Each one of you on this journey for happy weight and health, will begin w/a unique age, body type, and health profile. BEGIN this journey by your healthcare professional ( mine is a Naturopathic Doc) testing to make sure you do not have low thyroid function, whooped adrenal function, hence high cortisol levels that cause belly fat, or hormone imbalances. If you wish to try a simple test for low thyroid function, buy some good ole iodine from your pharmacist, and paint a 50 cent piece circle on the underside of your wrist. If it is not invisible in an hour or so, you likely have Hypo (low) thyroidism and need a testing. If you are peri, meno, or post menopausal, you may want to consider talking to your Naturopath or Physician about Bioidentical Hormone treatment. It changed my life! But here are the things that likely are causing your weight issues, even if you are exercising.
1) Consuming dead, processed refined foods (they will be white and carbs) that flood the bloodstream instantly causing insulin to be released. Remember this if you remember nothing else in this first training. FAT IS almost only stored when INSULIN is present! So we will be talking in detail about complex vs. simple carbs, and the Glycemic Index. Today, we will be taking one small step w/complex carbs. It will be at the end, with a photo! (Oh, and pop or juice= LIQUID sugar) Eat fruit whole & do not use fruit juice as a base for smoothies. Read the carbs/sugars. If above 20 or so per serving, steer away! Try rice milk or coconut milk as a base for smoothies...not juices. Get em cold and shake the box first! Soy milk is NOT a good choice on a daily basis. Later on why!
An extra tip: Eating protein with the complex carb slows the instant insulin flood and hence, the storage of fat. So if you eat eggs, have a small slice of spelt toast w/land o lakes canola butter rather than just the toast. When I have oat bran w/coconut milk and a smidge of pure maple syrup, I add walnuts, and have a half slice of spelt toast with almond butter on it. It is YUM! Almond butter is much better for you than peanut butter and is available in stores that grind it fresh, or at Trader Joe's in a jar! Find a food co op in your area!
2) Not eating breakfast and going too long between meals and snacks. You should be a grazer. Five small meals a day stabilizes blood sugar, keeping insulin more level. NEVER skip breakfast and I will be showing photos day by day of what I eat each morning. It varies. I eat every three hours, & between meals, a snack that is "legal." I will teach you "legal" and the list is LONG!!!! Learn to think ahead, baggie your snacks, throw a Kind bar in your bag, and I'll teach you how easy it is. It's just a little work to have stuff ready so you don't grab the wrong thing! I'm NOT a cook, so this doesn't have to be time consuming or difficult! :-)
3) Portion size is too big. Start shrinking your portions, to shrink your stomach. We eat on a salad plate, not a dinner plate. When we go out to eat, we automatically ask for a box ahead of time, take 1/2 home and eat the rest. Eat smaller portions, more often. And fill up on the "legal" which would be veggies, salad, or protein. I am going to teach you how to fill up on salads and not be starving. HINT HINT: It's in the picture at the end of this. WOW it works.
Well, that's enough for today. It will take many installments for you to just go on autopilot like myself, but you'll get there. I kid and say it is as easy as falling off a turnip truck, to do my daily routine with food, and I think I eat FABULOUS tasting food. I am NOT deprived. Deprivation is part of DIET mentality. It's not about what you CAN'T have. It's about opening up horizons about the beauty of what you CAN have! I LOVE whole, clean foods, and I used to be the world's worst processed food eater. It is a process. Go slowly and expect backsliding. It's all part of the process. You just get back on the horse and ride. Yahooooo! When you get off track, say, oh well, and start again. It's NORMAL!!!!
OK....now here's the picture. And I hope you ALL know that the staple and cornerstone of healthy eaters and weight savvy folks is BROWN RICE!! Yes, the right carbs are essential, for energy, and B vitamins, and filling up. But I don't have the time to cook it for 45 mins, because unlike white rice (same as sugar really to the body) it is not NAKED/stripped, and requires longer to cook! And once you get used to short grained brown yummy rice, the white stuff is like...PAPER..ha ha, even my grandson says so.
So make Trader Joe's BROWN RICE a MUST! Shop for it today in their freezer! There are two kinds, reg or organic. We buy either. Here's the photo! Comes 3 bags per box, ea. bag for 3 people. Micro or drop it in the bag in boiling water, 3 mins. VOILA, the greatest addition to your meals, as a snack, OR remember I said to make salads more filling! Add a glop of warm brown rice to any salad, add a good dressing, and a small amount of dry parmesan shreds. Here's the picture. Over and out for now. Am I going too fast? Oh wow, I have so much to share. I can't tell you what a difference this is going to make in your life, your weight, your health! HOORAY! We're on our way! Feedback and questions welcome!!!!!!
Cooked brown rice freezes well. I cook two pounds of brown rice in my rice cooker, and freeze it in family meal-sized portions. Then it is just a matter of reheating it to have excellent brown rice on the table.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you stand on quinoa -- my family's new favorite food? I do the same bulk cook and freeze trick I do with rice, and alternate it with brown rice.
On whole grains -- I buy organic wheat berries and mill my own flour as I need it -- mostly for sourdough bread. Does that have a place in a weight-loss diet?
