Most of us know that the amount of calories, fat, sugar, and fiber we consume combined with caloric expenditure (i.e., exercise) play a large role in weight loss. The latest news is that Vitamin D plays a role in weight loss too. Turns out women with low levels of Vitamin D in their blood tend to be, on average, 16.3 pounds heavier than those women who have a sufficient amount of Vitamin D.
It's very difficult for your body to access vitamin D through food. Some food choices that help your body to produce vitamin D include: salmon, egg yolk, and fortified foods. Your body is better able to manufacture vitamin D when it is exposed to the sun for 10-15 minutes a day without sunscreen. Who knew?
We all hear about healthy alternatives to unhealthy food choices, but sometimes the tradeoff is taste. Who would ever want to trade in a delicious homemade chocolate chip cookie for one of those 100-calorie snack packs? Here are five delicious healthy alternatives to not-so-healthy common food choices.
1. Swap Spaghetti Squash for Pasta
Spaghetti is made from refined durum flour; and though tasty, it is a carbohydrate that is lacking nutritious qualities. Whole wheat, brown rice, and even quinoa pastas are available as an alternative, but the taste is definitely an acquired one. Good news: spaghetti squash is a delicious alternative to pasta. It looks like spaghetti and even tastes like spaghetti. Here are just some of the amazing nutrition facts about spaghetti squash: it’s high in dietary fiber, high in vitamin C and even boasts a fair amount of niacin, vitamin B6, potassium and manganese.
2. Swap Quorn™-style Chicken for Chicken
Sometimes eating chicken just gets old. Quorn™ has a vegetarian chicken substitute, which has less cholesterol, fat, and calories and more fiber than poultry. It is made from mycoprotein, a natural protein found in mushrooms. Don’t get me wrong skinless chicken prepared properly is a nice lean protein, but the best news about quorn is that it lowers cholesterol. Their mock chicken products eerily resemble the real thing. I was a vegetarian for 12 years and developed a soy allergy; this product is excellent for vegetarians because it is soy and meat free!
3. Swap Fruit Juice and Seltzer for Soda
Did you know that 16 ounces of soda has more than 10 teaspoons of sugar? And diet soda isn’t the answer either; researchers have discovered that diet sodas though calorie-free can make you gain weight. I satisfy soda cravings by mixing a mere three ounces of fruit juice with 12 ounces of seltzer water. One juice I particularly enjoy using in my concoction is V8’s V-Fusion Acai Mixed Berry.
4. Swap Grilled Portobello Mushrooms for Hamburgers
Red meat is okay to consume on occasion, but consuming it regularly can lead to high cholesterol, weight gain, and in the long-term, heart disease. A recent study conducted by researchers at John Hopkins University found that replacing high-density foods like red meat with low density foods like mushrooms could fight obesity. Grilled Portobello mushrooms have a delicious meaty taste. If I can get my meat-loving husband to devour a Portobello burger, they must be scrumptious!
5. Swap Baked Sweet Potato French Fries for French Fries
French fries are one sure way to increase your waist line, especially when they’re deep fried. Why not try baking sweet potatoes, a much healthier option. A recovering French fry addict who I know finds these sweet potatoes fries to be just as satisfying. They’re easy to make too—preheat the oven to 450 and simply cut a sweet potato in ¼ inch strips (keep the skin on for fiber). Toss the strips in a teaspoon of olive oil. Scatter fries on a baking sheet, sprinkle about ¼ teaspoon of sea salt over the fries and bake for 25 minutes or until crispy.
I created this recipe a couple of years ago as an alternative to commercial nutrition bars. I could only stand the Lara Apple Pie bars for so much longer. Since creating these, I have shared them with athletes that I coach and also with kiddies that I teach...and both groups LOVE them. They are high in protein and fiber. I will say that they are slightly high glycemic, so not the best choice for those who have diabetes. However, endurance athletes need high glycemic carbs and a decent amount of protein immediately before, immediately after and during (especially you cyclists out there) exercise to keep the energy levels stable and to prevent glycogen depletition. This is also a great snack to take when hiking! Sticky, but fun!!!
