Mindful Eats

Trying Hemp Milk

Living Harvest Hempmilk

Every man is born an original, but sadly, most men die copies. ~Abraham Lincoln

Yet another plant "milk" is getting hyped up. This time it's hemp. Since we're not crazy about soy milk, we were a little skeptical about trying hemp milk. But we did. 

Why drink hemp milk? It turns out that hemp milk has a lot of nutrients - its loaded with essential fatty acids Omega 3 and 6 (more than any other plant), and it's a good source of vegetarian protein since it has all 10 essential amino acids. In addition, it has magnesium, iron, potassium, fiber and phytonutrients, plus natural antioxidants like vitamin E. And its good for the planet since it's fast growing and doesn't require pesticides. Apparently it doesn't need a lot of watering since it has a large taproot, and it naturally suppresses weeds due to its tall canopy. It's also disease-resistant. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? 

What is it? Plant milks aren't milk. They are whitish and hemp milk is served chilled, which is the closest similarity to milk that we can see. Most squeezed plants are known as juice, but whatever. Hemp milk comes from pressing tiny little hemp seeds.

How does it taste? It can be the healthiest thing in the world, but you probably won't drink it if you don't like it. We don't like additives in our food and we wanted to get the true flavor of it, so we chose the unsweetened original flavor. If you look closely you see little grainy looking things suspended in it. Make sure you shake well. We didn't like the first glass at all, partly because we were expecting it to taste more like milk. It doesn't. Get that idea out of your head! It's kinda creamy and a little grainy, and doesn't taste like anything else we've ever tried. We were ready to pour it down the drain and call it a day. However, in the spirit of research, we finished the box over the next week. The second glass was okay since we no longer expected it to taste like milk. And by the fourth glass, we kind of liked it. We even used it in cereal when we were out of regular dairy milk. Not bad. Though if it wasn't loaded with nutrients, we wouldn't drink it. But just because we don't love the stuff doesn't mean you won't.

Does it get you high? No. It doesn't contain any THC (the stuff in marijuana that gets you high).

What about allergies? Hemp has its own profile, so it doesn't mean you'll be allergic even if you're allergic to tree nuts, soy and dairy.

How much does it cost? It costs a little more than soy milk. In NYC, it's around $5 for a 32 oz. box.

So that's the scoop on hemp milk. We'll buy it occasionally in the future, but it won't be a regular drink in our refrigerator.

Want to learn more? 

• Dr. Weil on hemp milk
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article
• Manufacturer website (Living Harvest)

What I ate: macadamia nuts, latte, yogurt + blueberries + mangos + strawberries + sugar, chocolate croissant, coffee, baby carrot, babaganoush, white tea, brown rice, quinoa, stir-fried tofu + tempeh + broccoli + mushrooms + garlic, ginger snap, hot chocolate, water

Exercise: Ran 3 miles, 20 min. upper body weights

Holiday Eating

Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands- and then eat just one of those pieces. ~Judith Viorst

The holidays are upon us! It's the time of thankfulness, good times, family and friends. It may be the best time of the year, but it's also the fattest time of the year. Food and drink entice you at every gathering, and even at work. Resist! Shedding the pounds gets harder and harder. It's possible to eat, drink and be merry without turning into a butterball.

Since there is such a focus on the "perfect holiday", this time can also be the loneliest, or most stressful time of year. All that stress can cause the most mindful eater to self-medicate with food or alcohol. For those of you that are putting pressure on yourselves to have picture-perfect holidays, relax. The most perfect holidays are the ones where you connect with people and have fun. Running around being a stressball will only dampen your enjoyment and those around you. For those of you that have recently gotten bad news, lost a loved one, or feel bereft of family or friends, you're not alone. Many people feel alone, and remember, these times will change. MindfulEats loves you.

If you usually gain a little weight during the holidays, try these tips:

What to do - Holiday Plan

1. Plan your party strategy. Don't get caught off guard! Know where the food and drink will be, starting with Thanksgiving. Pick the 3-4 events of the season that you want to indulge the most in (you probably don't want to pick the popcorn tin at the office). Be aware of the food that you don't want to indulge in, and partake in it very modestly.
2. Visualize the food and drink at the celebrations you want to indulge in. Use this celebration eating strategy. Eat just a little of what you like, and moderate amounts of what you love. Thoroughly enjoy all of it. Does the second piece of cake really taste that much better than the first?
3. Keep a food log. Recording every bite is THE most effective way to avoid excess calories.
4. Exercise. Get moving with family and friends. Play basketball, go for a hike, or participate in a Turkey Trot. Or, shamelessly take some time for yourself and exercise before the eating starts.
5. Take care of yourself. If you feel sad or stressed, do something you like. Have a cup of tea in your favorite place or watch a movie. Connect with someone. Volunteering during the holidays is often needed - try the food bank or community center.
6. Get rid of your expectations. You don't need to have a Thanksgiving dinner that looks like a magazine meal or tantrum-free kids that behave perfectly. Just take the moments as they come and enjoy. Here's a NYT article on what not to do.

Have a great Thanksgiving!  

What I ate: Brown Cow Cream top yogurt + 1 tbsp Sarabeth's jam + ground flaxseeds + cereal, 12 oz. skim cafe au lait, macadamia nuts, dried mango slices, saag paneer + quinoa, 3 squares dark chocolate, dried apricots, Gala apple, Barbara's Bakery shredded oats cereal + milk, hot chocolate, 45 oz. water

Exercise: 17 minutes stationary bike, 30 minutes lifting

Exercising After a Break - Baby Steps

 My friend's adorable daughter Hannah steps across a formidable obstacle     © Kristina Wollan

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mindful Eater, I just got back from vacation in the Middle East so I have been a bit delinquent in writing. The other thing I've been delinquent about is exercising. I love to run when I travel, but this time I deferred to the advice of friends who told me that running in the streets would be considered extremely odd. So I ate a lot and walked instead. 

