Such Knowledge, Much Science

 My stomach and my brain have never been so harmoniously happy. Today has been awesome. I have so much energy, my head is clear, and I am soaking in more information and taking more notes than I did in college (sorry mom and dad.) I started off the day with an early morning walk around the residential neighborhoods of Santa Rosa. Beautiful stucco homes are nestled in the lush green hills, whose color is accentuated by the cool gray mist and light rain that has engulfed us for the moment. After the walk, I had some phenomenal breakfast, then attended a circuit training class with my fellow healthy eating specialists from the North Atlantic Region.

DON'T be fooled by my smile! I was seriously angry at the amount of burpees I was just forced to do. No but really, everyone here is incredibly nice and supportive and encourages doing everything to your comfort level (except when it comes to diet.) I voluntarily did the burpees, and will never do them again.

Today was PACKED with information that I'm still mulling over as I write this. We had a cooking demonstration from chef Cathy Fisher. We sampled her veggie burgers, home made ketchup, split pea soup, and burrito bowl and they were all delicious. Her blog is a great resource for recipes and is definitely worth taking a look at: http://www.straightupfood.com/blog/

We then got to hear from psychologist and author of The Pleasure Trap Doug Lisle. I'm going to do my best to explain this concept in the best way possible. Humans have a motivational triad:

1) Pleasure
2) Pain
3) Energy Conservation

We use our feelings as a guidance system for our actions to ultimately increase pleasure, reduce pain, and conserve energy. The pleasure trap can relate to food, alcohol, smoking, and pleasure receptor drugs like cocaine. When we have too much of these things, we get caught in a heightened state of pleasure, causing us to need more and more of that stimulus to combat our dulling pleasure receptors. For example, when we consume too much sugar, fat, and salt, we want more and more of it to produce that same euphoric response. Then, when we consume healthy foods that don't contain sugar, fat, and salt, we don't like them anymore because we have remained in this super normal state for so long. We are eating the pleasure signal, instead of the whole food itself. Once we relearn to appreciate whole foods for what they are, then we can overcome this dilemma. Here is how I overcame this dilemma tonight at dinner:

To learn more about Dr. Lisle and his book, visit this site: http://www.healthpromoting.com/the-pleasure-trap

I'll end this post with some of the most applicable information I have received so far. This comes from Jeff Novick, dietitian and nutritionist. Calorie density is everything you need to understand about a healthy diet. What is calorie density? Think of it as the amount of calories in a food compared to how much that food weighs. We want to severely limit very calorie dense foods because they are high in calories, and don't keep us full. Check out this picture:

These pictures show equal calorie amounts of different foods. It shows that equal calorie foods does not represent satiety, or how full we feel. Calorie dense foods are often the ones that are ultra processed and refined. They have been stripped of their water, fiber, and nutrients, which is what gives us that full feeling, signaling us to stop eating. If we increase the nutrient dense foods in our diets, we can eat MORE of them, while consuming LESS calories because they have more water, fiber, bulk, and weight. Once you can understand this, there is no longer a need to portion, or weigh, or count calories. If you are eating the right foods, you can eat as much as you want, and be able to stop when you're full, assuring your body has it's perfect amount of calories and nutrients.

Jeff was one of the most energetic and entertaining speakers I have ever seen. Learn more about Jeff Novick at http://jeffnovick.com/RD/Home.html

That was a long one! I'll leave you with this picture of the resort after the rain cleared up. Tomorrow I'm looking forward to more cooking, amazing food, inspiring speakers, and....zumba? Probably not on that last one, but I've bought into everything here so far ; )