Almost 10 years ago, I made the decision to become a NASM Certified Personal Trainer.  I had a passion for working out and taking care of myself, and I wanted to not only to educate myself more about physical fitness and exercise, but also to have the credentials to be able to help others.  I loved my experience and education through NASM so much that I have since earned various other certifications through their organization: Women’s Fitness Specialist, Group Personal Training Specialist, Weight Loss Specialist, and Fitness Nutrition Specialist.

I tell you all of that because I’ve got something really exciting to share with you today, and that’s about the NASM Nutrition Series.  They have launched this new series of nutrition courses, derived from chapters of their Certified Nutrition Coach program, to share with general health & fitness enthusiasts or people looking to learn more, not just for fitness professionals.  How cool is that?  I always get a lot of questions about nutrition and something I really like to encourage people to do is take it upon themselves to learn as much as they can!  The thing to be careful about, however, is making sure the place you’re getting information from is accurate and credible…because there is a lot of noise on the internet.  These courses stem from evidence-based recommendations that adhere to rigorous scientific standards.  More than 20 experts in nutrition, psychology and behavior change were consulted to provide the most reliable guidance for people of varying ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, food preferences, and goals.

Let me share a little overview about the courses below.  You can see them all here!

Nutrition Series

NASM Nutrition Series: Making Sense of Supplements

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the role of supplements across various goals
• Explain the strengths and weaknesses of the supporting evidence for commonly used supplements
• Communicate the pros and cons of using supplements

NASM Nutrition Series: Plant-Based Diets

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the different plant-based diets and their place within the dietary spectrum.
• Explain the health benefits of a plant-based diet.
• Determine how plant-based diets affect weight loss.
• Differentiate the dietary needs of athletes who adopt plant-based diets.
• Identify common myths about adopting and/or following a plant-based diet.

NASM Nutrition Series: Navigating Diets

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

• Critique the evidence (or lack thereof) behind different diets
• Use evidence-based strategies to debate new and emerging trends
• Discuss valid concerns with a one-size-fits-all approach to dieting

NASM Nutrition Series: Understanding Food Labels and Portion Sizes

xo,

Bess

The post Nourish to Flourish: NASM Nutrition Series appeared first on Bess Harrington Carter.

SUGAR IMPACTS

Personal Thoughts on Sugar Consumption & How It Makes Me Feel

I try to pay very close attention to the things that I eat and the impact they have on me.  I tend to have stomach issues, and I’ve cut out many FODMAP foods because of uncomfortable bloating.  The worst offender for me?  Apples.  Y’all this makes me so sad because I LOVE apples. I would eat one everyday.  And everyday by the time I got home from work I was so bloated I looked 6 months pregnant and just felt SO uncomfortable. I noticed an immediate change once I cut them out. I also steer clear of onions.  There are other things on the list but that’s just a note to say how I try to identify things that my body just doesn’t tolerate well.

When it comes to sugar, I do think it plays a role in my digestion, but beyond that, I can tell other things too.  When I eat less added sugar (I’m not talking about stuff like fruit in this case, since fruit has naturally occurring sugars and other health benefits like fiber & vitamins & minerals) I can tell that my skin is better, I sleep better, I’m not as anxious, I get less headaches, my stomach doesn’t bloat as much, and I crave less sugar the less sugar I eat. I actually just don’t have as many cravings in general when I eat less sugar, whether they be for salty or sweet or whatever else.  By the way, what I mean by added sugars is those found in many processed and packaged foods and limiting the intake of them.

I’m not here to demonize sugar; I think everything in moderation is the best way to live but I also think living informed about how much you’re truly eating is important as well and being mindful of that.

Scientifically-Proven Impacts

I’m sure you’ve heard various different reports of research connecting excess sugar consumption with different illnesses such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, depression, and more.

