Flow with Nature

Did you know I have a gym membership? Yeah, I'm not sure I did either!

I kid, I kid. I go to the gym (sometimes). But my favorite exercises are when I don't feel like I'm exercising. 

Instead, I feel like I'm saving myself from drowning! Seriously though, if you see me out in the water with a surfboard, although it looks like I'm drowning, I'm probably really just trying to surf. Besides nutrition, I'm a slave to the waves. Surfing works so much of my body, from my arm muscles to my core strength to my balance. It helps me sustain and regulate much of my breathing. It allows me to feel close to nature, teaching me patience and humbles me (oh boy, does it humble me). And when I finally do catch a wave, it's the most enlightening, uplifting feeling.

My surf trip to Nicaragua (2010)

My trip to Mal Pais, Costa Rica (2005)

Surf day in South Florida via Hybrid Photography at MSW

Summers in South Florida are known to be incredibly hot. They're also known to bring the flatness to the ocean. Luckily, we had a pretty good swell in early June and I went surfing ALL day, for several days. I got spaghetti arms, a surfboard leash tan, and I'm still picking sand out of my hair. I was beyond exhausted but I felt great. That being said, I doubt I could ever spend all day at the gym like I do in the ocean.

Now in terms of nutrition, prior to my full surf day, I had a carbohydrate heavy breakfast to prepare my energy stores and build up fuel for my body. I had sliced peaches, oatmeal with brown sugar, one egg, and a small glass of almond milk. I was able to eat early in the morning because I had several hours to digest my food. Prior to hopping in the water, I ate some avocado with cheese to have a little good fat stores to satiate me.

So, just a few notes on nutrition prior to heavy exercise:
1. Eat a carbohydrate rich meal prior to heavy exercise to build fuel for the body.
2. Try to avoid high amounts of fiber and fat to allow for easy digestion.
3. Add small amounts of protein to your meal, as this will help rebuild muscles.
4. Experiment with different meals and times during training so you'll know how much time your body needs to digest and what foods work best.

All the above information is found at one of my favorite sites:
Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition, or SCAN.

Finally, this man has my dream job. (So, if there's any openings for a surfing nutritionist where all I do is surf and eat healthy foods all day, hire me!) He couldn't have explained surfing and nutrition better.

Surfing Nutritionist at Kashi

"What the heck does surfing have to do with food? Everything. Surfing teaches you to flow with nature, instead of fighting it. It's similar with food. Natural foods work with your body so your body works better."



Find physical activity that you enjoy, whether that's walking the dog 30 minutes a day or training to run marathons. Just like healthy eating, the best way to go about it is to enjoy it!




Also, I spent this hot day roaming around the cold bookstore. This is the most recent book I've picked up and I can't wait to read it!

The author, Dr. Bharat Aggarwal, is a Professor of the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. I'm going to start cooking a lot more with spices (and fruits and veggies) since the summer sun may have me indoors a little more often.

Age is just a number

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I've been MIA - there really is little excuse this time. A few fun things have happened since the last post!

First, I did go to Yosemite National Park in California but my camera has died. Luckily, my brother, Jon took a few pictures!

 Beautiful, isn't it? Unfortunately, we didn't get to eat as fresh of foods as I had hoped for - so just a hint if you visit Yosemite, bring your own cooler and basket of food! However, my family did enjoy a bit of exercise.

My mom definitely was the leader of the pack for getting us hiking daily. She even had us hike in the rain to the waterfalls. It was so cold that when we got back (soaking wet!) to the cabin, the rain turned to snow! Not the best idea for a South Floridian!

I think we may have picked a bad week to visit, as it did rain most of the time. But, as you can see from the pictures above, we did get a couple day of beautiful weather! While my parents took a horseback ride up the mountain, Jon and I rented bikes and went around the whole park. We stopped at a couple of places to hike, although I must say we weren't prepared for the steep incline on our second stop. Thank goodness we had plenty of water and trail mix (protein and carbohydrates!) to help us along the way! What can I say? We're Floridians! But guess who beat the two of us? My parents made it all the way up to the top! Age REALLY is just a number!

I'll write more about getting active next time (I promise!).


