August 2008

Staying Focused through Mindful Eating

August 11, 2008

Mindful eating is a topic that really sparks my interest. It is a relatively simple concept, yet often it is incredibly difficult to master.

It basically has to do with being in the moment. I feel this is important for all life experiences, but can be beneficial to your mental wellness AND your waistline when it comes to eating.

One of my professors in grad school was really into this movement. We had several sessions where he went through some of his exercises with us.

We each got a carrot, a section of orange and a piece of chocolate. We took several minutes to eat each one, concentrating on the flavor and texture.

It is amazing how much more satisfying food can be when you are focused on it. I find this to be the case especially with chocolate.

I enjoy chocolate almost on a daily basis. I try to keep it dark in variety and only have a square or two. If I stay focused while eating it I am satisfied with just a little.

It is easier for me to practice mindful eating with real food. Since we tend to buy fake foods for convenience or when we are on the go, there were many times I would look down at the granola wrapper on my desk and couldn’t for the life of me remember when I had taken that last bite.

When I cook fresh foods I make more of an effort to enjoy them because of the work I just put into making it. Quiet restaurants are also supportive of more mindful eating for me.

On another note, I have to practice mindful selecting too. It has taken a lot of effort for me to stop before I grab something when I am hungry or shopping and evaluate if it is what I consider a fake food. If I think more about it, I’m much more liked to grab something fresh instead.

I’ve gotten to know myself well enough over the past few years that I can literally sense the change in my patterns as stress creeps up while I’m eating. Either I’m working on a difficult project, talking about stressful matters with my husband over dinner or I’m in a noisy atmosphere.

At these moments I catch myself shoveling the food in without thought.

I have to remember to put the fork down and taste. When I don’t taste, I don’t enjoy and I’m left feeling unsatisfied which leads to all sorts of bad snacking habits later on.

I am glad that I am able to recognize this in myself, but it is definitely an ongoing challenge to stay in the moment when it comes to eating and choosing food.

Do you have any challenges when it comes to mindful eating? Do you feel it is an important component for health?

Photo courtesy of Free Range Stock

Links to a Healthy Weekend

August 10, 2008

I am hoping to incorporate this post on a weekly basis. Link posts seem to be very popular in the blogging world and there is an unbelievable amount of great food, nutrition and wellness blogs out there.

I enjoy getting tips for links from others so I thought I’d provide some of my own. I’m just beginning my quest to search through some of the great information on a regular basis.

This time around it is posting a bit later than I would like, but each weekend I hope to share with you some great posts that further support my quest here at Fake Food Free and promote overall wellness.

Enjoy a great sweet this weekend that incorporates some veggies too. Carrots ‘N’ Cake shares a recipe for Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies.
I really like the explanation of why cathy at A Life Less Sweet continues to keep white table sugar in her family’s diet during their quest to eliminate HFCS.
When I used to give presentations about physical activity for my past job I would always incorporate how our convenience-driven lifestyles and technology affected our daily calorie burn. Stand Up & Eat from the Cooper Institute address this issue with some calorie charts for comparison.

Yogurt Is Tricky

August 8, 2008

Yogurt seems to be the go-to diet food. If you are healthy and/or if you want to lose weight, you eat yogurt. There’s research linking it to women who maintain a lower weight and to its help with weight loss.

I go through phases with yogurt. Sometimes I really like it and eat it daily, and then I have spurts where it is the last thing that sounds good.

I eat because it gives me protein and calcium. The probiotics in the version I buy are helpful too. I just question how real our yogurt in the local refrigerator case truly is.

There are quite a bit of artificial flavors and preservatives in most brands. I now steer clear of sugar free, fat free versions, but then you have to worry about the high fructose corn syrup. The full fat versions are much more satisfying and worth the calories and fat, by the way.

I know there are more natural brands out there, but you really pay the price for all that natural-ness.

This is one of those foods I struggle with when it comes to reducing fake foods. Most things point to it being a beneficial health food, but the industry messes that up by adding all kinds of fruit flavors and synthetic ingredients.

I’ve thought about getting one of those yogurt makers. Anyone have one or had the yogurt from one?

These types of things always seem to be the solution when it comes to fake, healthy foods. By controlling the ingredients we can make the food much better for us. The issue however is time, but when you put that up against long term health we all know who the winner should be.

I will also admit that stability has its perks. Although, I know those chemicals aren’t good for me, it is nice to know I’m not going to turn around every day to find something spoiled that I wasn’t able to eat quickly enough.

Transport Dilemma

August 6, 2008

With all the efforts around to maintain more environmentally conscious habits, I’ve had food transport on my mind a lot lately.

