Archive for July, 2008
July 8th, 2008, 7:18 am by Michelle May, M.D.
(If this is your first visit to my blog, you’ll find posts about practical, non-diet weight management. Throughout July I’m participating in a Blogathon with a dozen or so other great bloggers. This post is a continuation of Food Lovers’ tips based on my family’s recent travels.)
To get to our next stop, Brisbane, Australia, we flew from Kansas City to Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, then on to Brisbane. That was 24 hours of travel and four airports. I had packed a baggie of nuts and dried cranberries but we never needed them.
We ate at a deli-style restaurant near our hotel before we went to Kansas City International. It was a good bet that we’d have more options and spend less money. We ordered salads and sandwiches but decided to skip the tempting cookies knowing there would be lots of opportunities for treats ahead.
We arrived at LAX with six hours and one more meal before our next flight. We walked from the domestic to the international terminals then around the terminal and through all the shops until we felt hungry. We would be doing a lot of sitting once we boarded our plane so there was no point to sitting at the gate.
Our flight wasn’t until 10pm and we knew that we would be served “dinner” a couple of hours after take-off. Planning ahead, we decide that a small veggie pizza was the perfect light meal a couple of hours before our overnight flight. Besides, when traveling, we try to get our vegetables in wherever we can.
Once on our Air New Zealand flight, we settled in to watch a movie. Each passenger has their own console and we thought it was funny that between the four of us, we chose four completely different movies. No wonder it’s so hard to decide what to get from the movie store at home!
“Dinner” was served at midnight which was actually 6 pm at our destination. Although I wouldn’t usually eat in the middle of the night, this midnight snack helped us begin the process of resetting our internal clocks to our new time zone. Already a little bit hungry and knowing breakfast was at least eight hours away, we ate a surprisingly decent airline meal served with a complimentary glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. Even the tortellini, the vegetarian entrée we requested for Elyse when we made our reservations, was pretty good.
The hot (ok, warm) breakfast was a welcome end to a fitful and uncomfortable night’s sleep. (Sorry; I don’t have any good tips for sleeping sitting up.) Our breakfast hinted at the differences in eating habits of other countries; it would have been unusual to find beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes for breakfast in the U.S.
We arrived in Auckland at 6am for a short layover before our flight to Brisbane which, not unexpectedly, served breakfast again. The muffin and generic fruit came at the perfect time, over three hours since our last “breakfast” but it felt like we were simply eating our way around the world.
Food Lovers’ Travel Tips: Eating while traveling presents two challenges on opposite ends of the spectrum – not enough food or too much. Be sure to check with the airlines to find out what meals (if any) are included so you can adjust what and how much you eat before you take-off. Plan ahead by keeping nonperishable healthy snacks on hand. Nuts, dried fruit, granola or protein bars, whole grain crackers, and single pack tuna all work well for long flights, unexpected layovers or unappealing airline food. Don’t bother carrying chips, candy and other snack foods; they’ll just call your name to be eaten even when you’re not hungry.
Posted in: Healthy Families • Healthy Travel Tips • eating at airports • travel tips to prevent weight gain • Weight management while traveling | 2 Comments »
July 7th, 2008, 1:53 pm by Michelle May, M.D.
As Stanly pointed out, although my son Tyler seems to effortlessly eat exactly what he needs, most of the rest of us need to conscioulsy override or work with our Clean Plate tendencies. For example, at Jack Stacks, Owen and I decided to split a platter that included smaller portions of several of their most popular meats and side dishes. When it came we found it hard to believe that one person could eat it all but the waiter insisted they do!
You’ve probably heard lots of advice about cutting back on portion sizes; the tips section below outlines some specific strategies for doing just that. However, my best advice is to shift away from thinking about portions in terms of calories (an external measure that can result in feelings of deprivation) to thinking about them in terms of how you’ll feel (an internal measure that results in positive feelings).
In other words, it’s not about being good, it’s about feeling good. How many times have you ruined a fabulous meal by eating so much that you felt stuffed and miserable afterward?
I love to share meals with my husband, my daughter, or my friends. I call it “co-ordering and co-eating.” The meal is more of a shared experience; we get more variety and just the right amount of food, usually for less money. And the big bonus is that we feel comfortable and energetic when we’re through.
