Looking Back, and Looking Forward

So, I was going to write an article this week about how you might want to give yourself a break this holiday season… Eat more, sleep more, and train less.  Then I ran across this article and it covered almost exactly what I wanted to say.  The only thing I’d want to add to this article is the thought that a cheat with gluten is always a bigger deal than a cheat with alcohol or sugar.  This is an even bigger issue if you have been strictly GF for a while.  Cheating with sugar or alcohol may have a negative effect on your metabolism in the short term (hours), but cheating with gluten can have a negative effect on gut-health for days.  Consider that as you navigate this holiday season…

Since Tommy Wood already wrote my article, I will change it up a little and write about goal-setting.  Now, I’m not one for making New Year’s Resolutions, but I do believe that goal-setting should be at the heart of self-improvement efforts.  Setting new goals can be done any time, but the end of the year offers us a great opportunity to look back at what we’ve done this year, and think about where we’re going next year.  Below are my thoughts on that process…

The first step in the end-of-year goal setting process should be reflection, and in fact even if you don’t end up setting any goals I would encourage you to do this piece of the process.  Take some time to sit down and honestly consider what you’ve done this year for your health.  Jot down some notes, and if you’re working with a coach (of any kind) consider reviewing these notes with your coach.  You certainly had successes and failures this year, so make notes on each of them.  This is a great opportunity to again (hopefully again!) celebrate the successes of 2013.  If there’s one entry in the success column, you need to pat yourself on the back.  Don’t dwell on the failures of the past year, but don’t gloss over them either.  Celebrate success, and learn from failure!  That’s how we become a better version of our self.

Now that you’ve taken some time to reflect, you need to consider where you’re headed next.  This is a great time to involve a coach if you have one.  At this point in the process I recommend to think about this conceptually (big picture), instead of getting bogged down in the details.  Consider what’s motivating you, and what you’re actually after.  As I alluded to in my last blog, we should be looking for motivation that’s deeper than “I hate my body right now”, or “I really want a flat tummy”.  Consider the “5 Why’s” game if you’re still having problems finding deeper meaning in your pursuit of health.  The “5 Why’s” game might go something like this:

• I really want to get a flat tummy before my trip to Mexico

1. Why do you want to get a flat tummy before your trip?
• So I can be comfortable on the beach.
2. Why do you need a flat tummy to be comfortable on the beach?
• Because I want to feel comfortable wearing a swimsuit.
3. Why does your tummy need to be flat for you to feel comfortable in a swimsuit?
• Because I’m too embarrassed to wear a swimsuit looking this way
4. Why are you embarrassed to wear a swimsuit looking this way?
• Because I look gross.  I hate my body!
5. Why do you hate your body?

I’d rather see the game going something like this:

• I really want to lose some weight next year

1. Why do you want to lose weight?
• So I can get closer to a healthier weight
2. Why do you want to be at a healthier weight?
• So that I can feel better and live longer.
3. Why do you want to feel better and live longer?
• Because I deserve to have a long healthy life!

I don’t normally like aesthetic goals, but in this case I think it’s at least coming from a deeper place.  If you’re still having conversations like the first one, then you need to do some more work on finding that deeper meaning.

With that deeper meaning fresh in your mind it’s time to think about some goals that drive you towards that deeper meaning.  Now we’re going to begin moving towards the details, but we’re going to work our way there with the big picture at the forefront of our mind.  All of your goals should be “contained” underneath the umbrella created by the deeper meaning.  That is to say that you should easily be able to see how each and every goal gets your closer to your deeper meaning.  Writing a goal that doesn’t connect to the bigger picture is just spinning your wheels.  The logic goes like this:

Specific Goal>Desired Outcome>Deeper Meaning

Your specific goal should drive towards a desired outcome the directly moves you closer to your deeper meaning.  Maybe something like this:

Lose 20 pounds>Improved Blood-work>Long Healthy Life

As you move forward into the details of goals setting, try to write goals that are S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely).  I think the last three pieces of the acronym are pretty self-explanatory, but just doing the first two (specific, and measurable) can make a world of difference in goal setting.  Writing goals that are specific and measureable means you actually know if you achieve them!  Also, consider writing some smaller goals and some you can knock off early in the year, as well as some that are bigger and/or might take most (or all) of the year.  Having some successes early in the year can help you build momentum towards reaching those bigger goals later on.

