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.

I don't believe in magic but I do believe in Dr Oz

 

Earlier this week Dr Oz appeared before the Senate’s committee on consumer protection. Senator Claire McCaskill took Oz to task for some of the weight loss products he has suggested on his show. Almost immediately following this there was a wave of Dr Oz bashing. People on my Facebook feed were declaring they “loved this senator” who grilled Dr Oz even though they probably knew as much (or little) about her as the  green coffee bean extract Dr Oz was under fire for.

Does Dr Oz use words like “miracle” and “magic”? He does. He has a television show. I would venture to say he’s not running into the operating room speaking this way. I'll never forget something from when I did my media training. I’m not a naturally hyper person but we did a take where I was about as animated as this Foodtrainer can get. I was smiling and enthusiastic (and as real as my hair color/ not so much). When I finished the person teaching me said, “Ok, now do it again but with much more energy” Dr Oz has that energy.

Before you say it’s not just Dr Oz’s passion it’s the topics on the show. Have you watched the show? The last three times I’ve been on we’ve talked about quinoa, label lies on cereal boxes and frozen food. Now if millions of people go out and purchase quinoa or have learned what a GMO ingredient is- why aren’t we talking about that? Isn’t that part of what’s been dubbed “the Dr Oz effect”?

As far as scientific rigor, I once learned an important lesson from Dr Oz that I think I’ve written about. I was interviewed for a GMA segment about a diet that was popular at the time. My office did some research, there were no sizable scientific studies and I went on air slamming the plan. Dr Oz was also interviewed and said something I’ll never forget. He said if people are getting results from something you have to take a closer look. Sometimes anecdotal evidence tells us things that studies have yet to “prove”. 

And I’m so happy the Senate has this committee to protect consumers. The same government that is outraged over raspberry ketones is fine with dangerous food dyes in children’s food, antibiotics in our meat and GMO foods side by side with “normal” ones. I wonder how MDs at the FDA or Senators with ties to Big Food would do under fire.

Please don’t say as a friend of mine did “it’s so sad Dr Oz was a brilliant surgeon”. He still is and he’s also a good man. And because I couldn’t resist, a little bit about Senator McCaskill’s “miracle” weight loss.

What do you think of the Dr Oz situation? Does he do more for good and health than evil? What do you think people love to bash? 

The Quinoa Recipe and Excitement

The question for the past couple of weeks has been "are you excited?" At times I've acted as though I was asked "how are you?" (people do not want a lengthly explanation) and simply answered "yes" . Truth be told, I haven't been excited; I've been anxious, exhausted and too "in it" with this whole book thing that I haven't been skipping or giddy or whatever it is excited people do. That was until I watched good old Super Soul Sunday last night. Marianne Williamson talked about leading with love rather than  fear. If you're ready to click away thinking I've gone off a spiritual cliff hang on. She gave an example of going to get a job. Often, we're thinking "am I going to do well?" or "will they offer me something?" and that shifts our focus and we're stifled and scared. Marianne said "it limits our capacity to shine." Sound familiar? What if instead we all focused on what we wanted to communicate or assumed we would be well received. I am not sure I'd go all the way to "blast them with love before you arrive".  This really rung a bell with me. I am not looking for a job but I'm certainly putting this little book out there (tomorrow!) and my thoughts have been dominated by "how is the book going to do?" but the Super Soul Lauren is going to try to focus on spreading the LBT word, keeping it fresh and fun and who knows maybe I'll blast you all with love in the new year. 

And, for a taste of LBT here is one of my favorite recipes from the book. Jenna Helwig formulated all the terrific recipes and this one is a keeper.

MISO BROCCOLI QUINOA SALAD

Makes 4 servings

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon white miso


2 tablespoons rice vinegar


2 cups cooked quinoa (rinse before cook)

3 cups steamed broccoli florets, roughly chopped

2 cups baby arugula


1⁄4 cup raw sunflower seeds


1⁄4 teaspoon salt

To make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, miso, and rice vinegar. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, broccoli, arugula, and sunflower seeds. Add the dressing and the salt. Toss gently until combined. 

Yes, this was the "Dr Oz Quinoa"

I am "excited" to share that the Little Book of Thin Blog tour kicks off tomorrow with a dozen posts from some of my favorite bloggers. I'll be tweeting and FBing and posting the links here as they go live. OK gotta "skip" and get ready for this book launch.

Do you tend to be fearful with important events? Do you like quinoa? Cook with miso? Remember how to skip?

My Vending Machine Dream Came True (almost)

Imagine this in our waiting room (of course then no clients could fit)

What do you dream about? Exotic adventures? Romantic encounters? Seeing someone you no longer can? Playing professional sports? I imagine those are fairly common. Me? I’m a little different (as you may know) and food-centric and so I ponder what life would be like if there was an Organic Avenue in every airport, if all burgers were “grass-fed” all coffee fair-trade things like that. Truth be told, I’ve never had an actual nighttime dream about a vending machine (yet) but it would probably be more of a nightmare. And stop- if you tell yourself you made  “better” choice  when you hit the vending machine c’mon better than a Twix bar doesn’t mean much. Vending machines are a last resort or guilty pleasure but healthy? Not so much.

