New years resolutions

So, now that it is the New Year (and new decade!), I have decided to formally declare my resolutions.

1. Eat more at home

Yes, I am a chef and I know how to cook. However, I am also a graduate student and a professor, which doesn’t often leave me with enough time for myself. When I do cook, I’m usually experimenting for a client or a new dish/recipe that I haven’t made before or want to make in a new way. But I am going to commit to cooking at least three times a week, just for me. Maybe some of you lucky new york area friends might pop by and share with me.

2. Eat less dairy

I have many theories on dairy. After reading the China Study, one man’s account of how dairy is linked to many different forms of cancer, I swore off all non-organic dairy and all low fat/non-fat dairy. For a while I even draw raw cow and goat’s milk I ordered through a buying club. Those were the days. I never got sick, but I always had to buy in bulk – 1 pound container of raw butter that lasted for two weeks (and cost $11), 1/2 gallon of milk  which went bad in one week (and I could only drink half of myself), etc. So, since most of what I can get commercially that might be grass fed and minimally processed is still pasteurized and that kills off the lactase. What I can do is have more goat milk, but I am going to try to just have less altogether. Milk after all is baby food. Even though I adore cheese, I am going to try and go without and not load up on the substitutes – soy and soy products which can be very processed themselves.

3. Eat more fish

Seems simple enough

4. Get my finances under control

I just watched one of my favorite movies: Confessions of a Shopaholic. And while, Rebecca Bloomwood is far more of a fashionista than I, I have been guilty of some rather expensive hobbies over the past few years: triathlons, sailing, equestrian, adventure travel…so I’m working on staycation and getting my spending under control as well as settling some debts. Responsibility, its a wonderful thing.

5. Create more me time

Hard to do, but necessary. I am going to run more, take more walks (even in 27 degree weather – when its 10 below, I’m staying indoors), go ice-skating (I’ve even got skates!) and more things I enjoy for me…

So, to begin the year off right, I made myself some wonderful wild flounder tonight and it cost me all of $9.

1 5 ounce Flounder filet

3 tbsp organic lemon juice (not from concentrate – this is essential!) – or squeeze your own damn lemons!

tarragon – a few shakes

pepper – a few grinds

1 tsp soy sauce

3-4 florets brocolli

2-3 leaves of kale or a handful of spinach

Place fish in a piece of parchment paper

put vegetables on top of fish

put liquid on top of vegetables

seal parchment into a packet. Wrap in aluminum foil.

Place on baking sheet in 350 preheated oven for 15 minutes exactly.

Serve immediately!

Delish!

As well, I created a recipe for a non-dairy lemon cheesecake. This one was an amalgamation of many recipes I saw online as well as the one on the package of the organic naturally sweetened (only 7 grams of unrefined sugar per slice) graham cracker crust I bought. I was so happy to find a crust that didn’t have high fructose corn syrup and trans fats in it (a few years back this would have been unheard of – but thank you arrowhead mills!). I also had a wonderful slice last week at my favorite macrobiotic restaurant on the east side of Manhattan Good Health Natural (East 75th and 1st avenue) which they said was only sweetened with agave. It was to die for.

So here’s the recipe:

1 8 ounce container of better than cream cheese (tofutti brand)

2 eggs (I never said it was vegan)

5-6 ounces of goat cheese (I had some in the fridge – its just got no cow’s dairy – but you could just use another Tofutti one)

1/2 cup of agave (I actually used less – and I also added some honey- I’d say together it came to about 1/2 cup. So many of the recipes called for 1 1/2 cups of sugar – it seemed outrageous…

Put everything in the blender in order. Blend and pour into crust. Bake at 350 for 28 minutes. Refrigerate 6 hours.

I’ll let you know in three hours how it turned out! If you want to make the cake gluten free try making a crust from ground almonds and butter (about 3/4 cup of almonds and 2 tbsp melted butter – press into the bottom of a springform pan – bake 12 minutes).

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, somehow it got to be November and the middle of November at that. I am three quarters of the way through my third semester of my second masters (and hopefully the start of my PhD!) and I have a few new cooking clients. I feel blessed, challenged and that everything in my life is coming together. It has been a ton of work, but I’m finally starting to see the blossoms of all the bulbs I planted long ago.

Where are you in your life?

