Is it just me, or does life seem extra busy these days? I’m finding that I’m okay with being busy, as long as I find time for exercise, enough sleep and fun activities like going to the beach or spending time with my husband and friends. If this is the case, then I think I did a pretty good job of it this week.
The busier I am, however, the less time I have in the kitchen. I don’t take that as an excuse to not eat healthfully. In fact, I find the need for high-nutrient foods to be even greater when I am busy. If I made poor food choices, then I simply would not have the level of energy I have now. Also, in the past, I think my reliance on caffeine, sugar and low-nutrient foods just fueled my constant battle with migraines, allergies and unstable emotional health.
I tried this week to feature recipes that fuel a healthy, on-the-move lifestyle. On Monday, February 20th, I wrote about my Peanut Butter Veggie Stir-Fry. This is a versatile recipe that even kids would like, thanks to the peanut butter sauce. I made it in five steps:
On Tuesday, I needed another easy meal so I made a Kale & Bean Mix with Tangy Cashew Sauce. I made another photo tutorial for this one:
The Tangy Cashew Sauce was the star of this recipe, it is good on everything.
We also had an interesting discussion on whether or not Dr. Fuhrman promotes a fat-shaming attitude and if people who are overweight can still be healthy. Please contribute your opinion if you want to, I’d love to hear it!
Wednesday I participated in the “What I Ate” blogging trend where I took a picture of everything I ate the day before. You can see my photo diary here and read my analysis of how I’m doing with Dr. Fuhrman’s guidelines.
On Thursday, I joked that there was a battle between slow food and fast food at my house. Read about which one won here (hint: they both did and it’s not what you think).
Lastly, Friday I blogged about my journey to create a healthy life for myself which absolutely includes time for myself and a connection with nature. I felt grateful to spend an hour walking by the beach with my husband and enjoying what was a beautiful California winter day:
The last easy recipe I posted this week was a Comforting Tomato & Veggie Stew made with crumbled tempeh. It used these pantry ingredients:
And came together really nicely. I’m still enjoying the leftovers from this dish:
Have a wonderful weekend and I challenge you to do something fun this weekend. “See” you Monday when I expect to hear how you did! 
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Although being overweight is associated with higher cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure levels, these are all things that can be addressed through diet and exercise, even if one remains overweight. In and of itself, being “overweight” isn’t associated with things like heart disease and cancer. Being obese is independently associated with heart disease, even in the absence of high cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure levels. It’s all about how you define healthy, I suppose.
Hi Jodie! Thanks for the comment. High cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure certainly can be altered by changing one’s food choices or through medication, but how do we address the underlying causes of these conditions? Using a healthy diet to lose excess body fat is one way. Also, I disagree with your statement that being overweight isn’t associated with things like heart disease and cancer. In fact, the associations between being overweight and disease are quite well proven. Here is a link to one article entitled “Prevalence of insulin resistance and associated cardiovascular disease risk factors among normal weight, overweight, and obese individuals.” The conclusions of the researchers from Stanford University were that “the results presented have reaffirmed the fact that the greater the BMI, the more insulin-resistant the individual.”
Perhaps I didn’t say it quite right- it’s not associated as an independent risk factor. You can be overweight and not insulin resistant, and hence, have no greater risk factor for heart disease, which is different than obese (which is a risk factor all by itself).
Hi Jodie, I see your point about whether or not being overweight is an independent risk factor for increased risk of disease. I would maintain that it is, indeed, an independent risk factor. I looked up some of the references that Dr. Fuhrman cites when he says that “overweight individuals are more likely to die from all causes, including heart disease and cancer.” One of the references is compelling, it is entitled “The incidence of co-morbidities related to obesity and overweight: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The results were “statistically significant associations for overweight with the incidence of type II diabetes, all cancers except esophageal (female), pancreatic and prostate cancer, all cardiovascular diseases (except congestive heart failure), asthma, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and chronic back pain.” Additionally, “maintenance of a healthy weight could be important in the prevention of the large disease burden in the future.” There are numerous other studies that confirm these results.
I am not trying to argue with you, Jodie, whether or not being overweight is good or bad for any individual. I want to put the correct information out there so people can make the best choices for themselves.
If you do a literature search on independent risk factors for heart disease, overweight won’t come up as one. It *is* a risk factor for several other conditions which make one more at risk for heart disease. By itself, it is definitively not an independent risk factor. Since it does put you at risk for other things that are associated (and have a causal relationship to) heart disease, it will come up as an associated factor (which is where I misspoke before), but not as an independent risk factor. There’s a big difference between a risk factor and an association. A risk factor is something that has a proven causal relationship; an association is an observation of various factors being present at the same time, but makes no claim as to why.
I’m quite familiar with the studies you’re citing; none of them call overweight an independent risk factor. The hypothesis as to why there are associations is that overweight can (potentially) cause the factors that lead to heart disease and other illness, such as glucose intolerance, elevated blood pressure, inflammation and elevated cholesterol/triglycerides. However, one can be overweight and develop none of those conditions. Diet may be a factor in that, and there may be other reasons- the research isn’t clear on that part yet. What the research is clear on, at least as of today, is overweight (not obese) is not an independent risk factor for heart disease. One can be obese and develop none of those risk factors either, but there is a definitive causal link between obesity and heart disease (aka, an independent risk factor).
Here’s a link to the study you mention: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/88
This study doesn’t have anything to do with identifying independent risk factors, only associations. Furthermore, it doesn’t even mention overweight in the cardiovascular disease section, just obesity. It’s really, really important to not just read an abstract when it comes to citing clinical data. It’s kinda like writing a book report based on reading the back cover of a book. It simply can’t cover all the details in a paragraph.
I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have said that a risk factor has a proven causal relationship; that is not correct. It’s something that has a proven be likely to increase your chances, but doesn’t cause in and of itself (having blue eyes is a risk factor for skin cancer, but it certainly doesn’t cause it). It is still distinctly different than an association, which has not been proven to make you any more likely to cause or have a condition).
And I wrote that poorly- excuse the syntax! “been proven to be likely” and “not been proven to make you more like to have or to cause a condition.”
Something to think about, certainly. I want to become more familiar with the research. However, given the associations if not causal links, don’t you think it’s kind of like playing with fire? Perhaps the emphasis should be on improving the quality of one’s diet such as increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables (and the decreased consumption of refined sugars and excess fats) as opposed to achieving a number on the scale. I have personally always had that as my focus and the weight loss was a by-product of eating more healthfully overall. I have a feeling we can agree on this statement? I appreciate the discussion, it definitely gave me pause for thought.
I think we should absolutely focus on those things- but it doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight (or ay least significant amounts of weight). I’m not at all of the opinion that weight doesn’t matter- it clearly does, as far as the research is concerned. But if you’re obese and you can lose 20 pounds and be overweight (but not the 50 it would take to be “normal” weight), you’re doing something great for your health, and we shouldn’t dismiss that.
I would absolutely agree with this statement, something is better than nothing at all. No question about that.
High five Carrie for your awesome patient and grace in dealing with the above situation!
Thanks Tara!
Thank you, Jodie, for calmly putting forwards the facts. It’s refreshing to see.
I think we have to look at the big picture. Carrying excess weight is certainly not healthy. Your test results (i.e. comprehensive blood panel) might come out decent, but carrying around extra weight isn’t good for our heart or our bones. I think the fact that it is an associated factor (vs independent risk factor) is enough to prompt change.
We see the world not as it is, but as we are. Perhaps the above debate is being influenced by the commenter’s personal situation? The health implications vary from person to person, but I’d bet a ton of money that all overweight people end up with some ill health effect from the condition.
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