Nutrition Archives - Whole Life Challenge

Mental Health and Nutrition: How Diet Impacts Mood, Anxiety, and Cognitive Function

Michael Stanwyck — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 16:00:19 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

As you navigate your 30s, 40s, and beyond, balancing career, family, and personal goals can strain your mental health. Stress, anxiety, or brain fog often creep in, impacting your daily life.

What if your diet could help you feel calmer, sharper, and more resilient? Science shows that nutrition profoundly influences mood, anxiety, and cognitive function, with omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and the gut-brain axis playing starring roles.…

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When You Should Be Eating if You Want to Lose Weight

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 12:00:31 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

There are so many aspects to eating for weight loss. What to eat is one aspect. How the body processes your food is also incredibly important. But when you eat is an often overlooked and critical component of successfully losing weight.

I wrote recently about how your body processes calories based on your metabolism and how dieting and long-term calorie restriction can destroy your metabolism — making it nearly impossible to lose fat.…

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How Going Sugar-Free Actually Made My Life Sweeter

Jessica Wolf — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 12:00:01 +0000

Years ago, when I first became a mother, I was at the playground trying to shield my son from germy interactions with runny-nosed toddlers, when one mom posed what I considered a ludicrous question.

“Do you think it’s just a coincidence that ‘cold season’ comes right on the heels of our kids eating their weight in Halloween candy?”

Was she insinuating that eating candy made people sick?!…

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What You Need to Know About Your Body’s Hormonal Response to Food

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 12:00:07 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Even if we keep fairly active and eat reasonably healthy, most of us at some stage want to lose a bit of weight. And we may end up willing to try almost anything to drop those stubborn pounds. This is why the weight-loss industry is one of the biggest industries in the world. Unfortunately, there is much misinformation out there that makes weight-loss confusing for some and daunting for others.…

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How Meal Prep Makes Your Life Better, Plus How to Do It

Teddy Kim — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 09:00:51 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Meal prepping has always been a big part of the bodybuilding and figure scenes. Of necessity, bodybuilders take their nutrition more seriously than just about any other athlete, so it makes sense that meal prepping would be such a mainstay of the sport. Most meal preppers cook a bunch of food ahead of time, and then use a custom cooler bag to tote around a single day’s worth of meals in their highly organized, stackable plastic cartons.…

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The 3 Lies of Fitness

Jon Gilson — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 10:00:57 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Right now, you’re being lied to.

The magazines are lying, your friends are lying, and the morning talk shows are lying. They’re telling you where fitness comes from — and they’re dead wrong.

It’s time to set the record straight. We’ll do it for the sake of our friends, our loved ones, and our own health. We’ll do it because fitness can only be enjoyed when the truth is known.…

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20-Minute Meal Planning for People Who Hate Meal Planning

Hilary Achauer — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 12:00:00 +0000

One beautiful Sunday morning this past fall I sat in the bleachers at a local park, watching my son’s baseball game. On my lap were two pieces of paper. One was blank, the other read “Sun., Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs.” I took a deep breath and picked up my three-ring binder filled with recipes.

“What are you doing?” asked a woman sitting next to me, the mother of one of my son’s teammates.…

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Learn Basic Knife Skills by Making Salsa Fresca

Peter Haas — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 12:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

I handed my daughter the knife. I asked if she was ready. Standing nearby with a bandage, my wife shot me a nervous glance.

My five year old daughter smiled. “I’m ready!” she exclaimed. She picked up the jalapeno beside the cutting board and sliced into it.

You Have to Know the Alphabet Before You Can Read

My daughter is learning how to read in kindergarten.…

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The One-Pan Method: Eating Well Without the Celebrity Chef

Jon Gilson — Mon, 23 May 2022 12:00:00 +0000

Let’s get this out of the way up front: I am not a chef.

My stovetop holds four (highly temperamental) electric coils, and my pans came from TJ Maxx. Every time I go into Williams Sonoma, I’m reminded of my tax bracket, left to wonder who shops there without first taking out a substantial home equity loan.

Nonetheless, I manage to eat well, thanks largely to a one-pan method that hides my lack of culinary skill behind a wall of fresh ingredients and a can’t-screw-it-up technique that requires almost no training of the preparer.…

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Chips, Dips, Chains, & Whips: How to Break Free from Bad Snacking Habits

Andy Petranek — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 12:00:00 +0000

You’re a well-fed servant. It’s not a bad life, but most of the time, you’re doing what food tells you to do. Tell me if it sounds familiar: someone is having a party, and all around the house are indulgent snacks. They’re everywhere. You know you don’t “want” them. You know the consequences—you’ll feel fat, tired, guilty. Then you feel the chains tighten; they pull you in.…

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The 5 Best Ways to Gain Holiday Weight and Hate Yourself by New Year’s

Andy Petranek — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

You worked hard to keep yourself healthy and fit this year, didn’t you? Congrats! There’s no better way to celebrate all the positive choices you made than by adding a ton of holiday weight between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve!

And we’re not talking about muscle mass — we’re talking about good, old-fashioned fat. After all, doesn’t everyone want to get nice and squishy during the holidays?…

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Why Cutting Calories Is One of the Worst Things You Can Do for Weight Loss

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 03:30:02 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

For the last fifteen years, I have been writing tailored diets for my clients, both online and in person, and the majority of my weight-loss clients have been women who have come to me after trying almost everything — thermogenics, diet pills, grapefruit diets, ketogenic diets, skipping meals, and so on.