Every year when thanksgiving comes around, I get a ton of questions, concerns, anxiety, tears and rants from my clients and my community. People ask me what should I make? How do I change this recipe to make it healthier? How do I avoid this person at the holiday table? How do I get through dinner sober? Yes, I am sure that many of us have these same concerns.

Being a foodie, chef and nutritionist, I will answer the food questions first, because they are my favorites! The best way to enjoy Thankgiving is to not go into dinner hungry! Eat breakfast. Be it, two eggs soft boiled with a slice of whole grain toast, steelcut oatmeal with berries, a berry/greens smoothie and sprouts (what I had this morning, but I know, not for all of you!) or something a bit more decadent? A muffin and coffee, your favorite cereal and milk with coffee…just have breakfast, whatever it is. If you can make a healthier choice, its better, but no breakfast is better than none at all. Same goes for lunch. Usually Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t start until 4pm, many of us don’t sit down at the table until after 6pm. That’s a long day to not eat. Eat lunch. You don’t have to have a large lunch, but have something simple: a salad, a piece of quiche, a hard boiled egg if you didn’t have one for breakfast, salmon, gefilte fish (I’m Jewish, its my go to snack or lunch on a day when I know I am having a big meal – might not be yours – but seriously its pretty good – 5 grams of fat, a little carb from the matzo meal, lots of protein – perfectly balanced – and have with a bit of green salad and lemon and you are good to go) or something like that. Again, lunch is better than no lunch and a healthier choice is better than an unhealthy one…but whatever you do…eat breakfast and lunch.

Now we get to dinner, if you are cooking – use butter, just use 1/4 of what the recipe calls for. Use sugar, but use 1/2 of what the recipe calls for or do what I do – use agave nectar, brown rice syrup or another natural sweetener. This whole year I have been learning about Splenda. So far what I have learned is there is no evidence that Splenda causes cancer, birth defects, neurotoxicity etc…but the reason there is no evidence is that there have been no studies! Splenda has simply not been on the market long enough. So as a good scientist I cannot advise against Splenda, as a concientious and cautious skeptic, I’m not advising or myself using a lot of splenda. Like with everything, use a little.

I saw fresh cranberries at the farmers market this weekend. Try using them in your cranberry sauce or try using unsweetened canned cranberries and sweeten them yourself using 1/2 the amount of sugar the recipe calls for or use honey, agave or brown rice syrup in 1/2 the amount. I use whole grain pie crusts in my sweet potato pie or I forgo the pie crust altogether…especially if I know I want one slice of pie for dessert.

The best way to make turkey is to brine it. There are many recipes out there. But this one is a favorite of mine. I might go with slightly less salt and ignore what they say about kosher salt (don’t use more). I’d say 1/4 cup heaving is enough salt. I’d use a fleur del sel or a celtic sea salt (or a natural sea salt gathered from maine or anywhere else in the northeast if you are in the northeast or somewhere local to you if there’s oceans nearby!) Any healthfood store or whole foods will carry it. Many farmers markets sell local sea salt too. Bake that Turkey in a bag with some vegetables (carrots, onions, apples, oranges) at 500 degrees F (260 C – Thanks Eitan!) for about 2 hours or until a meat thermometer in the thigh reads 170 degrees F (sorry celsius folks – but the formula is Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32)).

As for side dishes, let’s have some green vegetables! and lots of them, because our plates should be 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 starch and 1/4 protein. And eat enough to fill one plate. The best thing I do at Thanksgiving is fill my plate only halfway so I can go back for seconds! I try a bit of this and a bit of that – keeping to the proportions above. I make the vegetables at my Thanksgiving feast – so I know what’s in them and I know there’s something for me to feast on and then I can try the other things. I suggest you do this too. Also if you are asked to bring an appetizer – bring a tasty tray of vegetables with a homeade dip. Here’s a great recipe for a homemade tahini based tip that is delicious and not super high fat or high calorie!