Food Lovers’ Restaurant Tip: Portion sizes at many restaurants are large enough for two – think of it as “Two for the price of one.” You can share an appetizer or a salad and split an entrée; you can order two entrees and have some left to take home; or you can share an entrée and a dessert. If you don’t want to share with someone, get your to-go container before you start eating and put some aside for another meal. You’ll get to enjoy it all over again!
Posted in: Healthy Families • Healthy Travel Tips • Intuitive Eating • Mindful Eating • Uncategorized • dealing with large portion sizes at restaurants • portion control • portion distortion | 1 Comment »
July 6th, 2008, 7:03 am by Michelle May, M.D.
While I was in meetings, my family was on their own. My son Tyler who is 17, tall and thin, told me they ate breakfast at the old fashioned Harvey House Diner in historic Union Station before visiting Science City. He ordered a cinnamon roll for $2.99 that turned out to be as big as a plate (“It made a Cinnabon look like an appetizer!”).
As a person who has maintained his instinctive ability to manage his weight with no effort whatsoever, he ate 3/4 of it and wasn’t hungry again until early afternoon. (To find out whether you are an Instinctive Eater, take this quiz.)
I don’t believe in being overly restrictive or shaming my kids into eating healthy but this did prompt a conversation about what would happen if we ignored our bodies’ nutrition needs for the next three weeks. They were more selective the next couple of mornings but he still says it was the best cinnamon roll he’s ever had!
Effortless Weight Management Tip: Your choices don’t need to be perfect every time to reach and maintain a healthy weight. In fact, people who eat instinctively can eat whatever they want so they’re able to balance eating for enjoyment with eating for nutrition. When they choose a less than healthy food, they don’t eat it all because they’ve “already blown it.” They don’t feel guilty which for most people just leads to more overeating. And they don’t use exercise to punish themselves when they overeat. Instead, they practice intuitive eating: They eat what they want, enjoy it without guilt, and use the fuel for their active lifestyle. When their fuel tank is low, they eat again.
Posted in: Healthy Families • Intuitive Eating • Nutrition for Non-Dieters • Uncategorized • eating without guilt • feeding children • Healthy Families • Intuitive Eating • large portions • Restaurants at Union Station • weight managment | 4 Comments »
July 5th, 2008, 10:33 am by Michelle May, M.D.
Kansas City is legendary for their BBQ so we went to Jack Stack on our last night. This turned out to be a bit of a challenge because my almost 14-year daughter Elyse has been a vegetarian for almost two years. Known for prime meats, they didn’t have any vegetarian entrees so Elyse chose from appetizers and side dishes – mostly potatoes. I guess we wouldn’t have expected meals for carnivores at a vegetarian restaurant, would we?
Food Lovers’ Restaurant Tip: The lesson here is that no matter what your dietary preference is, you can make any menu item your main meal. Sometimes an appetizer or side salad is all you need. Most restaurants will also allow you to make side dish substitutions so you can create the meal you really want.
Once in awhile, even a wonderful dessert can make the perfect meal. I know it’s not the healthiest choice but face it, since your weight is determined by calories in versus calories out, having dessert for dinner when you really, really want it beats having dinner AND dessert! Just don’t make it a habit.
Posted in: Healthy Families • Healthy Travel Tips • Nutrition for Non-Dieters • Eating healthy at restaurants • Vegetarian restaurants | 1 Comment »
July 3rd, 2008, 6:16 am by Michelle May, M.D.
My travels began with a three day meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians Commission on the Health of the Public. Nice opportunity to consider my OWN health while discussing issues and initiatives important to the American people!
Since we had nearly three weeks of travel ahead, I decided to try to stick to my usual eating habits as much as possible when possible and save my “eating for fun” for when it mattered. I held my breath as I surveyed the breakfast offerings. All too often conference breakfasts consist of just Danish and coffee. That always struck me as odd since they need attendees to be alert and productive all the way until lunch. Luckily at this meeting there was a nice spread of other breakfast choices each day including eggs, fresh fruit, cereal and skim milk so that meal was easy.
They did an equally good job with lunches – salad with chicken one day and pasta with a nice tomato-based sauce loaded with vegetables the other. Even the dessert was a light angel food cake with strawberries. However, it’s still easy to overeat at conference banquets unless you stay conscious. They serve warm rolls with butter while you’re waiting to be served. They spoon way too much dressing (if you don’t say “enough!”) on your salad topped with croutons, cheese and bacon. The servings are usually too large, especially the inexpensive fillers like pasta and rice. And the icing on the cake (literally) is some type of dessert (though I love it when it’s already on the table rather than surprising me with it when I am already full!).
