How to handle trigger foods

When it comes to weight loss, most of us have a trigger food. A food that when you eat it, it causes you to eat more. A food that when you try to stop eating it, it is very hard to do so. A food that when you don't eat it, you want it all the time. Chips, candy bars, brownies, ice cream, chocolate Easter eggs and chocolate Easter bunnies. Typically, a trigger food is one that is not so healthy for you. High in fat, high in sugar, high in something not so good for you. Most of the time, a trigger food is not a healthy, clean food. You don't typically say "Oh, give me some asparagus now" or "What I wouldn't do for some broccoli right now".

So, how can you handle trigger foods? 

Here are three steps that I teach to my clients:

1. Substitution. Find a healthy substitute for an unhealthy food. What is the emotional attraction to the trigger food? Is it the texture? Is it a childhood memory? Find out what attracts you to this food and try to duplicate it. Examples:
Ice cream - cold and creamy. Start to experiment with making your own desserts with cottage cheese by blending it to remove curds, mixing yogurt with frozen fruit, or protein pudding. Healthier options that are not so high in sugar and fat.
Candy bars - chocolately and sweet. Replace with protein bars that are similar to candy bars. There are some good ones out there that still have sugar in them, but not as much as a candy bar. Try Luna or Clif or Lara bars.
M&M's - not so bad when you have just a couple, but who ever has just a couple? When I had a huge problem with M&M's [everyday], I started getting edamame [soy beans]. I would get a bag and boil it in a pan, rinse and drain and then put in small ziploc bags. When I had that craving for M&M's, I would eat edamame instead and it solved that craving. No, it wasn't a chocolate M&M, but it was similar to a M&M in size and texture and that was enough for me.

2. Moderation. After you find a healthy substitution for an unhealthy food, next is learning moderation. Portion control. Here's the deal - you can overeat a healthy food just like you can an unhealthy food. Except for maybe asparagus or broccoli. Learn proper portions.
Ice cream - after making healthy substitutions and happy with my cottage cheese and yogurts and protein puddings, I learned I was lactose-intolerant and had to cut back. Jeez! So, I tried it every other day instead of every day.
Protein bars - when I was getting closer to my goal, I also had to cut back on the protein bars I was consuming. It is easy to do because you tell yourself that they are healthier than a candy bar. So, I would cut a bar in half and have the rest the next day. Or I would have one every other day.
Same thing with edamame or any other trigger food. Learn to moderate and not focus on the food so much. What are the emotions that cause you to go to that food? It is more important to find that out during this time.

3. Elimination. Okay, here's the part where all the diet snobs roll their eyes and will have the sugary comments about depriving themselves and how it will hurt you to eliminate anything or restrict yourself in any way. You know, it's okay to go without once in a while. We live in a fast-pace, give it to me now, whatever I want society and along the way, we have forgotten self-control, self-discipline and common sense. If you have a problem with a certain food, say chocolate like me, is it okay not to have it for a certain amount of time? Um, who the hell cares? It's nobody's business what you eat or don't eat. Oh, except for the people around you who tell you it's okay to have a chocolate treat because you've worked so hard. Or the friend who can eat anything and not gain a pound, but criticizes your choices.

Elimination is tough. Some people can go straight to the elimination stage, skipping 1. substitution and 2. moderation. That's fine, if it works for you.

Elimination can be a temporary thing.

It doesn't have to be permanent. There are certain periods of time when I give up chocolate completely. When I am training for a race, when I have a photoshoot or big event coming up.

Find the reason WHY you have an emotional tie to a trigger food and then find your way to deal with it.

It's okay to not have a trigger food for a period of time if you take that time to figure out WHY it is a trigger for you and WHAT you can do about it. Will I ever have chocolate again? Of course, I do now. But I don't focus on it. And I can handle it now. It's not a problem for me now. It is still a trigger food, but I handle it in a healthy way. I use substitution when I need to. I use moderation when I need to. I use elimination when I need to. It works for me. It can work for you too. So, will you try?

Super Bowl Healthy Eating Strategies

It's on a Sunday. It's filled with a big game and fun commercials and a big half-time show. It's friends and family and cheering on your team. It's just another Sunday afternoon football game, right?

