What is Clean Eating?

Clean eating is eating as close to the source as possible. What is the source, you ask? The source is Mother Earth, of course. Sure, it sounds like hippie stuff, but think about it – look in your pantry or cabinets, then look in your refridgerator. If the vast majority of the foods you own reside outside of your refridgerator, and you consider yourself overweight? Chances are, that pantry or those cabinets are why.

Basically, living a life of clean eating is living a life of simplicity. You’re probably not going to overindulge on the breads – or eat much bread at all -while eating clean. No refined white rice. No deep fried goods. No processed foods. I mean, don’t get me wrong — I can acknowledge and appreciate the fact that our little friends in the box or plastic wrapper have allowed us to do a lot in a short amount of time (I can get scalloped potatoes with only a little milk and a microwave? I’m in there like swimwear!), but it is certainly not clean eating. If you’re going to embrace the challenge then the boxed goods, canned goods and plastic shrink wrapped packages… have got to go.

Clean eating, with all the “Mother Earth” talk, might sound like hippie speak (I am a self-proclaimed hippie and all), but it isn’t. It’s making sure that we use and respect the Earth for what it is supposed to give to us while, in turn, giving it what it needs. I don’t have to tell anyone that after we’ve enjoyed our boxed and plastic-wrapped goods, that that trash has to go somewhere…and it’s usually buried in a forest…er…landfill somewhere. Clean eating, because you’re using items that rarely come with wrappers, are less harmful to the environment.

Okay, no more hippie moments. For now.

What are the basic tenets of clean eating?

Avoid processed foods. Outside of my usual spiel about why you should avoid foods laden with chemicals we don’t understand, there is actually a multi-layer reason for why this is important.

For starters, processed foods usually come with an excessive amount of sugar. I mean, let’s face it – sugar tastes good. The companies who make our favorite foods know that sugar makes their food so irresistible, so they’re good for putting it in, well, everything. Avoiding unnecessary and unnatural sugars is a key part of clean eating, and you can’t do that in a lifestyle that includes processed foods.

Should you insist on indulging in foods that come wrapped in a package, check the ingredient label – if it contains an ingredient that you wouldn’t keep in your own kitchen (monosodium glutamate? what? – (changed for clarity)) then try to find something a little more chemical-free, or pass on the item altogether.

If you avoid processed foods, you’ll also be avoiding unnatural fats (like trans fats) and unnecessary carbs. All carbs aren’t bad, but the processed foods that tend to contain the highest amount of carbs and fats usually have the least nutritional value… and that gets in your way when it comes to achieving the next target of clean eating.

Get the most out of your food choices. Usually, this means going for the fruits and veggies over the chips and dip. And remember, we’re eating as close to the source as possible… so get the regular peach and skip the fruit cups.

When you choose to eat something, aside from “make sure it tastes great” and “make sure there’s no [insert food allergy] in it,” add “make sure that it’s chock full of vitamins and minerals” and “make sure this is the most nutrient-filled choice I can make” to your list. So no, the white bread isn’t going to give you as much as the whole grain bread might. And if you don’t know whether or not your favorite sub spot offers whole grain bread? Call ahead of time and ask.

Practice portion control. I’ve written on this before, but this is one part nutrition, one part eco-friendly. There’s no reason to take more than you need. Your body will only suffer through trying to churn through all this extra food, and it’s excess and unnecessary calories to burn. And you all know I love counting a calorie or two…hundred.

Drink at least 8 cups of water per day. That’s right.. I said 8. That should keep you sooo busy, that you can’t drink your pepsis or your coca colas or your hawaiian punches or your capri suns. Outside of the fact that water has the ability to help you feel full (more on that later this week) and flush your body of impurities, it has zero calories.

Say it with me. Zero. Calories.

Those are the basics, but we’ll be counting down to the start of the challenge by digging deeper into the principles of clean eating. This week will have one post each day about clean eating – everything from drinking (and enjoying) water to eco-friendly organic living to shopping lists to preparation for a healthy lifestyle (check out “Fitting Clean Eating Into A Busy Lifestyle“)… and topping it all off with a Q&A Wednesday centered all around the challenge (posted here).

You now have… 6 days. Tomorrow comes the sample shopping list (said sample shopping list is now posted here). Get your questions in this week, so you’re prepared for the next. Tell your Mama, tell your friends, tell everybody… build your support system and we all can connect and do this together!

Who’s with me?

Presenting: The 7 Day Clean Eating Challenge is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Q&A Wednesday: Clean Eating Challenge Style
2. What’s In My Clean Eating Healthy Kitchen?
3. Q&A Wednesday: Is Clean Eating An Eating Disorder?

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Post tags: clean eating, ecofriendly, overeating, processed foods

How does it feel? (I’d cue D’Angelo here, but I’m gonna respect the fellas who visit the site. For now.)

I’ve got to tell you… the closer to “the source” I eat, the better off I am. The better I feel. The more energetic I feel. I feel like I’m living… as opposed to grabbing a 900 calorie slice of cheesecake and shrugging it off with, “You only live once.” I live through living… not eating.

My first venture off into living cleaner actually started around this time in 2009. Recognizing that limiting the things in my life that seemed to control me, as opposed to me controlling it… it helped me feel free. Like I could live without spending my day floating from vice to vice. I wasn’t making lunch and thinking about dinner. I wasn’t making dinner and scoping out the freezer for dessert.

I spent months – months – trying to scope out a plan that worked best for me. I spent time as a raw vegan which, while I felt wonderful and very well may go back to that lifestyle, I wanted to know if my body was responding poorly to meat altogether or if it was something in the way I was cooking that was causing my body to pack on the pounds. So, I slowly started adding back dairy and meat to my diet. That’s when I realized… I was always stalled when I indulged in foods of the “manufactured” nature.

Running the challenge during this week is not only valuable because the challenge prep ran during Earth Week, but because it signifies the 1 year anniversary of when I learned how to eat like I had some sense. That was also well over 100 pounds ago. I learned that if I couldn’t afford the time needed to cook scalloped potatoes from scratch, I probably shouldn’t have them. If I couldn’t afford the well-kept and healthy beef, I probably shouldn’t have any… which is fine, because the last time I had red meat was a few years ago in high school. Life is simplified. I value and appreciate that, now.

As we make it through day 6, I hope that day 7 is that much easier for you: that your sugar cravings are lessened, your creativity in creating delish dishes has expanded, and your portion sizes reflect what you’re actually wanting to eat… not just what’s in the box or what was in the pan.

So, baby, let’s cruise…  – sorry, can’t help the D’Angelo references – into day 7 and enjoy another day living, loving, and eating clean! Tell me – how does it feel? Struggling? Coasting? Slippin’ up? Let’s hear it!

Day 6: Coasting Into Day 7 is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

The FULL list of meal plans is currently available. Check it out and get your copy today!

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Post tags: clean eating, motivation

And with all this talk of farmer’s markets and fancy schmancy grocery stores that sell $7/lb mushrooms… perhaps its time we talked about the other end of the spectrum.

A few months back, a reader who identified herself as Naturally Single Mom shared with us the following tidbits:

We ARE one of the few (if I understand this correctly) places that allows you to use food stamps at the farmer’s market. Here, they charge your EBT card in increments of $10, and give you tokens that you use as cash at the individual vendors.

Whole Foods – I’m not sure if it is company-wide or not (Erika’s Note: It is company-wide.) – does accept food stamps. I’ve never seen the EBT sticker on the door of any Whole Foods, or our local health food store that was just bought out by Whole Foods (Greenlife Grocery, referenced in the above mentioned article)…I guess they don’t want the rich folks to know that us poor people are shopping there?

I live in an area with enough grocery competition that I can stretch my food stamps – I shop buy one get one free sales, and stock up on stuff like cereal (the healthy stuff DOES go on sale from time to time), salad dressing (because if you have enough salad dressing, you’ll eat salad more often, right?), yogurt, bagged salad stuff (which sometimes makes it cheaper than buying actual lettuce and cutting it up, but is definitely not a “stock up” kind of thing), frozen veggies, stuff like that. (Yogurt freezes well, and I use the frozen stuff for smoothies.)

I also buy fruit when it’s in season and on sale and make my own applesauce and apple butter, or flash freeze berries, peaches, and other fruits for smoothies in the winter.

I use websites like Southern Savers and Hot Coupon World (which has a coupon database, so you can find printable coupons online.) I never knew that you could use TWO coupons when you buy one and get one free, until I found those websites.

I go to the recycling center once a week. (Ours is only open three days a week.) They don’t care if I go digging through the newspaper dumpster and take out the coupons that other people discard. I usually walk away with 30 or 40 full coupon inserts in about 20 minutes of digging. I don’t even buy the newspaper anymore (since all I bought it for was the coupons anyway!)

The best part about food stamps, for me, was being able to buy seeds and plants with it. I have a HUGE strawberry patch ($3 for 10 strawberry plants at Wal-mart, have more than paid for themselves, and they’ll come back year after year), blueberry bushes, even an apple tree, all paid for by food stamps. (The caveat here is that you have to buy them at a store that accepts food stamps. Home Depot and Lowes and any garden place that I’ve ever seen does not.) I have a garden in my front yard growing zucchini, crookneck squash, cucumbers, lettuces of all types, spinach, tomatoes, pumpkin, and watermelon. As long as it is going to grow into a food, any packet of seeds or plant is covered by food stamps.

I try to use natural fertilizers – banana peels provide potassium to the soil, crushed egg shells provide calcium. Both of which can be bought with food stamps.

Like I said, I find it horribly sad that because a rotisserie chicken is hot, it’s a no-go. If it is a cooked rotisserie chicken that has been refrigerated, then it is allowed. Because I guess poor people don’t deserve hot food? I can buy freshly prepared sushi, fancy Perrier water, or pork rinds, but not a hot chicken. It’s very strange.

She asks some pretty interesting questions, if you ask me. She also put me and my bargain hunting skills to shame. Excuse me as I go find a pot so that I can grow a strawberry or something.

But honestly, I’m taking advice from her on how to penny pinch. Y’all know I’m cheap. Cheeeeeeeeeeeap.

I’ve seen suggestions that the value of food stamps should double when it comes to fruits and vegetables… and while that might work, the question will always remain “Are there stores selling viable fruits and veggies nearby the most affected areas?” Any suggested solution that doesn’t address the very real issue of accessibility and information/education will come up sorely short… and while the government tries to duke it out with itself regarding these people’s purchasing abilities, there are people like the above who won’t be affected by it at all. It highlights the idea that says “the more limited your means, the more valuable it is to be resourceful.”

