It’s all in the C!

A few years back I noticed that people kept commenting on how I looked younger in my 30’s than I did in my 20’s. People mentioned that my skin looked so great and what was I doing?

It wasn’t until one of my nutrition classes where that day’s lecture was on Vitamin C that I realized why people had made those comments. Here are some super interesting facts about vitamin C that you may or may not know about — I didn’t and the results really surprised me!

VITAMIN C is

1. A major component in collagen — so basically, your face!
2. An antioxidant — protects against cancer
3. A detoxifier
4. An anti-inflammatory
5. Needed in the body for

• Immune enhancement
• Adrenal function (when adrenals get overworked with stress they can cause a hormonal imbalance)
• Metabolism and thyroid production (hormonal imbalances and the inability to lose weight)

FOODS high in Vitamin C:

From High to Low:

• Rose Hips
• Guava
• Red Pepper
• Broccoli
• Cantaloupe
• Brussel Sprouts
• Strawberries
• Kiwi
• Orange
• Lemon
• Tomato

People need anywhere from 200mg-1000mg of Vitamin C per day. Since vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin it leaves the body within a few hours of being absorbed and needs to be replenished. Because I exercise a lot, I know that I need more vitamin C than others. Those who drink alcohol, are stressed out and who smoke also need higher amounts of this vitamin. If I feel like I’m about to get sick, I’ll take a couple of vitamin C tablets that are 500mg each. Or when I remember, I’ll just pop ‘em in my mouth.

Once I realized how important vitamin C is for healthy systemic functioning of the body I started feeling really good about the berries I would eat for dessert at night, the orange I would eat in the morning and the vegetables I would have throughout the day. Now when my daughter (16 months) wants to only eat fruit at a meal I don’t worry that she isn’t eating enough because I know that her body is building new cartilage, cells and bone density and that she needs the vitamin C to make this happen!

ALSO one of the co-factors* of Vitamin C is calcium. Since calcium is found in almost every food that has vitamin C in it, as long as you’re eating whole foods like fruits and vegetables, you’re good to go!!

To look younger — eat FRUITS AND VEGETABLES  as they are also very high in water content. It’s the hydration in these foods that account for one’s face looking younger when consumed in consistent quantities. The vitamin C along with the water content in fruits and vegetables are the main reason for collagen looking tight and skin looking clear!

Your skin is a reflection of your insides

* co-factor def: a substance (other than the substrate) whose presence is essential for the activity of an enzyme

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Sometimes when I run too slow my knees hurt. When I speed up my gait, my knees miraculously stop hurting. Well, its actually not a miracle, its kinesiology.

The gluteal muscles are what stabilize the knee and are also what allow the body to propel itself forward by extending the hip to lift the foot off of the ground (yes, I studied physical anthropology . I always say that if we were meant to run marathons that we would be horses, but nevertheless, people like to run. I do. Sometimes. Especially in the spring. Running is a great way to get in a fast workout.

The inertia of propelling oneself forward (which doesn’t happen as much on a treadmill unless you have the incline on a bit) forces the body to recruit more muscles such as the obliques on the sides of the abs and the abs to help keep your torso up while moving fast.

Running fast rather than jogging slowly is also better for you because it frces the gluts to fire instead of MOSTLY ONLY having the hip flexors lift the legs up to move forward. Since most people have overly- used and tight hip flexors from sitting in front of a computer all day it is highly important to stretch these muscles on a regular basis — especially if you are a runner or a bicyclist or like to do stairs as all of these movements are in the sagittal plane (or front and back plane of motion).

So if you like to run or would like to start to run, here’s my suggestion before you go on one:

1. Stretch your hip flexors like in the photo to the right 
2. Engage your glut muscles in a glut bridge like in this video do 10 reps on each leg and then 10 reps with both feet on the floor. REPEAT
3. Try to run faster than you normally would!

And if you find that you have knee or lower back pain this season, check out this other blog of mine on how foam rolling and stretching can help!  CLICK HERE

Happy Spring!

