Tag: hemingway

Maybe it’s because I live in New York, but it seems like everyone I know has attempted to do a juice cleanse at least once in the last year. I’ve tried my hand at a couple of them: the Master Cleanse (stay away from this Beyoncé-approved nightmare) and Organic Avenue’s offering (honestly, not that bad if you’re into self-deprivation).

And while the juice cleanse still reigns supreme, a new type of cleanse is becoming increasingly popular: the soup cleanse.

Soup cleansing is very similar to juice cleansing; you can purchase pre-made soups that come with an eating schedule or you can make your own soups at home. If you’re more motivated and a better cook than I am, making your own soups at home is highly cost efficient. There are some great recipes online for simple, healthy, and cleansing soups, and you can mix and match them to your tastes. Aside from saving money, the biggest benefit of a DIY soup cleanse is that you are not stuck slurping down a soup you can barely stand.

Purchasing the pre-made soups from a company that specializes in soup cleanses can be pricey (a one-day supply from Soupure in Los Angeles costs $79), but it is incredibly convenient; in my own dieting experiences, convenience is what keeps me from falling off the wagon. The pre-made options are also designed for maximized nutrition and weight loss potential.

So, what are the benefits of a soup cleanse?

The first real benefit — something that a juice cleanse doesn’t offer–is that you can eat! The hardest part of my juice cleanse experience was not being able to eat. Even if I was getting a sufficient amount of calories into my body, I always felt hungry; soup cleansing really aids with this mental element. Soup cleanses are also hydrating. The average American drinks about 20 ounces of water a day, but we should be drinking closer to 70. A soup cleanse is a wonderful chance to rehydrate your body. Keeping hydrated improves your skin elasticity, muscle efficiency, and memory function.

Soup cleanses also can help you reevaluate your relationship with food. Perhaps you eat every day at the same time, regardless of whether you’re hungry or not. Or maybe you eat too quickly and without paying any attention. A soup cleanse will help you take a closer look at the way and why you eat.

A soup cleanse will also help give your digestive system a break. If you eat a standard American diet, you’re likely eating large amounts of processed foods every day. Processed foods make your digestive system go into overdrive, stressing your intestines and gut flora. A soup cleanse will allow your stomach, gut, and liver to take a well-deserved vacation. A soup cleanse will also ensure that you’re eating nutritionally rich foods like kale, cashew nuts, spinach, and beet greens. Lastly, a soup cleanse can be a great way to shed a few pounds. Remember though, the weight you lose on a soup cleanse is mostly water weight and will return once you begin eating normally. 

So, what are the drawbacks of a soup cleanse?

Well, you’re not really cleansing anything.

If you think that five days of sipping on nothing but bone broth and celery soup will remove mysterious toxins from your body, I have bad news for you. The body detoxes itself naturally; detoxification occurs in the liver, kidneys and intestines. Every day you’re alive, your body is detoxing.

Soup cleansing is also expensive. A one-day soup cleanse will cost you anywhere between $55-80. A single cup of bone broth from Brodo in New York City costs $9.

Soup cleanses may also not offer you enough calories, which will slow down your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight. The weight loss that comes from a soup cleanse is mostly water and muscle weight, not fat loss.

When dieting, you should aim to build long-term lifestyle changes like increasing vegetable and fruit consumption and exercising more. A soup cleanse might help you drop 3-5 pounds before a party, but it won’t help you with any long-term weight loss goals.

A soup cleanse is a great way to get rehydrated and reexamine your relationship with food, but if you’re looking to lose weight or detoxify, skip the soup and hit the gym. Just like juice cleansing, soup cleansing will soon be out of fashion and we’ll be obsessing over one more way to deprive ourselves of what we love in the name health and thinness.

Like most red-blooded Midwestern men, I was raised on a steady diet of meat and cheese. In fact, growing up, I can’t recall a meal that didn’t feature one of these foods and often featured heaping helpings of both.

That’s why I looked at veganism with such skepticism: what the heck do these people eat? Do they just eat dressing free spinach salads for every meal? How does someone live without feasting on the flesh of other animals?

So when my wife suggested we give this a try, it was like she was asking if we wanted to move to the moon or grow a third arm — it wasn’t that it didn’t sound interesting, it just seemed like something that wasn’t possible. Wouldn’t we wither and die without protein?

Being the good husband I am, I did some research and started to get more information about a potentially radical lifestyle shift. And the more research I did, the more it seemed somewhat possible.It turns out, there are a lot of people who choose not to indulge in any foods containing ingredients from animals.

