We all have those times when the “growlie monster” in our stomach says “feed me and feed me now!”  It doesn’t care that you only ate lunch an hour ago or that you’re not having your next meal for several hours.

Or even worse than the “growlie monster” is the devil child itself – cravings.  It’s when your mind is screaming at you to eat a bag of salt & black pepper potato chips, dig into a pint of yummy Ben & Jerry’s, find that bag of Kit Kat’s you’ve hidden in the back of the pantry, or is practically forcing you to pull into the nearest fast food restaurant for a burger & fries (never the side salad with light dressing)!  But you know you don’t want to do that because you’re trying hard to eat healthier and lose weight.

Yes, I know we’re only supposed to eat when we are truly hungry and that cravings may or may not mean “I’m hungry.” But, tell that to my body when I’m in “full-on” craving mode.  Sure, drinking a glass of water helps – for the 15 seconds it takes to drink it.  Taking a walk helps, but a 3 hour walk until my next meal isn’t going to happen.  Taking my mind off cravings by keeping my hands busy with something else….well that seemed like a good idea until I took a knitting class where bringing in snacks was encouraged.  Who says you can’t knit and eat at the same time?

Instead I’ve come up with nine favorite “go to” snacks that are healthy and filling, and most importantly, calm my cravings and banish the “growlie monsters” without throwing my calorie consumption into a tailspin:

Mary’s Gone Crackers Sea Salt Sticks & Twigs With Laughing Cow Light French Onion Cheese for dipping (150 calories for one serving of “Sticks & Twigs;” 35 calories for a wedge of Light Cow Light Cheese) – TOTAL CALORIES: 185

Salsa With Blue Corn Tortilla Chips (140 calories for a serving of Kettle brand Blue Corn TortillaChips; 30 calories in ¼ cup of Tostitos medium salsa) – TOTAL CALORIES: 170

100 calorie pack Emerald dry roasted almonds (handy to keep stashed in a desk drawer, purse, or in your car to keep the “monster munchies” at bay) – TOTAL CALORIES: 100

Grape tomatoes (forget about counting out a measly 10 for a snack – an entire container is less than 100 calories!) – TOTAL CALORIES: 90

StarKist Tuna Salad Lunch To Go Kit (the package says it’s a lunch item but at 200 calories for the entire kit it’s more like a snack than lunch to me because there has yet come a day where I can eat a 200 calorie lunch and still not be screaming hungry) – TOTAL CALORIES: 200

Single serve bag of 100 calorie popcorn sprinkled with 1 or 2 teaspoons parmesan cheese (about 8 calories per teaspoon) – TOTAL CALORIES: 116

Sliced apple sprinkled with 1 teaspoon sugar and a liberal dusting of cinnamon (95 calories for a medium apple, 16 calories in a teaspoon of sugar, 0 calories for the cinnamon) – TOTAL CALORIES: 111

Baby carrots with red pepper hummus (about 60 calories for 15 baby carrots; 80 calories for 2 tablespoons Athenos Red Pepper Hummus)  - TOTAL CALORIES: 140

String cheese dipped in cocktail sauce (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it – it’s really good!)  (about 80 calories in 1 stick of regular and about 60 calories in 1 stick of light string cheese; about 15 calories in a tablespoon of shrimp cocktail sauce) – TOTAL CALORIES: 95

COPY OF E-MAIL  Subject: Fwd: baby carrots did you know this

We used to eat these baby carrots, not anymore!

From the Department of Life Education:

Baby Carrots:

The following is information from a farmer who grows and packages carrots for IGA, METRO, LOBLAWS, etc.

The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots – most people probably know this already.

What you may not know and should know is the following:

Once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them (this is the same chlorine used in your pool).

Since they do not have their skin or natural protective covering, they give them a higher dose of chlorine.

You will notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a whitecovering will form on the carrots. This is the chlorine which resurfaces.  At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables?

Chlorine is a very well-known carcinogen, which causes Cancer.  I thought this was worth passing on. Pass it on to as many people as possible in hopes of informing them where these carrots come from and how they are processed.

I used to buy those baby carrots for vegetable dips. I know that I will never buy them again!!!!

Confirmed by Snopes:

1. snopes.com: Baby Carrots ••••

Are baby carrots made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been soaked in chlorine?

Carrot and Shtick Claim: Baby carrots are made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been permeated with chlorine. They are put through a machine to become small cocktail carrots.

