This is a re-print from November, 2009. I know the holidays are stressful for so many of us – particularly because of all the food. It is OK to indulge, but be sure you enjoy the foods you choose to eat – pay attention to how they taste, smell, look, and feel in your mouth. If you only get them once a year, take time to really enjoy them.

Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks. Thanks for all that we have – friends, family, health. Even thanks for the challenges we have faced since those challenges often make us appreciate what we have even more. We also give thanks for the food that we prepare, serve, and eat on Thanksgiving day.

However, it is easy to get lost in the food on Thanksgiving and forget about giving thanks – real thanks – for it. Most of us will have more food on the table than can be eaten on Thanksgiving day and in the days after. Most of us focus on how much we can fit on our plates and in our stomachs rather than on the blessing of having the food available to us.

For those of us working on losing or maintaining our weight over the holidays, Thanksgiving can present a HUGE challenge. So much of the Thanksgiving holiday is wrapped up around food. So, what are you do to?

Give yourself permission to indulge. Thanksgiving comes once a year. What you eat on one day should not sabotage your efforts for the weeks and days before and after Thanksgiving. I would rather have a client give themselves permission to indulge and enjoy the food, the company, and the day rather than constantly worrying about how many calories is in the pumpkin and marshmallow casserole. My only rule for giving yourself permission to indulge is that you indulge fully – by engaging all of your senses. Choose only foods you really, really want to eat. If you are not sure, take a bite or two and return for more if you like it and are still hungry later. Pay attention to how the food looks and smells. What sounds are going on around you? And, how does the food feel and taste in your mouth? Eat slowly and enjoy each bite; there is plenty of food. You do not have to rush to get more. Give thanks for each bite by enjoying it fully. Pay attention to how full you are as you eat. Every few bites stop and ask yourself “am I still hungry or am I satisfied?” If you are satisfied, stop. There will be plenty of leftovers to snack on later. Thank each person who prepared any part of the meal. And, do not feel guilty about what you chose to eat.

The day after Thanksgiving, start following your eating plan again. If there are leftovers, fit them into your daily eating plan – if you want to eat them. The key is to get back on track as soon as possible to reach your goal.

I’m sending this tip out a bit before Thanksgiving to give you some time to think about it and prepare yourself mentally for the day. You can start rehearsing in your mind – visualizing – how you will fill your plate, how you will sit and enjoy each bite now. That way, it will be easier – almost automatic – to do when the day arrives.

And remember, give thanks not just on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year.

Notes:

I didn’t mean to scare anyone last week. I was diagnosed with hypothyroid which can be managed with medications. Just remember, if you think something is wrong, get checked out.

Last week I talked about taking care of your GI system. Taking care of your GI system helps your body function optimally. We also need to take care of ourselves – mentally, physically, and spiritually. We are getting into the time of year when we get so busy it is easy to forget to take time for ourselves. The saying “you have to take care of yourself to take care of others is true.” That includes this time of year when we are so incredibly busy. It also should be true all year long. Schedule some time in your calendar to workout, read, have coffee with a friend, or whatever “self-care” activity you find good for you. Engaging in self-care activities have been associated with increases in self-esteem and reductions in depression.

Self-care includes being in tune with and taking care of your body – which includes checking things out when you don’t feel right. I had a check-up earlier in the year including blood tests. The test results came back, and the nurse called to go over them with me. I asked about a particular test level which looked a little off and she said, “The doctor says it is OK.” I’ve learned to be skeptical and not take something a doctor tells me at face value if: 1) it doesn’t make sense, or 2) my body is telling me otherwise. (Those “normal” ranges on your lab reports are “best guesses” and actually vary from lab to lab. I get suspicious when values are on the low are high ends of “normal.”) I made an appointment with a specialist to get checked further because it didn’t t feel right to me. I saw him yesterday and he said, “Based on those lab results, yes, there is something wrong.” As we started discussing what was going on, a lot of what my body had been telling me started making sense. YEA! I’m now on the path to getting my body taken care of and fixed.