16 exercise-free days passed. And now I'm out of shape. My last run was 26 miles, and yesterday I could barely run more than two slow miles. I'm also more tired and less energetic than I used to be.

If you stop your regular exercise routine, your cardio fitness will decline after a week. Strength-training lasts longer, so it will take a couple more exercise-free weeks for you to lose strength fitness.

Of course, the best thing is to not take a break from exercise. But sometimes it happens (or maybe you're just starting to exercise for the first time). It's not the end of the world - don't panic! I might be out of shape now, but I know that I can get back on track in a couple weeks. And so can you. Slide into your exercise routine slowly - you want to make it a permanent habit instead of burning yourself out - then it'll take even LONGER to get back in shape.

What to do - (Re)Start Your Exercise Routine

1. Make a commitment to start exercising again, and stick to it. I got home Tuesday night, and went on a little run Wednesday morning. It was tough (I wanted to sleep in), but I was really glad I did it.
2. Create a little plan and start slow. Your muscles tear and then repair themselves to get stronger when you exercise. If you push it too hard, you can be setting yourself up for injury and burn out. You're not in a race to get fit - you're in it for the long haul. I jogged a slow two miles on Wednesday, then did some easly lifting on Thursday. If you're working out for the first time, start walking!
3. Note the progress that you are making after a week. You might not be where you want to be (and where you will be), but you've made serious progress. Be proud of your accomplishment.
4. Stick to your plan! You may feel exhausted for the first few days, but then before you know it, you'll be brimming with energy and sleeping better.

Want to read more?

• Why you should exercise and how to get started
• Excuses for not exercising
• SparkPeople article on starting exercise slowly

What I ate: hemp milk, Barbara's Bakery Oat cereal, 1 hard boiled egg, Brown Cow Cream top yogurt + ground flaxseeds + Sarabeth's peach-strawberry jam, macadamia nuts, dried apricots, Cosi: 1/2 Signature Salad, small tomato basil soup, 3 squares dark chocolate, brown rice, steamed brocolli + tofu + soy sauce + sesame oil, hot chocolate

Exercise: Jogged 2 miles

Mind Your Plastic Bottles

Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections. ~St. Francis de Sales

MindfulEats is delighted to welcome George Dodwell in his first post. George has been a vegetarian for years and is very mindful of his impact on the environment. He hails from the UK, which is why you'll notice the references to the metric system.

The human body is anywhere between 55% and 78% water, depending on body size. To function properly, the body requires between 1 and 7 liters of water a day. How do you get yours?

Hopefully not from bottles. The Container Recycling Institute estimates that Americans buy 34 billion – yes, that's billion – single serving plastic water bottles each year. The total estimated energy needed to make, transport and dispose of one bottle of water is equivalent to filling that same bottle one-quarter full of oil. On top of that, it takes three liters of water to produce a one-liter bottle of water.

 

According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation in 2002 the average American consumed 20.1 gallons of bottled water. By 2007 that figure had risen to 29.3 gallons, an increase of almost 46 percent. The US is not alone in its thirst for packaged drinks - US is ninth in the world in per capita consumption, after the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Italy, Belgium-Luxembourg (the report combines the two countries), France, Germany, Spain, and Lebanon. Of these countries only France has seen a decline in consumption since 2002. (Ah the pesky French, with their cigarettes, croissants, butter, steaks and their immaculate health.) Worldwide, 2.7 million tons of plastic are used each year to make water bottles.

 

It's not even cheap. Fiji water, shipped all the way from, yes, Fiji, costs about $1.50 per half-liter bottle. That equates to about $11 per gallon, or $7 more than a gallon of regular petrol. The Pacific Institute estimates that bottled water costs a thousand times more than tap water – a figure that makes the consumption figures even more astounding.

 

Most water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), 80% of which end up in landfills or incinerators. That's an estimated 845 bottles per second. Recycling rates are up on previous years, but that's still a lot of bottles that aren't being recycled.

 

Most bottled water isn't even spring water. Dasani and Aquafina, the two leading brands by market share, contain tap water. Meticulously treated tap water, but tap water all the same. Pepsi, the owner of the Aquafina brand, now labels its water as coming from a “Public Water Source”. Dasani was forced to pull out of the UK entirely after the British public created an outcry over the source of the water and suspected bromate poisoning.

 

There is some good news. After years of steady growth, the US market for bottled water appears to be cooling off, the Worldwatch Institute reported last year; an Australian town became the first to ban bottled water entirely last year and the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution in 2008 Monday to phase out city spending on bottled water.  The contract isn't binding, but 60 Mayors promptly cancelled their city's bottled water contracts.

 

So, Mindful Eater, what can you do?

 

Drink tap water. Buy a water filter and use it. Carry your own water – it's cheaper, fresher and more environmentally sound. You can be a Mindful Drinker too.

 

What I ate: 1 bowl Alpen; 2 bananas; 2 cheese + lettuce + branston pickle sarnies; few handfuls of mixed nuts + raisins; 2 apples; 4 cups tea; 4 pints water; leek pie + broccoli; a smattering of Cadbury's dairy milk chocolate.