New Year, New Body, New Technique

I know what's going on this week.

It's weight loss time!

The gyms are packed (my brother, a gym rat by nature, hates this time of year).
The diets are started.
The promises made.
Everyone is being so good.... Everyone is being so healthy...

Please try something new!

Or are they?

What's your plan? Is it the same as last year? Is it your "faithful routine" you fall back on whenever you need to shed some pounds that "works for you every time"?

I have a suggestion. In fact, it is a plea.
I want you to try something new this year.
I want you to truly look out for your health.
I want you to break this cycle, I want you to feel better and I want you to start off 2013 thinking about SOMETHING ELSE!!

This is no quick fix, but I believe it is worth the investment of your time.

The Plan

1. Assess your current health. Do you know your numbers? Not your measurements, your really important numbers like cholesterol levels, sugar levels, and blood pressure come to mind, but also anything that may be in your family history (I've been getting an annual colonoscopy ever since I reached my 30s). How healthy are you according to those numbers? If your doctor advises that you need to be on medication, ask him/her if any lifestyle changes can help you prevent that course.
2. Find YOUR foods. This is, to me, the most important step, but it must come second. With numbers and personal information in hand, find a nutritionist. Share your information with the nutritionist. Go through the tests for allergies and/or sensitivities to foods. Discuss your desire to lose weight and become more healthy. Be honest with him/her about your level of activity and your cooking/meal preparation habits.
3. Learn about food. Stop eating take out. Avoid packaged food as much as possible. Prepare your own meals, read labels and start experimenting with new fun good for you food. 
4. Be realistic about your activity. Don't run to the gym every single day this week and workout for three hours each day if that is not sustainable. Pick out something you like doing and fit it into your life. Also, be ready to be flexible. If you have decided that the spinning class at your gym is the thing you want to do, but then keep getting locked out of it because the one you can get to after work is just too packed, you should not decide that your time would be better spent at the local Carvel with a frosty chocolate shake! Be flexible about your activity and find something else to stay active with.

The Pros

• This is a plan for YOU specifically, no one else.You know how people tend to look 1,000 times better when they are wearing an outfit that was customized for them? Imagine what a customized lifestyle does for you!
• If followed correctly, you won't just look great, but you will feel great. Your doctors will be able to back up all the "great feelings" with good news as well. Imagine just being healthier... it is possible.
• You will learn more about yourself, your body and the food around you. You will be empowered to make better decisions for yourself every single day. Before long all of the "adjustments" you are making will become habits and become second nature.

The Cons

• This is a plan for YOU specifically, no one else. This is not a type-o. This is both a pro and a con. If you aren't living on your own during this transition  or tend to share meals with others most of the time, then you might find yourself in a situation where you have to eat different things than those around you (particularly if those others have found their own personal plans!).
• You may not (initially) be a big fan of all of the parts of your personal plan. I'll be honest, when my nutritionist first suggested that I had a sensitivity to gluten, I nearly smacked her upside the head and ran for the door. However, we are not perfect, so why should our plans be? I stuck it out, tried the crazy idea for a month and, in that short amount of time, I was a converted believer. Gluten (though I miss it so) has no place in my body.
• Not everyone will understand. "How do you do it?" they might ask. "Why don't you just cheat today?" they may tempt. However, after a couple of months of being strong, your body will tell the story for you.

There's no book for this. There's no formula or stories of how much weight was lost using this exact technique. There's no data until you try it. If you have, drop a note in the comments section about your successes, your set backs and your suggestions for others who are on the journey.

Best wishes for a happy HEALTHY new year as you search for all of your sustenance!


Further Reading

eat right. - Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Uh Oh! Eating Out Is Making The Whole World Fat  - Living Fit, Healthy and Happy
Too little protein may equal too much body fat - CNN Health
 *Have a post or article you think should be shared here? Just let me know!*

Fridays Food Finds

Food Web Sites and Tools

• Fork & Bottle: Best Food Forums Do you like to talk about food, wine, or even coffee? Then you need to check this site out. There is a list of various forum links with ongoing discussions in each one of these topics! Although it says this site hasn't been updated since September 2008, the list of forums offered is pretty extensive and each of them is still going. I have found a forum to my liking - the Sustainability one, of course (although it is in the process of moving right now), and I may even start to explore some of the others! *Note: this link is part of a larger site Fork & Bottle, that you may want to check out in full!
  

