Healthy Cooking by design

Wikipedia says “A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics), from the Greek “macro” (large, long) and “bios” (life), is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also addresses the manner of eating by recommending against overeating and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.” Macrobiotics has lots of healthy recommendations and has similarities to the Mediterranean Diet that my cooking and lifestyle is based on.  Except that I believe in variety and moderation of all kinds of natural foods, so I would not adhere to the macrobiotic recommendation that certain vegetables be avoided, etc.

I hung out on one particular site which grabbed my attention with phrases like “Trying to understand the true potential and essence of your food through nutritional analysis alone is like trying to understand the current US political agenda using mainstream media spin on the subject as your only source of information. (nutritional analysis alone being people who just count calories or carbs, or buy a cereal because it has lots of fiber)- taken from the article titled Understanding Food Energetics; and

“Today we have a nation that is addicted to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year) was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20 pounds of corn syrup.” “- taken from the article titled The Hidden Story of Big Sugar.  One of my biggest problems with sugar is that it hinders your immune system and makes it sluggish - not at all what I want when my body (or my children) encounters a germ - a sleepy, half-hearted attempt to fight it off.

The site with the above articles and others like Raising Healthy Children and Whole Grains for Whole People is called Macrobiotic Guide.  They even list their Top 15 Super Foods.  Please don’t hear me saying that I agree every suggestion offered in this guide.  Instead, like most every site I find about diet and nutrition, they provide a lot of information that is thought provoking, much of which lines up with commonly accepted beliefs.   I always appreciate reading research and theory, and just apply the suggestions that mesh well with my family’s outlook on diet and nutrition.

We sometimes struggle with the “all or nothing mentality”.  Its either carrot sticks and water or a Big Mac meal with ice cream later in the day.  But let’s imagine that our dietary and lifestyle choices all equal either a positive number or a negative number on a number line, and we tally them up each day.  Viewed that way, you have an infinite number of increasingly healthy choices or increasingly unhealthy choices, with the occasional choice being neutral.   So even the smallest healthy choice - like parking a few spaces farther out in the parking lot or drinking green tea in the afternoon - are small positive numbers that get added in to the overall result of the day.  And we know this is true, because we clearly see it working in the reverse - lots of little choices over time at the drive thru, or the vending machine, or ice cream at night gradually add up to make a negative difference.

Let’s say a Big Mac meal equals negative 20 as a choice.  That same meal, if you skipped the fries might only be a negative 15 - a better choice.  And if you drank unsweetened tea instead of the coke, then that meal might only be a negative 5 choice.  Later today, you could walk around the block, a positive 10 choice, and have a fruit and yogurt smoothie instead of DQ, another positive 10 choice, and now you’re solidly in positive territory for the day.

I was thinking about all this today, because I was craving pancakes.  Now I could have bought buttermilk pancake mix, syrup, etc and had a lot of negative numbers for my day.  Or I could have made whole wheat pancakes and topped them with fruit and nuts and had only positive numbers added to my day.  Instead, I compromised.  I made whole wheat pancakes (positive), spread them with natural peanut butter (positive), sprinkled some chocolate chips (negative), and drizzled them with honey (neutral).  So, my overall effect was positive.  Not as positive as it could have been, but also not as negative as it could have been.  And it was very satisfying.

It is helpful to me to look at each small choice I make as adding positive numbers to my day - and therefore having a positive result in my overall health.  I am wanting to live in positive territory, so I look at each choice I make as either helping me get there, or negating some of the good choices I have already made.

Special photo thanks to TheD at Stock.xchng.

Why is portion control so important?  I suppose it depends on whether you are trying to burn all the calories you take in each day, or have extra ones to store away for later.  Even as I write this, I am enjoying 1/2 cup of oats, cooked, and topped with measured amounts of butter, brown sugar, bannana, etc.  Instead of feeling frustrated at the thought of measuring my breakfast (or approximating it because I’ve made it so many times), I find security and peace of mind knowing that I will burn all the calories I eat today and still be a size 7 tomorrow.

