New Months' Resolution: September

Last year, as my New Year’s resolution, I decided to lose weight and be more healthy. Like many Americans, it wasn’t the first time I’d resolved to do these things, but this past year I took a different approach - I made a serious commitment to exercise and I started tracking my calories. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, tracking calories was really just the starting point for a broader change in how I eat. By seeing what I was consuming - not just the calories, but where those calories were coming from - I started a process of eating more healthy foods. I call it a process, because I’m still trying to figure all of this out. Rather than focusing so much on the number of calories in my food, I’m thinking more about fiber, protein, processed sugar and fat content.

Recently, I started thinking about the fact that so many people wait until New Year’s to make commitments to change things about themselves. I have this suspicion that this mentality is part of why so many people break their resolutions early on. First, the momentousness of the occasion (only once a year!) makes people feel like their resolutions have to be BIG. And all-encompassing. And let’s face it, most people cannot commit to dramatically changing the way they live their lives on sheer will-power alone. Instead, it often takes small changes and patience to have lasting big results. Compounding that is the idea that we only have one chance a year to make these changes - so if we fail, we just give up and wait until next year to try again. It isn’t that people think that they can’t try again before New Year’s, it’s just that I think New Year’s provides an external pressure that might not exist for many people during the rest of the year.

I believe that of the many reasons I’ve had success this time around is that most of the changes I’ve made have been gradual. I’ve taken the time to think about what I enjoy in terms of eating and cooking and come up with ways to incorporate healthier food into what I know makes me happy. Because if I’m not happy, I’m not going to stick with it. So this got me thinking: why not have a new month’s resolution? Rather than waiting until the end of the year to look back on how I’ve been doing and make changes, why not actively try to self-evaluate on a more regular basis? Also, trying out new goals over a shorter time-frame means that if something really isn’t working for me, I don’t have to feel like I’ve given up. I can just reassess and try something new next month.

These are a few of my favorite things!

One change that I think is in order is my approach to snacking. I’m a person who likes to eat a lot of smaller meals and snacks throughout the day, rather then 3 big meals. I recognize that this is a personality thing, and it’s just what works for me. The snacks I eat are generally pretty healthy, because I recognize that I’m going to want to snack, so I am prepared with lots of good things that I enjoy eating - yogurt, nuts, trail mix and fruit. The problem that I’ve noticed is that having all these things around makes me feel like I *have* to eat them. If I bring four snacks to work, I will eat all four snacks, regardless of how hungry I am. I’ve also noticed that I’m far more inclined to do this at work, which has led me to realize that I eat to break up my workday. Not good! Eating when hungry = important. Eating as a diversion = probably not a great idea. So, this month, I’m going to make an effort to stop and think before I eat - am I really hungry? Am I really hungry enough to eat all of that? Am I eating because I’m looking for something to do, or because I’m stressed out, or thirsty? My intent is not to prevent myself from eating, it’s just to make sure that the urge to eat is actually related to hunger. Because an apple a day won’t keep the boredom away, it just leads to a bored person who feels a little sick because she ate too many apples.

What are your September resolutions? Post your answers in the comments!

Reader Survey: Vacation Temptation

The countdown has begun:

This Friday, barring a hurricane, I am heading to sunny Miami for the bachelorette party of one of my good friends. I’ve never been to Miami before, and this is a really fun group of girls, so I’m pretty pumped about the shenanigans in store.

Gonna be eating one of these.

Photo source: Wiqan Ang, Globe Photo

But my Miami trip is only the tip of the travel iceberg this fall. We have several weddings, a family visit, a much-overdue friend visit and an Ohio State football game on the agenda, all before November. Oy! All of this travel can create more than a few healthy eating challenges. I love food, so when I’m on vacation I want to be able to indulge a little and try something special, but still feel like I haven’t gone completely overboard at the end of the trip. I think I’m pretty good about making smart choices at restaurants, and I have a game plan in mind for the Miami bars (I’m not a big drinker anyways, so to avoid the other ladies having to carry me home, I’ll be alternating the hard stuff with club soda and lime).

 Tastes like home!

Photo source: Lucas Allen, Real Simple

It can still be hard, however, when every weekend you have an excuse to splurge (I’ve never had a Philly cheesesteak! Or cheese curds from Wisconsin! And I have to take MG to my favorite college dive spot before the game! And then there’s wedding cake. Times three). I’ve made a lot of lifestyle changes, so in the weeks between trips I’m not terribly worried about eating well and getting regular exercise in. When possible, I’m planning ahead (bringing my own breakfast and fruit to the airport, packing sandwiches for our road trips rather than stopping along the way). But being away from home that many weekends will definitely be a challenge.

