Fall Harvest 2011

Wow. The last couple of weeks has been great for the garden harvest.

The harvest of fall beauties has begun! The tomatoes and onion above quickly became a fresh salsa.

The purple carrots (novelty) and the orange ones above quickly became snacks.

Also, I recently roasted a beet. Sweet. Very nice. And... perhaps my favourite way to enjoy beets. In a smoothie or soup, they just take over the entire taste of the dish.

Plus I have some pumpkins coming along.

Grow Your Own CRON Diet With Aquaponics

The CRON Diet or lifestyle is a very self-sufficient and environmentally conscious approach to longevity - whether practitioners realize this or not. It was in this same vain of being self sufficient and environmentally friendly that I got excited about Aquaponics. This approach can provide year round fresh fish and green veggies in an ultra fresh and low maintenance manner while being incredibly good for the environment.

Some of the highlights that hooked me were things like this paragraph from Backyard Aquaponics:

According to university studies in Canada, aquaponic plant growth has been
found to exceed normal hydroponic growth rates. And aquaponic fish have been
found to have less health problems than fish grown in intensive aquaculture
systems Aquaponics is the most water efficient method of food production
available today, requiring only about 1/10th of the water used for ground
grown vegetables.

So it was an incredibly neat and highly effective approach to agriculture - and relatively new too. But could it be done at home, easily and cheaply?

Well, here is one of a huge number of Aquaponics related YouTube videos:

So, just seeing this setup my mind started to whir with activity. Indeed, there are folks around the world who are selling home aquaponics kits.

Essentially one feeds the fish and the fish almost entirely feed the nutrients needed for the plants.

There is a huge range of fish species, prawns, crayfish, and more that are being used in these kinds of systems and even more varieties of plants and crops.

Some are suggesting this new "green revolution" may solve many of the Earth's pending problems with faminine due to overpopulation.

Ultimately, I wasn't so selfless in my thoughts about Aquaponics. If I can convince my significant other to let me have one I am going to ensure I have fresh veggies year round. It would also be less likely for the dogs to dig up radishes and carrots from my Aquaponic garden.

Yay - Summer is over!

I know this isn't going to be popular with some people: I don't really like Summer. Yes it is nice to be on vacation and spontaneous in the warm weather but that really makes CRON harder too.

The Summers are rather short here in Edmonton and one feels compelled to make the most of them while they are here by soaking up the sun, maximizing outside activities, and generally being spontaneous. Indeed I'm sure that Canadians as a whole are better defined as making as much as they can out of their Summers than they are by lengthy Winters. It's like we instinctively know that we need to soak up the sun and recharge our batteries while we are able to.

Beginning in August there was a family funeral and the food and visiting that naturally goes along with that. Then there was vacation in small town BC with a strong meat and potatoes side of the family that doesn't understand my catch and release fishing let alone my CRON lifestyle. Many other backyard BBQs and events with friends unseen for months also occured in August. As did a number of marathon festivals like Bluesfest. This Labour Day weekend there is a wedding and all the food that might entail.

Needless to say. I have actually managed to gain weight in August. More than I care to reveal.

Now that September is here I have been getting into more of a regular routine and I am grateful for that. I feel more centred already. Sigh.

Garden Hit Hard by Radish Thief

The last week has been hard with the heat. I guess the dogs decided that with all of us spending more time in the back yard that they would help us garden... unfortunately that included eating radish greens and pulling up radishes for their own personal enjoyment.

Note: Guess who got blamed for this? Me! Apparently my feeding the dogs vegetables during the week when I'm preparing meals and salads was building temptation for them. And their being unsuperivsed by the garden around juicy radishes was too much for them. Lol. Too funny. I hope they enjoyed themselves but I am happy they didn't chew through too many of the plants.

Wheat Germ

A while back I bought some wheat germ to boost my vitamin E and zinc intake on occasions when they seem to be staying a bit low. It wasn't until yesterday though that I had a chance to taste it.

Wheat germ is pleasantly tasty and nutty flavored. I've been having mine with yogurt or a bit of milk. I am very glad I tried this food item as I almost didn't.

