Over 2 months since I posted last.
I haven't forgotten about the blog (obviously), but I HAVE been busy. Really, Really Busy.
The good news is: I haven't let the holidays or the busy-ness stop me from losing weight. As of this morning, I have lost over 36 pounds. I am now under 290 pounds for the first time in years. That makes about 7 pounds a month average for 5 months. I like that. I think it is a healthy rate. I'd like to be losing 10 a month, but I know that 10 a month is not sustainable for me, and I am losing 7 a month without feeling deprived, which is more awesome than I can explain.
The bad news: With the holidays, being sick, having family in the hospital, and preparing to teach and teaching, I haven't known which end was up some days. Add in car problems on both vehicles, and that I was repainting the apartment and assembling furniture, I've been short on time and sleep most all of the time, and when I have time all I want to do is rest. A couple of times I slept 12 hours and still didn't feel like I got quite enough sleep. Oh well!
I started teaching full time in November (PC Repair and Computer Networking), and with the 11 hour days plus 1.5-2 hours commuting each day, I haven't had a lot of free time. And most of my "free" time has been used up getting ready for the following weeks of classes. On March 12 I will finish teaching my 3rd set of classes, and the next Monday (March 18th) I start teaching the same material a second time, to new students plus some repeat students that have not passed their certifications yet. That should reduce the prep time some, but since I am teaching the same material in about 60% of the time, I do need to go back over the material and be more ready to teach with images to share rather than searching Google Image, etc.
But... The other thing that changes after March 12th is that I won't be driving 40 miles to work any more. My home office is only about 10-12 miles away, and only takes 10-15 minutes to drive most days, especially when I am not on Day shift. Oh, and I may be going back to 5 day weeks, but if I do, it won't be 11 hour days. So my time will free up a bit.
So, I need to buckle down and get serious about getting in shape and getting healthy. Being at the closer office again will mean a number of things. In Troy, the office is on the 2nd floor, which doesn't really give me an easy place to walk. In Livonia, if the weather cooperates, I can walk outside in less than a minute, and have a large parking lot, a park 2 doors down, etc. Of course, this being Michigan... weather is capricious. In January there was a 24 hour period that went from nearly 60 out to wind chill in the single digits, and one morning the temp was below zero still at 9am. Not the wind chill.
Maybe once I can walk more often I will get up to 10 pounds a month for a few months.
At 7 pounds a month, it will take me most of 2 years to lose the weight (21.5 months). Towards the end, I'm pretty sure I will not be losing 7 a month every month, so if I can get in a few 10 pound months during the first year, I might still manage it in 2 years. 2 years isn't really a goal. I don't care if it takes 18 months or 37... The weight is coming off and I am getting healthy.
Oh, and I discovered another piece of the food allergy puzzle. Xanthan Gum. Xanthan Gum is made from a plant disease. It is generally grown on some type of sugary substance, so it is often grown on Corn Syrup. Since it can be grown on so many different things, and since it isn't purified in a way that removes all of the growth medium, people with food allergies to corn, soy, wheat, and possibly other foods should not consume it. Once I discovered how this substance is made I find it difficult to believe it can be called natural, but I guess cyanide and arsenic are natural, too.
Well, hopefully it won't be another 2 months before I post again!
Showing posts with label corn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corn. Show all posts
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Breakfast
I've noticed a lot lately that when I don't eat enough breakfast, I overeat throughout the day, or if I manage to not overeat I feel hungry all day.
Now, I can't eat just anything... it has to have protein, and it has to have bulk. And, as I've said before, I have enough food allergies that I can't just nip up to McD's and grab a McMuffin or a Steak Bagel, I'd spend my day in the bathroom. Plus, have you ever looked at how much fat and sodium one of those has?
I also can't trust donuts, bagels, muffins, or even toast at a restaurant, as most of them would have either corn or dairy, or both.
At home, on days where I have to get moving like mornings I work, I usually make toast from bread that I *know* I can trust and spread it with peanut butter. The peanut butter I like is Smucker's Natural. I can't buy the reduced fat, since it has maltodextrin or some corn ingredient in it, so I buy the regular and then pour off a little less than half the separated oil for use in cooking before mixing up the rest. It isn't a hardship to me to have discovered that the safest bread for me is the stuff baked in a wood fired oven at my local grocery store (Holiday Market in Canton, MI. If you live around here, check out their sourdough or beer bread). Since I usually use the bread for a week, I buy the day-old to save money when they have it in the kind of bread I want. But even when I have to pay full price, the sourdough is cheaper than a loaf of Pepperidge Farm or other "Premium" bread, it tastes better, and it has simple and short ingredient lists.
