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Tips for Better Nutrition and Portion Control

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Best Tips For Better Nutrition and Portion Control

Since we’ve moved into our house and I’ve started CrossFit, I’m trying to get better at focusing on nutrition and portion control. I’ve never had to worry about my weight, thankfully, but I do my fair share of over-indulging. I often find myself in the “just one more” camp, and a few hours later discover that I’ve eaten an entire dish of chocolate covered almonds (e.g. this past weekend). I also am the type of person to make great plans for meals, and then bail on them when I get home and realize that I actually have to make the recipe that I looked up which seemed so tasty online. I know I can’t be the only one in this camp.

In the past, I’ve spent a lot of time (and money, sheesh!) focusing on what is perceived as “healthy:” labels that say organic, whole wheat, protein-packed, natural, etc. I’m realizing now, that healthy is more about being well-balanced and recognizing when you’re full.

I’ve seen a few “healthy living bloggers” write about how they’re trying to add things in recently, instead of take things away.

A lot of times, I think people focus on taking away things when they try to transition into a healthier eating style. No more candy. No more junk food. No more sodas. No more gluten. Or whatever else. For those who are just transitioning or for those of us who have gotten off track, I think adding in healthy things is a great way to start.

Here’s what I’ve been adding to my diet:

  • Adding more fruit (when you want a snack/sweet, go for fruit!)
  • Adding more water
  • Veggie-tracking
  • Tentative meal plans

For example, since moving to the house, Sean and I have been adding fruit to breakfast every morning. It doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but I can notice that I feel fuller longer and that I’m satisfying my morning sweet tooth (I have  to have something sweet in the morning) early on. We usually split a cinnamon raisin bagel with butter and 3 eggs with a little cheese. Since moving, we decided to add in fruit. We split a banana (because I can’t eat a whole one without gagging), and I have a clementine while Sean has grapes.

Healthy Breakfast

Breakfast of hungry champions

I’m also power packing my lunch with fruit: grapes, another clementine, an apple, etc. Since I’m a vegetarian, I make sure to get a solid amount of protein for breakfast (eggs), morning snack (usually yogurt or edamame), lunch (edamame, black beans, white bean dip, etc.), and dinner. I allow myself treats during the day like a small handful of peanut M&Ms at work or a pudding after dinner. I’ve realized that healthy eating doesn’t have to be restrictive and expensive. I can have pudding for dessert that’s not (gasp!) organic or totally free of high fructose corn syrup. But, life’s too short not to enjoy your pudding, right? When I want more sweets or another handful of chocolate covered almonds, I’m trying to steer myself toward more fruit.

So, for me, a typical day of eating usually goes something like this:

Breakfast

  • 1.5 eggs with shredded cheese
  • 1/2 a bagel with butter
  • 1/2 a banana
  • 1 clementine
  • A few grapes (that I steal from Sean)

Morning Snack

  • 1 cup of coffee at work with French Vanilla creamer
  • 1 clementine
  • A handful of grapes
  • Greek or regular yogurt

Easy and Healthy Snack

Lunch

  • Black bean burger with cheese
  • Small salad/other veggie mix
  • White bean dip & carrots

Afternoon Snack

  • 1 large apple (sometimes with almond butter)
  • Handful of peanut M&Ms

Dinner

Dessert

  • Chocolate pudding cup

Another way I keep myself full and my mouth busy during the day is by drinking a LOT of water. I’ve found having a tumbler along with a Nalgene means I have no excuse not to be sipping H20 all day long. I have a 17-oz tumbler and a 32-oz Nalgene that I keep at my desk. The tumbler has a straw, so I can just put it in front of me and sip all morning while I’m writing and take it to meetings. The Nalgene is like a water stock that lets me fill up my tumbler whenever it’s empty so I can’t make en excuse that I have to stop working and leave my desk to get more water. I usually have to refill both by 12 or 1pm.

So I’m probably getting about 17 oz of water (or more if I do a morning workout) before I get to work, and then drink about 66 to 83 oz throughout the day. I’m getting about 100 oz a day. Sure, it means a lot of bathroom breaks, but that’s just another excuse to get moving instead of sitting at my desk all day!

