Boy, is it cold outside! Cold outside often coincides with colds inside – winter has long been regarded as cold and flu season and with recent events, boosting your immunity can be a top priority! No one wants to be out sick from celebrations and responsibilities all winter long. Strengthening your immune system and fighting bacteria and viruses can be aided with certain important nutrients included in this cinnamon orange smoothie recipe:

Probiotics

Probiotic foods contain the friendly, helpful bacteria that can colonize our intestines to help digest our food, keep us regular, and defend us against harmful bacterial infections. In the case of this smoothie, the yogurt will provide a dose of probiotics.

Prebiotics

While probiotics are the foods that contain the helpful bacteria, prebiotics are the foods the bacteria love to eat! Orange juice, especially including pulp, contains these prebiotic fibers that can make our helpful gut bacteria thrive.

Vitamin C

Long recognized as one of the key nutrients supporting immunity, vitamin C provides antioxidant benefits and helps to promote the production of your body’s own natural antibodies.

Zinc & Vitamin D

Both of these powerful nutrients are associated with lower infection rates, and shorter infections that are less severe. The also can slow viral growth and

Lactoferrin

Found in milk and yogurt, this compound boosts your immunity by preventing viral entry into your cells.

Propolis

This compound, found in honey, has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, as well as promoting antibody immune cell production.

The foods in this immune-boosting winter smoothie bring all these nutrients together to support your immune system’s function throughout the cold and flu season. The smoothie tastes like chai-spiced oranges and is the perfect complement to your breakfast or as a snack during the day. To make this smoothie a meal, add a frozen banana and a scoop of your favorite plain or vanilla protein powder.

References

1. Immune-boosting functional foods and their mechanisms: a critical evaluation of probiotics and prebiotics https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332220308180
2. Network pharmacology of AYUSH recommended immune-boosting medicinal plants against COVID-19 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0975947620301078
3. Immune-Boosting, Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Food Supplements Targeting Pathogenesis of COVID-19 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7575721/
4. Immune-boosting role of vitamins D, C, E, zinc, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids: Could they help against COVID-19? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378512220303467

Most of us would love to be active and healthy, exercising regularly doing something we enjoy. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to stick to an exercise plan. How exactly do you choose a workout that you’ll actually enjoy and that is sustainable? There are a handful of things to consider to help yourself be as successful as possible in your fitness. It’s important to consider some of your own personality traits, as well as some of those weird little quirks we all have. It’s amazing how much working with your tendencies rather than against them can change the game.

A few things to consider:

“Mood exerciser” vs. “Routine Repeater”

Are you someone who needs to be “in the mood” for a particular exercise in order to do it? You’re not alone, Mood Exerciser! Don’t expect to be someone who completes the same workout day after day. Have several possible workouts in your arsenal so when it comes time to exercise, you can choose the workout you’re most in the mood for. Maybe on a high-energy day you do high-intensity interval training, on an angry day you kickbox, and on a mellow day you do yoga. The choices are yours, but make sure you have some options!

If you are someone who prefers a regular zone-out routine than having a different option every day, you are a Routine Repeater. For you, it’s more important to find that one exercise that is a perfect fit for your lifestyle and gradually progress in intensity or time. If you stick with the same workout for 3-4 months, consider adding a 1-2 day per week cross-training to prevent injury and muscle imbalances.

“Rip-the-BandAid” vs. “Joyride” Exerciser

Do you want to really feel like you did something when you work out? Do you want to sweat and feel the burn? If so, you are a “Rip-the-BandAid” exerciser, and you will likely prefer higher-intensity workouts that you can get done in half the time. Some good options are high-intensity interval training or bootcamp.

If instead you are someone who needs to be enjoying yourself to exercise, you are a Joyride Exerciser. Joyride exercisers tend to love group exercise classes, sports, and workout videos like group dance classes, kickboxing, or martial arts.

One of our greatest frustrations with healthy living is dealing with the normal obstacles of life – the things that can stand in the way of our best-laid plans. My clients are often eager and ready to come up with their “plan A.” The “if everything works as it should” plan. The “this is how I really want things to go” plan. I also encourage them to come up with contingency plans. What if everything doesn’t work as it should? What if things don’t go how you really wish they would?

