How often do you read the nutrition labels on ingredients at the grocery store?

The FDA requires every manufactured food in America to have a nutrition label, which is fantastic because it allows us to make intelligent choices regarding food. But what information is most valuable on the nutrition label?

First of all, don’t judge an item solely by the front label – it can be wildly misleading. Just because it says “healthy” doesn’t mean it is healthy! You still need to read the labels to get the correct information. Here are the basics to get you started.

Serving Size

Knowing the serving size will vastly impact the other information on the label.

Did you know that the serving size of peanut butter is only two tablespoons? That’s almost 200 calories of peanut butter - and most of us consider a “serving” to be way more! Similarly, the serving size for butter is a tablespoon, but many of us use more on our morning toast. Be mindful of what a “serving” is so you know how many calories you are consuming.

Serving size is based on a 2,000 calorie diet. The FDA says that, on average, an adult human needs 2,000 to live healthfully, but you might need more or fewer than that. It will be different for you when you see the % daily value for a certain vitamin or mineral. Keep that in mind as you read labels.

Ingredients

Always ask yourself if you would recognize the ingredients in nature. For instance, did it fly, swim or grow? Is it a plant, or was it made in a plant? Are there words on the label that would knock you out of a spelling bee? You want words like “pepper”... not words like “Butylated Hydroxyanisole.”

Nutrients

Know your personal limits are for sugar, fat, salt, and calories to help you decide if a product is right for you.

When you start reading nutrition labels, you might be disappointed to discover that many of your favourite packaged foods aren’t so healthy. If you find that one of your favourite foods contains too much sodium, take a photo of the ingredients and challenge yourself to make a better version at home with wholesome ingredients!

Bottom Line

When considering an item at the grocery store, ask yourself, “Did it fly, swim, or grow? Did it have a mother?” Try to make the bulk of your diet consist of foods that don’t have a label, like fruits and veggies.

When you learn to enjoy foods with simple ingredients, your body will thank you with more energy, clearer thinking, and longer life.

Want to learn more? Check out my upcoming workshop, Kick Your Sugar Habit, where I talk about nutrition labels and other ways to kick your sugar habit permanently.

Do you want to curb your sugar cravings? Here are a few tips to get you started.

Drink Water

Sometimes, the craving may be a sign of dehydration. Drink a big glass of water and wait five minutes and see if you still have the urge to eat something sweet.

Eat Sweet Veggies, Fruits, and Spices Instead

Add naturally sweet foods and spices to your diet like squash, yams, carrots, beets, berries, figs, apples, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, and cloves.

Sleep!

You’ve heard me say this many times, but sleep is essential! If you are constantly tired, your body will look for energy in the form of sugar or caffeine. Start working on a regular sleep schedule to ensure you get enough hours of rest.

Check Your Protein

Keep an eye on what type and how much protein you are eating. Eating too much or too little animal protein can lead to massive sweet cravings. You’ll want to find the best amount that works for your unique body.

Watch Out for Low-Fat Foods

When manufacturers take the fat out of food, they typically add more sugar. You may be eating more sugar than you think!

Movement

Movement reduces stress and makes you feel and look great. When you don’t get enough exercise, your body starts to look for other ways to blow off steam, like binging on carbohydrates.

Create New Post-Meal Rituals

If you like dessert after your meal, ask yourself why. Is it a ritual or habit? What are some other post-meal rituals you can try?

If you want more tips and tricks on curbing your sweet tooth, check out one of my upcoming Kick Your Sugar Habit workshops.

https://www.ntlrx.com/sugar-workshop

Who doesn’t love sugar? We get pleasure from eating it. We may even get the “sugar high” only to crash shortly afterward. If you love sugar and can’t seem to stop eating it, you are not alone. Sugar is one of the most addictive substances in our food today. Approximately 75% of Americans consume an excessive amount of sugar.

Are you addicted to sugar? Here are a few common signs that typically point to sugar addiction.

Do you juice or blend? Both or none? Here’s an infographic on the difference between the two.

We all know that stress is a part of life. Things such as work, school, or family problems can cause stress. While most people are aware of the major sources of stress in their lives, additional hidden stressors may wreak havoc. These can include environmental toxins, financial worries, and social isolation. Hidden stressors can significantly impact our health and well-being and may not even feel stressful. Which hidden stressors do you have?

It’s no secret that stress can take a toll on the body. From causing headaches and muscle tension to increasing the risk for heart disease and other chronic illnesses, stress can be harmful to your health. But what exactly is stress doing to your body?

