Mindful Eating

Today I spent a glorious afternoon at Barnes and Noble engaging in one of my favorite activities; reading and thumbing through any, and every, book I could get my hands on! The best part about this complete randomness is that I never know what surprises are in store for me, and today was no exception. I came across a book that really got my attention; Mindful Eating. While I'm painfully aware of the relationship I have with food and my emotions, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is more attention being paid to this topic. If you're like me, you've probably tried at least one diet (or more) and have learned the hard way the dieting doesn't work long-term. This is a wonderful book that brings your attention to mindfulness in regard to your relationship with food. Mindfulness is simply the moment-by-moment awareness of life; but it’s not always so simple when it comes to our relationship with food. We so easily get caught up in our own thoughts and self-talk that we are scarcely aware of life as it passes us by; this is also true of our eating habits. We eat meal after meal, snack after snack, barely aware of what we’re eating and how much we’re consuming. I can recall many times that I've eaten while multi-tasking and can't even remember what the food tasted like...let alone whether or not I enjoyed it...or more importantly "am I full?" When we pay attention to the food we're eating (I mean really pay attention) we begin to notice all sorts of wonderful aspects of the food, and we become aware of how much food we’re putting into our bodies. We also rediscover the joy and pleasure of eating while figuring out how much we need (and don't need) to eat. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in bringing more mindfulness and meaning to your eating habits.

As always, bon appétit!

http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-531-7.cfm?gclid=CN-X6PWh46YCFUbf4Aodb0f4zA

Easy Breakfast, Crustless Quiche

There are few of us willing to wake up an extra 30-45 minutes earlier every morning to whip up a nutritious and filling breakfast. Truth be told, most of us are lucky if we can pour ourselves a hurried cup of coffee before we rush out the door to begin our day. However, skipping breakfast should never be an option because it provides the energy you’ll need for the day ahead. Breakfast cereals are a popular way to start the day, but for the most part they are not hearty enough to get you through the morning. And for those of us who are gluten-intolerant, preparing a healthy breakfast can become even more of a challenge. However, with a little planning there is no reason why breakfast can't be tasty, quick and filling! The key is planning ahead; a fail-proof approach is to prepare the night before (better yet, the weekend before). The last thing you need to worry about in the morning is another thing to add to your “to do list.”

One of my favorite breakfast meals is crustless quiche. Prepare a large pan on Sunday afternoon and you’ll have breakfast covered for the next week. Trust me; you will not miss the crust! The following recipe is one of my favorite concoctions (spinach and mushroom quiche) The best part is that you can have fun with it; keep the basics (eggs, milk, salt and pepper) and then throw in left-over’s from last night’s dinner to create your own quiche—be creative and have fun!

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

Prep Time: about 15 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1lb fresh spinach; chopped, steamed, and drained
• 10 eggs
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 6-8 oz feta cheese or goat cheese
• 1 lb shitake mushrooms, sliced
• ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large frying pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until tender, next add butter and mushrooms (continue to sauté until mushrooms are tender.) Remove from heat.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add the cheese, salt and the pepper, and stir to combine.

4. Add spinach, mushrooms, onions and garlic, stir to combine.

5. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish; bake for 30 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.

6. Serve alone, with a tossed salad, rice, or roasted red potatoes (my favorite!)

7. Yields about 8 servings (more or less depending on how hungry you are)

Weight Loss For Runners

I must admit that like most runners; I love eating almost as much as running! While I tend to watch my diet like a hawk, I’m not a big fan of deprivation. I think it is certainly okay to indulge in high-calorie or high-fat fare on occasion, but regularly overdoing it will hurt your health and running by adding (or preventing you from losing) extra pounds. The best way to get your eating habits under control is to eat smarter. For instance, if you like sweets, you don't have to give them up entirely. However, if you want to keep your waistline in check, you will need to exercise some control over the portion size.

There are some very helpful tips in this article from Runner’s World Magazine that I hope you’ll enjoy.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304--13785-1-1-2,00.html
As always, bon appétit!

Is food a thing or a relationship?

This is a question that took me some time to come to terms with. But, here’s the deal, what would happen if we were to start thinking about food as less of a thing and more of a relationship? In nature, that is of course precisely what eating has always been: relationships among species in system we call food chains, all the way down to the soil. Species co-evolve with the other species they eat, and very often there develops a relationship of interdependence. A gradual process of mutual adaption transforms something like an apple or a squash into a nutritious and tasty food for an animal Similarly, cow milk didn’t start out as a nutritious food for humans; in fact, it made them sick until people who lived around cows evolve the ability to digest milk as adults. Health is, among other things, the product of being in these sorts of relationship in a food chain—a great many relationships in the case of an omnivorous creature like man. Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source. They are opportunistic, general feeders not specifically adapted to eat and digest either meat or plant material primarily. This creates quite a dilemma for most people that are trying to eat healthy and have bought into the vegan craze. If you’d like to learn more about the pitfalls of veganism, read the following article and visit the "Food Inc." website:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/healthy-living/how-our-vegan-diet-made-us-ill-848322.html

http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-film.php
As always, bon appétit!

