The 7-day Breakfast Experiment

At the Body Mindfulness presentation we gave at VegFest this past weekend, we spoke about how to bring awareness to both our lifestyle choices and to our plates. By listening to the messages the body is sending us, we can identify issues (and solutions!) related to digestive, blood sugar, and stress woes. Are you answering the calls your body makes?

Because what we eat first thing in the morning can impact our energy levels, sugar cravings, digestion, and more, we suggest you try a fun Breakfast Experiment. Consider keeping record in a notepad, calendar, or on your computer. This exercise is a powerful tool to bring awareness to your eating patterns. Here’s an example:

Day 1: scrambled eggs
Day 2: fruit smoothie
Day 3: oatmeal
Day 4: boxed breakfast cereal
Day 5: coffee and bagel
Day 6: whole wheat pancakes
Day 7: avocado toast (toast with mashed avocado on top)

Feel free to change this experiment to fit your diet with vegan, gluten-free, or other appropriate options. If you’re diabetic or worried about becoming so, consider checking your blood sugar after each of these meals and noticing any differences in daily measurement.

On each day, you’ll want to record the food you ate, how you felt (physically or emotionally, i.e. “felt energized!” or “started getting heartburn”) a few minutes after eating and then again 2-3 hours later (i.e. “had tons of energy and was productive but then dropped, craving coffee” or “felt really full, almost forgot to eat lunch!”)

Your job, as a breakfast experiment scientist, is not to negatively judge yourself or your food choices. Objectively recording the information can assist you in making connections between what you’ve eaten and how you feel – both physically and emotionally.

This exercise may reveal digestive upset or an intolerance to certain foods. A food sensitivity or allergy may impact your level of inflammation and symptoms. Contact your integrative nutritionist to discuss what you discover and to get the support you need to experience a higher level of vitality and wellness!

Ayurvedic Basics & the Seasons

Source: flickr.com/photos/lakpura/

 

Ayurvedic medicine is over 5 thousand years old and is connected to nature and its seasons. This holistic healing system seeks to harmonize body, mind, and soul. Though it can be difficult to conceptualize from a scientific point of view, it is common sense and based on the laws of nature. You don’t need a scientific study to reflect on what may already be intuitively known; you need to eat differently based on the climate in your part of the world (tropical, desert, tundra  or grassland), the current season, your ancestry and genetics, your age, activity level, and food preferences.  All of these aspects influence how you, as an individual, should eat and live.

We at One Bite Wellness use different aspects of healing traditions and bring them in our practice. Beyond calories and carbs there lies a whole new layer of healing modalities. We endeavor, and encourage our clients, to live in harmony with the natural cycles…to take stress out of daily living, and with it the stress-fighting hormones and their toxic residues (i.e. free radicals). We want to know how well your body is getting rid of waste from your system…because what you put in your body is only part of the equation. 

What you eat is important, but so is how and when you eat. So it is important to study the characteristics of the seasons and learn how to incorporate the foods that provide balance.

The doshas – pitta, vata, and kapha- rule seasons, body types, times in our lives and more. Here’s a quick primer:

Summer is the hot and dry season, when pitta rules supreme. It is when we race around, buzzing with energy for our many activities.

Fall/Winter is the vata, or wind, season. It is characterized by cold and dryness. Nature takes time to rest instead of actively growing.

Spring is the kapha season; it is earthy, wet, and cool. It can promote a slower, heavy feeling in the body.

The foods produced during each season are typically the best to eat to help off-set effects of the season. For example, since the fall/winter season is cold and dry, our skin tends to be dry and crack and we feel cold. The foods produced and harvested during this time are warming, nourishing, and lubricating for your skin and joints. Squashes, nuts, and animal foods are typically incorporated into our meals or in soups, casseroles, and chili recipes.

During the summer season, we are hot and the foods produced by the earth are cooling; we tend to eat more raw foods – such as fruits, smoothies, salads, and gazpacho. This helps us deal with the heat of the season.

