I am SO excited to see that dates, ginger, and goji berries (All foods that I’ve eaten since birth because they are a big part of Chinese diets) have become SO popular in the US!!!
*$$$$ SAVING TIP* If your local grocery carries these EXPENSIVE goods, head to any Chinese grocer and get it cheaper!
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I’ve recently been introduced to the Jillian Michael’s Radio show by Jenn & Maggie (from Eating Bender & Say Yes to Salad). I have to say Jillian’s a VERY engaging, intelligent, and persuasive woman. Since I love learning about the science behind how our bodies work, I thought I’d start out this post with…
3 Things I NEVER knew (until Jillian’sApril/5 show):
1.) High Fructose Corn sugar IS worse than sugar itself!!
Why? Sugar can be metabolized by ALL our cells vs HFCS can ONLY be broken down in your liver. Hence, FATTY LIVER!
2.) 4 Meals a day. NOT 6.
According to Jillian, 3 meals and 1 snack is the way to go. 6 mini-meals per day causes insulin to soar through your system throughout the day, which apparently isn’t exactly great for your body! (YAY!! Who has time to pack 6 meals?!?!?)
3.) Jillian Believes in detox!! She’s doing it the Chinese Way!
NO, not starvation = detox. Instead, Jillian is taking traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”) in the form of herb soups and accupuncture to get rid of the toxins in her body via sweating & the bathroom!
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EATs AWAYYYYY!!!
Honey Pumpkin Irish Oat Bran
This breakfast held me over very well until lunch time. Simply 1/3 cup irish oatbran with 1/2 cup pumpkin and cinnamon. Topped with 1 Tbs honey & half a container of cinnamon yogurt!
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Maple Cashew-Tofu MuffinWich
Remember how I was freaked out about my dizziness during workouts? I decided to bump up the protein in this lunch.
1 English muffin, 5oz sauteed firm tofu, a serving of raw cashew nuts, and Justin’s Mapke Almond Butter. (LOVE THESE!!)
I ate the muffinwich with a GIANT, i repeat, GIANT salad with romaine, roasted red peppers, a cucumber, and artichokes! All with 2 Tbs Newman’s Own low fat Asian ginger dressing! 
For dessert, 1/4 of a whole pineapple. NOT with dressing!! The bottle is there to show how big my Kitty Bento is. heheeh
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Crossword Snacks
Because you can’t do crosswords without nuts right?!?! There’s probably about 2 servings of nuts in there, and I had about 1.5 because dinner was a while awayyyy!
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Eating Semi-Homemade Chi-tali-an!
Dinner was a hodge podge of Italian, Chinese, and American! Here you have high fiber Spagetti and turkey meatballs on the left. On the right, a sauteed spinach & daikon radish stir-fried with galic. (SO GOOD!!!)
Whole Foods has cheap chicken on Thursdays, so the bf stopped by for a whole rotisserie chicken on his way home from work. I had the entire breast because the bf claims he doesn’t eat white meat. We’ll see about that.
Did I mention I was a PRO rotisserie Chicken slicer?!?!
Anyone, on the right is Pillsbury garlic buter crescent rolls. I had two of ’em. Maybe 2 and a half?
Can’t end dinner without some dessert right??
Here’s 1 heated chocolate chip cookie broken up into pieces & eaten with Coconut Milk chocolate ice-cream.
I ate most of the ice-cream and the bf ate most of the cookie. WOW, this flavor is MMM MMM GOOD!! It tasted JUST like coconut + dark chocolate in ice-cream form!!!
I felt like I was missing something crunchy after dinner (notice there wasn’t anything crunchy? and I love crunch!) So I ended with a cup of original puffins and skim milk. Perfect!
PHEW, that was a lot to digest wasn’t it?
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Anyway, I’d love to know what YOUR thoughts on traditional Chinese medicine is!
After studying TCM and acupuncture in my University public health program in China, and now, hearing Jillian RAAAVE about her TCM doc, I am pleased to say SWEET! I’m just happy that my culture is more understood! 🙂
I’m simply happy that people are so open minded and SO willing to try new things for the sake of health and happiness.
And that is why food blogger’s & foodies are so cool.
Have you ever noticed that most (if not ALL of us) make an effort to eat out of our own comfort zones?
Unfortunately, I am clueless about TCM. But I want to learn more. We do have a few people around here that do accupuncture. May have to go for a visit. Also clueless about detox.
Oh and I love goji berries!
Thanks for the 411 on Jillian’s radio show. I never knew! I’ll have to check it out.
Great ears and thanks for the tips on checking out a Chinese grocery store!
I love Asian grocery stores, even though I always feel awkward that I have to ask for help finding the giant bottles of Sriracha.
Mmmm, Chi-talian looks great!
i think TCM has a lot of wonderful benefits. I’m not sure I agree with her 3 meals over 6 idea, but that’s largely based on my own personal experience
Love your eats, mmmm rotisserie chicken, totally love that. And thanks for sharing about those facts from Jillian. I didn’t know that either!!
And Chinese medicine, yep yep… when I am sick at home, my mom will use that gua sha method on me. intense, but yep.
oh my gosh your lunch looks incredible! i never would have thought to put cashews on my sandwich! i don’t know anything about tcm, but i would love to learn about it!!
Lunch looks GREAT! Hopefully that will help the dizziness!
I’m usually all about the Chinese way but I’m not sure I could do a hard-core detox. Hmmm….I definitely agree with the 4 meals/day thing though.
