Optimism for Our (Dietary) Future

Yay! I lost a pound! Let's get triple cheese burgers!

It's easy to be cynical and see the bad side of things. Holy crap, anyone within media-ear shot of this week's Republican debates could not be blamed for thinking our democracy is being subsumed by idiots, clowns and he-man woman-haters. Despite those same right wing lunatics insisting climate change isn't real despite all evidence to the contrary, major projects at my doorstep are being planned to account for the rising sea levels, regardless of any politician's anti-science dogma.

Republican Party, circa 1930

But the thing that motivates this blog is more narrow. It's my health and the health of my children and everyone else's too, and the food that we consume that affects it. Well, maybe it's not a lost cause.

Calories consumed daily by the typical American adult, which peaked around 2003, are in the midst of their first sustained decline since federal statistics began to track the subject, more than 40 years ago. The number of calories that the average American child takes in daily has fallen even more — by at least 9 percent.

That is a mouthful, and is huge, if you believe it. Lies, damn lies, and statistics....but I'm going to go and believe it, given the seemingly credible multi-year wide-ranging studies the piece cites. Doesn't hurt that my anecdotal evidence -- which is recorded here every week for years and years, as well as my awareness of how I feed my own kids -- seems to fit neatly into the hypothesis.

The encouraging data does not mean an end to the obesity epidemic: More than a third of American adults are still considered obese, putting them at increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Americans are still eating far too few fruits and vegetables and far too much junk food, even if they are eating somewhat less of it, experts say. 

OK, sometimes it's totally legit to hate on fruit.

As can be seen by my monthly weigh-ins and the trends that can only really be seen in annual-increments, what all this information is saying is that we might finally be past our maximum-fatness, but we still have a ways to go to get back to where we were....before sugar became cheap, plentiful and processed into a plethora of foods to make them cheaper. And there is no other source of concentrated, cheap sugar than soda.

The anti-obesity public health campaigns have focused on one subject more than any other: beverages.
Anti-soda messages hit their target. Americans, on average, purchased about 40 gallons of full-calorie soda a year in 1998, according to sales data from the industry trade publication Beverage Digest analyzed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That fell to 30 gallons in 2014, about the level that Americans bought in 1980, before the obesity rates took off.

If we want to get serious about the realities of what climate change is doing, it's probably too late to just cut carbon emissions -- we have to start building walls to keep the oceans out of our urban centers. And if we want to get serious about the realities of what sugar is doing, addicting people to cheap food and corporations to easy profits, there has to be a campaign similar to the one that got us hooked off of cigarettes and tobacco. Once sugar and excess calories are recognized as a addiction-manipulated health threat on the level of nicotine cancer-sticks, then maybe we'll have a change at real progress in our life times. The cause is not lost.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2866

OK eating week, not great but not an embarrassment. Bike riding is starting to come back to me, feeling a lot of gratitude about being healthy.

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BIKE CREDIT: 550 cal
MONDAY COUNT: 1970

SLEPT: 11pm-6am, 7 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 10:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 1pm, Fage with almonds, honey and vanilla, 450 cal

PM SNACK:  2:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

BIKE SNACK: 4:30pm, homemade granola bar, 350 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, mahi mahi,  asparagus, poppa salad with dressing, 650 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:15pm, large piece of watermelon, +/- 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 2 child granola bars, 200 cal
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2690 cal

SLEPT: 9pm-6am, 9hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:15am, steel cut oatmeal 450 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, health salad, pickes, 600 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 7pm, French Bread Pizza, poppa salad with dressing, 1080 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, large piece of watermelon, +/- 300 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3320 cal

SLEPT: 11:30pm - 5:30am, 6 hrs

AM SNACK: 5:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, lentil curry, pickles, 620 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad, cheezits,310 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad with dressing, 200 cal

DINNER: 8pm, chipotle burrito, ice cream, 1180 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, nutella, +/- 400 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 3440

SLEPT: 11pm-6am, 7 hours

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 12:15pm, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

LUNCH: 4pm, poppa salad with dressing and grilled chicken, 720 cal

DINNER: 8pm, burger, fries, diet coke, +/- 1200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, nutella, +/- 500 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2910

SLEPT: 12am-4:30am, 4.5 hours

BREAKFAST: 5am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 9:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:15am, Fage with almonds, honey and vanilla, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, sauteed shrimp with mushrooms, poppa salad and dressing, 630 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, hot dog, fries, ice cream, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, beef patty, 360 cal

Piñatas are the stuff of nightmares.

I was sugar mad as a kid. My allowance and stray coins would go straight to the candy store. It was happiness and love when my mom would make a cake or brownies from the Betty Crocker mix, a rare culinary task that was within her reach. A slice of pizza made no sense without grape soda. If I felt down, sugar would pick me up. If I felt good, sugar would celebrate it.

As I slide into middle age, I think I successfully untangled these deep emotional ties to the substance that was messing with my health. Perhaps I'm not free of it, but being aware of it is more than half the battle. Indeed, early on in this blog, I approached sugar from every angle to help me get a bead on it. I even drilled down into the relationship between kids and sugar. In a nutshell, kids are growing rapidly and need lots of fuel to feed that, so their taste buds are programmed to find super-sweet (a.k.a. super-caloric) things attractive. It is in the manipulation and marketing to children for these needs that evil tends to lurk.

GIMME CAAAAANDYYYYYY!