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As the season for a cold treat springs upon us, I can’t help but see the switch from frozen yogurt to ice cream as a pinnacle in my perspective and relationship towards food. In High School I worked at a (then) cool LA-based frozen yogurt shop called Humphrey Yogart. We did custom blended yogurt with frozen fruits, nuts and candies. Still hands down the best frozen yogurt I’ve ever had.

But since the 1990’s craze of sugar-free, fat-free days combined with thinking about nutrition differently, I’ve decided to make the switch from frozen yogurt to ice cream.

Ice cream has always been my favorite sweet (besides chocolate), but since the 90’s I thought that it was healthier (or really that I wouldn’t get fat) from eating frozen yogurt. So for many years I chose frozen yogurt as a treat. Back in the day it used to be multiple times a week in the spring and summer in NY and I’d buy the hard-packed chocolate sorbet thinking that it was less fat than ice cream. But it was always a (safer) weak substitute for ice cream.

It wasn’t until I was pregnant and allowed myself (for the first time since Jr. High) the luxury of eating ice cream. All I wanted was ice cream and hamburgers. Calcium and iron. Makes sense for growing another human being with bones and blood, huh. So since I stopped going to Yogofina every other week or so (and long ago choosing to make berries and dark chocolate my go-to dessert at night) I’ve realized how much I really don’t like frozen yogurt and that I just ate it so that I wouldn’t have the ice cream guilt I used to get in my 20’s…

These days when I want ice cream (which is probably once every two or three weeks) I have it. I love it and I feel good about giving it to myself because I know that it actually has nutrients in it instead of just sugar. I’ve decided that frozen yogurt tastes like a fake food (unless it’s hard-packed plain frozen yogurt) and it kinda feels like cardboard in my mouth. It’s the calcium in ice cream that I crave and letting myself have the craving is what satiates me. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t go eating a pint of ice cream. However, last night I did buy a pint of Coffee Haagen Dazs ice cream which will last anywhere from 3-5 days. I also had a crazy hard workout today of heavy lifting and it felt so good. I know that my glycogen stores were depleted within 15 mins because I couldn’t see straight. That means I’m burning fat.

So these days I no longer equate eating fat with gaining fat. This concept is outdated and in fact, the American obesity epidemic began after we started omitting fat from our diets only to replace it with refined carbohydrates.

So now I go for the gold.

I give myself what I want as long as its not a regular habit and I fully enjoy it. I don’t workout to eat whatever I want. I workout because it makes me feel good. Eating whatever you want is all relative. I eat hamburgers and ice cream, but not together. I enjoy what I want on a non-regular basis. My go-to is a big dark chocolate bar that I have some of every night and that lasts a week.

Going out for ice cream is so much more fun than going out for frozen yogurt. It took me a long time to get here, but eating ice cream without the guilt is by far my favorite flavor.

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Most people believe that their core consists of the abdominal area. When thinking about your core, imagine the middle of the body as your root system.  The middle of the body, or core, is primarily made up of your abdominals, obliques, transverse abdominus, lower back, glut muscles and psoas muscles.  

Hip strength and stabilization should be a primary focus during strength training.  The hips along with the leg muscles are what drive the most powerful athletic competitions such as Olympic Lifting and Kettlebell Training.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEdA-7ZjIM

In my practice, I find that the gluteus muscles are the most under-emphasized parts of the body. The glut muscles help make up the muscles of the hip and are therefore highly important for functional movement.  Hip strengthening and stability are not part of most people’s exercise routines such as, running, biking, walking, using the elliptical and arm weights.  For this reason, I’d like to share the importance of including hip strengthening and flexibility into one’s workout routine.

First, warm up your gluts with glut squeezes on a stability ball on your head, neck and shoulders in a bridge.  Slowly squeeze your gluts up so that you feel them fire. Try 15 reps and then try bringing one leg up to balance for 10 seconds.  

