Category: nutrition

Sustain-Ability

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The photo above is of a “continental breakfast”-style dinner.

I’ve taken to making this meal when I have no energy or desire to cook and then clean dishes pots and pans.

Food items:

Mary’s Gone Crackers gluten-free crackers.

Black seedless grapes.

Driscoll’s organic blackberries.

Cento olives in the yellow can.

Grillies halloumi cheese.

Have no idea if this is a healthful dinner.

What I’ve come to realize is that sustainable habits like a weekly routine should sustain our ability to thrive as human beings living in a society where the scarcity mentality is alive and well.

We shouldn’t view things in terms of competing with each other to get what we need to survive.

To sustain our ability to live life whole and well I think adapting and being flexible is paramount.

So take having that weekly routine:

In some weeks we’ll be cooking our dinners 4 or 5 times a week. In other weeks we’ll need to find quick-and-easy meals to prepare because our energy is shot or we don’t have the time to cook and clean.

Before we can save the planet we need each of us to attend to our own health and well being.

That’s because we might live on God’s newly green earth down the road. Yet if we don’t have the health to enjoy our time here it’s likely going to be harder to feel good about ourselves.

I eat well to feel well.

With the summer heat coming on I’m all for making dinners that don’t require using the hot oven. A way to save on your gas or electric bill too.

Christina’s Tofu Eggs

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A really long time ago I used to saute tofu cubes with broccoli in sesame oil for dinner. That was over 7 years ago.

The author of Fridge Love talked about how Joel Fuhrman, MD the Eat to Live author and creator of the nutritarian diet advises followers not to use any oils at all. Not even olive oil.

Using the recipe in Fridge Love I was able to cook the Tofu Eggs dinner as seen in the photo above. The tofu eggs taste better than the old way with sesame oil.

It’s a quick and easy 10 minute total cooking time. The extra time upfront is the 15 minutes where you press the firm tofu dry using the instructions in the Fridge Love book (listed in the blog entry where I shared this recipe).

I recommend lowering the flame a little. The recipe calls for medium heat. My stove is hotter so I lowered the flame to just below medium. I would even say to cook the last half of the time for only 5 minutes not 7. My pan got browned so I soaked it in water and dish detergent before cleaning it.

I’m glad to have found a healthful recipe that is quick and easy. You can even dice tomatoes to cook with the tofu.

Flexing Our Muscle at Any Age

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The book above received a ton of one- and two-star reviews on Amazon.

To be honest I checked the book out of the library and didn’t buy it. I thought it was an OK book and will read it again in my spare time to get inspired.

The reviewers who trashed Flex Your Age didn’t like that the guide offered no exercise routines and no eating plans.

In my humble blog here I’ve been reposting my workout routines for readers to use if you want.

What impressed me about Joan MacDonald the author is that she didn’t start lifting weights until she turned 70. By 71 she was lifting 175 pounds with a fully loaded barbell.

And I thought it was remarkable that I didn’t start lifting weights until I was 46. 3 years later I could lift 205 pounds with the trap bar at the gym.

Joan has me beat! Though this is not a competition. Nor should the two of us and what we’ve done intimidate readers or make you feel poorly if you can’t do these things.

The point to our stories is that change is possible at any age. Incremental change is always better to effect if you ask me.

Soon I will post my 2023 Fall Upper Body and Lower Body routines.

Water the Drink of Life

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A Health Coach told me to drink 60 ounces of water each day. I’m willing to trust that she is right that “Water flushes out toxins.”

Years ago I read a book an M.D. author wrote who claimed the health advice people are given is bad. At first I thought she could be right. Her confession that she drinks Naked Juice all the time killed her credibility.

This ENT doctor for kids in a hospital claimed you didn’t need to drink water throughout the day. That most of us get enough water from the food we eat. What about people who chow down on a Big Mac for dinner.

The more sensational your claim (the Medical Medium anyone?) the more likely you are to get a book contract to peddle your “knowledge” / “information” (often along with a product or pill for sale).

