Living Healthy in the Real World

Vegan Backlash

19 April 2013, 4:51 pm

Over the past year or so, as the movement for “real, from-the-land” type of food has gained momentum, there has been an interesting trend across the Internet. Mainly it’s one of people proclaiming their support for organic butter, fresh-from-the-farm bacon, raw milk, eating dark meat on chicken, and so on.

If this was all there was to it, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I think it’s fantastic that people are supporting small farmers and eating food in its whole, real form, and cooking from scratch. But unfortunately, one of the things that you do see happening as people are talking about these excellent foods on social media is that they are dismissive of vegan diets and ways of eating.

What frustrates me the most about this is that it takes away from the whole concept of the real food movement. It still does what any other “diet” does in terms of ridiculing other ways of eating.

As a holistic nutritionist with Real World Wellness, the foundation of my work is based on the notion that everyone has different wants and needs, and that’s a good thing, and we can work together to find the right way of “healthy eating” that works for you. Some people do great when they eat some kind of animal product every day. Others thrive on soy products. And still more people have boundless energy when eating a higher percentage of raw foods.

Once you’ve reduced or removed chemical-y non-food ingredients and you’re left with whole, real foods, there are so many different options for what you can do to eat healthy for your body! And it comes down to figuring out what works for YOU.

If your body is happy to have butter and bacon and milk and dark meat regularly, that’s great. Keep it up. But don’t shake your finger at someone else for choosing tofu and beans and grains. We need to find the right type of eating that works for us as individuals, and support each other non-judgmentally. Only then will we get to a healthy place for us all.

What type of eating works best for you? Have you been a victim of someone disapproving of the way you eat? Share in the comments section below!

Filed under Ask a Nutritionist. Tagged eating well, farm-fresh food, health, holistic nutritionist, nutrition Winnipeg, vegan diet, what is healthy eating

3 Comments

The worst (and perhaps most valuable) part about a binge

7 April 2013, 8:51 pm

Binging, overeating, and emotional eating can really take a toll on both your mind and your body. But possibly the worst part about binging is that moment right after you binge, and you ask yourself, “what was I thinking? Why did I do that? What was the point?”

Many people who binge will feel the guilt and self-loathing coming on afterward with those reproachful inner questions, but unfortunately very few people will explore the answers to those questions. And that’s where the questions become very valuable: by taking the time to really think about why you chose to binge, you can get to the root of the issue and help yourself work out your issues one step at a time.

Answering these questions after a binge doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll never binge again. But answering these questions every time you binge-eat can greatly increase your understanding of yourself and your thought process, and it can help postpone or prevent binges on occasion – with the goal of eventually reaching the point where you answer those questions before you’ve even binged, and thus dramatically reduce (or completely eliminate) binge episodes over time.

I strongly encourage you to be kind to yourself if you binge eat, overeat, or eat emotionally. Listen to what your body and your mind are telling you. Observe your patterns, and really think about why you feel that eating is going to solve xyz (or even talk it through with someone – like a Certified Holistic Nutritionist).

You might begin with the realization that you binge when you are procrastinating or feeling overwhelmed, but by continuing to probe, you might be able to get further to understand that you’re binging because you’re procrastinating because you’re doing something that doesn’t fit with your values, and that’s the thing that needs to change. Or you’re binging because you’re overwhelmed because you feel like you can’t handle juggling everything that you’ve taken on.

There are many overlapping steps and stages for why we might turn to food, and every time we answer the questions of why we’re binging or what brought it on, we can get that much closer to understanding the root cause and being able to change what’s at the root of it to then change our habits and behaviours.

Is binge eating, overeating, or eating emotionally an issue that you face? How do you handle it? Do you try to answer the questions? Have you been able to get to the root of it? Share in the comments section below!

If you struggle with binging, consider having a nutrition session to discuss what’s going on and to learn what might be at the root of it. Check out my Nutrition Consulting webpage for more info.

Filed under Ask a Nutritionist. Tagged binge, binge eating, binging, change behaviour, emotional eating, emotional eating issue, holistic nutrition, holistic nutritionist, nutrition appointment, nutrition session, nutrition Winnipeg, overeating, recovery from binge, value of binge

5 Comments

Healthy Eating Activity: Label-reading Mogul

3 April 2013, 7:05 pm

Here’s an activity I wanted to share with you all from my Real World Wellness nutrition consulting business – it’s a fun way to start thinking more critically about your food choices and to gain a better understanding of what’s really in your food!

Goal: Become a savvy label-reader.

Grab a food item in your fridge or cupboard with a health or nutrition claim on the front (“fat-free,” “low in cholesterol,” “all-natural,” “wholesome ingredients” etc.). Take a moment to consider how this word or phrase makes you feel about the food.

