SmarterFitter Blog Less diet, more brain

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In case you haven’t seen this already, the New York Times discloses the modern paradox of the wondrous Mediterranean Diet - wondrous for anyone not living in the Mediterranean, that is:

The fact is that the Mediterranean diet, which has been associated with longer life spans and lower rates of heart disease and cancer, is in retreat in its home region. Today it is more likely to be found in the upscale restaurants of London and New York than among the young generation in places like Greece, where two-thirds of children are now overweight and the health effects are mounting, health officials say.

“This is a place where you’d see people who lived to 100, where people were all fit and trim,” says [Dr. Michalis Stagourakis]. “Now you see kids whose longevity is less than their parents’. That’s really scaring people.”

Fast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet Succumbs

I’ve been hitting the protein smoothies lately. Why? Because I’ve also been hitting the pushups and pull-ups and I think a little extra protein can only do this vegetarian some good. I used to drink smoothies all the time as a little reward after finishing a long run. Now I find them to be a great mid-morning snack to get me through til lunch.

Today, Crabby posted her Simplest Smoothie Recipe Ever recipe and it inspired me to share my own. She doesn’t use ice in hers but I like to add a good 4-6 cubes per person for a thick frothy milkshake that’s a little slow-going through a straw (this keeps me from downing my smoothie in one gulp). I also like to add a few dried pieces of fruit such as prunes or date… the blender chops them into little bits that are fun to eat, and any large bits that don’t get blended are like a nice fruity surprise at the end.

The protein part usually comes from unsweetened protein powder, either whey or soy (tried pea protein once - yuck). If I’m out of powder, I use tofu or yogurt. My preference is for tofu (shown above) or soy protein powder, both of which seem to result in a creamier smoothie than other options.

I don’t find that this needs any extra sweetener; usually the frozen fruit is sweet enough. But if you like a sweeter smoothie, add some honey or substitute the water for fruit juice.

Purists in the audience will think that a Reuben just isn’t a Reuben without pastrami, swiss cheese, or Thousand Island Dressing. Well you can’t get any of those ingredients in London and, chances are, I wouldn’t eat them anyway. In my eyes, the sauerkraut makes the Reuben, and until yesterday I would have said that rye bread does, too. But my latest sandwich creation proved otherwise.

I only had some leftover chive bread to work with, baked using 101 Cookbook’s cornbread recipe (which tasted little like corn but a lot like chive, hence my terminology). The oniony flavor of the bread turned out to be surprisingly good with the smokey tempeh and saurkraut.

In place of Thousand Island Dressing, I use avocado and tomato. In place of pastrami, I use tempeh, cooked according to Your Vegan Mom’s Smokey Tempeh Slices recipe (found thanks to Veggie Meal Plans). Her recipe calls for less tempeh and no marinating. I doubled the tempeh and marinated it over night, which was delicious, but if you don’t have my kind of food-obsessed foresight, marinating is not necessary according to her original recipe.

You’ll notice from the picture that I also use lettuce leaves for the top slice of bread. This is optional, and not really encouraged. I do it because I’m small and really don’t need two hearty slices of bread (especially when having soup with the meal!). But you normal-sized people should add a second slice to the deck and eat the sandwich like it was intended.

The recipe makes enough tempeh for a few sandwiches and the leftovers are great for quick sandwiches - perfect for packed lunches!

I’m guest-blogging today on dietsinreview.com. Check out my post for a tasty recipe for vegan Bolognese sauce. But I can’t really take credit for this one - the recipe is entirely Tim’s doing. The man has a talent for TVP and tomatoes. I am very lucky.

Here’s an excerpt from my post…

Still, there comes a time in every vegetarian’s life when no other meal will do but pasta. But pasta is no longer the carbo-loaded, out-of-a-jar meal that it used to be. These days, I kick up my pasta sauce with a little TVP to give my pasta a much-needed protein kick….

Spaghetti and vegan Bolognese (affectionately called “Spag Bowl” in my household) is one of my go-to meals for quick dinners. Prep time is less than 5 minutes and cooking time is around 20. Packed with high-quality protein and carbs, it’s the perfect dinner to fuel your morning workout.

