the breakfast challenge

I have always heard you have to eat breakfast. If you want to lose weight start by eating breakfast. Well what if you don’t like to eat breakfast? Is Coffee breakfast? Does breakfast exist at 12:30? If answered the former questions with a yes then you are like me and don’t like to eat in the morning.

Sorry that’s not true if I woke up every morning when I would like around10 (when in reality my daughter wakes me up at 6) and could order room service, then yes I would probably eat. But since this is a dream of a dream, I run around in the morning getting the kids out and me to work with no breakfast.

But the breakfast problem still bothered me. After doing alittle research I came upon this article, which peaked my interest:

“When you skip breakfast, your metabolic rate slows down and your blood sugar drops. As a result, you become hungry and have less energy. This sets you up to impulsively snack in the morning - often on high-fat sweets - or to eat extra servings or bigger portions at lunch or dinner.

When you eat breakfast, your body feels nourished and satisfied, making you less likely to overeat the rest of the day.

Eating breakfast every day may reduce the risk for obesity and insulin resistance syndrome - an early sign of developing diabetes - by as much as 35 to 50 percent, according to a study presented at a recent American Heart Association conference.”

Interesting stuff huh. Since beginning this blog I have been reading a lot about metabolic rate and how its affects my health and ability to lose weight. I still don’t understand it completely, but my father who happens to be a register nurse specializing in diabetes explained it to me as such.

Your body is like a steam engine that we constantly need to feed with energy. Feeding the engine too much or too little with put the fire out. A constant stream of slow burning fuel will feed the engine and keep us going all day while burning calories.

So now the question is what is for breakfast? Because if I am willing to sweat my braining out on the treadmill and swear away junk food, well I think I can make a little room in my life for breakfast.

After doing a little more research (gosh never knew eating well would need so much information) that whole rain cereals are one of the best choices for breakfast, in addition to being cheap and easy. So my husband and I have been eating oatmeal everyday for the last week. I have been losing weight but not more so than usual. But with anything new ill keep at it and make a judgment only after six weeks.

Here is our recipe for whole meal oatmeal:

Serves 2

Take 11/2 cup of raw whole oats (not processed or rolled)

Toast them in a small pot until you can smell them, add equal amounts of boiling water and a tsp of kosher salt. Cook on low until water is gone. Serve with wheat germ, plain yogurt, or fruit

We find it easy and simply and darn tasty (although I still think coffee is better)

Fast of 17 of Tammuz

Judaism really does have a love/hate relationship with food. When we celebrate its always with food, and when we mourn its always with lack of food.

On the 17 of tammuz the Romans surrounded Jerusalem and layed siege to the city for over a year. Starving the Jews turned to eating anything they could find including dead bodies. It was a sad time in the history of the Jewish people and begins the process that exiled our people until this day. To commemorate this event and the start of the three weeks of mourning, we fast.

From sunrise to sunset we do not eat or drink. We focus on something greater than ourselves. I must state here fasting is not a healthy nor reccomnede menthod of dieting. But fast are built in to the jewish year (we have five) and I believe they are important not to loose a few pounds but to gain a better insight into food and ourselves.

Fasting is a way of detaching our physical selves from the spiritual. By fasting I am saying I choose when I eat, and what I eat, and I am greater than the food I eat. I the last few week of my diet journey I have begun to examine my relationship with food more and more closely. I definitely do not have healthy attitude toward food. I would venture to say I live to eat instead of eating to live.

And I am going to make this fast an addition to my food relationship. Sometimes, we need to not focus on ourselves but others and in doing so we become better people. When I over eat I am thinking about others and their plight no I am thinking about myself. If I thought about other before myself would I probably eat less. So I am going to take this fasting as an opportunity to better myself by focusing on others and hopefully gain a bit more clarity.

If you would like to know more about 17 of tammuz here are some links below

http://www.aish.com/h/9av/oal/48943446.html

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/3weeks/insights/article_cdo/aid/144771/jewish/Insights.htm

The Problem Of Sundays

I hate Sundays. Why? because its after shabbos. As a religious Jew I observe the day of rest as carefully as possible, which is a wonderful relief from the go go action of the week. Its one of the few time a week I can just chill out with my family, take pleasure walks and not feel rushed. The problem is that it is religiously mandated to eat at least three meals. Halachically what constitutes a meal is ritually washing hands and eating bread. But shabbos meals have gone far far beyond that simple definition into the realms of gorge fests.

All week long I am denying my self the wonderful things and then shabbos comes along and all inhibitions go out the window. Cake, cookies, sweets, meat, soda, you name it is on the table. Now because I am committed to losing weight and being a healthier person I have begun transforming my shabbos meals into healthier options. For example I always have two vegetable options that are low fat, so I eat my meal but make sure that at least half my plate is filled with veggies. I stay away from potatoes making brown rice instead. And we don’t fry anything, eventhough I dream of snitzel.

Yet Sundays are still the problem despite my changes I still know I am over eating, which means Sunday when I go back to measuring my food and no junk is all around a sucky day. I don’t want to limit myself on shabbos yet, its still my release day. But I know that I need to do something because Sundays are unbearable.

Hopefully I will grow into my healthy lifestyle to enjoy special food on shabbos and not overindulge. Like have one cookie and that’s it.

I am just going to keep trying until I get it right

in the beginning

Its time to say goodbye to food. Well maybe not all food just the good stuff, no i take that back too, just the ooey gooey stuff that makes your heart melt. Basically anything that has fat, sugar and salt, did I mentioned deep fried.

My relationship with food sucks, not that we don't engage, its that we engage too much. I have known for a while now that I have an obsession with food. I don't know what to do with that piece of information.

So I decided to write a blog about it. Because if I am going to be obsessed I might as a well be obsessed with healthy food and healthy living rather than those brownie recipes.

So here is my blog on everything about healthy eating and living

enjoy

Dena