In lieu of an opening sentence, I am just going to put this
here…
We have all been there, have friends that do it, see
people do this, and maybe even do it yourself. Personally, I just go to fancy restaurants and take pictures
of other people’s food that cost them an arm and a leg, and order a side salad
for myself. Yes, it may be a little awkward to ask complete strangers to take
pictures of their food, even more so when I make them wait 10 minutes while I
get the perfect shot, but at least all my followers think I am living in the
lap of luxury.
You may have a problem if you find yourself answering yes to the following questions:
Is it obligatory to take a picture of your food before you
eat it?
Do you feel bad when you had great looking food and you forgot to snap
a picture to post on Instagram?
If so, we may need to talk. You may be making
people fat.
Girl you cray…
I am not even trying to pull a fast one on you…this time at
least. According to recent research,
that may just be the case. Luckily for me, most of my friends are not very good
at taking food pictures J
Anyways, this kind of makes sense. In a way all of these food pictures are like
marketing. I am pretty sure we have all been there before-- it is late at night
and you are all snuggled up on your coach with your diva of a dog watching the
Kardashians when a commercial for pizza comes on. Now you had a filling dinner
a couple of hours ago, but upon seeing a nice cheesy slice of pizza, you now
NEED that pizza.
Is this bad?
On the other end of the spectrum, you could potentially use
this phenomenon to make fruits and vegetables more appealing as well. This
could very well just be me, but show me a picture of some well-cooked Brussels
sprouts and I will then be craving them the rest of the day. I mean…I know I probably fit the criteria for
a health nut, but anybody else not want to eat these?
Breaking it down
Yes these food pictures on Instagram may make you want those
foods or may make you a little hungry, but I don’t really see the need to go
unfollow all of your “friends” that post food pictures. If you are like me, you
will be too lazy to actually go and purchase said food. Basically what I am
trying to say is eat your fruits and vegetables and practice will power/mindful
eating. Oh and if you happen to be my friend and are reading this, thanks for
being a lackluster food photographer. Well I am off to go take some selfies.
Until next time!
In between watching The Bachelor, Chris Soules, squirm
while deciding who his “true” love is,
advertisers were
smart enough to play off of the emotional roller coaster that women everywhere
were on. I mean, The Bachelor season finale my as well be the Super Bowl
for women. Anyways, there were commercials for all things women…including every
woman’s favorite, chocolate. Being the
dork that I am, all of these advertisements made me think of an article I read recently about trying to get more people to eat fruits and vegetables by
using similar tactics that junk food company’s use. A company did a small pilot
of this back in 2010 and actually had quite a bit success. For those of us that
watched The Bachelor last night, here is a commercial for baby carrots tailored to that audience…
Now does this make me
want to jump off the couch and go get some baby carrots? Oddly enough, yes. I
mean I am a dietitian and only eat kale, apples, carrots, and sometimes celery
as a treat :) Ok so maybe I am a bit odd, but would the average person? That
remains to be seen, but the research seems to show some positive results.
The power of
advertisements and marketing
Advertisements and marketing have a HUGE impact on us
whether we acknowledge it or not. I mean if it didn't, would companies spend
millions of dollars a year on it? They are all vying for their brand and
product to be sexy and desirable enough to get people to actually go out and
purchase it, which can be a challenge due to competition and humans just being
lazy. Think of it this way, how often do you see commercials for a delicious
looking pizza and think, “Man I don’t just want that, I NEED that?” How many of
you actually have enough ambition to actually pick up the phone and order that
pizza? If you are like me, that pretty much never happens. However, the idea of
that pizza sticks around and the next time I am legitimately hungry (and not
just annoyed at Chris for settling) and having a splurge day I might just treat
myself.
Where are you going
with this Beth?
Should we have cool advertisements and marketing for fruits
and vegetables? YES! Will this type of
marketing make you jump off the couch, run to the fridge, and chow down on baby
carrots? Probably not, however so much of marketing is subliminal. After
watching this commercial, and if it were up to me, being exposed to several
similar advertisements, the next time you were hungry you might just consciously
or unconsciously think, “Man I could really go for some baby carrots.”
Not only would this help Americans eat more fruits and
vegetables, but it would also help out those fruit and vegetable farmers, who
often do not receive federal subsidies (but that’s another story). If companies
started using their extremely creative minds to market and make fruits and
vegetables sexy it would be a game changer; just like having two Bachelorettes…
Yikes! Well I am off to chow down on baby carrots. Until
next time!
‘Tis that time of year yet again. The pumpkin spice latte
has been shoved to the side as peppermint and eggnog mochas return to the
spotlight. The mall has not quite turned into a zoo quite yet, however you can
already find Christmas commercials on tv and radio stations playing Christmas
music.
Oh the holidays, full of friends, families, parties, and of
course food…copious amounts of food. When I go home for the holidays, there is
a day where our house is transformed into a sweatshop where we spend an entire
day cookies, chocolates, and fudge. Inevitably, there is always some squabble
about what color the cookies should be frosted and if there are enough
sprinkles on said cookie.
