A Healthy Lunch for a Busy Day

Between work, family and various other commitments, life can get hectic, and one of the first items to be sacrificed in the name of sanity is often healthy cooking.  However, eating a healthy, balanced diet is one of the best ways to maintain the energy to keep up with a busy lifestyle. 

Here's one of my go-to, super-easy favourites to throw together for a quick lunch:

Chickpea Arugula Salad

(AKA "Garbage Salad" according to my husband, who hates just about every ingredient it contains :) )

Makes 5-6 servings 

1 can (19oz) chickpeas, drained & rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups cooked)

2-3 cups arugula

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 jar artichokes (packed in water), drained, rinsed & diced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette (bought or home-made)

3-4 drops sriracha 

Black pepper, to taste

In a bowl, combine chickpeas, arugula, cherry tomatoes, artichokes and parsley.  In a separate container, combine balsamic vinaigrette and sriracha and mix well.  Add the dressing to the salad and toss well.  Season with black pepper if desired.

Enjoy!

After The New Year’s Resolution

After years of neglect, I’ve finally decided to resurrect my blog, but with a few notable modifications.  Instead of the pages-long ramblings of old, I’m trying to keep things short and sweet: a tip, a quick note of motivation, a book review, a recipe…

My hope is that each quick note will help you on your journey to health, wherever on that path you might be.

After The New Year’s Resolution

The first day of the New Year is a common time to make a positive lifestyle change.  For those of you who included a fitness goal as one of your New Year’s resolutions, great!  For those of you who, eight weeks later, are still sticking to that goal, wonderful!

One of the most popular fitness resolutions is to learn to run, though for someone who hates to be cold, the idea of starting a running program in Canada in January is perplexing.  To you brave souls, kudos!  Running is a wonderful way to improve your health.  However, limiting your fitness exclusively to running is an invitation for injury.  By including some weight training and flexibility training (such as yoga) in your routine, not only does your risk of injury reduce drastically, but your running performance will also improve.

Runners are notoriously prone to injury.  Patellofemoral pain syndrome, also known as Runner’s Knee, is one of the most common complaints of dedicated runners.  Weakness or tightness of the hips and IT band are a frequent cause of this knee pain.  Strengthening your glutes and increasing the flexibility of your hip flexors will go a long way toward eliminating this pain. 

Strengthening your core will also go a long way toward reducing your risk of injury and improving your running performance.  A strong core allows you to run with good posture and a more efficient stride.  And who doesn’t want to look good while running faster?

Finally, a stronger, more flexible body will help you generate more force with each stride and train harder because of your muscles’ improved endurance.  In addition, strength training provides the added health benefits of improved bone density, increased metabolism, and elevated energy levels. 

Start simple, and even if you can only dedicate 10 minutes to strength and flexibility training initially, you’ll be amazed at the benefits.  Healthy running! 

Standing on the Sidelines

Someone once told me that if I had never failed at anything, then I wasn't trying hard enough.  At the time, that idea seemed ludicrous to me. I like to win. I like to look good. I like to succeed. Why would I try to fail? Strangely enough, in one area of my life, I have learned to appreciate failure. In the rest of my life, I'm still working on it.

I moved to Canada in the middle of high school from East Africa. Having grown up in a culture of soccer, I had learned to play the sport, and play it fairly well. Unfortunately, in small-town Canada, playing soccer wasn't an option unless you were five years old and wore a Timbits uniform. My school did, however, have a rugby team, and being relatively athletic, I figured I'd give it a shot. At the tryouts, my coaches discovered that I was fast, kicked well and had a rather foolish disregard for my general wellbeing. I became the fullback, whatever that meant.

Game day. I had two whole practices under my belt, and the cocky assurance that came with being a starter. We won the coin toss to start the game, and the ref handed me the ball. But I didn't know what to do with it. Our practices had reviewed positions and tackling, and a few passing plays. I knew how to place kick for a conversion, and how to throw a lateral pass, but I was at a loss as to how to start the game. Taking pity on me, the ref quietly explained that I was supposed to drop-kick to the other team, and they would catch the ball. I had done drop kicks in soccer, but a rugby ball resembles a football on steroids…oblong and unwieldy. I dropped the ball, my whole team watching, swung my foot, and missed.

