ERA Update through Day 24: Spice it UP!

by durham, February 25, 2010 | Permalink

I have eaten 4 REALLY amazing meals since my last update. The first was a homemade Saag made with kale and traditional Indian spices. The second was a Thai coconut curry chick pea dish (recipe here) that totally rocked my world. And then I kicked up my regular ol’ veggie chili to a new level of tasty! And yesterday, I made a really simple soup with hulled barley, which may be my new favorite grain!

So here’s how I made the Saag. It was so good, I had to share the recipe. It has so many different ideas from different recipes, that it seems this one can be claimed as an original at this point! The kicker was the second night when I threw a couple red peppers and a tomato in the oven to roast and then combined it with the leftovers. That was a killer good left-over meal! I would probably add them from the beginning next time!

1 lb kale (I used the bagged, pre-chopped, pre-washed easy kind)
4-5 medium white potatoes
2  serrano peppers, fresh
1/4 teaspoon ground asafoetida (you have to get this at an Indian specialty market, and it’s near the soaps, not spices, weird, I know!)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
ginger
lemon juice
olive oil
salt

In a frying pan, use just a tablespoon of a little olive oil and add the remaining spices.  Heat the spices until sizzling, add potatoes and stir; then add the kale puree.  Stir well; taste and add salt as needed. If it looks and tastes dry, you may want to add more water.

Serve with a sprinkling of lemon juice over quinoa or rice!

ERA Update Days 15 – 19: Not a lot to report

by durham, February 19, 2010 | Permalink

Things are just truckin’ right along. The hardest part of the Eat Right America program continues to be the limited oil and salt. I start most of main dishes by sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil. And I love the way onions and garlic taste when sauteed in olive oil! I haven’t found a way to start a preparation in a different way that yields such satisfying results as good ol’ olive oil sauteed onions and garlic. Water saute, to me, basically leaves me with “steamed” garlic and onions, not what my taste buds even want to hear about, much less taste! So, I often “cheat” a bit and use more than a total of 1 tablespoon of oil a day so that I can fully enjoy my garlic and onions!

Then there’s salt.  I really do love the way salt pulls moisture and flavor out of food. I rarely actually cook with excessive amounts, but I always salt at the table for that final touch.  I have really cut back on salt during this program, but I can’t say that I’m getting to that point that people talk about. That point where you don’t even miss it, or often think that food prepared by others is “too salty.” Not yet.  There’s still a week to go though. Who knows what could happen.

I bet you curious if I’ve lost any more weight. I forgot to let you know those results earlier this week. Well, the weight loss seemed to be an initial thing. Those first 5 lbs came right off, but I seem to be at a plateau. No loss or gain since last week. Still right at 144.5.

ERA Update Days 10 – 12: I am human

by durham, February 13, 2010 | Permalink

I cheated, y’all. Thursday night I caved to the pressure of some fabulous strawberry chocolate chip blondies that were staring me in the face and BEGGING me to eat them! And they were good. I’m not going to let this set me back though. I move forward with determination and motivation to finish this 28-day plan to the best of my ability.

The blondies were vegan, so the only “cheat” was the processed flour and sugar contained within. I’m still eating an animal-product-free diet and feeling okay about it.

I was thinking back to my first couple days on this diet and remembering how at the time I thought this would be much easier to do during the spring or summer when local produce was in-season and abundant. However, I’m now realizing that soups have been my favorite part of this program. And I enjoy those much more in the winter; so I guess I’m glad I’m doing this in February!

I made an amazing soup on Wednesday night that had roasted cauliflower, carrot and celery pureed with low sodium veggie broth, garlic, onions and curry powder. It was absolutely amazing and the pureed cauliflower gave it a nice creaminess. It might be my favorite new food discovered while doing this little experiment! At least so far!

I’ve also found myself enjoying a lot of new produce that I haven’t tried before (and I thought I had tried it all)! Thrusday night I juiced a pumello (an ancester of the grapefruit) for my after-dinner “cocktail.” It was sweeter tha grapefruit, but still had that bitter bite to it! Delicious!

ERA Days 5 – 7: Today requires a list!

by durham, February 8, 2010 | Permalink

I have so much to report to you about the past few days on the Eat Right America 28 day program.  I think I just need to make a list!

