Chef Melissa Gellert

New York City based private chef specializing in health-supportive, gluten-free, and Paleo cuisine as well as cooking for those with food allergies.

Homemade Chicken Soup

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Wondering what do do with all of that chicken bone broth? As summer is coming to a close, cold and flu season is right around the corner. Not to mention, covid-19 is still circulating. Stocking the freezer with nourishing homemade chicken soup is one of the biggest favors you can do for future you.

There are so many versions of chicken soup around the world, from Greek Avgolemono to Thai Tom Kah Kai, to Mexican Chicken Tortilla soup, and they’ll all be enriched by using homemade bone broth. When I’m sick, I crave my version of Jewish Chicken Soup, taught to me by my dad. Leave out any noodles or rice for freezing, cook them fresh, and add just before serving to help keep their texture.

My version of Jewish Chicken Soup contains three ingredients you might not have tried. One of them, the humble rutabaga is actually a nutritional powerhouse and functions both as a root and a cruciferous vegetable. Other root vegetables are carrots, parsnips, beets, and tend to be a good form of starch. Cruciferous vegetables include kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, and are known for their anti-cancer vitamins and minerals. Less starchy than other root vegetables, while containing the anti-cancer phytochemical called sulforaphane. They also freeze really well in the soup. I include a lot of fresh parsley and fresh dill in my recipe, probably more than my dad adds. Parsley is an rich source of Vitamin A and Potassium, and dill is a good source of Vitamin C and Manganese. It also has a history of traditionally being used to help balance women’s hormones.

Homemade Chicken Soup
 
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This homemade chicken soup is infinitely customizable. The red pepper flakes add a subtle heat without being overly spicy.
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Recipe type: soup
Cuisine: Jewish
Serves: 10 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, reserved bacon fat, coconut oil, ghee, or other fat of your choice
  • 1 yellow onion, medium dice
  • 3-4 medium carrots, scrubbed or peeled, cut into quarter moons, sliced medium
  • 4 stalks of celery, sliced medium
  • ½ lb rutabaga, thick peel cut off, and cut into a medium dice (feel free to use more or omit if its out of season or you just don’t like it)
  • salt, to taste
  • freshly ground pepper, a few grinds, or to taste
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 chicken, broken down and breasts, legs, and thighs separated, or 3 lbs of bone in chicken breasts or thighs, or 2 lbs boneless chicken (use whatever you have on hand or feel comfortable with)
  • 3 quarts of homemade or store-bought chicken bone broth (regular stock will work fine in this recipe, but just won’t provide as much depth of flavor or density of nutrients. check out this blog post for instructions on how to make your own chicken bone broth.)
  • pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley (washed three times), tough stems discarded if desired, roughly chopped
  • 1 bunch dill (washed three times), tough stems discarded if desired, roughly chopped
Instructions
  1. Heat a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the fat of your choice and heat until lightly shimmering. Add the onion, carrots, celery, rutabaga, several large pinches of salt, and pepper. Sweat the vegetables for 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly, then add the garlic, continuing to stir and cook for 1 minute more.
  2. Add the chicken to the stock pot, and add bone broth to cover. (Feel free to add either water or store-bought broth if you don’t have enough homemade broth. I like the Bonafide brand.) Add a pinch (or more) of red pepper flakes. One pinch won’t add noticeable spiciness, but just gives the soup a subtle warmth. Add another large pinch or two of salt. I usually add about ½-1 teaspoon at this point. Its important to salt as you go so that the seasoned liquid gets inside the meat and vegetables as they cook. Don’t wait until the very end of the process to salt!
  3. Bring to a medium-boil over medium-high heat. Cover and lower the heat to medium-low or low to maintain a slow simmer (just a few bubbles).
  4. Depending on your stove’s simmer strength and the size of your chicken parts, boneless chicken breasts or thighs will be done in 10-20 minutes. Bone-in chicken will take 15-25 minutes. To prevent over- (or under-) cooking your chicken, use an instant-read thermometer. (I like ThermoPro.) Chicken breast is done at 165 degrees and dark-meat is better between 175-190 for a more tender bite, to let the connective tissue get a bit softer. Using tongs, remove the chicken to a bowl and let cool until you can easily shred the meat with your hands.
  5. Check the tenderness of your vegetables. They should be soft enough to be pierced easily with a fork, but not falling apart. If they’re a bit too al-dente, bring the soup to a lively simmer over medium heat and continue to cook, checking on the vegetables every 5 minutes until they’ve reached your desired doneness.
  6. Shred your chicken meat, or chop into bite-sized pieces, adding back into the pot along with any accumulated juice. (Save any bones in the freezer for your next batch of bone broth.)
  7. After I add the shredded chicken, sometimes I may need to add a little bit more water or broth to get the desired balance of liquids to solids. Taste and add more salt if needed.
  8. Lastly, add the fresh herbs.
  9. If you want to add noodles to your soup, cook them separately according to the package directions, and combine them with the soup right before serving. Do not freeze your soup with cooked noodles in it, they just won’t hold up.
Notes
*Feel free to add in other vegetables! Chopped fennel, zucchini, parsnips, turnips, chopped green beans, or chopped spinach. Add heartier vegetables (fennel, parsnip, turnip) with the carrots and celery, and lighter veggies (zucchini, green beans, spinach) in the last 5-10 minutes of your simmer.

