If the Halloween candy "called" you, here's why

 Via Vo/shutter stock

There’s a definite pattern when it comes to adults and Halloween candy. Many adults resist candy on Halloween. Then, the next day if it’s in the house or at the office they start to pick. “Just a couple” pieces here, a couple there. The same thing goes for Thanksgiving. Day of, many clients are on plan. The next day? The leftovers take them down.

Why is this? Many people make a decision, ahead of time, not to eat candy on Halloween or not to eat the 5,000 calorie meal on Thanksgiving. It’s clear what the plan is for the holiday itself. The day after? There’s no plan for that and so deliberation begins. “Should I have it?”  and this line of questioning rarely ends well.

I read a thought-provoking Vox article, “the myth of self-control”. The first portion of the article is a little depressing as the case is made that it’s super tricky to pass things up. “Human beings are terrible at resisting temptation.” Then came the  interesting part. “The people who are really good at self-control never have these battles in first place.” It’s not that some people have more willpower, it’s that some people avoid having to exert it.

If you want to avoid the exhaustion that comes with fending food (or other temptations for that matter) off some ideas:

Planning

I talk about this throughout The Little Book of Thin. The fewer food decisions you make on the spot, the better. When you’re staring face to face with the muffin tray and negotiating, your odds are slim. A Foodstalking client has a coworker with a candy bowl or “bowl of bullshit” as she calls it. The bowl was her downfall every afternoon. “One or two things only” wasn’t cutting it. Instead she called out of B.O. B. and put it on her “no” list. No piece here or piece there, no contemplating no bullshit…period.

Reminders and reinforcement

 In research mentioned in the article, people were texted reminders of their goals to help them make good choices. A couple of years ago, we started our Foodstalking program. We were astounded by the success and demand for spots. In this email-based program, we are in touch with clients daily. This encouragement and accountability helps establish new behaviors. Having a buddy is another way of doing this. Enlist a friend or coworker (spouses aren’t best idea for this) and work together to skip the candy, make it to your workouts etc.

Substitution

 “No candy” for some sounds daunting. In order to avoid the bowl of bullshit, my client has an RX Bar at 3pm every day. You can replace a food with a food or it can be a behavior. Taking a walk after dinner or meeting a friend for a workout instead of a drink are other examples of substitution.

So don’t beat yourself up for a slip. Instead, backtrack and see where you could’ve avoided that temptation all together. I’ll remind you about this  again before Thanksgiving and leftovers come into play.

Should you think about food all the time?

Last week a client came in for her first follow-up session. She recapped her week and said, “I feel like I’m thinking about food all the time, should I be?” I have to say I hear this a lot. I dug a little and a lot of this client’s food thoughts were of the planning variety. She also had a little insecurity over whether she was doing all of this right. I reassured this client. “You’re learning a new language and it’s not second nature yet. Of course it’s taking up mind time.” And then the follow up “not to worry, over time I don’t want you thinking about food 24/7 but some degree of forethought is always good.”

Not all food thoughts are created equal.

I was sent this link about a disorder called Orthorexia. This article questions this diagnosis as being anti healthy, conscious eating. I feel differently. It’s one thing to vet the foods you put into your body. It’s another if situations where you cannot control food choices are completely avoided or if food concerns outweigh food pleasure. It’s a fine line. Even some of the criteria for orthorexia sound a lot like things I recommend…planning your food day etc. My advice is that the more on top of healthy eating you are, the less you should be thinking about food. I tend to think the most destructive food thoughts are when food is off.  I’d take deliberation over guilt any day. Only you know if your food thoughts are bringing you sanity or stress.

Would you say you think about food a lot? Are these thoughts generally positive or negative? What’s your feeling on the disorder orthorexia?

Top Ten Tips For Your Healthiest Mother's Day Ever

Motherhood is great, I can get sappy and say it’s a gift (which it absolutely) is but it’s gift that comes with its own unique challenges. With a little planning (I mean who’s better at planning than moms?) we can put those difficulties to bed. Try these 10 tips  for your healthiest Mother’s Day yet.

