Potassium, Sodium and Chloride

How often have all of us heard someone say that they are eating bananas for the potassium and wondered what that meant or why anyone cared about their potassium intake?  When I was young my mother was always eating bananas for the potassium since she had high blood pressure.  It was decades later before I understood what was going on.  Since I assume that many of you didn’t learn this in school either I thought I would explain it so we all understand why we should care about our electrolyte intake and our ratio of potassium to sodium.

Potassium (K), sodium (Na) and chloride (CI) are all electrolytes (mineral salts) which conduct electricity when dissolved in water.  These electrolytes serve important functions in the body including playing roles in the maintenance of: water balance, kidney and adrenal function, acid and base balance, muscle and nerve function, and heart function.  Doctors have known for years that diet high in sodium and low in potassium was associated with high blood pressure. Additionally many studies have showed that a high-sodium and low-potassium diet is associated with both the development of both cancer and cardiovascular disease.  I hope you are starting to see that the balance of these electrolytes in your body matter, a lot!

I will not be talking much about chloride because chloride coexists in nature with sodium and table salt is actually sodium chloride (NaCI).  Foods which contribute sodium to your diet also provide chloride.  Sodium and chloride are highly bioavailable and are typically absorbed in the small intestine.  However people who experience intestinal malabsorption (either due to disease or GI infections) can find themselves sodium deficient.  People who experience severe diarrhea and vomiting can experience sodium and chloride deficiencies.  Healthy people are unlikely to be sodium deficient.

Most Americans consume a potassium to sodium ration (K:Na) of 1:2 or lower.  What that means is that they are consuming twice the amount of sodium as they are potassium.  However the problem is that scientists think the ratio should be 5:1 (potassium to sodium) or higher.  Now the question becomes how do we increase our potassium by 10 times and that is one way to look at the problem that we are faced with.   However don’t forget that you can always decrease your sodium as well. The good news is that fresh fruit and vegetables are packed with potassium while being low in sodium.   Most fresh produce contains at least 100 grams of potassium to a few grams of sodium.   Here are a few examples of foods comparing milligram of potassium to sodium so that you can see the difference in natural versus man-made items:

Acorn Squash, 1 cup cubed and baked (896:8)

Apple, 1 medium (182:2)
Asparagus, ½ cup (165:1)
Avocado, ½ (680:5)
Banana, 1 medium (467:1)
Black strap molasses, 1 tablespoon (498:11)
Bread whole wheat, 1 slice (71:148)
Cantaloupe, 1/8^th of a large (315:9)
Catsup, 1 tablespoon (72:178)
Chickpea, 1 cup cooked w/o salt (477:11)
Ham lunchmeat 1 slice (56:283)
Mozzarella, 1oz part-skim (24:132)
Mustard, 1 tablespoon yellow (24:168)
Orange, 1 medium (263:1)
Parmesan, 1 tablespoon shredded (5:85)
Potato, 1 medium (782:6)
Prunes, 1 medium (63:0)
Pudding mix, fat-free sugar-free chocolate , 1 svg prepared (122:318)
Quinoa, ¼ cup uncooked (314:8)
Tomato, 1 medium raw (444:5)
Tomato, 1 cup canned whole (530:440)
Soup Cream of Tomato, 10.75 oz can (644:1690)
Soy sauce, 1 tablespoon (64:871)
Swiss cheese, 1 oz (31:420)

I intentionally included a number of foods that I think are commonly found in the American diet.  The reason was to show you how much sodium is in a tiny amount of these processed foods.  Did you notice that the man-made food (except canned tomatoes) contains more sodium than potassium but that the opposite is true of the natural items? Why do processed foods contain so much sodium?  Salt was originally added to food to delay spoilage.  However when you read the ingredient labels of food now you will see that there are chemical preservatives added for that job. Salt is primarily added to food because our tastebuds have all grown to expect it.  When you eat a diet full of salt and give up the salt food initially tastes bland.  Since most Americans consume a lot of sodium food processors continue to use a lot of sodium to make their food appealing to the majority of consumers.

Since so many of us consume a diet low in potassium should we be worried about potassium deficiency?  According to Dr. David Katz deficiency of potassium is not common but does occur.  Conditions which cause fluid shifts (like surgery or being in the hospital), or metabolic imbalances (such as diabetes) can produce life-threatening potassium imbalances.  Potassium deficiency at less dangerous levels results in symptom which can include:  high blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances, muscle weakness, paralysis, mental confusion and irritability.  All this just from eating a diet low in fresh fruit and vegetables and high in sodium?  Did you realize that there are few commonly used items that rob your body of potassium?  Drinking alcohol and taking aspirin also reduce your potassium levels as do taking diuretics.  Eek!  I don’t know about you but I think it is simpler to eat my fruits and veggies than to think about this.  Also remember that herbal diuretics can reduce your potassium so you should use those sparingly as well.

The elderly are at a higher risk for potassium deficiency as are athletes.  In the elderly the problem is typically due to inadequate intake or diuretic use (common with cardiovascular disease), but in athletes the issue is usually potassium loss through sweat.  If you spend a lot of time exercising (and therefore sweating) it is recommended that you should be consuming additional potassium (produce).

I don’t recommend that anyone take potassium in supplement form since it can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.  Consuming fresh vegetables and fruits in their natural form are unlikely to cause problems.  People with kidney problems need to be careful with how much sodium and potassium they include since the kidney is what balances our electrolytes. If you have kidney disease you need to talk to you doctor before you dramatically change the intake of potassium or sodium containing foods.  The adequate intake (AI) of 4,700mg/day for adults is recommended. However it is worth knowing that our ancient ancestors are thought to have eaten more than 10g of potassium per day.

What about sodium is there any easier way to lower it?  Actually it is easy to lower your sodium intake but it involves eating a diet which is once again based on whole plant-based foods.  Once you start reading labels and focusing on sodium content I think you will be shocked by the amount of sodium in foods. I was very surprised by the amount of sodium in bread and canned tomatoes.  Most bread is also a problem because it frequently contains both high fructose corn syrup and soy protein isolates not to mention preservatives and other things that I don’t eat.  Canned tomatoes contain not only a lot of sodium but also BPA.  *sigh* Sometimes it feels like nothing is safe to eat anymore doesn’t it?

