Friday Rant - Calorie what what??!

We have so many yummy foods available to us nowadays. If you think back 100 or even 50 years ago, the American diet was much less varied, and people ate the food that they cooked (or their family cooked), for the most part. People did eat out, but it wasn't quite as prevalent as it is now. This is in part because women are more often than not working just as much as their husbands and the percentage of stay-at-home parents has considerably reduced. And who wants to work all day long, then maybe hit the gym afterwards, then come home and cook a full dinner for the family? Not likely. I don't even like to cook in evenings when I get home, and I live alone.

So what do we do? We have aisles of frozen prepared foods at the grocery store, take-out and dining out. While I don't care for frozen dinners, I do love take out and eating out. The problem is that you never really know what's in the food. Read this article about some of the various chains (for instance, Dunkin' Donuts smoothies pack a major sugar punch and IHOP's omelet feast will cost you 1335 calories ) - in NY they're forcing them to provide the nutritional information on their menus, and it turns out that some of their meals (just an entree, not including drinks, appetizers, and dessert) come to more than half (if not almost all) an average person's daily calories! They're getting a bit better about not adding trans fats to their food (I recently read that because of the regulations, a chain fast food restaurants might actually be a safer bet, concerning trans fat, than would a chain sit-down restaurant). But we really don't know what all they used to cook the food (olive oil vs butter vs partially hydrogenated vegetable oil plus sodium galore).

And the problem is that they restaurants want people to come back and eat there again (imagine that?!), and well, gosh darnit, fat tastes good! So they make it unhealthy because they know if people eat it and like it, they'll come back. But if they make it really healthy, it might still taste good (healthy food can taste good, really it can), it just doesn't have that same pop of "wow!" that the fatty stuff has. Unless it's really fresh yummy stuff like raspberries off the bush from the farmer's market, then it's expensive. So while we all complain that restaurants are hiding mega-doses of calories in our meals, we're basically encouraging them to do just that.

If I ate out or got take out every night, I think that I'd have tons of trouble keeping my weight to a healthy level. That's just me, and perhaps it's because when I do happen to eat out, I'm not shy about eating a lot. Since I don't eat out often, I figure when I do, it's a treat. So maybe if I ate out more often, I'd be more circumspect in what I chose to eat.

So here I am, ranting that the restaurants pack their meals with calories and trans fats, admitting that I eat plenty of it when I do go out, and pointing out that it's very difficult to provide home cooked food (unless you eat home cooked food from the freezer, like I do) with how much we have to work just to put that very food on the table. So this is a true rant - I'm complaining about it, but not really providing solutions. Maybe all my smart readers can help me out with this?

Blueberry Ibuprofen

So I get headaches occasionally. I dehydrate easily, so my first instinct is to grab some water (I usually drink about 50oz during the day at work). When that doesn't work, I take some Aleve or Advil/Motrin. Next step is to drink some caffeine (I'm terribly susceptible to caffeine headaches if I don't drink it). I also tried taking a nap at lunchtime. Nothing worked on my headache yesterday, and I could feel the nausea starting to arriving, letting me know that my pesky little headache was turning into a full-fledged, tummy-rolling, head-pounding nastiness.

I took one Motrin in addition to the Aleve. And I ate a half pint of blueberries. And voila, bye bye headache! Which was excellent given that my kickball league playoffs were last night (sadly, we didn't quite make the final game, though we put in a good showing).

The logical answer to this is that the Aleve just took a while, or somehow one tiny little Motrin did the trick.

But the headache seemed to recede as soon as I started eating those blueberries. We've been told that blueberries have antioxidant power, but maybe I've found another application! I even had someone else tell me fruit helps them too. So I think that I should patent and market blueberry ibuprofen and see where it takes me!

Have you had an experiences where something had (or seemed to at least) an unexpected effect?

Running up the stairs - where'd my wind go?!

