Whole food

No, this isn't a post about the grocery store; rather, what is a whole food? What is whole food eating?

These are questions I've been pondering for the past few weeks. If you're anything like me, you've considered many different 'diets' or eating plans, nutrition options, good food vs easy/convenient foods.

Over the last six months or so I have watched several movies about food, nutrition, and health. Forks Over Knives; Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead; and Food, Inc are all wonderful! They are available on Netflix, too! Each has a different agenda and point of view, but each spoke to me in it's own way.

As a result of watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, I drank fruit and vegetable juice for four days. I noticed more stability over my mood, emotions, which lead me to conclude my blood sugar was more stable throughout the day as a result of not eating refined sugar and processed foods. Food, Inc challenged me to buy protein (beef, chicken, eggs, pork, etc.) that is hormone-free, free-range, grass fed, antibiotic free, etc. And to the best of my ability, I have done just that. Finally, Forks Over Knives challenged me to do something I don't want to do. FOK promotes a vegan lifestyle citing meat as a leading cause for cancer and many other health problems. As an RN, I know (and teach my patients) that fruits and veggies are best. Whole grains over white grains are a better choice. Soda is poison, and on and on. I like meat. I like Filet and chicken. I believe God gave us dominion over animals and provided them as food for us.

Let me clarify. I do NOT believe the animals in the Bible are the same as they are now. A cow is and was a cow, yes. But, the cow and sheep and chickens were part of the family. They lived with other animals, grazed all day, were treated well, slaughtered responsibly and used to their fullest potential. They were not crammed in a feed lot, standing in feces all day, pumped full of hormones to create breasts larger than any poor chicken should have on their body.

So, that leads to me to my next thought about Biblical eating. Which, I'll save for another day!

Reality Check

So last week I was spot-on with my tracking. I measured, portioned, counted and weighed almost every single thing I ate. Convinced I was going to lose weight last week, I entered the meeting confidently. Only to find I was up 2 pounds. Really? Are you kidding me? I was so disappointed. That's putting it mildly. I tuned the meeting out after that. I was discouraged and unmotivated.

I know the body will do what the body will do. I know that it's about the journey and not about the destination. I know that it's more than what the scale says. I know all these things. It doesn't make it easier.

How do you maintain motivation? How do you pick up and continue when you don't see results? I know the answers to these questions too, so I'm just throwing them out there. Seeing what you think. What works for you? What doesn't work?

Good luck. Keep going. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" ~Lao-tzu

Portions

When you think of dieting, what is the one consistent theme? Regardless of the plan or program, research or science, portion control is always near the top of weight loss strategies. Plates have gotten larger over the past 50 years and so we've continued to fill our plate when eating dinner. This has only added to the excess calorie intake.

WW meetings are so helpful because you get to hear all the tricks and tips that other people have learned. Sometimes I use them, sometimes I don't. One of the best ones is around Thanksgiving, they hand everyone a paper plate and you get to draw on your plate the foods you anticipate eating. My plate is always filled with special Thanksgiving foods that I only get once or twice a year. Am I really going to waste space on carrots? I get carrots all the time. Grandmas rolls on the other hand....! I always save space for those!

It comes down to portions and choices. I'm choosing the roll over the carrots. Yes, carrots are the better option, right? But, I only get the rolls once or twice a year so they win!

In the past week I've been very conscious of my portions. Measuring, weighing, counting. I love food so much that I will eat 2 or 3 portions rather than one, so I have to portion it out correctly. My coffee in the morning gets FF creamer but the serving size is one tablespoon. Not 3. I keep the tablespoon and the 1/2 cup measuring cup handy each morning. Since I'm using them for the same things (creamer, oats and soy milk), I just rinse and let it air dry and they're ready for the next morning. It sounds so OCD and Type A, but really, I have to do this. If I don't, my 1 Tb, becomes 3 and my 1/2 cup becomes 1 1/4 cups. I also feel more empowered. I know exactly how many Points+ I'm consuming. For this OCD, Type A girl, the control over my food and me is what I need to stay on track.

Pizza, pizza!!

Trader Joes is probably my most favorite grocery store, EVER! I love the atmosphere, variety and friendliness of the entire store. If you haven't been to a TJs, you need to pack your reusable grocery bags and head over there NOW!

Ok, now with that out of the way (!), dinner last week was an impromptu home-made pizza. After watching a food show about pizza, I had the bug for a Caprese pizza. So, to Traders I go!

They have dough (Garlic-Herb, whole wheat, and plain), pizza sauce and all the toppings one could dream up! Seeing as how I am trying to be more mindful about the products I purchase, the food I consume and how my food is created/fed/butchered, etc. I opted to buy my own basil plant ($2.99!!) and chose the whole wheat dough. Now, confession time. I. Do. Not. Bake. Have I discussed this before? I think I have. Yeast has a mind of it's own and I cannot control it. I do not like that. So, buying my own dough was a big step. Maybe someday I'll actually MAKE my own. Anyway...there were many worries in my mind about cooking my own dough, but I manned up and it was FABULOUS!

