Don’t Stress Finals
Finals are a week away. Procrastination is no longer an option. It is time to prepare for papers, presentations, and tests. Finals week is extremely stressful, and the pressure to do well can cause you to change your habits and even act differently. It is important during this time to stay calm and avoid emotional eating.
Emotional eating has many causes, but is easily avoidable. If you can recognize the source of emotional eating, it can be fixed. Here are some of the main reasons stressed people overeat, according to About.com:
Cortisone: the Stress Hormone – Stress increases levels of cortisone in the body. High levels can be positive, but when they are too high they can cause cravings of sweet and salty foods.
Social Eating – This is occurs mainly amongst women. It is easy when feeling stressed to turn to a pint of ice cream, reach into a bowl of chips and finish off the guacamole, or eat a huge dinner at restaurant. These types of behaviors make you feel better at the time, but usually you regret them after.
Nervous Eating – This usually happens when you are anxious or stressed and need to do something with your hands or mouth. A lot of people grind their teeth or bite their nails, eating when you are not hungry gives your mouth something to do.
Childhood Habits - When you were a child your parents gave you candy as a reward, to make you feel better after you fell, or to keep you occupied when they needed you to be quiet. This carries into adulthood, because when we are stressed we will eat to feel better, reward ourselves, or to celebrate.
Pent-Up Emotions - One of the final reasons people stress-eat is to hold back emotions. Instead of verbalizing an issue or telling someone how they feel, they will eat a cookie. Some people would rather eat than cope with emotions productively.
It is crucial to recognize habits that cause stress and correct them. According to Spencer’s Institute: Life Coach, stress depletes nutrition. Our emotional and mental state has a huge effect on nutritional metabolism. It is important to find things that help us to relax. Everybody is different; sometimes simply breathing in and out can ease a stressful situation. Explore some different ways to beat stress from Goodhousekeeping.com.
Filed under Uncategorized
A Fun Way to Prepare Food
Cooking is a hassle. Thats why people eat out, overeat, snack on junk food, and make poor eating choices in general. The process is usually what turns people away from preparing a meal because it takes a lot of effort. A night in the kitchen usually looks like this:
- Preparing the meal: Shopping, defrosting, chopping, dicing, cutting, etc.
- Making the meal: Cooking, searing, pouring, mixing, watching, waiting, etc.
- Consuming the meal: The fun part.
- Cleaning up after the meal: Scrubbing, washing, drying, complaining, etc.
Some people love this process, but after a long day at work, this can become a procedure a person comes to dread. Cooking takes a lot of effort, especially when trying to eat healthy and prepare delicious meals. In addition, cooking for a family means that there are many needs that have to be met, which can add stress and a lot of pressure.
Luckily, San Luis Obispo offers quite a few catering services. A lot of times a personal chef can work out to being the same price as eating out, junk food, and wasted food adds up to be. The benefits of a personal chef do not end at easing stress; it can also do emotional wonders to a cook, or the personal in charge of cooking for a household. Some of these benefits are listed on the Article Insider web site.
As mentioned before, there are many catering companies is San Luis Obispo due to the beautiful wine country and entertainment venues on the Central Coast. A personal chef is a different story; I have two personal chefs to recommend:
1. Seasonal Custom Cuisines Delivered
“Good food for busy people, cooked with care.”
Seasonal Custom Cuisine prepares healthy and delicious meals that can be delivered to your house, or picked up at their Atascadero location. Using produce that is organic, fresh, and locally grown, whole grains, and lean meats, Seasonal Custom Cuisine will aid its customers in living a healthy lifestyle that saves time.
Seasonal Custom Cuisines offers three meal plans, or allows you to dictate your needs. These three include: “Belly Fat Diet,” “4 Day Anti Bloat Jump Start Dinners,” and “3 and 4 Day 1600 Calorie-per day Meals.”
2. Gotta Love It! Personal Chef Service
Delicious Home Cooked Meals…Ready When You Are!
Chef Lisa Lovett shops, prepares, and packages healthy home cooked meals after filling out a questionnaire with her customers. Lovett prepares a personal menu for you, pending your approval. All food is packaged and labeled for you in advanced. Preparation and clean up is easy. Lovett prides herself on delicious and nutritious meals that you can “heat and eat.”
Filed under Healthy
Sweet Tooth?
Dessert is essential for any person with a sweet tooth. Unfortunately, it can be so unhealthy and fattening. That is why is it necessary to eat treats that are low in calories, and contain some kind of nutrients.
