More Thoughts on Eating Lifestyles

I have no delusions that any of you are following the way we eat with rapt attention. But in the off-chance that anyone is interested, here are a few recent changes and learnings:

GLUTEN-FREE
While we no longer stick to a totally gluten-free lifestyle at home, we remain gluten-reduced. All of the flour and pasta we buy are gluten-free. By the way, if you have not tried Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-free flour, I strongly suggest you do.

As always, I continue to recommend that those who are beginning the gluten-free lifestyle refrain from trying to replace every item they normally eat with a store-bought gluten-free alternative. Choose what is most important. An English muffin or bagel at breakfast makes life bearable? Choose that.  A child who will feel more "normal" with a real sandwich for lunch a school? Choose bread for him/her.  Then make changes. Make wraps in a lettuce leaf rather than bread or tortillas. Steer away from pasta dishes (or cut back drastically - once every other week rather than every week or more). Find alternative recipes for things like pancakes and waffles for that big weekly family breakfast (see my note about the flour above - makes it simple to use your regular recipes). Just skip rolls and biscuits and crackers with meals. Use fresh veggies for dipping instead of chips. You get the idea.


LOW CARB
In September my husband's doctor advised him to adopt a low-carb lifestyle. Having adopted gluten-free and leaned toward Paleo over the past few years, this would seem simple, right? But I looked at what we were eating and saw more revision needed. So we cut out a few more things that had slipped back into the pantry. We examined the amount of sugar that had crept in. It has had some effect but not as much as I would like, so I am looking again for ways to cut back. Sometimes a drastic change works, sometimes it's a slow progression.

HIGH FAT
Before you jump up and holler, listen for a few minutes.
Fat has gotten a bad reputation mostly because all the studies have been funded by the sugar industry. And because people also misunderstand the relationship between the fat we eat and the fat we, well, wear.
Also keep in mind that "high fat" does not mean we are gorging on fatty meats - let's not fall into the mindset that fueled disputes over Atkins and other diets. It means that the perentage of Fat/Protein/Carbs in our daily eating is 50%/30%/20%. On an average.
Yes, we have bacon, eggs, and berries with whipped cream every weekday. That's 2 strips of bacon each, one egg for me and 2 for him, and a half cup of mixed berries with 2 tablespoons of whipped cream. We have discovered that this is a perfect 50/30/20 breakfast! It isn't the breakfast for everyone, but it is a balanced and normal meal - nothing overloaded - so that's why I specifically shared it. We each have something different for lunch, but basically meat/cheese with veggies and/or fruit. Dinner is another basic meal - last night we had pork chops (one 4 oz chop each) with mashed sweet potato (seasoned with cinnamon and butter) and a salad (greens topped with grated carrot, some nuts and seeds, a few dried raisins/cranberries/cherries, a couple tablespoons of dressing all in a large bowl). Again, the point here is that meals are normal and easy, trying to keep the ratio of fat/protein/carbs in line for the whole day.
Confession - we still have a dish of ice cream in the evening, but we have cut it to a real serving (1/2 cup) and we figure it into the day right from the start. The same with candy at the moment: I still have 1 ounce o dark chocolate and he has a small handful of his candy-of-the-week. (Looking at cutting that back, but we'll see.)

BULLETPROOF COFFEE
Several people asked about how I drink my bulletproof coffee, and so here's an update:
To a large mug (you'll need extra room - for 12 oz coffee I use a 16 oz mug and it's tight) add:
2T each butter (I use Kerrygold) and coconut oil (I use unrefined, but if the taste bothers you use refined)
1T cocoa
a sprinkle of cinnamon
a splash of cream (or the milk of your choice)
coffee
Put all the additions in the mug and then pour in the hot coffee.
Use your immersion/stick blender and carefully blend for about a minute. DONE!
I know, I had told you to put all of this in a blender, but I recently began using the immersion blender and it works perfectly and the coffee stays hotter. Plus the immersion blender is faster and easier to clean - just rinse with hot water and let it dry! So if putting this all in the regular blender and then having to clean that blender was deterring you, try it this way! And of course adjust the amounts of the additives to suit your taste (more/less cocoa or cinnamon or cream - delete an ingredient completely if you wish) because the important parts are the coffee, the butter and the coconut oil. Cinnamon and cocoa are also beneficial. If you delete the cocoa, you might find that a teaspoon of vanilla extract makes the taste smoother. If you like mint, toss in 1/2 tsp (more or less) peppermint extract. Have fun with it!

BOTTOM LINE
Food is our friend and our medicine chest. Eat to be well, stay well and get well. Adjust whatever areas of your diet and make permanent changes, not short-term (unless you are testing for sensitivity - then you may need to do a short-term change). Eat sensible portions. And don't apologize for your choices or feel pressured to at something you don't want in your diet. Make choices - and if the choice is to have a piece of cake a a gathering, do so without guilt. Adjust the rest of your day. Think ahead.
And most of all - forgive yourself and move on when you do something off-plan. None of use is perfect - least of all me!

Please send your experiences and comments and suggestions!