FOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!

Okay so yesterday was a rough emotional day, I cried a lot, stayed in on a Saturday night watched some tivo'd shows I'd been meaning to catch up on and totally ate bad food. Right? NOPE. Even though yesterday was a rough day for me (it is always rough when I'm having issues with my family) and I vegged out in front of the TV, the vegging did not include massive amounts of junk food. For this I think i deserve an award. In the past a day like yesterday I would have baked cookies, eaten ice cream, made home made high sugar lattes, probably even baked some cupcakes,because not only am I stress eater I am also a stress cooker. And I'm a good cook at that, so you want a fancy 1,000 calorie dessert I am your girl, of course that lead to waaaaay more girl than was really needed. So today lets talk about food, the good about it, the bad about it, the necessary about it, and the lies about food.


Alright who here reading this blog has dieted, is on a diet, thinks they need to lose weight, or is thinking about starting a diet? I'm gonna guess just about everyone, because just about everyone whose dominate language is English is probably unhappy with their weight. Why is that? Simply, we have lots of access to food and we eat a lot, thus making us fat. Pretty simple. Without getting into the genetics of everything (because as a scientist I fully believe some people are more prone to be heavier than others regardless of diet) I am going to talk about our relationships with food and how we can have a healthier one.


Did you know that prior to the the 1500's in Europe a peasant (which most people were peasants) ate meat maybe once or twice a year? It's true, now tell me how often have you had a piece of meat just today. In this time period fairy tales weren't about money, they were about food. One of the most popular German fairy tales of 1515 was about a girl who discovers a magic blanket in the forest and every time she opened it a feast was laid before her. Why is this? Food was a luxury item (like BMW's are for us today). Imagine this same girl walking into a super market that we shop in every day, with this abundance of food? Can you imagine her reaction? Is it any wonder most Americans are over weight? Our entire lives revolve around food. In the past I've talked about eating healthy and eating often, but do we really understand what eating healthy is? Most of us probably do not.

I've talked a lot about the learning curve in my weight loss, I learned efficient work outs and I've slowly but surely learned to eat. Below is pretty much how I relearned how to eat.

First easy step, start with portion control, anytime you watch a chef on TV they tell you to make the food pretty because we eat with our eyes first right? Well this is true with portions. I eat off smaller paper plates (about 12 inches in circumference). My plate looks fuller with less food, this is an easy way to trick my brain into thinking we are eating more than we actually are, it works trust me. Also do not fill your plate, mentally break your plate into quarters and fill each quarter about half way. Eat what's on your plate. Still hungry when your plate is empty wait 8-10 minuets before going back for seconds. This gives your stomach enough time to tell your brain whether you are actually full, if you still want more after that 8-10 minutes go get about a quarter as much as you got the first round and then i bet you will be really full with out being stuffed.

Second, keep a food journal. Don't tell me you can't, because you can, it is not hard especially if you have a smart phone. There is an app for that. I use a free one, that only counts my food. Then I use one online that counts my food and my exercise, so i know exactly how many calories I am burning. If it is in black and white you are less likely to over indulge or forget how many calories are in something. At first it is a little tedious, but like anything it becomes habit and it is a good habit to have while you re-learn how to eat. Remember there are 3,500 calories in one pound of body fat so in order to lose one pound a week you must have a caloric deficit of 500 calories a day (7x500=3500 calories = 1 pound) if your goal is two pounds you must burn a 1,000 calories a day (this is typically my goal.) You need to know your Basal Metabolic Rate* (the amount of calories you would burn if you laid in bed all day and did not move) to know how many calories to burn to lose weight. My BMR right now is 1,921 calories, this is what my body burns on it's own running my organs. So I round down to 1,900 (easier math), say i eat 2,200 calories a day that buts me at +300 calories that means in order to lose two pounds for the week i need to burn 1,300 calories for me this is about an hour and half work out. GREAT gotta do this seven days a week, boo, which is why logically we work harder some days and burn more calories than others. Hence the food journal, helps you keep track of it all.

Third, avoid food label buzz words. If you are just starting out, focus on calories. Organic is NOT lower in calories than non-organic. So an organic egg is going to have 90 calories, a non-organic, hormone loaded egg is also going to have 90 calories. Remember in an earlier post I talked about baby steps, well focusing on calories is a baby step in your diet. Organic, is great, multi-grain is great, but ONLY if they actually have less calories than their counter parts. Learn to read your labels, our tax dollars go to enforcing those labels for a reason. In a post in the future I will talk about getting the most nutrient filled calories you can get, but for today lets just focus on counting okay :).

Fourth, lets learn to cook. Learn to make your own meals. Firstly you will save money, think about how much money you spend buying lunch at work weekly, lets say you're cheap and only spend seven bucks a day 7X5=35 dollars a week. Take your lunch, i bet you can take a sandwich and soup for around 3 bucks a day (or salad, or hey make dinner and take left over dinner and then it's free because you cook dinner anyway) 3X5=15 that is a savings of 20 bucks a week 20X52 (52 weeks in a year)= 1,040 dollars saved a year! So you're slimming your waistline and saving money to replace your fat jeans! I think the best cooking show on Food Network for those of us trying to get thin or maintain being thin is called Hungry Girl. She has so many tricks and swaps and I have learned so much from her. Google her! She is awesome and has awesome easy recipes. Don't be afraid to experiment! Try some tofu in your enchiladas instead of beef (I like it!) if you don't like it okay, but who knows maybe you will!

Fifth, it is okay to indulge. Do you want a cookie? Eat a cookie, just don't eat the whole dozen. Want some ice cream go to an ice cream shop and buy some. I do recommend baking your own treats, it makes it easier to control what is in them and preservatives are not our friends okay?

Sixth, if it is made in a refinery it belongs in our car not our bodies. Splenda and other artificial sweeteners doctors are learning are particularly bad for diabetics (it makes it hard for them to maintain static glucose levels). So if you are diabetic, the sweetener you should get is Truvia (made from the stevia plant, don't worry they have off brands also). This is much easier on a diabetics body, than the artificial stuff. If you aren't diabetic you can have real sugar, just not a lot of it, keep it between 4-6grams okay? (Again read your labels).

So what are we gonna do? Keep our portions small! Don't over eat, I used to eat so much and I am now amazed at how small my portions are becoming , last night dinner consisted of half a ham and chicken sandwich and 30 sweet potato fries, which was a serving size and I was full. My dog got the benefit of my other half of a sandwich. We were both very happy with this outcome. Second count your calories, learn how much your putting in and how much you are working off. Third don't believe everything you read, just because the labeling looks healthy does not mean it is. Fourth, cooking is fun! Learn to take control of the food in your life and make you some healthy options. Fifth, don't deny yourself everything, if you don't treat your self sometimes you will be very grumpy and no one likes to be grumpy. Fifth eat what nature makes, not a chemist (this is true for the trans fats also), if its natural our bodies know how to deal with it and it makes easier to burn off. Remember food is not the enemy, it is okay to love food, we just have to learn how to love it in a healthy way. So remember to always go strong no matter what in finding your healthy balance in your food relationships!

* Great calculator for BMR - http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/