Coupons and Eating Healthy

Tonight I was privileged to teach Enrichment night at my church, a night where women get together and learn new homemaking or life skills. I used to teach the "coupon classes" all the time. At least that was before I went rogue.

A while back I helped to start a coupon website that has since become pretty popular in Utah, where I live. At one point I was even offered a television spot in Arizona to promote the site. I knew all the ins and outs and was that lady that everyone hates...the one that gets two carts full of groceries for $20 and takes FOREVER at the checkout. I saved so much money that, at the time, it was well worth all the scoffs from the people in line and the time spent clipping coupons. And I did it the easy way! I spent maybe an hour once a week tops, organizing and cutting coupons.

And then I got into nutrition and fitness. I noticed a trend with the foods that were listed in coupons and sale ads. I had a pantry stocked with Campbell's soup, sugary granola bars, fruit snacks, frozen dinners, etc. I didn't normally buy that stuff, but how could I miss out when it was practically free? Sure I was getting my groceries at a fraction of the cost, but the quality of our food seemed to be subpar. It's a common conclusion that many people come to. In fact, even tonight my friend commented "It seems like the only type of food the coupons are for are convenience foods."

It's a valid question. Can you "coupon" and still eat healthy?

In short, yes you can. You have to be careful though. You can get caught up in the savings and forget about quality over price. Here are a few tips to help you save cash and still buy healthy foods:

1. If you wouldn't buy it full price, don't get it even if it's FREE! Don't let the sale ads dominate or control your food choices. Manufactures are willing to produce coupons because they know that most people will try their item if they can get it cheap enough. Don't let them make your choices for you.
2. Use coupons for non-food items like; toiletries, detergents, make-up, diapers, paper goods, school supplies, etc. Don't pay full price for those items when you can get them deeply discounted.
3. Combine sale prices with coupons for a double whammy savings.
4. Remember that all items tend to go on sale every 3 months. If you missed the big sale this time, wait until it goes on sale again. And remember to stock up when you do get the item on sale so that you have a 3 months supply to get you through the next sale.
5. Pay full price for quality items when necessary like; vitamins, fish oil, protein powder, whole grains, produce. It's not always true, but with some things you really do get what you pay for.
6. Skip packaged food, packaged dinners, packaged snacks, the types of food you usually get with coupons. Avoid the sugary cereals when they go on sale too. It doesn't matter how cheap it is, crap is crap no matter how little you paid for it! Remember the scripture, "don't spend your money for that which has no worth." This would be a very literal interpretation of that.
7. Look into local Farmer's markets. You can get fresh, organic, local (read eco-friendly) foods often times much cheaper than at regular grocery stores. Buy produce when it is in season and bottle or can the surplus so you can eat it all year.
8. Plant a garden. Nothing beats garden fresh tomatoes from your own backyard. Not to mention you can choose to plant only the foods that your family will eat. This is the cheapest way I know of to get fresh produce. Plus, you can put your kids to work and teach them the joy of the harvest after working hard for it!
9. Sam's Club and Costco for SELECT items. Overall, they really aren't that much cheaper than say, Walmart. BUT, there are a few select items that I buy that are always cheaper there. I buy my meats, bread and some produce there as well as some clothing items. I go in with a list, walk fast and get out quick. When I start to roam I end up spending way too much money there. The owner of the website I helped to start used to say that the slogan for bulk stores is "Folks going broke to save money."
10. Last of all, plan ahead before you go to the store. In the past, I have literally spent over a hundred dollars at the grocery store and walked away with nothing to make dinner with. Meal planning is not only essential for saving money, it's vital to preparing and eating healthy food for you and your family. At the very least, plan a couple of days worth of meals and the ingredients you need for them. With a plan in hand, you will be less tempted to buy the 10 for $10 fruit snacks or .79 cents Sugar Puffs.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Every Fall I love to get out my sweaters and soup recipes and get all cozy. I've seen tons of soup blogs as of late. Soups are wonderful ways to feed your family nutritious food in a sneaky way. The only way my kids would ever eat a parsnip is in a soup. Speaking of parsnips, I want to share with you my favorite Fall soup from a nifty little blog called "Not Eating Out in New York."

