Eating Out!

I'm sure this has been said before, but the key to successful eating out is planning. I usually know when I'm going to be eating out, since it is typically something like a meeting with friends. When meeting with friends I generally let them know that I am watching what I eat, and most are understanding. This allows me to set the stage to go eat somewhere that is friendly to my plan. I am very particular about the places I can choose.

Here are the things I look for:
A menu with nutrition information I can look at before going (This does limit me to chains for the most part.)
A place that offers whole/fresh food options
Finally, a place I will enjoy eating at.

Some places I eat here locally are Laughing Planet, Chipotle, & Burgerville. So, now if I know I'm going out, the next step to my plan is to survey the menu. I'm looking for a meal between 200-300 calories, or 400-500 if I plan to split it. Keep in mind that I eat 5-6 small meals a day, each equal to about 200 calories more or less. I look at the carbs, I would not say I'm low carbing, but I'm cautious about my numbers on carbs and making sure that some of the carbs are fiber, not bunches of sugars. Next, I look at protein, and make sure there is sufficient protein for the meal to be satisfying. Finally, and something I'm finding increasingly important is sodium.

Sodium, especially when eating out, has become a pet topic of mine lately. I had hypertension when I started this plan just over 2 months ago, and I'm happy to report I no longer have high blood pressure. I'm quite sure that part of the high blood pressure was caused by all the eating out we were doing when I had the shop. I've been researching this after I discovered the high amount of sodium in some of the foods at restaurants.

To start off with, just how much sodium should we be taking in on a daily basis? According to the American Heart Association no more than 2400 mg a day, but recommended no more than 1500 mg a day. ("How Much Sodium Should I Eat Per Day?", 2017) Multiple sources say most of that comes from processed food. In fact "the watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest found that 85 out of 102 meals at popular restaurant chains contained more than a full day's worth of sodium. Some of the meals had four days’ worth of sodium."("Low-Sodium Diet: How to Eat Less Sodium at Restaurants", 2017). 

What does it all mean? It means eating out, and keeping sodium low is challenging. I will give you an example, I like Chipotle, and I know they try to offer healthy options. The great thing about their website is you can enter your choices and then see how it effects your meal. If I were to have 3 crispy chicken tacos with black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, and romaine lettuce the sodium is 1440 mg. Well, that is pretty close to the day's recommendation for sodium in one meal. (Actually, I wouldn't eat this particular meal, because it is too high in calories, but I thought it was a decent example.) There aren't really many choices that don't exceed the daily recommended maximum. Last time I went I had a salad, with chicken, black beans, fajita veggies, and salsa, no dressing. The calories were a bit high at 365, but I adjusted through the day for that. The sodium was 1225 mg. More than I like to do for a meal, but workable.

Long story short, make your choices carefully, and thoughtfully. Keep eating out to a minimum since you cannot control the amount of sodium in the foods you are consuming. If you are eating in a mom & pop type of establishment that can be great, depending upon what it is. I guarantee that if one of their suppliers is Sysco or similar national restaurant suppliers, you are at risk of eating high levels of sodium. Just making you aware, as I have become aware.

Citations:

"How Much Sodium Should I Eat per Day?" Sodium Breakup. American Heart Association, n.d. Web. 21 May 2017.

"Nutrition Calculator." Chipotle. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2017

.Zelman, Kathleen M. "Low-Sodium Diet: How to Eat Less Sodium at Restaurants." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 21 May 2017.

Pursuing Health Continued from Sparkpeople Blog 4/29/17

So, picking up where I left off, my husband and I are eating buddies, as is my best friend, and I passed my unhealthy habits on to my children. More on that later. About eight years ago we discovered a life changing book called "Food Additives A Shoppers Guide to What's Safe and What's Not!" I cleaned out our entire pantry, and we started to eat organic much more often. It is around this time when we discovered, and purchased Saladmaster. It was a missing link for us. 

So, I have been cooking on my Saladmaster for about 7 years. I think I hoped that I would naturally lose weight, and I did lose some using it. However, my old nemesis, self-control, or rather the lack of it, kept rearing it's ugly head. The food cooked on my new Saladmaster pans just tasted sooooooo goodl. It took the simplest of meals and elevated them, but did I mention that I was already a good cook, so the meals I can make on that are phenomenal. 