Fat Habit: Drinking Soda

Researchers say you can measure a person’s risk of obesity by measuring his or her soda intake. Versus people who don’t drink sweetened sodas, here’s what your daily intake means:

½ can = 26 percent increased risk of being overweight or obese

½ to 1 can = 30.4 percent increased risk

1 to 2 cans = 32.8 percent increased risk

More than 2 cans = 47.2 percent increased risk

That’s a pretty remarkable set of stats. You don’t have to guzzle Double Gulps from 7-Eleven to put yourself at risk—you just need to indulge in one or two cans a day. Wow. And because high-fructose corn syrup is so cheap, food marketers keep making serving sizes bigger (even the “small” at most movie theaters is enough to drown a raccoon). That means we’re drinking more than ever and don’t even realize it: In the 1950s, the average person drank 11 gallons of soda a year. By the mid-2000s, we were drinking 46 gallons a year. A Center for Science in the Public Interest report contained this shocking sentence: “Carbonated soft drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the American diet.”

Bonus Tip: When it comes to making us fat, soda is only one of the big offenders. Other sugary drinks can add belly fat fast, too. That being said, do your best to avoid this fat trap—otherwise you can be slurping more than an entire day's worth of calories, sugar and fat (in just a few minutes). Yikes!

Why Am I Gaining Weight?

Two out of three people in America today are either overweight or obese. My question is this, what happened? How did we all get in this predicament? Well, the simple answer is that we eat more calories. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that American men eat 7% more calories than they did in 1971; American women eat a whopping 18% more—an additional 335 calories a day! But the harder question is this: Why do we eat so many more calories? Are we suddenly more gluttonous? Do we have some kind of collective death wish? The answer to these questions is, no. There’s an even crazier reason: It’s the food! We’ve added extra calories to traditional foods, often in cheap, mass-produced vehicles like high fructose corn syrup. These new freak foods are designed not by chefs, but by lab technicians packing every morsel with maximum calories at minimum cost—with little or no regard to dietary impact. A perfect example is the typical fast food hamburger; it’s enough to kill your appetite, which would be a good thing

The great American staple; fast food hamburgers. Let me start by saying, yes, burgers really do come from cows—but have you ever wondered how those giant chains process and distribute so much meat so cheaply? If you don’t want to know, stop reading now.

The Truth: Most fast-food hamburger patties begin their voyage to your buns in the hands of a company called Beef Products. The company specializes in taking slaughterhouse trimmings—heads and hooves and the like—that are traditionally used only in pet food and cooking oil, and turning them into patties. The challenge is getting this meat byproduct clean enough for human consumption, as both E. coli and salmonella like to concentrate themselves in the fatty deposits. The company has developed a process for killing beef-based pathogens by forcing the ground meat through pipes and exposing it to ammonia gas—the same chemical you might use to clean your bathroom. Not only has the USDA approved the process, but it's also allowed those who sell the beef to keep it hidden from their customers. At Beef Products’ authority, ammonia gas has been deemed a “processing agent” that need not be identified on nutrition labels. Never mind that if ammonia gets on your skin, it can cause severe burning, and if it gets in your eyes, it can blind you. Add to the gross-out factor the fact that after moving through this lengthy industrial process, a single beef patty can consist of cobbled-together pieces from different cows from all over the world—a practice that only increases the odds of contamination.

Eat This Instead: Losing weight starts in your own kitchen, by using the same ingredients real chefs have relied on since the dawn of the spatula. If you’re set on the challenge of eating fresh, single-source hamburger, and pick out a nice hunk of sirloin from the meat case and have your butcher grind it up fresh. Hold the ammonia, thank you!

As always, bon appétit!

New Year's Weight Loss

It is a time-honored tradition to make resolutions at this time of year. If your resolution is to lose weight (and keep it off) then keep reading! Here are a few simple tips that will have you losing weight in a balanced and healthy way.

