Lately it's been on my mind that I do a number of things differently than many Americans, or maybe just to a greater extent in some cases.
On a related note, when people ask me how I stay in shape or how I'm "so skinny," I generally don't know what to say other than, "Uh, I run? And ride my bike places?" and sound thoroughly unhelpful.
Take this all with a grain of salt, because it's coming from a woman currently 15 weeks into her second pregnancy and a couple of pounds heavier than I ought to be so far.
But I thought I would try to gather a list of the things I do that seem pretty distinct from the habits of many of the people around me who seem to struggle with overall health or with weight issues.
Another disclaimer: I completely get that we're all made differently, we all have our different struggles health-wise, and I can only understand health from the posture of my own body and mind. But I hope you can find something about this list inspiring.
1. I eat eggs for breakfast almost every morning. I get the sense from others' discussions that most people eat carbs for breakfast - cereal, oatmeal, bagels. There are many things with added proteins, often in the form of soy or whey, but they're still carb-heavy granola bars or sugary shakes. Two eggs and a slice of multi-grain toast pretty well fills me up, and I don't get "snacky" again for 3 hours or so. Plus, scrambled eggs or eggs made into an omelet allows me to squeeze another serving of vegetables in - usually baby spinach. Sling it in the pan before you pour in the eggs. Add sliced garlic if you're feeling adventurous.
2. I do not steer clear of fats but I try to limit sugar. I get much more of my caloric satisfaction from fats than I do from sugars. I always cook my eggs in butter. I don't skimp on the olive oil when making pasta, etc. I have whole milk yogurt - but plain so there's no added sugar. I often use the yogurt like you'd use sour cream (and usually on my eggs . . .). I don't shy away from cheese and peanut butter. And I put heavy whipping cream in my coffee - but NEVER sugar. Like even the best of us, I can't stay away from the brownies and pop-tarts, but I don't overdo it. One pop-tart, not the whole pack. And I've been gradually decreasing the size of my ice cream bowl over the years so that now, I use a tiny cup that holds maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of ice cream, and I feel finished with ice cream when it's gone.
3. Flavor, not calories. I LOVE all foods that pack tons of flavor but don't necessarily add tons of calories. I have at least 5 different hot sauces that I'm in love with (Sriracha and Frank's Red Hot top the list), and I put pickled jalapenos on just about anything. I'm big on curries, sauces, grainy mustards, olives, and pickles of all kinds (see #5: kimchi). I reach for vividly-flavored salad dressings that don't have lots of gunk in them. I frequently make my own vinaigrettes with mustard, balsamic, lots and lots of fresh herbs (or dried, in the winter), salt and pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. I'm never shy with the spice rack. Brussels sprouts have whole mustard seed and a glaze of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Kale or collards are braised with several cloves of garlic and red pepper flakes. Frozen veggies get a combo of spices that mingle well with whatever we're eating - roasted cumin and smoked paprika when it's burrito night, garam masala and curry powder if we're having an Indian curry, marjoram/basil/thyme if it's italian-themed.
4. I never drink my calories. Unless you count alcohol, which I drink one serving of a couple of times a week (when I'm not pregnant, of course) and the heavy cream in my coffee, I don't drink anything with calories in it. I make a point to drink three large glasses of water before lunch and 3 or 4 more in the latter part of the day, and I have coffee twice. Again, I do have calories in my coffee - I order my cortado with half and half instead of milk, and like I said, I use heavy whipping cream in brewed coffee - but I never drink it with any syrups, sugars, etc. Never soda and not even juice because it's just straight sugar. I just can't get behind "juicing" because it gives you the direct shot of sugar without the fiber to slow down digestion enough to get the full benefit of the vitamins. No point in the calories in my book.
5. Daily probiotic foods. I make my own plain, whole milk yogurt and my own kimchi and have at least a serving of each every day. I think it helps me digest everything else and keeps me healthy and keeps my bowels happy. And happy bowels make happy people. Your gut flora can even determine your mood and stress levels. Science!
6. Veggies with every meal. I eat vegetables every time I eat. I eat vegetables first. We eat processed foods like Digorno pizzas and Marie Calendar pot pies (maybe once or twice a week), but we always add whole food to them in the form of a salad or a side of veggies. I keep frozen veggies on hand to add to those one-skillet frozen pastas (you know, the Bird's Eye ones?). I often use the fiber to help me feel full before I even start on the rest of my food. Almost every lunch I pack for work starts with a big salad - and no iceberg for me. I pick colorful lettuces and baby spinach and try to add as many different colors as I can - baby bell peppers, carrots, snap peas, mushrooms, radishes, beets - whatever I have in the veggie drawer. And I pick dressings that, again, don't skimp on fat but contain very little sugar. Did you know that small amounts of sugar hidden in savory foods can trigger our cravings for sweet foods? Agh! I frequently have a similar salad before dinner, and if I don't, I've prepared two different vegetables to have with whatever protein and starch we're serving. I try to stick to a sort of formula I've read about: half the plate should be veggies (and half of that should ideally be a leafy green or a cruciferous green veggie, like collards, kale, broccoli, and brussels sprouts) and the other half should be starch and protein. And I count things like corn, black beans, and potatoes or sweet potatoes as starches - NOT VEGETABLES. And like I said before, I try to squeeze in a serving of veggies with breakfast, too.
