"Jingle bells, jingle bells jingle all the way oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!"
Don't get me wrong I love the holidays, but they can be a little exhausting! And many of us find ourselves landing in January flat out on our backs with a terrible cold or just plain worn out...but what if this year could be different?.... How would it feel to start 2013 rested, energized and still fitting into your skinny jeans (or whatever jeans you like to wear)!
Here are my Top 5 Tips for feeling energized during the holiday season and beyond:
1. Set an alarm clock for bed
Yup that's right, not to wake up, but for going to bed! And when it goes off, finish what you are doing and start winding down for bed, because otherwise, if you're anything like me, you"ll find yourself red eyed at
12 am doing some ridiculous task that COULD be done tomorrow!
2. Start a bed time ritual.
Maybe it's a cup of your favorite tea or a peek at a magazine you've been wanting to read, something to take your mind off of your "to do " list.
3. Dust off your crock pot (or buy one).
It may take a little prep time but there's nothing better than opening the door to your house after a long day of shopping and smelling a great soup or stew just waiting to been eaten!
4. Breathe.
That's it...breathe, take a long deep soothing breath when you're speeding through that parking lot trying to get a parking space or when someone cuts you off in line or when your child has just pulled at your last nerve (that's why God makes them so cute).
5. Be grateful.
When you just feel like you can't wrap one more gift or bake one more batch of cookies, try shifting your mindset, even just for a minute to being grateful for all you have and the loved ones in your life.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Born To Run
I've been running since I was 11 years old, I'm 34, that's 23 years! Sure there were some injuries, some time off, but running was always there for me. It was something I did and still do when I'm happy, sad, fast, slow, feeling strong, feeling weak, it's something I do to feel like myself again! Four to five months after giving birth in Dec 2011 to our beautiful daughter Norah, I got the itch to run. I was feeling "off", like something was missing, so I went to the thing that has always brought me back to myself and I simply laced up my sneakers and put one foot in front of the other, not knowing what was going to happen with my postpartum body.....
Well, it was a little rocky, I hadn't run in almost a year and that first run looked a lot more like a walk than a run (it also felt like someone had punched me in the lungs), but as soon as I was done, I knew I did the right thing. I got "that feeling", what the heck is "that feeling", oh, ya, it was ME! I felt like I had stepped back into my body, I felt exhausted and strong at the same time! That was about 5-6 weeks ago and I have been running 4 times a week ever since and I am slowly building up my body and my milage, (our treadmill broke on week 4, but that's another story for another blog).
So maybe your thing that makes you feel like YOU, isn't running and that's fine, maybe it's music or dance or walking, whatever it is find time for yourself, you're worth it!
Post Run Recipe:
Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie:
Serves 1
1 banana, peeled
1 TBS all natural peanut butter
1/2-1 cup of almond or cow's milk
1 TBS ground flax seed meal
3-4 ice cubes
Add all ingredients to the blend and combine until smooth, enjoy!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
What's In a Label?
Reading food labels can be more than confusing, it can make your HEAD SPIN! So I'm going to make it really easy and break it down for you so the next time you hit the grocery store you can out smart those savvy marketing tricks!
Organic: 100% organic means the product is free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, genetically modified organisms, antibiotics and hormones. So when you are shopping at a regular grocery store you'll see a label that says 'USDA certified organic' on all organic products. The only 'catch' with organic is when you go to a farmers market or CSA (community supported agriculture farm). It's VERY expensive for the small farmer to be 'certified organic' by the USDA, so get to know and trust your local farmers at theses farmers markets this summer, a lot of them grow their food using organic practices they just can't afford to use the official label, that doesn't mean the food isn't perfectly fine. Just be polite, most farmers love what they do and would be happy to tell you about how the grow what they are selling! Remember organic is healthy for you, but buying local is important to.
Natural: Unfortunately, this is the most over used label out there. At this point seeing 'natural' on the label means nothing by today's standards. It has been used and abused, so while some of the ingredients in a certain product that is labeled 'natural' may have started off that way, chemicals, pesticides and other yucky additives can be lurking in that product. So, bottom line, when something is marked 'natural' make sure you can pronounce and understand all of the ingredients be you assume it's healthy.