Curried Sweet Potato Soup
(makes 2-3 servings)

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut to 1″ pieces
1 medium parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1-2 teaspoons hot curry powder
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy pot, cook the onions with the butter on low for about 5 minutes, stirring. Add the parsnips, chopped rosemary, a pinch each of salt and pepper and continue on low to cook another 5-6 minutes. Reduce heat if onions begin to brown. Add the sweet potatoes and stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes.

Use a hand food processor to blend soup into a creamy, almost-smooth consistency (I prefer to have just a few tiny lumps, but not many). Or, transfer to a food processor and blend in batches. Return to low heat, and add a bit of the curry powder, some salt and a little pepper. Taste for seasoning, and add more curry and/or salt according to taste. Add the milk and stir until completely heated through. Adjust seasoning if desired. Garnish with optional fresh herbs (such as parsley) and serve.

Cost Calculator
(for 2-3 servings)

2 sweet potatoes (at $1/lb): $1.00
1 parsnip (at $2.50/lb): $0.25
1 small onion (at $1.25/lb): $0.30
2 cups homemade chicken stock: $0.25
1 cup milk: $0.60
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary (at $2/bunch): $0.25
2 teaspoons curry powder, salt and pepper: $0.40
2 tablespoons butter (at $4/lb): $0.25

Total: $3.30

Health Factor

One brownie point: I can’t think of anything bad to say about this recipe, health-wise. Who knew that parsnips were more nutritionally dense than their vibrant cousins, carrots? And along with sweet potato, we’re talking Vitamin A, potassium and fiber to the max, plus B-vitamins, Vitamin C, folate and calcium (and that’s not counting the milk in this recipe). Despite their strong flavors, sweet potatoes and parsnips happen to be relatively low in calories and arehighly recommended complex carbohydrates. How did that happen??

At Home Resistance Workout

For those of you who do not have the luxury of a gym membership or a home gym, I have a workout for you! Last post, one of the things I mentioned your body needs for peak performance is heavy lifting-resistance, to keep your muscles and bones strong. There are many other benefits to resistance training, here are a few:

• Stronger muscles=better performance in all physical aspects of your life
• Bigger muscles=faster metabolism at rest
• Strong bones=reduces chances of osteoporosis
• Shapely muscles=a better looking YOU

There are a few important things to consider when doing resistance training:

1. Give your body 24 hrs. rest between sessions
2. Work all the major muscle groups in your body
3. Aim to do resistance training 2-3 a week
4. Repetitions (the number of times you perform an exercise) create different desired affects:

• 4-8 reps build strength
• 8-12 reps build shape
• 12-15 reps build endurance

So now here is a fantastic routine that can be performed from home without any expensive equipment:

30 Squats

15 Push-ups

30 Lunges

Pull-ups (if you don't have a pull-up bar, you can also use your kid's swing set!)

Bicycles

Repeat three rounds of these exercises. Click the exercises for video demo links.

Your Body's Manual

I might be a little biased, being a personal trainer and all, but I am excited to get to my favorite part of health...EXERCISE. Our bodies are amazing machines. I do not know of any machines that actually get stronger, more efficient and better looking with proper use. But your body does. It was built to be used. But not used in just any way, but proper, efficient, smart exercise can do just that...improve your machine.

My great-grandfather used to say, "I don't need exercise, I WORK." That was definitely true at the time he said it. But we live in a different day and age. Much different than the millions and billions of humans that have lived before us. Sitting at a desk to make a living is a relatively new idea for humans. And thanks to the invention of cars and other transportation there is little-to-no need to walk anywhere other than down the aisles of your favorite grocery store. Heck, even washing your clothes 100 years ago was a workout and is now a chore that merely takes the turn of a dial and some marginal bending.