I think after reading this we will all start  making our own carrot sticks out of fresh carrots and keep them in the fridge (a few at a time), right?…

Gosh, how scary!? Are baby carrots no longer healthy?  May as well just give up and eat the chips and candy we really want, right?  Okay, maybe I’m just projecting my own thoughts after I read this the first time.  Then I got a little smarter and decided to not take a forwarded email from someone I didn’t know at face value.

The top 5 pieces of incorrect and/or partially incorrect information in this email:

1) “The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots – most people probably know this already.” Yes, baby carrots are made from larger carrots that are cut down and shaped and are not true baby carrots.  Just like baby corn tastes different than a full size cob of corn a “true” baby carrot tastes different than a large carrot.  I grow carrots in my home garden and I can tell you that a baby size carrot is skinny, long, and kind of bland and bitter tasting.  The expensive baby size carrots in the store that say they are true “baby carrots” are a breed of carrot that is small at its full-grown mature stage and is not a “baby.”

You might now be thinking, “then why do those baby carrots in the bags taste sweeter than the big long ones?”  It’s because those “cut down to baby carrot size baby carrots” are a type of sweet carrot.  Just like there are many different types of potatoes and tomatoes there are many different types of carrots.  Some are sweeter than others.

And yes, some (emphasis on the word “some”) of those large carrots may be crooked or “deformed” but is that really a bad thing?  Not every carrot is perfectly shaped.

That doesn’t mean it tastes any different.  Is the only edible carrot a perfectly straight one?

2) Who is this email is supposedly from.  The “Department of Life Education”……who the heck is that besides some made-up pretend entity designed to make people think it’s a reputable source?  It’s more likely from “dude staring at his computer in his bedroom laughing his arse off because he has people believing the email he wrote one night while dealing with the munchies he got after smoking some weed and while chomping on baby carrots because he had already eaten all the chips and cheesy doodles in the house.”

3) “Once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them (this is the same chlorine used in your pool). Since they do not have their skin or natural protective covering, they give them a higher dose of chlorine.”   This statement is partially true.  Yes, they may be cleaned in a solution of water and chlorine. But, chlorine is not a preservative.  It is used to kill bacteria which can be present on the carrots.  Carrots come from the ground and are not grown in a sterile environment.  Bacteria can be present in them.  Yes, the baby carrots are peeled which does remove their natural protective covering but that is to make them ready to eat right out of the bag and doesn’t mean they are given a higher dose of chlorine.

Lots of vegetables in the produce aisle have been cleaned in a chlorine mixture.  Google “bagged lettuce and chlorine” and you’ll find that those handy bags of lettuce have gotten a chlorine treatment just like most baby carrots.

If you are still freaked out by the use of chlorine to kill the bacteria in baby carrots, buy organic. Instead of chlorine, citric acid is typically used to clean them.  But before you think you have to spend a fortune on organic carrots remember that if you drink municipal tap water there is chlorine in it and has been an accepted way of treating drinking water for a long time.

4) “You will notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a white covering will form on the carrots. This is the chlorine which resurfaces.  At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables? Here’s where the email gets people’s internal alarm bells ringing and has them rushing to their fridge to throw their baby carrots in the garbage (but not to the pantry to throw away their MSG and preservative laden foods).  The white that appears on baby carrots is not chlorine leaching its way to the surface of the carrots.  It means the carrots are drying out.  Don’t believe me?  Take a regular carrot, peel it, and put it in a plastic bag in the fridge.  When it starts to dry out it will get a whitish color on the surface.

5) Then to further drive home the “alarmist” theory in the email there’s this tidbit of info, “Confirmed by Snopes: 1. snopes.com: Baby Carrots •••• Are baby carrots made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been soaked in chlorine?  Carrot and Shtick Claim: Baby carrots are made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been permeated with chlorine. They are put through a machine to become small cocktail carrots. For the real scoop on what Snopes has to say about baby carrots go to their website:http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/carrots.asp. They specifically state, “It’s not true there is anything wrong with the larger carrots they’re (“they” refers to “baby cut carrots”) made from, or that the resultant vegetables reach the consumers in a chlorine-soaked state.”

Bottom line: baby carrots are not a toxic chemical laden food that will glow in the dark.

They’re still healthy but admittedly not as healthy as a full grown carrot you peel yourself, or don’t peel at all if it’s really fresh-as in right from the garden, because just like an apple or potato there are lots of nutrients in and near the skin of a carrot.

If you are looking for the freshest carrots that have not been treated with anything un-natural grow your own or visit a local farmers market and ask the grower if they use chemical fertilizers in their growing operations.

And, if you are the recipient of the “tainted carrot email,” stop the madness and send it to your trash can instead of your entire address book.  It’s really okay to not forward the email.  Your computer won’t blow up as a result.

