The Low Carb Whole Food Gluten Free Foodie

When you think of the word “diet,” what comes to mind? Some people think that diet refers to what we eat, while others think “I need to go on a diet”? The distinction shows how we feel about  food in general and that most people look at diets as a means to an end: weight loss, better health and in some cases, an attempt to have a beneficial impact on climate change. But when most people refer to their diet, what they actually mean is the specific diet they follow. Unless, of course, they “don’t do diets.” This usually means that they don’t restrict what they eat, in terms of calories, carbs and fat, but it can also refer to the attitude that nothing is off limits (with the unspoken message that people who do follow specific dietary guidelines, for whatever reason, are being ridiculous) for any reason. But everyone who eats has a diet, simply in terms of what they use for fuel on an everyday basis.

One of the words most frequently associated with diets is “salad. I’m not talking about potato and ambrosia salad here; I’m talking about green, leafy vegetables, for the most part. But green salads aren’t necessarily healthy - the lightest, freshest ingredients can be overwhelmed by adding too many toppings and/or too much dressing. Even lettuce and other “low carb”vegetables which are considered to be  standard “diet” food, are only as nourishing as the soil in which they’re grown. You can wash away the dirt, but if they’ve been sprayed with pesticides, chances are that those chemicals are embedded in their DNA. And if you use salad dressing, even in responsible amounts, you are adding more to your meals besides oil, vingar and spices. I’m referring to the bottled salad dressing you find in the grocery store - When was the last time you read the nutritional labels of store-bought dressings? Even products that purport to be “healthy” have ingredients like corn starch, high fructose corn syrup and MSG. While it is true that many companies are now manufacturing products that don’t have harmful additives like those just mentioned, I’d still rather make my own. Not only because I can  control what kinds of ingredients (and how much) go into the mix; if I make it myself, I can cut down on the resources and energy that go into manufacturing and transporting pre-packaged food. I can also make a little bit at a time, rather than being forced to throw out the portion of manufactured dressing I didn’t get to use before it went rancid.

The best thing about salads, in my opinion, is that you can just throw ingredients together, without any cooking involved, and create a balanced meal in a relatively short amount of time. Strawberry spinach salad is my favorite and I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to whomever first suggested this particular combination - I would never have considered adding strawberries on my own. This recipe also contains my favorite nuts, cheese and salad dressing and I can eat it all spring and summer without getting bored. It tastes wonderful, looks gorgeous and even if the dressing isn’t made beforehand, takes little time to prepare.

Salad Ingredients:

2 oz baby spinach

14 g / 1/2 oz pecans(about 2 T)

14 g /  1/2 oz feta cheese(about 2 T)

42 g / 1 1/2 oz fresh strawberries, sliced

Preparation:

*Combine ingredients in a bowl and toss with balsamic vinaigrette.

Has 186.85 cal, 4.7 net carbs, 15 g fat, 2.58 g fiber and 3.33 g protein.

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

1 T balsamic vinegar

1/2 T crushed garlic

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 C extra virgen olive oil

Preparation:

*Whisk all ingredients together. Store in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Makes 5 - 1 T servings and each has 100.06 cal, .8 net carbs and 10.8 g fat

There are people who will tell you that weighing yourself everyday is obsessive and unhealthy. I used to feel that way myself. In fact, I once threw my scale away; I had decided that I was comfortable being a size 10/12, that I loved my body and was happy with the way I looked. That was before I developed insulin resistance and all of a sudden my clothes were too tight and I looked frightful in photographs. So I started a low carb diet , bought a new scale and went through the long and tedious process of losing the weight.

While I do think that you can be obsessive about weighing yourself, I also think that it is perfectly OK to weigh yourself once a day, in the morning.  It will give you a sense of how you’re doing in ongoing weight loss and will signal if you start losing or gaining at an alarming rate, allowing you to make whatever adjustments are needed. I know that a healthy relationship with your bathroom scale can be a challenge, especially if you have an eating disorder or other major food issues. But if you can find a way to keep it all in balance (and that means not freaking out when you gain a pound), the scale can become, if not your friend then your partner.

