As I’ve said many times, my health focus for 2024 is to eat more vegetables. I’m very interested in the research of Dr. David Greger, I *love* his books: How Not to Die, How Not to Diet, and now I’m listening to the audiobook of How Not to Age. If I were a faster reader, I’d be happy to read them and take notes – but they are “very” long books. The How Not to Age audiobook is over 24 hours long! However, they are interesting and full of research.
Dr. Gregg has a list called “The Daily Dozen” of ideal foods to include in your daily diet. I like that he said it was an ideal list and not overthinking it. (You know I’m a total overthinker.) I use this as a guide to push me in the right direction, but I don’t want to check off the entire list every day. Additionally, this list is a minimum intake. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat more than what’s on the list.
(The app is free, without any ads or subscriptions or anything. Dr. Greg’s work is non-profit because he has no hidden agenda – just a desire to learn and share facts from a wealth of research.)
On Saturday, I was ready to get out of the house. Jerry and I went to Ann Arbor to shop at the Salvation Army, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. We don’t have a TJ or WF near us, so this is an event worth going to, hahaha. We buy produce for the week as well as some weird and hard to find or unique ingredients.
Yesterday, I realized I had made it into my daily dozen! I took photos (sometimes I post memorable food photos on my private Instagram account), so I thought I’d share the day’s treats in this post. First, here’s the checklist (as you click on each item in the app, it provides more specific information). I didn’t log this into a calorie counting app, but a quick estimate of my intake for the day was about 1600 calories.
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| Breakfast is oatmeal (uncooked because that sounds better), blueberries, bananas, flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and soy milk. I usually eat Grape Nuts instead of oats, but since oats are healthier I try to eat them more often. [As far as the list, this counted as whole grains, berries, another fruit, and flaxseed] |
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| My latest obsession is cucumber hummus – I can’t get enough! That counts as one “other” vegetable and two servings of beans. |
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| Jerry bought me a few Asian pears he found and this was the last one. Normally I eat fruits like apples and pears with their skins on, but Asian pears have a harder skin, so I peel them. This is considered “other” fruit. |
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| Dinner was great! Ethiopian kale and beans from the How Not to Diet cookbook, served with red quinoa. Jerry and I both love this. In a daily dozen, this checks out legumes, whole grains, cruciferous vegetables, one “other” vegetable, and plenty of spices. I also had a small salad which was great for my leafy greens. |
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| Those are all the spices in the dish above. |
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| In the evening, I also need a serving of fruit and nuts. Normally I would have pistachios and an apple, but I was too full from dinner so I had some dates with almond butter. |
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| My B12 supplement |
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| I drank a lot of water (six 12-ounce glasses of water are recommended, and I did get that amount). This was a Christmas gift from Eli’s girlfriend Ava. This makes me feel good <3 |
As for exercise, I don’t count minutes (because that would be too much for me to think about) – I just run in the morning and then go for a walk.
I really like the Daily Dozen app; it definitely helps me think about my choices before eating. I like to add as many veggies as possible. Jerry also enjoyed the process. He started a HIIT (high intensity interval training) class yesterday. He loves HIIT and the structure of taking a class instead of doing it himself. When he got home, he said it was very humbling and made him really want to get healthier, especially when it came to his diet. Having him on board helps a lot!
