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January 13, 2007
The Price of Peace Is $0.16
My cat really loves seafood. So much so that he has to be physically restrained while we peel shrimp. He also loves tilapia, as we discovered when we tried to cook it for CNN.
A few nights ago we had another media appearance, this time for local news, so I just re-ran the tilapia meal. This time, however, I was prepared. I asked my seafood guy at the store for three raw shrimp. Just three. Raw.
Three raw shrimp: $0.16.
Not having to fight off a fish-loving tabby while on TV: Priceless.
Yesterday was a more quotidian food day for me. Usual breakfast, usual lunch, usual muffin, made myself a brussels sprout soup with brewers yeast and yogurt and flax oil for dinner, along with some almonds. Two glasses of Ravenswood Vinters Blend. I made MR a lasagna (zucchini between the layers instead of pasta) for dinner, but I often make myself something different since our calorie and nutrition needs are so different. Here's my crunch for yesterday:
General (74%)
Energy 1300.9 kcal 65%
Protein 87.3 g 175%
Fat 36.2 g 56%
Carbs 109.3 g 36%
Fiber 30.9 g 124%
Water 1282.3 g 85%
Vitamins (91%)
Vitamin A 14770.3 IU 492%
Folate 571.1 mcg 143%
B1 (Thiamine) 2.5 mg 205%
B2 (Riboflavin) 4.5 mg 349%
B3 (Niacin) 22.2 mg 139%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid) 6.3 mg 126%
B6 (Pyridoxine) 2.2 mg 131%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) 2.6 mcg 109%
Vitamin C 204.5 mg 227%
Vitamin D 9.3 IU 2%
Vitamin E 12.8 mg 85%
Vitamin K 590.3 mcg 492%
Minerals (98%)
Calcium 1197.6 mg 100%
Copper 2.2 mg 250%
Iron 13.2 mg 165%
Magnesium 424.1 mg 101%
Manganese 4.3 mg 185%
Phosphorus 1523.5 mg 218%
Potassium 4004.0 mg 85%
Selenium 144.7 mcg 263%
Sodium 3949.1 mg 304%
Zinc 12.9 mg 117%
Lipids (14%)
Saturated 3.8 g 19%
Cholesterol 27.7 g 9%
A little low on E and Potassium. Other than that, good.
Sometimes people react negatively to the fact that I often make MR a different dish from what I'm making for myself. I'm not sure why this is an issue... if we went out to a restaurant, you wouldn't expect us to order the same thing. Because my calorie needs are so much lower than his (he is ten inches taller) and therefore packing nutrition into my day is a more difficult puzzle, it just wouldn't make sense to serve us the same foods every day. Some days I do, like on tilapia night, tofu night, or scallop night. But on a lot of weekdays I like to make myself a brewers yeast soup with the veggie of the day and be done with it. I seem to crave soup at night. I have always been a hobby cook, so I enjoy having MR as an audience for my cooking. So don't worry that I'm somehow oppressed because I'm making one dish for him and a simpler, smaller dish for myself. I like it that way. If I want a lasagna, I'll make one for myself.
Posted by april at January 13, 2007 4:20 AM
Comments
Brandon and I sometimes eat the same, but usually slightly different dinners. Since he's non-CR (but increasingly not anti-CR!) I tend to find the substitution method best. We'll both have chicken or fish or whatever is the main dish. Then the side dishes change: fries for him, extra veggis for me. Pasta for him, extra veggis for me...hmmm...I see a pattern emerging! He found last week's "steak debacle" hilarious. He had his steak and fries with a little mound of broccoli, and I had steak that was dwarfed by a huge pile of broccoli and mushrooms that I couldn't even finish. I'm being sneaky though, and finding more interesting ways to get this boy to eat his veggis!
Posted by: Christina at January 13, 2007 11:12 AM
One thing you might try is to very slowly (over a year, say) cut down on the amount of fries/pasta/rice you cook for him, increasing the veggie quantity equivalently so he ends each meal with a full belly. This worked for us. Now, fries, etc. are a once-a-month "treat" for my husband and he seems to be quite content with that. He's also lost 19 lbs over the past 2 years. Is there a connection here? Good luck! JD :-)
Posted by: Judith at January 13, 2007 12:28 PM
I think making two meals for dinner is quite logical. I've been doing it since my "husband" and I started shacking up about five years ago (even before I started CR). I've never needed nearly as many calories as he and I've always had to be very sensitive about my inherited high cholesterol - a problem that he definitely doesn't have. We also have very different tastes in food - he's a traditional meat and potatoes guy and I'm a fan of seafood and many ethnic foods. So why try to force us both to enjoy the same meal?
I also wanted to bring to your attention another CR article I've come across. I'm sure you've already seen it, but just in case.......
I'm in love with a "nice Canadian boy" and for Christmas his parents gave us a subscription to a "nice Canadian magazine" - Maclean's. We got our first edition on Thursday and interestingly enough the cover story was an interview with someone named Michael Rae (ever heard of him? hahahaha) on page 16 and then a follow up article about CR on page 40.
I thought the articles were both decent - though the interview was much better. Michael is very eloquent! I was most disappointed, however, that they closed the second article with the classic dig, "There's a CR joke about how people on the diet don't actually live longer. They're just starving and miserable, and life only seems longer."
What a shame to be so misleading. I'm going to go out on a limb and confess that I could actually care less about living longer. (I think I may be the only one doing CR that feels that way, but, oh well.) I'm a crazy adreneline junkie, so I'm pretty sure that I'll die in a climbing accident or get mauled by a grizzly or something long before I'll die of old age. Therefore, I live solely for making the present day as full as possible, and see every day that I wake up alive as a fluke and a blessing. CR is perfect for me, because I have never felt more alive and more energy and more focus than since I started. I'm not starving and miserable. My life doesn't feel drawn out. It feels fuller. Why is it so hard for people to believe that healthy foods sincerely taste good to some people? And why do so many people feel that the source of all happiness is in junk food? I just don't get it. But, more power to them if that's they way they want to be. And more happiness, health and adventure to me. So nyah.
Posted by: Rebecca at January 13, 2007 7:31 PM
My wife and I almost never eat the same thing at meals. Most of the time we just want different things.
Posted by: Jake Silver at January 13, 2007 8:57 PM
Rebecca - I'm totally with you on not really caring about the life extension benefits. It may be a function of my age (22), but I can't really imagine myself in the future enough to have a particular desire to extend my life. I do certainly care about how I feel right now. And I feel better - more alive, more vibrant, happier, and healthier - than I have in a long time, despite my very recent start to CR. I'm enjoying my food more as well. For the first time in a year or so, I DON'T feel deprived on a daily basis by my food choices. I can find room in my daily calories to eat anything I want to while still meeting my RDAs, and thus I have no guilt while I indulge. I'm treating my body well, and it is absolutely returning the favor. Possible life extension? Sure, that sounds like a nice possible side effect, but it's certainly not a priority.
Posted by: Emily at January 14, 2007 7:25 AM