Mindful Eats

How to Read Food Labels for Your Health

Cheddar Cheese Cracker Combos

"The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life." - Plato

The best kind of foods are whole foods that come without labels (like apples, broccoli, cabbage, etc.) However, it is nearly impossible to avoid all processed foods. So, eventually, sadly, you will probably eat food that comes out of a container. Out of all the shelves of packaged foods out there, which food should you eat?

The good news is that all packaged food comes with food labels, so you have the information you need to make smart decisions. It's actually fun to look at food labels to see what you're eating. Read them and make mindful choices!

Healthy Snacks for the Day - Pack It In

Deanna's Snack Drawer - Fruit Bowl, pumpkin seed, walnuts, almonds, prunes, dried apricots, organic no-butter popcorn

"Always plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark." - Robert C. Cushing

I don't know about you, but sitting down for hours at a time makes me ravenous.  That means that work is a danger zone for me.  If there's any time that I'm going to be mindless about eating, it's during those 9+ hours at the office.  To make it even worse, there's always a ton of fatty food sitting around (though there's a lot less of it now since we've in a recession) - doughnuts, bagels, cookies, pizza.  How does one make it through the day without gaining a couple pounds? It took me a long time to figure it out. It's all about planning, and packing it in.  

What to do: Create a Snack Strategy

1. Know your weaknesses. Look at your Mindful Battle Plan. You know when your meals are. What is your snack pattern? Mine is mid-morning, followed by a shameful feeding frenzy that starts at 4.
2. Plan the snack strategy around the weakness. I have a mid-morning snack, and then to prevent the 4pm food frenzy, I eat at 2 and 4pm.  The 2pm snack stems the frenzy.
3. Pack it in. It's easy to stuff your face with the easiest alternative when work gets crazy or you're bored. Now that you know which snacks you have to plan for, figure out what they are going to be and pack in the whole foods - Mindful Mix, a Fruit Bowl, nuts, dried fruit, popcorn.  Keeping these things in stock will keep you away from the junk food around the office.
4. Pick your schlep.  My friend Deanna (one of the most mindful eaters I know), brings a week's supply of food in on Monday. I don't like to schlep, so I bring food in every day. I've also found that the downstairs drug store is a good source in a pinch. You're going to have to keep your inventory continuously replenished, so figure out what works for you. Experiment. When you find something that works, keep doing it.

What I ate: 1 banana, 1 coffee, 2 clementines, turnip/collard green soup, 1/2 c. pistachios, pumpkin seeds, tomato/cucumber salad, eggplant caponata, orzo salad, smoked salmon, 1 cracker + cheese spread (it's gross but I love it - and I only had 1!), pasta alfredo (so rich, very bad - but I had a moderate, mindful portion), chocolate Mousse + whipped cream (another mindful portion), Bengal Spice tea, 55 oz. water, 1 multivitamin

Exercise: 1 hour yoga,weight lifting (lower body)

Your Snacks are Killing You - Here's the Solution, Part 2

My winter fruit bowl 

"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy." -Albert Einstein

Everyone needs to snack.  In Part I you threw away your nasty processed junk food and learned how to make your own Mindful Mix.  If you still held on to a couple bags of snacks, throw them away now.  The first law of food is: if it's in your house, you will eat it. Don't forget a snack strategy for work too.

Your second snack is a Fruit Bowl.  It is simple to make, and doubles as a pretty tableau for your table.  

What you do - Make a Fruit Bowl

1. Go the market and buy enough seasonal fruit for the week.  In the winter you can load up on citrus, apples, pears and bananas.  In the summer your options open up to include peaches, plums, nectarines, etc.  You can also create a berry bowl that you keep in your refrigerator.  If you can afford it, you can support sustainable agriculture by buying organic.  If you are prioritizing your organic purchases, start with no-peel fruit that is more difficult to wash (berries).  Peelable fruit (like oranges) is more protected from pesticides.
2. Find a beautiful bowl that makes you smile.  Arrange the fruit, leave it somewhere convenient, and enjoy. 

Your Snacks are Killing You - Here's the Solution, Part 1

 My Mindful Mix

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. ~Fran Lebowitz

I've met very few people that only eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Personally, I snack all day long.  If I don't, I go into a ravenous rampage and eat everything in sight. Sound familiar? As someone that has grown up on potato chips, Cheetos, cheese puffs, and anything salty, I was addicted to junk food. That stuff is crap. It's processed and filled with sodium, transfat and lacks nutrition. I weaned myself off it with higher-quality crap like baked pita chips, Terra chips, and Pirate's Booty. Still, crap is crap. And if any of this processed stuff is in your house, throw it away. I know, I know, you paid a lot of money for it and it's perfectly good. I give you permission to chuck it. It's called junk food for a reason.  Just. Throw. It. Away.

You are going to replace it with two tasty snacks. The first one is your own Mindful Mix. You're going to love it because you're going to mindfully fill it with your favorite things. I started making it because trail mix always had things I didn't like, and creating my own Mindful Mix ended up being cheaper as well. If you're like me and you need to have some crunch, throw in almonds. Don't forget to plan your snacks out for work with the Mindful Battle Plan.

What to do - Mindful Mix