Eating Mindfully

Working as a dietitian is challenging.  Not only am I competing with food fads and crazy diets (including myriad recommendations from Dr. Oz), but I am competing with my patient’s emotional struggle with food. Some of these struggles are from their past (“my mother FORCED me to eat oatmeal—I will never touch it again”) and some are from their present and often linked to the state of their mental well-being (“I overeat when I am feeling sad.”).  These relationships often need to be addressed before the real education on making healthy food choices begins. One of the ways that I choose to address these emotional barriers is with the practice of mindfulness and intuitive eating. And to make sure we are all on the same page, here is mindfulness defined”: “intentionally paying attention, moment to moment, without judging what is happening internally in the body, mind, and heart and externally in the environment (Mindfulness and Diabetes: Working in Tandem, 2015).

How many of you ate a meal while watching television or sitting at your computer today? Guilty as charged. Do you feel like you were truly present to your dining experience? Do you remember the aroma? The taste of each bite of food? Perhaps you scarfed down your sandwich so quickly you don’t remember eating it at all. This is the issue for many of us and it can be harmful to our waistline and overall health.

When working with my patients on eating mindfully, I help them slow down and savor the foods that they are eating. This can be done with a variety of methods. Using the hunger scale (a way to rate your level of hunger before and after eating), putting down one’s eating utensil between bites of food and/or journaling to reflect on foods eaten and the eating experience overall. This is no easy task and one must be extremely motivated and honest with themselves to work on this.

A 2013 study published in Diabetes Spectrum  found that participants who completed a Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training Program , which included meditation, were able to cut back on the amount of calories they were eating daily and experienced improved blood sugar control and a reduction in blood pressure. This is hopeful news and only strengthens my belief that an overall lifestyle focusing on the present moment and mindfulness is essential for  both physical and mental health.

I have a challenge for you. The next time you sit down (or stand, which is less ideal but often the reality) to eat a sweet treat, I encourage you to try this. Start out by taking a bite of your treat and eating it as usual. Do you want another bite? Most likely. For your next bite, let the morsel linger in your mouth for one minute. Think about the taste that you are experiencing. Try to describe it to yourself. After you finish, tap into what you notice about how much you want another bite. Most likely you are more satisfied than when you took your first bite more hastily. Even if this exercise did not work for you this time, I encourage you to try again later.  The more difficult this is for you, the more often you will need to practice.

 
Mindful eating is important to teach our children too so they develop healthy relationships with food. You can practice mindful eating with the little ones by sharing in a snack experience. Before eating, describe how the food looks. Guide the kiddos through eating the snack slowly and chat about the taste and texture, as well as how their hunger level changed after eating.

And that my friends, is my food AND flow wisdom for the day!

 

“The more you eat, the less flavor, the less you eat, the more flavor” ~Chinese Proverb

 

 

The Deal with Busyness

So what do you have to do today? Seriously. What do you really have to do today?

 

I have been thinking a lot about how "busy" I claim to be lately and how long my "to do" lists as a mama have gotten. I find myself getting so carried away with unrealistic deadlines for myself to meet and POOF!!! Before I know it the week has blown by and I am clinging on to bits and pieces of sporadic enjoyments that I "found time" for amongst laundry, dishes, errands, bills, patients, pointless worries and getting ready for the day ahead. I often feel accomplished for what I have done, not for what I have experienced and I strongly desire that to be the other way around. An article that a friend of mine shared recently really captured the essence of my ego's struggle for a perfectly checked off "to do" list, well perfectly. The author defined this as "busyness" and actually labeled it as a sickness. I absolutely agree. Read on.

 

"The American Psychological Association has published its Stress In America survey since 2007. They find that the majority of Americans recognize that their stress exceeds levels necessary to maintain good health. The most frequent reason they cite for not addressing the problem?

Being too busy.
It's a vicious cycle."

 

The author also shares a study in which people would rather deliver electric shocks to themselves verses being left alone to simply just be and think. This saddens me. We have become so reliant on external stimuli that the idea of meditation and relaxation are something that we avoid or simply cannot bring ourselves to find the time for. Meditation is only for yogis and hippies right? Imagine how the world might be if we all meditated for 15 minutes a day? What if this was normal? Like brushing our teeth? Or posting absolutely everything we did all day on Facebook?