To cut a long story short, the main theme that runs throughout all of these women’s lives is that most aren’t eating enough.…

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How to Season a Cast Iron Skillet Quickly

Jon Gilson — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 03:30:53 +0000

At 35, I have just enough wisdom to understand why cast iron is an excellent choice for cookware. It lasts a lifetime, it’s infinitely reclaimable from rust, and it is masculine in a way that no silicon-coated non-stick egg pan could ever be. Plus, it’s heavy enough to use as a doorstop (or as the counterweight to a fifty-story elevator).

Still, I lack the patience to spend days seasoning cast iron, running through eighteen hours of oiling, rubbing, baking, and cooling.…

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10 Healthy and High-Fiber Foods That Are Also Low Carb

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 01:30:25 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

“Eat more fiber” is a common piece of advice for people who want to improve their nutrition habits. But when you’re following a low-carb eating plan, getting your daily dose of fiber can be easier said than done.

Fiber and carbohydrates often go hand-in-hand, but even if you’re following a nutrition plan that has you watching your carbs, you still have plenty of high-fiber foods available to you.…

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The Science of Seed Oils

Michael Stanwyck — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 13:00:53 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

For many years, the Whole Life Challenge has dealt with “vegetable” oils (there’s actually nothing vegetable about them) by making them non-compliant on Performance and recommended against on Lifestyle and Kickstart levels.

After some consideration, we’ve decided to make what are more correctly referred to as “seed oils” non-compliant on every level. Current research shows that they are toxic and at least partially responsible for the epidemics of chronic diseases in modern life—heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.…

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How to Boost Your Immune System: Part 1, Nutrition

Michael Stanwyck — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 13:00:11 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

I want to talk about a slightly different take on being healthy than we normally do. It’s always in there, but I want to bring it up to the surface for a minute (even if we just tuck it away after that) because it’s really important. Being fit and healthy is obviously good for things like being able to have a good time, have lots of energy, be strong, feel good, and do the things you want to do.…

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8 Things You Can Do Right Now to Kick Your Sugar Habit

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 16:00:33 +0000

Sugar is everywhere. From break-room doughnuts to healthy-looking packaged foods, the sweet stuff is all around us, and it’s all too easy to indulge. But sugar could be wrecking your health, whether you realize it or not. Sugar contributes to the development of a number of diseases, and some researchers consider any amount of sugar toxic to human health.

Sugar is typically associated with weight gain, but the problems don’t stop there.…

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2 Big Truths About Food I Learned in the Whole Life Challenge

Jessica Wolf — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 15:00:07 +0000

The other night, my brother and his wife were in town from Seattle and I met them for dinner in New York City. By the time I arrived, they had already ordered an appetizer: an artisan pizza with prosciutto and massive basil leaves. They were nearly moaning after their first bite.

“You have to try this,” said my sister-in-law.

“It looks amazing,” I said.…

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How to Help Your Family Eat Right (Without Starting a Fight)

Jon Gilson — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 15:00:04 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

What you eat now has a big impact on how healthy you’ll be in the future.

If you’re on this website, odds are you already know this: good food choices determine general health. Likely, you also have a basic understanding of foods to be avoided and those to be selected for various purposes: controlling biomarkers, changing body composition, feeling energetic and attentive. …

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6 Nutrition Myths the Fitness Industry Has Sold You

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 15:00:26 +0000

When we think of the “fitness industry,” all of us instantly picture hot chicks in sports bras displaying super flat stomachs and perky butts or shredded dudes with bulging pecs and biceps. And there is an assumption that those with lean physiques and perfectly sculpted muscles are the epitome of health and fitness.

This is in fact not true. Sure, having muscle on your frame and not being overweight does signify health, but that does not mean the leanness and muscular definition we see was achieved through the healthiest of methods.…

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3 Questions for Choosing Your Best Diet

Michael Stanwyck — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 13:00:06 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

There is a mountain of information to wade through when you’re looking at adopting a new way of eating. There are so many contradictory theories and what is considered a balanced diet changes from one generation to the next.

What’s hot and what’s not is often more a function of fad than it is of science. We’re all so used to our sacred nutritional cows being killed from one diet era to another.…

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How to Have Your Pizza and Diet Too

Michael Stanwyck — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 16:00:30 +0000

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Food is in a golden age.

Never before has it held the kind of cultural sway that it holds right now — chefs are household names, every home-cooked meal aspires to be Instagram ready, and culture wars are fought from the outposts of food’s niches and fetishes — paleo, vegans, keto, fasting, nose-to-tail, slow food, farm-to-table, low-fat, and pre-made convenience food.…

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How to Live the Keto Life

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 13:00:16 +0000

There are a lot of people who have decided to go the “keto” diet route these days. A ketogenic diet can help you lose weight, manage hunger, reduce inflammation, and promote an overall healthy system.

“How?” you might ask.

How a ketogenic diet works

In a standard American diet, your body relies on sugar, or glucose, for its fuel. Your primary energy comes from eating carbohydrates.…

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The Problem With Wheat and the Power You Have to Fix It

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 14:00:13 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

It seems so normal to eat eggs on toast for breakfast or a sandwich for lunch. A muffin or some pretzels dipped in salsa for a snack and pasta for dinner to refuel after a heavy workout. Of course, the muffin is low fat and the toast is whole grain. It only makes sense to eat healthy when you are working out and trying to maintain a good lifestyle, right?…

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How Stress Gets in the Way of Your Weight Loss Goals

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 13:00:39 +0000

The last few months may have resulted in a bit of the weight gain they call the “Quarantine 15.” We’ve certainly all seen ourselves indulging in a bit more alcohol and convenience food than we were before, which undoubtedly played an important role. But the stress that 2020 has brought has likely made a large contribution as well.

