Conventional Wisdom: What I Learned about Corporate Changes, and How They Apply to Real Life

Last week, I attended my company's 20th Annual International Convention. It was a pretty big deal. I mean, where else are you going to have almost 10,000 people who get hyped up over stuff like liver detoxification talks, the unveiling of a new non-GMO snack bar, and reverse osmosis water fountains? Probably nowhere but at a health convention. Sure, we get stoked about regular people things, too-- you'd have to be like a health savant *not* to love the free iPads all around, and the chance to earn a seriously super cool cruise--but it was pretty awesome being immersed in the corporate health aura for a few days.

Since it was the 20th anniversary of the company, there was a lot of nostalgia about our roots, but, more importantly, there were some pretty big changes in store as we began to look toward the future. Now that I've had some time to digest all the announcements our corporate officers made, I realized that what we learned as a company applies to me as an individual, as well. So here's what I learned...I hope these four lessons from four days make a difference for you, too.

Some Things Were Better Off Left in the 80s. Like leg warmers. 
And low-fat diets.

Even though USANA Health Sciences was founded in 1992, a lot of our corporate festivities focused on the 1980s. Not really sure why, except that, in reality, the early 90s were really just an extension of the 80s, I guess. At any rate, our Convention kicked off with a huge concert by some of the best 80s stars, like Belinda Carlisle, Tommy Shaw, and Kenny Loggins.  I heartily sang along with the chorus of "Heaven Is a Place on Earth," and I may or may not have done the Carlton during "Footloose," at which point the Hubs was relieved to have been a comfortably distant 30 yards away. It was pretty epic. 

What was *not* epic was seeing people comply all too readily with the invitation to sport their best 80s outfits. Seriously, I think some people there had simply hung on to their 80s wardrobe, waiting for it to come back in vogue instead of letting those trends die with what little dignity over-sized T shirts and leg warmers could muster. The Hubs and I wondered what the ratio was of people who bought an 80s outfit for the occasion vs. people who just pulled something out of their regular wardrobe rotation and finally had a chance to blend in again. It was crazy.

In the health world, there are a lot of 80s trends that need to die with dignity, too. Things like the whole low-fat diet trend. Or the high-carb, low- protein trend. You look around and tell me if either of those has curbed the problem of the expanding waistlines of Americans. I didn't think so. Instead of clinging to our dietary side ponies and Tshirt ties, we need a health update that, incidentally, may help you fit into those ugly 80s clothes again. Although I would strongly advocate a shopping spree instead. Check out the following myth-busting article that backs me up on this one: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57461950-10391704/low-glycemic-index-diet-may-be-best-at-keeping-off-pounds/

It's Never Too Late to Change Your Image.

One of the big announcements our CEO made last week was the complete overhaul of our labels and branding for our products. Yes, this *was* cause for a lot of excitement among our team. What can I say? We get giddy easily. But seriously, check out the before and after, and see if you don't think our new logo brings the razzle-dazzle:

Why change a logo after 20 successful years? Seriously, I would have never thought to jazz it up. I was fine with the way things were. Until I saw that they could be better.

And, that, my friends, was a huge wake-up call. I think a lot of us live with the way things were because we are simply too comfortable in our little ruts. Or we don't see any possibility of change. That is my passion: to help women see that life after baby or life after 40 doesn't *have* to be a certain way. It's my firm belief that there are always opportunities for us to bring the razzle dazzle in life, as well. (I'm sure there's a scientific term for razzle dazzle somewhere...maybe razzulous dazzulous or something.) Just because you've "never been thin" or "always carried my weight in my belly" or "have a family history of diabetes" doesn't mean you have to leave it that way.

I've swapped pretzels for protein bars. The Hubs went from prescriptions to supplements. We both went from recitals to running. My students traded in cravings for curbings. This stuff *really* happens. *You* can change your personal logo!

Health Can Be--And Should Be--Almost Illegally Fun.

When our VP announced the release of a new snack bar to our line of healthy foods, you would have thought the whole place had gotten new iPads. Actually, they already had. This was just icing on the cake. Especially when samples floated down in those cute little parachutes into the crowd. It was almost pandemonium.

And then there were the energy drink popsicles. They sound like they *should* be bad, but they are totally low-glycemic and have only clean sources of caffeine. And they're red (without artificial coloring or flavors) and juicy. Pure nectar of the gods, my friends.

I tell you, this is better than having the ice cream man come around. And less creepy, too.

Being around a bunch of health geeks will make this sort of thing exciting. But I seriously think that healthy choices should be exciting on a daily basis, too. Some of our favorite recipes around here make the menu rotation again and again, not because it's part of our diet kick, but because we actually *like* them! One of the speakers at the Convention said we should strive to come up with a healthy diet that is easy to love. I think he totally hit the nail on the head. What's the fun in doing something just because it's good for you?

That's why I like to bring the razzulous dazzulous to my health classes, too. We swap smoothie and soup recipes, try new desserts, and make the healthy choices in our lives the fun ones, too. I encourage my girls to find a walking buddy because I know for me that hanging out with my friends is sometimes the only thing that will make me get up out of bed and *want* to move. I've had some of the best laughs over a stupid P90X DVD that would have otherwise irritated the crap out of me. And I just had like the best salad ever, thanks to some awesome friends who think that healthy stuff doesn't have to be for dieting, but is OK to serve at fun dinners, too. I love that approach.