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For years I was frustrated that I couldn’t lose weight even though I regularly went to the gym, tried not to eat fried foods and didn’t allow myself to eat ice cream. For years almost every single day I thought about my weight and wasn’t happy with it. I constantly felt like people were judging me if I was eating something unhealthy and saying in their heads, “Yeah, that’s why you’re overweight”. I used to do those lemonade diets of water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. That’s all you eat. For 10 days! I did it three times in four years. I think I did it more to believe in myself than anything else. Really I was doing it to lose weight. It didn’t work.

Here is what I’ve learned from helping over 100 people lose weight as a personal trainer.

Either people overdo it or under-do it. By this I mean that people either consume too many calories and don’t exercise enough to burn those calories or they eat too few calories to keep up with their activity level. Both are extremes and the body shuts down or gains weight to stay alive.

Also, the quick diets or bursts of exercise for two weeks you might have done in your 20′s may not work in your 30′s because metabolism slows down and the body learns how to keep the fat just in case of starvation. Losing weight comes down to balance because everyone has different nutritional needs based on height, gender, age, metabolism, muscle mass and activity level. A good rule of thumb is to add a zero to the end of your weight and eat at least that 4 digit number of calories plus 2-300 calories per day based on your activity level.

Sure calories in, calories out is a good place to start since you want to have a balance of calorie expenditure to consumption, but not all calories are created equal. People may not see a change in weight loss because of this.  Feeding your system empty calories is pointless and ultimately will not help you reach weight loss goals. Here is an example of a day in the life of empty calories.

Another reason why people may not lose weight when they think they should is that when people workout they feel that this gives them the opportunity to eat whatever they want. The justification might go something like, “I can eat this. I went to the gym today”.

Losing weight has more to do with nutritional balance and less to do with exercise. People generally have a harder time changing what they eat than exercising. You can exercise two or three hours a day and not lose weight (I’ve seen it). Both of the above examples are extremes and the body is smarter than our thought process. Basically, if someone consumes too many refined carbohydrates or sugar (both equally turn into glucose in the body and the body cannot use all of those empty calories) then the body will store it as fat. Again, the body will hold onto fat if it is not getting enough nutrients. The body is a system that will not let go of fat (survival) unless it is getting what it needs (nutrients).

So here is what I recommend. Try writing down (or email yourself) or use Sharecare (a free website I use for recording your daily food intake) for one week. And this means writing down EVERYTHING. You can think of portions in terms of quarter cups, half cups, cups and tablespoons. Drinks count too as ounces.

Having to write down exactly what you eat makes you more accountable for what you put in your mouth. Also, being able to see what you have actually eaten in one day helps you understand why you may not be seeing the results you want. Eating out makes it difficult to gauge how many calories, amount of fat etc., is in the food (which is why it’s harder to lose weight if you eat out a lot). Try bringing lunch and snacks to work and make your own dinners. You will save a lot of money and your clothes will fit better.

Or here is an even more straight forward plan: cut out all white foods, sugar and alcohol for 2 weeks. This means no white breads or pastas, cereal, alcohol, white rice, pastries, products with sugar in it (especially including High Fructose Corn Syrup) or alcohol. You can eat any complex carbohydrate that is whole wheat or whole grain, whole wheat pasta, brown rice etc. Yes, this is very hard to do. You will probably come to realize how many empty calories you take in on a normal basis.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 piece whole wheat toast, 1/4 tsp butter, 1 breakfast veggie pattie, 1/2 cup greek yogurt, 1 orange (To see weight loss results and have energy throughout the day, eat like a king for breakfast and like a pauper for dinner).

Snack: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 tbsp fresh ground flax seeds, 8oz milk or nut milk

Lunch: 1 cup lentil salad with 3-4 oz organic chicken over 1 cup arugula

Snack: 5-7 strawberries, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 2 tbsp raw almonds

Dinner: 5 oz blackened tuna, 1/2 cup cooked quinoa, 1 cup sauteed kale

By the way, my own adventures of losing the baby weight are going well. I originally wanted to lose 10 pounds. I lost 5 pounds and have taken a break. I still have about 7-8 more pounds to go (I realized my scale at our dojo is a few pounds lighter than the one I used at Crunch for years). I plan on resuming my new goal in June. By the way, I am 5’4″, currently weigh 135 (or 138 depending on the scale) and I’ve lost a lot of my muscle that is seen in the right pic with yellow top. Damn it! But my baby girl Maytal is definitely worth it and you can always build new muscle I plan on gaining 3-4 pounds of muscle back. Also, I’m almost done with school and will be a Certified Nutrition Consultant by fall.

