Category Archives: Diet And Food

I constantly use the hashtags #ditchdieting #eatmindfully to create momentum around this idea. Loving and taking care of your body sounds good but is not easy in our world. Ive been pleased to see some shifts in this mindset saying that we must diet to be the best version of ourselves. But the diet mentality still hangs in there. My clients have said, But if I dont diet, then what? The good news is that mindful eating puts something in its place.

As a part of my series about the 5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Susan Albers. Dr. Albers is a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic and New York Times Best Selling Author of nine books on mindful eating. She is a frequent guest on the Today Show, Dr. Oz, ABC, NPR and quoted in Shape, Prevention, Eating Well Magazine as well as many others. Visit her websitewww.eatingmindfully.com

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

Igrew up with an Italian mom who was a well-meaning food pusher. Any feelings were lovingly fed with food. So I personally understand how easy it is to get your hunger signals confused and to use food for comfort. Ive helped thousands of people untangle those hunger wires. What Ive been focusing on recently is helping people not only to stop mindless eating and comfort eating but also how to stay way ahead of their hunger. Its a brand new way of thinking and interacting with food. In my new Hanger Management, I walk people step by step through how to pick foods that boost their mood and help them to be at their best. I talk about the science of how we form healthy habits and use these tips to your benefit.

The roots of my interest in mindful eating date back more than twenty five years. I was an exchange student in Japan when I first encountered the concept of mindfulness. My host family applied a kind of mindfulness to everything they did in ways I had never experienced, from walking and talking to just sitting.

My few weeks in Japan were a struggle to eat. I had used chopsticks in the past but always had a back-up fork on hand to navigate eating small items. I was surprised when there was no fork option to pick up more challenging things like rice and noodles. Prior to this experience, I just picked up my fork and ate. No thought. The chopsticks suddenly slowed me way down. At times, I even felt frustrated by the pace. It taught me the take-home message that runs through all my books. Changinghowyou eat can be as life changing as changingwhatyou eat. I distinctly remember beginning even to taste food in a different way and noticing how my entire experience of eating changed when I actually slowed down. I tucked those moments in mind. Fast forward to today, I still think about those chopsticks and how the experience changed the way I ate and set the stage for my lifes work.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I didnt realize how my books would connect me with people.

One day I happened to catch the Today Show. This was unusual since I am typically in my office before it is on. I was listening in my kitchen. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice. It was an interview with a celebrity who was currently on one of the hottest TV shows. I couldnt understand why that voice was so familiar. About half way through the interview, it hit me. I had been working virtually through my online practice for a year with a woman on mindful eating. We only spoke by phone. She made allusions to acting but I didnt think much about it. I had no idea who she was. It was a great lesson to me that emotional eating impacts everyone including celebrities. I am always blown away when people from all over the world Russia, Brazil, Japan etc. email to tell me their transformation from a mindless to a mindful eater after reading one of my books. I didnt realize that my message could be felt all around the world.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

The very first story I tell inHanger Managementis about my toddler daughter. The inspiration for the book started in Church. Unfortunately it was not divine intervention. It was the day I forgot to bring the Cheerios. As soon as the service started she became fussy. I soon realized I had not brought her snacks! She ran to the front of the Church and threw a full on meltdown right there. I slunk to the front of the Church to pull her off. I was asked to leave. It was one of my first and most embarrassing lessons on the power of food on emotions. It was interesting to me how parents were a whiz at being mindful of their toddlers hunger and came prepared with snacks to avoid meltdowns. Yet its much harder to manage their own moods relating to hunger. So I apply the same process of knowing how to identify your hunger cues even when they are confusing.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My mom taught me to use my voice. There is an Italian saying that she always quoted to me that took me a long time to really understand.Testa ca un parra si chiama cacuzzawhich basically means that if you dont speak up, your head is like an empty pumpkin. In other words, use your voice and let people know what you need. For example, one day I received an email out of the blue from a book editor at a major publishing house. She was seeking a book review quote for one of her authors. Since we were emailing back and forth, I decided to pitch her an idea for a new book on mindful eating. She said that I needed an agent to pitch that particular book. At the time, I didnt have one and asked her if she knew one. The result? She introduced me to one of the top agents in NYC for health books. Today, I am publishing my ninth book,Hanger Management. The lesson I learned was that there are doorways that you dont even know are there. Keep knocking and asking for what you want.

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

Stop dieting. Start eating mindfully. Too often we wrestle with our hunger. Dieting in particular which requires ignoring or negotiating with your hunger damages your relationship to food. When you start to be more mindful of your body, you begin to trust what your body needs. Create a culture of relationship between how we eat impacts how we feel and how we feel impacts how we eat.

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

Provide snacks and food within the context of the work environment to help people manage their mood, concentrate and focus throughout the day. Too often, without access to healthy food, people snack on candy and processed food in vending machines. It wreaks havoc on their blood sugar and mood and they end up hangry and unfocused. We can use work culture to promote mindful eating.

OK thank you for all that. Now lets move to the main focus of our interview. Mental health is often looked at in binary terms; those who are healthy and those who have mental illness. The truth, however, is that mental wellness is a huge spectrum. Even those who are mentally healthy can still improve their mental wellness. From your experience or research, what are five steps that each of us can take to improve or optimize our mental wellness.

5 Ways to Be The Most Mindful Version of You

1. Eat Mindfully: By slowing down, savoring each bite and eating more consciously, you can improve your health, feel good about your body and lose/manage weight without fad dieting. Eating mindfully isnt easy in a world filled with comfort foods and desserts. Start by eating with your non-dominate hand, which research indicates can slow down you down by 30 percent. Your Motto: Pace, dont race!

2. Communicate Mindfully: Do you ever wish you could take back the last few words you just uttered? We all do from time-to-time. Communicate mindfully by taking a mindful pause before you speak. Take your emotional pulse before having an important conversation and a few deep, mindful breaths to cool down and center. Your Motto: Respond, Dont React.

