Managing Stress Levels

For many college students, and even adults, the end of the semester and into the holiday season can be a very stressful time. 3 weeks are normally packed with 10 page papers, tests, quizzes, study guides, and final exams. For those out of school, the end of the year is full of end of year reports, reviews and trying to close the books for 2016. Stress may feel like its starting to consume you, but you can control it. Lots of time stress can cause people to eat more unintentionally, get less sleep, and cause loss of focus. But there are simple ways to combat your stress and keep you on a smooth path to reaching your goals. Here are a few simple idea that can help you manage your stress levels-

1. Meditate/Self-Reflection- When feeling overwhelemed and don't know what to do next, take a step back and have a few quiet minutes to yourself. Turn on some soft music, turn the lights down, and breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Allow yourself to drift from your current state to one that is quiet and peaceful. Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth makes you breath slower and helps to lower heart rate. Once you feel yourself getting calmer and relaxed, continue on with your work or studying with fresh eyes.

2. Get Some Fresh Air- When feeling stress or overwhelmed, taking a break and go outside. Going on a walk or just sitting outside in sun reading a book can help you refresh your mind and help you push through the workload. Soaking up some warmth and Vitamin D from the sun can help revitalize your brain.

3. Eating a Wholesome Meal or Snack- When you start to get hungry, reach from nutrient dense foods that will help you feel full and satisfied. Try grabbing some almonds, or carrots with hummus to fill you up with healthy fats, protein and vitamins.

4. Take a Quick Nap- Sleep will help your brain reset and be revitalize to help you power through. Being tired can distract you from being the most productive you can be. Short 20 minute cat naps can provide you with enough rest time to get your through the day.

5. Exercise- Elle Woods from Legally Blonde was right when she said "Exercises releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy!" Exercise can be an escape from all your work and help you clear your mind for a fresh start after. Exercise is also a proven stress reliever!

Remember, all this work and busyness is only temporary!

Eating Well at Your Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and that means lots of family time, and lots and lots of food. But you don't have to be nervous about spoiling your healthy eating habits because of the holidays. You can enjoy all the food and still stay on the right track! 

I won't be having a normal Thanksgiving this year. I am actually meeting my parents and brother out in Arizona for a few days for vacation and to celebrate Thanksgiving. Our dinner is going to be at a seafood restaurant so I don't believe I will be having a regular Thanksgiving meal. However, yesterday my friends and I celebrated Friendsgiving. We made turkey tenderloins, stuffing, green beans, masheb potatoes, and an apple crisp pie. The dinner was absolutely delicious and I am so happy we were able to get together before we all go home for a few days.

If you're still trying to think of things to add to your menu for Thursday, https://diningwithadinergirl.blogspot.com/ has some great ideas and tons of tasty recipes to be sure to satisfy everyone. And she's my mom too!

So now to the good part; how to make sure you're not going to go overboard at dinner.

Let's start at the appetizer- Try everything! Don't feel like you have to limit or cut things out because you're watching what you eat. Get a plate, put a little bit of everything on it and then slowly munch on it 'til dinner time. By putting it all on your plate and portioning it out first, you will make sure that you're not over-stuffing yourself before the main course. And having only a little bit of the heavier appetizers won't throw you off at all.

Main Course-
When selecting your piece of the turkey, go for breast meat. You'll be getting  lots of protein and cutting out the fat that is in the thigh and drumsticks.
Vegetable- It's best to just go with vegetables that were steamed or pan fried. I know green bean casserole is mighty tasty, but it is full of saturated fat and lots of calories. Choosing steamed vegetables will leave you room for other sides and for dessert, where the casseroles will fill you up fast.
Potatoes- If you normally have mashed potatoes and baked potatoes at your feast, choose the baked potato with the skin still on. The skin of the potato is full of vitamins and mineral and fiber too, which will aid in digestion. If you only have mashed potatoes or scalloped potatoes, grab yourself about a fist size worth of potatoes and skip all the butter. Instead of butter, put gravy on them. It is more nutrient dense than butter is, and a lot less fatty and calorie heavy.
Biscuit- If you really, really want to add a biscuit to your plate, try to save it to be the last thing eaten. Use all your calories for the stuff that is nutrient dense, and if you're still hungry at the end, then indulge in the biscuit or roll. They are often high in fat and empty calories, which could have been ate through more vegetables and poatoes.
Stuffing- This is my favorite part of the meal. I love the stuffing my mom makes, especially because she puts sausage and mushrooms in it. Start with about a half a cup on your plate, and if you're still hungry after you finish everything else, go back and get more.

