Tag Archives: diet

A peek into my fridge and Weekly Meal Plan / Week of April 15

Posted on April 15, 2013 | 1 Comment

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The past couple of weeks have been quite hectic around here and you’ve probably noticed that my meal plans were based around items from my freezer and pantry. Well, guess what? I emptied both and since I’m replenishing my reserves, I said why not share the before and after look.

food prep

Roasted butternut squash, dressings, baked oatmeal, pineapple, beets, melon, broccoli, aliyyeh (meat mixture), carrots.

So here’s what I had prepped this week:

  • Boiled beets and sliced them.
  • Prepared baked oatmeal with berries and bananas for a sweet morning breakfast. Last week it was with apples and a slightly different recipe and I liked it better.
  • Soaked and boiled chickpeas and black beans.
  • Washed fruits and vegetables. Cut carrots, melons and pineapple.
  • Prepared and portioned taqliyeh or aliyyeh (aliyyeh is a basis for many Lebanese meat dishes: it is onions, garlic, ground meat, allspice, salt, pine nuts and for me a drizzle of pomegranate molasses at the end). Doing this beforehand saves time and tears chopping the onions and sauteeing the whole thing. It takes less than fifteen minutes to prep but countless onion tears :P .
  • Roasted butternut squash ( a portion for my daughter and the rest to attempt the butternut squash brownies again).
  • Prepared two dressings: balsamic and lemon with herbs. The regulars with olive oil but I tend to use much less oil than what most recipes call for. I added a teaspoon of pesto this time to the balsamic and it turned out really good.

And here are my convenience buys:

  • Jarred pesto sauce, jarred organic tomato basil sauce without additives and sugar.
  • Frozen vegetables: peas, green beans
  • Frozen mixed berries ( for smoothies and baked oatmeal)
  • Crispbread and whole wheat pita for breakfast or dinner with cheese and vegetables
  • Canned tuna in water, canned foul moudammas (fava beans with garbanzo)

All of the above preparations and food items are not necessarily used during the same week, especially the frozen and canned items, but I feel safe knowing that I  have several alternatives.

The Before!

Aren't those cucumbers so sad looking?

How sad are those cucumbers?

And the After!

cheese compartment: halloumi, feta, sliced gruyer, sliced gouda, yogurt, grapes, melon, pineapple, squash, carrots, lettuce, oatmeal, beets, PB. broccoli, parsley, mint and arugula

cheese compartment: halloumi, feta, sliced gruyere, sliced gouda, olives,  sun-dried tomatoes, yogurt, grapes, melon, pineapple, squash, carrots, lettuce, oatmeal, beets, PB. broccoli, parsley, mint arugula, fruits and veggie drawer: eggplant, pepper, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini

My fridge door

mayo, natural PB, baby food, mustard, dark chocolate, couscous, dressings, low-fat milk, sauces, strawberry jam, pickled jalapeno, pine nuts, tomato sauce, pickled cucumbers, grape juices for cooking, fresh orange juice

There you go an inside look into my kitchen and my fridge. The fridge will be full in a few days with leftovers and baby food and won’t be this organized!

Whether you’re working or a stay-at home mom, a few hours of prep during the weekend can save you some precious time. Okay, so sometimes it’s a little bit more than a couple of hours especially if there is a lot to prepare or if your kid is starting to cruise around but it’s worth it.

So, here’s this week’s plan which I have linked to Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie.

Monday: Ina’s soup Provencal. I know it’s Spring and warm but we felt like saying our goodbyes to warm winter soups.

Tuesday: Nouilles (pronounced nouy – kind of pasta in French, basically in Lebanon it is fettucine with chicken and bechamel sauce. Some add mushrooms as well to it). I thicken my bechamel with corn flour or kudzu and not the  traditional butter and flour roux.

Wednesday: We’re getting a fresh fish and baking it whole in the oven. Typically, our crave for fish involves fattoush, french fries and tarator (a sauce typically served with fish and falafel, it’s made of sesame paste thinned with lemon juice and water). I’m doing all except the potatoes which I’m going to bake in a really hot oven till they get crispy. Not exactly like the fried version but in all honesty I like them better this way.

Thursday: Black bean veggie burgers. First time trying this recipe.

Friday: Lunch out

Saturday: Vegetarian lentil taco salad with tomatoes, olive, and avocado. This will also be a first-time recipe. I added this after the grocery shopping because my husband and I both got avocados. It happens when a certain someone (uh-oh, me ) crosses over their designated part of the supermarket. Usually, we stay together but my girl was a bit tired so we had to split the list to make the trip even faster.

Sunday:  A small version of the Lebanese mezze: tabbouleh, balila, and baba ghannouj served with pita bread, mint and onions.