Free Range/Free Roaming: This applies to meat and dairy products. Eggs and chicken can be labeled 'free-range' or 'free-roaming' and while it is a step in the right direction, it's a bit of false advertising. It makes you think the animal was roaming in the fields it's whole life, but sometimes the animal can still be kept in crowded indoor spaces and only have a small access door to the outside, it doesn't mean they make it to the outside. So buy with caution, like I said it's a step in the right direction, but big corporations take advantage of this type of labeling.
Pasture-Raised: This means that the animal was raised where it should be, outdoors with access to fresh air and grass and bugs and suns. It was raised eating the food nature intended and had a decent quality of life. These animals are healthier for us to eat and tend to produce meat and dairy that are full of vitamins and products that are tastier. Please note, however, these meats and dairy products tend to be more expensive, so if you are on a budget every little bit counts. You can start by simply switching your milk to organic when it's on sale and go from there.
It's a crazy labeling world out there so shop smart!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Spring Detox: A Fresh Start!
It's been a LONG winter baby! And just about everyone I talk to feels the same way, they are ready for winter to be OVER (myself included). But what if this winter was a way of Mother Nature trying to get our attention...in the form of big snow storms, strong winds and cold temperatures. When you think about it Mother Nature seems to keep throwing crazy weather our way. It's almost as if she's saying "wake up, pay attention, it's time to do something...different...better". Maybe it's time we apply that same mind set to our bodies, you know, that beautiful temple that you each live in everyday.....
We've all said it to ourselves that we'll start over tomorrow or Monday, with healthier eating, living, thinking. Have you ever wondered why it's so hard and why we seem to be addicted to feeling like garbage? Hey, you know what they say, "you are what you eat"....right?
Look, I'm not perfect and I'm certainly not asking you to be perfect, but I will ask you to take a look at what you're putting into your body and what it's doing to you.
Your body talks to you EVERYDAY you just have to listen...
What's your body saying to you?
~Do you have sore joints? That could be a sign of inflammation, how much processed sugar or wheat are you eating.
~ Do you have chronic headaches? That could be a food allergy or stressful thoughts.
~ Do you NEED coffee before you can function? There's a good possibility that your adrenal glands are stressed out (that's the part of your body's endocrine system that controls the fight or flight process).
~Do you wake during the night multiple times? That could mean you are eating to much sugar and stressing your liver (your liver stores excess glucose).
~ Do you reach for the chocolate or caffeine around 3 pm? I have one word for you CRAVINGS, you body is looking for something more.
~ Do you experience constipation, bloating or gas after meals? Yikes! I don't think that message from your colon could be any clearer!
~ Have you experienced multiple colds or the flu this winter?
I could go on and on with these types of questions, but if you've answered "yes" to even one of these questions, your body could be sending you a message that it's time for a DETOX. I'm NOT talking about some weird fasting, enema (although go for it, if you're up for it), freak show detox, just a natural whole foods detox that allows your body to use it's own built in cleansing system.
The thing is detoxification is as needed by the body as the air you breathe and YES your body does detox everyday! BUT, let's be honest the toxic load we carry today can be pretty heavy. So, lightening up on the types of food you eat and adding in certain foods and activities can support the body to "cancel, clear and reboot"!
A simple whole foods detox, may not be a magic pill, but it sure can get you back on track and avoid or lessen a whole "hot mess" of physical illnesses and symptoms.
Here are my top 3 detox tips:
1. For 1 meal or up to 7 days, remove or decrease animal meat and processed meat in your diet. For example, instead of a deli sandwich or canned soup for lunch, maybe you could find a recipe for a veggie stir fry. Cook it up on Sunday night and bring it to work for lunch on Monday.
2. As the weather gets warmer head outside for a walk or try a yoga class! Pisst..... guess what, your body removes toxins through the breath, sweat and "internal plumbing" (don't make me say it, you know what I mean). Moving your body in whatever way feels best gets the breath going, the sweat pumping and the bowels moving.
3. Try to take it easy on yourself and begin to notice the thoughts that you have everyday. Our thoughts are vibrations, they send messages to every little cell. So, while you make think that the negative thought you shoot yourself in the mirror doesn't make a difference, it all takes a toll.
Give this a shot, for every negative thought you have programmed yourself to think ("my thighs are fat, my nose is big, I'm having an awful hair day). Try to think a positive thought immediately after (I have legs that are healthy, I have my grandmother's nose and she was beautiful or my hair looks great when I style it a certain way). That way you don't have to even try to make yourself stop thinking the negative stuff, you're just starting to retrain your brain.
