Tag Archive for eating right

5 Tips To Stop Stress Eating

October 10, 2022 John Uncategorized No comments

It seems your stress never stops. And you’re thinking the same might be said about your eating.

Today GenuLines chips in with some ways to delete the caloric part of this equation. .

5 Tips To Stop Stress Eating

Stress eating can happen to any of us during any stressful situation. We turn to food for comfort.

This is not a healthy way to deal with stress and will cause weight gain, depression, and low self-esteem. Here are 5 tips that can help you end stressful eating.

Food Choices

We often turn to junk food for comfort such as chips, chocolate, candy and anything sweet. You can create a food diary to track your eating progress.

Keep track of what you eat, when you eat, and what times you’re hungriest to figure out what is your trigger food.

You don’t want to throw out every one of your favorite foods because this will only tempt you more. Instead, make healthier food choices.

You’ll feel better. and healthy eating helps decrease your appetite and improve your health in general.

Exercise

The second tip is to exercise. .Stress can bring on depression and overwhelm.

Exercising will help manage stress and keep you healthy. You don’t need to run to the gym or a treadmill.

You can work out at home, go jogging, running, play a sport, or go for a walk.

Mayo Clinic studies found a positive connection between exercise and feeling better. They found that your brain receives feel-good neurotransmitters called endorphins.

Meditation

Meditation is a powerful tool used for stress, anxiety, and depression. It brings you into a relaxed and soothing mood.

Even if you only meditate for 5 minutes, you’ll feel a difference. It’s best to meditate every day to help cope with stress.

Prevent Boredom

The fourth way to end stressful eating is to prevent boredom. Many people don’t realize they turn to food because they’re bored.

To prevent boredom, keep active throughout your day. Buy some art supplies from your local art store. and you can paint, draw, try out pottery, knitting, or even sewing.

There are so many things you can do to fill up your day no matter where you live. You can go into the city.

Visit an art gallery, learn a new language, read a book, visit family or friends to help prevent boredom.

Your preoccupied mind will keep your thoughts away from eating unless necessary.

Support

Call calling a friend or family member for support. It’s a great option to help overcome stressful food intake.

In fact, some other options such as joining a support group or signing up for therapy will help you even more!

Talking with a professional will help you identify your stressors and triggers. And you’ll come away with a plan that works best for you.

Joining a support group partners you with others facing the same challenge. It’ll be inspiring and uplifting!

JohnK 10-10-2020

chiforyourself.com

Overheard: “Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one”

~Hans Selye

Anatomy Of A Great Day Of Wellness

January 24, 2022 John Uncategorized No comments

Bringing you wellness practices and information has been a GenuLines hallmark for years. Today we’ll break down the idea of wellness into segments that can add up to wellness for you.

Anatomy Of A Great Day Of Wellness

Living in difficult times doesn’t have to be joyless. You can know joy using the right mindset and a lifestyle that promotes robust wellness.

In designing great days for the long run, there is a certain standard you’ll want to follow. Today your vital organs could be at their best but that may not hold tomorrow.

Wholesome health is more than good eating habits and a workout routine.

Sustainable Sleeping Patterns

Sleep cycles have to be a consistent contributor to your daily routine. Without enough sleep, your vital organs get into overdrive.

This leads to fatigue and loss of mental sharpness. This makes you ineffective in any work environment and a couple of hours end up feeling like a lifetime.

Poor sleeping patterns can lead to binge eating. This brings on complications like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

And you could experience grogginess and premature aging.

Morning Stretches

Not everyone is a morning person. Many folks struggle to wake up and when they do, they’re like zombies around the house.

Stretching is beneficial for different muscle groups and joints. It also improves blood circulation to the entire body and stimulates a pleasant mood.

The American College of Sports Medicine looked at stretching to start your day. It found you get a burst of energy. more flexibility, and it enhances your coordination.

It’s great for your posture, too.

