You Are What You Eat

You may remember that at the beginning of the year I made a resolution to make small changes in my eating habits to improve my overall health and finally lose some of Norah's darn baby weight. I went to the doctor for my annual inspection a few weeks ago, and she got excited when she saw my cholesterol level - 229. That probably seems high to the rest of the world, but considering that at one time my cholesterol was 310, I'm doing well. She gave me 4 months to get serious and give it my best shot. If I haven't improved more in 4 months, she's going to decide whether to put me on medication.

As part of my cholesterol reduction plan, the doctor sent me to a nutritionist. Oddly enough, nutritional counseling isn't covered by my Blue Cross policy. I guess they'd prefer to pay for my cholesterol meds or my bypass surgery. Anyhoo...I found a nutritionist on the Blue Cross website (ironic, huh?) and set up an appointment for last week. I kept a food log for two weeks and nervously handed it over.

She hmm'ed a few times, pointed out that I had eaten "real" ice cream (I beg to differ...a vanilla cone from Old McDonald's is not "real" ice cream), and said that I don't eat enough fruit, but for the most part she was happy with the changes I've already made. We agreed to do a little tweaking and review the log again in 3 weeks. She gave me a few good suggestions:

1) Since I cut butter out of my life, I rarely eat the bagel I used to slather it on every morning, so I usually have cereal for breakfast. To increase my fruit intake, she told me to put a cup(!) of berries or other fruit in the bowl with the cereal and I would end up eating less cereal. When I asked about the rule of thumb for a good cereal she said that I should find one that doesn't have sugar (or cane syrup, brown sugar, or corn syrup) listed in the first 5 ingredients. If you think it's easy to find a decent-tasting cereal that doesn't list sugar in the first 5 ingredients, I dare you to head to Stop & Shop. I think I found 4 out of the 15 boxes I checked, and I didn't look at anything that had crunchberries, marshmallow shapes, rainbow colors, or frosting.

2) I really like eggs, but since they're high in fat I figured they'd be off the list. The nutritionist told me that if I eat the ones that say "High in Omega 3", I can have 4 or 5 per week. I was suspicious about the value of eggs from chickens who roam around eating grass but apparently happy chickens lay more nutritious eggs. They're 50 cents per dozen more at BJ's. Done! Another good tip she gave me is to use one egg and an unlimited amount of egg whites to make an omelet. I made a huge mushroom omelet tonight with one egg and a container of egg whites from the refrigerator case. It was great!

3) I heard Doctor Oz tell Oprah's millions of viewers to eat nuts every day, so I asked the nutritionist about them. She told me to stick with walnuts or almonds, and that a serving is what I can grab with my palm facing down, not what I can pour into my scoop or gather in my apron.

4) She suggested yogurt as a midmorning snack, but I was hesitant since I don't usually have a midmorning snack. She said it would help me make better choices at lunchtime. That makes sense.

5) Cheese is tough one because I really like it. She said to try to the reduced fat varieties, so I bought some and I think they're fine. I already drink skim milk, eat low-fat yogurt, and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, so I'm getting my calcium without the fat.

6) On the way out of her office she reminded me to increase my cardio. I do well with specific goals so I asked what she wanted to see. Five times per week - at least 10 minutes per day. What?! I can get that just rasslin' the kids into their car seats. Done!

So...is it working? I have lost 15-17 pounds since January 1st, and I don't think I'll be as likely to regain the weight since I'm not "on a diet". Is it possible that all I had to do was make a few substitutions? I guess time will tell. If you need some substitution ideas, just try the book I consider my Substitution Bible - Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko. I guarantee you'll be surprised.

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