Easier Steps to Conquer New Year’s Resolutions

So here we are, February, how are your New Year’s Resolutions holding up?  This year, I didn’t make any at all.  Not that there are not things I can’t improve in my life, but I am so over the idea of “starting over” every year.  Especially when it comes to diets….Every New Year, people vow to lose weight, and here we go again, what’s the newest diet craze that everyone will hop on this year….I am all over the motto, “stop dieting and start living.”  One of the definitions of diet is “food habitually eaten.”

So how is your diet?  NO, not your weight, your DIET?  Are you on the road to better health and healthier eating this year?   It does not take January 1st to make this happen!  And…it is a little easier than you might think. I went to a conference last year and learned one of the best tips ever for helping people make change.  It is very direct, very simple and it works.   It is your “inside voice.”  What does your inside voice say to you when you attempt to change?  Does it say things like ” I can’t, I won’t , I should , I shouldn’t,  I need to, I know better..”  The simple step you can make is use the words  an excited bride to be says when her fiance gets down on one knee and presents her with a glimmering ring…it is the words “I WILL.”  It is that easy.  You have a lot of practice with this already, for example,  “I will go to work,” “I will mow the grass,” ” I will do the dishes.”  The “I will” mentality is focused, full of determination, action, and accountability.  This cute couple is actually my oldest son and his fiance in December 2011.

On December 23, 2011, she said “I WILL,” and on January 14, 2012, they DID.

Sticker Shock at IHOP

     We went to Virginia Beach over the weekend, where I grew up, to check on my elderly father.  He has had some health issues and was just discharged on Thursday from rehab, so we went there to check on him.  One of his joys in life is eating breakfast out with friends or family and he wanted to go to IHOP this morning.

So, being the dietitian that I am,  anytime we are in restaurants I am always looking at what is healthy, what is loaded, and I challenge myself to see if I can indeed find healthy

IHOP hash brown stack

and yet still delicious choices.  IHOP is really no different than any other restaurant….LOADED with calories, fat and sodium, cholesterol….all the wrong stuff.  In fact, IHOP is full of dishes that will  truly give you sticker shock.  Here is a picture of a hash brown stack that was on their specialty menu.

 

While I could not find the nutrition information for this series of Hash Brown Stacks, as this must a new specialty, hats off to IHOP  as they otherwise do have complete nutrition information at  www.ihop.com/docs/nutritionalinformation.pdf.    IHOP does get some praise because they do have choices called Simple and Fit and are quite simply, very healthy and tasty.   I ordered the Veggie omlette that came with a side of fresh fruit.

Sticker Shock at IHOP

Quick 2 egg biscuit                      1080 calories,  61 gms fat, 1500 mg sodium

Big Country Breakfast                 1130 calories,  62 gms fat,  2480 mg sodium

Cinnamon Stack French Toast   1120 calories, 54 gms fat, 1190 mg sodium

NY Cheesecake Pancakes            2200 calories, 44 gms fat, 2430 mg sodium

 

Simple and  Fit at IHOP

Seasonal Fresh Fruit Crepe    500 calories, 24 gms fat, 430 mg sodium

Fresh fruit and yogurt bowl   320 calories, 3 gms fat, 45 mg sodium

Harvest Grain Pancake          180 calories, 9 gms fat, 410 mg sodium

Turkey Bacon Omelette           420 calories, 20 gms fat, 720 mg sodium

Oatmeal                                    290 calories, 4 gms fat, 25 mg sodium

Fruit bowl                                 130 calories, 0 gms fat,0 mg sodium

Veggie Omelette and fruit       330 calories, 12 gms fat, 690 mg sodium

It is possible to enjoy tasty and healthy food when dining out, you just have to look!

  • My breakfast!

 

 

Individual, group and sports nutrition counseling

Individual, group and sports nutrition counseling
Tracy Owens, Triangle Nutrition Therapy’s Raleigh dietitian/nutritionist, specializes in sports nutrition but is also experienced in Medical Nutrition Therapy, otherwise known as nutrition counseling. She has a diverse background and can meet a wide variety of your nutrition needs.
Through Triangle Nutrition Therapy, Tracy offers individual counseling sessions, group sessions and sports nutrition counseling for athletes, teams and coaches. Each session is tailored to meet your unique goals and always involves a custom meal plan designed to help you eat healthier, live better, and, for athletes, improve sports performance.

