Archive for May, 2010
5 Tips For Living Gluten Free and Fit-Day 5
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to the end of the week-AKA Day 5!
So far, we have
Tip1-Have an attitude and mindset of abundance
Tip 3-Set Process and Practice Based Goals
Tip 4-Set Yourself Up for Success
Today’s Quick Tip:
*Be Consistent, have Patience. Rinse and Repeat*
When you have implemented and are practicing the tips we’ve already discussed, there still will not be anything magical that immediately happens. You have to be consistent with them, continue to do them repeatedly over time, and be patient. For a while.
I feel very lucky to have people compliment me on and ask about my physique. In fact, last week a woman asked me if I was an aerobics instructor. Nope. “Well, then you must teach yoga.” Nope. I replied that I lift heavy stuff, and follow smart nutrition strategies. For years. That was not quite the answer she was expecting….
But it’s the truth. The cliche’s are cliche because they are true. Rome wasn’t built in a day, anything worthwhile takes time, slow and steady wins the race, you can’t rush a risotto.
It takes a long time to build a habit, and just as long if not longer, to change it. So be patient. Be consistent. Be kind to yourself. We all have imperfect days. Just make the good outnumber the bad, the steps forward outnumber the steps back.
You’ll get there.
If you need some more information to start, check out the Gluten Free and Fit 101 and/or the nutrition guide. But-the most important thing-is that you don’t just read.
Go do. Actually, leave a comment, and then go do.
Get!
5 Tips For Living Gluten Free and Fit-Day 4
Posted by: | CommentsDay 4!
So far, we have
Tip1-Have an attitude and mindset of abundance
Tip 3-Set Process and Practice Based Goals
Today’s Quick Tip:
*Set Yourself Up for Success*
Whenever you begin something new, before it becomes habit, you have to actually think about performing it.
For example-now, I am so accustomed to getting up early in the morning to exercise I can go on autopilot. I pop out of bed, brush my teeth, scrape my hair into a ponytail, and get dressed. Wander into the kitchen, grab a glass of water and a bit of fuel (I mean food 
Then into the office, 10 minutes checking email (no more,) and off to the gym or into the guest bedroom where the treadmill is.
All in 30 minutes from wake up time to beginning exercise.
When I first started doing this, I had to take preemptive steps to keep me from staying in bed. The alarm clock went across the room for a while. The clothes are laid out the night before. The fuel is set out on the counter for easy access. The computer has an alarm that goes off at 5:20 AM to make sure I am not responding to email any longer, and making myself late. Now, I’ve been doing it so long, it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t have these steps in place-I’d do them anyway.
But in the beginning, make it easy on yourself. Make the path of least resistance the path you want to take. It takes about a month to make new habit, and lots of repetition. Prepare ahead to make those repetitions as easy as possible.
A while back I wrote an article on Preparing Ahead for Healthy Gluten Free Eating Success. Check it out, you may get some ideas. Gluten Free and Fit 101 has some other info to start with, as does the free (gluten free!) nutrition guide.
What do you do to set yourself up for success? Give your ideas in the comments so we all can share and benefit.
Tomorrow-Day 5.
5 Tips For Living Gluten Free and Fit-Day 3
Posted by: | CommentsDay 3!
So far, we have
Tip1-Have an attitude and mindset of abundance
Today’s Quick Tip:
*Set Process and Practice Based Goals*
What the heck do I mean by this?
Lots of times when people set goals, they set outcome based goals. Like: “I will lose 10 pounds,” “I will run a mile,” “I will squat 200#.” While it’s good to have these goals, also think about the goals you need to achieve in order to reach those OTHER goals.
Such as:
-”I will eat 5 servings of vegetables today, and I will drink 3 liters of water.” (To work toward the weight loss goal)
-”I will exercise daily, even if it’s not as long or exactly what I had planned on doing.” (For the running goal)
-”I will squat once per week with emphasis on adding weight to the bar each session.” (For the squat goal)
When we focus on the things we need to do to achieve an outcome, and make THOSE processes our goals-the outcomes take care of themselves. If you make your goals to hit a certain number of exercise or activity minutes, and to hit certain amounts of food eaten-your weight loss goal will happen. You can’t hit the end goal without going thru the processes to get there.
So, look at what you have to do to reach your long term goal. And set goals for the PROCESSES you need to do to get there.
Little steps, one at a time, to reach your goal. Consistent work over time gets you there.
On our Facebook page we have a section for “Goals and Accountability”-check it out, and post up your goals, or if you need help in choosing a goal. (Oh, and it would be cool if you “Like” the GFF page while you’re there 
You can also post up your goal below-share and share alike!
