All-you-can-eat is not a 1-course meal

I am sitting here in my favorite sushi joint in the SW side of Vegas. Banzai Sushi. 9700 W. Tropicana Ste. 100. I haven't been in here in 3 months because of my recovery from surgery and not working. Service is great. The staff is not fake-friendly but by no means rude. Atmosphere is bearable and the deals are sweet! I tend to eat sushi alone so I don't care for staff to be all in my face trying to make me feel better. This is my time to unwind, focus my mind on some work and type away- like many do at coffee shops. For some reason, this place is my muse for ideas to blog about!

It's Saturday and I stumbled upon their $10 all-you-can-eat special and said, why not. The place was unusually packed.... With Asians! Not the stereotypical overweight American of northern European heritage, thinking they're gonna lose weight eating "healthy" sushi. But a house full of Filipinos, Chinese & Koreans. I kind of fit in.

So this shift in their market concerns me in a good way. So I opted for the all you can eat deal. My favorite waitress (without asking) showed up with my usual diet coke and i ordered my first 2 rolls; not assuming a thing. Within 2 minutes the chef whipped out 2 HUGE rolls, about 2/3 rice and 1/3 stuffing.

** ah ha moment **

Ok, so i have 3 possible scenarios here of why my current experience is differing from my many formers (other than the economic issue- they need to get business ). Either the chef thought I was Latina and could put down ALOT of food. He does seen new. OR this was their way of filling up your tummy so that they could save on meat costs. OR they decided that they should target a more financially secure type customer (the Asians) and focus on the rice instead of meat & fatty additions.

No- not really. What I was actually thinking was how they use rice as a filler to save on costs yet still fill you up. Rice is dirt cheap, especially in Asia. And they can live off a diet of a few cups of it over there! I know- i am part Asian in case you didn't know.

It got me thinking about how in Western society, formal eating comes in phased or courses (think 4 or 5 course meal). This was one of those questions growing up that never got answered. Why do restaurants bring out food at different times? (My genius of a Dad could never answer that). I learned in college during my one favorite class, Human Metabolism, the answer and although I don't regularly think about it, I subconsciously let it dictate my eating habits in restaurants.

Obviously, there are times in history when meat and veggies are scarce, but starchy cheap carb sources were not. Wheat, barley, rye and etc., could be made into flour for bread and stored for weeks. Rice can be stored practically forever before cooked. So it would make sense to base a diet for a hard labored life in the form of dry, starchy carbs. But what's is very unique about human metabolism, is how you can use those carbs and a little bit of fat, to trick the body into eating less, storing more in fat cells, and not dwindle the food supply in case of a famine.

Ever notice how pretty much all restaurants start you off with a bread (or tortillas at Mexican joints)? Most times butter or olive oil is offered. Then you see appetizers are the first on the menu. They're all pretty fatty & starchy. You order one of those, they put your order in then you order your entree. A few minutes later, the server comes out with your appetizer and by the time you're done, a salad or soup is in your face. By the time you are done with that, the entree arrives. And if you manage to finish, dessert is offered. And boy do some restaurants know how to present those!

Now, if I actually do the bread AND appetizer, I have zero room for the entree. So I normally skip all that and order the main course, or I settle with a soup & salad.... (Lucky me. It's impossible for me to overeat at restaurants).

Anyways, this whole multiple course approach is an artistic strategy with a very valuable intent... To fill you up, stuff you full of energy to be stored, yet deplete the food supply slower than if you just dove into the pantry with a knife and fork.

There is an interesting hormone in the body called Cholecystokinin or CCK for short. It is produced & released by the duodenum (the very first portion of the small intestines). It is the hormone responsible for hunger suppression. We developed this wonderful hormone to prevent ourselves from stuffing ourselves and overloading the digestive system so that ut cannot efficiently absorb nutrients and macronutrients. Ever wonder why it takes 20 minutes for your body to realize it's full? Well, you can thank CCK for that. Imagine this hormone not kicking in on Thanksgiving... How many of you can actually see yourselves literally exploding if you didn't stop eating? Well, thank CCK for that because you actually could explode if you were ferociously hungry from starving and had no way of knowing when to stop stuffing yourself, literally! Or worse yet, it all just goes through you at lightening speed.... Yuk!