Food Reads

• What if the U.S.D.A. Subsidized Gardens? I absolutely love this post, probably because I LOVE stories through pictures - make sure you click on the graphic in Bittman's post and truly read it. Then ask yourself - What do you think about where our country spends its food money?
• Sedentary Work and Obesity: Another View This is a MUST READ. It is short, but I want you to think about this. I will have a post to share my own viewpoints about this and I am disappointed that the Times did not publish this letter.
• 5 Ways to Sabotage Weight Loss If you are on the path to a healthier weight and you are wondering what things you could be doing to make sure it sticks, this post by Skinny Mom's Kitchen will at least give you 5 things to AVOID!

Good Food (Recipes)

• Homemade Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal Recipe I have to give this a shot. Since I was trying it, I thought I'd share it too!
• Oven-Baked Salmon I had salmon, I decided to look for something to do with it. This came up. It was so common sense, so simple, so ridiculous, I said, "Sure, why not?" It was awesome. We had some lemon on the side while we ate. I feel like I want to make salmon every night now :)
• Baked Eggs with Herbs I have written of my obsession with eggs on this blog before - Why haven't I ever BAKED them? This seems brilliant to me. It's on my list!!

Food FIGHTS 

• Tell the Girl Scouts How Big the Gluten-Free Market Is! If you missed my ONE post this week, please check it out. I can't believe the Girl Scouts' argument. If they said anything else I probably wouldn't be this adamant, but our grocery stores are being overrun by gluten-free products - there MUST BE a demand for them!
• Get to the Fracking Action Center at Food & Water Watch to find out what you can do to ensure that fracking is not happening in your community, and to learn how you can support efforts to protect the nation's water.

 

Do you have a food website, tool, food read, recipe or food fight you think I should check out and share with the readers of Searching for Sustenance? If so e-mail me at BlogWithNV@gmail.com!

Thank You, Dr. Oz from this Gluten-free Chick

I am CERTIFIED Gluten-Free (My Doctor Says So!)

I have been gluten-free since June 2010. I didn't want to be gluten-free. I didn't care that I might lose weight, but I was told I was "intolerant" and that gluten was making me sick. Sick is one thing I really don't like, so I took gluten out of my diet.

As I took the gluten out of my diet, the weight melted off of me. For this reason many people - friends, acquaintances, co-workers and family - who were not quite interested in any other treatments I have received from any other doctors started asking questions and lots of them. It did not take me long to realize that the people that had all the questions were the same people that have always been looking for the next stage in their battle of the bulge.

Why Is Gluten-Free Becoming SO COOL??
 
Now that I have been living gluten-free and am always on the hunt for information and tips for this new lifestyle I keep stumbling upon websites, books, "professionals" all touting the new weight-loss trend: gluten-free. I can not deny that I lost weight when I took gluten out of my diet, but I have always felt when that happened that the weight I lost was more of a reaction lost - I felt like my body was no longer reacting to something it couldn't handle.

I didn't lose weight, I healed.

I have tried to explain this to others. I have even explained that eating gluten-free can be less healthy than a standard diet if you are not careful, but people do not hear me, they only see me. I was, therefore, overjoyed when I saw that the first segment of Dr. Oz's Show today was dedicated to the "Gluten Myth."

Dr. Oz Chimes In About Gluten

The first part of the video (Gluten Myth Part 1) begins with a brief description of the protein gluten. Dr. Oz and Dr. Mark Hyman discuss the reasons why some people need a gluten-free diet, and how even when medically necessary it can be unhealthy if not approached correctly.