Well that’s about to change, last week Farmer’s Fridge launched.Farmer’s fridge offers fresh salads and snacks and restocked every morning. You’ll recall last week Joanna posted about Salad in a Jar, Farmer’s Fridge offers multiple, beautiful jarred options in recyclable jars. Farmer’s fridge has also partnered with SPE Certified to confirm the quality of their ingredients. Kale salad or hummus and veggies with the push of a button? Pretty amazing.

I spoke with Farmer’s Fridge founder Luke Saunders yesterday. His background is in manufacturing (which had to help) and he is one of those people who brings a cooler and stocks up at the nearest Whole Foods when on the road. He realized people needed better solutions; not everyone is not on team “cooler” unless of course the cooler comes to them. Farmer’s Fridges are nice looking, wrapped in reclaimed bar wood, no need to tuck these away in a back room or at the end of a hotel hallway. 

The offerings are mostly gluten free, organic for the Dirty Dozen and affordable (salads start at $7.99). This is a game changing concept, the only sad part is that they launched in Chicago. However, Luke says to contact them on Facebook or Twitter and say “I want you here” they are working on their expansion plans. My dream vending machine would have kale, quinoa, salmon and Greek yogurt… and not it's a reality, it just has to come to NYC. I told Luke we’d be happy to test market at Foodtrainers.

What would your dream food-situation involve? What would you put in your personalized vending machine? Where would you like to see Farmer’s Fridge?

Corn Doody

I swear, I didn’t invent the term Corn Doody but according to the highly reputable Urban Dictionary it’s “what you find in the bowl the morning after eating corn”. And to be clear, we’re not talking a bowl bowl. It’s corn season, clients ask the darndest things and lately I’m fielding numerous corn doody queries. I always chalked this occurrence up to insufficient chewing but is there more to it with corn? After all, not all foods come out whole.

The outer hull of corn is made of cellulose that is indigestible to humans; we do not have the necessary enzymes to break it down. Even when you chew a kernel (we can’t all be inhaling our corn) it’s mainly the inner portion that’s digested. The cellulosey outer layer remains, one website likened it to an empty sleeve.

I know what you’re thinking, I do. How come what’s in the “bowl” doesn’t look like an empty, flattened sleeve but a full or whole sleeve? It’s because WARNING GROSSNESS as corn makes its way from top to bottom, it is refilled (nasty I know). So there you have it.

And though corn doody may be a seasonal concern, don’t be alarmed by quinoa, beans or flax doody either. While odd this isn’t usually a problem unless accompanied by other GI symptoms that I’ll refrain from discussing today, enough is enough.

Have you, you can admit it, experienced corn doody? Have you wondered why? Are their other foods that seem to "pass through" whole? Are you wondering if I've lost it?

Olympian Nutrition

With the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics less than 12 hours away, I have sports on my brain. I’ll admit it, I’m a little bit of an Olympics junkie. And I don’t stick to the mainstream sports, I will watch anything and everything and even like curling and the sport where they ski and then shoot though clearly the name of this sport didn’t stick with me. As a nutritionist, it amazes me that many athletes train a good part of their lives fine-tuning their training, clothing and nutrition only to board a plane and stay in an Olympic village where Mc Donald’s and Coco Cola are strongly represented. A place where the main catering is done by Sodexho, one of the companies Michelle Obama is working with as their unhealthy offerings in schools are contributing to childhood obesity. The Olympians do have a password which allows them to view the nutritionals (amount of carbs, fat, protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals) in various food items but it still makes me nervous.

So for Lindsey and Shaun in Vancouver and all the rest of you, here are my top 5 training foods for winter sports:
1. Quinoa- chances are, you’ve been hearing a lot about quinoa lately with good reason. Quinoa is a good carb and the type of carb athletes need. The Incas considered quinoa like gold because of the stamina it provided their warriors. Quinoa and fruit makes a great breakfast or stir quinoa into soups. Quinoa cooks in 15 minutes and is high in fiber and protein.
2. Chard is a great source of iron. Iron transports oxygen through your body and helps prevent anemia. Chard is also rich in calcium for bone health and a respectable source of Vitamin C, important for winter immunity. Try to have one leafy green (kale, chard, bok choy, spinach) daily.
3. Turmeric is a wonder spice. It’s a potent anti-inflammatory and athletes should use it more. Turmeric is found in prepared yellow mustards and many Indian dishes. Turmeric also works well with cauliflower, on eggs and in dips. Lindsey, I know you have a muscle injury, turmeric may help! I recently posted a great recipe using turmeric.
4. Goji Berries are also known as wolfberries. Goji berries are a fantastic antioxidant. Antioxidants help to repair some of the wear and tear on your body from exercise. In Chinese medicine gojis are known to promote lung health, useful for winter training. Eat gojis as a snack, steep in teas and add to oatmeal water. Gogis also have an added “Valentine’s" bonus.
5. Pumpkin Seeds- seeds are often overlooked and important for your training diet. Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc, another crucial immune-system helper. Try my Training trail mix.
TRAINING TRAIL MIX: combine 1 cup goji berries, ½ cup dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs, 1 cup pumpkin seeds, 1 cup walnuts and ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut. Mix well and store in an air-tight container. Serving= a small handful or ¼ cup.

What are your favorite winter training foods? Any pre or post-workout staples you want to share?