Vegetarian Proteins

I'm a vegetarian.  How can I get enough protein?

If you are a vegetarian you’re probably used to being asked, “Where do you get your protein from?”  Everyone becomes very concerned that you aren’t getting enough protein, but in reality, protein deficiencies in America are rare. Although meat is a standard protein staple in the American diet, many other non-meat sources can meet your protein needs. Protein is found in dairy products (cheese, milk, and yogurt), eggs, nuts, legumes, and in smaller quantities of starches and vegetables. The USDA recommends 10-35% of your daily calories come from protein. When broken down in day-to-day life, that can look like having 2 protein foods at each meal (eggs at breakfast, tofu at lunch, and a veggie burger at dinner) and 1-2 protein foods at snacks (such as yogurt or nuts). The flexibility of how to get your protein is up to you, but overall most Americans get plenty of protein regardless if they eat meat or not.

Protein has many valuable functions in the body – building tissue and muscle, hormone production, immune function, energy when carbohydrates are not available, and preserving lean muscle mass. And while there are some populations that might have higher protein needs – such as elite athletes, pregnant women, and older adults – society can certainly overvalue protein as the “ultimate” food group that you should eat all the time. This tends to stem from the same mindset that demonizes other food groups as being “bad”. Food does not have moral value. Eating more protein than your body needs is associated with its own side effects and medical conditions, as is the case with eating too much of any food group.  Finding the balance of all the food groups and eating them in moderation keeps your body and mind healthy and functioning at its best.

People choose to adopt vegetarian diets for many valid reasons, such as compassion for animals, trying to reduce their carbon footprint, or for religious reasons. Although a vegetarian diet can be nutritionally adequate, it’s important to be mindful of the intention behind following a vegetarian diet. Vegetarian diets aren’t necessarily more healthful or less healthful than an omnivore diet and restricting food groups can feed into disordered eating. If the goal is to lose weight or restrict certain food groups, it’s important to explore that with your dietitian and therapist.

Tori Davis, MBA, RDN, LDN - is one of the two nutritionists/dietitians at The Awakening Center.  You can contact her for individual nutrition counseling by emailing her at tori.davis3523@gmail.com

Fear of Carbs

Friday Food!  "Fear of Carbs!"

We're going to have a regular Q&A with The Awakening Center Nutritionists every other Friday on our Facebook page.  If you would like to  submit a nutrition question feel free to send it to awakeningintake@gmail.com. 

Here's our first Question:  I am so afraid to eat carbs because everything I read says carbs are so bad for you. Why can’t I cut them out entirely?

It’s a trendy thing for the media to do - to pinpoint certain macronutrients: carbohydrates, fats, proteins and turn it into a low-fat diet, low-carb diet, high-protein diet, you get the drift.  We always seem to be reading about why we should prioritize one macronutrient over another. When I was growing up, fat was the enemy. Most snacks were morphed and modified to be lower in fat. Even foods that never contained fat to begin with were labeled “fat-free” as a marketing ploy. Since trends eventually lose their spark, it only makes sense to slowly start shining this bad wrap on another macronutrient, right? Once it became evident that making foods fat-free or low-fat did not live up to its hype, the media decided to turn against another macronutrient. So now carbs are the enemy…but fat is okay again?

It’s confusing and frustrating right? Who do we even believe anymore? I think carbohydrates started to carry some stigma when the paleo diet grew popular. Carbohydrates were demonized as the media spread messages that they caused weight gain and bloating. Although these messages are trendy and appealing, there is little to no evidence to support these claims. In fact, this nutrition myth is very problematic as it leads to disordered thoughts and behaviors around eating and potentially inadequate nutrition.

Carbohydrates are our body’s primary source of fuel and because of this, they resist storing carbohydrates as fat. It would not make sense to store that preferred and valued energy as fat. Carbohydrates provide us with quick energy as they are digested and transported into the cells quicker than any other macronutrient. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose which then travels through our blood stream to supply energy to our brain, muscles and nervous system. Our brains are actually not able to store glucose; therefore, they need a constant, reliable supply.  If we do not give our bodies enough carbohydrates, it will begin to break down protein in our muscles, tissues and organs to use as energy. This is why low carbohydrates are not sustainable and can cause increased stress on the body. For optimal functioning, your body requires 50-60% of its total daily intake to come from carbohydrates.

