It’s no secret that food portion sizes have grown exponentially since the mid 20th century. Here’s a great article that shows the differences in portions between then and now. For example, check out these pizza slices:
Pizza, 20 years ago - 500 calories Pizza, today - 850 calories
In New York City, fast food chains must now post calorie counts next to each food item on the menu. This is somewhat of a controversial measure that has been protested and debated, but I think it’s important that people know what they’re getting themselves into when they have that craving for the extra-large supersized meal. I have to admit that I made some different choices after seeing calorie postings right next to the foods I desired.
It was quite a while ago that I was experimenting with wheat/dairy free recipes. I have suspected that I might have a sensitivity to both, or at least, as a protein type, it wasn’t as adventageous for me to consume grains or dairy. So I started coming up with recipes that could be made without them. (more…)
Spring has sprung. Finally things are starting to bloom, weather is warming up, and it’s time for some spring cleaning. Besides cleaning out old things and clothes from your home that no longer fit or that you enjoy, you can also do a holistic spring cleanse for your body, mind and lifestyle.
A dietary cleanse is a good idea in the spring after a winter of eating heartier foods. It’s a gentle way to start eating lighter and shed any winter weight that may have accumulated over the past few months. And it’s a great way to get ready for the warmer weather in late spring and summer.
You can cleanse for a few days or a couple of weeks, depending on the condition of your health and what works for your lifestyle. There are many different ways to do a food cleanse. Some people will cut back on foods that cause accumulation - dairy, meats, refined carbohydrates - and add in lighter leafy greens, fresh veggies and fruit. Some people go vegetarian for a short while, cutting out all animal products. And some do a juice cleanse and fast.
Some of the benefits you can get from it may include:
Increased energy
Clearer skin and shiny eyes
Losing a habit like caffeine addiction
Fresher breath
Better sleep
Weight loss
Interested in trying out a cleanse this spring? I will be holding a cleanse class starting May 7, 2008.
Details:
Teleclass – Wednesday, May 7, 8 pm - call in number to be announced when you sign up
Cleanse Days – Saturday, May 10 – Friday, May 16
Cost – Intro teleclass is free - but you must Contact me though this site to participate. Cleanse class is $50 for menus, shopping lists, and full week of support
Indian curries are delicious one-pot meals that contain many healing herbs and spices, too. This one has fresh ginger (good for digestion, circulation), garlic (antibacterial, antiviral), and chilies (fights inflammation, congestion). The apple may seem like a strange ingredient, but it adds a nice sweetness to balance out the savory spice of the dish. I made this curry the other day and it turned out completely delicious. You have to try it.
Note: it was called cauliflower curry, but I renamed it because, really, you could use different vegetables. I would recommend adding in one cruciferous veggie though (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, kale) because these veggies have particularly high amounts of cancer deterring phytonutrients.
Ingredients
1/2 head cauliflower
2 medium potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large apple, peeled, cored and sliced
4-5 large cloves garlic, sliced
1 two-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 hot fresh chili peppers, (like jalapeno or serrano) seeded and sliced, or one large dried pepper, crushed
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup water or stock
1 teaspoon salt
1 16-oz can chick peas or 1 bag frozen shelled soybeans (edamame)
1 10-oz package of frozen spinach, drained
Ground black pepper to taste
Boil cauliflower in water for 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon, rinse with cold water and transfer into a bowl.
Boil potatoes for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water, and transfer to bowl containing cauliflower.
Place apple, garlic, ginger and chili peppers in a food processor and process until minced.
Heat oil or ghee in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and minced apple mixture and cook until starting to soften. Add curry powder and flour, and saute 3-5 minutes.
Add coconut milk, water (or stock) and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Then add cauliflower, potatoes and chick peas or soy beans, cover, lower heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.
Stir in, cover and cook for a few minutes until hot. Season to taste with more salt if desired and black pepper. Serve over hot rice and enjoy!
Mindful eating is not difficult. It’s just a matter of practice.
But first, you need to see what being mindful is like.
Most of the time, we are walking around thinking about other things, multitasking, in a sort of half-in, half-out state of consciousness. We’re here physically, but we’re not here mentally. So, we have to learn to train our minds to be here now.
One of the easiest and most accessible - yet at times maddeningly difficult - ways to fall into mindfulness is to start by following your breath.
Get into a comfortable position. Sitting upright in a chair with your feet flat on the floor works well. Remove as many distractions from your area as possible - turn off electronics, mute the phone, make sure you will not be disturbed for a few minutes.
Then, all you need to do is pay attention to your breath. Notice how it flows into your lungs on the inhale. Pay attention to the natural pause that you have when your lungs are inflated. Then, you slowly exhale until your lungs are empty. You pause again at the bottom of the exhale. And then your automatically start again.
