12.4 Food Intake at Age 75

The table be­low shows my calo­rie in­take on a typ­i­cal day in 2013.

My break­fast on most days is as de­scribed. Some­times I sub­sti­tute blue­ber­ries for the ba­nana. Oc­ca­sion­al­ly Mary Ann will make an Egg Beaters omelet with hash browns and toast.

My lunch is usu­al­ly a cup of co­coa and a ba­nana sand­wich. Oc­ca­sion­al­ly I will eat lunch at Sub­way. I get a foot long Veg­gie Delite with wheat bread, no cheese, and all the veg­e­ta­tion ex­cept pick­les, jalapenos, and ba­nana pep­pers.

A ba­nana sand­wich may seem like an ec­cen­tric choice for lunch. The his­to­ry of this goes back to the Se­cond World War. I was born in 1938, just be­fore the war start­ed. Food was scarce dur­ing the war. I al­ways got enough to keep me healthy, but the va­ri­ety was scant. After the war, trade restart­ed and more foods be­came avail­able.

When I was sev­en or eight I had my first ba­nana. I had nev­er tast­ed any­thing like it be­fore. It was love at first bite. Un­like oth­er foods of child­hood, I nev­er lost my taste for ba­nanas.

The va­ri­ety in my diet comes main­ly from din­ner. Both Mary Ann and I cook and we have a wide range of recipes. My din­ners are most­ly veg­e­tar­i­an, sal­ads, or based on shell­fish or turkey sausage. Mary Ann’s are chick­en, pork ten­der­loin, sal­ads, and fish. We drink wa­ter with din­ner.

My late night snack is var­ied. Usu­al­ly it in­cludes ei­ther fat free choco­late pud­ding or yo­gurt. There is also one or two serv­ings of fruit. In sea­son, I will have cher­ries on most nights. Other nights I might have a pear, a plum, an or­ange or some grapes. I may have three prunes in­stead of, or as well as, the oth­er fruit.

My al­co­hol in­take is usu­al­ly a care­ful­ly mea­sured 6.4 fl. oz. of red wine. On so­cial oc­ca­sions, or when I eat out, I may have a light beer also.

If my weight is start­ing to creep up, I am care­ful to keep my din­ner por­tion to its prop­er size, and I give up one of my late night fruit snacks. This, and be­ing ex­tra rig­or­ous with my ex­er­cise pro­gram, is all I need to get rid of the ex­cess two or three pounds.

Break­fast

Calories Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
18 fl. oz. skim milk 204 1.4 19.7 0.0 293
1.4 oz. All Bran Original 102 1.4 5.6 14.0 102
1.35 oz. granola with almonds 162 3.8 6.0 2.7 14
1 medium banana 105 0.4 1.3 3.1 1
1 heaping teaspoon Metamucil 10 0.0 0.0 3.0 5
1 cup tea, no cream or sugar 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 9
Total breakfast 585 7.0 32.6 22.8 424

Lunch

Calories Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
11 oz. skim milk 114 0.5 10.9 0.0 162
2 teaspoons pure cocoa 8 0.5 0.7 1.2 0
2 packets Splenda 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0
2 slices whole wheat bread 200 3.0 8.0 6.0 210
1 large banana 121 0.4 1.5 3.5 1
Total lunch 443 4.4 21.1 10.7 373

After­noon snack

Calories Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
1 can diet coke 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 40
1 sugar free chocolate 32 2.6 0.4 0.8 2

Din­ner

Calories Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
Half of:
35 oz. can tomatoes 125 0.6 3.5 7.0 228
two 10 oz. can baby clams 88 1.0 5.0 0.0 725
1 teaspoon olive oil 11 2.3 0.0 0.0 0
3 cloves garlic 6 0.0 0.0 0.1 1
5 oz. red wine, reduced 17 0.0 0.0 0.0 7
4.75oz.(dry) pasta 275 2.4 7.0 2.0 68
Spices: (parsley, oregano, pepper) 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0
Total dinner 522 6.3 15.5 9.1 1,029

After din­ner

Calories Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
12 oz. can non-alcoholic beer 60 0.0 0.0 0.0 7
7 fl. oz. wine (13% alcohol) 180 0.0 0.0 0.0 10
Total after dinner 240 0.0 0.0 0.0 17

Late night snack:

Calories Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
.5 cup chocolate pudding 131 3.7 6.1 0.7 192
3 prunes 58 0.0 0.5 1.7 0
Total late night snack 189 3.7 6.6 2.4 192
Total for the day 2,011 24.0 76.2 45.8 2,077

 

Cho­co­late pud­ding/al­mond snack

Calories Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
4 almonds (0.16 oz) 26 2.2 1.0 0.6 0
4 oz. skim milk 45 0.3 4.4 0.0 65
Chocolate pudding mix 30 0.0 0.0 0.0 110
1/6th can Fat free Reddi-wip 30 1.2 0.7 0.1 17
Total 131 3.7 6.1 0.7 192

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