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Showing posts with label healthy eating. Show all posts

Thursday, June 4, 2020

My First Year on the Keto Diet

When I began my keto journey on May 25, 2019, I could never have imagined how profoundly the ketogenic diet would transform my health and day-to-day life.

How Adopting a Keto Lifestyle Gave Me a New Lease on Life

Introducing My New Keto Review Series (By Popular Demand)

During the past 12 months, I've occasionally shared photos, progress updates, milestones, or musings about my new and evolving low carb lifestyle with family members, friends, and colleagues. I have been surprised and touched by the outpouring of encouragement, support, recognition and interest they have expressed regarding my ongoing keto journey

I have also received, and continue to get, numerous requests to share my advice, insights and tips for learning about, getting started with, and losing weight by following a ketogenic diet.

Last week, I celebrated my first “keto-versary,” and it seems a fitting time to launch my new series of posts in response to those requests. This first post is mostly designed to provide some context about how and why I made the commitment to completely change the way I eat for the foreseeable future. Future posts will get into more detail about the what, why and how of my experiences to day on the ketogenic diet.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

When I began this journey last May, I was an extremely sedentary, obese, 65-year-old, life-long carbohydrate junkie with the world's biggest sweet tooth.

Me 60 pounds overweight in May 2019, just before starting my keto weight loss diet

I had less and less energy or enthusiasm for the activities, places and experiences that used to bring me joy. I had gained around 60 pounds in the 20 years since my wedding, and every time I looked in the mirror, all I could focus on seemed to be my disappearing waistline, softening jawline, and growing double chin.

When I walked for more than a couple of blocks, my feet became painfully swollen. The chronic lower back pain I had lived with since my early 20s was now joined by chronic joint pain in my right hip, knees and shoulders, and my doctors were increasingly concerned about my high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol level.

Now, one year later, I and am one year later, looking so much better, being so much healthier, and feeling more alive than I have in a very long time.

Switching From a Low Fat, High Carbohydrate Diet to a Keto Diet Has Improved My Appearance, Health, and Quality of Life

My husband and me, Christmas 2020, after losing weight on a keto diet

The benefits I've experienced, thanks to my commitment to embrace this radically different approach to eating, have been nothing short of amazing.

When I look in the mirror, I see "the real me" again.

I have lost 56 pounds (to date).

I am leaner than I would have been if I had lost the same amount of weight on a higher-carb diet.

One of the key goals of the keto approach is becoming "fat-adapted," a metabolic adjustment that, among other things, makes your body very efficient at converting fat into ketones and using them as its preferred source of fuel (i.e., energy), and no longer defaulting to converting carbohydrates into glucose for quick access to fuel. (The article "What Does It Mean to Be Fat-Adapted" does a nice job of explaining this process and its significance in greater detail, in a way that's easy to understand.)

When someone becomes fat-adapted, the body uses more of the dietary fat they consume for short-term fuel, and there is less left over to be stored long-term as adipose tissue (i.e., body fat).

I have gone from wearing size 16-18 clothing to size 8.

I'm able to fit into (again) the handful of special outfits I've kept (for sentimental reasons) that date back to my 20s and early 30s, when I lived in New York City and work in retail fashion. Seeing myself wearing them again felt a bit surreal. Fortunately, my taste in clothing favors classic styles and fabrics. No one would guess they weren't new!

My hips are proportionally slimmer, so I no longer need go up a size when buying pants or slim skirts.

I'm able to wear leggings and a T-shirt out in public without feeling embarrassed.

Although I have always been fortunate to look significantly younger than my chronological age, several people have commented recently that I look significantly younger than I did a year ago.

I'm healthier, happier, and virtually pain-free.

I no longer have high blood pressure.

For the first time in my life, I’m actually looking forward to having a routine physical exam and getting my blood work done, so I can quantify other improvements in my health, such as lower cholesterol levels.

My chronic lower back, hip, knee and hip pain are gone, and my feet no longer become swollen and painful are a few short minutes of standing or walking.

This has begun to expand my horizons significantly, and allowed me to start being less sedentary, which has been one of my goals for a number of years.

Two months ago , my husband surprised me with a pair of Segway Ninebot MiniPRO personal transporters that he had bought as our birthday gifts to each other this year. Now that the weather is finally becoming more spring-like here in New England, he and I have been having a blast riding them around our quiet and very pretty neighborhood for 20 to 25 minutes, two or three days a week. A year ago, my foot and knee pain would have prevented me from riding one for more than 3 or 4 minutes.

I feel wonderful!

I have much more energy and enthusiasm.

I am once again finding joy, satisfaction and inspiration in the beauty of nature and in creative pursuits, such as designing and making one-of-a-kind jewelry making and new skills and techniques.

I am filled with more optimism and gratitude than I have felt in decades.

I am feeling proud of this major accomplishment, and have a newfound confidence in my ability to fully commit to, and follow through on, making positive, sustainable behavioral and lifestyle changes if I'm not happy with the way things are.

The Medical Scare That Motivated Me to Get Serious About Losing Weight and Fat

Last April, shortly after celebrating my 65th birthday, I experienced abnormal vaginal bleeding, the primary symptom of endometrial cancer. My doctors found several uterine polyps that my OB-GYN would need to remove surgically, in an operating room. After the operation, the polyps would be sent out for biopsy so she could determine whether they were benign, precancerous or cancerous.

After asking a lot of questions and doing a lot of follow-up research online, I learned that I had several of the known risk factors for uterine cancer. I was over 50, had never been pregnant, was clinically obese, and had high blood pressure. My husband and I were terrified (especially since his older brother had passed away in his early 50s from colon cancer, which his primary care doctor had failed to diagnose correctly until my brother-in-law was in the late stages of the disease).