**If you have a large enough stock pot and the freezer space, this recipe can be doubled.

Do you have a go-to chicken soup recipe? Try using homemade or store bought bone broth as the base to make it extra nourishing! The richness and depth of flavor will blow you away.

Homemade Chicken Bone Broth

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Have you been living under a rock? This could be the only reason you aren’t familiar with the the bone broth trend. It’s been all the rage for several years now, with café-like establishments popping up in my home base of New York City and in other preferred “hipster” destinations. Maybe you dismissed this elixir’s supposed benefits for hair, skin and digestion as almost too good to be true or just another fad that promises to be a panacea.

The bone broth trend is actually the popularization of an ancient tradition of using every part of an animal. I’m an omnivore: I consume animal products, but out of respect for the cycle of life, I believe that using as much of the animal as possible is the only way to be a conscientious consumer. Instead of buying a package of boneless skinless chicken breasts at the store, I usually buy fresh whole chickens or bone-in parts, reserving the bones for homemade chicken broth.

Healthy Benefits:

Many health experts agree it’s no coincidence that around the same time people started consuming a small percentage of usable animal parts, certain illnesses stemming from nutritional deficiencies became more common. Bone broth extracts every last amino acid (the building blocks of protein) and mineral out of the bones, ensuring nothing goes to waste. When humans consume the broth, their intake of gelatin, collagen, glucosamine and proteoglycans increases, which can help reduce inflammation, improve joint and bone conditions, and contribute to better brain functioning and mental health.

Folks with leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, will feel the most dramatic benefits, but almost everyone could use some help with  healing their gut. Once a leaky gut is healed, food intolerances (not allergies) might also be reduced.

The healing effect of bone broth on leaky gut is one of the reasons I recommend it to people recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease, because consuming gluten has led to leaky gut in those individuals.

Disclaimer:

Some people do have a negative reaction to bone broth. Because of bio-individuality, nothing is a cure-all. For example, if you have histamine intolerance, it might not be the best thing to consume copious amounts of bone broth on a regular basis. Negative reactions could depend on dosage, might be temporary, and perhaps be reduced after more intensive healing with a skilled medical practitioner. I encourage you to listen to your body and cease consumption if you notice any ill effects.

How to consume:

Bone broth is now readily available in the United States, either locally at your grocery store or online, but I encourage you to make your own. Not only will you be saving money by buying bone-in chicken and using every last part, but you will have full control of your broth’s concentration, plus any additional ingredients you may want to add. For example, more widely available bone broths include onions and garlic, which can be problematic for folks with SIBO or on a low-FODMAP diet. It can be stored easily in wide-mouth glass jars, or whichever containers make the most sense for your life and priorities. Plastic containers from the grocery store are not my favorite because even if it says its BPA-free, most plastics leach hormone-like chemicals, but any homemade bone broth is better than none. Eliminating plastic from your life can take a while; I believe in using what you have as long as possible to reduce landfill waste—even if that means dealing with some plastic in the short term.

