Tag Archives: nutrition

Short Blog Entry on Cooking

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Originally posted to my Facebook page on January 23, 2016

Since I can’t workout like I did pre-THR surgery, maintaining my health depends mostly on how I eat. I am not cleared to take my iron supplement yet, and I can’t take a multi-vitamin or any other type of supplements such as Omega-3 (doctor’s orders until my follow-up). I really have to try to get my nutrients from the food I eat.

Tonight I cooked hamburgers (lean grass fed beef from a local butcher) on whole wheat buns, baked sweet potato fries, and a green salad with diced apples, red onion, cucumber, celery, and I made my own apple vinaigrette dressing with local honey.

I’m finally getting the hang of making my own salad dressing. Sometimes I add Dijon mustard, or I change up the type of vinegar I use. It’s much easier than I ever imagined, and it’s fresh.

I didn’t really plan on making everything from scratch because this was just supposed to be a quickly prepared meal. I thought about grabbing a bag of frozen sweet potato fries, or a bag of pre-washed salad mix. But Sara wanted to try slicing and baking a sweet potato, and the head of lettuce was on sale. it worked out nicely because Joe B is a good sous chef. Everything tasted so good.

And I’m just thankful I have energy to cook more regularly now. That was really a killer, not feeling up to cooking. My family has missed my cooking and I’ve missed it as well. I enjoy it. It makes me even more thankful for all the meals that were delivered to us from friends because it kept us from living on fast-food or takeout in the weeks immediately following my surgery.

Bringing Back an Old Pow-Wow Traveling Tradition

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Powwow Food Prep

When I was little and my mom took us on vacation, she would always pack a cooler. Sandwiches, fruit, crackers, chips, etc. We looked forward to stopping at this rest area north of Grand Rapids that had a creek, lots of trees, and picnic tables. We had our lunch there and then continued on. When we started traveling to powwows my mom would bring a cooler as well. She would surprise us at some powwows by bringing out a package of ring bologna and crackers and some sliced cheese.

Over the years as we camped less and stayed in hotels more, we relied less on coolers and more on food available at powwows. The usual fair: Indian Tacos, soup with none of the fat trimmed off the meat, and Ndn dogs. Now we have walking tacos, cheeseburger, Ndn burgers (cheeseburger in a piece of fry bread instead of a bun), funnel cakes, chicken strips. A plethora of fried foods, white flour, and saturated fat. And not to mention the casino buffets that we frequent now that casino powwows are well-attended. I know from research that the reason many people gain weight is because they overestimate the calories they burn through exercise and they underestimate the calories they consume. I think this is common during powwow weekends where we think we are burning more calories that we actually do when dancing. I know several people who feels its challenging to maintain their healthy habits during powwow weekends.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, preparing for powwows this summer is my priority. I wanted to get back to bringing my own food like my mom used to, and when we used to camp. There was nothing better than a sandwich and fruit (and maybe some chips) at our camp after a session, and fresh fruit always helps during the hot afternoon sessions. I did my powwow prep a few weeks ago when we traveled 7 Clans Casino Powwow in Thief River Falls, MN and it worked out great. I made smoothies and the kids had all kinds of fruit. No one gained weight that weekend and we actually saved some money.

So here is my #HealthyPowwowFoodPrep for this weekend. Shelby and I stayed up late last night making whole grain muffins and shredding chicken I cooked in a crockpot. We are staying in a hotel where all the rooms have refrigerators. I’m packing the following in my cooler.

  • Lunchpail Muffins
  • Lean deli turkey
  • Diced chicken cooked in a crockpot
  • Chicken salad with diced celery, apples, almonds in low-fat olive oil mayo
  • Boiled eggs
  • Sliced apples
  • Grapes (in 1-cup portions in zip-lock bags)
  • Whole wheat sandwich thins
  • Nonfat vanilla yogurt
  • Plain nonfat greek yogurt
  • celery
  • What is left of the blueberries and strawberries in my fridge
  • Thin sliced Colby-Jack cheese
  • String cheese
  • I have cherries washed but they didn’t make into the picture. They WILL be in the cooler

My girls are learning nutrition through Kurbo Health (I’ll write about our experience in a separate blog entry) so making these preparations has become even more important. If we can make 90% of our food choices over the course of a powwow weekend healthy choices, then I won’t have any problem with splitting a piece of fry bread with someone and enjoying.

Our friend Grace Pushetonequa asked for suggestions on healthy food to bring to powwows on FaceBook and then she posted a picture of her food prep today. I’m going to encourage people to do the same….take pictures of their healthy powwow food prep and post them on their social media. You never know who you will positively impact just by sharing your experiences.

2 Smoothie Recipes from The Swirlies

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What an extremely hectic April and May we had!!! Too much to write about so I’ll just cut to the chase.

