Low-Carb and Vegetarian?

A low-carb lifestyle has worked well for Pete, carnivore that he is. It worked so well, in fact, that I decided to try it myself. Sure, I have a few extra pounds to lose, but the main reason I chose this diet is to break my carb addiction. Yes, addiction. I realized that thanks to a series of scheduling challenges, health issues and increasing laziness, I was eating utter crud. Well, not crud, if it weren't the only thing I ate. Carbs and dairy, 3 or 4 times a day, washed down with a diet coke or a glass of wine. Breakfast? A bagel and cream cheese. Lunch? A sandwich, heavy on the cheese. Dinner? Some form of pasta and cheese. A snack? Crackers and cheese. See the pattern? No fruits, veggies, or lean protein. Frankly, I don't know how I lived that way. If it weren't for Flintstones, I'd probably have keeled over by now.

Interestingly, that was technically a vegetarian diet. Most people think all vegetarians are skinny, healthy people. They are, if they eat a balanced diet - just like omnivores. But many vegetarians actually eat crud like that under the misconception that they're eating well. Some even live on really bad junk food, like soda and doughnuts - hey, it's still vegetarian, right? Most vegetarians fall somewhere in the middle, of course.

Personally, I'm an omnivore who's too cheap to buy high-end, grass-finished lean meat all the time, so I like to include some vegetarian meals in my menus. I just recently found a small cookbook by Margo DeMello entitled Low-Carb Vegetarian. She was apparently one of those misunderstood unhealthy vegetarians, and used low-carb dieting to improve her weight and health. Her cookbook is not so much a collection of new recipes as revisions of old favorites from her past. This book is very useful for anyone looking for alternatives to meat, i.e. soy-based products. If you've never explored them, and think that soy = tofu, this book is excellent for showing you what is available and how to trade it for meat products. I prefer minimally processed foods, but I think it's very valuable to know what your healthier options are if you just can't live without a certain food.

I'm not sure why this book is called Low-Carb Vegetarian and not Low-Carb Vegan, as all the recipes are, in fact, completely vegan. Perhaps the editors were concerned with how small the vegan cookbook market may be. It's easy enough to substitute dairy products for the soy-based pseudo-dairy in the recipes, but remember that the nutritional facts will be off. This may or may not be an issue depending on which plan you follow. South Beach lets you eat as much as you want of certain foods, but the Zone suggests you count your protein intake, among other things. The Zone, in particular, seems to be the program the author is most familiar with (because it has a vegetarian program available), but she does address the overall low-carb concept and several of the most popular plans.

Is this one I'll keep on my kitchen counter? Probably not, simply because I spent several years as a vegetarian and am already comfortable making substitutions. Will it save us money? Probably not - directly. Soy-based products are often costly because of the processing involved, and the limited market. Having said that, if you are not already in the habit of making substitutions, replacing a few meat-laden meals with meatless ones could save you lots of medical expenses in the future. This book is simple and non-threatening to omnivores because the recipes, like Taco Salad or "Chicken" Caesar Salad, are familiar tastes already. Tofu can be scary; soy "chicken" is not. In fact, this book inspired me to stock my fridge and freezer with many of the vegetarian options I'd forgotten over the years. No mac & cheese for this girl tonight!

Setbacks and Small Victories

The past few weeks have been an exercise in resilience for our family. Last week brought a number of personal trials, including losing a friend to cancer, personal medical issues, and a new second shift schedule. Gone are the family dinners, the structure, and a lot of the sanity. I'd love to tell you that we're all sailing through these trials like Odysseus, strong and virile, thanks to our clean living and heroic characters. I'd like to tell you that, but I can't.

Nope, we're human. Life happens, and everyone deals with it, but last week just seemed to "gang up" on us, well, me, in particular. Pete made the switch to working evenings, and I was completely prepared. I had a detailed schedule in place so we could make the most of the change. In fact, we were looking forward to it. I'd have more time to write, and he'd see more of the kids and me during the day. He'd really get to bed no later than usual, so all in all, it was going to be a good change. Monday went well. It was the last such day; every other day all week something, or several things, just plain went wrong. Now, as I said, life happens. Everyone has a week like this once in a while. You deal with it and move forward. Last week I lost my schedule and good intentions by Tuesday night and never quite got back on my feet. The whole week was a wreck.

I'm not making excuses or looking for sympathy. I just want to point out that it was "one of those weeks", since it happens to us all sometimes. What's more important is what I learned from it, and what I'm doing about it now. First, I learned that when I'm stressed I eat carbs. Hmm... sound familiar? I knew I did it before last week, but wow, I never realized how MUCH I eat when I'm stressed. My personal weakness is pasta with butter (yes, real, 100 calories per Tb butter), salt, and Parmesan cheese. Not just a little mound on the side of the plate, either. I'm talking: take out the bowl you use to bring potato salad to the church supper and fill it - that's my "serving" when I'm stressed. Not surprisingly, I'm dragging, since I've gained weight and water and haven't had any vitamins or nutrients all week. Worse, I've dragged my family down with me. Pete's been living on peanut butter, I think, and the kids haven't done much better. My son's first tooth fell out today, and a little voice in the back of my head thought, "scurvy?".