Having a contingency plan helps prevent the all-or-nothing feelings that can come into play when we don’t seem to be able to make plan A work. If plan A is all we have in our healthy tool belt, then we end up defeated when it won’t work for one reason or another. Your plan failed…guess you can’t be healthy today.

Not so!

Life is often not going to work out the way you hope, so be prepared! Have a plan for when the plan doesn’t work. It’s not defeatist – it’s realistic. Have a contingency plan. This is how I usually describe them:

Plan A: This is your best-case scenario. It is the plan that is designed to help you meet your health goals and fit into your (and your family’s) lifestyle at least half the time. If you make a plan A that rarely ends up ever working, it’s probably not the right plan A for you. Remember that it’s okay to try changes out before committing to them (in fact you should!) and it’s okay if a change doesn’t work for you. Keep looking for your best fit!

Plan B: This is your “oh shoot, I didn’t have time for plan A” or “we can’t afford plan A right now” or ______insert reason plan A doesn’t work this time_____. This is not as ideal of an outcome as plan A, but still keeps you on track with a decent second-best. Ask yourself what might stand in the way of your plan A, and consider how you might adjust. Plan B options sometimes require a little bit of advance preparation, but then they have your back when needed.

Plan C: This is your hail Mary. The “well…nothing went the way I planned so we will do the best we can with what we have today.” Sometimes you actually have a third-best option, and sometimes your plan C is just to let it go and try again tomorrow. Either way, make it an intentional choice, not an automatic response to a plan A roadblock. Plan to take a day off if plans A and B fall through, and don’t feel bad if they did. This mentally helps us stay away from thought patterns like “well, I didn’t complete plan A today, so I guess I’m not being healthy anymore.” It sounds dramatic when you say it out loud, but it’s the way a lot of our brains think. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard from clients about healthy changes they did great with…until that one day, then they gave up since they had “broken their streak.”

Here are some examples of contingency plans my clients have made:

Cooking at home

Plan A (best-case-scenario, works at least half the time): Make a meal plan each week and cook at least 5 dinners at home.

Plan B (second-best option, has your back with a little advance preparation): This client felt her most likely roadblock would be not having time to make the dinner on her meal plan, so her plan B was to buy pre-cooked salmon fillets and a vegetable/red potato medley to keep in the freezer so she could always have a microwave back-up option if she got stuck in traffic on the way home from work.

Plan C (do the best you can with what you’ve got, no preparation required): If she comes home late and her kids have a nighttime activity, she usually needs to bring something home or take the kids out on the way. We selected 3 different restaurants that her kids would like and where everyone could customize their own healthful option.

Strength Training

Plan A: Go to the gym before work to strength train three times per week.

Plan B: This client’s gym is very busy in the afternoon, so his biggest roadblock would be getting his workout in if he missed going in the morning. If he didn’t make it to the gym before work, we selected a Youtube body weight workout he could do at home in the evening.

Plan C: If he did not want to work out in the evening when he got home, he could either try going to the gym a different morning that week, or take a day off and try again on his next scheduled gym day.

The point is, that making the plan ahead of time helps prepare you for challenges and makes any of the options okay. It allows you to realistically navigate life’s curve balls while still keeping focus on your goal. All while avoiding a defeated attitude when life just doesn’t play nice. So hang in there! Make a plan, and another, and another. And don’t beat yourself up when plan A and plan B don’t work! It happens to everyone – now you can be prepared.

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Fasten your seatbelts and make sure your seat is in the upright position – we are on the runway for the holiday season! Cozy get-togethers, tasty dinners, and delicious sweets and treats await us! For some, the question is always: how can I stay healthy and still enjoy my holidays? Too many times we can struggle with this balance, finding ourselves dehydrated, bloated, and unhealthy come January, swearing “never again.” Or – just as unfortunately – stressing ourselves out so much about not affecting our health that we don’t actually spend any time enjoying our holidays. No more! Here are 5 practical, easy tips to enjoy a holiday season that won’t leave you ragged coming in to the new year.

1. Prioritize

Our natural tendency is to take a little bit of everything at any given holiday event. Often, though, we don’t even truly love all of these treats. Skim the spread and honestly ask yourself which items are sure to delight you. Which one would you be sad to leave without? Dish up and enjoy! If there are others that aren’t your favorites, don’t take them by default. Make sure to prioritize what you really love!