As for dessert, don’t skip it! Just don’t eat dessert Today, Tuesday or tomorrow, Wednesday and certainly not on Friday. Feel free to have dessert again on Saturday!!!! On Thursday, have 3 small slices or portions of dessert that would equate to one full slice. Imagine that dessert will be 500 calories and that you have that budget. Dinner is about 750 and you had about 750 calories between breakfast and lunch. If you want to proportion it differently do so, but still aim for about 2000 for the day. Get up, move around, help in the kitchen, enjoy Cousin Susie’s new baby and have an amazing time! Just remember Thanksgiving is about family, friends, love and joy! Food is secondary, but you should feel free to celebrate as well! Just don’t overdo it. Also, get a walk in there, either before or after dinner! With the wonderful mild weather we’ve been having, I’d plan a long one either before or after dinner – especially if there’s family you haven’t seen in a while, its a great way to catch up! Wishing you a wonderful holiday! Thanks for reading.

polycystic ovarian syndrome and the importance of a low glycemic diet

Ever since I was 16 (or probably younger), I have suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome. Four years ago I began a dramatic personal shift toward a lifetime of wellness and weight loss and I personally waged the battle against my polycystic ovarian syndrome, beating it into submission.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome isn’t a disease….its supposedly a variation on normal…but essentially you don’t really ovulate, which to me doesn’t quite seem normal. The theory is, a woman has a whole bunch of precursors to eggs that are called “follicles” at the time just before ovulation – one of them is supposed to burst out of the ovary and get released  into the fallopian tube  (ovulation) – but hormonally in the case of PCOS there’s an imbalance and actual ovulation never happens – so your ovaries have a bunch of little immature follicles that form little cysts in the ovary.  The hormonal imbalance leads to other unsightly issues like excessive facial hair, excess body weight (and it is difficult to lose weight), in some insulin resistance and acne. You can see the little ovarian “cysts”  on an ultrasound. Its not harmful, so therefore it is usually treated with birth control – it just causes some discomfort – and you don’t ovulate – so when you want to have a baby they give you some drugs and you usually have twins or triplets…good thing for me – I’ll get it all over with at once. It sounds a bit flippant I know…because its something that bugs me for the most part the medical profession doesn’t want to address the dietary component of PCOS. I have personally and as a registered dietitian I am not allowed to speak from personal experience, but as a health coach and ordinary citizen, I can.  And I will share it here on this blog, which is more personal than professional in nature even though most of you reading will associate this with me professional and that’s ok! With proper diet PCOS  and some supplements like fish oil and maca (although diet alone will do it too) can be at bay, controlled and even in remission…but one has to be strict, relentless even…and its difficult.

Since 2005, I kept things really well controlled with diet. I followed Nancy Dunne, ND’s suggestions in her book: The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS. The amount of carbohydrates she suggests one limit herself to is a bit unnerving and I tried it for a while. Its difficult to stick to and I cheat every so often and then go back.  However, over the past year between the stress of the economy, changes in my practice, changes in lifestyle relating to new relationships I was engaged in,  the taking of a new full time position and starting graduate school yet again, many of my symptoms have reappeared: periods every two weeks, unbearable cramps,  unbearable sugar and carbohydrate cravings, the feeling that I can never be full…its kind of crazy what a few hormones can do, but they are very powerful.

I have been learning recently through my graduate work how obesity contributes to changes in hormone levels and just how important it is for me to keep my weight down , not just for cosmetic and overall health reasons, but in order to keep my hormone levels in check.  My PCOS will always be there, but 15 extra pounds and its really spiraling out of control, seriously from only 15 extra pounds…Those have got to come off! Because I seriously don’t want to go back on birth control, which feels like my only option to regulate the symptoms and of course the advice of my doctor.

Since I was 16, I was on birth control pills. They regulated my cycle like clockwork, near the third week of the month on a Wednesday, I’d stain for 2-3 days…for a number of years. I knew exactly when I’d get my period. I never really had a need for tampons, since I’d just stain for a few days. It all kind of worked itself out. I was never huge into exercise, I was always a bit chubby. In 2005 I made a huge change. I started rowing. I started dropping weight in droves. I didn’t even try. I had to change my diet in order to accommodate three practices a week, sometimes four and the bike rides to the boathouse through the Boston streets. I tried rowing in New York, it wasn’t the same. I did triathlons here to make up for the lack of rowing.