There is no RDA for sodium but a daily intake of 115mg (which is very easy to both reach and to exceed) is considered essential.  According to Dr. David Katz 500mg per day is recommended, and we reach and typically exceed that every day either without adding salt to food or eating processed food if that makes you feel better about eating a diet like ours.  It is estimated that our ancient ancestors consumed less than 1,000mg of sodium per day, far less than the 4,000mg+ which the average American now consumes daily.

Asian foods tend to be very high in sodium so be careful with your use of soy sauce, liquid aminos, miso, and other Asian condiments and sauces.  As much as I love Asian food, I try to keep our consumption to a minimum so that our average sodium intake doesn’t get out of control.

If you still eat cheese that is also a hidden source of sodium that you should keep in mind. Cheese like feta is particularly high in sodium.  In addition to sodium, cheese contains an abundance of saturated fat which isn’t good for your arteries and it increases your levels of IGF-1 which fuels cancer growth.  As much as I love the taste of cheese I can’t look at it now without seeing something that I now consider a toxin.   There are days when I wish I could unlearn some of the nutrition facts that I have learned.  However I know it is in the best interest of my family to keep cheese out of our diet.  Darn it!  ;-)

If you eat lunch meat, bacon, smoked meats or processed meat like sausage you are also consuming a lot of “hidden” sodium. The next time you are in the grocery store look at the sodium content on lunchmeat and smoked salmon and I think you will be surprised by how high it is.  I calculated the potassium and sodium content of a ham and cheese sandwich assuming 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 3 slices of ham, 1 oz of Swiss cheese and 1 tablespoon of mustard and the potassium was 365mg but the sodium was 1,733mg.  Whoa!  Even I was surprised by those numbers.  However it makes it easy to see how the typical American diet would contain over 4,000mg of sodium doesn’t it?  Instead of a sandwich with lunchmeat and cheese how about a veggie wrap with hummus (no salt), roasted and raw veggies?  That would contain a lot of potassium, vitamins and micronutrients and not much sodium.  Are you starting to see why I order those when Ian makes my lunch?  ;-)

The bottom line is that most of us are consuming too much sodium and not enough potassium. We would all be healthier if we reduced our consumption of packaged or processed food and ate more fresh food.  If you just do those two things you will be making a huge difference in your health.

Wednesday:

Breakfast for both of us was a green smoothie which was made with:  kale, frozen mango, frozen banana, walnuts cinnamon, water, coconut extract and a little stevia.  I ran out of frozen cherries but did have a frozen mango which is why you aren’t seeing the chocolate cherry green smoothies currently.

I spent some time reading a new textbook that I purchased on health psychology before it was time see my girlfriend Deirdre for lunch.  Deirdre is my friend who quit her federal government job to go back to school to get her PhD in psychology.   Have I said recently that Deirdre is my hero?  I am still in awe of her ability to quit her job and go back to school being a single girl.  Wouldn’t we all love to have chutzpah like that?

Lunch with Deirdre took place at the usual place. Since Deirdre lives in the neighborhood now we can get together at my favorite place.  Deirdre likes it enough that she now goes there without me as well. I think that speaks volumes.

I started lunch with a bowl of the white bean, kale and sweet potato soup.  Deirdre had tomato bisque, which I did not photograph.

For my entrée I asked if the kitchen would make the veggie and hummus wrap and put a small salad with that.  I never get tired of this combination.  Deirdre had a turkey burger and sweet potato fries which again I did not photograph.

Being girls Deirdre and I talked for hours and hours and that meant there was time for Deirdre to have a little dessert. She ordered a carrot cake cupcake which was so cute that I had to take its picture. Carrot cake was always my favorite cake but I was good and didn’t have a bite.  It smelled delicious even from across the table.  LOL

Dinner was a simple bowl of leftover curried lentil soup.  Thank goodness for intentional leftovers. Having intentional leftovers on hand is the primary reason that I am able to keep such an uber healthy diet. If you are trying to eat a healthier diet, start with making intentional leftovers.   I think you will be surprised by what a difference that makes.

Happy Thoughts:

·         Wednesday we had the most glorious weather. I went to the dentist got a little beat up but it was all good.  I took a few pictures leaving the dental office to give you a sense of life in the city.  While I was at the dentist I learned something new.  The outer covering of popcorn can get under your gums and when it does that it also does not degrade and can turn into an abscess. Thankfully mine just required some digging to remove (fun stuff!) but I won’t be having popcorn for a while now that is for sure. After that little revelation popcorn might just be off my “preferred” food list now.  It wasn’t all that thrilling without oil and salt anyway.  ;-)  Poor Binky, he is going to miss having popcorn when we watch movies.  Yes, Binky actually eats popcorn which we found out by accident one day and I had to snap the picture of him getting his own.  Only at our house would that be considered cute.  LOL

·         I stopped at the library on Wednesday and picked up more books. I know what you are thinking believe me.  How does she have time to read all these books?  Dan asks the very same question.  No matter where I am I have a book with me. Tuesday while I waited for Deirdre to arrive at lunch I was reading.  Wednesday I was reading while in the waiting room at the dentist.  I literally always have a book with me. You didn’t think I got all this nutrition knowledge from osmosis did you?  LOL

·         While I was in Hunt Valley I stopped at Wegman’s for provisions which in my case meant raw organic nuts and seeds (raw cashews, raw pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts), many bags of dried organic beans, black strap molasses (an excellent source of potassium, calcium and iron), turmeric (always good to have one hand), and some hulled hemp seeds to name a few items.  I must be quite the sight checking out at the grocery store. I often wonder what the clerks think when they ring this stuff up and put in the bags.  ;-)