1) Fatigued and Grumpy! The ERA plan sends you an email every day with suggestions and tips about how to maximize your experience on the 28 day plan. The email I got on Sunday said I’d be feeling one of two ways: Better than ever OR Fatigued and grumpy. It explained that it was okay to feel the latter of the two because many people’s bodies go through some serious withdrawal when eliminating sugar and refined foods. I felt much better knowing that the fact that I was feeling pretty grumpy about the whole thing was normal. Granted, I was still grumpy, but a better grumpy.

2) Detoxing. Let’s talk about detoxing for a moment. I have done a lot of different detoxification programs over the last 6 years or so. Everything from the “Master Cleanse Lemonade Fast” and a basic juicing fast to an elimination diet combined with one of those boxed cleansing supplement packages that we sell in the Whole Body Department. At different points in my life, I’ve needed to detox for different reasons. I didn’t really think about this diet as a detox. But last night I noticed the tell tale sign that my body is detoxing. I apologize in advance if this is too much information, but my tongue turns white when I detox. It’s one of the visible ways that I can tell my body is detoxing. Who knew? I’m getting a good detox on this diet. Rock on!

3) Boredom vs. Hunger? During the past 8 days I’ve realized that I often eat simply because I’m bored or uninterested in what’s in front of me.  I’ve had to stop that because this program strongly recommends eating only 3 meals a day and limiting your snacking. So, I’ve found other ways to occupy my time. But an interesting thing I’m noticing is that my stomach seems to “growl” out of boredom just as much as it does out of hunger. I realized that when I eat a smoothie, there is just as much food in there as my normal salad at lunch contains. But shortly after eating a smoothie, my stomach starts growling. But it takes much longer after eating a salad for my stomach to start growling. It’s just as much food! Shouldn’t it take about the same amount of time for me to be hungry again after eating? See the picture below to see what I’m talking about with the smoothie. There’s a lot of food in there!My stomach just wants something to do in the same way that I do!

4) Weight Loss. I decided that I would “weigh-in” every Monday morning  before eating breakfast. Since I started the program on a Monday it made sense. I started last Monday weighing 149.5 lbs. This morning I weighed in at 144.5 lbs. WOW! I’m really shocked. I’ve never lost that much weight in a week. I have to wonder a) if it’s all water weight lost with the reduction of sodium in my diet or b) if this is fat loss, then is it healthy to lose that much in a week? I don’t know folks, but the scale doesn’t lie.

5) Weight Training. I have started the weight training portion of this 28 day program now. The first few days I just didn’t have the energy or interest in lifting a finger, much less lifting a dumbbell. But it’s happening now. It feels good. My body likes it.  I’m a little sore, but I always enjoy the feeling of being sore after a good workout. It tells me it worked! So, I expect to see some of the weight lost last week to come back as I build muscle mass with the weight training routine.

6) FOOD! Y’all, I love food. I love food so much! It’s the reason that I love my job here at Whole Foods Market so much (well, one of many reasons). I have to admit that I’m surprised by my cravings over the last few days. I’m not missing dairy, which is one of the things that I thought I would miss the most. I wasn’t a huge meat eater before I started this diet – I would go many days without including meat in my diet. But when I chose to enjoy meat, I wanted it to be awesome. Local grass-fed beef or local pork (BACON!). And I am really craving those things now. The program guidelines do allow for occasional consumption of grass-fed beef, so I might be breaking out one of those occasions pretty soon.

7) SUGAR! Sugar deserves a whole separate category in my list. I am definitely still craving sugar. More than a couple times every day I have gotten this deep craving for sugar. My body has been addicted to sugar since I was a teenager. I guess I suspected this all along. But now I really know it. I try to ease those cravings with fruit. My smoothies go a long way towards satisfying that sugar craving. But I am extremely proud of myself for not giving into the cravings. I have 2 pints of ice cream in my freezer that I couldn’t stand to throw out before I started the program. And both are still in their frozen home, untouched. The thing with sugar is that I can’t really just have one bite and walk away. The one bit will make the craving for more so unmanageable that I’ll make “secret” trips back to the freezer all night long for “one more bite” and before I know it the pint is empty. So I’m being as strong as I know how. And it’s good.

