With summertime comes vacations, holidays, the beach, family reunions and more. Registered Dieticians Jane Anderson and Katie Ward discuss some realistic healthy options during the summer and maintaining a good balance of nutrition while still enjoying fun in the sun.
Healthy Summer Eating Options
Speaker 1: 00:00 This is the best health podcast brought to you by wake forest baptist health in partnership with MedCost. All right.
Host: 00:10 Welcome everyone. We have a great summer edition of the best health podcast. I'm Justin Gomez with wake forest baptist health and I have two really fun, uh, yeah, it's very educational and bright guests with me, um, to provide lots of good information but in a fun way. Um, so I have, uh, Jane Anderson and Katie Ward and they're both registered dieticians here at wake forest baptist health. So welcome ladies.
Speaker 3: 00:38 Thank you. Thanks for carrying us.
Host: 00:40 Yeah. So, um, it's uh, we have a great time on the best health podcast, so just sit back, relax and we're going to talk about, uh, so it's summertime and with summer time comes vacations and different types of schedules and you're going to talk about still, uh, maintaining some sort of wellness standard during the summer months when you're on vacation, right? To die or not to diets. Um, how do I exercise when I'm on vacation or do I not worry about all this fun stuff, right? Cause we're going lots of different places over the summer and, um, you guys are going to help us stay on track and not just go totally off the rails. Right. Absolutely. All right, well, so before we get started with that, get information, uh, Jane, just tell us a little about yourself first and um, how long you've been at wake forest baptist and, um, how'd you get into, uh, the idea of becoming a registered dietician?
Speaker 3: 01:38 Sure. Yeah. Uh, I started about a year and a half ago with wake forest Baptist and, um, I work exclusively with employees, Katie and I both. Do you, um, what attracted me to the field of nutrition dietetics is really, um, disease prevention and, and wanting to be part of health promotion. So kind of taking a different, uh, approach toward health care. And, uh, I was, I guess a junior in college when I made that decision a little late in the game. But, uh, I first got pulled in with working with an Indian reservation and Mississippi, which is where I'm from. And um, and did a lot of nutrition education in the air. Wow, that's interesting. Yeah. And I didn't know a whole lot then, but hopefully have come a long way. And, um, after I did that, then I did my dietetic internship or training and New Orleans at Tulane. Okay. And, um, then I did a program called Food Corp, which is under the Americorps umbrella, but related specifically to food nutrition with underserved communities and children.
Host: 02:40 That's really cool. I didn't know that existed.
Speaker 3: 02:42 Mm. And um,
Host: 02:44 so where did you, um, where were you stationed during that time?
Speaker 3: 02:48 I did that on the Gulf coast in Mississippi to you. It's actually really strong in North Carolina to a few core as a program. From there I did graduate school in Public Health and at the University of Minnesota.
Speaker 4: 03:00 Landed here about three years ago and had been in Winston Salem.
Host: 03:05 Well, were you glad at work? Glad you landed here at wake Forest Baptist for sure. Yeah, me too. You, Katie, it's your turn. Tell us your life story in about 45 seconds.
Speaker 4: 03:15 Okay. Um, so I've been here, so it'll be two years in October. So Janie and I started around the same time. Um, and I moved here from as in the Seattle area. That's where I was doing my training. I went to Grad school there and did my intern dietetic internship there. And what really is drawn me to nutrition is, I guess the whole, the whole wellness and prevention aspect of it. I kind of grew up my family really incorporated wellness into my, my upbringing. And then dietetics wasn't an option in my undergrad. I went to Undergrad in, um, Illinois, grew up in the Midwest, um, and they didn't have a dietetics program, so it wasn't really on my radar at all at that point. I was just kind of exploring different kind of alternative, I guess healing and medicine routes to do. Um, and nutrition just seemed like the most obvious fit. I, I love food. I think that's probably, but what drew me here the most is just so much. I love food. Um, so I want everybody to love food and love eating. So we moved here. My husband is in med school at wake. Um, he's in his third year now. So we've been here, we've been here almost two years and be here a little while longer at least.
Host: 04:34 Well, there you go. Well, uh, I'm glad you all are joining us today and Ed's very, um, appropriate timing wise. Um, so school just got out here in this area and so families have their, uh, their summer vacation plans in the works. And so I know, um, my family, we're going, um, we're going to a family wedding in a couple of weeks. Um, the boys love camping, so we're going to a campground later this summer, um, where I think we're going to take a loan a long weekend at the beach. And so with that, um, so we, we were kind of creatures of habit. I'm not a medical professional, uh, jump in if I'm wrong, but I think, uh, humans are kinda creatures of habit. So when we get out of our routine and get out of our habit, um, we can kind of, uh, just put off some of our, our good habits that we have as far as wellness, as far as eating or exercising.
Host: 05:30 So, um, when we go on vacation, I guess, talk to us a little bit about this. You know, we have this all or nothing mentality of, you know, I know I thought this and said it out loud when I'm vacation. Okay. Well the Monday when I get back, I'm back back on track and then I can just kind of let myself go here at the beach or on vacation. So I guess if one of Y'all or both of you want to talk about, you know, the, just the mentality of it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can still have fun on vacation, but make some, make some good choices.
Speaker 3: 06:01 Yeah, vacation is definitely a time to enjoy yourself. Um, so you want to make sure to have some kind of balance between [inaudible]
Speaker 4: 06:09 enjoying yourself, but also keeping your health in mind. Do you want to feel good? You, you wanna you want to be healthy and, but you want to have fun as well. So I think that striking, that balance, um, is important to keep in mind while you're on vacation.