Imagine you bought fertilizer for your lawn, but it did not come with directions for proper application.  You would wander your yard, scatter the amount you thought was right, and hope for the best.  Through trial and error (and watching the results), you would discover what did not work well, but would probably not get the maximum benefit without the directions.  It is the same with food.

Most companies selling food are not only trying to make money, but are unconcerned with your health or the long-term results of eating their food.  I like to think of them as used car salesmen.  I evaluate each company individually to see how much they know about what they are selling, and how accurately they represent that information.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest, has some great lists of the best and worst foods.  Here are just a couple of their examples of restaurants not understanding (or caring) what they are selling, and consumers not understanding (or caring) what they are eating:

• Chili’s Big Mouth Bites with French fries (four mini bacon cheeseburgers with fried onion strings): 2,350 calories, 38 grams saturated fat, 3,940 milligrams sodium.  That’s about two days worth of RDA for most people.
• Olive Garden Tour of Italy, with lasagna, chicken parmigiana, and fettuccine alfredo: 1,450 calories, 33 grams saturated fat, 3,830 milligrams sodium.  If you’re over 40 or have high blood pressure, that’s more than twice the sodium you should have in an entire day.
• Ruby Tuesday’s “Fresh Chicken & Broccoli Pasta.” It sounds healthy, but its 2,060 calories and 128 grams of fat make it the equivalent of two 12-ounce sirloin steaks, two buttered baked potatoes, and two Caesar salads. (CSPI calls this dish “Angioplasta.”)
• Cheesecake Factory’s “Chris’ Outrageous Chocolate Cake.” This 1,380-calorie menu item is the equivalent of eating two Quarter Pounders plus a large fries—for dessert.
• Starbucks Venti White Chocolate Mocha and Blueberry Scone would provide 1,100 calories—or about as much as one would find in a Burger King bacon double cheeseburger, medium fries, and medium Coke.

Most of us realize that our desires will drive us to an unhealthy place unless control or restraint is applied.  We easily recognize this with the number of hours we (or our children) watch television, the amount of candy we eat in a day, how much money we spend frivolously out of our paychecks, etc.  Most adults don’t really live by “if it feels good, do it”.

Once we decide that we want to use portion control when eating, the question is how.  You could check out Mayo Clinic’s slide show on Portion Control for Weight Loss, Web MD’s article on Portion Control and Weight Loss, or look at The Portion Plate - an actual plate that shows portion guidelines.  You could also search a particular food in Calorie King’s Food Database and they will tell you the appropriate serving size, allow you to select other serving sizes, give you the nutritional information, as well as the amount of exercise needed to burn those calories.

Most of us have never been taught this information and yet it is foundational to good health and maintaining a healthy weight.  Once you get used to seeing and using healthy portion sizes, it is easier to see that both at home and in a restaurant, we serve and eat a lot more food than we need.

Special photo thanks to loleia at stock.xchng.

Some people who are trying to eat healthier make lists of foods to avoid - no McDonalds, no fried foods, no candy bars, etc.  I tend to go the opposite route.  My husband might say I am ALWAYS going the opposite route…but that’s a story for another day.

Years ago, I found a list of the healthiest foods to include in your diet.  At mealtimes, I would look over the list and see how many foods I could include in that meal.  So instead of trying to avoid certain foods and suffering through eating my second choice, I am looking for ways to include healthy ingredients and making them my first choice.  And by linking the good result I want in my body with the foods that will give it to me, it makes it easier to take the viewpoint that it really is my first choice.

One of the great lists on the web is at Worlds Healthiest Foods.  They have a fantastic list of healthy foods to include in your diet.  Another good list is the Glycemic Index of foods.  I try to include lots of foods from the low glycemic index category, some from the intermediate GI cagegory, and very few from the high GI category.  This Glycemic Index from Former Fat Guy is a simple and easy to read chart.  I hope some of these ideas make it easier to look for good foods to include in your diet.

