The Breakfast Bar Quiz

I’m sitting in one of those breakfast spots in the hotel we’re visiting while in Lubbock for Stratton’s graduation!  Here’s what’s offered, going from left to right:

A bowl of apples, next to a bowl of the greenest bananas you ever saw.

A bread tray, offering bagels and English muffins, next to the toaster.

A bowl of individually packaged cream cheese and peanut butters.  Jams and syrups are in the next bowl.  Packaged oatmeal in the next one are sitting next to the hot water dispenser.

The cereal gizmos, with Fruit Loops, Special K, Corn Pops, granola, rice crispies and Raisin Bran choices.

A tray of individually packaged Otis Spunkmeyer “healthy” blueberry muffins the size of softballs.  I use quote marks around “healthy” because that is what is says on the package.  Isn’t it CURIOUS the package doesn’t include any nutrition facts?  

A waffle iron and waffle mix machine (aha!  That’s why they offer syrup!)

The milk fridge with 2% and skim milk on one shelf and small Dannon yogurts on the other.

The juice machine, offering orange and apple.

GO.  

What would you eat?

Protein choices (and remember you should ALWAYS look for protein choices for breakfast!) are pretty slim.  Peanut butter, milk and yogurt are the only options.

As usual, most prominently offered are starches, and as I sit here watching hotel guests load up, they couldn’t be happier.  One lady just walked away with TWO muffins tucked up under her arms...I guess for later?

Fruit choices are an apple, a green banana or a cup of juice.  Not surprisingly, 99% of these folks are going for the juice.  ARE whole fruits too much trouble?  (I was told once by a client that she never eats whole fruits because it’s too much trouble.  I am still baffled by that statement....

Here’s one lady that has obviously been working out and she is just backing away, scratching her chin as she sums up her options.  What do you wanna bet she goes for the oatmeal?  Yep!  While she’s fixing that, another lady just walked up and put an OS muffin in her purse!  hahahahahahahah

This is real life, day to day, trying to figure out how to treat our bodies with respect through our food choices.  Throw in a little people watching, and I could sit here all day!  But I have a date to watch my brilliant, adorable, clever and awesome STRATTON walk the stage for his COLLEGE DIPLOMA today! Sighhhh....I'm a proud, happy mama.

Wait. What? Chicken and Waffles?

Today, I went out to lunch with my work pals to celebrate a sweet young friend’s birthday.  We went to a DELICIOUS place in Ft. Worth called Buttons, that apparently is even BETTER at night, what with the dressed up crowd and the Frank Sinatra singer workin’ the crowd.  You should go.

But naturally, this post is about food.  It’s not that I don’t get out much---actually, the truth is, I hardly go out for lunch because that is when I work out (if you can call it that.) My lunch is eaten sitting at my desk afterward. 

So it never fails to ASTONISH me what (and how much) people eat.  It bears repeating---this food was divine.  But imagine a round platter.  On it, picture 4 halves (not quarters) of inch thick waffles, stacked all fanned out and fancy.  Strawberries, butter and syrup rounded out the “and waffles” portion of the platter.  Then on the other half sat a large hunk of what was presumably fried chicken.  I say that with a question mark because it was indistinguishable in shape because of the fried batter.  But wait.  There’s more.  Sitting atop the chicken must’ve been at least 1/2 cup of fried shoestring sweet potatoes.  (That were maybe the best thing I’ve tasted in a while.)

It was so massive that my friend who ordered it asked me to take a picture.  If I can figure out how to upload it, you’ll see for yourself.

FOR LUNCH.  Can you imagine what the dinner menu must yield?

People.  Peeeeeeople.  Please tell me you think that’s outrageous.  If there’s one thing I’d like you to take away from my rants and raves, it’s PORTION CONTROL.  (Go back to my early post about this very thing.)  It is just silly to think you can eat what you are served with abandon, and not expect the health consequences.   4 halves of waffles (I’m waffling-pun intented-on the thickness because these were monster waffles) equals at least 2 starches.  The 1/2 cup of fried sweet potato shoe strings is another starch.  The batter on the chicken...who can count that high.  The chicken was larger than a deck of cards, so I’m going to say at least 6 ounces.  Strawberries are such a good choice, and butter goes with waffles.  But when the butter plop looks like a golfball, instead of a pat (you DO know what a pat of butter looks like, right) then I’m calling that at least 3 servings of fat.....