The best part is when health becomes fun, it becomes a way of life. Otherwise, it's just a diet. And those pretty much suck.

Dr. Oz, While a Talented Physician, Cannot Even *Fake* Playing the Guitar. 

We all have our gifts and limitations, I suppose.

*shrieks with delight that Dr. Oz is here* *cringes with shame that he holds a guitar like that*

Yeah, so one of the big deals about our 20th Convention was that Dr. Oz himself was going to be there. He came in with all the glory of a rock star as our corporate band, the Free Radicals (some of you will think that is funny), played a jam behind him. It was a cool entrance, but as a musician, I have enough guitar-playing friends to know that it's a good idea to at least *look* like you're strumming or picking or something. His musical improv was sorely lacking.

But his nutritional knowledge was not. He gave us all sorts of insight into how the body responds to wise and poor choices, gave us five tips for a better life, and encouraged us to keep taking control of our own health and help others do the same. He was great.

And I guess I learned that we all have areas we are strong in. And it's OK that they're all different.  Some of the people I hung around are way better than me about abstaining from dessert. Others can't fathom completing a 5K. Some people can run circles around my knowledge of the chemical reactions of food in the body, while others were still eating bagels during break time. Some are social media geniuses who use forums to promote better health to a broader audience. Others couldn't create a funny, educational, and exceptionally well-written blog post on Oreos and pretzels if they were paid to.+

Even our company founder has his limitations. You don't get a double PhD, run two successful businesses, and receive a prestigious Albert Einstein award without some serious brains to back that up. But I'm pretty sure that sentences like, "The fluoridation, chlorination, and bromination of our food and water is an abomination,"--while true-- wasn't exactly a great pick up line at parties back in the day, either.

While these two great guys may not be killer musicians or awesome water-cooler conversationalists, they are doing their part to make a big difference in the world. Their lives are definite proof that one life can make a difference in countless others. 

And while I may not have their brains, I feel inspired to do what I can with what I've been given to continue to share a message of hope through health. Even if I never have my own TV show (a gross injustice to the world, I'm sure), I do have this blog, and I do have my health classes, and I do have friends that I like to introduce to quinoa. And you have families that you can share healthy meals with. And friends that you can exercise with. And enemies you can share this blog with. The point is, we can all do *something* to make a difference in the lives of those we care about.

Here's to a lot of individual changes making for huge corporate changes across America.You decide where to start. As long as it involves getting rid of your leg warmers, you'll have my enthusiastic backing and support.

   +Editor's Note: This may or may not be a reference to one of my first blog posts that landed me my first two out of three followers. Except I am not paid to write them. Though I do accept donations in the form of precious metals, US dollars, free vacations, and Snickers.

10 Things I Hate About Food

ATTENTION, FOUR BLOG READERS: Please consider yourself warned that, in this post, I am going to sound a little crotchety-- like the late, great Andy Rooney. There are so many things I love about my job, but the single most frustrating thing about a career in the wellness industry is the abundance of misinformation and misleading advertisements out there that can derail my students' efforts to lose weight at a time when they are trying their hardest to do just that. There are a lot of food impostors out there that seem like a step in the right direction, when, in reality, they are real metabolism killers or frauds altogether. Their existence really annoys me.

Now, I'm definitely *not* saying I have all the right answers--except for anyone looking for a rationalization of their insatiable love of Oreos--but I do know that there is a lot of baloney out there in the field of wellness. And baloney promotes anything but wellness. Even when it is cooked on a griddle and made to look like a sombrero. Fun, but still worthless.

So here are some foods that really annoy me. I present to you the

10 Things I Hate About Food:

1) Diet Soda.
I probably shouldn't even get started on this one. I know a lot of people use diet soda as a gateway drug into drinking weird stuff like, oh, I don't know, water with lemon and unsweetened green tea. And I applaud the effort. But the fact is, one study showed that just one soda a day--regular or diet--leads to a 30% increase in the likelihood of central weight gain. There are also plenty of studies showing that your body perceives those chemical sugar substitutes the same way it does sugar, which means you really aren't escaping the whole roller coaster effect of high glycemic foods, even though it has less "sugar" than that apple you had for a snack today.

2) The McDonald's "Under 400 Calorie" Menu Items.
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the home of the Big Mac and Super-Sized fries is sponsoring a game celebrating athletes at the peak of physical fitness? While not all their choices are dietary disasters, the fact that the Filet-O-Fish squeaks in around 390 calories doesn't magically make it the lunch of champions. Or even a viable food choice. Personally, I think Filet-O-Fish should be permanently outlawed. But, even if you love pretend patties of white substances fried and made to look like fish, consider this: with all its low-caloric glory, the sandwich still has a GL of 20. And because you've been reading my blog all along, you know that 20 is the maximum GL recommended for a meal. I guess that means you can't add in those delicious, 370-calorie medium fries now, can you? 
(FUN FACT: The medium fries only have a GL of 22. Given the choice between the two evils, I'd go with the one that tastes good.)
(FURTHER FUN FACT: Does anyone else realize that when you add these two items together, not only do you have a highly caloric meal--blowing the whole point of having a low calorie menu--, but, with a GL like that, you could have had two Snickers bars instead? Think about it.)