That moment stands out as one of the more embarrassing ones of my athletic career. I had turned over the ball in the first second of the game. I wanted to quit and crawl into a hole. From now on I would be known as the new girl who can't even kick a ball. That night I went home and practiced the infamous drop kick for hours. And I still wasn't very good at it, but at least I managed to get a foot on the ball. For the next several weeks I practiced, over and over and over again. When I finally connected, and sent the ball exactly where I intended for it to go, the rush of accomplishment was unbelievable. There was room for improvement, sure, but I had done something that I had failed at a few short weeks ago, and I had done it well. What's more, over the course of the rugby season, I learned to play a sport that I really loved.

The first time I hit the weight room, hoping to improve my athletic performance, I felt the same sense of bewilderment and embarrassment. So many pieces of equipment, so many people who looked like they knew what they were doing, and I had no idea where to start. But I fumbled around, asked some questions, did some research, and came to love weight training. The beauty of it? There is always something I can't do. No matter how strong or fast or flexible I get, there's always something just a little too hard for me to do. So I try. And I fail. And then try again. And the day I get it right is amazing, just like making that drop kick. I can always do better, but I've accomplished something I had failed at.

Once I stopped viewing exercise as a goal to reach, but instead as an amazing journey of triumphs and failures, an entire world of possibilities opened up. I could play it safe and sit on the sidelines. I'd never screw up and look like an idiot if I did. But I'd never accomplish anything either.

Not a Destination

The glory of a race, the ultimate moment that is photographed for posterity and talked about by all of the spectators, is the final moment when a spent athlete strides across the finish line. Often, life is treated in a similar manner. Every second is an opportunity to train, to improve so that you can cross that finish line first. In many ways that sort of drive is admirable, but unfortunately in the area of health, it is counterproductive. There is no ideal, no peak moment. Health is a journey, not a destination.
While people have various reasons for striving for a healthier, stronger self, all of us are united by a single goal. We want to be happy, pain free, strong, and attractive. With that goal in mind, however, we need to realize that a punishing, restrictive lifestyle won't get us there. Because there is no there there. Every moment should be a victory, a celebration. Exercising should be enjoyable, and eating something that will make you feel better tomorrow should be acknowledged with a moment of pride. Every single thing that you do that moves you closer to health should be celebrated, because it means you can accomplish your goals unimpeded, you can play with your children without pain or fatigue, you can participate in activities with the pure, unfettered enjoyment that we enjoyed when we were children.
Somewhere along the way, though, "healthy living" got a negative rap. Exercise became an obligation, and eating healthy was a sacrifice. Ironically, though, exercising can be fun! You can dance, play sports, go for a hike in the beautiful woods, or plunge into an icy lake on a hot summer day to go for a swim. As children, those activities did not seem punishing. But at some point that changed. Eating a freshly picked apple as you sat in a sun-drenched yard became a nutritional obligation measured by its calories, fat content, and carbohydrate count. And yet eating foods that make your body flourish is not only enjoyable, but delicious.
I ask you to take a moment to reflect on why living a healthy, strong life seems like so much work. Are you choosing the wrong activities? Subsisting on a calorie-constricted, unappetizing fare? What activities did you love as a child? What natural, unprocessed foods do you enjoy? Go back to those. The rest will come, just give it a chance. And along the way, marvel at your increased energy and your decreased waistline. Celebrate reacquainting yourself with the healthy, beautiful person you were intended to be.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
Exercise is a huge step toward losing weight and feeling great…BUT the fuel you feed your body is just as important! A good (if way overused, sorry!) analogy is to think of your body as a car. You give it good fuel, and it performs well. You give it poor quality fuel and…you call a tow truck. So here are a few guidelines to help you out. Enjoy!


A few do's and don'ts:
DO drink water. Dehydration causes all kinds of medical problems! If you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated, so try to get into the habit of drinking throughout the day. You should be drinking a minimum of 2 litres per day. Coffee, tea, juice, milk, or any other non-water beverages don't count!
DO eat 4-5 small meals a day. When you eat regularly, your metabolism efficiently burns calories and your body is less inclined to store fat. Skipping a meal (especially breakfast) slows your metabolism way down, decreasing your ability to burn fat and making you feel tired.
DON'T diet. EVER! Extreme restrictions in calories or cutting food groups out of your diet will lose you a few pounds short term, but the weight your are losing is muscle, not fat. You lose this weight because your body is STARVING, and in the long run you will gain back all of the weight you have lost plus more. So all those books collecting dust on the shelf – Atkins Diet, Jenny Craig, etc – can go in the garbage!
DO eat fibre. A high fibre diet decreases your risk of cancer and heart disease, absorbs toxins from your body, and keeps you regular. Fruit, vegetables, and whole grains (like brown rice, quinoa, & bulgar), and raw seeds and nuts all have high fibre content.
DON'T stop for fast food whenever you get hungry. Once in a while, junk food is okay. You have to have a little fun, right? Just be aware of what's going into your mouth.

