The Woman on Page 194

Magazines are often criticized for their unrealistic standards of beauty (who invented airbrushing, anyway? Can we outlaw it?) Check out this blog from Glamour magazine's editor - it seems that there was a tiny picture of a beautiful, sexy, and realistic woman that appeared on page 194, and the emails from appreciative women everywhere started flooding the editor's inbox.

These are the images and inspiration our daughters deserve - fit women can and do have curves, sexy is an attitude, and life is worth enjoying. Good for you, Glamour!

Nutrition information - Who can you believe?

Information overload is definitely par for course in the modern world - it is difficult to avoid being bombarded with information, whether you are looking for it or not. One of the most frustrating things for a nutrition professional is to witness bad information being given out by reputable media outlets.

Please read my colleague Rebecca Scritchfield's blog about The Price of Misinformation in the Media - she did such an excellent job of summing up two disappointing nutrition stories done recently by very credible media outlets - Time Magazine and Good Morning America.

The bottom line is this - nutrition is a science, and to reach the absolute truth, you need to go to the science. Please be careful about who you listen to out there - at the very least, taking bad advice can lead to futile efforts and wasted time; at the worst, it can lead to furthering your health problems. Think of all the people who are now inspired to not exercise in order to lose weight - thanks, Time magazine, for your help.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

The first week in August is always World Breastfeeding Week, and in honor of it, I thought I'd post one of my favorite "cult classic" pictures (well, in the breastfeeding world it's a classic). Obviously, this is one smart baby!

The research is astoundingly clear about breastfeeding - it is truly magical stuff. The thing is, it can be difficult to do when you live in a society that doesn't support it. If you haven't grown up witnessing aunties and cousins breastfeed their newborn, or if you feel the glare of other people when you try to nurse in public, you're going to tempted to break out the free formula.

Breastfed babies end up smarter, healthier, and leaner. So, it makes economical sense for our country to embrace breastfeeding and not shun it.

The shirt at the top says it all, and it is a perfect gift for the lactating momma in your life!

A Salad for Everyone

Wow, this is an ambitious article from Mark Bittman:

The Minimalist - Recipes for 101 Simple Salads for the Season - NYTimes.com

Look it over and just try not to be tempted to make at least one of them!

I love salads in the summer for a few different reasons - they let you avoid cooking, they are nice and cool (I live in the desert, so this is important), and they are a great way to get in some fruits and vegetables. But, it is so easy to get in a salad rut. In the summer, we have so many fresh ingredients available to us to yummy up a salad. One of my favorites is to add summer fruit to a fresh salad, like nectarines or plums.

As I've probably said before on this blog, one of the best ways to eat better is to concentrate on trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. Remember, beans can count as a veggie! I think I'll try Mr. Bittman's suggestion for summer cherries, since I still have a good bunch in my frig:

" Pit and halve cherries (or halve and pit cherries), then cook gently with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar until they break down. Toss with chopped radicchio, endive, escarole or a combination, some toasted hazelnuts and more oil and vinegar, if necessary." Yummy! Which one will you try?

The power of paying attention

I was working at the computer the other day, and overheard an interview on a local news station with an inspiring woman who lost a substantial amount of weight - I believe she was in her 60's, and had gotten into dancing. The reason she decided to try and lose weight was because some of the dance moves she was learning required her partner to lift her up in the air - she felt bad for her poor partner, so made some changes so that she would be lighter.


The thing she did that struck me the most was this - she started paying attention to her hunger. She said that sometimes her life was so busy that she simply ate because it seemed like the thing to do - she learned that if she would simply check in with herself before eating (take a breath, focus, calm the chaos a bit, have a little water), she discovered that more often than not, she wasn't even hungry!

Here is an inspiring video to promote a new book by Dr. Michelle May, who runs a business called Am I Hungry? (amihungry.com). Dr. May is all about intuitive eating, and I am looking forward to reading (and probably wholeheartedly recommending!) her new book. It is a reminder of the power of simply paying attention to what you eat, and making sure that you enjoy it!

The One Bite Rule

Feeding kids can be tough. You do your part and buy the food, cook the food, get everyone to the table, sit down to enjoy the food and... protest from the 4-year old begins. So, you break out your rule: "Just take one bite (or three bites, or whatever your household rule is)".

