Weighty Issues

I have many reasons and excuses why I gained 30 pounds ten years ago.

Wanna hear them?

1. Caregiving my dad took me from a three level home to a three room bungalow.
2. Dad was suffering from cancer related malnutrition and it was my job to fatten his 89 pound body to a more agreeable....100 pounds.
3. Cooking with fat and calories was no problem for me in my earlier skinny self.  One day, as I was eating his breakfast of sausage links, home fries and scrambled eggs, it dawned on me that perhaps I should not be eating with him.
4. My wardrobe agreed.
5. Depression that can creep up on you during caregiving can alter cortisol.  Dramatically.
6. Lack of exercise and medication due to # 5.
7. Becoming a bit south of 45.
8. Blah blah blah.

My Dad has been gone for eight years now.  What took me so long to see that perhaps I am not in the best of shape, weight wise?

I like food.

I like to cook.

I like big family meals.

What I don't like is not knowing how to correct my seemingly healthy diet by being aware of the nutritional values and needs of each meal of the day.  I often say that if someone just told me what to eat to maintain a healthy weight, I would do it in a heartbeat.  Otherwise, I drift to cravings which ofttimes directed me to sadly inadequate nutrition.

That said, I would like to say, loudly: TA DA!!!!

Meet my new friend!

caloriecount.about.com

Well, well, well.

The most helpful diet helper that I have found.

No point counting.

No carb counting.

Everything, and I mean everything is done for you.

Food Log, Analysis, suggestion to complete your nutritional day in a wondrous way.

What have I learned:

1. At my 58 years and smallish frame, I only need 1200 calories per day!!!  Not per meal, but per day!!  Amazing!!  Who knew??
2. A starlight mint has 60 calories.
3. Nuts, while being a great source of vitamins and minerals, is so full of fat that I can tip my allotment just by adding 1oz. to my morning cereal.
4. That I need only 6oz of OJ in the morning, not 12 oz.  Can really wonky your sugar allotment.
5. That oatmeal (steel cut or old fashioned rolled) and blueberries can make a nice supper.
6. That spinach has so much lovely Vitamin A that it pleases my Vitamin A needs with one serving.
7. That this info is as close as your iPhone or android.
8. That after breakfast and lunch, I know exactly what I can eat for supper based on my 'analysis' and nutritional data.  Yesterday, I knew it was an oatmeal/blueberry/banana supper.  Tonight it's salad and spinach/tomato kinda night.
9. That I can eat Steak and Shake for lunch and not be too bad off, depending on the portions and what I need to eat for the other meal.
10. That my computer and the Internet continue to still awe me.

Stay Tuned as this weight saga continues. Feel free to compliment me if I start showing signs of success.  And thank you for these past year not saying anything about my obvious weight gain.  Well, okay two people were brave enough to say, 'Wow, Deb!  Have you gained weight!!!'  But they disappeared shortly after that.......

To good health and honest food logs!!

Teaching Appetites

Eating issues usually plague all young parents.  Too much?  Too little?  Too junky?  Too healthy? (really?)  We spend a lot of our time trying to figure out how, when, what and even where we should feed our children.  This issue can bring division amongst parents, grandparents and peers.  And it really shouldn't.  Today's lesson will help give you some suggestions, ideas, thoughts about the Feeding of Your Progeny.  Who knows?  You might even pick up some applications for yourself!

Just so you can rush ahead to the end of the chapter, let me tell you that my kids are good  eaters. Have always been so. We all enjoy food; the planning, the preparation and the partaking.  This did not just happen.  Their attitudes about food was intentional and instilled at a young age.  This plan has worked with them and I hope will inspire you.  Let's Begin.

1. Reduce the amount of exposure of salt and sugar early on.  Salt especially.  Pretty addictive and sets the standard for cravings for the Love of Salt pretty early.  Also numbs the palate for the freshness of vegetables and reduce the needs for fresh foods to be 'doctored'.

2.  No eating outside the boundaries of meals. That means no grazing, no snacking, no in between meals eating.  Your digestive system needs a break and allowing grazing only keeps the stomach constantly in a state of digestion, not allowing a true appetite to develop.  Now, did I starve my kids?  Silly.  There are approved foods: whole wheat bread, fruits and juice, carrots etc.  But in moderation.  It doesn't take much to stave off hunger for a few hours.  And remember, when they eat well at their meals, they snack less.  The adjustment to a new routine will be interesting, but well worth it.

