Healthy Choices

I’ve wanted so much to write on this topic, but have hesitated for fear of being just too interfering! Ah well, I am what I am (or “yam”), so the struggle is over and here it goes.

Over the past 18 months or so, I’ve dropped 40+ pounds. MDH has lost even more, and on him, it really shows! At the last Presbytery meeting, we were asked over and over, “What’s your secret?”

What I’ll share with you here are only ideas and guidelines that MDH and I have been learning. It’s humbling for me, since I’ve always thought my cooking was very healthy, and now we’ve had to change a lot. In some ways, it has been a process of becoming stricter with principles we’ve known all along, but in other ways, the guidelines have totally changed.

So I’m taking the risk to share these guidelines, and pray that no one gets offended or upset with me. Besides, why should you blunder through mistakes I’ve already made? (Like cooked radishes, whole wheat pie crusts, and tofu sandwiches – healthy, yes, but who wants to eat them?)

I’m not going to try to tell you specific nutrition and exercise choices to make for yourself. I’ll just pass along the guidelines that I’m trying to follow and you can make the judgment call.

NUTRITION GUIDELINES

1. Healthy fats & oils: Our first choice is always olive oil, with canola oil an occasional option. For flavor, butter and when absolutely necessary, as for pie crust, I use lard! Honest, that’s what my doctor recommends – in small amounts.

- For table spread: I combine 50/50 softened butter and olive oil in blender. Store in tub in frig.

- I’ve eliminated everything that includes “partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “shortening” as an ingredient. Another term is “trans fat.” Just read labels; the stuff is ubiquitous. Watch out for baking mixes, snack foods and other sneaky sources. Even more surprising, all the lard available in stores has been partially hydrogenated, so I’m looking for a source online. Recently, it’s easier to find crackers and other products (Paul Newman) without trans fat.

2. White Out White Foods: white sugar, white flour, white rice, and white pasta. White potatoes are out for me, but Dad can eat baked pots. The underlying principle of course, is eliminating refined and simple carbohydrates, and increasing consumption of complex carbs to maintain a low glycemic load. I don’t pretend to understand the entire chemistry of “insulinogenic” foods. It’s also called the “anti-inflammatory diet.” Whatever. It sure has relieved the chronic pain I used to live with.

- Instead of table sugar, I’ve gotten into the habit of using small amounts of raw sugar, honey and maple syrup. Yes, it’s all sugar, but not refined, and maybe sweeter in smaller amounts. Actually, maple syrup is really good in coffee, like the Starbucks hazelnut syrup. Another discovery is that I can put bits of cinnamon sticks and/or star anise in water or tea, and my mouth thinks that’s sweet.

- We adjusted to whole wheat pasta and brown rice within a couple of weeks. That took commitment on both our parts, but it wasn’t difficult. Finding alternative flours for baking is more difficult; whole wheat flour just doesn’t make good pastry. Oat flour is tasty, but heavy. Spelt is promising, especially for bread, biscuits and muffins. For pie crusts, I’m working on an oat/hazelnut crumb crust. There’s a Quaker Oats recipe, but it needs some tweaking.

3. Natural / Minimally-Processed / Organic Whole Foods. This is where we’re still struggling to find reasonable sources.

- We’re doing pretty well with meats by using the locally raised organic beef and choosing wild salmon instead of farmed. Chicken and turkey are a lot more difficult, so we get what’s available.

- Likewise for fruit and vegetables, although it’s easier to find canned and frozen organic produce than fresh. Go figure. The frozen berries and veggies are less expensive and don’t spoil before we get around to eating them, so that’s mainly what I buy. Frozen berries, sliced peaches, chunks of bananas, and grapes all are super finger food snacks when eaten with nuts or cheese for protein, and they make great fast smoothies when tossed in the blender with plain yogurt. (I bet it’s easier to find natural whole foods around Flagstaff and Tempe than it is around Goodyear, which isn’t a college town.)

- We’ve tossed nearly all of our non-stick cookware. There are just too many studies coming out exposing the toxic affects of non-stick. It’s a sticky business.

- I’ve found that I just don’t like the taste of artificial colors and flavors, and I shudder to think what the combined chemistry is doing to our bodies. That book, “Fast Food Nation,” spells out all the gruesome facts.

4. Smaller Portions / Frequent Snacks: frankly, this isn’t easy. We split portions at restaurants and still pack up leftovers. At home, it helps me to weigh out portions so that I don’t end up with too much on my plate. I also use smaller plates. At the same time, MDH probably isn’t eating enough to maintain his weight. So this is a very individual thing, and it’s tough to watch MDH eating twice as much as I can eat.

- It does help to remember to eat frequently, about every 2 ½ hours. When I’m getting hungry, I can put something in a zip-lock bag to eat “later.”

- Oh, another important guideline here is to combine protein, fat, and carbs in every little meal or snack: string cheese with an apple; a slice of summer sausage with crackers; yogurt with berries and almonds. The protein element is difficult when we’re on the road or in the Valley. MDH can have those protein bars, but we’ve learned that’s too much sugar for me. Sigh. Got any ideas for a protein that won’t melt or spoil in a car in Phoenix? (besides jerky. Yuck!)

HINTS AND TIME SAVERS

(Everyone, please contribute additional hints and time savers. I know I can always use new ideas.)

- Find other people and especially another couple who are working on making healthy choices. Having another couple in the congregation who are working on the same goals has made all the difference for us. Now we’ve found another clergy couple doing the same thing, so that’s more support. There’s just too much pressure to eat junk coming from all sides to manage with support from friends.

- Instead of loose greens and lettuce, I buy the packaged salad stuff. I know, heresy! But I’ve learned that it’s worth the extra cost to actually EAT the greens instead of letting them wilt unwashed in the frig. BTW, Romaine lettuce is PACKED with nutrients, while iceberg is empty.

- Combine olive oil and balsamic vinegar for salad dressing – quick and inexpensive. I really like almond, walnut and sesame oils for subtle flavors, and different types of balsamic and cider vinegars. Drop garlic cloves, sage leaves, rosemary sprigs and/or other herbs directly into the oils and let them add flavor over time.

- When eating out, get salad dressing “on the side,” then dip your fork into the dressing before picking up each bite. You’ll get the flavor with fewer calories.

- Peel garlic by whacking the clove with the side of your chopping knife. No time required. Easier: little jars of chopped garlic in olive oil.

- Frozen chopped onions. It’s a good thing.

- Drain canned veggies into a container kept in the freezer. That’s instant soup broth. Just bring to a boil and add pasta or rice. Any combination of veggie liquid is fine (except maybe sauerkraut!)

- It takes no more time to cut a slice of cheese off a brick than to unwrap imitation processed cheese food.

- Low fat plain yogurt tastes a lot better than fat free plain yogurt. Stir in unsweetened applesauce, nut butter and/or protein powders.

- I’ve gotten rid of all gadgets and appliances I don’t use. A cluttered work area wastes my time and frustration.

- Is there a grocery store in your neck of the woods that delivers?

- “Time saving” recipes are everywhere. The trick is to find those using natural ingredients that actually combine quickly, and to avoid artificial, processed, over-packaged, not-quite real food.