The Optimal Body Balance blog has moved. We will no longer be updating this page, so please visit us at our new address: www.optimalbodybalance.com.

There actually isn’t anything wrong with your willpower. Rush University Medical Center has come up with a new weight loss counseling approach that takes the focus off of willpower and onto brain chemistry. For many people relying on willpower to carry you through dietary and lifestyle changes is impossible and very discouraging.

If you have out of control cravings, they could be stemming from a multitude of different factors: hidden food intolerances, stress, hormone imbalances, even lack of sleep. But most often, for uncontrollable cravings, neurotransmitter imbalances are to blame. Neurotransmitter are chemical messengers in the brain. And when they are sending a signal, they are pretty much impossible to ignore. So if your neurotransmitters are telling you to eat sugar, your willpower probably won’t stand a chance against them.

The good thing is that you can balance out your neurotransmitters easily and naturally with supplements. And the cravings will disappear. So don’t blame yourself and your lack of willpower. There could be something much more powerful going on in your body or your brain.

Sources:
“Obesity Counseling Should Stress Brain, Not Willpower: Study” HealthDay. 3 Aug, 2011.

Featured Recipe: Split Pea Soup
1 ham hock
2 32-ounce low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound green split peas
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1. Rinse the ham hock and place it in a large saucepan or Dutch oven along with the broth, split peas, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very tender, 3 to 3½ hours.
2. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Transfer the ham hock to a plate and let sit until cool enough to handle, at least 10 minutes. Shred the meat and stir it into the soup.

From Whole Living

Researchers have found that men who bike intensely for 45 min burned an extra 190 calories over the next 14 hours after their workout. That’s in addition to the 519 calories they burned during biking. Do the math and that means they are burning 709 more calories on exercise days when compared to rest days. 5 days of this activity is equal to a one pound weight loss.

In order to achieve this kind of benefit, you need to be sweating during your workout, have an increased body temperature and an increased heart rate. Unfortunately, moderate intensity activities, such as walking, have not been found to produce the increased calorie burning post-workout.

If you aren’t able to do full 45 minutes of intense activity, try working up to that level with intervals. Start out at moderate pace to warm up, then increase the intensity so that you are sweating and have an increased heart rate. Continue at that pace for as long as you are comfortable with, then slow back down to your moderate/easy pace to catch your breath and regain your rhythm. Keep increasing and decreasing intensity for the duration of your workout.

Source:
“Vigorous exercise burns calories 14 hours after workout” usatoday.com. Sep 1, 2011.

Featured Recipe: Southwestern Chicken Soup
1 12-ounce jar salsa verde
3 cups cooked chicken pieces (1 small deli-counter rotisserie chicken or leftovers)
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
2 green onions, chopped

1. Empty the salsa into a large saucepan. Cook for 2 minutes over medium-high heat, then add the chicken, beans, broth, and cumin (if desired). Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Top each bowl with a sprinkling of onions. For a soupier dish, use 4 cups of broth.

From Whole Living

This soup was a hit at our house. It’s very filling — lots of protein. I prefer chunkier soups, so I loved it. It’s like a green chili. You can easily add more veggies; I added a couple stalks of chopped celery, but almost anything would work. I also did a blend of black beans and cannellini beans. Just for fun.

Mixed Mushroom Soup
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and rinsed
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, such as white button, cremini, oyster, and shiitake (stemmed), rinsed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup marsala wine (optional)
4 cups vegetable broth

1. Soak porcini in 1 cup warm water until softened, about 20 minutes. Lift porcini from liquid and coarsely chop; strain liquid through a cheesecloth-lined sieve and reserve.
2. In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add leeks; season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Add garlic, porcini, and chopped mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 7 minutes or until mushrooms just begin to brown. Add fennel seeds, bay leaves, tomato paste, and tomatoes, and cook for 3 minutes. Add marsala (if using), porcini liquid, and broth. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves before serving.

From Whole Living

The problem is that many people look at a diet a short-term. The want to lose the weight and then resume their pre-diet lifestyle. That simply cannot work. Your pre-diet lifestyle is what caused the weight gain in the first place.

The other problem is that you can’t stay on a diet forever.

So, you have to tackle weight maintenance with a different mindset. You have to make decisions about your lifestyle – changes you will make in your every day life in order to keep the body and health that you worked so hard for. Researchers as Penn State found that there were 2 techniques used by people who were successful in keeping it off: reminding yourself why you need to control your weight, and rewarding yourself for sticking to a diet and exercise plan.

