This is my favorite mid-day snack!

Right after I took this picture, I wondered, “What is the healthiest bar snack option?”  To me, this seems like it, but the chips are fried and the beer is full throttle.  Although it is a dark beer, which is less caloric than light ales if you can believe it.   Instead of guessing, I emailed Leah, aka Nutritionista who used to contribute regularly to MTM, for the numerical answer.

She responded like a champ!  Read the cold hard facts below.

HAPPY HOUR HEALTH QUIZ

by Nutritionista

Recently, Mary presented me with three common happy hour options and asked a simple question: Which is healthier? I’ve written about how to have a healthy happy hour before, but this seemed like a fun and challenging happy hour dilemma to tackle. Here are the choices Mary gave me:

• Glass of wine and a bread basket with olive oil at an Italian restaurant
• Sliders and light beer at a sports bar
• Skinny margarita with chips and salsa at a Mexican Restaurant

First let’s establish portion size. I went with 3 5-oz. glasses of red wine and 3 smaller pieces of crusty white bread with 1/2 tbsp olive oil for the Italian restaurant, 4 small sliders and 3 12-oz. light beers for the sports bar, and 25 chips + 6 tablespoons salsa and 3 skinny margaritas for the Mexican restaurant.

The first thing most people would probably be tempted to do is look at the calorie count for each of these options. You might be surprised to know that the approximate calorie counts for each happy hour pick are pretty similar: around 850 for the Italian restaurant, 745 for the sports bar, and 745 for the Mexican restaurant. Yes, you could save around 100 calories by avoiding the Italian option, but calorie count isn’t telling us much here.

So let’s go beyond calories, since I don’t think they tell the full health story anyway. The Italian happy hour choice not only has the most calories, but it also has the most carbs by far — around 95g compared to 50g for the sliders and beer and only 35g for the Mexican meal. But that low carb count in the Mexican happy hour might be due to some artificial sweetener in the margaritas — and I definitely don’t think artificial sweetener is healthy. But if you don’t want your blood sugar to spike, stay away from the Italian happy hour with all that bread! White bread has pretty much no redeeming nutritional qualities anyway.

Looking at protein, the sports bar meal packs the most punch, with 30g compared to 16g in the Italian meal and 11g in the Mexican meal. The sports bar meal also has the most fat (presumably from the burgers), which you all know I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing. No, the beef in those sliders is probably not very high quality, but the fat will still be more filling.

If I had to give a final verdict, my vote goes to the sliders and beer. It will be far more filling than either of the other options because of the protein and fat. If you want to kick the health factor up a notch, eat your sliders open-face and cut back to two beers. That brings the calorie count down to around 545 and the carb count down to 20g.

If you can mix and match, go with 1-2 glasses of red wine (a healthier option than beer) with 2-3 open-faced sliders. That’s around 400 calories, 15g carbs, and 15g protein. It would also be pretty satisfying because of the protein/fat, and keep you from walking away feeling bloated. Not a bad option!

I get asked this question all the time.  My answer has always been “BUY IT” for five reasons.

• Amassing all of the organic ingredients can be tedious and expensive.
• You can’t get the same consistency in the juice unless you have a quality juicer.
• Buying a cleanse guarantees you will get all all of the nutrients you need to sustain the duration.
• The availability and schedule with the juices delivered daily makes the process so much easier.
• Almond milk is not fun or easy to make.

On Tuesday I completed my second homemade cleanse. And my answer is emphatically the same.

This post is going to be long, but it will be the most informative article I’ve written on cleansing to date.

MY EXPERIENCE CLEANSING AT HOME

Three years ago, I attempted my first cleanse by myself on mostly fruit juice.  Big mistake.  I obviously had no idea what I was doing.  This time around, after completing many “professional” cleanses (see my reviews below), I took the middle road and bought juice but not a whole cleanse for 3 days.

• My Set Up

Per my request, Susan, a friend of mine who juices regularly and teaches about juicing, supplied me with the two key juices in a regular cleanse (pictured above): the green juice packed with vitamins and nutrients and cayenne lemonade that energizes you. Her blend of green juice has both ginger and garlic which most don’t usually include, but have great benefits.  (See “Why you should juice” below for a list of ingredients and benefits).