And holy biz-natch, did I see one face of evil this past weekend. It's name is piñata. If there was something to turn a bunch of 20-odd happy-go-lucky six year olds who just spent the last 2 hours playing together idyllically into a raving bunch of blood-thirsty zombies who will think of nothing of gnawing through their neighbor's flesh to get to sweet, sweet brains candy, it is the piñata.

I never paid much attention to the piñatas at other kid's parties, there was usually only 5-10 kids and they were younger than 6. My daughter had been asking for a piñata over the past year, so when her mom suggested it, I thought "of course" and ordered one on line to my daughter's whim -- a pink stripe heart. It was a fun activity filling it with my kids -- some excess Costco swag, fruit paper and gummies and the like, but then the real crack-rock stuff: Hershey's kisses, tootsie rolls, Reese's peanut butter cups, etc -- the stuff that I loved as a kid, and my daughter specifically asked for. She wanted all the candy that I would never give her on a regular or even-semi regular basis. Fruit is on the regular. Good ice cream is on the semi-regular. Cake and cupcakes once every so often. But this stuff, this was the once-a-year, no-way-any-other-time stuff. I could see her eyes get a little glazed as we stuffed that heart-shaped box full.

I kept the ice cream, cake and piñata indoors until the end of the party, and the tradition of gathering around a be-candled cake and singing to the celebrant was enough to focus the crowd. But as we furiously cut cake, scooped ice cream and served 40-odd mouths, just 10 feet away the magnetic power of the piñata beckoned. After all the kids got cake and and open call to the adults to serve themselves, the crowd around the table was a little sparse. A ring of about 10 kids stood around the piñata, staring at it, like it would burst at any moment simply by quietly focusing their mind energy on it.

To cut a long story short, another dad at the party who had real-world piñata experience jumped in and advised me how to set it up and tried to control the crowd with magical side-walk chalk lines. Still, every swing of the broom handle was one more likelier chance for some kid to get whacked on the head or worse. After getting most of the kids to take a few whacks, I called for any parent volunteers, because this fucker would not break. For a moment, I clawed at it with my hands, but no. In desperation, afraid of the 20+ little kids slowly closing the gap between me, them and the candy explosion poised to burst around my head-height, I pulled it down and shouted, "GO FOR IT!" That was unnecessary, as at my feet a dog-pile of 20+ little kids formed, with a soundtrack of shouts for candy, cries for help, guttural murmurs of air being pushed out of lungs by compression, and after a whole 10 seconds, cries that some only got one piece of candy, while unfairly others got pounds and pounds. (I feel for those parents in particular.)

After the fact, I asked my daughter how she liked her party. Unlike last year, there were no crying jags or drama, she lead a pack of fellow girls all day, and the present pile was larger than ever. However, she did not like how little candy she got from the piñata. I recommended maybe next year, instead we should do goodie bags where each kids gets the exactly the same amount. "No," she scolded, "next year when the piñata opens, just let me take candy, and then everyone else!" Unless we engage in some TSA-level security to hold the crowd behind a gate, I just don't see that happening.
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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2615
Surprisingly low average, but probably due to eating crazy the weekend before and not being hungry on Monday...

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BIKE CREDIT: 715 cal
MONDAY COUNT: 2095

SLEPT: 9pm-4am, 7 hrs
Overate a bit this weekend due to my daughter's party and all the sweets I cooked up and packed into that damn piñata.

AM SNACK: 4:15 am, iced green tea, 150mg caffeine

BREAKFAST: 10am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, vegetarian meatballs chicken soup, health salad, pickles, 650 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 7pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with dressing, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 2 kid granola bars, one kind bar, 400 cal
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2370

SLEPT: 9:30pm- 7am, 9.5hrs

BREAKFAST: 9am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Greek yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal  

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meatballs, lentil curry, steamed string beans, pickles,  650 cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 5pm, shrimp empanada, 2 cookies, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 2 kids granola bars, kind bar, 400 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2630

SLEPT: 9:15pm - 11:45pm, 2:45am-5:45am,  5hrs

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 9am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST: 10am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, grilled pork loin, poppa salad with dressing,  pickles, 620cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, momma salad, cheezit, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, cashews, 310 cal

DINNER: 8pm, pork curry tomkatsu, water, +/- 800 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 1370
THURSDAY COUNT: 2910

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 3:15am, 4.45 hr

AM SNACK: 3:30am, iced green tea, 150 mg caffeine

BIKE SNACK: 5am, homemade granola bar, 320cal

BIKE SNACK: 7am, homemade granola bar, 320 cal

BREAKFAST 1: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST: 10am, Fage yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, grilled pork loin, poppa salad with dressing,  pickles, 620cal

PM SNACK: 2pm, momma salad, cheezits, 410 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, 2 cookies, +/- 600 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, Pizza, salad, beer, +/- 700 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, ice cream, +/- 700 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 3070

SLEPT: 11pm-6:30am, 7.5 hours

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:45am, Fruit smoothie, 450 cal  

LUNCH: 2pm, sauteed shrimp and mushrooms, poppa salad with dressing, pickles, +/- 650 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad and cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER 1: 5:15pm, hot dog, fries, ice cream, +/- 800 cal

DINNER 2: 8pm, seating sandwich, half a cookie sandwich, water, +/- 700 cal

Kids n' Sugar

With out water, you DIE! With out salt in your system, your brain stops functioning, and you DIE! With out certain vitamins, you can get really sick and, yes...DIE! With out sugar, you will...BE FINE! So why does it seem if my four year old daughter were to go a meal without at least one form of sugar, she would perish?

