What Does Your Nutrition Consultant Eat?

As a nutrition consultant, one of the most frequent questions I’m asked by clients, friends, and other curious people is, “So, what do you eat?”  That’s a fair question right?  You certainly want your nutrition consultant to be eating healthy foods!  You wouldn’t want them eating donuts for breakfast and fast food burgers and fries for lunch and dinner.  Nothing worse than the doctor who smokes cigarettes!  So, here’s a look at what I typically eat:

Breakfast:  I’m a big fan of a protein shake/smoothie in the morning.  I find them to be filling and satisfying and easily last me until lunch time.  My basic ingredients are 8 ounces of water (or a special cranwater concoction), a high quality protein mix (either whey, brown rice, pea, or some combination of these – never soy!), a cup of berries (blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries or some combination of them) either fresh or frozen, a handful of nuts and/or seeds (Brazil nuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), some fresh greens or green powder, flax seed oil or ground flax seeds or chia seeds, and on occasion some yogurt and/or kefir.  What does this provide?  Plenty of protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and omega 3 and 6 fats.  On the days that I don’t have a smoothie, I’ll have eggs on some steamed leafy greens, in an omelet with a bunch of vegetables, or with some raw sauerkraut.  

Lunch: Generally 2-3 days of the week it will be one of the egg dishes that I describe above.  Other days it will be based on leftovers from the previous night’s dinner.  There is usually some type of animal protein involved, it can be grass fed beef, turkey, fish, chicken, and occasionally lamb.  During the warmer months I tend to have more raw vegetables in some type of salad and during the cooler months more cooked vegetables and soups. I use a homemade salad dressing from olive oil and vinegar. On occasion there will be a sandwich on some form of gluten free or sprouted grain, brown rice, lentils, or quinoa.  

Dinner:  Dinner is similar to lunch on the days I don’t have eggs.  There will be an animal protein along with several types of vegetables usually steamed, stir-fried in coconut oil, or baked. Once a week or so I’ll do my baked sweet potato fries. On about 2-3 of the days I’ll also have a whole grain side of brown rice, quinoa, or brown rice pasta.

I’m not a big snacker.  As I said, the smoothie usually lasts me until lunch.  Sometimes between lunch and dinner I’ll get a little hungry and I’ll have a hard-boiled egg, a protein bar, a piece of fruit, a handful of nuts, or a bit of cheese.

What basic guidelines am I following?  I don’t skip meals.  I’m having protein at each meal.  I’m eating lots of vegetables of all different varieties and colors, both cooked and raw.  I’m limiting my carbohydrates in the form of grains, only doing whole grains, and not more than once per day.  I make sure I get high quality fats from the coconut oil, olive oil, flax seed oil, and organic butter or ghee.  I eat real food, avoiding processed and refined foods.  I have an occasional sweet, but of good quality. Nothing like a homemade organic chocolate chip cookie!  And, I have an occasional sweet of not so good quality – yes you may run into me at Dairy Queen occasionally!  And I do still love my pizza, but usually once a month at the most.  I try to limit eating out.

As I tell my clients, the most critical component is to control your home environment.  If it is not in your house, you’re not going to eat it, and after a while a nightly trip to go get ice cream will get tiring!  

I do use some supplements for additional nutritional support, but that will be the subject for next time!

Bernard Rosen, PhD is a Nutrition Consultant and Educator. He works with individuals, groups, and at corporations to create individualized nutrition and wellness programs. His office is in Mequon. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, e-mail at bernie@brwellness.com, call (262) 389-9907 or go to www.brwellness.com.

July 2013 Newsletter - Become Independently Healthy!

Happy July 4 - Independence Day!  

This holiday is all about freedom.  One freedom we’d all like to enjoy is to be free from illness and disease.  While not 100% completely within our control there are lifestyle choices we make every day that carry substantial influence.  The biggest killers: heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, have all been linked to lifestyle choices.  This is another freedom we enjoy – the freedom to choose what we eat and what we do.  While you may not be ready to follow my advice 100% of the time (even I don’t follow my advice 100% of the time) this month’s newsletter features three simple things you can do which will have profound effects on improving your health and how you feel on a daily basis.