Why is this a problem? It's great that our lives are easier, more time to spend on the internet right? (JOKING!) Seriously though, OUR BODIES NEED EXERCISE. If your body came with a manual for peak performance, here would be the abbreviated version:

1. Take care of your heart. Get your heart rate up for at least 30-60 minutes a day, more if you can. How do you know if you heart is pumping fast enough? If you can talk in uninterrupted discourses you are not working out hard enough. You want to be able to speak, but in short sentences. Or, better yet, perform my favorite cardio exercise, HIIT (high intensity interval training.)
2. Stretch your tight muscles.
3. Give your body only Premium Fuel. (Remember the Basics.) Give it less than the best and you will get less than the best performance. Period.
4. Challenge your body. Every time you exercise go longer, harder or try something new. You body is smarter than you think. It is built to be efficient and adapts quickly to the activities you perform on a regular basis.
5. Keep your muscles and bones strong by lifting heavy things. This means WEIGHT LIFTING or body weight exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, hip thrusts, etc.
6. Move more. Walk when you can, take the stairs, play with your kids, garden, rake leaves, get out and enjoy nature.
7. Get 8 hours of sleep a night. You body recuperates and heals during sleep. Not only that, but in a recent study people who got just 80 minuets less sleep than those who got 8 hours consumed 500+ calories more per day. Keep that up over a week and you've already gained a pound. Continue that for a year and you're looking at a hefty 50 lbs gain in fat! Here's a link to that study.
8. Get a little vitamin D a day in the form of sun. In the case of inclement weather, take a vitamin D supplement.
9. Take an Omega 3 fish oil supplement daily. Make sure you buy pharmaceutical grade fish oil from wild caught fish so as to ensure that mercury and other contaminants are not present.

Was Mom Right?

When it comes to skipping breakfast, was mom right? The answer to this question is different than you might think and more complicated than it appears. If you asked me a year ago, I would have, without a doubt, said "yes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" In fact, I am replacing an old post entitled "Mom was Right" about the importance of eating breakfast with this post. Let me start to explain the answer to this question and the reason I am abandoning years of conventional wisdom in favor of new scientific findings.

It was once believed (and still is by many in the fitness and health industry) that breakfast "revved up your metabolism" and got it started for the day. It was also thought that skipping breakfast would send your body into "starvation mode." This has now been proven by several scientific studies to be false. Yep, you read that right. FALSE. Real "Starvation mode" does not begin until several days without food, not after missing a few meals. In fact, regular fasting is not only healthy in terms of giving your digestive system a break, but it also helps to improve blood glucose levels, and actually increases certain fat burning hormones! Here's a link to a fascinating article regarding the myths of skipping breakfast and "starvation mode." Here are several other links if you need a little further convincing:

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

http://eatstopeat.us/rusty-moore-debunks-the-starvation-mode-myth/


So is there any truth to the importance of breakfast? Here's my opinion. The important part of having breakfast was not so much in the TIMING of the meal, but the routine. It is important to eat at set times every day. If you are used to eating breakfast, and skip it, you will be hungry when it's time to eat, your blood sugar will drop and then you will be more likely to overeat when you finally get the chance to eat. There is a simple way to overcome this. Reset your body's internal eating clock. Choose a time to have your first meal and stick with that as much as possible. Again, this is not a hard and fast rule. It just helps.

