MORE Sugar Plums Please

I couldn't let today's news go by without a rant about dancers and the importance of body image. 

NYC Ballet Principal, Jenifer Ringer, made headlines today because of dance critic, Alastair Macauly's response to her "Sugar Plum(p)" appearance.  He wrote, "Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many;"  She was featured on the Today Show and for all of you who saw, she's at a healthy body weight.  Underweight in fact, when compared to the general population, as most dancers are. 

Dancers bodies are under constant scrutiny and many professionals suffer from eating disorders, especially in the ballet world.  Jenifer herself admitted to suffering from one when she first started at the NYC Ballet.  This is indeed great publicity for the ballet and empowering for non-dancer women everywhere.  My concern is that it's only going to make the eating disorders in the dance world more prevalent.  I hope I'm wrong, but I'm a dancer and I understand the mindset.  We stare at ourselves everyday in the mirror and strive for perfection in our movement, lines and body.  I myself have obsessed and cried over choreographers comments on my body, knowing that there is nothing wrong with it.  Unfortunately, when your body is your profession and you put it on stage and light it up, the world can be a brutal place.  I hope dancers everywhere are able to see past this terrible review and fully embrace their bodies for the beautiful machines that we've trained so hard to turn them into. 

Dancers, take a stand and eat another sugar plum!  Just be sure to wash it downs with some leafy green vegetables!  ;)  (I may be a dancer but I'm also still a health coach!) 

Feeding your superhero first thing in the AM

What do you get if you cross a good night's rest with a dose of morning sunshine and a heaping plate of kale? I'm pretty sure it's going to make you invincible for the rest of the day. Or at least until lunchtime.

I had a performance last evening so I went to bed with that warm, fuzzy dancer's high and slept like a rock. I actually got in a full 8 hours, woke up to a morning kiss from a handsome face :) and a room drenched in sunshine.

I wasn't about to feed this invincible body a bowl of sugary cereal...or worse yet, skip breakfast all together! I sauteed up a few handfuls of kale, tossed in an egg (organic, cage free of course) and threw some fresh dill on top.

In case you didn't know, or have forgotten, kale is a superfood. It's packed with

calcium, vitamin A, folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin B6. It's also full of antioxidants and carotenoids that help protect the body from chronic diseases such as heart disease. When you start your day with a superfood, you are fueling your superhero with high octane nutrition for very few calories. High octane converts to LOTS of energy, lots of fiber so you feel fuller longer and a happy body! :)

Do mornings get any better than this?

Laughing and Learning with Abe

I teach dance every other Thursday morning at a senior center in Queens. It's truly the highlight of my day to spend the morning with a group of young at heart movers ages 60-100. Every week, half of my class gets anxious to leave at 10:20 to prepare for their 10:30 meeting, entitled "Laughing and Learning with Abe". Abe is one of the daily regulars and a ring leader of sorts. There have been many weeks that I'll walk in and happily go up to each table in hopes of signing up dancers only to receive an array of excuses and ailments. All I have to do is hunt down Abe and he convinces them to join my class. He'll even throw in the suggested $1 donation for his extra special lady friends!

I've had the opportunity to spend some time chatting with Abe and found out what makes him so intriguing. He's well into his 80's and has one of the most youthful, positive and energetic spirits I've ever encountered. He spends hours preparing a booklet of jokes, stories and inspirational quotes to share with his group each week. Today, I was told, they were discussing priorities and what you decide is most important to you when you get out of bed in the morning. To myself, I arrogantly thought, what in the world I have to prioritize at that age? I immediately felt guilty for never taking the time to realize that it doesn't matter what age you are, what job or responsibilities you have, you will always have priorities. And that's a good thing! It's what motivates you to get out of bed in the morning. It's knowing that there is going to be a part of your day that is important to you and that's what makes life worth living.

We all spend so many of our days frantically running around and going through the required motions. Have you ever stopped to think what part of that rat race is most important to you? It could be anything from rolling over to share a monster breath kiss with your loved one in the morning to going to your job knowing that someone there needs and appreciates you.

If you can't think of something that holds superior ranking in your life, perhaps its a sign you should take a deep breath, slow down and take a lesson in laughing and learning with Abe!

So what's your priority today?

Watching the Weight

Weight Watchers has finally done an overhaul of their points system! For years, thousands have been counting up the points from every snack and meal in order to stay within the boundaries of Weight Watchers guidelines. As it turns out, there's been a simpler way to loose weight all along. Welcome to the world of fruits and vegetables my friends! Weight Watchers has revamped the system and a calorie just doesn't count as a calorie any more. (We knew that. Thanks for catching up with the program) They finally studied the science on how your body processes certain types of calories and found that your body isn't going to register that 100 calorie snack pack quite the same way it's going to process an apple.

These are things that we all know instinctively but when you are told by a multimillion dollar industry that the cookies and the apple are exactly the same, why would we opt for the later?

I find it a huge relief that Weight Watchers has finally gotten their facts straight and will now be promoting a healthier diet. Yes, it's true that thousands have lost weight doing it the easy way, but it's because they were eating less calories and watching their weight (hence the name). The process is the same. The support groups are the same. But now people will be losing weight in a healthier way and will be much more likely to keep the weight off.

The companies tag is "Don't eat less, eat smarter"

Thank you. It's about time.

"100% Recycled" or is it?

Yesterday, I ventured into Staples to buy printer paper and faced my biggest moral dilemma of the day. Perhaps even of the week. I was greeted by an entire wall of multipurpose paper of 3 major varieties: Regular paper, 50% Recycled and 100% Recycled. I'm environmentally conscious so it's a no brainer- I reached for the 100% recycled. Looking at the prices is where the dilemma stepped in.

Regular paper was 1/2 the price of the 100% recycled!

I stood there for 10 min trying to decide what to do. I live in NYC. Things are expensive. I have rent to pay and my an expensive, organic, whole food loving bottomless pit to feed! Can I really justify paying $11 for a ream of printer paper just because it's 100% recycled?

My wrinkled forehead must have been projecting some "help me" energy because a salesperson came over to ask if I was OK. (Note: not to ask if I needed help- if I was OK.) I wanted to scream "I'm not OK! This is what's wrong with our world. This is the same reason my organic, locally grown apples are are so much more expensive than the ones with the waxy covering and 1,500 food miles!"

I couldn't bring myself purchase anything but the 100% recycled and spent $11 on a ream of paper. When I got home, I found some disappointing research. It turns out that the marketing industry knows exactly how to dupe earth loving consumers like me. That lovable 100% recycled logo falls under the realm of free domain, meaning virtually anything can wear that logo. Here comes my broken record shpeal: you have to READ THE LABEL!

Here's what I found. Check out the percentage of post consumer fiber in the paper- the higher, the better.

You also need to take into consideration how it was bleached. Is it TCF: Total Chlorine Free- no chlorine, but it also means it's not recycled paper, ECF: Elemental Chlorine Free-no chlorine gas but other elements containing chlorine or PCF: Process Chlorine Free-non chlorine alternatives are used and it meets the EPA's 30% minimum requirement for recycled/post consumer waste content. (the best of the 3 options)

Upon inspection I found that my purchase yesterday was 100%% post consumer waste and ECF. Not great, but at least it's 100% post consumer waste.

Looooong story short. Being a "green consumer" means that you have to be conscious of ALL your daily choices. Learn to be skeptical of everything you see in bold print, and in reference yesterdays rant, read between the lines. Sometimes that means going one more day without paper so you can do a little research before making a decision.


In earth loving health,


Joanie


Joanie Johnson, HC
joanie@motivatednutrition.net
www.motivatednutrition.net

Read between the lines, or at least the back of the box!

Are you a sucker for buying a product because of the health benefits listed on the front of the package? Healthy catch words like whole grain, fiber, and vitamins are all over the front of our cereal boxes, pastas, canned goods, even chips and other junk foods! Every time we fall for it, we are being the good consumers that the food industry hopes we are.

The Institute of Medicine released a report on Wed stating that food companies should focus on labeling the nutrients most responsible for obesity and chronic disease on the front of their packages. These of course are already listed on the back of the package or side nutrition bar, but who wants to actually read what they are eating? It's much better to put our full trust in the food industry that they won't feed us something bad for our health. (Insert sarcasm here)

Will you find yourself picking up that same package of "healthy" chips if it is blaring terms like calories and saturated fat? Hmmm.

The Institute of Medicine is working with congress and the FDA to standardize labeling on food products. I'm going to be optimistic that a change will be made soon. In the meantime, don't be blind to the nutrients that you are putting into you body...or not putting in! Take an extra 30 seconds, turn the package over and find out what's in there!

You can find a recent New York Times article on the topic here: Group Seeks Food Label That Highlights Harmful Nutrients

and the Institute of Medicine report here: Report at a Glance


In Health,


Joanie


Joanie Johnson, HC
joanie@motivatednutrition.net
www.motivatednutrition.net

Are you ready to make some healthy changes in your life?