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January 22, 2006
Cauliflower Head
No, it's not my pet name for MR. It's what I got on sale, organic, at Whole Foods today, and cooked up for dinner. I made an incredible dish with 255 g cauliflower, 67 g red onion, and 47 g leeks, simmered until tender in 15 calories of free range organic chicken broth. Then I removed from heat and added 1 cup of nonfat plain yogurt. Didn't need any spices at all, though you could add rosemary if you wanted. Delicious! More ways to love your leeks!
Today has been a back to basics food day, with most of the familiar old favorites. The olives I bought this morning are amazing, so I've had a ton of them. Here's the day:
Breakfast
You know what I had for breakfast.
Lunch:
50 g kale with 20 cals salsa verde mixed into 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
102 g olives
Afternoon snack:
20 g almonds
Dinner:
Leek cauliflower onion yogurt dish
side order of broth with 2 tbsps (116 cals, 16 g protein) Lewis Labs
more olives :) Wow, they are expensive, but soooo good!
Chamomile tea, green tea, coffee, water. Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper first thing in the am with my cranberry and supplements.
Here's the crunch:
NUTRIENT TOTALS:
Abs. Values %RDA/SA
Calories 1033.73__cal 52%
Protein 81.33__gm 148% RDA
Total Fat 34.77__gm 53%
Sat. Fat 5.08__gm 25%
Mono. Fat 21.22__gm 73%
Poly. Fat 6.40__gm 96%
Carbohydrate 109.30__gm 36%
Fiber 24.40__gm 81%
Cholesterol 28.34__mg 9%
Vit. A 5358.01__IU 107% RDA
Vit. B6 1.26__mg 79% RDA
Vit. B12 3.02__mcg 151% RDA
Vit. C 234.06__mg 390% RDA
Vit. E 8.52__mg 107% RDA
Thiamine 1.39__mg 126% RDA
Folacin 278.13__mcg 155% RDA
Riboflavin 2.49__mg 192% RDA
Niacin 11.27__mg 75% RDA
Panto. Acid 5.10__mg 102% SA
Calcium 1279.57__mg 107% RDA
Copper 2.23__mg 112% SA
Iron 12.54__mg 84% RDA
Magnesium 299.61__mg 107% RDA
Manganese 1.86__mg 62% SA
Phosphorus 1003.19__mg 84% RDA
Potassium 3624.97__mg 181% RDA
Selenium 127.63__mcg 232% RDA
Sodium 3248.46__mg 135% SA
Zinc 8.12__mg 68% RDA
Tyrosine 2.66__gm 277% RDA
Lysine 4.61__gm 640% RDA
Phenylalanine 3.49__gm 364% RDA
Leucine 5.61__gm 584% RDA
Valine 4.37__gm 520% RDA
Methionine 1.79__gm 597% RDA
Cystine 1.11__gm 369% RDA
Tryptophan 0.73__gm 404% RDA
Threonine 2.73__gm 570% RDA
Isoleucine 3.43__gm 476% RDA
P:C:F = 31:38:31
A few notes on comments:
Nutritional yeast: there's some reason why I stopped eating that after I read something about brewers yeast being more effective or bioavailable or something, but I forget what. MR, care to comment on the topic? I adore the taste of Lewis Labs, but freely admit that all others are disgusting. I fixed the entry in DWIDP today, so my totals are definitely correct now.
Anorexia: Thank you for your concern, which I can tell is genuine. The problem with blogs is that if they focus on one aspect of your life, you can seem quite obsessed with that aspect since that's what you talk about. This blog is about my CR, so no doubt I seem food obsessed. If I wrote a blog about my work, I'd seem like I'm obsessed with organizing. If I wrote a blog about my sex life, I'd seem sex-obsessed. But since the topic is CR, food is going to come up a lot.
I've addressed the anorexia question many times, and will refer you to my ultimate treatise on body image, the Women's Magazines entry from last Thanksgiving. I know what it's like to struggle with body issues, and CR has set me free from that. Now I am totally, abidingly happy with my body. In fact, I think you could call me vain (back me up here, Zeynep!) I look in the mirror and think, "She's so hot!" It is my understanding that anorexics look in the mirror and see fat that isn't there, and hate their bodies. That's no doubt an oversimplification, but I doubt that many anorexics think as highly of their bodies as I do of mine. I wasn't always happy with my body... in fact, when I was poisoning it with margaritas and nachos and bagels and cream cheese, I didn't like the way I looked at all. But I've been very, very happy with my body for a long time now.
My CR lifestyle does take time, and when you caution me to "Be careful," I think you should take the fact that I monitor my nutrition daily and my blood work once a year as evidence that I am very, very careful. Most women spend a lot of time thinking about food, but unfortunately not in ways that make them happy. The time I spend thinking about food helps me eat better. Also, I just love to cook. Cooking has been my hobby for over ten years, and I probably enjoy it a whole lot more than most people. Cooking and nutrition are like a sport for me... I could make baseball cards with vegetables and their nutrition info. Wow, wouldn't Little MR love that game??? I love my body and I want to keep it young and healthy, so I put quite a bit of attention into what I put into it. Most of the anorexics I've known have been much more concerned with losing weight than with nutrition... I doubt that many anorexics monitor their nutrition on software and get the RDA of all their essential nutrients. A wise woman once said, "There's a fine line between a hobby and mental illness," and I can see how my lifestyle would not be for everyone. But for me, it's life-giving and life-affirming.