Wholesome Meals and Hydration

The food you eat makes a big difference in your day. Balance is key here,

Think proteins, fiber, nutritious carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins. These will sustain your energy levels all day.

Plan ahead for meals. You’ll avoid fumbling over menus or stuffing yourself with junk food.

There’s no nutritional value in eating processed food. And due to their high salt content, they leave you susceptible to high blood pressure.

While junk foods overwork your vital organs.

In little time you’ll feel hungry and fatigued. Your healthy diet should include proper hydration throughout the day.

Drinking 2-3 liters daily is not only refreshing but also elevates your moods. You depend on water to function and great days demand efficiency from your whole system.

Routine Exercise

Consistent movement is a key to a long healthy life. It also improves the quality of your lifestyle.

Having an exercise routine that you actually enjoy keeps you vigorous. You handle the challenges that come your way.

And you look good while doing it.

Exercising also increases your bone density and boosts your immunity. Breaking a sweat after a long day in the office is a great way to unwind and stay healthy.

Managing Stress

An active life is often characterized by stress. This might take a toll on you if you lack functional coping mechanisms.

There are lots of ways of dealing with stress as it happens.

Remember to breathe and stay composed. A clear mind can solve problems rather than escalating the situation.

A great day is the sum of all the little efforts that create the right environment for you to thrive. It’s vital to maintain a positive self-image.

Treating yourself well helps make life worth living.

JohnK 1-24-2022

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Overheard: “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”

~Mahatma Gandhi

You Can Teach Your Children How to Eat Healthier

September 27, 2021 John Uncategorized No comments

Children tend to have eating habits that are all over the place. They eat what delights the eyes, but their stomachs often pay the price.

Take a look at these GenuLines tips designed to get the kids on board with healthy eating.

You Can Teach Your Children How to Eat Healthier

One of the leading causes of childhood obesity is poor food choices. Offer kids either vegetables or a cookie and most will choose the cookie.

Admit it, sometimes even adults do the same thing! But, with a few strategic lessons good role modeling, you can teach your children to put health first.

Here are some ideas:

* Help them learn to like healthy foods

Forcing kids to eat vegetables and whole grains gets met with resistance. Instead of preparing a plate of lima beans and telling your children to eat it all, give them a choice.

Prepare a variety of vegetables, side dishes, and whole-grain options. Encourage your children to try new things.

Children generally have to try something several times before they begin to like it. You will have to be patient. Reward them with verbal praise when they try new healthy foods.

If they say they don’t like it, nod your head and praise them for trying it. Let them know that taste buds change and they might like it better next time or as they get a bit older.

* Make sugar a treat

Many children have become so accustomed to sweet foods. A lot of them feel that anything that doesn’t have sugar just tastes bad.

If your kids eat a lot of sweets, scale back on the amount they have available to them. Start with one treat a day and at some point consider reducing it to one treat a week.

Yet, make sure that food doesn’t become a reward for behavior. And don’t forget to check things like cereal which can be high in sugar.

Your children’s desire for sweets will decrease. And they’ll begin enjoying a variety of other healthy foods.

* Involve them in meal planning and preparation

Children who help you prepare a meal, are going to be much more excited about eating it. Invite yours to help you choose meals, help with the grocery shopping, and then prepare the foods.

While in the produce area, ask them to find and pick out the various vegetables and fruits you need for the meal. They’ll learn about their veggies, and they’ll be more excited to try them.

Consider putting them in charge of the meal choices for one evening each week. You can provide them with a list of choices. You can also browse cookbooks together.

* Be a good role model

You can’t expect your children to make healthy choices if you don’t. Take good care of your health.

Exercise and eat well. Show the kids that taking care of themselves and making good food choices is important.

* Embrace other cultures

A great way to help your children appreciate food is to help them learn about what other cultures eat. You can embrace one country each month and make a meal.

You can call it “cultural night.” Combine it with family game night, and make trying new foods something to which you can look forwards.

* Teach your children the “why” behind food choices

If your children don’t know why they should make healthy choices, they won’t care. Talk to them about how some foods work.

