T’was the Night Before Cleansing…

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring…not even …..not even my typical Thursday night snack which usually consists of cheese, crackers, and a celebratory glass of red wine for surviving yet another week. Uh. Why am I so tense?
The prep email I received Tuesday morning from my BP (Blue Print) friends I think fluttered me a bit. In a sudden rush of fear that my gut wasn’t in check, I decided that all intake of obvious junk food would be ceased immediately (although really...I don’t consume much junk food anyway). As for the caffeine, I went down to one large cup on Wednesday and one small cup (8oz) this morning. Yes, rather than completely going cold turkey I decided to slowly decrease the fluid ounces instead. Around 3pm when I usually hit up my favorite vegan spot on
west 23rd street for my second cup of coffee for the day; I instead these last 2 days opted for tea. My vegan, “raw food/nature/fans of "chill music"” type friends who work at the café suggested the lemon lavender mint tea. All I could think was “am I really doing this? Am I really capable of subbing out my second cup of coffee today for something that sounds like it should be made into a potpourri bowl?” But lemon- lavender- petals- galore tea I had. Actually, it wasn’t half bad. I may sound odd here, but it tasted clean. That is the exact word I thought by the time I reached the bottom of my cup. Yes, it had a clean fresh feeling to it. It was nothing like the coffee breath with a dash of milk and table sugar on the tongue that I am left with typically.
My final “prep” decision was that today, Thursday, I would eat completely vegan. I think 24 hours dairy free is definitely a step in the right direction before drinking juiced parsley. To clarify: Vegans are different from vegetarians, because vegans consume absolutely no animal products. While a vegetarian avoids meats, poultry, and fish…a vegan wouldn’t have cow’s milk in their cereal, or scrambled eggs. So today I went vegan. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stick to the sample menu BP gave me of vegetable broth and cucumber slices. I was feeling more anxious as the day went on, so I decided that eat I was going to…and that giving up my cheese and yogurt for the day was enough of a sacrifice “pre cleanse”. I mean c’mon…I’m giving up solid foods. Now you want my stomach to make funny noises the night before I even begin? Below is what I ate today, a diet high in fruits and vegetables, and low on sugars, dairy, & meats (well, not even low..basically eliminated).
Breakfast: Kashi Cinnamon Harvest Cereal with Soy Milk with an 8oz organic coffee (added soy milk and agave nectar). Mid Morning Snack: Smoothie (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, soy milk, banana, agave). Lunch: ½ cup of Organic split pea soup, & a salad wrap. Salad wrap included: spinach leaves, chickpeas, apples, almonds, and craisins, rolled up in a whole wheat flat wrap with white balsamic dressing. Small herbal tea (my flower pot). Dinner: 4 “chicken” nuggets with steamed string beans. I quote “chicken” because they are vegetarian nuggets. I know some of you are re reading this and feeling confused as ever. I love my fake little nuggets, and these are actually soy free as well as meat free (obviously) which makes me feel even better since I try to not overdose on all the soy that tends to replace meat in so many vegetarian products. They are made from a mushroom protein, and breaded just like any other nugget, except no chickens were harmed in the making. I also consumed two water bottles today, and am wrapping up with a final treat: One Kashi Cookie. They are oatmeal raisin cookies that are baked with flaxseed and supplemented with omega-3. If you are going to have dessert, one of these certainly shouldn’t keep you up at night with guilt. And I find having one a day really keeps me from barging into the famous Serendipity’s in east midtown, and going nuts on a Broadway blackout sundae and a frozen hot chocolate.
My juices were delivered at 3:45pm today to my office. It was at that moment, I actually felt my first real moment of pressure and a teeny bit of anxiety. The box was heavy as I carried it into our company kitchen. I opened the lid, and there they were. Everything (and the only thing) I would be consuming for the next 3 days. I felt nervous, but kind of excited. Maybe the question of whether or not I would fail at this seemed to thrill me. Nevertheless, they are there waiting for me for when I get to my office at 8:30am tomorrow and have my first one for breakfast. My main fear is that I am going to feel sick on this. I don’t want to find myself hungry, and therefore suffering from all my normal symptoms that occur when I am hungry: headache, weakness, & irritability. I have chosen not to stick to my normal workout routine on this cleanse, despite many people swearing that you can. As a first timer, I am staying out of the gym (a great chance to catch up on all my nutrition homework) and have decided on day 3, depending how I feel, the furthest I will go is to my 10am yoga class. I wonder if I will be able to yoga on day 3 of no solids?
I feel as if I am being such a ridiculous American right now. People all over the world go days without food, whether it’s for fasting, cleansing, or simply not having enough food accessible to them to remain full. I only need to get through 3 days, (and my nutrients have been carefully calculated and juiced for me). I do hope that thought registers with me should my stomach start to growl and I should start to feel cranky. Besides, while I can’t site where I may have heard this, I am pretty sure there are some hardcore yogis out there who are practicing yoga for 11 hours a day with nothing by cumin, lemons, and cayenne pepper in their system. And some of them take vows of silence on top of this behavior (something I won’t even kid myself with by entertaining the thought).
I am such a rookie in this spiritual, cleansing world.