1. Pick Free Week- many of my “mom” clients say they don’t eat chicken fingers or candy or mac and cheese and truth be told they don’t really eat a full portion of them. However, the few French fries and cookie bites add up. For one full week, skip the kid picks. It will be both eye opening and slimming.

2. Try Turmeric- are you familiar with turmeric? It’s the yellow spice (a component in curry powder) you may very well have in your spice cabinet. Well take it out and sprinkle it on eggs or veggies or grains. It’s a very powerful mood booster, has strong anti cancer properties and is anti-inflammatory too.

3. Skinny Starts Sunday- use an hour or two on Sunday to make a weekly menu and food shop. I suggest trying 1 new recipe or ingredient per week and planning at least 1 fish or shellfish dinner for the family. Winging it and weight loss (or health) don’t go together.

4. Go for Glass- many moms are aware of BPAs those chemicals lurking in many plastic bottles and kids’ sippy cups. If you think BPA free is the way to go, I’m not convinced what they’re replacing BPAs with in these plastics is any safer. Your best bet for you and the kids are glass water bottles and food containers. If you’re on the fence this class of chemicals found in many plastics are called obeseogens, yup.

5. Play- think of your children as mini personal trainers. When my kids shoot hoops I do too. A client just came in saying “instead of watching my kids play soccer I joined in. They loved that I was playing and I got some added exercise in.” Win, win.

6. Afternoon Ammunition- moms are known to for pack snacks for kids and nothing for themselves. And then if you’re lucky there will be cheddar bunnies to spare. You can do better than bunnies. In every purse, stash a snack. I like nutrition bars by Zing and Health Warrior. You can also wash out an altoid tin, we call this a “nutcase” at Foodtrainers. Fill with hazelnuts or sunflower seeds (both contain a type of fat that legitimately belly slimming)

7. Cooking Crudite- dinnertime can be a doozy. Many clients say they taste and graze so much while they’re cooking that they aren’t hungry for dinner (but still eat). The solution? Set out some cooking crudité- carrots, cucumbers or bell peppers sliced for when you want to munch on something but are conscious about those cooking calories.

8. Be An Early Bird- speaking of cooking and dinner, when to eat is a dilemma for many moms. Do you eat early with the children or wait for your spouse to come home in a couple of hours? Have an early bird dinner which is much better than  a double dinner.

 9. Watch where you work- I wouldn’t pay bills or return emails in the kitchen with the fridge staring at you, it’s too tempting and one stressful email or big bill can send you over the snack edge.

10. Tea is the thin girl’s nightcap- it’s so easy to crave a treat once the kids are asleep. Then one treat turns into two…Instead try nighttime teas. I love one made by Pukka with lavender in it. It’ll save you calories and relax you.

And on that note, a happy and healthy Mother’s Day to all.

Mindful but not Neurotic

New Foodtrainees often ask “how long do clients typically see you?” That’s a tricky question to answer. Most clients come intensively in the first couple of months but the really successful Foodtrainees don’t see our work in those terms. If you think about it, would you ask a personal trainer “how many visits will I need?” Or a therapist? Food is the same way. Though clients may not come weekly for the duration they check in, schedule a bunch of visits to reboot and realize the value of accountability.

I am an excellent digresser but session frequency wasn’t the point of this post. I had a client in my office last Thursday and we realized that we first met five years ago. I have seen her in spurts but this time of year is crazy for her with work and so we’re usually in contact. She opened her session (long time Foodtrainees know I prefer the good news first though we all have the tendency to want to confess our food sins) saying “I feel mindful but not neurotic”.

I jotted that comment down in my notebook. Progress with weight should make us less obsessive not more. I’ll call this client Five (for our five years). Five knows what foods to bring for her trips. She also knows how to reign it in before and after to allot for travel eating. Most of all, she knows which behaviors leave her at the top of her comfortable range and what she’s doing when she wants to drop.

I was doing a radio show last week and was asked “who is the Foodtrainers’ client?”

I joked and said I  could be a Foodtrainers’ client and added it’s someone who likes input and a system, someone busy with work or family or travel or just stuff. Someone who likes to eat but likes their clothes fitting well and wants to age gracefully.” My client Five is all of the above. Happy Anniversary to her and I’m raising my glass (ok coffee mug) to us all being more mindful and less neurotic.

