Patty James M.S., C.N.C.

52 Simple Ways to Be Healthier in 2012
by Patty James

It’s a new year and you are full of hope. This is the year you will claim or reclaim your good health! If you have a little feeling of dread in the back of your mind because this same scenario happens every year, have no fear.  Big changes are often daunting and hard to fold into your everyday life; they are simply not sustainable. Try a new healthy habit a week. These are small changes that can make a big impact on not only your health, but the environment’s health as well. Tape these easy tips to your refrigerator and read weekly. Feel free to skip ahead and to go back.

1.     Drink 8 glasses of pure water a day.

2.     Get rid of any junk food in your house. If it’s not there, don’t go get it.

3.     Limit your caffeine intake: 1-2 cups of coffee a day.

4.     Plan your weekly meals on your day off.

5.     Spend 30 minutes twice a week cutting up fresh veggies to have them ready at all times.

6.     Keep seasonal fruit at home and eat it when you’re hungry or when a sweet tooth strikes.

7.     Substitute raw nuts and seeds for processed granola bars.

8.     Don’t drink alcohol on an empty stomach; it’s hard on your stomach and burns up B vitamins.

9.     Eat raw vegetables every day. Raw veggies contain important enzymes that can be lost when they’re cooked.

10.   Purchase as much of your food organic as you can. Your body will appreciate it as will our planet.

11.   Next time you make cookies or cake, substitute half of the butter with applesauce, pumpkin or prune puree. Less fat; more nutrients.

12.   Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night.

13.   Vary your food; if you eat it today, don’t eat it for 4 days.

14.   Different colored food has different nutrients, so eat from the rainbow. Red peppers, orange carrots, green kale, etc.

15.   Thicken soups with pureed beans. Delicious and added nutrition.

16.   Don’t drink water from plastic bottles. Polycarbonate water bottles (labeled #7) contain bisphenol A (BPA), which leaches from the plastic and has been linked to chromosome damage and hormone disruption.

17.   Start your day with a glass of fresh lemon water. 1/2 to 1 juiced lemon in water. Your liver loves it.

18.   De-stress. Find out what works for you. Warm baths? Exercise? Reading? Yoga? Walks in the woods? Find out what calms and soothes you and practice daily.

19.   Move daily. Find the movement that moves your body and eases your mind and make it a part of who you are. If you enjoy it, you will do it.

20.   Eat at a table, cloth napkin on your lap and chew well. Be thankful.

21.   Next time you want scrambled eggs (or tofu), sauté some veggies first, then add eggs. Try eating your veggies all day!

22.   Dry brush your skin before you shower in the morning. It’s good for your lymphatic system and your skin will be so much softer and healthier.

23.   Have at least one day a week without meat. Meatless Monday perhaps.

24.   Eat more beans! They’re high in protein, dietary fiber, and taste so good.

25.   Use whole grain flour in your baking instead of white flour. Whole-wheat pastry flour is a fine grind and much healthier than the white stuff.

26.   Remove white sugar from your diet or at least limit it. Use maple syrup, honey, agave or stevia instead.

27.   Don’t eat fake food! No artificial anything!

28.   Don’t eat out as much. Cook more.

29.   Exercise your mind! Learn a new dance, read a good book. Learn a new language. Keep your mind moving as well as your body.

30.   Learn to communicate better. Speak your mind, kindly, and be done with it. Don’t hold grudges. Forgive yourself and others.

31.   Make your own vinaigrette for your salads. Olive and/or flax oil, lemon juice or vinegar, a little Dijon mustard, a minced garlic clove and a little salt and pepper.

32.   Use sea salt instead of the highly processed salt you find in many grocery stores.

33.   Reduce salt intake. Use fresh herbs and lemon juice to boost flavor.

34.   Try to stay off computers and away from anything electronic two hours before bed for a better night’s sleep.

35.   Use plain yogurt instead of sour cream.

36.   Switch to whole wheat, corn or quinoa pasta (there are many selections) instead of pasta that uses refined flour.

37.   Don’t eat or drink any food with trans-fat. Watch those non-dairy creamers!

38.   Add more leafy greens to your life-kale, chard, spinach, radicchio, etc. They are wonder foods! Steam the greens for a couple minutes, drain and set aside. In a pan sauté some onions, garlic and shitake mushrooms in olive oil for a few minutes. Add the kale back in, stir and serve. Yum.

39.   Use less cheese in casseroles that call for cheese. Instead sprinkle grated cheese on top.

40.   Begin each day with a good stretch and some deep breaths.

41.   Try new ingredients. Buy a kohlrabi or something you’ve never tried before and go from there. Keep yourself inspired.

