How do I become healthy!

amother

Thu, Nov 13 2014, 8:14 am

I want to transform my household and myself. I just want to cook and eat healthy! How do I go about it? Where so I start! Nowadays I don't even know what's healthy, everything is full of chemicals and colouring, where and how do I educate myself. Do I just eat plain protein and veg? For example is soy sauce healthy? Is sweet chilli sauce healthy? I love cooking with them

Please help thank you

amother

Thu, Nov 13 2014, 8:50 am

Anon because I'm know for lecturing people on this Wink

Read labels, avoid anything with ingredients that aren't natural and simple. Most things have added sugar, salt or chemicals. Avoid whatever you can!

Cut down on refined carbs (white bread, white pasta etc.) which have little nutritional value.

Focus more on the protein - lots of fresh poultry, fish, eggs, milk, natural yoghurt, avoid yellow cheese.

And most of all, fight the addiction to sugar and salt! Whenever I want something sweet I have fruit. Nothing else. I used to be a soda addict. Don't use sugar replacements or 'healthier' sweeteners like honey (even fruit juice you should limit) etc. because even though they have healthy properties to them, your body treats them like sugars and the taste keeps you addicted. They give you a sugar high and increase your appetite.

Try not to bake at all, even 'healthy' versions of things. Snacks can be fruit veg, yoghurts, cottage cheese etc.

Allow treats! For us, we have 'normal' not too healthy food on shabbos and make things with sugar, flour etc. It's once a week and that's when we have baked goods lkavod shabbos. It's not a daily habit, it's a treat to look forward to and I don't think it does too much damage!

Also, work out if you want to lose weight and be healthy or just be healthy... if you don't need to lose weight then have plenty of healthy fats like avocado etc. as they fill you up and make things tasty without needing sugar.

allthingsblue

Thu, Nov 13 2014, 9:32 am

The above amother said it all.

I think it would be beneficial for you, op, to read a book about this, or look online. There is so much to learn, and you can't get it from one post on imamother. But once you learn it, it becomes amazingly simple and easy to remember, so don't worry!

I highly recommend Michael Pollan's "Food Rules, an eater's manual." This book is very short, with a bunch of brilliant, useful, and easy to remember rules pertaining to healthful eating.

ETA: feel free to pm me for advice, recommendations, recipes, and chizuk if youd like.

chickpea_salad

Thu, Nov 13 2014, 10:27 am

I agree with allthingsblue that all of this can't be summed up in one post. You will have to do a lot of research. But that can be daunting. So if you don't know where to start here is a little mnemonic:

"Less meat, less wheat, and fewer sweets."

"Less meat" isn't about avoiding meat altogether, it is about how to incorporate more vegetables into your recipes. Chop an onion in, add a carrot or two, make an extra veggie side dish every night, add some veggies to your sandwiches ect.

"Less wheat" isn't about going gluten free or anything like that. Most convenience foods are wheat based, so limiting your wheat intake means you can't always rely on them. How many meals a week include wheat? I used to eat cereal for breakfast, bagels for lunch and pasta for dinner. How often do you use grains like rice, oats or barley when you cook?

"Less sweet" is twofold. Yes, the cakes cookies and pastries are not good for you. Sugar rots your teeth. But it is also in absolutely everything. Go through your fridge and cupboard right now and read every label. Some BBQ sauces have more sugar in them than chocolate sauces. Seriously. How many items do you use do NOT have sugar in them? Probably not many.

Learn to read labels! What is actually in the food you are eating? Keep the mnemonic in mind when you are shopping or cooking and it will help you become more aware of the food you eat. I think that the more you learn about the food you eat the more inclined you will be to do further research.

smss

Thu, Nov 13 2014, 10:47 am

avoid foods that cause blood sugar spikes- constant high blood sugar levels, even if you don't actually become diabetic, are very unhealthy. this basically includes most carbs, except most vegetables. in regard to blood sugar, it's not true that whole grains are any better for you. 2 slices of whole wheat bread raise your blood sugar higher than 2 tablespoons of white sugar does.
substitute extra veggies instead of carbs- like stir fry, use spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles instead of pasta, make lettuce wraps instead of tacos, etc. and make sure to include enough healthy fats and you'll find you get full without the carbs.