Although I couldn’t do anything about the first two risk factors, my obesity and elevated blood pressure were within my control. I got serious about developing the habit of practicing meditation daily and committed myself to lose weight and, more importantly, body fat as quickly as possible, since fat tissues tend to produce excess estrogen, especially after menopause, increasing the risk of endometrial cancer for older, overweight women.

Challenging My Outdated Preconceptions and Misinformed Prejudice Against Keto

I’m old enough to have been around when Dr. Atkins launched The Atkins Diet. At the time, the program focused primarily on rapid weight loss rather than health. It promoted excessive consumption of red meat, including bacon cured with nitrates and other heavily processed foods, which caused kidney damage in many of the diet's early adopters. Vegetables were not emphasized in the early days, and the diet was so restrictive that it was unsustainable. Most people who followed it lost weight rapidly but also gained it back – and more. That had been my first – and only – introduction to a diet grounded in achieving and maintaining ketosis, and the original version of The Atkins Diet was met with universally critical reviews and warnings from medical and nutrition experts.

When a couple of our family members decided to start following keto a few years ago, I was very concerned for their health and was extremely surprised when they not only lost a substantial amount of weight, but also lowered their blood pressure and bad cholesterol. After a bit of online research, I found out that although the Atkins Diet shares some similarities, it is by no means the same as the actual ketogenic diet, an eating strategy originally developed in the early 20th Century as a treatment for epilepsy that, more recently, has emerged as a potential treatment for autism spectrum disorder.

Even so, I likely never would have considered trying the keto diet myself if I hadn’t discovered that that my excess fat had put me at significant risk for endometrial or uterine cancer, and been scared and desperate enough to look at all my options for getting rid of that dangerous blubber fast.

Rethinking the Conventional Wisdom Around Healthy Approaches to Weight Loss

My previous efforts at eating healthier and losing weight had been shaped by doctors’, nurses’ and nutritionists’ typical advice to eat a diet low in fat and high in nutritious complex carbohydrates, including whole, fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and consume significantly fewer calories than you burn. It wasn’t until I had been eating keto for several months that I understood that my mostly low-fat, high-carb diet was contributing to my weight gain, joint pain and high blood pressure, among other problems.

Even after hearing my friends talk about the improvements to their health after following a keto diet for an extended period, I was still skeptical. Wishful thinking can have a powerful placebo effect.

But after my conversations with my doctors about my elevated risk for endometrial or uterine cancer, my friends’ reports made me cautiously optimistic. But after reading, watching, and listening to reliable sources discussing the potential benefits and risks of following a ketogenic diet for certain individuals, but not for everyone, and supporting their claims and perspectives with scientific explanations and credible proof points, I finally decided that committing to this approach for 4–6 months might well be my best shot at getting rid of my dangerous, excess fat as quickly as possible.

At that point, I could decide on a more nutritionally balanced and varied diet to maintain that weight loss long-term.

It Wasn't Easy...

I understood in advance that easing into this radically different way of eating a little at a time wasn't an option for someone with a longstanding addiction to sugar and refined carbohydrates. It would also be self-sabotaging, since my goal was to become fat-adapted as quickly as possible, which meant starting the process of severely restricting my carbohydrate consumption over a sustained period of time on Day One.
The prospect of making a decisive, clean break from carbs was daunting, and preparing myself for this dramatic change—mentally, emotionally, environmentally and socially—was one of the keys to making that transition successfully.

The first few months were certainly challenging, as I knew they would be. There was a huge learning curve and a lot of contradictory information and passionate opinions about the "right" or "wrong" ways to follow the keto diet. I was confused by jargon like "macros" and "net carbs," didn't understand the concept of the three primary macros as targets, levers or limits, and had no idea how to calculate them initially or adjust them as I lost weight. (If all this sounds like a foreign language—or even advanced calculus—never fear. I'll explain them as simply and straightforwardly as I can in a future post in this series.)

Curbing my cravings for bread, rolls, pasta, cookies, cakes, and other favorite foods that were high in carbs or otherwise incompatible with my new keto lifestyle took time and effort. So did finding healthy, low-carb, keto-friendly alternatives for some of my favorite baked goods that also tasted good, and safe, healthier, low-carb alternatives to artificial sweeteners like Splenda (sucralose) and Equal (aspartame) that didn't leave a bad aftertaste or cause gastric distress. (I had used these sweeteners for decades, unaware of their potential effects on insulin levels, blood sugar levels, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure, among other things.)

But It Was Absolutely Worth It.

Making a commitment to following a ketogenic diet turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. The dramatic, positive improvements to my health, happiness and overall sense of well-being have been been so profound that for me, keto has become a long-term lifestyle choice, rather than a diet.

Paying It Forward

Although the initial impetus for starting this new series was the ongoing requests for me to write in greater detail about my experiences to date on the ketogenic diet, I also wanted to express my gratitude to the friends who inspired and encouraged me to join them on this journey of transformation by paying it forward.

One of the people who ultimately inspired me to take the plunge, and who continues to be my biggest cheerleader, is my very dear friend and fellow Review This Reviews contributor Barbara C. (aka Brite-Ideas). Barbara's keto journey began on May 4, 2019, three weeks before mine. As of her one-year keto anniversary four weeks ago, she had lost approximately 60 pounds, virtually eliminated the formerly frequent, extremely painful flare-ups triggered by Rheumatoid Arthritis, and won her "mind-over-body battle" to remain committed to the ketogenic way of eating.

