Fueling Your Body on a Budget
By Rebecca Parton
Schizophrenia Magazine
You are what you eat. Just ask Michael Alzamora of Toronto, Ontario. Hours of watching television, snacking on sugary pastries, and drinking cola formed an overweight man headed toward heart disease and diabetes. Poor food choices and lack of exercise, coupled with the side effects of his medications, made living a healthy lifestyle difficult for Michael. But Mother Nature’s bounty gave him wellness.
In 2008, after receiving poor results from a fasting blood test, Alzamora decided to turn his life around. “My doctor told me that my triglyceride (which carries fat in the blood) level was high. It was a wake-up call,” he remembers. “I had to take immediate action because I have schizophrenia and take one of the newer antipsychotic medications.”
Whether you are a person who takes medications to manage schizophrenia, or someone who needs to lose weight, the message is the same. We all need a clean nutrition plan—one full of fresh produce, fish, lean meats, whole grains—and regular exercise.
Is nutrition the key to wellness? Is it possible to provide your mind and body with clean fuel for energy? Can individuals living on a fixed income afford a healthy lifestyle on a budget? The answer to all of these questions
is a resounding yes!
Experts agree: a balanced diet is vital to insure the delivery of essential nutrients to the body. However, the typical North American’s diet often lacks these required nutrients. Fast foods, processed, boxed and bagged convenience foods, sugary soda drinks—even cream and sugar in our coffee—produce large caloric intake with little or no nutritional value. They may even deplete our bodies of energy and cause us to gain weight.
We pay dearly for these foods: They take a toll on our bodies physically and they empty our pocketbooks! Now is the time to take back our health with quality products that result in peak performance. But this is easier said than done. With so many diet pills, phony foods, potions, lotions, and promises of rapid results, where can one make changes to improve health?
“The first thing I found out is that diets don’t work. People who go on crash/fad diets lose weight, but as soon as they go off the diet they gain the weight back,” Alzamora says. “My number one priority was to make a commitment to change my eating habits in order to eat healthily for the rest of my life.”
Essential nutrients
First, commit to a lifestyle change, not a radical diet or a quick fix. Change takes time; proceeding slowly and steadily will result in success. Small, consistent changes over time will allow you to ease into your new lifestyle. The cold-turkey approach usually results in failure where food is involved. Setting small goals each week gives you and your body time to adjust to your new nutritional plan. Fad diets that remove all carbohydrates, or all protein, or advocate going fat free will be detrimental to your health and cannot be sustained over time without negative effects. Essential nutrients [vitamins, dietary minerals, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids], and carbohydrates, fats, protein, and water are integral to balancing the mind, body, and soul.
Your body requires carbohydrates every day—they’re a source of rapid energy. “The brain runs on glucose or sugar that is processed in the body from carbohydrates in the foods we eat,” says Mark Occhipinti, PhD, president of American Fitness Professionals & Associates.
But choose carefully. Carbohydrates in foods such as fruits, jams,
syrups, and other simple carbohydrates (foods high in sugar) cause a rapid increase in blood sugar that may begin the roller-coaster ride of energy swings that end in crashes, followed by sugar binges. However, complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice, vegetables, and whole grains, provide a continuous release of energy. Complex carbohydrates provide the body with the steady energy it needs to digest, feed the brain, and release energy throughout the body. Whole grains are also a source of fiber, which helps us feel full. To meet daily energy needs, carbohydrates make up 55-65 percent of a healthy food plan.
Fiber-rich carbohydrates also assist the process of elimination. Staying regular is integral to avoiding gas, bloating, and constipation. Our bodies speak to us when we eat. Listen to your body and follow the signals you hear and experience. Avoid foods that make you feel unwell or cause digestive distress, pain, or heartburn. Enjoy food selections that energize you, digest easily, and exit completely and quietly.
