So I'm trying to eliminate most processed foods from my diet - any advice

[LynneSin]

man it's hard, processed foods are like a fricking addiction. I've added more fruits & veggies to my diet and no, I'm not giving up meat. I just want to elimate foods that are overly processed like white bread, junk food, fast food, etc.

DOes anyone have any advice or suggestions for getting rid of the cravings and the dull, foggy headaches that I'm getting!

[Spinzonner]

1. Become a ruminant

[matcom]

2. my advice

get a bucket of KFC STAT!

[LynneSin]

3. eeewwww - I haven't had KFC like in 10 years

:puke:

Fortunately fast food is not my downfall

[matcom]

5. can i interest you in a

Ham & Cheese Hot Pocket?

[LynneSin]

6. I don't really eat those things either

sorry, you're not doing a good job.

[madmom]

4. Trace element chromium supplement...

will help get rid of cravings esp. chocolate.As for meat try buffalo instead of beef you might be surprised.Cook it like pork low and slow.

[LynneSin]

7. The only meat I really eat is Chicken, Fish or Turkey

at least on a regular basis. I'll do pork or venison from time to time but rarely more than 1-2 a month

[StuckinBFE]

18. buffalo is so good, I agree do not cook it to fast and it is great for

burgers. Also try to get more game meet I think the flavor is better and the meet is probably better for you too.

[LynzM]

8. A couple good books:

Whole Foods for the Whole Family and .... I can't remember the name of the other one on my counter. I'll find it for you tonight.

If you go to Amazon and search on 'whole foods', you'll find a lot of good books, with ratings and commentary, which could probably help you get started.

In terms of cravings, have a piece of fruit in place of something sugary or caffeinated. It will have much the same effect! :) Good luck to you, it's a good thing to do for yourself!

[Mizmoon]

9. I like to make my own bread

make the dough in the bread machine then let it rise and bake in the oven. It's so good to know exactly what went into your bread.

If you're very serious try hydroponic gardening. Some people really do use it to grow lettuce :)

[Radio_Lady]

10. Have you been to this web site?

http://www.goveg.com/
Link to left: Tasty Cooking
Go Vegetarian! The web site is wonderful.

I eat little or no meat, and am trying to do things the Japanese way -- lots of vegetables and just a hint of beef, chicken or pork. I also like white meat fish and salmon. Easy to cook with a little lemon.

I'm not cutting out anything, just working with portion control and sensible foods. Cut vegetables in a plastic container are in my fridge all the time -- celery sticks standing up in a glass of water -- carrots peeled and at the ready, cucumbers, too. (Bring a plastic fork to work.) Don't know where you live, but you might try to go to a "natural" food store and ask a lot of questions about the strange vegetables there. I'm trying to entice a Vietnamese woman from our 24 Hour Fitness center to go with me to an Asian grocery to see what they have.

Try arugula (also known as rocket or rouquette) in with your greens.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/arugula.htm

It's a delicious, spicy green vegetable you can grow easily or buy at the store. I use it in salads all the time. If you were here, I'd give you a bunch.

As for the cravings and headaches, perhaps you are in perimenopause (or already in menopause?). Lots of women struggle with these symptoms -- I did and sometimes still do. You might also try reading the information at:

http://www.womentowomen.com

Look around the site, and take their test. It's interesting, if nothing else.

It's a group of women doctors located in Portland, Maine. You can call their 800 number at no charge. They were affiliated with Dr. Christiane Northrup, but she is now lecturing in connection with her book. I'm trying their FREE money-back guarantee nutrition program.

Much love and luck!

In peace,

Radio Lady

[CitrusLib]

11. Ride it out. It's like quitting smoking.

I gave up processed foods (OK, I fall off the wagon from time to time) about a year and a half ago. The first six days of 'detox' were killer. I just knew my husband was going to come home and find me face down in a bag of oreos with a bottle of wine beside me. I will not lie to you, it was tough.

However, an odd thing happened. On day 7, I woke up feeling awesome. I wasn't craving crap and I didn't have the 2:30pm energy dip I normally had. I felt on an even keel all day long.

The longer I went without processed food and refined sugar, the easier it got and the more the cravings went away.

Here's the kicker. I started this at the beginning of December. Not really the best time to lay off sugar.

End result, I dropped 40 pounds, went from a size 14 to a size 6 and feel so much better. Good luck to you!