Tomorrow, Day 4.
5 Tips For Living Gluten Free and Fit-Day 2
Posted by: | CommentsHere it is-Day 2! Yesterdays tip was: Having an attitude of abundance with a diagnosis of celiac disease.
Today’s Quick Tip:
*Think of Food As Fuel*
I am very happy to be a part of Diane Eblin’s 30 days to a Food Revolution month. My guest post today covers thinking of food as fuel. Please check it out over at the WHOLE gang-and while you’re there, read the other great posts as well.
5 Tips For Living Gluten Free and Fit-Day 1
Posted by: | CommentsAs promised, this week I will posting a quick tip a day on living healthfully and gluten free. This is the final full week of Celiac Awareness Month. There has been an incredible amount of great information provided this month. I hope that is has been helpful to the 95% of undiagnosed celiacs as well as the 5% diagnosed.
Today’s Quick Tip:
*Have a Mindset of Abundance*
Celiac Disease can be a disturbing diagnosis. As much as we may be relieved to find the cause of why we feel so sick, there may be a sense of : “What?! I can’t eat what?!?”
This can lead us to a mindset of loss, and create negative feelings. It’s normal to feel a sense of loss-we are, after all, giving up a large number of foods.
But we’re not giving up an even larger number of foods, by far.
So grieve your favorite gluten filled foods, have a symbolic burial ceremony if needed, and move on.
Explore the world of meats, cheese, rices, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, exotic oils and ancient gluten free grains. (There’s over 100,000 different variations of rice-who woulda thunk it?)
Your attitude in many ways shapes your thoughts-after all, perception is reality in many cases.
Look at Celiac Disease as a blessing in disguise.
Look at all the food that you can eat.
And enjoy your gluten free food with an attitude of abundance.
Tomorrow, Tip #2.
In the meanwhile, check out Gluten Free and Fit 101 for some good stuff.
And grab your free (gluten free!) nutrition guide.
Share your tip below! We all have great information to share-don’t be shy.
The Food Revolution Marches On-and Gluten Free Coffee Cake For All!
Posted by: | CommentsJamie Oliver’s show may be over, but the movement continues.
The basic premise of the “Food Revolution” is to move toward (actually, to move back, in a way) to eating more whole, unprocessed, naturally healthful foods.
Diane Eblin at The Whole Gang has organized “30 days to a Food Revolution” in which each day, a different individual posts a recipe and a helpful tip or thought. Despite the fact that thinking about this forced me to have a Beatles song stuck in my head all day, I was really excited about it.
I eat real food, too! (And the occasional treat-I can't lie)
All of the posts have been really good, have given me lots of ideas and inspiration. When I saw Kelly Brozyna’s (the Spunky Coconut) post for Gluten Free Coffee Cake that used beans in the recipe, I knew that I had to try this one out. I have made both chocolate chip cookies and brownies using beans-and figured “coffee cake-yeah!”
Seriously. Pure coffee cake awesomeness. Even Jeff, the glutenator, gave this a big thumbs up. He did say it would be even better with cream cheese icing, but that defeats the purpose of being more healthful than the average coffee cake. My palate is very used to lower sugar and gluten free items, so to me it was heavenly-light, moist, and just yummified. It’s not a dense heavy coffee cake-it’s beautifully light and fluffy.
I did make a few changes based on what I had on hand. Below is the recipe with my notes, and please check out Kelly’s original recipe as well.
Coffee Cake:
Add to food processor:
2 cups cooked white beans (I used canned beans, rinsed well. It was 2 almost 2 full cans)
6 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla creme liquid stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I like cinnamon and used a bit more. I didn’t measure. Can’t help it.)
Puree well. (Puree the life out of it-a nice creamy consistency is what you’re after)
Add:
1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
Puree well.
Pour batter into large rectangular greased pan.
Puree Crumble Topping:
3 cups of walnuts (Didn’t have ‘em-used some almonds and pecans, only about 1 cup)
2 tbsp butter, ghee, or coconut oil (was out of coconut oil at this point so I used butter)
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup coconut sugar (didn’t have this-used brown sugar)
1 tbsp cinnamon (yeah-again-I like cinnamon and used a bit more. I didn’t measure. Can’t help it.)
Spread the crumble over the top of the batter.
Using a fork or knife, really swirl the topping into the batter.
Then pat the topping down.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Great hot or cold from the refrigerator.
Store in the refrigerator after the first day.
I gave some to our neighbors and friends so it didn’t make it beyond the first day. They loved it-in fact, the text message I got was “delicious!”
