Female Friendships: Part I

Friendships are an important aspect of a happy, healthy life.

As part of our work with clients, we address social support systems – not just to figure out potential obstacles with newly developed healthy eating patterns (i.e. how to now navigate book club, happy hour, pizza night) but to also check in and see how to supported our client feels in life and how to improve it further. Studies show that, particularly for women, social support is a determinant for health.

In addition, the concept of ‘soul-food’ comes into play. Sure there’s nutrition that helps build our bones, cells, muscles, but there’s also invisible energy that also ‘feeds’ us on a deeper level. Think back to your childhood or adolescence when you went outside to play with friends for hours or were thoroughly engaged with a project of your choosing. Your parent might have called you in for dinner but you were so involved in the game or in a state of ‘flow’ with your individual enterprise that you responded with “I’m not hungry!”

While we know that social media is not a substitute for creating deeper friendships, it’s often easier to scroll through our feed, “like,” and move on with our day. We create a self-deceptive illusion of not being isolated; instead, we believe we are ‘connected’ with our community and x-number of friends (followers).

The common challenge for many clients is that, particularly for those in their 30s-50s, the busyness of work and family life, moving away or having friends relocate, changing jobs, and the changing seasons of our lives can loosen the bonds of friendship and social support. It may be years before one even realizes the effect these gradual changes have had on their previously-strong support system.

Burgers & Frittatas: Five Star Foodies

A couple of months ago, as you may remember, we spoke about vegan grilling options. To our delight, the quest for finding a darn-near-perfect veggie burger was achieved when we found Five Star Foodies in the Kroger frozen food section.

In the past decade or so, food companies have been stepping up their game when it comes to their veggie burgers. No longer is the only option a frozen gray disc made of soy protein, gluten, and questionable flavorings.

We’ve been to local restaurants with great veggie burger options and made recipes from scratch; however, if you just want to run into your grocery store and secure yourself a delicious, easy dinner, this might be for you.

Why you might like the Five Star Foodie products:

You’re vegan or plant-based and want a delicious burger

A great variety of artichoke burgers beyond the original recipe include French Herb, Indian Tandoori, Thai Coconut, and Italian Herb. We recommend doubling the deliciousness by topping with one or more of these options: guacamole, mustard, crunchy lettuce, fresh parsley or cilantro, and salsa.

You’d like to secure your 3 burgers for less than $6

Beyond burgers, they have vegan frittatas that are soy & nut free, gluten-free, 70% organic and non-GMO. Our personal favorite is the Potato Parsley one and we recommend adding some salsa or hot sauce on top.

You have friends or family members who are vegan or gluten-free

You like an ingredients list that is pronounceable and easily identifiable as food items

Why you may NOT like these products:

You still believe that the word ‘vegan’ means tasteless or ‘only for vegans’

You’re a vampire.

Your name is Gaston; you’ve eaten between 4 and 5 dozen eggs a day for years now and stubbornly refuse to switch things up and try a vegan frittata.

We’re stretching our creativity here :D. There’s only one thing to do, try a food item and see if you like it!

Want to learn more? Check out Five Star Foodies products and more.

*This post was not sponsored (but we’d certainly not mind if it were *nom nom nom*).

Tips: Healthy Holiday Indulgence

1. It’s easy to be overwhelmed when you set your eyes upon a prepared feast. Take a deep breath and ask yourself how much food you’ll need to feel satisfied. Your surroundings, mood, stress  and hunger levels will influence your answer. Be mindful.

2. Restricting one’s self takes a lot of willpower and brainpower, which can pull focus away from enjoying a meal together and spending time with loved ones. Take time for conversation, slow down, relax, savor your food, and listen to your body’s response.

3. The holidays are marketed as ‘special’ and ‘limited time only’, which makes it so we often believe this is our only chance to eat certain foods. This causes thoughts of scarcity and deprivation, which can easily lead to over-indulging, just to ‘get it while it lasts’!  Remember, you can have these special foods again – ask for the recipe, go back for a second helping, have leftovers. This helps with staying mindful while enjoying our food and the holiday celebration.

4. Identify a few things that really make the holidays for you. For some it’s visiting  the zoo lights and hot chocolate, reading by the fire, or time with friends over a pastry and coffee. For us, the holidays come alive while baking cookies with family.  Since this isn’t something we do during the rest of the year, it’s nostalgic and has a wonderful feeling of holiday celebration. Find the special treats that are an integral part of your holiday celebrations and take the time to mindfully savor them.