Our bodies use protein to build and repair body tissue, muscles, tendons and ligaments; help transport fluids; create hormones and enzymes; and build healthy immune systems. Lean meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, and beans are all sources of this essential nutrient. But be wise in your selection and preparation of meats. Limit fried and processed foods (especially deep-fried frozen selections) and select nuts and seeds that don’t have added oils and salt.
Be mindful of portion sizes. Meat portions should be the size of a deck of cards, while a snack of nuts and seeds should fit in the small of the palm of your hand. Even foods that are good for you may become a source of excess calories when consumed in over-sized portions.
And what about fat? Is it a friend or a foe? Nothing has received more bad press than fat, but we need it. The brain is 45-60 percent fat—it needs fats to function optimally. “Removing all fats compromises brain function, while including healthy fats in one’s diet has a calming effect on the nerves and body,” Occhipinti says.
It’s unlikely that most of us who struggle with extra weight even come close to eliminating all fats—so we’re not likely to compromise brain function by cutting way back on fats. The trouble is, most of us select the wrong fats—those found in processed, boxed, bagged and fast-fried foods. Gram for gram, fats are higher in calories than proteins and carbohydrates, so they are a major source of fuel for an active body. Healthy fats—those found naturally in foods such as nuts, seeds, and fish—also provide fatty acids needed for healthy skin, vitamin transport, and hormone production. Control the amount of fats you eat by choosing lean meats, skim or one percent dairy foods, and nuts and nut butters without added oil or salt. Beware of fat-free products—they’re often laden with added sugars, artificial sweeteners, colors and preservatives, which enter the bloodstream quickly and may interfere with absorption. These “anti-nutrients” also produce allergy symptoms: Runny nose, sneezing, headaches, mood swings, depression, constipation, bloating, gas, and poor sleep are common complaints among those who consume a diet predominantly comprised of processed foods.
If you take prescription medications, you may be struggling with adverse side effects. It’s definitely harder to control your weight when you have to take certain medications—some people will always be heavier on atypical medications, which of course they must take to be healthy. But eating processed foods compounds the problem, whereas eating cleanly gives your body a break.
Giving up processed foods isn’t easy. Your body is used to high amounts of salt and sugar and you may experience some initial discomfort when you eliminate them. “Immediately upon starting my new regimen, I began to have severe withdrawal symptoms,” Alzamora recalls. “My mind and body kept asking me for sugar. Whenever I got the urge to eat something sweet, I would break into a sweat. Other times I would become irritable or restless. I also craved fatty, greasy foods as well as other foods I normally would not eat.”
“I looked and felt healthier,” Alzamora says. “I developed rosy cheeks and clearer eyes. Mentally I felt strong and confident.”
The body continually works to stay in balance. Quite simply, it requires food that can be properly and fully digested to be used as fuel over time to provide necessary nutrients to the body and the brain. We need water—on average, eight glasses a day. It keeps us mentally sharp and hydrated, while aiding in digestion and elimination.
Nutrients and water work as a team, balancing the flow of energy through the body, keeping our minds alert, and our muscles and immune systems strong while providing the restful sleep and relaxation we need to remain stress free. Sticking with a diet low in nutrients will, over a period of time, produce unpleasant consequences such as poor sleep, frequent infections, low energy levels, constipation, and fluctuations in blood sugar. A daily balanced nutritional plan that includes the key essential nutrients keeps the body energized and ready to move. Poor food choices zap our energy and make it difficult to get and stay active.
Get a move on!
A regular exercise program invigorates the body and mind. It also helps you maintain a healthy body weight, improves the density of your bones, lowers cholesterol, and reduces your risk for diabetes and heart disease.
Movement boosts your mood, energy level, and self- esteem. There’s a connection between your mind and your muscles: Feeling physically strong and fit radiates through your entire body. You walk a little taller; you have a spring in your step. You are able to handle what life throws at you and may even lose a little weight in the process. But on your journey to improved health, be sure to notice the little improvements along the way. Try not to measure your success only by the numbers on the scale. Watch for the glow from good living begin to shine through!