Wrong. 

It's Super Bowl Sunday and it's all about the food.

At least that is what we are told. I wanted to write an article giving my clients a heads-up and a way to help them - recipes they could try, food to avoid, a what-to-eat-at-the-buffet-table kind of article. And then I realized, we are already bombarded with those articles. At least I am. Every health or fitness company I know has sent me "10 Best Healthy Eats for the Super Bowl" and "Top 10 Tips to Survive your Super Bowl Party" and it goes on and on. 7 recipes, 3 things to try, 9 things you won't believe. Blah, blah, blah.

What does this mean for the average American who just wants to not wake up on Monday morning hung over and bloated from a chip-fest or wants to be healthy and avoid the bad stuff?

It means you must be a freak.

A freak.

This came to mind when I met with a client this week who has done really well. We took her progress report [measurements, bodyfat%, BMI] and photos, and I sat down and asked her, "What have you done in the last four weeks?" She looked me straight in the eye [a very good sign] and said "Every single thing you told me to do" [another very good sign]. After a very good meeting, she told me about her next challenge, a girls weekend with her friends. Previously, this would have been a time to relax with her friends, eat and drink. But this time, she wanted to do things differently. One of their friends was what she called a "freak". This "freak" exercised every day while they were there. This "freak" brought her own food and ate well. This "freak" did not drink alcohol because she didn't want to "drink her calories".

"I want to be a freak" is the next statement out of my client's mouth. She told me of her plans to take her own food, to stay on her healthy nutrition plan, to exercise while she was there [took her weights in the car] and her desire to be a "freak".

A freak. 

• Someone who exercises daily.
• Someone who eats healthy. 
• Someone who drinks healthy. 

I'm a freak too. I'm a freak who goes to a Super Bowl Party and doesn't make it about the food. I don't have plate after plate of chips and dip and then complain the next morning because my jeans don't fit. I eat in moderation and I avoid the foods that are too fatty or are not right for me. I eat fruits and veggies and lean meats. I talk with people. I enjoy the game and the commercials and the half-time show.

I'm a freak. 

So, instead of giving you my top recipes that are going to "save" you from this football holiday, I will challenge you and ask you,  

"Are you willing to be a freak?"

Sacrificing for your health

Are you sacrificing your health or are you willing to sacrifice for your health?

In our quick weight loss, pill and shake-dominant society, what is considered a sacrifice anymore? 

• A strict diet plan?

• A regimented workout plan? 

• Not eating chocolate? 

Oh no, she brought up the subject of chocolate again. But another research just came out that said chocolate is good, so good for you. Uh huh. Take a look at our chocolate-laden, sugar-addicted society and ask yourself a question - "Who is making money on these 'health surveys' and 'research' that shows that chocolate is good for you?" Anyway, back to the subject. You know I shouldn't have brought up the "C" word. 

We sacrifice in other areas of our life. We put ourselves on a budget and try to stay within it. We work at a job and are successful at it. We have children and teach them right. Is that a sacrifice? Yet, when it comes to our health, egads, it becomes a sacrifice. Oh no, I have to work out or oh no, I cannot eat a candy bar every day. It's a sacrifice. We don't like being told we cannot do something. Because we work hard in all those other areas - we handle our money, we work hard at our jobs and we love our children. But when it comes to the thing we have to do every day regardless of if we want to or not - we have to eat and we want to do it our way. And so we do it our way. 

• The stores make it easy for us - unhealthy food is cheap. 

• The fast food restaurants make it easy for us - unhealthy food is fast [and cheap]. 

• The medical community make it easy for us - they have pills and shakes and if that doesn't work, surgery for obesity will cure all. 

But what about what our heart says? 

What about that inside voice telling you that you know it is not right. You know it not right to overeat. You know it is not right to be sedentary. And yet, the easy way is to sit on the sofa and watch TV with your chocolate and your glass of wine. And forget about sacrifice, it's too hard. 

So, are you sacrificing your health, day by day, and hoping it will get better by magic some day? 

Or, are you willing to make a sacrifice for your health?

Why do we have to give up so much to be healthy?

