Chronicles of Healthy(er) Living

Water vs. Caffeine

A few weeks ago, I would wake up, go to work, drink a cup of coffee, and get through the day in a fog. My water intake was down, and I was probably dehydrated most of the time.

Then, I started drinking water first thing in the morning. I usually follow it with a cup of tea, but starting the day with water instead of coffee has definitely had an impact on my energy. I have more of it, and it lasts all day. I've definitely started to zone out less.

Just something to think about. A few weeks ago, even I would have said I couldn't get through the day without starting it with a cup of coffee and sweet creamer.

The most important meal of the day

The old adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day is true. It sets the stage for the rest of your meals. If you skipped out, chances are you'll make unhealthy choices for snacks or lunch, due to hunger. It's also easy to skip- I'm barely even hungry early in the morning. In fact, I usually feel kind of sick, for whatever reason. The earlier I wake up, the worse I feel. I've been that way since elementary school.

Now, I try my best to eat breakfast, and I usually succeed when I'm at work. I'm not so successful on my days off, because I routinely sleep in, and breakfast easily becomes lunch.

Here are some tips to keep the breakfast habit up and help it become the first step in healthy, enjoyable eating.

• Instead of grabbing a cup of coffee or tea first thing, drink a glass of water. Once the water's gone, drink whatever is normal for you in the morning.
• Plan to eat something healthy and easy to make, like leftovers, toast and fruit, or even salsa and chips. One reason I never became a breakfast eater is I don't like traditional breakfast foods. It took  me a long time to realize I could eat whatever I want early in the morning.
• Aim for something filling and small. Right now, I'm eating rice with beans, two types of salsa, and a handful of chips, leftover from my dinner last night. The bowl I have might last me all morning as I graze.
• Check portions. I am terrible at this. I tend to up my portion sizes to an unhealthy level, because I wasn't raised to know what a real portion was.
• Set the stage for the rest of the day by eating a meal that reflects the mood you want to convey. Do you want to take a healthy stance? Try an egg white omelet with spinach. Looking for a more decadent approach? Cut a few slices of good cheese and eat them with crackers and fruit or veggie slices.
• Cut down on prep time. The early morning, when you're tired, probably isn't the time to cook for a long period of time. Focus on things you can make fast, like toast, sliced foods, miso soup. Save processed foods like energy bars and pastries for a last resort or a periodic treat.

Fighting caffeine addiction

Caffeine addiction is a problem in America, but it's not an issue that demands our attention. Caffeine is seen as a boon to productivity, so if you can work better and longer thanks to a cup of coffee or a bottle of soda, doesn't that balance out the problems?

I don't have all that many problems with caffeine. I can drink a soda and fall asleep a few minutes later. Drinking coffee improves my mood. And, if I'm really tired, it does give me the burst of energy I need to keep at whatever I'm working on.

The problems I do have with caffeine are my addiction to it paired with the price of what I ultimately end up ordering. I don't have a coffee maker, and I don't like black coffee. So, I end up at Starbucks or my local coffee shop, ordering drinks that consist of milk, sugar, and candy flavorings. Or, I buy boxes of canned soda on sale and drink through them in a few days. All of the added sugar and preservatives hurt my waistline and health.

The other big problem I have with caffeine is that when I'm drinking coffee and soda, I'm also drinking less water, which saps my energy. So, I want to drink more caffeine, which leads to less energy, and so on and so on.

So far today, I've been drinking tea, but the coffee maker in my office is calling to me. So is the single serving bottle of soda I brought from home. Considering I've been drinking three or four cups of coffee a day every day this week, chances are today will be an improvement. I hope one day soon I'll be able to see caffeine laden drinks as a treat, not an essential part of my day.

The lure of good cheese

Most supermarkets near my house have a deli department and a section devoted to cheese in the dairy aisle. The deli will slice sandwich cheese, and there may be a small cooler devoted to some high priced "gourmet" cheeses you can buy prepackaged. The dairy aisle is home to all of the orange cheese splendor you would expect for American stores.

