8 Fatigue-Fighting Foods

Eat to wake up and slim down
Originally published on Momtourage/iVillage

Excuse us, we couldn’t help but notice the drool on your chest, and our guess is, it’s not your infant’s. Perhaps it’s time for a wake-up call that doesn’t involve espresso shots. What you need, in addition to sleep, are a few lessons in eating for energy. Lack of sleep amps up your appetite and makes you crave all the wrong things – causing a vicious cycle of sugar highs and lows, and ungainly weight gain. Here, eight fatigue-fighting foods that will wake you up and slim you down.

Lean, Mean Fighting Cuisine
Everything we eat turns into glucose – the gasoline that keeps our bodies running – but each food’s conversion rate is different. Think of carbs as the hare that runs out of steam before the finish line, while protein and fiber deliver a slow and steady stream. Beans and lentils, with equal amounts of both, will give you the endurance of a marathoner, even if you can’t huff your way around the block. Perk up with a serving of rice and beans, low-fat chili, edamame or hummus with pita.

Go Nuts Over Nuts
Just a handful of these fiber and protein powerhouses can keep your engine humming all afternoon. Almonds are rich in magnesium, which help turn sugar into energy. Studies show eating an ounce of nuts daily as part of a weight loss diet helped satisfy appetites without packing on pounds, so don’t worry about the calories – just keep your serving size to about a handful. Get an extra wallop of energy by adding raisins to the mix.

Embrace Your Cheesiness
Behold the power of cheese: low-fat dairy revs the metabolism and helps build muscle. Your healthiest bets: yogurt and cottage cheese. Their carbohydrates deliver fast-acting fuel to the system while protein prolongs your energy. Dairy products are also a good source of calcium and phosphorus, two minerals that help the muscles store energy.

Become Whole Again
It’s no wonder we crave carbs when wiped out: simple carbohydrates like sugar hit the bloodstream in a lightning-fast 15 minutes. But without fiber to slow it down, we crash and burn soon after. A better choice: complex carbs like oatmeal, or whole-grain bread, crackers and cereal. Look for 3 grams of fiber per serving. Make your energy last even longer by adding peanut butter to your toast and crackers, or milk to your oatmeal and cereal.

Brew the Right Thing
Dehydration is one of the most common fatigue-causing culprits, because most of us don’t realize when we need to replenish our fluids. If you wait until thirsty, you’re already partially parched. Supplement your water habit with green tea. A cup’s worth of caffeine will give you a gentler lift than coffee. Plus, exciting new studies show the miracle brew can boost your metabolism, while its catechins may even help burn fat. Sweeten with honey for a faster fix.

Go Deep C Diving
There’s nothing like the smell of a freshly peeled orange to wake you up. Citrus and other vitamin-C packed produce, like pineapple, boost production of norepinephrine, a stimulating chemical in the brain. Its sugar content makes fruit a natural energy source. Maintain your stamina by adding a bit of protein, like cheese or yogurt.

Fishing for Energy
There’s nothing fishy about eating salmon to combat exhaustion. Almost all of the vitamins and minerals you need to promote mental alertness and a sense of well-being are inside this super food. As a bonus, omega-3 fats stimulate the release of leptin, a hormone that regulates your metabolism and controls your appetite – making you much less likely to snack after a sleepless night.

Have a Cow
Turkey, chicken and lean cuts of meat are loaded with tyrosine, an amino acid that can help you feel more alert and focused. If you’re not getting enough meat, and you feel yourself dragging through the day, you might be low in iron. Pump up your levels with chicken legs or lean beef. For an energy-boosting lunch, try a spinach salad with walnuts, turkey, blue cheese and dried cranberries, or a turkey and swiss sandwich on whole-wheat bread.

Tags: cravings, diet, energy, fatigue, sleep, tired mom, weight gain

6 Ways to Avoid Holiday Party Diet Disasters

Originally published on iVillage.com

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, we spend more time consuming cocktails than Chris Parnell does macking on Magnolia.