But, we all know exercise only works when you do it, so make sure to choose activities that you enjoy. Working out with others helps, whether that means joining a gym or participating in an activity with a friend.
While traveling this fitness path, begin slowly. Set small goals and adjust those goals as your body adapts. Try to include aerobic activities that exercise the heart, such as walking or biking. Build muscle strength with resistance training using exercise tubing or weights.
As part of a healthy lifestyle, Alzamora has embraced physical fitness, particularly running, and recommends scheduling time for exercise. “I chose running because it makes me physically fit and the long training runs make
me mentally strong.”
Shop smart
Okay, so we know that healthy eating helps us meet the demands of daily life and exercise, but where do we start?
A nutrient-rich diet doesn’t have to be expensive, just smart. Shopping for ingredients and preparing meals shouldn’t become another source of stress (because that could be an excuse to search out a sugary snack!).
So what can we do? Read labels, shop locally, and clip coupons. Reading labels may seem like a daunting, time consuming task, but once you establish the healthiest selections, it becomes much easier. Packaged food labels list ingredients in order from the greatest to least, so avoid those that start off with hydrogenated oils, sodium (salt), and sugars. Can you pronounce all the words on the label? If you can’t, make a different choice. It’s a good idea to choose brands that have the fewest ingredients—they’re often comparable in price to those with lots of ingredients—and they’re often the healthiest choices.
Shopping locally means buying foods grown in the region where you live. It keeps money in our neighborhood and pennies in our pockets. Locally grown fruits and vegetables don’t have to be transported as far to get from the farm to your table, so they’re fresher and less damaged. Educate yourself about the fruits and vegetables that are fresh in each season and build your meals around those ingredients. Visit roadside stands and farmers’ markets to discover local gems available at reasonable prices.
Of course, you will have to use a grocery store for many items, so keep an eye on their weekly flyers. Take time to read through them to spot your family favorites. If the price is really low, take advantage of the sale and stock up. Plan your weekly menus around sale items. Not only does this remove the anxiety of what to eat for dinner, it helps you adhere to your list.
Once home from grocery shopping, unpack, wash, chop, and prepare any fresh vegetables. Having healthy snack options ready at your fingertips will help keep you on track nutritionally. Cook a little extra at dinner time and wrap up the extra for lunch for the next day. If you like to cook, plan an afternoon to cook in bulk: prepare and freeze meat loaf, meatballs, and muffins. Even if you don’t love it, it’s great to know that you have inexpensive, healthy options in the freezer—it makes for easy meal preparation next time! Planning ahead helps prevent impulsive trips through drive-thrus, which are invariably followed by indigestion and less money in your pocketbook.
Whenever possible, prepare your meals from scratch. Each meal doesn’t require a long list of extravagant ingredients. There are plenty of recipes that use few ingredients—try searching for “5 ingredient recipes” on the Internet. After practicing with them, you might feel comfortable leaving out or reducing the ingredients in your favorite recipes. Skipping ingredients saves you money, too—always a bonus!
Celebrating life
After one year of healthy eating and regular exercise, Alzamora’s blood levels are within normal range. He has lost weight and is proud to have completed the Mississauga, Ontario, half-marathon, running on behalf of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.
Changing your lifestyle is a huge commitment, one that will take time and constant effort, but the rewards will far outweigh the effort even if you take medications that cause weight gain. Check with your doctor to see what your healthy weight is…clean eating will help you get to and stay at that goal weight. Healthy body weight plus increased energy, vitality, restorative sleep, improved mood, lower cholesterol and normal blood pressure are just a few of the benefits awaiting you on this wellness journey…an expedition towards attaining a balanced body, mind, and soul, free of disease, and full of energy.
So, if you are what you eat, what do you want to be, a hotdog or an apple?
Rebecca Parton, BA Physical Education, is a PRO Trainer, Canadian Fitness Professional (Can-Fit-Pro), a Certified Personal Trainer Specialist, a Certified Nutrition & Wellness Consultant, and a Certified Mind & Body Specialist.