Check out this infographic and some of the statistics around Americans’ sugar consumption. It’s from 2012, but the historic content just shows our country’s obsession with sugar.  So many people still “fear the fat” and opt for low-calorie, low-fat packaged “healthy” snack foods when in reality those things are packed with sugar and chemicals…and for so long people were told to avoid fat because “fat makes you fat”.  Seeing as how obesity rates continued to climb while people kept eating their low-fat “diet” foods… I don’t believe it was the fat making us fat.  Actually, an excess of anything will be stored in your body as fat, but simply eating healthy fats in your diet will not make you fat.  Read this article for a few reasons why you need to eat fat!

One example of something I noticed when raiding my parent’s fridge a while back is skim milk. Low-fat or nonfat milk has been stripped of it’s naturally occurring fat (which also makes it taste good) and in order to make it not taste like a disgusting, weird dairy water, they put sugar back into it so it tastes good.  What is the point of that?! There was approximately 12g of sugar in a serving of the skim milk in my parent’s fridge. *face palm*.

Also, manufacturer’s are sneaky. There are so many different names for sugar as an ingredient that can trick us!

SO WHAT’S THE RECOMMENDATION?

“The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than half of your daily discretionary calorie allowance. For most American women, this is no more than 100 calories per day and no more than 150 calories per day for men (or about 6 teaspoons per day for women and 9 teaspoons per day for men).” (source)

Again, I think moderation is key with anything and I’m certainly not trying to suggest you never eat a donut ever again, but especially if you’re trying to lose weight, lower your risk for chronic disease, and otherwise just feel better if you have that “blah” feeling, I’d say try to keep a mind about how much refined sugar you’re taking in each day.  I bet it would surprise you!  The good news is, making swaps isn’t that difficult.  You just have to read nutrition labels. Or better yet, buy foods without labels   But at the end of the day, you do you, girlfriend. You know how you FEEL after you eat things, and you can adjust based on that!

Sugar certainly isn’t the only culprit of weight gain, disease, and other illness.  It’s simply a large piece of the puzzle from a dietary standpoint, but so many other things cannot be overlooked, such as eating a balanced diet packed with fresh veggies, fruits, lean proteins, fiber, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, minimizing stress, and getting routine exercise.  If you need help navigating this balance or other fitness goals, send me an email and we can chat about working together 1-on-1.

What are your thoughts on sugar intake?

xo,

Bess

The post Sugar + How It Impacts Our Health, Goals, and Nutrition appeared first on Bess Harrington Carter.

Lately I have been trying to eat less processed foods, I haven’t completely eliminated them or anything like that, a protein bar is just so easy sometimes! But I’ve been working on incorporating more “whole food” types of snacks.  Let’s get into it!

Healthy Snack Ideas

• Five Ingredient Cookie
• Coconut Collagen Muffins
• Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
• No Bake Snack Balls
• Easy Banana Muffins
• Smoothies (you can make them in the morning and pack in a cooler for later!)
• Bars: I like to try to have ones with the smallest ingredient list possible of natural ingredients I can pronounce and recognize.  Some of my favorites are…
  • RX Bars
  • Larabars
  • Luna Bars (I have been trying to eat less of these since they have more on the ingredient list but they aren’t terrible)
  • I’ve also heard good things about Perfect Bars and G2G bars but I’ve never tried them myself!
• Fruits: Obviously this is an easy one.  Craig & I always have fruits on hand and our go-to’s that are always in our cart are:
  • Bananas
  • Blueberries
  • Strawberries
• When I eat a fruit I like to try to have it paired with something with protein or fiber to decrease the effect on the glycemic index (which I find helps with satiety, you can read more here), like:
  • Almonds
  • Yogurt or Cottage Cheese
  • Cheese Stick
• Roasted Chickpeas
• Kale Chips
• Sweet Potato Chips
• Carrots with Hummus or Guacamole
• Celery with Almond Butter (or other nut butter!)
• Avocado on Ezekiel Bread
• SkinnyPop
• Nuts like: Pecans & Walnuts (my personal favorites)
• Hardboiled Eggs
• Cucumber Slices
• Pepper Slices
• Olives
• Tuna Packet with half an avocado
• Beef Jerky or Turkey Jerky
• Edamame
• Kevita Probiotic Drinks (I like this in the afternoon on occasion if I’m not super hungry but need something to tide me til dinner! And they’re bubbly so kinda feel like a cocktail)

So those are some of my typical snack ideas…I hope that helps! I will certainly share if I think of others.  I also like to remind you to stay HYDRATED because that also helps you feel fuller longer, and often times thirst is mistaken for hunger.  And it’s just important to be hydrated

Okay, now it’s your turn! What are some of your healthier snacks you like to have??

