Food Alergies Could be Causing Weight Gain

I have already talked about my discovery about my dairy allergy in my previous blog post Could You be Allergic to Dairy and Not Know It?   I was watching an episode of the Doctor Oz show recently and besides the benefits of not feeling congested any more, I didn't even connect the fact that I had lost weight after my allergy discovery and changing what I was eating.  I had never connected the two before, but it made so much sense after hearing the medical explanation.

I found out from this episode that the most common food allergies are to dairy and wheat.  As many as 60% of people have allergies to dairy, and people can lose as much as 30 pounds of weight by just eliminating food allergens from their diets!  That's just crazy!  I didn't lose that much weight, but I'll bet it was close to 15 pounds.  The weight was just falling off without really trying.  I had first contributed it to not eating the fatty cheeses, ice cream, etc., but there may have been additional factors at work which I didn't realize.  Here is a link to the summary of that segment of the show: Doctor Oz's Anti-Allergy Diet  The experts were saying that one common reason why people plateau when loosing weight is that they are carrying around a lot of inflammation from eating foods that their bodies are having subtle negative reactions to and they are not even aware of it. This systemic inflammation is preventing further weight loss and causing bloating and other problems with digestion. 

This segment also discussed many hidden sources of dairy allergens, many which I had discovered through trial and error.  Other ingredients to avoid besides the obvious "milk" are ingredients such as cream, milk protein, casein, whey, lactate, etc.  These hidden dairy items can be found in some crazy places most of us might be really surprised to find them in, such as: deli meats, canned tuna, protein shake mixes, energy bars, baked goods, and bread, and other processed foods.  Read the labels on the foods you are eating or eat more natural foods without labels.  This link above also gives you a 3 week plan for removing the problem foods from your diet, repairing the digestive tract from the damage done by eating the wrong foods, and then slowly trying to add back possible foods after noting the subtle ways your body reacts to them through keeping a journal.

I hope this additional information about dairy allergies might help some of you be more aware of what might be preventing you from losing the weight you want and help you feel better in a long list of ways.

Microwave Potato Chips

You read the title correctly.  Yes, you can actually make crunchy chips in the microwave.  I was watching a Dr. Oz episode and was inspired by one of the kitchen gadgets he was showcasing.  Being the frugal person I am, I thought, "Why spend the money on the gadget?"  Who needs another gadget cluttering up their kitchen, anyway?

Slice the potatoes paper thin.  If you have a mandolin slicer already, that is the perfect tool used on the thinnest slice setting.  Place a reusable non-stick silicone baking sheet in your microwave and turn off the turn table to keep it from spinning.  Place your potato slices on the sheet making sure to not over lap.  Sprinkle with a little sea salt, then nuke on high for 2-3 minutes.  The time will vary based on how thin your slices are and the power of your microwave.  If they turn out a little chewy and not crunchy, your chips are either cut too thick or it needs to cook a little longer.  If they are cooked a little too long, they will taste a bit burned.  Play around with a few small batches until you get it just right.  They are delicious, light & airy, and much healthier than any fried chip.

You can also try this trick with a variety of veggies & fruits like sweet potatoes, apples, pears, or other root veggies like parsnips, beets, etc.  Check out some of the variations you see in the snack aisle for inspiration. You will probably have to play around a little to find the perfect cook times for each type.  I found with apples, and other items that have a higher sugar content, the sweeter they were, the more likely they had a tendency to be a bit more chewy than crunchy, but they are still delicious.  With the apples, I found putting them in for 1 minute and 50 seconds, flipping them, then putting them in for another 30 seconds came out the best.

It's much quicker than a dehydrator, so you can make them fresh whenever you get the craving.  I haven't tried it yet, but I would think they would store for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container or baggie. I'm sure you could also do the same thing in the oven on a low bake setting, but when you don't want to wait or heat up your kitchen, try this instead.  Imagine the possibilities!

Double it Up to Save Time and Energy

When you do take the time to cook dinner, why not make a batch twice as large as you actually need for that day?  This way you only really cook once and can heat up left overs on a night when you are too tired or pressed for time to cook.  You only need to turn your oven or stove on once instead of twice.  Your microwave uses much less power to reheat your meal.

