ALTERNATIVE EATING AND LIFESTYLE IDEAS

Nadirah’s Perspective:

            As we have entered into the month of March, two things come to mind: time is ticking away to get my summer body in tip-top shape and what can I eat to keep it in check… I’M A HUMONGOUS FOODIE!  Please let me try to quickly explain this.  Throughout my adolescent and teen years, I never felt that I had a love/hate relationship with food until I went away to college.  Attending my undergrad years at the University of Illinois gave me an excellent academic education, but it also taught me how to eat well on a budget. Grade A steaks in the cafeteria, lobster night every other month, 1:00 am grocery shopping at Meijer Supermarket, and etc., you can’t help but gain weight on campus and during home visits.  My taste buds began to fiend for certain flavors, spices, and specialty dishes.  

Upon graduating and returning home to Chicago, I still considered my love for food and/or snacking to be a normal and common reaction.  During my dating years, ex-boyfriends have tried to open my eyes to my deep appreciation of food and I still could not see it.  How could I?  My best friend, my mother, my aunts, and I were chefs when it came to the kitchen scene.  It wasn't until I was dating my husband that I realized that I do have a serious obsession with food.  For example, one late night I was lying in bed and I had an urge for an old school peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I don’t eat these on a regular but when I have a taste for something, I must comply with the urge and make it.  I excitedly went in the kitchen to create the ultimate sandwich and upon opening the refrigerator door, I noticed that I could not find any wheat bread.  This puzzled me so badly because the bread had been there untouched days prior to my last minute craving. I walked back into bedroom to question hubby and his head immediately bowed towards his chest and began turning side to side.  “Baby please don’t get mad but I made two sandwiches this afternoon.” Without missing a beat, I unconsciously went into a hysterical cry about how I had my mouth ready a P&B sandwich and now he had ruined it, especially since he had started to push carbohydrates out of his diet anyway.  I performed so badly that my husband was willing to go into the dead of night to replace the bread just to get me to stop crying.  Now I could honestly blame this little episode on PMS but even if PMS was not looming, this disappointing reaction would not have too much differed.  Anyhoo, the point that I’m getting to is that I understand that with diet and exercise, food has a funny way of becoming an enemy instead of being my usually close friend.

            The premise of this blog is to share some of the tricks I’ve had to learn to satisfy my limitless cravings while staying on my weight loss journey.  I do this because I know from my personal experiences that it doesn’t take long for my asthma and 5’3” frame to widen out of control due to my eating habits.  Hopefully with all the news footage of cloned salmon, horse meat substitutions, pink slime allegations, some have or will start thinking about what the conglomerates of the meat industry are giving us in the supermarkets and other stores.  

            To curb my cravings for pasta (spaghetti/fettuccine/lasagna), I create these same dishes without the carbohydrates of white or wheat pasta. I substitute the noodles for a baked and shredded spaghetti squash. The cool thing about this versatile winter squash is that it can be spiced up with a sprinkle of cinnamon/nutmeg or cayenne pepper (whatever is your pleasure).  Once it’s baked, you shred the flesh of the fruit with a fork and create the best and freshest noodles your taste buds can truly appreciate.  After watching Dr. Oz last year, I no longer buy store brand tomato sauce but opt for a healthier version by making it myself with my trusty food processor. Believe it when I say that it is totally worth making! For those who may not know, tomato sauce is originally orange when the tomatoes are first blended and turns to various shades of red as it simmers over the fire.  

            To curb my cravings of cheese or mayo, I use sliced avocados on my sandwiches, tacos, in my tuna salad mixture to cut the bad fat and my intolerance to dairy products. I love guacamole so I cut the high fat (still good fat) content by blending my mashed avocados with chopped spinach and it still tastes AWESOME! 

            To curb my cravings for meat, I prepare a heaping pot of beans/peas.  It doesn’t matter whether its lentils, baby lima, black-eyed, pinto, kidney, etc., I cook it with a side of sautéed vegetables and it helps me feel satiated throughout the day.     

      

            To curb my cravings for sweets and snacking, we keep fresh fruits, vegetables, and organic applesauce in stock.  Grapefruits are great as a snack and a healthy fat burner. Sliced cucumbers and sweet baby carrots are great for late night guilt-free snacking. 