Dessert-
Pie has always been a staple in my house for Thanksgiving, especially apple pie. When cutting your pie, or even piece of cake, cut your piece to about 2 inches wide, or the size of your pinky finger. You can still enjoy your dessert without spending 1000 calories on it!  If you have cookies, limit yourself to about 2 small 2in diameter cookies. You can enjoy dessert and still feel great too.

Basically what I am trying to get at with this post, is to listen to your body. Eat slow and when you start to feel full, stop eating. Your body and brain knows when you've had enough to eat. If you're still hungry after your first plate, grab a little more. Just be conscious of what you're putting on your plate and how much you're eating and then you won't feel bad the next day.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

How to Lighten your Starbucks Order!

Over the past year and a half, when I am home on breaks from school or on summer vacation I work at a local Starbucks as a Barista. With this experience, I have come to learn how energy dense a lot of the drinks are. And when I say energy dense, I mean that a 12 ounce drink can be upwards of 300 calories! Now thats a lot of calroies to be spending on a little afternoon treat, especially if it won't keep you full until dinner time.

One of the beauties of Starbucks is that you can customize your drink anyway you'd like, and I'll make it order! Pretty sweet deal for the customers, especially if they don't like a certain flavoring or milk in a drink. All of the customizations I see, are pretty ingenius. I've had people ask me to make red velvet Frappuccinos, salted caramel mocha coffee, and even froot loops flavored lattes. However, a lot of these customizations add extra calories that can be a burden to the waistline. But they don't have to be! I'm here to show you that you can still have a delicious drink from Starbucks, without ruining all the nutritious eating you've been doing.

First, lets talk about their most popular drinks, besides just plain coffee-Frappuccinos!

-Frappuccinos are by far the most calorie laden item on the menu, but they don't have to be. A standard Frappuccino comes with whole milk, which has 160 calories per 1c and 8 grams of fat. A Venti Frappuccino has more than a cup of whole milk in it! Cut back the calories and fat by asking for it to be made with skim milk or even a mix of skim and 1%. Frappuccinos can also be made with a light base, which makes it blend easier. Switching from the normal Frappuccino base to the light base with cut calories down by a decent margin. Another thing that can help cut sugar content is by either asking for the sugar free syrups for the drink, or asking for less pumps of the syrup. In a large Frappuccino there are 4 pumps of syrup, which is equivalent to 4 tablespoons of syrup. Cutting down on pumps or switching to sugar-free syrups can cut down on sugar content without sacraficing flavor! You can also add protein powder to any Starbucks drink to up the nutrient content and add some fiber to your beverage. 

Next, lets venture into Lattes and Cappuccinos

-Lattes have some similar changes that the frappuccinos do. Lattes are standardly made with 2% milk, cut down on calories and fat by asking for it to be made with skim milk. Flavored lattes and cappuccinos contain the syrups that are made with sugar, like the mocha, vanilla, cinnamon dolce, peppermint, caramel, hazelnut, etc. Most of the syrups previously mentioned also have a sugar-free alternative. Starbucks has a Skinny Mocha, which is made with less sugar but still tastes great. They have sugar-free peppermint during the Christmas season to make great Skinny Peppermint Mochas. Most lattes also come with whipped cream, cut the calories and fat by asking of light whip or no whip at all. The whip usually melts into the drink and you can't really taste it then anyways! Asking for your latte to be iced also helps decrease calorie count because you are getting less milk and sugar in them due to the space taken up by the ice. 

