When it comes to social gatherings and family feasts, the opportunities to indulge seem endless. Often, it’s the increased consumption of sugar, alcohol and refined carbohydrates that encourage those excess pounds to stick around. For many of us, it only takes one or two meals to lose complete momentum with our healthy-eating routines. If you know you are one of these people, this article is for you.
Regulating your blood sugar is one of the best ways for you to maintain your health and prevent cravings. This balance enables you to make clear decisions, burn body fat and avoid those low-energy episodes and mood swings. If you are eating out of balance, calorie restriction will never do you any favours. Protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats in the correct balance help to reduce inflammation in the body. If you want to continue feeling comfortable in those pants, consider these seven strategies at your future holiday meals:

DON’T SHOW UP STARVING
Going to a spin class and starving yourself before the “big meal” should not be your strategy. If you are hungry, your blood sugar levels are low and that means you are at risk for some poor food decisions. A small snack with some protein will take the edge off and allow you to think clearer and choose healthier options. It’s never a good idea to show up ravenous to any event, especially when you aren’t sure what’s being served.

CHOOSE YOUR TREAT
Decide before you portion your food what your high carbohydrate or sugar treat will be. The key here is to make your choice—keep in mind you will be plating this LAST. Carbohydrates in the form of sugar, grains and wheat raise your blood sugar levels and promote fat storage. Vegetable-based carbohydrates such as carrots and sweet potatoes offer more nutritional benefits and don’t impact your blood sugar as much as breads or desserts. Whether it’s the famous mashed potatoes, garlic bread or pumpkin cheesecake—choose the one you really want. If you want full portions of all three, maybe you take two single portions home to add into another meal. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing!

PICK YOUR PROTEIN
Turkey, ham, roast beef and chicken are all popular holiday proteins. Protein slows the rise in blood sugar— keeping you balanced and satisfied longer. If someone cooked the turkey into jerky, don’t feel bad about adding some gravy! Although gravy isn’t ideal on a regular basis, when it comes to these feasts it’s not even close to your biggest problem. Make sure your protein covers about 1/4 of your plate.

PILE ON THE VEGGIES
Broccoli, cauliflower, green or yellow beans, spinach, Brussels sprouts, kale, celery, zucchini and cucumber are all examples of excellent non-starchy vegetables to add to your plate. Find these right away and cover half of your plate. That’s right, I said HALF! Just get them on there because these little guys have fibre and nutrients that satisfy your hunger, so you don’t overeat on the treats!

COMPLETE YOUR BALANCED PLATE
Now that you have your protein and vegetables on your plate, you can now add your treat. Your carbohydrate dense choice should not take up more than 1/4 of your plate. If you chose desert as your treat, you can leave this space empty until dessert is served. Depending on your goals, it’s okay to have spoonful or two of something else here in addition to a controlled portion of dessert.
The end result might look something like this: turkey with gravy (1/4), combination of sweet potato and mashed potato (1/4), broccoli and Brussels with butter (1/2).

WATCH THE ALCOHOL
Alcohol raises your blood sugar just like sugar does. If you choose to enjoy a couple cocktails, it may be in your best interest to go lighter on the carbohydrates. Alcohol should never be consumed on an empty stomach—ideally with snacks and meals containing proteins and quality fats.

DRINK WATER
Hydrate with plenty of plain, clear water during the day. If alcohol is involved, this should increase by one cup for every beverage you consume (see previous article to calculate your daily water requirement). Water helps remove toxins from the body—an absolute necessity during these holiday meals.

CONCLUSION
This is NOT your last meal! I’ve never heard anyone announce how pleased they are with themselves after overeating. The stuffed, uncomfortable feeling isn’t worth it. Instead of telling yourself how deprived you are, focus on the smiling faces of friends and family—that’s what this time of year is all about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Ashley

It’s back to CRAZY time, and everyone is ready to get back in routine.  Providing your kids (us big kids too) with nutritious and tasty snacks is more important than you think.  Nutrition is not just about eating green vegetables for vitamins—it is also crucial when it comes to stable moods, behavior and focus.  This healthy foundation must come from parents, and it’s not an easy one to tackle if your kids are already hooked on sugar and refined carbohydrates.  Examples? Cereal, baked goods, granola bars, crackers, chips, donuts, fruit snacks, candy, bread, pasta, juice, pop and most packaged snacks.  Why not use back to school as a time to start fresh with healthier habits?

It seems the more food allergies there are, the more we see the latest and greatest processed foods.  Below is a sample of a very common meal plan for a child that may appear to be healthy.  It doesn’t include soft-drinks, chips, or candy.  As a reminder, all carbohydrates convert to sugar in the body.  Breaking it down into teaspoons (or sugar cubes) instead of grams is the easiest visual for people to understand. Keep in mind, a healthy ADULT shouldn’t be exceeding 20 tsp of sugar per day. This might blow your mind…

BREAKFAST

PLAIN TOASTED O’S CEREAL, MILK, ORANGE JUICE- 14 tsp sugar

SNACK

ORGANIC CHEDDAR BUNNIES- 5 tsp sugar

GLUTEN-FREE GRANOLA BAR- 4 tsp sugar

LUNCH

PB&J SANDWICH ON WHOLE WHEAT BREAD-8 tsp sugar

1 CUP GRAPES– 8 tsp sugar

ORGANIC JUICE BOX – 6 tsp sugar

AFTER SCHOOL SNACK

MEDIUM BANANA- 7 tsp sugar

2 ORGANIC GLUTEN-FREE RICE CAKES- 4 tsp sugar

DINNER

ORGANIC MARINARA SAUCE WITH WHOLE WHEAT SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS- 12 tsp sugar

ORGANIC 60% CHOCOLATE- 4 tsp sugar

GRAND TOTAL- 72 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR

Aside from the extreme amount of sugar, the obvious issue I see with this meal plan is the lack of healthy fats, vegetables and protein.  Additionally, there seems to be a lot of packaged, processed foods.  Each of these meals and snacks can easily be improved by substituting one of the carbohydrates with a protein or fat.