I've already explored and vilified sugar in depth, and I've done as much daddy blogging as I really need to do in this lifetime, but Edle's eating has been nagging at my conscious this past week. Last week was her first week at public school pre-K, and she is becoming more independent of our influence on her diet than ever. Is she eating enough/too much? Is she eating well? If her choices at home are any indication....

She is sugar-mad, and she doesn't much care where it comes from. She loves the fruit-filled smoothie pops I have on hand, which I make from my own very healthy smoothies. When offered, she'll never say no to just about any fruit. Ice cream is a must-have treat at least once a weekend, though that "once" is a result of her asking every day during the week and multiple times on the weekends. When we she was younger, we bribed her into potty training by promising her m&ms if she #2'd in the proper space -- the first time I gave her an entire packet of M&Ms and they disappeared in about 2 minutes. Ever since it's limited to 5 m&ms of her color choices. I'm starting to find she's avoiding food she previously liked, and just focusing on the fruit, smoothie pops, ice cream & sweet things that are on offer when we go out. Help me Dr. Phil, is my child doomed?

Yes, Norberto, your child is doomed, unless you watch my show, buy the products I recommend,  and sit through all the commercials.

In a nutshell, no. A child's relationship to sugar is not quite the same as an adult's. On one hand, they're body is demanding it more than an adult's, addiction or no. On the other hand, they're minds are more prone to manipulation and influence from the media.

Unlike adults, who often find overly sugary things unpleasant, Mennella says kids are actually living in different sensory worlds than adults when it comes to basic tastes.
"They prefer much more intense sweetness and saltiness than the adult, and it doesn't decrease until late adolescence. And we have some evidence they may be more sensitive to bitter taste," Mennella says.
A reason for this may be that a preference for sweet, caloric substances during rapid growth may have given children as an evolutionary advantage when calories were scarce. That notion is supported by the fact that sugar doesn't just taste good to children -– it actually makes them feel good, too.

I'm not arguing that it's OK to eat lots of sugar, only that my Edlebug may be biologically hardwired to eat more of it to supply fuel to rapid growth. That's not to discount the fact that so much crap is marketed to kids with more added sugar than ever before, literally taking advantage of this biological hard wiring to sell more crappy sugared cereals at the expense of children's health.



The ethical implications of gearing marketing of children's food to increase the "nag factor" to help open their parent's purse strings, regardless of the health impact, or even health cost, is a basic flaw of capitalism, and why it must be tempered with a healthy dose of enforced & incentivized social responsibility. (I'd say "socialism", but the word has been so misunderstood and abused by so many f'ing crazy people, I don't even want to go there.)

Sure, the Disney & Nickelodeon channels geared at the littlest kids have very little advertising, and don't interrupt their cartoons with sales pitches. However. if my daughter were to see a Disney Princess-branded crack pipe at my local drug bazaar, she probably wouldn't know what it is....but she'd want it.

These are multivitamins, right?

I fear for my children's health. The American Heart Association only implicates "added sugar" in the push to reduce children's sugar intake, but I wonder if the sugar in fruit and "low fat yogurt" and "whole grains" can be an issue on their own. Regardless, my Edlebug seems to be healthy, happy and flourishing despite my poppa-worry. If I'm going to be forced to stuff her with a bit of  sugar every day to keep the peace, might as well have it accompanied by lots of fiber, water, vitamins and nutrients.

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Had a hard time this week finding a topic to pontificate on, had to consult the list of 50+ random ideas I jotted down at the time I started this blog. This was already in draft Tuesday night when I made a grilled pork tenderloin, and on a whim decided to cook it to medium rare (130) instead of medium (145) -- oh my goodness, it was 5x more tender and 10x more delicious. After next week's weigh-in, our irrational and outdated fear of pork must be addressed - I can't believe I unconsciously been overcooking my pork tenderloins this past few months!

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So little sleep, so much bad stock photography.

It only just occured to me that the binges on the evening of ride mornings, and the over all increase in calorie consumption in the past few months, might be linked directly to the shrinking amount of sleep I've been getting. If I get unhappy numbers next week, I may have to include enforcing more sleep as a way to continue on to my weight goals....

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Got one more packet of storebought frozen soup and three large containers of frozen homemade chicken stock ready to go. Thinking lots of dried mushrooms, whole wheat matzo balls, some minced vegetables, hmmmmmm..... feels too easy. Maybe it's a good starter soup for the season, before I do a proper split-pea with bacon and then maybe some gourd-based blender soups, mmmm, soup season!

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2485

High calorie count again, starting to suspect hormones triggered by less sleep might be contributing. Gonna start getting stricter with sleep immediately, will report in a week or two with some good internet-thinkin' about the subject then.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2335

Finally, a day within budget, he he. Despite  double snack in the evening.

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, Fage whole yogurt with agave, vanilla and almonds,  310 cal
Surprised how hungry I was for this, despite eating way too much yesterday. Suspect that sugar cravings might have been part of it.

LUNCH: 1pm, falafel, lentil soup, health salad, 590 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad with homemade Italian, 150 cal

DINNER: 8:45pm, shirataki noodles with shrimp, mushrooms, in black bean sauce, 375 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, Cheetos's, 600 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2325

Lifted weights for the first time since before last week -- I still had to go easy, and even skipped a couple of things, but definitely felt better, the muscular pain from over-training is backing off. Still feel twinging is my quads, but hopefully I'll be able to hit it hard on a ride tomorrow morning.