Let’s remember this:  no matter what meal, no matter what snack, no matter what drink, portions COUNT.  If you feel guilty for paying for that much food without eating it, share a platter.  Or take home 2/3 of it for 2 more meals.  Just don’t give into the “what the hecks.”  Practice some of your skills and order/choose the best option (and don’t be afraid to ask for a healthier version, as I did,) then only eat what you know to be the right amount.

My shrimp and grits (albeit ordered fussily---I asked if my shrimp could be grilled instead of fried) were served with an egg over easy on top.  I will be dreamin’ about it tonight!

Happy Birthday, sweet Kristi!

Clean Food

I was en route from Lubbock weekend #1 on our normal menu planning day, so I left Joe to his own devices with very little input from me, believe it or not.  The only thing I requested was salmon one night and spaghetti pile-on another.  Beyond that, I was just so grateful that I got a bye from the chore, and that he was such a good sport about doing it solo!

Even though I'm not his mother, for Mother's Day, the man treated me to shrimp and pasta with champagne cream sauce, salad and garlic breadsticks.  He even bought fat free cream to add to the sauce instead of the real stuff.  Monday night, he fixed breaded cutlet parmiagiano with a 3 bean salad.  Tonight, we had baked salmon dijon and with a broccoli and corn casserole....

All so good.  And so thoughtful.  And so sweet in so many ways.

But you know what?  I want some clean food.  Bad.

Clean food is not food that's gone through the wash.  Rather, it's food in its normal, un-tricked up state.  Grilled salmon and corn on the cob, for example.  Or a delicious shrimp boil with a fiery horseradish-y red sauce and a green salad with red onion and a sassy little vinaigrette.

What comes to mind when I say "clean food?"  Do you curl your lip because it sounds boring or reminds you too much of your last diet?  Have you talked yourself into thinking that if a lovely piece of salmon doesn't have a buttery yellow sauce on it that it's pitiful?

Take a look at your menu this week.  (You DO have a menu, right?) Are you more like Joe, where everything has a topper and a casserole side dish?  Or are you more like me, where I could almost eat out of one of those old school cafeteria trays with compartments?  How about taking a MODERATE approach (and you know I know when I point one finger at you, I've got 3 pointing right back at me!)  How about a compromise?

Share with me what you're eating these days, folks!  I'm back, and I'm focused on talking about real things we can all do right now, today, to change our habits and get healthy.

P.S.  Thanks for the encouragement, friends!

A Call to Action!

I must say this topic today isn't so much about adopting a habit to help you gain your health and wellbeing BECAUSE of the food you choose as it is about asking for your thoughts and feedback on something that has been bugging the devil out of me for far too long.  And of course it comes with a background story....

I had a nice long visit with a cute little friend yesterday who is decades younger than me and therefore in a totally different phase of her life as a mama.  I adore hearing kid stories; that's the truth.  They don't bore me, they don't make me butt in and add one of mine...they just allow me to observe (and yes, remember) that season of life with those precious gifts, our children.

My friend has 2 kids in elementary school and while both are the same gender, they are vastly different.  Where one is blond, the other is dark.  Where one is outgoing, the other is reserved.  Where one is naturally thin, the other isn't.  (You see where this is going, don't you?)

Without going into detail, this sweet mama broke my heart yesterday as she tearfully described the perfectly healthy and appropriate typical daily menu she provided to both kids.  She added in all the extracurricular activities that provided ample opportunity for exercise for each.  She was at a loss at what is going on with her child and why this kid was already struggling, both physically and emotionally with weight.

Sighhhhh.  It makes me sad just to sit here and type this.  And it brought back memories.  Like I've said before, I don't remember much about my childhood, and no, it doesn't freak me out and make me suspicious (all you repressed memory theorists!)  One time, in 4th grade PE, we were asked to line up on the stage in the cafeteria so we could be weighed on a doctor's scale.  The adult weighing each of us would then tell another adult, who was the recorder of the weights, what little Susie's or little Bobby's weight was.  Only she was sitting out in the audience, monitoring the other three 4th grade classes sitting there waiting their turn to be humiliated and violated by these loud and public announcements.  So weigher on the stage is hollering to recorder sitting probably 30 feet away each time another child would step on that scale.  (I still just shake my head at the audacity, impropriety and sheer inefficiency of this system.)  Now for those of you who don't know, typical weights called out would be somewhere in the 60-70 pound range back then.  (It would be interesting indeed to see what a typical 10 year old weighs today, no?) 

