Mindful Eats

The Best Weight Loss Tools: Food Logs and a Lose It! Review

"What's measured improves." ~Peter Drucker

As you look at your goals for the year, is losing weight or eating more mindfully on your list? Well, one of the most powerful tools to help you succeed is a FOOD LOG. Ugh, boring, old-fashioned you say? Well, they WORK. You must have a baseline of what you eat and how much you exercise before you can improve on it. You might think you already know your habits, but you don't really until you keep track of it. I promise you will learn a lot by keeping a food diary for a week.

You can keep track of your eating on a piece of paper or use a digital food log. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to keep a food log, and why you should know your baseline (along with a printout for a paper food log). I always kept food logs on paper since I like to look at what I eat on a broader weekly view, but I recently tried a digital log (the Lose It! app), which worked like a charm. Review below.

After gaining some weight, I decided I needed to lose a few pounds. I tightened up my diet and focused on whole unprocessed foods, and ate more moderate portions. This always works. Then my husband started using Lose It! and I tagged along. It was easy, and it supercharged my weight loss so I lost twice the amount of weight in the same amount of time. I am a big believer in food logs, but even I was surprised by the results.

Why did I love Lose It!?

Green Feminine Hygiene Products: Organic Cotton/Menstrual Cups

It is health that is real wealth, and not pieces of gold and silver. ~Mohandas Gandhi

This post is for the women. Men, I recommend you stop reading here. Stop. Because we're going to be talking about MENSTRUAL PERIOD stuff.

{Yup, that got rid of the guys.}

So when it comes to that time of the month, how do you handle it? Pads, tampons, organic tampons? I recently found a new feminine hygiene product (hate that term) that isn't a tampon or a pad. Actually, it's not new - it's been around since the 1930's. It's more effective, more comfortable and much more environmental. What is it you ask? It's a menstrual cup, which is basically a bell-shaped cup made from medical grade silicone, polyethylene or other nonlatex materials that is worn inside the vagina to collect menstrual fluid.

I think most women find the product journey to be something like this:

1. Conventional Sanitary Pads. They are easy to use and figure out. However, there can be leaking and messiness involved, and it feels like you're sitting on a pillow so some women turn to
2. Conventional Tampons. These are so much harder to learn to use than pads, but provide so much more freedom once you get used to them. However, they still require regular purchasing and can be leaky. Wondering about the health effects of them, you might turn to
3. Unbleached Organic Tampons. If you have something in you for days, you want to make sure its as toxin- free as possible. Your vagina absorbs well, which is why medicines can be delivered through vaginal suppositories. Using nonchlorinated tampons means less chemicals for you and the environment.

I was at stage 3, and wondering if there was anything better because tampons really aren't all that great. I hate having to remember to buy them, they're drying and they can leak. They also didn't feel green - all the material and energy that went into making them and then they were disposed of. Then one day I read an article about menstrual cups. Soon after that I was at Whole Foods buying some nonchlorinated cotton tampons, and I saw some menstrual cups. 

They seemed weird, but in the name of science, I bought one. What happens to the fluid? Isn't it messy?

After three months, I love it. I can't feel it, it doesn't leak, it's not drying, there's no string hanging around, I don't need to remember to bring a tampon to the bathroom (because it's always with you), and I've saved a lot of money.  I wish I'd learned about them 10 years ago!

What's the downside? The icky factor (which isn't so icky). So here's the unvarnished scoop:

Non-toxic red lipstick and the Environmental Working Group Cosmetics Database

  Juice Beauty Reflecting Lip Gloss in Guava, Lipstick in Fig, and Smashbox in Legendary

Mindful Eaters, you already know that you are what you eat. The food that goes inside you directly impacts the way you feel and look. That's why you're so gorgeous, bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed. Almost as/just as important as what you eat is what you put on you. Your skin is your largest organ, and it's meant to simultaneously protect you and be superabsorbent. Eliminate those toxins and you'll be even more gorgeous and energetic. We've covered body and beauty products before, now we're going to talk make-up (sorry boys).

