For a foodie who recently went off a diet temptations to “mis-eat” can lurk around every corner, while grocery shopping, and even while driving down the road (as in, “I have a few dollars in my wallet, maybe I should stop and get a cinnamon raisin bagel.”) The desire to keep the weight I lost from creeping back on has forced me to create some guidelines for myself and my enormous sweet tooth.
1. Make appointments with special treats
Hot chocolate is one of my favorite things in the whole world. I drink it all year round (even in the 100-degree South Carolina heat), but it is not calorie-free and packs quite a bit of sugar so I obviously don’t want to drink it every day. To moderate, I allow myself two mugs of the hot, sweet stuff each week, no more. I schedule my hot chocolate appointments for the same nights every week, that way I always have them to look forward to and am less likely to spontaneously reach for my soy milk, cocoa powder, and sugar.
2. Allow yourself one day a week to eat what you want WITH one condition.
Sundays are my day to eat what I like, waffles for breakfast, an extra snack after lunch, whatever, PROVIDED that I do at least thirty minutes of planned exercise at least three times during the previous week. This means a yoga or pilates DVD, jogging, cardio, whatever fits my schedule or mood, but it has to be a concentrated workout not just getting out of my chair more frequently during the day.
3. Keep junk food out of the house.
This may sound like a no-brainer but anyone who loves to eat understands that this is not always easy. Simple yes, easy not necessarily. Rarely does an afternoon go by that I don’t need at least a little something to get me through until dinner. By keeping my fridge, freezer, and pantry stocked with healthy options such as fruit or “healthier” versions of some junk foods helps. I love Bethenny Frankel’s Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (see "Recipes" page). They are low-fat, vegan, and easily made with whole grain flour. At roughly 165 calories each (and they aren’t tiny cookies) I can have one as a mid-afternoon treat or a reasonable dessert without any guilt. Keeping homemade, whole-grain, low-fat sweets in the freezer makes it less likely that I’ll be tempted to pick up a package or Oreos the next time I’m at Walmart.
4. Allow yourself one major dessert a month.
Knowing that I don’t have to give up decadent desserts entirely makes it easier to stay on course to maintain my new weight. And if I can make it one of those aforementioned “healthier” versions all the better. For me this usually takes the form of vegan ice “cream,” which I can even get sweetened with fruit (fruit juices carry a lower glycemic index ranking than cane sugar or corn syrup).
5. Seek ways to treat yourself that don’t involve food.
Admittedly this is something I’m still working on. Take stock of the non-food things and activities you really enjoy. Is it curling up with a good book for an hour in the middle of a busy afternoon, poking around a bookstore with a cup of coffee (Hey! It’s only a few calories black!), windowing shopping with girlfriends, taking a day trip to a state park? Try using these non-food rewards the next time you hit a weight-loss milestone or finish a big project at work.
Even working within these guidelines requires some self-discipline and I wish I could say that I always follow them all the time. I don’t, but having a road map makes it easier to detect when you have gotten off course than when driving map-free. It also helps to be honest with yourself about what your personal food demons are. Clearly my downfall comes in the form of sweets. For someone else it might be salty snacks or fast or fried food. Whatever food temptation trips you up, determine to combat it and win.
Question: What eating rules have you created to combat your own food temptations?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
BLUEBERRIES!
There aren't many reasons I would get up at 5:15 on a Saturday morning, but picking blueberries at a local farm that uses organic practices is definitely one of them. My roommate took me to this place just after Independence Day, which was my first time blueberry picking, and now I think I am addicted. I picked almost 10 pounds this morning and when the cashier told me there should be berries through the end of August I think I decided I need to go back for more. Can I just say that I think blueberries are perfect? You can eat them fresh or freeze them (which they handle quite well) and they are absolutely packed with antioxidants. In fact, blueberries are the most antioxidant rich food you can find. All that and they taste great too!
Sure, you can buy them already picked at a good price (though not as good as picking yourself), but I personally think there is something about actually going to the farm and picking the berries that takes it from "getting blueberries" to an "experience," kind of like the difference between listening to a Renee Fleming CD in your car and hearing her live at a world class venue. Supporting local farmers, connecting with your food, knowing what you eat and why you are eating is not only a healthier way to live, but I believe also makes life richer. Why be content to look at photos of Jasper Johns prints in a book when you can see them in person at your local art museum? I understand that not everyone is into great contemporary American art (though they should be), but food touches all of us. I cannot fathom why anyone would be satisfied to eat processed food from a cardboard box when instead they could enjoy roasted fresh Carolina eggplant with pasta, or just a bowl of fresh local blueberries.
