Nutrition

I've been thinking about nutrition a lot these days. It all started with my mother-in-law's facebook post to get rid or all sugar and wheat in her diet. She had a lot of comments after posting this and one of them included this link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/07FAT.html?pagewanted=all

This article was written in 2002 and besides its anti-doctor rhetoric, it makes for a very thought provoking read. There are a few things that struck me, the first is that they state that no fat person wants to be fat. It's not like they are eating to become unhealthy. This article links the increase of obesity with the influx of low-fat products on the market.  When food is low fat, it becomes high in carbohydrates, which makes a person not as full at the time of eating and makes the person hungry quicker. This leads to more eating, which causes more calories which causes obesity.  This makes sense to me.

After I read that, I went to my doctor database to see what I could find in medical journals. Contrary to public belief, there are some interesting articles. One study showed better weight loss and a decreased cardiovascular morbidity with the low carb diet (versus the low fat diet). Others showed that the low carb diet could raise your LDL (the bad cholesterol) but it also raises your HDL (the good part). There are others, but I forgot the specifics. I want to make something clear, which I say diet, I mean the type of food you eat, not the diet you go on to fit into your wedding dress. The diet I'm talking about is a lifestyle change.

When Frances was about 2 months, my hunger was insatiable. I wanted to eat all the time and it took a lot to fill me up. I know that is due to nursing, but I felt a little out of control. To help me keep accountable, I downloaded a free kindle app that records your calories and has a huge list of food, including store brands and fast food. This helped me control my eating and also helped me make better food choices. My plan has been to eat the normal amount of calories for my weight and not to take into account the breastfeeding. This would make a caloric deficit of at least 500 calories and help me to return to my pre-pregnancy weight. But it isn't all about weight loss. While I'm breastfeeding Frances, I am acutely aware that what I am eating will eventually go to her. I believe that if I eat a varied diet with lots of fruit and veggies that she will be an adventurous eater.  This worked for Henry.

Take for instance, last night. In lieu of my nutritional feelings, I went shopping at Trader Joe's for some "clean" food. I found some great stuff and last night I made baked tofu with quinoa and garbanzo beans. Henry helped me cook and while I was cooking I told him I was making something fun and new. I showed him how interesting the multicolored quinoa looked and let him stir in the garbanzo beans. I wanted to show him the tofu in the oven but he is still scared of the oven thanks to one fire billowing episode (I mean it was a year ago or so.....get over it *sarcasm*). Henry plated the dinner and we all ate. Henry ate it without hesitation and even liked it.  What a son!

Now back to my "clean" shopping. With all my thoughts together, I'm going to try to eat  better. I'm going to give me and my family two weeks to see how eating perfect makes us feel. I think it will be a lot of time and effort, but hey, you can do anything for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, I will evaluate how it went. I think the best way to eat healthy is the so called "clean" diet, but modified. I think it is important to eat as naturally as possible with a lot of fruits and veggies and eggs and meat. I also think that carbs are not all bad, but that they have been refined too much.  I mean, carbs are complex sugars and complex sugars are in fruits and veggies too. The clean diet says you need to have 5-6 small meals a day. This makes sense because you will never get super hungry, but I don't think it is feasible for me. The clean diet also says you can't drink wine.  I'm going to drink wine. The clean diet does talk a little about low-fat things, but I am going to ignore that and go full fat!


With those modifications, I'm all in... well almost. I'm just waiting for the cook books to be ready at the library.