3. Work Mindfully: Work stress can often lead to worrying about the future. A mindful approach is not dwelling on the past or the future, but living fully in this present moment. When feeling stressed, bring your mind back to the present by focusing on what is happening in the room what do you see, smell, hear, and feel. Your Motto: I cant control the future, I can only make mindful decisions in this moment.

4. Relate Mindfully: Listening and spending a lot of time with your loved ones is not easy. If you are busy, thats OK. Its not the amount of time you spend with your kids, friends or family, its the mindful quality. Put down your phone, look into their eyes, stay present mentally and in-the-moment when they talk to you. Be compassionate! Your Motto: When I listen, just listen.

5. Move Mindfully: You dont have to love exercise. Just begin by tuning into your body. Feel your feet against the floor or your back against the chair. Do a few simple stretches (shrug your shoulders and then drop them). This gets you reconnected with your body. Its particularly good for thinkers who spend a lot of time in their head! Your Motto: I am mentally and physically present in my body.

Much of my expertise focuses on helping people to plan for after retirement. Retirement is a dramatic life course transition that can impact ones health. In addition to the ideas you mentioned earlier, are there things that one should do to optimize mental wellness after retirement?

Mindful eating is key at any age, particularly after retirement. Many my clients stress about their weight and eating after menopause. Realize that the way you eat and your appetite will change. Expect it. Be mindful of your new energy needs. Learn how retirement changes your appetite and movement.

Also, sometimes people are surprised that they lose some of the joy they experience around eating after retirement. They dont eat with friends and colleagues at work and often miss out on the social eating that happens at the office. Continuing to be social and connect with others, particularly around food, can help to maintain the joy of eating.

How about teens and pre teens? Are there any specific new ideas you would suggest for teens and pre teens to optimize their mental wellness?

I have a lot of people in counseling that wish that they had learned how to eat mindfully as a teenager. Its harder to undo mindless eating habits as an adult. I would urge teens to examine their relationship to food right now. Dont wait. Take an interest in what they are putting in their bodies. I did an experiment with one of my clients. I asked her to look at the expiration date on her favorite snack. The sugary packed cakes didnt expire for eleven years. This simple exercise raised the question, what the heck is she putting in her body. What must be in it to allow it to be still edible for eleven years!? We can help teens to enjoy food. Cook together. Explore new foods.

With my own teen, I take her on food tours this is my favorite thing ever! I go all around the world, and in each new city you can often find a tour. It is often focused on local foods that tell you something about the city and history. Its often just a bite or taste of their foods that we try and savor mindfully. I love showing my daughter how food has meaning and tells you about the people of that city. If you havent done a food tour, I recommend scheduling one the next time you travel to a new city.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

Fast Food Nation. This book opened my eyes not only to how people eat but where food comes from. It taught me to be mindful of where food comes from. My mind was blown away by the dark underside of food production. I can no longer not ask the question of how the food got to my table. I teach people to be mindful of this too.

Also, I love the biography on Julia Childs calledDearieby Bob Spitz. She sparked in me a joy of cooking and became a kindred spirit who was about mastering the art of mindful eating although she didnt call it that at the time. She encouraged people to savor food. The mouthwatering descriptions of food made me hungry throughout the book! Julias journey from someone who couldnt cook into emerging as a world renown chef shows that we dont have to go to culinary school to enjoy cooking. She invented herself and evolved her career around a passion along the way.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I constantly use the hashtags #ditchdieting #eatmindfully to create momentum around this idea. Loving and taking care of your body sounds good but is not easy in our world. Ive been pleased to see some shifts in this mindset saying that we must diet to be the best version of ourselves. But the diet mentality still hangs in there. My clients have said, But if I dont diet, then what? The good news is that mindful eating puts something in its place.

Can you please give us your favorite Life Lesson Quote? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

-Virginia Woolf

This has been true for me and all of my clients. We simply cant be at our bests if we arent fed well. Ive seen the dark side of dieting and how it negatively impacts peoples relationship with food. Fortunately, I see and help people to experience the flip side. When you dine well, you set the stage for being at your best. I notice that I am a better writer and mom when I am well fed. I have more patience and can concentrate well.

One day I showed up for work when my daughter was an infant and my client said to me, Dr. Albers I am not sure if you are aware that your shirt is on inside out. I looked down and sure enough my shirt was on inside out. I am not the only one who has experienced pushing too hard and being exhausted. For many women in particular, their clothes still match but the effects of lack of sleep wreak havoc on their appetite and well being. It reminds me that if you arent getting enough sleep, you arent going to be functioning at your best.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

@DrSusanAlbers (Instagram)

eatdrinkmindful (Facebook)

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

See the rest here:
I constantly use the hashtags With Beau Henderson & Dr. Susan Albers - Thrive Global

By: Matthew Kadey

Youve likely noticed that there has been more emphasis placed on eating protein in recent years. While protein-first diets, such as Paleo, are all the rage, a focus on protein is not just for dieters and bodybuilders. Recent evidence suggests that those who like to pedal up a storm should also make sure to get enough of this all-too-important macronutrient.

Obviously, we cant live without protein- the amino acids that make up the protein in your steak and yogurt are the basic building blocks of the human body, helping to form everything including enzymes, hormones, muscles, bones and cartilage. So without enough protein in your diet, its likely you wont have the muscle power needed to speed up those inclines and then recover properly afterward.

Protein has been shown to have a greater ability to boost satiety; hunger is often the enemy of achieving and maintaining a desirable body weight. Also, the thermic effect- the energy required to digest and process food- is higher for protein than for carbs and fat, so a lower percentage of its calories (four calories per gram) will be available for storage in the body. A study published in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) found that people who obtained 25 per cent of their daily calories from protein burned 227 more calories a day than those who only ate five per cent of their calories from protein. Fighting hunger and revving the metabolic burn are two big reasons why higher protein diets have been shown to help in the battle of the bulge.

Heres how to make protein work harder for you.

