Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 58

To Be an RD, or Not To Be An RD, That Is The Question

I’m not a registered dietician.   I enrolled in a Master’s program to earn the title but was so appalled by the curriculum that I had to extricate myself before completion.

The internship I was to have would have consisted of me counseling obese, diabetic patients to follow the recommendations of the USDA including (per the National Diabetes Education Program’s site): 

Choose foods that are lower in calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and salt.
Eat foods with more fiber, such as whole grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta.
Choose foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, bread and cereals, and low-fat or skim milk and cheese.
Drink water instead of juice and regular soda.
When eating a meal, fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables, one quarter with a lean protein, such as beans, or chicken or turkey without the skin, and one quarter with a whole grain, such as brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

While there are a few points I agree with, such as cutting trans fat, sugar, salt and juice, the rest is so far off base, I cannot even begin to tell you.

So, I opted out.  Was that the wise choice?   Maybe, maybe not.  And to date, I still toy with the idea of going back.  One could argue that earning the title would thus facilitate my ability to make a bigger difference the the core of the problem- the USDA itself.  Stand by… decision still in progress!

I’ve been contacted by many people over the years, asking my advice on whether or not to pursue this course of education, given that the teachings are so, so far off Paleo.

What I always suggest is that one can never go wrong with more education.  I greatly admire those who’ve withstood the program and have seen it through to completion in order to then be able to teach the principles of True Paleo to those who may need it most- those who have a medical diagnosis and desperately need a complete (Paleo) overhaul of their eating regime.

I case you’d like some funny reading material which will further illustrate this point, why not have a look at an article written by an RD which outlines her typical daily regime, which includes her favorites: “peanut butter, bread, fiber rich cereal and low fat yogurt”?

Sounds like a perfectly pleasing piece for some of the sponsors of the USDA such as the dairy council and the cereal manufacturers!   

Who cares if people’s health is at stake?  As long as sales of milk and bread are up, we’re in great shape, right?  

Click here to read it for yourself.

Part Time Paleo? Part Time Vegan? Huh?

Yesterday, I noticed an interesting entry on a menu at a local cafe.  

It was a tagline alluding to the concept of “Part Time Vegan” which brought to mind the reference of “VB6″- an eating approach recommending that one adhere to a vegan diet prior to 6pm every day.

Are any of these a good approach?

It depends.

If you’re coming from an eating plan involving lots of processed, packaged, refined foods and you adopt the principles of either an accurate vegan or Paleo approach (both of which, by the way, should involve plenty of fresh vegetables when implemented properly), then it could well be seen as a step in the right direction.

Some clients have mentioned that following a ‘part time’ eating plan of any nature is helpful as it brings awareness and accountability to what otherwise might be a day of haphazard eating with no structure or plan.

If, however, you’re following Paleo because you’re looking to decrease autoimmune symptoms, clear your acne or reduce migraine headache, giving yourself a free for all every evening after 6 isn’t going to help much.

My recommendation would be to find your path to True Paleo, whether it’s an immediate, 100% approach or more of an ease-into-it style, then give it a full month to allow your body to adjust and see how good it really feels.

Then, you decide.   Is it worth having a bloated stomach from the ice cream you ate at 7pm?  Or a migraine headache and joint pain from the bread you had with your meal at 8:30?

At the end of the day, you’re the only one who knows how your body feels when you eat certain foods, or choose to avoid them.  

Personally, I prefer to proactively stay away from anything I know will make me feel ill; it’s just not worth it…but it’s always your call!

 

Mother’s Day, Paleoista Style

Treating mom to a nice brunch on Mother’s Day?  What a lovely idea… but where on earth can you go for brunch where you won’t be inundated with pancakes, muffins, pastries and a host of (non) food items that are anything but Paleo?

Well, if you happen to be near one of the up and coming restaurants that actually are Paleo, you’re in luck.

However, since they’re still rather few and far between, chances are you’ll need to brave the buffet offerings and head straight for the custom approach that many of us have grown quite used to.

It’s really not that big of a deal; it’s all about the delivery, and, given that you’re likely going to be dining at a very busy time at the restaurant, checking with the staff in advance will prove to serve you well.

