Note that the title is not “how to lose weight”. I dislike the insinuation that everyone should strive to be slimmer than they are. First, a little back story on why I am so opinionated about this:

I started college two years ago. There are always jokes about the “Freshman 15″. I saw many people gain a freshman 15. Some even gained a freshman 50. I didn’t gain anything. In fact, for a good part of the year I weighed less than I did my senior year. Living in the dorms, I ate a lot of pasta and salad. But I didn’t eat much at any one time. Last year marked a lot of changes. My relationship with my first boyfriend was ending, slowly and painfully. My major changed several times. My family was going through an extremely rough patch. My forever friend, Dita, had recently passed away. I didn’t know who I was, what I was doing, where I was going, and who would be with me when I got there. Needless to say, I didn’t often have much of an appetite.

This year, I moved into my own apartment. Life was getting back on track, a bit. Fall, things were still very much in turmoil. I got back together with the ex. I broke up with the ex. I changed my major, again, and for good. I started work at the writing center. I met and started dating one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met: Nick, my boyfriend. I joined and then left a sorority. By winter term, things were much calmer. I finally had a chance to institute all of the dietary things I’d read about for so many years. I did what I’ve always wanted, and started eating closer to the earth. Beans, veggies, rice, other whole grains. I switched to real butter instead of margarine. The result? I gained weight. I went from the 119lbs (ish) I had been for most of the last 5 years to 131lbs. I freaked out. I had squish on my body. I could see fat for once. I hated my own body so much it hurt. Media everywhere (and some people, too…) showed me I needed to slim back down.

And then came an epiphany. If I’m eating healthier than I have my entire life, and still exercising, how is it possible to be an unhealthy weight (with no medical condition)? Keep in mind, I’m 5′9″. 113lbs is still on the low end of healthy. I had just always been underweight. I placed some of my identity on being that tiny, tiny size I was. In my reading, I had come across several times the idea of s “set point”. It had also been taught in my health class required for all freshmen. Basically, the idea is this: everyone has an ideal weight, based upon height, genetics, and several other factors. If you eat well, eat the right amounts, and exercise enough, you will tend toward your set point. This is exactly what I had done.

I decided to do my best to ignore what culture was telling me; it was simply making me feel horrible about myself. I have embraced this new set point weight. More importantly, I’ve stayed here. And I know I’ve made the right choice. I’ve had friends ask me what’s changed. They tell me I look vivacious, or healthier, or stronger. Sure, there are still certain people who make me feel bad about how I look. And sure, I still see ‘new’ exercise routines and want to go overboard. But generally, and most of the time, I’m happy now.

Down to the content:
How to find your healthy weight
1) Eat well
Stop following diets, and fads, and ideas, and whatever else. Forget what you have been taught and rely on common sense. Does it make sense that a highly processed “cookie” that is low-calorie is healthier for you than a big ol bowl of rice and beans? Yes, the cookie is lower calorie. But it is a cookie. If you must have a “system”, look to Michael Pollan. In his wonderful book “in defense of food” he says, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants“. In this case, food means something easily identified as a food. Like cabbage or a potato. Not something you need a brand name or list to describe. Not too much refers to quantity. Mostly plants means that we should eat largely “vegan”. That is, mostly in the grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits portion of the food spectrum. And more the last two than the first.

2) Drink water
For many people, there is a point at which the chemicals the signal thirst and the chemicals the signal hunger are indistinguishable. This tends to be when we first feel thirsty. And guess which one most people assume it is? If you guessed hunger, you’re right. Try drinking a glass of water and waiting to see if you’re hungry. If you’re still hungry about 5 minutes later, then you are actually feeling hunger.

Personally, this is the one I struggle the most with. For some reason, I don’t feel thirst virtually at all until I am very, very thirsty. This means that unless I remember to drink water, I forget to drink at all. I also don’t drink coffee or tea often, and I only drink milk once a day at most. I have several ways I try and cope with this. One, I always have something to drink with meals. Another way is having my boyfriend remind me to have a drink. I also carry a water bottle with me to classes, and I sip water to stay awake throughout my class. This helps a lot.

3) Get out and move
I’m not going to tell you to go to a gym or to exercise. I just want you to get out and move. My personal favorite? Walks. As I’ve mentioned before, I walk a lot. I love walks. Most days I get in at least 4 miles. Many days I get up to 8. I would recommend doing other activities, too. Resistance training (like weight lifting) can be hugely helpful for boosting metabolism. Flexibility is important for preventing injuries and bouncing back from any pulls or strains. Core strength is important for balance and digestive health. And all of these have great exercises for them, and you can find endless information online. But more than anything, it is important to just get out and move.

