NUTRITION IS THE KEY TO HEALTH

It's Time To Take Back Your Life

Page 3 of 3

Getting ready for your new diet

June 3, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Nutrition is the Key to Health Podcast

Before you start a diet, you have to prep your kitchen. Getting ready for you new diet, is like bringing a baby home from the hospital or adopting a new puppy for the first time. You cannot just show up unprepared or you will fail!

Prepping your space

You will need to start with the refrigerator and clean it out. While you’re at it, take a look at all the “best by” dates on the condiments you have. Throw any out that have expired. Next up is the cabinets, pantry and freezer. Do the same here, while organizing your food into general categories. For instance, all canned beans together, tomatoes, cereals, pasta, broths and so on. This will allow you to glance at your stock and know what you need to add to the list for any groceries in just seconds. You want to take all the “work” out of this, so keep it simple!

Gathering quick meal ideas

You want to sit down with a recipe book, or go online for some ideas for simple quick, easy and nutritious meals. Remember, your main goal is twofold, make it lower fat and highly nutritious compared to your current diet. You will want to choose websites that you know will work with which ever diet you choose. If you find a recipe you think you might like, you can sub ingredients to make it allowable.

Some of my favorite resources for food ideas you can find at:

www.eatingwell.com

www.forksoverknives.com

Staples

After you clean out your kitchen and make a list, check it twice before you head to the store. I always try and keep low-sodium vegetable broth, a variety of canned beans (saves time but always rinse before using), canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, pasta, alternative milks (I use organic soy and organic almond milks), spices, oats, potatoes and rice on hand. These make great building blocks for your meals.

Fruits and Vegetables

Decide what fruits and vegetables you will buy fresh, and which ones you will buy frozen. I find that when buying fresh fruits, my intentions are good but, I do not always get to them before they go bad. This can be a waste of money.

I am going to suggest purchasing frozen blueberries, strawberries and fruits for your smoothies. That way, they do not go bad if you can’t get to your smoothies.

Then, you can use fresh blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and bananas for your oatmeal. I prefer frozen over canned. My only exceptions to this are beans and tomatoes. If you have freezer space, this is where you can really get the most bang for your buck, so go for it!

Frozen veggies make stir-fry and soups very quick and easy. Try to shop these when they are on sale. If you are a member of CostCo or Sam’s, they have some good options, however, I find some of the grocery stores beat their pricing in smaller quantities, when the stores have a sale. So pay attention!

I purchase my onions, potatoes, apples, cucumbers, spinach, kale, bell peppers, squash, cabbage and others as fresh. Then I will get things like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and corn as frozen. This is something you will learn as time goes by, and you can adjust to what suits your needs. Your goal here is to utilize what you buy, so you don’t waste it.

Your first trip to the grocery store

Take your list of your needed items and lets head to the store. Your first trip to the store when starting a new diet, can be a bit costly. One option is to go ahead and use what you have in your pantry, until it is gone. Even though this might not be allowable on your diet, it will keep you from wasting food. Then replace it with healthier options as needed.

Doing this will help with some of the initial cost outlay. If you do decide to purge everything unrelated to your new diet overnight, please do not throw it away! Take what you do not want to a local food bank or church. There are people living in our country that battle food scarcity every day.

Learn to read a nutrition label

With any food, but especially condiments, you will need to learn to read the labels! I want each and every one of you to learn to read a nutrition label. By law, a manufacturer must place a label on each packaged item. Do not rely on the marketing on the front of a product to tell you its healthy, because we all know that companies never lie to sell products. Right?

Learn to read the ingredients on each label and Google each one you don’t know. You will find this eye-opening as to what is in that can or box you are about to consume. The less ingredients, the healthier it probably is. Try and stay away from a list of ingredients that fills the entire label or things high in hydrogenated oils, food colorings, natural flavors and things you just cannot pronounce.