Now that its bathing suit and shorts weather, we are all noticing a few extra bumps and bulges that we’d like to lose.  And we all want the quickest way to get there.  The long way is to intake less calories and burn more calories - boring and slow.  The short way is the new fad diet pill or berry drink - exciting and quick, but expensive, not long-lasting, and not healthy.  So is there some way to quickly get in shape for summer and do it in a healthy way?

Here are a few tips to cut out calories and creative ways to burn more:

• eliminate empty calories like bread in restaurants, sodas, candy, Starbucks, drive-thru food, etc.
• don’t use artificial sweeteners because they make you crave more calories
• eliminate meat from either lunch or dinner each day and focus on vegetables and whole grains
• eat breakfast every day - eggs or oats are long lasting
• eat apples as snacks between meals (only 70 calories, natural sugar boost, good fiber)
• park farther from the office or store and walk quickly to get there
• walk after dinner each evening, gradually increasing speed and difficulty (hills, stairs, etc.)
• drink water all day (add lemon if you want)
• drink a cup of green tea with lemon and honey each day (I like it mid-afternoon)
• take a multi-vitamin supplement
• do leg lifts or partial sit-ups on the couch during commercial breaks when watching tv
• meet a friend to walk and talk instead of for coffee and sitting to talk
• never skip meals, eat smaller meals with small snacks between all day
• just try to make the healthiest choice each time you eat

There is never a magic answer to a problem that took a long time to create.  Consistently eating healthy food and daily exercise will show results quicker than you think.  Just look for ways to eat balanced smaller meals and find ways to be more active every day.

I was chatting with someone after a recent Lunch-N-Learn about healthy foods and she reminded me of a couple of tricks she uses to satisfy cravings in a healthier way.   I thought I’d share her tips and a few others.

• When wanting a late night snack, drink a glass of water because we often mistake thirst for hunger.
• When craving something sweet, brew some flavored coffee.  Often, the warmth and the sweet smell satisfies your craving.
• If craving chocolate, make a mug of hot cocoa using skim milk, cocoa, a little sugar, vanilla and a dash of cinnamon.
• Only stock your house with healthy sweets and snack options.
• Take a multi-vitamin and multi-mineral to make sure your body gets what it needs.

Here are a few other resources that bring an interesting perspective to the cravings discussion. The folks at Family Education have an article titled Healthy Eating: Hunger vs. Cravings to help us better understand our body signals. Nutritional Counselor, Stacey Morgenstern, has an article titled Deconstructing Cravings that even has four things for you to do to answer your craving.

Did you ever consider that your body might be craving a particular nutrient?  The folks at Naturopathyworks have.  They developed a chart with things like “If you crave bread, what your body needs is more nitrogen, and it will be satisfied if you eat more high protein foods like fish, meat, nuts, and beans.

Cravings aren’t good or bad.  They are just your body’s way of telling you what it wants right now.  How you answer it will determine what it becomes tomorrow.

We all like to know the secrets of success - how to have a happy marriage, how to save money, or how to lose weight.  And while there are not short cuts, there are some tips and tricks that will help us reach our goals if we apply them consistently.

We all understand how this works in reverse.  None of us got into trouble overnight in our marriage, our finances, or our weight.  So we know that lots of little choices over a period of time produced the troubling results.  Lets apply that principle and make it work for us.

The folks at Weight Free Life have a short article with 3 secrets for weight loss.  But brace yourself - they are simple.  We often think we have to use some complicated, difficult program to get results, but that is not true.  Slow and steady really will win the race.  Often, eating the right foods combined with making some simple (but consistently applied) changes brings the long term results we are wanting.

So go check out their secrets, and instead of blowing them off as too simple, try them for a month - along with eating a mediterranean type diet and see the results.

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.