While I’m not quite there on the grow-it-yourself aspect (but I’m trying!), I admire that kind of dedication to clean eating. What other tips are out there to help people make the best use of food stamps possible when it comes to clean eating?

Recommended Reading:

• 5 Reasons You’re Spending Too Much on Eating Clean
• Save Money on Groceries: Buy It In Bulk
• Save Money on Groceries: Buy It In Season
• Save Money on Groceries: Go Weekly

Clean and Healthy Eating on Food Stamps is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. What’s In My Clean Eating Healthy Kitchen?
2. Does Your State Allow Fast Food Purchases On Food Stamps?
3. Can Fast Food Ever Be A Part Of Clean Eating?

The FULL list of meal plans is currently available. Check it out and get your copy today!

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Post tags: clean eating, food stamps, gardening, nutrition, saving money

Yeah, that’s kind of this processed food thing. And I know, in advance, that this is long. Frustratingly long, even. I’m breaking it up into bits, though, so don’t worry if you can’t take it all in at once.

What are processed foods? Allow me to shed some light.

A “processed food,” in general, is something that has had to endure a process to make it what it is before it is turned over to you. Almost everything that comes in a box… is processed. Almost everything that comes in a zip-sealed bag… is processed. Almost everything that comes from a big giant brand or huge corporation or massive factory plant somewhere… is processed. Almost everything that you purchase from a grocery store… is processed.

I mean, that includes a lot – that’s all the aisles in the grocery store! You’d have to scale the perimeter of the store to avoid that, right?

Let’s look at the history of food in this country over the past one hundred or so years.

Once upon a time, before food was big industry (meaning: before processed foods) and we were dealing with the fear of famine, people were much smaller. Being overweight was a rich person’s dilemma. Why? Because you have to ingest an AWFUL LOT of whole foods (as in, not processed) on a regular basis to develop and maintain an overweight physique in that day. So being overweight simply didn’t make financial sense. Things like bread, pies, cookies, cakes… they were rare – couldn’t always buy them at the store, so you had to make them at home. Highly unlikely that you could or would be able to bake sweets every single day for your pleasure.

Because they were concerned about famine, portions were rationed carefully. They didn’t want to be caught out there not being about to get food, and having little at the house. Sometimes, you’ll hear our elders talk about when whole grains were once rationed out to the masses because not only did they need to make sure they had it for the soldiers, they needed to make sure the supply could cover everyone in the event of emergency.

To sum it up, food wasn’t presumed to be plentiful, and it caused people to skimp, penny pinch, and exercise portion control.

Now, in comes the push toward larger food distributors – less focus on local, more focus on “getting big.” “Get big or get out,” I believe was the actual line. The US Gov’t honestly feared that they wouldn’t be able to feed everyone without food production going factory, and took every effort they could to try to get it there. With food production being taken to the factories, we were separated more from how our food was made. The further the process was taken from us, the less oversight we had in regards to what was in it. We used to have the milkman, right? You made arrangements with a local farm to have your milk delivered to your door, right? Now, if you drink milk, you’re buying a gallon that comes from a farm that you have no knowledge of. You’re buying from a brand.

I’m a small business owner, so while I could interject right here about what it does to our local communities to not be able to buy our food locally and keep our money in our communities… I won’t. Just know that I could.

As I said, the larger food manufacturing grew, the more we were distanced from it’s production, and the less oversight we were granted to it’s creation and ingredients. Because (in my opinion) the government wanted to simply do what it could to ensure that the US had a consistent food supply, lots of leeway was given to big food factories to help ease them along their way in supplying our supermarkets with food – glorious food! Want an example? The food industry was able to get the FDA to change the law – imitation foods that weren’t nutritionally deficient in comparison to their whole counterparts didn’t have to be clearly marked as “imitation.” (You can skip the below quote if you like because I’ve quoted it before, but it’s valuable enough to read twice.)

The 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act imposed strict rules requiring that the word “imitation” appear on any food product that was, well, an imitation … [And] the food industry [argued over the word], strenuously for decades, and in 1973 it finally succeeded in getting the imitation rule tossed out, a little-notice but momentous step that helped speed America down the path of nutritionism.

… The American Heart Association, eager to get Americans off saturated fats and onto vegetable oils (including hydrogenated vegetable oils), was actively encouraging the food industry to “modify” various foods to get the saturated fats and cholesterol out of them, and in the early seventies the association urged that “any existing and regulatory barriers to the marketing of such foods be removed.”

And so they were when, in 1973, the FDA (not, note, the Congress that wrote the law) simply repealed the 1938 rule concerning imitation foods. … The revised imitation rule held that as long as an imitation product was not “nutritionally inferior” to the natural food it sought to impersonate—as long as it had the same quantities of recongized nutrients—the imitation could be marketed without using the dreaded “i” word. — In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto

Families who survived the rationing and the famine were happy about this! No more struggling, breaking their backs to stretch food. They could eat like the rich folks! They could also gain weight like ‘em, too. Alas, the way men and women were employed in this era, they weren’t granted the same amount of time for leisurely activity like the rich. In other words, we were eating “like the rich,” but not burning the weight off like ‘em. This part of the story, can be evidenced by Katharine Flegel’s study of weight gain from the sixties to the present. This New Yorker article summarizes it briefly:

In the early nineteen-nineties, a researcher at the C.D.C. named Katherine Flegal was reviewing the results of the survey then under way when she came across figures that seemed incredible. According to the first National Health study, which was done in the early nineteen-sixties, 24.3 per cent of American adults were overweight—roughly defined as having a body-mass index greater than twenty-seven. (The metrics are slightly different for men and women; by the study’s definition, a woman who is five feet tall would count as overweight if she was more than a hundred and forty pounds, and a man who is six feet tall if he weighed more than two hundred and four pounds.) By the time of the second survey, conducted in the early nineteen-seventies, the proportion of overweight adults had increased by three-quarters of a per cent, to twenty-five per cent, and, by the third survey, in the late seventies, it had edged up to 25.4 per cent. The results that Flegal found so surprising came from the fourth survey. During the nineteen-eighties, the American gut, instead of expanding very gradually, had ballooned: 33.3 per cent of adults now qualified as overweight. Flegal began asking around at professional meetings. Had other researchers noticed a change in Americans’ waistlines? They had not. This left her feeling even more perplexed. She knew that errors could have sneaked into the data in a variety of ways, so she and her colleagues checked and rechecked the figures. There was no problem that they could identify. Finally, in 1994, they published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In just ten years, they showed, Americans had collectively gained more than a billion pounds. “If this was about tuberculosis, it would be called an epidemic,” another researcher wrote in an editorial accompanying the report.

Food was becoming way more accessible to us. I do want to go back to the point about the FDA’s law about imitation substances, though. It does a lot more to the food industry than you think it does. Take a loaf of bread, for example. Bread has maybe five ingredients in it – flour, water, sugar, salt, and yeast – but if you look on the label for the bread in your house right now? You see what – hyphenated chemicals. The food industry now has the ability to put anything in your food, so long as it is not deficient in the nutrients that science recognizes are valuable… in comparison to the food it imitates.  Remember this part. No, really – remember this part.

So, if the foods aren’t nutritionally deficient, why is this a problem?

Well, how much credit do you give food science? The rule is simply that the foods cannot be deficient in nutrients that science recognizes as valuable. What about what science hasn’t spotted yet? What about all these hyphenated chemicals that science hasn’t identified (or is prevented from identifying) as harmful to our health?

And before you call me a conspiracy theorist, consider this: it took science decades to recognize that trans-fats – once a massive part of margarine and other major foods – were hazardous to our health. Believe it or not, the government still allows trans-fats in foods, and actually allows food manufacturers to lie about how much trans-fats are in their foods. (More on that later.)

What else, in these foods, is doing us in? Science doesn’t know yet. And really, since most of our food science studies are funded by the very industry they affect… do you genuinely expect science to find out? I’m not telling you that they’d intentionally fudge numbers to present favorable results – trying to remain unbiased, here – but I am telling you it’s easy to divert funds elsewhere… as in, another study. Maybe even… a study attempting to debunk something claiming their products are harmful.

That’s not the conspiracy theorist in me. That’s just smart business on their part… regardless of what it does to the consumer. Keep the consumer far enough away from the research, and they’ll never know the downfall of buying my product. It just happens that way.

So since this is all cyclical, let’s go back to that availability of food thing. Now, all this food (food, mind you, that seeks to NOT be nutritionally deficient although it admits that it is) is available to our families. We, knowing what it’s like to have to worry about food not being available, begin to indulge. Factories – and factory jobs – are springing up because industries are blossoming. Longer work hours, both adults in the household are now working, and all this super convenient food at hand. We’re eating what we can, when we can, and eating a lot of it… since we’re enjoying the ability to eat at our discretion, not at the discretion of a ration.

Keep in mind, also, at this time… a new generation of children are being born under this new understanding of food. Family tradition might lend to certain dishes being made a certain way, but lots of dishes are being replaced by the magic elixir in the box. Some of us have that Grandma who insists on cooking everything from scratch. We tend to write her off as crazy or paranoid because “Times have changed” and “No one has time for all that cooking,” or maybe because “This is the [insert decade]s, Nana, we don’t live in the kitchen the way you used to!” Things that are all true, but come with consequences.

I asked you, dear reader, to keep in mind the point I made earlier about hyphenated chemical ingredients in our food, right? I hope you did. The interesting loophole in the FDA’s policy about imitation foods is that there’s very little limit to what can now be put INTO food. That’s an important point.

You know how, if you leave food sitting out, it will attract flies? Why? Because flies and rodents are attracted to the same things that our bodies are attracted to in food – nutrients. Ever notice that with ALL the food in a supermarket, there’s rarely any ants or bugs in the aisles, but you have to swat them away from the tomatoes or kiwi in the produce area? That’s not because every area in the grocery store – except the produce – is sprayed down. I can only offer theory as to why that is. For starters, the processed foods have to be processed to maintain shelf life. They have to be able to handle being transported to the facility. They have to be able to withstand sitting on a shelf until purchased. They have to be able to withstand sitting in your cabinets until you cook them.

Can you do that with your home made cooking? I doubt it.

Here’s another question: What do you think they’re putting in these processed foods to ward off insects and rodents?

Last question: Do you think it’s a good idea to ingest the same chemicals that are put in food… food that flies don’t even want? The same chemicals that prevent flies from desiring our food, are the same chemicals we’re ingesting when we eat this stuff anyway. How healthy can that be? Nothing in the world can debunk what feels like logic to me.

