodstream with fluid surrounding the cells. Salt’s job is to keep these fluids in balance, and contrary to popular belief is actually needed to keep you properly hydrated. Sodium also ensures our muscles and nerves function properly. Lastly, anyone who exercises needs healthy bouts of sodium as well, since you lose salt through sweating.

 

The Salty Science of Sodium

Sodium is notoriously linked to high blood pressure, which can damage your blood vessels and arteries and in turn increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. However, the studies that explain how much salt has been controversial, along with the recommendations for how much sodium a person should consume.

For example, the US Department of Health and Human Services recommend individuals limit their salt intake to less than 2,300 mg (2.3 grams) of salt per day, while the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends healthy adults consume 1,500 mg (1.5 grams). For context, one teaspoon of salt amounts to six grams.

To make things more complicated, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests consuming 2,000 mg (2 grams) of sodium per day, and the American Heart Association, perhaps unsurprisingly, advises the same amount as IOM: 1,500 mg (1.5 grams).

Despite the various recommendations, Americans consume more sodium than what we’re told. We average at about 3,400 mg (3.4 grams) of salt every day. While this may seem like a lot, science is struggling to find clear lines of connection between this consumption rate and poor health. To make matters even stickier, many people with normal blood pressure levels may not benefit from restricting their sodium intake, and some evidence even suggests that decreasing salt intake could actually harm our health.

 

OK – So How Much Salt Should I Consume?

As you might expect, there is no clear-cut answer for how much sodium a person should eat or drink. This is especially relevant for athletes, who lose a lot of sodium through sweating and need to replenish sodium levels through electrolyte drinks, salt tablets, and naturally salty foods.

The best thing you can do is talk to your doctor, who knows the ins and outs of your health and can tell you if you’re at risk for high blood pressure or heart disease. Until you do that, the common sense approach will also suffice: Just like everything we eat, enjoy salt in moderation. For example, if you notice you’ve had salted peanut butter for breakfast and some pretzels as a snack, skip the salt in your stir fry and add garlic powder and pepper instead.

 

The Best Salt to Shake

Lastly, it’s important to understand the differences between the various types of salt you might see at the supermarket. There are three common types of salt: table salt, sea salt, and Himalayan pink rock salt.

Whenever possible, avoid table salt since this contains the most sodium chloride and is heavily processed. On the flip side, natural salts like sea salt and rock salt come in their whole form and are generally healthier options and are actually less salty.

So yes, you can ask to pass the salt at the dinner table. If you don’t go overboard with the salt shaker, sodium can help you stay hydrated, promote good vascular health, support a healthy nervous system, and even improve your sleep. And there’s nothing wrong with that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 25 Active Date Ideas

Posted on by Sarah Kesseli

While going on dates can certainly be fun, a typical night out with a romantic partner often ends up being focused on eating and drinking. While a date at a night bar or restaurant is definitely deserved, why not think outside the box when it comes to spending an afternoon or evening with a partner?

Here are 25 — yes, 25 — active date ideas you can do any time of the year. Within this list, there has to be at least of a handful of activities you both will thoroughly enjoy.

Low-Key Date Ideas

Walk the dogs. If either of you has a pup, take a long walk with your dog together! If neither of you are pet owners, consider volunteering at a shelter and playing with the pups who need a home.

Mini golf. Walk around those 18 mini holes versus sitting on a bar stool. Mini golf is fun and keeps you on your toes, both figurately and literally.

Restorative yoga. A nice restore yoga class lengthens your limbs, relaxes your mind, and helps your body repair and rejuvenate. At the end of a class, you usually feel so good — a great feeling to also share with a partner.

Bowling. Lace up your bowling shoes and hit the alley. Walking up and down the bowling lane has to count for something. Just try to avoid the fried food that’s often sold at the bowling alley.

Explore the farmers market. Keep your body moving while moving around the maze at a farmers market. Bonus points for buying some fresh produce and making a healthy meal together when you get home.

Sledding. If the snow is in full-force, you don’t need to stay stuck inside. Grab a sled and head to the nearest hill for some sledding with your boo. Walking up the hill is a sneaky hill workout, too!

Tubing. Whether summer or winter, make a day out of it and go tubing. Whether you’re in the snow or on the water, staying seated in a tube is actually a sneaky core exercise, since you need to use your abs to ensure you don’t fall off.