You can’t go wrong with a veggie omelet.  Easy to find at nearly any place that offers breakfast and brunch, the only modification tends to be a gentle reminder to skip the cheese and add some extra veggies on the side in place of toast.
Often, restaurants will easily be able to steam a batch of veggies, or serve some of the proteins that are already being offered in the buffet, but without the coating of cheese-laden sauce it’s been sitting in all day.
Salads, with olive oil on the side and a selection of freshly roasted meats, or perhaps seafood, also often found at a buffet, also make for great, Paleo friendly options.
Tempted by the dessert section?  (Why there are dessert being offered at that hour in the day is a whole other topic!).   Curb the urge by keeping hydrated and eating a balanced meal of healthy fats, proteins and veggies.  If you’re not in the throes of a blood sugar crash, those cakes and pastries won’t look nearly as interesting.

Looking to make a little something sweet for mom’s special day?

Why not go with fruit?  

Nature’s treat, indeed, it’s easy to serve whatever is fresh, local and organic in your neck of the woods.    Sound too boring?  Pair it with a small piece of raw, fair trader dark chocolate.  So decadent, you’ll only need just a bite!

Also consider, the holiday doesn’t necessarily have to be about food.  We tend to make it such for most holidays, but really, what it’s all about is spending time with loved ones.   Give her some flowers, treat her to a spa day or simply spend the afternoon together.

Being present truly is a gift!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Eat Your Lobster

About a month or so ago, I was contacted by the guys at Get Maine Lobster.  They asked if I’d be interested in trying a sample of their products and if I liked them, spreading the word.

(Oh, twist my arm.  Give me free lobster.)

Of course, I happily accepted.

In addition to it’s absolutely to-die-for taste, lobster is one of the best sources of protein (at 28 grams per serving) and offers many health benefits to book, including: 

Significant amounts of B vitamins, including 17 percent of the recommended dietary allowance of niacin, 13 percent of the RDA of vitamin B-6 and 9 percent of the RDA of vitamin B-12 (which play vital roles in metabolism, neurological function, healthy skin maintenance and red blood cell formation)
Vitamin E, which is crucial to vitamin A and C absorption and the prevention of damage to cell membranes. Vitamin E is also a powerful antioxidant.
Large amounts of phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and zinc, offering 21 percent, 15 percent, 7 percent and 5 percent of the RDA, respectively. These minerals aid in bone health, cell function, glucose regulation, energy production and neurological health. Lobster also offers small amounts of other minerals.

How to prepare?   Being the fan of simply prepared, Paleo cuisine that I am, I opt to simply steam it.  Rather than douse it in butter or (gasp) make it into a lobster mac and cheese, just enjoy the flavor of the meat itself.

Click here to check out their site and order your lobster today!

Incidentally, you may want to check out their Mother’s Day Specials, too, such as their 13 Lobster Tail Promotion!

Sneaking In The Veggies

Which is a better approach- getting people to understand just how very important getting more veggies into their daily regime is and developing an easy way to do so, or sneaking them into unexpected places?

Maybe it doesn’t matter, so long as the end result is the same- eating more leafy greens!

An interesting article in today’s Times begged this very question in a piece entitled Stealth Vegetables.

You won’t be surprised at the statistics including:

People who eat five servings of veggies per day have decreased risk of heart disease, reduction in cholesterol and help to protect against certain cancers.
Less than 5% of people under 50 are getting enough veggies in the US.

So what are the manufacturers doing about it?

According to the article, some of the tactics are reasonable and make sense, while others (such as the last one) seems to stretch it a little bit…

Making Them Cute …

The food industry’s effort to make vegetables more attractive and less threatening started with baby carrots and moved on to baby greens. But bigger works, too. Bejo Seeds is developing a sweet, 10-pound kohlrabi that is easier to peel and cut into crunchy little snacks.

And Convenient …

Vegetable growers are making their produce easier to cook with by doing the prep work themselves: washing, trimming and combining varieties in the same package. The newest entry is bags of thinly shaved brussels sprouts. While the prepped versions can cost twice as much as regular vegetables, there’s less for a shopper to discard. And they are often packed in breathable bags that help extend freshness.

And Compelling….

Wegmans Grocers’ 84 stores have farmer meet-and-greets, cooking demonstrations and counters where workers prepare fresh vegetable mixes for stir-fries and other produce-heavy meals that can be made at home. It still sells plenty of junk food, but by promoting vegetables, “hopefully one day we can eliminate the worst of that,” said Nicole Wegman, its senior vice president for perishable merchandising.

Ready to Inject

Green Giant’s newest product takes convenience to a new level: Veggie Blend-Ins, introduced this year, are plastic pouches filled with squash, carrots or spinach, each cooked, puréed and ready to be added to other, presumably less-healthful foods.

