CHARCUT

Cross-Posted from Calgary is Awesome.

CHARCUT has gotten a lot of positive buzz and fans since it opened almost two months ago in the swanky Hôtel Le Germain downtown. B. and I were in the area last month to check out Decidedly Jazz Dancework's production of 2010: A Tap Oddity (which was really good, btw) and so we decided to drop in and see what the fuss was all about.

CHARCUT is well-known for their house-cured meats (there's a window to their aging room where you can see all the hanging carcasses in the open kitchen - pretty neat), but I'd forgotten about their beer sommelier! The selection of beer is just as - if not more - extensive as wine on the liquor list, and Kirk was walking over to each table, introducing himself, ask them how the beer is tasting, and encouraging diners to ask him for appropriate beer pairings.

I was happy to see that some Dieu du Ciel beer had made its way on the list.


Ok, ok - so I know this is "Calgary is Awesome" but indulge me a little bit and let's go to Montreal for a minute. Dieu du Ciel is a popular brewpub in Montreal that churns out a huge variety of beers; at any given time they have at least a dozen types of beer on the menu. Some are quite traditional while others have the craziest flavours - the last (and only) time I went, for example, there was a sour cherry beer and a green tea beer. While most of the beers are only available on tap in Montreal, it turns out that they have a microbrewery just outside of the city that bottles some of the flavours and ships them - mostly to places in Quebec, but obviously across the country as well, to places like CHARCUT. One of them is the Route des Épices - a rye beer with peppery notes that sort of linger on your tongue. So. Good.

But back to the food: since there were only two of us - and B. wasn't particularly keen on trying bone marrow - we tried to maximize the variety of food that we could try by ordering the CHARCUT platter ($36)...


...and a side of grilled broccolini (tossed with olive oil and parmesan cheese, $8) because we had to get our veggies in somehow! This was a deliciously simple dish, though I would've liked a bigger portion.


This is the famous Pig Head Mortadella! They make it by taking ground pork sausage and mixing it with pistachios and truffles (among other things, I'm sure), before stuffing it in a pig's head then shaving off really thin slices. In contrast to what I'm sure is a very complicated and time-consuming process, the mortadella tasted very simple - not too salty, and it paired well with the Brassica mustard that came with it.


The salami was good, but a little bit dry.


B. didn't really like the Head Cheese, which is essentially a meat and vegetable jelly. However, I thought the combination of flavours and textures was really neat - the aspic, which was broth-based and had a texture somewhere between applesauce and Jello, held together a combination of tender shreds of meat and soft vegetables and herbs.


The duck ham/bacon was really good - it was difficult to believe that you could get such a fatty cut of meat from a bird! The meat was smoky and tender.


The surprise favourite was definitely the lamb heart croquettes; perhaps partly because they were the only warm item on the platter. There was no "offal" taste to them at all - if I hadn't known I would've guessed that it was just a "normal" meatball/croquette, though with a bit of a deeper/richer undertone. And of course, the aioli that came with it was great too.


I know that this opinion is probably going to make me unpopular, but while I enjoyed the food (and beer) at CHARCUT, it didn't wow me in the way that it has others. Granted, I didn't have the opportunity to try their other signature appetizers and their entrées, and I know their menu is constantly evolving. Even though I might not be itching to go back there right away, I definitely wouldn't mind tagging along if I was invited to go back again.

CHARCUT Roast House
101-899 Centre St SW
Calgary AB T2G 1B8
(403) 984-2180
Open Mon-Tues 11 AM-11 PM; Wed-Fri 11 AM-1 AM; Sat 5 PM-1 AM; Sun 5 PM-10 PM. Reservations can be made by phone or via OpenTable.

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Brunch @ FARM

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

I'd written about FARM not long after it first opened about a year and a half ago. Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to eat there again since, until Tiffany invited me to there for brunch not too long ago.

I was pleased to find that a lot of things were still the same since my first visit - the focus on local producers, the chalkboard listing the day's specials, the open kitchen behind the bar, the communal "harvest table", the vintage, country-style tableware... Even its short and simple menu was barely changed, keeping the charcuterie and cheese boards and mac 'n' cheese that FARM is known for, alongside some new staples.


