An advertisement for a holiday eating nutrition seminar recently came across my Clif Bar desk. It read, “Holiday Eating Survival: Worried about holiday over eating? Dreading the physical exhaustion and food remorse that seems to flow from November to January?”

A few key words jumped off the page and bit me in the stomach: survival, worry, dread, exhaustion and finally, remorse. As an advocate for great tasting, healthy food that can be enjoyed and shared, I was disturbed to read that holiday eating could cause these feelings.

I wondered how prevalent it was to see the word “survival” associated with holiday eating; and so I asked the Google machine. It spat out 129,000 hits containing the language “Holiday Eat Survival.” When did holiday eating become something you must “survive”? 

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Protein has been the nutrient everyone seems to want for some time now. Can you believe that next to water, protein is the most plentiful stuff in your body.

Most of us associate protein with muscles, but protein also supports our bones, brain cells, blood, skin, hair and finger nails. Does that mean you should load up on an all-protein diet for shiny hair and luxurious nails? No, but you should eat enough protein to meet your body’s unique needs to do all that tissue building, rebuilding and maintenance.

Protein happens to be one of your most versatile nutrients with many responsibilities. Some of protein’s jobs may surprise you. It supplies valuable enzymes that help regulate bodily functions. It acts as a “bus driver” transporting nutrients, oxygen, and waste throughout the body. It supplies collagen to connective tissue, skin, hair and finger nails. One of its most well-known responsibilities is maintaining our healthy muscles.

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We’ve been hard at work on our next CLIFCast Podcast, and the topic of discussion is menu planning. I was actually shocked to find out that most of my Clif Bar coworkers head to the grocery store to load up without a plan or even a list.

Maybe it’s just because I am one of those working full-time moms – the type that can’t remember anything and hates facing the daunting question of “What’s for dinner?” unprepared. But this dietitian loves having a plan and a list!

This past Sunday morning I was busy practicing what I preach, planning the week’s worth of meals ahead of time, making a list, going grocery shopping and doing as much soux chef-type prep as I could muscle. 

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Tis the season! The special Seasonal CLIF BARs are back, and available in-store and online through the Clif Bar Store right now. But hurry, because they’re only available through December!

Seasonal CLIF BARs come in three festive flavors: Spiced Pumpkin Pie, Iced Gingerbread and Cranberry Orange Nut Bread. And for the first time, 1% of sales from Seasonal bars will directly benefit the Winter Wildlands Alliance, the first and only national organization of its kind for human-powered snow sport enthusiasts and winter wildland conservationists.

Seasonal CLIF BARs are available in-store at the following retailers, and many more!

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Do you have a garden? A pot of basil in your window, perhaps? A tomato plant on your back stoop? No?

Shame on you for ignoring the biggest trend since organic food!

From small rooftops to backyard acreage, gardening has become the “hip” thing to do. There is even an organic garden planted by the First Lady herself on the White House lawn. I love it when something positive becomes cool. These days people are planting gardens for all kinds of reasons. It saves on the grocery bill, it seems safer and it reduces stress. What’s not cool about that?!

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