The only oil you really want to consume is avocado and olive oil and even then, only in small quantities. You have to remember, oil is a very calorically dense food, that is high in fat. You need to look for “expeller” or “first cold pressed” on your olive oil. Remember, just because it is expensive, doesn’t make it good for you!

Spices

Spices are were you are going to make up in flavor, what you cannot have in fat. So, the sky’s the limit. If you cannot purchase a lot of spices at once, just buy one or two spices each month or as your budget will allow. You can also look for sales. I know that both Kroger and Tom Thumb will put a “buy two get one free” on many of their spices. Even though you might not need a spice, always make it a habit to check the isle for sales, especially on those you use a great deal.

Other

I always keep some organic ground flaxseed, chia seed, oatmeal, and a few nuts (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin and walnuts), and a nut nutbutter on hand. Use nuts sparingly as they are a high-fat food as well. I sometimes use the ground flax for as my breadcrumbs for recipes in the air fryer. It is a healthier option and provides a good source of Omega 3. I keep olive oil, avocado oil, and balsamic vinegar always.

You should now have a good base for your meals. Some other incidentals like tortillas, pita bread or small pizzas, might extend your options as well. Once you get all this in and put away, you are ready to go.

Starting your diet

My suggestion to you is start slow. Pick a day where you are not so stressed and you have the time to dedicate to your diet. I like Saturdays. Start making just one of your meals healthier, such as breakfast. Do this for a week, then the following week add another meal, such as lunch or a snack. Continue this until you are now hitting a healthier choice with each meal and snack. It can take you a full month to transition, or you can choose to do it all overnight and go cold turkey.

Just keep in mind that some foods can be as addictive as drugs. Think I am lying? Cut out all caffeine or sugar overnight! What you will be experiencing is a little thing called withdrawal! Symptoms of withdrawal could be headache, nausea, sweating, trimmers and an over feeling of malaise. Remember, this is your journey, and your destiny. You are in control.

Good luck and may the force be with you!

Alicia

Information is key to success

June 3, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Nutrition is the Key to Health Podcast

When starting a journey like this, information is key to success. Think of information as your armor, as you are heading off to battle. The more you know, the more prepared and hopefully successful you might be. I use a book called, the world’s healthiest foods, by George Mateljan.

I purchased this book in 1995, and it is still my go to today. It is the most comprehensive nutrition book I have ever seen. I will put a picture of the book below. There are other versions, but I have the oldest version and it has served me well, and continues to serve me well to this day. This book is pricey at about $70 on Amazon, so if you do not have the money, do not worry. If you have access to the internet, then you can search for information on the web. You will just have to navigate a bit more.

the world's healthiest foods

In this book you will find a plethora of information at your fingertips. I cannot say enough about this book. I call it my food bible. This book is packed with information and also recipes. It tells you how to choose, prep and store all the food. It also gives you all the nutritional information from nutritional density, micros and macros. The keys to any success are knowledge, determination and hard work.

Honorable Mentions

In my personal journey, I will be choosing more of a Whole Food Plant Based diet. Some of my go to sites are the following:

Anything with Neal Barnard, MD on YouTube.

Exam Room Podcast with Chuck Carroll (YouTube) here is a sample:

Physican’s Committee www.pcrm.org

I consume a lot of YouTube content on health.

If you are leaning more towards Keto, then Thomas DeLauer, has a good channel. Especially check out his Mediterranean Keto Diet for beginners:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-3STVL9dDo

With technology like YouTube and podcasts available at our fingertips, there is a great deal of helpful information out there. You don’t have to dedicate time to watch or listen, just put it on while you prep or cook your meal. You can download a podcast and listen as you go for your walk. You don’t have to stare at a screen to get the information.

You are getting close to starting your journey!

Alicia

How to start a diet

June 2, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Nutrition is the Key to Health Podcast

If you have ever gone on a diet before, you know that the thought of your favorite foods being striped from your list of “allowed” foods and calorie restrictions is daunting. How about counting calories? It all sounds so dreadful!

The one thing is for certain, a healthier diet involves a great deal of thought and prepping to be successful. That is until now. I am going to show you how to start your diet, so you will be in a better position for success.