3) Big G Cereals.
I just love the abuse of the term "whole grains" on these cereal packages. When doctors and experts recommend that a person eat more whole grains, I'm pretty sure they didn't mean for parents to go grab the Lucky Charms for their kiddos, just because it has the Big G symbol on it that somehow indicates General Mills uses an entire kernel of a random grain in their cereal. They also use a ton of sugar and food coloring, but I guess there's no Big G sign for that. The real magic of Lucky Charms is that they *look* like breakfast, even though there isn't a single redeeming quality about them. Except for those whole grains. Thank God for that corn kernel.

4) Vegetable Soup. 
With this one, you may be starting to question my judgment. What could possibly be wrong with vegetable soup? And don't you base your whole health class on eating soup?

Yes, yes, I do. But the type of soup I advocate always contains protein in it, whether it's chicken or a great vegetarian source like beans. Some of our friends at the Campbell's company believe that it's OK to take a pass on the beans and instead substitute some noodles or cool little pasta letters that create a bad game of floating Scrabble. Combining the higher glycemic nature of pasta without any protein to taper it off is a surefire combination for a blood sugar crash-and-burn. With no sustained energy or any sense of fullness, who would want to eat "healthy"? Not me! I'd rather take the time to make my own soup or be uber careful about the quality of those I buy.

5) Fruit Smoothies.

(See #4 above--it's pretty much the same logic). I love me some summer smoothies, but I absolutely refuse to have one that doesn't contain some yogurt or protein powder in it. My ratio is usually a full serving of my meal replacement shake powder (15 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber) to 1 cup or less of fruit. And I never add fruit juices, because 

Jennifer +Orange Juice= Buzzed Driving. 

Seriously, most fruit juices, because of their reduced fiber and added sugar, can dramatically increase the GL of any meal. If you don't add yogurt, try milk or just plain water. It works. Really.

Also, some of the stuff being marketed as a fruit smoothie is little more than ice crushed up with a powdered mix,at which point you might as well go indulge in a milkshake. I mean, at least then you know you're doing something bad for your body, instead of pretending that a smoothie with a name like Protein Berry Pizzaz doesn't have a GL of 28....

(FUN FACT: A McDonald's Triple Thick Chocolate Shake actually has 2 g more protein than the Jamba Juice Protein Berry Pizzazz listed above! It's still way worse for you in terms of calories, sugars, and GL, but it just goes to show that even smoothies that sound good for you can be tricky. You should probably just sign up for my class and learn to make your own awesome ones.)

6) Fat-free Foods.
Not all fat is bad fat. And not all fat-free foods are good foods. I would much rather see my health class students eat a "fatty" avocado on their salad than enjoy a slice of French bread with dinner. Before I knew any better, I used the fact that bread and pasta were low-fat foods to feel better about myself whenever I ate them; but I kept noticing that I never looked as low-fat when I did, so I started making changes. I now enjoy lots of fatty foods like guacamole, olive oil, and almonds, and meal replacement shakes with a whopping 7 grams of fat in them. And you know what? My abs are a lot happier with those choices than if I just ate fat-free marshmallows and bread all day. Go figure.
(CAVEAT: Not all fat is good fat, either. And not all fat-free foods are bad foods. I trust that my previous posts and your keen sense of deductive reasoning will work together to make reasonable decisions. I don't think that's asking too much.)

7) Gluten-free, Organic Chocolate Chips.
This to me is just a prime example of buzzword marketing. Just because an item is gluten-free or organic does not mean that it won't have an equally dangerous impact on your blood sugar as its more toxic counterparts. I'd like to think that the manufacturers of these $5-per-bag concoctions put a little extra time into making it better for you all the way around; but I have no guarantees that they did (unless they're dark chocolate). There are plenty of gluten-free or organic items that are still high-glycemic, like rice or chocolate milk. And there are plenty of them that are great for you, like quinoa or grass-fed beef. The point is, you can't trust a product just because it's labeled with healthy terms that are in vogue right now. You have to think for yourself and realize that, if they made something like gluten-free, organic Lucky Charms, they'd probably still be bad for you, even if they had the Big G seal of approval. These qualities are only great in great foods, so don't go racking up your grocery bill on organic potato chips and gluten-free Fruit Roll-ups. Stick to real food that matters, and you'll be ahead of the game.
(BONUS RECIPE: I like gluten-free stuff, I really do. In fact, here is a gluten-free, low-glycemic brownie recipe in which you can use organic chocolate chips if you really want to. Nobody will be suspicious of your healthy baking with this tasty treat.)

8) Granola Bars
 Doesn't a granola bar just *sound* healthy? Well, I've got news for you: they're not. The tricky thing for me is that I strongly advocate the use of convenient snack foods like protein bars in my classes. When students substitute a granola bar in place of a protein bar, they don't realize the full benefits of the lifestyle I'm trying to help them achieve. The thing about granola bars is that some of them are decently low-glycemic, but that still doesn't make them a complete snack. What most of them lack is a protein content anywhere in the ballpark vicinity of 10 grams per snack. (Most have about 2-3 grams of protein, which you can get from an Oreo.) Sure, they're low-cal, and they won't send your blood sugar peaking *too* high, but you won't feel satisfied without long-term satiety caused by protein, and you won't get much of an energy boost, either. Just like ice cream or Oreos, these health-impostors make their way onto a low-glycemic list; but, just as in the case of vegetable soup or fruit smoothies, true health food goes way beyond that. If it's not giving you a great balance of good carbs, lean protein, and a little fiber and fat, it's not really a healthy snack. Sorry.