I've never been a consistent lipstick wearer since I didn't like the staining, but I suddenly wanted that red 1940's look and became obsessed with red lipstick a few weeks ago. I thought it would be easy to find one since every makeup company makes at least one fire engine color. Then I decided to run my favorite brands through the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Cosmetics Database and made two discoveries, one good and one bad. 1) the EWG Database had vastly improved. It was always in the MindfulEats Resource List, but we'd never featured it since it was clunky and hard to use. Now it's radically more user-friendly, and it's not perfect, but it's really an amazing resource. 2) All the most popular lipstick brands rate at least a 5 in toxicity (out of 10). Not good. No wonder they stain! The highest concerns are Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Biochemical or cellular level changes. Nasty. I think my favorite is bioaccumulation - who wants to accumulate toxins in your body?

After a great deal of searching, I didn't find anything perfect. But I did find two brands of lipstick that ranked lower on the toxicity scale: Juice Beauty (2/10), and Smashbox (3/10). 0 is obviously the best, but these brands were the easiest for me to find. I only bought Smashbox (Legendary) to get the bright red - it wasn't my favorite red, but it was close enough and I'd rather have something slightly less toxic. Juice Beauty has really limited colors (two) but I love the product - it feels great and the gloss is nice too. I might have to start making my own lipstick, but until there's a MindfulMakeup line, I'm going to go with these.

What to do - Check Your Products

1. Run your current body and beauty products through the EWG Database. Or if you're looking for something new, run your old product and other alternatives throught the database.
2. Pick a threshold that you don't want anything over. For example, 4/10. Read up on the higher toxicity products. Some natural brands like Weleda might rank higher than that - find out why. some natural brands rate highly for potential allergans, and if you're not allergic, the product is ok for you.
3. Throw away all the products that exceed your threshold. Yup, throw them away. You have permission.
4. Replace your items with lower toxicity, natural products.
5. Notice how much better you feel!

Resources:

• Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database
• Body and beauty product and facial product recommendations (Mindul Eats)
• Mindful Eats Resource List for all kinds of useful links and info

 

What I ate: blueberries + ground flaxseed + Hawthorne Valley Plain yogurt, 8 strawberries, Happy Herbert's spelt sticks, grape tomatoes, whole wheat spaghetti + sundried tomato pesto + ground flaxseed, 1 latte, chocolate farm cake, tofu pad see ew, 50 oz water

Exercise: 5 mile walk/jog with my new dog

 

 

 

Organic Cheese Post on Practically Green

Never confuse motion with action. ~Ernest Hemingway

I am guest blogging today for my friend Susan's site, Practically Green. Practically Green helps people become more green through, well, practical advice. You start out with a fun quiz to see how environmental you are (I'm wicked green), then it gives you tips on how to become more green, and it lets you create an action plan. Kind of like a virtual personal trainer on being more green. [By the way, has anyone counted how many times I used the word green in those last four sentences? Six.]

I'm blogging on one of their top "actions" - eating organic cheese. 

What I ate: 1 cafe au lait, 1 hard-boiled egg, dried mango slices, sauteed udon + spinach + enoki mushrooms + garlic, Mindful Mix, Stacy's Naked Pita chips, Yorgo's humus, ramen + spinach + egg + seaweed, 6 squares dark chocolate, 40 oz water

Exercise: warmup, 6 x 300, 3 x 600, jog

 

Planning: The Key to Being Healthier and Happier

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them." ~Michael Jordan

We at MindfulEats talk about planning all the time. That's because planning is the key to health. Sadly, healthy eating, exercise and sleep don't just randomly happen! If you're anything like me, then planning doesn't come naturally. If you're the other type of person (born organized), then you can skip this post!

I resisted planning for a long time because I thought of myself as spontaneous. Isn't planning the opposite of of spontaneous? Then all kinds of things would happen like I'd be on my way to a party but wouldn't be able to find my keys in my messy house so it would take 30 minutes of searching, then the car wouldn't have gas so I'd take the extra time to go get it, and by the time I ended up at the party I was so frazzled and hungry I would eat all the fatty food in sight. The results? Weight gain, lethargy, guilt, and a total lack in spontaneity. If I'd planned ahead, I would have eaten a healthy snack before I left as part of my food strategy, grabbed my keys from the designated key bowl, walked out of the house into car with gas, enjoyed a few of the hors d'oeuvres, and had spontaneous fun at the party.