If these ideas sound good to you or if you'd like to learn more about detoxing check out the Spring Detox and Yoga Flow Class I am co-hosting at Heartsong Yoga in East Longmeadow on Sunday March 27!
~Happy spring detoxing!
Renee
We've all said it to ourselves that we'll start over tomorrow or Monday, with healthier eating, living, thinking. Have you ever wondered why it's so hard and why we seem to be addicted to feeling like garbage? Hey, you know what they say, "you are what you eat"....right?
Look, I'm not perfect and I'm certainly not asking you to be perfect, but I will ask you to take a look at what you're putting into your body and what it's doing to you.
Your body talks to you EVERYDAY you just have to listen...
What's your body saying to you?
~Do you have sore joints? That could be a sign of inflammation, how much processed sugar or wheat are you eating.
~ Do you have chronic headaches? That could be a food allergy or stressful thoughts.
~ Do you NEED coffee before you can function? There's a good possibility that your adrenal glands are stressed out (that's the part of your body's endocrine system that controls the fight or flight process).
~Do you wake during the night multiple times? That could mean you are eating to much sugar and stressing your liver (your liver stores excess glucose).
~ Do you reach for the chocolate or caffeine around 3 pm? I have one word for you CRAVINGS, you body is looking for something more.
~ Do you experience constipation, bloating or gas after meals? Yikes! I don't think that message from your colon could be any clearer!
~ Have you experienced multiple colds or the flu this winter?
I could go on and on with these types of questions, but if you've answered "yes" to even one of these questions, your body could be sending you a message that it's time for a DETOX. I'm NOT talking about some weird fasting, enema (although go for it, if you're up for it), freak show detox, just a natural whole foods detox that allows your body to use it's own built in cleansing system.
The thing is detoxification is as needed by the body as the air you breathe and YES your body does detox everyday! BUT, let's be honest the toxic load we carry today can be pretty heavy. So, lightening up on the types of food you eat and adding in certain foods and activities can support the body to "cancel, clear and reboot"!
A simple whole foods detox, may not be a magic pill, but it sure can get you back on track and avoid or lessen a whole "hot mess" of physical illnesses and symptoms.
Here are my top 3 detox tips:
1. For 1 meal or up to 7 days, remove or decrease animal meat and processed meat in your diet. For example, instead of a deli sandwich or canned soup for lunch, maybe you could find a recipe for a veggie stir fry. Cook it up on Sunday night and bring it to work for lunch on Monday.
2. As the weather gets warmer head outside for a walk or try a yoga class! Pisst..... guess what, your body removes toxins through the breath, sweat and "internal plumbing" (don't make me say it, you know what I mean). Moving your body in whatever way feels best gets the breath going, the sweat pumping and the bowels moving.
3. Try to take it easy on yourself and begin to notice the thoughts that you have everyday. Our thoughts are vibrations, they send messages to every little cell. So, while you make think that the negative thought you shoot yourself in the mirror doesn't make a difference, it all takes a toll.
Give this a shot, for every negative thought you have programmed yourself to think ("my thighs are fat, my nose is big, I'm having an awful hair day). Try to think a positive thought immediately after (I have legs that are healthy, I have my grandmother's nose and she was beautiful or my hair looks great when I style it a certain way). That way you don't have to even try to make yourself stop thinking the negative stuff, you're just starting to retrain your brain.
If these ideas sound good to you or if you'd like to learn more about detoxing check out the Spring Detox and Yoga Flow Class I am co-hosting at Heartsong Yoga in East Longmeadow on Sunday March 27!
~Happy spring detoxing!
Renee
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Love and Loss
To me love and loss are so closely intertwined and I had a chance to experience both within a 2 1/2 month time span. And rather than beat around the bush, just I'm going to come out and say it, I had a miscarriage, one of life's ultimate examples of love and loss.
Like the thousands, maybe millions of women who have gone through a miscarriage, I feel weird just "putting it out there". And while some may disagree and feel that a miscarriage is a private matter (and I agree to a certain point) I also feel like women (and the men and partners in their lives) still suffer in silence.
