The Fruit Bowl vs. The Cookie Jar

The best thing we added when we renovated our kitchen was not the flat paneled cupboard doors that require minimal effort to clean, not the warming drawer for late arrivals, or even the wine cabinet for, well for me. It was the $8.99 oversized fruit bowl positioned front and center atop our kitchen counter. Keeping it filled with a variety of colorful fruits, vegetables and dried fruits is a grocery shopping priority. It's content's change based on the season, what's on sale or if we're burned out on a particular fruit. The bowl gets high marks for originality when it's filled with local produce from the farmer's market June-September or after a visit to Blok's Orchard for fresh apples and peaches.


The cookie jar was the kitchen center piece when I was growing up. My mom hand painted a circus elephant (seriously) cookie jar in a ceramics class. It was also the featured attraction at my Grandma Kuilema’s house. It sat next to the bread box filled with homemade banana, and brown sugar, raisin, cinnamon swirl bread, which in turn, sat next to the lemon gum drop jar. The thing about a cookie jar is you always need to keep it filled, and if you keep it filled, it's frequently emptied. You get the point. The only thing on your kitchen counter should be healthy foods. Substitute a fruit dish for your cookie jar.

To be completely honest, when my children arrive home tonight they will notice right away that the fruit bowl has been refilled which is a signal that I went grocery shopping. They will then start a search and seizure for any new "alternative" snacks. However, the healthy option is the focal point in our family kitchen and my hope is that it makes a lasting impression on what's most important to their health.

Everybody: Limit "Seat of Your Pants" Activities

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, children average 53 hours/week using electronic media including TV, cell phones, IPods, video games and computers. Their television viewing averages 3 hours/day and this practice gets worse with age. According to the Alloy Media Marketing’s 9th Annual College Explorer Survey, the college class of 2013 spends 2.5 hours/day in front of the TV, 2.5 hours on the cell phone and 20% of their waking hours on the computer. If you've ever watched this group in action you know they are capable of doing all three simultaneously. Rasmussen completed a similar survey on adults, yet only 23% self reported themselves as spending too much time on their Blackberry, laptops and television. Conversely, 75% of them claimed their children overused electronics. Who's fooling who here?

We need to address the fact that social media is a growing "seat of your pants" activity.  Relatively few calories are expended hitting the send or receive button.  Hand to mouth exercises add high calorie junk foods and soda to our nation’s growing weight problems. What can you do? Set time limits for yourself and family members. Take stretching, walking and water breaks every 20-30 minutes if you are working on a computer project for an extended period of time.  Perform light exercises during commercial breaks. Make it a house rule that snacks and beverages are only consumed at the kitchen table. Snacking combined with electronics can easily get you to the bottom of the bag without even realizing it.  Finally, make sure electronics don’t encroach on your sleep time. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that people who short themselves on rest have more difficulty controlling their weight.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents limit children's television viewing time to 2 hours/day. Vicky Rideout of Kaiser describes electronic media as having become so entrenched in our kid’s everyday lives that it’s "a part of the air they breathe". I appreciate her parting comment: "Anything that takes up this much time, we really do need to think and talk about it".

Are You a Weekend Overeater?

Most people eat more on the weekends then on the weekdays. A study by Jeffery Inman, a marketing professor at the University of Pittsburgh found that people who are weekend overeaters, average 400 additional calories for an average increase of 20%. This excess translates into a potential 6 pound weight gain annually! What are possible explanations for this weekend increase?

• Cupboards and refrigerators are full from recent shopping trips.

• Breakfast is more robust, including calorie dense foods like bacon, sausage, pancakes and waffles with all the toppings.

• Late night, sleep deprived activities, fueled by one too many spirits leaves people reaching for convenience and fast foods.

• Sleeping in results in overeating at lunch and dinner.

• Dining out and entertainment combined with food like movies, soda and popcorn are more common.

• Mindless snacking in front of the TV, while reading, or at the computer are more apt to occur.

Thankfully, the average person only consumes 37 more calories on the weekend. If you are above average, in the 400+ check out my “favorites” on Twitter www.twitter.com/e2dietitian to help improve your eating and exercise habits Monday – Sunday! If you are in the average, +37 weekend category, share some tips with us on how you avoid weekend overeating.

"The Cake Stand" Mindless, but Meaningful Gift

I received a cake display stand with glass cover this Christmas from my mother-in-law.  It was a very thoughtful gift, especially since the career choice between pastry chef and dietitian had been a struggle for me. 

