Tag: diet

(Un)Comfort Food

I’m having a bad day. Not the worst day ever, but it’s Monday and cloudy and I didn’t get any sleep because I was up all night working on a project for work. So, although today is a much needed day off, where I had a long list of things I needed to accomplish, literally zero sleep and stress and grouchiness have replaced motivation with self-pity.

On that long list of things to do was grocery shop. I’m not completely out of food, but all the good stuff is gone and most of the other stuff is wilty (or simply not edible without the aforementioned good stuff). I already had a rice cake with peanut butter, because I didn’t have enough produce for juice, so I didn’t want that again for lunch.

Basically the entire day was a spiral toward take-out comfort food for lunch (and dinner, let’s be real.) My ultimate comfort food also happens to be the most accessible food in the midwestern United States: the pizza. For particularly raucous pity parties I like to order a cheese pizza topped with extra mozzarella.  I mean, I seriously love this stuff. Sometimes when I am tired of salad and feeling blue I stare at this photo that I keep on my phone:

Image
I assume other people do this with pictures of say, pets or loved ones.

Luckily my favorite pizza joint in town delivers straight to my house, with the added bonus of online ordering so I could stay as clear of society as humanly possible. In a fit of guilt I amended my order to the healthy crust option, which is made from whole grains (I think mostly whole wheat). We’ll get to that in a minute.

I was pretty excited about it when it arrived, but immediately upon eating it I noticed three different evolutionary changes in my relationship with my closest ally, cheese pizza.

1. It is not as delicious anymore. I had an exact taste in my sense memory deposit, but for some reason when I bit into this reality, it just did not live up to expectations. I think, honestly, it is a combination of two things: 1. guilt. 2. I’m just not used to eating any of those foods anymore. Maybe I’m just not used to the taste of bread or cheese anymore. Or maybe the pizza place was having an off day? Today’s version did not look as vibrant as the picture above. But really I think that my heart is just not in it anymore.

2. I have a longstanding feud with my respiratory system. I am well known amongst my circle of friends for being sick almost once a month. I get sinus infections like no one’s business, probably 3 or 4 a year. Since my cleanse last month, I have been cautiously optimistic maybe I had alleviated a lot of these problems through my dietary changes. I don’t wake up congested or with a sore throat very often, whereas before this was literally a daily event. Last week my mom told me I didn’t sound like I had a cold on the phone for the first time in like 25 years. But today eating this thick whole wheat bread, my nose started running immediately. It was nuts! It could also have been exhaustion/outdoor allergies, but I think it was the bread.

3. I did not find comfort. I did not find solace in the warm tasty gooeyness of my lunch. Instead I felt even more tired, which I didn’t think possible, and bad about myself because it was a little early in the week for my cheat meal.

I only made it through 2 pieces, though. Which is a great testament to how well my diet is doing. Normally I could get through four or five of those within two commercial breaks. Now I am more conscious of what and when I am eating, and my stomach is just not prepared for a full capacity adventure like half a large pizza anymore.

So now, I have two obstacles: six pieces of leftover pizza in my fridge and a void where my old comfort food standards used to be. I tried the opposite approach at dinner, but my super green veggie smoothie did not really make me feel better either. (Although I did feel like it was a success getting through it!) So now, the important thing for days like today, is to find something that is delicious but will help my stress, not add to it.

Suggestions are welcome, by the way!

– lj

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Another Recipe Post (Still About Black Beans)

Over the weekend I posted about the giant pot of black beans I made. I also made a big pot of quinoa but the process is infinitely less exciting. Anyway, turns out that when you make food, you are supposed to actually eat it! Thus this week I have been trying to think up/find some delicious healthy recipes for black beans and quinoa.

I use Pinterest for these kinds of things a lot. It’s a great medium for finding recipe recommendations, so it is a go to for new ideas. When I thought of black beans & quinoa I automatically thought of a recipe that was all over the place on Pinterest a few weeks ago. The Superfood Salad. It was one I’d wanted to try for a while so I was happy to finally give myself the opportunity.