[Radio_Lady]

14. Wow, CitrusLib! You give me hope! Have you seen this week's

issue of People magazine? People who are now HALF THEIR SIZE, doing what you did with no bariatric surgery.

If you can do it, so can I. I'm planning to return for my 50th High School Reunion next year -- that's a motivator!

This, too, from my archives at age 15 --

[CitrusLib]

25. What an awesome photo. You look like a movie star.

Where was that picture taken?

I actually got started on my path to better eating (hate to call it a diet, LOL) through my best friend. About two years ago, she started raving about this book called 'The South Beach Diet'. :) (She's usually ahead of the curve when it comes to fashionable trends).

I read the book and it made perfect sense to me. It's really not about 'no carb' or 'low carb' it's about good carbs and eating healthy. I will say that I did not follow the recommended menus or portion sizes. 30 pistachios? Come on, I can eat 3x that without blinking. :9

I just went off the recommended foods list and mixed and matched to come up with my own recipes. I eat a lot of chicken, shrimp or salmon ceasar salads for lunch. Today, I'm having tuna salad (made with ceasar dressing, not mayo) on scooped out cucumber halves topped with roasted red pepper slices. Very quick and easy to make. Dinner is usually a baked or grilled meat, fresh veggies or a side salad.

If someone insists on going to a fast food restaurant, make it Wendy's. A ceasar side salad and a small chili is pretty filling, low carb and low fat. Cheap to boot.

I actually started on South Beach to improve my blood chemistry, not to lose weight. My cholesterol was somewhere in the 230 neighborhood. Losing the weight kind of caught me off guard. It dropped very quickly (I think I lost about 10-14 pounds in the first two weeks) and then just kept on going at about a pound or two a week. I lost the 40 pounds between December 1 and Valentine's Day. The sticker on the front of the book is correct. I lost inches in the belly area first. I bought my first bikini in 20 years last weekend. :woohoo:

I think I've changed my metabolism significantly because even when I fall off the wagon and blow it out over a weekend, I don't gain that much and if I go back to 'phase 1' for a day or two, the pounds come right back off. I've maintained my current weight for 18 months.

I missed the People Magazine article, but it sounds like something I'd enjoy. Surgery sounds SO extreme!

Good luck to you and have fun at your reunion!!!

[Radio_Lady]

45. OT: The picture was taken in 1955 or 56 (not sure which) at the

Venetian Pool, Coral Gables, Florida.

Interesting coincidence. My father and mother and I (an only child) moved to Florida in the 1940s when I was three or four years old. We actually lived on Washington Avenue, just a block or two from South Beach (which was an older, run-down neighborhood then). We're hoping to stay near there at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at South Beach when we go to the reunion!

We ate lots of mangoes, papayas, oranges, and bananas in Florida. I also had acne when I was a teenager, so I stayed away from greasy foods, chocolate, cola, seafood, because they were thought to cause bad skin. I ate tons of vegetables when they came out with frozen foods. (I still hate canned foods -- too much salt, but it's the only way to get some foods.)

We had an outdoor life in Florida and I had a lot of sun exposure, unfortunately, in the 28 years I lived there. I am a brunette, with dark skin and eyes, so hopefully I won't develop melanoma (nobody knew about SPF then). We used to use Coppertone or cocoa butter creams for sun lotion. As a matter of fact, the smell of cocoa butter makes me remember my youth!

This is somebody else's beautiful tropical photo. Now we go to Hawaii to visit the sun in winter:

[LynneSin]

21. Me, I'm going to end up face down in a bag of chips & hershey minis

FOrtunately when it comes to beverages I'm pretty much a water person

[CitrusLib]

28. I've got a basket of Hershey minis on my desk right now.

It's sort of become a tradition to have the office chocolate in my space. I must be insane or a glutton for punishment. :dilemma:

[LynneSin]

36. I hate that

I mean, it's an amazing gesture but it's so fricking easy to feed the cravings when there is a bowl full of them somewhere on someone's desk. And just to go to the fricking bathroom I have to pass the thing

:grr:

[Deep13]

12. Move to India.

good luck

[demnan]

13. Try making bean salads

Beans (like chickpeas and kidney beans) make wonderful salads, have excellent nutrition, fill you up without empty calories and are easily fixed from cans (drain well).

Mix kidney beans with cut up onion, celery and tomatoes or whatever - mix with vinegar and oil and serve on a bed of lettuce. Just a touch of cumin and some salt and pepper to taste.

