Looking to DOUBLE your weight loss results in time for summer? You may want to consider keeping a journal, and no, not the type that you spilled your secret crush to as a teen. I’m talking about a food journal. Food journaling is not a new concept by any stretch, but there’s a reason that it’s still so popular: it’s tried and true. Research shows that keeping a food journal can double your weight loss results! If everything is in writing, you have no choice but to face the music and own up to every single thing you put into your body…those five Oreos you scarfed down last night, are not such a secret anymore.

With Memorial Day weekend only a week away, we want to help you start summer right. If you COMMIT to sending us your food journals, we will commit to reviewing them and giving you personal feedback at the end of the week. Yep, like your very own mini nutrition consultation for free!

Here’s how it works:

1. Start your food journal and keep track of every bite, sip, and snack every day (no calories, carbs, or any other numbers needed- just the food and the amount of it).

2. Send your food journal to info@nutritiouslife.com at the end of EVERY DAY between now and Friday, May 24 with the subject ‘[Your Name] Food Journal.’

3. At the end of the week, we’ll give you personal feedback on how to live your most Nutritious Life based on your weekly eats.

Helpful hint: If you’re more of a pen-and-paper type of journaler, here’s a helpful printout to use. But please make it easy on us and type your journal into the body of the email (no attachments please!)

Everyone is a winner! As long as you send your food journal in every day, you’ll receive feedback. Just remember, you’re only cheating yourself if you omit things. So get writing, and get your summer started on the right track to your most Nutritious Life.

You forget what you wrote on your grocery list this morning, and you forgot to take the list with you. You remember you had a 3 minute monologue in your high school play, but can’t remember a word of it. You remember that you used to remember the 1985 starting line up, but now only remember 2 players. Did you ever wonder why it is that you never forgot  how to toss a Frisbee  Or how to ride a bike? Years may elapse between hopping on your two wheels but you can still pedal your heart out without thinking. Lucky for us our brains hold their relationships with our muscles with special care; we can take a break from skiing, skating and ballet classes, but picking it back up is easier than learning a new sport because our muscles will eagerly remember what they were trained — even years before. Use that tiny piece of knowledge when you’re too booked to get your biscuits to the gym. Here’s how:

1. The more you regularly do an activity, the stronger the brain-muscle connection. Even if you are not able to lift weights, ski, swim or whatever your activity of choice is, go through the movement and the motions in your home to give your muscles a moment to practice and rehearse moving in that way.

2. Use guided imagery to imagine yourself successfully sinking baskets, beating your time on the treadmill or doing a perfect pirouette. Focus, in your head, on your form and picture your body being successful with perfect execution of the movement. This will translate into your performance next time.

3. Cross train! You do not need to go to the gym to do some squats to support your skiing posture. You can practice jumping rope to support getting yourself off the ground with a rebound or jump shot. Even if you can’t dive in the pool to practice your strokes, you can do some dips, rows or butterfly presses to support your training.

Remember! Practice good form because your muscles will remember bad form just as readily as good form. Try these tips. They’re as easy as riding a bike.

I loved this so much that I am sharing it again . . . Happy Mother’s Day, Moms!

One of the perks of having your own business is that you get to choose (to some extent) the people who you surround yourself with on a daily basis.  I am continually inspired by spending time with my colleagues, who I am lucky to also call friends.  I have asked some of these great women who work with me at Nutritious Life to take a moment to reflect on Mother’s Day.  Their answers speak to some of the pillars that are the foundation of a Nutritious Life. I hope these words inspire you as you recognize and honor the women and mothers in your life, this Mother’s Day.

Tiffany: Eating Empowered

As a mom of a preschooler, people ask me if my daughter eats healthy because I’m a nutritionist.  The truth is, she’s a typical kid who loves her sweets and struggles to get in green vegetables.  When I was in grad school studying nutrition I had very strong ideas about how I would feed my child when I became a mother…and then I actually had a child.  She is her own person and has her own likes and dislikes.  She does like a lot of healthy foods, but it is a daily, ongoing attempt to get her to try new foods.  I just try to expose her to these wonderfully healthy foods as much as possible, so at the very least she recognizes them (she can identify kale and avocado even if she hasn’t quite yet learned to like them).  She helps me assemble my salads, we go to the farmers’ market together, and she knows all about vitamins A, B and C and how they make her body healthy.  I keep telling myself that I was picky as a kid and grew up to love vegetables, so there’s hope for her, too. So, on Mother’s Day we will enjoy one of our favorite weekend activities together…cooking whole wheat pancakes.  She gets on the step stool and helps me measure and mix the batter, and we occasionally add some fruit to bump up the nutrition.  But let’s be honest, for my daughter it’s not about the whole grain goodness; it’s really all about the syrup.