For any questions, leave a comment!

Healthy Eating!

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In our fast-paced society that is based on accomplishments, we often tend to expect more from ourselves rather than accept who we are in the present moment. Unfortunately, I find myself expecting more of myself professionally, personally, emotionally, physically and socially pretty much on a daily basis. This is a heavy load. So these days I’m trying to be easier on myself.

I’m the type of person who learns about life through my body. Before I was able to empower myself with how to sculpt my body through exercise and nutrition, I had a really hard time accepting the fact that my body looked the way it did. I was about 15 pounds overweight and I absolutely hated it. From age 16 to about 30 I wasn’t down with my body.

While I wanted to love my body because UCSC and women’s magazines told me to, I didn’t. I was frustrated and didn’t know how to get the body I knew I could have one day. I always worked out, but I never got the body I wanted. I didn’t know how.

Finally when I was about 28 or 29 I realized that the deep, inner work had to come first. I began to see a pattern that I used food as a friend and that I needed to re-establish a healthier relationship with food. But, on an even deeper level, I had to accept that I wasn’t where I wanted to be before I could move forward into what I knew was possible.

I had to accept my flaws and just let them be there. And to let them be there is what allows us to move forward. It’s the acceptance of whole. It took me so many years (and years of therapy) to figure out that in order to move forward or to change into who you’d like to become, you have to first acknowledge and accept all that you are now. It’s such a hard life lesson. And it is so applicable for weight loss for so many people.

I have very high standards for myself so easing up on myself allows me to have more headspace to just be. It wasn’t until I was able to accept myself for all that I hated about myself that I was able to really change.

Many people view dieting as a temporary, strict regimen that sucks but will be over soon and they will reap the benefits of discipline. Through my experience of helping over 60 people lose weight, I’ve seen that the ones who are successful at keeping the weight off long term are the ones that do the psychological work that accompanies the program. The work is figuring out one’s relationship to food and making it a healthier one. It is also about being able to envision oneself as perhaps a smaller version of oneself.

For so many years I believe that I kept this layer of fat on me as a means of protecting myself from my true potential and also from not getting hurt. It was like a shield to the world that I kept on myself to keep out those who might try to take away my power.

I now feel like my muscles are my source of strength (as I’ve always been muscular) but now I am using the strengths that I always had and letting just them be there. The fat on my body serves no purpose now. Allowing myself to shine has been a great journey.

It all started with acceptance and love. And I’m still working on it

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Curb the carbs and choose the good ones!

The human body needs three macronutrients for survival: carbohydrates, protein and fats. Carbohydrates get a bad rap these days because of highly processed foods.

In human history we were never able to get a super easy burst of energy at every meal. People baked their own breads and goods from scratch. Nowadays, a luna bar is fast and easy to grab while on the run.

Eating refined foods such as white breads, cereal, pastas, cookies, chips, crackers, rice, muffins, scones, bagels and croissants all turn into glucose in the body quickly. Refined foods are called this because the grain from which they come is stripped of its nutrients (including B vitamins and minerals) leaving only the sweet, plain taste of whiteness Ever notice a slight bitterness when you eat a whole grain or whole wheat food? It’s kind of nutty and bitter. Those are the nutrients in the grain.

Refined carbohydrates can be better understood as simple carbohydrates because they break down quickly in our bodies, giving a quick burst of energy that also quickly goes away. Complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat bread or brown rice or quinoa takes longer to break down in the digestive system so it releases energy more slowly. Fiber also typically accompanies complex carbohydrates so that you get fuller faster and everything gets pushed along within the digestive system.

