Life style notes

Ongoing discussion of anything not related to Nissans or diesels.

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rlaggren
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Life style notes

#1

Post by rlaggren »

This in response to Phillip. Figured it'd better move over here b4 Al notices. <g>

> diet

I can go with substitution if it's not too far out. I've actually had some veggi-burgers. A buddy shops a tSmart'n'Final and gets the frozen-50 (or 20 or whatever) and he's started on vegi-burgers now. I'd say they go down all right but definitely need some kind of seasoning.

But salads I can definitely get behind. I think one of California's major contributions to the good life has been yuppie greens at major food stores - the mixed greens with NO iceberg lettuce; heck I now I think, I don't believe there's _any_ lettuce. Much better tasting than your average "green salad" so I actually do eat the stuff. They cost about $12/lb,but you only need a couple oz./ serving. I guess you could mix you own, but by the time... etc.

The Big Physical Checkup is coming around but I'm not looking forward to it. It'll get done.

The _real_ nut is getting enough exercise (for those of us who didn't sign on to the jogging habit when young). It's gotta be every day and it's gotta fit into 1/2 hour or so Since my knees won't take jogging, I'm figuring a nice steep hill to walk up; the catch is that hills are about 15 min drive so if I get too good a work out I need to drive back 15 minutes to shower off... Well, it's a start anyway.


Rufus
82 Maxima wagon
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asavage
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#2

Post by asavage »

Rufus, as a vegetarian since 1972, I warn you that there are veggie burgers and then there are veggie burgers. I tried some from Costco here a few months ago and I had a hard time putting enough salsa and shredded cheddar on one to make it palatable :cry: I think the birds ate the last couple off the lawn.

GardenBurger brand is pretty good and not too expensive, but don't expect it to taste like meat, because it won't. It's a burger-shaped patty of something that will hold the ketchup (or whatever). They make a decent sandwich.

I'm a persistent and inveterate label-reader. I try hard to eat food. Much of what is passed off as food is, to me, rocket fuel. I won't buy anything containing mono- or -diglycerides, I don't buy anything containing monsodium glutamate (hydrolyzed soy protein, etc.). Why do I need polysorbate-80 in my food? Phosphoric acid? Leave it in the rust-remover and out of soft drinks. And like that. If you begin reading the labels, you will see patterns. Like HFCS as a sweetener in nearly every prepared food.

For me, dairy is hard to give up. I like butter and refuse to use margarine, period. My personal consumption is about a half-pound a week. But cheese is harder. As I type, I'm sampling a 2005 Beaulieu Vineyard Cab and slicing slabs of Tillamook White Extra Sharp Cheddar off a 2-lb brick (just got back from shopping) -- I may eat five or six ounces, which the label says is 110 cal/oz. and 2/3 of those calories from fat! Not something I indulge every night, but damn! Wine & cheese is almost as good as pizza & beer, I've found, though it's about the same price at the qtys I go through. But the pizza & beer are even worse in the fat/calories dept.

(At least, pizza worth eating: joke No. 1, courtesy of Doug Hood: Pizza is like sex: if it's good, it's great; if it's bad, it's still pretty good.)

I have cut way back on cheese in the last year, but it's been hard. I've tried the mozzarella and skim substitutes, but most taste like wet cardboard to me.

I've been pretty successful at cutting back on sugar, but I still like chocolate, only I've switched to dark and with less added sugar.

Like a lot of people, I eat not just for hunger but for comfort. I have persistent back pain that I have lived with for decades. I generally get about two hours of pain-free time in the morning, then it's downhill from there. After thousands in chiropractic, massage, therapy, I've concluded that pain is just part of my personal package. Some days it's background, some days if I eat just the right things I can get by, and some days are six ibuprofen and lots of lay down time (and I have two levels of drug-deadening beyond that, but that's a three-time-a-year kind of thing). Since food is part of this regimen, dieting in the usual sense isn't part of my lexicon, but I have been successful at skipping every other supper for a few weeks and it really worked well. Trick is, doing that, I have to watch for balance in the other meals, because it's easy to overlook needed nutrients when skipping meals.

Anyway, FWIW., etc. In the end, what works for you is what is best. There are all different ways to live a life.