Between the stress of attempting to decorate your cookies
like the ones on the box…
The stress of spending an extended amount or time with
family…
And wanting to keep your physique yet being inundated with
cookies...
the threat of holiday weight gain is imminent.
Now, if you haven’t figured it out by now, the media likes
to exaggerate a little about the amount of weight people gain between the
holidays. The media claims range anywhere from seven to ten pounds, but in
reality most people only gain one pound. One pound may not seem like a lot but
if you keep that pound on, it starts to add up year after year.
To help guide you through this tumultuous time, I have
prepared for you Beth’s Ultimate Healthy Holiday Eating Guide!
Beth's Ultimate Healthy Holiday Eating Guide:
1. Exercise- I briefly touched on how stressful the
holidays can be; we have all been there. Whether it’s the frustration of fixing
the Christmas lights, the long lines at stores, figuring out what to get
everybody, or just being cooped up with your family, the stress can be
overwhelming. It is a saying in my family that it is not truly Christmas until
someone cries.
All of this holiday stress can be channeled in one of three
ways. The first is via emotional eating. The second way is best exemplified by
this scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas…
The third and probably the healthiest way is by exercising.
Have you had it with the lights or your mom nagging you about every little
thing? Try going for a jog or do some pushups instead of eating, drinking, or
screaming away your frustrations.
2. Wear tight clothes- You may laugh at me on this one,
but take my word on it. Leave the sweatpants, elastic waisted pants, flowey
dresses, etc at home and opt for something more figure forming that won’t give
or you can always just slap on a belt. I think we have been there after that
Thanksgiving meal where we ate too much and are so uncomfortable that we have
to unbutton our pants. By wearing tighter clothes, it helps serve as a reminder
and may help keep you from going overboard.
3. Eat a snack before the party- Instead of arriving at
the party starving and end up gorging on all kinds of not as healthy food, try
eating a small, healthy snack or meal before you go to the party. This way you
won’t go crazy and turn into the cookie monster.
4. Bring a healthy dish- There are no guarantees that
any holiday party will have healthy options. Instead of being “forced” to eat
not as healthy food, bring your own healthy dish so that there will be at least
one thing there that you won’t give you a Santa-esque figure.
5. Use a small plate and utensils- Instead of grabbing
the huge buffet plate, try using a smaller plate, perhaps a salad plate, and
smaller utensils. This will way it will take more effort to overeat. If you
really wanted to take this advice to heart while adding some culture to the
traditional holiday meal, try using chopsticks. If your chopstick skills are
like mine, you will get frustrated and just give up rather quickly.
6. Sit next to either the health nut, most judgmental
person, or person you dislike the most- One sure fire way to avoid
overeating is to sit next to the food police or the most judgmental person at
the party. Going up for seconds or loading up on cookies? Be prepared for a
snide comment or to be judged heavily. While it may be agonizing, it will make
you a little more conscious of what and how much you are eating in addition to want
to finish eating quickly to escape. This concept also applies to sitting next
to the person that you dislike the most as well.
7. Say no to Grandma (food pushers)- For some reason
grandmas and moms around the world have come together to decide that nothing
shows your love more than shoving cookies, cake, or more lasagna down your
grandkid’s/kid’s throat. Nobody wants to hurt grandma’s or mom’s feeling so if
saying no won’t work, just tell them you will take it to go. That way you can
eat it later as part of a meal or, depending on how good the food was, throw it
away. (Grandma if you are reading this, I have obviously never done this)
8. Fill up on fruits and vegetables- Fruits and
vegetables are lower in calories and contain fiber that helps you feel full.
9. Drink water- Keeping hydrated is important because
thirst is often confused for hunger. Instead of heading straight for the
fruit cake at the first pains of hunger, make sure that you are actually hungry
and not just thirsty. Also, not only does water help you feel full, but it will
help you avoid other liquid calories in the form of egg nog or other adult
beverages.
10. Eat slowly- It takes about 20 minutes for the signal
from the stomach to reach the brain to tell it that the stomach is full. This
is actually the key to success that competitive eaters use; the quicker you
down the food the more you can shove in before your brain recognizes that your
stomach is about to burst. So go ahead and slow down and talk to that weird
cousin of yours.
11. Keep sweets in opaque containers- If you or your
parents keep tons of holiday cookies or candies around try to put them in
opaque containers (containers you can’t see through) to keep them out of sight.
Research has shown that the “out of sight, out of mind” adage actually works.
12. Don’t eat out of the container- While lounging on the
couch watching all the Christmas movies or specials with the whole container of
cookies may sound nice and relaxing, it can be a train wreck for your figure
when you look down to see that you downed five cookies without even noticing.
Instead, put whatever it is that you are eating on a plate and put said food
away. This will help you from mindless eating more than you wanted to.
13. Only make a couple kinds of desserts- Instead of
making every recipe you pinned on your Pintrest board, only make two or three.
Think of it this way, if there are 15 types of cookies that you can choose
from, you will find it appropriate to eat more since there is more variety.
Lets say in this situation you eat five cookies. Now, if there were only three
types of cookies available, you would find it more appropriate to try maybe one
or two.
