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Do you have the right nutrition goals for 2018?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

As 2017 winds down, a lot of us are starting to think about our goals and resolutions for the coming year.  What are yours? Are you planning to “eat clean in 2018”? Give up sugar? Work out more? Eat out less? (Or maybe just eat less?)

How are this year’s goals different from last year’s?

If you find yourself re-making the same resolutions year after year, the problem may not be with you. It might be the goals.

Here are two of the most common reasons we fail to achieve our goals:

Too Vague

Eating clean certainly sounds like a good idea. The problem is that no-one really knows what it means. Similarly, goals like ‘working out more’ or ‘eating out less’ tend to falter because they are too vague.  More or less than what?

Choosing goals that are specific and measurable, such as ‘getting to the gym 3 times a week,’ or will greatly increase your chances of notching a win.

Too Extreme

At the other end of the spectrum are those take-no-prisoners goals like completely eliminating sugar from your diet. Or, going from never exercising to getting up every morning at 5am to work out for 60 minutes before work.

Nothing vague or unmeasurable about these! But setting goals that are unrealistic or unattainable (for you right now) can also set you up for failure. The first time you oversleep and miss your workout, you may be tempted to bail on the whole enterprise.

Choosing the Right Goals

I’ve found that the goals most likely to be acheived tend to have the following attributes:

Incremental:  If you actually cooked dinner a grand total of four times in 2017,  resolving to cook every meal from scratch in 2018 is probably not an achievable goal. How about resolving to cook two meals a week? (Cook extra so that you have leftovers!)

Sustainable: I once decided that doing 45-minutes of yoga every morning would make my life better.  And no doubt it would if I lived on Mars, where every day is 24 hours and 40 minutes long. Here on Earth, it turns out that I can only fit yoga in 3 times a week (which is way better than zero times.)   If achieving your goal requires more time, money, or energy than you have–or can make–available, the odds of long term success aren’t good. Try to choose goals that don’t require bending the time/space continuum.

[bctt tweet=”Try to choose goals that don’t require bending the time/space continuum.” username=”nutritiondiva”]

Aligned with your values:  Behavior change is always challenging. But changing your behavior because someone else thinks you should is nigh unto impossible.  When considering which goals you might like to set for yourself in 2018, think about why each one is important to you and choose the one(s) that bring you closer to who and how you want to be in the world. Those are the goals that are worth pursuing.

Setting and achieving meaningful goals is a big part of what we do in the Weighless Program, a year-long group coaching program focused on behavior change and sustainable weight loss. Click here to learn more.

Probiotic Tea: Is this for real?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Josh writes:

Tea with probiotcsThis Thanksgiving, my grandmother had a lemon ginger tea from Bigelow, which had probiotics in it. I was surprised to see a dry tea that did not need refrigeration but still claimed to have probiotic properties. The tea was delicious. Even if the probiotic element might be questionable, would it be harmful to consume the tea anyway?

 

A. Probiotics are hot these days and adding some to your product is a sure way to increase sales. But does tea made from these tea bags contain any beneficial bacteria?

Actually, it does! Bigelow has selected a special strain of probiotic known as Bacillus coagulans. This particular strain is highly tolerant to heat as well as extremes in pH balance. As a result, it can survive both boiling water and stomach acid!

OK, so the bugs actually make it to your gut. But do they do anything for you once they get there? Possibly, yes.

Consuming bacillus coagulans on a daily basis may have positive effects on digestive function, including reduced gas and bloating after meals. (Ginger’s not bad at this, either.)  The probiotics might also have modest anti-inflammatory and immune-stimulating properties–although these have not been linked to any specific health outcomes such as a reduced risk of colds.

The tea is certainly safe to consume and the probiotics might add some modest benefits above and beyond the herbs. Enjoy it in good health!

This super easy hack could save you major calories

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Can it really be this simple?

Researchers at the University of Surrey fed two groups of study subjects an identical pasta dish. Although the amount of food was the same, it was presented to one group as a “snack” and to the other as a “meal.”  The snackers ate standing up, using plastic utensils. The meal-eaters sat down at a table set with ceramic dishes and silverware.

A little bit later, both groups were given some additional foods to sample. Those who had merely “snacked” on the pasta dish consumed far more calories than those who felt that they’d just eaten a meal.

Doesn’t that ring true?

When we call something a snack, we tend to discount it.  It doesn’t register in quite the same way in our mental tally of how much we’ve eaten. We may not even feel as full afterward.  (Which just goes to show how much of our sensation of ‘hunger’ is actually in our heads!)

Try this: Instead of just grabbing a snack, consciously make it a meal. Even if it’s just a few bites or you don’t have much time, be sure to signal to your brain and senses that you’re satisfying your need for food.  Sit down. Put it on a plate. Mentally re-label those snacks as mini-meals and see if they don’t feel a little more satisfying.

Need to lower blood pressure? Here’s a tastier option

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Over a million Americans developed high blood pressure overnight–and, no, it wasn’t the latest headlines.

The American Heart Association just lowered the bar on what is considered to a healthy blood pressure reading. Instead of anything under 140/90, you now need to shimmy under 130/80 to get the all clear.  That means that a whole bunch of people who had normal blood pressure yesterday are hypertensive today.

Diet and lifestyle change is the standard prescription in this situation. The time-tested DASH diet, in particular, has a great track record for lowering blood pressure.  But if the thought of giving up red meat and cheese leaves you feeling a bit bereft, I have good news.

Recent studies have found that modified versions of the DASH diet that include red meat and full-fat dairy products are just as effective as the more austere original.  The details are outlined in this episode of the Nutrition Diva podcast: The DASH Diet Gets an Upgrade.