Notes:

You can make bone broth from lots of different types of animal bones, but my favorite is chicken. Because they don’t require additional roasting like beef bones, and are easier to obtain, I think chicken is best for beginners. If you get in the habit of roasting a chicken on a regular basis, you’ll quickly have plenty of bones to make your own broth. Just put the bones in a bag in the freezer until you’ve saved enough to make a batch of broth. These Stasher bags are my favorite plastic-free bags for storing chicken bones in the freezer.

It was thought that adding apple cider vinegar helped to extract all the minerals from the bones, but that may not be the case anymore. 

I used to recommend cooking broth low and slow, but my technique has changed based on new information. Check out this article to avoid commons bone broth mistakes!

Homemade Chicken Bone Broth
 
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Make this bone broth to use in any recipe calling for chicken broth or stock, or enjoy a hot cup on cold mornings with a squeeze of lemon and salt to taste.
Author:
Serves: varies
Ingredients
  • reserved carcasses from about 2 chickens
  • filtered water to cover (I use about 2.5-3 quarts in my Instant Pot)
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (optional)
Instructions
  1. Stovetop directions: Bring to a boil, then reduce to a rolling simmer. Cook partially covered for 10-12 hours, skimming and discarding foam that floats to the top in the first two hours. Add just enough water to keep the bones covered if needed. Don’t stir the bones!
  2. Instant Pot directions: Combine all ingredients in the Instant Pot, following the directions specific to your model. Cook at high pressure for 120 minutes. Release the pressure manually.
  3. Strain the liquid, then pour into your storage containers, leaving enough headroom to allow for expansion in the freezer (we don’t want any exploded jars!) Wait first for the jars to stop steaming, then screw on the lids. Refrigerate overnight, then freeze for up to six months. Defrost individual jars overnight in the refrigerator as needed. Use the same as you would a chicken stock, or drink hot in a mug. Add salt to taste when reheating.

 

Morning Matcha: A Great Way to Start the Day

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After taking my vitamins and tinctures, when I first wake up, I make a matcha. Some people feel like the day doesn’t start until their first cup of coffee. I feel similarly about my morning matcha.

What makes my morning matcha recipe so hearty and invigorating? Cocoa butter and collagen peptides. Adding fat and protein to my cup of cancer-preventing polyphenols helps to blunt a blood sugar spike and crash and tempers my reaction to the caffeine that is in the dried leaves.

 

Morning Matcha
 
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This recipe is based on butter coffee and tea, but with my own twist.
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Recipe type: beverage
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1-2 scoops collagen peptides
  • 1 teaspoon cocoa butter (ghee, butter or coconut oil are other fats that work well)
  • 1 teaspoon ceremonial or culinary matcha, organic preferred
  • pinch of pink Himalayan salt
  • 10-12 oz. water, just boiled
  • ¼ teaspoon local honey or maple syrup, optional
  • 1-2 Tablespoons heavy cream, milk, canned coconut milk (blended) or Nutpods, optional
Instructions
  1. Combine the collagen peptides, cocoa butter, matcha powder and salt in your mug of choice and stir to incorporate.
  2. Using a handheld milk frother or a matcha whisk, slowly pour in the boiled water while blending or whisking until everything is combined.
  3. If desired, add a preferred sweetener and milk/cream.

 

What are the beneficial qualities of these extra ingredients?

Collagen

The science on supplementary collagen peptides doesn’t seem to have caught up with their popularity yet, but I still include it because since I’ve been taking it in this form, I have noticed digestive system improvements, more sustained energy, healthy skin and hair, and best of all, no morning caffeine jitters. There are studies showing people with fibromyalgia and temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ) who experienced a reduction in pain after taking collagen hydrolysate.

Matcha

EGCG, a compound in green tea, has also shown to be protective against inflammation, from which folks with fibromyalgia, and almost anyone with a chronic illness or disease, could strongly benefit. Green tea has also been shown by multiple studies to both prevent multiple types of cancer and inhibit its growth, a fact that has been all over the internet for years. Something you may not yet know is that green tea also affects oral health by preventing cavities, protecting against gum disease, and improving bad breath. 