While we can think of diet-friendlier ways to celebrate the holidays, the season would be a lot less merry (think ho-ho-hum) if it weren’t for the mulled wine, eggnog and grog that accompany end-of-year celebrations.

According to Elizabeth Somer, MA, RD, author of 10 Habits that Mess Up a Woman’s Diet, alcohol comes in just behind fat in caloric density, weighing in at 7 calories per gram. Even denser is the amount of festivities squeezed into the month-long holiday season. Trying to navigate the party circuit with any amount of zest, says Somer, is likely to leave you with a 10-pound weight gain, a serious hangover, or both.

So what’s a party girl like you to do? Sip selectively.

Make friends before drinks
First and foremost: Understand that being the life of the party does not mean being the hostess with the mostest liquor in her bloodstream. “Know your limit in drinking, and don’t go over it,” says Leil Lowndes, author of How to Be a People Magnet and How to Talk to Anyone about Anything. “It may make you feel good at the moment, but you will suffer later.” Instead, she suggests having a pre-fete game plan to keep you occupied. “Set specific party goals like meeting three new people. Then, find a sociable friend to introduce you,” says Lowndes. By making the rounds before grabbing a round, you can easily pass an hour swept up in conversation. The longer you can delay the first trip to the bar, the better your chances for keeping a steady pace throughout the evening.

Mix it up
Avoid a calorie binge by mixing up your beverage lineup. “Balance every alcoholic drink with a glass of water,” say Heidi McIndoo, MS, RD, LDN, author of The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Superfoods. If flitting about the floor with a goblet of water in hand isn’t your idea of merriment-making, McIndoo suggests alternating your cocktail of choice with calorie-free drinks, spritzers or coolers. Make your own by mixing wine with tonic water. “You’re cutting calories but still have a drink,” she says.

Shake the snack attack
“Alcohol is a triple whammy,” says McIndoo. “Not only are there the calories from the alcohol, there are the calories from the mixer — be it juice, soda or even cream. Plus, alcohol often makes us hungrier, so we end up eating more when we drink, meaning even more calories!”

Don’t show up to the party ready to shovel every hors d’oeuvre within arm’s length into your mouth. “The combination of an empty belly and a buffet makes moderation virtually impossible,” says McIndoo. Instead, put something healthy in your stomach before going out. “Have half a sandwich, a small salad or even a handful of nuts before you go. That way, instead of gorging the minute you arrive, you’ll be able to pick and choose what really looks good to you and be better able to eat small amounts.”

Stage a hunger strike
Alcohol has this tricky way of making us think we’re hungry all of the time. When we drink, it increases our body’s production of saliva and gastric acids. This signals to our stomach that food is on the way. The walls of our stomach constrict in an effort to mix and digest the food, but when no food is actually en route, the contractions create a rumble that makes us think we’re hungry — even when we’re not. The result: calorie overload. “We eat as much as 200 extra calories during a meal when accompanied by one alcoholic drink,” says Somer. By already having something in your stomach when you arrive, you’ll be less prone to mistake the false alarm for true hunger.

Don’t chew the fat
If you are going to nibble, do not consume fatty foods, warns Somer. While this is always sage advice, it is especially pertinent when you’re sipping a cocktail or two. Alcohol is, according to Somer, the least filling of all calorie-containing substances. It is also one of the quickest to vacate the premises. While that may sound like a good thing, think of it this way: Your alcohol-packed beverage is cutting to the front of the metabolism line, leaving other, fattier foods stuck at the back, where they are less likely to be burned off and more likely to be stored as body fat. Steer clear of fat calories so you won’t have to say so long to your hard-earned smooth, supple thighs.