Spiking a Snack

General Mills’ “Brownies With a Boost”: add a spinach Blend-Ins to the family size of its traditional Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies mix. (Really?)

Bottom line- it’s probably a fair statement to say for the most part, we could all use to eat more veggies.   If you and your family are starting from ground zero, the sneak it in approach may indeed be a great way to get started.  Then hopefully over time, you’ll get to the place where you love them so much, you’ll want them to be the centerpiece of every meal…even breakfast.  Seriously.

Whatever you do, though, please don’t pretend that by mixing in a handful of spinach to a Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix, that will turn the brownies into a healthy snack. You’d only be fooling yourself and you’re the only one who would then have to pay the consequences!

 

Why Restaurants Should Keep Their Bread. Pardon?

Oh, dear.

A rally of support to keep the bread basket coming to the table as part and parcel of a typical dining experience, from a recent article in New York Serious Eats.

Citing reasons such as “the key is everything in moderation”,  ”bread can be part of a healthy diet” and, my favorite, “if you’re not one of the small percentage of the population with gluten sensitivity, whole grains are filled with nutrition benefits”, the article lists a few top chefs who’ve opted to keep, or reintroduce, this unfortunate mainstay back on to their menus.

I’d have to disagree wholeheartedly with the entire concept.

Park Paleo for a moment; even if one is not keen to avoid dairy or nix beans, there is absolutely not a single good reason why we, in a first world country, need to integrate bread into our diets.   Veggies contain an average of 7 – 11 times the fiber which you can absorb much more efficiently compared to the fortified stuff packed with anti nutrients you’d find in bread.

Gluten is not a good idea for anyone, and the hint that ‘only a small percentage of people have a sensitivity’ is quite inaccurate. In fact, the Celiac Foundation states that 1 in 133 people have a least a mild intolerance.

There is one exception for when I feel bread is of good use in a restaurant.

I recall a trip to Mexico where, at the breakfast buffet, beneath a tray of freshly cooked, pastured bacon, there was a layer of white bread to catch and absorb the great.

Yes, bread makes a good napkin.

Other than that, give it a pass.  Not only it is not a healthy choice to ingest, it will fill you up with nothing and leave less room for you to enjoy other more tasty and nutritionally packed options on the menu, like a juicy, rare steak or a lobster tail with seasonal veggies.

Bring on the protein and the greens, please!

For Less Than Twelve More Hours…

You’ve been seeing the emails, the tweets, the Facebook Posts and all the newsletters coming in from many of us in the Paleo space… and it’s only going to last just a few more hours.

If you bought the bundle last year and that’s your reason for not partaking again this week, do consider that the products are not the same.  

In fact, the only thing that’s the same is that the deal is ridiculous.

It’s $39.

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No joke, no gimmicks and no tricks.   A one time fee and you’re done.

Buy it for yourself, get it for your friend or gift it to a co-worker.  There’ s no downside to spending this small fee for such a wealth of knowledge.  You won’t be sorry!

A reminder for what you’ll get:

When you purchase the $39 Primal Life Kit, you get 49 ebooks and other online products plus 14 discounts worth over $1500:

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3 research papers by Dr. Loren Cordain ($15 Value)
1 Online Cooking Club subscription ($39 Value)
3 Fitness Programs ($67 Value)
2 Paleo Challenges ($44 Value)
2 Meal Plans ($69 Value)
2 Online Magazine Subscriptions ($36 Value)
1 Bonus Video about Eating Paleo on the Road
14 Discounts ($757+ Value)

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Well Fed 2 by Melissa Joulwan, the recipe genius of theclothesmakethegirl.com ($9.95 value)

 

30-Minute Paleo Dessert Recipes by Louise Hendon, the creator of Healthy Recipes Magazine ($2.99 Value)

 

Fast Paleo Best 100 of 2013 +  4 Bonus eCookbooks  by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com ($14.97 value)

 

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Toadally Primal Smoothies by Todd (Toad) Dosenberry of HarvestYourHealth.net ($5 Value)

 

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Research Paper on Grassfed vs Grain Fed Beef  by Loren Cordain, PhD, author of The Paleo Diet, The Paleo Diet Cookbook, and The Paleo Answer at thepaleodiet.com (Value $4.99)

 

Research Paper on The Paleo Diet and Acne  by Loren Cordain, PhD of thepaleodiet.com (Value $4.99)

 

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“How To” Paleo Guide  (by Me! : )

 

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1 Online Cooking Club ($39 Value)

Good Food for Bad Cooks Online Club Lifetime Membership  by Liz Wolfe ($39 Value)

 

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2 Online Magazine Subscriptions ($36 Value)

Healthy Recipes Online Magazine 3-Month Free Subscription   ($19.96 Value) - Get 4 regular issues of this ONLINE magazine with expert tips on which foods will save both your waist-line and your wallet. More info on iTunes.