So take some time each day to feel good about yourself and what you’ve accomplished. Remember how much better you feel, make a list of reasons why you don’t want to gain the weight back. As for rewards, just make sure you aren’t treating yourself to a bowl of ice cream after every workout.

Sources:

Brownstein, Joseph. “If you lost weight, you need a whole new diet strategy now”
today.msnbc.msn.com. July 5, 2011.

With cold weather and impending snow upon us, I’ve been craving warm bowls of comfort more and more often. So, we’ve decided to share a series of soup and crock-pot recipes with you. We have compiled enough recipes to carry you through the entire winter season and will be sharing 5 of them each week. We will also choose one of the recipes each week to make ourselves and test for you! And the best part is — most of them are allergen-free (if they are not, they only need minor adjustments to eliminate or replace things like diary or nuts)! Give yourself and your family the gift of health and delicious food this winter.

Featured Recipe: Creamy Broccoli and White Bean Soup
1 head broccoli (1 pound), cut into florets, stems thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
One 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

1. Steam broccoli florets and stems until tender and bright green, about 3 minutes. Let cool slightly.
2. Reserve 1/2 cup florets for garnish.
3. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until translucent, about 6 minutes.
4. Add beans and stock and bring mixture to a simmer.
5. Remove from heat and add broccoli; puree in batches in a blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish each bowl with broccoli florets, toasted pine nuts.
   From Whole Living

Steamed broccoli and stems, cooling.

I decided to use sunflower seeds, because I didn’t have any pine nuts on hand. You can toast them on a parchment lined baking sheet in the oven for a few minutes or toast them in a skillet on the stove. Make sure you watch them, whatever you method you use though, they will brown up quickly.

Garnish and serve! This soup turned out really nicely. Personally, I would have liked more creaminess, so next time I make it, I’m adding more beans. It is also really good with just a little bit of parmesan sprinkled on top. That was my breakfast this morning.

Day After Turkey Soup
1 turkey carcass, broken into 3 or 4 pieces
3 carrots, halved crosswise
2 celery stalks, halved crosswise
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Coarse salt
1 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
5 cups kale leaves, shredded
3 cups leftover diced cooked turkey
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels
1 can (15 1/2 ounces) white beans, drained and rinsed
4 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Place the carcass in a large soup pot or stockpot and add cold water to cover by 2 inches (about 14 cups). Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming any foam that rises to the surface.
2. Add carrots, celery, tomato paste, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon rosemary. Return to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until the broth is rich and flavorful, about 2 hours.
3. With a wire skimmer, remove and discard turkey carcass and vegetables. Strain and transfer 8 cups of broth to a large saucepan; freeze the remainder.
4. Bring broth to a boil over high heat. Add red-pepper flakes and remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary; season with salt. Add kale, reduce to a simmer, and cook until kale is tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
5. Stir in turkey, corn, beans, and scallions and cook just until corn is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt if desired.
   From Whole Living

Slow Cooker Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna with Romaine Salad
2 10-ounce packages chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture
1 cup ricotta
3/4 cup grated Parmesan (3 ounces)
3 cups marinara sauce
6 regular lasagna noodles (not no-boil)
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella (6 ounces)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
kosher salt and black pepper
1 small head romaine lettuce, cut into strips (about 8 cups)
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

1. In a bowl, mix together the spinach, ricotta, and ½ cup of the Parmesan. In a second bowl, mix together the marinara sauce and ½ cup water.
2. Spread ¾ cup of the marinara mixture in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Top with 2 noodles (breaking to fit), ¾ cup of the remaining marinara mixture, half the spinach mixture, and ½ cup of the mozzarella; repeat. Top with the remaining noodles, marinara mixture, mozzarella, and Parmesan.
3. Cover and cook on low until the noodles are tender, 3 ½ to 4 hours.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add the lettuce, cucumber, and onion and toss to combine. Serve with the lasagna.
   By Charlyne Mattox, March 2011

Vegetable and Chickpea Curry
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) slices carrot
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
3 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 1/2 cups cubed peeled baking potato
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup (1-inch) cut green beans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup coconut milk
6 lemon wedges

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot; cover and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Add curry powder, sugar, ginger, garlic, and chile; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
2. Place onion mixture in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Stir in chickpeas and next 8 ingredients (through broth). Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Add spinach and coconut milk; stir until spinach wilts. Serve with lemon wedges.
   Robin Robertson, Cooking Light OCTOBER 2004

Split Pea Sweet Potato Soup
1 cup yellow split peas
1 quart vegetable broth
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
7 whole green cardamom pods
1 to 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Lemon juice
Cayenne pepper
Sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Place peas, broth, sweet potato and cardamom pods in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours, adding additional broth or water to thicken if needed.
2. When ready to serve, heat ghee in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garam masala and cumin and cook 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the spiced onions to the slow cooker. Stir, cover and cook 15 minutes longer on high heat. Remove cardamom pods and season the soup with lemon, cayenne, salt and pepper.
   Whole Foods Market

A study by the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham Women’s Hospital found that bad habits in lifestyle factors of food choices, physical activity and sleep habits all add up to an average of 16.8 pound weight gain over a 20 year period.