There are small sparks of life in some establishments. In a couple weeks, I'm going to go to a few of the better stores in town and check out their gourmet cheese sections. I already shop at Whole Foods when the cheese urge strikes, and now I'm going to branch out to the Publix GreenWise Market and Fresh Market, which is a gourmet store. I'll be checking on prices, selection, and whether or not the stores let you try their cheeses before you buy. (At Whole Foods, they will cut into their cheeses to give you a taste.)

For the love of organic strawberries

When I was a little kid, we had a tiny patch of wild strawberries growing in our yard. Every year, I would watch in wonder as berries about the size of the top third of my five-year-old pinky finger grew in. Then, I would eat those tiny, ripe, red berries before my mom got to them. (In the same way I always picked out the maple cream chocolates she loved out of her Christmas box of assorted chocolates every year.)

Then, we moved from Michigan to Florida, and we had strawberries all year round. Except, these store bought strawberries weren't the same. They were much bigger and held almost none of the sweetness of those minuscule Michigan strawberries. What made matters worse was that many of these strawberries were from California and shipped to the stores. (Even though Plant City is 30 miles away and produces so many tons of strawberries each year they actually have a STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL.)

Then, I discovered organic strawberries. And, I read about how many pesticides are in other store bought strawberries (a lot). Trust me, if there aren't any organic farms around where you live, you're better off buying those organic strawberries from the store than you are buying pesticide filled berries from your local farmer's market. (Although, you can always ask if they stock or are willing to stock organic produce.)

The organic strawberries are sweeter than their every day counterparts. They're lacking in dangerous pesticides and keep longer in the fridge (I have no idea why.) They are also smaller-I've never found a mutant berry the size of my fist, like I have in store bought berry boxes.

I have friends who stay away from organic foods, but buy organic produce like strawberries and tomatoes because of the pesticide issue. Here is the list of the fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide content, from the Organic Consumers Association.

Exercise as a stress reliever

A few weeks ago, someone stole hundreds of dollars right out of my bank account and left me in the negatives. Since then, I have been depressed. I have been angry. I have been frustrated. I have been sad. And, it threw my routine right out the window.

My writing suffered. My hygiene and good housekeeping suffered. And, of course, my gym attendance suffered. It was easier for me to lie in bed and eat junk food than leave the house. All of my resolutions to live a healthier life flew out the window.

Yesterday, I returned to the gym and realized how important exercise is for my sanity.

Yesterday was a day I walked around in a daze. It was full of tantrums, where I screamed and stomped and kicked walls- weeks of stress piled up to put me in a tizzy.

I attacked the machines at the gym with a strange ferocity. There was no real rhyme or reason, I just worked out at a machine until the muscles I was using were aching and fatigued. (Which is what you're supposed to do in a workout anyways.) I jumped on the cardio glider and was so tired I finished 10 minutes before I was pooped. By the time I reached the steam room, I was surprised at the physical and mental relief I felt.

Depression is hard. Feeling unfit and unattractive is hard. Living life and keeping up routines is hard. But, looking to the future and keeping up my optimism is what I need to do to get by. Going to the gym is starting to become a big part of that, because I'm at a point in my life where my quality of life suffers when I'm not working out, especially when there are problems in the force.

Nicholas Kristof's take on food with no soul

I came across this op-ed while reading the New York Times today. In it, Kristof describes agricultural efficiency and why family owned farms create real soul food.

Having cheap organic food for everyone is one of my dreams. Doing away with sodas and chips that are cheaper than water and broccoli is part of that dream, and it is clear that a major shift in the way we think about food and take responsibility for the way it is produced is the only way to move forward.

Why I eat at Chipotle

I try to stay away from corporate food, especially from restaurants. While I'm not always perfect at keeping away from corporate fast food, I actually make a habit of eating at Chipotle when the craving hits.

