The other day, I went through our medicine cabinet to check for expired medications and vitamin supplements. To my surprise, over 90% of the medication I found had an expiration date between 1996 and 2007 (this in Jan 2011). I decided to clear out the medication and explain to my parents that to take anything expired would be unhealthy and unsafe. I then put together a supplement list that we should be taking, including a high potency multivitamin, EFA's, Vitamin D, a green drink, and calcium (since these are the things we were lacking the most). After crunching the numbers, I found that an effective vitamin stack that ensures no holes (especially while dieting) costs between $1.50 and $2.50 cents per day. After crunching the cost of my meals every day, I was able to put together the cost of my meal plan on diet days and come in just under $10. Since most meals eaten out cost around $7-8, I figured that I was making a very reasonable meal plan that ensured I was eating healthy and keeping myself safe. There are several things that I would like to make light of in this situation:
1) Expired food, medication, and supplements will almost always cause more harm than good. Minimize the amount of food or other stored in the house to ensure greater turnover. Cans that sit in the closet and rot are not healthy. Medication that sits in the cabinet to rot will not make you better when you are sick. Minimize the risk you and your family take by eliminating unhealthy expired products.
2) The most expensive food is that which is not eaten. Spending ten dollars on fruit where only two dollars is eaten before the rest is thrown out raises the cost per fruit value. Find what works and plan ahead. Having nothing in the pantry or refridgerator can be a good thing because it minimizes the likelihood that you eat expired food or have to throw things away.
3) Especially when dieting, a high-quality multivitamin is worth it. Computing the cost of my multi and green drink, I figure that I will spend a dollar per day ensuring that my body has everything it needs to function and stay operating. If that seems like too much then consider that most soft drinks cost about a dollar, most coffee beverages cost three to four dollars and most meals eaten out cost 7-8 dollars. A $50 supplement that lasts 50 days is the most cost-effective way to stay healthy.
4) Exercise exists where it can create 80 percent of the results for most people, with only 20 percent effort. Because exercise takes often less than 5% of people's days they can find most of the results by merely working out. Getting from obese (>25%) to a normal weight (~18%) usually comes as a result of exercise. Diet is the other 80 percent of the effort, and yields the last 20 percent of the results. This 20% of results is going from a healthy weight (~18%) to an athletic weight (<10%). Each pound becomes harder than the one before it but a linear progression can still be followed down to a very low body fat.
5) The NSCA and NASM (my certification bodies) recommend the following guidelines when it comes to building a diet:
Fat: <30% daily caloric load
Protein: 10-30% daily caloric load
Carbohydrates: 50-70% daily caloric load
While these may work for most people, I have found that some people's genetics do not correspond with these figures. I have experimented with diets that have eliminated carbohydrates for periods of time, have had greater than 50% daily caloric load from fat, and have had protein hold 80% of my calories at some times. The recommendations they make are loaded with assumptions. Not only do they neglect micronutrients but fail to make a connection between hormone and insulin production within the body. Trial and error works for me. Journaling can be a valuable tool when it comes to finding your most valuable diet.
6) Lastly, much debate rages in the bodybuilding community over egg yolks vs egg whites alone. I see value with both so I have yolks and albumin when I eat eggs. This will irk the healthy guys because they see egg whites as pure protein. The protein they speak of is important but biologically, many processes occur in the body using fat to operate. Testosterone is a fat based hormone derived from cholesterol. This makes fat, including cholesterol important, especially for men. I then hear the argument for pesticide loads in egg yolks. The phenomenon they are speaking of is referred to as biomagnification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomagnification). Because most poultry is susceptible to fat soluble pesticides, I ensure that the only egg yolks that I include are from range-fed organic eggs. Problem solved? Well, its the best I can do. Use the regular eggs for the whites and the organic eggs for whole egg product.
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