When it comes to weight loss, why is it more about deprivation than enjoyment? Why is it more about hard work than just getting by? Why can't it be smiles and balloons instead of crying and cravings?

One of the most common complaints I hear when someone starts a weight-loss program is the deprivation factor. The fact that they cannot eat like they used to. The fact that it is so hard to get workouts in a busy schedule. The fact that they can never have a certain food again, ever. But is it really forever?

• Do you have to give up the 'forbidden' foods forever? 
• Do you have to give up having an occasional treat of sugar or alcohol? 
• Do you have to work out every day for the rest of your life? 

NO.

But, do you want to lose weight or what? 

No, you don't have to give up the 'forbidden' foods forever. But, what's wrong with limiting them for a short period of time and seeing if you can overcome the EMOTIONAL obstacles associated with that food. Instead of thinking of it as a chore to 'give up' that food, look at it realistically. Could that food or over-indulgence of that food be stalling your weight loss efforts? Sometimes you don't have to give it up. Sometimes you can just limit or moderate it. But other times, it seems to have a hold over you. Why? If you have been trying to lose weight for many, many years and what you have been doing DOESN'T work, then doesn't it make sense to try something else that may work? Think about it...

No, you don't have to give up having an occasional treat of sugar or alcohol. But, again, what's wrong with limiting them for a short period of time and seeing if you can overcome the EMOTIONAL obstacles associated with that food or drink? We are a give-me-everything-now society and what has that done for us? We have what we want when we want it. We don't take care of what we have and we get rid of things we don't need to. Is it working for us? No, we are more overweight and more obese as a society. So, if it's not working for you, why not try something else.


No, you don't have to work out every day for the rest of your life. But are you trying to lose weight or are you trying to maintain your weight? I have been lucky enough to maintain my weight for the last 10 years and I can tell you, I haven't worked every day during those 10 years. I've taken days off, sometimes weeks off. But, I am not trying to lose weight. When you make the commitment to LOSE weight, you are going to have to do something different. So, if you had to work out 5-6 days a week for a short period of time to lose the weight, is that so bad? It's not going to kill you. It's going to save your life. It's going to make exercise a habit and help your body so much.

Why do we have to give up so much to be healthy?

Who is giving up? When you make the commitment to lose weight, you are not giving up your life. You are living it. You are changing it. You are proud of it. You are becoming the person you were meant to be. So do it. Will you?

Gwinnett's Losing It! takes it to another level

Weight loss is hard. Permanent weight loss. Not the temporary, here take this pill or drink this shake 3 times a day weight loss. The kind of weight loss that changes your life. With our national obesity rate rising every year along with the increase marketing and promotion of "special" products designed to help you lose weight, why is it so hard? If all of these pills, shakes and workout equipment worked, then wouldn't we as a society be healthier? We can be. It starts with the inside and Gwinnett's Losing It! is a good example of that.

A second round of Gwinnett's Losing It! started August 15, 2001 in Gwinnett County and ends 12 weeks later on November 4, 2011. 20 participants have 12 weeks to change their bodies, and their lives. How do they do this?

• By learning how to incorporate strength training into their workouts
• By learning how to do effective cardio workouts
• By learning proper nutrition strategies for their daily life
• By attending weekly teleconference calls
• By attending monthly group meetings
• By competing against other people with the same goals and same frustrations

The participants met for an afternoon at Lake Lanier Islands Resort for a kick-off in August, which included a boot camp workout and hike, a healthy lunch and emotional boot camp workshops. They train for a 5K in September, in which many complete for the first time. They attend another boot camp workout in October and conclude at a ceremony in November to celebrate their success.

