1. Eat food that has lived a good life.
If you’ve ever seen a time-lapsed photo of a flower’s journey from bloom to whither, then you already have a perfect example of how your food should have lived. Whether it’s a vegetable, a fruit or an animal, they all have one thing in common: They lived! Start by eating only these foods and the rest will follow.

2. Just because it isn’t plastic doesn’t mean it’s real food.
The concept of modern food packaging is meant to fool you into thinking what you are about to eat is “fresh”, and therefore guilty of being real by association. “Packed fresh” and “over processed” do not cancel each other out. Be wary of packaged goods.

3. Your workouts should be defined by strife.
When you see someone working out with a smile on their face, chances are they aren’t trying hard enough. Fitness under the Paleo lifestyle is meant to be difficult, challenging and explosive at the same time. So dismiss the concept of “cardio” and opt for a more high intensity interval approach.

4. An ever-changing variety will set you free to reach your goals
Cavemen and women had all kinds of physical and nutritional obstacles in their way. This led them to eat what they could and exert their power as was necessary. Thus was born the concept of variety being the spice of life. So spice up your meals, workouts and your life by avoiding consistency for too long!

5. Cavemen evolved by outsmarting the world – Give them credit!
You will hear all kinds of criticism for embracing this way of life. But the bottom line is that cavemen had to out-hustle, out-smart and out-last every animal on the planet to become the dominant species. In order to understand this way of life you must give credit to the architects who forged the way!

Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on DietsInReview.com. See other posts in the Guest Blog series.

If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger, please contact us.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Top Five Cave-Person Checklist Starting a Paleo Diet

Here are 10 ways that brides can reduce stress before their big day:

1. Invest in a wedding planner.  Yes, this costs money, but it is money well spent. A good planner will coordinate the big details, take care of the little details and let you enjoy your day.

2. Think small. If you can’t afford a wedding planner then aim to keep your wedding simple, and better yet, small. Small is intimate!

3. Either way, make a plan.  Write down everything you need to do and check it off as it gets done. You will feel more in control and less stressed about forgetting something important.

4. Delegate. Delegate to your bridal party and to your family.  Family – especially parents and parents-to-be – often want to be involved, so let them.  You don’t have to let them make the major decisions, but including everyone will go a long way in starting off on the right foot!

5. Don’t sweat the small stuff. This would have been especially good advice for me! Trust me, after your wedding, no one is going to remember the color of your tablecloths, but they will remember if your face was glowing… or if your under-eye bags rivaled the bride of Frankenstein!

6. Continue exercising.  Don’t let stress stop you from exercising – this is when you really need those wonderful endorphins!  Caution: now is not necessarily the time to begin exercising if you aren’t already – perhaps stick with walking or yoga and start something more strenuous after the wedding.

7. Schedule periods of relaxation.  As the time before your wedding becomes shorter, you may feel like you have too much to do to spend any time relaxing. But taking time for your self is important! Unwind with a massage or a book or however you like to chill. You’ll be glad you did!

8. Try to stick with healthy foods. This one is a biggy! During times of stress we often reach for food that is convenient and comforting and unfortunately those choices may not be the best. Try to avoid heavy carbohydrates, high fat foods and desserts. Your body – and your wedding photos – will benefit.

9. Avoid caffeine and alcohol – and I hope I needn’t mention drugs?  You want to glow in your photos, not look buzzed or dopey.

10. DON’T try anything new.  No extreme diets, no new cleanses, no face lifts – nothing your body isn’t already accustomed to. Give yourself a break – because the best time to try new things is on your honeymoon!

Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on DietsInReview.com. See other posts in the Guest Blog series.

If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger, please contact us.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

10 Ways to Reduce Stress Before the Dress

We had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Snyderman about her book as well as her own diet and weight struggles. Here is what this medical expert, mother, journalist, and author had to say about what it takes for us to be truly  healthy.

In your book, you coined yourself a professional dieter, in addition to all of the professional and personal roles that you undertake. What inspired you to write, Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat?

