Tag / diet

Bird with Pickle
by Janet

Who’s Got my Pickle?

I thought I’d wrap up the night with another Food Fun Fact.

One thing I’ve noticed about “healthy” food is that… sometimes… it’s just plain awful. It tastes so BLAND. Would you like some seasoning with your cardboard?

Every time I go out for groceries it feels like I’m on a scavenger hunt. Of course, this applies even more so right now—with COVID-19—because it’s hard to find many foods PERIOD.

Several years back I had the pleasure of tasting Boar’s Head Horseradish Bread & Butter Pickles, and I’ve never forgotten those tasty chips. They’ve been pretty hard to find, but I scored a jar recently on one of my excursions.

According to numerous sources, pickles have been considered a health food for centuries. Julius Caesar is said to have fed them to his troops to boost strength, and Cleopatra favored them as a beauty aid. Go figure!

Personally, jazzing up my “healthy” food with spices, citrus, and condiments (like horseradish or these awesome bold pickles) helps keep me on track because it makes those otherwise boring meals fun and exciting.

The Good news here is that 3 pickle chips have just 40 calories and a low glycemic load. The not so good news, for those watching their salt, is the 200 mg of sodium.

Anyway… another fun thing about pickles is that I found a use for this old (upcycled) photograph from the beach. I did NOT feed the bird… I simply caught him in the act after he raided a nearby beach blanket picnic.

That’s about all for now. Thank you for reading!

by Janet

Thoughts, Thoughts . . .

And more thoughts!

This morning I woke up tired of thinking. That doesn’t happen very often. In the short time I’ve been awake, I felt droopy, slightly discouraged, and have been questioning some of my own ideas. And then I stumbled on this image and thought that maybe I just need to change the way I’m thinking.

I need to think about things differently.

First of all, besides my WordPress class (which ends Saturday), I’m taking a philosophy class; Intro to Comparative Religion. All I can say is: “That class is exhausting!”

Anyway, the good news here is that last week I was able to hit my mark of 5,500 steps per day. It was actually a breeze once the rain stopped. If the weather stays nice I’ll be able to hit that many steps in just one afternoon walk, so I’m ready to increase my goal.

The challenge here is that the more steps I take, the more I allow myself to cheat on the food end. Like… it’s alright to eat that brownie, you just took 2000 steps! It reminded me of all of my ploys to drink in moderation, like… only wine, or only after 5 p.m., and so on.

I also uninstalled the app that was reminding me to walk around, and to drink water. It was constantly beeping and driving me nuts. Between water sips and restroom trips, there was hardly time for anything else! It got to the point where I’d simply hit snooze, and what’s the point of that?

What I’m realizing is that monitoring a “lifestyle change” is risky. If these changes are meant for the long haul, why do I keep checking in on them… and what do I keep looking for? Instant gratification… that’s what I’m secretly seeking. Every time I get on that scale I hope to see some kind of magic happen. That kind of thinking has to stop. Rome was not built in a day!

So… being the first day of the new month and all, I’ve decided that my goal for April is to Stay off the Scale. I’m kicking up my “steps goal” to 6,500 per day, for the entire month, and I’m putting it on cruise control. No more thinking about it (or checking in on it) until the month comes to a close. I’m going to put more focus on my daily gratitude list instead.

Overall, my diet has improved and I actually lost 5 pounds in the month of March. I’m certainly grateful for that!

That’s about all for now. Thanks for hanging in there with me… and have a beautiful day!

Mediocrity is easy, the good things take time, the great need commitment. —Bob Seger

by Janet

Knock Knock

Who’s there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Banana split so ice screamed!

With all of my talk about eating, I thought some “food humor” was in order—accompanied by a free Pexels image.

I’ve been wanting to share some of the information I’m discovering out there—tips and tricks or what have you—but I’ve held off for fear that too many new topics will muddle my already oddly diverse and eclectic blog. Then this morning, with a clear head, I sat up and thought… “eh, who cares!?”

That being said, I am sharing my very first…

FOOD FUN FACT!

The glycemic index gives us a way to tell “good carbs” from “bad carbs.” In my case, carrying weight around the middle was an indication that I was eating too many of those bad carbs. The scale is 0-100 and here is the key:

  • 55 or less = Low (good)
  • 56- 69 = Medium
  • 70 or higher = High (bad)

The smaller the number the better. Those high numbers are what makes your blood sugar spike, wreaking havoc on your body if you do it consistently. These numbers are cool to check out.

I was sad that bananas are often labeled bad because they’re higher in sugar than other fruits, and bananas are one of my favorites. What I found out though, is that they’re not so bad on the glycemic index.

What’s even better is that the glycemic index of foods can change. Unripe bananas are lower on the index… coming in at 41. The riper they get, the higher their glycemic index will be. So now I won’t wait for the bananas to turn all ripe and yellow, I will try to eat them green. I prefer them in my smoothies anyway, and it’s great when they’re not all soft and mushy.

Pasta is my other favorite food! Honestly, I could eat it every day. The longer pasta cooks, the higher the index will be, so serving your noodles Al dente is the healthier way to go. Who knew?!

Lastly, using lemon juice (or vinegar) during food preparation will lower the food’s glycemic index. So squeeze some lemon on that penne!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Food Fun Fact! I’m still not sure it will be a regular thing. Mainly I wanted to record the information that I’m discovering, and sharing them here seemed like a great way to do it.

Anyway, thanks for reading… Peace & Love!