Some provide lasting energy, while others burn out quickly and make us feel tired and cranky.

Adjust the conversation depending on your children’s ages.

Finally, just enjoy food, because it’s so easy to get caught in the trap of being too rigid about food. This can cause a backlash.

It can motivate children to hide food and to feel ashamed. Make sure children know that it’s about moderation, not restriction and deprivation.

This will lead to a happy relationship with food that they can take into their adult years.

JohnK 9-27-2021

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.”

~Hippocrates

You Can Stop Stress Eating With These 5 Steps

July 5, 2021 John Uncategorized No comments

The stress is getting to you. So you head for the kitchen.

This is a bad combination, and GenuLines wants to help you break the tendency.

You Can Stop Stress Eating With These 5 Steps

Stress eating can happen to any of us during any stressful situation. When times are tough you might turn to food for emotional shelter.

This is not a healthy way to deal with stress. It can often cause weight gain, depression, and low self-esteem.

Here are some tips to help you keep stress on a short leash.

Food Choices

You want to start with a healthy diet. Stressful times make us turn to junk food for comfort.

Things like chips, chocolate, candy and anything sweet.

You can create a food diary. This lets you track what you eat, when you eat, and what times you’re hungriest. And you’ll identify your trigger food(s).

You don’t want to drop all your favorite foods because this will only tempt you more. But what you do want to do is to make healthier food choices.

Switch out your junk food for healthy food. You’ll feel better.

And smart eating helps to decrease your appetite and improve your health in general.

Exercise

Stress can leave you depressed and overwhelmed. This is where exercise comes into play.

No need to run to the gym or go out and buy a treadmill.

A simple close to home workout can suffice. Go jogging, running, play a sport, or go walking.

Physical activity kicks up your brain’s feel good neurotransmitters, also known as endorphins.

Meditation

Meditation is a powerful tool used for stress, anxiety, and depression. It helps lower your stress levels and brings you into a relaxed and soothing mood.

Even if you only meditate for 5 minutes, you’ll feel a difference. Make it a daily practice.

Prevent Boredom

Unconscious eating can be a result of boredom. To prevent boredom, do activities throughout your day.

For example, you can paint, draw, try out pottery, knitting, or even sewing.

There are many things you can do to fill up your day no matter where you live. Visit an art gallery, learn a new language, read a book, visit family or friends to help prevent boredom.

When your mind is struggling with something, you won’t focus on food unless necessary.

Support

Calling a friend or family member for support is a great option to help with stressful eating. In fact, some other options such as joining a support group or signing up for therapy might help you even more!

Speaking to a professional helps you identify your stressors and food triggers. And you can set up a plan that works best for you.

A support group can surround you with other people who are meeting the same challenge as you. Having a team to back you will feel inspiring and uplifting.

JohnK 7-5-2021

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it”

~Hans Selye

Article image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

A Plant-Based Diet: Is It For You?

January 15, 2020 John Uncategorized No comments

The Plant-Based Diet is getting a good bit of attention lately. People want to be pro-active in their health, and what they put into their bodies is a good place to start.

GenuLines takes a look at the Plant-Based Diet and whether it might a good fit in your life. To your health!

A Plant-Based Diet: Is It For You?

The phrase “Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) Diet” is flexible. It can apply to any number of different eating styles.

The main difference? WFPB is characterized by what it includes rather than what it excludes.

There are lots of studies showing the benefits that come from eating a WFPB diet.

Those benefits start with a baseline of better nutrition. This is a given, but better nutrition is where a healthier body always starts.

It fuels our bodies. And it’s our defense against long-term chronic and avoidable lifestyle diseases.

Better nutrition

Most of us know that fruits and vegetables are healthy sources of nutrition. Yet we don’t eat anywhere near enough of them, let alone eat the recommended amounts.

Why not?

After all, they’re nutrient-dense edibles rich in minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber. Plus, they’re delicious.