How does one find balance with each of the seasons?

The main two tools are seasonally-appropriate nutritional programs and lifestyle management. We cover how functioning of the body can go awry and how to create balance. Without a demanding a strict diet for the season, we help the client by creating a personalized nutrition protocol and teaching them how to incorporate delicious foods into their diets. In addition, we look at how to support the body, during the various seasons, with simple and fun lifestyle changes to support their bodies.

Connect with a nutrition expert and learn more about your Ayurvedic body type and how to create personalized balance – mind, body, and spirit.

Quiz: Body Mindfulness

*Telephone rings* You: “hello?”

Your body: “hey, I just wanted to let you know that we’re having some issues dealing with the amount of sugar coming in -it’s definitely more than we need. The pancreas is doing the best she can but I’m sure you’ve noticed some blood sugar and energy swings…

You: “yeah, I did notice and my lab results show being on the higher end of normal, but I’m really not having that much compared to my co-workers….besides, is it so wrong to have ice cream after a stressful day?

Your body: “well if you could…”

You: *hang up* “argh, as if I didn’t have enough going on…”

Your body: *experiences unanswered calls, slowly becomes pre-diabetic and then diabetic*

Often we are so stressed and busy in life that we fail to feed ourselves properly and sleep enough. We can end up driving our bodies into the ground, possibly leading to illness. The dark circles under our eyes, anxiety, poor digestion, and low energy levels are all telling a story, but are we listening?

Take a moment, a breath, and check-in with your body as you see which of the following symptoms apply to you:

1. Excess fat around the abdomen
2. Poor sleep
3. Salt cravings
4. Tendency towards hives, allergies, bronchitis, asthma, and arthritis
5. Digestive issues – bloating, gas, indigestion, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea
6. Poor circulation
7. Dark circles under the eyes
8. Low mood or depression, irritability
9. Sugar cravings
10. Headaches or migraines
11. Energy issues, fatigue
12. Skin conditions – breakouts, rashes

Add up your number of symptoms. The only acceptable answer is “0”; anything more shows there is at least one area of possible improvement. These symptoms are associated with adrenal health, blood sugar handling, stress over-load, digestion, liver function, and food sensitivities.

Does your result fit into the life of vitality and energy abundance you desire? Get clear on the areas of healing; an initial consultation with an integrative nutritionist will help you establish where to begin.

The key to an improved relationship with the body is to be open to the messages it is sending and moving towards healing.

The Cost of Clutter – Death, Peace, and Money

Almost imperceptibly, we slowly accumulate increasing piles of…stuff. Like cholesterol blockages in arteries, clutter doesn’t happen overnight but its effects can be just as deadly. It’s true, people have died from extreme clutter, or hoarding, in their own homes – by fire from which they couldn’t escape or crushed and hidden beneath their stuff. It’s estimated that up to five percent of the U.S. population has a problem with hoarding and a CBS News poll found that 1/3 of Americans say they have too much clutter in their homes.

About 10% of American families rent storage space for belongings which don’t fit in their homes or items they aren’t ready to part with. That money serves your stuff, instead of your life and growth. Then there are some people who will forgo renting space but choose larger homes to contain their clutter.

It’s simple to put a dollar figure on the cost of rented storage spaces, but what about the clutter in your home? The first step is to assess and take stock of your possessions and the space they own in your home. In a single room, take a look and estimate the cost of what you’re not using and what you don’t love. Unworn clothing, make-up purchased years ago, jewelry, knick-knacks, spider-webbed sports equipment, and paper all have a financial cost. If you find that a certain item tugs at your heart or causes an emotional response, that’s an added cost (which can be greater than the financial one!).  Add up the cost of the items – what you remember spending or the item’s price tag. If you’re still paying it off, record that too. A perusal through one’s closet may show hundreds of dollars of unused, cluttering clothing, shoes, and accessories. Are you still paying on the $2000 television purchased 3 years ago? Guess what, even if it breaks (and if the term ‘planned obsolescence‘ means anything to you, it will), you’ll still pay for it AND the new television. Is anything worth the stress of those monthly bills?

