Food

5 Tips for Healthy Eating While Social Distancing

March 22, 2020 By Anne Hill Leave a Comment

Healthy eating while stuck at home – yeah, right!

If you’re living on planet Earth right now, you’re most likely confined to your home for the foreseeable future. And unless “home” is a Barbra Streisand-esque compound with its very own shopping mall, you’re probably not enjoying it too much. When you’re not feeling anxious about the current situation, you may be going stir-crazy because—well, you’re stuck at home. ALL DAY. EVERY DAY.

This is the perfect opportunity for those evil twins to call out to you. “Come play with us,” they say. “Forever, and ever, and ever.” Oh, they’ll taunt you. But remember, they’re not real.

Well, they are, but they have no hold over you. They’re just a fridge and a pantry, after all.

What did you think I was talking about? These two?

Then again, maybe the feelings are similar.

We’re not stuck in the house from The Shining, true. But we ARE living in a horror story at the moment, and it’s everything we can do to keep our sanity, much less worry about what we’re eating.

That being said, it’s more important than ever to stay healthy and keep your immune system strong.

And the most effective way to do that is with healthy food and hydration.

Here are five tips to help you stay healthy through this enforced isolation:

ONE: Stock your home with healthy foods.

I know, that’s not as easy as it sounds. I mean, we have some sort of toilet paper-ageddon going on in most grocery stores, and the food shelves are pretty bare. But there are solutions.

Try out a delivery service like Instacart, for example. It may take some time to get the items to you, but they will arrive—and you didn’t have to go to a grocery store and risk being around potentially-infected people.

Plus, the FDA and the CDC have made it clear that there is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 can be transmitted by food or food packaging.

But, you say, what about the delivery person? Boy, you DO worry, don’t you? Simple fix: Once you take the packages in the house and put them away, wash your hands immediately. Wash any fruits and vegetables to make extra-sure they’re safe. And if you’re REALLY worried about it, clean the counter with a disinfectant wipe.

OK, now that I’ve calmed your fears for the time being, here are a few suggestions for healthy foods to stock in your home:

Lean meats, poultry, and fish
Nuts, seeds, and beans
Fruits and veggies
Whole-grain bread
Other whole grains such as quinoa
Healthy oils, such as olive or avocado oil
NOT sugary snacks and sodas, processed foods and junk

Of course, organic meats and produce are ideal, but we’re all on a budget right now, and they seem to be way less available anyway. So here’s a bonus tip: Check out this page for info on eating healthy on a budget.

TWO: Order curbside takeout or delivery from local restaurants and support your community.

Restaurants have it really hard at the moment since they can’t offer regular meal service. A great way to support them is to order curbside takeout.

Many local restaurants offer that option right now, so it’s a double-whammy of goodness: You’re helping them, and you don’t have to cook!

One healthy eating while social distancing tip is to check the menu beforehand, which will most likely be online. Look for items that are a healthier choice, such as grilled chicken or fish, and vegetable sides.

Salads are also a healthy option—as long as they’re not piled high with fried chicken or sugar-filled dressings! I know, I’m such a Debbie Downer.

Ordering from your local restaurants is not just a good idea, it’s pretty dang vital to keep them afloat during these hard times. Helping them out will feed both your body and your soul.

THREE: Set a schedule.

Really? Isn’t the best part about being at home that you don’t have to set a schedule?

Not when it comes to eating. Why would you want to make it easier for those twins of destruction to lure you with their siren song? (Yes, I’m still talking about the fridge and the pantry.)

You don’t have to be militant about it, but having a daily structure can really help healthy eating while social distancing.

Set breakfast at a certain time, lunch at a certain time, maybe a little afternoon snack, then dinner at a certain time.

If you’re eating healthily, it’s unlikely that you’ll get hungry in between those times. Again, a regular schedule of eating gives your body the nutrition it needs to keep going throughout the day.

If you DO get hungry, however, figure out if you’re really hungry or if you just need to drink more water. I’ll discuss hydration in a minute because it deserves its own section (and then some!).

Another idea is to plan your snacks ahead of time, so you’re not heading into snack time without any idea of what you’ll eat. That’s a recipe for a Cheeto-filled disaster.

FOUR: Stay hydrated, my friends.

If the Most Interesting Man in the World were also the SMARTEST man in the world, he’d tell you to drink water instead of Dos Equis.