I had my miscarriage Oct 15, 2011, it was our first pregnancy and it has changed my life forever in both good and sad ways. I can't explain why, but I knew from the minute I realized I was having a miscarriage that I wanted to write about it. I remember lying in my bed when "everything" started (and if you have had a miscarriage you know what I mean by everything), and wondered "what to do next". And I know this sounds crazy, I'll totally admit it and I don't usually hear "voices", but this little voice in my head said, "you could write about it". And then for the next month everything was blur and as I pulled myself together about mid November I started thinking about all the women I had shared my miscarriage news with and about the stories they shared with me. And I remember thinking, "holy crap, if all of these women I know so well have gone through this and I had no idea, I wonder how many more women are suffering, handling or recovering from a miscarriage".
I know it's not the type of news you post on facebook or share with the cashier at the local Stop and Shop, but I had friends, yoga teachers, cousins, other family members and neighbors who all came crawling out of the wood work eager to share their stories about their miscarriages. But as it was happening to me I felt like the only woman in the world to have gone through this (ok, so sometimes I'm a little self involved, but who isn't).
I remember thinking as women, as a society what if we talked more about this. I mean I had fantastic midwives, who were so caring and loving and let me cry and ask questions and sit there like someone had just hit me over the head with a giant brick (which by the way is exactly how it felt to me), but no one ever told me what my body might do during a miscarriage, what to expect and that it could happen to me! I'm someone who eats well, exercises and is generally a healthy person. And yes, I know anything can happen to anyone, I get it and of course, if I had sat down with my midwife for my first prenatal visit and she told me all about miscarriages, I'd probably want to hit her over the head with the speculum. But, I wish there was a way to find a happy medium so that if a miscarriage happens you know what your body may be doing and you also know you are not a failure and did not do anything wrong (it takes a while for that to sink in even though everyone tells you a thousand times).
We have groups for pregnant moms, breast feeding, parenting, they even have classes for how to integrate your dog and your new baby (I'm not kidding and yes I was going to sign up for it because our dog is our "first baby", yup, I'm "one of those" and I don't care). Anyway, no one offered me flyer for a class about handling a miscarriage. Maybe some people don't need it or don't think they need it, but I'm going to disagree. After a while all I wanted to do was talk about it and after the miscarriage when people asked me about having kids or if we were thinking of becoming pregnant and I told them that we had miscarried they all got this look on their face like I had asked for their first born. I know it was sympathy, but they would begin to squirm and tell me "it was probably for the best, the baby wasn't developing right". Just a word of advice, if you ever come across someone who drops the miscarriage news on you don't say that, that line never gave me comfort, it made me feel like my genetics were bad and my baby wasn't strong enough. Just say you're sorry for their loss and they have a little angle now.
And I have an awesome angel story that happened right after the miscarriage and I'll share it in a future blog.
I bet there are a lot of women out there with crazy things that people said to them after their miscarriage and the thing I figured out (after the cloud of anger lifted, which really didn't have anything to do with them, I just needed someone to be mad a for a while) is miscarriage is a foreign thing to people. You can't blame them, especially if they have never gone through one. Think about it, try to wrap your head around grieving for someone you never knew, but they existed..... It's weird, so while it's ok to be frustrated with the weird things people may say, cut them some slack they just don't know what to do.
I do have two funny stories about getting mad at people (unfortunately for my husband he's one of the two people).
A week after the miscarriage I went back to work at the dental office I work at part time. The first week back FOUR, yes four patients asked me if I was planning on having kids. I couldn't believe it, I think God was testing me to see how long it took before I cracked. Anyway, this one particular woman, asked me about kids, she already knew that I work part time as a dental hygienist and part time as a holistic nutritionist. When I politely told her we would have kids "in good time". She said, "well, you're to career oriented to have kids anyway". I had my back to her because I was washing my hands and I stood there thinking, "I have two choices, I can fill my hands with water, throw it at her and scream that I had miscarried a week ago and probably loose my job. Or, I could politely turn and force a smile. I choose the latter, only because we have a mortgage to pay.
The second story occurred a few days after the miscarriage, I was in the kitchen cooking (cooking is theraputic for me) and had my ipod blaring Miley Sirus "Party in the USA". Yes, I'm going to admit that after the miscarriage I downloaded all the Miley Cyrus, Nelly, Flo Rida and Justin Bieber I could. I'm not sure why, but hip hop and rap music are only types of music I can work out to (and apparently cook to). Bob, my husband, came in to ask me something and I answered in a snotty tone and he said, in a joking way "whatever, just go back to your Miley Cyrus". Well, that's all it took, I was in full on tears, with a knife in my hand, yelling that I couldn't believe he would make fun of me at a time like this (keep in mind the week after a miscarriage your hormones are going NUTS)!
