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  • - Hello, I'm Dr. Mikhail Varshavski,

  • but most know me better as Dr. Mike.

  • Here's everything I eat in a day.

  • (pages flutter) (upbeat music)

  • The first thing I do when I wake up,

  • is I grab a warm glass of water.

  • Now, it doesn't have to be warm.

  • It ideally has to be room temperature.

  • If something is too cold,

  • I feel like it aggravates my throat somewhat,

  • decreases the circulation.

  • You want to have all your blood flow

  • in your throat to protect you.

  • I don't always eat first thing in the morning.

  • I'm a big fan of intermittent fasting.

  • I like doing to 16/8 window,

  • so you're only eating throughout eight hours of the day.

  • But I'm flexible with it.

  • So if a certain day, I wanna go 14 hours without eating

  • or I wanna skip intermittent fasting for a single week,

  • that's fine.

  • I think when you set up such rigorous demands on yourself,

  • you're almost setting yourself up for failure.

  • So, I'm flexible with it.

  • And lately, I've fallen in love with my Vitamix blender.

  • And I've been putting all sorts of fruits and vegetables

  • in it to make a morning smoothie.

  • And I feel like that gives me the vitamin-mineral boost

  • that I need to get throughout the day.

  • You know, I've never been one

  • who needed or enjoyed caffeine beverages.

  • I went through all of medical school without needing coffee.

  • Which is crazy, 'cause I've pulled all-nighters,

  • there was 24-hour clinical shifts

  • that I needed to be up for, and I was fine.

  • But now, with all these demands being placed on my time,

  • hospital work, YouTube, TV,

  • research that I need to be doing,

  • I start my day with an espresso.

  • I throw the pot in.

  • I get my espresso in a little cup

  • or espresso little mini-mug.

  • I love it, 'cause it's thermally layered,

  • and it doesn't allow me to burn myself.

  • I sip on it, I get ready for the day,

  • I look at the beautiful New York City skyline,

  • and I get inspired.

  • That's my little strategy.

  • Normally, my lunch is around 1:00 p.m.

  • That's when I get a break during my hospital time.

  • I like to run out and get myself some Chipotle.

  • I think I can really control what goes into my portions.

  • I love the ingredients that they use.

  • I'll tell you what my go-to meal there is.

  • It's a salad bowl, because there's a little bit less

  • calories and carbs in that.

  • I get brown rice,

  • I think that's the healthier option of the two.

  • A lot of greens.

  • I get, usually, double the meat.

  • I usually get chicken or steak, or maybe a mix of two.

  • But double the meat, 'cause I need that protein.

  • I get the mild salsa, a little sprinkling of cheese.

  • And you know guac is extra, but it's well worth it.

  • So, I definitely get a lot of guac in there.

  • And I try and chow it down slowly.

  • Because I like it so much,

  • I could finish a bowl in 30 seconds

  • and it's not good to eat that fast.

  • So, I actively have to calm myself down and say,

  • "Okay, eat slowly, eat slowly."

  • And the way that I manage to do that,

  • is by having a water bottle with me,

  • and I just sip on that water bottle in between my bites.

  • Therefore, kinda calms me down.

  • I actually take my eating during my travels

  • very seriously.

  • So when I go to a fast food restaurant,

  • I still am able to figure out, like a detective,

  • what can be healthy.

  • So, I look for things that have

  • a lot of vegetables in them,

  • green leafy vegetables, tomatoes.

  • Then I get a protein source in there,

  • whether that's chicken, beef or even a vegan option.

  • That's also great for me.

  • And then, if I'm gonna have a carb,

  • I make sure it's a complex carb.

  • Brown rice, whole wheat bread, all those are better options

  • 'cause your body takes longer to digest them.

  • Therefore, it actually burns some calories

  • and doesn't absorb all those simple sugars as rapidly.

  • So, it doesn't spike your insulin.

  • That's always beneficial.

  • There's a few snacks that I like

  • to chew on throughout the day.

  • First and foremost, are nuts.

  • Now, I know a lot of people have specific favorites

  • that they enjoy.

  • For me, my go-to are almonds.

  • They're high in healthy fats,

  • they keep me full throughout the day,

  • they even have some protein content

  • so I'm all about it.

  • If I don't have nuts available,

  • I also can bring a Perfect Bar with me.

  • I don't know if you've heard of these,

  • but it's basically a bar that is made only with superfoods.

  • Some of them are even peanut or almond-based.

  • Now, you clearly know I'm nuts about nuts.

  • And if you haven't seen my YouTube video,

  • because my storage space

  • in my New York City apartment's so limited,

  • do you know where I store my nuts?

  • In the dishwasher.

  • I'm not someone who gets hangry.