Fat

Consuming a bit more fat in the morning with caffeine also has health benefits, like preventing caffeine jitters, blood sugar spikes, and the crashes that follow. This is because blending matcha with fat using a frother (or countertop/immersion blender) breaks the fat into small droplets called micelles, which bind to caffeine molecules and slow their absorption.

Other Considerations

Blood Sugar

Blood sugar spikes aren’t good for anyone, but caffeine’s effect on blood sugar can be quite dangerous for people with diabetes. Adding fat to caffeinated beverages may be a safer way to consume coffee and tea. Keep in mind that different fats and different sources of caffeine may affect everyone differently, and may raise or lower insulin sensitivity (yay for bio-individuality!), so be sure to check with your medical professional and monitor yourself if you’re starting to experiment with butter coffee or tea.

Cravings

In general, I ask my consulting clients to look at their macronutrient ratios and consider reducing their carbohydrate consumption as they increase their fat intake. Starting the day with fat in this form is an easy way to feel satiated and prevent sugar cravings later in the day. If you’re following a ketogenic diet, omitting the honey or maple syrup should keep you in ketosis.

Photo by Matcha & CO on Unsplash

Why I wear a fitness tracker, and why Fitbit is the best one for my needs:

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SLEEP STAGE MONITORING

Folks with fibromyalgia often have difficulty with deep sleep, Fitbit can help.

After wearing mine for almost two years, I’ve discovered that I cannot function with less than an hour of deep sleep a night, and that in order to feel really good, I need about an hour and a half. Curiously, the time I go to bed has a huge effect on how much deep sleep I am able to get. If I shut my lights off after 9:30 pm, I tend to get less. The sweet spot for me is heading to bed between 9-9:30, which feels unfairly early, but I don’t let this knowledge rule my life. If I want to see a late show or spend time with a friend, going into that social engagement with the knowledge that I might be a bit impaired the next day is really helpful. As long as I go to bed in that range most nights, I feel good about my life choices.

CARDIO/HEART RATE ZONES

As someone with fibromyalgia, I deal with exercise intolerance. I can’t just spontaneously jump into an intense workout without preparation. My increases in length and intensity have to be incremental and gentle, or I will have a flare of fatigue and soreness that will make any movement over the next few days fairly challenging. Using my Fitbit helps me monitor my active minutes and knowing how long my heart is in the cardio zone keeps me from pushing myself too hard.

I also know that I achieve a greater percentage of deep sleep if my heart rate gets into the cardio zone that same day, which is fantastic motivation for getting on my Bellicon rebounder for cardio bouncing. (Stay tuned for an upcoming post on my beloved rebounder any why I think it’s a great option for folks with fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome, or other conditions that involve exercise intolerance.)

MOVEMENT REMINDERS

More and more studies show that sitting all day can be a risk factor for disease, but what do you do when you’re exhausted and dealing with a flare of pain and/or fatigue? I’m less motivated to get up and move regularly when all I want to do is stay underneath my weighted blanket. I can set movement reminders for up to 14 hours a day. The Fitbit will buzz my wrist if I haven’t yet achieved 250 steps within a specified hour. For those of us with fibromyalgia, keeping our circulation going (which is really important) can be a challenge, and this reminder to move is a gentle push. I don’t beat myself up if I don’t get in all of the steps, and sometimes I really can’t do it. More times than not, however, the external reminder is a helpful motivator. 

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Some people claim to be sensitive to the electromagnetic field (EMF) that wearables emit, and their experiences are valid. There are so few studies on the effects of EMF radiation that they are often dismissed. If you have an autoimmune disease or other chronic illness, you might understand how getting a proper diagnosis can be a long and frustrating process, because the science hasn’t yet caught up with what you know to be true about your body. So far, I have not had symptoms that make me think I’m affected by it, but I’m open to changing my mind if presented with new information. Until recently, fibromyalgia was considered a garbage diagnosis. There are studies showing measurable inflammation in the brain and reduced Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the muscles, confirming that these symptoms have a real biological cause, and understanding in the medical community has grown. Perhaps the same will happen for folks who feel they are sensitive to EMF.