·         Thursday I spent most of the day at Hopkins again.  There are definitely positives and negatives to sitting in hospital waiting rooms all day. Every time we are here I am always reminded how fortunate we are with how things have gone for us.  However I am also struck by the pain and suffering that other people have to endure.  *long exhale*  When you are someone like me who feels for others it is extremely difficult to see other people suffering.  There were people in wheelchairs who obviously didn’t have the energy to walk.  Other people were on oxygen and many people without hair.  Cancer is a horrible disease that I probably see more often than the rest of you.  The fact that always surprises me is the number of people that I see who are very obviously younger than I am.  When I was in my 30’s I thought cancer was something that happened to old people but that is not the case now. There were plenty of people in their 30’s and 40’s in the waiting room again yesterday.  That is part the reason I am so dedicated to show you that it is more than possible to live a healthy life, and that it does make a difference.  You have no idea how much I want you understand that.  I don’t want any of you to be one of those people I see in the Hopkins waiting room who cause me to fight back tears when I see them.

·         Friday I expected to spend the afternoon with my friend Will who just came back from NYU where he did a nutrition certification program.  However he needed to run to the dentist for an emergency procedure so I ended up having a little time on my hands to get caught up on some tasks at home.

·         We had incredible weather again on Friday with temperatures in the med-50s and even a little sun.  I love this time of year!  Anytime it is still in the 50s at 8 o’clock at night is fine with me. We went for a nice walk this evening before dinner.

Signing out:

This has been a crazy busy week for me.  Every day this week I have been out of the house for much of the day.  Next week I have much more free time in my schedule which I am definitely looking forward to.  Do you ever feel like your to-do list is completely out of control?  That describes my life at the moment, too much to do and not enough time to do it.  On that cheery note I have to get back to my to-do list so that I can relax a little and enjoy my weekend with Dan. Talk with you again soon.  I hope that you enjoy your weekend.

31 Days to Better Health - Day 30

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you had a fantastic weekend.  We had a wonderful weekend which included:  spending time with friends, time by ourselves to connect, healthy food and plenty of rest (just like Masi pictured above having a nap).  Generally it was a very good weekend and one that allowed us to relax and recharge for the week ahead. 

To remind everyone of what we have accomplished so far here is a recap of the first 29 days of January:

Day 1 – Defined Success and What is/was Holding Us Back
Day 2 – Determined our Purpose and Looked at Passion
Day 3 – Listed Our Goals for January
Day 4 – Listed the Things We Have Needed to Work on for a While
Day 5 – Looked at Optimism vs. Pessimism and Fear vs. Intuition
Day 6 – Practiced Conscious Eating
Day 7 – Hara Hachi Bu
Day 8 – Taking the Stress Out of Meal Time
Day 9 – Acknowledgments
Day 10 – No Excuses, Do it Anyway
Day 11 – Is it True?
Day 12 – Have You Really Connected With Someone Today?
Day 13 – Motivation is a Decision
Day 14 - Successfully Navigating Dinner at an Unfamiliar Restaurant
Day 15 - What Do You Want, Have You Asked?
Day 16 – Treating Others as You Wish to be Treated
Day 17 – Food as a Budget
Day 18 – Silence Your Inner Critic
Day 19 – Replace I Have to With I Want to
Day 20 – Identifying Your Rituals
Day 21 – Face Your Fears
Day 22 – Give Up the Diet Mentality
Day 23 – The Meaning and/or Purpose of Food
Day 24 – Trigger Foods/Situations/People
Day 25 – Words Have Meaning
Day 26 – Lose All-Or-Nothing Thinking
Day 27 -  Decide to live as if ……
Day 28 – Two-Bite Test
Day 29 -  Vision Board

What did you think of the idea of a vision board? When you saw mine did it make sense given what you know about my life from the blog?  I hope that seeing my board helped you to visualize how to turn your ideas into pictures. If there is anything that you would like to me explain differently about this or anything else just let me know.

Are You Hiding Behind Excuses?:

This can be a difficult question to ask yourself but it is critical if you are having trouble reaching your goals.  Everyone has excuses for why they can’t do something.  The reason that some people thrive and others don’t is that those who succeed know when to push through their excuses.  I have definitely been on both sides of the fence on this issue which means that I understand what is like to want something and yet it doesn’t happen.  I can now look back and see that I struggled because I allowed the excuses to stop me.  I want to teach you what I have learned during the process so that you too can improve your health.

The first thing to remember is that other people have accomplished whatever it is you want.  It is always great when we can learn by other people’s successes and mistakes because that can save us time.  There are people out there who have tackled everything that you are trying to do and they succeeded. The trick to your success is finding those people and learning from them. For example there are people who have gotten healthy at almost 50 years old (Valerie Bertinelli), survived cancer (Lance Armstrong), lost hundreds of pounds, reversed diabetes with lifestyle, really anything that you can imagine.  There are hundreds of people who have overcome obstacles bigger than the ones we are facing now.  If you want to succeed you can do so more quickly by learning from these winners.  What do they have that you don’t?  Most likely the biggest difference is their attitude. They didn’t let excuses get in their way.

The second thing to remember is that human beings don’t like change. We naturally gravitate toward our habits; we cling to them in fact.  When these habits are healthy like brushing our teeth they are great.  However if the habits are things like plopping on the sofa every night after dinner and watching TV than the habits are not healthy and they need to be changed.  Pay attention to your habits.  Remember you can’t change what you don’t know.  I am willing to bet the totality of your habits is what got you to where you are today.  I know that was true of me.  However you can change your habits and that will have a ripple effect that will begin to change everything in your life.  The condition that anyone is in currently is nothing more than the result of our recent few thousand decisions.  The impact of each healthy decision is cumulative and when as those positive decisions begin to outnumber and overwhelm the unhealthy decisions your health will begin to improve rapidly.  Don’t let an excuse like, my spouse expects to watch TV every night impact your health. There is always another choice that you can make.  It may sound silly but you can exercise while watching TV.  I know because I have been known to do this.  This way Dan and I were doing something together, but I was also active.