Lastly, consider writing a performance based goal if you haven’t before.  Moving beyond aesthetic goals can be one of the most liberating things you can do for yourself.  Say you want to get healthy and strong so you’ll age better, and have the energy to be a part of your grandchildren’s lives when that time comes.  Well, maybe you set a goal to deadlift your bodyweight, and do one chin-up.  Both of those are very specific and measurable, and combine together they are an excellent way to measure total body strength.  Working back towards your umbrella (healthy and strong to age better), we can obviously see how improving our total body strength connects to our deeper meaning.  What may be less obvious is that to achieve this goal you’re going to have to improve your strength to bodyweight ratio, which means that you may need to lose some weight to make it happen, and to do that you’re going to have to make better choices about what you eat.  So, instead of writing a goal of losing weight or to eat healthier, you wrote a goal that accomplishes both things while driving towards your deeper meaning and giving you something specific and measurable to work towards.  This is an example of how chasing performance goals often helps you achieve the aesthetic goals almost on accident.

So, your homework is to take some time before the end of the year to reflect on 2013, and establish your umbrella (deeper meaning).  Once that’s done, it’s time to sit down and write some goals for 2014.  When you’re done with your homework, drop me a note and let me know how it went.  I don’t want to know your goals, but I’d love to hear how the process went for you.

Personal Daemons and Finding Meaning

This week I wanted to write about a topic that may be timely for many of us as we traverse the holiday season, and begin a new year…  The topic of finding meaning in nutrition, lifestyle, and exercise.  This time of year there’s plenty of opportunities to over-indulge in any number of well… indulgences…  Dessert, alcohol, skipping your workout…  Schedules are often crazy this time of year, and there seem to always be parties or goodies around every corner.  So, driving the decisions you’re making on a daily basis?  What are the reasons you allow yourself to indulge, or skip a workout?  What are the reasons you don’t?

On a recent Robb Wolf podcast he was interviewing John Durant, the author of The Paleo Manifesto.  John mentioned the concept that he was often working with people to develop meaning in their nutrition and exercise plan.  This concept really struck me, and made me want to write a blog post on the topic.

Earlier this year I competed in a powerlifting meet for the first time in many years, and I made the decision to train for, and compete in that event because I wanted something to train for.  I have felt for a long time that it’s much easier for me to stick to a workout program, and watch what I eat if I am training for something.  So I did a 12 week training plan, and diet to prepare for the meet, and never missed a workout over that time.

So, what’s driving you to make healthy choices?

Not everybody needs to, or should compete in a sport.  For most people, meaning has to come from somewhere else.  I’ll admit it, I watch the Biggest Loser sometimes, even though I don’t condone let alone endorse the techniques they use to help people lose weight.  On that show they often take people into the Dr. on the first episode for a physical, and there’s always that scene where the Dr. tells the person how they are almost dead while dramatic music plays in the background.  As I see it, that’s their way of giving these people meaning, course what the contestants don’t know is that it’s pretty hard to determine whether or not they will be made more healthy by what they’re about to do on the show.  But that’s a whole different story…

So, where do you find meaning?

When you’re training for a competition, or have a Dr. tell you you’re almost dead it may be easier to find meaning, but that doesn’t apply to most of us.  I want to encourage you to have some honest conversation with yourself about what it is that makes you want to get healthy.  If the first thing that comes to mind is that you want to finally like your body, we’ve got a problem.  Loving our body is something we all need to be able to do no matter what it looks like on the outside.  Yes, I understand this is easier said than done for most of us.  I have struggled my entire life with body image issues, so I get it.  My point is that if your meaning is that you want to finally like your body, you’re going to have a problem.  Liking (loving?) your body is a mental issue not a physical issue and no amount of weight loss is going to fix that issue.  This really is a topic for a different blog (or maybe just check out the stuff that Jason Seib has written on the topic), but for now I just want to suggest that when we’re looking for meaning we should look elsewhere.

Chasing performance goals can be a great way to find meaning in your nutrition and exercise.  This isn’t too different from training for a competition, but simply setting a goal to accomplish something difficult can be a great way to find meaning in the short term.  As the new year begins it’s a great time to write some goals for yourself for the next year.  Maybe you want to get your first strict pullup, or deadlift or squat your bodyweight.  Chasing a goal or two like this is a great way to get, and stay on track.

