Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 120

Pregnancy, Paleo and…Wine?

Yes, you read that correctly.

We all know that an occasional glass of vino is part and parcel of modern Paleo living.

Separately, nourishing your body by providing it with an abundance of fresh veggies, fruit, natural fats and wild proteins is also a healthy way to approach both pregnancy as well as a post-partum eating style.   Not only will your new baby benefit from the balanced, natural macro nutrient panel, you’ll find those extra pounds coming off quite easily.

So where does wine come into the picture?

A new study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that ‘children whose mothers drank occasionally during pregnancy fared just as well on intelligence and emotional tests as those whose mothers abstained.’  However, the study’s authors did add the caveat that they ‘generally recommend avoiding it while pregnant’.

The take home message from one of the researchers was ‘small amounts consumed occasionally may not present serious concern‘.

Kind of like adding wine to a Paleo lifestyle.  It’s certainly not something one has to do, but knowing that it can be included in a small quantity on a special occasion now and then makes many people feel it’s a more ‘doable’ approach to their long term manner of eating.

Paying It Forward On Your Birthday

Today is my birthday.  I’m 21.  (OK, that’s a bit of a fib, but I did get carded the other day whilst buying wine at Whole Foods, but that’s another story…).  

May I ask everyone for a birthday gift?  

I don’t need a thing; rather, how about spreading some good energy around?

Please do something for someone that makes a difference in their life and their health.   Send your kids to school with a healthy lunch.  Donate to a cause that helps get healthy food into the schools.  Treat your coworker to a delicious Paleo friendly lunch.  Cook a lovely Paleo meal for your family.  Rally the other parents in the PTA to make a move for a garden in your kids’ schools.  Take your dogs on a longer walk and give them some Paleo food without fillers.

Really doesn’t matter.

If I could have a birthday wish, I’d snap my fingers and our society would be far healthier than it is now.

Small steps count.

Enjoy the gift of giving!

A Little Bit of Bitter is Better

Rapini, arugula and dandelion greens, for example, have one thing in common:  they’re all rather bitter.

While it might take some getting used to, including bitter veggies in our daily diets serves not only to surprise our taste buds a little, as they also share some common health benefits:

They’re reported to aid the liver in ‘detoxing’
May help to control blood sugar levels in diabetic patients
High in anti oxidant properties
May help to reduce risk of coronary heart disease and stroke

If your palate isn’t quite ready for the bitter taste alone, try a quick saute with a few naturally dried cranberries sprinkled on top, or a smoothie with some banana added in, after a workout.

Pair with protein and fat to create perfectly Paleo meal.  One of my favorites is sauteed dandelion greens with a rare bison steak and a few cherries on the side, when in season.

Create your own version based on where you live, what time of year it is and what’s available in your neck of the woods!

 

Curry Up!

One of the nice features of Paleo cooking is the endless spice and herb options we have at our fingertips.

Being the fan of turmeric, ginger (and a little bit of heat via green chiles) that I am, it’s only fitting that I also love a bit of curry now and then.

My own favorite blend of curry powder includes all of the above plus coriander, cumin, fenugreek, red pepper, garlic,  fennel, caraway, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed,  cardamom, nutmeg and black pepper.

Yes, a long lists of spices, but easy enough to make a large batch and store the extra for the next recipe!

How much to use depends completely on your own palate; play around with different ratios of each spice and create your own signature blend.

Aside from tasting delicious, adding curry to your proteins or veg provides health benefits including:

anti inflammatory properties
antioxidants
possible protection of certain cancers

Toss your steamed veggies in it, rub some into the skin and flesh of chicken thighs before roasting or sprinkle some your salad.

No need to be bland or bored on Paleo!

Bananas, Baby

Or, rather…baby bananas!

Have you tried them?

If not- a must do.

While I first enjoyed them fresh from the Wednesday Farmer’s Market in downtown Kona, I will occasionally pick them up here at home, from my nearby Whole Foods.

Like many other ‘baby’ versions of produce, they’re delicate, sweet and one of the most perfect foods to eat after an endurance workout.

Slice & freeze and make into a smoothie, mash up into a puree with a runny egg or enjoy as is.

In any case, they’re a great addition to your Paleo plate! 

Hungry at 3…

Don’t do it!

Put down the muffin and back away from the barista!

So many of my clients report the same thing: “I’m always hungry at 3pm. I don’t know why.   I try to power through, but I either end up starving and eating everything in site when I get home, or giving in to the sugar craving and heading to Starbucks for a caffeine & sugar fix.  What am I doing wrong?”.

It’s actually quite simple.

If you’re hungry…guess what?  You should eat.  Not too complicated, is it?

Hopefully, by the time 3PM rolls around, you’ve already eaten two or three or even four balanced, Paleo friendly meals (call them snacks, call them mini meals…it’s either food or it’s not food!), so it is to be expected that when you’ve digested the protein, fat and carb0hydrate (as in fresh veg) from your last meal, you’ll once again be hungry and ready for the next meal.

