WOMEN'S HEALTH MONTH

It's no secret around here that I've been trying to be a "healthier" lately. 

I put that in quotes because that phrase can mean different things to different people. BUT between my food philosophy and a new love begrudging appreciation for fitness (I will simply never be one of those people who loves to work out), I'm working on it. Sometimes you do things because you know you have to, and quite frankly, because your life depends on it. 

May is Women's Health Month, and it can't be stressed enough how important it is to be proactive about health in every aspect of your life. Devoting time to your diet, exercise, and overall preventative medicine is crucial in living your best life. 

Recently I found myself thinking about preventative medicine visits and trying to recall, "is it every two years for mammograms? At what age does that start? What about other stuff, didn't they just change some guidelines?" Honestly I felt a lot like I did about eating right: I would find myself getting terribly overwhelmed, not having something easy to understand in one location, and as a result, not doing anything about it. 

So, the timing was pretty perfect when Oscar Insurance inspired me to post this neat info graphic on my blog in honor of Women's Health Month. (If you all already knew this stuff, at least now I have a convenient spot to come back and reference it for myself!) 

Oscar has tools like their Doctor on Call service where you can call your doctor right through the app with any health questions you have without making an appointment. Or the personal health care timeline that list out your entire health history within the app. Their incentive program uses Misfit wearables where members can sync them to the app, set personal goals for steps and every time they hit those goals they earn back cash rewards up to $240 a year.

For an industry as a whole that tended to associate with an older generation and maybe wasn't as progressive, I'm so impressed with what insurance companies have been doing lately in terms of technology and health. From services like Doctor on Call to Virtuwell, fitbits, misfits, jawbones- we've created a level of accessibility to our health and our health stats that is really incredible when you actually think about it.

I'm not trying to sell you anything with this post (although if you did need Insurance and lived in NY, NJ or soon TX or CA, Oscar seems pretty cool)- but I figured if it even prompts one of you to schedule an exam or do something proactive for your health, it's worth it! You can find more information on Oscar's health insurance plans here.

FOOD PHILOSOPHY // PART 3 // FINAL THOUGHTS

If this series has bored you to death, my bad.

A lot of this is just me working through my thoughts for the first time- despite the fact that we've been "living it" for a little while now.

Here's the big secret though, we're not perfect and we absolutely never intend to be, because I would go insane without balance. As I've mentioned several times, we come nowhere close to tracking daily percentages of calories, carbs, cholesterol, etc. and instead just aim for a general healthy balance. When we go out to eat, all bets are off and I'm eating fries a lot of the time.. but as long as we're good at home, we allow ourselves the splurge when we're out.

Here's another secret, some of the meals we eat at home absolutely do NOT qualify as "healthy" in the traditional sense of the word: Pasta with meat sauce, burgers, "home-fries" (notice a theme with french fries? I SERIOUSLY CAN'T STOP). I think there's a misconception that health has to mean eating lettuce salad with no dressing and radishes and raw turnips. Health has a LOT to do with your goals and our goals are simply to eat naturally, not necessarily low carb or low calorie. [I do personally believe that eating naturally is the best place to start and that a lot of modern diseases and health issues can be traced to packaged foods and artificial ingredients.] I'm aware there are probably people reading this who don't consider any of the things I eat healthy.

Again, a lot of this has to do with the fact that we're not eating in a way designed to lose weight. We want to maintain our weights, and definitely have a healthy balance of meals that reflect that. For example, our meals* last week:

1. Braised pheasant (M went hunting) with asparagus and risotto w/caramelized fennel and leeks
2. Jess's Italian turkey burgers
3. Paprika chicken and spinach with a white wine butter thyme sauce and brown rice
4. Flatbread pizza on naan bread: caramelized onions and garlic with goat cheese
5. Spicy sausage, potato, and kale soup

It's no secret I consider myself a foodie (that meal list above may hint to that as well). I love trying new food and exploring new restaurants and am so grateful that the metro area in Minnesota has an unbelievable wealth of restaurants that boast a locally sourced, organic, natural kitchen. It definitely makes me feel better about eating out. That being said, lacking those qualities won't stop me from trying a restaurant. There are simply too many things I want to eat and cook to have too restrictive of a diet. This is why the philosophy we've developed in our house works for us.

Food, for Matt and I, is SO much more than fuel.. food is community. There's nothing I love more than hosting company for dinner, talking about great meals, scouting restaurant menus, researching new recipes, or trying to make something in a new way. I think it's important to note that because a lot of the way I view things stems from that belief system.

