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September 30, 2006
We Win!
That's what a respiratory therapist said about our new contract. "We win!"
In case you've been wondering where I've been, I've been in round the clock negotiations with the nurses and health care professionals and technical employees at our largest hospital. Tuesday we started at noon, went till 2 am, started at 10 am Wednesday (but my phone started ringing at 6 am so I got three hours of sleep) and went all night Wednesday and into Thursday, when we had membership meetings starting at half past seven and going until about six that night. Same thing, only meetings going later, on Friday. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, into Thursday, I got three hours of sleep. By Thursday afternoon I could barely stand up, and luckily a co-worker gave me a ride home so I didn't kill myself driving.
The great news is: we settled excellent contracts for both the new bargaining unit (professional and technical) and the nurses! The negotiating committee did a great job, Edward was brilliant as always (best negotiator in the world) and in the end, management did the right thing on most of our issues. Our pro/tech unit is getting a massive increase in their pension, tiny increases in their healthcare costs (which in this environment is amazing -- most places pay much more for healthcare) and decent wage increases for the first time in many years, including pay for their experience (for the first time!) The contract was ratified overwhelmingly, we got lots of hugs, and the committee was very proud of their work. I'm so proud of my pros and techs... it's hard to sit there day after day, and into the night, representing your co-workers and fighting for what you deserve in the face of management's insistance that you deserve less. They did a great job. I hope they're getting some rest!
I'm attempting to get some rest, but alas, the world doesn't stop. We have the Scranton campaign to move forward, I still have tons of unpacking to do (closets just got finished on Friday!) and the cats still have to be fed, dishes done, meals prepared, etc. It was nice to go back to cooking today... I really notice when I don't cook that I miss the creative outlet and meditative quality of preparing meals. Tonight I made a Quorn roast with nonfat yogurt gravy and brussels sprouts, and a pumpkin/caramel/apple parfait with nonfat ricotta for dinner.
I'm definitely still dragging... it will take awhile to catch up on sleep and get over the exhaustion not just of the last week but of the last nine months or so. My job is never-ending exhaustion, and by now I'm used to it. But it's all worth it when I know that the people who care for the toughest patient population in Philadelphia will get decent salary increases, good health care, and excellent pensions because of the work we did with them.
Onward to Scranton!
Posted by april at 8:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 26, 2006
Reading Material
I love answering questions of people who are new to CR. For one thing, it shows that more people are getting interested! Second, I love watching other people experience the joy of taking control of their lives and health with CR. No matter where they start, be it fat or thin, sick or ill, young or not as young, it's a journey where every day is more fun than the last.
I have two sets of newbie questions to answer, and in order to save time and also provide the info to any readers out there who might have the same questions, I'm answering them on blog.
Do you have any reccomendations for reading material? I've read 3 of Walford's books already. I appreciate the dietary examples, it gives me an idea of how to start and what to eat (I tend to be more carb sensitive).
Yes! If you like Walford's books but find that a) you are a woman and can't eat beans all day and hope to meet your protein needs in a small package of calories and b) you'd rather not do the high carb, lowfat thing for a multitude of rational reasons (like it makes you crazy), then there are some great resources out there. One of the best, I think, is the section on diet and nutrition in Ray Kurzweil's Fantastic Voyage. He recommends a program that is high protein, low in saturated fats, and includes all the healthy fats. He's also sensitive to those of us who are carb sensitive. You buy the book, you get great diet advice, and you end up with the rest of the cool stuff in the book!
Another good resource is the Sears Zone books. It's very helpful to people trying to get out of the lowfat, high carb mindset. He can teach you how to cook satisfying meals that are based on lean protein and vegetables, not grains.
I am also rather a fan of the South Beach Diet, though I'd skip the creamy dressings and any form of bread/grain products (except for your daily wheat bran for fiber.)
More newbie question answers soon... I have to run out the door to get to work, so I'll have to take up the other topics later on! In the meantime, here is a post that I wrote quite awhile back about how to start CR that might be helpful. Enjoy, and more soon!
Posted by april at 5:51 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 24, 2006
So Far From Where We've Been
That's a line from one of my favorite Gwen Stefani songs, "Cool."
Last week at a membership meeting I ran into a nurse whom I had worked with closely in the contract campaign of 2003, back when my weight was steadily climbing (with the assistance of bagels, cream cheese, and pizza) to 140. She also lost weight -- a good 60 pounds I think -- and looks great, at least ten years younger than she looked three years ago. We bonded about weight loss.
"Were your girlfriends supportive?" she asked. I had to reply that most of them weren't. Aside from a few (like VLC and Susan) my girlfriends were rather negative about my weight loss. One even spread rumors in our office that I was anorexic!
My friend Diane had the same experience. She really looks smashing -- new body, new haircut, all around new look. She's probably in her forties and looks markedly better than her colleagues of the same age. Nurses have notoriously bad health habits, so a nurse who takes care of herself is unfortunately out of the ordinary. It's a factor of stress, too much responsibility (for patients, family, and community) and messed up sleep schedulels with twelve hours shifts, night shifts, etc. Diane is unusual in her ability to lose weight and keep it off.
It was interesting to chat with someone who had been with me in 2003 about what it's like to change your life and health. Back in 2003, my work was my only priority. I never stopped working, and I absolutely lived for the fight. I was willing to sacrifice my sleep, my health, my sanity, for the nurses and health care professionals we take care of.
These days I'm a little different. I'll still go to absurd lengths to make sure that my nurses and health care pros get what they need (don't get MR started on how crazy my job is!) but I care a little about myself too. For instance, I know we're going to be negotiating twenty four hours a day next week, so I've asked for a fridge in my hotel room for those days, and I'm planning to pack some CR friendly high nutrient density foods. I don't want to go through a week of stress and exhaustion while also dealing with malnourishment!