ETA: ideally you should eat "nothing with a wrapper"- can't remember where I heard this line, but if you try to do this you'll definitely be eating much healthier Smile

busymother

Thu, Nov 13 2014, 11:38 am

I'm seeing a nutritionist now and just cutting out the sugar and flour totally changed my life. It's all about reading the ingredients. If there's a hint of sugar it doesn't belong in ur food. There are brands that are ok like Ezekiel bread, Bella terra whole wheat pasta, shredded wheat cereal, puffed rice cereal, there is one soy sauce that's good-Tamari gf. I commend you for taking this important step! Hatzlacha!

nyer1

Thu, Nov 13 2014, 11:42 am

it's a constant struggle for me, but here's some ideas that help me.

no frying food. bake, sautee (with just a little olive oil), steam or broil

no junk food around… always have available healthy alternatives, many times that can be low fat popcorn, pretzels, cut up veggies, string cheese -- things that are easy to grab-n-go

measure out portions -- look up online what those portions should be. -- example… 1 cup of rice is too much but thats what many ppl use -- it's more like 1/4 to 1/2 a cup per person.

make fruit available for dessert

get rid of soda and juices -- only seltzer or water. milk or orange juice for breakfast, or tea or coffee

not all starches are created equal -- instead of rice, try sweet potatoes, or brown rice, or quinoa. not all starches are bad!

avoid processed foods when possible -- make stuff ahead of time and u can have fresh healthy meals

Grateful2bhere

Mon, Dec 08 2014, 10:56 pm

Dr. Andrew Weil is a fabulous resource. www.drweil.com - site has Q&A library from ailments & safely using vitamins, to recipes to spice's healing properties from A-Z.

A Harvard medical school graduate w/ a minor in botany, he's a pioneer in what's called Integrative Medicine, or utilizing both Western (mainly treating the symptom) & non-Western approach (helping the body stay & or get healthy by addressing less toxic methods, diet & lifestyle).

Some great books too ie: Eating Well for Optimum Health or Spontaneous Healing.
If I didn't know it I'd think was Jewish - he's so honest & credible, very informative but not too scientific so people like me can gain a lot.
He's not trying to "sell things" either - all of his product endorsement proceeds go to his foundation for educating physicians to be integrative doctors. Can you imagine going for a well visit and your doctor actually asking if you take a multi vitamin, or if you've tried yoga for back pain vs. pills?
Western medicine isn't like that right now.
Hatzlacha!!

Grateful2bhere

Mon, Dec 08 2014, 11:00 pm

avoid processed foods when possible -- make stuff ahead of time and u can have fresh healthy meals[/quote] quote from Copper something... oy - I don't know how to use this site yet :/ ( Wink

I so agree - This is very hard for me b/c I'm not naturally organized. I eat so much more healthfully if I have prepared (even simple) healthy food ahead of time. If it's not readily available it's so tempting to go for the less healthy easy to prepare, "fast"er food

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Dec 08 2014, 11:08 pm

You can use your beloved soy sauce and sweet chili sauce in modest amounts.

Go easy on sugar. Salt has been rehabilitated partially, within reason. It's not the total bad puppy it once was. Everybody needs some salt. Everybody needs fats - olive oil is very healthy. So is butter.

Eggs have been rehabilitated. Also red meat, if good quality and in moderation.

There is no perfect food!

Some very good foods still lack something you need.

It is very important to eat a very varied diet exactly because no one food or even handful of foods has everything you need. A narrow diet can make one quite ill.

Don't be fanatical. Fruit is good for you but eating nothing but fruit would be a disaster.

People speak ill of trans fats and artificial sweeteners, but even those won't kill you in moderation occasionally.

I am no fan of sweetened yogurts.

Yes, become a label reader but don't drive yourself nuts.

Learn to love oil and vinegar on things, oil and lemon juice.

Eat solidly early, and don't eat heavily two hours before you sleep. You don't want to go to sleep right after a heavy meal.

Don't eat out of anger. Chomp chomp, gnash tear. Grrr.

Don't make war on your food, it is a gift of G-d.

You can eat to comfort yourself if in moderation, small moderation. Know you are doing it.

No, junk food isn't good for you. It also isn't good enough for you. Try to eat real food, the kind that was made by somebody's hands, often your own, not a laboratory.