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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Eating Healthy On The Go - Derek

While going through food journals one of the comments I make most is "add a meal/snack here". Many people are busy and find it hard to get a solid meal or snack in every 3-4 hours. Many more are used to the unhealthy but common American practice of eating one or two meals a day.

Eating at regular intervals is important for everyone's fitness goals. It keeps your metabolism and energy high, prevents peaks and valleys in your energy, mood, etc during the day, and gives your body a steady stream of nutrients for optimum health and so you don't wind up binge eating from being so hungry all day.

So one might ask me, "Derek, how can I maintain that kind of eating schedule when I'm busy managing a coffee shop (working) all day?" The answer is to plan ahead. Convenient healthy foods are not the oxymoron they seem to be. A bag of raw nuts is extremely filling and portable. The same goes for many varieties of fruit. At work the only snacks I bring are apples, oranges, grapefruits, or peaches. Some very portable vegetables are baby carrots, celery, sliced bell peppers, broccoli, or cauliflower. These all can be kept somewhere at room temperature and eaten quickly whenever there is a spare moment. To mix it up you can even bring a jar of peanut butter for dipping, just make sure it's all natural.


A last resort for sticking to a regular eating schedule is packaged food, eek. I mentioned in several previous posts and I'll say it again: processed foods are not healthy and should be avoided. That said, I do keep Clif Bars on hand at home for when we run out of the snacks I've listed above. They are processed, but they are also vegan and contain mostly organic ingredients, making them the best bar choice I've found.

While all of the above foods are great when you just can't get to anything else, be sure not to replace your 'real meals' with them. That is, make sure you get plenty of beans and greens.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Two recipes! - Marcella


Creamy Greens and Penne
  • 1 pckg Mori-Nu Silken tofu
  • 1/2 lb bag frozen spinach
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • fresh basil, or 1 cube frozen - available in freezer section of Trader Joe's
  • soymilk and/or water necessary to blend to a creamy consistency
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • (optional) 1 leek, sliced
  • 5 oz whole wheat penne
  • broccoli or bok choy, chopped or otherwise deconstructed
  1. Blend up first 5 ingredients.
  2. Saute garlic (and leek if using) in small pot, greased with a spritz of cooking spray. Add sauce, cover, and simmer on low.
  3. Cook penne. With about 3 minutes to go on pasta timer, add broccoli or bok choy to the boiling water.
  4. Combine everything and serve.

Italian Zucchini
  • 1 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise then crosswise, into quarters about 1/2 in thick
  • 1 small sweet or yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • basil
  • (optional) capers
  1. Spritz saute pan with cooking spray, medium-high heat. Saute garlic, onions and zucchini, sprinkling with a bit of salt and pepper to taste for about 5 minutes.
  2. Add other ingredients, cover and simmer for about 5 more minutes.
  3. Done!


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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A Note on Grains - Derek

I wanted to write a little on nutrition since I haven't in a while. I thought I'd address a question I get a lot when I am helping people with their food choices, which is: why are carbs (grains) 'bad'? After the Atkins craze a lot of people will agree that carbs make you fat, but why then are they the base of our food pyramid, and why are whole-grains sold as health food?



The answers to these questions are more straight forward than they let on. First of all I want to say clearly that carbohydrates are not bad for you, refined grains are. The easiest way to show why that is the case is with Dr. Fuhrman's equation for defining a health food: Health=nutrients/calories. Refined grains are calories dense, and through their refining they have been stripped of nearly all their fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. These factors combine to make them a very unhealthy food. As for the reason they are the base of our food pyramid, I can only speculate that this is because they are cheap and easy to mass produce, making them a good choice as a calorie staple (without consideration of health). And of course, whole grain products are marketed as health foods because it is a way to charge more. These products are more nutrient dense than their completely depleted counterparts, but they are still nowhere near as healthy as super-ultra-mega healthy produce.

So remember, when presented with the choice of rice, pasta, bread, cereal, chips, crackers, or pastries, politely decline and say: "Beans and greens please!"

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Quick Chili Lunch - Marcella

I have a huuuuge backlog of recipes to post; I'm trying to be good and prioritize work and studies while leaving some time for at least one hobby to reduce stress. Sadly, that one hobby is not doing yet more computer work like blogging...Actually that reminds me: for those of you who also do computer stuff all day, it feels really good (and according to Derek, prevents carpal tunnel), to hold a lightish barbell in your hands, resting your forearms along your thighs with your hands hanging over your knees, and curl your wrists back towards you. How many reps depends on how much weight you've chosen. Works with light barbells too.

Quick "Chili" Lunch
Chili is in quotes because it can just be beans - whatever's on hand



  • 1 sweet potato
  • can of red kidney beans
  • minced garlic
  • (optional) chopped onion
  • (optional) chopped bell pepper
  • avocado sliced
  • salsa
  • chili spices, like chili powder, cumin, turmeric, paprika - whatever you got
  1. In a small pot, saute the garlic and, if using onions and peppers. Add drained kidney beans and spices. The canned beans usually have some salt so it's not necessary to add any.
  2. Meanwhile, poke holes in the sweet potato and microwave for 6-8 minutes depending on size.
  3. Serve by simply cutting the sweet potato lengthwise and crosswise and opening it up a bit, spooning the beans over top, and garnishing with sliced avocados and salsa.
You won't miss the tortillas!

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