Have a great weekend!

xo,

Bess

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This week I want to dive-in to some nerdy research to talk about FAT. More than almost any other nutrient, I feel like fat is misunderstood in this country. Much of that, unfortunately, can be attributed to health professionals demonizing fat in the 1980s and 1990s based on research that we now know to be untrue. The no-fat, low-fat, egg white craze swept the United States for several decades, and I think we are still recovering! What we know now is that we should not be scared of fat.

Dietary fat does not make you fat.

There, I said it! It is not the amount of fat in your diet, but rather the type of fat that is important. In fact, the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were the first dietary guidelines that didn’t include total dietary fat as a nutrient of concern. The Guidelines specified that Americans should emphasize optimizing types of dietary fat and not reducing total fat in their diets.

To simplify, it’s best to pick unsaturated fats over saturated fats. Choosing foods like salmon, nuts, olive oil, seeds, and avocado is incredibly beneficial for disease prevention, achieving a healthy weight, and longevity (Mediterranean diet ring a bell?). On the other hand, saturated fats (like red meats, butter and coconut oil) should be eaten in moderation.

A recent study (you can read more here if you’re curious) comparing high-fat vs low-fat diets on weight loss over a 12-month period demonstrated that there was no significant difference in weight loss between the two diet groups. Other studies (like this one) have shown that, for people with type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance, a high-fat diet may actually be the best choice, as high-carb diets can decrease HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) levels and increase triglyceride levels – both things we want to avoid.

So what does this mean for you? It means that the best dietary pattern to follow to achieve a healthy weight and reduce the likelihood of diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart disease is one that you can actually stick to! Sounds straight forward, right? But for decades, we’ve been jumping on the next new fad diet, hoping it will be the cure all for all of our weight woes.

Do you love nuts, whole eggs and avocados? Perfect! Eat them. Fat is not to be feared. It is satisfying, filling, delicious, a great source of nutrients and a crucial component of a balanced diet. I, personally, love including 2% milk, whole eggs, nuts and avocados in my diet, because they’re yummy and give my meals much more staying power than skim milk or egg whites might. So this week, try to incorporate more healthy fats into your diet, and see if you can chip away at that “fat makes you fat” mentality.

Whew, we made it through the research! I hope you found this beneficial – let me know if you’re interested in more posts like this! Next week I’ll be back with something a little lighter, promise

-Emily

The post Nutrition Tip Tuesday from the RD: The Skinny on Fat! appeared first on Bess Harrington Carter.

As promised, I wanted to share a post of a day of eats in the life of a dietetic intern. My schedule over the last 8 months of my dietetic internship has been all. over. the. place., and no two days have looked alike.  As a result, the meals and snacks I bring vary pretty widely (Will I have a fridge? Will I have a microwave? Will I have more than 3 minutes to eat? Etc.). I am currently in my “Staff Experience” rotation in the hospital, where I spend 4 weeks functioning as a Clinical Dietitian in the hospital. I still have a preceptor reviewing my notes and talking me through certain patients, but it is an intense few weeks, especially because I chose to do my staff experience in the Neurosurgery ICU. Needless to say, I’m learning a TON, but I don’t have much time to pack glamorous or Instagram-worthy meals and snacks. I figured that many of you might identify with the time crunch, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show you what a day of eats looks like for me right now! At some point soon, I’ll share a weekend day of eats, too, as those are usually much more exciting!

I do want to preface this by saying that I haven’t included every single nibble I took on this day. The portion sizes I chose and the frequency with which I ate may not be right for you (and probably aren’t because we are different people with different bodies and activity levels and genetics) so please don’t use this post as a strict guideline for how you might eat. Instead, I hope you get some ideas and inspiration for work-day meals and snacks and feel inspired that, even during the busiest and most stressful phases of life, we can make time to fuel our bodies in a way that makes us feel our best.