I would have no hesitation serving this to gluteneaters. Especially as it seems to refrigerate well, this would be a great option to make ahead for a brunch.
Check out the 30 days. I’ll be giving my $.02 over there on 5/25/10.
Next week is the wrap up of Celiac Awareness month, and in honor of that I will be posting a tip a day. Yes, I’m going to post 5 days next week. Don’t fall off your chair.
To hold you over until then, make sure you check out the new and improved Gluten Free and Fit 101. Also, pick up your free nutrition guide.
Have you guys tried baking with beans? What do you think? Leave your experiences in the comments!
Gluten Free Fitness and Wellness Podcast episode 07| Q&A
Posted by: | Comments
-getting started with a healthier lifestyle
-portable and variable glutenfree foods for life on the go
-dealing with multiple food sensitivities
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
GFF Podcast Episode 7-Q&A
What’s new with me and where the heck have I been
-Contest
-working on the Quick Start Tips Guide (living a healthy gluten free life) coming soon! I promise by the end of May/beginning of June the manual will be available.
Q1-From Vicky: I was diagnosed with Celiac 8 years ago and am allergic to corn. Have been plugging along
not really successful in the exercise department but doing well with the GF and no corn diet. But now find I also cannot have dairy which just has thrown me for a loop. And I broke my wrist in Jan. and had surgery with two rods. Just finishing up the physical therapy on that and really don’t know just where to start on diet or exercise. I mean I can make meals but
how to be healthy/nutritious meals. And I can walk, but that has never been enough really.
a- Check out the free GF Fit 101 and nutrition guide. Walking is great, and something you can do now. Sometimes just getting started with SOMETHING is the hardest part-so start with that. Really what you eat is what has the biggest impact on how you feel and look as far as weight goes.
You mentioned that you’re finishing up with PT for your wrist-after your through with that you may consider starting some weight training. It’s crucial for maintaining strength and bone mass, especially for women as we get older. Your PT may be able to recommend some resources to learn weight training exercises with a personal trainer, if not let me know.
Q2-From Alex: First off I’d really like to let you know what a help your nutrition guide has been so far! I’m 17 years old and was just diagnosed as a celiac. It has been such a dramatic change for me, trying to deal with eating the right foods, staying fit and going through high school. Lately i have noticed that I have been eating pretty much the same meal everyday. I wake up, have a bowl of cereal with an apple around 10. For lunch i have carrots, yogurt with granola and some type of chips. Dinner usually varies, but it is starting to bother me because i know that it is extremely unhealthy for your body to only take in the same types of food. Do you have any advice for me? Its just difficult finding a type of lunch that is easy to take to school.
A-YAY for Alex! Yes you want to have as much variety in your diet as possible, but don’t stress about it. You can make small changes of similar things. For example, switch up the type of cereal you have from time to time (Custom Choice is fun), or have an orange or berries or banana instead of an apple. Portable stuff for school:
GF soup or chili on a thermos (Kettle Cuisine is a good pre-made one)
GF Deli turkey (Boar’s Head is gluten free) rolled around cheese and carrots (one of my faves!)
Leftovers from dinner-chicken, beef, anything, with salad or veggies
Cottage cheese instead of yogurt
Peanut or almond butter with apples, string cheese..
Good snacks are nuts, fruit, and really any of the stuff above.
Q3-From Monty: I struggle with my diet. I was diagnosed 2 yrs ago with a gluten allergy. Since then I’ve become much more in touch with my body. The smallest amount of gluten makes me sick and takes me over a week to get back to normal. I’ve started a hard work out recently but, struggle to get the nutrients I need. I don’t like to eat because I am so miserable when I eat. I love vegetables and fruit but, not meat. I don’t tolerate many processed foods and would prefer to live off protein shakes. Any suggestions? I really want to be able to work out intense but, unable to do it now.
A-I think I will need a bit more information to be able to help you more effectively. Can you keep a food log for a couple of days, and keep notes of how you feel when you eat certain foods?
First though, I would suggest you follow up with your doctor to see if perhaps you are dealing with other food intolerance or GI issues you may not be aware of. If you are reacting to anything you eat, there may very well be another issue going on.
You said you don’t tolerate meat-is that chicken/turkey also, or just red meat? How about fish, eggs, and dairy? Beans?
Check out these posts from Dr. Vikki Petersen
Is Removing Gluten Enough?
Healing time after Removing Gluten
Take these steps..
**Next podcast interview will be with Heather Fraser of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic. Send your questions to erin@glutenfreefitness.com with “podcast” in the subject line.
The Magic Bullet for Living a Healthy Gluten Free Life Is….