I hope this series didn't come off as preachy, and in fact, that fear is what kept me from writing about it for so long. I want to be an inclusive voice in the food conversation. A large part of why I resisted change for so long had to do with the tone of the conversation. I'm sensitive to try to not come off as judgmental or authoritative and instead just share our family's story. Now, more than ever, I am aware that making these changes involves a total shift in a person's frame of mind: The same can be said about any change- quitting smoking, kicking a bad habit, etc. I may share things along this topic as I find them, I may not ever again, but I hope this series was helpful to at least one person.


*A huge aspect of this conversation I'm overlooking in these posts is the fact that 80% of the time I truly ENJOY cooking. I have my moments where looking in the fridge fills me with rage and I want to go out to eat, but for the most part I find chopping, dicing, and sauteing therapeutic. [I am convinced there is NO BETTER SCENT than fresh minced garlic and onions sauteing in butter.] So yes, this is a different conversation if you aren't the type who enjoys cooking. 

FOOD PHILOSOPHY // PART 2

So, what does "whole, local, organic" mean? It means that as often as we can,we making decisions about our food that mean we understand what form it comes in, and as often as we can that means it's natural existing state (fresh veggies vs. frozen, making pasta sauce from tomatoes and spices vs. canned). It means that where we can, we buy food that has come from Minnesota or the Midwest (why? because midwest is best ;-), joking..kind of, but also, supporting local! yay!). Organic to us means there's as little artificial stuff (preservatives, chemicals, fillers) in our food as possible. This mostly applies to meat, dairy, and when we buy processed.

Here's a look at how this plays out for us:

1. HOW YOU SHOP 

{image from HERE}

If you want to make a baby step in the right direction, challenge yourself to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store as much as possible. As a rule of thumb, it's the healthiest areas and it's a great place to start. I play a game with myself to see how little I need from the interior and usually? It's not much. When I DO venture into the middle? I am more conscious of what I'm getting: organic free range chicken broth, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas. 

2. WHERE YOU SHOP

If you'd told me a year ago I'd be shopping at a co-op, I'd have laughed at you. First, there's a perception that co-ops are for hippies. Second, there seems to be a perception that you have to be a member or work there (neither true). Last, there seems to be a perception they're more expensive. This is true with SOME items (meat, especially) but definitely not all. In fact, at Lakewinds, where M and I go, you can buy bulk basil. Only need 6-8 leaves? You can pick out 6-8 leaves and don't have to pay $5 for a package that will go to waste. They sell SINGLE eggs and bulk pasta! SINGLE carrots! Have a recipe that calls for ONE carrot and you can't find anything in a bag less than 8? I seriously avoided carrot recipes for this reason. Drove me nuts. 

The huge benefit I've found of the co-op is that at Lakewinds especially, they're pegged as a natural food market. It's so much easier to make decisions on purchasing when you know everything is either natural, local, or organic for the most part. Does it mean eating a brick of cheese will feel good just because it's local and organic? Probably not. But there's a lot less label checking for me because I believe that when I shop there, as long as I eat in moderation and still balance my food groups, I'm already doing a lot better than I was before. 

3. WHAT YOU SHOP

Stay with me here because this may sound crazy, but as I've said before this means we eat organic veggies where we can, local or at least organic meat where we can, and full fat. 

<<record scratches>> full fat? Absolutely. 

You may remember a few years back there was a surge of low-fat and fat free options? EVERYTHING had a low fat/fat free version. I bought it. Everybody did. But turns out, low fat and fat free basically tasted like cardboard. So what did they do to compensate and make people still want to buy it? Jack it full of SUGAR. If you want a really fantastic, short, and interesting documentary on the subject, watch Fed Up. My very simplistic understanding of it goes as follows: sugar is a carbohydrate, so although the food item is labeled low fat, consuming more carbohydrates than your body needs may cause you to convert the excess calories to fat for long term storage. (VIA). Which means basically that "low fat" food item had the exact opposite affect and is making you more fat. Ironic, huh?

For us, the "WHAT" we shop boils down to the ingredients list. I want to be able to recognize all, if not at least 90% of, what's on that label. This is why, for the most part, I stay out of the middle of the grocery store. I'm not even going to get into all the gross additives that go into packaged and processed foods because a) it's not something I'm knowledgeable in and b) the rest of the way we shop is designed so we don't need to do that. There are no labels to check when you're throwing a handful of Brussels sprouts into your cart. The ONE area I've heard consistently that is most important to pay attention to is meat and dairy. There are countless studies on the effects on our bodies from the hormones that the animals are injected with, and it's frightening.

Speaking of labels, if you turn over an item of food that carries a nutrition label you may have noticed the breakdowns and percentages of daily values for various items. Yes?

