Day 71 -- Unhealthy Healthy Eating

Is it possible to follow a healthy eating plan and still be eating in an unhealthy way?  I think it might be.  And I think, lately, that's where I've been.  I'm carefully following a vegan diet, yet, becaue of my schedule, I haven't been achieving the right balance.

I eat no added fat, no meat, no dairy.  I'm losing weight, which is a huge part of getting healthier.  But lately, I've been existing on lots of veggie burgers on whole grain buns.  I've been skipping breakfast because I have things to do in the morning.  I haven't been eating greens, or food with lots of veggies or legumes in them.  I'm getting enough as far as grains go, and I have been eating a piece of fruit every day.  But in the whole scheme of things, I don't feel like I'm focussing on a good balance.

So even in the midst of this change to a healthy lifestyle, I've discovered that there's still work to be done.  When I don't have time to cook (or I just don't feel like cooking), I have to force myself to eat better.  I need to grab a salad and some fresh veggies along with my veggie burger.  I need to eat more fruit.  I have to drink more water and make sure to take my vitamins.  I know I can make better choices.  Tomorrow, I'm going to do some cooking and get myself back on track.  And, I'm going to eat some greens.  I swear I am.

Day 70 -- The Anatomy Of A Craving

Nothing kills a diet faster than cravings.  My new vegan eating plan has, for the most part, gone quite well.  I'e enjoyed most of what I've prepared for myself.  I feel healthier and I've lost over 30 pounds.  But yesterday was a bad day.  Not because I overate or ate something I shouldn't have.  It was because, all day long I was plagud by cravings.  I found myself dwelling on foods that didn't fit into a vegan diet.  Strangely eough it was sweets or fried food.  No junkfood.  I was stuck on seafood (shrimp and lobster), cheese and deviled eggs.

I suspect eating out the other night might have caused such a rush of pleasure that it caused a little imbalance in my brain.  But, I couldn't really back this up, so I decided to do a little research on what causes cravings.  This article on the Healthy Place  blog, explains common causes of food cravings.

Dieting. When you ban certain foods from your diet, you are going to crave the very foods you are trying to avoid, and may end up bingeing on those foods.

Eating out of habit. Some food cravings exist due to habit. For instance, your family may have eaten dessert every night after dinner while you were growing up. Now, if dessert doesn't appear every night after dinner, you crave something sweet.

Psychological association. Or maybe the food cravings are all in your head. The mind is a very powerful tool, and mental associations can often trigger a person to crave foods. Passing a bakery on your way home may elicit a craving for donuts, or a billboard ad for McDonald's may trigger a craving for french fries. Certain activities are also linked to food cravings. Watching movies, for example, is heavily associated with eating popcorn and candy, so just the mention of a movie can drum up a craving for junk food.

Comfort foods. Emotions can also lurk at the root of craving foods, especially if you consider certain foods "comfort" foods. If you continually reach for chocolate ice cream every time you're stressed out or upset, you may begin to associate the taste of chocolate ice cream with feeling better.

For me, I think the psychological effect of eating out and indulging in a meal that I normally wouldn't have eaten was enough to start me thinking about other foods that I'm "missing."  I'm not sure how to deal with this, so for now, I'm just going to try to ignore it and find some new recipes to cook.  Hopefully, I'll be able to work through this before going off the rails.  I'll keep you posted.

Day 69 -- Dreaming Of Summer -- And Fresh Tomatoes

Years ago, my sister, brother-in-law and I took a trip to France and spent about a week in Provence.  In early August, Provence is known for blistering hot weather.  But we were also lucky enough to visit in the midst of tomato season and in a little outdoor cafe in Gourdes, we had the most amazing Caprese salad.  For those of you who don't know, a Caprese salad is made out of sliced fresh tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes in balls), fresh basil, aged balsamic vinegar, fragrant olive oil and a bit of salt and fresh ground pepper.  It's best served with a crusty peasant bread that you can use to sop up the mixture of tomato juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

You may wonder why I'm bringing up a salad that is definitely not vegan.  First off, this would probably be one of those dishes that I'd include in my last meal.  And I certainly don't intend to go the rest of my life without eating a Caprese salad.  Even if I am a vegan most of the time, I'm sure I'll find a day or two a year when I can enjoy fresh mozzarella in a Caprese salad.

My other reason for bringing this up was to rhapsodize about tomato time in the late summer months.  There is nothing more wonderful than sweet tomatoes, warmed by the sun and eaten straight off the bush.  I can't even bear to buy tomatoes in the store this time of year because they're a weak substitute for those grown in a home garden.  This spring, I'm going to plant some tomatoes in a small corner of my perennial garden.  A pot of basil is also a necessity along with a row or two of arugula and baby greens.

With more that fifteen inches of snow piled up outside, it's hard to imagine tomato time ever coming.  But the snow will melt and the trees will bud and before I know it, Day 240 will arrive and I'll be eating fresh tomatoes.  Summer can't come fast enough.  