• My Diet

On day one I decided because I’m active I would have to eat as well as juice.  I allotted:

• 1/4 cup of raw almonds 3 times a day
• 1 apple around 1pm
• 1 small bowl of spinach when I felt hungry

Herbal teas are also nice to incorporate during the day to break up the monotony of flavor.

• My Experience

There are definite pros to making your own juice for a cleanse, but in my opinion, there are more cons unless you are a seasoned juicer.

The good part is that I got to tweak the juice recipes.  For example, I couldn’t stand the garlic for more than one day so I had Susan omit that and add more kale.  On day 3 I asked to incorporate a beet juice because the green alone wasn’t proving to be enough.   I have to say, her green juice was one of the best I’ve ever had in terms of taste and hunger satisfaction.  Surprisingly enough I wasn’t starving until the end of day 3.

On all of my purchased cleanses I felt devastatingly hungry at one point or another.  However, while I wasn’t hungry drinking these juices, I still experienced significant loss in muscle mass and energy unlike I ever have before.  That’s a big deal for me.  I wasn’t ingesting enough calories or protein.  I feel like in a self-cleanse, it’s hard to gauge what you are feeling versus what you should be feeling.  The process isn’t supposed to be easy or enjoyable; it’s supposed to detox your organs and give your digestive system a rest.

At the end of day 3, I decided my body needed fuel asap.  I ate a meal of steamed broccoli, raw almond butter, and dried pineapple to bring myself back to life.  On day 4, I integrated back into a full diet with quinoa and pineapple.

As always after a cleanse, I got a colonic to fully detox and pull out materials that weren’t able to move during the cleanse. See more on this at the end of the post.

• Final Thought

My conclusion on amateurs (myself included) constructing your own cleanse: don’t do it.  Unless you fully educate yourself or are under the guidance of a nutritionist, I would advise to not attempt a cleanse on your own.  Absolutely incorporate fresh juice into your diet (you’ll read why below), but don’t attempt to cut out food altogether without guidance.  You’ll end up starving, constipated, and frustrated.  Not fun.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “JUICING” AND “CLEANSING”

Juicing means extracting the juice from a fruit or vegetable.  When you hear people say,” I juice,” it means they incorporating fresh squeezed vegetable and fruit juice into a normal diet.  Cleansing means actively changing your diet to detoxify your body using an alternative system that may involve fresh juice.

JUICING IS BENEFICIAL AS PART OF A NORMAL DIET

Even if you don’t want to cleanse, I highly recommend incorporating fresh raw juice into your diet.   This means drinking juice that has not been pasteurized or altered in any way.  Naked juices or others you find bottled that say “flash pasteurized” are not fresh.

When you juice fruits and vegetables, the vitamins and minerals are released from the indigestible fiber so your body can absorb them instantly. Your body absorbs the nutrients almost instantly when unencumbered by dressings and other fruits.  According to Susan, “fresh live juice promotes the alkalinity of body fluids which may in turn enhance metabolic function and strengthen your immune system.”

Buy a quality juicer or Vitamix blender and reap the rewards. You’ll feel energized in a totally new way!  Plus then you can get on to eating the things you actually enjoy instead of forcing down a salad.

CLICK HERE FOR YUMMY JUICE RECIPES.

Eating vegan is advised before and after a cleanse and also as part of a healthy diet. Click here to read Nutritionista’s reasoning why you should consider going vegan, even if only for a week.  I love this book of raw recipes if you’re game.

WHY SHOULD YOU CLEANSE

Let’s be honest, for the most part, we aren’t kind to our bodies drinking and eating almost everything we want and crave.  So for three to five days at least once a year, you should consider taking the time to detox.  As you learned above, your body absorbs the nutrients from juice quickly so your organs don’t have to work to digest the fiber.  “Because the fiber is removed, raw juice has a natural laxative effect potentially enhancing the cleansing process,” says Susan.

With all of the ingredients that goes into juices – kale, spinach, parsley, celery, apple, carrots, beets, ginger, garlic, etc – your body is being strengthened on so many levels.  Besides extracting the toxins, the juice provides vitamins and nutrients to strengthen your immune system, prevent diseases, ease anxiety, engage your heart, etc.  I could go on for days.