(joke No. 2: Rice cakes are edible, if you put enough frosting on them.)
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
rlaggren
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#3

Post by rlaggren »

I'll see what the label says on those veggi burgers; probably not pretty. I believe I've had the Gardenberger and came to pretty much the same conclusion. I think a little creative recipe research would make it work OK, though. The thing about burgers for me is that I can cook them on the BBQ easily; that keeps most of the stink out of my living space after I'm done.

> cheese

Oh yes.... Fortunately (?) the local markets have sh*t for cheese so it's not quite as easy to glom it down.

It's really amazing the cultural difference 10 miles makes. When I lived in SF, I simply wallowed in the cafe scene, relished all sorts of great wine, coffee,, cheese and deserts. Moved to South San Francisco and bam - cold turkey. No coffee shops worth the name, no good food, no good deserts at all... Bad withdrawal. Took me almost five years to find a 1/2 decent grocery store, still haven't found a bakery worthy of the name and the only coffee shop that got started died; did find a couple OK eateries. My life saver is that i work mostly in SF.

It astounds me what trash people will pay for at a restaurant. There are _miles_ of nothing of sleazy junk along El Camino Real (large 4 lane business road down the peninsula); I can count the good eating places on one hand. There simply is ZERO demand here for good food. I shudder to think what this says about the intelligence and taste of the average American.

Sorry. Got carried away there. Pet peeve.


Rufus
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kassim503
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#4

Post by kassim503 »

Im actually on a diet/ exercise regimen right now, right now im 6'1 and 245 lbs. I wanna push it back down to 205 lbs, ive really let myself go over the past 5 years, in particular in the past few months, I went from 220-245 in a jiffy. Also my blood pressures getting a bit high, im 140/95 right now.

Ive been reducing some of the things that kill me, no beer on the weekdays, avoid wings all together (buffalo, NY shills out amazing platters of wings). Cutting back on sodas all together, I used to have one or two big gulps a day when I let myself go. Also im trying to slow down with my smoking, try to go down to a less than a pack a day.

It sucks to go from how I was in the past few months, eating awesome foods to being reduced to three small cut healthy meals a day. Also ive gone back to lifting weights and some light jogging. The weather is gettin a bit warmer, and the snows starting to taper off, so id best get out there.
I tried some from Costco here a few months ago and I had a hard time putting enough salsa and shredded cheddar on one to make it palatable Crying or Very sad I think the birds ate the last couple off the lawn.
I actually bought them a while back, they're still in my freezer! I couldnt bear to eat them

One good thing that I have going for me is I never eat candies and cakes/dessert things. They just dont appeal to me for whatever reason.

So now, im down to a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, celery/green beans at lunch, and something + corn + salad for supper. Now its more like 1800 calories a day
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
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philip
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#5

Post by philip »

Well ... good thing we focused on healthy food. :wink:

Mental hungers are curbed after your cardiologist shows your clogged arteries (assuming). Genetics let some people live on slop and smokes while others get bypasses and stents for having lived on 'good' diets.

Until you have a CAT / CT scan on your heart and carotids and have a comprehensive blood lab, you're staying in the dark.

http://www.fahc.org/Medicine/Heartcente ... daxial.htm

I agree with "Gardenburger" product burger. But add lettuce, tomato, mayo (thin), kosher dills, onions, ketchup or salsa, a mustard of your taste, even a little thin cheese of your choice. :wink:

The four sins when combined of at least two:
1) Alcohol
2) Salt
3) Sugar
4) Fat

(I'm leaving out -smokes- .... unless you eat tobacco).
-Philip
Passed 08May2008
My friend, you are missed . . .

1982 Datsun 720KC SD-22

"Im slow and I'm ahead of you"
rlaggren
Posts: 541
Joined: 17 years ago
Location: San Francisco

#6

Post by rlaggren »

It sucks to go from how I was in the past few months, eating awesome foods to being reduced to three small cut healthy meals a day.
When I whored as a computer consultant in Chicago I worked in an office over Union Station. There was lots of food down there including, unfortunately, a donut shop. I gained 25 lbs in about 6 months - I was quite shocked.

From that point I tried to always ask myself whether I really needed this or that goody. Wasn't a Nazi about it and often I ate the snack. But by the time the contract ran out a year later, I was back to where I started and actually could pass a good chocolate cake w/out a twinge. <g>

I've also found that living at colder temperatures, especially room temperatures, uses more fat cells.

As a buddy says, when you see that wheel chair chasing you, all a sudden you can move a lot faster! <g>

Rufus
82 Maxima wagon
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