It still seemed insane. But I figured I could do anything for 30 days, right?

The more research we did, the more it seemed like a genuinely exciting opportunity. Instead of being greeted with boring, bland recipes, I was finding new ingredients and interesting combinations that I had never considered, like black beans and butternut squash. Sure, I would miss steaks on the grill, but there was a whole new culinary world suddenly awaiting me.

So my wife and I took the plunge and ultimately decided that we would cut out all animal-based foods from our diet for thirty days. When I told my friends this, they looked at me like I was Bruce Jenner, but I was ready to do this.

I’ve never been a particularly picky eater, so I wasn’t worried about disliking the food itself. But I was worried about suddenly having to develop a whole new diet. Food was suddenly going to be work, and I am inherently lazy.

Like most married, working couples, we have our dinner rotation that we lean on when we’re both busy and don’t want to think about cooking. Things like chicken stroganoff, stuffed shells, and spaghetti and meatballs were just staples that we always picked up without really thinking about it.

This passive eating was something that was about to end, and that was perhaps the biggest change. We were going to become much more active in what we ate and much more aware of the ingredients that we were using.

When you become aware of the meat, cheese, and dairy in your diet, the first thing you notice is just how ubiquitous these food products can be. For instance, going out to eat was a bit of a challenge when the only vegetarian options were pastas covered in cheese or made in cream sauces.

There seems to be an inherent belief that vegetarianism is healthy, but it seemed like these options were actually some of the most calorie-laden dishes on the menu. It became striking to me just how unhealthy our diets can be.

It also struck me just how incomplete meals seem without a protein – specifically, some sort of meat. I’ve never thought of vegetables as the star of the show, they were always the price of admission that my mother made me eat in order to enjoy the main event.

But by removing meat, I was starting to notice that you could do some really interesting things with vegetables and spices that are extremely intriguing to the palette. Far from just some steamed carrots or grilled asparagus, vegetables could actually be quite delicious if prepared correctly. I had never eaten vegetables that weren’t slathered with butter, so often it was like eating these veggies for the first time.

I also found that there were many meat substitutes that can help you bridge the gap and get used to a vegan diet. For instance, a black bean burger can be a great substitute for a burger patty while still giving a person the sensation of eating meat. There’s obviously no perfect substitute for a delicious cheeseburger, but when facing a craving these foods can be a lifesaver.

Likewise, there are many tofu-based meat substitutes that can be purchased at just about every grocery store. There is vegan meatloaf, vegan chorizo, vegan meatballs, even vegan breakfast sausage. These taste almost exactly like meat and can help someone who is having a difficult time transitioning to a plant-based diet get over those cravings for meat.

So we started to give some of these foods a try and found that it wasn’t that much of a loss to remove meat and cheese from our diet. And after about a week or so of doing this, we noticed that we began to lose weight. We also noticed that we were sleeping better and seemed to have more energy.

Instead of feeling heavy or weighed-down after a meal, we felt good. We hadn’t really upped our workout routine, so this can all be attributed almost exclusively to our diet change. Our food was actually giving us energy instead of putting us into a coma after a meal.

We also found that we were saving a fair amount of money at the grocery store. Many people complain that eating healthy is expensive and, depending on where you live and where you shop, this might be the case. But when you weigh a pound of chicken versus a pound of asparagus, it’s easy to see which is the cheaper option.

My wife and I found that when we primarily shopped in the produce section, our grocery bill was only about 75% of what it normally would be. The only change was that, due to the shelf life of the produce, we were going to the grocery store more often. However, the positive out weighed the negative for us since we were significantly cutting down on food waste.

As our month wound to a close, I would be lying if I said I didn’t go out and grill a steak. After all, I still loved meat and was excited to start indulging again. But I did find that I could get by with a LOT less than I had been eating.

This experiment was more than a year ago, and today, my wife and I generally eat vegan with some meat thrown in here and there. We are still very conscious of what we eat and generally try to eat well instead of just passively eating the same thing each and every week. We treat meat and cheese as a special treat instead of treating it as a staple of our diet.

If you are trying to eat healthy and aren’t sure where to begin, try a vegan diet for a month. Far from being some crazy impossibility, it’s actually a realistic, do-able option.

You’ll find yourself looking better, feeling better, and saving money (to say nothing of the environmental benefits). Who knows, you may even discover a new food you love in the process. So start compiling some recipes and plan your vegan month today! In the end, I’ll bet you’ll be glad you did.

Coffee is always competing for the world’s most popular beverage, but what many don’t know that it’s actually doing a lot more than helping you be a functional member of society. Several scientific studies have accredited coffee as the number one source of antioxidants in America’s diet, providing numerous cognitive benefits, keeping the liver healthy, and reducing stress.