I live in a Chinese neighborhood and definitely take advantage of their cheap versions of stuff WF sells for much more! 🙂
I need to try that ice cream…I’ve been seeing it around so much!
I’ve had accupuncture for a hip injury, but it wasn’t traditional…it was electro-accupuncture (yow!). It helped sometimes and other times it didn’t. I REALLY want to try traditional accupuncture! Every single person I’ve talked to who has had it LOVES it. I have very poor circulation (hands + feet = freezing constantly!) and I’ve heard this can help.
I didn’t know Jill had a radio show! I LOVE the idea of 4 meals. You are right…who has the time to prepare 6??!!
I’ve been getting acupuncture for years… and love it! I’ve done some herbal stuff too 🙂
great post :)! i’ve had my share of chinese herbal medicine growing up…i still crinkle my nose if someone mentions it. it’s just too intense for me! i do like acupuncture though.
I have seen a lot of traditional chinese medicine from herbs to accupuncture. I believe there is some effect to it but you need to be careful with herbs as they can interfere with other meds, and they aren’t strictly regulated! Accupuncture has proven to be helpful in infertility as well! I’m always interested in learning more. Great post!
In regards to HFCS I believe if they are using a product to replace a natural product then why are they replacing it, just use the real thing in moderation!
Thanks for the tip on buying those ingredients … I do need to take a trip to the Asian market soon!
my family is ALL about chinese medicine. my uncle is an acupuncturer(sp?) and he makes chinese medicine. i’ve had it while growing up, it doesn’t smell good at all but it does wonders! i remember my cousin would complain about an upset stomach and she would do acupuncture in her stomach and it would feel better in 5 minutes. but that stuff aint cheap! i’m just glad i get hookups from my uncle.
chiitalian?!! totally mix my cultures too!! do you eat spaghetti with chopsticks? haha cause i do sometimes haha
jillian wants to be chinese like us! WOOO! 🙂 haha
CRESCENT ROLLS!!! Those things are little moons of heaven! Yum 🙂 Thanks for posting the Jillian stuff but I agree with another commenter, 4 meals a day doesn’t work for me either – I prefer 6 mini meals 🙂
Did you studied chinese medicine and acunpuncture MIchelle?? How cool is that!!!! I shoud have asked u before what you do in life…… ahahaha…… I have so many questions to ask you then….
I believe in TCM a lot, especially to heal cronic disease. I’ve taking herbs for a long time but at the end it didn’t work… maybe I took for too long time? I don’t know.
But there’s some principles in TCM that I do follow, for example, women should eat more warm food, do NOT eat anything cold in our special days; eat a lot of red dates, etc!
I’ll listen to some podcast of this lady, it seems interestinG! 🙂
Hope the increased protein helped you out!
I’m really interested in TCM. I took a Complementary and Alternative Therapy class, and we had a guest speaker discuss TCM.
so you didnt tell us, did the extra protein help with dizziness?? i hope so! both of your desserts look oh so good btw 🙂
“Maple Cashew Tofu-Muffinwich”… that looks toooo good! All of your food looks tasty. I’m a fan of the cookie and ice cream for sure!
I hope the dizziness problem is better. It really can put a cramp in a workout.
Have a great weekend! 🙂
See those two Brazil nuts in your mixed nut bag.. those are the best nuts in the entire world. I love them. Interesting sandwich also 🙂
-E
The Barney Butter never made it to me =(
I wonder where it went…
Thanks for the tidbits from Jillian’s radio show! I didn’t know that about HFCS!
Such interesting eats today!!! Love it!
I just had my first sessions of acupuncture recently for sinus/allergy and overall, I’m satisfied with the results. I’ve had to take fewer dosages of OTC allergy medicine this season. And with TCM, I kinda miss it. Now that I live far away from my mom and extended family, no one is making me herbal teas and soups anymore. Perhaps one day I will try to make some of that stuff on my own.
Hey girlie! I think Jillian is pretty incredible! HOWEVER, on the meal front- I think everyone needs to find what works for them and stick to it- the same way of eating wil not work for all! If you choose the right foods, six meals will not cause an insulin spike. Any who- enough of my rant. Your bento box is so cute and I love it filled with pineapple- fresh pineapple=awesome! Have a great weekend.
i agree with Jillian, whenever I eat six mini meals I always feel hungrier
i LOVE your breakfast!! wow – tofu and cashews! sounds delicious 🙂
Thanks for the tip to go to a Chinese grocer … I never thought of that, but great idea!! Because those items really ARE expensive most everywhere I go!
Hope you have a GREAT Easter weekend!!! : )
That tofu English muffin sandwich sounds delicious. I don’t know much about Chinese medicine, but I am interested and would love to learn more.
I kinda agree with the 4 meals a day, I don’t want to be thinking about food all day!
That coconut dark chocolate ice-cream sounds amazing- I might have to splurge next time I’m at the grocery store!
Did the added protein help ya during your workout? Hope so! And yum, I love puffins w/ milk….such a simple & tasty snack!
My dad actually practices acupuncture and has used it on me before, so I definitely believe in it’s powers!! 😀
Yum!!! Everything looks good!! 6 meals a day probably is a bit much……
I always knew HFCS was bad bad bad! This just confirms it even more!
You need your Crossword-protein & fuel!!! I LOVE that cashew McMuffin combo, hahaha it made me laugh. Cute kitty-bento box 🙂