The Logic of Eating

Loggin like a couple of loggers! Smoothie (same ol’). Salad with mixed greens+kale, almonds (for vit E), raisins, and walnuts (for omega 3’s), with a delightful dressing made from garlic, tahini, mustard, dates, and a few almonds. Meal prepped chili and white bean n’ greens soup. And the highlight! …chickpea pasta Mac and cheese with a slightly different cheese sauce made of cashews, potatoes, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and spices. 

   Let me explain our methodology a bit better. Nobody wants to track their food every day. If most of us who have never tracked our micros did, we would realize that, even with the inclusion of meat in our diet, we are far more deficient in certain nutrients than we realize. For example, omega 3’s are this regular point of criticism against a plant based diet, when 70-90% of the Americans consuming animal products aren’t consuming an adequate amount. However, by simply eating 1-2 tablespoons of flax/day, or a handful of walnuts, your needs are covered. 

   Instead, you can track what you need, as we have on whole foods, and then build meal building blocks, knowing what has what, and roughly the stuff you need each day to stay within recommended intakes. That’s why, since we missed out on some of our greens yesterday, we packed in a big giant bowl today. It’s also why we were topping our salad with almonds, since Vit E is harder to come by. And it’s why tomorrow we’ll be packing in a sweet potato, since I know (without tracking) that, given what I’ve eaten today, I probably didn’t get the recommended amount of Vit A; didn’t have the carrots I thought we did for the salad.

   Most of our deficiencies, the hardest stuff to get, isn’t the protein or minerals from the animal products. That’s abundant in legumes and cruciferous vegetables. It’s the other stuff in our nuts, seeds, fruits, and veggies that most of us are lacking. Tracking what you eat is a big eye opener.