Speaking of adventure in food. Have any of you tried vegemite? That just may be my next adventure if I can find some in my local area.

Mustard Greens

Organic mustard greens were available at the local supermarket. Curious as ever, I decided to try them and I am very glad I did.

I prepared half the mustard greens in a salad. The greens were more salad like than kale and very spicy in a pleasant way. The warmth they produce is very nice to fix up what can sometimes become boring salads. Plus the texture is a nice change too.

The other half of the mustard greens were wilted with oil, garlic, and some soya sauce. These were excellent. I went out of my way to cut out the stems as many a recipe had suggested the stems don't wilt and can impact the consistency of the dish - they were right. Prepared this way the greens were similar to spinach. However, the taste was far superior.

I will definitely be getting more mustard greens in the future. However, although mine did not last long due to my appetite and curiosity, apparently mustard greens do not last as long as other greens or salad type items.

Canada Day... pancakes?

Happy Canada Day everyone!

This July 1st I am getting dragged to the Alberta Legislature grounds for a free pancake breakfast by friends and family... Why is it that so many things you get for free aren't really that great? I was trying to think what CRON compliant foods might be there and quickly gave up. I guess I will have to "smooth" out the calories elsewhere and keep my portions to a minimum. Actually, there is something appealing about a pancake breakfast... something. Maybe it's the sugar high from the maple syrup?

Barley Tabouleh (Tabouli)

Well, this last Saturday it was nice and hot out and I wanted a filling and refreshing cold salad. Going through my mental rolodex of appropriate dishes I immediately settled on tabouleh. However, I wanted barley instead of cracked wheat. That is exactly what I ended up doing.

I took the recipe and made a few small changes from here. That whole website is absolutely great actually.

The barley and fresh vegetables are a great flavour combination and are really quite low calorie for how filling this dish is. The one thing I did notice is that the olive oil is a large chunk of the overall calories in the dish... So, I scaled the oil back a bit so as to not hurt the flavour or taste.

The recipe is quite simple but does require a headstart on cooking the barley. And I would also say that chopping parsley is time consuming to say the least. Next time I think I will try using the food processor, but I wasn't convinced the food processor would do a good job so I spent a solid ten to fifteen minutes chopping mint, parsley, chives, and garlic.

Please, do yourself a favor and try this dish. It is absolutely amazing and refreshing on a hot day.

A Morsel of Wisdom

"The happiness of most people we know is not ruined by great catastrophes or
fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things."
--
Ernest Dimnet

Oooh. I must admit fully that I am a quote-aholic. To me, quotes are those little morsels of wisdom that stick with you, sometimes for weeks. They are often very small but very filling, insightful, and reassuring.

This little quote I felt also is true of nutrition in the general population rather than happiness.

As I continue my CRON lifestyle I notice more and more that there are many of us, myself likely included, that have little bad habits that with repetition can slowly build up into a bigger problem for our health or nutrition.

These bad habits are sneaky because who wants to admit that the extra little serving here or the uncounted calories there are really adding up. Notice them. Be honest with yourself. Know that in even the smallest of things are the seeds of unintended consequences. Know that you can change the habit, and do so.

Discipline Re:Defined

dis⋅ci⋅pline  /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ [dis-uh-plin] noun, verb, -plined,
-plin⋅ing.

–noun

1. training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline.
2. activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill;
training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.
3. punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.
4. the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: the harsh discipline of
poverty.
5. behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order
maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.
6. a set or system of rules and regulations.
7. Ecclesiastical. the system of government
regulating the practice of a church as distinguished from its doctrine.
8. an instrument of punishment, esp. a whip or scourge, used in the practice of
self-mortification or as an instrument of chastisement in certain religious
communities.
9. a branch of instruction or learning: the disciplines of history and economics.

–verb (used with object)

10. to train by instruction and exercise; drill.
11. to bring to a state of order and obedience by training and control.
12. to punish or penalize in order to train and control; correct; chastise.