Speaker 3: 06:27 Sure. And, and I'll, I'll jump in here to you. Uh, this is a really common question with employees. Do we get that they're preparing for different trips like you are Justin? And in thinking through, um, I've been working really hard to follow, you know, I, I meal prep during the week and make my own lunches or breakfast and, and do that most of the time with dinner. And, um, and that's easy or easier when there's a routine at home. So with trips and, and different, um, travel, it can kind of derail some of those habits. Like you were talking about being creatures of habit. So, uh, we get a lot of questions about how do I still kind of follow these health goals that I have, um, without that or still still enjoying the trip to you? Sure. So, so striking a balance and, and like Katie was saying, focusing really on, on how you want to feel. You want to be active on your trip and um, and have a good blend of, um, of indulging and foods that you love at the same time, um, being able to, to still be active and, um, and focus on unhealthy foods to you.
Host: 07:30 Sure. So I guess, um, talk a little bit more about, um, I guess kind of the basis of how we should make our decisions when we're on vacation. Um, so I guess the first that might be to actually process through and think about your options as opposed to just mindless eating, um, or, or just not thinking about options owl. Um, uh, so I, you know, what do you, I guess you guys kind of set it up as how do y'all want to, how do you want to feel on vacation? So I guess encouraging people to, to go through that process. Is that what, is that correct?
Speaker 4: 08:08 Yeah, I'm planning is a big, big part of it. Um, if you're, you know, traveling on a plane or driving in a car or just thinking about where you're going to be. So I try to think ahead of time of what, what food options are there. Um, you may be surprised and be able to find some healthy options. Um, you might not, and you have to be prepared to just do the best you can in either, either circumstance. Yes.
Speaker 3: 08:32 So, um, yeah, planning ahead is, is definitely the first, I think most important step. Yeah. And I always tell, we were thinking about the big picture to you. So say if you can make your plan, if we're going on this eight hour car ride, say we'll definitely be in the car for maybe breakfast, uh, until almost dinner time. So having something to that's easy portable to eat on the road and then some kind of snacks in the car to you. Um, and then maybe some sandwiches or, or something easy. You hear your hands, that's key in the car. So that kind of plan in place. And, and then if you miss that, and I worry about it too much, if you didn't have time to pack a lunch or get that together and just think about, well, um, if we, we stopped somewhere and grabbed something overall, I'm trying to go for something that, that you feel good about eating.
Host: 09:26 Yeah, that's a bad choice. Yeah, that's a huge thing for our family. It's just my wife does a much better job than I do of, of planning for the, for the road trips in the car trips of having, you know, apple slices or oranges to snack on instead of, you know, um, uh, I'll, I won't name a brand, but, uh, any brand potato chips or chocolate chip cookies. So I guess just having those types of different options, especially for it, for the Kiddos, for us, I know it, uh, helps for the car trips. So that's a great point about the road trips. I'm glad you brought that up. Um, so what about when we're on vacation? So one thing that my family likes to do when we're on vacation, it's eat out, right? So, I mean, to be clear, be some sort of celebration of it.
Host: 10:15 Be um, you know, like I said, we're going to, there's going to be plenty of food at this wedding and we're going to in a few weeks or, um, you know, we'd go to the beach where you gotta go when you're at the beach, you gotta hit up the seafood buffet. Right. And then, so the buffet is just miles and miles of food. Um, so I guess I, if you want to touch touch on that, cause I know a lot of people like to, to go out and eat when they're on vacation and, and maybe turn off the filter a little bit. So, but even going out there is you can still enjoy your meals but still make some good choices, right?
Speaker 4: 10:51 Yeah. Usually even fast food restaurants are getting better at having some, some kind of salad options. So whether you're on the road, stopping at fast food or you're at your destination, you're going out to a nicer restaurant, um, there's usually going to be some kind of, some healthy option to choose from. And whether or not, you know, even if you, if you don't have a healthy option to choose from, eat slowly, enjoy your food. You know, maybe you don't need to eat the whole, the whole portion that they give you, but pay attention to that. Pay attention to your fullness and pay attention to your hunger. Um, we're so, it's so much in our mindset to clear our plates. You know, ever since probably we were little kids, we've always been told, clear your plate, clear your plate. You can't leave the table until you clear your plate.
Speaker 4: 11:38 So we see this, you know, plate coming to us in a restaurant. It's like, okay, here's my task. I have to eat this whole thing. Um, so slowing down a little bit and really paying attention to your satiety, whether you're choosing a healthy option or there's not a option or there's something else that you choose. Yeah. Um, you can choose how much you eat and really paying attention to how you feel and how your body, your body's signals for telling you to stop. Yeah. And, and thinking about buffets, that's a good point. With, with, that doesn't have to be just, um, or restaurants or it can be a lot of like family or unions or something. I think of two or barbecues that there's a food aplenty. So, so that's where I would return back to the thinking all or nothing. Like this doesn't have to be, um, I'm on vacation. Nothing else matters. This is my cheat day. We really actually discouraged cheat days, quote unquote. Um, because people tend to get into the all or nothing. And, and really it's all about finding a balance of, um, of really like enjoying foods that you love and then feeling good about eating. What's your, you're having to you.