So be like a bunny and eat your carrots whether they are baby, big, diced, sliced, shredded, crinkle cut; and whether they are orange, yellow, purple or white!

I ate eggs fried in butter with a side of all the bacon I could eat (sometimes a whole pound!) for breakfast, shoveled bun-less burgers (lettuce instead of a bun please but don’t forget the cheese, mayo and bacon) into my mouth at lunch, cooked huge hunks of beef, pork or chicken for my dinner with a side of broccoli or salad, and in between snacked on lots of cheese. Bread, pasta, grains of any kind and fruit were shunned.

The weight practically fell off me. I was in hog heaven. Who knew a person could lose lots of weight while eating all the bacon they wanted and without every being hungry? My piggish happiness lasted until I couldn’t stand not having any bread or fruit. One bite of it and the weight stated to pile back on almost as fast as I lost it.

The sensible part of me knew that eating a diet consisting mainly of saturated fat wasn’t healthy and eventually my body made its unhappiness known because it got to the point where I was always tired and sluggish and could barely get through my normal day, much less a vigorous workout.

That was 2004. Since then I’ve tried the South Beach diet (another low carb diet), the Zone diet (yet another low carb diet), the Sugar Busters diet (giving sugar up completely makes me really crabby – just ask my husband) and for the last 2 years, Weight Watchers.

The only diet where I’ve had success, meaning I not only lost weight but have kept it off, is Weight Watchers; but I’ve been backsliding with Weight Watchers recently and have gained back 15 of the 57 pounds I’ve lost. I’m so sick of counting “points” for every bite of food I eat and have stubbornly refused to do it for the past several months hence the extra poundage that’s slowly finding its way back to me.

So it’s back to “square one” for me, looking for an eating plan that will help me lose weight but this time I want one that I don’t have to convert every food I eat into a “points” value. A lower carb diet still appeals to me because I know they work, but I’m not going to going on an unhealthy low carb diet again and to me Atkins is definitely not a healthy way to go.

A few days ago I decided to try a lower carb eating plan along with 17 other people at the Curves facility I work out at. The meals and recipes I’m using are from the Curves Complete diet plan, which while encouraging more protein (but healthy lean protein like chicken breasts and fish instead of fatty cuts of meat like my beloved bacon). It’s going good so far even though I’m not following it completely – I’m eating a lot more fruit than what the plan recommends. Fruit can be high in carbs, but they’re good carbs and they help me have enough energy to get through my workouts.

It’s making me think that there can be a lower carb diet that is healthy. The meals I’m having this week are filled with lean protein (including nuts – yum!), low fat dairy, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. There’s no soda, sugary desserts or junky snacks without any nutritional value. That may sound boring and hard but it’s not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be (okay, I have had a couple bites of chocolate but a girl’s gotta live right?).

Honestly, I don’t think I could eat like this every week, but I don’t have to. I can add in some dessert and even chips if I want to next week but small amounts or I won’t be able to meet my protein, fat, fiber, carb, and caloric intake targets.

Maybe I’ll even take the plunge towards super healthy eating and try the “Eco-Atkins” high protein, low carb diet. The the “Eco-Atkins” eating strategy (sounds much nicer than “diet” doesn’t it?) has been developed by David J.A. Jenkins (he’s the person who developed the glycemic index which you may or may not giving a “flying hoot” about).

It’s a high protein meal plan filled with protein rich plant-based foods instead of animal foods. It’s a completely animal free vegan meal plan. That blows my mind. I didn’t think it was possible to eat a high protein diet without eating any animal products (at least eggs and cheese).

According to information on the Web MD website, people who tried the “Eco-Atkins” eating plan got their protein “primarily from gluten, soy beverages; tofu; soy burgers; veggie products such as bacon, breakfast links, and deli slices; nuts; vegetables; and cereals. The diet emphasized viscous vegetables like okra and eggplant, along with other low-starch vegetables.”

Maybe low carb eating, but the healthy kind (words I never thought I’d put in the same sentence), will find a new resurgence of popularity and we’ll all to a healthy normal weight!

But even though there are plenty of choices in the yogurt, eating yogurt by itself can get pretty boring so here are some ideas to make it more interesting and tasty without adding a ton of calories to it:

- Fruity Pebbles cereal sprinkled on top (2 tablespoons is 20 calories)

- Cheerios sprinkled on top (2 tablespoons is 13 calories)

- granola sprinkled on top (about 1 tablespoon). Try Galaxy Granola; it’s low fat and delicious.

