Feeding Time

Kids will try to eat anything.


I repeat, anything. I've seen kids choke down mulch, paint, playdough, bugs, random things found on stairs (flashback to me when I was four), you name it. We want to experience everything around us with all our senses. It kind of makes sense from that perspective. Eventually though, what we put in our mouths is limited to what we know will give us energy which brings me to my question...

How do we chose what to eat? The hope is that our parents will teach us what to eat in order to survive on our own. What happens when food availability expands and alters so drastically over the years from generation to generation? How do we distinguish what is and isn't good for us? Do we listen to the media or what the packaging says? Where is our role model then? There must have been a way we first started chosing what to eat and not to eat years ago before food analysis was available. Much of it was likely trial and error with a mix of instinct. Hypothetically, in a desperate situation, most of us wouldn't chose to eat the following:



Having said that, if we were desperate we miiight just give this a shot:



Why though? My personal reason would be the higher potential for death with the spider even though some flowers/plants can be poisonous too (in this hypothetical situation I know nothing about either species but instinctively I know that the plant will present less of a threat). If you answered "red means danger" then why eat the following:




Alright, so how do we decide what is good to eat even when we're provided with all the nutritional breakdown? How do we know that it's providing us with the proper balance of nutrients? Labels will tout "transfat free" and "no cholesterol" and we'll think "great, I've heard those are good things to avoid". True, they are...but the packaging won't tell you what the food inside contains that perhaps isn't good for you. Next time you see transfat-free advertised, check the saturated fat content: That's not good for you either. When you see "cholesterol free", look again at the product. Is it a vegetable or fruit? Priceless. They can't contain cholesterol. Period. But the company did a great job of using buzz words to promote their product.

Whether or not you've spent time looking into nutrition and what your body needs, I know the following few tips are good guidelines to follow in order to tap into more energy with the right balance of foods. Most of us eat more refined foods than we realize and they don't do much for us on a cellular basis.

1. Eat whole foods: try not to eat packaged or frozen foods for a week, I dare you.
2. Cut down on starch carbohydrates (you CAN get sufficient carbs and fiber from vegetable and fruit sources and they provide more nutrients than breads, rices, and pastas).
3. Include protein in every meal- including snacks- especially breakfast.
4. Don't shy away from healthy fats: avocados, nuts, oils. In moderation they're great for you and should be in every meal along with protein.
5. Drink clear fluids: teas and water. Juice doesn't count...neither does clear pop :)
6. Eat (something healthy) every 3 hours.
7. Keep a bottle of water around you all the time and preferably somewhere you can see it; this will help you increase your hydration. If you don't like plain water, try putting a bit of lemon in it.

None of these points are ground-breaking or hard to follow and while I find a lot of people know how often to eat and how much water to drink, they never do. They are seemingly small changes but can make a huge difference in your energy and focus. From my own experience I've found that these are really simple guidelines that most people can work into their lives regardless of how crazy their schedule is. A lot of it comes down to being prepared for the work week ahead of time but it's well worth it in the long run!

xoxo,
F

Starts with "D" and ends with "Frustration"

Hallo,

Back again to talk a bit about nutrition and, more specifically, the ever-dreaded word "diet". The origin of the word Diet is Greek; meaning a way of living which encompases more than just food. A healthy "diet" includes exercise, human interaction, well-rounded nutrition, etc. Unfortunately, "diet" evolved to be a dreaded word that meant restrictions and deprivation...with a silver lining of potential to get people to their health goals.

I'm sure any one of you could name off at least three popular mainstream diets. Here are a few, you may be familiar with more than you thought:

1. Dr. Bernstein diet
2. Eat Right for Your Blood Type
3. South Beach Diet
4. The Atkins Diet
5. Macrobiotic Diet
6. Raw Food Diet
7. Weight Watchers Diet
8. The Zone
9. The 5 Factor Diet

My favourites are those that are promoted by celebrities (Atkins, 5-Factor, South Beach) because they are always touted as "celebrity-approved". What does that really mean? It usually means that if you follow it, you can lose a lot of weight very rapidly to get prepared for a role in a movie. Is it something you can maintain over a long period of time? Usually not. Is it tied to a celebrity-sized budget? Usually.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that people in general have become obsessed with a need to be on the "right" diet and it takes very little to sell them (celebrities...really). If one fad diet didn't work, there is another right behind it that will promise to never let you down like the first one did. But then it does. Now don't get me wrong, I do believe and know that the right nutrients will produce the healthiest you. The "right" diet is one that meets the following criteria:

A) Your body's energy demands (Your Basal Metabolic Rate and the energy you expend during exercise and daily activity)
B) Your lifestyle- time constraints, kids, job, etc
C) Your palate

The reasoning behind A) is fairly obvious. B) plays a huge role as well because if you have kids then you'll likely be making food for them as well and need to pay attention to everyone's likes, dislikes, and energy demands. Furthermore, if you travel a lot with work, don't have a fridge nearby, or don't have lenghtly breaks then the foods you eat need to be convenient in order to be consistent and healthy. C) is a funny one because it is obvious and yet I've found that a lot of people will follow diets and eat foods they otherwise would never touch. The end result is such that you fall off the "diet" set out for you. Just like exercises, there are many options food-wise to get the nutrients you need. In short, in order to be consistent something needs to be convenient AND liked. Small disclaimer: the food in question should also be providing your body with the nutrients needed...we all like cookies and they're convenient but we all know they shouldn't be consistently consumed. Fair, right?

Among the popular mainstream diets there are definitely some good elements in a few of them. The Zone, for example, approaches reduced (starch) carbohydrates from the right angle...The Atkins diet does not. Atkins promoted cutting all carbs to encourage our bodies to metabolize fat (lipolysis) instead. It doesn't quite work that way. When you start exercising or doing much beyond resting, your body wants to metabolize muscle glycogen (Glycolysis) in order to meet the new energy demands. Fat oxidation is a long process as far as the body is concerned. I often use the following analogy to explain these two metabolic processes:

You need to make a phone call and there are two scenarios:
1. You pick up the phone, dial the number, and complete the call. (Glycolysis)
2. You tell coworker A who passes it on to B, who passes it on to C, who passes it on to D, who passes it on to E who then completes the call. (Lypolysis)

What we need to remember is that we're built extraordinarily well as humans. In a case like the Atkins diet, our body will win over in the end because it NEEDS carbohydrates to survive and if it had a point of view it would think we were idiots for wanting to cut out something so imperative to our existence. Too much carb (or other macronutrient) starvation and a body will not only suffer lowered muscular performance but reduced brain function as well.

I'll leave with one last thought- that of comparing macronutrients to car parts:
- The Engine parts are protein.
- Gas is Carbohydrates.
- Oil is Healthy Fat.
- Coolant is Water.

They're all needed to make a car run right? In that sense, humans are no different. Treat your bodies well, they dictate everything else we can and cannot do in life!
xoxo,
F