When Iron Will Crumbles

I vowed to do it for a month. It wouldn’t be that bad really. What was a month? Only four short weeks. I have an iron will and I was up for the challenge. Gluten, that stubborn protein that’s in just about everything that we eat from breakfast cereals to granola bars, is the cause of discomfort for many people. And I suspected that I might have been one of them. I decided to do my own experiment to see. Despite my husband’s skepticism, I set my mind to the task ahead. The first week went relatively easy. I mean, almond butter and banana isn’t as satisfying as an almond butter and banana sandwich, but it sufficed. And Ezekiel gluten free English muffins are a decent substitute for the typical sprouted variety I usually enjoy. There was that accidental slip up with the granola bar…and then there was the soy sauce, but all in all, I survived week one. Week two went without a hitch and gluten was gone from my diet. I missed my whole grain cookies, but dark chocolate was enough. Then came week three.

The smell of the pizza was tantalizing and I think big droplets of drool fell and hit the table with a big splat as I sat, wide eyed and large gaping mouth. I told you that I had an iron will. With fierce determination, I wiped the spittle with the back of my hand and looked the other way as my family devoured the steaming, cheesy pizza on multi grain crust. I ordered a personal gluten free instead. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but the toppings were mostly organic and I left feeling strong and virtuous.

One in 133 Americans has celiac disease. It’s a staggering number that seems to be growing by the day. I have to clarify that my goal was really not to eliminate the gluten as much as it was to eliminate the wheat. Many functional medicine doctors believe that, in an effort to create high yield crops, modern day wheat has been transformed into a shorter “dwarf wheat” labeled by many authorities as “Frankenwheat”. This cross bred, hybridized variety of wheat is believed by many to be quick digesting, addictive and highly inflammatory. Other well respected physicians and nutrition authorities believe that if you are not gluten sensitive or intolerant, whole wheat can be a part of a healthy diet. To reiterate, a wheat free diet is very different than a gluten free diet and my experiment was really a very lax one at best.

Going gluten free means avoiding all foods containing wheat, oats, barley and rye and carefully scrutinizing labels for hidden gluten that can hide in cold cuts, soups, candies and soy sauce. Ingredients such as starch, modified food starch, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), texturized vegetable protein (TVP), binders, fillers, excipients, extenders, malt and natural flavorings should all wave a red flag in the face of those with a gluten intolerance. Going wheat free means avoiding wheat and all products containing wheat – and there are a lot of them. Being gluten free, or even wheat free for that matter, is not impossible, but it is no easy task. And yet, I weathered on in the face of my wheat eating family. I was strong. I was stubborn. I was unshakeable. Until my husband brought home a tray of Crumbs cupcakes and my iron will shattered and crumbled into a million tiny pieces.

I stood in a state of shock staring at the fudgey, chocolatey goodness that lay within my reach. Trans fat? Who cares. Enough sugar to fuel a rocket ship? Pee shaw. No hidden avocado or chia seeds? I didn’t care. I wanted them. I wanted them right then and there. I ate dinner quickly debating in my head the advantage of waiting out my experiment versus throwing in the towel a week early. And then angels sang as dinner ended and I bit into the oversized, decadent treat that was the Crumbs cupcake. And so, my iron will crumbling to the floor in front of me, I was reminded of an essential lesson. It’s important to eat clean most of the time, but it’s impossible, for most, to eat like that all of the time. I talk with clients all the time who feel guilt ridden misery over what they consider their “food transgressions”. Guilt and misery have no place in relation to food. The goal to long term clean eating is to find the balance that will allow you to eat healthy the majority of the time. Finding that balance takes some trial and error, but will eventually become an automatic, guilt free way of life. I give a strong round of supportive applause to those with a true gluten intolerance or strong sensitivity to gluten that can not succumb to their cravings and immediate gratification the way I did. Greater awareness will hopefully bring about more variety and choices for those who suffer with difficult food restrictions. More information on gluten intolerance, sensitivity and gluten free foods can be found at The Celiac Disease Foundation (www.celiac.org) and the Celiac Sprue Association (www.csaceliacs.org).

My short three week experiment showed me that the total elimination of wheat had little effect on me. While my will may not be as iron clad as I believed and my trial not as long or extensive as needed to yield reliable results, I decided, for now at least, to pitch my flag in the camp that believes whole grain wheat products have a place, for those without intolerances, in a healthy diet. I pitch this flag in one hand with a luscious Crumbs cupcake in the other.

Happy and healthy indulgences,
Adina Kelman

Fire in the Kitchen

I am obsessed with chili. I don’t know why. I think it stems from my initial hatred of cooking. Yes. I started out hating to cook. When my husband and I were first married, he did all the cooking. I was still heavily into healthy eating, but found that I could do that with minimal effort. I wasn’t one of those people who got bored eating the same thing over and over again and I liked bland food. It was easy.
And then my husband came into my life. He liked variety and spice. And hot meals. A veggie omelette didn’t count as dinner. And so I started to cook – occasionally. He still did the majority of the cooking, which was a good thing, because every time I tried to make something, a fire, a fight, or both always ensued.
I’m not sure why the vegetarian lentil soup caused so much smoke, but my husband walked into our first apartment together and it was filled with eye tearing smoke. Entering the kitchen, waving the smoke away with his hands, he asked me what I was doing. I said “cooking” as though it was the most completely obvious fact. He asked what was I was making and then asked a question that, unknown to me at the time, would be asked many, many times throughout our marriage: “did you stir it?”.
I hate this question. It causes the same knee jerk, fiery reaction now as it did then. If you don’t see smoke, I stirred. If you do see smoke, I didn’t. I feel that this is obvious and should eliminate the need to ask, yet my husband sees it differently.
The next catastrophe happened when I tried to make a vegetarian black bean lasagna. This following scene formed the beginning of the “did you follow the directions” speech that still continues today. Again, he came home and asked what I was making. When I told him, he, not suspecting the tirade that would follow, told me that the lasagna he knew had layers. I guess my insecurity in the kitchen led to the fight and us not talking for the entire night. These scenes were not uncommon in our early days of marriage. I look back on it now and laugh, but then, it did affect the way I saw myself as a cook. It really wasn’t until we had children and my husband’s work schedule dramatically increased, that I was forced to cook to keep those little ones healthy, thriving and well…alive.
So, how does this relate to chili? It is connected because chili is so, so easy. It’s healthy and all you need is one pot! Plus, you can sneak a lot of super healthy things in there to boost immunity and well being without anyone knowing or questioning. The cold winter months are a great time to experiment with different chili recipes that will warm the body and provide a great source of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