If you’re eager to shed the weight you’ve gained this year, it’s going to be just as important to manage your stress levels as it is to bring your diet back to reality.…

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How to Read a Nutrition Facts Label—and Make Better Food Choices

Hilary Achauer — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 04:30:00 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

A few years ago, I picked up my favorite energy bar and looked at the nutrition facts label.

I had a suspicion about these bars. They advertise simple, natural ingredients, and they are delicious and sweet—a little too sweet. I selected my favorite flavor and looked at the sugar content: eighteen grams.

I find “grams” hard to visualize and without a lot of meaning, so to give myself some context I divided eighteen by four—this is how you convert grams to teaspoons, which is a measurement I can get my head around.…

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5 Benefits of Meal Planning That Will Surprise You

Dory Schrader — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 16:10:50 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The last few months has thrown many of us off our game. As we’re re-establishing normal patterns, it helps to “get ahead” on as much as we can. Taking a few moments now to make things easier for ourselves in the future can pay off not just in productivity later on, but in time to relax.

One of the biggest changes we’ve experienced is that a lot of us are going to the supermarket much less frequently.…

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How to Win at “Cheat Days”

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 13:00:59 +0000

Reading Time: 3 minutes

There’s a concept in the diet and nutrition world that’s been around for a while (it probably came along the moment after the “diet” was invented)—the concept of the “cheat.” The “cheat meal” or “cheat day” is when you eat however you want, regardless of your diet’s prescriptions. It’s something that’s meant to be good for your soul rather than necessarily the best thing for your body.…

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Feed Your Family with Instant Pot Carnitas

Shannon Gilson — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 19:19:07 +0000

Right now, finding easy ways to cook and feed yourself and your family is more important than ever. With everything going on, no one needs the added stress of trying to get dinner on the table every night. But it’s also never been more important to make sure we’re eating right and taking care of our health.

The instant pot is a saving grace in that department.…

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What is a Balanced Diet?

Michael Stanwyck — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 22:05:17 +0000

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In a simpler time, we all pretty much knew what a balanced diet was. It was basically code for “eat whole, natural foods—a fair amount of plants, some protein, and good fats like olive oil, avocado, and nuts.” Heck, even a little alcohol and a touch of sugar wasn’t necessarily out of balance.

For the record, generally speaking a balanced diet includes:

Clean, organic sources of protein—beef, chicken, pork, fish, eggs, beans, tofu

Plenty of plants (the more colors the better)

Healthy sources of fat—olive oil, grass-fed butter, nuts, seeds, avocados

Whole grains, if you’re so inclined—rice, quinoa, oats, buckwheat (stick to gluten free as much as possible)

While there are no perfect proportions for everyone, about 8–10 oz.…

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What You Should Eat

Michael Stanwyck — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 17:01:39 +0000

One of the most confusing things we face in the modern world is what to eat. Michael Pollan wrote a whole book about it called “The Omnivores Dilemma.” We have not only so much food, but information at our fingertips that it can be a difficult challenge to feel like we’re making the best choice for ourselves.

The most important thing to remember when experimenting with the best way to eat for you is not to fall for the propaganda.…

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The Vicious Sugar Cycle (And How To Break It)

Michael Stanwyck — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 13:35:30 +0000

Reading Time: 11 minutesSugar in your body

Sugar is energy. When you eat it, you can use some immediately, but in most cases, your body will need to store some of it for use later, either when you’re not eating or when your activity level increases.

You’ll find sugar in some form in all of the carbs you eat, whether it’s white table sugar or kale.…

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Why All Fat Is Not Created Equal: A Lesson on MCTs, Energy, and Fat Storage

Michael Stanwyck — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:41:43 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

The foods you eat can generally be categorized as building blocks or fuel—they help to continually rebuild the cells that make up your body, they’re used in important physiological processes, or they are stored as energy.

This goes not only for protein, carbohydrates and fat, but also cholesterol, vitamins and minerals.

There are so many reasons that each of these elements is important, and today we are going to talk about fats as energy—how it’s stored and how it’s used.…

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Why Your Body Is A Fat-Storing Machine And How You Can Counteract It

Michael Stanwyck — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 13:35:50 +0000

Your body is a fat-storing machine–it’s really good at storing fat.

There are two main reasons it stores fat so well:

To have energy beyond the amount of stored glucose, known as glycogen, you can hold in your muscles and liver (they can only hold so much), and
To help quickly remove sugar from your bloodstream when you eat it. Sugar in your bloodstream is toxic—prolonged exposure to it can damage your heart, your nerves, and your kidneys.

…

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How to Cook an All-American Pot Roast

Michael Stanwyck — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:30:49 +0000

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Fall is here and the time for long, slow braises has arrived. Braises that fill the house with mouthwatering aroma for hours and leave your belly filled with rich, warm and satisfying stews.

This week we’re bringing you a classic—the all-American pot roast.

With just a few hours of hands-off work and some inexpensive ingredients, you can have a meal (or a few meals) that is as delicious as it is Whole Life Challenge compliant!…

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How To Make Crispy Chicken Wings (Without The Mess)

Michael Stanwyck — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 14:00:16 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Labor Day is coming up!

It’s a day for BBQ and other delicious roasted treats, so here’s a simple recipe for traditional buttery red-hot chicken wings you can whip out at your celebration. (I mean, if tonight isn’t celebration enough.)

All you need is just some wings, salt, butter, hot sauce and a little time, and you’ll be chowing down on wings like it’s Super Bowl Sunday.…

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What You Need To Know About The Dangers Of Sugar

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 23:00:09 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

There’s nothing that seems more wholesome than mom baking a batch of cookies for an after-school treat.

