My trucker is trying the point plan and doing good. She is doing pretty darn well considering what is available on the road. However she is not getting enough points. It is not because she is eating stuff that bad either.
I think the problem is the lack of availability of fruits and veggies on the road. The very thing that gives her points are the fruits, veggies and water. Fruits and veggies are hard to come by on the road. She limits her water because she doesn't want to have to stop on the road.
She is managing to find chicken breast to eat which is 1 point until it exceeds 6 ounces. Some chicken breasts are huge and could make two meals. My husband and I often share a chicken breast because they are so large. I told her to save some for later if she can. Disperse the protein.
She was using artificial cream in her coffee. I would rather see her use real cream than anything artificial in spite of the fat content. So she is using half and half. I haven't gotten her buy-in on fat free milk yet. I have noticed though that most convenience stores carry whole or low fat milk, but rarely fat free.
I looked at some yogurt she was eating. The yogurt had 28 carbs from the sugar, it high frutose corn syrup. artificial flavor and at least a dozen ingredients I could not pronounce. This is a very popular yogurt and is usually the one they sell in convenience stores or truck stops. Another example of the marketing of food that is no better than a toxic waste dump in the body. There is no nutritional value in that food at all and it would cause her blood sugar to spike. It goes straight to belly fat. It is a shame that an otherwise good food can be rendered so unhealthy. We see commercials all the time that say, eat yogurt because it is good for the body. Well there is yogurt, which is milk and fruit, then there is the yogurt like this one that bears little resemblance to anything natural. Canned peaches with cottage cheese would be better than this stuff.
She asked about cheerios. Well cheerios are oats. I have none in my cupboard, but it is probably one of the healthier of the cereals that are readily available. She wanted to eat it as a snack. I told her to add nuts which would make it a complex carb instead of a simple carb. A simple carb turns quickly into sugar.
As for me, it is the weekend. I intend to roast some lovely vegetables, put on some greens, have a nice salad.... maybe I will bake some fish. I will easily have 15 points just from dinner. Glad I am not on the road.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
The 25 point plan
It is day five of my 25 point plan. My trucker guinea pig is trying to do this on the road and it has to be the ultimate test. If you have ever been to a truck stop, it is kind of like an over priced convenience store with the addition of hamburgers, hot dogs, deli sandwiches and the like. If they have a restaurant, it is usually a buffet with a lot of "home style" cooking where everything is fried or covered with gravy.
I have asked her to avoid bread, sugar, fried foods, sodas and bagged snacks (like chips and candy) like the plague. All of those are negative points. The more offensive, the more negative the points. Every vegetable or fruit is one point each. Lean meats are one point, not to exceed 6 oz. Dairy products are all pretty much negative but I will give 1 pt for skim milk, 1 oz of cheese or a laughing cow cheese. Nuts are 1 point. Water is 1 point for every 8 ounces.
Basically the whole thing about the point system is to strive for 25 points a day. If you do 20 one day and 30 the next, that works. It literally forces you to do veggies, fruits and water to get your points.
You can get points for lean meats, fish and chicken - or for something like rice and beans. Everything sugar, artificial, fried, preserved, cured (like bacon) or otherwise full of fat pulls you the other way.
Since this is a totally new approach, I am having to make decisions of the points on some things as we go.
A real challenge for my trucker is to eliminate the bread as bread is the main ingredient in every sandwich, hamburger, burrito, etc. She can't eliminate it completely the way we did on our detox, but she can cut back as much as possible. She got a grilled chicken sandwich and threw away the bun. I was proud of her.
Her other challenge is to have fresh produce. She has a tiny mini fridge, about big enough for 8 cans of soda. Also, 18 wheelers are not welcome to park anywhere other than a truck stop - so it is difficult for her to even go to a regular market. So she lets her husband drop her off to shop and he drives around until she is done. So she buys produce that does not have to be refrigerated, and washes them in a plastic tub and eats them when she can. She is eating an apple three times a day as instructed. The pectin in the apple will offset the fat in the trucker food somewhat and she gets a point for each.
Really Walmart... and you other big stores. Can't truckers park long enough to shop in your stores?
I have asked her to avoid bread, sugar, fried foods, sodas and bagged snacks (like chips and candy) like the plague. All of those are negative points. The more offensive, the more negative the points. Every vegetable or fruit is one point each. Lean meats are one point, not to exceed 6 oz. Dairy products are all pretty much negative but I will give 1 pt for skim milk, 1 oz of cheese or a laughing cow cheese. Nuts are 1 point. Water is 1 point for every 8 ounces.
Basically the whole thing about the point system is to strive for 25 points a day. If you do 20 one day and 30 the next, that works. It literally forces you to do veggies, fruits and water to get your points.
You can get points for lean meats, fish and chicken - or for something like rice and beans. Everything sugar, artificial, fried, preserved, cured (like bacon) or otherwise full of fat pulls you the other way.
Since this is a totally new approach, I am having to make decisions of the points on some things as we go.
A real challenge for my trucker is to eliminate the bread as bread is the main ingredient in every sandwich, hamburger, burrito, etc. She can't eliminate it completely the way we did on our detox, but she can cut back as much as possible. She got a grilled chicken sandwich and threw away the bun. I was proud of her.
