Be Mindful/Give Thanks

brian wansink, phd who wrote "mindless eating" has a new book titled "slim by design". since i am interested, as many of you are, in mindfulness, design and slimness i thought i would check it out.  he writes on how to redesign the main locales in which we encounter food-our kitchens, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. -to promote healthier, mindful eating that may also lead us to being slimmer. one of his main ideas is that it is easier to change our environments than to change our minds.
     some of his ideas, based on research, should be familiar. here is a selection of some of his main suggestions.*

• willpower alone does not work for most people with 75% of dieters giving up in the first month of their diets. small changes that you can live with work best for a steady weight loss. 
• don't hang out in the kitchen! the only food on your kitchen counters should be a big bowl of fruit. this is basically the out of sight out of mind rule and he also suggest using this rule in arranging your cabinets, pantry and frig. wrap that leftover piece of pecan pie in aluminum foil not clear wrap so that it's not staring at you every time you open the door
• use smaller plates! his research also indicates that if the plate is close to the color as the food that is on it that we will eat 18% more food. i'm not so sure that i believe this one.
• speaking of color-the best kitchen colors are mid tones-not too dark nor too light (although white kitchens seem to be making a comeback lately). ok but we are not supposed to be hanging out in the kitchen anyway
• if you have a dining room and use it, dim the lights and have soft music playing. it should slow everyone down giving our brains a chance to tell us when we are full
• of course no bread at restaurants but always get water even when having wine or a cocktail
• and these are my tips-many times when you think you are hungry what your body needs is water so give it what it really needs. and if you are not hungry enough to eat a piece of fruit guess what, you aren't hungry- you're doing mindless eating and it probably has a lot of calories!

    so you get the picture. many of us are so rushed, distracted and/or multitasking that we are not mindful when we eat and we should try to be. a good time to practice mindfulness would be this thursday-slow done and be thankful for all that we have. happy holiday!

*if you're interested in promoting change in your workplace or children's school i suggest you take the time to read the book.

Hungry?

recently some friends and i were commenting on how we feel hungry all the time! and not, it seems, hungry for more apples or carrots but more for brownies or mashed potatoes. maybe you've been feeling this way, too. so what's going on?
     it is not our imagination, we do tend to eat more in the winter-200 more calories a day on average- with most adults gaining 1-2 pounds over the winter. that wouldn't be so bad if the weight were lost in the spring but many times it just adds up with many 50 year olds being 30 pounds heavier that they were in high school-not a good thing.
     there is debate on why this happens but it is probably a combination of factors. if you think about evolution we needed extra calories to get us through the winter when food might be scarce. the colder temperatures in winter (unless you head down south) drop our body temps which signals our brains to tell us to warm up and one of the fastest ways to do this is to consume carbs and sugars that "heat up" the body quickly. this in turn can create that spike in insulin that just makes us crave even more calories. carbs and sugars are not in  the comfort foods category for no reason. we feel better after eating them as they make our serotonin levels rise. another factor is that many of us exercise less in the winter causing our serotonin levels to drop. i think we can see what is happening here.
     it's also harder what with less sunlight, holiday parties, snow, and/or family expectations to not give in to all the stresses and food treats that are more common this time of year. but be aware-try to keep up with exercise and if you are feeling hungry or moody try having a snack containing fiber and some protein rather than just empty calories-as comforting as they might be. you might think so but remember that the third cookie or second piece of pie will not taste any better or make you much happier than the first!

Number 8-Best Classic Exercises

counting down-hope you have been doing some (all!) of these best classic exercises.* when i started with this exercise-the triceps dip, also called the bench dip- i could do maybe 2! triceps make up 66% of the backs of your upper arms. obviously named as there are 3 muscles that make up the triceps, they are especially important when lifting heavy objects. this exercise also works your core-an added benefit. all you need is a strong chair, bench or i even use my coffee table.
all you do is sit on the edge of whatever you are using with your palms on the edge and your fingers hanging down. keeping your arms straight and feeling your weight in your hands lift your hips off of the edge while moving your legs out in front of you. your feet should be flat on the floor making a right angle between your hips and body. while keeping your back straight and your head up lower your body down bending at the elbows without elevating your shoulders. press back up again-not with your legs- until your arms are straight and repeat. you will feel your triceps working!
start slowly and build up your strength and number of reps. as with any exercise if you feel any pain you should stop immediately but a little soreness is to be expected especially when using those muscles that have been waiting around for you to pay attention to them.

*although my blog title is "studio 65 functional fitness for women" and is geared towards women's health and fitness issues many  posts, such as those about my ten best classic exercises, and others also apply to men. 

goats head soup

vegans and vegetarians read no further but if you are paleo or just eat meat and/or care about the environment and sustainability then read on.

yes, i am a stones fan but no, their album titled "goats head soup" did not start me thinking about eating goat meat (history on the stones below). like many, my introduction to this meat (people here do consume goat cheese but little of the meat) was outside of the usa. this is not unusual as goat is the most widely eaten meat in the rest of the world. i had a tasty experience my first time with a goat meat stew-not head soup!- in the caribbean although many tourists get turned off by goat that is not  prepared well and ends up dry and tough.

but give it another chance. goats are not raised (yet) in huge factory farms and are not given growth hormones. it has more flavor, more protein and iron than beef (see the chart below), is low in calories and has less fat than chicken. sounds pretty good. but because of the low fat content it benefits from recipes that add moisture during cooking such as stews or curries.

with a little searching you can probably find goat meat in your locale. i'm actually searching right now and plan to experiment with some recipes. will let you know.

 comparisons:                 calories               protein
3 ounces of goat                122                   23 gr.
       "            beef               180                   22
        "     chicken               162                   21

so back to the stones. goats head soup was the stones 13th album and their 3rd number one album. we're way back in the 70"s here. they began recording in jamaica so it is thought that that is where the title came from. but i think there is a little more to the story as goat heads soup is thought by some to be an aphrodisiac.