15 Changes to a New You in 2015

Today we were lucky to have Kerri Napoleon, a registered Dietician and good friend to several of our members, come in to speak with us about nutrition. Her handout and talk covered 15 Easy Changes to a New You in 2015. She's going to send me a copy via email, and I'll link to it as soon as I can for those who missed the meeting. 

Kerri Napoleon- Registered Dietician

Her first point is one that should be so obvious, but I know I'm definitely guilty of not following: Do not skip meals/snacks. Every morning I wake up with the best intentions to make a smoothie or soft-boil some eggs for myself; and then I start making lunches and breakfast for the girls, and then someone pees on the floor in front of the potty, and then I get out the clorox and mop and clean it up, by then someone else has their finger caught in their hair, so out come the scissors... By the time we are heading out the door to get to preschool, I have forgotten about my breakfast about 50% of the time. Kerri had some good recommendations of quick, on-the-go bars that can stand in for breakfast in a pinch, and are also suitable snacks: Kind Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Bars, Luna Protein Bars, Kashi Granola Bars, and South Beach Good to Go Bars. Kerri recommends not going longer than 3-4 hours without eating. Some of her favorite snacks are apple slices and cheese, veggies and hummus or a handful of nuts.

Number 2 on the list is to choose low glycemic meals/snacks. This is something I have never thought a lot about, though some of the popular diet programs you hear about adhere to a diet based on the principle (the Zone diet, Nutrisystem). The way to determine if a food or meal is low-glycemic is to use this formula:

• (Fat + Fiber + Protein) > Total Carbohydrates

A food is considered to have a low GI (Glycemic Index) number if it is under 55.

The third item on Kerri's list is to Drink Plenty of Fluid. I am pretty good on this one, but my husband is terrible about it. He, like many people, hates plain water. He adds crystal light to every glass that he drinks. Kerri pointed out that drinks with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, splenda or saccharine, can make you crave more sugar later. They may also impact thyroid function. Some good alternatives are seltzer water with natural flavoring like La Croix, or try some True Lemon or True Lime, which flavors water without adding artificial sweetener; the flavored lemonade version uses Stevia, which isn't in the same category as the artificial sweeteners listed. Gara asked a great question about regular soda, and Kerri said that if regular soda is your indulgence and how you choose to spend your calories, one regular soda isn't going to kill you.

Fiber! Number 4 on the list is to Increase your fiber. Fiber helps you feel more satiated or full when you eat it, it can help decrease cholesterol (Cheerios commercial gets me every time), and prevent cancer. We should be getting between 25-40 grams of protein per day, and Kerri told us most adults get 12-15 grams. Thats not enough! Increase whole grains, look for cereals with at least 5 grams per serving, eat fruits and vegetables. You can also add some metamucil or benefiber if you don't think you're getting enough.

We all know number 5, but I don't think we all follow it as well as we could: Aim for 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetable per day. We should try for 2-3 servings of veggies at lunch and 3-4 servings of veggies at dinner, plus 2 servings of fruit. This leads directly into number 6, which is change your plate. To get all these veggies in, we really need to reimagine what our plate looks like. Ideally your plate will be 1/2 non-starchy vegetable, 1/4 plate of lean protein and 1/4 plate of starch, high in fiber.

Decrease your intake of fried foods. Not really much more to say about that. If you must eat them (I'm not sure there's really a scenario where you're being forced to eat fried food, but hypothetically, let's pretend there is), keep it to one time a week or less.

Not all fats are created equal! So, increase your good fats. Monounsaturated fats, like those contained in olive and canola oil, olives, nuts, avocados and hummus, are good for you in moderation. Omega 3 fatty acids are also good, found in salmon, tuna, walnuts and flax seed.

In order to keep things interesting while you're getting enough fiber, try different grains/starches/legumes. You know I love me some quinoa, but there is a whole world of choices out there! Farro, barley, ezekiel bread for grains, butternut squash, acorn squash, spagetti squash for starches and lentils, northern beans and black beans for legumes. Expand your palette, and your kids exposure. Are they going to love butternut squash the first time they see it? maybe not, but at least they will have added it to the list of foods they've tried. 

Next on the list is have a probiotic daily. Probiotics add a beneficial bacterial to your gut that make it healthier. There are a number of ways you can add or introduce them to your diet: Kefir (yogurt in a drinkable form, smoothie consistency), KeVita (sparkling water probiotic drink), GoodBelly StraightShot, ProBugs Blast (kids kefir in 3.5 oz bottles), fermented food like sauerkraut and kimchi and activia yogurt. A good place to check out kefir and some of the fermented foods we're talking about is Grassroots- I was there last month and they have a lot of great option.

The next one is good, and one I've been doing a lot more this month- eat 75% of food from home.  Kerri suggests planning meals for the week, to include Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and snacks. I have become much better about this because it also helps to save money. If you're planning your meals, you're shopping with a list, and you're not as likely to waste food. There are a ton of good templates on Pinterest for meal planning, plus a ton of apps to help along the way. This template is what I'm using this week- it has a spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as room at the bottom of the planner for your grocery list. For me, if I write it down, it is definitely more likely to happen. Give it a try next week and see how you do.

Here is one that I struggle at daily: anytime you eat, you must "plate" your food and sit down to eat. So dinner time isn't the issue for me, it's breakfast and lunch. I know that it is beneficial because if I've followed the real before this one, I made the meal and I should give it the attention and mindfulness that it deserves. When you eat mindfully, you tend to eat less, enjoy your food more and improve your digestion. Also, take 15-30 minutes for you because you should! You deserve it!

Listen to your hunger. Eat when you are hungry, don't allow hunger to lead to starving. On the flip side, try to figure out why you are eating- are you actually hungry, or are you bored or stressed? I drink a glass of water when I'm about to reach for a mindless snack to make sure I'm not thirsty. The other side of this is listen to your satiety. Stop eating when you start to feel full. Think about how full you are on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being not full at all and 10 being stuffed.

Finally, stay motivated. When you wake up in the morning, think about what motivates you. Kerri suggests writing it down or writing down your goals where you can see them; I actually do this and it helps me a lot. When I'm feeling beat down or like I'm not making progress, I remind myself of what my goals are. Be accountable to someone else. I know when I have a buddy to help me with my goals, it is really beneficial. 

I don't know about you, but I'm reenergized after todays meeting! I'm ready to tackle 2015! Thanks Kerri!

Shout out to Super Mom of the Century, Lucy, who was not only at this morning's meeting, but looked freaking awesome. Voss, you're luckier than you know! Welcome to the party!

Lucy and Voss! Congratulations!!