Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Living Healthy

I've been reading a lot of books lately, and thought I would share some thoughts on some good ones I had:


"The Skinny" taught me about calorie density and eating things that will fill you up, not out. You can only eat so many calories per day, and some calories will leave you wanting more while others will satisfy you. No one wants to be hungry all the time, so learning what to eat to stave off hunger for longer really helped me out! I eat 4 egg whites for breakfast maybe every other day. Other times I have 2 Kashi Waffles and a strawberry smoothie. I cut out sugar from the smoothie and added honey instead. Use less for less calories but same amount of sweetness. It's great!


"The World is Fat" shared much of the same thoughts, but also followed "case studies" of families from India, the US and Mexico, which was really interesting. It showed how basically our innovations in technology and food production have led to less activity and more calories consumed, which is definitely true if you look around, even at your parents' generation.


I bought this at the used book store for $5, which is great! (used a gift card) It speaks of flavors and how we can use our nose and just enjoy the first couple bites and after that, we don't enjoy a single food as much. If we all just ate less, we could still enjoy the richer things in life because we'd eat less and feel satisfied.

I'll share more thoughts on healthy eating later, but these books are what gave me a jump-start.

1 comment:

Carrie said...

You know, I read somewhere (maybe Fast Food Nation or Omnivore's Dilemma) that mass-produced snack foods have purposely exploited the flavor factor. You eat a Dorito, and it's tasty, and yet not a fully satisfying experience like eating a chocolate truffle or a piece of good cheese. As soon as it's swallowed, you feel like you need more. It's like crack.
Then again, I CAN devour a whole wedge of really good camembert at a time if no one's watching. Guess junk food and U.S. culture have ruined me.