Fun fact: Adult humans are 60 percent water, and our blood is 90 percent water.

Here are just a few benefits of water:

It lubricates your joints.
It boosts skin health and beauty. Fewer wrinkles!
It cushions your brain and spinal cord (yikes!).
It regulates your body temperature.
Your digestive system depends on it.
It helps your kidneys flush toxins more efficiently.

If you do nothing else in your socially-isolated state, increase your water intake. You’ll thank me later.

FIVE: Be kind to yourself after “Healthy Eating while Social Distancing” violations

OK, I’ve shared all these healthy eating tips. But what about times when you want some comfort food?

Listen, we all need a bit of comforting these days. If you want to have a bowl of mac and cheese, go for it.

Healthy eating is all about balance. Of course, you’re going to want to eat some of your favorite foods. Just don’t eat them all the time.

And here’s the most important part: Don’t beat yourself up afterward.

Any shame you feel after eating a big bowl of pasta or a pint of ice cream is totally unnecessary. It’ll just send you down a shame spiral, and pretty soon you’ll be living in the land of “Who cares? We’re all gonna die someday anyway.”

Save yourself the trouble and just be kind to yourself. We’re all doing the best we can right now, and a little kindness can go a long way.

BONUS: More Advice and Tips for Healthy Eating while Stuck at Home

Here are some bonus tips you may find helpful, starting with this Time Magazine article.

And here’s a great interview with dietitian Samantha Heller on “CBS This Morning”:

I hope we’ve made Healthy Eating While Social Distancing a bit easier for you.

There you have it: Five tips for healthy eating while social distancing. Try them out and let me know in the comments how they work for you. Or maybe you have another great idea to share—I’d love to hear it!

Pesticides: Coffee, Tea and Wine

January 12, 2016 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

I have worked to gradually improve the foods I eat, avoiding BPA, MSG, food additives, and overall eating more organic and healthy foods. But I found that my coffee, tea and wine were riddled with pesticides. I never even thought about this until I read some articles by the “Food Babe” (see her Facebook Page with more than a million followers).

Most wines not only use a healthy amount of pesticides in growing the grapes, but there are also other additives such as sulfates that I found were adversely affecting my sleep and even causing headaches.

Wow! I had no idea. Much to my surprise however, there are many options for organic coffees, wine and teas. Most grocery stores offer organic coffee options, including in K-cups. I have found many nice selections of wine at Whole Foods and some at Costco for very reasonable prices, some were not any more expensive than the non-organic wins I was buying. Amazon also offers many options of organic coffee, teas and wine and they are delivered right to your doorstep. Amazon even has its own wine store and you can select organic to see all organic options. I much prefer the taste of these organic options of coffee, tea and wine.

I purchased a french press so I could purchase organic loose leaf tea. It’s so easy to use and clean up afterwards that I found it just as easy as tea bags, but this opened my options to many more exotic teas available.

Between coffee, tea and wine, I was consuming a considerable amount of pesticides and other chemicals that were very unhealthy. Particularly if you consider daily consumption over a long period of years – this adds up. It’s easy to make the switch to much healthier alternatives. I’ve included some links and resources to help you too. You can do it. Better taste experience, no added expense and much healthier living!

Easy ways to squeeze in more raw veggies and fruits

November 22, 2015 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

Pretty much any diet will tell you that you can and should eat veggies including raw veggies. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a good diet that didn’t include various forms of veggies. Paleo, Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Mediterranean, diets for diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and many other diets have vegetables as part of what you should eat to get healthier or lose weight.

Raw vegetables are better than cooked as valuable nutrients haven’t been cooked out of them and they are high in good fiber.

I didn’t use to be a big raw veggies person and found it hard to even get myself to eat a salad. I have read many times that you should shoot for eating raw veggies or raw fruit at least 5 times a day. I thought 5 times a day was a steep hill to climb as I rarely use to even eat raw veggies once a day. But over time I came up with ideas on how to work these in comfortably.

*** Pre-make easy snacks like baby carrots, celery with a little peanut butter or cream cheese in the center, apple slices, cucumber sticks, etc. Put them in baggies and take them with you to work.

*** Make a big batch of coleslaw that will last a week and keep it in the fridge. It’s super easy to make if you have a food processor using cabbage and carrots. The dressing is just mayo, lemon juice, a little vinegar, a few spices and a sweetener (I use stevia). If you use very fresh, crisp cabbage, it lasts a week and is great with lunches or even as a snack.