Amanda: Stress Less

Growing up, my mom always taught me to STRESS LESS. I’ve always had a tendency to stress about things that were out of my control or that really weren’t worth stressing about. My mom has a saying: “Is this tragic or merely inconvenient?” Putting the problem into perspective and knowing that I can deal with the “inconvenient”, and helping me come up with a plan always helped me stress less, and is a phrase I often repeat to myself today when something arises. To return the favor, my mom and I spend Mother’s Day indulging in a relaxing spa day each year.

Lara: Sleep Deep

As the mother of two little girls, almost 4 and 20 months, sleeping in doesn’t happen often. Since our eldest child was born, my husband makes Mother’s Day a special day for me beginning with a lazy morning in bed. It’s amazing what a little extra sleep can do for my overall mood and energy. It sets me up for an amazing day with my family. In fact, just the idea of knowing I can stay in bed is enough for me. On Mother’s Day, like most days, I just want snuggle with my girls and get lots of hugs and kisses. Being a mother is the greatest gift in the world. And a little extra sleep doesn’t hurt!

Michelle: Pamper Thyself

Mother’s day is a traditional day in my family where for as long as I can remember, the day is all about embracing, valuing, and pampering my mom, grandmothers, aunts, and all mothers in the family alike. For brunch, my dad’s side of the family would gather around my grandmother over an abundance of middle eastern Persian cuisine and tell jokes, pastime stories, and sing happy mother’s day songs in Persian, Hebrew, and English. My cousins and I would create small gifts of hearts and poems to distribute to our mothers, giving them hugs, kisses, and unforgettable keepsakes. Then for dinner, we would do the same exact thing with my mother’s side of the family. As I grew older, my gifts became more sophisticated from a scribble of love to a spa date. It is a big day of appreciation and acknowledgement for all mothers do – so do a little something extra to pamper all the mothers out there, including yourself! No matter how old you get mom still loves the hand written heart shaped poems – a keepsake that she can always turn to for happiness and smiles. This Mother’s Day pamper mom with written love whether that is a beautiful poem, note, engraved poetry art, or a handmade scrapbook/collage, it will be sure to keep her smiling and feel loved and appreciated for more than just one day!

Stacia: Sex Ed

I don’t really like to be the center of attention. It makes me nervous. I have tried repeatedly to make Mother’s Day about my mother or mother in law – pampering others is much more my style. But, with 3 amazing kids, I have no choice but to succumb to their doting. Really, it is like bizzaro day. Instead of making 5 breakfasts, lunches and dinners, cleaning up and managing the household, my family takes charge. Behind it all is my husband, who plans, orchestrates and organizes breakfast, my kiddie “rock concert” and barbecue or picnic. There is nothing sexier to me than watching the man I adore (after 12 years 6 moves, more than 10 jobs between us, sickness and health) make super-daddy-egg-sandwiches, and actually clean up. On Mother’s Day, it is not lost on me that the honor of being called mumma is really because of the man I love.

Cheers to another year of parenting! I hope you are honored, pampered and rested in celebration of all your hard work.

Ay Caramba, is it almost May already? Cinco de Mayo is just a blink away, and I can already picture the queso dip, frozen margaritas, and giant plates of nachos… not exactly the way we want to start that 4 week homestretch to summer. To keep you on track this Cinco De Mayo, we’re teaming up with Beanitos to help you indulge without having to unbutton your skinny jeans. Beanitos has just released their new “Restaurant Style” flavor of crunchy bean chips to provide you with a swap for the usual, nutritional-don’ts that call themselves tortilla chips. We want to know how you would use these new chips to create a lighter version of one of your Cinco De Mayo favorites, so get your thinking caps (or sombreros) on and get ready for a contest!

Here’s how it works. All you have to do is:

1. Come up with your most creative recipes featuring Beanitos Restaurant Style bean chips.

2. Post a photo of your recipe to Instagram with the recipe in the comments, and be sure to tag @KeriGlassman and @Beanitos and include #LAVIDANL. (P.S. Bonus points if you want to share your recipe/spread the love on Facebook/Twitter also. You can tag Keri’s Facebook and Twitter as well.)