After a cleanse, you’ll see benefits in your normal diet and lifestyle.  You can experience:

• Decrease in craving for sugar and starch
• Appreciation for the natural sweetness in foods
• Satisfaction for normal portions of foods

Click here for my guide to cleansing.

I’ve answered of your questions quickly!  Should you decide to move forward, click here for a list on how to prepare for a cleanse.

Click here to see what the experts have to say about fasting and cleansing.

MY FAVORITE CLEANSES TO BUY

In total I will have spent $70 on juices for three days from Susan.  That price is LESS than what you’ll spend on juices for one day in cleanse you’ll purchase.  But I do believe buying a complete cleanse with the nutrition value you know ahead of time and a schedule is the way to go for first time cleansers or people who aren’t at home all day.  Here is a list of the ones I’ve tried and why I like them:

BluePrint Cleanse – 3-5 days. The universal cleanse that tastes good and ships nationwide. (Reader review)

Cooler Cleanse – A less expensive version of BluePrint. I’ve never tried this one.

Organic Avenue – 5 days. Only in NYC. Very hearty. Provides more fat and calories than I eat normally. (Video review)

Red Carpet Cleanses – 3-5 days. My absolute favorite because the juices are SO delicious. Pictured above w/amazing lemondade. (My review)

IzoCleanze – For the pro cleanser who is looking to truly detox their organs individually. (My review)

Click here to read a comparison of BPC, RCC, and OA.

THE FINAL CHAPTER: COLONICS

Colonics are controversial, but so is everything these days.    I always do one after day 3 and day 5 of a cleanse to get the full benefit of the detox.

You can also do the procedure during a normal diet, but it is always recommended to clean up your diet before and after.

Click here for my experience and videos from past procedures (don’t worry, they’re not graphic).

Here is a list of the clinics I have been to and can attest the technicians are experienced and educated.  They use different methods, but all have proven to be gentle and non-addictive for me.

• New York - Release (Gravity Method. See Sandi)
• Los Angeles – Healing Waters (Libbe Machine. See owner Colleen or Annie)
• Las Vegas – Healing Waters (Libbe Machine. Colleen’s headquarter clinic.)
• Houston – American Wellness Foundation (Gravity Method. Patty) – so excited to discover this place!

WHAT’S MISSING HERE

In my experience with cleansing, I haven’t used many herbal teas and oils (ex: flax seed) to help with bowel movements.  But they are recommended if you get constipated.  Other herbal teas can aid in the cleanse in other ways.  I just haven’t been exposed to that yet.

Many people ask me about the Master Cleanse.  I’ve never tried it and don’t plan to.  Juice cleansing is challenging and beneficial enough for me.  I can’t imagine going days without nourishment.

If you still have questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below.  I’ll be more than happy to answer them.  And if I can’t, I’ll pass your questions on to Susan or a nutritionist.

(Full disclosure: I received media discounts or comped cleanses for all cleanses mentioned in the “buying” section as well as the colonics, with the exception of American Wellness.)

–By Nutritionista

Hey, MTMers! I’ve been in the midst of apartment hunting and moving, so things are crazy for Your Nutritionista.

I need a simple breakfast that will sustain me all morning long. Enter Peaches and Cream: full-fat Fage plain Greek yogurt and frozen peaches.

For best results, microwave the peaches until they’re just a bit warm. The yogurt will melt into them and be absolutely DELICIOUS.

If you’re looking for solid recipes and you can’t quite find what you’re looking for in my cook book (aka MTM recipe archives), check out some of my favorite resources:

• The Kitchy Kitchen (recipe for lobster above here)
• Smitten Kitchen
• Real Simple (the magazine)
• The Minimalist (Mark Bittman) on NYTimes
• Nutritionista – an MTM contributor!
• Eatocracy (news and recipes)

Speaking of Mark Bittman, if you missed his article on how to make white fish a dozen ways which is just like the one he wrote about soup, you should click through to print the 12 super simple variations in 4 categories: broiled, sauteed, roasted, and poached.

A reader asked for me to spill my tips and I’ll respond to her here.  Although, you’ll probably be disappointed to read that my answer isn’t black and white.

Let me start off by saying that in my opinion being “healthy” and “in-shape” are relative to your mindset and personal goals. So, my methods might not work for you for many different reason.