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 1 ¼ cup brown rice kipsie cereal
- ½ cup oat bran
- 3 Tbs ground flax (optional)
- ¾ cups nuts of choice
(dry roasted slivered almonds work great as do chopped walnuts or pecans)
- ½ cup dried fruit of choice
(dried cranberries or cherries have been favorites among many..dried mango is great..and sometimes I'll add in 1/4 cup of dried coconut when I use the mango)
- 1 cup brown rice syrup
- 1/8 cup date sugar, beet sugar, succanat, or natural cane sugar
- 2 Tbs vanilla extract
Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, except for the last three. In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat, heat the brown rice syrup with the “somewhat-healthy” sugar of choice until it boils. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract and mix well. Pour this over the dry mix and stir well. Pour the mixture into a non stick pan and flatten using a metal spatula with olive oil cooking spray sprayed on it. Let sit for 45 minutes and the cut into bars.
This post is more of a reflection than an informative or educational entry. This spring and summer, Brent and I have had the delight of having fresh, local greens every single day. We both agree that the local varieties of chard, arugula, mesclun, green leaf lettuce, spinach, and red leaf lettuce are the tastiest greens we have ever had. They're so fresh, crunchy, and juicy; and I swear you can taste their dense nutrient levels!
We get these greens from our local CSA and from our local Farmer's Market. We always wash these greens thoroughly as there will often be some residue of dirt, and occasionally some pebbles. I LOVE that! You can't get earthier than that; it makes me feel connected to this globe that we live on, nourished straight from the earth. So many people are disconnected from that.
Despite my thorough cleaning job, Brent and I will occasionally find blades of grass or pebbles in our salad. Thankfully, we still have all of our teeth. When I find a blade of grass or pebble in my salad, I smile thinking of this wonderful earth and hoping that organic farming will one day defeat industrial farming practices!
Based on the title of this book, one might assume that the recipes are geared toward families and children. Yes, this book is a great resource for moms (and dads) who want to cook delicious but healthy meals for their families. However, by perusing through this book and trying out some of the recipes, I'd highly recommend this book as a cookbook staple for anyone interested in adapting a healthier lifestyle.
The book is a collection of recipes from moms who are part of the Holistic Moms Network , a national organization for moms who prioritize healthy living to be able to connect with one another. These are the recipe categories and some sample recipes from each category.
Appetizers & Beverages - Roasted, Red Pepper, Asparagus, and Brie Quesadilla - Homemade Chai - Applesauce smoothie
This & That - Chicken and Brown Rice Puree Baby Food - Play Dough - Non-toxic Cleaners
As you can see, there is a wide-variety of recipes in this excellent 232-page resource. There are recipes for everyone: vegans, vegetarians, non-vegetarians, macrobiotics, raw food devotees, etc. For example, I am a semi-vegetarian (80 % of my diet is vegetarian; I occasionally eat meat and I rarely have dairy); while many recipes had too much dairy for my taste, I was still able to mark over 100 recipes that I wanted to try. And for those moms out there with picky eaters, there are dozens of recipes that deliciously disguise veggies.
I give this cookbook a two thumbs up! The book can be ordered here.
This is a quick meal I prepared after becoming quite hooked on whole grains again during my quasi-10-day cleanse. Because I only had 1 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of millet in my pantry, I decided to mix the two and was extremely pleased with the result. This is better than rice any day! This meal was made with some healthy prepared foods (like canned beans and salsa), so it's excellent for those nights when you want to make something quick and easy. And don't let these whole grins intimidate you. They are widely available in most grocery stores, especially those with a decent organic section.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of millet rinsed - 1 cup of quinoa rinsed - 4 cups of water - 2 cans Eden brand Aduki beans, drained - 1 jar of organic salsa of choice (I like Newmans) - 1 zucchini chopped in small cubes and steamed for 5 minutes
Directions: Bring quinoa, millet and water to a boil in water. Once boiling, turn to a simmer. Simmer for 25 minutes. Immediately transfer grains to a big mixing bowl and fluff with a fork. Add beans, salsa and zucchini, and voila! You can add a small amount of part-skim cheddar if you are a cheese fan…and put it in a tortilla if you are more in the mood for a burrito. Any way you have it; this is a tasty, easy way to get in good, hearty whole grains.
So you’re almost done with your seasonal detox and you’re worried about getting back to your more familiar way of eating; perhaps you’ve been dreaming of chocolate chip cookies and you’re afraid that once you are “free” to eat as you please, you might indulge. Or maybe you’re afraid that once you start incorporating meat back into your diet, you might forget about the antioxidant and fiber rich veggies and whole grains.