2. Set Yourself up for Success

It’s tough to enjoy a holiday when you aren’t feeling well, and we all know that certain foods (in certain amounts) affect us in uncomfortable ways. If a gathering is potluck-style, bring a food that you know leaves you feeling great. Then you know there will be at least one dish that won’t leave you feeling less than your best. If you don’t have the option to bring something, snack on some feel-good foods before you head out.

3. Take Your Time

Don’t rush the experience – eating holiday food is a seasonal delight to be savored. Make a plate, have a seat, and visit with a loved one as you eat. Take time to enjoy each bite and chew well (this helps with digestion as well as enjoyment)! After finishing your plate, give yourself 10-15 minutes before you go back for seconds. Our satiety signals sometimes take a bit to kick in. Waiting can help prevent painful over-fullness!

4. Hydrate Well

Most of the things that leave us feeling crummy after the holidays have to do with their dehydrating effects – sugar, salt, and alcohol are all culprits for leaving us dried out. That dehydration can lead to headaches, fatigue, breakouts, digestive issues, and more. You can make big strides to feeling your best by simply making sure to drink plenty of water leading up to, during, and after your holiday celebration.

5. Enjoy!

Do not let worries about your health or weight consume your holidays. Your mental health is a much larger part of your overall wellness than that Christmas cookie. Practice balance, give yourself grace, and enjoy every second with your family, friends and favorite foods.

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Snacks! Who doesn’t love a good snack? Snacking is a great way to stabilize your blood sugar and energy levels and stave off nagging hunger. Prevent being over-hungry is also a great way to prevent nighttime cravings or bingeing. So where to start?

When Should I Eat a Snack?

It’s pretty simple – if you are hungry and there isn’t a meal on the docket for the next 1-2 hours, it’s snack time! If you are hungry, your body is asking for more energy to meet its energy needs right in the moment. If it doesn’t get a response from you (aka – food!), it’s going to slow your metabolism down in order to economize. If you do feed it, it knows it can trust you to take care of its energy needs, and it will fire on all cylinders. Plus, you get to eat a snack…it’s a win-win!

What Makes a Satisfying Snack?

You want to make sure your snack addresses both physical hunger and biochemical hunger. Physical hunger is the actual emptiness in your stomach, while biochemical hunger is a declining blood glucose (which is your body’s fuel).

To satisfy physical hunger, include a protein because it is slow digesting. This will ensure that it stays in your stomach for at least an hour or two, getting you to your next meal. Proteins you might choose for snacks include:

• cheese
• cottage cheese
• deli meat
• nuts or nut butter
• hard-boiled eggs
• Greek yogurt

To satisfy biochemical hunger, you’ll need a food that raises blood sugar a bit to provide the energy you’ll need for 1-2 more hours until your next meal. The only foods that directly break down into blood glucose are carbohydrates, since they are made of pieces of glucose. Some carbohydrates are made of individual glucose pieces or short chains of glucose. These are called simple carbohydrates, and because they are small they digest very quickly, and therefore raise blood glucose very quickly. Other carbohydrates are called complex carbohydrates, and are made of long chains of glucose. The long chains take longer to digest, and therefore raise blood glucose much more gradually. The gradual rise in glucose means a more stable blood sugar, longer-lasting energy, and a lower likelihood of your body storing “extra” blood glucose as fat. Choosing a complex carbohydrate is a great way to go.

There are also a couple of carb-containing foods that have simple carbohydrates, but contain a natural nutritional “buffer” that slows their digestion, making them act more like a complex carbohydrate. For example, fruit is high in fiber (which slows digestion) and milk and yogurt contain protein. Here are some great carbohydrate options for snacks:

• fresh, canned, or dried fruit
• Greek yogurt (bonus: also contains protein!)
• popcorn
• whole grain crackers
• whole grain chips

It’s New Year’s and the fad diets and crazy exercise trends abound. Use these tips to avoid the over-restrictive trendy madness and still make some healthy changes that might actually make it to next New year!

Of course you want to be healthy – but everywhere you look, diet culture’s miserable mandates run wild. How are you to know what healthy really looks like? Look no further.

Down Home Dietitian’s got you covered – with simple healthy recipes, informative videos, totally doable workouts, and grow-it-yourself gardening advice. If you want to be healthy and you don’t want to be miserable doing it, this is the channel for you. Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! Because healthy doesn’t have to be hard.