I’ve also been trying to track my vegetables. This doesn’t involve anything crazy, just  trying to average a serving or fruit of veggies at every meal. I know you’re thinking, “You’re a vegetarian. Why are you tracking this?” Sean always wondered how a vegetarian could be unhealthy, but we’ve both experienced how it’s easy to fall into the junk food trap: cinnamon rolls, waffles, potato chips, french fries–all technically vegetarian. See what I mean?

I’ve just been generally counting up my veggies & fruits to make sure I’m not leaning closer to the bread-vegetarian instead of the veggie-vegetarian.

Lastly, I’ve been tentatively planning meals for the week. Usually before we go grocery shopping for the week, I find 3 recipes that I think we’d both like to try as “goal dinners” for the week. If we make those, awesome. If we end up making an old stand-by (enchilada mini pizzas, black bean burgers, frozen veggies, etc.) because it’s quicker and easier, then we’ll still eat, but at least we have the ingredients for healthy and yummy dinners ready to go. I find great meals and often modify them to be vegetarian (My go-to formula? Remove meat, add beans).

How do you keep your portions under control? What does “nutrition” mean to you?

 

Honoring Your Body – Discomfort v. Pain

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Every time I go to yoga, I spend a ridiculous amount of time looking at my body in the mirror and nit picking at it. When did my hips get so wide? Can I remember a time my thighs didn’t touch? Is that a paunch developing around my belly? By the middle/end of class, I’m fully committed to the poses and focusing on not falling over and hydrating my overly sweaty self, but it’s a curse to spend those first 10 minutes or so bringing myself down.

Last Friday, we were moving from the standing and balancing poses to the floor poses. In between these two sets, there’s a nice long savasana or corpse pose–essentially you’re lying on your back. Your heels are together, but you’re letting your toes fall apart as you relax. You chin is slightly tucked, eyes open toward the ceiling. Your hands are by your sides, palms open. You’re accepting relaxation. In between each pose in the floor series, you return to a short savasana before repeating poses or starting new ones. It’s pretty much the bomb. It feels so peaceful. You’re relaxed and open, accepting what’s coming next and what you just accomplished.

Savansana

(source)

While we were in one of the savasanas between floor poses, the instructor said something that really stuck with me, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot since then. We had just come out of fixed firm pose, which always kills my right ankle (since I keep spraining it over and over again every weekend in soccer).

Fixed Firm Pose

Fixed Firm Pose

(source)

In the savasana after that pose, our instructor said,

“If you’re feeling pain in the knees or ankles in that pose, don’t push yourself into the pain, scale back to what’s comfortable for you. Honor your body. Honor where you are in your practice, and honor what your body can do today. Every practice is different. Every person is different. Every day is different.”

That’s one element I love about yoga. It’s non-competitive. It’s accepting of everyone–beginners, experienced yogis, young, old, big, small, fit, or not. But it also has a different philosophy than most other exercise or fitness classes. It is a philosophy within itself: Come as you are. All are worthy.

Last week was National Eating Disorder Awareness week, and I read so many articles from those who have overcome eating disorders (or disordered eating) who spent months, years of their lives trying to force their bodies to be a certain way, look a certain way, do certain things, etc. that their bodies just weren’t meant to do or made to do.

We’ve all seen those images on Pinterest or fitness blogs or whatever else that say, “Pain is just weakness leaving the body.”

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body

(source)

And I too am guilty of trying to force myself to do things that my body just can’t or isn’t yet prepared to do. I find myself telling myself things like, “Come on, Carolyn. Get it together.” Or “Push yourself harder. Stop being lazy.” And while those are fine motivators for times when I’m just feeling like not putting in my best effort, sometimes I know I’m pushing myself beyond just discomfort and into pain–and into the potential for injury. Sure, there are some elements of fitness that are painful. Black and bloody toenails or can-barely-walk after a marathon legs are painful, but the key to that type of pain or discomfort is that you’ve trained your body to handle it to that point. You don’t go from 0 to 26 miles in a week.