On a more professional note, the Cancer Center at my job has now opened! I am now the official dietitian of said cancer center. It's been so far exciting, challenging, and rewarding, and I don't expect it to ever change. The issues, symptoms, and side-effects experienced by my patients make obtaining a goal of a nutritious lifestyle (and therefore, better quality of life... that's right! Complete and good nutrition provides us with energy and strength.) a little more challenging - but not impossible! They inspire me to constantly reach for my goals despite all the road blocks.

And take a look at the cute little things!

I ordered these off VistaPrint. They're personalized stationary for my patients (and they even have the blog's logo).


I'll write another entry very soon!

Update!

Ai yai yai! What a terrible blogger am I!

I apologize to everyone for not being consistent with my blog entries! I'm constantly disappearing and reappearing. But I promise this blog is not dead!

So I wanted to give everyone an update!

First, I'm so happy to announce that I have been accepted into the Nutrition Blog Network! Blogs powered by the nutrition experts of the world - registered dietitians! Now you'll see the badge on my blog. Make sure to check it out! I love reading what's on the minds of other dietitians and it's an incredible resource to healthy recipes as well!

Now, on to why I've disappeared...

After years of being told I needed to get my wisdom teeth removed, I finally put my big girl pants on, walked into an oral surgeon's office, and scheduled my appointment. But we'll get back to that later...

Knowing I'd have to suffer a slow advancement from a mechanical soft (still there!) diet to a regular diet, I took the weekend before my surgery to visit my cousin in the city where I was born: New York City!

Because I've visited NYC several times, we decided to concentrate on the good stuff: shopping and FOOD! So, as a fare-thee-well to my wisdom teeth and my regular consistency diet, my cousin agreed to go on a food tour with me! Where do you sign up for a food tour you ask? I have no idea. We created our own food tour by asking long-time locals where we can find the best foods in the city. We split dumplings, bagels, cheesecake, sushi, kimchi, arepas, gelato, cannolis, belgian waffles (my speculoos got confiscated by TSA!), mimosas, veggie platter, eggs benedict, the most tender chicken I've ever had, and flavored coffee. It was a palette dream! Oh, but we walked like crazy and my knees pretty much gave up by the end of the day.

Roaming around Union Square for brunch

Belgian waffle with speculoos!

Junior's Cheesecake- even dad remembers!

Fresh seafood at Grand Central

Cured meats at Grand Central

Prepared treats at Grand Central

Look how fresh the food is! 

Arepas in East Village

Not exactly the pictures you were expecting from a nutrition blog, huh? Haha, I love food too! And I believe food should be celebrated and explored, not abused. This is just the beginning! I hope to tour the U.S. and try food all over! My dream is to travel the world with a fork in one hand and a surfboard in the other! (Hmmm... maybe I'll share my past food travels in a later post).

The following weekend was the weekend of ... dun, dun, dun, duuuuunnnn ... my wisdom teeth extraction! My dear friend treated me to calamari on the beach and steak for my "last meal". I made sure to add some veggies in there too and used my wok for the first time to help me stir fry the vegetables I had left in my refrigerator:

Perfect steak sides!

The day of my surgery, my friend cared for me and fed me yogurt with probiotics (I was taking so much Penicillin), cottage cheese and fruit, and italian ice. The next day Gretchen came over and gave me macaroni and cheese and banana pudding!

I'm slowly healing but I can't wait to get back to eating crunchy foods! At least now I somewhat understand my patients who have to be placed on a different diet consistency. It is very difficult to find the same foods appetizing when they've been beaten to a pulp. I've been trying to use this experience to help me empathize with my patients a little more. I've been experimenting with different ways to continue to meet my goal of increasing my fruit and veggie intake. Thanks to the help of my mom, I've created homemade berry shakes and softer vegetables, and have even been more attuned to finding products for softer consistencies on the shelves that are high in their nutrient content.

Finally, this past weekend I went home to the parents' to celebrate Easter. I grew up in a town that neighbors the strawberry fields of Plant City, and driving into town with the smell of strawberries filling your nose is delightful! My mom made me all sorts of wonderful soft meals that I could slurp up. We even went to Whole Foods where she bought the most delicious mango gelato!