Speaking of ingredient lists. I discovered this week that one of the problems I was having was because there was corn sugar (dextrose) in our SALT! Oops! And that was a pretty high-end brand - Hain "Pure Foods". What a joke. So I had to buy a different brand. There were two other reasonable cost Sea Salt brands that didn't include sugar. One had an anti-caking agent that was chemical in nature, and one had my favorite kind of ingredient list: One Ingredient: Sea Salt.
My other two favorite breakfasts are cold cereal and oatmeal. For cold cereal, I like Barbara's Natural Shredded Oat. Sometimes for a little variety I use less than a normal amount of that and break up a few Frosted Mini-Wheat biscuits over the top. I then pour Rice Milk over it. Rice milk is too sweet to substitute for regular milk in some foods, but for me that makes it better for cereal, where I don't have to add as much (or sometimes any) sugar because the rice milk itself is sweet. For Oatmeal, a few years back I discovered Silver Palate brand "Rough" oatmeal, and while I liked it, it is really quite expensive for a product that they carefully do LESS to it than the Quaker brand. Basically, oatmeal is generally made from oats that have either been modified by rolling thinner, or my cutting in pieces. You can make oatmeal from whole unmodified "groats", but it takes much longer. Irish oats are steel cut or "porridge" oats, where they cut the groats into smaller pieces. Porridge oats are classified by size, ranging from fine through medium, coarse, and the largest, "pin-head" oats. Different companies offer different cuts and of course everyone says theirs is best. Fans of Irish oats say that the climate in Ireland creates better oats... Who really knows? In Scotland, they often use steel-cut porridge oats as well, but apparently much of what is sold in America as Scottish oats is more of a stone-ground meal. Quaker oats are traditional rolled oats, the kind most English speaking and Scandinavian countries usually eat. The groats are steamed, then rolled flat, then apparently toasted to dry them. Instant oatmeal is basically very thinly rolled and often cut into smaller pieces, but I don't like the gluey texture that they make. The Silver Palate oats are just not rolled as thin as Quaker oats so they keep more of the nutty flavors. However, one of my favorite flour, grain, and cereal companies, Bob's Red Mill, sells 2 pound bags of "thick rolled" oats, which are basically the same thing without tripling the price. The Bob's Red Mill are what I like best. I usually drizzle just a little raw unfiltered honey or perhaps sorghum molasses or pure Michigan maple syrup on mine. I prefer Grade B or Grade A Dark syrup, because it has more flavor. Grade A fancy syrup is "fancy" because it has a lighter flavor. If I get more flavor per calorie, it helps.
So, I suppose in summary my three favorite breakfasts are all simple, hearty breakfasts. Peanut Butter Toast is the quickest to make that I can carry, Cold Cereal is the absolute quickest to make but I need time to sit still and eat it, and Thick-Rolled Oatmeal takes around 20 minutes to cook and I need time to sit still and eat it, but all three give me some fiber, some protein, and enough calories that I'm not looking for a snack before lunch.
Oscar
Now, I can't eat just anything... it has to have protein, and it has to have bulk. And, as I've said before, I have enough food allergies that I can't just nip up to McD's and grab a McMuffin or a Steak Bagel, I'd spend my day in the bathroom. Plus, have you ever looked at how much fat and sodium one of those has?
I also can't trust donuts, bagels, muffins, or even toast at a restaurant, as most of them would have either corn or dairy, or both.
At home, on days where I have to get moving like mornings I work, I usually make toast from bread that I *know* I can trust and spread it with peanut butter. The peanut butter I like is Smucker's Natural. I can't buy the reduced fat, since it has maltodextrin or some corn ingredient in it, so I buy the regular and then pour off a little less than half the separated oil for use in cooking before mixing up the rest. It isn't a hardship to me to have discovered that the safest bread for me is the stuff baked in a wood fired oven at my local grocery store (Holiday Market in Canton, MI. If you live around here, check out their sourdough or beer bread). Since I usually use the bread for a week, I buy the day-old to save money when they have it in the kind of bread I want. But even when I have to pay full price, the sourdough is cheaper than a loaf of Pepperidge Farm or other "Premium" bread, it tastes better, and it has simple and short ingredient lists.
