Go Foods, Yup- Foods That Help You Go

this wasn't backward (squatty) when we were filming

I'll write about recipes and books another day. Today I have our latest embarrassing Youtube video. I don't even know if it's embarassing because we like tackling touchy topics. And "going" is something we're asked a lot about. Going matters.

I know more about nutrition than taking screenshots .

In this video, we introduce five of our top 10 foods that help "make shit happen" (I can't help myself this is bringing out my inner six year old). For the other five? You have to sign up for our January Whipping Weeks. Spaces still remain. For more information and to start 2016 on track, email info@foodtrainers.net with Whipping Week in the subject line.
What are your go to "go" foods? Any topics you want us to cover?

Happy New Year, here's what I suggest

Wow, a year ago today the Little Book of Thin was released. I was holed up in my apartment reviewing and reviewing for a Today show segment. I wasn’t thinking resolutions. Yesterday I was pretty free and spent some time reading resolution advice. Time magazine suggested resolutions work better when you “fork over cash”.  The Daily Good referenced Seinfeld’s comedy writing and suggested picking something you can do every day and to focus on the doing versus the results (liked that). Anyway you frame it though, the resolution success rates (under 10%) are almost as grim as weight loss statistics. “Nobody keeps their resolutions, nobody loses weight long-term". In 2014, I would’ve said those comments make me want to punch the doubters in the face but since it’s the first day of the year (and one of my personal goals is calmness) instead I’ll just say let’s prove those pessimists wrong.

What I know for sure in this department:

A year is a long time- start with a January commitment. I know, I know you’re super motivated and want to put the "holiday heft" behind you right away but commit for January and then reassess, even switch the goal. 

Track- there is a whole movement called The Quantified Self which can get a little carried away (sensors in our mattresses, really?) but there is a value to tracking and gathering data about yourself. First, activity trackers like my beloved Fitbit take little to no effort on your part in order to track your activity or water drinking. And just the act of tracking has a positive influence on your behavior. Psych people- isn’t this called the Hawthorne Effect? This is provided you’re not too judgy with yourself.. Keeping a food journal is another easy way to improve your behaviors. I think this is why people like our Foodstalking program.

Cooking- if you really want to make changes with your health and your weight, you need to cook. You don’t need to be a chef, you don’t need lots of equipment but you need to scramble eggs or roast vegetables or just take pride in buying the best ingredients you can. This connects you to your food and let’s you control what goes in your body. I was watching a show last night Booze Traveler (not very resolutiony but I’m obsessed) and the host joked “this batch tastes better because I helped prepare it". Can you make your lunch once a week? Or even cut vegetables up on Sunday for the week?  In LBT I suggest making a green, a grain and a main (protein) if you really want to set yourself up for the week.

Repetition works. My most successful clients have “anchor” behaviors that they do over and over. These habits breed confidence and also don’t require much deliberation. If we’re talking cooking, boil half a dozen eggs or roast Brussels sprouts once a week. Maybe there are one or two breakfasts you stick to like glue. And if you’re thinking that sounds boring? I only suggested a January pledge, for Feb you can switch it up.

If you’re on the fence about making changes. I loved this comment on a post earlier this week. This was from Andrew of the Wellness Notes blog

Whenever I gain some weight, I know that something is "going on" in my life. It's always a reflection of something being slightly off. So, no, I am never truly okay or happy when I'm heavier because it's actually a reflection of the other "stuff" that's going on.

And two other notes

First, stay tuned for information in our Monday newsletter on our Whipping Week. One week, super strict, kinda fun. Many of us need a nutritional whipping.

And second, I’m starting to write the proposal for book #2. I picked up Frank Lipman’s new book The New Health Rules (quick healthy snippets)  and “Do Something You Love for at Least 10 Minutes a Day” stuck with me. I love writing…so we’ll see.

Happy New Year to you. There are times when I feel “should I blog?” Or I feel guilty that I don’t give the blog as much attention as I used to but your comments and feedback are so interesting to me.

What do you think about resolutions? Are you a tracker? Do you cook? What do you love to do?

New Year, New Book, Same Inner Circle

And for those of you who don't have LBT yet (I'm assuming your book didn't arrive because I know you ordered it, of course) I wanted to share the dedication to my family and my shout out to Carolyn (or maybe onesmartbrownie to you). I also think our snack queen (Joanna Li RD) is as excited about this project as I am. Feeling grateful.

What are you grateful for today? Have you received your LBT? Embraced any new foods from it? 

Weight Loss Confessions from Behind the Cafe' Car Curtain

Yesterday, I boarded the aptly named Amtrak “Vermonter”. I was home for the week to see clients, do some much-needed, post ski grooming but looked forward to getting back to Vt. Weirdly, I love traveling by train. I book the business class car, connect to Wifi, get a ton of work done, and as you travel further North, the scenery is beautiful. The only issue yesterday was that the only open seats in the car were the closest to the café’ car. I was hesitant as I’m completely smell-averse, what I didn’t realize was the insider peak into other customers’ food orders, requests and confessions I was about to be privy to.

I took my comfy, maroon seat and decided to have lunch before I edited our resolution-themed January newsletter. I was convinced that the passenger across the aisle, we’ll call him “Cruise” was giving me weird looks as I made my way through the kale salad and multigreen kombhucha I brought with me. I also had a chuckle as I heard the first café’ order which happened to be a woman ordering a Bud Light at 11:40am. Maybe her resolution was “drink earlier”.