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, steel cut oatmeal,  350 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meatballs, madras lentils, steamed string beans, 600 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, hummus, 100 cal

PM SNACK: 7pm, poppa salad with homemade Italian, 150 cal

DINNER: 8pm, grilled pork loin, quinoa, roasted brussel sprouts, kimchi,  615 cal
Decided to cook the loin to medium rare (130 degrees) instead of medium (145) -- oh my. It was already good, but this is 10x better.

EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, Fritos, 300 cal

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BIKE CREDIT: 675 cal
WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2510+

Excellent early morning ride to Coney, got 90% of my legs back after feeling over-trained all week last week. Noticed the bike credit has decreased since adjusting the cyclometer to my new weight (was 30 lbs heavier when I got it), which is great -- in these matters, only getting closer and closer to the truth will set me free.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, caffeinated granola bar, iced green tea, 485 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, Fage yogurt with almonds, agave and vanilla, 310

LUNCH: 1pm, grilled pork loin, quinoa, roasted brussel sprouts, 600 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, 100 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad with homemade Italian, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 7pm, peanut butter crackers, 180 cal

DINNER: 7:15pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, whole wheat cous cous, 900 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, Fritos, 300 cal

BINGE: 9-9:30pm, almond butter & chocolat syrup, bowl of peanut M&Ms, another bowl of Fritos, +/- 1000 cal
When I got home to cook, I knew I'd be a bit tired, but this was a different level -- light headed, unfocused, drained on top of the usual tiredness -- it was very similar to a bike bonk, when my blood sugar drops and my head gets fuzzy and everything just....slows....down. The only thing to do is stop, eat something, and hold on tight. I ate some peanut butter crackers to help me keep going in cooking my meal. Ate some extra cous cous, which I thought would hit the spot, but when I was done still felt hungry. Went straight to the Fritos, and still didn't feel right, but left the kitchen to help with getting everyone off to sleep. By the time I was released back into the kitchen, I was just...not feeling right, still physically hungry. I knew after an hour, my body should have stabilized and my blood sugar should have come up. So I binged. I shouldn't have put syrup on the almond butter, because that just made me super-crave chocolate. Can't beat myself up to hard, as this was not just a typical binge, but a reaction to putting my changing body through trials and seeing the results. Next time, will try to eat a little more during the day and if I binge, skip the sugary stuff within it.

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2870

Way over budget, but had a rare opportunity to take myyself to the movies, and the popcorn seemed like a proper treat. Probably would have prefered to go home and go to sleep, but that wasn't an option, unfortunately.

AM SNACK: 4:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, steel cut oatmeal,  350 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled pork loin, quinoa, roasted brussel sprouts, 600 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad with hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad with homemade Italian, 150 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, Subway 6" veggie burger sub, chips, diet coke, 760

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, movie popcorn, 700 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2385

Long lost cousin over for dinner, didn't measure dinner but kept it healthy.

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 7:30am, fruit smoothie, 410 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, sardine & avocado on whole wheat toast, steamed asparagus, sofrito black beans, kimchi, 565 cal
Bought frozen steam-in-bag asparagus as an experiment at an early morning food shop in the hood, as I had no veg to go with lunch. Oh my god, NASTY. Limp, flavorless, mushy, but a few parts were tough & fibrous, too. I rarely can't finish a premeasured meal, particularly when I'm hungry, but despite dousing it with sofrito black beans, I couldn't get through the last 1/3 of them.Going to try other steam-in-bag veg for microwave convenience at work, but this was just....disgusting.

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad with hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 4:45, poppa salad with homemade Italian, 150 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm,  grilled chicken breast, quinoa, roasted broccoli, baked acorn squash, homemade apple crumble with vanilla ice cream, +/- 950 cal

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WEEKEND REPORT
Ate horribly, more on Saturday than Sunday. Was going to do a megaride on Sunday, but due to unexpected events outside my control, had to stay back with the family. But I did sleep 10 hours Saturday night, 8 hours Sunday night, and found myself napping both days for an hour or two, the best you can when your responsible for two little kids. Made me surprised how great it feels to be well rested, it's been too long.

My dad and his sausage.

From Esquire Magazine, Dec 1999. For their 100th year publishing, they did a head shot and blurb from one person born in each of those years. Some famous, some grabbed off the street like my poppa.

My dad liked to play "hide the sausage". He was born in Vienna, Austria, to solidly upper-middle-class Jews in 1934. Though the dad I knew was pretty much a Jew by culture and a solid atheist by belief, back then there really was no such thing as an "atheist Jew". Everyone went to temple, everyone honored the high holidays, everyone ate kosher by default. This was before the reform movement in Judiaism. You were either "religious" or "very religious". There was no wiener schnitzel in the Wildmann household circa 1934 Vienna, and there was no pork sausage in the Wildman* household circa 1971, Staten Island....except for the hidden breakfast sausages that were tucked in the back of the freezer, never to be openly served in the kitchen. So what did you think I meant by "hide the sausage"? 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Sausage

Though my dad arrived in the U.S. in 1940, he and his family left Vienna in early 1939. They first spent time as refugees in Cuba, and after about 6-8 months, the U.S. started accepting refugees from the Holocaust. His father tried to start up his music-store business in the U.S., but was unable to get traction but found work. His mother had a number tattoo on her arm she never spoke of or explained. As a 6 year old in the Bronx, he spoke German and some Spanish, but not  a lick of English. The one or two photographs that exist from this time show a skinny kid with a massively round head, like a Peanuts character who had seen too much of the world. 

Ist dieser Ellis Island? Espero que no haya buena salchicha.