Why do you think we want rapid results when it comes to food and weight? Would you have thought that clients come to us for 5 or 10 years? Are you more mindful or more neurotic?

Two Little Book of Thin Secrets to Say Thank You

Little Book of Thin illustrator Diana Marye Huff

Here we are, another Monday morning and I have two questions for you. Are you walking around with any thoughts along the line of “ugh why did I eat x, y or z this weekend?” My second seemingly unrelated question is do you know what you’re having for dinner tonight? If you answered “yes” to the first food-guilt question or “no” to the second planning question The Little Book of Thin is for you. I am so appreciative of those of you who have pre-ordered this book. I told you to save your e-receipts and I hope you did because I have a token of my gratitude to send you and these are not just any tokens they are "thin" tokens.

First, you’ll receive the LBT Victory List (oh my goodness my son just came in and said “mom don’t you mean BLT”). Parting ways with that food guilt is one of the cornerstones of Foodtraining and this Victory List will get you started, even before the book arrives. When we’re trapped in “I shouldn’t have had that” mode we’re wasting time that could be spent strategizing. Banish the word willpower from your vocabulary. It’s not about who will win you or the breadbasket, it’s about deciding whether you’re having the bread (or booze or dessert) before you’re in the tricky situation. With the LBT Menu Map you’ll start to wear your food-planning hat and an ounce of prevention is worth many, many pounds of fat.Life is too short to cry over a caramel or an extra cocktail but I know you want to feel your best, come January 1^st 2014 (and now even before that) you can.

Here’s what to do: email your proof of purchase to info@foodtrainers.net and type “LBT preorder” in the subject line. We’ll email you your Victory List and Menu Map. And if you can’t locate your receipt, simply email your name and where you preordered from (Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc).

So let’s kick this week off on a positive note. What healthy item did you purchase or cook this weekend? Any fun fall workouts? Whatever you did for yourself it’s a victory, pat yourself on the back and one victory will lead to more.

**And bloggers I’m going to be doing a Little Book of Thin Blog Tour. Some of you have emailed expressing interest in doing a Q/A or receiving an advance copy. This will take place the first two weeks in January; contact me if you’re interested. It’ll be a great way to kick off the New Year and we can tailor the content to your audience or platform.

Hamptons Marathon: The Best Laid Plans

So, I ran a marathon on Saturday. Compared to Chicago last year, there’s been very little mentioned here about this race and that was a conscious decision. I figured I would check in after the race, tell you all about my fun day and move on to other topics. We chose the Hamptons Marathon. It’s a small, local race that Runners World gave good reviews. I don’t like marathon training hanging over my head too far into the fall, so late September seemed perfect. Let’s just say my plan didn’t work that well and Saturday- well it was rough.

My training leading up to the race was pretty strong. I was running faster than I had in recent years and diligently tracking all my runs from my Garmin GPS watch in Training Peaks.  I ran a couple of half marathons this summer; one was strong, one more conservative (it was a very hot day). And though I was sidelined with bronchitis a couple weeks ago still felt ready to go. I started eyeing the forecast about a week ago and felt relieved that there didn’t seem to be a heat wave coming. Of course as we got closer rain seemed a good possibility but I was ok with that. What had started out as five people we knew running the race had dwindled to three. Friday, late in the day, my friend emailed she was out, a hurt knee and the weather didn’t help.

So it was just Marc and me. The boys would be staying with friends (very, very nice friends) and we drove out East Friday night. We had our usual pre-race sushi dinner and prepared for the next day. We pinned our numbers to our shirts, packed our shorts with Clif Shots and printed our pacing wristbands. I set the coffee maker for the next morning and of course brought our Le Pain Quotidian coffee from home. I am a big believer in race rituals and am a planner by nature; this too would work against me.

We woke up at 5AM Saturday, my father in law said “I think you got lucky, it’s not raining.” I had my E3 Live, followed by coffee and Purely Elizabeth Granola with fruit. I put some Vega Performance optimizer in a bottle to have in the hour before the race. We drove to the start, found parking close by and felt that nice race day buzz. 

