The Svelte Gourmet is expanding...and not in a good way!

I'm back from vacation! And I feel awful. Really, really awful. Don't get me wrong, my trip with Keith and the kids was fantastic -- we left Charleston for a week-long roadtrip to stay with my parents in beautiful Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We did day trips from there, visiting Washington DC, New York City and Williamsburg, hitting up Hersheypark, showing the kids Amish country and hiking my old camping spot. We really had a wonderful time, we got a ton of exercise, and we feel truly refreshed. We shook off the winter cobwebs (it was an unseasonably warm 90 degrees in Pennsylvania!) and we're ready for spring. So why do I feel so terrible?

Well, I figured that just for a week, I could give everyone a break from The Svelte Gourmet kitchen. I admit, I have a tendency to get a little preachy! But this was vacation. No restrictions! My mom has the same svelte mentality that I do, but unfortunately, we only ate a couple meals at home. So theme park food plus roadtrip stops plus drive-thrus plus Easter candy plus nary a chicken breast equals what? Lethargic, puffy and miserable! I feel like I did my own "supersize me" experiment. I did a quick mental recap of our diet last week, and I realized that we ate mostly high fat meats (if you can call a hot dog meat!), fried madness (more than one funnel cake...seriously?!), and an unreal amount of sodium. And virtually no fiber at all!

Has this happened to you on vacation? Or worse, does this resemble your everyday diet? Here's how to get back on track or kickstart your summer-ready fitness plan:

1. Back to basics! Lean proteins, lots of veggies and whole grains. And a TON of water. The Svelte Gourmet basics!

2. Lay off the salt. As you know, too much salt makes me puffy, and isn't good for me internally, either. And the amount in processed foods is sickening. So no more fast food or popcorn for me!

3. Fiber, fiber and more fiber. Fiber is something I've been wanting to cover for a while now, and this seems like the perfect time to do it! Dietary fiber has so many health benefits, and is absolutely imperative to keep things...uhhh..."moving." But we all know that, right? What you may not know, however, is that dietary fiber has some amazing health benefits and may actually help you lose weight!

How? Well, there are two kinds of fiber -- insoluble and soluble. Insoluble doesn't dissolve in water and is really what helps keep things moving. It also comes with the added benefit of making you feel fuller, longer. Soluble fiber does dissolve in water, and forms a gel-like material that, according to our friends at the Mayo Clinic, can help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels! Foods that are high in fiber also tend to be less dense, meaning they have fewer calories in the same volume of food (as, say, proteins and fats).

Now I'm not suggesting you go buy a canister of fiber powder to add to your food. Yuck. Both soluble and insoluble fiber can be found in many of The Svelte Gourmet basics -- whole grains, fruit, veggies and legumes. If you can, keep the skin on your fruit and veggies, as that's where a lot of the fiber is!

So how much do we need? The Mayo Clinic suggests:
- Women - 25 grams per day (under 50 years old); 21 grams per day (51 and older)
- Men - 38 grams per day (under 50 years old); 30 grams per day (51 and older)

Here are two high fiber recipes from The Svelte Gourmet to get you started. Yay fiber!

Raisin Honey Bran Muffins
Creamy Broccoli Soup

The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook is available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html.

Enjoy and thanks for reading! It's great to be back!

Whole Grains: Mystery Solved!

So it seems that I've created some label-reading monsters out there! Which is great, I'm not complaining. By reading food labels, you're hopefully starting to understand calorie counts, portion sizes and all the nutrition (or lack thereof!) that's in the food you're eating. I read the labels for everything -- if I read something bad, I still may eat it. I just like to know what I'm putting in!

Anyway, you're starting to ask some questions, too, which is also great! One I've gotten a lot recently has to do with whole grain, whole wheat and the whole food theory in general. More specifically, I've been asked, "if whole grain flour/bread has the same calories as white flour/bread, then why can't we just eat the white one? Isn't it just calories in, calories out?"

Here's the short answer:
1. Whole grains help stabilize blood sugar
2. Whole grains keep you feeling fuller, longer

How? Well, there are very long, very boring explanations for all this, but I'm going to put it into my own words. Basically, as your body digests carbohydrates (beginning with chewing!), it converts it into sugars (energy) that are absorbed into your bloodstream. If this conversion and absorption happens very quickly, your blood sugar spikes....then crashes. If this absorption happens slowly, your blood sugar remains stable.

A grain is made up of bran (or fiber), germ and endosperm. The bran is on the outside, the germ contains the nutrients, and the endosperm is the starchy part. Your body really has to work hard to digest the fiber and the germ to get to the endosperm. But processed foods (like white flour) are basically the starchy endosperm that's been stripped of the bran and germ. Therefore, they are converted to sugar and absorbed into the blood stream quite quickly. In fact, your body processes the sugars in a piece of white bread much like a piece of cake! Ever wonder why you're always hungry? You eat white bread or other junk food, then an hour later (or less), you want to eat again. That's because your body has very quickly processed and used up what you put into it. However, the whole grain slows things down considerably....

The whole grain has all three parts, so it takes your body longer to digest, convert the sugar and carry it to your blood stream. You feel fuller longer and you don't have the negative effects of your blood sugar rapidly rising and falling! Staying fuller longer ultimately means you'll eat less, which is why whole grains are recommended for weight loss.

Plus, you're getting all that great fiber! Fiber (the bran layer) of food comes in two forms -- soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber (found in fruits, veggies, beans and whole grains) dissolves in water, and is what weighs down your stomach and makes you feel full. Insoluble fiber (often found in the peels of foods and whole grains) is bulky and helps food pass through your intestines. Some experts believe it also helps block some of the fat that your body takes from food -- I like that theory! Yay fiber! You also get a lot of fiber from fruits and vegetables. I like to aim for at least 30 grams of fiber a day.

So to make a long story short (too late!), whole grains are better for your body -- both inside and out! Not only do they help your dieting efforts by making you feel full, but they help keep your blood sugar stable and your digestive tract running smoothly.

Now that you're ready to switch from white bread to whole wheat, here are some things to remember. Back to the label reading! Wheat and whole wheat are not always the same. In order to be considered a whole grain, it must have the three parts (bran, germ and endosperm). So make sure you see the word "whole" or look for this seal. Also, foods high in fiber (like bran cereals), may not contain the other parts of the grain -- so while you're getting the good fiber, you're missing some of the value of the whole grain.

If you have anything to add, either from your own experience or a medical background, please feel free to leave a comment! The more knowledge we have, the more successful we'll be. In the meantime, I'm going to go make some popcorn -- it is a whole grain, after all!

The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook is available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html. A portion of book sales through the end of February will be donated to the relief efforts in Haiti.