Ice skating. A romantic evening out could mean heading to the ice rink. Hand in hand, skate around the rink while catching up on each other’s lives.

Rolling skating. For something a little easier than ice, roller skating is a fun and old-school way to get the heart pumping while enjoying some laughs together. If you’re extra cautious, wear some knee and elbow pads to protect your limbs.

Beach volleyball. Instead of basking in the sun on a beach chair all day, get up and go over to the volleyball nets. You’ll be guaranteed to build up a sweat on the sandy court — and can choose to be on your partner’s team, or add some friendly competition to your relationship and go 1 v 1.

Charity walk. To get your steps in and do something good for the world, go on a charity walk together. You can easily look up and see which ones are happening in a city or town near you.  

Laser tag. For some unconventional and creative fun, embrace your inner-kid and go play laser tag! You might be surprised by how much running and lunging you’ll end up doing.

 

High-Intense Dates

Snorkeling. For the adventurous spirits, make a date that’s slightly closer to the ocean floor. Take a snorkeling class together and swim and explore the sea to your heart’s content.

Tough Mudder. A date idea definitely outside of the box is signing up for an adventure race, like a Tough Mudder. These are obstacle-course style races that combine running with climbing, balancing, crawling, and jumping. Athletic couples would love something like this!

Paddleboarding. Head to a local lake in the summer and give your arms, legs, and core a sneaky workout while you’re enjoying the views with your date. Paddleboarding forces you to focus on your balance, too!

Kayak. If you’d prefer to stay seated, kayaking is another great summertime workout and date idea. You’ll be working your arm muscles while enjoying the serene scenes and the sun.

Rock climbing. Skip Tuesday takeout and head to the rock climbing gym instead. Rock climbing is especially fun with a partner since your loved one can be the belayer while you climb up the wall. Just remember to take turns!

Downhill skiing. If you live near the mountains, make a day out of hitting the slopes after a good snowstorm. Downhill skiing is a great workout for your quads and hamstrings.

Biking. Hopping on a bike with a beau is super fun and great for your body. Go on a cruise around town, or use it as your mode of transportation as you head to a restaurant or bar.

Running. Increase your endorphins together by going on a run! Running with a partner also helps motivate you to get out the door if you find it’s hard to lace up your shoes and get going.

Hiking. For a long day on your feet, pick a route and hit the trail with your loved one. You can choose from a leisurely two-mile hike, or do something longer with more elevation gain. Either option is more active than going to the movies.

Cross country ski. Cross-country skiing is a great aerobic exercise and a perfect excuse to get outside during the winter months. You can rent skis at a nearby store if you’re a beginner and aren’t ready to invest in a setup quite yet.

Spin class. To get hot and sweaty with your date, go to a spin class together. Spinning is super fun, intense, and a great way to get moving with your loved one.

Salsa dance club. If you want to learn something new, get your body moving, and share intimate time with your partner, check out a salsa dance class! They’re often offered at bars, so you can reward yourself with a drink afterward.

Run a 5K! Lastly, to add a little competition and a lot of fun to your day, run a race together! A 5K is a perfect distance for a date — not too short, not too long.

 

Get moving and grooving on your next date night! No matter what the weather is like, there is something you can do with your loved one that is fun, active, and will get your body moving in more ways than one.

 

 

 

12 Smart Food Swaps For A Healthy Heart

Posted on by Sarah Kesseli

February is American Heart Month, and one of the best ways to maintain good heart health is to watch what you eat. Instead of depriving ourselves of delicious foods, we came up with some healthy swaps so you can still eat foods that will delight your taste buds, while also knowing you’re doing your body a favor.

 

1.Top your oatmeal with fresh fruit instead of sugar.

While a hearty bowl of oatmeal is a great start, we can add so much sugar to oats that it cancels out the health benefits. Instead of adding brown sugar or maple syrup, mix in fresh fruit to sweeten the oats up naturally while getting in some extra vitamins and minerals. For example, blueberries are an amazing topping since they are packed with vitamin C and manganese, along with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories that can keep your heart happy and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Pro-tip: For any fruits you love that are hard to find fresh, peek in the freezer aisle and grab the frozen version.