I highly recommend Barbara's first annual review of her weight loss progress on keto as well as her personal keto testimonial from two months earlier to anyone who is interested in reading an inspiring weight loss success story.

Your Mileage May Vary

This new series of posts about my keto diet and healthy lifestyle journey will reflect my personal experience, which has been extremely positive. It is not necessarily typical or indicative of how this dietary approach will work for, or affect, anyone else.

Similarly, I will be sharing some of the strategies and techniques that have helped me lose a significant amount of weight and remain committed to a healthy, low-carb approach to eating for the long term. It is my hope that others may find this information helpful. It is being offered with the caveat that what has worked well for me may not necessarily work well for someone else.

Anything I write in this or future posts is not intended, nor should it be construed, as a substitute for medical advice or medical treatment or an attempt to persuade other individuals to follow a low carb or ketogenic lifestyle.

I disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission, wholly or in part, in reliance on anything contained in this and future posts about the keto diet.

I have neither medical or nutritional education, training, professional experience, credentials or other qualifications to offer advice or opinions regarding the safety or advisability of following a ketogenic diet for any individual. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.

My First Year on the Keto Diet by Margaret Schindel

Posts About My Keto Diet Journey

My First Year on The Keto Diet

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part One

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part Two

Low Carb Muffins & Cupcakes: Treats to Enjoy on a Keto Diet

Low Carb Keto Chocolate Yogurt Granola Chip Pudding Recipe

Good Dee’s Keto Cookie Low Carb Baking Mix Review

Hamama Microgreens Growing Kit Review & Success Tips

My Favorite Hamama Microgreens Seed Quilt Accessories

Keto Cheddar Cheese Biscuits With Chives Recipe

The Ultimate Keto Hot Chocolate Recipe

The Best Low Carb Keto Gift Ideas: Keto Gift Guide

The Best Low Carb Keto Cinnamon Muffins

Wholesome Yum Keto Bread Mix and Yeast Bread Recipe

The Good Chocolate 100% Organic No Sugar Dark Chocolate Review

The Best Advice to Maintain Your Keto Diet Weight Loss

My New Irresistibly Delicious Keto Cheese Crackers Recipe

Luscious Low Carb Keto Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

Quick & Easy Livlo Blueberry Scones Keto Baking Mix Review

Snack Better With The Best Healthy Keto Cookie Dough Bites

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Pizza Recipe

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Shortcake Cupcakes Recipe

Comparing the Best Keto-Friendly Chocolate Hazelnut Spreads - No Added Sugars

The Best Low Carb Keto Sandwich and Burger Buns Mix

Blueberry Biscuit Scones — New, Easy, Low Carb Keto Recipe

The Best Keto Pizza Crust Mix With 0 Net Carbs

An Unusual, Delicious Strawberry Chocolate Tea With 0 Calories

Delicious Sugar-Free Keto Cookies That OREO Fans Will Love

Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats Recipe

Easy, Decadent, High Protein, Sugar-Free Rocky Road Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

The Best Quick & Easy Low Carb Sausage and Ricotta Calzones

How to Make Refreshing Vanilla Italian Soda (With or Without Cream)

Reviews of the Keto Diet by Barbara C. (aka Brite-Ideas)

My Personal Keto Testimonial

How I Stayed Committed to the Ketogenic Way of Eating

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Sauerkraut Crock Reviewed

Fermented Cabbage: A Healthy Choice

Let's review the benefits of sauerkraut or fermented cabbage today. We will also talk about what to look for if you buy sauerkraut in the grocery and how to make your own kraut. It is easier than you might think and oh so much better for you when you do.

Make your own with a Sauerkraut Crock
image courtesy of pixabay.com

You probably think of sauerkraut as a German food and they are responsible for that specific name for fermented cabbage but historians are relatively sure that the fermentation of cabbage dates back some 2,000 years and began in China. Fermenting foods was about the only way to store foods for extended periods of time.

Benefits of Sauerkraut

One cup of kraut is very nutritious. It is low in calories for one thing and has zero fat. That cup will also provide about 7 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein. It is a little high in salt content coming in at about 39% of the suggested daily intake. Eating a cup of kraut will provide you with a good source of Vitamin C, K, and B6 along with iron, manganese, folate, copper, and potassium.

The fermenting of cabbage causes the creation of probiotics that keep your gut healthy and working properly. That is way more important than you might think. When the good bacteria is working in your intestines your body can better absorb the minerals and vitamins found in the foods or supplements that you take in. Basically, when your digestive tract is working properly, the rest of your body works better, too.

When your gut flora is healthy so is your immune system. A strong immune system helps us not so susceptible to colds, flu, infections and all of those nasty things that we try so hard to avoid being exposed to. The vitamin C, iron, and probiotics in sauerkraut help build up our immune system.

It might be a good aid in weight loss, too. The low calorie content and non-existence of fat are advantages along with the higher fiber content and the probiotics can help with loss of unwanted body fats.

The healthy population of gut flora has been linked to better brain health along with lowering stress levels. The enzymes created from the probiotics allow your body to better absorb the important nutrients in your diet that help your brain and your moods.

More studies need to be made but researchers are looking at the benefits of plant compounds found in sauerkraut to be a tool in fighting certain cancers. Some believe that the kraut might prevent cancer cells from developing or growing.

A healthier heart is another benefit from eating sauerkraut. Yep, it can help with lowering cholesterol! It is also helpful in helping lower your blood pressure. That one little cup of kraut can help lower your risk of heart disease.