And the truth is, all other things being equal, a homemade cookie every now and again isn’t going to do you any harm. The problem is, all other things are not equal.

Aside from the sugar you might get in that cookie, sugar sneaks into a lot of your food — ones you might not even expect — under many names and in hidden amounts.…

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How To Take A Simple Approach To Cooking (For People Who Hate To Cook)

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 19:00:48 +0000

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Do you wish you had more motivation or time to prepare hot, fresh, homemade meals for yourself or your family?

Being someone who either doesn’t like to cook, doesn’t know how to cook, or just doesn’t have time to cook can feel like enough of a reason to stay out of the kitchen unless absolutely necessary.

It might seem daunting, but there are lots of things you can accomplish, hands off, with a little strategic thinking and strategic selection of ingredients.…

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How to Reverse Sear a Steak

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 15:00:05 +0000

Are you the kind of person who frets over cooking the perfect steak? I was. Even after having trained as a cook, I realized I wasn’t terribly confident that I could routinely turn out a well cooked steak — dark crust on the outside and my perfect temperature on the inside — every time I wanted one.

So I set out to teach myself, by any means necessary, how to cook a perfect steak.…

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4 Delicious One-Pot Recipes You Can Easily Make At Home

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 16:20:37 +0000

I make dinner at home almost every night. One of the things I do to reduce the stress is use as few pots and pans as possible – it keeps me from getting squeezed on the stove, reduces overall mess, and makes clean-up much easier.

The fewest pots I can use and still turn out a meal? One.

And this might be a pot, a pan, a pressure cooker, or a sheet-pan.…

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Dips on Dips on Dips: How to Make Ranch, Ketchup and BBQ Sauce that are WLC Compliant

Michael Stanwyck — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 16:00:31 +0000

Reading Time: < 1 minute

There are definitely things you’ll give up when you’re doing the Whole Life Challenge.

Then there are things you can adapt!

Sauces are an easy way to make food delicious and there is no reason why you have to leave behind some of the standards.

Check out the video above so I can show you how to make ranch, ketchup, and BBQ sauce — all great for the summer and all Whole Life Challenge compliant.…

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Why Some Of Your Favorite Foods Might Be ‘Bad-Behavior Enablers’

Michael Stanwyck — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 14:00:51 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

So I had a thought. Some of your favorite foods may be just like those kids in high school your parents told you to stay away from — bad influences!

There are a lot of foods it pays to cut back on just because they have clear negative effects on your body. Things like sugar, grains, dairy and alcohol just to name a few.…

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Why You Need to Stop Drinking Soda (for Good)

Eric Stevens — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 07:01:11 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Shortly after my divorce, I took a year off from drinking alcohol. Though it had never been a problem in my life, it occurred to me that during the aftermath of a trauma like a divorce, having a few alcoholic drinks to dull the pain might actually delay or worsen it instead.

It was the right decision for me at that time and since I had never been a big drinker, abstaining from alcohol wasn’t an ordeal.…

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What You Really Need to Know About Eating Fiber

Marc Halpern — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 07:01:16 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

With all the nutrition fads that come and go, fiber typically remains a hot topic. You would think most people would agree that eating fiber is a good idea. But there are now some who believe meat is all you need to survive, such as with the Carnivore Diet.

As the steak-loving Parks and Recreation character Ron Swanson once said upon being served vegetables, “Excuse me there has been a mistake, you’ve accidentally given me the food that my food eats.”…

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The Top 9 Food Crimes (Are You Guilty of One?)

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 14:58:23 +0000

Food is the new politics.

Not only do we have Michael Pollen commenting on every aspect of “Big Food,” but we have a million food bloggers espousing everything from grain-free diets to Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Everything. And don’t forget chocolate, which continues to be more of a religion than political stance.

And, now, food has also moved into legal territory.

That’s right, people.…

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The Keto Diet: Why This Dietician Doesn’t Recommend It

Marc Halpern — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 10:00:26 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

If I type “KE” into my browser’s search engine, “keto diet” automatically comes up as the first guess at what I am typing. Kevin Spacey and Kelly Blue Book are next, for very different reasons I suppose.

You don’t have to be a Registered Dietician like me to notice that the keto diet has exploded. Most of us probably have tried it or know someone who has.…

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How to Cycle Nutrition and Exercise for Improved Body Composition

Marc Halpern — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 10:00:14 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Usually when I hear the word “cycling” and “body composition,” I think steroids. However, that’s not what I mean by cycling in this case. (And, no, there are no bicycles involved, either.)

On a weight-loss (and perhaps muscle-gain) journey, the body adapts quite well to the forces we are exerting on it. If you are in a large calorie deficit too long, your body loses weight — but also slows down calorie burn.…

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2 Food Sayings I Hate (And Why “Nourishment” Is a Better Philosophy)

Marc Halpern — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 10:00:40 +0000

There are two common sayings about health and fitness that I cannot stand:

Eat less and move more.
Food is fuel.

I think these phrases, while not incorrect, belittle the process of becoming healthy. And, as a consequence, these sayings belittle each of us and also our triumphs and challenges when it comes to our nutrition choices.

“Food as fuel” is only one part of what food does for us.…

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Corn: Is It a Good Thing? The Why, When, and How to Eating This Veggie

Marc Halpern — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 10:00:03 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Nothing says “America” like the vast corn fields in our rural lands. For good or bad, our nation runs on corn. We cook the stuff, grind it, press it, burn it, ferment it, feed it to animals, pop it, rub butter all over it, salt it, and use it as decor in the autumn. We even sing about it and all its uses.…

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What You Need to Know About Fats, Carbs, Protein, and Your Goals

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 09:00:53 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

I work in a cubicle farm. Unique to my quad of cubicle-mates over the past two years is that each of us has run our own version of a long-term nutritional experiment with independently strong results.