In nature (and before big profit entered into the food industry) carbohydrates are found in vegetables, fruit and grains. Since sugar and carbohydrates both break down into glucose in the body, it is ideal not to have too much of them together at one time. An example of eating too many carbohydrates in one meal could be pasta with sauce, garlic bread and frozen yogurt for dessert. These are three simple carbohydrate foods that together, add up to fat because the body can only deal with so many carbohydrates at a time. Our glycogen stores in our muscles and organs fill up when we have have eaten enough carbohydrates. When we eat too many carbohydrates to the point of our glycogen stores becoming full, the body has no current need for them and sends them on to be stored as fat for later use (in times of starvation etc.) A better version of the meal mentioned above that I eat on a weekly basis is:

1 cup whole wheat or white pasta

1/2 cup grass-fed ground beef or ground turkey

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup sliced onion

1/2 cup sliced zucchini or squash

The vegetables, protein and fat balance out the meal, making it a healthier option that provides more nutrients.

So try to only eat one carbohydrate per meal and no more than 3-5 servings (1/2 -1 cup) per day. Try to get your carbohydrates from complex sources and eat the brown parts! The nutrients are what the body is craving and it won’t stop craving them until it gets it. This is why you can eat a bowl of white pasta and be hungry an hour later. There were no nutrients in that serving.

Knowledge Based Eating!

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When you don’t eat protein in a meal, you’ll probably end up eating more carbs than you would have because your stomach wants to feel satisfied. Refined carbs are empty calories so your body will want nutrients soon after eating them.

When people think about eating healthy they usually go for a salad. It’s light, refreshing and you feel good after eating it. However, you might be hungry an hour later if the salad lacked protein or complex carbs. While a salad is a great option, it can get boring fast. Maybe you’ll find a spot that serves a few good salads and then you get sick of them. I can never find enough places that are easy to get to that have great salads.

Sure, we all think of fruits and vegetables as eating healthy and this is true. But because the body REQUIRES amino acids (the building blocks of protein), you will generally not be satiated at a meal that lacks protein.

Every cell, tissue and organ has protein in it so if your body is lacking protein throughout the day, you will lack energy. Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body and the main source of energy that neurotransmitters use is protein.

Tip #1: Use your salad plate as your dinner plate.

If you’re hungry and you only eat vegetables, you’ll probably still be hungry. This is often why its easier for men to lose weight than it is for women. Because, unfortunately for women, men don’t feel bad about eating a hamburger. And neither should you — if its grass-fed.

So if you love eating salads, throw some protein in and you will end up feeling not overly full, but satisfied. Typically people don’t feel satisfied unless they have a refined carbohydrate with their meal because, point blank, women just do not eat enough protein.  This has been my experience of talking to dozens of women about their food choices.

Tip #2: Don’t eat any carbohydrates (breads, pastas) for dinner. Opt for the protein and the vegetables only at this meal. 

So what you want to do is this:

When you think about what you want to eat at each meal, think about what the protein is for that meal.

Every meal that I have has protein in it, otherwise I consider it a snack. But sometimes my snack (like today at Baby Bootcamp) is a protein shake. I was wondering why it tasted like weed until I remembered that I put hemp protein in it along with the whey protein

Here’s a protein powder brand I recommend Whey Cool by Designs For Health. It uses stevia instead of aspartame (kind of a funny taste, but worth it) and its 120 calories. I drink it with almond milk and usually add in a green powder like Vital Scoop (which I sell).

Here’s a breakdown of my protein intake for yesterday to give an example:

• 6am — whole wheat toast with almond butter (protein) and 1/2 banana + coffee
• 10am — protein shake
• 11am — 2 eggs (protein), a little cheese, avocado (protein), rice, black beans (protein), tomato. All of this overflowed into a small tortilla. Handful of berries.
• 3pm — greek yogurt (protein), nectarine, handful of nuts (protein)
• 6pm — 3-4 turkey meatballs (protein) 1 cup black beans (protein) and rice
• 8pm — berries, dark chocolate, mint tea

Women’s Brooks Ravenna 3 Running Shoe – Tourmaline/Tropic 7.5 (Google Affiliate d)

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