The fact is, you can only go so long taking care of others without taking care of yourself. We women have a problem with this: we want to solve everyone else's problems, while we rack up serious, sometimes life-threatening problems of our own. You know what I'm talking about, girls. We've got to get a grip and realize that we won't be here to give to our loved ones if we don't first take care of our own health.
Tomorrow I'll be up at 4 am to get flyers printed, get to a leaflet, and set up a rally for my favorite nurses and health care employees in the world, the folks at Temple University Hospital. I was there for them in 2003, and I'm back in 2006, ready to do whatever it takes to get them the contract they deserve. They are my source of inspiration, my never-ending entertainment, my reason for getting out of bed early and going to sleep way too late. They take care of the toughest patient population in the state and they do it with grace, pride and professionalism. You'd love 'em too, I promise.
This time, I'm lighter, stronger, older, and looking younger. This time I'm leaving the bagels alone and eating my megamuffins, brewers yeast and crucifer soups, kale salads and Subway Club salads. This time I've got somebody waiting at home for me who supports me and my work and is working in his own job to bring about the end of aging as we know it. Believe me, I know how lucky I am. To have a job I love, a man I love, and a cat who uses the liter box instead of the carpet is more than I deserve. I can only pray to be worthy of my many blessings.
Posted by april at 7:39 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 23, 2006
23 Hours
That's how long I was awake yesterday.
The day started with a literature drop at our largest hospital, the one whose strike deadline for both RNs and professional and technical employees is Sept. 30. I was up at 4, out the door by 5, at the hospital before 6. Had a great lit drop, saw many of my favorite nurses, techs and pros. Stopped by home to eat an eggwhite and flax oil breakfast before heading into the office (the joys of living six blocks from the office!)
After a staff meeting I went back to the hospital to pick up a few more membership forms (people who are joining our union -- we're above 85 percent!) and ate my kale salad with tomatoes and nonfat cottage cheese, pumpkin seeds on the side for fat. Then I sat in traffic for over an hour on my way to negotiations.
Negotiations. The waiting game. Started at four pm, ended after twelve am. Spent a whole lot of time waiting for the employer to get back to us on our proposals... or explain why they don't think they should pay the professionals (lab techs, x-ray techs, dieticians, social workers, physical therapists, you get the idea) the salaries they deserve for working at the toughest hospital in the state of Pennsylvania.
More waiting. Chatted with our committee -- forty dedicated techs and pros who spend their free time standing up for their co-workers and the patients they care for. Hung out with two of my favorites, a dietician and a social worker. Chatted a bit about CR... a professional dietician knows about how people underestimate their calories! I also chatted with some of our medical lab technologists about weight loss. They were wondering how I lost my forty pounds, so I expounded on the gospel of the eggwhites.
We ordered dinner, which got there at about eight (two hours past my dinner time, so I was starving!) I got a grilled chicken salad, again. It had hard boiled eggs, chicken, a few olives, and a creamy dressing that I didn't even bother with. I eventually ordered another salad on the side just to get some more volume. I was starving, having had only 550 calories that day before 8 pm and running around like a chicken minus the head for the entire afternoon/evening. Later on, when we were on a break, I went up to the suite that some of our committee had gotten for the night where my favorite medical lab technician of all time, the goddess Selena, was serving up a buffet. One of our other core members had made these amazing chicken wings (baked, not fried!) and Selena had made a seafood salad with carrots, shrimp and crabmeat. I wished I hadn't eaten dinner when I tasted the homecooking! It was just enough to hold me through the long hours of negotiations, which didn't conclude until after midnight.
Then I spent about another two hours in the bar hanging out with three of our core committee members, Edward (chief negotiator) and Luke. We talked strategy for the next week, and stared at each other in exhaustion.
We all stayed over in the hotel, as it was way too late to drive home safely, and I left this morning to do the grocery shopping. MR and I made megamuffins, then I made a wonderful dinner of cauliflower and brussels sprouts in a nonfat yogurt creamy broth with garlic and halfsalt, eggwhite cubes for protein, plus a dessert of pears with pumpkin and nonfat ricotta, Walden Farms caramel sauce, and hazelnuts/hazelnut oil. Yum!
I am so tired... and likely to be tired for the foreseeable future. Next week is sure to be filled with sleepless nights as we negotiate round the clock, trying to squeeze out of the richest hospital in the state the things that its dedicated workers deserve. I hope we can avoid a strike, but we won't settle for something suboptimal. Just like we CR folk need our calcium, B vitamins, and zinc, these folks need decent pensions, good wage increases, and some protections from dangerous working conditions.
Onward to victory!
Posted by april at 7:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2006
Help With Raw Veggies
One of my readers, Carolyn, asks what people do to prevent problems with digestion when eating a lot of raw veggies. I'm not much help here, since I don't seem to experience difficulties. I eat my salads raw and carrots and celery and such also raw, but I cook my veggie soups and steam my broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. I've never had any trouble, even when I eat fairly big salads, so I'm not sure how to help. Do my readers have suggestions?
Posted by april at 8:24 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 18, 2006
Hardcore CR Is Like Porn
As the Justice once said, "I know it when I see it."
Jen, my new commenter (welcome Jen!) asks what level of calories constitutes hardcore CR. That's an impossible question. Any reduction of calories (while keeping nutrition adequate) seems to have health benefits. What kind of caloric restriction will actually lead to increase in maximum lifespan? We really don't know.
My angel MR, once my CR rockstar whom I admired from afar, now the man who removes spiders from the bathtub and takes them outside so that I can shower in an arachnid-free zone, says that serious CR is about how far you are willing to go to cheat death. It's not about being skinny (lots of non-CR'd people are skinny) or about absolute caloric intake (I can eat a lot less than he does cause I'm almost a foot shorter) -- it's a state of mind and body where everything you do is aimed at optimal health. He's there. He keeps his calories consistent, his macronutrients Zoned (that's 30 percent protein, 30 percent fat, and 40 percent carb) and his lifestyle perfectly designed to maximize health (regular sleep, optimized workouts, etc.)