In the longer term however, I would suggest that we need to find a deeper meaning.  I would suggest that often that deeper meaning might be derived from loving ourselves wholly.  I know that everyday there’s an obese, diabetic person who’s told by their Dr. that they are killing themselves and need to make a change, and yet many of those folks don’t make that change.  For some people being told that they’re nearly dead is the wake up call, but for others it doesn’t bring about a change.  I would also suggest that for most of those people it’s not because they don’t know what to do; it’s simply that their own personal demons hold them back.  Not until someone comes to terms with those daemons and begins to love themselves unconditionally, can they truly change.  If you’ve yo-yo dieted much of your life, maybe you know what I’m talking about.

Finding that deeper meaning is going to come from a process of self-discovery, and facing the daemons inside each one of us.  Only after we’ve done that process can we truly find the deeper meaning that leads us to make those healthy lifestyle choices.  Look at it this way…  When you make that choice to splurge on a dessert for the second time in a week in which you’ve not made it to the gym (have you had that happen??), deep down somewhere you’re choosing the momentary joy of eating cake over the long term joy of feeling great and being healthy.  You’re choosing to be happy in the moment, instead of happy for a lifetime.  I’m not suggesting that we all live like monks and never splurge, but if we’re honest we all know when we’ve splurged too much.  Right!?!?  So, maybe you’re choosing the now, because you simply don’t love yourself and your body enough to think that you deserve the forever?  You’re running up the credit card cause you don’t really care about the bill or your credit rating.  I’ve been there… I’ve lived that way…  The splurges are always great for a moment, but then you find yourself even more down after that momentary happiness wears off.  You live like a junky looking for your next “happiness high”, instead of seeking happiness that lasts a lifetime.

Alright… I went way down the woo-woo path with this blog, but I hope you get my point.  I encourage you to have a conversation with yourself about where the meaning is in your life.  Are you trying to get healthy because you hate your body, or because you love yourself enough to know that you deserve a healthy body forever?  Are you seeking health because your kids need you, or because you want to be in and experience their lives as long as you can?  Ask yourself some tough questions, and answer them honestly.  Then set about finding that meaning in your life by throat-punching the hell out of your daemons, and finally moving on.  It can be done!  People do it every day, and I think today is your day!

The 5-Minute Carb Story

I recently got into a bit of a disagreement with someone in one of the Foundations courses I’m teaching at Magnus.  We try to add some nutrition discussions into the Foundations curriculum, but we don’t have a lot of time to devote to it.  So, when trying to discuss the topic of carbs this week, this woman in my class with a bio-chemistry background began to push back on some of the points I wanted to make.  Because I literally had 5-minutes to discuss the topic, and because I don’t have enough of a science background to argue with a bio-chemist, I decided to follow up with her via email.  As I constructed the email with the points I wanted to make, as well as a significant about of supporting information, I realized this would make a good blog topic.  What follows can be considered the basics of my recommendations on carbs…

The first point to understand about carbs is simply that there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.  Yes our brains run on glucose, but because our bodies can use the gluconeogenesis process to make all the glucose that is needed from protein, we don’t actually need to consume any carbohydrate to stay alive.  As Dr. Emily Deans put it in this article:

"...while there are essential requirements for both fat or protein (meaning we would die without eating at least some fat and at least some protein), we can live quite happily while consuming no carbohydrate at all."

Next we should understand that there's good evidence suggesting that the brain actually functions better using ketones than it does using sugar.  If you aren’t taking in any (or even very little) carbohydrate, your body switches over to ketosis and powers the brain with ketones.  Since the 1920’s Dr.’s have prescribed ketogenic diets for patients with epilepsy.  This article by Shelly Fan from Scientific American states:

“Emerging evidence from animal models and clinical trials suggest keto may be therapeutically used in many other neurological disorders, including head ache, neurodegenerative diseases, sleep disorders, bipolar disorder, autism and brain cancer. With no apparent side effects.”