 9) Dollar Menu Items
I hate the dollar menu for so many reasons. First, because it makes bad "food" (I use that term loosely) look cheap and convenient. Second, because it does not include large McFlurries. Just kidding. I am the first one to understand when someone tells me that they have reservations about the cost of healthy eating, and I usually offer up a lot of frugal suggestions, like adding beans instead of meat to their dishes. But when they are always able to grab a couple of menu items from McDonald's, I have to wonder why they would substitute $2 or $3 worth of stuff that usually comes with a white bun and a fountain drink for a $3.30 meal replacement shake that is guaranteed not to spike their blood sugar and help them lose inches. Plus, the shake is equally convenient as--if not more so--than buzzing through a drive-thru. I don't waste any time or gas rolling out of bed and spending two minutes whipping up the Hub's lunch for the day. AND I still look like a domestic goddess for preparing all his meals. On the other hand, left to his own devices at the drive-thru, there would inevitably be a receipt for a sandwich of some sort, fries of all sorts, and the largest sweet tea a buck can buy. Factor in the long-term consequences of blood sugar abuse, and you tell me which one suddenly looks more affordable. Here I present another helpful equation:

Dollar Menu + Diabetes = Should Have Listened to Jennifer

10)  Activia
OK, this may be one of my most ridiculous inclusions in this list, but hear me out. I am all about probiotics and Live and Active Cultures for good digestive health. But do you really think that, for just $2/four-pack, Activia was able to include the only 2 probiotics that can even stand the stomach's digestive acids to actually give you a health benefit? Factor in the cost of production, advertisement through a celebrity endorsement (if you can call Jamie Lee Curtis a celebrity), and the need to make a profit, and how much quality went  into the ingredients? My guess is somewhere around $.06 per cup. Maybe $.08, because of a lower protein content than Greek yogurt, and the fact that Jamie Lee Curtis probably paid Dannon to let her act again. So, do you really think you can get all the probiotics you need through $.08 worth of quality ingredients? Probably not. Plus, if I was forced to eat act Activia every day, I'd probably have graphic images of Jamie Lee Curtis running through my mind at every serving, which would completely destroy both my digestive and mental wellness. It'd be a total waste of time and money.

Look...even she doesn't look happy eating this stuff.

This now concludes my Andy Rooney rant. You may now return to your regularly scheduled dietary program already in progress. Except if they include any of the items I just warned you about. Then you should discontinue immediately and consult a psychologist about the Jamie Lee thing.
 

How to Lose a Gut in (Less Than) 10 Days

 Unauthorized paparazzi photo of blogger taken at wedding site.

Wanna know the awful thing about being in a wedding? The fact that you work really hard to look your best for the big day, only to completely undo all of your previous efforts in a 72-hour string of celebrations just prior to the ceremony, and you end up looking your worst instead.

I'd done pretty well with my 30-day bridesmaid makeover. Honestly, I'm not a big scale watcher, because I believe health isn't always reflected in a magic number; however, I'd been pretty happy with the way my diet and exercise were helping me bring sexy back, as Justin Timberlake would say. There wasn't a whole lot of sexy to bring back, but I was at least cutting my losses. The week of the wedding, I was feeling pretty decent, and ready to rock a strapless gown without looking like my arms had some built-in floaties attached, or run the risk of getting asked when my due date was.

Then Thursday came. We took the bride-to-be out to Melting Pot, a restaurant dedicated to the glory of fondue in a variety of forms, the most important being cheese and chocolate. I had plenty of both. And maybe more than plenty. There may or may not have been some extra marshmallows that chose not to end their life in an ignominious trash heap, and instead died with dignity by being obliterated in my digestive juices.

And then Friday came. There was a bridesmaids' luncheon and a rehearsal dinner, neither of which consisted of hard-boiled eggs and quinoa. Which I would never expect at a wedding celebration. And I ate the meals with gusto. And I ran out of time to exercise, too.

Enter Saturday morning. The big day was here! Well, at least I had the big part down. I did a few desperate crunches and squats before my early morning hair appointment, but by that time the damage had been done. Thankfully, having fluffy hair and pretty make-up can take my mind off of almost any woe, but, truthfully, I really missed those neat little cuts I was getting on my abs from eating clean and working out. I like to think that I did my part to help the beautiful bride look even more glamorous by comparison.

I can't say that I've done any better since the last slice of wedding cake. We indulged in a few treats with out-of-town guests, and then it was the Hub's birthday. It began with waffles and ended with cookies. It was not pretty. But, while we are all about clean eating around here, I *do* like to spoil the guy on his special day. And, frankly, as much as I love this health scene, I've learned that it's way cooler to take a balanced approach to life and enjoy a birthday or special occasion than be one of those freaks who bakes a cake for a friend and refuses to eat it at her party. And, yes, I've done that. And that is how I know that it is truly a freakish thing to do. People end up thinking you've laced it with arsenic or something.

So, how do I plan to get back on track? Is it really possible to lose a guy gut in 10 days?  The answer is simple: go back to what I was doing before and watch the yuckiness disappear. And, yes, it can be gone in 10 days. Or less.