I'm not there. There are still things that are just as important to me as my health and my CR. Going out with friends, working an extremely demanding job, petting my cats... all occasionally take time and effort away from successful CR practice for me. It shows in my body weight -- certainly I could cut calories and be skinnier. I am not skinny by any stretch of the imagination, though those who knew me pre-CR (and 30 pounds heavier) think I'm quite thin now. It's important to remember that weight is not a good measure of degree of CR -- some people start skinny and get skinner, some people start fat and get thin. If you think people vary a lot in size and shape on CR, you should check out some of those study mice!
There is no absolute calorie level for CR, and I caution the newbie against believing the calorie levels that CR list folk report. Most of them aren't weighing and measuring everything they eat, and as a result, they're seriously underestimating their calories. Here's what I suggest:
Record your diet, honestly and completely, for three average (not good!) days.
Crunch it in nutritional software.
Look at how many calories you're eating and what nutrients you're missing. Do two things: cut your calories by fifteen percent by eliminating saturated fats, sugars, and grains. And note any nutritioal deficiencies and remedy them. Low in B vitamins? Eat mushrooms and brewers yeast. Low in zinc? Supplement at fifteen mg per day, or eat an oyster. Get your unsaturated fats -- olive, flax and hazelnut oil, hazelnuts and almonds. Eat over 70 grams of protein per day, mostly from sources of protein that are low in saturated fats, like eggwhites.
If you're a woman, chances are you'll be significantly CR'd at a real 1500 calories per day. You'll lose weight, feel great, and soon look smashing in a bikini. 1500 (if it's real -- as in, if that's what you're actually eating, weighed and measured, not what you're eating five days out of seven and going out for a big dinner on the weekends -- that can add 2000 calories to your week, easy!) may well be too low if you are athletic or tall. Start slow and build up, or down, as it were. If you're a man, you'll no doubt try to go down to some absurdly low calorie level like 1600 because you're competitive, you'll lose five pounds in a week, and you'll eat some crazy high cal meal cause you've got no better sense. Trust me and cut to 2200 or so first, then if you can take it, cut further. Fix your nurtition, then cut calories. Don't believe the people who say then eat 1400 calories a day and run and lift weights! They don't actually weigh and measure their food, so they have no idea how much they're eating. Those who do weigh and measure consistently report higher calorie intakes at lower BMI's than those who don't. Coincidence? I don't think so!
Cut your calories, improve your nutrition. Supplement as necessary. Exercise, but only to build a little muscle and improve bone health. Reduce stress, cause stress will kill you even if your diet is good. Get a pedicure, because your feet will be with you a hundred years from now, and in the meantime, who wants to walk around with unpolished toes?
MR once said in the famous RANT that hardcore CR is not about BMI, absolute calories, or skinniness. It's about how far you are willing to go, how hard you are willing to push, to cheat death. We all make choices about what is important. For example, MR and I both think it's important to inspire scientists to work on curing aging, so we are both Mprize Three Hundred Members. That means we give $85 per month - - no small sum! We also put a high priority on our own health and longevity, and that means making other things, like a daily helping of fast food, less important, or even non-existent in our lives. We agree on many things, though we still differ in how high we prioritize CR vs. going out with friends, eating socially on the job, etc. We respect our differences, and my choices are constantly evolving.
But I still can't get him to get a pedicure, in spite of study after study that states that people who get pedicures live longer, healthier, than the unpedicured. He's counting on CR to be the bridge to dawn of radical anti-aging biotechnology, and discounting the value of the well taken care of foot that you will walk on as you cross that bridge. There's nothing I can do... he's totally irrational on the subject. Maybe I can at least convince him to let me give him regular foot rubs. It's a slippery slope, at the end of which lies a full-scale salon pedicure, complete with parafin treatment and nail buffing. It starts with a foot massage... it all seems to innocent... and before you know it, you're on your way to your 1000th birthday with perfectly buffed toes.
Posted by april at 7:44 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Pumpkin Pizza Showcase
Yesterday was pumpkin day at the April/MR house of orangeness. For lunch, I made not one, but two pumpkin pizzas, one sweet and one savory.
Sweet pumpkin pizza:
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup nonfat ricotta
50 g Granny Smith apples
Cinnamon, sucralose
Hazelnut oil, 1 teaspoon
1 Trader Joe's low carb tortilla
I put the pumpkin down first, then the ricotta, then the apples, then the cinnamon. It would have tasted better if I had flavored the pumpkin with a touch of sucralose but I didn't. Baked for about twenty mins at 350. Top with hazelnut oil after removing from heat.
Savory pumpkin pizza:
1/4 cup pumpkin
curry, half-salt, garlic, pepper
85 g Quorn tenders
20 g eggwhites, cooked and in small chunks
1 teaspoon olive oil
Pumpkin first with spices, then eggwhites (just a drip) then Quorn. Bake. Top with olive oil after removing from heat.
And it's not even October yet.
Posted by april at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2006
What A Day
My day started at 5 am when MR kissed me as he got out of bed and I told him to wake me at 5:45. I settled back into the covers for a snooze with my little calico, Philomena. At about twenty till five, I heard her heading to the liter box to use species appropriate restroom facilities. A second or two later, I was jolted rudely awake by screaming, howling, meowing as Kieffer, my giant gray tabby, busted down the baby gate that keeps his turf separate from Philomena's and proceeded to attack and try to kill her. This is the same cat who put a giant bite into Philo's rear end when she ventured through the banisters of our old house last January and he bit her butt as she ran away. Kieffer is so sweet, so loving, if you're human. But if you're a fellow beast, you're toast.