The key to transitioning out of the detox/cleanse program is to use the cleanse as the foundation to your diet and slowly start supplementing other foods. Read your body—it’s the best barometer of your needs.How does it respond when you incorporate say, dairy, back into your diet? If it doesn’t respond pleasantly, then you know dairy is not for you and should be kept to a minimum in your diet. When you incorporate caffeine back into your diet, do you feel all jittery or to you feel easy going and cool?
I suggest keeping a food + body/mood response journal for the first few weeks after your cleanse; it will help tremendously and will still keep you in check…transitioning out of this structured diet should be slowed and controlled. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I was eager to have a beer and chicken fingers once I completed my cleanse, and I did just that, but I waited for about five days and I felt fine. So if you are having a super strong craving, do wait a little bit and go easy with it. I had one beer and three chicken fingers…so tasty and fulfilling.
Here’s an example of my food + body response/mood journal the day after the cleanse:
Wednesday May 6: Post-Cleanse Day 1
8:00 AM: 1 cup millet with ¼ cup chopped walnuts and 1/3 cup chopped mangos + ¼ cup rice milk and 1-2 Tablespoons of agave nectar:
(SO YUMMY…feel energized for my workout)
9:15 AM- 11:00 AM…1 Hour spin class followed by 45 Minute tempo run on the treadmill with 3.0 grade…my first serious triathlon brick workout this season.
(Feeling tired-probably a little “much” after just coming off of my 10-day Detox)
11:15 AM: “Apple Pie” LaraBar + 1 liter of water.
(I almost forgot what bars taste like…tasty and simple, the ingredients are merely dried fruit and nuts)
12:30 PM: 2 cups homemade lentil soup with carrot, onions, lentils, wild rice and cabbage. (hit the spot…I was craving smoothing warm…felt really nice…and my digestion is still working as well as it did through the cleanse)
3:30 PM: ½ banana chopped with 1 teaspoon sunflower seed butter on kamut cake
(tasty….needed a little energy increase…went for this instead of caffeine. but it’s not working. Ah, well)
6:30: Dinner: 6 ounces wild-caught haddock grilled (marinated with lemon juice, olive oil and ground pepper). 1 cup wild rice. Huge salad with mixed greens, grapefruit, fennel, cucumbers and shredded carrots with balsamic vinaigrette.
(Felt really full. had a hard time finishing salad...saved half of it)
8:30 PM: Starting to feel hungry---so rest of my salad
(Note to readers…my former go-to bed-time snack would be ½ cup kashi heart to heart cereal with rice milk)
I continue logging my nutrition and body/mood response and as a result, I’ve been able to set some “rules” for myself. I feel so in-touch with my body now. Rules don’t have to be followed strictly, but they help set the standard for your healthy lifestyle. Here are the rules I’ve come up with so far:
1.)No thank you to ice-cream. This past weekend while dining at a friend’s house, she offered ice-cream for dessert. It was a delicious rendition of Moose-tracks. I had a mere scoop and my intestines were quite peeved at me.
2.)As for caffeine…Try to start the day without it. Encouragemyself to exercise first. If that wakes me up, great! If not, go for green tea…and if that doesn’t work…a teaspresso is okay. (Note: So far I have only had green tea once..and no teaspressos yet).
3.)Eat whole grains for at least two meals a day…It makes you feel good! (Wow, I can’t even say how grounded and satiated I feel with a cup of whole grains for breakfast and a cup of whole grains at lunch or dinner).I made the BEST “Better than Rice and Beans”---super quick and easy…using millet and quinoa…I’ll post the recipe on my blog very soon.
4.)Meat only three times a week…better if fish. (I’ve been loving eating vegetarian…and 3 seems like the perfect number for me. I have fish once or twice a week and then organic chicken once or twice a week. When I’m in a phase of my menstrual cycle where I need more iron, I’ll have grass-fed beef and fish).
5.)GET SLEEP! (The other night I was up working on an article and I went to bed at 2:00 AMand had to wake up at 7:30 AM the next morning…felt so off the next day…and craved packaged goodies)
6.)Raisins instead of gels on the bike. YUM and all natural!
7.)Keep doing sun salutations and meditation each morning. What a great way to start the day!
8.)Keep dry brushing after showering. My skin is super-thankful!
9.)No pasta or bread. Okay, well maybe good hearty breads for special occasions. (Note: I had whole wheat pasta the other night and felt really bloated after. I haven’t had bread yet and don’t really care to. No more sandwiches for lunch…salads (with grains) or soup instead and I feel great)
10.) As far as baked goods...they're permissible, but must be low-fat and homemade (I made strawberry muffins a couple days ago-YUM)