Thank you, Linda! So much info to digest but simple enough to start applying. What about skim milk from a local dairy, less than 48 hours old, and no hormones? How about whole oats? I have a lot of questions :) I SO wish we had a Trader Joe's here in Utah! I miss it!
ReplyDeleteKaren: Good comments. Yes, brown rice freezes well..I never had luck w/my rice cooker to do it that way. What proportion water to rice do you do? Quinoa is a great grain, I just try and introduce folks to one thing at a time. But adding it as you have done is great. It has a unique taste. As far as wheat, I will ask folks to do WHEAT FREE. It is perhaps the largest turning point (besides taking out most dairy) in folks that are ill. 99% of all wheat is hybrided. To tolerate pestisides, grow faster, etc. People can't digest it, are lacking the enzyme to do so. And people become gluten intolerant as we ate wheat or stripped wheat since babies. It goes undigested, sending out a red alert to the immune system. And w/out our knowing it slowing welcomes illnesses, small to big to crop up. Personally, I don't do one crumb of wheat, from wheat berries to the flour. READ labels. I do a whole chapter on this in my book, and this is why gluten free is so sweeping the country today! I'd stick with brown rice, non wheat flours, spelt breads seem to do ok, and we'll talk more in detail. We'll discuss why WHEAT if out, more in the future. TY for your great input. You are making wonderful strides! :-)
ReplyDeleteShelley: Just learn from my long first installment that we need to go from processed and refined to food in it's unrefined state. And we can start with brown rice. If the kids object, do as one of the readers did, cook a big pot of brown rice, (I like short, less chewy) and mix part brown to white til you get to all brown. To cook, I rinse a cup of brown rice (buy fresh in bulk, not from a box) in a strainer and add to 4 cups rolling boiling water, boiling 30 minutes. Drain rice, put back in the pot w/lid on, OFF the heat, let it sit 10 mins, sorta steaming in there, then fluff w/fork and serve. I'll get the rice cooker down to make it easier for you.
ReplyDeleteI ask that people consider taking all dairy out, number one of course because of drinking liquid hormones. But even skim milk creates mucous, and is difficult to digest. But if you are using milk, skim is the better choice and of course hormone free. HOWEVER, if it is RAW, it must be a certified checked dairy and I cannot stress this enough. Undulant fever is possible in RAW milk. If anyone drinking the milk has any FLEM in the morning, one should hack up NO flem, ever, then a substitution to Rice, Almond or Coconut milk may be indicated. If you are using the skim milk, mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with any of these three substitutions, that's what I did w/Lloyd 8 years ago, and he drinks rice milk solely. He loves it now. GRADUALLY CHANGE THE TASTEBUDS and do it long enough and they REPROGRAM nicely :-) We'll talk much more on this subject! TY for questions!!!!!
My rice cooker has markings for brown rice. 2 pounds of rice is 5 cups, or 6 1/3 rice cooker "cups" (3/4 cup). So I add water to just over the 6 cup line and use the gaba brown setting.I also like to add a splash of organic vinegar. That works out fine. There is very little difference between the fresh rice and the frozen/reheated rice.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on gluten free. My mother developed celiac seven years ago, so I've been tested. No problems so far. The wheat berries I buy are non-hybrid organic.
Karen: You are such a help and I can see well on your way to a wonderfully healthy lifestyle. Thanks so much for the rice cooker tips. Mine was made for the white, which cooks considerably different than brown as you know. And isn't it true, the frozen cooked brown rice is moist and yummy too. I have so many uses for brown rice, I'll be sharing them as we go. I sent you a friend request. It would be wonderful to have you as a FB friend! TY Karen! You're a doll!
ReplyDeletegreat tips linda! can't wait to hear more :)
ReplyDeleteWhy short grain over medium or long? And have you heard of Tree Street Grains??
ReplyDeleteI found out what Tree Street Grains is. It is a local company in Provo,Ut. that makes gluten free whole grain pancake mixes. Check it out. I just put in Tree Stree Grains in my search engine and their website came up. I requested to have a free sample sent to me.
ReplyDeleteGreat questions Amy. I initially always suggest short grain brown rice because it stays moister, and softer, while long grain is more like a pilaf texture, and very chewy, and those used to white rice often complain it is too big a transition. The short grain doesn't separate, it is just the most marvelous taste and sticks together in ea yummy spoonful that goes to your mouth! ;-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I have heard of Tree Street Grains, and they are a good company. I believe they are not in stores in all states, including us, but are by online. I have not tasted them, so you'll have to give us a report. I usually find that using multi grains like buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, triticale, comes to tickle people's taste buds after they get to be more of true health food gurus. Also, I do not use wheat in any form, and that is tonight's subject. I suggest Pamela's Pancake mix for the first transition to gluten free pancakes that are so light and fluffy, ( I beat eggs whites to a meringue and cut them in) that I literally have friends and family set up times for me to bring my mix and make them. I want folks to indeed go full tilt eventually on more grains, but in the beginning they can bloat, feel like they are being pushed to be part of the "granola crowd," and so when I find something healthful that is really close to their taste, I stairstep from there. Pamela's products, including her brownie mixes, are even my 16 year old grandson's favorite. So watch tonight's session and you it may make more sense. But I will be anxious to get a taste report, and it was such a fun story how their company got going. CHEERS. Thanks for the input!!!