Wheat Belly-A Practical Application

Posted on July 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Wheat Belly, the book, blog and general term for a distended abdomen caused by wheat consumption coined by Dr William Davis was a thought provoking read and has also been an influence on my lifestyle. I read the book on a sunny pool deck in March. Please see my initial review:

http://trainerspicks.blogspot.ca/2012/04/book-review-wheat-belly.html

The idea of wheat as a food that causes inflammation and other health issues is not a new concept. Many natural health practitioners and nutritionists advocate and prescribe diets that eliminate wheat and dairy to many of their clients. Eliminating wheat has health benefits which Dr Davis makes great claims for in his book. I found his patient examples of the recoveries they experienced from eliminating wheat in the book to be most convincing.
Wheat elimination is great in theory. However, in my observation of the normal population (myself included), it is very difficult to maintain a diet that is completely free of wheat, as it is a food that is everywhere and most of us have foods derived from wheat that we love. For me, the thought of eliminating pizza for life sounds incredibly painful.
The information that Dr Davis provides on the effects of wheat and its modern genetically modified permutation that is consumed excessively is thought provoking. He suggests eliminating wheat entirely and immediately. I did manage to try eliminating wheat for one day after reading the book. I measured my waist the day before and after. Incredibly, I shrank by an inch within that one day and I have never experienced any wheat intolerance symptoms. I have repeated the experiment on quite a few more days and found the same result. To be clear, I simply chose to eat wheat free foods for one single day at a time. Even with this small adaptation, I have noticed that I have diminished sweet tooth inclinations. Having a wheat free day is quite doable, so I’ve been able to incorporate this habit into my lifestyle and so have my clients to positive results.
Changing lifestyle and dietary habits is a challenging task. Therefore, making small highly ‘doable’, almost easy changes is the key to long term success in my opinion. Check out this condensed interview with Dr Davis to get a short, but informative presentation of the book:

If the video or the book piques your interest or healthy eating inclinations, try having a wheat free day first and perhaps more wheat free days will follow from the positive effects you may feel. I suggest choosing foods such as brown rice, potatoes, quinoa, buckwheat, sweet potato, brown rice pasta, millet, barley, polenta, and oats to replace the carbohydrate that you are accustomed to eating in your diet when eliminating wheat for a day. Changing the variety of foods you eat is always a good idea, as it increases the range of nutrients you ingest and it is simply more fun.

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Recipe: Quinoa with sesame, grapefruit and mint

Posted on July 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

This a light refreshing summer dish that I have adapted over the years from the Silver Palate Cookbook. It’s great as a side dish for a barbecue or on it’s own for lunch at a picnic. If you don’t like grapefruit, orange works equally well. The original recipe called for canned mandarin orange segments, which is even more convenient if need be. However, I find there is more zest and nutrition with fresh orange or grapefruit.

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 grapefruit, peeled and segmented into small pieces

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup mint, finely chopped

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 cup walnuts, pine nuts or sunflower seeds

Cook quinoa in 2 cups of water, add salt to taste at the end of cooking and allow to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, mix together quinoa, sesame oil and green onions. Add grapefruit (be sure to add any grapefruit juice that remains on the cutting board for extra flavour) and nuts, mix gently. Serve at room temperature.

 

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Book Recommendation: Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

Posted on July 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Mindless Eating is a book a friend at the gym recommended to me as the most influential book about eating and nutrition she had read. I just finished the book and I found it to be a great read that was humourous, enjoyable and full of great tips on how to eat better that any normal person could use. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn some new ideas on how to eat better, based Brian Wansink’s research on how people eat more than they think.

I laughed out loud when I read about the bottomless soup bowl experiment. Could you imagine sitting at a table eating out of a soup bowl that was rigged to magically refill as you ate without your knowledge? How much would you eat? For me, it would depend how much I liked the soup. Another experiment was with chicken wings and how much more or less people would eat if the bones from the wings were cleared from the table or not. We can guess that a person might eat fewer chicken wings if they had a way to count how many they ate or chose how many to eat before they are served. The title of the book is Mindless Eating, but what I learned was some new ways to be more aware of how easily the environment surrounding us affects our eating choices.