For example…

McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast: 1140 calories, 59g fat, 2250mg sodium

Burger King Whopper: 1250 calories, 84g fat, 1600mg sodium

Add fries, and that's another 600 calories, 33g fat, 990mg sodium

Add a milk shake, and you've added 960 calories, 32g fat, 720mg sodium

For a whopping total of: 2810 calories, 124g fat, and 3310mg sodium

To give a little perspective…

Active men should have 2000-2500 calories, 60g fat, and 1800mg sodium per day

Active women should have 1600-2000 calories, 50g fat, and 1800mg sodium per day

A few tips:

1. 
   Plan out your menu for the week. That way you will always have healthy food available. If you're really busy, cook big batches of food on the weekend that you can put in the fridge and freezer for the week.
2. Avoid sugar. If there's one thing in your diet to avoid, it's sugar. Sugar weakens your immune system, causes diabetes, is linked to multiple forms of cancer, and causes food cravings, mood swings, and fatigue. Even worse than sugar, though, are sugar substitutes, like Splenda, Equal, and NutraSweet. So, if you just HAVE to have a pop, regular is better than diet.
3. Avoid salt.Salt is the #1 cause of heart disease. It's worse than fat for your heart. A little bit of sea salt in your cooking is okay, but try to take regular iodized salt out of your diet. It's in everything, from canned foods to frozen dinners to baked goods. If you want some extra flavor, try spices.
4. Learn to read labels. If you don't recognize some of the ingredients on the label, don't eat it!!!
5. Include raw fruits and vegetables with every meal.Raw fruits and vegetables give you vitamins, minerals and fibre that cooked foods cannot.
6. Skip meat a few times a week. Meat is hard work for your body to digest, so instead of resting and repairing, everything grinds to a halt until it's out of your system. Experiment with some beans or lentils for a few meals, your body will thank you! And if you're worried about the…um…adverse effects that beans have a reputation for, stop! Once your body adjusts to the increase in fibre, that's no longer a problem.
7. Eat green vegetables. Greens are the most nutrient-dense foods available, so eat lots! This may evoke images of the same boring iceburg lettuce salad, but there's a huge variety of greens available, and they're delicious in salads, soups, stir-fries, and even in dips, so experiment! Some possibilities include spinach, kale, collard greens, bok choy, cabbage, and broccoli.

An easy green side-dish:
Sautéed Swiss Chard with Onions
1 ½ lbs Swiss chard (1 bunch)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion (or 2-3 shallots), thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
Sea salt & pepper


Cut stem & centre rib from chard, slice into 2" pieces. Stack leaves & roll lengthwise. Cut crosswise into 1" strips. Heat oil & butter in heavy pot, then cook onion & garlic with ½ tsp sea salt & ¼ tsp pepper, about 8 minutes. Add chard stems, cook until tender, 4-6 minutes. Add greens, ½ tsp sea salt & ¼ tsp pepper. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally until wilted, 4-6 minutes. Serves 3-4.
Food Myths…
Myth #1 –You've all heard the commercials: "Milk, it does the body good." Milk is supposed to be high in calcium and other nutrients. True, it is high in calcium, but it's a form of calcium that your body can't use and it in fact leaches calcium out of your bones, weakening them. In addition, the growth hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals in milk make it more harmful than helpful. So if you sit down with a glass of milk, think of it as a treat, kind of like ice cream.
Myth #2 -- Meat protein is necessary to be strong and healthy. Yes, animal products are high in protein. They are also difficult for your body to digest, so they sit around in your intestines for days causing bloating and constipation. In addition, consumption of significant amounts of meat tends to be linked to certain diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Most North Americans eat 5-6 times more protein than necessary, which is then stored as fat. So, like with everything else, practice moderation. Have a few meatless meals. And if you're worried about getting enough protein in your diet, remember that calorically, spinach derives more energy from protein than meat.

Enjoy Life!