Here I was, with this incredible cooking system, and all sorts of knowledge about food, but no self control, or plan. I opened a small shop about two years ago, and with being so busy, my food got completely out of control. We were constantly eating out. Something we had phased almost completely out back when we cleaned out our cupboards. We even started going to fast food again, because it was affordable and we were hungry. Of course, we weren't eating for life, we were eating for death, so we had no energy. 

I'm not sure how long we could have continued on that road. I ended up in the hospital last 4th of July, with a case of sepsis that it took me months to completely recover from. My leg is scarred from it, and I came away with a diagnosis of diabetes, and hypertension. You would think this would be enough, and when I first got out of the hospital we did do better for a time. Then slowly, as we were busy, we went right back to our old habits. 

Then, going back to the beginning of this story, I closed my shop at the end of December. I'm a bit of an introvert, so at first I just needed some time of not going out or doing anything. I started cooking at home, but even that was a bit challenging at first, we had become kind of addicted to eating out. Plus, if my kitchen isn't clean, I don't feel like cooking. Then in March I started Take Shape for Life. 

I thought I would love the convenience of pre-packaged foods. Plus, TSL had made a new line of products called Optavia, which had no artificial sweeteners, or artificial flavors. However, somewhere along the line even when we were eating fast food we had checked out of the standard American diet (SAD). We had been cutting the sweetener, for ages. We had always eaten a fair amount of fresh produce. In fact, my favorite part of TSL was the lean and green meal. I love green vegetables. Well, all color vegetables really. 

I was four days into TSL when I realized I hated eating packaged food. We do not microwave, and the foods that needed to be microwaved were difficult to make.any other way The shakes with stevia were too sweet, tasted icky to me, and left a bad stevia after taste in my mouth. I felt like I was eating sweets all day, with one lean and green meal where I always wanted to eat more vegetables. So much of the food was just not to my taste. I decided it was not a good fit for me. 

That being said, TSL taught me some things that I have successfully implemented in my weight loss journey. First, eat smaller amounts more frequently. Six smaller meals a day, 2-3 hours apart. I try to have a protein at each of those meals, veggies, and a couple of meals a day I have a higher carb/fiber option. (Like a sweet potato, or beans.) Second, Dr. A's habits of health is a great book, that addresses all the issues an obese person will face during a weight loss journey. It is invaluable. Third, if I don't have a perfect day eating, I can just pick myself up and do it right the next day. 

This journey is interesting. I believe God has put me on it for a reason. I think at least part of the reason is the story of my journey. We all come from different walks of life, but no matter where we come from the pursuit of health is a something we need to be dedicated to, and it is individual. This is just the start of my story. 

Pursuing Health Part 1 from Sparkpeople Blog 4/28/17

So, I was rather late on starting the New Year's Resolution thing. I closed a shop at the end of December, and to be honest was ready for a bit of break. I took it easy for a few months, but started cooking at home. At the end of February I decided I would try Take Shape for Life (Medifast, Optavia) because I knew some people who had been successful with it, and I personally knew a health coach with TSL. So, I got my first shipment, unpacked it, and set a start date. The start date was March 15th. It only took me four days to decide it was not right for me. Let me explain a bit more about my background to explain why it wasn't right for me. 

I am a whole food person, and have been most of my adult life to varying degrees. When I was 18 I decided, for ethical reasons, to be a vegetarian. I did have neighbors that were vegetarian and they lived a longer and healthier life, so I knew it to be a healthy choice. However, there are things I didn't change about my diet. At 19, and for 4 years I ended up working at McDonald's. My love of fries didn't end there, although I wish it had. I was eating vegetarian, but not really overly concerned with what I ate. 

Then I moved to Colorado. I had started eating small amounts of meat before moving, but moving to Colorado changed everything. The great produce I had grown up with in Northern California became only a memory. Things may have changed, but when I lived in Colorado there were only a couple of really great local produce items because of the short growing season. I started eating meat more regularly, it was just easier, but I ate reverse of most people, I cooked vegetarian food and added meat. (I had learned to cook as a vegetarian.) 

Next, I met my husband. He was an adamant meat eater. The first meal I ever made for him was a vegetarian chili he still fantasizes about, but that at the time he claimed needed meat. It was a constant source of anguish for me. He felt like I was trying to make him a vegetarian, I felt like the food I made never made him happy. We were always eating buddies though. We ended up eating out a lot. We had busy schedules, and when eating out we could get what we wanted. This was not a healthy pursuit. 

I feel as if this blog entry will go too long if I continue this story today. I am going to leave it here for today, and complete the story tomorrow.