As for my house, it would be in a state of total anarchy, and then I'd make a huge weekend-long effort to straighten it out. Not fun. Then one day I read an article about FlyLady, who insisted shining my sink would get my house organized. Similar to the principles of feng shui, she insisted that a cluttered mess drained a lot of mental energy and even more time. I signed up for the FlyLady program (lots of free e-mails). It was life-changing! Like she said, setting up routines to cover the everyday basics freed me up to do a lot more. My place became neater, I had more time and ability to start planning ahead, my meals became healthier and cheaper, that gave me more time and energy, I started blogging and here we are. FlyLady is amazing, and it's free. If things feel a little chaotic, or you need some help getting organized, go to FlyLady! As Flylady always says, it's all about babysteps and getting routines. Once you have the basics taken care of, you're free to enjoy all the fun opportunities that come up without spending all this time taking care of blowups!

What to Do: Plan Your Way to a Healthier and Happier Life

1. Organize your house and life with routines that take care of your basics. Sign up for FlyLady.net for help! A principle of feng shui (this is very poorly paraphrased on my part) is that a neat, uncluttered house will let you relax. Conversely, a messy house will subconsciously bother you so you will never be able to focus on the task at hand.
2. Plan your meals for the week and schedule your exercise with the Mindful Battle Plan.
3. Create your goals mindfully and go for them!  

Resources:

• FlyLady - FlyLady steps you through setting up routines and getting more organized
• Mindful Battle Plan - Want to eat healthy? You need a food strategy!
• Mindful Goals - Achieving your goals is fun. Dream them up and go for it!

 

What I ate: 2 lattes, 2 hardboiled nyeggs, quinoa, Tasty Bite Kashmir Spinach, brown rice + ground flaxseeds, steamed broccoli, baked tofu, macadamia nuts, Mariebelle hot chocolate, 2 Almond Rocas, 40 oz. water

Exercise: Ran 4 miles (still getting in shape after taking 2 weeks off)

New List of Mindful Restaurants and Farmers

Offered at Mindful Eats and the Union Square Greenmarket

Our lives are a sum total of the total choices we have made ~Wayne Dyer

We are delighted to announce our brand new Mindful Restaurants and Farmers page! We've been searching for a list like it all our lives, and here it is (it's a permanent link on the left hand side of the page, so check it out, please).

Sure, eating out makes you fat, but we all have to do it on occasion. On those instances, you should choose delicious and responsible restaurants that source local and organic food when possible. Your dollar counts! We can never find a good list, so we've started our own. They are NY biased for now, but we'll add other areas too. Feel free to leave your recommendations!

We've also started a list of mindful farmers. These small batch, family farm products are grown locally and responsibly. Every dollar you spend is an investment in small, responsible farms and living wages for those that produce the most important thing you can buy. Again, leave a comment with your suggestions.

We'll be continuously adding to the page with your ideas, and it will be even more awesome, so keep coming back.

What I ate: Fage yogurt + flaxseeds, latte, pineapple, 5 pieces dark chocolate, chicken pot pie soup, big slice white bread, banana, dried mangos, quinoa, steamed bok choy + tofu + shiitake mushrooms, Good Earth tea, 12 oz low fat milk, 20 oz coconut water, 50 oz water

Exercise: 4 mile jog, 7x600s @ 7:30 with 200m recovery (first track workout of 2010 so slow)

We Have a Winner: Best Steel Water Bottle

Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. ~Franklin P. Jones

One of our most popular posts compares steel to aluminum water bottles. We're really excited it's popular, because that means that more people are getting away from plastic bottles, blech.

Well, now we've found the best water bottle of 2010! If you're in a situation where you need to be mobile, glass just won't do. Metal water bottles are the way to go! They are environmental since they're reusable, and you'll save money over the long run. 

Plastic bottles can leach chemicals into water - that's why if you leave your drink in it for a while, it tastes like plastic. If the plastic is made of bispheonol A (BPA), there's increasing evidence that it disrupts hormonal functioning.

We've come down firmly on the side of high quality 18/8 stainless steel bottles. The trendy aluminum bottles used to tempt us with their stylish looks, but this good looking steel bottle has surpassed them in handsome lines. And besides, aluminum needs to be lined to prevent them from leaching aluminum (another no-no that is linked with Alzheimer's) into your drink. Who needs that?

Our clear winner of the year is the Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth. This one has almost everything:

• High quality 18/8 steel construction.
• A variety of sizes (we like the 18 oz since it's a good amount of liquid but small enough to throw in a bag).
• Wide mouth so you can see your drink and for easy cleaning - one of bad things about reusable bottles is you couldn't get in there to clean them out. You can with this bottle.
• Architectural good looks - nice clean lines.