What made it worse was that Philo had been voiding her bowels when the attack came, leading to considerable mess in the closet where I keep the box. Good morning! My first task of the day was cleaning up the mess. After that, I took a nap on the couch with Kieffer while listening to NPR.
Got up, took shower, washed breakfast dishes and put together a dinner for MR to eat while I was at work late tonight. He's closing in on the book deadline, so I've been making his breakfasts and dinners. His lunches are stews he makes weeks in advance and freezes, so they're already made. I've automated the process of breakfast-salad making such that I weigh out three days worth of greens in advance, then they only have to be chopped and topped in the morning. I was exhausted after a seventeen hour day on Thursday at work (membership meetings for strike vote) so MR chopped his pre-weighed greens while I slept in, till the whole Kieffer kerfuffle.
Found something to wear in the disaster that is my house until the construction is finished, went to work. Laid out plans for next week's membership meetings for the group we just organized, assigning duties to all my staff. Saw Christine. Asked where Luke was.
"There was a crisis," she said. "It was an accident. I promise, it was an accident."
I thought she had killed him, but she insisted he was fine, just running a bit late due to the crisis.
A few minutes later he called me.
Apparently, he has Christine cut his hair. Luke doesn't have much hair (he's gradually losing it) and the hair he has can be cut with a buzzer. So she cuts it for him, but this morning, she started cutting before she had her morning coffee.
Oooops. She left the guard off the buzzer. She cut the first stripe down to the skin.
Well, nothing you can do about it at that point. Luke had to shave his entire head.
Yikes. One of my cats wants to kill the other, and my staff has no hair. All before nine am.
Truth be told, he looks great. Luke is a gorgeous guy, not in a traditionally handsome way but because he has pretty good raw material that he works with great style in clothing and lots of personality. He's not my type (not skinny enough) but he's hot. And he looks pretty good with no hair.
Onward to a long and intense staff meeting, followed by group lunch at Panera Bread Co. I ate a salad with grilled chicken (surprise!) and a diet Coke with tons of fresh lemon wedges squeezed into it.
In the evening, we had negotiations with our largest employer. We're making progress, but we're soon to enter the week when we often negotiate round the clock. I'm packing a bag to have in my car at all times in case I have to stay over. Meanwhile, I'm leaving breakfasts and dinners for MR in case I'm gone, so he doesn't have to spend time cooking. He was an angel during the time when I was down to the wire on my last campaign (and I was hell on wheels during a lot of that time, I assure you!) so I want to help him out in any way I can. It's so easy for me to throw together meals and it's fun for me, so why not? We help each other in so many ways. My nurses continue to be amazed that I found a man who will put up with my work schedule. He's happy to see me when I get home, but when I'm out working, he's at his computer happily typing away.
I came home and ate a kale salad with a half cup of nonfat cottage cheese, a teaspoon of flax oil, and two teaspoons of Carolina Treet, plus a South Beach Diet Wrap, Southwestern style. Glass of Ravenswood Shiraz.
MR is kissing my head and telling me it's time for bed. I can't resist a sleepy skinny boy, so goodnight.
Posted by april at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2006
Home For Lunch
My favorite thing about living in the new house is that some days I get to walk home and have lunch. Today I came home and made what is now becoming one of my favorite dishes: whole brussels sprouts steamed with a fat free cheddar single on top and covered in a tablespoon of that ever-nutritious Lewis Labs brewers yeast. Wanting to save my flax oil for dinner, I topped my cruciferous plate off with 18 grams of pumpkin seeds. I drank my iced green tea with lunch.
All in all, I consumed 163 calories worth of brussels sprouts -- 381 grams. That's a lot of brussels. We have somehow run out of green kale, so I'm going to pick up some more and have my kale salad for dinner.
Here's the nutritional information for my lunch:
Food List : April brussels lunch.FLS
DATE : 09/13/06
Num. Foods : 4
Food #1 : Brussels sprouts, raw 381 g
Food #2 : Seeds, pumpkin and squash seed kernels, dried 18
Food #3 : Lewis Labs 1 tablespoon
Food #4 : fat free cheddar singles 1
NUTRIENT TOTALS:
Abs. Values %RDA/SA
Calories 351.83__cal 18%
Protein 30.41__gm 55% RDA
Total Fat 9.62__gm 15%
Sat. Fat 1.84__gm 9%
Mono. Fat 2.72__gm 9%
Poly. Fat 4.45__gm 67%
Carbohydrate 45.93__gm 15%
Fiber 18.20__gm 61%
Cholesterol 0.00__mg 0%
Vit. A 3434.47__IU 69% RDA
Vit. B6 0.93__mg 58% RDA
Vit. B12 0.05__mcg 3% RDA
Vit. C 324.20__mg 540% RDA
Vit. E 3.54__mg 44% RDA
Thiamine 1.01__mg 92% RDA
Folacin 243.42__mcg 135% RDA
Riboflavin 0.40__mg 31% RDA
Niacin 6.91__mg 46% RDA
Panto. Acid 1.39__mg 28% SA
Calcium 532.97__mg 44% RDA
Copper 1.02__mg 51% SA
Iron 8.85__mg 59% RDA
Magnesium 196.52__mg 70% RDA
Manganese 1.84__mg 61% SA
Phosphorus 479.90__mg 40% RDA
Potassium 1947.76__mg 97% RDA
Selenium 38.83__mcg 71% RDA
Sodium 98.58__mg 4% SA
Zinc 3.58__mg 30% RDA
Tyrosine 0.93__gm 97% RDA
Lysine 0.93__gm 129% RDA
Phenylalanine 0.60__gm 62% RDA
Leucine 0.96__gm 100% RDA
Valine 0.96__gm 114% RDA
Methionine 0.22__gm 75% RDA
Cystine 0.14__gm 46% RDA
Tryptophan 0.22__gm 123% RDA
Threonine 0.62__gm 130% RDA
Isoleucine 0.74__gm 102% RDA
Protein: 35%
Fat: 24%
Carb: 41%
It's not lowfat, it's not high carb, it's not Zoned... it's the April Zone! Where the fat is never 30%, but hey, it's in there! And it's all *good* fat. Happy fats. Fats that make your skin glow and your hair fluffy.