As you settle into the new year, it’s not too late to make a few minor changes in your diet and lifestyle to help reset your health. A health reset will help you develop healthy habits, kick out bad habits, sleep better, gain energy, improve digestion, reduce inflammation, and feel your best.

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, it’s time for a health reset.

• Have I gained a few extra pounds that I can’t seem to lose?

• Do I get bloated after eating?

• Do I feel sluggish and tired during the day?

• Am I addicted to unhealthy foods?

• Do I have cravings for sugary or starchy foods?

• Do I have difficulty focusing or experience a foggy brain?

If it’s time for a reset, here are a few tips to help you get started.

Do You Know Your Signs of Stress?

Stress can manifest in various ways, but most people have a half-dozen symptoms that are unique for them, which they can learn to recognize. Here are just a few ways stress can show up in your life:

Physical Symptoms

A typical stress reaction is the “fight or flight” response; your heart beats faster, your muscles tense, your breathing rate increases, and you may even start to sweat. Chronic stress may show up differently. You may get a headache, grind or clench your jaw, experience sore muscles, chest pains, abdominal symptoms, or a change in appetite. Two of the most common symptoms of stress are fatigue and low-quality sleep.

Mental Symptoms

Do you have trouble concentrating or making decisions? These are common signs of stress. You might also find that your mind is racing or going blank.

Emotional Symptoms

It’s common to feel nervous, anxious, tense, restless, or agitated when you’re stressed. You may also feel irritable, frustrated, impatient, or short-tempered. On the other hand, you may also feel lethargic, depressed, or sad.

Behavioral Symptoms

Do you find yourself constantly fidgeting in your seat? Are you a nail-biter or compulsive eater? These behaviors are signs of stress. Other behavioral symptoms include smoking, drinking, talking loudly, or swearing.

We all have had experiences when our bodies go into “flight or fight” mode, a quick response our bodies are meant to do to protect us in dangerous situations. This was useful when we were being chased by creatures that wanted to eat us for dinner back in the day. Luckily, we don’t face the same dangers as our ancestors in today’s world, but our bodies don’t know the difference between a prehistoric animal and a work deadline. Our stress reactions are activated far too often and for much more extended periods. The result is not only unpleasant but unhealthy.

You've decided to lose weight, you read up on how to do it, you select a plan, and you purchase exercise clothing. The first week goes well, and you see the scale dip down slightly. Woot!

You decide to keep going with the plan, but at some point, during week two, you catch yourself sitting on the sofa watching television in your workout clothing, gobbling down a pint of ice cream.

Sound familiar?

If so, you've fallen into one of the most common weight-loss traps: self-sabotage. It's sneaky and often difficult to pin down. It's also confusing, and it's completely derailing your weight loss efforts.

By definition, behavior is sabotaging when it creates problems and interferes with long-standing goals.

In other words, you know what you need to do, but you don't do it. Or you know what you shouldn't do, but you do it anyway. That's the simplest way to understand how self-sabotage works.

Are You Ready to Stop Self-Sabotage?

You say you want to lose weight, but you're not successfully doing it. Chances are you're feeling discouraged, ashamed or confused. Perhaps you also have diet fatigue or lack confidence because you don't believe in your ability to lose weight.

The harsh reality is that you're sabotaging your weight loss efforts because of those feelings. To overcome sabotaging behaviors, you first have to look at what's causing the behavior in the first place, which can be difficult.

If you're willing to make a change in your life, then I'm willing to offer you one laser-coaching session at no charge.

During the session, I'll help you:

Identify how you sabotage yourself. Self-sabotage might look like procrastination, avoidance, over-eating, not getting enough sleep.

Name your fears about weight loss. Remember, fears are usually irrational, so when you put them down on paper, they might seem silly, and that's okay!

Create a weight loss plan. We'll lay a solid foundation to get you started on your successful weight loss journey.

All you have to do is schedule the session. You'll be amazed at what one coaching session can do to jumpstart your weight loss.

Are you an artistic person? Are you looking to introduce new habits for 2022? Then this challenge calendar is for you! It’s super cool because you can use one of these for each habit you are looking to introduce. For every day you perform the habit, colour in the corresponding section of the calendar. How cool is that?! If you’d like to download a PDF version, click below.

I can’t take credit for this and I’m not sure who the original designer is but I had to share. I hope you enjoy using it!

Stress and the demands of everyday living have us all struggling to stay on track. We skip our workouts, sleep less, grab food on the run, all to keep up with the hectic pace of living.

With so much going on, cutting back from seven or eight hours of sleep might seem like the answer. You may say if you only sleep six hours, that gives you two more hours to be productive, right?

Well, not really.

