Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Leftovers Are Lovely!

<edit> Let’s pretend something together, shall we?? LOL!! Let’s pretend it’s still Wednesday and I posted this on time as planned…instead of losing track of time. And, to be honest, not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving either at all or ON Thursday…so this is totally still applicable! ;)

It’s the holiday season, and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. For many people, Thanksgiving means food. Lots of food. Lots of delicious food that maybe is only prepared once a year. There seems to be an automatic tendency toward stuffing ourselves (not just the turkey) and then regretting it later. So instead, how do we approach the holiday meals differently (and not regret them later)?

I posted a few years ago about leftovers being good for your mental, physical, and fiscal health.

This time, as we move into the holiday season, I want to talk about firstovers. (What? I can make up words!)

If you can, before you make your plate for the meal, package up a plate that you can take home or freeze for later. Why? You’ll get to enjoy all of your favorite holiday flavors again later, and since you’ve packaged up some of each thing for later, you can relax and savor what you’re eating without overdoing and regretting it. (The other idea is making smaller meals and somehow, this time of year, an awful lot of people don’t like that plan!)

Another idea is to make things that can be repurposed later for different recipes. (Turkey tetrazzini, anyone? Stuffing-crust turkey & cranberry pie? Great. Now I’m hungry.)

Firstovers, though. I love the idea of putting out containers that can hold a little bit of everything from the big holiday meal, letting folks dish those up for later, and then diving in and savoring the meal and the company.

How about you? How are you going to move mindfully through the holiday eating and enjoy yourself without regrets?

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Food As Medicine?

Sometimes you read something that seems both groundbreaking and incredibly obvious.

Let’s see here.

Some foods are bad for you.

Conversely, some foods must be good for you. Right?

RIGHT!!!

In a recent issue of TIME magazine, an article focused on food as medicine.

“Food is becoming a particular focus of doctors, hospitals, insurers and even employers who are frustrated by the slow progress of drug treatments in reducing food-related diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and even cancer.”

A persistent lack of Oxford commas notwithstanding, this quote from the article hit a gigantic DUH note with me. Science and our understanding of how the human body processes food are constantly changing. 

Here are a few examples:

• Eggs are bad for you!

• Eggs are good cholesterol.

• Too much alcohol is bad for you!

• Red wine is healthy in small amounts.

(Ok, maybe that is a bad example, because honestly? Too much alcohol really is bad for you. Also this blog is called Wine & Wellness Wednesday. You get the point, though, right?)

• Butter is evil! Olive oil is the best!

• Olive oil is awful. Use coconut oil.

• Coconut oil is evil! Use butter!
  

• Red meat causes cancer.

• Red meat has healthy proteins the body needs.

Anyone else getting dizzy? The spin, the redirection, the conflicting claims can all be enough to make a person say, “To heck with it, I’ll eat what I want.”

And people do. (At times, I do!)

Think about this. Every body is different. What works for me is going to cause problems for someone else, and vice versa. Genetic predisposition plays a role. Environment plays a role. Economics play a role. One person’s full-fat whole-milk latte is a lactose-intolerant person’s nightmare.

Use common sense. Use portion control. Eat fresh, local foods when you can, and be careful of the type and quantity of processed foods that you’re consuming. Check out the claims of different diets very, very carefully. Eat more vegetables than meat. Go for walks, or find exercise that works for you.

I would like to make it exquisitely clear that I do not advocate for changing your medication based on changes to your diet without consulting your physician. As I’ve said in the past and will continue to say, I am a health coach. I’m an advocate and an accountability partner, not a medical professional. I was able to make a substantial change in my own life and remove a medication from my arsenal once I went the gluten-free route. I talked with my doctor when I did. That is something about which I want to be very clear. I believe in the power of food for health, and in using all of your resources responsibly. 

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Food Rule 27

Food Rule 27: Eat Animals That Have Themselves Eaten Well

Ok, first things first. If you’re a vegetarian or a vegan, then this topic probably doesn’t much apply to you. I don’t advocate for starting to eat meat if you don’t already do so, unless you find yourself unable to thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet. And if that’s the case, I have suggestions for you on resources & people to talk to you if you feel strongly about staying vegetarian or vegan. I believe we should all eat whatever diet suits us best, as long as the food we eat is responsibly sourced and healthy.

And as long as that diet includes dark chocolate. (Ha!)

But I digress. (Surprise, surprise!)