Breakfast- eliminate orange juice, add an egg or sausage. -7 sugar cubes 

Snack- eliminate crackers or both items, add a single serving of Greek yogurt (even if it’s flavoured!) –5 sugar cubes

Lunch- replace the juice with water, reduce grapes by ½, add raw carrots or celery. -10 sugar cubes

Snack- reduce banana and rice cakes by ½, add a handful of nuts or seeds

-5 sugar cubes

Dinner- reduce amount of noodles, add a vegetable and sprinkle a good quality cheese on the pasta  –5 sugar cubes

TOTAL SUGAR DECREASES BY 32 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR!

By making these adjustments, the sugar is reduced by about 40%!  Believe it or not, this makes a HUGE difference.

Remember…

FAT STABILIZES SUGAR. If you aren’t willing to work on adequate protein for your child, the next best step to take is increasing healthy fats.  Instead of doing an organic overhaul on your household, you should focus on balance first.  Excess sugar in ANY form will never result in a positive, healthy foundation for children or adults. Balanced Foods = Balanced Moods!

‘Tis the season. Where do you lack the motivation? Is it a battle with your weight? Are you tired all the time? Do you want to feel better and prevent disease?
Somehow, no matter what the goal is, we find it SO difficult to prioritize our health and give ourselves the chance to FEEL GOOD. What is getting in the way?

1. NOTHING IS WRONG, YET 
You haven’t had a heart attack or huge medical scare. Everything must be fine, and if something happens there will hopefully be a cure. Unless some big health crisis occurs, you have no motivation to be healthy. Some of us are fine and will always be fine. Others may have a scary wake up call when they least expect it. Unfortunately, those disease resistant genes we all wish we for are not that common.

2. MONEY
It is too expensive to live a healthy lifestyle, right? It’s interesting how we don’t blink an eye at all the luxuries we insist on having in life. The pretty SUV, latest iPhone, and even the daily beverage fix we require. You can’t buy fresh vegetables and healthy protein, but pizza night every weekend and Starbucks five days a week is completely manageable. As long as they are small purchases here and there, they aren’t substantial. Trust me, they add up more than you think.

3. YOU KNOW IT ALL 
You know exactly what to eat and what to do, you just aren’t doing it. No person will be able to help you because you know nutrition front and back. I hear this ALL the time. I assure you, there are things that you don’t know. There are things I don’t know. Often when we think we know it all, it’s really that we’re scared to learn that what we’re doing may not be the ideal approach for our individual body. If all that you know is working so well, why are you struggling? It may be that you just don’t want to admit that something has to change. After all, that could mean breaking an addiction that you think you don’t have.

4. MISINFORMED
This is a big one. We have been taught for so long by the media and health professionals that we need to eat less and exercise more. If we reduce our calories and get a gym membership, we will be invincible. The reality is, it isn’t calories that are making us fat, sick and tired. It is what makes up those calories, and some of the most unhealthy food choices are in fact, “low calorie” options. Those strict 1500-calorie counters continue to struggle, and in some cases, are the most unhealthy people.

5. IT’S HARD
If anyone says it is easy, they are lying. There are strategies to makes things easier, but it still doesn’t make it easy. Some people have it really hard – beyond your imagination hard! They can’t be in a room where there are nuts, or can never enjoy a meal out because of such severe allergies, or maybe need to take insulin multiple times a day. Believe me, we all have it hard to a degree, but you probably don’t have it that hard right now.

6. YOU ONLY BUY HEALTHY FOOD
“I don’t understand why I am not feeling better. I never buy cookies, Coke or chips. We never bring that junk in the house!”
Many clients and other people I know face the majority of their food battles outside the home. Just because you don’t bring it in the house doesn’t mean the temptations are there every hour you aren’t in the house. Every single day you can find an opportunity to celebrate or cope: birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, promotions, STRESS, company over, graduation, Sally’s homemade cookies, luncheons, a student made you brownies, STRESS, the week is over, your child received a good report card, Christmas party, STRESS — should I continue? You get the drift. The “no junk in the house” crowd sometimes have the most difficult time because they feel deprived and look for an excuse anytime, anywhere – even if it means loading up at Costco on Halloween candy when you know you only get four trick-or-treaters at the door every year. There are SO many exceptions to your no junk rule.

Bottom line is that we all struggle to some degree. Not one nutrition expert, gluten-free blogger, or health professional has it easy. Don’t wait for the perfect time financially, or the next lightning bolt health scare. Recognize where you are struggling and address one thing at a time. Also, realize there is no perfect time.

My genes are not that strong and my battles exceed what many would assume. I remain in this field because I see how powerful food can be, not only for my clients, but for my own health as well.

I don’t get paid by anyone to tell you to nourish your body, or that sugar has the potential to kill you. What I enjoy about my job is finding ways to make these struggles easier for people because I understand.

What is your main struggle? What can you do TODAY to make a change that will benefit your health? Maybe you need to take a closer look at your budget and expenses? Perhaps it’s recognizing that you aren’t invincible and there are people that love you and need you to be healthy. There are a lot of people out there that can help with that first step.