We had plenty of time and a full row of empty and clean Porto potties. I decided to take advantage of this and laughed when a Lululemon bag with the words “Breathe Deeply” had been discarded on the floor of the Porto potty, I decided not to comply.

We lined up at the starting area. Instead of a motivating welcome speech the man counting down said these ominous words “this is not a flat course, it’s very hilly out there” and then we were off. We were running alongside half marathoners and some doing a 5K so it was important not to get caught up and go out too fast. After a bunch of marathons, I knew slow was better than fast and continued to consult my watch and pace accordingly. I distracted myself looking at the runners around me. There was the woman in teal who moved her arms as though she were swimming freestyle. There was also the shirtless man with a hairy back and Vibrams. I briefly wondered where he placed his running number without a shirt.  I also noticed it was very, very humid. It felt like you were running through glue and I just didn’t feel energetic. 

We were on pace through 5 miles and at about mile 6 my hypersensitive Garmin watch, probably malfunctioning from the humidity/mist, stopped. Part of me freaked while the trying-to -be-sane part of me realized I’d have the race clocks and with my pacing band could gauge my speed. The only thing was at 6 miles the full marathon split from the half marathon course and so it seemed did all of the race’s efforts. The next clock would be mile 13 (it said 2:70, 2 hours 70 minutes? It was broken).

Trying to regroup, I tried to use the fluid stations as markers but there were times when these were 2 miles or more apart. Some had Gatorade, some didn’t, and some didn’t even have people manning them. Marathons are very mental and looking back for someone so routinized (ok anal) all of the changes didn’t go over well. By mile 15, I was wiped out. I felt how I did last year in the final miles of Chicago. I had never experienced this so early in the race. There were really no spectators and with the hills I was warned about looming for as far as I could see, I made the decision to drop out. I reasoned that it wasn’t my day and that was fine. I planned to find a police car at the next water station and pack it in. Even my dropout plan backfired when at the next water stop there were no police cars or anyone to drop out with. I had one Clif shot left in my pocket and figured I may as well see if some “triple espresso” would do the trick. I looked ahead of me and it didn’t help that everyone was walking. I elected to continue and figured worst case I’d have a 10-mile walk. Instead, I used my music and told myself I couldn’t stop until a song was over. As I ran for the duration of my son’s favorite song (Paycheck), I passed hairy back. As miserable as I was, I laughed a little

Soon I was at mile 20, I was scared to look at the clock. With my walking breaks and fatigue, I thought for sure it would be beyond horrible. It said 3:18, I was flummoxed.  I was only a few minutes slow. In a typical race, I’d dig down deep and finish strong only I was so exhausted that wasn’t going to happen. There was no euphoria, there was no strategy remaining except to finish. At the 26-mile mark I summoned the last remaining energy and ran it in. Marc was there. Though it was humid and he didn’t feel he could push it like he wanted to, the lack of clocks or water didn’t affect him. He didn’t really have a race plan and it worked out well. As for me, while disappointing this crappy race was also informative and will in no way diminish my planning tendencies. In fact, one day later I realize how lucky I was to have participated and will use what I learned in planning future races.

Are you someone who plans or wings it?  What’s your next fitness goal or challenge?

Do you think being goal-oriented can have its disadvantages? 

10 Easy Foodtrainers-Approved Dinners

*Since this was late to post Friday (Blogger down) leaving it up to be sure you have chance to read.


Many of us start the day out strong but then our eating suffers by sundown. I asked our Market Melissa to share some of the information from her “Taming Takeout” Market Foodtraining tours to help us solve the dinner dilemma. Thanks M.

I know how it goes. It’s 7pm and you walk in the door. You are tired, hungry and cranky. What’s for dinner?  That’ll be takeout (again). My clients have been there; I ‘ve been there. It’s a pattern we can all fall into and it isn’t a good one.  While I don’t expect anyone to start dicing, slicing and following a 20-ingredient recipe, making dinner can be quick AND healthy. My 3 “supper secrets” are:

• Make a menu plan-menu sounds complicated but know what you’ll eat each night of the week and shop for missing ingredients.
• Be your own sous chef- chop vegetables on Sunday, do as much advance prep as possible.
• Make extra, I always try and make extra servings when I am cooking so I have leftovers nights during the week when I know I will be working late.

