It's the Great Bread Hunt, Charlie Brown

We need a new bread at home.  I don't eat a lot of bread, unless I overdose on it.  But my family eats a lot of bread regularly.  Toast and sandwiches are part of everyday life.

The problem is the bread they use is not altogether the most healthy.  It's this kind:

INGREDIENTS:

ENRICHED UNBLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VIT. B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VIT. B2], FOLIC ACID [VIT. B9]), WATER, CRUSHED WHEAT, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, YEAST, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF THE FOLLOWING: VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN, SALT, VEGETABLE OIL (CANOLA AND/OR SOY), HONEY, MOLASSES, RAISIN JUICE CONCENTRATE, DISTILLED VINEGAR, YEAST NUTRIENT (AMMONIUM SULFATE), DOUGH CONDITIONERS (MONO-DIGLYCERIDES, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, ASCORBIC ACID, AZODICARBONAMIDE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), CALCIUM SULFATE, ENZYMES, CALCIUM PROPIONATE (MOLD INHIBITOR), SOY FLOUR, NONFAT DRY MILK.

This bread has 80 calories per slice, 1 gram of fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

Could it be worse?  Well, yeah.  Could it be better?  Totally.

So begins the great bread hunt.  We have tried other breads in the past, but nothing goes over very well with my son.  And if he doesn't like it, he won't eat it.  And I don't really force it because it's bread and he can survive without toast for breakfast.  But I'd really like to find some new healthy bread that we all enjoy because I want to get back into eating sandwiches especially with warmer weather coming.

It is coming, right?

One Year Later

I must post today as it was one year ago today that I started on the journey to health.  Unfortunately, I am not feeling all that creative or philosophical tonight so this will be quick.

Some of my accomplishments:

• I have lost 80 lbs (officially 79 at weigh in, but 80 as of this morning, and before Christmas).
• I started and completed the Couch to 5K running program.
• I can now run a 10K without stopping to walk, longest run to date is 6.5 miles.
• I can run for an hour on the treadmill, all the while staring at a red wall.
• I have run a mile in less than 10 minutes.
• I have gone from a tight size 18 to a comfortable size 10.

Some things I've learned:

• My passion for cooking is coupled with my passion for eating.  The less I cook (new, fancy recipes), the better off I am.
• I can accomplish that which I put my mind to.
• I don't actually want to be skinny, I want to be fit and healthy.
• I actually like running in the cold weather.

Some goals to reach in 2011:

• I want to reach my goal weight of 136.8 and learn about maintenance.
• I want to run (on average) a 10 minute mile pace.
• I want to run Bloomsday in May (a 12K) without stopping to walk, even on the dreaded Doomsday hill!
• I want to run 10 miles without stopping to walk.
• Mostly I want to make it through winter intact, still running, and weighing less.

Now, on to year 2!  There will be more accomplishments, and more learning, and more goals.  As long as I'm moving forward, I'll be happy.  Of course I'd like to reach my goal weight like tomorrow, and run those 10 miles like next week, but one day at a time....

Thank you for reading my blog! I appreciate it so much!

Surprising Food Disappointments

As I find more and more "healthy living" blogs, I find more and more foods I think sound yummy and want to try.  Many of them turn out great, some turn out to be surprising disappointments.  Today I thought I would share some of those disappointments.

Steel cut oats
First, let me say I love oatmeal.  It is yummy, creamy, and comforting goodness.  I like quick cooking oats, regular rolled oats, and those little packets of cinnamon flavorted Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal.  In my prior life, I also consumed the regular pure sugar flavored packets of instant Quaker oatmeal, but I'm pretty sure those hold no nutritional value for me now or ever again.  Anyway, given my oatmeal repertoire, I felt sure that steel cut oats would be my next love.  I'm sad to say I was wrong.  I have tried these things a number of ways and I just can't get them to a point of tasting good.  First, the cooking process is long, which is fine and I was prepared for the time.  However, I wasn't prepared for the mess of them boiling over if you cover the pan, or the disgusting dried ring of yuck around the edge of the pan that forms when you do not cover them.  Ucky ucky ucky!  In serving these I have tried adding healthful things like fruit, nuts, almond milk, milk, evaporated cane juice, bananas, and even nut butters (see next paragraph).  I mean, steel cut oats are not the worst thing in the world, but they are not good enough to add to my pantry for good.  I like to keep things simple, so I'll stick to my Quaker rolled oats for now.