See, for some reason, whenever we eat foods that send our blood sugar on a roller coaster ride, our body chooses to deposit its newly-minted fat cells right where we want them least: our bellies. Frankly, I have a number of other suggestions of where to put it, but it never seems to work that way. And you know the worst part about having fat added to our waistline? Other than the fact that muffin tops are not--nor ever will be--in vogue? Abdominal fat actually puts us at a much higher risk for a bunch of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Even if we aren't clinically obese or anything like that, a larger waist size (greater than 35 inches for us ladies) is a big problem. I mean, who wants to increase their risk of dying from heart disease by 300%, or risk of metabolic syndrome by close to 400%? And try this one on for size:

"Women with waist sizes of 35 inches or more were found to be 79% more likely to die from all causes of mortality at a given age compared to women with the smallest waist sizes (28 inches or less)."

Yikes! I sure don't want to lose in the game of Life to some skinny girl who can still shop at 5-7-9, do you?

I say we level the playing field a bit and take the skinny girls down with us.

Anyway, the beautiful thing about low-glycemic eating is that it converts food into fuel, not fat. And when we don't have to find somewhere to stash all those extra fat cells, we can let our glucagon do its job as a fat-burning hormone, and watch our waistlines waist waste away. And it really works. Fast. Our bodies are incredibly responsive to changes in food intake. I mean, part of my belly is already gone because I'm not cramming it with fondue and cake everyday. Add in consciously good choices to the lack of bad choices, and you've got yourself a flatter gut in no time.

Believe me, I'm not making this up. The average health class student who modifies their eating to include two certified low-glycemic meal-replacement shakes a day, complemented by a protein-laden soup for dinner loses 5 pounds in just one week. Better yet, that weight is coming off where it counts, right in the old mid-section. I love the fact that they can satisfy their desire to be thin and decrease their risk for disease all at once. Killing two birds with one stone never looked better.

Now that all our events are over, it's back to the old grindstone for yours truly. I'll gladly trade in my waffles for eggs, and my fondue for a summer smoothie. And I'll trade in my gut for those cuts I was working on. You know what? Losing a gut in 10 days isn't a bad payoff for a little discipline.


Bonus Tip: Care to join me in a 10-day challenge? Follow this handy-dandy link to register for a 10-Day Jumpstart to a healthier you. You'll get lots of awesome online education, as well as the ability to do one-on-one phone coaching with yours truly, who, incidentally, *is* as fabulous and weird in real life as I am on this blog. When you register, tell them the crazy blogger girl sent you. That ought to scare them into processing your request more effectively.

Balancing Act: A Guide to Creating the Perfect Meal Combination. And An Apology For Not Telling You About This Earlier.

Have you ever been annoyed by someone who mentions something in passing during conversation and never makes reference to it again, even though that very passing statement was the thing that interested you most? For instance:

You: "I love shopping at Ross! I found the best dress there!"

Annoying Person: "Yeah, and I found this really great navy suit there for my upcoming trial for holding my baby over a balcony like Michael Jackson. It was only $30! Say, we should go back sometime for pumps! I still need those for my suit. Unless you have any I could borrow...can we look in your shoe closet?"

You (sputtering): Um, sure...is black OK?"

Annoying Person: "Well, I don't know...what do you think? I was going to try for navy to match the suit, but do you think black would work? My silver heels are too flashy. Too bad, though...I got those for $7."

In the meantime, you could care less about the shoes. You are just wondering why your friend hung her baby over the balcony. And why in the world she would want to imitate Michael Jackson. And if now would be a good time to inform her that one of the Neverland Ranch pet tigers just died.

Anyway, I think I may have been that annoying person in my last blog. I kind of did this whole "balance proteins with carbs" spiel, and then never really followed through so you knew why that was part of my 30-day bridesmaid makeover. So, to avoid being likened to a psychotic King of Pop imitator, today's blog is following up on that, er, dangling thought.

One of the most critical elements that I stress in my health class is including both protein and carbohydrates in every meal and snack. And I am a little bit of a Journal Nazi about it when I review a person's diary that reveals that they only included one or the other in their snack time. I know that my students are trying to be really healthy, and that for them to list their snack as being an apple or watermelon instead of King-sized bag of M&M's is a huge step in the right direction. But, I also know that fruit alone just won't cut it. And when they swap out their Cheetos for a cheese stick, I'm really proud of them, but I remind them that something is missing.

The truth is, our bodies desperately need both components to survive. It really is a balancing act. While I may be a huge advocate for the elimination of processed carbohydrates like rice and white bread, I won't tell them to eat as much bacon as they want in lieu of their favorite bag of potato chips. This isn't Atkins 1.0.  My students aren't supposed to be afraid of the GL of watermelon or apples or carrots. In fact, according to the developers of my class curriculum, doing so is downright dangerous. Consider this sobering information:

Fun Fact: In a review of diet participants on an eating plan similar to the high-protein/low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, all participants who lost weight still had the same percentage of body fat at the end of their weight loss that they did going into it. Instead, participants lost water weight, glycogen stores, and muscle mass, but no real fat was burned off.

Translation: When deprived of the glycogen fuel stores that your body obtains from carbohydrates, your system turns on itself like some creepy alien child in a sci-fi movie. Once it works its way through water weight and the three-day supply of glycogen reserves, it starts literally eating itself, feeding off your muscle as fuel, which is pretty darn gross. And it doesn't even eat the fat off to take care of the real problem. So it's pretty much pointless.

