Recipe: Spinach - Hazelnut Salad w Grapefruit Juice Dressing (148 calories)

     I have been on so many diets, most of them for such short periods of time as to make them useless at really affecting my lifestyle or my weight long term.  The only diet that really "worked" for me was one in 2000 when I took part in weekly classes, group activities, and then a six month support group.  I lost 50 pounds, started exercising regularly, and felt a lot better than I do now.  This stayed in place for nearly a year until life circumstances became very stressful and I started over-eating again.  But that year of eating well and feeling better is the reason I have hope that, if I can make a good diet work for me, I will be rewarded in the end with better health, more mobility, and a body light enough to not have to drag it around.  [Yes, I know I am talking about my body as if it is "not me" but it certainly feels that way sometimes!  :  )  ]
     I have promised myself that I am going to "ease into" this diet and not plague myself with feelings of guilt if I am not "perfect" immediately.  The first day I encountered REAL HUNGER again for the first time in a long time.  Hunger is a nagging sort of sensation.  It says, "You know the solution to me.  Just eat something!"  It was interesting just hanging out with hunger at bit the first two days and watching it inside me.  Okay, can I live with this?

     The information on the Longevity Diet says right up front that you are going to experience hunger.  It says that people who are focused on "looking better" do not do as well with this as people who are focused on "living longer with better health."
     Taking after my scientist father, I have enjoyed getting out my Encyclopedia of Food Values (Corinne T. Netzer) and starting to make a list of the foods I eat regularly and their calorie values.  Weight Watchers doesn't help with this. You can't go backwards from a food and it's points equivalent to see the calorie value, so I am making my own list.
     It has also been fun designing some new recipes.  For example, I invented this salad the other day from things already at hand in my kitchen and it was delicious!

Spinach, Hazelnut Salad with Grapefruit Juice Dressing
148 calories total

2 cups of baby spinach leaves, washed       18 calories
12 Hazelnuts, crushed                                 90 calories
1/2 grapefruit, juiced                                   40 calories
a bit of salt and pepper to taste

     I also encountered places where I have chronically "gone off my diet" and will have to find a way to deal with them.  For example, The fellowship hour after church where people bring all kinds of high calorie goodies to snack on.  Going to the Nederland Community Center for a movie on the weekend where the temptation to buy popcorn, a little 75 cent box of Good and Plenty, or a soda pop is so strong!
     But the calorie totals for my first two days were 2057 and 1908 - significantly less than I have been eating so this is "improvement" if not "perfection!"

Day two: Why am I doing this?

Why am I doing going to try the Longevity Diet?

In a nutshell:
     I am 59 1/2 years old,
          I am overweight,
               and I don't feel good anymore.

Here are all the "negatives:"

• I am exhausted much of the time.
• I have high blood pressure and my medications decrease my energy.
• I am on caffeine every morning because I could go back to sleep easily even after 8 to 9 hours of sleep.
• I am on a very low dose of an anti-depressant.  Depression runs in my family but sugar, caffeine, process foods, gluten and dairy all contribute to my not feeling emotionally well much of the time.
• I have to take a thyroid medication.
• My blood work numbers are not good:  the bad cholesterol is high.  The good cholesteral is low.
• I am either borderline diabetic or I "AM" diabetic and am refusing to face that.
• My body hurts:  my back hurts, my knees and ankles hurt, sometimes my hands and elbows hurt.
• I recently had a strange burning, aching pain in my lower back on the right that slowly moved around to my lower belly on the right.  The pain was so bad at night, even with advil, that I couldn't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time.  Eventually I had a small patch of "blisters" that broke on my right side that scabbed over and is healing very slowly.  I think I may have been a mild (thank god!) case of shingles.  what other diseases are lurking in my future because I don't take care of myself?
• My lower back hurts when I stand or walk.  I have little or no abdominal strength.
• I crave sugar a lot of my day ... but especially in the evenings.  I have little or no self control in this area.  
• I suspect I don't digest my food well and/or am insulin resistant because I certainly don't get the energy I need from the food I eat and it seems that much of what I eat just turns into "fat."
• I get out of breath easily.  I am a couch potato!

On the positive side:

• I can remember what it felt like to run and laugh and play.  I liked to climb trees and jump rope.  I loved to run just for the fun of it.
• I used to like to get up into the mountains and hike.  I used to like to go camping and hike during the days.
• I am just about 60 years old.  I could still have a long and healthy life if I turn my eating and weight around.
• I want to dance again.
• I want to exercise again and have that feel good, not painful.  
• I have always wanted to do Tai Chi and actually learned the form a number of years back. I would like to be able to do Tai Chi reasonably well and practice it into my 80s and beyond.
• I have family and friends I want to journey with through life for a much longer time that I bet I'm going to eating the way I do now!
• It would be good to stay healthy as I age!
• And I could be doing lots more of creative things if I cut back on the amount of time I spend in the kitchen.

