I'm Shirley, a non-CR wife of a dedicated CR husband, Bob.
(I say "dedicated" because on many prime yard-work weekends,
Bob is busy "working" on his CR website!)
"Bob, I've got the rakes!"
"Sorry honey, I'm busy working on the computer."
Anyway, I say I'm a non-CR spouse but, truth be told, I've adopted
a lot of my husband's food habits. By the way, Bob is slim, trim,
in very good health and is just a wonderful guy. For a male
over 60, he stays active and recently won three medals in 5-k races.
His blood work and tests are all excellent, with low pulse rate and
great blood pressure readings (until I'm driving the car!).
He has been on CR for over four years now.
So how did the CR transformation take place for Bob?
Years ago I noticed his ballooning
weight problem. His slack's size had risen from size 32 to size 34
and I was nervously shopping around for the next size up--a 36.
(He let's me buy his slacks and trusts in my clothing judgment--poor guy.)
I didn't dare mention weight issues but I was really worried that his
health could be compromised.
We now know that extra belly fat is predictive of health problems
and I was fearful that this was where Bob was headed. When I
mentioned that I was considering a size 36 pair of slacks for him
something
just clicked in Bob's brain. He began weeks of researching for the best
and
most nutritious way to lower weight (without drugs) while maintaining
good health
and longevity. He subsequently found the CR diet, read many books on the
subject, and became
a convert. He became a member of the CR Society and discussion list as
well.
Bob's sudden CR conversion threw me into a panic. I had been no slouch
when it came to nearly-healthy cooking--mostly a plant-based diet
with plenty of fruits and vegetables. After all, I was a child of the
60's
and used to make my own tofu from my family-farm soybeans.
But I was thrown into a quandary of "what to cook?"
Bob would only nibble at the desserts I made--even healthy muffins, loaf
cakes, etc.
He asked that I not use so much oil, even canola or olive, in my recipes.
He wanted to know ingredients and measurements for each recipe I
cooked. He hovered around me at the stove, just to see what I was
doing. He bought canned oysters (whoa--what a smell) just because they
were
high in zinc. He told me that two Brazil nuts would take care of my
daily seleniun needs.
In short, he was driving me nuts! However, I love the guy
and was proud that he took his health and our family's well-being
seriously.
So I learned how to cook the CR way.
What is the CR way of cooking? Well, for us, it's primarily
recipes
that are mostly low-fat plant-based with little added oil--or recipes
that I've modified
to these principles. The overriding principal is that the foods must
be nutritious
and nutrient dense; the daily meals should provide 100% of your daily
nutrient needs.
So I renewed my efforts to lightly saute or steam kale or spinach
instead of less-
nutritious greens. Avocados and coconuts, high in fat, were served only
infrequently.
The recipes were primarily vegetarian, minus fatty cheese,
with a few servings of fish,
mainly salmon, a few times a week.
We both stopped using cow's milk sometime ago and use rice milk instead.
My recipes feature complex carbohydrates--whole grains, legumes, some nuts and seeds, and a wide variety of
fruits
and vegetables. There is no white flour, white rice, white sugar, head
lettuce, french fries, soda, etc.--the so-called junk foods
that are epidemic in our society. To be honest, after adapting to this eating
style, I almost can't cope with the cloying sweetness and fat of cheesecake,
pies, and other high-calorie desserts. My taste buds have completely changed.
With CR cooking, I modify recipes with wholesale abandon. For example, if recipes call for
butter--I use canola or olive oil--and even cut back to a minimal amount
of these oils.
If recipes call for cream or milk, I use regular rice milk, or use a
vegetable stock instead.
Eggs are used very sparingly--and usually the white without the yolk. I
make an incredible
number and variety of stews, soups, casseroles, baked dishes, etc
usually whole
grain and bean-based with added vegetables. Roasted vegetables are a
favorite. Nothing fancy, just tasty and filling.
Dessert is almost always fresh or frozen fruit. (I picked 9 gallons of
blue berries this summer at "The
"Berry Patch" south of Kansas City and we serve these throughout fall &
winter.)
Spices and herbs play a big part in flavoring my dishes and I use a lot
of my own
home-grown herbs, frozen for later use. Indian and Asian cuisines have
become favorites
and are incorporated very prominently into our meals. Just last night I
tried a new recipe:
red lentil curry with apricots & raisins--incredibly simple and easy
with a wonderful flavor.
I learned a lot about modifying recipes by reading books from three well-known
physicians/surgeons
who advocate for better-health through diet: Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Dean
Ornish, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.
While our country is awash in deteriorating health and heavy
pharmaceutical usage, these
pioneers are quietly reversing heart disease, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, and diabetes type II
primarily through diet. What we eat does matter. So go to your local
library, bookstore, or Amazon.com
and read the latest books written by these guys. This is a lot cheaper
than $40,000 open-heart surgery.
But I digress . . . Of course, there are quirks to Bob's CR practice that I've come to
accept as inevitable.
Bob uses a light-weight, Salter-brand scale to measure his food--a
birthday present I got him several years ago.
(See, I'm learning!) The scale easily weighs food with dual readings to
500 grams or 16 ounces.
He weighs every and all food he eats. Someday, in the afterlife, he
will shift to his earthly
habit, not that it would matter anymore, and ask St. Peter for a food
scale!
Bob will casually predict that an apple weighs 225 grams then gleam with
pride that he
guessed correctly. I'm bombarded with this info. In fact, his favorite
game is "guess how much
this weighs?" I now know that five grapes weigh about one gram while an
average plum weighs 90 grams.
An orange? But, of course, 200 grams. I'm getting better at this--but
my life would be fine without this minutia.
However, Bob is intent on promoting his CR adventures, so I
acquiesce. After all, he doesn't drink,
smoke, gamble, carouse with other women, or drive over 60 mph, so he
needs some sort of crazy vice.
Another thing that is maddening at first--little slips of paper start
showing up everywhere.
These are "recording sheets" where Bob scratches out the date, what he
ate, and the food's weight in grams.
A typical sheet would outline his entire daily food intake. These
little sheets multiple like rabbits--I find them on the kitchen counter,
in the bathroom, on the family room coffee table, on the clothes dryer,
in his shirt pockets before
laundering. I've learned to corral them and herd them into one kitchen
drawer--until Bob can faithfully record his food intake for the sake of science.
In fact, as I was cleaning behind the couch today, I found July 14,
2007! (Note to Bob--do you know what you ate on July 14, 2007?)
Truth be known though, it's actually fun to annoy Bob and sabatoge his
efforts. What fun when I secretly
add this to his recording sheet: "whipped cream donut"--1 million grams or
"deep-friend twinkie"--2 gajillion grams.
I know, I know. We're two wild and crazy people!
.
On the serious side, Bob's CR efforts have opened a whole new world of
information for me.
I've been an academic reference and research librarian for many years now
and I know the difference between health information obtained from Joe's
Garage on Google versus
using the reliable Medline (a database of 5,000+ international medical journals). I'm an
incredible skeptic and I've got
to see the valid research. Bob uses "Nutritiondata.com" for most of
his nutrient research and I find myself using
this site more and more to check on nutrition. Bob get's CR-related
alerts sent from Google Health
News (as a quick way to gauge what over 4,500 worldwide newspapers are
writing about); he also gets weekly automatic alerts from Medline that
report newest CR research. Of course, he actively participates in the
CR discussion board
and discusses interesting research with me. I've learned so much; I
feel as if I actually know many of you-- his "CR family."
You're all to be commended for trying to improve your health and
longevity.
So I'm a CR spouse and I've learned to live with it. Maybe until Bob
celebrates his 130th birthday?