I just love the Subway system here in Boston. For the most part, I mean that seriously and not facetiously. But when I have to teach class and it's on the fritz, that's a whole other matter entirely. Let me tell you my tale (check back for yummy food stuff tomorrow, Wednesday's my resident exercise post day).

I would normally try to duck out of work on Tuesdays around 4:45 because I have to walk across the park, catch the subway (T), take it to the end, then walk for 10-15 minutes to get to the gym where I teach Spinning (cycling) at 6:15. If I leave at 5 and everything goes peachy, I usually get to the gym around 6 (or just before) and then change and set up the bikes (the spinning studio doubles as a yoga studio, so all the bikes are out in the hall when I get there. Thankfully there are only about 7 to set up).

But as you've probably gathered, everything didn't quite go as planned.

I walked across the park (check), got on the T (check), made it to the 2nd stop from the end of the line (which is where I'd get off to teach at the other gym where I work, too bad this didn't happen on monday). The train sits at the stop with the doors open. I waited for about five minutes (it seemed like longer), chatting with a couple women on the train. I knew that as soon as I got off the train, it was going to pull away from the station. They came over the loudspeaker (or in this case, softspeaker) to tell us what sounded like police action at the next stop (they were apparently searching for something, but I can't find out what through a google search). Finally, I get off the train, because at this point it's 5:50 and the bus takes at least 15-20 minutes (it actually didn't leave).

Here comes the fun exercise part - the train station where I got off has this immensely huge escalator/stairway to get outside (kind of like the ones in DC if you've ever been there). Normally I'd just stand on the escalator and happily read my book. But this time I ran to the top. And damn was I out of breath! I called the gym when I got outside to tell them I'd be late and ask them to set up the bikes for me, and they could barely understand me (I tell myself there was wind blowing across the mic too, but I think that it's probably really because I was out of breath). And I ask myself - how is it that I teach anywhere from 1-4 step classes a week and I can't run up one big (huge) set of stairs? I know step goes up and down rather than up up up up up up up, but still. Shouldn't doing step aerobics train me for climbing stairs? Geez.

I didn't see the bus, so I started walking towards the gym, figuring I'd catch the bus when it came. And it came when I was just about halfway there. I got on and traffic was at a standstill. So I got off because I figured I could walk faster than that. And I ended up getting to the stop at the gym at exactly the same time as the bus did. So I could've taken the bus, but at least by walking I felt like I was getting somewhere.

Turns out two of the people in my class were stuck on the train too, so they got there the same time I did. It all worked out in the end (and I was nice and warmed up for class to boot).

But I ask you, where'd my wind go?

Debunking the Bunk - Eggs

So there are foods out there that we were raised "knowing" were bad for you. Based on the nutrition research of the day, some foods at one point in time were thought to have a decidedly negative effect on your health. Among them: eggs, olive oil, coconut, chocolate, cupcakes (ok, that last one was wishful thinking). And now we start to hear more recent research about potentially positive effects of these very same foods. Whether that will be born out by time remains to be seen. However, some of these foods just aren't the evils they were made out to be.

First up: Eggs.

I grew up in the era of the Bad Egg. The Bad Egg was a super injection of bad cholesterol that put plaque layers directly onto your arteries. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Prior to the discovery of cholesterol, eggs were considered "the perfect food, the centerpiece of solid breakfasts, the hearty garnishes atop salads and side dishes" (Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy). After the discovery of cholesterol, eggs became a poor choice for nutrition, and correspondingly, the sales fell.

New studies, however, tell a different tale (this information again cited from above linked book).
Here's what these new studies state:

1. Eggs are low in saturated fat
2. They contain protein, polyunsaturated fat, folic acid, and vitamins B and D
3. Their effect on heart disease can't be predicted based on their cholesterol content

There are two types of people: Responders (R) and Nonresponders (NR). Rs reflect the amount of cholesterol they eat in the amount of cholesterol in their bloodstream. NRs can eat cholesterol with only very small changes in the cholesterol in their bloodstream. And eating eggs has very little effect on LDL (bad cholesterol). No research has shown that eating more eggs translates into a higher chance of heart disease (unless you have diabetes).

