I Don't Do This To Be Skinny

As I’ve said before, I have gotten a lot of jokes about the way I eat. Yes, I like black beans. Yes, I like brown rice. Yes, I like raw vegetables. Yes, I like kale. I also like chocolate cake, cookie dough, pizza and French fries. But what I really like knowing is that I won’t keel over with a heart attack when I’m 55.

I’ve always been active. As a college athlete, you could say it was pretty hard for me to gain weight considering how active I was. But at the same time, if I didn’t give my body the right nutrients then I wouldn’t be able to perform as well as I did. And with a family medical history that includes heard attacks, double by-passes and high blood pressure, I know that I have to do my best to decrease my chances of going down that same path. In my family, specifically, most of those medical conditions were preventable. Their doctors all said that nutrition played a huge role in their declining health. I’ll be damned if I let the same happen to me.

I know too much about the importance of nutrition to give into temptations too often. I mean, I had froyo the past two days, but those were emergency situations. Fact: froyo cures everything.

But as a public service announcement: please stop making fun of me for how I eat. Please let me snack on green peppers and cucumbers without feeling embarrassed. And please, don’t call me weird or annoying if I don’t want to eat the donut. I’m not trying to be skinny like the bitch on the magazine, I’m just trying not to die early.

What’s For Dinner: Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

Clearly I’ve been on this tofu kick for the past few days but again, it can easily be swapped out for ground turkey, ground beef, or even beans.

Ingredients are:

1 Package Extra Firm Tofu

1 Onion

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 Bell Pepper, any color

2 Jalapenos

1 Zucchini

Salt and Pepper

Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Curry

Tomato Sauce

Plain Greek Yogurt

I bought a familiar brand of tofu this time as learned from past mistakes and actually ended up with the tofu I wanted. I prepared it as usual, sliced ¼ inch blocks and pressed it dry between two stacks of paper towels.

I used a large pot this time because I didn’t want to cram everything into a skillet.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in the pan on medium high heat and add the tofu slices. I treated it like ground beef and broke it up with a wooden spatula until it actually kind of resembled ground beef. Then I added chopped onions and while those were cooking I chopped the rest of my vegetables. I added the seeds to the jalapenos to add some heat but if you don’t want it spicy then definitely leave them out.

Little piece of advice before you learn the hard way- wear gloves while dicing jalapenos. If you think your hands are clean after 6 washes, they’re not. And put your contacts in before you start cooking. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Add the vegetables as you chop them and make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan so that nothing sticks and burns because that’ll add a really gross, ashy flavor to the dish and no body wants that.

Once the vegetables are cooked tender, season with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and curry, or as I always say, whatever you want/like/have. Then add a couple of spoonfuls of tomato sauce just to bind everything together. I added a scoop of Greek yogurt to make it a little creamy but you can leave that out if you want.

Don’t forget to taste as you go! Add spices as you feel they’re needed and remember that a little bit of salt goes a long way.

Once it’s done, pull of a sturdy leaf of iceberg lettuce and wrap it up. I topped mine with fresh avocado and I highly suggest it.

And there you go again, another vegetarian dish full of protein. Happy Eating!

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Confession: I Have Been Gluttonous

Two nights ago, I shared a large cheese pizza with my mother at 10 o’clock at night. There was one slice left over.

The next day, my eating habits were pretty normal and I went to the gym as usual. I came home early and had lunch, a snack before dinner, and then me and my friend decided to go out for margaritas. So, I had some dinner, a couple of bud lights and we went out.

Three beef tacos and three margaritas later…

So it was a cheat day. Well, cheat 25 hours? 

The thing is, I think we all need to forget about or nuts, berries and body shaming every once in a while and enjoy a little indulgence. I will not regret those tacos, they were phenomenal, and the margaritas could’ve kept on coming. Heck, if the waitress had brought out a third free serving of chips and salsa, I would’ve finished those too.

I don’t think I could live a life without indulgence. I don’t think anyone should live that way. I also don’t think indulgence is indulgence if it’s every meal every day. Then it’s just, uh, unhealthy. One bad meal won't make you fat, just like one healthy meal won't make you skinny.

In order to truly appreciate something it’s important to keep it special. That’s so damn cliché but I don’t think people apply that to eating habits nearly enough. Good food can literally make your day. Think about it, how often is a social event based around a good meal? If the food is good then the experience is better. If the food sucked then you’ll just leave hungry and disappointed and probably hit up McDonalds on the way home. Don’t hit up McDonalds on the way home.

I’ll definitely preach healthy eating habits for the rest of my life but it will always come with the indulgent disclaimer.

Eat the cake, you’ll be happier.

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My Summer as a Vegetable

This past summer, I decided to challenge myself by being a vegetarian. Honestly, I’m a steak and potato girl. Beef burritos, sesame chicken, pork chops and applesauce, sign me uuup. Growing up, a meal wasn’t a meal without meat. So yeah, this would be a challenge.

Before getting into the logistics, let me give you a little background about why I decided to do it, and why I’m planning on doing it again.