3. We will choose our favorite recipe on May 6th, and the winner will receive 3 cases of Beanitos! That should be enough to last you until next Cinco De Mayo!

Ask Aristotle and he’ll tell you that “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”  Agreed. This sentiment even rings true for some of my fav combos related to food. I think every family at one point or another has marveled over the brilliance of brunch. C’mon, breakfast + lunch = brunch, that fabulous opportunity for dad to have his eggs, Sally to have her pancakes and Mom to explore a frisee salad with tuna and nicoise olives. Let’s explore some other part + part = whole, as it relates to the world of food.

10 fav’s

1. Juice + Seltzer = Jeltzer. Drop a splash of juice in a glass of seltzer and it is a delicious and healthful alternative to a soda. You lose almost all of the sugar and retain all of the flavor. Woot woot.

2. Plum + Apricot = Pluot. Hybrid plum plus apricot combination is often called a dinosaur egg and is high in fiber, as well as vitamins C and A. They travel well and come in many delicious speckled varieties. There are more hybrid fruits and veggies with silly names. I love them all.

3. Spoon + Fork = Spork. This brilliant invention is perfect for picnics, children and when you are on the fence as to which utensil to use when eating your stew.

4. Muffin + Top = Muffintop. True this is a negative term, and not a wonderful thing for anyone to sport, but the visual is really priceless and makes for a good laugh.

5. Stew + Soup = Stoup. You know, not quite soup and not quite stew, but a thick soup or thin stew. Fill er up with veggies and beans, grab your spork and have at it!

6. Hungry + Angry = Hangry. I saw this one on Instagram. It is the terrible feeling one gets when you are so, so hungry that you become a cranky, angry, miserable version of yourself and want to tantrum like a 2 year old. Personally, I get more crangy (cranky + hungry) than hangry.

7. Car + Picnic = Carnic. The best laid plans for a picnic are often foiled by Mother Nature. Bringing your date into the car (with a stick shift in the middle) ups the ante for romantic and adventurousness feast. A carnic is also useful when tailgating in January!

8. Nutritious + Energized = Nutrinized. A perfect snack should be full of nutrition and leave you energized, not sleepy. “Wow, that almond and apple snack really left me nutrinized!”

9. Mock + Cocktail = Mocktail. Alcohol free cocktails can save you from too many calories as well as hangovers and they have the added benefit of making you feel like a kid, pretending to be a grown up by holding fancy stemware.

10. Food + Pornography = Foodporn. Requiring no elaboration, foodporn is food that gets your juices flowing by the way it looks, smells and tastes. It can be healthful, or not, but the senses stirred have nothing to do with your nutrition.

Thanks, Aristotle for making a lesson in mathematics that also works in the vernacular realm. I’m sure you have your own family food lingo, “Who wants brinner (breakfast for dinner) tonight?” What do you think friends?

What words can you add to my list? I can’t wait to hear!

Do you hear the icecream calling you at 9 o’clock when the kids are in bed and you’re snuggled down with your DVR? Is the kitchen clean and “closed” but you are opening the refrigerator in your nightgown — not hungry, but searching for something that will ‘do it’ for you? I have some strategies to help you stay on track with all of the good nutrition work you did during the day. These tips will squash the nighttime eating desire and the side effects aren’t bad, either. Read on.

Incapacitate yourself. It is pretty hard to open a bag of munchies without your hands. Paint your nails when the cravings start — by the time your polish is dry, 30 minutes or so will have passed, which is just long enough to squash the desire. If you prefer, use a deep moisturizing treatment on your hands and slide them into some gloves. Hard to eat anything without your digits.

Brighten your smile. I’m not saying you’re not sporting a million dollar smile, I’m just suggesting that the benefit of whitening strips on your chompers is that you can’t eat. So you’ll have a brighter smile and kill your snacking desires with one easy activity. Brushing your teeth has the same effect, so brush, floss, gargle and spit out your urge to snack.

Start a Hobby. Practice 10 minutes of a language, journal, knit, crochet, learn a yoga pose, do a puzzle or play a round of Wii when you feel the urge to snack in the evening. It will distract you and replace the space in your brain taken up by nighttime eating. The added benefits include completion of a project and some creative or physical stimulation!

