Transitioning to Healthy Eating

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Nov 012008
 

I’ve written off and on about wanting to make a switch to healthier eating. We eat out WAY too much and when we do eat at home, it’s often some pre-processed chemical-filled nightmare. I believe in divine healing (100000%! and I’ve demonstrated it to another doc, too :) ) – but I also believe that God expects us to take good care of ourselves.

I recently discovered that my diet’s utter lack of Vitamin D is the likely cause of 2 years of feeling ill. I’ve been on 4000IU’s for weeks now and am starting to feel like I have energy and vitality. Which has made me question just how “off” from optimal our bodies likely are, nutritionally.

Our #1 problem with healthy eating is time – even though I’m not working, we often get home later in the evening and cooking is impractical. So we grab a bite to eat on the run.

I budgeted a bunch more money than usual for grocery shopping. I’ve got a meals list and I think Monday after I’m done at the chiro’s I’ll go grocery shopping and do the OAMC thing.

I’m not worried about calories, fat, or carbs TOO much at this point. Ken’s a meat eater – it’s hard to make him happy with a vegetarian meal (even beans need to have meat in them!) – but I’m going to buy leaner cuts and use less in each recipe, use whole grains where I can, buy organic when I can, add more fruits and veggies, etc.

One commitment I’ve made to myself is to eat breakfast every day! I’ve never consistently eaten breakfast, even as a child. A few days ago I bought a box of my favorite cereal (Perky’s Nutty Flax), some frozen berries, and a carton of soy milk and I’ve been eating a small bowl (perhaps 1/3 of a cup) every day. I suddenly have more energy than I know what to do with!! It’s rich in vitamin A – another vitamin I likely don’t get enough of.

BTW, Jules, you might like the Nutty Flax if you can get it in the UK – it’s gluten free (and nut-free too) – Whole sorghum flour, flax seed, honey, raisin juice, salt – It’s sort of like grape nuts but larger and not as crunchy. Great stuff.

I’ll post my meals list in a couple of days!

The other biggie is exercise – but that’ll be for a later post.

PS: check this out: Amerisave is one of the nation’s largest loan processors. They offer a $300 best-rate guarantee and the ability to apply online.

 Posted by Kathi at 6:46 am
  • Jules

    I’ll have a look out for it – I always have breakfast otherwise I slump by about 10am. Looking forward to reading your meal lists; it’s planning ahead and keeping a contents list of cupboards and freezers that has worked for me, so I don’t have a 6pm-just-got-in-from-work panic. How’s your freezer space?

    Start with frying industrial quantities of onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, and you have the base for a lot of dishes. If you have the pots and pans, you could simultaneously be preparing 3 or 4 different dishes in large quantities for freezing. Add some browned minced meat and tinned tomatoes, and you can turn half into a chilli and half into pasta sauce or make up lasagnes for freezing. The veg mix with fried chicken or turkey can be turned into stirfry bases, curries, stews. Add diced pork to beans and tomatoes to make Boston beans to go over baked potatoes.

    Make sure you’ve got suitable containers for freezing, and work out if they’ll need to go in the oven or microwave.

    Have you got a crockpot/slowcooker? Great for cheaper leaner cuts like beef brisket and darker meat like chicken thighs. It’s a good idea to investigate different cuts of meat; the price really does vary, and less popular more oldfashioned cuts can be fantastic.

    I bought a couple of big joints (enormous boneless leg of pork and a whole large chicken) for the last monthly shop, but didn’t get round to cutting and freezing after we’d cooked them – the cats dined on organic free-range meat that week! So we may go to boxes of pork chops and chicken quarters etc that I can freeze in portions on arrival. I’m convinced organic chicken tastes better, and so definitely does milk. We’ve cut back quite dramatically on meat, and are using more tofu in Chinese and curries, and plain veggy stuff, but I’ve got spicy paprika goulash with diced organic beef and rice or mashed potatoes planned.

    I’m interested in what you say about Vit D – may try that myself, with our climate. It’s very dark, dreary and cold here at the moment; we had snow last week which is unusual for this time of year. The forecast is for a colder drier winter than last year.

    Steamed veg is better than boiled – retains more of the vitamins and the texture is better. We have a two-tier electric steamer and a two-tier saucepan one for the oventop.

    I’m going to carefully investigate beans – planning to grow 3 types next year: runner beans, climbing French beans and dwarf yellow beans. If I have space, I’ll try some older kinds from the Heritage Seed Library as well; as a member, I can request 6 packets of seeds a year, and they grow well in pots up a tripod bamboo canes. Some we’ll eat sliced and fresh, some we’ll slice and freeze, and some we’ll let the beans themselves dry for winter soups and stews. I know the key is to make any changes very gradually, or my IBS plays up something chronic.

    Planning on being more adventurous with veg next year as we now have a greenhouse and the garden is completely dug and cleared (ahead of schedule for once) – we’re going to grow a wide selection: new and late potatoes, carrots, leeks, peas, onions, garlic, corn, spaghetti squashes, butternut squashes, as many beans as I can fit in, 5 kinds of tomatoes, aubergines, asparagus, parsnips, mini-cauliflowers, salad leaves, beetroot, courgettes, Hamburg parsley. Will plan ahead so we also have stuff to grow over winter next year like kale and cabbage. Plus lots of different herbs – a sachet of fresh coriander (cilantro) here costs about £1, but I can grow a whole summer’s worth from seed for less than that.

    Do you guys have vegemince over there? We use it and it’s difficult to tell it’s not meat – it tends to be soy-based, has the same texture as meat, and readily soaks up flavouring. I’m not so keen on dried soy but we get frozen vegemince that just crumbles apart in the bag, and you don’t have to brown it first.

  • catfantastic

    Breakfast is an absolute must for me. If I don’t have it, I end up with a migraine.

    One grain I’ve really been loving lately is quinoa. The kind that got me hooked is really expensive, but I’ve found that if I get the Bulk Barn stuff and rinse the heck out of it with warm water for three minutes, it’s fine. The texture is amazing.

    We have trouble getting fresh veggies here, because I get paid once a month and it runs out quick, but I’ve found that if I go to Chinatown I can get vast quantities of vegetables, slightly off, for a dollar a bag. Got a term’s supply of peppers for two bucks last month. :)

  • Anita

    Cool Cat ;)

    What about smoothies for breakfast Kathi? Try a weetbix or a cup of any of your fave cereal complete with linseed, sunflower, drop of flax seed oil and lashings of berries, yoghurt, banana, honey etc all blended up for a quick but totally nutritious on the run breaky. Then again, its good to have a sit down breakfast – contemplate the day ahead. Im looking forward to your list! Also cant go past free range, organic eggs for nutrition :)

   

Kay Sharpe


I'm a laid-down lover of Jesus Christ. I write about my King and His Kingdom, the Bible, revival, healing, prophecy, faith, and more... plus I throw in recipes, tips, news and politics items, reviews, and all sorts of random things just for fun. Until recently, I was known as "Kathi"... but my name is now Kay. It's a good, God thing... :) The opinions expressed in this blog are mine and mine only - not necessarily shared by my husband, our church, my employers, or anyone else.

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