The Hemp Connection:
fast food

Fast food. We all know it's not great, but when we're in a hurry, without time to cook, it's what we think of.

That's a great marketing success for those companies who have conditioned us to mentally end that two word phrase with the word"restaurant". It's as if it doesn't come from a commercial kitchen with fryers and a drive-through window, it isn't fast.

The irony of that is that these restaurants are not really so fast! Next time you pull into the drive-through, time yourself from beginning to end. Multiply that by the estimated number of visits per week that you go, then by 52, and you'll have the grand total of minutes you spend in line waiting for food you know you shouldn't be eating anyway. What else could you be doing with all that time?

What if we trained our brains to disconnect the words"fast food" from"restaurant"? A whole host of"fast food" options become opportunities.

Since grocery stores are often as geographically convenient as fast food restaurants, I did an experiment awhile ago. I pulled into the parking lot of my neighborhood Safeway, walked in, picked up an apple, two pieces of string cheese, and a mineral water, for an afternoon snack, and checked out. I used four minutes between the time I left my car to the time I returned to it. Keep in mind, not all are perfect, but they're better than the fast food alternative. It's all about perspective.

So that is my first choice on the list of favorite fast foods. What else can you find in the grocery store that is fast and more hormone-friendly than burgers and fries?

1. Apple and string cheese.
2. Turkey sandwich from the deli section
3. A box of sushi (I like the Trader Joe's brown rice California rolls)
4. Greek yogurt (I prefer unsweetened) with chopped or dried fruit stirred in.
5. Ready made salad (minimize the total amount of premade dressing you use)

At home:

6. Peanut butter and apple sandwich
7. Quesadilla piled with precut veggies, made with low carb tortilla and lowfat cheese
8. Hummous and vegetables (this is also a great option at the grocery store)
9. Rice bowl from Organic Bistro
10. Can of lentil soup or bean soup and a piece of fruit

They are not what you think, but even nutrition experts get caught away from home when hunger strikes! Here they are, in no particular order.

Source: google.com via Peter on Pinterest

1. Sushi boxes. I am partial to the brown rice California rolls at Trader Joe's. Go for sashimi if you don't want the rice. I love the portion control and feeling just full enough.

Source: google.com via j jump Janenifer on Pinterest

2. String cheese sticks and an apple. Just walk into the grocery store, grab, hit the"10 items or less" lane, and you are in and out in 1/10 the time the drive through would have taken.

Source: google.com via Rhonda on Pinterest

3. Justin's Nut Butter pack with whole grain crackers and a sliced banana.

Source: shop.wholefoodsmarket.com via Salina on Pinterest

4. Any protein-containing option at the Whole Foods Deli. They only use olive and canola oil so no label reading is required.

Source: ohsheglows.com via Alina on Pinterest

5. Hummus and vegetables.

And there you have it. As soon as you stop obliging marketers who need you to say"restaurant" after every time you say"fast food" in order to keep your job…the possibilities are endless.: )

I don't have to tell you this is one of your crucial vitamins. It's important for becoming pregnant, staying pregnant, and helping your unborn baby to grow and develop. It's just a super hard nutrient to get in, when your appetite is driven by carbohydrate cravings.

PCOS Diva, once again, has created a wonderful set of menus focusing on including folate. Check them out (below), pick even one to try and see if it's something you can add to your rotation.

Last week I had the opportunity to eat at a wonderful and popular restaurant in Venice, California, Lemonade. Today's picture is a photo of me with my plate and my friend's plate from that lunch. You couldn't go wrong in that place, practically everything on the menu offered a hormone-friendly benefit. It was such a contrast to the weekend before when I found myself in an unfamiliar part of town when the lunchtime hungries rolled around. I walked in to a Burger King. And while I ordered the chicken sandwich, I had to special order to keep the sauce off, and everywhere I looked, if there wasn't a promotional ad encouraging me to eat something sugary or fatty, someone WAS eating something sugary or fatty. I rarely step into these establishments and I felt completely out of my element.

I'm guessing it works the other way around. If you're used to fast food restaurants, a place like Lemonade might seem a little intimidating. So for another writing gig, I went through Lemonade's menu and listed the items they offered that were high in folate.

A big part of eating better is getting used to being in environments that support the change. It's not going to happen in a place where the profit margin is largely supported by foods that do not support health. In a place that is devoted to making healthy eating easy, the hardest decision you're going to have…which I faced in Lemonade…was figuring out WHICH healthy route to go!

If you think the reason you cannot eat better because you don't enjoy cooking, or do not feel like you have the time to do it, get in the habit of patronizing establishments that incorporate the foods we encourage you to eat. Order a little extra to take home for dinner, or if you're eating dinner out, for lunch the next day. Make it hard for yourself to have a reason to walk into fast food world. Eventually, you'll wonder why it was ever even an option.

Folate foods (foods with asterisks are fortified with added folate)

Breakfast cereals
Beef liver
Cowpeas (blackeyes)
Breakfast cereals
Spinach
Great Northern beans
Asparagus
*Rice, white
Vegetarian baked beans
Green peas
Broccoli
*Egg noodles
Broccoli,
Avocado
Peanuts
Lettuce, Romaine
Wheat germ
Tomato Juice
Orange juice
Turnip greens
Orange
*Bread
Egg,
Cantaloupe
Papaya
Banana