Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s modern media-influence, or maybe it’s simply the opportunity to do so right now, but I’m trying to eat a little bit more healthy these days while also cutting down on alcohol consumption. Though I still enjoy my burgers, pizzas and chocolate, I now also consume a lot more salads and drink a lot of smoothies (which, in turn, are made of vegetables and fruit). People say I’ve lost weight but it may also be because I tend to go to the gym quite a bit when we go on business trips (though not as often when we stay in Beijing.)
Why this switch?
Well, for one, my job requires sitting down for much of the day and I recall that the last time I had a sit-down job I gained some poundage while also seeing how other employees looked who had been there for years. I refuse to go down that same path. To be sure, the switch was gradual, and there was some resistance, but once I got into the swing of things, it got a whole lot easier.
I usually have salads for lunch because they have the added benefit of not putting me to sleep. If I have the typical lunch box that our workplace offers, it comes with a large helping of white rice and then I find myself getting drowsy in the afternoon. It’s not just rice, it’s most carbohydrate-heavy foods (such as buns) or heavy meats (such as beef). Chicken seems to be okay, but it’s not always available at the breakfast buffet.
I did have trouble convincing myself that salads could and would fill me up, even more so that they were viable as a meal unto themselves. This may sound like a no-brainer but when you think of salad, what do you think of? I think of John Pennette’s quote “Salad isn’t food. Salad is a promisary note of food to come.” (He later died of a heart attack at a young age and after trying to drop some weight.) I still kinda agree with him, though.
But then I started ordering salads at restaurants and seeing how they put them together and I noticed that salads don’t have to be boring, nor do you have to eat the same salad all the time. These are some of the salads I’ve had at various restaurants:
(To be fair, my homemade salads look nothing like this!)
So I attribute most of my weight loss to this simple change in eating habits. I usually bring a leak-proof container with me on our trips so I can grab a salad from the breakfast buffet and do my best to mimic what I’ve seen in restaurants. The one handicap I have in my situation is that not all of the breakfast buffets we have offer the same choice of foods, so it can be difficult to properly reconstruct something I’ve seen in a restaurant before. Further, for evening meals, I try to stay away from the Western food menu (it usually contains hamburgers and pizzas) and also try to stay away fom the beers while on the road. Once I’m back in Beijing, however, I’ll visit the local burger shop.
I don’t have anything wrong with any of these foods that a lot of people call “junk” (and I almost disagree with that label) but for me, personally, I don’t want the calories and, really, if I don’t need these things then I can also do without them. I don’t foresee myself becoming a vegan or anything like that, far from it, I’m willing to eat just about anything, but in moderate amounts.
What was the influence?
Actually, several of my colleagues. There is one guy in particular who’s over fifty and running triathelons, but it’s not like I want to be just like him, lol, no. I am a proponent of making a sustainable live for myself, so even when I was lifting heavy, it didn’t make sense to keep going heavier because, well, it wasn’t sustainable. I just wanted to see how heavy I could lift. (I topped out at a 170kg deadlift one time and have benched my weight before, and I’m fine with those accomplishments.)
So, too, with this eating thing. The guy I mentioned above eats very well and is always very active, but his goals are a little bit different than mine. I do want to be a little bit more sustainable in my eating choices, but I don’t need to be running triathlons or even marathons. I’m not trying to compare here but I think it’s necessary to take a lot of health advice (or anything for that matter) in context.
Do I get sick of salads?
Oh fuck ya. Lol. I’ve noticed myself saying to my colleagues “Great. Another fucking salad,” from time to time. I’m not sure if that’s because I want to ward off the commentary that can come with eating healthy or because I’m just getting sick of salads. Probably both.
But all that being said, what can go into a salad? Here are some of the ingredients in the salads that I’m eating (and not always making them myself!):
- lettuce (of course)
- shredded carrots
- cheese (mild, gouda, parmesean, feta)
- salmon
- grilled chicken
- kalamata olives
- red, green and yellow peppers
- legumes (walnuts, sunflower and sesame seeds, almonds, cashews)
- and, for dressing, I’m often using olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
So is my breakfast the same?
Hell no. For breakfast I’m hitting the scrambled eggs and bacon, French toast with syrup sometimes, and then two glasses of fruit juice, oatmeal and yogurt. And for a mid-day snack I’m taking fruit or granola bars with me. And if I’m in Beijing (no breakfast buffet at my apartment), then it’s usually a smoothie or some oatmeal and yogurt.
And how about those smoothies?
Well, the smoothie idea came from the fact that I wasn’t eating enough vegetables and fruits while in Beijing and, honestly, chewing so much just bothers me. So, instead of trying to eat so many servings of whatever health foods you’re supposed to, I did what seems to be the popular thing to do these days: blend them all together. And I’m not regretting it at all.
What goes into these smoothies? Again, here’s a list:
- Lots of vegetables (lettuce, broccoli, some Chinese spinach, cucumbers)
- Chia and sesame seeds
- plain yogurt
- honey or maple syrup (believe me, without this, it’s like drinking liquid grass)
- Fruit (watermelon, oranges, kiwi, mango (but this one is difficult to cut up), pineapple (again, difficult to cut up), and bananas
- Oatmeal
- Water or fruit juice (usually orange or grapefruit) as a base. Milk for some types of shakes.
- Sometimes peanut butter with chia seeds or other grains
- Sometimes goji berries, but not often.
- (Fav recipe so far is banana, peanut butter, oatmeal, yogurt, chocolate powder. This is my all-natural “protein” smoothie.)
I’ve noticed that bananas help cut some of the sour-ness or dull-ness of some of the other ingredients. I usually put yogurt in most smoothies which pretty much means I need to put maple syrup or honey in as well. Without those sweetners, most of these smoothies would be difficult to drink. It’s taken a few months and a few mouth-cringing mistakes to get the proportions right, but they’re getting better.
The point is to hit as many servings as I can of vegetables especially. I have no problem with fruit but it’s vegetables that I often lack, and so these smoothies help in that regard.
And so that’s one thing I’ve been focusing on lately, simply eating better. I’m not aiming for 100%, nah, I’m not interested and for me it’s not sustainable. I will do my best to eat more greens and maybe cut down the number of beers I have, but I’m not eliminating or even doing a full change. No way. Life is too short not to have chocolate and IPAs!
And for those of you who want or need, here are some more pics of salads!
