Nourished not Famished

Healthy Made Easy: Simple, Nourishing Solutions to Healthy Eating and Living

Real Food, Real Health

What’s Your Why?

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What’s your big why? I used to think mine was mostly to fit back into those skinny jeans again, but as the NSVs (non-scale victories) started trickling in, I had a big “aha”. My big why was now about *so* much more, like:

  • having a ton more energy to get through my day, no matter what curve balls are thrown my way
    the ability to move my body with more ease, and keep up with my kids
  • a peaceful, pleasurable relationship with food, with no more stressing about what I was going to eat & when, and the end of cravings
  • improved readings on key health markers like cholesterol levels and blood glucose readings – reducing my risk of chronic disease and limiting the need for multiple medications later in life
  • a sharper, clearer mind, free of the brain fog I would get from eating overly refined foods; reduced anxiety

Along the way, I really latched onto these bigger-picture whys, and they definitely made it a lot easier to stick with the day-to-day habits that helped me get leaner, stronger, and more healthy.

And, as a bonus, focusing on the long term, bigger picture health goals, ultimately helped me fit into those pants again.

Now, I consider eating well, moving my body, making time for rest & recovery, and stress relief to be not just strategies for fat loss or maintaining weight. Rather, they are the tools I use to power my life!

What’s your big why? How do you power your life?

Immersion Blender for the Win!

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My kitchen space is tight, so I am verrry choosy about kitchen tools and gadgets. One-trick ponies have no place in my cozy kitchen (avocado slicer, I’m lookin’ at you). My immersion blender, however, has earned every bit of real estate it occupies in my kitchen. If you don’t own one, you might want to think about it. I use mine all the time to puree soups, sauces, and dressings. All the time. Especially sauces & dressings – I throw a few fresh ingredients in a jar, puree for a minute, and then I have a *real food* awesome sauce that makes a meal taste AMAZING. And unlike using a regular blender, there’s no extra pitcher to wash because an immersion blender allows you to blend right in the pot or jar. No extra dishes! Woohoo!

So, channel your inner June Cleaver/ Julia Child and add one of these bad boys to your kitchen tool set. And look for one like this Breville that includes a whisk attachment so you can have whipped cream in 30 seconds.

A little bit of walking is a big deal for your health

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Though it’s getting dark so early now, I’m still trying to squeeze in a short evening walk after dinner whenever possible. I can’t always make it happen, but I do my best because that brief 15 minutes offers so many benefits:
➡ It’s totally relaxing, and a great way to destress after a busy day.
➡ It gives me some much-needed outdoor time.
➡ Going for a walk after a meal has a significant impact on the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels, not just immediately after the meal, but for the following twenty four hours. A post-meal walk also stimulates metabolism. So, it’s an enjoyable, fifteen minute activity that reduces my risk for diabetes and helps with weight control. Uhm, no brainer, right?
➡ The evening’s fading light adds another benefit – it helps keep circadian rhythms in check. When your body’s clock is functioning properly, it not only helps you sleep better, it also positively impacts many of the body’s systems involving hunger, mental alertness, mood, stress, heart function, and immunity.


Even as winter approaches, I do my best to stick with this habit. If I get wimpy about the cold, I suck it up, bundle up, and remind myself of the hardy Scandinavian mindset about cold weather: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.”
How do you motivate to keep moving, espeically during the darker, cooler months?

Want to learn more about the health benefits of this post-meal stroll? Read more here.

Building a Better Bowl

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Yes, there are some shortcuts in life, especially in the kitchen! Building a tasty, real-food meal can be done quickly and painlessly if you have ingredients ready to go.

Start with prepped foods and ready-to-eat store-bought ingredients, like precooked chicken sausage and prewashed greens. Try batch-cooking some proteins, a sauce/dressing or two, veggies, and other slow carbs. Yes, you will need to do a little bit of prep earlier in the week, but the minimal time you spend prepping will save you hours of time throughout the week. You save yourself the time of starting from scratch every meal. It also reduces the time you spend just *thinking* about “what’s for dinner?”, “what’s for lunch?”. Instead, you can use your time to think about more fun things like coffee, chocolate, and weekends.