Chipotle is working on buying meat from natural farms, where the animals aren't given hormones, aren't fed corn and meat byproduct filler, and have enough room to move around. They serve hormone free dairy products and buy organic where they can.

The company is owned by McDonalds, which is good for both parties. Chipotle's can get food faster, which means the food is fresher when it hits the table and they have more options on who to buy from, and McDonalds can learn how not to suck (okay, it's been taking a while, but they're slowly adding more healthy options, like sliced apples).

And, since they're owned by McDonalds, the megalith can maybe one day see why I never buy their hamburgers (and your caramel McCafe iced coffees have a beefy aftertaste, by the way, yeah, I'm looking at you, McDonalds).

The largest upside of Chipotle is their food is awesome. If I want fast food, and I want it to be kosher (what I consider kosher), and I want all or part of the process to involve ethical practices, I would otherwise be limited to falafels from the small, family owned pita places that have sprouted up around town and EVOS.

Instead, I can order great tasting food that doesn't break the bank from a company I know is working towards a more friendly system. I like knowing the chicken I'm eating has seen daylight and can walk a few steps without falling down.

Here's my usual Chipotle meal: Vegetarian burrito bowl with black beans, rice, fajita vegetables, mild tomato salsa, medium corn salsa, guac, cheese, lettuce, and chips. I usually save half for my next meal, because there's so much food. With a lemon iced tea, the tab's usually a little under $10. So, I essentially buy two filling meals for $5 each. Because of my fixed income, that's a great value.

The problem with boycotting Whole Foods

America's hit a turning point in the food industry. We've got the current factory system that a good hunk of the population uses for food. So, they get their mass-produced, giant chicken breasts, genetically modified corn and soybeans (that show up in almost everything), hormone filled milk, and a system that makes it almost impossible to speak out against the system or break free.

Then, we've got companies like Whole Foods that take the system and skirt around it. Whole Foods finds organic products, grass fed beef, free range chickens, and the like and groups them together in one place so people who want better options can find them. Whole Foods also buys local. From what I've heard, they offer employees a better wage than most other food retailers and a number of benefits. They offer vegan foods, raw foods, gluten free foods, bulk grains, and their website is a dream. You can find a recipe, take the items in it and add them to a shopping list, then email the list to yourself or send it to your phone for easier shopping. Their employees are willing to help you find what you need, and you can sample a lot of their products before you buy (think cheese!).

They are a corporation. In the end, they're out to keep themselves in business. Business minded folks with non-liberal, non-progressive ideas were bound to get in somewhere.

I'm not going to boycott Whole Foods, because I think the political action of choosing to buy from companies who are doing their best to follow an ethical path and help sustain the earth need to be supported, and Whole Foods helps me do this. At the same time, Publix has a GreenWise Market not too far away that I might think about checking out again on my next shopping trip. Now might be the time for a product-to-product and service comparison. With Publix trying to position itself as a leader in the same niche market Whole Foods dominates, consumers in Tampa suddenly have twice as many choices when it comes to organic and natural food shopping at a large retail scale.

Letting go of inner chatter

Since my fast, I've noticed something about my mind and my body. My body just sort of goes with the flow. I don't really get hungry, because I'm always somewhat food medicated. This is because my mind switches into panic mode a lot.

When I was fasting, even after not eating for a day, my body didn't feel that much hunger. My mind telling me I was hungry was the problem.

My mind is trying to be helpful. So far today, it's suggested I go to KFC and McDonalds for junk food. It's suggested I go to the store and buy ice cream and frozen pizzas. That I go buy some donuts and coffee.

Instead, I've been eating the food I have lying around, which is all pretty healthy (okay, except for the cake I brought home from a party last night).

So far today, I've eaten two mini pitas with tuna, a bowl of edamame with hot sauce, a few crackers and pieces of cheese, an apple, and a piece of leftover cake. No soda, no coffee, not even tea. No junk food. My mind is going crazy, trying to get at an angle to make me grab for something a bit junky. I guess this is what some people call progress.