If, for example, you’re someone who happens to need 2,000 calories per day, just to use a nice, balanced number, and you’ve eaten about 400 calories at 7am, another equally sized meal at around 10, another at 1, then of course, by 3 or 4 pm, it’s time for another fueling session, and then the last one would be your dinner at perhaps 6:30 or 7PM.

Trust me on this.  If you stay Paleo, and stay balanced both in terms of timing and macro nutrients (again- make sure each meal has some healthy fat, some lean protein and some fresh veggies), you’ll allow your body to not go into a situation where you’re having blood sugar dips, insulin responses and a fat-storing metabolism.

Keep the clean fuel coming in and set yourself up for a day filled with through-the-roof energy, propelling you that much further along the path to that lean, fit body you’ve been wanting!

Tough Day at the Races

Some days you have it, some days you don’t.

Yesterday, for me, was one of those days that I just…didn’t.

A disappointing seventh, with a bike and run collectively twenty minutes off my time from last year, when I placed 3rd,  was my result at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Vegas.

Chalk it up to not being as mentally ‘in it’ as normal, allowing random stresses typical of daily life to infiltrate my usual game day focus and having been feeling a bit physically ‘off’ for a couple of days leading up to the big day.

I don’t want to write this post with the intention of appearing whiny or making excuses.  

The conditions couldn’t have been more perfect.  A nice hot day, which I love, no wind, and a pristine bike course and extremely spectator friendly run course.

My husband was there as well as my coach to cheer me on, but for whatever reason, I didn’t feel myself and, as a result, I didn’t execute what I am able to.

I think it’s important to write about the not so good days just as much as the great days.  When I read about other athletes having a less than perfect race, I feel it makes it easier to identify with, as opposed to someone who presents themselves as always winning.

At any rate, I went through all the emotions including being frustrated, then sad and now I’ve pretty much turned it into a roaring fire in the belly for my next race, Ironman World Championships in Kona.

Watch this space!

Race Day!

Racing the 70.3 World Championships today in Henderson, Nevada; the last race before the big guy, Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI.

Send your good vibes & wishes my way, and follow online if you like:

www.ironmanlive.com

You can search by my name or BIB # 1291.

As always, I’ll be out there with a huge smile on my face and my attitude of gratitude; never a day passes that I don’t thank the universe for the gift of the ability to move and to enjoy a sport that I love so much.

Through this sport I have met amazing people (including my husband), learned extraordinary lessons applicable to life in general aside from athletics and have experienced the lowest of lows and highest of highs; all part of the rich texture that is life!

Watch this space!

And What Was That Excuse?

Sure, we all have rough days.  The kids kept us up during the night, our minds were racing about things that happened at work, or we were stressing out about not loving our day job.  

Morning comes along and the shrill alarm is the last thing we want to hear when it feels as though we’ve only just fallen asleep.

It would be just so easy to hit ‘snooze’ and skip the early morning spin class or run…

Stop right there!

Get up and move.

If there is one thing I’m just as passionate about as I am about teaching Paleo, is the idea of getting everyone moving.  I don’t care if you’re a sixty-three year old woman who’s never sweated a day in her life or a seventeen year old boy who sits still and plays video games all day long- move it!

Look at this picture.

A friend forwarded it along to me yesterday as further inspiration for an upcoming race and quite honestly, it brought tears to my eyes.

Can you even imagine what it must be like to have to overcome losing a limb?  Or both?  And not only persevering but doing so  to the extent that you’re a world class athlete?

Allow this image to become emblazened in your mind and regardless of what hurdles you may have, let it serve to be the impetus for your own personal change and growth.

I don’t know what is more of a shame that having a healthy body that works that one proactively opts to disregard.

Is Truvia A Good Sweetener?

That depends.  

Do you like to eat erythritol?  

Do you know what erythritol is?  It’s yet another sugar alcohol that has been approved for use as a food additive in the United States (as if that means anything).

Neatly packaged up in a friendly looking white envelope with a green flower logo makes it seem benign, and even more so because you’ll see it at places like Whole Foods and smaller health food cooperatives.

It is known to cause ‘less gastric upset than sorbitol or maltitol’, both of which have laxative properties, but really, isn’t  the idea that it would potentially cause any gastric upset at all enough to make one want to avoid it?  

It’s enough for me.

I clearly recall the last day I chewed a piece of sugar free gum that contained sorbitol, the resulting intestinal cramps that followed and my resounding vow to avoid that particular sugar alcohol (which, by the way, is also ‘approved for use as a food additive in the US).

While I’m not a fan of the need to ‘sweeten’ things, per se, as often when clients state they need to so do, it’s because they’re having a blood sugar crash from not having eaten properly earlier in the day, for once in a while, I’d personally rather stick with honey, or agave…something I can identify as an actual food.

Better yet, have a piece of fruit!