Month: August 2021

5 Techniques for Making Healthy Food Affordable

healthy food

How many times have you heard it’s too expensive to eat healthy? Perhaps you’ve said it yourself. Major manufacturers of processed foods and fast food companies would have you believe this. But the exact opposite is true.

When you eat simple whole foods, you are eating foods that nourish you. Your body is super-intelligent and knows when you have the nutrients you need. When you have those important nutrients, many of the hunger signals coming from your brain shut down for a while.

On the other hand, when you eat foods that are low in nutrients, those hunger signals remain active and will trigger cravings. Feeling a nagging hunger that comes from eating low nutrient foods and skipping meals is what drives your food bill up.

But somehow, the idea that eating well is too expensive has slipped into our consciousness.

We might look at an organic peach that costs $1.00 or a bunch of organic broccoli that costs $3.00 as super expensive, but then buy a latte and not think twice about it. Or we buy a frozen pizza and turn away from a piece of organic chicken.

Foods that Make Up a Healthy, Affordable Diet

There are many ways to make a steady diet of good food affordable. First, you need to have a combination of foods that give you the right kinds of carbohydrates, fats and protein.

These include whole grains like quinoa, brown rice and bulgur, to name a few, a wide variety of vegetables and fruit, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, olive oil, eggs, wild fish and clean meats without antibiotics or added hormones. Clean water, tea, coffee and occasional wine are fine too.

These foods give you the nutrients you need to stay healthy and potentially enjoy lifelong wellness. If you have health challenges, changing to a diet of healthy foods is an enormously important medicine and will give you encouraging results very quickly.

I changed my own way of eating more than 20 years ago after years of consuming white flour processed foods. I lost weight, improved my lipids and healed chronic gum inflammation.

The best part was it ended my craving for highly processed low nutrient foods and the likelihood of developing Type II diabetes.

Techniques for Making Good Food Affordable

I have found that applying certain techniques helps tremendously in making good food affordable. The tips I follow include:

Eating Seasonally and Locally

When you eat seasonally you are likely to be eating foods that are grown locally. Local food is fresher and lower in cost because of its seasonal abundance and no overhead costs for shipping and transportation.

Buy extra when food is in season and freeze it for use when it is no longer available locally.

Keep a Garden

If you have some land, plant an organic vegetable garden. It’s quite remarkable how much food you can grow from a simple handful of seeds. It’s a great way to connect with nature and the origin of food.

Join a Co-Op or Community Garden

Co-op gardens have both social and economic benefits. They also support local farmers and provide more care of the soil and air quality in your community.

If you live in Europe, you may find this book on urban gardens helpful. In the USA, refer to Local Harvest to find a garden or Farmers’ Market near you. Australia also has an active community garden program.

Plan Your Pantry and Refrigerator

Make an initial investment in your pantry and refrigerator staples. Choose organic spices, vinegars, olive oil and butter, whole grains, beans and legumes so you have some basics to work with. Then make a shopping list of what you need to buy weekly.

Save Dining/Take Out for Special Occasions

To help you see where your food money is going, keep track of all food/beverages you buy in restaurants/as takeout for one week.

If you eat out frequently, you may find that the money you spend could easily buy you a few weeks’ worth of high quality organic foods for you to have at home. Eat out only occasionally and the experience will be more enjoyable.

A Shopping List

We’ve covered the myths about healthy food being too expensive. We’ve looked at techniques for accessing quality foods. We’ve strategized about saving money by eating at home instead of in restaurants.

Now you may be wondering what you need to have on that weekly shopping list that will keep things affordable. If you’re not sure what to buy, contact me and I will give you a list. Let me know if you live by yourself or if you have others in your household.

Either way, a list will help you to successfully buy a basket of food that is nourishing and affordable.

You can also check out the many recipes and menu ideas I have on my website.

Have you felt that buying or growing high quality food is too expensive? Or do you have a spending strategy that makes healthy eating work for you? Please join the conversation and share your experience.

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Sutton Stracke’s Ivory Ruffle Top

Sutton Stracke’s Ivory Ruffle Top on Instagram

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills 2021 Instagram Fashion

Sutton Stracke took to Instagram to serve us the details on her infamous drink the Sutty Butty Butthole. She also served up a very cute look in her ivory ruffle top while doing so. And if the drink wasn’t frightening enough, the story behind the name is quite scary too. But hey there’s nothing scarier than not being able to shop a Style Stealer of this fab ruffle top. Thankfully we’ve made that easier by listing them below (along with the video of how to make the Sutty Butty Butthole obvi 🥂).