Aha! Spend a few extra minutes taking care of yourself, instead of giving into an evening desire and you’ll benefit bigtime!

It’s that time again: weekend getaways and vacation! You’ve heard it a thousand times: Be prepared, pack smart, snack smart etc. etc… I won’t belabor the “no duh’s” of traveling, but for those of you still in search of some fresh, healthy travel snacks, I’ve got you covered.

Just to name a few:

• Popcorn Indiana’s FIT Popcorn: When it comes to a crunchy craving, this is one of my absolute favorites for an on-the-go snack.The sea salt is perfectly salty, but  if you’re feeling adventurous (I mean, you are traveling, right?), the extra virgin olive oil, along with all of their other unique flavors are also quite delicious. Unlike many brands of popcorn, this one is made without any genetically modified ingredients. Nothing but clean, delicious popcorn.
• Kind Bars: Nuts and dried fruit in bar form. Easy for eating on the road… though try to keep those hands on the wheel! Again, there are lots of flavors to choose from, such as Dark Chocolate Chili Almond (if you’re ready for that surprise heat at the end), Maple Glazed Pecan and Sea Salt (if you’re grabbing one of these for breakfast), and Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt (if you simply can’t decide between sweet and salty).

• Justin’s Nut Butter: Single portioned packs of nut butters that are perfect for travel. Pack one of these with a piece of fruit, and you’re all set. They even come in fun flavors such as chocolate hazelnut butter and maple almond butter.

• Annie Chun’s Seaweed Snacks: A salty snack to keep you away from those rest stop chips and pretzels.

• The Good Bean Dried Chick Peas: Protein, crunch… what more could you ask for? And in both sweet and savory flavors, they have all of your cravings covered.

• Vital Choice Pacific Individual Tuna Packets: Great for a more hearty, meal-like take-along option. Opt for the no-salt added option to reduce your sodium intake.

• Quaker Regular Organic Instant Oatmeal Individual Oatmeal Packets: Breakfast is a breeze if you know you’ll have access to a microwave. Just make sure you get the plain packets… no need for all of those unnecessary chemicals and unhealthy ingredients that are in the flavored packets.

• The Chia Co Individual Chia Shots: While I don’t usually recommend taking shots while driving, I’ll say a-ok to these, especially sprinkled in yogurt.

• Crunchies Freeze-Dried Fruit: Ranging from dried fruits to dried veggies, alike, these are another great option for that clearly necessary travel crunch.

• Barbara’s Puffins: Need a snack to keep those kids quietly munching in the backseat? Barbara’s Puffins, which now come in flavors such as Peanut Butter and Chocolate and Cinnamon are a yummy crunchy treat that won’t have the little ones asking where the chips and cookies are. Just be careful when it comes to portion control. Stick to the recommended 3/4 cup serving to keep sugar-intake in check.

• Carrington Farms Flax Pax: You know that travelling can wreak havoc on your bowels. You need fiber to keep you regular! These packs are great to sprinkle on your meals for a little extra added fiber. Sold in perfectly-portioned packages, they are great for traveling- no measuring required!

• Krave Turkey Jerky: Krave Jerky is among the cleaner of our turkey jerky friends. I love jerky, but many brands load their jerky with nitrates and tons and tons of sodium, which you definitely don’t need. Krave’s Basil Citrus jerky is packed with flavor but free of all nitrates. Perfect!

• Kitchen Table Baker Wafers: Who knew baked cheese could look so pretty? These thin crisps, made entirely from cheese, are a great source of protein to keep you full speed ahead when traveling, and the abundance of flavors make the possibilities endless.

So the next time you travel, before you decide that vacation= inevitable weight gain, pack along these healthy snacks to keep you right on track wherever you go. Whether you’re racking up the frequent flier miles or just a once-in-a-while vacationer, you have the means to snack smart at any and all destinations. Bon voyage!

Are you waking up feeling a little puffy? Do you need pliers to pull your rings off and an extra strength shoe horn to squeeze your feet into your ballet flats? Besides your waistline, you may notice a little bloat in your face, neck, fingers and ankles. You are retaining a layer of water just underneath your skin. Don’t freak out. It happens to everyone. It isn’t fat and you don’t have to get used to it. You can banish it with a little know how. Try my tips. Let’s shuck that layer and unveil a more streamlined version of you.

