What's in my bag? Nutrition edition

I am weirdly obsessed with what people have in things. What’s in their fridge, what’s in their shopping cart and Us Weekly’s “what’s in my bag”. It has nothing to do with wanting to critique. As I said in The Little Book of Thin, the fridge is the new medicine cabinet and I can’t help myself from wanting to snoop. Even if I don’t know who person is or don’t especially like the person the mint or makeup they swear by is interesting to me. And of course if someone has a Foodtrainers-approved snack or product they’re immediately on my “like list”.

US Weekly isn’t calling any time soon so in case you’re wondering (and I realize you may not be) here’s what I have.

In my Matt and Nat cork bag: I love these bags out of Montreal which are sustainable and ecofriendly with liners made out of plastic bottles.

1. Foodtrainers’ Nutcase  always have a nutcase with me as this is my snack most afternoons. I'm currently loving SuperSeedz and always on looking for interesting nut mixes or flavors. No more overnutting or hangry afternoons.
2. Swell Water bottle  if I’m carrying a bag it’s huge and there’s plenty of room for a water bottle. I'm loving these bottles from Swell for every one of these wood bottles sold American Forests plants a tree. Plus, these bottles will not open in your purse. Laptops do not need to hydrate.
3. Vitamin case- I always fill a case with my “pills” du jour. Lately my every day vitamins have been saffron, evening primrose and Coq10.
4. Teabags- I’ll generally take something with caffeine like a puEhr or Runa and something herbal. Pukka makes the best teas.  
5. Fitbit Charger- I panic when my fitbit battery is low. If this charger isn’t connected to my laptop is always in my bag.  
6. 21 drops- roll on fragrance is fantastic. We discovered the aromatherapy from 21 drops. MY favorite is Abstain, I love the spicy scent and let’s face it- worth a try when the dessert menu arrives. 
7. Mykitch hair ties- there are always a few of these floating around my purse. When you have “fine” hair like I do the last think you want is a hairband ripping out precious strands. I run in the headbands too. 
8. Lanyard- my younger son makes these keychains every summer at camp. This year he had me pick my colors on visiting day. This makes me happy whenever I see it in my bag. Who knows, maybe making lanyards is the next cure of evening snacking?
9.  Ilia lip gloss- most women have their go to shade of lipstick or gloss. The Butterfly and I from Ilia is mine.  Aside from the versatile color, the ingredients are all safe and high quality. It’s not just what we put in our bodies…
10. Woowoo bamboo-I’m anti gum and try not to mint too often. Yes, I carry a toothbrush in my makeup case. These from woo woo bamboo are great. You can see this one is used (ick but true).

So these are my top 10 purse staples. I left out the laptop, Ipad, phone, cork (of course) notebook etc. because a) I didn’t want my photo to look messy and b) I tried to stick to food or wellness items. So I cheated, I didn’t do the bag dump but you know what? I’m guessing  the ladies in Us Weekly don't either.

So now it's your turn, what do you always have in your bag? Any of items on my list you're curious about? Are you going to try making lanyards?

Top 5 Healthy Shots with the Daily Shot and a bonus

I had no success with a screen shot, clearly oh well.

“I look good, I look good, I look exactly the way you wish you could.” Do you think I’ve lost my mind with this sudden burst of confidence? Sorry, I just can’t get the music from The Daily Shot out of my head and if you watch their segments you will know exactly what I mean.  Clients and friends have been asking, “are you having fun with the book stuff? While I will go to all ends of the earth for LBT (I mean I went to Jericho, Long Island in the rain this past weekend) but fun? It’s work except for this segment on healthyshots.

I really think shots are the new vitamins. Rather than mindlessly downing a handful of pills, I favor more of an a la carte, issue specific, approach.Ali Wentworth was so funny during the segment but before we started she was welcoming and sweet. When we arrived she was curled up in the green room reading the book. Her greeting was perfect “I have a ton of questions for you but I really want to ask only the ones that pertain to me”. Don’t we all?

I couldn’t name names for the 5 shots during the segment but here’s more information:

Sea Buckthorn- we used Sibu, sea buckthorn puree. I’vediscussed sea buckthorn before but I am thrilled with this unsweetened versionSibu now has (11 calories an oz., 1 g sugar).

Astragalus- I like a brand called Fushi. A little worried I handed my bottle over to my publicist when her daughter was sick, a winter necessity.

Aloe- if you’ve tried aloe and have been repulsed by the taste, try George’s brand. Part of me worries that without the taste it’s not working but this does.

Turmeric- we used a shot from one of my favorite, juice shops Organic Avenue. I’m also fond of the Turmeric Elixirs.

E3Live- we go way back with E3, an energy boosting necessity you’ll find it in the frozen section of health food stores.

At the end of this segment Ali asks about something for nausea. She was kidding but Snack Queen and I had these with our lunch yesterday. Ginger + probiotic.

Are you more vitamin or shot oriented? If you’re vitamin averse would you be more inclined to do a shot? Are we immature (or Tulanians) or is there not something fun about pulling out the shot glasses during the day?

Do you buy the latest vitamin or superfood and never use them?

via Natural Nina

Monday, I mentioned Super Soul Sunday my new favorite show even though I’ve only seen three episodes. The show is on OWN and I can't understand how nobody I've mentioned it to has heard of it.  It’s Oprah and a guest talking about spirituality and if you’re thinking I don’t seem spiritual, I’m really not. But the interviews are compelling and frankly I’ve been missing my Oprah fix. One of the hours I watched featured the author Dani Shapiro. Coincidentally, I had just been invited to attend a reading and conversation with her and had picked up her latest book Still Writing.