We ended our indoor powwow season last weekend with Haskell’s Commencement Powwow. Two weekends in a row of working powwows (for me), and 2 weekends in a row of my kids dancing. I got a rude awakening once again at how difficult it is to maintain healthy eating habits during powwow season. Fry bread everywhere you turn, fatty/starchy soups, candy, Gatorade and soda/pop…..*sigh*  And I didn’t have time to prepare and bring healthy snacks like my own fruit, veggies, cheese sticks, turkey, boiled eggs, etc. Making time to prepare before every powwow will be my priority this year.

So, in an effort to get back on track, the Swirlies (my 2 daughters) decided to have smoothies for breakfast this week. They both have their own recipes, and both are delicious! And very simple to make.

I keep forgetting how small their tummies are, so I made too much the first day. By this morning I had the ingredients down to where they fit into a regular size coffee cup (8 oz, or 1 measuring cup), which is the perfect amount for them. Myself, I can always knock out at least 12-16 ounces of one of my smoothies.

Shelby’s Smoothie – Strawberry Pineapple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh strawberries and pineapple combined
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt (I buy the Dannon Lite & Fit vanilla because it has much less added sugar than other non-fat vanilla brands)
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Fits in the coffee cup.

Sara’s Smoothie – Pineapple Apple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh pineapple and apple combined (I leave the skin on)
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth

I was amazed at how sweet the Pineapple Apple smoothie was. Almost tasted like a treat!

I am going to try to talk the girls into having a “Smoothie Party” for their combined birthday parties. Let them and their friends have fun creating and get many different fruits (and veggies) in their systems!

No picture this blog entry, but will try to summon up my amateur photography skills on the next one. 🙂

Breakfast Smoothie Made with Kefir

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Kefir, fruit and spinach smoothie

I think my best smoothie concoctions are created when I just use whatever I have on-hand.

I came down with strep throat in March and was prescribed a 10-day antibiotic. I haven’t taken a 10-day round of antibiotics in decades. The only times I have needed an antibiotic were for sinus infections and I usually get a Z-pack. Right after I finished my prescription I experienced terrible stomach upset to the point where I had no appetite. I didn’t feel like eating and when I did I couldn’t eat more than a couple of bites at time. This went on for 4 days before I started looking up information on the side effects of antibiotics and gut health.

I guessed that the 10 days of amoxicillin might have caused an imbalance of the good bacteria in my gut. So off to the store I went and found a probiotic supplement. Later when I was grocery shopping I saw a bottles of kefir. Kefir is like drinkable yogurt and contains the active yogurt cultures that help maintain gut health. I have avoided buying it in the past because most of the kefir I’ve come across contains a high amount of sugar (except for the plain variety). This brand was low-fat, fruit flavored and sweetened with Stevia. I bought a bottle and tried it out immediately. I really liked the taste and texture. It must be good because my little 8-year foodie daughter loves it.

I drank a cup of the kefir every morning for a week. It helped settle my stomach and gave me a little energy (I was feeling run-down from not eating enough). Within that week my stomach finally returned to normal but I still wanted to keep kefir on hand.

Before my trip to the grocery store last week, I was rummaging around my refrigerator and freezer looking to use up food remnants for breakfast. The remains I found were some of this kefir, 1 cup of frozen cherries, half a carton of blueberries, and one big handful of spinach. I blended them all together, added a little water to make it less thick, and put a few drops of liquid stevia in so that Joe B would drink it.

This is one of the best smoothies I’ve ever come up with. I’ve made it 3 times for our breakfast since then. The exact ingredients and the amounts I used are below.

Lifeway Kefir

Kefir, Fruit and Spinach Smoothie:

Makes 2 servings

1 Cup Kefir – low-fat, fruit flavored (sweetened with Stevia)
1 heaping Cup frozen sweet cherries
1/2 Cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1-2 Cups Spinach (I just use a big handful)
1/2 C water
Drops of liquid Stevia to taste

The combination of the kefir and frozen fruit gives it a really nice cold texture, similar to a milkshake but it’s tart, not overly sweet. And the best thing is that you get a serving of dairy and fruit, and half a serving of veggies, not to mention some gut healthy probiotics, all in one shot. Let me know if you try it and if you liked it. 🙂

Family Recipe for Tacos

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I’ve mentioned before that my mom used to cook for us all the time. Eating out at a fast-food place back then was a treat reserved for payday, and it might have happened every other week at the most. My mom cooked all the time for us. We never ate Hamburger Helper and she made her own taco meat and seasoning. I’m lucky to still have several of her recipes that I cook for my family today.