The third item to keep in mind is that when you plan to do something outside the norms of society you will meet with resistance. People are pack animals and they like to be part of a group, to be included. Whenever someone wants to differ from the group (example becoming a little “too granola”) the other members of the group feel threatened. This took me a long time to figure out.  I couldn’t wrap my head around why people would say things to me like, “it’s just a little parmesan, olive oil, salt, prosciutto, etc.”  Why were these people so vested in what I ate? Then I figured it out.  By my not eating the way they ate I was making them feel uncomfortable. It was inadvertently saying to them that their diet wasn’t healthy.  Of course it wasn’t my intention to criticize their diet though in retrospect I can see how they would interpret my actions that way.  If I were being completely honest I did feel that their diet wasn’t healthy enough for us and that they would be better off if they ate like we did.  No wonder people were reacting to our dietary changes as though it was personal because for them it was. However I did not allow these reactions to turn into an excuse for eating in a way was not the healthiest possible.  Here is the bottom line, what other people do and say only has an impact on your if you allow it to.  If your husband, friends, or family want to eat meat and cheese that is their decision.  Their dietary patterns should have no impact on your health.  If you are allowing their habits to affect you I would say you are hiding behind an excuse.

The fourth item to keep in mind is that if you aren’t happy with your health, or the rate of change in the improvement of your health than something you are doing isn’t working for you at the moment.  This is a tough concept for people.  Remember my friend who lost 50 pounds but now the weight isn’t coming off?   Clinging to the idea that practicing moderation will lead to the goal is extremely unlikely since the pounds have stopped coming off. In this case the excuse is “moderation works”.  Really?  I would say the truth is that moderation worked for the first 50 pounds and now something else is required to get the pounds moving again.  Maybe when 6 additional months have elapsed without additional weight loss my friend will be willing to let go of this excuse. *fingers crossed* We all need to be willing to hold ourselves accountable.  When the changes we have made aren’t getting the results that we want that just means that we need to do something different. Don’t get locked into a pattern that no longer serves your best interest.

The fifth item to keep in mind is that sometimes drastic action is required when the problem is big enough.  We all see articles every day that tell us that if we swap multigrain noodles for white flour noodles we have made a recipe healthy.  While this is an improvement it is only a very tiny improvement and not one that is going to make a big change in anyone’s health.  If you are battling a chronic disease (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, auto-immune conditions, or have a lot of weight to loss) the changes you need to make will need to be much bigger than just simple swaps of whole grain for refined grain.  I hear lots of people say things like “but I read that if I do……, then that is enough.”  The bottom line is that most of us believe what we want to believe not what is actually in our best interest.  People want to believe that moderation is enough, but very often that is not the case.  If you have made changes but aren’t getting the results you want then bigger changes are required.   Don’t use things you read in the popular press as excuses. If what you are doing isn’t working then you need to do something different and most likely something more drastic.

What I hope you got from this is that we all tell ourselves stories.  By believing our own stories we are making excuses.  The problem is that we are only lying to ourselves.  No one ever improved anything by staying stuck in a rut that wasn’t moving them forward.  Don’t get me wrong if you rut is working (you are happy, a healthy weight, your lab results are good) then it means that you are in a good rut and you need to stay there.  However most Americans are in an unhealthy rut where they weigh too much, their blood pressure is elevated, and their blood sugar and cholesterol are too high. These are the people who need to step up their actions.  Remember our health is nothing more than a result of the accumulated decisions and actions in life.  The more healthy actions you take the healthier you will become. Once the vast majority of your decisions and actions are healthy you will be on the road to lifelong health.  People try to make “dieting” difficult but really is couldn’t be easier.  Eat as much whole natural plant food as you can, make these whole foods the bulk of your intake, be active every day and your health will take care of itself.

Like everything that I have written if this isn’t clear I would like you to let me know. I am happy to explain in a different way if that will help it make more sense.

Progress on my goals:

1.       Newsletters – Sunday was just as busy as Saturday for me.  This meant the newsletters didn’t get worked on.  I will be happy when January is over and I have more time to get things done.

2.       Body Bugg – I continue to wear my bugg and I have gotten back into using it the way I had intended when I purchased it.  Go me!  J

3.       Date with Dan – Dan and I had another quasi date, this one was dinner with Lauren as our chaperone.  ;-)

4.        Measuring calorie dense food – I am making progress adding nuts and seeds to our food. I

5.       Working on my business – My schedule got in the way of working on the business today. Sunday I was not able to fit in any time to work on the business, or to do laundry for that matter. Once January is over and I have more free time I will jump on this again.  I remember that I promised you the link to my second website on February 10^th and I really, really don’t want to miss that deadline.  *eek*  Nothing like self imposed pressure.  ;-)

How are you feeling about your progress so far?  I hope you feel like you have made a few lasting changes this month.  J

Random Thoughts:

I want to give you plenty of warning that I will be taking a few days off at the beginning of February. I have a ton of things to get caught up on in my life including:

·         Homework for the Robbins-Madanes Training program

·         Filling my house with fresh produce (in other words stops at multiple grocery stores are in my future)

·         Working on my second website which I plan to unveil on February 10^th assuming that I can stay on track

·         Cleaning my house since that was as the bottom of my list during most of January

·         Spending some me time in the kitchen working on recipes

·         Organizing the to-do list for the boat to get her ready for spring sailing

·         Taking the fur children to the doctor for their annual physicals

·         Getting back to the gym for morning workouts rather than exercising at home

 
Lots of things in my life went to the end of the list with the trip to the hospital and the added time writing the blog posts.  I need a little time to myself to get caught up so that I don’t feel as stressed out.  I really don’t do my best work when I am under pressure. I know lots of people do but I am not one of them.

Acknowledgements:

Have you made any progress writing acknowledgements?  I hope you are working on this exercise and enjoying it. I find that it helps me stay positive and recognize the things that I do every day.  Here are my acknowledgements:

·         I am very proud of myself for sticking to my daily posts this month. When we had the unexpected week long trip to the hospital I thought for sure I was not going to make it happen.  However I am happy that I exceeded my expectations for myself.