Eat enough

As a cyclist who is repairing, growing and strengthening muscles, youll need to consume more protein than your friends who only like to ride between Netflix shows. A recent study by researchers at the University of Toronto concluded that endurance athletes should aim to consume 1.6 to 1.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight. This amount is enough to make up for any protein that is burned for energy needs during exercise and to also support the repair and remodelling of muscular tissue. So a 140-lb. rider will need roughly 108 g of protein each day.

Spread it out evenly

Current research literature has found that spreading out your protein intake throughout the day is much more effective at promoting muscle recovery and building than simply loading up on it a couple times a day, say after a workout and at dinner. Eating protein erratically may result in you getting less out of your protein intake, rather than maximizing its benefits. Instead of eating 10 g of protein at breakfast, 20 g at lunch and 60 g at dinner, youre better served eating 30 g at each meal.

Rise and Dine

Dominated by cereal, as well as toast and juice, breakfast is often a carb-heavy meal. That means you should look for ways to sneak in more protein to help meet your overall daily needs. Eggs, yogurt, beans, nuts, seeds and even smoked fish can give your day break meal a protein boost.

Play the field

You need not just rely on meat to get your fill of protein. A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that as long as we get enough total protein to meet bodily needs, such as building lean body mass, it does not matter very much where the macronutrient comes from, be it chicken or chickpeas. In fact, recent, recent evidence shows that swapping out some of the animal-based protein in a diet, especially red meat, for plant-based sources, like legumes, can slash the risk for certain maladies, such as heart disease. Plant proteins come with a cocktail of fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants you wont get from most meats.

More is not always better

Your muscles can absorb only a certain amount of protein in one sitting. Skeletal muscle protein synthesis, fancy talk for repairing and building muscle, is maximized when consuming 25 to 35 g of high-quality protein during one sitting. If you consume more than this amount, its likely the amino acids in protein will be wasted or even stored as body fat if they contribute to a caloric excess. Youll get protein in this range from one cup of cottage cheese or a palm-sized piece of fish.

Protein Picks: These foods in reasonable portions show that its easy to nail your daily quota.

Originally appeared in Canadian Cycling Magazine 10.2

See more here:
The Power in Protein: How to get the right amount of the muscle-building macronutrient - Canadian Cycling Magazine

If you find yourself on the website gallery or the Instagram page of Lael Cakes, a Brooklyn-based boutique cake studio, your eyes will feast upon one extravagant tiered cake after another. Some are adorned with colorful flowers, others have juicy fruits cascading down the layers, and then some look like straight-up art pieces with their stunning, painted-on patterns.

As you take in all the gorgeous, detailed handiwork, what you might not realize is that all of these cake creations are organic and gluten-freeand perhaps more surprising than that, theyre all available as vegan options.

Emily Lael Aumiller, the visionary behind Lael Cakes, started her business to provide high-end, custom cakes to vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free clients. This idea was spun from the fact that she has struggled with food allergies of her own. Aumiller spent most of her 20s dealing with debilitating eczema when at last she found that food could be her path toward relief.

With the guidance of a naturopath, Aumiller began an elimination diet to figure out what was at the root of her bodys reactions. Reflecting on this, she explained that its easy to feel down when you feel like your diet is a constant science experiment. Eventually, she discovered sensitivities that allergy tests had missed. Red meat, dairy, gluten, refined sugars, saturated fats, and artificial dyes were the culprits behind her eczema and gut flare-ups.

Aumiller found her solution in eating a mostly plant-based diet, but her food sensitivities werent just affecting her personal life. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, Aumiller worked as a pastry cook a freelance sugar sculptor, and a cake decorator before opening Lael Cakes. During that time, she found that she couldnt even handle cakes made with traditional ingredients, let alone eat them.So she began developing cakes that werefree of everything she herself was allergic to.

She spent years testingand making plenty messes late into the nightto create cake and icing recipes that would work structurally. For example, without any gluten or eggs, she needed to find other ways to make the cakes stable enough to stand up on tiers. The trouble with finding a butter substitute that had the distinct flavorof butter was near impossible.

Eventually, she found her perfect mixes and ingredients, and in 201, she opened Lael Cakes, her cake studio devoted to vegan and gluten-free desserts. Today,Lael makes all nature of cakes: Wedding, birthdays and more.

While she has her rotation of go-to ingredients, Aumiller still leaves plenty of room for creativity. One of my favorite aspects of baking is the constant playful experimenting it takes to create things from scratch, she says. I think this type of fresh playfulness shows up in the flavors and designs.

Our job is tocreate that delicate balancewhether the cake has rustic or smooth icing, decorated with intricate sugar work or fresh fruit and edible flowers from the farmers marketto create a scrumptious, elegant work of art.

Those who wish to order from Lael Cakes can sample a few different cake-and-icing flavor combinations. Then, Aumiller will create unique sketches based on the special events aesthetic. She can begin sugar sculpture months in advance but baking takes place two to three days before the event to make sure the cake is fresh. Each cakeis one-of-a-kind.

Throughout her time dreaming up cakes with innovative ingredients and unique flavors, Aumiller has catered to some celebrity clientele, like creating Penn Badgley and Domino Kirke's vegan, gluten-free wedding cake.

Aumiller loves making someones wedding cake dreams come true. She had a client who had been vegan for 15 years and assumed she wouldnt get to have a traditional wedding cake. Then, this client wound up marrying someone gluten-free and thought if a traditional cake wasnt out of the question before, it would be now. Enter Aumiller who made three flavor combinations for their vegan and gluten-free weddingwhere guests teased that they were going to smuggle in real food in, but ended up coming back for more servings of cake.

A great dessert should tell a story," she says. "And that's always what I try and do.

Makes 12 standard or 24 mini

I created this cake one summer for a bride who wanted to offer carrot cake to her guests but was nervous it would be too heavy on such a hot day. It was such a hit that its now a favorite among my clients. It still has the rich, dense texture of a traditional carrot cake, but its much lighter without the usual spices, brown sugar, coconut flakes, and nuts.

