The Doctor's Fridge

In my daily practice, I advise my patients to make healthy food choices.  Today, I'm going to let you peer into my kitchen.

You'll notice lots of veggies.  I shop the Sherman Oaks Farmers Market every Tuesday evening after work.  That's where I get the majority of my vegetables.  However, you'll notice the big bag of carrots, from Costco, which carries organic carrots and organic bulk greens, among other good bulk produce options.  I have a few baked sweet potatoes ready to go as well, some from the farmers market, and some organic sweet potatoes bought in bulk from Costco.

In addition to my produce, I do have a few processed items, like the soy milk that I add to my morning latte, and the almond milk for my morning smoothies.  I have some hummus from the farmers market, which is great to dip veggies in for snacks.  I have a few protein options, tofu, lentils, a lentil curry that I bought at the farmers market, and tempha which is a fermented brown rice protein from Dave's Korean, another farmers market vendor.  There are a couple of Suja juices, which are delicious to drink on the go.  And, finally, a container of pickled daikon radish from Vinh Loi Tofu, to add to my salads.

There's the inside door.  I have plenty of salad dressings, including my favorite, a miso dressing from Dave's Korean with no oil, coconut oil, tahini, almond butter, macadamia butter, a few jams, salsa, sriracha, and a couple of alcoholic ciders for an occasional celebration.

No meal that I prepare for myself takes more than ten minutes.  That's why I say that when I prepare meals, I "assemble" them, I don't cook.  Here's all my ingredients for my favorite salad:  lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, basil, cabbage, butternut squash, sweet potato, tempha (brown rice protein from Dave's Korean), carrots, avocado, daikon, and kimchi.

This is the final product, my favorite salad.  Mixed up in a big bowl, filling, colorful, delicious, and lots of nutrients.

Another evening's dinner.  I grabbed a few ingredients from the fridge, threw them in a bowl, and this creation came to be in just five minutes:  purple cabbage, extra firm tofu, sweet potato, pureed cauliflower, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce.

So there you are.  My refrigerator is an open door.  This is how I eat healthfully living on my own, working full time, with easy to prepare food.

Retired Triathlete

I've spent 10 years training and competing.  Now I'm taking a break.

My mind isn't in the endurance or the competition right now.  And I am not signed up for any races this year.  While training, I thrived on the structure of planned workouts, logging my miles and feeding back to my coach.  Now, I exercise when I want; I love that I no longer need to adhere to a schedule.

I joined Golden Road Aquatics master swim program, and you'll find me in the pool most mornings of the week.  It's great cardiovascular exercise, gentle on the joints, and it's only a mile from my Burbank office. 

I'm learning so much, improving my backstroke and breast stroke.  I can even do a reasonable butterfly stroke and not feel like a dying fish!  I have even swam in a meet.  I wasn't fast, but it was fun to dive off the blocks.

My focus right now is swimming.  But, when I'm not swimming, I'm often at Barry's Bootcamp for their hourlong workouts consisting of treadmill and floor exercises. I am there about three times a week, and that's about the extent of my running these days.  I'm also doing a little bit of yoga, and a bit of spinning, and every so often a strength training session.

My bikes and my trail shoes are gathering dust from lack of use.  And that's okay.

So, that's where I'm at -- trying to become a swimmer, and exercising for the sake of exercise.  It's awfully relaxing.  I might sign up for a triathlon in a year from now, or a road race, but for now I'm content..