Taking that one step further for those of us who DO indulge anyway, what about the fact that the average processed food contains more calories than it’s “real” counterpart? Remember my ranch dressing recipe that I shared? My recipe was 300 calories a cup. Kraft’s ranch dressing was easily 1400 calories. Let me tell you a secret I learned from working in restaurants. Foods that have to be reheated to be cooked are pumped with extra fat, because it helps maintain the flavor through the reheating process. Chemicals – like monosodium glutamate, found in processed foods with rich, thick, almost meaty tastes – help reheatables that have to be pumped with extra fat taste more pleasing to you. The convenience that the food offers may be a welcome benefit, but it comes at the cost of a massive excess in calories and unnecessary additives and preservatives.

So here we are, living in the new millennium. For breakfast, we’re eating cereal. For lunch, we give our kids lunchables. For dinner, we heat up a pot pie. (If you want a laugh, look at the ingredients list on the back of any of those.) For a drink, we have a capri sun or a coke. Instead of nutrient-filled calorie-light whole foods, we’re now indulging in calorie-heavy nutrient-light foods that’ve been mainly cooked FOR us. When we take in foods, our bodies are expecting a certain amount of nutrients and vitamins. If our body doesn’t get what it’s looking for fast enough, what happens? It compels you to eat more! Yes! Have you ever inhaled half a bag of wafers, only to be hungry again moments later? All that work your body put in to digest this vitamin-free food, only to find that there are no vitamins in it? Yes, it’s going to tell you to try again and eat something else.

The problem for many of us, is that because it’s so much easier and quicker to grab another processed food item instead of cooking.. we try to fix the problem with something that’d only make it worse. All the while scarfing down the calories, forgetting all the nutrients, and packing on the pounds while we’re at it. The convenience, the fact that very few of us know how some foods are cooked, let alone what the foods SHOULD consist of, has allowed us to eat much more with much less effort. Is that a bad thing? If you know how to moderate yourself, of course not. Many of us, apparently, don’t.

Having said all that (2600 words, and STILL not a record for me), I have to say this. I know we all lead busy lives. If you managed to read all of this in one sitting, I give you kudos – I couldn’t even write it all in one sitting. We have to scale back in a major way if we want to be healthy. In writing this, I’ve decided to break this up into a series, continuing it on with how I managed to wean my family off of processed foods and what it’s taught me about how my body interacts with food, and how it wants to interact with food. Big difference between the two.

So, keep your eyes peeled for the breakdown of this topic, and the continuation… that I’m opting to call Food 101. I look forward to your thoughts below!

Food 101: The Problem With Processed Foods is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. The Problem With Processed Foods, Part I: What Is Processed Food?
2. The Problem With Processed Foods, Part II: The Change In Food Manufacturing
3. The Problem With Processed Foods, Part IV: The Conclusion

The FULL list of meal plans is currently available. Check it out and get your copy today!

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Post tags: black girls guide to weight loss, calorie counting, mentality, overeating, processed foods, saving money

Now, in comparison to a graph I shared here a while back, I have to wonder where all that cheese and all those “vegetables” are coming from. Are we counting the lettuce and tomato on a whopper? The tomato sauce and cheese on a pizza?

Artificial sweeteners… the average is 24lbs? Considering the number of us who don’t use that stuff, that means that those who do are using an awful lot of it.

Soda? People still drink that? Or the diet version?

Salt, too? Well, we all know where all that salt is coming from.

I’m also tickled by the amount of corn – 58lbs – and the amount of corn syrup (high fructose or otherwise) – an additional 42lbs. I mean, as a Midwesterner, we might eat a lot of corn-on-the-cob, but it certainly isn’t that much. If they’ve separated the corn syrups from the corn intake, kinda makes you wonder where the rest of that corn is hiding, hmm?

What stood out  to you?

Infographic: What The Average American Eats is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Weekend WTF: He EATS The Chicken In A Can!
2. O Magazine Answers: How Different Is Barbie From The Average Woman?
3. Infographic: How To Find Real Food At The Supermarket

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Post tags:

And logically, what company is going to pay millions of dollars for a little ad that will turn people off from purchasing their product?

Just like the commercials for “high fructose corn syrup” a few years back (and the accompanying websites) trying to educate the public on what the concoction doesn’t do to you. Give the people a reason to be comfortable with the way of life they have now (one full of products laden with an allegedly harmful chemical), and they won’t raise hell. I work in marketing. I get it.

Milk is the same way. Tell the elderly that they need milk to help them prevent osteoporosis (essentially, your bones breaking into a few pieces.) Start telling women who, on average, are at least 4 inches wider than they were several decades ago that milk will help them develop and maintain a slimmer figure, and they’ll jump to snatch the stuff off the shelves. Give people a reason to feel good about something that’s already in their lives, and they’ll keep doing it. Give ‘em a reason to feel pressure about doing it more – and make it easy – and they’ll keep at it. Easy peasy.

Even though I know this, I was surprised by the faith I have in milk… and how shaken I was by this article discussing how, apparently, 60% of adults cannot digest milk properly. What?

From USA Today:

Instead, people who are lactose intolerant can’t digest the main sugar —lactose— found in milk. In normal humans, the enzyme that does so —lactase— stops being produced when the person is between two and five years old. The undigested sugars end up in the colon, where they begin to ferment, producing gas that can cause cramping, bloating, nausea, flatulence and diarrhea.

If you’re American or European it’s hard to realize this, but being able to digest milk as an adult is one weird genetic adaptation.

It’s not normal. Somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. The numbers are often given as close to 0% of Native Americans, 5% of Asians, 25% of African and Caribbean peoples, 50% of Mediterranean peoples and 90% of northern Europeans. Sweden has one of the world’s highest percentages of lactase tolerant people.

Being able to digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn’t really call lactose intolerance a disease, because that presumes it’s abnormal. Instead, they call it lactase persistence, indicating what’s really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk.

So, what does that mean? It means a few things, really. I’ll at least tell you what came in my head after reading this article.

1. Firstly, if a majority of adults cannot digest milk, how many of us are drinking milk anyway and not being mindful of any digestive problems?
2. Secondly, how many of us are allowing the marketing to rule our lives? How many of us are well aware of the digestive issues that we experience due to milk and ignore those messages because “milk is so good for you, is so vital to your well-being, and everyone is drinking it?” In other words, how many of us just assume blindly that since everyone else is drinking milk and they don’t seem to be thwarted by whatever these pains are, that it’s just “normal?”
3. Lastly, how accurate are the studies that the dairy industry has been using to validate their claims? If anything, I know that scientists can put together a perfect study complete with damaging results. I also know how easy it is to turn that data and spin it on behalf of my company. Taking it a step further, I ALSO know that I can get pretty bold with my “spin” because the average person doesn’t go checking behind commercials or reading the fine print.

So, really… I can’t help but wonder. Did I get duped by phenomenal marketing? Because although I switched over to rice milk a long time ago, I still keep dairy in my diet because its healthy (more like, it’s because I’m in love with sharp cheddar, but that’s beside the point.) But if I can let it go, I’m on it.

Exactly How Does Milk Do A Body Good? is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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1. Cows Genetically Modified To Produce Human Milk?
2. Good Mornings
3. ‘Cause Your Good Hair Is More Important Than Your Health?

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dairy, high fructose corn syrup, milk, veganism

I’m talkin’ about snackin’. Although, for me, it was never really a snack. Not in the traditional sense – it wasn’t simply a little bit to hold me over. It was a LOT to hold me over unnecessarily… and on a regular basis.

I remember one day, coming home from the grocery and getting ready to start putting everything away… and the first bag I opened had a bag of Verona cookies inside. Guilty pleasure, yes they were. It felt like for every item I put in the fridge, I was tossing a cookie in my mouth. I don’t even know if I consciously realized what I was doing at that time.. but I was just eatin’ for the sake of eatin’.

Now… it’s all funny and jokes until I think about the fact that by the time I had finished putting the groceries away, I had finished the entire bag of cookies. There’s what – 24 cookies in a bag, right? If one serving size of 3 cookies is 140 calories… 24 divided by 3 equals 8 servings in a bag… so if I ate 140 calories 8 times… that’s over a thousand calories in one fell swoop.

I realized this was a habit for me. If I ate some goldfish crackers, I’d just get them directly out of the box. Pour them from my hand directly into my mouth – that way I never had to face how much of them I was eating. Not like I didn’t care, but… I didn’t care.

If I ate some ice cream? I’d get a spoonful from the pint, sometimes leave the spoon on top of the ice cream (nasty college student habit, I know), and go back to what I was doing. Cheez-its? Pfft, don’t even. My hand would go from box to mouth.

But then, I started reading the nutrition labels. I could never gauge – and if I did, I’d underestimate – just how much of something I was eating. It was getting in the way of my calorie counting. Of knowing what I was really putting in my body. So… I had to figure out a plan. A way to get a better grasp on how much food I was scarfing down mindlessly.

I bought myself a bag of blue corn chips. They taste a little heavier than your typical tortilla chips, but there’s this rich-and-almost-velvety taste to them that totally rocks. I turned the bag over, and took note of the serving size. 1 serving is equal to 15 chips. I then promptly grabbed a box of ziploc bags, and got to work.

Inside each bag… is 15 chips. One serving per ziploc. And wouldn’t you know it – I was eating three and four servings at a time just from mindless snacking? Do you see those portion sizes? Add in the typical guacamole or sour cream? Holy jeez… I was killin’ myself.

How did the ziploc treatment work? Well, let me tell you. It worked. Believe it or not, there’s science behind why.

Consider this study done by researchers at Cornell University:

According to a new Cornell University study, when moviegoers were served stale popcorn in big buckets, they ate 34 percent more than those given the same stale popcorn in medium-sized containers. Tasty food created even larger appetites: Fresh popcorn in large tubs resulted in people eating 45 percent more than those given fresh popcorn in medium-sized containers.

“We’re finding that portion size can influence intake as much as taste,” said Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and of Applied Economics at Cornell. “Large packages and containers can lead to overeating foods we do not even find appealing.” [...]

So… if all it takes to make you eat more of something you don’t like is a larger container..

…could you imagine what it does to you to eat something you like without even transferring it to a container at all? Eating your favorite chips out of the bag, instead of a bowl or a paper towel? Eating your favorite ice cream out of the pint container, instead of a champagne flute (hey, get creative – work with me, here)? Never getting a bowl, a plate – or in my case, a ziploc bag – allowed me to eat at will… never having to face how much I was eating, or exactly how often I was eating, either. Not like I ever had any dishes to clean, right?

