Stuff your Turkey not your Tummy

This Thanksgiving the average American will consume 2- 3 times the amount of food they typically have in a day... and that's just at Thanksgiving dinner. While this is not going to send anyone to the emergency room, it can be the impetus for making unhealthy choices that last throughout the holiday season. 

Here are a few tips for a sensible Thanksgiving that provides momentum for healthy eating throughout the holidays. 

1) Stuff your Turkey, not your Tummy. Choose smaller, more reasonable portions of those high caloric foods like stuffing (1/2 cup) and gravy (2 tablespoons). Eat them slowly. 

2) Enjoy and savor; don't gobble. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to recognize signals of satiety (comfortable fullness) from your stomach. The slower you eat, the less you need, and the more satiated you feel. 

3) It's not the Last Supper; Jesus' last meal was not Thanksgiving dinner. Don't skip meals because you're "saving up" for Thanksgiving dinner. Eat a good breakfast and something for lunch to maintain a healthy metabolism and prevent overeating. 

4) Make the holidays less about food and more about family, friends, and helping those in need. Thanksgiving is a great time to plan that afternoon backyard football game. Just be sure to remind Grandpa Joe to warm up and stretch. Everyone should spend at least 5 minutes warming up before playing. Light jogging or tossing the football back and forth is a great way to increase blood flow to muscles and prevent injury. 

5) Don't punish yourself if you overdo it. Take the morality and judgement out of eating by reserving feelings of disgust for true injustice in the world. Eating too much pumpkin pie does not make someone a bad person. So often, people feel guilty about their "mistakes" with food and punish themselves accordingly, sometimes in the form of restricting. This will only set a person up for overdoing it again. If you eat a little too much, forgive yourself and move on... to 3 healthy meals and 2-3 snacks along with some physical activity... a sure way to success. 

Have a healthy Thanksgiving from Momentum Nutrition and Fitness! 

Contributed by Monica Van Winkle 

Momentum and Maximum Team Up

Located in Bellevue, WA, "Maximum Sports Conditioning is an elite sports training and conditioning center which provides clients and athletes with a highly competitive training environment which includes general athletic development, sports-specific training, and injury prevention training methods." (http://maxsc.net/index.htm) 

Whether a soccer player is building receive and touch skills or a volleyball player is developing joint stability and connective tissue strength to support landing, hitting, and changing directions quickly, Maximum Sports Conditioning is dedicated to helping athletes embody the skills necessary for becoming great leaders both on their teams and in their communities. They are staffed by professionals who believe that an individual's athletic and physical development is supported not only by training, but by a sound understanding of performance nutrition (provided by Momentum Nutrition and Fitness). 

Thanks Maximum Sports Conditioning for providing a top-notch educational program that helps athletes excel both on and off the field. Check them out at http://maxsc.net/ 

Contributed by Monica Van Winkle, MS, RD 

Around town...

"Whole Grains can Save your Life". Great Harvest breads had this message on their store window, reminding us that we need at least 6 servings of grain filled carbohydrates each day! If you are more active, you will need more grain filled carbohydrates to meet your active needs.

Momentum Nutrition and Fitness reminds our clients to get creative and use a variety of whole grains like wheat, corn, rice, barley, and rye to meet your energy and vitmain/mineral needs!

Have you seen signs around town you think send a positive message? Take a pic, send them in. We will post them to our blog!

emily@momentum4health.com

Momentum in Action

Want to learn more about better breakfast??
Check out this video, featuring our very own Emily Edison.
http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=276541
Now go eat your breakfast!

Break-the-fast...back to school breakfast tips

Recent media article by Momentum Nutrition...

Better Breakfast = Better Student
A Daily Nutritious Breakfast Helps Students Succeed


Seattle - Back-to-school sales have begun and students are getting their wardrobe updated and buying supplies for the coming school year. But many students and their parents may be overlooking a key component to success – breakfast. Several studies have shown that students who have a healthy breakfast every morning perform better than students who don’t. And students who eat breakfast are less inclined to consume sugary mid-morning snacks.

“Breakfast packs a nutrition punch! It provides the base of vitamins, minerals and energy for the day. It kick starts our metabolism and gets our brain and muscles running strong,” said Emily Edison, RD, owner of Seattle based Momentum Nutrition and Western Washington director of the Washington Interscholastic Nutrition Forum (WINForum – http://www.winforum.org/). “A nutritious breakfast meets 25% of the recommended daily allowances of protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and C for good health. When kids eat breakfast they concentrate better, do better in class and score higher on tests.”

