Nutrition for Dummies, Part two

Hopefully by now you have adopted some of the habits of highly healthy people. Incorporating these (or any) habits into your life is a process. It takes a while. You'll have ups and downs, of course. But when you do succeed you will notice a difference. You may feel your body saying, "thank you for treating me well," and in return you will get a good night sleep, or you won't be as fatigued, or you won't feel bloated all the time. For me, when I have been eating well I have much better workouts. Actually, I did a five mile run this morning, and I seriously could have kept running another mile or two because I was feeling so good (I just had to get to an interview).

At this time I would like to recognize that Nutrition for Dummies, Part two, is brought to you by the letter V. V is for vampire, vindicate, veracity, van morrison, vacation, vacuum, and vagabond. But more importantly, V is for variety, vitamins, volume, vegetables, and victory! Oh my, it seems as though those words are all somehow nutrition related. So let's talk about each word, one at a time.

#1 Variety: Let's say I really really like bananas. Well, there are many good things about bananas. The banana is low in fat. Bananas are a good source of vitamin B6, potassium, fiber, vitamin C, and magnesium. Bananas provide an easily digestible source of energy. So because bananas are soooo good and good for me, I guess that's the only fruit I will eat. Wait, wait... this is not good. If all you eat is bananas, you will be missing out on the manganese and vitamin E found in blueberries! Blueberries also contain the antioxidant anthocyanidin. So, okay I will eat a variety of fruits, but really the only vegetable I like is carrots. In summary, don't limit yourself to only a few fruits and vegetables. Next time you go to the grocery store, try a fruit or vegetable you have never before tasted. Maybe it's disgusting. Then try something else next time. This goes for grains and nuts too. Try quinoa. It's quite lovely tasting, and very nutritious.

#2 Vitamins: Variety and vitamins go hand in hand. The greater the variety in your diet, the greater the variety of vitamins you consume. Hold on. But I thought vitamins are those little multi-colored pills that mom makes me take every day, and for some reason my urine is bright yellow. I am here to tell you that it is O.K. to take vitamins in a pill, but there "ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby." So rather than thinking, "it's okay that I only eat bananas, because I am taking a 'great' multivitamin," change your thinking to, "I'm going to do everything I can to eat a variety of foods, then just in case I didn't eat a complete spread of vitamins and minerals I will take a multivitamin." When choosing a multivitamin, make sure it does not contain vitamin A, and if you are a man, it should not contain iron. Vitamin A is one of the few vitamins for which there is a likely toxicity. Eating lots of beta-carotene rich foods (a precursor to vitamin A) is okay because beta-carotene is stored in your skin until it is needed, then it is converted to vitamin A to do it's job. There is not a known beta-carotene toxicity although if you eat a lot of orange foods you may develop an orange tint in your skin (I know from experience), but there is a vitamin A toxicity.

#3 Volume: This topic was covered briefly in part one, but I would like to revisit it. The volume of food you eat can sometimes make or break whether or not you are your desirable body weight, or you are feeling your best health-wise. There are some foods that you just should not eat a lot of, some foods you can eat plenty but not too much of, and some foods you can eat as much as you want. Let's compare these categories to the red, yellow, and green of a traffic light.

• Red foods include meats, especially high fat meats and fried foods; high fat dairy products such as butter, cheese, and high fat milk; Desserty things such as cakes, pies, brownies, cookies, you get the drift; Processed foods, such as white bread, white pasta, and prepackaged ready to eat meals and snacks.
  
• Yellow foods are beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. If you eat low fat/fat free dairy products I would put them in the yellow food group too.
  
• Green foods are fruits and vegetables.

#4 Vegetables: I just can't say enough about them and their partner: fruits. They are perfect for everything from meals to snacks to cool birthday treats at a sushi restaurant.

Hehe. Hopefully Bria doesn't mind me posting her picture. It's a good picture of you, Bria. Anyway, the other day I created a delicious main dish salad for lunch. I wish I had a picture because it was beautiful. Here it is:

Santa Fe salad

• 1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped and washed
• One medium tomato, diced
• One green onion, chopped
• 1/4 C green bell pepper, diced
  
• 1/2 C corn (from frozen, thawed)
• 1/2 C black beans
• 1/2 avocado (mmm... this one was especially yummy because it was from my grandma Jones' backyard)
• Soy and salsa dressing: 1/2 container of silken tofu with 1/2 C salsa of your choice, and 1 T lime juice (the tofu doesn't add flavor, it just adds soy protein and gives the dressing a wonderful smooth consistency)

Anyway, V is for vegetables. Eat em up.

#5 Victory: Here is the "motivational" speech. While incorporating the habits of highly healthy people, remember the letter V, for variety, vitamins, volume, and vegetables. Perhaps the most important V is for victory because as you are successful in treating your body better, you should celebrate!!! Find a reward to work for, and then follow through with the reward. It is best if the reward is not food. You can eat desserts that you love, but make sure they know their place as a "red" food. Treats should be treats, not habits! Your reward might be money toward buying something you have been wanting. Maybe it can be time set aside for something you love. As I said before, I love music, so my reward is a song on itunes every day I am successful, and I have quite the music collection now. No matter what, don't let negatives get you down. If you eat five brownies, don't eat five more because you already blew it. Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off (or hose yourself down), and start all over again. Don't let one little missed workout or overindulgence in calories negate all the hard work you have already done.

Hopefully this wasn't too redundant. If there is any particular nutrition topic you are interested in, please let me know and I will cover it. On a more personal note, I had an interview today that went well, and I have a few more job prospects at hospitals. I have been enjoying unemployment especially because I get to sleep in, practice flute, keep the apartment more clean, and cook for Dave. But soon it will be time for me to get back to work. Eat well, do good workouts, and keep in touch.