 

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

 

Sutton Stracke's Ivory Ruffle Top

Click Here to Shop Her Alexander McQueen Tank Top

Photo Credit: @suttonstracke

Originally posted at: Sutton Stracke’s Ivory Ruffle Top

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Do You Overeat to Avoid Wasting Food? It Could Stop You from Losing Weight After 60

losing weight after 50

Do you feel compelled to eat everything on your plate because you feel guilty “wasting” food, even if it means feeling too full and overeating?

If you’re an over-60 like me, you grew up in the generation of people who were told as a child that you had to clean your plate because children in China or Appalachia or Biafra were starving.

Your parents or other adults may have tried to get you to ‘eat up’ by joining the so-called Clean Plate Club. For some unknown reason, they were petrified that you might actually starve if you didn’t eat everything they served you!

The problem is that many of us in the over-60 department still carry that myth with us a half-century later. We feel guilty “wasting” food, meaning, not eating everything on our plate and sometimes having to throw food away.

I’m not a proponent for wasting anything, but putting food into your body when you’ve eaten enough is actually worse than throwing it away. By continuing to eat, you’re substituting your body for the trash bin!

You see, your body knows precisely how much food it needs to be a healthy weight. It gives you hunger signals when you need fuel and then sends a message to your brain to tell you that you’ve had enough. If you listen to those body signals, you won’t overeat and will maintain a healthy weight.

But most of us don’t do that. We eat for all kinds of reasons other than hunger, and we don’t stop eating when our bodies are lightly full.

Our Parents Told Us Not to Waste Food

The reason most of my clients share for why they do not stop eating when their bodies have had enough is that they think it is wrong to waste food. They were taught this by their parents.

This reasoning needs further exploration.

You’ve eaten enough and feel good. But, because of some programming from your caregivers when you were young, you feel compelled to continue putting food into your body that it doesn’t need. All of this because you think it’s wrong to put it in the trash?

Let’s say you follow this advice. You keep eating all the food on your plate, and your body stores those extra calories as fat. You feel stuffed. Ugh. If you do this regularly, you’ll gain weight, increasing your risk of heart attack, stroke, breast cancer and a host of other obesity-related illnesses.

Now think about what is really wrong in this scenario: throwing away food your body doesn’t need or eating that food to the detriment of your health?

This is not a trick question. The answer is clear.

But what about those poor starving children? They would never get your leftovers anyway, would they? By eating that extra food, you aren’t helping anyone. And you’re hurting yourself.

Are Portion Sizes Too Big?

In the United States, most restaurants serve ridiculously large portions. Some are enough for two or even three people. In restaurants, because people are directly paying a bill for their meals, folks feel even more compelled to keep eating.

But is it really worth it? You’ll feel overly full and over time will increase the size of your waist line.

There will be times when you have to waste some food. Make peace with that and know that it is better for your health than continuing to eat when your body has had enough.

For some of us, changing our beliefs about wasting food is difficult. We’ve carried this opinion without even questioning it for most of our lives.

If you want to drop those unwanted pounds and keep them off, I encourage you to rethink those beliefs that were drummed into you as a child. They made no sense then and make no sense now.

So how do you avoid “wasting” food? Here are a few suggestions:

Put Less Food on Your Plate

If you’re eating at home, put less food on your plate. Start with two-thirds of what you normally eat. You can always take more if you’re still hungry.

Stop Eating When You Are Lightly Full

If you’re in a restaurant, stop eating when you’re lightly full and take the rest home. Most leftovers are great the next day. Some people have half their serving packed up before they start eating so they aren’t tempted to overeat.

Give Leftovers to Someone on the Street

If you’re traveling in a city and have no refrigeration, you can pack up the leftovers anyway and give them to someone on the street who is hungry.

Think

The next time you think you should keep eating, rather than ‘waste’ food, tell yourself, “If I’m eating food that my body doesn’t need and will store as fat, it is worse than throwing the food in the trash.”

Do you overeat in order to avoid wasting food? What messages from your childhood still affect the way you eat in your 60s? Please share any strategies that have helped you stop overeating.