·         Sunday evening I was able to wear a pair of pants that were too tight only a few weeks ago.  It is nice to have most of those 4 pounds I gained when Dan was in the hospital gone.  Have you ever noticed how the pounds go on much easier than the come off?  Life is just not fair.  ;-)

·         Lauren told me that a conversation we had with Samantha while at the hospital made an impression since she asked her about soy protein isolates after we were gone.  Don’t you just love it when you can talk with someone and make a difference?  J

·         I was very happy to have connected Michael with Lauren on Sunday.  Mike is a new grad and I know he appreciated hearing about the nursing profession from someone who has been in a little while.

·         One thing that really struck me this weekend was how much everyone at the restaurant cares about us.  They were so concerned about our trip to the hospital earlier this month.  It was very nice to know how much they all care but I also felt bad since we made them worry.  Lauren commented that we were all at the hospital talking about food, nutrition and recipes and other people were worried.  I need to remember to keep them in the loop the next time so there is no unnecessary worry.

Sunday:

Sunday was a good day, a little busy, a little laid back, time with friends and time to relax.  I was happy to get the vision board post finished since I knew that one would take a long time not only to write but to put together a board that would make sense to all of you.  I wanted to create something that you would see that would immediately make sense given our life. I hope that I was able to show you how to translate what you want to achieve into pictures.

Both Dan and I had quinoa oat blueberry bars for breakfast.  There are now only 2 left which means it is almost time to start a second batch so that I can work on the recipe.  Healthy baking definitely takes more time to perfect than healthy cooking.  However I am determined to get this recipe right.  We had these for breakfast because we hadn’t heard from Lauren yet so we wanted something light just in case we ended up at Jesse Wong’s for lunch which was our back up plan. Fortunately she saw her email and we were able to coordinate dinner instead but that didn’t happen until a little after noon.

Lunch for both of us was chocolate, cherry, kale smoothies because they are quick, filling and healthy.  I had ½ of one and Dan and 1 ½ which is how we usually do it.  This smoothie is very calorie dense due to the nuts so I try not to eat too much particularly when I know we are going out for dinner.

Here is the Vitamix stuffed before blending. 

After blending it becomes two glasses like this. 

Dinner was courtesy of Ian and you know that meant it was delicious. We met our new friend Lauren for a healthy meal.  She was very excited to get healthy food out since that can be difficult in this town.  But now she knows our secret….Ian.  ;-)

We all started with the vegan soup which has the kale, white beans and sweet potatoes.

Next we asked the kitchen to make a vegan version of antipasti plate.  I am sure this looks familiar because we order it all the time because we love it.  I neglected my photographic responsibilities and recycled a prior photo.  Lauren enjoyed the dill on the artichokes, which I also loved and the flavor intensity of the house-made pickles.

Dan and Lauren split a samosa.  You know Lauren must rate since Dan usually eats one of these all by himself.  LOL

Then the three of us split an order of the Thai vegetables in peanut sauce over quinoa which I am happy to say has made it to the regular menu.  We had this dish on New Year’s Eve and loved it and told Ian to keep some of the sauce in the freezer for us.  Clearly he figured out that we liked the dish since it is now available all the time.  ;-)  The spicy peanut sauce definitely makes this dish IMO.

There were a few pots of green tea as well as baskets of whole grain ciabatta and “red stuff” (sun-dried tomato and golden raisin spread).  You can see my healthier version of Ian’s red stuff recipe here.

Dinner with Lauren was a blast. We chatted for hours, nibbled on food and chatted more.  Lauren spent a lot of time talking with Michael (the 6’7” recent nursing graduate who we lovingly refer to as Shorty) about nursing opportunities where she works.   I know he appreciated talking to Lauren and that she was going to set him up with some of her contacts at Hopkins.  We also got a couple of local veg take out suggestions that we are going to follow up on.  I have high hopes since the guys at the restaurant know good food and how we eat.  *fingers crossed*  We will definitely be making plans to get together with Lauren again soon.  She definitely fit right in with everyone at the restaurant. J

Happy thoughts:

Have you gotten into the habit of writing your happy thoughts?  I find it helpful to remind myself how often things go well and that I shouldn’t take these things for granted.   As always there are so many things to be thankful for that I almost don’t know where to start. Here are my happy thoughts:

·         Dinner with Lauren was great. We chatted for almost 4 hours while eating dinner, European style.  Lauren met a lot the staff and made friends with one of the new nursing grads at the restaurant.  Overall it was a very nice night and we will be doing it again soon.  Isn’t it crazy how you meet someone under less than ideal circumstances (like an emergent trip to the hospital) and you get a new friend out of it?  I just love how life works sometimes.  There really is good to found everywhere, even when it isn’t obvious.  J

·         Finished my latest vision board which took less time than I had planned since I had taken care of the compiling a lot of images ages ago.  For those of you who want to do multiple boards keep images in files by category and that way you can put boards together quickly.  My next vision board will be focused on exercise. I want to change my exercise routine and once I have the specifics well defined I will be making another board. Let me know if you want to see that one.

·         It was a beautiful day weather-wise on Sunday.  Additionally I am thankful for the mild winter we have experienced to date.  We are both looking forward to the upcoming temperatures in the mid 60s predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday week. This is not the typical January in the Mid-Atlantic but one that I definitely prefer to our normal weather.

Signing Out:

Can you believe there is only one day left in January? I am shocked that the month is almost over.  As much as I have enjoyed writing this series and I am also glad that it over. I really need some downtime so that I can get caught up on my life.  However I would love to hear about your favorite posts from the month.  If one or two of them stood out to you please let me know what they were and why.  It will help me to know what to write about going forward.

Monday was a tiny bit less hectic than most of the month has been as that was a very good thing.  I was actually able to do a little homework for the new training and I signed up for which was good.  It would stink to be behind after only one week.  ;-)

I also took a little time to make a pot of curried red lentil and tomato soup today. Not only did it make the house smell wonderful but it was nice knowing that it is healthy (turmeric), filling and we have enough for a few meals.  Love that!

