Do you have cravings? Cravings for sugar, sweet things, dessert? Cravings for chocolate, brownies, ice cream? Does the wine call you from the kitchen? The beer fridge beg you to visit? Do the chips mandate dipping?
When I eat Whole30 healthy which means no processed foods, no added sugar (of any kind), no alcohol, no gluten, no grains and no dairy; I have pretty much NO cravings of any kind. I eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner and munch on a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts during the day. It is like the junk food forgets all about me.
I was once food ignorant and didn’t really think about the food I ate. I was a vegetarian so I figured I was healthy and eating good stuff. As a vegetarian, my diet was likely healthier than most American’s as I didn’t eat at fast food restaurants or eat a lot of junk food. I ate plenty of “healthy grains”, a ton of vegetables, tofu and meat alternatives. For me, those meat alternatives were the most processed food in my diet. They were not grown in the garden or raised on a farm; they were processed in a lab with ingredients that I couldn’t pronounce. They were not what I would consider to be real food.
I read a lot of non-fiction books and blogs related to medicine, to health, to disease and mostly to nutrition. This helps me to learn about this important topic and to stay on top of my health. The more I read and learn, the more convinced I am that all chronic disease including auto-immune disease are directly linked to diet and lifestyle. I am not saying that diet alone is responsible for causing disease but it is a driver and one that is easily modified to better mange health.
I work as an Occupational Therapist and have been in the field for 20 years. I have worked in a hospital, in an outpatient clinic and in several nursing homes. I have met a ton of interesting people who have faced some difficult health challenges. When I was a kid, Mother Fran thought I should be a nurse. I always laughed at the notion and reminded her that I fainted at the sight of a lot of blood. Maybe I should have listened to her! When I look at job opportunities, the positions that are of interest to me often require an RN degree. I have no desire to go back to school but if I did, nursing school would be on interest. Like Occupational Therapists, they work in a wide variety of settings and with many different populations of people.
In my last post, I wrote about having company over for the holidays and cooking several dinners for up to 6 people. Whenever I talk about cooking, people naturally want to know what I made, how it turned out and if I winged it or followed a recipe. So this post will answer those nagging questions!
In my last post, The Power of Changing Your Beliefs, I talked about the importance of eating real food as a key component to solve the health puzzle. Eating right has become a habit when I am at home, cooking for myself and my honey. It isn’t hard to do and it causes me no stress.
This week, I will be traveling and that can easily disrupt my good eating habits. Can you relate? I mean, not having access to my go to snacks means I get too hungry and that can throw all of my good intentions out of the window. Going out to eat several times in one week makes it hard to choose health. If I don’t watch out, I will start ordering fries deep fried in a vat of vegetable oil. I will forget to “hold the roll” with my burger or order some delicious sounding pizza made with white flour and sugar. This will cause my sugar cravings to go into overdrive and my good habits will get derailed quicker than you can say “chocolate cone with chocolate sprinkles”!
When I was a kid, we didn’t eat dinner. Nope! We ate supper which typically consisted of meat, potato in some form and vegetables or a salad. We ate whole wheat bread frequently, pasta once per week and rice occasionally. Mother Fran was a bit of a health nut so milk was served as the beverage, fruit as the dessert. She cooked with lard, butter and oil. Most vegetables were straight from the garden and sometimes the freezer.
We rarely had chips, soda or other types of junk food. I’m pretty sure she had never heard of a Ring Ding, Twinkie or Fluff. We did enjoy the occasional brownie, ice cream and homemade cake. Mother Fran was ahead of her time when it came to cooking healthy meals for her family. Our diet had plenty of protein, healthy fats and some carbohydrates.
Quite a while ago, I made a shocking confession here at My Little Blue Kayak. I confessed to the world that I was having a love affair with someone incredibly important to me. She was laid back, easy-going and nice to look at; I am talking about my crock pot of course. I had started using it several times per month and really enjoyed coming home to a piping hot dinner that smelled awesome. Well, I have had my slow cooker for probably 20 years and she still works great. But it is time for a new confession; I haven’t used it in forever.
I have given my heart to another and don’t anticipate needing my crock pot, well ever. In October, we went on vacation with Number 9 and his wife and they brought their Instant Pot. When Mother Fran and Number 7 returned to Florida, I borrowed their Instant Pot from the cottage and began experimenting. In December my honey and I took the plunge and bought our own Instant Pot and I fell in love! I have officially joined the Instant Pot Fan Club. This pot has a bunch of different setting including saute, pressure cook, steam and can even make yogurt. Oh, it also has a slow cook function so goodbye crock pot!