Disliking or avoiding a specific fruit or vegetable is fine. Same with fruits that you have to clean, cut, or carve.

Children often get finicky with things like broccoli, and that’s okay, too.

Still, science tells us that better nutrition comes from a nutrient-dense diet. The kind that’s filled with fruits and vegetables rather than processed meats. (Tuso, Ismail, Ha, & Bartolotto, 2013)

The same is true even for refined grains.

So, if you don’t like to carve your honeydews ask your produce department to carve it for you. Most grocery stores offer that service, but you have to ask.

And be persistent with children who like to avoid broccoli. Keep offering it.

In time your 5-year-old may surprise you and try something new after all.

Better health for your heart

A plant-based diet significantly reduces the risk of Cardiovascular Disease. WFPB diets can lower blood pressure, enhancing blood sugar control, and lowering cholesterol.

Choosing a WFPB diet is one of the best natural ways to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases on the whole.

Increased longevity

A WFPB diet might help you live longer. It reduces your risk of premature death due to untreated chronic lifestyle illnesses.

These include high blood pressure, CVD, obesity, and some cancers. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists red meat consumption as a “likely carcinogen.” (Harvard Medical School, 201)

That’s not to say that consuming red meat is inherently dangerous. Occasional consumption of meats, including red meat, is allowable by some WFPB diets. (Think Mediterranean diet)

It’s a higher consumption of red meat that’s the culprit. That’s linked to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers like colorectal.

A plant-based diet will not only help your body become healthier but also help you live longer.

Lower cancer risk

Research also turns thumbs down on too much processed or red meat in the diet. The connection here is colorectal cancer. (Harvard Medical School, 2018).

But something good happens when we eat fruits, legumes, grains, and veggies on a regular basis. The risk of cancer and other chronic illnesses goes down.

This is because plants contain disease-fighting phytochemicals that can thwart cancer.

Lower rates of obesity

One of the main challenges of our modern lifestyle is obesity (Tuso, Ismail, Ha, & Bartolotto, 2013). We have plenty of ways to counter obesity at our disposal.

But the most effective is the diet.

Choosing to stick to a WFPB is an effective weight-loss strategy. Obesity is a risk factor for all the chronic and lifestyle illnesses listed above.

A nutritional approach to diabetes kick starts your process to better health.

The results? A healthier BMI, and the stunting of chronic illness like high blood pressure and CVD.

There’s no shortage of studies that factor in WFPB diets in relation to health and longevity.

This body of evidence seems to support WFPB diets.

And their many health benefits.

JohnK 1-15-2020

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “Gluttony is not a secret vice”

~Orson Welles

Eating To Live And The Signs That You Eat Too Much

January 31, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Eating is a fundamental pillar of life. Most of us enjoy it, especially when we’re savoring some great tasting food!

Unfortunately, we also don’t always have the best sense of when to stop eating. Especially when we have access to good-tasting foods in immense quantities.

We poke fun at humorous situations such as Homer Simpson eating until he can’t move. But, there are consequences to this. They range from a mild stomach ache to cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

Plus, overeating is not as dramatic as eating until our pants are about to burst. It’s subtle. It’s more like eating more than we need in one sitting. Or eating until we’re full rather than eating until we’ve gotten the nutrients we need.

We don’t have the natural constraints our ancestors did to prevent us from overeating. In evolutionary terms, most humans couldn’t overeat. Large-scale agriculture and food processing are fairly recent developments.

Most humans (especially Americans) have access to more food and convenience than ever.

So, what drives us to eat more than we need?

One key insight is the emotional connection to food many people have. Research has shown that they tend to eat more or overeat when they’re feeling sad. Or depressed. Or if they’re struggling with an issue.

A study in the Journal of Adolescent Health looked at eating disorders like binge eating. It found that “it’s important to consider depressive symptoms in overeating.”

Are we eating because we’re hungry, or because of an emotional issue we’re dealing with?

