Cold Turkey

As I've wavered in my resolve to avoid things that I know are bad for me, I've definitely discovered that I have next to no willpower when it comes to sweets. Especially chocolate and very especially chocolate ice cream. I've tried to eat them in moderation, but just can't seem to. I have a bite of something sweet and suddenly I'm craving, and indulging in, more. So, back to avoiding refined sugars again. It wasn't that hard before, and I just need to stick with it.

Tonight for dinner we had the Hearty Vegetarian Stew from the Weight Watchers Turn Around cookbook. This is one of our old favorites: it's so easy and delicious. It's #19 here.

From Drop Box

I paired it, sort of randomly, with a curried quinoa from the Moosewood cookbook.
Very easy to make, and quite tasty. The second Jeremy tried it, he said it reminded him of biryani, and I agree!

From Drop Box

Have I Learned Nothing?!?

Just when I think I'm making some good progress on learning more about nutrition and eating healthfully, I do something really dumb...

Last week at the 5k, they were giving out these little Bagelful things at the post-race snack table. It's a Kraft product and is basically a bagel stick with a filling inside. I went for the carrots and apple slices and so didn't pick it up, but Jeremy did. He showed it to me and I glanced at the ingredients label. There are about 25 different ingredients in this tiny little thing, most of which you couldn't find in the average kitchen. "Yuck," I thought, and went back to my carrots.

Jeremy evidently thought so too and didn't eat it. Somehow the thing ended up in the fridge. This morning, I had to feed Lauren on the run to daycare and grabbed it, thinking she would like it. Of course, I should have thought at this point, "If I didn't want to eat it, why in the world would I feed it to my daughter?" I was in a rush, though, and wasn't thinking and grabbed what was easy.

Lauren is smarter than me, though, because she took one bite a refused to eat any more. I kept offereing it to her, worried that she wasn't eating, and she kept refusing. Finally, I tried it myself. Awful! It was like mushed-up strawberry Chap-stick in a crappy bagel! No wonder the poor kid didn't want to eat it!

The thing is, a lot of people would have eaten it. A lot of people would have grabbed it on the go, like I did, and would end up eating it because they don't have any other choices available. Heck, a month ago, I might have eaten it and not given it a second thought. It's incredible how little attention we pay to what we put in our bodies!

One interesting thing is that's actually pretty high in fiber and low in calories and fat. Therefore, it would be low in Weight Watchers points. Now, I love and adore Weight Watchers: it helped me change the way I was eating about 5 years ago and lose 40+ pounds. It's a great system and can actually help people learn healthier habits. The one downfall of the system, though, is that a convenience product like the Bagelful is low in points and would perhaps be preferable to something that is healthier, but more points. I know I spent too much tme eating low-fat cheese that was basically oil product in order to save myself points. Now, of course, someone could be eating only whole foods on the plan and do really well, but the convenience foods are just so easy to fall into. Too easy.

I won't be around the next couple of days: I'm running a half marathon in Eugene, Oregon. We'll see if this healthier food for the last months pays off! See you soon!

I'm Pleasantly Surprised

I went to Costco today to stock up on a few things and thought I would take a spin around the store to see if there's anything that I could find that would fit in with this whole whole foods thing. Not likely, right?

Actually, I was wrong. There are a few things at Costco that I could buy, mostly in the fruits and veggies section. They have organic carrots, spinach, salad mix, and apples, which are all staples that I buy reasonably often. I did find a great whole wheat bread there without any nasty stuff that was considerably cheaper as a two pack than buying a single loaves at the store. I was disappointed that none of their frozen fruits and veggies were organic because I know I've seen them there before. We have two Costcos near us, one for businesses, and perhaps that one doesn't carry the organic brand. I'll have to make a trek to big Costco and see. I'll let you know how that comes out.

I've learned some interesting facts lately that have really backed up all of the changes I've been making and are encouraging me to learn more:

-Every pound of waste diverted from a landfill saves 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide. After reading this I immediately started composting all of my kitchen waste, since luckily we can just put it in our yard waste bin.

-1 pound of beef generates the equivalent of 36 pounds of carbon dioxide. First, I'm glad we get all our beef from a family friend in Idaho. I know it doesn't fix things, but it helps. I'm also glad that we're trying to cut back pretty drastically on our meat consumption. I'm thinking red meat once a week is more than enough. And, surprisingly enough, Jeremy seems to be going along with this!