Her taco recipe is one of my go-to meals. I’ve cooked it for company and it is always well-received. I usually make a double batch because they make great leftovers and can be used for taco salads or taco bowls. My daughter likes to take this in a thermos for her lunch at school and I love to pack it for my lunch at work as well. It’s also a great vehicle to sneak some extra veggies in. My addition to my mom’s recipe is the shredded zucchini. It cooks down and blends in with the tomato sauce and beef until you can barely see it.

What I love about this recipe is that you have several options for your protein. I’ve cooked this using 95% lean ground beef, I’ve used ground bison meat, I’ve tried it with half lean ground turkey and half lean ground beef. I love ground bison meat but it is expensive. I also love using grass-fed beef, but it costs about the same per pound as ground bison. What I often do is mix ground bison or grass-fed beef with lean ground beef. If I can’t swing the expense of using all bison or grass-fed beef, I will up the nutrition value of the beef by mixing it with a less expensive, but lean protein.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs lean ground beef (optional: mix 50/50 with ground bison or grass-fed beef, or lean ground turkey)
1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 small onion – diced
1 small zucchini – shredded
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin

Brown diced onion in a heated skillet. Add ground beef and brown until cooked through. Remove cooked beef and onions with a slotted spoon to drain excess fat, place in a medium sauce pan. Add tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin and shredded zucchini. Simmer for about 20 minutes until zucchini has softened and some of the liquid has cooked down. The meat mixture will have a little extra liquid the first night, but it thickens up when re-heating the leftovers.

There are a variety of ways to serve this. My girls like using regular corn tortilla taco shells. I like to make a soft taco using a whole grain flour tortilla. Top the hard shell or soft tacos with shredded cheese, shredded lettuce or spinach, chopped tomato and salsa or hot sauce. Joe B likes to make deluxe nachos.

I also love to make a taco salad out of this. I’ll take one serving of tortilla chips (about 8 chips) and break them up in the bottom of a bowl. Then I’ll layer on about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of some type of leafy green (I like to use spinach but will serve romaine lettuce to company), approximately half a cup of the taco meat mixture, then top with shredded cheese, salsa or picante sauce, and chopped tomato.

I’ve experimented cooking different vegetables with the taco meat such as red bell pepper, and one time I mixed a can of rinsed and drained black beans into the meat mixture while it was still in the skillet. That particular experiment didn’t go over so well because my girls could see and taste the beans. I’ll try that one again a later date. 🙂

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By the way, this is my first attempt at photographing a meal I cooked for the blog. I’ll continue to be brave and experiment some more with this.

New Breakfast Recipe

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Being considered the “Food Police” has its benefits. It gets people talking with me about healthy food which I think is always a good thing. I usually get asked for ideas on healthy meals, but once in awhile I get a message from someone asking if I’ve ever tried a certain recipe.

My friend Justin (fancy dancer from Canada) asked me a year ago if I’ve ever made oatmeal banana loaf. I hadn’t because I’d never heard of oatmeal banana loaf. There were some confused messages from me until I got an idea of what he was talking about. He sent me a link with the recipe and for some reason I just sat on it and never tired it. Until this morning.

And I have to say I now have a favorite weekend breakfast. The recipe is called Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal and the recipe is found on the Budget Bytes website. http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/08/blueberry-banana-baked-oatmeal/

This oatmeal bake is warm, sweet with all natural sugars, and loaded with whole grains, fruit, and milk. I wish I had a picture but we ate most of it before I thought that maybe I should’ve Instagrammed it. 🙂

Depending on your nutrition goals, this can be made in several different ways. You can use different types of milk such as skim, almond, low-fat or whole milk. You can substitute different types of sweeteners, such as maple syrup, evaporated cane sugar, or stevia for the 1/4 C of white sugar that the recipe calls for. It can be “clean” and all natural or it can be fat-free and table sugar-free.

Since I am back on Weight Watcher and following the “Simply Filling” plan, I used fat-free milk and Splenda for baking in this recipe to keep the ingredients all Power Foods or 0 point ingredients. I will plan to use Stevia next time, but I was in a hurry and didn’t want to sit and do the calculations with Stevia when I could just use 1/4 C of baking Splenda.

This was absolutely delicious and easy to make. I broke mine up in the bowl and topped it with a little unsweetened vanilla almond milk. My husband topped his with chopped pecans and almond milk. I have no idea why it took me whole year to try it, but we both agreed this will be entered into the weekend breakfast lineup. Enjoy!

 Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
45 mins
Total time
1 hour
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups (3 med) mashed bananas
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¼ cup white sugar (I used Stevia
  • ¾ tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp baking powder
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2½ cups old fashioned oats
  • 8 ounces frozen blueberries
 Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mash the bananas in a measuring cup, starting with two or three and adding more until you have 1.5 cups of banana mash.
  2. Combine the banana mash in the large bowl with the eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Add the milk and whisk again until smooth.
  3. Stir in the dry old-fashioned oats. Lastly, stir in the frozen blueberries (keeping them frozen and stirring them in last helps prevent the entire mix from turning purple). Spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray and then pour in the oat mixture.
  4. Bake in the preheated 375 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is no longer wet to the touch.
Notes
Serve warm or refrigerate until ready to eat. These oats can be quickly reheated in the microwave each morning for a quick, filling breakfast.

Motivation….that elusive “thing”

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I have osteoarthritis in both hips. I am only 46 years old and I am looking at total hip replacement surgery sometime down the line. It’s hard for me to run because of the ensuing joint pain and I’m losing range of motion in my right hip. It’s painful to tie my shoes or tape up my moccasins when I dance. I can’t dance the way I used to even 2 years ago….I have to modify several of my steps or just not do them.

I am getting a good lesson in dealing with a chronic condition….like diabetes or lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. It’s hard. It’s hard to get motivated to find what works to manage the pain. It’s hard and very emotional when I look at what may be down the line for me…it’s hard when I think about losing the things that have been such a big part of me for so long. Like running and shawl dancing. I have a lot of ups and downs and it’s hard to tell anyone about it because I don’t want to drag anyone down, and I don’t feel very many understand. I just recently went through a very difficult and emotional time, one of several that I’ve experienced in the last 20 months.

But this week I have felt awesome. Really really good. I feel like I have found and gotten a good grip on that thing that health educators talk about all the time…”motivation”.  Defined as “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.” In order to make positive change, we must be motivated to do so. I remember working a social work job and one of the social work specialists said, “They don’t train us in this job how to motivate people to change.” Which is true. While psychologists or public health workers can be trained in motivational interviewing (a technique used to evaluate the level of a person’s willingness to change and help push them forward), most people in the helping professions are at a loss as to how to motivate people.

There are 2 types of motivation: “Intrinsic” and “Extrinsic”. Extrinsic motivation is where your motivation comes from an external source….like getting good grades because your parents offer to pay you for every A on your report card, or buying you something if you make the Dean’s List. There are endless examples of extrinsic motivation….but this type of motivation is short-lived. It may last until the reward has been earned and then it’s gone. It may disappear before the reward is earned if the reward seems too far away or unattainable. Point is, It doesn’t last long. Intrinsic motivation, is the internal desire to change….it can be based on some type of perceived reward or fear that hits close to home. My best example of that is when a grandparent makes long-term changes to their health regimen in order to be able to see their grandchildren grow up. Or a person decides to lose weight or exercise more, not because they want to improve their appearance alone, but because they want to FEEL better both physically and emotionally.

My motivation has had some severe ups and downs since my diagnosis. I believe I’ve had a string of short-term motivated times because my motivation has been extrinsic…I’ve been motivated to do my PT exercises until I felt it wasn’t really helping the pain or help me get back to running. I’ve been motivated to just keep doing what I’ve been doing, kind of like rebelling against my OA, only to be struck down by debilitating joint pain. I’ve been motivated to try all different kinds of supplements until I overdid my activity and felt miserable because of the pain.

These days I feel very motivated. And I believe the positive vibe I have going is because I’m finally sorting out everything I have tried before, which includes changes in diet, supplements, hot yoga, biking, reaching out to friends and family, and changing my way of thinking of my dance career. A few weeks ago I was looking at the near-end of my shawl dance career….I thought that I could last another year or two at the most and then I would be done. And when that sunk in, I grieved….like I was losing a life-friend. Thankfully my friends, my companion, and my family pulled me out of that pit of despair. I have a sense of hope now….which feels brand new to me. And I have a deep-seated confidence, which is also new, that I will achieve my wellness goals that I have altered in a positive and realistic way. Both of those feelings, the hope and the confidence, have boosted my motivation.

My motivation comes now from knowing that I can manage my OA pain. It’s not hopeless. A good quality of life is not out of my reach.  I’ve had several weeks of pain-free joints and I’m confident that what I’m doing is working and that I can continue. I KNOW what works now. Limiting carbohydrates in my diet, taking some supplements that are working, including Xyngular’s Global Blend, alfalfa, Omega-3, a B-complex, and drinking my turmeric tea. Drinking alot of water. Eating alot of nutrient rich vegetables. Avoiding commercially raised feed-lot red meat and switching to grass-fed beef. I love the elliptical machine…it feels like I’m running without the joint pain. Stretching, I am learning to love and get better at. And getting my rest. My motivation increases each day that I wake and can walk with little to no pain. And my shawl dancing….we’ll see how that goes. But I’m hopeful. I’m focused and grateful for what my body can do….instead of obsessing about what it can’t do. I’m looking at all I have to gain with maintaining these positive changes, instead of thinking about what I am losing. When I make food choices in a restaurant I think about what will help me the most, and that means selecting salmon and spinach and broccoli and giving away my bread and NOT ordering dessert. I don’t think about HAVING to give up a French Dip sandwich or a slice of lemon meringue pie, I think about all the good things the salmon and the Omega-3 and all those green veggies will do for my body and my joints. So my motivation comes from a place of positive thinking, encouragement, helping and healing my body. Because I want to feel better. I love how I feel when I do these things. The changes make my bad days not so bad and make the good days that much better. I’m making myself better, which will make me better for all those around me.