Mindless Eating

I traded cars with my oldest daughter for the weekend and next thing you know, I am munching on Munchies!  I will share this tidbit with you for two reasons.  First, I so often hear people say, ” I know everything I  need to do, I just don’t do it!”  I am here to tell you that knowing and doing are two different things!  Just because I know a lot about nutrition, does not mean that living it out is magically easier.  But secondly, I can tell you why we all make bad decisions sometimes, me included.  But we can be of good cheer, because preventing this is much easier than  you may think!

So I went to the store in her Jeep.  As I got in the car, I saw the bag of Munchies in the backseat.  I ignored them, drove to the store to buy a gift for a shower.  By the time I got out of the store, it was lunchtime, I was hungry, did not have anything with me.  (I often throw a piece of fruit in my purse as I go out the door as I am hungry a lot!).  So what did I do?  I reached in the backseat, grabbed the Munchies bag, and …wouldn’t you know it…the bag just happened to be open.  Then I just happened to put them on the seat next to me, and my hand just happened to go in the bag, ….again, and again, and again.  Thankfully, I was not hours from home, so I only got in about 7 minutes worth of munching.

Why did I do that?  I have the answer, why you and I both do this type of eating.  Because it was there, period. It is no harder than that.  The front part of your brain, the frontal lobe wants us to be logical, thoughtful and methodical.  But there is another part of your brain, buried in the back that wants a party in our mouth, AND research shows the party part will win over the “follow the rules” part of your brain.

Take home message?  Simply control your food environment.  The more you do that, the easier it is, the less you do that, the more you are faced with temptation and the more you too will find yourself MUNCHING!!  I could have tossed the bag in the back and made it unreachable….that would have been easier, if I can’t reach it, I can’t eat it.  Once my hand went in the bag,  crunch, munch………However, I hope this encourages you that even though nutrition is my profession, I do not eat perfectly either.  I also hope you will be encouraged to truly make more efforts to control your food environment which will make your mindless munching more manageable.   The only redeeming part of my munching on the Munchies was I did selectively eat, as I am not a big fan of pretzels so I kept tossing those back in the bag. So Karri, if you find more pretzels in your Munchies bag than usual, sorry!

Fresh From the Farm

I am pleased to introduce Ashley Acornley, RD, LDN to you.  She is a registered dietitian, and I am thrilled to have her working with me since May of this year. She is originally from Philadelphia, PA and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences with a minor in Kinesiology from Penn State University in August 2008.  Ashley is also a sports dietitian and enjoys teaching her clients how to use sports nutrition strategies stay strong and compete at an optimal level.  She is an AFAA certified personal trainer and has been training clients for the past four years. She participates in 5Ks, triathlons, and other competitive events.  Ashley is excited to finish her master’s degree this December.  One of her assignments was to begin her own blog and I wanted to share it with you as it is fabulous.  It is called Fresh from the Farm and is full of beautiful pictures, fresh recipes, flavorful ideas on how to incorporate more fruits and veggies in your diet, and we are all in need of that!  And best of all, there are picture instructions with her recipes!  Below please find the name of her blog,  and I also copied and pasted a sample of one of her blog postings.   Enjoy!  And give us a call if you are ready to take the plunge and make an appointment to begin the journey of a healthy diet, healthy you! http://www.ashleyfreshfromthefarm.wordpress.com

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Pumpkin Cranberry Pecan Bread

I realized over the weekend that I have not posted a seasonal recipe in quite some time for you all to try! I apologize for that- as much as I love to cook and bake, there was so many other things that I wanted to share with you!

However, I am back on track and in celebration of fall, I decided to try a new festive recipe that I discovered, courtesy of Christy Jordan and her Southern Plate blog. It involves some of my favorite fall ingredients, including pumpkin, cinnamon, and pecans galore. Check out this recipe for homemade pumpkin cranberry pecan bread. I baked two loaves and shared them with my Food and Society class- they were a big hit!

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp ground ginger

1 15-ounce can solid pumpkin

½ cup olive oil

½ cup applesauce

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup water

½ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup craisins

Preparation:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, oil, applesauce, eggs, and water. Mix well.

2. Stir wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, just until combined.

3. Fold in pecans and craisins.

4. Spoon into two loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

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