Another issue I should report back on, food & food habits. Or, as I lovingly refer to it, the reduced wheat-cheese-beer non-diet.
Success: Work food. Not quite every week, but often, I arm myself with one of two dishes. A) (this mornings breakfast, shown above) an egg white/vegetable frittatta. This has actually evolved into a mostly egg white frittatta, with so many people suggesting that I would be less hungry all day if I ate more protein. So if the frittatta has 7 eggs I use maybe 3 yokes. Then I toss in whatever random veggies we have uneaten from the our CSA and throw the whole thing in the oven. Other weeks I B) make a big pot of quinoa, and mix in some maple syrup, almond milk, and a crap load of strawberries. (Which seem to inexplicably be in constant season in San Diego.) I also C) sometimes dabble in the whole avocado, baked tempeh, wheat free gluten free bread thing. For lunch I have done *pretty* well just eating salads.
In Progress: Dinners. I have tried a few of your recipes. (Thank you!) And checked out many of the sites/blogs, and made some to get book lists. We definitely are steaming the veggies more often than frying. I think we have increased our use of whole (non wheat) grains. But only a little. We have decreased our use of cheese and drinking of beer, but probably an amount that would be imperceptible to anyone else. Ok. Considering that every so often I freak out, run to the store, buy the yummiest cheese I can find, and then eat only that for dinner, we are probably only breaking even here.
Everyone's food needs are different, but from what you briefly describe, sounds like you're running out for cheese because you are not getting enough fat in your diet. Thus the craving for cheese. Fat leaves the body feeling satiated. Thus so many people gain weight when consuming fat free foods (they end up eating more food, thus more calories, which in turn are stored as fat in the body if not burned off). Small amounts of healthy fat from organic whole butter, extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, cold pressed oils of different types, nuts, seeds, avocados and other foods, used in small amounts in cooking, etc. You don't need to eat more protein, just more balanced combo of fats, carbs and protein taken together. For example: the fritata....what did you use for fat? A dribble of olive oil (Xtra virg) or tad of butter in the pan....less eggs, using the yolk too (it is actually the most nutrient dense part of the egg)....and you will be far less likely to run out for cheese. It's better to get small amounts in combination with other nutrient dense ingredients rather than binging on a craving for cheese. You'll end up eating more calories if you try to take fat out of your diet completely. Plus, your body needs it to function (important in nerve cell function and usually good sources of vitamin E) I am a food professional, so I know from whence I speak. I'd suggest you might want to check out Weston Price's work and the book: Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine. Bon Apetit!
ReplyDeleteYum. Sounds like you're working it out. I used to do the egg white thing, but I quit. Because the yolks are tasty and keep you full longer and I am not convinced about evidence that they're bad for you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you get more vitamins out of your veggies if you take them in with a bit of fat (many, many vitamins are fat soluble and pretty much useless to your body otherwise) so I do quite a bit of veggie roasting with a bit of olive oil. Or I'll toss them with a bit of olive oil before serving. Keeps you full longer, too.
D and I were discussing our finances last night because we're going to keep track of everything for a few months, just to see where it falls out. We debated whether we needed to keep track of our alcohol spending separately from our groceries, and then we realized that we probably also needed to keep track of our cheese spending, which is a bit exorbitant. And then we decided we couldn't face it and we'd just keep track of groceries in general.
i was thinking...if you sometimes cooked your vegetables by roasting which really brings out flavor the best, or sauteeing, you might feel more satisfied taste-wise and have less of a craving for something tastier like cheese.
ReplyDeletemmmmmkay.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! I can't believe I fell for this trap of thinking fat was bad. I mean, I know there is good fat, but when I am trying to loose weight i assumed it was better (for example) to have qoinoa with steamed veggies SANS oils. But instead last night I mixed a little olive oil in.
Julia/Rachel, we do often roast/saute things, but again. In wanting to loose weight I assumed it was better to curb this.
So, I will keep my eggs whole. Add in some oil to the frittatta. Not shy away from a touch of olive oil in my veggies with dinner.AND check out that book. THANKS GUYS!
And Rachel, we always have the same dilemna about seperating out beer spending. We had a big budget session the same night you did. ;)
Pete and I just had this very conversation with some desert hippie friend last night: We all agreed that natural fats (olive oil, avocado) aren't inherently bad; it's the excess of gluten (less bread!) and empty starches (spuds and plain pasta!) that do us in. Small portions are everything. And keep the yolks for sure.
ReplyDeleteSo agreed on all fronts.
Because fancy cheese is hard to come by up here I end up spending an embarrassing amount of $$$ on CHEESE AND TRAPPIST ALE when I'm in Palm Springs. So I can't give any advice on either of those fronts, because I exhibit zero self-restraint when it comes to whey and hops.