But, is the one-bite rule a good thing or a bad thing? My answer is - it completetly depends on the mood at the table. If the child is enjoying the attention, and needs a little nudge to remember to take a spoonful of peas once in awhile, then so be it. But, once the mood changes and the child is now feeling bullied, it is time to back off. The reason is simple - nobody has ever been bullied into liking broccoli. Okay, maybe some people were bullied into trying a food and ended up liking it, but if you ask ten adults on the street if they were ever forced into trying a food and later ended up liking it, you'd get about nine NO WAYS. Many adults will tell you about food they still avoid just because of being forced to eat it as a child.

As much as possible, keep the atmosphere at the dinner table light-hearted - this isn't a time to argue, nag, complain, etc. The family meal is a valuable part of children's development, and keeping it pleasant makes it even more powerful. You don't have to do circus tricks, but put it at their level - sing some songs, like this silly one from a popular kids' TV show (I learned it because my 4-year-old was singing it one day as he ate his lunch). Help kids realize the connection between the food they are eating and their muscles, or growing big and strong, or whatever else they are into. Just stop short of forcing - you will know the point.

My favorite magazine....

I don't think you can find a single Dietitian out there who does not gush over Cooking Light magazine. I am one of them, and here goes -

Cooking Light magazine really manages to capture the happy side of being healthy; after a few issues, you really start to get the feel for a balanced way of living, without any of those pesky "should's" and "shouldn'ts". It is never preachy, and doesn't fall for the latest fad diet - it simply celebrates good food and good living.

They also have a great website with a search engine for recipes (free!). I love the reader's comments and rating, too - they help when trying to choose a recipe. (the search engine switches over to Myrecipes.com, but it will tell you where each recipe originally came from, including the issue it came from).

I'm going to try this five-star rated recipe for Classic Potato Salad this week (my husband and I both grabbed bags of potatoes on our individual shopping trips, so we're up to our eyeballs in taters). What will you make next?

Soda and beans

I love this kind of nutrition advice, especially when it's based on actual research:

Researchers at the University of Southern California working with overweight Latino teenagers concluded that making small changes similar to cutting out one can of soda a day and adding just a half cup of beans a day can make a big difference in health.

These simple dietary changes do two things - cutting out one can of soda a day wipes out 150 calories of pure sugar - it's the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons of sugar that the teens are no longer taking in. Adding just one half cup of beans a day will add in about 7 grams of fiber and about 7 grams of protein - both fiber and protein are very helpful in keeping us full for longer.

The take-home message is that it doesn't have to be huge to make a difference - adding in some nutrient dense foods like beans, vegetables, whole grains and whole fruit really helps; calories can be shaven off in all kinds of places without making you feel deprived or unsatisfied - a can of soda less here, a slice of low-fat cheese there.

If you're in Arizona, tune in to Arizona Midday on Weds, June 24 (Channel 12 from 1-2), when I'll be giving tips for sneaking in nutrition, including a recipe from the Meal Makeover Moms website (with their permission, of course!) for Cheesy Black Bean Burgers - getting in those beans can be yummy!

Friends Don't Let Friends Fat Talk

I've stumbled across this powerful video, which was produced as part of a "Fat Talk Free" Week that actually happened last fall - the idea was promoted by Delta Delta Delta in coordination with Seventeen magazine and some other interest groups to promote body image in women - check out the video by clicking here.

After the video, sign up to receive email blasts on the issue of ending fat talk - and, just for today, don't let the "f" word cross your pretty lips!

Raising Arizona Kids - April issue

I've got an article in this month's issue of Raising Arizona Kids, about starting to garden with your kids. I think learning how to garden is a lot like learning how to cook - it's best to start learning when you're really small and you can just absorb the lessons while you hang out and watch. I didn't grow up gardening or cooking, so I'm playing catch-up now as an adult. Kids that grow up watching someone cook (and garden!), asking questions, sometimes participating, sometimes messing things up - become adults who are truly comfortable in the kitchen (and garden!). They don't worry so much about minor details, and develop an intuition on what will work and what won't. So, let your kids bug you in the kitchen, and let them dig their hands in that garden - even if things aren't planted in neat little rows when they are involved!

Spongebob in my kitchen

I found this bag of frozen edamame with Spongebob on the front, and I figured I'd buy it to coaxe my picky little 3-year-old to actually eat a vegetable. Now, as you know from my blog, I believe in putting the veggie on the plate but not forcing the veggie down the hatch - they need to be able to try the veggie in their own (excrutiatingly slow) time.