I hope your week has started off well and that you are looking forward to the start of a new month.  February is just around the corner which means Valentine’s Day, the anniversary of the day Dan and I met and the ramp up to sailing season.  J  I am looking forward to February. 

Now it is time for me to enjoy the beautiful orange sunset and then make something for Dan and me for dinner. Talk with you all again tomorrow.

31 Days to Better Health - Day 24

Happy Tuesday, I hope the week is still going well for you.  We managed to get through Monday without any drama or crisis which was extremely nice.  I could use a little dullness in my life for a while so that I can relax and recharge.  In fact I used my down time to get in a little meditation time. It was a very relaxing way to spend a cold, dreary and often rainy Monday.

(Luca looking innocent)

However Tuesday morning was not smooth sailing at my house. Sometimes I think if it weren’t for my cats I would have nothing to do.  Luca was in the kitchen with me this morning when I was making Dan’s smoothie. I headed to the freezer to stash his smoothies and just as walked by she swished her tail. I didn’t want to step on her and lost my balance dropping one the glasses of chocolate smoothie which smashed on the floor. She stood there looking at me indigently like “why did you do that”.  Then Luca decided that she wanted to leave the kitchen and go through the broken glass and chocolate.  *ugh*  I got the cat out of the kitchen without getting any chocolate on her and had to close all three cats in a room while I cleaned up the mess.  Poor Dan only got half his normal breakfast this morning and now my slippers are covered in chocolate.  By the time Dan had finished getting ready for work and had come downstairs for breakfast all evidence of the chaos had been removed.

(Nicco....under that white fuzz is a little brat, but we love him)

After I got his lunch packed I decided that a nice bath was in order to chill out.  I had planned on relaxing but Binky jumped up on the edge of the tub and slipped into the bath with me.  His back feet got wet as did the end of his tail. When I called for Dan Binky dripping wet tail and all ran out of the bathroom and met Dan in the hallway. Dan had to corner him and dry him off with one of my towels.  Yes this is what life is like at my house in the morning.  Who said life is calm and peaceful when you don’t have children in house?  Fortunately Masi was sound asleep in our bed because we had turned on the electric blanket for him. At least one of our cats wasn’t a problem this morning.  ;-)  It definitely pays to have a sense of humor at our house.

Now that you have a vivid picture of morning at my house let’s get back to the work of improving our health. For those of you who are just joining us here is the recap of what we have accomplished so far to remind us all of how much we have covered during the first 22 days of January:

Day 1 – Defined Success and What is/was Holding Us Back

Day 2 – Determined our Purpose and Looked at Passion
Day 3 – Listed Our Goals for January
Day 4 – Listed the Things We Have Needed to Work on for a While
Day 5 – Looked at Optimism vs. Pessimism and Fear vs. Intuition
Day 6 – Practiced Conscious Eating
Day 7 – Hara Hachi Bu
Day 8 – Taking the Stress Out of Meal Time
Day 9 – Acknowledgments
Day 10 – No Excuses, Do it Anyway
Day 11 – Is it True?
Day 12 – Have You Really Connected With Someone Today?
Day 13 – Motivation is a Decision
Day 14 - Successfully Navigating Dinner at an Unfamiliar Restaurant
Day 15 - What Do You Want, Have You Asked?
Day 16 – Treating Others as You Wish to be Treated
Day 17 – Food as a Budget
Day 18 – Silence Your Inner Critic
Day 19 – Replace I Have to With I Want to
Day 20 – Identifying Your Rituals
Day 21 – Face Your Fears
Day 22 – Give Up the Diet Mentality
Day 23 – The Meaning and/or Purpose of Food

What did you think of yesterday’s post about the meaning and/or purpose of food?  Did you learn anything about yourself through the exercises?  If you don’t like how you view food and want to change it but don’t know how let me know either by posting a comment on the prior post or by sending me an email.  I changed how I view food and I know you can too.  Once you begin to view food as fuel everything else is easy.  J

Trigger Foods/Situations/People:

This idea was inspired by Christy’s comment about not being able to stop eating chocolate.  I remembered her comment yesterday when I was writing about my addiction to Italian comfort foods (bread, pasta and pizza).  However for some people it goes beyond specific foods and triggers also include particular situations and sometimes people.  I think most us have foods that we find difficult to control ourselves around.  Do you know what those foods are for you?  Do you know if you also have situations and people who are problematic for you?  Do you have strategies to handle these foods, situations and people?  That is what we are going to talk about today.

I am going to assume that you don’t know what foods you crave because I didn’t always know what those foods were for me. However there are some easy ways to figure it out but you will need to use the food journal that we set up yesterday.  Look at your journal and see if there were any foods that you ate when you weren’t hungry. If there were foods that you ate even though you had a hunger level of 0 it is a good bet those are your trigger foods.  If there were no foods that you ate yesterday when your hunger level was 0 either this isn’t an issue for you, or it shows up differently.  Were there any foods that you over ate while you were keeping the journals. These would have showed up as items you ate that resulted in your being full on the scale of 2 or 3.  Reaching the 2 scale may mean that you need to eat more consciously and slowly or it could be the result of consuming trigger foods.  If you reached a level 3 on the fullness scale I would say you have found your trigger foods.

The next question is do you have a problem one food or more than one?  My trigger foods all involve high carb items that are savory in nature.  I can easily pass up cookies or desserts but fresh baked bread is a killer for me.  I also have difficulty with pasta, pizza, potatoes, anything starchy as you can see. 

Now that we have identified the foods that trigger us to over eat what do we do about it?  For me the answer was very simple I take the easy way out and keep those items out of my house.  However I also know that I can have them in moderation when we are out and that is enough to satisfy me.  The problem comes when Dan wants pizza or bread.  Since I know that I have nearly zero self control around these things, but I don’t want him to be deprived due to my issue I make certain that he is home when I make them. I know myself well enough that I wouldn’t even consider preparing these during the week when he was at work.  Fortunately Dan and I talk about everything so he knows my weaknesses and understands that I need his help.  Can you do something similar with your trigger foods?  Maybe your family can have them when they go out, or they can be a special weekend meals instead.

