2009 - Bring it on!

There are a ton of New Year's Resolution advice articles out there, but I liked this one, mainly because it is great advice from some of my fellow RD colleagues. If they had asked me to pipe in for this particular article, here is what I would have added:

For 2009, commit to yourself to really pay attention to your own hunger cues. If you aren't hungry, wait until you are to begin eating. If you are hungry, go ahead and eat! And, in the middle of eating, check in with yourself - are you pleasantly full yet? Time to stop eating.

While you are at it, approach food and eating with joy only - if that piece of chocolate fudge is truly calling your name, sit down and really enjoy it! Don't force yourself to eat things you don't like, but do approach food with curiosity and openness - be willing to try, and open to learning about new foods and new ways to prepare them.

Happy New Year!

You mean pancakes don't have to be microwaved?

In my son's first grade class, they do journaling on topics given by the teacher. Once every few months, they send home the journal and the parents get to read all the interesting things that come out of their 6-year-old's mind. This is how I found out that I am slacking in the pancake department. In one of my son's journal entries, he bragged that he can make pancakes - just put them in the microwave! hmmmm....



So, I decided to actually "make" pancakes once in awhile instead of pulling them out of the freezer. I found a mix that I really like - the Krusteaz Wheat and Honey mix worked out nicely - it's first ingredient is whole wheat flour, meaning that it qualifies as a whole grain serving, and it doesn't contain trans-fats. Also, it gives about 4 g of fiber per serving - the best part is that you only have to add water - adding eggs and water is too much for this slacker mom in the morning. OK, I added a couple chocolate chips to make it pass the kid test, but they gobbled them up!

Alice Waters rocks!

Don't know who Alice Waters is? In the foodie world, she's a rock star - she is the owner/operator of a restaurant called Chez Panisse, which serves locally grown, organic food in a rotating menu (she started this way back in 1971, before it was cool, so to speak); I think the other thing that I really love about Ms. Waters is her creation of the "edible schoolyard".

Check out this article on how she's trying to bring the Slow Food movement into the White House with the new president's "kitchen cabinet" - I'm not sure if President-elect Obama realizes exactly what he's being offered here - Alice Waters and Ruth Reichl are offering to be on his personal chef advisory board - it's a little like Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan teaming up and offering to teach a new start-up band a little something about the guitar.

Jump on it, Obama!!

Get off the diet rollercoaster, Oprah!

There's a lot of talk in the media lately about Oprah - it seems she has gained her weight back. She's done some interviews about it that I've half listened to - in one, she reveals that she "fell off her diet", and as an example, found herself devouring a pound of cookies in bed. This is how I know she is still firmly in the diet mentality. People who have broken out of (or never fell into) the diet mentality don't eat a whole pound of cookies in bed at one time, because they simply don't want to. Cookies are just - cookies. Yummy, yes; magical, no.

I think it's interesting that Oprah's best friend, Gayle King, seems to live with the non-diet approach. She loves food, and will even go on trips for the show in search of the country's best pizza or cake. But, she doesn't seem to feel guilty about it, and she also doesn't seem to struggle with her weight. This doesn't mean that she never works out or never tries to eat healthy - living the non-diet approach does not mean you don't try to take care of yourself. But, sometimes taking care of yourself means going in search of the world's best pizza.

Lentils that a 3-year old will eat

Have I mentioned that my 3-year old is one of the pickiest eaters I have met? I actually suspect that he may be a supertaster, but I'll write about that later. I do want to share an easy, yummy, and healthy recipe that he has actually eaten more than once. I got it out of one of my favorite cookbooks, which I bought on a whim while at a car wash:

Hamburger and Lentil soup

Throw all of this into a crockpot and cook it all day - yum!

1 pound lean hamburger, chopped onions, diced carrots, 2 cups (or one package) lentils, 1 quart tomato juice, 2 to 3 cups water, minced garlic, 1/2 tsp marjoram, 1 Tbsp brown sugar

Who thought of this name?

I am impressed with all of the new frozen vegetables that you just stick in the microwave right in the bag, but I came across this line from Green Giant - they call them Steamers.

Now. I must explain that I grew up with brothers only, I am married to a man who still has a sense of humor that a 12-year old boy would appreciate, and I have two young boys. So, if you get why I think the name "Steamers" for a vegetable line is funny, then you also probably have little boys/grown boys roaming around in your life. If you don't get it, go find a 12-year old boy and ask him what a Steamer is.

Making it through the holidays

One of the main reasons we gain weight over the holidays is due to all of the dang food available. I have a knack for the obvious, right? Stay with me -

If you are concerned about gaining weight over the holidays, I challenge you to concentrate on just one thing: eat only what you really like, and if you really like it, pay attention while you are eating so that you can actually enjoy it!

There are so many mindless eating (and drinking!) opportunities during the holidays: the candy sitting out at the receptionist desk, cookies brought in by co-workers, fruit cake delivered to your door (maybe this is a lost tradition - I've never actually had this happen, but I hear that it used to happen to everyone), uncomfortable parties where you need to keep busy by eating and drinking, and so on.

This is a great month to practice these steps - before you eat anything, ask yourself if you actually want it. If not, take a pass. You can always come back to it later. After you start eating something, ask yourself if you really like it. If it doesn't taste great, why waste the calories? Save them for something fantastic.

And of course, we come to the question - what about nutrition? "If I eat only what I like, I'll only eat brownies" - if this is you, then think of this as baby step number one out of the diet mentality - you may want to read my earlier posts on the diet mentality.

Now that we are all eating only what we like, is anyone actually going to eat fruit cake?