Tis the season of pumpkins and all the fall squashes – but try not to waste the best parts! The best parts are the tiny gems in the middle – the seeds. They are high in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and amino acids! If you can rinse through the fibers and collect the seeds – you will discover a delicious snack. These seeds can be slowly roasted in a toaster oven and then cooled. Before eating, you want to hull them, which can be done one at a time. It’s not a bad thing to slow down eating and increase the anticipation of a delicious nutritious snack!
Roasting the seeds has been shown via science to enhance the antioxidant properties, aroma, & flavor – and it is absolutely one of my favorites!
Our nervous system has 3 different modes of operation. The Parasympathetic Nervous System response which is often referred to as the fight or flight mode, the Sympathetic Nervous System response which is often referred to as the rest and digest mode, and the Freeze response.
The freeze response happens when your body experiences overwhelm. It then shuts down to go into an energy conservation state. This is the freeze response. A person can feel like they are in a daze, have brain fog, are challenged to find the energy to get things done, struggling with focu to be productive, and seem emotionally numb. The tendency in this mode is to reach out for caffeine, food, exercise, or anything to motivate oneself out of this mode.
If this model sounds familiar to you, then know that self-care will activate your parasympathetic nervous system and get you back into a rest & digest mode. Things like:
Reading
Meditating
Breathing exercises
Soaking in a hot tub bath
Sleeping
And a slew of other mind-body practices
If you find your bounce back and forth between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system and stay chronically stressed, maybe it’s time to reach out and learn more about stress relievers and how best to manage your stress response. Reach out and schedule a talk with me and we’ll do an assessment to see how stressed you are, and brainstorm all the ways you can self-care.
Protein, along with carbohydrates and fats, is an essential macronutrient. We need it for growth and repair of cells, tissues, and organs. Eating an optimal amount of protein is important for building organs, muscles, skin, and hormones. Studies show it’s useful in weight loss, increasing muscle mass, and increasing overall strength.
Health professionals are still debating the optimal amount of protein one should eat. Current studies are putting that number somewhere between 10-35% of total calories consumed. That gave me the idea of categorizing top vegetarian foods by the percentage of protein they provide. It’s a new way of looking at how best to get your protein without getting a lot of other things. We are just looking at vegetarian foods, because we already know that animal based foods are very high percentage of protein, and it’s the vegetarians that are constantly searching for good protein sources. I hope this list empowers all of you to seek out great protein sources that you may not have approached before.
Mindful eating is the conscious awareness of what you eat, how you eat, and the purpose of eating being aligned with your desired health goals. On the other hand, mindless eating is the unconscious decision to eat without any alignment to health goals. It’s just eating for the sake of eating! The mindless version of eating can lead to overeating and weight gain.
Some tips to keep you aware of your eating decisions include:
Eat when hungry. Everyone’s got an internal clock that will tell you when you are hungry. Eating with your internal clock is better for your weight.
Use smaller plates. This is an automatic way of reducing the portion size.
Portion food out. This means take the amount you’d like to eat out of a bag of potato chips and put that in a bowl. This way you aren’t eating the whole bag!
Volumize your foods. Eat high volume foods which are low in calories to satisfy hunger with high water or high fiber foods. Choose low calorie density foods like vegetables and make a large grilled vegetable platter, or a large salad.
Eat slowly. Taking some time to chew properly and swallow before the next bite allows a fuller feeling when eating. Some strategies for this one include eating with a non-dominant hand or using chopsticks.
Keep evidence of quantity eaten at eye level. This can include empty cans of beer, meat bones, left over crusts, shells, fibers, etc. These visual clues can subconsciously affect fullness.
Eating with others. Eating with other people can cause you to nibble on extra food you may not have eaten solo. On the other hand, eating with a slow eater may cause you to also eat slower. Strategically, you can remove your plate when you are done eating and continue to socialize with other diners.
Reduce variety of items. If dinner includes 4-5 plates of various foods, then even if you take a small amount of each one, it can add up to be more than if there was a 1 food meal.
Unplug. Watching TV or other distraction while eating may lead to rapid or mindless eating. By removing the electronic unit (TV, phone, ipad, computer, etc) while eating, the focus can go back to the food, texture, and flavor.
Make it inconvenient. The more work one has to do to eat a food, the less likely you will eat it. If you have to climb up a stool to get your snack or dessert, you may forego it every now and then.
Keep high impact foods out of eye level. Keep sweet and high fat foods away from eye level, as research shows that when food is in sight, it pushes people to consciously decide whether to eat it. Seeing it more often increases the chances you’ll eventually choose to eat that food.
Read labels. Many foods – health foods even- are labelled with words that conjure an image of wholesomeness or healthy, that we assume they are healthy. Learn about the new and improved labels which note honest nutrition information. Ask restaurants to provide you with nutrition information when you dine out.
Don’t buy in bulk. Stockpiling foods can push one to eat more unless the extra food is kept out of eye level.
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