This is part of our yearlong Family Eats Challenge series. Throughout the year, we’ll take a journey with four families as they strive to change their relationship with the food they eat.
In our first update, we learned a bit more about Teymoor and the goals he would like to accomplish. After meeting and shopping with Chef Ross, Teymoor was set loose to start changing his relationship with food.
Here is what Teymoor had to say:
Ross is full of energy and enthusiasm which made shopping an adventure. While at the store, he helped me drill down into the details of the food, touching on everything from flavor differences to actual nutritional differences.
Our main goal for this shopping adventure was to find good, healthy snacks that I can snack on through the day. We spent some time picking out a variety of foods that have been working out great for me. For instance, I’m really enjoying rice cakes with freshly ground peanut butter and thin slices of apple on top. It is so simple to make, and it fills me up. I have been making “smart snacks” almost every day now. I’m shopping for most of the same items, and I’m even expanding to new, similar items.
The visit also inspired me to create a delicious dinner. So I found a recipe for scallops online and made it. The scallops came from a farmers market near my house. I swapped out the breadcrumbs for crispy fried mushrooms because my friend who was eating with me loves mushrooms. It was a really great meal.
Going forward, I have a newfound love for the grocery store. There is so much to investigate and try, that it is almost overwhelming. I would like to take notes while I’m shopping, and to buy different brands of the same product to compare.
All in all, I am really looking forward to more input from Chef Ross.
During our initial meeting, Chef Ross went over so many things all as they related to my goals. Everything Chef Ross suggested seems reasonable to me, so I’m looking forward to getting into specific cooking projects. (Although, personally, separating egg whites and yolk sounds tricky though. 😉
And as for Chef Ross, well here is his take on the snacking situation:
Deadlines, client meetings, presentations, and stress… all work in harmony to mount a campaign against the highly functioning body that we are striving for.
You might not know that this dialogue is secretly happening… but it is… Let’s listen in….
“Hey hand, “
“Yes, body?”
“Teymoor is really busy. He isn’t paying any attention to me.
I told the brain that I was hungry and the brain just sent me a note saying… Teymoor is unavailable… Please try again later.”
“So, uh…hand,”
“Yeah, body?”
“GO GET ME SOME FOOD NOW…or I’m turning off.”
The hand has no choice but to obey, after all the hand is part of the body. And, what does the hand grab? Whatever is around. Fatty, salty, sweet, crunchy, anything that is immediate, and fast. And, lots of it. Since the body is starving and the brain is busy who is to notice? The belly notices! It notices everything, and it grows.
For this week’s challenge Teymoor is going to continue on the pursuit of being able to reach out and find a variety of portable smart snacks waiting around to be picked up and placed in his mouth.
What are smart snacks? Protein, complex carbohydrates, and lipids or fuel otherwise known as fats, in portable portions.
Ok, but what does that actually look like? It looks like whole grain crackers with meat or cheese. Nut butters and fruit on rice crackers, trail mix and yogurt. Hard-boiled eggs and whole grain pretzels, whole grain pita with hummus.
The idea here is to combine and BALANCE the calorie intake. Not too much of one item, because excess is as unwanted as starvation.
For Teymoor, all these items are extremely easy to prepare and acquire at his local market or farmer’s market. When shopping locally these items might be more expensive than the chain supermarket, but since we are focused on taking care of the entire body as quickly and efficiently as possible, it is worth it. The price differential will not be more than a cocktail at your favorite bar. Why not treat the tongue and mouth to superior taste and texture. They are your body’s gatekeepers to satiety and satisfy.
