Eating & Food Choices

One.  For me, the most important thing when it comes to food is that it tastes good.  I love guilty pleasure food just as much as I love healthy food as long as it is of good quality and it tastes good.  Until I met my boyfriend, I thought it was pretty hard to eat healthy and still have it taste great.  But he has shown me that by substituting simple ingredients I can turn not so healthy dishes into healthy ones.  For example, instead of butter or margarine, use a small amount of vegetable oil or a flavored oil.  Or instead of salt, use garlic.  Or instead of fried chicken, throw some spices on raw chicken and grill it.  Also, I've learned that soy ice cream actually does not taste that far off from actual ice cream and it's much healthier for you.  Obviously, there are some things you just have to give into, like raw cookie dough and chips and dip, but I've learned in moderation, it's not THAT bad for you.

I'm willing to compromise on eating smaller and healthy/healthier breakfasts and lunches so that I can jump into dinner without any, or as much, guilt and without jeopardizing a healthy diet too much either.  Dinner is by far my favorite meal of the day so I'm always willing to sacrifice unhealthy breakfasts and lunches if it means I can eat what I want for dinner.

Two.

a.  I have a very fast metabolism and always have while growing up.  This allows me to eat and drink almost anything I want without seeing any weight gain or physical results.  I've been very lucky to be given such a high metabolism but it has also made me naive to healthy eating and just how hard some people do have to struggle with their weight.  With that said, my boyfriend has struggled with weight gain since before I've known him.  He had gained a lot of weight in college and ended up getting Gastric Bypass Surgery.  I met him at his lowest weight as a result of the surgery and in the first couple years of our relationship I was a TERRIBLE influence on his eating habits.  So he began gaining weight again.  At a certain point it hit us and we realized that he needed to start dieting and exercising.  When you are in a family or relationship and you want what is best for the person you love, you begin to make sacrifices.  So I decided that just because I didn't LOOK like I ate like a 300 lb fat man, doesn't mean my insides weren't getting angry with me.  So I began to eat healthier along with him and also began to exercise to tone rather than to lose weight.

b.  When my boyfriend and I shop for food together we are usually only shopping for one or two meals at a time and we generally shop at Whole Foods.  It generally takes us about 30 minutes, maybe less depending on how extensive the meal is that we are preparing.  At Whole Foods, it never really occurs to us to use coupons or to try to find coupons.

However, when I shop alone I tend to go to Jewel and buy more of the things we need over long term.  For example, the first few months of working at my full time job I began packing lunches with a sandwich, small amount of chips, string cheese, pudding, etc. Very 5th grade of me, I know. :)  So I would go to the deli section of Jewel and get enough bread, meat and cheese to last me a week or two.  I definitely use coupons at Jewel, and I'll just choose the deli meat that is on sale rather than stick with one specific brand all the time.  Really, that tends to go for any brand... for example, if one brand of butter is on sale, I'll choose that brand just because it's on sale.  I suppose the only REAL brands I actually care to stick with are foods that are prepared a certain way.  For example, I prefer Tostitos salsa, on sale, or not on sale because it has the perfect amount of 'sauce' and 'chunky ingredients'.  But with generic food items like olives, pickles, milk, butter, etc., I really have no loyalties.  I do, however, prefer organic eggs, but I have no specific brand of organic eggs I stick to.  I'd say I spend about 30 minutes to an hour when I'm shopping on my own for bulk items.

Three.  A few years ago I was a Senior in college, then I immediately moved and was new to living in the actual city of Chicago.  I was very into convenience over health and quality back then and stocked my cabinets with Kraft Mac n Cheese, Ramen Noodles, and processed sweets.  My freezer would be stocked to the brim with frozen pizzas, TV Dinners, and ice cream.  And my refrigerator would have pickles, milk, butter and the occasional left overs.  Now, I am definitely trying to eat less TV Dinners and Frozen Pizza for dinner, now making meals that contain a meat, vegetable, and carb, and I have switched my lunches from the full throttled heart-attack-in-a-box Stouffers frozen dinners to Lean Cuisines and sandwiches.  I also never used to eat breakfast every morning simply because I valued sleep over breakfast.  However, now every morning I have a cup of Cheerios and 1% low-fat milk (of which I recently switched from 2%).  I'm also trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and I currently take fish oil pills and vitamin D+C pills every day.

These changes came about for a number of reasons.  I started dating my boyfriend shortly after moving to the city and he opened my eyes to the world of lamb chops, oysters, and eating healthy while still eating delicious foods.  He taught me how to cook and showed me that pasta in vegetable oils with zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and tomatoes actually do taste better and are way healthier for you than Ramen noodles.  I also began to eat healthier in order to support my boyfriend in dieting and exercising.  Finally, when my doctor told me I was bordering on high cholesterol, I was definitely, more than ever, interested in giving myself a healthier diet and lifestyle.  I also started eating Honey Nut Cheerios because of the fact they advertise it can help lower cholesterol.  Plus, eating breakfast every morning helps boost your metabolism.  

So, I suppose I am trying to accomplish a number of things through these changes:

• Helping support my boyfriend leading a healthy lifestyle
• Lowering my cholesterol
• Being overall healthier
• Maintaining my high metabolism.

Four.   
a.  Monday through Friday my breakfast and lunch eating habits are pretty monotonous.  