Of course, the new (to me) weekend brunch was a welcome addition; despite the fact that the entire menu is listed on the chalkboard, our friendly waitress went through the entire list with us, being sure to name all the local producers that had a hand in bringing us our meal that day.


I got Pig ($13), which was their name for housemade back bacon with caramelized onion and potato hash, parmesan cheese and fried egg. The bacon was delicious (hello, it's bacon, people!) and not overly salty nor greasy, the hash was very flavourful and the egg had a beautiful golden-yellow yolk.


I had a bite of Tiffany's French Toast ($12) which was actually made of a housemade brioche filled with banana and ricotta served with whipped cream and syrup. I thought it was overly sweet and indulgent and I only had a bite! I have no idea how Tiffany managed to eat the whole thing (in fact, I'm not sure if she did). She probably had a sugar-high all day.

One of the things that struck me about brunch at FARM was that the portions were quite small compared to the portions you would get at more diner/greasy spoon-type brunch places, yet ironically they still had their sharing plates at the table (like they do for supper). So if you're someone who likes a big brunch, this is not for you. But if a classy, locally-sourced, appropriately-portioned brunch sounds appealing (with excellent coffee to boot!) then FARM is definitely worth checking out.

FARM
1006 17 Avenue SW
Calgary AB T2T 0A5
(403) 245-2276
Open daily 11:30 AM-2 PM; 5 PM-Close. Sat & Sun Brunch 10:30 AM-2 PM; Charcuterie & Cheese 2 PM-5 PM (in addition to regular hours). Reservations recommended, but walk-in only for brunch. Free Corkage on Mondays. Flight Night on Wednesdays. Fondue Night on Sundays.

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Wishes & Goals 2010 Check-Up - April

A tiny voice inside of me wants to rename this monthly "engagement" into Reflections and turn it into a vlog with a theme song and all, because maybe, just maybe, I'll go back to doing it at the beginning of the month instead of the middle.

*Ahem* Anyway...

Let's just stick with the list and the calendar for now, shall we?

It's been hard to get back on track since my vacation - particularly when it comes to getting to bed; yikes! - but looking at the calendar for March, things didn't go that badly at all and being away definitely helped with a few of the goals.

My Goals for 2010
Lights out between 10:30-10:45 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and between 11:30-11:45 on Sundays and Tuesdays for at least three of those nights per week by the end of the month.
At home, I was about on par with how I did in February (about two nights a week) but I was really good about getting lots of sleep (about 8 hours) a night when I was away in Winnipeg and in Thailand! I know I have trouble getting to bed on time at home because I want to be on my computer, whether it's checking Facebook or Twitter, reading blogs, or writing my blog(s). When I'm not on the computer, I'm chatting with B. on the phone... and it's hard to change because I don't want to give up those things. I will definitely still work on the goal as it is, but it doesn't look like I'll ever bump it up to seven hours every night (or even eight hours some nights) just because it's not realistic right now. It's nice to see that I have been making some progress, albeit slow and I do know on the days where I'm in a really bad mood, lack of sleep does play a part in it. But we'll see.

Each snack must contain a vegetable or a fruit.
At home, this is the only goal I'm consistently successful at, though it tends to lean toward fruit more than vegetables just because the former requires less prep. Recently I've found that I'm struggling a little with having the protein with it just because I'm not preparing well for it and sometimes not hungry for it. When I was in Thailand I didn't snack at all, but I'm just going to chalk that up to being on vacation ;) I'm also not snacking on weekends just because I completely throw myself off with my bad sleeping habits... Instead of working harder at it I think I'm going to just not track my weekends for now because all that red is too depressing (hehe)

