FamilyInShape

Trying to be vegetarian

 

Last week I decided to be more like a vegetarian because I wanted to see what it was like to eat mostly fruits and veggies all day long, every day for a week. I did a little research and realized one thing, right away.  Being a vegetarian is not all about what one eats but about what one does not eat.  Does that make sense?  It's about the foods we DO NOT eat!  

Okay, okay, I get it.  Make a list and check it twice.  Eliminate animal products - meat, fish, chicken, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt...ice cream? I have an issue with that, of course they do make soy ice cream and milk and yogurt, but eggs? Fish? Chicken?  These are all good for me or maybe they're just all good --yummy.  Either way, I wasn't prepared to give up ALL animal products and I know me, I will give it up for a day and then take three steps back like an animal whose afraid this will be his last meal.

A little more reading on the subject and I learned that there is such a thing as a Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian (LOV).  LOVs eat eggs and dairy, there is also a pescatarian and they eat fish.  OK this makes me happy.  

My experience as a LOV/pescatarian was fantastic.  I learned that....

1. I don't have to jump in with both feet, changing one meal a day is a better way

2. finding recipes in advanced makes it easier to stick to the meal plan

3. cleaning out the pantry and fridge before starting ANY new meal plan is most important

4. you can discover a million ways to cook vegetables and still please the palate

5. there's no rule saying you have to cook your vegetables

6. dark green and dark red are the best colors to look for when selecting fruits and vegetables

I also included more whole grain foods, brown rice, a lot less added sugar then usual.. I think my usual is about 3 teaspoons a day with my morning coffee.  We'll talk about eliminating the coffee altogether, but one addiction at a time please.

In my short experience I felt like I went through a detox program. The bloating, fatigue, and fuzzy brain syndrome all gone, in one week. I am looking forward to another week of trials and this will be a real trial because it's Thanksgiving week and come on, you know what is like here in the States - lots of carbs, lots of dessert, and appetizers. I will be challenging but I will give it my best shot.

Time to share the love - 

The Reluctant Vegetarian said this about the connection between food and chronic pain:

"it makes perfect sense that the food we put into our body has a direct impact on how our body performs. or, rather, how it doesn’t perform. and yet, most doctors have no clue. or would rather treat the symptom versus finding the root cause."

Visit her blog to learn more about food and pain. Imagine eating something you enjoy and eliminating pain and inflammation...what a concept!

I also visit very creative cooks like Kristen at Passion4Eating to find easy, very delicious recipes with vegetables I have never heard of before.

I think we all have food allergies in one form or another but we don't know it or fail recognize the symptoms as part of a reaction to what we eat because that would mean we'd have to give up that food and that would be terrible.  I'm learning a lot about food allergies from The Nut-Free Mom who reminded me that having food allergies is not something we do to ourselves, that there are ways to survive the holidays and that Emeril can show us how to cook a safe, nutty-free meal.  

Then there's the Lazy Vegetarian with easy, quick recipes for those of us who are too lazy busy to spend hours planning vegetarian meals.

So I don't really know what I am because all I've given up is chicken, beef and pork and anything associated with these animals but I do know that by eating more vegetables, more fruit, more whole grain, I am eating a lot less and craving a lot less of the foods that are empty and insignificant.  I focus more on foods that actually fuel my body and I try harder to be conscious of what I'm eating and why instead of simply satisfying a craving.

In the mean time I am going to rely on friends in the blog world to help me through the learning process, recipes, ideas, and support - there's so much, it can be overwhelming, but I will take it one step at a time, one meal at a time  - thinking in the now and go from there.

Have you recently changed your eating habits to vegan, vegetarian, octo, ovo or pescatarian?  What has been your experience?  Any ideas for me?  I want to hear from you and your stories.

Stay Well,

Don't forget to fill the tank...eat breakfast!