42.   Don’t reward yourself or your family with food.

43.   Try to eat whatever food is in season; it’s more nutritious and tastes better.

44.   Don’t go hungry. Eat healthy snacks so you don’t overeat later.

45.   Watch what you put on your skin. Many products are loaded with chemicals that you shouldn’t rub into your skin.

46.   Bake instead of frying your meats and fish.

47.   Increase Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet. Sources include walnuts, flax seeds and oil and cold water fish such as salmon. Healthy fats are important to good health.

48.   Increase your intake of legumes: lentil, beans and peas. They are good sources of protein, dietary fiber and blood sugar regulators. Try split pea or lentil soup for breakfast! Think outside the box.

49.   Take supplements. Begin with a good multivitamin and speak with your health practitioner about others that may be needed for your optimum health.

50.   Watch your portion sizes as well as your plate and utensil sizes. Some forks and spoons look like garden utensils. Try chopsticks and eat slowly.

51.   Shop in the outside aisles of the grocery store. Most of the more processed foods are located in the middle isles.

52.   Play! Everyone needs to have fun!

In the fall and winter months, what is more satisfying than a nice bowl of soup? Not much! Here is my Minestrone Soup Recipe; a great way to eat a lot of veggies and with Farro in the recipe, it also contains a whole grain. The Pumpkin cake recipe is not too sweet and made, preferably with fresh pumpkin. My granola recipe uses unsweetened jam instead of lots of sugar, so it’s a still delicious, but healthier version of granola. Enjoy!

Remember to try a little bit of many things this holiday season. Don’t deprive yourself of nibbling all your favorite foods, just watch how much of them you eat.

Minestrone Soup with Farro

Farro is an ancient form of wheat and is generally soaked before using. A hearty grain, farro is also wonderful in grain salads. Just add vinaigrette, seasonal raw veggies and you’re set! Substitute brown rice if necessary.

Serves 8

2 cups canellini beans, cooked. You may use 1-15 ounce cans

3 cups carrots, chopped

1 1/2 cups celery, chopped

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 whole onion, chopped

3 cups tomatoes, chopped or 1-28 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 quarts vegetable stock

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

3 cups cooked farro. Follow the directions on the package.

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

In a stockpot, sauté onion, garlic, celery and carrots for 5 minutes.  Add the kale & cook for an additional 5 minutes. Next, add the tomatoes and herbs and cook 10 minutes longer. Add cannellini beans & stock.  Let simmer 30 minutes.

Optional: Puree 1/3 of soup with immersion blender or use food processor.

Add the cooked farro and serve with a drizzling of olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

Per Serving: 610 Calories; 13g Fat (18.6% calories from fat); 22g Protein; 104g Carbohydrate; 11g Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol; 1865mg Sodium

Eating Seasonally

Spring: Dandelion greens, green garlic, green peas, spinach

Summer: Fresh basil, tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, leafy greens, celery, carrots

Autumn: Bell peppers, pumpkin, broccoli,

Winter: Bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, kale, carrots, winter squash

Patty’s Granola

8 cups whole oats

1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

1 cup walnuts or almonds, chopped

½ sesame seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup pumpkin seeds

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1-10 ounce jar fruit sweetened jam, your choice of flavor

3 tablespoons walnut or pumpkin seed oil

2 teaspoons vanilla or extract of your choice (almond is nice)

1 cups raisins

½ cup flax seeds, very lightly ground

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil 2 cookie sheets with 1” sides.

Mix together in large bowl, the oats, coconut, nuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and spices. Pour in jam, vanilla and oil and mix well. I use my hands. Place in prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring once. Add the raisins and bake another 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Take out of oven and mix in flax seeds. Let cool completely and place in glass jars. Store in the refrigerator.

Note:

Feel free to be creative. I change the nuts and seeds. I sometimes substitute dried cranberries or other dried fruit for the raisins. Crystallized ginger is also very good. In the fall use pumpkin pie spice or Chinese five spice. This is excellent in the morning with kefir or yogurt and fresh blueberries.

To make a yogurt parfait, layer granola and then yogurt in a glass and top with fresh berries.

Pumpkin Cake

This recipe was the result of, as it turns out, a fortunate accident. I was preparing a similar pumpkin cake recipe and inadvertently doubled the eggs. I then kept going with the alterations and was very happy with the results.

Serves 8

6 large eggs, separated

1 cup sugar: Sucanat or Rapadura

1/2 tbsp. non-aluminum baking powder

1 ½ cups almonds, finely chopped

Pinch of grated nutmeg

Grated zest of one lemon

6 tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 cups pumpkin, cooked

A little butter for greasing

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Bake a small sugar pumpkin in a 375 degree oven until tender, about 50 minutes. Set aside to cool. When cool, remove skin and seeds and chop very finely.