Mindless Eating comes with a eating plan that is a diet that ‘you don’t even know you’re on’, which you design yourself with goals you can easily accomplish.  Making small ‘mindless’ changes to your eating habits can shave off 100-200 calories per day without a lot of thinking or deprivation. This is a concept that I wholeheartedly agree with. I advise clients to make small changes that are sustainable over the long term, so their lifestyle changes slowly and permanently. Brian Wansink makes a great analogy in the book for weight loss. You can run and get there fast, but walking and taking one step at a time is much more effective and enjoyable.  The book is well worth reading,  their website is informative and also has daily goal sheets that can be downloaded:

www.mindlesseating.org

 

 

 

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Fat Loss Tip: Enjoy the weather and relax by a pool

Posted on July 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

This is actually a general health and fitness tip, but most of us have goals of losing fat and this tip applies. I enjoyed a couple hours of sunshine by a pool this afternoon with a good friend. We both commented on how it was an exceptionally pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Most people that we work with experience fairly high levels of stress in their modern lives. Relaxation is always on the list of lifestyle habits that we advise for general health, well being and fat loss. However, this is much easier said than done. One idea to make more time to relax and enjoy life is to make a plan with a friend, much like the way you would if you’re trying to get more active. Most of us have difficulty taking time out for ourselves to unwind, myself included.

Why is relaxation a lifestyle habit that we advise? When we run around all day to accomplish our ever growing to do list, we stimulate our sympathetic nervous system. That is our high gear, flight or fight side. Our bodies need equal stimulus in addition to sleep to rest, relax and rejuvenate, which is what our parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for. When our nervous system is in better balance, we are in better health and everything in our bodies including our minds functions more optimally. When our bodies are functioning in an optimal way, fat loss becomes a natural consequence of exercising, eating well and enjoying life (to put is simplistically).

Enjoying good weather, swimming and relaxing is an activity that simply feels good and is good for you on many levels. Here is a photo of one of my favourite pools that I have experienced some relaxation at for a little inspiration to take some time out for yourself.

 

 

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Recipe: White Bean and Feta Dip

Posted on July 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

I received a recipe for a black bean and feta dip from a client yesterday. She had tried the dip at a party and loved the flavours of feta and mint. I happened to have only cooked white beans on hand, as I prefer not to use canned beans, so I adapted the recipe. I really enjoyed these flavours as well. This dip is a great way to eat some raw veggies.

2 cups or 1 can of cooked white beans (black beans if you prefer)

1 shallot finely minced

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (greek, sheep’s milk is good)

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Salt and black pepper to taste

In a food processor, pulse beans and shallot until pureed. Add feta, mint and lemon juice, pulse until well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

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Posted in Healthy food, healthy recipe, Veggies, Vivian Law

The Best Honey Ever

Posted on July 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

I attended the Terroir hospitality symposium in Toronto this April. Terroir is an exceptional one day event where I learn many new and interesting ideas about food. One of the sessions I attended was about food innovation in a presentation given by Societe Orignal

www.societe-orignal.com

During the session, some original concepts in food production were presented and of course, there was tasting of various items the company sources and produces. Their raw honey was unbelievably delicious, as it tasted of caramel, flowers and a hint of marshmallows as well. The bees that produce the honey are treated nicely to a diet of whatever they wish to eat, which I imagine influences the great taste.

I finally got my hands on this honey today and I love it!

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Book Inspiration: Everything Coconut Diet Cookbook

Posted on June 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Everything Coconut Diet Cookbook was brought to my attention just before Christmas 2011 by a family member who came across it at Indigo books. The diet and the recipes sounded interesting, so I got a copy and read it. I had read another book on coconut and health in 2010 called Coconut Cures by Bruce Fife, which I quite enjoyed as well.  Bruce Fife is quoted as a coconut authority in the Everything Coconut Diet Cookbook.

This book covers the details on how coconut can be used effectively in many ways to help a person improve their health and appearance. Organic, virgin coconut oil being the coconut product that delivers the most health benefits from increasing insulin sensitivity to improving the appearance of skin and hair. Many of the ideas are small changes that many people could implement. I found the book to be an easy, interesting read. The health booster beverage, warm water with lemon and coconut oil http://www.vivianlaw.ca/health-booster-lemon-water-with-coconut-oil/was inspired by this book and Coconut Cures.

A very interesting part of the book is the fairly large list of recipes that incorporate coconut products into many different everyday foods.  I have tried a few recipes so far and have found them to be quite tasty. For example, I love strawberry shortcake and there is a coconut version in this book, and is also gluten free.

The medium chain fatty acids found in coconut are a healthy fat, so this book is a great source of information on how to use this healthy fat for many different health benefits, much like Coconut Cures. However, the Everything Coconut Diet Cookbook provides even more practical applications and interesting recipes. I do not recommend diets at all, but this book is an interesting source of health improvement ideas to try.

