Following up on my Mel Robbins Podcast story, I was fascinated by one of her guests, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, and realized after I had searched her out that I’ve now watched about 15 of Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s half-hour videos in the last month, so I wanted to share this info packed resource as well.
Up until my early 40s, I ate whatever I wanted, none of it affected my waistline, and my answer to myself was always “good thing I’m tall”. The weight just evenly distributed itself and all was good. If I noticed that my clothes weren’t fitting like they used to, I would get on the treadmill each morning or go for a little walk–for what seemed like just a week or so, and all would be good again in no time. This is not how it works when you’re 45+, as I found out recently when Jay was away for a few weeks and my combination of healthier eating, less wine and daily visits to the treadmill didn’t move any meters for me. I did all of that for a month, and got quite frustrated that I did not notice one bit of change.
Dr. Mary Claire Haver is a gynecologist and culinary medicine specialist in Galveston, Texas, who is very inspiring, and explains why certain foods and nutritional choices affect women and how we can take control regardless of our age, shape, weight and past choices.
I’m not a very patient person, and have never tracked what I eat or what I’m getting for physical activity. However, after watching her videos on YouTube for a few weeks, I started using the app she recommends, Cronometer.
Cronometer is so easy to use, and really interesting to see what I’m lacking nutritionally and what I’m getting too much of. My morning smoothie is quite the concoction and I love it. The Cronometer app allows users to set up custom recipes so I can just log that I had a morning smoothie and not the 8 individual ingredients that go into it. I love my smoothie and it really packs a punch of protein and enough nutrients to keep me full from breakfast until way after when I’d typically be looking for lunch.
Jen’s Breakfast Smoothie
3/4 cup Milk – I use skim milk but have also used oat milk, almond milk and even water in a pinch
3/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt (stay with me, I know that’s not very exciting)
1 cup spinach, chopped (chopped only because I want to fit as much as possible in to the blender cup
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon each of milled flax seed and chia seeds
2 tablespoons of hemp hearts
2 tablespoons (sometimes 3) of my favorite–almond butter
This smoothie does get me about 1/3 of my calories for the day based on age, weight, height and exercise for the day, 1/3 of recommended protein, 20% of my recommended carbs and 40% of fats.
I’m not logging every single thing I put in my mouth, and I’m estimating most items, but it’s a real eyeopener to see the benefits of making different choices. I’m also paying attention to food labels since I’ve been avoiding food dyes for awhile now.
Watching these videos, I’m learning about foods that cause chronic inflammation, added sugars, and I think the most fascinating part of the Dr. Mary Claire Haver series of videos is that I had never heard of visceral fat – how we get it, and how we can reduce it. Yet, she’s inspired me to pay attention to it, and poor Jay, he gets to hear about nutrition a whole lot more than he ever did before.
Here’s the first time I saw her on The Mel Robbins Podcast, and if you want to watch, subscribe or just follow her. Her social media links are below.
“Dr. Mary Claire Haver, MD, FACOG, CMP, is a board-certified Obstetrics and Gynecology specialist, a Certified Menopause Practitioner from The Menopause Society (formerly the North American Menopause Society (NAMS)), a Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist, and a passionate entrepreneur and best-selling author with a focus on women’s health. Dr. Haver graduated from Louisiana State University Medical Center and completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).
As her patient population grew older, Dr. Haver started receiving numerous complaints and concerns about weight gain during menopause. This inspired her to do a deep dive into the science of menopause, aging, and inflammation beyond what she was taught in school and residency, which led to the creation of The Galveston Diet online program and, in 2023, a national bestselling book.” —thepauselife.com