Whether traveling for pleasure or work, in a car or plane, there’s nothing worse than falling victim to snacks and other foods with empty calories and high prices. With a little planning, you will be prepared.

Here are some ideas:

Nuts

Nuts, seeds and raisins (portioned in baggies for a quick hunger urge).

Bonnie Gellar is a Nutrition Therapist and Certified Educator BRG Dietetics & Nutrition, P.C. I really enjoy reading her posts and newsletters and she has these great ideas.

What’s your favorite travel snack?

Remember, if I can do it, you can, too!

Susan Levy
Publisher & Speaker, Well-Fed Heart

This week’s featured recipe:

Blueberry Breakfast Blast

Thank you Bonnie Geller for your great information. You can learn more about her here:
WWW.BRGHEALTH.COM
FACEBOOK: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BRGDIETETICSANDNUTRITIONPC

The Well-Fed Heart -

A Well-Fed Heart Reader contacted me about a self-image exercise that helps her and thinks we can all benefit from it, too.  It involves the concept that when we look in the mirror we see not our current self as we are but the one who we embraced from when we were our healthiest. Whoever I share this idea with, immediately agrees – especially hairdressers. Here are the 3 steps:

1. Close your eyes and visualize when you were at your healthiest.  Was it as a 10 year old who could skip rope forever? Maybe your twenty-something self preparing for a marathon or your thirty-something self who is on a biking trip?
2. Now, visualize who you currently are – perhaps a soul dancer instead of a disco Donna?
3. Finally, combine each self-image and create a new picture of yourself as you desire to become. This is your new best self with realistic expectations.  Relax into this picture and feel good about it.

Now, open your eyes and ask yourself, “What are the small changes I need to make to become my new best self-image?”

Remember, if I can do it, you can, too!

Susan Levy
Publisher & Speaker, Well-Fed Heart

This week’s featured recipe:

 Dilled Cucumbers with Yogurt Dressing

The Well-Fed Heart -

I want to share with you 6 things that you can do beginning tonight. Or within the next few days…these are all small changes that can reap big rewards.

These are easy to remember as I’ve organized them A-F:

A —

After Dinner Go Outside…

If you’re expecting food manufacturers to care about your health, think again, because that’s our job.

It’s our job to make sure that what goes into our grocery carts supports our health.

It’s our job to make sure that what goes into our kitchens is best for our meals.

It’s our job to make sure that what goes on our plates is best for us – delicious and nutritious.

No one else is going to be a better student of your health than you.

If you take care of your heart, then it will take care of you.

Remember, if I can do it, you can, too!

Susan Levy
Publisher & Speaker, Well-Fed Heart

This week’s featured recipe:

Herbaceous Garbanzo Bean and Tomato Salad

The Well-Fed Heart -

I don’t know about you, but I grew up in a time when there was  family dinner hour. It was a time for our family to connect after a long day of everyone going their own way.  Like all the families on our block, we all reported home around 5pm and waited for our mother to announce that dinner was served.

Even as a single mother of two small children and meals were very simple, dinner hour was always important as our daily ritual. It was even more important as our family became blended – a new spouse and children entered our life. In fact, dinner hour is one of the reasons my husband and I site the endurance of our family bond.

However, somewhere along the way, as a society, we changed.

My younger friends tell me that the pressure of sport team and other practices has increased since my children’s school days, making the pace of modern family life more frenetic. Between scheduling conflicts and other time pressures, the dinner hour has gone by the wayside as a daily family activity.

There is even new research that says traditional meals at home are giving way to 6 snacking opportunities a day – mini-meals, some people call them.  And, instead of making meals from scratch, statistics show that 70% of our daily calories are coming from highly processed foods. Homemade seems like a long ago quaint fantasy.

But, I have hope. 

I believe that the pendulum swings and with it we may see it still come back to an equilibrium where it may not be an everyday ritual, but certainly we can find special family time around the dinner table on a regular schedule that is important and sacred.  After all, isn’t the dinner hour when children learn how to have conversations — appropriately give information as well as ask for it – share what’s on their minds in a safe environment? Isn’t this a time when we teach what a nutritious meal looks like and what is an appropriate portion? We help them learn lifelong skills and social graces, like setting the table and when to begin eating (after the cook sits down).

