Thursday, July 17, 2008

Breakfast : Protein & Fruit

By popular request ... truly! People have asked for help to eat the way we do. Wow.
... And said, Oh thank you ... and That would be wonderful ...
when I have said I will work on it soon.

The first year we were married, we had dinner every morning before work ... our big meal of the day ... like meat and vegetables, etc. And smaller meals at noon and in the evening. Very healthy. We remember now being concerned about weight, and reasoning that a big meal at the beginning of the day was better. But we didn't keep that up after the first year. I have read that there are people who do this ... but .... anyway ...

We still have protein to start our day. Two eggs**(see egg paragraph near the end of this post), cooked in about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of macadamia oil (I have found that it sticks less for me) and 1/8 teaspoon of butter for flavor. Those measurements are per serving. Pepper to taste, and salt if no blood pressure issues.
No bacon, sausage or sausage links in our breakfast.
Maybe you have one egg a day.
This plate was my mother's. She was just a bit more traditional than I am, but I appreciate the things I have that were hers.

These are the kinds of oatmeal we use. The "Holly and the Ivy" bowl was a gift from family. I love using it year round. The oatmeal is cooked with about a tablespoon of flame raisins and a tablespoon of dried cranberries per serving.

Don decorates his oatmeal with marvelous fruit and berries ... and walnuts, the nuts with omega 3.
These are some of the supplements and vitamins I take. Don takes many more, of course, because he is targeting myeloma. Any antioxidants are probably worth considering. Check the internet; discuss it with an ND (naturopathic doctor).
No time in the morning for cooking eggs? You can hard cook (not hard boil) eggs ahead of time and they will keep in the refrigerator for several days. Many cookbooks and the internet have instructions.

Low fat or non fat cottage cheese or yogurt is another possibility for protein. A cold piece of last night's left-over meat (not processed meat, of course) is another possibility.
Here are other fruit choices. Watermelon can be good for breakfast. We are finding that filling our meals and our lives with fruit leaves little room for junk.

If you eat bagels, pastries, hamburger buns, candy bars, bags of chips, think about substituting a cup of blueberries, half a grapefruit, an orange, an apple, a banana.

Nearly everything we eat either contributes to health or has some negative effect. Now that Don is eating to fight myeloma (and to be a runner!) that seems clear to me.

RUNNERS: need to eat protein and carbs within an hour after running or working out. Whole fresh fruit is great; that's why they have bananas for post-race food. It is helpful to think of fruit and bread and cereal and carb vegetables ... being the carb group. The idea of bread and cereal being a separate group may have been contrived by the food industry when they were designing the first food pyramid, around the time of the beginning of the obesity epidemic.
Note: Sugar is not a nutrient.
Running AND good eating is a lot to fit in before getting to a job in the morning: I hear you... and my best wishes are with you to keep moving toward both.

PEOPLE LIVING WITH MYELOMA: healthy eating (essentially a diabetic diet) may help in this life-and-death way of life.
As for aerobic activity, all of Don's doctor's have strongly encouraged his continuing to run: "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it!"

GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE: everything we do to eat a little better, every effort to be active, every positive change really does make a difference in health. I like to think of it as a journey.

Part of the journey for us may mean finding ways to include herbs and spices in breakfast: cinnamon (moderates blood sugar) in the oatmeal, a Denver omelet or salsa with scrambled eggs (for antioxidants.) Thanks to Margaret, I will add: .. thinking about turmeric, curry spices for the eggs ... perhaps a splendid weekend breakfast of eggs and curried fruit?

** What about eggs?? My HDL (good stuff) has always been too low .. until this spring when it was actually above the desirable range (Yea!), and the LDL was fabulous. What had I been doing? Running, a little resistance training, eating lots of good fats: nuts, avocadoes, salmon, olives, olive oil ... and 2 eggs for breakfast every morning.
Also lots of fruit, melon, and berries, vegetables ... and no wheat, no gluten, no processed meat.
And, of course, the vitamins and supplements pictured above. The vitamin D3 (2,000 units) and the curcumin were probably additions since the last blood test.
Eight years and pre-Weight Watchers, I weighed 20 pounds more than I do now.
I am 5'3 1/2 and wish I weighed 15 pounds less.. which would be 123, but my blood is beautiful, and sometimes I get age group awards.