Posted by: | CommentsNo, not the Magic Bullet
Not a pill, or potion, or lotion, or gimmicky late night infomercial product or fitness program.
Actually, it’s not very sexy at all.
But-it will get you closer to your goals than a kitchen gadget, a pill, a potion, lotion, or gimmick.
It’s awareness.
Photo credit kipcurry
Since you can’t package it and sell it, I’m afraid this little tidbit may be receiving less attention than it should.
If you’ve been reading my rantings, you may have heard me rant about this before. I believe that celiac disease is a blessing in disguise, a built in necessity where we HAVE to become more conscious of what we put in our mouths.
Awareness can extend much further than the gluten status of a food though.
1. Be aware of how much you move-sitting, standing, lying. Be conscious of your movement or lack thereof, and try to add more general movement to your day.
2. Be aware of how eating different foods make you feel. Do you feel energized or listless? Do you feel good or no so good after eating french fries or something with a list of unpronounceable ingredients longer than your arm? (Gluten free of course-whatever it may be.)
3. Be aware of your sleep patterns. Many, many of us aren’t getting enough sleep, and that can lead to issues with appetite and weight control. On top of feeling tired, which just stinks. I am guilty of trying to get a lot done in a small amount of time, I understand totally. But sleep is crucial. 7-9 hours is ideal. Really. I get up at 5AM, but I’m lights out by 9:30-10 PM.
4. Be aware of your stress levels, and minimize them whenever possible. If you find yourself getting aggravated, try to focus on your breathing, count to 10 in pig latin, whatever it takes to talk yourself down. Every day life throws a lot of chronic stressors our way, and we’re just not built to live well under that constant low level stress. It’s very different than the stress of running from a lion, you know? In that case you run and it’s over. If you find this interesting, a great book to check out is Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers
5. Be aware of the nutritional value of your food. You don’t have to change anything, just take a look-see. You may find that your habits begin to slowly change, and gravitate toward more “healthful” foods just by being aware of your choices and not just grabbing by habit.
So it’s not a pill, or a potion, or a lotion, or a gimmick. But give it a try and see what happens. You may be surprised what a little awareness can bring you.
Leave your experiences with awareness below…I love to hear from you guys!
If you haven’t yet grabbed it, check out my free nutrition guide for what you can do with your food after you become more aware of it.
And Happy Celiac Awareness Month! (As a side note-USA Today did a 16 page supplement on Celiac Disease which was pretty darn cool-you can find it here if you missed it.)
Oh! And I updated Gluten Free and Fit 101 too! Check it!
Rip off the Band-Aid and Be Done-Fast Weight Loss for Better Long Term Results?
Posted by: | CommentsMaybe slow and steady wins the race, but you get to the finish line thinner/fitter if you start fast.
Last week a study released from researchers at the University of Florida. I’m just going to cut and paste their conclusion here since it’s not in science-ese.
“Collectively, findings indicate both short- and long-term advantages to fast initial weight loss. Fast weight losers obtained greater weight reduction and long-term maintenance, and were not more susceptible to weight regain than gradual weight losers.”
Lisa Johnson had blogged about her thoughts on the research yesterday, and I responded on Twitter that I agreed completely. To me, fat loss is best approached like a band-aid. Get in, get it done. Rip it off and be done with it, then get on with your life and maintain your new and improved physique.
Photo credit runrunrun
I’m not the only one beating this drum. Leigh Peele has written about it before, in fact I’m sure many times, but the post I came up with was this one on goal setting for fat loss. Lyle McDonald wrote a whole (excellent) book about it.
This does not mean that this approach is right for everyone. Now watch me backpedal.
The impression I get from reading this abstract (because the full text isn’t available for free, one of my pet peeves) is that all the women were encouraged to intake a calorie level that would achieve a weight loss of .45 kg/week (approximately 1 pound per week, which is fairly standard for a weight loss diet. These women were also categorized as obese, so potentially COULD see more short term weight loss than someone closer to their ideal weight. (The fatter you are, the easier it is to lose a large amount of scale weight-hence the huge loss numbers on the Biggest Loser, which aren’t realistic unless you are also that size. And are sequestered. With a trainer, chef, kitchen, and nothing to do but exercise and learn about healthy habits. But I digress.)
Since I can’t see the full text, I also do not know the specifics as far as actual calorie and macronutrient breakdown, compliance measuring, and individual variability within the subjects. The groups of fast, medium, and slow “losers” were compiled based on their rate of loss after the first month of treatment. We do not know if those groups were evenly matched for obesity rates, age, activity, health history, etc and so on.
