For a long time we have been told that we should be eating a low fat, healthy carb (whole grain) diet. But what if the carbs we are eating are killing us. Even the healthy carbs labeled as whole grain. In a book I have read "Grain Brain" by Dr. David Perlmutter, he claims that we are poisoning our brain by eating carbohydrates. He claims that carbs cause dementia, AHDH, headaches and other brain disorders. What if we all stopped believing that fat was bad and instead followed a high fat, low carb diet. Could we cure migraines, ADHD and dementia?
For years I thought eating fat was bad. And counting points make oil out to be "bad" to eat; a tbsp of olive oil and coconut oil has 3 points. And coconut oil has a lot of saturated fat which we have come to believe can lead to cardiovascular disease. But what if this wasn't true and eating saturated fats and more oils could help us overcome a lot of disorders that we all face everyday or could face in the future.
Dr. David Perlmutter says that we have all been influenced by scientific studies and advertising to eat a certain way. He claims that the pharma companies have a hand in medications meant to cure specific diseases so they promote specific dietary lifestyles in order to boost diagnoses. However, if we changed the way we think about fat and food, we could get rid of medications and use food as medicine. A low carb diet would having the amount of carbs in one serving a fruit per day. Personally, this is extremely difficult because I eat at least one serving of fruit with each meal. Because fruit is 0 points on weight watchers, I see it as a healthy snack to keep me full in between meals. Another statement Dr. Perlmutter states that we should all be gluten free. Gluten, a protein, causes inflammation in our bodies - inflammation of blood vessels leads to migraines, muscle aches, stomach discomfort and many other ailments. Healthy grains such as oats, barley, quinoa, rye are all grains that could be causing us personal discomfort. If we see food as comforting, we should be providing our bodies with the best comfort we can. Food is medicine - it should help us get through the day and not put us in pain. He states that we need to eat healthy fats like oil, nuts, avocados because saturated fat feeds the brain and one Mayo clinic study showed a reduction of dementia in those who hate a diet including saturated fat.
Since reading this book, Ryan and I have both focused on being gluten free. We are combining paleo and gluten-free diets to work for us. If we can't make this a lifestyle, then it becomes a diet and every diet fails. We need to work to make this a way of living so that we can live the best life for us.
My favorite snack high in fat is avocado on toast (gluten free of course). Although this could be considered a high carb snack and high fat, it works for me and it is something I enjoy eating. I want to love food and not see it as something to be dreaded. I don't want to fear going over WW points daily or fear I might gain weight if I eat too much "fattening foods." But my way of thinking has to changing because avocados and oil and nuts are not "fattening foods," they are just foods containing fat. Fattening foods are the junk - the sugar, the high carbohydrates.
In the past 2 weeks that I have been completely glute-free I have felt so much better. I have a lot more energy, I am less bloated, my clothes are fitting better and my skin is clearing up. I don't want people to assume I am gluten free because I want to lose weight. Weight isn't my concern. The "I look like I am 3 months pregnant," is not a fun way to feel every day. My clothes are tight when I eat gluten and carbs and since eating more vegetables, protein and cutting gluten, I have noticed a difference in my stomach. It seems flatter and less tight. My skin doesn't feel stretched or pulled in the wrong direction and pants that I can barely button on my "fat days" have fit every day no matter what I have eaten or how little I have worked out. I hope to post a before and after photo after I finish the Advocare 10-Day Herbal Cleanse. Although I don't think the cleanse has helped me lose weight, it has kept me on track to eating clean, gluten free and less processed foods.
I got home at 2:30am yesterday (this morning) from Long Island, so I decided it was better for me to sleep in a bit versus waking up early to go to Bar Method. Sometime sleep is better for my body and mind than exercise. I slept in until 9am which is very late for me!! Ryan and I made breakfast together and watched Weeds all morning.
Ryan's breakfast was a carrot, apple, orange and beet juice (I am so proud of him for drinking fresh citrus juice versus the sugary Tropicana OJ he usually has every morning) and bacon with scrambled eggs. I was out of oats so instead of my favorite egg white and oatmeal pancake I made an egg and an egg white in a pepper with bacon and Udi's gluten free Chia seed toast with chocolate powdered peanut butter (can you see the trend that I am a chocolate addict!)
