Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!
Topic of the week #21 – Recipe: Pot Roast
My family loves all-in-one meals where the protein, grains/starches and vegetables (and possibly dairy) are combined into one dish. I received a slow cooker for Christmas, so I’ve been reading a lot of slow cooker recipes and trying some out. Unfortunately, a lot of them are what I call “high-involvement,” meaning I have to spend 30 minutes or longer preparing or cooking. I thought the point of a slow cooker is that you dump a bunch of stuff in, turn it on, and leave for 4-8 hours! I don’t want to spend more than 30 minutes chopping vegetables, browning meat, making sauces, etc. Tonight, I modified a couple of pot roast recipes to make an easy pot roast with potatoes and carrots. It was fork tender, my family loved it, and it was easy:
Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Pot roast
1 can beef broth
1 packet onion soup mix
6 Fingerling potatoes, washed
6 Carrots, washed and trimmed
Trim fat off pot roast. (My husband was kind enough to coat the meat in flour and brown in on the stove. All the recipes called for it, but I was going to skip it.) Place pot roast in slow cooker. Pour beef broth over meat. Sprinkle onion soup mix over meat. Place potatoes and carrots on top of meat. Cook on high 4 hours or on low 8 hours.
A few comments on this meal: Soups tend to be very high in sodium, but you can buy low sodium beef broth and see if there is low sodium onion soup mix. Pot roast is not known for being one of the healthiest types or cuts of meat. I eat pot roast about once a year, so I guess I’m done for 2008. But it sure tastes good, and it’s a great comfort food on a cold, rainy day! If you want to feel ecologically better about eating pot roast, buy it from a local, organic farm.
I welcome your feedback on the Topic of the Week. You can share your comments at: http://sweetlifeweekly.blogspot.com/. I am also looking for more topics of the week. If there are any topics related to the SWEET Life that you would like me to explore, please let me know by replying to this email.
Also, new this week, is my website: http://livingthesweetlife.net/
Look for another topic next week, and keep living the SWEET Life!
Suzanne
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Improved Breakfasts
Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!
Topic of the week -Improved breakfasts
2. Research shows that you will eat fewer calories over the course of the day if you eat breakfast than if you skip it.
3. People who skip breakfast tend to feel “starved” or “low energy” later in the day, like mid-morning or mid-afternoon, and then they overeat sugary, salty and/or fatty snacks, with little nutrition, to satiate those feelings.
4. No diets ever say to skip a meal. On the contrary, they say to eat 5-6 small meals or 3 meals and 1-2 snacks. Skipping meals does not lead to weight loss; it only leads to slower metabolism. . .
5. . . . Because you haven’t eaten in about 12 hours, your metabolism has slowed to a trickle in order to conserve what little energy your body has left. By eating, your metabolism works faster because it has some calories to burn. And the higher the metabolism, the more you can eat without gaining weight!
6. You will be more alert and productive in the morning if you eat breakfast.
7. Set a good example for your family and spend a little family time together in the morning, even if it’s only 10 minutes.
· Yogurt with fruit or granola
· Fruit or fruit salad
· Whole grain cereal with milk, topped with fruit
· Cottage cheese with fruit
· A scrambled or fried egg only takes a couple minutes to cook, or hard boil a bunch of eggs and eat them throughout the week
· On the weekend cook lots of whole grain pancakes (with chopped fruit in them), waffles or French toast and refrigerate the leftovers to toast up quickly during the week
· Serve pancakes, waffles or French toast with fruit, yogurt or applesauce instead of syrup
· Whole grain toast, English muffin, or bagel with cheese or peanut butter
· Slice a banana lengthwise and stuff it with peanut butter (keep it in the skin for easier transport)
· Hard-boiled egg
· Whole grain breakfast bar
· Dry whole grain cereal in a small container
· Trail mix or dried fruit
· A piece of fresh fruit
· Fruit Smoothie made with yogurt and fruit
· Juice
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!
Topic of the week -Improved breakfasts
Do you eat breakfast? If not, are you overweight? If so, what do you eat? Are you a consistent non-thinker, eating the same breakfast every day? I grew up that way: cold cereal every day for 18 years. Do you eat blow-out weekend breakfasts, but modest weekday ones? Do you like to vary your breakfasts? Thanks to my husband, we eat a variety of great breakfasts. I’m going to give you some breakfast suggestions below, but first . . .
Why Eat Breakfast?
Some people aren’t hungry in the morning, and the experts always say only to eat when you are hungry. So why eat breakfast if you aren’t hungry and you’re in a hurry to get out the door anyway? Here are seven reasons why:
2. Research shows that you will eat fewer calories over the course of the day if you eat breakfast than if you skip it.
3. People who skip breakfast tend to feel “starved” or “low energy” later in the day, like mid-morning or mid-afternoon, and then they overeat sugary, salty and/or fatty snacks, with little nutrition, to satiate those feelings.