Another tactic is to figure out how much each square footage of your home is worth and then discern how much of the space is ‘owned’ by clutter. If you own your home, take the current, roughly estimated value of the home and divide it by the square footage (i.e. $75 per square foot). If you rent, we find it’s easier for clients to add up the total rent for the year and divide by the square footage of the home. Once you have this number, multiply it by the square footage of space stuff is taking up in your garage, bedrooms, living room, and basement. You may find a surprising estimated cost for the clutter in your space. Whether you’re paying a mortgage or a landlord, are you writing that check mainly on behalf of clutter storage?

How about money spent for replacement items? Have you purchased a new pair of sneakers only to find some in your closet from last summer? Clutter costs us money and time when we buy duplicates of stuff we already own but can’t find. 

Part of this equation should be a discussion on safety and health. According to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, most accidents occur in the home. Clutter can pose risks for falls and accidents. Slipping on laundry thrown down the wooden basement stairs? Kids toys? Feeding what could have been a small house fire with paper clutter? Also the growth of allergens like dust and mold can be expensive to treat.

When you are disorganized, you can’t function effectively, much less optimally. Much like a small business, you need to have an organizational structure for your home life. Misplacing checks in piles of paper, late fees, tax penalties, and library fines are all extra dollars out your door. At a very basic level, time spent looking for car keys is time that could have been spent relaxing, working, or socializing.

Clutter also costs us time by demanding our attention. We have to work around it to get groceries in the car, pay our bills, find a useful item, and make a meal. What could normally be accomplished in 15 minutes can take 3x as long! The extra hours of housework are a time and energy drain that could be used for creative endeavors, education, hobbies, or any number of productive projects.

Clutter can also affect your mental health. You know the feeling when you enter a dwelling and the space is bright, clean and welcoming versus one where shoes are strewn all over the dirty floor. One client felt her life was becoming unmanageable and she was dealing with increasing amounts of anxiety and depression. It turns out that she didn’t need pharmaceutical pills, she needed a clean and welcoming sanctuary to call home. We made a few recommendations and she flew with it, hiring an organizer to help her declutter and a housekeeper for occasional, detailed visits. As of this writing, she reports feeling calmer and more emotionally stable.

What about the sheer joy and lightness of being that comes with having space to twirl around your room without running into piles of stuff? A place for you and your family to grow, expand, and learn in a clean and orderly environment? The contented sigh as you look over and see flat surfaces without piles on top?  Living in peace is priceless.

Perhaps the biggest cost is an intangible one: clutter impedes and causes procrastination for personal growth. It’s just one giant, clutter-y obstacle to overcome on living a life you desire.

We can become prisoners and Stuff is our warden. We tie up our money in rarely used sports equipment, shirts that don’t fit quite right, gadgets, and various entertainment. Some people develop Stockholm syndrome with their clutter, relating positive feelings for their stuff and imbuing it with sense of human comfort to counter-act their loneliness. Liberate your stuff, liberate yourself. tweet this

When there is too much stuff around you, it’s like being a plant in a tiny pot. It’s overly challenging to thrive and grow when you are tucked into a bunch of clutter. The answer, of course, isn’t moving to a larger space. The solution is to put your space on a diet. Once you get rid of stuff and get organized, that’s when you begin to expand your wings and take off!

Ready to take charge and get support? Come to our Declutter your Home, Clear your Mind class this Thursday!

The Straight Poop on Stool

Everybody poos. Are we getting awkward yet? Fantastic. Yes, we each have our own bathroom habits and the information your unique #2 supplies can help you, and your healthcare practitioner, explore gut issues and even food sensitivities.

