Posts tagged ‘health’

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March 20th, 2013

My Fruity WIAW

by Tiff

Hey!  How’s it going?  Things are pretty good here!  I’m in a much better mood this week than last week.  Perhaps it was just the extra dose of sunshine I got over the weekend.  Anywho… it’s time for another WIAW link up party.

Pre-Gym: rice cake and pb

peeb

Workout: leg day… whew.  Nuff said.

leg

Breakfast: two eggs, onion, bell pepper, and an orange

eggs

Snack: Sometimes you crave chocolate at 9:30 pm, and sometimes it’s 9:30 am.  Today was the latter.  choc vitatop and a tease of pb

vitatop

Lunch: green monster (frozen banana, 1/2 c frozen raspberries, 3 handfuls baby spinach, 1/2 c almond milk, Sunwarrior vanilla protein, and a splash of water to thin it out a bit)

lunch

Snack: alfresco cereal with almond milk

snack

Dinner: this apple-spinach chicken recipe with quinoa (omahgershsogood)

chicken

Dessert: Sometimes you crave chocolate at night again too. teehee  a couple dark chocolate squares

  • How much fruit do you usually eat a day? (I’m usually 1-2 pieces, but obviously not yesterday!)

 

Posted in Food | 14 Comments »

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February 17th, 2013

Sunday Food Prep

by Tiff

Hello All!  I don’t normally post on Sundays, but while food prepping for the week (aka: spending hours in the kitchen) I was inspired.  I’m linking up to the weekly “Menu Planning Challenge” where readers can get meal planning inspiration.

meal plan

My Sunday included some time with online grocery weekly ads, my list, and a spreadsheet.  Oh – and coffee.  Always coffee.

spreadsheet

Then I head off to the grocery store.  Today was great because the store was so empty.  It snowed here in NC last night, so a lot of people were a little timid of the roads.  (Like Leia – she wasn’t a fan of the snow at all!)

snow      kitty

Then I get to cooking!  Along with cooking ducks for dinner, which includes defrosting, a saltwater brine, and 5 hours for baking, I made Jamie’s Protein Pumpkin Bars and prepped what I could for the week.

prep

 

I’m eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and snack all week, so I’ll share more on that on Wednesday (WIAW).

  • Any other nerds use spreadsheets when meal planning?  (I almost make a really nerdy nutrition and Excel pun about macros, but I refrained.  You’re welcome.)
  • See any snow?

Posted in Food | 11 Comments »

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January 30th, 2013

WIAW to Lower Cholesterol

by Tiff

Hello Lovelies! In case you missed yesterday‘s post, I talked a little bit about cholesterol and how I plan to lower mine. Before dropping the topic (getting redundant, eh?) I want to share a few foods that some researchers say can naturally lower cholesterol. Since I’m eating them anyway, what better time to do it that What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW)?

Breakfast: oats with walnut pieces, raspberries, and chia seeds (All of these are great, and oats and walnuts are mentioned in Cooking Light’s “Top 8 Cholesterol Reducing Foods.)

oats

Snack: 15 raw almonds (Mayo Clinic mentions almonds in its article, “Cholesterol: Top five foods to lower your numbers.“)

nuts

Lunch: an apple with 1/2 can tuna in water and a 100-calorie pack of Wholly Guacamole (The fiber from the apple, the omegas in the tuna, and the healthy fats from the avocado are all big players here, though salmon is widely accepted as “better” than tuna.)

lunch

Snack: carrots and low-fat cottage cheese… but after one bite, I realized my cottage cheese had gone bad (yuck!), so I had to sub this bar instead. It’s not as healthy as the cottage cheese, but I guess I could have done worse.

snack granola

Dinner: slow cooker lentil stew with cornmeal dumplings (This was good- not amazing, but good. I added some of my own extra spices and was very glad I did. I also used some heart-healthy olive oil in the dumplings. Going meat-less is definitely cholesterol friendly, especially with all the fiber in those lentils!)

lentils

Dessert: half a cup of organic chocolate ice cream… maybe not so heart healthy, but definitely heart happy!

I don’t plan on eating quite this many healthy fats on a daily basis, but I wanted to give it a whirl. However, I do plan to increase my consumption. Hopefully I’ll be able to increase my consumption of fish too, but that’s hard for someone who’s not a huge seafood fanatic… except for shrimpies. I’m always happy to have shrimpies!