*** Make it a routine to always start dinner with a salad, even if it’s a small one. It’s a great weight loss tip as it is proven to result in a lower calorie intake at dinner if you start with a salad as the fiber in the veggies helps you to feel full earlier. The only thing to watch is what dressing you use and how much. Loading a lot of high sugar and/or high fat dressing on will crank up the calorie count and (in the case of a sugary dressing) can increase your appetite. Find a healthy dressing you like and use it somewhat sparingly.

*** Mix berries (some of the lowest sugar/high fiber fruits) into lowfat or nonfat plain yogurt. I usually by a tub of organic lowfat yogurt, mix in a little stevia and vanilla extract and some organic berries and it’s almost like dessert it is so good.

*** Mix berries into oatmeal or granola.

Let me know if you have any other good ones to add!

Shopping Healthy on a Budget

March 21, 2015 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

You don’t need to buy everything from Whole Foods to get high quality organic foods and products. I do occasionally go to Whole Foods, but it is usually to only pick up a few choice items. There are much more economical means of shopping healthy to stock your fridge and pantry on a tight budget.

Local Farmer’s Markets can be a good option for shopping healthy while supporting your local farmers. Find out if you have one in your town or a nearby town and try to frequent it each week. Look for any organic produce or for those items on the clean 15 list that aren’t vital to get organically grown.

Amazon Pantry is a great option to buy some products. There are more and more organic and healthy products being offered through this service. You order and try to fill a box for one low shipping rate and it is delivered right to your door. It’s really convenient and mostly low prices. You can read about it and use it through this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/pantry/info/

Walmart now offers numerous organic options at low prices. I can get chicken and turkey meats that are hormone and antibiotic-free, organic olive oil, broccoli, cauliflower, baby spinach, carrots, celery, almond milk, onions, apples and more at the local Walmart in a small Texas town.

Costco is offering more and more organic items, including organic chicken, eggs, beef, numerous fruits and veggies in the produce section as well as in the frozen foods section, making this another great option for shopping healthy.

Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and other health-food-oriented stores often offer lower prices on many of the healthier natural and organic products and produce.

Local grocery stores vary as to how much organic and all natural products they sell. But overall things are improving with many local grocery stores offering such choices. In Texas we have HEB Grocery Stores and they offer quite a large selection of organic produce and other products at decent prices.

Once you scope out what is available in your local area, it isn’t hard to get into a routine where you know what to get from where to get the best prices. I don’t spend any more money grocery shopping now (getting much healthier choices) than I did when I was oblivious to these health issues. I just learned the how-to of shopping healthy in my own area.

Easy ways to eat more raw veggies

February 27, 2015 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

Here are some ways I have worked more raw veggies into my daily routine that made it easy to eat them more often:

Veggie smoothies – I make these in my blender so as to still get all of the fiber (as opposed to juicing). I use spinach, kale, avocado and 4-5 cups of water as a base. Then I add different fruit combinations such as strawberries or a berry medley, mango, pineapple/coconut, kiwi fruit and green apples, etc. I add some stevia and blend really well. They taste great and I love them. My husband slurps them down too and that’s saying a lot. The fruit and stevia sweeten the drink up and you would be surprised how good it tastes. There are literally tons of recipes for these if you do a Google search, not to mention books on Amazon.

Veggie snack plates – There are easy. Just get a bag of those baby carrots, some celery, cucumbers and some broccoli. Chop up the celery, cucumbers and broccoli. Arrange them on a plate and put some reduced fat cream cheese in the center. Have them in the fridge or put them out on the counter at snack time. Chomp on these when you get those mid afternoon and evening hunger pangs.

Salads – if you make a great tasting salad (that is creative and tasty), make enough to last you (and anyone else that you are feeding) for 2 days of lunch and dinner. Then you can eat salad as part of lunch and dinner as the first course. You get your raw veggies in and you help curb your appetite to be able to eat smaller portions of the rest of the meal.

Snack packs to take to work or on the go – baby carrots and other chopped veggies (celery, cucumber, etc.) and fruits – make a bunch of packs at once in ziplock bags so they are easy to grab and take with you when you are rushing to get to work or whatever. Or you can use a jar and put some humus or dip in the bottom of the jar and put some chopped veggies in.