Before I get to those, a reminder of my upcoming schedule:

Minneapolis, Minnesota – Devanadi Yoga (July 16) **TIME CHANGE**

Nutrition Basics, 8:00-11:00 AM

Nutritional Anatomy, 12:30-3:30 PM

For more information and to register click here http://www.devanadiyoga.com/

Rhinelander, Wisconsin – The University of Wisconsin School of the Arts (July 20-21)

Rejuvenation and Relaxation, July 20, 8:30-11:45 AM

What the Heck Should I Eat and Why, July 20, 1:30-4:45 PM

From Head to Toe: What Your Body is Telling You, July 21, 8:30-11:45 AM

Meet Your Hormone, July 21, 1:30-4:45 PM

For more information and to register click here http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/lsa/soa/index.html

Make Water Your Beverage of Choice

Making water your beverage of choice has two significant impacts.  First, most people simply do not drink enough water.  Water is essential to life.  Our body is made of lots of water and our body utilizes it in many complex chemical reactions that are the basis of life.  Of course this leads to the next logical questions – how much and what kind?

How much water should you drink?  That will vary with how much water you eat (yes vegetables, fruit, and even meat contain water).  My rule of thumb – if you are running to the bathroom every 30 minutes you are probably drinking too much water!  What kind of water should you drink?  Yes, we hear about the chlorine, fluoride, chemical, industrial waste, antibiotics, and hormone residues in our drinking water supplies; the BPA in the plastic bottles; and all the different kinds of water systems you can have installed in your house (reverse osmosis, oxygenated, etc).  It can become overwhelming.   

My advice is to just drink water and not necessarily worry about all that stuff.  I really don’t think too many people have gotten ill and died from drinking too much water on a regular basis.  The heart of the issue is more likely all the other toxins we consume which eventually overwhelms our body’s ability to detoxify itself.  Yes, filtered water that you drink from a glass container is probably optimal, but the simple first step is to drink more water.

The second benefit of water as your choice of beverage is that you drink less of other unhealthy choices such as: soda (both diet and regular), fruit juices (yes, even those with “no added sugar” are still loaded with sugar), and some other ones that I won’t mention here as they are more controversial (okay, I’ll mention them – soy, other processed “milks” and pasteurized milk as well).  Perhaps some of you will even drink less alcohol. 

Make Your Own Sweet Treats

While it would be best to eliminate sugary treats at least if you make them at home you can avoid among the worst ingredients being used in commercial baking – white sugar, white flour, and trans-fats.  You can substitute with raw cane sugar, maple syrup, or stevia for white sugar; you can use organic butter or coconut oil rather than margarine, soybean oil, vegetable oil, or other trans-fats; you can use almond flour, coconut flour, gluten-free or whole wheat flour rather than white flour; and you can use organic pastured eggs.  

Among the unhealthiest foods you can consume are white sugar, white flour, and trans-fats which are prevalent in commercial baked goods.  While I am not advocating mass consumption of the alternative I suggested, at least it is healthier, and you can control the ingredients.

Alternate Omelets (eggs) and Protein Shakes for Breakfast

As I’ve written in previous articles protein is an extremely important nutrient due to the many functions it serves.  While it is presented in the main stream that Americans eat too much protein, the actual truth is that most do not eat sufficient protein.  One of the main reasons for this is what our food manufacturers have decided to call breakfast foods – cereals, waffles, pancakes, bagels, muffins, and a whole variety of other processed foods.  These products (notice how I won’t call them foods!) are typically all carbohydrate and no protein.  

Therefore, to start the day in a healthy manner and to provide your body what it needs, I recommend a breakfast based in protein.  Protein shakes made with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and oils or omelets (eggs and vegetables) are the ideal foods to “break the fast.”