CCK is stimulated by fat & protein in chyme (the luquid product if food churn & digestion within the stonach) after fat consumption (hint, the oil or butter accompanying the bread before you order your appetizer). It's primary role is to stimulate the digestion of fat & protein. It tells the digestive system to slow down in order to efficiently digest fat.

((Somehow your ancestors figured out this process could still be initiated with just fat. And replaced the protein with bread or some other starchy carb.))

So here you are, it's the 1600s. Mom is finalizing your entree while you are chowing down on bread and butter; all awhile, CCK is starting it's trek through your system. Then reach over and fill your plate with yummy salad greens (useless space filler for your tummy). Then out comes an appetizer; it's a few slices of dried meat concoction from Dad's last hunting trip. CCK is now telling your body to take the fat from the bread & butter course, process it and store it. But not settling just yet; it has to make it through the main course. Keep in mind the time from the bread & butter to when the main course arrives should be about 20 minutes, if mama is on the ball!

By the time the main course arrives, you should start to feel full and unable to eat much. The main or 4th course is where you will be receiving your more easy to rot or scarce foods like meat or seasonal vegetables.

So now that you are feeling full, your CCK levels are starting to drop due to a new hormone called Somatostatin. This hormone also inhibits TSH and hGH.... HELLO! now that's a whole other Blog entry. Stick around to find out in the near future.

Now think about all this and how it would apply to the whopping proportions served by modern restaurants. Especially at dinner time.

Typical scenario; you arrive at ClaimThumpers table. You sit down and your waiter takes your drink order then returns with drinks and a basketfull of big bread pieces & butter or Texas Toast. You consume about 50-100 grams of carbs right there. That's just carbs; God knows how much fat. Your appetizer arrives, in proportions equivalent to main entree size portions 100 years ago. Your salad sits inns bowl untouched 'cos you just don't like rabbit food, but you ordered it anyways because it "comes with your meal". You'd rather eat the chili cheese fries. Not thinking much of it as a main course because the meat content is minute in comparison to the cheese and starch (typically, Americans do not consider it a meal unless the primary dish is a hefty cut of meat). Before CCK levels can start affecting your satiety, the main entree arrives; an 18oz steak, large baked potatoe loaded with sour cream, butter & bacon bits and a side of green beans. Yummy- so you dive mindlessly. That plate alone might contain about 100 grams of protein, 100+ grams of starchy carbs and a whopping 150+ grams of fat, and not the healthy type. Such a main course can soar over 2000 calories easily. And we haven't tallied up what the appetizer and B&B.

Now, would you really think our ancestors would have came up with this multiple- course strategy if food & time was in abundance as it is today? Probably not. But here we are, smarter and more informed than we were hundreds of years ago, applying outdated eating practices to today and you wonder why eating out is such wreck havoc on your waistline.

Think about this next time you eat out with your family. No seriously; think! Not just eat. For once, ease off on the bread & butter, actually eat the salad and skip the dressing. Eat slowly! And have your waiter put half your main course inns to-go-box or split it with your significant other. You will walk away later feeling just as satiated, you will save some money, and you will also save yourself some serious calories and add an extra day to your lifespan.

Moving soon

I am in the process of preparing for yet another surgery on my bad shoulder (yes, a mere 10 weeks after reconstructive surgery, I tore my RC again). I decided this will be a good time to transfer all my old blog entries onto my permanent website.

Go check out my new website when you get a chance
I think the change should finally be complete by end of next week or March 11, 2011. I will have a lot more versatility with that site and everything will be under one URL versus 2. I will also have the option to feature businesses in the form of advertisement if you are interested.

Also, due to the extensive recover period and all the other issues of my shoulder, I am highly considering full retirement from personal training. Quitting in-home training is inevitable, and I am looking into teaching Pilates and BootCamps instead of PT, while going back to college to pursue a Masters Degree. A lot of changes going on and I am sure it is for the better. The old me (from 2+ years ago) would be in a depression under such circumstances, but for some reason I am very excited right now

Be well
Trainer jo