I don’t know about you but that’s way more than I usually have for lunch. So why would we suddenly throw our common sense out the window? Because meetings and conferences are loaded with triggers for overeating. You sit through long meetings so you may subconsciously feel like you’ve “earned” it. Then suddenly there’s all this free food just sitting in front of you. When you become distracted by socializing or networking during the meal, you lose track of how much you’ve eaten.
Meeting Tip: The key to handling the abundant food at meetings and conferences is to remain selective and mindful. Don’t abdicate the responsibility for how you’ll feel all day to the meeting planner or hotel staff who selected the menu. Choose the items and the portions that nourish you rather than mindlessly eating whatever is offered. That doesn’t mean “Don’t eat the roll and butter.” It means decide consciously. If you eat the roll, all the pasta they serve you, AND all of the dessert, how will you feel in an hour? Probably uncomfortable, drowsy, and foggy. But don’t worry; you’ll probably wake up in time for the afternoon cookie break!
For more, read my article “Three Questions to Make the Perfect Food Choice Everytime.”
Posted in: Head Hunger • Healthy Travel Tips • Mindful Eating • Nutrition for Non-Dieters • Uncategorized • conscious eating • Eating at conferences • eating at meetings • Mindful Eating • mindless eating • overeating triggers | 4 Comments »
July 2nd, 2008, 8:37 am by Michelle May, M.D.
During our recent trip to Kansas City, I ate two meals a day during my meetings then ventured out in the evenings with my husband and two teenagers for great Kansas City fare. Even at home we try to eat dinner together most nights of the week so it’s a real treat when we don’t have to do the cooking!
I think our favorite family meal was at Lydia’s Kansas City (Lydia also has Italian cookbooks and a cooking show on PBS ). We all ordered the homemade pasta trio they make fresh in the basement kitchen. Chefs moved around the dining room refilling any (or all) of the pastas from large, hot skillets.
The four of us had a great time playing “Name the Secret Ingredient,” a game we made up on the spot. By tasting each dish mindfully, we identified capers, butternut squash, nutmeg, lemon, and other subtle but delicious flavors. The chefs seemed concerned though. I guess they thought we didn’t like the food because we turned down refills on all but a little more of each of our favorites. I suppose they’re used to people eating until they can’t eat another bite.
Restaurant Tip: The key to feeling satisfied is to value quality over quantity. Slowly and mindfully savor small portions of rich, flavorful foods. Even free refills are no bargain if you feel stuffed and miserable when you’re finished eating.
P.S. We created our version of the butternut squash ravioli with walnuts this week (see photo of our version below).
Posted in: Healthy Families • Healthy Travel Tips • Mindful Eating • Nutrition for Non-Dieters • Uncategorized • family meals • homemade ravioli • Lydia's Kansas City • Mindful Eating | 2 Comments »
July 1st, 2008, 6:07 am by Michelle May, M.D.
As I said in my last post before I hit the road, June was a big travel month for me. I made lots of notes about handling challenging situations when it comes to eating, physical activity and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Every day in July my posts will chronicle my trips and provide practical applications you can use to manage your weight EVEN (or more accurately, ESPECIALLY) if you love food.
The first leg of our trip was Kansas City; strange stop for a trip down under, I know. I was there to participate in a meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Commission on the Health of the Public. The rest of my family had never been to Kansas City so we added it to the beginning of our trip.
We arrived in Kansas City in late afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we went to the lounge at Skies, a revolving restaurant on top of the Hyatt Regency Crown Center. (You might remember that hotel from the atrium walkways that collapsed in 1981 killing 114 people.)
We had a beautiful, panoramic, 360 degree view of Kansas City. Because it was two hours ahead of Phoenix, we weren’t hungry enough to eat dinner yet so we ordered a quesadilla to share. This simple appetizer was beautifully presented, resembling the skyscape below. We each had just a few bites and with the views of the city slowly parading by, we all felt satisfied.
Travel Tip: Keep in mind that food should be enjoyable but doesn’t always have to be the main event. Focus on the ambience, the occasion, and your company while you indulge yourself in a few moments of relaxation.
Posted in: Healthy Travel Tips • Mindful Eating • Uncategorized • healthy restaurant dining • Kansas City • Skies • walkway collapse | Post a Comment »
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