Yeah, But What Did You Eat?
Having been away from DWIDP during the conference, I hadn't been sure how I was doing on calories and nutrition. Well, that's not quite true. At this point, I am good enough at counting calories that I can get a basic approximation without my software, and there were lots of people at the conference who were helpful in figuring out how much was in what. I knew I was eating under target, and I could feel that "I'm eating myself" feeling by the second day, but I had intentionally gone a little higher on calories the week before in preparation, knowing that when I'm in the midst of an exciting situation, I immediately cease to eat.
I couldn't find a reliable source of eggwhites in Charleston, so I skipped breakfast, and no doubt was a little stupider for it. However, I did go to the grocery store on the first full day of the conference and got some almonds, which helped to keep me from getting shaky on Friday when we all decided to forgo lunch in favor of another presentation. On the first night, Mary had found a restaurant that looked good and reasonably CR friendly, so we went there. It was a fish place called Fish, and it had as you might suspect, fish. I ended up eating there three nights in a row with different groups of people each night, mostly because we tried to go to other places but they were either too crowded and noisy or we just couldn't find any decent food elsewhere. So I got most of my protein over the course of the conference from fishes grilled with nothing on them and shrimp serviche and scallops. Fish had steamed vegetable sides that most of us took advantage of. The CR meals provided at three meals in the cafeteria had lots of veggies, salad, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, fruits, but the only serious protein source was turkey, which I don't eat. I did have some heaping plates of salad, though.
It was tons of fun to eat out with other CR people because we all negotiate with the waiters pretty much the same way. It was funny though, not to have anyone to feed leftovers to, and since everyone else was also cold, there was no one to borrow a jacket from. Eating with CR folk meant having the inner dialogue that runs in my mind about calories and nutrition outloud, and with people who actually care! There were lots of wine drinkers, and we greatly enjoyed "resveratrol hopping."
By the last day, I was about to have a protein deficiency freakout, and a CR brother came to the rescue with some whey protein powder that's very different from the kind I had before. We set out in search of some skim milk, since I was low in calcium too, and sure enough, there was none to be found! The hotel restaurant only had whole milk and half and half, the McDonald's only had whole and 2%! It's hard to believe that skim milk, such a mainstream item, can be so hard to find!
The final night, after almost everyone had left, four of us who remained went out to Whole Foods to graze on produce and the salad bar. Going shopping with the CR brothers is a truly entertaining experience. We have fun figuring out what was in the salads, eating free vegetable samples, and talking about how we had changed our tastes in food since starting CR. I was surprised to find that some of the most disciplined CR practitioners really didn't like vegetables when they started! It made me realize how lucky I am that I liked vegetables from the first time we ever met. It was fun to watch a brother from the UK discover all the wonders of Whole Foods, including the "Just Berries" dried berries, with no sugar added. We all agreed that we could go way overboard on those if we weren't careful!
This morning I didn't get breakfast since I was in midair at my usual breakfast time, and I went straight to the office from the airport. I did stop at the produce store and pick up a salad, so I ate a hardboiled egg there. By noon I was desperate for protein, and I organized the work crew into going out for a fishy lunch. I had a seafood gumbo with okra, a little rice, tomato, crab, grouper and shrimp, as well as a Greek salad topped with three shrimp, vinegar instead of dressing, though I did eat the feta, which was delicious but not overly abundant. DWIDP thinks that I have had 839 calories so far today, with 65.7 g protein and more protein and fat than carb. I think I'll just finish off the salad (lettuce, celery, cucumber, red pepper, vinegar) tonight that I bought this morning, drink my little glass of red wine, and call it a day. I was hungry in the morning, but now I'm pretty satisfied, and just a few greens plus a glass of wine should get me to target but not over. Too much saturated fat today, but overall, not terrible for a day when I wasn't able to prepare any of my own food.
Tonight, I go to the grocery store, and tomorrow I can be back to my old self, eggwhites and all.
