Simple Things for a Healthy Diet

Michelle Obama is the most amazing woman. Besides the shallow reasons for thinking she is fabulous such as her beauty, her fabulous arm muscles and her marvelous sense of style, I admire her for her incredible intellect, her interest in things that I think matter such as healthy eating habits and her most recent job of working on the task force to combat childhood obesity.

This post is a bit late since the announcement was early last week, but I keep thinking about the interview I saw on the PBS Newshour where she made ever so much sense. The thing that resonated most was her no nonsense approach to changing the eating habits of her girls when a doctor's visit found that their BMI was not what it should be. This happened when Mrs. Obama was a working mother in Chicago with her husband away in Washington, D.C., when President Obama was a Senator. She had to juggle the responsibilities that a single mother would -- getting the kids up, fed and to school, herself to work and then dinner for herself and the children. It is so easy to rely on prepared foods and unhealthy snacks, because who has time to be the mother of two, the wife of a U.S. Senator, have a career and to make three well-balanced meals a day. Mrs. Obama said that with very simple changes -- and that is the key, because major, life-altering changes are so daunting -- she was able to make major changes in her daughters' health. No juice boxes in their lunches, desserts being offered only on weekends, etc.

The acknowledgement that parents are busy and major changes generally are a nonstarter is a necessary ingredient for success. Involving the agriculture department and other organizations responsible for feeding children is so important. New York City and San Francisco have some really interesting school lunch programs that involve fresh foods and local farms. I hope the White House looks to leaders in school lunch who say no to cardboard pizza and sodas and yes to homemade foods from local farms. Alice Waters and her Edible Schoolyard project is also inspirational in getting kids involved in growing vegetables, understanding where their food comes from and then cooking it. Not all kids will be into that, but many will. Anything that can get people thinking about what they put into their bodies is a big deal as far as I am concerned. It matters for overall health and it matters for the planet. Take your pick -- be inspired for reasons of self or broader global reasons. Whatever works.

The interview with Mrs. Obama really resonated with me, because the things she said are things that I found work for me. Any time I decide I need to go on a diet, I immediately begin feeling like I am starving and I crave pizza. I simply can't handle the mental idea of depriving myself. Being naturally oppositional, if I am told "no" -- even when I tell myself -- I rebel. So now when I notice my weight sneaking up and that my eating habits have been less than impressive -- 3 oatmeal cookies and two individual-serving bags of Cheetos in one day, for example -- I realize it is time to get myself in hand. Instead of going on a diet, I go on a cooking spree.

So after that theoretical cookie/Cheeto binge, I made a big pot of white beans with herbs and garlic. I have breakfast tacos in the morning with the beans, corn tortillas, perhaps some scrambled egg whites or some low-fat roasted potatoes and salsa. I might add a small grating of cheese for flavor. My goal is to eat a high protein breakfast with more calories in the morning and taper off at night.

I made a curried lentil stew with carrots, onion, garlic, curry, Swiss chard and homemade vegetable stock. Add some wild rice and you've got protein, vegetables, whole grains and something warm in your stomach on a cold winter afternoon. That serves as lunch.

Snacks are almonds, oranges, grapefruit or some oatmeal.

Dinner is yogurt, fruit and granola. I wake up really hungry, but don't get hungry throughout the day and very shortly the weight starts to drop off. If I have a craving for something sweet, I have a bar of bittersweet dark chocolate in the pantry and it will take me at least three months to polish it off one little square at a time. Although, I admit sweets are not my downfall and salty treats are, so I hardly ever buy those kinds of things. You will not find prepared foods, chips, etc. in my house. Not because I am such a health nut or so superior, but because I will eat the whole damn bag in one sitting. So I just don't tempt myself. I swear the corn chips call to me, begging to be liberated from the pantry and being so kind-hearted, I must stop the suffering. There have been times when I swear I can feel my legs getting fatter after one of those missions to free the chips and it is disturbing. So I just don't buy those things that will cause my thighs to turn to jello before my eyes.

I also have to make sure I get up off the couch and move, which is pretty difficult some days when the snow is falling and I have a sweet dog snoring away in my lap. It is much more enticing to stay under the blanket and dog and watch old movies. Even just mopping the first floor and cleaning the upstairs bathrooms is a start. But I really need to make it a priority to work in some cardio and weight training. I am never going to get those Michelle Obama arm muscles unless I pick up those weights and get my heart rate up.

So while I toil away at my flabby arms, I will also be keeping an eye on this White House and new task force. I have high hopes that with the combined intelligence of the folks on that panel and with Mrs. Obama at the helm, we're going to see some really interesting and doable proposals.

Red Lentil Soup

For years now I have followed Heidi Swanson at www.101cookbooks.com. I relate to her obsession with collecting cookbooks and recently counted mine. I come in at just under 100. Ninety eight to be exact. I’ve identified a couple that I never use, but otherwise I use them all. When I want to cook anything, I cross reference the recipe until I find one that sounds the best or cobble together elements from various recipes that I think will work.

Part of that collection includes Heidi’s “Supernatural Cooking,” an extremely healthy collection of vegetarian recipes. I like the book and the recipes are good, but they often include ingredients that are difficult to find and it becomes discouraging. As a devote of Julia Child, I try to follow her advice and not to be daunted by a lack of ingredient and just forge ahead without it or find what seems like an adequate substitution. For example, she has a recipe for chocolate chip cookies with mesquite flour. I've never found the mesquite flour and don't feel like sending away for a bag of it just for these cookies. A substitute of whole wheat flour just has to suffice. The cookies get rave reviews, so I guess they aren't suffering too much from the missing ingredient.

Heidi recently announced that she is working on a new cookbook and I can hardly wait until it comes out. The recipes are going to be quick, weeknight recipes. While I firmly believe the best food involves time and attention, I don’t always have hours to cook dinner and having some quick, healthy recipes at my fingertips will be welcome.

As if the extensive collection of cookbooks and cooking magazines weren't enough, I continually go to 101cookbooks to check out Heidi's new recipes and find something for dinner. I recently made her red lentil soup and it was unbelievably fantastic. Of course, I modified it because I love spice. The original merely called for a bit of red pepper flakes, but I found that an addition of curry powder and a hint of garam masala was just the ticket. The brown rice adds body to the soup, which is much needed as red lentils can be a bit weak.

This soup takes very little time to make and is the perfect thing for a cold winter night.

Red Lentil Soup

extra virgin olive oil


1 onion or shallot, chopped


2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

1 tsp. curry powder

dash of garam masala

6 cups good-tasting vegetable stock (or water)


1 1/3 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed


1/2 cup brown rice, picked over and rinsed


salt as needed

In a big soup pot, over medium heat, combine the olive oil, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. Let them brown, and caramelize a bit, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the broth, bring to a boil, then stir in the lentils and rice. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice is very tender. This may take longer depending on the type of rice you have. By this time, the lentils will have collapsed. If you need to add more water/broth at any point, do so a splash at a time, until the soup thins out to the point you prefer.

Salt the soup until it no longer tastes flat.

Serves 4 - 6.