Juicing – once a week I will usually do a big batch of juice. It is so rich in nutrients and very alkalizing for the body. The mean green juice recipe is usually what I use.

I found the more veggies I work into my diet, the less I eat other not-so-heathy things and the better I feel.

The worst culprits in declining health

February 19, 2015 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

What are some of the worst culprits that are wreaking the most havoc and causing the most damage and declining health? Here they are in my estimation:

#1 – Sugar and other sweeteners commonly used as sugar substitutes. And included in this is a big category of sodas.

#2 – Flour/wheat and simple carbs.

#3 – Heavily processed foods.

#4 – Bad fats.

#5 – Additives to our food, water and air – includes hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, MSG, preservatives, chemicals used in cans and water bottles, fluoride or other chemicals in water, as well as genetic modification of produce and other unnatural “natural flavors”, numerous pollutants in our air.

#6 – Inadequate or wrong exercise.

#7 – Stress, resulting in over-production of cortisol that tells the body to store fat rather than burn it and can also exhaust your adrenals.

#8 – Smoking – although this habit is becoming more unaccepted and less prevalent, there are some die-hards out there that still close their eyes on the fact that they are doing something that weakens their immune system and can cause serious physical conditions, diseases and cancer.

Now maybe this list isn’t a huge revelation to you. It probably isn’t. But all manner of health issues have arisen in the last few decades. Declining health is a problem for many Americans. With so many temptations of fast and unhealthy foods and sugar in so many things, these health dangers are more and more prevalent.

The revelation is in the very practical and realistic ways to get rid of the worst of these factors that are contributing the most to your declining health – without suffering, without sacrificing and without having to spend a lot of time or money,

You can make small, subtle changes in your lifestyle that will have BIG benefits on a long-term basis. That’s what HealthKick is all about.

The Horrible Trap

February 13, 2015 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

There is a trap that I fell into numerous times and that I see many others afflicted with illnesses (such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Lupus, Lyme Disease and other similar illnesses) fall prey to because it is so easy to do.

What I am talking about here when I say horrible trap is the vicious cycle where you feel bad, you are in pain, you are tired, you have to go to work or you have children that need to be cared for or you are just trying to get yourself going and so you do something to get yourself enough pick-me-up to be able to get through the day – coffee, a coke, a souped-up Starbucks latte, some sweets, a Red Bull, some carbs, maybe even a cigarette or some combination of the above. This might buck you up for a bit and help you to get through some short term period, but in the longer run you have made matters worse. With all of the extra insulin your body just pumped in response to what you put in it, you will worsen the fatigue and pain and get poor sleep to boot.

Now you are even more desperate for some form of pick-me up because now you feel even worse.

Of course you don’t feel like exercising, as you just don’t have the energy and/or you are in a lot of pain already.

Continuing on in this vein will cause more and more despair and depression as you feel terrible, you are desperate to get some energy and the quick energy sources are making matters worse and worse. Or you are so depressed about the situation or the continuous pain that you comfort yourself with things that you think will make you feel good – comfort food or alcohol or cigarettes or some form of drugs (OTC or otherwise).

This is a vicious cycle, what I call the horrible trap, that you can get into when you have chronic pain or chronic illness. It’s bad, and quick and available fixes just make it worse. If you are in such a situation, there IS a way out. It isn’t instant. It takes some time. It isn’t horrifically slow either. But it will take some dedication and discipline. First is understanding of what is happening and what you need to do to escape the hell and get yourself improving and getting better.

I have a new book that is available on Amazon called, “Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndromes: The hard road to recovery made easier“. It contains all of the answers that I have found over the last 15 years of research and trials of numerous treatments and protocols. This is available on Kindle and paperback.

And please utilize all of the information in this website which is all here to help you recover from illness and body problems through easy healthy living habits.

The Clean-15 and the Dirty Dozen

August 4, 2014 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

Ideally you would just buy everything organic. But if for any reason – financial or proximity or whatever – at least know that there are certain fruits and veggies that are more important to buy organic than others – called the dirty dozen. These are certain fruits and vegetables that tend to absorb more of these pesticides than others. The clean-15 are fruits and veggies that you don’t need to buy organic.

