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 % *