Prepare Prepare Prepare:

This marks the first blog entry where I begin discussing the journey that is “my cleanse”. It is Tuesday morning and I woke up to an email from my juicy friends over at BluePrint. Apparently…giving up solid food to drink nothing but fresh pressed juice everyday isn’t something you just wake up and do. What I am told today is that I need to start preparing my body for the experience it is about to encounter. This being, my digestive system catching a break from having to break down solid foods, toxins being flushed out, and getting a major overdose of vitamins and minerals through these 6 different juices I will be drinking each day. This can be a lot for a body to handle all at once, which is why it makes sense I suppose to start prepping your stomach, as well as your small and large intestines. Luckily for me, I know exactly how our digestive system works. I understand the changes that would take place should someone decide to not eat solid foods. I understand the pros, and cons, to cleansing and fasting. All of this knowledge I have acquired has made me very (very) selective on what cleanse I would select, and how long I would do it for.
But why am I cleansing in the first place? And what are some reasons you may or may not want to do the same? I will start with the most popular myth. If you want to cleanse because you want to lose weight, don’t waste your time, or your emotional investment in a cleanse. Cleansing is not (I repeat: not) a permanent weight loss solution. Sure, giving up solid food will definitely make you appear thinner, at least for a short while. Once you return to food however, its game on. Especially for those who cleanse for a week, and then feel that they’ve put in the work to earn back their frequent meals at applebees. But lets think practical here; we also can’t spend the rest of our lives living off nothing but juiced kale and coconut water. It is not only unrealistic, but horrific for our digestive system. Our esophagus (you know…that tube our food goes down to reach our stomach) is a muscle. And just like any other muscles in our body, if it is not worked…it becomes weak, lazy, flabby, however you want to picture it. Our esophagus pushes our food down after we swallow with a one way movement called “peristalsis”. This wavelike motion wouldn’t need to do half the work when we swallow nothing but liquids, nor would our stomach need to do as much churning. Overtime, no solid foods lead to a deteriorating digestive system, which can affect how our bodies eventually absorb nutrients. If we cannot absorb nutrients, we are not benefitting from eating any food at all. Long term affects: Wasting away of muscles, malabsorption, higher risk for illness, and eventual starvation. So, just like any other muscles in our bodies…lets keep our digestive system at work, by giving it a variety of wholesome food that it needs to break down, churn, mix, and push through our intestines. Bottom line: cleansing with a hope that you will lose tremendous amount of weight, and keep it off, even if it means cutting back on solid foods permanently, is not how I want your brain thinking.
I am cleansing, because I am reaching a point where my body, and the decisions I have recently made for it, is catching up to me. I am very much in tune with my body, which is excellent because I know when things are going wrong almost immediately. My schedule these days has contributed to a combination of symptoms including lack of sleep, increase in caffeine intake, increased likelihood to accept a glass of red wine after work, and more lunches then id care to admit being purchased “on the go”. My skin is dry (dehydration), I am tired, feeling sluggish, and bloated. I am cleansing to give my digestive system a break, put nothing but fruit and vegetables into my body, and allow myself the opportunity to rid my system of caffeine and alcohol. When I return to eating solids, I will return with a “clean slate,” and that is exactly what I feel I need. While this may help me drop a few pounds, I view those pounds as the toxins being flushed out of my system (goodbye bloat!) and know that I will need to keep healthy once I eat my first real breakfast again next week.
Back to my welcoming email I received this morning though. I have one issue with it. They are telling me to start preparing, by weaning off my coffee now. As I sit in my bedroom, reading through my morning emails, holding a giant cup of coffee…I looked down at my cup after reading this particular sentence, almost as if to say “im sorry” to it, as it stared back at me. What would I do? Is this my last cup? I mean, I wasn’t exactly prepared to hit this bump until Friday. And believe me, I knew when signing up for this that it would mean no coffee…I think I was lying to myself by ignoring that fact when sharing with my friends what I was about to do. I have two midterms this week (both of which really are requiring more commitment from me), so am I not to have caffeine on the days of these exams? If there is a God, now would be the time Id need to call on his help. If I really had my last cup of coffee this morning for the next week…I may go postal before this cleanse is over.
The rest seemed simple though. No meat (check! For the last 3 years), wean off dairy (not too difficult for me since the only dairy I really eat is yogurt, and cheese) and cut back on those added sugars (I only add sugar to my coffee, so again, I can deal). I am also given a sample menu of the foods I should stick to the day before I begin my cleanse. It’s what I would refer to as a “starve yourself” diet…but it’s only for one day, and I understand it will help prep my stomach for the pure juiced goodness it will need to rely on for the upcoming days. The menu tells me to stick to fruit for breakfast, cucumber, avocados, lettuce, and maybe some olive oil drizzled on top for lunch…and (ready for this?) vegetable broth (low sodium) for dinner. Good god. Are they kidding? Granted, I feel my stomach is already slightly better prepared then someone who eats fast food and is about to do this. I drink fresh squeezed juices frequently as a supplement to my lunches. However, without the support of the cleanse juices, I will be consuming less than 800 calories on this day if I follow their menu, and I fear that I will be left, well…clawing at the glass windows of my neighborhood bakery by 7pm.
So here it goes. I think I just drank my last cup of coffee. I am about to snack on my last stoneyfield yogurt cup for a while, and I will be carefully monitoring everything I eat for the next 3 days until my juices get delivered Friday morning. By the way, did I mention they are getting delivered to my office? This excites me. Friday morning I will come into work for my 9am meeting, and my juices will be there, in our refrigerator, waiting for me to start the day. One can only hope that no one else enters the meeting this Friday eating a buttered croissant, or an egg and cheese McMuffin.

