Mindful Eating

Today I read this article and it got me thinking about the way I eat and the way I want my children to eat. The way we feed our children now will shape the way they eat as adults. I realized this anew as the boys and I were driving to PCC this morning. We passed by a Burger King and Jack commented that they make "really gross food there that's bad for your body." I said he was right. He added, "But if you eat good food most of the time, it's okay to eat French fries once in a while." I said he was right again. He asked why someone would make that kind of food, so I explained that good food takes time. Lots of people are in a hurry and don't have time to slow down and cook. I have not always been the food snob I am today. In college, I often had a small bag of Frito's and a Red Bull for "dinner." I've always loved fruits and vegetables, but sometimes it was just too much trouble to access them. I feel differently now. After becoming a breastfeeding mother, I see so much more clearly the connection between what goes into our bodies and what comes out of them. This is still true for those who are not breastfeeding mothers: crap in= crap out. I'm not speaking literally here, I'm talking about energy levels, concentration levels, mood, fitness, sleep quality, allergies...I could go on, but I think you probably get the picture. I didn't realize how much my eating habits had improved until I regressed and really felt the effects. When I was in college and eating whatever was easy, I didn't really feel that bad. My body was young and able to compensate for a lot of the abuse I gave it, and I was running a lot which helped. After I had Jack and was home all the time, I got used to eating food out of the fridge. Generally, this meant more fruits and vegetables, yogurt, milk. I developed a sensitivity to sugar. Breastfeeding changed my metabolism, and refined sugar made me feel awful. I felt terrible if I ate it, nauseous, headache, lethargic. Four years later I can handle small amounts of sugar, but I don't really crave it and rarely eat it. About once a month I'll get the urge for something sweet and make brownies, and I usually have to resort to baking something because we don't really keep dessert in the house. Today as I was thinking about Jack's comments on fast food, I got to thinking about criteria for making good food choices. While I was in New York I ate a LOT of food and most of it was amazing, but once or twice I didn't feel great afterward. Most days I have the luxury of thinking about what I want to eat and then preparing it in my own sweet time, but in college I'd often get stuck in the lab and then I'd be so hungry when I was done I'd eat the first edible product I could find. I was not a mindful eater. I didn't think about where my food had come from, what was really in my food, how it would affect my body or how it would make me feel. Now I think about all those things, and realized that the ideal food is something that meets the criteria of Before, During, and After. What I mean by that is this: is it a food I'd consider eating before I reach the stage of irrational hunger, or am I compromising my standards out of convenience? Is it a food I enjoy during my meal? Is it a food that will make me feel good after, both in an immediate sense(is it so heavy that it gives me indigestion?) and long-term(will it make me fat or unhealthy?). Full disclosure: I have taken my kids to McDonald's. I have made frozen nuggets for dinner. When we go to Costco, we usually get the kids pizza. If anyone reading this babysits my kids, know that I appreciate the fact that you feed my children, period, regardless of what you actually feed them. However I should warn you that the last time we went to McDonald's Jack behaved as if he'd eaten crack instead of a cheeseburger and Matteas barfed his McNuggets all over himself. Don't say I didn't warn you. I find it interesting to note that there is a group of foods referred to as "convenience foods." Heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol are hardly convenient, but that's what you're going to end up with if your diet is made up of those types of foods. "Comfort food" is another interesting term; it usually connotes foods rich in fat and starch, which I suppose is pretty comforting if you like having a big fat layer of blubber wrapped around you. Nothing says "comfort" like cellulite. Seriously, I'm not afraid of fat, but I think it needs to be used thoughtfully and for maximum advantage. A kids' meal that contains 75 grams of fat is neither thoughtful nor advantageous. The type of fat is also important; the fat in a twinkie is chemically very different from fat in the cream of a grass-fed cow or the bacon of a well-raised pig. So, what about kids who are picky eaters? My brother-in-law Tristan was notoriously picky and has been known to fast for an entire day rather than eat his dinner. Eventually he got over it, and is now one of the most intrepid eaters I know. I wouldn't know how to deal with someone as stubborn as Tristan, but here's what I've done with my own kids: -take them grocery shopping. Introduce them to the idea of choosing their own foods. -let them see you eating the foods you want them to eat. They're not going to eat things