Veggie Bee

I’m anxious to read the new book by former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, after seeing him on the Today Show. Here’s their article on his new book, Dieter’s Best Intentions Hijacked by their Brain.

Have you heard of conditioned hypereating??  Has you diet ever been “hijacked” by your brain against your will??

All the tools for healthy living and weight management ~ eating more fruits and vegetables, fitting in exercise into your day, finding ways to portion-control certain foods ~ do not happen by accident. It will take learning to plan ahead, setting aside time in your schedule and learning the reasons why you should make these activities a priority. These new habits don’t form overnight however. Much like the “10 minute strategy” to build momentum with exercise, building small changes into your routine will help you problem-solve bigger changes down the road.

What is Shop and Chop?

One of the strategies for making sure that you have ready-to-go fruits and vegetables in your environment is to plan for and practice “shop and chop.”  This means choosing a day that you will shop for fruits and veggies and then as soon as you get them home, you prep them for the next couple of days or the week. Prepping them includes cleaning, chopping, cooking and then packaging them in a way that makes it easy for you to grab it and go about your busy week.

My own personal example involves grapes. If I don’t rinse the grapes in a colander as soon as I get home and put them in a new resealable bag to put in the fridge (or leave them in the colander if I’m being extra lazy!) then it’s more likely that every time I open the fridge to eat some grapes, I think about all the steps I have to take to prep them… find the colander, rinse them off, clean up the little mess, find the resealable bags… it’s just enough in the middle of a hectic week to have me reaching for something that doesn’t require any work at all and that’s the danger of not having a supportive environment for your health. Does it sound lazy to not want to wash the grapes? Yes. But it happens, so I have to combat my own laziness. And honestly, I’ve let grapes rot in the fridge because I kept putting off washing them.

How to practice Shop and Chop

Save yourself from your own laziness if you’re anything like me and take a few simple steps to set up a Shop and Chop routine. If you don’t normally use this strategy, then start with only ONE fruit or veggie to prep this week.

1. Plan your Shop and Chop day and schedule in the trip to the store and all the prep time you need.
2. Make a list of the fruits and veggies you’re going to prep. If it’s just one, that’s perfect. Fruits are an easy way to start the habit.
3. Buy storage containers if you need them.
4. Rinse, chop and cook the fruits and veggies on your list as soon as you get home!
5. Store fruits and veggies in the fridge or on the counter if appropriate for easy access.
6. Now you have to eat them! You have one less excuse to leave them in the fridge to waste. Good job!

5 easy fruits and veggies to add to your environment for the week

1. Grapes - no chopping involved, just rinsing and repackaging.
2. Cherry tomatoes - remember, tomatoes are best stored on the counter, not in the fridge as long as you’re planning to eat them within a week.
3. Potatoes - rinse them off, poke a few holes in them with a fork and bake them in the oven. These are great to have ready to go in the fridge as a base for other foods, like Health Valley Chili!
4. Melons - Cantaloupe, honeydew or watermelon are all good choices to keep chopped and ready to go in the fridge.
5. Baby spinach - rinse it in a salad spinner and use it as a quick, healthy addition to frozen entrees when you’re running short on time during the week. I love Amy’s Kitchen organic frozen entrees!

Now’s the time for commitment!

What day will you practice Shop and Chop this week?
Which fruits and/or veggies are part of your list?

Your assignment for today is to practice “environmental control” rather than “self-control” ensuring that you always have effective choices in food within easy reach. Willpower alone is not an effective long-term weight management strategy for most people.  It may work some of the time, but many of us have been in that place where we just keep trying to tell ourselves not to eat whatever it is that is tempting us or we convince ourselves that we can “just have one” which turns into 10… or more! It’s best to expect that you’ll eat whatever is in your immediate environment unless you have some solid strategies, like eating foods that are effective for your weight management while you’re around the other tempting foods.

You can’t eat it if you don’t buy it
Remove from your environment any food that is ineffective for your weight management and fueling your body if possible. It is not about “good” food or “bad” food… you are not a better person because you have made “good” food choices today. You are not a “bad” person because of the foods you eat. You are simply either making effective or ineffective choices regarding your health. I generally don’t keep peanut butter in my house because if you knew me, you know I love it in spoonfuls straight out of the jar! If it is in your environment, at work, at home, at friend’s houses… the possibility exists that you may eat a lot of it.

