Today is my dad's 85th birthday!! I was born when he was 45. Always a strong man with a strong personality. My dad worked on the docks in NYC, most of his life. Fought in WW2. I have been thinking back in time, he has had a long life and although he smoked and had heart disease as a result, he has lived a long life and experienced many things.

My dad never ate hot pockets or pizza rolls. His body worked and was rewarded with good stuff so he could work again.

I just read an article about how roughly 90 percent of nutrients in food are lost when heated in a microwave. So much today, of what we eat is a matter of convenience. Let's try to get back to what is better. Cook on the stove or the oven. Use fresh fruits and veggies. Eat a little bit from each food group each day. Use your body. Work it!! Instead of appreciating modern conveniences, let's learn from our elders. They cooked fresh and delicious food. They ate a little bit of everything. They were a much healthier generation.

I credit my dad's longevity with a few things. One is just his strong will. His determination. Then I must consider his lifetime of hard physical work and his diet. Living in the city, our food was always fresh. Mom made the daily visit to the butcher, the fruit and vegetable stand and always the bakery. Every day our meals always included a veggie, meat, starch and fruit. We had salad first, then the main dish and always finished up with fruit.

Dad never ate fast food. The fastest food was a slice of pizza at the pizzeria. Nothing came processed or pre cooked. And he was always satisfied with a little bit of everything. Even if he had a bowl of ice cream (always butter pecan), it was a scoop and he was happy.

There are things I do live without...WalMart, certain restaurants, caffeine (except in chocolate)...just to name a few, but I wouldn't know how to survive without my microwave. I remember the day our micro died and my dh was sick....I ran to the store right away to buy a new one!!!

My great aunt is 91 in December and still lives on her own..that worries us at times, but for the most part she is still going strong! She was the last of 13 children and the family stories always amaze me. I live 2 miles from where my Great grandparents raised those kids and oh, how hard they all worked. My great Aunt told me once that I have the "farming" blood running through me since I married a farm boy and we have a huge garden plus we have raised crops. I am the only one left who has a lifestyle even close to what they were raised with. We live in a 100+ year old farmhouse and it is still considered in the "country". DH and I love our home, the area we live in and we are proud to still be "country" people!!!

Happy Birthday and best wishes to your Dad, Mary Jo!

I don't use the microwave to "cook" much, except bacon and popcorn, and I doubt either have many nutrients to be vaporized. I do occasionally nuke a potato but I actually prefer them baked in the oven. I mostly use the microwave to reheat, for short term defrosting (i.e., 18 seconds to defrost a ww English muffin), to heat up water for tea, etc. I rarely have anything in the microwave for over 3-5 minutes cuz I'm usually doing single portions.

Almost all of my actual meals are cooked on the stovetop, in the oven, or on the grill. I have started using MUCH more in the way of fresh ingredients and MUCH less in the way of processed foods since I started eating healthy. This is probably the healthiest I've eaten in my entire life because, for many years, I depended very heavily on fast food and processed foods.

Best wishes to your dad.

A close friend of mine has just given up her microwave for many different reasons and has got me thinking about it. I have been doing alot of reseach on the web and have found just as many article for keeping as well as getting rid of microwaves. It makes it hard to know which one is telling the truth. One report shows that nutrients are reduced by cooking in the microwave while others say it is better than boiling as it cooks for a shorted period of time. I also read another article that stated you had to cook something for 6 minutes in the microwave before the nutitional value was comprimised.

I think that I was more confused after reading up on the topic than I was before.

Thank you guys for all of your birthday wishes!!! I have decided that I am going to try to reheat and cook without the microwave. I use mine every day and it might be hard. I do prepare meals much like my mom. A salad, veggie, meat and starch. Portion control is important and very hard. Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We may be without power at one point or another whenever Wilma decides to come, so I may or may not be checking in.

I actually don't own a microwave (no microwave or tv? *gasp*) It takes some planning to make food and stuff that can be reheated well without being zapped.

That being said, I do think my eating has gotten healthier. Altho I miss being able to do a quick baked potato in the zapper. I hate heating up the whole oven to make one potato.

Catherine

Happy birthday to your dad!

I think another big difference between then and now that impacts health is that the previous generations didn't have to worry about pesticides, irradiation, genetic engineering and chemicals in their food supply.

P.S. Congratulations to your dad on reaching such a milestone birthday. This past weekend I spent time with my great aunt, who is going to be 88 and is still fit and really fiesty. She lives with her daughter, but to tell the truth, she does the housework because she's in much better shape than her daughter is.

I think that eating real food definitely makes a difference for me. I hadn't heard the thing about the microwave -- I still think that a reheated healthy dinner can be a really good option, though, considering the alternatives.

Tonight we're going to have "homemade fast food" for dinner. We're grilling some chicken breasts to make into fajitas with peppers and onions on whole-wheat tortillas, with diced garden tomatoes and some lettuce and just a pinch of cheese.

I think this is among the things "the greatest generation" won for us. The freedom to choose whether to make use of modern convenience or not - they didn't have the choice (hard physical work was not an option in the 30's), but their hard work made technical options available. Simpler options are miraculous time savers, too. I'm not saying I don't prefer homeade everything, especially now that I really want to know what's going in my body. But, I thank people like MJ's dad for the great choices I have as well.

Happy 85! Big hugs from all of us!

Lynne

Happy Birthday to your DAD!!!!! I agree our parents did lead (for the most part) a healthier lifestyle.

I think that is what we are trying to get back to here is that eat a little of everything eating....not so much fast food, not so much processed food. Work for our parents was their form of exercise. When we asked my grandparents about what they did for exercise, grandpa said very sternly and loudly, I pitched hay and plowed the fields all day...exercise enough....can't argue with that.

But give up my microwave. I don't know, I'd love to say yes, but that is the one thing in my kitchen that stays. I could give up my dishwasher, trash compacter, food processor, blender, mixer, etc. But I can't live without my microwave. Today's lifestyle and my family's comings and goings make it essential to having a meal together and THAT is one thing I won't give up...the meal together.

Good homework! and give your father a birthday hug from me.