4. No diets ever say to skip a meal. On the contrary, they say to eat 5-6 small meals or 3 meals and 1-2 snacks. Skipping meals does not lead to weight loss; it only leads to slower metabolism. . .
5. . . . Because you haven’t eaten in about 12 hours, your metabolism has slowed to a trickle in order to conserve what little energy your body has left. By eating, your metabolism works faster because it has some calories to burn. And the higher the metabolism, the more you can eat without gaining weight!
6. You will be more alert and productive in the morning if you eat breakfast.
7. Set a good example for your family and spend a little family time together in the morning, even if it’s only 10 minutes.
Suggestions:
First of all, to save time in the morning, set the table and put out any non-perishable food items the night before.
Also, include whole grains and protein to regulate blood sugar levels and make it last longer in your belly.
· Yogurt with fruit or granola
· Fruit or fruit salad
· Whole grain cereal with milk, topped with fruit
· Cottage cheese with fruit
· A scrambled or fried egg only takes a couple minutes to cook, or hard boil a bunch of eggs and eat them throughout the week
· On the weekend cook lots of whole grain pancakes (with chopped fruit in them), waffles or French toast and refrigerate the leftovers to toast up quickly during the week
· Serve pancakes, waffles or French toast with fruit, yogurt or applesauce instead of syrup
Portable breakfast suggestions, in case you need to eat on the run:
· Whole grain toast, English muffin, or bagel with cheese or peanut butter
· Slice a banana lengthwise and stuff it with peanut butter (keep it in the skin for easier transport)
· Hard-boiled egg
· Whole grain breakfast bar
· Dry whole grain cereal in a small container
· Trail mix or dried fruit
· A piece of fresh fruit
· Fruit Smoothie made with yogurt and fruit
· Juice
In conclusion, breakfast can be quick and simple, but make it nutritious and make sure to eat it!
Sources:
http://secure.ehealthconnection.com/hage/approot/owl/content/breakfast.asp
http://weightloss.about.com/library/blbreakfast.htm
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3009715
http://www.in.gov/inshape/files/BreakfastTime.pdf
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Fulfilling All the Food Quantities
Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!
Topic of the week - Fulfilling All the Food Quantities
If you are living the SWEET Life with me, then I’ve given you a SWEET Life Plan that includes the amounts you, personally, need of each aspect of the SWEET Life. You simply put the SWEET Life Plan in a plastic sheet protector and cross out each amount as you finish it. At the end of the day, you give it a quick review to see your strengths and weaknesses, erase the whole thing, and start fresh the next day. The main section that you need to keep track of is the Eating section because that’s the most complex of the five aspects of the SWEET Life. An example of it is below (without formatting):
Eating
Grains: 6 ounces (1 ounce equivalent is about 1 slice bread, 1 cup dry cereal, or ½ cup cooked rice, pasta, or cereal) eat whole grains
1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz.
Vegetables: 2 ½ cups (Subgroups: Dark Green, Red, Orange, Starchy, Dry Beans and Peas, and Other Veggies)
½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c.
Fruit: 2 cups (Subgroups: green, yellow/orange, red, citrus)
½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c.
Dairy: 3 cups (1½ oz. cheese = 1 cup milk)
½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c.
Protein**: 5 ½ ounces (chicken, duck, pork or fish, 1 egg, 1 T. peanut butter, ½ ounce nuts, ¼ cup dry beans, 1 oz. soy, limited beef and lamb)
1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. ½ oz.
Many people, including me, find it difficult to fulfill all the food quantities. Here are some suggestions for how to do it:
As you approach dinner time, review your Plan to see which food groups you are lacking. Make sure your dinner will fulfill the necessary food groups.
Leave the food groups open proportionately. Rather than eating all the grains and protein and very few fruits and veggies, for example, make sure to eat from all food groups in a balanced fashion and skimp a little bit on every food group.
Most importantly, think about what else you are eating that doesn’t fit in any of the food group categories because you know you are eating something! Make a plan for choosing healthier alternatives and follow through on your plan.
Source:
http://mypyramid.gov/
I welcome your feedback on the Topic of the Week. You can share your comments here. I am also looking for more topics of the week. If there are any topics related to the SWEET Life that you would like me to explore, please let me know by emailing me at suzanne@fong.net.
Have a SWEET week!
Suzanne
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!