The moral of the story (and yes, I know you’ve heard it before): If you think something is off, get it checked out. Find a good doctor or doctors and advocate for yourself and your body. We each need to take care of our bodies – we only get one.

My hope for you this week: if you’ve been putting off going to the doctor, make that appointment. If you haven’t done something for yourself recently, make it happen in the next week.

Have a fabulous week!

1) Do you want to nail your race day nutrition? I’m now offering race day nutrition planning. Email me at penny@eatingforperformance.com to find out more.

2) Based on the responses to the Ironman nutrition distance coaching survey, I’m working on a monthly nutrition coaching package for those competing in Ironman Texas in May, 011.  I’ll keep everyone posted about when it will be available and what it includes.

You have probably seen the ads on TV that talk about the good bacteria in your gastrointestinal system (GI system). They are selling products that help reduce gas, bloating, constipation, etc. You’ve probably asked if these products work and why you may need them in the first place.

Your GI system is your small and large intestine. If your GI system isn’t happy, you are probably not happy. Which means that it is important to take care of your GI system and the bacteria that live there. A lot of things can upset your GI system and the bacteria including stress and antibiotics. Have you ever noticed when you take antibiotics that your GI system is not happy? One reason for that is that the antibiotics kill the bacteria in your GI system. When you finish the antibiotics, I recommend getting some probiotics to help re-populate your gut with the bacteria that our bodies need. Probiotics are foods or pills that contain the bacteria that will re-populate your GI system. You can eat the yogurt, drink the little Scandinavian drink, or get them through a pill. If you are lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy, the pills may be the best option for you. I prefer the ones that are kept refrigerated to keep the little guys alive.

If you have ongoing GI issues, you might try adding a probiotic daily to see if it helps. I have had several clients who have had issues that have been resolved by adding a probiotic. They are also good to have when traveling or during stressful times.

If you want more information on probiotic products, ConsumerLab tests supplements to be sure they have what they say they do and are not contaminated. You can buy a single report or an subscription. They have a great report on probiotics.

The idea for the day – take care of your GI system and it will take care of you!

Have a great day!

1) Do you want to nail your race day nutrition? I’m now offering race day nutrition planning. Email me at penny@eatingforperformance.com to find out more.

2) Based on the responses to the Ironman nutrition distance coaching survey, I’m working on a monthly nutrition coaching package for those competing in Ironman Texas in May, 011.  I’ll keep everyone posted about when it will be available and what it includes.

Several of my RD and foodie friends have been talking about the “Meatless Monday” movement.  This is a movement started by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to promote a reduction in meat consumption to improve public health and the health of the planet.   Reducing meat consumption can help lower your risk for several diseases including some cancers, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.  It also helps the planet by reducing the need to produce, process, and transport meat to stores.

What’s involved in “meatless Mondays”?  Simple, not eating meat on Monday.  The John Hopkins group has established a website where you can find recipes to help you go meatless on Monday.  You can also sign a pledge and sign up to receive weekly newsletters to help you have a meatless Monday.

I’ve signed the pledge and am looking at recipes for Monday.  I should also add it to my calendar to remind me until it becomes a habit.

Here’s to going meatless on Mondays!

In one of my graduate school classes – Individual Determinants of Obesity – we were talking about the prevalence of obesity and the food environment. The discussion came around to the question of “do food companies want people to be fat?” Well, lets think about this. . .

Food companies make, obviously, food! They make their food tasty. They make their food pretty to look at. They make food that smells good. They make food cheap and easy to eat. Yes, I’m thinking about processed foods – but those are the ones that tend to put on weight. Think the candy bars at the checkout, cake mixes, snack mixes, ice cream, mac and cheese and those sorts of foods. And, don’t forget all those fast foods and restaurants out there. Do they want you fat?

Honestly, I don’t think they want you, or me, or anyone else fat. But what they do want is for you to eat more of their food. The more of their food you eat, the more money they make. They entice you to eat more through commercials (food = love and acceptance, food = a treat or something you deserve), packaging, and product placements in movies and TV shows to name a few.