First off, your brain is TIRED when you don’t sleep. You‘re operating in a fog, and making the best decisions is pretty much impossible. When you stop by the break room, nine times out of ten, you will grab the donut to go with your coffee because you’re so beat you THINK you need the one-two punch of sugar and caffeine to get you going. Your brain’s reward centers are revved up from lack of sleep, and your food cravings are in overdrive.

Studies consistently show us that when our bodies don’t get enough sleep, we opt for quick-fix, high-carb snacks to keep going. One study even showed that participants who slept less than eight hours chose snacks with twice the fat content of their well-rested counterparts.

Second, crappy choices, bigger portions, and no impulse control in the kitchen are bound to produce weight gain. In addition to changing how your brain functions, sleep deprivation has a powerful effect on hormone production. Hormones plus dieting generally equal disaster. Cortisol, leptin, and ghrelin are the three hormones most commonly connected to weight control.

Cortisol

Cortisol is your stress hormone, and it suppresses your metabolism. Your adrenal glands produce it, and if you aren’t well-rested, your stress will skyrocket. Cortisol tells your body to save its energy, which means it’s going to hang on to fat. There is a debate on whether cortisol directly affects weight loss, but for anyone with emotional eating habits, higher cortisol levels are a recipe for disaster. Stress makes us seek comfort, and for many of us, food is a go-to for feeling better.

Leptin

Leptin is a hormone produced in your fat cells. It tells your body when to stop eating and to burn more calories. When you are tired, your body produces less leptin, so your appetite is out of control, and your metabolism tanks. Not recognizing our body’s hunger signals is difficult enough without the added magic of hormones confusing our wants and needs.

Grehlin

Grehlin is a hormone released by your stomach that makes you hungrier, slows down your metabolism, and decreases your body’s ability to burn fat. When you are sleep-deprived, your body produces more ghrelin. That means you are tired, want to eat a whole lot of garbage, and aren’t programmed to burn it off.

Insulin

Insulin is the hormone your body uses to convert food, particularly sugar and starch, into energy. Four days of poor sleeping can be enough to hamper your body’s ability to process insulin. This means your body can’t process the fats in your bloodstream, so it just stores them as fat.

Research proves that dieters who cut back on sleep over two weeks dramatically reduced the amount of weight they lost from fat even when their eating patterns and intake didn’t change. Lack of sleep killed their metabolism, and that equaled weight gain. If you aren’t sleeping enough, you are disrupting your metabolism, which will make you gain weight or have trouble losing weight.

Set yourself up for success with proper sleep hygiene. That’s how you’re going to win at weight loss. If you need help with your sleep hygiene, I can help. Check out one of my upcoming sleep workshops or schedule a call with me so that we can discuss your concerns and set a plan in place to get you sleeping better.

Do You Count Calories?

If you do, here are some things you should know:

You can’t account for every single calorie

Even if you weigh your food, it’s challenging to count the unused milk in your cereal bowl or the extra teaspoon of oil you used when cooking. You should also consider how the spices you cook with can alter caloric absorption and how your body utilizes calories. Also, the type of food determines how your body absorbs calories. The more processed the food, the easier it is for your body to digest and absorb the calories. Eating whole (less processed) foods requires your body to expend more energy to digest, therefore absorbing fewer calories. It’s safe to say… it’s a very complex process!

Food and exercise can affect caloric value

100 calories from spinach is very different than 100 calories from a donut. Each food can affect satiety, digestion, metabolism, and hormones differently. It’s the same with exercise. Different workouts can result in the same caloric burn but may not have the same effect on health. When choosing foods and exercise, consider the long-term impact.

Labels can be misleading

The FDA allows food labels to be accurate within 80%. That’s a lot if you are counting calories!

Bottom Line

Calorie counting is a small part of the larger health equation. I believe most people don’t need to count calories as there are many other ways to track overall health if you are trying to lose weight.

Water is essential for the functioning of our bodies. Today, we have many choices of tastes and types of water, including carbonated water. But is carbonated water just as hydrating as still water?

Plain carbonated water is simply water pressurized with carbon dioxide. As long as the water is free of additives, it's just as hydrating and healthy as still water.

However, there are many different types of carbonated water on the market:

• Club soda contains ingredients like salt, sodium bicarbonate, or potassium bicarbonate.

• Flavored Sparkling Water may contain added natural sugars, citric acid, sodium, or caffeine.

• Mineral water comes from mineral springs and contains minerals, including salts and sulfur compounds.

• Seltzer water is just regular water that has been carbonated. Some bottled seltzer water may contain added flavors and ingredients.

• Tonic water contains added sugar, sweeteners, and flavors.

What about other benefits/risks?