 As the trip continued I was disheartened listening to “Cup of Noodles please”, “DiGiorno Pizza” and “pack of peanut M&Ms”. I will give a shout out to the man who clutched his aluminum mug (the curtain was temporarily open) and asked if there was a tap for water. There was and I was thrilled he wasn’t directed to the bathroom faucet, ick. I was having fantasies of pulling open the curtain handing out business cards and the snacks in my purse (health warrior bar, oloves and chia butter).

Throughout the ride passengers, in the car, made phone calls. It amazes me what people will say knowing full well that not only can others hear but also that, chances are, they are listening. For a long hour early on Meyer Weiss announced himself on his phone. He had one of those rockin’ earpieces and talked about a new CEO, Japanese markets, and a trip to Mexico… if SNL is casting a dorky, corporate guy, I’d look this guy up. 

Then, the somewhat rough and tumble person across the aisle, Cruise, took to his phone.  First call, I heard a prescription order and was immediately more interested than I had been in any of Meyer’s calls. The next call, to whom I now gather was the girlfriend, first reminded her “you better not be late to the train I’ve been on this thing since 10 in the damn morning”. Part of me hoped she would never pick him up, at all, after talking to her like that but I listened on. There was a mention of less booze and more church. I could’ve sworn I heard something about a cruise and a speedo but assumed I eavesdropped incorrectly. I heard bits as I was ironically emailing with Carolyn about a Today segment she was prepping for on…resolutions of course.

Cruise got up and went into the café, closing the curtain behind him. He ordered water and then added, to the person taking the order,

 “Yeah I’m going on this cruise with my girlfriend, no booze till the cruise man and that’s not till March.”

“See, I’m wearin’ this speedo, ok so it’s not a speedo but it’s tight.”

I promise, I tried not to pay attention…impossible. 

“My girl" she got me this bathing suit and it was super tight you see I was a 34 and now I’m like a 38.”

 “ I sent her to return it but she didn’t right away and then it was too late.” “So now I’m losin’ and eatin’ right and all that shit.”

All I wanted was a photo of Cruise to post here but I wimped out. I even tried to get a photo via reflection in my window as I feigned snapping a sunset pic. I turned the flash off and still no good. I’ve written about “pre beach” and swimsuit slim downs and never, ever would someone like Cruise be in my mind as my potential audience. And yet, chauvinism and misogyny aside, he has his specific goals, a timeline, means to his "end".  With clients I've learned,  you can never know in advance who is going to be determined and succeed and who will not. Or who will order the mid day drink or who wants to slim down. We don’t know what will cause us to turn things around and whose resolutions will stick…so we have to try and see.

If you were designing a café car menu for Amtrak, what would you offer? Do you think men are as focused on weight as women and just talk about it less? Would you have had the guts to snap a photo of Cruise? Finally, we have a hashtag email us #ResPledge @Foodtrainers your resolutions and we'll help keep you honest.

You May Fail, Be a Resolution-ary Anyway

From one of my Facebook friends, love it though a little more to it...

Many people get divorced and many others drop out of college. Did either of these facts affect your decision to ultimately get married or attend college? Each of these endeavors need to be taken seriously but the potential benefits, for many, out weigh the risk. I feel the same way about New Years Resolutions, why pass up an opportunity to experience something because many people, possibly you in past years, didn’t see things through?  Two years ago, I started my pro-resolution campaign with 

In Defense of Resolutions and feel there’s even more anti-resolution propaganda now to fend off.

Last year in Doomed Resolutions (and how to improve them) I talked about some mistakes in revolution setting. If you make the same resolution every year, you may want to rethink it. Let’s take the clichéd but often needed weight loss goal. If for, as far as you can remember, you’ve declared on January 1^st you would loose 20 pounds, some suggestions:

• Be More Modest with Goal Setting (and in life), aim for 5 to 10 pounds, anything more is icing on the cake or a sign you’ve had less cake. The truth is, progress is progress and if it seems too far away anyone can get resolution-fatique.
• A+B+C+D= Weight Loss. Focusing on losing weight is akin to spending all your time saying, “I wish I had a job” versus rewriting your resume, networking or maybe working with a headhunter.  Maybe setting a TV limit or eating fewer take out meals or seeing a nutritionist will you help you with your weight. Sorting out the steps is as valuable as any goal you can set.
• Make Resolutions Positive. Carolyn was asked in this WebMD article about her resolutions and her suggestion was to give resolutions a positive, proactive slant.  One of her resolutions is to cook once a week with her sisters. I’ve talked about cooking goals in Cooking Homework. Other positive goals are to eat more fish, experiment with greens you haven’t tried or to drink more tea.
• Focus on the Health Component. Sometimes, I know it’s shocking, vanity isn’t enough stimulate behavior change. Whether it’s osteoporosis, infertility or cancer prevention your diet and exercise play a role. Changes you make in the name of health or chronic disease will likely have longevity.

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting idea. They suggested “outsourcing” resolutions. Give it a try; in our family the consensus was that my husband needed to leave us all waiting less/be more punctual. For Myles or “Prince Myles” we felt he could do more on his own. Weston could benefit from crying less when his brother upsets him and the shocker was that the family felt “Mom should yell less.” And that’s the danger with asking others what they feel you should work on. Their answers, though truthful, may sting.

I loved an interview I read recently in Yoga Journal. Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon Athletica and huge goal proponent said, “to make goals effective you have to fail at them 50 percent of the time.” We should all keep Steve Jobs in mind as we ring start the New Year. Remember Steve and all he accomplished and remember he was a college dropout. Happy New Year.

Where do you stand with resolutions? What do you think of outsourcing them? Any you want to put out there? I’ll check back with you and see how you’re doing.