Also try chickpeas with tomato and avacado with a lemon juice - olive oil dressing, salt and pepper.

[Radio_Lady]

16. Yum, demnan. I love your suggestions! Have to print them and

try them today.

Thanks for the ideas! Does the DU have a recipe exchange forum? I absolutely hate to cook and just have to push myself to do it.

[demnan]

20. Thanks for that!

There is a cooking forum group, you can always check them out for good ideas.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=236

[Radio_Lady]

40. This is a fantastic place. But it's like eating peanuts and I gotta get

to my work... even though it's volunteer work and I'm not getting paid!
:-)

[Squeech]

22. I couldn't agree more

All the successful peasant cuisines in the world have a staple dish that combines grains with legumes, from red beans and rice to bean tacos to falafel sandwiches to mattar paneer to Chinese tofu dishes.

Here's an easy red beans and rice recipe I adapted out of a cookbook that was all about rice. It uses a couple of cans, which may be too close to "processed," but I like it:

1 medium/large onion
1/4 stick of butter
1 can tomato sauce
1 can red beans (the smaller Progresso size)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice

Dice the onion, saute it in the butter in a large saucepan. When it's transparent, open the can of tomato sauce and pour it in, fill the can with water and pour that in, open the can of beans and pour the liquid in. If you want to spice it, now is a good time-- spices that I think work well include oregano, rosemary, or celery seeds, and smoked ham also works nicely. Bring to a boil. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes, so the flavors can really get acquainted. Then fold in the beans and bring to a boil again. It should be just about the consistency of chili (which also means you may need to stir it continuously to keep it from scorching on the bottom). Serves two really hungry people-- more if they're not gourmands like myself, and/or if you serve it with grated cheddar on top.

On edit: the rice goes in with the tomato sauce, water and bean juice! The point is so the rice will absorb the various flavors.

[LynneSin]

35. It sounds like great advice but...

...I absolutely hate all beans except green beans/wax beans.

Even with vegetables I'm quite fussy but I figured it's better to eat tons of the same veggies over and over than to force myself (and possible waste) trying to eat veggies I can't stand. The other way I get Fruits/Veggies in me that I don't like - juicing. I make all my own juices and it does help to get stuff like Brocoli and Beets into my system.

[Felix Mala]

48. I love old-fashioned Methodist Church bean salad on a hot day.

[Eurobabe]

15. you are probably getting a candidiasis die-off reaction

diets high in refined products, sugar, etc. usually lead to candidiasis (yeast overgrowth in the gut)-- practically everyone has it to some degree. This link shows the extremes of candida, but also gives some hints about cleansing the dead yeast from our bodies.

http://www.sumeria.net/health/cadida.html

I've switched to organic meat and dairy over two years ago and it has helped greatly, plus I've lost 20 lbs. without all the additives and crap in agribusiness meat, dairy.

[grrl62]

17. addictive properties in processed food

about 5 years ago i started gradually giving up processed foods and encorporating whole foods (went veggie, now vegan). it has been a fun and exciting process b/c i have learned so much about different types of food, how to prepare them, etc.

during my transition away from processed foods i noticed that i would get these CRAVINGS. i mean serious cravings. normally i would get cravings for a particular food if i was pre-period or if i was under stress - and it is logical that people can associate a certain object/food with an emotion, but i mean cravings as in my mind was completely occupied with needing a certain junk food (pizza, cheezits, fries, burgers etc). i would plot how to obtain it.

sometimes i would break down and eat the said item and i always felt dissatisfied. the longer i went w/o processed food, the nastier it tasted when i went back to it. also, i noticed that when i would consume the item - let's say Goldfish - i could not stop eating them. even if i was full, i could not tear myself away from them. now i like apples, beans, many things, but i don't have to ask someone to forcibly take those things away from me! "cant.. put down.. the carrots.. get.. help":evilgrin:

(side note: addiction to various substances is common on both sides of my family)

i know a few other people who have made the transition and have described similar situations. i have tried to find out info on addictive properties in food and haven't come up with much. aside from a certain property of milk/dairy mimicking morphine/heroin i don't know much else. but i don't think it's a far stretch to say that marketing research is done on products to find out what people like and to get them to continue buying the product and to get them to buy MORE. quite possibly some artificial additives might trigger receptors in the brain.. esp. in the "pleasure zones."