BREAKFAST

While I normally have something like baked oatmeal on weekdays, this morning’s breakfast was a special treat! Since I spent the weekend with Bess in Charlotte, I was able to pop into one of my old favorite bakeries – Sunflour – over the weekend. I grabbed one of their delicious Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip muffins to save for breakfast this morning and it hit the spot after my morning workout. Always a good idea to brighten up a Monday somehow.

AM SNACK

Yogurt! I wanted to make sure and get some protein in since my breakfast was lower in protein than usual.

LUNCH

This is one of my favorite lunches lately. Massaged kale salad (love the Trader Joe’s Green Goddess dressing) with chopped carrots, chickpeas, dried cherries, sunflower seeds, and sliced Applegate turkey. Keeps me full for hours!

PM SNACK

A Lemon Zest Luna Bar. While I usually try and get some fruit in for my afternoon snack, I hadn’t made it to the grocery store for the week yet, and this was my only snack option in the pantry. They’re delicious, have a good amount of protein, and aren’t too high in sugar.

DINNER

It’s a rainy and rather chilly day in Atlanta (especially for April), so a hearty chili made with ground turkey, beans (and a secret ingredient – cocoa powder!) seemed like a good idea. I also love making something for dinner on Monday with leftovers for my fiancé for the week!

I haven’t had dessert yet, but some chocolate is calling my name!

xo,

Emily (& Bess!)

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For this week’s Nutrition Tip Tuesday, I wanted to talk a little bit about snacking, especially when it comes to having an “eating schedule.” I’m a big fan of having several snacks throughout the day. I will almost always have a morning and afternoon snack, and sometimes I’ll even throw a pre-dinner snack in there if I’m hungry when I get home from work. Why do I incorporate so many snacks into my day? 1) I like food, and the more frequently I can eat it, the better! 2) I tend to get hungry every 3-4 hours. If I don’t snack, my blood sugar drops, and I will get hangry, which nobody wants. 3) Making sure I have an AM and PM snack keeps me from ravenously over-eating at lunch and dinner.

As you can see, there are lots of great reasons to incorporate snacks into your daily routine. I do want to mention a common pitfall I’ve seen with myself and others when it comes to snacks and timing of meals. I, myself, struggled with this for years! My morning snack time was always “supposed” to be between 10-11am, lunch was “supposed” to be between 12-1pm, my PM snack was “supposed” to be between 3-4pm… you get the idea. Sometimes I would be starving at 2pm, but I would think “oh, but it isn’t my snack time yet so I need to wait.” That’s nonsense! Our body needs fuel when our body needs fuel. My body doesn’t care if it’s 2:59 or 5:00pm when it’s ready for a snack! When our body signals to us that it’s hungry (maybe our stomach feels empty or grumbles, we feel a little weak, we’re losing energy or concentration, etc.) we need to respond to those cues. I’d encourage you to notice if you’ve either consciously or subconsciously set a food schedule for yourself and give yourself the freedom to deviate from that schedule when your body tells you it needs a different timeline. Ignoring those hunger cues just sets us up to overeat when we do allow ourselves to eat, or to eat so quickly that we don’t even enjoy our food and find satisfaction in it.

Just in case you’re in search of some snack ideas to incorporate into your routine, I wanted to share some of my favorite go-to snacks!

RX Bars (apple cinnamon and chocolate sea salt are my favorites)

Luna Bars (look for the ones with 5 grams of sugar or less – the Chocolate Hazelnut is my favorite!)

Siggi’s yogurt (coconut is to die for) or any other yogurt with <15 grams of sugar. I like topping yogurt with nuts or homemade granola for more staying power.

Nuts and dried fruit (try to find no sugar added!) – I love dried mango and walnuts

Popcorn!

Apple and almond butter or a sliced apple and cinnamon

Carrot slices or cucumbers and hummus

What are your favorite snacks?