2. Choose eggs over cereal.

Another way to kick off your morning on the right foot is to choose an egg–white sandwich (or keep the yolk!) over a bowl of cereal. Contrary to popular belief, an egg or two a day won’t lead to a dangerous spike in cholesterol. Instead, they are packed with protein, rich in vitamin D, B6, B12, and full of minerals like zinc, iron, and copper. This makes for a way better breakfast than cereal, which contains a lot of processed sugar and simple carbs.

3. Chow down on a homemade veggie burger versus a beef burger.

While meat in moderation is fine, our beef with beef is it’s high in unhealthy saturated fats, which has been connected to increasing “bad” LDL cholesterol. On the flip side, baking a homemade veggie burger means you’re in control of what you consume. Black bean and legume burgers are filled with protein and fiber without the extra fat. Chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and carrots are also great veggies to add to your burger. And not to worry; if you’re short on time, you can buy a premade veggie burger. Just make sure to read the label and watch out for added preservatives and sugar!

4. Add avocado versus mayo to sandwiches.

If you’re in need of a healthy condiment to spread on your sandwich, mashed avocado is a tasty substitute for mayonnaise. Avocado is rich in healthy monounsaturated fats that help lower inflammation and could also protect your heart. You’ll also get nutrients and fiber from avocados that you won’t get from mayo, which is filled with fats and oils.

5. Drink water with a splash of juice instead of fruit juice

If you want to stay hydrated but bored by your basic glass of water, add a splash of fruit juice to your glass versus drinking an entire cup of juice. You’d be surprised at how much flavor just a slash adds, giving you a tasty drink without all those extra calories from sugar.

6. Snack on walnuts (or any nut!) instead of chips.

If you’re craving a salty snack to hold you over until dinner, grab a handful of walnuts over chips. While chips contain sneaky amounts of saturated fats, walnuts are chock full of vitamin E and help boost your intake of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids — which are great for the heart, brain, and skin. Whenever possible, choose raw and unsalted nuts over the roasted and salted versions.

7. Eat grilled salmon instead of steak.

Like hamburgers, steak can also be filled with saturated fats which can elevate our levels of LDL cholesterol. For a heart-healthy superstar at the dinner table, a fatty fish like salmon contains a hefty amount of omega-3 fatty acids (the same polyunsaturated fats that are found in walnuts) which have been shown to benefit the heart and brain. Salmon is also an excellent source of selenium, an antioxidant.

8. Say so-long to white side dishes and enjoy green ones.

If you need some side dishes for a meal, skip the white starch — things like rice, potatoes, noodles, and bread. These foods could contribute to high blood sugar and could put you at risk for heart disease. Instead, fill your plates with greens like kale, broccoli, spinach, or brussel sprouts. You can steam them or saute them, roast ‘em or keep them raw.  However you enjoy them, adding green vegetables to your plate can lower high cholesterol and reduce internal inflammation, two risk factors for heart disease.

9. Use spinach instead of iceberg lettuce in salads

Speaking of greens, add dark green leafy greens like spinach and kale to your salad over iceberg lettuce. While the latter is devoid of heart-healthy vitamins and minerals, spinach is rich in iron, vitamin K, vitamin A, and vitamin C, and also contains manganese, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B2. There is a reason Popeye is obsessed with spinach. You should be, too!

10. Use more spices and less salt when cooking dishes.

While there’s nothing wrong with a bit of salt, people often use that as their default spice when needing to add extra flavor to a dish. If you have an existing heart condition, it’s especially important to watch your sodium intake. So instead of salt, add spices like garlic powder, ginger, pepper, lemon juice, or cumin to your food.

11. Enjoy a glass of red wine instead of a soda.

You can thank us later for this one. If you want to sip on something with a meal, skip the sugary soda and enjoy a glass of red wine. Some studies show that moderate amounts of alcohol (that means one drink for women and two for men) can contribute to happy heart health, and may even improve good HDL cholesterol levels. Red wine also contains polyphenols, which can increase the good cholesterol in our bodies and decrease inflammation. Cheers!

