Healthy Cooking by design

I was pondering the scripture that says “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…” and how it might relate to food.  Now I promise, this is not a Bible speech, just a concept I was thinking might apply to healthy eating.

When I talk to our teenagers about “how far” to go on a date, I remind them that decision is not made while on the date but long before it.  I believe you should never put yourself in a position where you are likely to lose.  That is why you should not take your entire paycheck into a casino and then decide how much to spend or leave a chocolate cake sitting on the table if you’re trying to avoid excess calories.  I mention sex, money, and food because I think the strategies for sticking to your principles are similar.

I see value in making tough choices if it sets me up to succeed.  But how far are we willing to go to avoid putting ourselves in a losing position?  Consider some of the ways to fill in this sentence -  “If I (blank) , maybe I should (blank) .

eat half the cake once its baked…….not buy a cake mix at the grocery

have trouble not buying a cake mix at the store……..ask a friend to go shopping with me for support

have junk food in the house….throw it away (and think about how many calories you saved yourself)

just have to stop at McDonald’s on the way home…..choose a different route home

don’t want to eat fast food………pack a lunch and snacks and leave all money/debit cards at home

I’m NOT suggesting that there is some quick and easy answer to rid yourself of all food temptations.  Nor am I making light of struggling with food choices.  I’m merely considering what amazing results we could have by taking some drastic steps to avoid being in a losing position.  It’s like when my hubby and I watch football.  To win the game, not only does our team have to do their best to win, they have to avoid making mistakes that “give the game away”.

So figure out what your “cryptonite” is and avoid it - even if it means making a tough choice.  Find the mistakes you make that “give the game away” and find creative solutions to avoid them.  Making those tough choices will not only make lots of small choices easier, it will reduce the number of decisions you even need to make.

In a restaurant, I have made a habit of asking specifically for what I want.  Can I get that with brown rice?  Will you bring the dressing on the side?  Do you have a whole wheat bun?  Is your nutritional information posted?  I figure if people can ask for double fries or extra chocolate sauce I can ask about something that I am interested in.

This worked beautifully the other night.  A few of us were at the mall when someone suggested we get some ice cream.  So, we ended up at Marble Slab Creamery.  I looked at the selection of ice cream in the freezer and also saw a frozen yogurt machine.  Knowing I would make a better decision if I could see their nutritional information, I got bold and asked.

Sure enough, she handed me a laminated card and I quickly compared the small ice cream at 450 calories (250 of those from fat) with the small frozen yogurt at 100 calories with no fat.  I chose the chocolate frozen yogurt and was happy to enjoy a treat with everyone and not regret one bite.  I normally eat a 100 calorie snack after dinner, so my treat out just replaced my evening snack.

So the next time you’re eating something out, realize that everyone else is asking for substitutions or other toppings and you can too.  I think you’ll be surprised how many healthier options are available, if you just take the time to ask.

I decided that when I am in the grocery store, I should regularly buy a healthy product I haven’t used before and try it.  It is easy for me to keep using the same products I have already tested, and potentially miss out on newer healthy treats and foods.  One I recently tried was Chobani Greek Yogurt.  I chose Blueberry Nonfat, but they also had strawberry, peach, honey, vanilla, and plain.

I choose it because I had heard several people raving about Greek style yogurt being extra thick, so I was thinking it might make a good snack or dessert.  One container had 140 calories (a little higher than I usually go for a snack, but not too bad) and its ingredients are nonfat milk, blueberries, sugar, natural flavor and 5 live cultures.  I like that - short, sweet, and to the point.

The texture and flavor did not disappoint - very thick and creamy.  In fact, it reminded me very much of a thick vanilla ice cream or maybe a fat slice of cheesecake.  And there were whole blueberries in the bottom with a little sugary syrup that I stirred in.  Very creamy and very delicious.  So I will add them to my very short list of favorite yogurts - Dannon All Natural, Lowfat Vanilla , Stoneyfield Farms Vanilla or Coffee flavor, and now Chobani Greek Yogurt.

Basically, what I am looking for in a healthy yogurt is a low fat milk to start, natural sugar, and live cultures (the more the better).  If it doesn’t come with fruit, I have no problem adding my own fresh or frozen fruit.  In fact, I prefer a good vanilla yogurt and my own fruit.  I regularly make a bowl of fruit and use just a spoonful or two of yogurt.  And if fiber and regularity are what you are looking for, just add a spoonful or two of ground flaxseeds or whole oats.  In my opinion, that is just as effective and healthier than some of the new products with those claims.

So the next time you’re in the grocery, read a label or two and pick a healthy product to try and let me know about it!

Well, the FDA approved many of them and they are in all kinds of foods, so they must be healthy, right? I hate to question authority and the norm, but…

Let’s look at this ingredient that many people ingest regularly if not multiple times a day that research and experience indicates causes a variety of health problems.  Now, if you currently use artificial sweeteners, just take a deep breath and consider allowing some information to help you change your mind (and your health). I am lumping all artificial sweeteners together, although different ones have different side effects and some newer ones do not have much data available about potential side effects.  I personally avoid them all and use small amounts of natural sweeteners like raw honey, turbinado sugar (raw cane), molasses, brown sugar, and even white sugar.

Here are a few commonly reported side effects of regular use of artificial sweeteners which gradually disappear when their use is discontinued:

• headache or migraine
• increase in appetite and cravings for sweets
• slow, steady weight gain and lowered metabolism
• lack of sex drive, decrease in quantity and quality of sperm
• moodiness and depression
• increased instance of cancer
• fatigue and tiredness
• same symptoms as Fibromyalgia and Graves disease
• aching joints
• ringing in the ears
• increase in blood pressure
• loss of hair
• lack of mental clarity and memory recall

There really are too many side effects to name.  As of 1995, the FDA had received well over 10,000 aspartame related complaints, more than all other complaints combined.  And it is estimated that only 1 out of 100 people having symptoms actually file an official complaint about a food product.

In short, not only are artificial sweeteners not delivering what people want (all the sweet with none of the bad consequences) they are giving people a lot of things nobody wants.  There is evidence suggesting that damage from artificial sweeteners is cumulative.  So the longer you have used them, the more pronounced symptoms you are likely to have.  In fact, one of the terms used by doctors is “aspartame poisoning”.

There is a great resource about artificial sweeteners at 321 Recipes that has hundreds of articles from doctors and nutritionists.  You can also do a google search for “side effects of artificial sweeteners” and have thousands of websites to examine.  I hope you will consider kicking the sweetener habit and then letting me know the health improvements you experience.

Special thanks for the photo to ruthdeb on Flickr.