Rule #4

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Probably my favorite rule!!  (As most of you know)
“Grains-mainly in the form of refined flours – dominate our modern diet.  Pasta is king.  Bagels are every day.  Grains in all kinds of shapes and sizes are cheap and tasty and everywhere.They might be marketed as ‘low in fat’, ‘all-natural’, ‘whole’, and even ‘heart healthy.’ But if they are at all refined – from rice to bread- they make you fat.”“Refined grains-as the first one on the label is often ‘wheat flour’ on the label- started out almost literally as a breakfast of kings.  When all the peasants were gnawing their way through amaranth and boiled wheat berries, the rich could afford to get someone to strip off all that bran and make a beautifully soft-textured bread, which became all the rage.  As modern food technology made this process affordable to Jane and Joe Average, it also took away the two more important parts of the kernel-the bran and the germ.  The former is utterly indispensable for digestion, and the latter brings nutrients by the bushel.  What is left is, literally and metaphorically, an empty husk.But it is a dangerous empty husk.  Without the bran, starchy, carbs get stuck in our gut for much longer than they should, and begin to interrupt normal bodily processes.  Health bacteria get starved.  Starchy carbs without much nutritive value depress important hormones that cause you to feel full, and they stimulate hormones that make you hungry.  And without the germ, you get nothing in terms of minerals and vitamins and protein.  By the time these carbs get processed in your liver, you have a time bomb of sugar that sends blood sugar and insulin up, and that much desired feeling of fullness…down, down, down.By contrast, whole grains have huge benefits: they speed up digestion, increase good hormones, and decrease bad hormones, steady blood sugar and insulin, drive up satiety, and in short, make weight gain just a little less likely.Here is the most important tip: if the nutritional information on a loaf of bread does not lead with the words “whole grain wheat flour” or “sprouted whole wheat” pass it by.  I don’t care if the colorful ‘down-home’ label says it is ‘multigrain’, ‘nutty’, ‘whole wheat’, ‘natural’, ‘stone ground’, or whatever!  If it doesn’t say, first and foremost ‘whole-grain wheat flour (not the same as simply ‘wheat flour’ or ‘whole wheat flour’) then just keep on walkin’.  Ditto if any sweetener appears within the first five ingredients.  If you take just a little more time in your regular supermarket to read labels, you’ll soon know which breads and grains are rule-abiding.When speaking about whole-grain pastas, here’s what Bob had to say about the “rules” for pasta:"1.       There should be two things in the ingredients: whole-wheat flour (or whole-wheat durum flour) and water.  That’s it.  Whole-wheat pasta has 9 grams of fiber versus 2 in regular!2.       A serving size is 1/8 of a pound, or 2 ounces.  If you’re preparing spaghetti or other long thin pastas (linguini, angel hair, etc), here’s a rule of thumb: make an ‘ok’ sign as big as a dime-that’s a serving size.  What about shapes like penne and fusilli?  Again, 1/8 of a pouind.  Imagine 1/8 of the one pound bag or box.  Or, for the first two or three times, weigh out the portion for future reference.  And that’s it-200 calories. OK?  Pasta is meant to rest underneath another kind of food-veggies, I say!  It’s not meant to be the main ingredient!3.       When you cook the pasta, do it in a big pot, and test it several times for doneness.  It should be just a tad al dente, which means slightly hard or underdone in the center.4.       When you drain the pasta, don’t rinse it.  That’s so un-Italian!  The natural glutens left on the pasta will make your sauce stick to the noodles.5.       Save about ¼ cup of the pasta water to add to the sauce at the last minute-an old country trick that kicks up the taste and enriches the sauce without adding calories.6.       Try eating your serving of pasta with as many sautéed or braised greens as you like.  Use olive oil-no more than a tablespoon-too cook down the greens.  Toss the greens and the pasta together; don’t just pike them on top.  Now you’re at 350 calories-1/5 of your daily allotment.  With 4 ounces of Salmon: 550!7.       Use that parmesan cheese.  Great taste, and it takes the place of salt.8.       Eat pasta at lunch (see Rule 7) instead of dinner when you can.
There it is....my all time favorite rule and hopefully something that will help some of you understand why I try to eat the way that I do.  Refined carbs are SO BAD FOR YOU!  Enough said.

So for today's menu:

Breakfast - Chicken breast (yes cold and yes for breakfast) and 1 clementine
Snack - Carrots and Garlic Hummus
Lunch - Cqajun Shrimp and Quinoa, Apple
Snack - Apple and String Cheese
Dinner - Nothing out again....it was a ROUGH morning!

In other news!  I just got an email about a new challenge Stephanie Winters is doing starting the first week of September (first pinches will be 09/04/12).  If you'd like to get in on the fun and challenge for a healthier life, send me your email and forward you details :)

It's almost Friday...we can DO THIS!