Many people choose a salad bar in a restaurant for a healthy meal.  Here are a few tips to make sure you enjoy all the nutritional benefits of a salad and avoid the high calorie pitfalls of restaurant eating:

Choose a green lettuce base (the greener the better), like romaine or spinach instead of iceberg.

Then go put your dressing on because the lettuce is the part of a salad that needs flavor and moisture.  Choose a low fat dressing and slowly drizzle to add what you need and no more.  (Remember that regular ranch dressing is 146 calories for 2 T, and low fat ranch is only 66 calories for 2 T.)

Pile on fresh vegetables (low in calories and high in nutrition) like broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, bean sprouts, radishes, beets, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

Add 1-2 Tablespoons of things (higher in calories and high in nutrition) like garbanzo beans, soybeans, green peas, eggs, sunflower seeds, almonds, black olives, and marinated 3 bean salad.

Have 1 Tablespoon of things (higher in fat or lower in nutrition) like cheese, ham, carrot raisin salad, and pasta salads.

Consider skipping things (even higher in fat and lower in nutrition) like bacon bits, croutons, packaged crackers, and rolls.

Finally, for “dessert” go get a plate of fruit staying as close to the natural fruit as possible and avoiding heavy syrups and whipped creams.

Top it all off by drinking water or unsweetened iced tea and you have a low calorie, highly nutritious meal.

Now, I must give praise where praise is due.  My husband is actually the one who discovered the trick to add the dressing straight on lettuce.  We had been to a salad bar when he realized that the bland, dry lettuce is the part he doesn’t like about a salad.  And that if he put dressing directly on the lettuce, he would solve the flavor problem and not be using extra dressing to coat things that already had a good flavor.  Way to think outside the box honey!

Special thanks for the photo to cgrabig on flickr.

I was pondering earlier what I don’t want for Valentine’s Day.  At the top of my list were:

• Fresh flowers.  They can be expensive but disappear too quickly.
• Dinner out.  A long wait for expensive food that usually doesn’t “wow” me.
• The typical two-pound box of chocolates.  Because although the chocolates disappear quickly, the 3000 calories don’t.

Which made me think, “What could we get for Valentine’s Day that we could feel good about?”

• You could ask your sweetie for the Whitman’s 4 piece Sampler Box and enjoy every one of the 240 calories.
• If you get a large box of chocolates, pick your favorite 6 and eat them 2 pieces each day.  Two pieces gives you around 150 calories (unless they’re truffles which are 170 each piece) which you can burn in a 42 minute walk.  I never can decide if we should take the rest of the candy to work to let others struggle with overeating it, or throw it away but waste the money.  Whatever you do, get it out of your house.
• You could check out Weight Watchers chocolates by Whitman’s which have between 30 and 50 calories each piece with only 3 grams of fat.
• You could ask for a box of Cocoa Via chocolate covered almonds.  They use good dark chocolate to coat plain almonds for 140 calories per pack.  A pack could easily be your afternoon snack.
• You could try Sweet Riot’s chocolate-covered cocoa nibs from Whole Foods.  They look like chocolate covered raisins but are little pieces of the cocoa bean straight off the tree.  These little crunchy bitter bits of chocolate coated in chocolate pack tons of health benefits.  I will definitely be giving these a try.
• You could go for a fresh fruit bouquet (fruit on sticks).  Delicious cold fruit you don’t have to prepare at all. Eat all you want, guilt free - Yum.
• You could think of something meaningful to YOU for Valentine’s, and ask for that.  (Instead of letting society tell you that you want flowers and candy.)

My favorite Valentine’s Day gift has nothing to do with flowers, dinner, or chocolate.  My hubby takes me out and we buy some cute “Valentinesy-kind-of-mug” and go have coffee at Starbucks or Panera.  We talk and laugh and enjoy some time without the kids.  Then, each time I use that mug I remember the fun time out and that my hubby has learned to ask me what I really want, and then give it to me.  Now that’s a gift!