Luckily, my overall health and symptoms have improved since beginning to wear my activity tracker. I take a few nights off per week, and don’t know if it’s something I’ll use forever, but it’s working for me now and I’ll continue to use it as long as that’s still the case.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention other trackers out there and why they are not for me. I’ve also researched the Whoop, Apple Watch, and the Oura Ring. For my needs, the Fitbit was the clear winner. 

The pressure of the Whoop wristband set off my fibromyalgia symptoms, as I have a sensitivity to tight jewelry and clothing (plus, Whoop requires a 6-month membership fee). The Apple Watch has too many notifications and wasn’t efficient for tracking sleep. The Oura Ring,  which I REALLY wanted to work for me for their sleep metrics since it’s not really an activity tracker, was extremely painful to wear when I tried out their sizing kit. Fitbit is the most unobtrusive on my body and I honestly often forget I’m wearing it. They all have their positives and negatives, so if you’re interested in tracking your sleep, recovery or activity, I encourage you to research which works for your own needs. The best activity tracker for you is out there, and it might even be one that I haven’t mentioned!

(For reference, I currently use the Fitbit Inspire HR, but its been discontinued. The Inspire 2 is the same price as the HR with several improvements. If I were to purchase the best Fitbit for myself based on the models currently available, I’d get the Luxe or the Inspire 2.)

My actual sleep report. In bed and lights off by 9:30pm resulted in a good amount of deep sleep. I actually feel well rested!

Why I Don’t Promote Weight Loss

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I’ve been struggling with writing this blog post for a few weeks for a few reasons. First, I’m not an expert in fat-acceptance or body-neutrality. Second, I have privilege in this space. I’m white, not unattractive by many current cultural standards, and am able to comfortably wear most clothing brands. (This may sound like bragging; this is acknowledging privilege.) Because I have benefitted from my privilege, however, does not mean that I have not been harmed by the beauty and diet industries.

Many of my friends might be surprised to know that I flirted with an eating disorder during my senior year of high school and although I could blame the teen-girl magazines of the late 90’s and early aughts (RIP Jane), it was the director of our high school musical whose comments triggered my “need” to lose weight. 

I had been cast as Mrs. Mullin in our school’s production of Carousel. The director was also head of the gifted and talented program of our school, of which I was a longstanding member, and I was aware that she’d had problematic interactions with many of my fellow students in the past. She chose a red dress that the head of the costume department, an adult volunteer, had found. 

It ALMOST fit, but the zipper wouldn’t get past my waist, so I turned to the adults and said it was too small and wouldn’t work. The director’s response was along the lines of “This is the costume, so change yourself to make it fit.” I don’t remember how long I had between that try-on and the week of our performances, but that is when I first became conscious of what I was eating. I started drinking coffee and eating a half-sandwich most days for lunch, beginning with only a yogurt for breakfast. My slight shift in eating worked: I succeeded in zipping that red dress all the way with room to spare. I stopped trying to limit my calories when the performances were over and ate only when I was hungry, until I wasn’t anymore. 

I was lucky to escape high school without that experience triggering a much larger issue, but those memories have always remained; I could get skinnier if I worked hard enough or if I was controlling enough…but, before I head down that road of disorder, I’m able to talk myself out of that way of being. My experience pales in comparison to others and knowing this makes me so mad. If someone like me had that experience, and felt pressure from adults in charge–custodians of my mental, educational, and physical well-being–it’s hard to imagine the experience of those who did not and do not have my privileges. I recognized the toxic  standards to which I was being held and although it would have been better to not feel that pressure at all, it made me aware and gave me the fortitude to banish those thoughts and recognize messages I was receiving as unhealthy. The comments from my teacher/director harmed me but they also opened the door for me to recognize just how pervasive, and even accepted, “weight loss” culture is. I’m still consistently working against internalized fat phobia (just like I’m working against internalized white supremacy, ableism, victim-blaming, and capitalism). I will never tell a client they need to lose weight. Using my own personal experience as a jumping off point, there are several science-backed reasons why I don’t promote weight loss.

