Updates - The Right Plan Nutrition Counseling & Kellie Hill Nutrition

February 8, 2011 by Kellie Leave a Comment

Don’t Think You’re Nutritionally Safe with Artificial Sweeteners

Many diets recommend using artificial sweeteners in place of sugar to keep the taste and lose the weight. These artificial sweeteners come in many forms including Aspartame, saccharine, Sucralose, and Acesulfame-K. They are readily available at the grocery store as well as in many foods and soft drinks. So let’s break a few of the main ones down . . .

Aspartame: a low-calorie sweetener commonly known as NutraSweet and is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. The Aspartame Consumer Safety Network reports “85% of all complaints registered with the Food and Drug Administration, the US government agency that overseas food and drug safety, concerns aspartame’s adverse reactions” including menstrual changes, weight gain, and headaches to severe depression, insomnia, and anxiety attacks.

Saccharin: is a non-nutritive sweetener that passes through the body unchanged and is excreted in the urine. It is reported anywhere from 300-700 times as sweet as sugar. Studies have shown this to be a cancer-causing agent.

Sucrolose: a no-calorie sweetener commonly known as Splenda and is 600 times sweeter than sugar. James Bowen, M.D., a physician, biochemist, and survivor of aspartame poisoning warns, “Splenda/sucralose is simply chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon. Common chlorocarbons include carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride, all deadly. Chlorine is nature’s Doberman attack dog, a highly excitable, ferocious atomic element employed as a biocide in bleach, disinfectants, insecticide, WWI poison gas and hydrochloric acid.”

Acesulfame-K: is used in packet and tablet form, but is mostly seen as a sweetener in sugar-free chewing gum. It is 200 times as sweet as sugar. Laboratory tests have shown this product causes cancer in animals.

Remember that all of these products were developed to extend the shelf life of products so companies could make a higher profit with less waste. Commercialism isn’t bad, as long as our health isn’t at stake. Note that each of these artificial sweeteners are 200-700 times as sweet. This causes our taste-buds to adapt to this extra sweetness to a point where whole foods, like an apple, no longer taste sweet by themselves. There has recently been a lot of documentation showing that people have increased cravings for sweet and fatty foods when artificial sweeteners are regularly consumed. New evidence is showing that many of the body’s sugar handling mechanisms are still fired when our taste-buds identify “sweet” triggering the release of unused, unnecessary hormones. They can also make you feel bloated and fat, which can cause you to not eat real, whole, nutrient-dense foods. It’s time to admit that there is no free ticket to eating all the sugar-free products desired without paying the high price of harming our bodies in the long run. Stick with natural sweeteners, like raw organic local honey, stevia, or maple syrup instead of sweeteners that have been “manufactured”.

February 1, 2011 by Kellie 3 Comments

The Importance of True Friends

Sometimes it’s hard to know who is really a friend. Perhaps because as we grow and change so do the people around us. Sometimes we grow together; sometimes we grow apart. Some people celebrate with us as we change; some people harbor resentment, jealousy, personal insecurities . . . many things that make it easier to downplay our success rather than join in our happiness. Worse, are those that seem to be celebrating with us, but only to our faces.

When you face a potential life-altering moment, as I did when I stood on the line between healthy and diabetic, you begin to see who around you is really a friend. For me this experience came while driving to Portland with a friend, a real friend.

My diagnosis had come back as borderline diabetic a few months previously. I had mentioned my need to “get it together” to many people. Usually I got nice compliments like, “No, I can’t believe it, you look fine”, “How could that be, you’re so athletic”, “You should retest, you eat so well and work out regularly”. These all seemed reassuring that my diagnosis wasn’t a big deal. But then that fateful trip happened.

As we drove along I relayed the information from the doctor. For the first time, this friend didn’t compliment me or placate me. She dang near screamed at me for not taking it seriously. I got a lecture on how diabetes is FOREVER, how I had it within my control to solve this issue and what the hell was I doing . . . nothing! She was right. And, more importantly, she was the first friend who actually put my well-being as the priority. It isn’t always easy to hear the truth, but that is what defines a true friend.

I relate this story first, to say thanks to those that cared, second to remind everyone that change is scary. We cling to an illusion that things will stay one way. We often resist the normal process of change. We feel personally attacked if someone changes, especially if we don’t agree with the change. But change is the manifestation of our ability to grow, to learn, to become better. Change is an opportunity for celebration. Change allows us to move to a new level. True friends will celebrate your changes with you. Surround yourself with true friends.

