Lets go to Whole Foods January 10, 2012

It was our first day we vowed to eat healthier – first step was the grocery store. Since we had Will, Adam and I usually take shifts going grocery shopping, but this time Adam wanted all of us to go (even though little 4 month old Will wouldn’t be much help picking out groceries). I was shocked and he said,”Let’s go to Whole Foods”.

Healthy Pollock Salmon topped with cream of mushroom soup with a side of spinach marinated in olive oil and minced garlic

I always thought Whole Foods was a little pricy, I went there once before but that was years ago. I’ve always wanted to give it another shot because I heard that’s the place to go if you want to shop organic. As soon as we got there, I began comparing prices to the local grocery store we go to, Bakers (owned my the Kroger Company). Whole Foods’ produce was about the same price if not pricier, but their selection was more enticing. The price of their organic tomatoes matched the price of regular tomatoes at our local store – $2.99 per pound. I’ll take it! We found some reasonable items – I couldn’t have been happier when I saw the Luna bars for 0.89 each!  Once we reached the bread and pasta isles, that was a different story. I couldn’t find bread for under $3 and the pasta was outrageous too! It was all organic or wheat and gluten-free, so that is why it was a little up there. We held off on buying these items and waited until we could hit up or local grocery store. Besides that, I was impressed with their produce, fish, and vegetarian items.

Whole Foods is a great store if you are vegan or vegetarian, or just want to be the all-organic queen. If you are just wanting to go grocery shopping, I suggest buying select items from Whole Foods (like their organic veggies and fruits), and stick to your local store for the rest. Buying local foods while they are in season can save a ton of money also.  It’s easy to over-spend at Whole Foods because it is so appealing to the eye – as soon as I walked in the store, I wanted to dance around and spend some bucks! It’s colorful, they play great music, and hell, there’s even a wine bar where you can have a few drinks to just get happier and spend some more money! Just be selective and really think about what you’re buying (if you’re the happy drunk who likes to buy random people shots at the bar, I would suggest laying off the beer and wine while shopping :b). Overall, I was happy with our grocery bill – we managed to spend about $158 on everything which isn’t bad.

By the time we were done shopping and put our little one to bed, it was past 9pm and our bellies were begging for dinner.  We didn’t care how late it was, we were going to whip up something good and healthy for sure! Adam grabbed the Salmon, garlic and spinach we bought at Whole Foods and made this awesome meal! He seasoned the Salmon with canola oil and some spices he grabbed out of the cupboard, then cooked the spinach with oil and garlic in a frying pan. So delicious! Dinner was served at 10pm – this was our day 1 of eating healthy!

Vegetarian Thanksgiving November 17, 2010

Just because you are vegetarian doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy Thanksgiving like the rest of the family. There are plenty of vegetarian options you can take – for instance, substituting turkey for Tofurky is one great option and there’s plenty to go around the table. One Tofurky costs about $10 at Trader Joe’s and feeds up to 6 people. Also try adding extra vegetables to the stuffing rather than meat, and you’ve got a great healthy, meat-free Thanksgiving.

This stuffing recipe is great to have with Tofurky, and other vegetarian casseroles.

Vegetarian Stuffing

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 (4.5) can of mushrooms, drained
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 can (10.5) of condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 and 1/2 cup corn flake crumbles
• salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease the bottom of a casserole dish

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and then saute the onions, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms and garlic until tender. Season with salt and pepper and add in the flakes and soup. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish.

Bake for 30 minutes in the pre-heated oven until golden brown.
Now enjoy your vegetarian stuffing and not even miss a beat of Thanksgiving dinner.

Taking the extra step August 12, 2010

Photos by freefoto.com

Some of us work a full-time, 9 to 5 job or we just work odd hours. It’s challenging to fit in exercise or to have the energy to do it before and/or after work. All we need is a little time and motivation.

Many companies are initiating healthy lifestyles more and more. They are starting programs such as Biggest Loser (based off the TV reality Show Biggest Loser with Jillian Michaels), or other challenging weight loss programs. Competition between other work can be motivating.

At my job, Frost Brown Todd, I joined what is called the Kentuckiana Metro Move challenge, http://www.kentuckianahealthalliance.org/. It’s a program for employees and their friends to join and compete against one another as they walk their way to a healthier lifestyle. Each employee who joins is given a free pedometer to track how many steps they take a day, then at the end of the week they track their total steps on the website. Whoever walks the most steps at the end of the week wins the grand prize. There are other fun challenges listed on the website for anyone to join. If this doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will.

Instead of taking the elevator, I began taking the steps. I also started parking further away from work, walking an extra mile or two with my dog when I get home, or I started running longer during my cardio workouts throughout the week. I was surprised on how many extra calories I was burning by doing this.