The Vitamin K that I mentioned earlier, is actually K2 and that is beneficial in maintaining healthier and stronger bones. This vitamin helps to activate two particular proteins that bind calcium making for stronger and healthier bone growth.

Buying Sauerkraut or Making your own

You can find sauerkraut in the grocery store. Read the labels before you purchase a can or jar off of the shelf, though. You should avoid sauerkraut that has been pasteurized and ones that have preservatives in them. The kraut found in the refrigerated section probably hasn't been put through the pasteurization method. Those preservatives and the pasteurizing will remove all of the benefits from the sauerkraut! Basically, the only two ingredients in the container should be cabbage and salt or brine. There should be no sugars! Sometimes there will be additional vegetables like carrots and those are fine but avoid the other stuff.

Making your own is better! It is pretty darn easy to do to! Get a head of cabbage from your produce section or from your own garden. You don't have to wash it, it is better if you don't. Remove the loose leaves and cut the cabbage into small ribbons. Place the shredded cabbage into a large bowl and add non-iodized salt. Work the salt into the cabbage with your hands. The salt pulls the water out of the cabbage creating its own brine. Place the cabbage and brine into a fermentation crock, weight it down and let it ferment for about 2 weeks or longer. Once it comes to your desired taste, place in jars in the refrigerator. That's it! You made sauerkraut! For actual measurements look for a recipe online. There are many of them to be found.

For a good sauerkraut crock, you might like the one that I have and use. I love mine! It is easy to use and comes with the weights you need to keep the cabbage submerged in the brine.

Sauerkraut Crock

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Saturday, October 19, 2019

Reviewing a Multi Vitamin & Mineral in Powder Form

Arbonne's whole food multi vitamin & mineral supplement in powder form "dissolvable multi vitamin"

Purchase here

It doesn't matter how good a diet you have when food doesn't have the same level of nutrients in it as it did when our grandparents were our age. This is one of the reasons why I've always thought of taking a multi vitamin and mineral supplement as a form of insurance - nutritional insurance so to speak.

The other reason is (although I know I've been writing about good nutrition a lot over the past year) because sometimes I don't make the best nutritional choices, I'm only human! I have a sweet tooth and I also love me a cheeseboard! Having said that I have been making much more healthier choices over the past 18 months as I've shared with you.

Why Did I Stop Taking a Multi Vitamin?

Now for years I took a multi vitamin and mineral tablet every single day, but I actually started to have problems swallowing them. The tablets are so big, I can still swallow them if they're the right shape, but when they changed the tablets I used to take and the bottles were dark (which I realise is to keep the integrity of the ingredients intact) and the blister packs were shrink wrapped I just stopped getting them.

Luckily I discovered Greens Balance and this gave me lots of vitamins and minerals each day and I really noticed the difference when taking it.

So Do I No Longer Need a Vitamin & Mineral Supplement?

I still felt that a multi vitamin would've been a good idea, but I was eating well and took greens balance every day along with a good quality protein powder and fizz sticks. When Arbonne introduced their whole food multi vitamin and mineral supplement I was really happy that it was in a powder form.

I tried it with water first as it was supposed to be tasteless - nothing is tasteless and although I couldn't say what it tasted like I wasn't overly happy with it. I do have a protein shake at lunch time though so I diluted it in my shake and I couldn't taste it - mission accomplished!

My husband doesn't drink a shake so I got him to put it in a little tropical juice drink that he enjoys drinking and he liked it as well.

How Do I Feel After Taking This Supplement for a Couple of Months?

I don't feel a lot different, but everyone I've been working with has been really sick over the last few months and I haven't been so who knows if it's the multi vitamins or the greens balance or a combination.

What I can report is that I forgot to take them over a long weekend and I did notice my energy levels weren't as high as usual (but I also wasn't doing very much which could have made that difference).

In conclusion I don't know if a multi vitamin and mineral supplement makes a lot of difference, but I do like to take one as a form of nutritional health insurance. I definitely recommend this powder form over a tablet as I believe it gets absorbed easier and it's a lot easier to swallow than some of the multi vitamin tablets I've had over the years.

Do you take a multi vitamin and mineral supplement?

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Saturday, September 7, 2019

Reviewing National Fruit and Veggies Month!

Did You Know That September Was National Fruit & Veggies Month?

Selection of fruit and vegetables in celebration of National Fruit and Veggies Month

Image adapted by Lou16 from a Pixabay image

I must admit it took me by surprise, but it's great that we have months where we can check out healthy eating habits. March is National Nutrition Month and now we are encouraged to be good in September and make sure we eat all of our fruit and veg.

I'll be honest some days it's hard to get all of those serves of fruit and veg - do you find the same? I do have a few sneaky ways in which I increase my vegetable intake though and I'm going to share them with you here.

Greens Balance
Spiralized Veggies
Hidden Veggies
Bulking Out Meals

Greens Balance - My (not so) Secret Weapon!

I love this product it's a powder that provides a serve of fruit and veg in one scoop and it's from 37 different fruit and veg which means you're eating a rainbow.

I usually take mine mixed in a drink, but I know some parents will put a scoop in things such as Bolognese to ensure that fussy children will get some fruit and veg. I'm actually thinking of making some muffins or pancakes with the Greens Balance on St Patrick's Day next year!

Find out more about this super nutritional booster on my post - Reviewing Arbonne's Greens Balance.

Spiralized Veggies - Reducing Carbs & Adding Veg!

I first heard of spiralized zuchinni/courgette and thought it was an awesome idea and a great way to get my half a plate of vegetables when I just wanted to eat some Spaghetti Bolognese! Once I brought my own spiralizer I discovered that you can use it on any number of vegetables.

