What's Stopping You?

I have been working on writing down two soup recipes that I have come to really love this time of year when it starts getting cold. They are both homemade. One is chicken noodle soup, and the other is chicken tortilla soup. I haven't had the time to get them finished this week and I really wanted to write something for today so I just thought I would start here.

Making Homemade Tomato Sauce-March 2011

The journey towards healthy eating for Kris and I started about a year ago. This was when we made the conscious decision to start eating better so we could loose weight. The real journey towards healthy eating actually did not begin until about three months later though. Kris and I originally just wanted to loose weight, but we were unwilling to make the big changes we needed to make to just be healthy. And as anyone can probably deduce, loosing weight does not necessarily mean you are healthy.

Steak 'n Shake-Fall 2008

There were many things standing in my way to being healthy. One was that I didn't want to give up fast food. I love french fries and a good cheeseburger. Fast food is also, well, fast and sometimes just easier than cooking. It took me awhile before I started learning about how dangerous and harmful to your body fast food can actually be. From the way meat is processed to disease and e-coli, the fast food industry has no respect for food. For more on this check out my previous blog post on the film, Food, Inc. When I realized that the food I was eating wasn't just bad for me because it was fatty, but that it could have lasting effects that could shorten my life, I knew I had to stop. It took awhile for me to cut it out completely, but I finally did it. I remember about a month after I had stopped eating fast food, Kris and I got some chicken nuggets from a fast food restaurant and were up sick all night. So . . . I guess that's what fast food does to a digestive system that hasn't built up a tolerance to it anymore. Kind of disgusting. We also started making soups and other meals from scratch and freezing them. Now, when we are hungry and don't feel like cooking, we just heat it up on the stove. It takes about the same amount of time to drive to the restaurant, order, and drive home (the soup recipes that I am hoping to post soon are great to freeze!)

Making Chicken Stock From Scratch-November 2011

Another reason that I didn't want to make big changes in my life to start eating healthy is that I was afraid I would be giving up flavor. I didn't want to eat lettuce and bland food all the time. I wanted food that was still tasty and would not just be something I had to eat, but something I wanted to eat. After learning a little bit about cooking healthier and using fresh ingredients, I realized that the natural flavors I could develop from say, making a homemade chicken stock, were way more delicious than the artificial chicken flavor of chicken nuggets. There really is no comparison.

I also thought that cooking would be too much work. I didn't always have the time or would be too tired. Well like I said, on my days off I started making up big batches of meals that Kris and I like to eat and then froze them. You don't have to sacrifice fresh for fast. You can have both if you prepare ahead of time.

Perhaps the biggest reason though why I didn't start eating healthier sooner was ignorance. I didn't know enough about the food industry to make good decisions about what I bought. I thought that if a food said it was good for you on the package it probably was. Or because it had less fat or less calories, it would help me loose weight. Being more concerned about loosing weight than being healthy is really not solving any problems. The food industry has placed a veil over the food that is produced and sent to our stores and restaurants. Instead of feeding us food that will make us healthy and keep us from getting sick, they feed us lies and myths. Take a look at the things that are supposed to be the "better" alternative for us. You know that whipped topping that comes in those tubs instead of cans? Take a good look at the ingredient list-it's whipped oil. How can that be good?

I guess I used to think that eating healthier just wasn't for me. It was a luxury. It wasn't necessary. It was for those health nut hippies. The list goes on and on. Excuse after excuse after excuse.

Then, when I finally started doing the research about eating healthier I was shocked and appalled. Then saddened. I learned that by eating fast food and a lot of the artificial foods I had been eating I was putting myself at risk for far more than just being overweight. As I read through book after book my curiosity only grew. I learned about how most kinds of fruits and vegetables can help prevent different kinds of cancer, extend your life, prevent heart disease and heart attacks, improve brain function and give you more energy. On the flip side, I learned how other foods like artificial sweetener for example can cause brain problems and even blindness. Foods that aren't healthy can put you at a high risk for heart attack and other diseases.

The cost of not eating healthy really is your life, or at least the quality of it. As a young woman, I may not have to worry about many of these things right now, but if I would have continued to eat the way I had been, I would have had to one day. I also realized that even if I didn't care about my own health, I certainly cared about the health of the children Kris and I will have one day hopefully. I want to live to see my grandchildren and be able to play with them.

