Want to feel great for summer? I do.

Today kicks off the second session of our Pre-Summer Squeeze program. As I was reviewing our participant’s information forms, I scrolled through Instagram. One of my favorite healthy sites posted a quote with commentary “your body is perfect just the way it is.” And I thought, no it isn’t. That doesn’t mean my days are filled with self loathing or that I don’t appreciate that my body will take me on a run after I write this. It just means I can relate to our Squeezers saying they feel “ready to make changes” or “not on my game” or even “bloated”. My issue with this “your body is perfect” messaging is that, for me, it does the opposite of what I believe the intention is. It makes me feel I have to defend the desire to tweak things. And along with ditching a few items for the Squeeze, I look forward to feeling accomplished, focused and more confident along with my Squeezers. 

For some Monday Inspo

Did you catch Sheryl Sandberg’s commencement address to UC Berkely?

It’s worth a watch; I especially liked “not everything that happens to you is about you.” 

We don’t have to personalize everything and blame ourselves.

 And as only Amy Schumer can do, here’s a clip of her poking fun at sizing and the whole shopping experience.

Cheers to Monday! Have you had your Fire Cider yet?

What do you think of “your body is perfect” type messaging? Any other commencement addresses you enjoyed?

Please read if you’re contemplating a “teatox"

 I try to be in the know when it comes to nutrition trends and I’ll freely admit I had no idea “teatoxing” was such a thing. Snobessentials (love that name) asked me to weigh in on this trend.

So, what is a teatox?

Teatoxes are generally teas sold in sets with both a daytime and a nighttime tea.

The names of these products are pretty amusing: Showgirl Slim, Skinny Bunny, Naked me, Strip Teas (above). The daytime teas tend to contain some sort of upper and debloating spices. In the night version there’s a laxative ingredient and usually something sleep inducing.  On some websites, it was difficult to locate the ingredients. If ingredients are hard to find it’s never a good sign

Is teatoxing healthy?

Tea is healthy and teas are a big part of our programs at Foodtrainers. What is questionable is the notion that tea alone will result in your body looking like the bikini-clad (if that) women on the teatox websites. There are also a few ingredients in these teas that are no-nos even if they are in the same teabag as delicious decoys (ginger, cinnamon, gojis etc.).

Does tea in general assist in weight loss / detoxing? If so, which kind(s)?

There are certain teas I refer to as “metaboteas”. Actual research (gasp) has shown that teas such as green, matcha (a powdered green) and puEhr can provide a slight metabolic boost. 

Which ingredients are risky?

Let’s break it down into tea categories:

Uppers- green is great but I wouldn’t go guarana too often.

Debloaters/laxative- dandelion, fennel and ginger are safe and effective but senna (a laxative component) isn’t only habit forming, it’s dangerous when used regularly and the dangers extend well beyond diarrhea (I’m talking liver, kidney, intestinal function). 

Downers- many of the night teas are where the laxatives lie. I’m not sure I’d suggest sleep-inducing herbs such as valerian combined with poop-inducing products. If there is going to be any digestive drama, I’d prefer to wake up for it.

So, I’d skip any teas with senna. I totally get the desire to lose weight, debloat, and “go” but we can’t play regime-related roulette and risk our health. Go for the highest quality teas you can find. I love Panatea matcha, Bellocq for green and puEhr and Wakaya ginger tea.

Have you heard of teatoxing? Been tempted to try it? What’s your favorite tea to drink?
Any "burning" tea or weight loss questions? Email me at Lauren@foodtrainers.net

Fave new snack because I heart ranch (anything)

order beach bundles by 3/9 as we're headed away too

I took tennis lessons when I was younger. I don’t remember anything about the lessons or the instructor. I don’t even know exactly what age I was. I recall taking a taxi home so you’d think I was

a teen or preteen but that wasn’t necessarily the case in my family. I’m thinking 5^th grade but who knows? I do remember something and that’s the snack I had after EVERY lesson. I had cool ranch Doritos and cranberry “juice”.  I still remember enjoying this combo in the comfort of the taxi and thinking it was the best snack ever.