Topic of the week - Fulfilling All the Food Quantities
If you are living the SWEET Life with me, then I’ve given you a SWEET Life Plan that includes the amounts you, personally, need of each aspect of the SWEET Life. You simply put the SWEET Life Plan in a plastic sheet protector and cross out each amount as you finish it. At the end of the day, you give it a quick review to see your strengths and weaknesses, erase the whole thing, and start fresh the next day. The main section that you need to keep track of is the Eating section because that’s the most complex of the five aspects of the SWEET Life. An example of it is below (without formatting):
Eating
Grains: 6 ounces (1 ounce equivalent is about 1 slice bread, 1 cup dry cereal, or ½ cup cooked rice, pasta, or cereal) eat whole grains
1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz.
Vegetables: 2 ½ cups (Subgroups: Dark Green, Red, Orange, Starchy, Dry Beans and Peas, and Other Veggies)
½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c.
Fruit: 2 cups (Subgroups: green, yellow/orange, red, citrus)
½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c.
Dairy: 3 cups (1½ oz. cheese = 1 cup milk)
½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c. ½ c.
Protein**: 5 ½ ounces (chicken, duck, pork or fish, 1 egg, 1 T. peanut butter, ½ ounce nuts, ¼ cup dry beans, 1 oz. soy, limited beef and lamb)
1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. 1oz. ½ oz.
Many people, including me, find it difficult to fulfill all the food quantities. Here are some suggestions for how to do it:
As you approach dinner time, review your Plan to see which food groups you are lacking. Make sure your dinner will fulfill the necessary food groups.
Leave the food groups open proportionately. Rather than eating all the grains and protein and very few fruits and veggies, for example, make sure to eat from all food groups in a balanced fashion and skimp a little bit on every food group.
Most importantly, think about what else you are eating that doesn’t fit in any of the food group categories because you know you are eating something! Make a plan for choosing healthier alternatives and follow through on your plan.
Source:
http://mypyramid.gov/
I welcome your feedback on the Topic of the Week. You can share your comments here. I am also looking for more topics of the week. If there are any topics related to the SWEET Life that you would like me to explore, please let me know by emailing me at suzanne@fong.net.
Have a SWEET week!
Suzanne
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Arguments For & Against Eating Dairy
Appraising Your Success
Here it is the end of the first week of the year! It is a good time to review your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals, then focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently. You need a plan, not a hope, in order to be successful. If your plan isn’t working, it’s time to revise your plan.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? If so, that’s great! Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll continue to experience all of these feelings! If not, know that by living the SWEET Life, you will feel all these great feelings!
Topic of the week –Arguments For & Against Eating Dairy
Nowadays, there seem to be a lot of people, especially women, who are cutting dairy out of their diets. At the same time, the dairy industry’s ads say that drinking milk will help you lose weight. What’s true vs. fiction? Why should you or shouldn’t you consume dairy products? I searched the internet for arguments both for and against dairy products. As with all internet research, I tried to screen carefully for reputable sources of information because there is a lot of unsubstantiated bias out there. The best sources of information I found are listed at the bottom, so check them out.
First, why you should NOT drink milk. There are four main reasons why people don’t drink milk. Some people are concerned about the hormones given to dairy cows in order to supplement their diets and help them produce more milk. I didn’t find evidence that those hormones pass through the milk in sufficient quantities to endanger humans. Perhaps you can find the contrary.
Another reason not to drink milk is the high saturated-fat content and calories. However, low fat dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. have significantly lower saturated fat content than full-fat versions, and the calorie intake is moderate. Even the dairy industry suggests low fat, rather than full-fat, dairy products.
Some people are lactose intolerant, which is an extremely good reason no to drink milk! However, this problem can often be alleviated by a small, regular introduction of dairy products, like yogurt and some types of cheese, which have lower quantities of lactose than milk does.
The most significant reason for not consuming dairy products is that milk today comes from industrialized factories, just like our cars, computers and Ipods. That means, the goal is to have the highest output in the shortest time. The farmers do everything that modern man has created to achieve their goal. Their cows are not pets; they are factory workers. They are used and abused as long as they produce; then they are “made final use of” and replaced. If all this is appalling enough to make you stop eating dairy, then I completely understand.
Fortunately, for us in California, we do have local dairy farms which are not industrialized factories and which produce organic milk from pastured cows. So then, on the flip side, why should you consume dairy products? First of all, they taste yummy! I love dairy products: milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, butter, cream, etc. Besides tasting good, they come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. They combine well with other foods, such as cheese and bread, broccoli and cheddar, yogurt and fruit, ham and cheese, just to name a few. Dairy products have been dietary staples since ancient times.
