Category Archives: diet

Our Love Affair with Crunchy

Do you ever wonder why you love eating crunchy foods? I love crunch. LIke, really really love it. I hadn’t thought too much about it (I assumed it was the salt) until a few days ago. I happen to be reading an amazing book called Gulp, by Mary Roach. She is one of my favorite authors. Somehow she manages to take really taboo subjects and make them accessible and hysterical. Gulp is all about digestion. Another favorite of mine is Stiff, which is all about what happens to our bodies when we die. Sounds morbid, but it’s so so informative, interesting and funny!

Anyway, back to crunch. According to Roach and the experts she interviews, there are a few reasons we like crunchy foods. One reason is that humans have a penchant for destroying things. Think about video games, going to the gym, boxing, popping bubble wrap (thanks, Alex), or any of the other things we do to “let off steam”. When we eat crunchy food, we are getting sensory feedback that we are destroying something, from the sound of the food breaking into pieces, to the feeling of the pieces in our mouth. Way to go! Who needs violent video games when you can eat crunchy food!

But, even more importantly (to me, and maybe you if you’re reading this because you’re into health), we have evolved to prefer foods with a crunch. In nature, we can tell if a food is fresh by its firmness. What a carrot is just picked, it’s full of nutrients and has the most nutritional value it ever will. At that point, it will be crunchy because it’s cell walls are all intact and full of water. As the carrot gets older, some of the cell walls break down, leaving the carrot limper and limper. In this case, there is no longer a nice crunch. This is the case with many vegetables. So, pre-nutrition label times, our wonderfully smart bodies evolved to prefer crunch as a sign of maximum nutrition.

Fast forward a whole bunch of years and in comes processed food. Now our bodies are confused! We’re wired to love crunch, and now there is more crunch available than ever before, all in shiny bags! What do we do!

Right, what do we do?

With all the crunch readily available, we’ve become desensitized. The crunch of a pepper or piece of celery is nothing like the crunch of a chip. It’s the same with sweetness! A fresh berry used to be one of the sweetest things we could get our hands on. The sweetness gave us the feedback that this berry was ripe, delicious and nutritious. Now, a ripe berry barely tastes sweet at all because of all the sugar we consume on a daily basis.

Well, now that we’re aware, we can start the process of re-sensitizing ourselves. What does it take? It takes looking at the foods in our diet and refocusing on the things that are actually good for us. Take note of your cravings. When you’re craving something crunchy are you looking for stress relief? Is your body craving nourishment? Instead of reaching for a bag of chips, try reaching for a fresh carrot or pepper. At first it may not satisfy you, but over time, your body and taste buds will recalibrate. Then, the crunch of a pepper will by music to your ears, and berries will be lusciously sweet again.

What’s a Healthy Diet? Plus 3 Ways to Create Your Own

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The other day I was eating dinner outside with a friend and a man approached us and said, “Hey! I see you’re eating diet food, this is my wife’s card. You should call her. She sells (insert company name) weight loss shakes.” You might be able to guess that we weren’t interested.

While I appreciate his intention, I also found the conversation frustrating. We weren’t eating “diet” food. I had quinoa, some roasted vegetables, kale, tahini and avocado. My friend was eating greens with fruit and some raw veggies. For me, these aren’t diet foods, they are simply real food. I choose to eat these foods for lots of reasons, here are some of them:

Vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats taste awesome
They make me feel good
They give me energy
They keep my body healthy and happy

The foods we were eating were simply whole, unprocessed foods. A variation of the foods my grandparents ate, and the foods his grandparents likely ate. Some people may eat this type of food to lose weight, which is great (and effective). For me, health isn’t a quick fix that can be found in a shake or packaged food. It’s about a lifestyle that places value on real, whole foods. While I use the term diet, as in a “healthy diet”, I am not on a “diet”, nor do I encourage my clients to follow “diets”. The way I eat is a part of my lifestyle, and there isn’t an end in site. It’s hard to know what to eat when there are so many quick fix diet programs and fad diets out there. I once had a coworker tell me about a diet she was on that involved eating 3 soda crackers each morning, another 3 in the afternoon with a can of tuna, and an allowance for some grapefruit and mayo. She lost some weight, but it’s not sustainable.

So what’s a healthy, whole foods diet?