Next, turn the package over and read the nutrition facts table and the ingredients. Does it surprise you? Do you know what all of the ingredients are? Is sugar the first item on the ingredient list? Consult a Certified Holistic Nutritionist if you have questions about any ingredients.

Remember this exercise the next time you’re at the grocery store and your eye catches a healthy phrase on the front of a food package! The front of the package can be deceiving – it’s worth reading the ingredient list for more information.

Is this something you’ll try out? How well do you understand labels when reading them? Share in the comments section below!

Filed under Ask a Nutritionist. Tagged how to read food label, miracle whip, nutrition wpg, nutritionist winnipeg

8 Comments

How to make tax season a happy time for everyone

21 March 2013, 5:22 pm

It’s tax season again – and for me, it’s way more of a hassle this year than it should be. Even between having a regular day job, managing a non-profit, and owning my own business, it should all still be fairly easy since I have an accountant, right? He can figure everything out easily enough on his own, right?

Wrong and wrong!

Last summer I had a horrible experience when my computer AND my external harddrive both crashed within a week of each other (I know, I know, #firstworldproblems). I lost everything, including my meticulous Excel spreadsheets of income and expenses. And I never bothered to pick up where I’d left off since I was so devastated at the time (*smacks forehead*). This has resulted in me handing a pile of papers to my (super awesome) accountant this tax season, and him having to send me a good half a dozen emails asking a bunch of questions since I did NOT provide all of the information that I should have had (really obvious stuff too. It’s kind of embarrassing the number of things he’s had to request, to be honest). This can create a whole lot of unnecessary stress and can take a toll on our mental health.

So next year, I’m going to make tax time for myself (and for you!*) a breeze. All I (and you!*) have to do is the following:

Track all of your income and expenses every month in Excel spreadsheets. Include the date, place, what you bought, how you paid, the amount you paid, and a separate column marking if you need to include GST separately if you have your own tiny freelance business.**
Colour code! Have separate colours for business expenses and for regular bills such as hydro and your mortgage.
At the end of every month, tally up your complete expenses and income for that month. This is mostly just interesting because you can see just how much you REALLY spend every month (and it’s likely going to be quite the shocker).
At the end of THIS tax season, create a document listing EVERYTHING that you had to give your accountant, including all of the info that he had to ask for in the 6 – 12 emails he sent you. This way, next year, you’ll be able to have all of that information ready for him and you can save both of you a lot of time!
Send a thank you note to your accountant, since he’s a pretty cool guy.
Back up your spreadsheets and tax season document in four different places so that you never have to worry about losing it again.

How do you prefer for the madness of tax season? What tools do you use to make it easy peasy? Share in the comments section below!

*Assuming you also have this problem. Is it just me or do some of you scramble at this time of year too? Please tell me I’m not alone in this!

**I expect that most people who have their own business and GST number will be using some kind of fantastic accounting software since that would really make the most sense, but when you’re a really tiny business like me, getting Quickbooks seems a little unnecessary.

Filed under Mental Health. Tagged excel, handling taxes, how to budget, manage tax season, tax season

9 Comments

One Fifty Dips

10 March 2013, 1:21 pm

Remember five years ago (can’t believe I’ve been blogging for five years!) when I took the One Hundred Push Ups Challenge? And then four years ago when I took the Two Hundred Crunches Challenge? And then two years ago when I took the Plankathon Challenge? Well, I’ve decided that it’s about time I complete another challenge. This time, I’m doing the One Fifty Dips Challenge.

The concept of this six-week program is to be able to complete 150 consecutive dips by the end of it. Fun, right?!

I recently stopped doing boot camp (partly because work and such got busy enough that it was getting tough for me to drag myself out of bed at 5am, and partly because I just started getting tired of it – I need to switch up my exercise every six months to a year or so or else I get bored of things), and so I’ve been trying to decide what’s next for me fitness-wise. I got a swim cap last week and I intend to start swimming again. The snow is already melting, so Mr Science and I will be able to enjoy outdoor jogging again too. And other than that, I’ve chosen to do strength training at home – which led me to starting the One Fifty Dips Challenge.

Triceps dips are pretty cool, and they target muscles which are often overlooked. Generally we focus more on biceps and don’t pay as much attention to toning and strengthening the triceps. It’s good for us to work on ALL of the muscles!

Today I completed Day Three of Week One for the challenge, which involved completing a total of 56 triceps dips (broken down into five sets). I’m looking forward to building on that as the weeks go by!

Will you be doing One Fifty Dips with me? Is there another fitness challenge that you’re taking right now? Share in the comments section below!