Sick last week curled with this this

Two people who inspire me: Aidan Donnelley and Dani Shapiro

Oprah focused on Dani’s book Devotion. I guess it felt more “Super Soul” to her. Oprah read aloud a passage Dani wrote about wanting to do things better, to parent better and be a better writer, to drink more water, “to not only buy flax seed oil but take flax seed oil”.  At this mention Oprah and Dani shared a laugh over buying healthy items and then neglecting or forgetting them.  I hear this from clients all the time “I have vitamin D but I don’t take it” or “I have those at home but never use them.” "I own them though." I started wondering what this is all about.  After all, it’s easier for me to connect with talk of flax than the subsequent talk of joy. As Dani said “joy is scary”.

I think the decision to purchase flax oil or fish oils, goji berries or kale is partially about the potential these foods offer. I have a friend who calls them “promise foods” and some of them, not many, can live up to the promise. Better skin, better mood, better weight? Yes please. When we mulled this over in the office Joanna mentioned “maybe we want to be the type of person who would take these things.”  We all strive to be better or as Dani and Oprah said, “self improve”. I’m definitely guilty; after all I am hooked on a show called Super Soul Sunday.  Just this week I cleaned out my desk, tossed “never reused” reusable bags and in addition to the spinning and running and barre I do I’m about to start training at a place to get in “better” shape.

But what happens when we buy item x and it sits there? Are we breaking that promise to ourselves? Are we full of guilt or rather than better are we worse off for it all? Wasteful and/or disappointing?  We’re not but we need to turn the tide.

First, if you are a buyer of promise foods or vitamins…do the clothing or closet equivalent of purging the items you don’t use. As far as flax oil most nut and seed oils only last a year in the pantry anyway. If you’ve never been a vitamin taker to this point, you’re never going to take 10 things and if you dislike ginger, there’s no need to choke it down.

Then, pick one habit, not two or three, and commit to sticking to that through what we call at Foodtrainers “the 60 days of self destruction” (Halloween until New Years). This behavior is your healthy anchor.

Take that Vitamin D that is so hard to get, via the sun, from November to March

Get those 10,000 steps a day

Eat a protein breakfast daily

A great way to improve your chances of sticking to this anchor behavior is to remind yourself of the function. I’m taking vitamin D as if I’m low in D I’ll lose weight more slowly. Or eating breakfast makes me feel as though the day is off to a productive start. Show yourself the rationale.

In LBT I call these basic behaviors Eating Essentials. The next time you’re tempted to buy a fancy, new product or supplement ask yourself if your essentials are in order. Most essentials cost little and benefit you a lot more than flax oil (not a fan). The other part of this is that our health behaviors send us a message. Truly taking care of yourself via resting or cooking or, as I mentioned Monday, spending time outside feels nurturing. It's where Foodtraining and “super soul seeking” overlap.

What’s going to be your healthy “anchor” behavior from now through the end of the year? Do you watch OWN? Have you read anything by Dani Shapiro?
The winner of the protein pancake/Flapjack giveaway is Erica, enjoy.

Lauren's Little Helpers

I think everyone has a friend or family member who takes a ton of vitamins. Perhaps they have a shelf in the medicine cabinet devoted to their supplements or those little boxes with the days of the week written on them. I’m not one of those people. I tend to believe we can get most of the nutrients we need from a balanced diet. So I don’t take a multivitamin or calcium supplement. Yet I do take a couple of things. I don’t take all of these daily and I’m not saying you should take them, these are my little helpers:

E3 Live is my newest “dietary assistant”. I wrote about my 5 day raw/vegan experiment  and I feel a big part of its success was the morning chlorophyll. Fred Devito, one of the exhale founders, told me about E3Live. E3 Live is a blue green algae supplement. The first morning I took it I went to yoga and have to tell you my energy was noticeably different. Plus, I take a shot of E3 live and since I rarely take shots of anything else these days it’s sort of fun.

Eboost- I’ll admit, when I’m not exercising I’m not the best plain water drinker. Clients will notice I usually have orange or lime slices in my water at work. I do not use splenda or NutraSweet so a bunch of the low calorie drink mixes are out. Eboost is a green tea based drink that comes in little envelopes or tablets. I love the pink lemonade flavor. Today I doubled the pleasure and had E3Live and EBoost!

I am an omega 3’s fan. I think if there’s any cure-all when it comes to nutrition, omega 3’s may be the answer. Omega 3’s are important for athletes (they are natural anti-inflammatory), for heart health, for mood and perhaps for weight loss (or fat loss). I rotate between Coromega and Nordic Natural brands.

 I first found out about Zyflammend from a sports medicine doctor. Zyflammend is turmeric and ginger based supplement. Both ginger and turmeric have anti-inflammatory properties. Think of this as natural Advil.

 Natural calm is a powdered magnesium supplement. Magnesium is depleted in times of stress or by excessive exercise. As the name implies magnesium can also make you feel calmer. Magnesium can also help you “go”. I was at a party recently and someone, after reading my potty talk post , told me she thinks of me every day. I’m was flattered (sort of) but do think being regular (and calm)    seriously improves ones quality of life.
And it helps her on her way, gets her through  her busy day! Do you take any supplements? Which ones?