Lastly, Teas and Hot Coffee

-During the summertime, Starbucks offers specialty Teavanna teas (Teavanna is Starbucks tea company). All of their shaken iced teas come with a a base tea of either, Black Tea, Green Tea or Passion Tea (which is their herbal tea). When ordering a tea, they will automatically sweeten it because that is the standard. If you're looking for something less sweet, ask for less pumps of classic syrup or flavored syrup or no syrup at all. You can also get lemonade mixed in with the tea, which will raise sugar and calorie content. If you really can't go without the sweetener or lemonade, ask for less lemonade or less pumps of the sweetener. You will still great the same great taste you love, but it'll have much less calories. 

-Hot Coffee does not come sweetened or with milk. If you want to sweeten your coffee up a bit to make it more drinkable, go for stevia or an artifical sweetener. If you want a specific flavor coffee, ask for the sugar-free syrup! When adding milk, add it slow and be sure to stir it and try it before you add more. By stirring it, you make the milk evenly distributed throughout the drink and will have a better idea if you have enough milk or not.  

Craving the full fat and full sugar version of your drink? Go for a smaller size! During the summer time Starbucks offers a mini Frappuccino which is only 10 ounces, 2 ounces less than the Tall. Hot drinks can also be made in the Short size cup, which is 8 ounces! The hot venti is 20 ounces; thats almost 3 cups of your beverage! And the cold drinks are either the 26 ounce Venti-over 3 cups, and the 30 ounce Trenta- about 3 and half cups! 

Next time you visit Starbucks, try to make some substitutions like the ones I have mentioned above. You will still get all the flavor you're looking for, without hurting your waist line or causing a stomach ache! 

Here some examples of how a little change in your order can result in a lot less calories, sugar and fat

 

 

 

All nutritional information was obtained from starbucks.com

Waist Circumference and Your Health

Some people are very fixated on what the scale says. They believe that if they are a certain weight, that they are unhealthy and that they are worthless and need a change. A scale is just a machine. It measures the force of gravity you exert on the earth. A number does not define you. Yes, I believe that everyone should live healthy and active lifestyles, but you don't need to tie a number to your health. I already know that when I am a practicing dietitian, I will not be weighing my patients unless it is absolutely necessary. People fear going to the doctor because they do not want to know what they weigh or what a doctor will say about their weight. We can make changes without tying a number to ourselves. By simply focusing on our eating and health habits, we can achieve goals. I personally do not step on the scale unless I absolutely need to. A better way to gauge health is to do waist circumference. Women should strive to have a waist circumference of 35 inches at most and men should have a waist circumference of 40 inches at most. Waist circumference can be a good predictor for being overweight and obese, and can help dietitians predict if you more likely to develop a disease. There are two main types of adiposity, Central adiposity and Gynoid adipostiy. Central adipostity is excessive amounts of fat around the abdominal area. When there is a significant amount of fat in the abdominal region, there is a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Less harmful but still bad is Gynoid adipostiy. This is where fat deposits around the hips and glutes; less harmful but still an issue. These two types help dietitians and physicians to describe where fat is gathering and storing on the body. Gauging waist circumference and adipostiy type can help you and a dietitian figure out an action plan to achieve your goals and become healthier.  

         
Want to figure out how healthy you are without stepping on the scale? Try measuring your waist circumference and figure out where you stand! Need help reaching your goals and making a change? Message me and we can get you on the right track!

A Workout For You!

As promised in my last post, today I am sharing my personal workout routine. For a while, I would find workout routines that would look interesting on Pinterest and from Women's Health Magazine, but I realized that they weren't working the best for me nor they weren't targeting what I wanted to work on. We have been learning in my weight lifting class about program design and how to make an effective program for a variety of clients. My own personal goals are to Increase Strength and Tone a bit. If you have the same or similar goals as I do, I highly recommend giving this workout a try. I've been doing it for the past two weeks and I feel great and am starting to see some great results! Cardio is to be done 4 days of the week for only 30 minutes each day. I recommend doing 15 minutes of moderate cardio before starting the exercises and then doing the last 15 minutes of cardio after the exercises are complete. The cardio in the beginning helps to warm up the body and muscle to perform the exercises, and the 15 minutes of cardio at the end helps to decrease the likelihood of soreness the next day. The cardio can be walking, jogging, biking, the elliptical, the stepper machine or anything else that will boost your heart rate. Mixing cardio and weight training exercises helps to tone the body and burn fat, while promoting muscle growth and strength. Be sure to refuel after your workout with a good dose of carbohydrates and proteins to replenish your energy stores and support muscle growth and repair. My go-to post workout snack is always a big glass of skim milk and a piece of toast with peanut butter! If you're interested in getting a workout customized to your goals, message me with your goals! Happy Sweating!

