Buffet Update

Ah, the best laid plans...

On Friday, birthday boy called at 3:15, just as I was about to leave for yoga, to tell me that he'd forgotten a previously planned outing with his philosophy club that evening (the kid's a major intellectual and, I admit, a total, though adorable, nerd). Then his friends treated him to supper.

So the buffet went by the wayside. Hubby still wanted Chinese, so my other son and I got some take-out. A much better idea, money-wise and food-wise. For less than half the price, we got enough food to feed all of us practically twice over.

Last night (Sat.), I roasted a beautiful, organic chicken with some olive oil, garlic, curry and rosemary, accompanied by roasted, locally grown root veggies. The house still smells wonderful. And I think there's STILL more leftover Chinese in the fridge.

Happy Sunday to all.

Off to the Buffet

This is where I'm off to tonight. It's my older son's birthday and he chooses the restaurant. I wish it weren't a buffet--not because I'll lose it and heap my plate higher than any plate should be heaped. No, not for that reason.

I'm not thrilled to be going to the buffet because it's such a waste of money. Friday nights, our family usually eats out. The long week is over and we just want to relax and I don't want to have to worry about getting a meal on the table. Last week, we went to a much fancier restaurant than we usually frequent. It's one of my favourite restaurants, but my husband and I usually reserve it for one of those romantic, though infrequent suppers à deux--just us, no kids. But last week it was the four of us. The food was wonderful, but I couldn't finish my divine liver and onions. So I got a doggy bag and took it home and enjoyed it immensely the next day for lunch. Of course, there are no doggy bags at buffets. You're "supposed" to stuff yourself silly and make sure you've eaten enough to get your money's worth. The restaurant tonight is going to make a real killing off me because I'll just eat what I want and not eat to the gills.

I'm also not thrilled about the buffet because I fear my husband will overeat. I guess in a sense, that's not my business, but I really hate to see him overeat. My sons will eat with gusto--they're teenagers, after all--but they don't like stuffing themselves. I'm not worried about them.

My last reason for disliking buffets is the amount of salt they use. I've got a salt post on the back burner, so you'll just have to wait a bit longer to read my salt rant.

One little note on the continuing saga of my son: Thanks for your encouragement. It is really is appreciated. And blogging has led me to better understand what's going on. His slow heart rate and low blood pressure are part of the reason he's often tired and can't get his schoolwork done. I admit to having often felt that he was a bit of a wimp. He's the kind of kid who physically falls apart when he has too much work. He could never pull an "all-nighter" to get his projects in. Now, finally, I understand why and it's indirectly thanks to my blogging. By doing a bit of research and putting things on paper "virtually", I've been able to connect some dots that I didn't originally see.

So thanks to all of you, and wish my family luck at the buffet. I'll have to button it and not complain about how everyone's stuffing themselves with sodium-laden food. Shhh.

Son Update

Source: bem.fi/book


I'm just not feeling like talking about food, health, weight, stuff like that. So I guess this blog will temporarily switch to a more personal note.

My son is turning 17 tomorrow. Pardon the cliché, but time really does fly.

This morning, I got a call from the pediatrician's office with the date of our appointment with the specialist: Feb. 11. This is great. My son is in absolutely no danger, but we need to see the specialist to find out if he can resume taking a medication for a completely different problem. If we didn't need the green light for the medication, there would be no reason to worry about the slight abnormality that's been detected in his heart. He really does need the medication, which would greatly improve his quality of life, but if he can't take it, we'll have to find another solution.

Anyway, the process is moving forward, and that's the important thing.

Busy

We're dealing with some health issues affecting our older son right now, plus the regular work and family things.

I do have a post in the pipeline, but I don't want to rush it and I don't have the mental and physical time to do it properly right now.

I looking forward to resuming my blogging soon.

Be well, my friends.

Who Are the Fat People?

(I orginally posted Bene's photo (which I found on Facebook) at the beginning of this post, but have removed it since I don't have her specific consent to do so. I do think she's a lovely--not to mention extremely intelligent--young woman.)

Something's been bugging me. Something's been bugging me big time. It's the message that we are fat because we:

-eat junk food
-eat huge amounts of food, most of which is junky
-are lazy bums who can't do anything but sit in front of the TV, eating huge amounts of mostly junky food.

...and that if we finally stop eating huge amounts of junky, sugary, fat-laden food and exercise religiously, we will turn into healthy, beautiful, sylph-like creatures and that all will be well with the world...

...and that this goal--being healthy, beautiful, sylph-like, loved, admired, etc., etc.--is all within our reach. It is ALL up to us and that if we do not succeed it is only because we haven't been "good" enough in following the rules. The rules will set us free.

Sorry, it just isn't that simple.

Don't get me wrong. I have genuine respect for the many hard-working weight loss bloggers out there. However, I don't think very many will reach their goal and even fewer will maintain that goal. OK, I can give you examples of people who HAVE succeeded. You know them, some of you ARE them. I'm not saying weight loss is no more feasible than developing naturally blue skin. I just think that weight loss as a main goal is neither feasible nor actually laudable for most people, most of the time.