You know the drill, let us know if you have any questions by leaving a comment below, or if there’s a specific topic you’d like Emily to cover in a future Nutrition Tip Tuesday!

xo,

Emily (& Bess)

The post Nutrition Tip Tuesday from the RD: Snacking & Your Eating Schedule appeared first on Bess Harrington Carter.

I’m popping in this week to talk more about finding satisfaction in food, but this time on a more practical level. I don’t know about you guys, but I pack my lunches and snacks for work every day, and don’t usually have the option to choose exactly what I’m craving for every meal. This can make it really tricky to ensure you’re eating foods that satisfy your cravings and leave you full and content until your next meal. One of my nutrition pet peeves are the “100 Calorie packs” that are marketed as a “healthy snack option.” They are usually entirely carbohydrates, and will fill you up for approximately 15 minutes and then leave you starving! A 100 Calorie pack does not a satisfying snack make. There is nothing worse than eating a snack or meal and feeling bored with it or hungry 30 minutes later!

Over the years, I’ve learned a little trick that I use to improve the odds that I’ll be satisfied (both physically and emotionally) with my meals and snacks throughout the day. It’s hard to have satisfaction without fullness, and vice versa.

It sounds so simple, but I’ve found that including protein, carbohydrate and fat in in almost every meal or snack I prepare is crucial to feeling full and satisfied. For me, having these three food groups, or macronutrients, in my meals and snacks makes a huge difference in my overall meal experience, and in how long the meal or snack keeps me full (aka not hangry). The protein will fill me up, and keep me full for a longer amount of time. The carbohydrates provide me with energy and help me to feel full, especially if I’ve chosen a carbohydrate rich in fiber, like whole wheat bread or brown rice. While fat doesn’t play a huge role in satiety, it definitely ups the taste factor in foods, and healthy fats (like avocados or nuts) bring a host of nutritional benefits to the meal, too. This strategy tends to guide me towards more “whole” foods and less processed foods naturally, and having a variety of food groups in each meal is also just a more exciting eating experience that keeps my taste buds guessing.

So what does this look like in real life? For breakfast I might have oats (a fiber-filled carbohydrate) made with 2% milk (protein AND good fats) and topped with almond butter (again, protein and good fats!). Snacks might be fruit and nuts, carrots and hummus, cheese and crackers, or yogurt (I love Siggi’s because it’s high in protein and also brings carbohydrates and fat to the table – a 3 in 1) … you get the idea!

It has been shown in studies that the amount of satiety we gain from a given food is directly related to how much pleasure we felt while eating the food. We know that satiety is critical if we want to maintain a healthy weight or achieve sustainable weight loss. So making sure to choose foods that actually satisfy your taste buds can help you feel more full and reduce cravings until your next meal.

Let me know if you try this week’s Nutrition Tip – I’m curious to hear of any delicious protein, fat and carbohydrates combos people come up with!  Leave any questions you may have or topics you want to hear about below!

P.S. I’m planning to do a “Day of Eats of a Dietetic Intern” post soon to share more of my go-to meals and snacks. Stay tuned!

xo,

Emily (& Bess!)

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I’m back this week with our second installment of Nutrition Tip Tuesday.  I want to talk about satisfaction this week, specifically, satisfaction surrounding our food. Have you ever been craving a burger and ordered a salad instead? Or wanted a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, but chosen to eat a few chocolate chips in its place? Have you made these choices because the latter option is “healthier”? I don’t know about you, but I certainly have. I think we are programmed by our society to deny these cravings, and because of that, there is often guilt associated with listening to those cravings.

But what I usually find is that when I ignore my desire for a cookie and eat chocolate chips instead, I don’t feel satisfied or fulfilled by that choice. I usually end up eating more and more chocolate chips in an effort to satisfy my initial craving, when eating the damn cookie to begin with would have immediately satisfied that craving, both emotionally and physically.

I see so many articles and posts on the internet saying “if you’re craving potato chips, try kale chips or pumpkin seeds instead!” If you’re craving kale chips, by all means eat them! But if you’re craving potato chips, allow yourself to eat a portion of them, let go of any feelings of guilt, and call it a day. Don’t deny that craving, obsess about the fact that you really want those chips, and try to fulfill that craving with a less satisfying food. Think about it in another area of our lives. We would never say “I’m really in the mood to go for a walk in the sunshine” and then “but marching in place in my living room would be a good substitute.” So why should we do that with food?  Life is too short.

