food – Fantastically 40-ish

food

Watch for the Supersizes!

Posted on September 12, 2022February 15, 2023 by nlchronicles

I mentioned earlier this year that I started school and would share information from time to time. I started a nutrition class this fall (yay!). And this week we are talking about designing a healthful diet, which includes portion and serving size details.

So, why is this a big deal? How often have you bought a pint of ice cream and finished it in one sitting? 🙋🏽‍♀️ no one else, just me?? That pint is actually 4 SERVINGS! So rather than having a 250 calorie treat, I smashed 1000 calories in record time.

And manufacturing has not helped in managing portion sizes

I believe the lecture that I’m watching was recorded in 2020 so the picture below references the year 2000.

Comparison of food sizes, 20 years apart

…supersizing foods is real! So we not only supersized food while adding additives, clothes manufacturers implemented vanity sizing so while you may no longer be the same size physically, you wear the same numerical size… MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

Just a note – a kid’s meal or junior meal at most restaurants is what a proper portion size should look like. Tracking food intake from time to time helps me stay mindful of how much I’m actually eating. And while I knew that food portions have grown in volume, seeing the comparison in picture was mind blowing.

Has anyone else notice the larger portions being served?

food

Food can be medicine!

Posted on June 28, 2022February 15, 2023 by nlchronicles

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

I’ve been doing sooooo much reading about how certain nutrients can specifically benefit certain conditions. One book that I read was Eat to Beat Disease by Dr. William Li. Mind blowing! A friend even purchased the book after hearing me talk about it so much.

When we eat, we are choosing what outcomes are body will have – health or disease. Now is this perfect? No. Epigentics plays a huge factor on us but we can assist our bodies by being as preventative as possible through our choices. So I wanted to share some of the insights that I found out via Dr. Li and other sources. I am now experimenting with all of the recommendations below in a search for better health and hoping to put the autoimmune condition in remission!

Did you know… watercress’s antioxidants have been linked to lower risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease? It has over 100% of the recommended daily amount of vitamins K. And one cup is only 4 calories!!
Did you know … eating processed meats 4 to 5 days per week is equivalent to accelerating your age one year for every year you eat that way?
Did you know …having lycopene-rich foods/juices (guava, tomato, watermelon, etc) before having X-rays reduced the damage done to the DNA by the radiation?
Did you know …eating 40 grams of dark chocolate daily can positively influence gut bacteria and reduce the body’s stress markers in only TWO weeks?
Did you know …high salt intake is not only linked to high blood pressure but it also strips away the protective mucus lining of your stomach?
Did you know …cherry, San Marzano and Tangerine tomatoes have more lycopene than other varieties?
Did you know …fasting cycles might be used to build a fresh immune system?
Did you know …pomegranate juice can rebuild the gut lining?

And why try to incorporate healthy, whole food? 420 million people worldwide have diabetes AND it leads to 1.6 millions deaths each year!! You and I have such a great influence on our health! Are there any recommendations that you have to improve and enhance health? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

food

Meal time

Posted on December 4, 2021February 15, 2023 by nlchronicles

I have been asked by some family members and friends a lot – what do you eat?! I think the misconception is that I barely eat or eat “weird” food. One person asked when I was going to go back to eating real food. I thought that’s what I had been eating! 🤷🏽‍♀️

So I’m including today’s meals. Breakfast was a homemade smoothie. I’m dealing with a flare up with my joints so I try to really focus on nutrients more at this time. I don’t have a picture but I just included –

Vitamins (I just open them up and dump into the blender)
Collagen powder
Flax seeds
Turmeric powder (have to get this inflammation down)
Cinnamon powder
Parsley
Dollop of walnut butter
Frozen berries and cherries
Coconut milk
Ginger root
Splash of honey and vanilla extract

Breakfast is super easy and I tend to have smoothies when it’s warmer or when I’m managing a flare up. Lunch was just a protein bar. I run errands on Saturdays and need something that I can have on the run. Not the best nutrient wise but it’s so much better than crying over fast food! True story!!

