While Katelyn was here for the holidays 2023 she took the opportunity to clean out my "snack cabinet", pantry and refrigerator. I think she actually looked forward to it, although the boys remember when she threw out all their favorite snacks on a prior visit and were dreading it. We instituted a new process, she would put everything she wanted to throw out on the counter and we all got "veto power". This year I actually took photos and notes because I am determined to eat more healthily and figured I might as well take advantage of the "live" resource provided by my daughter. So now I'm sharing that with you!
Katelyn is good at making suggestions without being overbearing. I think her advice can mainly be boiled down to two things: less sugar and less processed food. But in case it helps here are some specific examples:
She began her "less sugar" campaign as she was grocery shopping for us earlier in the visit. I had put "Snapple Peach Iced Tea" on the list, knowing that it's high in sugar but considering it a treat. Katelyn asked if I would mind if she found an alternative, and she did! It's called "Just Ice Tea" and she bought me a mango white tea flavor. I love it, so now I have a new "treat" drink! It has 16 grams of sugar compared to 40 in Snapple, and 60 calories compared to 160.
As she went through the cabinet, she not only got rid of stuff that was stale or old, but she organized what's left. On the bottom shelf are cereals, the next shelf are nuts and snack bars, and on the top are crackers. Honestly, I don't eat cereal very often but others in the house do, and we only use snack bars for quick "out the door" snacks or to keep in the hiking backpack, but we do keep these things on hand and as Katelyn said of the unhealthy options "if it's not in the house, you won't eat it".
I still remember when Brian was little, Rick and I took a lunchtime seminar offered at FICO on healthy eating, and I was shocked to learn that crackers weren't healthy! Here I had been feeding them to my 2 year old thinking it was a good thing. I still remember the nutritionist saying that if we wanted to keep crackers in the house they should be the "akmak" brand. But do I have them in the cupboard? No! I should, but instead get in the habit of buying Wheat Thins and Triscuits. Guess I need to brush-up on the learning from that long-ago seminar.
Katelyn mostly tossed out cereals from the snack cabinet, with the agreement that we would buy healthier crackers in the future. We had been doing a pretty good job buying snack bars based on her earlier guidance (Lara bars and RX bars are her preferred brands). The cereals she tossed were those that were high in sugar, and that no one objected to. We kept one sugary cereal that is a favorite, and the rest are healthier granolas or Cheerios.
One other things she spotted in the snack cabinet was Turkey Jerky, which I had just purchased at Costco. I was proud of myself for having an alternative protein source and buying turkey vs. beef jerky, but she pointed out that they put a lot of sugar in that particular brand, so I guess it's not just what type of meat I should be paying attention to. There's actually a full tablespoon of sugar in each serving! Since I hadn't yet opened the package, I decided to return it, thus begun the Costco return pile.
The pantry is where she came into her own, and really went to town putting foods on the counter. Of course, she was horrified by the amount of sugar I had in the pantry (partly because I have multiple bags of brown and powdered sugar (gotta make sure not to run out in the middle of making cookies or frosting a cake), and I had bought a large bag of sugar in preparation for making jam again). But she knows I love to bake and share baked goods, so she gave me a pass on that. But the learning from other things is definitely worth sharing.
One of the first things she spotted was the multiple packets of orange chicken sauce and lettuce wrap sauce. We like a brand called Lee Kum Kee, but sometimes can't find it in the stores, so we had mail-ordered it and had 8 packages of each! I guess that caught her eye. Anyway, she correctly pointed out that it's half sugar and the other half water (literally the first two ingredients). I thought she would direct me to a recipe to make it ourselves, which would definitely be healthier, but she also had another solution. She suggested we shop for it at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods or Sprouts, and buy the brand they stock there. She said they 've already done the work to find healthier versions of these things, so we should just take advantage of that.
She didn't really like the fact that I keep Campbell's soup such as cream of chicken on hand, but I pointed out that I use it in recipes so I guess that's OK. We don't eat many canned soups but if we did I'd guess we should be buying brands such as Amy's vs. less healthy versions.
