An email from/to a friend

So I posted something on another blog about eating habits and other stuff where I got an email from a friend. I am posting it and my response. Please remember, I am by no way a professional nutritionist or anything, but have picked up a lot of info in my own search.


Amen brutha!!

I feel like 20 pounds skinnier, just by reading this! And need I mention that we are still out of work!! Holy Hell! I am glad you are happy! And can you please make me a list of all those ways you are cutting back on those rich yummy foods ya'll are eating? I am also trying to rid the belly. Damn food!! Thanks for the good read!!

Posted by Noel to The Mind and Times of A Java Junkie at July 5, 2010 8:10 PM

Well Noel,

The easiest way to cut back on all those sugary fatty foods is A. We just don't buy them and keep them in the house. (not even sodas) B. We learned a lot about ingredients and do not eat anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup, or anything that has artificial anything in it. That made a huge difference. We also only use turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) we buy in the bulk isle, honey, agave nectar to sweeten things. Not totally giving up sugar is the key. But also an interesting fact...in the late 1800's, the average American diet had about 5g of sugars per day. The current is about 160g+. This is in part by us not knowing what is in the food we buy. I am constantly shocked by the amount of unnecessary things in foods. Just go to the grocery store one day and read the ingredients on a carton of sour cream. Sour cream really only needs 3 ingredients, sometimes 4. You find a generic brand that often at 10+ ingredients INCLUDING high fructose corn syrup (sugar)...IN SOUR CREAM! It is shocking. I have not lost the 60lbs I did in the past 2 year from exercise. I wish I could admit that I did, but it was solely off changing my eating habits! Another big thing for us is cooking at home (which I still struggle with). When I cook at home, the meals are heartier and I know what is in them. I can also control the portion size and keep the left overs to take for lunch the next day to work. Anyhow...i feel like I am sounding preachy, but I know I am just sharing what we have done. By the way...since you are out of work still, and I am sure funds are tight...fresh fruit and veggies are so cheap. Last night i took a ton of veg that I needed to eat before it went bad, sauteed it in olive oil, a little sea salt and ate it over some steamed brown rice. IT was AWESOME! If you buy the rice in bulk section, it is cheaper by the pound then if you buy it prepackaged. I actually made enough to have for lunch for 3 days. OH, and the last and most important, drink water....lots and lots or water. A nutritionist told us once to drink half your weight in ounces of water a day. (Me being almost 300lbs started only trying to drink 100oz a day to not drown). Anyway...there's your list you requested! I hope it helps you out.

Update on my goal

So I have bought some recipe books, watched some movies and bought a lot of great fruits, vegetables, and dried fruits and raw (and roasted) nuts. I love it! I am still trying to find the balance of 51% raw in my diet, but I have to say I am getting closer. I need to take the time to dive into some of the recipes I have read about. Sometimes it is a time factor. Lately it has been my crazy work schedule. All in all, I am getting better. I am feeling better too. I am losing a little weight, but you can see it in my face that I am affected by it. I have a better glow and usually in a pretty good mood! I love my juicer and making new combinations usually about 4-5 times a week. I am loving adding 1/2 lemon into the juices for a nice freshness! I will update again later!

Mom's Wheat Pancakes

So everyday of my childhood my mother would wake up in the early morning to make sure we all had a healthy breakfast to start our day. We had a rotation of oatmeal (not the instant kind), Cream of Wheat, homemade wheat pancakes, or homemade wheat waffles. The wheat flour used to make the pancakes and waffles came straight from our wheat grinder in the storage room. My favorite thing to do was to go dump the wheat in and listen to it grind and make the flour. While I do not have a grinder, I hit Whole Foods to get the bulk wheat flour for this recipe and have modified it from my mother's original recipe (which she mixed white and wheat flour) to only use wheat flour (but FYI, if you are lacking some of the measure, feel free to finish it with white flour like I did today. I was short 1/4 cup). I halved my mom's recipe and this makes 8 nice sized pancakes.

Wheat Pancakes - by Sandy Graham

1 1/4 cup wheat flour (sifted if fresh ground)

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. sugar (I like powdered sugar personally)

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 1/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp. oil

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well. Pour onto warm non-stick pan or griddle. Wait until bubbles form and pop on pancake then flip. Cook for 30 seconds and remove from pan/griddle. Top with butter/jam/syrup or all of the above! Enjoy!