5. Hosting for the holidays? It’s easy to forget to eat while cleaning the house, bathing the dog, and running errands; however, skipping meals during the day can lead to intensified food cravings and overeating at night. Remember to check in with your body often to assess hunger level and have healthy snacks or meals on hand.

Call to the Nation: Take your Vacation!

Of all industrialized nations, America has the least number of vacation days. A far cry from the 30+ days offered as annual leave and paid holidays by other countries such as Germany, Austria, Spain, and Italy, some Americans are lucky to get (and use) the roughly two weeks given as a ‘benefit’. However, quite a few of us are not even taking this small amount of time off, in the true sense of the word. To ask for a week or *gasp* two off requires advance notice of a few months, large efforts to secure work while away (though about a third of us do work during vacations), and tends to bring a decent amount of anxiety as we worry about being perceived as disloyal or lazy.

Often vacation time is now mostly utilized as personal days, taken here or there, to run errands and ‘catch up’ with life’s demands or to take a mental break from the severe stress of over-work. Do you know anyone who works 40 hours a week? Rarely do we at One Bite Wellness encounter a person who works 40 hours or less at a job; most people answer their work ranges from 45- 60 hours per week. Because of this over-working, we have higher levels of stress and depression and less recreational time with friends and family, much less time to cook and exercise.

Americans may be economically more advantaged than other countries in the world, but we seem to have lost our health and longevity. We have some of the poorest health rankings and spend more money per capita on healthcare than almost any other country. In 1980, we ranked 11th in the world for longevity; now we’ve fallen to 42nd, according to the Central Intelligence Agency.

How did we get here? Well the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 regulates the maximum number of working hours, over-time, child labor, and minimum wage but never mentioned paid time off. There was never a baseline set for vacation or sick time and now it’s up to the employee and employer to negotiate. Many companies will give workers about 1-2 weeks off per year, but they can also stipulate that you cannot use more than a certain amount of days in a row. About a quarter of Americans don’t get any vacation time at all.

Benefits of a Break

• Studies suggest that those who take vacations are less likely to suffer from heart disease and other illnesses.
• Taking a vacation from work is associated with better health, relationships and social life, productivity and creativity, and general well-being.
• Replenishment and life-enriching experiences, preventing ‘burn-out’
• Stronger social and familial bonds
• Improved patience and tolerance, less anxiety and depression

These benefits really take place over a block of vacation time, not a day taken here or there.

Focusing on this issue of vacation time forces us to examine our values, as individuals and as a country. What do we value? Economic progress over all else? What about our health and our families? Our mental well-being? We work hard and long for progress and production, but if we want to improve our quality of life and well-being, we have to fully realize that vacations matter greatly.

Do it for your sanity and your health. Be ‘time rich’. Take a vacation– holistic nutritionist’s orders. 🙂

The 2015 Dietary Guidelines: What Will They Mean for You?

photo source: http://www.foodinsight.org

For those interested in a whole foods, plant-based diet, the report from the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is a a near ‘win’. The group acknowledges that half of American adults have one or more preventable diseases – including cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes – due to poor diet and sedentary behaviors.

The committee, consisting of scientists and experts in the field of nutrition and health, is advocating drinking less soda and more water, eating less meat – particularly processed meat, less saturated fats (which naturally happens when focuses on eating more plant-based foods), less refined grains, added sugars, and sodium. At the same time, they are rallying around a health-promoting diet higher in plant-based foods including vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fruits, nuts and seeds.

There are some new, rather surprising bits about ‘de-regulating’ cholesterol, addressing aspects of sustainability and food choices, and the influence of family and community in improving dietary and activity patterns. The committee is focusing on getting the proper foods into the diet, acknowledging that “a healthy dietary pattern has little room for sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars. ”

Let us hope that this scientific report will be preserved as it goes through the political process- which includes consideration on the part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and The United States Department of Agriculture, lobbying on the part of food companies, meat & dairy industries, and other interests- in order to make the 8th edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans the best, unbiased information being disseminated since its inception 35 years ago.

Regardless of what will end up being on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, the ‘common sense’ remains the same – eat wholesome, real food & more plants!