 

After reading this article I set out to challenge myself. For the next 30 days (and hopefully longer), I would love to remove the words "I didn't have time" and "I don't have time" from my vocabulary. I would also like to stop creating my own deadlines (a.k.a Sheri stress) and invest more time in myself and loved ones. At my annual check-up I was so happy that my nurse midwife (I still go to a birth center for my primary care, they are the best!) spent majority of the visit discussing my role as a new mother with me and making sure that I took plenty of time to focus on myself. Right after that visit I spent the day leisurely looking around town and actually sitting down to savor lunch by myself.

 

The dirty dishes in the sink can wait. It is probably not vital that I check my email everyday. If I do not make it the store tomorrow we will survive. What cannot wait is snuggling with my son. Or making sure that my body is active or taking the time to meditate everyday for my mental well-being. Or getting beyond the small talk with my husband instead of saying I don't "have time" to chat. What is on his mind today?  Living my life CANNOT wait and this busyness thing has got to go!

With all of this said, I cannot argue with the fact that some things just gotta get done. I'm not interested in being a slob or giving up on my commitments, however I hope that I can learn to accomplish tasks that need my attention with mindfulness and with the permission to not be so darn attached to the results that I was expecting. I also hope that I can forgive myself for having an incomplete "to do" list at the end of the day.

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard's Almanac

 

So, what do you think about this busyness thing?

Read the rest of the busyness article I referred to here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-dannemiller/busy-is-a-sickness_b_6761264.html

Feeding Baby Series: Baby Food Selection

Before Jasper was born I was certain that I was going to make all sorts of elaborate, tasty baby food purees. In reality,  this did not happen for a few reasons. First of all, working full time and having a baby that does not like to nap leaves little room for fancy food preparation.  Secondly, my food processor pooped out shortly after Jasper was born. When I did have the time I blended up a few mixtures for Jasper in our Magic Bullet type blender and it was usually some sort of bean/ lentil/ chicken and vegetable combination with spices. Even so, I was still on the market for "baby food" to fill in the gaps between edibles that could not be mashed into a puree consistency.

 

The brands of baby food that our family decided we liked best were Sprout and Ella's Kitchen. I am not convinced they are the best options out there for everyone but we chose them for several reasons:

 

1) They are organic and I often found them on sale. Tip: try Target and Harris Teeter. If you can budget for it I do recommend offering your littlest tots organic fruits and veggies to reduce pesticide exposure (I also recommend this during pregnancy if you can afford it although I know it's not always realistic financially to achieve.).

 

2) The ingredient lists are super simple--just the basic ingredients, nothing else. Some brands may contain fillers (flour/starches) and/or lots of extra vitamins and minerals in them which I think is unnecessary for most babies if they are drinking formula or breastfed with Vitamin D supplementation. The one exception I found was that Earth's Best Spinach Lentil blend does have 30% of the daily value for iron, the most I had personally found in any other baby food blend, even those with naturally good sources of iron like beef. This was important to me to make sure Jasper got plenty of iron in a mostly vegetarian household. Once you get into the fancier baby food blends (those with sauces and cheese for example) I noticed these had a good amount of salt in them which is not necessary for baby either. I often dressed up the basic purees with other ingredients and spices we had on hand. 

 

3) I liked the variety of food combinations and Jasper (and I) found them very tasty!

 

In addition to the baby food we purchased, I had several "go to," or quick and easy foods, that I offered Jasper when he still ate puree consistency: 

• unsweetened applesauce sprinkled with ginger and cinnamon
• avocado mashed up and stirred until creamy--sometimes with a sprinkle of garlic powder mixed in
• mashed banana (or other very ripe fruit like papaya or plums)
• cooked oatmeal mixed with frozen and warmed berries (you could use cooked regular oats verses buying "baby oatmeal" but know it is not iron fortified. If your wee one is just starting on food, you may wish to grind oats up in a food processor first for a smoother texture)
• plain unsweetened yogurt (sometimes with applesauce or mashed fruit)
• roasted and mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash (at first I would thin the mash out with some milk).
• hummus (if seed/nut allergies suspected you can wait until closer to one-year old)
• organic canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling!--used this in his oatmeal too!)
• mashed and stirred (until creamy) tofu (with added spices for zip!)
• homemade soup without chunks and without lots of added salt (carrot ginger etc.)