Can everyone set aside time to get their ziploc on? Of course not. That’s not my suggestion at all. However, I do believe in baby steps. Take it slow. Start by no longer eating out of the box, bag, or container. Commit yourself to every time you get something to eat, you’ll put it in a bowl or plate before you put it in your mouth. Give yourself the opportunity to see what you’re eating, and if you know you shouldn’t be eating in the first place… feel a little guilt about it as you put it on your plate. ‘Cause yes – sometimes, you know you have no business eating seconds (or firsts, in some cases) and you should feel a little eater’s remorse about it.

So… I’ve fessed up about my Cheez-Its and my Veronas…. what’s the source of your portion distortion?

Portion Distortion: Stop Eating Out Of The Bag is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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2. Portion Control: Gaming The System
3. Overeating: Why You Can’t Stop At One Nacho

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: mentality, overeating, portion sizes

I gained a LOT – A LOT – of weight during my pregnancy. Something like 80lbs, I believe. Mentally, I fudged the numbers because they’re kind of hard to swallow. I was already something like 240lbs… another 80lbs put me out of this world.

And yes, all of that belly birthed one 9lb, 1oz baby girl.

After giving birth, I had to get several exams and ultrasounds to see what was going on with my legs. I was experiencing a seriously insane amount of pain and numbness. What I was dealing with, really, was pitting edema. Considering my other issues, they feared that I had developed diabetes.

Now that I’m in a better place mentally when it comes to understanding my health, I see all of the things that I did wrong. I see the things that I wish I had done, the tidbits of my doctor’s advice that I had taken seriously, and the opportunities I wish I had taken advantage of. So, allow me to offer some very important bits of information to my pregnant beauties out there that you should bring up with your doctors on your next visit. Confirm that these are good ideas for YOU, and do your best to stick to it – we want you around to see your baby’s babies!

• You are not eating for two. I’own care what Nana says. Nana might’ve been able to “be greedy” when she was pregnant back in the day, but I can assure you Nana’s food was way more filling, way higher quality, and much less processed. The prevailing sentiment right now is that a pregnant mommy only needs about 300 calories extra… so try not to go beyond that.
• Try to avoid the magic elixir foods. If it involves a powder that turns into a liquid – you know what I mean… rice-a-roni, hamburger helper, drink mixes – it’s probably in your best interest to limit your intake of it. You want to get as many whole foods and nutrients from natural resources for you and your baby as often and as much as possible. You’re already tired, trust me – you want to make sure you’re getting nutrients that will keep you energetic – not make you more tired.
• Having said that, the more vegetables and fruits and whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat breads, etc – consult your doctor in the event that you may have allergies to be concerned about) you eat, the better off – not to mention more full and healthy – you and baby will be. Processed foods have a tendency to contain HIGH levels of salt in them so while they may feel good to the Mommy with the salt cravings, you might not love how you feel post-pregnancy… or even later on IN your pregnancy.
• Stay busy! Pick up several hobbies, and keep BUSY! You don’t want to feel compelled to eat simply out of boredom. Go take a stroll, go run some errands, anything that can keep your hands and mind busy.
• Pregnant Mommy Yoga! I know Mommies-to-be who have enjoyed modified Yoga poses while pregnant, and say that the muscles they were able to develop actually helped them in delivering the child. It is a mild-intensity, light activity that can allow you to relieve a little stress (always good!) and be a little more active.
• Go for a walk. If it’s pacing up and down the stairs a few times, if it’s walking around the neighborhood a little bit, or if you’re only walking a lap or two around the office during your lunch break? Walk. This helps in the long run. Trust me.
• Don’t overindulge! I know when those cravings hit, it feels like you don’t know how to act! Here’s a method to trying to control those cravings and how you attack them. Get a big glass of water to go with whatever it is (for my best friend, it was popcorn and strawberry ice cream… for me, it was dill pickles cut up in rice-a-roni) and be sure to take a sip inbetween bites. This way, you’re enjoying your craving (if you must,) and limiting how much of it you indulge in all while still getting that “full” feeling.

Now, some women will chastise me for posting about “self” when one is pregnant and should be focusing on feeding the child. As someone who spent 42 weeks “feeding the child,” coming out of pregnancy with a slew of health concerns… there needs to be a safe and sane plan of attack. There needs to be strong consideration for the health of both the mother and the child because the baby needs his or her parents, right? So let’s not take this that route.

All of us are different. My pregnancy was high-risk because of a lot of what I was doing to myself. Yours may not be. My suggestion – the most important of all – would be to talk to your doctor. Try to create a daily nutrition schedule. “For breakfast, I will have a grapefruit. For a snack, I’ll have an apple, a pear, or an orange. For lunch…” talk about healthy options to swap out, so that you have variety. This is important. Why? Because habits that you develop during the pregnancy will undoubtedly carry on with you beyond your pregnancy. Trust me, you don’t want those habits to be ones that will cause you to gain even more after the baby.

In closing, be mindful. Focus on staying stress free and relaxed, and everything will come into place.

Oh, and the most important thing of all? Congratulations! Here’s to a happy and healthy pregnancy! Do you have any tips for eating and living healthily during pregnancy? What struggles did you face? How was your pregnancy? Let’s chat!

Being A Fit Mommy-To-Be is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: overeating

I do. What happened to breakfast?

Why do we do this to ourselves? Because we know that we’ll be alright if we only get something else a little later on instead of now? Are we even properly gauging what we can actually handle?

Here’s the skinny: It’s called breakfast because you’re breaking the fast that you endure when sleeping. You fast during sleep, you wake up, you eat! If you wait until lunch time.. what happens? You’re starving, and likely to order to first 1,300 calorie burger you can get your mitts on and pow! Overeating again!

Is it an issue of time? If so, here’s a suggestion. Grab a waffle or two. Cut up some fruit in ziploc bags, and grab one in the morning as you prepare your shower or get your thoughts together for the day.

No matter how many times you hear your friends say otherwise, skipping breakfast isn’t saving you calories in the slightest. They eventually wind up overcompensating for the calories lost at breakfast, because the body is much more hungry than it would’ve been at breakfast. It’s not beneficial to your weight loss efforts at all!

It could be as complex as a salsa omelette, or as simple as a half of a grapefruit sliced in fourths. The important thing here is to nourish your body in the morning, so that you’re not eating to make up for 14-16 hours of starvation at lunch time. Your tummy will thank you for it!

Skipping Breakfast: A Surefire Way To Gain Weight is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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1. My Struggle With Quitting Smoking And Weight Gain
2. Q&A Wednesday: A Black Girl’s Guide To Weight GAIN?
3. Vanity Sizing: Accidentally Masking Weight Gain?

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Fad Diets

A full plate of clean foods!

Q: How can you live a clean eating lifestyle, when those around you aren’t doing the same?

As I’ve written before, I encountered this, too. Running into the issue of either having people eat all your food before you get to eat it, not being allotted enough space in the fridge, or never being able to cook in the kitchen… ’cause someone else is always there. I’ve been there. It sucks.

You really have to be a super problem solver with this one, though. Work backwards from the solution, though:

“I want to eat healthier. That means I’ll have to buy lots of produce. This means I’ll have to keep it in the fridge. Can I ask for a little space in the produce part of the fridge? If I get a small little space, can I buy only enough produce/food for a week and just go grocery shopping every week? Hmmm…

…if that doesn’t work, can I purchase a little fridge of my own on ebay or craigslist just for produce, and put my meats in the freezer?”

There’s also this: I find that when the people around you see how easy you make it to eat better, they want to jump on the bandwagon… because having you cook the healthy, good tasting food is even less effort than them cooking the processed foods they probably feel guilty about.They tend to give you the leeway if you opt to take charge (provided it doesn’t taste like crap.) They may not do it in front of others, but corner the most important person in the house one on one first then everyone else tends to fall in line.

Give that a shot, and if you need more suggestions, come back.

Q: How do you choose a proper goal weight? Is there a magic number or a feeling? Is it the BMI range?

I remember when I was a size 26.. I said to myself “Man, just let me get down to a size 16 and flatten my stomach out..” and once I got to a size 16, I looked nothing like what I thought it’d look like. I didn’t realize this, but the number on the back of the dress doesn’t dictate the way my body would look underneath. Being a size 8 doesn’t mean I’d have nice hips, a flat tummy, or even a nice proper sitting booty. I realized I still had so far to go to get to where I want, that the numbers didn’t matter. And by numbers, I mean weight, BMI, dress size… none of ‘em mattered because none of them dictated what I’d look like naked.

And let’s be real. We all want to look good naked. If we just wanted to look fly under a hot dress, we’d be wearing some ridiculous magical contraption. I’m just sayin’.

My honest advice to you is to first take a good hard look at yourself naked. If it invokes tears, confusion, frustration… that’s ok. That’s realization setting in that maybe you have more work to do than you anticipated. (And I only suggest going this route because this is what I did.) But look at yourself. Be conscious of what you look like. Then be conscious of what you want to look like. Then hold that image in your head as you sweat your curls out.

Q: When and where do you restart after an injury?

If your physician has given you the OK to get active again, you start slow. You don’t want your first day to consist of you going just as hard as you were before your injury, and re-injuring yourself, right? Baby steps. If you start out like a novice Thursday and find that you can handle it, then when Friday’s workout comes? Just add to your load. Keep going at that pace, and you’ll sooner or later figure out where it starts getting tough.. and that’s your true starting point. But your body definitely deserves the time it takes to figure out just how much you can handle in the beginning.

As far as when you start? You start yesterday!

Q: What foods can I eat, and which ones should I avoid for clean eating and breastfeeding?

The good thing about clean eating is that since you’re eating the foods that the Earth makes for you, you’re taking in a lot of wonderful nutrients and passing them on to your little one. I’d be much more concerned if you were living on a processed diet than I’d be on a clean one. I think your best bet with this, first and foremost, is to consult with your doctor. She can take into account your family history, potential allergens, and other issues that might arise from your new lifestyle.

But if the question is what would I avoid from the jump? Foods that are high in fiber – broccoli, spinach, the average leafy green, etc – may make the baby gassy, but that’s simply something to be aware of. Fish, overall, I’d skip.. I’m not a huge seafood lover at all but this is hard for some. I’d personally limit the amount of dairy I took in. I’d avoid bagged produce (like salad bags) and deli meats (like, your average bologna and salami.)