Food choices had the greatest impact on weight creep. The foods that contributed most to weight gain when consumed daily were: potato chips, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, unprocessed red meats and processed meats. Eliminating these foods could help prevent slow weight gain.

There were people in the study who lost or maintained weight. Guess what – those people reported eating minimally processed foods. Increased intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grain and nuts resulted in weight loss. Researchers presumed this was because they were replacing “bad” foods in the diet. What that is really saying is that not all foods are good for you in moderation. Some foods are bad for you, even if you only have them sometimes or for a treat. Different foods cause different reactions in the body, not every calorie is the same. The bottom line: there are good and bad foods.

The study also found that TV time and sleep played a role in weight creep. One hour of TV a day added .31 pounds over a period of 4 years. How many hours do you watch a day?

As for sleep, people who slept for 6-8 hours a night experienced the least weight gain. The people who had the most were both those who slept less than six hours and those who slept more than eight hours.

Source:
Steenhuysen, Julie. “TV and soda: small habits cause weight creep: U.S. Study” reuters.com. June 22, 2011.

I remember playing childhood sports, the coach would often tell us to visualize winning the game or making the free throw or goal. This technique is used by athletes a lot to prepare mentally, and many say it works. Apparently these visualization techniques also work for dieting.

If you make a concrete plan and visualize yourself carrying it out, you will be more likely to succeed. In a psychology study, a group of people was told to set goals to eat more fruit. Then half of that group was told to write out a plan of how they were going to eat more fruit and also visualize their plan coming to fruition. The group who did the visualization ended up eating twice as much fruit as the group who just set goals without making a plan and doing visualization.

Unfortunately, visual cues can also sabotage your healthy plans.

A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that seeing overweight people can cause one to make unhealthy decisions. After seeing someone who was overweight, research participants ate twice as many cookies in a cookie taste test than those people who did not see someone who was overweight.

The take-away:

• When you make goals for yourself, make sure to also include an action plan. Then take a couple of minutes each morning to visualize yourself carrying out your plan for the day… and visualize yourself achieving the end goal.
• When you see someone who is overweight or you are in a position that encourages unhealthy behaviors that would sabotage your goals, take a break to think about your goals, and also think about the connection between unhealthy eating and weight gain (this was found to help study participants abstain from eating too many cookies).

This technique could be very useful this week!!

Sources:

Preidt, Robert. “Images of Overweight People can Thwart Diet, Study Finds” healthday.com, May 5, 2011.
Preidt, Robert. “To Eat More Fruit, Picture a Fruit Salad” healthday.com, March 5, 2011.

From A Little Green Kitchen — I don’t think I’ve ever had spaghetti squash before; I definitely haven’t ever cooked it, but I’ve been wanting to for a long time. I really loved making pasta out of zucchini and summer squash — I was pretty impressed with how great it tasted — and it seemed to me like spaghetti squash could be prepared in the same kind of way for a seasonal fall/winter dish. I couldn’t prepare it just one way of course, so here are 2 different meals you can get out of one spaghetti squash.

First you have to roast your squash. I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds, brushed the halved with olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper, and then stuck them in the oven, cut side down, at 350 for about 45 minutes. Then let them cool and scoop out the insides. I used a half of the squash for each recipe.

Cheesy Spaghetti Squash with Artichoke Hearts
olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 roasted spaghetti squash
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and cut into quarters
handful of shredded cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for a minute.
2. Dump in the squash and the artichoke hearts and cook until heated through.
3. Add the cheese and stir in until melted.

This was soooo good. My favorite of the 2 recipes. 

Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meatballs
tomato sauce of your choice
Trader Joe’s turkey meatballs
1/2 roasted spaghetti squash
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese

1. Heat the meatballs in tomato sauce in a skillet.
2. Add the squash. Season with salt and pepper. Top with parmesan cheese to serve.

Easy peasy.