Don’t you want to be one of those people who never shows their age? I do. And we all know, it starts with the skin. I know everyone wants the gorgeous skin of our youth, but it often feels like chasing a dream. The truth of the matter is that a lot of your skin’s appearance comes from genetics — whether you have a fair complexion, freckles, uneven skin tone or are prone to blemishes — you can’t choose to have a porcelain complexion or a lovely olive skin tone, you get what you get. Thanks mom and dad. You can, however, take what you got and make the most of it. There are lots of products that help you from the outside, but why not support that work with what you are putting inside? Whether you are troubled by aging skin that is losing elasticity, dry skin that appears dull or fine lines and wrinkles, these quick food tips are sure to enhance your look and feel good skin routine.

Avocados are hydrating and help to promote collagen production, which makes for younger, firmer skin. Eat them and reap the benefits of the B vitamins and vitamin E. . .  Like you needed another reason to have a little guacamole?

Salmon is as good for your skin as it is delicious. The brilliant omega 3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and dryness. Yes, eating salmon can take some of the redness out of your complexion and make your skin appear more plump and healthy. You now have an excuse to eat salmon tartare more often!

Turmeric is a traditional spice that is newly trendy with good scientific reason. It is full of curcuminoids, which are antioxidant phytochemicals. Besides serving as a super transport for these antioxidants, turmeric is great at nourishing skin and promoting skin elasticity — preventing wrinkles and age spots. Feeling like a little Indian flavor tonight?

Organic Eggs are something everyone needs in their regular diet because eggs are healthful for so many reasons. You need the zinc in them to maintain great looking skin. Zinc is important in controlling oil content of the skin and minimizing breakouts. It is also essential in the formation of collagen, which forms connective tissue and skin. Scrambled or sunny side up?

Eat your avocados, salmon, turmeric and organic eggs and pull out some of those processed foods that may be clogging your skin’s inner glow. Try combinations of these foods and let me know if you have a favorite combination . . . and how your skin is looking!

Parents can spend a good 10 – 12 years of their lives supervising their kiddos at the park, playground, on a backyard swing set and at various sports fields across the ‘hood. You can choose to spend that time yapping with your friends and eating your kids’ cheez doodles, or you can use it wisely. For many of us, that is time we used to spend on our own physical activity. Here I am, to give you a full body workout while you are waiting on the sidelines or near a park bench. These are often the only way I get in workouts on the weekends with my kids. Happy kids. Fit parents. It’s a win-win.

 1. Pull up shoulder shrugs: Build your back and lats by hanging from the monkey bars with your thumbs under the bar and the back of your fingers facing you. Holding your core tight, gently roll your shoulders back to bring your scapulae down towards your waist. Slowly release and repeat 5 times. Build upon this and get used to the position so you can progress into a pull up.

2. Jump rope: Depending on your fitness, skip or jump rope for 20 seconds. Do this between each strengthening exercise. The goal is to build on this 10 seconds at a time, so you can progress to 60 second cardio breaks between exercises. Or, if you are already a jump rope pro, watch your kids games as you jump from the sidelines.

3. Lunge: Stand with your feet parallel, hip width apart. Take a big step and bend your knees so the front knee is at a 90 degree angle over your front foot. Remember to keep your core tight and your shoulders in line with your hips. Return to starting position and repeat with the other leg. Do sets of 10 with each leg and add more reps as they get easier.

4. Push and dip: Use a park bench to do 10 push ups, start with the backrest of the bench. If that is too easy, use the seat, which is lower. When you master that, move to the ground. Use the seat of the bench to do modified chair dips.

5. Copycat: Did you ever notice that from the time they were born, your kids were never still unless they were asleep? All of that energy and movement slows down as we age. Play with your kids. Do exactly what they do. It will be the best workout of your life and more fun than you can imagine.

