Metabolic Typing- You Can Do It!!!

Well, as some of you know, I decided to bite the bullet (or lay off the peanut butter cups, whichever you prefer) and hire a nutritionist, which has led me to the metabolic typing diet.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, I encourage you to visit this website- http://www.metabolictyping.com/ and learn more about it. 

For those of you already struggling with the sacrifices of this diet (or are just trying to figure out whether it’s right for you), I hope to offer some insight. I’m currently in week two as a fast oxidizer, which means that I am a heavy-duty protein type who loves her fats.  And cue the top questions:

• What about the pastas??!?!?! I said the same thing. And not just about the pastas. I said that about fruits, vegetables, sweets, and every other delicious carb I could think of because you guessed it- I should not be eating a lot of them. Ugh.  Which I’m sure leads to your next question.
•  OMG YOU CAN’T EAT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES?!?! AREN’T YOU GOING TO DIE?! (Yes, I have gotten that reaction…several times). No, I’m not going to die and I can eat fruits and vegetables, just a very limited number of them (fruit- apples, bananas, pears, and coconut only) and a very small amount. And again, not everyone is a fast oxidizer or protein type. Many people are carb types or other types. My diet is not yours.
• But, aren’t you going to get a heart attack from eating all of that fat?! Well, yes, if I decide to only eat fast food burgers for the rest of my life.  However, based upon a very thorough recent study, saturated fats do NOT cause heart disease. Trans fats do. Also, I’d imagine it depends on where you get your saturated fats from.  After all, saturated fats can be found in coconut, avocado, etc.

So what have been the biggest struggles so far?? Well, obviously, sticking to the proper foods to eat. I should explain that once you find out what type you are (you answer a lengthy questionnaire), you get a food chart that tells you all of the things that your type can and cannot eat, which in theory makes it easy for you to sort through what to get at the store.  However, it’s not so easy in practice when you are craving everything deliciously salty and carbo-licious.  The good thing about my type is I get to eat fatty meat (bring on the bacon!!!) to my heart’s content. The bad thing is I don’t like the meat sweats.

Getting serious now, here are the biggest struggles of this diet so far:

• Going out and eating. I like to go out with friends every once in a while and I hate being that overly picky person who “just can’t eat anything off the menu because it’s soooo unhealthy”. No matter how true that is, it’s difficult to stick with the diet and eat within my constrictions (which for me also includes being gluten, dairy, and sugar free).
• Explaining the diet to others. I’ve come to realize that as a society we refuse to admit that our diet is killing us.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve explained this diet to who drink aspartame laden drinks and eat those nasty frozen dinners and claim “oh yea, I’m healthy. By the way, I have thyroid issues and I’m overweight and my joints hurt and I’m taking every medication under the sun for it”.  People- YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU SOMETHING. GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Stop feeding yourself crap and you won’t feel like crap.
• The cravings!! When they say that sugar is as addictive as a drug, I believe it.  It has been more than difficult to kick the habit completely.  I had cut down on my sugar intake a few months ago and thought I could handle this, but I have been massively proven wrong.  Thus, I tend to breakdown every once in a while (OK, almost every day…) and have some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies by Lucy’s (kids, don’t try this at home…but if you do, just know they are delicious).
• The cost. Of course, healthy food is expensive as all get out, but if you live in the central PA area, I can tell you that if you go to BJ’s you can get organic meats at a very good price. They aren’t grass fed, but they are hormone and anti-biotic free and if you’re looking to lessen the impact on your wallet, it’s the way to go.  I try and get some grass-fed meats in there too (maybe one or two steaks from Wegmans or Giant) just so I can be extra good on some days.
• Finally, the cooking.  I feel this will probably be a benefit after I get used to it, but as a person who doesn’t normally cook, I find this very troublesome.  I did try this weekend, though, to dedicate a day to cooking a bunch of food and freezing it as meals for this week. So far, so good.

