Today I spent the day shopping and cooking. It was a wonderful day but now my feet hurt! I started the day making my enchilada sauce and mac and cheese (for Brandon) and then I had to go searching for our Halloween costumes. We’re going to a Halloween party on Friday night and yes, we have waited until now to decide on our costumes. We decided to be robbers… easy right? no! I would have never thought it would be so hard to find a long sleeve black and white striped shirt for a man.
Anyway, I have been doing a lot of reading/listening to webinars and research about the role of fat in our diet and how the current nutrition guidelines are essentially killing us. Ever since the 90’s when we went through the low-fat craze the rate of obesity has been increasing exponentially. Why? Because when the food industry removes fat from their foods it tastes like cardboard – so they add sugar in its place! Snackwells cookies anyone?
So here is a novel thought. We should be eliminating refined carbohydrates from our diet (i.e. sugar, white bread, etc) and adding more fat! I’m not talking about fat from fast food items, or processed goods but instead eating more avocados, eggs, nuts and healthy oils like olive oil and coconut oil.
As I listen and read all of this research I have been tweaking my diet to include more nuts and not being afraid to eat more avocado. I think it is safe to say that I am consuming considerably more calories but I have already lost 2 pounds! I’m not starving myself or logging my calories but instead being conscious of my carbohydrate intake and choosing full fat options when I have them – like full fat cheeses and milks. I am trying to keep my carbohydrate intake to 60-100g per day but this is plenty if you are not eating bread, pasta, and other heavy carb meals.
A calorie is not a calorie! Food is information for your body and everything is interpreted differently.
- 2 C full fat plain greek yogurt
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp allowed mild oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 cucumber, deseeded and finely diced
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Alternatives:
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are needed for a traditional tzatziki. If you are sensitive to garlic, this could be omitted but understand the flavor will be different than traditional. The pepper can also be omitted without much change to the recipe.
Oil substitute – use any mild oil here – liquid coconut oil, olive oil, nut oils, etc.
What’s your favorite Greek food?