University of Life: Your Professors and Your Classmates

Let’s say there was a formal school for this.  Let’s say you had your first day of school today.  Who were your teachers, and who were your classmates?

Your teachers are the people in your life that allow you to look at your most negative and most positive aspects of yourself.  They shine the light on your skeletons as well as your best qualities. That man blabbing on his cell phone about the seemingly minute problems in his life in front of you at the bank, that was your morning class.  Learn compassion and patience for others.  He may have mirrored a quality in yourself that you don’t like to acknowledge.  Maybe you focus on the negative too much, and your homework is to look at the amazing, positive aspects of your life more often.

The single mother you held the door open for on your into your apartment building was your afternoon class.  The genuine thank you and smile she flashed you mirrored the loving, kind qualities you embody but may sometimes dismiss.  Your homework tonight is to remember that you are an incredible being of light and love, and each little action you do to display this counts, and is noticed.

Your classmates are the people you brush past in the subway, or your brother that tries to start a conversation with you, as you hastily brush past him en route to the fridge. Have love and gratitude that they are in your life.  We are all the same type of humans trying to experience universal love for each other.

Remember these lessons as you go to bed tonight.  Class dismissed.

The Ins and Outs of Reading Nutrition Labels

If only it were this easy!

It’s recently been brought to my attention that people still pay attention to calories.  I chuckled a little bit when I realized this.  It’s been so far off of my radar, I kind of forgot about it. Every so often I get this urge to write a post about nutrition.  I mean, I’m a CNP and all that but my focus has been elsewhere these days. Nonetheless, this is a question that is often overlooked.  What’s the deal with food labels?

Okay, well let’s start with the obvious. What is a calorie? It is the energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water through 1 degree Celsius.

Did anyone else just have a WTF run through their head? Even as a nutritionist, reading this definition just boggles my mind. We’re so focused on the word “calorie” when it comes to weight loss and weight gain.  What bears more importance on food labels are the macronutrients: fat, carbs and protein. If it was all about calories, you could eat a specific amount of ice cream or cookies, and still lose weight (sadly, there are people that have made money off of this idea).

Does your cereal have 14+ grams of sugar in it? You’re basically eating candy for breakfast. Does your total protein intake average of 30+ grams of protein? Your body is going to have a tough time digesting that.  Sorry, how many grams of hydrogenated fat are in your food court lunch? Jeeze louise, that’s a little worrisome. Some labels try to justify these ridiculous numbers with the micronutrients, “Contains 50% of the daily recommended vitamin B6…”.  That’s great, but what form are these vitamins and minerals in? Foods that have been “fortified” don’t count (sorry, Wonderbread) since your body can’t recognize and absorb them.

Also check out the serving size. If the serving size is ridiculous compared to the other numbers (for example, if there are 34 grams of sugar in each cookie you have at Starbucks, that is WAY too much for just one cookie!).

Above and beyond the numbers of your meal, what are the ingredients? This is what you should be looking at. Food labels are listed with the most amount of ingredients to the least.  If the first ingredient is sugar… well, that means that there is more sugar than anything else in your food. And even if the last ingredient is FD&C Blue Nos. 1, it still means there is food dye that has been linked to ADHD and other “diseases” in your meal. A food with high fat content from coconut or avocado is WAY healthier and an encouraged choice, whereas if it is from a vegetable oil source, you should steer clear.

If you can understand the ingredients, you’re off to a great start.  If you still need some help, hit me up, abigail@abigailchristens.com