  Whether you are making your own baby purees or buying them, I encourage exposing your little one's pallet to a variety of flavors. Don't be afraid to add small amounts of milder spices and herbs to the mix and don't let your own food references get in the way. Just because you don't like broccoli doesn't mean your little one won't! Stay tuned for my post on great first foods for baby!

Blackberry Ginger Chia Jam

I try to stay on top of food trends when I can, but I have to admit, I have been a little lazy about experimenting with chia seeds. This may have something to do with my not-so-fond memories of a chia seed drink my husband purchased at Whole Foods a few years ago.......I remember it being very thick and absolutely, positively not refreshing at all. If I recall, we pretty much forced the drink down because it was likely the cost of a meal.

Although there are not many published studies on the overall health benefits of the chia seed, research is promising that, when eaten regularly in one's diet, it can help reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides. Perhaps this is related to the excellent nutrition profile this little seed boasts--it is a wonderful source of heart-healthy Omega 3 Fatty Acids and packs in 5 grams of fiber per tablespoon.  Chia seeds also contain some minerals including calcium and iron.

My favorite things about the chia seed are that it does not have to be ground to reap the health benefits like flaxseed does and that it can actually be used as a replacement for eggs in baked recipes. This makes them a great choice for vegans or those with egg allergies (1 tbsp. chia powder--ground chia--to 3 tbsp. liquid.)

Over the weekend I decided to try out the chia seed again. I whipped up a blackberry chia jam that was simple and pretty tasty.

Blackberry Ginger Chia Jam

·         1 ¼ cup frozen blackberries

·         1.5 tbsp. pure maple syrup

·         1 tbsp. chia seeds

·           Fresh grated ginger (amount per your preference)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the berries and maple syrup. Stir and cook the berry mixture for 10 minutes. Use a potato masher to mash the berries.

Next, add a tablespoon of chia seeds and continue to cook and stir for about 2-3 minutes or until the mixture resembles a jam consistency. Remove from heat and blend in freshly ground ginger (as much as you prefer!). Refrigerate and use within one week. Serves 6.
 

So what else can you do with your chia seeds? Here are some ideas:

- use them to thicken soups, puddings, gravies or sauces or to bind homemade veggie patties or meatballs

- sprinkled over a variety of foods including cereal (hot or cold), yogurt, fresh fruit, nut butter toast. 

-blended in a smoothie

-used after grinding in a baked goods or quick bread 

-added to a homemade granola or granola bar recipe 
 

**Because chia seeds do absorb water so well it is advised you eat them with plenty of fluids or use them in their soaked form (like in the jam). If you have swallowing difficulty,  it would probably be best to eat them soaked. Bottom line: don't toss back a big handful of dry chia seeds!

What I Ate Wednesday

I decided that sharing what I eat on a weekly basis might be a bit much (not to mention pretty repetitive), so these will now be occasional posts. 

My menu for today:

 

*Breakfast: Cheerios mixed with some Kashi Go Lean crunch, topped with diced mangos and strawberries;  unsweetened almond milk. (Some people look at me like I'm crazy when I talk about mixing cereal, but this is something I advise often to cut down on sugary cereal intake. I suggest that parents select a whole grain cereal with 5 grams sugar or less per serving and then mix in a small handful of their kiddos fun cereal--like Fruit Loops--along with some fruit. Eventually just fruit may be needed. You would be surprised how many of my adult patients I discuss this with too--there are many folks who never gave up their Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the morning!)

 

*Snack: Soy Au Lait from my favorite coffee joint (Green Bean).

 

*Lunch: Chickpea salad sandwich on whole wheat bread with mustard and arugula;  4 oz low sodium tomato juice and an apple; water. Just a note about the sandwich--this is a yummy alternative to egg salad. I mashed up roasted Garbanzo beans with an avocado, diced carrots, garlic, fresh grated ginger and curry powder. I took the fancy pic yesterday,  today at work my sandwich was a little less glamorous. 

 

*Afternoon snack #1: Plain Non-fat Greek yogurt with a little bit of granola; seltzer water

*Afternoon snack #2 (I could not wait for dinner!) Almond Coconut KIND bar. 

 

*Dinner:  Baked Salmon (a la Justin) and roasted broccoli and butternut squash (with turmeric!); seltzer water. Followed by a few animal cookies leftover by Jasper.

This Mama's Recommendations for a New Baby

If you are like me, the moment I found out I was pregnant I felt like I had to hoard away all kinds of treasures for my little one so that I would be prepared for anything. The truth is you will not be prepared completely, even with all of the fancy baby gadgets out there. My goal with this post is to help a few mamas save some dollars and register for or purchase those items that will be most useful for baby. You may find it helpful or perhaps you will throw it all out the window and get everything for baby anyway. Trust me, I understand!

 

New Baby Items I Did Without:

* Baby Wipe Warmer: My little one was born in the frigid temperatures of January and survived sans baby wipe warmer. A trick I learned from my mother-in-law: ball the baby wipe in your hand for a minute before applying.

* Diaper Genie: I might not really understand the full need behind this one because I cloth diaper Jasper 75% of the time, but I have not found it necessary. I received a small diaper genie from my sister (she had an extra) and once I realized I had to keep buying refills for that thing I forgot about it. We use a trashcan and just take any dirty diapers out when we leave the house daily.

* Changing Table and Perhaps a Changing Pad: I have never once used our changing table (for its purpose anyway!). Call me crazy, but the idea of changing a teeny newborn high off the ground (and sideways) frightened me, and now the idea of changing a wiggling toddler up there is equally terrifying! We use our bed or the floor in his nursery. Luckily, instead of actually purchasing a changing table we purchased a kitchen piece suitable for the purpose at an antique shop and painted it. It will look lovely one day in my dining room!

* Fancy Baby Bath Tub: I registered for an awesome baby bath tub (it had a Jacuzzi!) and I was excited to receive it. It is a very nice bathtub and I appreciate it, however it ended up not being very practical for us. It was a lot of work to get it all assembled and to fill the sprayer full of water for a short little baby bath. And then, we had to find a place to set the huge thing up to dry. A simple plastic bath tub that can be placed in your bath tub (or perhaps even just a sling) works wonderfully at a much lower cost.

*Glass bottles if your baby will be in daycare: I learned quickly this was a "no-no." Not allowed. Fortunately I did not have too many of them!

*Bottle Warmer: Our little guy will drink bottles cold. He loves milk that much! Your little one might, but if not and you want to save a few bucks, setting the bottle for a few minutes in hot water does the job too. 

 

*Ear thermometer: Apparently these are not accurate for babes less than 6 months (I did not know that) and even now this thing can read all over the place. We just use our cheapo thermometer under the arm (and add a degree) and our pediatrician advises that a rectal temp (yikes!) is really the gold standard.

 

*Bumbo seat: A high chair does just fine. And if your babe is chunky like mine, his legs won't fit in there anyway. Jasper learned to sit up wonderfully without this seat. When we traveled with him and there was no high chair available he just sat on our laps.

My New Baby Must Haves:

* Lots of clothes for the little babe: Lots, and I mean LOTS of, onsies and pajamas. We probably changed Jasper two times a night due to leaks and spit up for the first few months of his life. And, forget about jammies that button up or snap. Zipper ones are the way to go. Who wants to fumble with lots of snaps at 3:00 a.m.? Also-try not to buy sizes too far ahead for your little one, you do not know how big or small they will be. Jasper is at the top of his height and weight percentiles and always wears clothes much bigger than his age. Because of this he has several adorable outfits that he never got to wear.

* A Jumper Roo (or something similar--preferably one that allows for jumping--more fun!): Jasper got in this for the first time at about four months old and it was wonderful! My husband and I could actually make dinner together and he would entertain himself in it for 30 minutes plus!

* A humidifier: Jasper frequently has a stuffy nose and we do notice it gets worse when we get lazy about running the humidifier for a night or two. Sometimes we add drops of eucalyptus to help with congestion or lavender for those nights he does not sleep as well. Before using essential oils with baby check out the safety of them. There is a particular kind of eucalyptus to use with young children (smithii I believe). If you are in Greensboro, Loving Scents is an excellent resource.

*If co-sleeping: I loved my Arms Reach Co-Sleeper. This first time mama had to be with her little one all night when he was brand new! And, he is actually still sleeping with us, but that is another story! Not only was he sleeping right near me (yet out of the way) but it gave us lots of storage space for extra clothes, diapers, etc. in our room.