I found that low glycemic whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables and fruit smoothies with seeds were a diet that made the most sense for me. Every so often I’d have some grass fed beef along with more dark green leafy vegetables. I rarely touched anything resembling sugar or white flour, but I ate gluten free whole grains: quinoa, buckwheat, spelt. I actually felt these grains break down slowly in my body. I never experienced shifts in my energy level and I was not hungry. I didn’t want cookies or energy bars or the other things I want daily at 3pm.  I felt golden and I went off birth control. For nearly three years I had perfect periods. 5-7 days, as regular as clockwork, minimal cramping. Everything seemed to go according to plan. Then 2008 hit. I lost clients. I lost referral streams. I lost corporate gigs and all my efforts seemed to be going nowhere. I was forced to move out of my apartment and take a good long hard look at my future. I enrolled in three graduate courses toward getting a research based degree in nutrition so I could teach at a university, take insurance and always have a “job” to fall back on in nutrition as opposed to the risks associated with running a business, although I’d always pursue that on the side. I started cooking privately and focusing on that more than coaching since it paid more.  I fell in love with that aspect of things and built a robust business model for that business. I’m still learning – but I think its coming together well.

However, I gained weight and my periods are all out of whack. I blame three things I brought back into my diet: 1) dairy 2) sugar and some non-whole grains and 3) caffeine…all three addictive substances…all three cause more stress instead of less and all three things I consume now on a regular basis. Dairy is easy to give up…for the most part, except in the form of butter it makes me sick to consume it anyway…except from goats, and its very expensive, so easy to reduce consumption. Caffeine, is a bit harder – but if I bike to work in the AMs and I have herbal tea, I can easily go without. Sugar is the hardest!  I’m working on giving up sugar – but its everywhere. Requires so much label reading…also I need time to make my own meals again…bring things to work…really consume things only made in my own kitchen and resist that chai in the AM or that cookie or granola bar in the PM…having fruit on hand…even dried fruit, nuts, apples, dark green leafy vegetables and grains as a snack…just breaking up my meals into fives or sixes as opposed to threes. Back to smoothies for breakfast, back to waking up an hour earlier and doing yoga or going for a run. Also I am eating more meat than I have eaten in a while…I’m experimenting more with plant based protein, that kind of diet seems to work for me given some red meat – but very little chicken or turkey…two things that are deadly for me energetically.

I’m supposed to do the marathon in less than two months. I’ve not been running and I am in the worst shape of my new life, despite some pretty amazing thigh and calve muscles from all the biking and running I have been doing lately – even though I’m not in my prime. I’m wondering if I should just shoot to speedwalk the whole thing just for the experience and plan to finish in 6 hours…perhaps I’ll just run every three miles and wakl a mile or something like that…and train for 2011 (I am too late for 2010 unless I do the lottery!)…there’s just so much you can do in life. I really wonder how people make room for it all…I really applaud mothers for how they do.  I don’t want to drop out despite my mother’s prodding and everyone else I know telling me I’m doing too much. I think I’m personally happiest when doing a million things…it actually gets me focused. My brain sort of works at ludicrous speed…for any of you spaceballs fans out there…I hope all of you find something that makes you feel alive as much as running does for me and allows you to focus in on all the other things and get them done…and sleep too!

Notes from the healthy snob…

So two snobby snob observations for this evening.  On my way home from taping life coaches tv (go to www.mnn.org and check it out. I was on tonight at 8pm) I saw a “smart” car…one of those electric golf cart like vehicles that is hardly a car. This smart car really was smart because it went to princeton. It had a princeton sticker in the rear window. I wondered if someone was just trying to be cute or really did go to Princeton. Nevertheless, it made me giggle on the way home.

On the train, I was reading in Harvard magazine (I know, snobby snob, I warned you) about Diabetes and all the facts I needed to back up the television appearance I just made. The summary of the article basically goes like this: While there is a genetic component to diabetes, the vast changes in our diets and the rate at which the disease has grown says that there is something far greater than changes in our DNA. Well said, Mr. Harvard Researcher. I’m so glad I went there and that they are finally catching up with things I’ve known all along. But, yay Harvard. They also had wonderful pictures of mice who had low levels of leptin due to genetic mutations. Just like when we eat too much sugar we become insulin resistant, we make insulin, but our cells can’t use it. Too much sugar and too much fat in our bodies can cause us to become leptin resistant, same thing, we produce too much leptin, as opposed to not enough and we grow fatter.

So just some interesting observations…and marvelous photos of really fat mice. http://harvardmagazine.com/web/extras/diabetes-a-looming-epidemic – doesn’t show the mice pictures though, I think those are only available in the magazine probably for another month until the new issue comes out.