So put away your takeout menu collection and try some of our favorite easy dinners:

1.  Fajita Omelet – we love breakfast for dinner. Sauté peppers and onions in 1 tsp. olive oil. Add in 1-2 omega 3 eggs and top with salsa and/or avocado.
2.  Multipurpose Marinade-  this is a great marinade from Clean Eating magazine. I let chicken breasts, cut into strips, marinate over night for more flavor and it’s ready for a  grill pan as soon as I walk in the door. 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil, 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, salt and pepper for (4) 4 oz. chicken breasts. Trader Joe’s pre-cooked brown rice is always in my pantry- heat and top with chicken.
3.  Roasted Shrimp Cocktail – I love this simple and quick Ina Garten recipe for roasted shrimp. Serve over dinosaur kale or pre-washed salad greens.
4. Easy Oven Roasted Cod from Rosaberry. Preheat the oven to 400º. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Season 1.5 pounds cod fillets with salt and pepper and sprinkle with lemon zest (1 tsp). Place the fillets on the parchment paper. In a bowl mix a pint grape tomatoes, ¼ cup pitted calamata olives, 2 tsp oregano, and  1 Tbs olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the tomato mixture over the cod. Roast 12-15 minutes. Squeeze lemon wedge over cooked fish.
5.  Trader Joe’s Organic Baked Tofu (teriyaki or savory flavor). This is always in my refrigerator to throw over a salad or quinoa for an instant dinner. Quinoa is a staple on my weekly menu. It is one of the quickest cooking whole grains out there, done in 10 minutes.
6. Poached chicken – Simmer organic chicken in low sodium broth for 20 minutes or until cooked through. I like to make several servings to have as leftovers. Enjoy with roasted vegetables or wrap it up in a whole wheat or corn tortilla.
7.  Burger Night -  I love anything Applegate Farms especially their organic turkey burgers . For a Vegetarian option, my go to veggie burger is Sunshine Burgers (I like the falafel flavor) Both can be kept in the freezer and pulled out right before cooking. They are great on their own, topped with avocado, hummus or salsa or with a side of Alexia sweet potato fries. 
8. Organic Bistro meals – I am not a huge proponent of frozen meals, but they are good to have in a pinch. This line is the best one out there in terms of sodium content and the lack of preservatives. All ingredients are “real food.” My kind of ingredient list. The Wild Alaskan Salmon is a favorite.  
9. Pasta – I like using brown rice or quinoa pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. Sauté your veggie of choice in garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes (optional). Zucchini, asparagus & tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli or kale are some of my favorites. Top pasta with veggies and fresh herbs (flat leaf parsley or basil work for any dish). Think more veggies and less pasta. Total time is less than 20 minutes. 
10. Portobello Pizza – Lauren told me about this one from the Swanky Dietitian and it has been in my rotation ever since. Super easy and helps satisfy my ever-present pizza cravings.                                                                                                                                      Are you a victim of the take out monster on weekdays? What are your go-to easy dinners? And what are your time-saving tips? To learn more about Melissa’s Market Foodtraining tours click here.

Blackberry Farm

I am writing this from post from Blackberry Farm. I’m here giving a series of short talks to some guests participating in a motivational boot camp.  If you aren’t familiar with Blackberry Farm it’s a farm to table property in the Smoky Mountains. All of the produce served here is produced on the farm. Last night on the way to dinner we passed the truffle farm and saw the building where the cheese and jam are made. Before dinner, I met the participants as they returned from a hike.

I introduced people, singles and couples, from Texas, Mississippi and Westchester to Foodtraining. The premise of the talk is that we all know the “shoulds” in terms of exercise.  Yet there is a gap between what we know we should do and what we actually do. Whether it’s cooking or exercise or snacking or drinking we each have our behavioral Achilles heel. My proposed antidote to these weak areas is planning (more on that later). It was my first talk I’ve ever done with a glass of champagne in my hand. I raised a glass to the group and we headed into dinner.