January 18, 2011 by Kellie Leave a Comment

The BIG Rocks in Your Life

At this time of year, many take the time to reflect on the past year and set resolutions for the upcoming year. I am one of these people. As I do so, I reread a note from Bill Huffman, a Board Member of an organization I worked with many years ago. I want to share his “Coastal Notes” that he gave to me more than 15 years ago. Reflect on this story as you prioritize for the New Year.

One day an expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, he used an illustration the students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” He pulled out a one gallon wide mouthed jar and set it on the table. He then produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them in the jar. When the jar was filled and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”

Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”

To which he replied, “Really?” Next he reached under the table, pulled out a bucket of gravel, dumped some of the gravel into the jar and shook the jar causing the gravel to sift down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the class once more, “Is the jar full?”

By this time the students were on to him. “Probably not”, one of them answered.

“Good!” he replied. Then, again, he reached under the table, and brought out a bucket of sand and began pouring sand into the jar, filling all the remaining spaces left between the rocks and gravel. For a third time he queried, “Is this jar full?”

“No”, the class shouted.

“Good!” he said. Finally, he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in, filling the once empty jar to the brim. Next he looked up at the class and asked “What is the point of this illustration?”

One student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit more things into it!”

“No”, the speaker said, “that is not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is – If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”

So, as I (and hopefully you) reflect, what are the big rocks in your life? A project you want to accomplish? Time with your family? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Your health? Teaching or mentoring others?

Remember: Put these big rocks in first or you’ll never get them in at all!

January 11, 2011 by Kellie Leave a Comment

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 5)

So, here we are at the current chapter. I spend my days and nights talking nutrition. Helping people find the path that will lead to their optimal health. My path was pretty crooked but it’s the road that got me here. The inflammation in my body from the low/no fat diet years is very high. But each test it’s a little lower. I’ve been cancer free for six years. My joints and muscles no longer ache. My nails look good. I don’t remember my past-friend “fatigue”. My bowel movements are regular. My liver is cleansed. My weight has been a healthy, stable 145-150 for years (with only a few fluctuations) with nice muscle tone but not over developed. The heavy metal toxins are being released from my body. My cholesterol is great. No diabetes on the horizon. It’s been an amazing journey so far.

Every year for my birthday I try to do something new – often it’s “simple” like learning to play bingo but other times it’s extreme like learning to sky dive. The day before my 40th birthday, I completed my first Olympic Triathlon, The Pacific Crest in Bend, Oregon. For those of you who do not know, it’s a 1.5 kilometer open water swim, followed by a 28 mile bike ride, followed by a 10 kilometer run. Even in my early modeling days, I never would have thought about such an adventure. I may have been thin then, but I wasn’t fit or healthy. Now I know it takes balance between my health – mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

I saw this picture taken just after I crossed the finish line and smiled to myself to see a happy, healthy me. It’s not perfection, and never will be – too much pressure there – but it’s satisfaction, in my health, my life, my accomplishements, and my possibilities. I wish this for everyone. Hopefully I can help clients find their own path to optimal health that will allow them to be happier than they ever imagined possible. It can be an enjoyable road, and no one has to do it alone.

January 4, 2011 by Kellie 2 Comments

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 4)

For over 10 years I worked serving fast food during the day while spending my nights learning about healthy food and cooking. The in congruency was too much for me. I decided to go back to school and get a degree in Nutrition, Health & Wellness. At the completion of my degree, I wasn’t sure what came next. I thought I wanted to become a Registered Dietician. Along the way I realized my thoughts didn’t allign with the American Medical Association. I became a Personal Trainer, incorporating nutrition and fitness.

During this same time frame my health required some careful consideration too. Pre-cancer cells were found on my uterus just as my father was having a stem cell transplant to try and keep his terminal cancer at bay. My joints and muscles were hurting. My nails had ridges. Fatigue was my new best friend. And you don’t even want to know about the constipation. My liver completely shut down during labor. My cholesterol was too high and I was pre-diabetic. My weight was around 170, with a lot of muscle thanks to regular heavy weight lifting. How could I be falling apart when I was eating so “healthy”?

Something wasn’t right!

I started a new course of study based on the Weston A. Price Foundation and Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions. If you don’t own this cookbook, go get it, it’s a life saver. I came to realize that low/no fat dieting wasn’t helping me, it was hurting me. It wasn’t about the amount of fat I ate, it was about the type of fats I ate and the quality of food I gave my body for fuel. Finally, I was introduced to the Nutritional Therapy Association and the Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Degree Program. Here I found people that really believed food can be therapy. I found the next step I had been looking for and knew I could do what I loved!

Now, I’m putting it all together . . .

Don’t Think You’re Nutritionally Safe with Artificial Sweeteners

The Importance of True Friends

The BIG Rocks in Your Life

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 5)

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 4)

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