Filed under Fitness. Tagged fitness challenge, one fifty dips, one hundred push ups, plankathon, push up challenge, six-minute plank, triceps dips, two hundred crunches challenge

4 Comments

Healthy Eating Activity: “Favourite Recipes”

10 February 2013, 6:39 pm

Here’s an activity I wanted to share with you all from my Real World Wellness nutrition consulting business – it’s a great way to get the whole family involved in healthy eating and to make menu planning and cooking that much easier and more enjoyable!

Goal: Make cooking a breeze.

Gather up your favourite cookbooks (or online recipe websites and blogs). Make a goal to choose 20 recipes in total, including recipes that might just be floating around in your head (family favourites and easy go-to meals frequent this category). The only criteria for these recipes are that they must be ones you’ve already tried and enjoyed, and they should use ingredients that are nearly always in your kitchen.

Make a list of your top 20 favourite recipes that you’ve tried and tested, including the page number and cookbook it’s in to find it easily. Use this list to refer to at any time when you need to make a meal or menu plan but aren’t in the mood for cooking or searching for recipes! Stick it to your fridge so that it’s easily accessible.

Will you try this technique this week?

Filed under Ask a Nutritionist. Tagged certified holistic nutritionist, favourite recipe, healthy eating activity, how to menu plan, menu planning, nutrition appointment winnipeg, nutrition consult Winnipeg, nutrition Winnipeg, Real World Wellness

7 Comments

Three Easy Ways to Stay On Track with Healthy Living

1 February 2013, 8:45 pm

Between October and December, I was traveling, doing presentations, and generally not sticking to a routine. It took a toll on my system and so at the beginning of December, I decided to make a better plan for the following month so that I’d be able to be well and live healthy despite whatever craziness might come my way (especially since January to March are my busiest months of the year at the office).

These are three techniques that I have been using over the past month and which I would recommend to anyone else who is trying to stay on track with healthy living when you’re juggling all kinds of projects and responsibilities:

1. Track it. In December, I created a document for myself that has a check list for every day of the month. Each day has the same 12 items on it, and I try to ensure that I do at least half of the items on the list every day. They range from walking to eating leafy green to going to boot camp to meditating to dry brushing to monitoring my body fat percentage. For me, this is a really great way to ensure that I actually do all of these things! Yours might be anything from flossing your teeth to walking the dog to phoning your friend… anything goes, if it’s something that you know will help you (and perhaps the people around you!) be well.

2. Watch your progress. I have a big glass jar, and I put a dollar in the jar every day that I complete at least half of the items on my check list. Even though they are all very simple day-to-day tasks, I feel that it’s important to do this to make sure that I don’t let anything fall by the wayside. And it’s really fun to watch those dollars pile up! I’m looking forward to eventually spending it

3. Write it down. I use Health Writer Eats as my food diary to track what I eat, but I also have a personal document on the computer that I use to record my thoughts, challenges and successes whenever I feel like it. This can be useful if I’m having an off-day to sort of quiet my mind, write whatever I’m thinking, and get to the root of why I’m not feeling so great.

I plan to continue doing each of these items over the next few months and potentially the rest of the year. It might not work for everyone, but I love being able to see and track my progress and successes, and to challenge myself to live healthier every day!

What simple techniques do you use to stay on track with healthy living? Share in the comments section below!

Filed under Life Lessons, Nutrition. Tagged body fat percent, daily checklist, dollar in jar, easy ways to stay on track, food diary, health writer eats, healthy living, healthy living tip, watching progress

1 Comment

Lentils and Rice recipe

29 January 2013, 8:47 am

One of the meals that Mr. Science and I have taken to eating once a week or so is lentils and rice. It’s a dish that I used to make all the time when I was in university, especially when I had night classes. It’s super easy, it tastes delicious, it’s healthy and nutrition, it packs well, and it’s vegan!

Here is the recipe:

Cook brown rice according to package directions in one pot
In another pot, cook lentils according to package directions (we usually use red lentils, but we’ve also used green split peas to great success – I expect you could use just about any bean or legume here and it would work well)
When both are cooked, mix together in one pot on the stove, toss in a generous splash of Bragg’s soy sauce, and then dump in some frozen peas and corn
Stir occasionally until the peas and corn are heated all the way through
Enjoy!

If you want to get fancy, you could add all kinds of other vegetables, herbs and spices, and even some nutritional yeast flakes or parmesan or shredded cheese. It tastes great as the above recipe for a base, and it’s perfect when you are too busy to cook something elaborate or if you aren’t a fan of cooking, but adding in some extra things can be a great way to mix it up and make a whole new dish every time you make this meal.

What is your favourite easy go-to meal? What kinds of additions would you make to this lentils and rice recipe? Share in the comments section below!