This will be like no other diet you have known before. We are going to ease into this with a few basic steps. For those of you that want to go all in, go for it! Just know that you have a greater risk of deviating from the diet. The key is to be the tortoise, not the hare.

I am hoping all of you, choose to make this a more permanent way of life, than a mere diet to lose a few pounds. To change your level of health, you must commit to a permanent approach. However, when I say “diet”, I really mean “lifestyle change”, so these words will be interchangeable in my blog. The only diet that I would not suggest as a long-term plan is The Keto Diet. Even the hardcore Keto gurus, cycle in and out of their carb restriction times. We still do not know the long-term effects this diet might have on your health.

Steps to start your diet

  1. Sit down with a journal and write down your “why”. As in, why are you going on a diet? Is it to lose weight, get healthier or control your blood pressure? Maybe you have heart disease or you are a pre-diabetic.
  2. Pick your diet plan. Is it going to be The Mediterranean or a WFPB Diet? Maybe there is another diet you wish to try that was not mentioned here. Again, we are looking for a lifestyle change that can be permenant and not just a diet. So, Keto is not going to be among the ones I would pick. If you do, you need to be under a doctor’s supervision. Also, if you are going to pick Keto, make sure that you make it a “Clean Keto”, which means your meats are lean and not full of sodium and fat.
  3. Learn the rules of your new diet. What foods are allowed and what foods must you avoid. Learn any specifics of the diet as well. Maybe your diet allows certain foods, but not in the first 90-days, which is what I will be asking of you here. So, your things like alcohol, high-fat items, and highly processed foods, that might send you and your cravings through the nearest drive-thru, are not going to be allowed in your first 90-days.
  4. Make sure you visit your health provider and get the green light for your plan along with any baseline labs.

Gathering Information

So, we have journaled our why, picked our diet and have a bit of knowledge what foods will be allowed. Our healthcare provider has given us the green light. Now if you would like, you can take a few selfies, write down your starting measurements and weight. This gives you a starting point. This will all be kept in your journal.

I would get a journaling notebook, for your health journey. You will want to write down your ideas, thoughts, meal plans and weekly weight, exercise and other information. You can keep a picture of you at your best weight, inside for inspiration or put it up on the refrigerator. Visuals have been proven to assist in reaching goals and are important.

If you do not have a picture, write down your target weight and the length of time you are giving yourself to reach your goal. Put it on the refrigerator. I am going to caution you to be realistic. You are not going to be able to lose 60 pounds in two months. That is extreme and not safe. Also, women tend to lose weight slower than men, so keep this in mind.

We are almost ready to begin.

Alicia

Which diet is right for you

June 1, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Diets can be confusing, so which one do you pick? Which diet is right for you, and which diet should you focus on to help you reach your wellness goals? This is the million dollar question.

Types of popular diets

If you have tried to diet in the past, then you know how confusing it can be to choose a diet that you can stick to. In my opinion, the diets that have standed the test of time, usually fall in one the three categories, The Mediterranean, Keto or Whole Food Plant Based. These or some rendition of these, have held the most success. Those are the heavy hitters that most are using today.

There are other honorable mentions like Whole 30, Noom, Weight Watchers, South Beach, and Atkins. It has always concerned me with the “pay to play” diets like Weight Watchers and Noom. However, I know a great deal of people that have successfully lost weight on those diets.

The big three

  • The Mediterranean Diet – This is a diet that is region specific to the Mediterranean area. It consists of fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, dairy and whole grains. You are allowed small amounts of wine/alcohol on this diet. It is probably one of the easiest diets to turn into a lifestyle change. It is about healthy eating and reducing most processed foods.
  • The Keto Diet – This diet has been around for years and was originally used in the treatment with children with uncontrollable epilepsy. In recent years, this diet has become a major player in the game of creative marketing. This diet focuses on high fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate intake. No alcohol is allowed since alcohol is high in carbs. The whole premise of this diet is to throw your body into a state of ketosis, where you cells are breaking down fat to burn instead of carbs.
  • The Whole Food Plant Based Diet (or WFPB)– This diet has really caught attention the past decade, due to the state of health this country. This diet emphasizes only plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, while eliminating all meat, dairy, seafood and highly processed foods and snacks. Some extreme versions even remove oils and avocados. You can have small amounts of wine/alcohol on this diet if you choose, but it is not suggested during your first weeks of the program.