Be able to do 100 full, proper pushups without stopping by December 2010.
I was pretty stoked about doing 81 pushups during my checkpoint after coming back from Winnipeg, but then I went to Thailand and slacked off because I was training for four hours a day! And doing full pushups! I was really sad to find that those full pushups did the opposite of translating into more granny pushups but I guess if you're trying to do 100 of them, it's not just about strength, it's about endurance as well. What's worse, it's been hard to get back on track since my vacation and I've missed a lot of "training sessions" (I missed a lot in March too) So to keep me going to my first checkpoint of 100 pushups from my knees (before I switch to working on full pushups) I've been thinking about how to reward myself. Initially I wanted to be creative and say that I was going to use my last vacation day and spend it either out and about or curled up with a book, but then I started ogling at the new jewellery collection by Matt and Nat. Anthropologie has some nice pieces as well (surprisingly at a similar price point), and I could also stop by Urban Outfitters when I'm in Montreal in May...

I will save at least ⅓ of my paycheque every month in hopes of buying a house/condo within walking distance from my work by 2011-2012.
I had to renew my registration with the College and with the Dietitians of Canada this month, but I did get some health insurance money back and managed to throw half my paycheque into savings (Yay!) I actually didn't spend that much while I was away because everything in Thailand was super-cheap and there wasn't much shopping where we were staying (nor do I really like shopping). This month might be bad because there were a few more registrations and I had to book my flight to Montreal, but I just filed my tax return and I'm getting quite a bit of money back (Yay not-a-full year of income and leftover education amounts!) and I have a friend who is going to show me the ropes of starting an RRSP once I find out what my [pitiful] contribution limit is. (Booo not-a-full year of income)

Drink at least 48 oz of water at least three days a week.
Success! Although some days this came with chugging a bunch of water right before bed just so I could reach my goal (Bad.) One thing I learned in Thailand was that this is something I have to work for - while it was definitely easier to meet my goal while I was there, I was still probably drinking a fraction of what everyone else was and quite dehydrated. Back home, I've been trying to drink all 48 oz at work, but sometimes I can't keep up the pace (and it's probably not very good for me). What I've found as well is that now that I'm drinking so much more, I feel thirst more often (similar to how people who start eating breakfast eventually get hungry for it, I think). Now that it's not below freezing anymore (hopefully), I should be better about keeping water in the car, in my gym bag (which sits in my car most of the day) and on my desk at home too. B. was also nice enough to buy me a water bottle with the measures on the side so I can see how much I'm drinking during the weekend (haha), but so far it's sat unused on his nightstand.

My Wishes for 2010
Do a thorough room purge
I didn't work on this this month, and going back to the idea of having too much on my plate I don't even know if I'm ever going to touch this in the near future... that's why it's a wish :P

Recipes/techniques I wanted to try this year:
I made "Lärabars"!

Blog Stuff
Continue upward trajectory of posts per year.
I posted less in March 2010 compared to March 2009, but in total I have more posts so far in 2010 than at this same time 2009. (Thanks, January!)

Include nutrition information to recipes whenever possible.
I have been including nutrition info for new recipes, but haven't spent any time going back in the archives.

Rewards
I went into March thinking that I wasn't going to achieve my goals just because I was going to be away, but I guess being away was pretty rewarding in itself. (First non-family vacation! Woot woot!) I don't think the snacking needs a reward because that's pretty integrated into my lifestyle by now, and by the way things are going it doesn't look like I'll be meeting my sleeping and water goals, so here's to hoping I can do my pushups!

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Soy Chai Latte "Lärabars"

I have always been a huge fan of Lärabars – they are one of very few snack bars out there that are made with all-natural ingredients and have no added sugars. Their sweetness comes from dates, which are also a source of fibre, folate and potassium. One thing I don’t like about them, however, is that they are fairly low in protein – about 3-5 g per bar – so I wouldn't say that they are the best snack choice. (Some of my colleagues recommend at least 8 g of protein in a snack.)

I've had Clotilde's recipe earmarked for a while now, and given that the theme for the client newsletter at work this month was physical activity, I decided this would be the perfect time to try it out.


