Have You Had Your Dried Fruit Today?

Raisins and other dried fruits provide a nutritious, filling snack and make for a great addition to recipes. Dried fruits are especially appealing as they count towards our fruit serving for the day and provide concentrated amounts of fiber. Raisins, apricots, and dates are also good sources of iron. For dried fruits, one nutrient which would be reduced during the drying process is Vit. C.

It must however be remembered that dried fruits also contain concentrated amounts of calories for the same quantity as their fresh fruit counterparts. For example 1 cup of grapes vs. 1 packed cup of raisins has about 100 calories and about 500 calories respectively. Therefore, one must be mindful of this and exercise portion control when consuming raisins or other dried fruits as a snack or part of a meal.

Some dried fruits are treated with sulphur dioxide to preserve the color, but I personally prefer those without such a preservative. Sulfur is not really necessary and it makes the fruits less wholesome. Newman's Own Organics Dried fruit is a line containing no sulfites and you can find other varieties of organic dried fruits in the Natural/Gourmet Food store which also are free of sulfites. Trader Joe's also carry some unsulfured dried fruit varieties.

Dried fruits are so versatile that it really makes sense to find ways to incorporate them into daily meals as much as possible. Enjoy this Free Collection of Cookbooks from Sun Maid Raisins dating from the vintage versions from the earliest years of the company to the ones from the most recent years. For some of these recipes you could mix up the raisins with other types of dried fruits or replace them all together with different dried fruits.




To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences,

Eight Non-Diet Tips You Can Apply Right Now

When it comes to weight management, so many people get overwhelmed and stressed. It just seems so complicated. When you put diets into the mix, successful weight management may almost seem impossible. So before you even consider yet another diet, consider rethinking this option. Instead, begin with these simple Non-Diet tips which you can utilize right now to help free you from the dieting roller coaster.


When it comes to weight management:

1. Be in it for the long haul. Do not be discouraged by minor shifts of weight in an undesired direction. Be patient.

2. Be Fiber Conscious. Fiber adds bulk and that’s a good thing, because that fills you up faster and longer. Vegetables, fruits, beans etc.

3. Watch your Liquid Calories especially soda calories and some "energy drinks". These really add up because they are so quickly consumed.

4. Avoid Diets which promise Quick Weight Loss

5. Eat several small meals daily because your body will only metabolize a certain amount of food based on it’s needs and the rest is stored as fat. A smaller meal means that more of the food is likely to be burned out and less stored as fat.

6. Take on a daily relaxation practice. Eg. Meditation, going for a walk, reading a good book, playing with a pet, meeting friends etc. or whatever makes you feel uplifted and less stressed.

7. Set your scale to your desired weight and step on it as minimally as possible after that. Place a note on the scale with your desired weight and make that your motivator. Avoid being a prisoner to it daily.

8. Have a support network. Being amongst like-minded people is one of the fastest ways to achieve a goal.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

What the Weight Watchers Hungry Monster Does Not Teach Us About Hunger and Cravings

This is the time of year when people begin holding the intention of a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight or get more fit. At this point it has become a tradition, one which half of the world is initially fired up at the beginning of the year to fulfill. Weight Watchers, like most other weight loss programs, is now happily feeding this enthusiasm with an all out inundation of commercials, some of which depict the infamous “Hungry Monster”. This is a fuzzy, orange, big-eyed character who is suppose to represent the pesky rambling in our tummy called hunger which causes us to eat cookies, ice cream and similar foods, totally sabotaging our weight loss goals.

Upon conducting a quick online research of Mr. Hungry Monster, I found him to be quite popular. The first three pages of Google were filled only with raves and praises for this unique puppet. Most people were asking questions of where they could purchase him. One blog post referred to Hungry Monster as representing a "beast inside of them that was controlling what they eat” and that they need to retrain it so that they can eat healthier. The bottom line is that people love this orange, fur ball monster, and most seem to want to take him home as well.

So any criticism of the Hungry Monster concept would seem quite out of place, and could probably be grounds for an all out barrage of insults. But here goes. Although Hungry Monster is marketed as a playful symbol of hunger, he is portrayed as a mischievous and trouble making character which we certainly need to tame. Therefore hunger is something we need to tame. What is sad is that people actually do believe that something as natural as hunger, real physical hunger, is a bad thing.

