Clean Eating

I read Oxygen magazine from time to time to get workout tips. The magazine has some good nutrition tips as well. They often make reference to a way of eating called "Clean Eating". I did some quick research on it a while back and I decided it would be too challenging for me. It requires the removal of all processed foods (refined sugars, saturated/trans fats, overly processed foods) from your diet. It sounded like a good idea but I did not think it was realistic for me. So I would just ignore the clean eating tips in the mag.

I came across Clean Eating Magazine while getting my hair done this past weekend and after reading it carefully I realized that Clean Eating may not be so diffcult after all. You swap out refined flour and sugar for whole grains and natural sweetners (honey, agave nectar). It appears there are ways to get around eating processed foods and still enjoying your food. Clean Eating mag offers great tips and several meal plans for eating clean.

Clean Eating has tons of health benefits because you remove the bad fats, sugars, and additives from your diets. I am still doing my research and figuring out how I can move to a Clean Eating lifestyle. I will keep you all posted as I move to clean eating.

Eating Clean Resources:

Eat Clean Mag

Eat Clean Blogs

Eat Clean Book

Comment!!

Have you heard of Clean Eating??

Are you a Clean Eater?

Read and Re-read Your Food Labels!

So I consider myself to be pretty health conscious. I look at food labels to make sure there is not an excessive amounts of salt or fat and that their is some nutritional value in the product. I'm always looking out for healthy snacks. I thought Triscuits fell into the (relatively) healthy snack category. The original brand has few ingredients wheat , salt, and oil. I decided to try some of other other varieties (Garlic and Rosemary & Olive Oil) for a little more flavor. Today I randomly decided to look at the ingredients again and notice that these versions have mono sodium glutamate aka MSG. In parentheses they refer to it as a flavor enhancer. I know there has been some controversy on the effects of MSG but according to the Mayo Clinic it has neurotoxic effects. MSG is an unnecessary food additive. Especially considering that Whole Foods offers a generic brand (365 brand) that taste just as good minus the MSG and hydrogenated oil. Also, I picked up a box of the Woven wheat brand today it was around $2.

Anyway, this is a lesson learned for me. So ladies, please take the time to read your nutrition labels. Pay particular attention to the fat, sodium, fiber, protein, and the Ingredients!

For those of you that have made read labels a habit, here are some tips on reading food labels:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/UCM078889.htm

Do you pay attention to food labels?

How do you avoid food additives like MSG?

You Are What You Drink

I have always known that soft drinks and sweetened juices are really high in calories. But I was shocked to learn that for most Americans almost a quarter of their daily calories come from these high calorie drinks. As I get more consicous about my eating habits I am also going to try and count down on all the sugary drinks. I'm going to try and substitute the sugary drinks with Crystal Light or Minute Maid Light Lemonade (it doesn't taste too bad).

Breaking the habit of drinking kool aid, soft drinks, lemonade, etc. is a hard habit to break because most people in our communities grow up drinking this stuff. It's cheaper than 100% Juice and it tastes great. I admit is difficult for me, I crave fruity drinks from time to time sometimes water just doesn't cut it. But decreasing my caloric intake by 21% is definitely worth switching lemonade for lemonade light. It is clear that sweetened fruit drinks and soda are causing problems in the African American Community. Several studies have found that Soft drinks are linked to increased risk for Diabetes in African America Women.

In a study at Boston Univerisity they found that Women who consumed two or more soft drinks a day had a 24 percent increase in incidence of relative to women who drank less than one soft drink per month. A similar association was observed for sweetened fruit drinks, with a 31 percent increase observed for two or more servings per day relative to less than one per month.


If you haven't already starting adding more water and cutting the soft drinks these articles should convince you!

Study Links Soft Drinks and Fruit Drinks with Risk of Diabetes in African American Women


You Are Also What You Drink

No Excuses: Addressing the Barriers of Health in the Black Community

I was on the phone with of one my girlfriends and she randomly mentions that she could not understand why black women that are severely overweight don't do whatever it takes and just lose the weight, "If you have legs, you can walk!"