This was Saturday dinner. Weekend dinners tend to be different than what I eat during the week as I try to find something I wouldn’t get during the week. I happened to go to a particular grocery store and snow crab clusters were on sale 🤩🤩 the pic is 👇🏽

Trying to focus on nutrients and reduce this inflammatory response, I decided to have blueberries for antioxidants, black beans for fiber to get toxins out, roasted collard greens chips to capitalize on nutrients and crab legs for protein. I eat seafood wayyyyyyy more than any other protein so sale prices are always welcome 🤗 And I try to get at least 6 servings of vegetables and fruit each day. Again, focusing on nutrient density.

If I’m feeling up to it later, I may have a square of dark chocolate. Your thoughts on the food choices? What would you recommend? Until next time…

food

Eating across America – Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on August 25, 2021February 15, 2023 by nlchronicles

One of the hardest parts of changing my eating habits was finding an acceptable place to eat when I travelled, especially for work or vacation as I may go to an area that I’m not as familiar with. So today I’m doing something different than my other posts. Let’s chat about great places to eat that may meet dietary restrictions.

As I mentioned before, I follow a cross between the paleo diet and the AIP protocol, focusing on nutrients like iron, my continued problem child 😃. So I can’t just say- oh let me grab a breakfast sandwich from this chicken place that has wonderful biscuits and chicken! And that can create a problem. I have quite literally sat and started crying because I’m hungry but have no idea of what food is in an area that I won’t have a reaction to later. whew!

So…let’s share recommendations of where we can eat. I’ll start with what have been go to places for me.

Whole Foods market. Prior to the pandemic, this was by far the best place for me to go. The hot bar lists what is in the food so it was an easy choice. I went to Whole Foods in: Manchester, NH; Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham, NC; Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA; Long Island, NY; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; Orlando, FL; Louisville, KY; Cincinnati, OH; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Huntsville, AL; Nashville, TN; San Antonio, TX; Santa Cruz, CA; Sacramento, CA. Yes, it’s that’s serious!
Restoration Cafe in Manchester, NH has great smoothies. I cannot do almond butter and almond milk but this place carried other nut butters and coconut milk.
Founding Farmers in the Washington DC area. I love love love this place. The menu is seasonal and always super fresh.
Zoe’s kitchen is one of the only chain restaurants that I frequent but the quality isn’t consistent. Some are always great but others aren’t so good.
First Watch is probably the only other chain restaurant that I go to and only for very specific items. Quality is always consistent so when I get a quinoa bowl in Franklin, Tennessee, it tastes the same in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Green District Salads in Louisville, KY. A relatively newer place with a few locations around the area. You can customize salads or wraps and they’re always tasty and fast.
Zameen at the Point in Capitola, CA. This is a small Mediterranean spot that I came across while in the area. It was soooo good and very fresh.

What places do you recommend? If you live outside of the United States, I invite you to share your recommendations as well – have passport, will travel! And if you have enjoyed the wellness Wednesday series, let me know and I’ll keep posting. The series was to be limited to summer so this may be the last post; let me know!

food

Cooking at Home – Wellness Wednesday

Posted on June 23, 2021February 15, 2023 by nlchronicles

Cooking and meal prepping have been HUGE game changers for me. I did quite a bit of health testing to see what works or does not work well for me. This helped tremendously and thankfully I have no food allergies, but it does limit some of my food choice options. And when I eat out, I don’t know the exact details of what is going in the food.

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

I found that many nightshades bother me. These include potatoes, paprika and all peppers. Paprika is probably the worst offender but is used in so many recipes! So to better monitor the ingredients and the quality of products, I started cooking more. And unless restaurants become more slanted toward AIP or paleo, then choosing to cook at home is a must.

