First Steps to Weight Loss

PART TWO: Eat Salad Every Day

THE BIG PICTURE Leafy green vegetables, especially dark green ones, are the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. That makes the act of eating a salad one of the most important things you can do to improve your overall well being and maintain a healthy amount of body fat. As long as your salads are done right (see below), eating more of them will both decrease the calories you take in and increase the nutrients you get. This means salad consumption is very helpful for both weight loss and health gain.

NUTRIENT DENSITY Healthy foods are nutrient dense, meaning they have a lot of nutrients per calorie. Micronutrients are a class of nutrients that are crucial for having a long, healthy life. They keep your body in running order, including your bones, soft tissues, eyes, and immune system. Getting lots of them also significantly reduces your risk of many diseases, including certain types of cancer. Calories are what give you energy. Since you only need so much energy per day, you’re better off getting as much nutrition as you can along with those calories. Most people eating Western diets get too many calories and not enough micronutrients. This almost always leads to too much body fat and ill health. That means most Westerners need to eat more foods that are more nutrient dense, like greens.

Salad is high in many nutrients, including fiber. Eating fibrous foods such as vegetables, beans, and fruit fills the volume of your stomach and makes you feel full and satisfied. That leaves less room for food that is less healthy. And so, one easy step you can take to reduce the amount of calories you eat while increasing the amount of nutrients you get is to eat a salad every day, preferably before a big meal like lunch or dinner. Some people even base an entire meal on salad by adding other yummy ingredients, like the ones below.

WHAT MAKES A SALAD AWESOME? Aside from green leaves, there are many more tasty and health-promoting foods you can add to your salad. Here are some:

-greens: romaine lettuce, spinach, mixed greens, arugula -other vegetables: bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, sprouts, artichoke hearts -fruits: diced grapefruit, apples, figs, berries, and any dried fruits -nuts and seeds: pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, flaxseed -herbs, fresh or dried: cilantro, oregano, mint -legumes: black beans, red lentils, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, sweet peas -whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, barley, millet, wild rice, corn

The more ingredients you add from the vegetables, legumes, and fruits categories, the more nutrients your salad has per calorie. And when you include fruits, herbs, and other delicious foods, the tastier your salad becomes and the less dressing you might want to add.

WHAT MAKES A SALAD BACKFIRE? Adding foods that are low in nutrients but high in calories can destroy the health status of a salad in no time. Meat, cheese, and oil are common examples. If you add these foods, they should be in small amounts (the smallest amount you can muster). Croutons made from white bread are another example of a low-nutrient food often added to salads.

Many salad dressings are based on oil, which is one of the least nutrient dense foods around. Even olive oil, which has been heavily advertised as a health food, is actually very low in nutrients aside from fat, from which it gets 100% of its calories. That means that the more oil and oil-based dressings you add to your greens, the less health-promoting the salad becomes. And the harder it will be to maintain a healthy weight or to lose weight.

HOW DO I MAKE A HEALTHY SALAD DRESSING? If you are buying a salad dressing, one of the first ingredients in the ingredient list should be some kind of vinegar or water, not oil. One trick is to just buy vinegar on its own, such as balsamic, apple cider, etc. You can also use hummus, tahini, salsa, and hot sauce as great salad toppings that can be mixed in to add a lot of flavor.

There are lots of recipes for healthy salad dressings, but here’s a simple formula you can use to create your own: Pick a vinegar, a nut butter or seed butter, an herb or spice, and a citrus fruit. Put these ingredients into a blender and add enough water to blend. Keep adding water until you have the desired consistency and flavor power. Lots of vinegar will take lots of water and other ingredients to mellow out. The more nut or seed butter you add, the more calories the salad dressing will have. Athletes needing more calories can be generous with the amount of nuts and seeds their salads--and any meal--include.

Part 1: Stop Drinking Calories!

DISCLAIMER: The author is neither a nutritionist nor registered dietician. Information contained herein was gathered from many sources and can be found in the literature of such organizations as the World Health Organization, the American Dietetics Association, the American Council on Exercise, National Institutes of Health, and others. Consult with a physician before making changes to your diet or exercise program.

For more about the Author, Sebastian Grubb visit: SebastianGrubb.com

Improve your movement

... with the 6 essential pilates concept: Part 1 - Centering Centering means beginning movement from what is referred to as the powerhouse or core. In pilates, the center of the body is located between the lowest ribs and pubic bone.  By initiating all movement from this region, the rest of the body will be able to align and move more efficiently.