This is generally the first time a child has a special meal with the candles lit, nice dishes and table linens – all practice for a confident future life away from home –when adults teach by example – such as showing how to express gratitude.

And, finally, so important for modern families – this is a time when we have media timeout. All electronic devices are turned off: they are not even in the room.

So, tell me – If you had to rate your dinner hour, what would you give it? What is it like for you?

Remember, if I can do it, you can, too!

Susan Levy
Publisher & Speaker, Well-Fed Heart

This week’s featured recipe:

 Dilled Cucumbers with Yogurt Dressing

The Well-Fed Heart -

You just want good food that will support your health.

So, here are 6 questions to ask yourself when evaluating an eating plan for long-term success:

1. Do you have a condition or illness to consider?

2. Do you have to purchase special packaged foods, drinks or supplements?

3. Do you have to eat more or less of one food than you would normally?

4. Do you have to eliminate whole food groups you love?

5. Does the promise of the plan ring true to you? (such as fast fix)

6. Does this plan support joyful eating or will it make you feel deprived?

Did I miss any? Let me know.

Remember, if I can do it, you can, too!

Susan Levy
Publisher, Well-Fed Heart

Pssst…

If you’re sick and tired of the dieting treadmill and finally want to simply feel your best, I’ll be talking about how to do just that in Portland, Oregon!

I’ll be conducting an hour workshop entitled “Update Your Heart-Healthy Lifestyle” on June 6^th, 10:30 am, prior to the Women’s Heart Luncheon sponsored by the Providence Heart and Vascular Institute and the Providence Foundation. The workshop and lunch are only $10.

Sign up now and let me know if you can come.

Let’s meet up!

This week’s featured recipe:

Creamy Portobello Burgers

The Well-Fed Heart -

I don’t know about you, but most of us have been yo-yo dieters for a long time. I know I was until I really learned that it’s not about the calories I eat but making the calories count.

It is not your fault – despite our wishful thinking – diets don’t work. In fact, there is a multi- million dollar industry built on the fact that 95% of diets don’t work long-term.

The average woman spends 4 weeks on a diet and the average man 6 weeks before ending it in frustration and gaining back the lost weight and then some.

So, if we both know that diets don’t work in the long term, wouldn’t you like to know what does?

It’s like anything else – if it were easy, everyone would do it. But, like learning any new skill, once you know how it works, then it is easy.

Do you hate thinking about meal time, much less going into your kitchen?

Maybe you don’t know how to turn the ingredients in your pantry into delicious and healthy meals. Maybe you just don’t have the time to even think about eating better. Or, maybe you think it costs too much and eating out is more convenient.

Would you like to know what really works?

Susan Levy, Founder, The Well-Fed Heart

My name is Susan Levy. I’ve partnered with medical centers forover 25 years on wellness strategies – whether it’s heart-healthy living, developing healthy habits, or wading through the sea of conflicting health research to show you what really works.

Hospitals turn to me for patient education, because I understand how to take the latest research and turn it into simple and effective changes to help prevent chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes.

Up to 90% of diseases and conditions are preventable through the foods we eat.

And, it is never too late to start. I was 57. What about you?

Wouldn’t it be great to have a friend who could sit in your kitchen and just show you what needs to be done? Well – now you can!

I will show you how to create a kitchen that becomes the backbone of your path to good health. Not a center of deprivation but the center of a healthy and vibrant way of life.

No judgements, just a fresh start.

Introducing —

The  Joyful Kitchen Makeover

June 12th

10am pst, 11am mst, 12am cst, Noon est

Let’s get started!

Here’s how The Makeover works:

After breakfast, bring your cup of coffee over to the computer, connect to the seminar and let the joy begin.  We’ll spend the morning talking, working and laughing! At the end, you’ll have the foundation for a lifetime of improved health –right in your own kitchen.

My secret? Creating an environment for your success is the ONLY thing that has been proven to work over the long term.

As a bonus, one week later, we’ll have another call so I can answer any lingering questions as you implement your new lifestyle.

Want to know the ONE simple trick – – -
- – – that will change your life?

Learning to read a food label – sounds simple doesn’t it? It’s NOT! I’ll reveal food industry tricks that get you to buy and how they’re set up to mislead you.

This is the foundation for choosing the best eating plan for your family.