What was he eating? What did they serve in Cuba? Did his parents keep up with the kosher diet after having their entire lives uprooted, traumatized and tossed to the other side of the world? My father passed after a long, successful and well-loved life a few years ago, and I'm afraid those answers are gone. But I remember growing up with the impact of his early years.

I grew up in a big house with front and back yards on a hill in Staten Island. The 1920's era construction had a full basement with a washer/dryer, a boarded-up abandoned mud-room and a secondary room used as a fully functioning wood-shop. My dad made much of the cabinetry for the house, some of which lives on in my brother's home and my apartment. And then there was the food pantry.

Underneath the stairs leading from the ground floor to the basement was a large wooden unit with doors which my father made. It was stained a medium brown, and the doors were cheap thin plywood with a little metal clasp to keep them from swinging open. The multiple shelves with in were always full of mostly canned goods, some glass jars and boxes of dry goods. I remember huge cans of College Inn Chicken Broth, gefilte fish, ketchup, tomatoes and tomato sauce, dried beans, rice.

From the earliest memories until the day they moved from that house to retire, that food pantry was always full. Whenever there was a sale at the supermarket, 10 of something would go in the pantry. If there was a steep discount for dented cans, those dented cans would end up in the pantry. I think about 65% of the canned goods in that pantry ended up rusting, swelling and being thrown out. It would drive my mom crazy, but my dad would just grunt and shrug it off.

In hindsight and with some education, I now realize that my dad was acting in a way that probably meant he had some serious deprivation when he was a kid. Food probably wasn't too forthcoming when they packed their bags, traded in all their wealth for paperwork to get the hell out of Vienna, take a steamer to Cuba, then spend months and months in a refugee camp. He never spoke of it, but it oozed out into the pantry in the basement.

And then there was the hidden sausage. What the hell was that about? My parents did not keep a kosher household, but what we ate was primarily influenced by what they grew up with, which was kosher and kosher-style. The pantry was out in the open, but the sausages were in the back of the freezer, never to be served out in the open. I only knew it was my dad's because my mom would bitch about my dad hording food and batteries in the freezer (they were on sale!). My mom would have loved to throw out as much as possible if my dad let her. There were plenty of large trays of meat that would eventually get freezer-burned and thrown out, but there was always a small number of Jimmy Deans in the back.

And I ate them. I would reheat them in the newfangled microwave, and eat their greasy, goyish spicy goodness on the down-low. It gave me the same thrill as going into the basement and rifling through my dad's massive collection of Playboy magazines. It was naughty, it was adult, mom didn't approve, it was so NOT Jewish! Mmmm sausage!

My dad grew up with too little, I grew up with too much. I hope I can get it right with my kids. My dad could blame Hitler, so perhaps I can blame Hitler  for my over-eating, too. I'm sure that would make Big Soda and the Food Industry happy. -sigh-

Good thing or bad thing: when one google-images "funny Hitler", nothing particularly funny comes up?

*When my dad and his family passed through Ellis Island in 1940, they lost the extra N. By naming me Noah, they brought enough Ns back for everyone!

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Mmmm, go-go juice!

ADD and ADHD is a topic way too large for a glib addendum, but there was a frightening piece in the NY Times this week about giving ADD meds to kids in school to help them increase their grades. NOT because they have ADD, but because the schools are low on funds and have given up on trying to increase their grades the ol' fashioned way. As I read the headline, my first thought is, "did they consider diet?" But as the news-churn has been demonstrating, adjusting school diets is a fraught and expensive thing, while drugs are cheap. More next week.

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Nice to see a well-done anti-soda promotion. Nice to see the polar bears and "HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY" themes of the multi-billion dollar Coke advertising complex recontextualized.
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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2,463
REFINED SUGAR: 15%
Not a great eating week, almost every day I succumbed to some form of refined sugar, and illness made the later part of the week sloppy. Next week I'm focused on cooking for a knish event on Saturday, the kitchen will be turned over to production, a little worried my eating is going to take a turn for the worse.
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MONDAY COUNT: 2535
Due to school being closed for more Jewish holidays, Edie rode on my back while I did my second set of push ups. Managed to get through 15 instead of the usual 35, but considering 10 used to be my limit for unweighted push ups, that's pretty good. Haven't slept well in a couple of days, woke up tired.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 9am, steel cut oatmeal with butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon & salt, water, 375 cal

AM SNACK: 10:30am, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, fresh papadelle pasta with chicken & andouille ragu, small side salad, 12oz diet coke, +/-850 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, broiled sole, steamed string beans, whole wheat cous cous, 7oz diet sprite, 935 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, cake from a box, +/-250 cal
Wasn't planning on dessert, but a friend came over with cake, and it was exactly what I needed after a high-stress, under-slept day. Hormones or something.
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2175
Tried to do some work after everyone went to bed, then tried to watch TV, and failed at both. Put myself in bed at 10, woke up to B leaving for work at 8:30, guess I needed that. Wasn't hungry for breakfast, but Edie insisted on noisy ice cream, so I guess it was good in that it kept me to an eating schedule -- people who eat more breakfast eat less dinner.

Ordered in Chinese with grandma, but since this is not a weekend, tried to go light -- string beans instead of noodles, 1 cup plain brown rice instead of 2 cups of fried rice. Still calorie-heavy, but not obscene, and by the end of day, I felt that slight hunger, but nothing I couldn't sleep on.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:30am,  fruit smoothie, 375 cal

AM SNACK: 11:45am, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, sardine & avocado on whole wheat toast, 7oz diet sprite, 525 cal

DINNER: 6pm. shrimp & stringbeans with 1 cup brown rice, shrimp toast, 12oz diet coke, +/- 900 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, 8oz chocolate milk. 250 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2425

Chores in the morning, got home for lunch, fit in weights in in the afternoon . Controlled my eating at school, and had a relatively light dinner. 