7. Physical activity is a way of life. I go for at least two walks a day at work. I also try to run on my lunch breaks a couple of times a week. I bike as transportation; that means that instead of sitting behind the wheel, I'm burning calories (and saving gas, and protecting the planet . . . ). When my kiddo and I are playing together, we do lots of hiking, biking, trampoline jumping, going for walks, and running around. I don't shy away from carrying him around the house, rough-housing, throwing him on the couch, crawling around on the floor with him with his trucks and cars, and so on. And I've found that I truly enjoy running, so I do it. I switch up my workouts, sometimes running slow and long and sometimes running sprints up and down the block, sometimes running on the road and sometimes only on the trail, sometimes running with epic music and sometimes hearing all the things around me, sometimes running with the dog and sometimes running while Ambrose rides his bike (or, before he learned, with him in the stroller). Even more simply, I don't ask others to do physical things in my place. I don't ask my son or husband to go get things for me. I don't ask someone to carry something for me. I step up on a ladder instead of asking someone to reach something I can't. I firmly believe that my fierce need to be independent contributes to my health.
8. I don't tell myself I can't have things. I simply tell myself to have the good things first or to somehow balance out the not-so-great things. I'll eat ice cream after dinner, but I eat salad before dinner. I'll have a pop-tart in the afternoon, but I have to go for a run sometime during the day or have my espresso black instead of with a bunch of delicious steamed half and half. I can have a snack while watching a movie, but it's not a bottomless bag of chips next to me on the couch; it's a given dose of salsa, and when that's gone, the chips get put away. There are always trade-offs for my indulgence, and I can tell by how I'm feeling if I'm letting things get out of balance. Finally, I don't overdo it. I don't eat until I feel sick. I don't need two donuts because I know I'll feel crappy afterward and one tastes just as delicious. I can keep a Nature Valley high-protein chocolate peanut bar in my desk drawer because it only has 6 grams of sugar - a Snickers has 27 (TWENTY. SEVEN.). I promise, the granola bar is actually as delicious. I always try to find the granola/protein/snack bars with at least as much protein as sugar and a decent dose of fiber. I'm also a huge fan of make-your-own snack mix, and my favorite combo is pistachios, dried cherries (vitamin A and melatonin!) and bittersweet chocolate chips.
9. I don't stress-eat. When stress is really getting to me and making me grind my teeth at night and snap at my loved ones, I reach for the things I know are helpful - in my case, getting in a long run, doing 30 minutes of yoga instead of hitting the snooze for 30 minutes (thought I do that really often, too), reading a book I love, or finding a guided meditation or guided hypnosis on youtube or iTunes to listen to before bed. That being said, I DO eat when I'm bored or as a method of procrastination. I try hard to recognize when I'm doing this and insert another activity, like a walk, writing in my journal, or reading. However, this is one of my big struggles.
10. I tend to associate with people I admire and whose habits I want to absorb. I am attracted to people who I perceive to have certain kinds of power, and I perceive good health habits to be a kind of power. My husband is very physically active, and his bicycle commuting and running are two of the big things that attracted me to him in the first place. I am blessed to have many friends and family to spend time with who encourage me to be active, eat well, and keep everything in balance. I spend more time with people who make me want to be better and less time with people who seem to bring out my less healthy habits.
Those are the things that have been occurring to me lately. I have been wanting to "publish" them in case anyone else finds them helpful. I've had the great good fortune to have been brought up with many of these habits or to have learned them from the healthy people around me. My mom made us Kool-Aid when we were kids, but she used half the sugar it called for. We weren't allowed to keep super-sugary cereals in the house but instead had multi-grain cheerios and homemade granola. Dessert was only for if you ate all your dinner, and it was in modest portions. Treats were rare and were assigned an emotional gravity, like a special family trip to TCBY after dinner or ice cream after a doctor appointment. We wouldn't just sit in front of the tv with a bowl of ice cream. We often took family walks after dinner. And I grew up hiking and biking and running and playing outside with my family and friends; tv time was usually for when it was too dark to play outside.
In short, I know I learned my habits gradually over the course of my life, and now I'm lucky to have them be intrinsic. It also helps that I LOVE vegetables and feel unhappy and out of whack if I go two meals in a row without something green. But I also firmly believe that with small and intentional changes, tackled one at a time, anyone at any stage of life can form new habits. So I hope you've found something helpful or thought-provoking in these paragraphs. Be well!