Creating new desserts to share has always been as relaxing as running or biking.  Good thing eh? To bake or run, bake then bike, but never run then bake, that's unsanitary!  Cookies, bars, pies, scones, fruit muffins and of course anything with chocolate were always well received by family and friends.  Cakes on the other hand, went untouched except for a few wedges and frosting swipes.  That all changed with the introduction of "The Cake Stand". 

This Valentine's Day I made a classic white cake with pink frosting.  The dessert was nothing exceptional, basically something to make me feel alright about not cooking a labor intensive, holiday dinner.  "The Cake Stand" was positioned front and center on the kitchen counter, visible to everyone, beckoning to all whom entered.  Within two days, the cake was consumed in full, the cake stand empty, and fruit withering in the bowl beside it.  While I could continue to use the stand to store cookies, bars, and muffins, I carefully returned it to the storage shelf for the sake of our family's health.  My family can continue to enjoy snacks in reasonable quantities, but stored out of sight, not on a pedestal. The fruit bowl has returned to its rightful position of dominance on the kitchen counter, front and center and readily accessible.

The cake stand was a very thoughtful gift and will be saved for holidays, dinner parties and birthdays.  Beyond that it becomes a "see food" trap that indulges mindless eating and replaces healthier options.

Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink

Every once in awhile I read a really great book about improving one’s health and think “This is the kind of stuff that made me want to become a dietitian!” I relayed this thought to my 9 year old son who immediately responded “Did you highlight a lot of the pages mom?” to which I chuckled with a “definitely”.

Mindless Eating is a great read for anyone interested in health and wellness topics. For the 2/3rd’s of American’s struggling with weight issues, it provides many “aha” moments and memorable tools that instill confidence in finally being able to successful manage eating habits. It’s not the traditional diet book that pushes foods allowed, foods to avoid, and how many minutes of daily exercise you need to lose weight. Rather it exposes the hidden psychological triggers behind why we eat what we do and the invisible cues that lead to scale creep. The guy obviously likes to make people laugh because his studies while thoroughly fascinating are relayed in such a humorous way that you’ll feel like you’re watching an Ashton Kutcher episode of “You’ve Just Been Punk’d”. The book tackles a lot of not so obvious topics including your kitchen environment, movie theater popcorn, clothing choices, restaurant traps, socializing in the midst of food and alcohol, m&m and jelly bean colors, and warehouse clubs. For a taste of the book go to http://www.mindlesseating.com/ and take the quiz. The book’s grand finale chapter provides specific tactics to overcome an individual's mindless eating danger traps: The Meal Stuffer; The Snack Grazer; The Party Binger; The Restaurant Indulger; and The Desktop or Dashboard Diner. After reading this book you should definitely feel in control over environmental influences that cause you to eat when you’re not hungry and overeat beyond the point of no return.

Mindful Eating: A Diet for 2010 & a Lifetime

Does your food seem to disappear without you smelling, tasting or truly enjoying the pleasure of a good meal? Mindful eating is a way of eating that can translate into a significant health improvement for everyone in your family. It involves lifestyle changes that you can follow forever, and at no cost. Mindful eating teaches people how to avoid the opposite, mindless eating. Mindful eating requires that you shut off the computer, TV, or electronic devices and put down reading material. It requires that you sit down at the table, portion and plate foods versus bag, counter or car eating. Minus these distractions, you slowly become more in tune to your body’s hunger and fullness (satiety) cues and more appreciative of the meal before you.

People who eat mindlessly often eat in a rushed, panicked or tense manner. They don’t relax during a meal; rather they chew very little and swallow in large chunks. It takes 20 minutes for the stomach to signal the brain that it has had enough. A mindless eater is typically the 1st one done, and reaching for dessert because their stomach brain relay is still in midcourse. Many mindless eaters also need to harness responses to emotions (angry, sad, bored, and happy), society pressures (time is everything, thin is in) and specific foods (chips & cheese, ice cream, chocolate).

Select foods based on quality not quantity. Make sure they appeal to your sense of smell, taste, and are visually appealing. Mindful eating does not require that you eat certain foods just because they are good for you, in fact you shouldn’t eat foods that you don’t like. It is most important to enjoy your meal from beginning to end, savoring each bite, listening to body cues, eating slowly and as a result not overeating. What do you think? Should a change to mindful eating be in your 2010 plan?