Dormir = To Sleep

I remember having dinner with a friend back this summer, and speaking about this blog. Over two fresh squeezed juices, and a bowl of vegetarian meatballs in a small Asian restaurant downtown; we laughed for a minute about how all my entries seemed to be “rainbows and giggles” (meaning, I made a serious attempt to not write anything negative on here). That’s true. If there is anything I can’t stand, its reading peoples facebook status’s when they are complaining about life, their long day, how everyone “sucks”, or even better…the subtle messages of hatred towards the opposite gender that just let them down and was “such a disappointment”. I made a decision that reading my blog would leave you feeling happy, motivated, or at least a little more educated in the overall health department. However, at times I questioned my method. This stream of constant "happy" posts...How long would it take before my writing voice became annoying to anyone reading who was having a bad day? I am only human. I do not wake up to fresh fruit parfaits waiting for me, nor do I plant vegetables in my own organic garden here on the upper east side (although one day I’d love to have a garden, no matter where I live, city or no city). I work full time, I am a full time graduate student, and I am involved in two local community organizations. I am busy, stressed, and a type- A New Yorker. Yes, sometimes I order breakfast online and have the delivery man come right to my cubicle. Bottom line: I study nutrition and health because I care about it, but day to day decisions happen for me too. So I decided to change it up a bit, and write tonight to let you in on whats not going so well right now for me, which is my sleeping pattern. But rather than make this negative, I want to share what I am doing about it. How can we apply our basic health knowledge to bettering our situations? I want to share with you my little sleep story. So here you go …my not-so-perfect health situation.
Since late August, I haven’t slept more than 6 hours a night. Earlier in the summer, I remember writing a blog entry that opened up with how I sleep for 9 hours every night, and sadly that used to be true. My co workers at the time teased me often, because I would swear by my perfect 9 hours that left me smiling and bright eyed each day in the office. Like clockwork I fell asleep at 11, and woke up at 8. So what happened? I have been asking myself this for weeks. Sure, I have a lot on my plate, but I didn’t think that differed from any other time in my life considering I became a multi-tasker in the 3rd grade. I think It started with a slight change of lifestyle. Towards the end of summer I started going out more, (which I am blaming on a direct anxiety about returning to school). Knowing between school and work that the “fun might be over” until December, I think I justified too many Weeknights out. Our bodies adjust pretty quickly, so it only took about a week of this behavior to start not going to sleep until 1am. It was too early to notice, but I had a much later “bed time” and this was just the beginning. I started complaining at work that I was only sleeping 6-7 hours a night now because “I can’t fall asleep at night”. So, one Friday night during this time, I decided to take my health knowledge and put it to the test. Something to think about if you are having trouble falling asleep at night:1. Those who sit at a desk all day and are not very active may have more trouble falling asleep at night, since you are not using your muscles enough throughout the day. It’s kind of like a “couch potato” syndrome (although that is not what I am calling you). Unfortunately, many of our jobs keep us strapped to a desk 9 hours a day. Try exercising 30 minutes a day, and you may find yourself wiped by the time you lay down at night.
2. Baths: I’ve said it before, but a hot bath can relax your muscles and be a free spa treatment for improving rest and relaxation. Try warm baths with lavender scents, and even a cup of sleepy time tea to accompany it, and get “in the mood” for sleep.
3. Although this is never what I recommend…we all know that a glass of wine (when had in moderation) can make you a little sleepy. Sometimes, a small glass of red wine can be the trick to calming down and drifting off. I hope this one doesn’t get confused for me pushing alcoholism. I promote moderation.

On this Friday night…I did all three. I went to the gym after work, worked myself hard. Left the gym with my gal pal Morgan where we sat at a nice bar to catch up about our week over (one) glass of red wine. Then, I hopped in a cab and went home. I filled up a bubble bath, turned my bathroom into my free spa, and exited an hour later. I actually said to my roommate “if this all doesn’t work tonight, I am going to see a doctor”. But it did. Praise my pillows. I fell asleep that Friday night by 11pm, and got decent sleep. Unfortunately, I cannot do all 3 of those things every night, and of course this was a one night fix that didn’t last long. Soon after, I went from not being able to fall asleep until 1am, to falling asleep late AND waking up sporadically numerous times throughout the night. To ice this cake, soon after that it was all of the above, AND waking up before the alarm went off in the morning.

Yes, September came. The new job started, the classes started, my commitments began getting plugged into the calendar. I was amazed at the idea that subconsciously I could be so nervous about something that it would affect me this much. But if it were you who were writing to me about this, I would tell you to listen to your body. Our bodies work in a delicate balance. I don’t have a sleep issue…I have an issue that is making it difficult for me to shut down at bed time. So,…fix the issue and get your sleep back. The one thing I wanted to do was fix the reason why I wasn’t sleeping, and not medicate myself with sleeping pills.