Day 68 -- Say Hello To My Little Friend

As I'm settling into my new eating habits, I occasionally long for something salty and crunchy to eat for a snack.  Chips are out and so is microwave popcorn with butter.  But popcorn, popped in a hot-air popper is just fine for my eating plan.  So today, I went out and bought this:

This is a Presto Hot Air Popcorn popper.  I was barely in the door before I fired it up and made a half batch  of popcorn.  And it was good!!  I gave it a tiny spray of PAM, just to get some salt to stick to the kernels and I welcomed back one of my favorite treats.  I need to make sure to buy a can of butter-flavored PAM the next time I go to the grocery store.  The olive oil flavor doesn't taste as good on popcorn.  I"m happy to have a healthy snack alterntive and I'm sure my little friend will get used often.

Day 67 -- Out To Eat -- For The Second Time

Fifty days ago, on Day 17, I went out to eat for dinner.  And tonight, I went out again.  Oddly, I dined with the same friend in the same restaurant.  But after 67 days on my new eating plan, my perspective was markedly different.

Last time, I ate a salad (that was pretty unremarkable) and brought my own dressing along.  I drank water with my meal and was happy to escape without indulging in the chips and salsa.  Tonight, I ate the chips and salsa, drank a margarita, and  ordered the portobello mushroom fajitas. Three flour tortillas, sizzling veggies with a sweet and hot "voodoo" sauce, pico di gallo, guacamole and lettuce.  No meat, no dairy, but definitely some fat.

So, how do I feel?  Not guilty.  If I only go out to eat once every 50 days, I can afford to eat like this when I do.  But now that I'm home, I am feeling some odd rumblings in my tummy.  And I'm very sleepy. It was such a treat that it was well worth the extra fat that came along with the meal.  I figure I ate about 25 grams of fat between the flour tortillas, the grilled veggies and the guacamole.  That's just over half of what someone on a 1500 calorie diet would get to enjoy.  So, overall, I came out it pretty well.  Fifty days from now, I'll be on day 117.  It will be almost the end of April and spring will be here!  A perfect occassion to celebrate completing almost a third of my year!  I'm looking forward to it.  In fact, I can hardly wait!

Day 66 -- Choosing My Battles

Since I've started eating healthier, I've also begun to pay attention to nutritional advice, supposedly from the experts.  But the more I read, the more confused I become.  Some doctors say fat is the devil.  Other's say sugar must be avoided at all costs.  And then others point the finger at salt as the cause of all our health troubles. Dairy takes a few hits along the way, too.  Add to that processed foods and pesticides on produce and BPA in food packaging and genetically modified fruits and veggies and growth hormones in meat and dairy and its a wonder there's anything left to eat!

I feel that, even though I'm trying hard to eat healthy, I'm still making so many compromises.  I can't afford to buy organic produce.  Organic red peppers are $4.99 a pound.  Non-organic are $2.49 a pound.  When I see charts like the one below, I get so frustrated.  How much further do I have to go to make sure I'm eathing healthy?

 

I guess I have to choose my battles.  Right now, I'm at war with fat.  Once I've won that war, I can step into battle against sugar and salt.  And after that, maybe I can start to focus on eating organic.  I have plenty of places to buy organic fruits and veggies.  And I already buy organic grains and legumes and canned goods when I can.  And I haven't even begun to address adding exercise to my daily routine.  Perhaps after 365 days of eating vegan, I'll have to do 365 days of eating organic -- or 365 days of getting fit.  For now, I'm going to stay on track and not worry about anything else -- for now.

Day 65 -- The Perfect Breakfast?

Breakfast is such an important meal of the day -- at least that's what all the nutritionists tell us.  People who don't eat breakfast are 75% more likely to be overweight.  I have found that if I eat a decent breakfast, I'm able to make it through the rest of the day without the usual cravings and the glycemic highs and lows.  But what constitutes an ideal breakfast?

According to an article in SELF magazine, the perfect breakfast should make up 25 to 30% of your total daily calorie intake, which for me would be between 375 and 450 calories.  And the meal should consist of 53% carbs, 27% fat and 20% protien.   My favorite pre-vegan breakfast at a local diner consisted of 3 over-medium fried eggs, hashbrowns (with butter), a medium-rare breakfast steak, an English muffin (with butter and honey), and a big diet Coke.  I can admit now that that breakfast got me as far as home and then put me right back to sleep.  It was definitely not the best way to start the day.

As a new vegan, I had been enjoying fruit smoothies for breakfast, made in my shiny new NutriBullet.  I used a combination of fresh and frozen fruit, a little soy milk, 2 tablespoons of flax seed , and greens (usually hearts of romine).  It was a good breakfast and I have to say, it's about the only way I was getting any greens.  And then I discovered Irish oatmeal.

Now, breakfast has become a cup of creamy oatmeal mixed with two tablespoons of ground brown flax seed, freshly ground in my repurposed NutriBullet.  I top it off with a handful of frozen blueberries and a drizzle of honey and I'm good to go.  So, does this breakfast meet the requirements that SELF magazine laid out for a perfect breakfast?  It has 63 grams of carbs, 11 grams of fat and 11.5 grams of protien with a total calorie count of 366 calories.  Calorie breakdown is 63% carbs, 25% fat and 12% protien.  Though it's not perfect, it isn't far off.  A little more protien, a little less carbs would be good, but I do get quite a bit of protien later in the day, so I'm pretty happy with this breakfast.  

Will this be my standard breakfast?  I don't know.  I wish there were a way to incorporate greens.  Maybe I need to switch back and forth between a green shake one day and oatmeal the next.  I have another 300 days to figure it out. I'll let you know how it goes.