It has been proven that vegetarians have healthier diets, when they do it correctly. Meat can vary in protein and fat content. Protein can be found in eggs and various plant sources and with a background in culinary I knew I’d have no trouble making up for the loss. Cholesterol, however, is found only in animal sources and can lead to multiple health issues if not properly monitored. (See “You Are What You Eat”)

My biggest challenge was probably eating at other people’s houses. I felt guilty turning down food, and felt like a burden when they would make me something special. I often turned down that offer and found something to eat that was already made. That generally meant a lot of potatoes and pasta, all of the carbs.

In order to keep a balanced diet, I had to make sure that I wasn’t replacing meat with more carbohydrates because that’s automatically the easiest thing to do. More pasta, more rice, more bread, why would I complain? Here’s a quick carb lesson- carbohydrates will break down into sugar. Sugar makes energy. Excess energy is turned into fat store. So, too many carbs will result in excess energy, which will be stored if not used and turn into fat. See, that was quick.

The type of vegetarian diet I chose is called Lacto-Ovo, this means that I was able to eat milk products and eggs. Doing so, I kept dairy (calcium), and some animal proteins in my diet. To replace meat, my protein came from a variety of sources such as beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, and tofu. The tricky part about protein is that it comes in many different pieces called amino acids. Amino acids literally build the structure of your body and some we even produce ourselves. Other amino acids that our body needs have to come from the food we eat. Animal-based proteins are the only source that will come with a complete set of all the body’s essential amino acids that we don’t make ourselves. In order to get a complete set of essential amino acids from plant-based sources, it is important to combine different foods throughout your day. For example, a handful of almonds in Greek yogurt, multigrain bread with peanut butter, hummus with sesame seed crackers and brown rice and beans.

By the end of the summer, I honestly felt really great. I felt like my meals were lighter, I wasn’t as weighed down after a meal, and the best part of all, I lost 5 pounds! I didn’t feel so weighed down after a meal, as I would if I had just had a cheeseburger. It also made me more conscious of what I was eating in general. If I wasn’t going to eat meat to be healthier, then why would I replace all of that fat with French fries and pizza? Not that I didn’t eat those things because I definitely couldn’t give that up, but I wouldn’t choose them as options all the time.

Overall, I would recommend vegetarian diets to people, especially those with heart and cholesterol issues. For my carnivores out there, this would be a big commitment, so start smaller. Meatless Monday is my favorite thing in the world, well at least top 5. I think it’s a great start to lowering cholesterol and risks for heart disease.

Keep checking back for plenty of vegetarian recipes throughout my next summer as a vegetable. I'll have some meat ones on there too ;)

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What’s For Dinner: Asian Stir Fry With Tofu

I love tofu. I think everyone should love tofu. But that’s not the case. So instead of forcing it upon you, just pretend that every time I say ‘tofu’ I’m saying ‘chicken’. Or ‘beef’ if you want to be a nutrition rebel for the night.

Here’s what you need:

8 oz. Extra Firm Tofu (Chicken breast-wink,wink)

1 small onion

*Green Pepper

*Broccoli

*Carrots

1 clove Garlic

Salt

Pepper

¼ cup of Soy Sauce

1 tbsp. of Honey

1 tsp. of Red Pepper Flakes

1 tsp. Ginger (I used powdered because it’s all I had, fresh works better)

*No amounts were used because you can add as many vegetables as you want. I’m using leftovers from the week, so use whatever you have. Snap peas, mushrooms, and green beans also go really well in this recipe.

For you tofu-newbies out there, I’ll give you a quick lesson. Extra-firm tofu is best to use if you want a meat-like product or if you’re trying to get a sear on it. Firm tofu goes well in soup and will hold it’s shape like in Miso Soup. Silken tofu will blend really well in a smoothie or as an egg replacement in baked good (I’ll post those recipes too!).

To prep extra-firm tofu, remove all of the excess liquid and slice it into blocks about ¼ inch thick. Press it pretty firmly in between a stack of paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible. Then cut it into strips or cubes, or leave it in blocks, whatever fits your purpose.

For this, I’m making cubes. Heat a skillet on medium high and drizzle with olive oil. When hot, add the tofu, season with salt and pepper and let sear a bit until it’s slightly browned on both sides. If the pan looks dry, add some more olive oil and add sliced onions and sauté for a few minutes. Then add carrots since they take the longest. After a few minutes, add in the other vegetables, garlic, salt and pepper and sauté until tender.

Unfortunately, the stupid brand I bought that said "Extra Firm" looked more like silken to me so I had some trouble with it sticking to the pan due to all of the moisture, but I made it work. 

*Keep in mind that the soy sauce will add a lot of salt, so go easy when seasoning at first. You can always add more at the end.

To make the sauce, whisk together soy sauce, honey, ginger and red pepper flakes. If you think it needs more sweet or more heat, add it in. Poor the sauce over the vegetables and toss them around until they’re evenly coated.

Add a scoop of brown rice and there ya go. What a beaut.

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You Are What You Eat

How literal of a concept is this? You are literally built upon the vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and sugars that you ingest into your body. This is just fascinating to me.

The question is, do you want to be made up of vegetables or pizza?

Pizza.