8 ) Football. Seriously, what could football have to do with this diet. Well, most of you know there was a big football game on last night. And here’s where I have to admit that I didn’t even watch the game. Had no real interest in watching the game. But I felt VERY left out that I couldn’t enjoy football-watching-food like everyone else in North America last night.  So, I decided to fix myself a fun finger food that would meet the guidelines of this program and make me feel a little more included. I took a couple Ezekiel brand sprouted grain tortillas and put them in the oven to crisp up like a tortilla chip. And I made a batch of yummy guacamole with so much lemon that it didn’t even need salt! I was really proud of myself for figuring this out! So proud I took a picture! See below.

Smoothie ready to be blended, from top to bottom: coconut milk, orange juice, spinach, ground flax seeds, frozen blueberries, cherries & strawberries

Game Day Guacamole w/ Sprouted Grain Tortilla Chips

ERA Day 2 Recap: Enter Vegan Temptress

by durham, February 3, 2010 | Permalink

When I got a call from my friend Jess yesterday before leaving work with an invitation to join her for homemade vegan oil-free split pea soup, I was thrilled! It had been a long day and the thoughts of preparing something that met ERA guidelines for myself for dinner sounded daunting at best. And oh boy, was that soup yummy! It was from a cook book called The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Excellent meal! Thank you, Jess! There was a recipe for vegan stuffed peppers in that book that looked like it would also meet the guidelines of this plan, so I hope to make that soon as well

But, the ERA plan is not a vegan diet. It’s not a vegetarian diet. It’s really hard to put it in any one “box” that we usually use to label the way we eat. They’ve coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe folks following this plan. The idea is that you needn’t limit yourself to a specific diet, but you should leave your options open to include as many highly nutritious foods in your diet as possible.

So, to make the title of this post many any sense at all… when Jess recommended that we do more vegan cooking together throughout the month, it was hard to explain that just because a recipe is vegan, doesn’t mean it will meet the guidelines of this plan. No vegan cupcakes for me. At least not until March!

You may have noticed the ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) scores on many food products throughout out store. This score indicates the ratio of micronutrients to calories in a particular food. Kale, Collards and Mustard greens all weigh in with the highest ANDI score of 1000.  So, leaving lots of room in your diet for these highly nutrient dense foods will make for much healthier choices.  On the ERA 28-day plan, my goal is to eat as many foods with high ANDI scores as possible, while eliminating sugar, processed foods, meats and dairy products.

So far, I’m eating the right foods. I won’t pretend that it’s been easy though. I’ve had cravings for cheese, chocolate and bacon more than once.  The first night I went to bed hungry. Last night, I went to bed feeling a little weak and shaky, and most of the day yesterday I had a dull headache. I woke up feeling fine this morning, but my energy level has been low. I’m hypothesizing that this is because of the initial withdrawal from sugar and fats. I’m anticipating an increased energy level as this plan progresses and my body adjusts to these changes in my eating habits.

I have to admit though that the decrease in my energy level has not helped in the physical activity that I’m supposed to maintain during this program. There are fitness guidelines just as there are eating guidelines. And so far, I haven’t been able to do what they’ve suggested. My goal is to start with the fitness side of the program tomorrow morning.

For now, here’s a glimpse at my diet yesterday:

Smoothie: Spinach, Flax Seeds, Frozen Cherries, Frozen Mangoes, Frozen Blueberries, Orange Juice and Coconut Milk

Breakfast:

1 cup of Yerba Matte Tea w/ Coconut Milk Creamer (1 snack)

Smoothie (see photo above) (1 raw veggie, 2 raw fruits, 1 seed, 1 snack)

Genesis Sprouted Grain & Seed toast w/ Raw Almond Butter (1 whole grain, 1 nut)

Lunch:

Large Salad from WFM Salad Bar w/ greens, carrots, beets, quinoa, lemon juice/olive oil (3 raw veggies, 1 oil)

1 Banana w/ Almond Butter (1 fruit, 1 nut)

1 cup of cantaloupe (1 fruit)

Dinner:

2 big bowls of split pea soup (2 cooked veggies)

Eat Right America: Day 1 Recap

by durham, February 2, 2010 | Permalink

My footing was shaky at best as I embarked on this healthy eating adventure yesterday.  Starting a 28-day healthy eating program the day after a rather big snow storm, with very little in the way of healthy food in the house, was maybe not the smartest choice. I was not prepared.

