Holiday Eating Tips & Rituals

My high school boyfriend once told me that he and his sister came up with an excellent strategy for Thanksgiving dinner:

They knew that it takes the brain 15 minutes to register that the belly is full after a meal. So, they would stuff themselves silly, eat as much as they could in 15 minutes, then run to the couch and lie on their left side until they passed out.

That it just simply madness!!! And he wondered why his stomach hurt so much for days afterwards, why they put on weight...

There is NO REASON why you should associate the holidays with weight gain or belly issues. Holidays are about seeing the people you love, not the food! There are ways you can try and like anything and everything without pain or shame!

Here are a few tips for enjoying the holidays guilt-free:

1. Just a reminder, make the day/evening about the people, not the food!

-sit down with Grandma and chat for an extra 30 minutes then you usually would.
-find someone you don't know at the party and find something you have in common.
-reminisce about good times with friends and family.

These conversations are way more significant than parking yourself in front of the cookies. Food=short-term gratification, and you will cherish the laughs and talks you had with your company for years to come.


2. Be prepared, and never show up on an empty stomach.

-DO NOT skip meals the day of the party or holiday dinner. You will show up ravenous and willing to eat anything and everything. Plus you slow down your metabolism when you skip meals, and your body will happily store your big meal as fat.
-if you suspect there will be limited healthy options at the event, eat a little something before with protein or fat. And for extra bonus points, bring your own dish that you know is nourishing and delicious.


3. Eat small and slowly.

-Okay, so let's say you just have to have that piece of pumpkin pie. Doesn't mean you need to eat the whole pie! Cut a piece, sit down, and pay attention to your food. How does it smell? Take a bite and CHEW it thoroughly, savoring the taste. (the more you chew, the more saliva will be secreted, which means more enzymes to break down the food, which means the easier it will be to digest whatever you're eating!!!)

-Take breaths in between bites. Notice how you feel after a few morsels. Savor every piece, and you may notice you don't need the whole thing. Take your time.


4. Create a holiday eating ritual with loved ones.

-your meal companions will most likely share in your desire to relish the moment of being together for a delicious feast. Ask them to sit with you, pause, and appreciate the food and the occasion together.


This is a great holiday ritual that I shared on my blog two years ago. It's such a simple yet powerful act, love it!

At dinner tonight or on Thanksgiving, pass around an orange or clementine.

Have each person peel off a portion of the rind and share one thing they’d like to “peel away” from their life.

Then have each person eat a section of the orange while
sharing one new wish or intention for the winter.

Put the orange rinds (along with some cloves or cinnamon sticks) in a pot of simmering water on the stove.

Your house will smell deliciously yummy all night.


What a fabulous idea! Beautiful to do either at Thanksgiving or other holiday dinners.


Action step: Write down 3 ways you can make this holiday season much healthier and happier than years past.

Can you think of something you'd like to "peel away" from your life?

If you could wish for anything or set one big goal, what would you like to manifest in your life?

My Big & Beefy Mistake

Lucky for me, I grew up with a mother who was quite vigilant about nutrition. We had super healthy, home-cooked meals almost every night, and painfully waited in supermarkets as Mom read every single label and ingredient of the foods she bought. She lectured about the dangers of sugar, partially hydrogenated oils, and soda, and made me sit at the dinner table until I finished my spinach.

I grew to have a ridiculous knowledge of food and how to read labels. I remember sitting in my freshman dorm room, lecturing a friend about why grapefruits are healthy and why she shouldn’t have thrown away the white layer between the skin and the fruit (btw it’s called pectin, and its good fiber that lowers your cholesterol and flushes fat out of your body. Just fyi.) At some points in my life I rebelled and ate whatever I want, and other times I ate so pure my blood was probably green from all the vegetables I consumed. My friends were concerned.

Now I strike a healthy balance, but my food label reading habits have yet to die hard. But read on, my friend, and learn about my shocking mistake that humbled me to pieces.

Over the last year, I’ve visited quite a few Mexican restaurants with my boyfriend and his family. Growing up in Connecticut, I wasn’t exposed to many authentic Mexican places. But here in Los Angeles, there are taco stands and restaurants everywhere. Literally everywhere. And everyone loves them, so I figured I ought to give them a shot.

I’m cool with guacamole, salad, chicken, chips, and salsa, but other things on the menu are questionable. I found out “carnitas” means pork, and “asada” means beef, so I mostly steer clear of those. One time my boyfriend ordered “menudo” soup, and leaned in with his spoon to give me a taste. I asked what it was, and after I put the wretched thing in my mouth, he told me it was beef stomach. Ew!