I really want to publicly thank my husband Joe B…who has had to put up with my mood swings but he never gives in to my negative thinking. And I want to thank my sister Sharon who is my biggest cheerleader and always finding new things for me to try. My sister Sandy, who with my sister Sharon, always keeps it real with me, and my BFF, my Maske, Erica….my example of perseverance through tough times. My brother Elwood because he has no idea of how special he is to me. Special acknowledgement and thanks to Mike LaFrombois and Kevin Tacan….the male version of “maske” for me. They both have such positive outlooks even with all they deal with, and lend me their good vibes all the time. They are excellent listeners, and Kevin recommended the alfalfa supplements. These people help hold me up even if they don’t realize it, and I’m eternally grateful. Wopida tanka to each of you, and to the others I didn’t mention (you know who you are) who have helped me in any way.

Need your daily fruits and veggies? Make smoothies!!

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We are doing our Nutrition unit in my diabetes class and we discussed the number of fruit and vegetable servings that people need each day (5-7). A smoothie can be a really good meal/snack and a very efficient way to get your fruits and veggies in. I prefer making a smoothie to “juicing” because when you juice fruits and veggies it just extracts the liquid and the fructose, leaving you with a simple carbohydrate (read “sugar”). The pulp is left in the bottom tray of the juice machine and discarded, but that’s the important part….the pulp contains the fiber of the fruits and veggies. Whole fruits and veggies have a high water content, fructose, nutrients, and FIBER which is important to heart health, colon health, and keeping your digestive system running like a well-oiled machine. Your body has to work harder to break down whole fruits and veggies due to the fiber so it slows down the blood sugar spike that can occur when you drink fruit juice alone. Smoothies are the way to go. Although the blender breaks down some of the food for you, smoothies are still a healthier alternative to any kind of juice.

I have four “go-to” smoothie recipes. My kids like some of them, Joe B likes all of them, except for the new one I came up with this morning because he hasn’t tried it yet. One of them I got online and the others are variations of recipes I’ve seen on-line. Easy to make and I love the fact that I can get a couple of servings of fruit and vegetables consumed in one shot.

Green Monster Smoothie (courtesy of “Fit Mama” and motivational speaker Erin Brown): 1 Cup of milk (I use unsweetened almond milk for myself, 1% organic milk for the Swirlies), 1 banana, 2 Cups of Spinach. Optional: I will add half a scoop of organic whey vanilla flavored protein powder to give it smoother, more creamy texture. Feel free to add a little bit of maple syrup or stevia if it’s not sweet enough (although the bananas add plenty of sweetness). Make sure the put the spinach on the bottom of the blender and the rest of the ingredients on top so it doesn’t fly up and stick to the lid. And add some ice, it will feel like a milkshake. Shelby’s favorite smoothie to date. Makes 1 large serving or 2 Swirlie sized servings. http://www.fitmamatraining.com

Green Kale/Cucumber/Apple/Pineapple Smoothie (2 Servings): 2 Cups Kale (or spinach), 1 cup peeled diced cucumber (i use seedless cucumbers), 1 diced apple (leave the peel on, use any apple of choice), 1 C diced pineapple, 1 C water, 1 C ice, 1-2 packets of Stevia. Optional: 2 tsp. Omega-3-oil supplement. Put the leafy greens at the bottom of the blender and layer the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Joe B’s favorite smoothie. Even some of my students have tried this and like it, bright green color and all. 🙂 I didn’t see a recipe for this, I just used what I thought sounded good.

Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie (serves 1):  1 C unsweetened Almond Milk, 2 Tbs natural peanut butter, 1 scoop organic chocolate whey protein powder (make sure there are no more than 2 g of carbs per serving), handful of ice. I take this smoothie on the road with us to powwows and this is mine and Joe B’s breakfast in the morning. I bring my Magic Bullet and my protein powder. I usually find the milk and PB when I get there, or I bring it in a cooler. Good power protein breakfast and this also makes a good workout recovery drink.