Let me show you how to quickly read the label so you know what you are feeding yourself and your family. I’ll share my shorthand tricks, so you don’t have to stand in the grocery aisle forever.

Then… we’ll put your new skills to the test in designing your ideal healthy eating kitchen!

We’ll start with your pantry and work our way thru the freezer. I’ll answer questions and cheer as you rid your kitchen of the foods that aren’t supporting your best joyful health.

Then, we’ll talk about how to maintain the changes you make.

You’ll also learn:

* The secrets to portion control so you don’t have to rely on willpower.

* How to restock your kitchen ‘delicious and nutritious’! Nothing special here – just good food that won’t break the bank.

* How to get your family involved in the process so everyone plays a part.

*How to use our Heart-Healthy Recipes with 5 steps or less, that help build your own weekly meal plan and grocery list.

If you’re worried about your family health history of chronic conditions such as type II diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, then this is the plan for you.

Because, if you take care of your heart, then it will take care of the rest of you.

Notice that I’m not talking about losing weight, but rather, about surrounding yourself with healthier options for the rest of your life. YOUR LIFE.

“Ever since Susan taught me how to decipher the secrets behind food labels, the contents of my cupboards have never been the same.” ~ Debby Kennedy

“I always knew I was supposed to read food labels, but the truth is I didn’t know what it all meant. After a few hours with Susan, I shop completely differently and have lost 16 pounds.” ~ Frankie Lorenzini

This sounds like what I’ve been looking for, Susan…. I can’t wait to  create joyful health in my kitchen. How much will this cost?

Normally, this workshop is $197, but because you’re a loyal…

 Well-Fed Heart Fan get the special price of $97!

Yes, for less than the price of a nice dinner out with your family and 1 ½ hours of your morning, we’ll get together and I’ll show you how to create a joyful kitchen that supports you and your health goals.

 Yes, Susan – I want to be healthier!

Sign me up for your Well-Fed Heart Joyful Kitchen Makeover. I understand during our 1 ½ hours together you’ll:

● Give me step-by-step instruction and virtual hand-holding to help me clean out my entire kitchen!

● Teach me to understand what food labels are really saying so I can shop with confidence.

● Help me create an eating plan that’s easy to follow for life.

● Show me healthy recipes so I can build my own weekly meal plan and grocery list.

● Talk with me one week after the boot camp to answer any remaining questions I have after restocking my kitchen and starting my new healthier lifestyle.

● Send me the recordings and recipes, meal planning sheets and handouts from our day together, so I’ll have them to review as I continue to make these changes.

As the saying goes, aren’t you worth it? I think you are, and I hope you do, too.

P.S. This virtual kitchen makeover is NOT for everyone. Please do not register if you are expecting a miracle diet or overnight results. This is ONLY for people who want a long-term solution to better health.

The Well-Fed Heart -

You may recall that last Mother’s Day I wrote about my now grown daughter’s conversation with me the previous year encouraging me to rev up my exercise. There wasn’t any ‘should’ involved in her message, just a gentle nudge I took to heart.

This year my daughter asked what I would like (smart woman), and I replied, “A hiking adventure.” She’s delighted to fulfill the request instead of guessing about a ‘should’. And the best part? She’s in charge of all the arrangements. I just have to show up.

By getting rid of what we think people ‘should’ know would please us and instead accepting responsibility for letting them in on the secret, everyone wins. (although surprises are still a treat)

Feeling burdened with ‘should’?

Lately, I’ve been hearing that many of you just feel like you’ll never get in better health. For all the diets you’ve been on, you ‘should’ weigh even less than your ideal weight, right? Or, maybe you know you ‘should’ care more about meal time, but it’s easier to just eat out and avoid going into the kitchen at all?

Great News for Mother’s Day!

We are lifting the burden of ‘should’ and unveiling our Well-Fed Heart Joyful Kitchen Makeover just in time for a Mother’s Day Gift – not because you ‘should’ eat more heart-healthy, but because you want to be your joyful healthiest.

I hope you’ll consider this gift for your circle of women – you know who they are – including you!

Together, we will make your kitchen over from pantry to freezer, so you can say good-bye to diets forever and fall in love with meal time again. We’ll work together to give your kitchen the clean sweep you know it needs and you deserve. You’ll end up with good food choices that create joyful eating, because you know my mantra, “If you take care of your heart, then it will take care of you.”