The bio-chemistry behind this point seems to come down to the idea that the brain has more energy available in a ketogenic environment.  Again the SA article explains this concept well by saying:

"…ketones serve as an alternative energy source to maintain normal brain cell metabolism. In fact, BHB (a major ketone) may be an even more efficient fuel than glucose, providing more energy per unit oxygen used. A ketogenic diet also increases the number of mitochondria, so called “energy factories” in brain cells"

Now that we’ve established the idea that we don’t actually need carbs, are there some good reasons to avoid carbs?  Well yes, there are any number of great reasons to avoid carbs if you’re trying to lose weight, protect your brain, or treat a number of health conditions.  I am not however suggesting that everyone should be eating a very low carb diet, and/or maintaining ketosis.  Simply put, carbohydrate intake should vary based on a person's lifestyle and body fat level.  My general recommendation for people is that if you have significant fat to lose, you should eat a relatively low carb diet.  I suggest people eat under 100g of carbs per day if they are carrying significant bodyfat.  If you are at a healthy weight but do not have a very active lifestyle, you may eat a bit more carbohydrate.  I recommend people in this category stay under 150g of carbohydrate per day.  Lastly, if you do not have fat to lose AND are highly active, I would recommend a little more carbohydrate each day.  How much more would vary from person to person, but carb intake would likely not exceed 250g per day even for the most active folks.  It's also worth noting here that I believe there are populations of people who would thrive on a Ketogenic approach, and there are also people who do fine eating upwards of 200g of carbs per day.  Anyway, this article does a great job of laying out the basics of the approach I suggest.

But wait, if I’m doing cardio don’t I need carbohydrate??  The answer is no!  Your body is always burning some percentage of protein, fat, and carbs for fuel, and the percentages change based on the intensity of the activity.  This article dispels some myths and lays this concept out in laymen’s terms, but here’s the (very) basic idea…  If you’re doing extremely high intensity/very short duration activity (think lifting your max weight on deadlift) you are using ATP as your primary source of fuel which means you’re not really burning a lot of Fat or Carbs.  Once you move into moderate to high intensity/medium duration activities (regular weight training, ½ mile run), you’re accessing your Glycolitic pathway and burning primarily carbs for fuel.  As you transition from that middle ground into low intensity/longer duration activities (walking, jogging, riding long distances) you move into the oxidative pathway which is primarily using fat for fuel.  Here’s a very basic article outlining these topics.  So, in reality that plate of pasta you eat the night before running a 10K, probably does very little to help your performance.

 

The last thing to understand about carbs is that your carb intake should primarily be from cruciferous vegetables.  Obviously, if someone is trying to stay below 100g per day, it's imperative that their carbs mostly come from cruciferous vegetable sources.  As carb intake goes up, we would add in more starchy carbs, and fruits.  Grains should always be avoided for many reasons (a topic for another discussion), and we should always strive to get the bulk of our carbs from veggies. 

As you know I believe in the Paleo template as a fantastic starting place for nutrition, and here is a link to the basics of Paleo.  I think everyone needs to do some experimenting on their own, but Paleo provides a fantastic starting place for optimum nutrition.

Finding Variety within the Paleo Template

In the spirit of overcoming common objections to the Paleo template, today’s blog will be about finding variety.  I know people who are new to Paleo, or who try Paleo and give up, say “but I can’t find anything new to eat” or “it’s just the same thing over and over”.  Now, let me first say that I think this is a completely bogus argument.  I heard on a recent podcast that the average person only eats the 10-12 food regularly, but often we think we eat a lot more than that.  I bet if you write down the number of foods you eat regularly, it probably will add up to a lot less than you think.  Additionally, dietary variety may be an over-rated idea.   In one study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15919842 ) decreasing variety of high-fat foods while increasing variety of low-fat foods was associated with weight loss and weight loss maintenance.  Multiple studies (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23902783; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22885982 ) with kids, have suggested that if you increase variety you also increase consumption.  Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that variety should be avoided.  This study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20807832) correlates an increased variety of fruits and veggies with a reduction in cancer rates.  I would suggest that we should strive to get a nice variety of vegetable sources to make sure we get exposure to as many nutrients as possible, but otherwise eating pretty similar foods from week-to-week can allow you to establish new (healthy) habits.