[Lerkfish]

19. easy solution.

I'm type 2 diabetic. If more people tried a diabetic diet they'd be better off.
The main thing is to eat six times a day.

Breakfast
snack at 10:30
lunch
snack at 2:30
supper
snack at 9:30

for a snack, I have 1/2 cup of oyster crackers and about 12 raisins. I keep them in small containers and can pop them in my mouth just about anywhere.

In this way, by eating six times a day, your blood sugar does not spike as much, the highs and lows become more even, and you feel better as you go through your day.

This will eliminate your cravings and the dull, foggy headaches, which are really (I think) low spikes of your blood sugar.

try it for three days and see if it helps!

[CitrusLib]

29. Absolutely!

Mid morning I usually have a slice of low-fat laughing cow cheese or some dried fruit. Mid afternoon, I have peanuts, walnuts or pistachios. It heads off the munchies and maintains energy.

[ihaveaquestion]

23. Eat LOTS of fruit - any fruit.

Whenever you crave anything you think you shouldn't eat, eat fruit. It's sweet and filling. Don't worry about overeating especially at first. Even if you're truely overdoing it for a while, you're cravings will eventually pass and your body will feel better.

[LaurenG]

24. I noticed that when I screw up and eat

refined carbs I start to swell up. Not just fat but fluids. My ankles get puffy. I just started noticing it recently. I just eat foods that are as close to fresh out of the ground as possible. I do have honey and drink about 4 cups of green tea a day. (hot or old works) I make a lot of soups and eat only whole grain foods. It really does make a difference. When you feel like giving up pm me if you want, I'll help you through.

[SmokingJacket]

31. Yes, sugar does that to me. nt

[sniffa]

26. buy boars head coLd cuts

:9

[Dora]

32. Hear that!

Boar's Head canadian bacon on my egg sandwich each morning, and Boar's Head turkey or ham on my sandwich at lunch.

[DS1]

38. cracked pepper turkey breast owns all!

:bounce:

[sniffa]

44. my Latest addiction is 'Londonport roast beef'

*drooL*

[lizerdbits]

27. Are you taking any meds that might increase cravings?

I took pamelor for many years for depression but recently stopped it because nothing, including going vegan for a year, was getting the weight off that I gained in the first two months on it and nothing helped wanting sugar all the time. (I was told I had polycystic ovary syndrome and to help my hormones improve I needed to lose weight.) A few weeks after I stopped taking (about a month ago) it I suddenly don't crave sugar anymore. I've been eating a whole foods diet for several years and now the weight is starting to come off pretty much effortlessly. I do have some sweets like once a week, but it's not a major craving like it used to be.

[Dora]

30. Can you change where you do your grocery shopping?

If you can change where you shop, that will make the issue of choosing what to buy a lot easier. That's what did it for us. We bought a house in 02, and the closest grocery was a convenient half-mile away, and it happened to be part of the Wild Oats chain of stores.

Our store is a Sun Harvest, and it's a very small grocery store, more like a market, but it provides everything we need and almost everything they sell is either organic or natural, and they don't stock any highly processed foods. Granted, our grocery bills went up, but we noticed that we felt considerably better after our diets had changed, and we now think that the higher grocery prices are worth the extra bucks.

Whole Foods stores are spreading like the plague, Trader Joes is popular in some parts of the country, and I already mentioned Wild Oats (aka Henry's, Sun Harvest).

Oh, and organic/natural foods come in junk styling too - Newman's Own makes some awesome Oreo knockoffs - traditional, fudge, and ginger flavors.

You won't be sorry! Not for a minute!

[LynneSin]

33. I'm not going to have much choice in grocery stores

The only thing in the Delaware area is a Trader Joes that is out of the way and actually pretty crappy. I mean, I want to eat more fruits & veggies and they have such a poor selection.

First stop is elimating processed foods. I'd like to go more organic but I think it'll just be more of a hassle since there isn't much here in the DE for where to buy the stuff. I figured if I can get off the junkfood and stick to eating the healthier stuff then the next big step would be trying to go more organic.

I shop at my local Shop-Rite store and they do carry some organic produce & meat - it's a start

[GOPisEvil]

39. Do you have a farmer's market anywhere near you?

You can get good produce at those.

[LynneSin]

41. There is one by the riverfront that has great produce

but in general I make do with what they have at the shoprite. It's actually a pretty decent store they have there!

