Reality Check

I’m in Florida right now because my Mom had a stroke last Friday and has been in the hospital ever since. Luckily it was a ‘mini-stroke’ , but after doing a bunch of testing to find the cause, my mom had a bunch of other health issues come to light. My mom is very overweight and very inactive, and she’s almost 65 years old. She’s been overweight since I remember. Actually, I hate saying it because it almost feels disrespectful, but she’s technically morbidly obese. Turns out she has a lot of blood clots that have already travelled through her heart and are now in her lungs – I guess one of them got to her brain and there are many more that could have if she didn’t go to the hospital. She’s going to be okay, but unless she changes her lifestyle and starts moving, she could end up right back in the same place – or worse. 

This week has been horrifically stressful, but I’m proud to say I haven’t used food for comfort. I’ve let myself cry when needed and I’ve been exercising when I can – usually late at night before bed right next to the bed on my yoga mat for a few minutes… and I’ve been talking to friends and family online and on the phone. I feel like this was a huge test for me, to see if I was really committed to living healthy, and I’m passing with flying colors. I wish I had a scale with me [my mom has one, but the battery is dead]. In the last month and a half or so, I’ve lost 13 lbs rather effortlessly. Being here in Florida now is great because all my summer clothes that were tight on me last summer either fit me perfectly now, or are a little loose. I look better in my bathing suit, too. 

I have a long way to go. I have another 72-77 lbs to go [not sure where I'll end up for an ideal weight - it's been too long and I'm way more active now that I ever was when I was 'thin'... so who knoww?], but I really don’t anything but success at this point. I’ll have ups and downs, but there’s no turning back. I feel too good to go back to eating crappy. And before I had to suddenly fly down here, I really enjoyed lifting heavier weights and doing fewer reps. That has made a huge difference, along with more intense cardio interval workouts in between strength training sessions. I really want to hit my target before we decide to start a family – so I don’t have all the hangups and bad habits to deal with on top of being a new mom and being exhausted. I figure if I can survive what I’m dealing with now, I’m good no matter what life throws at me.  =) 

So, I’m planning on staying here for a little while to get my mom home and settled and also to give her some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way to make eating healthy EASY – like steaming fish, shrimp, scallops, etc. in the microwave with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, etc. – or whatever flavors I’m in the mood for… making big pots of whole grains like brown short grain rice [instead of barley, which I can't eat... gluten issues], millet, quinoa or black venus rice and using it in so many ways – as breakfast with some almond milk and agave, cranberries and walnuts… as a salad with beans, parsley or any green herb, garlic and spices… in soups to add texture and flavor… or as a side dish to whatever I’m making. I also love making a bean salad to use as is, to mix with rice, or add to soups, or have as part of a salad… snacking on really great fruits, or veggies with hommus – which can be made with so many flavor combinations and with so many different kinds of beans- the possibilities are endless! And almond milk – adding it to protein shakes, or having it in coffee or tea instead of milk. I love the texture and flavor – it does wonders and makes having some hot tea after dinner instead of ‘free-munching’ in front of the TV actually satisfying. And then making batches of soup with chicken stock, seaweed and whatever else I’m in the mood for – vegetarian as a snack or appetizer… or I’ll add lean protein, chunky veggies or lentils if I want to make it a meal. I love all the food I’m eating and don’t feel like my diet is lacking – thanks to the whole grains. I don’t eat wheat anymore unless I’m out and feel like some good bread with my meal, but I don’t buy it and keep it in the house anymore. I also don’t buy dairy anymore, except for good parmasan because a little goes a long way for adding flavor. But if I feel like having a starbucks’ latté now and then, I go for it.  =) It’s all about balance… and I’m finally finding it!

Anyway, hopefully my mom can learn from my experience and get her own health back on track. I’m going to try to help motivate her by telling her that for every 25lbs she loses, I’ll come down for a long weekend and help her with something – like decluttering her room, or buying some updated kitchen basics and clearing out her cupboards. She’s a pack rat and it’s kind of crazy. She needs to simplify her life and she’ll feel a lot more calm and happy. I also told her she needs to get a dog when she’s ready – when she can walk at least 20 minutes at a time without pain… that way she’ll have to get out and walk her dog a few times a day. She’ll get exercise, the dog will love her for it and she’ll meet new friends along the way – it’s win-win!  =) 

Time to do some crunches, pushups, squats and lunges… it’s 12:10am… then time for bed!

