New Research
The new research findings concerning the negative impact of overeating on ideal body composition, thus health, are very dramatic. It is better, significantly better, to be lean. When focusing on changing this condition, getting lean is actually step number 2. The first step is to get rid of extra fat (dropping from obese to normal). This would explain why there are really 3 levels: (1) obesity, a body fat composition that is having an obvious negative impact on daily functioning and health; (2) normal, neither obese nor lean; and (3) lean, a level that, in America, draws comments such as ‘‘too thin,” “skinny,” “sickly,” and ‘‘when are you going to stop losing weight?” but in reality this is the ideal.
Solution: The 2 Components
Although the research says lean is healthy, our first step is to not be obese. This weight control has 2 components.
First is exercise. The surgeon general has given the first ever report from that office recommending more physical activity. Very simply, it is now a major public health issue. Inactivity is connected to all aspects of health (physical and psychological), longevity, death rates from all causes (not just heart disease), etc.
Secondly, we eat too much food. We eat too much healthy food. Controlling amounts is the key. When purchasing and preparing food for at-home eating, or when eating out, consider using the following to help control the amount you eat.
Amount-Controlling Behaviors
Fruit—select an apple, a peach, or a pear rather than a bunch of grapes. People graze on a bunch of grapes.
Sandwich at the deli—use 1 filling (meat or cheese, not both).
Sandwich at the deli—order half, even when a whole sandwich is a better buy. Too many half sandwiches that were going to be saved for the next day never make it to the next day.
Potato—bake it. This is a very filling and exact serving portion. People eat several servings when potatoes are mashed or fried.
Ice cream—get into the car and drive to the ice cream shop. Purchase 1 serving and stay right there to eat it. This is in contrast to purchasing a gallon, placing it in the home freezer, and then seeing if you can avoid it. One bowl at home will probably be 3 or 4 real servings.
Pizza at a restaurant—order pizza, and while the pizza is baking, eat a plate of salad (vegetables, not cheese, egg yolks, and macaroni salad) and have a large diet drink.
Pizza at a restaurant—order personal-size instead of ordering a whole pizza, and then planning to save the extra for the next day. Leftover pizza rarely makes it to the next day.
Lunch—select items that automatically come in 1-serving sizes such as a bagel, a carton of light yogurt, a bean burrito, and a baked yam.
TV dinners—now that Healthy Choice is on the market, these are available in a low-fat and acceptable-salt variety, but the main selling point (even with the old high-fat and loaded-withsalt varieties) is the control of the serving size. Heat it up, eat the small portions of 2 or 3 things, and pitch the container. There are no seconds.
Cups, bowls, plates, etc.—there is a simple bottom line: People eat a bowl of cereal, a bowl of soup, a plate of pasta, a plate of rice, or they have a cup of coffee, etc. Think ahead. Plan for reasonable-sized serving dishes. This is rigging the score, setting yourself up to win, instead of taking too much on a large serving dish and then trying to not clean your plate.
AUGUST 2020
Simple sugars (white, powdered, brown, honey, molasses, syrup, fruit juices) all quickly elevate the blood sugar, which triggers an insulin response. This very quickly causes a drop-in blood sugar level. This is the hypoglycemic response. It is a sleepy feeling. This does not feel good. If you are alive and a human animal, this is how your body responds. This is not an opinion. It is basic human physiology.
—The Author
Curried Rice Soup
Recipe:
Place the following in a Crock-Pot and cook on LOW all day:
1 c. brown rice
1 yellow onion
1/2 red onion
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper 3 green chilies
1 can no-salt tomato paste
1 can no-salt stewed tomatoes
water, enough to fill Crock-Pot 2 inches from the top
Spices
3 T. curry
3 T. ground cumin
2 T. garlic powder
1/2 t. black pepper
4 T. parsley flakes
AUGUST 2020
John Deere Stew
Whenever I see green and yellow together, I think of John Deere tractors, the farm tractors that I grew up with. For my father, there was no other to even consider. It had to be a John Deere. Also, no matter how old these tractors from the 1930s, 1940s, and one 1950 Model-A got, they always had a fresh coat of paint. New paint, John Deere green and yellow, was a priority for Martin Schlife, the proud farmer. In Anchorage, I lived on a busy float place lake, and I marveled daily at the different ways that people paint their personal airplanes. Once on a run around the lake I noticed a white plane trimmed in green and yellow. My thoughts, ‘‘Yes! John Deere green!” I cook with lots of colors. Here are 2 of my favorites, green and yellow.
Recipe:
Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW all day:
4 ears of fresh corn, microwave and cut from the cob
1 bunch of fresh broccoli, chop the stalks but leave the flowerettes in bite-sized pieces
1/3 head of celery, chop from top with leaves
1 small yellow squash, quarter lengthwise and chop
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
4 green onions, finely chopped, including the stems
1 16-oz. can no-salt stewed tomatoes
1 16-oz. can no-salt tomato sauce
1/2 package nonfat dry milk (1 package makes 1 qt.)
water, enough to fill Crock-Pot 2 inches from the top
Spices
1 t. black pepper
3 T. parsley flakes
2 T. garlic powder
1 T. ground mustard
1 T. onion powder
August 2020
Reasons to Eat: Taste and Well-Being
In one of the classes that I teach in lifestyle modification, classes that run 4 hours through the dinner hour, students have enjoyed an assignment that consists of building a salad with deliberate thought given to why each ingredient is included. The goal is to build a salad around mostly vegetables so that it is fat-free, high in fiber, and without added salt. Each person brings a 1-serving salad, and then trades the salad with another person in the class. Each salad comes with a list of the ingredients (a list of vegetables and fruits) and a reason why the person thought that a particular item has some specific role to play in promoting good nutrition. Of course, the salad was constructed with good-tasting items that were also pleasant to the eye, but the emphasis was on a specific nutrient (soluble fiber, calcium, potassium,