We can agree that all of our bodies are different. What works for one individual may not be best for you. But one thing that is certain and consistent across the board is that all of our bodies require carbohydrates in order to flourish. The media will continue to tell you otherwise simply because it’s trendy and seductive right now, but don’t give in. Don’t fight what our beautifully instrumented bodies are innately born to do.

Karlee Pinto, RD, LDN - is one of the two nutritionists/dietitians at The Awakening Center.  You can contact her for individual nutrition counseling by emailing her at karleepinto.tac@gmail.com  

Falling Apart: Erin Diedling

Falling Apart

By: Erin Diedling

Falling Apart, Coming Unglued, Becoming Unraveled…It’s Good Stuff. No. really.

The idea of it sends most people running, saying uncle or plugging their ears. But it is also an act of being. An act of bravery. I speak from the front lines.

I have the great privilege to work with the brave clients who seek help in dealing with a binge-purge cycle, ADHD, OCD or the myriad other smart ways their nervous systems attempt to right the proverbial ship. I find that these clients use these tactics because they are simply looking for a way to defend against what may feel like a greater emotional pain. It’s actually quite intelligent of the body and psyche to defend against what feels scary and overwhelming. They may fear that if they don’t defend against the overwhelm, they may fall apart. But don’t underestimate the power of coming unglued…the genius of falling apart.

This is usually the difference between a client who goes away to treatment and a client who tolerates the suffering so as not to go away to treatment. That’s what treatment centers are FOR – for clients to fall apart and to have multiple safety nets in place as they do fall to pieces. It is the grateful kind of falling to pieces.

Most of the work I do in a private practice setting, while working with trauma, eating disorders and blocked artists/creatives has to do with controlled little-falling-aparts. Clients keep it together during the week and then come the weekly appointment, in a safe incubator they fall apart a tiny bit in session, do some psychoeducation, and get back on the road of day-to-day life armed with new tools and skills.

In our offices, at The Awakening Center, in a quiet, non-shaming and safe way, we hold a space for clients to gently sink into and feel those emotions. We invite them to sense inside and find a voice, an image, a color, a sense, an expression for that small quiet or scared part to speak up, to be scared, and to get the comfort – to FEEL the comfort and finally get what she needed, even if it is 20 or 30 years after the scary, annoying or triggering incident.

Sometimes it is in the falling apart that the true self can come forth. In allowing ourselves space, time and permission to fall apart, we allow things to ultimately fall INTO place.

I recently had an experience going into what I affectionately call, “the dark night of the soul”. And I don’t say that lightly. It was some of the most difficult, albeit intentional, raw space I’ve ever handled. It is my job to keep others safe. To keep it together. To be a healing force for the mental health of my clients and to forge greater awareness of trauma treatment in the world.

And yet, at the core of me, I knew I needed to fall apart. So I did. I gave myself time, space, permission and the required ethical time away from client work to go through whatever it was that would get me where I knew I needed to go. I craved greater self love. I craved putting my emotions as a priority. I wanted to KNOW what interested me. But I grew up in an environment which put all that on the back burner. There was always a fire to put out, there was always chaos or oppression to dodge.

I see this in my clients. When kids grow up in that kind of home and I ask them as adults what they prefer, what they like, what they desire, I’m often met with silence and a faraway stare. This is a new question to a client who grew up in chaos and/or trauma. If we’re lucky, we’ll actually have time to explore those preferences in therapy. They may have habits, ways to regulate the nervous system, ways to stay safe via ADHD, OCD, restricting or binging and purging, etc, etc. Habits to stay safe are one thing. But when you ask them what they WANT, what is fun, what is worth it, what is desirable, what makes them tick????? Well, that is a whole other ballgame.

Counselors often attract the kind of client they are or the kind of client who has been through what the counselor has been through. Hopefully, a good and ethical counselor will continuously do the internal work so that she can be a wise and experienced resource to her clients. That experience can only add to the compassion within the therapeutic alliance.

My compassion has increased as I see clients who are looking at the potential for unraveling. I let them know that it doesn’t have to happen all at once. That they have their answers inside. That finding the answer may involve some falling apart. It may also involve some joy.

For me, in the process of falling apart, I trusted in the universe and I trusted that the child inside could and would get the support she needed. I joyfully sank into the trust of the universe. And interestingly, the universe delivered. Gratefully, colleagues, healers, friends, even strangers showed up for me in such unusual places. I got everything I needed and more. And my heart is broken open, inviting, but protected and radiating trust. This is all new.

So, you say you’re afraid of falling apart? It’s pure genius. Go for it!