Out of sight, out of mind (hopefully!)
When you live with others, there may be foods that they want in the house that are not part of your weight management plan. In these instances, put these ineffective foods away so that you will not see them all the time. Pick one cabinet where those foods go where you will not be looking at it every time you open the cabinet door. Store these types of foods in opaque containers in the refrigerator so you don’t see them when you open the fridge. There are always those foods that “call your name” however, even when you don’t see them, you know they’re there! This is a good indication this is a “trigger” food for you that you may want to negotiate not having in the house. Don’t beat yourself up (and don’t let anybody else do it either!) because you “don’t have enough willpower.”  It’s not about willpower! It’s about making choices in your life.

Be prepared and stock up at home
What do you need to add to your environment to support your success in weight management? Do you have fruits and vegetables in your house? At work? Do you keep canned fruits and veggies at your desk or in your car? Fill up on fruits and vegetables before you make decisions around other foods and your calories are likely to automatically decrease while still filling you up with volume.

If you are not accustomed to eating fruits and vegetables, I would start by buying frozen and canned fruits and veggies while you are learning what you like and how you like them prepared. That way, you don’t waste money or food as you start incorporating more of these foods into your diet. Look for fruits canned in juice and veggies with little or no salt added.

There are many frozen vegetables that can be steamed right in the bag in which you buy them, such as Birdseye® Steamfresh® vegetables. Think of this as a healthy “fast food.” Incorporating as many fruits and veggies (prepared in a low fat manner) as you can into each day, increases your chances for managing your weight on a long-term basis.

What are the foods that cripple your willpower? And what are some strategies you use to make sure you include healthy foods in your day?

So you say you’re ready to get healthy, makes some changes in your life, right?  Maybe it’s time to renew your commitment to your New Year’s resolutions, or you simply want to feel more energetic and alive and you know that eating healthier and exercising can only help things.  Change can be very simple and when it’s related to your health, we often hear that “it’s not that complicated”…  “just move more and eat less”… “everything in moderation”.  All of these statements are true, but just because something is simple, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s easy.

Implementing healthy behaviors is a learning process, one that requires information gathering, problem solving, practice and feedback. Although the broad principles of healthy living are universal, such as “eat more fruits and vegetables” or “get more exercise”, the strategies involved in actually doing them in your own life are highly individual and personalized. It’s going to take some effort on your part. It’s going to take a willingness to practice new behaviors in familiar situations. It may be uncomfortable, it may make you feel self-conscious when you bring your own food with you, or defensive when someone implies that you just lack willpower. You have to be willing to go through the discomfort of change before you can relax in the comfort of habit and routine.

While a lot goes into determining success in health management, it is always a process of change for anyone developing new healthy habits. Learning to deal with the process of behavior change takes practice in itself and it helps to know where you are on the road to change.

Let’s look at the different stages of change and think about where you might find yourself today:

• Neutral – You are engaged in unhealthy behaviors and others encourage you to change, but you see no reason to change or doubt your own ability to change.
• Contemplation – You see and acknowledge a need for change, contemplating whether change would make a difference, or questioning whether you can be successful or not in making the change.
• Preparation – You decide that change is necessary and decide which changes can be made and what methods to use to change. You begin mentally preparing for success and looking for help. This process can take weeks or months as you get ready to take action.
• Action – You start taking the necessary steps to reach your goal, evaluating the effectiveness of the changes and taking additional or different steps as needed. You are implementing new behaviors that do not yet feel like habit.
• Maintenance – You meet your goal and continue with behaviors that led to change and to your goal. Healthy behaviors become habitual and seem effortless where decisions are not questioned.
• Relapse – a return to any previous stage. Can be met with feelings of failure which may then lead to earlier stages and the sense that you are “starting over”.

No matter where you are on the journey of healthy living, it helps to have support and to develop the confidence that you can make changes to get to the point of maintenance. You can do it!!  If you are feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of getting there, remember that it can begin with tiny changes that will propel you forward into even more profound changes in your health. Relax and decide to make one tiny change today…  add vegetables to your next meal!

What stage are you in as it relates to your health? What is your confidence level in getting or staying healthy?