Rules, Rules, Rules

February 4, 2013 / ktbuchs87

Don’t eat after 7 pm, space out your eating with 5 or 6 meals through out the day, don’t skip breakfast, wait maybe skip breakfast, eat egg yolks, nope don’t eat egg yolks, wait, take that back, you can eat the egg yolks.

Does it ever seem like there is a never ending list of rules and studies when it comes to eating? That’s because there is a never ending list of rules and studies all about eating. All of the information that is out there is overwhelming and often times contradicting. This confusion can really put a damper on your good effort to eat the best way possible. First, you’re presented with all of these diets from low-carb to no-fat to all-fat to everything in between. How do you know which one to choose? Then, there are what seems like daily nutritional studies released telling you the rules on how to eat. It’s enough to make your head spin and give up all of your good intentions about eating better.

How are you supposed to navigate through the plethora of information out there? You won’t like my answer because it isn’t an easy solution. You’ve heard me say it before, but you will have to spend time learning how different foods and eating techniques (not the fine art of chewing. Think more along the lines of what time of day to eat). Because I can’t tell you exactly what you need to do for your body, I’ll give you a general outline of how to figure out what you need.

Define your nutritional goals. Decide what it is exactly that you want to fix/work on. Make it a very clear goal such as: “I want to lose weight,” or “I want to have more energy.” If you know exactly what you want from your daily diet, you can eliminate anything that does not pertain to your specific goal

Research what diets that will help accomplish your goal. There are so many resources out today that can really help you find exactly what you need for better nutrition. Books, blogs, articles, doctors, dieticians. The list goes on and on. Even starting with a quick google search can get you started. Just make sure you are only looking at things that will help you further your goal. If you want to have more energy, but are researching the diets of super bodybuilders, you will probably NOT meet your goal and get really discouraged or confused.

Dive in and experiment. Once you find one or two methods that will help you meet your goals and are realistic (and not dangerous, like eating only through a feeding tube once a day), start experimenting and see how your body reacts. Do certain foods effect you negatively? Or do they give you the exact result you want? Does eating at a certain time in the day or in a specific way hurt or help your goal? As you go along you will be able to really fine tune what and the way you eat to maximize your personal goal.

Don’t get worried or sidetracked by new studies. When a new study comes out that says it has been shown that you will lose more weight if you eat while walking in concentric circles, don’t get flustered because you have been eating while walking in an oval. If what you are doing is working for you, i.e. you are achieving your goal, then don’t worry so much about every single little study that is released. I’m not bashing the scientific process here, I know that research studies are an important part of life and they do help us discover new and better things. BUT, you will drive yourself crazy if you try to adhere to every single “rule” or diet that comes out, and stress isn’t good for anyone.

All in all, the most important thing is that you do what is best for YOU. There is no one perfect way to eat for every human being. Some people will have different dietary needs than others and that is OK! We are all unique and we shouldn’t expect one quick fix for every person. I used to think that I had to follow every single piece of diet advice out there or that if I wasn’t following the newest diet people were judging me. Now that I have grown up and matured a little (not much, but a little), I have stopped worrying so much about following the crowds and care more about what works best for me. I’m the one who has to live with this body, and I should treat it the way it needs to be treated! With all the love and care I can!

Hopefully I was able to sort a few things out for you and give you some helpful tips on how to navigate through the nutrition jungle! I hope that you all have the best week and if you’re here in the Midwest, I hope you stay warm!

Mindful Eating: Wait… Did I just eat that?

December 24, 2012December 24, 2012 / ktbuchs87

Oh the holidays! What a wonderful time of friends, family, and food! How many of you have been in this situation? You’re at a Christmas party, there is food EVERYWHERE, people all around talking, laughing, drinking, having a good time. You are enjoying the rush of holiday spirit and look down at your plate and realize you have downed five pigs in a blanket, a mountain of chips and dip, and there are still cookie crumbs on your face. You know you had a full plate just a minute ago, but you can’t remember finishing any of it.

Unfortunately, this happens all too often, and not just at Christmas time. I’ve been just as guilty of plopping myself in front of the TV for dinner and inhaling my meal without even remembering the taste of what was on my plate. Or how about the mindless snacking that just seems to go hand in hand with surfing the internet? What would Facebook-stalking your friends be without that endless bag of Doritos? We have become a society that has gotten really good at multitasking, but multitasking while eating can be detrimental to your health.