- We lose 2 acres of farmland to development every minute. Reading this hit me like a ton of bricks. As I said before, I'm from a long, long line of farmers and the tie to the land is still in there somewhere deep. We have to support our local farmers and keep small farms running in the United States. I'm so excited to get my box from Full Circle Farm on Wednesday and hope that it helps in some little way.

-Organic farming uses 30%-50% less fossil fuels. Now, I'm a big ol' hypocrite with my medium-sized SUV out in the driveway, but this is important to me. Things like this do add up. Ever since I had a child, I'm understanding this more and more.

Add to that that eating organic keeps pesticides out of your body and out of our water supply, and you have more than enough good reasons to buy organic. I'm going to be reading a book about organic farming by Maria Rodale as soon as it comes from the library, so I know I'll have more information to inundate you with.

Dinner tonight isn't really worth writing about. We just had a turkey enchilada casserole from the Weight Watchers cookbook. It's good, but it's nothing new to us and therefore not that thrilling. I also made great smoothie out of kefir, a banana, some frozen strawberries, and some ice cubes. Well, I thought it was great. Lauren declared it "yucky" and decided to put all of her veggies in it before dumping it out on her plate. Not thrilled with that one, but I'm going to continue to expose her to new things.

Listen up, ladies! Women who eat white bread, rice, pizza and other high-carbohydrate foods are more than twice as likely to suffer heart problems than women that eat fewer of these foods, according to a study recently released. Nothing surprising there, but it helps to see it in print. Also, notice the foods that are listed at the bottom as being good for you: all whole foods, unsurprisingly!

Sneaky HFCS!

Day 6 of no refined sugar and I'm still going strong! I managed to make it through the baby shower last night and the bridal shower today without breaking into tears over not being able to have cheesecake or a scone. Actually, it was really quite easy. Tonight was really the first time that I wanted just a little taste of something sweet, so I just defrosted a few raspberries and ate those. I'm really looking forward to being able to do some U-picks this summer and freeze lots and lots of berries. Thank goodness for our extra freezer!

I did have a little bit of HFCS tonight, and it was in the sneakiest of place: the breadcrumbs I used on the chicken! Since I've started reading labels, I've found it all over the place: "maple" syrup, yogurt, granola bars, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, tomato soup... pretty much anything that's sweet these days and some things that aren't! It's amazing that it's going into our food and into our mouths without us being aware. Most people don't even know why it's not good for them, much less take the time to read labels and try to eradicate it from their diet. I've been telling as many people as I can about it, so hopefully they'll tell more people and so on.

(I have many more preachy thoughts, but I also have a throbbing headache, so I'm going to wobble off my soapbox and get into bed.)

Tonight's dinner was an easy Chicken Picatta (from Weight Watchers, esentially just chicken dredged in eggs blended with dijon mustard and then rolled in breadcrumbs, cooked in sherry and lemon juice) and Italian-Style Crispy Cauliflower. The cauliflower recipe is from The Great American Detox Diet and it was delicious! The flavors all worked really well together and it was easy to cook. Another winner from that book!

Adventures in Shopping

I feel kind of guilty posting this while my head is feeling all buzzy from the sugary Easter candy I just ate, but it's that time of year, right? Yum, Blue #5! It's funny how I immediately feel different after eating even just a small amount. I think the detox diet's week of weaning off sugar can't come soon enough!

I did do something right today: we had a great dinner. We ate halibut baked with just a little dill and lemon with asparagus and some whole wheat pasta with vegetables that were left over from a previous meal. It was delicious, especially the asparagus. I need to run to the store and get some more! Between that and the leftover chili I had for lunch, it was a good eating day. Minus the Easter candy, of course.

As I said yesterday, I did my first shopping trip with this new mindset and it was quite the experience. I ended up going to three stores and I had Lauren with me. While she was very patient with the whole process, it was difficult to juggle her and the amount of thinking I was having to do. I'm discovering this isn't easy!

Yesterday morning I sat down and planned my meals for about the next 10 days and made a grocery list. Most of the meals come from The Great American Detox Diet and a couple from Weight Watchers. We're eating ground beef twice and chicken and fish once each. Otherwise, we're going pretty veggie! We'll see how it goes, especially for my husband. (I'm putting all of those meals and my shopping lists on the page with that title. Just look at the top of this page.)

So, with the list in hand and toddler "driving" the plastic car attached to my cart, I started my first PCC adventure. I also had my list of foods that I need to find substitutes for (e.g. ketchup) and the list of additives to stay away from. I was juggling quite a bit!