I couldn't find a reliable source of eggwhites in Charleston, so I skipped breakfast, and no doubt was a little stupider for it. However, I did go to the grocery store on the first full day of the conference and got some almonds, which helped to keep me from getting shaky on Friday when we all decided to forgo lunch in favor of another presentation. On the first night, Mary had found a restaurant that looked good and reasonably CR friendly, so we went there. It was a fish place called Fish, and it had as you might suspect, fish. I ended up eating there three nights in a row with different groups of people each night, mostly because we tried to go to other places but they were either too crowded and noisy or we just couldn't find any decent food elsewhere. So I got most of my protein over the course of the conference from fishes grilled with nothing on them and shrimp serviche and scallops. Fish had steamed vegetable sides that most of us took advantage of. The CR meals provided at three meals in the cafeteria had lots of veggies, salad, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, fruits, but the only serious protein source was turkey, which I don't eat. I did have some heaping plates of salad, though.
It was tons of fun to eat out with other CR people because we all negotiate with the waiters pretty much the same way. It was funny though, not to have anyone to feed leftovers to, and since everyone else was also cold, there was no one to borrow a jacket from. Eating with CR folk meant having the inner dialogue that runs in my mind about calories and nutrition outloud, and with people who actually care! There were lots of wine drinkers, and we greatly enjoyed "resveratrol hopping."
By the last day, I was about to have a protein deficiency freakout, and a CR brother came to the rescue with some whey protein powder that's very different from the kind I had before. We set out in search of some skim milk, since I was low in calcium too, and sure enough, there was none to be found! The hotel restaurant only had whole milk and half and half, the McDonald's only had whole and 2%! It's hard to believe that skim milk, such a mainstream item, can be so hard to find!
The final night, after almost everyone had left, four of us who remained went out to Whole Foods to graze on produce and the salad bar. Going shopping with the CR brothers is a truly entertaining experience. We have fun figuring out what was in the salads, eating free vegetable samples, and talking about how we had changed our tastes in food since starting CR. I was surprised to find that some of the most disciplined CR practitioners really didn't like vegetables when they started! It made me realize how lucky I am that I liked vegetables from the first time we ever met. It was fun to watch a brother from the UK discover all the wonders of Whole Foods, including the "Just Berries" dried berries, with no sugar added. We all agreed that we could go way overboard on those if we weren't careful!
This morning I didn't get breakfast since I was in midair at my usual breakfast time, and I went straight to the office from the airport. I did stop at the produce store and pick up a salad, so I ate a hardboiled egg there. By noon I was desperate for protein, and I organized the work crew into going out for a fishy lunch. I had a seafood gumbo with okra, a little rice, tomato, crab, grouper and shrimp, as well as a Greek salad topped with three shrimp, vinegar instead of dressing, though I did eat the feta, which was delicious but not overly abundant. DWIDP thinks that I have had 839 calories so far today, with 65.7 g protein and more protein and fat than carb. I think I'll just finish off the salad (lettuce, celery, cucumber, red pepper, vinegar) tonight that I bought this morning, drink my little glass of red wine, and call it a day. I was hungry in the morning, but now I'm pretty satisfied, and just a few greens plus a glass of wine should get me to target but not over. Too much saturated fat today, but overall, not terrible for a day when I wasn't able to prepare any of my own food.
Tonight, I go to the grocery store, and tomorrow I can be back to my old self, eggwhites and all.
posted by April @ 5:46 PM
2 Comments:
At 4:14 PM,
Mary Robinson said…
April - I know you are still a recovering fat-phobic, but it wouldn't have killed you to eat a whole egg or drink 2% milk. There are a lot of nutrients in the egg yolk. I eat several whole eggs a week and eat whole goat cheese and still have a total cholesterol below 150. These fats are also good for appetite control. To me, as a Zonie, it would be unthinkable to skip protein just because of a little fat. There's 5 g of fat in an egg and only 1.5g is saturated.
At 7:34 PM,
Anonymous said…
well put! I side with Mary on this one.
sotb moth
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