I'm not a huge proponent of my students literally wasting away. Or of creepy alien sci-fi movies. So, I make sure they are replenishing their glycogen stores all the time by the inclusion of clean carbs with every lean protein source. And since many protein sources have little to no GL, they can still stay easily within their target GL range of 10 or less, while giving their bodies extra fiber that protein just can't provide.

But I don't want to see them eat only to fuel their glycogen stores, either. If glycogen is the fuel source of the body, the muscles are the metabolic engine. Just having an apple as a snack or a salad as a meal isn't really accomplishing anything, either. And that's where protein comes in.

Protein helps build the muscles that my students develop through a more active lifestyle, and when that happens, their bodies can literally burn fat while they sleep. As if that weren't awesome enough, protein is also the critical element in making their new healthy lifestyle sustainable. When a student seems to be struggling with dropping energy levels or constant hunger, I can almost bet you that they are eating only rabbit food and neglecting their protein intake. I hate seeing a journal that lists a salad for lunch. Unless that bad boy has some grilled chicken or chopped eggs on it, there is no way two cups of lettuce and a cucumber is going to get you through the demands of a work day. And since I don't want my girls ever going hungry, I hate to see them think that 3 celery sticks is all they need to survive. That is absolutely the quickest way to shut down your metabolism, my friends. It's amazing how a little Greek yogurt ranch dip or a couple of eggs added to that celery will carry you! Protein promotes satiety and gives you the stamina to power through until the next meal, and it is the best insurance policy against a metabolic crash.

So, in a perfect world, what does a good combination look like?*

• Crustless quiche with a side of fruit
• An apple dipped in Greek yogurt
• Cottage cheese with fresh pineapple
• Diced hard-boiled eggs on salad loaded with veggies of your choice
• Air-popped popcorn sprinkled with Parmesan cheese
• Black Bean soup
• Grilled chicken with bell peppers and pineapple
• Grilled fish with a side of quinoa
• Deli turkey wrapped around a few pickle spears (don't knock it 'til you try it)
• Caramel Turtle Nut Brownie with milk (no, seriously, it's good for you!)

*Thanks to my friends Bob and Vicki Mihaylov at Trinity Health Weight Loss for these fabulous ideas...it's highly unlikely I would have come up with ideas nearly that good. I mean, I don't see Cinnabon with Cream Cheese Frosting on here (cream cheese is protein, right?), so I'm pretty sure my ideas would have been a little sketchy....

OK, well I hope that this little post has cleared things up a bit and not left you lying awake at night with unanswered questions. Except for the enticing part about the brownie. I guess I'm more annoying than I thought.

Of Weddings and Waistlines: My 30-day Bridesmaid's Dress Makeover Plan

Today marks the one month countdown to the wedding of two dear friends of mine. It also marks the six-day deadline to my second bridesmaids' dress fitting. I am thrilled about the one, and dreading the other. I think you should be able to tell which I am looking forward to and which I am not. I mean, at one I get to eat cake, and at the other, any cake I've eaten can and will be used against me in a court o flaw. (I just made that one up myself.)

We've all been there before. Whether it's a company function or our ten-year high school reunion that you bought a dress for two months ago and thought, "I'll fit into it by then...," our lives are kind of marked by events that we should look forward to, but can't because we're not happy with our bodies. Thankfully, my friend has good taste and picked out dresses that were not only super cute, but very forgiving A-lines, so I should be able to skate by this wedding unscathed. That doesn't stop me, though, from wanting to crash-diet my way through the next month to see if I can't distract the pianist just a little bit during the ceremony. (The Hubs is the pianist, so I promise it's a completely legitimate goal.) But I know better than to do the typical skip-breakfast-and-subsist-on-carrots-and-rice-cakes thing. Instead, it's consistently applying what I already know to work. So here's my grand plan for wedding weight loss success:

Step #1: Eat more. 

OK, by a show of hands, how many of you went and checked my health teacher credentials when you read this? While it seems counter-intuitive to think that eating more can actually help your weight loss efforts, nothing could be more effective. Food is our body's fuel source, like the gasoline in our cars. Who waits until their low-fuel light is on to pump gas? (Confession: I actually drove over 20 miles of interstate with my low-fuel light on one time. God probably didn't mind it too much, because I'm pretty sure I had to pray the whole way home...) But when we *do* run our cars on fumes, they don't perform nearly as well as when they're topped off and ready to ride.

Our bodies are pretty much the same way. If you wait to eat until you're hungry, your body's low-fuel light has already come on. Your metabolism is no longer running at peak efficiency, and that means it's going to cling to those fat reserves like spandex to a muffin top. Neither scenario is pretty, my friends.

Once you're running on fumes, it's better to fill 'er up than to just put five bucks in, or you'll find yourself in the same pinch before you know it.  When you're running on empty, your poor little brain sends out an SOS to your body, because the little guy thinks he's drowning. He'll make you crave anything to get his sugar level back up to where he can function, and that's when something sugary that you know you shouldn't have suddenly look very appealing. The only problem with that is, once the brain has its quick fix, it'll be high as a kite for a while until it suddenly crashes again, and you'll be locked in some vicious cycle of grabbing a survival Snickers every time you start slowing down, and that, my friends, while tasty, is *not* the way to rock a bridesmaid's dress.