Most days this wouldn’t have been a problem, as working here at Whole Foods Market gives me ample opportunity to shop for healthy food. But of course it was my day off, and my car is stuck in the ice. I decided to deal with what I had in the house and make it work anyway. So, here’s what I ate yesterday and how each item counted on the ERA plan:

Breakfast:

1 cup of Yerba Matte tea with a splash of Unsweetened Coconut Milk Creamer (1 snack)

Smoothie: Spinach, Coconut Milk, Orange Juice, Frozen Cherries, Frozen Mangoes, Frozen Blueberries (1 raw veggie, 2 fruit, 1 snack)

1 Serving of steamed broccolini (not my usual breakfast fare, but it worked) (1 cooked green veggie)

Lunch:

Smoothie #2: Spinach, Frozen Banana, Coconut Milk, Flax Seeds (1 raw veggie, 1 fruit, 1 seed)

Green salad, carrots, lemon juice and a light drizzle of olive oil (1 raw veggie, 1 oil)

Genesis Sprouted Grain & Seed Toast with Raw Almond Butter (1 whole grain, 1 nut)

Dinner:

Large Romaine Lettuce Salad with Carrots & Avocado and Lemon Juice/Olive Oil (1 raw veggie)

Quinoa w/ Water-Sautéed-Kale, Onions, Garlic, Broccoli, Tomato and Cannellini Beans seasoned with Basil, Oregano, and Thyme (1 whole grain, 2 cooked veggie, 1 bean)

Quinoa with water-sauteed veggies/beans!

I learned a valuable lesson from this unprepared day of eating on the ERA plan. I was HUNGRY when I went to bed. I won’t do that again. I’m going to have to do some kink management here. It will take a few days to get the hang of this diet.

In the ERA plan, fruit juice, salty snacks, fried food, rich deserts, caffeinated/non caffeinated drinks(diet drinks not included), and alcoholic beverages are all considered “snacks.” With my “personalized plan” I am to eliminate processed sugars and flours, so that pretty much wipes out rich deserts from my diet. And I’m supposed to bring my salt consumption down to 1200 mg a day, which means no salty snacks for me! Oil consumption should be no more than 1 tablespoon per day, so there goes fried foods. I can have 1 caffinated beverage a day. And I use fruit juice in my smooties. And I do like a glass of wine with dinner every now and again. So, that’s my 14% snacks.

You may be asking why in the world I am doing this diet. I am not over-weight. At 5’8″ I weigh in right under 150 pounds, in the average range and BMI. Could I stand to lose 5 or 10 pounds, absolutely. A few years ago I was right at 137 pounds and felt great! My blood pressure and cholesterol levels are also normal for my age (28) as well.

I’m honestly doing this as an experiment. I don’t want to be suggesting that other people try a plan that I haven’t tried myself. For folks looking to lose weight, I’m pretty confident that following the ERA plan will guide you on your way.  And I’m also fairly confident that cutting out sugar and processed foods will greatly improve my health. And it takes something like this to get me past the cravings (especially when I work at Whole Foods Market, where the temptations are all around, and do you have any idea how badly I want some of our fabulous gelato right now?!?! AND it’s DIME COOKIE day. Testing all my limits here).

I told you that I’d be offering a few disclaimers, inherent advantages, that I don’t think it’s fair not to mention.

As a Whole Foods Market Team Member my enrollment to the ERA plan is free. The general public will pay $14.95 for the Nutrition Prescription at eatrightamerica.com And I also receive a 20% discount on all my food from Whole Foods Market, which makes this easier on the pocket book for me.

I also already own a blender and a juicer, which aren’t necessary to own in order to complete the 28 day program, but certainly make it easier (and tastier!).

Plus, I’m young and child-free. I can see where this diet would be much more difficult to follow if I were also trying to adjust children to these lifestyle changes. Or even worse if I was trying to follow this plan around children who weren’t following the plan. Those temptations would be intense!

So, I survived day one, even if I went to bed hungry. Today won’t be so bad.  A friend is making split pea soup for me tonight and has agreed to follow all the guidelines! I can’t wait. Stay tuned for more updates…