Big Changes

I started this blog when because something felt off in my life. I did not intend my Big Do Over to be filled with big changes. But through a series of small life adjustments, I  have found myself living a very different life than the one that I started here. Over the last two years the following has happened:

I took a master composting class and learned a ton about healthy worm bins and composting. I have maintained a mostly vegan relationship with food. I survived the very painful process of selling a house I never loved. I developed an unhealthy hatred of real estate agents. I lost 45 pounds.  I ended a 13 year marriage in with the most amicable, grown-up divorce imaginable.  I broke-up with my best friend of 18 years; she was the first friend I made when I moved to NYC. I gained 30 pounds. 

At times I feel unrecognizable and at times I feel more authentically me than ever. I hope to start writing more as a way to find me more and drop the not-me habits I have picked up over the years. If you are reading this, wish me luck. 

Chew, chew, chew your food

In the "what did I google today?" front, chewing your food.

"Nigel, don't you chew your food?" is one of my favorite lines from a mid-90s movie obsession called "Sleep with Me".  For years, I would quote that movie to which no one....No One....knew what the heck I was talking about.  So here I am again, decades later, thinking: Nigel, don't you chew your food?

But I am not the only one thinking about chewing my food these days. 

The nutritionist on quick and dirty tips says the average person chews each bite, 5-7 times. 
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/how-chewing-affects-nutrition  The recommendations is somewhere between 20-50. 

I have been aiming for 40 chews per bite. (Warning: TMI to follow) I have noticed that the closer I get to 40, the more homogeneous the texture the food becomes.  The yummy market fresh salad from Pret that I love?  When I chew more thoroughly, I am no longer swallowing: red onions, beets, chickpeas and arugula? Instead of counting, because really:  That is just annoying, I am aiming for that mushy texture before I swallow. 

I would love if this extra level of consciousness helped me lose a pants size.  But even more: I am hoping that my iron levels will go up. 

Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS wrote this:

How Chewing Affects Digestion

Digestion does not begin in the stomach but in your mouth—and chewing your food more thoroughly can improve digestion.  First, digestive enzymes in your saliva break down starches into simple sugars.  In fact, if you chew on a saltine cracker or a bit of bread long enough, it will actually start to taste sweet.  By chewing for one minute, up to half of the starch may be digested before you even swallow! 

Your saliva also contains some fat digesting enzymes that help begin the process of breaking down the fats in your food. The act of chewing food—including the stimulation of your taste and smell receptors—also triggers the production of stomach acid and pancreatic juices further along the digestive tract, so that the system is primed for the whole digestive sequence.

Finally, chewing well breaks the food down into smaller pieces, so when you swallow the food, it mixes more thoroughly with stomach acid. Stomach acid starts to break down food proteins into smaller, more digestible molecules and also kills bacteria and other pathogens that may be in your food. The more surface area is exposed to stomach acid, the more effectively it can do its job.  

- See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/how-chewing-affects-nutrition#sthash.PXGkZKum.dpuf

There is also an awesome article about it here:

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/an-overachieving-underchewer