It’s true. We eat this about once a week and it just keeps getting better and better. Spag Bowl is also great for camping!

Read on for the recipe…

It’s old news now. I’ve been caffeine free for three weeks as of yesterday. The cravings are gone and I haven’t been missing the “ritual” of afternoon tea now that I’ve embraced rooibos as a black tea alternative. The best part about all this? After about two weeks without caffeine, my sleep quality suddenly improved substantially. I still wake up about once during the night, but that’s my own fault for insisting on having a comforting mug of tea right before bed (in bed, with a good book!).

The benefits of improved sleep seem to be filtering into all of my other daily activities, most notably push-ups! I had a couple weeks back there where I just felt constantly lethargic, the push-ups felt impossible, and I kept having to repeat weeks because I wasn’t progressing. Then last week I suddenly felt stronger and more energetic and I’ve finally graduated to Week 3 of the one hundred push-ups program. (I’ve also re-introduced protein smoothies to my diet, which may also be playing its part.)

I wasn’t sure if I’d stay off caffeine but now that I’m passed the danger zone and feeling good, I don’t feel hugely compelled to go back. I do miss the occasional coffee, and I confess to having a mug or two of decaf which is not 100% caffeine free. But for now I’ll just stay off caffeine completely and enjoy all this wonderful sleep! Zzzzzz.

Despite increased awareness about the benefits of health and fitness, Americans still have poor diets and the obesity rate continues to rise. According to a 2008 survey by the Trust For America’s Health, obesity rates increased significantly in 37 states since last year, and declined only in the District of Columbia.

What’s going wrong? A recent research report by the USDA points to, well, modern life as the culprit.

The report presents a “consumer demand model” which shows how long-term health goals and external factors can drive a person’s food choices. Turns out, knowledge is nothing compared to “visceral factors” like work and stress which contribute to more meals away from home, more time between meals, and in the end, more calories. Here are some of the key findings:

• Individuals are more likely to consume more calories when they extend the time between meals or consume more of their food away from home. For example, going 5 hours between meals instead of 4 adds about 52 calories for someone on a diet of 2,000 calories per day.
• Unsurprisingly, the location at which someone eats affects what and how much is consumed. People are estimated to cosume about 107 more calories when eating foods from a restaurant compared with foods prepared at home.
• People who work more hours are also more influenced by the interval between meals. At 4 hours between meals, an individual who works 40 hours a week is estimated to eat about 20 percent more calories than someone who is not employed. At 8 hours between meals, the calorie discrepancy jumps to nearly 40 percent.

There are no huge surprises here, but it serves to illustrate the challenge of modern life to anyone wanting to establish healthy habits. Work is a real problem. The obesity issue seems to reflect a need for a national shift in attitude away from work and consumption and more towards, well, fun. Why is life so stressful? Why do we have such a problem taking lunch breaks? Stopping for a snack? Packing lunch instead of eating out? Finding time to take a walk?

In my last job at a big bank, I worked with a bunch of analysts who were constantly overworked, yet unwilling to push back on their duties. One girl spoke to me about her former running habits, and how she hasn’t put on her running shoes in months and it makes her so sad, but “I must finish this report!” she said as she settled into her screen with a tray of take-away sushi, not to leave the office until 10pm.

I suppose my inability to accept tasks when I knew they would cause me to work overtime is one of the reasons I no longer work at a bank. One of my goals is to be healthy in body AND mind, and since quitting the bank and working for myself, I’ve never been happier or healthier. And when I think about the rest of the fitness bloggers I know, many of them work at home or own their own businesses - I wonder if their fitness success is connected with this kind of freedom?

Unfortunately, most of us can’t just up and quit our jobs. So then what? Who out there works the 9-5 but manages (or at least tries to manage) to work fitness into the mix? I bet there’s a lot to learn from people who manage to keep a job without turning into a stress-ball. If you’re out there, let us know how you do it!

Is Dietary Knowledge Enough? Hunger, Stress, and Other Roadblocks to Healthy Eating [thanks Rory!]