One coworker lost fifty pounds from logging a daily limit of calories and running. Another person lost twenty pounds on the ketogenic diet, counting fat grams on an Excel spreadsheet, toting charcuterie snacks everywhere, and exercising in moderate amounts.…

The post What You Need to Know About Fats, Carbs, Protein, and Your Goals appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

The 3 Biggest Reasons Your Diet Will Never Last

Marc Halpern — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 09:00:28 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

The word “diet,” the way we use it today, is basically an admission of failure. Going on a diet means we have somehow failed in our quest to look or feel a certain way, and now we must change.

“Dieting” means we are following some protocol with a fancy name, excluding certain foods, probably reading an associated book, and possibly following a celebrity touting the diets powers.…

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How to Know If Eating Beans Is Right for You

Marc Halpern — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 09:00:49 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Beans, beans, the musical fruit. You may have heard the rest of the song. While gluten has been attacked in the news over the last few years, beans have been criticized under the radar. Some diets claim beans are unhealthy due to blocking the absorption of other nutrients, having too many carbohydrates, or not being a natural part of the human diet.…

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How to Make 5 Healthy Lunches in 50 Minutes

Casey Moulton — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 09:00:33 +0000

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Often when I start with a new client (I teach cooking), they tell me they want to make dinner faster. But once we start exploring their entire day, it turns out the availability of healthy lunches is the bigger problem.

With dinner, most people at least have some semblance of a cooking routine. But with lunch, it’s typically a given that people are eating out.…

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How to Know if Counting Calories (or Macros) Is a Good Idea for You

Marc Halpern — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Have you ever counted calories before? Beyond counting calories, many people also count their “macros” (grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrate). If you’ve been on the Internet for more than ten minutes, you’ve probably come across somebody talking about their calories or macros.

When I was studying to be a dietitian, I counted lots of things. In some instances, such as when a person has a medical condition, this counting is important.…

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The 4 Reasons You Quit Meal Prep (and How to Do It Right)

Casey Moulton — Mon, 21 May 2018 09:00:32 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Have you ever tried and failed at meal prep?

It’s probably because of one or all of these four reasons:

You made a hot mess of the kitchen (and maybe the food, too).
You spent way longer than you anticipated.
You made a big batch of the same thing and couldn’t stand looking at it by the end of the week.

…

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Will a Food Journal Help You to Your Goals? Here’s How to Know

Karen Katzenbach — Mon, 14 May 2018 09:00:42 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

You’ve seen the benefit of paying attention to your actions so that you become conscious of the choices you make. Now, you want to take that concept a step further and really dig into what and how much you eat so you can make even better choices.

It’s a big commitment but you feel you’re ready: you’ve decided to keep a food journal.…

The post Will a Food Journal Help You to Your Goals? Here’s How to Know appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

How to Win at the Healthy Eating Game (by Using an Instant Pot)

Marc Halpern — Tue, 08 May 2018 09:00:32 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

I’ll be the first to admit I’m skeptical of most new things in the nutrition and fitness fields. Tried and true is usually the best course of action. Occasionally, though, something comes on the market that sparks my interest.

You may have seen the Instant Pot being sold in stores and online this past holiday season. I tend to not go to stores, I don’t pay attention to online ads, and generally I am the last to know about anything new.…

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The Critical Reasons HOW We Eat Matters More Than WHAT

Eric Stevens — Tue, 01 May 2018 09:00:24 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

When I was a growing up, we had a sit-down family dinner every night. In high school and college, I regularly ate with friends in the cafeteria. When I started my first career, I went out for a proper lunch with coworkers almost every day.

But that was back in the day when the once common notion of the leisurely and social meal was the norm.…

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The 2 Most Powerful Tools for Nutrition Success

Marc Halpern — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 09:00:22 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

I’ve been in health and fitness for over seventeen years. For most people, success in exercise comes easier then nutrition success. Nutrition concepts can seem simple enough: just eat lots of vegetables, adequate protein, healthy fats, and the list can go on. Execution, however, is another story.

Getting to the gym or exercising at home is something you either do, or don’t do.…

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Why You Need to Rethink Your “Healthy” Bar Eating Habit

Eric Stevens — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 09:00:23 +0000

In 1975, Nature Valley introduced the granola bar. The initial reception was lukewarm as granola was seen as a “fringe” food. Shortly thereafter in the mid-1980s, Power Bar introduced the first “energy bar,” which was designed for endurance athletes like marathoners and distance cyclists. Power Bar, while popular, was also seen as a niche food intended for elite athletes.

Little did Nature Valley and Power Bar know that they had started a massive trend in the way we consume food.…

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How to Create a Foolproof Meal Plan for Healthy Eating

Marc Halpern — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 09:00:42 +0000

Reading Time: 10 minutes

Whenever I tell people I am a registered dietitian who works with private clients, people assume I hand out meal plans and tell people to follow them. While this approach does work for short periods, it’s not ideal long term.

The real answer is to make your own meal plan.