There are also people who will tell you that it’s obsessive to keep a diet diary. Writing down everything you eat, every day? Sounds like madness! But I must say that, especially for someone who has trouble remembering whether or not she’s already taken her meds and supplements, writing it all down helps me keep track of everything.  Each page looks something like this:

                     Protein     Fiber     Calories   Net/Effective Carbs   Fat

 Smoothie      27.5g      5.5g      180.75           2.5g                     5g

I also write down all the medications, supplements and oz of water per day.  It’s great - I don’t have to keep track of everything in my head, I know exactly what I’ve consumed and chances are, if I don’t want to write it down, I shouldn’t be eating it. And that’s the promise you must make to yourself - you must write everything down, no cheating. Once you start keeping track, you begin to realize that you need to make adjustments here and there.

Another thing to keep an eye on is portion control.  The best way I’ve found is to weigh your food rather than measuring it out in cups and tablespoons. It’s far more accurate, and it gives you a much better idea in terms of what a portion of any given thing actually looks like. Our brains try to fool us when it comes to how much, our eyes tell us lies when we look at a portion of food. “Surely, it must be bigger”, our eyes tell us. “You really don’t need to measure”, says our brain.  Now, there are people who will tell you that weighing your food is another act of unhealthy, compulsive behavior. And they may be right, in some circumstances. Be that as it may, you may want to tell all those people who think you’re obsessing about your health to mind their own damn business.

Having said all that, I do realize that all of these practices can become obsessive. Anything can. The trick is not to freak out about weight fluctuations  or to spend all day poring over your diary in angst. There are more than enough things in life to make you crazy - try not to add to them.

So, this is an update of an original post. A post that I’ve elected to include with the update, even though it no longer applies to my life. I think it’s important to show that learning something new can lead to making big changes in your lifestyle and that the beliefs that we hold dear can be challenged at any time. When faced with that challenge, we have a choice; we can avoid the issue (but not the consequences that come with not changing) or we can take it to heart and make whatever adjustments we can. It’s hard to give up the things we love, the things we count on everyday to make life more pleasurable. Sometimes there are decent substitutions but if there aren’t, then we have to learn to live without. Improving your health usually requires making sacrifices and the benefit of making those sacrifices means feeling better. I think it’s a fair trade. It’s up to you to decide how far you’re willing to go and how long it takes you to get there.

The most recent thing I’ve chosen to give up is soy. I’ve been gluten free for three weeks and in that relatively short period of time, I’ve noticed significant changes in my appetite (lower) and energy levels (higher). As far as the bathroom scale is concerned, my six month rut of losing and gaining the same ten pounds is over:  I’ve gone from 185 to 172 LBs.  I don’t miss the low carb tortillas and pita bread that used to be a regular part of my diet, I don’t crave more calories than my body needs and I just plain feel better. It even seems to have reduced the symptoms of acid reflux. So, it worked and it wasn’t that difficult. But soy is a different story.

In my last post, I talked about my reasons for soy elimination. What I didn’t talk about was the void I have yet to fill - my “daily decaf soy mocha” void. It’s like having to give up my daily over-priced coffee  habit all over again except, this time, I don’t have a satisfactory substitution.  It turns out that almond milk does not behave like soy milk when added to espresso  - it doesn’t taste very good and it lacks the creamy consistency. I also used unsweetened soy milk in decaf  chai (I usually have two cups a day) and although  I can easily substitute heavy cream in this case, without losing the desired flavor,  giving up the soy milk in my coffee and tea means I lose a total of 6 grams of fiber and 14 grams of protein per day.

So, my current, mid-morning coffee break consists of what I call a “faux mocha”:

1/4 C decaf espresso

1/4 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 T heavy cream

stevia

I use Pacific Organic Almond Milk.

It has 98 cal, 2.5 net carbs, 8.75 g fat, .5 g fiber and 1.25 g protein.

