RussBruz

Have you ever noticed that cravings for broccoli are pretty rare? But SOS food (salt, oil sugar), we are all over that! Whoever invented salted-caramel-chocolate clearly understands how to engineer “food” to hit ALL the pleasure centers in the brain. Did I just make you crave salted-caramel-

Why do we crave things that are bad for us? The short answer is it’s rooted in human survival. There was a time when calorically dense food was at a premium. If a human was lucky enough to come across salty, sweet or fatty food, eating as much of it as they could was good for survival. But did you notice that little word or? SOS food doesn’t exist in nature. That combination is human designed. (Thank you Big Food making for big profits making us big people.) And it always comes in calorie dense, nutrition poor, fiber nonexistent packaging.

The pleasure centers of our brain get excited by ice cream (fat and sugar), cheese, (fat and salt), salty snacks (fat and salt) and all other manner of processed foods (always some combination of SOS, sometimes all three). But our bellies aren’t full and our nutrition needs aren’t met. And just like a drug or alcohol addiction, we can get down-right grumpy when we don’t have access to our addiction of choice. We know it’s not good for us. But we just can’t stop ourselves. We HAVE to have it.

Knowing why it happens is great. It gives us a place to put the blame. But how do we fix it? I’m not going to tell you it’s easy per se. But it also doesn’t require huge amounts of willpower. This is going to sound counter intuitive but go with me on this.

You need to eat more. Stop with the portion control nonsense! Of course, I don’t mean eat more of what you’re craving. Eat more real, whole, plant food! Your belly has stretch receptors in it. Stretch them with green leafy veggies, yellow and red veggies, and whole-food starches (that aren’t covered in animal products and oil). At the same time as you’re stretching the receptors in your stomach your brain is going to get the message, “Hey we’re getting a lot of great nutrients. Yay!” All because there is a TON of whole-food fiber in the food you’re eating (adding fiber from a canister isn’t going to get it done). The systems that are designed to make sure you eat enough to stay alive are being checked off. Enough volume? Stretch receptors: “Yes!” Enough nutrients? Density receptors: “Yes”

That deals with the physiological issue of cravings caused by your body thinking it’s starving. What about the Pavlovian (habit) issue? Let’s substitute whole-foods for the processed. Craving sweet? Try dried fruit like raisins, dates, figs, or apricots (no sugar added of course). Or frozen fruit. We like mangoes and cherries. Craving fat? Nuts and seeds are a great option. Craving salt? Celery is high in sodium. But what if you’re craving SOS? Celery with peanut butter and raisins to the rescue! Try almonds or cashews with raisins or apricots (wicked good!).

Over time your taste buds and the pleasure centers in your brain will change and you’ll start to “crave” healthy foods.

Cravings served a purpose once-upon-a-time. But that time isn’t now. Feed your body real, whole, plant foods and it will take great care of you. Science and 100s of 1000s of years of human history says so.

If you are ready to address how your cravings are negatively affecting your health, let’s set up a free get-to-know-you chat. Send me an email and let’s get you on track to taking control of your stress eating. Health@RnRJourney.com

“Melanoma runs in my family.” If I (Robyn) said that once I said it a thousand times. When I was diagnosed with melanoma almost ten years ago, I wasn’t surprised. Fortunately, I have had regular skin checks my entire adult life. “Curing” my melanoma was a matter of a simple outpatient surgery and a few stitches. The only real impact on my life was not being able to bike ride for several weeks. I barely even have a scar. But since then I have been certain that I would get it again. Does science bear that out?

All things being equal, yes. But things aren't equal for me anymore.

I have had people tell me that heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many other human ailments run in their family as if it is a death sentence over-which they have no control. That there is no point in their trying to be healthier because they are set up to fail by their DNA. For most of my life I believed it.

But is it the truth?

Science suggests that about 2% of disease is in fact, “in our DNA.” That no matter what you do, you are destined to get whatever that disease is. But that means that 98% of diseases aren’t DNA driven. 98% of the time we CAN do something to avoid, halt and even reverse a disease. Getting it or not getting it is related to our environment.

The science is strong that heart disease (#1 killer in the US), diabetes (#7 killer in the US), obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol can be avoided, halted and reversed by moving towards a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle. If you already have one of those diseases or have a family history of them, let’s chat. There is zero reason for you to be suffering.

But what about cancer? Cancer’s just bad luck – right? I used to think so. But knowing what I now know about the science and how cancers come to be, I don’t think that’s the case. I believe if I had been WFPB I likely wouldn’t have had melanoma. And now that I am WFPB, the sun doesn’t scare me like it used to. Will I still be careful to not get sunburned? Yes. That’s just common sense. But I will no longer feel like I have failed when my skin gets a little bit of color in the summer months. I need the vitamin D my body makes from the sun and I am confident that, because I’m no longer stressing my system by forcing it to process high levels of dairy and meat, it will notice and either control or destroy any broken cells that might otherwise have become cancer.