It's almost perfect but not quite - if Klean Kanteen made the following modifications it might be:

• Put a thicker rim on the bottle. The nice thing about Sigg bottles is the thicker lip - it's very comfortable to drink from.
• Take the tacky logo off the side.

Oh well. The minor cons are worth the big pros. Investing in a stainless steel water bottle is an easy way to improve your health - you'll drink more water and avoid plastic contamination.

What to do - Use Water Bottles

1. Purchase a stainless steel water bottle. We recommend the wide mouth Klean Kanteen. If you want the insulated one to keep hot drinks hot, it'll be a few dollars more.  
2. Fill it with filtered water.
3. Keep it clean. Wash regularly - it is also dishwasher safe.

What I ate: 1 grapefruit, 1 latte, Fage Greek yogurt + ground flaxseeds + Sarabeth's jam, 1 cup steel cut oatmeal + milk + dried cranberries, 1 banana,  Thai soup, Pad Thai, stir-fried vegetables and tofu, 28 oz. hot chocolate, water

Exercise: 60 min running, 60 min vinyassa yoga

Health Tests: Know Your Numbers

The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. ~Benjamin Mays

Hi gorgeous! MindfulEats is beyond thrilled that you are becoming even more radiant and healthy. How healthy are you? Having a health baseline helps you figure out what you need to do, and it helps you set goals. When's the last time you went to the doctor or had your numbers checked? 

Get your numbers checked: weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose. Having a mind-body connection is important, but your numbers provide a health snapshot of a moment in time. They are not the sum of who you are - it's just a picture of where you are now, and they can get better or worse.

I started eating healthier 4 years ago after I went to a health fair at work. My cholesterol reading was 194, which is close to the borderline of 200. That's when I decided to improve my diet.

Don't be scared of your numbers, even if you suspect they are bad. Having "bad" numbers will make your improvements even more impressive! After I worked on my diet my cholesterol got better, but it climbed back up to 195 this May when I ate excessive amounts of dairy. 

We had a health fair at work again this past week, and I expected my cholesterol to be terrible since I had started eating meat. Instead, it was 166 - the lowest it had ever been. (Maybe it's the meat or eating breakfast). The point is, don't be scared. You don't know what the results will be, and they will be a great guide.

Sorry the picture is sideways. Flip your head - tests are in the left column, and normal values are in the right column.

What to do - Check Your Numbers

1. Get a blood work-up. If you have insurance, call your doctor to get a checkup today. If you don't go, you are wasting this benefit - you're paying all those premiums for nothing. If you don't have insurance, you can take advantage of health fairs. Check your community center or local health clinic - they will have them on occasion. You can also check your religious center (church, temple, synagogue), or work. If there isn't a fair, ask your clinic if they provide the service.
2. Look at your numbers. The picture above shows the numbers you should focus on. Look at the left column to identify the test, and look at the column on the right to see what the desirable levels are. Ask your doctor/counselor to explain your results to you. In general:  
   • Cholesterol is a fatty material found in all people. We need it to function, but too much of some cholesterol can cause problems. 
     • High Density cholesterol (HDL) is "good cholesterol." We often think of cholesterol as bad, but HDL is good - it protects the heart. The more of this the better.
     • Low Density cholesterol (LDL) is "bad cholesterol." This can lead to blocked arteries, heart disease and heart attacks, uh oh.
     • Total cholesterol are all the cholesterols together.
     • Total Cholesterol:HDL ratio - this is another way of calculating your cholesterol levels. The lower this ratio is the better.
   • Triglycerides are another fatty material - too much of this can lead to blocked arteries and heart attacks. Another uh-oh.
   • Glucose measures the sugar in your blood. Too much can indicate pre-diabetes or diabetes. 
   • Blood Pressure measures how much pressure your heart is putting on your circulatory system when it's pumping and when it's at rest. Too much pressure is tough on your system. You don't want to blow a gasket! When it's high, you have hypertension.
   • BMI is a weight to height calculation. You don't want to be too thin or too fat. These conditions will lead to other health problems.
3. Keep a log of your numbers. Use whatever system works for you. Handwrite them on a sheet of paper with the date at the top, then write your new numbers and the date in the next time you get your numbers. Keep a spreadsheet, or put your numbers in a file.
4. Look at your numbers and set some goals. Want to lower your cholesterol or glucose? Want to decrease your BMI? Want to keep everything the same? Awesome. Understand your goals and work toward them! 
5. Schedule an appointment for your next set of numbers. Look at those numbers to see how they compare to last time and your goal. Then put the new numbers in your log. 

