Hey everyone! I'm still here, but haven't posted in quite a while - the last few weeks have been so busy and my DS just started preschool ( for him, for me). Training the staff there on how to care for his diabetes has been very time-consuming!
Anyway - I'm still working the whole/superfoods lifestyle, and loving it I'm working hard on breaking my scale habit, but a quick peek yesterday revealed that I lost 6 pounds in the last 5 weeks, so yay!! I'm really loving how good I feel, and the extra energy is a nice side effect too.
What I've been thinking about lately are strategies for eating this winter. Where I live, options for seasonal fresh produce are greatly diminished in the fall, and especially winter, months - it's primarily root vegetables and very little in the way of fruit (imported apples and oranges, mostly, which get boring pretty quickly). I know I'm really going to miss all the lovely fresh summer produce, and I'm a little worried that it will be easier to fall into a "rut", so to speak. I did freeze a lot of berries this summer, but at the rate I go through them I know they won't last, LOL!! Have any of you thought about how your eating may change once the seasons change?
I'd love to hear your ideas on still getting a lot of variety each day, in the absence of a wide variety of fresh produce (fruit, namely - but just in general the options are much less exciting here in the colder months).
Well, I am sort of dreading the winter. Berries and other fruits are harder to find and I'm wondering if my daily salad will sound as good when it's cold. My plan for replacing the salad is lots of veggie soup. I'm guessing I'll have to learn to love apples and oranges. I don't like frozen berries especially so I guess I'll have to adjust or eat something else. On the other hand, oatmeal should taste really good when it's snowy.
I, too, miss the variety of yummy fresh fruits available in the summer. I love apples, esp. Granny Smith and MacIntosh, and never get bored with them, but I could see how one could "burn out" on them. What about variations on oranges, like clementines and tangelos? What about pears? Pears are a cold weather fruit and there are different varieties. I think can get mangoes year round, too. But most of these don't make my heart sing like nectarines, watermelon, canteloupe, cherries, etc., so I feel your pain!
Dried fruit is an option although it's certainly not the same, in terms of bulk, calories and taste as fresh. I haven't done much with frozen fruit and generally avoid canned, so I can't comment there. If you wanted to spend some $$, you could always buy fresh fruit online but I know I couldn't afford that on a regular basis, so I realize it's probably not practical for most people.
Yup, always a problem, esp for those of us in the north. I too have lots of frozen berries (and rhubarb) but don't like them as well as fresh. I do put them in yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. but they don't cut it on cereal.
Soups are my answer for veggies in the winter, along with stir-fries. I have a basic tomato/bean soup that I make, and also a sort of Asian chicken one. But I agree, it's harder to get excited about salads, and harder to find variety in both fruits and veggies. We'll just have to help each other with new ideas.
I guess I am lucky as we live in Southern California and we seem to always have a bountiful supply of fruits and veggies all year (although the prices do go up in the winter months).
Frozen berries are great to use to make homemade fruit smoothies. Add them to plain yogurt and/or milk and some ice in the blender and you have a great snack or breakfast side. You might even be lucky to find frozen peaches or nectarines (or freeze some right now yourself). They are also good in smoothies (I don't like eating frozen berries myself, either).
My problem with the winter months is I start craving my comfort foods. I make a mean mac and cheese casserole! My kids want it weekly--even now with the heat still above 100 they ask for it! I've switched to low fat condensed soup and fat free milk in the recipe and no one can tell the difference, but the cheese--oh, the cheese, I can't stand the low fat kind. I'll be looking for whole wheat macaroni (hard to find here!) and turkey ham instead of the real ham. Perhaps these changes will make this one comfort food a little less harmful!
Ack, Allison, I love, love, love macaroni and cheese, and I make a killer version if I do say so myself. But it's decidedly NOT low-cal. Sigh. I haven't found ww macaroni either - only shapes I can find is spaghetti (of course), angel hair, penne and rotini. Good, but not elbows!
Good idea about the smoothies. I don't have them often, and I probably should get out my blender and make some for a change of pace....
Hey everyone! I'm still here, but haven't posted in quite a while - the last few weeks have been so busy and my DS just started preschool ( for him, for me). Training the staff there on how to care for his diabetes has been very time-consuming!
Time-consuming, but worth it for them to get it right the FIRST time, than for you to have re-train them! My oldest just began her new school as well as a Kindergardener! So, I can understand being busy with sending our kids to school!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarlove
Anyway - I'm still working the whole/superfoods lifestyle, and loving it I'm working hard on breaking my scale habit, but a quick peek yesterday revealed that I lost 6 pounds in the last 5 weeks, so yay!! I'm really loving how good I feel, and the extra energy is a nice side effect too.
CONGRATS!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarlove
I know I'm really going to miss all the lovely fresh summer produce, and I'm a little worried that it will be easier to fall into a "rut", so to speak.
And here is where I am finding myself now...in a "rut"! Going through my monthly cycle, I am way off right now. I haven't been counting calories for the last few days and I haven't really been keeping track of my SuperFoods either. I just feel bloated, tired, achy and was really craving chocolate ice cream! I miss miss miss my fresh fruit! The straggling strawberries that are left in the market look pale and just awful! No more cherries, pitiful looking grapes...I could just cry! HOWEVER, peaches and nectarines are still looking good and pineapple and pomegranates are plentiful in the market. So, all is not lost, I guess. And frozen fruit and dried fruits from Trader Joe's will be on my shopping lists this winter for sure.
Speaking of whole wheat macaroni noodles, I just bought and tried the Barillo Plus macaroni noodles. I couldn't find whole wheat, but these are full of fiber (4 grams per serving) and taste really good. I was craving some tuna macaroni salad with whole wheat Ritz crackers. Very, very good pasta choice!
Well, enough messing up. I'm looking forward to starting my week off right. I feel so out of balance when I'm not eating the way that I should. I am so thankful that this forum is still going. I can get inspired to just jump right back in whenever I need to! Thanks guys!!! And take care!
Superfood strategies for the winter months?
I'm still here, but haven't posted in quite a while - the last few weeks have been so busy and my DS just started preschool (
for him, 
for me). Training the staff there on how to care for his diabetes has been very time-consuming!
I'm working hard on breaking my scale habit, but a quick peek yesterday revealed that I lost 6 pounds in the last 5 weeks, so yay!! I'm really loving how good I feel, and the extra energy is a nice side effect too.
But it's decidedly NOT low-cal. Sigh. I haven't found ww macaroni either - only shapes I can find is spaghetti (of course), angel hair, penne and rotini. Good, but not elbows! 