Do you see a percentage missing? Where's sugar? (I'll be honest I have no idea where Protein is either but THAT'S NOT MY POINT). That's not an accident, it's the Sugar Lobby. No shitting, and Fed Up explains it far better than I do (and it's been a few weeks since I watched it) but the Sugar Lobby in Washington is so powerful they have kept these percentages off food labels based on the idea that this daily value percentage stuff is "inconclusive science", as they claim. The movie goes into a really interesting narrative about all of this, and the redirection of Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign (which initially had a large food component) to primarily an exercise campaign. Again, your Sugar Lobbyists at work, folks.

I'll be honest in saying there's a whole lot I'm uneducated on: what my daily values SHOULD be, what some of those preservatives and fillers in processed foods really are and which are the ESPECIALLY bad ones (if they can even be ranked). This is in part because it's a lot of information and I know that tracking calories and/or daily values is not something that's sustainable for me: a HUGE reason I resisted making any changes for a long time- it just  never seemed feasible. As I said before, this "how, where, what" method combined with eating mostly whole fruits, whole veggies, and protein is designed so that I am able to give myself a pass on the more stringent tracking. I am aware that veggies have naturally occurring sugars, fiber, carbs, etc., but in moderation and balance I believe eating them in their natural form means I feel fine about not tracking.

I have some closing thoughts tomorrow on balance and eating out, and how our philosophy plays in to these areas.

FOOD PHILOSOPHY // PART 1

[I'll go ahead and disclaim this post by saying I am NOT a nutritionist and I have a lot to learn on the subject, but these are just some of my simple thoughts on the matter]

Diet and fitness are such loaded words, aren't they? I don't mean diet as in, "I'm going on A diet," but rather- what you put in your mouth as a whole.

Chances are, you have strong feelings about these very general ideas. You may consider yourself a gym rat and rely on your #fitfam for motivation, but aren't as intense with respect to your diet: The "I work out to eat" people. You may eat local, whole, organic food, but not pump iron at Crossfit on the weekends. There's a whole spectrum of diet and fitness and everybody falls somewhere.

Recently, in our own home, M and I have decided to make a commitment to eat real, whole, (and whenever possible) local food. This isn't going to be a preachy place, and I very likely will never talk about it again on the blog (because of my attention span not because I don't care), but wanted to get some of my feelings out there. I also want to preserve these thoughts and reevaluate how things are going in 6 months or a year. That's part of the fun of documenting your life, right? If this stuff totally bores you to death feel free to skip over the next few days worth of content (YES I said dayS, buckle up, kids!)

The last few years have seen a surge of diets "lifestyle changes".. Paleo, the 21-Day Fix, Atkins, Whole 30, and on and on and on. You ultimately have to do what's best for you, there's no denying that. That's not taking into consideration people with food sensitivities (hi Meg!) or intolerance to things like dairy or gluten, or those diagnosed conditions like Celiac Disease. There's likely been a lot of "new" food information being thrown at you in the last few years and if you're anything like me, you're overwhelmed.

I'll admit that for the last 2-3 years, I knew I wanted to make a change in my diet but was in over my head with the information I was receiving. My train of thought went something like this, "Low-fat? High fat? Low carb diets? Fruits are good but not GREAT because they have sugar too..right? But is it better sugar? Stevia, truvia, artificial sweeteners.. or just regular sugar? Root veggies have carbs, but are they the good kind? But, don't fruit have carbs too? Is there a good kind? Is carbs the thing I should worry about? White pasta and grains are the devil.... didn't I just read something on Facebook about arsenic in rice?...."-- if that exhausted you, trust me- it exhausted me too. Every day we're told something new will kill us or give us cancer. It can be really hard to keep up.

So, for a long time, I just said "fuck it" and ate what I wanted. It was depressing and overwhelming and I let myself think that made it OK to not care.

M's dad's girlfriend is health guru and owns a fitness studio where they live in northwestern Minnesota. She's got a masters in nutrition and on the whole, knows what she's talking about. The last few years we also started spending some more time with friends of ours who ran a CSA program in the twin cities and are very into food and agriculture. Little by little the information became more digestible and I was able to hone a food philosophy that for me, felt really doable and easy to tackle:

WHOLE, ORGANIC, LOCAL

In other words, REAL food. 

There are a few simple ways to accomplish this that have been working for M and I that I'll touch on in tomorrow's post.