Another consideration is symptoms of Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. The Medical University of Warsaw found that these symptoms can lead people to eat more. Why? To satisfy urges to increase insulin. So, it’s important to practice moderation when eating sweets. They cause us to eat far more than we actually need.

Finally, your body is your best warning system. Warnings come when you experience constipation, blockage, vomiting or stomach aches. Your body is telling you it’s had enough.

If you feel a constant need for laxatives or antacids it’s most likely your body’s alarm system at work. It’s telling you that you’ve taken in far more food than you need.

Your body’s energy level and mental alertness also are signs of eating too much.

We all enjoy a well-prepared meal or delicious healthy snacks. Yet as far as biology is concerned food is no more than fuel for our body to consume and turn into energy.

But when you bog your system down with excess or poor quality food (A.K.A. junk food) your energy will decrease. You’ll feel sluggish and less alert. Rather than boost energy, it will make your digestive system feel overloaded.

Your brain and your emotions work together to send you the warnings. These can come in the form of depression or stress.

Be mindful with this. Be aware of your current state. Your body tells you through your energy levels and digestion system when you’ve had too much.

The signals are there. Are you listening?

JohnK 1-31-2018

chiforyourself.com home page

Overheard: “It’s not that some people have the willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.”

~Carl Sandburg

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More FREE STUFF: Treating Pain With Aromatherapy

August 14, 2017 John Uncategorized No comments

Growing numbers of respected physicians and health care professionals agree on the benefits of aromatherapy. They’re finding that pleasurable smells go to work immediately on your brain, easing pain and relieving stress.

How does this work? It has to do with the way your nose communicates with your brain.

Aromatherapy affects your brain’s emotional center, also known as your amygdala.

CHI FOR YOURSELF invites you to check out a FREE list of some popular aromatherapy scents available in essential oils and other products, as well as the healing benefits they provide.

Click on this button to get the report:

To your health!

JohnK 8-14-2017

chiforyourself.com home page

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Natural or Not Natural? That Is The Question

August 7, 2017 John Uncategorized No comments

We see the word “natural” at every turn. Health organizations and food makers love this word. They tell us that natural is our signal that certain food is healthy and good for us.

You may believe this yourself. After all, you see natural listed on product labels all the time. But what does natural actually mean?

Chris Lawton

Consumer Reports magazine warns that natural can be a very misleading word. Some are calling on the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to ban the word’s use on food labels.

Now, it’s unlikely that manufacturers will put the word “unnatural” on a product. Yet foods described as natural can be healthy, unhealthy, or have no effect on you at all.

By the way, the FDA has yet to come up with a hard and fast definition of natural on a label. Other modern countries are facing the same challenge.

So, for years manufacturers have had no problem slapping the natural label on food. Some of it is actually unhealthy.

If the “Natural” Labeling Process Seems Confusing To You, You Are Not Alone

Let’s look at a recent survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center*. 60% of the 1,000 shoppers questioned said they look for the word natural on labels. 66% believe natural means no artificial ingredients, genetically modified organisms, or pesticides. Yet there are no mandatory disclosures that allow foods to carry the word natural.

You can see where this is going. No hard and fast rules for natural as it applies to food can assume too much trust. With that in mind, what steps can you take to be confident that your food is natural?

A good starting point is to contact the manufacturer. It may take some time, but get someone on the phone. Ask some hard questions. Get the name of the person you’re talking to. Ask him or her to send any and all relevant information to you via snail mail or e-mail.

The contact person may tell you such information is “proprietary.” That they’re not allowed to tell you. Consider this a red flag.

Also, keep in mind that food with tons of sugar and calories may actually be natural. But that doesn’t make them healthy.

The bottom line? Stay away from packaged foods wherever possible. Eat whole foods. More fruits and vegetables than processed items.

Take the steps to ensure that you’re getting more natural and healthy foods. After all, you and your family are worth the effort!

JohnK 8-7-2017

chiforyourself.com home page

*Consumer Reports source

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