Challenging yourself is one of the healthiest things you can do when it comes to physical and mental exercise. We now have no more excuses to sit in our cubicles all day. Take a walk on your lunch break, take the stairs, or start taking the long way. Join a challenge, it’s free and fun!

What Breaks Your Healthy Eating Diet? July 23, 2010

Ok, so here are the results for the “What Breaks Your Healthy Eating Diet” poll:

43% Sweets

43% Friends

14% Fast Foods

0% Holiday Foods

0% Late Night Kitchen Splurges

So here is a fact: Friends can make you fat! It’s interesting how Friends tied up with Sweets isn’t it? Friends even beat Fast Food! How is that?? Sometimes when we go out with our friends, we tend to get more relaxed. Then when your buddy orders those delicious loaded french fries with bacon, extra cheese and ranch, heck yea you’re going take more than one bite! It’s very tempting.

For those of you that drink with your friends, it is easy to have a couple of drinks then get hungry for some greasy foods. The alcohol dehydrates you, which can cause your brain to cry out for satisfaction. I always know after I have a couple of drinks, cheesy nachos sound delicious so I try to pick a salad or some pita bread with hummus instead (if that’s offered – usually you can find Pita bread with hummus or spinach dip at most Irish/English pubs) Even though you may not always be the one ordering the junk food, you can still fall into the peer pressure when your friends order the goodies. It happens to the best of us.

Preventing the friend splurges is possible, so don’t give up! Before you go out with your friends, eat a nice big healthy salad with mixed greens and lots of veggies to stimulate your appetite. If you go out with a rumbling tummy, you are more likely to grab at the junk food as the night goes on. If you’re not into salad, just eat a healthy meal and a drink a few glasses of water before you head out the door. Problem solved!

Sleep: the essence of tomorrow March 15, 2010

Even animals need sleep (My boyfriend and I found our cat sleeping in the bed).

It’s final—we are not getting enough sleep. Between running to school, work, fitting in exercise, household chores, putting the kids to bed or walking the dog, sleep seems to be put on the back-burner. Not having the right amount of sleep not only wears you down, but it can affect your performance at work, relationship with friends and family, concentration and health.

After speaking to some college students at the University of Cincinnati, I found that a majority of those I interviewed only get on average, 4-6 hours of sleep a night…if they’re lucky that is.  Some people like UC student Laura Schiele have a rough time getting sleep in because of her busy life-style. “On average, I get about 5 hours of sleep a night,” she said, “I work and go to school full-time so that cuts sleep out a lot.” Other students like UC Student Desire Bennett say she gets “about 5-6 hours of sleep each night. Mostly because I am up late doing homework and I usually get up early to go to work,” she said.  This seems to be the case for many people, including myself.

Insomnia is another problem for many people. Some people just can’t sleep because they’re stressed, busy or they are not following good sleep guidelines. Sleep guidelines? Wait, what sleep guidelines? There are some factors that increase the risks of sleep insomnia: Starring at a computer late at night, watching TV, exercising and completing household chores one hour or less before bed are all some factors that can lead to insomnia. So the guidelines are…don’t do these things before sinking into your bed at night. UC student Sara Robinson usually gets 4-6 hours of sleep a week! “I’ve always been an insomniac and college doesn’t help,” Robinson said, “Usually I start homework after work/class (I get home pretty late) and by the time I’m done it’s like 2 am or 3 am. Then I get up around 8.” UC Student Anna Staursky also feels she may have a mild case of insomnia. She only gets about 3-5 hours of sleep a night, “or sometimes I don’t sleep at all” she said.

Lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. There are studies that have proved this statement. There was a recent study posted on sleepfoundation.org website just last week: Lack of sleep can increase belly fat. How? Staying up late and/or not having enough sleep each night releases an evil chemical in your body: the hormone that makes your body want food. While the hungry-hippo-hormone is released, the hormone that suppresses your hunger goes away. Inconvenient, isn’t it?  So sleep deprivation can easily lead to weight gain. I asked some UC students if they feel more or less hungry when they are hittin’ the books late at night. 8 out of 11 said they tend to snack more often at night and some of them say they more often choose to snack on comfort foods such as chocolate, chips and pretzels. “When I did not watch what I was eating,” said Schiele, “I would munch on chips, sunflower seeds, and finger foods. But now I know how to control that!” UC student Stephanie Fuhr said, “The later it gets, the more I find myself snacking. If I’m up late I usually want something crunchy like pop corn or pretzels.” Megan Groves, a soon-to-be UC graduate said, “I definitely tend to snack on junk food if I’m burning the midnight oil late into the morning,” she said, “Mostly my overeating/junk food habits seem to stem from my tendency to comfort eat when stressed, and the fact that I don’t have as much time to spend cooking healthy meals while in school.”