Host: 12:44 Sure. And I'm, I'm glad you brought up that a little tidbit about paying attention to your body because when you're enjoying this really delicious, maybe not so healthy food in the moment it tastes good, but then 20 minutes later, 30 minutes later, 45 minutes later, you just feel like blah, especially if you're on a road trip, you get, it makes you sleepy and lethargic and you still have, you know, five hours on the road to drive. So I guess talk about, um, you know, because how our body, your access, certain types of food then maybe not so healthy foods and, and just help, uh, help explain that to people to keep that in the back of their mind of it might taste real good in the moment, but how am I gonna feel 45 minutes from now?
Speaker 4: 13:27 Right, right. Yeah, that's a really important point because you don't want to feel bad on your vacation. You're on vacation. You want to enjoy it, you want to be awake when you're driving and you want to be able to enjoy wherever you're at. Um, and going back to the point about, you know, you mentioned 20 minutes later you might feel like blah. And it actually takes our brains about 20 to 30 minutes to register our fullness. So I usually recommend for people to, you know, if you're eating something, try to s to stop eating when you're, you know, maybe neutral or just satisfied or maybe just starting to feel full. And then most likely 20 to 30 minutes later you'll, you'll feel, okay, I am full. I'm glad I stopped. Whereas you know, if you're, if you're eating really quickly and not really thinking about it, you're a lot more likely to overeat and then, and then feel poorly.
Speaker 4: 14:18 And I think that's, especially when you're, when you're on vacation, you want to feel good, you want to be able to do the things that you know with your family or the special things that you have planned. Yeah. And I was thinking about another simple way to think about feeling energized, feeling good. Um, if there are questions about what does that even look like as far as what I should eat, having a balance of when you do you have a meal, some kind of starch, whether that's potatoes, some kind of bread, um, grain, rice and then some
Speaker 3: 14:52 representation of protein, which can be of course meat, eggs, beans, um, and then some sort of vegetables and fruits. So, um, having the majority of that be some kind of, uh, vegetables is always a good thing. And then, um, again, the, the starch and protein balance and that combination of foods is really what helps you feel full and sustains honest to, for, for longer. Uh, because if we focus only on starch or only have that for snacks, and that's what Kinda, uh, it doesn't last long and that can lead to some of that sleepiness sluggishness later. So, so having that kind of balance of different types of food is, is one way to, to help feel more energized.
Host: 15:33 Yeah, that's a great point. So what I'm, what I like, you guys have lots of cool little, um, helpful tools in your offices. And one of the things that I like that I've seen over there is, um, the little portion control containers, right? So you have, um, you know, this much should be vegetables or fruit. This much should be your protein or your meat possibly. And then this one should be your starch. So, um, you know, people can, can, um, acquire those types of containers on their own. Um, they can purchase them online or at their local store at this to help. Going back to planning. If I'm, if we're going to go spend the day at the beach, you know, let's put them in, in containers so we don't eat the whole bag of potato chips. Right.
Host: 16:19 Um, so one other thing, and this is, uh, in our notes and this is a very relevant term for my family, uh, hangry. So, um, I may or may not be guilty of this. I asked my wife, uh, I know my kids are, uh, and maybe when if they hear this they'll be like, dad, why'd you say that? But, um, so, um, talk to us about how, how, why do we get hangry and then, um, you know, how can we avoid, especially, you know, with, with the Kiddos, um, either in the car or at the pool or at the beach. How can we avoid getting to that point where like, it's like go time. Like it's, it's hangry time. So I guess talk about what, what is hangry? I mean that's the kind of the, the lay person term, but what's happening with our body or in that time and how we can avoid it.
Speaker 4: 17:12 Yeah. So I think when I'm guilty of being hangry too, I think that anybody who's been around me and when I haven't eaten can tell. Um, and I think that's, that's typically a symptom of your year, your blood sugar getting low, and you might feel, you know, that might come out as anger that might come out as lightheadedness or dizziness or headaches. Sure. Um, people definitely feel it in different ways and brain fog your brain. Okay. [inaudible] yeah. Yeah. My husband is one who he won't necessarily feel, feel hangry in the same way that I do, but he'll, he'll get a headache and then he'll realize, oh, I haven't eaten in like five hours. So, um, generally I think the rule of thumb is to eat every four, four to five hours just to make sure that your liver stores are, are, aren't depleted. Okay. Um, so taking that into consideration, the best way to avoid being hangry is to, again, think ahead of time, um, and, and do as much planning and having stuff on hand with you because if you let yourself get to the point of hangar, you're more likely to reach for whatever's in, you know, you just want the quickest and fastest and easiest thing.
Speaker 4: 18:26 Yes,
Host: 18:28 true. So, um, so planning and going back to planning, um, any other tidbits for, for preventing the hangriness?
Speaker 3: 18:37 Yeah, I w I would say again, the balance with meals and snacks and thinking about even if you are sometimes eating every few hours, if you're, if you're just having like something starchy or something that um, isn't necessarily gonna sustain you, then you can still be kind of hangry cause your blood sugar drops again. So setting that, that blend of protein, some fat and carbohydrate in your meals and snacks can help avoid that because it has a little bit more even consistent blood sugar. Okay.