  • Because when you're a resident, during my training,

  • my three years of family medicine training,

  • there was times when you just couldn't eat.

  • You had to keep working,

  • you had to keep saving patients' lives

  • or dealing with difficult circumstances.

  • So, I'm so used to going without food

  • that it's not really a big deal.

  • That's why I think intermittent fasting

  • works so well for me.

  • I actually have friends who get hangry,

  • and I don't quite understand them.

  • If I'm having a cheat meal lunch on the weekend

  • with, let's say, my buddies,

  • I like to get a food that is social,

  • for example, pizza.

  • I love pizza.

  • Getting an extra-large pie with extra cheese,

  • pepperoni, some veggies thrown in there.

  • It's definitely not healthy,

  • but that's why it's a cheat meal.

  • And you need to have a cheat meal.

  • You need to reward yourself every now and then.

  • If you're constantly holding yourself to rigorous standards

  • that aren't realistic and you're never allowing

  • yourself to have a slice of pizza,

  • what kinda life are you living?

  • Dinner can get quite chaotic.

  • I generally recommend not eating too close to bedtime.

  • But sometimes, I just don't have a choice,

  • 'cause I'm just so hungry but I still wanna get

  • seven to nine hours of sleep.

  • When I do eat dinner, I generally don't cook it myself.

  • When I do, though, I do a pretty bang up job,

  • not gonna lie.

  • I'm a master grillsmith.

  • So if I'm making steak, I'm making pork, I'm making chicken,

  • I do a pretty good job.

  • But I'm not gonna lie,

  • I'm not cooking the majority of the time.

  • When I'm ordering out, I usually get sushi.

  • There's something about raw fish that I love, it's weird.

  • I don't even get fancy rolls.

  • I just get the sushi, traditional.

  • The little bed of rice, I usually get brown rice

  • with the little fish on top.

  • Maybe a tiny bit of soy sauce,

  • 'cause I don't wanna consume too much sodium.

  • And my go-to?

  • Salmon, tuna.

  • I love a medium toro, which a medium fatty tuna.

  • Yellowtail is great, mackerel.

  • And then, sometimes baby shrimp.

  • Mmm, it's just absolutely delicious.

  • As far as wasabi goes,

  • I don't like to put too much of it on.

  • But the places that I order,

  • they put just a little bit of the wasabi on the sushi

  • that gives it the perfect amount of kick.

  • My beverage of choice at dinner

  • is a sparkling water that has no calories or sugar in it.

  • For some reason, ever since I was eight years-old

  • and I came to the United States,

  • I've been obsessed with sparkling water.

  • I don't know what it is.

  • I remember when I was a kid,

  • drinking those cheap seltzers that you can get

  • for 50 cents in the grocery store.

  • And ever since then, I've been addicted.

  • If I'm gonna be snacking late at night,

  • I tend to go for a lower calorie snack.

  • For example, sunflower seeds,

  • my go-to from my Brooklyn days.

  • I do get the jumbo-size version, so they're bigger.

  • I feel like they're easier to eat.

  • And I go for the low-sodium option.

  • But a little hack, make sure you measure out

  • the amount that you're eating beforehand.

  • 'Cause it's really easy to go through a full bag.

  • And that's a lot of sodium.

  • I have to be biased here.

  • New York City is the best food city.

  • Obviously, I'm from here, so I'm biased.

  • You have every type of ethnicity, every time of cooking,

  • you have amazing seafood, the best sushi from Japan.

  • There's nothing your heart can desire,

  • or maybe in this case, your stomach can desire,

  • that you cannot get here in New York City.

  • Whether you're talking about halal food, sushi,

  • bodego chips, just everything.

  • You could run the gamut in New York City.

  • I love the food here.

  • I love the people and I love the food,

  • that's what makes New York City special.

  • Something that I stay away from

  • that everyone seems to love, and I could already feel

  • (chuckles) the hate building up,

  • I don't like ice cream.

  • I love ice cream milkshakes.

  • And I know everyone's like, "Are you crazy?"

  • There's something about eating ice cream.

  • Maybe it's too cold and I have sensitive teeth,

  • but I just can't ice cream.

  • But cookies and cream milkshakes?

  • Man!

  • There is nothing more satisfying on this planet

  • than cookies and cream milkshakes.

  • In fact, I'm gonna tell you something interesting right now.

  • Scientifically, there aren't any foods in nature

  • that exist that are high in sugar and high in fat

  • at the same time, except breast milk

  • and cookies and cream milkshakes.

  • But cookies and cream milkshakes don't exist in nature,

  • so those are man-made.

  • There you have it, that's what I eat in a day.

  • Obviously, not every day, but my advice still holds.

  • Stay happy and healthy.

  • (hip, upbeat music)

- Hello, I'm Dr. Mikhail Varshavski,

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