Restaurants get you to eat more by hiding calories in the food to make it taste good. Honestly, I don’t want to know how much butter they use. OK – I KNOW they use a lot of butter. I had the chance to work in a kitchen for a few months and discovered the secret of tasty food – BUTTER! The cooks had pitchers (yes, those iced tea pitchers) full of butter that went in and on everything. Next time you get a sandwich or hamburger, look at the bun. I’ll bet you it has butter on it. And, restaurants are good with add-ons. “Yeah, I’d like that dessert.” Sound familiar? It does to me, too.

It doesn’t take a lot of thought to see that if you eat more than your body needs – whether you know it or not -you’ll gain weight. Our bodies are not good at calculating calories as we eat. So, what can you do? Be an informed eater. Print out the nutrition information from all the restaurants that have them (I keep copies in my car for quick reference). Look at the book Eat This Not That or Dining Lean. Or, try Dr. Jo’s Eat Out and Lose Weight Diet Plan which is a deck of cards to keep with you to help make healthy choices.

Food companies can try to entice you to eat more, but you don’t have to. Remember – you are in control of what you eat. So, food companies may inadvertently want you fat – but you don’t have to be.

Recently, I had the opportunity to volunteer at a summer camp for children with diabetes. It was Camp Rainbow sponsored by the American Diabetes Association. This is a day camp for children from 4 to 13 who have either Type I or Type II diabetes and their siblings. I never realized (or honestly even thought about) the challenges children with diabetes face when doing what I’d consider every day things.

You may be asking “why a special camp for those children with diabetes?” Or, “isn’t camp like school, don’t they just need a nurse?” Good questions.

The main difference between camp and school is the amount of physical activity. At camp, the kids are outside almost all day running, swimming, riding horses, playing games, etc. These kinds of activities can cause a person’s (adult or child) blood sugar to fall dramatically. And, each person’s body is different. So, one child’s blood sugar may fall immediately after climbing the rock wall while it takes 30 minutes or so for another’s to fall. At this special camp, the children are broken into six groups based on age. For groups with diabetics, there is also a group of medical staff who are there to monitor the kids’ blood sugar throughout the day. The medical staff stays with the group all week and each med staff is assigned specific children so he/she can get to know each child. Additionally, snacks are provided and lunches (packed from home usually) are monitored to be sure they are eaten – another reason blood sugar may be off. May of the kids had insulin pumps (basically a constant infusion of insulin vs. having to take injections) while others had to do injections. I was amazed at how many of these kids took managing their diabetes in stride. It would come time to check blood sugars and they’d hold out the hand they weren’t using, let the med staff wipe it with an alcohol swab, and take the droplet of blood to check their blood sugar levels – all without stopping working on their craft. If their blood sugar is too low, they get glucose tablet(s). Too high, their pump gets adjusted or they get an injection. The camp also has an infirmary in case a child needed more than the med staff with the group could provide. All in all, a very safe place for a child with diabetes.

I had the opportunity to work in the Art Room. We saw five of the six groups each day and helped them complete crafts from tie-dying t-shirts to making super hero masks. We were the only inside activity (other than lunch for some of the groups). However, inside wasn’t air conditioned so there were times it was cooler outside than in our Art Room. Friday, the “Art Room Ladies” were sitting at our long table waiting for our first group to show up when a mother stopped by and thanked us for volunteering for camp. She said that if it weren’t for Camp Rainbow, her daughter wouldn’t be able to go to camp. She would return to school and not have anything to talk about while all the other kids talked about what they did at camp. That was one of those crystallizing moments for me that made me glad I had volunteered and thankful for my “normal” life.

Make time and volunteer with an organization that is special to you – or pick one at random and see what catches your interest. Just a couple of hours a month can make a difference to others – and to you. If you’re not sure where to start, check out Volunteer Match to see some opportunities in your area.

Enjoy!