Cherry Almond Smoothie (serves 1): Just tried this out this morning. Modified a recipe I saw on Pinterest. 1 C frozen cherries, 1 handful of spinach, 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 C greek yogurt (I use regular, full-fat greek yogurt), I threw in some sliced almonds and a little dab of maple syrup. It was delicious! The recipe I saw on Sweet Peas and Saffron’s website (www.sweatpeasandsaffron) called for almond extract instead of the sliced almonds (I didn’t have any extract) and omitted the spinach. I added so I could get the leafy greens. And it called for 1/2 tsp of honey but I just added a very small drizzle of maple syrup, I knew the cherries would make it very sweet.

I’m sure I’ll add more blog entries like this when I try different smoothie combinations. Drinking fruit and veggie smoothies consistently does wonders for your energy, your mood, your skin, etc. You will be surprised how your body responds to really nutritious foods on the regular.

Eating is complicated….

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I teach a class called “Diabetes and the Native Americans”. I took over teaching this class seven years ago and it has morphed from a wellness/exercise class to a culturally-tailored, science-based course on how type 2 diabetes impacts Native populations. We discuss risk factors, symptoms, diagnostic tests, complications, in addition to the history of Native health and all the legislation that has impacted our population’s health. During the unit where we discuss prevention and management, we discuss eating. Just a whole lecture or two devoted to just how and why we eat.

I first read this book in August of 2008. I was overweight, having gained weight from breaking my foot the previous summer, and had difficulty motivating myself to track calories and keep up with my food journal. I don’t remember what made me buy this book (“Mindless Eating” by Brian Wansink, PhD), but I read it on the way back from a powwow in Michigan. It was eye-opening. And my first insight into the complicated maze of the psychology of eating.

There is so much fascinating information in this book: food labs to research exclusively what will make us eat more, “health halos”, why we seek comfort foods, how labeling and marketing campaigns convince us to buy more/eat more, and what was most interesting to me….the different “cues” to let us know when to stop eating. I didn’t realize that we are socialized to know when to stop eating.

For example….as in the book, I ask my class “When do you know that you have had enough food? When do you know when to stop eating?” I get all kinds of answers. “When I fall asleep”, or “When I have to unbutton the top button of my jeans”, or “When I have to change into stretchy pants”, or “When my plate is clean” or “When I’m full”. I got similar answers to what Dr. Wansink lists in his book. I catch myself telling my kids “just 2 more bites” which means I am socializing them to eat more as well (I have since made a concerted effort to not do that).

I read in his book that eating until you are full, and “eating until you are no longer hungry” are two entirely different things. He went on to describe how there can be a 25% caloric intake difference by stopping eating when you no longer experience hunger, as opposed to when you feel full. I like the examples he gave from France and Japan and how they are socialized to eat until they are no longer hungry. In the U.S., the love of Golden Corral restaurants (my husband’s favorite) and the proliferation of casino buffets, we tend to encourage eating until we pass the point of being full. Although I am well-acquainted with the concept of “eating until you are satisfied”, that phrase never truly clicked with me….but eating until I wasn’t hungry anymore did click (*lightbulb!!*)

So I had to see for myself. After getting back from Michigan and thinking about the concept of “eating until I wasn’t hungry”, I gave it a whirl. I had some leftover taco meat that I was going to fix a salad with for my lunch. I served myself the amount I normally eat, but I paid close attention to how I felt as I ate. I didn’t read or watch TV, or do anything that would take my mind off the eating task at-hand. I ate slowly, drank water, and when I reached the point where I didn’t feel hungry anymore I looked at my bowl. There was approximately 1/4 left of what I served myself. I then set about to see if those results would be replicated in my dinner and breakfast the following morning. I discovered I ate 25-30% LESS when I really attended to what I ate and stopped when I didn’t feel hungry anymore.

I ended up losing about 6 pounds within 2-3 weeks just by paying attention, or being mindful of what I ate and how I felt. I didn’t count calories, I didn’t buy any specific “diet friendly” foods (such as low-fat or fat free or low calorie). I I felt much more comfortable after eating because I wasn’t stuffed. As a result, I started serving myself less food so it wouldn’t go to waste, and learned to take more if I felt I really needed it. I figured if I didn’t stop eating when I was no longer hungry, the food was going to waste in one of two ways: it would either be left on my plate and go to “waste” and be tossed out, or it would go to “waist” and be stored as fat in the form of a muffin-top if I cleared my plate and didn’t burn up all the energy I took in. It was a true epiphany.