Her other challenge is to have fresh produce. She has a tiny mini fridge, about big enough for 8 cans of soda. Also, 18 wheelers are not welcome to park anywhere other than a truck stop - so it is difficult for her to even go to a regular market. So she lets her husband drop her off to shop and he drives around until she is done. So she buys produce that does not have to be refrigerated, and washes them in a plastic tub and eats them when she can. She is eating an apple three times a day as instructed. The pectin in the apple will offset the fat in the trucker food somewhat and she gets a point for each.
Really Walmart... and you other big stores. Can't truckers park long enough to shop in your stores?
Saturday, September 24, 2011
New plan
Harry and I recently went to Florida for a nice vacation. During that time we were on a c-seafood diet. We ate all of the seafood we could see. Old joke, but people do it every day. We went to the grocery store the first day there and bought some fruit, cheese, nuts, water and healthy snacks. We had a fridge in the room and we kept it full the whole time. The hotel served breakfast everyday. We went out to eat every day during the heat of the day. We enjoyed the beach in the late afternoon and ate our goodies in the hotel in the evening as we watched the ocean from our balcony.
We were there to rest and take in the beauty of the ocean.
At the end of it all, we both gained about 8 pounds. We know we cannot eat with wild abandon like that but it was vacation after all! Now that we are back, we are HUNGRY all the time. Eating like we did proved my point that additives are applied to restaurant and take out food to add to the flavor. We probably ate a LOT of MSG. I think it is addictive.
It proved my final point, that the more you eat out, the more you want to eat.
In spite of it all, we are still taking our brewers yeast-lecithin-protein shake every day as well as our Juice-Plus supplements. We still feel pretty darn good from a diet we were only on for 6 weeks.
We have been crazy busy since that 6 weeks. While we have not completely dropped our new lifestyle of eating healthy, we have challenged it more than we would like. As I said before, healthy eating takes planning and preparation! The first thing that upsets your routine completely unravels the diet. We have so little time at home during the week that we have to spend time on the weekend getting prepared. If we don't, then we go through the whole week trying to eat as good as we can from what is available.
I have to admit, if I cannot follow the plan then it is not a good plan. Everyone else is as busy as we are. I have my grandsons over twice a week and they totally disrupt our routine. So what about the people who have their children all the time? My plan has to work for them too. This has been something I have been thinking about for awhile. How to make it all work!
We have so many things stacked against us. You cannot even buy a sandwich in America without it being made with white flour. Even if it is called wheat, it is just dyed white flour. Exceptions like bread made with sprouted wheat germ and stone ground wheat would certainly be an exception but not available at a sandwich shop. So basically, take out is a negative strike on the diet with very little exception. Any convenience food is a negative strike. Restaurant food may be a rise above, but the food is loaded with extra fat and additives. It is a sure bet that any thing fried was fried in the cheapest oil the restaurant can buy. Even olive oil turns carcinegenic at the normal frying temp of 350, so you know the fried food is not a good thing. That was something we thought about quite a bit in Florida as we munched our fried fish and chips. (Yes, I can hear you!)
Again, I say in spite of our transgressions, we are STILL a lot healthier because of the 6 weeks that we were totally dedicated to the plan. So, even if we cannot do it ALL the time, it is important to strive to do it as much as possible.
I have a challenger. My first guinea pig who approached me with a challenge is going to start on my new plan. Harry and I will start it on 10/3 and I may tweak it here and there, but I think it will work. Guinea, so I don't use her real name, basically lives on the road. She has to be the ultimate challenge because she certainly does not have a kitchen in the truck. She is at the mercy of convenience foods and restaurants. The idea of the plan is to give yourself a fighting chance and then "do it right" as much as you can.
Rule 1 - Have a health shake in the morning. Mix one serving each of Brewer's Yeast, Lecithin granules and protein powder with almond milk, stevia, cinnamon, and a banana. The protein powder should be one without a lot of additives or sugar. A protein shake is 3 points.
Rule 2 - With every meal, eat the protein first. If that is not possible, then take a carb blocker like white bean extract. Try to take it at least 15 minutes before the meal. A carb blocker is 1 point.
Rule 3 - With every meal, END it with a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable. Eating the "bad stuff" raised your pleasure center. So you associate your pleasure to the meal. If the last thing you taste is a bite of crisp apple, then that apple will be connected to your sense of pleasure as well. Furthermore, an apple has pectin which will offset the fat from the meal. My guinea pig is going to eat a small apple after every meal because it will be the easiest to get. Every fruit or vegetable is 1 point.
Rule 4 - I am not ruling out meat, chicken or poultry. However limit the portions to 3 to 6 oz and select from the leanest cuts available. It is best to choose from broiled, poached, grilled or baked and go light on the sauces that accompany them. A 3 to 6 oz portion as described is 1 point. More than 6 oz is -3.
Fried ANYTHING is -5. Count 1 eggs as one serving of lean protein. 1 point.
Rule 5 - Limit cheese to 1 oz a serving. I am still not advocating dairy, but use skim milk and the lower fat varieties. Use butter rather than margarine. Check out almond milk as a terrific alternative. I don't really want to give plus points for this, but I will say -3 for every serving over 3 oz a day total, -2 for margarine. -3 for any high fat serving of dairy.