I alluded to the situation that I have difficulty with above. I am much more likely to eat something that isn’t in my best interest when I am alone.  I think this is because being around people holds me accountable to myself.  My husband knows me as well and sometimes better than I know myself.  We talk about everything and he is always there to give me a gentle nudge when I need it.  Having a built in support system works very well for me.  What about you, do you know what types of situations are problematic for you?  I have talked to many people who have the same issue that I do eating things they shouldn’t when they are alone. However I have also heard from people who have difficult in the opposite situation. They are extremely disciplined when they are alone but you put them in a group and they feel like they need to fit in.  Other people have problems when they are eating where there is a buffet; parties are a common danger spot for people.  I have also talked to a few people who have difficulties staying on track when they go out to a bar. Apparently having alcohol reduces their discipline.  As varied as these situations all they all have solutions. The important thing is to identify what your specific issue is so that you can do something about it.

For example if being alone is a problem then keeping the trigger foods out of your house works well.  If you know that you have difficulty sticking to your plan when you go out due to peer pressure then you need develop phrases and strategies that you can use.  You could eat before you go so that you can honestly say you aren’t that hungry and salad is enough. Alternately you could explain that you are watching your weight (or are concerned about your cholesterol) and you need to stick with a salad.  In this situation all that is required is that you have thought about how you will handle things so you are prepared.  If you have difficulty with buffets at a party I have a few suggestions.  You can do what I do and scan the buffet before picking up a plate.  This way I know what looks healthy and what doesn’t.  Another tip that works well for me is to eat before these events so that I am not hungry when I arrive. I also like to carry a drink (usually club soda with lime) so that I don’t have a free hand. Most people are too busy doing their own thing to notice that you aren’t eating.  The last suggestion I have for buffets at parties is to go in telling yourself that you won’t get something until a certain time (near the end).  This way you have delayed eating and even if you get something that isn’t in your best interest there won’t be much of it.  If you problem is eating the wrong items when you are at a bar (or are drinking) this one is a little more tricky.  I could give you the obvious answer of don’t drink because it isn’t good for you but that probably isn’t what you want to hear.  The only thing I could think of for this was to eat before you go out. This will do two things, a full stomach will keep the alcohol from be absorbed as rapidly and that should help you make better choices. Also a full stomach will mean you have less room for unhealthy bar food.  If you have any other suggestions for this situation please share I would love to hear them.

The final area where I have heard people have difficulty with being around specific people.  I was surprised the first time I talked with someone and they told me that they make healthy choices all the time except when they are out with a specific person.  However after I heard this a few times I realized this was much more common than I expected.  The commonality in what people told me was that they had a specific friend where food was their bond. They would go out and eat unhealthy items like pizza, maybe they would go the bar and have beer and wings, or meet at Starbuck’s cappuccinos.  If you have this issue I have some suggestions.  You can find a restaurant that has both the healthy fare you want and things your friend will enjoy.  Our chef friend Ian fills this need beautifully for us.  I am sure there are places near you that can do the same.  Alternately you could get together at your home instead and that way you had complete control over the food.  What about meeting for a picnic and you both bring your own food?  My favorite idea is to get together for a non-food activity. You could meet an exercise class, a run or a walk.  What about a movie, or a concert?  There are many options here to get away from unhealthy food gatherings with this particular friend.  If they are a close friend you can confide in them that you are watching what you eat and ask them for their help.  Most people want to help and when you share something that you are struggling with usually they are more than happy to do what they can to be of assistance.

Today’s exercises are:

1.       We are going to return to the food journal that we started yesterday to identify the problem foods, situations and people.  You will need to keep track for a little while in order to identify the areas that you need to be aware of.  For some people a week may be enough time and others may need a month. After you have collected at least a week of data review your results. Does anything stand out as being a problem?  The important thing is to identify the things that are problems for you so that you can develop strategies to deal with them.  If nothing jumps out as a problem continue to keep the journal and come back to it in another week and look again.

2.       Once you have identified your problem foods, situations or people now it is time to brainstorm how you will handle these situations.  Write down as many possible solutions as you can think of.  Put these ideas into practice at each opportunity to determine which ones work best for you. 

Were you able to identify the situations that are problematic for you?  I hope that you were.  Knowing what the problem is in 90% of the battle.  Remember that everyone has things that they struggle with, you are not alone. Now that you know what you need to work on the rest is easy.  J Like always if anything that I wrote is unclear or you think that it requires clarification please don’t hesitate to let me know either by commenting or sending me an email.

Progress on my goals:

1.       Newsletters – Monday I took the day off to get a few other things accomplished. 

2.       Body Bugg – I continue to wear my bugg and I have gotten back into using it the way I had intended when I purchased it.  Go me!  J

3.       Date with Dan – Dan and I have been going for a walk each night after dinner. We are using this time to get away and talk as well as to add some movement and fresh air to our day.  Dan wants to get a little caught up at work but then we will be getting back to our date plan during the week.

4.        Measuring calorie dense food – I am making a little progress on this but I really need to focus on it with every veggie meal to help my body absorb the fat soluble vitamins.

5.       Working on my business – Monday I took the day off from working on the business.  The January posts are taking me many more hours to write than usual. As much as I love these posts I will be happy to see February arrive since I really need a little time back to work on other things, the business being one of them.

How are you feeling about your progress so far?  I hope you feel like you have made a few lasting changes this month.  J

Random Thoughts:


When we went for our evening walk last night we got on the topic of meditation. I told Dan how much I have been enjoying the meditation course from The Great Courses and how surprised I am that I feel somehow connected to Buddhism.  It is very strange for me since I was never interested in Asian religions in the past.  If you have read any books on Buddhism that you would recommend please share.  I would appreciate any suggestions you wish to share.

