I read the week two section on diet last night. The focus? Whole foods - "as much as you are able", avoid canned, frozen, microwavable, and generally processed foods. Okay, I thought, that's not so bad...
Then I really started thinking about it. I thought about how often I use canned or frozen goods - especially meat! Even if I buy something fresh, it generally goes in the freezer. Could I not use those things? I have jarred pasta sauce... frozen vegetables... do I really have to make my own pasta sauce? Bake my own bread? Pick more of the lousy hydroponic veggies at the grocery store?
I made some breakfast cookies to replace the processed Special K breakfast bars I eat almost every day. I could spend all day baking and cooking to replace the processed things I eat all week. I'd love to do that, but there's just not time.
So I brought my concerns to the studio tonight. At practice, I talked to some other people who are also on the 40 day journey to figure out how they were changing their diet. One girl said she's just trying to make healthier recipes, another said she was changing her breakfasts to yogurt, fruit and granola. I spoke to the instructor about it... and she laughed.
It would be IMPOSSIBLE in January to completely have "whole" foods. There's no fresh food! She suggested to purchase more organic things, which I do a lot of already. Many of the dietary things people are changing I already incorporate into my daily habits. I'm better about fresh food in the summer, but who isn't? I can only do what's realistic.
That said, I'm still going to try to do mostly whole foods - and I may even try my own pasta sauce. It's about changing SOMETHING, so making more wholesome dinners might be the ticket. But tonight, at 8pm after yoga, I had Lobster Ravioli from Trader Joe's... packaged, processed, but very few preservatives. It was all I could handle. I was good the rest of the day. :)
Some quick thoughts from someone who's been working on his diet for a while:
ReplyDeleteBob's Red Mill hot cereal in the morning is amazing. Their 10 graim cereal or their Meusli along with some yogurt is great. Try the Greek style yogurt because it has better nutritional value than standard yogurt.
Freezing fresh meat is ok. It's 10 x better than chicken patties and enables you to get solid returns on your meat investment. By the time it gets to the grocery store, all meat has been frozen at some point, it has to be as a part of the processing. Check for deals on Sockeye Salmon at the fish counter.
Broccoli, Cauliflower are great winter veggies and have great nutritional benefits. Persimmon are in season and are available at Giant Eagle, they are a great addition due to their antioxidant value. Few things top Sweet Potatoes for nutritional value. They stand toe to toe with just about any veggie. Quinoa is a rice-like grain from South America that has a whole lot more nutritional value than just about any other grain.
Ditch coffee for green and black tea for the antioxidant values of both. Plus, we still have no idea how beneficial Green Tea really is, so far we know it aids in digestion, cognitive ability, and is a natural fat burner.
Best of luck!!!
Your own sauce would be the easiest part, easier than pasta. Pick a day when you will be home and start it early. Get your ingredients in the pot and let it simmer slowly all day. I make a bunch when the garden is cranking out tomatoes and keep it in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteAunt Lisa