It’s time – you know it is

Mother’s Day gives us this special time to kickstart something new for our ‘sisters’ and ourselves. Consider this limited special offer not because you ‘should’ but because it feels right.

Meanwhile, I’m going to find my hiking shoes…

Remember, if I can do it, you can, too!

Susan Levy
Publisher, Well-Fed Heart

This week’s featured recipe:

 Heavenly Pancakes with Cherry Compote

Please feel free to share this blog with your people, tribe, or village  as long as you include our logo and a link to our website.

The Well-Fed Heart -

Sodium in Food Seasonings Can Sabotage Your Diet Goals!

One concern a lot of dieters have with healthy food is that it lacks flavor and takes too long to prepare. In an effort to make something quick and palatable, dieters often turn to processed ingredients to make cooking easier. But don’t be so quick to reach for store-bought seasonings to add zing to your home cooked meals. These common seasoning blends can contain lots of added sodium that you didn’t bargain for. By learning to make your own healthy homemade seasonings, you can make quick meals that are also healthy for your diet!

Mexican dishes, like tacos, burritos and quesadillas can be quickly assembled into delicious weeknight meals. Are you planning to pick up a packet of taco seasoning from the grocery store? If so, read the ingredient label first. You’ll find lots of sodium along with added sugar, MSG and a host of other additives that you would not add if you made the spice blend from scratch in your own kitchen. Ingredients vary from brand to brand, but almost all contain a significant amount of salt. Salt increases water retention which shows up as extra pounds on your bathroom scale and contributes to hypertension in at-risk populations.

I started making homemade seasonings once I noticed all of the unwanted additives in most store-bought brands. Plus, I found it was actually cheaper to buy spices from bulk bins at natural food stores and local spice shops. Also, when you buy in bulk you can buy just the amount you need. A recipe may only call for a smidgen of tarragon, but if you buy it from the grocery store you’ll have to buy a whole jar no matter how little you need.

Tacos and quesadillas are a staple in my kitchen. So, naturally one of the first spice mixes I set out to make was a basic homemade taco seasoning. Seasoned cooks can get more mileage out of homemade taco seasoning blends by adding a dash to black beans, sautéed corn and some soup recipes.
Don’t allow salt and other processed food additives to sabotage your diet or your health! You can make your own taco seasoning very simply with a few basic spices that are probably already in your pantry.

Give it a try!

Healthy Taco Seasoning Mix

What You Need
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

What You Do
1. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a mini-food processor.
2. Pulse until well mixed.
3. Transfer seasoning blend to an airtight glass jar, label and store in the refrigerator.
Adapted from Allrecipes.com
Make your move!

About Tonya Peele
About 15 years ago, Tonya was just another busy woman struggling, and failing, to lose weight. With no interest in fad diets and no money for weight-loss programs, she made moves to reshape her lifestyle, and lost 30 pounds – gradually, but for good!

Tonya is the author of Quick Wins for Healthy Eating - now available wherever books are sold. Join Tonya’s mailing list at www.thedietersacademy.com and get access to her FREE eBook – How to Lose Weight When You are Working Your Butt OFF!

The Well-Fed Heart -

One of my favorite breakfasts: Eggs with lentils & spinach

I love breakfast.  Always have, but sometimes I find myself skimping and then being downright starved by mid-morning.  It throws my body off for the whole day.

The best argument for eating a nutritious breakfast, is illustrated by this little scenario –

What if you stop eating by 8PM at night and then you don’t eat again until lunch time rolls around the next day?  That’s 16 hours of not eating! You’d never do that to your body while you’re awake, so why do so many people think that not fueling their body first thing in the morning is good for their health?

And what if you’re eating breakfast and still crash mid-morning? Check the hidden sugar in your meal.  One friend reported to me having a high glucose count.  When we looked at the labels on her fruit yogurt, breakfast bar and juice, she was stunned to discover that her “healthy” breakfast had several teaspoons of hidden added sugar. In fact, that’s why I always shied away from store-bought granola and decided we needed to develop our own easy, homemade version. (Try our maple-cinnamon version!)