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

See the original post here:
Try This Vegan Carrot Cupcake Recipe, by the Creator of Cake Studio Lael Cakes - The Beet

You might have heard of Chicago restaurateur Andy Kalish when, earlier this year, his vegan Jewish deli Sam & Gerties openedselling out of everything during its opening weekend and making a splash that was felt much further than just the midwest (as it turns out, from coast to coast, we are all craving plant-based lox). Along with his wife, Gina, Kalish also runs plant-based diner Klishknown for serving the Uptown neighborhood cruelty-free burgers, plant-based pulled pork, and chili cheese fries. But in the terrifying wake of the global pandemicwhen so many small businesses and restaurants are suffering beyond comprehensionKalish, like so many others, is being faced with the question of how to transform his business to meet the rapidly evolving, dire circumstances we are now in. As Kalish (whose restaurants are still offering take-out) confronts the staggering economic losses faced by our society, he has an important message to everyoneregardless of whether theyre vegan or not (Kalish is not). He wants you to eat more plants, as he believes that might be an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to healing a very broken system.

OpEd: My Plea to Anyone Who Eatsby Andy Kalish

If the grinding halt of our planet, death of those close to us (or close to others in our lives), decimation of economies, and absolute fear that we have so little control over nature, is not sufficient for us to all look in our fridges and recognize we have the obligation to change our ways, I cant imagine what will.

I am an omnivore. But my wife and I invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, and thousands of hours, to create two plant-based restaurants beneath the simple notion that eating more plant-based foods will weigh less on our bodies and our planet. Our goal was to make it easier for people to join us by creating familiar and indulgent foods that left no craving unsatisfied. We stepped on that path five years ago, and I wake up every single day and praise my wife that she put us, and kept us, on this incredible path.

Keeping our mission intactWe live in Chicago, and dozens upon dozens more restaurants are closing daily under the stresses of C19. If you cannot afford to buy the food, pay your employees, or pay the rent, then the lights go out. Yet while many neighboring restaurants have closed, both of our restaurants remain viable and in-demand, though at a significant percentage less than what we were doing five weeks back. I credit what feels like success to a few things: we are plant-based, what we do is unique, and much like the handful of vegan restaurants in Chicago, we are one of a kind.

When our customers are making decisions about where to spend their money and get their next meal, its clear to me that they are committed to supporting the companies that align best with their values. And we are community-driven: we support vegan organizations regularly; we have given away hundreds of plant-based meals to those who are in need since the onset of C19; and, recently, we gave away dozens of locally made face masks crafted by vegan clothing designer @shopwilbr. We couldnt do any of this if we didnt have supporters who were loyal to us and our mission.

Rethinking how we consumeThink of any other type of restaurant that is not plant-based, and you will find dozensif not hundredsof options available nearby. It then becomes easy to see why so many of those restaurants cannot keep their lights on now. Less demand in the time of coronavirus cannot sustain all that is out there.

It can no longer be denied that the demand for cheap animal protein and cheap mealsand the ever-decreasing oversight and regulation placed upon the producers of said cheap animal proteinis killing us. Literally.

Most every killer virus that has plagued us in recent years (and for millennia) is rooted in the consumption of fauna, not flora. Anyone thinking that the food poisoning they got eating lettuce or cilantro was some natural occurrence need only look to the factory farms and feedlots neighboring our pastoral vegetable acres. Heavy rains regularly run over with the feces of factory farms and endlessly contaminate our precious crops.

A deadly dietI have taken dozens of food safety courses over the years, so I know that the amount of time dedicated to preparing flora safely lasts about two minutes. Wash them. Thats it.

On the flip side, the time spent handling, preparing, and storing animal products lasts hours. The punctuation on almost every course is that if you dont store, prepare, and cook meat properly, it can be deadly.

And here we are. As I said earlier, I am an omnivore. I was neither raised on a farm nor in the countryside, but I did fish and use long guns growing up, andat the timefelt as if I had a healthy reverence for the fauna I consumed. Despite the artisan labels now placed on some meats, the impact of eating the vast sums of animal flesh is staggering, dangerous, and increasingly deadly.

The endless demand for more and more cheap meat is killing us. It places such a high burden on the worldwide producers of animal proteins, our land and water, and the laborers who service those industries, that danger lurks at every turn.

The notion that eating meat is safe must be questioned by allwhether we own restaurants or eat at them, and whether were vegan or omnivorous.

My plea is simple: Now is the time to eat more plants. They weigh less on our bodies and our planet. And they might be the only way forward.

Andy Kalish is the co-owner of both Chicagos Sam & Gerties vegan Jewish deli and Klish.

Please support vegan media while getting the very best in news, recipes, travel, beauty, products, and more.Subscribe now to our award-winning magazine!

View original post here:
He Eats Meat But Owns Vegan Restaurantsand in the Wake of Coronavirus, He Thinks We All Need to Rethink Our Diets - VegNews

The coronavirus lockdown has necessitated several changes to the way we live our lives, and this includes how and what we eat.

In the next instalment of the Keeping up with the Pack series, Treated.com spoke to Toronto Wolfpack players and staff about how theyre managing their diets during lockdown, and what theyre doing to ensure they eat healthily.

Should we change how we eat during lockdown?

When you consider that you wont be burning as much energy as you normally would because youre not able to leave the house as much its probably a good idea to keep on top of how many calories youre eating.

When youre staying at home, its certainly advisable to not eat more than you would usually, because thats more likely to narrow or negate your calorie deficit, and can lead to weight gain.

So for many of us who cant train as much as we normally do, or arent walking to work, this might necessitate changing our diets; whether its lighter foods or smaller portions.

Treated asked the Toronto players how their diets had changed in recent weeks.

Gaz OBrien

Im one of the lucky ones! Ive just got to try and continue to put on weight really. So as far as a diet goes its probably a good thing because Im not training as much.