You ever notice how you eat some foods, and find that your body smells like those foods later? I remember when I used to eat McDonalds… if I’d sweat later, I’d smell like sweet & sour sauce. (No, really. Gross, right?) Your breast milk suffers the same fate. So… don’t overdo it on the onions, garlic, asparagus or anything else that smells horrible when used excessively. If you think the smell (after having passed through your system) is bad, the taste is even worse. Perhaps the Mommies can comment on and offer suggestions for this one?

Keep those questions coming, and I’ll have ‘em ready for next week! Have thoughts? Let me hear ‘em in the comments!

Q&A Wednesday Clean Eating Style is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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1. Q&A Wednesday: Clean Eating Challenge Style
2. Q&A Wednesday: Is Clean Eating An Eating Disorder?
3. Q&A Wednesday: What IS Clean Eating, Anyway?

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bmi, breastfeeding, clean eating, exercise, foods, Healthy Eating, processed foods, working out

Having said that, I set out to buy my own berries and make my own jam. Is it pricier? It depends on your options. I was already buying jelly AND fresh blueberries (my daughter likes them in her cheerios) so for me, I saved money. Make the jam with my blueberries, and give her a small dollop of it in the center of her cereal. Not only that, but because my jam is made of actual food, my body doesn’t hunger for as much of it as I can slather onto the bread like it would with some commercial jams. Win on both counts.

Oh, and to the question of can you use frozen blueberries? This should answer that:

Not only do I use frozen, but I use generic. They were $3 on sale. Total win.

What will you need? Lemon juice, berries of choice, and sugar (). I’ve made blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, cherry, apples… you name it, you can probably jam it. If you’re like me, you keep lemon juice in the house anyhow as a base for cooking (hint, hint). A $2 bottle goes a long way. As far as the sugar goes, the more organic, the better – not “sugar-in-the-raw”-organic, but organic as in organic cane sugar. I’m not going to even do this like most recipes, because it’s that simple.

Get yourself a nice saucepan. Not too much larger than your berries – you can see how much/how many I had in my pan. Pour about 1/4th of a cup of lemon juice into your skillet, and let it simmer on moderate heat. Dump your berries – assuming you have about 3-4 cups of berries – into your pot, and let it cook for about a half an hour. Keep checking on it to make sure you’re not frying your berries. Trust me, it’ll taste foul if you do.

You should see the berries juicing themselves – lots of gooey goodness oozing out and creating their own little sauce. Give it a good stir to make sure you’re not burning anything, and start mashing. You can use the back of a wooden spoon, a potato masher, the bottom of a glass, whatever – just start mashing.

You won’t get an even consistency like you might with a jar of jelly bought from the grocery because – remember – there’s no actual fruit in there. It’ll be lumpy. It might even taste tart at first because of the lemon juice, but that’s ok. You still have to add the sugar. Once your berries are good and mashed to your liking, grab your sugar and get to work.

Add the sugar 1/4th of a cup at a time, stirring and tasting after every addition. I don’t like mine too sweet, because it reminds me of “grape” jelly and makes me nauseous, so I never need more than a third of a cup of sugar. Not only that, but knowing what I’m putting in my jelly, I don’t want to have to eat those calories and then be responsible for burning those calories. (This is why picking nice flavorful berries is important. Enjoy the flavor of the fruit – don’t overdo it on the sugar.)

If you’re feeling jazzy, there are a few finishing touches you can add. I dropped a scoop of flaxseed in my raspberry jelly. I took my blackberry jam and made a nice vinaigrette with it. With my apple jam, I added cloves and nutmeg to it. Get yourself a nice jar, and pour your finished jam into it. Give it some time to cool down, then refridgerate it.. and you’re done!

Save Calories AND Money: Make Your Own Jams and Jellies is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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2. Save Money On Groceries: Go Frozen!
3. Save Money On Groceries: Go… Smaller?

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: high fructose corn syrup, Recipes, saving money

“Oooooh, what are you putting on yours?”

“Oh, it’s just the purple stuff, carrots and lettuce in the bag I buy with some dressing.”

“Oh, um… what kind of dressing?”

“Ranch, girl! Duh! Do you even eat salads, or you just eating carrots over there?”

Aside from the stank face I was wearing.. I kind of pitied her little lunch salad container… because it clearly wasn’t about to be holding any food.

About a week later, I met up with one of my girls during her lunch break so that we could catch up. Out comes her lunch container with her salad inside. What, prey tell, do you think was in this container?

Lettuce. Cheese. Bacon. Onions. Tomatoes. Fried onions. (Yes, regular onions and fried onions.) Croutons. Looooots of croutons. Boiled egg. Chow mein noodles… and a third of a cup’s worth of blue cheese dressing. (No, I didn’t measure it, but I’m a cook – I know what a third of a cup of a creamy substance looks like.)

What is going on, here? Not that I’m judging, but I’m judging – if we’re going to use a salad as a meal replacement, shouldn’t it address the same issues as a meal? Or is that the issue? We’re trying to cut out meal-sized calories by eating a few lettuce leaves and a creamy dressing?

That ain’t gon’ cut it. No wonder The Facebook Crew (I love y’all, I do) swore up and down a salad couldn’t be worth more than $18. I may not be able to make it all the way to $36, but I can get you awfully close.

First of all, a meal is supposed to stave off hunger as well as nourish you and keep you lively throughout your day (at least until your next meal.) They’re supposed to be larger than a snack, but not be so large that you leave your table feeling like you just went up a pants size. While my friend with the purple stuff (which was red lettuce), carrots and iceberg lettuce was trying to make a snack turn into a meal… my other friend with the confusion salad was trying to do everything she could to avoid being hungry because she “just ate leaves” for lunch.

I’m not going to lie… I am an epic salad maker. EPIC. My salads are beautiful, flavorful, enjoyable, and leave me happy.. not hungry. My salads have just the right amount of sweet and saltiness… without either sugar OR salt. Some days I get creative, and some days I just make use of my typical staple ingredients. Either way… I’m full and fulfilled for under 400 calories, and I’m happy about it.

So… how do I do it?

It’s easier than you think. I’m not a fan of thinking in terms of nutrition, because it is my personal belief that if one is truly eating clean – no processed foods, all from the Earth – then they will undoubtedly get the nutrition they need. It’s as simple as that. However… if you’re going to build a salad meant to replace a meal, you want it to have the same components as a good meal, right? So let’s talk about that.

A “good meal” is going to provide you with veggies, carbs and protein. And yes, let’s squash this myth right now: meat is not your only source for protein. It is one of many, but since there’s an industry with an image to protect… you might be led to believe that. Don’t, though.

Let’s take a look at some of my salads (that I actually bothered to remember to photograph) to help identify the three components of a good salad:

What’s in there? Mushrooms, cucumbers, poppy seeds, spinach leaves, lentils, raspberries, a couple of slices of a baguette, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar as dressing. The oil serves as the fat, the vinegar gives me my saltiness, my raspberries give me sweet, bread for carbs and lentils for protein? Win.

In there, you’ll find red russian kale (thank you, farmer’s market), tomatoes, cucumbers, lentils, sunflower seeds, dried onion, and olive oil for dressing. Sunflower seeds and lentils for protein (and fiber), olive oil for fat, tomatoes (lots of tomatoes in there) for carbs, and all those other veggies in there? Again, win.

Pepper lettuce (some awesome hybrid a farmer came up with, perhaps? I don’t know, but it’s dope.), tomatoes, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, paprika sprinkled over the top and toasted slices of a whole wheat tortilla over the top. Got a little apple cider vinegar and sunflower oil blended together as a dressing, and pow – got a good salad.

Red fire lettuce, oven-roasted tomatoes (give me a sec, I’ll post the recipe), lentils, sunflower seeds, bread crumbs, and basil and olive oil as a dressing? Stay winning.

Here, we have spinach leaves, strawberries, sesame seeds, turkey bacon (gasp!), bread crumbs, oregano and tarragon, and olive oil for dressing. Yum.

Last but not least, the beauty I just ate last night:

“What the hell is that?” you ask? That’s my taco salad, complete with a homemade tortilla baked into the shape of a salad bowl. My first time baking a tortilla, and though it looks like something out of a horror flick… trust me when I tell you that it was delicious! Inside the tortilla shell, you’ll find iceberg lettuce, black beans, a tomato cucumber relish, and freshly shredded cheese. Black beans for protein, the tortilla shell for carbs? These are total wins, here.

If you notice, some of these things I only use occasionally (pumpkin seeds, raspberries, mushrooms, ) while others, I use regularly (olive oil, sunflower seeds, cucumbers, tomatoes.) It’s all about whatever’s available at that time in my house, as well as whatever’s available and cheapest at the market. If radishes are only $0.75 a bushel, please believe there will be plenty radishes had during meal time… salads or not. If black beans are on sale for $1 a pound, I’ll be “making it do what it do.” It’s that simple. The more pricey ingredients – balsamic vinegar, for example – I use sparingly. No, really- I’ve had the same bottle for approximately 7 months sitting in my fridge.

Build an arsenal of staple ingredients that you can use in any salad, that way you can throw together something yummy if you’re in a hurry. Branch out if you’ve got time. But don’t limit yourself to the crap in the bag… and don’t throw the whole kitchen sink in your bowl just to stave off hunger. If anything, use your ten minutes to build a better lunch salad… and I promise you’ll appreciate it!

Creating A $36 Salad At Home is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Q&A Wednesday: Creating Your Weight Training Routine
2. Understanding Calorie Counting: Creating Your Calorie Goal and Being Honest About It
3. The $36 Salad: An Exercise In Elitism?

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 39 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: recipe, Recipes, salad

As someone who’s already made these kinds of changes in her life, I thought it might be a good idea for a series on dietary lifestyle changes – what they are, how to convert, and what they can (and cannot) do for you. They’re typically uncommon and because we rarely think about changing our lifestyles in this way, they’re an untapped mine for opportunities to eat healthier.

Firstly, let’s talk about dietary restrictions. When I say “dietary restrictions,” I’m not referring to diet in the “American” sense. When we say “diet” we often mean “temporary,” as in “the Grapefruit Diet” or “The Lemonade Diet.” (Thank you, Beyonce.) That’s not what I’m getting at. Dietary restrictions are common place for people with allergies – allergic to peanut butter? You’re going to restrict Peanut Butter Cookies from your diet. Allergic to shellfish? Crab will eternally be restricted from your daily diet. Dietary restrictions are basically a daily lifestyle that makes it clear to you what you will and will not be eating.