1. Fluid pushes fluid. If you are retaining water, you may be dealing with a little electrolyte imbalance. It may feel counter intuitive  but drinking water will flush (literally) the extra fluid from your system. Steer clear of the bubbly stuff and if you’re looking for a little extra zip to your H2O, toss in a slice of lemon, grapefruit or cucumber, which may help you suck down a little more.

2. Moo-ve the dairy. A dairy isn’t easy for most adults to digest. As we age, we lose the enzyme needed to break down and process milk sugars — the side effect is bloating, gas and cramping. Take a few days to ditch milk and dairy products completely. Don’t substitute them, just take a break from milk, cheese and yogurt. If you notice a big difference, you may be intolerant, so try adding back dairy foods one at a time. Try yogurt first and no other dairy and check in with yourself to see if the bloat returned. The next day try milk in your coffee. Add one dairy food a day with the ones you tolerate so you can see what works for you.

3. Tummy friendly fruit. So, believe it or not, you are better off not going for the apples, pears and melon if you want to pull off the water weight. Choose berries, lemons, oranges, grapefruit and grapes, as they don’t hold on to water and are more easily digested.

4. Can’t pronounce it? Don’t eat it. Ditch all artificial sweeteners and diet foods. They can make you bloated and trigger gas and diarrhea: exactly what you don’t want. Stay away from xylitol, maltitol, sorbitol and all the artificial sweeteners. You don’t need the diet yogurt, soda, cookies or other nutrient poor foods.

5. Cut the starch. Starches, especially the processed ones, like cereals, pastas, breads and crackers, hold on to water. You don’t want that. Either do without the toast, or choose whole grain versions like rice, root vegetables or oats. They’re better choices, anyway. You still need fiber, which is super important for both your health and your six pack, so get it from produce and whole grains, or consider a supplement — don’t forget to wash down your fiber rich foods with lots of water.

Ok, try these things. You’ll slide your rings off with ease, slip into those slippers easily and relish your streamlined self.

It’s been a tough 9 months, but you made it!  Good nutrition is critical in the post-natal period to help you recover and keep up with the demands of motherhood.  Now is the time to provide the best nutrition for you and your baby!

Whether you are breastfeeding or bottle feeding, proper nutrition is important for your recovery from childbirth.  Be sure to include plenty of calcium, protein, iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and E in your diet to aid in your full recovery and help you maintain your strength.  An extra benefit of eating a healthy diet is that proper nutrition will help you cope better with the inevitable fatigue that the new demands of motherhood bring on.

If you are breastfeeding, eating well is a prerequisite for maintaining adequate milk supply.  Most mothers require roughly 500 extra calories per day during lactation to keep up with the demands of breastfeeding.  Remember, the baby will take nutrients from your body; so be sure to eat well so you can support you and your baby.  Dieting during lactation is not appropriate because you need to recover and your baby needs proper nutrition.  While breastfeeding, you can still lose weight if you eat a balanced, healthy diet adequate in calories and nutrients.

Remember to focus on the following:

Calcium:  Your calcium stores were depleted during pregnancy to help your baby grow and develop.  Make sure to eat plenty of calcium rich foods to replenish your stores.

Omega 3s:  Omega 3s are critical for your baby’s brain and eye development.  If you are breastfeeding, try to incorporate foods high in omega 3s, such as salmon, sardines, walnuts, chia and flaxseed.  Studies have shown that Omega 3s also play a role in weight loss.

Antioxidants: Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to get the necessary antioxidants to help keep your body as healthy as possible. Antioxidants scavenge free radicals, preventing cellular damage involved in aging, cancer, and a variety of other diseases.

B-Vitamins:  Eat plenty of whole grains and dark greens to ensure your body gets the B-vitamins it needs to maintain proper metabolic pathways.  B vitamins play an important role in carbohydrate metabolism, red blood cell formation, and work to promote healthy nerves.

Fluids:  Make sure to drink a lot of fluid (water especially).  If you are breastfeeding, you may be depleting your fluids through the milk you are producing.  Try a splash of fresh lemon or cucumber for added flavor.

Avoid alcohol, caffeine, smoking, and medications (speak to your MD):  Most everything you eat or drink goes directly to your baby through breast milk.  Don’t eat or drink anything you wouldn’t want your baby to have!

Exercise:  If you are feeling good and your doctor has given you permission to exercise, moderate to intense activity is recommended!  This will help with energy as well!