Five Things To Consider Before Changing Your Diet

Based on my recent experiment with fasting and my current experiment with the primal blueprint, I’ve come up with a few guidelines for myself.  These are things you should consider before changing the way you eat.  I think anyone considering a new diet or eating plan should answer these questions before they make a decision.

Understanding

Do you know what the heck this new eating plan means?  I’m serious here folks.  All too often I hear of people trying out new foods and new ways of eating without really understanding what they’re doing.  I’m not saying that you need to understand all the little details of nutrition.  I’m saying, do you even understand what this diet means?  Do you know what foods fit into the Mediterranean diet?  Do you understand what are good sources of fat?  Do you know what’s a good source of protein if you’re going vegetarian?  When you say vegetarian, do you mean you’ll eat eggs, dairy or fish?  If you’re going on a low carb diet, what meats are you going to eat and what plants are you going to exclude?  You can’t just say “I’m going to follow such and such diet” without understanding what that diet means.

Long Term

Can you sustain this change long term?  If the answer is no, then don’t bother.  Temporary changes lead to temporary results.  If you’re looking for permanent changes then you should find an eating plan that you can maintain for the rest of your life.  Also remember that making small changes is easier than big.  So if you have a brand new eating plan you want to adopt, you may want to make gradual changes, adopting new habits one at a time without trying for the big bang approach.

For example, I’m still struggling with caffeine but I’m making great progress with lowering my intake of processed sugars and carbs.  So while I may want to adhere to the Primal Blueprint 100%, I’m going to focus on lowering sugars first and then wrestle with my caffeine habit.  One things at a time…

Social Circle

Does this eating plan fit in with your social activity?  Interestingly enough, the main stumbling block to most of my eating plan experiments has been my social life.  Friends want to go out and they’d like to get something to eat.  Very frequently that means going to restaurants which do not serve foods which fall into my eating plan.  So my choices are either to not go out or to not eat while those around me do.  Neither choice is sustainable in the long term.

Fasting for me was almost impossible since many of my social activities revolve around eating.

Price

Can you wallet keep up with your new foods?  If you switched to all organics without finding a cheaper market than Whole Foods, you’re in trouble.  The average meal at Whole Foods will cost you three to four times the average meal at a generic supermarket.  So make sure you find a cheap source of food or make other adjustments to compensate.

This was a big problem for me with going organic until I discovered the farmer’s market and cooking at home.

Choices

Does your new cuisine offer enough choices that you won’t get bored?  If the only thing you’re ever going to eat for the rest of your life is eggs, that’s not a very good plan.  Trust me, eating the same thing over and over gets boring really fast.  Make sure that you have enough options before you start your new eating plan, not after.

I had some issues initially with the Primal Blueprint over this problem since I couldn’t figure out interesting things to eat that didn’t involve a lot of processed sugars and carbs.  Eventually, I resolved this, but it would have been easier had I planned better earlier.

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Hope these rules help you out in whatever new eating plan you embark on.

Healthy Meal Idea - Stir Fry

Thank you to a very special someone who made me walk the walk and not just talk the talk this weekend :)  Thanks to her, I have a brand new healthy recipe to share with all of you.

Ingredients (for two people)

• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 large carrot
• 1 large stalk of broccoli
• 2 handfuls of snap peas
• 4 leaves of red chard
• a few pieces of garlic
• Noodles
• Some type of protein (we used tofu)

Preparations

1. Chop up all the veggies into small pieces.  Cut diagonally for things like the carrots to provide more surface area.  By the way, I learned a new thing about broccoli this weekend.  Once you chop the broccoli bits off the stalk, you can strip the stalk of the fibery outer bits and eat the insides.  It tastes great!  Mix in the newly chopped veggies with the minced up garlic.
2. While you’re chopping the veggies, boil some water and dump in the noodles so they can start cooking.
3. Fry up the tofu (or protein of your choice) and then remove from the pan.  This should only take a minute or two but could vary depending on your choice of protein.
4. When the noodles are ready, remove them from the boiling water
5. By now all your veggies are chopped up, your tofu is fried and your noodles are out of water.  Mix everything up and dump into a fry pan with a bit of olive oil on the bottom.  Fry for a few minutes and season with whatever you want.  We used soy sauce and curry.
6. Fry for 2 or 3 minutes and you’re done!