The thing is, I had been thinking about making this for so long that I thought I had the recipe memorized. I was wrong. First of all, I used mango instead of oranges. I left out the shrimp and corn. There were probably some other differences too. So basically I only remembered 4 ingredients and went with them!

Still, it turned out deliciously and was easy to make.

Quinoa Mango Salad

The recipe (my version!) was absurdly easy:

Quinoa Mango Salad

  • 1/2 Cup Quinoa
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1/2 Cup Black Beans (see previous post)
  • 1 Small Avocado
  • 1 Cup Diced Mango
  • 1/4 Pomegranate Arils
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Vinaigrette

Dressing:

  • Lemon Juice from 1 Lemon
  • 2 Tablespoons EEOV
  • 1/2 inch Ginger
  • Pinch Salt
  • Pinch Pepper
  • Put in small mason jar, shake, refrigerate extra

First, to cook the quinoa, you can either cook a whole bunch to store away or just make the amount for this recipe. Add the quinoa, 1/2 tablespoon of oil, and then water at a 2:1 ratio. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce to simmer. Cook until there is no water left (about 15 minutes). Fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set aside to let it cool while you chop everything else.

Chop avocado and mango, and prepare dressing. I buy the pomegranate arils at Trader Joe’s already pulled from the fruit, but if you buy the whole fruit, extract the arils.

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Mix if you want. Cover with 1 tablespoon dressing. Eat. Enjoy!

Note: This is a very large helping and was almost too much for me. Also if you haven’t noticed yet I love avocado so you could put in less if you want!

Another recipe I wanted to try, came from my imagination. Lately I have been really missing my beloved Mexican food. So, I decided to try and make something reminiscent, using the ingredients that are allowed in my diet and are already in my fridge. The result was a combination of taco salad and the superfood mix listed above.

Mexican-Style Power Salad

This salad was really good and insanely filling. The mix of quinoa, black beans and corn provides a a perfect protein, meaning it contains all of the necessary amino acids the body needs. Normally it is difficult to get all of these at once in a vegan diet. In my Mexican craving I broke down and added some reduced fat shredded cheese to the salad, but honestly I think it was unnecessary and I would probably keep it off next time. That’s right, I’d rather NOT have the cheese next time. This is what we call personal growth, ladies and gentleman!!

Mexican-Style Power Salad

  • 2 Handfuls Romaine Lettuce, chopped
  • 1/3 Cup Quinoa
  • 1/2 Cup Black Beans
  • 1/2 Cup Corn
  • 1/4 Cup Shredded “Mexican Mix” Reduced Fat Cheese (Optional)
  • 1/2 Medium Tomato, chopped
  • 1 small Avocado (or 1/2 a large one)
  • 1/4 Cup Chopped Red Onion
  • Couple dashes of cayenne pepper (optional)

I thought about adding a lime vinaigrette (olive oil, lime juice, cayenne, salt) but I honestly think this salad worked better without it. These flavors are strong and blend together well, and if your avocado is ripe enough, it should be creamy and oily enough to seem like dressing, especially mixed with juice from the beans and the tomato.

I’ll be honest. Despite the fact that I could have done without the cheese on this salad, it didn’t take away my craving for some creamy saturated fat filled cheese sauce over a deep fried chimichanga. But now that I really think about it, even imagining eating that makes me feel tired and greasy, which is not a feeling I enjoy too much. So I think if I can just work past the cravings, and keep finding ways to substitute and compromise, I should be in good shape! (Pun definitely intended.)

-lj

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Adventures in Unprocessed Cooking (A recipe for homemade black beans)

As part of this goal to get healthy and lose dangerous weight, I’ve given myself a lot of restrictions. I’m using a nutritionist’s pyramid, basically. One that I thought looked good was in the movie I reviewed yesterday, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead. That pyramid looked like this

Most people know, at this point, that fresh food from the Earth is better than food produced more or less in a chem lab. But, I was surprised to see it all the way at the top as something to eat only rarely. I guess I thought it would be off the map, more of an aside, like: BTW spinach in your Hot Pocket does not count as a leafy vegetable serving.