For a much less scientific, but much more fun to read, test of the effect of eggs on health (of two Aussie men), go here.

This doesn't mean eat all the eggs you ever wanted, especially if they're doused in butter and cheese and fat. But eggs aren't the evil that I always thought them to be, and I won't feel quite so guilty about having some deviled eggs or some scrambled eggs on the rare occasion when I actually feel like having it.

Just for the sake of balance, I plugged "eggs" and "health" into google, to see whether there were any opposing viewpoints in the first page of hits. And all the top results came back with eggs being nutritious and good for you. So, as with anything, eat them in moderation, use common sense, but don't worry about all those Bad Eggs everyone always warned you about (unless you crack them and they're green and shriveled, then they might be bad in a very different way...)

Feta Garlic-Scape Scramble Eggs
3 eggs, whisked
5-10 garlic scapes (can be found in June-July at farmer's markets)
goat cheese feta (as much as desired)
roasted baby red potatoes (optional)
oil
salt/pepper

I basically made scrambled eggs with what I had leftover in my fridge when I got home from the gym one night. If you're short on time, you might not want to include the potatoes, as they generally take forever and an age to roast. They do add some tasty (if high-glycemic) carbs to the eggs, but if you wanted to go more the whole grain route, you could omit the potatoes and put your eggs on top of some multi-grain toast instead.

Potatoes (easy): chop up potatoes in bite sized pieces and lay out on a roasting pan. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until soft.

Potatoes (complicated): chop up potatoes in bite sized pieces and lay out on a roasting pan. Sprinkle with a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, chopped parsley, mustard, salt, and pepper. Roast until soft. (I only call this complicated because it requires a cutting board and a little bowl for mixing)

Scrambled eggs preparation: chop up the garlic scapes into bit sized pieces. Saute in a pan with olive/grapeseed oil until fragrant, but not until limp. While these are cooking, wash eggs, then crack and whisk yolks into whites. Add eggs to scapes and cook until softly scrambled. Add potatoes and feta and cook until eggs are firm. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

One note about garlic scapes: later in the season (or if they're sitting in your fridge for a while, since they do keep a long time), the scapes can become pretty fibrous. You only want to use the end from the thin tip to the bump (I don't know how else to describe this, but there's a bump about halfway up). The thick end is a lot tougher and stringier to chew.

Recipes in the absence of cooking

So I'm currently in the process of cleaning out my freezer in preparation for the August-September cooking blitz. I have one of those big, stand-alone freezers (the smallest I could get, but it's still about the same size as my fridge). And I'm trying to be as much a locavore as possible - this translates into massive amounts of cooking and freezing tomatoes, corn, apples and so on in the late summer early fall so that I still have tasty, local veggies to eat in January. Now, tomatoes aren't quite as good when frozen as the water in them freezes and separates from the tomato flesh, but I still think it's better than the tasteless tomatoes at the big box grocery store in January. And let me tell you, defrosted fresh corn cooked in butter and salt and pepper is absolutely fantastic in February!

Last September, my freezer was stuffed solid with clam-stuffed tomatoes, apple sauce, elderberry-apple crumble, corn, stuffed peppers, tomato sauce, pesto sauce, vodka tomato sauce, chili, and probably some other things I'm not remembering. Now, I'm down to my last container of tomato sauce, some ricotta spinach quiche (not quite as good defrosted, probably won't do that again), salmon burgers (I've learned I don't like adobo chilis), some frozen cranberries, frozen girl scout cookies, and frozen meat and shrimp. What I have in there is looking pretty forlorn, waiting for me to fill it up again.