The dough was sweet and cooked just perfectly. I did spray the pan with a tiny bit of cooking spray and the flour from rolling it out was just enough. I used the entire container of sauce and it wasn't over powering for this pizza. The mozzarella was amazing, the fresh basil was

a bright flavor and the tomatoes were perfect! It was an all-around wonderful dinner!

Cook vs. Baker

I'm definitely the former as opposed to the latter. Baking terrifies me. There's chemistry involved. Your measurements have to be a lot more exact and precise than in cooking. You can't 'ad-lib' as much in baking as cooking. If I don't have a shallot, I can add an onion; but in baking, if I only have 1/4 cup of flour, I can't sub baking powder. When I try a recipe for the first time, I try to stick to it and not interject my own opinions, however, once the trial run is complete, I'm off and running! One of my favorite recipes doesn't call for a red onion, but hello? It totally needs it. I've added it since day one.

There's a popular WW substitution in baking that involves a can of pumpkin instead of oil and eggs. I like the cookies, other people aren't such a big fan. But if I can have 3 WW cookies over 1 normal cookie, I'll take the 3, thank you very much. The cookies don't taste like pumpkin at all. I've used a spice cake mix as well as a chocolate and no pumpkin flavor. They're of a more cake-y consistency than a crispy cookie which suits my chewy preferences.

Anyway, baking. Today, I applied the pumpkin substitution theory to an Apple Bread mix from Trader Joe's (which is my fav store, btw). The first time I made it a few months ago I totally spaced on putting the eggs in! I don't bake, I'm trying to tell you this. The bread was fine though. I was a bit apprehensive today, but then I figured I couldn't mess it up more than not putting eggs in it, so what the heck? The verdict? It's delicious! The sub was pumpkin minus the butter, eggs and milk! Very moist and full of flavor. I like pumpkin, so if it did taste pumpkin-y, I didn't mind, but some people may be hesitant. Don't be!

Applesauce is another popular sub for oil or eggs. There's a great slow-cooker chocolate cake recipe that uses applesauce. As far as baking goes, those are the only tricks I know. Cooking, I can hook you up! My most popular subs are ground turkey for beef, low sodium sauces/soups, FF soups (unless you're making a casserole, in which case, you do need some of the fat to hold it together), a butter flavored yogurt instead of actual butter, PAM as opposed to coating the pan with olive oil. One sub that I refuse is turkey bacon for real bacon. I read or heard somewhere that turkey bacon actually has more sodium because they have to add it to the turkey to preserve it whereas real bacon has salt naturally. If I'm going to splurge on bacon, give me the real stuff!

Sick exercise

The BF was really sick a few weeks ago and of course, it came about 3 weeks into his consistent gym workouts. This was a major wrench in his program. I was sick with a 24 hour bug this past week, and it fell on my Couch-to-5k run day. Of course. This sparked a good convo with the bf:

When you're sick, should you maintain your normal workout regimen?

I'm sure you've heard of people who run every day and haven't missed a day in 5 years. I heard of one woman who only missed 3 days in 5 years and those were the days she was giving birth. What the heck?!

I am not one of those people.

Not that I look for excuses, but I am a firm believer that the body needs rest. However, if I was the birth-runner lady, that amount of physical activity is normal for me and my body is used to running every day. In this instance, I do believe she should maintain her running. For all I know, she only ran for 5 minutes a day while she was pregnant (although, probably not).

In the case of the bf, he was just starting his work-outs and therefore, taking a day or two (or week) off, wasn't the worst thing for him. Once he builds up, I think he will miss his walks and work-outs. I miss my work-outs when I'm sick. Although, I did not miss my run yesterday. I could barely walk and think. I needed the time off.

Do you work-out when you're sick? Does the intensity vary? I'm really curious about this.

Sick

I hate being sick. It's like a full-time job to recover. Meds every 4-6 hours, drinking water, sleeping, peeing...so much! This sick is different. All intestinal. Even worse.

When I'm sick, I don't feel like eating. I have to force myself to eat and try to recover. For example, today I have had the following: Sprite, Saltines, soup and some oatmeal. Water, of course. I have no desire to eat.

I always feel that after being sick is the best time for me to jump back on the wagon, because I'm not viewing food as anything more than fuel. It's not something I desire or use for comfort. It's strictly nourishment. This is how I know that I can change my mind about food. If I was sick and still craving and eating, I know I would have a deeper problem. I am aware of my food and how I feel towards it. Does this make sense?

How do you feel when you're sick? Do you eat? Part of it may be laziness, too. I don't want to cook anything therefore I'm not eating much because I have no energy. Do you have staple foods you eat when you're sick? Does your significant other help you or do they leave you alone?