Host: 19:09 So if I am, um, I guess looking for some practical tips here, if I'm going through the airport, um, or going through, um, we're stopping at your, your fuel center of choice to, uh, to refuel your vehicle, you need to maybe refuel your body to, um, I don't, I don't want to necessarily reach for this thinkers bar every time. Speaking of hangry, um, but, uh, maybe what are some, some tips that you could give some of our listeners about some, some options. Um, even though it's not the best environment, like there's not going to be a professionally made chef salad at the gas station. Um, I don't think, not at most gas stations anyways. Um, but uh, if you're, if you're running through the airport on the way to catch your plane or at the gas station, what, um, what are some tips you can give us?
Speaker 3: 19:57 That's a good question. This is always challenging to you because I like to strike a balance between somewhat healthy and also affordable, which can be tricky and uh, cause cause stores that are, uh, much dependent on your convenience being a big factor. We'll price up a lot of the healthier items. Uh, but like Katie was saying before, they are a lot of stores that are getting many more healthy options. And then, um, some things I've noticed, there's usually fruit, apples, oranges, yogurt is pretty common there. Cheese sticks a lot of times. Uh, popcorns also becoming more and more popular. They're just several different brands.
Speaker 4: 20:36 Yeah. [inaudible] and nuts too. Usually you can find nuts in either gas stations or I'm at the airport and you know, airports and gas they have and gas stations have those little baskets, fruit. And usually those aren't priced up too bad. But, um, the, the price thing is, is definitely [inaudible]
Speaker 3: 20:56 tricky. Yeah. And it can be easy to get into. Again, how about in routine? We each have our advice, uh, snacks in the car they will go for on road trips. But uh, but blending that, like if you're in the garden, multiple people, maybe you can split some the indulgent thing and um, and then go for some healthier choices to you, like for you at Sun, not sun and that kind of thing. Sure.
Host: 21:20 If, um, if you can, um, uh, briefly kind of give a little nugget about what your idea of mindful eating is. Something that people can, one of the takeaways from this podcast that they can keep in the back of their head. How would you say distinctly describe mindful eating share.
Speaker 3: 21:42 Do you want me to go first? Okay. So I was mindful eating. I think of slowing down, using all your sensory experiences, actually looking at what you're having to eat, smelling it, tasting it, having a really thoughtful experience with, um, with how it tastes, whether you really enjoy it and also how your body responds to it. So many times we can mindlessly eat and not realize that we've gone beyond the point of fullness. So, yeah. Um, yeah. Paying attention, both of you and your body.
Host: 22:12 Yeah. So, and that will probably just help you enjoy the food more if you're, if you're trying to use all of your, your senses, right?
Speaker 3: 22:19 Yeah, definitely. Sometimes less, but hopefully more.
Speaker 4: 22:24 Yeah. I always think of, you know, if we have, if we get some kind of cookies or you know, something and a lot of times we might just eat that mindlessly and just because it's there, but then when you slow down, you might realize like this, this cookie isn't even that good. Like I would rather have a better cookie or something else. So I think my bleeding's also about, um, enjoyment of your foods. And a lot of times you do have to slow down in order to be able to tell, am I actually enjoying this or am I just eating it because it's there? Am I actually hungry or am I just eating it because it's there? Sure.
Host: 22:57 And I, I really like, um, you know, this little nugget y'all provided about. Um, so vacation is a time for, you know, a rest and relaxation and rejuvenation and reenergizing. Um, so it's okay to have some fun and indulge a little bit. Um, but y'all said, you know, not treat it like it's your last meal ever on earth. Right, exactly. Yeah. Or maybe, you know, going on your last vacation ever. So there's, there's life after this meal on vacation. Um, so balance, balance is the key I'm hearing and, and trying to plan ahead. Right. Yeah. Well, cool. Well, um, we're wrapping up here in a minute. Um, are there any, um, little, uh, memorization tools you can give me of, of, uh, so like in, in middle school health class, right. They, they make you look at the, the food pyramid. So, I'm not even sure if the food pyramid is still a thing you guys go by or not. But um, I guess just if you're gonna help us, um, store some information in, in the back of our brains for people that are listening, which is kind of a quick rule for, for having the proper balance of what food we're consuming.
Speaker 4: 24:13 I guess thinking of like the components that Jane was talking about, the having vegetables, starch, protein. So VSP. Yeah. And, and, and now if for people who have seen the, the, the government's not replaced the food pyramid with the my plate example, which is a picture of a plate that shows half your plate being vegetables, a quarter of it being protein and a quarter of it being a whole grain. Okay. So if that, if you can envision that, that's a good guide for meals.
Speaker 5: 24:46 Cool deal.
Host: 24:47 Well ladies, thank you so much for joining us for this best health podcast. Really appreciate it. Hope you all have enjoyed yourselves. Yeah. Thanks for having us. This was fun. Awesome. Or, um, we'll have you back probably around the holidays cause that's another time that people are thinking about food a lot and eating a lot of foods. So we'd love to have y'all back then and talk about how that help us keep a balance during the holidays too. Sounds good. Yeah. Okay. Well, um, so we have um, this information, uh, available on our website, wakehealth.edu/besthealth and um, there's uh, other recipe ideas and other health and wellness tips on that website as well. Um, I'll, I'll mention it again. Wakehealth.edu/besthealth and if you want to talk to your primary care physician or, um, if you want to talk to a dietician here at wake forest baptist health, um, or someone with weight management. If you have any questions, you're more than welcome just to call our number three, three, six, seven one six week. And um, you can make an appointment that way as well. So thanks again, uh, team for listening to, to this session for the best health podcast and we'll, we'll talk with you next time.