  1. The BMI is rooted in racism and not an accurate way to measure health. The Body Mass Index is a calculation based on height and weight that will supposedly give you a number which quantifies weight but does not take into account factors like frame size or age. Please go read this article for more details on the problems surrounding the BMI.
  2. The diet industry is just that: an industry. Companies recognize people’s insecurities, pain, and idealized standards are something to commodify and monetize. Television shows like Extreme Makeover or The Biggest Loser are some of the grossest displays of this. People are much more complex than simple calories in/calories out. I’m much more interested in the quality of food than calories. A Luna Bar has fewer calories than a grass-fed steak but I will always recommend steak as the more nutritionally dense protein option (except in the case of an allergy).
  3. The demonization of macronutrients is problematic. In the 1960’s research sponsored by the sugar industry, later debunked, pointed toward fat as the main driver of heart disease. Fast-forward to now, when people who desire quick and extreme weight loss go Keto (extremely low carbohydrate) without guidance and mess with their hormones. Almost all of us need a combination of all three macronutrients to survive and thrive, and ideal percentages will vary person to person. The details of how we determine what works best for an individual also vary between nutritionists. Here are factors I look at to determine a good starting place:
    a) Genetic/ethnic background: traditional foods of your ancestors
    b) Local/seasonal foods near where you live
    c) T    ime of life: pregnant/breastfeeding; pre- or post- menopausal/andropausal, etc.
    d) Activity levels: desk work or something more physical; do you train for marathons on the weekend or prefer yoga most weekdays?
    e) Illness: recovering from an injury; living with an auto-immune disease or other chronic condition
  4. Weight alone is not an indication of poor health and more studies are coming out to prove this. If you go to a doctor for an issue and they say that you first need to lose weight, please find another doctor! Blood pressure, blood glucose, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, inflammation, and vitamin/mineral deficiencies (low Vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, selenium, iodine, Vitamin D) are all things that can be addressed through nutritional adjustments. Sometimes when these other issues are addressed, people may lose weight. 
  5. Focusing on losing weight and wanting to be thin does not provide a basis for long-term success. In my opinion, it is too shallow of a goal based on factors that we think will make us happy. Lasting nutritional changes must be motivated by a deeper desire: do you want to be able to keep up with your kids during playtime or have the energy to take your dog on those long walks they love? Most people who diet to lose weight fail and end up gaining more. If you’re trying to plan for yourself, all of the information can be overwhelming and contradictory. Professionals like me are trained to guide you, help you prioritize, and distill the science behind these studies to what is applicable to you.

If you come to me with weight-loss as a goal, I’m not going to turn you away. I will, however, dig deeper to help you reframe your goals. (I am not strictly anti-weight loss, but my job is to help you see your health journey as being about more than weight loss.) Working with a mental health professional is imperative to help you understand your own motivations, triggers, and insecurities and to place them within a larger context. While not a requirement, it is something I ask clients who come to me with weight-loss goals to incorporate into their lives.

Things I do promote: lowering your resting heart rate, getting deep and restorative sleep, tuning into your circadian rhythm, reducing anxiety and depression, increasing energy and focus, stabilizing blood sugar, reducing inflammation, balancing your hormones, reducing chronic and acute pain/discomfort, increasing immunity, and correcting nutritional deficiencies. You may lose weight when these other puzzle pieces fall into place. If you don’t, it’s important to be able to recognize your successes, victories, and value independently of your size.

Additional resources:
Health At Every Size
https://haescommunity.com/

 

I Love Winter

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People either love winter or hate it, and it seems that this year the factions seem to have especially strengthened their conviction based on the weather’s ability to prevent safer outdoor social gatherings during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we have about six weeks of the coldest season left, and while some of you are probably counting down the days until you can comfortably exist outside for an extended amount of time, I am reveling in my favorite season. As I write this, New York City is being blanketed by a winter storm that may deposit almost two feet of snow, and I am delighted.