Rule 6 - Ok, you really have to stick with this one. Limit sugar! Try even to omit it! Looks at the sugar in your dairy products, it is very high which is probably the reason that dairy is not a good choice. -5 for any serving of sugar. Give Stevia a try!
Rule 7 - When you eat simple carbs like pasta and bread, try to turn it into a complex carb by eating beans or nuts with it. Remember to eat it last and protein first. Simple carbs are -3 points per serving. Complex are 1 point per serving.
Rule 8 - Incorporate as many fruits and vegetables as you can. Try every day to eat every color of the rainbow. The color is indicative of the kind of nutrients you are eating. Shouldn't be all green. Each fruit or vegetable is one point.
Rule 9 - Drink water. Every 8 oz is 1 point!
So what is this point system? You want to hit 25 points a day or average 175 a week.
So what does this look like?
Health shake 3
8 8oz glasses of water 8
Breakfast:
2 eggs (poached or boiled) 1
1 slice wheat toast with butter -3
(if this was almond butter,
it would be complex and then
count as 1 point.
1 fresh orange 1
Lunch
Grilled chicken breast 4 oz 1
Green salad with tomato, cucumber,
bell pepper, red cabbage,
radishes and celery 7
Vinegarette dressing with lemon 1
(I will always give 1 point
for vinegar, lemon or lime).
1 apple 1
Iced tea with no sugar 0
Dinner
6 oz grilled salmon fillet 1
Lemon on the side for the fish 1
Steamed brocolli & cauliflower 2
Rice pilaf with almonds, 4
cannelli beans, spinach, 1oz
grated cheese.
1 slice french bread with garlic -3
1 wedge of honeydew melon 1
Total 26 points
I will add more examples as we gear up on this. I am sure there will be questions on the way. I am not including high fat snacks, cokes, etc because I simply don't use them but I am sure guinea will. Probably -5 a pop, but we will see.
We were there to rest and take in the beauty of the ocean.
At the end of it all, we both gained about 8 pounds. We know we cannot eat with wild abandon like that but it was vacation after all! Now that we are back, we are HUNGRY all the time. Eating like we did proved my point that additives are applied to restaurant and take out food to add to the flavor. We probably ate a LOT of MSG. I think it is addictive.
It proved my final point, that the more you eat out, the more you want to eat.
In spite of it all, we are still taking our brewers yeast-lecithin-protein shake every day as well as our Juice-Plus supplements. We still feel pretty darn good from a diet we were only on for 6 weeks.
We have been crazy busy since that 6 weeks. While we have not completely dropped our new lifestyle of eating healthy, we have challenged it more than we would like. As I said before, healthy eating takes planning and preparation! The first thing that upsets your routine completely unravels the diet. We have so little time at home during the week that we have to spend time on the weekend getting prepared. If we don't, then we go through the whole week trying to eat as good as we can from what is available.
I have to admit, if I cannot follow the plan then it is not a good plan. Everyone else is as busy as we are. I have my grandsons over twice a week and they totally disrupt our routine. So what about the people who have their children all the time? My plan has to work for them too. This has been something I have been thinking about for awhile. How to make it all work!
We have so many things stacked against us. You cannot even buy a sandwich in America without it being made with white flour. Even if it is called wheat, it is just dyed white flour. Exceptions like bread made with sprouted wheat germ and stone ground wheat would certainly be an exception but not available at a sandwich shop. So basically, take out is a negative strike on the diet with very little exception. Any convenience food is a negative strike. Restaurant food may be a rise above, but the food is loaded with extra fat and additives. It is a sure bet that any thing fried was fried in the cheapest oil the restaurant can buy. Even olive oil turns carcinegenic at the normal frying temp of 350, so you know the fried food is not a good thing. That was something we thought about quite a bit in Florida as we munched our fried fish and chips. (Yes, I can hear you!)
Again, I say in spite of our transgressions, we are STILL a lot healthier because of the 6 weeks that we were totally dedicated to the plan. So, even if we cannot do it ALL the time, it is important to strive to do it as much as possible.
I have a challenger. My first guinea pig who approached me with a challenge is going to start on my new plan. Harry and I will start it on 10/3 and I may tweak it here and there, but I think it will work. Guinea, so I don't use her real name, basically lives on the road. She has to be the ultimate challenge because she certainly does not have a kitchen in the truck. She is at the mercy of convenience foods and restaurants. The idea of the plan is to give yourself a fighting chance and then "do it right" as much as you can.
Rule 1 - Have a health shake in the morning. Mix one serving each of Brewer's Yeast, Lecithin granules and protein powder with almond milk, stevia, cinnamon, and a banana. The protein powder should be one without a lot of additives or sugar. A protein shake is 3 points.
Rule 2 - With every meal, eat the protein first. If that is not possible, then take a carb blocker like white bean extract. Try to take it at least 15 minutes before the meal. A carb blocker is 1 point.