Effort Required

Almost zero.  With two people working on this, and my contribution consisted mainly of chopping some veggies and making smart ass comments, the meal took less than 20 minutes to make.

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Oh, and for a truly healthy dinner, finish this up with some fresh strawberries for dessert, like we did!

Sinful Indulgence

Anyone here know what Lindt truffles are?  I’ll give you a hint, they’re like a small package of sin, dipped in temptation and then wrapped up in a bit of hedonistic pleasure.  Yes, they’re that good.  A single bite into one of their milk chocolate truffles and I close my eyes in sweet surrender to the chocolate gods.  There’s that moment when I bite deep into the truffle and the creamy filling spills out in all its chocolaty glory that’s like…. well, you can guess what it’s like. 

Yes, I love Lindt truffles.  They are to me the epitome of candy.  You may or may not agree and that’s your right.  Certainly different people have different tastes.  However, what you all can probably agree on is “why the heck is he talking like this about chocolate on a fitness website?”  And the answer is, this is EXACTLY the way I should be talking about chocolate on a fitness website.  In fact, if I didn’t talk like this about chocolate then I should be worried.

Let me explain.

Deprivation Sucks!

What comes to mind when I say healthy eating?  Is it tasty vegetarian meals?  Is it wonderful salads filled with zest and flavor?  Nope, of course not.  Most people, including myself sometimes, think of bland lettuce, horrible rice cakes, endless baby carrots, no more steaks, no more chocolate and no more ice cream FOREVER!  You think I’m kidding and maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but not by much.  Really, healthy eating has quite a few negative connotations in peoples’ minds and very few positive ones.  People are not willing to look at healthy eating with an open mind and consider the possibility that we may enjoy it.  We choose instead to focus on the bad side of healthy eating and convince ourselves that we’re going to hate it.

So first of all, let’s get rid of that myth.  Healthy eating can be very tasty.  There are hundreds of recipes out there for healthy breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks that you will enjoy just as much as those steaks and ice cream.  In fact, once you open yourself up to the idea, I’m guessing that you’ll find a healthy diet to be far more enjoyable than your previous unhealthy one.  Because, not only will you be healthy, but you’ll also gain a greater appreciation for those sinful indulgences like chocolate.  You’ll start talking about Lindt truffles as a religious experience and not as a guilty mid morning snack.

A Moment To Savor

Think back to that description I gave of the chocolate eating experience.  To me, that’s a little slice of heaven, a moment to savor and enjoy.  Now guess what happened when I walked into the Lindt outlet in New York a few days ago?  I bought a bag full of these truffles and took them back to my hotel room.  I eagerly spilled them all out of their bag, sorted them by flavor (yes, I’m a little CDO which is just like OCD only the letters are in the right order!!!) and started eating.

The first truffle was chocolate nirvana.  White chocolate outside with a creamy white chocolate filling.  Flavor everywhere.  Senses overwhelmed by the richness and sweetness of the chcolate.  Taste buds overloading on sensation and brain succumbing to pure pleasure.  The second truffle was almost as good.  My taste buds were a little overwhelmed by the first chocolate but still aware enough to note the difference in flavors since this one was a milk chocolate truffle.  My head was still buzzing and my eyes closed as I focused on the unadulterated joy of consuming chocolate.

The third truffle was a little plain.  Sure it was sweet and yes it was very creamy but where was the richness?  Where was the chorus of angels singing in my head as I nibbled on chocolate and drank in the dark and sensual flavor of the filling?  Well, maybe it was just the dark chocolate, let’s try another white chocolate one to be sure!  I bite into this fourth truffle and… well, it’s nice, but there’s nothing else.  No heavenly choir, no blind lust, no emotional catharsis, nothing

What’s my point?  Well, the point is that even with things as exceptional as Lindt truffles, too much of a good thing becomes something quite ordinary.  Having too many of these chocolates at once made them less tasty.  Having them too often would do the same.  Instead of a rare sinful indulgence, they would become common place.  Their special quality would be cheapened and I would be left with nothing but empty wrappers and guilt.