I love emptying out the freezer, makes me feel a sense of accomplishment on a par with defrosting it, which I did a couple weeks ago. Just as much as I love filling it up and then working on the puzzle of how to fit everything in there. Having my own frozen dinners makes life so much easier when I have a weekend like this last one, where I was out of town and had no time to cook. But given how little is actually in there, it also makes it harder to just grab food and go for my lunches. Or rather, I'm left with the food I've been avoiding for months (like those pesky salmon burgers).

On arriving home last night, it was starting to rain, so I really didn't feel like going grocery shopping. So I was happily jumping with joy when I found that I did, in fact, have a red pepper in the fridge and the bread in the cupboard hadn't molded yet. So I defrosted some pork and cooked it in my current favorite pork method: dusted with salt, pepper, powdered ginger, and red pepper flakes. Then I toasted the bread and spread it with orange cardamom goat cheese and sliced up the red pepper. Mmm mmm!

For the rest of the week: ratatouille currently defrosting, and there's always those salmon burgers, and some quiche.

Friday rant - Stop your whining and do something

Let me preface this post by saying that this is a rant about a specific group of people. It's about people who are overweight because they eat too much unhealthy food (and they know it). I'm not talking about people who are overweight for medical reasons, or because they have conditions which prohibit them from exercising. I'm not talking about people who are overweight and do exercise and eat healthy all the time (I'm considered overweight myself in all those BMI charts, though the whole BMI chart concept will be a rant for another day). I'm talking about people who eat sugar with a side of fat and grease and then say that they eat that way just because they're hungry all the time.

"I live for food." I heard this from one of my co-workers the other day. Our conversation kicked off because I mentioned I was famished because I forgot to put the protein powder in my morning fruit shake, and he was curious about why protein powder would make that much difference. He mentioned that he's always hungry so he ends up overeating all the time. Now, this is the co-worker who eats carrot cake cookies for breakfast, washed down with a big bottle of Mountain Dew. And I suggested eating some healthy snacks every few hours so that he wouldn't be so hungry at meals and therefore overeat. The thing is, I live for food too. People at work have joked with me that I'm in the kitchen more than I'm at my desk (for my morning/afternoon snacks, lunch, then all the water refills in between).

And I think the big problem here stems from a lack of nutrition education. Our discussion continued because he was asking me questions about my eating habits. So I mentioned that protein and whole grains tend to stave off hunger for me, and he hadn't known that. He did know that his diet wasn't healthy (that'd be a big dollop of denial to overlook the breakfast cookies), but he didn't understand the link between eating sugar/refined carbs and having energy spikes, then the sugar drop and ensuing hunger.

For me personally, (I love sugar) sugary foods give me wings to bounce on the ceilings (I love sugar), then give me baby wings to pull down my eyelids and rumble my belly (I still love sugar). If I don't eat snacks during the day, I'm famished by the time a meal rolls around and I end up eating WAAAAAY too much. I still eat good sized meals, but I make sure to have snacks in between so I don't overdo it (too much). My snacks are normally multi-grain toast with nutella or peanut butter, or I'll have some walnuts and dried fruit. Occasionally I have cookies (and I usually end up feeling hungry when I do)

Now, if you don't know the nutritional effect of the food you're eating, and that it's going to leave you hungry in an hour, then I suppose complaining is in order when you're hungry all the time. Especially if you're eating a lot, you'd figure you'd be less hungry, right? So I suppose this all comes down to lack of education about nutrition. Because people can know they're not eating healthy food, but if they're always hungry and they don't know how to make tasty healthy options, then they're not going to know how to change for the better.

And the way I eat may not be the right way for you. You might feel better eating vegetarian/ vegan, or Atkins, or following the Primal Blueprint. But the common denominator is that the right way for you to eat is a way where you don't feel excessively hungry, don't consume more calories than you expend (thank god for exercise), and that you don't overburden your system with too many saturated fats (which can be bad for the heart, among other things).