Now.. let’s talk about options. When it comes to eating lifestyles, you have plenty of options.

Vegan. [cue horror music]

Veganism is a lifestyle where you commit yourself to avoiding the use of animal products and by-products for any purpose – food, clothes, accessories, anything.

There’s an emotional commitment to veganism, I think. There’s a passion there that you’re going out of your way to go against society and the prevalence of animal by-products for a very real purpose. Animal by-products are everywhere, and it requires major effort and consciousness to not slip up.

The positives about this are not only the commitment to the environment, but the commitment to your health. If you are vegan and avoid processed foods, you’re on a pretty solid path for good health. It basically leaves you fruit, nuts, and vegetables. If done properly, you can ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need with minimal interference and involvement from the outside world OR animal products.

The negatives are the serious risk of malnutrition if you’re not careful. Most Americans are used to getting the whole of their calcium from dairy products. If you cut dairy without finding a suitable replacement, you will feel it. Most Americans get their protein from animal meat. If you don’t plan for that, you will feel it. If you get most of your food from processed foods, you have to think about nutrition. Seriously. It’s not healthy for you just because it says “healthy” on the box, and most food manufacturers know that new vegans are dying for good tasting food… healthy-ness be damned.

Raw Vegan [cue hippie music]

Raw veganism is a lifestyle that consists of uncooked fruits and vegetables. The end. The belief is that any item cooked beyond 105degrees begins to decrease in nutritional value, so they avoid cooking it. I know raw vegans who do a lot of “cooking” in the summertime – leaving things like sweet potatoes covered in aluminum foil outside to “cook,” and the food can actually be quite delicious.

I think there are a ton of positives here – super inexpensive; no processed foods; with all the super low calorie counts for produce, you literally could eat all day and still not overeat; your body would get back to the way it should be, with only focusing on digesting things it’s been digesting for centuries. Not… high fructose corn syrup.

The negatives? The difficulty – no bagels in the meetings. No potato salad at the family reunion. No corn-fresh-off-the-grill. No ribs. No ice cream. You’re doing a wonderful thing for your body, but your mind’s memories of food will make the struggle long and hard. Then again, the harder the struggle, the better the reward? I don’t know too many unhealthy (not fat, unhealthy) raw vegans… and I know plenty of ‘em.

Vegetarian

Vegetarianism is a daily lifestyle that avoids ingesting any animal. Red meat, poultry, fish, all of it. It’s not quite as restrictive as raw veganism because you are still able to cook, and it’s not as rough as veganism because you can have dairy (and leather Coach bags?), but it is cutting down on your overall intake. Particularly if you’re drawn to things like fried pork chops, burgers.

The positives here are that because you’re cutting back on a heavy-in-calorie food category, you can indulge more in your fruits and veggies without breaking the bank in calories and getting wholesome nutrition.

The negatives are simple. When I converted to vegetarianism a while back, I [foolishly] thought that just because I wasn’t eating meat that I’d lose weight regardless of what I ate… so I went in on the hot fries, the doritos, the grilled cheese sandwiches… why? I mean, it’s vegetarian! Well, (like many of the negatives above) ignoring proper nutrition will leave you running short. I developed a quick bout with hypoglycemia, but eventually got myself together by using the next option.

Flexitarian

What is a Flexitarian? It’s a typical vegetarian diet, that relies on the occasional meat dish. It means that meat isn’t the premier item in the diet – it’s a luxury, so to speak. It’s used for an occasion.. not a regular occurrence.

The pros here are that since you’re relying less on meat, you get much more creative with your dishes. You get to save a little money buying less meat, you get to indulge a little… you also don’t have to shut yourself off eternally from the things you enjoy. You just get to realistically cut back from them in an accepted fashion.

Are there cons to Flexitarianism? Seriously? Outside of the initial pain of sacrifice, I don’t think there is one. Lots of us are flexitarians and never even knew it. The joke is that flexitarians are vegetarians with commitment issues. I won’t tell you that you have to commit.. ’cause this is one instance where it might benefit you.

Pescetarian

A pescetarian is one who only eats fruits, veggies and seafood at the expense of red meats, pork, and poultry. Shrimp, crab, lobster, sushi? This isn’t a bad option.

The pros are simple – since you’re taking in so much fish, you’ll definitely get in your omega-3s, which (while I rarely promote focusing on individual nutrients, I do like when we’re getting nutrients in their original form.. from nature) promotes a healthy heart. I think my folks in NoLa or the DC/MD/VA area might appreciate this.

The cons? Living anywhere else not rich in seafood and trying to live this lifestyle. A pint of crab meat was little over $11 for me here in Miami. Uh, I’m good.

Pollotarianism

Ahhh, this one isn’t too bad, I think. In the same vein as pescetarianism, pollotarianism swaps out seafood for poultry. This allows a lot of room – chicken, turkey, duck. Ground chicken/turkey for burgers, still can eat eggs and cheese… various ways to cook poultry would allow for the creative eater to enjoy themselves for quite a while.

The positives – a simple solution for the question, “Well, where do you get your protein?” Limited restriction, but enough to make a difference and a major shift in your diet.

The negatives? Outside of the sacrifice? Outside of trying to figure out a different way to cook poultry every night? Meh.

Polpescetarian

This is simply a combination of the previous two. You’re basically cutting out red meat and pork.

You’ll notice that all of these options begin with – at their core – cutting out pork and red meat. Sometimes, if you can’t get the better quality of meats, it might be best to consider cutting it out. I could go into reasons why, but I’ll save that for another post. The bottom line is, if you’re doing a lot of fried pork, or burgers full of condiments and other things that might be calorie overkill, it might be a nice way to switch it up and maybe cut down your reliance on those items.

I’ve been all of these – yes, all of ‘em – and couldn’t say that I am one in particular. At various points in my journey, I’ve been all of them. I haven’t had red meat or pork since 1999. I do go long periods of time without chicken. I eat very little dairy. I go extended periods of time eating like a raw vegan but because I still cook for my daughter, I’m tempted regularly to step outside of myself and chow down a bit.

I’d prefer to be a raw vegan. I know my dieting habits are pushing me in that direction, but I also know that’s giving up a LOT. So I’m not rushing it. After taking about six months to make the conversion, I eat chicken maybe once or twice a week, dairy maybe twice a week, and ground turkey maybe twice a month. I’m taking my time with it.

In closing, I do believe this is a decision best made after giving careful consideration to how you can execute it. As you can see, avoiding nutritional deficiency is a big issue and shouldn’t be taken lightly just to lose weight. It’s easy to get your protein and healthy fats outside of meats – peanut butter and basic nuts are a prime example – but if your daily routine can’t accommodate it, work to make sure that it does or find a more suitable option.

I’ll be writing more about this topic, so let me know – what questions do you have about these options? Do you live one of these lifestyles? If so, how has it benefitted you? Are you on the journey to change now, as well?

Changing Your Daily Diet? Vegetarian Isn’t The Only Option is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Q&A Wednesday: Should I Weigh Myself Daily?
2. Budget Friendly, Vegetarian AND The Original: Get A Meal Plan Today!
3. The Anatomy of A Diet: Why They Work, and Why The Success Never Lasts

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: calorie counting, eating lifestyles, veganism, vegetarian

Take my favorite example – at Friday’s, you’ve got the “Three-For-All.” For Applebee’s, it’s the “Sampler.” Olive Garden offers the “Tour of Italy.” All for the eater who “can’t choose what they want, so let ‘em eat ‘em all!”

CSPI also talks about the ridiculous appetizers and add-ons offered at most restaurants that are little more than slightly smaller versions of full-course entrees. Adding half a rack of ribs to your dish for $6.99,

Taken from the press release:

Keep in mind that most people should limit themselves to about 2,000 calories, 20 grams of saturated fat, and 1,500 mg of sodium per day. And the envelopes please…

• Red Lobster Ultimate Fondue: This retro item is also making comebacks at Olive Garden, Uno Chicago Grill, and at a chain that sells nothing but fondues, The Melting Pot. Red Lobster’s Ultimate version, “shrimp and crabmeat in a creamy lobster cheese sauce served in a warm crispy sourdough bowl,” is crammed with 1,490 calories, 40 grams of saturated fat, and 3,580 mg of sodium. That’s two days’ worth of both artery-clogging fat and blood-pressure-spiking sodium.
• Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger: Here Applebee’s inserts a bacon cheeseburger into a quesadilla. Two flour tortillas, two kinds of meat, two kinds of cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce, and a previously unknown condiment called Mexi-ranch sauce, plus fries, gives this monstrous marriage 1,820 calories, 46 grams of saturated fat, and 4,410 mg of sodium. Bonus heart-stopper: Applebee’s actually invites customers to top the fries with chili and still more cheese.
• Chili’s Big Mouth Bites: This is four mini-bacon-cheeseburgers served on a plate with fries, onion strings, and jalapeno ranch dipping sauce. (“Mini” is relative: each one is like a Quarter Pounder.) Like the “sliders” available at other chains, Chili’s Big Mouth Bites can be an appetizer or an entrée (these numbers are for the latter). 2,350 calories, 38 grams of saturated fat, and 3,940 milligrams of sodium.
• The Cheesecake Factory Chicken and Biscuits: Nutrition Action calls it “discomfort food.” If you wouldn’t eat an entire 8-piece bucket of KFC Original Recipe plus 5 biscuits, you shouldn’t order this. But unless you live in a city with menu labeling, you wouldn’t know that this dish has 2,500 calories. The rest of the winning—or rather, losing—appetizers, entrées, and desserts are in the June issue of Nutrition Action.

Because of all this, I was asked if I thought these kinds of offerings should be deemed illegal. And I’ve got to admit, I’m kinda torn about this.

No… actually, I’m not.

There’s no denying the fact that these numbers are bananas, and these dishes are disgusting looking. Having said that, the only question I have left to ask is…

…so what?

I mean, let’s look at CSPI’s findings for what they are. I’m a firm believer in the idea that if these restaurants are going to serve these gut-busting atrocities and pass them off as meals, then they should also be forced to make the nutritional information for those dishes available to the public… just like the processed food manufacturers. Not as an obscure link on a website. As a part of their menu. To me, it just makes sense – if the FDA says that food manufacturers have to put the nutritional info on the side of the box, then restaurants should be forced to have the information equally readily available. Kudos to CSPI for helping bring to the forefront the issue of hidden calorie counts.