My thoughts: Reasons people can’t sleep- stress, dehydration, eating too much before bed (yes your digestive system can keep you awake as it does all that work), not moving enough during the day to become adequately tired, & the classic…unable to turn off the brain.

My tip to myself (and others who suffer): If you are going to pick a time to think about everything you need to do, people you need to call back, and obligations you have coming up….pick the morning. Because that’s where they will all be when you wake up, regardless of how much sleep you get the night before. Right before bed is not the time to start writing “to do” lists and evaluating decisions you’ve recently made. You may as well leave it alone, because it’s not going anywhere before breakfast.

So what happened here? Well, I reached a breaking point. At a month and a half of no sleep, I cracked. I became so upset, saying things like “I can’t keep going like this. I just want to sleep! I can’t do my homework, or my job, or anything this exhausted!” With tears at this point flowing out of my eyes, I once again thought about where I could go from here. And then bam, I remembered something. I went to Duane Reade and purchased Melatonin. Melatonin my friends, is all natural. In fact, our bodies make it! It’s what physiologically speaking, has programmed us to feel sleepy in the dark, rather than the daytime. Amazing isn’t it? Although I never wanted to take anything for my sleep issue, I felt myself becoming more ill from the severe lack of sleep, than I would have been if I took a little Melatonin. If I was going to take anything, it would have to be 100% natural (which this is). Consider it an extra boost of mother nature. While the melatonin has helped me through a few nights, I am still working on this issue. What I want to stress though, is that after a few nights of losing sleep I did not run to prescriptions. We need to think about why we suffer. Why do we have headaches? Why do we have stomach cramps? And remember that the real goal should be to fix the reason, and not mask the pain with alternative solutions. I thought hard about what I was eating during this time, if I was drinking enough water, and how my relationships with friends and family were at the current time as well.
Overall health is defined as physical, social, and mental. If you do not have all 3, regardless of how often you hit the gym, you are not considered “healthy”. I am active at the gym, and I choose my foods carefully each day, but if stress is keeping me awake at night even when I am trying so hard to stay asleep…than this is a health problem for me, and only myself can tackle it and beat it. That of course, is exactly what I plan to do. Overall health is not easy to accomplish all the time. We live in a crazy crazy world. One that keeps us in the office until 10pm, or tells us we are saving money if we go the next size up with our French Fry order. But we can do it. We can be healthy.

Wishing you hours of deep sleep (because sleep promotes weight loss, and less wrinkles).
And thank you for listening <3
Jess

Apples to Apples

In the event that summer is now behind us and we are entering my absolute most favorite time of year; It makes sense that before I even had a chance to get my fall jackets, scarves, and riding boots out of my closet…I was purchasing cinnamon, nutmeg, soy butter, and about 60 apples. It was Labor Day weekend, and that was fall enough for me to make my first crisp(s) of the season. From the morning of September 2nd through the end of September 3rd, I made a total of 5 apple/blueberry crisps. Each crisp requires 12 apples and a box of blueberries to complete. I was serving the health conscious, the not so health conscious, the vegan friendly, & the gluten free. With so many different people all with their own tastes I knew I would be kept busy. I don’t know what it is about baking, but I love getting dirty in sugar and flour. I’ve been baking on my own since I was eight years old. I had a friend whose mom gave her a lot of independence as a kid. I would hang out there all day, and in that house we were allowed to bake with no adult supervision. I don’t know for sure how good our stuff tasted back then, or how it came out, but we were pretty much sticking to the “just add water & eggs” Betty Crocker boxes so I am sure we couldn’t have messed it up that much. I remember many days making chocolate cakes in 9x13 rectangular pans, dumping 2 containers of vanilla frosting onto it, topping with sprinkles and then literally grabbing two forks. Who could have foreseen that almost 20 years later I would be purchasing soy butter, unrefined organic sugar, and baking from scratch?
But what I love even more than the actual baking is every ones feedback after they eat what I made them. Really, you can tell me all day how amazing my crisp is. I will never get tired of hearing it. In fact, the more you tell me, the more I will probably make for you since I will associate you with feeling good about myself. I do love that feedback. And this is how I tell you I am appreciative of you. Dogs lick your face, children give you hugs, a boss may give you a raise, and a professor may give you an A. I give you baked goods wrapped with ribbon, or placed in Tupperware. This is how I show my appreciation, gratitude, or thankfulness for your friendship, guidance, support, or all of the above. So needless to say, I was baking this weekend for special people. People who to me had supported me this summer during the times my life was a little up in the air, whether they knew it or not. I will tell you these people were all work related, from my job that I had this summer. My last day working in this particular department was August 31st, even though I did stay with the company for fall, just transitioned into a different role.
Apple crisps are the most perfect thing to bake in the fall. They are a great compliment to the cooling temperatures, earlier sunsets, and Sunday football games. The recipe I use is 100% organic, AND vegan (which means absolutely no animal products including no butter or eggs). While this does not make the crisp a low sugar or low calorie food, it does lower the total fat, and cholesterol. In addition, the organic ingredients are more “guilt free” than if I had used anything artificial (which is a big no no to me). As always it is not about eliminating foods, but more about using the best possible ingredients, making it at home, and of course…staying in a reasonable portion zone. America likes to supersize everything for 25 cents more & to be honest I believe when this tactic is used on children it is a sick form of child abuse. It is also unfair to all of the consumers who don’t study nutrition and are confused as hell as to what to buy. Remember: We don’t need to pile a large 16” dinner plate with apple crisp. We don’t need it. So take one serving, (use a small dessert “cake plate” to better guarantee not accidentally piling on too much), grab a fork and enjoy. I will post the recipe for this in the next few weeks under my recipe tab.
*For the gluten free crisp, I kept the recipe the same except I subbed out the oats & flour and replaced them with gluten free oats, & gluten free all purpose baking flour. This seemed to work just fine. With gluten free flour, it doesn’t always have the same baking power that regular all purpose flour has, so I went a little heavier on the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to avoid losing flavor. Those who ate it reportedly made comments such as “this is gluten free?? Seriously??” (Fyi: I did Clorox my entire kitchen between baking the different crisps out of complete fear that I was going to leave my intolerant friend in the emergency room). Wheat flour can remain airborne for up to 7 hours, and cross contamination is not hard to do even when you are cleaning. If you are unaware how serious the allergy is, definitely use different utensils, mixing bowls, cake pans etc. Other than separating all utensils and subbing those two ingredients…everything else went the same and it worked out perfectly!

