What We Eat: Food Issues

[Hopalong]

Good to read this again.
I'm doing moderately better...but still "shoving in" more than I need. I don't LIKE the stuffed feeling.
So it amazes me that the brain ignores the obvious for the short-term comfort of taste, texture.

I feel a bit more relaxed than I had been, maybe there's hope the habits will change.

A thought I hadn't had before is that not only emotional pain, but physical pain, can trigger my sweet tooth. (Picture a walrus tusk...makthe me lithp...)

When my back is flaring up I want more.

Hops

[Hopalong]

Hi Portia,
Asking this here instead of on Boundary thread...

How do you know when you feel you need supplements?
Does cod liver oil taste as terrible as I've always heard?
Do you worry at all about iron overload/heart disease?

Thanks,
Hops

[Plucky]

Hi Hoppy,
You didn't ask me but I think I know a little.  If you are low energy, having strange cravings, problems sleeping, vague pains, these can be signs of deficiencies.
Cod liver oil, or the 21st century equivalent, comes in capsules so no need to suffer as we did in our youth.
Nordic Naturals makes wonderful supplements from fish and other oils for many different needs.  I think they will send you a sample.
There is also a company in Germany called Salus Haus making iron and other supplements in liquid form.  Try florahealth.com.
Plucky

[Hopalong]

Thanks, Plucky.
I am leery of excess iron...it can cause heart disease.
I was taking coldwater fish oil supplements for the Omega 3s for a while, but had breath like a dinosaur's butt.
Not for the iron though...I thought that was the main thing about cod liver oil.

I'm feeling pretty good though! Prematurely happy at being out of the workplace! MAYBE forever.
(Though I worked til 2 a.m. yesterday to do the last chapter in a 75-pg patient manual with lots of clip art and formatting and stuff...plus editing it into tidiness. I actually enjoyed that assignment.)

My back's relaxed and I was able to actually ALERT THE MEDIA cook tonight. That means I did something other than beep.

I picked all my leftover tomatoes and cooked them in olive oil with garlic, onion, and fresh basil and served the sauce to Mom with grated fresh aged Parmesan (contradiction) over wholegrain rotini and a little leafy + broccoli + carrots+dried cranberties+olives+pecans salad...

It felt so GOOD to eat something so purely healthy. When I stick to that, I lose the sugar craving.
But I did see a dessert so evil on The TakeHome Chef that I'd make it for a party. It was amazing.

Wish y'all were all here and we'd do a group trip to watch the leaves turn and the doggie regatta tomorrow! Last time I asked one of the men why he'd gotten into it, and he said, it's the closest thing to sailing I could find on dry land. Wow. That image reallly worked for me, the dogs were like waves, the field...oh well, it's just an intensely delightful fall thing to do, and I haven't felt like doing much on a Sunday afternoon. Now I am eager!

Feeling blessed and lucky,

Hops

[Plucky]

Hoppy,
you cannot just throw out a term such as "doggie regatta" without some explanation.  ? 
Plucky

[Hopalong]

  Hi  Plucky--Happy Sunday!

Picture a big field sloping away from you (like a bay, say).
The dogs kind of "tack" and whatever you call it (I learned sailing terms in French and can't remember the English) back and forth across the field.

It's not an exact image, but if the dogs are sleek little sailboats and the field is water and the sheep are gusts of wind...the dogs navigate their way back and forth to herd them with a lot of similar directional navigation to a sailor's.

I just got what he meant--the trainer I talked to used to sail, and the precise navigation of the dogs against unprectidable elements like bolting sheep (wind gusts, say) works something like sailing.

That help?
 
Happy sunny (I hope for everybody..it is here) Sunday!

Hops

[WRITE]

my dog is here at my feet, prevented from her walk by rain, I'll take her when it slows down.
I love walking in the rain. We get a lot of sun here, so a rainy day is now like a sunny day used to be in England!
Most times it buckets down too, so the soft gentle misty days are precious.

I've had to cut out dairy, found myself getting tons of catarrh/ throat problems/ congestion etc and decided it was my love of cheese which has undone me!

On that topic I have been writing an excellent back and forth poem with my little sister, it is so good to share these little things with people.