I’m not a licensed professional. What I write and speak about is to show readers and audience members things they can know to have a better life.

The truth is I practice what I preach–or else I too would be a charlatan selling modern-day snake oil.

My Health Coach is the one I turn to for solid advice. Right away after drinking 53 ounces of water for 7 days I saw a a difference.

Drinking water throughout the day helps you maintain energy. At least I feel lighter and more clear-headed when I drink water.

There’s a trick to make this easier. The Health Coach told me my idea was great to fill a water bottle before I go to bed and keep it on the night table. Quick and easy it is to drink the water first thing on waking in the morning.

In the drugstore I bought a 23-ounce double-walled stainless steel water bottle. As well I have a 10-ounce ceramic Venti mug of water with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The analogy is that you need to fuel up at the start of the day to feel and see the best benefit. It’s like filling up your gas tank before you take a road trip. Either way if you don’t do this in advance you’ll be running on empty for the rest of the day or the trip.

I’ll end here with this: wanting to be happy and healthy isn’t something to be ashamed of. Each of us deserves to feel good and be well. Even if our devotion to wellness threatens others who are miserable because they don’t like their own life.

The reality is you and I can live our ideal lives. Define “ideal”–it isn’t perfect or flawless. Ideal=authentic. That’s the difference.

I’m in cahoots with Marie Kondo on this one: Tidying up is the gateway to creating a happier and healthier life for ourselves. I’ll talk in the coming blog entry about how reading Kondo’s latest book sparked health as well as joy.

The Myth of Buying Organic Food

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In the Frank Lipman, M.D. book How to Be Well he exposes the following as unhealthful fats to avoid consuming:

corn oil

canola oil

soybean oil

vegetable oil

sunflower oil

safflower oil

and of course palm oil that is not ethically sourced.

The dilemma is that these fats are cheap. They are used in organic food “products” that come in boxes or bags.

This is not real food in its natural state.

Skinny Pop popcorn uses sunflower oil.

The other dilemma is that most organic products use “natural flavor” which is a chemical additive.

I steer clear of consuming any food or drink with natural flavor.

Ginger ale has natural flavor. These chemical additives are everywhere.

Food manufacturers use these fats and chemicals because they’re cheap ingredients. The cheaper the product is to produce the cheaper it can be sold. Which is not how to choose what you eat and drink: by whether it costs only $2 dollars as opposed to $8 dollars.

Those of us who live in poverty should not be forced to subsist on unhealthy food either.

Greenmarket season is in full swing in New York City. People who use SNAP can use their “food stamps” to buy produce at Grow NYC markets. They can get health bucks to use to purchase more food.

You can even use EBT benefits to buy food online at markets to deliver to your home in New York City.

I urge readers not to buy food “products” as a rule.

You’ll pay for it down the road in higher medical costs.

Coming up I will see about posting new recipes I’ve created.

In the next blog entry I will talk about setting long-term goals.

As I near retirement I’ve been thinking long and hard about my life and how I want to live in my Golden Years.

These years should be golden not tarnished with ill health.

Eating to Beat Depression and Anxiety

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Drew Ramsey, M.D. published the new book Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety.

I’m set to check the book out of the library soon.

The wind-up is that like I’ve forever touted in this blog the food we eat can improve our mood.

Per the Women’s Health magazine page that reviewed the Ramsey book the following foods up our happiness quotient:

Leafy Greens:

Kale and Seaweed

Rainbow Produce:

Bell Peppers and Avocadoes

Seafood:

Wild Salmon Anchovies and Mussels

Nuts, Beans, and Seeds:

Cashews Red Beans and Pepitas

Meat:

Grass-fed Beef

Eggs and Dairy:

Eggs and Fermented Dairy

Who says you can’t have yogurt in moderation?

I started having mussels once a week long before I read this Women’s Health review. Too I’ve always preferred cashews over other nuts.

If you don’t want to take my word for these things you can take the word of Drew Ramsey, M.D. who wrote the book Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety.