Your mind, like a dog, has probably already wandered off on many different tangents. It’s ok. Just bring your mind back to your breath. Each time it wanders, bring it back. It will wander. That’s its nature. Be patient with yourself. Meditation is called a practice because you have to keep practicing it.
Try to practice for 10 minutes per day if possible - take 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at the end of the day. Notice how you feel before and after your practice. What has changed? What hasn’t? What do you now see that you didn’t before?
Are you a mindless eater? Are you sure you’re not? Maybe you won’t admit it. Even if you don’t think you do on a regular basis, chances are you’ve eaten mindlessly before. Most people have.
If you’ve ever eaten anything in front of your TV, in a movie theater, in a car, in front of your computer, while walking down the street, or while reading a book, newspaper or magazine, you’ve consumed some food without realizing it. According to Brian Wansink’s Mindless Eating, our minds make more than 200 food-related decisions each day, but many of them are without real thought.
How do we change our habits of mindless eating? It takes some practice. This habit of mindless eating is ingrained in us from many different sources. Eating on the go, working too much, social eating, and eating while doing other activities contributes to mindless eating patterns.
In New York City, there’s an event every year called Change Your Mind Day. It was originally started by Tricycle, a buddhist magazine, in 1993 as a day of free meditation lessons to teach people how to become mindful, or to “change their minds,” through meditation.
Many people believe that the purpose of meditation is to become enlightened. While it may be an eventual outcome of regular practice, the real purpose of meditation is to take you into stillness so that you can reconnect with who you really are. It allows you to come back to the present moment, to really live in the here and now – the place where we all exist, yet never seem to live in.
When you end up in the now, you naturally start to relax as you let go of memories of the past and worries about the future. You realize that here and now is really the only place you can be. You can’t live in the past because it’s long gone. You can’t live in the future because it’s always fleetingly ahead of where you are – you can reach for it, and it still doesn’t arrive.
What happens when we apply the idea of here and now to eating? Here you are, in front of the piece of cake. You have the memory of cake in the past, and attachment to this memory may be driving you to eat it – you are living in the past. You project into the future what it feels like to eat cake – the sugar high you may get, the taste of the rich, creamy frosting smothering the moist, soft chocolate cake, the texture of the deliciously sweet dessert.
But then, try changing your mind. Live in the present moment for a bit. Here you are in front of the cake. Your awareness goes to your stomach. How does it feel? Are you full? Are you hungry? If you are hungry, ask your stomach what it really wants. If you listen, you may be surprised at what it will tell you.
Depending on what you ate previously, it could be craving a number of different things. Perhaps it will tell you it wants something light, springy and green, like salad, or maybe it craves something more heavy, solid and grounding, like steak.
If you slow down the mind, and start to live in the present, you will learn how to listen to your body and understand what it really needs and wants. Then you will be able to change your mind. Instead of reacting to cravings caused by past memories or anticipated future events, you will find what you truly want in the present.
Next post will go more into detail about how to start practicing mindfulness…
Ah coffee…Most people can’t fathom starting their day without it. But for those people trying to get healthier, the big question is: to drink or not to drink? Is it good or bad for you?
I was a heavy coffee drinker from age 16 until recently. I couldn’t imagine life without the bean. I loved the smell and the taste, and the feeling I got when I had my first cup. Or my second. I thought it was what gave me a delicious life.
That is until I realized that I was really quite a nervous person. And sometimes I didn’t want to go to sleep at night. Or was it that I couldn’t? And sometimes I got angry - very angry - at things that really didn’t matter all that much. But why?
When I started learning about how to get healthier and I did my first dietary cleanse, I was told I would have to give up coffee. I consoled myself by remembering that it would be a temporary quitting. I’d have to give it up for about six weeks. It sounded like forever. But I wanted to feel better, and this was one of the things I needed to do to do it.
And then suddenly life got a lot less stressful. I was still living in New York City, still commuting on those crowded subways, still going to a job I didn’t really like and working way too much, and yet it all got easier. I wasn’t angry, and I wasn’t nervous. I could sleep at night and I never had any indigestion.
After the cleanse, I started drinking coffee again, but much less. And eventually I quit. I occasionally have decaf, but it’s not usually worth my time. And I’ve recently started drinking green tea, but I’m even thinking of drinking less of it or none at all, because life for me is more delicious with less caffeine.
According to Caffeine Blues author Stephen Cherniske, there are a lot of reasons (here are ten of them) why you might consider reducing or avoiding coffee, tea or any sort of caffeine. Also, another reason recently found in the New York Times’ Well blog: a new study shows that caffeine may hamper blood sugar control for people with diabetes.
But don’t believe what I say - try it for yourself and see what happens.
Would you be willing to give up coffee for thirty days or more?
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