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Tips on Healthy Grocery Shopping

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Grocery stores are designed to tempt shoppers to make impulse purchases.  Such impulse buys can be especially tempting if you are ravenous with hunger when you shop.  Here are some guidelines which will help you to make healthy food choices when perusing a traditional grocery store.

1.    Shop around the perimeter of the store – Most processed foods are found in the aisles of a regular grocery store, while whole foods like fresh produce and meats are found around the perimeter.

2.    Read food labels – Be aware of hidden sugar, sodium, artificial flavors and colors, and preservatives.

3.    Keep purchases of packaged foods to a minimum – Beware of foods which are packaged in boxes, bags, or cans, as these foods tend to be filled with preservatives.

4.    Prepare a shopping list and stick to it – Making a list will ensure that you do not forget any necessary items and will also help prevent impulse purchases if you adhere strictly to the items which are on your list.

5.    Eat a meal before you shop – If you shop for groceries when you are satiated, you will be less likely to make impulsive purchases or buy more than what you need.

6.    Fill your cart with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, fish, poultry, nuts and beans. 

7.    Try a new fruit or vegetable each week – This will add variety to your meal plan.

8.    Spend the most time during your shopping trip in the produce section.

9.    When choosing whole grain cereals, aim for at least 4 grams of fiber per serving – Make sure the sugar content is minimal.

10.  Choose lean cuts of meat – Good beef cuts are round, top sirloin and tenderloin.  When buying poultry, purchase the skinless variety.

11.  Choose frozen fruits and vegetables over the canned variety.

12.  Avoid food items that contain more than five ingredients, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce. 

13.  Be careful when choosing bread – Many refined breads are dark from added molasses, caramel or other coloring.   Look for breads which contain 100% whole wheat or other grain as their first ingredient.  Try to avoid enriched wheat flour as it is actually made with processed white flour.  Make sure the bread you select has at least 2 grams of fiber per slice.

14.  Select fish which is high in omega-3 fatty acids – Best selections are salmon, rainbow trout, lake trout, and tuna.

LOWEST MERCURY:

  • Anchovies
  • Catfish
  • Clam
  • Crab
  • Crawfish
  • Flounder
  • Haddock
  • Herring
  • Mackerel
  • Mullet
  • Oyster
  • Perch
  • Pollock
  • Salmon
  • Sardine
  • Scallop
  • Shrimp
  • Sole
  • Squid
  • Tilapia
  • Trout
  • Whitefish

15.  Choose strong-flavor chesses – Sharp cheddar, feta and Parmesan have strong flavors which means you will need to use less to flavor your foods.

16.  Purchase Greek yogurt – Greek yogurt is thicker and creamier than other varieties, and the protein content is much higher.  My favorite is Fage Total 0-Percent Greek Yogurt.

17.  If you must buy frozen entrees, make sure they contain less than 400 calories, 4 grams of saturated fat, and 600 milligrams of sodium, with at least 14 grams of protein and 2 grams of carbohydrate.

18.  Add vegetables and/or cooked brown rice or quinoa to your frozen entrée to increase the size and nutrition level of the meal.

19.  Add frozen fruit to cooked oatmeal to provide sweetness without added sugar.

20.  Eat oatmeal – Make sure to buy regular oatmeal, not the instant variety.

‘Tis The Season – How To Stay Lean During The Holidays

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Last year I posted a little blurb about off-season maintenance which I think deserves a re-post.  This is especially appropriate since I recently made homemade (unclean) fudge and plan to make it again.  Keep in mind that you can still indulge in these little cheats as long as you keep the rest of your meals clean.  If you do this, you can absolutely maintain a good degree of leanness throughout the holiday season.

There are a few tricks to minimize the amount of bad foods which you may be tempted to devour.  You can consume a small amount of lean protein right before you have a carb cheat.  This will slow down digestion so that the carbs aren’t stored as readily.  Another trick is to drink a glass of water before you indulge in a decadent treat.  This will help to fill you up so you consume less food afterward.  When you are aware that you will be at a function in which tempting foods will be around, make sure your meals beforehand are kept clean and that you you eat every 2-1/2 to 3 hours to ensure that you won’t be ravenous come party time.  One of the worst things you can do is skip meals beforehand in hopes that the caloric deficit will balance out the overindulgence later.  All this does is squash your metabolism and increase your chance of overeating.