Native people have additional factors to deal with as well in regards to what we eat and how much we eat. On-going colonization (the methods used by dominate society/government to subjugate Indigenous peoples) is a huge factor in the status of our health. Under the colonization heading we can list historical trauma, food insecurity, socio-economic factors and all the mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trauma from abuse. These factors can make it difficult to stop eating when we are no longer hungry. If you have experienced times where there wasn’t enough food, or have learned through hard life’s experiences that you need to eat as much as possible as fast as possible because you don’t know when your next meal will be, it will make it next to impossible to not clear your plate because you have been conditioned to not waste food. If you have attended residential boarding schools or were in the military, you have been conditioned to clean your plate. Depression and anxiety, or chronic stress, heavily influences our eating behaviors, as does substance abuse. And that’s not even taking into account the sugar/starch/carbohydrate-laden commodity foods many of us grew up on, and may find comfort in. We also have our cultural/social mores, many times which dictate having to serve ourselves a portion of each food offered at a feast or ceremony, or not turning down an offer of food so as to not offend a host/hostess in their own home. Although these factors influencing our eating are not insurmountable by any means, they are deeply entrenched and it will take concentrated effort and practice, and learning new coping mechanisms to overcome them to regain our health.

Like I tell my students, eating is complicated. There is so much more to healthy eating than just “don’t eat junk” (which is a blog post all on its own). Like one of my previous weight-loss participants said, “There’s more to it than just making poor choices.” We have many many influences on what we eat and how much we eat, but I truly believe they can be managed and we can improve our collective Indigenous health.

Breakfast ideas for my Swirlies

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I like to post on FB about my girls. The Swirlies. A lot. They are hilarious….like two little old ladies. And to clarify, their nickname “The Swirlies” came from how I used to call them when they were really small. I’d say “Let’s go girly-swirly-whirlies!” when we were trying to leave the house or if I was trying to get them moving. Then it became abbreviated to “Girly Swirlies”….then just “The Swirlies.”

They, like all kids, have completely different personalities and tastes. Shelby tends to be a picky eater and Sara tends to “graze” where she will snack on fruit, yogurt, cereal, cheese sticks, etc., all day long. My focus since the beginning of this year is to get as much “fake foods”, processed foods, foods with long lists of ingredients that I can’t pronounce, out of our eating. “Clean eating” is what it’s often referred to, but I just think of it as getting as much real, whole foods, onto our plates as much as possible. Doing this gradually, so no one will freak out or rebel in house…I know when I am pushing it too far because I can just smell mutiny in the air when I do (and their dad is usually the rebel leader).

This can be very challenging for most families because the food industry is so clever at packaging foods to make them appear more healthy than they really are. “Health halos” is how Brian Wansink, PhD (“Mindless Eating”, 2006) referred to the deceptively “healthy” packaging of most processed foods (a book that I highly recommend). I fell victim to the health halos in spite of how I always prided myself on being able to distinguish between what is healthy and what isn’t. I found myself eating much more processed food than I perceived. And feeding that to my children. Seeing my 9-year old’s weight go up this winter was the motivation I needed to do something different. Cooking most of my meals at home out of real foods, whole foods, is my focus and I can already tell it’s making a difference in all of us. I’ll blog more on this later, but I just wanted to give a little background on what started us on this whole foods thing.

I cook my girls breakfast at home every day. I am fortunate that my work schedule allows this, I am able to feed them at home each morning and take them to school. I have a go-to list of breakfast ideas that I have to switch up occasionally, depending on the whim of the Swirlies.

Their favorite breakfast right now is homemade waffles. Santa brought me a waffle iron two Christmases ago and it’s been awesome. It doesn’t take long, I use Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Pancake & Waffle whole grain mix and follow the directions for waffles. It mixes up fast and tastes really good. It has whole flax seeds in it, and you don’t get the Omega-3 benefits of flax unless the seeds are ground up. So I always throw a couple tablespoons of ground flax seed into the mix (I keep a package of ground flax seeds in my freezer so it won’t go rancid so quickly), and I use olive oil or melted coconut oil for the mix. If you are pressed for time in the morning, you could make several waffles in advance and then freeze them. My waffle iron is for a thicker, Belgium-style waffle, so I’ve been afraid to freeze them because I don’t know how they will reheat in the microwave. Maybe I should invest in a toaster oven (like I NEED another appliance up in hurr).

I stopped buying what I thought were healthy, whole grain, frozen waffles because of how many ingredients they had, and how much unhealthy fat they contained (trying to get away from soybean oil, and any type of fat derived from corn). Not to mention the ever-present high fructose corn syrup, or one of the many other names for processed sugar.

Pancakes are always another Swirly favorite. I use the same Bob’s Red Mill mix but follow the directions for pancakes. And I change up the flavor by adding mashed bananas, or blueberries, or strawberries, or their current favorite – semi-sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes I’ll make a large pancake for each of them and they’ll decorate them with fruit, similar to the “Create-a-Face” pancake that they serve at IHOP.