Package your left overs in convenient sizes that serve one person.  I recommend the low cost stackable containers so many companies sell now.  Why invest in expensive ones when the cheapies last quite a long time and if you want to send home leftovers with a friend, they don't have to worry about returning your container.  Many containers that you might normally toss in the recycle bin will work also, think sliced lunch meat.  I personally like ones that are somewhat see through so you can see how large the portion is without opening it and you remember that it's not something else when you go back to find your leftovers later without having to notice the label.  Label them with a piece of scotch tape and a sharpie, so you know what it is, and don't forget the date you made it.  The labels will peel off easily later and they are super inexpensive.  If you don't eat your leftovers in a day or two, pop it in the freezer.  On those busier days, open up the freezer and you have a smorgasbord of healthy options to pick from with a delicious homemade taste, which are ready in minutes.  Just like a restaurant, each person can pick their favorite because you thought ahead and froze them in individual serving sizes. They heat up quicker in the microwave this way, too.  Pop them onto a plate or in a bowl.  Never heat your leftovers in plastic containers or use plastic wrap in the microwave because harmful chemicals, like BPA, leach from the plastic into your food when heated.  Cover with a paper towel if it will have a tendency to splatter.  Prevent the mess now and you have less to clean up later.  Your personalized healthy meals will be ready in minutes.

Pre-made store bought microwave meals are expensive, even with coupons, and typically don't include too many veggies or contain very small portions of protein.  Overall, most are lacking in the nutrition department.  They are usually carbohydrate heavy, since carbs are cheaper for companies to produce and they help fill you up, so you think you had a good size portion for your money. Unfortunately, these simple carbs, like white rice, regular white flour pasta, or breads like in a pizza crust, cause your blood sugar to spike shortly after eating them.  In an hour or two your blood sugar will crash causing you to feel hungry again.  Then you start craving the stuff you probably shouldn't be eating and start packing on the pounds.  When you do the cooking, if you go a little heavier on the veggies, add complex carbs like brown rice, whole grain flour items, or add a normal size protein portion, the meals are much healthier for you and will fill you up just as well, or even better, but keep also your blood sugar normalized without the crash and subsequent cravings later.

Healthier Soft Drink Alternatives

Have you been trying to cut back on your soft drink consumption to either lose weight, save money, or just be healthier.  Me too.  Here are some suggestions you might want to try to bring some variety into your choices and make it a little easier to opt for the healthier choice:

I'll bet most of you have a coffee machine.  When you are done with your morning cup of joe, the machine sits there lonely all day.  Put it to use making a batch of iced tea.  You don't need any special machines like some companies would like to make you believe.  You already own it.

In the spot where you normally put your coffee filter, place the tea bags, with no additional filter, fill up your water reservoir to the top and let her rip.  For a 2 quart container, 4 regular sized tea bags or 2 family sized tea bags are a good start.  For a gallon container, try 3-4 family sized bags.  Adjust the number of tea bags to your taste.  If your coffee pot has an extra feature for brewing smaller pots of coffee, like 1-4 cups, turn this on as well.  It will preheat the water a bit more making the brew a little stronger.  In the meantime, fill up your drink pitcher half way with ice.  When it's done brewing, pour the hot tea over the ice and top off with additional water, if needed.  If you like it sweet, now is the time to add your sweetener, then give it a stir.  Instead of sugar, you might want to try a no calorie natural sweetener made from the stevia plant, like Truvia, or an other alternative sweetener like Agave Nectar, which has a lower glycemic index, which means it will not spike your blood sugar as much as regular sugar does.  Personally, I keep mine unsweetened, so everyone can make theirs the way they like it, or just drink it unsweetened.  Agave nectar also dissolves better in cold liquids, since its a syrup instead of crystals, so it can easily be added later.

Have you ever noticed how many different types of teas are out there?  Every type I tried is also great iced.  Think of how many options you have: green, black, oolong, spiced like chai, fruit blends, herbals like peppermint or chamomile, rooibos, and so many in between!  Many have wonderful health benefits as an added bonus.  Don't forget, if you are trying to cut back on your caffeine intake, opt for the decaf versions or one of the herbal, rooibos, or fruit types.  Maybe even try a half-caf version, half regular tea bags an half decaf tea bags, to start to ween yourself off your caffeine habit.