For example, if you regularly don't have time to eat breakfast, or don't have an appetite in the morning, don't force yourself to eat! Have a set time to eat your first meal later in the day. Have your first meal everyday at 10am for example. I have always thought it was ridiculous to eat when you're not hungry, but didn't want to mess up my metabolism. Well, now that worry is gone. Listen to your body...unless it is telling you to eat 3 cheeseburgers, fries and a chocolate shake all in one sitting. In that case, please do not listen to your body. ;)

What about children and breakfast? Studies have shown routine is also important for children, especially when it comes to performance at school, as this report shows. My recommendation is that children should also have a proper eating routine, and breakfast is a wonderful tradition. Because of the strict structure of school, most kids need to eat in order to make it to lunchtime without getting too hungry. If they aren't big breakfast eaters, give them a light meal or maybe send a small snack like raw almonds or sliced apples with them to carry in their bags. There are some good recipes for healthy homemade breakfast bars you can make too.

Here is the take-away. If you're not a breakfast eater, don't force it. As a rule, unless you are underweight, don't eat when you're not hungry. Establish an eating routine. It doesn't have to be rigid, but the more you stick to a routine, the more stable your blood glucose levels will be and the less you will think about mealtimes because they will be habitual and not spontaneous. We all make better decisions when we think things through in advance, form habits that work for us, not against us, and we are not called upon to make eating choices when we are already hungry.

Water

I am pretty sure you already know that you should be drinking more water. But, I am also willing to bet that you still aren't drinking enough.

Let's brush up on why water is so important:

1) The body is composed of 60-70% water

2) The brain is composed of 80% water

3) Even slight dehydration causes the brain to be foggy

4) Water cleanses and detoxes the body

5) You can live for weeks without food, but only a couple of days without water

6) Adequate water intake aids in fat loss

I remember reading in Tosca Reno's "Eat Clean Diet" book that even a 1% decrease in hydration compromises the brains ability to think clearly. That fascinated me. Any time I am having difficulty concentrating, I will grab a cold glass of water and see if that helps. So, not only does water affect the function of the body but the mind.

What kind of water should you be drinking?

Back in the late 90's when bottled water started to get popular, I remember thinking to myself, now that's a stupid idea. Who would pay for water, when water is free? Well, that was back then.

Tap water contains trace contaminates. In some areas it is more of a problem than others. Installing a simple water filtration system in your home is a wise, cheap way to insure that the water you drink is pure.

Another option is buying distilled water. Distilled water removes toxins from the body. There are some experts who think drinking distilled water long-term can be harmful. I have read studies that support both sides of this claim. Buying and carting around jugs of distilled water long-term is enough to detour me. I do, however, buy it occasionally to help reduce the accumulation of calcium in my urine since I have a tendency to form kidney stones. (Not fun!)

I have also recently learned about costly water machines that alter the ph of the water to be more or less alkaline. The theory being, that less acidic your body is, the less disease, aging, fatigue and inflammation (to name a few) your body will have. I can see how this ph altered water could be especially beneficial to those with compromised immune systems or people who have diets consisting of mainly acid forming foods. In general, however, I do not know many people who have the kind of money it takes to purchase one of these machines or that the cost is even worth the reported benefits, so I wouldn't advocate going out and spending the money unless you are independently wealthy. :)

A really cheap way you can naturally alter the ph of your water to be more alkaline, without buying an expensive machine, is by adding the juice of a fresh lemon to your water. Those who suffer from kidney stones should be doing this already. There are also alkaline drops you can buy at any health food stores if it is something you are interested in pursuing.

Now, on to the amount of water you should be drinking. A good recommendation to follow is this, make sure that you have at least one clear urination a day. The amount of healthy urine output is 1.5 liters daily. I don't know about you, but I don't go around measuring my urine output. Checking the color is sufficient for me. :) Also, remember to drink extra water before and after exercise and in hot conditions.

So to sum up:

1) Drinking PLENTY of water helps your brain to concentrate and helps rid the body of toxins and FAT

2) Avoid tap water if resources allow; invest in a water filtration system in your home

3) Drink lemon water daily

4) Monitor your urine output--look for one clear urination a day

The Basics

Let's start with the basics. Either you know what to do and aren't doing it, have forgotten them, or never learned the basics to start with. Regardless, if you are not doing the basics already, that's where we must start. You must have a firm foundation before getting into some of the more technical aspects of nutrition and supplementation. If you are struggling with poor health, depression, obesity, or unexplained fatigue, before spending money on the next miracle drug or fad diet, START HERE. In later posts I will delve into great detail about each basic principle, but for our purposes, I will just briefly explain and list them.