- Grape Nuts sprinkled on top

- trail mix sprinkled on top

- poured over the top of a bowl of fresh cut up fruit (berries, melon, grapes)

- mixed with a container of ready to eat sugar free Jello (take Jello out of container, cut in bite size pieces and mix with light yogurt of your choice for quick “broken glass” salad that’s around 100 calories and is delicious and satisfying)

- with a couple cookies from a 100 calorie pack sprinkled on top (lemon yogurt with a couple of Lorna Doone shortbread cookies crumbled on top of Yoplait Delights lemon torte yogurt; a couple Oreo crisps crumbled on top of vanilla yogurt; or part of a graham cracker crumbled on top of caramel yogurt are my favorites)

- make a smoothie (toss a container of yogurt, 1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen fruit, a handful of ice cubes, and a splash of water or skim milk or juice into a blender and blend until smooth, adding a little sugar or sugar substitute if desired)

- use as a dipper for apples (dip apple slices into light caramel yogurt)

But one of my resolutions for this year is to eat healthier and that includes eating organic and natural foods as much as possible. 

When it comes to produce I look for organic for the conventionally grown varieties that have been shown to have the highest levels of pesticide residue according to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington D.C. based non profit organization.  Click here for the list of their ”dirty dozen.” 

But, to keep my grocery bills from consuming my entire household budget I opt for conventionally grown produce that’s on the group’s “clean fifteen” list.   

CLEAN 15 PRODUCE:
ONIONS
AVOCADOS
SWEET CORN
PINEAPPLE
MANGO
ASPARAGUS
SWEET PEAS
KIWI
CABBAGE
EGGPLANT
PAPAYA
WATERMELON
BROCCOLI
TOMATOES
SWEET POTATOES

Personally I also opt for conventional varieties of produce that have thick skin that isn’t edible such as bananas, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, cantelope, honeydew, and other melons.

If I’m not sure whether or not the produce is likely to contain a high amount of pesticide residue I opt for organic if it’s a fruit or vegetable that has a thin skin or one where I eat the entire thing such as raspberries and blueberries.

And if my budget for the week is really tight, I buy whatever produce is on sale regardless of whether it is organic or conventionally grown because I figure eating that is still healthier and better for my waistline than processed foods that may be cheap but are loaded with sodium and preservatives.

It makes me feel like I’m trading one bad thing for another (being overweight and the health risks that come with it or literally eating toxins in the form of the pesticide residue).

While I’d like to buy organic fruits and vegetables all the time, it can get really expensive. Where I live organic costs 2-3 times as much as conventional fruits and vegetables which really puts a strain on my grocery budget.

So to strike a balance between avoiding pesticides and keeping my grocery budget under control, I use the Environmental Working Group’s list of the “dirty dozen fruits & vegetables.” The dirty dozen are the ones I try to buy organic, grow myself (I’m lucky enough to have a garden) or buy from local growers at a farmers market where many growers follow organic growing practices and avoid pesticide use but haven’t gone through the process and expense of obtaining “certified organic” status.

Here’s the list:

Dirty Dozen Fruits and Vegetables:
PEACHES
APPLES
SWEET BELL PEPPERS
CELERY
NECTARINES
STRAWBERRIES
CHERRIES
SPINACH
LETTUCE
GRAPES (imported)
CARROTS
PEARS

If you have an iPhone there’s an app available to download so you’ll always have easy access to the list. Download it by clicking here. The same link will also give you access to a pdf version to download and print if you don’t have an iPhone.

If you get to the store and don’t have the list or can’t remember what’s on it, but want to steer clear of the produce items that are likely to have the highest levels of pesticide content, think about the skin. Thinner skinned fruits and vegetables absorb more pesticides and contaminants so if it’s thin skinned produce or produce where you eat the whole thing, such as lettuce, head to the organic section.

Thick skinned fruits, bananas or grapefruit for example, may have as much pesticide residue as apples, but who eats banana peels and grapefruit rinds? Those are 2 produce items that I don’t bother buying organic. I could be full of “phooey” but I feel safe with thinking I’m throwing the most contaminated part of it in the trash.

But no matter what fruit or vegetable you buy ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wash it before using it even if the skin is going to end up in the trash.

Here’s a true example of why: A lady in the small community I live in was recently hospitalized. She got swollen and was really sick but at first the doctors couldn’t figure out the cause. They finally pinpointed it to cantelope she had eaten. The outside rind was contaminated and while she didn’t eat the rind she also didn’t wash it before cutting it open, so contaminants on the outside got on the fruit she ate via the knife she used to cut it.

So ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wash produce before using it, even organic.