Many people think the core is just the abdominals and then think of a crunch or situp. In pilates we know that the core includes the abdominal, lower back, and buttocks.  It is a misconception that in order to engage your core, you must bend the spine (like in a crunch), hold your breath & press your abdomen outward. In actuality, it is the opposite!  First of all the spine does not need to bend in order to engage your core.   The core can engage without any structural change of the body. Second, breath is essential for your muscle strength and endurance.  And Finally, a strong core is a tight and pulled in feeling.

Try it out: This can be done standing, sitting, laying down and basically in any other position. If someone is watching you, they should not see your body change positions.  I like to think of the core as I would a fist.  To make a fist I curl my fingers in, wrap my thumb around and squeeze.  I ask my clients to engage their core in a similar way.  Think of pulling the core muscles inward and like a fist, wrap the muscles around the spine. You will feel an intense 360 degree tightening of the core.  This is your powerhouse!

Part 2 - Concentration

First Steps To Weight Loss

PART 1: Stop Drinking Calories!

THE BIG PICTURE When we say “body weight” and “weight loss”, we are usually talking about fat mass and decreasing it. Muscle and other tissues make up a lot of our weight also, but few people are trying to “lose muscle mass”! Bodyfat is generally stored when we eat more food than we need, storing extra calories in our fat tissue for the next famine. The problem, of course, is that in modern, Westernized countries, there is no famine. Instead we have near-constant opportunities to feast. In this article series I’ll be laying out some no-nonsense approaches to reducing calories and increasing nutrients in the food we eat. This strategy, along with appropriate exercise habits and other healthy habits, is the key to maintaining a healthy amount of fat in our bodies.

LIQUID CALORIES Stop drinking calories! Liquid calories tend to increase your total calories (consumed energy) per day, but, because they are mostly nutrient-poor, they decrease your daily nutrient intake. This means a tendency toward fat-gain and decreased health.

Examples of Liquid Calories: -Juice, even fresh -Milk, dairy or nondairy -Alcohol -Energy Drinks and soda pop, even sugar-free

Replace with: -Tea, especially green/white/black -Carbonated Water -Vegetable Juice, especially that made from green vegetables (carrot juice is still very high in sugar and lower in nutrients than green vegetable juice) -Whole Food Smoothies, especially those containing both fruits and vegetables

HERE'S WHY Juice, usually made from fruit or carrots, is essentially sugar water with a small amount of some vitamins. So many nutrients, including fiber, are lost when juicing fruits, that the end product can hardly be considered healthy, even when fresh-squeezed. Eat fruit instead!

Milk is also a low-nutrient food. While most milks (nondairy included) are high in calcium and Vitamin D, these are only two nutrients, and there are thousands of nutrients that we should be getting in our food. Also, milks are somewhat high in sugar, and non-skim dairy milk (along with coconut milk) is high in saturated fat and further increases your calories per day without significantly increasing your nutrients per day.

Alcohol is a low-nutrient food. Some benefits are conferred from moderate alcohol consumption (1-2 drinks per day), but these benefits might be outweighed by simply eating another small salad per day instead of drinking alcohol. If you are physically quite active, 1 alcoholic drink per day is probably fine.

Energy Drinks are not healthy. They are generally made out of carbonated water and sugar with a handful of vitamins and stimulants thrown in. Caffeinating oneself frequently as a lifestyle choice is a questionable practice on its own. But regularly consuming energy drinks is like regularly drinking soda pop, also called liquid candy.

What about sodas and energy drinks that are sugar-free? Artificial sweeteners are linked to a slight increase in body weight. Why? The prevailing theory is that consuming fake sugar confuses your body’s ability to sense when real sugar is being eaten. That means that when you do eat real sugar, like from some orange slices, your body is less-well equipped to deal with these sugars since it believes they are fake sugars. Personally, I consume drinks with real sugar those few times per year when I splurge on super sweet beverages.

HEALTHY REPLACEMENT DRINKS Tea, from the tea tree (different than the “tea tree” plant from which “tea tree oil” is obtained), is green, white, or black, depending on how much the leaves are processed after harvest. All three are full of nutrients, free of calories, and will benefit your health. Black has the most caffeine, green the least.

Water and carbonated water is healthy stuff. Drink in abundance! Actually, a sign that you are well-hydrated (but not over-hydrated) is having urine that is slightly yellow, but mostly clear.

Vegetable Juice, especially that made from green vegetables, is very good for your health. Low in sugar but very high in nutrients, green vegetable juice is a great addition for anyone. Watch out for vegetable juice that is based on celery or cucumber, since this is lower in nutrients than juice made primarily from vegetables like romaine, kale, broccoli, and spinach.