As long as you eat clean the remainder of the time, you should be able to stay within a few pounds of your maintenance weight if you do not compete, or within a few pounds of competition weight if you do compete.  Case in point:  I have been eating clean the vast majority of the time, with rare cheats here and there.  Though I was not in contest prep mode for NPC Nationals on November 9th and 10th, I weighed in that week at 117 pounds which is one pound over my competition weight, and had a waist measurement of 22.75 inches.  Last week, I had pizza twice but kept all other meals clean, and was able to maintain my weight at 117 lbs. with a 23 inch waist measurement.  The last thing I want to do is to unravel the results of all the hard work I have invested and continue to invest into my physique.  I did not skip any meals when I had these fun foods but just continued on my usual clean food path.

Some of you may be wondering what the cleanest choices are when you are at the holiday banquet.  Though this reflects the common holiday foods which are rather calorie dense, here are some of the better choices out of the bunch:

  • Roast turkey breast
  • Green beans without butter
  • Mashed potatoes made with whipped butter and Greek yogurt instead of milk and regular butter
  • Pumpkin Pie

Some of you may also be wondering what I am planning on cooking and eating, so here is my Thanksgiving menu:

  •  16 pound turkey
  • my secret stuffing recipe which has lots of goodies in it but is relatively low in fat and calories compared to other exotic stuffing recipes
  • mashed potatoes made with light butter and Greek yogurt
  • creamed spinach
  • my homemade fudge
  • whole cranberry-mandarin orange relish
  • turkey gravy
  • rolls
  • wine
  • store-bought chocolate pecan pie (which I probably won’t eat)

Obviously there are some items on my menu that fall outside of my “clean food guidelines”, but since the holidays only come once a year, and since I am only cooking one holiday feast which will be served on one day, I have no qualms about it.   This is the time during which we should count our blessings and spend quality time with the people we love without getting anxious about what we are eating.  However, this does not mean you have free license to go nuts on bad foods for the next month!  If you end up indulging in other foods, don’t beat yourself up.  Instead, enjoy the feast and resume healthy eating the next day.  Happy holidays!

Supplements I Won’t Live Without

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If you saw the piles of supplements I take each day, you would probably gag.  But I am very consistent about taking each supplement and have felt the difference when I have had to go without something for a day.  When I integrated each supplement into my regimen, I made sure to add only one supplement at a time in order to determine my tolerance for each one.  It was by doing this that I was able to determine that I could not tolerate chondroitin, so I switched my glucosamine formula to one that had MSM instead.

Here is a list of supplements which I take on a daily basis, along with some of their associated benefits:

  • multivitamin/multimineral – numerous benefits
  • fish oil – healthy fat source, protective to cell membranes
  • flaxseed oil – healthy fat source, protective to cell membranes
  • biotin 5000 mcg – healthy hair and nails, regulation of blood glucose
  • B-complex – supports memory, combats effects of stress
  • DIM-Plus – supports healthy estrogen metabolism
  • collagen – some benefit in joints
  • cranberry extract – urinary tract health
  • zinc 50 mg – general cell health

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  • ALA 300 mg (twice daily) – regulation of blood glucose, optimizes carbohydrate consumption
  • phosphatidylserine complex 200 mg – adrenal support
  • glutamine 12 grams in divided doses per day – muscle building support
  • digestive enzymes (three times daily) – digestive support

By no means am I suggesting that you take what I take.  I just get lots of questions about what supplements are part of my regular regimen.  If you decide to take any supplement, make sure it does not interfere with any medical conditions you have or interact with any medications you may currently be taking.  Also be aware that some products have ingredients which may cause allergic reactions.

If you decide to start taking certain supplements, add each one in ONE AT A TIME and give it a couple of weeks to determine your level of tolerance.

  • vitamin C 1000 mg – immunity, antioxidant, lowers blood pressure, diuretic effect
  • calcium 500 mg (three times daily) – bone health
  • DHEA 10 mg – adrenal support
  • folic acid 800 mcg – lowers blood pressure
  • CoQ10 100 mg – cardiovascular support
  • curcumin 300 mg – anti-inflammatory
  • glucosamine/MSM – joint support
  • branched chain amino acids – muscle building support
  • 7-keto 50 mg – thermogenesis
  • GABA 750 mg – memory support
  • CLA 1250 mg (three times daily) – optimization of fat metabolism</

    • My Favorite Clean Snacks

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    I will start out by saying that I rarely allow myself to snack on foods that are not on my meal plan.  However, every once in a while I will get a hankering for something different, and will allow myself to indulge in small yet healthy food items.