 

            To curb my cravings for anything fried, I make my homemade kettle corn popcorn.  I pop the kernels in coconut oil and a little raw sugar.  Once every kernel is popped, I toss in (depends what I have a taste for) cinnamon, cayenne paper, and kosher salt or garlic salt.  

I hope this post helps to give you guys some ideas for food alternatives in our pursuit for a healthier lifestyle. I snack all the time so I know that this can be a rough journey but it can be done.  Start small and it will build into something bigger. 

 SHARE SOME OF YOUR HEALTHY EATING IDEAS.   

Troy’s Perspective:

            As your New Year’s Resolution has come and slowly dwindles away, think about what your resolution really means to you.  This time of year, for many, health and fitness is an important focus as we advance towards the spring and summer. Many will try inconsistent diets and numerous workout plans; however, know that you will succeed in anything that you have passion for, so look within for that inner desire for a lifestyle change. Your internal drive will keep you motivated, influence others in positive ways and create change around you. 

The initial step is the most difficult, but most critical to your achievement. First, maintain a consistent healthy lifestyle, i.e. do not yo-yo back and forth.  Be fully committed to your lifestyle change. Second, refuse to accept failure no matter how many opportunities arise where others and bad habits try to influence you (parties, social events, family outings, etc.). Third, promise yourself that you will make a positive difference to others. No matter what you think, your actions do affect others.

The focus of health and fitness are shared among many. The reality is that millions die every year due to never truly committing themselves to either health or fitness. Currently, Americans are dying having discovered health concerns at younger ages than ever before due to our lack of health and fitness. We are becoming sicker and aging faster than ever. Make a difference to refuse by discontinuing the cycle. Slow down on the fast food/restaurants and increase your exercise and intake of water.

As my wife previously mentioned, alternative eating ideas are the one of the greatest things she introduced into our lifestyle. My wife is profound in research and development... go figure she graduated from the University of Chicago. Needless to say, she’s also intense in the food department. With her relentless research of finding alternatives eating concepts and not settling for prepackage and half cooked meals, it has made a difference in our appearance, endurance and regimen. We appear to look younger; we have sustained energy throughout the day and only eat fresh fruits and vegetables as our main dishes. This of course makes us go to the grocery store more often and sometimes it takes longer to create meals, but I cannot put a price or time-frame on our health and longevity of life. Our alternative eating and lifestyle tremendously helps in keeping our weight down and assist us in preserving energy throughout our workouts.

It’s time to go back to the basics, make a difference and preserve your greatest asset … you and your life!

STAY STRONG AND LIVE LONG!!!

FYI
           My wife and I take vitamins/supplements to assist in maintaining a healthy lifestyle with consistent exercise and health-conscious eating. I was never one to either promote or endorse any particular vitamin or supplement. A colleague of mine introduced me to his daughter Kristina, who is a representative of Amway and they are distributors of NUTRILITE. I was very skeptical of hearing a sales pitch for something I did not immediately need and I was satisfied with the current vitamins/supplements that I was taking. After a conversation and being introduced to our blog, Kristina was impressed with our current health and fitness status and she gave my wife and I several trial packages of the Perfect Pack Supplements by NUTRILITE.  As I mentioned I was very skeptical and really not interested. 

           This experience changed our lives. I will explain that the Perfect Pack includes the ultimate multivitamin that contains 12 essential vitamins, 10 essential minerals, and 20 plant concentrates (antioxidant power from tomato, blueberry, broccoli, cranberry, pomegranate, and more) in a single serving. After taking the Perfect Pack for two days, my wife and I experienced such a burst of energy that we never felt tired. It increased my workouts and I no longer need a cup of coffee in the morning. My wife and I quickly ordered the (30) day supply of the Perfect Pack and have been enjoying the benefits ever since. NUTRILITE supplements are more expensive than other vitamins/supplements, but as we all know... you pay for what you get!!! Instead of buying bottles of particular supplements here and there at various prices, you receive everything you need in one pack. If you are interested in trying this vitamin supplement system, feel free to contact and direct all questions to Kristina at (708) 250-8657 or email her at msmarynczak@yahoo.com.

Disclaimer: We are not paid spokespersons for the NUTRILITE Perfect Pack supplements. We are only given a product review and our personal results.