It's the sh*t!

Food is what we do, or don't do, when we don't know what to do. Think about it. A funeral is the most extreme example. Someone dies, what do you do? You bring a deli tray or a casserole. We, as a society don't know what to do when someone is mourning a loss. I certainly don't know what to do. Tonight I made a chicken and unfriended a jerk. Feeding someone is a profound way to care for them. It's recognizing a current weakness while restoring to health and strength. It means disclosing the softer nurturing side of ourselves that we keep hidden from the world. It means giving of ourselves and of our time in the service of another. It's going back to our basic animal instincts as humans, preservation through seeing to the basic needs of another. I just like it better when feeding another comes from a place of joy.

It's not been an easy evening. I'm not a particularly warm and fuzzy type of person. I fell back on the only thing I know how to do, offer a healthy meal, a listening ear and a warm blanket. When you're not feeling well and need someone to take care of you, let's just say that I'm not usually first on your list. I'm somewhere below The Red Queen. I tend to bottle my own feelings, unsure of how to express them. I really like swearing, so that comes in handy when expressing emotion. But even more than not knowing how to express them, I'm unsure of what to do if you express one. I'm learning. When you're ready to laugh, give me a call. I'm good at that part. In the meantime, I'll probably make a few mistakes. Bear with me though, my heart is breaking for you.

Hmmmm food binding us socially, taking care of ourselves and others...whole grains are a great way to take care of our bodies. You know, the stuff that's not made with white flour. The heavy bread, the brown bread, the stuff we all hated as kids. I don't know about you, but all I wanted was Wonder Bread. Today, I like what I call 'crunchy crap' in my bread. Give me oats on top and nutty grainy things mixed in! If I haven't told you yet, I'm in love with fiber...yeah, I'm gonna go there...poop. Fiber is part of a whole grain and makes pooping soooooo much easier. Anyone who's gone on a cruise and eaten nothing but meat for a week knows what I'm talking about. And you know who you are! (See, I don't just talk about my own poop.) Did you know that if things are going well, you're eating healthy and drinking enough water, that your food will spend roughly 20 hours with you? This means, that pooping once per day should be normal. Now, I'm not a fan of Dr. Oz, but I gotta respect a man who will bring 'poop examples' onto national television. (I'm generally a level 4 if you watch the video...)

So what do whole grains do for us, other than make poop?? Well, according to all those smart folks over at Harvard, they make it difficult for our digestive enzymes to break down starches into sugars. It's no wonder that a diet rich in whole grains helps prevent diabetes! Some types of fiber are thought to help your body's anti-coagulants so that blood clots won't form and lead to a heart attack or stroke. Perhaps my favorite, insoluble fiber helps move waste through your digestive tract. It keeps the poop moving! Because this is my personal fave, I generally place a focus on the fiber. Normal healthy adults should get 20 grams per day...My cereal is probably the most abundant source of fiber I've ever run across, 10 grams per serving. I'm halfway there by 9am! So, if you want to drop the kids at the pool, pinch a loaf, or make a stinky, then eat 20 grams or more of fiber every day.

Like I said, standard everyday breakfast....10 grams-o-fiber from the cereal alone!












Mid-morning snack...little did I know that this would be all I'd eat until about 4:30...

My snack at around 4:30 when I decided to just put the salad in the work fridge and eat it tomorrow...we'll see if that actually happens though.

Yummers! Roast chicken, roast taters and broccoli!