Going vegetarian has made me think about what I eat in an entirely different way than I had all my life. There is something so intensely satisfying about planning the food for my day and knowing that it is good for me and so delicious that I cannot wait to eat it. I admit that I am a foodie. I enjoy shopping at Whole Foods just as much as I do Banana Republic. My heartbeat quickens when I have a few extra dollars in my budget and I get to decide whether to pick up a red mango or a couple of golden kiwi. So here's what's going on in Darcy's food world today: For breakfast I had a banana and 1/2 cup of homemade granola made with rolled oats, flax seeds, and raw sunflower seeds. Lunch will be a large salad of romaine, spinach, carrot, red pepper, gala apple and homemade balsamic vinaigrette, topped with more seeds. For dinner I have half of a large organic, local eggplant ready to roast and I'll have that will some whole wheat penne aglio olio (garlic and olive oil with red pepper flakes). If I need an afternoon snack I think I'll enjoy some fresh-off-the-bush blueberries or break out the blender and make Bethenny Frankel's Pomegranate Smoothie recipe.
1 c. blueberries (or any berry really)
1/4 c. pomegranate juice
1/4 c. water
1/2 of a banana (I usually just toss the whole thing in)
1 cup ice (or less if you like a thinner smoothie)
optional: a little honey or agave nectar to make it a bit sweeter
Just blend it until it's . . . um . . . blended. So good! And it's even better with blueberries I picked with my own two hands at a local farm.
Sure, you can buy them already picked at a good price (though not as good as picking yourself), but I personally think there is something about actually going to the farm and picking the berries that takes it from "getting blueberries" to an "experience," kind of like the difference between listening to a Renee Fleming CD in your car and hearing her live at a world class venue. Supporting local farmers, connecting with your food, knowing what you eat and why you are eating is not only a healthier way to live, but I believe also makes life richer. Why be content to look at photos of Jasper Johns prints in a book when you can see them in person at your local art museum? I understand that not everyone is into great contemporary American art (though they should be), but food touches all of us. I cannot fathom why anyone would be satisfied to eat processed food from a cardboard box when instead they could enjoy roasted fresh Carolina eggplant with pasta, or just a bowl of fresh local blueberries.
Going vegetarian has made me think about what I eat in an entirely different way than I had all my life. There is something so intensely satisfying about planning the food for my day and knowing that it is good for me and so delicious that I cannot wait to eat it. I admit that I am a foodie. I enjoy shopping at Whole Foods just as much as I do Banana Republic. My heartbeat quickens when I have a few extra dollars in my budget and I get to decide whether to pick up a red mango or a couple of golden kiwi. So here's what's going on in Darcy's food world today: For breakfast I had a banana and 1/2 cup of homemade granola made with rolled oats, flax seeds, and raw sunflower seeds. Lunch will be a large salad of romaine, spinach, carrot, red pepper, gala apple and homemade balsamic vinaigrette, topped with more seeds. For dinner I have half of a large organic, local eggplant ready to roast and I'll have that will some whole wheat penne aglio olio (garlic and olive oil with red pepper flakes). If I need an afternoon snack I think I'll enjoy some fresh-off-the-bush blueberries or break out the blender and make Bethenny Frankel's Pomegranate Smoothie recipe.
1 c. blueberries (or any berry really)
1/4 c. pomegranate juice
1/4 c. water
1/2 of a banana (I usually just toss the whole thing in)
1 cup ice (or less if you like a thinner smoothie)
optional: a little honey or agave nectar to make it a bit sweeter
Just blend it until it's . . . um . . . blended. So good! And it's even better with blueberries I picked with my own two hands at a local farm.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Chick-fil-A Has My Back
Last Saturday I had an interesting encounter with the fast food chain Chick-fil-A. I was working at a children's event at our local mall for just a few hours. For some reason the mall guest services department thought it was appropriate to promote the consumption of slaughtered animals to young children and gave Chick-fil-A a table at the event. The main reason for their presence seemed to be the promotion of their new Spicy Chicken Sandwich. In case the casual observer missed the link between the sandwich and the children's event the name of the product was printed on several mylar balloons which festooned the table upon which was set a hackey sack tossing game.
The Chick-fil-A cows were also present since they seem to like the idea of promoting chicken slaughter in the vain hope that Americans will spend more of their food dollars at Chick-fil-A than on dead cow. These cows were wearing sandwich boards that read, "Eat More Chikin" (supposedly cows are not good spellers). As I watched them interact with the pint-sized omnivores swarming them I recalled a Chick-fil-A commercial in which the cows vandalized a new hamburger joint to deflect customers away from eating the burgers and towards chicken and I got inspired. I took a large black marker to the balloons at the Chick-fil-A table and added a few words. Once my work was done each balloon stated, "Try our new spicy rotting chicken carcass sandwich!" Every child at the event screamed, ran away, and became a lifelong vegetarian. A moment later I snapped back to reality when a shy four-year-old needed help gluing fun foam leaves onto his bug jar.
Obviously I didn't actually alter the balloons, spit on the cows, or any of the other things I thought of doing, but I was fully prepared to proclaim my vegetarianism unashamedly had the woman working the table offered my one of her coupons for a discount on fried animal flesh. No opportunity presented itself, though we did have a little interaction early in the event.
Her table was almost directly behind mine in our circle and I felt my lower legs pegged by flying hackey at least a couple of times. I didn't really mind since it momentarily distracted me from glue sticks and fun foam ladybug body parts. After some time passed I realized I hadn't been hit in a while and looked back at the Chick-fil-A table to see the woman there holding up an empty cardboard box as a backstop for the hackey game. I thought that was very nice of her and was thankful I hadn't said anything to disparage how she earns her living. After all, I was the one earning money by making bug jars at a mall on a summer Saturday morning.