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 300 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat sandwiches, momma salad, 7oz diet coke, 960 cal

SCHOOL SNACK: 6:30pm, small piece of grilled chicken, 1 ladle of mashed potatoes, small portion of swiss chard with caramelized onions, lemonade, +/-400 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, Stouffer's Frenchbread pizza, 740 cal ds axd

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2365

Are there restaurants in the city that are healthier than national-chain fast food that ALSO supplies calorie counts? I want to go to there.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:00am, whole grain chex with whole milk, 300 cal

AM SNACK: 11:30am, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 12:15pm, quarter pounder, fries, diet coke, 900 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, 7oz diet sprite, 0 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, whole wheat spaghetti with chicken sausage, tomato sauce and roasted brussel sprouts, water 1040 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2815

Original plan was to wake up early and go riding, but couldn't get out of bed, sore throat, foggy head. Fortunately I had the ability to chill, with a baby sitter taking care of the Milli. Spent a slow day indoors, took myself out for lunch, then again in the late evening for dinner. Not a good eating day, but food did give me comfort.

BREAKFAST: 10am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, +/- 500 cal

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, momma salad, pickle, 115 cal

LUNCH: 3pm, veg dim sum, +/- 1000 cal

DINNER: 9:45pm, 2 slices of streetza, ice cream bar, +/-900 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, +/- 300 cal

Too Much Ice Cream Will Make You Sad & Fat

Stupid Sad & fat is no way to go through life, son.

Last week, I took Edie & Mil to the Brooklyn waterfront to play with my old friend C and her daughter A, who is about Edie's age. I packed up some snacks for Edie and A to share: grapes, PB&J on whole wheat, whole wheat goldfish crackers, an orange, and a couple of "Motts for Tots" apple juice boxes, which have 40% the concentration of sugar of the average juice. This is pretty much the current standard snack bag for Edie.

When our first snack opportunity arrived I took out my bag o' momma salad: baby carrots with chunks of red pepper, cucumber, and red onion, which everyone helped me to consume. C took out two Pez dispensers and loaded them up with the strawberry-flavored candy. A offered Edie her choice of dispenser: Batman or Hello Kitty. Edie LOVES Hello Kitty. Candy flowing from Hello Kitty's mouth, it can't get much better than that.

I'm yo pusha man.

Flash forward, post naps, I find myself with Edie & Mil in the local playground, with a fine assortment of neighborhood friends frolicking about. H is there with her daughter A, and when we arrive and I say hello, H whispers to me, "We have a special treat for Edie, but we'll give it to you before you leave, since there are so many other kids around!" As we leave for dinner some time later, H & A lay a purple lollipop on us. It was a very sweet gesture, pun only slightly intended, and made me do a double take -- this is the second time today someone is offering sugared treats to my daughter. Am I not giving my kids enough sugar, so other parents feel bad for the kid with the tyrant dad?

And no lollipops for Edie!

Edie eats a LOT of fruit, it probably makes up close to half of her daily calories: bananas, grapes, oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon, apples, pears. And that's on top of her daily "noisy ice cream," which is the frozen version of the leftovers from my weekly fruit smoothies. She is definitely getting sugar in her diet, matched with fiber, nutrients, and a helping of water.

Even with the "noisy ice cream," she still asks for (real) ice cream during the rest of the day. She's 3, so I try to explain that non-noisy ice cream is only for special occasions, because too much ice cream will make a person "fat and sad."She seems to register this, think about it momentarily, then respond, "but ice cream is yummy in my tummy!!" The immediacy of the tummy yumminess trumps the abstract concept of someday becoming fat and sad. That, and those puffy peeps in Yo Gabba Gabbaland...

Her palate is starting to come into focus; she's becoming pickier, and increasingly attracted to sweets. Only this summer has she been introduced to hot dogs, and it's fast becoming a go-to food for her. I remember for many years my English friend's toddler son only eat "sausage rolls,"the limey equivalent of the dirty water dog. Oy.

Doin' some Internet thinkin' about kids and sugar, it all says pretty much the same thing: kids need more carbs, both complex and simple, than adults, and so long as they come from good sources (such as fruit and whole grains) instead of bad (such as sodas and candy), it's not so bad. When you depend on the bad, that's when you have issues with the big three:

1. Obesity: In 2004, American adolescents were consuming 13 percent of their daily caloric intake from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) such as soft drinks, fruit punch, and sports drinks. A 2009 report on the negative impact of SSB on children's health, published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, indicated that the obesity rate for U.S. children ages 6 through 11 had quadrupled in the previous four decades. 
2. Tooth Decay: The American Dental Association explains the cause-and-effect relationship of sugar and dental cavities, or tooth decay: Bacteria are constantly forming a sticky build-up of plaque on your teeth and gums. If you don't brush your teeth immediately after eating sugar or starch, an acid forms that attacks the tooth enamel. Adults are as vulnerable as children to developing tooth decay from dietary sugars.
3. Hyperactivity: Anxiety, loss of sleep, restlessness, and general hyperactivity have been attributed to sugar and the consumption of soft drinks in children. Although this has yet to be proven by scientific research, it makes sense that refined, processed sugar could impact a child's behaviors. The National Institutes of Health explain that refined sugar is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, resulting in rapid changes in blood glucose levels. These fluctuations could trigger the release of adrenaline, a stimulant hormone