I’m not feeling so creative with the salads this week, so I’ve prepped all my greens and dressings. After each day’s workout, all I have to do is mix and match, add a protein (canned tuna in water, grilled halloumi cheese, feta, …) and choose between balsamic or lemon dressing. Then if I feel like it, add avocados, couscous or nuts. I know they have no relation whatsoever; they’re not even in the same food group, but these are my latest regular add-ins!

Do you prep your foods during the weekend? What are the foods that you usually make ? If not, how do you manage your cooking during the week?

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Sunday Roundup – March 24

Posted on March 24, 2013 | 2 Comments

Good evening friends!

Happy Palm Sunday to everyone celebrating today! Hope you had a blessed day.

Here are the top stories that made it to this Sunday Roundup!

Fruitwater, Coca-Cola’s Flavored Seltzer, to Hit Shelves April 1

I’ll let you figure out if this drink is really what Coke names it. Carbonated water, no fruit juice, sweetened with Splenda, contains natural fruit flavors, enhanced with nutrients. So it actually has no fruit at all! Shocker, right? Not so much. If you prefer flavored water over plain, save your money and your health by making your own. Just add any cut-up fruit, whole berries, lemon slices, cucumbers… to your cup of water. And there you have it: all natural fruit water!

fruit water

FDA Ready to Approve Frankenfish Despite Fishy Science

Genetically modified salmon is probably going to receive FDA approval this April. This Frankenfish has been engineered to be ready for consumption in 16-18 months instead of 30 months that the Atlantic salmon takes. The claims are that this fish will be safe for consumption and will not affect the wild salmon as it will not penetrate their habitat and if it did it won’t be able to reproduce. My truth: STOP messing with nature!! Major grocery stores in the US such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have vowed not to sell the salmon, but as it won’t be labeled, you’ll never know where you might be eating somewhere else. You can voice your concern and sign a petition to the FDA on this link.

cooked salmon

Foods can Help Fight Inflammation

It is known that obesity can trigger a series of inflammatory reactions in the body; and chronic inflammation has been linked to many diseases including some kinds of cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s. Instead of jumping to quick-fixes and pills, a healthful diet (and weight-loss) can reverse that. An anti-inflammatory diet is one based on whole foods with emphasis on plants including leafy greens, citrus, tomatoes and wild salmon. For more details, you can check a post I have written a while ago about foods to include and avoid in an anti-cancer or anti-inflammatory diet.

Ready-to-Eat Foods for Toddlers Often Too Salty: Study

After assessing the content of 1,115 packaged foods aimed for babies and toddlers, researchers found the majority (almost 75%) of those for toddlers very high in sodium. Some foods contained up to 40% of the sodium allowance for a day. The American Heart Association recommends the sodium intake be less than 1,500mg per day. This is just another reminder to read labels extra carefully and to try to prepare meals at home as much as possible. Salt is an acquired taste. It is essential not to create a preference for salt this early in life.

180,000 Deaths Worldwide Each Year May Be Associated With Sugary Soft Drinks, Research Suggests

Sugary drinks including sodas, sports drinks and fruit juices have been associated with about 180,000 deaths per year from diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. I discussed another study in last week’s roundup linking children’s consumption of sweetened beverages to higher calorie intake especially of fatty foods. Again, this is an indication to the overall lifestyle of the people who consume the most sweetened drinks. For instance, Japan had the lowest consumption of sweetened drinks and the lowest death rate associated with them.

No one food is solely responsible for bad health. It is the mix of all the foods we consume that affect our state of health or disease. But the keyword here must be real food. Sweetened soft drinks, for instance, that have no nutritional value but come with a list of health side effects are far from real.

What are your thoughts about genetically-modified salmon? Would you eat it?

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Sunday Health News Roundup

Posted on February 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

It’s tough to keep up with all the health, fitness and nutrition news out there so every week I will round them up for you. Of course, my personal take on the matter will be there too; or else it wouldn’t be my blog, right? The stories I choose are the ones that I find most relevant and interesting. Welcome to Health ‘n’ Horizons’ first Sunday roundup!

Coca-Cola fights obesity? Oh, please.

The first story is the Coca-Cola anti-obesity ad campaign “Come together” that aired two weeks ago in the States but is still getting some pretty harsh criticism and I had to mention it. In the two-minute ad, Coca-Cola say that ” all calories count no matter where they come from, including Coca-Cola, and if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off you’ll gain weight.” It’s true all calories count but not all calories are created equal. You’re not better off with the diet versions either. Marion Nestle discussed what Coca-Cola should do if it really wanted to address the obesity epidemic on Food Politics.

Coca Cola

Coca Cola and anti-obesity in the same sentence?

“ The ad is an astonishing act of chutzpah, explainable only as an act of desperation to do something about the company’s declining sales in the U.S. and elsewhere.” – Marion Nestle

Money TALKS – When Food Companies Dictate What “Healthy” Is!!