OUR RUNNING THIS WEEK: Hot humid days are a little easier for Sweet Pea and me on the indoor track, air-conditioned, but still humid. We are working on getting our miles in this week.

16 comments:

Margaret said...

I don't know if I could EVER eat pork chops for breakfast (or at any other time of the day, now that I think about it! ;-)), but I loved the photos and this post. Very wise advice in every corner of it, methinks.
By the way, turmeric goes very well with omelettes, for instance a potato one. Speaking of omelettes, do you have two eggs every day?! Wowie!
Margaret
Florence, Italy

Sunshine said...

Oh Margaret!
I cherish your comments.. thanks.
I deleted the pork chops and rewrote that paragraph a bit. No point in turning people off.
Yes, two eggs every day. Just can't pass up all the nutrients in egg yolks.
I put some spices in my hopeful journey at the end.
Anyway, Thank you Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sunshine! Great Food Choices! I was out your way in April running the Earth Day Half Marathon in St.Cloud, MN! Now I'm training for the NYC full- and my diet is in need of a makeover. Good Work!

Amytrigirl (aka Amybee) said...

yummy. Yummy. YUMMY.

Unknown said...

I love the food choices, but I wonder what I would do if I had to eat like that. Sadly, I cannot eat tree nute due to allergies.

Sunshine said...

Allergies and food sensitivities certainly do shape our lifestyle and our eating. Good to use the ideas that work for you and ignore the ones that don't!

Elaine Merrill said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Elaine Merrill said...

Love reading about your food. It's a way of eating to aspire to!

Sunshine said...

Appreciating your kind support!

Michelle said...

I like protein and carbs at breakfast too. Eggs would be better than my way, which is cereal high in protein. Great job on the weight loss!! Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

Sunshine said...

Michelle
We are impressed with your WW accomplishment!!
Seems like your high protein cereal with a little milk (dairy or soy or yogurt) and a fresh raw fruit would be a good start for the day.

Sunshine said...

PS to Michelle: Or, yes, add an egg, too?

jeanne said...

well you've certainly chosen the right oatmeal!!
--jeanne McCann
:)

Cyberpenguin said...

Yum! Those pictures of fruit & cereal are making me hungry. ;-)

Like you, I also eat high-protein, fruit-filled breakfasts. If you're interesting in getting more healthy ideas for meals, you're welcome to check out my cooking & running blogs. (I talk a lot about nutrition & healthy meal ideas on both sites.)

I really like your blog, & have subscribed. You're a very immediate writer, & I love how you describe your thoughts & experiences.

Hope you are having a wonderful afternoon!

-C

Cyberpenguin said...

BTW, on a completely unrelated note, I'd like to encourage more ladies to join with me & other women & take the Hundred Pushups Challenge. You sound like you're made of the stuff to take this challenge, so how about joining us?! All you have to do is visit the Hundred Pushups website (go to the "Take the Challenge" page) & let my pal, Cymrusteve know (via email) that you'd like to be added to the list.

Once you've joined, then you can either email me or comment anywhere on my blog that you're doing the program, & I'll add you to the "Hundred Pushups Queens" club. You'll have bragging rights that you one of the strong, brave ladies doing the pushups challenge, & you'll also get top billing (i.e., your name & blog "in lights" at the upper left corner of my blog).

I'd also like to invite the female readers of your blog to join with us in the challenge become members of the "Hundred Pushups Queens." (The goal is to get to atleast 100 strong!) So c'mon, ladies, what are you waiting for?!

Have a good weekend,
-C

rocketpants said...

It all looks so beautiful...all the fruit. I have slowly moved into eating much more fruit over the past year and it does make a difference as well as eating healthy breads and yoghurts.