However, to say that because CSPI uncovered these heart-stopping (literally) findings means that we should all campaign to have the dishes banned by law? I think that’s quite a reach. I mean, complaining about high-calorie appetizers that are supposed to, by definition, whet the appetite… you’d probably do better to talk to the person who orders the appetizer as their meal and remind them that “this dish is intended to serve 4… not one.”

I look at it like this – the reality of it all is that for the past 50 or so years, we’ve had someone assume the “responsibility” of leading the American diet. Not the various cultures from which we came (regardless of how connected some of us were allowed to be to our cultures), not the traditions of our respective nations… but… the government. The charge has always been led by someone who could develop/has developed ulterior motives or a fundamental incapability to properly rule on these most serious of matters. (Would you trust the entity responsible for protecting the longevity of an industry to tell the public how to safely enjoy said industry? Have you met the USDA?)

Do I have a problem with the dishes? You know I do. I find them disgusting, especially since I could probably duplicate that 2,500 calorie pasta dish in my own kitchen for mayyyybe 600 calories. But to tell people that they shouldn’t be allowed to order them is excessive. I’ve simply had enough of people trying to assume the responsibility of telling us what to eat. They either get it wrong – repeatedly – or they start getting drunk on their own power and abuse their privilege… trading in our health for their own personal favors. Unacceptable.

In reality, I’m a much larger proponent of forcing restaurants to post calorie counts of their food items than I am anything else. That would compel those who care to make better, more knowledgeable choices and force franchises who want that money to create healthier dishes and compete for those dollars fairly. The hypothetical question of banning certain foods is just excessive, I think.

The point of all this, really, is to underscore the fact that the responsibility for my eating habits should solely rely upon me. No one is going to look out for me and my health the way I can… especially when there is money to be made off of me. Don’t rely on others to make these kinds of decisions for you, leaving yourself open to poor health. Take charge! Some things, we can’t rely on a magic button, pill, garment, organization or law to do for us. Some things are important enough for us to take charge of ourselves, and that includes our health.

Your thoughts? Let’s hear ‘em!

Should A 2,500 Calorie Plate of Pasta Be Illegal? is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Understanding Calorie Counting: Creating Your Calorie Goal and Being Honest About It
2. Science Catches Up: A Calorie Is Not A Calorie
3. Weekend WTF: The 98,824 Calorie Taco Night & The 71,000 Calorie Lasagna

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: center for science in the public interest, cspi, government, Healthy Eating, restaurants

Why?

There are a few reasons. But first, I think it might be important to explain the process that the grain must go through (because rice starts out as a much larger grain) in order to become the white rices and pastas that we enjoy so much.

This diagram, from The Today Show, diagrams the grain when it’s first harvested. It goes through a rice husker to have the outermost shell removed, and you’re left wit brown rice. Ta-da! The bran part of the grain is where all the rich and chewy fiber is located. The germ is where the nutrient-rich portion of the grain is found. The endosperm is, well… we’ll get to that.

Take it a step further. To get white rice, the outer husk and bran (the fiber-packed part?) are stripped from the grain, as is the nutrient-filled germ. This, obviously, leaves only the starchy endosperm. From here, the endosperm is polished in sugars and/or powders to not only aid in taste, but reshape the grain. Sounds like all of the good stuff is stripped from the grain, right?

Well, that’s because it is.

This is where that “enriched” part comes in. Processing plants will “add” vitamin D and whatever else into the endosperm so that total nutritional value isn’t lost, but it pales in comparison to what originally was in the rice in the first place. As in, what it grew from the ground carrying. Riboflavin and thiamin (which helps your body in metabolizing fats), potassium (which helps your body balance out high sodium intake), vitamin e (a skin care essential that aids in anti-aging)? All are lost when rice makes the transition from brown to white.

I won’t go on my typical trademark rant, but I will say this: rice in it’s least processed form is three times as filling as enriched white rice.

Since you can see that white rice is brown rice with all the valuable stuff stripped of it with some other stuff injected in to “enrich” the endosperm, you can see why it’s so easy to cook white rice… or why it’s so difficult to cook brown rice. What would I suggest? Honestly, ditch the minute/microwaveable rices, and opt for something else.

What else is there?

I’m a big basmati and jasmine rice eater, as well as brown rice. Basmati rice might be a bit pricier – there’s no $0.99 bag of it available anywhere – but for those who love to eat enriched white rice, both are viable options. I eat brown rice, but because I was always so used to white rice, it was a hard switch for me. What do I do instead? After I cook my brown rice (for about 45 minutes – yes, that extra nutrition-y goodness means it takes much longer to cook), I use it in stir fry type dishes or I create a sauce with the leftover juices from cooking the other parts of my dish. A little lemon juice, orange peel, or even an oregano/sage/cranberry blend can go a long way.

In short, there is a benefit to taking the leap away from enriched white rice. Are you taking the leap? Have you already lept? Let me hear about it!

What’s Wrong With White Rice? is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Are Brown Eggs Really Better Than White?
2. Pleasure and The Puritans: Why “If It Tastes Good, It MUST Be Bad” Is Wrong
3. The Myth of The Food Desert: Where The Root Went Wrong

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: processed foods

We’re all familiar with my disdain for high fructose corn syrup, right? I mean, the stuff’s pretty awful. If you’d like a not-so-quick rundown, check here. It may help you navigate this post.

Apparently, researchers at Princeton put together a study comparing rats fed basic rat food and liquid sweetened with high fructose corn syrup to rats fed the standard chow and liquid sweetened with basic table sugar.

Um, you read the rest:

Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

“Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests,” said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction.

“When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.” – [source]

Now, I’m not going to use this as an “I told you so” moment – that’s not my M.O. – but I do need to take a moment to make something clear.

I take a lot of flack about this site and my choice of approach to weight loss, health and wellness. The notion that “you don’t need a whole blog to tell people to put the fork down” is turned on its face by studies like this. Why? Because it’s not about “putting the fork down.” Studies like this prove that it’s about making sure you’re aware of what’s on the other end of the fork when you pick it up.

This study further proves that it’s not about the quantity of what you eat (although, let me be clear – there ARE people who eat too much and they CAN get in their own way.) This is validation for the fact that it is the quality of your food, not the quantity. If there is proof that a chemical [that can be found in most of the food we eat] can interfere with the body’s ability to burn the calories that we take in, then it’s much larger than “eat less.” Why? Because if I continue to eat smaller portions of the same harmful foods, I’d still get the negative results. See where I’m going with this?

I’ve long said on this site that the primary goal should be developing and understanding how to adopt a healthy lifestyle, because the pounds come off that much easier at that point. I know this because I’ve lived it, and still live it. If you limit the amount of things in your diet that come from lab chemicals (have you looked at the back of a box of crackers lately? Um…), you decrease the chance of becoming confused by where these changes in your body come from. We should all seek simplicity in our diet… not 4-word-long chemical chains that our body cannot break down.

I never give new science 100% credit or a 100% stamp of approval in any way, so I’d love to see more studies done and see what the fallout is over this, but I’ve got to tell you.. this is major. The majority of policy enacted by our government essentially ignores the quality of the calories we take in. School systems that insist on serving the kids reheated pizzas for breakfast (as shown in that “Food Revolution” show that I really wanted to write about first) use this “quality of calories is unimportant” mentality.

Honestly, what do I see happening? Not much. (Strange, isn’t it?) We still use sugar packets that say “Can contribute to causing cancer” on the side. I doubt there will be any regulation or modification in any way, because the public at large may not call for it, rally for it, demand it. Our politicians only act on something when there’s enough of a rallying cry to threaten their chances of re-election.. and so long as the public is kept in the dark, that rally will never happen.

And that’s okay… I guess.

The public at large deserves the right to make their own choices about whether or not they want this stuff in their food. Those of us who are working toward a healthier lifestyle, however, deserve to know the truth – that this stuff isn’t going to help us get what we want. We deserve to make our choices based off of proper information, and be able to determine – on our own, without the help of corny commercials (no pun intended, I promise) or marketing campaigns – whether or not we want to give our dollars to products or companies that insist on using this stuff.

After allllll that, I say this. Know what you’re eating. We can’t go wrong with the foods our families have healthily enjoyed for decades, centuries, millennia. We take chances on processed foods that make our lives easier, and we suffer those consequences. I’m done with taking chances and I hope you are, too.

All in favor of working to avoid the HFCS, say “Aye!”

Study Says Common Food Chemical Packs On Belly Fat is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Study: Cardio Beats Resistance Training In Belly Fat Battle
2. The Chemical “Processing” In Your Processed Foods
3. Q&A Wednesday: Inches, Belly Fat and The Quitter’s Disease

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fat, high fructose corn syrup, myths, science

You heard right. This is my “Sexy Ranch” dressing.

I heard you askin’ already – why is it Sexy Ranch?!

Here’s why:

My ranch is sexy because this ranch… is not.

16tbsp = 1 cup. I paid about $2.50 for 1 cup of ranch dressing in a funny shaped supaskinny bottle with semi-modern package design.

Inside that $2.50 cup of ranch dressing, I get 16 tablespoons of dressing, with each tablespoon giving me 140 calories.

Inside that $2.50 cup of ranch dressing, I get ingredients like phosphoric acid, natamycin, disodium guanylate, and xanthan gum. Yeah. If you can tell me what any of that is, that’d be great.

I snatched up some stuff from my kitchen that definitely cost more than $2.50 altogether. I snatched up things like:

1/3 teaspoon of sea salt (maybe even less.. just a pinch worked for mine)

about 1/3 cup of parsley

2 tablespoons of finely chopped green onions (chopped however finely you’d prefer it in your dressing)

1/3 teaspoon of black pepper

1 cup of real mayonnaise (do us BOTH a favor and don’t use Miracle Whip) (~700 calories)

buttermilk (I used about 2 cups, you may use more or less) (about 100 calories per cup)

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

1 teaspoon of cream cheese (~10 calories)

1 tablespoon of finely chopped onion

I tossed everything in the bowl, except the buttermilk. Go on and mix that all up. Give it a taste and see how you like it.

Then, go ahead and pour in your buttermilk, one cup at a time. Stir it after each cup, and give it a little pinky-taste-test. You know, put a dollop on your pinky and taste it to see what kind of taste it leaves on your tongue. Add the second cup. At this point, decide whether or not you want it thinner (and if so, add more buttermilk.)