I read this post last week on Tonic News Network which talks about some recent research and the energy consumed through food production and transport.

It provides even more support for reducing consumption of processed foods, but that is not why it has me thinking.

Buying local is becoming more and more important to me as I gain knowledge about its benefits to both health and the environment. However, there are a lot of healthy, real foods I love which are not local. These foods I love must be transported to my local supermarket or even Farmer’s Market.

I enjoy eating in season, as it is often referred to, but what happens when a specific food is never in season near you.

Many of you know I live abroad right now so I have access to a lot of unique fruits and veggies. However, when I travel back, and in less than a year, move back the transport issue poses a huge problem.

Here are a few things I enjoy that won’t be growing in my neck of the woods in the US any time soon.

Oranges
Pineapple
Limes
Lemons
Peaches
Cranberries
Bananas

I mean, do I make the decision to never eat these foods again because of the amount of energy it takes to get them to me? Not only do I like these foods, but they offer many nutritional benefits.

I have to say, I would really be sad to see them go, especially the cranberries at holiday time. I love cranberries. But I also want to be environmentally friendly at the same time.

I am sure there are efforts out there to figure out a way to transport using less energy. I hope so anyway.

I am just wondering if anyone else is feeling like this. What is the solution to the dilemma of buying local, being green, yet still enjoying some pretty great foods that are great for you?

Photo by mconnors, morguefile.com

My Oatmeal

August 4, 2008

Over the past few years, oatmeal has become one of my favorite breakfast foods. I prefer the homemade version. I’ve played around with the instant versions, but they lack texture to me and often the flavors are too sweet.

Of course, since I am trying to eat less packaged foods I’ve pretty much eliminated the instant all together. I found this post on That’s Fit today. It got me thinking more about oatmeal.

Like many other packaged goods the instant is filled with flavorings and added sugar. Many companies have come out boasting that their version is enriched and fortified with vitamins and minerals, but it still can’t beat the real thing.

I remember talking about oatmeal at my office once (when I worked in a office) and my coworkers were discussing their favorite flavors. I volunteered that I made whole oats and they laughed and said, “We don’t have time for that.”

I was a bit confused after that because I microwave my oatmeal, too. It takes me maybe 30 seconds longer to complete my breakfast compared to opening a package and adding water.

My version has a few more calories, but they are healthy calories and will keep you full all day with a calcium bonus.

Simply take ½ c whole oats and mix with 1 c of skim milk. Microwave it for about 2 minutes (it boils over easily!). Then I add a little real butter, about 2 t of brown sugar and cinnamon. Sometimes I’ll add a few walnuts.

There is really no advantage to making the packaged version over the homemade. Although the packaged is easy to make at work, I have done that before. According to the research though it looks like it will just lead to more hunger throughout the day so I’ll stick with the old fashioned.

Photo by kahanaboy, morguefile.com

Easier Exercise This Weekend

August 1, 2008

I’m going to steer away from food for a minute today and talk about exercise. My brother just sent me the following article from Yahoo Health.

It is just more fuel for my anti pill-popping fire.

Drug gives couch potato mice benefits of a workout

You knew it had to be coming. If there are pills for eating soon there had to be pills for exercise.

Actually, I am a little surprised that the exercise pills didn’t come first. I mean, most people actually like to eat, however, many people loath exercise.

Of course the pill hasn’t been tested in humans. If you are a mouse and dislike moving your bum, then you might be in luck. The pill not only caused increased calorie burn, but also some signs of increased endurance capacity.

Unfortunately no pill will ever match real exercise, just as no pill can match real food.

You can show me calorie burn and endurance, but what happens to decreased anxiety and depression, healthy bones, muscle development, and socialization.

All are benefits of regular real exercise.

Now I will be honest. I’m at one of those motivational lows at the current moment where I’m having a really difficult time getting my butt to the gym. Even at times like these, I still wouldn’t consider a pill.

In addition to the fact that I’d miss a ton of benefits, laziness bothers me. Pill = laziness for me in this case.

Even if you have trouble moving due to certain conditions like the article mentions, walking 5 minutes is more beneficial than nothing at all. It is more about behavior change than physical changes a lot of the time.

The best line is the last one in the article. “For the majority of people,” she said, “it would be better to do exercise than to take a pill.”

At least they made a point to say it. Maybe there is still hope.

Photo courtesy of Free Range Stock

Newer Posts

Staying Focused through Mindful Eating

Links to a Healthy Weekend

Yogurt Is Tricky

Transport Dilemma

My Oatmeal

Easier Exercise This Weekend

Thanks so much for reading!

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