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4 Ways to Embrace Aging Without Growing Old

getting older; aging

I began writing this article several times. The topic: aging. What to say: a lot, not much… not sure? 

Finally, I turned to some women from my personal circles, all of them between the ages of 50 and 75. I caught them a bit by surprise when I broached the subject, but they willingly paused to think about “growing older.”

Because here’s the thing about aging: it happens gradually. It tiptoes in, practically unnoticeable. Until one day it isn’t. A glance in the mirror, a slight grunt as you get up off the sofa, a knee that needs a moment to adjust. 

Aging sneaks up on us. We plan to (at least we hope to) get older. We don’t necessarily plan on getting old.

The word “aging” is a bit loaded in the first place. It seems we only use it in certain contexts. We wouldn’t say to a 3-year-old, “My how you’ve aged!” We wouldn’t tell a 15-year-old, “You’ve really aged since I last saw you.”

So, when does the term “aging” begin to describe people? At 45? 65? 85? When did “aging” replace “growing”? And why?

Some questions about this topic are difficult to answer. Luckily, I’ve been reminded about these four truths thanks to those willing women and our conversations.

It Helps to Have Role Models

We’re at an advantage if we had parents or family members that showed us a path to successful aging. There’s nothing more inspirational than watching someone you love become a remarkable elder. 

But even if that’s not the case, there are public figures or family friends that model for us how to live well if we live long. I have an acquaintance whose mother lived to 105. When she was 102 she rode in the passenger seat of the pace car at an international car race. I want to be Edith when I grow up.

Good Health Should Be Celebrated

We all know people who are facing physical struggles. Many of us are, too. And it can feel some days like every phone call, text, or email means bad news… someone’s health has failed. Such is this season of life.

So if we’re fortunate enough to be relatively healthy, there’s a lot to celebrate. We’re stretching, walking, and running in celebration of our physical selves. 

We’re literally moving through life grateful that our bodies are cooperating with what we’re asking them to do. We’re practicing functional fitness. We’re patient, aware that our physicality isn’t what it used to be.

We’re acknowledging some limitations, accommodating for physical changes, listening to our bodies’ messages.

I’ve recently traded intensive gym workouts for daily yoga. And that’s OK.

It’s Not Too Late

The women I know who embrace aging continue to grow. In fact, they’re flourishing. They’re living life on purpose, acknowledging that some dreams have passed them by but excavating for new ones. 

Creative endeavors, community work, intellectual pursuits… they’re following their curiosity and allowing themselves to be led. And they’re delighted by the surprises!

I have a 60-year-old friend who, after years in corporate life, is claiming a new path in sound therapy and healing. I never considered writing for public consumption until I turned 60.

There’s something about aging that makes us want to tattoo Carpe Diem on our wrists! (And I know a woman who’s done that, too.)

If Not Now, When?

There was one common thread running through my conversations about aging: Time feels more precious now. The road ahead is shorter than the one we’ve traveled, regardless of how healthy we are or hope to remain.

And that awareness about Time brings an appreciation for who we’ve become and what we still have to look forward to.

Most of all, as we age we become very grateful for the present. It’s feels more life-giving to maximize each day rather than reminisce or worry about what may lie ahead.

Now is all we have. And, just like that, we’re back to seizing the day.

Who are your role models for aging well? How are you coping with aging? How do you continue to grow as you grow older? Join the conversation!

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Amanda Batula’s Favorite Strapless Bra

Amanda Batula’s Favorite Strapless Bra on Instastories

Summer House Instagram Fashion 2021

Forget the perfect man, we know that like us all of you ladies have been on the hunt since around age twelve-ish for the perfect strapless bra to stuff with tissues wear. And thanks to Amanda Batula (and a certain Kardashian), that tumultuous journey has finally come to an end and our girls will be able live under strapless tops, dresses and jumpsuits happily ever after. ✨

 

Fashionably,

Faryn

 

Amanda Batula’s Favorite Strapless Bra

Important Information From Amanda:

Amanda Batula’s Favorite Strapless BraAmanda Batula’s Favorite Strapless Bra

Click Here to Shop Her Skims Bra in 4 Colours

Click Here For Additional Stock

And Here For More Stock

P.S. According to her stories Amanda also likes this bra

Photos & Info: @AmandaBatula

Originally posted at: Amanda Batula’s Favorite Strapless Bra

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