Nutrition News

Happy Summer from NutritionWorks

June 2006

• Hello from Sandi and Kathleen

• Scientific basis for Developmental Skills Training 

• Solutions Weekend Retreat and  Solutions groups

• Does caffeine affect your workout?

• If I am exercising more, do I need more protein?

• Summer BBQ ideas – lighten up!

• Recipe to try:  Asparagus-Pesto Lasagna

• Favorite product: Prepared Polenta

• Favorite produce choices this time of year

• NutritionWorks upcoming events and happenings

Hello from Sandi and Kathleen
We hope you are having a wonderful summer! We certainly are appreciating the longer days and warmer weather and hope that you are too.

We have lots of great ideas in this Summer newsletter – read on to find out about the only program that shows continued weight loss after the program ends. Are you a coffee drinker – find out if caffeine could be affecting your workouts. Or if the amount of protein you are eating is enough for the exercise you are doing. There are also lots of great food ideas to try.

Please check out our exciting upcoming events too – including a September weekend retreat that you won’t want to miss!

So read on and enjoy!

Kathleen and Sandi

Solutions:  Scientific Basis for Developmental Skills Training (DST):
The Solution is developmental skills training (DST). By mastering two simple developmental skills, self-nurturing and effective limit-setting, we naturally soothe and comfort ourselves from within. We stop needing to soothe and comfort ourselves with external excesses like overeating, smoking, drinking, spending, or overworking, or with softer excesses like people pleasing, thinking too much, or rescuing others. The skills are a natural Solution! No drugs, surgery, or diets are involved.

You can master these powerful skills by using The Solution Method, which was developed at University of California, San Francisco. It's so effective that Health magazine named it “One of the Top 10 Medical Advances of the Year.”

Why is The Solution so effective? Because the skills to nurture and set limits for ourselves are stored in the powerful feeling brain, which is the seat of our emotional balance, intimacy, and spirituality—as well as the home of common excessive appetites. When our feeling brain changes, we experience a true transformation.

Traditional methods of treating problems are based on knowledge, insight, planning, and decision-making, and are processed primarily by the thinking brain, which is not where the drives to go to excess are stored. With The Solution, you acquire the skills to nurture and set limits for yourself, and then you have them for life. You are then free to spend your time in meaningful pursuits and things that give you health, happiness and joy, instead of programs that don’t really work.

Most people who use The Solution notice astonishing results right from the start. Even better, using the method over the long term rewires the feeling brain, so that lasting positive changes feel natural and spontaneous.

For 25 years, thousands of people have used the method and found their Solution: freedom from the whole range of common excesses and an abundance of life's sweetest rewards: integration, balance, sanctuary, intimacy, vibrancy, and spirituality.

Two-and six-year follow-up studies have shown The Solution to produce weight loss without dieting and unparalleled results in terms of keeping it off.  Studies have also shown other healthful benefits of this program to be decreased depression, increased exercise and decreased blood pressure.

Through DST you will learn how to set limits, comfort and nurture yourself in healthy ways. 
Please feel free to go to www.thepathway.org or call or email us at NutritionWorks so we can help you assess if DST is a good fit for you.

Solutions Weekend Retreat!
The first Pacific Northwest Solutions retreat will be happening from Sept 15th (9am) to Sept 17th (lunchtime). The retreat will be held at the Tolavana Inn near Cannon beach on the Oregon coast (www.tolovanainn.com) . It is a beautiful, family friendly location and there will be retreat options for participants, partners and children.
This will be an incredible three day experience and we hope you can join us!

There will be retreat options for people who have never done any Solutions work before so this is a great way to find out more about the Solutions method – and have a fantastic, relaxing vacation at the same time!

Please call or email us for more information – we will have registration forms and all retreat details by June 20th.

Local Solutions Groups continue!
Sandi and Kathleen are both certified Solutions providers and would be excited to have you join their groups and/or do individual coaching with them.

Click here for dates of upcoming Solutions groups.

Does caffeine affect your workout? 
Are you drinking caffeinated beverages before you exercise? If so, you may want to switch to decaf. According to a study done by Swiss researchers, the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee can reduce the body’s ability (up to 22%) to increase blood flowing to the heart during exercise. 

The study was done on young, healthy people, in the age ranges of 21 to 33, who had taken oral caffeine in the amount of 200 mg, fifty minutes prior to exercising.  The researchers’ thinking is that if you are not young and healthy, the negative effect of caffeine on your body may be even more pronounced.  

So, you may want to rethink having that caffeinated beverage prior to exercising and drink lots of water instead if you want what’s best for your heart!

Cited from:  “Pumped?” Vegetarian Times May/June 2006: 12.
J Am Coll Cardiol, 2006; 47:405-410, doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2005.08.064

If I am exercising more, do I need more protein?
Summer is here and this warm weather combined with longer days often has us getting outside and exercising more. What does this mean for my protein intake? Does the body’s need for protein increase with my increasing activity level? No.

Even with the endless supply of protein products on the market and conflicting information about increased protein needs with increased activity, what your muscles use for energy during workouts is glycogen.  Glycogen comes from all those carbohydrates you eat.  It is what those marathon runners, bikers, swimmers and other athletes eat before a big event. 