If you are missing the little bubbles in your soft drinks, try some of the flavored seltzer waters on the market now.  Beware of the ones containing artificial sweeteners.  For a cheaper alternative try the unflavored seltzer waters, the store brands are just as good, and add a splash of cranberry, pomegranate, orange, or grapefruit juice, or squeeze a lemon or lime in for some added flavor.  If you go for the fruit juices, read the labels and try to choose ones that have no added sugars and are 100% juice.  Use your imagination.  You might just find a new favorite.

Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa

I made stuffed peppers last night with a little healthier spin on them.  Have you ever tried quinoa?  Pronounced KEEN-wah.  Quinoa is a gluten-free ancient grain originating from South America.  It is a very good source of protein, fiber, B vitamins, and iron.  Quinoa can be substituted for rice in a variety of recipes to make them healthier.  You can also reduce the portion of meat in the recipe, if you choose, due to the high protein content. 

Uncooked quinoa is a tiny round seed about 2 mm in diameter.  Some quinoa comes pre-rinsed.  If not simply rinse it under running water in a strainer for a minute or two to wash off the coating that is naturally on it.  If it's not rinsed your quinoa will taste like soap.  It cooks up similar to rice, with one cup quinoa to 2 cups of water, but only needs to cook for 15 minutes.  It will be tender, but still chewy, and a white spiral-like thread appears around each grain. 

Stuffed Peppers - serves 6 - modified recipe from Emeril Lagasse

6 large bell pepper, green, yellow or red with tops cut away and seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers (the edges of the tops you cut off earlier)
1 cup ground meat, such as turkey, pork, or beef or a combination
1/2 cup diced baby portabello mushrooms (optional)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves, or about 1 tablespoon dried
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
2 cups cooked quinoa, rice, or other grain
8 - 15 ounces tomato sauce
water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Get your quinoa or rice going first, so that will be finished by the time you need it. 

In a large pot of boiling water, parboil the peppers until just tender, 2-3 minutes.  Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon and allow to dry.  I placed mine right in the baking dish now, so I can skip the little extra water normally added to the dish when baking later.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic, allow to brown slightly, then add the onions and chopped peppers.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes.  Add the meat, parsley, mushrooms, and seasonings.  Cook until meat is browned, breaking up lumps, about 6 minutes.  Drain off fat if necessary.  Add quinoa and tomato sauce, stir well, remove from heat, and adjust seasoning to taste, if needed.

Stuff the bell peppers with rice mixture and place in a baking dish.  Bake until peppers are tender and filling is heated through, 20-30 minutes.  When done, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving, if you keep your kids away long enough.  That didn't happen last night.  Enjoy!  Leftovers taste even better the next day.

Pass on the "Diet" Foods and Drinks

Trying to get some extra pounds off?  Did you know that avoiding foods and drinks with "diet" on the packaging can actually help you lose weight?  Sounds contradictory, but you heard me correctly.  Many diet foods and drinks have ingredients that are "fake" to replace fat, sugar, or carbs, etc.  The "fake" ingredients being added, or adjustments made to the product to enhance the flavor, may be less healthy for you than the ingredients that were naturally in it to begin with.  Artificial sweeteners, in particular, were originally developed to give diabetics a sweet alternative, not for everyday people to consume to lose weight.  These artificial sweet chemicals are addictive and mess with your taste buds and your body chemistry.  Companies producing these products realized that changing their marketing strategy to get the masses to consume these products, in addition to the diabetics, could be very lucrative.  Through million dollar advertising campaigns, over the years, they have brainwashed us into viewing these products as a "healthy" alternative to sugar and a method to lose weight.. Those companies are laughing all the way to the bank.  Don't fall for the ruse.

