Goals

To say there is confusion amongst all of us about the various recommendations we hear from ‘experts’ and nutritional guidelines is an understatement! I’m simply going to avoid this topic, except to say, that I rarely see weight or health issues coming from the main meals. It is invariably the snacking during the day or evening that is the problem. Usually these ‘foods’ are highly processed carbohydrates. How can we simplify things? Well, not eating at all is a good first step. It’s cheap, can be done at home, at hotels, on holidays and at airports. All the research pointing [...]

What is health? I’m not sure if any of us spend a lot of time trying to define what it means to us. We may focus on our weight, but losing weight may not make us happier, or more joyful, or more flexible, or stronger. Is health something we find in the future, when we lose 20, 40 or 100 pounds? Or is it today and tomorrow, when we are working on just feeling better, both physically and emotionally? I’m sure each of us knows that if we have a day of good eating and we make good food choices, [...]

A nutritionist I know refers to herself as a dietary agnostic.  I like her terminology, because each of us needs to find out what works for ourselves.  Also, we need to find out which way of eating makes us feels better from an energy point of view, helps us get weight down and keep it off, how to prevent or reverse Type 2 diabetes, and lessen the risk of Alzheimer’s, or any other chronic disease you can think of.  This is a never ending quest!   ‘New’ food guidelines are soon to be released, which unfortunately are driven by very [...]

There is a small book entitled “Mind over Mood”, and the title says it all. We are all trying not to respond to the internal dialogue that continually seems to run in the background of our brain. That demon that tempts us with thoughts of food, tries to talk us out of getting in some exercise, or reminds us of all the emotional demands and memories of the holiday season. Over these past two weeks I have seen so many clients upset because they seem to be snacking uncontrollably in the evening. It is apparent that even if we eat [...]

I doubt very much if I’m the only one who deceives myself into allowing the peanut butter snack - “It’s a fat after all”, or the evening potato chips because “I’m going to fast till dinner tomorrow”. These permission thoughts sabotage any efforts at weight loss that I want to achieve. With the holidays coming, these permission thoughts will be pervasive. “It’s the holidays, my time to allow myself to really celebrate with lots of food”. “I’ll certainly be on track by the New Year”. This never works. We stay off track, usually because we have gained weight and are [...]

When we first see you in the office and at each subsequent visit we give you a food diary to record your foods. Why is this? The food diary is the most powerful proven aid for weight management. People who keep a food and exercise diary not only lose more weight, they also tend to keep it off.  Recommitting to recording your foods is a great habit to get into, or to resume. Here are some of the reasons to record your foods: • Recording your eating and exercise habits jolts you into realizing just what you do eat and [...]

I am the last one to be giving advice about sleep, even though I’m aware of the health benefits including improved mood, insulin sensitivity, weight loss, immune function and better cognitive status. I’ve been a poor sleeper since my internship days; constant night calls for the past 40 years have done that. I know what I should be doing, but don’t necessarily follow through. Reading Rob Wolf’s book, “Wired to Eat”, I came upon some great suggestions that we might use. Like eating however, knowing what to do, and doing it, are two different beasts. I will work on these, [...]

In any given moment we justify eating snacks or increased amounts of food, not based on health or our weight, but simply because we desire them.  In that moment, we lose sight of how we want to look or feel tomorrow, or next week, or next year.  We just eat!   Be always mindful, or aware of why you want to eat better or less.  Whether it be today or ten years from now, you want to learn to be resilient, to be able to say no to foods that are not going to improve your health, or how you [...]

Most of us are aware of all the food dangers throughout this long weekend. We know that stuffing, whipped potatoes and pie should be enjoyed in a mindful fashion, or avoided if this is impossible! Hopefully we can navigate around the worst of the culinary culprits. What most of us do forget, however, is to MOVE. It might be difficult to force oneself to do something if you have lots of guests, but it is possible. Innovation is key. Part of the reason I encourage this, is that it will heighten your awareness to be careful with the food. It [...]

Each day begins with the opportunity to inch our way forward into better health, both physically and emotionally.  You or I may have had a yesterday where nothing we perceived went exactly the way we had planned, especially our food choices.  Don’t dwell on yesterday!   Our focus must be on today.  More importantly, we must focus on what health means to each of us.  Without this being a priority, we will give into temptations; we will give into the fatigue and stress of the day, and allow ourselves to make food choices that are directly opposite to the health [...]