Gluten-free Can Totally Be Fattening

The doctors are then joined by Samantha Cassidy (Gluten Myth Part 2) from Good Housekeeping (Dr. Oz is on the cover of the April 2011 issue which will also address the Gluten Diet) to discuss the three reasons gluten-free labeled foods can make you fat. In short, the three reasons are

• they contain more calories
• they contain less fiber
• they contain more refined carbs

This is why it is especially important to avoid boxed foods and, instead choose more whole foods or, as we've been saying as of late: EAT REAL FOOD. (Yes, I note the irony that this is coming from the same person who wrote a post all about gluten-free cereals yesterday!!)

The Dr. Oz/Dr. Hyman TWO WEEK Plan To Determine if You NEED to Be Gluten-free

In the final portion of the Gluten Myth segment (Gluten Myth Part 3), Dr. Hyman walks us through a healthy looking gluten-free diet. Not one of his options include something that was labeled gluten-free, instead, he selects ingredients that are naturally so.  He says that in order for you to determine if gluten might be the culprit in your weight and in other ill feelings, you need to eliminate it COMPLETELY for two weeks to see how it feels. When you reintroduce gluten, if you start to feel not-so-good, then you know you need to talk to your doctor about getting a blood test.

I think this is a very good idea for people to try. I had no idea I had this intolerance and I know my life has changed because of my knowledge of it. I miss gluten, but the trade-off is worth it. If you aren't feeling well, there is no harm in trying it for the sake of your own health, but please don't do this just because you are trying to lose weight. There are far too many deliciously healthy food items that can help you in that fight that you would have to eliminate just to be gluten-free! (Check out the Gluten-free Diet Plan provided on Dr. Oz's website!)

Do you have a gluten intolerance or know someone who does?

Have you thought that gluten-free was a sure-fire path to weight loss?

For you gluten-lovers out there - what do you think you would miss most if you had to go gluten-free?

Five Must-Reads For Maintaining Your New Healthy Self

You made a commitment to yourself to eat better, lose weight, get in shape and/or just feel healthier.  It is a beautiful thing to do for yourself, but I know the hard work that really is! If you are feeling overwhelmed, out of ideas or just plain unmotivated, here is a list of some helpful reads to get you moving back in the right direction.  

1. You Are How You Eat

What you are eating is a very important part of the equation, but too often the how part is overlooked. This first read is a  reminder from Mark Sisson that what you eat isn't the end of the equation. Take a moment to read this post to see how you should be eating for the ultimate healthy meal. 

2. 13 Health Foods That Aren't

This is a really important article to check out if you recently started making changes to your your food purchases in favor of "healthier" options. Very often we are lured into buying things that are not so healthy, or at least not much of an improvement based on some wisely selected marketing tools. Check out this list by Michelle Madden of The Sweet Beet to make sure you are eating what is best for you!  

3. Bob Greene's 5 Ways to Keep Weight Off

How many amazing weight losses have you had? I have a number of acquaintances that can tell me exactly what they need to do to peel off 10 pounds once they "get back on the program." If it were just talk, I wouldn't bother mentioning it, but I have witnessed this happen year after year, season after season, whenever they "need" it, but I am always left wondering - why did they need it again?! As a recent guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Bob Greene came to present what he believes are 5 keys to success in maintaining weight loss. Luckily for us, the show decided to post the list online so we can continue to garner its wisdom.

4.  How To Afford Healthy Food  

One of the things that often has us all turning our backs on our healthier lifestyles is the damage is does on our finances. Unfortunately, it always seems that the unhealthy eating options are the more economic ones! We end up sacrificing our physical health for the sake of our financial health. Well, thankfully, Sophie Uliano of the Gorgeously Green blog has eight easy to implement tips to help us all afford to eat healthy.  After this, we are simply running out of excuses!

5. Check Out FitBlogger!

OK, this is cheating, kind-of. I really wanted to find one or two resounding blog posts from FitBlogger to send you to, to get you motivated in your workout, thinking about nutrition or just to keeping you running through the winter, but I couldn't pick! And, honestly, there is always great stuff going on over there, so whatever day you decide to finally check this out, I believe there will be something timely for you.

There you have it. I feel stronger already, don't you?
  

Did any one of the recommendations above resonate with you more than the others?

 What other ways do you keep yourself healthy and motivated all year round?
Do you have any tips you would like to share with fellow readers or myself?