One week of lousy food probably didn't hurt anyone, much, but it's certainly not a path I want to follow for long. On the other hand, I still haven't figured out how to make balanced meals for everyone with the irregular schedule we have. I'm working on that. In the meantime, I'm making some small changes. Pasta isn't going anywhere, as long as I'm here, but I switched to high-protein pasta, added some veggies, got rid of the butter, and switched to Himalayan salt. None of these are huge changes, but consider them transitional, and certainly better than what I was doing. I also stocked up on the vitamins, minerals, and supplements I've been missing. Some of my medications also deplete my stores of these essentials, so now that I'm off the meds I'm restocking my vitamins and minerals. Check with your doctor is you suspect you may be living with deficiencies like mine. The supplements are temporary until I can balance my diet appropriately, since healthy food is the best way to keep your body balanced. Finally, I'm working on getting the kids, and myself, on a healthy sleep schedule. With Pete gone in the evenings it's been hard to get the little guys down at a reasonable hour, but I've got to make the effort. I realized I need to get them down early enough for me to enjoy some quiet time before I can relax and fall asleep. Instead, I've been struggling to get them to bed, then staying up another 2 or 3 hours wide awake. No wonder I can't get up as early as I'd like! Well, I'm working on that too.

This week is for transitional changes and reflecting on how to do things better. Life can't be all about acting, or reacting, but needs to be a balance between the two so we can learn from our mistakes and do things better the next time around. Hopefully I won't have another week like last week anytime soon, but I will have a better week, now, this week, thanks to the things I've learned.

Need Motivation? How's this...?

How's this for motivation to get your weight under control? Check out this map from the Center for Disease Control. It shows the fattening of America state by state from 1985 to 2007. Maybe all those aerobics in the 80s really did help. Maybe partying like it was 1999 didn't. Only you know what you were or weren't doing during those years, but WE, America as a country, are in trouble now. In one state, 44% of the children are obese. Not "baby" fat, not cute and chubby, obese. If that doesn't change, this kids can look forward to a life of health problems, medical bills, and missed opportunities. This warning isn't just for the kids, either. The statistics on adult obesity are even worse.

This weekend we celebrate America. Many of us remember 1976, and still find it hard to believe such an amazing country could be barely over 200 years old. We didn't go from being a colony to being the U.S.A. without some serious motivation, determination, and hard work. It's in us, no matter when your family first arrived. My husband and I are each only 2nd generation Americans, but that drive to succeed came with our ancestors who chose to make their way here from the Old Country. You have that drive too. Instead of waiting until New Year's Day, let's grab our bootstraps and decide to take on America's weight problem right now, as we celebrate America's greatness.

Got plans for the 4th of July? Great! Make them active plans. Swim, boat, fish, hike, sightsee, or play - do whatever you like! Write down how much time you and your family spend outdoors every day for a week. The average American spends less than 5% of his life outside. Let's fix that! Just an hour a day and a few extra hours on the weekend can double that, and time in the fresh air is usually active time.
Got plans to cookout for the 4th of July? Fantastic! No where else on Earth is cooking out or BBQ as universally practiced and loved as here in America. Be sure to balance the burgers with lots of healthy, low carb sides. Check out the great recipes (and personal triumphs) in one of my favorite blogs, Swallowed By a Fat Girl, for inspiration. Of course, feel free to serve some of the recipes you've seen here, too!
Got plans to party for the 4th of July? Remember, alcohol is sugar as far as low carb diets are concerned, so drink in moderation (for a number of good reasons) and keep munching healthy snacks with your cool refreshing beverages. Don't forget to drink plenty of pure, old-fashioned water, too, especially while your outside playing in the sun.

Happy 4th of July, Everyone! Happy Birthday, America!

Sausage & Spinach Summer Wraps

It's still too hot to cook here on the Emerald Coast, so I've been getting creative with dinner. My theory is that if I keep it interesting enough, my family won't notice that I'm not cooking. Last night I made Sausage & Spinach Summer Wraps. They took less than 15 minutes, only one pan, and were delicious. I hope you give them a try.

Start with a low-fat or turkey kielbasa, such as Healthy Choice. I usually keep several in the freezer, since you can dice them easily even while they're still frozen. Slice a 1-pound kielbasa sausage into half-inch slices. Cook the sausage over high heat in a large skillet. Mix together 1 cup of cranberry-pomegranate juice, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, and a few dashes of hot sauce, and pour it over the sausage. Cook until the liquid reduces to a sauce, about 10 minutes.
Wrap a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves and about 5 slices of kielbasa in a whole grain or low carb wrap, and drizzle some of the sauce over the wrap.