But let's hear it from the participants themselves:

•  "The past eight weeks have been very exciting. They flew by and I am wishing this contest was much longer as I am having too much fun! Training for the 5K unified us as a team. I am extremely proud of myself that I have worked hard to consistently lose 1 lb a week and pushed myself to run the entire 5K. I am feeling healthier and happier."
• "I have not lost a lot of weight during this contest, but I am losing inches and gaining muscle. I am wearing two sizes smaller. This contest has helped me 'like' myself again. Overall, I try to be a positive person around other people and they think I am happy. When I am by myself, I do not smile much. I have been unhappy with myself for quite a while. Because of this contest, however, I am eating right, treating myself right and seeing some results. The other day, I caught myself smiling inside."
• "My workout routine is now becoming a way of life. I never realized how important weight training was before but now I plan to make this a forever thing. I can't and don't even use the term 'diet' anymore. I still enjoy an occasional bite of dessert or special 'family' food, but really don't enjoy stuffing myself with bad nutrition choices. It has been very valuable to me to know that I'm not in this battle alone!"
• "I am learning how to take better care of myself in various ways. Learning to jog has been great. Running the entire 5K with my friends was very special and motivating. Seems like I am surrounded by sick people, however I am staying healthy and strong. Sometimes, I just giggle to myself about what I am becoming. I like her."
• "When the 12 weeks are up, I will have a plan that I can continue to follow and that I can live with. Because I am not in this just for the 12 weeks. I am in this for the rest of my life. I am not on a diet, I am living healthy. Sure I will still have days when I will struggle to get my workouts in, I will still forget lunch and be tempted by those chicken fingers, but I have learned that I have to be a priority in my life and that taking care of myself is as important, no really, more important than anything else I do. And I think I have made strides that will make this easier in the future." 
• "I am so excited by my week 8 results. I have lost a total of 9" and lost 24 lbs. I completed my first 5K race and ran a mile for the first time in 30 years. My blood pressure remains normal and migraines appear to be a thing of the past. While these physical changes are impressive, I have found the emotional changes to be even more important. I have learned how to really push myself. I have consistently planned and cooked healthy meals for my family, even when fast food restaurants called to me on the drive home from work. I have found an inner strength that I never knew I had and intend to use that strength to achieve my weight loss and fitness goals long after this competition is over."
• "The past eight weeks, I have made major improvements to my nutrition. I have completely cut out soda and junk food. I think making the decision to cut those two things completely out has been one of my best decisions ever. Knowing that my life will and always be changed from doing this competition. I can't wait to continue my life on the right track."
• "It has been an amazing eight weeks. I have dropped 14 lbs in a plain ol healthy way with good food and exercise. The best part is I have done this in a realistic approach that I can live with. I have not done any extreme fad dieting, taken any pills or even extreme workouts. I have not given up every food I've ever enjoyed, I'm simply learning how to use moderation in my eating. This time is different. I have no special occasion goal, I have a life goal. I am learning, slowly but surely, how to 'start with the inside' and I am confident that I will continue losing at least 1 lb a week until I'm at my goal and maintain it." 

Congratulations Gwinnett's Losing It! participants and good luck during the last three weeks! Cannot wait for the Finale Celebration on Wednesday, November 9th at 550 Trackside in Lawrenceville! Stay tuned for more details.

Why so hard on chocolate and candy?

It's that time of year again, time for October and chocolate overload. The stores are jam packed with chocolate candy bar bags, candy corn, candy pumpkins. All designed to lure you [and your kids] to the other side. The candy sugar side. Don't worry. Only 70% of our population is overweight and obese. Sugar has nothing to do with it. Chocolate is good for you. They keep telling us that.

So why is Sandi so hard on chocolate and candy?
Why does she have to ruin all the good chocolate holidays?

Because I have a job to do and I do it well. I do my research, I love my job. I deal every day with overweight and obese people who are addicted to these things. I deal every day with overweight and obese people who have bought into the idea that chocolate is good for you and helps with PMS and helps you get antioxidants into your body. Because I have been there myself. As a chocolate devotee myself, I know the devastating affect it can have on your body when you are trying to be fit and healthy. Now don't get me wrong, I have chocolate. But not like I used to. And not all the time. I believe in moderation in all things. HOWEVER, there are times when you have to take it a step further than moderation and steer towards elimination. Temporary elimination. Why?

• Chocolate/candy is a trigger food for you. Meaning you have one and you want another one immediately.
• Chocolate/candy is an emotional food for you. You eat it when upset, or when PMS strikes, or when you celebrate. The food is linked to good times and bad and it is a HABIT.
• Chocolate is a unhealthy food for you. The chocolate in today's candy is NOT the healthy chocolate all the research articles are talking about. The cacao bean is healthy, but the FORM of cacao bean that they are talking about, the healthy one, is not even present in today's chocolate. It is full of preservatives, unhealthy additives and unnecessary ingredients to make it palpable for our sweet-loving palates.