One of the things Katelyn "busted us" on was prepared cake mixes. Rick and the boys love spice cake, and since it's not always in stock Rick tends to buy it whenever he sees it. I think we had six boxes! Plus a couple of other mixes that I had bought on impulse but we didn't really need. I much prefer to bake from scratch. So those went into the food pantry donation bag. Someone else will love them!
Katelyn also educated us on the brands of salad dressing, canned chili, and onion soup mix, pointing out that the number of ingredients on these are downright scary and if we wanted them in the house, there are much healthier options or we can make them from scratch. She also shared her favorite brand of chocolate bar, so I'll have to try that next time I'm craving chocolate.
Based on my learning so far, I added to the Costco return pile some impulse buys which we didn't really need and hadn't yet opened. Ghirardelli Brownie mix and Red Lobster Biscuit Mix, microwavable cooked white rice in single serving containers all got returned. Not only did it save us the calories and carbs, but we saved money!
In the fridge, she pulled out my maple flavored "Brown Cow" yogurt, which I had been buying myself "as a treat". She pointed out that the amount of sugar in it basically qualifies it as a dessert, and that I really should only eat half at that. I knew that, in fact when I met with a nutritionist during my pregnancy with Ethan after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, she pointed out that this brand was high in sugar and that's what got me started eating Fage plain greek yogurt. I guess I was starting to fall off the wagon, time to get back on! The good news is Austin loves Fage, and when I tried to feed him sweetened yogurt he didn't want it! For reference, Katelyn suggested an alternative brand called Icelandic Provisions, which makes a yogurt called "Skyr". It has 15 grams of protein and 10 grams of sugar, compared to the Brown Cow which has 5 grams of protein and 16 grams of sugar. If you can stomach plain yogurt, Fage 0% fat has 18 grams of protein and 5 grams of sugar (none added). I eat it with berries and I'm perfectly happy! I am constantly reminded that it's all about habits, and what you buy and keep in the house. It's a lot easier to eat healthy if that's what you find in your cupboard and fridge.
One lesson I remember from my weight watcher days was that if you're going to have a treat, it should be a quality treat. The saying I remember was "don't eat Safeway cake", which makes total sense, if you're going to eat cake it should be GOOD cake. This was brought home in this exercise because I had purchased some homemade jams and sauces from a local woman who owns a store called "Lala's Jams", and one of the things I had bought was some salted caramel sauce. We had that in the fridge, alongside the storebought brand that someone else purchase. I was able to convince the family to toss the less-high-quality caramel sauce. If we're going to eat treats, they should be high quality!
As a wrap up for this exercise, Katelyn scrutinized the bread in my breadbox and the lunchmeats we had on hand. My favorite bread brands, Milton's and Dave's Killer Bread, both got the "thumbs down" based on the amount of sugar and other ingredients. Katelyn has recently become a big fan of sourdough bread, so suggested that if we're going to buy packaged bread. Alternatively, buying bread at a bakery and/or making it ourselves are good approaches, and she suggested limiting it to one serving a day. That's pretty easy to implement, if I have toast for breakfast, no sandwich for lunch. If we don't use it fast enough, she suggested slicing it and freezing it, then thawing as needed.
On the lunchmeat front, she just read the label and based her recommendation on the amount of weird ingredients. So simple, yet poor eyesight and pure laziness had me not taking that extra step. Time to start carrying eyeglasses at the grocery store!
In addition to having a daughter who is willing to share her knowledge, I have done a lot of reading on the topic of healthy eating. Two of my favorite books are below.
The "Eat to Live" book was recommended by my doctor, and the "Master your Metabolism" was picked up at the library
book sale, so while it's dated it contains a detailed explanation of how hormones affect your metabolism. I remember things better when I take notes, so I need to go back and reread the notes I took while reading those books to bolster my new resolve. Last but not least, I just started a program called Zoe.com, which provides a personalized nutrition plan based on your gut health and blood sugars. Hopefully, by this time next year I'll feel even better and be lighter, literally!
Happy 2024!
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