But I thought you said to eat more!!!  She is such a frustrating blogger, you may be thinking to yourself. But, relax. I got this. You know how they say it's easier to fill up a gas tank that's already almost full? The same principle applies here. The key is not eating more bad food that promotes an endless cycle of five-buck stops that leave you limping along on low-fuel until the next gas station, but rather topping off every time you eat with quality foods that never run you down to the low-fuel light in the first place.. Those fill-ups, by the way, should happen about once every three hours. And they should *not* be Snickers bars. Or even the highly-acclaimed Oreos of blog posts pasts. No, your body deserves premium grade gasoline, which, in food terms, is a combination of protein and carbohydrates every time you eat.

So, what does my rock-a-dress-while-eating-all-the-time menu look like? For me, it starts with a good meal-replacement shake that is totally balanced with protein for long-term energy and fullness and carbs for that little jolt to get me going. It also has a lot of fiber, which gets other things going, but I digress. They've done actual clinical studies with these bad boys, and the results are amazing. Besides, I adore these shakes, especially when I mix them up with a little fat-free cream cheese and vanilla extract on ice. I found the recipe on this website, but I'm pretty sure God made it up Himself, because it is heavenly. (Yes, I write all my own material.)

It also looks like summer fruit and Greek yogurt, a killer quiche recipe with a side salad, or hard-boiled eggs with raw veggies. For dinner, it may be a black bean soup or grilled chicken with peppers and pineapple. Oh, and the most flipping awesome healthy brownie for dessert. (I'm keeping *that* recipe under wraps...but I got your attention, didn't I?) Are you seeing the pattern here? There is protein and fresh, unprocessed carbohydrates in every choice, and you wouldn't believe how many Snickers bars I can resist when I eat like this (not that the brownies don't help..)! And I get to eat all the time! How awesome is that?

So, what does my plan NOT look like? Deprivation, hunger, and "give-me-the-Snickers-and-no-one-gets-hurt" moments. I never have to run on low fuel, and I never have to make crappy choices, because I know I'm just a couple of hours away from filling food. And brownies.

So, wish me luck, my friends. And, if you care to, join me in my makeover! Just write a comment or post to my Facebook page, and let me know you're up for eating a lot and losing weight, too! I'll teach you everything I know. And I may even share that brownie recipe with you.

PLAN B: If all else fails, shock them with an ugly dress. Nobody will be thinking about your weight then.

Mission Mondays: Patriotism, Politics, and Productivity

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! In this last installment of Mission Mondays, I'm going to delve into the dangerous world of politics a bit, just to keep things interesting and controversial enough to retain my 3-person reader base. I promise I won't get too offensive, and, in reality, I guess what I have to say is more patriotic than political. But, let's face it: which title word caught *your* attention more? I thought so.

I've always been interested in the political processes of our country. And I pretty much mean always. During George Bush's election campaign of 1988, I would get so excited whenever he appeared on TV that I would run up and kiss the screen. I would also repeatedly declare that, "Michael Dukakis is a tax-raiser!" I was seven. Do you realize how few of my first-grade friends were following the presidential campaign at the time? Well, I never got around to taking a Gallup poll during recess, but I would venture to say NONE.

Things hardly let up during my high school years. I took Government and Economics, found out about the dangers of Communism, and made an obscene number of statements that began with "If we do....., then the Communists win!" If they're looking for descendants of some secret love child of Joseph McCarthy, they might want to check my DNA.

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that there is more to America than political campaigns and propaganda. That political theories debated in the classroom become presidential policies which affect an entire population. But, more importantly, individuals still have the power to change the tide of their family, their community, their nation.

Through my career, I get to offer people the freedom to craft a future of their own making. It doesn't matter what your past is like; you can still shape your future. My students can exchange junk food for real food; they can trade in channel surfing for power walking;  and they can trade in their "I have bad genes" attitude for one that says, "I will beat the odds."

The unemployed and unfulfilled can choose genuine well-being over welfare. Like the amazing Melting Pot we as Americans enjoy, my business team is made up of diversity that shows that the American Dream comes true for those who do. I've never been in a career where age, education, social standing, ethnicity, business experience, or credentialing matter less. Give me a person who is willing to learn and work, and watch the changes take place. When people are given control of their own future, some pretty awesome things happen.

The American Dream is still worth fighting for. I would like to think that all of troops who have ever sacrificed anything for this nation--including their time, their lives, and their own personal comforts--have not sacrificed in vain. That we in gratitude can give them an America filled with people who value freedom as much as our troops do. That we would be a nation of independents, not dependents. That we would never trade in freedom for free-loading. That we would be an America that they are proud to return to, a country full of individuals who realize that the power to choose is a precious gift, given to us at the expense of others, and stripped away from those who no longer value it . America would look like this:


"It is my right to be uncommon--if I can.
I seek opportunity--not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafrid; to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, "This I have done.'"
--Dean Alfange


This inspiring little quote is the essence of the American Dream, the spirit of the entrepreneur. All too often, we are willing to trade our joy for a job, our dreams for a deposit, and our hustle for a handout. Somewhere along the way, we need to be willing to trade in a little security for a lot of success, so that we can prove to the world that the free market works for those who try.