So, what about this objections overcoming after all???  If you are concerned about how to get enough variety to keep you happy while implementing a Paleo template, I submit to you the following…  As a test, I did a Google search for “Ground Beef Paleo Recipe”.  Because grass-fed ground beef is a super-healthy and reasonably priced option, it’s a protein source I recommend everyone fit into their diet regularly.  If we’re on a budget, and can’t afford to have grass-fed rib-eye (at $20/pound), how can you possibly not getting bored eating ground beef multiple times every week?  Well, here’s what I found when I did that Goooooogle search:

 

The first link in the search results has some 40 or so recipe’s from PaleOMG that use ground beef!  Everything from simple, quick, and easy Mexican Rice Bowls (http://paleomg.com/mexican-rice-bowls/), to a delicious looking Beef, Bacon and Plantain Casserole (http://paleomg.com/beef-bacon-and-plantain-casserole/) that I’m making later this week, to a simple lettuce wrap burger (http://paleomg.com/4th-of-july-triple-protein-burgers/).  The next link in the search results has 15 more recipes, and if those 55 recipes aren’t enough for you I’m sure you can find your variety in the “About 369,000 results” in this search.  Hopefully the point I’m trying to make is crystal clear by now, but in case it’s not I’ll summarize…  My point is that even if you limit yourself to one cheap protein source (grass-fed ground beef) multiple times a week, you can still eat variety to your hearts’ content.  In fact, in just the first two search results, there are enough new recipes for you to eat a new beef dish 5 times a week for 11-straight weeks!  I guarantee that you don’t have NEAR that much variety in your current diet!

To take this one step further I’ll give you the list of my top 10 favorite Paleo ground beef dishes.  And here it is…

1. Asian Beef stir-fry: I already outlined this recipe in my previous blog. http://timstrainertalk.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-recipe-of-sorts.html
2. Spaghetti Squash Bolognese: From Practical Paleo, this is a staple in our house year round! http://balancedbites.com/2013/03/easy-recipe-spaghetti-squash-bolognese-practical-paleo-ideas-for-replacing-pasta.html
3. Paleo Shepard’s Pie: A great cold-weather meal! http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-shepherds-pie/
4. Paleo Taco Salad: A quick and delicious meal we eat all the time.  We add sautéed squash and onions to a recipe like this: http://www.paleoplan.com/2009/12-04/taco-salad/
5. Lettuce Wrap Bacon Burger:  We often eat burgers without the bun.  I like to fry bacon in my cast iron skillet while I prepare 1/3-1/2 pound patties.  When the bacon is done I throw the patties in the bacon grease such that the get a super nice crust on the outside.  Use butter lettuce or romaine, and garnish as you like.  We often use tomato, fried sweet onion, and avocado.
6. Chili: I have loved chili for all my life and I have found that having it without the beans is just as good!  We will garnish with avocado, or maybe even a little bit of cheese (GASP!).  Plenty of people have their own chili recipe, but here’s a link to the chili that won Robb Wolf’s Paleo Chili Contest last year. http://robbwolf.com/2013/01/06/ultimate-paleo-chili/
7. Mom, Meatloaf!!  I like to put some bacon in my meatloaf, and I like to mix in some veggies.  Just throw some onion, carrot, celery, and whatever else you got lying around in the food processor, and crank it until you have something not too far away from baby food.  Adding this veggie mixture to your meat makes it taste even more awesome and ups the nutrient content.  Here’s a list of 40 Paleo meatloaf’s for you perusal! http://paleogrubs.com/meatloaf-recipes
8. Paleo Cabbage Roles: These can be a little time-intensive, but they are delicious and make excellent left-over’s! http://cavemanstrong.com/2011/02/paleo-cabbage-rolls/
9. Ground Beef and Eggs: The Meat and Nut Breakfast (http://www.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/270/The_Meat_and_Nut_Breakfast.aspx) is a fantastic way to start your day if you want to be more awesome (IE- normalize insulin levels, improve brain function, be strong and tough!), and this is my favorite version.  Just heat a pan, add some ground beef, season and brown meat.  In another pan cook up 2 eggs, I like mine sunny-side or over-easy for the yummy-runny-yolkie!  Throw the eggs on top of the meat, and grab a handful of nuts to eat on the side.  This breakfast is chalk full of protein, healthy fat, and will have you feeling satisfied for hours!
10. Stuffed Zucchini Boats:  Simple and reasonably quick, this recipe can be tailored to fit your tastes.  Delete or add herbs and spices or mix up the cheese (or leave it off) to make this meal just the way you like it. http://www.cravepaleo.com/recipe/stuffed-zucchini-boats

If your objection to Paleo is that there isn’t enough variety, I hope I’ve done a sufficient job showing you that variety doesn’t have to be a problem.  There can be more than enough variety within this template, even if you’re trying to keep to a tight budget.  You do have to jump into this stuff though, or you will never see the world of variety that’s available to you.  So far we’ve looked at the objections “I don’t have time to cook”, “I don’t have money to eat healthy”, and now “it’s just the same thing over and over”.  What’s holding you back from implementing a Paleo template?