Speaker 1: 26:06 Thanks for listening to this episode of the best health podcast brought to you by wake forest baptist health. For more wellness info, check out wakehealth.edu and follow us on social media. Wake Forest Baptist health, the gold standard of health care.
Host: 00:10 Welcome everyone. We have a great summer edition of the best health podcast. I'm Justin Gomez with wake forest baptist health and I have two really fun, uh, yeah, it's very educational and bright guests with me, um, to provide lots of good information but in a fun way. Um, so I have, uh, Jane Anderson and Katie Ward and they're both registered dieticians here at wake forest baptist health. So welcome ladies.
Speaker 3: 00:38 Thank you. Thanks for carrying us.
Host: 00:40 Yeah. So, um, it's uh, we have a great time on the best health podcast, so just sit back, relax and we're going to talk about, uh, so it's summertime and with summer time comes vacations and different types of schedules and you're going to talk about still, uh, maintaining some sort of wellness standard during the summer months when you're on vacation, right? To die or not to diets. Um, how do I exercise when I'm on vacation or do I not worry about all this fun stuff, right? Cause we're going lots of different places over the summer and, um, you guys are going to help us stay on track and not just go totally off the rails. Right. Absolutely. All right, well, so before we get started with that, get information, uh, Jane, just tell us a little about yourself first and um, how long you've been at wake forest baptist and, um, how'd you get into, uh, the idea of becoming a registered dietician?
Speaker 3: 01:38 Sure. Yeah. Uh, I started about a year and a half ago with wake forest Baptist and, um, I work exclusively with employees, Katie and I both. Do you, um, what attracted me to the field of nutrition dietetics is really, um, disease prevention and, and wanting to be part of health promotion. So kind of taking a different, uh, approach toward health care. And, uh, I was, I guess a junior in college when I made that decision a little late in the game. But, uh, I first got pulled in with working with an Indian reservation and Mississippi, which is where I'm from. And um, and did a lot of nutrition education in the air. Wow, that's interesting. Yeah. And I didn't know a whole lot then, but hopefully have come a long way. And, um, after I did that, then I did my dietetic internship or training and New Orleans at Tulane. Okay. And, um, then I did a program called Food Corp, which is under the Americorps umbrella, but related specifically to food nutrition with underserved communities and children.
Host: 02:40 That's really cool. I didn't know that existed.
Speaker 3: 02:42 Mm. And um,
Host: 02:44 so where did you, um, where were you stationed during that time?
Speaker 3: 02:48 I did that on the Gulf coast in Mississippi to you. It's actually really strong in North Carolina to a few core as a program. From there I did graduate school in Public Health and at the University of Minnesota.
Speaker 4: 03:00 Landed here about three years ago and had been in Winston Salem.
Host: 03:05 Well, were you glad at work? Glad you landed here at wake Forest Baptist for sure. Yeah, me too. You, Katie, it's your turn. Tell us your life story in about 45 seconds.
Speaker 4: 03:15 Okay. Um, so I've been here, so it'll be two years in October. So Janie and I started around the same time. Um, and I moved here from as in the Seattle area. That's where I was doing my training. I went to Grad school there and did my intern dietetic internship there. And what really is drawn me to nutrition is, I guess the whole, the whole wellness and prevention aspect of it. I kind of grew up my family really incorporated wellness into my, my upbringing. And then dietetics wasn't an option in my undergrad. I went to Undergrad in, um, Illinois, grew up in the Midwest, um, and they didn't have a dietetics program, so it wasn't really on my radar at all at that point. I was just kind of exploring different kind of alternative, I guess healing and medicine routes to do. Um, and nutrition just seemed like the most obvious fit. I, I love food. I think that's probably, but what drew me here the most is just so much. I love food. Um, so I want everybody to love food and love eating. So we moved here. My husband is in med school at wake. Um, he's in his third year now. So we've been here, we've been here almost two years and be here a little while longer at least.
Host: 04:34 Well, there you go. Well, uh, I'm glad you all are joining us today and Ed's very, um, appropriate timing wise. Um, so school just got out here in this area and so families have their, uh, their summer vacation plans in the works. And so I know, um, my family, we're going, um, we're going to a family wedding in a couple of weeks. Um, the boys love camping, so we're going to a campground later this summer, um, where I think we're going to take a loan a long weekend at the beach. And so with that, um, so we, we were kind of creatures of habit. I'm not a medical professional, uh, jump in if I'm wrong, but I think, uh, humans are kinda creatures of habit. So when we get out of our routine and get out of our habit, um, we can kind of, uh, just put off some of our, our good habits that we have as far as wellness, as far as eating or exercising.
Host: 05:30 So, um, when we go on vacation, I guess, talk to us a little bit about this. You know, we have this all or nothing mentality of, you know, I know I thought this and said it out loud when I'm vacation. Okay. Well the Monday when I get back, I'm back back on track and then I can just kind of let myself go here at the beach or on vacation. So I guess if one of Y'all or both of you want to talk about, you know, the, just the mentality of it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can still have fun on vacation, but make some, make some good choices.
Speaker 3: 06:01 Yeah, vacation is definitely a time to enjoy yourself. Um, so you want to make sure to have some kind of balance between [inaudible]
Speaker 4: 06:09 enjoying yourself, but also keeping your health in mind. Do you want to feel good? You, you wanna you want to be healthy and, but you want to have fun as well. So I think that striking, that balance, um, is important to keep in mind while you're on vacation.