My family history is no longer my destiny and yours doesn’t have to be either.

If you are ready to address the way Family History vs Personal Destiny is negatively affecting your health, let’s set up a free get-to-know-you chat. Send me an email and let’s get you on track to taking control of your stress eating. Health@RnRJourney.com

Medical professionals are starting to understand and recommend the whole-food plant-based lifestyle to their patients. But when Google says, WFPB eliminates or severely limits all animal products, (including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, dairy and eggs) and all processed foods (including all packaged foods, oils and sugars) most people reply, “What’s left to eat?!?!”

There is A LOT left. It’s simply a matter of changing the way your brain categorizes food. This is a short list of some yummy things on the WFPB lifestyle:

• Fresh or frozen Vegetables: beets, peppers, radishes, onions, potatoes, rhubarb, tomatoes, butternut squash, carrots, pumpkin, rutabagas, summer squash, corn, winter squash, cauliflower,  garlic,  ginger,  artichokes,  mushrooms,  parsnips, sweet potatoes, yams, shallots, turnips, artichokes, arugula, asparagus, broccoli, broccoli rabe, brussel sprouts, green beans, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, endive, kale, spinach, swish chard, leeks, lettuce, green onions, okra, peas, snow peas, sugar snap peas, watercress, zucchini, black olives, cabbage, eggplant, etc.
• Fresh, dried or frozen fruit: apples, apricots, avocado, bananas, blueberries, blackberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, dates, figs, grapes, grapefruit, honeydew melons, kiwis, lemons, limes, mangos, nectarines, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums/prunes, pomegranate, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, watermelons
• Whole grains: barley, brown rice, buckwheat, bulgur (cracked wheat), millet, rolled and steel cut oatmeal, and popcorn, etc.
• Beans/lentils: black beans, black-eyed peas, cannellini beans, edamame, fava beans, garbanzo beans, green beans, kidney beans, lima beans, mung beans, navy beans, green peas, pinto beans, red beans, soy beans, wax beans, white beans, etc.
• Nuts/legumes: walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, pecans and cashews, etc.)
• Seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, chia, flaxseed, etc.
• Minimally processed foods such as whole wheat bread and pasta
• More spices than we could possibly list.

As you can see, it’s not a matter of not having anything left to eat, but rather thinking about what’s left as main dishes rather than “sides.” You will also find that as your taste buds "unclog" from the fats and oils, plant foods will taste different and better. Foods you thought you didn’t like, you suddenly might enjoy.

Where to start.

You don’t have to jump off the cliff, throw everything in your house away and start eating only plants tomorrow. We were “veganish” for about 6 months as we educated ourselves about being whole-food plant-based. Being only about 75% WFPB we both lost 15 pounds and lowered our cholesterol under 200 in 10 weeks. You don’t have to be 100% to see benefits.

Look at what and how you’re eating now. Can you replace some of your snacks with fruit? Maybe switch out bacon and eggs for oatmeal loaded with fruit (we like blueberries, raspberries, bananas nd raisins on ours). What about making your favorite dish with beans instead of hamburger? If you use all the same spices it will taste really similar.

Dairy and eggs need the boot

Dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream) are really hard on the human system and science shows that they promotes cancer. Cheese is the number one source of saturated fat in the American diet. Start weaning yourself off of it. Switch to plant milks and give up cheese and yogurt (Even vegan substitutes are loaded with oil. Members can see a discussion about that on the community page). You can replace ice cream with frozen, blended fruit. Just add a little plant milk and vanilla extract. Yum!

We did a Facebook live about eggs on 3/13/18. They are the number one source of cholesterol in the American diet. Plus, they are animal protein so all the commentary on animal protein promoting disease applies. For baking there are a host of plant-based alternatives (There is a list of them on the community page under WFPB). Be wary of egg substitutes as many of them do contain egg whites.

Oils were the last to go

For us, oil was the last thing we let go of in the house but turned out to be the easiest. We just cook with veggie broth or water. But if you’re stressed thinking about that, just start to cut back on how much and how often you use it.

Bottom line

Start by eliminating dairy and eggs and then start replacing other animal products and processed foods with plant-foods.

If you would like to have a personal conversation about your situation and get ideas what might work for you, book a consultation with Dr Robyn.

Meal prepping is such a “thing” these days and you know that I (Robyn) usually cook two big recipes over the weekend and that’s what we eat all week. But what if I don’t cook, there isn’t enough or we just don’t feel like eating what I made? Then what?