It is very interesting to me that the very mention of discipline is associated, as is this dictionary definition, with references to harsh punishment, military training, strict rules and regulations. For me discipline is simply focus. Being unfocused means a lack of clarity about your goals and what you want to attract into your life and with that lack of focus those things you want fade away into the horizon. Whereas, if you are disciplined about the thoughts you have; the choices you have minute by minute, you will get closer to your goals and what you focus on will come closer.

Does this mean punishment is inherent? No. Does it mean dealing with opportunity costs where you give up one thing to get another. Yes. Does it mean torture? No.

CRONies need to reclaim and redefine the term discipline. What does discipline mean to me:

It means improving the ways and skill with which I come closer to my goals. It means focus. It does not mean all or nothing ultimatums where I am always disciplined or else my goals disappear. It does mean correcting my behaviour to getting myself back on track.

In biblical Hebrew, the generic word for sin is het. It means to err, to miss the mark. In this way we are all sinners as we have all missed the mark at some point in time. The original meaning of the word sin does not imply praise or blame. It simply means that the mark was missed. The word sin has even been used in archery for centuries.

Discipline is simply the training of your self to better hit your mark and achieve your goals. This training is not inherently negative, brutal, or punishing. It simply refocuses and redirects you.

We all know that there is both positive and negative reinforcement. Yet, people seem to focus on the negative when they hear the word discipline.

So CRONies, others, help me in redefining this word for ourselves and others. The world will be a much better place as a result. And I personally feel that it will help more people achieve their goals through being more compassionate with those that miss the mark, including themselves. Discipline should be without praise and blame and completely about focussing on the target.

Summer Time

Well Summer has finally come. Daytime temperatures are nearing 30C.

Today at work our organization had a lobster lunch to thank all of our sales staff for a record sales period. It's good to know that some industries are not affected by the economic downturn and I am grateful for such abundance in my life. However, I don't want to look or sound like a hog at a trough because of that abundance.

So, I split a lobster with someone else and loaded up on additional veggies that were available. There was also herbed butter available that was passed over. Mmmm the lobster was very tasty.

However, after lunch I was chided by my end of the table for not eating enough and given an extra helping of dessert to compensate. This social control with food thing just never seems to go away, does it? I find it annoying. I try not to, but it bugs me that so many other well intentioned people line up to tell me what I should eat when and why. Why can't I decide for myself?

I'm still well above my target CR weight and yet people want me to eat larger helpings of dessert with them to be more like them. Salespeople learn pretty quickly that people like people like themselves and they start taking an interest in others to match up similarities. However, I don't want to be like everyone else. That reminded me of a quote I heard once:

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” - Krishnamurti

The more I think about it, the reason I think I don't like these situations is that there is an unspoken leadership role that is expected of me and I'm not prepared. What is the graceful and humble way to laugh with the others but maintain integrity with who I want to be? Because it seems to me that everyone else is wondering 1) how I can have the will power and 2) how they would be able to deal with the same social situations. On a certain level, people are literally looking to me to give them guidance and wisdom on how to react in similar situations. And not only am I being judged, but so is CRON.

At the time I just smiled and ate just half of what I was given and ignored direct contact with everyone. With that even being more than I wanted, I felt like I was giving in for their benefit.

What is the right response? What would Cool Hand Luke have done? What would you do to save face for yourself and for CR?

CRON Chat Room at Vegan Done Light

Ever since the Oprah segment on CRON aired, the keyword search "Calorie Restriction Meetup" has been THE highest ranked search linking to my blog. In fact it is a good 6 times more popular than the next search phrase "CRON diet". So, it would appear that there is at least some motivation to attend local CR Meetup groups.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that there isn't much of a true CR following in my home town. Starting a CRON Meetup group would cost about $12 a month. And I'm certainly contemplating it.

Until then, Erin Dame (ZenPawn) set up a CRON Chat Room at some point and I have just found it. Check it out! And, of course, the Calorie Restriction Society has links to a chat forum that has never been activated to my knowledge. Maybe in their next website overhaul?