they're not exposed to. -take them to PCC. Kids get to pick a single serving piece of fruit for free with every visit. It's a great(and thrifty) way to teach them about making deliberate food choices. -try, try again. I've been putting broccoli on Matteas' plate for about a year. Jack loves it, but Matteas never, ever touched it. One night this summer I was serving dinner and almost left the broccoli off Matteas' plate. He'd refused to eat it for a year, I figured nothing had changed. I was wrong. Something finally clicked, and he decided to try broccoli. He ate all of his, then stole Jack's when he thought his brother wasn't looking. He asked for more broccoli and refused to eat anything else. -give them what they like. If your kid loves carrots and apples but won't try other fruits or vegetables, give them carrots and apples. They'll diversify later. The bottom line is, good food takes time. It helps to be prepared; we almost always have cucumbers, string cheese and apples in the fridge so we have some healthy go-to options for low blood-sugar. I like buying the big tub of organic mixed greens from Costco so I always have a base for salad without having to do a lot of work. Think about the things you want to eat and then think of ways to make those things more accessible and easier to prepare- many vegetables can be chopped ahead-of-time, especially if you're making something like stir-fry. I often use the time when Jack is at school to do things like prep a chicken or cut a steak into strips for that night's dinner. I spend a lot of time and effort on food. I'm grateful that I can afford to. I think about it a lot, I take my time preparing it(I'd make a terrible short-order cook), and, perhaps most importantly, I really take my time eating it. Enjoying my food to the fullest is what keeps me from being fat; when you really enjoy each bite, you don't need as much to satisfy you. You also notice when you stop being hungry and move into eating strictly for pleasure, which isn't really a bad thing if you know you're doing it because you'll stop at a reasonable time. I've encouraged mindful eating in our kids by asking them what flavors they notice in their food(Jack is really good at this; he described sourdough bread as having "a good lemony taste") and, when practical, letting them help me cook. I try to cook with mushrooms whenever I can because each of the boys can have their own cutting board and a butter knife, and I will actually use the mushrooms they chop. Over brunch this summer, Alison Bernhoft asked me when it was that I began to love cooking. I'd actually never thought about it before, but her question made me realize that my love of food in general began with a particular meal eaten at my sister Moira's house. I don't remember what the main course was, but what I do remember is the salad with balsamic dressing. It was my first experience with non-mayonnaise based dressing, and it was tangy and sweet and completely different from anything I was used to. It's also really, really easy to make. Making your own dressing is a super healthy choice and, for me, was the birth of thinking about what it is I'm actually eating(read the ingredients in a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch; do you actually know what 'calcium disodium EDTA' and 'disodium inosinate' are?). The beauty of eating truly good food is that it's good for everyone involved on every level; good for the soil, good for the body, and good for the senses. Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette The easiest way, I think, is to use a clear glass jar. I save jam jars expressly for this purpose. First, add several glugs of balsamic vinegar. You don't have to measure because the amount isn't important right now. Next, carefully add olive oil until you have two parts vinegar to one part oil.

Add a dash of salt; if you really want to measure, use the palm of your hand. Be conservative, as you can always add more later if you need it. Add a few grinds of pepper.

Put the lid on and shake it. Congratulations; you've just made balsamic vinaigrette. As you get more comfortable with vinaigrette you can add things like dijon mustard and herbs, but for your first time out I'd recommend keeping it simple. Pour over your favorite salad. It's fantastic with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onion, feta or goat cheese, and any kind of toasted nut. Experiment, I really haven't met a vegetable that doesn't like balsamic vinegar. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge; if the oil hardens, simply leave the jar out on the counter until it warms to room temperature. Always give the jar a shake before using. Matteas loves it poured over plain sliced cucumbers. You can, of course, use other vinegars in place of the balsamic. The reason I started with balsamic is because it's sweet enough that you don't need to add sugar, something I usually do with harsher vinegars like red wine or apple cider, and I wanted to keep the recipe as basic as possible. The above recipe also works beautifully with lemon juice in place of the balsamic, but in that case I'd increase the amount of olive oil to 50/50. I like my lemon vinaigrette with baby arugula, shaved Parmesan and lots of freshly ground pepper.