My daughter is all grown up now, but I can imagine her wanting to eat her veggies (especially if she helped spiralize them) when they were in spirals as they just seem more fun!

If you're trying to cut back on eating pasta it is certainly a great compromise, check out my full review - Reviewing A Vegetable Spiralizer.

Hidden Veggies - Sneakily Getting the Veggie Count Up

There are lots of ways in which you can sneak vegetables into your diet from muffins to meatballs and so much more. These are ways designed to get vegetables past picky eaters, but I love it as just ideas to increase my vegetable intake.

Check out some of these links:

19 Recipes with Hidden Vegetables

Healthy Vegetables with Hidden Veggies

Another way of disguising both fruit and vegetables is by making smoothies or even smoothie bowls.

Bulking Out Meals with Vegetables

Did you know that beans, lentils and chickpeas count towards your serves of vegetables a day? I tell you that because I love using beans, lentils and vegetables to bulk out my meals.

When my daughter was young and we were a one income household I looked for ways to bulk out our meals, this budget inspired move also had healthy consequences as our vegetable intake increased!

Ideas I implemented included:

Adding a tin of white beans to tomato soup and blending it up (this could count as a hidden veggie).
Adding green beans to lamb satay.
Adding chickpeas to a chicken curry dish my husband liked.
Adding frozen mixed vegetables to tuna pasta bake.
Adding spring onions and corn or onion and peas to potato bake.
Adding extra beans to chili (I have some recipes that call for black beans in which case I will also add white beans as they take on the flavor nicely and I have some recipes that don't ask for black beans, but I add them anyway!).
Adding zucchini to a number of different dishes (if it's in season it goes into just about anything from bakes to chili, shepherd's pie to stews).
Soups and stews can be a great way to add lots of vegetables to including any vegetables that are in the fridge (to avoid waste), any frozen veg or tinned veg.

There are countless ideas that can be used to get your vegetable intake up so let me know what your 'secret' way to increase your vegetable intake is.

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Monday, July 15, 2019

Reviewing the NuWave Gourmet Accessory Kit

NuWave Air Fryer Accessories

With my recent purchase of the NuWave Brio air fryer I also purchased the NuWave Gourmet Accessory Kit. At first I thought the little pan and cooking rack were over-priced and I felt silly for spending that extra money. But after using them for nearly every healthy meal - multiple times a day - I consider them invaluable.

If you aren't at all familiar with the NuWave Brio air fryer, you can read my review here. The Gourmet Accessory Kit is sold separately here.

NuWave Gourmet Accessory Kit

Because I am typically cooking only for myself I purchased the Gourmet Accessory Kit. It sounds much more fancy than it is. It is really just a 6" x 6" square pan (2 Qt) with a handle and a 6" x 6" cooking rack. Rather than cook my foods in the pan included with the machine or on it's existing rack, I use the little pan the most often.

Easy Clean Up: The pan has been keeping mess to a minimum. The juices and splatter stay in the accessory pan. It is non-stick so it is easy to lift out and wash off.

Portion Control: The Gourmet Accessory Kit also helps with portion control - without leaving me feeling deprived. The pan holds just a small amount. I cook that small amount and after a bit, if I'm still hungry, I can quickly cook a bit more in the Brio air fryer. However, I haven't felt like I needed that second portion very often.

Cooking Items Separately: I can also cook two different items at the same time. I place one item in the pan - sitting on the original rack in the machine - and cook veggies on the original rack next to it. I have not yet cooked a meal large enough to have to use the Accessory rack in addition to the original rack. But it's good to know that I will have that extra space if I need it.

Weight Loss: After loosely following the eating habits recommended by the Embry family in Living Proof and using the NuWave Brio air fryer, I have lost 4 lbs in approximately 2 weeks. That doesn't sound like much, but I am thrilled with that much loss after just changing what I eat.

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Monday, July 1, 2019

Reviewing the NuWave Brio 10 Qt Air Fryer

Reviewing the NuWave Brio on Review This!

Just this week I purchased the NuWave Brio 10 qt air fryer. And I am immediately in love with this way of cooking. I had to immediately review my new kitchen appliance. If I find that over time I become disenchanted with this air fryer, I'll update this review. But right now I cannot imagine changing my mind about this machine.

NuWave Brio

I bought an air fryer due to a recommendation from a co-worker. My co-worker had a cardiac event at a very young age. Thankfully, he recovered fully and returned to work. Not only did he return to work he clearly was losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle. I asked him what his secret was. He said that he was using an air fryer. And if I was interested in losing weight and/or becoming healthier, I should definitely get one.

After looking at video reviews and comparison shopping in the stores, I chose the NuWave Brio 10 Qt machine. I made this choice for three main reasons.

similar pricing to the other machines
1500w (double the power of some of the other machines)
a larger cooking space than some of the other machines

The NuWave advertising lists the highlights of this appliance as:

digital controls
evenly distributed heat
dishwasher safe parts (the parts - not the machine)
program functions - program your favorite recipes
stage functions - create up to 10 stages of time/temp adjustments
rotisserie - adjustable forks and rotates 360 degrees
sear function
reversible wire rack (to adjust the height of your food and/or make room for up to an 8 lb chicken)
built-in "safe start" sensor
precise temperature control from 100F - 400F degrees.

NuWave Brio 10 Qt.

My Skepticism and Hesitation

That initial air fryer recommendation came to me close to two years ago. When my co-worker suggested an air fryer, one of the reasons I was very skeptical is that I didn't believe that I'd use one regularly. After all, I never deep-fry foods and I already often bake my meats/french fries rather than fry.