Speaker 3: 06:27 Sure. And, and I'll, I'll jump in here to you. Uh, this is a really common question with employees. Do we get that they're preparing for different trips like you are Justin? And in thinking through, um, I've been working really hard to follow, you know, I, I meal prep during the week and make my own lunches or breakfast and, and do that most of the time with dinner. And, um, and that's easy or easier when there's a routine at home. So with trips and, and different, um, travel, it can kind of derail some of those habits. Like you were talking about being creatures of habit. So, uh, we get a lot of questions about how do I still kind of follow these health goals that I have, um, without that or still still enjoying the trip to you? Sure. So, so striking a balance and, and like Katie was saying, focusing really on, on how you want to feel. You want to be active on your trip and um, and have a good blend of, um, of indulging and foods that you love at the same time, um, being able to, to still be active and, um, and focus on unhealthy foods to you.
Host: 07:30 Sure. So I guess, um, talk a little bit more about, um, I guess kind of the basis of how we should make our decisions when we're on vacation. Um, so I guess the first that might be to actually process through and think about your options as opposed to just mindless eating, um, or, or just not thinking about options owl. Um, uh, so I, you know, what do you, I guess you guys kind of set it up as how do y'all want to, how do you want to feel on vacation? So I guess encouraging people to, to go through that process. Is that what, is that correct?
Speaker 4: 08:08 Yeah, I'm planning is a big, big part of it. Um, if you're, you know, traveling on a plane or driving in a car or just thinking about where you're going to be. So I try to think ahead of time of what, what food options are there. Um, you may be surprised and be able to find some healthy options. Um, you might not, and you have to be prepared to just do the best you can in either, either circumstance. Yes.
Speaker 3: 08:32 So, um, yeah, planning ahead is, is definitely the first, I think most important step. Yeah. And I always tell, we were thinking about the big picture to you. So say if you can make your plan, if we're going on this eight hour car ride, say we'll definitely be in the car for maybe breakfast, uh, until almost dinner time. So having something to that's easy portable to eat on the road and then some kind of snacks in the car to you. Um, and then maybe some sandwiches or, or something easy. You hear your hands, that's key in the car. So that kind of plan in place. And, and then if you miss that, and I worry about it too much, if you didn't have time to pack a lunch or get that together and just think about, well, um, if we, we stopped somewhere and grabbed something overall, I'm trying to go for something that, that you feel good about eating.
Host: 09:26 Yeah, that's a bad choice. Yeah, that's a huge thing for our family. It's just my wife does a much better job than I do of, of planning for the, for the road trips in the car trips of having, you know, apple slices or oranges to snack on instead of, you know, um, uh, I'll, I won't name a brand, but, uh, any brand potato chips or chocolate chip cookies. So I guess just having those types of different options, especially for it, for the Kiddos, for us, I know it, uh, helps for the car trips. So that's a great point about the road trips. I'm glad you brought that up. Um, so what about when we're on vacation? So one thing that my family likes to do when we're on vacation, it's eat out, right? So, I mean, to be clear, be some sort of celebration of it.
Host: 10:15 Be um, you know, like I said, we're going to, there's going to be plenty of food at this wedding and we're going to in a few weeks or, um, you know, we'd go to the beach where you gotta go when you're at the beach, you gotta hit up the seafood buffet. Right. And then, so the buffet is just miles and miles of food. Um, so I guess I, if you want to touch touch on that, cause I know a lot of people like to, to go out and eat when they're on vacation and, and maybe turn off the filter a little bit. So, but even going out there is you can still enjoy your meals but still make some good choices, right?
Speaker 4: 10:51 Yeah. Usually even fast food restaurants are getting better at having some, some kind of salad options. So whether you're on the road, stopping at fast food or you're at your destination, you're going out to a nicer restaurant, um, there's usually going to be some kind of, some healthy option to choose from. And whether or not, you know, even if you, if you don't have a healthy option to choose from, eat slowly, enjoy your food. You know, maybe you don't need to eat the whole, the whole portion that they give you, but pay attention to that. Pay attention to your fullness and pay attention to your hunger. Um, we're so, it's so much in our mindset to clear our plates. You know, ever since probably we were little kids, we've always been told, clear your plate, clear your plate. You can't leave the table until you clear your plate.
Speaker 4: 11:38 So we see this, you know, plate coming to us in a restaurant. It's like, okay, here's my task. I have to eat this whole thing. Um, so slowing down a little bit and really paying attention to your satiety, whether you're choosing a healthy option or there's not a option or there's something else that you choose. Yeah. Um, you can choose how much you eat and really paying attention to how you feel and how your body, your body's signals for telling you to stop. Yeah. And, and thinking about buffets, that's a good point. With, with, that doesn't have to be just, um, or restaurants or it can be a lot of like family or unions or something. I think of two or barbecues that there's a food aplenty. So, so that's where I would return back to the thinking all or nothing. Like this doesn't have to be, um, I'm on vacation. Nothing else matters. This is my cheat day. We really actually discouraged cheat days, quote unquote. Um, because people tend to get into the all or nothing. And, and really it's all about finding a balance of, um, of really like enjoying foods that you love and then feeling good about eating. What's your, you're having to you.