FDA Allows Food Industry to Bend Truth

Source:
FDA and USDA nutrition labeling guide: decision diagrams, checklists, and regulations
By Tracy A. Altman
Published by CRC Press, 1998
ISBN 1566767067, 9781566767064

I thought I would share the above little snippet about FDA labeling on low calorie products. I'm not sure if you can read it but to paraphrase it says that products can be labeled Zero Calories if they contain less than 5 calories per labeled serving size. So, that's why some sweeteners and diet soft drinks can say they are zero calorie per serving but technically if you have enough of it you may be adding a fair bit of extra calories.

There seems to be games that are played with some companies reducing their serving size just so they can claim their product has no calories. Does a litre of diet pop actually have no calories? No. It could have as many as 14 calories. But the serving size shown is for 355ml and therefore shows no calories.

There is nothing that grinds on me more than the manipulation of truth by a whole industry. There are definitely some products that seem to abuse this labeling policy more than others. I hope that I can identify them and bring their tactics into the spotlight where they deserve to be. Do you know of any? I'd like to hear it.

I'm happy to say that aside from the occasional Splenda packet or diet pop this labeling doesn't affect me greatly. It really bothers me that it could add as much as an extra few percent to someone's daily calorie consumption just due to manipulation of a labeling policy. Is it a pressing issue? Is major harm done? No. However, the public can handle the truth and they want the truth. Tell me that my diet pop has 4 calories per can instead of saying it's Calorie Free.

What other skeletons are in the Food Industries labeling closet?

Awesome Product - PB2

Peanut butter. Mmm. So many great childhood memories. Probably because I'm not allergic to it.

Despite my love of peanut butter, with CR I have curbed my use to almost nothing because it has so many calories per tablespoon. NutritionData.com says that my favourite Chunky Style peanut butter likely has 188 calories per 2 tbsp. Healthy and tasty as it may be, it is not very filling so it is doomed to moderate consumption.

The other day I was surfing through DollDust's wonderful links and I found a recipe referring to PB2. So after a quick search I found PB2 was powdered peanut butter. With only 54 calories per 2 tbsp. and to prepare it you add a tbsp of water thus creating 3tbsp of total peanut butter spread. That blog was using the PB2 as a dip for fruit and veggies. I think I will too.



Quick recap:
2 tbsp Normal Chunky Style Peanut Butter = 188 Calories
2 tbsp PB2 = 54 Calories

AND they claim to have all the same taste of regular Peanut Butter.



Bell Plantation is the manufacturer. There weren't any stores carrying it near me, so I will probably end up buying some online. Enjoy!

Here are the nutrition stats:


PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter
(6.5 oz/184 g)
Ingredients: Roasted peanuts, sugar, and salt.
Serving size = 2 tablespoons (12 g) Servings per container: 16
Nutritional Values:
Calories 53.2
Fat Calories 16.8
Total Fat 1.87 g
Saturated Fat 0.34 g
Trans Fat <>

Monounsaturated Fat 1.04 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.40 g

Cholesterol <>

Sodium 77.6 mg

Carbohydrate 3.4 g

Dietary Fiber 0.48 g

Simple Sugars 1.66 g

Protein 5.65 g

Vitamin A (IU) 0 %

Vitamin C (mg)

Calcium (mg) 1 %

Iron (mg) 1 % *

Eating Strategies to Reduce or Control Hunger

When CRON started to be a bigger part of my daily life I was drawn quite quickly to certain foods and strategies that significantly reduced my hunger while allowing me to reach my goals. Yet I often read elsewhere that hunger is a real issue for many people beginning CRON or already on a CRON diet.