What’s your biggest weight loss struggle?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

A. Can’t stick to a diet long enough to lose weight.

B. Lose weight but then gain it all back.

C.  Can’t figure out which dietary approach is best

I posted this question to my Facebook page recently and comments poured in almost immediately. Apparently,  a LOT of us are struggling.

Interestingly, there was no clear “winner” in terms of the biggest challenge. Votes were roughly equally divided among all three, with a fair number of people choosing “all of the above.”

We struggle to figure out which diet we should follow. Then, we struggle to stick to it long enough to lose weight. And if we do manage to lose any weight, we eventually end up gaining it all back.

I think all three of these struggles are due to a single cause: Dieting.

Diets are not the solution. They’re the problem.

We have been taught that solution to being overweight is to go on a diet. When we fail, we’re told that we picked the wrong diet. Fortunately, there is always another diet to try. And around and around we go.

But if dieting worked, we’d ALL be thin by now. And it’s not about finding the “right” diet or the will power to stick to it.  It’s about finding your healthy weight and the life that goes with it. 

Lets try something different

It’s time to stop dieting and start weighing less. And I don’t mean “Once you weigh less, you can stop dieting.” I mean, “If you want to weigh less, you have got to stop dieting.”

For lifelong dieters, I know that’s easier said than done. I have supported hundreds of people through the process of “diet withdrawal” and helped them find their path to sustainable weight loss.  It doesn’t happen overnight. But, like any journey, it does start with a single step. Why not take it today?

Click below to learn more about a proven program that has already helped hundreds of people escape the endless cycle of failed and yo-yo diets.  You have nothing to lose…except the struggle (and the weight).

I'm ready to stop dieting. Show me how.

Sugar and Cancer: What’s the Connection?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Whenever I talk about cancer and diet, I try to debunk the myth that eating sugar makes cancer grow faster. I explain that all cells, including cancer cells, use glucose (sugar) to fuel their metabolism. Cancer cells often have an accelerated metabolism and utilize blood glucose at a faster rate than other cells. But it’s a gross over-simplification to say that consuming sugar will make cancer grow faster or that eliminating sugar will slow the growth of a tumor.

So imagine my surprise to see a recent headline in Newsweek about a new study published in the prestigious science journal Nature.

Despite the provocative headline, however, this study has absolutely nothing to do with how sugar from foods affects cancer cells. The research explores how some cancer cells differ from healthy cells in the way that they metabolize glucose. This is undoubtedly important to cancer researchers. But it does not add to, subtract from, or change in any way what we know about the interaction of diet and cancer.  

The link between sugar consumption and cancer risk is more indirect.  Excessive sugar consumption often leads to obesity, which increases cancer risk. But it’s the excess body fat that is the problem, not the source of the calories that caused it. 

[bctt tweet=”This is important to cancer researchers, but it doesn’t change what we know about diet and cancer.” username=”nutritiondiva”]

There are a lot of good reasons to limit our consumption of added sugars.  Limiting these empty calories can make it easier to maintain a healthy weight. A diet that’s lower in added sugars is also likely to be higher in nutrients. Both can help to reduce your risk of cancer and/or improve your chances of beating it.

But the last thing a cancer patient (or survivor) needs is to stress about whether eating too much sugar may have caused their cancer or made it more aggressive. Neither is true.

See also: Diet Recommendations for Cancer Survivors

Related Listening

Despite billions spent on dieting, obesity rate hits new high

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Americans are spending more on dieting than ever before--more than $60 billion a year.  The percentage of obese adults is also at an all time high of 40%. 

Do you think there might be a connection between these two trends?  I do.

Clearly, dieting  is not the solution to the obesity problem. In fact, I think it's a big part of the problem.  

Problem #1:  Even the most "responsible" diets encourage you to lose weight far faster than your body can actually lose fat. As a result, you end up losing a little bit of fat and a lot of water and lean muscle tissue.

Problem #2: Diets teach you how to lose weight but they don't teach you how to weigh less.  (There's a big difference.)  As a result, most people will eventually regain all the weight they lose...or more.

Problem #3: When you regain the weight, you don't gain back the lean muscle that you lost while dieting. You replace it with fat, which makes it even harder to lose weight the next time.

It's time to try something different

Last summer, my colleague Brock Armstrong and I launched WeighlessTM, a program that shows people how to stop dieting and start weighing less. Weighless is not a diet or exercise program. It's a structured lifestyle change program that combines nutrition science, behavior modification, professional guidance, and community support.

The results have exceeded even our high hopes. It's been absolutely exhilarating to see people escape a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and find the path to sustainable weight loss.  I'm more convinced than ever before that diets are not the answer to our obesity epidemic. (They're a big part of the problem.)

If you think you might be ready to stop dieting and start weighing less, there are more details about the Weighless program here.

Onyx Sorghum: Superfood or Nutrient Zapper?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN
Photo by Jennifer Blackburn for the National Sorghum Producers

Q. I’ve been seeing ads for Onyx Sorghum, specifically its use in certain cereals. This supposed “miracle” grain apparently contains a lot of antioxidants. However it looks like the high tannin content might affect iron absorption. Could this whole grain fit into a healthy and balanced diet or might it do more harm than good?

A. Sorghum is a whole grain that we’ve hearing more about lately.  Onyx (or black) sorghum is a special type of sorghum that is a dark red or black color intead of the usual pale beige.  It was created by plant geneticists at Texas A&M, who used traditional cross-breeding techniques and not genetic modification to create the richly hued grain.

As with berries and other plants, the pigment that gives onyx sorghum its distinctive color also happens to be rich in antioxidants. However, some of those antioxidants are in the form of tannins, bitter compounds that are also found in tea, coffee, wine, and other plants.  Tannins, in addition to acting as antioxidants can interfere with the absorption of iron and other minerals. Do the benefits outweigh the potential downsides?

 

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