Filed under Ask a Nutritionist, Recipes. Tagged easy healthy meal, easy tasty recipe, healthy meal, healthy recipe, lentils and rice recipe, vegan recipe

8 Comments

Eat local and attend free food skill workshops

25 January 2013, 5:30 pm

Have you heard? The 2013 Dig In Challenge is coming up right around the corner! It launches on February 1st and goes until the end of June.

Five months of eating healthy, local, sustainable, and fair food? Yes please. The Dig In Challenge also offers FREE food skill workshops! There will be workshops in Winnipeg, Strathclair, Brandon, Grand Rapids, and possibly more TBA. Workshops will also be available online if you can’t make it out to them yourself! I have it on good authority (*cough* being the Dig In Coordinator *cough*) that there are still lots of spaces open at the workshops, so definitely sign up for some! The first few will involve getting free fair trade chocolate – YUM. Sign up for workshops at www.diginmanitoba.ca/challenge/workshop (after you’ve signed up for the Dig In Challenge, of course).

The Dig In Challenge is free to sign up and is open for families, individuals, schools, faith groups, workplaces, and other community groups to join. This year is especially exciting because everyone can make their own customizable pledge – a great opportunity to challenge yourself to start gardening, try composting, learn how to preserve food, pick fruit with Fruit Share, and so much more.

Learn more about the Dig In Challenge and sign up at www.DigInManitoba.ca/challenge. It’s going to be a fun-filled five months!

Contact digin@foodmattersmanitoba.ca for more info.

Filed under Announcements. Tagged Dig In Challenge, free food skill workshop, Fruit Share, healthy eating, learn how to preserve food, start a garden, try composting, Winnipeg workshop

2 Comments

How to make the switch to all-natural household products

20 January 2013, 10:44 am

I like to think that it’s inevitable that anyone who begins focusing on improving their nutrition, exercising regularly, being “greener,” and so on will get themselves involved in each of these other things. For me it started with eating better. From there I began to exercise more, and the environmental health came afterward. There are so many types of “health” in the world, from relationship health to financial health to a healthy work-life balance… the list goes on. But if we focus our attention on just one of these types of health, we’re going to find ourselves seriously lacking in other areas.

It’s not just about being healthy in one aspect. It’s about making lifelong, lasting, lifestyle behaviour changes.

Here at Living Healthy in the Real World, I tend to speak to the nutrition side of things most often. But today I want to look at how we can make the transition to household products, too. Most readers are already likely making changes to their food choices, but what about products such as dish soap, or laundry detergent, or moisturizer, or deodorant, or…? Conventional versions of these items are packed with toxins. On average, we expose ourselves to 100 environmental toxins every day. Think of how much we could reduce our environmental toxins by making at-home switches! Here are some recommendations to make the switch to all-natural, gentle, and non-toxic household products without making yourself go crazy:

Use baking soda and vinegar as frequently as possible. Combined, these two ingredients are a machine! Even just sprinkling a little bit of baking soda on a tough patch on a countertop and rubbing lightly with a cloth will often make it go away in seconds. You can also use baking soda and vinegar for mopping the floor, scrubbing the bath tub, and just about anything else.
Start by making just one tiny swap. Deciding to shift all of your conventional products for natural ones can be overwhelming. Thinking about the amount of cleaning supplies, toiletries, make-up, and other items we use regularly is daunting! That’s why I strongly encourage you to make just one switch at a time, and do it when you’re running low on that product. If you’re down to the bottom of your daily facial moisturizer, go to the nearest health food store and pick up one or two different creams (you might want to try a couple just in case one of them is not for you). I haven’t tried any natural shampoos yet simply because I haven’t run out of my conventional ones. Take your time. It could be months before your house is free of conventional products.
Figure out what items you couldn’t live without. Don’t worry about swapping these items (or at least, not yet!). If you make the change for 90% of your products, but decide to keep the conventional versions for the other 10%, that’s still a really big shift and reduction of toxins in your environment! And you might just find that by the time you’ve made all of these other switches, you’ll want to give up that last couple of items that you held onto so tightly at the beginning.
Explore. I used to always use Bounce sheets in my dryer, but recently Mr. Science and I stumbled across some chemical-free, unscented, reusable cloth dryer sheets at VitaHealth! I had no idea there was such a great replacement. Already I love them and can’t imagine going back to Bounce sheets.

If you’re stuck for finding products that you really like, check out the Internet for recipes on how to make your own all-natural products. Get creative and have fun with it!

Do you use all-natural household products? Are you interested in making the switch? What changes are the most overwhelming for you? What great finds have you discovered? Share in the comments section below!