Rule 3 - With every meal, END it with a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable. Eating the "bad stuff" raised your pleasure center. So you associate your pleasure to the meal. If the last thing you taste is a bite of crisp apple, then that apple will be connected to your sense of pleasure as well. Furthermore, an apple has pectin which will offset the fat from the meal. My guinea pig is going to eat a small apple after every meal because it will be the easiest to get. Every fruit or vegetable is 1 point.
Rule 4 - I am not ruling out meat, chicken or poultry. However limit the portions to 3 to 6 oz and select from the leanest cuts available. It is best to choose from broiled, poached, grilled or baked and go light on the sauces that accompany them. A 3 to 6 oz portion as described is 1 point. More than 6 oz is -3.
Fried ANYTHING is -5. Count 1 eggs as one serving of lean protein. 1 point.
Rule 5 - Limit cheese to 1 oz a serving. I am still not advocating dairy, but use skim milk and the lower fat varieties. Use butter rather than margarine. Check out almond milk as a terrific alternative. I don't really want to give plus points for this, but I will say -3 for every serving over 3 oz a day total, -2 for margarine. -3 for any high fat serving of dairy.
Rule 6 - Ok, you really have to stick with this one. Limit sugar! Try even to omit it! Looks at the sugar in your dairy products, it is very high which is probably the reason that dairy is not a good choice. -5 for any serving of sugar. Give Stevia a try!
Rule 7 - When you eat simple carbs like pasta and bread, try to turn it into a complex carb by eating beans or nuts with it. Remember to eat it last and protein first. Simple carbs are -3 points per serving. Complex are 1 point per serving.
Rule 8 - Incorporate as many fruits and vegetables as you can. Try every day to eat every color of the rainbow. The color is indicative of the kind of nutrients you are eating. Shouldn't be all green. Each fruit or vegetable is one point.
Rule 9 - Drink water. Every 8 oz is 1 point!
So what is this point system? You want to hit 25 points a day or average 175 a week.
So what does this look like?
Health shake 3
8 8oz glasses of water 8
Breakfast:
2 eggs (poached or boiled) 1
1 slice wheat toast with butter -3
(if this was almond butter,
it would be complex and then
count as 1 point.
1 fresh orange 1
Lunch
Grilled chicken breast 4 oz 1
Green salad with tomato, cucumber,
bell pepper, red cabbage,
radishes and celery 7
Vinegarette dressing with lemon 1
(I will always give 1 point
for vinegar, lemon or lime).
1 apple 1
Iced tea with no sugar 0
Dinner
6 oz grilled salmon fillet 1
Lemon on the side for the fish 1
Steamed brocolli & cauliflower 2
Rice pilaf with almonds, 4
cannelli beans, spinach, 1oz
grated cheese.
1 slice french bread with garlic -3
1 wedge of honeydew melon 1
Total 26 points
I will add more examples as we gear up on this. I am sure there will be questions on the way. I am not including high fat snacks, cokes, etc because I simply don't use them but I am sure guinea will. Probably -5 a pop, but we will see.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
What added hormones can do
I was thinking the other day about the added hormones that are used to fatten the animals we eat. We all know that estrogen is added to the beef and chicken but is that all? I was thinking about that. If estrogen is the only hormone added to make an animal fat before it's time, then every woman in the world would be obese. While that might be true in America where 80% of the population is obese, we are not the only country that eats meat. (Maybe we ARE the only country that eats meat tainted with hormones).
Anyway, I was thinking about other hormones like that secreted from the pituitary gland. That hormone dictates growth of our bodies (among other things). So what if they are using that too?
Every cell in the body has a spot for each hormone the body needs. Estrogen is one and the pituitary hormone would have to be another. There are things we eat or ingest that mimic the hormone. The thyroid, another hormone that dictates growth, can be replaced easily by synthetic estrogen, soy or hormones in the amimal protein we eat. As a result, our body does not actually get the thyroid hormone, but this other imposter. What it does to our bodies is hard to tell.
This is not theory (except for my idea about the pituitary gland). I think it is no coincidence that 1 in 5 people have thyroid disease by the time they hit 40 in this country. I think there is a definite link between obesity and the hormones in the animal protein we eat. Couple that with the useless over abundance of white flour products, sugar, corn and corn syrup products and we are a fat nation that is quite literally starving to death.
How can a fat person be starving? The nutritional value in our food is sorely lacking. Taking vitamins is really not an answer because we should get a complex of vitamins in our food. When you see lettuce with rust stains or celery with huge cracks, you are looking at food that is lacking in the nutrients that otherwise make it healthy.
I read a chapter out of Adelle Davis's book, Let's Eat To Keep Fit. It was published in the late 60's. She talked about how food grown in healthy soil is disease resistant as well as pest resistant. Basically what she is saying is that if the industries paid more attention to putting compost back into the soil to enrich the quality, they could cut back on pesticides and produce crops that enrich our bodies. Instead, we have our food grown in poor soil, bathed in insecticides that get into the soil and basically become part of everything we eat. Insecticides are KNOWN carginegens.
So in addition to adding hormones to our food which affects us in ways we can't comprehend, our produce is basically carcinegenic. What's left are over processed foods that are full of preservatives and chemically engineered to have a shelf life for several months or even years.