12. Swap baked goods out for dark chocolate.

To satisfy the sweet tooth in all of us, grab a nice chunk of dark chocolate versus a batch of baked goods. Cookies and cakes are chock-full of sugar, hydrogenated oils, simple carbs, and sugar, whereas chocolate has a smaller ingredient list. Chocolate’s main ingredient, cocoa, contains flavanols that help lower blood pressure and improve blood vessel function. Even better, some small studies show that dark chocolate can improve health heart and lower the risk of heart disease! Just don’t go too overboard; enjoy a square or two from a bar, verses chowing down on the entire thing.

 

With these small swaps, you should see major improvements in your health. Focus on one healthy swap a day, and consider increasing the number of healthy choices you make as you go on. Before you know it, you’ll be eating better than ever before, while never sacrificing flavor.

 

 

What Is ‘Normal’ Eating?

Posted on by Sarah Kesseli

At this time of the year when so many people are making goals around food and eating, it might be helpful for you to know what “normal eating” actually is. That’s a confusing topic, right?  Everyone has their own ideas. But it becomes a lot more clear when you factor in food behaviors rather than only focusing on the food choices themselves.

For example, what if you decided to cut out sugar but you find yourself bingeing on sweet treats every weekend? Essentially, having a bunch of food rules may only lead to extreme behaviors which aren’t healthy or “normal eating”.

This quote, from dietitian and author Ellyn Satter, will help explain what I mean:

“Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it -not just stop eating because you think you should.

Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good.

Normal eating is mostly three meals a day, or four or five, or it can be choosing to munch along the way. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful. Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating.

Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.  In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your hunger, your schedule, your proximity to food and your feelings.”

What this definition does is normalize a wide variety of eating behaviors. Eating should be flexible, variable, satisfying, nourishing and enjoyable.  It shouldn’t be obsessive, preoccupying, rigid, overwhelming or worrisome. That’s no way to live!

But if you find yourself swinging between restriction and chaos, this can feel very outreach.  So how do you get there?  Here are a few ideas:

  1. Don’t tell yourself that there are certain foods you can’t have. That will only make you anxious and lead you to behave in extreme ways around food.  When you know you can have a food anytime you really want it, you’ll feel less preoccupied with it. On the other hand, if you know this is the last time you’ll be able to have it(or at least the last time this week or this month, etc), you’re going to have all of it right now, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you. It’s much easier to respect your body’s signals when you aren’t micromanaged by food rules.
  2. You may run scared of satisfaction because you equate it with overeating, However, satisfaction is your solution!  I would encourage you to eat for the intent to feel satisfied.  Eating to feel satisfied naturally decreases overeating or under eating because neither of those are satisfying (rather, uncomfortable or painful).  Feeling full and satisfied from your meals and snacks is your solution.  Not feeling full and satisfied is what leads to extreme behaviors.
  3. Instead of tracking calories or portion sizes, I would encourage you to track hunger and fullness levels before and after eating, while paying attention to how the food makes you feel.  After a meal or snack are you left feeling satisfied?  Energized?  Lethargic? Still hungry?  Balanced?  Get curious about how you feel and function instead of being judgmental about what you look like or weigh.  This will help connect you to intuitive signals that will naturally guide your eating instead of needing to use outside trackers.
  4. Normal eating includes being mindful.  Can you practice eating without distractions or multitasking?  Take a step away from your desk and phone or TV.  You are more likely to know when you are full and satisfied if you are paying attention.  You could set a goal to do this with one meal or one snack each day.   
  5. Add variety to your meals and snacks.  You could try new recipes, use new products and get outside your comfort zone.  It’s so easy to stay safely in what is familiar and miss out on new experiences.  Taking kitchen shortcuts and using premade items is a smart way to increase convenience as you do so.  Good Food Made Simple products are a perfect way to start! 

Becoming a normal eater is possible for everyone.  In fact, you aren’t learning something new, you are remembering something you were innately born with.  Keep that in mind as you practice – you CAN be a normal eater!

Article courtesy of: Emily Fonnesbeck RD, CD 

Don’t Be Fooled: 10 Diet Myths Debunked

Posted on by Sarah Kesseli

As we ring in the new year, we more often than not are also ringing in a new approach to healthy eating. After all those holiday cookies and cocktails, it’s easy to get a little bit off track and use the new year as a way to maintain or lose a little weight.