Since then, a second co-worker has had a cardiac event (she is fully recovered also - thank God!). With my friends having major health scares, my own increasingly health problems, and after watching a movie of a young man who controls his Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms via diet and exercise, I decided to take the plunge and purchase an air fryer.

(No, I do not have MS, but his story about healthy diet was so motivating I decided to focus on cutting out even more carbs, sugars, and junk foods. If you would like to see my review of Living Proof by Matt Embry, click here).

The Past Week with the Brio Air Fryer

Since I have bought this machine, I have had a wide variety of cooked vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, green beans) that I normally would not have unless I was eating out. For some reason, I have never been able to stir-fry or saute vegetables and have them turn out appealing in any way. The one vegetable I cook well is summer squash, but I was frying them in a small amount of oil. Now I'm air frying them with only a dusting of cooking spray.

I've made chicken livers in this machine and they turned out GREAT. I did not expect them too. The light flour coating browned and crisped. I was amazed. Another perk was that cooking the chicken livers in the machine greatly decreased that cooking liver smell that permeates the apartment when I cook them in the frying pan!

I've also made a beef and broccoli Chinese food recipe that turned out GREAT. This is something I've never been able to cook successfully previously.

I have made both lightly floured chicken nuggets and BBQ chicken chunks that looked and tasted as though they were grilled.

But the best thing about this appliance has been cooking great foods, foods that I often would pop into the oven for 30 - 45 minutes. But this apartment is hot and we've been having a heatwave. Without the Brio, I would either be on the verge of heatstroke while making dinner or I would forgo a real meal. With the NuWave Brio, I have been making great meals during this heatwave and adding very little, if any, extra heat in the kitchen.

I am really pleased with this purchase and I'm very glad I finally acted on my co-worker's recommendation.

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Saturday, March 9, 2019

Did You Know That March is National Nutrition Month?

Image courtesy of Pixabay

As National Nutrition Month, March seems a good time to review ways to increase your nutrition in your daily life. Most people do not consume the recommended nutrients every day to keep their bodies running in peak condition, so let's look at ways we can fix this.

Of course you could use March as an excuse to give your body a reboot aka a spring clean for your body instead of your house! This is a great way to start creating your healthy habits.

You may think that's a bit too much so let's look at other things you can do -

Reduce your caffeine intake
Reduce your salt intake
Reduce your sugar intake
Reduce your processed foods
Increase your fruit and veg intake

We've all heard these comments before haven't we? The problem is how and where to start so lets's go through them all one by one.

How to Reduce Your Caffeine Intake

Now if you only drink one cup of coffee or tea a day then you are probably okay, but I know many people drink a LOT more than that. The problem with drinking too much caffeine whether it's from coffee, tea, cola drinks or energy drinks is that caffeine can cause the depletion of certain nutrients such as vitamin B6. Not only that but it also interferes with your body's ability to absorb essential minerals such as calcium and magnesium.

It can be had to cut back as a lot of the time we grab these drinks out of habit, one way that I've gone down from 10 mugs a day to 1-2 a week is by using Fizz Sticks. Let me tell you more ...

I like to drink what I call a green ogre drink on my way to work and I find that it gives me the same effect as my morning latte that I used to grab on my way to work at my previous job. If you start off by just replacing one coffee with this I think you'll find you won't need your next one as quickly because you don't get the espresso crash as the effects of the caffeine from coffee wears off.

If you enjoy having a cuppa when you get up or after dinner then try a few caffeine free teas instead such as these -

Why Drink Peppermint Tea?
I love the flavour of peppermint so I'm probably biased as to why you should drink peppermint tea! However it does have a lot of benefits from aiding digestion to helping with concentration.

Review of Lifestyle Awareness Teas
Lifestyle Awareness is a brand of organic tea and this review focuses on just two of the teas in the range - Immunity Now and Serene Slumber. These teas have medicinal benefits to them as well and we can all use help with boosting our immune systems!

Or I do enjoy a cup of Twinings Chamomile, Honey & Vanilla before going to bed on a cold night.

If you're more of a soda drinker or you feel like you need an energy drink to keep you going then Fizz Sticks are definitely something that you can substitute for them. You will find that the effects last a lot longer so that you don't need to drink as many. They come in four different flavors and contain a lot less sugar as well as being a lot healthier in other ways too.

How to Reduce Your Salt Intake

Too much salt can adversely affect our sodium/potassium balance and let's face it everywhere you turn you're being told to cut down salt aren't you?

Salt is one of those foods that are often in hidden in the foods you eat, one product that is usually high in salt is commercial stock (especially the convenient stock cubes). A simple way to deal with this is to make your own vegetable stock, it's very easy as you can see here - how to make veggie stock - and you can make big batches to freeze down. Using this you can monitor exactly how much salt you add to your food.

Reducing the amount of processed foods will help a lot (more on that later) and reading labels to build your awareness will be quite a shock to you.

How to Reduce Your Sugar Intake

Sugar is empty as far as nutritional value goes and it's also addictive. I would try and use other products to sweeten things for example when my daughter was younger I would half the amount of sugar a recipe called for to make sweet muffins and throw in a mashed banana to use for sweetness instead.

If you or your children like using flavored drinks instead of water then why not look at putting cubed watermelon in your water pitcher as this fruit contains electrolytes. Berries or citrus are also great ways of adding flavor.

Looking on sites such as Pinterest can help with ideas for sugar free or low sugar recipes and I find myself using dates, bananas, apples and even maple syrup in my cooking as a way to keep the sweetness while raising the nutritional value of a dish.

