Hi Reader, After reading last week’s email, Mary sent me this question: “What do you think of the new dietary guidelines?” Oh! I love a meaty question (pun intended, see new pyramid image below). The new upside-down pyramid image isn’t helpful, in my opinion. It’s confusing and puts eaters at increased risk of consuming more saturated fat. The image is misleading and doesn’t align with the actual recommendation of no more than 10% of calories coming from saturated fat. Foods that are only...
about 15 hours ago • 2 min read
Did you have a chance to read the blogs mentioned in last week's email Reader? If you did, you know there’s a distinct difference between desired health outcomes and our intentional behaviors. Health outcomes focus on the result. Intentional behaviors, when done consistently, lead to the desired outcome… ”I want to lose X pounds before summer!” Desired outcome "I want to lower my cholesterol before my next blood draw." Desired outsome Intentional behaviors... ”I want to walk 3 days per week...
8 days ago • 1 min read
"Look at this board," Mary said, staring at the broad, wooden trailhead sign at the start of the Ingalls Lake Trail. "It's like entering the land of No." No campfires at the lake. No camping at the lake. No dogs allowed No firewood cutting If you think January feels like the "land of no" Reader, you're not alone. No more sugar Don't eat after 8 pm Don't eat processed foods After the food and drink free-for-all of the holiday season, many of the clients I've seen this week feel the pressure to...
15 days ago • 2 min read
Confession time, Reader. I used to have a lustful affair with food. My 20s were fraught with food rules and conditions. My healthy eating habits were more about not eating and less about health. During the holidays, I gave myself seasonal permission to eat chocolate, baked goods, and other high-calorie foods sworn off-limits for the rest of the year. From Thanksgiving to New Year's, I'd sneak chocolate toffee bars (recipe below), mini-pecan pies, and chocolate peanut butter balls. I ate...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Did you see the picture from Thanksgiving on Facebook, Reader? How did it make you feel about your body? On a recent call with the Midlife Feast Community, we talked about ways to support self-care and negative body image moments during the holidays. Movement and the mindset are at the top of the list for many Featers. Finding fun ways to move your body this season is a great way to help decrease stress and the critical body image voice. But what if it’s difficult to get in exercise due to...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hey, how was your Thanksgiving Reader? "That's a loaded question," said Liz at the start of our session this week. "What happened?" I asked "I hit a deer on the way to my sister's for the holiday - well, almost hit the deer. I swerved to avoid it, skidded through a ditch, and took out a farmer's fence in the process." "Whoa! Fine for the deer, how about you?" "I'm fine. No major injuries other than a little soreness. My car, on the other hand. Totaled." "And I got a traffic ticket for...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
"It's not Thanksgiving unless you hear that slurrrp, plop as the cranberry sauce exits the can," said one of my grad school housemates. With the rings of the can tattooed loud and proud around the middle of the burgundy-colored jello-like cylinder, that sound was the holiday for her, not in my world. I'm NOT team-canned cranberry sauce. Can it even be called a sauce if you have to slice it with a knife? My culinary dietitian brain exploded when my housemate assured me that the canned cran...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
We’re 2 weeks out from Thanksgiving. How’s your stress level, Reader? I used to get super anxious about Thanksgiving. My dieting mind threw caution messages left and right, like driving through a construction zone that went overkill on the orange barrels with the flashing orange lights. “How many miles do I have to run to burn off pumpkin pie? What if I just eat the filling and not the crust?” “How can I make holiday cookies healthier so I don’t feel guilty about eating them?” “I’ll just have...
2 months ago • 2 min read
"What's wrong with me?! Why can't I get my shitake together? I used to bake the pies, host the party, cook the turkey, and look reasonably put together doing it all, and now? I'm lucky if I remember to take the Costco mac'n cheese out of the freezer with enough time to thaw before my kid gets home from soccer - and don't even look at the pile of laundry and dishes that are mocking me from the corner of the kitchen. I'm tired all the time! I got no more figs to give!" Tell Jess, you can...
3 months ago • 3 min read
"Gah, it's so hard to get my nutrition right these days," Laurie said. "I'm trying to add in more fiber, get enough protein, eat more foods with omega-3s…all the things! But then I just get overwhelmed and I don't do any of it." "Why does nutrition have to be so difficult?" Whoa. That last comment stopped me. Nutrition being difficult is THE LAST thing I want for any woman over 40. Remember. Food should be easy. "Show up. Think about it (but not too hard). And give a shit." - The Bike Guy Hi...
3 months ago • 1 min read