If I were anorexic, I'd be looking for ways to lose weight, not ways to drop my calories while *not* losing. For example, by eating more food and skipping the wine, I can consume fewer calories, more nutrients, and still seem to be holding onto my gorgeous sexy curves. (This is how I really think, but I try to keep a lid on it most of the time. In context, I think I can be honest about just how beautiful I think I am. I trust Zeynep to remind me that I'm not everyone's cup of tea.) Total opposite of anorexic thinking. For more info on *why* I want to take my calories lower, check out the CR Society or Dr. Walford's books.
My best friend from high school had a terrible battle with anorexia, and I'm glad to report that for the most part she has recovered, but she spent over six years in and out of the hospital. So I know up close and personal how horrible anorexia is. You know Marya, of Wasted? I went to high school with her, we were good friends. So I take anorexia very seriously. I think it's very brave of you to identify yourself as anorexic, and I appreciate your concern and not wanting anyone else to go through the hell of one of the world's most destructive diseases. I'll add you to my morning prayers... so if your ears twitch a bit at approximately 7:30 every morning, you'll know it's me. Anyone who has the courage to face anorexia is a brave soul indeed, and should be commended. I hope you're getting help that works for you and making progress towards feeling great about your body and your health. Don't worry about me... I am far from anorexic.
Zeynep, I have no idea why alcohol gives me anxiety attacks. I think it might be the carbs, but that's not all cause it's worse than just plain sugar. Totally bizarre, I know, but I doubt that I'm unique. It's never seemed to depress me, only to make me anxious. But wow, I feel so great when I'm drinking chamomile tea instead! I'm going to turn into one of those tea freaks who owns stock in Celestial Seasonings. Four cups today. All chamomile, all the time. Okay, one was peppermint. And one was green. But the point remains: tea hits the spot without stressing the liver, adding calories, and making me feel nutty. Does anybody have any info, anecdotal or otherwise, on alcohol and anxiety?
Marc -- hi! Raw veggies: there are some that you really need to buy organic, like red peppers and celery. The others, we wash carefully with soap. We tend to buy almost all our produce organic, and I think these days that it's worth it if you can afford. Some veggies, like tomatoes, need to be cooked to get the most out of their nutrients. Lycopine (sp?) is only released in cooked tomatoes.
Meanwhile, back to Zeynep, you're probably right that I should have argued with the dude. An occupational hazard of being Southern is that we're passive agressively polite. It would be pretty lame if they discontinued the fabulous low carb tortilla. MR found a brand that you can mail-order in Canada... I wonder if you could get it in Istanbul? We could have a worldwide Day of the Low Carb Tortilla. We could get Willie in Spain to do it, Paul in Hong Kong, Kara and Christina in B.C., Lindsay in England, and I even had an Australian reader at one point... all of us eating low carb tortillas at one time. The earth would move... but then again, it does that every day.
I just packed my pills for the week. It's going to be a busy one, with early morning leaflets at hospitals that require me to leave my house before 6 am. I've packed kale, yogurt with salsa, olives (how I love olives! Blessed be the day I read the Albatross and realized I could eat olives!), fruit yogurt, almonds, organic celery, organic mustard for the organic celery, and two little Babybel light cheeses, 50 cals and 20% of the RDA of calcium each.
Are you getting bored with my quotidian diet? I'm not, as I have entered a phase of my life where kale monogamy is more satisfying than all that cheap romaine and iceberg I ate in my younger days before I fell in love with the real woman's green. But I am missing having MR to cook for. I find myself contemplating 629 calorie dinners, thinking of ways to make eggwhite steaks, and fondling fruits in the Whole Foods, wondering if MR would enjoy them with hazelnut oil. I've been thinking a lot lately about food and nurture/nourishment, more on that soon. For now, suffice it to say that I am planning some incredible meals for my Orange One's return.
Posted by april at January 22, 2006 7:43 PM
Comments
Aprili mu, (That's how greeks would say my dear April)
I don't think you're vain anymore, or that your vainness suits you, or maybe I am vain, or I don't know what vain is...
I think you're pretty although you're still a midget from my 5'.7'' point of view. But, we have a saying in Turkish " small people are the real giants". True that most midgets are the leaders of the world. (Madonna, my favorite among them).
What about all the anorexia deal? I can cut my head off and serve it to the stupid person who thinks you're anorexic. I've never met a food-loving anorexic person. How can he/she even get th idea that you were anorexic. You love food!
Posted by: zeynep at January 22, 2006 7:40 PM
Is about 1000 calories a day a pretty typical caloie intake for you?
Posted by: Victoria at January 22, 2006 8:29 PM
dear april, hello from india, where most people are slim like you, eat lunch from tiny boxes lovingly prepared at home and serve cauliflower for breakfast! plus every menu has at least as many vegetarian options as non-vegetarian. even at mcdonald's.
cheers, emma
Posted by: emma at January 22, 2006 11:02 PM