My personal successes

I can personally speak for a clean Keto, which I lost 35 pounds in ninety days with no exercise. I was concerned with the hit my lipid profile took, and what it was doing to my cardiovascular system, so I stopped.

I then recently found the WFPB diet. At the time, I really didn’t think I could do it. I was always a meat and potatoes girl, and hit dairy really hard. I was always down for full butter, sour cream, milk, cream and I never met a cheese I didn’t like. When I began my personally journey within the last eight months, I lost another 35 pounds. That is huge for a woman over 50, again without any exercise.

I urge you to do the research

When I began having health issues again, I consumed all the information I could on YouTube and Pubmed, I could find. I found studies of the OG of vegan such as Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and his reversal of a fully blocked artery with only a WFPB diet, no surgery. Dr. Campbell and The China Study, Dr. Michael Greger and more recent, Dr. Neal Bernard.

My personal story

My life depended on me being successful on this diet, literally. So, I purged my entire kitchen in one day, and gave boxes of food and meat away. Rearranged everything in my pantry. Loaded up on containers and meal preps with lids. Then I went to the store.

I cut out wine, diary, sugar, meat, fish, bread, sodas and anything processed, and I did it overnight. I hit it hard, and it hit me back. I felt like I had the flu for three days. The withdrawals were big, but my “why” was bigger!

My why

I had just been by my cardiologist, when I was going through my breast cancer treatment, the chemo and radiation damaged my heart and I was now in the beginning stages of heart failure. All I could think about was me making it through Stage III, Triple Negative Breast Cancer only to come out the other end with heart failure. I was too young for this. Life was being cruel.

I was given four very new and very expensive medications. I took one home and just stared at it. I began reading the side effects and researching the drug. To say, I am not a fan of medication, is putting it mildly. Probably because I have always had to take so much through my lifetime. So, I decided that food was going to be my medicine (or at least my first line of defense). I was holding on the medications, until I knew I had not other option.

I am in no way telling you to forgo a medical treatment. You should speak with your healthcare provider. This was a personal decision that I was making for myself.

Prior to my diagnosis of heart failure, I was having to return to the chemo center for Iron Therapy Infusions. I had eight weeks of the infusions to help bring up my red blood cell count. It didn’t bring my numbers up as much as I hoped it would. I thought I was going to have to be very careful going on an all plant-based diet. I believed my iron, pallets, red blood cells and B-12 were all going to tank, more so than they already were.

Much to my surprise, after 90 days on the diet, all of my blood work came back better that it had been in decades. I was elated and baffled at the same time. I didn’t understand this. Plants don’t have B-12 or heme-iron. How could this even be possible?

Shortly after this, life happened again, and I lost my job. I was thrown for a loop and I spiraled downward. I began reaching for those familiar comfort foods. I started drinking wine, eating cheese, meat and dairy and the weight came back on, as fast as it had gone. So, now here I am, back at my starting point. I am going to have to commit and go full steam ahead back into the WFPB diet. Only this time, I cannot flex out for any reason.

Which diet is right for you?

So, which diet is right for you? Only you can answer that, but before you do, please take this to heart. Before going on any diet or exercise program, you will need to talk to your healthcare provider and get approval for any diet or exercise program. If you get the green light, then it would be best to get some baseline blood work drawn at this time. This will give you an indication of your current state of health, and give you a benchmark for your goals going forward. After all, food is medicine and nutrition is health!

Congrats! You have now taken your first step in your journey to achieve better health and a better life!