While my Dorito days are done, to this day I  like ranch flavor. We mentioned in our newsletter today that there’s something trashy about ranch but I don’t care. Whether it’s the memories associated with it or just the flavor, I like it…a lot.

Recently, I was reunited with ranch. Organic Living who makes sprouted, organic, top-notch nuts sent us a sample of Ranch Cashews (combined with Buffalo almonds). I had a Buffalo wing phase too but that happened in high school for obvious reasons (if not obvious see Carolyn’s Friday post). I had the sample, ordered the Ranch nuts for the office and have had them in my nutcase every day since.

If you’re team ranch flavor, you must try these. We have them on their own or paired with our other favorite spring break essentials in the bundle pictured above.

Yum.

Any somewhat nasty items you enjoyed as a child? I’d love to hear.

This secret weapon is my favorite

I discovered this magic green concoction during the winter. I had purchased a few things from Anima Mundi but hadn't cracked the waxy seal on this one. Then it was December in Vermont and I needed a healthy boost and figured I'd try it. It was just what I needed and a POTENT debloater. I'm really excited to have this "magic elixir" as it's called in the Foodtrainers store.

A client also said "so you're not blogging over the summer?" It wasn't intentional but just so you know I wasn't entirely unproductive (even though I sort of was and need a break) here is a fun Summer Secret Weapon video Carolyn and I shot. We have a new format, please let us know what you think. We're always honest so feel free to be...but I think you'll like it. This one is a little long but we didn't want to sell you short on any of our Quick Fixes.
As the summer winds to an end (not just yet but you know) how are you feeling? Do you think it's more difficult to eat well in the summer or winter? Which secret weapon are you most excited about?
What do you think of the video?

Beckham’s Bee Panacea: Yay Or Step Away?

We’re slacking. We pride ourselves on being  on the front lines of nutrition knowledge and yet when Harper’s Bazaar asked for thoughts on Victoria Beckham’s sought after supplement I hadn’t heard of it. Bee Panacea hmn. Panacea is a bold statement. I think we learned from Dr Oz that we have to watch our overly enthusiastic language when it comes to nutrition. So we’re introducing a new feature called Yay or Step Away? I can’t take credit for this, one of our clients included this with a query (and I promptly told her I’d steal that slogan).

Curious about a product or trend? Use #YOSA @Foodtrainers on twitter or insta

OK back to the bees

What the heck is this? It’s a blend of superfoods (ginger and goji berries and spirulina). Here is the full ingredient list from Virgin Raw Foods:

Raw Royal Honey, Organic Maca, Organic Cinnamon, Goji Berries, Reishi, Bee Pollen, Astragalus, Organic Spirulina, Organic Chlorella, Propolis, Organic Ginger, Ginseng, Organic Schizandra Berries, Royal Jelly, Chaga, Shilajit, Cordyceps, Ormus

I’ll admit, I’m normally more of an a la carte girl when it comes to my diet. I use cinnamon, spirulina (be sure you’re signed up for our newsletter, more on this one Monday) and bee pollen regularly.  However, when I scanned the ingredient list looking for evidence to indict these panacea people, I was pretty impressed. So I did what any reluctantly curious person would do and shelled out over 45 dollars for ingredients I already own.

The claims: with my panacea package came a little chart showing how the different ingredients help with everything from digestion to detox. Words like “adaptability” and “longevity” led to eye rolls and sighs but I persevered. I opened my expensive jar and found an unattractive, brown paste. This may have been off putting if not for the scent which is sort of spicy from the ginger and cinnamon. I tried it (straight on a spoon) and liked it. It has a sweetness that we thoroughly enjoyed at the end of our sugarlessness. The reports that it tastes like chocolate… I think that’s a stretch.

I’ve been using a tsp. from my jar in the morning before a workout and find it’s the perfect little something. I also traveled with this last weekend and liked having a portable source of my superfoods. Even for me, there’s a limit as to how many supplements to schlep. I’ve also added this to smoothies and tea.

