A Day In The Food Of...

As someone in his 30s I now give more consideration to what I eat than I once did. Back in the day I could have Hungry Jacks for lunch and Red Rooster for dinner and feel just fine. Now if I do the same thing I am left feeling somehow queezy. More generally I have become aware of all the calls in the media and mass culture for us to live more healthy lives. I only go some of the way to answering that call.

I lack the patience to monitor the calloric content or nutritional value of what I eat. I simply cannot be bothered. What I do try to do is observe some basic criteria in selecting food. These criteria include variety and what follows is a description of what I eat in a standard day. Of course there is no such thing as a standard day but I have deliberately chosen a work day because the routines of a working day impose patterns onto other behaviours during such a day.

Breakfast: A bowl of muesli that is mostly oats but also has any or all of linseed, sunflower seed, almond, coconut, and sultana. This is partly submerged in soy milk (I honestly like some brands of this stuff). I also have a glass of orange juice on the side (I like it pulpy).

Morning Tea: 250ml of iced coffee flavoured milk (gotta have it).

Lunch: Four slices of toasted rye. One slice I have just with butter to savour that fantastic toasted rye taste. On the other slices I have Vegemite, Philadelphia light cream cheese, and peanut butter (salt-free sugar-free smooth - I have to be the only person in the world that likes smooth). I also have a mini-tub of apple puree and a glass of water (I drink water at other times if thirsty).

Afternoon Tea: 250ml of iced coffee flavoured milk
(still gotta have it).

Dinner: A plate of kangaroo and macadamia stir fry on a bed of risoni (which is wheat pasta made to look like rice) with any or all of minced garlic, capsicum, carrot, baby corn, button mushrooms, bamboo shoots, sundried tomatos, pinenuts and chives. With this I have a glass of Bickfords lime cordial.

Notice how variety comes into play with me having a different kind of grain at each meal and so on. I think it is a pretty decent mix but as it is only a standard day there is a lot that is hidden from this inventory.

I am lucky in that aspects of my life have forced healthy behaviours on me. As a public-transport using suburbanite I walk a lot every day (the weekly swim is more done to maintain that skill than to make me fit). I am also lucky to have a metabolism that keeps me relatively slim (the customary slowing of my metabolism in the late 20s has turned a thin person into a merely slimish one). However as that metabolism slows further I will have to make changes. Will I have to exercise more? If so I hope I can find ways that are passingly interesting (maybe more swimming). Will I have to cut back on food? All the things I have listed (and many other things besides) are just so nice! Now I'm feeling hungry...