Whole Food Smoothies contain all the stuff that the whole food has, it’s just mixed and “pre-chewed” for your enjoyment. As long as you drink them somewhat close to when they are made (try 10-20 minutes), drinking whole food smoothies can be a super healthy way to go. Try mixing fruits and green leaves. You’d be surprised how many leaves (like spinach or romaine) you can add before you taste them. It’s like a fruit salad meets a green salad, and super convenient. You can also add other flavors by throwing in some cinnamon, unprocessed cocoa powder, ginger, etc.

What About Athletes? Athletes have higher--sometimes much higher--calorie needs, and liquid calories can be a good way to get those additional calories. It’s still smart to get calories from nutrient-dense foods though, since the body needs more nutrients to repair from increased physical activity. I recommend that athletes consume 1 or 2 calorie-dense smoothies per day that include lots of fruits, green leaves, and nut butter, like the one below:

Recovery Smoothie: 2 bananas, 3 cups mixed greens, 1 cup blueberries, lots of cinnamon, whole food hemp protein powder, 3 TBSP peanut butter, water. Blend until smooth. Makes about 4 cups.

Part 2: Eat Salad Every Day

DISCLAIMER: The author is neither a nutritionist nor registered dietician. Information contained herein was gathered from many sources and can be found in the literature of such organizations as the World Health Organization, the American Dietetics Association, the American Council on Exercise, National Institutes of Health, and others. Consult with a physician before making changes to your diet or exercise programs.

For more about the Author, Sebastian Grubb visit: SebastianGrubb.com

Catching Up With Sebastian Grubb

Enforced Arch 'Mover' and contributor, Sebastian Grubb takes life one step at a time but carries the world in his arms. Tackling fitness, nutrition and dance in one lifetime may seem overwhelming but for him, it's done with grace. He is thrilled to share his expertise with the world and has recently launched a website where you can get the best of all three worlds in one place. I had the opportunity to briefly interview him and here's what he had to say:

You have a very diverse background of expertise. Why did you choose to bring them together into one website? My life is organized around bridging my different interests. Movement, food, creativity: balancing these make up what I consider the foundation of a good life. In the end, my primary pursuits are health and happiness, and professionally that means working as an artist and trainer. I also don't see such a big divide between the categories; you need to eat well to move well (over the long-term), and dance certainly fits into the pursuit of fitness also.

What do you expect someone to get when they stumble upon SebastianGrubb.com (supposing they came for nutrition and they peruse the dance section)? I hope they might see the connection, see how different pursuits aid each other. Dance is an ancient, ancient human tradition; every culture has their own dance. That's strong evidence for the importance of everyone dancing. So someone can come to my site and think, "Hmmm, maybe I'll go out dancing this week or take a dance class." On another track, I notice that people who do pursue dance and/or fitness do not necessarily also pursue healthy eating, or have misinformation about what is actually healthy. That's why I have written and posted nutrition articles on the site.

Please tell me about Sebastian Grubb's philosophy of movement and lifestyle: My philosophy around healthy living is: to make time to move creatively and vigorously most days of the week, to eat almost exclusively whole plant foods, to sleep well and foster healthy social relationships. In more specific terms, exercise for at least 1 hour on 6-7 days per week; eat as many vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains as possible; sleep 7-10 hours a night, depending on need; practice sensitive, mature communication and healing psychological wounds.

What is a typical day in the life of Sebastian Grubb, what do you eat, what companies do you spend your time with? I have an unfortunately chaotic schedule, owing to shifting dance rehearsals, performances, and touring. That said, I generally dance 20-30 hours per week and train fitness clients 12-15 hours per week, in small groups and 1-on-1. I often train clients in the morning and evening, with a rehearsal in between. I work like this 6 days a week. And I perform about 20 weekends per year, with about 12 of those being outside California.

As you might have guessed, I eat a lot. Here's my basic structure: Breakfast based on fruit, lunch based on salad, dinner based on steamed vegetables. Add to that a lot of whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. And add a snack mid-afternoon, and an additional meal, usually a second dinner. This past year I have been learning a lot about training less to avoid injury and burnout, and about eating denser calorie sources, like nuts and seeds. It's funny that part of my challenge has been moving less and eating more, but that's just how it is.

I also do fitness-specific training for myself, like circuit strength-training, running, etc. This totally depends on the intensity of my rehearsals, if I am doing a lot of lifting of other dancers, learning a new style, or getting ready for a performance weekend. In general I fit in 2 strength training sessions per week, usually right before a rest (or low-intensity) day. Again, it's about the whole picture and a long-term perspective of sustainability.