The body has devised hunger to indicate to us when it is in a real physiological need for food. However when we make hunger the enemy, what we are really doing is confusing hunger with cravings. Cravings most often have nothing to do with physical hunger and are always focused on a specific food. Two types of cravings are emotional cravings and physical cravings.

Emotional cravings or “psychological hunger” occurs when food is used to escape from an undesired feeling, to deal with stress or provide comfort and ‘good feelings”. Physical cravings are often associated with some sort of deficiency the body is experiencing as often happens with structured diets where there is the tendency to exempt many foods. This lack of balanced eating can lead to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals. The body may crave foods containing the missing carbs and nutrients it is short of.

Dieting is often a major cause of food cravings. When you can’t eat a food, you will want it more. The moment you get the chance "to cheat" and taste that forbidden fruit, you are likely to overdo it, because you know that it may be a long time before you can have that food again.

Other potential sources of food cravings include:

1. Low serotonin levels which may cause cravings for carbohydrates (mostly high sugar choices). Carbohydrates help ensure the body has sufficient tryptophan to allow the brain to produce desirable serotonin levels. Serotonin is a hormone essential for relaxation and sleep.

2. Environmental cues: A fast food commercial on TV or passing near the actual building like McDonald's, Wendy’s etc. could create a craving for fast food items. Certain activities strongly associated with a specific food can trigger a craving for that food, eg. traditional holiday foods during the Christmas season, candy or popcorn and other snack foods while watching television at home.

So if you intend on embarking on a weight management plan for the New Year, a good initial move would be to better understand hunger and cravings, so you can identify them easily when they occur. Ignoring true hunger, as the Weight Watcher’s “Hungry Monster” campaign would suggest, is not necessarily the angle to take.

It is important to take in enough calories and nutrition. It is equally wise to not skip meals or to exempt as many foods as possible as part of a restrictive eating plan, since these practices can cause unnecessary cravings which are the real source of overeating.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,



P.S: To assist you in managing food cravings you might want to take a look at Am I Hungry, a comprehensive, non-diet alternative program consisting of books, workshops, coaching etc.

Evaluating Your Eating Style

Our eating style very much influences the way we relate to food. Identifying our specific eating style helps us to better understand what drives or motivates us to eat. Are we motivated by emotions, an insatiable need to limit or restrict our intake or are we purely responding to hunger and satiety cues?


Three (3) main eating styles can be identified. They are Attuned Eating, Deprivation Driven Eating (aka Dieting) and Emotional Eating. Attuned Eating basically means that you recognize and listen to your natural, internal hunger/fullness cues allowing them to guide your eating. Unlike the other eating styles, attuned eating has no other agenda. There is no using food to compensate for anything else, the pressure to label food as "good" or "bad", the need to try to surpress hunger etc.. You don't ignore hunger, you eat what you want, and stop when full without emotional pain, guilt or stress.

It is important to recognize that food is just one component of a healthy, fulfilling life. Healthy living is about body, mind and soul including everything from our relationships, how we care for ourselves, our level of self-confidence, our social interactions and recreational activities etc. Therefore, it is important that we become aware of what eating style we are practicing daily, so that we can better address the factors which may be negatively impacting our relationship with our food.

To better understand Attuned Eating and how all the three eating styles compare to each other please refer to this table from Nourishing Connections explaining everything in much more detail. Nourishing Connections is a non-diet intervention approach to weight management, nutrition and well being.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences,




NOTE: Next time I will discuss recognizing the difference between physical activity and regimented exercise aimed at achieving a defined weight, and also incorporating effortless activity into daily living. Also, remember to sign up for the 10-Part E-course on How Non-Diet Weight Management Can Work for You to gain more insight on making eating guilt free and enjoyable.

Getting Enough Calories and Nutrition

Sufficient daily calorie intake is crucial whether you are on a diet or not. Dieting and skipping meals mean restrictive calorie intake which can ultimately decrease the body’s metabolic rate (the rate at which energy is used by the body). As you give the body less calories to work with it responds by trying to conserve energy to make sure that it is able to support its daily tasks. But the result of all of this is usually fatigue and lethargy. Furthermore, if one were to increase calories significantly, it is likely that they would gain weight because those calories would be burned at a much slower rate. This is why once someone has stopped dieting and begins eating normally they may regain the weight.