This might sound intimidating but creating your own meal plan can actually save you time and effort.…

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5 Everyday Kitchen Essentials for the Beginner Chef

Amber Lewis — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 09:00:32 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Today, I’m going talk a little bit about some of my favorite items to use in the kitchen. These are non-negotiables for me. These are things I use pretty much every time I’m in the kitchen. There are five “kitchen essentials” I’m going to talk about in detail in this article, and they’ll be easy for you to find if you want to outfit your own kitchen.…

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3 Sustainable Nutrition Strategies for the WLC Off-Season

Amber Lewis — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 10:00:56 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

How can you use the new WLC Off-Season to get the most out of the new WLC In-Season?

If you just came off the most recent Challenge, how can you maintain your progress while still enjoying yourself?

If you are playing the upcoming Challenge for the first time, how can you set a solid foundation for nutritional success while not starting the Challenge early?…

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6 Healthy Ways to Feel Awesome in Time for Spring Break

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 10:00:07 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

During the cold weather months, it can be so nice to enjoy comfort foods and warm, flavorsome meals with friends and family. Eating a creamy casserole with cheese and crusty white bread or warm apple pie is delicious and perfect for a winter’s evening, right?

Yes, it’s true, the odd splurge now and then won’t hurt you in the long run, but if we look as far back as the holiday season and consider all those back-to-back social gatherings that preceded the months of comfort food?…

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How to Eat All the Chocolate You Can and Still Be Healthy

Marc Halpern — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 10:00:46 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

I’m sure if I asked most people what their top favorite treats are, their list wouldn’t read, “Boiled lettuce wraps, plain tofu, and egg whites.” More likely it would look something like, “Chocolate, chips, candy, pizza, and many other comfort foods.”

As a Registered Dietitian, when I meet with a new client, I ask them what their favorite foods are, regardless of what they think is healthy.…

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What Elite Athletes Eat (and Do) That You Should Too (or Not)

Marc Halpern — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 10:00:54 +0000

Reading Time: 10 minutes

Is there a difference between performance nutrition and nutrition for general health? We often hear on TV or the Internet about athletes doing an intensive nutrition program and using sports science to their advantage. Is this what we should all be doing? Why would athletes do something for a competitive advantage and not us?

Well, first off, much of what you’re seeing is marketing.…

The post What Elite Athletes Eat (and Do) That You Should Too (or Not) appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

How to Do Better at Eating (Those Crazy) Winter Vegetables

Karen Katzenbach — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 10:00:56 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

When the weather turns cold and winter buries us under snow and ice, it can be hard to get excited about seasonal vegetables. We all know what to do with tomatoes and greens and all the amazing fruit available in spring, summer, and autumn, but what do you do with those roots and other weird-looking things that show up at the store during winter?…

The post How to Do Better at Eating (Those Crazy) Winter Vegetables appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

The “Why” of the Whole Life Challenge Food Rules

Kristin Kaschak — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 22:05:44 +0000

Reading Time: 15 minutes

We’ve become used to fad diets giving us lists of things we can and cannot eat for seemingly no reason. This makes it impossible to transfer into everyday life. If you don’t know why you do something, you’re less likely to do to it.

And without this why, it’s easy to have an emotional response to rules that deprive you of your favorite things.…

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The Rules for Healthy Eating Made Simple: How to Choose Your Whole Life Challenge Nutrition Level

Jon Gilson — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 10:00:23 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

The rules for healthy eating actually are simple — and to understand them, you’ll start by identifying the foods to avoid.

Foods to avoid come in packages and bottles, and they’re found in the interior of the grocery store — among the chips, crackers, cookies, candy, cereals, sodas, and frozen foods. They also dominate the takeout menus tacked to your fridge and the menu at your local restaurant, where manmade oils (like canola and vegetable) are the primary cooking substrate, and salt and sugar are added to everything.…

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How to Prepare Your Kitchen for the Whole Life Challenge

Jon Gilson — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 10:00:04 +0000

The only thing that sabotages a great nutrition plan faster than the twin temptations of sugar and bread: a lack of the right foods, close at hand.

Let’s prevent that.

Below, seven tasks you can perform in the next seven days to ensure you’ll always have compliant, healthy food ready to go (while facing as little temptation as possible).

Go through the steps one at a time, and by the end of the week, you’ll be ready to tackle the Whole Life Challenge’s Nutrition and Hydration Habits.…

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6 Simple Ways to Eat More Veggies and Actually Like It

Marc Halpern — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:00:19 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

I make a living telling people to eat more veggies. This is according to my wife. I do a few more things, but I understand her point. Whenever I am on the phone with a client, we are almost always discussing how to get more fruit and vegetables into his or her life.

There are a number of reasons to eat vegetables, none of them being to torture you.…

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It’s the Food: Why We Gain Weight

Eric Stevens — Tue, 14 Nov 2017 10:00:37 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Physics states that if you move more, you burn more calories, and if you burn more calories, you lose unwanted pounds. This seems logical enough, and most of us have heard this so many times through the mainstream media that it almost seems like gospel. Based on such logic, and to reverse the trends of inactivity and expanding waistlines, people have been joining fitness facilities in droves for the better part of twenty years.…

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8 Healthy Protein Sources (for When You’re Sick and Tired of Chicken)

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 10:00:48 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Are you tired of eating the same egg scramble for breakfast, chicken for lunch, and pork chops for dinner?

You care about your nutrition, but you’re bored with the same meals day after day.

But what other choices do you have for your healthy protein sources?

Before I answer that question (and I have a bunch of answers for you), let’s take a quick look at why protein is such an important component to our diet anyway.…

The post 8 Healthy Protein Sources (for When You’re Sick and Tired of Chicken) appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

What You Need to Know Before You Eat Any More Soy

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 09:00:19 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

If you’re confused about soy, you’re not alone. There has been a lot of mixed information about soy over the years. Some sources tell us that it is good for us and others say that it is bad.

