28 July 2010

Profile of a Healthy Eater: Kristina

Kristina is one strong cookie who doesn’t let a medical condition rule her life. She hates Lean Cuisine and 100-calorie packs (I’m with you, girl!), but loves Mexican food. Read on to find out more about this fab woman!

Kristina’s ringing in the new year with style!

1. What’s your foodie style? I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). I tend to gain weight in my stomach more than any other place on my body! I am encouraged by my doctor to stay away from high-glycemic foods, so I keep it very light in carbs. I tend to allow myself to have them once a day. I stay away from all white starches. No white bread, pasta, potatoes, rice or sugar. I don’t do packaged food other than frozen organic veggies. I eat a ton of fresh veggies and stay away from dairy since I am also lactose intolerant. I can handle a small amount of yogurt and cheese so I incorporate those in when ever I can.
2. Something people consider “healthy” that you think is anything but? Lean cuisines. I HATE THEM! They are full of sodium and still leave you hungry an hour later. I understand that people use them for quick lunches but if you cooked your own food at home you could have better quality and more filling lunches. Plus those frozen thingies get really expensive! You could have made a few weeks worth of lunches for what it costs for just a weeks worth of frozen dinners. I also ban 100-calorie packs of ANY junk food. They don’t lead you in the right direction of healthy and clean eating. They are still incorporating the poison into your diet. Just in small dosages at a time.
3. Favorite food/health blog? Your Nutritionista of course!! But all the blogs I follow I adore and love. I get so many amazing tips that have truly helped me stay on track. Plus the support system is AMAZING!
4. Your go-to five-minute meal? 70-calorie Albacore tuna packs mixed with fresh veggies like broccoli, or cucumbers with tomato, feta cheese, and a squeeze of lemon. GREAT filling salad without using boring lettuce.
5. Perfect last meal? I am from Texas. We do it up big down here. I love my Mexican food. So I would say a Mexican feast with cheesy enchiladas, fajitas, tortillas, chili con queso, tortilla chips, guacamole, sopapillas with honey and TONS of margaritas or Mexican beer with lime.
6. Favorite method of cooking and why? Roasting. I am obsessed with it. It brings out all the flavors of pretty much anything you cook from meat to veggies. I love roasted broccoli or roasted sweet potatoes. I could eat them 3 meals a day. You can make anything crisp from roasting. Much healthier than frying.
7. Craziest diet you’ve ever tried? Starvation diet. Plain and simple. Craziness.
8. Restaurant you’d go to every day if you could? Kasra Persian Cafe here in Houston. They have the best bread and hummus ever. All their food is fresh grilled and totally healthy for the most part. I would never have to worry about gaining too much weight. Their beef koobadeh plate with sour cherry and pistachio basmanti rice is to DIE FOR.
9. Food/dish you’ve always wanted to learn how to cook, but haven’t? Souffle. This thing and I have been battling it out for a year. I need help. I need professional guidance. I tried cooking a sweet potato one last year but it totally fell. It was good though. I just can’t get the height to stick. I think my oven sucks.
10. Dream dining companion? Rachael Ray. I know that people make fun of her all the time. I totally love her. She inspires me because she is NOT a professional chef that has made it this far in the world. She is a COOK. She says it all the time.  I love making her recipes and tailoring them to my own taste and diet. She knows where all the good restaurants are and the girl isn’t afraid to eat.

26 July 2010

What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking

New recipes on the blog have been sparse lately, I know. For a plethora of reasons, I haven’t been able to cook much lately. But that doesn’t mean I’ve just been eating take-out every day. Here are some of my tips for how to eat well — even if you can’t be bothered to turn on the stove or oven!

• Rely on pre-cooked easy meal builders for your protein. Then, all you need to do is add heat — and maybe some fresh veggies or rice — to create a complete meal. Trader Joe’s is obviously a great place for these type of items, but things like pre-cooked chicken sausage, frozen salmon patties, or pre-mixed/flavored burgers are available at most grocery stores.
• Eat frozen meals, but doctor them so they’re more satisfying. My favorite trick for bulking up frozen meals is to add fresh spinach before microwaving. This not only adds more nutrition, but the fiber from the greens makes the meal a bit more filling, too. There are other ways to bulk up sad frozen meals, too. For Mexican or Indian-style frozen meals, you could also add a big dollop of plain Greek yogurt for extra protein and fat. Get creative to make that frozen meal a little less blah.
• Use side dishes from restaurants to supplement. If you’re really at a loss, but you have, say, a bit of leftover chicken (or a pre-cooked protein!), head to your nearest cheap Middle Eastern restaurant to pick up a side salad or veggies to supplement your meal. Those places usually have great grilled veggies and yummy Greek salads. So you don’t have to buy the WHOLE meal from the restaurant — Just pick a side or two to make what you have a more complete/tasty meal.
• Keep some staples on hand for really easy meal-making. As long as you have quick-cooking rice, some frozen veggies, and a pre-cooked protein, you can have a meal ready in the time it takes to heat all of that stuff up. And if you buy quality items, it will even taste halfway decent!
• THINK EGGS. Eggs are my go-to meal if I have five minutes and want something tasty, healthy, and quick. Plus, you can make an endless variety of dishes! In the mood for Mexican? Add avocado, salsa, chili powder, and plain Greek yogurt to your scrambled eggs. Want Italian? Slip some fresh mozzarella, tomato slices, and basil leaves into your omelet. Eggs are so versatile, delicious, and EASY! If you’re really desperate, you can even make them in the microwave.