And then it was my turn.  I weighed 93.  The weigher witch screamed it.  The beast taking down the weights yelled back, "HOW MUCH?"  And I swear you could've heard a pin drop when she repeated, in THAT tone of voice, "93!!!"  And at that, with literally 100 sets of eyes on me, I got off the scale and took my seat. Talk about a defining moment.....

So back to my friend.  She said she figured out that her child was spending money on extras during lunch at school.  She described the choices and the serving sizes that the kids were presented with.  And a bell went off.

I don't think there's any ONE solution to the rampant, disturbing and threatening trend of obesity that is here within our younger population.  (The headlines this week shocked me:  40% of our kids are obese.  Not just overweight.  Not chunky.  Not chubby.  OBESE.  That's nearly one out of 2, friends.)  But I do know this:  this is a call to arms.  We have to care.  We have to be the voice of reason and action to change this.  We must get rid of the junk offered our kids in schools.  We must be thoughtful and reasonable about what we feed them at home.  We must get them to turn off their technological toys and get them outside for some exercise.  We must set healthy examples so they can learn how to treat themselves well from an early age.

I'm stirred up.  I feel like if enough of us put some thought to this dreadful and scary state of affairs, we could change things.  Where do we start?  Sign me UP.

Overheard

Folks, there's a fine art to eavesdropping.  It is one of my gifts, and I can't tell you how many gems I have overheard...like this one....

I was just up at mom's helping her with lunch.  God love her, she's in a "memory care unit" for residents dealing with Alzheimer's or demetia-related issues.  I could go on and on about that, but for now, I'll just say that the mind is an AMAZING thing to behold, and I'm fascinated by what is playing out.  She's very chatty and happy, so it's a blessing that I still have to look forward to when I visit.  She doesn't know she has 2 kids, (don't feel sorry for me) but when they served her lunch, the 55-year-ago chief dietician at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas came out.  She remarked about the balance of lunch (chicken breast, 1/2 cup of broccoli, small green salad with ranch and a piece of Texas toast, whole milk and cheesecake for dessert, if you're wondering) and how lovely everything was presented.  She still has the manners of a Southern Belle too....thanking them graciously for the delicious meal and for having her.....my heart is smiling.

But this post isnt' about my precious mama.  It's about 2 of the wonderful aides that work there.  (If you don't think THAT'S a calling, you haven't spent any time in a nursing home lately.)  They were ordering pizza for lunch and they were going to split it.  They could agree on the topping (Meat lover's) but were arguing over what kind of crust. Here's where my ears perked up.

One said that she didn't care what kind of crust because it was the crust that was "bad" for you.  All she cared about was the extra meat, extra cheese and extra sauce.  The other one was stunned that extra meat/extra cheese lady didn't know that the toppings were why she had her "bodacious booty" and the crust was what was "good" for you.  And at that, she ordered deep dish.

Oh my goodness, talk about restraint.  I had to hold my lips together to keep from telling them both they were crazy wrong.

But it only convinced me further that people REALLY DON'T KNOW.  There have been so many crazy fads that have swept the nation that it's no wonder one is praising all protein and fat (no matter how much---I guess that's why she ordered "extra?") and the other is saying that the crust is "good" for her and if thin crust is good, then deep dish must be GREAT?

The truth is, it boils down to calories in.  Calories in your mouth.  Calories you swallow.  The formula is simple: calories IN, less calories BURNED (not necessarily in the gym) is calories you KEEP.  If you take more calories in than you use up, your body stores the extra.  If you don't take enough in, your body turns to the reserves to fuel itself.

There is a moderate compromise I could've offered, had I stuck my nose in their business.  I would've said, "thin crust, no extra meat or cheese, a few vegies on the top, and 2 pieces each."  But I didn't butt in.  (Amazing, I know!)

However, I couldn't get home fast enough to blog about it. Enjoy your beautiful Saturday, folks.  I'm going to walk around a gorgeous lake with one of my favorite people, then I have a hot date with sweet Joe tonight to celebrate some good tidings!