I’ve gone off on a tangent. The point is that I am trying to avoid processed foods. And now finally we have gotten to the point of this blog post! The point is I was very proud of myself today because I did some actual slow cooking today that would have made my Texan ancestors proud. I made black beans! It was definitely the longest cooking process I have ever taken on. There are a lot of steps!

Steps to Preparing & Cooking Black Beans

1. You buy the beans either in a bulk bin or in a bag. The market on my street only had the bag, which was fine because it was still organic.

2. Once home, sort through all the beans and sift out any seeds, stones or other weird looking things. I love this part because it really is a reminder that these beans are coming from the ground, not the assembly line.

3. After you’ve sifted through them, wash them. I am a weirdo about water so I sprayed them with the shower head function on the kitchen sink (no idea what the technical term for that thing is!) and then dumped a whole brita pitcher on top of them to make sure they were clean.

4. Once they are cleaned and sorted, they need to soak. Put the beans in a big bowl, then cover with water at a ratio of 3 cups water to 1 cup beans. The bag I bought was 2.5 cups so I put in 8 cups of water, just to be sure. The soaking part takes a long time. It’s best to just let them sit overnight. No worries about covering the big bowl, it doesn’t matter.

5. The fun part starts! Put the beans in a big cooking pot. Out of four sizes, I used our second biggest one.

Clean beans, big pot.

Then you can add some flavor! The spices can vary depending on your taste.  My mom makes some amazing tacos, so I used her seasoning recipe as a guide, and tweaked it since these are beans instead of chicken. Here is my recipe:

Spicy Black Beans

  • 1 Bag of Black Beans (2.5 Cups)
  • 5 Cloves Garlic, chopped*
  • 1/2 an Onion, chopped**
  • 1 Small-Medium Tomato, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Cumin
  • 1 1/2 Teaspoons Paprika
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (or a little more even)
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 4 Cups Vegetable Broth (1 box)
  • 6 Cups Water

* I love garlic and it is a very cleansing food, but you can use less if you want. 3 or 4 would be fine.

** I was running low on onion, and used leftover scraps from a red and a white. I wished there was more onion, which is why I’m predicting a half of one would be better. Either color really, but white might be a little better.

Even though there are a trillion ingredients, the directions are really simple.

5. Add all the spices and the other ingredients to the pot.

Garlic, Onions and Spices...look at all those colors!

6. Cover ingredients with liquids. I did half the water then the stock, then the rest of the water but I am sure it doesn’t really matter.

7. Bring it all to a boil.

8. Once at big, rolling boil, cover the pot, turn down heat and let simmer. Somewhere in the medium-low range is good. Let it simmer like that for about 1.5 hours.

–I’ve seen other similar recipes say as low as 45 minutes, but I wanted mine to be really soft, and they were still crunchy and grainy at 45 minutes on my stove. I recommend you begin checking them at 45 or 50 minutes, and if they are not ready, stir them up and let simmer at 10 or 15 minute intervals until you like the consistency. An hour and a half for me was perfect.

9. Turn off burner. Let the beans sit for a couple more minutes, just to let them soak in a little more moisture and also cool down.

10. Drain the liquid. There will probably be a lot of it. (A lot of liquid is important to avoid burning.) Drain until there is still a little water left as a sort of juice for the beans, but no free standing water left. This is obviously a matter of taste, but I would guess I left 1 or 1.5 cups of water at the bottom of the pot.

11. Use the beans! Eat them however you want! I put them in a completely delicious black bean and hummus “burrito” (really the world’s largest soft taco):

Black Bean & Hummus "Burrito": Organic Flour Tortilla (soften with 1/4 tsp EVOO and 2-3 minutes in oven at 250˚F), Spicy Hummus, 1/3 Cup Black Beans, 1/2 Avocado, tomato, onion, carrots & arugula (however much you want!)