Edie enjoyed her Pez, and I held aside her lollipop for a more "special" time. I'm just as guilty -- I just fed two tubs of homemade ice cream to a short stack of kids at a Labor Day picnic (and one of them was chocolate laced with a shot of espresso, he he he, eeeevil, but I pushed the cookies n' cream on the kids so it's all good.) Sugar is a drug that has been normalized like alcohol but should be treated as such -- do not ban it, do not forbid it, it'll only cause it to be more mysterious and attractive. Regulate it, allow a little in, be mindful and aware and hopefully your kid will learn how to properly party and never be this guy:

Drunk & stupid is no way to go through life, son.

WEEKLY AVERAGE COUNT: 2,500
CALORIE % IN REFINED SWEETS: 12%

Welcome to the first weekly summary of my food consumption! Rather than ignore this part on a daily basis, you can now ignore it on a weekly basis. Looking at the numbers, I got hungrier as the week went on, and by Friday I was dun, dee yoo enn dun. Perhaps indulging wouldn't be such a big deal if I wasn't already breaking the budget for the past few days. Still, 2,500 ain't so bad compared to the 3K+ I was packing in before counting. Regardless, room for improvement.

Surprised by the large % of sugar, thought it would be less, as it feels like I'm not eating any sweets, but the logs don't lie. My morning tea has refined sugar in it, sure, but the special restaurant meal out with friends and Friday night's pig out added up quick.

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2,055

Didn't ride the bike; I was feeling a bit worn out after going out with friends Saturday night, then needing to be PIC (Papa In Charge) on Monday. Did get weights in on Monday -- my successful negative pull ups have been in the "hammer" position. This day, I did my first successful negative in the the "pull up" position. Small increment, but it counts.

Slept very poorly due to kids being up at various points, though to be fair my wife got the brunt of it because she's more sensitive to it, and more effective in resolving it. I know lack of sleep effects hunger and control (hey, that's a good blog topic!) so I woke up extra determined to be on the budget ball today after 4 days of winging it. Other than a bit too much ice cream, I went to bed feeling the low level of hunger that means I'm comin' correct two nights of the weekend, including last night.

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea, 25 cal

AM SNACK: 10:30am, whole wheat goldfish crackers, half a homemade vanilla cookie, +/- 50 cal

Totally forgot to eat breakfast, too much going on in the morning, and once Edie's friend got dropped off, had to hustle.

LUNCH: 1pm, quarter pounder with cheese, fries, diet coke, 900 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, baby carrots, 80 cal

DINNER: 7pm, whole wheat pasta with shrimp & eggplant, 7oz diet sprite, 1050 cal

Eggplant, onion and basil from the CSA bulked it up. Two tablespoons of olive oil and 40g of grated parm made it weighty. Salt, fresh garlic and dried oregano gave it a little pop.

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WEDNESDAY COUNT:2,400
Went slightly over, but that's ok -- I had spaghetti squash for the first time today, as it came with the CSA. I understand why I was never introduced to it in c-school: it tastes like nothing, it's "spaghetti-like" texture is kinda gross, and you'd have to be very delusional to be satisfied by this stuff when you really want pasta. But it vegged-up my meal, never again.

Tossed some chopped up little red peppers from the CSA not thinking they'd be very spicy, and my all-day black beans came out with some wicked heat, which sucks because my family can't/won't eat them. They taste good, and I appreciate the effect of spicy food on the appetite (it's a depressant), but I made enough for everyone for several meals. -sigh-

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, fruit smoothie, 320 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, Stouffer's French Bread pizzas, momma salad, 7oz diet coke 980 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, chicken sausage, black beans and brown rice, baked spagetti squash,  7oz diet sprite, 1075 cal

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THURSDAY COUNT:2450

Went out to fancy dinner with good neighborhood friends, another couple with kids our age, oh so adult. Tried to limit my calorie consumption during the day, but by the time 5 rolled around, thinking about waiting two more hours made me think how quickly the first two bread baskets would disappear, so I ate what was closest before feeling an energy bonk.

Dinner was pretty spectacular, good company, good service, good food. Portions were relatively small, and while my wife & dining companions chose dishes that I could probably do a worthy silacrum at home (butternut squash ravioli, wild boar lasagne), I chose a whole roasted fish, smothered in fresh lemon and thyme, and most importantly, cooked in a wood burning oven. Between having to find a fish that fresh, store it and gut it, then cook it just perfectly, it was the one dish on the menu that between the access to seafood, the deceptively tricky simple method of cooking, and the flavor of the oven, there was no way I could do justice to this nice piece of fish at home. And it was great. My entree was so healthy, roasted fish and salad, but the carb-heavy apps, the bread, the booze and the desserts made up for it.

Don't have a clue how many calories I consumed, felt satisfied but not stuffed. However, the two over-poured glasses of wine and the shot of grappa had to be about 500 liquid calories, so I've estimated slightly over my budget.

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 8am, kolon bloe & whole milk, 300 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, two PB&Js on whole wheat, momma salad, 7oz diet coke, 670 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm soft serve ice cream cone, 200 cal

DINNER: 7pm, crusty bread with fresh ricotta and pomodoro, wood fired pizza, polenta & mushrooms, roasted whole branzino with microgreens, warm chocolate cake with gelato, warm apple crumble, 2 glasses wine, 1 shot of grappa, +/- 1255

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FRIDAY COUNT: 3,050
Fell off the wagon in the evening, got too hungry, and fresh banana bread was on tap. End of the week, stress, blah blah blah, it was a bit like sliding into home base. Can't beat myself up too hard, will just try to be moderate over the weekend and start afresh Monday.