Ok, I know you’re waiting for the big reveal. Am I suddenly taller, thinner and ageless? Of course not. I think the notion that additions to our diet produce dramatic results is sort of silly.  You can expect a product that’s anti-inflammatory, a bonafide bloat beater and a great travel tool. In our very first yay or step away, I’m going “yay”. Don’t worry we’ll have fun with many “step aways” in the future.

Have you heard of this? Tried it? Do you use any of the ingredients? Do you like this new feature? Tweet or insta us using #YOSA @Foodtrainers and we’ll give you our reviews.

5 Sane Ways to Feel Better Today

 I had one of those “what day is today?” moments when I woke up. It soon sunk in that it’s Monday and the weekend is over which makes me a little sad.  As long as I’m complaining, I’m also tired. We were in Montreal for the 4^th (so patriotic I know) but it’s not always about going away, relaxing can leave you just wanting to relax more. And then there’s that feeling, you know it I'm sure, “uh oh I need to undo some of what was done this weekend.”

I only speak menu or "food" French 

Before you get all “I didn’t eat ________” on me this weekend. I ate well too. There was lots of seafood and green juice and salad. My Fitbit was happy with 15-20,000 steps a day (love this about vacation) but there were also lots of meals out and cocktails so here we are. Forget the cleanse or emergency boot camp- instead try these five ways to feel better today:

Stay home tonight (and tomorrow too). Before we get all technical with this debloating you simply need to spend less time with salt. Takeout and restaurant meals make this impossible. Cooking is key but "cook" can mean scrambling eggs or making a smoothie. If you're saying "I should be able to go out and feel good" you can just not today.

Pursue Probitoics Is your tummy telling you something? Something not so good?

Pop your probiotic supplement and also consider my favorite Sunbiotic nuts (who says atonement needs to be miserable?) or cayenne kombucha or good old ACV (apple cider vinegar), do you own it? OK go take a tsp. If you're in NYC we can send over probiotic goodness and Fairway has these healthade drinks. 

Speaking of Drinks, Drink – your magic number is 10 cups of water a day. I like a visual and finds it helps to fill a pitcher and put it on your desk (tweet me @Foodtrainers a water photo for extra credit) or be that person who carries a water bottle with you for today. If you’re thinking you need something more than just water try this.

Makes You-Pee Tea (from the Little Book of Thin)

Ingredients are for 1-cup increase if you’re making a pitcher

1 Tbs Minced parsley and stems

½ tsp fennel seeds

2-3 slivers fresh ginger or fresh turmeric

Cover these ingredients with hot water, steep 10 minutes. Chill to make an iced version.

Consider quinoa (or consider grainlessness).  Quinoa has potassium that helps you lose some of that sodium. So ½ cup of quinoa is “kosher for debloating” but bread (sprouted or not), rice, cereal (a whole other conversation), corn etc. are not for today.

Have a Green day – all meals and snacks need to have something green in them today. Green juices, dark green salads, crudité- you remember green, right?

How was your weekend? How are you feeling today? Which of these steps will you take? Check in with me tonight, it'll be better I promise it's amazing what 24 hours "back" can do.

No reason hormones need to drive the bus.

There are certain annoyances we need to accept: a rainy day, unanticipated traffic, and a blister from a new pair of shoes.  However, when it comes to our bodies many of our issues can be solved or certainly ameliorated with food. For many of my clients, there is no greater source of dietary derailment than PMS and cycle-related issues can last over a week. That’s 25% of each month feeling and often eating off.  And it’s not just a female issue if you live with a crazy, bloated person, right?

You may know I’m not a fan of adding one food in for a desired effect. If you’re concerned about getting sick I’ll suggest you add multiple immune boosters and the same goes for PMS. Carolyn, Joanna and I created what we feel is the ultimate anti-PMS arsenal. In our Monthly Morsels newsletter today we mapped out a sample “Peace Out PMS” day of food, selected the best PMS supplements and I’m proud to introduce our super, duper PMS Kit.

The kit includes the following:

Cacao Magic-  from Philosophie our favorite, new line of smoothie powders. This cacao is really magic and a tonic for cramps, crankiness and appetite surges.