Free radicals, (which sound like rebellious teenagers running amok) are atoms, molecules, or ions damaging cells within the human body and can potentially contribute to cancer. A recent study has discovered that roasted coffee stabilizes and combats these harmful radicals, thus making that next cup of morning joe something to never feel guilty about.

For those female drinkers out there, a study has also found that drinking up to four cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by one fifth.

Many people believe that hot tea or vegetables are superior in antioxidants than coffee. Wrong! According to a study back in 2005, scientists discovered for the first time, decaf and caffeinated coffee were equally shown to be the primary source of antioxidants in consumers. Joe Vinson, Ph.D., study leader and chemistry professor at Scranton University said, “Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close.”

It’s no secret that coffee lovers jump-start their morning for caffeine buzz, but it has also been proven to be great for short-term memory retention. Don’t take this as an excuse to drink 12 cups a day, but in moderation, your brain will be in tip-top shape after a few cups.

The benefits of being a coffee consumer don’t stop there; moderate consumption is also believed to be associated with reducing the risk of developing the liver disease alcoholic cirrhosis. This disease can destroy healthy tissue within the liver replacing it with scar tissue, and is most commonly found in heavy alcohol users and smokers. A study discovered coffee drinkers were 22 percent less likely to develop the disease.

For those who want all of these benefits yet despise the taste of coffee, simply walk into a coffee shop and take a whiff.

The magical power of coffee can even be found in the scent. The aroma of coffee has been attributed to reducing stress. Granted, scientists here studied the brains of lab rats when exposed to the smell of coffee, making it ethically and scientifically questionable, but the smell of coffee is rather fantastic, so we’ll let this one slide.

Obviously, the more coffee one drinks the less beneficial it will be, but science has given the world a green light on the daily java brew. It’s pretty remarkable how coffee has built up a bad reputation over recent years as being addictive and harmful, but in reality can actually help us all live healthier lives. With that being said, go support local coffee shops, get creative with brew methods, and hang out with friends and family over one of the most delicious and healthiest beverages in the world.

I love food. Love it. Whether it’s a warm, perfectly assembled meat lovers pizza or a vegetable stir-fry with a thick, sweet teriyaki sauce, I can dig it. I grew up with grandmas who could do some serious cooking. The homestyle, comfort food type of cooking. While I loved it, it gave me high expectations for how food should taste (little did I know they used bacon grease in most dishes…that’s healthy, right?)

Now that I’m no longer a kid that can eat whatever I want, eating healthy and actually liking it has become trickier. With age, eating seems to turn into this weird balancing act of eating those good sugars, plus plenty of fiber and protein, oh, and veggies, too. And, what foods are good for my heart again? I need some to boost my metabolism, too. And, then the toughest part, limiting sweet treats. Ugh, getting older is sort of a bummer sometimes.

I started to test some tricks out on myself to see if ‘controlling’ what I ate could be easier than it sounded (and was). I read from Dr. Mike Moreno’s ’17 Day Diet’ book, the theories of juicing, and suggestions from other workout/dieting programs. It came down to five little things I could do that made a huge difference in how I eat and my ability to keep my diet (and weight) healthier.

1. Spicy, Spicy, Hot

I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to hot foods. Mild salsa can be a touch too much for me depending on the brand. But, I do love the spicy food burn (weird, right?). Have you not had jalepeno or Sriracha chips? Whew. Good stuff.

But, here’s the trick. If I open a bag of those chips (it’s one of my favorite snacks), I know I won’t eat more than a handful because they’re hot to me. I took that theory and applied it to foods I cook. Often, I’ll add a touch of some spice to make it just mild enough that I still like it, but just hot enough that I won’t (and can’t) eat more than what I really should.

2. Whole Wheat Wins

Whole wheat or whole grain foods skip the whole refining, processed food part that white breads, flours, etc. go through. What this means is that the important healthy parts of the white flours, breads, etc. have the entire grain taken out, and the nutrients that are removed during that process must be added back in through a refining process. (The more processed, the farther away from all-natural and healthy you get).

It also has less calories, saturated fats, carbohydrates, and has more protein and fiber (the good stuff). I started switching my pasta to whole wheat, english muffins, bread, crackers, and pretty much anything else I can find. The amount of calories I save each day has been tremendous and the extra protein is a great nutrient to have after my workouts to help replenish my muscles.

