Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It! (41 page)

Feeling adventurous?
Good—let’s get into the nitty-gritty details of transforming your plate—and your palate. Over the next few days, embark on a sexy upgrade of your cabinets, fridge, and the shelf in the laundry room where you keep your secret vodka supply. Toss what no longer serves you.

When my pantry is stocked with a savvy stash, I’m stacked. If I open the fridge and see a jar of pickles and moldy bread—later ’gator, “We’re eating out!” On the other hand, when my kitchen is ready to meet me halfway with fresh, easy-to-prepare veggies, I am inspired to browse through my cookbooks, channel my grandmother (sans the Spam cake sandwiches), and play! I love those nights. My hubby and I dine on a healthy (candlelit) homemade meal brimming with Crazy Sexy love.

First things first
—clear your cupboards of crap! I know that throwing away food can generate an awful feeling of waste. But if it’s bad in the first place, consuming it will be the biggest waste of all. Your body isn’t a garbage can! So fear not and go forward to the compost bin: All food products, and their paper wrappers, except meat, bones, and dairy, can be added to the compost pile. Use the vodka as an astringent on your face or an antiseptic to clean a scrape.

I understand that the Toss It list can seem like a scary game of trust. You know, that cheesy corporate bonding exercise where your comrades lock arms and catch you as you fall backward (if you’re lucky). Relax. If you get overwhelmed, take a deep breath and know that I will catch you, by recommending many lip-smacking treats, snacks, and veggie meals. I won’t leave you lying on the conference room floor, faking a meaningful bond with the slimy dude from HR.

How does this purge fit into the 60/40 plan? If you’re planning on including animal protein in your diet, make it the best you can afford, and cut back. I don’t think I said anything about eating 40 percent snack cakes, toaster pastries, and salami sandwiches on white bread with mayo topped off by a double caffeinated cola. Besides, if you’re ready to roll on the cleanse, temptation food has got to go—otherwise it’s not a … drumroll … cleanse!

What follows is a say-sayonara refresher of those items you need to get out of your kitchen and your life:

• Acidic energy drinks, coffee, soda, diet soda, flavored chemical waters, and booze.

• All refined sugars and artificial sweeteners.

• All processed starches, especially The Whites. This includes white table salt, which is heavily processed and stripped of important minerals, white rice, white bread, and white potatoes.

• Gluten. Be a self-detective and dump it for a while—if you notice that you feel a lot better without it, keep gluten on the nevermore list. If not, remember sprouted whole grain is always best.

• Dairy. It sucks, it’s gross, let it go.

• Eliminate animal foods or at the very least, reduce to no more than twice per week.

Done? Great!
That wasn’t so bad, was it? Kinda liberating, in fact. Next up, we’ll create a detailed shopping list so you’ll have lots of yummy foods to choose on your mission. Planning ahead saves a ton of time and money because it helps you focus and cuts down on impulse buys. Slip into your sneakers with rainbow-colored laces and get to the grocer
tout de suite!

In the beginning, filling your cabinets with healthy essentials may seem costly. Staples such as spices, oils, and seasonings are expensive, but they also last a long time. Once you make the initial investment, your weekly bills will decrease. Remember, spending a little more upfront will help you save in the long run—especially when it comes to preventable illnesses that drain your life force and bank account!

As you stroll the aisles, keep my favorite mantras in mind:

• If it has a shelf life longer than you, don’t eat it.

• If it was made in a laboratory, it takes a laboratory to digest!

• I am a Wellness Warrior, a divine banana, and I am worth this effort!

The longer the list, the more processed the food. Choose products with the shortest lists. Keep in mind that the first ingredient listed is its main ingredient—what is most prevalent. And the last ingredient on the list? That’s right—it’s the one present in the smallest quantity of all. So if sugar (or some form of sugar like high-fructose corn syrup) is number one or two, the food has tons of sugar! Make sense? When it comes down to the actual ingredients, look out for the following:

FD&C Colors (Food Drug and Cosmetic Colors) are a wide variety of artificial colors used to color food (as well as drugs and cosmetics). Colors are typically a derivative of coal tar, a thick liquid or semi-solid tar obtained from coal. The main concerns about coal tar derivatives are that they cause cancer in animals, as well as allergic reactions. They’re found primarily in processed foods (candy, confections, cereals, puddings, jelly, hot dogs, imitation foods, condiments, soft drinks, and so on). Avoid these:

• FD&C blue no. 1

• FD&C blue no. 2

• FD&C citrus red no. 2

• FD&C green no. 3

• FD&C red no. 2

• FD&C red no. 3

• FD&C red no. 40

• FD&C violet no. 1

• FD&C yellow no. 5

• FD&C yellow no. 6

Although all colors are permanently listed for use in foods and drugs with the FDA, their safety is not fully proven due to inconclusive data.

There are approximately 1,500 synthetic flavorings added to foods. Most often food labels say “artificial flavors” rather than listing the individual synthetic flavorings. That’s usually because the mixes of flavoring compounds are proprietary recipes. Flavor enhancers, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), common in Chinese food and many processed soups and sauces, can cause headaches, chest pain, and numbness. Although MSG is on the list of additives needing further study, it is still considered Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA. Just as MSG is GRAS, so are all of the 1,500 other synthetic flavorings.

Artificial sweeteners refer to a group of nonnutritive, low-calorie sweeteners, all with individual properties and areas of concern. Included are:

• Aspartame

• Acesulfame K

• Neotame

• Sucralose (Splenda)

• Saccharin

• Sugar alcohols (sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, and others)

• Tagatose

Keep a sharp eye out for high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Also called dextrose, this sugar is highly processed sweet syrup derived from corn (usually the genetically modified kind). It is cheaper than natural sugar. Because it’s so cheap, large amounts of it are found in many, if not most, processed foods and soft drinks. HFCS is a big part of the obesity epidemic in our country, in part because it’s so insidious people have no idea how much of it they are consuming.

Natural preservatives include citrus (ascorbic acid), vinegar, and salt. Artificial preservatives are synthetic chemicals used to preserve food and beverages. Also Generally Recognized as Safe by the FDA, these substances do not need pre-market approval:

• Calcium propionate

• Disodium EDTA

• Nitrates/nitrites

• Potassium benzoate

• Potassium sorbate

• Sulfur dioxide

• Sodium propionate

They may not need market approval, but they need yours. Skip these additives whenever possible. A pretty long list, I know. But, put your antenna up and leave it up. Soon the label looker-outer in you will be second nature! Source: Ruth Winter, MS, A
Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives