Author: Amy Beausang

Seasons greetings to all my fellow holiday health nuts out there! I’ve been thinking about this post for awhile and thought it particularly apt for this magical time of year when sugary goodies seem to be falling lovingly out of the sky. I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday!

Admit it–at some point you’ve probably gone an extra mile or taken an extra class to “burn off” that row of cookies you ate out of the box last night. Or maybe you exercise solely so that you can eat whatever you want. I used to think this way–that it was as simple as burning a greater number of calories than you consume.

Sorry, it don’t work that way, ya’ll.

We can’t simply exercise away poor food choices. Using exercise to lose weight without changing food habits is asking for failure. If you exercise but keep those patterns of unhealthy eating, sure–you may improve endurance, gain muscle, and be fitter overall, but you won’t shed many pounds. You may very well have a six pack…hiding under a muffin top. And, without changing food habits, your workouts will likely feel sluggish and your recoveries not very recovering. Our bodies are kinda like expensive, high-performance cars in a way–our performance (physical and mental) is directly related to the quality of the fuel we put in our bodies. Junky fuel yields clunky performance–and not just when we’re working out. High-quality, clean fuel yields optimal performance–during workouts AND throughout everyday life.

And think about this: when we workout–especially if we do moderate to intense exercise–we are gonna be HUNGRY! It’s easy to fall into the trap of eating whatever you want and more of it “because I worked out HARD today!” AKA, the exercise loophole.

Did you know that a lot of marathoners-in-training actually GAIN weight during their training? Often, it’s because they are invoking the exercise loophole.

Developing healthy food habits–NOT exercise–is key to shedding unwanted weight and keeping it off.

This in no way means that exercise is a waste of time. Completely the opposite!

Here are just 5 of the many, many compelling benefits of exercise:

1. Body reshaping–when combined with healthy food habits. Just because you now eat lots of veggies doesn’t mean your butt will automatically lift or your triceps will stop waving themselves.
2. Lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and maybe even certain types of cancer.
3. Miracle Gro for your brain: better memory, concentration, and actually works better than Prozac and other meds for many people with depression. Oh, and definitely a great way to manage stress and work out any negativity and aggression. Tis no coincidence that the words “exercise” and “exorcise” are just one letter apart, my friends. I notice a DEFINITE shift in my mood and outlook on life when I go several days without exercising / exorcising. It ain’t pretty.
4. Energy boosting: sounds counter-intuitive, but if you want MORE energy, then get some exercise!
5. Slowing down of the aging process: abandon the Botox and get moving! A recent study has found a link between exercise and damage to telomeres–part of our DNA that associated with health and longevity. Exercise is linked to healthier telomeres, and therefore linked to slower aging.

So, if you were disappointed to learn that exercising will not compensate for a not-so-healthy diet, I hope this post helps reframe what exercise can do for your body, heart, and mind. It’s so worth the investment, with a huge rate of return!

photo credit: Aaron Tilley Aaron Tilley/Guardian

I have a daily planner / journal of sorts that has the phrase “fit happens” on the front. I love it.

Among the reasons that I love this particular journal, is that is contains a daily “fit tip”.

This morning, as I’m making my list of “Today’s Accomplishments” (I choose this title over “To Do” list because once I check the box, it means I’ve made yet another accomplishment during my day, however big or small, and it makes me feel good), I read the following fit tip:

“Out with the white dishes, in with the blue! Research shows that certain colors suppress appetite because they have the least appealing contrast to foods. Best bets: blue or red!”

Now, I have heard this tip before, but never really paid attention to it. But today, it actually annoyed me. Made me not love my journal quite as much.

Maybe it’s because lately I’ve been acutely aware of how we tend to frame healthy eating. Almost as if it’s a chore that must be devoid of any modicum of joy and we must force ourselves to get through it, using any gimmick imaginable to trick ourselves into eating less. Healthy eating is often thought possible only with superhuman willpower. There’s no way we be successful in our healthy eating efforts without it! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “if it tastes good, spit it out”. This comes mostly from people who believe that eating healthy food means subsisting on tragically over-steamed vegetables without salt and some sad, tired, boneless, skinless chicken breast. Ugh. If that were the case, I wouldn’t eat healthy ever.

But this blue-plate thing really got to me. Why do we have to make our food look less appealing in order to “eat healthier”? This seems to me a dumb solution to forming a foundational habit of eating healthier. Do you REALLY think that a blue dish is gonna help you eat less pizza or chocolate cake? Or—especially this time of year—fewer chocolate peanut butter balls or insert-your-favorite-holiday-treat-here?

The REAL issue is not the color of our dishes, but what we’re putting on them. For example, there is NO DISH BLUE ENOUGH to make me eat fewer French fries or chips & salsa. Not even if it had the Duke Blue Devil himself stamped on it, who I loathe with my whole Tar Heel heart.

By the way, if you have blue dishes because you like the actual dish, that’s totally different.

Instead of trying to make your food look less appealing, why not make food that is BOTH healthy AND appealing so that…

You can ENJOY and FEEL GOOD about eating—both during and after the experience. As an example, below is a typical day of eating for me, and I truly look forward to each meal and enjoy it. I don’t feel like I’ve deprived myself in the least, and I feel good about my choices. Am I saying I ALWAYS eat this way? Heck no, I stumble from time to time and have been known to go on some serious sugar binges when I get really anxious or down about something. But I strive to make eating healthy food a foundational habit for my life. In order to keep that good habit, I have to love what I eat. Taste is too important to me, because food in my opinion is supposed to be fun and enjoyable.

Here are easy, healthy, AND dang tasty examples of meals I love.

Breakfast: egg bowl (2 to 3 eggs scrambled in grass-fed butter with shiitake mushrooms, greens, or whatever veggies I’ve got handy). No, I’m not afraid of using butter—saturated fat does not kill us as old, weak science and rhetoric led us to believe for 50+ years.

Lunch: giant rainbow salad (big ole base of various greens, colorful chopped peppers, radish, cukes, must-have avocado, and a protein—with some type of homemade dressing); OR, leftovers from last night’s dinner. I love leftovers. Cook once, eat multiple times!

Dinner: zuchhini pasta with sauce and big green salad; or roasted chicken with potatoes, onions, and collards; or steak tacos with purple cabbage, cilantro, avocado, and lime; or red lentil coconut curry. The possibilities for truly delicious and healthier, REAL food are endless.

And I eat it all on white dishes to make the experience even more beautiful.