What is poo made of? Though some females claim it’s all glitter and unicorn smiles, nope; it’s the pretty much the same as our male counterparts. Stool is about 75% water with the remainder being a combination of fiber, live and dead bacteria, body cells, and mucus. Yay! (Bowel) Moving on…

Often times, our BMs (bowel movements) have established themselves in a certain way for most of our lives and we’ve never stopped to examine them. Have you ever wondered what is “normal” in terms of consistency and frequency? 

Next time, before you ‘flush and dash’, take a look….what is the shape, texture, and color? Does it float or sink?  Each of these factors can give insight into hydration, food sensitivities, digestive issues and more.

Oprah has her microphone, plumbers have plungers, fortune tellers have crystal balls, and dietitians..well we have the Bristol Stool Chart! Behold this amazing tool that can help you categorize your BMs and problem-solve to make them into everything you’ve ever dreamed your digestion could produce.

Disclaimer:  these poos are not real. No poo was harmed in the creation of this blog.

Poo Types
1: hard, rabbit-like pellets that are hard to expel
2: a contiguous piece but lumpy and still a bit hard
3: a smoother sausage-like poop with cracks
4: sausage or snake-like, smooth and soft
5: soft pieces, clearly separated
6: mushy stool, ragged edges, not well-defined
7: entirely liquid stool

I think mine was a ‘4’ – is that okay? Gold star for you, perfect pooper! In general, the goal is to stay within types 3-5.

Why is poo brown? When red blood cells break down, there’s a pigment called bilirubin which is made. The bacteria in the intestines transforms the combination of bilirubin, iron (from the red blood cells), and waste into a brown poo.

But what if my poo is red/yellow/green/tarry/mucus-y? Oh gosh, pull up a stool…er, chair…okay, bright red can be from a bleeding ulcer, hemorrhoids, or even eating beets. The first two are worth seeing a doctor about, the third is just a reminder of something you ate within the past few days and isn’t serious. Yellowish-green color can be caused by the green bile that combines with the waste products in the gut but move too quickly through the intestines to turn brown before making the exit. This color, which is typically involved in a malabsorption disorder (i.e. celiac disease), is associated with excess fat in the stool. The green color can also be caused by eating lots of leafy greens, food coloring, or iron supplements. Black tarry stools can indicate that there has been blood which, along its route in your intestines, dried up. This can signal internal bleeding and is worth a trip to the doctor.

Mucus can be clear or vary from white to yellow and looks a bit like jelly. Gawd, can this get any more gross? Yes, because even though mucus is normal to have in your gut to help move things along without much friction, sometimes this can get out-of-hand when there are ulcers or inflammation in the intestines. You may want to let your healthcare provider know if this is an issue for you.

How often should I go? Disturbingly enough, a pediatrician once asked a young dietitian-to-be how often she had a BM; the answer of “once every 3-4 days” was met with a response of “that’s normal, everyone is different.” Only later in her studies did the young one find that having 3-4 days worth of toxins in one’s gut is not normal nor healthy. This is why a dietitian worth her sea salt is going to ask you about not only what goes into your mouth, but what comes out the other end. Because we ❤ you and want you to feel amazing. To answer your question though – ‘normal’ will vary from 3x a week to 3x per day. Generally transit time from eating to expelling runs about 18-72 hours. 

Get a handle on what’s going on inside your guts by paying attention and talking with a healthcare professional about your digestive concerns.

Ready for more? Here’s Part Deuce: Stool Chart & Everyone’s Poop Questions 

Stay tuned! We have topics and problem-solving around diarrhea and constipation as well as tips on how to have the perfect poo!