The bottom line is that the body needs ample energy and the ability to function at its best. It is able to do this by utilizing Carbohydrates, Protein, Fats and many minerals and vitamins. Carbohydrates' role is primarily to provide a direct source of energy and fuel. Fat also provides energy although the process of extracting energy from fat is more complicated.

There is an interchange of mostly carbs and some fat for energy as needed, but it is ideal to have enough carbs in the diet so that the body isn’t forced to resort to both Fat and Protein in the absence of sufficient Carbohydrates. Protein has many other major functions (e.g. for tissue building and repair) and when the body is forced to use it for energy then this usually means that the body is greatly deprived and starved. So be wary of extreme carb. restriction.

Carbohydrates, Protein and Fats are all essential and need to be consumed in proportion to each other to make sure that they are being utilized in the most efficient way in the body. Although there are variants to the proportions, daily requirements are generally 55% Carbohydrates, 15% Protein, and 30% Fat of total calories consumed for the day. They are each used by the body in very specific ways to complete tasks and maintain an optimal state of health.

A simple way to ensure that you are getting enough energy and nutrition is to consume nutrient-dense foods. This means less processed foods,and foods which have been minimally altered. This would also ensure that you are consuming enough vitamins and minerals which are also needed for generating energy and serving the many other functions of the body. For e.g. at breakfast time, a nutrient dense food like whole grain hot or cold cereal with nuts or whole grain bread with nut butter would provide high quality Carbohydrate, Protein as well as Fat calories, and essential vitamins and minerals.


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences,

Can You Overdo Healthy Eating?

I know you must be asking, How can anyone overdo healthy eating, isn’t healthy to any degree a good thing? Well sometimes you can overdo a good thing. Once the “bad”, unhealthy food has been identified the objective becomes elimination, elimination, elimination.

One common area of overdoing health is with fats and low carbohydrates. In the case of fats and carbohydrates, which are often categorized in the “bad” food category, one would think that these weren’t nutrients required in the diet. Things can quickly get out of hand, to the point where elimination of these targeted foods becomes the dominant energy a person experiences around eating.
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Extreme avoidance of anything that is labeled as “bad” can create anxiety.

-Generally any negative emotions attributed to food whether it is around excessive, emotional eating or avoidance eating leads to guilt and unease.

-Overdoing healthy can also lead to a very unilateral view of foods. For example a food item as a whole is only judged by its absence of the “culprit” ingredient or component. That’s why it can become so easy to overdo foods labeled as “fat-free” for example.

In the case of "fat-free foods, often times, the rest of the nutritional profile of the food, aside from the fat content, is almost overlooked. It is most helpful that the overall nutritional value of a food be considered when your focus is on health. A soda is fat free, but most wouldn’t generally consider it beneficial nutritionally. A cookie might be “fat-free”, but be loaded with fake ingredients.

So it’s important to broaden and open your mind, so that you don’t miss out on nutritionally valuable foods just because they're not fat-free or carbohydrate free, etc. Yes it’s fine to include these in the diet as well, but not exclusively so. And it also must be remembered that these nutrients are needed in certain quantities in the diet to promote good health, energy for the body, and proper functioning of all the organs of the body.

Healthy eating should be more about "What You Can Eat" rather than "What You Cannot Eat”. Food should never create anxiety whether it be about excessive eating or the extreme elimination of foods considered as unhealthy or inclusion only of foods considered healthy. Unless someone truly has a food allergy, there should be some balance, because healthy eating is as much about having wonderful, enjoyable, stress-free eating experiences as it is about the food itself.


To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences,


NOTE: Next time I will be discussing getting adequate calories in the diet for optimal health and energy whether you are looking to loose weight or not. Also, remember to sign up for the 10-Part E-course on How Non-Diet Weight Management Can Work for You to gain more insight on making eating guilt free and enjoyable.

Loving Leftovers

Forget what Mother said about finishing everything on your plate! Although you’re a grown-up now you still feel mother hovering over your plate uttering this over and over in your head. Bless your precious mom and even with all her good intentions, what she gave you was a serious guilt trip, and perhaps today you find yourself forcing to consume the excess food on your plate.