Natural Calm- powdered magnesium supplement is a “mood must”. Magnesium is helpful for PMS but most of us are deficient so many find it helpful as a daily ritual.

Probiotics- did you know most of our serotonin is produced in our guts? If you have “gut clutter” mood can take a hit. And when it comes to PMS that gut clutter will also lead to ultra bloat. A probiotic supplement is an insurance policy but probiotic foods are also necessary. Sunbiotics chocolate probiotic almonds contains both cacao and probiotics, how’s that for double duty (or doody).

Sweet Riot- these dark chocolate covered cacao nibs (look like chocolate rice krispies) are great a post-meal treat (one 1 calorie per piece!). Take that PMS weight gain.

Explore Asian Organic Black Bean Pasta- contains both magnesium and B6. We call B6 “be happy” because it  plays a key role in the production of mood neurotransmitters. Plus, how about pasta with 12g of fiber and 25g of protein per serving?  Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and add  asparagus (you can toss asparagus in pasta water for last 5 minutes) for bonus B6 and debloating action.

Heather’s Fennel Tummy Tea – these tea bags are jumbo size and potent.

Fennel is one of my favorite debloaters. A cup of tummy tea after dinner and that PMS pooch will not be there in the morning.

Of course these items are available a la carte. It just depends how horrendous your hormones are (ours can be pretty bad).

Do you suffer from PMS? What are your main symptoms? What’s in your arsenal?

The party is over but that's ok

I was recently away as my kids had spring break. Before I complain, you should know that I fully appreciated the warm weather, the leisure time (although I am guilty of scheduling vacation days) and opportunity to explore a new place. On this trip I tried sour sop, star apple, naseberry, Blue Mountain coffee and pretty much jerk everything. The trip was invigorating, special, adventurous, beautiful etc.

When our plane landed at JFK last night I received an email from a friend.

When are you working out this week? I am aiming to go everyday this starting tomorrow at 9:30. I need to get back to my routine, traveling with the family vacation left me totally out of shape

I’ll have you know via Facebook I know for a fact this friend doesn’t appear out of shape and never has but I totally understand that she felt it. She added.

I know it’s against the Slayton rule to start over on Monday but I am.

I joked that it’s so sad. I was away at a place with an organic farm. I was eating greens, active and hardly boozing it up but still felt more than a little off. I told her I was rebooting today as well.

My healthy friend added I brought my nutribullet, my miraculous powders and found kale at a market in the Bahamas it’s not like I was pounding pina coladas but still...

If you’re still with me after the post Jamaica woe is meing let me explain. It doesn’t take a lot, especially when you’re in a good routine, to feel off after a week away. The three main culprits are the salt (when you’re eating most meals out), slightly less exercise (or less intense exercise) and a GI slowdown many experience.

Post vacation plan: 

• Go Plain Jane- hard-boiled eggs, simply grilled chicken or poached salmon are perfect. Befriend the steamer or hit the farmer’s markets for some fresh, raw greens. For condiments apple cider vinegar, walnut or coconut oil and lemon are where it's at.
• P and C or probiotics and chia daily. If your GI system slows down with the rest of you while away, I hear you. I love the cocochia packets as they contain both probiotics and chia. If your probiotic supplement is hiding in the cabinet time to put it near your toothbrush so you remember to take it.
• Sweat- cardio helps with jetlag if you have it and it also helps you loose that fluid. 180-200 minutes per week post vacation.
• Tea and turmeric- Yogi detox tea and Fennel tea are great post vacation tools. And turmeric is good for mood and inflammation…sprinkle away.

The silver lining in coming home feeling a little off is that it makes getting back into your routine (work included) sort of nice. At least I think so.
Do you feel off when you get back from a trip? In what way? What do you do to remedy it? 