From left to right: The Northgate’s stuffed zucchini, my version

A few weeks ago I had a sensational meal at our favorite gastropub, The Northgate. The Northgate’s menu is constantly changing, and they usually only have one vegetarian main on offer, a veggie soup, and one or two veggie starters. The options are few, but I don’t mind - the food is almost always delicious and I kind of like having my mind made up for me. I generally go for the soup+salad+bread option as their bread is excellent and the veggie main dish is almost always risotto which Tim makes way better at home.

On this recent trip to the Northgate, the main sounded unusually intriguing… “baked courgette filled with red pepper, sweetcorn, feta + “diu” (whatever that is) on tomato ragu and rocket salad.

I like the dish’s use of so many seasonal veggies: zucchini, pepper, tomato, corn, eggplant. As I already said, it rocked my world. The chef in me couldn’t keep from trying to reproduce it on my own. I think I did a pretty smashing job (see comparison photos above), and I’ve made it twice since. It’s a bit of work, but if you get the ragu cooking and then do the zucchini, the dish comes together in about an hour. I also do a vegan version, subbing tofu mashed with pesto for the feta. A nice crusty loaf of bread is nice accompaniment - perfect for sopping up the ragu.

I’ve been taking photos of food for a while now, not so much to lose weight, but simply because I like taking pictures and I love food and it’s a great way to remember what I eat. Now, a new study suggests that this habit may actually be more effective than a written food diary for weight loss.

From the New Scientist:

[Researchers] at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told 43 people to record what they ate for one week in words and as pictures.

When they quizzed the volunteers, photo diaries seemed to be the most effective. Not only did they provide powerful visual documentation of snack binges, they also triggered critical evaluation at just the right time - before the food was eaten. “I had to think more carefully about what I was going to eat because I had to take a picture of it,” was a typical response.

In contrast, written diaries are often completed long after the meal and do not create as powerful a reminder of the quantity and quality of the food that was eaten.

At the moment, I only take pictures of my food if it’s really yummy or pretty and I can be bothered. But I love the idea of doing this all the time, for every meal, so I can have a historical account of my eating habits over time. I think it’d be interesting to correlate what I’m eating with my mood, and to see how the types of food I eat changes with the seasons and my ever-changing tastes.

Does anyone else do this? I think I’m going to start!

Snap-happy dieters reap benefits [New Scientist]

Zucchini (or courgettes as they call them here in merry England) are abundant this time of year. These vegetables are easy to go grow and can get HUGE if not picked early.

Word to wise shoppers: the smaller, younger zucchini have more flavor. Look for firm, heavy zucchini with bright glossy skin.

If you’re trying to cut down on calories, zucchini is a great food to add to your veggie table. They have a high water content (>95%) and so are very low in calories. Zucchini is also a source of folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C.

What to do with all this zucchini? eattheseasons has a sad-but-true observation:

In cafés and simple restaurants across the UK, courgettes are frequently (mis)used to make a poor excuse of a ratatouille or the sort of unappetizing vegetable ‘lasagne’ only ever eaten by desperate vegetarians with no other menu choice.

It’s so true (same can be said of risotto and goat’s cheese, the two other mainstays of vegetarian dining in Britain). But zucchini doesn’t have to be boring. Here are a few tasty ideas for tackling the zucchini glut:

Stuff em

Take a zucchini, scoop out the seeds, stuff with your favorite ingredients, and bake it til it’s done. Easy.

Need some stuffing ideas? Check out the urban vegan’s 50 ways to stuff zucchini.

Steam em’

On it’s own, steamed zucchini is a little bland. But you can liven them up with some herbs and spices. Take care not to steam too long or else they become a soggy mess!

• Steamed Zucchini with garlic and olive oil
• Sesame Steamed Zucchini

Make soup

• Bryanna’s Delicious Zucchini Bisque
• Sunny Summer Squash Soup
• Curried Zucchini Soup

Stir fry

Stir-fried zucchini makes a quick, easy accompaniment to any meal.

Image: zucchini, bell pepper and corn stir-fried with olive oil, cumin seeds, salt and pepper. Served with enchiladas and black beans - yum!

