There's a lot of negative baggage with the word "dieting." I would bet more people associate "hungry" with diet than "delicious." Actually I don't like the term dieting because it's too temporary. To lose or maintain a healthy weight it takes lifestyle changes. I'm adopting a term I heard recently--clean eating. To me, that means eating nutrient, delicious foods that are good for my body.
I took some pics of a couple of meals this week. I had grilled salmon with quinoa, sauteed mixed peppers, and a little homemade tartar sauce. I think the whole meal took me 20-30 minutes to cook. It actually looked better than this pic. So hard to get the lighting right in my house. I added some turmeric, salt, & pepper to the quinoa. Used almost no oil with the peppers. The salmon was cooked on my Foreman Grill (<3>
Yesterday I made a recipe I found from a FB group, Raw Recipe a Day. It's a Thai salad. Yikes, will I be making this again? Yes, yes I will. I'm salivating right now thinking about the leftovers I 'm going to eat later. It's basically napa cabbage with some julienned vegis (zucchini, cucumber, red peppers), herbs (cilantro, basil, & green onions), Thai peppers (couldn't find any so I used a serrano), and a fabulous dressing. It's fresh, delicious, cool, and spicy all at the same time. I love contrasting flavors/textures so I loved it.
Technically I cheated the raw concept cause I added some baked chicken on the side for added protein. Gossip has a Vietnamese dish similar to this but it also has rice noodles and bean sprouts. Next time I'm going to add the noodles (also not raw, but I'm not all into a completely raw diet, but that's a whole different blog post. Moderation in all things.).
The dressing is rice vinegar, agave nectar, olive oil, & chili paste. Sweet, sour, and spicy--sigh. Next time I'm actually going to decrease the oil a bit and I think it will be just fine.
I'm trying not to get on my soap box, but I believe a part of the weight problem in the U.S. is that we don't have a healthy relationship with food. We fight food. If you're dieting food is the enemy. I read once that you shouldn't take a bite of anything unless you are enjoying it. Can you imagine how your eating habits would differ if you enjoyed every bite. To me that's not a free pass to eat all the rich foods I can, it's a challenge to find foods I enjoy that are delicious to me.
That also doesn't mean you can't ever eat anything high in sugar or fat. Moderation, moderation, moderation. I generally avoid fries if I eat at fast food 80% of the time. Do I miss fries? A little. But that 20% when I eat fries (and I only get them somewhere they are really, really good, I'm not wasting those calories on junk) I enjoy them even more. Distance does make the heart grow fonder. Psychologically, I'm not telling myself I can't have them so I don't crave them. And knowing that I'm going to enjoy them more than if I eat them all the time makes it easier to avoid as well.
Same with rich, creamy desserts. I don't waste my luxury calories on crap like packaged cookies or whatever (although sometimes I do indulge but only if I will really enjoy it), I like to save it for something that will knock my socks off. Going to Gourmandie's Bakery is like a taste of heaven. I believe Homer summed up my feelings about pasteries, "teacher, mother, secret lover."
3 comments:
Totally agree. When I actually am consciously thinking and knowing what I'm sticking into my body I first decide if it's worth the calories.
If it is a dessert that is so-so.. why waste the calories. If it is a dessert that is AWESOME... eat half and enjoy it. :)
We got some peanut M&M's for Christmas from my mother in law (tradition). I have only eaten 2 or 4 at a time because I do enjoy them, but I enjoy them at a very small portion. I can have 1/4 a cup at 220 calories or I can have two at 30 calories. I choose the 30 calories, enjoy them, and enjoy losing the weight.
I can relate. We've gone on a food makeover and have decided that if we try, we can make way better food than we can get at a fast food place or going out to eat. We try to make things from scratch and focus more on the fruits and veggies than on the meat at a meal. Soon, eating out doesn't sound as appetizing as making something healthy at home.
And I agree about moderation in all things. I think that's one of the problems with the American diet: it is focused too much on carbs, fat, and sugar. It's not that you can't eat that stuff, just not all the time. I too save my indulgence of sweets for something wonderful. None of this store-bought crap that tastes just like shortening and is full of preservatives and nastiness. I want high quality sweets!
You're totally right. People do have a weird relationship with food, plus way too much processed stuff in their diets. Eating homecooked does wonders for a person's health.
That salad looks great too, come warmer weather I'll try it!
Thanks for the email too, I've been pretty badly kicked out of commission, so I need a while before I can look it over. Thank you a million times over!
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