 

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1 Bonus Video

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Primal Life Organics – Get 20% off any products at Primal Life Organics. Expires June 3rd. PrimalLifeOrganics.com

 

Optimum Performance Training ($448.50+ value) – Get 50% off Nutrition Training Course for Coaches and 15% off apparel and supplements. Expires May 18th. OPTExperience.com

 

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Get all of this (retail value $1500+) for just $39. Seriously.

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That’s normally the price of just one or two of these products! After you purchase the kit, you’ll be sent an email with a link to all of the downloadable products, as well as the coupon codes for all of the discounted products.

NOTE : You will not be shipped any physical goods with your purchase of the Primal Life Kit. These products are downloadable ebooks, online magazine subscriptions, and discount codes. There will be a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee if you are not satisfied with your purchase. Please contact neely@paleoplan.com with any questions about the Primal Life Kit.

Losing Your Paleo Mojo?

“Dear Nell, Over the past two years I have fallen off the paleo band wagon. Any tips on getting back into the lifestyle?
I miss the clarity of mind and unlimited energy I used to have and any ideas would be fantastic.…”

Wrote a reader to my Facebook page, recently.

I’ve heard other people say the same thing.  They were enjoying their Paleo regime, but over time, for one reason or another, they slowly fell back into old habits and what started with an occasional bite of bread or ice cream turned right back into the Standard American Diet.

My best suggestions include:

Remember how great you felt before, and make feeling awesome a goal to begin with.
Assess what the reasons you opted to begin including non Paleo foods were so you can address them.  Were you too restrictive?  Were you trying to go too low calorie?  Were you not paying enough attention to balancing your macro nutrients?  Make sure what you were doing was True Paleo, and not one of the many unusual interpretations of it.
Set new goals, with a non food-reward system, and mini goals along the way.  Aiming to lose fifty pounds?  That’s great, but you need support before the amount of time that would elapse in which you’d shed that much. Treat yourself to a night out with the family to see a favorite film, a trip to your favorite clothing boutique or a mani/pedi for that first few pounds you lose.
Make it practical and feasible, and get others on board.  A spouse, co worker or good friend who will be right there with you can prove to be that little extra bit of accountability you need.

The very fact that you’re interested in picking your healthy regime back up again is the most important first step.

Enjoy the process, don’t dwell on ‘should have/could have’ and focus on the here and now.

Need a little extra boost?  Treat yourself to a plethora of information from experts, to chefs to those with a rather alternative take on Paleo or Primal with the incredible Primal Life Kit, available for just over 24 more hours.

And More On That Calorie Tip

Yesterday, I wrote about how important it is to recognize the different sources of calories, rather than focusing on the sheer number alone.

Today… more on the same topic, because for many, it’s just not going in.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to meet, and film some YouTube clips with a well known author in this space.  In fact, his best selling book is actually entitled The Calorie Myth, and he and I had a lot of fun chatting about many of the very common misconceptions about Paleo, fat, calories and approaches to nutrition in general.

Well, guess what?

His Sneak Peek at Fat Loss Masterclass Video Home Study Course just happens to be part of the Primal Life Kit Bundle.

Check out his site, and see for yourself how common sense his approach really is, then head right to the site to get your bundle today- only two days left!!

 

Demand Your Kale

I absolutely loved the fact that there was an ad on the subway mentioning fresh veggies.  

And kale, at that!  

And even better yet, fresh kale, as opposed to the surge of flavored kale chips that are popping up out of the woodwork.  (Is anyone really thinking that creamsicle flavored kale chips are the same as eating the raw stuff?  Come on, now!).

Fresh Direct in NYC is such a great option for anyone with a schedule so hectic that having someone doing the grocery shopping for you and delivering it for you is what proves to be the difference between eating really fresh, healthy food and relying on having to order take out every night.

Don’t get me wrong; there are certainly many, many good options on the ‘to-go’ front, but for many, the cost may be prohibitive illustrating how, once again, buying your food and preparing it for yourself is the way to go.

Check them out if you haven’t done so yet.

And don’t forget to add kale to your basket!