Fresh, Frozen, or Canned… Which Veggies Should I Eat?

I had this question submitted to me, and it will make the perfect topic for a quick blog.  I’ll hopefully be back to more substantial topics on the blog next week, but I hope you enjoy this blog in the mean time…

When it comes to eating veggies, do you ever wonder if there is a difference between eating veggies from a can or bag (frozen) versus eating fresh veggies?  Well, like many questions of health and wellness the answer is: it depends.  I’ll briefly touch on the considerations regarding this topic, give you my hierarchy of vegetable eating, and finally wrap up with a bit about my take home points on this topic.

When we are trying to decide the best sources for our veggies, there are many small considerations to factor in.  As I go through this discussion, I’m going to make the assumption that we are all trying to eat more veggies, and that we want to get the most nutrients we can possibly get from said veggies.  I think that goes without saying, but I’ve said it anyway…  You’re welcome!  Anyway, the first consideration I’ll address is not necessarily related to our health, or the nutrient content of our diet.  The first thing I think that needs to be mentioned here is sustainability.  Eating fresh local veggies is very good from a sustainability standpoint, and can’t be matched by any other veggie option.  Go buy it from the farm if/when that’s possible!  Here are the other considerations that come to mind:

• Additives: If you’re eating frozen or canned, what are you getting other than the veggies you’re after?  Read labels and understand what you’re actually eating.
• Frozen Veggies are Picked at Their Peak: If you buy conventional produce in the grocery store it was picked before its’ peak so that it could spend many days getting to the store so you could purchase it.  Produce has its’ highest nutritional content at its’ peak ripeness.  Frozen veggies are picked at that peak, and then flash frozen to lock those nutrients in.  Therefore, some believe they can potentially have higher nutrient content than fresh conventional produce.
• Conventional Produce is Picked Early, and Transported:  Picking it early, then transporting ends up with produce that is below its’ peak of nutritional content for a couple reasons.  First, picking early means the produce hasn’t had an opportunity to get to its’ prime, and therefore is somewhat less nutritious.  Second, the transport process exposes the produce to numerous factors that degrade it (light, heat, pressure, etc).
• How Long Will it be in Your Fridge: We already know produce looses nutrient content as time goes by, so if you buy fresh produce and put it in your fridge for a week before eating it, how much nutrient value has been lost?
• Nutrients Lost in Preservation Process: Before veggies are canned and sent to your grocery store, they go through a preservation process.  There is some disagreement about how much nutrient content is lost in that process, but everyone agrees there is some nutrient content lost.
• Water Soluble Vitamins are Lost While in the Can:  While your canned veggies sit in water on the shelf, some of the water soluble vitamins leach out of the veggies and into the water where they are lost when you drain the can.

So, we have considerations all over the place here.  What does that leave us with?  As I see it, here’s the hierarchy of veggie options, from good to better to best:

1. Frozen or canned with minimal additives (good)
2. Canned veggies without additives (better)
3. Fresh conventional produce (better)
4. Frozen veggies without additives (better)
5. Fresh local produce (Best)

Finally here are your take home points:

1. Eat More Meat and Veggies: I may have mentioned this before in the blog, but whatever route you take to get there, be sure to eat more meat and veggies!
2. Stop Stressing About Details:  If you’re eating more veggies that come from a can, that’s markedly better than eating from a drive-thru.  Don’t stress too much over the details cause on some level it’s just splitting hairs…
3. Eat More Meat and Veggies:  See #1 in this list…
4. Make the Decisions that Work for You:  Again, if all you can do right now is eat canned veggies with your meat, that’s great.  Maybe someday you will have the resource (time, money, cooking skill) to move up the hierarchy, but for now do what works for you.