Monday 5 February 2007

Nothing to see here...

Today I am incredibly lethargic, and I seem to be wanting to eat everything in sight. It's got cold outside all of a sudden. Perhaps I am heading for late hibernation.

I grabbed a copy of The Longevity Diet from Amazon; I thought I should probably read it. This will be the last time I buy a "diet book" - I have so many, and it's so stupid that I do! What instantly struck me from a quick flick through is that I really *have* been eating according to the recommendations in The Longevity Diet for a good fifteen or more years now, at least as far as choice of food is concerned. I suppose the wine I drink could be said to cancel out the benefits, though; the calories in that would have been pushing me out of restriction.

I was starting to think that I was being a bit of a CR fraud - especially in the light of last week's blogging around degrees of restriction and severity. I'm never going to be an April - although I wouldn't eat the cheese either (but then nor would I eat the processed eggwhite patty!) - but I think I'm reasonably up there with what I eat, and getting there with cutting down on the wine. I dunno, maybe I still am just kidding myself that I am doing anything other than eating, or practising CS - common sense.

P this weekend, of course, said that what I eat is mad, and I am the worst person in the world to cook for. *sigh* On one of those, though, he probably has a point; he can't put a plate of pasta in front of me and expect me to eat it. A plate of broccoli, on the other hand... But I really do not see the point of eating junk. Admittedly my definitions of junk are fairly wide-ranging. I'm trying to decide if Quorn sausages, yummy though they are, actually come under "junk". Quorn is certainly as processed as I am willing to go. The jury is out on the occassional glass of fortified lite soya milk I might drink.

Today's Food

Breakfast - the usual blueberries and yoghurt, grapenuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds

Snack - the 3 hardboiled eggwhites I was prepping for one of my salads. The shells were being such a pain in the ass to peel off that I ended up just eating the whites there and then as I got to them.

Lunch - Quorn sausages with steamed kale and broccoli, cherry tomatoes with chilli and garlic and a huge amount of baked sweet mama squash (300g!!). CoM says 111 cals for the squash. I say, I wish! Nothing could taste that good and sweet and be 33 cals per 100g. I ate the 3rd 100g portion as a desert.

Dinner - 100g raw spinach leaves with avocado, roasted yellow pepper, mushrooms, and sunflower seeds; flax and lemon dressing.

Today's Crunch (to be taken with a pinch of salt)

===========================================
Nutrition Summary for 05 February 2007
===========================================

General (70%)
===========================================
Energy | 933.8 kcal 78%
Protein | 61.3 g 88%
Fat | 35.6 g 55%
Carbs | 117.1 g 49%
Fiber | 36.8 g 147%
Water | 1378.2 g 51%

Vitamins (96%)
===========================================
Vitamin A | 44070.0 IU 1889%
Folate | 710.8 mcg 178%
B1 (Thiamine) | 1.1 mg 103%
B2 (Riboflavin) | 3.1 mg 281%
B3 (Niacin) | 18.9 mg 135%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)| 8.8 mg 177%
B6 (Pyridoxine) | 2.3 mg 175%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) | 1.2 mcg 52%
Vitamin C | 529.5 mg 706%
Vitamin D | 196.9 IU 98%
Vitamin E | 15.6 mg 104%
Vitamin K | 1624.1 mcg 1805%

Minerals (90%)
===========================================
Calcium | 640.6 mg 64%
Copper | 2.4 mg 264%
Iron | 14.4 mg 80%
Magnesium | 421.2 mg 132%
Manganese | 6.3 mg 348%
Phosphorus | 1175.0 mg 168%
Potassium | 5148.8 mg 110%
Selenium | 58.0 mcg 105%
Sodium | 829.6 mg 55%
Zinc | 13.3 mg 167%

Amino Acids
===========================================

Lipids (47%)
===========================================
Saturated | 4.3 g 21%
Omega-3 | 3.8 g 349%
Omega-6 | 7.8 g 65%
Cholesterol | 2.0 g 1%

3 comments:

April said...

Hi Sara,

Don't beat yourself up. It's a long process. I've been at it for nearly three years, and I still have days when a piece of brie jumps into my mouth at a dinner party or as a Whole Foods sample. It's not about being perfect, it's about gradually improving your choices. It takes time! I am doing better all the time, but still learning, and often learning from my mistakes.

a

Anonymous said...

The food you eat always sounds great.

My partner and I eat different food. That makes things easier. He makes food that he likes, and doesn't find it strange that I make my own meals. But other couples like to make meals for each other. I'll be curious to read about how you two resolve that challenge- because it could end up being a big one, I imagine.

Take care :-)

Anonymous said...

I completely understand your reservations about Quorn, I have a few including the specific strain of fungus it's made from (just yucky, not unethical). On the other hand it's made in the UK using a fairly efficient process, and since the late 90s the egg whites used in it have been free range. It is also non-GM. So for people here its food miles are fairly low, as compared to other non-meat non-egg sources of protein.