The Cereal Revolution

(Ok this isn't cereal. It is Angel Food Cake with fresh blueberries. Once in a while, its nice to have dessert, & this is one of my favorites to make).

When I was a kid, I used to self jokingly call myself the "carb queen" (and I thought I was so clever for thinking of this). At eleven years old I was dancing 35 hours a week between my competition studio and school dance teams, and I carried with me multiple food allergies and a picky eater attitude. All I was interested in eating were carbohydrates. And my body just could not seem to get enough of them. Every morning I would have maybe 4 bowls of cereal, and lunch/dinner would be bagels/pizza/pasta/french fries, whatever you could think of. Since I was exercising so much I ate this food like it was nothing, i.e. eating an entire pizza pie after practice one day...by myself. Of course I was not paying attention to the fact that nutritionally speaking all I was eating were empty calories, foods high in sugar, and lacking all of the nutrients that I needed to support all that dancing. It is no wonder I was always exhausted. Sure, one could say an eleven year old shouldn’t have been involved in that many commitments, but that’s my personality, that wasn't going to change; so all I would say to those folks would be "mind ya P’s and Q’s". Maybe if I had eaten a few more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains rather than white starchy bagels, I would have been feeling up to a bit more. Maybe I would have joined an 8th dance team....who knows.

One habit from my past that hasn’t changed though, are those four bowls of cereal. From working out consistently my entire life, I tend to require a lot more calories than I realize sometimes. So, if Jerry Seinfeld can pack his cabinets with nothing but cereal, why cant I? I love my cereal. I eat it everyday for breakfast in large bowls. But now I am in the world of knowing too much (similar to how depressed you get after watching just 10 minutes of the evening news and you are wishing you weren't suddenly aware of who got "shot and scammed" this evening, as one friend of mine humorously put it). I find myself standing in the cereal aisle for almost 14 minutes with each food shopping trip. I pace up and down the aisle, picking up different boxes: waiting for one of them to meet my approval for an actual healthy option. The one with all the fiber seems to have all the sugar, and the one with no sugar seems to have artificial colors and aspartame in it. It seems cereals are pretty contradicting these days, which is interesting considering how many health claims are typically found on their boxes. Also, I don’t feel its right that I am standing there thinking "I am a nutrition student! Why is this so hard!?" One thing is for sure though; a box of Lucky Charms that says in big bold letters for Mom to see "With adequate calcium to support growing bones in children!"...is a load of crap.

Back at age 11, I also used to spend about 14 minutes in each aisle ...but that was because I would tap dance down the aisles as my mom food shopped. Even then, I had trouble picking a cereal box. Although my troubles were mostly because I was trying to pick the one that had the best toy in it, the most amount of marshmallows, or the best commercial. Now, I am looking for more specific criteria to pass my breakfast test.
1. No artificial ingredients/preservatives/colors
2. 25% or less calories coming from sugar
3. Whole grain as first ingredient
4. good source of fiber