1) Drink water. Lots of it. You might think you are drinking enough, but chances are, you are not. So drink more. I will do another post on the type of water you should be drinking, but for now, just start carrying a water bottle with you wherever you go. For the most part, the only thing you should drink is water. Water is the beverage God created to heal, cleanse, and restore your body, so don't settle for man's substitutions.

2) Establish a routine. Eat at the same times each day and your body's hunger hormones will begin to regulate themselves and you'll experience less fluctuations in your blood sugar levels.

3) Don't forget your fruits & vegetables. Include your servings of fruit in your morning meals, and your veggies in your meals later in the day. Green vegetables in particular are considered "free foods" that you can eat almost limitless amounts of, which is great when you are on a calorie restricted diet.

4) Balance your meals. Each meal should contain healthy whole grains, vegetables or fruits, healthy fats and a source of lean protein. Protein rebuilds and repairs muscles and tissues and keeps you feeling full from one meal to the next. Fat helps to regulate hormones and also keeps you feeling full. It is also important to have fiber with your meals, but if you are eating whole grains, fruit and vegetables, this will happen automatically.

5) If it comes in a package, or drive-thru, think twice. White refined flour, white bread, white sugar, white salt, hydrogenated oils, palm oils, and some saturated fats are unhealthy for your body when eaten in excess. In the food industry, sugar, fat and salt are called the Trifecta; having the perfect concoction of the three creates a highly addictive, pleasurable substance. They are hunger drivers, meaning they stimulate the appetite. They activate the pleasure/reward center in your brain, creating addictive tendencies toward that food. An easy way to avoid them is to avoid the drive-thru and avoid buying pre-made, packaged, or overly processed foods at the grocery store. Not sure if something is too processed? Read the ingredient label, if there are more than 5 ingredients, or any ingredients that you can't pronounce, or if sugar, fat or salt is listed in the first 3 ingredients, don't buy it. Crowd out the junk food with healthy, one ingredient list foods. There are so many whole, healthy foods to choose from, you don't need to deprive yourself of food, just upgrade your choices and fill your pantry and fridge with better options.

6) Choose healthy fats. Increase your intake of healthy fats found in olive oil, fish, nuts, coconut oil, real butter, etc. Replace vegetable oil with coconut oil for cooking and fatty dressings with olive oil. Take a daily Omega-3 supplement. Get rid of fried foods and trans fats. Healthy fats help to manage weight, lower cholesterol and blood pressure and have many other health benefits as well.

7) Take a multi-vitamin. Consider the vitamin your insurance against any deficiencies in your diet.

8) Eliminate harmful substances. Artificial sweeteners, drugs (illegal and prescription), addictive substances should all be taken with care and concern or avoided entirely (as is the case with illegal drugs, obviously.)

9) Eat for fat loss AND health. This is the number one most important rule. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters when you are talking about fat loss is eating the appropriate amount of food for your goals. Starvation isn't going to do it, neither is over-eating health foods. The rather harsh truth of it is that you CAN lose weight eating only junk food if you are eating a calorie deficit. Don't believe me? A professor in nutrition did it, see the results here. I also did a similar test myself, losing a total of 12 pounds of fat and winning an online transformation contest.

But having said that, I care about more than just the number on the scale, and so should you. I care about how you feel, your immune system, your strength, your health, your happiness and well-being. So, I recommend a two-tiered approach to fat loss. First, create a calorie deficit. Eat the right amount of food. Don't know how much to eat? Meet with me and I'll tell you. Second, eat for health. Choose the foods I mentioned above. Then you'll be well on your way to achieving your fat loss AND health goals.