Back to work...
Posted by april at 12:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 12, 2006
It's Like A Little Waffle
That's what MR thought I said when I was describing the dinner he was about to eat to him.
What I actually said was, "I thought it might be awful."
I love mis-hearings. My all time favorite was when in college I was entertaining a very attractive young man at my house, attempting to woo him with a home cooked dinner at my off-campus apartment. He was admiring my considerable stuffed animal collection, and his gaze fastened upon a fuzzy plush banana with eyes and face.
"I won it at a fair," I said.
He looked stunned. "With a banana?" he asked, incredulous.
As it turned out, he thought I said, "I wanted an affair."
My most recent mishearing wasn't nearly so bad... I thought MR's dish last night of brussels sprouts, eggwhites, okra, and some other veggie that I am currently spacing out on, steamed in veggie broth, might be bland. I spiced it up with a curious combination of ingredients: garlic, cilantro, vegan worstershire sauce, and chipoltle Tabasco. He loved it. "This is really good," he repeated. It made a strange ginger-esque flavor all mixed up, and was delicious with a baked apple dessert topped with hazelnut oil and hazelnuts.
Tonight's meal will be an effort to get rid of some stems. Our salad-making creates tons of tough stems that need to be cooked and eaten, so we incorporate them into stews, tattas, parfaits (just kidding about the parfait. I have not yet made a stem parfait.) I'm mixing kale, mustard green and arugula stems in veggie broth with Quorn tenders, cooked eggwhites to up the protein, cauliflower, and perhaps the same spice blend as last night. He liked it so much I told him I'd make it frequently. Tonight I'm making apple parfait, using the fat free ricotta that is now a staple of my dessert making along with tart Granny Smith apples.
Posted by april at 4:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 11, 2006
Very Berry Vinegarette, Very Vinegary Berries
On Sundays for lunch I like to make salads, since unlike an average day when MR eats a giant (and I mean giant... you need a forklift to move the thing) salad, on Sundays we eat an eggwhite scramble with a ton of veggies and MR's specially engineered low carb whey protein buckwheat pancakes. So yesterday I made two salads for lunch: a very berry kale salad, and a tomato cilantro salad. Here are the recipes:
Very Berry
100 g blackberries
100 g raspberries
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
50 g kale
1/4 cup fat free ricotta
Marinate the berries in the vinegar for about an hour. They'll get a little mushy. Chop the kale and top with the 1/4 cup fat free ricotta. Distribute berries and berry vinegar across the kale and ricotta. Eat! Add a teaspoon of flax or hazelnut oil if desired.
Fresh cilantro salad
About 200 g tomatoes
lots of fresh cilantro
dash of half-salt
fresh pepper
60 g fresh avocado
30 g arugula
Chop cilantro, vinegar and avocado and stir together. Spread over arugula and dust with a dash of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Serve cold.
Salad nirvana!
Posted by april at 12:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 9, 2006
Shrimp Tails
Guess who likes to eat the shrimp tails?
I'll give you a clue. He's about seventeen pounds, grey, furry, with white mittens complete with opposable thumbs! His primary occupation is holding down the couch and defending our house from predators. And howling at Mommy to wake up and feed him.
Tonight, we had my mother (aka "Grandmommy") over for dinner. I made my famous shrimp in chardonnay with garlic, tomatoes and cilantro dish, and as usual, Kieffer made a complete pest of himself. He attacked the shrimp, even climbing onto his grandmother's lap while she shelled. We fed him quite a few in lieu of his regular cat food dinner, and he enjoyed every bite. We discovered quickly that he likes the shells in particular. Something about their crunchiness, perhaps?
As it turns out, MR likes the shells and tails too. He asked that I leave his shrimp whole when I put them in the pot, and after some arguing about how precisely would I calculate the calories, I obliged. He loved the tails. Crunchy, full of fiber, negligible calories. He could eat a whole plate full.
So my man and my cat are both eating shrimp tails. What is a girl to do? My mom and I drank the bottle of champagne she'd gotten us as a housewarming present (MR had a sip, but doesn't really drink except for pinot noir) and sat on the porch discussing the situation.
If it makes them happy, we decide, let them eat tails.
Posted by april at 9:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 7, 2006
All The Veggies Except Jalepenos
I almost always order the same thing at Subway. Subway Club salad, no cheese, all the veggies except jalepenos. It's high protein, made with all turkey meat so relatively low in saturated fat, and extraordinarily filling for only 150 calories.
At the Subway in Scranton, it never fails. I give my order. They chop the meat. They move to the veggies. They ask if I want lettuce.
"All the veggies except for jalepenos," I repeat.
They put in the lettuce.
"Carrots?"
"All the veggies except for jalepenos."
And so on, until the third vegetable, at which point it sinks in.
I'm sure that at some point they were sued by a customer who died of anaphlactic shock after an employee put an unwanted vegetable into her salad. But still. Do I need a note from my doctor in order to expedite the preparation of my salad?
When I say all the veggies, I mean all the veggies.
Except jalepenos.