Host: 12:44 Sure. And I'm, I'm glad you brought up that a little tidbit about paying attention to your body because when you're enjoying this really delicious, maybe not so healthy food in the moment it tastes good, but then 20 minutes later, 30 minutes later, 45 minutes later, you just feel like blah, especially if you're on a road trip, you get, it makes you sleepy and lethargic and you still have, you know, five hours on the road to drive. So I guess talk about, um, you know, because how our body, your access, certain types of food then maybe not so healthy foods and, and just help, uh, help explain that to people to keep that in the back of their mind of it might taste real good in the moment, but how am I gonna feel 45 minutes from now?
Speaker 4: 13:27 Right, right. Yeah, that's a really important point because you don't want to feel bad on your vacation. You're on vacation. You want to enjoy it, you want to be awake when you're driving and you want to be able to enjoy wherever you're at. Um, and going back to the point about, you know, you mentioned 20 minutes later you might feel like blah. And it actually takes our brains about 20 to 30 minutes to register our fullness. So I usually recommend for people to, you know, if you're eating something, try to s to stop eating when you're, you know, maybe neutral or just satisfied or maybe just starting to feel full. And then most likely 20 to 30 minutes later you'll, you'll feel, okay, I am full. I'm glad I stopped. Whereas you know, if you're, if you're eating really quickly and not really thinking about it, you're a lot more likely to overeat and then, and then feel poorly.
Speaker 4: 14:18 And I think that's, especially when you're, when you're on vacation, you want to feel good, you want to be able to do the things that you know with your family or the special things that you have planned. Yeah. And I was thinking about another simple way to think about feeling energized, feeling good. Um, if there are questions about what does that even look like as far as what I should eat, having a balance of when you do you have a meal, some kind of starch, whether that's potatoes, some kind of bread, um, grain, rice and then some
Speaker 3: 14:52 representation of protein, which can be of course meat, eggs, beans, um, and then some sort of vegetables and fruits. So, um, having the majority of that be some kind of, uh, vegetables is always a good thing. And then, um, again, the, the starch and protein balance and that combination of foods is really what helps you feel full and sustains honest to, for, for longer. Uh, because if we focus only on starch or only have that for snacks, and that's what Kinda, uh, it doesn't last long and that can lead to some of that sleepiness sluggishness later. So, so having that kind of balance of different types of food is, is one way to, to help feel more energized.
Host: 15:33 Yeah, that's a great point. So what I'm, what I like, you guys have lots of cool little, um, helpful tools in your offices. And one of the things that I like that I've seen over there is, um, the little portion control containers, right? So you have, um, you know, this much should be vegetables or fruit. This much should be your protein or your meat possibly. And then this one should be your starch. So, um, you know, people can, can, um, acquire those types of containers on their own. Um, they can purchase them online or at their local store at this to help. Going back to planning. If I'm, if we're going to go spend the day at the beach, you know, let's put them in, in containers so we don't eat the whole bag of potato chips. Right.
Host: 16:19 Um, so one other thing, and this is, uh, in our notes and this is a very relevant term for my family, uh, hangry. So, um, I may or may not be guilty of this. I asked my wife, uh, I know my kids are, uh, and maybe when if they hear this they'll be like, dad, why'd you say that? But, um, so, um, talk to us about how, how, why do we get hangry and then, um, you know, how can we avoid, especially, you know, with, with the Kiddos, um, either in the car or at the pool or at the beach. How can we avoid getting to that point where like, it's like go time. Like it's, it's hangry time. So I guess talk about what, what is hangry? I mean that's the kind of the, the lay person term, but what's happening with our body or in that time and how we can avoid it.
Speaker 4: 17:12 Yeah. So I think when I'm guilty of being hangry too, I think that anybody who's been around me and when I haven't eaten can tell. Um, and I think that's, that's typically a symptom of your year, your blood sugar getting low, and you might feel, you know, that might come out as anger that might come out as lightheadedness or dizziness or headaches. Sure. Um, people definitely feel it in different ways and brain fog your brain. Okay. [inaudible] yeah. Yeah. My husband is one who he won't necessarily feel, feel hangry in the same way that I do, but he'll, he'll get a headache and then he'll realize, oh, I haven't eaten in like five hours. So, um, generally I think the rule of thumb is to eat every four, four to five hours just to make sure that your liver stores are, are, aren't depleted. Okay. Um, so taking that into consideration, the best way to avoid being hangry is to, again, think ahead of time, um, and, and do as much planning and having stuff on hand with you because if you let yourself get to the point of hangar, you're more likely to reach for whatever's in, you know, you just want the quickest and fastest and easiest thing.
Speaker 4: 18:26 Yes,
Host: 18:28 true. So, um, so planning and going back to planning, um, any other tidbits for, for preventing the hangriness?
Speaker 3: 18:37 Yeah, I w I would say again, the balance with meals and snacks and thinking about even if you are sometimes eating every few hours, if you're, if you're just having like something starchy or something that um, isn't necessarily gonna sustain you, then you can still be kind of hangry cause your blood sugar drops again. So setting that, that blend of protein, some fat and carbohydrate in your meals and snacks can help avoid that because it has a little bit more even consistent blood sugar. Okay.
Host: 19:09 So if I am, um, I guess looking for some practical tips here, if I'm going through the airport, um, or going through, um, we're stopping at your, your fuel center of choice to, uh, to refuel your vehicle, you need to maybe refuel your body to, um, I don't, I don't want to necessarily reach for this thinkers bar every time. Speaking of hangry, um, but, uh, maybe what are some, some tips that you could give some of our listeners about some, some options. Um, even though it's not the best environment, like there's not going to be a professionally made chef salad at the gas station. Um, I don't think, not at most gas stations anyways. Um, but uh, if you're, if you're running through the airport on the way to catch your plane or at the gas station, what, um, what are some tips you can give us?
