Are Baby Boomers Set in Their Ways?

Raise your hand if you are a Baby Boomer and you are not set in your ways?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  But maybe, as Baby Boomers who expect to live for another 20-30 years and want to be healthy enough to enjoy that time, we need to re-think our diet.

I have another work colleague (my age) who is trying (and succeeding) in losing 25 lbs. by counting calories and eating chemical-laden protein bars and an apple for lunch.  His motivation is to lose some weight around his middle before his European vacation and to use the new calorie-counting app on his phone.  As I said, he has succeeded so far, but at what cost to his health?  Anyone who has yo yo dieted for most of their adult life will know that no diet works if you can't sustain it.  As soon as you get sick of protein bars and start eating real food again, back comes the weight, the spare tire and the physical effects of being overweight. 

Being the Paleo Granny I, of course, tried to show him the error of his ways and lead him to the Paleo lifestyle.  But, even though he has seen what it has done for me mentally and physically over the past year, he was determined to count calories the old-school way.  See...set in his ways.

Here in British Columbia we have some commercials running that compare a senior citizen who eats well and exercises to someone who doesn't and is spending the last ten years of their life hooked up to tubes and machines in a care home or a hospital. Which one would you want?

If you are looking for more hard science behind the success of the Paleo movement, you should get the book Primal Body Primal Mind which I reviewed in an earlier blog.  If you are looking for some easy to read science about Paleo, I have found several articles which are easy to read and address the issue of the Paleo diet and older people. 

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-for-seniors/
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2012/09/do-the-elderly-need-paleo-more-than-the-young/
http://www.blogher.com/does-paleo-diet-work-older-women-0
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/04/08/the-paleo-diet-debunked/

Speech over - now onto my favourite topic - food.

(Primal) Sweet Potato Kale Meatza
(Serves 2-4 depending on how hungry everyone is)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. Magic Mushroom Powder or your favourite pizza seasoning
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
2 large kale leaves, stem removed and shredded into smallish pieces
1/2 cup shredded raw cheese of your choice (I used a cheddar)
1/4 cup (or more if you like) nutritional yeast (this gives you the cheesy taste without a lot of cheese)
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1. Combine the ground beef, eggs and Magic Mushroom Powder or other seasoning in a medium size bowl, and mix well.
2. Press the mixture into a pizza pan, creating an even layer as possible.
3. Bake for 15 minutes.
4. Steam the sweet potato slices in the microwave for 3 minutes to get them par-cooked.
5. Depending on the type of ground beef you use, you may want to drain off some of the fat at this stage.
6. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.
7. Sprinkle the shredded cheese and the nutritional yeast over the meatza crust.
8. Arrange the steamed sweet potato slices over the cheese.
9. Sprinkle the kale pieces over the potato slices.
10. Bake the pizza for another 15 minutes.
11. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the top.
12. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to reabsorb the juices (or eat right away if you are really hungry).

Paleo Grandad gave this 4 bacon slices out of 5 - he's a tough marker.  I thought it was tasty and will make a great lunch tomorrow for work.