Food & Inflammation

I’ve been reading for years in various diet books, health magazines, etc. that inflammation is at the root of many ailments, causing everything to minor discomfort to autoimmune issues. So I was excited to come across an great nutrition site, sort of by accident while searching for information on mung beans. lol… 

NutritionData.com

It has many fresh foods already listed with an option to add your own, but what’s great is, if it has the info, it tells you how inflammatory or anti-inflammatory your food choice is. I’m not 100% sure what the range is of their scale, but I’ve found a few foods that are superstars in the anti-inflammatory category. Most I already knew about, or knew they were “superfoods” already for their nutritional content. A score of ‘0′ means a food is neutral, and a negative score means it has inflammatory properties:

Garlic: 4863 [raw]
Cayenne Pepper: 1481
Atlantic Herring: 1340
Hazelnut Oil: 1357
Olive Oil: 1137
Salmon: 895
White Tuna, packed in water: 698
Almond Butter: 636
Macadamia Nuts, dry roasted: 636
Broccoli Raab: 608, cooked [vs. broccoli: 79 cooked]
Sweet Potato: 505, steamed, no skin
Onions: 466, cooked 
Parsley: 301
Ginger: 129

I put ginger on there as references because we’ve all heard about ginger’s amazing anti-inflammatory properties, so it goes to show just how amazing those other foods are for the same benefit. Most greens like collards, swiss chard, kale, etc. actually are more anti-inflammatory after they’ve been cooked, between the 200 and 400 mark. 

A few other trends I’ve noticed in looking up all the foods I eat regularly are:

- Fruits are pretty close to neutral for the most part, maybe slightly inflammatory, but their nutritional benefits make them a no-brainer for health.

- Most veggies are either neutral or mildly anti-inflammatory, with exceptions listed above which are high on the anti-inflammatory scale. The one exception I found was corn with a score of mild inflammatory at -58 – but corn is technically a grain…

- Most grains and legumes are moderately inflammatory, the highest being wheat, the lowest being lentils with a score of -11. 

- Hot peppers score pretty high on the anti-inflammatory scale  at 300-400.

- All seafood have anti-inflammatory properties, none are inflammatory [that I checked - everything from tilapia, to mussels to king crab]

- Eggs are anti-inflammatory raw, but get more and more inflammatory the more they’re cooked, but even cooked they’re only mildly inflammatory.

- Most meats are inflammatory, but only mildly. In the case of beef, the better the cut, the less inflammatory it is [assuming you don't eat any fat left on the steak after cooking]. Sirloin is actually mildly anti-inflammatory with a score of 58.

- Dairy, including plain yogurt seems to be mostly mildly inflammatory, with no real difference between a low-fat option vs. whole milk option [in cheese, yogurt, etc.]. It seems the creamier the product, the higher it is on the inflammatory scale. Sour cream scores close to -300. 

Anyway… I just found this pretty interesting and thought I’d share.  =)

Eating Plan… It’s Working.

I mentioned in my last, rambling post that I’ve been watching a lot of that British show, “You Are What You Eat” and I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas from it. I also discovered Almond Milk as a replacement for milk and cream in coffee, tea and smoothies, even porridge [vs. oatmeal since I make it with anything but wheat products!]. I’ve also upped the fish and greens, I’m eating fruit by itself as snacks between meals, and at night, when I have the munchies I go for tea with almond milk in it, sweetened with a little Agave Nectar, or I’ll crunch on veggies and some kind of bean dip… or a bean and rice salad. Something along those lines – filling and flavorful. And so far, it’s working! This past week I’ve lost 3 lbs. My total so far from my heaviest is 15.8 lbs. I’d like to lose another 70 lbs or so to reach my goal range, and I’m finally on my way! 

The keys for me are making a pot of whole grain something: quinoa, black venus rice, short grain brown rice, millet – and having it handy to make breakfast as a porridge with almond milk, agave, dried cranberries and some walnuts or pecans… on it’s own mixed with beans and oil/vinegar and fresh herbs and spices as  salad – using that on a green salad or in soups… And then baking off some fish in a little lemon juice, olive oil and whatever spices I’m in the mood for. I make extra so I have it ready to go for meals for a few days. Finally, prepping and washing all my vegge on Sundays makes it so easy to grab and go – for salads, sides, or raw with dip, added to soups, etc. I also use my pantry for white tuna packed in water, clams packed in clam juice, smoked trout [my fav!], and any variety of beans if I don’t have time to soak and cook them fresh [or dry, really...]. So far, this is working for me – adding in the almond milk and the whole grains gives me enough options and variety. So far, so good – no cravings for my usual junkfood – but I’ve also noticed that even when I do indulge in a dessert or I have some dairy with a restaurant meal, it doesn’t have that big an effect. I’m eating healthy 90% of the time. I’ll keep you posted on how this goes… it’ll be interesting to see if my rate of weightloss continues or if it slows after a few weeks. We’ll see – but I feel great and I’m loving the food, so I’m quite happy.  =)