San Luis Obispo is home to a few frozen yogurt shops such as, Bali’s (949 Higuera St.), Yogurt Creations (1075 Court St.) and Country Culture Yogurt (746 Higuera St.). All of these locations offer delicious yogurt with an assortment of toppings. All of the above locations carry nonfat, sugar free, and sorbet selections.
You may find yourself asking, is frozen yogurt really better for you than ice cream?
The main difference is that frozen yogurt is made with yogurt and ice cream is made with cream. While frozen yogurt is a healthier alternative it can still be fattening. Yogurt has more minerals and nutrients than ice cream, but it is important to know the nutritional facts before deciding which is more fattening.
Sometimes, all you really need is something sweet to ease the craving. I recommend dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has so many benefits, if eaten in moderation. It contains flavonoids and antioxidants, and is good for the heart, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
Eatingwell.com offers some recipes for Quick and Easy Impromptu Desserts, check them out, most of them take 30 minutes or less and are low in fats and calories.
Most people are suckers for popsicles and ice cream treats from the store. Luckily, there are many low calorie options. Try Skinny-Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches or Fudgecicles. Most of these have below 100 calories and are delicious.
If you prefer a fruity, more tangy treat, then sorbet and chopped up fruits are another great options if your pallet craves a fruity rather than creamy. Browse this web page for some ideas on how to spruce up fruits to make delicious desserts that won’t bust your diet.
Dessert doesn’t have to be considered a bad thing. If eaten in moderation and prepared wisely, it can top off a great meal, or simply put a smile on your dessert-loving face.
Filed under Uncategorized
Coffee Drinkers Beware
Coffee drinks can be detrimental to any diet. A lot of people tend to forget that drinks do count and can be extremely fattening. Most drinks contain massive amounts of sugar and hundreds of empty calories. It is crucial to know how to order a drink that still tastes delicious but is lower in calories and fat.
Here are 4 recommendations from eHow.com for coffee drinks that are lower in calories:
- Always order coffee drinks with fat free or skim milk. Half and half and whole milk contain a lot of fat. Order coffee drinks “fat free” and when you get regular coffee make sure not to use creamer or half and half, use fat-free milk instead.
- When sweetening your drink, always use sugar free or low calorie sweeteners.
- Order a small. If you would rather enjoy your drink with full fat and sweeteners, opt for the smaller serving. Sometimes all you need to satisfy your craving is a few sips.
- Sip your coffee through a straw; the sugar contained in many drinks can cause the enamel on your teeth to erode over time. This allows the drink to travel down your throat and not come into contact with your teeth.
There are many delicious coffee spots in SLO, here are some of my favorites:
1422 Monterey Street San Luis Obispo
Open 7:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday – Friday
Saturday 9:30 am – 3:00 pm
Closed Sunday
805.788.0885
* You have to try the Mocha Diva, according to the website, “Our signature drink is our iced blended Mocha Diva ®, a classic blend of ice cream, chocolate, and espresso. All fresh, all real, all delicious (and surprisingly low in fat and calories!)” *
11560 Los Osos Valley Road San Luis Obispo
Open 6:00 am – 9:00pm Monday – Friday
Saturday – Sunday 7:00am – 9:00pm
805-543-3559
* Try the Shot in the Dark Espresso Drink! A chai latte with a shot of expresso, it’s a perfect treat for a cold day. *
1531 Monterey Street San Luis Obispo
Open 7.00am – 7.00pm Everyday
805-547-0278
* All of their ice blended drinks are delicious. *
1065 Higuera Street, Unit 101 San Luis Obispo
Open 5.30am – 11.00pm Everyday
805-783-1300
* Strong flavors and authentic coffee. Try their carrot cake for breakfast, you will not be sorry. *
Filed under Healthy, Restaurant Rating
“Healthier” Forms of Alcohol
Alcohol is one of those “out of sight out of mind” things that we consume. Most wine, hard alcohol, and beer bottles never contain nutritional value charts, therefore most people rarely factor alcohol into their diets. If only people knew the tremendous amounts of empty calories alcohol can provide.