Nothing I am writing about is news to anyone. It is not something you can't find on the internet. I think people just do not think about it much. We have become complacent about our food. You can eat better in this country if you have the money to do so, but organically grown or hormone free food costs quite a bit more. Short of growing your own, it is tough to know for sure what you are getting.
The lobby system in this country is broken. Basically the giant industries own our government and dictate our country. We have congressmen and senators that are paid millions by these industries (regardless what they say and that it is illegal). The government has not been interested in the health and welfare of the American people for decades. The only way for the people to have a voice is to unite and have their own group that can lobby along with the big boys. The only other way is to uniformly boycott products and force them to change to meet demand.
I should start such a group called Pursuit of a New America. Members should unite in causes that benefit our food and our health in this ocuntry. I would love to hear from anyone who thinks this is a good idea.
Anyway, I was thinking about other hormones like that secreted from the pituitary gland. That hormone dictates growth of our bodies (among other things). So what if they are using that too?
Every cell in the body has a spot for each hormone the body needs. Estrogen is one and the pituitary hormone would have to be another. There are things we eat or ingest that mimic the hormone. The thyroid, another hormone that dictates growth, can be replaced easily by synthetic estrogen, soy or hormones in the amimal protein we eat. As a result, our body does not actually get the thyroid hormone, but this other imposter. What it does to our bodies is hard to tell.
This is not theory (except for my idea about the pituitary gland). I think it is no coincidence that 1 in 5 people have thyroid disease by the time they hit 40 in this country. I think there is a definite link between obesity and the hormones in the animal protein we eat. Couple that with the useless over abundance of white flour products, sugar, corn and corn syrup products and we are a fat nation that is quite literally starving to death.
How can a fat person be starving? The nutritional value in our food is sorely lacking. Taking vitamins is really not an answer because we should get a complex of vitamins in our food. When you see lettuce with rust stains or celery with huge cracks, you are looking at food that is lacking in the nutrients that otherwise make it healthy.
I read a chapter out of Adelle Davis's book, Let's Eat To Keep Fit. It was published in the late 60's. She talked about how food grown in healthy soil is disease resistant as well as pest resistant. Basically what she is saying is that if the industries paid more attention to putting compost back into the soil to enrich the quality, they could cut back on pesticides and produce crops that enrich our bodies. Instead, we have our food grown in poor soil, bathed in insecticides that get into the soil and basically become part of everything we eat. Insecticides are KNOWN carginegens.
So in addition to adding hormones to our food which affects us in ways we can't comprehend, our produce is basically carcinegenic. What's left are over processed foods that are full of preservatives and chemically engineered to have a shelf life for several months or even years.
Nothing I am writing about is news to anyone. It is not something you can't find on the internet. I think people just do not think about it much. We have become complacent about our food. You can eat better in this country if you have the money to do so, but organically grown or hormone free food costs quite a bit more. Short of growing your own, it is tough to know for sure what you are getting.
The lobby system in this country is broken. Basically the giant industries own our government and dictate our country. We have congressmen and senators that are paid millions by these industries (regardless what they say and that it is illegal). The government has not been interested in the health and welfare of the American people for decades. The only way for the people to have a voice is to unite and have their own group that can lobby along with the big boys. The only other way is to uniformly boycott products and force them to change to meet demand.
I should start such a group called Pursuit of a New America. Members should unite in causes that benefit our food and our health in this ocuntry. I would love to hear from anyone who thinks this is a good idea.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
So quick to fall back
We have too many things going on to get back on track. Last night at least I threw some vegetables in a Tagine and we had a healthy dinner. I started taking my Juice-Plus supplements this morning. I am very excited about them because they are made from the entire fruits and vegetables and they are not just a vitamin. Check out my web page at http://www.pursuitofanewme.com on the products tab.
Anyway, trying to do even a few things right when there is no time is better than just giving in and eating what ever is available. Yesterday I had a lot of pain again like the pain I was in 24-7 before the detox. It literally feels like me upper body is badly bruised and tender. It hurt to even laugh. I had almost forgotten about this pain until it was back again with a vengence. After the detox diet, it was completely GONE!
So what may have spurred this on? I mean besides the fact that are kitchen is out of commission and every meal has been take out of some sort for the last several weeks? Well the first meal I made when my kitchen was somewhat in order was a nice salad with pickled Italian vegetables. Then I made lasagna! I used the fresh tomatoes that I had canned, fresh oregano, thyme and basil from the garden, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and onions. I aslo had some lean ground turkey and some turkey pepperoni slices. Then I threw caution to the wind and added 7 kinds of Italian cheese and used regular lasagna pasta. I made some fresh garlic infused olive oil and toasted a loaf of Italian bread. So what did it? What threw me back into this pain cycle?
The meal had a lot of wheat product. White flour to be exact. Something we had not eaten in months. It also had a lot of cheese. And finally, I just have not been drinking as much water. We had a few white bread products in the last week but this was a lot in one sitting. I have no doubt the white flour was the culprit.
I am still in pain today but not like I was yesterday. The difference? Several plates of vegetables, fresh fruits, beans, and absolutely NO white flour. It is distressing that white flour is in just about everything. It is impossible to get any kind of prepared food that does not have white flour. Hamburgers, subs, pasta, even salads have those bread croutons on them. If the family can't cook at home, they will fail on nearly any diet they try.