By Rebecca Parton
Schizophrenia Magazine
You are what you eat. Just ask Michael Alzamora of Toronto, Ontario. Hours of watching television, snacking on sugary pastries, and drinking cola formed an overweight man headed toward heart disease and diabetes. Poor food choices and lack of exercise, coupled with the side effects of his medications, made living a healthy lifestyle difficult for Michael. But Mother Nature’s bounty gave him wellness.
In 2008, after receiving poor results from a fasting blood test, Alzamora decided to turn his life around. “My doctor told me that my triglyceride (which carries fat in the blood) level was high. It was a wake-up call,” he remembers. “I had to take immediate action because I have schizophrenia and take one of the newer antipsychotic medications.”
Whether you are a person who takes medications to manage schizophrenia, or someone who needs to lose weight, the message is the same. We all need a clean nutrition plan—one full of fresh produce, fish, lean meats, whole grains—and regular exercise.
Is nutrition the key to wellness? Is it possible to provide your mind and body with clean fuel for energy? Can individuals living on a fixed income afford a healthy lifestyle on a budget? The answer to all of these questions
is a resounding yes!
Experts agree: a balanced diet is vital to insure the delivery of essential nutrients to the body. However, the typical North American’s diet often lacks these required nutrients. Fast foods, processed, boxed and bagged convenience foods, sugary soda drinks—even cream and sugar in our coffee—produce large caloric intake with little or no nutritional value. They may even deplete our bodies of energy and cause us to gain weight.
We pay dearly for these foods: They take a toll on our bodies physically and they empty our pocketbooks! Now is the time to take back our health with quality products that result in peak performance. But this is easier said than done. With so many diet pills, phony foods, potions, lotions, and promises of rapid results, where can one make changes to improve health?
“The first thing I found out is that diets don’t work. People who go on crash/fad diets lose weight, but as soon as they go off the diet they gain the weight back,” Alzamora says. “My number one priority was to make a commitment to change my eating habits in order to eat healthily for the rest of my life.”
Essential nutrients
First, commit to a lifestyle change, not a radical diet or a quick fix. Change takes time; proceeding slowly and steadily will result in success. Small, consistent changes over time will allow you to ease into your new lifestyle. The cold-turkey approach usually results in failure where food is involved. Setting small goals each week gives you and your body time to adjust to your new nutritional plan. Fad diets that remove all carbohydrates, or all protein, or advocate going fat free will be detrimental to your health and cannot be sustained over time without negative effects. Essential nutrients [vitamins, dietary minerals, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids], and carbohydrates, fats, protein, and water are integral to balancing the mind, body, and soul.
Your body requires carbohydrates every day—they’re a source of rapid energy. “The brain runs on glucose or sugar that is processed in the body from carbohydrates in the foods we eat,” says Mark Occhipinti, PhD, president of American Fitness Professionals & Associates.
But choose carefully. Carbohydrates in foods such as fruits, jams,
syrups, and other simple carbohydrates (foods high in sugar) cause a rapid increase in blood sugar that may begin the roller-coaster ride of energy swings that end in crashes, followed by sugar binges. However, complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice, vegetables, and whole grains, provide a continuous release of energy. Complex carbohydrates provide the body with the steady energy it needs to digest, feed the brain, and release energy throughout the body. Whole grains are also a source of fiber, which helps us feel full. To meet daily energy needs, carbohydrates make up 55-65 percent of a healthy food plan.
Fiber-rich carbohydrates also assist the process of elimination. Staying regular is integral to avoiding gas, bloating, and constipation. Our bodies speak to us when we eat. Listen to your body and follow the signals you hear and experience. Avoid foods that make you feel unwell or cause digestive distress, pain, or heartburn. Enjoy food selections that energize you, digest easily, and exit completely and quietly.
