Hurricane Harvey + What to Eat in a Natural Disaster

Hurricane Harvey is hitting our friends in the south hard, and as Lauren and I know from going to school in New Orleans, hurricanes do not just mean "hurrication" (hurricane vacation- what they were called pre-Katrina). In fact I heard that almost a quarter million people are already without power and there is serious price gauging with bottled water - with people charging up to $99 for a case!

So yesterday I chatted about natural disasters + food safety with Fox and Friends (Lauren had plenty of "blechs" but I'm just getting the info out). Whether you're in Hurricane Harvey's path or in case you get stuck inside during a future hurricane or blizzard, here's what you need to know:

• Refrigerated food is technically fine during a power outage for up to 4 hours, could be more. The KEY is to keep the fridge door closed. No going in and out for water (or wine!).

• When in doubt, throw it out - and also, don't taste it to test it. If something smells or looks off, toss it. A little food waste is better than a lot of food poisoning. 

• Stock up. Here's our Storm Shopping List (best to have some of these items in house before storm forecasts when supplies can be limited)

• lots of bottled water or seltzer
• gluten free bread
• oatmeal cups such as vigilant eats, if need be can just add hot water
• natural almond or peanut butter
• jarred (or if need be canned) tuna
• jerky
• avocados
• bananas
• apples
• pistachios (you'll have time on your hands) 
• Kale chips
• Rx bars 
• Shelf stable almond milk
• Pickles
• (dark chocolate and limes for tequila optional)

• Oh, and one last great tip c/o Lauren: don't eat all the food+snacks+drinks just to prevent them from going bad. No need for Hurricane Weight Gain. 

Stay safe our southern friends!! 

Five Tips to Prevent Weekend Weight Gain

Let’s say a person (perhaps you) develops a stellar eating routine that involves cooking, hydrating and eating lots of green things. By Friday that person (perhaps you) feels accomplished, clothes are looser, energy is through the roof- you get the picture. Then, person (you?) goes to Connecticut or Fire Island or stays put, after all it’s summer and things are carefree wherever you are. Person enjoys the weekend (a little too much) with extra cocktails and barbeques and fun, fun, fun. What’s the big deal you say? No big deal if your weight loss from Monday to Friday is erased and you’re good with bloat and more.

OK have a good day you’re screwed. No, no of course there’s a way to balance cocktails with consciousness, even a way to make progress over the summer. Truthfully, sure it’s nice out now but weekends are tricky all year round let’s sort them out.

Make room for the weekend

There are 52 weekends a year so what goes on from Friday to Sunday shouldn’t be all that shocking. Use Thursday to your advantage. Thursday is a day where you skip your grains and skip your cocktails so that your weekends can be slightly (I said slightly) looser.

Pre-eat

It’s not only the alcohol calories (that your body burns before it gets to any love handle or back fat), it’s the food we consume once we’ve had the drink and sadly the food we may think makes us feel better the next day. You must pre-eat. Have asparagus (breaks down alcohol and debloats you, how’s that for a twofer?) or a little good fat (walnuts or olives work well) before you imbibe. Alcohol will affect you 3x slower if you do this and that’s a good thing.

Meals Matter

There’s much more winging it on the weekends. Instead of defined meals, more time around the house often leads to grazing or what I like to call pupu platter eating. Pupu platter eating isn’t pretty. I suggest a “walk through” on weekend mornings. Take a minute to think about where you’re going to be and what you will eat. Think in terms of distinct meals and snacks. Even if your day starts later I’d suggest 3 meals. This is better than two meals and ten snacks.

Move it (not just for workout)

Maybe you went to a spin class, that’s awesome. But sitting on the beach, by the pool or at brunch (grrrr) for hours isn’t in your best interest. I’ve written about my fitbit. A tracker is a great thing on the weekends. You’re not chained to a desk; let’s see what you got.

Make sure you’re set up

Be super careful if you do go away on the weekends that you’re set up for the week. Food shop on your way home or have groceries delivered. You need your tools and a menu for the week ahead.

So if you’re feeling puffier today than on Friday, put your plan in place. There are 13 more weekends until Labor Day.

Do you eat differently on the weekends? What’s you’re biggest challenge? What do you do to keep things clean? What’s your favorite thing you did (or ate) this past weekend?

New Balance

Here is a piece I did for The Daily Green, it seems our meals are in need of a makeover.