Being a bit of a slacker mom, my 3-year old has been introduced to Spongebob and his friend, Patrick. So, yes, he was very impressed to see the weird little guy in our refrigerator. His brother, the more ambitious eater of the two, dove right in to the edamame, popping them into his mouth. The 3-year-old watched, amused, and finally - he tried it! And he liked it!

I forget about edamame in the world of veggies, since it's not something I was raised on - the only time I eat it is when I'm out with my husband for sushi, with no kids in sight (aaaaah...) But, edamame is actually very kid-friendly. It has a very mild, almost buttery taste, and it is fun for kids to be able to "play with their food" by popping the soybeans out of the pod into their mouth. It's a great source of protein and fiber, and contains something called isoflavones, which are quite healthy and only found in soy.

I think I'll invite the yellow guy back again soon.

Ode to Trader Joe's

Here's a funny video that came across my desk - it's an ode to Trader Joe's, which I love going to. TJ's has interesting and sometimes quirky food items, but won't break the bank like some other specialty grocery stores - enjoy!

A Whole World in Your Belly

Did you know that the human body is made up of 10 trillion cells? If you think that's mind-boggling, now consider this: there are ten times that many bacteria living inside of your intestines. Some experts have labeled this universe in your gut as the "forgotten organ", because these little guys do all kinds of stuff for our bodies. In fact, the activity of bacteria in your colon makes the colon the most metabollically active organ in your body!

Some of the activity of these bugs can be annoying - for example, they help to digest some of the food that we can't digest - this makes more of the calories we eat available to us, but also can cause bloating and gas from the gas they release after eating. But, they do so much more for us, and science is really just now figuring out the whats and hows; it's very complicated, because it kind of depends on "who" is the dominant strain in your gut (they estimate that you have between 300 to 1000 different strains in there). Bacteria eat, they fight, they release all kinds of by-products; everything they do has an effect on the host (us!).

The science is still new, but having a gut-full of "good" bacteria seems to be helpful at keeping our immune system running properly, and may even be linked to whether or not we become obese!

So, how to develop and nurture a bellyful of the good guys? It is likely related to our overall and longterm diet - and it is likely most beneficial to eat a plant-based diet over the long term. Yes, it comes back to the fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. It also seems to be helful to eat what is termed "fermented foods" - yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, and sauerkraut for example.


By the way, one of the theories to explain why exclusively breastfed babies tend to end up as lean adults is that they are allowed to "grow" the right mix of gut bacteria and establish a nice strong colony of the good guys. Fascinating, right? Now, go have your beans today!

Go Arizona Cardinals!

I'm going to be on Arizona Midday today making a couple of healthy dips you can take to your Super B...oops, I mean Big Game parties - here they are!

Arizona Cardinal’s Red Pepper Hummus

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 (4 ounce) jar roasted red peppers
3 Tbs lemon juice
1 ½ Tbs tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp salt

Puree all ingredients in an electric blender or food processor until smooth and fluffy. Serve immediately, or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Pittsburgh Steeler’s Black Bean and Mango Salsa

1 can (15 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups mango, diced
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
¼ cup lime juice
1 Tbs olive oil
Hot sauce to taste

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Toss and serve.

As if!

Right out of college, I had a job doing nutrition counseling. I was so green, I really felt like I was making it up as I went along. But, one client stuck with me, I think because we were both surprised that I actually helped her a little.

She wanted to eat better, but hated to go to the grocery store. Now, there are a lot of different ways to eat healthy, but if you won't step foot into the grocery store, you've put up a wall that is just too high to climb. You simply have to go to the grocery store, or be lucky enough to have someone do it for you. I tried to problem solve with her, only to be met with "yeah, buts...". Finally, I said "Here's what I want you to do - for the next couple of weeks, I want you to pretend you don't hate going to the grocery store, and then go". It was a weird suggestion, but it was weird enough that she didn't have a "yeah, but" to give me.

The next time I saw her she told me that it worked - she pretended not to hate the grocery store, went grocery shopping, and found out that it wasn't that bad.

A lot of the healthy habits that we would like to have are sabotaged by our own "stinkin' thinkin". How many times have I grumbled about hating to exercise - making it feel like I'm walking through thick mud just to get my bum on that treadmill - only to remember that it's really not that bad, and actually feels good once it's done.

Next time you find yourself hating something that's actually good for you, try this trick - act as if you don't hate it. Teachers use this technique when they assign students a debate topic that is opposite of what the student really believes. When you are forced to act as if you believe something, you actually end up closer to believing it.