That is why I started this blog. I don't feel like food is talked about enough anymore. Part of it is that I am a Christian, and among all of the stupid things people who share my faith have fought over, we never talk about what we put in our bodies. Sure the red flag goes up if someone says a swear word, but there is no accountability as to what we choose to eat on a regular basis. Part of my belief is that God wants us to be healthy. Being healthy positively affects all other aspects of our lives-physically, socially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is because God loves us, that I know he wants better from us. Even if you don't believe in God, you should want better for you.

So my question for you is: what's stopping you? What are you letting stand in the way of a better, more abundant life? And what is the cost of letting it stop you?

I didn't start eating healthy to try and loose weight, but I did. I have lost 20 pounds so far, and am still working at it. But the main point is that I feel loads better and I have felt the quality of my life improve. That's my story:

 July, 2011

 September 2011

I've shared my story with you all, now, to end this post I would like to share a story from the wonderful book Eat This and Live by Don Colbert about one of his patients. I hope that the story will give some life to what I have been (probably very poorly) trying to say. As always thanks for reading and eating along with me!

Sue's Story

"A patient of mine named Sue had been overweight all of her life. Every year as I performed her physical exam, I would recommend weight loss and an exercise program.

At age forty-five, Sue was 5 feet 2 inches, and her weight had climbed to 300 pounds. At her exam that year, after diagnosing her with hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, I repeated my recommendations for weight loss and exercise.

Sue laughed and said, 'My whole family is fat. My dad is fat and he is alive, my mom is fat and she's alive, and my brother and sister are fat and they are alive. Just give me my meds, because I'm sure not going to give up my ice cream each evening, my Krispy Kreme doughnuts every morning, or my burgers, pizza, fried chicken, french fries, and Coke. Besides, I just love to eat.'

A few months after that physical, Sue suffered a massive heart attack and almost died. She had a quadruple bypass and found herself lying in the hospital with all sorts of tubes coming out of her body. AFter getting out of the hospital, Sue followed up with me in my office. She said that the pain and possibility of dying and not seeing her three children grow up were not worth the pleasure of eating ice cream, doughnuts, or fast foods.

Nearly dying was a wake-up call for Sue to change her bad habits. She lost 150 pountds-that's half her body weight-in two years and now weights 150 pounds. She weighs herself every day, and if she gains one or two pounds, she loses them by modifying her diet and activities.

You do not have to wait for a near-death experience like Sue's to serve as your wake-up call; you can start taking your health more seriously right now. The same choice God have His people centuries ago is yours to make today: 'I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendents may live' (Deut. 30:19)"

Fabulous Fiber!

What I'm attempting to write about in this post is not ground breaking information, but it is however, important. Simply put, fiber in a must have in your diet for the many health benefits it brings. Usually when people are trying to lose weight doctors will recommend high protein or high fiber diets.

Incorporating fiber into your meals is great because not only does fiber fill you up faster than protein, but it also digests slower and thus you don't get hungry again as fast! Now, onto the gross stuff. . . Fiber helps you have better and more frequent bowel movements (yes, I'm talking about pooping here).  Many people I know can go for days to a week without experiencing a bowel movement, this is not healthy, especially when we are supposed to have one after every meal. According to Dr. Don Colbert author of Eat This and Live, inadequate intake of fiber can lead to constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, diverticulitis, bowel irregularities, and colorectal cancer. It is also associated with high cholesterol, irritable bowel syndrome, toxin buildup, and poor blood sugar control in diabetics.

There are two kinds of fiber: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fiber increases frequency in bowel movements helping to prevent constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, hemorrhoids, etc. Soluble fiber is what lowers cholesterol, stabilizes blood sugar, slows digestion, and helps your body eliminate toxins. Both are an important part of your diet.

While fiber can come in many different boring forms, there are plenty of great ways to incorporate it into your diet! Many whole grain cereals have lots of fiber in them as well as healthy nuts, seeds, beans, as well as fruits and vegetables.

Fiber Snacks!