Nut butter in oatmeal, steel cut or rolled or otherwise
I love nut butters!  Peanut butter is my favorite, but I also like almond butter on occasion.  I thought for sure adding either of these to my oatmeal would make for nut buttery goodness.  Wrong!  This combination seems not to be for me.  I think it's because while I like PB or AB on toast or a toasted English muffin, I do not like either of them HOT and they get hot in a bowl of hot oatmeal.  I still look at bloggers' pictures of a bowl of oatmeal topped with nut butter and think dang, that looks good, but for some reason looks aren't everything.

Butternut squash
I thought this was something I really liked.  Loved, no, but liked, yes.  I had it at a friend's house one time and it was so yummy.  I realize now the yumminess was from the butter and brown sugar that was added.  I have been wanting to try roasted butternut squash, butternut squash risotto, and all other kinds of things involving this squash.  Sadly, when I roasted it, the smell was so much like squash I almost gagged and then the taste of it was pure SQUASH.  Ew, icky.  Bummer, I don't like squash.

Roasted chick peas
Another thing I read about on other blogs and was anxious to try was roasted chick peas.  Now, mind you, I only tried these once but once was probably enough for this lifetime.  I do love a good garbanzo bean, in minestrone, on salads, even plain, but the roasted variety just didn't cut the mustard.  I was expecting something like a roasted nut, but what I got was a roasted bean.  Blech! 

So there you have it.  Just a few things that I'll not be adding to my food plan.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on Yummy Food Finds. 

What have you tried lately that you thought would be awesome but turned out to be icky?

Make that 65!

I weighed this morning and lost another .8 which makes my total weight loss 64.8, or 65 if you round.  The counter on this site rounds which I like! 

I got out of bed to run this morning.  I'm not sure if it was my 5 hours of sleep or lack of good fuel before running, but it was not an easy run.  Sometimes it's just that way, I guess.  Even marathon runners can have bad runs, or so I hear.

That happened to me on Friday.  I set off for my long run, 60 minutes.  I had a GREAT 55 minute run the previous Friday so I was looking forward to more awesomeness.  Well, it felt pretty okay the first 30 minutes or so, but once I got to my turn around, I realized I'd been running on a downhill for a good while which meant running back uphill.  My legs and lungs were both screaming by the time I got to the top and I could not catch my breath.  I decided to take a walk break and have some water.  But that turned into more and more water.  I tried to run again a couple of times, but was only able to for about a minute or so at a time.  It was another one of those runs where I was asking myself what the hell I'm doing out there?  But luckily I had planned an out and back course so even though I couldn't run anymore, I still had the mileage to cover in order to get home.  So I just walked.  And told myself that it's okay, an off day is okay.  So I didn't beat myself up about it, I just moved forward.  Later that day I took a nap so I guess was just having a lazy day all around.

Anyway, it's times like that where I remind myself where I've been and how far I've come.  I may not have run the entire 60 minutes, but I was out there in the first place.  I set my alarm to get up and run ON MY DAY OFF.  There's a saying that goes something like, "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey."  I am moving forward and I will get to my goal, but along the way, I will celebrate the milestones and even try and enjoy the challenges.  For that is what life is about.