OK, so if there are that many cumbersome cons why even try it?!  Well, I will tell you that even after a week and half I have had some great results.

• First and foremost, my hair doesn’t fall out nearly as much.  Remember how that was a problem in my past posts? I thought sulfate-free items would help…and they did, but it didn’t stop it.  The change in my diet has cut the amount that falls out in half. Incredible.
• Secondly, my scalp stopped burning every time I touch it.  Also incredible.
• Thirdly, I don’t bloat and have a “food baby” or if I do, it’s only in its first trimester. I have suffered from this for YEARS. Ever since my tweens I developed a food baby after every meal, which continually got worse over the years to the point that I can’t wear some of the things that I want to wear.  Abdominal exercises didn’t work. Eating less didn’t work. Drinking more water didn’t work. This works.
• Finally, detoxing.  I have been detoxing from who knows what, which can never be a bad thing, right?!

So yes, while the diet is so much of a change from before, I think it’s going to be well worth it in the long run to maintain a healthy body.  Thus, if you are thinking about trying this out, I encourage you to give it a whirl. You don’t need to be perfect at it right away. I know I’m sure not, but the results will be well worth the trouble and as time goes maybe you’ll realize that you don’t really mind life without all of that junk anyway.

(Oh, and bonus-did I mention that I lost three pounds?!)

Nutty for Nut Chips (and more)!

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this post, I figured I would start off with a little catch-up. Back in June I was challenged to join WeightWatchers in an effort to get my eating habits on track and lose a couple of pounds while I’m at it. Well, I have to say that I love it! I’ve lost a couple of pounds (3 to be exact) and have come a long way in redeveloping my food regimen.

When I first started the Points Plus program, it was SO hard to keep inside my budgeted points. I have 29 daily points to spend and 49 that I can use over the span of a week. Trust me, when you are a fast-food junkie and a lover of everything deep fried and smothered in delicious chocolate, 29, and even 49 points, is NOT a lot. Example? One McDonald’s Quarter Pounder (no cheese) is 11 points. Large serving of fries? 13. That’s 26 points (not including the drink) in one meal. Yea, I think you get the point.

However, I’ll admit that I’ve come a long way since then. I can’t deny that McDonald’s fries are still my weakness, and I still go for the occasional donut from my favorite place in America, Dunkin’ Donuts, but not doing it every day has been key. Also, I’ve been staying away from a lot of processed foods and consuming a lot more salads and fruit, a [healthy] change so shocking that the first time I did it, my boss told me, “Yea, I saw that. That was weird.”

I have to say to anyone considering changing their eating habits or losing weight, try this! WeightWatchers isn’t a one-time diet. It’s a lifestyle change, and you won’t want to go back to junk food [often] after you’ve tried it.

Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, allow me to circle back to the topic of this post. I have realized that there isn’t a whole lot of common knowledge on what organic snack foods are good, and frankly, these products are a little pricey to experiment with, so I thought I’d “chip” in and give my thoughts on some of the stuff that I have tried thus far. Here’s this week’s snack review:

Blue Diamond’s Nut Chips with Sea Salt- These are made from almonds and brown rice. They are your (gluten free!) equivalent to corn chips. I loved them! I thought they were great with salsa (0 points). I do have to say, though, that the serving size is about all you can take. Also, you don’t get a whole lot in the bag. I do recommend them, though. 3 points per serving (15 chips)

Nature’s Promise Kettle Corn- This is my favorite of the week. This product is just, well, delicious! It has the perfect combination of salt and sweet. The best part?? Two cups is only three points! This snack is going to be in my lunch bag for awhile. 3 points per serving (2 cups)

Donut peaches- You may have seen them already. They are peaches but smaller and flatter, and in the shape of donuts. They are SUPER sweet, and are great if you don’t want to eat a huge peach, but just have the nibbles. Highly recommend these. 0 points per serving

Watermelon- In my humble opinion, watermelon is the second best fruit this season (other than donut peaches). It’s not the sweetest that it’s been in the past, but out of the pickings this year, it has to be one of the best options. It is also great for a fruit salad. 0 points per serving

Runnin' on Dunkin!