Why those 4 rules? 1. Artificial ingredients are not ingredients, they are chemicals. Chemicals do not belong in our body, food does. Artificial sweeteners such as splenda, and aspartame have been, in my opinion smartly linked to cancer, heart disease, loss of feeling in limbs, brain damage, and death. Sounds like one of those commercials for an allergy medication, when they list quickly under their breath all the ways you might die from trying out their product. 2. Sugar is found in everything, but not all sugar is equal. Sugar in apples is not the same kind of sugar found in ice cream. However, sugar when in excess, stores as fat. Yes sugar makes us fat when we eat too much. Once the liver "maxes out" on glucose, it converts the extra to fatty acids, which then travels throughout our body and stores in adipose tissue (fat tissue), home of the "fatty acids". So those cereals that contain the equivalent of 16 packs of sugar in one serving, can add on pounds over time if eaten regularly. They also can increase your chances of becoming diabetic, since insulin resistance is known to develop in those who are overweight, when the spiked levels of blood sugar cause too much stress on the body. 3. Whole grains. I mention them frequently on here, and in person with those who ask me why they are so important. We are told to try and eat about 48g of whole grains a day (16 grams is one serving) so this means aiming for 3 servings a day of actual 100% whole grains. Whole grains decrease your chances of becoming diabetic (by assisting in lowering your cholesterol) and suffering from heart disease. But what I really want to focus on today is #4. Fiber: Americans all over are not consuming enough fiber. Fiber, which comes in two forms, soluble & insoluble each come with their own benefits. Neither is absorbed into the bloodstream, but rather both are excreted from our body. Insoluble fiber moves bulk throughout the intestines, as well as controlling the Ph balance. Why is this good news? The quick movement of bulk throughout the intestine is removing toxic waste, and leaving it less time to well, “hang out” in our body. This will in turn prevent constipation, and is believed to decrease your chances of colon cancer. Great sources of insoluble fiber include dark leafy greens, fruit skins, root vegetable skins, and ahem…whole wheat. Soluble fiber forms a gel when mixed with liquid (for me, I picture the word “soluble” which literally means “capable of being dissolved”, and use that to picture the image of a gel absorbing everything that crosses its path. Kind of like a slow, thick, lazy river. Hey, this is what helps me). Since soluble fiber is the “lazy river”, it moves slowly, delaying stomach emptying time, which causes sugar to become released and absorbed slowly. This is where the low score on the glycemic index comes into play (slow absorption gets a low score, & lower score is better) as well as the stories of high fiber diets leaving people feeling full for longer (which leads to weight loss). See the lovely chain of reactions here? With diets rich in whole grains and fiber we can decrease the percentage of those considered “obese” in our country (which last time I checked, was 33%, with 66% of Americans being classified as overweight). We can decrease our chances of suffering from diseases, heart attacks, and cancer. We can keep toxins out of our bodies, & keep our loved ones in our lives for longer. More Americans are dying from heart disease than any other cause of death. It is the number one way we are dying. Congratulations to Heart Disease …you win again this year as number one.

So where does this leave us in the cereal aisle? If we pick the right box, cereal doesn’t have to be an evil carbohydrate that blows all your healthy eating goals. Cereal can be a great way to start your day with whole grains, fiber, & adequate energy. For your pleasure, I have gone and recommended three cereals that I am ok with.
* Total Raisin Bran
*Kashi Go Lean Crunch
*Kashi Autumn Wheat
I enjoy with skim milk, or nonfat organic yogurt (peach, vanilla, strawberry).
For those of you who are still stuck on the fact that Lucky Charms isn’t going to do it anymore...I understand. Breaking habit is hard. If you are not used to the healthier cereals, you may find yourself resisting even looking at a Kashi box. I like to add sliced bananas, & cinnamon to certain cereals because bananas are sweet and cinnamon is delicious. Little healthy add ons can make your breakfast slightly more enjoyable as you wean onto the better choices. If not for your taste buds, than for your heart, your health, and your loved ones (because trust me, they want you around).

Peace. Love. & Bananas.

