Well, we have come to the end of our first Weight Loss Workshop Series of the year. I hope you got a lot out of these classes! We will be sending out a survey via email to get some feedback for future sessions, so keep an eye out for that. Also, keep checking the blog and Facebook - we will have more workshop series in the future and will most likely revisit the weight loss series again, so stay tuned! Here is a rundown of our last session:
Goals: Where are you going from here?
We went around the room and shared what everyone's focus was going to be - what goals they have and what areas they are currently working on.
Nutrition Overview
The most basic principles of nutrition are Balance, Variety, and Moderation/Adequacy. Balance means eating food in appropriate proportions. Basic guidelines are as follows:
10-35% of your calories should come from PROTEIN
20-35% of your calories should come from FAT
45-65% of your calories should come from CARBOHYDRATE
You don't have to count calories - please don't! - just be aware that there needs to be a balance, and any diet or program that has you cut any one of the three too extremely is asking for trouble (paleo, anyone?).
Variety is pretty self explanatory - eat a variety. Of pretty much everything. A variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, protein sources, etc. If you do, you'll be covering your bases, likely won't need any supplements, and will have a healthy diet, as long as balance and moderation are used. I tend to laugh whenever a new "super food" is in vogue - there are tons of great foods! If you eat a variety, you will get all the benefit you need from different "super foods" without needing to go crazy!
**Fish Oil supplements** We had a question about fish oil supplements. These are one of the few supplements that it seems are worth taking, since most people aren't able to eat the two servings of fish recommended. Here is a good resource for finding a supplement: http://www.evelyntribole.com/resources/inflammation/omega-3
Nutrition Q&A
We talked about a number of things! You all had some great questions, some of which I (and the scientific community) don't have solid answers for yet. Here are some of the highlights:
Organic food: science hasn't found any solid evidence that organic is better. Eat fruits and vegetables, even if they are not organic, but if you can afford it, feel free to eat organic - there may be a benefit.
HMO food: hotly debated topic. Genetically modifying isn't necessarily a bad thing. The foods in question are those that have been genetically modified to be "roundup ready" - to enable pesticide spraying. Again, scientific evidence is murky. Most evidence says they're safe. Anti-GMO proponents point to a handful of studies that are not very strong.
Additives: Here is the chart of additives that I mentioned in class. It's very helpful and pretty interesting! http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
Emotional Eating
We didn't have time for a lot of talk about emotional eating - just enough to discuss the proper way to emotionally eat! Basically, if you are going to do it, RECOGNIZE that you are doing it, and then enjoy it! Do it mindfully! Here is one of my favorite articles that sums up everything I said, only much better: http://www.fatnutritionist.com/index.php/lesson-four-emotional-eating/
Be sure to join us on March 19 for our Feeding Healthy Kids Workshop!
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