Drink lots of water: Water is essential for weight loss. If you haven't been drinking enough water, your body has developed a pattern of storing water. This water retention equals extra unwanted weight. By drinking more water, you are not only flushing out toxins, you are also teaching your body that it no longer needs to store water. Drink at least 60 ounces of water (about 8 glasses) a day. Boil water and sliced lemons, and drink this throughout the day to help with fluid retention. If you are still not sold on the merits of water, try this on for size: water is a natural appetite suppressant.

Eat early to keep weight off: The human body follows a circadian rhythm, which means that the same foods eaten at breakfast and lunch are processed differently than when eaten at dinner. Studies show that when you eat your daily protein and fat at breakfast you tend to lose weight and have more energy; however, eating the same things at dinner tend to increase tendencies toward weight gain. I suggest that you eat your last meal of the day by 7 p.m. if possible.

Adopt a balanced approach to your diet: Most of the fad diet programs out there nowadays are extreme in a few recommended foods, or else deprive the body of food altogether. This works in opposition to our metabolism and the results usually don't last, producing a yo-yo effect that depresses your metabolic function—not to mention your self-esteem. We are natural beings that need a balance of nutrition from all sources. Your diet should consist of a balance of organic sources of lean protein, complex carbohydrates, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Instead of white rice and pasta, opt for brown rice, bulgur, millet, or buckwheat. Eat greener, chlorophyll-rich foods such as broccoli, kale, spinach, and asparagus. Eliminate candy, sugar, soda, and all simple sugars from your diet. Excess sugar ends up being stored as fat in your body, which results in weight gain. Also, keep dairy to a minimum because most dairy products are high in saturated fat. Avoid fatty foods, processed or fried foods.

Get physical! The number one cause of weight gain is inactivity. Physical activity is the key to speeding up your metabolism and burning excess calories. The best way to be physically active is to use your legs! Walk as often and as long as you can. Always take the stairs instead of the elevator. Step outside during your break at work and take a walk around your building. Consider joining a local hiking club, gym or athletic club. Try taking a walk 30 minutes in the morning or 30 minutes in the early evening.

I hope these tips help you shed some pounds and add on the years! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.
May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

Holiday Fat Traps to Avoid

Tis the season. This is a difficult time of year for most of us that are trying to eat well and pay attention to our waistline! There is an abundance of opportunities to eat way too much food. That being said, I think it would be unreasonable for any of us to try and avoid all the holiday cheer around the dinner table. However, choose wisely because there are a few holiday foods that can completely wreck your diet! Moderation is the key, along with keeping your activity level high through the holidays. Here are a few of the worst offenders to watch out for:


Pecan pie
What it’ll cost you: On their own, pecans are high in calories, but combine them with sugar, butter, and corn syrup and you’ve got a potentially deadly dessert. A single slice will cost you more than 500 calories, 37 grams of fat, and 26 grams of sugar! If you want to indulge, go ahead; simply plan a 40 minute run to burn off the calories.

Glazed ham
What it’ll cost you: A 6-ounce slice contains 1,760 milligrams of sodium, 6 grams of sugar, and 300 calories. This might not seem outrageous, but think about how many slices of ham you fork onto your plate. The numbers add up quickly!

Swedish meatballs
What it’ll cost you: Lurking within each tempting ball can be at least 400 calories of white bread, butter, heavy cream, and sodium-laden beef broth. If you can’t resist, go ahead and enjoy. You can burn off the calories with 40 minutes of cycling.

Spinach and artichoke dip
What it’ll cost you: Spinach and artichokes alone are nutritious. However, generous amounts of mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream cheese overpower the vitamin-packed veggies. One popular restaurant’s spinach and artichoke dip with tostada chips has 905 calories and 3,100 milligrams of sodium, over 1,000 more milligrams than the USDA recommends! Yikes!

As always, bon appétit!

Fat Traps

First I'll start by saying that I hate the four-letter word "diet" simply because of the negative connotations it conjures up. The actual definition of diet is “a prescribed selection of foods.” That being said, paying attention to the foods we choose to eat has a profound effect on our overall well-being and weight.

One of the most common diet downfalls most of us encounter (including me) is our choice of beverages. A perfect example is a “blended coffee drink” from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Most of these beverages average at least 439 calories; those extra calories can lead to a 20-pound weight gain in one year. Yikes!

I’m not asking you to give up your morning coffee, because I certainly couldn’t dream of giving up mine. However, a simple switch to plain brewed coffee (which is nearly calorie-free) can save you a ton of calories. But I won’t be a total party pooper on this one; if you love specialty drinks, simply choose a smaller size and skip the whipped cream and syrups (add the sugar yourself). Presweetened drinks can contain 20 teaspoons of sugar which is double the 10 teaspoons of added sugar any of us need on a daily basis.

As always, bon appétit!