Posted by april at 4:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 6, 2006
Anniversary
Tomorrow is the seventieth anniversary of my grandparents' wedding. That's right, seventy. 70. I've blogged about my grandparents before... they're an amazing couple. My grandfather was a professional photographer whose work was shown in the Chicago Art Institute and many other prestigious venues. He was the main photographer for R.J. Reynolds, back when everyone smoked. He did the society photography for all the prominent families in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They raised four children, two from my grandfather's previous marriage, my uncle and my father. Their children grew up to be very successful: my Aunt Nancy ran off at 16 to marry a gorgeous boy she met at the beach... he's still gorgeous, some 30 years later, and he's a retired school principal who sails yachts for fun and profit. They're happily married with grown children and some very cute Persian cats. My uncle Tom is an incredibly good businessman who does a little bit of everything and raised his own family of four. My uncle Gerald is a dean at Duke, and still happily married to his wife Ginger. Their daughter Holly was the pretty one when we were growning up (I was the smart ugly duckling) They are now expecting their second grandchild. My father, the baby, was eight years younger than Gerald and always perceived himself as living in Gerald's shadow. But now, at 61, with a successful career as a college professor and author behind him, he is making another success of the parrish ministry, bringing life experience to his congregatation that he never would have had as the twenty-something he was when he first served churches in rural North Carolina. He and his beautiful second wife, my step-mother Marianne (who is just as stunning at 65 as she was when he first took me to meet her over twenty years ago) are currently playing with their two grandchildren, Madeline and Jack. They have one normal, successful kid: my step-brother John who made the perfect marriage, has two beautiful children, a great job and a new house. Then they have me.
Life-extension nutcase, radical leftist, fashionista, grape tomato addict, skinny boy fetishist, Christian/Celtic/mystic/freak, low-calorie cook, wine enthusiast, lover of cats and science geeks dressed as anarchists. My father has often said that I have the most exciting life of anyone he knows. I compare this to the ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."
My grandparents are among my life-extension models. From sixty to ninety, they enjoyed a quality of life that 20 year olds would envy. Dancing, travelling, enjoying the company of their loving friends and family, dressing up in their matching Neiman Marcus suits for family holidays. My grandmother is one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. She is stylish in a way that never goes out of style. She's tough and ran my grandfathers' business while raising a family. She's the social butterfly, the most obvious explanation for my extreme extroversion, and she knows everyone's name and what they're up to.
My grandfather was just diagnosed with Alzheimers. For about a year, he's been going downhill. Last Thanksgiving, instead of the fabulous feast at the Twin City Club that we've had for about twenty years, we had dinner at my dad's house, stopping at my grandparents the next day for a visit, because my grandaddy wasn't up to going out. He got sick suddenly, and without explanation. He just wasn't himself anymore. My grandmother has fought bravely to keep him together, but he's afraid to be away from her and being housebound has taken its toll on even her strength. I was so grateful that they got to meet MR last Thanksgiving, and to see me so happily in love.
My grandparents lived a healthy lifestyle. I've written before about how they'd go out and split a piece of fish, eat their salads and veggies, and leave most of the rice. My grandfather weighed himself every day, and if he gained a pound, he ate less the next day. For years, he ate a fruit salad with some yogurt for breakfast everyday.
They enjoyed the last thirty years, a time when most people assume they will be in decline, immensely. They were able to enjoy the fruits of their hard work, their experience, their wisdom, the money they had made and the family they had raised. They had a good life.
Why shouldn't they have more?
A few months ago, MR wrote a book chapter about possible solutions to the problem of the failure of the lysosomes, the cellular "garbage disposal system." This failure is a major cause of Alzheimers disease and atherosclerosis. It's one of the SENS initiatives.
It's too late for my grandfather.
Some things remind you of the urgency of the SENS project, and the Mprize. Life doesn't get boring just because you get old: life is wonderful (unless you are starving, imprisoned, depressed, or a boring person) until you get sick! Why do that? Never, not if we can prevent it.
I dedicate myself to fighting injustice in our economic system today and fighting idiocy in our aging processes tomorrow. Until someone has a better idea, I plan to continue fighting. We create the world we live in, and I want to help create a world where people can live for many years in the kind of health and happiness that my grandparents enjoyed until after the age of ninetly.
We all decide, as a society, what our priorities will be. The more money we raise, the more public attention we bring, the more legislators we write, the sooner we will cure and even reverse aging.
It's probably too late for my grandfather. But it's not too late for us.
Posted by april at 7:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 5, 2006
Cooking On A Construction Site
It's been a week, and our house still looks like you should show up in a hard hat. It's all pretty crazy: the construction isn't done, so the closet/storage space isn't available, so it's almost impossible to unpack. I took the day off from work today to try to sort through more stuff, which comes down to moving boxes and bags of clothes and linens to one side of the living room, while attempting to bring order out of the things that actually are supposed to live in the living room.
Meanwhile, we've still got to eat. Last night I made an informal Labor Day feast: Quorn dogs wrapped in low carb tortillas (Trader Joe's brand, no transfats) with nonfat cheese to make Quorn cheese dogs. MR ate his with no-sugar pickle relish and we both enjoyed the Boar's Head Mustard that MR went to great lengths to find for me. I made a side dish of green pepper simmered in red wine with garlic, tomatoes, and basil. Basily goodness! For dessert was a strawberry, raspberry and nonfat ricotta parfait.
I'm making lunch for MR today then heading out to try a new sushi place with one of my staff members. Now that I live six blocks from the office, I can take the day off and still meet a co-worker for lunch. It's easy to get away low calorie at a sushi place, as you can get a piece of fish and a salad. Just avoid the tempura, the rice, sauces of unknown ingredients, and too much soy.
As to Hazel's question... happy almost birthday! I've never made a lemon meringue pie with sucralose, but I wonder if Miss Tenacity might have some good ideas? She's a professional caterer and great at adapting recipes to specific nutritional needs.
Back to unpacking...