[Dora]

43. Well, good luck, and I hope a Whole Foods opens near you!

Seriously, you might find yourself feeling better than you thought you would. Like I said, I didn't really choose to eliminate processed foods from my diet, it just happened. But I did notice that I stopped getting as many sinus infections, or other bugs.

The last time I was sick enough to miss work was after spending a long week eating processed foods while visitng family in the midwest. I came home with a case of laryngitis so bad I missed a week at the office.

And another suggestion - If you're into reading ingredients, try to avoid anything with high fructose corn syrup - it's in nearly everything, including most baked goods these days. HFCS is a devil.

Happy eating!

[SmokingJacket]

34. Edamame.

You can buy these in the asian section of supermarkets, already cooked and packaged like a convenience food, but they're just soybeans. Buttery, nutty, delicious, and fun to eat.

[Radio_Lady]

42. Yummy. I like them with salt, which is the way the Sushi Boat makes

them here in Beaverton, Oregon.

[DS1]

37. I cut out sugar and refined foods starting this Tuesday

and while I was tired as hell Wednesday, I hardly even needed my coffee this morning.

In fact, I got a decaf :crazy:

[KurtNYC]

46. Cravings and foggy mornings with headaches...

Sounds like low blood sugar. Does it persist after you eat?

I like your strategy of avoiding processed foods -- Many people turn to "low-cal", "low-fat" or "low-carb" labeled processed foods when seeking a healthier alternative but recent studies show that artificial sweeteners can 1) mess up the body's satiation mechanism, 2) make you hungrier and 3) specifically make you hungry for sweets. Some of the research is relayed in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3735118&mesg_id=3735118

There was an organic food fair in Italy recently and one of the speakers commented that "we are still eating the food from WWII" What they meant is that during that war, the farms of europe were greatly disrupted and the US became a powerhouse in processed and frozen foods. Methods of farming which are not sustainable came into much wider use. The priority became high yeilds and a long shelf life. Tomatoes became the nearly tasteless items we get today. Iceberg lettuce replaced lettuces that have vitamins in them. Etc. In fact the BLT, bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich, became popular after WWII because you could get tomatoes year round instead of seasonally.

I would look for any food that was available before WWII as kind of simple rule of thumb. Hopefully you will find a lot of flavorful, satisfying foods and as you fail to feed the other cravings they will diminsh. It doesn't take much to get all the vitamins and trace elements that you need daily. I have yet to see research that shows organic foods to be more nutritional than their non-orgainc counterparts. Therefore I think the emphasis on what you DON'T eat is right on target.

[Felix Mala]

47. Don't forget long-grain brown rice... It tastes great and you'll

be so full you won't miss the processed stuff. Don't worry about the carbs, these are the good carbs, the kind that make your body stronger and provide slow-burning fuel.

[supernova]

50. My local whole foods sushi stand makes sushi w/ brown rice

I love it better than regular sushi rice now. :9

[JimmyJazz]

49. eat more sushi

:D

[GOPisEvil]

51. Yeah, but that rice is processed.

:yoiks:

[silverpatronus]

52. my roommate and i recently decided to go organic come the new school year

i am also not planning to give up meat, but i've already given up fast food (the hardest part for me), and we've started doing research on where to shop. we've got whole foods, trader joes and a bunch of co ops and farmers' markets in the DC metro area (lucky!) so it's gonna cost us a bit, but we both watched 'super size me' and did some other research and decided that we'd rather spend a little more money than slowly die from high fructose corn syrup and hormones.

[Strawman]

53. I need to do this

Just spent a week in Mendocino recently. Everything is organic there. Best week of eating in my life. Quite a change from Detroit.

I'll make an exception for deep dish pizza though. Life wouldn't be worth living without an occasional Buddy's or Pizzapappalis.

[Greyhound]

54. Move to another country. n/t

[pitohui]

55. just don't buy them

you can't eat them if they don't come in the door

always have the ingredients for some good short order meals on hand, i'm a scratch cook, the cravings for fake food soon disappear and are replaced by cravings for your own food

the headaches might be lack of hidden caffeine and will go away in 72 hours, no buying cola ever, if you do break down for a special treat, make sure it is caffeine free for the first year or two

don't eat out or order in for several months to break the salt habit, after that, fake food tastes too salty and you won't like it any more