9 June 2010

Profile of a Healthy Eater: Bohemea

Bohemea recently started investing more in her health, which you know I think is so admirable. I also want to try some of her baked goods! To read more about Bohemea’s transition to healthy eating, keep on reading!

1. What’s your foodie style? I recently made the decision to change my diet to low-sodium & low-sugar after nearly losing my mother to congestive heart failure. I started off slow, but now I don’t consume any table salt, white sugar, white flour or aspartame. It was actually an easier transition than I thought it would be. I don’t miss the extra salt at all & I enjoy getting my sugar from fruit & honey now. One thing I did to make the transition easier was to not give up one bit of caffeine. I still enjoy coffee from time to time & I drink an obscene amount of unsweetened, very strong tea. I eat mostly fresh foods & avoid most processed foods. I’ve started spending more grocery money at the produce market than the grocery store & I love it!
2. Something people consider “healthy” that you think is anything but? Traditional packaged diet foods. Those 100-calorie snack foods upset me. They’re not satisfying & they’re terribly processed. I hate the idea of feeling good about eating a bag of chocolate covered cookies or a Kit-Kat that’s repackaged into a smaller wrapper.
3. Favorite food/health blog? Yours! My goodness I’ve learned a lot from you.
4. Your go-to five-minute meal? A slice of whole grain toast with natural peanut butter & a quick smoothie with skim milk, frozen berries, banana & plain yogurt. For a snack, I love to slice a banana in half length wise & spread pb & almonds on one side, put the banana back together & bliss out. I’m a bit obsessed with bananas & peanut butter, I think there’s no better flavour combination.
5. Perfect last meal? A ridiculous amount of sushi. Avocado roll after avocado roll.
6. Favorite method of cooking and why? I’m a baker. It’s been an adjustment switching to healthier baking, but also rewarding. Learning to sweeten with honey instead of sugar has been my most difficult challenge, it’s so sticky!
7. Craziest diet you’ve ever tried? I was really into both Dexatrim & Slim Fast diets when I was a teenager. I also remember when I was maybe 14 my Mom wanted to try this beet diet where you ate pretty much only beets for 3 days & I think maybe it flushed your system & you lost a whole bunch of weight. We never tried it, but there was a giant can of beets in our pantry until I moved out of the house.
8. Restaurant you’d go to every day if you could? Stepho’s Greek Taverna in Vancouver BC. I could definitely eat souvlaki & tzatziki every day.
9. Food/dish you’ve always wanted to learn how to cook, but haven’t? I’ve never baked a pie from scratch, I’d like to try that someday.
10. Dream dining companion? Nigella Lawson! She’s so pretty & I’d like to watch her cook something delicious while she applies beautiful adjectives to the food, like “voluptuous”. Then I’d like to enjoy her enjoying her dinner. Somewhere along the way I’d also enjoy my meal.

20 May 2010

Not Full? Probably Because You Didn’t Actually Eat!

A few days ago, I was sent some fiber bars to try out. I won’t name the company, because they were extremely generous to send me free stuff, even though I told them I don’t eat fiber bars anymore. I was honest and told them I’d pass them on to someone who would try them.

But when I got the bars and read through the ingredient list, I knew there was no way I could tell anyone else to try them in good conscience. Ingredients included all kinds of hydrogenated oils and even something called shellac, which I’m fairly certain I want nothing to do with.

Right after I read the ingredients on the fiber bar, I saw a commercial for sugar-free Jell-O with “zero Weight Watchers points!” I had this thought like, “If I ate that, it’d be like eating air… Because it isn’t actually food!”

When I get questions from readers who say that they’re constantly hungry, my first question is, “What are you eating?” Without fail, it’s diet foods like Baked Lays, Fiber One, Light & Fit Yogurt, low-fat Kraft cheese, etc.

It’s no wonder they’re never satisfied — they’re not actually eating real food! Those foods masquarade as health foods, but they’re not healthy. In fact, they’re not even food. They’re a bunch of ingredients and chemicals processed together to RESEMBLE food. I know, I know, nothing you haven’t heard before from Michael Pollan.

