How to Eat to Beat Stress

Check out my latest NBC Clip on how to Eat to Beat Stress here.

There is a correction. I incorrectly stated that leptin levels go up when we don’t get enough sleep…they actually decrease. Leptin is a hormone that makes you feel full. So lack of sleep definitely makes you gain weight, or at least increase your appetite, but just wanted to get the hormone directions accurate!

Either way, get your Vitamin ZZZZZZZ.

Feeling Reborn With the Power of Smoothies

As of today, I am one month sugar-free. Or to be exact, refined sugar free. Regardless, I feel wonderful.

As a Health Counselor, one of the most common things I support my clients on is getting off sugar. It’s in everything so it can take time to help people convert their eating habits. I find that they don’t think the process is nearly as difficult as they thought with one exception: the night time treat.

This has always been my challenge. I do eat a whole foods, home cooked diet 95% of the time and know what foods work for me so my sweet cravings are minimal. What has always been the challenge for me is having something sweet after dinner. It’s my time to exhale from the day and relax.

Many people also find this time challenging because they too are living busy lives and  come home exhausted, to an empty home or more work so a sugar snack provides something to look forward to.

So the reason that this is one of the more challenging sugar habits to break is because it’s not about eating differently, it’s about living differently. It involves slowing down, doing less and being more, finding more joy and learning how to remain calm in the midst of chaos.

After the detox Carlos and I did a month ago, we felt amazing. And we also knew that we had done detoxes before, felt amazing and then went back to our old habits (which really aren’t bad but one can always improve). So we decided to focus on one thing each that we would change and hold each other accountable. His was giving up coffee and me sugar. At the time I said this, I said I’d have to be allowed to have it at least once or twice a week because as a former binge eater, I know if I have too tight restrictions, I’m going to want that food even more.

But what has happened has shocked even me. I haven’t touched sugar once. I’ve had  some home made things with agave or maple syrup in them but no chocolate or anything sweet enough to wipe out this clean feeling I’m experiencing. I’m sleeping less, feeling optimistic and been able to handle the stress (good and bad) of life magically.

I’m still in amazement what a minor tweak like this can do. I say minor not because getting of sugar is minor, which it is not (I’ve been working on this for two years!) but what eliminating the night time snack can do.

What has helped are fruit smoothies (and I’ve committed myself to four days of yoga to help with staying calm). They are my magic bullet. Carlos is the smoothie master. I’ll post the simple recipe on Wednesday so you can try and see if this helps you too. I bet it will. If I was wanting something sweet, we’d have one of these after dinner. It was enough to knock any cravings out…and really healthy at the same time.

This reminds me of three things: First, how helpful it is to have support – whether it be from a boyfriend, partner, friend or Health Counselor. Second, the power of making gradual, simple changes. I do it everyday with my clients and see miraculous results but sometimes forget the power in simplicity. And third, that we can achieve powerful levels of health if we continue to try,  even if we cannot imagine ever getting there. We will if we keep on, keepin’ on.

Carlos is still coffee free. He’s also gradually phasing gluten out of his diet after he saw how much his “allergies”, lower back pain and morning alertness were affected by gluten.

So onward and upward. I know I’m never not going to eat refined sugar again but I’ve had this experience long enough to know I’m never going back to where I was, even though it wasn’t that bad. This is better!

Falling Off the Wagon

So winter has had it’s way with me. Last week, I fell of the healthy living band wagon. It was no exercise, coffee and too much chocolate. And for some, this is their everyday lives but when I checked-in with myself, I knew I wasn’t taking good care of myself.

And for someone who prides themselves on walking their talk and preaches self-care as a number one priority, I felt doubly guilty (and I think this blog entry is serving as my confession!). But more than anything, I felt like CRAP.

This all happened because I’ve been working non-stop since a couple of days before the New Year. It’s all great stuff that is transpiring and given the economy, I am fortunate to have so many opportunities come my way. It’s difficult too, when you love what you do, to ever truly separate yourself from your “work”. Everything in my life, I see through the eyes of a health counselor.

But regardless the rationale, the going, going, going hit me last week. I was too tired to work-out, which lead to a coffee fix. Which lead to afternoon cravings of chocolate and pure exhaustion at the end of the night, which lead to more chocolate. Rather than beat myself up, which I did in less healthy days, I just surrendered.

I gave myself till the end of the week to skip the gym, drink coffee and eat whatever I wanted (which much to my surprise, wasn’t much different than what I normally eat…just more chocolate!). As my dear friend, a fellow health counselor and new Mom, said to me in an email, “You can walk the walk pretty often, but it’s a long walk, and it’s sometimes necessary to sit down in the middle of the road.” So I sat for awhile.

I cleared my calendar this weekend so I could hit my own reset button. I did things that I enjoyed. I went to dinner with some new friends, hit the gym, went shopping with my sister for an outfit for TV (I’ll be on NBC again on Friday) and cooked up a storm. I also took a nap and watched really bad reality TV. It was wonderful! And now, I’m back on the wagon and feeling like new.

So my point in all this babble is even the most committed of us to our health deviate from time to time. I almost think it’s healthy. It reminds me of why everyday, I prioritize to eat whole foods, go to the gym and regularly connect with my spirit, family and friends. Because it feels so damn good.
And all those extras like boundless energy and optimism, clear skin and being at a healthy weight without stressing out about it, don’t hurt either.

Here’s to beating the drum, yet again!