I grew up in what is known as the Snow Belt, an area of Northern New York that often breaks records for snowfall amounts and is lucky enough to be dumped on my something called “Lake Effect Snow,” which is the precipitation that occurs when weather systems pick up extra moisture as they move from west to east over the Great Lakes, and then dump it all in that very special region. There’s a ton of people that detest Lake Effect Snow, because it makes travel quite precarious and de-icing your car an unwelcome additional chore, but… I love it. I grew up skiing from the age of four, at a small “hill’ on the edge of the Adirondacks, and while I’m definitely not what one would call “athletic” or particularly outdoorsy, its the only sport I can actually do OKAY at. (Yes, I was on the ski team in high school, but to be fair, there were no try-outs. If you wanted to join, you could. My claim to fame was that I never came in dead last at meets, but I was definitely the slowest member in our group.)

Photo evidence of my ski team participation.

However, my appreciation of skiing isn’t why I love winter. Instead it has more to do with my chronic illness, fibromyalgia. Ambient room temperatures above 71 degrees just create a lot of extra pain and aches, and its a lot easier to keep a room in my preferred range when it’s below freezing outside. In an annoying twist of fate, being too cold ALSO increases my fibromyalgia pain, but it’s easier to layer up with cozy clothes and blankets than it is too cool off with a window AC unit and fans. (Everyone with fibromyalgia or another chronic illness has their own preferences/threshold for temperatures, so please don’t take mine as representative of the entire group.)

Along the same lines, it’s much easier for me to get deep sleep during the colder months. Ideal sleeping temperatures are 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 19.4 degrees Celsius), a LOT lower than I feel comfortable setting my AC in the summer, because…the environment and my energy bill. Getting deep sleep is absolutely one of the biggest challenges those with fibromyalgia face. I use a Fitbit to track my sleep, and have noticed that on nights when I get less than an hour of deep sleep, the next day I am unable to focus, weak, dizzy, nauseous…basically worthless. (I also have something called a chiliPAD that I use in the warmer months to keep my bed a lower temperature without having to blast my air conditioner. Full review upcoming!) One of the best things about winter is definitely my increased quality of sleep.

Lastly, being someone with a chronic illness, I sometimes have to cancel plans when I’m not feeling well. In winter, staying cozy at home is something most people understand, so I don’t feel the social pressure to meet up in the park for a socially distant hang.

(I want to acknowledge the privilege I have as a housed person to enjoy winter as my favorite season. For a lot of people, it’s a much more difficult season that they are just trying to survive. Please educate yourself on this topic and examine your biases against the poor in your own health journey. Public health, the climate/environment, and social justice are inextricably intertwined.)

Why work with a Nutritional Consultant?

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It’s January, and you’re probably inundated with plenty of ads on social media urging you to “stick to your resolutions!” or “lose weight now with this amazing plan/program/product/insert magic pill here!”. Not surprisingly, January has tended to show a bit of an uptick in inquiries for my private cheffing and nutritional consulting services (in NYC and virtually, respectively), and although I’m always excited to hear from someone who I think would be an ideal client, something I try to really hone in on is the “why” behind it all. Figuring our someone’s motivation is THE KEY to the nutritionist/client relationship. One big motivation lots of people glom onto is because they want to lose weight, which isn’t something that I promote (more on this in an upcoming blog). We need to dig deeper beyond society’s expectations of beauty, which are informed by racism and colonialism, and used by companies to fuel consumerism and constantly whisper “You’re not good enough.”
There are a lot of people who can articulate the problems with diet culture a lot better than myself, and I recommend you give them a follow on instagram (Virginia Sole-Smith, Aubrey Gordon, Jameela Jamil).
So now that we’ve gotten the reason I don’t love to work with a nutritional consultant out of the way, here are my top three reasons to work with me.

