About food, hopefully palatable

“Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant that grows on the earth and every fruit-bearing tree. They will be your food and nourishment.” – Genesis 1:29, The Voice paraphrase

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” - James Beard

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are." - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

During our first St. Pat’s Day in Northfield, some friends invited us over for corned beef and cabbage, and since then we’ve continued the tradition (25 times counting this year). Good food is such a gift, and certainly so are friends!
With March as National Nutrition Month, my focus for this month’s wellness missive is on eating well. Admittedly, talking about basic food sense can be a little bland, yet hopefully there might be something here to chew on, or merely a palatable reminder.

A few interesting stats
* 54% of Americans say they would like to lose weight (of over 1000 polled by Gallup in Nov 2011). However, far fewer -- 25% -- say they are seriously trying to do so.
* One out of four American eats fast food every day. Americans spend more than $100 billion on fast food each year.
* More than half of the people in a 2012 survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation said it was easier to prepare their taxes than to figure out what they should eat for better health.

A few simple but good eating basics
~ Similar to Michael Pollan’s words from In Defense of Food – “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” –  the USDA is sending the consumer message of “Enjoy your food, but eat less.” (Yep, back to the age-old maxim of portion control; try using a smaller plate, see Less can be more.)

~ This follows the initial focus of USDA’s choosemyplate to make half your plate fruits and vegetables (grains and proteins fill the other half of the plate, not chocolate cake).

(Ever feel like eating well costs too much? Maybe look over the attached scan of Environmental Nutrition’s “Top 9 Nutrition Food Bargains” or check out Healthy Eating on a Budget.)

~ Eat mindfully – eat consciously, choose foods that are pleasing and nourishing, and use all your senses to explore, savor, taste and appreciate; this helps us slow down, eat less, increase awareness, and cultivate gratitude.

A few good tips for weight control
Research on 3,000 participants in the National Weight Control Registry, led by J. Graham Thomas, PhD, of Brown U, found the strategies listed below were shared by those who’d lost weight and kept off most of their lost pounds (these strategies are also applicable to losing weight, or not gaining weight):

Eat breakfast regularly.

Walk about an hour a day, or move and burn an equivalent amount of calories by other activities.
{Another source says: “According to dozens of studies, regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some forms of cancer, and depression…Ten-minute spurts of activity are fine, as long as they add up to about 2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week.”}
 [It’s often helpful to track movement or progress: by using a pedometer (I’m liking my Fitbit), or by using a few other low cost gadgets or apps that I’ve not tried, only read about: Pocket Yoga, Gorilla Workout, Noom Weight Loss Coach]

Weigh yourself at least weekly.

Track food intake. Using software helps immensely: here’s a few helpful tools--
- https://www.supertracker.usda.gov  (this gov page gives access to food and physical-activity trackers, plus nutrition info on more than 8,000 foods);
 - http://www.eatright.org/ (this Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics link gives eating and cooking tips, guidance on reading nutrition labels, and offers videos that demonstrate preparation of healthy food);
 - apps for tracking food intake: MyFitnessPal or SparkPeople (both of these phone apps did well in recent Consumer Reports’ diet ratings).

Limit eating out to an average of three times a week including all meals; consume fast food less than once a week.

Limit food variety, mostly eat similar foods from week to week, and not splurge much on special occasions.

Watch fewer than 10 hours a week of TV. Not only are we not moving while in front of the TV, we often are mindlessly consuming high-calorie foods.


What might be an attainable goal for you (or me) to move toward wellness in this area of caring for our bodies? Aiming to eat off a plate half filled with fruits and veggies at least twice a week? Regularly eating breakfast? Tracking food intake for a week? Getting at least 5,000 steps in each day? Checking out an app or link to learn more? Signing up to participate in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture – last summer was my first time as a CSA ‘owner’ and I loved it!)

‘Tis always good to lighten up ‘-) so I’ll close with a bit of food humor. May you enjoy food, movement, and many smiles this month.  

 ~~~~~

"Moderation in all things, except chocolate." – Unknown

“I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food.” -W.C. Fields

"A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do."  -- P. J. O’Rourke"

"The two biggest sellers in bookstores are the cookbooks and the diet books. The cookbooks tell you how to prepare the food and the diet books tell you how not to eat any of it." -Andy Rooney

“Health nuts are going to feel stupid some day, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.” – Redd Foxx

“Number one rule of dieting: if it tastes good, spit it out.” – Unknown

Nutrition facts are useless, just show me how long I have to be at the gym if I eat this.” - Unknown