One of my favorite chili recipes is a sweet potato chili.

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and diced*
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves*
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
sea salt to taste
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 – 3 cups vegetable broth
Optional toppings: avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream

Directions:
In a large pot, sauté chopped onion, pepper, and sweet potatoes in olive oil until onion softens. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano and cayenne and sauté for an additional minute. Add tomatoes, beans and broth and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender (about 30 minutes). Taste and adjust accordingly, adding sea salt if desired. On very busy or lazy nights, I choose to serve this over Trader Joe’s 3 minute microwaveable brown rice, red rice, black barley combo. I take it out of the plastic bag and nuke it in a glass bowl. Other nights, I serve it over quinoa, but any whole grain will do.

* during this time of year, you can get the sweet potatoes in a bag from Trader Joe’s already peeled and diced. Additionally, I, for some reason, hate peeling and chopping fresh garlic. I use the minced garlic from Trader Joe’s. I also try to buy organic as much as possible. Each time you make this, you might vary the recipe depending on what you have on hand. My point is, use what’s healthy and convenient. Find your own balance.

My recipes and cooking can be called template cooking because I use the recipe as a guide, adjusting it according to my own personal tastes. It is particularly easy to do this with a chili recipe. Adjust the amount of spices you use. I like to add Maine Coast Seasoning kelp with cayenne granules. (This is the sneak-the-super-healthy-ingredients-in part) In fact, almost any sea vegetable will do here and no one will be the wiser. Sea vegetables not only add nutrients, but may aid in the digestion of the meal. Throw in a different color or type of vegetable – yellow peppers, zucchini, or chopped carrots. It is very hard to mess up chili. That’s probably why I like it so much because – my husband is right – I have a difficult time following a recipe. Healthy cooking should be, of course, healthy, but it should also be convenient, quick, and tasty. When I let go of my insecurity and embraced this type of cooking, I really began to enjoy the process. It’s not about being perfect or making a dish that can be on the cover of a magazine. It’s about enjoying the food that you are cooking in a way that suits your preferences and style. It’s about not being scared to make a mistake. It’s about finding the balance that works for you.
Happy, balanced cooking
Adina Kelman
Holistic Health Coach
www.alifeinbalance.co

Who am I to question Albert Einstein

There is a quote by Albert Einstein that reads “”Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Who am I to argue with Albert Einstein? I do believe in what he is saying, absolutely, but there is a time, in order to create balance, that we need to stop moving, reflect, accept, and just be.

A couple of years ago, I suffered from my first running injury. It was my own, over enthusiastic fault. It was right after my first half marathon and I felt like I could conquer the world. So, I did what many newbie runners do. I didn’t rest and I overtrained. Perfect ingredients for an injury.

I limped into Dr. Marc’s office. He felt around a bit, asked some questions, took some x-rays, and then asked the final and fatal question: “So…how long can you give me?”
Hmmm? I was confused.
“How long?”, he repeated. “How long can you stay off that foot?”, seeing that some clarification was necessary.
I guess I still looked puzzled.
“You know, NOT RUN?” Dr. Marc was losing his patience.
I was silent. He sensed my fear. “You can always bike”, he suggested sympathetically.
BIKE??!!! BIKE??!!!
No offense to all the bikers out there, but if you love running, it’s simply not the same thing.
I told him that I thought that I could still run. He explained that I couldn’t walk, so running wasn’t an option. O.K…he had a point. He was a doctor with a white coat and degrees hanging on the wall…..

“A week”, I said feeling pretty damn logical. He kind of raised his eyebrow, smirked, and said “Three.”

“Two”, I counter-bargained.

“Three!” he said and I hobbled out the door.

When my husband got home, I asked him to dust off my bike and fill the tires. The next day I set out for my ride. Later that evening, my supportive, better half asked me how my bike ride went. I said, “Great!”

“Really?..Well, that’s fantastic!”, my husband said relieved that I had found something to fill the void of not running and obsessing about not running.

“Yup! It was awesome. I rode for two hours!”, I said triumphantly. Complete dead silence.

My husband stared deep into my eyes and after almost 20 years of marriage, he looked at me with what I can only describe as a look of complete awe and disgust all rolled into one as he asked “Adina, can’t you do anything in moderation?!”

Well…I never considered that before.
And so began my steps toward a life in balance. It’s a challenge for me. It makes me sympathetic to my clients who struggle to create their own sense of balance in their daily, crazy, hectic lives of family, friends, work, and play.

You don’t need to run marathons or eat the perfect diet to be healthy, but you do need to create a sense of balance. So yes, Mr. Einstein, you are right. We need to keep moving forward and growing, but sometimes balance is about standing still.