Excessively drinking alcohol has many risks and can lead to serious health problems, according to MayoClinic.com, these health risks include:
- Cancer of the pancreas, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and liver, as well as breast cancer
- Pancreatitis, especially in people with high levels of triglycerides in their blood
- Sudden death in people with cardiovascular disease
- Heart muscle damage (alcoholic cardiomyopathy) leading to heart failure
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Cirrhosis of the liver
- Miscarriage
- Fetal alcohol syndrome in an unborn child, including impaired growth and nervous system development
- Injuries due to impaired motor skills
- Suicide
It is extremely important to drink in moderation, and if you do choose to drink, it is essential to consume low calorie forms of alcohol. I have compiled a list of “healthy” alcohol choices, within the groups of wine, hard alcohol, and beer.
Wine
According to msnbc.com, drinking wine in moderation can keep your heart healthy, prevent cancer, and more. In an article about the benefits of red wine, Joy Bauer, a Today Show contributor stated, “Thanks to its alcohol content and non-alcoholic phytochemicals (natural occurring plant compounds), wine has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and slow the progression of neurological degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.” Bauer also says in the article that men are limited to two glasses of wine, and women are limited to one, along with a healthy diet. Unfortunately, wine can also cause elevated triglyceride levels, breast cancer, migraines, and weight gain, according to the article.
Hard Alcohol
Hard alcohol comes with a well-deserved reputation of being extremely unhealthy. Hard alcohol is notorious because a person can mask the flavor with juices, soda, and many other enhancers. In addition, hard alcohol does not contain ingredients that fill you up, like beer does, and therefore is extremely dangerous. Hard alcohol is known to get you drunk, fast. It is essential that people drink hard alcohol responsibly. Many people drink hard alcohol in the form of shots; I believe it is important to drink hard alcohol in the form of a cocktail, as it takes longer to drink, and “waters-down” the alcohol. Hard alcohol is lacking any nutrients; it is filled with “empty calories.” When drinking hard alcohol I suggest adding freshly squeezed juices, drinking diet sodas, and sugar-free additives to lessen the amount of empty calories entering the body.
Beer
Beer has many similar benefits to red wine, if consumed in moderation. In addition, beer has the tendency to make the consumer feel full, and thus not drink as much. According to FoxNews.com, drinking beer in moderation can be good for the heart, and for the brain, “Using an MRI, a Boston scientist discovered that light drinkers (one to six drinks a week) to moderate drinkers (seven to 14 drinks a week) have fewer strokes than nondrinkers — probably because of alcohol’s effect in thinning the blood and preventing the formation of tiny blood clots in the brain.” Darker ales are also said to be better for you, containing more nutrients “such as protein, B vitamins, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, iron, niacin, and riboflavin,” according to the FoxNews article “Healthy Beer Drinking.” It would also be more beneficial to drink “light” or lower calorie beers.
New Frontiers
When trying to eat healthy, you need a grocery store that provides excellent quality foods and a vast selection. New Frontiers is a great place to shop for essential nutritious items that fit your unique diet plan. New Frontiers is more of a market, in that they sell meats, have a deli, a salad bar, sell supplements, and have a large array of dried produce, nuts, and other healthy snacks.
New Frontiers salad bar is probably one of my favorite “take-out” meals in San Luis Obispo. Along with having delicious, fresh produce and scrumptious dressings, the salad bar offers pasta salads, broccoli salads, curries, Thai and Chinese cuisine, and an array of meats and cheeses to add to your salad. The tofu and seasoned chicken are my favorite meats in the salad bar, as they are tasty and satisfying. I love the salad bar because it makes eating healthy so easy, you can turn any boring salad into a mouthwatering meal.
The deli is another great way to get a healthy meal. Offering sandwiches and wraps, salads and pastas; New Frontiers deli has a lot of variety to help expand your pallet. When you first walk into the store they list the specials of the day, and always have different to-go items on display at the deli window.
As you peruse the isles, samples are offered constantly, allowing you to try new things. Sometimes I leave New Frontiers full from all of the samples, it is honestly one of the aspects that draws me to the store.
New Frontiers offers organic, locally grown, and all-natural products, it is great for certain ingredients that you just cannot find at the regular grocery store. The only complaint I have for New Frontiers is that it is on the pricier side. I have not had any problems with the price because New Frontiers is the only place in San Luis Obispo that offers certain items I like to incorporate into my diet. Many online reviews call New Frontiers, “overpriced,” “snotty,” and “rude to customers,” but I have not encountered anything like this from shopping there for the past four years.
In addition, New Frontiers does not seem to have a web site, or at least one that I can find, I think that it would greatly benefit them to have a website to promote their business, and to inform customers of the great products they offer.
I encourage you to try New Frontiers, located at:
896 East Foothill Boulevard, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405-3709
(805) 785-0194
Filed under Healthy
