FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Barley & Eggplant, Oh My!

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To aid in sticking with my “high fiber, low glycemic index, minimal animal, minimal wheat” diet, I’ve created a meal plan for the first week of twenty ten. I spent entirely too much time, especially for a Saturday night, picking out recipes, downloading a blackberry shopping list app, and then using the app for my lengthy grocery list. My shopping cart was nothing short of beautiful – I could feel envious eyes wandering from carts filled with processed cardboard to my cart filled with lush produce. And even if that image was all in my head, I loved it just the same.

Oh what a dish, my first home cooked meal of the new year: Barley Basilico and Garlic Eggplant from “The Flexitarian Diet” cookbook. It was refreshing, hearty, and uncomplicated. I must add that I thoroughly enjoy simple meals, meals where you can understand the purpose of each ingredient in your first few bites. This meal was not only pleasant to the buds, but fulfilled the fundamental plan (as you can see below).

Family, Holiday & Tammy-isms

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And there we were, full bellied and wrapping up 2009, charading our most memorable moments and creating moments for the years ahead. With tag lines such as “I hate babies, they annoy me” and running full force to the pie table only to be interrupted by a sliding glass door (twice), Nicholas, my three year old cousin, was the heart of our laughter this year. And these moments will be added to the vault in which we’ll so naturally re-open the next time we gather.

You could call them the star, or the center of attention, but there’s one person each year that is single handedly teased the most. I’d be willing to bet that Tammy, my mom, has unintentionally assumed this role more often than not. And herein lies the creation of “Tammy-isms” – flighty acts and questionable words of wisdom.

I won’t get into the flighty acts. But as far as questionable words of wisdom go, I’ve never actually gone out of my way to prove or dis-prove them. And they aren’t SO lofty, as I’ve found myself repeating them as fact. So today I will repeat them again, but this time with a blurb of back-up.

Tammy-ism #1 – Water Cures Your Aches
Confimed: Dehydration is the leading cause of headaches. Muscle aches and cramps can also be caused by dehydration.

Tammy-ism #2 – Cheez Kills Friendly Flora
Confirmed: Any inorganic food you eat is packed with antibiotics, which destroy the good bacteria in your intestinal tract.

Tammy-ism #3 – Sugar Supresses Your Immune System
Confirmed: Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.

Conclusion: Keeping Tammy-isms in your thoughts might be the the perfect mind-set as we begin a near year.

Happy 2010!

The Torture and Triumph of Cleansing

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You either hate or love/hate cleansing. I’m a love/hater. But to me, cleansing is the perfect way to jump start a diet.

I’ve tried a few cleanses and the one that keeps me coming back is The Ultimate Fasting Cleanse. The title itself is intimidating. And the thought of me, the hungriest girl ever, not eating for five days is nothing short of laughable. But if you can make it past the first day, I assure you it’s do-able. Of course you’ll have to overcome the urge of binge eating every ounce of food within eyeshot for a good 12 hours. And you’ll feel like every conversation, TV show, and song played is centered around food. But it all becomes worth it after Day 2, when you start to feel clear, energized, and motivated.

By Day 5, your mind regresses to Day 1. You start negotiating with yourself, justifying how much harm one little raisin will do. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t cheat on the 5th day every time. But in my non-expert opinion, I feel as though 4 solid days of cleansing is sufficient.

Let’s revisit the excitement over a raisin. Not just the raisin itself, but the act of chewing the raisin. What a treat! And this my friends is why cleansing is the perfect kick off to your dieting party. On day 5, you aren’t itching to go through a Mcdonald’s drive through, rather you’re excited about food in general – any food, healthy food, the food on your fitness plan. It also doesn’t hurt that you’ve most likely already dropped 5 lbs and enjoy the feeling of an easy zipper on your skinniest jeans.

Ultimate Fasting Cleanse @ iHerb.com
Enter “RIS381” for $5 off

The Trifecta of Diet Awesome

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After graduation and the few additional LBs that tag along with a newly acquired desk job, I sampled every diet under the sun. There were many that I hated, few that I tolerated, and barely any that I enjoyed. What I’ve come to realize is that most diets are created from a logical, nutrition-based concept, but taken to extremes in order for people to LOSE WEIGHT FAST! (think Billy Mays).

The diets that were my favorite, uncoincidentally, were the same diets that made me feel my best. Unfortunately, my favorites fall into the extreme category and were difficult to stick to as they tended to make me feel isolated and anti-social. So what were they?

– South Beach / Low Carb (most of 2007)
– Vegan (September 2008)
– Gluten-Free (August 2009 – December 2009)

I was recently tested for food allergies to confirm my suspicions that an allergy must be the cause of a lifetime of stomach mishaps. If it looks like an egg, it must be an egg, right? Wrong. A panel consisting of well over 30 food allergens and I tested negative for every last one of them. Really?? No answers! And so, my quest for optimal health continues…

I fell off the gluten-free wagon about two weeks ago upon receiving my test results AND as holiday goodies started pouring in my office doors. Evil monkeys!

I’m diet-less once again and scheming my next fitness plot. Each time I re-start the scheming process, I’m convinced, I “know” I will find the perfect way to be. So what’s my plan today? The Trifecta of Diet Awesome! The Trifecta will be the result of dissecting the above mentioned favorites, cherry picking them if you will, creating a pro/con list and tossing all the cons. If only boys were this simple!

South Beach Pros: Low Gylcemic Index, High Fiber
South Beach Cons: Use of artificial sweeteners, Lots of Meat, Lots of Dairy

Vegan Pros: Alkaline Diet, Sustainable Lifestyle
Vegan Cons: DIFFICULT TO EAT ANYWHERE!

Gluten-Free Pros: No Gluten = Less Sluggish/Difficult to enter food coma
Gluten-Free Cons: Somewhat difficult to eat out, Limited selection at the supermarket

So it is, my newest mission will be to eat foods low on the glycemic index, high on the fiber list, minimal animal, and very minimal gluten (wheat). If I find myself at a steakhouse swimming in a glorious pool of beef and bread, I won’t freak, but I also won’t venture often.

Wish me luck and happy holidays!