Because we make a point to keep some standard staples in the house we can always throw together a meal or 5 with no planning at all. Here are some ideas:

• Oatmeal with fruit (you know this is our go-to food in a pinch)
• Sweet potato with avocado and beans (Robyn likes lemon pepper seasoning on hers)
• Whole-wheat pasta with marinara sauce, veggies and beans
• Big salad: Kale, spinach, seeds, nuts, veggies, fruit, avocado, beans and/or quinoa
• Veggie wrap: hummus and salad fixings in a toasted tortilla
• Whole-wheat bread or tortilla with hummus or peanut butter (add raisins to make it really yummy!)
• Potato with peas and corn (Russ likes apple cider vinegar on his)
• Rice or quinoa and beans with marinara sauce (with or without adding taco seasoning and veggies)
• Quinoa and fruit (you can eat quinoa just like oatmeal and it is even good cold)

You can mix and match any of the above to create a healthy and filling meal with no planning.

If you’re super hungry and need something to munch on while you wait for your potatoes or rice to cook, a few raw nuts and raisins are a great option and so is celery with a nut-butter of your choice.

Planning ahead is ideal. But it doesn’t always happen. That doesn’t mean you are destined to eat processed not-really-food or not-good-for-you takeout. It’s all about keeping real food you can make easily in the house.

Do you have a go-to, healthy, in-a-pinch option you love? Members please share on the community page!

If you are ready to address how your food choices are negatively affecting your health, let’s set up a free get-to-know-you chat. Send me an email and let’s get you on track to taking control of your stress eating. Health@RnRJourney.com

Somewhere in the last 30 or so years we’ve let Big Food and Big Pharma with the nod from Big Government convince us that the human body doesn’t know how to be healthy on its own and we need them to tell us what is best for us. Along with that information came the idea that being overweight and sick is normal and, for good measure, our own fault because we are lacking motivation and willpower. And by listening to them we’ve only gotten sicker and fatter.

Let’s look at three health myths we’ve been sold and what the real outcomes are:

Myth # 1 – Fake sweeteners will save us from obesity

Truth – Various fake sweeteners are associated with migraine risk, insulin resistance (which leads to diabetes), irritable bowel disease, and Crohn’s disease. And because your body was expecting calories due to the sweetness and didn’t get calories, it makes you go ahead and eat more calories later than you otherwise would have. So, they don’t help with the obesity issue after all.

What to do instead – Blackstrap molasses and date sugar. They both have calories and should only be used sparingly and to encourage us to eat real, whole, plant foods. But they do have some nutritional value.

Myth # 2 – Low fat will save us from heart disease

Truth – When we were told that fat was making us fat and killing us with heart disease, we listened and suddenly anything with “low-fat” splashed across the package became synonymous with “healthy.” Unfortunately, often sugar was added to make up for the lost flavor and in the case of dairy products, reducing the fat content increased the percentage of protein. Milk protein has been linked to cancer promotion. Thirty + years on we are fatter and heart disease is killing more of us than ever.

What to do instead: The issue isn’t “fat” across the board. It is the saturated fats found in animal-based products (meat, dairy, eggs) and processed plant fats (oil). Become a flexitarian (eating meat only once maybe twice a week) and you reduce your risk of heart disease by 27%. Vegetarian (no meat) and you can drop your risk 53%. Go vegan (no meat, dairy or eggs) and your risk drops 61%. But what if you go whole-food plant-based (no meat, dairy or eggs, plus minimize oils and sugar, AND eat high fat plants like nuts)? Now your risk of dying of heart disease drops a striking 80%! Need we say it? Eat whole-food plants!

Myth # 3 – Eating carbs* is making us fat 

Truth – The human body burns carbs as fuel and is very inefficient at converting carbs to fat. If carbs are stored, they are stored as glycogen and then burned as heat. However, the animal protein and fat you’ve been putting on your carbs (think, loaded baked potato) are easily stored as fat. Your brain needs about 500 calories of carbs a day. It’s the only fuel your brain can burn. Going low-carb, which by definition means high-fat and high-protein, stresses the human system. Sure, you can lose weight in the short-term because you’re cutting calories. But going low-carb is mortgaging your future health for short-term weight loss. It’s not good for humans, no matter what fancy, fad-diet name is used.

What to do instead – Humans thrive on a diet that is about 85% whole-food starch (carbs). Fill your belly to your heart’s content with root veggies like potatoes and sweet potatoes, grains like brown rice, whole wheat and quinoa and legumes (beans, peas, etc). They will fill you up, keep you satisfied and keep your brain running like a champ. And you’ll likely reach and maintain your ideal weight without ever feeling deprived.

*Note: Not all carbs are equal. We are talking here about whole-food plant carbs. All bets are off if you fill up on processed carbs that are loaded with sugar like cakes, cookies, and donuts. I don’t want to hear, “Well RnR said carbs were good” as an excuse to eat half a birthday cake.

The bottom line – You can’t trick the human body. Chemicals meant to mimic food, aren’t food and they are going to cause problems. Hunger is an engrained survival instinct. You cannot make a lifestyle of depriving yourself. Give your body the right fuel and it will take really good care of you.

Are you ready to take back control of your health? Book a consultation with Dr Robyn today to outline where you are and how to get started. Your health is your responsibility.