I decided to add soy to my version to increase the protein levels. Lärabars have always prided themselves on being soy-free, likely because soybeans are often genetically-modified and because it is a common allergen. Also, soybeans have to be cooked, and even though it doesn’t say so on the label, Lärabars are a raw food, which is usually defined as food that has not been heated above 46°C. If those are concerns for you, feel free to swap out the soybeans in this recipe for a raw nut; but if not, roasting your own soy nuts is its own adventure in itself! I found out the hard way that I had to soak them for at least eight hours first...




I ended up with way more soy nuts than I'd originally intended, so I threw them in a tupperware with some salt and pepper and they made for a delicious snack. (I made the mistake of not storing them in the fridge and they grew mold after four weeks!)


I ultimately ended up basing my recipe on Camilla's recipe (linked from Clotilde's site) as it used fewer ingredients and a simpler method, which leaves room for a lot of variations! Aside from trading the soybeans for a raw nut (I was worried that using only soybeans was going to affect the taste, so I added raw almonds as well), you can also swap up to half of the dates for another dried fruit. I also added the same blend of spices that I used for this granola (thus the "chai latte" in the name).



    


These babies actually served me quite well when I was in Thailand - I'd eat half of one in the morning to get me through training before we went out as a group for breakfast.

Soy Chai Latte "Lärabars"
Adapted from Enlightened Cooking
Makes 4 bars

• 1 cup (250 mL, ~140 g) dates, coarsely chopped
  
• ⅓ cup (85 mL) roasted soybeans*
  
• ⅓ cup (85 mL) raw, unblanched almonds
  
• A pinch each of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves and nutmeg
  

1. In a food processor or blender (I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to make this recipe with my Magic Bullet), blend dates until they become a paste. Scrape into a medium-sized bowl.
   
2. Pulse soybeans and almonds in food processor/blender (you don’t have to wash the container beforehand) until finely chopped. Add nuts and spices into bowl with dates. Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste – don’t worry about it being sticky; the nuts will take care of that. In fact, when it starts getting sticky that means you are almost done.
   
3. Split mixture into four parts and wrap in plastic wrap. Shape mixture into rectangular bars in the plastic wrap, if desired. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to solidify – it’s best to keep these in the refrigerator to retain their freshness.
   

Nutrition Info (per bar): 234 calories, 9 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 34 g carbohydrate (6 g fibre, 23 g sugar), 9 g protein, 2 mg sodium. An excellent source of potassium and manganese. A good source of phosphorus, magnesium and copper.

*To roast your own soybeans, buy some dried soybeans. (You will need 45-50 g for this recipe.) Cover in water (water should come up at least 2-3 inches above beans) and soak for 8-12 hours. Drain the beans and blot with paper towel to remove excess moisture. Spread beans in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in oven preheated to 350°F. After 15 minutes, stir the beans, then stir every 5 minutes until they become golden brown (about 30 minutes). Use in recipes or toss them with your favourite spices and snack on them as a low-fat, high-protein alternative to nuts! They store for up to 4 weeks at room temperature and much longer in the fridge.

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Things Byron ate six weeks ago - Part Five: Tying all the loose ends

I don't have a good picture of "tying loose ends", so I'm just going to show you a picture of Thailand.
We've spent the past little bit talking about things Byron can do to make his diet healthier - not eating as many meals out/preparing more meals at home, eating breakfast, and not drinking as much calorie-containing beverages/drinking more water. As it currently stands, Byron often takes in more calories, fat, saturated fat, alcohol and sodium, and less fibre than the current recommendations. Byron's sugar intake is pretty high too, but there are no set guidelines for sugar intake because it is difficult to differentiate between added and naturally-occurring sugars.

I can see why there isn't really a sense of urgency for Byron to change - He is at a healthy weight and since I don't think he's had a check-up recently (bad), I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that his bloodwork looks good and that his blood pressure is normal.

But this stuff can creep up on you - our metabolism naturally slows with aging, and although the calories are not packing on the pounds now, they can in the future. Similarly, Byron's blood pressure may also be normal now (I don't know) but if he continues to take in so much sodium and stress his body by drinking caffeine, not getting a lot of sleep and working a high-stress job, he's more than likely to become hypertensive. High blood pressure directly increases your risk of stroke, but it can indirectly increase your risk of other cardiovascular events as it makes your blood vessels more susceptible to inflammation and damage caused by LDL ("bad" cholesterol). What increases your cholesterol? A diet high in saturated fats and lack of exercise, essentially. High intake of refined carbs and alcohol raises triglycerides, which have a similar effect to cholesterol in plaque formation. Alcohol also directly causes damage to the liver.