How do we get more educational about nutrition out there? Because I've heard so many people whining about their weight but then doing nothing about it (or going on a super-restrictive diet for a week or two), but many of them don't really know how to change their habits for life. Do we need more education in school? I feel like there's already sooo much emphasis on weight in our society now that this could backfire if not done properly, and make some kids obsess over their weight even more than they do now. Do we leave it up to the parents (and hope that they know about nutrition)?

I guess I've just been taking it little by little. I'm constantly in the process of figuring out the best way of doing things for me. If someone asks me about it, I'll offer up my thoughts on the matter, but I'm not going to comment if someone is eating cookies for breakfast (it's not my place to judge - yes, this may seem inconsistent given this blog post, but I'm just using that example as a springboard for the bigger discussion).

I just feel like we've gotten so far away from our food roots, that all of our food is so processed and full of chemicals, that many people now just don't know what's what in the world of nutrition. How do we start to change this?

Every food blog must have an antioxidant post

The antioxidant craze does seem a bit bandwagon-ish to me. Every other day there's a new antioxidant trotted out. Every hear of goji berries? They're the new pomegranate, which was the new blueberry. But I can't argue that these are good foods, and they do good things for the body, whether it's what all the health researchers trot out (cancer prevention, lower blood pressure, slow the effects of aging), or whether these foods are just plain out healthy and if I'm eating them, I'm less likely to be eating something full of sugar and fat.

So here's my list:

1. Berries - blueberries, blackberries, goji berries, strawberries, raspberries (I just inhaled a pint from the farmer's market). This time of year you can just eat them whole because they're so sweet picked off the bush. You could also roll them into yogurt, squirt them with honey, add them to cereal, or best of all, make something like cobbler which can be frozen and trotted out in December when fruit is decidedly less fresh.

2. Spinach/kale - I was slow to come around to this one, but it really is awesome for you. You may feel a bit like popeye when eating it cooked (I do), but it's very tasty wilted down with chicken broth and garlic (or just oil and garlic). Or if you have Jamaican spinach, there's a good recipe here. Speaking of garlic...

3. Garlic - garlic has long been thought to have healthy properties, and is one of the major ingredients in Mediterranean cooking, which is gaining ground as a very healthy eating plan. Added benefit of vampires leaving you alone.

4. Tea - the one of this list that I consume most often. I love tea. I just read a post about poaching salmon in tea. I'll have to try that (though I suppose it would help if I knew what it meant to poach something).

5. Whole grains - my other favorite on the list. I eat multi-grain toast twice a day (well, ok, workday). I try to have a whole grain with every meal (for me, that's usually multi-grain bread or quinoa) because they fill me up better than other kinds of carbs.

6. Nuts - a great source of polunsaturated fats (to help raise good cholesterol). I often put peanut butter on the aforesaid multi-grain toast and I keep plain walnuts and almonds in my cabinet for snacks.

7. Coffee - this one has recently attained antioxidant status, and is still thought to be a great evil by many people (much as people used to think that olive oil was bad for you). A University of Scranton study puts coffee as the highest in antioxidants of everything that Americans eat. It's not going to encourage me to drink more coffee, but I won't feel like it's so bad in the few instances when I do.

8. Dark chocolate - yup, the darker the better. I've had up to 80%, and it's pretty bitter, but it apparently lowers blood pressure, among other things (I certainly feel better whenever I eat it!). Milk, however, interferes with its antioxidants, so milk chocolate doesn't have the same benefits.

9. Herbs - these fly completely under the radar. I never would've included them on my antioxidant list, but then I googled and it was listed and since I love herbs, they're going on my list! A Norwegan study listed the levels of antioxidants in herbs and oregano and sage are coming out on top for fresh herbs, and clove and allspice for dried herbs.

10. Brussels Sprouts - I hated these as a kid. Now I get them whenever they're available locally. They're a huge source of Vitamin C. And very tasty when roasted with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.