No, I did not attempt to attack him and yes, I laugh about it now.
That was also the night I decided I needed a therapist to talk to about my miscarriage.
Like the thousands, maybe millions of women who have gone through a miscarriage, I feel weird just "putting it out there". And while some may disagree and feel that a miscarriage is a private matter (and I agree to a certain point) I also feel like women (and the men and partners in their lives) still suffer in silence.
I had my miscarriage Oct 15, 2011, it was our first pregnancy and it has changed my life forever in both good and sad ways. I can't explain why, but I knew from the minute I realized I was having a miscarriage that I wanted to write about it. I remember lying in my bed when "everything" started (and if you have had a miscarriage you know what I mean by everything), and wondered "what to do next". And I know this sounds crazy, I'll totally admit it and I don't usually hear "voices", but this little voice in my head said, "you could write about it". And then for the next month everything was blur and as I pulled myself together about mid November I started thinking about all the women I had shared my miscarriage news with and about the stories they shared with me. And I remember thinking, "holy crap, if all of these women I know so well have gone through this and I had no idea, I wonder how many more women are suffering, handling or recovering from a miscarriage".
I know it's not the type of news you post on facebook or share with the cashier at the local Stop and Shop, but I had friends, yoga teachers, cousins, other family members and neighbors who all came crawling out of the wood work eager to share their stories about their miscarriages. But as it was happening to me I felt like the only woman in the world to have gone through this (ok, so sometimes I'm a little self involved, but who isn't).
I remember thinking as women, as a society what if we talked more about this. I mean I had fantastic midwives, who were so caring and loving and let me cry and ask questions and sit there like someone had just hit me over the head with a giant brick (which by the way is exactly how it felt to me), but no one ever told me what my body might do during a miscarriage, what to expect and that it could happen to me! I'm someone who eats well, exercises and is generally a healthy person. And yes, I know anything can happen to anyone, I get it and of course, if I had sat down with my midwife for my first prenatal visit and she told me all about miscarriages, I'd probably want to hit her over the head with the speculum. But, I wish there was a way to find a happy medium so that if a miscarriage happens you know what your body may be doing and you also know you are not a failure and did not do anything wrong (it takes a while for that to sink in even though everyone tells you a thousand times).
We have groups for pregnant moms, breast feeding, parenting, they even have classes for how to integrate your dog and your new baby (I'm not kidding and yes I was going to sign up for it because our dog is our "first baby", yup, I'm "one of those" and I don't care). Anyway, no one offered me flyer for a class about handling a miscarriage. Maybe some people don't need it or don't think they need it, but I'm going to disagree. After a while all I wanted to do was talk about it and after the miscarriage when people asked me about having kids or if we were thinking of becoming pregnant and I told them that we had miscarried they all got this look on their face like I had asked for their first born. I know it was sympathy, but they would begin to squirm and tell me "it was probably for the best, the baby wasn't developing right". Just a word of advice, if you ever come across someone who drops the miscarriage news on you don't say that, that line never gave me comfort, it made me feel like my genetics were bad and my baby wasn't strong enough. Just say you're sorry for their loss and they have a little angle now.
And I have an awesome angel story that happened right after the miscarriage and I'll share it in a future blog.
I bet there are a lot of women out there with crazy things that people said to them after their miscarriage and the thing I figured out (after the cloud of anger lifted, which really didn't have anything to do with them, I just needed someone to be mad a for a while) is miscarriage is a foreign thing to people. You can't blame them, especially if they have never gone through one. Think about it, try to wrap your head around grieving for someone you never knew, but they existed..... It's weird, so while it's ok to be frustrated with the weird things people may say, cut them some slack they just don't know what to do.
I do have two funny stories about getting mad at people (unfortunately for my husband he's one of the two people).
A week after the miscarriage I went back to work at the dental office I work at part time. The first week back FOUR, yes four patients asked me if I was planning on having kids. I couldn't believe it, I think God was testing me to see how long it took before I cracked. Anyway, this one particular woman, asked me about kids, she already knew that I work part time as a dental hygienist and part time as a holistic nutritionist. When I politely told her we would have kids "in good time". She said, "well, you're to career oriented to have kids anyway". I had my back to her because I was washing my hands and I stood there thinking, "I have two choices, I can fill my hands with water, throw it at her and scream that I had miscarried a week ago and probably loose my job. Or, I could politely turn and force a smile. I choose the latter, only because we have a mortgage to pay.