Why am I suddenly so hot and bothered about this? Here's the reason. You have to watch this video at We Are the Real Deal. Bene is the face of overweight that we don't want to admit exists. She is the face of a perfectly healthy young woman, who eats reasonable amounts of healthy food (certainly better than some of her skinny friends) and is still overweight.

Bene is the face of many people and I consider myself to be one of them. How many overweight people out there are NOT binge eaters, did NOT eat themselves into a several hundred pound hole of fat, enjoy moderate daily exercise, eat healthy foods and are STILL overweight?

If we accept the existence of Bene, of me and of others, then we have to accept that there are many types and sizes of healthy people and that our weights do not always depend on our attitude. Perhaps it's the nature of weight loss blogging. People who don't have a binge eating problem or aren't addicted to McDonald's or Burger King or Dairy Queen aren't sexy and aren't compelling bloggers. It's harder to point a finger at them and say "it's your own darn fault". Because it isn't.

Genetics aren't sexy. You can't beat your genes. You might have a paunch even when you lose all the weight you want--especially if you've had children and especially if you've had children in your late thirties instead of starting at 21. I watched a fascinating show on twins recently on TLC where they talk about how genetics trumps environment so often. Twins separated at birth often end up weighing within about 10 pounds of each other, for instance. We are dealt a hand at birth and that's the hand we have to play with and respect throughout our lives.

Am I telling you all to give up? No. What I'm saying is that I've come to the conclusion that we have to stress "health at any size". And if this means that you end up losing weight because you've stopped gorging yourself on junk food and started going to the gym, good for you. But it might just mean that you continue to be a person with a slightly "elevated" BMI who is perfectly healthy.

Personally, I'm not going to forget Bene and how society is turning her into a freak because even if she doesn't drink Coke and eat cake for lunch and does eat salad 'til the cows come home, she's not going to be slim. And there are lots of her out there.

Kale

Source: wisefood.com


A few years ago, the aliens kidnapped my husband and replaced him with a perfect replica--except for one thing: he now loves to cook, cooks really well and has an insatiable appetite (lol) for finding new and interesting dishes. Don't worry, I haven't lost my mind. THIS IS A JOKE. The fact remains: though I do most of the weekday cooking, my husband is the one who finds yummy and interesting food to regale us with on the weekends. And the year that he was on sabbatical, I don't think I cooked once. In fact, at one point, my husband was writing a cooking blog. Unfortunately, his job (gotta make a living, after all) and two other blogs keep him terribly busy, so he hasn't added anything in a few years. Shame.

So why this lengthy introduction and what the heck does it have to do with kale? Well, for various reasons, I have started branching out, food-wise. I'm a pretty decent cook, but most of the time I'm too pressed for time to explore new (or re-discovered) foods. Since I've had a bit of extra time on my hands recently (this is the worst January from a work point of view that I've had in a long time), I figured it might be fun and healthy to start incorporating new foods into our culinary repertoire. Enter kale, thanks in great part to Lyn at Escape from Obesity who mentions kale frequently.

Kale is a member of the cabbage family. A hardy plant, it is very nutritious and is even said to have anti-inflammatory properties--something that's important if you have arthritis, like me. It contains beta carotene, vitamins K and C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and is reasonably rich in calcium. I also read that it perhaps has cancer preventing characteristics. Wouldn't that be grand? Alas, if you are taking blood thinners like warfarin, it could be dangerous to eat kale. You should discuss kale consumption (or the consumption of any other food that is high in vitamin K) with your doctor if you do take this type of medication.

Kale is quite the international food. It is popular in the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, many African countries, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, just to name a few places where kale is a prized food. The World's Healthiest Foods website has an in-depth article on kale. Who knew there was so much to learn?

So those are all the "right" reasons to eat kale. However, there is one more: it tastes great!

There are many kale recipes on the Internet. I tried this one last night and it was a huge hit. OK, it has carbs and feta cheese. "Yikes", many of you might say. Well, I thought it was yummy and quite healthy. But that's just me talking.

Bottom line: try kale. It's a revelation.

Steel Cut Oats

Photo: Coach's Oats


After reading about steel cut oats on several blogs (mostly chez Sean), I decided that I had to try them out.

Steel cut oats are unrolled oats that are cut into 2-3 pieces. They are the least refined oats in the oat family and thus require much longer cooking time than the quick Quaker oats that many of us grew up on. Even after cooking for about 1/2 hour, the oats remained slightly crunchy, which I personally find extremely tasty. Some people describe them as having a nutty flavour--again, something I love. I cooked the oats with a handful of yellow raisins and found that sweetener was not at all necessary.

Nutritionist Leslie Beck has an excellent article on oats, including steel cut oats, here. She recommends a 1 to 4 ratio of oats to water, though I found that a 1 to 2.5 ratio worked just fine. I bought my oats at a bulk food store. They were in a plastic bag, so there was no brand name. I suppose if you buy them in a box, they'll come with cooking instructions for that particular brand. You'll also pay more, just for the name. I boiled the water first and then added it to the oats. You've got to stir fairly often, otherwise they will stick to the pot. If you're in a hurry in the morning, make your oats the night before and heat them up in the microwave. They'll be just as tasty.

Steel cut oats are a great source of dietary fibre and also have protein and calcium. They are low on the glycemic index too.

Here's the steel cut oats website. Amazing, there's a website for everything.

Enjoy!