In other news, I am finding it harder and harder to want to eat veggies.  I love fruit, but veggies are just not tasting good right now and preparing them is just annoying.  Who wants to take the time?  But I know veggies are important so I still find ways to include them, even if it's spending a little bit more money on precut, prewashed items.  My latest fad is baby spinach.  I put it in a bowl, add some thin sliced Roma tomatoes, reduced fat Feta cheese, ground black pepper, and balsamic vinegar (sometimes olive oil if I still need the fats for the day) and presto, spinach salad!  It's easy and yummy!  Otherwise it's carrot sticks and cucumber and those are just plain boring.

So that is all.  I must work now.

Food for Thought

As I said in an earlier post, I wish I was a Vegetarian.  I really do.  I actually was a vegetarian for about 5 years starting when I was 19.  My friend and I decided to become vegetarians on a whim, but what started as kind of a flighty decision turned into being one of the best I ever made.  Back then I was pretty fit and healthy already, but I quickly dropped 10 pounds and was in the best shape of my life.  I remember looking at myself (naked) in the mirror one day thinking how I actually had good thighs!

Through the years of avoiding meat, I also started reading a lot about meat processing and slaughter practices in general.  And can you say, yuck?  Not just yuck, but oh, those poor things!  It always irritates me when people who eat meat tell me they can't bear to watch or read information about what happens to these animals.  I think if you cannot handle knowing where your food comes from and at what cost, you don't deserve to eat it.  What a great example of keeping your head in the sand.  But that's my opinion.

So anyway, I loved being a vegetarian.  I loved how I felt, I loved saying it, I loved knowing that I wasn't contributing to the suffering and death of so many defenseless animals.  What I didn't love was having to eventually cooking two meals since my husband would turn out to be a meat eater.  I didn't love worrying about what would be served at someone else's home if we were invited for a meal.  I never liked making a big deal about my eating habits because I always thought no one should have to make concessions for me.  If they asked, I was proud to tell them.  If they didn't, I just dealt with it.  But eventually I guess I got lazy and it seemed easier just to eat meat again, so I gradually added it back to my diet starting with seafood, then poultry, then red meat and pork.  And besides, I never quit wearing leather.  People always liked pointing to my leather shoes or purses if I brought up the inhumane treatment of animals who are raised for food.  I was often accused of being a hypocrite.

I watched Oprah on the day she had Michael Pollan as a guest who talked about the documentary "Food Inc." I tend to gravitate towards information on healthy eating, meat processing, etc. so I was immediately interested in viewing the entire film. I have been trying to round up a copy of it for the past couple of weeks when 'lo and behold, PBS decided to air it for me last night!

Food Inc. is not only about the meat we eat, it's about all food and where it comes from.  The message is about buying from your local farmers and supporting your local industries.  Buy organic products.  It's about possibly spending more on your food but spending less on your health.  Spend more on the front end to save more on the back end.  All of this makes perfect sense to me.

The film says the consumers have all the power, but as one consumer, I feel pretty powerless.  We have a farmer's market here in town from May to October and we also live pretty close to a farming community which has commercialized itself into a family fun center, basically.   I am happy to support these things.  But I also love the convenience of going to the grocery store and buying all the fruit and vegetables I want no matter what season it is.  It's not a necessity, but it's a convenience that I like.  Although apparently by buying fruits or veggies out of local season I am supporting the destruction of the world.  So what do I do?

I have decided that my first step will be to consume less factory meat and dairy, and look for more free range and organic options.  And consume less meat overall since I'm a vegetarian at heart. 

I will still have my leather accessories, though.  Am I living a double standard? 

My next order of business will be to read the book, The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.  This book was also featured on Oprah's show that day.  I'm not about eating a bunch of soy products in the shape of meat, or making "cheese dip" that has no cheese in it, but I think her ideas are worth reading.  I'm not interested enough to actually buy the book, though, so I need to reserve my copy at the library.  I'll post back with my opinion.

Regardless of your opinions about eating meat, or not eating meat, I recommend watching "Food Inc."  If for no other reason than it is good food for thought.  It can never hurt to be more aware of where your food (not just meat) comes from.