The second story occurred a few days after the miscarriage, I was in the kitchen cooking (cooking is theraputic for me) and had my ipod blaring Miley Sirus "Party in the USA". Yes, I'm going to admit that after the miscarriage I downloaded all the Miley Cyrus, Nelly, Flo Rida and Justin Bieber I could. I'm not sure why, but hip hop and rap music are only types of music I can work out to (and apparently cook to). Bob, my husband, came in to ask me something and I answered in a snotty tone and he said, in a joking way "whatever, just go back to your Miley Cyrus". Well, that's all it took, I was in full on tears, with a knife in my hand, yelling that I couldn't believe he would make fun of me at a time like this (keep in mind the week after a miscarriage your hormones are going NUTS)!
No, I did not attempt to attack him and yes, I laugh about it now.
That was also the night I decided I needed a therapist to talk to about my miscarriage.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Post Holiday Food Cravings: What do snow and sugar have in common?
What do snow and sugar have in common?
Ok, so besides both being white, they can both have serious effects on our emotional and physical well being! If you live in the Northeast you are very familiar with the cold, gray, snowy winter months and what I've found with myself and what I've heard from my clients is after being cooped up in the house for a while cravings for warm and sunny weather are equally as strong as cravings for sugar. In my opinion this can happen for a few reasons, first, starting in October we are bombarded with sugary options, usually due to the celebration of Halloween (I'm not a "Halloween hater", I'm just saying it usually starts a chain of unhealthy food events). And then we usually ride the sugar train until we coast into January, in a partial sugar coma and start to think about how the heck we are going to dig ourselves out of this hole before spring...... Or, second, as humans we want and need sunshine, it lightens our moods and helps us produce Vitamin D, which has been shown to have a positive effect on our moods. When it snows or rains for say, a week straight, like it has this month, things just tend to feel off. We begin to fee gray, like the sky and a lot of us turn to food, mainly sugar, to give us that "feel good" feeling.
Here's how sugar provides us with "happy vibes", when sugar is consumed it sets off a chemical reaction in the brain and we want more and more sugar so we can get that "sugar high". You know what I mean that surge of energy bliss that occurs about 15-20 minutes after you overindulge in your sweet treat of choice. And inevitably what follows is the crash...about a few hours later, you get physical feelings from the sugar leaving your blood stream. These feelings can range from a sight headache, to crankiness, to full on exhaustion!
And that's just what we can physically feel, let me give you a quick at what's going on in the cells of your body. When we eat we chew, swallow, the foods travels down our esophagus (or throat), into the stomach and the small intestine where it is absorbed into our blood stream as BLOOD SUGAR and travels into our cells. Your body then sends out the hormone called insulin ( insulin is secreted by the pancreas) that carries the blood sugar through our bodies and allows it to enter our cells.
Here’s an example of how this works:
Take Christmas dinner, about 1/2-1 hr after you eat all that blood sugar from the food you ate is coursing through your body. And this “rush” is seen almost as an emergency by your body it says: “Whoa, where did this all come from. I NEED to use this and put it where it needs to go because I CANNOT have my blood sugar levels this high!!!! And this process happens pretty quickly in a healthy body (if your body is compromised by diabetes then that's a whole different story to be covered a in another blog). The sugar is whisked out of the blood stream to be stored in the liver, muscles or fat cells. Blood sugar levels then drop, either back to "normal" or possibly to low.......
What do you think your body would crave at this point? SUGAR!
Why would it crave SUGAR? Because at that point to YOUR BODY sugar IS NOT THE PROBLEM, it’s the SOLUTION to your low blood sugar!
Your body says: “My blood sugar is to low, need to bring it up FAST!”
But the problem is when we give in and eat something sugary that bring the blood sugar back up too QUICKLY, you’re right back where you started! Your blood sugar shoots back up and you’re on a roller coaster all DAY! And this "roller coaster" is occurring on an emotional and physical level.
Ok, so now what can you do to balance this?
You can start by adding more sweet winter vegetables to your diet. Things like butternut or buttercup squash, onions, beets, carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes to name a few. Also, try heading outside for a walk, even when it's cold. It changes your perspective and you may even see a thing or two that helps you appreciate the winter landscape. My husband, dog and I went snowshoeing this past weekend and I was amazed at how beautiful the snow covered trees were, why hadn't I noticed them before?.....
