I don't understand why I am gaining weight
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Last month I wrote an article on emotional eating - one of the opening paragraphs stated the following:
The term emotional eating refers to a pattern of eating, especially calorie-dense, nutrient- poor foods, in order to soothe or comfort ourselves, rather than to satisfy physical hunger. Quite often emotional eating can lead to a 'disconnect' between our body and our mind. Some emotional eaters have little awareness of how much they are eating when they are in a state like this.
For this month I worked on a list of all the ways you gain weight "without eating". While we need to work on the underlying cause of emotional eating it can also be helpful to eliminate the ways we trick ourselves.
Here are my TOP 12 ways to "NOT EAT":
- "re-arranging" broken cookies
- edging a cake
- cleaning off the kids plates
- eating more when someone else is paying
- eating more when ordering a diet soda
- eating when cooking
- eating when driving the car
- eating food we don't like
- eating for medicinal purposes
- eating before exercise
- eating after exercise
- eating out of containers
We all need to look honestly at how we use food and how much of it we actually eat. If you really want to make peace with food, for two weeks or more write down everything you eat, where you ate it and how you were feeling at that time. This exercise will break through denial - you will get to the bottom of the top 12 list above or your own personal ways of "NOT EATING".
Health Tip: Instead of eating 13 pieces of broken cookies eat a whole one and SAVOR it.
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Food Focus: Beets
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nutritionally speaking, beets are exceptional sources of
essential vitamins and minerals. They are rich in calcium,
iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin,
vitamin A and vitamin K. Beets store most of these nutrients in their leaves
- which beet-eaters sometimes neglect.
The pigment that gives beets their rich, purple-crimson color-betacyanin-is
also a powerful cancer-fighting agent. Beets' potential effectiveness
against colon cancer, in particular, has been demonstrated in several
studies.
Beets are also particularly rich in the B vitamin folate, which is essential for normal tissue growth. Eating folate-rich foods is especially important during pregnancy since without adequate folate, the infant's spinal column does not develop properly, a condition called neural tube defect. The daily requirement for folate is 400 micrograms. Just one cup of boiled, sliced beets contains 136 micrograms of folate.
And since we still enjoy this spring season let's not forget that beets are a wonderful natural liver and blood cleanser and detoxifier.
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Recipes of the Month:
Beet Salad with Red Onions, Apples and Walnuts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - 2 large beets, scrubbed and grated
- 1 firm apple (Granny Smith or Gala), peeled, grated
- 1/4 small red onion, minced
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
- Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
- Crumbled goat cheese, blue cheese or feta, optional
Toss the beets, apple, onion, walnuts, oil and vinegar together in a large mixing bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, add crumbled cheese.
Makes 4 servings
Beet Greens
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- Beet Greens - washed and reserved
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic - crushed
- 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced (optional)
- sea salt (optional)
- fresh-ground black pepper
- fresh ginger (optional)
- soy sauce (optional)
Chop the beet greens. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion. Once the onions have begun to caramelize, stir in the beet greens and cook until they wilt. Optional - add soy sauce and fresh ginger as a final step. Sautee 2 more minutes. Season with sea salt and pepper before serving.
Beet Salad with Red Onions, Apples and Walnuts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Beets - washed and scrubbed
- Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Coat one side of a large piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Place beets and olive oil on foil; season with salt and pepper. Wrap foil over beets.
Place packet on the grill grate. Cook 30 minutes, or until beets are very tender. Allow beets to cool about 5 minutes before serving. You don't even need to peel to enjoy!
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