3.  Notice the plates in the photo.  The small one is a bit smaller than a dessert plate.  The white one, a dinner plate and the Blue Willow (nice, huh?), a platter.  I served my kids on the smallest plate. And in way small amounts.  A tablespoon of vegetables, a few cut up pieces of meat, a scoop of potatoes. Do not overwhelm them.  Cruel?  No, manageable to small tummies!  Much better to have them ask them for more than for you to keep at them the whole meal to eat their food.  Less stress; better appetite.  Picture yourself eating off a platter every night.  That is what a standard dinner plate looks like to an average toddler/child.  On the day that they 'graduate' to a big plate, what an accomplishment that is!

4.  And speaking of plates, use them.  A few years ago, when a trio of junior high girls came to my house after school for supper and church group, I had to literally teach them how to use utensils!  Their typical fast food diet had them eating with their hands most of the time.  One young girl admitted that her mother still cut her meat.  I taught her how to hold a fork and use a knife.  14 years old.  Sit at the table with your children, making dinner an event, a celebration of the opportunity to nourish your body for service.  If children get used to seeing meal time as a privilege and not a chore for their over taxed digestion, their appetite will increase.  And their cravings will be for better things. 

5.  I always told my kids that a good meal was a ticket for all the dessert they could eat. And I usually had dessert of some kind.  Real desserts; cakes, ice cream, cookies, brownies.  And I meant it.  But I knew that their appetites brought on  good eating of good food and there certainly were times that dessert was refused.  Amazing but true.  When all the cookies they wanted was offered after a day of good eating, maybe three were taken. Documented.

6.  No candy was ever permitted in the morning (or sugared cereals; might as well give them candy!) Only after lunch or supper.  When my kids were old enough to go on youth retreats, I remember them being appalled that anyone could/would eat candy and drink pop first thing in the morning.  They're still pretty careful about their morning fuel.

7.  Night time snacks kept them for the night, especially if there was outdoor summer night's play going on.  A tray of fresh fruits, crackers, cheese and juice after their baths, kept their engines purring until the Breaking of the Fast.  And it was a great way to unwind with their days.  They would sit on our porch, all sweet smelling from their baths and shampoos that Dad would supervise, while I would be making the tray.  Sometimes the only way I got them to come in after a  long day of summer time play, would be to promise A Tray.  They loved the ritual.  They still talk about it as adults.

This is but a sampling of Handy Ideas To Defeat The Food Struggle With Your Young Children.  Not exhaustive but primer-like.

Bon Appetit, my little friends!

Yum!

Crazy Dee's inability to eat anything has, like many crisis/opportunities, afforded me some interesting options.

For one thing, looking for alternatives to standard fare, looking at recipes with an eye to adjustment to her heart healthy/diabetic lifestyle, I've had to make some serious review of my own choices.

Shopping for food has now become a lesson in the quality of fuel that I choose to place in my temporary shell of a container/body.

And if I promote the superior food for my ailing/healing friend, shouldn't I be making those choices for my family and myself? For optimum performance and longevity, I believe I already knew the answer.

Not that my diet has been abysmal to begin with, but it certainly could be kicked up a notch.

Some simple things that I have done in the past year to optimize my lifestyle/diet:

1. Walking more. Taking stairs. Parking Far Away in parking lots. Going up and down my stairs frequently.

2. Adding walnuts, pecans and almonds to my generic raisin bran in the morning. And blueberries, dried or fresh.

3. Eating an apple before lunch or supper.

4. Baking frozen fries instead of buying fries at fast food.

5. Splitting entrees with Hubby.

6. Developing a taste for 70% cacao chocolate, 1 oz is all that is needed. Sometimes....

Simple, obvious things that have helped. And finding out that the better I eat, the less I want the addictive high salt items that I've always craved, i.e. fries, chips, crackers...

In perusing Crazy Dee's new gifted get well cookbooks, I found this dandy Pork Chop recipe. Made it for supper and Hubby proclaimed it his favorite pork chop recipe...!

The book is Diabetes Fit Food by Ellen Haas

Asian Grilled Pork Chops

2 1/2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp ginger,minced

2 tsp Dijon mustard

salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper

4 center cut pork loin chops, about 1/2 in. thick

1. Mix the oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper together and brush on the pork chops. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

2. Preheat the grill to med high.

3. Grill the chops for 5-8 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness. Let the chops rest on a plate for 1-2 minutes before serving.

Would be good with brown rice, steamed veggies and a salad, right?

Enjoy!