Very simply, my “secret” to staying in shape is my genuine love of exercising and eating vegetables.  Eating balanced meals and staying active keep me physically fit and emotionally sane.  That’s a little ambiguous so I’ll break it down for you:

1.  I eat what I want.

These days that includes: pineapple, oj, oatmeal, salads without dressing, lots of chicken, olive oil on everything, roasted veggies, Two Mom’s in the Raw granola, almond butter, sweet potatoes, squash, raisins, red peppers and hummus, plain quinoa, aged cheeses, dried fruit, Odawalla and Gnu bars.  And most importantly, sweets.  If I want a cookie, I eat a cookie.

2.  I am conscious of what I eat.

I prefer not to eat anything processed, and I eat very little bread.  The later is an effort, but otherwise anything in a package is usually just not appetizing to me.  Also, I stay away from sauces because they’re usually saturated with butter, salt, and creme, and any food worth eating shouldn’t need it.

3.  I build my schedule to include an hour workout 6 days a week.

Because I enjoy exercising and I work from home, carving out the time is easier for me than most people.  But, I believe if you understand all the benefits of exercise, you’ll want to find the time too.

When I workout, if I don’t kill it every time, I don’t beat myself up.  Getting my blood pumping is a luxury I appreciate and am grateful for everyday.

If I am having a hard time getting to the gym on my own, I go to classes or call my trainer.  Having a set time to be at the gym is always helpful. This way I just don’t have a choice.

4.  I challenge myself in a new way every week.

As I tell my riders in spin class, even though the bike is the same and the time is set at 50 minutes, you have to challenge yourself in a new way every time you get on the bike.  If you don’t change your workout, you won’t change your body.  Not to mention when you accept a new challenge, your mind will unlock new perspectives as well.  But in order to take on this new physical and mental endeavor, you can’t let your stubborn mind get in the way.  Be open to the challenge and welcome the change.

If I have the opportunity to do a new kind of exercise I always take it.  Throw in yoga, boxing, swimming, tennis, P90X workout, whatever into your schedule once a week and allow your muscles to be used in a new way.  Or I add an extra element to your existing routine.  I’ll do 2 spin classes; throw in an extra 15 minutes of cardio after a workout; run before yoga; add berpies between weight sets; etc.  Push yourself past your comfort zone.

5.  I love the 2 S words.

Some people try to abstain or distract themselves unconsciously, I embrace both snacking and sleeping!

6.  I rarely weigh myself.

I have never owned a scale and I never will.  Sometimes I’ll step on a scale at the gym, but it doesn’t mean much to me.  I only care that my clothes fit.

In the interest of full disclosure, what the reader really wanted to know is how I stay “skinny.”  My answer remains the same. But I will tell you that in last year I’ve gained 10 pounds.  So while my methods haven’t proved to keep the weight off, they have been successful in keeping me healthy and happy.

–By Nutritionista

Salad is the go-to lunch food for many office dwellers, but they also tend to find themselves starving and lethargic when 3pm rolls around. That’s because a lot of salads are just plain bad. Grilled chicken and low-fat dressing does not a satisfying salad make. Let me give you a few rules to creating a satisfying salad that won’t leave you hungry two hours later.

Salad Rule 1: Your salad needs to have at least one form of protein!

Salads without protein are just side dishes. Adding at least one form of protein will make sure your salad gives you sustaining energy, so make sure your salad contains something like:

• chicken
• turkey
• tuna/salmon salad
• cottage cheese
• egg salad
• shrimp
• bacon
• cheese
• beans

Salad Rule 2: Your salad should have at least two forms of fat.

We know that unprocessed fat has a totally unwarranted bad reputation, but don’t forget that it’s also super satisfying. Add two of the following forms of fat to your salad for ultimate satisfaction:

• olive oil (in a dressing)
• avocado/guacamole
• nuts (can count as fat or protein)
• cheese (can count as fat or protein)
• shaved coconut

Salad Rule 3: Avoid low-fat, processed dressings.

The best dressing is one you make yourself with olive oil, some form of vinegar, lemon, and whatever herbs and spices you like. I love homemade Greek dressing, and you can make one easily by mixing olive oil, spices like garlic powder, dried oregano, basil, pepper, salt, onion powder, Dijon-style mustard, and red wine vinegar.