Grate

Simple but delicious pasta dish: grate zucchini and stir fry with garlic and olive oil. Toss with pasta and top with parmesan cheese. SO good.

Grated zucchini is also delicious raw with salads.

Grill

Zucchini’s a great on the grill. All you need is salt, pepper and a healthy dose of olive oil. I like a sprinkle of cumin seeds, as well - very good with Mexican food.

• Grilled Zucchini with garlic, oregano and rosemary
• Grilled Zucchini with lemon, chili, basil and mint
• Easy Grilled Zucchini

with Italian salad dressing

Make fritters

• Zucchini Fritters at limes & lycopene
• Courgette Fritters with Tomato and Feta Salsa
• Zucchini Patties
• Zucchini Corn Fritters
• Courgette and Potato Cakes with Mint and Feta

Eat them raw

I already mentioned grated zucchini over a salad. Here’s a couple other ideas:

• Stuffed courgette rolls
• Courgette salad

Marinate

Marinating zucchini in lemon juice gives it a lightly-cooked, al dente texture.

Marinated courgette salad with pine nuts & parmesan

Make Lasagna

I suspect you could make a no-pasta lasagna with strips of zucchini “noodles” instead of lasagna. But that wouldn’t be lasagna, would it? Why not a tasty tray of the real thing?

Creamy courgette lasagna

Bake it

• Courgette Tomato and Gruyre Gratin
• Zucchini Parmesan
• Sesame Parmesan Zucchini
• Baked Zucchini with Tomatoes
• Baked Zucchini Chips
• Nat’s Oven Baked Zucchini Chips

Ratatouille

No, not the Pixar movie. This Provencal stew is a delicious way to enjoy this season’s zucchini, eggplant, green peppers and tomato.

Delia’s Ratatouille

Don’t forget about zucchini bread

Or CAKE for that matter!

• Heidi’s “Special” Zucchini Bread
• Mom’s Zucchini Bread
• Chocolate zucchini cupcakes
• Chocolate & zucchini cake

Your turn: what do you do with zucchini? Post your ideas and recipes in the comments!

A reader sent me a link to this article in the times:

Evolutionary Fitness: the diet that really works

It’s about the diet and fitness regime espoused by 71-year old Arthur De Vany, who “has the physique of a very fit young man and the springy, energetic demeanour of somebody who has cracked most of life’s outstanding problems.” His “Evolutionary Fitness” concept draws on many qualities of the “Paleolithic Diet”, based on the diet of early man. He’s trying to create a lifestyle that blends our “primal natures” with the reality of modern life.

People in the wild – isolated tribes – do not get fat and neither do other omnivores and predators. But, of course, they die younger. We can’t drop the comforts and protection of modernity. But we can fight its sugary seductions.

His diet is heavy on meat, vegetables, fruits and exercise. Sounds interesting. Sound, at the very least, based on REAL food and our real potential as human beings who, at one point in our evolutionary history, were fit because we had to be. Still, I don’t know about this whole thing. There are a few strange habits of primal man that Arthur embraces, habits I would think we’d be happy to leave to the Neanderthals:

“Don’t eat three square meals a day. Skip meals now and then. Work towards an extended overnight period of no eating. This means eat sometime before you sleep and don’t be in a hurry to eat breakfast… Do not fear hunger. Nothing but good will come of it, but it must be episodic, not chronic.”

Given his stance on vegetarianism, I can’t say I would ever follow the way of Arthur, but I do think it’s interesting. It may not be for me, but it’s worth some consideration. There are some bits of wisdom there that everyone can take away:

“First, everybody over-trains. Don’t do it. Don’t trudge away on a treadmill, count sets or repetitions, or work out according to a top-down Soviet model. You will hate it and it does not produce results. You must let it happen. You must have a playful, intermittent form of exercise. And you must exercise. The benefits are profound…”

If you do click through to the article, I should add that I’m not posting it because the article is particularly well written: the journalist is an ass-kisser who makes me want to puke. But the concept is interesting. I’ll give him that!

Your thoughts? Post em’ in the comments!

Evolutionary Fitness: the diet that really works
Aurthor De Vany’s website