The truth is, as with so many other foods, soy is both good and bad for you depending on how it is grown and processed.…

The post What You Need to Know Before You Eat Any More Soy appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

7 Questions You Need to Answer Before You Go Grain-Free

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 09:00:16 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

It seems like everyone is adopting a gluten- or grain-free diet these days. Whether it’s to combat the ravaging effects of an autoimmune disease, shed those last stubborn pounds, train for an athletic event, or simply avoid common chemicals and pesticides, eliminating grains from the diet can offer a variety of health benefits.

But few people are fully prepared to face the challenges associated with the leap to a grain-free lifestyle.…

The post 7 Questions You Need to Answer Before You Go Grain-Free appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

How to Cook a Week of Healthy Meals in No Time

Casey Moulton — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 09:00:16 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Imagine if you could make all your meals for an entire week in just two hours. And, on top of that, imagine all those meals were both healthy and enjoyable (and cost less than what you usually spend).

That would be pretty awesome, right?

Well, you’re in luck. I’m going to drop a series of three lessons on you that will teach you how to do just that.…

The post How to Cook a Week of Healthy Meals in No Time appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

Why No Single Healthy Habit Is the Key to Success—and Yet It Is

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 09:00:28 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

No doubt, most of you want to enjoy a lifestyle that can help you maintain good health and a fit body. At the same time, you probably hope to actually enjoy that lifestyle.

In other words, you may not want to deprive yourself of all your favorite treats or make time for an Olympic-level fitness routine. As a result, some people wonder if they can make just one change at a time by either improving their eating or their exercise habits.…

The post Why No Single Healthy Habit Is the Key to Success—and Yet It Is appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

How to Cook with Fats and Oils for the Healthy Eater

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 09:00:55 +0000

Reading Time: 10 minutes

There are so many different types of fats and different ways they affect our systems when we consume them. These differences are even more enhanced when we look at the way these fats are produced, how refined they are, and how we use them for cooking.

Most of us understand the basics of which fats to consume, but when it comes to how to cook with fats and oils, things get more complicated.…

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How to Order Healthy Food When You’re at a Restaurant

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Tue, 30 May 2017 09:00:30 +0000

Reading Time: 11 minutes

Life is about so much more than a lunch box with the perfect ratio of carbs, proteins, and fats.

Life is about travel, entertainment, and birthday parties. For many of us, dining out is one of life’s biggest enjoyments — and the biggest challenge to our healthy eating habits. To maintain our healthy lifestyle and still be able to enjoy our meals out, it is important to make educated choices so we can stay on track.…

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How to Keep Eating Healthy When You Travel

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Tue, 23 May 2017 09:00:23 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

My job involves a lot of travel. In fact, I am on a plane heading to coaching and teaching engagements every second week or so. I know firsthand that it can be tough to eat right when you are on the road.

When you are traveling, it is important to be mindful not only about what you eat, but also about when you eat.…

The post How to Keep Eating Healthy When You Travel appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

Learn to Play the 3 Flavor Notes: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 8

Casey Moulton — Fri, 12 May 2017 09:00:50 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

In science, an “elegant theory” is one that explains a lot with very little. It’s simple and powerful. For instance, Einstein’s most famous equation E=MC2 presents in just five symbols what amounts to a doctorate-level understanding of the relationship between energy and mass.

In cooking, a dish is said to be elegant when it uses as few seasonings as possible to achieve jaw-dropping results.…

The post Learn to Play the 3 Flavor Notes: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 8 appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

The Secret Tool of Taste Balancing: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 7

Casey Moulton — Fri, 05 May 2017 09:00:57 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Last week, we learned how to cook our way around the world using flavor profiles. This week, we take our command of seasoning to the next level by discovering the power of taste balancing. If you have been cooking along with these lessons so far, you have been experiencing the power of taste balancing. We just haven’t been calling it that.…

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The Power of Flavor Profiles: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 6

Casey Moulton — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 09:00:23 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Before developing Kitchen Karate, I learned to cook by throwing dinner parties. Each week I invited six guests to be my guinea pigs as I tried my hand at a new cuisine: Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Indian, Thai, French, Caribbean, and many more.

I pulled recipes off the Internet for the most popular appetizer, entree and dessert from the cuisine of the week.…

The post The Power of Flavor Profiles: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 6 appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

How to Organize Your Kitchen for Speed: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 5

Casey Moulton — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 09:00:28 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

When it comes to home cooking, most of us grab what we need as we need it: counter space, tools, or seasoning. In the process, we turn our kitchen into a hot mess. Even an experienced home cook will often leave a trail of wreckage as he or she puts on even a small dinner party.

This mess can make it hard to motivate yourself to cook, which sends you down the slippery slope of grabbing what’s convenient and neglecting proper nutrition.…

The post How to Organize Your Kitchen for Speed: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 5 appeared first on Whole Life Challenge.

What You Need to Know About the Glycemic Index

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 09:00:36 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

If you are familiar with the “glycemic index,” you may know it as a phrase tossed around by various weight-loss diet plans. But the first scientists who studied the glycemic index of foods did not actually have weight loss in mind.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, these scientists wanted to help diabetic patients manage their menus in order to control blood sugar.…

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How to Make Multiple Meals at Once: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 4

Casey Moulton — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 09:00:25 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

After learning how to cook, creating a weekly meal prep routine is arguably the best thing you can do for your eating habits. In today’s busy life, we often wait until we are hungry to decide what to eat, which doesn’t always lead to the best outcome. Having meals prepared ahead of time lets you lock in choices that are perfect for you.…

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The 3 Essential Cooking Methods: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 3

Casey Moulton — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 09:00:04 +0000

Last week we brandished a big knife. This week we play with fire.