New Goal

So part of my goals this year is not just to eat healthier, but to understand food, the nutritional value of what we eat, and where our food comes from and how it effects us. I have been reading books and blogs, watching documentaries, and gaining a lot of info that I am still processing. I know things that I need to personally change, and things that I am doing well. I have no desire to be vegan or a raw foodist, but I do believe that integrating those types of foods into our diet and lowering the portions of meats in our diets will be highly beneficial to anyone who eats a "Standard American Diet".

So I bought the Jack LaLanne Juicer a few days ago. I love it. I have been making healthy tasty drinks that are boosting our immune systems and our energy levels! I LOVE IT! I cannot wait to hit the grocery store today to get more fruits and veggies to juice. I need to find something to use the pulp for. I am not quite sure what yet, but I am sure when I do find it, I will add the recipe to this blog! I am thinking the veggies will make a nice soup and the fruit pulp will make a good dessert. I love to come up with new things so am very excited!

I got a raw food cookbook and am reading through it and plan to make one of the dishes for dinner tonight. My goal by the way; to eat at least 51% raw at each meal! I don't think that is hard to do. For all those who are interested in some documentaries about food and where it is going, I found a website that has them to watch from the site. Here is the link.

Importance of Reading Labels

So one of the best things anyone can do for their body and eating habits is to read the labels on the food they are intending to buy. Here is my story about sour cream...

Sour Cream. Simple enough. You take some milk/cream, enzymes, and active cultures, mix is all together and viola! Sour Cream! Not hard. Quite simple. That is what the label off of Cascade Fresh Natural Sour Cream.

Here, on the other hand, is the ingredient list from the Walmart "cheaper" brand of Great Value Sour Cream...Ingredients: Cultured Milk, Cream, Whey, Modified Cornstarch, Sodium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Carob Bean Gum, Postassium Sorbate (Preserves Freshness). Allergy Warning: Contains Milk. So now we went from 3 ingredients, all natural to 9 just to save a few cents...literally about 49 cents. Now for that cost there is a modified corn product in there, multiple gums, and some other stuff. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO IS SCARED BY THIS?

I highly suggest watching 2 documentaries; King Corn and Food Inc. I thought I had read a lot and learned a lot, but these films opened my eyes even more. After watching Food Inc. I really was sad that food is killing us...literally. Why can't companies just make things the old way, the right way, the way that is simple and natural. There are some, and unfortunately they cost more. But for health's sake, is 49 cents more for this and 60 cents more for that really worth it to live longer, be healthier. I say yes. It sure is a lot less than health problems that can and probably will arise in the future! Love yourself. Love your body! Be fat. Be thin. Be average. Be buff. It does not really matter, but be whatever it is you are the best way you can. Don't be it with all the extra shit that will chemically make your food cheaper for you, preserve you, and ultimately kill you. Read the labels. Make adjustments. Change products. Cut out bad ones. Live better. Live longer.

Healthier Lasagna

So in attempts to make it all better, I made a few changes to my regular lasagna recipe. Not only was it full of flavor, but totally delicious...and I did not really miss the cheese (hint hint to some of the change).

Lasagna

1 Box Gluten Free Rice Lasagna Noodles
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Zucchini
1 Yellow Summer Squash
Homemade Sauce (I take a huge Costco Size can of tomato sauce and add fresh basil, lots of garlic, some onion, a little Italian Seasoning, sometimes mushrooms and simmer for about 2 hours)

Brown ground beef with desired seasoning (I like crushed red peppers salt and pepper and some herbs). Once beef is browned, place into a strainer and rinse with warm water. This will take off all the excess fat that you don't need (especially because it is saturated fat). If seasoned well enough, the flavor will not rinse out. Set this aside.

At this point heat your oven to 350 while you build your lasagna.

Slice the squashes into long flat strips (so they are like lasagna noodles themselves).

Place a layer of noodles into the bottom of a glass baking dish (you don't need to grease it). Cover lightly with sauce. Add a layer of meat, then zucchini. Add more sauce to cover lightly. Add more noodles, meat, summer squash then more sauce. Add the final layer of noodles and cover liberally with sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. After an hour, remove foil and bake for 30 min more. Serve hot.