So my tip for you today, is to listen to your cravings. If your body is saying “that burger sounds delicious” it may be a sign that you need more protein or iron, or that your taste buds are in the mood for a burger, and not a salad. Listen to that! Because ignoring those cravings leads to feelings of deprivation. And feelings of deprivation can lead to stress, anxiety, and potentially overeating of an unsatisfying food in the future. Learning to trust our bodies to fuel us properly is a huge part of developing a healthy relationship around food, so you never feel out of control or deprived. So eat the cookie. Order the burger. Drink the beer. And then move on with your day!

If you have any questions or want to see any specific nutrition-related topic on an upcoming post, leave us a comment below!

xo,

Emily (& Bess!)

PS: If you missed the first installment of Nutrition Tip Tuesday, click here to read it!

The post Nutrition Tip Tuesday From the RD: Food Satisfaction & Cravings appeared first on Bess Harrington Carter.

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Hi friends! Emily here — a Registered Dietitian in training (or RD2Be, as we like to call it) currently living in Atlanta. I’ve known Bess for over 4 years and have always been inspired by her dedication to fitness and a healthy lifestyle. You know it’s a good friendship when you can watch the Bachelor, drink wine and eat cheese AND talk for hours about workouts and banana
oatmeal.

Anyways, I thought I’d share a little bit about myself and my journey to becoming a Registered Dietitian (it’s been a long one!). I have always loved food, but I didn’t stumble upon this career path until about 5 years ago. I majored in Sociology in college and worked in marketing in DC for several years afterwards. I found myself becoming more and more interested in nutrition,
and decided to take the plunge to go back to school, which was so scary at the time. I left my full-time job in DC, moved to Charlotte, and started completing all of the coursework required to become a Registered Dietitian (Microbiology, Medical Nutrition Therapy, and Organic Chemistry oh my!) while getting my Masters in Nutrition.

After two years of textbooks, I applied to Dietetic Internship programs, which are essentially residencies for RDs. I matched with Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, and am almost done with my 9-month internship (66 days left, but who’s counting)! I’ve spent these 9 months in rotations in the hospital, community and even a few weeks of food service management. It has
been the most intense year of my life (and did I mention I’m getting married in July?!) but it will all be worth it in a few short months. The last step to becoming a RD is to take the Registration Exam, which I hope to do in June. I can’t wait to start practicing as a RD and sharing my passion for nutrition, intuitive eating, and cultivating a healthy relationship with food. In the meantime, I’m so excited to be sharing a weekly Nutrition Tip with y’all!

I wanted to start off with something pretty basic this week. This week’s tip can essentially be boiled down to… You. Do. You. It can be so easy in this day and age to look to external cues for how best to fuel your body.  Between social media, magazines, TV shows, books. etc., we are constantly bombarded by nutrition information. Eat this many calories! Don’t eat gluten! Shop all organic! Don’t drink beer! Don’t eat after 8pm! Sugar is bad! It’s nearly impossible to avoid and it’s even harder to figure out what’s fact and what’s fiction. But here is one thing we do know. Everyone’s bodies are different. There is no one size fits all nutrition plan. Just because your friend eats a certain number of calories per day or is doing the Whole30, it doesn’t mean that you need to do those things, too! I know this sounds so straightforward, but I think it is always good to remind ourselves to be gentle with our bodies. No one knows your body better than you. So for this week’s Nutrition Tip, I would challenge you to tune-out the nutrition white noise, and give yourself permission to tune-in to what your body is telling you about what it needs to feel its best. More on that, next week!

Please let me know in the comments if there is anything you want to know more about for these Nutrition Tip Tuesdays going forward. Huge thank you to Bess for letting me share her little corner on the internet <3

xo,

Bess & Emily!

PS- Y’all head over and give Emily a follow on Instagram and say hello! xx!

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