We are going to cover the three cooking techniques you must know to feed yourself with any regularity: boil, saute, and roast. Each comes with its own implement of doom — pot, pan, and earthenware, respectively. We are going to use all of them in this lesson.

But before we get into dancing around the flames, a quick safety message from your local fire marshal.…

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Go 7 Days With No Alcohol: Weekly Habit Practice

Jon Gilson — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 09:00:56 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Weekly Habit Practices are mini-challenges intended to help you fine-tune different aspects of your health and wellness. Offered between Challenges, these practices address fitness, nutrition, stress reduction, productivity, and personal connection — because health is about far more than food and the gym (and we could all use a little practice).

A Week of No Alcohol

Simple Instructions:

Each day this week, abstain from drinking alcohol.

…

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Knife Skills and Stir Fry: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 2

Casey Moulton — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 09:00:39 +0000

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In boot camp lesson one, we focused on embracing our chef sense and breaking free of recipes. Now, we get to wield a big knife and show food who’s boss!

There is only one knife you truly need and it’s called the chef’s knife.

The chef’s knife is big and bold, and a lot of people shy away from it because it looks intimidating.…

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The 5 Moves to Cooking Everything: Home Cooking Boot Camp Lesson 1

Casey Moulton — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 09:00:49 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Giving a hard check to what you put in your body is one of the most enlightening and challenging aspects of the Whole Life Challenge. Reading ingredients, asking questions in restaurants, looking suspiciously at salad bars — it’s all part of the fun.

You discover that the best way to know what’s on your plate is to put it there yourself.…

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Eat Your Veggies: Weekly Habit Practice

Becca Borawski Jenkins — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:00:07 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutesEat Your Vegetables at Each Meal This Week

Simple Instructions:

Eat a serving of vegetables with your three main meals each day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

You do not have to eat a serving of vegetables with your snacks (but veggies do make good snacks, FYI).

Vegetables can be raw or cooked, mixed in or flying solo.

It doesn’t have to be complicated.

…

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The Truth About Dairy: What to Avoid, What’s Okay, and Why

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 10:00:40 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Milk is marketed in a way that makes us all believe it is good for us. It has protein and is the “best” source of calcium, right? This marketing is so powerful that most people will be hard pressed to name any other food that contains moderate to high levels of calcium. I would go as far as to say that we are lead to believe that if we don’t consume dairy, then we will be calcium deficient.…

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Why You Should Question Nutrition Research and What Happened in 1980

Vik Khanna — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 10:00:18 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

There was a time when the words of moms and grandmothers ruled the nutritional roost. For the most part, their advice boiled down to this: eat your vegetables, don’t drink soda, eat fruit for snacks, and don’t watch too much TV.

That last one was sneaky. Our moms and grandmothers knew that watching TV tended to promote mindless snacking, and it also meant you were not active.…

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Why My Favorite Easy-to-Make Meal Is So Healthy

Sophia McDermott Drysdale — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 09:00:07 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The standard way of “eating clean” is not one I follow. Eating white rice with chicken breast six times a day came about because of the bodybuilding industry — not because it is particularly healthy. In fact, eating that way day in and day out will leave you nutritionally deficient, especially if you are a performance athlete or a mother (where you are/have been pregnant or breastfeeding, as most of my personal clients are).…

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Important Changes to the Whole Life Challenge Nutrition Levels

Michael Stanwyck — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 09:00:02 +0000

As the Whole Life Challenge continues to grow, we strive to create and maintain a game that is as relevant as possible to you, with the most up-to-date nutrition information we have at our disposal. As a result, we’ve recently made some small changes, both to the philosophies of the levels as well as to what is compliant for each.

Let’s Start with the Goal of Each Level

It’s helpful not to think of one level being more “advanced” or difficult than another.…

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How to Play Whole Life Challenge as a Dedicated Wine Drinker

Jessica Wolf — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 09:00:23 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The Whole Life Challenge begins again soon and as I assemble my team, there’s one particular guideline that seems to paralyze people when it comes to which level they should play — or whether they’re willing to play at all. I always imagine people cringing at the idea of giving up sugar (as I did when I signed up for my first Challenge), but many more seem to draw the line at limiting their wine.…

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Why You Should Try My Eating-for-the-Seasons Challenge

V "Paleo Boss Lady" Capaldi — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 09:00:21 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Today we’re going to talk about “eating for the seasons.” What does that even mean?

In our modern world, we have access to all sorts of fruits and vegetables all year round. But is this the right way to eat? Sure, we can eat exotic foods whenever we want, but is there value in only eating foods that are in season and local?…

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Don’t Be Manipulated: Question the Words on Your Food

V "Paleo Boss Lady" Capaldi — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 09:00:58 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Language is a huge, but often unrecognized influence in our lives. Words have so much back story, it is often hard to engage in any dialogue without meanings presenting themselves that were never our intention. This can also be said for words used to describe food. Many times specific words are used by companies to portray a meaning that is not necessarily truthful, but may entice you to buy something.…

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The Hard Truth About Happy Hour and Your Health

Kristin Kaschak — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 10:00:58 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Alcohol. This is probably the most hot-button, hard-line item there is when it comes to changing your diet. It’s the thing people seem to be the least willing to give up, but going dry for a stretch may be one of the most impactful things you can do for your health.

Marketers got real clever when it comes to our desire to stay fit while continuing to drink by offering “low calorie,” “low carb,” and “skinny” options.…

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