Photo by sweeteats

Imagine a teenager waking up just 20 minutes before running out to catch the school bus.  If you have one of these creatures you'll know that in their list of priorities, breakfast is not near the top. There are other, more important things topping that list like clothes, hair, make up, shoes and if time allows maybe, something to eat. If I was a junk food mom that's exactly what they would eat for breakfast. In my dream world my kids would get up earlier giving themselves time to eat a hot breakfast or even a cold breakfast full of all the good stuff nature has to offer.  You know, eggs, fruits, whole wheat toast, jam, hot cocoa, yogurt, oatmeal, etc...mm-mm.  That's not happening as often as I would like.  

Personally, I rarely, if ever, skip out on breakfast.  I make it a priority because I know it is one of many important meals of the day.  I'd like to say that it is THE MOST important meal of the day, however, I believe every meal to be important for different reasons.  Breakfast, however, is the one that gets me started and thus I plan to start my day off right, every single day, whether I'm in a morning rush or sitting back sipping green tea.  I do occasionally fall off the wagon and here's what happens:

The other day I decided to take some time off from my usual daily routine to stay home with my little Bear, catch up on chores and organize something that needs to be organized.  Well, I was in such a high to get started with whatever multi-tasking activity I had planned for the day that I went right to work.  Every so often reminding myself that I needed to eat and drink my tea which was steeping in the kitchen.  Every time I would say to myself, "well when I go in the kitchen to do the dishes I will eat, but let me finish this first."  Yeah...3 hours later, my tea was still steeping and my stomach was screaming at me.  Funny thing is that I took the time to feed, play with and entertain the toddler, clean out a closet, reorganize my pantry, make 6 scented candles and organize two other kitchen cabinets...all without eating a darn thing.

Bad move.  I was shaky, fatigued, felt exhausted and weak.  I could feel my glucose had dropped, I was completely out of whack.  It took about 3 hours to get myself back to normal and in the end, I had a pretty bad headache.  Of course I know better, but I got carried away.  In my job I often hear my clients tell me that they just don't have time to eat breakfast or they just aren't hungry so they don't eat until lunch time.  It's very easy to get up and get busy right away, every day and go on without thinking about eating.   Kids do the same and probably feel the same, they just don't know it.  One of my teens will get a migraine, usually by the end of the day; the others get irritable and cranky when they don't eat a nutritious breakfast. Of course, they would never admit that the lack of food had anything to do with their issues.

One of the problems with this time of day is that many people think they have to sit down to eat breakfast; others feel hat they need to cook or do some time-consuming task.  While sitting down to eat is best because it gives you the time to really enjoy your meal and slow down while you eat, that is not always possible.  Everyone is busy and many rushing out the door. 

There are many ways to fuel your body quickly and effectively with little preparation. Here are some easy ideas for the entire family:

Yogurt with Granola----or your kids favorite cereal

Oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar ----- any fruit will do

Whole grain/whole wheat toast with peanut butter

Banana, Strawberry (or any fruit combination), yogurt, orange juice & protein Smoothie

High fiber/high protein cereal with 1% or 2% milk---add any fruit with this meal

Apple with Peanut butter

Banana with Peanut butter

Egg whites with cheese & toast

Cottage cheese & fruit

Frozen waffles with peanut butter & fruit

Protein bars

ZonePerfect: 210 cal, 7g fat, 3g fiber, 13g sugar, 14g protein

Balance: 200 cal, 7g fat, <1g fiber, 17g sugar, 15g protein

SouthBeachLiving: 140 cal, 5g fat, 3g fiber, 7g sugar, 10g protein

Granola bars

Nature Valley: 180 cal, 6g fat, 2g fiber, 11g sugar, 4g protein

NutriGrain: 130 cal, 3g fat, 2g fiber, 12g sugar, 2g protein

There are many, many, many other options for quick and sit down meals out there.  Think nutritious, think energizing, think brain power.  I usually make my kids drink at least 100% pure orange juice, apple juice or milk even if they don't have time to eat a thing.  Generally, when they are rushing out the door I'm handing them something to eat as well.  The granola bars are OK options, not the most nutritious but not terribly bad either.  A banana and a granola bar is more powerful than nothing at all and sometimes it's difficult to please picky, cranky, morning teens.