Nutritionally, dairy products are the best source of calcium, which helps build strong bones and teeth. They are also a good source of protein, second only to meat in protein content. Milk also contains significant amounts of your daily recommended intake of Vitamins A, B-12, D and Phosphorous. That’s a total of six nutritional essentials, in significant quantities, from one dietary source: dairy.
Lastly, studies show consuming dairy helps with weight loss. Consuming the same number of calories, there was increased weight loss on a diet containing diary products compared to one without dairy. It seems that calcium wraps around fat and leads it out the back door without being digested. Studies also show that consuming calcium from food sources is better than calcium supplements, which is no surprise. It is the nature of “supplements” not to be the main source of any nutrient; hence the name” supplement”!
In conclusion, I recommend eating dairy for two reasons: it has important nutritional value, and I don’t support cutting out any major food groups. Plus, it tastes great!
Sources:
http://calag.ucop.edu/0205SO/pdfs/orgmilk.pdf
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/myths.htm#foodmyths
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/slim/calcium.shtml
http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_cows_dairy.asp
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/dairy.htm
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040416/dairy-foods-fat-weight-loss
Look for another topic next week!
Have a SWEET week!
Suzanne
Here it is the end of the first week of the year! It is a good time to review your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals, then focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently. You need a plan, not a hope, in order to be successful. If your plan isn’t working, it’s time to revise your plan.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? If so, that’s great! Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll continue to experience all of these feelings! If not, know that by living the SWEET Life, you will feel all these great feelings!
Topic of the week –Arguments For & Against Eating Dairy
Nowadays, there seem to be a lot of people, especially women, who are cutting dairy out of their diets. At the same time, the dairy industry’s ads say that drinking milk will help you lose weight. What’s true vs. fiction? Why should you or shouldn’t you consume dairy products? I searched the internet for arguments both for and against dairy products. As with all internet research, I tried to screen carefully for reputable sources of information because there is a lot of unsubstantiated bias out there. The best sources of information I found are listed at the bottom, so check them out.
First, why you should NOT drink milk. There are four main reasons why people don’t drink milk. Some people are concerned about the hormones given to dairy cows in order to supplement their diets and help them produce more milk. I didn’t find evidence that those hormones pass through the milk in sufficient quantities to endanger humans. Perhaps you can find the contrary.
Another reason not to drink milk is the high saturated-fat content and calories. However, low fat dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. have significantly lower saturated fat content than full-fat versions, and the calorie intake is moderate. Even the dairy industry suggests low fat, rather than full-fat, dairy products.
Some people are lactose intolerant, which is an extremely good reason no to drink milk! However, this problem can often be alleviated by a small, regular introduction of dairy products, like yogurt and some types of cheese, which have lower quantities of lactose than milk does.
The most significant reason for not consuming dairy products is that milk today comes from industrialized factories, just like our cars, computers and Ipods. That means, the goal is to have the highest output in the shortest time. The farmers do everything that modern man has created to achieve their goal. Their cows are not pets; they are factory workers. They are used and abused as long as they produce; then they are “made final use of” and replaced. If all this is appalling enough to make you stop eating dairy, then I completely understand.
Fortunately, for us in California, we do have local dairy farms which are not industrialized factories and which produce organic milk from pastured cows. So then, on the flip side, why should you consume dairy products? First of all, they taste yummy! I love dairy products: milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, butter, cream, etc. Besides tasting good, they come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. They combine well with other foods, such as cheese and bread, broccoli and cheddar, yogurt and fruit, ham and cheese, just to name a few. Dairy products have been dietary staples since ancient times.
Nutritionally, dairy products are the best source of calcium, which helps build strong bones and teeth. They are also a good source of protein, second only to meat in protein content. Milk also contains significant amounts of your daily recommended intake of Vitamins A, B-12, D and Phosphorous. That’s a total of six nutritional essentials, in significant quantities, from one dietary source: dairy.
Lastly, studies show consuming dairy helps with weight loss. Consuming the same number of calories, there was increased weight loss on a diet containing diary products compared to one without dairy. It seems that calcium wraps around fat and leads it out the back door without being digested. Studies also show that consuming calcium from food sources is better than calcium supplements, which is no surprise. It is the nature of “supplements” not to be the main source of any nutrient; hence the name” supplement”!
In conclusion, I recommend eating dairy for two reasons: it has important nutritional value, and I don’t support cutting out any major food groups. Plus, it tastes great!
Sources:
http://calag.ucop.edu/0205SO/pdfs/orgmilk.pdf
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/myths.htm#foodmyths
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/slim/calcium.shtml
http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_cows_dairy.asp
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/dairy.htm
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040416/dairy-foods-fat-weight-loss
Look for another topic next week!
Have a SWEET week!
Suzanne
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