The Chick-fil-A cows were also present since they seem to like the idea of promoting chicken slaughter in the vain hope that Americans will spend more of their food dollars at Chick-fil-A than on dead cow. These cows were wearing sandwich boards that read, "Eat More Chikin" (supposedly cows are not good spellers). As I watched them interact with the pint-sized omnivores swarming them I recalled a Chick-fil-A commercial in which the cows vandalized a new hamburger joint to deflect customers away from eating the burgers and towards chicken and I got inspired. I took a large black marker to the balloons at the Chick-fil-A table and added a few words. Once my work was done each balloon stated, "Try our new spicy rotting chicken carcass sandwich!" Every child at the event screamed, ran away, and became a lifelong vegetarian. A moment later I snapped back to reality when a shy four-year-old needed help gluing fun foam leaves onto his bug jar.
Obviously I didn't actually alter the balloons, spit on the cows, or any of the other things I thought of doing, but I was fully prepared to proclaim my vegetarianism unashamedly had the woman working the table offered my one of her coupons for a discount on fried animal flesh. No opportunity presented itself, though we did have a little interaction early in the event.
Her table was almost directly behind mine in our circle and I felt my lower legs pegged by flying hackey at least a couple of times. I didn't really mind since it momentarily distracted me from glue sticks and fun foam ladybug body parts. After some time passed I realized I hadn't been hit in a while and looked back at the Chick-fil-A table to see the woman there holding up an empty cardboard box as a backstop for the hackey game. I thought that was very nice of her and was thankful I hadn't said anything to disparage how she earns her living. After all, I was the one earning money by making bug jars at a mall on a summer Saturday morning.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Busy and Stressed!
Has it really been nearly three weeks since I last posted to this blog? Though I am sure you weren’t crying in your Wheaties because of my prolonged absence it did give me a bit of inspiration. I’ve had a lot going on in my life the last few weeks what with work and outside projects (both of which haven’t been going super smoothly), and I have found that it is easy for me to let “extra” things slip when I’m laser-focused on what is keeping me busy and stressed.
Unfortunately one of the extras that falls off the Darcy Radar is my concern over eating habits. This first became evident to me when I was in my last semester of graduate school and I was eating out of styrofoam trays at my editing station three meals a day. It wasn’t just the need for a quick meal that lowered my health standards, it was the stress. I turned to junk meals as a way to comfort myself when I wanted to pull my hair out because I couldn’t get clearance on the music I wanted for my final montage (and my original cut was perfect!) or when I ran into technical difficulties and things weren’t exporting from Avid to After Effects exactly the way I wanted them to. Let me give you an example: I recall one lunch that consisted of two hot dogs, cheetos, a large chocolate chocolate chip cookie, and a beverage made up of half hot chocolate/half coffee. As Dave Barry would say, I swear I am not making this up. This is the way I ate for most of the last few weeks of my last semester.
Though my comfort foods have changed somewhat since grad school and I am also limited by what I have in the house rather than what the university’s dining common puts within arm’s reach, I still struggle with the use of food as a way to ease stress. Even if I have plenty of time and all the ingredients to cook a full meal I want to go for the quickest, easiest thing. It might not necessarily be unhealthy, but it’s the attitude that concerns me.
Looking back over the last one year plus, though, I definitely mark signs of improvement and I find that encouraging. I am pleased to say that I never once at any meat. To be honest I expected to find the switch to vegetarianism much more difficult than it has turned out to be. After more than six weeks I don’t miss meat at all and I feel terrific.
Unfortunately one of the extras that falls off the Darcy Radar is my concern over eating habits. This first became evident to me when I was in my last semester of graduate school and I was eating out of styrofoam trays at my editing station three meals a day. It wasn’t just the need for a quick meal that lowered my health standards, it was the stress. I turned to junk meals as a way to comfort myself when I wanted to pull my hair out because I couldn’t get clearance on the music I wanted for my final montage (and my original cut was perfect!) or when I ran into technical difficulties and things weren’t exporting from Avid to After Effects exactly the way I wanted them to. Let me give you an example: I recall one lunch that consisted of two hot dogs, cheetos, a large chocolate chocolate chip cookie, and a beverage made up of half hot chocolate/half coffee. As Dave Barry would say, I swear I am not making this up. This is the way I ate for most of the last few weeks of my last semester.
Though my comfort foods have changed somewhat since grad school and I am also limited by what I have in the house rather than what the university’s dining common puts within arm’s reach, I still struggle with the use of food as a way to ease stress. Even if I have plenty of time and all the ingredients to cook a full meal I want to go for the quickest, easiest thing. It might not necessarily be unhealthy, but it’s the attitude that concerns me.
Looking back over the last one year plus, though, I definitely mark signs of improvement and I find that encouraging. I am pleased to say that I never once at any meat. To be honest I expected to find the switch to vegetarianism much more difficult than it has turned out to be. After more than six weeks I don’t miss meat at all and I feel terrific.
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