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until fluffy. Add the baking powder, almonds, nutmeg, lemon zest, 5 tablespoons of the flour and the pumpkin.  Mix until well blended.  Beat the egg whites and fold them gently into the batter.  Butter a 9 in. spring form pan and dust with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour.  Pour the batter into the pan and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hour (covering the top with foil after 40 minutes of cooking).  Cool on a wire rack.  Turn out onto a platter and garnish, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Per Serving: 334 Calories; 17g Fat (44.5% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 140mg Cholesterol; 137mg Sodium.

Serving ideas

This cake is not too sweet and very yummy. Serve as a healthier dessert or even for breakfast with a nice winter fruit salad. Garnish with thinly sliced lemon zest and mint leaves or freshly grated nutmeg.

The holiday season is renowned for being the packing-on-the-pounds season. The following tips will help you to maintain or even loose weight during the season.

Chocolates in boxes are everywhere…

Don’t have them on your desk or in your house. Don’t put them in your freezer as that will not slow you down; they can be eaten frozen and we all know it. Give them away or if you have great self-control, limit yourself to 1 a day at most for up to 5 days per season. When you have your one chocolate, you need to eat it after you eat a salad and do savor it. Remember, food should not be a reward. Being healthy is it’s own reward. Also, depravation rarely works long term, so a few chocolates are O.K!

The Buf-fat table

Walk around the buffet table at least once to size up the selections. Are there fresh veggies and fruit? Watch all the cheese platters, breads, crackers, and high calorie choices. Your plate should be at least half vegetables with very little dips, as they are usually high fat (and the ‘wrong’ kind of fat,) and high in sodium. Don’t forget to select a protein source whether that is a piece of chicken or fish or a bean dish.

Calories and Sugar in a Glass

That would be alcohol. 4 ounces of champagne or wine is about 100 calories. Many people have wine goblets, not glasses and it’s very easy to drink much more than 4 ounces, easily contributing to holiday weight gain. Drink plenty of water, sip wine only with meals and limit your consumption. Remember in the nutrition world ‘support your liver is the mantra’ and your liver really doesn’t like alcohol.

Sophia Loren and the elastic waist theory

I believe it was Sophia Loren who said she never wears anything with an elastic waist, as it’s too easy to eat too much and gradually gain weight until you put on your clothes that have waistbands and find that you can’t zip them. I have found this to be a good tip. Standing up really straight helps me to eat less, silly as that may sound.

The summary is to eat more vegetables, limit your alcohol and desserts, up your water intake and of course, continue regular exercise.

Why this photo, you ask? Being outside helps me keep myself in check. Whether it’s walking in the neighborhood, hiking in the woods or running on the beach, exercising in nature keeps me healthy and I feel healthy I eat better.

There is a connection.

I knew a man who was given a Speedo for his birthday as a gag gift and he actually wore it. Nobody gives somebody a Speedo as a real gift; they’re given as part of a party that has black balloons. Perhaps about 1% of the male population can actually wear one and look good, but they shouldn’t either! O.K., there is another way to look at this, maybe we should be happy for them and their inflated view of themselves. Be proud of who you are, imperfections and all, and flaunt it!

Personally I know only one woman of all my friends who thinks like this man did. As well she should-she’s very pretty. I have lots of friends who don’t see their beauty. Many of us have, as my oldest daughter tells me a ‘skewed body image.’ It isn’t until five or ten years later when we look at an old driver’s licenses and think, hum, I looked pretty good then. When we look back on today’s driver’s license photos years from now, we’ll think the same thing, so why don’t we shift how we see ourselves today?

I told my attractive friend that when a man looks in many women’s direction, they tend to look over their shoulders assuming he’s looking at someone else. She told me that she always assumes he’s looking at her, and if he isn’t, what’s the matter with him? This level of confidence is attractive all by itself.

Years ago someone jokingly called me Patty-No-Butt. Until then I thought I had a rather nice rear-end, but after I heard this for the first time something shifted. I guess I didn’t have such a nice rear end.

So…sometime later…

I ordered undies with fake buns built in. I ordered two sizes; small and medium, to see which ones looked the best in my jeans. Seriously. I put the medium buns on first and pulled up my jeans. The song, Baby Got Back, came to mind. A little too much. I tried on the small; pulled on the jeans again and well, big buns looked silly on me. I tried them both on with dresses-no good. I put them in a drawer.

Many months later I realized-and honestly it took someone telling me- I had a ‘nice tush’ —that I was fine just the way I was. Why did I need someone to tell me?  I am now comfortable in my own skin and don’t need anyone to tell me nice things to believe the best in myself.

So what happened to the fake buns?  I considered mounting the bottoms on the wall as a reminder never again to allow someone to make me feel less than I am. Nah…One day I ended up putting them in the bottom of a bag I took to Good Will and hoped like heck that they didn’t open the bag until I was gone! I hope no one bought those fake buns, but if they did, that they eventually threw them away.