At first, I made the same recipes all of the time, but my nutritionist pointed out that I had appropriate cookbooks and why not actually try those recipes lol. My fear is always – what if the recipe is gross? 😧 the horror! So I decided to try only one new recipe at a time for any given meal (as I eat basically the same thing throughout weekdays). That way, I could try different options without feeling like I’m constantly throwing money away on meals that I don’t like.

And what is even more important to me is that I control the quality of what I’m eating. So I control sodium content which is crucial when trying to be healthier. Have you actually looked at the sodium levels at some places?? There’s one restaurant which I won’t name in which none of the meals has a sodium level less than 1000 mg with some ranging up to 3000 mg. That’s INSANE! Managing carbs is high priority for me so I can better monitor this as well by cooking at home.

I highly recommend taking the time to meal prep and cook more at home. It’s better for everyone in the long run. See you next week!

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A Pizza Find

Posted on February 27, 2021April 28, 2021 by nlchronicles

I have been wanting really good pizza for awhile! But with so many dietary restrictions, it’s a challenge to find something to purchase that won’t cause pain or bother my allergies; in other words, cause more inflammation. So I decided to start paying attention to ingredients that I might be able to try and give it a whirl.

And I made on today! AND IT WAS TASTY! When experimenting, I don’t really use measurements lol; it’s more of a play it by ear method. The crust is cauliflower based by Caulipower. I then minced 4 cloves of garlic and poured extra virgin olive oil in a bowl with the garlic so that the oil covered the garlic. I whisked for a bit and then whisked in dried oregano.

Next I poured these onto the crust. Tomatoes are nightshades and tend to cause joint pain so I’m trying different bases. I cut up pre-cooked chicken sausage and added to the crust. Lastly I used a mix of goat cheese and vegan cheese (that’s not cashew based because cashews are a no for me) to top. I baked for about 15 minutes on 400 degrees.

What would I do different? Probably just use goat cheese. I liked that more than the vegan cheese but that’s matter of preference. I would also have added onions, olives and more oregano. Next time, I’ll also try a pesto base instead. To keep from getting bored, I have to keep trying different options. This will definitely go into the rotation!

Any suggested toppings? List them below and I’ll try them too. 🥂 to your good health. Until next time!

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MILESTONE: 2 Years!

Posted on August 16, 2020February 14, 2021 by nlchronicles

In the latter half of August 2018, I decided to really work on my health and find more natural approaches to do so. This was after an expert in PCOS basically told me that I could just stay on birth control pills to manage it for the rest of my life! 😱

I came across the keto diet and did that for 3 months. However, since I have slow digestion, the program has WAYYYYY too much meat for me and I never felt hungry. But the keto diet was a great kick start to transition to paleo, which is basically what I still follow. Keto helped me stop a lot of junk cravings but I still wanted to feel better.

I started working with a nutritionist who specializes in PCOS in January 2019. And while working with the nutritionist involved revamping everything I had known in terms of food, what would work for me, motivation and habits, it was sooooo worth it.

When I started mid-August 2018 to make a total change and find something that was a permanent solution, I weighed about 245 pounds. Fairly accurate as I went to a gym and used the scale there. I’ve included a couple of before pics from earlier in 2018.

Since that time, I’ve lost 81.8 pounds to date. This is the first time that I’ve ever released weight and actually been able to keep it off!! Ever! And no, I’ve had no surgeries or used any gimmicks. I just had to make real, sustainable changes with the guidance of my nutritionist.

I have improved health in so many ways – better sleep, more energy, less brain fog, better walking ability with osteoarthritis, less PMS, clearer skin, less hirtuism, better digestion, very few junk food cravings, and more confidence because I feel much better! I’m still a work in progress and have more goals that I want to reach but I’ve included recent pics from this month.

I hope this inspires you to reach your goals! You can do this. And if you veer off track, the next day is a new one; the next meal is another chance to do better. Until next time, 🥂 to your good health!