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." ~ Author Unknown

We are constantly bombarded in our society with consumer messages: Buy this to be happy; subscribe to this to be thin; use this to be beautiful...There are so many products available that the pressure of choice is paralyzing, so many paths to take that the options are daunting.  In a place where your possibilities are limitless, I ask you today to think not of what you could be, but to appreciate who you are and what you have.

The Spice of Life

Fall has arrived! The leaves are changing, kids are going back to school, and cold weather is just around the corner. While the autumn trees are beautiful, and this year, for the first time in quite a while, I can heave a sigh of relief that I did not return to school this September, the cooling whether that promises frigid winter months ahead is not appealing. The fabulous soups, stews, and chilis that accompany such weather, however, are a very different story. There is something comforting about sitting down to a hot, spicy stew on a cold, wet night. A feeling of home.

This spring I discovered a gem of a cookbook. Being a cookbook cynic, tired of buying a promising-looking tome just to discover that only one or two of the hundreds of recipes are edible, let alone tasty, all of my culinary exploration now begins at the library. I stumbled across this unremarkable, unillustrated, bright green cover while browsing the shelves and decided to give it a chance. To my amazement, each recipe it contained was better than the last. The beauty of this book? Not only are the dishes fantastic, but they are filled with vegetables, beans, grains, and all sorts of other healthy ingredients!

Whether you are a hardcore carnivore, a complete vegan, or your dietary habits fall somewhere in the middle, this book is for you. Just to give you a little taste, and with the gracious permission of this book's creator, Dreena Burton (more information about her on her blog at vivelevegan.blogspot.com), I have included one of my favourite recipes below. From Eat, Drink & Be Vegan:

Sweet Potato Lentil Chili
Serves 5-6

1 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
1 ¾ cups onions, diced
1 cup celery, diced
2 – 2 ½ cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed about 1" thick
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt (or less)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 ¼ cups dry red lentils
2 ½ cups water
1 can (28 oz/796 mL) crushed tomatoes, salt free
1 can (14 oz/398 mL) black beans or kidney beans, rinsed and drained or 1 ¾ cups cooked
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
Lime wedges (for garnish, optional)

 In a large pot on medium heat, add oil, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, nutmeg, cumin, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally; reduce heat if onions are sticking to bottom of pot. Rinse lentils. Add lentils, water, tomatoes, beans, and bay leaf. Stir to combine and increase heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes or longer until sweet potatoes are softened, stirring occasionally. Stir in lime juice, season to taste with additional salt, pepper. Serve with lime wedges (optional).

Enjoy!
-Bethany

Welcome to Our North American Waistland

I waited impatiently on the front steps of my dance studio for my dad, who had promised to pick me up after my lesson. He pulled up, a little late, and I hopped in. We were stopped at a red light when a shiny black Mercedes, similar to ours, pulled up beside us. After admiring the car, I glanced to the other side and noticed a homeless man slumped on the sidewalk. His clothes were tattered, his face unshaven, and with a hopeless expression he clutched a cardboard sign that read, "Please help, my family is hungry."

Homeless people are not uncommon in big cities, and this was not the first time I had seen one, but for some reason this man, with his ragged little sign, upset me. "You know, Dad," I said, "if the guy beside us didn't have such a nice car, that man could have some food." My dad just glanced at me, then back to the road as the light turned green. I persisted, though. "If we didn't have such a nice car, he could have food."

That night we sat down as a family to discuss it. A few months later, we had sold our house – my beautiful house with a pool and an elevator – and bought a home that cost half as much. The remaining money, $800,000, we gave to organizations that helped the poor. And amazingly, we've discovered that we spend a lot more time together in our new, smaller, house. We're happier now, and with much less than we thought we needed.

(Paraphrased from an interview aired on CBC Radio on August 9, 2010)

The sad reality is that the majority of the world's population faces a lifetime of poverty and hunger, waking every morning wondering what they will eat for breakfast. Or lunch. Maybe even dinner. For those of us lucky enough not to be consigned to that fate, however, other problems exist. Unfortunately, some of those problems are of our own making.

Over the past century, diseases have been popping up that were previously either unheard of or rare. Because they share one commonality, physicians have grouped them into a single category – Diseases of Affluence. Too much sugar, too much fat, too much meat, too much food, too little movement. Our high-pressure, fast-paced, eat-on-the-run lives are taking a toll. What are these diseases? Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, obesity (yes, it is a disease), gout, and so many more…This is not to say that these disease are by any means caused exclusively by poor diet and lifestyle choices. But they are absolutely a contributing factor.

Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser, in his book Fast Food Nation, observed that "Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music – combined!" But while fast food is a heavy contributor to our ever-expanding waistlines, it is by no means the only culprit. Over the last century, the average American diet has almost doubled in meat consumption. Similarly, cheese consumption over the last hundred years has increased from 4 to 33 pounds per person per year. And, in the last 30 years alone, the average North American's consumption of sugar has skyrocketed by a staggering 20 pounds per year. And according to Statistics Canada, 48% of Canadians claim that they are completely inactive.

Ironically, in a continent renowned for prosperity and medical advances, we are being outlived by people in much poorer countries. We are literally eating, sitting, and sleep-depriving ourselves to death!

And that should be fantastic news to everyone.

For example, if diabetes was exclusively genetic, that would be tragic. You would grow up knowing that, should one or more of your family members have diabetes, you would be doomed to the same fate. Checking your blood sugar daily. Injecting yourself with insulin. Day after day after day. But that is not the case. The choices you make -- what foods you eat, whether or not you exercise, whether you drink enough water and sleep enough – can significantly decrease your risk of developing the disease, or reduce its impact if you already have it. The same applies to cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity, gout, and so many more diseases.

So what can you do about it?

Eat more fruits and vegetables. Plant foods provide us with vitamins and minerals, which help your cells function and repair. The fibre they contain decreases LDL (bad) cholesterol, maintains intestinal health, stabilizes blood sugar, and moves waste through your intestines, reducing your risk of colon cancer. (Fibre supplements such as Benefiber and Metamucil will keep you regular, but that's about all they'll do for you.) Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables help repair cellular damage, called oxidation, and thereby help prevent cancer. Finally, fruits and vegetables also provide your body with calcium, iron, and a small amount of protein.

Focus on whole grains. Whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat couscous provide your body with protein, healthy carbohydrates, and fibre. As a side note, just be aware that a diet that asks you to cut out a macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates, or fat) -- Atkins, anyone? -- should be approached with extreme caution. The only reason the Atkins diet causes weight loss is that, with the drastic reduction in carbohydrate consumption, your body becomes desperate for an energy source, and therefore breaks down your own muscle tissue (which weighs more than fat) to provide that energy.

Incorporate legumes into your diet. Beans, peas and lentils are loaded with protein, fibre, calcium, and iron. To top it off, these guys are even cheap! If your body isn't used to the amount of fibre legumes provide, introduce them into your diet slowly, adding a few more dishes every week. And if you've really never ventured into the world of beans, you may want to consider attempting your first dish on the weekend…or on your week off. You'll be pleased to know, however, that all of their musical qualities wear off after the first week or two.

Cut down on your meat and dairy consumption. Yes, I know, some of you are cringing at this one. I'm not telling you to suddenly cut meat out of your diet, just reduce your intake. The reality is that almost 50% of the fat from animal products is saturated fat…artery clogging fat. In a recent study, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, researchers found that individuals who consumed the most meat and dairy in their diet were also the heaviest, with the highest cholesterol, blood pressure, and body fat percentages. Until the 20^th century, people couldn't afford to have meat at every dinner, let alone three times a day! It was a treat reserved for special occasions, like weddings, holidays, and, for the wealthy, Sunday dinners. It was eaten as frequently as we now eat cake. Or as frequently as we should eat cake…

Finally, slow down and cut down! Average portion sizes have increased by more than 25% over the last half century, and people no longer take the time to sit down and enjoy a meal. Food is scarfed down in front of the television, in the car, or at a desk. It takes approximately 20 minutes for your brain to register that you are full, so if you're inhaling a super-sized meal in a hurry, you're most likely going to eat way more than you need to. Whether you're eating a cucumber or a cheeseburger, be thankful that you have food in front of you, and then enjoy the experience!

For most of you, selling your house is likely not an option, nor is donating half of the proceeds of said sale. But remember that just because you can afford to buy ice cream every day doesn't mean that you should. Be thankful that you have access to healthy food and clean water; that you have access to foods that will not only help you to survive, but to thrive. And if you feel like you need a reminder, volunteer at your local soup kitchen for a day. Or donate the money you saved on groceries this week by eating a little less. Your body will thank you.

- Bethany