So here is a list of my eating strategies for reducing and controlling hunger:

1. Eat vegetables as they are high fibre, high nutrient, and calorically sparse. Some of my favourites are cucumbers, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, various lettuce blends, and radishes. You will quickly notice that a CRON diet favours vegetables so find ones you like but limit consumption of high calorie vegetables like corn and carrots.
2. Eat fruit as they are also high in fibre and nutrients, yet calorically sparse. My favourites are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, okay almost every berry, and apples. These are now my "sweets" of choice.
3. Trade processed grains for natural grains. Processed grains often have little nutritional value and tend to have a higher calorie content. Natural grains are low calorie, have nutrients and more fibre. This means they are much more filling for the same amount of calories. Most pastas, breads, and white rice are replaced very quickly with beans, barley, and the like. Do your homework and be honest with yourself.
4. Reduce foods with sugar. Fructose, glucose, sucrose, corn syrup, cane sugar, lactose, and the like all have sugar in them. Sugar is high calorie and has no nutrients and is therefore completely incompatible with the goals of a CRON diet. Not only that, but sugar is very quickly absorbed by the body which keeps you hungry. If you want something sweet try fruit as it will keep you full longer.
5. Reduce consumption of fats. A tablespoon of oil is about 120 calories. That is among the most calorically dense food items we can consume. So fats and oils need to be reduced if we are going to reach our caloric goals without feeling hunger. Our bodies need fat and there are good fats and bad fats. The fats from meat are generally worse for us than the fats from vegetable sources. For this reason my consumption of meat has become more infrequent and has changed to favouring leaner meats like fish and poultry.
6. Choose lower Glycemic Index (GI) foods. The Glycemic Index is a rating of the effect a food has on the level of sugars in the blood. Lower GI foods do not spike your blood sugar nearly as much. They also tend to keep you full longer. Become familiar with the GI of the food you are eating and aim for the lower GI foods.
7. Only eat when you are hungry. How many times have you felt obligated to eat because everyone else was or out of habit (ie. lunch break)?
8. Eat slowly and purposefully. Do not eat on the run and don't eat because of boredom or stress. And see #7 - eat because you are hungry.
9. Use smaller dishes to serve your meals. Perception is everything. If you use smaller utensils and plates the food really does seem to be much more abundant as it seems to take up more real estate.
10. Don't overeat. Stop eating just before you are full and it will change your perception of how much you need to eat to be full.
11. Have a plan. Without a plan to have CRON food items around it is pretty easy to eat non-compliant food or resort to dining out. Make a plan and stick to it.
12. Have fun. CRON isn't about restriction specifically. It is about Optimum Nutrition. If CRON gets hard or you are hungry, eat and have fun. Don't get stressed out or suffer. It simply isn't worth it. So have that extra serving or that slice of pie and then return to CRON right after. CRON is not an all or nothing thing. By having fun you will make CRON a lifelong habit or lifestyle instead of a short term tool for weight loss and nutrition.

Family

This May long weekend I have family visiting. Family: well meaning, well intentioned individuals related by blood or marriage who don't understand me, CRON, or what their scales are trying to tell them.

It is always good to see family and I do love them lots. However, you don't realize how much mental preparation and support CRON takes until you are in a close knit group of people who know you well but don't "get" CRON and therefore have trouble being supportive of this change. I was asked "is this is a long term thing or is it just a passing phase?".

So far this weekend it has been easy enough to stay more or less on CRON. However, the discussion always comes up as to "what will I eat again?" and "will I have a piece of that special dish I used to love so much?" it wears away at you when you have your guard let down. Or at least, it wears on you when and where you most want to let your guard down: with family.

Groups, including family, survive due to some homogeneity. Their interests, values, or goals need to overlap if they are going to survive. In some ways, family meals are an important part of family. Then with my new approach to eating I am seen as a deviant in a small way for pulling away from or at least altering the established norm for family meals.

I no longer share in the pancake eating contest or brag about who ate more plates of dinner or dessert. I am very subtly a bit withdrawn from the family. It is not about leaving that group as I really can't. However, instead, I am treated like I am sick and not myself. That one day I may come back to my former self. It's like the rest of the family is grieving the loss of the old me. Either way, my new CRON practice has to overcome this gravity from my family history to become a lifelong practice.

It is what it is. Human nature. Group dynamics. Change.

Change isn't always comfortable. I've always wanted to decide who I am instead of letting groups, society, or the media dictate to me what is normal or acceptable. There is no place that the slight lack of acceptance and the floundering of not knowing how to fully support a new CRON practice is more magnified and difficult than within the family.

