Happy Halloween! This is the time of year when LOTS of temptations surround us. It starts here at Halloween and continues until the New Year. We will ALL be in need of a good detox by then! But to get you through the holiday season, just remember that moderation is the key. Depriving yourself of that piece of chocolate will only make you more miserable... so give in every once in a while (meaning once every other day or so and NOT every hour!) to satisfy your sweet tooth. Always choose the miniature version versus the huge candy bar- we won't even discuss the super-sized versions! To help you navigate through tomorrow's treats, here is a list of some sweets you can eat without feeling too bad about it:
3 Musketeers Miniatures: 24 calories and less than 1 gram of fat per piece.
Milky Way Minis: 38 calories and 1.6 g fat per piece.
11 candy corn: 70 calories
7 Hershey Kisses: 155 calories
York Peppermint Patty: 140 calories, 2.5 g fat
Marshmallow pumpkins (single size): 16 calories, 0 fat
Peanut M&M's (snack pouch): 90 calories, 5 g fat
3 Jolly ranchers: 70 calories, 0 fat
* Choose Dark chocolate over milk chocolate if you have the option. Again, don't go overboard- remember MODERATION. Some of these candies may be low in fat, but are full of sugar.
**Beware** Sugar-Free candy is NOT necessarily healthy. Sugar free chocolate is only slightly lower in calories, but is equal in the amount of fat (even containing more saturated fat in some candy), and has more cholesterol. In some ways it's "healthier" for you to just eat the regular candy in moderation.
Lastly, even though Snickers Minis sound like they wouldn't be too bad for you, they actually rank highest of all the mini-versions: 42.5 calories, and 2.25 grams of fat per piece. And watch the Reese's PB Pumpkins. They have 180 calories & 11 grams of fat!
Local Info:
**NEW** Prattville Ladies who are interested in getting together for a Powerbodyz workout- meet at the Prattville YMCA on Thursdays at 8 AM. I'm so proud of you all- you inspire me with your motivation! Check out the picture they sent- my first official HBHL blog photo! Thanks, ladies!!
Fitness/Wellness Lesson:
The power of relaxation (Savasana): It's probably not very often that you give yourself permission to just lie quietly, be still, relax and just breathe. Savasana- the final relaxation in yoga- is an opportunity for you to reduce muscle tension and to let go of any stress/tension that you might be dealing with. At the end of a challenging yoga class it's the perfect way to integrate your mind, body, and spirit in a calm way before transitioning from class to your hectic day. Savasana gives you the opportunity to disconnect from your worldly persona, your endless worries, and your to-do list, allowing you to just connect within yourself through your breath. After a truly relaxing savasana, you should feel reenergized and ready to start (or finish) your day, with a renewed sense of calm- able to handle stressful situations more effectively. Don't worry if you are not there yet! It's definitely a work in progress and some weeks you can manage stress better than others. Just know that savasana is there to give you the tools to effectively de-stress your life. There is proper technique for savasana and it takes time to develop it. If you've felt it's effects, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, don't give up yet- it's just like downward dog... it takes a little practice before it becomes second nature to you.
Ideally, you should spend 5 minutes in savasana for every 30 minutes of yoga practice. Unfortunately, with only 1 hour of yoga in most of the HBHL classes we only have time for 5 minutes of savasana. So, we need to make it count! Make sure you are still and present during those final moments of relaxation, to ensure you maximize the benefits of the final relaxation. Also, I urge you to try to find 5 minutes each day for peaceful meditation. Make it a priority, and it will pay huge dividends for your piece of mind...
Nutrition Lesson:
Understanding White Flour: Did you know that when white flour is processed, it's stripped of all the natural vitamins and minerals found in it's original whole wheat grain? Yes! A wheat berry is made up of three parts: the bran, endosperm, and the germ. During processing, the high-fiber bran part and the vitamin & mineral packed germ is discarded (for animal feed!) leaving only the endosperm (the carbohydrate portion of the wheat berry). 90-98% of the critical nutrition is located in the germ and the bran, but that is not what is made into flour or the millions of products found on grocery shelves- pretzels, breads, crackers, etc. Those products only contain the endosperm- basically the empty calories of the carbohydrate portion of the wheat berry. But the package says there's more nutrition in those products than just carbohydrate! That's because the white flour is "enriched" with synthetic vitamins and minerals... and to top it all off, many brands of bread actually ADD high fructose corn syrup to their products. Well, I don't eat white bread- I eat wheat bread, so I'm okay, right? Not necessarily. Going back to my very first lesson- you have to READ THE LABELS. Just because it says, "wheat" does not mean that it's good for you. Some wheat bread is actually made of white flour, with just a little bit of wheat flour thrown in so that they can put "wheat" on the label! Not that it matters, since all white flour originates from a wheat berry- it's actually all considered "wheat". The important thing to remember is that you read the label to find WHOLE GRAIN bread.
Multi-grain bread is not always nutritious for you either. If the multi-grain bread is made with whole grains, it's okay. But if the label says enriched or refined grains, it's been depleted of all the natural vitamins and minerals, and it's best to find a whole grain version. Check out this article for some more info on deciphering the types of grains in bread:
And here is another article that expands on my discussion and discusses the hazards of modern grains:
Lastly... if I haven't convinced you to make a conscious effort to limit the amount of white flour you eat, this fact might. White flour is actually an insecticide- when white flour is shipped they don't take any extra precautions or add insecticides b/c the critters that get into the white flour die from consuming it. Yet, tons of Americans eat pounds of refined white flour each month. No wonder so many of us are sick from chronic diseases.
Make sure you read labels and understand how your food was created before serving it to your family. Like always, moderation is the key and I'm not saying you have to completely remove all bleached, enriched, or refined white flour from your diet- that is extremely difficult, btw!! I would just recommend that you read labels and ensure that a majority of the grains that you consume are WHOLE grains.
How are meatless Monday's going? Did everyone master last week's challenge of eating at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day? This week's challenge: I'd like you to try to eat 25% of your food raw. That is, not cooked. This can be salad items, nuts, fruit, etc. Ideally, 50% of your daily food intake should be raw (more on that in another lesson) but we'll start with 25%. Good luck!!
Have a wonderful week!
Namaste,
Jannell
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