I started in the fruit and vegetables section and immediately got nervous. Everything there is organic, so I didn't have choice in that way. I know there are things that you don't need to buy organic, so I immediately began to worry that I was buying too much organic. But, I also didn't want to go anywhere else, so there wasn't a choice. Add to that that I couldn't find parsnips and I was a bit stymied. I finally got out of that section, though, with everything I needed (except the parsnips) and just a little sticker shock.

I then began to look at cheeses. The prices there were nuts! I could buy regular Tillamook for quite a chunk of change or go fully organic for even more. I reluctantly grabbed the Tillamook, but ended up putting it back later and deciding to buy it at another store.

I went on the frozen fruit section to see what was there. It was all on sale so I bought mangoes and cherries. I already have strawberries and raspberries in the freezer, and the blueberries were just too expensive.

After that, it kind of became a blur. I put in my cart and then ended up deciding to buy enchilada sauce somewhere else, as well as the canned tomatoes. Those just seemed overly pricey and I want to do a little more research before I buy those things organic or otherwise. I did end up buying quinoa (once I found it), chickpeas, cupcakes for Lauren's class, and numerous other things that I thought were a good price. I even found cage-free eggs for a great price and yogurt for a decent price that I'm putting on my list for next time.

Beans, canned tomatoes, cheese, flaxseed oil, whole flaxseeds, the missing parsnips, some delicious peanut butter, ketchup, and organic frozen blueberries ended up coming from either Trader Joe's or Albertson's. I'm hoping to not have to go to three stores next time!

Overall, it turned out well. I bought lots of gorgeous produce and have great meals planned. I ended up spending more than I normally would, but that's to be expected. I'm still learning and will do more research on cheaper ways of buying these things. I'm looking at buying online and having it delivered on a weekly or biweekly basis, so if anyone has ideas, let me know!

Now I'm going to go have even more water to dilute this sugary sludge in my blood.

Hey! I Resemble That Remark!

Our library is so cool! Today it sent me an email to let me know that one of my thousands of on-hold books had come in: The Great American Detox Diet by Alex Jamieson. (Thanks for the recommendation, Tia!) So, I went down the big hill to pick it up, and I'm already hooked.

Alex Jamieson is the fiancee of Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me and was part of the documentary. After he complete the 30 days, gaining 24.5 pounds and 65 points of cholesterol(!), Alex helped him detox using the principles in this book. I've only read the first two chapters, but I'm already enjoying it. It's easy to read and has just the right amount of information. (I'm finding it really easy to get overwhelmed with this; there's just so much to know!)

In her introduction, she talks about her upbringing in Oregon on mostly organic and whole foods and how she really never paid attention to what she was eating or how it made her feel. It wasn't until she was a young adult and got into some bad eating habits that she noticed how the food she ate made her feel. Her skin changed, she got more bloated and had other intestinal problems, and she dealt with headaches and periods of depression. Morgan also felt much of the same in his shortened experiment with eating McDonald's for every meal.

As I was reading it, every word was resonating with me. After college, my now-husband and I moved in together and set up house. The problem was, I had no idea how to cook for two and ended up making mostly pastas, big casseroles, and pre-packaged convenience foods. I ended up gaining about 45 pounds in 4 years and just felt awful. I had headaches, intestinal problems, and had a 6-month or so period of dealing with depression. Sound familiar? I know now, absolutely, that what I was eating led me to that. It wasn't until I joined Weight Watchers and learned a new way of being that I started to feel more myself again.

Even now, when I'm eating much, much healthier than I did in those earlier days, I can definitely tell when my body isn't happy with what I've been eating. It is usually through my running that I notice it the most: I just feel sluggish and slow in those weeks that I've been eating crap. Doesn't mean I've changed much since noticing that, but at least I have a barometer of sorts.

Some interesting things I learned in the first chapters:
-Studies have been done that demonstrate the negative effects the Standard American Diet (SAD) has had on various cultures once it's been introduced. Literally, bone structures have changed and diseases have increased. No wonder we've created a generation that will have a shorten lifespan than their parents!
-The average American eats more than 50 pounds of food additives a year.
-Americans buy 50% of their food from only 10 companies.

I found a Facebook group on which people are discussing Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Numerous people like me have started blogs, one of which, Spoonfed, is really great. I've linked it to the right if you have some time. Those of you with kids might be especially interested.

I've also linked to my friend Sarah's blog, Food for Thought. She's a registered dietitian and posts some great recipes with review from her two children. I already want to try several of them!