The crisp greens compliment the hot, tangy sausage, and the whole meal is wrapped up and easily enjoyed outside or in front of the A/C, whichever you prefer. You could make this wrap even more healthy by using low-sugar or low carb juice and ketchup, but the 3 main ingredients are already pretty darn good for you! Go ahead and play with it and make it your own. This recipe started with an idea from Jacques Pepin, which I then played with to make my own. His Fast Food My Way series has some wonderful suggestions for quick and delicious eats, and he encourages everyone to adapt recipes to his or her own tastes, local ingredients, and cooking style. Just beware that he IS French and some of his food is sinfully rich (read: not exactly low carb, low calorie, low anything!), but it's all delicious. If you do pick up one of his cookbooks, I hope you'll do what I do and use his great recipes as idea springboards to help you keep your low carb lifestyle full of flavor. Enjoy!

Summer Eats

Two weeks ago my friends and family in Maine were waiting for the last frost so they could plant their gardens safely. Here on the Gulf Coast, however, we're already eating the first veggies out of our gardens. Actually, I struggle to grow herbs, but I'm very lucky to have good friends with green thumbs who have generously given us lots of delicious food. There's something very satisfying, as a mom, about having your 5-year-old beg, "Puh-lease, Mummy? Please can I have just one more tomato?" Needless to say, our tomato supply didn't last very long, but we don't mind one bit. In fact, having torn through our stash of fresh veggies from our friends, I'm perfectly happy to visit the local farmer's market downtown, or even buy local produce at the grocery store. If you look, you can find local and/or organic produce in most markets now. Yea!

Because there's a heat wave here right now, I've been avoiding cooking, but I couldn't resist using those first fresh veggies of the season. I cooked several pounds of high-protein, whole grain pasta, for use in several dinners throughout the week.
*One evening I cooked yellow squash and zucchini, both cut into one-inch cubes, over high heat with olive oil and minced garlic and onion. I let them soften and brown slightly, then added red kidney beans, low-sodium beef broth, salt and pepper. I mixed this with an equal amount of pasta and tore some fresh basil over the top.
*Another night I roasted banana peppers and broccoli with sesame seeds and tossed them with a little ginger vinaigrette to top the pasta.

Each night's dinner required only a few minutes of preparation, one pan, and a few cents' worth of ingredients (even if we had purchased the produce). They were both full of flavor but low on carbs, sugars, calories and cholesterol. Talk about low cost low carb! Best of all, we got to enjoy several meals full of beautiful, bright fresh flavors right out of our friends' lush garden.

Mission Impossible?

About a year ago, my husband came home with very upsetting news. His fasting blood glucose (FBG) reading was 110. That's right on the borderline for pre-diabetes. His cholesterol was also creeping up, and, as if to add insult to injury, these numbers were all from his 40-year checkup. You'd never know he had any medical issues. He's tall - 6'3", in fact, and very lean, never more than 220 at the most. Even at 40 he was out performing many of the 20-year-old "kids" he worked with every day. You see, my husband is in the Navy, so his physical health has been closely monitored for at least the past 16 years. He's exactly that guy you look at and hate for being so fit. But inside, apparently, it was a different story. This first notice that there was anything amiss came with a command from the flight surgeon : Get your numbers down in 30 days, or lose your wings. If we didn't find a way to improve his health dramatically within 30 days, we would lose his flight pay, he would be reassigned at best, and he might even lose his position and pension. After 16 years of service, we were about to lose everything.
As I write this today, my husband is at work, on base, doing what he loves. He's in wonderful shape inside and out, and we're both much happier and healthier than we were one year ago. What exactly happened? Well, he dropped his FBG 30 points, and his weight 20 lbs in those 30 days. Neither the flight surgeon nor the dietitian had seen anything like it, but there he was, strong, lean, healthy and determined to eliminate any question about his fitness. How did he do it? Well, our learning curve was more like a rocket launch. We tried everything we could right away, and have spent the past year enjoying a more leisurely sampling of menus and methods. Now that the panic is past, we've also focused more on the cost of good nutrition. Low carb often means lean meat, and that adds up quickly. Now that he's healthy, we experiment with less expensive meals that net the same health and nutrition for us in the long run.
This blog is his story of determination, my story of support, and our story of gleaning the best of everything out of a tough situation. We'll share what worked, what didn't, what had us pulling out our hair and what made us laugh our butts off, all in the hope that it will help you or someone you know overcome your own health hurdles and enjoy a long, healthy life. Thanks for joining us!