In a restaurant we feel no guilt about just getting a doggy bag, so use the same attitude with your home cooking. Leftovers are not just for the monstrous Thanksgiving turkey everyone wants to use up before it spoils. They eliminate the need to cook a meal from scratch or search for food the next day. I promise you that your mom isn’t looking!

It's fun to also cook meals which naturally serve double duty as leftovers the next day. These include foods like eggplant, cold pasta which can be incorporated into a salad, chicken, and beans. Leftover meats can be easily incorporated into a wonderful and enticing new recipe to create an entirely new meal. It only takes some fresh herbs and/or vegetables, various spices, and some other common items in the kitchen to jazz up and help reinvent a leftover meal.

Here's a very useful information page for utilizing a very common leftover meal item Chicken, at Love Food Hate Waste. Make sure to click on "Show imperial Units" under "Ingredients" for the recipe measurement, since this is a British website with a preference for the metric unit system.

Embracing leftovers allows us to enjoy eating free of the ingrained tendency to feel guilt about not eating everything on our plate. It also allows us to avoid wasting food and to save on our food spending.

A Diet For Life?

Like most other people, I am always faced with someone around me looking for the ultimate answer to weight management. Often the answer which most people expect is in some form of diet recommendation or extreme calorie restricted meal plan. For many Nutritionists it’s therefore easy to succumb to the Diet Doctor role, because that’s what people expect and it's where the demand and cash is.

Diets are often geared towards short term weight goals. So they have their purpose. However, in the case where someone gets wonderful results from a diet, there is often that awkward post-diet period where the weight has been lost, but the person doesn’t know how to or is not willing to let go of the diet.Even if there has been no desirable results, the tendency is to get on another diet.

Although, it can be hard to break free of the routine of such structured eating, one has to ask themselves the question “Can I or do I want to be on a Diet for Life or for any extended period of time?” Especially when undergone for extended periods of time I've seen dieting easily lead to Anemia and reduced nourishment in some form or the other. It makes sense with such aggressive elimination and restriction of individual or entire groups of foods, and not to mention the 'laxative' diet teas and questionable 'magic bullet' concoctions. Although diet bars, shakes etc have evolved somewhat they are no substitute for real food.

The Savvy Non-Dieter advocates things like regular meal intake without skipping meals or starving oneself, incorporating the most healthy forms of carbs, protein, fats in the diet, eating mindfully with attention and purpose, portion size awareness, increasing appreciation and understanding of the food we eat (quality and wholesomeness, freshness, sustainability, organic certification status etc.), among other things.

It pays to be a Savvy Non-Dieter, not simply as a type of defiance against all things diet. It’s about being empowered to more often bring quality of life and quality food encounters to the forefront of our eating experiences. It pays to be a Savvy Non-Dieter in a Food Phobic World.

Tea-A Flavor for Every Taste & Need

Tea has many health benefits as we all know. Green tea has been heralded for its superior antioxidant content for example. However the focus is seldom on the versatility of teas in terms of the endless flavors available or purposes (i.e calming, detoxing, invigorating etc) they serve. Whether you are in the mood for something with some citrus/fruit zing, something to calm your senses, awaken your taste buds, or give you a little taste of the exotic, I say bring on the tea. What simpler way to have multiple, unique taste experiences with little effort.

There are as many tea choices as there are purposes or moods for them to fulfill. Today more than ever, the world of tea is more exciting than ever. My favorite companies are Yogi Tea, Bigelow, Tazo and Celestial Seasonings. On the Yogi site they take the interactive approach to tea selection and even allow you to select your tea based on “Mood, Flavor or Purpose”. If you’re not a tea connoisseur, this process is very helpful.

The thing I like about Yogi Tea is that they have many therapeutic teas geared towards specific ailments- the flu, stress, digestive issues, immune function, women’s health, emotional well being etc.

Great Yogi Flavors: Lemon Ginger, Moroccan Orange Spice, Mayan Cocoa Spice, Calming

Great Celestial Seasonings Flavors: Lemon Zinger, Black Cherry Berry, Chamomile, Cranberry Apple Zinger, Mandarin Orange Spice, Peppermint

A cup of tea just on it’s own, with a favorite dessert, or as an alternative to coffee is always a good choice. And for some reason, a cup of tea at the end of meal creates a calm, satisfied stomach and seems to balance everything out. Well it certainly seems to help. And most of all it's a tantalizing food experience in a cup and is easy to access.

Sparkling Water Upgraded

There is a treasure chest of ‘sweetened water’ and diet beverage products out there, and in my opinion most fall short. After the artificial sweeteners or added sugar and additives, it feels like you’re drinking fake water. I recognize that many people have a hard time drinking sufficient water on a regular basis, and adding fruit flavor to it becomes a greater motivator to drink water. But shouldn't the product you choose be as wholesome as it’s main ingredient, the actual water?

Well there is a relatively new product on the market which seems to answer that question with a resounding YES. Sparkling Essence by R.W Knudsen, an organic juice company, provides carbonated spring water with a hint of real organic fruit. There are no added sugars, additives or preservatives and no calories. Plus the product is Certified Organic. They use a process of brewing the organic fruits into fresh spring water.

It is a great alternative to regular diet beverages and can be consumed in place of juices. It’s also great for people who want ‘real food’ options when it comes to weight management. The flavors include Mint, Cucumber, Blueberry, and Lemon and is best when chilled. The suggested price is $3.79-3.99 for a 4-pack container. You can check out the company's site for stores which carry Sparkling Essence.

New Guide For Health Conscious Shoppers

If you are new or just getting into the Organic Food scene, you know how overwhelming navigating the grocer aisles for the highest quality organic and natural foods can be. Many consumers would admit that they don’t know exactly what to look for.

A new book, The New Good Food Shopper’s Pocket Guide to Organic, Sustainable, and Seasonal Whole Foods by Margaret Wittenberg aims to offer consumers a guide they can take with them right to the supermarket. Wittenberg is Vice President of Whole Foods Market and a former member of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board.

The guide helps consumers to shop smart and eat better when choosing amongst the hundreds of products available to them. It also helps consumers demystify labels right when they are making purchases at their local supermarket; and offers information about buying, storing and preparing whole foods. The guide offers all of this and more.

It really helps to have such a reference to help you understand exactly what you are purchasing when it comes to organic foods and you may find it helpful to you.

15 Fun Activities of a Savvy Non-Dieter

Being a Savvy Non-Dieter isn’t about a blind love of food. It’s love of food coming from a place of appreciation and awareness, genuinely caring about where your food comes from, and having an enjoyable, guiltless relationship with what you eat.

Additional, it is important to understand that adapting a Non-Dieter Mindset and being a Savvy Non-Dieter is not an issue of defiance, but empowerment and freedom. It's all about everyday practices which define a positive and healthy connection with food in your life.

Do you recognize any of the following practices in your encounters with food? Or perhaps you have some you might like to add.

1. Dining Out

2. Picnic Anyone?

3. Enjoyment of Food Festivals/Shows when possible

4. A Food Magazine Subscription

5. A Well Stocked Pantry

6. Regular visits to the natural/organic food store of the organic section of the supermarket.

7. Regular pampering, relaxation, massages, and other forms of self-indulgence

8. Enjoyable lunch breaks outside the office at a nearby eatery, restaurant, park of public space.

9. A nice collection of cook books or recipe favorites

10. Beautiful and functional plate ware, flatware.

11. Ongoingly striving towards personal growth and advancements in life so that food is not compensating for anything lacking in other areas of your life .

12. Regular weekly viewing of the Food Network…OK, that one is optional.

13. A Diner table with enough space to share a meal with at least 4 people.

14. Allowing the simple indulgence of a sensibly portioned dessert, when appropriate, without guilt. Many restaurants and food manufacturers alike are providing ‘single serving’ dessert choices, and not only are these choices more appropriately sized, but they contain more wholesome ingredients.

15. Always trying new and different food items from the supermarket or food market to add to your pantry.

There are so much more that can involve being a Savvy Non-Dieter. You may have to decide for yourself. I don't believe in "boxed up" concepts or personal labels, so you as a Savvy Non-Dieter is whatever works best for you as long as it leads you to healthful, enjoyable eating experiences.