Not telling you anything you don't know? I don't want to take anything away from The Biggest Loser, or spokes-persons for diet centers. Anyone in the lime light who has lost weight has my respect because it is difficult. However, they have one thing we don't. A consistent environment with the proper foods and support.
It makes all the difference in the world if I have time to throw together some salads, make my flax crackers, prepare some grains and then have things in the fridge we can just pull out and nosh on. I will be glad when I get my kitchen back. It might be another week.
Anyway, trying to do even a few things right when there is no time is better than just giving in and eating what ever is available. Yesterday I had a lot of pain again like the pain I was in 24-7 before the detox. It literally feels like me upper body is badly bruised and tender. It hurt to even laugh. I had almost forgotten about this pain until it was back again with a vengence. After the detox diet, it was completely GONE!
So what may have spurred this on? I mean besides the fact that are kitchen is out of commission and every meal has been take out of some sort for the last several weeks? Well the first meal I made when my kitchen was somewhat in order was a nice salad with pickled Italian vegetables. Then I made lasagna! I used the fresh tomatoes that I had canned, fresh oregano, thyme and basil from the garden, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and onions. I aslo had some lean ground turkey and some turkey pepperoni slices. Then I threw caution to the wind and added 7 kinds of Italian cheese and used regular lasagna pasta. I made some fresh garlic infused olive oil and toasted a loaf of Italian bread. So what did it? What threw me back into this pain cycle?
The meal had a lot of wheat product. White flour to be exact. Something we had not eaten in months. It also had a lot of cheese. And finally, I just have not been drinking as much water. We had a few white bread products in the last week but this was a lot in one sitting. I have no doubt the white flour was the culprit.
I am still in pain today but not like I was yesterday. The difference? Several plates of vegetables, fresh fruits, beans, and absolutely NO white flour. It is distressing that white flour is in just about everything. It is impossible to get any kind of prepared food that does not have white flour. Hamburgers, subs, pasta, even salads have those bread croutons on them. If the family can't cook at home, they will fail on nearly any diet they try.
Not telling you anything you don't know? I don't want to take anything away from The Biggest Loser, or spokes-persons for diet centers. Anyone in the lime light who has lost weight has my respect because it is difficult. However, they have one thing we don't. A consistent environment with the proper foods and support.
It makes all the difference in the world if I have time to throw together some salads, make my flax crackers, prepare some grains and then have things in the fridge we can just pull out and nosh on. I will be glad when I get my kitchen back. It might be another week.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
What to eat when you cannot prep
When we were on the detox diet, I spent several hours every Sunday preparing food for the next week. I made sure I had fresh fruit washed and readily available. I made salad ingredients like my kidney beans with umeboshi plum, marinated artichokes, pickled asparagus, spicy orange beets. I cooked up some kind of grain like barley or quinoa, then started some sprouts to go with the salads. I also made my flax "crackers" that we never seemed to get tired of. I prepared our vitamin ritual for a few days at a time - then we were ready for the work week.
For breakfast, we had a blender concoction of 1 banana, 1 cup of almond milk, 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon, 3 spoonfuls of Brewer's Yeast, one spoon of lecithin granules, two scoops of rice protein powder, 2 tbsp stevia and 12 ounces of ice. I would blend until very smooth and add dark chocolate once in awhile to mix it up.
Lunch was some sort of a salad with at least 6 vegetables. I made sure to include some sort of whole grain and some type of bean, nuts or seed combinations. Did you know Quinoa is a complete protein by itself? I always finished the salad with olives or avocado. Dressing was always a vinegarette with lemon juice as a base. I changed up the spice depending on the type of salad.
I would include a snack of fruit or vegetable as well as my flax crackers. Dinner was interesting to do meatless but I found that bulgar wheat and/or mushrooms makes a great substitute taste wise. Harry enjoyed my bulgar wheat and portobello tacos the best but he was a big fan of the cream soups too.
We also enjoyed the fermented drinks like Kombacha. They were fizzy and refreshing but with a slight vinegar taste.
With this "diet", we did not have any problem following it and were even more exciting when our body's responded so well. My intent was to add a little dairy back in (because there are too many wonderful cheeses out there to never eat them again). I like my greek yogurt with fresh fruit as well. I wanted to be able to eat out on occasion and enjoy meat, chicken or fish without guilt.
This last few weeks we have had so much going on that we could not prep any food at all. In the middle of a kitchen re-do, I had to can 10 pounds of tomatos before they went bad and it was all I could do to fit it in.
So what is my point? Of COURSE you know having a special diet is difficult. It is much more than the will-power to do it, it is the preparation involved. If food is not readily available and you reach that point that you would eat nearly anything, then it has gone too far. There is no way you are going to go home and steam some vegetables for dinner when you are starving. Especially if you have to prep the veggies first.
Even on my diet, with prep, there were many times we did not eat until 9PM. Those diets that say don't eat after 5 or 6 PM are impossible for us. We do not get off work until 5 and we are often not home until 6:30 or 7. My Tagine works wonders but it is at least 30 minutes before I have it on the stove. The vegetables can take awhile to steam. Guess I could try stir-fry.
Without prep, it is nearly impossible to eat at a decent time.
