1)
I really am what I eat!
2)
Only I can be held responsible for what I eat
3)
What I eat affects how I feel
Simply put, I made a radical choice to make radical food choices! Here is what I did:
I eat little or no meat most days (with one exception which I will get
to later), I eat no dairy products (except for a little feta – what’s a little
feta between friends??), I eat no processed foods – that means I stay away from
the evil white family: no white sugar, white flour, white rice, and no food
made with these ingredients. Read Skinny Bitch for a detailed view of how
food is processed!! Go ahead I dare you!!
J
So, what do I eat?
I eat as much as I want.
I eat mostly fruits (4 servings a day is the goal), vegetables (strive
for as many as I can fit in wherever I can fit them in!), nuts, and beans (try
to get up to a cup per day of beans – doesn’t always happen).
Now for the meat exception: I
eat an egg scrambled with milled flax every morning on a flax sandwich round. I love eggs and this was a deal breaker for
me so I kept them in my diet!
I keep a few things in mind when I am shopping or looking at a restaurant’s
menu:
·
How many ingredients are in this food – chances are
if there are more than 5 or if you can’t pronounce the ingredients, it is a
food that you might want to put back on the shelf!
·
Whole foods – foods with only one ingredient are
the best foods! These are what I call
God foods – made by God, just the way they are is perfect – how much better can
you get??
·
Can I pick this, dig it up, catch it or kill
it? If I can say yes to these questions
then I can probably eat it. Keep in mind
I said that I eat very little meat… seriously though a girl needs little meat
once in a while – HA!
So what about recipes with more than one ingredient? As long as the ingredients are whole foods
and not from the evil white family you are probably good to go!
No dairy… I drink Almond milk
and I love it! Enough said. I get calcium from the other foods I eat –
the book Eat to Live really addresses
just how you can get everything you need without eating dairy and meat – it is
amazing!
I have found several recipes that help to satisfy those times when a
girl just needs a treat! Many can be
found on Chocolate Covered Katie’s web site.
I highly recommend bookmarking her site and trying her recipes – YUM!
The one thing – the most important
thing – that I have found is that I no longer crave specific foods. I am never hungry! I was prescribed Prednisone last week for a
shoulder injury and thought ‘this is going to trip me up!’ But it never did. In the past, when I took Prednisone, I would
want to eat anything that was well, in front of my face! I have lost another 2 lbs since starting the
script! I truly buy into and believe
that if you nourish your body your body will not ask for anything. When you are mal-nourished your body asks for
what it needs and you interpret this as cravings or hunger. When the body is satiated you do not feel
cravings or hunger. For most of us in
America, we really don’t know what real hunger is… just a thought…
So what do I eat besides and egg every morning?
·
I strive to eat at least 4 servings of
fruit. Fruit is my friend and my snack
food – we get along pretty well! Sweet!
·
I eat homemade soups - I try to make a new batch
every weekend so that I can freeze the leftovers for a quick hit when I need
something fast!
·
I eat salads – this is where I get most of my
meat and the feta when I have it – I love Chicken Cobb Salad – would probably
do bad things for this salad!
·
I eat lots of steamed veggies – either in stir
fry or just plain steamed on the plate.
Since I have taken rice out of my nutritional vocabulary I have found a
wonderful little substitute in the grain QUINOA
– it is a grain that is a complete protein.
Acts like rice, looks like rice (sort of), tastes like rice – but it isn’t
rice! It takes on the flavor of whatever
you are cooking – just like rice does so you can use it for stir fry or
salads. Go ahead and try it! You can find it at health food stores cheaper
than the regular grocery stores but it is out there people – get some!
·
I eat smoothies – fruit and veggie smoothies
with flax and chia seeds – you know the chia pet seeds! They make smoothies thicker and creamier! Chia is also good sprinkled on and mixed in
all natural applesauce (remember to read the labels when buying packaged fruits).
How about beverages you ask?? Water
is the answer – not the only answer but the main one! I used to drink diet coke like a junkie
smokes crack! But it is processed and
although the myths about cola have been busted it is still not a good thing to dilute
your cells with. So on January 2 of this
year I said goodbye to my old friend and have not really missed it! I have had 2 small diet cokes while out to
eat in the last three months but neither time did I want more. I don’t see diet coke being a choice I make
in the future! What else do I drink? Well, orange juice and occasionally tea. I have never been a coffee drinker, I have
tried but I just can’t do it! So water
has become my go-to beverage of choice.
On a side note, I tried adding red wine to my daily routine for
medicinal purposes – I have heart history too – again another story – back to
the wine… tried that and I don’t know if it is because it has been so long
since I regularly consumed alcohol or what but let’s just say if you try it
too, proceed with caution! It made me REALLY
happy – let’s leave it at that ;) Still
have the bottle in the fridge if anyone wants to come over and finish it off…
let me know!
I guess that is about it as far as ingestion goes. But on that note, some people questioned the
high fiber content and vocalized their worry for my digestive tract. While the concern was heartwarming, I can
honestly say it has been a non-issue. I
would however, recommend that you pay attention to your body and go slowly if
you find that you are having a hard time with this. Just remember a clean colon is a happy colon –
HAHA!!!
If you only take away one thing from today’s post I would hope it would
be that I have not reached perfection here!
I do trip at times and I do occasionally eat things that end up making
me feel bad. The key is that I have
guidelines (no hard-assed make-it-or-break-it rules) and I daily strive to stay
within these guidelines. Since starting
down this path I have veered many times consuming the following: pizza, several
bites of hamburger subs, crab wontons (I affectionately call them sex on a
plate so you know I didn’t just have one!) and French fries… I am sure that I have missed at least a cheat
or two but who’s counting? I’m not!
Every moment of our lives is about making choices. Every moment another chance to make the right
choice! Do the best you can, don’t beat
yourself up over past mistakes and embrace what you’ve got: TODAY and YOU! Make the most of it!
Feel free to comment or e-mail me if you have specific questions.
Peace,
-L
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