5 Mindful Eating Tips for Everyone

Source: http://www.illawarramercury.com.au

For a majority of those living in the U.S., the action of eating is seen typically as a task– something usually done in the span of 10-15 minutes with the location often being in a car or in front of a screen. The three-plus meals a day are thrown down the hatch and often in such quantities as to cause discomfort about 20 minutes later along with the realization of having over-eaten. In times of stress or emotional unrest, eating is seen as a comforting activity. The good news: eating mindfully can start with the next meal. Here’s how:

• Eat your meals together – not only will this help maintain a cohesive family and social life but it gets everyone away from the pervasive screens of everyday life, at least during mealtime. Bring attention to the sight, textures, and taste of food while you converse and share with others.
• Check in with yourself to assess hunger level and then serve the amount of food needed to satiate. This improves connection between mind and body as an association is made with serving sizes and satiety levels.
• Reduce temptation to over-eat by serving meals in the kitchen and eating at the dining room, rather than keeping bowls and platters of food on the table. Try not to keep many leftovers as that can be a temptation for distracted eating later on in the day.
• Don’t be the food police. People have to learn for themselves how much food it takes to feel physically satisfied. It can be a challenge not to try to control, especially when trying to ‘help’ child stay thin or healthy. Often, when mealtimes and amounts are controlled, a child may resort to sneaking food and can develop unhealthy eating patterns later in life.
• Ask yourself important questions. Do you only eat healthily when trying to lose weight? Are children and friends hearing disparaging comments you make about your body? Do you feel ashamed when you choose certain foods or eat too much? If so, tackling these problems by enlisting the support of a health coach can help you create positive changes and prevent passing on these issues to other family members, especially children.

Mindfulness techniques, over time, will help establish emotional hunger versus physical hunger. Discover food intolerances and allergies by becoming more aware of how food makes you feel during this process as well.

We all want to be comfortable in our own skin. Be honest & compassionate towards yourself with the quality and quantity of foods you eat, as well as the motivation behind eating.

4 Quick Tips for Eye Health

It is imperative to protect the eyes starting as young as possible. Nutrition has a large role to play in protecting eyes from disease; these lifestyle changes can also make a difference:

• Get regular eye examinations
• Avoid smoking
• Protect your eyes from UV rays
• Employ stress-reduction techniques

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among older adults in the developed countries. Macular degeneration is linked to free radicals and homocysteine levels. The passionate work of One Bite Wellness revolves around identifying genetic markers, creating a customized nutrition plan, including more antioxidants and regulating homocysteine levels, and deep-cleaning diets in a way that allows clients to experience a delicious and sustainable manner of eating.

Exercise to Fight the Flu

Exercise can improve and maintain overall health, act as a  therapy for stress relief, and act as a method to sculpt your body. It can also improve immune function and to fight off the common cold and flu typically caught during this time of the year. Here’s what you need to know about exercise and the immune system:

• Flushes out bacteria from the lungs decreasing the chances for you to catch the cold, flu, or other airborne illnesses
• Helps to excrete free radicals and carcinogens through increasing the output of waste through urine, sweat, and potentially helping bowel movements
• Circulates the bodies defense cells (antibodies and white blood cells) at a faster rate throughout the body
• Help increase the rate of hormones to signal cells of foreign pathogens and viruses
• Decreases stress and stress related hormones that may increase the chances of getting sick
• The rise in body temperature prevents bacterial growth and allows the body to fight infections efficiently

Cinnamon: The Spice Of Life

Even if most of us aren’t curators of spices and herbs, there’s generally one in everyone’s spice shelf – cinnamon! Used in everything from Cinnabun to my old favorite – Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea by Harney & Sons – we rarely think of how this wonderful spice’s scent and taste are impacting our health.

According to a a study presented at the American College of Nutrition’s annual meeting, cinnamon could be a key player on the battlefield of metabolic syndrome (think obesity, high blood pressure, and insulin-resistance). An estimated 25-32% of Americans have this condition.

The study found that cinnamon increases antioxidant levels in the blood and decreases oxidative stress. Other research shows the spice reduces blood glucose levels and blood pressure.