For the Love of Food

As a graduate nutrition student, I sometimes feel pressure around my peers when it comes to cooking as well as cooking skills. I am going to throw it out there. I am not a cook. My knife skills are terrible, and I have to follow recipes. This doesn’t mean I am not a great nutrition student though. It’s just that many of my classmates went into nutrition because they grew up cooking, used to be a chef, or are natural “foodies”. Or even better: They are excellent chemistry students (good grief). I went into nutrition having grown up on velveeta, & bagels (not anymore of course, that’s all in the past). But I entered with a slightly different passion. It isn’t so much the smell of roasted garlic that makes me fall in love with nutrition (well, maybe a little). I went into nutrition in order to represent public health, and on an international level. At 22, (Ah yes, your 20s, filled with self discovery) I realized that I whole heartedly believe that every person no matter their age, sex, religion, or income bracket, have the natural born right to know what they are eating, decide what they are going to eat, and have access to whole, natural, affordable, healthy foods. This passion burned so much inside of me, that I soon after became a volunteer with the Food Bank of NYC where I taught nutrition to second graders in the Bronx who were on meal assistance programs at their school. That same year, I started applying to graduate schools. When I witness the disparities in food portions, ingredients, and nutrition education around the world, across our country, and even just in different parts of nyc; I become well, crazy. There is plenty I plan to do with my life (like travel, mostly) but I know I want to dedicate myself to this cause. What I hope the most for myself is that I am able to enter a career once I am complete with school where I can make a difference in this nutrition crisis and actually do the job for 40 years without getting tired of it. I tend to get tired of things frequently which is why I am cut out to live in the city, (never can be bored here) and since social security won’t exist by the time I am old enough to retire, I am thinking I better love my career right? This is what I want first. Way before a house with a fence, a dog, and 2.5 children, I want the opportunity to dive into my passion and never get lost in the “American Dream” mayhem that society makes us feel we should be keeping up with. You know the “American Dream”…it’s called the mortgage crisis.
So, back to my rookie kitchen skills: I may not be able to julienne carrots, but I enjoy buying them whole, organic, rinsing them in my sink and adding them to my whole wheat angel hair pasta for a dose of vitamin A in my dinner. I also love that my carrots do not come in a plastic bag with 13 ingredients listed on the back including “red lake 40 for color enhancement". My carrots have only one ingredient: “carrot”.
With yesterday being Sunday, and Sunday being a day I solely know as “for food, fun, & football”, I dedicated the entire rainy day to food. This is because to me food is fun, and football isn’t on yet. My childhood friend (since age 8) Kristen came to visit me Saturday night into Sunday. Kristen is a foodie. We were supposed to take yoga, but ended up sleeping past the alarm and waking up to a rain storm. Eh. Its Sunday, it’s raining; I can skip this week right? So I threw on a Sunday dress, grabbed an umbrella, and we instead walked to Le Pain on Madison Avenue & 84th street for what New Yorkers believe to be the trend known as…brunch. We were really just hungry, no trendiness necessary. Why I love Le Pain? They support organic sustainable farms. And I support restaurants that support organic sustainable farms. We entered the restaurant wet. My umbrella failed us on 90th and park as the wind blew it backwards and it tried to pull me down the street as opposed to doing its job and covering my head. As soon as we sat we rush ordered coffees (their coffee is SO delicious) and ate apple cinnamon and vegan blueberry muffins, finishing with a giant bowl of berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, & blueberries).
Outside the restaurant window, the rain poured. Little Upper East Side toddlers holding their grandmothers hands splashed in the rain wearing rain boots with matching rain coats, looking like a pottery barn kids catalog come to life. We sat there and took our sweet time enjoying the sweet food, and with the heavy rain outside, what good would rushing do us anyway? I think food, friends, and conversation are becoming some of my greatest pleasures. We had coffee, we had time, and we had a lot to talk about. Le Pain hosted us well, and we eventually drifted out of the café with full tummies and smiles.
With a park day out of the question, & Kristen being a foodie, I knew she wouldn’t mind coming to wholefoods with me for the afternoon. What I love about this part, is that Kristen enjoys what I believe matters most as well, (food, wine, & loved ones), and she was thrilled at entering a gigantic wholefoods on 96th and Columbus with me. I was walking around this market like I had just struck the vegetable lottery. Which, at this place I may as well have. My rule for produce shopping, pick 2 items of each color of the rainbow. Example; “red” (apples, red peppers, check!) “Orange” (Oranges, peaches, check!) “yellow” (bananas, yellow potatoes) “Green” (kale, broccoli, spinach…three of these because they are the best) and so on. Fill that cart like a rainbow and without ever having to plug your meals into some online food journal, or calorie count, know that you are balanced and OK. I filled my cart with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, salads, nuts, veggie burgers, lentils, chips & salsa, and pasta. I don’t know which was more fun, the shopping or the unpacking of the food into my kitchen. I had spent my money for the week on food. I knew I wouldn’t need to take out another dollar for at least 10 days. The difference between eating out during your work week and cooking food at home is something that not only will better your wallet, but it will better how you feel. When you walk into a burrito joint lets say, you may at first feel empowered by choosing what to put into that burrito (“I chose brown rice, I chose black beans, I said no cheese”). But you have no idea where those beans came from. Were they in a can before they were prepared? If so, how much sodium may be in those beans? And how much do you pay for a burrito in NYC? Based on my 7 years here, I’d say anywhere from $8-$11 and that’s not including your beverage (which also probably racks you up another $2.25, and 80-220 calories depending what you choose). Eating Out= ok once in a while for a social scene and emergencies. However, Cooking > Eating Out, always. :)


For dinner on this night after returning from the food store, I cooked butternut squash risotto with roasted Brussels sprouts in garlic and olive oil. We opened a bottle of pinot noir, (because this is what Sundays are for) and we sat with our dinner, my friend and I. Eating nothing but whole foods (literally) this week, this is what I ate the following day, (all found at wholefoods market): My friends, I present to you a day in the life of my eating habits.
Breakfast: Kashi Go Lean Crunch in a bowl with Stoneyfield Vanilla organic yogurt, and sliced banana
Snack: “Back to Nature” cheddar crackers
Lunch: Saffron Rice with Kidney beans
Snack: Cascadian Farm Chocolate Almond Granola Bar
Dinner: (cooked at home) Vegetarian Chickn stuffed with goat cheese. Walnut and Cranberry cous cous, with sautéed Kale. (check recipe tab for instructions on kale). Giant glass of water.
Tonight, making every attempt to not write a 5,000 word blog entry, I wanted to share with you my passion for not just food, but food equality. I wanted to share my passion for cooking, despite the fact that I am a rookie at the stove. My passion for not just eating, but eating with loved ones and enjoying the time spent. And I wanted to bring to your attention briefly (or not so briefly) the world of food shopping, selecting actual food, & then cooking with it. Yes, sounds funny but there are plenty of “food store” items on the shelves that do not qualify as actual “food”. I am not ever going to be on the food network channel, and when I cut an onion there is a mess on the cutting board. But I am serious about eating foods that make you feel good, and I am serious about everyone having that chance. I have seen firsthand, the children I used to tutor in East Harlem eat their lunch and within the next 2 hours be unable to concentrate in class. “I don’t feel well Miss Jessica” and my response would be “what did you last eat darling?” Nutrition fuels your mind. How can we expect a future generation of successful students, employees, and citizens, if the highest potential for learning is never reached? And keep in mind that the highest potential for learning may never be reached, because meals high in fat and sugar do nothing but leave a child sleepy & with a stomach ache. Diets low in omega 3 has been linked to learning disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder. The list goes on. These are the thoughts that run through my head everyday. As I continue my education in Nutrition and public health this fall, I will continue to write on these topics that remind me everyday why I am investing in my education in the first place.
Peace. Love. & Equality.