Another topic that we discussed during our walk was not sweating the small stuff.  It always surprises me how often someone will tell me about seeing one of my recipes on someone else’s site without any credit back to me.  The funny thing is that I could really care less about this.  I know that anything that I put on the web basically fair game for plagiarism. I share my recipes freely to help others to cook more healthfully with the hope that they will be able to improve their health.  Is it annoying that people will blatantly rip off my work?  Of course it is.  However in the larger scheme of life it is not significant.  If they can live with the idea that they stole there is nothing that my anger will do to them.  This is something else that I have learned from meditation.  The only thing that any of us can change is our behavior. We can give others information but in the end they are the ones that need to want to change. In the case of someone blatantly stealing they are obviously not concerned with what other people think. There is no reason to waste my time being upset.  Is there anything that upsets you that maybe you need to let go of? 

Speaking of recipes I noticed this weekend that my vegan mayo has over well over 10,000 hits now.  You have no idea how much this bothers me. When I figured out how to make this I was very pleased and wanted to share it with everyone.  About 6 months later I stopped using oil and haven’t made it since.  I really wish that people weren’t going to this so often because it makes me feel like I am contributing to their unhealthiness. I considered taking it down for that reason but decided that I shouldn’t since it is a least a tiny bit better than regular mayo. I have a question for you; if I can come up with something similar without oil would you be interested?  How many of you still use mayo with oil but would like a no-oil product?  I haven’t used mayo is so long that I don’t miss it but if there is a need for a healthy product I would be happy to work on a recipe.  Just let me know what you think by commenting here or emailing.

How many of you were surprised by some of the things we used to eat?  I thought twice about writing that but realized that most people haven’t been vegan their entire life and it is part of who I am.  There are many things that I have consumed in my past that I wish I could undo.  However I choose to view those as learning experiences rather than mistakes. I hope that you are starting to understand more about the experiences that shaped who I am.  As I have told you many times before I have not been healthy all my life, or even most of my life.  I truly believe that if I can get healthy anyone can do it.

Acknowledgements:

Have you made any progress writing acknowledgements?  I hope you are working on this exercise. I find that it helps me stay positive and recognize the things that I do every day.  Here are my acknowledgements:

·         It was nice to spend a little time in the kitchen on Monday.  It felt good knowing that I had a jar of bean soup in the refrigerator for lunches.  I love having cooked beans in the house because I feel so much healthier when I eat them every day.

·         Monday was a little busy and I almost didn’t make a batch of lasagna for Dan.  However since he hardly ever asks for anything I stopped studying and got the lasagna prepped and into the oven at about 6pm.  When Dan was enjoying his lasagna I was very happy that I make it for him.  He liked it so much that he had one and half servings.  When I see him enjoying it that much I am reminded that one of the reason I like to cook is that it makes Dan happy to eat.  It is wonderful knowing that I can make healthy food that he loves enough to have an extra helping.

·         It felt wonderful to have a little time to listen to another two lessons on the meditation DVDs.  So far this is definitely my favorite DVD from The Great Courses.

Monday:

There was no exciting food on Monday, sorry to disappoint you. I had my Asian savory oatmeal for breakfast. You have seen it so many times that I didn’t bother to photograph it.  The picture above is one of my prior ones.

My lunch was what was leftover of the kale and walnut sauce.  It was still delicious even as a leftover.

Dinner was Dan’s favorite lasagna the one that I posted here.

I also made a big pot of the French market bean soup which I documented here. The version I made today did not include any seitan sausage.

Happy thoughts:

Have you gotten into the habit of writing your happy thoughts?  I find it helpful to remind myself how often things go well and that I shouldn’t take these things for granted.   As always there are so many things to be thankful for that I almost don’t know where to start. Here are my happy thoughts:

·         I get excited each time we add a new follower to the blog. Since January 1 when we started the 31 Days to Better Health series we have picked up 24 new followers in 23 days.  *woo hoo*   Thank you to all of you who take the time to read.  If you ever have any questions or suggestions please let me know.  I am happy to share any tips or tricks I have learned with you and I love it when you share your tips with me.  It is my goal that we all change our health for the better.  I want all of us to end 2012 healthier than it started.  Each of us is stronger together than we are alone.  J

·         It is 5:20pm as I am writing this and the sun is just staring to set, and it is still 54 degrees I might add.  *woo hoo*  I can remember not long ago when it was completely dark before 5pm.  I love that the days are getting longer. Come on spring, hurry up and get here I have a sailboat calling my name.

·         Tomorrow is the first teleclass for RMT which should be fun.  I am looking forward to getting started with the next round of training. Thankfully I can do training through my smart phone since the class ends just about the time we are due at a doctor appointment.  Isn’t technology wonderful?  What did we do before we had mobile technology?  Sadly I am old enough to remember life without PCs if you can imagine.  LOL

·         Our weather has been lovely today. The temperatures were back up in the mid-50s, the rain disappeared last night and all the snow from the weekend is gone.  It definitely felt and looked a lot more like spring today.  The weather people are predicting this warm spell will stick around through at least Saturday.  Nice!

·         I got a nice email from Lauren at Hopkins early this morning.  We are going to try to get together next week. We thought lunch would be nice and I want to introduce her to Ian. He will want to kill me I am sure since he claims he doesn’t do vegan.  Oh well he will get over being mad I am sure, well at least I think he will.  Wish me luck, I may need it.  You know how temperamental artistic people can be.   LOL

Signing Out:

Tuesday was another busy day for me.  I still marvel at how many things I have on my to-do list given that I don’t work “outside” the home.  How did we ever get things accomplished when I did?  *scratches head*

The emails about IIN continue to come in daily.  I certainly had no idea so many of you had even heard about the program let alone that you were interested.  If you have specific questions email at veganepicurean@gmail.com please don’t be shy I promise that I don’t mind answering any questions that you have. 


I hope your week started well and that you have some nice things to look forward to this week.  At the very least take time to enjoy the little things in life.  J  Talk with you again soon!