So, what can we do to prevent lack of sleep? It may be easier said than done, but it CAN be done. Not everyone is a college student with crazy school and work schedules, but you still have just as many challenges to overcome. So here’s how to get your recommended 7-8 hours of sleep a night:

What’s For Dinner? March 3, 2010

So I asked some of you to dig up your old family recipes you had piled beneath last month’s mail.  At the end of each recipe, I threw in a couple recommendations to make them a little healthier. I look forward to trying each and every one of your recipes, and sharing some of my own. Enjoy!

Creamy Cool Mexican Salad with Great Northern Beans from: Lori Bornstein

Lori said, “Sounds healthy to me!!!”

• 1 48-ounce jar Randall Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 ounces plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 cup cholesterol free, reduced calorie mayonnaise
• 1 1/4 ounce (1 package) taco seasoning mix
• 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 bunch green onions (with some tops), sliced on diagonal
• 2 cans (2 1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, well-drained
• 4 ounces (1 can) diced green chilies, well drained

Rinse beans with cold water, drain well.
In small bowl, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, and taco seasoning; mix well. Set aside.
In large bowl, combine beans, cheese, green onions, olives, and chilies. Add dressing; mix well.
Serve on shredded lettuce topped with tomato wedges.
Make 6 to 8 servings.

This sounds delicious! This would be great with some organic tortilla chips from Trader Joes. I got a one pound bag for under $3. Make sure you use light salad dressing too! A light-chipotle vinaigrette would work great I think.

How to Not Over-eat February 22, 2010

It’s easy to reach for a second helping and it’s hard NOT to reach for a second helping. This is where I think many of us get into trouble with over-eating. When your first plate of fettuccine alfredo tasted so good, how can you not get a second helping?

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Number One: One way to avoid the deadly pitfall of over-eating is to substitute your alfredo with something that is good for you; like a green vegetable. If you are still hungry after your first plate, fill up your second plate with fresh vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, edamame, green beans, or spinach. The fiber and goodness in the veggies will fulfill your needs, and ta-dah! You just consumed fewer calories. Make your pasta dish even more delicious by mixing in the vegetables with your first helping. This will fill you up so you don’t even have to worry about coming up for seconds.

Number Two: It is ok to eat your favorite comfort food every now and then.  If your comfort food are chocolate chip cookies, I believe you should have a cookie. Just a few, not the whole bag. It will satisfy your cravings so you don’t go crazy and indulge in bad foods later on that day, or worse, at the end of the week! (I say it’s worse at the end of the week because if your holding back your food craving all week and go crazy on Friday, I promise you will not wake up feeling well on Saturday. Trust me).  You can always make your comfort food healthier too. If you are a fettuccine lover, substitute your pasta with whole-wheat pasta, add some broccoli, and top it with light fettuccine alfredo sauce. (Yes, they make this stuff–it’s  lower in calories and fat. I buy it at Kroger). I heard that substituting apple sauce for oil in your bakery goods is great too.

Number three: Another way to avoid over-eating is to eat at the dinner table. When you are sitting in front of the computer or television while eating your meal, you tend to eat more than your body asked for. Why? When your concentrating on what is on TV or who is on Facebook, you can easily forget how much food is going in your stomach. If you socialize at the dinner table, you actually enjoy your food and  are more likely to eat less because you are concentrating on what is on your plate. It takes your mind about 20 seconds to send the “I’m full” signal to your stomach. If you eat slower, then you will realize you are full. Eating too fast does not give your brain enough to time to tell you stomach it’s had enough. By that time, it is too late.

I believe that moderation is key. Yes I know that phrase is cliché, but it’s true. Eating in moderation is healthy and teaches your body self-control. Once you can control what is going in your stomach, it will become easier and easier. Don’t fill up your stomach every time you eat; stop when you are content. Your stomach shrinks when you are not constantly filling it up to where you are uncomfortable. Give your body what it needs, not more, not less.

Organic Foods in Your Grocery Bag February 9, 2010

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Organic foods have spread a positive wave across America. People buy organic foods for environmental, personal, and health reasons. It’s a great movement for humans, plants and animals as a whole; organic foods typically are grown without the use of bad pesticides, and the farm-grazing chickens and cows  are free from injected hormones, steroids, and antibiotics…or are they?