Reality  Check!
I absolutely cringed when I saw this picture of me and her dog, Taj, taken by my friend Jenny Lynn in February 2012.

Day One: Getting started with great enthusiasm!

What is the Longevity Diet?

It is also called the "Calorie Restricted Diet" but I like the alternative name "Longevity Diet" because, instead of focusing on a restriction, it focuses on the end result I am hoping for:  A longer, healthier life!

I am choosing 1500 calories per day as an ultimate goal.  I have probably been eating twice that (or more on really bad eating days.)  I am also choosing not to be hungry on this diet, meaning I am going to find and create recipes that are delicious, filling and low calorie.  This means that I will probably also be focusing on low-fat vegan recipes much of the time.  (See a blog I have been following http://blogfatfreevegan.com by Susan Voisin for some great recipes.)

I want to focus on eating foods that are both high in nutrition AND low in calories.  To me this means I want to be sure I am getting all the nutrients my body needs to be healthy, heal itself, reach a slender weight, and have lots more energy and clarity of mind.  I am going to learn how to eat vegetables and fresh fruits of all "colors" in the right amount to give me lots of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and other good things my body needs.  I am not automatically eliminating animal protein but I understand that really I only need 2 oz of a balanced protein a day and that isn't very much.  (I need to check this figure but that is my understanding at the moment.)   Between poultry, fish, beans and legumes, and eggs I should be able to find that 2 optimal ounces a day easily.

I am going to have fun trying out recipes and creating ones of my own!  It appeals to me to stop spending so much time in the kitchen and start making batches of nutrient rich, good tasting food that can be frozen in portions.  For example, I created a great pasta and vegetable recipe this morning and I'll share it with you!  It ended up being 334 calories per two cup serving and created 8 servings of which I ate one, put 3 in the refrigerator and froze 4.  This particular recipe is, admittedly, lacking in protein but at 334 calories for breakfast I can use some of my remaining 1166 calories later today for protein.   Ditto for fresh fruit.

I am actually excited about starting this.  My Dad is a scientist and I have some of his passion for measuring, and calculating along with his strong pleasure in being creative.  I love to cook.  I love to read recipes.  I am going to have a great time making good things to eat within the perimeters of the diet.

Oh, I am also really going to go off gluten and dairy this time!

So here is today's recipe:  (and okay, I see I am going to have to work on my photographing food skills!  It looked a lot better than this on the table!  Flash is too bright but no flash was too dark.)

Pasta and Vegetables in Tomato Sauce
I will give you the calories in the ingredient list.  Keep in mind I am just starting all this and my calculations may not be entirely accurate.  I have used Corinne T. Netzer's "Encyclopedia of Food Values" to calculate the calories for each ingredient.  This book, by the way, is a treasure!  It gives you all kinds of information about fiber, fat, sugars, vitamins and minerals, and nutrient contents of  food by either weight or measure.

1 pkg Tinyaka Brown Rice Pasta Spirals  (1680 calories)
2 24-oz jars of prepared spaghetti sauce (360 calories)
1 15-oz can of Fire Roasted Tomato Puree  (150 calories)
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot (150 calories)
2 cups broccoli (50 calories)
1 cup frozen peas (126 calories)
2 cups sliced zucchini (36 calories)
2 cups shredded cabbage (40 calories)
1 10-oz box frozen spinach (24 calories)
1 medium to large green pepper, diced (20 calories)
2 cups chopped mushrooms (36 calories)

TOTAL CALORIES = 2672 calories
     2 cup servings = 334 calories
     3 cup servings =  501 calories

• Bring 3 to 4 quarts of salted water to a boil.  Add Tinyaka spirals, turn down the heat to medium, and simmer/boil for 15 minutes.  Drain and rinse with cold water to stopped cooking process.  Set aside
• Add spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce to the pasta.  Don't stir yet!
• Put the frozen spinach in a 2 quart sauce pan with some water and bring to a simmering boil.  A few minutes before all the spinach is thawed/cooked, add the frozen peas.  Cook for an additional minute.  Drain and add to the pasta and spaghetti sauce.
• Add an inch or two of water to a big sauce pan (like a spaghetti or soup pot).  Insert a steamer, and steam the vegetables until just tender.  Add the longer cooking ones like the zucchini and the green pepper first and the mushrooms and cabbage last.  Don't over cook.  Drain and add to the pasta mixture.
• Stir gently (don't break all the spirals).  You will have about 16 cups of great tasting pasta, vegetables and tomato sauce. 
• Also note you have some nutrient rich big hitters here:  spinach, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, green bell pepper and especially lots of anti-oxident rich tomatoes.