  • Are you eating or have you eaten anything to alleviate or cure any specific health concerns?

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January 29th, 2013

Cholesterallllll Up In Here

by Tiff

As I recently mentioned, I’ve got high cholesterol.  It’s always been sort of high, but the last numbers were more of a wake-up call for me.

For those of us who aren’t cardiologists, cholesterol is found in all cells of the body, which isn’t so bad since we need at least a wee bit in there.  Too much of it, on the other hand, increases a person’s risk of getting heart disease by building up (as plaque) along artery walls, narrowing the flow of blood.

arteries

Image from WebMD

Below 200 mg/dL is generally good.  200-240 mg/dL is moderate.  Above 240 mg/dL is quite high.  I’m at 233.  Yipes!

hdl

Image Source

HDL (good) cholesterol can actually lower your risk.  A number greater than 60 is considered good, so luckily I’m at 65.  Woohoo!  The LDL (bad) cholesterol is the stuff that causes the plaque.  Between 100 and 159 is moderately high, and I’m 142.  That’s clearly not good, but it could be worse.

pizza-002.jpg

So perhaps less of this……

Reducing bad cholesterol sounds easy, but sometimes the easy stuff doesn’t work for all of us, like myself.  Doctors recommend you increase fiber,  stop smoking, reduce cholesterol in your diet, and eat less saturated fat.  My doctor told me to exercise more.  Hmmm…. pretty sure I’ve got that part covered mmmmkaythanks.

fish

and a bit more of this (fish, brown rice, veg).

So what’s a girl to do when she’s already eating relatively well and exercising?  I could go on medication, but I’m not ready for that yet (mentally).

zocor

I don’t feel old enough for this just yet!

I think I’m going to take some of my dad’s advice (after all, excess cholesterol production runs in my family), and increase my consumption of healthy fats.  I’ll also reduce sodium, continue to eat my oats, and cook more vegan meals.  (Cheese is a serious weakness for me!)

Check back tomorrow for a WIAW filled with examples of foods that combat high cholesterol.

 

  • What’s the thing you wish you hadn’t inherited? Mine’s pretty obvious.
  • What’s one thing you’re glad you got from Mom or Pops?  Great gams run in my fam!

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December 4th, 2012

Healthy on a Budget: Gifts that Keep Giving

by Tiff

Many of you are knocking out that Christmas shopping, and I bet a lot of you are probably also making wishlists.  (Yup – mine just keeps growing!)  I’ve created a list of holiday gifts that keep on giving.  For that reason, I’ve added them to my Healthy on a Budget series.

budget

In case you missed previous series posts:

1. Slow Cooker.  If you don’t own one of these babies yet, put it on your wishlist.  Slow cooking and budget meals go hand-in-hand.  You can make lean cuts of meat tender without added fat.  In contrast, you can purchase cheaper cuts of meat, cook them slowly, and then drain off the extra fat and juices at the end.  I also use mine for vegetarian meals with fresh or frozen veggies.  I’m a fan of my buffalo chicken, salsa chicken, and spicy lentil soup.  I also love this vegetarian curry, and Kevin’s crazy about this beef in red wine gravy meal.

2. Fitness gear.  I’m not going to recap how great it is to have a little equipment at home since I covered most of it in last week’s Frugal Fitness post, but you’ll be surprised how much you can get out of a few dumbbells, resistance bands, and a stability ball.

3.  Of-the-Month club. Though wine of the month, cookie of the month, and possibly even Clark Griswald’s jelly of the month clubs all sound appealing, that doesn’t fit into my Healthy on a Budget list.  I’m talking about fruit or veggies of the month.  I asked for a Harry & David fruit club membership in college, and while I think it may have been a bit overpriced, it was very much appreciated.  Perhaps you can find a local CSA to deliver to your door too.

clark

4. Storage containers.  Lamest gift ever?  Perhaps.  Incredibly useful for months or years to come?  Heck yeah.  Packed lunches or smartly stored leftover dinners contribute to a healthy waistline and a healthy wallet.  Kevin and I are both very good about prepped lunches, so these are an must at our house.  Glass containers are becoming even more affordable, but let’s face it, if someone else gets it for you, the price is definitely right.

  • So those are my top pics – what are yours?

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