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"How to Avoid a Post-Thanksgiving Hangover" by Hirstina Byrnes of 24/7 Wall Street features comments from your dietitian, Kayla Fitzgerald. Note that any press we are associated with may have their own opinions that do not align exactly with our philosophies, and any comments from Nutrition Rites are to shed positive light on the benefits of well-balanced nutrition. Tip: “Instead of trying to make the foods we eat on special occasions healthier, we like to focus more on eating well on all the other days of the year and allowing yourself to enjoy your traditional holiday meals without feeling guilty,” Kayla Fitzgerald, a registered dietitian and nutritionist at Nutrition Rites, a nutrition counseling center in Charleston, South Carolina, said.
For the full article visit: https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/11/02/how-to-avoid-a-post-thanksgiving-food-hangover/
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I love my crock pot. I love it so much that I haven't even made myself get an Instapot yet, and that's saying a lot! Some of the perks of a slow cooker include time saving (e.g., dump and go or prep ahead), cost reducing (e.g., tenderizes less expensive cuts of meat) and health boosting (e.g., homemade vs. takeout) benefits. Some of my favorite recipes: Tip: Brighten up your meal with a fresh side salad of the same flavor profile (e.g., a Southwest salad would be nice with the taco soup). If you're a seasoned pro and want to up your game, check out this great article by @Today for some great tips on maximizing the benefits of your slow cooker. Frankly, I'm usually too busy to even sear the chicken thighs before I dump them in! That's the best thing about the slow cooker...it's ability to be so forgiving. Have a 2-qt crock pot? Get it out of the cabinets and put it to use one of these ways:
We love this time of year just as much as the next person...except that we love it more! Back-to-school for dietitians means we get to use our knowledge base and creativity to the max. Back-to-school is also a time where we get, at least for a couple weeks, constant satisfaction as we help others tackle lunch packing. Check out some of our quick tips below.  Show some love to a few different food groups in your lunch. This will help to fuel your body for the rest of the work or school day. To the left, we have fruits + veggies + protein + grains. Even the lunches pictured are incredibly simple (which is a tip in-itself), it is key to:
Another key: Commit to dividing your container. Whether you invest in something like an OmieBox (keeps colds cold or hots hot) or go simple like we did with our Tupperware and silicone cupcake molds, having multiple sections gears your brain towards adding those varied food groups. There's something about the combination of the different food groups that not only makes the meal visually appealing, but that also aids in digestion and other positive metabolic benefits.  Overall, the meal should also be pretty satisfying. Enjoy!   Adding a new dietitian to the team is a wonderful thing for our clients! Here's a bit more on RDN Kayla Fitzgerald, Q&A style.
1. How did you get into dietetics?
I did some grueling product testing this weekend just for you. Here are my thoughts on these trendy "fit wines." (This one caught my eye through a Whole Foods email ad campaign.)  First of all, I don't drink wine to be "fit." So...the concept in itself is kind of lost on me. More so, the runner on the label is kind of a turn off. For me, I don't necessarily want to be reminded of the gym while I'm enjoying my glass of Chardonnay. For you, though, I went through with this experiment and tried it anyways. The results...I kind of liked the wine. It is not very "full bodied," which I prefer, so I would not buy it again for the purpose of enjoying a glass of wine. All in all, I figured I'd be giving this product a thumbs down. However, on further thought, there are some real pros to this brand. #1: Fit Vine wines are lower in sulfites (they are filtered out). Many of my clients decrease headaches, migraines, acne, bloating, and more by watching their sulfite intake. #2: I would almost never make a drink like a Sangria (they are super high in sugar and I prefer to eat vs. drink my calories). Because this particular Chardonnay was so light (and about 30 calories per 5oz less than traditional wines), it would be an awesome ingredient to a wine spritzer or Sangria (like in this recipe from Emma Chapman). Enjoy! (responsibly, of course) PROS:
One thing almost every client and I discuss is the importance of sitting down to a completely built plate each time they eat. I explain how just the act of seeing a complete meal can have an effect on how satisfying it can be. This piece of advice isn't just from gut instinct (although, when I take my own advice, it works). It stems from research that indicates how both hunger and the feeling of being satisfied are linked to our perceptions of our meals. Here's the example the study gives:
References
 Tim Church has over 20 years of experience in the fitness and health industry. Besides traveling the world to educate other personal trainers, he also actively coaches a variety of clientele (e.g., from locals like you and me to celebs who make Charleston one of their routine destinations).