Another story the past couple of weeks that created quite a stir in the dietetic community was the Eat, Drink, Politics report “  And Now a Word from Our Sponsors: Are America’s Nutrition  Professionals in the Pocket of Big Food? by Michele Simon that criticized the sponsorship program of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Paty, the dietitian behind Paty M’s Nutrition World discussed the issue and how we have a similar situation in Lebanon with the LANFS, the Lebanese Association for Nutrition and Food Sciences.

Photo Courtesy Michele Simon's report

AND Sponsors list Photo Courtesy Michele Simon’s report

“It’s about time we think for ourselves & check different schools than “those funded by food companies”! – Paty M

Faux pas! Food fraud on the rise

Food fraud is on the rise. Horse meat in beef burgers across the UK and Ireland, clouding agents, cheap substitutes and fillers in  juices and olive oils across the US (and worldwide of course). Check out the full report and CNN’s eatocracy article on tips how to combat food fraud.

Photo courtesy en.paperblog.com

Photo courtesy en.paperblog.com

“The new records show that the most commonly fraudulent products are olive oil, milk, saffron, honey and coffee.” – Eatocracy

Lose Fat Faster Before Breakfast

People burned 20% more fat when they exercised in the morning on an empty stomach, says a new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Personally, I can’t exercise on an empty stomach, but regardless of the timing exercise always beats couch!

morning_jog

photo courtesy community.tradeking.com

“The researchers discovered that those who had exercised in the morning did not consume additional calories or experience increased appetite during the day to compensate for their earlier activity.” -ScienceDaily

Dieters who ate lunch earlier lost more weight

WHEN you eat might be as important as WHAT you eat when it comes to weight loss. A new study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that dieters who ate lunch before 3 pm lost more weight than those who ate lunch after 3 pm. Again this is a small study (420 dieters) and there are other factors to take into consideration. What you eat is still the biggest player. Junk food before 3 pm will not make you lose more weight than healthy food after 3 pm. However, it is always recommended that dinner is lighter than either lunch or breakfast.  I would say healthy, portion-controlled and early!

Photo courtesy exerciseglobe.com

Photo courtesy exerciseglobe.com

“The late lunch eaters had lower insulin sensitivity, which is a risk factor for diabetes.” – USA Today

Other studies this week included one meta-analysis that found no evidence for an association between egg consumption and either coronary heart disease or stroke, and a study that said that women have to do about 20% more exercise to get the same benefits as men. Surprise, surprise! Not.

I share a lot more research on my Facebook page and via Twitter. If you haven’t liked and followed yet, please do (shameless hinting ;) ). That way, you’ll make sure you won’t be missing anything.

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Thinking Moderation? Think Again!!

Posted on April 10, 2012 | 16 Comments

I graduated from Nutrition and Dietetics school with the “Everything in moderation” mentality, and I guess it’s the same for most nutrition students or anyone who has sat in Nutrition 101. So that sentence just got stuck with me and was the most repeated in social gatherings, with friends and clients. Until recently, that is. Whenever someone used to ask me about how I stay fit, I was quick to answer that I exercise and eat everything in moderation. Actually, that was not very accurate. I was pretty much a clean eater with one or two guilt-free indulgences per week if any. And as I started enjoying myself in the kitchen, I loved cooking pretty much everything from scratch. It was some kind of therapy for me, and I always felt proud of the end-product. Why buy it in a jar if you can make it at home? Of course, not all my attempts were successful but nonetheless the sense of accomplishment was always there. And then there were the occasional slips where bingeing on fast food and processed goods was the only way to go.

Was that moderation? That’s what I thought until a few days ago when I was reading about Monsanto, the biotechnology giant and their very well-played food politics in the genetic modification field. Seriously, they’re evil good! They even made a children’s activity book devoted to make them believe that biotechnology is a wonderful thing. How sick is that? The other news I was checking was the Food and Drug Association (FDA) non-approved Bisphenol-A (BPA) ban. The FDA claimed more research is needed. So even though research linked BPA exposure to many health problems from cancers, to metabolic and reproductive disorders, the responsibility lies totally on the consumer to choose from the thousands of products out there.

What do these topics have to do with moderation you say? Well, maternal instincts started kicking in as I was thinking about my baby girl and how I was going to teach her good eating habits that will last her a lifetime even though she will be bombarded with high-sugar, highly-processed, genetically-modified, BPA-exposed junk as soon as she steps outside the house. What shall I tell her? That it’s OK to have all these foods as long as it’s in moderation? That it’s OK to get poison and toxins in your body but just in moderation? We’ve established in a previous post that the body can cleanse itself via various mechanisms without needing to resort to detox diets. But are we giving it a chance to do so?

