Okay so when I put that post out there, for a few hours there were no comments, and I was feeling so silly. Like anyone CARES what I eat anyway. Well, I guess it took a while to hit the old feed readers because now the questions are piling up and it may take me to Christmas to answer them all. Which is perfectly fine. What blogger doesn’t welcome free blog fodder?
I’d like to be all organized and group my answers in such a way that each post focuses on the same general topic, but instead I think I’ll just go in order because otherwise I’m likely to get all confused. Which doesn’t take much, trust me.
As always, I want to be clear that I am SO not an expert on this. I’ll just tell you what I’m doing, but of course you should do your own research and come to your own conclusions.
AND I also want to say that yes, you can drive yourself crazy with this. I try to keep everything in perspective, and from the very beginning I tried to adopt Kelly‘s 80% rule. I figure if we’re eating right 80% of the time, I’m not going to let the other 20% bring out the crazy.
Now that I’ve got the 15286 disclaimers out of the way…
Lynn asks: I’ve been reluctant to try whole milk because I’m afraid of the extra calories. I drink a lot of milk and I’m afraid that I’ll gain weight if I drink whole milk. Any advice?
A wise Jenny Craig consultant once told me, “It’s not what you eat; it’s how much you eat.” She was talking specifically about weight loss, mind you, not nutrition. But I think that advice was pretty bang-on, and I try to keep it in mind.
I drink an 8-oz cup of whole milk maybe 3 or 4 times a week, and I take it on my cereal almost every morning. I have actually lost a couple of pounds since going whole-hog into the whole foods, and I attribute that to less snacking and eating a better balance of foods. I tend to eat a lot of carbs if I’m not very intentional about incorporating other food groups into my diet. But I digress, which I’m guessing is no surprise.
My point is, if you are drinking a half gallon of milk a day, then switching to whole may cause you to gain weight. But if you are drinking a glass or two a day at most, I don’t think you’ll notice a difference. Hey, try it. The worst thing that can happen is you decide to switch back.
Kelly asks: I share your passion for real food. But lately, I’ve been wondering about all the butter I use in my cooking. I’m starting to wonder if I’m going too far the other direction. (Not sure how to change it other than eat fewer foods that require butter.) What do you do?
Well, you see, I have ALWAYS eaten butter liberally. It’s a common joke around our house, Having some bread with that butter? I come by it honestly. You should see my Grampa butter his bread. And you know what? He’s 92, lives independently, and goes to work every day. If the butter hasn’t killed him yet, I don’t think I have anything to worry about.
I cook with lots of butter and olive oil; I always have. So that hasn’t really been much of a change for me. I’ll refer once again to the “It’s not what you eat; it’s how much you eat” philosophy on this one. I use plenty of it in my cooking, but I try to keep my portion sizes small when I sit down to the table.
And also, raw butter from grass-fed cows is supposedly so nutritious that I actually feel good about eating it. It’s hard to come by, but I go out of my way to get it.
Darla asks: Flour. I gotta know when you use whole wheat vs white. Also…pasta, always whole wheat? If so, what brand?
Darla likes to cut to the chase, doesn’t she? So for flour, it depends. For baked goods and quick breads, I almost always use whole wheat pastry flour. It’s lighter than regular whole wheat flour so it tastes good in baked goods. But it doesn’t have enough gluten for yeast breads, or something like that. For whatever reason, it doesn’t like yeast, so for my sandwich bread, I use half whole wheat flour and half white. If I use more whole wheat than that, my kids protest.
Oh. But speaking of bread. I must share my most recent victory. Last week I ran out of homemade bread, and the batch I was making flopped, so I sent my husband out to pick up bread at the store. (Yes, I now have an extra loaf in the freezer for good measure.) Of course, if I had gone to the store for bread, I would have intentionally picked up the nastiest bread I thought I could get away with, so as not to shoot myself in the foot with the homemade bread thing I’ve got going. But no. My husband picked up a loaf of that squishy potato bread. I mean, how am I supposed to compete with THAT!?
BUT! I was shocked when the next day, when I had both the potato bread and a new loaf of homemade honey whole wheat, and my son requested the homemade. “I don’t know what it is,” he said, “but the stuff from the store is too soft or something. Even for toast, I don’t really like it anymore.”
YEEEESSSSSSS!!!!! Oh you better BELIEVE I was pumping my fist and dancing around the kitchen. (And I apologize for that disturbing visual.)
My daughter, on the other hand, requested potato bread in her lunch. Oh well, one out of three ain’t bad for starters.
Okay, so where were we? Oh yes, pasta.
I love Barilla Plus for pasta – it’s not whole wheat pasta, but they use some different grains and legumes (lentils, chickpeas, spelt, barley, flaxseed, and oats) in addition to the typical seminola and durum. It has more protein and fewer carbs than typical pasta, as well as twice the fiber. I feel like it’s a good compromise because whole wheat pasta? No sank you. And I don’t see myself making my own any time soon.
That said, sometimes I buy the refrigerated “fresh” pasta. What can I say? A girl’s gotta live a little.
Okay, y’all still with me? Let’s go for one more.
Shelly says: I’m just wondering if all this has helped your digestion issues. Sure hope so!