12. Put the rest in a sealable container and save for next time! They should last about a week.

The final product

This was probably my biggest foray into the world of clean cooking (is that a term?) so far. It covers a lot of hours, but the actual work time is completely manageable.

I’ve been really enjoying cooking. Eating these clean recipes, using only organic, fresh products makes me feel energized and accomplished. Plus, the only way to trust what’s in it is to make it at home! Now I just have to decide what to make next…

-lj

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Docu Review: “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”

I decided to take a break from my normal sort of post. I’ve been trying to take in as much information as I can about clean living and getting healthy. At the recommendation of several people I have watched a couple of documentaries this week. First, I watched Food, Inc. which I thought was very informative (and DISTURBING) but the one that really spoke to me was Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I related so well to this movie. I actually watched it twice. It was much more relevant to me than I’d like. So here are my thoughts on it.

The film follows Joe, who also co-wrote/co-directed the film (and I think probably financed it). Joe was 310 lb. and had a terrible auto-immune skin disease that required he take a heavy dose of Prednisone, a really nasty steroid. It doesn’t really get into where he got the idea (or maybe I’ve forgotten), but he decides to go on a 60 day juice fast, in an effort to see if he can clean his body of not only fat but also disease. The movie chronicles those 60 days, (which he spends making juice from a juicer run by a generator in the trunk of his SUV) and interviewing strangers on the streets of New York City and then around the US. While on the road he interviews a lot of really fantastic, mostly unhealthy people, and convinces two people to join him in the fasting and document their progress.

One is a woman who does not appear to even be overweight let alone obese, but has health problems like migraines and sleeping issues, both with which I am all too familiar. She does not enjoy the fast but at the end of her 10 days, she is overjoyed with how great she feels. For her, the biggest challenge is balancing her lifestyle with a social life. Another thing I can relate to very well.

The other person who joins Joe is a man named Phil. Phil weighs about 430 pounds and is heartbreaking. He can’t walk for more than five or ten minutes at a time. He is obviously severely depressed. He is embarrassed to let anyone see him, including his kids. He is a 42 year old truck driver, which is not a very healthy lifestyle in the first place. Joe meets him on the road, and later on Phil calls him to say he needs a change and is ready to fast.

His transformation is incredible. I’m sorry to ruin the movie for everybody, but the end is really the point! Joe loses over 200 pounds, and starts a community-wide fast to get his whole Iowa town into shape. He honestly is a new person both in appearance and personality. I was so inspired.

The movie really made me think about the place I’m at right now, as opposed to who I’ve been in the past and who I want to be. It’s not always obvious in my day to day routine how much my physical state affects my mental one. I’ve always been friendly, out-going and up for a challenge, but looking at the past year or so, I probably haven’t been as lively as I imagine. My mind still feels pretty peppy, but in reality there are a lot of days where I don’t leave my house. (I work from home.) I feel better now than I did a month ago, but still. Looking at this movie showed me a lot about my own personal fears. I definitely don’t want to let things ever get any worse.

Unfortunately, my cleanse is on pause. Or maybe it’s over and I will start fresh in a couple of weeks. I think I mentioned in my last post that I sprained my wrist. Annoyingly, though, it is my right wrist, and of course I’m right-handed, so frankly it’s really a pain (literally!) to try to chop all my veggies. (I do it by hand.) So I’ve been eating a lot more convenience food than I like. Nothing too insane for the most part, but like, sushi or a prepared salad from the Fresh Market instead roasted salmon and veggies I cut up myself.

The film, however, really made me miss my standard breakfast juice, which I’d grown so fond of and accustomed to over the past couple of weeks. I was surprised, both of these men had physician approval to do the 60-day juice fast, where they lost an insane amount of weight. Far more than the standard 2 lb per week normally recommended. That is encouraging also. I’m not sure I want to do a pure juice fast, but maybe I will make sure to include as much as possible.