Speaking of ingredient lists. I discovered this week that one of the problems I was having was because there was corn sugar (dextrose) in our SALT! Oops! And that was a pretty high-end brand - Hain "Pure Foods". What a joke. So I had to buy a different brand. There were two other reasonable cost Sea Salt brands that didn't include sugar. One had an anti-caking agent that was chemical in nature, and one had my favorite kind of ingredient list: One Ingredient: Sea Salt.
My other two favorite breakfasts are cold cereal and oatmeal. For cold cereal, I like Barbara's Natural Shredded Oat. Sometimes for a little variety I use less than a normal amount of that and break up a few Frosted Mini-Wheat biscuits over the top. I then pour Rice Milk over it. Rice milk is too sweet to substitute for regular milk in some foods, but for me that makes it better for cereal, where I don't have to add as much (or sometimes any) sugar because the rice milk itself is sweet. For Oatmeal, a few years back I discovered Silver Palate brand "Rough" oatmeal, and while I liked it, it is really quite expensive for a product that they carefully do LESS to it than the Quaker brand. Basically, oatmeal is generally made from oats that have either been modified by rolling thinner, or my cutting in pieces. You can make oatmeal from whole unmodified "groats", but it takes much longer. Irish oats are steel cut or "porridge" oats, where they cut the groats into smaller pieces. Porridge oats are classified by size, ranging from fine through medium, coarse, and the largest, "pin-head" oats. Different companies offer different cuts and of course everyone says theirs is best. Fans of Irish oats say that the climate in Ireland creates better oats... Who really knows? In Scotland, they often use steel-cut porridge oats as well, but apparently much of what is sold in America as Scottish oats is more of a stone-ground meal. Quaker oats are traditional rolled oats, the kind most English speaking and Scandinavian countries usually eat. The groats are steamed, then rolled flat, then apparently toasted to dry them. Instant oatmeal is basically very thinly rolled and often cut into smaller pieces, but I don't like the gluey texture that they make. The Silver Palate oats are just not rolled as thin as Quaker oats so they keep more of the nutty flavors. However, one of my favorite flour, grain, and cereal companies, Bob's Red Mill, sells 2 pound bags of "thick rolled" oats, which are basically the same thing without tripling the price. The Bob's Red Mill are what I like best. I usually drizzle just a little raw unfiltered honey or perhaps sorghum molasses or pure Michigan maple syrup on mine. I prefer Grade B or Grade A Dark syrup, because it has more flavor. Grade A fancy syrup is "fancy" because it has a lighter flavor. If I get more flavor per calorie, it helps.
So, I suppose in summary my three favorite breakfasts are all simple, hearty breakfasts. Peanut Butter Toast is the quickest to make that I can carry, Cold Cereal is the absolute quickest to make but I need time to sit still and eat it, and Thick-Rolled Oatmeal takes around 20 minutes to cook and I need time to sit still and eat it, but all three give me some fiber, some protein, and enough calories that I'm not looking for a snack before lunch.
Oscar
Friday, November 9, 2012
FOOD! Don't talk to me about FOOD!
If you think Corn and Dairy are Gods gift to humans, you might want to skip reading this post.
Food is difficult for me. Not just because I love rich foods (I do), but because I often feel deprived.
I have been reading food labels since before they got very useful, since my mother has been on a very low sodium diet for over 35 years, and my sister and I used to go grocery shopping for us. The reading of labels got more critical when I discovered that I am allergic to dairy, and things stepped up a notch when my wife figured out that she is allergic to Citric Acid. We already were avoiding Sunflower for her, and now I have to avoid Corn. And try to keep my sodium down.
Currently I'm thinking Potatoes may be the other culprit I am looking for that is causing me digestive grief. But I wanted to say that many people do not understand how much of our food supply contains corn, dairy or citric acid. Or, in my view, is "contaminated by" corn, dairy, sunflower, and/or citric acid.
Taken one at a time, each of the above actually brings a relatively long list of ingredients we need to avoid. Some because we know they are what we are allergic to, others because they are too vague to take the risk. Oh, Diana is also allergic to sunflower. I'll cover that, too. Note that these lists are not complete or authoritative, just what I know.
I'll start with Dairy. Specifically, I am allergic to more than one protein in dairy. For sure I am allergic to casein, and there is also something in whey protein that I am allergic to. This means I have to avoid:
DAIRY:
Milk
Cheese (all varieties, including vegetable cheeses that add casein)
Cottage Cheese/Farmers Cheese
Butter
Cream
Yogurt
Buttermilk
Milk Solids
Butter Solids
Buttermilk Solids
Nonfat Dry Milk
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Evaporated Milk
Casein (the protein that makes cheese melt, I am told)Sodium Caseinate
Whey
Whey Protein
Whey Protein Isolate
Milk Protein
I seem to be fine with Milkfat, Butterfat, and Ghee/Clarified Butter, but I usually avoid them in case they aren't pure enough.
