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NUTRITION RESOLUTION

Nutrition information and dietitian services brought to you by a Registered Dietitian and nutritionist. Alyssa believes in creating health through nutrition. With all the confusing nutrition data and diet foods available on the web, this is a site maintained by a nutrition professional you can trust. Alyssa provides services and programs specializing in weight loss, creating optimal health, reversing high blood sugar, and relieving the pain and discomfort caused by food sensitivities.

Herb N’ Garlic Brown Rice Pizza Dough Recipe

Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This recipe is so very delicious.  I never used to think a dough that didn’t contain gluten could taste so good, and be crunchy and chewy in all the right areas. This recipe, being gluten free, is great for someone with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity.  (Please note the adaptations in italics below for LEAP clients.)  However, this recipe is a healthy option for ANYONE, to add some variety to your diet and provide an alternative to the standard “whole wheat” pizza crust.  Brown rice is also a whole grain, so this recipe is not only delicious but nutritionally superior to white pizza crust.

If some of these ingredients look unfamiliar to you, that’s because they may be hard to find at your standard grocery store.  However, they are available at most health food stores.  Bob’s Red Mill is a wonderful company that sells affordable alternative grain products such as the flours listed below.  Bob’s Red Mill products are available in health food stores and at  http://www.bobsredmill.com/.  Whole foods is also another great source:  http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/shop/.   And, you can shop online at both of these links, a convenience I absolutely love!

Ingredients: 

  • 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
  • 2/3 cup 110 degree F milk (soy, cow, or rice)
  • 2/3 cup brown rice flour or other allowed grain flour
  • ½ cup tapioca flour (may substitute potato starch)
  • 2 tsp xantham gum (may substitute guar gum or pre-gel starch) *
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey (or allowed sweetener), make sure honey is room temp
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil (or any allowed oil)
  • 2 Tbsp additional olive oil for working with dough (or any allowed oil)
  • ½ tsp minced garlic
  • ¼ tsp oregano
  • ¾ tsp dried basil
*xantham gum is what replaces the gluten and gives the dough its shape and structure

 Directions: 

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Combine milk with yeast and honey/sweetener and allow to sit
  3. Blend brown rice flour, tapioca flour, xantham gum, oregano, basil, and salt in a separate bowl.
  4. Add olive oil, vinegar, and garlic to the bubbly liquid mixture.  Combine with flour mixture and mix well with your hands
  5. Cover and let dough rest for 30 minutes
  6. Press dough onto greased pizza pan (may use additional olive oil) Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove, add toppings, and bake another 10 minutes.

Makes 6 servings

Please comment below on how you like the recipe!

 

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

New Years Resolutions: Don’t Do It!

Happy New Year!

At the biggest time of year for people to make dietary resolutions or “nutrition resolutions,” if you will ;) I wanted to emphasize this one heartfelt note of encouragement:  don’t do it!

It is the 2nd day of January and many are already realizing they messed up on their diet, weren’t able to do the full hour a day at the gym they had planned, and they might have even already bumped their start date to Jan 9th (the next Monday, of course).

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Although I am in the business of encouraging and assisting people in making lifestyle changes year-round, the New Year’s Resolution is a cousin of the all-or-nothing mentality.  This mentality sabotages your efforts as it leads to yo-yo behavior that leaves you eternally flip flopping between dieting and overdoing it in lieu of the life of moderation that will truly bring you what you’re looking for.  Moderation that can be practiced during the busy work week, the weekend, vacations, holidays, whenever.

Adopting a healthier lifestyle is serious business. Our lifestyles and the food we eat affect our health more than we may have ever imagined.  In medical journal after journal, it seems to always come back to the same thing with regard to reducing chronic disease risk:  eat less and better types of fat, consume less salt and more potassium, decrease refined carbohydrates, eat more colorful fruits and vegetables, eat more whole grains, don’t smoke, and on and on and on… Plus, there are many factors affecting our health that we cannot control:  environmental pollutants, pollutants in our food (can be controlled to a certain extent with organics), so why not control what we can and add years to our lives as well as making our living years enjoyable and free of illness?  (Now, when I mentioned the factors we cannot control, if your mind jumped to “yeah, we’re all going to die of something so what’s the point?”  I’ll have you reread the paragraph about the all-or-nothing mindset.)

To avoid this mentality, start implementing your resolutions as soon as you see a need for them.  Motivation can be perishable so keep your motivators in mind as you proceed.   It’s easy to think “eh, it’s not that important” or “I’ll start later” especially when others around you may not place much importance on health.  But there’s a reason you decided to make a change, a reason it’s nagging you.  Your intuition is trying to urge you to be a healthier person and have a better life.  I have found that if I eat a meal that’s too heavy it affects everything.  I’m very careful what I eat during the work week for example, because if I eat the wrong thing, I have trouble concentrating, being efficient, and staying motivated.  It reminds me of when my brother once joked “I need to go sit this off” after a big meal…it does often feel like that’s all you can do!  Of course, I might not know this if I had never experienced the contrast of eating very well and how much energy, motivation, and inspiration I have access to when I do.  How might your eating habits be affecting you in your life?

