Welcome to my blog! I am a warrior in the war on obesity. More to the point, the war on the physiological, psychological, and EMOTIONAL forces that are driving us all to gain weight. Herein you will find my writing about the subject of my passion and my life's work - NUTRITION. Be sure to stay tuned and check out all my delicious cooking segments. Guess what? Big surprise - they are healthy too. Hope you enjoy. Best wishes, Christine
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In our modern world we have a lot to worry about: Global Warming, the Middle East, and the worldwide Energy Crisis. On top of all this, around 3PM most of us have a personal Energy Crisis that forces us to make a mass pilgrimage to Starbucks to avoid a relapse of narcolepsy.
Unfortunately the awakening power of the Frappucino comes at a high caloric cost. Precisely speaking, seven 500 calorie Fraps per week will add nearly 50 pounds to your body weight in a year. Fifty pounds! Wouldn’t it be nice to eat healthy and have high energy all day long without caffeine, nicotine and sugar?
Energy comes from having a high level of glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream, a result of eating carbohydrates such as pasta, breads, fruits, vegetables, or sweets (like Frappucinos). The problem is if you eat too much at once, your body acts like OPEC pulling an oil embargo and it takes some of the glucose off the market (out of the bloodstream) and stores it as fat. But while OPEC can hide barrels of oil in an Arabian desert, your body hides excess carbs as fat on your hips, thighs, and buns and once it is there, it is much harder to bring it back to your energy marketplace.
The key to eating for energy is to eat a healthy balance of protein, carbs, and fats every 4 hours. Once your brain detects stable blood sugar levels, like a stable energy marketplace it begins to regulate energy with much less volatility. This means steady energy throughout the day without the late morning grouchies or the afternoon sleepies. It all stems from stabilizing your blood sugar level by eating the right foods to avoid the Energy Crisis.
By the way, you don’t have to stay at the office during the 3PM Starbucks break, just order a green tea or an espresso (zero calories) and try not to worry about world problems.
Best Wishes,
Christine
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More secretive than the vast Right-Wing conspiracy and more powerful than the Military-Industrial complex is the Carb Conspiracy. This omnipotent group has convinced our country that we have seen our enemy and our enemy is carbs.
In case you haven’t heard, carbohydrates (breads, rice, pasta, fruits and vegetables) have become the unwelcome stepchild of the food world. The origin of this diet myth can be traced to Dr. Robert Atkins 1972 book “The Atkins Diet Revolution” which espoused restrictions on “refined” carbs (refined meaning more chopped up, more broken down, more washed as opposed to a wheat grain kernel or a carrot fresh off the plant). 25 years later we have simplified this idea down to two words: “No Carbs.”
If you stop eating carbs, you get skinnier quickly. Why? Think of your body as a car and carbs are your fuel. The only difference is when your car runs out of gas it conks out but your body can keep going by eating its engine (muscles). So your muscles start getting smaller real quick. The bad news is that your brain and body are in a very unhappy state and saggy muscles don’t look much better than fat.
There are three primary energy-yielding nutrients that all humans need to live: Protein, Carbs, and Fat (we also need vitamins, minerals and water but they are not energy-yielding). Carbs and carbs only provide the fuel for your brain and nervous system – you need them to live. What’s more you can’t store them (at least not in carb form) so you need more every 4 hours. What happens when you don’t eat lunch until 3? The brain is dying for fuel, trying to get it from liver and muscle tissue and presto: screaming headache.
“No Carbs” was half the information. What we need to improve our health, our energy, and to lose weight are the right amount of healthy carbs at the right intervals. So every four hours, eat a lean protein along with healthy carbs such as whole grain rice and bread, fresh fruits and vegetables and resist the Carb Conspiracy!
Best Wishes,
Christine
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Samantha Harris reveals a little of my nutrition plan for her pregnancy in this month's Pregnancy and Newborn magazine. Like many of my clients, Samantha was not a breakfast person. As she reveals in the article, she started eating a small but balanced breakfast along with balanced meals every four hours throughout the day. Samantha worked right up until the day before her baby arrived doing red carpet interviews for the Emmys, reporting for E! News, and hosting Dancing With The Stars so she was very busy. One of the quick breakfasts she loved was egg whites, fresh strawberries, and yogurt. This balanced combination of protein & carbs provided food for baby and delivered steady energy until Samantha's next meal. [ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ]
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