Here's who I'm currently working with in the dance world: AXIS Dance Company hired me in 2009 and it has been a phenomenal learning and growth opportunity for me. We work 12-20 hours per week, on average, and I do almost all my touring with AXIS. I have been performing with Scott Wells & Dancers since 2008, which is a project-based gig. And then I freelance and make my own work. Currently I'm rehearsing with Christine Bonansea on a dancetheatre piece inspired by Sartre's play, "No EXIT". I'm also choreographing "WORKOUT", a dancetheatre piece based on fitness training and fitness-specific subcultures. It's very entertaining, vigorous, and interesting for me. WORKOUT will premiere this December in San Francisco.

What legends in the dance community, or perhaps not in the dance community, inspire you? I have always been inspired by older dancers. This started when I was in college and looked to young professionals in their twenties. Now I am inspired by dancers in their thirties and beyond. I love watching someone dance who is in their fifties or sixties and has this whole body of experience and movement history. It really shows. I'm looking to cultivate that in myself, as an aesthetic choice and even as a subtle spiritual practice. In the Bay Area I've been most inspired by Joe Goode and Scott Wells, both of whom are remarkable dancers, but who've also attracted communities of dancers and audiences around their work, which continues to evolve.

Growing up I performed in musicals and also saw a lot of them performed, some live and some on video. I remember being particularly inspired by Gene Kelly. I also watched most of Charlie Chaplin's films and draw from them to this day.

I should add that I am inspired by watching athletes; I love the pure effort, and the grace that comes from finding efficient ways to move. In college I was really inspired by bodybuilders and strongmen, both of whom have taken this process of molding and changing their bodies to an extreme. It takes such diligence and belief in their own ability to shape their world. I really admire that, though I would say my own fitness practice is much more balanced today than it was when I first pursued fitness via bodybuilding.

What's coming up for you and how do we follow your inspirational work? Thanks for asking! I have a lot of upcoming projects. Earlier I mentioned "WORKOUT", which premieres in December. I am also about to begin making a commissioned work for AXIS Dance Company. And AXIS has two big projects this Fall, making long works with outside choreographers Amy Seiwert and Victoria Marks. We will basically have two rehearsal intensives back-to-back over three months. Those will all be more like 30-hour dance weeks. You can catch all this in video and social media on-line via facebook, twitter and youtube. Here are some specific websites to check:

http://www.axisdance.org http://www.sebastiangrubb.com/gallery http://www.youtube.com/sebastiangrubb http://www.youtube.com/user/axisdancecomp

Images of Sebastian Grubb from The Narrowing, for AXIS Dance Company. Photography by David Papas

Thank you Sebastian Grubb for taking time to share this information with the Enforced Arch community. We are looking forward to all your upcoming creative projects and celebrate your achievements thus far!

Be sure to check out his new website HERE!

Dancers Are Also Athletes

Additional exercise outside your dance program should be chosen to complement what you are already doing. For many this means strength training for muscle groups not targeted by dance, and activities that are even more aerobically demanding, such as running. Dancers may also want to consider reducing the impact on their joints by selecting (non-dance) exercise forms such as bicycling and swimming. Drink 1-2 cups of water before activity, sip throughout, and generously replenish afterward.

If exercising strenuously, and to speed recovery, ensure adequate intake of foods high in carbohydrates within 30 minutes and foods high in protein within 60 minutes following activity. Healthy foods high in carbohydrates include fruit and whole grains. Plant foods high in protein include beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds.

Ensure adequate intake of carbohydrates and fluids before, during, and between dance sessions to improve energy levels and digestion. Dancers often dance many hours per day, with small breaks in-between rehearsals and classes. Focus on small snacks high in carbohydrates, fluid replacement, and save a larger meal for the beginning of a break of 2+ hours and after the day's activities are over. Under-eating is a surefire way to have inadequate energy during class or rehearsal.

Warm-up appropriately, starting with a low dynamic and keeping initial stretching light and in short duration (approximately 5 seconds). Take time to cool-down at the end of each activity session, gradually reducing activity intensity and finishing with deeper stretching, especially for muscles that worked extra hard or are excessively tight. Take at least 1 rest day per week from intense activity. Aim for 8-10 hours of sleep every 24 hours.

Ensure adequate intake of Vitamin D for optimal bone health. In some sunny climates nearer the equator, this can be accomplished with sun exposure on your own skin. In winter and in areas far North or South of the equator, supplementation is highly recommended by many health agencies. Vitamin D plays many important roles in the body, including the process of utilizing calcium to increase and maintain bone density. (Disclaimer)

For more on the Author, Sebastian Grubb, visit his 'Movers' page!