How to cut down on carbs

At an event last week, Sam Kass (former chef for the White House/Obamas) was a speaker. He explained that there’s a missing piece with most health advice. I’m paraphrasing but he said that we can’t simply say “ginger is healthy” but need to include the HOW. I went back to the office with this truth nugget and we brainstormed a bit. We’re going to add a  “how to” series to the blog. I’d love to declare it’ll be a weekly feature but we’re not so great at that kind of structure. Today, Carolyn kicks things off with a great way to cut your carbs.

Like any normal human, I love carbs. Like any good nutritionist, I love fiber too but not enough to ever eat another GG crispbread*. If you can’t consider cardboard, enter your new, best cracker buddy ORGRAN.

Orgran fiber crispbreads are our fave crackers on the market because they are gluten free, low cal, and have some fiber. They are the perfect vehicle for pretty much any topping. We usually give two a day to clients as a “non-carb”.

The ingredients are simple: brown rice flour, wholegrain sorghum, psyllium, rice bran and salt so they definitely need a topping. Here are a few of my fave ways to use them:

1.     Sunflower seed butter and a sprinkle of cacao powder

2.     Good Culture (probiotic) cottage cheese and apple slices

3.     Wild smoked salmon with farmers cheese or ricotta

4.     Avocado with a pesto drizzle.

Scrambled eggs, chicken salad and tuna would work too, your Orgran options are pretty much endless.

We want to share our Orgran obsession, tell us your favorite topping below for a chance to win a free box by 12/17. And if you have any orgran art/photos post them tagging us @carolynbrownnutrition @foodtrainers

*cracker that’s made the rounds in many weight loss plans but needs be retired.

Trainers gonna train, train, train, train

A little background. Last week (has mercury unretrograded? hope so) Carolyn and I received more than a few emails from clients saying, “my trainer told me to buy”. We dutifully checked out said product and found nasty ingredients or something super processed. Thus this post. We totally get that that there is an overlap with fitness and nutrition but…I’ll get Carolyn take it away.

When in doubt we refer out to doctors, acupuncturists, yogis, and even stylists and organizationalists. We also love trainers and fitness instructors, for so many Foodtrainers’ clients they’re the other piece of the fit puzzle. But when some start dropping nutrition instructions when they should be teaching how to lift weights, I have some issues. Would you ask your therapist for workout tips? OK, ok once my old therapist “prescribed” me yoga (followed soon after by Xanax if we’re being honest) but for the most part, professionals should stick to their field, right?  

Lauren and I always preface our (very minimal) exercise recommendations with “we’re not trainers” because we think expertise is essential. We love reaching out to our favorite exercise professionals when we need fitness facts for our newsletters or posts. We went to school for a loooooong time to get to the nutrition expert level. We learned how meds can interact with nutrients, gained an understanding of blood work and lab values etc.  So when instructors make weird food or supplement or, maybe worst of all, cleanse recommendations in the middle of a Soul Cycle class, it makes us a little grouchy. The same can be said for doctors who get on average a week, maybe two of nutrition education tops.

There are the examples of trainers who do it right though the badass Holly Rilinger was writing a post on her experience with juicing but she asked for my nutrition input. YES!  And another trainer-friend of Foodtrainers gave us one of my favorite exercise quotes “you cant out train a bad diet”. Hallelujah!

But whether it’s coming from a trainer, a chiropractor, a fit friend or an insta-crush:

• If a product looks sketchy it probably is
• If your diet is on track you don’t need to be loading up on countless, expensive supplements
• Just because it worked for someone else doesn’t mean it will work or last for you
• If you have any health condition, take meds or even other vitamins all of these things have to be evaluated when you make dietary changes

Listen, in the world of insta and twitter there are lots of health enthusiasts that can easily be mistaken for experts. So look for credentials, ask for research, and then you can always ask us on twitter @onesmartbrownie @Foodtrainers

What do you think? Should trainers provide nutrition information or not? Where is the line? Perhaps encouraging hydration or breakfast eating is ok but what about specifics? And what about RDs, where should we curb our exercise advice? 

When “don’t get too hungry” backfires

Open any fitness magazine and you’re likely to read, “eat small, frequent meals” and “don’t let yourself get too hungry”. These aren’t the worst pieces of dietary advice.   “Everything in moderation” probably holds that title. However, eating frequency and grazing has been taken to an extreme. This has resulted in most of us having no clue when we’re hungry because we’re never really anywhere close.

I have clients admitting “I’m scared of being hungry” or “my friends joke I never miss a meal.” I’m certainly not advocating stomach growling (there was actually a Christian weight loss program I reviewed a few years ago with some sort of a “love the growl” slogan, I swear) or starvation. And yet we need to be in touch with what our bodies need and not simply eating and “feeding” preventively.

First, regularly assess your hunger. A 1-10 scale works nicely. If 1 is very little hunger/satiated and 10 is feeling faint/not good you want to eat at a 7 or 8. A rule I use with non-vegetarian clients is the “Chicken Test”. If I ask you if you want chocolate or even cheese and crackers, you may say yes. However, these treat foods are appealing regardless of hunger. If I ask you if you want a piece of grilled chicken, you will only accept when you are hungry.

Another exercise is to pick a day and let your appetite determine when you are ready to eat. If you’re worried about your work hours or schedule, simply have your meals prepared (boiled eggs, a salad and nuts aren’t difficult to transport) ahead of time. In the morning, don’t eat at 6am on autopilot if you aren’t hungry. Wait a bit…but not too long, I’d say up to 2 hours. Try to use the 1-10 hunger meter throughout the day.

There are days I’m upper super early and it’s 11am and I decide it’s lunchtime.

Or, if breakfast is a substantial smoothie, it may be 2pm before that mid day meal comes. Don’t push intervals between meals or snacks more than 4 hours at first but learn that your appetite isn’t fixed. And now tell me the diet advice that bugs you the most or if you’re scared of getting too hungry.

“If you pay attention to when you are hungry, what your body wants, what you are eating, when you've had enough, you end the obsession because obsession and awareness cannot coexist.” Geneen Roth

And, the winner of our Smoothie Giveaway/ Socal Detox Powder is Randi