My family visit this weekend has been great so far. However, my CRON practice has bent and so has my family. Truly, when you change yourself you change your whole world. Notice the changes. Accept the changes. There is nothing you can do. Different isn't necessarily bad; it's just different. Be who you need to be.

Dining Out

The thing about dining out is you just never know... how many calories, how much oil, how much dressing, how much sauce, how much high fat mayonnaise. And, if you're like me, you find it hard to not eat everything on your plate or stop eating a tasty meal half way through. Then add in the social control like your friends, family, or the staff thinking your too fussy... dining out is a stressfull minefield for CR.

Dining out continues to be one of my biggest struggles. It is made worse by Spring being here and friends wanting to go for coffee or meals with much greater frequency. Last week I went for coffee with someone instead of eating my normal meal at that time. I had a slice of banana bread which the staff all agreed was the healthiest and lowest calorie item in the display case and a tea latte. My calories were almost half of what my daily goal was... in one little coffee shop. And believe me, despite meeting my goals for the day, it wasn't worth it.

For the same amount of calories I would rather have had significantly more (and filling)vegetables. It would have made me feel much fuller and better overall. But somehow, it doesn't seem right to pack vegetables or salads to my favorite restaurant or coffee shop.

I want to live in a world with greater CR understanding, choices, and acceptance. Where coffee shops offer some fresh fruit and vegetables... maybe even salads. Yup, I guess I'm a dreamer.

Great Week

This entire week I have had a great time with CR. Everything has just seemed so easy. Very little hunger. Almost having to remember to eat.

What worked: planning, a better variety of fresh veggies, and less stress at work.

I have also dropped the caffeine (by tea and coffee) out of my diet almost completely now and I think that is also having a positive effect on me.

Souper Trooper

Soups can be and often are some of my favourite CR meals. I don't think I ever expected that.

First of all soups were never really all that filling for me in the past. I still don't much care for smoothies that are too smooth for just that reason. Anyways, with the CRON approach there are generally lots of vegetables in your soup and they get to be really filling as there aren't a lot of calories in turnip, cauliflower, kale, onions, and the like.

Second I thought soups were too much of a fuss. However, my 30 to 40 minute soups now become my planned over meals. They are so easy to split into multiple servings and store in the fridge or freezer (on occasion). So 30 or 40 minutes is actually for 4 or 5 meals which is a time savings.

Third thing about soups is that when I make my own I can customize it for the tastes, textures (I like garbanzo beans), and various other things like weird chemicals mixed in with your soup base. Lately I use miso paste in place of bouillon. With the wather getting warmer I was even thinking about cold gezpacho soups.

Calories are another thing that is customized. Depending on the soup I may store it in containers as a smaller midmeal or as a larger regular meal. Voila! Serving size and calories easily "contained" so to speak.

All of these things keep me and my CRON-o-Meter happy with soups. Not to sound like an infomercial but "Try one today!"

Running With the Dogs

Wow... about 5 or 6 years ago now I was big into running. Every second day or so... until Winter, of course.

I've been trying to figure out what got me into that groove of discipline in the first place. As I recollect, I really enjoyed running with Riley. Riley is my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is now almost 7 years old.

Last year we discovered that Riley had developed some hip problems. So, I definitely can't run with him any more. This has lead me to try running with my other dog, Reuben. Reuben is about a year and a half old and very much full of P&V.

My first run with him a couple weeks ago was well loved by both of us. Hopefully I can get back in that groove of regular runs with my dog. I am not sure why but when I run with the dogs I forget about my distance, heart rate, or stitch in my side and I just have fun... and they seem to as well.

My rule on running with my dogs is no more than 30 minutes every second day and if they seem sore the day or so after a run they get a pass on the next run. The dogs both now freak out when I put on my running shoes. They love running and I hope that transfers to me.

Here is a picture of the dogs (specially for the Doll from BC). Reuben (on the left) is still a puppy in this picture. I will have to take some more recent pics.