And finally, try increasing the amount of water you drink a day. We often forget to drink water in the winter because we are colde and not outside "sweating it out" in the summer heat. But lack of water in the winter can contribute to dry skin, a decreased immune sytem and dare I say it, constipaiton! Who wants that, not me. So the next time you reach for the juice or soda bottle, just drink a glass of water first, you can always have a "refill" of the other stuff.
For more information on healhty eating and for great winter recipes check out my website:
www.hastingshealthyliving.com
Ok, so besides both being white, they can both have serious effects on our emotional and physical well being! If you live in the Northeast you are very familiar with the cold, gray, snowy winter months and what I've found with myself and what I've heard from my clients is after being cooped up in the house for a while cravings for warm and sunny weather are equally as strong as cravings for sugar. In my opinion this can happen for a few reasons, first, starting in October we are bombarded with sugary options, usually due to the celebration of Halloween (I'm not a "Halloween hater", I'm just saying it usually starts a chain of unhealthy food events). And then we usually ride the sugar train until we coast into January, in a partial sugar coma and start to think about how the heck we are going to dig ourselves out of this hole before spring...... Or, second, as humans we want and need sunshine, it lightens our moods and helps us produce Vitamin D, which has been shown to have a positive effect on our moods. When it snows or rains for say, a week straight, like it has this month, things just tend to feel off. We begin to fee gray, like the sky and a lot of us turn to food, mainly sugar, to give us that "feel good" feeling.
Here's how sugar provides us with "happy vibes", when sugar is consumed it sets off a chemical reaction in the brain and we want more and more sugar so we can get that "sugar high". You know what I mean that surge of energy bliss that occurs about 15-20 minutes after you overindulge in your sweet treat of choice. And inevitably what follows is the crash...about a few hours later, you get physical feelings from the sugar leaving your blood stream. These feelings can range from a sight headache, to crankiness, to full on exhaustion!
And that's just what we can physically feel, let me give you a quick at what's going on in the cells of your body. When we eat we chew, swallow, the foods travels down our esophagus (or throat), into the stomach and the small intestine where it is absorbed into our blood stream as BLOOD SUGAR and travels into our cells. Your body then sends out the hormone called insulin ( insulin is secreted by the pancreas) that carries the blood sugar through our bodies and allows it to enter our cells.
Here’s an example of how this works:
Take Christmas dinner, about 1/2-1 hr after you eat all that blood sugar from the food you ate is coursing through your body. And this “rush” is seen almost as an emergency by your body it says: “Whoa, where did this all come from. I NEED to use this and put it where it needs to go because I CANNOT have my blood sugar levels this high!!!! And this process happens pretty quickly in a healthy body (if your body is compromised by diabetes then that's a whole different story to be covered a in another blog). The sugar is whisked out of the blood stream to be stored in the liver, muscles or fat cells. Blood sugar levels then drop, either back to "normal" or possibly to low.......
What do you think your body would crave at this point? SUGAR!
Why would it crave SUGAR? Because at that point to YOUR BODY sugar IS NOT THE PROBLEM, it’s the SOLUTION to your low blood sugar!
Your body says: “My blood sugar is to low, need to bring it up FAST!”
But the problem is when we give in and eat something sugary that bring the blood sugar back up too QUICKLY, you’re right back where you started! Your blood sugar shoots back up and you’re on a roller coaster all DAY! And this "roller coaster" is occurring on an emotional and physical level.
Ok, so now what can you do to balance this?
You can start by adding more sweet winter vegetables to your diet. Things like butternut or buttercup squash, onions, beets, carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes to name a few. Also, try heading outside for a walk, even when it's cold. It changes your perspective and you may even see a thing or two that helps you appreciate the winter landscape. My husband, dog and I went snowshoeing this past weekend and I was amazed at how beautiful the snow covered trees were, why hadn't I noticed them before?.....
And finally, try increasing the amount of water you drink a day. We often forget to drink water in the winter because we are colde and not outside "sweating it out" in the summer heat. But lack of water in the winter can contribute to dry skin, a decreased immune sytem and dare I say it, constipaiton! Who wants that, not me. So the next time you reach for the juice or soda bottle, just drink a glass of water first, you can always have a "refill" of the other stuff.
For more information on healhty eating and for great winter recipes check out my website:
www.hastingshealthyliving.com
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