First off, I am every woman. I am every female who has ever struggled with her weight and who probably still has those extra few pounds to lose. At one point in my life, I was 200 pounds. I have taken every diet pill that was made, tried every packaged-meal plan, attempted every fad diet and finally after many years of my own struggles with weight and food,  I have come to the realization that food is not the enemy and I can finally say that I am at peace with food.

Why do you think that we still hold on to these “myths” that you debunk in your book such as eating after 8 p.m. is going to lead to weight gain or that you must drink a certain amount of water every day?

There is no science behind a myth.  But unfortunately we end up chasing these myths even though they are elusive.  For instance, the myth about eating at 8 p.m. will make you fat is not a fact because if that is your dinner, then you may weigh a bit more in the morning but that is just because you ate late and probably haven’t gone to the bathroom yet. Whether you ate that same 400-calorie meal in the morning or the evening prior, it’s still the same 400 calories.

It is very easy to quickly get lead down the wrong path, but in order for us to become healthier, we must start trekking down the right path. Science and medicine can be very complicated but if you learn a few basic principles, it’s actually quite simple.

One of the myths you shed truth on in your book is that our weight is not our fault. What do you mean by this?

After World War II, we learned how to preserve food from canning foods to adding certain ingredients that would prolong the shelf-life. What occurred during this time is that the value of our food decreased but the calories, fat and sugar all increased. Therefore, this significantly changed how we metabolized energy. Add this to the rise in suburbs, the decrease in funding for physical education classes, the overall increase of our sedentary lives and doing less manual labor at home has lead to the obesity rates that we are now seeing in Americans.

Sixty-seven percent of us now are either overweight or obese. In just one generation, we have added seven inches to our waistline but taken off seven years of our lives. The ripple effect is extraordinary both immediate to our own personal health as well as for all of society.

How do you feel that our current recession has affected how we take care of ourselves?

With less money in our pockets, we are spending money on the comfort foods which make us fat. It’s not surprising then that McDonald’s and Wal-Mart are doing better now because they have an enormous availability of cheap and processed food.

But how can you tell a mother of three that she should go out to the grocery store and buy lean ground turkey and fresh hamburger buns to make turkey burgers for her family when she can run through the drive-through and get the same amount of food at McDonald’s for less money?

I’m not anti-fast-food, but I would recommend that you skip the fries, don’t eat the burgers in the car and instead place them on plates, add a vegetable, even if it’s a canned vegetable and sit down to a meal. Food and meals are meant to be shared.  And at some point, we have to develop a means by which we can get fair (quality) food at a fair value.

In addition, studies are now showing that preventive care is down and gym memberships are down so our health is likely to suffer. When you stop exercising and start gaining weight, the last thing you want to do is go out and exercise. It’s a vicious cycle.

The diet you put forth in your book is called the Treat Yourself Diet, but it’s not so much a “diet” per se as it is a lifestyle eating plan. Can you share with us a few of  its  basic premises?

I think diet is a four-letter word. I don’t believe in deprivation and I also avoid the fake stuff like artificial sugars, sweeteners and cheese. It’s important to choose the foods you love to eat and consume them at the right times.

I don’t want to eat something that doesn’t taste good. If you can’t get that piece of chocolate cake out of your mind, then have it as your entree for dinner. Treat your diet like a debit card. We keep a budget for our bank account and we need to do the same for our diets. One of the best ways to be honest with yourself about what you are eating and how much you are eating is to keep a food journal. It shows you patterns in how you eat such as whether you’re eating out of emotion, stress or hunger. I keep one every day.

To read more about these tips and many others, here is a complete review of Dr. Nancy Snyderman’s Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat.

Beginning on June 29th, Dr. Snyderman will will host a new MSNBC hour dedicated to health news and information. Tune in to hear Nancy’s expert and accessible perspective on health issues affecting your everyday life. Also, Nancy is one of the founders of BeWell.com, a  new social network on health founded by America’s Top Doctors.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Interview with Dr. Nancy Snyderman, author of Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat

Gorgeously Green Diet author, Sophie Uliano

We had the opportunity to speak with Sophie who believes that her plan which is more of a “live-it” lifestyle plan rather than a diet can be followed by anyone who is passionate about taking care of herself (and the planet).