So after that experience, you would think I would be more careful with what I ordered the next time we went for Mexican. The family all sat laughing and happily telling their orders to the waitress. I couldn’t decide, but I wanted to know what “chorizo” was. The restaurant served chorizo with scrambled eggs in tacos and salads. I can’t remember who, but someone told me it was like seasoned chicken. I might have heard them wrong. But the next two times I went there, I innocently ordered chorizo and eggs over a big tostada salad. It was delicious.

Flash forward to a few weekends ago, when we were standing at the meat section of the grocery store. We saw packaged chorizo, and gleefully decided to make our own chorizo and eggs for breakfast the next morning. I grabbed it without even thinking, and he cooked it up the next day.

The next day, I decided it was my turn to cook breakfast, so he jumped in the shower as I began to chop the onions. When I pulled the chorizo out of the refrigerator, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t even know what chorizo truly was. My worry set in when I saw that it came in a clear tubing like sausage. Almost shaking, I flipped over the package and read the ingredients.

“Beef [Salivary Glands, Lymph Nodes, Fat (Cheek And Tongue)], Chorizo Seasoning (Paprika, Salt, Spices, Mustard, Garlic Powder), Vinegar, Textured Soy Flour, Sodium Nitrite”

Oh. My. God.

I quickly threw the chorizo and eggs into the pan, holding my breath and looking away as I stirred, and flopped everything onto a plate for my boyfriend. Suddenly I was SO NOT hungry.

How could I, a holistic nutritionist who grew up with the food label nazi, have not been diligent about researching this chorizo, or at least reading the label before it was placed in my shopping cart?

So consider this for just a moment. How many things are you putting in your shopping cart that you didn’t bother to read the label? And if you do read the label, are you okay with putting less than mediocre ingredients in your body? If there are words you don’t understand, chances are it’s a chemical that is terrible for you. Or maybe there are weird animal parts, or toxic flours (soy and wheat), or added sugars.

As for me, I’m thinking of eating greens and doing a colon detox for the next few months until I feel better about this chorizo incident. Yuck. Oh well, we all make mistakes.

Except I certainly will not make the same one twice, and I hope you don’t either.

Action item: Go through your cupboards, fridge, and pantry, and check all the labels of the food you eat. If there are any ingredients that you can’t pronounce or you don’t recognize, pitch the product. The less ingredients you put into your belly, the easier you’ll be able to digest the food, assimilate the nutrients, have energy, and burn fat!

Love those lemons!

I always recommend my clients drink warm water with organic lemon juice, first thing in the morning when they wake. This stimulates the liver and digestive system to clean out what was processed and detoxified overnight. Plus, you get a straight shot of Vitamin C to boost your immune system, beautify your skin, and freshen your breath!

Check out more uses for lemon:

Antibiotic - Lemon is an effective infection fighter, since it's ridiculously high Vitamin C content boosts your immune system triplefold. For sore throats, gargle a mixture of half water and half lemon juice. During the wintertime, drink the solution to fight fevers, colds, and the flu.

Digestive aid - Lemon in warm water alleviates heartburn, bloating, gas, constipation, and nausea. Also, since lemon is a blood purifier and liver cleanser, it will help your liver produce more bile and therefore help you digest food better.

Weight loss - Pour lemon juice on a greasy stove and you'll see how quickly it dissipates the fat. Same thing in your body. Goes into your fat stores and blasts away!

Gorgeous skin - Going back to the high vitamin C content, this little fruit can help your skin radiate and glow! Watch your wrinkles, lines, freckles, warts, and moles disappear!

Normal blood pressure - Most of us eat restaurant and processed foods that are high in sodium, and can increase your blood pressure. Lemon juice is chock full of potassium, which will equalize your blood pressure and help you feel more relaxed.

And these are just a few of the amazing benefits!! Go crazy, enjoy!

Insane in the membrane

I've been stuck in my own brain. Literally trapped. And now I feel silly and selfish.

We yoga teachers talk about being present, moving out of our swirling thoughts about the past and future, worries, destructive fears, comparing ourselves to others in the room. But the thing is, we have those thoughts ourselves. Often we tell our students what we need to hear ourselves the most. And this is why we must return to the mat, each day, even if it's just for five minutes.

When a yoga practitioner unfolds his or her mat, they look forward to the opportunity to sweat and stretch through the poses. Some may just desire a good workout or to be more flexible. But the "asanas" were originally designed to exhaust and open our bodies, so we can sit still, relax, and quiet the mind for meditation. On the mat we finally find a safe place to release what we call our "monkey mind."

This phrase describes the constant chatter in our heads that tells us we're not good enough, runs through our busy schedule backwards and forwards, calculates our finances, and obsesses over relationship woes.