Is your idea of a balanced meal meat and potatoes, with some obligatory vegetable? You should read this. Is your idea of diet evil fats and carbs? You should read this, too.
6 Steps to a Balanced Meal:

When I say balanced meal, what comes to mind? I revert back to childhood dinners and the mainstay meat, obligatory vegetable and the banal baked potato or rice. While we may now know so much more about food and health, it's hard to argue with the straightforwardness of the old system. I think many parents still stick to this formula when feeding their children – which is not necessarily as fiber-rich, nutrient-dense or eco-conscious as it could be. We can be current with our food choices and maintain the clarity when meal planning with the following tweaks:

1. Let Veggies Dominate
Vegetables should replace meat as the principal of the plate. If you picture a plate veggies should occupy half of it. And if the thought of a ton of broccoli doesn't excite you try to compose dinners with 2 veggies (one green and one starchy or some salad and another seasonal vegetable).

2. Eat Your BlackBerry
With vegetables taking center stage, protein can be put in its proper place. Whether grass-fed beef, lean poultry, wild salmon or pork we should think more like the Japanese and consider meat a condiment. Look at your BlackBerry, that's your portion cue.

3. Eat Double Stuff
Most foods are a composite of nutrients. Tofu, whole grains and legumes have significant amounts of both protein and carbs. Pair any of these with the veggies (see #1) and your meal is balanced and easy. And regardless of whether you are an omnivore, locavore or carnivore less meat and chicken and more (I didn't say only!) whole grains and legumes is really the way to go when it comes to health.
4. Eat the Real Stuff
In addition to considering the components of a meal, we now know the importance of investigating the quality and origin of ingredients used. When I was growing up fruit cocktail was a frequent stand-in for fruit. Fruit cocktail is not fruit. It does not taste like fresh, seasonal peaches or pears, nor do berries or peaches shipped from god-knows-where in the middle of January. When possible chose local, seasonal produce and humanely grown meats.

5. Eat a Larger Lunch
With the balanced meal we grew up with came the notion of the humongous dinner at the end of the day. Our workdays do not end at 5 anymore and there are many hours between lunch and dinner. Consider moving lunch up as the largest meal of the day.

6. Don't Forget Fat
I'd like to think we have enough distance from the '90s that fat phobia is finally waning. Fat helps make you feel full and adds flavor and interest to dishes. And it's not just about olive and canola oil. I love using sunflower seeds, pine nuts, walnuts and sesame oil when I cook. And when you feel satisfied with your meals, you can keep the cookie monster a childhood memory as well.

With these basic pointers in place, the possibilities are endless. I hope your meal planning has been simplified and that there's peace of mind knowing you're feeding yourself and your family well.
Any other areas you consider when planning a meal? How are your meals different from the family meals you grew up with?

NPO Forever

When I worked in a hospital, NPO was one of those abbreviations we used in patients charts. NPO comes from the Latin nil per os. In case your Latin is a little rusty, the translation is “nothing by mouth.” Patients in the hospital are often NPO the day or night before surgery. At times NPO is also necessary following a procedure or when patients are unconscious and unable to digest food. In these situations various types of feeding tubes are used until patients can eat on their own. Well, what if NPO wasn't a temporary state? This had never occurred to me until earlier today.

I had a few minutes to spare and was killing time on Twitter. For some reason I was struck by a tweet from Perez Hilton which said “stay strong ROGER EBERT!!!.” I don’t know if it was the triple exclamation points or that I had no idea why Roger Ebert needed to stay strong but I clicked on the link. I then read the post “Nil by Mouth." Mr Ebert explained that after a string of surgeries he was no longer able to eat, drink or talk. He had no reason to expect this to change…ever. 

Mr Ebert doesn't experience extreme hunger or thirst; he is getting nourishment via a feeding tube directly to his stomach. He admits he has had a series of food obsessions. Candy figures prominently in many cravings. Mr Ebert writes of a dream in which he had a package of Chuckles filled entirely with the black chuckles (though I don’t love candy, I always feel us black jelly bean or neco wafer people need to band together). Mr Ebert is now dependent on many of his food memories to satisfy him. He says many of his cravings have as much to do with fond associations and memories of a food than anything else. Mr Ebert’s writing seemed lighthearted recalling his food obsessions. His tone changed when he described what he misses most. "The food and the drink I can do without easily. The jokes, gossip, laughs, arguements and shared memories I miss."

What Roger Ebert misses most is what we all should appreciate more. With so much written and debated about what to eat (guilty as charged), perhaps we’re all missing the boat. A popular term in the lexicon of nutrition is satiety. Experts endlessly debate what combination or portions of food will satisfy us. Maybe what’s meant to be ingested and savored is, as Mr Ebert says, the dining not the food.
What are your most memorable meals? I would love to hear about them. This weekend, try to share a meal with friends or family and please savor it.