Tags: alcohol, calories, diet, holiday, party, weight loss

How to Start a Fitness Routine

by Jill Provost

Published on iVillage.com, 3/2/10:

Maybe it’s because your stationary bike has morphed into a clothesline or because the only time you break a sweat is while eating jalapeno poppers, but you’ve decided it’s time to get off your butt — pronto. “Getting yourself in motion is the hardest part,” says Jessica Smith, certified wellness coach, personal trainer and creator of Livinginthin.com, a Web site about nutrition and fitness. But don’t let that deter you. Once you get moving, you‘ll experience just how good it feels to exercise, and the momentum will keep you going. Here’s how to ease into an exercise program that you can stick to—and enjoy—for life.

Step One: Pencil It In

Showing up is the most important part of starting a new routine. You’ll always have an excuse to skip a workout. Make it non-negotiable by putting it in your calendar, like you would an important meeting, says Clavel Lazarre, certified personal trainer and owner of the Cobble Hill Fitness Collective in New York City.

Even if you’re really dreading it, go anyway. Tell yourself that you only have to exercise for 15 minutes, says Smith. “Once I get going, I usually don’t even notice the clock. But some days, 15 minutes is just enough, and that’s okay, too.”

Read more: http://www.ivillage.com/ease-it/4-b-121183#121184

Tags: fitness, iVillage

Cell Phones and Cancer: It’s Worse Than We Thought

Jill Provost

Published on iVillage.com, 10/27/10:

If you’re like us, you wake up to your digital alarm clock, listen to the radio or TV while getting ready for work, spend several hours a day in front of a computer at the office and always have your cell phone strapped to your side. And even if you’re not a slave to technology, it’s hard to escape it, with cell phone towers at every turn and Wi-Fi in every bookstore and café.

According to the new book Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn’t Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution, being so connected comes with a price. Author Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D, who also wrote the New York Times bestseller The Fat Flush Plan, says exposure to all this technology could spell trouble for your health– including a higher risk of brain cancer.

Read more: http://www.ivillage.com/cell-phones-and-cancer-risk-its-worse-we-thought/4-a-293224#ixzz13ayRMcg7

Tags: Ann Louise Gittleman, brain cancer, cell phone, electronics, EMFs, environmental health, pollution, Q&A

My name is Jill…

…and I’m a hypochondriac. I became a health editor probably for the same reason some people go vegan, to live a healthier than thou existence: “White rice? Do you really expect me to eat white rice? Why don’t you sprinkle arsenic on my spinach while you’re at it?”

It was always gratifying to read the latest nutrition headlines and be able to say, “oh, yeah, I’ve been doing that for ages.” Blueberries in the morning with flaxseed and Greek yogurt. Salad with chicken, apples and avocado — no dressing — for lunch. Fish, fish and more fish for dinner. You get the point. But lately, every health article I read is scaring the hell out of me.

First there was the article, originally titled A Deadly Twist, in Self magazine that chiropractics can cause arterial tears and strokes. Then, I came across the other article in Self saying the same thing can happen from yoga. Would you care to guess what happened the next time I went to my gym class and overdid it on ab work? I thought I was having a stroke. My stroke triggered a panic attack, which resembled all the signs of a stroke, thus pushing me further and further into the I’m Dying abyss. Good times.

After I finally convinced myself that my symptoms could be caused by nerves (thank you, John Sarno), I looked up panic attacks online. Bad, bad idea. Did you know that panic attacks can actually raise blood pressure and trigger all sorts of cardiac events, like, for instance, a stroke?

So now, I have been carefully monitoring what articles I allow myself to read. Lyme disease? Too fucking scary and impossible to avoid. Basically, if my eye is drawn to the article out of morbid fascination, I have to push myself on to the next article. While it might help my emotional well-being, it really is doing nothing for my job as a health writer. Check back in a year, and please feel free to stab my eyes out if I’m writing about the best way to apply lip gloss (which, fyi, increases your susceptibility to skin cancer. Not that I’m paranoid or anything).

Tags: chiropractic, cyberchondriac, health editor, health news, hypochondriac, self magazine, stroke, yoga

All Part of a Healthy Breakfast

In an attempt to pretend I’m eating a healthy breakfast, I have added almond slices and flaxseed to my Cookie Crisp cereal. It’s kind of like saying “It’s okay that I had sex with a prostitute, honey. I used a condom.”