CORN:
Corn (including Popcorn)
Corn Meal (and Polenta)
Grits (Hominy and otherwise)
Corn Syrup
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Corn Oil
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable Shortening (unless it specifies a different source)
Corn Starch
Food Starch
Modified Food Starch
Dextrose (Corn Sugar)
Fructose (may be from corn unless another source is stated)
Dextrin
Maltodextrin
Caramel Coloring (usually made from Corn Syrup)
Brown Sugar (because some brands add Caramel Coloring made from Corn Syrup)
If you didn't know, that eliminates 98% of the candy made in America. My local store even sells "honey" straws that are corn syrup flavored with a little honey. I buy a different brand elsewhere that is 100% honey. It also eliminates almost all breakfast cereals, cookies, muffins, donuts, many breads, and other snacks. I can have unsalted nuts and expensive chocolate and a couple brands of cookies.
SUNFLOWER:
Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower Oil
Jerusalem Artichoke (sunflower roots)
7-grain, 9-grain, and 12-grain breads (even if they don't claim sunflower)
That seems pretty tame, until you realize that most products that use vegetable oil have this "and/or" issue, like "canola, sunflower, and/or safflower oil". Also, the healthier a product is trying to seem, the more likely they will have substituted sunflower oil for whatever they used to use. The comment about the high grain breads is from experience. Once a bakery starts adding large amounts of grains and seeds into the bread, it seems that intentional or not, enough sunflower seeds get into the dough that Diana reacts to it.
CITRIC ACID:
Sometimes I feel like I am researching a doctoral thesis for this one:
Tomatoes
Lemon
Lemon Juice
Lemon Peel
Lemon Zest
Lime (including Juice, Peel, and Zest)
Orange (including Juice, Peel, and Zest)
Citron
Tamarind
Ponzu
Pineapple
Berries (except Blueberries)
Most other fruits (except Apples, Pears, and Bananas)
Citric Acid
Sourdough Bread
Sourdough "Culture" or "Mother"
Canned and Dry Beans (Navy, Pinto, Kidney, Black-Eyed Peas, etc.) (Green Beans are OK)
And a Surprising item:
Triple-Washed ANYTHING (Spinach, Lettuce, Mesclin, etc.) - One of the three washes is Citric Acid, and since they are living plants, they will pull the citric acid in from the root end and possibly absorb it in through the leaves.
POTATOS:
I haven't researched Potatoes yet, but Potato Starch, Food Starch, and Modified Food Starch would be issues as well as potatoes themselves.
So, what can we eat together? Meat, Rice, Pasta, most green veggies. Apples, pears, and bananas. Carrots, cauliflower, some breads. In the supermarket, we look for ingredient lists that are 5 or fewer items when we can, as simpler foods are probably healthier and a heck of a lot easier to read the list. When I see one of those ingredient lists that is 2 inches long or more, I assume that it probably has something in it that we can't have. If I am bored enough or motivated enough to read it, I usually find out that I am right. About the only exception to that rule is Clif Bars, which I can have. Which is good, as I obviously don't do well at potlucks or pizza lunches!
Diana can have dairy, I can have tomato sauces and citrus fruits, but we can't share. Heck, if I drink Orange Juice I have to drink some water or rinse my lips off before I can kiss her!
Of course, there are worse things in life than having to eat right.
I'm really feeling for the folks in the Northeast who are still dealing with Sandy, the NorEaster, and related damage, outages, shortages, and displacement. I haven't donated much , but we have given what we can afford at this time.
Food is difficult for me. Not just because I love rich foods (I do), but because I often feel deprived.
I have been reading food labels since before they got very useful, since my mother has been on a very low sodium diet for over 35 years, and my sister and I used to go grocery shopping for us. The reading of labels got more critical when I discovered that I am allergic to dairy, and things stepped up a notch when my wife figured out that she is allergic to Citric Acid. We already were avoiding Sunflower for her, and now I have to avoid Corn. And try to keep my sodium down.
Currently I'm thinking Potatoes may be the other culprit I am looking for that is causing me digestive grief. But I wanted to say that many people do not understand how much of our food supply contains corn, dairy or citric acid. Or, in my view, is "contaminated by" corn, dairy, sunflower, and/or citric acid.
