

Let us get down to the heart of the matter, or the psychology for that matter. The mainstream media would have us believe that the average American puts on 7-10lbs during the holiday season. NY Times writer Tara Parker-Pope reported that according that the national average according to premier medical studies find that we actually only put on 1-2lbs a year including the holiday season. Sounds like we’ve been fed a line, literally.
Its the wives tales like this that have pregnant women eating for two, when its been reported that the average pregnant woman should only be eating for 1.1. Which should only increase your caloric intake by 10% when you have a bun in the oven. We buy these myths and our ever widening hips take all the hits! So this holiday season, before giving in the guilt you have heaped on your shoulders remember that after the holidays you will be exactly who you are right now. This tidbit of news actually inspires me to put less in my mouth instead of plunging head first into the group mentality of “oh well everyone else is doing it.”
Lately, I’ve been asked (by my friends who have watched me go from fat girl to normal girl, and then now to the best body I’ve ever had) how I get motivated, cut the fat, exercise regiments and the best dietary patterns. Well I can honestly say I’ve done every diet under the sun and have unofficially studied nutrition for 7 years now. I remember someone once saying “if you want to be thin and/or healthy watch someone who is those things and model your behaviors and patterns after them.”
My most recent dietary instructor has been a nurse for over 30 years, and studied nutrition on connection with moods and hormones, she is from New Zealand and has some very anti-American dietary sentiments, but her hand her husband now mid to late 60’s are in fantastic shape and could take on any 20 year old walking around NYC any day. They are so youthful and healthy that my friends who hadn’t met them thought they were my age by the way I talked about our activities together. And I mean that’s the point isn’t it, not to be skinny or look like super models (who by the way look emaciated and disgusting in real life, I always wish I had carried donuts with me in NYC to share with them when I saw them) but to be our best selves, to be healthy and happy and ready for every good work!
One problem Joy has counseled me on is the detrimental views of food in our American dietary education. The FDA has told us many things that have been proven to be completely contradictory to an actual healthy way of living rather seek only to support economy and industry. Several books have come out in the last few years against these myths of course, and they are gaining ground, though some still pass them off as propaganda. In the meantime, Americans are buying bad food ethics and as we continue to drink our diet soda, get the low fat products and what’s happening? We are getting fatter!
Anyway, I’ll get off my soap box and leave you with some basic dietary guidelines that I use in my own diet:
1. You need FAT to get skinny!!!! That’s right, why don’t french women have to diet? Why are they always thin, they eat less because they eat more fat. Their diets consist of things loaded with butter, yet eat tiny portions. We think, “oh they must be starving themselves.” In reality however, they aren’t they are actually satisfied and full! Why? Because fat molecules actually cause our cells to swell triggering our brain, letting us know we have had enough food. Now I’m not saying go out and eat a burger and a carton of ice cream because saturated fats do the exact opposite, they actually reject the brains natural instinct to stop eating and urge it to ignore insulin levels. (Click HERE to read the article on the medical study) So, eat small amounts of healthy fat like fish, chicken breast (yes it still has fat) lean red meats, avocados, cheese and nuts. With all these items you are not only getting the lean fat you are getting loads of vitamins the natural way. And since we have learned that dietary supplements end up in our urine instead of our system, this is the best way to get those nutrients.
2. Diet drinks and sugars are making you FAT! Yup, anytime your glycemic index rises, you store fat. Guess what impacts that glycemic index more than regular sugar? Yup that’s right imitation sugars, anything fake not only gives your body chemicals it cannot process and ends up storing (linked to cancer in lab animals) but you are actually getting FATTER!!!!!! (Good article by Wired.com on this click HERE to read it). So put down the Diet Coke, and pick up a Perrier or a bottle of water! Don’t like water? Add a Vitamin mix, like Emergency or and electrolyte mixture that doesn’t have sugar. Or to get yourself some tea, preferably green and learn to get used to flavor, not sugar. Also there have been studies that these sugars are actually sucking nutrients out of your body:
“The junk sugars in soft drinks also take good things out of the body. High doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners increase the urinary excretion of calcium, leading to weaker bones, or osteoporosis, and to deposits of calcium in the kidneys (i.e., kidney stones). The phosphoric acid present in many soft drinks further robs the body of calcium by increasing the loss of magnesium and calcium in the urine.”
Also, here is a list of the impact of certain items and chemical on your glycemic index, a few things you wouldn’t expect, including carrots:
- soybeans (15)
- fructose (20)
- cherries (23)
- grapefruit (26)
- kidney beans (29)
- lentils (29)
- milk (34)
- yogurt (36)
- chickpeas (36)
- apples (39)
- spaghetti (42)
- grapes (45)
- oranges (46)
- sweet potatoes (48)
- All-Bran (51)
- oatmeal (54)
- corn (59)
- table sugar (sucrose) (59)
- bananas (62)
- raisins (64)
- soft drinks (68)
- bread, white (69)
- potatoes (70)
- candy bar (70) (BETTER THAN CARROTS???? AND WHEAT BREAD!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOA!)
- bread, whole wheat (72)
- white rice (72)
- refined cereals (80)
- honey (87)
- carrots (92)
- glucose (100)
p.s. Sugar in any form suppresses your immune system, allowing your body to weaken so that it cannot fight viruses easily!
3. Slow down and preset food portions. The days of chewing your food 100-200 times before you swallow seem like a thing of the past. We are busier than ever, more stressed and on the road, meaning we go to drive-thru, we eat fast never giving our brain a chance to catch up with our ever expanding stomachs! So since we eat on the run and in between meetings, plan out your diet before you enter the day and set aside portions sizes. If you order out the portions are automatically too big, tear off half that sandwich and put it in the freezer, so you can’t run back to it or throw it away!!!!!! I know this is terrible in a time when we are conserving ever tiny penny we can find but seriously if it will stop you from putting it in your mouth, put it in the trash and cover it with your morning’s coffee so you don’t go back. Set a plan and stick to it!
4. Be around people that are of like mind! When I moved to NYC I was convinced that I was old, but when I got there I actually realized I was a spring chicken, most of my friends were in their late 40’s or 50’s and they gave me a great piece of advice. Don’t hang around people that think they are old, or you will become old. Its true, if we are people who complain about anything long enough we start to buy into the mentality. So if you have friends that are like “Screw it I’m already unhealthy pour on the gravy!” Then its almost certain you will buy into this mentality after being around it long enough, because it will be that much easier for you to give in. I believe strong people build strong people! If you want to stay unhealthy, hang out with those who are unhealthy in anyway. Choosing your friends wisely is a rule across the board, don’t compromise this in the area of food!
5. Its cold! So get out and exercise! Its a fact that just being cold burns calories, so bundle up and get out there and walk or run if your in shape and burn double! Watching a Christmas movie? Before I would sit there and stuff my face with food, get that butt out of your chair and put it no the ground, do sit ups and push ups during commercials. I once read an article with Kiera Knightly on the issue of her being condemned by the media for being too skinny and accused of having an eating disorder, she simply stated that she had always been that skinny because she doesn’t sit still. When she watches t.v. or a movie she is doing sit-ups, running on the treadmill or some other exercise. There’s no reason that by the end of winter, you won’t have to worry about getting into that bikini!!

Here are a few fun blog read of those who are positive about the changes they’ve made in their life!


And one called Flexible Tension which I found very helpful!