I think, in fitness (and in life in general), there’s a difference between discomfort and pain. A lot of times, when you become a fitness addict, you’re obviously become a discomfort addict. It feels good to push your body out of it’s comfort zone, to do things you’ve never done like run a marathon, achieve a yoga pose, or bench press a weight you never thought you could. But there’s an element of fitness that has been celebrated too much, I believe, that pushes people beyond discomfort, beyond their training threshold of pain and injury to achieve a goal their body has been prepared to reach.

It’s not honoring your body. There’s a tenuous balance between pushing yourself to improve yourself (cranking out all 25 push ups without giving up), and not honoring what you’ve worked for up till that point (trying to run 10 extra after only running 3 in every other run). Building your body up to your goals involves overcoming small moments of discomfort. Expecting your body to perform a miracle that you haven’t prepared it for is asking for injury, and calling it “weakness leaving the body” is stupid.

Honor your Journey

(source)

There are so many small elements that affect what our bodies can and can’t do in any given day–sleep, work, food, even the air we breathe. It’s important to honor your body where it is and honor what it can achieve at this point. Honor the journey that your body is on. Push your body into discomfort, but do not push your body into pain.

Remember that there’s a difference between discomfort to achieve a goal and pain. Give your body time to reach it’s goals and reward yourself for those you have reached! And, for heaven sakes, give your body some credit for all the amazing things it does for you every day. It’s truly a miracle that we’re alive and breathing, that hearts are beating and minds are computing. Honor that and celebrate that on your journey toward better health.

Happy Tuesday!

5 Ways to Be Happier in 2013

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Prepare yourself for a slew of news articles about how to do this and that during the new year. Let’s face it, a fresh start (whether it’s literal or figurative) is a welcome way to wipe the slate clean and say, “Ok, I’m choosing to forget the past (or embrace it) and try, try again!”

Resolutions are all good and well if you keep track of them. Sometimes that’s more work than we want to put forward (or than we have the time to put forward). So here are some simple thoughts about making yourself (and maybe even those around you) happier in 2013.

1. Make more of your own fun instead of buying it.

Sure buying new things is fun and thrilling. I love it. It makes me happy. But just as with any addiction, I feel like I need more and more new stuff to feel truly satisfied. I need fashionable outfits. I need pretty furniture. I need a lot of things, right? The truth is, I don’t need any more than I already have. I just WANT things. Encouraging yourself to get by on less can help you focus on what you truly need: more time with those you love, a job that is fulfilling, stronger relationships, etc. Play board games. Go for a hike. Hold hands in silence. Spend time sitting on the floor petting your cats.

Twister

2. Take more pictures.

I have a really bad habit of not taking pictures during events and parties and family get-togethers. Sure I remember having all that fun, but it’s always nice to look back and remember the looks on their faces when grandma cracked that joke or share memories online with others who were there. I always think people look ridiculous taking so many pictures, and then look back and ask myself, “Why didn’t I take more pictures while I was there?!”

Bag Cat

3. Tell people how you feel.

I’m terrible at this. I expect people into read my mind, my voice, my mannerisms, my text messages and decipher how I’m feeling. That’s expecting too much! People aren’t all movie psychologists who can tell by the quiver of your lip or the flit of your eyes if you’re mad or sad or mischievous. Do yourself and the people you’re with a favor and just tell them how you feel. I feel unprepared. I’m a little frustrated. I feel upset. I feel blah. This makes me so happy. People will really appreciate your honesty and feel more comfortable returning the favor.

What a grump

4. Write someone important a letter.

Have you ever gotten a heartfelt letter from someone important to you? Or even just a letter with regular old details about someone’s life at that moment in time? In the age of emails and text messages and Twitter and Facebook, stop and take the time to write someone a letter. Strike up conversation about how your life is, maybe risk a little and get philosophical. I love getting real life (non-bills) mail. Wouldn’t you? Get a pen pal!

Write a Letter

5. Spend more time helping other people/animals.

I have a bleeding heart when it comes to animals, but I’m encouraging you to get out into your community and volunteer! Though you may feel like you’re making just a small difference, it can be a big deal for someone whose life you’re touching. Then they’ll go out and pay it forward!

Sean and Pudge

How do you plan on making 2013 the best year ever?