Speaker 3: 19:57 That's a good question. This is always challenging to you because I like to strike a balance between somewhat healthy and also affordable, which can be tricky and uh, cause cause stores that are, uh, much dependent on your convenience being a big factor. We'll price up a lot of the healthier items. Uh, but like Katie was saying before, they are a lot of stores that are getting many more healthy options. And then, um, some things I've noticed, there's usually fruit, apples, oranges, yogurt is pretty common there. Cheese sticks a lot of times. Uh, popcorns also becoming more and more popular. They're just several different brands.
Speaker 4: 20:36 Yeah. [inaudible] and nuts too. Usually you can find nuts in either gas stations or I'm at the airport and you know, airports and gas they have and gas stations have those little baskets, fruit. And usually those aren't priced up too bad. But, um, the, the price thing is, is definitely [inaudible]
Speaker 3: 20:56 tricky. Yeah. And it can be easy to get into. Again, how about in routine? We each have our advice, uh, snacks in the car they will go for on road trips. But uh, but blending that, like if you're in the garden, multiple people, maybe you can split some the indulgent thing and um, and then go for some healthier choices to you, like for you at Sun, not sun and that kind of thing. Sure.
Host: 21:20 If, um, if you can, um, uh, briefly kind of give a little nugget about what your idea of mindful eating is. Something that people can, one of the takeaways from this podcast that they can keep in the back of their head. How would you say distinctly describe mindful eating share.
Speaker 3: 21:42 Do you want me to go first? Okay. So I was mindful eating. I think of slowing down, using all your sensory experiences, actually looking at what you're having to eat, smelling it, tasting it, having a really thoughtful experience with, um, with how it tastes, whether you really enjoy it and also how your body responds to it. So many times we can mindlessly eat and not realize that we've gone beyond the point of fullness. So, yeah. Um, yeah. Paying attention, both of you and your body.
Host: 22:12 Yeah. So, and that will probably just help you enjoy the food more if you're, if you're trying to use all of your, your senses, right?
Speaker 3: 22:19 Yeah, definitely. Sometimes less, but hopefully more.
Speaker 4: 22:24 Yeah. I always think of, you know, if we have, if we get some kind of cookies or you know, something and a lot of times we might just eat that mindlessly and just because it's there, but then when you slow down, you might realize like this, this cookie isn't even that good. Like I would rather have a better cookie or something else. So I think my bleeding's also about, um, enjoyment of your foods. And a lot of times you do have to slow down in order to be able to tell, am I actually enjoying this or am I just eating it because it's there? Am I actually hungry or am I just eating it because it's there? Sure.
Host: 22:57 And I, I really like, um, you know, this little nugget y'all provided about. Um, so vacation is a time for, you know, a rest and relaxation and rejuvenation and reenergizing. Um, so it's okay to have some fun and indulge a little bit. Um, but y'all said, you know, not treat it like it's your last meal ever on earth. Right, exactly. Yeah. Or maybe, you know, going on your last vacation ever. So there's, there's life after this meal on vacation. Um, so balance, balance is the key I'm hearing and, and trying to plan ahead. Right. Yeah. Well, cool. Well, um, we're wrapping up here in a minute. Um, are there any, um, little, uh, memorization tools you can give me of, of, uh, so like in, in middle school health class, right. They, they make you look at the, the food pyramid. So, I'm not even sure if the food pyramid is still a thing you guys go by or not. But um, I guess just if you're gonna help us, um, store some information in, in the back of our brains for people that are listening, which is kind of a quick rule for, for having the proper balance of what food we're consuming.
Speaker 4: 24:13 I guess thinking of like the components that Jane was talking about, the having vegetables, starch, protein. So VSP. Yeah. And, and, and now if for people who have seen the, the, the government's not replaced the food pyramid with the my plate example, which is a picture of a plate that shows half your plate being vegetables, a quarter of it being protein and a quarter of it being a whole grain. Okay. So if that, if you can envision that, that's a good guide for meals.
Speaker 5: 24:46 Cool deal.
Host: 24:47 Well ladies, thank you so much for joining us for this best health podcast. Really appreciate it. Hope you all have enjoyed yourselves. Yeah. Thanks for having us. This was fun. Awesome. Or, um, we'll have you back probably around the holidays cause that's another time that people are thinking about food a lot and eating a lot of foods. So we'd love to have y'all back then and talk about how that help us keep a balance during the holidays too. Sounds good. Yeah. Okay. Well, um, so we have um, this information, uh, available on our website, wakehealth.edu/besthealth and um, there's uh, other recipe ideas and other health and wellness tips on that website as well. Um, I'll, I'll mention it again. Wakehealth.edu/besthealth and if you want to talk to your primary care physician or, um, if you want to talk to a dietician here at wake forest baptist health, um, or someone with weight management. If you have any questions, you're more than welcome just to call our number three, three, six, seven one six week. And um, you can make an appointment that way as well. So thanks again, uh, team for listening to, to this session for the best health podcast and we'll, we'll talk with you next time.
Speaker 1: 26:06 Thanks for listening to this episode of the best health podcast brought to you by wake forest baptist health. For more wellness info, check out wakehealth.edu and follow us on social media. Wake Forest Baptist health, the gold standard of health care.