3. Fruit In the Morning, Not Afternoon

This was a trick that I pulled from the ’17 Day Diet’. It suggested that you should always eat fruits before 2PM because, while the sugars in fruit are natural, they’re still sugars and won’t digest as well later in the day, meaning you won’t be burning those sugars off. So, I started eating more fruit in the morning. Simple things like adding a banana to my breakfast or having apple slices as a mid-morning snack.

The natural sugars helped boost my energy throughout the morning, and if I eat one in the late morning, it can help me in the drowsy after-lunch hours. You shouldn’t have more than two servings of fruit per day, but eating those servings earlier will help you bounce right through your day, and avoid storing those sugars as fat.

4. Shakes and Smoothies As Sweet Treats

Yes, sometimes this can be a hassle. Who has time to get a bunch of ingredients together in the morning to make some concoction in the blender? This is why I tend to gravitate toward smoothie and shake recipes that have less than 5 ingredients (and, there’s lots of them out there).

5. Alcohol Shouldn’t Be a Fourth Meal

This is sometimes a tough habit to change. When I’m out with friends on a Friday evening, I want to have a drink with them and enjoy myself! But, I started to look into my choice of drinks and I was a bit surprised when I added up the numbers. I started to realize two or three beers after dinner was pretty much equivalent to me eating another meal.

So, I made some small changes. Surprisingly, using ginger ale as a mixer with different kinds of liquor is lower in calories than using sodas or just beer. But, I also started getting a glass of water in between every couple of alcoholic drinks. It keeps me from drinking a fourth meal of calories, but lets me still indulge a bit.

Bonus Tip: Popcorn

I’ve always said I could live on popcorn. But, as it turns out, it’s a great choice for a low-calorie snack that also has lots of fiber and whole grains. It’s better to air-pop it if you have the option, but if not, try to stay away from the heavy butter types.

But, if you just can’t do without the butter, it’s still a better option than downing a soda, eating a candy bar, or slicing off a piece of pie!

I eat fat-free and low-fat yogurt several times a week. I usually choose plain Greek yogurt that I sweeten with local honey, but occasionally I have the black cherry flavor. For years, the accepted recommendation for healthy dairy products in your diet has been low-fat or fat-free products. The rationale has been that these lower fat dairy products, including yogurt, have fewer calories and less fat than their regular counterparts.

Makes sense, right?

Well, like so many other assumptions made about nutrition over the years, this particular long established assumption is being questioned.

(And as an aside, I don’t know about you, but sometimes it is hard to know what to eat because the right foods [according to scientists] keep changing.)

A new study done by researchers at Tufts University examined whether the current USDA recommendations to consume low-fat and fat-free dairy products impact how many carbs people ate and whether their choice impacted their weight and overall health.

I was interested enough to look up the study and read through it. Although some of it is pretty dry, the conclusion is anything but boring.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at previous research in which over 120,000 health professionals had been followed as part of three different longitudinal studies over a 16 year period.

This study is impressive for several reasons:

1) The sample size is very large.

2) The study time was long.

3) Researchers did not make blanket statements about carbs.

The researchers analyzed the participants’ eating habits and discovered the people who ate the fewest carbs were the ones who ate full-fat dairy products such as yogurt. Jessica Smith, Ph.D., one of the researchers, indicated in an interview with Science Daily that people who consistently eat low-fat or fat-free dairy products might unconsciously attempt to make up for the lack of fat in their diet by eating more carbs.

Although not explicitly part of the study material, the implication is that the types of carbs people typically reach for is not brown rice or quinoa. Instead, they’ll typically go for carbs in things like cupcakes, chips, and other foods filled with simple carbohydrates and little nutrients.

When I was severely overweight, I often ate low-fat or fat-free dairy products and I did eat a ton of carbs. I’m not sure there was a correlation, but perhaps the lack of fat in those dairy products did somewhat increase my cravings for carbs.

In my 17 years of being part of the weight loss arena, I have seen people who eat the wrong kinds of carbs and suffer for it. I have also seen people who eat healthy carbs and benefit from it.

It seems to me the takeaway from this article is that it may be a good thing to stop automatically reaching for the lowest fat yogurt and choose the full-fat version as a way to control your urge to binge on unhealthy carbs.  

You don’t have anything to lose by trying it for a week or two and see if your carb cravings start to go away.

In case you were wondering about calories, the calorie difference in the two types of yogurt is negligible. A fat-free container of plain yogurt has 94 calories in 6 ounces while a full-fat container has 104 calories, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database.

Will I switch? I’m not sure. I do eat full-fat cottage cheese, sour cream, and cheeses but I really do like my fat-free Greek yogurt.