Tim has offered to help me add a little variety to the information I "dish" out to you. His ingredient of choice is physical activity. The recipe for the day is called FITTE. Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type, Enjoyment. Tim's best advice is to make the "F" and the "E" the foundation of your routine. If you enjoy the exercise, the frequency is more likely to be established. Everything else falls into place (between the F and the E). Tim talks my language. "It's like a good chili," he says. "Once you get the base, each cook can add their own spice and variety." This is what makes it feel personalized. On enjoyment: Start with what you're good at first. Go to the low hanging fruit. Start with your strengths. For some, power is key. For others, slow and steady might be the ticket. Also, start with people you enjoy. This is tried and true advice. When someone is waiting on you, you're more apt to show up. On frequency: Tim's rule is to start with more than 50% of the days of the week. This means 4 days. If this number of days bogs you down, don't sweat (hehe). Short durations are okay (as little as 15 minutes per day can make a difference). Heck, once you talk yourself into 15 minutes, 30 minutes blows by. One key to frequency is having a 10 minute back up routine on hand for the days that just seem to absolutely turn upside down. This is just like having that back up Larabar or almonds in your bag in case you get stuck and need that nutrition. Even if you're a seasoned athlete and are making it to the gym, there are those days when you're fatigued or bored and need this advice. Enjoyment and frequency. Start there. Keep it simple and go. Tim is locally based so give him a call if you need a jump start. You can find him at www.mostfitlife.com. Regardless of what percentage of New Year's resolutions stick, at least they get us thinking. Sometimes they even get us talking and doing new things that can lead to healthier and happier habits. Thinking in terms of habits can dramatically improve your chances of achieving results.
At our home, "We believe that clear thinking leads to good decisions, that good decisions lead to the right habits, that the right habits lead to character, and that character becomes destiny." A quote by Lord Acton, which I learned about in grad school. When the purpose of the goal is clear, good decisions are made, and long term patterns of behaviors are achieved - this is when you will see results. Previously, I've work on kicking bad habits. In particular...diet soda. I tried unmercifully for years (yes, years!) to kick this particularly detrimental behavior. It wasn't until I could clearly think about and understand the reason or purpose of the goal that I was able to commit to removing diet sodas from my diet. The best thing I did was ask myself, "Why is this so hard?" At first, I would just contribute the challenge to how "addicting" diet sodas were said to be. While I did apply some of the rules of addiction therapy, it still wasn't enough. Finally, I realized that the actual, physical prevalence of sodas and their coinciding advertising were the things that fed my behavior the most. I mean, there is a Coke on the end of every grocery store isle, at every check out (even at Marshall's for crying out loud), and you can even order cases on Amazon Prime. Don't forget about commercials, billboards and friends' habits. I literally could not get away from the one thing I didn't want. This was it for me...the "ah ha!" I was being manipulated by these large soda companies to not only consume their products, but to consume more and more of them by thinking that the products were "a part of my life." Once I understood this, I was able to look at my habit from a whole new perspective. I could say "no" to these big corporations. My experience reminds me often of the anti-tobacco commercials, where cigarettes dominate the main protagonists' lives. Of course, I also applied other behaviors that I would naturally recommend as part of nutrition counseling for my own clients (e.g., replacing soda with an alternative). In my case, when the purpose of the goal was clear, decisions to remove barriers were made, and long term patterns of behaviors were achieved - this is when I saw results. At first, I counted each day a success, then months and now years. This is what healthy living is about - making positive changes that last a lifetime. Just thinking about new, healthier goals is good. Start somewhere! What's on my New Year's list for this year? I'll keep you posted. Why not? You know there will be plenty of dips, desserts and sliders. Beyond that, people really do want something fresh for a change. Here are a couple of fresher (and still gorgeously delicious) options. Why we love these: Healthy - Fresh - Easy - Quick - Colorful/Beautiful (AKA appetizing)
Most of the time, we think homemade means hours and hours of difficult prep and cooking. On the good days, though, I can create a homemade meal in what feels like minutes. I literally make myself stop and apply the knowledge that I do have regarding food and the kitchen. Sometimes I lean on what I learned from my mother in the kitchen, and other times I rely on Google. Whoever you are, there's a base of what you know to prepare. Take that knowledge and commit to applying it the best you can. You might be surprised by the results. Example: Chicken and Rice Soup I haven been wanting to use up some of the things in my freezer. Specifically, leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. I kept thinking that homemade chicken noodle soup sounded good. The best thing I did to accomplish such a delicious meal was to bucket and break up the steps. Step 1/Day 1: Thaw the turkey in the refrigerator (I did this over the weekend). Step 2/Day 2: Dice carrots and celery, sauté with seasonings. Shred chicken. Step 3/Day 2: Properly store each of the major ingredients. Step 4/Day 2 or 3: When I'm ready, I dump in the stock, the rice (I didn't have egg noodles so found an alternative recipe) and already cooked carrots/celery/chicken. Lesson Learned: I have to do some of the cooking steps ahead of time so that I can quickly assemble later (in 15 minutes or less). Why? I have two kids under the age of 5. There's not a ton of joy in boiling water on a hot stove while being ran over by a 1-year-old in a walker, while playing Legos with a 4-year-old. Basically, I don't want to have to assemble all ingredients, dice, chop, sauté, and boil all at one time. I want to dump it all in a pot and let it cook on its own. Here are some things I routinely do to cut down dinner cooking time:
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AuthorCheyenne is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist located in the Charleston, SC area. Archives
April 2019
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