4) Sleep
Wake up the same time every day. Get more than 8 hours every night. For me, I need more than 9 hours every night. In high school I got a lot less sleep and thought I was fine. But I was also stressed far more, and sick more often. Sleep is, in my opinion, one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself. I’m not sure if there is a direct connection between sleep and a healthy weight. But I do know that all the things needed so that a healthy weight is reached and maintained is easier with a lot of sleep. You won’t feel like cooking or walking if all you want to do is lay down in front of the TV.

5) Stop watching TV
Okay, please don’t yell for this one. Without TV, you’ll find other things to spend your time on. More useful things. And possibly even healthy things. I also think less TV is good for the soul as well as the body, but that is another post entirely.

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This is another post with the possible new focus of this blog. Please give feedback, especially as it pertains to the blog as a whole, in addition to the contents of this post specifically. If you liked this post, please share it with other. I’d appreciate it. Photo credit to kiwiiiiiii at flickr.

We live in a health conscious age. With so much information about dietetics and nutrition around, we should all be thin and healthy with no problems. But as Michael Pollan pointed out, all this nutritionism (breaking food down for classification into its nutrients and pieces) has led to confusion. Butter is good! Butter is bad. Avoid eggs. Eat flax seeds! Rice is good. Everything white is bad!

I think its a clear sign of this confusion that a book titled “eat this, not that” has been a best-seller. So I’ve decided it is time to chime in my piece, and tell you the things you may think are healthy, but really aren’t.

1) Yogurt
Not all yogurt is bad. Just most of it. I know a lot of commercials lately have been sharing the “amazing health benefits” of probiotics. The problem? Most store-bought yogurts are low on the beneficial bacteria and high in the sugars. The vast majority have high fructose corn syrup (HFCS: that’ll have to be another post all in itself) and those that avoid this often use aspartame. Anyone who has had real yogurt (that is, fresh made yogurt, by a person, not a store) knows that it is fairly bitter and a little bit nasty. It also goes bad very, very quickly. To avoid this, companies have to use all sorts of things.

2) Salad
Okay, I lied. Salad is good. But how we eat salad? Bad. If you have a chance, look on the back of a salad dressing bottle. Serving sizes are usually 1-2 Tbs. And this is the most we’re supposed to use on an entire salad. We actually tend to use more like 1/4 or 1/3 cup. Now, I am weird and like fresh bitter greens oftentimes. But most people? Salad is gross without tons of dressing. So skip the fatty topping, and eat something like stir-fry instead. That way, you can keep the veggies but slim out the additions.

3) Wheat Bread
Stay with me on this one. There are two main reasons wheat bread isn’t as healthy as it should be. First, most wheat breads are not actually whole grain wheat. 100% wheat is not the same as whole grain wheat is not the same as standard wheat. Wheat bread can even be as little as 10% wheat flour, and the rest bleached. This merely makes it not as good as we thought, rather than bad. Which brings us to the second point: most breads have a lot of questionable stuff. Since when do I want citric acid (which is a corn derivative usually, and not citrus, fyi) in my bread? Or HFCS? And why on earth would I want to eat something that can sit on my counter for two months before it molds? Those things aside, many breads are high in oils and sodium, putting them in the realm of bad. I want to post a bread recipe soon, and show you that homemade bread is not something that was left in the 50s. It has advanced, along with everything else, and with very little time and cooking skills is totally possible.

4) Soy
This one will possibly get me yelled at. It took me a lot of research before I took a stance on this particular issues. I don’t want to delve into all of the nitty-gritty scientifics here, but in short: soy can mess us up in several ways. There is the whole “imitates estrogen” thing, there is the “low levels of testosterone” and the “causes various cancers”. Then there is the various acids it releases and changes within your body, which essentially create poisons. I do, however, differentiate between fermented and unfermented soy products. Tempeh? Fermented, doesn’t do the same acid stuff, in moderation, I’m okay with it. Tofu and soy milk? Unfermented. Does all the aforementioned bad stuff.

5) Almost any drink but water
People hate this, but only because they know it is true. Americans drink 60% of our calories. And we need to stop. The soda, the “juice”, the “teas” and “coffees”. Tea and coffee without a ton of stuff added are fine. That is what all those studies cover linking coffee with lower risks of heart disease, and tea with elevated mood chemicals. Add a ton of milk and sugar and who knows what else? Suddenly, you are drinking the adult version of candy. Feel free to do so, just don’t lie to yourself about it. Incidentally, switching to mainly water is one of the best ways to save money and completely help your health, with no personal risk or harm. On the topic of juice, all I have to say is “don’t”. Fruit is good because of the fiber. If you’re not eating it, its just sugar. And don’t even get me started on fad superfoods. Yes, there are foods that will help your health. But all things in moderation. Seriously people.

6) Beans
Okay, only the canned ones. And moreover, only the canned ones with sodium. If you look at a standard can of s&w black beans (my favorite if I must used canned) the can contains a whopping 70% of your daily sodium. The healthy alternative? Use a crockpot and make a batch of beans with very little work. All this requires is knowing the night before that you’ll use beans the next day. I’ll do a “how-to” post on this later.