I lost weight doing this (and know this sounds like an Infomercial)

This morning we sent out our March Monthly Morsels newsletter.  The subject? All things spring break and by that I mean all food-related things of course. We asked some of our favorite experts what they bring when they travel (love to see what others do), included highlights from the LBT “pre-beach” chapter and we did what we do best- we tested anything and everything we possibly could. Last month it was chocolate but this month there were teas and sprays and roll-ons (more on that Thursday) and lots of dandelion greens and lemon slices. We sipped and sampled all in an effort to select the items we could tell subscribers and clients about to help shed that little extra before their trips. Or so I thought…

I don’t write that much about my weight because it’s a boring story. Although, as a 5 foot 3 inch person a few pounds can make a difference in how I feel my weight, grief aside, is very stable. So when I stood on the scale last week and saw a number four pounds lighter than my usual, without really trying, I smiled. If you want to know what I did it’s a little complicated because I did a lot of different things but here are the new items  I was happily consuming daily for the past couple of weeks.

Sunbiotic probiotic

I take a probiotic from Renew Life. I write about probiotic supplements and probiotic foods in LBT.  They help with GI function, immunity, mood (yup serotonin is produced in the gut) and most interestingly for some people weight. The Renew Life supplement contains a strain Lactobacillus rhamosus that has been correlated to weight loss. I added in Sunbiotics chewable (and yummy) probiotic the past couple of weeks as we were test-driving them.  The Sunbiotics chewable has prebiotics that perhaps were giving my probiotics a boost?  If you aren’t taking a probiotic these are two great options.

Green Dream

I’m a smoothie girl and an ingredient snob so it’s hard to find a protein powder that meets my standards. Welcome Philosophie. I have and love all 3 flavors but I’m partial to the Green Dream. I’ve been adding fresh mint, extra spirulina, a little avocado or coconut oil, greens and almond milk (which I make or I found this Manuka almond milk that’s pretty great).

Bitters

Carolyn, oops sorry One Smart Brownie, has been pushing bitters on me for a while. Bitters for the occasional hangover (it happens), bitters for travel and digestion but then I found these while in Vermont. They remind me of binaca but help with appetite and bloat. They’re not for everyone, our snack queen wasn’t initially a fan but as we sprayed and giggled she now can’t resist. Positive peer pressure at its best.

Tummy Tea

I have tea every night. It’s a ritual I love and typically it is something like a Pukka Nighttime tea with lavender or Traditional Medicinals makes another one I like. We had heard great things about Heather’stea. I love these jumbo tea bags and let them steep a while. The first time I had the fennel tea bag- I was a fan. I “debloated” the next morning, in LBT I have a “makes you pee tea” and this had similar effects.

So those are my new discoveries, they’re in my Food First Aid Kit in my purse. As I said, I can’t pinpoint which change was most effective because I switched many things at one but hey maybe it’s synergy. I’ll take it.

Have you tried any of the foods/items mentioned above? What do you eat to debloat or pre vacation? What's in your Food First Aid Kit when you go away?

You need this for Thanksgiving

As the word has started to spread about LBT, I have had a handful of people mention “I have a book I want to write” or “I started writing something but…” and the truth is although this book is happening, we all have projects and bucket list items some daunting, others annoying that we postpone. In our office, we’ve made lists of “food first aid kit” items for clients to bring on trips. Teas to combat “plane puffies” or fibrous foods to deal with ahem “vacation constipation” but oftentimes I worry whether clients will have time to gather their supplies before departure or if our snacks and supplements will be packed when there is dry cleaning to pick up, transportation to arrange etc.

With serious help from my fellow nutrition nerds we’ve developed our Foodtrainers' Food FirstAid Kit filled with everything you need to make it through Thanksgiving travel (or any other travel) unscathed. I am so excited about these kits as they've been on our project list for way to long. Whether you're traveling by plane or my car, you'll can have your nutcase if it's taking a little to long, a cup of deabloating tea after that holiday meal. From jet lag to leftovers (turkey on a GG cracker perhaps?) we have you covered.

But if you’d rather pack your own you can simply buy the kit I heard from a client who was stuck and used the kit as a clutch when away for work, they’re pretty cute.

I  cannot help you with overbearing relatives but snacks and nutrition “ammunition” that we can do.

And instead of facing the holiday with dread maybe think of a project you’d like to finish, a book you’ve been meaning to read or get started writing that book… Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Do you pack a “Food First Aid Kit”? What do you bring? And any healthy recipes you’re cooking for Thanksgiving?