That’s when I started pondering about the “moderation term”. I am not an extremist in nature; not in my political views, or religious views…, so “in moderation” kind of made sense. Up until now. I wonder why it hadn’t occurred to me before. You never tell anyone it’s fine to smoke, just do it in moderation. So why is it acceptable with food? The moderation mentality with food is making us sick, making us fat, making us accepting of poisonous addictive behaviors and habits. That’s because whenever we are subjected to a bad food option, we just convince ourselves that if it’s just in moderation then it must be OK.

So just in food and for your health, be extreme!

  • Adopt a clean diet and by clean I mean foods that are the least processed and closer to their natural state. You don’t see a list of ingredients on a banana!
  • Adopt a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables in their natural form (not packaged fruit juices and jams), lean proteins including beans and legumes, and whole grains.
  • Enjoy healthy fats sparingly such as olive oil, canola oil, avocados
  • Consume raw, unsalted nuts (walnuts, almonds, macadamia, pistachios,…) and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower,…)
  • Stay away from fried foods and high-sugar, calorie-dense treats such as chips, soda drinks, candies, doughnuts,…
  • Reduce your exposure to BPA by avoiding canned foods and beverages.
  • Choose products made from non-genetically modified organisms (non-GMO).
  • Avoid foods with preservatives, artificial colorings and flavorings. Read the food labels well. Anyway, if you are not consuming highly processed foods, you are pretty much avoiding these perils.
  • Enjoy a treat or two per week but not more, be it chocolate or a glass of wine.
  • The last but maybe most important tip is cooking at home. That way, you’re in control over what goes into your food.

Food industry giants have been and still are paying billions of dollars in marketing in order to persuade us and our children that what they are selling is good for us or at least does not cause us or the environment any harm. They take ample time researching their strategies and methods. Are we taking as much as a fraction of this time thinking about what we are buying and eating? Or are we slipping into that zombie-like state they want to put us in and accepting it in the name of moderation? So just in food and for your health, please be extreme!!

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Detox diets: do you really need them?

Posted on April 3, 2012 | 22 Comments

Detox or detoxification diets are all the craze right now ranging from consuming only water, fruits and vegetables for a few days to drinking only juices for a week or two to ingesting pills, powders and supplements to undergoing colonic cleansing and enemas.

What’s the claim?

Cleanses and detox diets claim that they can rid your body of toxins and chemicals, make you feel more energetic and healthy, help you lose weight and even cure or prevent diseases. Proponents of these diets say that they experience fewer headaches, feel lighter and less bloated and have better complexion.

What’s the truth?

  • Our body is totally capable of ridding itself from toxins through its immune system and various organs such as the skin, lungs, intestines, liver and kidneys.
  • These diets are usually very low in calories ranging from 500 to 1,000 calories which will surely make you lose weight. However, the weight lost is water weight and if the cleanse lasts for a longer period of time, muscle mass is going to be lost next. Moreover, as the body is getting fewer calories than it needs, it goes into starvation mode where it starts conserving calories and slowing down the metabolism. This will not only make you regain the weight pretty fast as soon as you stop the cleanse, it will make it even harder for you to lose weight later on.
  • Cleanses are usually very low in nutrients as they eliminate entire food groups including protein and fat. Without enough protein, your body cannot build new tissues and without the fat you’ll be missing on important fat-soluble vitamins. Your hair and your skin won’t be glowing and your energy levels won’t be as high a few days later. They provide, however, plenty of vitamins and minerals from all the fruits and vegetables that you are consuming.
  • If the cleanse consists of juices only, you’ll also be missing on the fiber. Without the fiber, protein and fat, you’ll feel less satiated and again lacking in energy after a few days.
  •  There is no scientific evidence to date that detox diets are needed and curative. On the other hand, they can be even dangerous for some people. Diabetics, people with kidney disease, and those who are immuno-compromised including pregnant ladies, the elderly, children and people with cancer should never attempt these diets. For diabetics, the high sugar consumption will cause the blood sugar to rise dangerously causing blurry vision, fatigue and slower wound healing. For those suffering from kidney disease the potassium and minerals from all the juices can build up to hazardous levels. For those undergoing chemotherapy, the low or non-existent levels of protein is dangerous.
  • Like all fad diets, the lack of scientific evidence is compensated by testimonials and people who swear by the diet from personal experience. Even more than that, the creators and marketers of the diet claim that they and only they have the “secret magic” formula. They charge you to get their meal plan, recipes, products, juices, pills, and supplements. Don’t fall for it! If it’s too good to be true, then it most probably is!!

Bottom line!

Going on a cleanse for a couple of days if you are healthy doesn’t seem to cause any damage if you need to challenge yourself or jumpstart clean eating habits but don’t do it for more than that. A glass of fresh juice as part of a healthy diet can do you good especially if you are not consuming whole fruits and vegetables regularly.

The best “cleansing” diets are those that can last a lifetime. They are based on healthy eating habits and include lean proteins, some fat, healthy grains, fruits and vegetables.

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