So, forgo the packaged “grab-&-go” options and plan for your breakfast to include protein, whole grains and fruit. Make your own Egg McMuffin: did you know it takes less than a minute to microwave an egg to your liking? Toast a whole wheat muffin and away you go! Even Starbucks offers a healthy oatmeal breakfast that I find myself favoring when on the road.

Having trouble getting into a healthy groove?  Check out our ideas for tasty, easy, and healthy breakfasts.

If I can do it, you can, too!

Susan LevyPublisher, Well Fed Heart

What’s your go-to breakfast fuel? What keeps you from eating breakfast everyday?

The Well-Fed Heart -

Last week just before the Susan G. Komen story broke, I was watching NBC News when Dr. Nancy Snyderman reported on a commentary in Nature Magazine that argued it was time to turn our attention to the addictive dangers of sugar and suggested regulating it like we do alcohol and cigarettes.

I don’t need to wait for the government to regulate sugar consumption.  I’m the top cop in my own home regarding what we eat, so I decided to look at the issue of our sugar consumption and what we can do about it individually.  I’ll leave the policy to others.

Framing the issue

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Sugar
First, the real issue to me is not the intrinsic sugar, that is, the sugar found naturally in whole fruits, vegetables and milk products.  My issue is about extrinsic or added sugar which is incorporated into the production of foods, fruit drinks and other beverages no matter how it is disguised — brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, corn syrup or whatever.

4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon
Most of us should have no more than 6 to 9 teaspoons of added sugar per day.

A big culprit: sugar-added beverages

Almost 46% of our daily consumption of sugar is from drinks other than water – 36% from soda, energy drinks and sport drinks, and another 10% from fruit drinks.  Just one 12 ounce can of many sodas or fruit drinks has almost 10 teaspoons of sugar and 150 calories.

You know how when we eat something really rich, we compensate by eating fewer calories later.  Well, apparently, when we drink sugary beverages, we don’t do the same compensation.  Scientists aren’t sure why, but for some reason, our brains don’t seem to register that full feeling and instead we keep drinking these drinks without noting the consequences to our weight and our health.  People who drink these drinks tend to be more overweight than people who don’t.   Once thought to be innocent refreshments, we now know that these drinks are a contributing factor to the development of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

In the Nurses’ Health Study, which followed 90,000 nurses for 8 years, people who reported drinking one or more servings of sugar-sweetened soft drink or fruit punch were twice as likely to have developed type 2 diabetes than those who rarely drank these.

What about artificial sweeteners?

Bad news, diet soda drinkers.  Time Healthland reported last year on data  presented at the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) Scientific Sessions that suggests diet drinks may actually contribute to weight gain and that artificial sweeteners in them could potentially contribute to type 2 diabetes.

“The data didn’t say why diet sodas might play a role in weight gain, but previous research suggests it has to do with the big disconnect between the taste of artificial sugars and their lack of calories.  The brain is wired to expect a big load of calories when foods or drinks taste sweet or fatty.  But because diet foods and drinks fail to deliver, it throws the brain out of whack.”

Short term, drinks with artificial sweeteners may help you taper down from the sugar drinks, but gram for gram, the 5 FDA approved artificial sweeteners are far sweeter than sugar.  They include:

•   Aspartame (Equal®, NutraSweet®, others), 180 times sweeter than sugar
•   Acesulfame-K (Sunett®, Sweet One®), 200 times sweeter than sugar
•   Saccharin (Sweet’N Low®, Necta Sweet®, others), 300 times sweeter than sugar
•   Sucralose (Splenda®), 600 times sweeter than sugar
•   Neotame (no brand names), 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar

Here’s the one thing we can do

Throw out the empty sugary and artificially sweetened drinks.  Get rid of them once and for all.  Except as a dessert treat, just say no.  Say no for your children, your grandchildren and yourself.  And, when you go out, be aware of that drink you’re ordering.  To give you an idea of sugar content, here’s a partial listing of some popular drinks:

Make a list of your favorite drinks and find out what’s in them. Ask the question:  What’s good in this for me?

Just by cutting out this one habit, you can lose weight, be more healthful, and start an honest conversation in your household.  What’s good about added sugar?

Remember, we’re all top cops of ourselves.

If I can do it, you can, too.

Susan Levy
Publisher, Well-Fed Heart

The Well-Fed Heart -