Posted by april at 8:12 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 3, 2006
CR Isn't About How You Feel About Food
My commenter has graciously responded to my response, with some helpful information. I reproduce it below:
this is my reply. i train thoroughbred race horses and i ride them. i can breeze (ride fast) when i'm down to 150lbs. before this my weight was about 200 lbs. since ive been doing it for 8 yrs im very familiar with the effects of calorie restriction, though i never deliberately go below 150 which is a weight at which there is zero body fat. interestingly, by calorie restriction, i easily get down to 155 lbs, but 155 to 150 is very difficult as i actually have to lose muscle mass. unknown at what weight i would stabilize on more restricive CR. i suspect around 140 lbs. i supplement profusely every day. ive read all the books--best is fantastic journey--and Muscle and Fitness mag is very very good for certain health--nutrition supplement ideas. there are some amazing products out there now. since i eat so little i rely on the supplements including for protein. since i'm sort of dabbling with CR, yes, i do occasionally measure calories. i have a CR tool. BUT, ive never studied CR as a science, so, it is unknown to me what calorie level would be defined as e.g. 10% CR (which personally i believe would do very little good--my calorie restiction is actually about 50% of what I would normally eat which would be about 3000 calories/day. i tend to yo yo in my my discipline as my training horses goes. my "obsession" would be interest in health. i run an hr. per day and lift 30 min/day about 6 days per week. i'm currently of opinion that exercise will be a far more efficient life extender than CR--but, unknown. i'm at age 60 now. while by my definition i do see a food obsession on this blog, i also have the personal believe that people can have an interest in whatever they want. be happy. but, what i have trouble with here is the inconsistency that i see with the discipline required for true CR. when i am "doing it" i try to avoid thinking about food, i eat only once a day with a little snacking. i never eat after 3pm. in short, i avoid food as entertainment. im also of the opinion that anyone enamored of restaurant slop could harldy be doing CR. i prefer my post viewed as other than picking at you. you are very intelligent, and i do believe you are trying to do CR, though honestly i question taht you are pulling it off, simply from what i have stated are the inconsistencies i see. i also think more reading and paying attention will cause you in the future to refine things quite a bit from what you are doing. as i said originally, i would like to read more about the effects of CR, the actual doing it than a daily recitiation of wonderful recipes and what in particular food was ingested, though, as i said, if that is your interest, obsession or whatever you want to term it, understood.
A couple of things: first, thanks for the detailed response! And what an interesting line of work! I've never had the opportunity to ride horses, but they are certainly very beautiful and I would love to ride one at some point. I'm sure they would appreciate the fact that I only weigh 104.
Second, there are a few misunderstandings in your comment. As you freely admit, you're not versed in CR science. If you were, you'd know that while exercise has been shown to extend mean lifespan, it doesn't extend the maximum lifespan. Translation: while you might live a bit longer than you would otherwise if you exercise regularly and efficiently, you won't add anything onto the maximum human lifespan through exercise. Only CR has been shown to actually extend lifespan in mammals. Will it work in humans? We don't know yet! As I've stated many times, the immediate term effects for me are so satisfying (never getting sick, more energy, looking great, feeling great) that I'll take my chances.
Second, on what evidence do you state that 10% CR would do little good? Cause there's tons of evidence that even modest reductions in calories lessen the risk for many diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Decreasing the amount of body fat also seems to reduce inflamation, which is great news for people with painful arthritis. Moderate CR has tons of health benefits. Extreme CR no doubt has more health benefits, but why throw in the towel and chow down just because you're not willing to go extreme if you can get great health benefits from moderately restricting calories (while maintaining adequate nutrition)?
Third: Trust me on this one. If you only occasionally measure your calories, you have no idea how many calories you are consuming. Clearly you are calorie restricted from your previous consumption -- a fifty pound weight loss is indicative of that. But when you don't measure every day, calories creep up. My guess is that at 1500 consistently for about a month, you would drop weight and freak out. But don't take my word for it, try it! My good friend Jason Pontin, editor in chief of MIT's Technology Review, tried my experiment and discovered that sure enough, people underestimate their calories. It takes a lot of discipline and focus to weigh and measure every morsel for a month, and to avoid going out, but I've done it and I gained very valuable information. I suggest that anyone who thinks they know how many calories they're eating try this. Try eating the calories you think you're eating... and weigh yourself every day. Call me when you've lost five pounds in a week. Then we'll know that you weren't eating the number of calories that you thought you were.
Again, research has shown over and over again that people underestimate their calories. Meanwhile, the CR Society folk who actually DO measure our every morsel of food consistently report higher calorie intakes, at lower weights and BMIs, than those who "estimate." Coincidence? I don't think so.
Furthermore, CR is not about how you *feel* about food. If you find that it's easier for you to cut calories if you don't think about food, don't consider "food as entertainment" and don't eat past 3 pm, then great! You've found what works for you! But CR is about how many calories you eat, while maintaining adequate nutrition, not about your relationship with food. You can hate food and do CR, you can love food and do CR. I happen to enjoy my food and to love the process of cooking delicious meals for my loved ones. This is entirely consistent with my practice of CR because since I weigh and measure all the food I cook at home for myself and my loved ones, as well as entering it into nutritional software to be sure we're getting the nutrients we need, I just see cooking on CR to be an exciting challenge, and a way to express my love both through the excellent taste of my dishes and through the nourishment they provide. A perfect combination, IMO!
Enjoying food is not inconsistent with CR... as long as you're willing to put in the work to make sure you're controlling calories and getting optimal nutrition. In fact, one of the most frequent objections raised to CR by those who fear to try it is, "I love food too much!" One of the purposes of my blog is to show that you can love food, feed your family delicious creations, work an intense job, and still do CR. CR isn't just for ascetics who want to lock themselves up and deny themselves pleasure... it's for people who love life and want more of it!