Listen to the interview below

How have your life experiences influenced your decision to lead a Gorgeously Green Life and follow the Gorgeously Green Diet?

I’m a mother and a working one too. So my life is very fast-paced and crazy at times. This book was written for those women out there who share the same kind of life as I do.   The Gorgeously Green Diet is what I have found to be true and has worked for me and my life and I wanted to share this information with others.

Can you give us a snapshot of what The Gorgeously Green Diet is all about?

Many people believe that in order to be eco-friendly, you must give up a lot of things. But this is not at all what The Gorgeously Green Diet is about. It’s about living a whole and beautifully-lived life that is accessible to anyone. I wanted to take into account our differences as women such as our budgets, our time and our access to good food.  Seventy-five percent of working women today work in an office. So this book was essentially written for  them. Some women may not have access to a health food store or to farmer’s market  and some may not have time to shop for and make a wild salmon dinner every night. Therefore I created  three different eating plans – light green, bright green and deep green - depending upon one’s own comfort level with the notion of living green, with one’s available resources to live a green life and with one’s own budget.

Take the light green plan, for instance. It is for the beginner who wants to take baby steps into adding more green to their life. It is for the woman who shops at a regular grocery store and doesn’t consume a lot of organic food. For those that want to dip their toes in the water a bit deeper, they can opt for the bright green plan and for those who are ready to really go for it from making their own yogurt and eating all organic, there is the deep green plan.

This plan allows you to choose your own eating plan based upon your own lifestyle and personal preferences.

Being green is obviously very “in” right now. Why do you believe it is so important for our own personal health to eat and live more responsibly?

Green is an umbrella subject. I believe that we have begun to realize the cause and effect relationship from all of the decisions we make and how this cause and effect relationship impacts our health and the health of the planet. We are also now becoming more aware of how inextricably linked these two things are.

Unfortunately, we don’t know what is in our food. The labeling practices in the U.S. are very limited in comparison to those in Europe where you can tell if you are eating a food that was made with genetically-modified (GMO) ingredients. Even things like additives are carefully disguised in the U.S. We are so used to reading the labels for calories, fat grams and carbohydrate grams but we should go beyond that by asking how was it produced, where did all of the ingredients come from and as we start to eat more responsibly, weight loss and beauty will also follow.

What are three of your personal favorite Gorgeously Green products that you can’t live without in your kitchen?

Number one is olive oil. In fact, I have an entire section in my book dedicated to just olive oil. In my kitchen, I have two kinds of olive oil: pure olive oil that I use for cooking and extra virgin that I use to dress a finished dish. It is important to note that not all olive oils are equal in quality, many are cut with hazelnut oil which take away from its purity and taste. Second, I can’t live without my immersion blender. I use it from everything from soups to making my own mayonnaise. Last is a new food chopper that I just received from someone. I love this very recent addition to my kitchen appliance so much because I can quickly chop an onion, a salad  or any other fruit or vegetable in no time at all.

Here is the complete interview with Sophie Uliano.

The Gorgeously Green Diet is packed with not just powerful information about green living but also simple and delicious recipes for how to take care of your health and your beauty while also preserving the protecting Mother Earth.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Interview with Sophie Uliano, author of The Gorgeously Green Diet

It is the idea used in “reverse thinspiration,” or when someone puts a picture of themselves at their highest weight on the refrigerator. It’s the reason we call loved ones after watching a sappy movie or go clean the kitchen after reading an article about salmonella. It’s hard to imagine driving your kids through a fast food restaurant and not portioning their servings after driving by one of these billboards:

Media campaigns using the principle of dramatic relief are often surrounded by controversy or labeled guerrilla. It is exactly the power of “negative emotions” that people want to relieve that makes these ads so effective. However, to evoke strong emotions these ads often have to address difficult truths that can be deemed offensive or politically incorrect. The following ads illustrate positive changes that can result from small steps, not only motivating by describing the steps that can be taken to provide dramatic relief:

If you look closely, the ads below also describe what can be done to provide dramatic relief; they are funded by a center that provides gastric bypass surgery. The message is clear; however, these ads may be so controversial that people shut themselves off from the emotions that could be evoked or deny that the message is applicable to their lives. My experience has been that even those who experience suicidal ideation and fantasies of death do not want to consider themselves suicidal. The advertisement for gastric bypass surgery simply allows one more reason for people to reject the message behind these ads.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Advertising Dramatic Life Change

Other lesser known brain foods include brightly colored produce high in antioxidants, including strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, prunes, and my favorite blueberries. Whole grains and whole grain products such as bread, rice, and pasta contain B vitamins and magnesium which assist normal brain and nerve functioning.

Feeding your brain can increase your mental energy. Mental capacity is what we use to organize our lives. When your mental energy is low, you’re likely to become more forgetful, distracted, and have difficulty thinking and completing tasks. Maximum mental energy is derived from oscillation; changing channels mentally permits different parts of the brain to be activated while others rest and can facilitate creativity. This sounds like great news for multi-taskers, but I am still skeptical about how productive multi-tasking really is. It is important that we stimulate different areas of our brains, learn new things, challenge ourselves, and expand our horizons.

How we function in each area of our lives can have a big impact on how we function in the others. To live to your full potential, you want to develop the greatest energy capacity possible in each key life area. When you are thinking more clearly, you can feel more confident and find life more enjoyable. When you have more mental energy, you are less likely to become exhausted by that long meeting which then tempts you to grab something from the snack machine. When you are thinking more clearly, you will find that you have more time for the things that give your life meaning.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Healthy Brains Come From Healthy Food

Habits are extremely powerful and, by nature, something that we do without thinking. Aristotle’s quotation can be illustrated with the simple explanation of saying “excuse me” after you sneeze. As a child, you had many things to learn about sneezing; your parents probably had to teach you to put your hand (or elbow) over your mouth, to use a Kleenex, not to sneeze on other people, and to say “excuse me.” Sneezing is automatic, but everything that follows is learned. Ideally, from the time you were able, every time you would sneeze, your mother would follow up with “say excuse me” to which you would oblige. Also, at some point your mother would explain to you that this is appropriate social behavior, although she probably said you need to ‘be polite’ to have friends. Even if you were only begrudgingly obliging your mother by repeating “excuse me” to her promptings, you were still practicing the behavior. Eventually, it became ingrained enough that you would say it without prompting, at least in front of your mother. When that happened, if she was smart, your mom would reinforce the behavior by appropriately acknowledging it by saying something as simple as “Thank you for using your manners” or as over the top as “I am so proud of how polite you are, remembering to say ‘excuse me’ when you sneeze!”. (Both are appropriate when working with kids).

Thus you’ll start to feel good about this behavior. When you feel good about doing something, you’re more likely to do it more often.  Eventually, you started saying “excuse me” without even thinking about it and without your mother telling you what a good kid you were. It probably even got to the point where you felt uncomfortable if you didn’t say it. That’s when you know that saying “excuse me” when you sneeze has become a habit. You are considered polite when saying “excuse me” is a habit. You learned to do it and integrated it into you. This is different than saying “excuse me” because you are polite.

These are the same steps you have to take if there is a new habit you want to integrate into your life, whether it is an exercise routine, flossing, drinking more water, or writing thank you notes.

(1) Visualize your goal, what you are doing, and why it’s important to you.

(2) Practice, practice, practice. Research shows that it takes between 3-6 weeks of doing a behavior consistently before it becomes a habit. It’s going to be uncomfortable at times; you may only be doing it because you feel obliged. This is where you go back to your visualization to help motivate yourself. Also, it helps to reinforce the behavior in a positive way (this is not punishing yourself when you don’t do it).

(3) As a result of your reinforcements or seeing the results of your new behavior, you will start to feel better about what you are doing.

(4) Once you’re doing it without thinking or experiencing some dissonance when you don’t follow through with your new behavior then you have developed a habit.

What habits do you want to integrate into your life? Who do you want to be? What do you want to repeatedly do?

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

4 Steps to Creating New Habits