Okay, but really. 15 months ago, I almost lost my father. Being away at school, I didn’t know the severity of his heart attack until months later. Two of his arteries were like 90% blocked or something crazy like that, and a gout attack in his foot, along with piled up divorce-stress, triggered a heart attack landing him in the hospital for 3 days.

Last week in my biochemistry class, we learned about what causes inflammation in the arteries, how it can lead to heart attacks and Cardiovascular Disease, and how to prevent it. After reading multiple peer-reviewed journals, and translating them into layman’s terms, I am knowledgeable enough to explain it enough to know that you are, in fact, what you eat.

A high-fat diet can lead to inflammation. Inflammation, for now let’s call it plaque, starts with a tiny gash in the wall of an artery. This gash can be caused by a lot of things such as cigarette smoke, LDL (bad cholesterol carriers), triglycerides, high blood pressure (caused by a high-salt diet or stress), basically any of the things you already know can cause a heart attack. And here’s how.

With the flow of blood constantly passing over this gash, it is only a matter of time before all of that bad stuff starts getting jammed in there. After a while, the body will be all “uh, that’s not supposed to happen”, and will start sending over its knights on white blood cells to solve the problem. Unfortunately, this only continues the build up of gunk in the artery wall and it will just get bigger and bigger. With this new lump in it’s wall, the inner pathway for blood goes from a nice, hollow tube to a clogged, narrow pathway, increasing the blood pressure as it all tries to flow through a small space at the same time. (Kind of like how making the top of the hose smaller by blocking it with your thumb will make it shoot out faster). This increased blood pressure will cause stress on the heart, causing a heart attack, or could rupture this mass of gunk, releasing it into the blood stream and causing a blood clot.

What’s the best thing to do to prevent this? Take the gunk out of your life. Don’t smoke, keep foods with LDLs out of your diet and save them for your ‘once-in-a-while’ meals. Keep bad fats out and good fats in. “Good” Fats? Yeah, they’re a thing. Unsaturated fats such as olive oil, avocado, nuts, egg yolks, salmon, flax seeds, all considered good fats. Bad fats are a little more obvious. Butter, vegetable oil, butter, shortening, butter (can you tell I really hate butter), are all bad fats. The difference?  Bad fats are structured in a way that can ultimately build up in your arteries causing blockages and increasing risks of plaque build up. The good fats, especially the ones containing the magical omega-3, gets rid of all of the molecules that can lead to inflammation. Pretty cool, huh?

Aside from all of the mumbo-jumbo of big words and talk about blood, let’s get back to my main point. You are what you eat. I think that’s something most people forget about. I’m not saying we should all eat a natural, organic, vegan, boring diet (not that that’s boring, I’m just making a point), but try to get all of your vitamins and minerals from your food. Keep your protein lean and your fats unsaturated.

And always, always remember; that one piece of chocolate cake won’t kill you.

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I Will Never Be a Size 2

Recently I’ve been seeing a lot going around about the “Fat Acceptance Movement”. I, however, chose to ignore it. Why? Because I’m not sure I’ll agree with it. Or maybe I would, I don’t know. But here’s what I do know.

I am not fat, but I have never seen myself as skinny. I look back at pictures from high school, the peak of female insecurities and pressures to be thin, and I wonder why the hell I was ever unsatisfied with my body. I played 2 sports and ate fairly well. My collarbones protruded but my belly always had a pooch and my inner thighs touched, at least that’s what I thought. I was pretty thin, but still always wanted to be thinner. How sad is that? Why do girls continuously feel the need to be smaller?

I will never be a size 2. I am 5’9, if I were a size 2 I would look sick. I am at a comfortable size 6 and if a shirt covers my butt in leggings then I will buy it even if it is an extra-large. I could spend an hour looking in the mirror picking out imperfections while poking all the dimples in my butt and wishing my arms were smaller and yeah I would fit right in with The Plastics but I know I'm not the only one who does this.

Here’s the thing that bothers me. If I voice my insecurities with someone who doesn’t think I should have them, I get told to shut up. Should I feel bad about being insecure? The worst thing about this is I am often on the shutting up side of that conversation.

One friend of mine, specifically, is very skinny. She does not see herself this way. I’ll get mad if she complains about her body, that she had thigh dimples or that her legs touch because dammit you’re skinnier than I am so just shut up already. How hypocritical of me.

She is insecure. I am insecure. We all have insecurities whether they’re about our bodies or something else, and no one’s insecurities are any less serious or important than yours are.

Most of my friends are of average size. I don’t know how they see themselves, but from the outside they seem accepting of who they are and what they’re bodies look like.

I’d put money down and bet that they are unhappy.

Another friend of mine, beautifully curvy, is the most confident girl I know. She has said before “if you don’t like my body in a bathing suit then don’t look at it”. Preach, girl.

I think we all need to stop complaining about what we do or do not look like and just be accepting of ourselves and of other people. I don’t know much about the “Fat Acceptance Movement”, but I hope that it can just become the “Acceptance Movement”. If you don't like your body then do something to chance it. In the mean time, learn to accept yourself, accept other people, and screw everyone that has something to say about it.

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