Enter mindful eating. Maybe you have heard/seen/read about this idea but never really gave much thought to it (pun intended there). This idea has been picking up speed and support here in the United States for the past few years, but the practice of mindfulness has been around for much longer than that. In Buddhist culture, they have been practicing the art of mindful eating for thousands of years. So what is mindful eating exactly? In the simplest terms, it is being completely present and aware of everything that goes in to the act of sitting down and eating a meal. Not just the taste of food, but the smell, the sight, the texture, and the ambiance around you. It is really focusing on being in the moment, so to speak, with your food.

Now, I can see some of you rolling your eyes at the computer screen. “Great. She is one of THOSE people. How long before she has us hugging trees and dancing around with scarves to advocate healthy eating?” No, I am not one of THOSE people, although there is nothing wrong with them and I do a pretty wicked healthy food scarf dance. Mindful eating doesn’t have to be some crazy spiritual food experience to be helpful to you and your health. There have been numerous studies and research products on the effects of mindful eating on a healthy diet. And a lot of them have shown very positive results.

Over the next few posts, I want to go more into the principles of mindful eating as well as share some of my experiences with the practice. It really has helped improve my health, and I was one of the skeptical ones when I first heard the idea (30 minutes to eat a banana? No thanks, get it in my belly asap). But I now see the benefits and I think that you can reap those same benefits for yourself!

With that in mind (yup another pun) I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy the time with your loved ones and bask in the glow of this wonderful season! And just maybe think before reaching for that fifth candy cane….

Merry Christmas from the Dawson’s!

When to blame others and when to blame yourself

October 5, 2012 / ktbuchs87

I am going to take a wild guess and say that most of you reading this blog have, in one way or another, dealt with some health issue. Whether it’s losing weight, gaining weight, fighting some disease or other ailment, the majority of us have gone through our own health woes. I’ve been there and some days it feels like I am still there, so I know how tough these things can be. What exactly am I trying to get at in this post? I am so glad you asked!

This past Sunday there was an article in the Chicago Tribune by Julie Deardorff about how there may be many factors that affect obesity, not just less movement and too many calories. The article looks in depth at three factors that might be keeping people obese: air pollution, microbes in the gut, and sleep deprivation. For air pollution, researchers are saying that pregnant women exposed to higher

concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have a greater risk for obese or overweight children. Microbes in the gut (which we have talked about before) are another cause for concern. There appears to be a link to antibiotics, which kill off both good and bad bacteria in your body, and this can also increase the risk for obesity. And there is also significant research cropping up that is saying those that get less than 7 to 8 hours of sleep are at a higher risk for being overweight. In a side article, Deardorff also briefly lists other factors that could contribute to weight gain including maternal age, air conditioning, and decreased smoking. Yup, you read that last one right. People who stop smoking tend to gain weight because nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant.

Well. It appears that it is just hopeless for all of us trying to lose or maintain a healthy weight. Might as well give up now and go back to eating fast food in front of the TV. Nope. This isn’t the first time that I have read an article of this nature. I agree that there are many components to living a healthy lifestyle, aside from the standard exercise and eat healthy, but I also think that people constantly try to find a way to blame everything under the sun but themselves for why they are overweight. It’s easier, and a lot less painful, to blame the air for your weight problem instead of stepping up and admitting that your weight is caused by the pint of Ben and Jerry’s you scarf down every night, or say my mom was older when she had me so she set me up for failure right from the start. Are you sure it’s not the fact that you haven’t exercised in the last five years instead? I am not trying to belittle the efforts of the researchers trying to fix our weight problem nor am I denying that most of this research is right. What I am saying is we cannot be so quick to pass the buck. You need to be accountable for your actions (or lack thereof). It’s tough and possibly humiliating, but it’s also responsible and respectable.

Now all that being said I do realize that sometimes there really are deeper underlying issues as to why someone might be overweight. And I am not trying to bash those people who struggle to lose weight. In fact for all of those really and truly trying but not seeing the results you want, I commend you. You are putting in the effort and hard work and that is what counts. If diet and exercise are not working for you and you can honestly say you have given 100 percent, talk with your doctor and see what else might be going on. And for those of you who like to play the blame game, toughen up buttercup and get up and working. That is the only way you can even start to blame someone else for your weight issues. Your health starts with YOU taking action.