I am seriously delusional.

Anatomy of a Workout

Me as I dragged my ass down the street to Crunch yesterday: Dear gym, I hate you. Lovelessly and resentfully, my body.

Me upon entering the gym: Why is there always a line at the counter? Of course the desk girl doesn’t have any towels out. “Can I have a large towel, please?” Instead of handing me one of the nicely folded towels that she has stacked behind the counter, out of reach, she wades through the basket of unfolded ones and pulls out a small one. Whoops. Puts it back. Reaches in again. Pulls out another small one. Puts it back in. Reaches in a third time. Pulls out another small one. Are you for real? Then I realize what she’s doing. Are you so lazy that you can’t give me a towel that’s already folded because it takes away from the work you’ve done? God forbid you have to FOLD AN EXTRA TOWEL on my account. We are at a gym you know. Jesus, burn a calorie or two. Grrr. Fourth time in, she pulls out a large one. Halle-fucking-lujah. I snatch it and storm off. Uh-oh, am I becoming one of those self-important New Yorkers for whom everything is an inconvenience? Fuck.

Oh, hooray. Machines galore. But, damn, those ellipticals are pushed closely together. I’m going to be rubbing sweaty elbows with the girl next to me. I sigh and hop on, hoping the peeps on either side of me don’t reek of b.o.

Four minutes in: Grumble. Booooooring. Is this almost over?

Six minutes in: Okay, this isn’t so bad. Wait, I’ve only been on here for six minutes? Fuck. I’ve got so much stuff to do.

Eight minutes in: Oh, hello, body, is that you? I didn’t recognize you without the couch attached to your ass. I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you.

Ten minutes in: Man, I can do anything.

Twenty minutes in: Fuck you, world, ain’t no one going to hold me back.

Thirty minutes in: Whoo! I am one strong motherfucker! I’m never getting off this machine. Just try and make me. Uh-huh, that’s what I thought. I wouldn’t want to mess with me, either.

Thirty-five minutes in: Take that (gasp, gasp), stress… (gasp). I showed you.

On the way home: God, I love exercise. What would I do without it? Note to self: remember how good it feels to work out.

Next day: I am so not going to the gym today. No, no, no, you can’t make me. I’m in control of my body and I say no, I’m not going.

On the way to gym: I hate you, gym. I. Hate. You.

Tags: exercise, gym, motivation, workout

Hmm, Maybe Heroin Will Increase My Lifespan

Found on the clinical trials site, Centerwatch.org:
Trial Information
Summary: Healthy users of heroin (men and women, age 21-45 yrs) needed for 4-8 week inpatient study of medication effects at the NY State Psychiatric Institute.

Earn between $2100 and $4280. Call the Substance Use Research Center at (212) 543 6243.

Contact: New York State Psychiatric Institute

Does anyone else find this puzzling? Maybe even, oh, I don’t know, oxymoronic? Last time I checked, heroin users aren’t exactly the picture of health. Either all of those after-school specials were wrong, or this is the Dept. of Psychiatry’s polite way of saying, “We’d like users who aren’t going to drop dead before the eight-week study is up, and fuck up all of our research. But, please, feel free to feed your habit at our expense, and then promptly keel over when we’re done with you.”

Tags: clinical trials, drug addiction, heroin

“Your Genes Are Not Your Destiny”

So says Dr. Dean Ornish, founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and author of a ridiculous number of not-at-all ridiculous diet and nutrition books. If you’re worried that all of the ailments that plagued your parents will be your fate as well, there’s some good news: we can alter our genes by adopting a healthy lifestyle. In as little as three months, people can deactivate genes that cause a host of diseases, like cancer, inflammation, and heart disease, and activate protective ones. Kinda makes you wonder why we don’t all throw away our doughnuts already, doesn’t it?