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 8am, full fat fage with roasted almonds, honey and vanilla, 450 cal

Funny, most cereal's serving size is a laughable 30g, but one serving of full-fat Fage Greek yogurt is 227g, for a total of 220 cal. I think I'll be halving the serving next time, as a tiny 30g serving of almonds packs a heavy 180 cal.

LUNCH: 11:45am, chicken sausage, CSA baked red potatoes and butter, steamed string beans, 7oz diet coke, 670 cal

PM SNACK: 2pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 5pm, large green salad, 4 small slices of pizza, +/- 1105

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 2 slices banana bread, small amount of chocolate chips,  bowl of popcorn, +/-700

Am I a Man, or a Garbage Can?

PJ O'Fudgenukkers, Brooklyn Style

One thing that calorie counting will teach you awfully fast: portions are stupid large. They've been large so long that we don't recognize them as large anymore. Look at the plates and bowls and cups from the my parents only 40-odd years ago, and they were noticeably smaller. Now that I'm a parent, those portions are now even growing larger, due to the "I am my own kid's garbage can" phenomenon....

THEY sit there, five little pasta shells, nestled in a shallow bath of melted butter and Parmesan: the remains of dinner for my toddler son and daughter. I cannot help myself. I reach over, grab the pink plastic bowl and scoop a bite into my mouth. At that moment, I realize something has gone terribly wrong.

The NY Time's Dining & Wine piece is all about the struggles of dads with little kids, vacuuming up their left over kiddie portions in the face of trying to keep a cap on their own eating. There are various quotes from what are referred to as "daddy bloggers", which gave me the kinda heebie-jeebies that a spoiled Jewish teenager from Long Island gets when someone off-handedly mentions JAPs.

Yeah, I'm a daddy blogger. Kiss my tuchus!

The piece is a fairly standard exploration of the challenges of living with and feeding a person with the tastes of a child -- sugar this, fried that, cheesy pleasey, and damn the cholesterol. To a certain extent, if you have an adult palate, your child will not always want to eat what you are eating but if you don't have a fully adult palate (and who does?), the temptation of high-calorie, high-taste food every day will be hard to turn away.

Even before I started counting and restricting my calories, I haven't been too tempted to eat Edie's foods, with the exception of the conveniently microwaved chicken nuggets. However today, I did act as Edie's trash can, but....it was a good thing, thanks to the restaurant I was in.

Today, me n' the kids spent the day in Brooklyn Bridge Park with a friend and her toddler, and she recommended a restaurant that she heard was kid-friendly, just up the street from the playground on the butt-end of Atlantic Avenue.

Come for the play-space, stay for kids leaving you alone while in the play space.

The Moxie Spot trumpets "Family, Fun & Food" on it's sign prominently, which immediately got me thinking of the Republican Convention currently going down in Florida. How much retrograde, religiously inclined insanity is defended in the name of "family, fun & food values"? To me, "family restaurant" is code for "crappy food, noisy room". But it looked near empty, so that was a plus.

Family Values runs on cheesecakes. Subservient, God-fearing cheesecakes.

Spacious, lots of wood, we ordered at the counter, they brought the food to us. A play area was near by, and a 2nd floor is a complete play area, too. Menu was standard fried stuff/pastas/pastries, with a healthy number of kids portions. The first thing I noticed was that the prices for everything, including the adult stuff, was kinda low for the neighborhood. Hmmm. The kids bopped at the coloring table, and when the food came, it was surprisingly good and...modestly portioned. Rather than sell you a standard jumbo burger for $12, here was what a burger usually was like 40 years ago, about half the size...for about half the price!

This past weekend in the Northfork, Edie begged us into submission was treated to ice cream every day because vacation days are "special days." It really annoyed me that one particular shop had no kid's size, just a "small" which was easily 12 oz, which is a large at a standard fancy-pants place in Manhattan. But here, my adult-sized burger & onion rings was pleasantly dinky, which allowed me to....hoover up most of the fries in Edie's kid's hot dog combo plate without the guilt wracking all the other "daddy bloggers" in the NY Times.

The place was quiet today, but I'd have to assume on the weekends the Moxie Spot is more jammed up than the "escort services" at the current Republican convention. Still, on a Daddy Blogger scale of one to five diapers, the Moxie Spot gets 4 1/2, discounted a half a diaper for the anemic pickle on my burger. Kids love pickles, but adults love good pickles.

Tomorrow, delving in to the dark heart of daddy blogging.

THE COUNT: 2,305
Last night was a struggle, got really hungry after I went to bed around 11pm. When I travelled around Europe as a student for a few months on a very limited budget, I went to bed hungry many nights, and when I got home my parents were happy/concerned with how thin I looked. The happy/concerned look of my long-gone parents got me through the night with out snacking.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, fruit smoothie, 350 cal

AM SNACK: 11am, momma salad, 90 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, burger, onion rings, fries, diet coke, +/- 1000 cal
Felt like a grand. Could be wrong, but don't think so. I think I may have to play with weighing a meal without counting, eating it, guessing the calories then doing the math.

DINNER: 6:45pm, grilled chicken breast, steamed green beans, baked potatoes, 7oz diet sprite,  840 cal