Personal Training

Controlling your Food Environment

Posted on by Naomi
Wow, I cannot begin to tell you what an amazing weekend I had and that was impart to the gracious, powerful, meaningful comments to my “Own It” post. The outpouring of love through comments & emails was so incredible. It feels great to know that some of you experience the same things that I sometimes go through, but more importantly OWN IT. It is such a powerful feeling!

I did have a great, relaxing Labor day weekend. I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures because, well to be honest, I was just enjoying myself and took pictures when I WANTED to take pictures. I didn’t stop in my tracks to whip out my camera when i went to dinner or had a protein shake. I just let it happen when I felt like it!

One topic that I read in Elina’s Blog (Healthy and Sane) this morning was food anxiety. I am not going to sugar coat or lie because thats just not who I am. I often get food anxiety when I go somewhere that I am not in control of the enviornment. I try to find out as much as I can beforehand so I know there will be something there that I will eat, but sometimes and most of the time, I always bring food with me, or eat beforehand incase I don’t know. It is not that I will be devasted if I eat something being served at this party or event, but its more the fact that I just don’t really eat the foods at some big events like barbeques or birthday parties. I was at a party in January of this year and I made the mistake of not eating before hand. The family that hosted the party was 100% Italian which I was unaware of (friends of a friend) and the buffet table was as follows:
  • Ravioli’s
  • Meatballs
  • Lasagna
  • Chicken Parm cutlets
  • Stuffed shells
  • Rolls and Butter
  • Green beans dressed in butter and crunchy topping
THAT WAS IT! Not to mention the appetizers that were around the house were chicken wings (I sometimes keep Kosher outside the house so this wouldn’t work) Deep fried shrimp, sliders, chocolate covered nuts, chex mix, salsa and chips. Most people would say “wow, that is some great food, its just one day, Naomi-who cares” to me, eating this food isn’t about it being “one day” and “I will be devasted to go off my diet” of course I ate the food being served. The fact is that I LIKE to eat healthy food. My body is not used to these types of foods that were being served and I genuinely am not a huge fan of this type of food! Sure I like pasta-but I make it myself to control what goes in it and usually have it packed with veggies too. Eating the way I do 95% of the time, then filling my plate with fried and cheese covered pasta makes my body feel like crap. It has nothing to do with the guilt afterwards or that its ‘unhealthy’ it has to do with the fact that I just don’t eat this! I was also shocked that there was not 1 healthy option on the table. Was I the ONLY person at this party who enjoys eating healthy foods?

Anways, back to my original topic of food anxiety. This is something that I truly used to always freak out about, but have gotten much better at it. Those who are in my life and close to me, know how and what I eat, so they will always be sure to make a healthy option available. I usually always pack some things in my bag just in case like a Luna Bar, some nuts, wrap with nut butter. I have also been the one to offer to bring a healthy dish, that way I KNOW there is something there for me to eat! Like I said, I think this is easier as I have gotten older because I think people realize that some folks have all sorts of diet restrictions and food allergies, so there usually is a wide variety of foods, but this is not to say that I never get food anxiety sometimes!
I had a DELICIOUS bowl of oatmeal yesterday for breakfast. It was the usual 1/3 C oats with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla poured over 1/2 C liquid eggwhites and some berries, but it was just extra delicious!
After the gym I had such a good protein shake! This protein is Muscle Gauge Nutrition Cake Batter flavor (and used 1/4 t xanthan & guar gums) I topped it with some cinnamon and nutmeg. I really like the cake batter flavor but I have to say that the ice cream sandwich flavor is a teeny bit better!
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Fitness: On the fitness front, yesterday started a NEW MONTH meaning a new workout plan. I am in love already! Yesterday, I did the Chest and back workout and today was legs. I can already tell that my legs will be jelly tomorrow! This morning I also did some HIIT cardio (20 minutes on the stairmaster, ran 1 mile as fast as I could and some bosu tabata)
Fitness Essentials
I thought I would share some essentials I MUST have for every workout! They are all pretty standard!
My Garmin FR60 Heart Rate monitor. I like wearing this not really for calorie burn but to track my heart rate to make sure its in the certain zone I want it in. I have posted some HR information here! if you want to learn more about tracking heart rate and different HR zones
My ipod. I never workout without it, and if I am forced to-well thats a sad day. I love working out to techno, pop, rap, rock and 80s! My latest spin playlist is a fun workout mix!
Water! Always have a bottle of water with me. Sometimes I have 2 and one is filled with some Xtend. (BCAAs)
My workout  (duh!) I can’t workout without my workout of course. This lists my weight training workout each day. Cardio is a bit more “do my own thing” but I do have some sheets for cardio workouts as well! I take notes on this and write weights that I used so I know for next time
I keep all of my competition prep materials in here!
I just enjoyed some lunch! Baby spinach salad with grilled chicken and 1/2 C cold brown rice. I used balsamic vinegar and lemon for the dressing.
I got a piece of grilled chicken from Whole Foods over the weekend and had some leftovers, meaning there were left over whole cloves of garlic-I LOVE THEM! So sweet and tasty in a salad.
Song of the day
Till I Collapse by Eminem-amazing pump up song when  you are lifting or doing some good ole cardio
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Before I go, I want to wish all of my fellow Jews a Happy Roshashana week!! You can read my re-cap from last year here! I will be celebrating later this week, so posts may be sporadic! xox
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  • Do you or have you ever experience food anxiety? How do you deal with it? I just bring my own food or eat beforehand!
  • Whats on your ipod that is pumping you up?
  • If I invited you to a party right now what would you bring?



Naomi
Naomi