I do want to say this, so as to not be accused of being completely tone-deaf: In part because we're a respectably active couple (both have gym memberships and I'm doing Classpass this month) and in part because we just have a solid seemingly high-metabolism (we don't fluctuate weight in a noticeable manner), the way we eat and view food is NOT designed to lose weight. I understand and am aware that different goals mean different methods, which may include more closely examining calories and/or portion control. I'm not making a commentary on either of those items, although I think just by the way I cook naturally I do pretty well with portion sizes. My views are geared more towards the healthy food from a natural foods standpoint and not a weight standpoint. Aannndd who knows, maybe my views will evolve and I'll become more interested in those aspects and want to become lean and shredded, (HA, not likely, I <3 pizza), but this is where we're at right now. 

STEREOTYPICAL BLOGGER-Y WEEKEND

I was emailing myself some photos to compile this post and I realized in this one weekend, I was every blogger ever.

I gave the "fashion blogger" a pathetic attempt, I was the foodie blogger, I was the DIY blogger. In other words I was uncharacteristically productive.

I realize I never addressed NYE here, but M and I went to a friend of ours' house, with one other couple (so, 6 of us in total) for apps, drinks, and ended the night at a local bar with a much older, and thus calmer, crowd, watching a band that's played at a few of our groups' weddings. Naturally within 5 minutes of showing up Pete was on stage singing Piano Man with the band.

Friday night was spent in preparation to help Dana move out of our basement and into her new place. She'd been staying here the last week until she could get into her new place, so we moved all her stuff from storage in the basement to the living room, so people wouldn't be trekking all over our house.

Precursor to the following story: M and I bought a new mattress on New Years Day, and it was set to be delivered Saturday morning.
SO, Saturday morning I was lounging alone with TJ- Dana was picking up the U-Haul and her new couch, and M was at crossfit. I see the Slumberland truck roll up to the house, a casual 30 minutes early. I'm in stretchy pants, smelling and looking like warmed over death, with a living room that looks like an episode of hoarders. The poor guys had to traipse through the side of our house, which was NOT shoveled, and up the back deck to get the mattress in. You would never have guessed that the mattress was heavy though since ONE guy carried it in by himself while the other set up the frame. I'm not sure I mentioned this- but M and I moved our bedroom from our 2nd floor to the first floor. It was inevitable, since I was NOT doing stairs pregnant or with a baby (NO I am not, presently) aannndddd due to the teeny tiny staircase, we could never have anything larger than a full upstairs (or in the basement). So, our only shot at a bigger, nicer mattress was the first floor guest room. They had the mattress set up in 20 minutes and it was HEAVEN to sleep on. I love EVERYTHING about the first floor. It's both amazing and pathetic that something as simple as a change of bedroom scenery could bust this mild funk I feel like I've been in lately.

After that, we helped Dana move, and then Saturday night the new mattress- room makeover bug hit, and I attacked my closet in there.

There are no "before" photos because it was just too gross. Picture a cluttered, nasty, builders-grade-cream, which is to say -- looks like vomit -- beige in the closet. It was chipped, dinged, dirty, and just gross. So, I accomplished the most thankless paint job ever Saturday night: the interior of the closet. I have to say though, it makes me 1,000 times happier. It just feels CLEAN and organized.

We picked up the white organizer from Target on sale, as well as the cloth bins, which replaced a green 3 shelf plastic organizer I'd had since college. I moved my necklace tree into the closet, which had remained upstairs since I moved in. The guest room (our new room) had always been my closet, while our actual former bedroom closet was M's. I'm hoping by having some of my older jewelry out, I'll wear it more. I also hung up my statement necklaces on some extra hooks.

I'm still working on how I want to finish the rest of the room, but I have some ideas, so I'll do a formal tour with a nice camera if that ever gets done. :) I also promised the living room, which I'll do after I get my last piece for my gallery wall in a few days here.

Sunday was lounging, and a grocery trip. I wore skinny jeans, a plaid flannel from Old Navy, and a chunky cream scarf, red lips, and my black hipster glasses. I didn't take a photo, so I guess that doesn't TOTALLY count, but I felt very bloggery. We don't have a juicer, because they're expensive, so I sort of jumped on the healthy blogger bandwagon at the grocery store and bought ingredients to try a green smoothie. I used THIS recipe.

 

The "health kick" slowly devolved after that, however. We made bacon, leek and goat cheese pizza on Naan bread. One of my favorite meals. (pro tip, saute the leeks in the bacon grease- ZOMG). 

I randomly got a baking bug up my bum (alliteration FTW) and decided to buy a cupcake mix to use my stand mixer for the first time. Yes, it's shameful, but I've had a Kitchenaid for 3 years and never used it once. I'm just not a baker. Even now, as I wait for these cupcakes to cool, I don't really want to eat many. Maybe I should stick to muffins or breads.

(They're spiced chai cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting. NOM). 

 

So that's what we've been up to. :)
I have a New Years-Life List post drafted, but want to add some more things to it, so stay tuned for that.