“Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.” - Doug Larson
Now that we’re a few days into the new season, many of us are all about spring cleaning. We tend to think of that in regard to cleaning house, but I had an email that mentioned it in relation to cleaning out cabinets and refrigerators, a concept many of us should be able to sink our teeth into.
If I have junk food or anything else I don’t need in the house, I will gravitate toward it. Yes, I do realize that I’m probably the one who bought it, carried it into the house and put it in the cabinet.
Several years ago I read Dr. Phil’s The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom. I got some good out of it. People who, like me, have been “dieting” for years, well, we already know most of it. It wasn’t groundbreaking. But there was one section that has stuck in my mind: conditioning our kitchen for success.
The reader is told to go through cabinets, the refrigerator or any other place we stash food and cull what we should not eat, no matter how painful it may be.
Back then I was shocked at how little I had that I really needed to get rid of. I’m not so sure about now, but we’ll see.
Where do we start?
I reached out to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and connected with Betsy Day, program director of the hospital’s Weight Loss Clinic.
Day says part of what they teach patients is environmental control. You can’t eat what you don’t have, so get rid of things that are not in line with our healthier eating goals.
Give the stuff to family members or friends who can eat it. If it’s unopened and still in date, donate it to a food bank or church food pantry.
If we live with someone who has foods in the house we can’t eat, the items should be moved to a separate cabinet or locked up, safely out of sight. We don’t need it staring us in the face when we’re trying to make dinner or find a healthful snack.
Start by getting rid of crackers, snacks, cookies, rice, pasta, bread and other processed foods. As a general rule, Day says, the more packaging between us and our food, the more processed it is. And it’s also probably more expensive.
One exception to the toss-it list might be 100-calorie pre-portioned snacks. If we have the willpower, we can buy larger quantities and divide them out into snack-size baggies.
Overall, Day says, candy, cookies and other dessert items should be“sometimes” foods and not part of our daily diet.
What should we be stocking in our kitchens?
She recommends (of course) fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy products. Try to find low-fat, lower calorie alternatives to what you already like to eat.
For example:
Baked chips and salsa
Plain Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and sweetened with Splenda
Beans, which are low-fat and full of fiber. Day recommends keeping cans of refried beans on hand to pair with whole wheat tortillas for a quesadilla.
Popcorn, made without a lot of oil, salt or butter. Make microwave popcorn by putting regular popcorn in a brown paper lunch bag. Spray it with non-fat butter spray.
Frozen grapes
A rice cake with nut butter spread for a sweet/salty/crunchy craving
Low-fat cottage cheese with fresh fruit
Nuts. Just be careful about eating too many as the calories build up quickly.
Keep fruits and vegetables cleaned, cut up and in plain sight. Fresh is better, but canned or frozen can be just as nutritious. Just make sure there are no added sauces or sugars, or buy the “no-salt added”versions and season them to your taste.
If you buy canned fruit, look for it in juice, not syrup, and with no added sugar.
Day recommends storing fruits and vegetables that have not been cleaned in the produce drawer of the refrigerator, but not packed tightly, and not together. Ethylene, a colorless gas produced by fruit, causes vegetables to spoil more quickly.
We should shop our store’s produce section last and, when we get home, put those foods away first.
Overall, Day says, we should not have a list of “banned” foods. Give in to an occasional craving without going off the deep end. That might make the experience seem more special so we don’t go overboard later.
I also consulted Marcia Ford, an advanced practice registered nurse and certified diabetic educator practicing in El Dorado. She’s supportive, encouraging and has a wealth of good knowledge.
Ford recommends practicing label-reading skills when you start your cabinet spring cleaning. If you have questions, go to www.FDA.gov, where you’ll find solid information on making sense of them.
From a diabetic standpoint, carbohydrates can be something to cull. From a general health view, fat and sodium are a concern.
Ford also mentions nuts, with a caution on overeating. But they are known to have health benefits too.
Green and yellow vegetables and lean sources of protein are healthful for anybody. Use them for the basis of a meal, and add limited amounts of starch and dairy, with fruits and nuts as snacks.
She also mentioned popcorn, and says it’s good to eat a little protein such as nuts or cheese with it.
There are websites that offer recipes and meal planning information for diabetics, but anyone can probably benefit from them as well.
Ford’s list includes the Joslin Diabetes Center (Joslin.org). It has videos on building a healthful pantry as well as diet strategies, dining out, counting carbohydrates, eating well on a budget and cooking.
Another site is Kraft.com. Kraft markets a variety of foods that can be quite useful in revamping eating habits. In the “Tips & Ideas” section there is a Diabetes Center that offers recipes, meal planning and tips on making better food choices.
And don’t forget the website of the American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org). The “Food & Fitness” section offers a meal planning guide, lists diabetes “superfoods” and decodes carbohydrates: what they are, how to count them and which give the most nutritional bang per bite.
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ActiveStyle, Pages 24 on 03/24/2014