Our bodies use protein to build and repair body tissue, muscles, tendons and ligaments; help transport fluids; create hormones and enzymes; and build healthy immune systems. Lean meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, and beans are all sources of this essential nutrient. But be wise in your selection and preparation of meats. Limit fried and processed foods (especially deep-fried frozen selections) and select nuts and seeds that don’t have added oils and salt.
Be mindful of portion sizes. Meat portions should be the size of a deck of cards, while a snack of nuts and seeds should fit in the small of the palm of your hand. Even foods that are good for you may become a source of excess calories when consumed in over-sized portions.
And what about fat? Is it a friend or a foe? Nothing has received more bad press than fat, but we need it. The brain is 45-60 percent fat—it needs fats to function optimally. “Removing all fats compromises brain function, while including healthy fats in one’s diet has a calming effect on the nerves and body,” Occhipinti says.
It’s unlikely that most of us who struggle with extra weight even come close to eliminating all fats—so we’re not likely to compromise brain function by cutting way back on fats. The trouble is, most of us select the wrong fats—those found in processed, boxed, bagged and fast-fried foods. Gram for gram, fats are higher in calories than proteins and carbohydrates, so they are a major source of fuel for an active body. Healthy fats—those found naturally in foods such as nuts, seeds, and fish—also provide fatty acids needed for healthy skin, vitamin transport, and hormone production. Control the amount of fats you eat by choosing lean meats, skim or one percent dairy foods, and nuts and nut butters without added oil or salt. Beware of fat-free products—they’re often laden with added sugars, artificial sweeteners, colors and preservatives, which enter the bloodstream quickly and may interfere with absorption. These “anti-nutrients” also produce allergy symptoms: Runny nose, sneezing, headaches, mood swings, depression, constipation, bloating, gas, and poor sleep are common complaints among those who consume a diet predominantly comprised of processed foods.
If you take prescription medications, you may be struggling with adverse side effects. It’s definitely harder to control your weight when you have to take certain medications—some people will always be heavier on atypical medications, which of course they must take to be healthy. But eating processed foods compounds the problem, whereas eating cleanly gives your body a break.
Giving up processed foods isn’t easy. Your body is used to high amounts of salt and sugar and you may experience some initial discomfort when you eliminate them. “Immediately upon starting my new regimen, I began to have severe withdrawal symptoms,” Alzamora recalls. “My mind and body kept asking me for sugar. Whenever I got the urge to eat something sweet, I would break into a sweat. Other times I would become irritable or restless. I also craved fatty, greasy foods as well as other foods I normally would not eat.”
“I looked and felt healthier,” Alzamora says. “I developed rosy cheeks and clearer eyes. Mentally I felt strong and confident.”
The body continually works to stay in balance. Quite simply, it requires food that can be properly and fully digested to be used as fuel over time to provide necessary nutrients to the body and the brain. We need water—on average, eight glasses a day. It keeps us mentally sharp and hydrated, while aiding in digestion and elimination.
Nutrients and water work as a team, balancing the flow of energy through the body, keeping our minds alert, and our muscles and immune systems strong while providing the restful sleep and relaxation we need to remain stress free. Sticking with a diet low in nutrients will, over a period of time, produce unpleasant consequences such as poor sleep, frequent infections, low energy levels, constipation, and fluctuations in blood sugar. A daily balanced nutritional plan that includes the key essential nutrients keeps the body energized and ready to move. Poor food choices zap our energy and make it difficult to get and stay active.
Get a move on!
A regular exercise program invigorates the body and mind. It also helps you maintain a healthy body weight, improves the density of your bones, lowers cholesterol, and reduces your risk for diabetes and heart disease.
Movement boosts your mood, energy level, and self- esteem. There’s a connection between your mind and your muscles: Feeling physically strong and fit radiates through your entire body. You walk a little taller; you have a spring in your step. You are able to handle what life throws at you and may even lose a little weight in the process. But on your journey to improved health, be sure to notice the little improvements along the way. Try not to measure your success only by the numbers on the scale. Watch for the glow from good living begin to shine through!
