Cooking

Me in my kitchen, I love to cook. This is my winter chef's jacket, it's thick and gets hot. My summer and spring jacket is black with short sleeves. I like them because I don't ruin my clothes with splatters.

I know, you are thinking, "she cooks? right, she's always on a diet!"

I understand why you think that, even a fellow at work the other day said to me "you don't eat cheesecake right? You don't even eat anything humans do"

I think he was trying to be funny, but I wasn't laughing, in fact, I found it a bit sad.

I enjoy what I eat, I feel better eating healthy and I shall probably live to have a better quality of life because if it. I also love to eat some "human" food too, I just don't do it all the time.

There are so many wonderful foods that can be eaten, and can be delicious yet not be full of sugar and fat and thousands of calories.

If you make healthy foods the main part of your diet, and allow yourself to eat some of the other foods, you won't feel so cheated.

So exactly what is a healthy diet? It's not rocket science and it's not difficult. Now to diet down to lose all excess bodyfat, that is a science, but we won't be talking about that today.

Eat several small meals a day: This can range from 4 to 6 depending on your activity level. The goal is to never get to a state of ravenous hunger, and to keep your body fueled and blood sugar level. A meal for someone who isn't very active can be an apple and 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter. And then someone like me, who is fairly active and who eats 6 meals of almost all the same size, eats two lunches consisting of 4 ounces protein, 4 ounces starch and a cup of vegetables in each lunch (one at 12:00 and one at 3:30)

Eat what "humans" do: Natural, unprocessed foods. Lean meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts, whole grains. Stay away from packaged foods which will not do you ANY good.

Drink lots of water:Your body needs water to function. Water allows your body to maintain it's temperature; it flushes waste; it keeps skin moist; it cushions your joints, it protects your nervous system.

Eat slowly and enjoy the meal: If you rush through your meal you are likely to keep eating even after you are full. You will eat faster than your body can signal your brain that you are full, and then you will over eat.

Eat the right portions: Protein source should be the size of you open palm (not hand, the palm only!). Starches should be the size of your closed fist, no more! Vegetables should cover most of your plate.

Experiment and be open: I try different vegetables and combination all the time. You don't need to eat "breakfast" foods in the morning and "dinner" foods at night. Let your imagination run wild!