The same applies to many other things by the way.  Take your morning coffee as an example.  How many of you feel like something a monkey flung out of a cage until you get that early morning latte?  Are you really enjoying it or are you barely existing until you drink it?  Is it your caffeinated nirvana which puts a smile on your face or is it a daily caffeine pill without which you are miserable?  Personally, I don’t drink much caffeine.  Whole weeks can pass without me touching a diet coke.  Which means that when I do consume caffeine, I really feel it.  Rather than reducing caffeine to a daily (or hourly!) addiction without which I am lost and grouchy, I savor the rare occasions during which I consume it and enjoy the side effects.

Again, what’s my point?

Rare Pleasure Vs. Every Day Habit

My diet is relatively healthy.  I am mostly, although not completely, vegetarian.  I don’t eat much candy or junk food.  I don’t consume much caffeine or any liquid other than water.  The foods I eat are wonderfully tasty and very filling.  At the same time, I do sometimes indulge in things like Lindt truffles, a caffeinated soda or something like sushi.  By eating this way I get the best of both worlds.  I have a healthy diet filled with great food AND I get those amazing eating experiences that only come by once in a rare while.  In other words, I get to enjoy my virtuous lifestyle and I derive far more enjoyment from the occasional sinful pleasure.

That’s the reality of a healthy lifestyle.  It’s not a lifestyle of deprivation, it’s not a lifestyle of scarcity and constant hunger.  It’s a lifestyle full of pleasure made even better by not being commonplace.  It’s a lifestyle where every day feels good and some days feel incredible, because that’s what you get when you make an everyday occasion into a once in a while pleasure.  So you can take your steak every day and your cereal every morning and your dessert with every meal.  These things have become common place to you, they have gone from incredible pleasure to every day necessity.  I’ll gladly trade them for the happiness of health and the pleasure of the occasional indulgence.  I’d rather derive true enjoyment from these things on the rare occasions I consume them.  On other days I’ll be finding pleasure in things like not being out of breath when I climb the stairs, not being unable to see my toes, not being afraid of a heart attack and other such simple pleasures that are a daily part of a healthy lifestyle.

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Thank you to Me-Ander for posting a 60 in 3 article in their latest carnival and to Weight Master blog for doing the same in their latest weight loss carnival.

Recipe - Sausage Salad

Today’s post is one of my favorite quick meals to prepare.  It’s fast, tasty and very nutritious.

Needed Ingredients

• 1 tomato
• 1 cucumber
• 1/4 onion
• 1 cup of fresh spinach leaves
• 1 cup of mushrooms
• 1/4 avocado
• 1 red pepper
• 2 sausages
• a bit of olive oil

Note, the ingredients matter.  If you want good flavor, you’re going to invest in fresh, organic produce and non crappy sausages.  I usually buy venison or rabbit sausages at the farmers market but you can find decent stuff at the supermarket too.  Just don’t go with some crappy factory produced sausage filled with god knows what.  Even with the extra cost of good ingredients, this is still cheaper than eating dinner in a restaurant by the way.

Preparation

Chop up all the vegetables except the onions and mushroom into very little pieces.  By little I mean no bigger than 1/4 or 1/3 of an inch (or 1cm for you metric folks).  Pour them into a bowl.  Now chop up the onions and mushrooms into similarly small pieces and pour into another bowl.  When you’re done crying from chopping the onion (which usually takes me about 10 minutes), chop up the sausage into small piece and toss into a frying pan with a bit of olive oil.  Start cooking it and, about 4 to 5 minutes it’s done, toss in the chopped onion and mushrooms.  Continue cooking for a few minutes, making sure to stir everything well.  When the sausage is cooked, pour everything out into your other vegetable bowl, mix well and serve.

Notes

• You do NOT need dressing for this.  Believe me, the sausage, onions and other vegetables have enough flavor without you drowning them in ranch sauce.
• You do NOT need a side of french fries, mashed potatoes, rice or any other silly calorie laden dish with this meal.  It’s perfect just on its own.
• Glass of wine is fine, I’m told by my local butcher than reds go well with this meat, but really, there’s nothing better to drink than water!
• You may want to adjust the quantity of meat to vegetables to suit your own tastes.  This ratio works well for me since it’s one of the few meat dishes that I eat.  However, 10 sausages to 1 tomato is probably not a good ratio.

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Anyone have their own favorite quick and healthy recipes?