High Fructose Corn Syrup

You may be wondering what is fructose? What is the problem with HF? And how does it affect my health? Fructose is the Sweetener found in fruit; however, when it is taken out of the fruit and added to glucose to make table sugar, HfC syrup, and hundreds of other varieties, it is altered because it no longer has the pulp and fiber to keep it stable, digestible, and safe. When Fructose is stripped from the fruit it becomes a carbohydrate which is metabolized like a poison to the liver. It is metabolized like ethanol, which is alcohol without the buzz. Walk in a public place and look at the people you see and count how many look like they have beer bellies. Well 68% of Americans do and it’s not from beer. So what can we do? First become aware, read labels and ingredients, begin replacing processed foods with fresh foods, start changing your pallet to appreciate natural sweetness. Next, let the food industry know you don’t want sweet, you want healthy. Lastly, be an advocate for your friends and loved ones, educate them about the Health risks including: hypertension, diabetes, obesity, addiction, metabolic syndrome and heart disease. Join me in the high fructose fight. Check out highfructosefighter.com

Weight is About More than Just Eating

I often hear, “I need to get in control of my eating,” from new clients who have struggled with their weight for years. Usually, after a couple of weeks of working together, the client discovers that overeating is actually just a symptom of, “I need to get in control of my life.” Food and health seem to follow the pattern of all other areas of our lives, or better said, food and health seem to follow how we respond to all other areas of our lives.
With the complexity of life what can we do to respond better? What can we do to encourage a healthy lifestyle?

1. Eliminate Negative Mind Chatter: Often referred to as “Mindful Living.” Notice what you are saying to yourself day in and day out. If your thoughts are negative you will look for something to soothe and comfort. Food can be a quick pick me up with a really quick plummet.

2. Maintain Relationships: Keep your relationships healthy and strong. We need real connections that stimulate us emotionally and intellectually.

3. Success: We all need to feel successful. Make goals to ensure you are always progressing. Having a bad day? Make those goals real small and then build on each success.

4. Journal: I hate to even say this because we often envision the boring journal assignment from school. You can journal on a napkin while at lunch. The point is the connection between the tangible process of writing and verbalizing your words engages you emotionally in a new way and problems and feelings become clear.

5. Manage Stress: “Manage” is the key word. If you don’t have a process for managing stress eating can easily become your default. Choose how you will manage stress, find the one thing that helps you consistently and make it your stress manager.

Make your healthy lifestyle about life not food. The shift will give you great results!

How to Stop Emotional Eating When You are Grieving

I wanted to share a great story about a client who found an alternative to eating her way through grief and mourning. This client consented to offer this story in hopes that it will help those who are grieving over one of the many losses we all experience. I’ll refer to this client as Sharon (of course you know it’s not her real name).

Sharon experienced a loss that was not only sad but complicated, frustrating, and far reaching in her personal and extended world. I won’t explain the details, but it was more than she had ever imagined experiencing. Losses come in so many shapes and forms: Death, divorce, job loss, illness, betrayal, and more than could ever be listed.

One morning Sharon found herself in the kitchen picking away at the wonderful chocolate cake a dear friend had brought her family as part of a supportive and appreciated meal. The problem was that Sharon was emotionally eating and headed towards eating the entire cake! Sharon knew this would not heal her heart and remembered her Emotional Ammo, “STOP! What I really need is….” Sharon decided to choose an activity that would raise her feel-good endorphins and actually help herself through her grief.

Sharon, who is a recreational cyclist, decided to choose one bike route that would become her “grieving bike ride”. She chose a route that was challenging for her and ended at the top of a difficult assent. Whenever she was grieving, she would hop on her bike and ride this specific route until she physically and emotionally felt some relief from her grief. Her experience has been life changing and symbolic of her stages of grief.

1. Bike Ride One: Cried the entire ride, actually wailed the entire time, but the physical exertion helped the crying to a crescendo and release; by the time I was to the top of the hill, I felt this huge release, both physically and emotionally.

2. Bike Ride Two: Same course, different experience. I was mad – so mad that my life hadn’t gone the way I had envisioned. Angry adrenaline rush, some pretty intense conversations that I wouldn’t want anyone else to hear. Lots of cursing in my dialogue about how life was unfair. I felt like I could conquer some of my demons when I reached the top of the hill.

3. Bike Ride Three: Felt so blah today. Numb from the pain and frustration. Hate to see my children hurting. Just my luck – a head wind! Slowed me down, way down, just surrendered that it would be a slower ride and a lot more difficult.

4. Bike Ride Four: Starting to like this course. I know when the hard hills are coming and can prepare for them. This feels familiar, not so frightening and overwhelming. Really feel victorious at the top of the hill.

5. Bike Ride Five: Reluctant to go but know I need this today. Oh no! A detour! I can’t handle a detour; I’m use to my course. This is bad for my mental game. I want to turn around; I can’t handle any deviation from what I expected. Hardest emotional day – the detour, the unexpected, life.