I know, stop already. I'm like a chocolate nazi.

I don't care. I am going to keep speaking the truth, even when it hurts. I care about my client's health and well-being. I care about our children and the unhealthy habits we carry on to them. I care about our nation's obesity rate and the link between unhealthy foods and habits.

Hence the No-Candy Pledge. What started as a joke last year around this time became a fun thing to do. Could you not eat candy or chocolate for one month? Would it be good for your health? Would you be willing to try? If chocolate is a trigger food or problem for you, I challenge you to try it. Visit my fanpage on Facebook to download the pledge. Print it out, sign it and put it somewhere so you can see it. Challenge yourself. And then tell me what it does for your health. Will you?

What to do when everything goes wrong

Life is hard. Weight loss is hard. Put the two together and yikes, double-hard. Everything goes okay for a while, and then bam - chaos happens, somebody dies or gets hurt, people change, events happen - and before you know it, everything seems to be going wrong and you lose focus. Or lose your mind. Or so it seems.

I see this all the time with my clients. In reviewing their weight loss history, there always seems to be a time when everything goes wrong. Something happens that sets them back - an event, a person - something happens to them and they just let themselves go. They lose priority in their lives. And their health suffers. I deal with this all the time - trying to help clients overcome the emotional chaos that keeps them from living a healthy life and having a fit, healthy body. It happens to everybody, it happens to me.

In July, everything pretty much went wrong. At least it seems that way. Less than two weeks out from doing a tri with a client and coming home from a great ride with a friend, I crashed my bike. Totaled it. No big deal, right? At least that's what those around me said. "Just get another one". Um, I don't just ride any bike. It's my baby. I ride 100+ miles a week. It's my workout partner. I love my bike. And it's expensive. Boom, just like that, starting over. I ended up backing out of the tri because I am too stubborn to borrow a bike from anyone and ended up letting down my client as well.

Just like the United States right now, I am having debt and financial difficulties. Like everyone else around me. Every time I hear something about the US debt in the news, I think about my situation and how to apply what they are doing to what I am doing. It doesn't work that way. But the pressure is on and I feel it all the time. It feels overwhelming and never seems to end.

Ups and downs in relationships. I don't believe in true love because it's too much work. Seriously, when will I ever get a fraction back of what I give? I know, that's not the intent of love. You are supposed to give and give and give and not worry about getting back. But crap, you'd think I'd get a little something back more than this. I see relationships around me crumble and wonder if I am next?

So through the stress and the time when everything goes wrong, what happens to my health? What happens to my fitness? Nothing. I don't win in the triathlon with my great bike. I don't pay off all my bills in a flurry. I don't get the love I deserve. I just muddle on through it. I'll figure it out. I still eat clean, pretty much anyway. I had a brief sorrowful return to the 'ol ice cream solitude, but got over that quick. I still get in my workouts. Dropped the tri schedule, quit the bike rides, but found some other workouts that I hadn't done in a while, so kept moving. I'll figure it out. Kept doing the things you are supposed to be doing. Kept my family intact and kept my faith that someday I'll be rewarded for doing good. I'll figure it out.

It doesn't all have to make sense. But you can't lose your health over it. You can't just stop working out because things happen. You can't just start eating crap because things happen. You can't just give up because bad things happen and everything goes wrong. You just have to pick yourself up, believe in the good in people and situations, and go on. You'll figure it out.

It's August and I still don't have a bike yet. I'll figure it out.
They cancelled my upcoming Olympic tri in September [who cancels a tri?], so now I am raceless goal-wise. I'll figure it out.
The bills keep on coming and I keep paying them. I'll figure it out.
The relationships keep going up and down. I'll figure it out.

But while I'm figuring it out, I'll stay healthy, I'll stay fit. I'll keep living a healthy lifestyle because otherwise, I'm just a statistic that happens when everything goes wrong.