I did make a really good soup recently, which is the same as juice except warmer, really.

Here are the ingredients:

  • 3/4 Butternut Squash (4 cups chopped)
  • 1 Apple
  • 2 Carrots
  • 2 Garlic Cloves and a teaspoon minced Ginger
  • Cinnamon, Cloves and Nutmeg to Taste
  • And some water.
  • That’s it!! **

Then you just roast everything until it’s all pretty soft–maybe 25 mins– and then mix it together in a blender with some water. I used about 1 Cup I think. I just sort of added it in til I liked the consistency.

**I just checked the recipe which I got from the Whole Living Action Plan I’ve been following, and apparently you’re also supposed to add a whole onion, but I totally forgot it. It tasted fine without it. Made it sweeter.

I added some cinnamon mixed with a packet of Truvía on top. (This was kind of a cheat but def worth it!)

Here was the result:

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

It was great! It took a lot of time to prepare, I’m not gonna lie to you, but if you have a food processor or are better at chopping things than I am, it should go pretty fast.

And I definitely recommend watching “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.” It’s on Netflix Instant. Also from the website it looks like they have a lot of associated materials, which I’m going to check out. Hopefully they have some juice and smoothie recipes I can add to my collection!

It’s a great movie to watch if you are just on the edge of thinking it’s time to really start making some changes, but since if you’re reading this you’re probably past that point, it’s also great for people like me. People who have been doing well with clean living and detoxing, but sometimes just need a motivational nudge when things get hard.

Wow this one was long. Hope you have a great weekend!

-lj

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Exercise: The Other Half of This Thing

So, something I’ve noticed about the topic of the best way to lose weight: everybody has an opinion. Cut out fat, cut out sugar, cut out carbs, avoid cheese, count calories, join a program and on and on. And in my experience you can find expert evidence to support all of those ideas. The one thing most people agree on though, is that exercise is important.

But even that gets variations: walking is good enough, walking is not enough, or it is enough if you are moving fast enough. Running is better. Running isn’t really that great. Classes are more effective. Just do a 10 minute video at home–they really work! And again, I’m sure if not expert research there is at least plenty of anecdotal evidence to support them all.

This week I was all set to join a gym. Excuse me, not a gym, a health club. It’s an expense I really shouldn’t splurge on, financially speaking, but it’s something that is important enough to me I can figure it out. This place looks great. It’s the closest gym to my house, and it’s big, with plenty of equipment, classes, a nice pool and even a juice bar. If you recall, I really love my liquids.

But then, in a ridiculous and embarrassing misstep, I sprained my wrist while trying to maneuver a large suitcase. I figured the cross-trainers and ellipticals I wanted to use would not be the best thing for it, so instead I put off the gym a week and I’ve been walking.

Walking is how I’ve been exercising for several months now, but I think with my new detoxified energy, I’m moving faster so it feels like more of a workout. I’ve been walking an hour a day, and by the end, I can feel it. Even though I am excited to join a gym when my wrist is healed, exercising outdoors has a certain appeal to it. Time of year in particular, everything looks and feels beautiful.

So, I mentioned to a small group of friends that I was enjoying this, and some day wouldn’t mind learning how to run. I say learning how because it is not an intuitive movement for me. I still have post traumatic flashbacks to the required 9th grade mile run. Except my mile run looked more like desperate flailing played back in slow motion than actual running. I just have never mastered how to do it.

But before that point, I’m not sure my body could even handle running right now, which is what I told my friends who were encouraging me. For reference, one of these friends is a doctor about to start a fellowship in sports medicine, one is a marathon runner and one is a non-runner, but instead does all the fun workouts like the ballet barre and reformer Pilates.

They all encouraged me to keep up with the walking and see what happens from there. The doctor’s words were, “Walking counts!” She said it so forcefully like people don’t believe her but she knows it’s true. Then later, basically, my body will get so accustomed to being able to move free form via walking, gradually working in a one or two minute jog will feel easy. Eventually. And then I can keep evolving from there.