Makes 6 huge servings.

You really can play with the veggies in this. Use eggplant, mushrooms, kale; anything you like really. This is a nice base for your own creation. You will notice, while a cheesy lasagna is great, this one is pretty damn good too! And your body will thank you!

The Experience of Eating

I love to eat. Everyone I know knows that. I love the experience, the atmosphere, the flavors, the techniques, and the overall presentation. I think I became a fan of all the finer parts of dining when my best friend Wendy and I started dining out.

My first fine dining experience was with her at the Stein Erickson Lodge in Park City, Utah. It was everything you could imagine of a large expensive lodge in Park City. Rustic, but stunningly beautiful, high up in the mountains. I had loved food and cooking up until this point, but here it changed. Dressing up for a meal. The best service to create a perfect mood. I started to understand where it could end up. Eating was not just for survival, but to experience.

In most countries food is what brings people together. They converse over food, entertainment revolves around eating, and people enjoy life. It is an experience, not a necessary evil that gets in the way of your busy day. I hope we in America start to realize that more. So of us do, thank goodness, but unfortunately most of us don't.

Now starts my slight rant...

After going to the nutritionist I have learned a lot more about food and eating. I have shared this with friends and even some of them have gone for a visit to her. We are learning about healthier eating and that healthy food is good food. Natural flavors ARE delicious. You don't need pre-packaged processed shit to clog your body. It takes planning and a little more time, but I think the benefits are remarkable. Saying that, brings me back to the fine dining experience. You know why the food is so good? Is it the chef? The atmosphere? The price? Yeah, they all contribute to the experience, but the base product is fresh food. It is so good because it is fresh. Time was taken to prepare and cook it. It did not come frozen (like most chain restaurants), it did not come in a bag that needed to be cut open, and it was not microwaved. It was not scarfed down in a matter of minutes (I could eat a Big Mac in about a minute if I were in a hurry) but time was taken to enjoy and savor it. No matter how busy your day is, don't you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, to fill your body with fresh healthy food that is delicious?

The nutritionist made a good point to me. We were talking about soy creamer for my coffee as an alternative to half and half. She said, yes, soy is good for you, in it's pure form, but how much processing did it take to make it into a creamer you will enjoy with your coffee? Look how much had to change in that soy bean to make it creamer. If it is processed that much, it is no longer as good for you as it was. Good point. Purity is a key to eating healthy. I remember when living in Slovenia that I dropped weight drastically. I knew I was walking a lot more and getting more exercise than normal, but it was also that I was eating food in the pure form. At that time there were very few prepackaged meals, and you had to go to the store almost daily because there were no preservatives so the food did not last long in the refrigerator. It was not until I returned home to the US of A that I thought about it. If the preservatives are preserving food for that long, can't they be preserving fat in our bodies? AND our bodies themselves?

Here is a part of text from 101 Facts You Should Know About Food:

"It has long been an urban myth that corpses today don’t decay as fast as they did in the past because of the amount of food preservatives that have built up in our bodies. After watching the decay of exhumed human remains buried over the last30 years, Professor Rainer Horn of Kiel University in Germany has concluded that this is actually true. He believes that the combination of food preservatives and cosmetics is literally embalming us while we are still alive."

Not saying this is conclusive proof, but does make a very valid point.

Anyhow, back to my point...

Eating is something that should be experienced, not just done. Anyone can scarf a burger down and a few fries, but it takes time and thought to enjoy a burger and taste the seasoning of the fries. It takes time to cook it ourselves and play with seasonings we like, not that "Ronald McDonald" decides on for the masses. Use feta instead of a Kraft Singles. Use shallots instead of onions. Mix in some BBQ sauce and dry mustard to the beef. Do something! Just enjoy it. Invited friends over for a "Gourmet Burger" night. Use Turkey or Buffalo, or mix some pork in with the beef. Experiment and make life and dinner exciting!

It might be a burger, a lasagna, or some macaroni and cheese, but whatever it is, make it fresh, make it yourself, and make it an experience to enjoy! Just please take the time to enjoy every aspect of it...in moderation of course!