How to Reduce Processed Foods

Processed foods can be devoid of many nutrients as well as containing high amounts of sugar and/or salt - this is especially so with low fat processed foods.

Now I'm not saying you have to totally embrace the whole food movement (although it's really great!), but being more aware of what you're eating is a good place to start. The best way to reduce processed foods is to start cooking a few things from scratch.

Now with our busy lifestyles it can be hard to imagine cooking everything from scratch so I would recommend starting with one meal a week and cooking double quantities, one lot for that meal and one lot for the freezer which means the next week you have your 'new' meal plus the frozen meal from the previous week.

Snack foods can be the biggest fall down for many households when it comes to processed foods so I like to make sure I have fresh fruit available and have vegetables such as carrot sticks prepared and ready to eat. I also find making protein balls or bliss balls a great idea.

How to Increase Your Fruit & Veg Intake

We're all told to increase our fruit and vegetables, but how? If you're starting to cook more from scratch and having it as snacks as well you will find that you start to increase your intake.

I try to throw extra vegetable into my meals when I'm cooking them for example when I cook a lamb or beef satay I will always add green beans. I also add diced zucchini (courgette) to a number of dishes as it takes on flavors really well.

Another easy way to add vegetables into your diet is by using it to substitute some of your other foods for example use a spiralizer to make vegetable 'pasta' or using cauliflower or broccoli in place of rice.

Another thing that I do is I have a scoop of Greens Balance every day - this contains a rainbow of fruit and veg - and this can be taken on it's own, popped into a protein shake (or the green ogre shake above) or even added into something when you're cooking such as bolognaise.

I did see someone added the greens balance to banana muffins for her fussy child and he ate them because he was told they were made from monsters!

If you don't like eating breakfast or you have a child that doesn't like eating in the morning or at lunchtime then why not try a shake or a smoothie bowl - it's a great way to add in berries and other fruits as well as spinach, kale or a good old scoop of greens balance.

Reviewing Smoothie Bowl Recipes
Essentially a smoothie bowl is a thick smoothie served in a bowl with different toppings and it is delicious. You can have a myriad of different flavors and there's really no rules as to what you can pop on top

Tropical Fruit Smoothie Recipe Reviewed
The tropical fruit smoothies taste really good and they are very easy to make. Simply gather your favorite tropical fruits and the blender and you have a quick and healthy snack for breakfast, lunch or after dinner!

Healthy and Delicious Smoothies
Feel more energized and healthier by adding a smoothie to your day, from tropical fruit to green smoothies and so many other recipes in between.

baby step ways to improve your nutrition for national nutrition month and beyond

So, Over to You

What are you going to do to improve your nutritional intake this month?

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Saturday, December 15, 2018

Reviewing How To Reboot Your Body

The end of the year is often a time for reflection and our New Year's starts off with promises to ourselves of keeping good habits, kicking bad habits, taking time out for gratitude and other things.

This year I started my January by doing Arbonne's 30 Days to Healthy Living and Beyond plan and I felt fantastic being on it. This plan is a great way to basically give your body a reboot!

I will be 'rebooting my body' again in January 2019 and I'm going to review the reasons why as well as the what, whys and hows of the plan.

Why I Love The Basic Principles of The 30DTHL Plan

There are three principles behind the plan as I see it -

First foods that are often allergenic, acidic, or hard for the body to digest are eliminated - don't worry it's only for 30 days!
Second, you nourish your body with good, clean food and quality supplements.
Thirdly you support your body as it goes through its rebooting process.

Doesn't that sound good? This was what attracted me to this plan as I had discovered over 10 years ago that certain food could cause my Rheumatoid Arthritis to flare up and yet other foods that cause other people to flare up didn't appear to affect me.

The idea of eliminating and then (this plan does include the words and beyond) re-introducing the different foods gradually so that you can see how they may or may not affect you, this idea is one that I think is brilliant. Everyone is different, but I do think that everyone would benefit from a reboot at least once so that they can find out how different foods affect them.

I also love how the importance of nourishing your body correctly is handled. This program provides you with protein powder to use twice a day meaning you only have to prepare one meal a day (and snacks). Initially, I was a little unsure how I felt about this, however, if I had to prepare three meals to the proportions recommended and not including processed foods I would probably not have lasted the whole 30 days.

We live busy lives and that's what Arbonne gets. The protein powders are specially formulated (and by the way all of the products are vegan, gluten-free & kosher) and although I was skeptical about them filling me up they really do! If you don't want shakes that's fine as you can cook with the protein powder too and there are recipes available for protein porridge, pancakes, waffles & lots more ideas.

Personally, I love making up a shake in the morning as I find it quick, easy and filling. On the weekends I will often treat myself to delicious protein pancakes or a smoothie bowl -

Reviewing Smoothie Bowl Recipes
A smoothie bowl is essentially a thick smoothie that is served up in a bowl with a variety of toppings. It is delicious and feels like a decadent treat while also being a very healthy choice.

Gently supporting your body in a delicious way with their herbal tea and body cleanse is also great.

Who Needs to Reboot Their Body?

I think most of us need to reboot our bodies at some point so that it's working efficiently. I think of when my internet connection is dropping out or just seems to hang, the first thing I do is hit the reset button on my wifi router and 99% of the time that's all it takes.

So why would you need to hit the reset button on your body? Well, let me list a few symptoms that may show your body isn't working as well as it could be -

Bloating
Bad Breath
Feeling Tired
Dry Lips
Insomnia
Sore Muscles
Hormonal Imbalance
Low Libido
Brain Fog
Skin Breakouts
Headaches
Depression
Gas
Skin Rashes
Low Energy

What Do I Get with the 30 Day Pack?