I have tons of clients who are self sabotaged by their own sweet tooth. Some bemoan the vending machine that calls their name at 3PM every day. Others dread the monthly dinner with friends, knowing the two forks presented with the molten lava cake may as well be shovels because they will not practice the three bite rule. And finally there are those who feel like failures because they feel they cannot resist a weekly trip to the fancy frozen yogurt shop where they can top their creation with everything from malted milk balls to Captain Crunch. If your wild sweet tooth is a part of your identity that you accept, I have some suggestions for you to keep it tamed– treats that will not derail your healthful eating but will fulfill your desire for something decadent.  I even have one on this list that you can indulge in daily, because it feels legitimately decadent, but it’s really healthful. If you like something sweet, here are some top choices (I’ll bring my own spoon if you invite me to join you):

1. Matt’s Munchies are dried fruit treats, you will love! At 35 – 80 calories per pack, these dried fruit puree snacks offer long enjoyment. It is a bonus that they are portable and perfectly portioned for you. There is even one for you chocoholics out there!

2. Frozen Bananas — wrap a peeled banana in wax paper. Drizzle with chocolate and nuts. Freeze and enjoy!

3. Perhaps one of the best inventions ever is Trader Joe’s Sugar, Coffee Bean and Chocolate Grinder. This little trio is conveniently packed in a salt grinder and you can grind away for tons of flavor and itty bitty calories. I use it to top low fat ricotta, yogurt, coffee and . . . just about anything!

4. Frozen fruit bar — look for whole ingredients and no added corn syrup, dyes or chemicals. I recommend: Edy’s, Whole Fruit, 365.

5. 70% or higher dark chocolate helps you to indulge your sweet tooth and get a dose of antioxidants, so enjoy it on occasion in a 1 oz portion. There are a ton of brands out there on the market, readily portioned for you and you’ll find them at checkout lines across the land.

6. Angel food cake is mostly sugar and egg whites. For less than 100 calories, it is OK that this indulgence isn’t very nutrient dense because it is a great vehicle for berries, which are!

7. The Good Bean makes roasted chickpeas in a cinnamon flavor that is perfect for a sweet snack. High in fiber and protein, your waistline will not budge over this indulgence, even if it is frequent.

8. You don’t have to bake to turn yourself into a nutrition scientist: place 2 teaspoons natural peanut butter, 1 teaspoon cocoa powder in the microwave on high for 20 seconds. Mix and top with 1 teaspoon unsweetened coconut flakes. Eat with a spoon!

9. Grilled peaches — brush a little honey or agave over peach halves and sprinkle with nutmeg. Toss on a hot grill for 1 – 2 minutes per side so the sugars caramelize.

This brings me to number ten…the treat I mentioned before that gets the green light as a daily taste:

10. Caramel Tea by Yogi is a sweet treat for your waistline that you can have anytime you feel the need for sweetness. It feels indulgent, but it is really a healthful choice, as it has no calories, is full of antioxidants and contributes to your hydration efforts!

There you have it. Sweets for my sweets. Remember: go slowly and savor your mouthfuls so your relationship with your sweet tooth is at peace with your relationship with your health mindedness!

Are you just not as sharp as you’d like to be? Do you say “what’s his name down the street” and “you know, that little cute place with the ginger tea?”. Are words failing to find their way into your mouth? And do you struggle with minor lapses in memory that drive you crazy? Maybe you need to feed  your brain, like you feed the rest of your body, with a little extra care. Put these brain foods on your fork and you may remember the name of the block that your best friend lived on when you were 7. All 5 of these are proven to sharpen your noggin!

1. Blueberries — delay memory loss. Eat them fresh, or use dried or frozen in your yogurt or oatmeal.

2. Tomatoes — the same lycopene that is good for prostate health is also fab for preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s. Eat them in any form, but lycopene is most concentrated in tomato based sauces and paste.

3. Pumpkin seeds — full of zinc, which is super important in both thinking and memory. These beauties are perfect on top of a salad or they can add variety to a snack.

4. Fatty fish — besides salmon, try trout, herring and sardines. These are high in DHA and EPA, which are important in brain health, joint functioning and wellbeing.

5. Coffee — the caffeine in coffee (or tea) is linked to antioxidants and brain boosting effects. Enjoy it in moderation to help you focus on important tasks.

Hopefully this brain boosting bit of information will inspire you to fuel your noggin. Give it a try and let me know how many fewer times you misplaced your keys this week!

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!