Mother Blogger

ONE MONTH UPDATE ON NEW VEGETARIAN FROZEN FOOD EATING PLAN 

26 days ago, when I started my meatless, portion controlled, calorie controlled frozen food way of eating, I mentioned that my aunt had told me the secret to losing weight was simply eating less.   It is working for me! I am down 6 pounds as I complete my 4th week, which means I am 2 pounds ahead of my goal of 1 pound a week.  

You know, eating less is not only the secret to losing weight.  It is also the secret to a healthier, longer life.  I was listening to NPR the other day and they were talking about the naked mole rat.  I googled it and found an interesting article here:  http://microbiology.science.oregonstate.edu/content/long-life-and-naked-mole-rats

Basically, the article explains the research of  Minhazur Sarker who works in the lab of Tory Hagen, a renowned researcher with the Linus Pauling Institute:    The only cold-blooded mammal, the naked mole rat has a low metabolic rate and spends its life underground; all characteristics that contrast sharply with human life. But the naked mole rat also has something that humans have pursued for centuries: the key to longevity. These rodents, Sarker says, can live up to 30 years — 10 times the lifespan of other rats. 

As the article points out:  "The only real known paradigm of increasing mean lifetime of species is dietary and caloric restriction,” Hagen says. “When you restrict calories but provide vitamins and micronutrients to maintain basic function, the species lives for an inordinately long time."

SO!  In addition to shedding fat and pounds, which reduces the risks of heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, some cancers, gallbladder disease and gallstones, osteoarthritis and knee problems, gout and breathing problems such as sleep apnea, I am increasing the time I have to spend on this earth being a productive person and enjoying life. 

AND NOW:  Interesting notes about the new eating plan so far:

• 1.  Giving up is no longer an option.   I have had a lot of up and down moments on the scale...sometimes my weight varies as much as 4 pounds in the same day.  In the past, this has been very discouraging and I would "give up."  By that I mean if I was on MediFast (a very restrictive eating plan) or Weight Watchers (a complicated eating plan for me as far as counting points and planning meals, shopping etc.), I would go back to something easier/less expensive, i.e. my usual way of eating, which was just eating what Dale cooks or whatever I felt like eating.  HOWEVER!!  Now there is nothing to "go back to."  The way I am eating is already easy!  I am eating a wide variety of foods, and while there is calorie and portion control built in, I do not have to think about it and I do not feel deprived.  Meals are ready in 5 minutes and there is no messy cleanup.  Frankly I do not feel like there is any other way to eat. So basically I have found the way of eating that suits me and I have no desire to eat any other way.  Of course eating out is the challenge, but even if I did splurge once a month and eat a big mexican dinner, this would have negligible effect on my overall weight.

• 2.  This way of eating is saving us money. Dale is not crazy about frozen packaged meals, but he has ventured bravely into that territory and has found it is not so bad. He is still experimenting.  But the nice thing we have noticed is how low our grocery bill has been this month.  By not preparing meals from scratch, we are saving quite a bit because we don't have to buy a lot of separate ingredients.  Not to mention the time we save by reducing the prep time in the kitchen.  

• 3.  This way of eating is healthier than it sounds.  Many of these prepackaged meals are preservative-free. Makes a lot of sense since they are already preserved by being frozen.  

• 4.  Favorite foods:  I love the Smart Ones Lasagna Florentine. And I feel like I am cheating when I have a Morningstar biscuit stuffed with scrambled egg and sausage for breakfast. Another breakfast that is full sized and doesn't feel like a diet:  Two pieces of toast (Nature's Own Whole Wheat) topped with microwaved egg (one whole egg, one egg white) mixed with Morningstar Farms sausage patty (crumbled).  Top with picante and Tony Chachere's:  300 calories. 

• 5.  Upcoming challenge:  Summer Games 2014 (four grandchildren for one week).  That means corn dogs.  And I have to admit my South Texas D.Q. Buc Days heritage is unable to withstand the crispy deliciousness of corn dogs.  I'd better stock up on some MorningStar Farms mini corn dogs...I can have 7 of these little nuggets for 300 calories and won't be tempted to dig into the kids' food.