How much we spent on a month's worth of dinners, 2024 edition
My plunging metabolism and wacky bloodwork is really throwing all of my food choices into question lately.
Once in grad school, I unexpectedly found myself in an eating contest opposite a classmate, another Asian woman. What began as friendly, competitive banter in the school lounge one evening about who could eat more, ended with friends shoving food in our direction. Before I knew what was happening, I was scarfing down slices of pizza, cartons of Chinese food, meatball subs, deli sushi and god knows what else while our classmates egged us on.
I know. So classy.
Apparently, this is what tech nerds do for fun on a Friday night hanging out on the 4th floor of the NYU Tisch building.
I can’t remember who won this contest or how a winner was even determined, but I was a good four or so inches taller than my petite friend, so with everything else being equal I’d probably concede that she did. Within our mutual circle of friends, we were both infamous for our bottomless pit stomachs and our ability to eat massive amounts of food with seemingly no consequences to our health or weight. It wasn't quite the spectacle of a Coney Island hot dog eating contest, but looking back, I can't help but laugh at the memory of two skinny Asian girls competitively shoveling food in our faces as an audience of classmates gathered around to watch. Thank god phones with cameras didn’t exist yet.
Of course back then, youth was on our side. Fast forward twenty five years and my once legendary metabolism that I took for granted has turned on me. I’m reminded of it every time I look at a plate of deliciously high fat, high carb, dairy-rich, high caloric food that I would have never thought about twice even in my thirties. Every time I step on a scale at the doctor’s office I wonder how I can be nearly twenty pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy body when I basically eat half of what I used to. My metabolism is probably what I miss most from my youth and I wish it would COME BACK.
But I know it’s gone for good.
As a middle-aged adult, I’m at a much healthier weight compared to my perpetually underweight younger self, but sometimes I’m still not used to this bigger and older body of mine. Look, I know it’s been years—okay, two decades(!!)—since I’ve pushed two enormously large-headed babies through the birth canal, but I still sometimes pause at photos or catch a reflection of myself and think, wait, is that me?? It’s not even the weight gain that feels unfamiliar still, it’s just that everything is wider and much of it is concentrated in the middle. You may have heard me call it “The Thickening.”
We all know that child-bearing women get wider in the hips to support the extra weight of a pregnancy body, but the ribcage can also expand in a phenomenon referred to as rib flaring. This would explain why certain clothes that I’ve held onto from pre-pregnancy years fit tighter across the chest and old dresses are a struggle to zip up. I have no idea why I still have these relics hanging in my closet other than tracking my morbid curiosity of my body as it changes as I get older.
Wacky bloodwork and questionable food choices
About five or so years ago, my bloodwork returned with results that indicated elevated glucose and cholesterol levels. It’s been creeping up steadily since and this year, my cholesterol crossed a certain threshold across the board that got red flagged.
My note from the doctor:
Dear Jennifer (yes, I am a Jennifer; yes, I was born in the 70s),
Your LDL cholesterol should be below 100 and yours is much higher and approaching levels where medication may need to be discussed if not mitigated. This can lead to early clogging of arteries to heart and brain and may lead to heart attack and stroke.Treat high cholesterol with:
1. Limiting fatty foods, fried foods, cheese, dairy, etc.
2. High fiber diet 30-40 grams day
3. Cardio exercise of 30 minutes daily
Along with a cholesterol-lowering diet, I’ve been advised to cut back on sweets, rice, white bread, and pasta because I’m also pre-diabetes.
Okay, but…
I DON’T EVEN EAT ANY OF THESE “BAD” FOODS!!!! (that much).
Sorry for all the yelling, but it kind of pisses me off.
In fact, my daily diet is extremely repetitive and boring. I alternate between the same two breakfasts every day: a bowl of bran cereal or yogurt with homemade granola and chia seeds. I add half a cup of whatever berries are on sale at the store that week and sometimes a banana. I’ve been doing this, unwaveringly, for years.
My lunch is even more lacking in variety and excitement: usually a handful of arugula thrown in a bowl which I’m ashamed to call a “salad” with any leftover proteins I manage to forage from the fridge. If I’m being extra lame on a given day I’ll eat cereal for breakfast and yogurt for lunch. Yeah, I know. It’s pathetic and I question how I ever considered myself a foodie.
With this kind of spartan daytime diet, I have allowed myself to not be as restrictive about dinner, otherwise where is the joy in eating? Not before 6p.m. in this house apparently. Mark is pretty conscientious about making fairly healthy meals, but we’ve still got a kid at home that I continue to joke is still growing (although I’m pretty sure that the 17 year old is done at 5’11”—I think!) and we don’t want to subject her to our growing dietary limitations. She’ll be out of the house soon anyway and then we can eat all the bland and steamed food that we want :(
For research purposes, I have asked Mark to track every dinner that he’s cooked in February so I can see what suspicious foods might be elevating my cholesterol.
Paid subscribers, read on for a spreadsheet of every dinner we made, a breakdown of costs, and our total grocery bill for the month of February. Plus, my no sugar challenge, interesting art that I’ve seen, and a few links around the internet.
Free subscribers, I will see you next week. But first, here is my drawing of the week.