I enjoy cooking, and my readers seem to enjoy the recipes, so I'll keep posting them. The fact is, if you've done CR for a few years, it's no longer that exciting to write about the day to day effects on your body. In the beginning, it's fun. "I lost two pounds this week... I feel euphoric... I discovered eggwhites... I put olive oil on my kale!" But after awhile, you get sick of reporting that sure enough, another winter cold has made it through your office and you didn't get sick (in spite of sharing a cup of green tea with a co-worker who became ill the next day.) You get sick of saying, "Yup, I still have more energy, look 22 at 32, and feel great!" It's boring to report, over and over again, that you have the body of a 22 year old with the brain (and income) of someone much older. CR does all that, but you get used to it. Early in my blog, I wrote much about these things. But they're status quo now. I never cease to be grateful for the wonderful gifts that my CR practice has bestowed upon me, but they're no longer front page news.
Re: restaurants. There are many ways to do CR. You don't have to renounce eating in fine restaurants, you just have to be careful what you eat and how often. For me, part of the calculation with my CR is a cost/benefit analysis of what I enjoy now vs. what I hope to enjoy later. I love eating out in the great restaurants of Philadelphia... I hardly think it's fair to refer to Le Bec Fin's cuisine as "slop." However, I eat nice dinners out about twice a month, and when I have to go out for work, I order salads with grilled chicken and vinegar on the side. Eating out from time to time is part of what constitutes quality of life for me. I want to enjoy my life now and for many years to come... by keeping my daily calories very low, I can afford the twice monthly or so splurge. Enjoying restaurant food doesn't indicate a lack of discipline, rather, it's a conscious choice to enjoy certain pleasures now while balancing them out with lower calorie, nutrient packed meals on most days.
Re: reading and paying attention. I've read a lot. All of Walford's books, almost the entire CR Society archives, and yes, Ray Kurzweil's Fantastic Voyage (I think that's what you meant when you said Fantastic Journey.) As we discovered when I cooked lunch at his house last December, Ray and I eat a lot alike. High protein, lots of eggwhites, fresh veggies, unsaturated fat as found in olive oil and hazelnut oil. I look forward to cooking for Ray again!
I choose to practice moderate CR, but not for lack of information. The health benefits of moderate CR are astounding, and it's also much more fun to wear a bikini at 104 than at 137, which is how much I weighed pre-CR. My current practice reflects a conscious decision based on my many different priorties in life. CR and life extension is one priority, but so is my job, my friends, and having fun! I have fun with my CR, but I also have fun going out from time to time. CR is never far from my mind, but I wouldn't let it prevent me from travelling for work, or eating on the run when my circumstances require it. I do pretty well (may I remind you that I've maintained a weight almost 40 pounds below my pre-CR weight, and with excellent nutrition as monitored on nutritional software) but there are things in life that matter to me as well as CR. Another purpose of this blog is to show how you can live a full life and incorporate CR. CR shouldn't be something that limits your choices... it should expand them! When you feel better, look better, and live longer, healthier, you have more options. You can look forward to more of a future, and a world in which you will be a participant for many years to come. That's exciting and challenging. Between my work and my CR, as well as my volunteer work for the Methuselah Foundation, I try to strike a balance between living my life now and creating the world I want to live in later. It's not always easy, and I do get stressed out, but it's worth the effort.
I'd be a bit concerned about your nutrition if you have to fill in gaps, even protein, at 1500. It's easy to get low calorie protein with eggwhites, and fairly easy to get all essential nutrients at 1000, so I'd think you could get it all packed into 1500. Granted, before I discovered Lewis Labs brewers yeast, I had trouble meeting my requirements of B vitamins and copper, and I still depend on supplements for the majority of my zinc, but really, your diet should give you most of the nutrition you need. Software is your friend! If you're low on B vitamins, try brewers yeast and mushrooms. If you're low protein, try eggwhites. Calcium a problem? Nonfat yogurt is your friend, plain is amazing with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a chopped up red pepper, and a tiny dash of half-salt. Add some fresh ground pepper and I'm getting hungry again!
Speaking of food: this weekend I've cooked some excellent dishes. Today's lunch was green peppers stuffed with nonfat ricotta, tomato and basil, topped with tarragon vinegar and baked for forty-five minutes in dry white wine. Salad of kale topped with strawberries, raspberries, and eggwhites marinated in balsamic vinegar, finished with a half cup of nonfat cottage cheese and topped with a dressing of hazelnut oil, balsamic vinegar and cinnamon. Quorn tenders and hazelnuts have also graced our plates over the weekend.
In tonight's dinner, I sought to incorporate the fresh basil I hadn't used up at lunch. I made a stew of tomatoes, red pepper, and garlic cooked in two ounces of white wine, with Quorn and tons of caulliflower, 300 grams for MR! I added fresh basil after the veggies were properly steamed, and MR loved the taste. He had a strawberry parfait for dessert, with fresh organic strawberries layered between fat free ricotta and a teaspoon of Walden Farms chocolate sauce, topped with hazelnuts and flax oil. We added olive oil to his main dish after removing from heat. Delicious! He mentioned that early in his CR list career, people assumed he didn't care much about food, since his posts so frequently said that he wouldn't eat such and such food because of it's such and such negative health effects. What his readers didn't realize is that there's a universe of healthy foods out there that can be enjoyed (in measured amounts) with beneficial effects on your body. MR and I love food... and we use it to fortify our bodies and minds. We may or may not accomplish the great work, but at least we'll have had a decent breakfast!
Posted by april at 7:45 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 1, 2006
Calling All L's from Great Britian...
I tried to return your email and it bounced! I think we've had a misunderstanding, that I wanted to clarify, but now my messages are bouncing. Help!
Posted by april at 7:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack