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In the November/December 2009 ACE FitnessMatters magazine, Douglas Fox sites a recent study that supports the concern that artificial sweeteners may not actually help with weight loss. In fact, it might actually make things worse. It seems that your brain can distinguish between a sweet tasting beverage and one that also has calories. The difference can have an effect on how the body works. “Research has shown that drinking an artificially sweetened beverage can whet the appetite and stimulate people to eat more in a subsequent meal-an effect not seen when people drink a sugared beverage or a glass of water before eating. It suggests that artificial sweeteners may turn on brain areas that create appetite, but not provide satiation.” He also mentions how this effect may be different in those who drink artificially sweetened beverage often vs occasionally. The research isn’t clear. It seems to me that it might be wise to limit your consumption of both real and artificial sweeteners and try to stick with natural beverages like 100% juice (in limited quantities), milk (for those it works for) and of course, water.
Douglas Fox, ACE FitnessMatters, November/December 2008 p4-5
So I outdid myself cooking a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to share. The rice pasta recipe got a lot of response so I thought this would also be popular. Not to brag too much but I’m a pretty good cook. What I did blew my mind and my wife’ Sarahs. Grilled corn and halibut with a cilantro compound butter. Fully body mouth orgasm. I don’t know what it was, but it was one of the best things I’ve ever made. I think that getting back to my passion- food- has me paying attention to the details with my cooking, and it’s paying off. Getting better on the grill and trying new ways to make veggies go down also is helping. Like most people, I have a hard time getting in my veggies. The meal had grilled red peppers from the farmers market. Let me be honest- we put the compound butter on everything. I can hear you saying “well, yeah, put enough butter on anything and it’ll taste great.” This was different. In fact, it wasn’t that much butter. Maybe 1 tbs for each of us. That was on the fish, corn and the peppers, but the flavor! You can find recipes on line with exact measurements but let me give you my “no measure” recipes to play with.
Compound butter
2 tbs softened butter
1 tbs chopped cilantro- I used the tubed stuff and it was actually really good
pinch of salt and pepper
dash of smoked paprika (regular would work too)
garlic powder
lemon peel
Halibut
rinsed, and patted dry
sprinkle with a mix of
salt, pepper, onion powder, paprika and cumin
Corn
shucked and put on the grill until golden brown all over
Peppers
cut out the core
on the grill until skin blackens.
put in tupperware or glassware for 15 minutes to soften skin
peel skin, cut into strips or chunks
drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper if desired
Enjoy
Ian
In the last week, I’ve had two clients reinforce my belief that this is the fundamental issue for so many of us. Both are women, one mid-thirties, one early sixties. One of them is a new client whom I’ve only met with twice and the other is one I’ve been seeing for some time.
The new client, lets’ call her S, had become more aware about her issues with food. So, we shared a mindful meal. The first thing she said to me was roughly “I know what my issue is. I eat too much and I eat too fast. I eat with the family really fast so I can get other things done and then later, like when the kids are asleep, I eat more.” We then talked about food, eating, kids, work, family stuff- you know, all the issues that affect HOW and WHY we eat. She told me about the kinds of foods she was cooking and eating for the family and I realized that she was choosing mostly “good” choices. So, I told her “Don’t worry about WHAT your eating. It’s fine. Try focusing on eating slow so you can be more satisfied with what you ate and eat less”. To say the look on her face was one of relief would be an understatement. She had developed a sort of “paralysis by analysis” over WHAT she thought she should be eating in lieu of focusing on HOW. Within just days, she was feeling better about her whole relationship with food. Sure, it’s hard work to make the change, but she was so happy to be able to stop worrying about everything she put in her mouth.
My longtime client, E, had a similar but different revelation. She was having a particularly difficult week. Emotions were running high and she was realizing over the week that she was eating a little extra chicken, then rice, then fruit, then pb&j… you get the picture. What she realized was that she was overeating to deal with her emotions. The fact that it was “healthy” food didn’t really matter. As she said, “I can eat an extra 1000 calories from good food just as easily as from cake or other junk-it’s still 1000 calories.” Now, the point here isn’t that she was emotional eating (see previous post on this topic), but that WHAT she was eating wasn’t the issue-it was HOW.
I encourage you to soften yourself to the concern over WHAT you’re eating, and focus more on HOW and WHY. I’m not saying throw all you know about food out the window and just let yourself eat all you want of everything you want. I’m simply saying, let the HOW and WHY be more relevant at least for a while. Maybe a meal, a day, a week, maybe just 5 minutes. Let me know how it works out. Your experience will help everyone else.
Ok. This has generated a lot of interest so let me share some details.
I used a fairly standard recipe to make the lasagna and I suspect any variation on it would work. The only variation was that I used rice noodles. They came out great and no one would have known the difference. Here are the basics and I’m sure there are hundreds of recipes online if you need to see one. I just looked at it and realized that I knew what to do.