Dr Oz did a show where he ate take out for every meal. He went to McDonalds, Subway and another place that I am not familiar with and basically had them make him a healthy meal. He showed that with the right choices, a person could literally eat fast food at every meal and keep the calories and fat low.
It CAN be done.
Well for two weeks now, we have had take out for just about every meal. We have skipped breakfast altogether. I did manage to make some flax crackers for one of those weeks. I discovered that Mexican restaurants do have grilled items including salmon. Chinese restaurants can make steamed vegetables with just a smidge of white wine sauce. Most Thai, Indian and Mediterranean food can be eaten without guilt. Wendy's, McDonald's and Subway has salads. Most deli's have a salad bar but it is a trick to find one with a lot of vegetables and not so much pasta or mayonaise based salads. Margarita pizza is a lower calorie choice for Italian.
It amazes me that when we were on the Perricone diet, our Cholesterol went back up past where it was before and we both gained back half of our weight loss. The Perricone prescribed animal protein at every meal. The portions were about twice or three times what we were used to. So now I cringe after eating all of this take-out but surprisingly - I actually lost back down a few pounds. Stunned.
This weekend, we should be able to get back on track but I will keep in mind looking for healthy alternatives for when I am not prepared.
For breakfast, we had a blender concoction of 1 banana, 1 cup of almond milk, 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon, 3 spoonfuls of Brewer's Yeast, one spoon of lecithin granules, two scoops of rice protein powder, 2 tbsp stevia and 12 ounces of ice. I would blend until very smooth and add dark chocolate once in awhile to mix it up.
Lunch was some sort of a salad with at least 6 vegetables. I made sure to include some sort of whole grain and some type of bean, nuts or seed combinations. Did you know Quinoa is a complete protein by itself? I always finished the salad with olives or avocado. Dressing was always a vinegarette with lemon juice as a base. I changed up the spice depending on the type of salad.
I would include a snack of fruit or vegetable as well as my flax crackers. Dinner was interesting to do meatless but I found that bulgar wheat and/or mushrooms makes a great substitute taste wise. Harry enjoyed my bulgar wheat and portobello tacos the best but he was a big fan of the cream soups too.
We also enjoyed the fermented drinks like Kombacha. They were fizzy and refreshing but with a slight vinegar taste.
With this "diet", we did not have any problem following it and were even more exciting when our body's responded so well. My intent was to add a little dairy back in (because there are too many wonderful cheeses out there to never eat them again). I like my greek yogurt with fresh fruit as well. I wanted to be able to eat out on occasion and enjoy meat, chicken or fish without guilt.
This last few weeks we have had so much going on that we could not prep any food at all. In the middle of a kitchen re-do, I had to can 10 pounds of tomatos before they went bad and it was all I could do to fit it in.
So what is my point? Of COURSE you know having a special diet is difficult. It is much more than the will-power to do it, it is the preparation involved. If food is not readily available and you reach that point that you would eat nearly anything, then it has gone too far. There is no way you are going to go home and steam some vegetables for dinner when you are starving. Especially if you have to prep the veggies first.
Even on my diet, with prep, there were many times we did not eat until 9PM. Those diets that say don't eat after 5 or 6 PM are impossible for us. We do not get off work until 5 and we are often not home until 6:30 or 7. My Tagine works wonders but it is at least 30 minutes before I have it on the stove. The vegetables can take awhile to steam. Guess I could try stir-fry.
Without prep, it is nearly impossible to eat at a decent time.
Dr Oz did a show where he ate take out for every meal. He went to McDonalds, Subway and another place that I am not familiar with and basically had them make him a healthy meal. He showed that with the right choices, a person could literally eat fast food at every meal and keep the calories and fat low.
It CAN be done.
Well for two weeks now, we have had take out for just about every meal. We have skipped breakfast altogether. I did manage to make some flax crackers for one of those weeks. I discovered that Mexican restaurants do have grilled items including salmon. Chinese restaurants can make steamed vegetables with just a smidge of white wine sauce. Most Thai, Indian and Mediterranean food can be eaten without guilt. Wendy's, McDonald's and Subway has salads. Most deli's have a salad bar but it is a trick to find one with a lot of vegetables and not so much pasta or mayonaise based salads. Margarita pizza is a lower calorie choice for Italian.
It amazes me that when we were on the Perricone diet, our Cholesterol went back up past where it was before and we both gained back half of our weight loss. The Perricone prescribed animal protein at every meal. The portions were about twice or three times what we were used to. So now I cringe after eating all of this take-out but surprisingly - I actually lost back down a few pounds. Stunned.
This weekend, we should be able to get back on track but I will keep in mind looking for healthy alternatives for when I am not prepared.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Can you afford $3500 a week to live?
I have some friends that are in their late seventies. They get around quite well but they are suffering from various health problems. One has been battling cancer for several years. He had a clean bill of health last year but now it is back.
He was stunned to find his insurance no longer covers chemo. Medicaid does not cover it either. He has to have chemo once a month and it costs $3500 each time. I learned there is a drug people can take now as an alternative to chemo. It runs $2500 - $3500 a month. Insurance does not cover it.
