The HOTIE diet

I have been reading this great book “ Integrative Nutrition” by Joshua Rosenthal and in order to clarify my understanding of how diet works and what works best for me, I have to create my own diet plan. I have to take inspiration from the various diet plans that were explained in the book.  So my diet plan is called HOTIE diet, where Hotie stands for “Have one total indulgence everyday”. Its kind of an interesting name, which popped while I was thinking about the diet plan.

The diets that appealed to me the most are Ayurveda, The Zone diet and The Sally Fallon diet.

Ayurveda is an ancient healing system from India that emphasizes eating in accordance with your individual body type and seasons. The foods that are encouraged in this diet is something warm, something with protein, a salad or vegetables with good oil, spices and flavorings, a small sweet for dessert, walk and rest. It’s important to have all the six tastes in every meal to completely satisfy your body. Those six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, astringent and bitter. Foods that are heavily processed, have excess sugar, caffeine and large amounts of animal protein are totally restricted. I really like that in Ayurveda diet; food is used as a medicine to cure body, not as indulgence. What really attracts me to this diet is to learn from nature, eat in harmony with the seasons and live a life full of balance.

The Zone diet is based on a theory that excess insulin makes us gain weight and keep it on. By regulating blood sugar levels with a perfect balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins at every meal, the body burns fat more efficiently and has more energy. Foods encouraged must have 40% carbs, 30 % fat and 30% protein, found in foods such as fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts, leafy green vegetables and sufficient protein, fats from olive oil, avocados, almonds, fish and fish oils. The diet has strong emphasis on drinking 8 glasses of water. The foods restricted are processed carbs found in bread, pasta and white grains and saturated fats. I find this diet to be a balance between all the diets. As far as I am concerned its difficult to completely become a vegetarian and this diet gives the allowance to eat meat but in moderation. It’s a better version of Atkins diet which is very very protein diet. The major idea behind this diet is to have balanced, relaxed and well fed body that has optimal energy level to live from day to day. Also this diet focuses on 5 meals rather than 3 meals. We usually tend to eat our stomachs out if we just have three meals the whole day. Distributing the 3 meals to 5 helps the blood sugar level to remain balanced. If you continue to eat well-balanced and proper five meals, you will never feel too hungry or overly full and your blood sugar will remain normal throughout the day.

Sally Fallon looked at the work of Dr Weston Price, who studied the diets of many ancient societies and decided that by eating nourishing, traditional foods and farm produce, we could achieve optimal health and this is the philosophy behind The Sally Fallon diet. The foods encouraged are high quality animal products, whole, raw dairy milk, eggs, meat, organ meats, fish eggs, fish and cod liver oil, butter, sprouted grains, and mostly cooked vegetables. Foods restricted are: refined sugars, low fat or no fat dairy products, non-organic meats and vegetables. I really appreciate the fact to whole and good quality foods. I also agree to the fact that human body is designed to eat both vegetables and meet and cannot survive as vegan/vegetarian. In order to have healthier life style, everything from different food groups should be consumed in moderation.

The Hotie diet is made keeping the following lines in mind” Having fears ad guilt around food is not healthy. It encourages extensive use of vegetables and fruits. Meat should be taken in moderation. It should be eaten occasionally like our ancestors use to eat it. Unlike us who devour meat all the team they use to eat meat when they were celebrating a victory or joy. This diet allows you to indulge one sweet/processed food a day after you haven eaten 5 super balanced and healthy meals along with one exercise routine. Hotie diets focuses on doing different exercise routine daily.  Human are bound to get bored with routine, and by introducing something fun everyday adds color to the mundane life. Human nature is to perform much better when they have a goal in front of them. If one is successful in achieving his goals to eat whole foods, whole grains, legumes, vegetables, lots of fruits then he I allowed to feast at the end of the day by indulging in eating meat products.

By giving you some flexibility, you can indulge yourself without guilt and maintain a basically healthy diet. Another recommendation for people who would to follow Hotie diet is to remain stress free. I would like to take inspiration from Islamic way of living; Keeping your lives simple and clutter free, always keeping a smile, allowing time for prayer and meditation, to give and forgive, and to be on good terms with all the people around you. To live and let live.

You are what you Eat!

“You are what you eat,” I have heard this a million times but now I am a believer. As Joshua Rosenthal in his book “Integrative Nutrition” says “ I have noticed Americans developing big, beefy bodies and wide eyes. We are beginning to look like cows” He referring to American diet which is mostly and usually beef.

In a world full of additives, chemicals, genetic engineering, etc. our food is not always what we think it is. Unfortunately and unintentionally we are consuming huge amount of these toxins and chemicals and becoming to show them in our personalities. We all are unhappy, stressed and pugnacious

GMO is the most read, heard and spoken word these days. As far as I am concerned, I was totally uniformed about it until very recently. I work in a food-based company and customers use to constantly ask if our product was non-GMO. I was just happy with the fact that it was non-gmo and didn’t go deep in the meaning of it. I always thought its something bad and we should not have it in the foods we eat. “ A GMO is any organism in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally.” “The most Genetic modified crops were created to resist harsh chemicals, these crops have DNA traits from bacteria, fungi or other plants that create this resistance”

The process that sounds so cruel and difficult to understand must be cruel to the bodies as well. 