Salad Rule 4: Avoid empty carb add-ons like croutons, sesame sticks, tortilla strips, etc.

These will do absolutely nothing to make your salad more satisfying, and they just add carbs and calories. You’re better off adding crunchy nuts of spicy guacamole if you want more texture/flavor.

–By Nutritionista

Let me preface this post by explaining that when I use the word “diet” in the following paragraphs, I don’t mean the thing you go on to lose weight. I mean the way you eat in general.

I’m talking about these first two definitions of the word. I especially like “habitual nourishment” as a definition.

Anyway, I want to outline what I think are the 5 necessary components of good habitual nourishment. They’re purposefully a bit ambiguous, but that’s because I believe that everybody needs a slightly different combination (and amount) of foods to feel and look their best.

1. Is it sustainable for you long-term? My motto is never do anything on a diet that you couldn’t do for the rest of your life. Because if you can’t do it for the rest of your life, you won’t do it for the rest of your life. And that could mean years of yo-yoing and frustration. Make sure that your diet is something you could maintain for the foreseeable future.
2. Does it provide enough energy? You can’t live on a diet that has you feeling constantly sluggish, rundown, and lethargic. It’s just not sustainable (see #1!). Take care to make sure that you’re diet is one that gives you the fuel and energy you need to live the life you want to live, whether you’re running a marathon every other month or just lucky if you make it to the gym twice a week.
3. Is it sustainable to the Earth? Sure, you could live on factory-farmed meat and produce flown in from Latin America, but the Earth sure can’t live on that. I recognize that you can’t necessarily accomplish this kind of diet overnight (I recently discussed the two “levels” of health!), but it’s something to be constantly striving for.
4. Can you easily maintain a healthy weight? If the diet you eat doesn’t allow you to fairly easily maintain a weight at which you look and feel your best, it’s probably not the right diet for you. Sure, you can eat 1,000 calories per day and maintain a “healthy” weight, but it’s going to be a huge struggle. And that’s just NOT sustainable.
5. Do you like what you’re eating? I certainly can’t ignore taste as one of the crucial components of a good diet! A diet that’s not delicious to you most of the time isn’t going to last. And it won’t be very pleasant. You might even get resentful after a while. So make sure you’re enjoying what you’re eating on the diet you choose.

So, does your diet (or “diet,” in the other sense of the word) live up to these criteria? Are there any others I missed?

Mary Note:  It’s funny to realize that most of us have insisted on trying the quick fix diet methods before settling on well-balanced meals to maintain a lifestyle so we look and feel good.  In the back of our heads, we know that veggies are more nutritious than burgers, but the prospect of indulging without guilt is worth a shot.

Leah’s account here is a refreshing reminder that diets don’t work in keeping us skinny or happy.

“My Road of Diet Distress to Nutritionista Happiness”

–By Nutritionista

Since not all of you have “known” me for very long, I thought I’d post this Nutritionista History by way of introduction. It’s mostly to show you that I haven’t always had the same definition of “healthy.” I used to be addicted to diet foods. For a LONG time. So I wanted to reflect a bit for those of you who might be wondering why you’re not seeing the changes you’d want to see (after suffering through 100-calorie pack after 100-calorie pack!). Read my journey and see if it resonates with you at all! Have you been through any of these “phases”?

The Atkins phase

I tried this the summer before college in an attempt to lose a few pounds before embarking on a new phase of life. It worked. For two weeks. Two miserable weeks where I didn’t even eat one piece of fruit or sugar-free gum — I was terrified of the sugar-alcohols. I finally cracked when I had my wisdom teeth taken out. Being on Atkins meant the only non-solid food I could eat was chicken broth. Drugged out on Vicodin and stuck with broth, I was one unhappy camper. Sure, I lost some weight in those two weeks, but as my friends can attest, I was not that pleasant to be around.

Don’t get me wrong. I think some of Dr. Atkins’ originals principles are good ones: avoid sugar and white flour as much as possible. And that saying “everything in moderation”? Well, it’s not always the best philosophy for weight loss (yes, I know it does work for some). But cutting out a food group without focusing on the quality of the remaining groups doesn’t sit well with me. Anyone who’s been reading this blog for any amount of time knows I’m not a vegetarian or a vegan (though I can now say I’ve tried!). Thouigh I do eat meat/dairy, I make it a point to buy organic, grass-fed, hormone-free… you know the drill. One thing Atkins taught me? It’s possible to totally eliminate food cravings. I never wanted to see another egg or piece of cheese again after those two weeks on the diet! Now, of course, I eat them all the time.