Want it more tangy? Go with squeezing a liiittle lemon over it. Want it spicy? Hit up the paprika and cayenne pepper. Want somethin’ different? Add a little flax seed to it, or grab the chili powder. Make this YOUR recipe. YOU are the one that has to enjoy it, and you need to convince yourself that this is the safer option for your ranch fetish. Is time an issue? Tell yourself that the only way you can enjoy ranch dressing is if you make it yourself.

I recommend making sure you have extra ingredients left over just so that you can personalize the recipe the way you want. Ranch is, essentially, about throwing the whole farm in the pot and putting it the way you like it – I put a little paprika in mine, I squeeze a little lime over mine… might even put a little lime zest (lime shavings) on top and stir it in.  Try anything – try everything! Make use of your kitchen. I can assure you, it’s totally fun… and takes all of 15 minutes. Grab a squeeze bottle from your nearest dollar store or grocery (or dump out your old ranch and rinse the bottle, LOL), and pow – you’re all set!

Now.. let’s compare. Even if you had to BUY all the ingredients for my ranch, you can still use them in other dishes. I had everything in my home already. It’s not a total loss on the investment.

I used 2 cups of buttermilk. This gave me a little more than 3 cups of ranch dressing. Let’s do the math:

3 cups of dressing = 700(calories from the mayo) + 200(calories from 2 cups of buttermilk) + 10(calories from the cream cheese)

Kraft’s 1 cup of dressing totals 2240 calories. 2080 of which are from fat.

My 3 cups of ranch total 910 calories. Putting it on par with the Kraft, that means that for every 1 cup, my dressing gives you about 303 calories. I didn’t calculate fat calories, but I can assure you it’s much less than 2080.

303…is much less than 2240. Seriously.

My ranch is Sexy Ranch because it’s not gonna prevent you from preserving your sexy. I’m serious.

Best of luck, and don’t forget to tell me how it turns out!

Make It At Home: Sexy Ranch Dressing is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Weekend WTF: I’m Too Sexy For This Ham
2. Q&A Wednesday: Exercise Won’t Make You Thin?
3. Q&A Wednesday: I’m Not Gonna Make It Through Labor Day!

The FULL list of meal plans is currently available. Check it out and get your copy today!

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: saving money

Let’s be real. This thing gets tough. It’s hard to give up your favorite dishes when you find out they’ve got a million calories. It’s hard to give up your favorite drink when you realize each one takes up 1/6th of your caloric total for the day. It’s easy to say “To hell with this, I’m going to Burger King.” Trust me.. I know.

To prepare yourself, take some time – in advance – to scope out some healthier alternatives to your daily intake. If you KNOW that driving past that Panera Bread is gonna make you stop in, find a different route to work. Do what you can to avoid temptation, and eventually the foods that you’re avoiding will not only lose their appeal, but they’ll become less “rewarding” to your body (meaning, you won’t get that “Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…” feeling), thus making you less likely to indulge in them.

I know some people carry a notebook or a diary all day and mark every little calorie written down… but let’s face it – that’s not a viable option for everyone. So let’s set up a sample scanario. You’ve set yourself a daily calorie level of 1400 calories. Make it easy on yourself. Break it down! 300 calories for breakfast, 400 calories for lunch, 700 calories for dinner! Ta-dow! Nothing to keep track of over the course of a day. No borrowing of calories from breakfast for lunch. Set yourself a strict goal, and each day try to get closer to maintaining it. You may not get it on point for the first few days, and that’s ok – habits developed over a lifetime won’t be erased overnight. If you’re used to getting/giving yourself what you want, it’s not going to be easy to change that. It’s ok to accept and embrace that.

When I first started calorie counting, I was cheating like nobody’s business! I have a recipe for homemade queso, right? Why was I eating it for breakfast – well over my calorie limit for that meal – and skipping lunch? I mean, my queso is deliciously healthy.. but an oversized pot of it? Naw, man! No good! Do you know how painful it is to overeat at breakfast, and not eat until dinner? Path of destruction, right? Losing the battle before I could even reach the field, right? Just awful! Don’t do it to yourself. Just… don’t.

Looking for other posts in the Understanding Calorie Counting series? Check the links below!

• Understanding Calorie Counting: The Basics
• Understanding Calorie Counting: What is it? Calorie Counting Defined
• Understanding Calorie Counting: Creating Your Calorie Goal and Being Honest About It
• Understanding Calorie Counting: The Payoff – Why Am I Doing This To Myself?
• Understanding Calorie Counting: Preparing Yourself For Success
• Understanding Calorie Counting: A Final Word

Understanding Calorie Counting: Preparing Yourself For Success is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Understanding Calorie Counting: What is it? Calorie Counting Defined
2. Understanding Calorie Counting: Creating Your Calorie Goal and Being Honest About It
3. Understanding Calorie Counting: The Payoff – Why Am I Doing This To Myself?

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: calorie counting, overeating

My new-found love of mustard... yum.

For me, the hardest thing to do was giving up some of my favorite vices. I loved mayo. Looooved fruit punch. Loooooooved ice cream floats. I’m just not someone who likes the idea of giving up what I’d considered staples in my diet – yes, mayo was a staple… I even enjoyed a little turkey with my mayo sandwich – for any reason, until… I found something better.

I think that’s a key aspect of giving up bad habits – finding something delicious to replace it with, that has the added bonus of being good for us, as well. Granted, not everyone will face the task of full on giving something up… but I know my strengths, and I pay attention to my weaknesses. I know that some things compel me to ignore the concept of “moderation” either out of habit or simply because it may be what my tongue wants at that time. Sometimes, I’d rather skip them altogether than risk overdoing it in the name of “learning moderation.”

So having said that, here are a few of my swaps that make life that much easier for me, and prevent me from running back to my own bad habits:

Mayonnaise/”Salad Dressing”: Depending on your brand, it might be that sweet stuff that is something like a billion calories of nothing but oil and egg and cream and high fructose corn syrup. I gave up my mayo, and replaced it with different variations of mustard. Yes, mustard! Honey mustard, dijon mustard, regular mustard… you name it, I’ve got it. I use it on salads, on sandwiches, even in my marinades. The average tablespoon of mustard is about 10 calories anyhow and with such a kick to it, a little goes a long way.

Croutons: I always laugh a little bit when I look at the serving sizes for croutons, because they’re so impractical. The serving size is always something awkward like, “2 tablespoons or 3 grams.” Who measures croutons in tablespoons? And what’s more, croutons peek out from above the top of the tablespoon.. so does the calorie count only include the parts of the croutons that’s actually within the spoon or does it also include the bread that’s peeking out of the top? I don’t like things that are difficult to measure – that makes it more difficult to understand and gauge what it’s doing to my body – so I gave up the croutons, and replaced them with panko bread crumbs. Their size allows for you to measure them properly, a half of a cup is 100 calories (so two tablespoons is closer to 25 calories), and they’re crunchy enough to provide nice texture to your salads. Win.

Fruit juice: I can admit it. Three years of dorm life left me with a sad love of, um, “fruit punch.” It’s not “fruit juice,” because it’s not the “juice of a fruit.” It’s “fruit punch” because… well, no one knows why. There’s no nutritional value to this stuff because it’s little more than chemical flavorings, sugar and water. But how can you make your own fruit punch? Grab some tea bags, squeeze in some orange juice, throw in some raspberries and peaches and mangoes (I sometimes use frozen when I need to be cheap), and then drop in your orange and lemon halves! Ta-da – not only is it beautiful to look at, but once you get the flavor perfect for your tongue, you will be much happier with your choice.

Root beer floats: I didn’t even like root beer like that, but paired up with ice cream? Aw, snap. What I do now is actually pretty extensive, but ice cream is not a regularity at all for me – maybe once every few months – so I treat it like it’s special. I dice up a few apples, toss ‘em in a pot. Pour in some cranberries, a tablespoon of sugar, and about a half cup of red wine (I always keep a cheap bottle of wine handy to use while cooking, anyhow.) Let it cook on moderate heat (maybe a 7 out of ten), and then mash it up with a potato masher (or chop it up with a knife, same point). It doesn’t have to look like mashed potatoes, but it shouldn’t look like fresh apples, either. Once I’ve finished dinner, I’ll pour my ice cream in a glass, top it with my apples and cranberries and maybe pour a little sparkling water over the top. Yes, I treat it like real dessert – I cook it while I cook dinner.

I know, I know… no one wants to go through all of that work. Cooking fruits, squeezing oranges, but the point of all this is two-fold: 1) become so excited by the good stuff (that you can make for cheap), that you no longer want the cheap and unhealthy stuff as much, and 2) know that because it’s so much work, you can’t eat it as much, therefore you don’t eat it as much. Besides, even if you don’t need to give up these things, you’ll at least see how to flip something into an opportunity to experiment and create something new. See how that works?

What swaps have you made to live healthier and happier? What swaps would you like to make? Who knows? Maybe we can make a new “day” – “Friday Swap?” Let’s hear ‘em!

Four Easy Swaps To Cut Calories is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. How Many Calories Are You Drinking?
2. Where Do Americans Get Their Calories?
3. Q&A Wednesday: I’m Not Getting Enough Calories!

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: apples, clean eating, cranberries, croutons, fruit punch, Healthy Eating, high fructose corn syrup, ice cream, ice cream floats, mayonnaise, mustard, oranges, panko bread crumbs, peaches, Recipes, root beer floats, saving money

So what makes 7 (or 8 or 9) p.m. a magical cutoff time anyway? The original idea was that people should stop eating about 3 hours before bed, using 10 p.m. as an average bedtime. Although it is a good idea to stop eating a few hours before bed, the reasoning has nothing to do with weight gain; it’s basically an issue of digestion and personal comfort. Going to sleep on a full stomach may make sleeping uncomfortable, as the body is simultaneously shutting down to rest while still exerting energy to digest the food. This may lead to fitful sleep as well as gas and indigestion—but not weight gain. Your body is smart, but it doesn’t know what time it is when you eat. It will metabolize calories eaten after 7 p.m. the same way as it does the calories you eat earlier in the day. They will NOT automatically be stored as fat.

So… what’s the takeaway? The original thought was that eating so close to bedtime would mean that food wouldn’t be broken down properly – which is true, if you’re talking about digestion – and would be stored as fat. That’s not true! If you want to sleep a little better, there should be a relatively wide window between your last meal and your bedtime. Other than that? Sounds like a green light…. but no overeating!

Did You Know: Eating After 7PM is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Q&A Wednesday: Is Clean Eating An Eating Disorder?
2. The Difference Between Enjoying Eating and Emotional Eating
3. Telling A Tale of Stress and Emotional Eating

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2011. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: myths