Organic foods are classified to be free from bad pesticides, preservatives, and the meat products are not given hormones, steroids, or antibiotics. They also need to be grown a certain way. However, it’s important to know how organically grown your food is. Many organic foods are not 100% organic. Under USDA standards,  certain pesticides and pest-control  biochemicals are ok to use; the “EPA concluded no risks to humans are expected from the use of SOE as a pesticide active ingredient,”(ams.usda.gov). So there are standards where farmers can still label their products as USDA organic when they are only 70-95% organic. If you check out usda.gov, you can read more on organic food regulations.  If the USDA regulates this, it must be safe, right? Not necessarily. There are some holes in the USDA organic food standards where farmers can manuver around the rules.  Having knowledge of the organic farm your food comes from is important. Some studies have shown that , “Pesticides that are applied to conventionally grown crops have been linked to disorders in the central nervous system and other illnesses, as well as serious environmental problems like contaminated groundwater and reproductive failure, mutations and even extinction of birds and other animals.  Scientists worry that hormones which have been fed to beef and dairy cattle can ultimately affect child development,” (Diane MacEachern-“Big Green Purse”). It has been known that some organic farmers classify themselves as organic farmers, but they are not.

After I did a little research,  I found that organic product labels in some grocery stores can be misleading.  It’s easy to reach for food labels that explain perfectly where your eggs and milk come from.  In the book Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, he bought organic, unpasteurized milk from Whole Foods Market. The label on the milk  read that the cows “live free from unnecessary fear and distress”. Pollan traveled to the farm his milk came from and found out the milk wasn’t from a farm, it was from a factory farm. He saw ”distressed”  cows living in conditions that were not free, while machines pumped milk out of them. This caught my attention. Many people don’t think twice when reading a label like that. Why would they? You want to trust the food manufacturer right? How can they be allowed to put false information on the labels?   Some of the fancy organic labels are just used as marketing tools. Technically the label is correct, the milk is from a farm, but the label fails to specify what kind  of farm. Sure your eggs came from a chicken raised on a farm, but where is this farm anyway? How were the chickens really treated? When I think of a farm, I think of the sun-shining among large, grass-grazing hills for animals to roam on. The labels are misleading.   Like Pollan said, the food he thought he was buying straight from the farm wasn’t even from a farm at all. Be familiar with your local organic farmers. Check with your local grocery stores where you shop.

Veggie Chili February 6, 2010

A vegetarian diet is healthy; some people think it is not because vegetarians do not intake the correct amount of protein.  You just need to go about it the RIGHT way. I became a vegetarian about 2 years ago, and it’s one of the best decisions I made. I feel healthier and more energetic. A vegetarian diet is good for you because many vegetarian foods are lower in calories, trans fats, saturated fats, cholesterol, and can give you more sustainable energy (from nuts, seeds, whole grains). The American Heart Association explains more on vegetarianism. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4777.

If you just CAN’T give up the meats, that is ok. Stick with skin-less chicken (grilled, not fried), fish, and lean meats, but don’t forget your fruits and veggies! Speaking of veggies, I have a delicious Vegetarian Chili recipe for you! If you’re not into meat-less options, I promise you will forget this chili is meat-less. I joined two different recipes (meatlessmondays.com, allrecipes.com)  and then added a few things myself. I make it about once a week, and even my meat-loving household enjoys it:)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans crushed tomatoes
• 2-3 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. oregano
• salt and pepper (optional; use sea salt)
• 1/2-1 tsp creole seasoning (depends how spicy you like it!)
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can whole corn
• 1 sweet onion
• 2-4 sticks of celery
• 1 green pepper
• 1 pack meatless-ground (Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Whole foods)
• vegetable stock
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  

1.) Saute onions, celery, and green pepper in a skillet with a little extra virgin olive oil. Saute until golden brown.

2.) While your veggies are cookin’ in the skillet, rinse beans and corn in a strainer then dump into a 5 quart pot.

3.) Add the rest of your ingredients (including celery, onions, and pepper) into the pot; Mix in vegetable stock last. Pour it in slowly. (If you want thicker chili, add less stock. For thinner chili, add the whole can, why not).

4.) Mix your chili well, then cook it on the stove top on MEDIUM heat for 1 hour-1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

5.) Finally, eat and enjoy:) It serves 8-10 people. It’s great with low-fat cheese and lite sour cream! If you like it spicy, hot sauce  works out great.

This is a low-fat, high fiber, high protein meal. With the meatless ground, it tastes just like meat! You won’t even know the difference. When I make a pot of this recipe, it lasts my household all week. It’s a cheap meal too! I usually find the cans of beans and corn for 70 cents or less at Kroger, and the meatless ground is less than $3 at Trader Joes. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Now eat up and enjoy!

“Recess Before Lunch” January 26, 2010

A story in the New York Times yesterday said many elementary schools are adapting a “recess before lunch” schedule and not lunch before recess.

By doing this, teachers have noticed a difference in children’s behavior during and after lunch-time; children relieve their burst of energy before lunch instead of after so they have better concentration in school. According to the article, studies showed that children are also more likely to finish their food and eat healthier because they are not rushing to go swing on the monkey bars.