    Here are some of my favorite snacks:

    • 1 cup of Fage nonfat Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon agave nectar, 1/4 cup fresh blueberries or dried cranberries, and 1/4 cup high protein granola
    • Lundberg Sesame Tamari rice cake with 1 tablespoon of spicy hummus
    • low carb wrap (if I use the P28 wrap I will use 1/2 wrap) with 1 tablespoon of spicy hummus, 3 ounces of shredded chicken, dash of hot sauce and 1/2 cup mixed greens
    • low carb wrap with 1-1/2 tablespoons of raw almond butter and 1/2 sliced banana
    • 1/2 apple and 1/4 cup raw almonds or raw walnuts
    • 1 slice of toasted P28 Bread with 1 tablespoon of raw almond butter
    • 1 slice of toasted P28 bread with 1/2 sliced avocado, hot sauce, garlic powder and fresh black pepper
    • 1 sliced tomato with several slices of buffalo mozarella and a drizzle of olive oil with fresh black pepper
    • Quest Bar
    • Protein shake made with unsweetened almond milk and 3-4 ice cubes (EvoPro Chocolate is my favorite)
    • pancake made with 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/4 cup dry rolled oats, dash unsweetened almond milk and 3 egg whites
    • 4 ounces Hinoichi Firm Tofu scrambled with 3 egg whites, 1/2 cup brown rice, dash of low sodium soy sauce
    • 1 inch slice of vegan banana bread (one of these days I will share my secret recipe which I developed and which is moist and DELICIOUS!

     

     

    The general guideline I use, besides selecting foods I truly love, is to make sure I get a decent amount of protein in each snack.  I also make sure that the fat in my meal comes from a healthy source.

    I hope this dispels the rumor that snacks cannot be healthy, nutritious or filling.

    What’s In My Kitchen?

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    When I first began competing in 2009, I decided to rid my pantry of food items which contained unhealthy ingredients.  Things like bleached flour, granulated sugar, canned soups, dry soups, crackers and breads were cleared off the shelves.  Frozen dinners were tossed out, as were cheeses, cold cuts, cow’s milk, and juices.  I replaced those items with whole foods which I continue to stock on a regular basis.

     

    Here is a list of items which I have on hand at least 95% of the time, if not constantly.  I also eat these items on a daily basis:

    • eggs
    • boneless, skinless chicken breast
    • ground turkey
    • ground beef
    • orange roughy or tilapia
    • old fashioned oats
    • brown rice
    • rice cakes
    • whole wheat pasta
    • marinara sauce
    • whey protein isolate
    • P28 Bread Products
    • spinach leaves
    • asparagus
    • romaine lettuce
    • cucumber
    • green peas
    • green beans
    • yams
    • apples
    • prunes
    • bananas
    • almond butter
    • raw almonds
    • raw walnuts
    • olive oil
    • balsamic vinegar
    • almond milk

     

    With respect to pantry items, I always have:

    • green tea bags
    • ground coffee
    • tomato salsa
    • hot sauce
    • oat flour
    • couscous
    • cream of wheat
    • a LARGE variety of all types of spices

     

    Occasionally, I will purchase:

    • firm Japanese tofu
    • fresh salmon filet
    • flank steak
    • Fage Nonfat Unflavored Greek Yogurt
    • Nonfat feta cheese
    • Spicy Hummus

     

    I make sure to avoid stocking forbidden foods for the most part, though I do admit that there are a couple of gluten free cracker brands which I will purchase from time to time, as well as chocolate peanut butter, 70% cacao bars and a high protein granola.  Keep in mind that these items are RARE treats and for whatever reason I have enough willpower to let these items sit on the shelf for the vast majority of the time.

    The key to shopping in a healthy fashion is to purchase whole foods and also be prepared to purchase these items at least once weekly for maximum freshness.

     

     

    Stay tuned for segments on how to cook for a whole week so that you have all your food ready to go for a busy work schedule!

    Consistency

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    As a physician I am as much a therapist as I am a physical healer and am well aware of the vital connection between mind, spirit and body.  I have also seen how closely linked emotional stress is to development and exacerbation of physical ailments.  What concerns me is when people abandon healthy habits when adversity hits them because it is at those times that some structure would provide balance to their lives.

    A common question I hear from patients, clients and strangers I meet is, “how can you maintain a regular exercise schedule and pack your food all the time with your busy careers?”, to which I respond, “I just do it.”  Working out and eating right are as essential to me as sleeping and brushing my teeth.  It never occurs to me to abandon healthy habits during stressful times.  I recently went through a particularly difficult month during which I went through a residential move, took two family practice board recertification exams, attended a major medical convention out of town for several days, and attended a three day fitness seminar, all while working at the three offices I usually work at, attending meetings, visiting my mother in the nursing home each week, and calling my favorite aunt and another elderly friend every week like I had been doing for years.  I did not miss my workouts at all.  There were only a couple of days when I was not on my usual food regimen only because my food had spoiled during the move.

    Why would I push myself like this?  Because I know that consistency is key to maintaining balance in one’s life.  When I am consistent with my workouts and food, I maintain structure and focus and do not allow excuses of an insanely busy schedule to deter me from my mission to live an optimally healthy lifestyle.  Every day I make an important investment in myself.

    If you make an investment in yourself by being consistent with your exercise and meal habits, you will be rewarded with greater balance in your life and better health.  Don’t you deserve that?

    How to Avoid Stretch Marks From Workouts

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    Stretch marks form as a result of rapid  stretching from growth by muscle gain, fat gain, or pregnancy.  The most common areas in which they develop are the abdomen, buttocks, arms, hips, thighs, breasts and calves.  There is a strong genetic component, which means if you are predisposed to forming stretch marks, the more apt you are to develop them if a rapid gain in mass occurs.

    However, even if your genetic blueprint dictates that you are more prone to getting these pesky marks, there are a number of things which you can do to minimze their formation.

    1.  Drink plenty of water daily.  Aim for at least eight 8-ounce cups of water each day to ensure adequate hydration.

    2.  Increase protein intake to optimize collagen formation.

    3.  Decrease the amount of weight lifted at the gym to prevent very rapid increases in muscle mass.  A 12-15 rep range is advised.  I can already sense some readers balking at this, but there is a tradeoff:  either have a more modest increase in mass over a longer period of time or gain mass rapidly and run the risk of developing stretch marks.

    4.  Take certain supplements.  Make sure to take fish oil, flaxseed oil, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and D.= on a daily basis.

    5.  Eliminate sugar from your diet!  Refined sugar breaks down the elastin in your skin, making you more vulnerable to stretch marks, early aging, and increased risk of scar formation from cuts.

    6.  Exfoliate your skin regularly.  This sloughs off the dead skin cells, thus minimizing the appearance of stretch marks which may already exist.

    7.  Moisturize skin thoroughly and regularly.  For many years cocoa butter cream has been used by pregnant women to prevent stretch marks, but there is no final verdict on whether it has any benefit. However, I love cocoa butter’s emollient effects and believe it should be added to an anti-stretch mark regimen.  Vitamin E oil is another excellent moisturizer which can be applied to stretch marks or areas which are the most prone to their formation.

    8.  If you develop new stretch marks, you can use prescription tretinoin on a once daily basis with decent results.  Just make sure that the stretch marks you are treating are less than six weeks old. Other topicals such as Tri-Luma and Stri-Vectin also may be used with some benefit.

    9.  As a last resort for existing lesions, you may consider laser skin resurfacing or micro-needling.  

    Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride…

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    I have now competed in thirteen pro-qualifying NPC/IFBB Bodybuilding contests since 2009, yet I have not attained the IFBB Professional Status that I have been chasing after.  I am not going to deny my frustration and despondency over this fact, because I have worked so hard at every aspect of competing and have improved dramatically with each event.  However, I have had a number of people ask me why I would continue competing if I have not been successful in reaching my goal by now.  I have also been asked why I want that Pro Card so badly.  Some individuals have gone as far as to suggest that I switch organizations, which is something I will NEVER do.

    Let me put it in plain terms:  I have set IFBB Pro Status as a personal goal, and it dangles before me like a carrot.  Yes, I have made more sacrifices than you could imagine in order to compete, and yes, I have scratched my head wondering why I have gone up for four National-level Overall comparisons and have been passed up for a Pro slot every time.  But I will NOT be deterred or discouraged from continuing to compete.  When I train as hard as I do, I notice continued improvements in my physique which are a direct slap in the face to the aging process.  I LIKE chasing after goals and will not give up just because this particular goal continues to elude me.  Perhaps it hasn’t been my time, the stars and planets were not aligned properly, or I just wasn’t the right flavor for the judges’ eyes that day.  Whatever the case, I love competing, which is why I have already begun formulating my strategy and show schedule for 2013.

    IFBB North American, 2012

    I will definitely return to the stage next year.  Watch out, world!