Alicia

Old habits die hard

June 1, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Nutrition is the Key to Health Podcast

When starting a diet or exercise program, old habits can die hard. I can only speak for myself, but I find that my old habits get in the way of my success. They are probably the biggest nemesis for me not reaching my goals.

Whether driving through Starbucks, your favorite fast food, or staying in your routine of eating _______________ (fill in the blank) before bed, old habits die hard. I call it “habit creep“.

Breaking the routine

When we are most vulnerable and needing that sugar, caffeine or processed food fix, they are there to secretly cheer us on. Habits make those cravings unsurmountable. I think the secret is trying to do something new in your schedule. You must break the routine, to break the habit. For me, it is diary, particularly cheese.

For each of us, this trigger or craving is different. We all lead different lives with various responsibilities. However, if you normally push away from your meal, and sit on the couch and watch television, try doing something new.

If this is where you eat ice cream, maybe you can do laundry, spend time with the kids, or go for a walk. The secret is break the cycle that you know and have come entrenched in. That is all it is, a cycle of doing the same thing over and over. We can set our clocks by it.

Things to do as you learn to break the bad habits

When the cravings start, you can do a number of things. I guess it might depend on the habit. If you are trying to stop smoking, I am not too sure sitting down and journaling would stay off the cravings. I think you might have to exercise to get beyond that one. I have been told that chewing gum or straws help.

It could be a hobby that you choose to partake in such as journaling, writing, gardening, woodworking, getting ahead of emails for work, walking, biking, playing cards, light cleaning, or reading a book. Maybe you could go for a run or work out. You get the drift.

You must do anything but allow yourself that indulgent pleasure of extra calories, unwanted fats, processed foods, nicotine or drugs. You just need to take yourself out of the geographical location that makes you want that ice cream, drink, cookies or nicotine. Whatever your vice might be, change your location and mix things up.

If you do nothing else, do this one thing

I will tell you if you don’t do anything else on this journey (eg. lose weight, increase exercise, eat healthier), you need to stop smoking! Smoking is a leading killer and affects so many people’s health. All the top killing diseases are attributed to smoking, eg…heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Also, those of you that chew tobacco or vape, you are not any better off, so don’t think you get a pass. First, we do not know the long-term affects of vaping. Second, for those that chew tobacco products, ask anyone that has throat cancer and is on hospice, if they could do it all over again, would they? I bet the answer would be, “yes”.

Habits die hard, but they are not impossible to beat!

Alicia

Welcome to my blog

May 28, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Nutrition is the Key to Health Podcast

Welcome to my blog. My name is Alicia. After successfully losing 35 pounds on a whole food plant based diet, I decided to “flex” out of my diet for my birthday. My sister wanted to cook for me. It is just easier sometimes to flex for a night or weekend, instead of trying to levy a restrictive diet on someone who doesn’t understand. So, I flexed.

Then the unthinkable happened. A little thing called life, reared it ugly head and I lost my job. The stress sent me straight to my comfort foods of diary, processed foods, cheese and wine. The weight has returned and I feel horrible.

I know what caused it, but I could not seem to stop. Why, because it is a habit. Like when you have had a stressful day at work and you come home and have that one drink just to take the edge off. Pretty soon, that one drink has turned into two, and maybe three. It gets so entrenched in your habits, the drink is in hand shortly after you enter the door. Habits, they can be difficult to break.

Maybe you go through your favorite coffee establishment or fast food each morning. A combo meal at lunch, or happy hour with friends. It’s all the same. It could be a huge bowl of ice cream or six energy drinks/coffee in a day. The effects these have to our health is outrageous.

I decided to create this blog, because I do so much better when I hold myself accountable. Putting my story out there, for even the possibility of one person seeing it, gives me that added drive I need to succeed.

This blog is a work-in-progress, and hopefully will be taking shape in the near future with content that can help you reach any goals you might have.

Thank you for stopping by, and please come back for updated content.

Alicia

Newer posts »

© 2024 NUTRITION IS THE KEY TO HEALTH

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