Taken one at a time, each of the above actually brings a relatively long list of ingredients we need to avoid. Some because we know they are what we are allergic to, others because they are too vague to take the risk. Oh, Diana is also allergic to sunflower. I'll cover that, too. Note that these lists are not complete or authoritative, just what I know.
I'll start with Dairy. Specifically, I am allergic to more than one protein in dairy. For sure I am allergic to casein, and there is also something in whey protein that I am allergic to. This means I have to avoid:
DAIRY:
Milk
Cheese (all varieties, including vegetable cheeses that add casein)
Cottage Cheese/Farmers Cheese
Butter
Cream
Yogurt
Buttermilk
Milk Solids
Butter Solids
Buttermilk Solids
Nonfat Dry Milk
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Evaporated Milk
Casein (the protein that makes cheese melt, I am told)Sodium Caseinate
Whey
Whey Protein
Whey Protein Isolate
Milk Protein
I seem to be fine with Milkfat, Butterfat, and Ghee/Clarified Butter, but I usually avoid them in case they aren't pure enough.
CORN:
Corn (including Popcorn)
Corn Meal (and Polenta)
Grits (Hominy and otherwise)
Corn Syrup
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Corn Oil
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable Shortening (unless it specifies a different source)
Corn Starch
Food Starch
Modified Food Starch
Dextrose (Corn Sugar)
Fructose (may be from corn unless another source is stated)
Dextrin
Maltodextrin
Caramel Coloring (usually made from Corn Syrup)
Brown Sugar (because some brands add Caramel Coloring made from Corn Syrup)
If you didn't know, that eliminates 98% of the candy made in America. My local store even sells "honey" straws that are corn syrup flavored with a little honey. I buy a different brand elsewhere that is 100% honey. It also eliminates almost all breakfast cereals, cookies, muffins, donuts, many breads, and other snacks. I can have unsalted nuts and expensive chocolate and a couple brands of cookies.
SUNFLOWER:
Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower Oil
Jerusalem Artichoke (sunflower roots)
7-grain, 9-grain, and 12-grain breads (even if they don't claim sunflower)
That seems pretty tame, until you realize that most products that use vegetable oil have this "and/or" issue, like "canola, sunflower, and/or safflower oil". Also, the healthier a product is trying to seem, the more likely they will have substituted sunflower oil for whatever they used to use. The comment about the high grain breads is from experience. Once a bakery starts adding large amounts of grains and seeds into the bread, it seems that intentional or not, enough sunflower seeds get into the dough that Diana reacts to it.
CITRIC ACID:
Sometimes I feel like I am researching a doctoral thesis for this one:
Tomatoes
Lemon
Lemon Juice
Lemon Peel
Lemon Zest
Lime (including Juice, Peel, and Zest)
Orange (including Juice, Peel, and Zest)
Citron
Tamarind
Ponzu
Pineapple
Berries (except Blueberries)
Most other fruits (except Apples, Pears, and Bananas)
Citric Acid
Sourdough Bread
Sourdough "Culture" or "Mother"
Canned and Dry Beans (Navy, Pinto, Kidney, Black-Eyed Peas, etc.) (Green Beans are OK)
And a Surprising item:
Triple-Washed ANYTHING (Spinach, Lettuce, Mesclin, etc.) - One of the three washes is Citric Acid, and since they are living plants, they will pull the citric acid in from the root end and possibly absorb it in through the leaves.
POTATOS:
I haven't researched Potatoes yet, but Potato Starch, Food Starch, and Modified Food Starch would be issues as well as potatoes themselves.
So, what can we eat together? Meat, Rice, Pasta, most green veggies. Apples, pears, and bananas. Carrots, cauliflower, some breads. In the supermarket, we look for ingredient lists that are 5 or fewer items when we can, as simpler foods are probably healthier and a heck of a lot easier to read the list. When I see one of those ingredient lists that is 2 inches long or more, I assume that it probably has something in it that we can't have. If I am bored enough or motivated enough to read it, I usually find out that I am right. About the only exception to that rule is Clif Bars, which I can have. Which is good, as I obviously don't do well at potlucks or pizza lunches!
Diana can have dairy, I can have tomato sauces and citrus fruits, but we can't share. Heck, if I drink Orange Juice I have to drink some water or rinse my lips off before I can kiss her!
Of course, there are worse things in life than having to eat right.
I'm really feeling for the folks in the Northeast who are still dealing with Sandy, the NorEaster, and related damage, outages, shortages, and displacement. I haven't donated much , but we have given what we can afford at this time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)