When you order the plan you will receive 2 x bags of protein powder, 2 x boxes of CleanTox tea, 2 x boxes of Fizz Sticks, 1 x Gut Health and your choice of 2 out of the three following - Gut Health fibre, Body Cleanse, Be Well Superfood Greens.

You also get access to a private coaching group on Facebook, a downloadable recipe book, 30 days' worth of meal plans (both vegan and non-vegan plans) and you can message me any time. I've actually done this plan a few times so can help with any questions you have.

30 Days to Healthy Living and Beyond

Changes I Have Personally Experienced

When I did my first 30 days to healthy living I found that I had lost 5kg (11 lb), I had lots of energy, I wasn't experiencing any mood swings (I am menopausal and these had been quite bad), my hot flushes had stopped, my sleeping had improved, my energy levels were really high and (as a total surprise) I was no longer sore or stiff in the morning when I woke up.

Now that last point was a big surprise to me as I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis approx 16 years ago. I had come off of my medications about a decade ago and had been managing my condition with diet & lifestyle. I had accepted, however, that I would be stiff in the mornings and sometimes a little sore - a combination of RA and getting older. I have discovered that while doing this plan that was no longer the case and hasn't been all year!

Now I'm not claiming that this will work for everyone, but I can't think why you wouldn't give it a try!

What Happens After the Reboot

Part of the health reboot is eliminating certain foods for 30 days, now if you want to maximize the effect of this plan you need to gradually reintroduce these foods one at a time over the following few weeks. This way you can pinpoint which foods (if any) affect you.

Foods can affect you differently as you age as well. When we get older our bodies produce fewer digestive enzymes and this is why when I was on an elimination diet over a decade ago only one food seemed to affect me. I now know that I have to reduce how often I eat other foods too.

The other thing that will happen after you've been making your clean meals for one meal a day (most people have dinners, but you may have chosen lunch) is that it's much easier to make your second meal as well. I admit that a number of people I know actually continue to have a smoothie for their breakfast after finishing the plan. In my case, it's because it's easy, yummy and keeps me full!

Interested in Learning More?

Contact me via messenger on my Facebook page or leave a comment below and I'll get back to you with more information including how to order it at a discount.

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Monday, July 2, 2018

3 Refreshing Pea Recipes for Summer

It is very hot outside and I'm feeling particularly lazy. Yet I'm hungry. It's too hot to eat a full, heavy meal but I'm really hungry. After seeing my gardening friends posting their magazine quality photos of their pea harvests, I'm having a pea craving. I think the following three recipes are the three best pea recipes.

7 Layer Salad

I love 7 layer salads. I tend to make them only occasionally in the summer and have not yet made one this year. There are a variety of 7 layer salad recipes to be found, but I always use the recipe that uses peas. I love the flavor that peas add to this salad.

While looking for that recipe, so I could give you the amounts of the ingredients, I found this version of a Layered Salad by The Pioneer Woman. I like her version even better! She adds spinach and tomatoes - in addition to the 7 ingredients I add: lettuce, eggs, peas, green onions, bacon, cheese, and mayo.

Layered Salad by The Pioneer Woman

Her salad is like a beautiful BLT in a bowl, with the added oomph of the peas and other ingredients. What a fresh and beautiful layer salad. YUM! My mouth is watering.

I need to stop at the farmer's stand and buy some fresh, ripe 'maters - instead of those cardboard flavored tomatoes at the grocery.

Pea Soup

Pea Soup recipe by Eating Well

Pea soup! How easy and flavorful can you get? This Pea Soup recipe by Eating Well is right up my alley - only 12 ingredients; all of which I have in my kitchen right now with the exception of fresh thyme or parsley. The recipe claims that it only takes 35 minutes until ready to eat.

In this heat, I believe I would serve this chilled (as many pea soup recipes are) but I can also imagine this would be a great soup to prepare and serve either warm or chilled - depending on my mood that day.

Smashed Peas with Mint Butter

All my life, I've smashed my peas in my potatoes and made smashed peas. Mom served them separately but they ended up mashed together on my plate. Who knew that would become "a thing" ?! Well, it is.

Including the water, this Smashed Pea with Mint Butter recipe by Genius Kitchen has a whopping 7 ingredients! Again, everything I have in my kitchen already with the exception of fresh parsley. No, I don't intentionally boycott parsley, I apparently just don't really use it.

The idea of adding my own fresh mint (from the balcony) to my smashed peas excites me.

Smashed Peas with Mint Butter by Genius Kitchen

* * * * *

Whether you prefer using fresh peas for a garden to table cooking or frozen peas (because frozen peas keep their flavor for a garden-fresh taste even when the gardens aren't producing) I hope you find one of these recipes to be useful.

Summer is a wonderful time for trying new recipes and re-visiting family favorites because the seasonal vegetables are at their freshest and most flavorful. I always feel more adventurous in the kitchen when gardens are in full swing.

Related Link:

Do you think you hate eating peas? For me it was beets. I despised beets for decades. But I changed my mind recently. Here is my article about how I came to love (and crave) beets. Even if you think you don't want to eat peas, one of the above recipes may change your mind.

Looking for vegetable recipes other than peas? I've included some recommended cookbooks below. And yes, I've included a kid-friendly cookbook (being released in October) because, frankly, kid-friendly recipes are more my style.

Photo Credit: Intro photo courtesy of Pixaby - CC0 creative commons

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