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Feeding the Beast
Who knew sitting at a desk requires so much energy. But what kind of energy you use impacts the bottom line.
In other words, the food you eat impacts your waistline.The past few weeks I’ve changed my diet. Instead of eating toast, a bagel or english muffin for breakfast, I eat a omelet with vegetables and cheese (the -let in omelet). Not that I needed to lose much weight, but protein and no carbs in the AM helps regulate blood sugar later in the day, impacts the waistline and provides a needed boost of energy to help you face your morning of work. This is especially important if you are out in the field on your feet. All a lot of donuts, muffins or bread in the morning will do is make you tired faster, and in the long run, fatter faster.
Well that’s my opinion, it seems to be working.
I sauté some sliced mushrooms and yellow squash in olive oil and nonstick cooking spray. It took a while to wean myself off butter or butter substitute.
I used to wonder how anyone could go through a 36 pack of eggs from Costco unless they ran a diner. Well if you use 1 yolk for every 4 to 5 whites, you are staying healthier than having multiple whole eggs, and you use a lot of eggs. It is a lot cheaper than buying those cartons of egg whites mixed with chemicals. A good value is good for you!
Whisk the eggs, add to the cooked veg and you’re off to the races.
So why have I done a post about food in a Business forum? Because staying healthy and energized makes you better at your job. That’s the most important part of being in business – being able to do your job at peak performance to best serve your customers.
So with tasty breakfast in hand I can sit down for a relaxing half hour before getting in the car. I have two choices – watch Matt Lauer pretend to be a journalist, or switch on the TiVo and get inspired. Easy choice.
Thanks for eating.Let’s hear about how you feed the beast.
Mike Cohen
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14 Replies
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My favorite is the “Astronaut breakfast”, which is generally steak and eggs. I don’t do that too often anymore though.:-) But because my daddy worked at Quaker Oats for a number of years, for a decade or so it was Quaker instant oatmeal with raisins and cinamon spice; the rasins are the quick, immediate energy burst, the oatmeal, a long-endurance energy source follow-up, and said to lower cholesterol. Bit tame, but fast and easy to do in the morning, awesome during cold months.
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Thanks for making me hungry all over again! For breakfast, I most often eat a bowl of oat groats (cooked in the rice cooker) with rice milk. On weekends it’s whole wheat pancakes or waffles. A lot of carbs, but I love carbs. Homemade whole wheat bread, fresh from the oven, with butter and honey –it doesn’t get any better than that. I grind our flour myself on a bicycle hooked to a grain mill.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
I disagree; it can get much better than that, though maybe not healthier.
Home-made blueberry pierogies, boiled, then lightly sauteed in butter/margarine and served with sugar and sour cream… is pure sex on a plate. I would eat that any time, any where.
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I eat whatever the client is in the mood for.
Nature of the beast. I try to get my required 3 cheesburgers a week.
I figure I’ll get on a health kick after I die.
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I was very sad when Kalinowski’s, on Milwaukee Avenue, closed some years ago. Their plum pierogi were truly carb nirvana.
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Apples, lots of coffee and either a grapefruit or an orange help me start the morning right. But those omelets sound tasty.
Jake Williams
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Thanks for the omelet recipe – Mike! I’m long overdue for that kind of change. What do you do for lunch?
Rich
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Since you asked, the rest of the day is supposed to follow a 4 hour schedule.
An alternative for breakfast is 6oz of Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla) with a banana and a half cup of bran flakes. In the winter I live on Bob’s Red Mill hot cereal products – takes a bit longer to prepare but it is a comforting way to start the day and it makes your insides feel lovely.
Lunch 1 is a sandwich, light on the bread, heavy on the meat (turkey or ham) with cheese. It is important to get quality deli meat – lower in sodium and fat so you can eat more of it without blowing your diet.
Lunch 2 is either another sandwich, or some other protein such as tuna salad (I mean actual salad with tuna or shrimp). Honestly I usually just have one lunch around 1pm, that omelet keeps me going. Gotta try to have the elevensies and twosies this winter.
Then dinner is pick a protein – we keep frozen portions of sockeye salmon, tilapia, boneless chicken breasts and sirloin burgers – makes dinner easy, just look at the calendar. Have a hot veg with dinner – lately we have been enjoying locally grown spaghetti squash. Sirloin burger nights are sans bun + salad (lettuce, tomato, chickpeas, shredded carrot and a sprinkle of Feta cheese (salty but oh so good) and a few chopped walnuts).
If we fancy dessert, some sliced strawberries with a dollop of Greek yogurt is good. You should not eat bananas at night due to the high glycemic index.
So that’s the rest of my current eating philosophy. Next week I have 4 nights in Chicago, so all bets are off. Breakfast buffet, crappy convention center lunch and splurge for dinner. But basic principles can be adhered to .
Mike
PS – Pierogies sound good Mark.
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And what about exercise? I’m considering a Kayak – Walrus size.
Rich
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Mike-
If you’re up for a little wine with dinner:
Bin 36, 339 N Dearborn — a Nick pick for 4 star food and 5 star wines at 3 star prices. Try a “flight”: four half glasses of wines from particular categories, ie. – four different Pinot Noirs, four different South American selections, four different Cabs, etc. The flights are accompanied by their tasting notes and room to add your own. One of their more amusing recent descriptions of a huge red was “This is the taste of purple.”I’m there at least once on every trip to Chicago. Diet and live well at home. Enjoy Chicago.
Bin 36 is second only to dinner in Paso Robles, CA with Ron & Kathlyn.
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