INGREDIENTS
- lasagna noodles- I used Tinkyada Gluten Free Pasta
- jarred or homemade red sauce- any style should work- vegan, vegetarian with tvp, meat, etc
- shredded mozzarella- 1 lb
- 1- 15 oz ricotta or cottage cheese- lowfat works just as good as full fat
- some recipes call for an egg for binder but olive oil would work fine or even plain yogurt I suppose
- Parmesan cheese for topping- to taste
COOKING STEPS
- boil the noodles and drain
- buy or make a sauce
- mix together the cheese
- place one layer of noodles in a glass baking dish. I used a 9×9 but usually people use a 13×9.
- smear cheese mixture as thick as you would peanut butter on bread. thinner or thicker to taste
- pour enough sauce over the cheese/noodles to cover- again, thicker or thinner as desired
- repeat till pan is full
- top with Parmesan
- bake with foil for 20 minutes and then remove foil for 10 to crisp the top
- remove and let cool 10 minutes to firm up a little
- serve and enjoy!
Well, I have to admit, it does feel different. The universe has made it clear that I will be looking at my life differently in my 5th decade (figure that one out and you get a brownie point). I took a hard fall in Jujitsu on the Tuesday before my birthday (April 28th to be exact). At the time I wasn’t sure how bad an injury it was but thankfully it was not as bad as it could have been. This is thanks to my other workouts and the agreement between martial artists at my school to try very hard NOT to hurt your training partner. However, it has been making me think about my body in different ways than I have before. Or to be more precise, making me more conscious of thoughts that have been there for a while.
For example, why do I do Jujitsu with guys who are 10 years younger and a hundred pounds heavier than I am? Why do I train as hard as I do with my personal trainer, lifting heavy weights and doing extremely challenging exercises on a regular basis? Why do I push myself so hard and try NOT to appear weak? I do it because the “scared to death he’s gonna get beat up” teenager inside me says, “Don’t let them think your a wimp.” Isn’t personal insight great! Of course, my adult brain can see that now and realizes that letting me ego tell my body what to do is responsible for why I got hurt in the first place. However, If that wasn’t challenging enough, now I find myself being TOO passive and nice and honestly, jujitsu ISN’T about being TOO nice to your opponent. I, like so many of us, have to go from one extreme to the other before finding the middle ground. So, I keep going to class and trying to discover that in-between place where there is no ego, only my body.
If you find yourself frustrated with your body and what it can’t do or aches and pains that never used to be there, I hope this helps you realize that it’s a normal part of life and that who we were in our younger years still influences us. Check in with that part of yourself and see if it still serves you well or if it is something that needs to be listened to and then told, “It’s ok, I’ll take care of you now, only differently.”
I know its been a while but I’ve recently been inspired. I have finally found another person, in this case a Ph.D in psychology, who believes that it is ok to eat for emotional reasons. For years, authors and authorities of all types, whether it be nutritionists, therapists, Buddhists, personal trainers, etc., said, “Don’t eat for emotional reasons. Try meditating, taking a walk or a bath.” At the same time I saw the reality of emotional eating from the perspective of myself, my friends, loved ones and clients. It seemed that finding a balanced way was needed. What I’ve been saying for some time is that if you are going to eat emotionally (which seems a given), then make sure you’re being mindful and fully embodied at the same time. Finally someone agrees with me. Now I won’t seem so crazy, will I? 
Let me share just a few juicy thoughts and you can read the rest of his book if you’d like. It has many other fun, interesting and not too preachy ideas on mindful eating. This information is from “Eating the Moment- 141 mindful practices to overcome overeating one meal at a time” by Pavel Somov, Ph. (2008). In chapter 4, he discusses mindful emotional eating in detail and provides 5 key steps to success. I’ve summarized them here.
1. Accept emotional eating as a legitimate coping choice, not a coping failure
2. Before eating, relax a bit by deep breathing or meditation for a few minutes
3. Try to eat in company, not alone
4. Follow a ritual- pick a place to eat, with a start and end time for your eating
5. Remember that emotional eating does not have to mean emotional overeating
(All emphasis added is mine)
I also recommend eating foods that will really satisfy and be sure to eat it mindfully and fully present in your body. This way you have the best chance of dealing with the emitionas while minimizing the risk of feeling guilty about it afterwards.
I hope this helps.
Ian
The time of year for me to put on my grubby jeans and boots and baseball cap has come.
I leave tomorrow for my annual family camping trip with my wife and her family. I have come to really look forward to this chance to sleep in while listening to the river running outside my tent, to smell like campfire smoke all day and eat way more than anyone person needs in one day, even with the hiking and wood chopping.
Being with family out in nature allows me to really slow down and relax, letting go of all the million and one things that I have to do “back in the world.” Without this time I would just keep accelerating into a whirling dervish.
Instead, I will return rested and rejuvinated, ready to get back to seeing my clients and my right livelihood. I feel very blessed. I hope you have an opportunity to do the same.
In health,
Ian
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