Going back to the health screening, the nutritionist talked to me about Eat to Live. The first point that she mentioned is calorie density Vs. nutrient density. Take a typical restaurant meal, let's say a small salad [standard fare here, so let's pick a Caesar salad, croutons, Parmesan, dressing], a medium sized steak with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, a couple of dinner rolls with butter, then a small scoop of ice cream and a soda to wash it all down. Every part of this dinner is quite rich calorie wise, but as far as nutrition goes the count is pretty low. And as far as I know, this isn't necessarily a huge dinner, meaning it would be safe to think that most could easily eat a lot more during this type of meal, you know throw in an appetizer, a bigger steak and some cake with that ice cream. That's the point she was trying to make. The original dinner was already way more than plenty as far as calories [way more] and nearly devoid of healthy nutrients, there is room to add the second part! The food doesn't take up that much volume, so there is room to feel hungrier. Now, she says, imagine an alternate dinner, starting with a large [and I mean large, think bowl] salad mix [romaine with spinach or kale or chard] and then start piling on some tomato, red pepper, cucumber, carrot, avocado, grapes, beans, snap peas, seeds, mushroom and top it with a dressing made of apple, water, vinegar and spices. For good measure throw in a couple of ounces of fish and a half of a baked sweet potato. Wash it down with a tall glass of water. When you do finish [it takes a while], there is no room for ANYTHING else in your stomach. Calorie wise, this isn't even in sight of the restaurant meal. It's at least half as many, more like a third. Now nutrient wise, you get all that you need, protein, fat, carbs, etc...But you get them in a healthy format. There is no added sugar in this meal, little to no saturated fats and enough calories to keep you going. Your blood sugar won't spike, so there is no crash afterward. This is idea behind the plan, to replace low nutrient/low volume/high calorie foods with high nutrient/high volume/low calorie foods. Your body gets more nutrients and get them in healthy form.
Notice I didn't mention anything about weight loss. That's right, the focus is shifted, the approach is broader. There is no longer a fixation on the scale. The goal is to bring the health indicators, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and the likes in the lowest ranges possible in order to just plain live longer and healthier! The weight is but a byproduct of this effort. You can only go so far with proper nutrition, you also need to be active. That only speeds up the process, and besides you have so much energy it's got to go somewhere!
Now I am of course paraphrasing here, there is so much more to this! But the main idea is that you have to make a real shift in what you buy, how you cook it and how much you eat. By and large it is a plant based diet. That may turn some people off, and there's a whole lot of stigma out there but that's just what is it. The main point of it is this: you can achieve ALL of the nutrient and caloric needs to sustain a healthy and active lifestyle with a plant, fruits, seeds, nuts, legumes and grain based diet. In doing so, you will also achieve a much healthier physical state of being. This is the argument that the author makes, and it is my position as well.
That is the path I took for my journey, and it has worked for me. It was hard, it still is. Because of my somewhat addictive personality, I had to make sure to go all 'OCD' on it, otherwise it wasn't going to last. But that's just me. I have been taking great pleasure in cooking this way [since I do most of the cooking], trying new recipes, keeping things interesting and varied. We have an accumulated [and growing] set of recipes that we all like that I keep in a rotation. I shop and cook per recipe and that also has helped for 2 reasons: it keeps the cost reasonable and drastically reduces the waste from the fridge. When it's shopping day, let me tell you it's bare! We have the breakfast and lunch as set meals. They are both portables [and we do take them when we go for a couple of days], leaving dinner as the changing meal. We have snacks [and I need them these days as I am increasing my activity]. We use Costco as much as we can to keep the cost down on the staples. In the summer we try to buy from the local farm and can some for the winter. I don't shun meat, actually we have Salmon once a week or so, preferably the ones that I caught [there's just no other way if you ask me]. As for the rest, it's really gone. No sugar, no oil, no eggs, no dairy [that was a tough one but worth a pant size!]. I did, though, just recently finally gave up cream in my coffee. So I drink less of it now, and that's a good thing. All and all, it's about a 90/10 thing. So over a week, that 2 meals I can have whatever, and I do. But really, it ends up being a little bit more fish, or a bit of chocolate with a couple of glasses of wine. Or maybe a couple of slices of a good pizza, or even barbecue for my [former] Big Green Egg. Hell we even have an omelet in the rotation.
Anyway that's the short of it. If you think it's tough, it is. But the rewards are so great! I had my blood drawn last fall, so about a year+ after my initial screening, and it was amazing! All of my numbers that are nearly optimal. The nurse that handed me the results said they were that of a man half my age, and a healthy one at that. And it's only getting better!
I'll gladly share recipes, tips, motivation, whatever.
Until next time,
Oliver P.
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