I was terribly upset to know that US is the largest grower of GM crops in the world. The most commonly Genitically modified crops in US are soy, corn and canola. Which are used in almost all of the processed foods and the government doesn’t require labeling of these foods and consider them safe.  The food industry continue to add these GMOs in the processed foods and continue to trick people by adding just one whole grain or natural ingredients among thousands of unsafe ones.

The Food industry seems to be free from restrictions. They can do whatever they want. The USDA regulations are super lenient for them, there seems to be no check and balance and nobody stops them from destroying health of thousands. The fact is that the “food industry spends a tremendous amount of money on lobbyists in Washington.  These big bucks pay off giving these corporations major unfair advantages when it comes to food policy and regulations. “

Genetically modified foods have been linked to toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals. The effects are so trouble some on animals just wonder how gruesome they are for human bodies.

7 out of 10 items in grocery store shelves contain ingredients that have been genetically modified.

My advice would be to be a food detective. Try not to eat anything that you cannot read. The more the ingredients the doubtful the food is.  Organic food may be expensive but it will save potential visits to doctors.Bigger is not better in this regard. Smaller means its grown to its normal size and is bursting with natural flavor. . There are numerous ways we can make sure we keep our children, families, friends and ourselves healthy and safe. Together we can all thrive!

Back to Basics!

6 years ago I lurved eating Burgers, Fries, and every thing oily and unhealthy. I ate fast food whenever and wherever possible. I was lucky that my in spite of chugging up some 3000 calories I was petite. Thanks to my body’s fastest metabolism. Back then I never thought that those huge chunks of fat, salt and sugar were giving me temporary pleasure but permanent damages to the body.

 My parents were always advocates of healthier food and lifestyle. We never had cookies, chips or ultra processed foods in our pantry. Our house was a no soda house. Back home and some 20 years ago we served soda only to guests. I remember brothers and me would gulp down all and any left over soda or cookies.  We use to eat out every 1^st Thursday of the month and I would plan, dream about that Thursday for days. My mother hated cooking but I don’t remember a single day when we had take out food because she was not in a mood to cook. We are a family of farmers and every other week my father used to bring tons of pesticide free and organic vegetables/fruits from our farm. I was so unfortunate that I hated everything form the farms.  Back then I never realized why they emphasis so much on home cooked and unprocessed meals and why the focus was on simpler foods not the complex ones. Or why we were kept away from the pleasures of junk, highly processed foods when all my friends and cousins were relishing fast foods and the likes.

After moving to America I started eating out a lot, thinking that its USA and they must be taking loads of care in preparation of food as a far as health is concerned. I am guilty that I provided my son the unhealthiest food possible food in the fetus. I wish I knew that what you eat in the nine months could impact your baby's health, as well as your own, for decades to come. 

Once he was born I made a promise that I wont feed him that baby food jars, fast food and the sugary beverages. In order for him to eat healthier foods, I myself had to become an example.

In the quest to get more knowledge about healthier food, I started up reading blogs, books etc.  I took a nutrition course that was an eye opener. I came to know so many things about food industry and how they are playing with our lives. They put up so many lies on their packages to earn money from the uneducated people. These food producers are so cruel. I always use to think that illiterate food manufacturers back home are the cruelest people. But now I have realized that here in America, in spite of all the rules and regulations these food industry butchers are even more treacherous and doesn’t even care to hide carcinogenic and dangerous additives to the food. The hidden, dangerous ingredients, which they put to enhance their food flavors, are impossible to decipher by a common man.

The more I read, the more I appreciated my parent’s ways of providing us with nutritious food. I am trying my best to eliminate packaged and processed foods from life. I am trying my best to make everything from scratch. Although its time consuming but I know what's going inside my family’s stomach. I am going BACK to BASICS, which means focusing on simpler foods with lesser ingredients. Eating food for nutrition not for indulgence, that’s also what my religion teaches me. Our concentration should be eat to live not live to eat!

The book I am reading  these days is “Integrative nutrition” by Joshua Roesnthal. He bravely explains and reveals how the food industry and USDA is being run by politicians; “whose job is to protect the interest of their states, which includes not only the citizens, but also the corporations and industries that live there.” USDA, politicians and corporations run the so-called dietary guidelines and the emphasis is their benefit not the unfortunate people.

Exiting the world of Tim Ferris!

I have realized that the book 4-hour work is not for me.  As I don’t work full time or in a corporate world. It’s for the people who are over worked, fatigued and exhausted. There are few points that I really liked and with few I totally disagree.