Fiber is especially good at snack time because instead of snacking on empty calories just because you have a craving (french fries would be mine) you can satisfy your hunger and give your body something it will like at the same time! Dr. Colbert recommends getting at least 4 grams of fiber from your snacks.

Kashi is probably one of my favorite brands on the market right now. One, because many of their products are USDA certified organic, and don't contain high fructose corn syrup. Two, because Kashi makes cereals, breads, frozen dinners, and most importantly delicious snacks that are high in fiber. In our household, we have substituted things like potato chips, cheetos, etc., for Kashi Pita Chips. They are delicious and come in several flavors. The box may look small from the outside but they match up price wise with name brand potato chips. The difference is that instead of snacking from a bottomless bag of unhealthy, high in fat, empty calorie chips, you will have just one serving size of pita chips and will most likely satisfied. This means you will consistently eat less, which also means you won't be buying them as often saving you money. Kashi also makes some great granola bars that are full of fiber and that are delectable. My favorite right now is their Pumpkin Pecan one in honor of the great season of Fall! The other thing about Kashi bars is that they are relatively low in sugar, sodium, and fat. If you go online to their website and sign up, you can usually get coupons as well!

Though I've never been the biggest fan of almonds, I have started giving them a try because they have some good fiber in them as well as mono-saturated fat which is a good fat. Other healthy nuts are good as well.

Many kinds of fruits are also very high in fiber and make for a good snack. Apples have 5.7 grams of fiber in them, oranges 4.4 grams, 1/2 cup of raspberries 4.2 grams, 1/2 cup blackberries 3.8 grams, mangoes 3.8 grams, and bananas 2.8 grams.

Fiber Snacks:

Breakfast is a good time to get fiber in so you can have energy for your morning and won't be starving come lunch time. I will often have a bowl of Kashi whole grain cereal with a slice up banana in it. *When buying products that talk about having some amount of grain content in them (i.e. whole grain, multi-grain, 7 grain, whole wheat, wheat, etc.) be sure to look for the yellow USDA stamp on foods that will tell you whether something is 100% whole grain or not. The labels look like this*:

Also, I like to have a bowl of plain, steel cut oatmeal with a touch of agave nectar and blueberries and strawberries. My husband and I both think that this tastes somewhat like a doughnut so it works for everyone! Beware of instant oatmeal though because it does not have as good of a nutritional value as steel cut oatmeal (also made by Quaker) or old fashioned oatmeal. 

At lunch or breakfast double fiber bread is terrific. The key is to find bread that is not high in fat or sugar, but is high in fiber. This is why double fiber bread is such a good thing to have in your pantry. Kris and I use Nature's Pride Whole Wheat Double Fiber Bread, but there are also other brands that make it. Nature's Pride has 5 grams of fiber per slice! Which means that you can get 20% of your daily value in fiber from just one piece of bread! For quick lunches Kris and I usually have two pieces of turkey lunch meat, a slice of cheese, and any other veggies we want on a piece of double fiber bread. Accompany that with a piece of fruit, pita chips, and some dark chocolate and you got yourself a pretty healthy and tasty lunch!

Another way to get fiber in your meals, especially at dinner is to use brown rice. Kris and I just tried Yoga Organic Brown Rice last night and we loved it! One serving has 2 grams of fiber in it. You can pretty much use brown rice with anything. Add some spices to it or vegetables and you have a great side dish. Tonight I will be attempting to make red beans and rice using brown rice so I will let you guys know how that goes. Which reminds me! Beans! Beans are a fantastic source of fiber! 1/2 cup of cooked pinto beans has 7.4 grams of fiber! However, if you buy canned beans be sure to rinse them before using them to get all of the sodium off. 

On desserts, so far I haven't found a whole lot except for this recipe I just tried the other day. I got it from a blog called Chocolate Covered Katie who makes healthy desserts. It was a recipe for healthy chocolate chip blondies using . . . wait for it . . . chickpeas! Which, if you don't know what chickpeas are, they are a type of bean. Weird huh? But they actually turned out pretty good, and not surprisingly, are quite high in fiber. Here is the link to the recipe if you ever get courageous and want to try it yourself:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/18/chocolate-chip-blondies-and-theyre-good-for-you/

A Few Cautions . . .

When switching to a high fiber diet, Dr. Colbert recommends doing it slowly in increments otherwise you might feel bloated and gassy. 

Also, eating more fiber means drinking more water. Fiber and water work together to stimulate the colon. If you start eating more fiber, you should also increase your water intake . . . which is also good!

Basically, I think that putting fiber in your diet is a really great thing to do for your body. It will make you feel healthier, and hopefully happier all around. I have included some ideas in this post about how to do it, but search the internet and read nutrition labels at the store to discover foods that are high in fiber and incorporate them into your meals. Also please feel free to comment with any ideas or recipes you may have.

Well that's all for today! Hope your day is filled with joy and fiber!

Welcome!

First off! Thanks for checking out my blog! This is my first real shot at blogging so I am excited and anxious to see how it goes. The idea for this blog is actually almost about a year in the making.

Starting around January last year, Kris and I both realized that we had put on a few pounds since the honeymoon in July. We joked about it at first and then realized that we needed to change something. We both decided (not as a New Year's Resolution) to start exercising and eating healthier. Easier said than done. How many of us have gone through this same thing? Wherever you are in life, I guarantee you have woken up one day, taken one good look in the mirror and wondered who had swallowed you in your sleep.

So . . . I started going to the gym and we started buying "healthier" at the store. This basically means we started buying things with words attached like "diet," "lite," "whole grain," "sugar free," "fat free," "1/2 the calories," etc. The health claims that food products make are endless. After a couple months of going to the gym and eating what we thought was relatively healthy, neither of us saw a huge improvement. Then, a show came on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution:

The show was about a British chef named Jamie Oliver who came to America to help people eat better and have healthier lives. He started in the most unhealthy city in America, Huntington, West Virginia and then later went to LA. His mission was simple, he wanted to educate individuals, families, and schools how to cook better food. After watching his show, we were startled about all of the poor decisions we had been making in regards to the food we had been eating. As we came to find out, just because a food product makes a health claim, doesn't mean it's good for you to put into your body.

Once again, we started changing the way that we shopped and ate. We started cooking more at home using easy recipes from Jamie Oliver. We used more fresh ingredients and produce, and most importantly, we started reading the nutritional labels on what we bought. If there was one great trick we learned from Jamie it was this: If you can't pronounce or understand a fair amount of ingredients on the package, it's probably not good for your body.

The Food Revolution was what started it all, but we have continued to take it even further, always making adjustments to our eating habits. From buying books on nutrition to finding new recipes, we have completely revolutionized the way we eat. When Kris and I first moved to Illinois in July of 2010 as a young married couple with very little money, we were using coupons to buy the cheapest food possible regardless of the nutritional value. Now, we spend our money based on the nutrition of the foods we eat.

This blog is NOT about how to cut corners and make losing weight easy. Weight isn't really even what being healthy is about. Being healthy means exercising regularly and putting things into your body that are good for you. As 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reminds us, our bodies are temples, we need to treat them right. The premise of The Tummy Temple is that God created so many different kinds of good food for us to eat! He filled the planet with them! Unfortunately, in America we take many of these "living foods" and process them until they lose most of their nutritional value and turn them into "dead foods" (Dr. Don Colbert). Food can be healthy and tasty at the same time!

When I look at the Fast Food Nation in which we live and how childhood diabetes is higher than it's ever been, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that we are not eating the way that God originally wanted us to eat. God does not want us to be skinny, he wants us to be healthy, and that is what I am continually going to stress in this blog. When you put things into your body to boost your immune system, or increase your memory, or help prevent cancer you can feel great about the way that you look on the outside regardless of your body type. You can be confident knowing that you are taking care of God's temple well!

I know I don't have all of the answers and that is why I am hoping to be candid with all of you as I take this journey with my husband. I am going to tell you what we are doing and why we are doing it. I will probably be wrong from time to time but this is a HUGE learning experience for me as well. I hope that in reading my blog you may get inspired to change some of your eating habits and get new ideas you haven't thought of before. Even if you just become more conscious of what you are eating, I will consider this blog a success. So grab yourself a fork, knife, and spoon and let's start eating together!