Ever so slowly, I feel I am creeping towards working out a
new lifestyle of eating for me. Because we
are all unique individuals, with different needs and desires, it has been confusing sifting through piles of nutritional advice to work out what will work for me as an individual.
One food item with contentious connotations is good old
butter. Yes, it contains saturated fat and
a fair share of calories, and an excess is certainly bad for you. But it also contains vitamins A, D and E, as
well as being a good source of calcium.
For good health we need to have fat-soluble vitamins in our diet, and it seems to be generally recommended that a person has 1-2 servings of fat each day (most people have much more than that).
My conclusion is that butter, in moderation,
can be a healthy part of my dietary plan.
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| (photo taken from Mainland web page) |
Being a great fan of butter (and eating far too much of it!),
it is not something I wish to give up completely.
There seems to be two alternatives open to me: severely
limit how much I eat and/or mix it half and half with a cold pressed vegetable
oil. I may try the latter during winter,
but for now I will restrict the volume I eat.
A standard serve of butter is 1 Tbsp (14g or about ½ oz). By cutting the block of butter into six
portions, then each portion into six pieces, I can get 36 serves of butter out
of one 500g packet – it will last me longer than a month!
This afternoon I divided up the butter and wrapped each
portion in tinfoil before freezing it.
There is one thing I think I will change next time, and that
is to use unsalted butter. Salt consumption
is something I also need to keep an eye on and I would rather add my own salt
as needed, so I can better control exactly how much I eat.
As an aside, I was nearly thrown out of bed at 2am this
morning when we had a reasonably strong earthquake (4.8). It must have lasted nearly a minute, and
everything in my room rattled loudly – it was rather unnerving!
Stay happy 😊
Margaret.
You are a stronger person than I. I don't think I could ever give up butter! Or bacon, or chocolate, or... Never mind, the list is too long.
ReplyDeleteBeing from the Midwest, I've never experienced an earthquake. Could actually go my entire life without one.
I used to eat my share of chocolate. Funny this is, the last few years I've found I seldom want any (which is good!)
DeleteI heard about the earthquake on the news. I don't eat a lot if butter. On my toast or bread I use avocado. As you mentioned in winter I mix oil with our butter (I use extra virgin olive oil). I generally bake cakes using oil rather than butter.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I did not feel that one - I was awake at the time... it was a 4.8, 5 km south of Te Aroha, but very shallow.
ReplyDeleteI too love my butter, but have vey little now - I mainly get my fat/calcium intake from a wee bit of cheese occasionally, or a daily (limited) helping of home made yoghurt - I make it with full cream jersey milk.
Hoping that these changes are beneficial for you. Love how you have rationed your butter!
Blessings
Maxine
Yum, I love homemade yoghurt - and you know the culture is still alive and good for you (unlike a lot of commercial yoghurts that now get pasteurized after making)
DeleteVery scary start to the morning!
ReplyDeletean earthquake? eek. i do love butter but it's not in my eating plan anymore :( I use hummus or cottage cheese instead of butter - on sandwiches I mean.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking of getting some hummus but I really don't like cottage cheese :)
DeleteOh boy, another earthquake. Not nice, frightening at 2am. Hope you don't have anymore.
ReplyDeleteAnd poor old butter. Such a bad boy according to most. I eat 100grams a day, more or less. Lost another kilo this month. But my diet is a total turnaround. Not for everyone.
It's one thing I really enjoy. Wish we could get kiwi butter. Taste of my childhood
I tried American butter - once! Much prefer our own :)
Deletei am quite sure the earthquake was in celebration of your new-found resolve to become slim, trim, svelte and athletic, Margaret! Is exercise part of your plan too? As for butter, it is not something I use. Sometimes I will drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on bread to make a sandwich, but generally the bread is plain. I still walk considerable distances but my aging knees are starting to let me know that they are aware of it!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I made the earth shake!
DeleteKeep walking while you can. I miss walking long distances but my hip lets me down. And, yes, I am working on increasing my exercise too :)
Butter is a weakness of mine too but I have limited it severely. I miss it occasionally though I don’t totally deprive myself either. Your plan looks like a good one.
ReplyDeleteHope there are no strong aftershocks, Margaret. Take care.
What a good idea you had of dividing the butter into portion sizes. I'm sure steps like that will add up and help you lose weight. I think I'd be pretty shaken up if we had a 4.8 earthquake at any time of the day or night! Good thing nothing fell and broke. Granny Marigold
ReplyDeleteI like butter on my toast in the morning. Well an earthquake is exciting:)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about butter, shame that our products in NZ are so expensive, I prefer butter over margarine any day.
ReplyDelete