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Whole Food Cooking Part I: Hunt, Gather, & Save 10

Whole Food Cooking Part I: Hunt, Gather, & Save

Those of you who are Function 5 Fitness members know that nutrition is a big part of what we do. We believe that it’s the most important pillar of all aspects of fitness and health, because without good nutrition you have no foundation to build on.

Nutrition is really very simple. We like to call it real food. That’s right - real, not that packaged food bar in you’ve had in your glove compartment for 2 weeks now that has a list of things you can’t pronounce on the label.

You may have heard the term “Paleo” to describe how we eat, which means a diet based on the way our Paleolithic ancestors ate. To me though, it just means real food: meat, fish poultry, eggs, veggies, fruit and some nuts – just the way nature intended them to be.

I want to help you all live healthy lives and much of that starts in the kitchen. If you are not much of a cook that’s okay, let’s break this down into steps. First, you’ll need to hunt and gather your food a.k.a. shopping.

One of the main complaints that clients make when switching to a real food diet is that it costs them more money than they’re used to. But eating healthy can be inexpensive and is very worth it. Think of your grocery bill as an investment in your health, a retirement plan that is going to make sure you live a vibrant, strong life well into your 80’s and beyond. Getting cancer is expensive, open heart surgery is expensive, that grass-fed steak and some organic broccoli are not that expensive when you look at the big picture.

Here are 10 ways, to Hunt, Gather and $ave!

Know your Dirty Dozen - These are 12 fruits and veggies that are loaded with chemicals and pesticides. Try to buy these organic when possible to avoid nasty chemicals. This leaves tons of produce that doesn’t have to be bought organically, but if you can that’s good too.

Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes (Imported)
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

Be a planner. Make a list and stay within a set budget. This is a good way to dodge buying unwanted items that may go bad before they get eaten. If you are like me that chocolate chip trail mix at the end of the counter always seems like a good idea at the time. But if you have a list you are more prepared to turn it down.

Here are some staples that are always on my list are:

Ground beef, frozen fish, steaks, eggs, a variety of veggies, sweet potatoes, coconut oil, natural sausages, natural turkey breast slices, olive oil, avocados, garlic and onions (easy flavor for stir-fries) grab and go fruits like apples, oranges, pear and bananas, almond or sun flower butter.

Freeze it! Always have frozen fish, poultry and meat in the fridge – and remember to defrost it the day before you want it to cook. Produce you need to plan to buy fresh twice a week, but you can get some frozen items. Fresh is better, but I’d rather see you eat veggies than none at all. So if buying frozen veggies helps you eat them, go for it.

Where Smart Modern Peeps go to Hunt and Gather:

Here is a list of places you can go and what to expect:

Trader Joes: Great for wild caught frozen fish (just read labels), grass-fed ground beef, organic nuts, organic olive oil, some organic produce and the delicious organic 85% chocolate.

Whole Foods: Good for those hard to find items: coconut oil, coconut milk, pastured eggs and poultry, any organic produce you can’t find at Trader Joes.

Famers Markets: Get to know your local organic farmers, ask questions – and even go late to barter for the real deals ;)

USWellnessMeats.Com - The best online store for grass-fed meat – they ship it to you fresh frozen, it’s easy, convenient and delicious!

Stay tuned for next month when I go over cooking tips, until then feel free to use this easy method that The Paleo Solution Author Robb Wolf recommends and me and the F5 peeps use all the time:

Put some oil in a pan. (coconut oil is best)
Brown some meat in that oil for a minute
If you are using a hearty herb/spice like ginger, add it before the meat, if it’s delicate like basil, add it when the dish is almost done.
Add veggies – your choice!
Stir it a time or two, cover and set a timer for 5-10 min.
If it’s done, eat! If not, set a timer again.

Hey, now wasn’t that simple???