All Bodies Rise

(In January, I had the priviledge of being present at my friends engagement party. Her family is from Bombay, India and this was a religious Puja ceremony. This tradition involved blessing the couple, prayer, and offering food to the Gods. I ate, I drank, I wore a Sari. This picture was taken during preperation for the "arshibad" ceremony).

It’s a really great feeling to wake up on the weekend (on a day I do not have to work), have some breakfast, and walk out the door in comfortable clothing with no make up on. This is my routine when I go to yoga class on Saturday or Sunday mornings. I love waking up feeling refreshed, and not tired or stressed (You see, I never go out the night before taking class, because I know if I do I will not make it to class at all). So sometimes I watch Saturday Night Live and hit the pillow for 9 hours on Saturday night instead; and then I begin my Sunday morning on the mat with deep breaths, wrist curls, and shaking my head “yes” and “no”. As the instructor says, “wake up your body”. With my yoga pants, flip flops, white tank top, and my hair a wild mess, I headed down to St Marks place yesterday morning around 9am. My breakfast was Kashi cereal “autumn wheat” with skim milk and a banana. I hold on all coffee until after class since I don’t think it is wise to increase your heart rate with caffeine right before working out (where your heart rate will increase on its own). Also, it is an artificial way of waking up & yoga feels better in the end. I say that with all the love in the world for my coffee, but it’s the truth.
Class was tough this morning. It was a different instructor who I had never taken class with, and my body for some reason felt extra tight. I was surprised when I went into downward dog and my heels couldn’t touch the mat. I thought to myself “give yourself ten minutes and your body will warm up” but I was struggling for some reason. 20 minutes later I thought “maybe it was the 3 mile run last night, you didn’t really stretch well after and you may have tightened up during sleep”. 5 minutes later, as my hips screamed at me for making them go into warrior 2, I finally said, “this class is only an hour, so stop thinking, shut up, and do what you can,…. just don’t quit Jessica Marie”. (I use the "marie" here for that middle name extra "oomph". Remember when you were young and you knew you were really in trouble because your mom or dad called you by your first AND middle name? When I heard "Jessica Marie!" I knew to hide).
Then, just in the peak of class where your heart rate is really up, and sweat is starting to get into your eyes, the instructor tuned on Coldplays “Lovers in Japan/Reign of love”. A huge smile spread across my face, & I thought “amazing! I Love this song!” By the time I processed that thought, I realized I had made it into the bind position, which everyone else had already been holding for 3 minutes while I had been shaking with effort. Good lord! If any of you do not know what this is, google it. It’s not exactly…comfortable. That position makes me dizzy usually but I must have been feeling unstoppable because I just looked at the girl in front of me (who by the way, looked like she could do the dishes in that position with no problem) and copied her. Boom. Done. Jessica is in the bind. I credit the coldplay. After this mini miracle, I finally felt like I had accomplished something. Interestingly enough, the teacher starts going into a little lecture at this point. He starts saying (in his slow, calming yogi voice): “Just breathe. Dedicate this class to yourself, this is your time. We live in New York City, and living here means everything in your life probably revolves around competition. It is all ambition here. But this lifestyle….I am going to ask you to throw it out right now.” Huh…funny. He is so smart. If I hadn’t made it into the bind position at that point of class, and I finished the hour still struggling through everything (aka “if he hadn’t played the coldplay”), would I have felt like I failed in yoga this morning? Am I that New Yorker who competes with my own life? Now I understand though, that no matter how much I sweat or how many yoga positions I can or cannot do, the fact that I absorbed what this man said in that moment, about doing it for yourself… now I had truly reaped the benefits of class. That’s my hour. It doesn’t matter for 60 minutes what my sales are like at my job, if I am going to do well in my clinical nutrition class this fall, or if my electricity bill is due this week. I am going to for just an hour, stop competing with others and myself. I am going to try my best, breathe, and be grateful for the New York moment in which I actually slowed down. It doesn’t matter if the chick in front of me can stand on her head and write a check to time warner cable at the same time. My time was spent working on my flexibility, enjoying coldplay, & accomplishing the bind (yea!)
When class was over, as always, I walked out looking like I just fell in love. I stop at Think Coffee on 13th street on the way home and buy my well deserved cup of joe, hop on the subway and say “now….. what else will I do with this day?”
Peace. Love. Namaste.

• Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love by Coldplay

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