Lately, I've been pretty much addicted to Dunkin Donuts' coffee. I think it pretty much has moved up to be my number one coffee place (which is saying something because I never thought anything could replace a good Caramel Macchiatto!). Why? Well, for one thing the coffee isn't too strong nor is it too weak. The taste is perfect. Furthermore, I love, love, LOVE that they put the perfect amount of cream and sugar in EVERY time, giving me a perfect experience with each cup. Let's not forget my favorite part- it's cheap!! I love that I'm not paying $5.00 for [maybe] quality. The thing I hate about Starbucks is when my coffee is good, it is fabulous, but when my coffee is bad, it is horrible. When I'm paying that much money for a cup of coffee, I don't want to risk it. I want a sure bet. Dunkin Donuts does that for me for cheap. The only down side is that I feel sometimes the coffee is a little too hot when I get it, but with a little patience that easily goes away.

Second thing about Dunkin Donuts-I love their lunch sandwiches! For anyone that knows me, they know I kind of have a thing for trashy food. I will sacrifice "healthy" for taste (at least until a doctor tells me otherwise, ha!) more often than I probably should. That being said, I was told that the Dunkin Donuts flatbread sandwiches were pretty good, so I decided to indulge. I bought the Turkey, Bacon, Cheddar. First, it is in the shape of a triangle and it is in a convenient size so you can hold it in your hand without it falling all over the place or being too much of an inconvenience. I feel like it's kind of Dunkin Donuts' answer to 7-11's taquitos. At any rate, I'm not usually a fan of turkey, but I have to say this was delicious! I was concerned the cheese would taste really fake and gross, but it turned out to be pretty good. Once again, it was definitely better quality than I anticipated for cheap. The only downside? The size. I'm pretty petite (surprisingly!) and I felt like I should have had two for lunch instead of one. If you get one, it's more of a snack than a lunch. Other than that I thought it was really, really good!

Bravo, Dunkin, bravo!

Got Fruit?

Cliche, I know- but it's my first real post, so give me a break!

Ok, so this one's relatively new. During one of my jaunts to the grocery store within the past week or two, I came across a product called "Fruit 2day". It is a fruit drink with fruit bits in it. 100% fruit, equivalent to 2 servings. I don't know about you, but I'm a maniac when it comes to fruit juice. If it's not 100% juice (no sugar or any other variant), I don't want it.

I was pretty skeptical at first (I mean, who puts chunks of fruit in your drink?), but I was feeling adventurous and got 2 flavors- Cherry Grape and Mango Peach. I eagerly got home and cracked one of the Cherry Grapes open. It was amazing. One of the best fruit drinks I've ever had in my life. The fruit bits make the drink. It's not too thick and it doesn't have the texture of puree, which is good because with the bits of fruit in it, I don't want my drink having the texture of vomit. The flavor is slightly tangy, but sweet enough that you won't pucker your lips after you take a sip, haha.

After trying both flavors I recommend the Mango Peach over the Cherry Grape. The former has bits of peach and the latter has bits of pear in it. I prefer peaches. I tried the Pineapple Banana today. I was also skeptical (I'm not that much into tropical flavors), but I wound up loving it. I think it's really hard to go wrong with this product. I personally find it to be great for a snack or breakfast.

Is there a downside? Yes. Two, actually. The first- they only come 2 in a pack (as far as I've seen). The second-they are a little on the pricey side. I think it was over $2.50, if not $3.00 for a pack. However, I definitely thought it was worth it.

First Impression: Fab!

Ok, so that was my first review. Hope you enjoyed it! :)


Photo source: http://www.fruit2day.com/flavors.htm