I am so much tuning in to the little things which are meaningful and are the composite of the big picture 'happy life'.

[moonlight52]

Write and ALL,  Happy Sunday

Tuning in and the right frequency this sounds so good to me I will keep my heart's understanding of life so called little "gifts"......................

I have my internal radio on.

Every time it rains here there is major excitement, we all love to run outside and revel in it the whole thing
the lightning and thunder the clouds rain is a major reason for the moon family to go in back yard and jump up and down and act like 10 year olds .
(we give ourselves permission to play)

Hops , love the sailing analogy .I am a cat person so any insight to the wonderful world of dogs is beauty to me.I can almost feel the breeze on my face.

About food I do not eat meat I used to eat fish do not do that anymore.Lots of reasons.

But I will eat soy tofu poached egg I am sure I am not getting enough protein I will have to educate my self on nutrition.

All my Love Always

MoonLight

[Overcomer]

Hey everyone, this thread is a good one...lots of places to go.  I am not afraid of iron because I am almost always anemic (but I lose a lot of blood each month )  The cod liver oil is something I am supposed to do but forget a lot.  Doc says it will help with my hurting joints .  I use the lemon flavored cod liver oil so it is not bad.

Problem I have with food right now is I am getting a gut.  I used to carry all my weight in my thighs but since I have been in my 40s it is settling right on my midsection (right below my boobs.....)  It's gross.  So when I sit down I get real bad heartburn.

What I do is stress and anger eat.  I walk the dogs every single day but my metabolism is so screwed up.  And I have this thing with sugar.....or white bread..............or pasta...................it all converts to sugar and I am insulin resistant so the sugar runs around my body and has no where to go so it plants itself on my middle.  This prediabetic condition is stupid because I need to correct it so I can be healthy.  My dad has diabetes and he can barely walk, is impotent, has heart problems - it's a big deal!!  He'll die prematurely because he could not keep the sugar out of his mouth and unfortunately I am following suit.

I would like to address some of these patterns of getting angry and running to food.  Gettin bored and running to food.  Getting stressed and running to food.  Has anyone found some tactics to avoid all this insanity!!  Maybe Overeaters Anonymous??  I mean, Al-anon is doing me wonders.....

[Hopalong]

Wow, kelly, that's a great idea. Overeaters Anonymous really might speak to you!
Gonna try it? I agree, no need at all for you to follow in your Dad's footsteps. Sounds like you're going to resist that fate, though...good for you.

I have not overeaten at all today...and I know why.
Last night I did that healthy, satisfying dinner. My body FEELS good when I do that.

And then today, I felt happy. At church, driving around the country, watching a brilliant young border collie do her thing with some very fed-up sheep. I saw beauty, I spoke with friends, I felt joy.

I'll need reminding in the winter that I already have some fat to live off.

Sometimes I MAKE myself down the huge veggie salad, grumbling all the way. But it does help stave off other stuff.

Moon, you're doing great if you're doing tofu/egg stuff...that's great protein. (If you weren't getting enough protein you'd never have the energy to run around in the rain like a 10 y/o. I so love it that your family gets wacky!) 

I think maybe one answer for me is to rediscover that I enjoy cooking. Just vegetarian stuff, so it can involve some sleuthing to find nice and EASY reciipes. But when I do make the effort and cook something that's yummy AND healthy, I seem to be content with less. Hmmm.

(Things out of packages and boxes that are...well, crap food...don't give me that EMOTIONALLY satisfied feeling. So maybe if I get more involved in picking fresh produce from the market, thinking ahead a bit to what I could experiment with next, etc....I'll take more pleasure in what I eat, and thus eat better.)

It also doesn't hurt to watch The Takehome Chef on TLC. He is delicious.

(Aha. I probably eat because I have no sex life, too.)

There we go...the topic roars! 

Hops

[Overcomer]

You are right, when you buy something to cook and it's organic and fresh, you feel better.  WEll, I am going for it today.  3 points down - I think I am going to try a little more exercising!!

[Hopalong]

You go, Kelly! 
I've only been eating better for about a week, and the scale has noticed.
I know it's best never to go on "diets" which just trigger rebound, so I haven't.