On the other hand, the overall point that it seems to me that Pollan is making with this rule is that our food should be high in nutritional quality and low in chemicals. If you’re a meat eater, you will get more nutrients from animals that have had healthy diets and good lifestyles. The fats will be healthier, and the meat (as well as milk and eggs) will contain higher levels of the vitamins we need. Pasture-raised meat and free-range poultry can be satisfying both from an ethical perspective, as the animals have better lifestyles, as well as from a nutrition perspective. There is, after all, an advertising slogan that the best milk comes from happy cows. It really isn’t all that ridiculous a statement! Economically, it isn’t always feasible. So-called factory-farmed meat and eggs are frequently considerably cheaper than pasture-raised. 

At the end of the day, the important thing is to eat real food that’s been minimally processed. (And no, by that I don’t mean eat raw chicken. That’s a terrible plan.)

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: I Am My Own Client

So about two weeks ago I had the usual annual physical, weight, height, BP, what hurts, is everything normal, and so on, and so forth, and the expected needle stick for a blood draw, which left me sporting a colorful, misshapen bruise in my elbow for a week.

One of the things I’ve been grateful for has been that in spite of being overweight (although not as much as I was!) my numbers have been pretty good.

Until now.

In spite of my scale and the doctor’s scale agreeing that I’ve lost weight… (Yay!)

In spite of giving up fast food almost entirely and most junk food almost entirely…

In spite of exercising daily…

LDL and glucose are up.

Ok…now what…

I grumbled and growled about it for a couple of days and then I started thinking. I looked back at the past year and I could see where things might have happened that would contribute to those two numbers being out of whack.

And then I thought to myself, “What would I say to a client?” I answered myself, “Figure out the first thing you can do, and start there.” And I’m looking at it as an intriguing challenge, because one of the biggest factors I can change is my diet, and that is also going to be a lot of fun in a lot of ways. Why? I LOVE to cook. I LOVE trying new recipes! So figuring out different proteins and ways to incorporate more colorful veggies into my menus? Changing the fats I use for cooking? Absolutely! I’m all over it! Changing up and increasing exercise? Totally! (Although…the 4+ miles I walked at work recently is probably also helpful!) Planning on the numbers being lower and not needing medication the next time I get blood drawn? Absolutely.

Being a health coach doesn’t mean I have all the answers. It means I have the tools to find the answers and hold myself accountable (in a positive way) to figuring it out and making positive, sustainable changes. I also have a support network, and that’s huge. :)

So here I go into new territory! Who’s coming along for the ride?

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Mindful Eating

Mindfulness has become, recently (ish), a big topic in both the world of self care and business. I say “ish” because for some people, it’s been a practice to be mindful for more than just a few years.

There are multiple definitions for mindfulness. For my purposes today, I’ll think of it as the process of paying attention to the present moment, without thinking about what is past, and without worrying about what is next.

At several recent mindfulness gatherings, we discussed the topic of mindful eating. In Thich Nhat Han’s HOW TO EAT, the author brings together multiple tips on paying attention to what we eat, slowing down, savoring the food, and eating without distraction.

When I think of mindful eating, I think about paying attention to the moment, and knowing what I’m eating, and being present with my meal instead of rushing through. And, naturally, in the fast-paced world we live in, that last bit is easier said than done. I started trying to focus on the taste and texture of what I am eating or drinking. (Honestly, it’s quite hard to do that with a sip of coffee!) It is possible, also, to go all the way into considering what went into that bite of food. Where and how was it grown? How did it get to you? Although, in reality, I’m not sure I’d go as far as the PORTLANDIA sketch when the diners wanted to know the name of the chicken they were served for dinner.

I’ve recently started thinking, also, about how I feel when I eat something and how my body reacts. Mostly I think of this in relationship to mass-market junk food, and how the less of it I eat, the worse I feel when I do eat some. So mindful eating can also be paying attention to the impact what we eat has on us. (For example, knowing that after five years, McDonald’s fries have lost their appeal and I don’t like how I felt after I ate them.) I started paying attention to how I felt after eating anything with gluten, and the memory of how that felt helps me stay on a gluten-free path. (Well…that and a really good gluten-free pasta substitute made from black beans. And gluten-free brownies. And drinking lots of water.)

Mindful eating can also relate to mindful cooking. This evening while I made dinner, I thought about who I was cooking for (my husband and myself), where the food came from (and how much I didn’t know about some of my ingredients). At least two of my ingredients are from places I’ve visited, and one (the garlic) is grown by people I know. That was a good feeling to have as I worked on the meal. I thought about how it would taste when we sit down to dinner, and how much I enjoy sharing meals with my husband.

The next time you have a cup of coffee, or scrambled eggs, or a spinach salad, take some time to pay attention to the taste, and texture, and how everything feels. How does mindful eating impact your life?

Cheers! Here’s to your health!