But here’s where I’m going to take it a step further: If you’re eating a bunch of food with no calories, even if it adds up to your designated 1,400 cals (or whatever) at the end of the day, you’ll feel like you’ve hardly eaten anything — because in reality, you haven’t. Calories are your friends, guys! Foods with an appropriate amount of calories for what they are — be it a calorie-dense food like meat or a food with high water content like a veggie — are going to satisfy you more than something that’s been processed to remove calories/fat/sugar/whatever. Calories aren’t always a bad thing. Remember, calories (when they’re not in processed food) usually mean nutrition. Foods with more calories also tend to have more nutrition.

Let me ask you this: Would you rather eat a sandwich on reduced-calorie bread with low-fat cheese and fake mayo and be starving in an hour? Or a REAL sandwich on sprouted grain bread, full-fat cheese, and some high-quality meat and only need to eat half because you’re sufficiently satiated mid-way through? Even if you ate the whole thing, you wouldn’t need to eat your snack of popped air later that afternoon. Sure, you’d be consuming more calories in the moment, but you wouldn’t be setting yourself up for the munchies later.

REAL food is satisfying. Fake food is just that — fake. I’m not saying there’s no place for Baked Lays or frozen yogurt (I eat it all the time!). Just don’t pretend it’s food.

13 May 2010

Operation Help Punita Glow

The gorgeous Punita (seriously, people, have you seen this girl??) asked me if I’d upgrade her diet to help her lose the few pounds she’s gained recently. Punita is a vegetarian and does a combo of cardio and strength training 5-6 days a week. 

Let’s get down to her eats:

BREAKFAST
Kashi honey/flax seed cereal, OR Oatmeal Squares cereal (about 3/4 cup) with skim milk (about 1/2 cup)
+ a daily multivitamin & fish oil supplement

Punita’s breakfast is pretty high in sugar/carbs and low in protein/fat/calories. If she wants to stick with cereal, I’d recommend eating a smaller portion served on top of plain full-fat Greek yogurt (or regular, if she doesn’t like Greek). Breakfast should be no less than 300 cals. I like that she’s taking the fish oil supplement!

SNACK
1 packet instant (Quaker) oatmeal made in water with 2-3 strawberries
OR 1 medium sized blueberry muffin

This snack is entirely carbs — without much fiber! That isn’t going to do much for Punita’s hunger. Again, I’d recommend something with a bit more protein, fiber, and fat. What about fresh blueberries with an ounce of cheese? Or even a LARABAR? My favorite snack is a hard-boiled egg with veggie crudites or fresh berries.

LUNCH
Noodles (about 1/2 packet of water boil noodles) with Vegetables (about 1 cup frozen mixed veggies, + 1 tsp butter) and Mexican shredded cheese (1/4 cup blended cheeses)
OR Whole grain bread (2 slices) with fresh cut mozarella and 2/3 sliced tomato with pinch of salt & pepper

I like that these lunches include veggies, but they seem sort of meager. To bulk up the sandwich or the stir-fry, Punita could add something like BBQ tofu or tempeh — or even a scrambled/fried egg (surprisingly delicious on a sandwich!).

SNACK
1 Medium Banana & 18 oz iced/blended coffee (~180 cals) + whipped cream (60-80 cals worth)
OR Apple with PB (about a TSB)

Instead of sugary whipped cream, Punita should try regular, sugar-free cream! It will be more filling and keep Punita’s sugar cravings at bay.

DINNER
Burrito with Black Beans (1/2 cup canned) and fresh homemade Salsa (1/4 cup), Lettuce (1 cup shredded), Cheese (1/4 cup shredded) wrapped up in a tomato basil Tortilla
OR whole grain spaghetti/pasta, Pasta sauce, fresh Mozarella, and fresh Green pepper (1/2 bell pepper)

These dinners aren’t too bad, but they’re seriously lacking filling protein! Beans are great, but they have more carbs than they do protein, so they can’t be your only source. This is another place where adding tofu, tempeh, or egg and subtracting some of the carbs would be a good idea for slimming down.

SNACK
Handful of almonds before bed

A decent bedtime snack! Punita could also try mixing up her nuts — I also like macademia nuts, walnuts, and cashews (I won’t keep going, lest I sound like a certain character from Best in Show).

As for her workouts, Punita says: “I used to strength-train 5 times a week but I recently started spending a little less time on weights and at least 30 minutes on cardio each time I work out so I can cut my fat and weight a bit.”

I don’t think Punita needs to cut back on her strength! If her cardio is intense enough (and I recommend high-intensity interval training), she can get away with 20 minutes 3-4 times per week. No need to spend 30 minutes every day plugging away on the elliptical. Strength training with heavy weights is going to help Punita shave off those last few pounds while keeping her toned and tight!

Punita’s total calories look good (I estimated around 1,400-1,500, which is a good target range for her height and weight), but making these small changes will help her feel fuller and satisfied. Even though Punita is already glowing, she’ll glow just a bit more by tweaking her diet a little bit!