In the study, Ornish and his colleagues put 30 men with prostate cancer on a stringent health regimen that consisted of:

• A plant-based diet (fruits, veggies, soy, whole grains), supplemented with soy, fish oil (three grams/day), vitamin E (100 units/day), selenium (200 mg/day), and vitamin C (2 grams/day)
• Moderate exercise (walking 30 minutes per day)
• Stress management techniques (yoga-based stretching, breathing techniques, meditation, and guided imagery for one hour per day)
• Weekly one-hour support group

Why can’t I be the subject of a healthy lifestyle study? Please, somebody force me to do all the things I know are good for me but can’t for the life of me seem to stick with. At least I’m getting 30 minutes of walking in each day, just from living in New York. And, like most New Yorkers, I’m in therapy, so that would probably count as my support group. I take 1 gram of fish oil, and try to eat one salad a day. But the rest I most definitely need to work on.

Last week’s New York magazine detailed the story of a man, Kevin Baker, whose mother came down with Huntington’s Disease, which pretty much devours the brain whole. Since it’s so rare, pharmaceutical companies don’t see any reason to put money behind something that won’t bring them serious profit. Cancer makes money. Huntington’s does not. Anyway, the author found out that he had a 50/50 chance of coming down with the disease, so he decided to get tested, even though there was nothing he could do about it. He figured, I’m so paranoid about it now, I might as well get the test so that I might have some peace of mind. Turns out, he’s got it. It’s just a matter of time before symptoms start to show and the disease ravages his brain.

I can’t help but wonder what kind of effect lifestyle changes might have on diseases like this. Is there any hope for him? What if we could avoid all diseases just by exercising, eating healthfully, and avoiding stress and toxins? It’s like rubbing a genie lamp and asking it to eradicate all diseases, and being told we already have that power. Crazy.

Tags: change genes, dean ornish, healthy lifestyle, huntington's disease, kevin baker

So Long, Buzzkill. Vices Are Goooood

What a glorious, glorious day. “Why?” you ask. Well, as I was sitting in the living room sipping my mega-strong coffee that, as of last night, was freaking me the fuck out, Regis mentioned today’s news that coffee may help you live longer. LONGER. That’s right. And the benefits are even higher for women. Those heart palpitations it gives me? Pshaw, what do I care? According to the HealthDay story in the Washington Post, “The researchers found that women who drank two or three cups of caffeinated coffee daily had a 25 percent lower risk of death from heart disease…than non-drinkers.”

So, take that, livingto100.com! How dare you suggest I cut back on my coffee consumption to add years to my life. So it temporarily heightens my blood pressure and makes me anxious and, all right, maybe a bit combative. It’s what I live for, all right? And apparently, coffee is going to let me live for it even longer. That’s right — the thing I live for is what’s keeping me alive. What a deliciously symbiotic relationship we share. Am I getting hard to follow? Sorry, I’m on a roll. My caffeine is kicking in hard CORE.

But that isn’t even the entire reason why I’m celebrating this morning. Tara Parker-Pope is my new best friend for reporting in her New York Times Well blog that Red Wine May Curb Fat Cells. Really? Oh, say it’s so, Tara. Is there anything red wine can’t do for me? It protects the liver, may prolong life, improves good cholesterol, decreases chances of heart disease and now has “anti-obesity properties?” I think red wine deserves Lucky Charms’ tag line of being “magically delicious.”

Hilarious that TPP, a New York Times journalist, feels the need to report the obvious:

“Whether to add red wine to your daily diet must be balanced against other health risks. For people with alcohol dependency problems, the health benefits of red wine are far offset by the risks of drinking to excess. Excessive use of alcohol can lead to addiction, traffic accidents and potentially fatal medical problems.”

Ohhh. So you mean I shouldn’t stand outside of A.A. meetings and offer people bottles of red wine? There go my plans for this evening. Talk about a buzzkill.

Tags: alcohol, caffeine, coffee, fat, red wine, vices