While I didn't really embark on this career path to save America, it's kind of cool to think I can play a small role in making her future brighter just by inviting someone to join my team. Forbes Magazine says that small businesses and entrepreneurs are the key to turning our economy around, and I believe it. My "Now Hiring" sign will never come down, because there is always room for one more self-starter to take the lemons life has handed him and make lemonade from them. Entrepreneurs can put America back to work, and give her the courage to dream about life beyond the unemployment line, about a life that never settles for less than its true worth. 


So this Memorial Day, the best way I can honor our men and women in uniform is to go out and make a difference in the America they love. I hope you'll join me in finding a way to do the same. Because if we don't, then the Communists win. Just had to throw that in there.

Bonus Quote: “Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” ― Thomas Jefferson

Interested in what I do? Or just freaked about the Commies taking over? Stick it to them with an entrepreneurial career! Check out this video and let me know how I can help you craft a better future! 

Mission Mondays: It's for the Good of the Children

Welcome back to Mission Mondays! If you're just joining us, this is a special feature of the blog where you get to take a peek into the method behind my madness and find out why I love what I do! If you were one of the twenty people who read my post last week and *still* came back for more, I commend you. And I would probably suggest a psychological evaluation, as well. But thanks for sticking with me anyway.

This week's topic: I work "for the good of the children." And I don't mean that in the way like fighting couples who want to wait until the last kid leaves the nest until they separate do. Nothing emotionally devastating like that. And I don't mean it like some ditzy Miss America contestant would say it, when she lists off her stereotypical goals of world peace and ending hunger. No, I mean I love what I do and I do what I do because I think kids deserve to grow up healthy, and I think Moms deserve to play an active role in their well-being.

Here's an experiment for your day-after-Mother's-Day amusement: Take three kids, preferably your own, if you have that many. Now pick your least favorite (you know who it is...), buy them a Happy Meal, then blindfold them, and tell them not to use one appendage for the day.  After you've completed the experiment and paid the shrink bills for little Johnny, who has now confirmed what he has always suspected--that Susie really *is* your favorite--come back and read this post.

Did you know that the odds of today's kids developing diabetes are 1-in-3? And did you know that, while you may have gotten to *choose* to afflict your least favorite child in this experiment, diabetes can strike your *favorite* kiddo and leave them with a lifetime of health problems that could eventually result in blindness and amputations???? While my experiment may have been off-the-wall and you may be a completely unbiased parent resentful of my assuming you had an obvious favorite like my grandmother does, I hope you let the point of it sink in. Our kids are at risk of being the first Americans to live shorter lives than their parents because of the food culture we've created for them. Couple that with less play time and more PlayStations, and we have a recipe for an unprecedented health crisis in our nation.

As a woman, I believe I have been entrusted with one of the most sacred responsibilities known to man: cooking dinner. I don't know where you fall on the women's lib spectrum, but I tend to enjoy the traditional female role of being the family chef. In this way, I can achieve two main goals: 1) look like wife-of-the-year every night I make a quality meal, and 2) avoid eating the monotonously bland menu of unseasoned chicken breasts and pre-packaged lettuce that I would be subject to if the Hubs were in charge of mealtimes. I believe that women have a HUGE influence over the health of their family just by choosing what meals and snacks will be served in the home and sent in the Justin Bieber lunchbox. 

Personally, when we have a family of our own, I want those little guys and girls to think of ground turkey meatballs as normal, and Goldfish crackers as a snack for bad kids who don't get to eat Mommy's air-popped popcorn with her while she watches Survivor. One of the coolest things I ever saw was a 5-year-old ask her Mom what a Snickers bar was, because she honestly had no idea what delightfully dangerous goodness lay underneath that pretty packaging. That's the type of Mom I want to be (sort of--I think my kids will be able to pick out a Snickers bar in a line-up), and I have the privilege of helping other Moms make healthy the new norm for their families, too. I get to show them how simple it is to cook a healthy meal, how capable they are of providing their kids with the nutrition their little bodies need to thrive and grow, and how much fun it is to have family races and bike rides that don't involve Mario Kart.

Aside from changing family meal times, one of my greatest passions is to give Moms more time with their children. One of the main reasons I chose my career is for the flexibility and power it gave me to earn an income without missing out on the big moments and the little moments that I want to enjoy with my kids. I really don't want to miss a thing. (You can thank me for having a continuous loop of that Aerosmith song in your head later...)   Now, I realize that some Moms are way happier with an eight-hour-a-day break from domestic life, and I totally respect that. But it absolutely breaks my heart to see a Mom who wants to stay at home go back to the office, or a stay-at-home Mom go without, just because neither of them realize that you don't have to sacrifice time for money or money for time. 

I personally choose not to subscribe to the faulty theory that bread-winning and baby-snuggling are mutually exclusive. I don't even have kids yet, and I can't imagine being forced to leave them just to take in a paycheck. Could I choose to leave them for a time? If it's shoe shopping or a Snickers sale, heck yes. No, in all seriousness, I believe that women should decide what's best for their families, instead of letting circumstances dictate their actions. One of my biggest dreams for my business is to have a team of amazingly gratified women who pay for their kids' braces, ballet, and baseball and *still* get to watch every game and recital because their career choice gave them the opportunity to do both.

It's almost as good as having your cake and eating it, too. If you follow the link to this easy, healthy cake, you can do both AND be a dinner goddess tonight.


Bonus Quote: The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother.  
- Napoleon Bonaparte
Um.....I wonder where his Mom went wrong? Probably too much French bread.