 It’s OK, but it’s just not as satisfying.  I miss my soy mocha and I have no idea if eliminating soy from my diet will be as rewarding an experience as eliminating gluten. I’m guessing it won’t be and I’m feeling cranky as a result. There’s an old saying: “nothing tastes as good as being thin”. I’ve always hated this old saw and not only because it exemplifies an attitude about austerity that I find ridiculous. It may be easy for some people to find comfort and pleasure from abstaining, but I think most people like to eat. Food is more than a nutritional requirement - it’s a way to experience the world through our taste buds, which can be as pleasurable as we are able and willing to make it.

I don’t expect anyone to give up soy, meat or gluten or anything else, for that matter. I don’t expect anyone to agree with my beliefs -these are merely the choices I have made in an attempt to feel better. But I hope that you will be open-minded and willing to make changes - it certainly makes living without the things we love and have come to rely upon a much easier proposition.

3/30/11

I think the toughest addiction I ever had to give up was Caffeine Free Diet Coke. I hate to think about what years of drinking what is essentially a neurotoxin, did to my nervous system. I know I’m not the only one out there. But before I tackled that one, I first had to give up one of my favorite addictions: designer coffee. I’m not part of what I like to call “The Starbuck’s Phenomenon”; it’s not because I’m an aging hipster wannabe. I just associate Starbucks with corporation, which automatically sends me warning signals. I haven’t read anything truly terrible about Starbucks and I know that they are ranked pretty high in terms of green business practices. But I happen to live near an actual coffe house, Cafe Trieste, which is just blocks away from my apartment. It’s much better than any chain coffe place and that’s where I used to get my Soy Mochas (and their excellent chocolate croissants, which I also had to give up). I had already given up caffeine  when I was first diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and it wasn’t that hard. I tend to be anxious and I have epic insomnia, so caffeine is really not my friend.

I had to figure out the low carb homemade version. Fortunately, I grew up in Miami, with a heavy Latino population and I learned the ins and outs of espresso making. Never mind the fancy machines; I know they look cool, but they are a pain in the ass to clean. It’s also much easier to make the stove top version.

That’s a three serving pot. You can also get them in one and six servings. The three serving pot makes about 1/2 cup of espresso and I use a 1/4 cup to make my mocha.  It’s simple - the whole thing unscrews into three pieces, the top, the bottom and the filter. Fill the bottom with water until it’s just below the indicated point. Put in the filter and fill with coffee grounds (don’t pack it) and screw on the top and boil over a medium high heat. You do need to keep an eye on it, because it can start to burn very quickly (usually when deeply involved with some other meaningless task). Also double check to make sure it’s filled with water - the rubber washer will melt and burn and it’s added drama you don’t need.

In case you didn’t already know, what makes it espresso is how it’s made and not the type of coffee that’s used. So you can use any naturally decaffeinated  coffee - just make sure it’s ground finely enough for espresso.

Low Carb Soy Mocha

Ingredients:

1/4 C freshly brewed decaf espresso

1 C unsweetened vanilla soy milk

1/4 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

natural sweetener, to taste

Preparation:

*Pour hot coffee into a mug; add the cocoa powder and stir until well blended. Pour in soy milk and microwave on high for approximately 45 seconds. Add sweetener and sprinkle with ground cinnamon, if desired.

Has 103 calories, 1.5 net carbs, 4.9 g fat, 4 g fiber and 9 g protein.

And there’s your happy ending.  You can make it a double and still have only 3 net carbs. You can put it in one of those adorable ceramic/porcelain, eco-friendly re-useable cups fashioned to look like cardboard coffee to-go cups with plastic tops. It’s cheaper, you won’t be tempted to buy a scone or muffin and you won’t have to stand on line for coffee, ever again.

Easy virtue - there’s nothing like it.

Just for fun, go to the Starbucks website and check out:

http://www.starbucks.com/menu/catalog/nutrition?.drink=all#view_control=nutrition.

You can look up your favorite Starbucks beverage and get the skinny on it’s nutritional information. My favorite, the 8 oz Soy Mocha has 130 cal, 22 net carbs, 3 g fat, <1 g fiber and 4 g protein.