His wife had problems with her eyes. She was treated by an injection in the eye that costs $2500 each. The doctor recommended a series of 8 shots but wanted to see how well the first one worked. Luckily she has only had the one shot but she is dreading the possibility of another.
If you are like millions of American's, you don't have an extra $3500 a month laying around. If you do, then you probably have something else you would prefer to use it on. If you don't, then your alternative is to deny yourself treatment that could save your life. Read that last sentence again. In the case of my friends, they are shelling out $6000 a month out of pocket for medical expenses to stay alive, and not go blind.
We can only expect this to get worse as more and more baby boomers reach retirement age. Politicians are already talking about cutting off medicare and social security. The health plan that Obama signed into law will never happen. Granted there are some things about the law we don't like but the things we did like will never take hold. The insurance companies won't have it! As much as I could go on about how our insurance companies and other big companies own the American legislation, that is not my point.
It feels like a conspiracy that our food industry continues to churn out products that are unhealthy for us to eat. We fight an onslaught of chemicals, pesticides and pollutants every single day that weaken our immunity system. We cannot even eat healthy without paying a much higher price for organic or natural foods that are free of pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and food additives that are known carcinegens. Eating the food that is readily available makes us fat and unhealthy. However we can prolong our "health" by taking prescription drugs to combat the various diseases we get from our food and environment.
More often than not, our doctors prescribe the drugs but make no suggestions about lifestyle changes that may change improve your condition.
On the detox plan I proved I could drop my cholesterol tremendously by diet alone. I also proved that eating animal protien can push the cholesterol back up as fast as it came down.
I can't think of a better wake up call than to look into the future and see that if I don't take care of my health now, I may not have choices later on. I think retirement is going to be a challenge for most of us. Many people now have to make a choice between medicine and food. People are starting to find they will have no choice but to die a slow and painful death because they cannot pay for the medicine to keep them alive.
This last few weeks, we have had so much going on that we have all but reverted back to unhealthly eating habits. It takes time and planning to prepare healthy food. The alternative is for take out, dining out or fast food which are rarely healthy. We have seen the strides we made on our detox diet slowly go away. We are STILL much better off than we were before that detox diet, but we can see and feel the difference. I would like to note that we felt fantastic after a few short weeks on the detox plan. We have been off of it for nearly three months now and still are enjoying the benefits of that diet. This tells me that we can stay healthy even if we eat better food just part of the time.
It is my mission to find a diet that can be part of my lifestyle, easier to maintain and with more readily available choices for the hectic days.
He was stunned to find his insurance no longer covers chemo. Medicaid does not cover it either. He has to have chemo once a month and it costs $3500 each time. I learned there is a drug people can take now as an alternative to chemo. It runs $2500 - $3500 a month. Insurance does not cover it.
His wife had problems with her eyes. She was treated by an injection in the eye that costs $2500 each. The doctor recommended a series of 8 shots but wanted to see how well the first one worked. Luckily she has only had the one shot but she is dreading the possibility of another.
If you are like millions of American's, you don't have an extra $3500 a month laying around. If you do, then you probably have something else you would prefer to use it on. If you don't, then your alternative is to deny yourself treatment that could save your life. Read that last sentence again. In the case of my friends, they are shelling out $6000 a month out of pocket for medical expenses to stay alive, and not go blind.
We can only expect this to get worse as more and more baby boomers reach retirement age. Politicians are already talking about cutting off medicare and social security. The health plan that Obama signed into law will never happen. Granted there are some things about the law we don't like but the things we did like will never take hold. The insurance companies won't have it! As much as I could go on about how our insurance companies and other big companies own the American legislation, that is not my point.
It feels like a conspiracy that our food industry continues to churn out products that are unhealthy for us to eat. We fight an onslaught of chemicals, pesticides and pollutants every single day that weaken our immunity system. We cannot even eat healthy without paying a much higher price for organic or natural foods that are free of pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and food additives that are known carcinegens. Eating the food that is readily available makes us fat and unhealthy. However we can prolong our "health" by taking prescription drugs to combat the various diseases we get from our food and environment.
More often than not, our doctors prescribe the drugs but make no suggestions about lifestyle changes that may change improve your condition.
On the detox plan I proved I could drop my cholesterol tremendously by diet alone. I also proved that eating animal protien can push the cholesterol back up as fast as it came down.
I can't think of a better wake up call than to look into the future and see that if I don't take care of my health now, I may not have choices later on. I think retirement is going to be a challenge for most of us. Many people now have to make a choice between medicine and food. People are starting to find they will have no choice but to die a slow and painful death because they cannot pay for the medicine to keep them alive.
This last few weeks, we have had so much going on that we have all but reverted back to unhealthly eating habits. It takes time and planning to prepare healthy food. The alternative is for take out, dining out or fast food which are rarely healthy. We have seen the strides we made on our detox diet slowly go away. We are STILL much better off than we were before that detox diet, but we can see and feel the difference. I would like to note that we felt fantastic after a few short weeks on the detox plan. We have been off of it for nearly three months now and still are enjoying the benefits of that diet. This tells me that we can stay healthy even if we eat better food just part of the time.
It is my mission to find a diet that can be part of my lifestyle, easier to maintain and with more readily available choices for the hectic days.
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