1. Keep packaged foods to a minimum. Even if it has all sorts of buzz words on it like “healthy” “organic” “high fiber” etc.
Stick to foods you can find in the produce section of the grocery store as much as possible. Broccoli doesn’t need a nutrition label. Marketing teams aren’t spending millions trying to make fruits and vegetables look good. You get exactly what you see. No trickery or buzz words involved.

2. Eat whole and unprocessed foods.
When choosing grains, always go for the least refined option. That means brown rice over white, whole wheat or whole grain bread or pasta, and other fun grains like millet, quinoa, buckwheat or barley.

3. Fill half your place with veggies!
Ok, the USDA says fill half your place with fruits and veggies, but I say fill up on those veggies! Especially green ones. I like to call green leafy veggies the gold of all the veggies. Try to eat some at every meal. The simplest way to make greens is to saute them with some olive oil and garlic. It’s super easy and makes a great addition to any meal. (Needs more ideas? try adding frozen spinach to beans, or thinly sliced kale to your omelets. You can also check out my instagram to see what I’m eating).

Give it a try and let me know how you do. I love photos, too!

Why I hired a Personal Trainer

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When I was in college I worked at the gym… swiping people’s ID cards 🙂 I was not a fan of working out, in fact I thought it was silly.

I always loved to dance, and that’s how I would get my exercise. I’d go out one night a week and dance for hours and hours. It felt great, and that was that. Sometimes friends would remind me that regular physical activity was an important part of a healthy lifestyle, not just the way you eat. I would “yeah yeah” them, and move on. I’ve always been active, walking everywhere (I live in NYC for goodness sake!) and dancing, and that’s about as much mind as I paid to exercise.

Then a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with endometriosis. I didn’t want to go on prescription drugs to regulate my hormones, so I had to find some other ways. Regular exercise happens to be a great way to regulate estrogen, so I jumped on board. I’m also a bit type A (and wouldn’t change that!) and store a lot of stress in my body, just like most of us. And we all know yoga, cardio and almost all exercise is a great stress reliever.

I started going to the gym three times per week. And, for a year that was enough for me. I did the same thing almost every time I went, and I felt super proud of myself. I would tell my trainer and fitness friends that just walking into the gym was a victory in itself, and I was cool with that (and still am to a certain extent! baby steps!).

Until…

I’ve always wanted to be strong. But I thought it wasn’t attainable. And because I didn’t think it was possible, I didn’t want to try. After all, some of us feel it’s better not to try if there is a risk of failure. If you never try, then you’ll never have to face the potential failure. Except you constantly face it! It’s like a little whisper in the back of your mind that never goes away. In fact, it’s so constant that it becomes like white noise and you can’t even tell it’s there after a while.

Well, I’m not in the business of staying in my comfort zone anymore, so I decided to face my fears head on. I hired a personal trainer because I had no idea what it would take for me to get strong, and I knew that on my own, without accountability, I would likely weasel my way out of it (that whisper and I have quite a long history and it has a lot of influence!).

I still go to the gym three times per week, but I have a routine to follow that someone who specializes in this stuff customizes for me (shout out to Will at NYSC Astoria!). I have someone who watches me to make sure that I’m doing things the correct way and not hurting myself in the process. I pay someone a lot of money because this is valuable to me, and that helps keep me motivated (I want my money’s worth!). I also have someone who is going to ask me if I did my exercises each week. That bit of accountability really helps me step up my game. And I have someone who is cheering me on and who gives me high fives and fist bumps, satisfying the part of me that loves affirmation. And (I can’t believe there are still more ands!) he can let me know when I’m making progress, even when I can’t see it myself. Having a set of outside eyes committed to my progress is huge.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because we all need coaches sometimes. They are an incredibly valuable asset and tool. Over the years I’ve hired health coaches, life coaches and trainers, and I am so thankful I did. In fact, I wish I knew coaches existed years ago when I first got sick. The support would have made a huge difference. And that’s why I do what I do, because I know it makes a difference for people.

If you’ve been thinking of hiring a coach, whether it’s a health coach, life coach, personal trainer or career coach, send me a quick email. If we’re not a good match, I know tons of other coaches and I guarantee you I can find you someone that will help you rock your world.

Sending you lots of love,

Samantha