On the other hand, the non-runner friend said someone she knows has lost nearly 100 pounds just from walking. He has essentially given up his car altogether and walks absolutely everywhere. Any errands he needs to run, he walks. Pun intended. I’m sort of skeptical of that, because she said he didn’t even change his eating habits, but I do like the concept.

The point is that movement is important.

I’m still pretty excited to join a gym. But I found the story of the man who walks uplifting, and I like the idea of walking until one day running is just the next natural step. Pun still intended. It’s like, if you’ve ever seen at the movie the Usual Suspects, at the end a character transforms his gait and becomes an entirely different person. I don’t have any interest in organized crime and being an Eastern-European mob boss, but the idea transcends.

I’ve spent the last two or three weeks, and all of this blog, focusing just on changing my food habits. But that’s not the only habit that needs adjusting. I’m excited to see how much farther and faster I can go on foot, and to see how much more motivated I get once I’m in a gym and surrounded by equally motivated people.

So no more ignoring the exercise part of the plan.

-lj

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The Glory of a Well-Balanced Meal

So, it’s still Week 2 of my cleanse. On Week 2, I’ve been allowed to add in seafood and legumes. Honestly, that’s a diet that could be sustainable long term. It has opened up a lot more possibilities, but to be honest I’ve been using a lot of Week 1 recipes still. I wish there was more information on the reasoning behind each step of the process, because I’m not sure if eating fish or legumes every day or at every meal is vital to success or if it’s just a way of easing back in to normal life.

Either way I am glad this one uses fish as the protein. I don’t eat a lot of meat. I can’t help but think of what I’m actually eating and it grosses me out. I don’t like it. For some reason fish, and to an extent chicken, don’t bother me as much–I think because they are less “meaty”–so I really only eat those, and stay away from other meats. Thus, I got lucky that this one uses fish.

I’ve been reading up on other cleanse programs some more and I found one that seemed so strange to me. It lasts one week. The first day you eat only fruits. Second day, only vegetables. Third day, BEEF AND TOMATOES. Can you imagine? How can that possibly be cleansing? Tomatoes are incredibly acidic, first of all. And beef is so high in cholesterol and saturated fats, I don’t understand how it can be useful for detoxing at all.

But I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist or a naturopath. And, I’ve digressed. I can’t say I notice a huge amount of difference in energy between Week 1 and Week 2. It could be that the thrill is sort of gone, and now it’s purely my body’s energy and not my added emotional excitement. Either way, I still feel great. And, since I’ve been visiting my parents–who eat healthy but not cleanse-healthy/crazy–it’s nice to be able to join them for dinner a little more easily. Last night, I had roasted salmon, with an avocado-orange salsa, brussel sprouts cooked in olive oil, vegetable broth and garlic, and as a “treat” a 1/4 of a cup of steamed brown rice.

Salmon with Avocado Salsa

Here is the Avocado-Orange Salsa Recipe if you are interested:

Avocado-Orange Salsa

  • 1 Avocado
  • 2 Small Navel Oranges
  • 1/4 cup diced onion (or a little less depending on taste)
  • Juice from 1 Lime
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin

(This recipe makes a lot of salsa, but it’s hard to cut down without wasting precious avocado!)

The whole thing was so good. I think it might be psychological, but having different elements to the meal (instead of one giant salad) made it seem so much bigger and I was really full at the end of it. (Not too full, though! Just the good kind of satisfied fullness.)

The only problem is, I am not super great at cooking. I’m good at making things like salads and smoothies, but I have no idea how to grill a piece of fish. It’s easy to be so excited while I’m visiting my mom, who has been cooking meals from scratch 5 nights a week for like 30 years. I am really determined to make these efforts last long-term, so I guess I better get some cookbooks! Or at least watch Youtube instructional videos…

I’ll figure something out!

-lj

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