Research has shown that carbonated water may help aid digestion, help improve swallowing ability, and increase feelings of fullness.

Side effects may include gas and bloating, and carbonated water high in sugar can cause tooth decay.

The bottom line is to read the label. If you're worried about sodium intake or tooth decay, stick to plain carbonated water with no additives.

How often do you hear people bragging about pulling all-nighters or saying things like, “I only need 5 hours of sleep a night,” or “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”?

Here’s a fact, your body needs sleep. Did you know that driving while sleep-deprived can be just as bad as driving while intoxicated?

There are so many benefits to sleep, but I’m just going to give you five of them.

Tips for Holiday Sips

The holiday season brings family gatherings and festive events. It also brings extra calories in the form of food and drink. Adding alcohol to the equation makes it difficult if you’re trying to maintain your weight over the holiday season.

One gram of alcohol is approximately seven calories. It’s more than carbs and fat (4 calories) but less than fat (9 calories). The issue with alcohol is that our bodies don’t burn calories while metabolizing it as we do with carbs, fat, and protein.

Alcohol is easy to absorb, so it enters our bloodstream without burning any extra calories. It’s seen as a toxin, so our liver metabolizes before anything else. Our liver can only metabolize about one ounce of alcohol per hour, which is why we get tipsy if we drink too fast.

If you’re looking to indulge over the holiday season, here are a few tips that may help:

Pour half as much

If you’re drinking wine, pour 3 to 4 ounces at a time instead of 6 to 9 ounces. With liquor, opt for a smaller shot in a tall glass with a lot of ice.

Avoid higher-calorie mixed drinks

Eggnog is usually the go-to for many holiday parties, but one 8-ounce pour can be over 350 calories! Opt for lower-calorie options like:

• Red or white wine: 5 ounces | Calories; 125, Carbohydrate: 4g

• Light beer: 12 ounces | Calories: 100; Carbohydrate: 5g

• Champagne: 5 ounces | Calories: 100; Carbohydrate: 1g

• Vodka, whiskey, rum, or gin: 1.5 ounces | Calories: 96; Carbohydrate: 0g

Alternate between alcohol and water

Drinking water in-between each glass of alcohol will help you stay hydrated, and you’ll drink less.

Sip Slowly

Enjoy that beverage! Drinking slowly will allow you to savor the taste, and you will also drink less.

Have you ever woken up on January 1st a bit disappointed in how you treated your body during the holiday season?

Without a plan in hand, it’s tough to stick to your healthy living goals with all the eggnog and sugar cookies floating around, not to mention the food pushers and saboteurs lurking in the shadows.

Here are seven ways to stay healthy over the holidays.

Join me as I welcome guest speaker Tracey Gates as she shares the energizing, uplifting, and connecting power of writing unexpected letters of appreciation.

Tracey believes that our relationships are the most important things in our lives. When we connect with one another we become the best version of ourselves. Are you ready to experience the contagious positive energy of kindness through the written word?

Tracey's vision is to let people everywhere know that they matter through writing unexpected letters of appreciation. When we share our kind thoughts, we feel happier, calmer, and more joyful. The lucky letter recipient experiences the same empowering sensations. So....why don't we share our kind thoughts more often? Tracey will share stories from her incredible year-long journey where she wrote an unexpected letter of appreciation to a different person every day for one year and how it changed her life in the most beautiful ways and can change yours too! She will empower you to open up to this simple and overlooked way of life that asks you to simply let people know what you appreciate, admire or love about them. No special degree is needed. What her journey taught her is that every person in this world wants to feel noticed, and when we help people feel noticed, the world shines more brightly. Let's make kindness intentional together and feel exuberant along the way.

Tracey is a certified Life and Wellness Coach through the Health Coach Institute. Her passion for nurturing relationships has been a lifelong study. Through her compassionate listening and deep sense of empathy, Tracey helps people become aware of their possibilities. She creates a warm and safe environment for people to show up and open up on a journey of transformation. In addition to personal coaching, Tracey is dedicated to spreading her message of kindness through her workshop called A Few Kind Words, creating contagious positive energy through writing unexpected, handwritten letters of appreciation.

She has been an active community leader and volunteer for decades in the Princeton, NJ area. She served for many years on the Boards of Trinity Counseling Service, Save - A Friend to Homeless Animals and Pretty Brook Tennis Club. Her work as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster children) and her role as the Director of Alumni Relations at Princeton Day School have fostered her deep commitment to helping people feel empowered and appreciated.

Tracey believes that our relationships are the most important things in our lives. She is nourished and sustained everyday by her husband, children, grandsons, friends and pets.