At the weekends weve been set that weve got to cover the distance we usually would in a game, on a road-run. So maybe before that Ill have a big carb meal. But as I say, Im one of the lucky ones, because I dont have to be too strict with my diet. I can look at a bowl of pasta and not really put any weight on.

I know whats bad and whats good. As far as keeping count of calories, I dont really have to worry too much about that. Its probably more the bigger boys thatve got to do that kind of stuff.

Bodene Thompson

Im just sticking to the same diet Ive been on all year. But you know in saying that, youve got to be a bit wary about what youre eating. I just try intermittent fasting. Some days or at least once a week I try and fast for 24 hours.

Say if I have a big dinner the night before, I just say the next day Im going to intermittent fast until dinner again. So I try and do that once a week, if not every week then at least once every 14 days. It just helps to make sure the body is reset and using everything. Every day I usually fast until lunch time.

And I drink water. Just try and drink as much water as I can get in, which is normally probably two to three litres a day. Your body feels good after it, and with all the science these days you know, its got a lot of good studies behind it.

Gadwin Springer

I try to have less carbs. I still eat some vegetables high in protein, because I still train, I still go and run, and do some exercise. So I still try and keep my protein high. So I just stay low on my carbs.

Tony Gigot

I try and focus my body weight on 93 (kilos). Thats where I like to be. I dont follow a very hard diet, but I eat well. I can see some players who go very hard, never eating any sugar. But that makes me happy, not every day, but on the weekend I like to have a Coca-Cola or if I can have a McDonalds once a week then I will. I am careful.

When I see my body weight goes up too much I try to go back to white chicken with salad and soup. You know, no sugar, a lot of water. Thats what I do when Im too heavy.

Hakim Miloudi

For dinner I try to eat a salad with meat. During lunchtime, sometimes pasta, if not I try to eat vegetables with meat or chicken. For me, if I dont want to put too much weight on, I just eat a lot of vegetables. So I can stay fit with that.

As Hakim illustrates, staying indoors can present challenges. Boredom might cause us to turn to less healthy snacks. So its important to keep moderation in mind.

Hakim Miloudi

If its a really long day, and you have nothing to do and youre watching TV, and you wanna eat some chocolate my bad thing is Nutella.

Tony Gigot

Hes big on Nutella, Hakim loves Nutella on pancakes.

Hakim Miloudi

Thats my really bad thing, because I can eat Nutella with everything.

Watch our Last Tackle podcast, featuring a guest, every week.SUBSCRIBEto Love Rugby League on YouTube.

Follow this link:
Keeping up with the Pack: How Toronto players are keeping on top of their nutrition in lockdown - Love Rugby League

Bollywood movie star Richa Chadha is a vocal advocate for veganism after transitioning from vegetarianism to a fully plant-based diet two years ago. In an interview with VeganFirstDaily, the celebrity, originally from Dehli, opens up about theinspiration behindher switch and her tips for success.

Richa, a life-long vegetarian, decided to finally quit all animal products after she "realized the dairy industry functions very differently from when our parents were consuming dairy and poultry products in terms of mass production and numbers." She came to this decision after watching documentaries and researching the devastating effects that animal agriculture has on the earth's environment. Although she says that she had difficulty forgoing cheese and butter in her day-to-day life, sheswapped outcow'smilk for almond milk in her tea and began to notice that going without these products made a positive difference in her skin and hair.

Although Richa admits on her Instagram posts that she doesn't care for cooking,while on set, she always comesarmed with a few prepared snacks in case craft services doesn't have anything vegan. Her go-tofoods are nuts and protein bars, for any moment where she's in a pinch and can't find a dish without meat or dairy. Besides staying prepared for situations where you might not be able to find vegan options, here are Richa'sadvice for people who may be thinking about going vegan:

1. Use your Logic: "We are human beings we are not meant to consume milk from another mammal. We are not built to digest something thats so heavy on the body. And with growing research, we notice that today so many people are lactose intolerant."

2. Why not give it a try:"Its very difficult to convince your moms and dads that ghee, butter and paneer have to go - but once you choose that option and see how light it is on your system, I dont think therell be any going back!"

3. Going plant-based is better for your long-term health: "Its a myth that you wont get calcium if you dont drink milk. We dont even know the quality of the dairy products we are consuming today because cattle are pumped with steroids and hormones to keep them pregnant and lactating. These are things one MUST know. We end up consuming all kinds of chemicals and steroids for the sake of having milk. Its part of the package because its already in the cows body."

Richa closed the interview byimploring more people in her home country of India to give veganism a try. She notes that there are only about fifteen or twenty thousand vegans, despite there being an estimated 400 million vegetarians in the country. She advises other Indians to try the lifestyle "without punishing yourself if you can manage to stay true to the cause and stay dairy-free in the long run, it has amazing health benefits."

Read the full interview with VeganFirstDaily here.

See the original post here:
Richa Chadha on Why She Went Vegan - The Beet

When Jeff Bezos, the Amazon kingpin, debuted his new muscular physique at the Sun Valley Conference in 2017, he almost broke the internet. His Vin Dieselesque guns launched countless memes about how the dweebs dweeb had transformed himself into a jacked-up specimen worthy of an action franchise.

In interviews Bezos credits his diet (which includes roast iguana and octopus for breakfast), his unwavering commitment to working out, and eight hours of sleep. But not everyone is buying it.

Clean livingthats the catchphrase, isnt it? quips Patricia Wexler, the ne plus ultra of Manhattan dermatologists. Very few admit to doing any procedures.

Not a chance its just diet and exercise, says Roberta Del Campo, a dermatologist based in Miami, the countrys plastic surgery capital. Behind the scenes these people are getting all sorts of injectables and body sculpting treatments, such as Emsculpt and Trusculpt Flex, which have surged in popularity, especially among men, in the last couple of years.