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Personally, I hope you start your nutrition resolutions on the 9th, 16th, or 23rd day of the month on a Tuesday, Friday, or Sunday at 10:15am, 3:08pm, or 8:53pm, any month of the year.  Make your resolution SMART:  specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  Don’t just set out to eat better…that’s too ambiguous.  Make 1 goal and make it specific:  for example, “I will have a green salad with my lunch every day this week starting today.” (noticed I didn’t say tomorrow…tomorrow is tricky in that it doesn’t exist and life is actually made up of many many todays!)  Once eating a salad with lunch becomes a habit, continue that habit but add another goal, such as “I will go for a 15 minute walk at 6:30 before work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting today.”  Once that habit is established, you can easily add minutes or additional days to your regimen.  Changing habits in this manner is the most effective way to change your lifestyle.  It takes time, but time will pass anyway, so you can spend your time bouncing around like a yo-yo between following a strict diet and chaos, or you can actually change how you live.

Please take a moment to comment below if you have a SMART goal you plan to make soon…your discussion and ideas help others who are struggling with the same thing you are!

Weight Loss Mindset

Thoughts become actions.  In fact, every action that has ever taken place started out as a thought.  If you are having trouble losing weight, you may not realize the significant impact your thoughts are having on your success or failure.  You may be able to link your disappointing results to a specific action or lack of action, such as missing your workouts or skipping breakfast.  But what was the CAUSE of those behaviors?  If the cause and underlying thought forms that lead to your actions are not identified and manipulated, you are likely to continue the same behaviors and produce the same disappointing results.

Ideas_and_Decision_M_g409

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Negative self-talk can be a silent saboteur as we often do it unconsciously and have little awareness that it is happening, much less its effects on our emotions and behaviors.  Let’s look at the difference between negative self-talk and positive self-talk.

Negative Positive 
Those pants are too small, I am so big that I can’t fit into them anymore…I absolutely must lose weight I will feel so great, and those pants will look so amazing on me once I become more active, eat healthier, and reach my desired weight
Emotions Evoked:  Fear, Desperation, Guilt Emotions Evoked:  Excitement, Confidence

Here are some other negative and positive thought patterns:

Negative Positive
“I can’t do this” What are your expectations?  If you’re setting out to do something that feels impossible, your goals may be too drastic “Won’t I be excited when I’m able to look back and say ‘I did this!’” 
“I must be thin” This feeling of desperation makes it difficult to focus on gradual, lasting behavior change “I’m going to become healthy and look great, and will be a better version of how wonderful I already am!”
“I need to lose weight immediately!” This sets you up for failure because weight loss is  a gradual process, and when results are not realized immediately, you will become discouraged “Over time, I will see amazing results and am ready to enjoy and celebrate all the small milestones along the way”
“I need comfort now!” Eating to fill an urgent void will set you back and can become a habit “I can relieve my stress by meditating, winding down, or participating in a favorite activity, which will all provide me more comfort than food”
“I already blew it for today, I might as well eat whatever I want and start again tomorrow” This all-or-nothing mindset sets you up for behaviors that are far worse than your “normal” because you let yourself off the hook for a period of time (the rest of today!)  This can become a bad habit.  Remember that perfection is not necessary to achieve great results; instead do the best you can with what you have in any given moment “It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten one of those, I sure enjoyed it!  Now I’m happy to get back on track!”
“I’m a loser” Thinking that your worth is somehow attached to your appearance or your ability to lose weight is not true and is de-motivating “I am good at so many things and have risen to so many challenges in my life.  Any difficulty I face losing weight does not change the  truth about who I am “

Negative thoughts will inevitably enter our heads.  The key is to let them flow out as quickly as they flowed in, and to consciously replace them with positive thoughts.  For positive results with weight loss:

  • Maintain a long-term focus and be patient and loving with yourself.  Keep focused on the emotion behind your motivating factors.  For example, instead of  thinking “I need to lose 30lb,”  think “I am doing this so I will look and feel fabulous.”
  • Imagine yourself already looking and feeling the way you want to…and feel the emotions you expect to feel when that happens.  If you make this a daily practice, you will be thrust onto a one-way road to your goal and there will be no going back!
  • Believe that you are worthy of your goal and all the wonderful benefits that will come along with achieving it.
  • Be flexible with yourself.  Most everyone experiences set-backs along the way…don’t let it shake your emotions or mindset.  Push bad thoughts out of your head and forgive yourself, and resume the positive self talk, affirmation, and visualizations.
  • Give in now and then and eat something you’re craving.  Keep the portion reasonable and hop right back on the healthy horse afterwards.  Also make it a habit to incorporate many of the foods you really like into your daily routine. This way you will not be as prone to the “I need comfort now!” and “I can’t do this!” mindsets.  Celebrate and affirm frequently, and repeat as needed!

What negative self-talk do you notice going on in your head?  What successes have you found with using positive self-talk and affirmation?

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