For us adults, we need to take control of our nutrition if we are going to teach our children well.  Lead by example.  It may require you to get up a little earlier or do some prep work the night before but be prepared to fuel your family with easy to prepare, portable, or sit down breakfast every morning.

Stay well,

Crossposted at BlogHer

Unite for Hunger and Hope

I can’t even begin to imagine my child having nothing to eat, even for one meal, yet around the world or maybe even just down the street there are children who go days without a bite to eat.  I feel guilty when I have to throw away food that wasn’t eaten, I feel sad when I realize how we can so easily take for granted all that we have.  Hunger is a pain no child should have to experience.  It is a pain no one should have to endure.  Parents should not have to wonder where the next meal is coming from. 

Unfortunately, it is a fact that millions of people go hungry every day.  It is a fact that millions of children under the age of 5 are malnourished and many die as a result of hunger.  There are over 50 countries that do not produce enough food to feed their population but not all hunger is an effect of food production.  Consider those in the eye of the storm, literally, natural disasters, conflict, poverty and of course poor agriculture all contribute to the problem.

We can’t turn our backs on this issue.  The United Nations developed goals for the 21^st century and one of them was to cut the proportion of hunger in people around the world in half. 

BlogCatalog members and Heifer International are partnering to call for the end of world hunger and start of hope on April 29. All we ask is that you join thousands of other bloggers and write a post about world hunger on April 29. You can make a difference.  Start by joining this event and add a badge to your blog TODAY!

Other links that provide information and/or ways to help:

The World Hunger Problem: Facts, Figures and Statistics

The Human Face of Climate Change

WHY? Finding answers for hunger and poverty

   

http://www.bread.org/

Are you hungry?

Article posted with permission from Mary at Calorie Count

Are you hungry?  Are you sure?  These are questions we don’t ask ourselves.  And yet, we need to.

A lot of us are disconnected from our physical hunger signals.  We eat by the clock, by the mere sight of food, because of people eating around us, and for emotional reasons.
 
In other words, we don’t always eat just because we are hungry.

An innate drive

Hunger is one of the primal forces of life.  Babies cry when they’re hungry, and caretakers respond with food.  This is the beginning of our personal relationship with hunger and satiety.  Eating to satisfy hunger is a learned behavior.  But, what if something interferes with this learning?

Crossed wires

A parent can misread signals.  A baby may be fed when not hungry, but fussy or crying for other reasons.  Food may be offered to a child to relieve him when he’s hurt or upset.    

When food is used as a distraction or reward, the child becomes confused about why we feed him. The process of learning to eat in response to physical hunger becomes interrupted. 

Research shows you’re actually trained how to eat by your family.  Taste, smell and texture preferences are culturally learned.  Being taught to use food for reward or comfort in childhood is one of the strongest shapers of adult eating behavior.  

While there is a genetic component to chronic dieting and overeating, it has a smaller effect than the food environment in which you grew up.   

Types of hunger

Eating behavior specialists refer to three types of hunger:

1. Physiological is triggered by signs, like stomach growling and headache
2. Mouth is triggered by the sight, smell, taste, and memory of food
3. Psychological is triggered by emotions, like anxiety, anger and sadness

What to do?

• Keep a food and feelings log.  When you get the idea to eat, record your feelings first.  Regardless of whether or not you choose to eat, note what you are feeling.  Explore ways to deal with your feelings without eating.
• Explore the physical signs of hunger.  If they are very faint or almost nonexistent, you’re probably not hungry.  Be brave enough to wait until you’re hungry before you eat, and then give yourself full permission to eat until you feel satisfied.
• Forget the clock and vow to eat only when physically hungry.  Don’t worry if it’s 2 times a day, or 8, let your body, not your mind, call the shots.  After a while, you’ll probably settle into a pattern of three meals a day.

Your thoughts...

Did you learn to read your hunger correctly?  Do you wait until you're hungry to eat?