The eggs were really easy to make.
Eggs in a Pepper
*Cut a pepper into rings
*Spray pan with olive oil (I used coconut oil for a bit more flavor)
*Cook the peppers 1 minute on each side or until they soften
*Crack an egg into the egg (make sure the pan is hot enough so the egg white stays inside of the pepper ring)
*Season with salt and pepper
*Flip carefully and cook to desired length
I did one egg and one egg white to keep my points lower this morning (Pepper with Egg: 2 points, Pepper with Egg White: 0 points)
I had one slice of bacon (1 point), a slice of Udi's bread (2 points), topped with 2 tsp of powdered chocolate peanut butter (0 points) and an orange.
After breakfast and another lazy morning on the couch, we ventured into the cold to go to Trader Joe's for a weekly grocery trip. I hate NYC after it snows. The streets are already slushy, the snow has melted and there are mounds of snow/ice on the sides of the street so there is very little space on the sidewalk. Everyone is slipping and sliding everywhere and there are puddles on every corner. As pretty as the snow is, it is a slushy mess in the city.
We made it a point to only shop the perimeter at TJ's (we don't have an oven so most of the frozen products we couldn't purchase anyway). We bought a lot of vegetables for salads (spinach, kale, arugula, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, peppers), vegetables to snack on (green beans, baby carrots), and vegetables for entrees (zucchini). We bought chicken breasts so that I can make chicken piccata for dinner tomorrow night using almond meal instead of flower and we bought applegate turkey for sandwiches. We got an antioxidant trek mix with almonds, cashews and cranberries that we love to throw in a bowl of popcorn for dessert. The saltiness of the buttery tastes so good with the sweetness of the nuts and fruit. Of course I like to add a little chocolate if we can. Tonight we have chocolate covered pomegranates!
I also bought something new; roasted coconut chips. Because we are trying to incorporate more healthy fat into our diet, I thought these would be something fun to try. I looked them up on Fooducate which is a great app that rates food items and I purchased the add-on that lets me know if they contain gluten. Unfortunately, the coconut chips got a D rating but after reading why, it is because they contain saturated fat! Now, after everything I read in Grain Brain, I know that this grade is not something that will make me put the product back on the shelf. It is important to read the nutrition label and understand the ingredients as they relate to your lifestyle and what you want to get out of the food you eat. Because I want a higher fat, lower carb diet, the D rating for containing saturated fat was something I ignored. And I am glad I did - the coconut chips were delicious. The perfect amount of sweetness that could almost make me not eat chocolate for dessert one night (almost). The bag is 2 oz and 1 serving size is half the bag (4 points).
For lunch, I made a "lunchable" with baby carrots (0 points), 18 back to nature white cheddar gluten free crackers (3 points), Galaxy Go Veggie Cheddar slice (1 points), 2 oz. applegate turkey (1 point and a power food) and 7g of coconut chips (1 point). It was the perfect lunch to eat while we relaxed on the couch and watched more episodes of Weeds.
I am starting to see a pattern with how this New Year is going - a lot of good eating, relaxing, little activity, very few Bar classes - I'm not sure I am that big of a fan. I would like to have more activity and more bar classes to go with my good eating habits but this cold weather makes it really difficult to feel motivated. I am not getting down on myself because it is only the first week of the year and it is good to give my body a break from my usual routine. Hopefully the weather will warm up and I will want to go for a walk after dinner or even after lunch to get up and away from my desk! Tomorrow morning I am definitely going to the 8:30am Bar class with Anna!!
Ryan is a little antsy today - I think the week and half off of work for the holidays and snow storm and being stuck in our small apartment with each other is starting to get to us. There's not much room in our apartment to get our own space. He is very excited for the football game (yup, that's right, football on Saturday and Sunday for the NFL playoffs)!
I guess I will start cooking dinner soon to keep myself busy and active! I am making lemon pepper grilled swordfish steaks cooked in coconut oil!!! Can't wait to share the recipe and photos