The one thing that's changed is I got involved in the cooking, and thinking of the delights of a healthy dinner with good ingredients. How I could get whole grains, fruits, and veggies into one simple meal. And I start the day with whole oatmeal with frozen blueberries and pecans, skim milk in the bowl, microwave 1 and 1/2 minute. That makes a big difference. At lunch I feel normal and not starving, and my blood sugar doesn't wobble around. Lunch is a big bowl of veggie salad and soup or half a sandwich of whatever. Apple or other fruit in the afternoon.

One thing I am always, always looking for is (these would be the recipes of my dreams, as my fantasy is to put everything in the crockpot (slow cooker) in the morning and then at dinnertime, just take off lid and serve). I'll share one I made up that's served us well. (If you want meat, add chunks of turkey keilbasa instead of tofu, or any other lean meat).

EASY CROCKPOT BALANCED VEGETARIAN ONE-DISH DINNERS

Crockpot Vegetable & Tofu Stew

Big can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup barley, 1/2 cup brown rice (or 1/2 cup amaranth, plus 1/2 cup wild rice...whatever mix)
1 box frozen corn
1 box frozen lima beans
1 box frozen spinach
1 one block firm or extra-firm tofu
1 bay leaf
any herbs you like
water or stock or tomato juice as needed to cover about 2/3

Put everything in the crockpot in the order listed, except for the tofu. Cook on low 6-8 hours, stirring once about midway (but if you're at work, no worries, it doesn't have to be stirred). For last hour, add cubed tofu and stir gently.

Very easy winter recipe, but I'm getting tired of it. Anybody got some other one-dish balanced things?

Thanks!
Hops

[Overcomer]

OK, the Lima beans and corn I could do without.  What about carrots??  Of course, they are loaded with natural sugars.......I do a pot roast in the slow cooker.  But that's the only thing I have ever tried.  And that is not a low cal food (but my 19 year old LOVES it...)

I would love some other ones.  At weight watchers they have this veg soup that is FREE.  In other words, you can eat as much as you want and it doesn't count as points.  It has fat free chicken stock, a tad of tomato paste, green beans, cabbage, onions, carrots.....I put mushrooms (love mushrooms), oregano, salt pepper.............I think that is all.  I got fresh green beans.  I bought a bag of cole slaw mix to make the cabbage part easy.................It was alright.  Not great!!

Need to cut back on white stuff.  The other day I found some whole wheat pasta so I did that instead of white.  It was ok.  My family would freak.....

[Hopalong]

Oh you are so wise about "white stuff" Kelly.

Bread is something like sugar for me...can turn into "stuffing" food. If I just get whole grains front and center, I have less interest in breads. Oatmeal, brown rice, cous cous, amaranth, barley, etc. Good place to visit is a natural foods store and tell them you'd like to try cooking some different whole grains. Some of them are really delicious, taste nutty. I forget the names but I've had some delicious ones.

Sure, I think for the veggie stew you could leave out the corn and lima beans. Use carrots and, how about one little parsnip? Would be good to use some small quantity of something that seems vaguely starchy for texture...I know! Put in a can of water chesnuts. That would take up all the flavors and not be fattening. You could also chop some celery and toss in. I think those would work well. Hmm. And the corn added sweetness. Carrots, yup, got that covered.

Don't know about your tolerance for spices, but if you like "hot"--Hot 'n Spicy V8 Juice--or tomato juice with added red pepper sauce, are amazing appetite quenchers.

Thanks for sharing your tips, Kelly...hope we'll be getting more!

Hops

[Portia]

Hi Portia,

Hi Hops!

Asking this here instead of on Boundary thread...

I've only just read this!

How do you know when you feel you need supplements?

When I feel drowsy/tired...

Does cod liver oil taste as terrible as I've always heard?

capsules as Plucky said, before food so you don't burp a fishy taste afterwards...

Do you worry at all about iron overload/heart disease?

I take iron when i need to and I know when I need to...do not ask...)

Thing is, apart from the compassionate and why-don't-we-feed-the-world thoughts, I don't think much about food at all, which is why I didn't read this thread. i don't think much about my weight, body either. Don't understand the oh-i-could-eat-a-pack-of-biscuits thing.

I discovered lentils recently and quite like them...but not too many at once...