Well, I’m off Nexium. WOOHOOO!!!!!! But I still have good weeks and not-so-good weeks. Still, I think I’m doing better overall, and I’m so thankful to be off the drugs. I keep meaning to tell that story in its entirety, but it’s a long one, and I haven’t taken the time yet.
Alrightythen. I’ll try to tackle the next set of questions this weekend!
Meanwhile, tell me about a change that you’ve made to your diet recently. (For the better, hopefully!)
If you liked this post, you may want to subscribe to Musings of a Housewife.
Follow me on Twitter. I'm JoLynneMusings.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Instead of milk chocolate I only buy dark chocolate that is made with 70% cacao. I just can’t live without chocolate so for me that has proven a healthier switch.
Great post by the way.
I’m pregnant and in the nausea-filled first trimester. So my eating habits lately have been horrible. But I’m looking forward to feeling better again (got some Zofran on Monday; huge difference) and getting back to a real food diet.
This was a fun post, by the way. I know you’re not a certified expert, but it’s always interesting to hear the Q&A when someone is as knowledgeable as you are.
For those concerned about gaining weight if you eat more saturated fat… you have to understand that fats like butter are going to burn off quickly. Check out “Eat Fat, Lose Fat” if you are looking for more info. Lots of butter on veggies is good for nutrient absorption, too.
Good points Liz!! Thanks.
We started drinking green smoothies almost every day (recipe: http://thisseasonoflife.blogspot.com/2009/10/recipe-update.html) It’s my best bet of getting spinach and fruit down my toddler.
We have switched to using only butter, olive oil or coconut oil.
We now use Sucanat in place of sugar in most recipes, but also raw honey as much as possible when sweetener is needed.
We switched to whole milk.
Those are a few. But I really related to what you said in an earlier post about Snickers not lasting long in a house that doesn’t get much sweets. When my kids brought home their candy stash from this last weekend, it has absolutely disappeared at an alarming rate….sadly due to hubby and I.
Hoping to get it all cleaned out around here and start again!
The biggest thing we have done is sitting down to eat together. So many people think this doesn’t affect your diet, but it slows you down. I take the time to talk to my kids, my husband and don’t eat as fast. This allows me to know when I am full. Very rarely do I overeat anymore. Love that!
Last week I tried to drink a glass of milk with lunch every day. I actually stayed more full throughout the afternoon, thus reducing the snacking, and felt thinner (I know, I know) by the end of the week. You are so right when you say it’s about the food choices you make, not the calories.
I love, love, love butter! (Good farm girl that I am.)
Making my own full-fat plain yogurt has been the biggest and best change. My 18-year-old daughter still insists on skim milk but I buy the whole milk for the yogurt, baking, and everything else. Oh, and I will never go back to margarine again. Love the butter! We also try to eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies. If I don’t buy the junk, we won’t eat it as much. Great post. I look forward to you answering more questions.
Great post and fantastic topic. I recently started TRYING to eat without distraction. It is very hard for a commited multitasker like me, but I know that my eating habits will improve if I eat without books / computer / TV / simultaneously doing some kind of chore / you get the idea.
And I’m slowly easing back into real butter instead of cooking spray. Do you ever use it (spray)?
Nope! I tossed it so I wouldn’t be tempted, lol. I grease all my baking pans with coconut oil or butter and a great little plastic “brush” I got for the job.
And that’s great about eating without distractions. That has helped me A LOT.
I am loving these post! Here at home we have made the switch to real butter for everday cooking (I have ALWAYS used it for baking purposes) I have started making alot of ‘convience’ foods from scratch. Stuff like freezer biscuits, pancake mix, seasoning mixes and so on.
now I have to go back to the other post to ask my questions. =)
Thanks, Jo-Lynne, for answering my whole milk question. Like you, I have milk on my cereal, too, and sometimes a glass during the day, so maybe whole milk won’t be a problem after all!
thanks for that. it’s interesting how kids will start reacting to and wanting whole foods. good on you.
I have totally cut out artificial sweeteners, milk, gluten, processed sugar. Gluten and dairy for sure and I will occasionally eat AS and PS–but I feel it.
I feel SO much better without it. ESP. artificial sweeteners. I eat one piece of sugar free gum and I can feel it instantly in my tummy.
Great post! The bread-thing has me laughing. My husband did some shopping a few days ago (also because of a flopped loaf of homemade bread), and came back with WONDER. He was so tickled with himself! He’s generally very patient with my efforts to instill healthier eating habits in our family, but sometimes he just has to break away and do his own thing! : ) I haven’t seen Wonder Bread for awhile– I was shocked at just how white it actually is– crazy!
Hey, thanks for answering my questions!
Barilla, I keep hearing about that. Ok ok, I’ll try it.
I have actually given up drinking milk because of the extra mucus that it causes in my sinuses. I have had less sinus/allergy problems since making that change. i do still eat cheese and yogurt though. When the sinuses are bad, I have to stay away from those temporarily.
I did recently make my own pasta. Used a half white flour/half whole wheat flour combination. What I found what that because the noodles were so hearty, we ate less of them and they were more filling than any store bought pasta I’ve ever had. Not that i’ll be switching entirely over to homemade pasta because of the labor involved, but it was a pleasant observation.