“Doing something unimportant well does not make it important” and “ Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.” I could easily make use of these two points. I spend hours on useless things making them sound important or thinking that world would come to an end if I didn’t do that certain thing instantly. The most unimportant thing that I do is browsing L, which takes up lots of my time and energy. The energy that could be used in productive things is mostly directed towards worthless and meaning less browsing. In future I will have to use my will power to diminish or eliminate it from my life.

“Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant.” Often times I give myself so many tasks and become stressed out and over whelmed for no reason. Whenever I invite people over I go crazy planning for making 30 things and not only become myself stressed out but also send out negative vibes to all at home. Inviting people over should be a pleasant experience not a gruesome one. I totally disregard the fact that people don’t come for food only (well they do); all they care about is your positive and hospitable attitude.

“The end product of the shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or higher quality due to greater focus.” I totally agree with the above-mentioned lines. In past whenever I had ample time to do some project I would waste a lot of time doing “unimportant things” rather than focusing on the main thing and in the end results would be unsatisfactory. On the contrary, projects that were handed over to me on the last minute were always successful.  I believe that if you have limited time, all the creative particles of your mind work together harder and in unison to give the best possible outcome.

I totally disagree with the chapter “outsourcing your life” chapter. I believe its not a practical idea to out source everything What if the people you outsourced your work to read the same book then you are left with no body to work with an you might have to start from point zero. Its doesn’t sound sane to me to transfer all your important information to a person living miles away. Although everything is safe and secure but sill if the person assisting you runs away, then you are not going to go and catch him. Even if you do its impossible to find the particular person in those parts of world. I do agree that taking a little bit assistance is fine but not to the extent where some one else starts ruling you.

I do agree that we need to delegate few things to other people. As far as I am concerned I want to do everything from A to Z, which makes me go insane. I should realize that somethings are reserved for other people and I should retire it to them, as I cannot be perfect in everything. I should learn to trust other people and assign them some work. I had textile design as a major in my bachelors and often time we were given strenuous projects. I used to kill myself doing everything and on the other hand people used to seek help from other people. Things or final outcome of my projects would have been better if I had put aside   my ego, shyness or workaholic-ness and sought help from others. 

 I would conclude this book by saying that it was a well-written book but not for me.

2nd set of Parents!

Most of us have only one set of parents.  I have been blessed to have two. One are my biological parents and others are the one with whom I spent all possible vacations and weekends; my beloved mamu and mami (maternal uncle and aunt).

I had a very wonderful childhood, filled with love, laughter and craziness. I love my 3 sets of maternal uncle, aunts, and all my cousins from the core of my heart . I had the most happening childhood with my 3 female cousins, for which I am thankful to them. I always found profuse love in my grand fathers place. And me being a sugar glider insisted on going back and forth. It was like a female's paradise. 

My older uncle and aunt (mamu and mami) loved me the most amongst all the cousins. And I was the closest with their daughter. I never considered her my cousin; she was my sister, my soul mate, and partner in crime, a teacher so and so forth.  She always cared for me like a chicken taking caring of her chick J

We were inseparables or conjoined twins J I have always wished to be adopted by them.

If I have to name one person who taught me the most skills, sports, magic tricks etc that would be my Mamu. Growing up he was my ideal. He taught us girls everything from swimming to gun shooting (toy gun of course), to camping, to dining out etiquette. He was a doctor, a teacher, a guide, and mentor, all in one. I am and will always be indebted to him. I used to venerate how he uses to pamper mami. I always wished to have a man like him.

He was a courageous man who loved to take challenges. The biggest among them was gathering friends and family, who shared different interests and passion for a traveling trip to different fantastic parts of Pakistan, that too every year.  He wanted us all to learn to love and live together and to know the power of sharing and sacrifice for each other under unlikely circumstances. 

As a kid I never liked mami L I use to think her as an arrogant and a quiet person. Ah the innocence of childhood, when slight I knew about stress, difficulties and practicalities of life. And little I was exposed to the fact that parents only show their happiness, not their weaknesses or sadness. With the passage of time, things changed or my perspective changed. Mami became my best friend.  She became the one taking care of clothes and other needs. As my mom was not that much into it and I was crazy about it. I would share all my silliness and vivid thoughts /ideas with her and she would listen with all the enthusiasm in the world. She was the one who helped me taking the biggest and most important decision of my life. I was skeptical and shaky but she held my hands and gave me such a positive insight that I was able to do the decision.

How can a person love another person kid just like his or her own? I received immeasurable adoration from them. Both of them have an limitless and immense love for people. Never in my life I have seen two folks who care about other individuals more than themselves, who don’t think once to spend their last penny on a loved one, and who are always there to give their shoulders or to wipe tears. 

Love you mamu and mami. I know these few paragraphs does not do justice to all your love and time for me but, accept it as a tiny tribute. May you get all the happiness you deserve, here and here after. I am thousands of miles away but this song brings back all the memories and “masti” (fun) I had with you guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4hxi60CGVQ