Once again we see two benefits here - one from inclusion and one from exclusion.  Inclusion is eating the healthy and body building proteins.  Exclusion is not eating high sugar and fat storing carbohydrates.

Three Simple Things You Can Do To Improve Your Health

While you may not be ready to follow my advice 100% of the time (even I don’t follow my advice 100% of the time) here are three simple things you can do which will have profound effects on improving your health and how you feel on a daily basis.

Make Water Your Beverage of Choice

Making water your beverage of choice has two significant impacts.  First, most people simply do not drink enough water.  Water is essential to life.  Our body is made of lots of water and our body utilizes it in many complex chemical reactions that are the basis of life.  Of course this leads to the next logical questions – how much and what kind?

How much water should you drink?  That will vary with how much water you eat (yes vegetables, fruit, and even meat contain water).  My rule of thumb – if you are running to the bathroom every 30 minutes you are probably drinking too much water!  What kind of water should you drink?  Yes, we hear about the chlorine, fluoride, chemical, industrial waste, antibiotics, and hormone residues in our drinking water supplies; the BPA in the plastic bottles; and all the different kinds of water systems you can have installed in your house (reverse osmosis, oxygenated, etc).  It can become overwhelming.  

 My advice is to just drink water and not necessarily worry about all that stuff.  I really don’t think too many people have gotten ill and died from drinking too much water on a regular basis.  The heart of the issue is more likely all the other toxins we consume which eventually overwhelms our body’s ability to detoxify itself.  Yes, filtered water that you drink from a glass container is probably optimal, but the simple first step is to drink more water.

The second benefit of water as your choice of beverage is that you drink less of other unhealthy choices such as: soda (both diet and regular), fruit juices (yes, even those with “no added sugar” are still loaded with sugar), and some other ones that I won’t mention here as they are more controversial (okay, I’ll mention them – soy, other processed “milks” and pasteurized milk as well).  Perhaps some of you will even drink less alcohol. 

Make Your Own Sweet Treats

While it would be best to eliminate sugary treats at least if you make them at home you can avoid among the worst ingredients being used in commercial baking – white sugar, white flour, and trans-fats.  You can substitute with raw cane sugar, maple syrup, or stevia for white sugar; you can use organic butter or coconut oil rather than margarine, soybean oil, vegetable oil, or other trans-fats; you can use almond flour, coconut flour, gluten-free or whole wheat flour rather than white flour; and you can use organic pastured eggs.  

Among the unhealthiest foods you can consume are white sugar, white flour, and trans-fats which are prevalent in commercial baked goods.  While I am not advocating mass consumption of the alternative I suggested, at least it is healthier, and you can control the ingredients.

Alternate Omelets (eggs) and Protein Shakes for Breakfast

As I’ve written in previous articles protein is an extremely important nutrient due to the many functions it serves.  While it is presented in the main stream that Americans eat too much protein, the actual truth is that most do not eat sufficient protein.  One of the main reasons for this is what our food manufacturers have decided to call breakfast foods – cereals, waffles, pancakes, bagels, muffins, and a whole variety of other processed foods.  These products (notice how I won’t call them foods!) are typically all carbohydrate and no protein.   

Therefore, to start the day in a healthy manner and to provide your body what it needs, I recommend a breakfast based in protein.  Protein shakes made with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and oils or omelets (eggs and vegetables) are the ideal foods to “break the fast.”

Once again we see two benefits here - one from inclusion and one from exclusion.  Inclusion is eating the healthy and body building proteins.  Exclusion is not eating high sugar and fat storing carbohydrates.

Bernard Rosen, PhD is a Nutrition Consultant and Educator. He works with individuals, groups, and at corporations to create individualized nutrition and wellness programs. His office is in Mequon, WI. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, e-mail at bernie@brwellness.com, call (262) 389-9907 or go to www.brwellness.com.