Honey Nut Cheerios w/1% Milk

Every morning I eat a cup of Cheerios with 1% milk (of which I do not drink all the milk, I just simply have it in there to accompany the cereal... generally I do not like the taste of milk by itself) because it is cheap and also because I am hoping it will help lower my cholesterol. The only exception would be every other Friday our company has 'bagel day,' which I then eat a 'Good Grains' bagel with reduced fat plain cream cheese (both from Einstein's).  (The Bagel Pictured below is one pulled from the internet.  I do not normally have Lox and Capers on the bagel.)

'Good Grains' Bagel from Einstein's

For lunch I generally eat some 'flavor' of Lean Cuisine. Today's choice is Apple Cranberry Chicken (grilled white meat chicken in an apple reduction with cranberries, french cut green beans, and whole wheat orzo pasta... fancy, I know).  On the few days I do not eat a Lean Cuisine, it's usually because I have some sort of leftovers from dinner made at home or dinner at a restaurant.

Apple Cranberry Chicken Lean Cuisine

As depressing as it sounds, I almost always eat breakfast and lunch by myself in front of my computer.  Oh the joys of cubicle life. On very rare occasions I will leave the office and meet my boyfriend for lunch at a nearby restaurant.

During the week, my dinner generally revolves around if Dan is coming home in time for dinner or not.  If I'm eating by myself I'll generally whip up some whole grain pasta (sometimes with tomato/marinara sauce, sometimes with oil) so that I have leftovers for lunch the next day at work.  Also, this way Dan will have some to easily reheat when he gets home.  If I don't feel like pasta, I will succumb to my old ways of a Frozen Pizza (of which I usually canned black olives and canned mushrooms) or ordering take-out/delivery from my favorite Chinese place (Young's Chinese Food - sesame chicken with fried rice) or Mexican place (El Burrito Mexicana - a ground beef burrito).  If Dan is home in time for dinner, he or I will either find something to make with whatever is in the house or go to Whole Foods and get something to cook.  Altho, there are times when he's had a long, hard day in the kitchen at work, and he too just feels like ordering in.

Whole Grain Pasta

Snacks tend to vary depending on my mood. But the snacks I most frequent are Chewy Spree candy, Smoked/Roasted Almonds, or Butter Lovers Microwave Popcorn.  My boss also sometimes picks up small desserts from Starbucks for me.  Lately its either a Red Velvet Whoopie Pie or a Birthday Cake Pop.

Starbucks' Birthday Cake Pop

b. I tend to eat much unhealthier and much more random over the weekends.  I usually skip breakfast every Saturday and Sunday morning because I either sleep until lunch time or I wake up and start immediately doing chores until I realize it's lunch time. 

Usually, lunch just depends on what I have lying around the house or if I want to meet a friend for lunch at a restaurant somewhere.  I'm not very consistent on the weekends.  However, I can say I am a big fan of mushrooms, goat cheese, truffles/truffle oil, all seafood except cooked fish, angel hair pasta, fried calamari, creamy soups, and I'm sure much more I'm not thinking of.  So chances are if there is something on the menu with those ingredients, I'm all in!

However, Dan and I have been known to get sushi at our favorite Sushi place called Toro for lunch on Saturdays quite frequently. When we do go there, I usually order a miso soup, a small salad with ginger dressing, a California crunch roll (generally 8 pieces), 3 pieces of raw Salmon (mmm, my favorite), 3 pieces of raw Yellowtail, a Yellowtail hand roll, 2 pieces of raw Salmon over rice, 2 pieces of raw Tuna over rice, and two pieces of Super White Tuna over rice.  I usually dip these in soy sauce, but do not eat the wasabi or ginger that comes on the side.

Salmon (Sake) sushi at Toro

Just as with lunch, my dinners during the weekends are totally random.  If I stay in my house Saturday and Sunday night I usually just try to find whatever is in my house.  Especially on Saturday's because Dan generally has to work late.  However, if I am planning on going out for the evening, I almost always eat out somewhere on my way to wherever I'm going, or meet up with the friends I'm going out with for dinner beforehand.

No matter which day of the week, Dinner is the meal that has the most variety and I really do not have a specific regimen of what I eat.  If we feel like going out to eat, we pick the cuisine we feel like, then go.  If we feel like staying in and not cooking, we again, pick the type of cuisine we want and order in.  If we feel like cooking with whatever is around the house, we just use whatever is around the house (and when you live with a chef, sometimes it can be very random).  If we feel like going shopping for food to cook, the real only constant we stick to is that we shop at Whole Foods for the produce and meats/fish/poultry.

Five.  A successful meal for me would revolve around dinner since it is my favorite meal of the day.  It would be nutritionally healthy and also be absolutely delicious.  I would say more often then not my meals are not 'successful' as they often revolve around take-out, frozen pizzas, and/or pasta.  Instead, I wish I could have a well balanced, delicious, hearty, and healthy meal.  Preferably with a creative salad, a meat, a vegetable, and either a potato or some sort of bread with a unique spread (truffle oil?).  Dan would be the one preparing it since he is such a good chef, and I would clean up the mess.  We would be able to sit down at the table together and actually have a quality time meal, instead of eating by ourselves or sitting on the couch while eating take out and watching TV.  I'd say we achieve 'success' 1-3 times per month.  Most often it's because of conflicting dinner time work schedules or just being too tired to cook.