Increasing fibre intake by eating more whole grains, vegetables and fruit not only keeps things moving in the digestive system, but soluble fibre (the kind of fibre you find in oats, barley, psyllium and most fruits) also has the effect of lowering cholesterol. It does this by capturing bile and excreting out of the body, forcing the body to use the cholesterol in our blood to make more. Whole grains, vegetables and fruit also impart other health benefits by being a source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals.

Even though the damage may be undetectable by the standards we have today, that does not mean that the damage isn't happening, and it's certainly a good idea to make the good lifestyle changes now before you're on dozens of medications for different conditions and wondering if you'll ever be able to get off of them.

Change is hard. Dietary change is especially hard, because the instant gratification of a Bacon Cheeseburger at Five Guys or the time savings from grabbing "breakfast" at Starbucks (or not eating breakfast at all) is so much more tangible than the benefits of eating a healthy diet. I mean, you're not going to be gripping at your chest when you're in your 80s thinking, "Man, I'm so glad this is happening now instead of when I was 70!"

Completely overhauling your diet is overwhelming. The bad habits you have might have been ingrained for years and years. I don't expect you to change completely in a day, a week, a month or even a year. I don't expect you to have a "perfect" diet (because it doesn't exist). Even if you choose one teeny, tiny thing to focus on until you are comfortable with it and ready to take on the next thing, that's great! Eventually, you will find your own reasons to continuing changing/maintaining a healthy diet - yes, nutrition is about preventing disease and helping us live longer, but more importantly, it's about making sure we can get the most out of life while we are still living.

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Things Byron ate five weeks ago - Part Four: It's not just what you eat...

...It's also what you drink. After the last two parts of this project, I figure I should refer more to what Byron actually ate as opposed to the general recommendations (though based on some Facebook "likes" I'm thinking people do like reading the general stuff, n'est-ce pas?) so I put my mathemadietitian skills to work and made another chart to try to illustrate how much Byron drinks:

Most of Byron's calories come from solid foods (he's still got all his teeth, after all), but you see that the alcohol quickly adds up - throughout the week, his alcohol intake (I included mixed drinks) made up of 16% of his total calorie intake that week. Add in the Grande Caramel Macchiatos, Vitamin Waters, Arizona Iced Teas and pop, and you find that Byron got 30.5% of his calories from liquids!

The association between alcohol and mortality is a J-shaped curve, meaning that studies that measure how much and how often people drink compared to when they die show that moderate drinkers live longer than non-drinkers. Moderate drinking has a very narrow definition - two drinks per day if you are male, and one drink per day if you are female. A drink is defined as 12 oz beer (the size of a bottle - I've seen "pints" range from the actual 16 oz up to 20 oz), 5 oz wine or 1.5 oz spirits. These drinks need to be spread out - you can't not drink for a week and then have 14 drinks in one night.

Alcohol actually supplies 7 calories per gram (vs. 4 kcal/g for carbs and protein and 9 kcal/g for fat) so the calories can add up quickly within itself, but then you also have to add the calories (mainly sugar and other carbs) from beer and wine itself, or some of the mixers you use. Since alcohol is metabolized differently from carbs, protein and fat, it doesn't supply energy in the same way that those macronutrients do (I won't explain the science here, but if you think about it, how many people have the energy to run around or do work that requires a lot of thinking after a night of drinking?) Excessive alcohol consumption has a lot of short- and long-term negative effects - it dehydrates you, it can damage the cells in your liver and your brain, it increases your triglyceride levels (thereby increasing your heart disease risk) and it can affect the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals. If you aren't eating well already, drinking only makes it more difficult for you to meet your needs.