Having said that though, there have been other studies in the past which have also shown positive results from a faster rate of loss. Lyle wrote a very good articlewhich references these studies and also explains a bit about how you can determine if this type of rapid weight loss diet may be a good fit for you.
So here’s why I think that a rapid weight loss at the beginning of a diet is a good thing.
-It develops good eating habits which can then be transferred to a maintenance level of eating
-It provides positive feedback-reward for your efforts. We are a society of immediate gratification.
-It gets you in and out of the dieting mentality. Here’s what I mean.
You ever meet someone who is ALWAYS dieting and yet always looks the same? Forever complaining how they can’t have this or that, it’s “not on my diet.” (Of course-I’m referring to a calorie-reduced diet, not something like a gluten free diet-as I addressed in my Gluten Free Cagematch-Diet vs. Lifestyle article.) Do you want to be this person? Heck no! Get in, work hard, eat well and strictly, get your results-and get OUT! Maintaining a certain weight/look/body fat level is WAY easier than getting there in the first place. So if you can get there faster-that may be something to seriously consider.
This is definitely a personality thing too. Some people prefer to suffer a lot for a short period of time and be done. Others prefer to suffer less, but go through it longer.
Suffer more and be done=larger calorie deficit, more hunger, but over faster
Suffer less and go longer=smaller deficit, less hunger, but goes on longer
Same or close to the same end result.
Which of those choices do you prefer?
Rip the band aid off quickly, or pull it off slowly.
There’s the answer to your dieting personality quiz
For more free ranting, this time on setting up a healthy gluten free diet plan, click here.
What’s your preference? What kind of band-aid remover are you? Share in the comments! Let ‘er rip (ooh-bad pun alert.)
Gluten Free Kind of Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies-really!
Posted by: | CommentsI have mentioned before I have a bit of a sweet tooth.
OK-I have a pretty good sized sweet tooth. I have learned to keep it in check with fairly healthful things like fruit, or protein powder concoctions. (Except for my weekly ice cream splurge-that’s for reals, kids.)
So when I came across this recipe, I was very impressed. Skeptical? Maybe a little. But I’ve used a “secret ingredient” in brownies before, and they were the awesomesauce.
My friend Amy over at Lean Bodies Consulting has a creative mind when it comes to eating healthfully, “on plan,” and tasting good. She shared this recipe for chocolate chip cookies that she saw demonstrated by Rocco DiSpirito. (He has a new book out, Now Eat This!: 150 of America’s Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories
Mmmm...cookies....
I’ve kept you in suspense long enough. The secret ingredient is….white beans!
These cookies were really good. I employed my “put some in the freezer” portion control method. Even Jeff, my gluten eating pizza loving fiance, said these were good. (Actually, I think his actual words were “not bad”-but coming from him regarding anything remotely healthy that’s good.)
Here’s the recipe-I made it as listed this go round for testing sake, but next time I would try with stevia instead of Splenda-just personal preference.
Gluten Free White Bean Chocolate Chip cookies
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 cup canned white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons light agave syrup (ran out of agave-used 1 TBSP agave and 1 TBSP nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt-improvise!)
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups granulated Splenda
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate-covered cacao nibs
-1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup because I was out of cacao nibs)
Cooking Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine vanilla, cocoa, cannellini beans, and the agave syrup, and blend the mixture until smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl halfway through blending.
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. (This took forever-I used a hand mixer) Gradually beat in the Splenda. Continue to beat the whites until they are creamy and nearly stiff. (This takes freakin’ forever and I was impatient) Add one-third of the egg-white mixture to the cocoa-bean mixture in the food processor. Blend to combine, about 30 seconds. In 2 batches, fold the lightened cocoa mixture into the egg whites until they are almost fully combined. Add cacao nibs to the batter. Fold batter until cacao beans are evenly dispersed and cocoa mixture is completely incorporated. (Takes a little while to fold it all in) The batter may seem a bit loose, but it worked out just fine.
Drop mounded spoonfuls of batter onto the prepared sheets. Spread butter out to form cookies about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the cookies. (Forgot this part-I had mixed them in)
Bake for 16 minutes, rotating the pans one turn halfway through baking. Move to cooling rack and serve.
Makes about 20 cookies. (If you make them small which I did not)
Nutritional Facts per cookie:
Calories: 45 Fat: 1.4g Carbs: 9g Protein: 2g
That’s some pretty impressive stats for a “treat.” Granted, that would be for a small cookie. But this would be a way to have a little something sweet without completely going off the healthy wagon and derailing your fitness train. (Enough figures of speech?)
For more free gluten free healthier eating information, check out my free guide.
Have you tried a bean based recipe? What did you think? Share your experiences-comment away!