1) Your stomach hurts, you’ve got chronic or occasional acid reflux, you are self-conscious about your breath or bathroom habits. All of these symptoms point to problems with your digestion. If these aren’t super severe and you go to your doctor, they will most likely just write you a prescription for an antacid (despite their contribution to kidney disease), tell you to take probiotics, eat more/less fiber, use mouthwash, or take some Lactaid. Your doctor may be more tuned into nutrition and tell you to do an elimination diet to figure out if you have any allergies or intolerances, but at the end of your appointment you’re left with a temporary solution, and no resources to help you get to the root of your problems or how to deal with your intolerances in the future. Thats where I come in. As a nutritional consultant, I do a full intake on your health issues, likes/dislikes, lifestyle, and meet with you on a regular basis so that we can take things step by step and troubleshoot as things come up.

2) You have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, feeling awake in the morning, or rely on caffeine to make it through the day. Besides timing of meals and recommending specific foods to eat or avoid, a holistic nutritionist can help you reset your circadian rhythm.) Poor sleep habits can lead to memory issues, are associated with gut-bacteria imbalances, and a contribute to a lowered immune system. I can help you create new habits to support your sleep, through both food and lifestyle changes.

3) You experience a mood disorder like anxiety or depression. Studies are finally showing what we have known for a long time; food is information your body reads and nutritional deficiencies contribute significantly to mental health. I am trained to work with your therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, and/or general practitioner/doctor to make sure we are all on the same page. I will never advocate stopping/changing prescriptions in favor of only dietary changes/supplements without working with a licensed mental health professional or doctor. We all have different areas of expertise and can work together; it’s not an either/or situation.

There you have it! There are a lot more reasons that I’ll cover in future blogs, so stay tuned.

Showing up, probably imperfectly.

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Blogging (or writing without an assigned deadline) has never been easy for me. I hem and haw over the structure and topics I should cover, make excuses and procrastinate, and get lost in the editing and SEO of it all. I can be a little bit of a perfectionist, and sometimes it prevents me from starting. I’m scared to do something wrong! My impostor syndrome and the high standards I’ve set for myself can hold me back.
But, the truth is that I have something to say and information to share, and this space is perfect. I love helping people feel better, whether thats through my private cheffing, nutritional consulting, or my personal friendships and relationships. If I can help at least one person feel better through THIS platform, it will be worth it.
So, I’m re-committing to making the time to write, to publicly journal, to provide product and restaurant reviews, and get slightly nerdy with information on nutrition and health conditions, specifically those that I’m personally affected by (Celiac disease, the MTHFR mutation, fibromyalgia, hormone issues, etc).
Most of all, I’m going to get vulnerable about what its like to be someone who is chronically ill, running a business, and living in New York City. Sometimes that will mean sharing recipes, and sometimes that will be using this platform to vent about being sick. Most of all, I’m just gonna do the thing.
So, if you’ve stumbled across this post, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. What’s something scary you’ve done thats ultimately been rewarding?

 

Anita’s Coconut Yogurt

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My obsession with yogurt started when I was a kid. My mom used to give me and my brother yogurt as part of our breakfast (bananas, tuna, cereal, and corn toaster cakes also made regular appearances).

But, as I’ve gotten older and started to pay attention to how certain foods make me feel, I’ve noticed that cow’s dairy frequently makes me achey, gassy, and break out. I’ve ventured into raw yogurt, sheep and goat, and jersey cow varieties, but none of them are completely without consequence. As a result, I try to limit my dairy (excluding ghee) to special occasions.

Finding a high quality non-dairy yogurt has been frustrating, to say the least. Almond based yogurts seem to be too watery, and until now, the only coconut yogurt I’ve had was extremely underwhelming.

Enter Anita’s Coconut Creamline Yogurt. It comes in small glass containers with mango or blueberry, or in a larger plain version (my favorite). The texture is smooth, yet thick like a greek yogurt.

I like to control my sugar intake, and I’ve found that freeze dried raspberries are an especially delicious add-in. They’re also slightly crunchy, so the texture is great mixed with the thick coconut yogurt.

I haven’t even cooked with it in savory applications yet (raitia, tzatziki, and stirred into curries are on my list), but I’m so excited about it.

Unfortunately, its only available in the New York City area for now, but hopefully they’ll expand production soon.

Have you tried Anita’s? Do you have another favorite non-dairy yogurt?

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