The 80 Percent Rule

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Years ago I had written in here about the 80 Percent Rule I adhered to: eating healthful food 80 percent of the time.

Devorah the health coach vetted that eating well 80-to-90 percent of the time was perfectly fine.

She believed that my indulgence in a pastry 2 or 3 times a month was okay too.

No– we should not think of treating ourselves to food as “cheating.” We should think of doing this as an “indulgence.”

There’s a difference: labeling food as good or bad is a moral judgment that sets us up to feel like we’re a good or bad person for eating the kind of food we do.

I have discovered chocolate souffle pots that I can order with my weekly groceries delivery.

The ceramic pots can be repurposed for ramekins to use for melted butter when you cook lobster for dinner.

Trying to be a saint 100 percent of the time will set us up to fail.

I can’t resist a cannoli on occasion : )

Hello Healthy Fat

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The Health Coach I hired zoomed in on how I could boost my energy that had tanked:

“Have more protein and healthy fat at lunch and in the afternoon.”

Devorah said: “The carbohydrate bucket should be low.”

The exception is that sweet potatoes are a healthy carbohydrate.

How auspicious it was that 2 weeks before talking to the Health Coach I started buying the sweet potato chips seen in the photo above.

You can order them from Fresh Direct online in New York City. Or ask at your local food market if they stock this product or could start getting it.

The simple ingredients: sweet potato olive oil sea salt.

Devorah vetted that this is a great snack to have in the afternoon with a little hummus to help extend my energy later in the day.

Other food to elevate my energy:

Have an avocado or hummus with my salad at lunch. Or have celery with peanut butter.

I tipped Devorah off to Hope brand plain hummus. It uses olive oil not natural flavor.

Natural flavor is a chemical additive found in Sabra hummus.

The better option is the Hope brand plain hummus.

I steer clear of natural flavor in food and drink products.

I steer clear of food products with unhealthy fats like sunflower or safflower oil or corn or canola or vegetable oil.

I steer clear of potato chips and pretzels except every so often.

Devorah vetted that it’s okay for me to have a pastry 2 to 3 times a month. Plus a hot chocolate a few times a month.

In the next blog entry I’ll talk more about what Devorah told me.

The Fruited Plain

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Two years ago I hired a Health Coach to help me design a better eating plan.

Goodbye, granola mush morning breakfast. Hello, scrambled eggs with shitake mushrooms.

This was in 2019. Since then I had regained my energy through fall 2020.

Stress lack of sleep and depression can cause fatigue.

“Sugar can exacerbate anxiety and depression,” Devorah the Health Coach told me.

Fruit grains and beans break down into sugar.

Devorah told me I could have 1 to 2 small pieces of fruit a day.

I add organic raspberries to my salad for lunch. Mix in organic blueberries with whole-fat plain Greek yogurt after I exercise.

For breakfast I have an organic navel orange. That’s all in terms of fruit.

Yes–sugar is the culprit in ill health more than any other substance is.

A lot of us had become depressed while sheltering indoors during the pandemic. Not only this a person can be depressed because they’re under stress.

Whatever the root of what you’re going through as I’ve written in here before healthful food can improve a person’s mood.

How am I climbing my way out of the recent fatigue I’ve experienced?

First I have started to focus on living for today. Not worrying about what might happen in the future.

Hiring Devorah was the strategy that helped me start to regain my energy.

Though I paid her you will get her action plan for free courtesy of what I’ll be covering in the coming blog entries.

National Nutrition Month

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March is National Nutrition Month.

As of today I have only two months until Greenmarket season starts in New York City.

Some Grow NYC markets are open year-round in NYC.

In the coming blog entries I’ll give recipes for coleslaw and mustard greens.

In the first four months of the shutdown in New York City in 2020 I had been buying organic CSA produce boxes. Cooking my own meals with the vegetables.

This month in here I will focus on recipes again.

Too I want to talk about surviving a setback like the pandemic or living through a challenge that threatens to throw your health out of focus.

Stay tuned.