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This is a sample of where my blog could go/ a blog that could spin off from this one. Please give feedback on how you feel this fits in with the “grand scheme of things”. Also, image isn’t mine. From VeganSteve over at flikr.

This recession has been the strangest thing. Never before have I had so many people express to me a desire to learn to bake break and can and cook. Especially the bread. Time was I would get very strange looks if it was mentioned that I make bread. Lately, however, I’m more likely to hear a “wow, that’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to learn to do that”. It gives a little food for thought, that everything that was old is new again.

(and I may address those bread concerns soon enough… just you wait)

I have a little crock pot. Its perfect for me, since I use it mainly for beans, and only want to make a small amount at a time. The last time I used it, I made a quinoa chicken soup. The soup was delicious. The “having to leave before I did dishes and not getting to them for two days” was not. Quinoa, it seems, has even more sticking power than rice when dried on. I cleaned it as well as I could, and then gave up. It has been sitting on my counter for three weeks. [Eew, I know, but its dried grain. Everything else cleaned off. So it didn't smell or anything.]

Occasionally, when I have had a chance, I’ll chip away at the crock, to no avail. But today I have been on a cleaning spree in my apartment, so I was determined to get it clean. Sponge, scrub brush, and dawn in hand, I attacked. And removed like two pieces of quinoa. Sigh. Then I recalled a certain blog that I read recently praising baking soda and swearing by its chemical free cleaning power. I bake (so I have baking soda around) so I figured why not. Add baking soda. Scrub with sponge. And it all comes off. Even the red stains from the chili that have been there for nearly a year. It looks like new. I’m seriously blown away. And so ready to convert to hippy-friendly cleaning ways. [Not that I used chemical cleaners really before. Just dawn, softscrub, and windex. Point stands though.]

I just failed at my breakfast routine. This is by no means as bad as some OTHER mornings, but I felt it worth sharing. I had milk in a glass that I was drinking intermittently. In a mug beside it, I had a tea bad waiting. I stared outside and watched the chickens while I waited for my water to boil. Before I knew it, I had bubbles! (Which is excellent, since I usually peek under the lid about 4 times and it takes about 10 minutes to boil). So I poured my boiling water…. into my milk, not onto the tea bag.

Oh lordy. Brain? Hello? You there? (Uh oh, no answer).

I really need to find a better recipe for rolled oats. Or not mess up next time. My breakfast tastes like glue. Salty glue.

Anyone who cooks homemade bread is always in search of it. It is elusive. Nearly a platonic ideal, not really existing. What is it? The perfect recipe. And you know what? I found it. Because I love you all so much, I’ll share it with you here.

I present to you: Amish White Bread Recipe
Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
3 cups flour* (can do 1/3 wheat, 2/3 white)
1 tablespoon dry yeast
Instructions:

1. Dissolve sugar in water, then stir in yeast. Allow to stand until yeast forms a creamy foam (about 15 minutes). Put into bread machine pan and add oil. Swish around to mix them together.

2. Add flour on top, and salt on top of the flour. Set machine to dough setting and start.**(If you don’t have a bread machine, just combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and stir. Add flour and yeast all at once, and stir until thick. Knead with hands for 6-8 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary, to make a smooth elastic dough.
Cover, place dough in a warm location, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Continue with step 3 from the directions!) Note: I do it by hand. Knead it well, on the 8 minute side of things. Trust me.

3. When dough is made and has risen the first time (the bread machine should beep to tell you when the dough setting is complete), take it out of the bread machine pan and work it lightly in your hands to get the air bubbles out (I don’t put it on a floured board for this but you can if you like).

4. Form into a loaf and put in a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 30-45 minutes, until almost doubled in size.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until done. If loaf is browning too quickly, cover top loosely with foil. When bread is finished, take it out of the oven and allow it to set for 5 minutes. Remove from pan, place on wire rack, and cover until loaf is cool.

I love this bread. I made it for the second time yesterday and it was great. I was worried since I had made it the first time in Florida. Climate affects bread recipes hugely. It worked perfectly though! I love it. I’m already down to about 1/3 of my loaf, even though I only pulled it from the oven about 14 or 15 hours ago. Nick and I have been enjoying it. =)

Have a great day everyone! On the blogging menu? Why I’ve been so damn busy! Stay tuned.

I feel like a diva. Of the domestic variety. This is because this evening I cooked up refried beans (never made them before!), tacos from said beans, sweet tea (never made that before either!), and chunky apple sauce. My definition of “applesauce” being steamed, cinnamon-y apples. I did up nearly 5 lbs of fujis. Yum!

Only thing I would change is putting more salt in the refried beans and playing around with hot sauces mixed in. I made them using THIS recipe.