Non-alcoholic drinks aren't that much better - we know this because soft drinks take the hit for the obesity epidemic all the time! Byron drinks a lot of Arizona Iced Tea and Vitamin [Sugar] Water, both of which get virtually all their calories from sugar! Sugar Stacks has a nice visual of how much sugar is in a bottle of Vitamin Water, which works out to just short of 3 tbsp. You think that's bad? Look at the photo of how much sugar is in a can of Arizona Iced Tea - 18 sugar cubes! That's 3/8 of a cup of sugar! That's... kinda gross.

The reason why sugary beverages are often referred to as "empty calories" is because they don't provide you with any nutrients other than sugar. Dates, for example, are quite high in sugar as well, but they're also packed with fibre, potassium, B vitamins, and the like. You could argue that Vitamin Water has a lot of vitamins, but you can easily get them from sources that aren't as high in sugar/calories, and who's to say we've discovered all the beneficial compounds in food already? It's much better to get all your nutrients from food as opposed to synthetic vitamins as there are probably lots of antioxidants, phytonutrients and other beneficial compounds that we haven't discovered yet to know to add to these food-like products.

Another reason why liquid calories can be considered "empty" is because they don't fill you up the same way that solids do. Think about it - you feel equally full at a meal whether you drink a bottle of water or a bottle of Vitamin Water. The difference is that the Vitamin Water has added another 120 calories.

That is why liquids don't make good snacks or breakfasts. While the protein from the milk in a grande Caramel Macchiato can be more filling than sugar water (fibre also helps fill you up too - that's why I think fruit smoothies made with fruit (not juice), milk and/or yogurt can be acceptable), Byron's coffee habit still costs him 240 calories and about 4 tsp of added sugar every morning, (Thanks Nutrition Action!) and not a lot nutrient-wise. Byron could save 50 calories and 3.5 g of saturated fat by asking for nonfat milk, but wouldn't it be better to spend those 240 calories on a breakfast like a slice of whole-grain toast (95 kcal) with a tbsp of peanut butter (also 95 kcal), half a banana or an apple (~50 kcal) and a glass of water? It would certainly be more filling, and you'd get a lot more nutrients as well.

So where does that leave us? Keeping hydrated is important as it plays a role in a lot of our body's functions and water should be the beverage of choice. There is no scientifically determined recommendation for fluids; the adequate intake (AI) established in the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) is based on the consumption of the "average, healthy" population and recommends 2.7 L/day for most adult women and 3.7 L/day for most adult men. Keep in mind that this number includes all dietary sources of water/fluids, including tea, coffee, juice, pop, milk, soups and even moisture in our foods! The best way to tell whether you are drinking adequately is if you urinate a reasonable volume, and your urine is clear or lemon juice-coloured. Note that some supplements may change the colour of your pee - you know your body best! I know even I struggle with getting enough water sometimes (which is why it is one of my new year's resolutions), so here are some tips that you may find helpful:

• Some people find having a water bottle with them at all times is helpful. I find that I just end up carrying it around and not drinking from it. At work, I always have a glass of water on my desk and I do drink from it. Even switching from a stainless steel bottle to a clear, BPA-free plastic bottle can make a difference.
  
• Add flavour by throwing in a slice of lemon (or other citrus), cucumber or frozen berries. I would shy away from products like Crystal Light, as the long-term effects of artificial sweeteners are as yet unknown... and I don't like the taste.
  
• Set goals. My current goal is to drink at least 48 oz of water per day, but for some people their goal might be to have a glass of water at every meal, or increase their intake by one glass for a month before adding another glass.

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Things Byron ate five weeks ago - Part Three: What's for breakfast?

Coffee alone is not breakfast.
We learn from childhood that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet I see so many adults (including Byron... and B.) come up with a myriad of excuses to justify the fact that they either not eat it at all, or have something that really doesn't measure up to being part of the most important meal of the day. So first, I'm going to take you back to elementary school to remind you why breakfast is the most important meal of the day, then I will refute some of the more common excuses.