And this is where I've been, stuck in my monkey mind and worrying about what others do, say, and think about my life and the decisions I make.

However, as the wise ones have told me, at the end of the day, we are the only ones responsible for the outcome of our lives. There is no point of obsessing over yesterday, or worrying about tomorrow. And if we brood over our mind's obsessions, we miss everything that's going on around us in the present.

Today is a gift. It is a blessing to be alive with a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes on my back, and so many people who care about me. If I project my worries and fears on other people, or create a story in my head about how or who they are, they won't have half a chance to teach me an important lesson I might need to learn. Or I might miss out on the most amazing opportunity of my life, just because I think I know everything about how something is.

So I shall keep returning to my mat each day to get out of my head and back into the world around me. And at the same time, just focus on me and being the best person I can be. I'm here to make a huge impact on the world, not to live in the little shoebox of my insecurities, fears, and regrets.

What about you?

How could you better serve the world if you spent less time in your head and more time in your heart and surroundings?

Ask and you shall receive!

Hello!

No, I didn't forget about you, so hopefully you didn't forget about me.

It's been another whirlwind these past couple months. My astronomy geek friends tell me we had a series of eclipses this spring that propelled events forward in an accelerated fashion. It was definitely a time to be careful what you wished for!

My career keeps evolving right when I ask for it. Whether it be God, the Universe, or whatever you believe in, some force shows up for me when I get really clear about what it is I want.

I asked for more time and flexibility to do the things I love (coach nutrition clients, teach yoga, do yoga, be outside in the sun more often, see my family more often). I was full-time at a corporate job, wishing to pursue my passions full-time.

A week later, I received an email and was offered an incredible opportunity. And now I am working part-time for Chevron as the nutrition counselor and yoga teacher for their L.A. refinery! Three days a week at Chevron, and the rest of the time to focus on my business, taking care of myself, seeing my friends and family, feeling the sun on my skin...it's amazing!

Now I have the time and energy to focus on YOU, and dedicate my full attention to spreading the word about how a healthy diet and lifestyle can change your life in so many ways you could never imagine.

I am a firm believer in "Ask and you shall receive!" All you need to do is get really, very clear on what it is you want. Then write it down, and keep that goal or desire at the forefront of your mind as often as possible. Your conscious and subconscious minds will work together to find a solution, or they may connect to the higher power (if you believe in such a thing) and bring it to you with ease.

All you need to do is believe that it is possible, and that you can be, do, or have anything you want. You deserve it!

So stay tuned, more to come. You'll be hearing from me more often again.

And you'll notice there's a new business name at the top there. Tell me what you think, it's just something I'm playing with.

And check out the new website: http://www.nutrabrilliance.com/. Still a work in progress, but aren't we all??

Eating the same foods over and over??

I've been saying this stuff for years and now it's finally becoming more mainstream. Hence the reason we don't include these foods in my 21 day detox!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/03/the-9-foods-the-us-government-is-paying-you-to-eat.aspx?e_cid=20110803_DNL_art_3

Body judgment.

I was sitting on the plane next to a couple who were returning from a trip to Barcelona. I overheard the girl say she was hungry, and she pulled out a granola bar. Her boyfriend looked at her with dismay, and said, "Oh honey, we're back in L.A. now. You can't eat that, you have to look good again!"

As soon as he went to the bathroom, she snarfed the granola bar and a couple other things, then hid the wrappers in her backpack, looking behind her with apprehension. He sat back down, and she turned toward the window.

I literally felt my blood boil, and I wanted to slap the man across the face. The poor girl was already quite thin, and here she was hiding a small snack from her boyfriend who obviously had issues with physical appearance. It's bad enough to get the subliminal messages from the media, with stick-figure models and actresses on the cover of magazines, telling us we need to be thinner to be beautiful and successful. But to have your own boyfriend in your face about it???

Girls, if you're with a guy or friend who makes negative comments about your appearance or eating habits, beware. It's one thing if you're morbidly obese and they're trying to help you. But if you are healthy and happy, and your man is making you feel self-conscious and shitty, GET OUT OF THERE!

No matter what you've got or what size your jeans, you've got to rock what you have, and you need to be with someone who loves and appreciates you for who you are. Never let anyone make you feel bad about your body, and keep setting the intention for having the important people in your life love and respect you as a package, not just for your looks or waist measurement.

Just had to get that off my chest. After years of body drama, it feels so good to be confident in my own skin, and love my body the way it is. If you take care of it and love yourself, you'll see miraculous changes and people will look at you differently. Living a healthy lifestyle and having confidence wonders :-)