   Knowing your numbers is an important tool for getting healthier. Don't be disappointed if they aren't as perfect as you want them to be. Stick to your eating and exercise plan, and they will get better. Promise. It's about getting better and improving your batting average, not about being perfect.

   What I ate: 50 oz. Gatorade, 1 banana, Yogi cereal + milk, 1 hard boiled egg, 2 plain Gus (not real food, but it works for me during a run), 30 oz. water, 2 lattes, mentai rice ball, lobster sushi, dried mango slices, macadamia nuts, almonds, eggplant + tomatoes + zucchini + Israeli couscous

   Exercise: Ran 20 miles

Sigg Aluminum Water Bottles and BPA

Lying is done with words and also with silence. ~Adrienne Rich

Many of you have stopped using plastic water bottles and food containers since you are worried about the health implications of chemicals leaching from plastic. The most popular post on MindfulEats is about steel vs. aluminum water bottles. We came down on the side of steel water bottles since they don't require a lining.

Especially a "secret lining". Even though we like the designs of the Sigg water bottles, we couldn't get over the "secret" ingredients they used. Why have a secret at all? It just didn't add up. Well, earlier this month, Sigg admitted that BPA exists in the lining of the bottles manufactured before August 2008.

People are outraged! Sigg maintains that the BPA in their liner was tiny, and all testing has shown that there is no leaching. Their new liners are BPA-free. If you are really concerned, Sigg will exchange your bottle for a new one by October 31, 2009 (but you pay for shipping).

No matter what, we still recommend using high-quality, unlined stainless steel or glass:

• Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottles (loop top or sports top) 
• Klean Kanteen sippy bottles for the kids
• Dr. Brown's glass bottles for babies. Glass is heavier, so these are small 3.5 oz. sizes

Want to read more about the Sigg controversy?

• Apology from Sigg CEOs
• Simran Sethi guiltfest. Apparently Sigg is one of the only products she recommended - on Oprah no less! We're not sure who she is or why she is recommending products when she doesn't know what's in them, but she appears on Oprah and Martha Stewart so you'd think she knows something.

What to do

1. If you don't own an aluminum water bottle and are still using plastic, see above for recommended products. Also read these posts on water bottles and plastics.
2. If you have a Sigg aluminum water bottle that was manufactured before August 2008, you have BPA in your liner. Don't panic! Sigg says that all the testing has demonstrated there is 0% leaching. You are probably fine, but if you want to participate in their exchange program, go here. Just do it before 10/31/09. We still recommend you get a stainless steel bottle.
3. In the future, use common sense. If you ask someone a question, and they won't give you an answer, be suspicious. Or just ask us at MindfulEats. :)

What I ate: Fage Greek yogurt + 1 tblsp Sarabeth's strawberry + peach jam, macadamia nuts, 16 oz. cafe au lait, 2 bananas, 6 squares dark chocolate, rotisserie chicken + brown rice + roasted asparagus, 1 nectarine, sauteed squash, whole wheat spaghetti + Rao's sauce, kettle corn, water

Exercise: None

Handy List of Healthy Resources and Tools

Have you ever noticed how many great health resources there are on the web? Do you ever wish you could go to just one spot for really great health resources? We do! So we've consolidated useful information like calorie charts, sustainable seafood list, foods with high amounts of pesticides, and other stuff into one page.  It's over on the left-hand side of the page. Or here:

Handy List Of Healthy Resources

If you have others that you really like, share it with us in the comments!

What I ate: vegetable juice, sauteed swiss chard, 2 scrambled eggs, Oikos yogurt + strawberries + ground flax seed + wheat germ, Swedish potato chips, swedish fish (OK I went to Ikea and was curious about Swedish chips - they're like American ones), hummus + carrots, Mindful Mix, 2 lattes, cherries, 2 shell peas, strawberries, small original Red Mango yogurt + blueberries + pineapple + raspberries, 1 apple, boiled shrimp + red leaf lettuce + radishes + goat cheese, Mike's pickled sugar snaps, 1 hot chocolate, 1 coconut water, water

Exercise: 75 min yoga