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January 26, 2006
"You're Eating Two Cruciferous Vegetables In One Meal!"
So said my boss as we ate lunch at Ruby Tuesday's yesterday. We once again had our weekly lunch out at the RT, since they have a calorie controlled menu. But it turned out to be more like dinner, since he had a meeting beforehand that went really, really late. I was so hungry, since I had eaten breakfast at about five am before heading out for my morning leafleting. So I ate a huge lunch/dinner at the RT, and spent pretty much my entire calorie budget for the day. White bean chicken chili followed by the roast chicken with a side of mashed cauliflower and a side of steamed broccoli. Hence the double crucifer comment.
We've been doing these weekly lunches out for about as long as I can remember... it's a great opportunity for the two of us to catch up on work related things that we don't want to discuss in front of our entire staff. I used to use these lunches as my "meal out," and go a little crazy with the food. I would then usually skip dinner but still feel a little carb-bombed at the end of the experience. These days I'm watching every bite, so we've been limited to the RT and Applebees. My boss is getting sick of these choices, so I suspect we'll be heading out to other restaurants come February. However, as he's working on eating healthier too, I think I can steer him away from the Mexican place with the margaritas and nachos and towards places like the Gypsy Saloon that have excellent salad choices with grilled chicken and scallops and shrimp.
To answer Drea's question re: exercise: I do twenty to thirty minutes on the treadmill, walking at about four miles an hour at an incline of 3 or 4, 5 days a week. I also do two weight lifting exercises per day that my trainer designed to add impact in order to strengthen bones. I only like to do two weight lifting exercises (three sets of each) a day because I don't want to use a ton of energy one day and then none the next. Rotating my exercises through all five days (upper body, lower body, abs and back, etc.) instead of doing all on one day and then none on the other helps me have more energy for each exercise and not confuse my body with up and down energy output. I enjoy the stress reduction benefits of exercise, but I've never been an athletic type, so I don't feel it's a sacrifice to have a pretty modest exercise program. If you like to exercise and find you need to do more, than by all means, do so. You may decide as you get older that you would rather cut some exercise and cut some calories to get more CR type benefits, but it sounds like you're eating very healthy, and at 21 I definitely was not thinking about slowing down biological aging. For people who love exercise or sports, cutting calories can be quite a sacrifice, and it might not be worth it. We have a CR brother who is a surfer, and he goes to great lengths to make sure he keeps his cals low while having enough energy to surf.
Unfortunately, my internet connection at home isn't working so I may not be able to post my DWIDPs until I get it up and running again. My customized DWIDP is on my machine at home, so if I can't connect I can't post my text file. I'll keep DWIDPing though, and I'll make you aware of any nutritional revelations that come my way.
Posted by april at January 26, 2006 9:41 AM
Comments
Here is a key to cooking veggies healthily: Cruciferous veggies like broccoli or cauliflower you steam, add some finely cut garli, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil afterwards.
For summer veggies (green beans, eggplants, zucchini) you cut them into bite-size pieces, add one finely cut white onion and 1-2 tomotoes per 500 gr., some salt and 1 cup of water, cook in low heat until they're tender, then add 1 spoon of extra virgin olive oil (the largeness of the spoon depending on your interest in the olive oil).
For winter veggies (leeks, celeriac, spinach) you do the same except for the tomato you use carrots and can leave out the onion.
For artichoke, if you just have the base, add some finely cut white onion and some cubed carrots to the base, add 1 cup of water and cook in slow heat. Once they're done, add the extra virgin olive oil.
If you have the whole artichoke with the leaves, that's a whole other concept where you get to lick the leaves ad I'll find that out from my mom and let you know.
But it's pretty easy, the rest.
And be sure to decorate verything with parsley leaves! Parsley is soo good for you!
Posted by: zeynep at January 26, 2006 3:46 PM
horray! thanks for the information, sounds like about 1000 calories per week of exercise. It helps to put things in context, calorie-wise.
Yes, for my regimen I think I will always love the intense exercise, but still use the optimal part of the CRON principles for meals.
and yes am one for planning ahead, at age 16 began looking ahead to the next.. 100 years or so.. though of course all the benefits of a quality diet are immediate too. Yours and Mary's blogs help to see ahead to the next 10 and 20 years!!
Posted by: Drea at January 28, 2006 7:55 AM