What types of carbohydrates are the best to eat?  The complex carbohydrates that are in whole grains, (brown rice, oats, spelt, whole-wheat), beans (kidney, mung, aduki, pinto), starchy vegetables (corn, sweet potato, peas).  Avoid eating simple carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, sugar, soft drinks, cakes, and cookies) because these spike blood sugar levels when they digest quickly and only give a short burst of energy.  You’ll get lasting energy from complex carbohydrates.  Besides, complex carbohydrates are full of vitamins and minerals that your body craves!

Cited from: Barnard, Neal MD. “If I do more exercise, do I need more protein?” Vegetarian Times May/June 2006: 21.

Summer BBQ Ideas – Lighten Up!
Spring is here and this warmer weather calls us to get outside and spend time with friends and family which often includes a BBQ or picnic.  Often a BBQ will include burgers, chips, dips and creamy salads, all of which can be full of extra fat (and trans-fat) and calories that our bodies just don’t need.  To lighten things up try replacing some traditional fare with these tasty foods:

1. Lean turkey burger, vegetable burger (Amy’s brand Texas burgers or California burgers taste great) or a grilled portabello mushroom burger

2. Veggie dogs (Yves Veggie Dogs or Lightlife Smartdog are good choices) or lean hot dogs (choose turkey or chicken)

3. Grilled herbed skinless chicken

4. Baked chips (Eden baked original or barbeque or Kettle baked brands are healthy choices)

5. Salsa (your favorite kind) with chopped green onion and diced avocado, try fruit salsas like mango salsa for a change

6. Bean dip (Emerald Valley)

7. Wholewheat buns (avoid any that contain trans fats and look for ones that have more than 3g of fiber per serving)

8. Homemade potato salad with mono-unsaturated blend mayonnaise (Hain’s safflower mayonnaise tastes great and is enriched with Vitamin E…that natural antioxidant!)

9. Green salad (make a tossed green salad with lots of veggies and a balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, fresh or dried herb and olive oil dressing.  Annie’s low fat salad dressings are a delicious choice too)

10.  Fresh fruit salad (omit the whipped topping and make a dressing out of 2 Tbsp orange juice, 1 tsp maple syrup and 1 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut)

Recipe to Try – Asparagus-Pesto Lasagna:
Serves 12

1/3 cup flour
3 ½ cups low-fat milk
1/3 cup pesto
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1 ¼ pounds asparagus spears (tips cut off and reserved, spears trimmed and
chopped into ¼ inch pieces)
2 cloves minced garlic
12 no-cook lasagna noodles
1 ½ cups shredded Fontina cheese (divided)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Whisk flour and ½ cup milk in saucepan until smooth, add in remaining milk and bring to boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, boil 1 minute or until thick.  Remove from heat and stir in pesto, parmesan, salt and pepper.  Set aside 1 cup sauce.

3. Warm oil in skillet, add asparagus (not tips) and garlic and cook until asparagus is tender, then add salt and pepper and remove from heat.

4. Coat 13X9 inch pan with cooking spray, place layer of noodles in bottom of pan (4 noodles), layer with ½ of cooked asparagus and ½ cup fontina cheese and half of sauce.  Add another layer of pasta, remaining sauce, remaining cooked asparagus and ½ cup fontina cheese.  Top with layer of noodles, then with reserved 1 cup sauce, asparagus tips and last ½ cup fontina cheese.

5. Bake, uncovered 35-40 minutes or until golden, let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Per Serving:  Apx: 360 calories, 18 g pro, 14 g fat (7 g sat), 40 g carbs, 40 mg cholesterol, 620 mg sodium

Recipe Adapted from:  Vegetarian Times – April 2006 

Favorite Product – Prepared cooked Polenta:
This is a quick and easy food that you can make a variety of dishes with.  It takes almost no prep time when you buy it in the prepared tubes and there are a variety of flavors to choose from.
Here are some of our ideas, but, get creative and try your own then let us know how your recipe turned out!

Cut the wrapping away from the tube and slice polenta into 1/3” thick rounds.  Heat the rounds by pan frying gently in 1 tsp olive oil. 

1. Top rounds with grilled mushrooms, vegetables and a little parmesan cheese.  This makes for a great side dish. 

2. Top rounds with heated tomato sauce, fresh basil and feta cheese then serve with a side salad for a quick meal. 

3. Make polenta lasagna and use the polenta instead of cooked lasagna noodles.  Bake as you would regular lasagna. 

4. Top rounds with olive tapenade and lowfat cheddar or swiss cheese then grill under broiler until cheese melts for a nice appetizer. 

Favorite produce choices this time of year (in-season):

Strawberries – local strawberries just arrived!
Avocados  (mash with your favorite salsa and put on a low-fat cheese sandwich)
Asparagus (try our asparagus lasagna recipe!)
Papayas
Artichokes
Eggplant  (brush with olive oil and herbs and grill along with portabello mushroom for a great sandwich)
Kale (stir-fry with a little olive oil and garlic for a great side dish)

NutritionWorks Happenings

Click here to find out about upcoming events