This morning, when I woke up, I was looking through the cabinets for something (I can't remember what) and was distracted by the Emerald nuts I recently purchased. I didn't have any at the time, but I pulled them out anyway...just to show my husband. I did this primarily because it looked as if I was the only one eating them. Let me begin by saying, I feel so sorry for anyone that has a nut allergy because I am such a nut for nuts. I could demolish a small bowl of shelled unsalted peanuts in no time. And my husband has to have his supply of pistachios handy. Just thinking about a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter makes my mouth water. Down girl.
Years ago, I went through the comprehensive testing that followed Desert Storm veterans with symptoms of Gulf War Illness (GWI). I took part in the testing because my husband and I wanted to have a baby.
I had heard horrible things about the effects of GWI and I was hesitant to try to get pregnant until I had been cleared medically. You see, since I had returned from the war, I had suffered with chronic migraines. The lead doctor in charge of the testing at Walter Reed told me he didn't believe in Gulf War Illness, but they would run tests on me anyway to try to ascertain the logical cause of my headaches. They never did.
In the course of the testing, they did discover I had high cholesterol, the bad kind. I'll admit I kind of glazed over when they started talking LDLs and HDLs, but I got the bottom line of the discussion. I had been eating whatever I liked and as the doctor's put it...that was a bad thing. I was effectively shortening my life by my poor food choices. I had to make some big changes. It all threw me for a loop. I never saw it coming. I never saw myself as a big woman though, for my short stature, I was a bit curvy. I met the weight standards for my age group. And at the time (before my back went bad), even with knee problems, I kept up with the physical fitness program. I could even get a max score my Army Physical Fitness Test. I wasn't in bad shape, so I thought.
I guess its normal for military personnel to eat poorly. By today's definition, we never had what you would call healthy breakfasts. We often rushed through lunches for meetings and, with long hours, dinners were almost always late in the evening. Fast food was a way of life. Who knew it was bad for you?
Even as early as basic training, they would hand us a serving spoon (in lieu of a fork), and hurry us through the meals...According to the drill sergeants, there was little time to waste sitting on our butts eating. It was mostly carbohydrates, and we were ordered to shovel it in. There was training to get back to.
For the years following basic training, I had amazed friends and family at my ability to eat fast and get back to whatever we were doing. What could I say? It had literally been drilled into me at the young age of eighteen. One thing was for sure, relearning what and how to eat, after a lifetime of bad habits, would be something of a challenge to my lifestyle.
Many of us still maintain that kind of rush rush attitude when it comes to eating. And we are stuck in this rut believing we have to eat three meals a day, and that snacking is bad. Right now, I'd say I primarily eat five times a day...small healthy things that I know my body can handle. And, as I said before, I do eat nuts.
Studies have shown that eating certain nuts can lower high cholesterol and, though I haven't had high cholesterol for years, I know keeping it low is a good thing. Besides, lowering high cholesterol reduces the risk of heart disease, right? I really like these Emerald 100 calorie packs. Now, I should warn you. The portions are small, but if you eat them slowly, they can be quite filling. And the cocoa roast dark chocolate flavor are a real treat. Keeping these and other 100 calorie packs handy can give you options and I am all for having healthy options on hand.
http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftmar04.htm
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