Many students claim they don’t have time to eat breakfast. But as the recipes posted on Better Breakfast.org (www.betterbreakfast.org) show, a nutritious breakfast can be made and consumed quickly. “Heading out the door with some yogurt and fruit is a good start. Or try toast with peanut butter,” said Edison. “Even leftover pasta or cold pizza is better than nothing.”

Children often skip breakfast saying “I’m not hungry.” Edison said it’s important for people to train their body to want breakfast. Starting with light and quick foods like yogurt drinks or a microwaved egg sandwich is one way to get students into the habit of eating breakfast. Grab-and-go breakfasts are also a good option.

“Breakfast is designed to “break-the-fast”. When students skip breakfast, blood sugar levels continue to plummet, and fatigue, poor concentration, irritability and lethargy result,” added Edison, who is also a sports dietitian for the University of Washington Athletic Department.

Without a nutritious breakfast, it is hard for a student to meet their nutritional needs for the day, especially in calcium and fiber. Breakfast is essential because it is often the only time some children actually drink milk, making it one of few opportunities to get any measurable calcium. A simple solution is a bowl of oatmeal made with 1 cup of low-fat milk topped with berries and crushed walnuts provide both energy and fiber (oatmeal and walnuts) and calcium (milk) plus vitamin C and antioxidants (berries).

“Breakfast supplies more than just the energy to get through the morning” said Edison. “Teens who eat breakfast are up to five times more likely to consume at least two-thirds the recommended amounts of most vitamins and minerals, including iron.” Iron deficiency anemia has long been known to have a negative effect on behavior and learning. Vitamin C breakfast foods like orange juice or berries, enhance the absorption of iron. Also, teens who ate breakfast regularly had a lower percentage of total calories from saturated fat and ate more fiber and carbohydrates than those who skipped breakfast. Finally, regular breakfast eaters seemed more physically active.

In addition to http://www.beterbreakfast.org/, students and parents can go to http://www.cookingwithkids.org/ for breakfast and snack ideas.

Seen any good movies lately?

Check out "America the Beautiful," a documentary that explores America's obsession with beauty. 

From its New York debut to Chicago, where it won Best Director at the Chicago International Film Festival 2007, it's now in Seattle for the next week (AMC Loews Uptown).

The film takes a witty and entertaining, but serious look at what the film makers perceive to be the fashion industry's direct assault on the self-esteem of women.  It examines the relationship between America's definition of beauty and the increasing incidence of eating disorders, not only in the United States, but worldwide. 

It certainly doesn't provide all the answers, but it's gaining momentum, and we think it has a lot to say. 

Go to http://www.americathebeautiful.com/ to learn more. 

Contributed by Monica Van Winkle 

Bored with the food you eat?

There are times when we all feel bored of the foods we eat. We know we feel that way from time to time. Momentum to the rescue! We have scoured the grocery shelves and have found a few new (some may just be new to us) foods to try. We consider these foods in the "healthy" category and will supply you with energy for your day!

Do you have a favorite new food you want us to list? Send us an email: emily@momentum4health.com. We would love to hear from you!
Check back from time to time for more "Bored with the foods you eat" updates...

Try these:

Planters Daybreak Blend (Trail mix type of snack combines almonds, granola clusters, apples, dried cranberries, and pecans). A great balance of carb, protein and healthy fat. Try it with a yogurt for a snack.

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina (frozen from Trader Joes) A delicious, easy to fix (3 minutes) meal in a bag. Tasty potato dumplings with a light tomato sauce. We fix them atop a large bowl of steamed spinach.

Kefir (Yogurt Drink) This tasty drink has all the beneficial probiotic bacteria (great for your digestive tract) as regular yogurt but is fun to drink or mix into smoothies. It is a great protein and calcium source and can double as a pre or post workout snack. Look for it in the dairy case at stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes.

Kashi Granola in Mountain Medley Kashi has come up great cereal products. This one is a power packed breakfast or snack food, that will leave your taste buds and metabolism saying "ah yeah". Try it with Silk vanilla soy milk.

Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal Cooks in a flash and is full of whole grains (this means...FIBER!!) Add your favorite fruit and sliced nuts to the top for extra vitamins and minerals. One bowl of this and you can skip your multi-vitamin!

So many foods so little time. Please let us know your favorites! We will keep the list going.

Momentum Nutrition and Fitness www.momentum4health.com