* A really good diaper or skin balm (without potentially harmful ingredients like BHA): our fave is the Nurturing Balm made by Episencial. We used this for the occasional bouts of diaper rash (it cleared it up quickly!) and on the little dry patches of skin Jasper gets in the winter. 

 

*If cloth diapering: Lots of cloth diapers and a good detergent to wash them in. We started when we had 20 in our stash and now we have close to 30. Our brand faves are Bum Genius and Katie-O, both with snaps, one size fits all. We use Charlies Soap (local) to wash them in. Don't be scared about cloth diapering, it's super easy and I'll write more about it later!

Carrier/ sling: We have the Ergo baby carrier and love it, however I'm not convinced it is the best one out there. We much preferred baby wearing (and still do) verses pushing Jasper around in a stroller. I also used the Ergo around the house while he napped in there so I could do a few simple household tasks.

Bottle rack (or extra drying rack) and drying mats: Washing and drying bottles has consumed the past year of my life. Go ahead and devote the counter space now. Now it has become lots of sippy cup and toy washing and its great having lots of space to dry them.

I did some research and asked some fellow mamas what they had to have with their little ones and what they could live without. Feel free to comment and share your answers too!

Mama #1: Had to have her Swaddle Me wraps. I must admit, while a blanket can do the trick, we loved these with Jasper (plus they were extra warmth). She could have done without her Boppy. I am on the fence here, I definitely used this a lot initially while nursing Jasper, but could a regular pillow have done the trick? Maybe!

Mama #2: Had to have a video baby monitor and could have done without the matching baby bedding set (bumpers, blanket, comforter etc.). Agreed about the bedding set. We just decorated the nursery with random finds and quilts we were gifted. 

Mama #3: Could have done without the wipes warmer and diaper genie and had to have a really good humidifier. She mentioned the humidifier helped their little one get several more hours of sleep at night  when she had a cold.

80/20 Your Life

I recently came across an article by Mark Manson offering advice on how to 80/20 your life. So, what the heck does that mean? Read on:

"In 1906 there was an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto. One day Pareto noticed that every year, 20% of the pea pods in his garden produced approximately 80% of the peas.

This got him thinking about economic output on a larger scale. Sure enough, he began to find that in various industries, societies and even companies, 80% of the production often came from the 20% most productive faction.

 

This became known as the Pareto Principle, or what is now often referred to as the 80/20 Principle.

The 80/20 Principle states that 80% of the output or results will come from 20% of the input or action."

 

The Pareto Principle can be applied to our life choices as well. I have started to give similar advice to my patients by encouraging them to make 20% of their very best food choices 80% of the time leaving some wiggle room for the 20% of the time when they make less than desirable food and beverage selections. A patient I visited last week was ecstatic that barbecued ribs fit into his wiggle room 20% as long as he boosted his recipe for baked salmon to his frequently eaten 80%. Whew, it can get a bit difficult to wrap your head around!

 

Food choices aside--we can use 80/20 as a tool to identify how we can get the most efficiency and the most enjoyment out of our lives. There are several questions we can ask ourselves. What do I spend 80% of my time doing that I only see a positive result from 20% of the time (ex. working long hours just to enjoy one or two vacations per year)? Or who do I spend 80% of my time with, yet only get 20% of my social satisfaction from? What can I do to spend more time with the 20% of people that I get 80% of my laughs and meaningful discussions from? How can I prioritize my day to spend more time doing the things that I enjoy?

 

Lots of questions! It can be daunting to ask ourselves these questions and be truly honest about the answers (at least it is for me!) because we may not like what we see. Some of us may we spend 80% of our time with coworkers, not our families and friends who we get 80% of our enjoyment from. Others of us may spend 80% of our time refreshing social media feeds or watching  television, yet we are really not reaping real pleasure from these activities. And if you are like me, you frequently tend to wear the same 20% of clothes 80% of the time (time to clean out the closet!).

Maybe some of us may have already done an 80/20 assessment and actually are spending 80% of their time with the people, places and passions they love!

 

The comments in this article got me thinking about what I do daily and reinforces intentions and goals that I have set for myself and my family. I wanted to share what I read not because I am an expert on the principle or am convinced examining your life through the 80/20 lens is for everyone, but because I hope a few of you may ask yourself these questions and identify something beautiful!

 

Read the full article here:  http://markmanson.net/80-20-your-life

 

“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”  
* Rumi