Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
(sorry to hear about greens going downhill! carry on !)
  

    
Gans,

lol on "hack"! My dad (62) told me I should take it out as most people
won't know what it means. I told him he needs to spend more time on
the internet.
  

    

The Mayo Clinic today tweeted a visual guide to health eating.
It's not 100% what you've put in your book, Darya, but it's close:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-meals/MY01655/
  

    
That is beautifully done. I've been wanting to take some photos of
healthier and unhealthier meals that I can use for an upcoming
nutrition talk that will illustrate exactly the points I want to
make--similar to that--but it's not easy to find the time, and the
right (and wrong) foods to do it so clearly.
  

    
Excellent work, both in content and visual design.
  

    

Very nice. Those heavy meals are effectively repellent and the healthier
ones so pretty and savory.
  

    
Love those before and after sort of pics.
  

    
jmcarlin,

I wish they didn't make healthy food look so unappetizing. For those
who haven't seen it, here's my Foodist plate:

http://summertomato.com/the-foodists-plate/
  

    
Darya I know you talk about this in your book but I'd like to ask
again, what's your advice for someone who knows what to do and wants to
eat healthy but just can't seem to get started?
  

    

Darya will be my guest on KPFA this evening, 8-9pm Pacific Time.  94.1 FM in
the Bay Area, <http://www.kpfa.org> online.  We'll take questions and comments
from listeners at 510-848-4425
  

    
the good plates remind me a lot of the 'zone' model --- protein serving the
size of yr fist, lots of veggies and some fruit
  

    
I love the Foodist plate. Saw that the other day when you tweeted it.
Makes it so simple. I'm also slowly going through your book. I really
like the discussion on habits, picking your bright spots, and replacing
some bad habits with better ones. Now I just need to put this in
action (...and, ummm, finish the book....)
  

    
I listened, I think you were great on air!
I also think LANGUAGE is very important, can you talk about that here?
  

    

You can hear the KPFA interview here (until May 29):

<http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/91603>

It's in the first hour.
  

    
What has been most interesting to me as I work through the book (other 
than discovering yet another great kale recipe) is that talking about it 
has caused my wife and I to discover where our different dieting 
philosophies have, as one might expect, much in common. I see more 
veggies in our life, moving forward. We'll see how that works out.
  

    
lark,

My first bit of advice is to keep a food journal, get a pedometer and
get a digital scale that tracks your weight over time. You can't know
what works until you have accurate data.

The food journal will help you identify habits you do repeatedly and
find ones that are easiest to upgrade. You can then go about finding
alternatives and tackling them one step at a time. Try to get 10,000
steps a day as well.
  

    
dsp2,

Luckily for you the rest of the book is about exactly that :)
  

    
reet,

The language component is essential and often overlooked. There is
something in psychology known as the "framing effect." This describes
how humans can have completely different reactions to the exact same
thing (food, TV shows, other people, etc.) depending on how it is
described and introduced to them. 

For food this is important for several reasons. The majority of people
(about 90%) consider "healthy" food to be a negative thing--they
assume that something labeled healthy will taste worse and be less
satisfying that something not labeled as healthy. This means they will
enjoy it less and will likely overeat later. Remember: this isn't a
property of the food itself, it's a property of how the food is
described.

For this reason it is far better to describe foods as "tasty" rather
than "healthy."

If you're someone who thinks healthy food is a good thing, it doesn't
apply to you. However, it still applies to anyone you are talking to
about food so you should still be careful with your language.

I think those Mayo clinic food plate images are an excellent example.
I think some folks (some of you?) think the healthy version looks good,
but I guarantee you most Americans disagree and would prefer the
"unhealthy" version. I fight this battle every day at Summer Tomato,
and am extremely careful about the words I use to describe the foods I
eat and advocate. I'm also very careful with the photos I choose, for
the same reason.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.
  

    
I also think we have to consider how we describe food to ourselves. Saying '
"I'm starving" sometrimes leads me to eating more than I need. Or describing
more than a spoonful of anything as a "taste" can be a bit of denial n
action.
  

    

One way I think that the consuming partner can help a cooking
spouse/partner is by framing things the right way. "I especially thought
the (healthy) vegetables were very tasty" would encourage more vegetables.

Also, some people can turn on a dime, but I think for most people framing
improvements as tiny steps would be most helpful. Rather than fussing
about the drastic change that really would be good, taking a very tiny
step at a time would build a habit of success and forward motion.
  

    
I was at a dinner party recently that featured a wonderful Belgian
specialty that could be a bridge into fresh vegetable flavors for
potato eaters.  It's a dish called Stoemp, pronounced somewhere between
stomp and stump.  

Essentially, you boil and mash some very nice potatoes, then either
saute or steam assorted veggies such as leeks, garlic, carrots, brussel
sprouts and peas.  These veggies are lightly crushed while mixing into
the stoemp. The impression is of mashed potato with small lumps and
chucks of delicious (often slightly browned) vegetables in it.  Most of
the internet recipes you will find include heavy cream and butter,
which is just not needed.  You can go with a little olive oil instead. 
If you have some white veggies like onions and cauliflower in the mix,
it looks more like mashed potato but packs a lot of vegetable variety.
 You can vary the potato percentage as needed.  You can use a pinch of
nutmeg, or shift to another spice or herb.

I seldom eat potato at all, but hearing about "meat and potatoes"
eaters who also love stoemp, and seeing somebody who never touches
brussels sprouts happily consume a serving because of this context, I
thought this dish gently introduces flavors that were previously
rejected, either by kids or adults.   

I'd be curious what you think of such a compromise, for those who do
not think green food looks delicious.
  

    
I use almost exclusively whole wheat or farro pastas and brown rice.
Am I kidding myself about the nutritional value of this?
  

    
I struggle with this issue quite a bit, as a dedicated baker who has
milled my own wheat for 30 years.  I know that my baked goods made with
whole wheat flour really do have the whole wheat, but also am coming
to realize that part of the problem with baked goods and pastas is not
just the refined flours and excessive sugars and fillers of most
commercial goods, but the ease-of-eating.  It's easier to eat wheat
turned into bread than as cooked wheat berries, and even if it is
nothing but fresh milled whole wheat flour, water, yeast and salt, my
body processes bread (or pasta) differently than wheat berries.  

I am sure there is more nutritional value in the whole grain flour
version, especially when I'm in control of all the ingredients by
making it myself, but still, I try not to kid myself about the
healthiness of my baked goods vs a vegetables or fruit.  
  

    

You're following Michael Pollan's rule: it's okay to eat as much [junk food]
as you like as long as you make it yourself.
  

    
Well, it's really not, when I eat too many cookies because they're
quicker to grab and eat without making my fingers too messy to
keyboard, and the fruit and carrots go home in the lunch untouched. 
For me, the 'as long as you make it yourself' is not sufficient barrier
to excessive consumption.  I am reasonably quick and efficient at
turning serious quantities of butter and sugar and eggs and that
fresh-milled flour into really tasty treats.