I also made my mom buy turmeric, a spice known for its high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, to add to her spice rack while we were there. Have any of you heard of turmeric? In my studies on nutritional oncology, many spices boast a high content of antioxidants. I encourage everyone to explore the spice section the next time you're grocery shopping. You can change the flavor of your foods with just a sprinkle or a dash of this or that and never touch salt!

Another spice to add to my crowded spice rack!

In a few weeks, I travel off to San Francisco and Yosemite National Park! Hopefully I can eat regular consistencies by then, but I'll make sure to update everyone!

Happy Registered Dietitian Day!

Happy Registered Dietitian Day to all my fellow dietitians!

I work with a wonderful group of registered dietitians (RDs) and dietetic technicians (DTRs)! And I'm so excited for my friends who are currently in the internship to become RDs!

Love your Heart!

For the first installment of National Nutrition Month's "Eat Right with Color" we're going to look at RED!

Luckily, at my job, we're going to do a National Nutrition Month day and I'm part of the Red Team. Our Red Team is covering "Heart Healthy"! I'm sure most of you were aware that February was the month of love and Valentine's Day. Red hearts decorated buildings, stores, desks, and TV ads. But, how many of you knew February was also National Heart Month?

Love your heart

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. with about one American dying from a heart-related event every minute. So what are some changes we can make to be Heart Healthy?

There are many things to ensure we love our heart the way we should. Make regular visits with a doctor and do not smoke, or quit if you already do. Now this is a nutrition blog and nutrition plays an important role in a healthy heart, and bad foods play just as an important role in an unhealthy heart.

For decades now, our diet has manifested into a very un-Heart Healthy diet and we've shocked our taste buds into thinking this is how "regular" food should taste like. Currently, the hospital where I work at is applying the USDA's 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to our menu, including reducing sodium intake and fat content of foods, especially saturated fat, and increasing daily fiber intake. But do you know how many times I've heard "Why can't I get REAL food?" Of course, when I ask what they believe "REAL food" is, I get fast food restaurants, buffets, burger joints, and porterhouse steaks (Man! Do they love their porterhouse steaks!)

What I want to ask all of you is, when did nutrition that fuels our body at its greatest capacity stop being "REAL food"? When did we so happily accept foods that damage us from the inside out as "REAL food"? And honestly, when we put love and care into preparing nutritious foods, it tastes SO much better than that fast food joint that throws a frozen patty in a deep fryer.

But that's where we as Americans find ourselves. We want things quick and want them fast! As a result, we lose quality and trick our taste buds into thinking highly salted, fatty foods are the best of the best. What many of us don't see is that we're actually limiting ourselves to experience all the different flavors by relying solely on salt and fat!

So, one of the first things you can do to Love you Heart is limit your salt. "But it's so bland!" I rarely add salt to my foods, so when something is highly salted, I don't like it. I'm sure many of you have heard that you can train your taste buds to not be so addicted to highly-salted foods. This is true. However, you can also use this to try different spices and seasoning. My spice rack is full and I feel like a witch at her cauldron trying to combine different flavors. Check out The Epicentre's Encyclopedia of Spices. There are over 350 spices in the world, so grab yourself $10 and buy a few spices at your local grocery store or go to the Green market and get fresh spices. Just make sure your seasoning does not have sodium or salt in it (choose garlic powder instead of garlic salt).

Image taken from Yale Sustainable Food Project

Fat is an essential part of our diet. However, we've become heavily reliant on saturated, and even worse, trans fats. Trans fats you want to try and avoid. Saturated fats, you want to try and limit to less than 10% of your calories. Why? These fats are known to raise your bad cholesterol (LDLs) and lower your good cholesterol (HDLs), which is associated with heart disease. Get most of your fats from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. You can find your good fats in fish, nuts, seeds, and vegetable, canola, and olive oil. Oh! And avocados (mmmm... Guacamole!). Meet the Fats at the American Heart Association!

Increase your fiber intake, as this helps reduce cholesterol in your blood. Choose whole grains instead of refined grains. Fiber can also be found in legumes like beans, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Just like salt, limit your intake of added sugars and simple sugars, as high sugar levels is associated with increased heart risks.

Maintain a healthy weight. Try to get as close to a normal body mass index (BMI) as possible through healthy food choices and exercise. Check your BMI using the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's BMI calculator.

Finally, let your heart prove to you what it's made of, and take it for some exercise!

The American Heart Association has been an incredible resource for information on living a Heart Healthy lifestyle. I really love their Life's Simple 7 plan, so check it out!

That little organ that we've come to associate with love and joyfulness is  not getting the love it needs. It works so hard to provide the oxygen the billions of processes in our body needs to live. So show you heart you care and Love you Heart!

National Nutrition Month!

Today marks the start of National Nutrition Month!

The theme of this year is "Eat Right with Color". Check out the cute food palette the American Dietetic Association created at the bottom of the blog.

For National Nutrition Month, we're going to use different colors as themes and show how they can relate to nutrition and health.

As homework, try coloring your plate at home! By choosing a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, you're exposing your body to thousands of incredible nutrients and substances that have health-boosting, disease-fighting abilities!

Go ahead and share what new color you tried today in comments!

Visit the American Dietetic Association's website for answers to your nutrition questions and the Tip of the Day!

A Healthy Start to a New Year

Hi everyone! I haven't disappeared. I'm still here!

I hope all of you enjoyed your holiday season and are having a wonderful start to 2011. Take a look at all the food-related things I got for Christmas! I can't wait to cook up a storm this year! (I had to include the dark chocolate truffles from my parents! They're so good and my little indulgence.)

Thank you everyone for the awesome presents!

Have you made your New Years Resolutions yet? I hope I can encourage everyone to add improve eating and wellness habits to the your lists! Whether that's drink one less soda can a week, or eat whole wheat pasta instead of regular, or even move from 2% milk to 1%, any positive small changes in our diet can have an impact on our health and maybe even lead to bigger changes.

Make sure your goals are measurable and obtainable. Instead of saying "I will work out more in 2011", try starting with "I will walk 30 minutes, 3 days a week".  Also, those who write down their goals are about 80% more likely to follow through with them, so write those suckers down!

If interested in weight loss, try for a healthy and attainable goal of no more than 2 pounds per week. Any more than two pounds per week is less likely to stay off permanently. Also think of 1 pound equaling 3500 calories, or 500 calories a day, so read those nutrition labels and add it up! You'll realize how easy it is to remove 500 calories daily, especially if you drink plenty of liquid calories (sodas, juice, sports drinks, smoothies, etc.). We'll go over nutrition labels for the next blog entry. Remember, you can also create a deficit in your "energy-in vs. energy-out" through exercise.

Image via fireheartbliss

Don't lose weight or change eating habits at the cost of nutrition. Our bodies need carbohydrates, protein, and, yes, even fats for daily living. Nutritious eating involves choosing complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and "good" fats, such as omega-3's, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats. We'll also review all this for the coming year! I also encourage all of you to enjoy a variety of foods. Not only will this help you avoid a rut, but through a variety of foods you'll be maximizing exposure to those nutrients we've been talking about thus far. The best way to get the most positive effects from nutrients, is yes, via foods! Many nutritious foods contain several substances that work together to maximize absorption and the incredible effects of each single nutrient, something which many supplements and shakes are lacking. Not to mention, foods contain substances, such as the flavaenoids and phenols, that many of us (and supplement/shake companies) either don't know about or ignore. Also, don't concentrate on one nutrient only, but realize the importance of all nutrients and look at the food as a whole. For example, "low-fat" does not necessarily mean low calories, and sometimes contain more sugar.

Just in case you're wondering, I'm still working on increasing my fruits and vegetable intake to around 9 servings daily. I'm experiencing obstacles, "off-days", and "excuses" just like anyone else trying to change they're eating habits. Making small steps to reach 9 servings is both encouraging and effective, and I've discovered so many new fruits, vegetables, and foods! Spinach nuggets (haha, that's right, spinach nuggets) are delicious!

Finally, as I research more and more information about oncology and nutrition, I want to encourage everyone to increase they're daily intake of antioxidants through foods. Antioxidants are incredible substances that can protect our bodies from oxidative damage that can lead to numerous diseases, including heart disease and cancer. If you don't believe you can avoid certain diseases, at least think of nutrition and physical activity as a way of maximizing and prolonging a life sans disease before succumbing to the effects of genetics, age, and daily living, and in turn, medication, medical bills, and hospital visits.

So, share your nutrition and physical activity goals for the new year!

Image via Heart Fish Blog