Now if you will excuse me, I need to perfect the grace that
I will be giving this year…
Ahh tis’ that time of year again, back to school! How can I
tell you may ask? Well between the backed up traffic/lack of parking spots on
campus, dozens of annoying banks trying to get me to sign up for a credit card,
and freshmen walking around like lost puppies sometimes with tears in their
eyes, I think it’s a pretty safe bet. With the return of freshmen, comes the
threat of the freshman 15. However, weight gain is not just limited to
freshmen. Welcome to the process of aging my friends, where your metabolism
starts to slow down and you can no longer eat or drink whatever you want
without gaining weight! I decided to dedicate this blog to the clean plate club
and how it can affect your waistline. Without further ado…
As a child you probably have all been there; sitting at the
dinner table staring at those peas on your plate and your father barking at you
with the logical, “kids in Africa are staving so you will clean your plate,” or,
“you are not leaving this table until your plate is clean.”When you were a toddle you could get away with just throwing
the peas on the ground, but once you reach a certain age it is not found to be
quite as cute. Also not found as cute was my smart aleck response of…
I was just trying to show both my mastery of logic and
giving, compassionate side, but that response never seemed to get me far. To my
disadvantage in this situation, we were not allowed to have inside pets growing
up (at least when my parents were home), so feeding the peas to the dog was not
an option so I had to get creative. After carefully assessing the situation, my
six-year-old self came up with two options. I would either A-shove them all in
my mouth and run to the bathroom to spit them into the toilet or B-stealthily
put them in a napkin and throw them away as quickly as possible. Did these
tactics work? Maybe the first time or two, but unfortunately my parents caught
on to these tactics pretty quick so I was forced back to square one: clean
plate club. Looking back one of my brothers may have had a better strategy.
After eating my father’s cupboard meatloaf, where he went through the cupboards
and added whatever was stale to the meatloaf including but not limited to fruit
loops, he made himself sick and was never again forced to eat meatloaf.I hate to admit it, but he was on to
something with that tactic.
You are probably all wondering where I am going with this
about right now; so let me get to my point. As described above, most of us have
been trained from childhood to “clean our plates.” Is this necessarily a bad
thing? Does anybody doing the ice bucket challenge actually know what ALS
stands for? No. However, research shows that typically people eat all of what they put on their plate. How can
this be bad you ask? Well, let me give you another one of my scenarios. You
have managed to survive your first couple of days at college living in a dorm X
many hours away from mommy and daddy. You just had your first day of class and
are overwhelmed and exhausted after crying yourself to sleep for the past three
nights. All you want is some comfort food. You stroll up to the dish of meatloaf
and mashed potatoes and pile it on your plate. (Consider yourself lucky; my
father lives in Ohio so you can rest assured there are no fruit loops in it.)
You sit down and start eating. Now for the tricky part, you get
halfway through and realize that you are full but feel that you made a commitment to the food on your plate. You start to channel your
inner Adam Richman. In the battle of (wo)man vs. food, you aredetermined not to (wo)mankind down. You
heroically battle forkful after forkful until your plate is clean. You
triumphantly stand up on your chair and pump your fist in the air! Instead of
being greeted with a round of applause and your picture on the wall or a free
tshirt, you are greeted to the meat sweats, carb overload, extra calorie
intake, and best of all weird looks from your new friends. You quickly get off of your chair and run back to your dorm room to put sweatpants on because you know in about 10 minutes you are going to want to explode. You probably all
know where I am going with this on how it relates to nutrition, so I will just save it and share this
picture instead.
Now, this whole clean plate concept doesn’t have to
necessarily be a bad thing. Chances are it was some sort of fruit or vegetable that your parents were trying to shove down your throat. Now that you are a grown up and hopefully like fruits and vegetables, you can use this concept to your advantage to make yourself eat more of them. Load up your plate with fruits
and veggies and voila! Its like magic, you eat more fruits and veggies due to
your traumatizing childhood clean your plate mentality.
Other recent research shows that by you cleaning your plate, it does not actually help the starving kids in Africa in any way, shape, or form. You no longer have to feel
bad about not cleaning your plate! Also, now that you are in college your
parents can no longer force you to clean your plate! You can just eat until
you are full and then stop. Your new hipster friends may judge you a little bit
for being wasteful but oh well.
Another obvious tip to avoid this situation in the first
place is to not put as much food on your plate; you can always go up for
seconds after all. These tips will help you from feeling like Honey Boo Boo
when your freshman year is over…
Next time you are eating think about if you are cleaning your plate because you are still hungry or if you are cleaning your plate just because. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go send my parents
snapchats of half “clean” plates of food to spite them. Until next time!
I will be the first to
admit that I am a dork. I tend to read a lot, and no not Harry Potter or
Twilight. One of the subjects that I find very intriguing is behavioral
economics and its application to food and nutrition (read: why we eat the
things we do). Awhile back I wrote an entire blog about Mindless
Eating, but I recently came across a short video that helps illustrate the
concept of eating with your eyes. Whether you are a visual learner like me, or
just looking for a way to procrastinate, check out…