Drew AngererGetty Images

Other experts suspect that captains of industry such as Bezos, who is 56, are going to even greater lengths to project vigor for both boards and broads. The tech titans are all looking much better than they used to, says Jessie Cheung, a Chicago-based cosmetic dermatologist whose holistic approach often involves testosterone and growth hormone substitutes, especially for men of a certain age who are lacking in muscle and look frail.

Access to bio-hacking tools such as stem cells and hormones is allowing men to look, perform, and think better. Its worth noting that Bezos, along with fellow billionaire Peter Thiel, invested in Unity Biotechnology, a company researching drugs and treatments to keep aging at bay. Im pretty sure hes gotten a taste of some good stuff, Cheung says.

Welcome to the new male vanity, in which even Silicon Valley bigwigs considerably younger than Bezos are resorting to newfangled procedures to avoid aging out of the workforce. The stakes have never been higher. American men underwent 1.1 million noninvasive cosmetic procedures in 2018a 72 percent increase since 2000, a trend that shows no signs of abating. In its forecast for 2020, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery predicts the continued rise of the Daddy-Do-Over, the male equivalent of the Mommy Makeover, as men look to boost their confidence and improve their physical appearance.

Its a lesson in maintenance the men in the presidential race would do well to learn. In the not so distant past politicians could dismiss reporters questions about whether theyd had a face-lift, as Arnold Schwarzenegger did during his 2003 run for governor of California, when he joked that they must be confusing him with Cher. Now pols and pundits of every party are being grilled as mercilessly about their appearance as about their Medicare plans.

"Unfortunately for Biden, you can see the work thats been done," says one NYC dermatologist.

Joe Bidens forehead and Donald Trumps hair flap and skin color are dissected with the rigor of Kremlinologists (some of them actually are Kremlinologists, in Trumps case). And with good reason: If Hillary Clintons wrinkles, Elizabeth Warrens glasses, and Amy Klobuchars eyebrows are fair game, why not the nipped and tucked peacocks strutting around on Capitol Hill?

Denials about the scars on the side of Bidens face are, according to the experts, malarkey. Unfortunately for Biden, who has obviously had hair transplants and Botox, among other things, you can see the work thats been done, says Wexler. Nobody should be talking about work. When you have work done, the last thing you want is for people to notice it.

The queen of Fraxels laser focus on male primping is not partisan. Mr. Trump has definitely had workand not great work, at that, she adds. Give him his crumb, though: He wasnt bad looking when he was younger and in better shape.

Trumps penchant for cosmetic adjustments has been an open if much denied secret since at least 1991, when Ivana Trump disclosed his scalp reduction surgery and chin and waist liposuction in their divorce papers. In February the world was served a fresh reminder, when the president was photographed, in an image that quickly went viral, stepping out of Marine One with a windswept rug and a fake tan for the history books.

At tony dermatologist practices from coast to coast, man-tans like Trumps and obvious old-school work like the kind favored by Vladimir Putin is frowned uponif anyone can move any facial muscles at all. Instead, next-gen lasers such as NeoSkin by Aerolase, IBeam, and Nd:YAG are used to eliminate redness and discoloration.

Instead of surgical face-lifts, which, to be fair, remain popular in certain parts of the country (I definitely see them more on the West Coast, Wexler says, where its been around longer and is more accepted), men of means are turning to noninvasive procedures, most notably Ultherapy, a relatively painless FDA-cleared ultrasound treatment that requires no downtime.

Edward George/Alamy Stock Photo

For the ultimate injection of masculine vigor, though, Cheung works with membersand not necessarily of Congress. We make penises bigger and better, she says. Self-confidence for men is tied up with their penises and how well they work. We give them their swagger back.

Men looking for an extra glide in their stride are considering the augmented Priapus Shot, or P-shot, Cheung says, a treatment thats the male equivalent of the O-shot. She is also increasingly recommending a machine called Emsella, better known as the Orgasm Throne, which generates approximately 11,000 Kegel contractions in 30 minutes (it was originally developed for female incontinence). It really gives you an invigorating kick in the pants, Cheung says.

If the recent past is anything to go by, theres no guarantee that the candidates who end up squaring off in November will provide anything resembling accurate medical recordswhich is a shame, as they would make interesting reading. Like Bezos and less heralded moguls across the country, they are unlikely to reveal any touch-ups to anyone but their best pals.

Men will come in and ask for something their friend has had done, Wexler says. But you wont hear anyone on Jimmy Fallon saying, Im so tired: I was at the dermatologist all day.

This story appears in the May 2020 issue of Town & Country.

Originally posted here:
Jeff Bezos and the New Face of Male Vanity - TownandCountrymag.com

SLEEP! The value of quality sleep cannot be overstated. This is when the body gets a chance to rest and repair. There are functions in the body that happen ONLY during deep sleep. It is imperative that our bodies get to do the work internally that is required to keep us healthy. Good sleep hygiene can make a very big difference in our health and wellbeing and of course mood.

As a part of my series about 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve Ones Wellbeing, I had the pleasure of interviewing Courtney Ross.

Courtney is a Functional Medicine Practitioner, Personal Trainer, Health Coach and Nutrition Specialist. Courtney has been a fitness professional since 2005 and is passionate about motivating and guiding her clients to optimal health and wellness. She has found success with her clients by enabling them through education to take control of their own health and wellness to reach their goals.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the story about how you first got involved in fitness and wellness?

Istarted out as a model. I knew I couldnt model forever, but that I could have better longevity if I was fit. I had some minor surgery on my foot and was kept off the runway for awhile. Being sedentary was brutal. Once I was able to get moving, I dove head first in to working out. I saw that I could change my own body and wanted to help others do the same. Im also still doing some modeling almost 2 decades later.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

The most interesting thing I feel is that my thirst for knowledge in this area just wont quit. After becoming a CPT, I got into health coaching, then nutrition, then functional medicine. I am forever fascinated with how the body functions. I never dreamed that I would be doing all this today, but I absolutely love it. It is definitely my passion. I look at my clients as puzzles and I want to put the pieces together to help them be their best.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

Oh man, I never ran as a child. my mother always made fun of me so I was too self conscious. When I was 30, I decided I wanted to start running. It seemed like that thing that was out of reach. There was a woman at the gym that was an effortless runner and I saw her daily on the treadmill. She would get on the treadmill, put a piece of gum in her mouth and just take off. I thought I want to do that so I put a piece of gum in my mouth and tried to run. I lost count of how many times I bit my tongue and my mouth. Not to mention I was so winded since I was a new runner. To this day, I do NOT run with gum.

Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority in the fitness and wellness field? In your opinion, what is your unique contribution to the world of wellness?

I believe my unique contribution is a combination of passion and the desire to problem solve. I truly look at my clients like puzzles. Every puzzle is different. No two people can be on the exact same program regardless of whether or not they want the same result or have the same issue. You need to treat each person as an individual.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Wow. I do have someone very special. The person who believed in me ALWAYS. Was supportive ALWAYS, and taught me how to believe in myself. I didnt grow up with that. I had 5 years of my life with him. He was everything to me and then he passed away suddenly. I can honestly and emotionally say that I wouldt be where I am today if he had not been in my life. Im so grateful to him. It made me realize the power of love and support. He always wanted me to follow my desires and told me you can do it. He passed 8 years ago and not a day goes by that Im not grateful to him for all he taught me.

Ok thank you for all that. Now lets move to the main focus of our interview. We all know that its important to eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, exercise more, and get better sleep etc. But while we know it intellectually, its often difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the 3 main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives?

In my experience, the only one is that people dont believe they deserve to live the life they want. For whatever reason, they believe they cannot change. I see a lot of self sabotage. Honestly, that is really it. When you dive deep, and you ask why and you ask why again, that is what it comes down to. There can be a superficial reason, but when you really get into it, there is a reason they think they are not worthy. It really is a shame. Plenty of times clients dont even realize it until I keep asking and then they get into the uncomfortable space that they dont even go into. Until they go there, nothing will change.

Can you please share your 5 Non-Intuitive Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve Ones Wellbeing? (Please share a story or an example for each, and feel free to share ideas for mental, emotional and physical health.)

1. Eating organic fruits and vegetables. Most of us dont eat enough plant based options but just making the ones youre currently consuming organic can up your nutrient intake and reduce toxins like pesticides and herbicides in the body. Frozen counts too! You can save money here and still enjoy things that might not be in season near you.

2. Along with that, if you eat meat, eat grass fed and organic. The same thinking comes into play here. You are eating what the animal ate. If they ate garbage, so are you. Studies have shown that grass fed beef has the same Omega-3s as deep sea fish! That is pretty amazing. On the other hand, grain fed beef is high in Omega-6s. Most peoples ratios of the two are already out of balance. Always buy the best quality food you can afford. Your body will thank you for it.

3. Next comes the cleaning products. Go through your house and clean out all the traditional cleaning products. Several studies have shown that the air inside our homes can be worse than the air outside. Much of that comes from our cleaning products, scented candles, air fresheners etc. Those things that smell good are actually toxic. It is about reducing your toxic body burden. Think about all the chemicals you are putting on your skin and inhaling daily. Just make the commitment to replace things one at a time. When you run out of something, replace it with a natural alternative.

4. Now on to exercise, my passion! Like Nike says, just do it! Do anything just start moving. Try something different. See what makes your heart sing. Go get that endorphin rush. Youll have extra energy and a spring in your step for hours to come. There is nothing like a hard earned sweat. Sweating is great for the body and is also a detox pathway. The bodys lymphatic system does not have a pump like the cardiovascular system does. Our bodies were made to move! If you are new to strength training or trying a new video, practice the moves in front of a mirror to check your form. If you can afford to hire a trainer, do it. They can help you decide what is best for your body and help you get your form down. Ultimately, the best workout is the one youll do.

5. Finally, SLEEP! The value of quality sleep cannot be overstated. This is when the body gets a chance to rest and repair. There are functions in the body that happen ONLY during deep sleep. It is imperative that our bodies get to do the work internally that is required to keep us healthy. Good sleep hygiene can make a very big difference in our health and wellbeing and of course mood.

As an expert, this might be obvious to you, but I think it would be instructive to articulate this for the public. Aside from weight loss, what are 3 benefits of daily exercise? Can you explain?

Some daily benefits of exercise are the endorphin rush, moving the lymphatic system and building cardiovascular and muscular strength and endurance. You will feel better after you exercise even if you wake up dreading it. You will always feel better moving your body in a safe way. We talked about the lymphatic system. You cant always see the benefit, but that doesnt mean it isnt there. Any form of movement is positive. Finally, as we age, we lose muscle mass. The more muscle you have on your frame the better. Being strong and mobile will always be a benefit to people.

For someone who is looking to add exercise to their daily routine, which 3 exercises would you recommend that are absolutely critical?

I think a solid 3 to start with would be the squat, the push up and the pull up. That covers every major muscle group and of course there are modifications if you are first starting out.

In my experience, many people begin an exercise regimen but stop because they get too sore afterwards. What ideas would you recommend to someone who plays sports or does heavy exercise to shorten the recovery time, and to prevent short term or long term injury?

Definitely dont skip your warm up! You need to prepare your body for exercise. That will prevent a lot of potential problems. Also, you need to stretch. Our fascia needs work too. We cant neglect body parts. Our bodies will let us know if we do. Also, there are good supplements out there. Research what you buy as there are plenty of bad ones too. They can definitely either give you an edge or help you recover.

There are so many different diets today. Can you share what kind of diet you follow? Which diet do you recommend to most of your clients?