The Special K Diet phase

This diet was even more short-lived than Atkins. I tried it the year after I graduated from college because I had definitely succumbed to the Freshman 15 (25?) and was desperate to take it off. I think I lasted two days. Who wants to eat unsatisfying protein bars and cereal all day? Ew. I despise everything about the Special K diet. I wouldn’t tell my worst enemy to eat it. The only reason it works is because you’re limited calories. But the calories you ARE eating are coming from overly processed, artificial-tasting craaaap. So gross. Like I’ve said before, if you limit calories, you can eat pretty much anything and lose weight.

The Weight Watchers phase

I did WW online off and on for several years. It worked, and it didn’t work. I figured it was just a more sophisticated way to count calories. But the thing is, it isn’t. Weight Watchers is a decidedly low-fat program. I have come to despise low-fat anything. Low-fat is often just another word for diet food, and I’ve realized that low fat = high hunger. And I just don’t believe that fat is the devil it’s been made out to be. Not at all. Even saturated. That’s where Atkins may have gotten it right.

I was constantly hungry on WW. When I was following it, I lost weight. But when I fell off the wagon and forgot to track points, I fell hard. I would recommend straight calorie counting over Weight Watchers, hands down.

My Food Diary/diet food phase

First of all, I should say that I still use MFD to track what I’m eating. But I DON’T pay any attention to its advice that 65% (or whatever) of my calories should come from carbs, 15% (or whatever) from fat, etc. It’s just a place for me to store data. There are certainly free places (FitDay, Daily Plate, etc.), but I got used to the MFD format and just stuck to it. Plus, at $8/month, it’s not exactly breaking the bank.

When I first started using MFD, it was a good thing. But then I got obsessed with seeing how few calories I could eat before, say, dinner. And this involved a LOT of diet food. 100-calorie packs. Crystal Light. Low-fat, processed veggie burgers. Diet soda after diet soda after diet soda. You get the picture. Even though MFD doesn’t have a low-fat bias, I did at the time. Plus, just like with Weight Watchers, when I fell off the wagon, I fell hard. I’m an all-or-nothing girl at times, so if those 5 slices of late-night pizza didn’t get tracked in MFD, neither did anything else.

Diet food did me no favors. I was hungry a lot. It wasn’t cheap. In retrospect, it didn’t even taste good.

Where I am now: Healthy and Happy

Whole, minimally processed, chemical-free foods, very little sugar/processed carbs

This picture of veggies is somewhat misleading. Eating minimally processed foods doesn’t just mean eating platefuls of veggies. It just means that the shorter the ingredient list, the better. And veggies naturally have no list. Neither does fruit, most fish/meat/seafood, beans, whole grains, some dairy, etc.

I’ve found I feel best and most easily lose or maintain my weight on a gluten-free, low-sugar diet otherwise full of whole foods. But I understand that’s not realistic for everyone (and I also suspect I have some level of gluten-intolerance).

I won’t deprive myself of something if I really want it, regardless of what it is. I remember when someone told me I live in a food “prison.” It’s funny because I actually think people who eat the SAD (Standard American Diet) are more imprisoned. We know the food industry knows what keeps us coming back: that addicting combo of sugar, salt, and processed fat. What we think we like is wrecking havoc on our health. We’re literally imprisoned by the way we’ve been conditioned to eat; what we’ve been conditioned to like.

But there’s good news: You can retrain your tastebuds to crave different foods. After not drinking diet soda for a full year, it tastes gross to me now. Gross! And I used to drink it almost every day. I hope that’s what kind of food revolution Jamie Oliver is talking about: Teaching the next generation to eat differently, and to appreciate the taste of things we didn’t or don’t. Just because the U.S. is known for CAFO-produced burgers, fries made in crappy vegetable oil, and buns made with high-fructose corn syrup doesn’t mean it always has to be this way.

Anyway, all this to say: I haven’t been eating this way for that long, but I already know it’s the best. Go ahead and experiment with different diets. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll always come back to the only one that works and the only one that can pass the test of time.