Super Foods to the Rescue!

I’ve been reading a lot about Super Foods lately – those nutritional dynamos that are supposed to cure everything from heart disease to irregularity. The problem with Super Foods is that everyone has a different list of what constitutes “must haves” for your diet.

My interested in Super Foods was originally peaked a while back when I read an article on ABC News that listed their Super Foods recommendations. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to dig up the link or remember all their recommendations. I do know that Brazil Nuts were on the list because it prompted me to head to the local peanut shop and pick some up.

Then, as I have been slowly working my way through my overflowing magazine rack, I came across articles in Fitness and Body+Soul Magazines about their picks for foods that are Super.

Fitness Magazine tells me that grapes, pumpkins, corn, honey, mushrooms, cabbage, eggs and pistachios should all make regular appearances on my breakfast/lunch/dinner plate. I must admit that after searching for Super Foods online, this list seems somewhat unusual. For one thing, the foods seem so, well, ordinary. It seems like most of the online lists include such exotic fare as acai, goji berries, kale and tofu. By comparison, corn seems a bit ho hum. I think those of us focused on healthy eating sometimes want to re-invent the wheel, and it takes the fun out of it to think that such “boring” stables as corn and cabbage could in fact be super.

Also, I’ve often heard that corn isn’t much more than a filler so it was surprising to see it make the Fitness list. However, they back up their claim by stating that corn is full of fiber, Vitamin B, sterols and folate. So I guess I need to give those ears a little more respect.

As for Body+Soul Magazine, the cover of their March 2008 issue promises “45 Super Foods for Long Life.” Not sure exactly where the 45 foods come from since they don’t actually provide a list. However, they do provide 10 key categories of foods to achieve longevity: healthy greens, whole grains, berries, olive oil, tomatoes, nuts, red grapes, fish, tea and herbs and spices. Within each category, they provide examples which may add up to 45 foods but I’m too lazy to count right now.

The article accompanying Body+Soul’s list can be summed up as eat more plants, eat less sugar, get your omega 3’s, get fresh and eat consciously. Sounds like solid advice for us all.

What a difference a day makes...(sing along with me!)

Well, I am back from my unintended leave of absence. It is amazing how quickly you can break habits. I thought I was doing so good at updating the blog, but then I missed a couple days and then a couple days turned into a couple weeks which turned into a month and more. But here, I am – back and ready to go!

I’ve learned two things in that last month or so. The first is that my house seems to set the tone for both my eating and my state of mind. When the house is disorganized, my eating seems to get sloppy, and I lose all productivity. It gets to the point where the chaos takes over, and I become immobilized, not knowing where to start. And instead of planning my food, I end up doing everything on the fly. So sometimes I eat things I would rather not because I didn’t plan other options.

Disorganization seemed to be the theme for March. For whatever reason, I could not get my act together. With the table piled high with paperwork and baskets of laundry littering the house, I simply could not get myself going. It’s like driving in a rut and not being able to get out. Ugh!

The other thing I’ve learned is that this blog is great motivation to eat whole foods. Now, I didn’t completely blow it during March but I definitely got a bit lax about my whole food eating. No binging, but a girl scout cookie here and a couple mini eggs there. That sort of thing. When I know I am not going to get online later in the night and have to account for my eating, it’s a lot easier to justify some junk food here and there. So I am renewing my commitment to keep journaling about my food here to keep me honest with myself.

We’ve had a cold and dreary March here in Michigan. It is easy to blame the weather for my lack of motivation and poor eating habits, but that would probably be a little unfair to the weather. In reality, there are probably a number of reasons, not excluding laziness and a lack of self-discipline, which led to my dismal month.

But I must say what a difference a change in the weather makes! The sun has been shining, the windows are open, and I feel fan.tas.tic! I’ve been decluttering in anticipation of a garage sale later in the month, and it is invigorating to box up all this stuff and know it’s moving on out. Today, we cleaned up the yard, and I spent a little while sitting outside just soaking up the rays. I always note with some amusement that when it is 60 degrees in the fall, we are shivering, pulling on the sweatshirts and turning on the heat. But when it is 60 degrees in the spring, we are opening the windows and breaking out the shorts and T’s.

On the food front, today has been a pretty good day. I started it off by cooking some rolled oats to have with coffee. Lunch was leftover salmon and quinoa from dinner last night. I will admit that I had some of the boxed mac ‘n cheese and hot dogs that I made the kids for dinner. I was going to make some fancy pasta dish with the whole wheat pasta I had in the pantry, but then I decided who was I kidding – they probably wouldn’t eat it, and I wasn’t all that hungry. Alas, it was a poor choice, and the clean plate ranger in me couldn’t bear to throw out what they didn’t finish. As soon as I get off the computer, I am making us strawberry ice cream with the farm fresh milk in the fridge and berries I froze last summer.

Cheers!