To be honest there isnt a Diet most are told to follow. They are all individuals with different needs. I will say that I tell them all to eat as plant based as possible. They know to do as much organic as they can. Have a good source of clean, filtered or purified water to stay hydrated and eat intuitively. I do the same. Anything I eat the skin on is organic. I have an RO system in my house for water. I have a sweet tooth so Im not perfect but I always have healthy, natural, organic food on hand.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

You Are The Placebo by Joe Dispenza. This may sound a little woo woo for some, but he talks about our ability to rewire our brains and recondition our bodies to make lasting changes. I had a partial tear in my rotator cuff that I healed through his meditations.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Man this fires me up! I would start a movement to get people moving and get back to nature. That includes the way we eat, and they way we medicate ourselves. Our bodies will heal themselves if we get out of the way. Pharmaceuticals are bandaids. Lets get the knowledge to the people and allow them to decide what they would rather have.

Can you please give us your favorite Life Lesson Quote? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Khalil Gibran. We all get knocked down by things or peoples words or whatever. How we come out on the other side is what matters. I dont do things because of in most cases, I do them in spite of. Being able to learn and grow and be better is amazing when you can look back and see how far youve come.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them

I honestly cant pick one. You can choose for me. In the fitness space, Bedros Keuilian. He is so inspiring and motivating and will call bullshit when necessary. He has gotten me through many a bad day with his posts. In the health space, I would choose Dr Christopher Shade from Quicksilver Scientific. I would love to nerd out with him on the biochemistry behind his products. The quality of their products is second to none and to pick the brain of this brilliant man would be an unforgettable event. Finally in the same vein is Keiran Krishnan from Microbiome Labs. Another brilliant mind in the arena of all important gut health. He has designed some incredible products that I take myself and recommend to my clients. Id love to speak with him about gut health, the microbiome and poop.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

@_moxie_fitness_cle On Instagram

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

More:
SLEEP! The value of quality sleep cannot be overstated. with Courtney Ross - Thrive Global

Ms. Tripp was later given immunity from wiretapping charges in exchange for her testimony.

She was soon a figure of ridicule, being played by John Goodman in Saturday Night Live sketches.

While Ms. Tripp had been central to Mr. Starrs case against Mr. Clinton, the conservatives and Clinton-haters who once hailed her did little to try to protect her. The gibes about her were so cruel that she more or less gave up on her own defense.

She held only one news conference.

I am you, she said as she emerged from testifying before Mr. Starrs grand jury. Im an average American who found herself in a situation not of her own making.

Linda Rose Carotenuto was born on Nov. 24, 1949, in Jersey City, N.J. Her father, Albert Carotenuto, was a high school math and science teacher who met his wife, Inge, when he was an American soldier stationed in her native Germany. The Carotenutos divorced in 1968 after Ms. Tripps mother learned that her husband was having an affair with a fellow teacher.

Ms. Tripp graduated from high school in East Hanover, N.J., and went to work as a secretary in Army Intelligence at Fort Meade, Md. In 1971 she married Bruce Tripp, a military officer. In a 2003 interview, she described herself as a suburban mom who was a military wife for 20 years. The couple divorced in 1990.

Ms. Tripp married Dieter Rausch, a German architect, in 2004. In later years she worked with him in his familys retail store, the Christmas Sleigh, in Middleburg, Va., a Washington suburb.

In addition to Mr. Rausch, her survivors include a son, Ryan Tripp, and a daughter, Allison Tripp Foley.

Excerpt from:
Linda Tripp, Key Figure in Clinton Impeachment, Dies at 70 - The New York Times

Some three or four weeks into virtual social interactions being essentially the only social interactions outside the home for most people, many of us have tried to go about our usual rituals, just onlineand found the results a little underwhelming. The life we live now is not conducive to birthday dinners or bar flirtations or run-ins with friends who live down the block. It is small, slow, intimate; every encounter requires planning ahead. Of course trying to jam the happy, sprawling commotion of a night out into a row of little boxes on a laptop screen (itself jammed into the little box that is your home) is jarring. So it seems time to abandon efforts to replicate our old social life in online spacesand instead adapt our interactions to our new normal. What if, instead, we leaned into the smallness, the slowness, the intimacy? What would our social life look like then?

Obviously, some aspects of prepandemic life cant be re-created or replaced. In person, humans can sync up to one another through gaze and body languagewhich is impossible over phone or text, and difficult over videochat. Melissa Mazmanian, an associate informatics professor at UC Irvine, recently had to switch from in-person to Zoom interviews for a research project, and some of them just dont work as well, she said. I cant read [subjects] body language and help them feel comfortable in the way that I can when Im there. Nicole Ellison, who teaches at the School of Information at the University of Michigan, noted to me that in addition to messing with body-language clues, many teleconference hangouts require a lot of planningwhich can throw off the vibe for friends who otherwise usually hang out on a spur-of-the-moment basis.

But perhaps most important, videochat happy hours fail to measure up to real-life happy hours because we keep comparing them with real-life happy hours, expecting that they will satisfy the same desire with the same efficacy. I told Ellison I found it annoying that I sometimes feel like I need to raise my hand before speaking while I drink beers remotely with my friends, and she replied that this was probably annoying only because Id imported the expectation of not having to raise my hand from meatspace. Trying to translate your old social habits to Zoom or FaceTime is like going vegetarian and proceeding to glumly eat a diet of just tofurkey, rather than cooking varied, creative, and flavorful meals with fruits and vegetables. The challenge, then, of adapting to an all-virtual social life may lie in reorienting our interactions around the strengths of the platforms where we can be together.

Read: The three equations for a happy life, even during a pandemic

Its no small task to fully reinvent social life itself from your home, but with any luck, the new ways of spending time together that people discover will succeed in making this period of isolation a little less isolating. Of course, a satisfying all-virtual social life will look different for everyone. For some, this time will present an opportunity to put more thought and energy into individual relationships and deep one-on-one conversations, which translate well to platforms like Zoom or FaceTime. Others who find themselves longing for a friend-group hang or a team dinner might have to get a little more creative.

Go here to read the rest:
We Need to Stop Trying to Replicate the Life We Had - The Atlantic