To do this, many people cling to a specific diet or get stuck on popular sayings they’ve heard about the best ways to lose weight. We’re here to debunk those myths, and explain the more beneficial ways you can make habit changes to stay healthy, lean, and feeling good, both in mind and body.

10 Things You’ve Heard About Dieting, and Why They’re Wrong

Carbs are bad

This one is big. The most important thing to remember is that not all carbs are created equal. Whole grains, such as quinoa, brown rice, and whole-wheat bread, have more concentrated sources of fiber and other important nutrients the body needs, like B vitamins, iron, folate, and magnesium. In general, whole grain carbohydrates are good for you, and should have a seat at the dinner table. Refined and enriched grains, like white bread, pasta, and white flour tortillas aren’t the best choice you can make, but they won’t — and I repeat — won’t be the cause of your weight gain. As long as you eat in moderation, and don’t have a huge bowl of pasta every night, a simple carb every now and then won’t do damage to your diet.

Low fat and fat-free are healthier options

Despite somewhat decent intentions, the idea of making food low-fat or fat-free has actually caused more harm than help. First of all: fat isn’t bad for you. And second of all, taking the fat out of foods usually means that things like sugar are added, which stimulates insulin release, facilitates the storage of fat, and encourages inflammation throughout the body. Plus, the reduction or removal of fat means your protein uptake will take a downward tumble, and the food you’re eating won’t feel satisfying. The result? You’ll probably end up feeling hungry a few minutes later and will need more calories to satiate your growling stomach.

Always look for sugar-free

While sugar isn’t great for you, sugar-free foods are often filled with chemicals. While there’s a lot of controversies around artificial sweeteners, the FDA has approved five of them: saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, neotame, and sucralose. However, some health experts say people who consume sugar-free foods may end up simply replacing those lost calories through other food items. Others say that artificial sweeteners just make our sugar craving more intense. All in all, you can’t go wrong putting whole and natural foods in your body, so a little natural sugar — like honey or maple syrup — is more healthful than a fake sugar chemical.

Eating late at night will make you gain weight

The thing to note here is that people often think late-night eating leads to weight gain because what people consume late at night is often high in calories, sugar, and fat. (Midnight pint of ice-cream, anyone?)Yet if you have a light snack, like a bowl of popcorn or a piece of fruit, your healthy diet isn’t thrown out the window. If you’re hungry late at night, don’t deprive yourself. Just focus on making healthier choices.

If you’re overweight, you’re unhealthy

This is a tricky topic that could warrant an article (or two) on its own. But the short answer is that science has found that overweight people aren’t necessarily at greater risk for certain health conditions. One study found that people who are overweight have a fifty-fifty chance of having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or elevated blood sugar levels, compared to normal-weight folks who had a 25% chance. In the simplest terms, there is a myriad of factors that lead to someone being overweight, and that doesn’t automatically peg someone as being unhealthy. Remember: health is holistic, and it’s not just what you look like or what number you see on a scale.

Fast to lose weight quickly

While intermittent fasting has become a science-backed way to lose some weight, it can easily be taken too far, or become an unreliable way to lose pounds and keep them off. Skipping meals is not the answer; you’ll just end up more hungry and will make up those calories later in the day. While the number on the scale might dip a bit if you fast, you’ll quickly gain the weight back one you start eating normally. In general, fasting can become an unhealthy habit, and the definition of good health should never include restricting yourself from calories, nutrients, and vitamins that give you energy and help you thrive.

Eat small meals to boost metabolism

This one is heard quite often in the diet world. Yet research shows that meal frequency doesn’t actually have an effect on metabolic rate. There have been numerous studies that compare eating more smaller versus fewer bigger meals, and all the results found no impact on fat loss or metabolism. In other words, focus on how many calories you’re consuming in total, versus when you’re actually consuming them.

You can eat whatever as long as you exercise

You can’t outrun an unhealthy diet. While exercise is a key component to good health, think about it like this: If you burn 400 calories on a run, you can easily make that up by indulging in a post-workout croissant. So if you’re an avid exerciser, don’t let that be an excuse to eat anything you want at any time of the day or night. Those calories will quickly add up.

Vegetarians can’t get enough protein

While eating a vegetarian or vegan diet isn’t necessarily healthier, some people are interested in it for ethical and environmental reasons. However, many fear they can’t get enough protein if they don’t eat meat. Fear not: You can get substantial amounts of protein through other sources, like beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs, soymilk, whole grains, and even spinach. The meat-free protein list goes on and on — we promise.