DAY 1
Back and Biceps	SETS	REPS
Bicep DB Curl	4	12
DB Hammer Curl	4	12
Cable Curls	3	10
Incline Bench Curls	4	10
Bicep 21s	3	7
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns	4	12
Narrow Grip Lat Pulldowns	4	12
Bent Over Barbell Row	4	12
Seated Row	4	12
Supermans	3	12
30 Minutes of Moderate Cardio

DAY 2
Legs	Sets	Reps
Smith Machine Squats	4	10
Smith Machine Hack Squats	4	10
Leg Press	4	10
DB Side Lunges	3	12
Russian Split Squats	3	12
Goblet Squats	4	12
Seated leg Curl	4	10
Leg Extensions	4	10
Hip Abductor	3	15
Hip Adductor	3	15
Seated Calf Raises	3	15
Stiff Leg Deadlifts	3	15
Standing Calf Raises	3	15

DAY 3
Chest and Triceps	Sets	Reps
DB Chest Press	4	10
DB Flies	4	12
Incline DB Chest Press	4	10
Incline DB Flies	4	10
Decline DB Chest Press	4	10
Overhead Tricep Extensions	3	15
Skullcrushers	3	12
Rope Tricep Pulldowns	4	10
Tricep Kick Backs	4	10
Bench Dips	3	15
30 Minutes of Moderate Cardio

DAY 4

OFF

DAY 5
Shoulders and Abs	Sets	Reps
Military Overhead Press	4	10
Lateral DB Raises	4	10
Arnold Press	4	12
Upright Rows	4	10
Farmers Carrys	4	20 sec
Bent Over Rear Delt Reverse Fly	3	12
Russian Twists	3	40
Leg Raises	3	15
Weighted Decline Sit Ups	3	20
Reverse Cruch	3	15
Oblique Crunches	3	20  Each Side
30 Minutes of Moderate Cardio

DAY 6
Total Body	Sets	Reps
Jumping Jacks	4	20
Burpees	4	10
Kettle Bell Swings	3	15
Single Leg Dead Lift	3	12
Squat with Upright Row	4	12
Box Jumps	3	15
45 Minutes of Moderate Exercise DAY 7 Off Try this program and tell me what you think!

Motivation Monday

No one said reaching your goals, whether fitness and health or not, was going to be easy. There will be times where you feel like giving up and that you have to go back to your old ways but you can push through and achieve your goals. Everyone is looking for the quick fix to weight loss or the quick fix to eating healthier or working out more. There are thousands of posts on Pinterest that  say that they can help you lose 10 pounds in a week. As previously talked about in another post (http://theroadtobeinganrd.blogspot.com/2015/12/pinterest-diets-and-detoxes.html) , these diets and tricks really only have you lose water weight which is easily gained back. They don't teach you healthy habits or help you make lifestyle changes. Making small changes to your daily routine can help you change your life! You don't have to completely cut out your favorite food from your diet or change the way you eat all together. You have the power and the means to control what you eat and how healthy you are, you can take this information and apply it to yourself or you can just keep it in the back of your mind. Once you start contemplating making a change, you're already on your way to make that change and better yourself. Getting discouraged at some points is only part of the process. Believing in yourself and having a solid support team behind you; friends, family, significant other, coworkers, medical teams, can make you successful and stay on track with your goals. Surrounding yourself with positivity and support can only add fuel to your desire. So whenever you're down on yourself and feeling like that you're having trouble reaching your goals, look within and find that fire you had when you decided to start the journey and the process. You've got this!

Next post will feature a workout program and workout help!