Dinner was a delicious four-course meal with a wine for each course. I worked with Sam Beall, the proprietor of Blackberry, offering a few suggestions (they clearly don’t need my help). We started with a Beet Carpaccio served with Hen of the Woods mushrooms and “crispy buckwheat.” Buckwheat is gluten free and the crunch in the salad was fantastic. The following course was a vegetable soup utilizing the last kale of the season here. Also in the soup were the flowers from the kale this time of year. These flowers have a name but two wines in, it’s no wonder I cannot recall it. Our entrée was Guinea Hen serves with ramps (wild leeks) and brown “basmati rice grits”.  The flavor of the ramps with these polenta-like grits was insanely good. I chose not to lick my plate but scraped it clean. And finally, on a beautiful slab of slate we were served Blackberry Farm’s “Singing Brook” cheese with Honey Turnips.

It was one of those nights where I felt the rest of the world was so far away. Marc and I were seated with Mary Celeste and Sam Beall who live at Blackberry Farm with their four children. Marc was next to a couple married when they were in their 50’s in the French Quarter. Stories were shared about travel and cooking and wine and more. As I relaxed from a long week I realized I was supposed to talk “sleep tips” after dinner. Everyone grabbed his or her tea or coffee (or remaining wine) and we walked down a path to another house. In a living room-like setting we all talked about sleep which I didn’t think would be too hard after all that good food and wine.

What do you feel is your Achilles heel when it comes to nutrition or exercise? Are you at all sat to say goodbye to root vegetables or kale as spring arrives? What are your favorite meal memories where the menu and company seemed perfect?

Who has the time?

Last week, I did a segment for a local TV show called Moms and the City. A study was released revealing that 40 percent of NYC kindergarteners are overweight or obese. Even more disturbing were the numbers for certain neighborhoods where over half the children were overweight. Neighborhoods with high mean income levels had some of the lower percentages. Moms and the City asked me for some simple tips all moms could follow in light of the study. I didn’t want to sound extreme and yet, clearly, NYC parents need some help. I said:


The one skill that can transform a families eating, many mothers possess already and that’s organization. When it comes to food organizing:
1. Make a weekly menu plan to avoid waste and up the nutritional ante in meals.

2. Cook- this doesn’t have to be a 100% cooking commitment but 2 times a week if you aren’t already.

3. Shop- seek out farmers markets as the selection of produce in some urban supermarkets is lousy. Farmers markets excite children about healthy food.

If you’ll notice none of these tips involve removing things from your diet. There isn’t “no” preceding any tips and yet following these guidelines would make a huge difference for many families obese or not. I felt good about my segment and was excited to watch it. Thursday night at 10:00 I turned on the show and the obesity statistics were the first item discussed. They ran the clip, taped in my office, and despite only 1 take I thought my message came across as clear and reasonable. A nanosecond later, one of the 3 moms said “I’m sorry but who has the time?” One of the other moms Melissa Gerstein, who had interviewed me, said “we go to Fairway on Sunday and we figure it out.” She proceeded to give some examples of meals her family ate and made a good case for planning. I was a little disappointed. The format of the show is 3 different moms giving their opinion on various issues. While this mom, Raina, was probably expressing an opinion many moms relate to, I felt it could quell any newfound inspiration moms watching may have been feeling.

Last night something made me rethink my reaction. I was out with 2 friends, 2 other moms in the city (no connection to the show) and we were discussing housekeeping. My friend mentioned this glow system  that teaches you how to be more efficient in cleaning your house or apartment. My friend said “they have these tips that allow you to leave for work with a spotless kitchen.” I smiled, thinking about the dishes in the sink and breakfast remnants that greet me when I return from my run and dropping the kids at school. “It isn’t going to happen for me, as it is I am up at 5:30 to return emails and get breakfast ready.” In my own way, I was pretty much saying “who has the time?”

Most people I know are time-starved but use their time for things they deem important. I will change my day around to get to the market but have a huge stack of papers sitting on my desk. I have clients who wake up at 4:30am to exercise and others who work until 4:30am. They key is to make the time for the areas previously marginalized and for many of us that includes food. The key is to get the ball rolling, even if it rolls slowly. I put the milk away and washed out the coffee pot this morning. I wonder if Raina would be willing to cook a bit.
What are your weak or strong areas? What do you always make time for? What could you carve out more time for?