You’re welcome. ;)

- Natalie Morgan & Roxy Richardson

3 October 2011 ·

The “dirty dozen” - organics you must buy

Many of my clients complain that it’s expensive to buy organic foods. A good compromise is to buy organics of the 12 worst foods, the most heavily laden with pesticides, aka the “dirty dozen”.

The Dirty Dozen (in order from most pesticide-ridden):
1. Peach
2. Apple
3. Bell pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (imported)
11. Carrot
12. Pear

While it is always better to support organic local farmers, if you are concerned about costs there are some commercial foods that are less soaked in pesicides than others. They are called the clean 15.

The Clean 15 (in order from least pesticide-ridden)
1. Onion
2. Avocado
3. Sweet corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet peas
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Papaya
12. Watermelon
13. Broccoli
14. Tomato
15. Sweet potato

Please print this list and stick it on your fridge. Like gadgets? You can download the dirty dozen iphone app here: http://www.foodnews.org/

9 March 2010 ·

Why you can’t afford not to eat healthy. 2

Why you can’t afford not to eat healthy.

People often tell me that buying & preparing healthy food is expensive, time consuming & generally takes too much effort. Sure it costs a little extra at the checkout & does require some meal planning, but overall it is exponentially cheaper than the price of a heat attack, diabetes or cancer.

Let’s do the math…

The Department of Labor estimates that the average American family of four spends $8,513 per year on groceries. That averages out to $709 per month. Let’s over estimate the coast of “eating healthy” let’s say you buy many more organic fruits, veggies and grass fed meats and your grocery bill doubles (it would not double, but let’s just say for this exercise that it did). While we are at it let’s add in another $600 a month for a family gym membership and fitness related classes/apparel (dance, martial arts, personal trainers, gymnastics, swimming, etc) stuff that gets your body moving and your mind focused.

Okay, so now we are at $2,000 a month for food, fitness and health. Quite a jump you say? Okay, so you make some sacrifices. You get a less expensive car, or maybe even ride the bus (better for you anyway). You don’t get to splurge on lavish vacations or get dinners out 3 times a week. Over $15,000 might seem like a lot more to spend a year for fitness and health, but it’s a small sacrifice when you look at the alternative.

What is the alternative? Well, the average cost of maintaining type 2 diabetes is $331 a month with emergency care estimated at $6,000-$11,000 per incident. That may not seem incredibly daunting, but then look at American’s number one killer: heart disease. The average cost of a heart attack was estimated at $54,400 in 2007. Not to mention time away from work, strain on the family etc.

But the real burden is with a cancer diagnosis/treatment. There were 1,479,350 new cancer cases in the US in 2009 according to the American Cancer society. Depending on the type of cancer you have MONTHLY cost for cancer treatment can be as high as $300,000. No, I did not add an extra zero or two by mistake. But even if we estimate a cancer diagnosis and treatment conservatively at $75,000 (a modest amount for breast cancer treatment WITH health insurance). That figure is still $60,000 dollars less than what you might pay extra per year for eating healthier and working out. Not to mention that your overall quality of life will improve with more energy and a better outlook on life derived from a healthy lifestyle.

Take just a second to think about how a debt of $50,000-$300,000 would affect you and your family. Think about how disease would affect your daily life and the lives of your loved ones. Then think about the price difference between a liter of coconut water and a liter of Coke…the price difference between a box of Rice Crispies and a dozen cage free organic eggs and a bag of organic apples. The price different between a personal trainer and a couple bar tabs. It doesn’t seem like that much anymore does it?

Thinking you are the exception is a mistake. Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, many forms of cancer and a dozen other diseases can all be avoided by a healthy diet and exercise. We ARE what we EAT. I can’t say it enough. Eat less sugar and grains, especially refined grains. Eat more organic veggies and fruits, consume grass fed meats and cage free eggs, buy local produce, stay away from fast food. Move around daily, get a little sun and take an interest in your health. You can’t afford not to.

17 February 2010 ·