Drinking water will lead to weight loss

Yes, staying hydrated is an important part of a healthy diet. No, stuffing yourself full of H20 will not lead to rapid fat loss. The critical differentiator here is that drinking water won’t specifically trigger weight loss. It can aid in the process, however, since often times we think we’re hungry when we’re actually just thirsty. Keeping a water bottle handle helps to ensure you can drink water regularly and not get phantom hunger pains when you don’t necessarily need to eat between meals.

Now that we’ve debunked these diet myths, you might be wondering how does one lose weight the healthy way? The short answer is that losing weight is a holistic process and includes changing habits around food, exercise, sleep, and stress. By focusing on eating whole, fresh foods (ditch packaged food!), watching your meal portions and snacking-sessions between meals, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and regulating stress levels, you will be at a way healthier weight than if you live by any of those diet myths you might have heard.

Starting the New Year With the ‘Right’ Mindset

Posted on by Sarah Kesseli

With the holiday finally over and the new year upon us, I’d be shocked if you haven’t thought about New Year’s Resolutions yet. While resolutions are a fantastic way to jumpstart your diet and exercise routine…that doesn’t mean they’ll actually have an impact on your health.

In fact, I’d argue if you can’t stick to your resolutions long-term, you may find yourself in a bad cycle of fad dieting and binge eating! According to U.S. News, approximately 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February. Let that sink in. That means 8 out of 10 of you reading this will not stick to your healthy resolution plans!

If you want your resolutions to survive this year and actually help you reach your goals, you’re in luck because I have a smart approach to help you make your dreams a reality. My secret? Your mindset!

Resolutions tend to fail because we think of a really big goal we want to accomplish, create an intense game plan to get there that involves unrealistic changes to our current schedule, and then find it’s hard to sustain this after our initial motivation subsides. Not to mention so many popular diets and online workouts have great intentions, however, neglect to understand what YOU need and fit that into your current lifestyle.

I’m here to tell you that a well-balanced exercise and nutrition program does not have to be hard to stick to, especially if you take into account your individual lifestyle. In fact, whenever I see new clients as a registered dietitian, I never drastically change a client’s diet or lifestyle after the first time meeting with them. Why? Because that’s so unrealistic and that would be setting most people up to fail!

Instead, approach your resolutions with small and healthy changes over a long period of time yield lasting results. 

So before you set your resolution this year, focus on these 3 tips to create a positive mindset around your goals and resolutions that will actually survive the new year:

  • Set small goals. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely encourage you to dream big – long-term goals are important and help to keep you motivated! That being said, you must create small goals to accomplish weekly when making a lifestyle change to help you stay focused on the bigger picture, consistent, and to assess if you’re making progress.
  • Focus on your inner voice. How we talk to ourselves vastly impacts our ability to succeed. If you think you’re a failure for falling off the wagon one week, you’re more likely to fail next week too! Instead, change your inner voice towards success by catching those moments you talk negatively to yourself, and re-framing it in a motivational way. For example, say you set a goal around meal prepping your lunches every day before work. Instead of getting upset with yourself for not accomplishing it last week, change your mindset going into next week by saying “next week is a new week, and I can create a better plan to make sure I reach this goal!”
  • Consider your mindset instead of your weight. Around the New Year, we love to focus on weight loss as a goal. Honestly speaking, the end goal of weight loss isn’t always the healthiest. Not to mention, body composition (ie your fat mass versus muscle mass) is a far better indicator of success!

I always joke that anyone can lose weight by eating less than what they burn. That being said… that doesn’t always mean it’s a healthy goal. Instead, I like to think of weight loss as a side effect to a healthier mindset change. When we stop focusing on the scale and focus on healthy behaviors like drinking enough water throughout the day and eating nutritionally balanced meals plus whole foods, that’s when your health and weight will naturally change!

All things considered, the New Year is a great way motivation to finally create a plan for those goals you’ve been dreaming of. Although 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February, 20% do succeed. With a good plan, a positive mindset, and following the above tips – any goal is possible for you this year.

Article courtesy of: Lauren Smith MS, RD, LDN – Dietitians of Palm Valley