(Wow - it's been a while since I've posted anything. But maybe that's because I was on vacation and almost never turned on the computer? Naaaaaah.... couldn't've been that!)
...is not to make a resolution! ::grin::
I'm not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions, actually. Mainly because, well, I can never keep them. I'd rather commit to something achievable, and do it with the help, participation, and encouragement of my better half. Last year we started reading through the Bible together every night, and that is a Good Thing we still continue to do.
This year is a bit more nebulous. It's all about Healthier Eating. Now, I call this nebulous because we've been changing our diet slowly for the last few years - really since we joined a CSA farm when we lived in Virginia. When you get local, in-season produce delivered to your home every week, it becomes a motivation to actually EAT it. You don't want to waste the money you've invested in the farm share, and more importantly, the fresh produce is darned tasty!
We've been members of Grow Alabama now for a while, and we feel the same way about this CSA too. (Heck, we haven't bought produce in the grocery store for months!) So that certainly increases the quick access to produce. But we're also big meat eaters. And bread/rice eaters. And I must admit (in my opinion) that chocolate really should be a fifth food group. So this year, I want to increase my good foods, and decrease those things we really like but really shouldn't have.
For those of you who are fan of Good Eats, the host Alton Brown lost a lot of weight over the last year, not by dieting as we understand the term, but reorganizing how he ate. In a recent episode he made some food group lists, which I'll copy here:
Daily
- Fruits
- Whole Grains
- Leafy Greens
- Nuts
- Carrots
- Green Tea
3 times a week
- Oily Fish
- Yogurt
- Broccoli
- Sweet Potato
- Avocado
Once a week
- Red meat
- Pasta
- Dessert
- Alcohol
NEVER!
- Fast Food
- Soda
- Processed meals/frozen dinners
- Canned soup
- "Diet" anything
That's pretty basic, and straightforward. I'm pretty good on the "Never" list, because I don't consume the first three anyway. I use canned soup in recipes sometimes, but I'm much more fond of making my own. It's the final one that I have problems with. I'm a diabetic. And I keep sugar-free cookies and such because it keeps me from eating things even worse for me. So I'm not sure how much impact one sugar free cookie or one small piece of sugar free candy a day would be, but I also think that if I cut ALL sweets out completely I'd go 'round the twist and start hurting people. ::heh::
So this year, I think we're going to work towards a more balanced way of eating. Less meat. More fish (the flash-frozen salmon you get at Sams is quite tasty, and easy to cook with). More greens - and hey! - the spring season for dark leafy greens like kale and mustard/turnip greens is right around the corner. More whole grains and fewer processed starches like white bread and white rice. I'm not like Alton, I don't need to lose 50 pounds. (More like five...) But I also want to maintain my healthy-ish weight and help keep my diabetes in control.
So I may write blog posts about foods we discover, or recipes we find especially tasty. (There's this mushroom lentil casserole we made over the holidays that was absolutely fantabulous....!) This isn't going to become a food blog. It will still have a completely random theme of "whatever is on the librarian's mind at the moment", but expect more foodie bits. 8-D
Anyway, to all my friends in blog-land, have a blessed 2010!
1 comment:
Good for you!
If you do lower your intake of processed starches, you might have to lower your insulin as well. It's that whole glycemic index/load thing. If you're replacing processed with whole grain, though, it's about the same.
Regarding the sugarless cookies/candy, I did a bit of research on glycemicindex.com and found the following GI's:
50g sugar free Dove chocolate: 23
50g regular Dove milk chocolate: 45
50g regular Dove dark chocolate: 23
The milk chocolate has more sugar, which would account for some of the increase, but it is also possible that the cocoa itself has an effect. But if that data is correct, then eating dark chocolate is no worse than the regular sugar free stuff. The sugar free candy does have fewer calories, but given that you eat just one piece, I think you'd be fine with the real thing. Disclaimer: the studies are done on non-diabetics; your mileage may vary.
I'm not sure why Mr. Brown has pasta on the once-a-week list. If you get the whole wheat kind, it's good for you, and it has a much lower GI than bread or rice. Also, there is decent evidence for the benefits of half a glass of wine a day. On his 3x a week list, the oily fish is great, but I wouldn't put avocados or sweet potatoes in the same category. It's perfectly fine to eat them three times a week, but there are lots of other things that would be just as good. Like say rutabagas and olives. But there doesn't seem to be any substitute for the benefits of oily fish. It should be in a category by itself! But in general, the advice is sound.
Okay, that's my nutritional ranting for the day :-)
Happy fooding!
JAG
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