The Clean-15 (fruits and veggies that tend to have low levels of pesticides found in them) and the Dirty Dozen (those that usually absorb much higher amounts of pesticides) are updated each year based on testing. If you learn these it will make it easier to follow. These are listed below.

Generally those fruits or veggies with thick skins that are peeled before eating usually have less dangers involved if not organic. Examples include melons, citrus fruits, bananas, avocados, etc.

Fruits and veggies that you eat with the skin, such as apples, berries, peaches, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, etc. you are going to expose yourself to a higher content of pesticides. The worst of these are the rough surface ones such as broccoli, cauliflower, peaches and strawberries, as they generally absorb a much higher amount of pesticides.

There are exceptions of some produce that don’t have skin but just don’t have high pesticide absorption for whatever reason. So best to write these lists down and keep them in your purse for reference.

The clean 15 – those not so crucial to get organic:

Avocados
Sweet Corn
Pineapples
Cabbage
Onions
Frozen Sweet Peas
Papayas
Asparagus
Mangos
Eggplant
Honeydew
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower
Broccoli

(Note: it is also helpful to wash or soak produce in water with some white vinegar and lemon juice to help clean off pesticide residue, dirt, germs or wax coatings that are often used on apples and cucumbers.)

The dirty dozen – those most important to get organic:

Strawberries
Spinach
Nectarines
Apples
Peaches
Pears
Cherries
Grapes
Celery
Tomatoes
Sweet Bell Peppers
Potatoes

Why drink water

June 26, 2014 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

Your body is more than 50% water, often between 60 and 70 percent. That should give you some idea why it is important to drink water and keep yourself hydrated.

The percent of water depends on your hydration level. People feel thirsty when they have already lost around 2-3% of their body’s water. Mental performance and physical coordination start to become impaired before thirst kicks in, typically around 1% dehydration.

If you don’t like drinking plain water, there are many things you can do to keep your body hydrated and keep mental and physical performance high. You can put lime or lemon juice in your water or sparkling water with the added benefits of helping to cleanse your liver and balancing PH levels as well as making it tastier.

Or you can make green tea with the added benefit of antioxidants. Sweeten it with Stevia and add lemon to improve the taste and not increase blood sugar. For more information about Stevia, see the page of Stevia in this website. During warm weather, put it in the fridge and drink it iced.

Try drinking water first thing in the morning as well as before each meal. Keep water at your desk, in your car, in your purse, by your bed – make it easily accessible and sip on it throughout the day!

The best sugar alternative

May 30, 2014 By Debbie Baumgarten Leave a Comment

With over 65% of Americans overweight and the extreme increase in diabetes, including in children, at an all time high, curtailing the sugar intake is probably one of the most important healthkicks of all. So what’s a healthy sugar alternative?

Did you know that the average American ingests over 150 pounds of sugar annually!

Artificial sweeteners were hailed at the great solution to replace sugar, however more and more information is coming to light that these alternatives are unsafe and even worse than sugar.

So what about an all natural sweetener with no side effects except perhaps good ones, complete with potential blood sugar-lowering properties? Well, that’s stevia.

The advantages of using stevia are numerous. In its pure form, it’s non-caloric and doesn’t affect glucose levels, an advantage for diabetics as well as those suffering from candida. Also, it has no carbohydrates or fat, so it’s great for dieters, especially those watching carb intake. Unlike artificial sweeteners, high quality stevia has little aftertaste when measured properly. It has no known side effects like some chemical sweeteners and has been safely consumed around the world for decades.

Mind you, it doesn’t taste exactly like sugar. I guess that would really be too good to be true. But after using it for a while, you get used to the taste. And once you are off sugar for a while, you realize how overly sweet a lot of things are. Sugar is addictive and if you break that addiction and give stevia a little time, you will likely settle in to using it. I love it. I find things sweetened with sugar to be overly sweet. I am just as happy, if not more, drinking my iced tea sweetened with stevia rather than sweet tea. You just have to give it a little time. Trying it one time won’t do it for you and you may pass up the greatest sugar alternative of all time.

Also, PLEASE read my other post and info on this website on the sugar and sweeteners page about different brands of stevia. There are numerous brands that are clearly labeled “stevia”, but they are actually 99% sugar alcohols and less than .5 stevia.

As far as a sugar alternative, I’ve tried a ton. Stevia is my favorite. There are others and often I use a combination of stevia and other natural sweetener options. More posts to come on this.