I switched to organic maple syrup as well last year. One of my issues is that my 9-year old finds it too sweet, as do I. So I admit I keep a bottle of low-carb pancake syrup on-hand. Lol. I have to figure out something that works besides that because it is loaded with ingredients I don’t recognize. It’s all a work in-progress….

I don’t buy yogurt in a tube anymore. One of my goals with the change in foods is to take alot of the food dyes and processed sugar out as well. Shelby had an allergic reaction to one brand of kid yogurt and I think it was the food dye they used in it that set her off. Any kind of kid yogurt in a tube has a lot of sugar, so I just quit buying it for a long time until they forgot about it. I recently started buying plain, low-fat, organic yogurt and flavor it with maple syrup or sometimes add a little vanilla extract. I have some strawberry puree in the refrigerator that I want to use to try to make strawberry yogurt, but I don’t have any takers, or any enthusiasm, for that idea just yet. Sara is a fan of plain, sweetened-at-home yogurt with homemade granola mixed in.

Eggs are a breakfast staple. They like them scrambled or hard-boiled, with a slice of toast on the side. I started buying whole wheat bread from a local bakery and it was a tough sell for the Swirlies. Although I like it because it is locally produced and only has 5 ingredients (no high fructose corn syrup or sugar, it has honey in it), they didn’t like the coarse, heavier texture. So that same bakery (Great Harvest Bread Co., here in Lawrence, KS) also offers a bread they call Half & Half bread. All the same ingredients but instead of 100% whole wheat flour, they use half whole wheat flour and half white flour. It’s softer and it has a slightly sweeter taste. The Swirlies love it. I’m willing to give a little on the bread so that they will eat something as close to whole foods as I can get it. I always give them some fruit with their breakfast and they always drink a cup of 1% organic milk, Shelby sometimes prefers water.

Sometimes they like smoothies for their breakfast. Shelby is a fan of a smoothie I got from Erin Brown’s Fit Mama Training website (http://www.fitmamatraining.com) called the Green Monster Smoothie, while Sara just likes a banana blended with a cup of milk. I like to give them a smoothie with a homemade, whole grain muffin or donut. The fruit is in their smoothie so I don’t need to serve any additional unless they ask.

They also like to eat toast with different toppings. Shelby has a peanut allergy and I haven’t convinced her of the virtues of almond butter. She was addicted to Nutella, but with the food changes, that was the first thing to go. I made a homemade version of Nutella using fresh ground cashew butter that I got at the Community Mercantile here in town, and blew out my Magic Bullet AND my blender trying to mix it with cocoa powder, coconut oil, and some maple syrup. I like it. It’s sweet and chocolatey without all the sugar and palm oil in Nutella. Shelby tolerates it. I think I need to tweak my recipe next time. Shelby will eat a slice of toast with homemade nutella and sliced bananas on top, Sara will eat a slice of toast with natural peanut butter and sliced bananas on top. I noticed that since I switched breads (I used to buy a low-carb 45 calorie name brand bread), and changed the nutella from store-bought to homemade, that they get full faster. Shelby went from eating 2 slices of low carb bread to just getting full on one.

Cream of Wheat and oatmeal from rolled oats (old fashioned oatmeal) are always good as a back-up plan. They just like them plain, there was a tepid response when I cooked them with diced apples and cinnamon. They will ask for a diced banana in their hot cereal sometimes. I used to throw some vanilla protein powder in their cereal, but I stopped doing that and just find another source of protein to go with it, like a boiled egg or a piece of string cheese. They are pretty good at telling me what they want in the morning.

For my wild rice loving peeps: I am a huge fan of a rice pudding type breakfast. I figured out how to make a hot cereal dish with wild rice when I have the good stuff from Minnesota. I take leftover cooked wild rice, mix it with some almond milk, add dried cranberries, some cinnamon, a little maple syrup, a dash of vanilla extract, sometimes I’ll throw some sliced almonds or pecans in, and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm it all up. It is soooooo good. It’s almost dessert-like. And you can’t get any closer to clean, organic, whole grain than the real wild rice from northern Minnesota.

And I have to give some…so this week I bought them a box of Cascadian Farm Organic Cinnamon Crunch cereal. They really liked that this morning.

Here are some of the websites where I get recipes for homemade donuts, muffins, granola, etc. They have awesome recipes that I’ve tried for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I’m still working my way through their lists.

Real Fit Real Food Mom:  http://www.realfitrealfoodmom.com

*My girls love the recipe for Snickerdoodle pancakes on this site, and the recipe for applesauce donuts.

100 Days of Real Food:  http://www.100daysofrealfood.com

Super Healthy Kids: http://www.superhealthykids.com

So those are some ideas to get started. Look for more posts like this in the future because I always have people asking me for meal ideas. And I’m very thankful for all the moms who blog who have inspired me and helped me learn how to feed my family better.