But, we all know exercise only works when you do it, so make sure to choose activities that you enjoy. Working out with others helps, whether that means joining a gym or participating in an activity with a friend.
While traveling this fitness path, begin slowly. Set small goals and adjust those goals as your body adapts. Try to include aerobic activities that exercise the heart, such as walking or biking. Build muscle strength with resistance training using exercise tubing or weights.
As part of a healthy lifestyle, Alzamora has embraced physical fitness, particularly running, and recommends scheduling time for exercise. “I chose running because it makes me physically fit and the long training runs make
me mentally strong.”
Shop smart
Okay, so we know that healthy eating helps us meet the demands of daily life and exercise, but where do we start?
A nutrient-rich diet doesn’t have to be expensive, just smart. Shopping for ingredients and preparing meals shouldn’t become another source of stress (because that could be an excuse to search out a sugary snack!).
So what can we do? Read labels, shop locally, and clip coupons. Reading labels may seem like a daunting, time consuming task, but once you establish the healthiest selections, it becomes much easier. Packaged food labels list ingredients in order from the greatest to least, so avoid those that start off with hydrogenated oils, sodium (salt), and sugars. Can you pronounce all the words on the label? If you can’t, make a different choice. It’s a good idea to choose brands that have the fewest ingredients—they’re often comparable in price to those with lots of ingredients—and they’re often the healthiest choices.
Shopping locally means buying foods grown in the region where you live. It keeps money in our neighborhood and pennies in our pockets. Locally grown fruits and vegetables don’t have to be transported as far to get from the farm to your table, so they’re fresher and less damaged. Educate yourself about the fruits and vegetables that are fresh in each season and build your meals around those ingredients. Visit roadside stands and farmers’ markets to discover local gems available at reasonable prices.
Of course, you will have to use a grocery store for many items, so keep an eye on their weekly flyers. Take time to read through them to spot your family favorites. If the price is really low, take advantage of the sale and stock up. Plan your weekly menus around sale items. Not only does this remove the anxiety of what to eat for dinner, it helps you adhere to your list.
Once home from grocery shopping, unpack, wash, chop, and prepare any fresh vegetables. Having healthy snack options ready at your fingertips will help keep you on track nutritionally. Cook a little extra at dinner time and wrap up the extra for lunch for the next day. If you like to cook, plan an afternoon to cook in bulk: prepare and freeze meat loaf, meatballs, and muffins. Even if you don’t love it, it’s great to know that you have inexpensive, healthy options in the freezer—it makes for easy meal preparation next time! Planning ahead helps prevent impulsive trips through drive-thrus, which are invariably followed by indigestion and less money in your pocketbook.
Whenever possible, prepare your meals from scratch. Each meal doesn’t require a long list of extravagant ingredients. There are plenty of recipes that use few ingredients—try searching for “5 ingredient recipes” on the Internet. After practicing with them, you might feel comfortable leaving out or reducing the ingredients in your favorite recipes. Skipping ingredients saves you money, too—always a bonus!
Celebrating life
After one year of healthy eating and regular exercise, Alzamora’s blood levels are within normal range. He has lost weight and is proud to have completed the Mississauga, Ontario, half-marathon, running on behalf of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.
Changing your lifestyle is a huge commitment, one that will take time and constant effort, but the rewards will far outweigh the effort even if you take medications that cause weight gain. Check with your doctor to see what your healthy weight is…clean eating will help you get to and stay at that goal weight. Healthy body weight plus increased energy, vitality, restorative sleep, improved mood, lower cholesterol and normal blood pressure are just a few of the benefits awaiting you on this wellness journey…an expedition towards attaining a balanced body, mind, and soul, free of disease, and full of energy.
So, if you are what you eat, what do you want to be, a hotdog or an apple?
Rebecca Parton, BA Physical Education, is a PRO Trainer, Canadian Fitness Professional (Can-Fit-Pro), a Certified Personal Trainer Specialist, a Certified Nutrition & Wellness Consultant, and a Certified Mind & Body Specialist.
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