 

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Posted in Healthy food, plant food, Review, Trainer's pick, Vivian Law

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Eat Your Greens

Posted on June 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

Most of us would like to lose fat from our bodies in select areas (see hormone fat loss post). I generally find it far too difficult to deprive myself of any food or drink, so I look for other solutions, such as making small changes. The most positive and easy to accomplish is adding more variety of foods or drinks that I consume. One of our favourite fat loss tips that we suggest to our clients is to try eating at least one cup of cooked greens everyday. Cooked green vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, collard greens, kale, cabbage, spinach, rapini, swiss chard, asparagus, dandelion greens, watercress, callaloo, the list goes on.
Most of us including myself need to work at eating a variety of foods to obtain an adequate variety of nutrients. This point is very important especially with plant foods as they all have slightly different phytochemicals and antioxidants that are highly beneficial to our health. I have looked to professional chefs for inspiration with different ways to prepare and enjoy veggies, as they are the experts at making food taste and look good. I have shared a few sources of veggie inspiration in previous posts and I will continue to look for inspiration and encourage veggie consumption.
I was out for dinner twice this weekend and came across restaurants that had great tasting greens on their menu. I would not have eaten that amount of greens if I had not ordered these items. I was at Foxley (a perennial favourite Toronto restaurant) with a friend and we ordered both the green mango seaweed salad and the kale salad. Both were absolutely delicious and a substantial amount of greens. My friend and I both commented that we would not know how to prepare seaweed or kale in such a delicious way, but we were happy to eat it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was also surprised to find great greens at Lil Baci last night. Their tuscan kale salad is exceptionally seasoned and their fresh fava and greens were well prepared and tasty. Again, items I would not have made myself, but I certainly enjoyed eating once on a plate before me. Look on the menu the next time you are out for a meal and see if there is a veggie you are willing to try. You may be surprised that it tastes good and you’re willing to try it again.

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Posted in fat loss, Healthy food, plant food, Recommendation, Toronto, Vivian Law

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How Many Drinks? Count them…

Posted on June 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

My summer drink of the moment is the Grey Goose orange with lime and soda. It is absolutely delicious and it has been brought to my attention that it is hard to stop at just one. I can totally relate to that! Once you have one tasty alcoholic beverage, it is really easy to have more, possibly many more. There is one suggestion I have for everyone who drinks alcohol-count them for yourself.
I started this habit a few years ago and doing so has helped me to learn that there is an upper tolerable limit of drinks I can consume in a week. Beyond that limit, I have discovered through trial and error that my energy level suffers, I feel generally unwell and my exercise performance declines. I believe there is a balance of having fun and staying healthy. It’s a matter of listening to your body.
I encourage everyone to count how many drinks they consume in a week, write it down, monitor how your body and energy level in general feels. This a positive health habit that holds us all capable and accountable for our choices in fun, health and wellness.
If you have goals for fat loss, many programs will suggest you cut out all alcohol consumption. This may work for while, but long term, it is most likely unsustainable. My suggestion is to monitor your consumption weekly, as a lifestyle habit and find out what your upper tolerable limit is. Once you know your weekly maximum number of drinks is, make it your goal and general lifestyle habit to stick with having less than that maximal number.

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Summer Drink: Grey Goose Orange and Soda with Lime

Posted on June 16, 2012 | 1 comment

I consume alcoholic beverages. I quite enjoy them. It is true that alcohol comes in at 7 calories per gram. I don’t tend to count calories, but it is good to be aware of what amount of energy a food or drink provides and make choices based on your enjoyment of the food or drink. The calories in alcohol unfortunately do not provide any nutritional value whatsoever. However, it is of paramount importance to enjoy life. I believe this is why the science seems to indicate that people who drink live longer than people who completely abstain from drinking.
If you choose to drink in moderation, here is a refreshing, sugar free and delicious summer or anytime drink I discovered when a guest insisted on having lime with their vodka soda. I did not think lime would taste good with the orange vodka, and I was incorrect. This is an exceptionally great vodka soda.

1 oz of Grey Goose Orange (or another orange flavoured vokda of your choice)
175mL (3/4 cup) club soda
juice of 1/4 of a lime, or more to taste

Pour the vodka into a low ball glass with ice. Top with club soda and squeeze lime thoroughly. Enjoy.

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