This Is What A Tirade Looks Like!

I can't let this pass.  I wish I could.  Really I do.  But I heard a news item on the radio this morning that picked my interest and got home to do a little research.  My feathers are so ruffled I have to vent....

There is a new restaurant coming to Dallas!  Woohooooo!

Except. Ummm no.

This restaurant is called "Heart Attack Grill."  I have to admit, the guy is genius.  The waitresses dress as nurses, they take your order on Rx pads, they give you a wrist hoochie that has your order on it to ID you,  the cooks wear scrubs.  The offerings are entitled, "Flatline fries" fried in pure lard (!) and the burgers are called bypass burgers. You can have a single bypass, double, triple or quadruple bypass burger.  The shakes are boasting the highest butterfat ice cream available, and even the owner says he stays away from them.

Oh and get this:  if you weigh in before you order, and you tip the scale at +350, you win!  You get to eat for free, so long as you order the triple or quadruple bypass burger, which sports an unbelievable 8000 (that's eight thousand) calories.

The company spokesperson, 29 year old Blair River, can't work for them anymore.  Because he stinking DIED.  575 pound - 29 year old young man - DIED.  As in, dead.  In the ground.

I'm horrified that there are THAT many people out there that have the "don't give a rips."  (Actually, if you know me at all, you know I"m cleaning this up.  If there's ever an appropriate time to use the 'don't give a sh*t' phrase, it would be here.)  I'm speechless that ANYONE would order a burger that has more calories than most people eat in days. I'm sputtering that, despite all the information to the contrary, someone would ADVERTISE that they fry in LARD.

People, people, people.  Please reassure me that the world hasn't spun off it's axis.  Please tell me this sort of restaurant, serving folks and their kids, will keep you up tonight.

And to the owner....who laughs it off saying that people are so tired of having healthy food "crammed down their throats," shame on you.

2 Women Who Inspire Me

A few tidbits tonight come to mind as I enjoy the smell of roasting garlic with my fresh cauliflower in the oven...

Sesame oil.  Hatsie, as you know, is blogging about cooking.  She is having the time of her life experimenting, sharing, researching and creating.  Along the way, she’s teaching me a thing or two as I read what she’s tried this week, so today when she gushed about sesame oil in her Tuesday night asian noodle dish, it made me a crazy lady.  I will own some sesame oil soon, folks.  I particularly loved this description, 

“It's nutty and rich and smells like peanut butter but with class.  I was blown away by the flavor it imparted.”

Huh?  Huh?  Besides how well she writes, (sorry for the obnoxious mama bear bragging!) doesn’t that make you want to own some?  For the recipe that she used, go here:   http://tworecipes.blogspot.com

Another thing.  I have an old friend that I’ve reunited with on Facebook.  My only real connection to her is that she married one of my childhood friends from the ‘hood, who was one of my brother’s best friends.  But that’s just where it starts.  I connect with her on so many levels apart from that:  she loves her kids as much as I love mine (definitely my kind of people,) she loves Glee and kids and musicals and creativity expressed in ways like drama and dance, she grew up around ranches and hunting and calls the Hill Country home (it touches my nostalgic nerve every time she talks about it as I think back to Bandera, Texas and the ranch) and most importantly, she wants to be on Oprah as bad as I do.  

Hello?  If you’ve been around me longer than 5 minutes, you’ve heard me raise that eyebrow and lock that jaw and say Oprah doesn’t even know how bad she needs me on her show!  (Huge, knee slapping, never-gonna-happen dream of mine.)  

But this ferociously tenacious woman has graciously included me (and anyone else devoted to reading her blogs) in an amazing journey as she’s lost OVER 120 POUNDS.   She’s done it the old fashioned way:  eat less, eat right, and exercise her booty off.  

I asked for her permission to link her blog to share with you, dear friends, for inspiration the next time you think whatever task before you is too great.  The next time you want to say, “I can’t...it’s too much,” go here:   http://shrinkingviolettheblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/abracadabra.html

I think I’ll close with that.  I have more tidbits to share, but I don’t want to water down the impact that I believe you’ll feel after reading a few of her posts....

And watch for her on Oprah!  She, in direct contrast to me, has a real shot!