We all know breakfast is named as such because you are breaking the "fast" between your last meal/snack of the day and your first meal/snack the next day. Eating something in the morning is important for several reasons:

1) It keeps your hunger from building up so much during the day that when you finally eat your first meal at around lunch time, you eat more food than is necessary much faster than is necessary. You will also be more likely to crave unhealthier options that are high in fat and sugar.

2) It keeps your metabolism going - when there is an extra-long period between meals, our body will slow down our metabolism as a survival mechanism; it goes back to the caveman days when food was scarce and our body adapted to that by keeping us from wasting away before more food became available.

3) It provides you with fuel for your day - we associate "activity" with physical activity so much that we forget that our mental/brain activity requires energy and nutrients as well. Skipping breakfast can make you feel physically tired, but it can also affect your mood, memory and ability to concentrate as well. These can all impact your performance at work and how well your day goes in general.

4) Last, but certainly not least, it provides you with an opportunity to get the nutrients you need! While most of us seem to have no trouble at all meeting or exceeding our calorie needs, we are doing it with foods that are not particularly nutrient dense. As in, we are not getting all the vitamins and minerals we need. Eating a healthy, balanced breakfast (I always say you want to aim for at least 3 out of the 4 food groups per meal) gives you an opportunity to fill up on foods that are good sources of vitamins and minerals, so that when lunch time rolls around you aren't craving those nutritionally empty foods and ready for another healthy, balanced meal.

And now, for some of your favourite excuses...

"I'm not hungry in the morning."
While our bodies are very complex and sophisticated machines, sometimes they're not very good at telling us what we need because, ironically, it can get in the way of survival. Think about it - back when food was scarce, how effective of a hunter/gatherer would you be if your stomach was growling and you felt lightheaded every time your intake dipped below what your body needed? You'd be laying in bed feeling sick instead of going out there and spearing gazelles! Fast forward to modern times, for those who haven't eaten breakfast in years, (some since childhood - yikes!) your body has entered into this "starvation" mode and your metabolism has slowed, allowing you to not feel hungry even though your body needs food. So, even if you're not hungry, start with something small in the morning, like a piece of fruit, a container of yogurt or a slice of toast, and eventually, your body will recognize that food isn't scarce and you will wake up hungry enough to eat all of those things at once.

"I don't have time for breakfast."
Ahh, the things that we will sacrifice just for those extra few minutes of sleep. What are you doing with all your time anyway? Although I know some of us can't help with our work commitments, I'm sure more than a few of us are just staying up late and reading blogs. *cough*Vincci*cough* But isn't it funny how we have time for lunch and for supper when breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Maybe you might need to rethink your priorities - shut off the computer a little earlier, leave your assignment (if time permits) until you've gotten some sleep and your head is clear and/or don't spend so much time on your hair/makeup in the morning (the messy look is in!) and make some time for breakfast instead.

I'm not one of those anal people who believe that you need to eat your breakfast within 30-60 minutes after waking. While that would be optimal, if you're someone who doesn't eat breakfast at all, eating something at a reasonable time before lunch (i.e. a snack 30 minutes before lunch is not breakfast) is fine. If you are someone who is rushing out the door in the morning, you might want to have a piece of fruit on your way out, and then round out the meal when you're more settled in at work. And if you have time to stop for a Grande Caramel Macchiato, you have time to get food as well. Swap your grande for a tall (or a short) to make room (both calorie-wise and stomach-wise) and get some solid food to eat (more on that in the next entry) Of course, Starbucks doesn't have all the best choices, but there are a few diamonds in the rough - their Perfect Oatmeal is good, and you can top it with dried fruit and/or nuts (skip the brown sugar though), their snack plates aren't bad (though high in sodium - don't use the salt and skip out on a few slices of cheese) either. I hesitate to recommend their yogurt parfaits though, because they're loaded with sugar (32-39 g per cup? I know some of it is lactose, but there's got to be at least 2 tbsp of added sugar in there).