6. Bike Ride Six: Fell off and scraped up my leg, hated the music on my iPod shuffle, flat tire.

7. Bike Ride Seven: Went a different route, which I used to consider hard. It was nothing compared to my grieving ride. What a breeze.

8. Bike Ride Eight: So many interruptions. Had to stop at bike store to fix tire, forgot sunscreen, so went back. Had to stop at drugstore for something to eat.

9. Bike Ride Nine: Flat tire again! Called someone to come pick me up.

10 Bike Ride Ten: I’m not crying, not yelling, not scared, prepared for the unexpected, excited to conquer this hill one more time, thinking of everything I can conquer knowing that I can conquer a difficult ride, feel stronger than I’ve ever felt.

Let’s all find the better way to deal with emotions. When it is difficult, choose an activity to represent your hardship, and beat it in a constructive way. No more hurting ourselves with food, or other harmful indulgences!

Ride The Wave

Ride the Wave this Summer!

We often believe that when we hit our healthy weight, we will be free from cravings once and for all. Unfortunately, environmental triggers, physiological triggers, emotional triggers, and addictive triggers will still be hiding around some unsuspecting corner. The problem arises when we feel like a failure simply because we really want to eat that piece of cake or fast food that we know will stimulate the addictive eating area of the brain, sending us into a mindless eating frenzy.

Well, stop the demoralizing mind chatter, and realize that you will never be able to eliminate being exposed to triggers or cravings. The goal is to eliminate the affect and power these triggers have on your actions. Keep building your tools and strength, and you will soon find that desire trumps those cravings and triggers.

I like to compare cravings to riding a wave. They come in big and strong, but when you ride them out, they lose all strength and power. Each time you master a craving, it is like mastering that big wave: You become better skilled and masterful. It soon becomes natural.

Remember, cravings are common for all of us; they are not a sign of weakness or failure. Ride the wave with patience and persistence, and feel your own strength as the wave loses all power.

Memorial Day mind chatter

Next week is Memorial Day, where we honor those who have carved the way, creating the road for the present generation. For many people, Memorial Day is a sad, morbid holiday, which focuses on death and the dead. But for me, Memorial Day is a celebration of hard work and sacrifice – not only of our service men, but all those before us who made our personal lives better. Another reason I love Memorial Day is it kicks off summer! Yea, finally the end of short days and bad weather and the promise of sunny, carefree days of summer.

It is also the beginning of fewer layers of clothing, lots of parties, and the realization that perhaps you are not too happy with what has become of your physique over the winter. So, let’s make a choice. What is your mind chatter going to be? I’m a slob; I can’t go anywhere; I can’t enjoy the fun activities of summer because of my body; I’ve done it again! Or is it going to be: Yea, fresh fruit, in season vegetables, lots of fun movement, and social gatherings that feed me emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Choose the latter; it will make all the difference in your ability to be healthy. Negative mind chatter will always lead you to the quick fix – food. Positive mind chatter will always lead you to healthy choices and a happier life.

This Memorial Day, make a choice. Choose to focus on celebrating life, great sacrifice, and a great life. Kick off the summer with positive mind chatter, focusing on good food, friends, family, and good health!

Don't Fall Into The Diet Trap

The weather is getting warmer and it's time to pull out our summer clothes. What will fit? Or rather, what won't. The temptation to crash diet is strong. You want to look good and feel good this year. Yeah. This will be the season to make it all happen. What new diet programs are out there that you haven't tried yet?

So many of us have fallen prey to the quick fix and false hope of dieting. Perhaps we even lose some or all of the weight we intended. But, the reality is that 92% of people who diet regain every pound they lose. Restricting food makes no sense to our brain, our body or our metabolism. Diet failure is not about a lack of willpower or discipline. Deprivation chemically triggers increased hunger for survival in rebellion against the perceived starvation. It can happen from simply missing a meal. Simply put, we don't fail at dieting. Our bodies are designed to make us fail in order to survive.

A lot of people ask, "Is Totell a diet?" The answer is, "No." Totell is freedom from dieting...freedom from food obsessions...freedom from self-contempt. Our approach is simple, straightforward, and scientfically proven to help you lose weight naturally and permanently. We explain why you overeat which allows us to help you stop. Diets are the problem. Totell is the solution.

Bunny Flop

Yes, I flopped yesterday. Of course eating Easter candy and having a great meal is part of the enjoyment of food and special occasions but I drifted into addictive eating at the end of the day. It was the nestle crunch Easter eggs. It only took four eggs to set off my amygdala deep inside my brain and soon I wanted the entire Easter basket and all of the left-over dessert. The good news is I knew exactly what had been triggered in my brain and what I needed to do to curve the urge to keep on eating. I began looking for non-food activities that would mellow out the dopamine and increase my serotonin naturally, it took about an hour for the addictive thoughts and desires to subside. Yes, I ate too much but I learned more about how much I can eat before the amygdala goes crazy in my mind. Remember we are all different so do your experiments and keep learning more about yourself.

Jana