The one thing nutritionists eat at holiday parties

Yesterday, Well & Good posted an article revealing what nutritionists eat at holiday parties.

 My “one thing” listed was Scotch. As you can see below, I mention Scotch but there’s also food involved. I thought I’d share my unedited answer, lest you follow the Scotch diet.

Generally, I’m running out the door, after my last client, to the party or event.

My pre-party taxi snack involves our Foodtrainers’ nutcase (shameless I know but I have one in every purse) filled with anything from All Good Provisions goji trail mix to Himalania dark choc chia seeds. I also sniff peppermint essential oil as a quick pick me up and appetite suppressant.

At the party, I’m a one and done drink girl. My winter spirit of choices is Scotch and I have it “neat” as it’s easy to nurse that way. I’m allergic to wheat so party food choices are limited which is totally fine. I try to pick a few items and stick to those. The whole pupu platter approach never ends well. I’ll pick from shrimp cocktail, sashimi, crudité and usually some cheese situation. “Lipstick-sized” is our Foodtrainers ’cheese rule though I often have two lipsticks.  Finally, if I didn’t have dark chocolate something en route to the party, I’ll end my night with that.

Happy Holidays, just because it’s a festive time of year doesn’t mean you should be strategy-free.

What this Foodtrainer Eats on a Travel Day

Lauren and I have the travel bug in a major way; we are both Semester at Sea alums and plan our lives around our next trip. She’s off to Nicaragua; I’m Moab and Amalfi coast. But first we have a quickie work trip to California this weekend (Expo West, anyone?). Quick trips can actually wreck you more than long ones. There’s little time to recalibrate or workout but there are still restaurant meals -- ok and drinks too. We all can all fall victim to “plane pounds” if not careful.

So here is a sample day or a “walk through” for my travel day tomorrow:

Night before

I’ll pack my Foodtrainers’ Food First Aid Kit. I never go away without it. Contents vary but I always have our nutcase and nuts (current love: Organic Living cinnamon pecans), 1 snack per day away (I’m thinking Yes Bars) probiotics, tea, cocochia, natural calm and green magic.

En route to airport

Water spiked with with apple cider vinegar + coffee, coffee, coffee.

Pre flight fuel: 

2 hard-boiled omega-3 eggs (Lauren will likely force hot sauce packets on me)

Water and we’ll pop our probiotic

Pre-flight shots- green elixir

Beverage cart upgrade

I ask for hot water and lemon and add Wakaya ginger

Plane snack  

I'll grab a Greek yogurt once through security (I’ve even spied my beloved 2% coconut Siggi’s in many airports) and pair with a packet of cocochia

More water and tea, probably a green tea this time

Travel-avo: 

Lauren has taught me the magic of the travel-avocado. If needed we’ll cut it in half; it’s the best snack on the planet (or at least on the plane).

Post flight bite

Gargantuan Greens

We’ll be on the hunt for a great salad, ideally a spinach salad (vitamin B6 is a VIP for trim travel) with salmon or tuna.

Afternoon Ammunition: 

Kombucha or green juice (1 fruit max) + nutcase.

We are hoping to hit up Moon Juice and the Bulletproof mecca, so afternoon snack is up for edits. (but trust me, we don’t skip snacks).

Early Bird Dinner 

Cocktail (ok maybe 2), poke or tartare/sashimi and we’ll likely go for cooked veg, if I’m dreaming there will be asparagus action.

Sleep Secret Weapon

Natural calm and BED! 7+ hours so we don’t get those “munchieZZZ”

IF you’re traveling any time soon, check out our latest newsletter and pick up our beach bundle but 3/10 (today) is the last day orders will go out until 3/21. 

What’s your typical travel routine?  Any travel trouble or potential "plane pounds"?

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.

I stalked my friend

In late October, my friend mentioned she was doing a wellness feature, for the month of November, on her blog. She asked if I could guide her, offer tips that kind of thing. I mentioned that our Foodstalking program was taking off and she was in. Done! We agreed I’d stalk her for the month of November (I hope she doesn't regret her decision).

With Foodstalking, stalkees send their food logs by 9pm.  By 9am they receive a tip for the day and feedback on their log. Aidan’s first entry on November 1st was from Halloween the night before.  I recall her first tip was “Sayonara Snickers” but very quickly her eating and habits improved. She wrote about her month. I chuckled when I read her recap. When she assessed her progress she made it sound a little like she was a little bit of a slacker or somehow didn’t do as well as she should. In my opinion, she had a stellar month that included more cooking, exercise, preplanning, certain supplements, less sugar etc.  Interesting.It’s easy to feel unhinged this time of year; however, if you are taking measures to maintain your good habits please pat yourself on the back from time to time.

We also sent our “Gifts for the health nut (or just the nut)” newsletter out this week.

We mentioned our Holiday Food First Aid Kit. This is another healthy crutch with some strategic contents:

• Our nutcase (so that you don’t overnut)
• Our new favorite bar in mocha or chai (I love the chai but Carolyn’s all mocha)
• PuEhr tea- PuEhr is from the same plant as green (metabolism booster) but fermented Fermented foods help with mood, digestion and weight. How’s that for a holiday helper
• Nibmor’s Spiced Drinking chocolate that I may or may not have spiked in Vermont last weekend.
• And to save you from the peppermint bark, Eating Evolved Chocolate Coconut Cups

OK I’m now hungry and have clients to see and strategize with. Email info@foodtrainers.net for info on Foodstalking (starts every Monday).

What’s your favorite holiday treat? What do you find most difficult this time of year? Does Foodstalking sound appealing or scary?

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?