"I don't like breakfast food."
It wasn't until university when I finally started falling in love with foods like toast, eggs, yogurt and milk. (I also went through a ridiculous instant oatmeal phase in first year - still have trouble with the real stuff though.) Growing up, I ate a lot of leftovers for breakfast (now I save them for lunch) and sometimes soup or noodles. The point is, you don't have to eat "breakfast food" for breakfast, and some people find it helps them make better choices too (leftovers from a balanced supper instead of sugary cereal). The most important thing is to eat something (!) especially if you've been in the habit of not eating anything - talking about the specific food choices (like squeezing in at least 3 of the 4 food groups) can come after.

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Things Byron ate five weeks ago - Part Two: What's in your fridge?

...In Byron's case, I'm guessing nothing. Although it admittedly made the project easier as the nutrition info was easy to find, the fact that Byron ate/eats virtually all his meals out is reflected in the excessive number of calories - on average, he ate 400 calories more than his estimated needs! Given that a pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories, theoretically Byron should be gaining a pound every nine days! Meals prepared away from home also tend to be higher in sodium (On Day 1, Byron ate half a week's worth of the maximum sodium recommended in a day - the requirement is actually 1500 mg), fat and sugar, and lower in fibre.

In my regular practice, I see a lot of clients who go out for lunch everyday, but they argue that "it's ok" because they never have fast food. So what? Just because you're at a sit-down restaurant doesn't make the food any healthier. Restaurants don't attract business by looking out for our health - it's mostly about taste. While it is possible to make healthy dishes that also taste good, sadly it is generally easier and cheaper to make things taste better by loading it up with fat, sugar and/or salt. The second part of the equation is value - people like the idea of seeing that they can get lots of food with their money and as a result, portion sizes have increased steadily over the years to the point where the average restaurant entree contains around 1000 calories! Another way many restaurants deliver "value" to their customers is to buy processed foods, which helps them save money and the extra time that is sometimes necessary to prepare fresh ingredients.

Some of my clients have argued that even if they did cook at home, they would make the same dishes that they would order at the restaurant anyway. In a way, this does make sense; restaurants have affected the way we eat at home as well. When we see what/how much we are served when we eat away from home, it becomes "normal" to serve ourselves 3-4 cups of pasta (i.e. a day's worth of grains) in one sitting, or a large steak the size of a person's face with a fistful of vegetables as an afterthought. Brian Wansink did a study surveying 16 recipes in The Joy of Cooking over the past 70 years, and found that the calories per serving increased by an average of 63% while the serving sizes themselves increased by about 35%.

However, when you cook for yourself, even if it's something as simple as making a sandwich or throwing together a salad, you are in control of how much you serve yourself (you can "trick" yourself into serving less by using smaller plates and bowls) and what's in your food. Making simple tweaks like changing the proportion of vegetables to meat at your meals, switching to whole grain breads and pastas, buying real parmesan cheese instead of the stuff in the plastic bottle, or not buttering the bread when making a sandwich will already make your meals healthier than those at restaurants. Also, restaurants often have access to ingredients and use techniques that home cooks would never dream of. When I was in high school, I used to work for a fast food restaurant where the "grilled chicken breast" that went on the salads came in giant plastic bags of cubed chicken that were probably loaded with salt! Another example I heard of at a conference once was a professor was speaking about looking at nutrition info for an order of chicken fajitas at a restaurant, which most people perceive as a healthy choice - grilled chicken, lots of vegetables, flour tortillas (ok, not so good, but that's not the point) - but it ended up being almost 1000 calories per order. How could this be? One student raised their hand and said that they worked at the restaurant and the reason why the calories were so high was while the chicken was on the grill, it was constantly being basted/brushed with butter - something a home cook would probably never do.

I'm not asking you to turn into a gourmet chef - for many this is not realistic from a time and/or skill standpoint, but even if you choose one meal a day (heck, even one meal a week for some) to prepare at home, using the money you save by not going out to buy high-quality, fresh ingredients and preparing a simple recipe (yes, even sandwiches and salads count) can make a difference to your health. And as this becomes a habit and you prepare more of your meals at home, soon restaurant meals won't even taste as good because the food is too salty or greasy or whatever it is, and you know that you can make it better anyway.

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