 

 

Feeling Nourished, Not Famished is the Real Secret to Getting Lean and Healthy

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If you’re working on getting leaner & improving your health, please know that the process does not have to include deprivation and hunger. In fact, any “diet” or meal plan that has you eating too little, or restricts you to a very narrow range of foods will, you guessed it, leave you feeling hungry and deprived. Though such a diet might give you an initial burst of weight loss and energy boost, ultimately, the deprivation will catch up with you, slowing your metabolism and stoking your cravings.

For most of us, when it comes to fat loss and improved health, the magic occurs when we nourish ourselves each mealtime with real, minimally refined foods, in a balance of protein, fats, and slow-digesting carbs. Amount matters, too – if you eat until you are no longer hungry (but not stuffed), you’ll probably notice that you feel more filled and fueled between one meal and the next (and you won’t need those 13 snacks in between!).

While elimination diets can be a very useful tool in determining food sensitivities and allergies, they typically are not intended to be a way of eating for life. While we all vary slightly from one person to the next in food preferences and intolerances, “you do you” is a very helpful mindset in figuring out what works best for you. For example, maybe your friend can’t tolerate dairy, but you do fine with a bit of cheese or Greek yogurt here and there. Or, maybe you have a friend who swears by going ultra low carb, but, for you, low carb results in low energy, stalled fat loss, disrupted hormones and raging cravings.

Bottom line? When it comes to determining *your* magic formula, eating meals of real, minimally refined foods (in a combination of protein, fat, and slow carbs), and eating to satiety are a great starting point. Fine tune from there to figure out what keeps your hunger, cravings, and energy levels in check.

Learn more here about how to get started.

Gut Health 101

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Today’s weather was simply too gorgeous for staying indoors, so the fam and I ventured out to the Fermentation Festival at Boston Public Market. Sunshine and blue skies were the perfect backdrop for the incredible demos, tons of vendor booths, and, of course, plenty of good-for-your-gut samples of kraut, kimchi, kombucha, and more!

Click to play! – Boston Fermentation Festival at Boston Public Market, August 2017

So what’s the big deal about all of this gut health stuff? And why does what we eat have such an influence on gut health? Well, basically, your gut microbiota is the community of microbes that lives in your intestines, and plays a role in your metabolism and immune function. It also influences aspects of moods and behavior, too.

When this ecosystem of microbes is disturbed (such as through a diet high in refined carbohydrates & processed food; overuse of antibiotics; or chronic stress), there are consequences for our health. It’s critical to keep those gut microbes happy by feeding them! And what do they love to eat? Dietary fiber. If you’re not eating dietary fiber, thenthose gut microbes starve and die, leaving your gut without those healthy microbes. Many plant foods are rich in dietary fiber, and consuming them is a great way to sustain the good microbes in your intestine. In addition, consuming fermented foods such as kraut, kimchi, and kefir help to establish active, healthy microbes in your intestine. Fermented foods have been consumed throughout human history, and are a rich source of healthy microbes that will nourish your gut health.

 

Want to know more? Check out these great resources:

Want to look good? Focus on feeling good, first.

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At the start of every season, it seems that the diet-selling hucksters of the world promise all sorts of quick-fix magic to help you get a beach body/bikini body, etc. in just a few weeks (BTW, if you *have* a body, you’ve already met the requirement for a “beach body”😚). If you’re looking to get leaner and improve your health, it can be done without deprivation, hunger, and cravings, and it’s a sustainable way of eating *for life*. No need to buy any special products or gimmicks, either.

The fabulous thing is, focusing on your health by eating REAL (minimally refined) food is perhaps the most effective way to get lean. Eat REAL food, in a balance of protein, fat, and slow carbs, and your body and mind will feel REAL good. As a bonus, your good health will make you look REAL good.

Check out the research for yourself: Science Compared Every Diet, and the Winner Is REAL FOOD