And then there's this.

Photo source: Martha Stewart Weddings

My question for you today is: what is your big vacation food challenge and what tricks have you learned to overcome it? Answer in the comments!

Low Cal versus Healthy Cal

I read an interesting article on Slate the other day about a strange lawsuit: a woman is suing the company that makes Nutella for having aired commercials billing Nutella as a good breakfast food. Apparently, based on these ads, the woman started giving her child Nutella for breakfast, only to "discover" from a friend that Nutella actually has a lot of sugar (ya know, since it's chocolate?) I'm not going to get into the legal questions surrounding this suit (except to point out that I'm pretty sure the nutritional information is right there on the container).

What I found more interesting (and relevant to Cookies and Kale) was the Slate article, which pointed out, quite rightly, that there is no reason that Nutella can't be part of a healthy breakfast - in moderation. Obviously, if you eat a quarter cup of Nutella every morning, that's probably not going to end well for you. And yes, even in small quantities, Nutella contains a lot of sugar. But, it does have some nutritional value. Slate went on to point out that Nutella actually contains a lot less sugar than those high-sugar kids cereals, and, although by itself it doesn't have as much protein or fiber, if you spread it on a slice of multigrain bread, it's probably better for you.

Anyhow, this all got me thinking about something that I've been working through lately - the idea of being "low calorie" versus "quality calorie." Let me preface this by saying I'm not a dietician, nor am I a parent - so I'm not going to comment on the related, but separate issue of what people give their kids for breakfast. What I will speak to is the experiences of being an adult who makes her own choices regarding food, and in an ongoing process of learning how to be a healthy and happy cook and eater.

When I first started trying to lose weight, I signed up for a free calorie tracker and focused on calories in/calories out. This makes sense if you're actively trying to lose a certain amount of weight in a healthy, but specific amount of time. In order to lose a pound a week, your body has to net a certain amount of calories. Because I enjoy the act of eating, I wanted to make sure that I got to eat the most amount of food for the fewest calories, so I went with whatever had the fewest calories (well, within reason. I wasn't eating like, celery for lunch). Makes sense, right?

But fast-forward to today. For the last several months I've been trying to "maintain" my weight - this allows me to eat a normal amount of calories (although I still track what I eat). As I become more comfortable with the changes I've made to my life in terms of cooking and exercise, one thing I'm trying to do is focus not so much on the number of calories in a given food, but where those calories are coming from. For example, I love eating cereal for breakfast every morning. Until recently, I tried to choose the lowest calorie cereals in the aisle - Kix, Cheerios and Special K were my go-tos.  I love them,  but I started to realize that even after eating a cup and a half of cereal, plus a half cup of almond milk, I got hungry again pretty shortly after. So even if my breakfast was very low-calorie, I still ended up consuming more because I had to snack later. I started doing some research (aka actually reading the nutritional labels) and realized that's because these cereals don't have any substance! They are very low in dietary fiber and protein. By contrast, Kashi Go-Lean Crunch is a lot more caloric per serving (190 cal. per cup vs. Multigrain Cheerios 110 cal. per cup); however, those calories have great nutritional substance - the Kashi has 9g protein and 8g fiber per cup, while the Cheerios have only 2g protein and 3g fiber. No wonder I was hungry!

The same is true of snacking - a lot of 100-calorie packs are great for portion control, and they are a good size for a snack, calorie-wise, but they aren't going to keep you full! A quarter cup of almonds or candy-free trail mix, on the other hand, while higher in calories, will keep you full for much longer due to the protein and fiber, and doesn't contain as much sugar.

Finally, let's face it. Most of us have a sweet tooth or some other food craving that maybe we wished we didn't. But indulging intelligently is better than trying to deny yourself and then binging later - which will happen. So, if you can find a way of pairing your craving with a side of protein or fiber (and exercising portion control), there is no reason that the foods you love most can't be part of healthy, balanced diet. So, if you have a sweet tooth, like I do, a handful of peanut M&Ms, or a tablespoon of Nutella on a multigrain bread might be just chocolatey-proteiny compromise you're looking for to get you through your day.

Read the original Slate article here: Go Ahead, Eat Chocolate for Breakfast by Nadia Arumugam