1950s Diet: Day 6 (Mexican Food and Final Thoughts)

Well that was a looooong stretch in-between posts! I could give you the long winded version but basically me and my old lady ways threw my back out so the last week has been somewhat of a crap shoot. But! I'm better now, so onwards with the bloggin. 

Day 6 was probably my most true to form day of the 1950s diet-

I had a picture perfect breakfast:

About 1 cup of Cheerios w/ 3/4 cup of milk and 1 tsp sugar, 1 glass of OJ (about 6 oz) and an 8 oz glass of milk

and lunch:

1 sandwich: whole wheat bread, 2 slices of Swiss cheese, around 4 tsp of mustard, lots of lettuce, 1 hard boiled egg, and grapes. I had the apple later for a snack. (Betty says you can have lots of fresh fruit!)

Both meals I was able to do without any substitutions, and keep exactly to the book's suggestions. Dinner was one of my favorites, Mexican food, yay! I forgot to take a picture (blame the margaritas), but I had a delicious vegetarian taco salad. If this was the 50s my choices would have been more limited, with only really one or two options. Here's a 1950s menu from El Toreador, "The Only Spanish and Mexican Restaurant in Miami":

What's up with the spaghetti!?

So as you can see, only a few vegetarian options, but I'd be perfectly content chowing down the "fried tortillas with melted cheese" option, just sayin'.

Your choice in restaurants was quite a bit more limited as well, there were of course family owned places sprinkled around, but from what I gather the first chain was El Torito, which first opened in 1954 in Los Angeles. The chain's success had a lot to do with the "mild" version of Mexican food served there, it was a lot easier for those who were unfamiliar to ease into. 

For the more adventurous, canned Mexican food and cookbooks dedicated to the cuisine were also an option for home cooked meals:

So that just about wraps up my eating journal for the week! Here are my final thoughts and take aways from the week: 

1) Dinner has definitely been the hardest to keep authentic throughout this experiment. It relies heavily on meat and as someone who only eats fish about twice a year, it's not a great option. But I was able to get the jist of the balance of the meals and work around that. It seems like most plates were about 1/4 protein, 1/2 vegetables (2 different kinds), and 1/4 some other kind of fruit/soup/starch (this was sort of a mixed bag and didn't seem to follow a pattern). You also always got a "healthy" dessert like sherbet, stewed fruit, or jello, and of course, 1 glass of milk. (As an adult with a slower metabolism I think it's smarter to cut out the 1/4 mixed bag portion, and keep it to one or two glasses of milk a day, not "one with every meal plus one extra" as Betty advises for the teenage quota of about 2,000 calories a day. 

2) I saved a bunch of money (about $45 bucks!) just eating my breakfast at home and bringing lunch. As I said in a pervious post, this is definitely one aspect of the experiment I will carry on doing!

3) Even with what felt like "extra" food, the portions were smaller, and the emphasis seemed to be on a little bit of everything, and with that variety (taste, texture and visual), in the end you felt more satisfied and full. 

4) I loved having homemade, fresh meals (versus my usual microwaved dinners or oil filled omelette breakfasts), and that is also something from the experiment I want to keep on doing. 

5) Taking the time to make and have breakfast at home (instead of rushing around in the morning then eating breakfast at my desk) really sort of set the tone for a more collected day.

Now for the ultimate question...did I lose any weight? Was this diet even really a diet at all? Well the answer is sadly no, not really. When I weighed my self on Day 7 I was exactly the same weight as when I began this whole shebang. BUT I felt and looked much less bloated thanks to less salt and oil, as well as the homemade meals. A few days later however I weighed myself and was down .8 ounces, hey, that's something, right?! Like Betty says, "Do not be discouraged if nothing happens immediately. A diet that progresses slowly progresses more surely." I definitely believe this to be true, but my patience is still coming to terms with the "slow and steady wins the race" mantra. 

Well I hope you all have enjoyed this little vintage diet experiment as much as I did, till next time, happy eating!

xoxo❤️xoxo

Links to the rest of my 1950s diet posts!
1950s Diet: Day 1!
1950s Diet: Day 2 (Improvising and a Major Case of the Hungries)
1950s Diet: Day 3 (No-Chicken Soup and Teen-Age Exercises)
1950s Diet: Day 4 (Cheerios and More Improvising!)
1950s Diet: Day 5 (Dining Out and a Fifties Fail)

1950s Diet: Day 5 (Dining Out and a Fifties Fail)

Well, the day started out positively. 

Here's what I had for breakfast:

Black tea (no milk or sugar), fresh mixed fruit, 1 slice of marble rye (no butter), 1/2 an avocado, and 1 scrambled egg (no oil), salt & pepper

This ended up being my favorite breakfast thus far, SO yummy. Avocados and I are BFFs though so I pretty much love them in any way they come. I doubt avocado for breakfast was very common in the 50s but I wasn't feeling the milk so I allowed myself a few extra calories elsewhere. 

Lunch was black bean soup and salad from the work cafe. I used balsamic vinaigrette on the salad which I thin would have been 50s acceptable since in the book they suggest "vinegar dressing" with your dinner salad. The black bean soup not really 50s at all.

Dinner was a complete Fifties Fail. There's just no way around it. I had Chipotle. No picture needed. 

But if I were a teenager in the 50s eating out with my folks, here's what it might have looked like:

Italian - Dago Mike's Italian Restaurant 

Polynesian - Trader Vic's

French - Le Gai Pinguin Restaurant

Chinese - Guey Sam's

American food/coffee shops/diners aside, these were pretty much your choices for dining out in the early-mid 50s. Italian, Polynesian/Tiki places, French food, and Chinese were the most common choices if you wanted something "exotic." Japanese food was around a bit but didn't really take off until the mid 60s when it was brought to Los Angeles. Indian food really gained popularity in the 1960s as well, with the  huge spike in interest for Eastern culture. I'll touch on Mexican food a bit tomorrow. I tell ya what, I would have been (and still am) all over those Tiki places and Mai Tais, given the chance. 

The Tonga Room, San Francisco, 1950s

I mean look at that place, a water tank in the middle of the room?! A floating band?! The best. Speaking of the best, a a huge thank you to my Amy who helped me loads with inspiration for today's post (P.S. Her blog is my favorite).

So hopefully today's fail won't accept my weight loss, Day 6 should be better. See you then! xoxo

P.S. If you missed any of the fun click here to read from the beginning!