For instance, typically in turkey bacon, fat is reduced compared to original pork bacon, but sodium is increased to make it taste better.  Fat in moderation helps satisfy your hunger, while increased sodium can cause havoc on blood pressure, and make you retain excess fluids making you feel bloated.  You might be better off grabbing a smaller portion of the real pork bacon instead.  In reduced or fat free baked goods, the processed carbs or sugars are typically higher than the original versions.  In soft drinks, flavored water, candy, cookies, etc... sugar is removed or reduced and being replaced with artificial sweeteners.  These artificial sweeteners give you the sweet taste you want, but studies have shown that because you don't get the calories normally associated with that sweet, your body will crave additional calories later to make up for the calories your body expected to consume when you ate that sweet.  In the long run, you tend to consume more calories than if you would have just grabbed the real thing to begin with.  Keep in mind, you still have to eat the real things in moderation, or eventually limit them to a special treat, or you won't be doing yourself any favors, either.  Artificial sweeteners also train your taste buds to expect an intense sweet and you tend not to be satisfied with the normal sweet any more, again increasing your tendency to eat more normal sweets to feel satisfied.  Some people are also experiencing health problems when artificial sweeteners are consumed in large quantities or taken over long periods of time.  Why even go there?

Typically, the regular foods are cheaper per ounce, than their "diet" counterparts.  Those pre-portioned 100 calorie snack packs are a great example of paying more for less product.  If you want a cookie, buy the regular package, and just grab one or two.  Save your money!  You claim the smaller size pre-portioned packages help your will power?  Baloney!  What is stopping you from grabbing more than one of those pre-portioned packages anyway?  It's all a mental game the food companies are cashing in on at your expense.  Use these for your kid's lunches to save time?  Take a minute to put some regular snacks in baggies ahead of time to make them easy to grab when packing lunches.  It is likely still cheaper this way, even counting the extra cost of the baggie, and you can customize your child's portions.  These 100 calorie portions are still rather large for most kids snacks.  They just end up tossing the excess in the trash, or eating more snack food than they should for their smaller bodies.

Do a little experiment.  Try slowly transitioning "diet" foods out of your kitchen.  Read the labels.  If you have a hard time pronouncing the ingredient, you probably shouldn't be eating it.  It might take a week or two to re-train your taste buds, especially if you are a artificial sweetener junky.   (Note: If you regularly chew gum, you might be consuming a large amount of artificial sweeteners there as well.  Don't forget to take those into consideration as well.)  If you eliminate artificial sweeteners from your diet, you won't feel so deprived.  When you do grab for a food that normally would be on the cheat list, like those little chocolate candies that melt in your mouth and not in hands, take notice as to how many you WANT to eat.  (Note: Don't do this while being distracted or eating mindlessly in front of the TV or all bets are off! )  Most people will be satisfied with just a few, rather than the large handful they might have otherwise wanted to eat.  You will also start to notice that many foods you used to think were bland or not sweet at all, have much more flavor than you realized.  Everything will begin to taste better, naturally.  Taste your food before automatically adding salt or sugar.  You may not need to add it at all anymore.

I don't believe in depriving yourself when you are trying to lose weight.  Just make small, smart modifications in your everyday routine, so these changes will stick.  You will slowly be changing your lifestyle, not actually be on a so-called "diet."  Your weight loss will be slow and steady, and you will keep it off.  In the big picture, that is what is really important.  Yo-Yo dieting is not healthy.  With "diets" that you can't maintain long-term, once you end the "diet", you fall back into your old unhealthy routines that made you gain the weight to begin with.  Long term you will likely end up being heavier than you were when you started the "diet".  What's the point of that?  Be smart and do it the right way for long term success.

Break the Fast Food Habit

Are you busy running all over town with the kids, running errands, or off to work, then trying to squeeze all your other duties in on your lunch break and after work before you crash from exhaustion?  Getting hungry? Boy, it would be easier to run through the drive through and grab a quick bite to eat, but....  STOP!!!!  DON'T DO IT!!

Before you get to that desperate moment, plan ahead, just a little bit.  Keep a healthy, protein-filled snack in your car or purse that you can grab instead.  A small palm sized handful of raw almonds, or lightly or unsalted peanuts in a zip-lock baggie can get you over that impulse and help you drive right by.  The protein and fiber found in nuts will give you just enough to take the edge off your hunger and keep you feeling content until you can make it home and grab a much better meal option.  It will save you money and is much better for your waistline.

Looking for some quick and healthy ideas for meals so you don't get home and think, "Now what?" Check back on my blog on a regular basis and I will be sharing some delicious, easy, money and time saving recipes to simply your life, improve your health, and help keep more money in your pocket.