She believes that there really is No Excuse for women to be overweight. At first I kind of agreed with her but after really thinking about the issue I realized that we are speaking from a privileged point of view. We are not privileged in the sense that we grew up with silver spoons in our mouth (trust me that is not the case) but privileged in the sense that we are both college educated, have good jobs (well she does, i'm in grad school), access to a gym, access to fresh fruit and veggies, and we don't have to really take care of anyone but our selves.

So after thinking about this for a while I wondered if I would be working out 5-6 times a week and eating healthy if:

*I lived in a housing project or bad neighborhood with no safe place to run or walk

*I was living off assistance from the government and had to worry about feeding two children in addition to myself

*I had to work two jobs to feed my family (how would i find time to work out?)


These obstacles would be in addition to the obstacles that most black women already face; the hair issue, not knowing what to do in the gym, lack of resources about black women and health, recognizing that being FIT is a lifelong commitment.

It would be incredibly difficult to endure those challenges and maintain the workout regimen that I have now. I realized how blessed that I am to have a gym in my building, a beautiful lake path to run on, money to buy nutritious food, etc. It saddens me that it took me so long to take advantage of my blessings. There are women out there that would probably love the opportunities that I wasted for so long.



I recognize now that its not that easy for some Black women to lose weight. I'm sure there are ton of more obstacles that women face that I did not think of. I plan to create a post in the future that includes suggestions on overcoming these obstacles.

Please let me know your thoughts? What do you think Black women can do to overcome these obstacles?
Are you taking advantage of all of your opportunties?

Eat This, Not That: Avoiding Hidden Calories in Fast Food

Eat This
Panera Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad 560 calories , 34 g fat

Not That
Chili’s Chicken Caesar Salad, 1,010 calories, 76 g fat

Drink This
Cosmo 150 calories, 18 g sugars

Not That
Margarita,700 calories, 50 g sugars

I try not to get too obsessed with calorie counting and just keep my focus on eating healthier.
I have found that choosing a salad over a sandwich is not always the best idea. Especially if you are at Chili's and your salad has 1,000+ calories! I still can not understand why anyone would make a salad that has 1,000 calories, it completely defeats the purpose. Luckily I came across the "Eat this, Not That" website so hopefully I won't get tricked into eating such an unhealthy salad again.

I haven't found that counting calories works for me (just too hard to keep up with). I do find it helpful to use this website when it comes to Fast Food and dining out. Clearly, sometimes things are not what they appear. Check out the website to see other food swaps. If you find this information helpful there is a book you can buy, or you can you just the website for free like me!

http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/15-Top-Swaps/

NYC officials also see the benefit in providing information caloric information to consumers.
They recently passed a law that requires Fast Food restaurants to post the calories right next to the prices. After my experience at Chili's I think it is a really good idea. Knowing the calories could help people make healthier choices.

check it out:
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1208342630624



Share your thoughts!

Healthy Soul Food???? Yes, it exists!!

Luckily for us women that sometimes crave a good soul food meal, there are healthy ways to prepare these items so that you do not sacrifice all those days in the gym.

Also, if you are familiar with Sylvia's restaurant in NYC you may be happy to know that she is creating healthier options. Some of her recipes are below.

I am collecting links to healthy soul food recipes and restaurants. So share your recipes and experiences!

I have not tried any of the recipes as of yet but I will let you know how it goes.

FRIED CHICKEN RECIPE
http://www.ehow.com/how_2001439_make-healthy-soul-food.html

SYLVIA'S RECIPES
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Atio/story?id=1460653
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Atio/story?id=1460633
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Atio/story?id=1460625

Restaurants

Sheena's Healthy Soul Food

108 Madison St.

Oak Park, IL 60302

708-386-0502

Healthy Soul Cafe & Deli

(702) 310-2233

1830 N Martin L King Boulevard Las Vegas, NV 89106

Soul Vegetarian East

205 E. 75TH st. Chicago
Tel: (773) 224-0104

Vegan Village Internet Cafe

4061 West Pico Blvd @ Norton
2 Blocks East of Crenshaw
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Phone:(323) 766-9773 (Phone Order Accepted)

Ms. B's M&M Soul Food Restaurant
3300 W. Manchester Boulevard - Inglewood, CA 90305
Phone: 310.673.5031 Fax: 310.673.5036