Foodtrainers' Holiday Helper Rosh Rules (and YK too)

Well, actually don't

We’ve just shifted out of summer mode and the holidays are upon us.

While it can feel like September presents one thing after another, we're hoping that since  many of us are still casting off our summer holiday treatsare slightly less alluring (maybe?)

Here are Foodtrainers’ tips for a “sweet” new year. The only thing sweeter than honey cake is feeling svelte when September ends. Agree? Thought so.

 Rosh Rules (and YK too)

 Create room for holiday meals. If you’re familiar with Foodtraining through the holidays .you know that we believe in utilizing pre and post holiday days. For every holiday meal, have 1 day where you skip anything sweet (wine and fruit are sweet).

 Secret Holiday Weapons: have lemon squeezed in water before your holiday meal, this will prevent your blood sugar from rising sky high and may displace a glass of wine. The morning after holidays, try our magic green elixir.

 Employ our “traditional” 1 plate rule: make a plate with 1/2 veggies, 1/4 protein, 1/4 carb. If you can skip the carb and try making your plate ¾ veg, even better. No seconds (that would be 2 plates).

 Pick 1 treat per holiday: kugel, matzo balls and next week bagels-OY (if your clothes aren’t fitting really well, nothing about these foods will help, just a “sweet’ reminder). We cannot have it all and not expect post-holiday matzo balls in unfortunate, unwanted places…

*note this isn’t 1 treat per holiday meal, got it? One treat for RH and one for YK max, if you forego other treats we’ll sound our office shofar for you.
  So what should you eat? We say GO Gefilte or via sauce removal “naked” brisket, these are good protein choices. Roasted veggies (carrots being a “sweeter” veg is the least of your worries) are fair game. Also, a little known fact some feel spinach (silka) was one of the original signs of Rosh Hashanah. In terms of carbs, gourds (pumpkins and squashes) have symbolic meaning and are your best starch selection.

 BYOT (bring your own tea) Rosh Hashanah food is super sweet. Chances are the above-mentioned honey cake is redundant. Basically Rosh Hashanah dinner is dessert. So skip the sweets post meal, Tazo makes a great, organic cinnamon apple tea. 

 Don’t binge before you fast. If you fast for YK avoid the temptation to overdue it beforehand. This actually makes fasting more difficult. Stick to the one plate rule and the 1-carb per plate rule as well. 

 Bagels are a break up food , break fast or not.  Speaking of The Little Book of Thin, the holiday chapter is a great primer for the holidays (just saying).

 You are not alone! You can also #TIDEI (via twitter) if you need extra support. For example "my aunt is guilting me into eating _________" 
 Insta your plate @Foodtrainers @onesmartbrownie, one properly composed plate will receive some "secret post holiday weapons".
And of course we wish you a year filled with health and happiness.
Did you have a holiday meal already? How was it? Which of these "rules" resonates with you? 
Do you find September a difficult month?
*Congrats to our first week of September Squeezers who took the month by storm and put in 7 days of great eating and focus.

Since When is Dessert Everyday?

Not to sound creepy but I’ve been watching you. It’s late at night; you’re cleaning the kitchen or just arrived home from a dinner out. Perhaps the kids are asleep. It’s quiet. You feel a little tired but there’s something that needs to happen before you go to sleep.  Maybe it’s a piece of dark chocolate or a Skinny Cow. It isn’t much you say, maybe 100 calories. After all, what’s wrong with a little dessert?  I’ll let you draw your own conclusions shortly.

Last summer, back when it was warm, I caught a segment my close friend (and fellow nutritionist) Keri Glassman did on frozen desserts. She presented her top treats and the reasoning behind her selections.  At one point the anchor, Storm Field, looked at her and said “but we shouldn’t have these daily, right? Why all of a sudden are people having dessert everyday?” Not bad for a weatherman, Storm had a good point. Keri concurred during the segment and I nodded as I watched.

 A day doesn’t go by without a client asking me something to the effect of  “I need new ideas for after dinner snacks.”  And I come through full of ideas for healthy baked apples and microwavable chocolate “soufflés”.  Some clients chomp on frozen wild blueberries and others (like myself) love medjool dates. The unbelievably sad truth is that we don’t need any of these things daily, especially if weight loss is a goal.

I wouldn’t be a dietitian if I didn’t do a little calorie counting here and there (though I far prefer talking about juicer issues). Let’s take that 100 calorie after dinner snack (aka dessert). That seemingly tiny treat, nightly, adds up to 36,500 calories in a year. And we all know that the treat isn’t always tiny. Well that 36,500 divided by 3,500 calories in a pound is 10.43. Simply put that Skinny Cow may be keeping you from getting skinny. I learned today that skinny is a bad word (diet Pepsi is catching plenty of slack for their new skinny can versus what’s in the can); many people don’t want to be skinny. If you don’t have 10 pounds you want to lose, I’m not talking to you but for the other 99% of you reading this, at least you know what needs to go.

If you’re suddenly feeling panic stricken, don’t. I’m not making house calls (yet) and swooping in to confiscate the candy. I’m not saying you have to do away with the dark chocolate. I have a couple of options. The first, we’ll call Show Yourself a Skip. If you’re someone who has something every night of the week, commit to a skip night or 2.  For starters I would pre-plan the skip nights, for example you can start the week with skips every Monday and Tuesday.  This will remove the automatic nature of dessert eating and you’ll hopefully be able to ask yourself “do I need something or can I skip it” down the road.  For those of you who need more of an intervention, I suggest Dessert Detox. Try a week where you end your eating day with dinner. Check back with me and let me know how it goes.  And for the record, I’m not actually watching you.

Are you someone who has dessert daily? Do you think dessert has shifted from a sometimes event to an all-the-time thing? Can you see Showing Yourself a Skip or Dessert Detox in your future? I’ve ditched the dates, detox for me.