Step 2 this

Why do I think of things not related to food when I see this?

I have an odd relationship to yoga. It never really registered on my radar until my friend, the Hungry Vegan Society, started getting heavily involved in yoga's practice and culture. Even before I knew she was that heavy in to yoga, I did notice a change in her. She was happier, gentler, nicer, lighter -- that is a lot of foofy words, but I didn't have the language to put my finger on it then, either. That is not to say that she wasn't already a wonderful, rich person to begin with, but she was....changing.

The HVS never tried to recruit me into the ranks of her fellow yogic vegan happy people, but she left the door open without judgement of my non-stretchy, meat-indulging stressy self. At first we attended a few beginner's classes together, later I sometimes would attend classes she would lead as she grew more advanced. One of the things that always slightly bothered me (other than contorting out of my physical comfort zone) was the more mystical, spiritual aspects of the practice. Chanting "om" and the explanation of togetherness-vibrations, making connections between the positions, parts of the body, and aspects of internal emotions and issues, it all seemed a bit... suspicious. When are they gonna bust out the Jesus and ask me for my life savings?

Jesus needs to pay a graphic designer, and lose the pedo-vibe copy.

In the end, I have found that I enjoy the HVS more than I enjoy yoga, but the two together are such an awesome combo. Even though the only time I get to hang with her in recent years is around a yoga class, it's great. On top of that, I guess the exposure to this  easy-to-dismiss talk of "spirituality" also planted a seed. Do back bends open ourselves up to the future? I don't know about that, but making that "spiritual" connection between action and emotion, between external physicality and internal turmoil -  its a powerful idea.

I've been thinking a lot of this notion as I've attended a few Overeaters Anonymous meetings in the last few weeks. OA is not Weight Watchers or a diet plan or a tool to simply lose weight. From my limited experience, I gather it is a non-professional (i.e. no therapists, no dietitians etc) mutual support group that aims to help it's members end compulsive behavior. It hinges on some self-help literature written in the 1930s that stresses the need to connect to others to help overcome addiction, whether it be alcohol, drugs, food or any other compulsive behavior that one wishes to stop, but can not otherwise.

The leaders of the meetings I've attended all stressed that OA is "spiritual" in nature, not religious. What does that mean? There is a lot of talk of a "higher power", which sets off my alarm bells. Is this the "come to Jesus" moment? It was explained to me that yes, "higher power" can be God for those who believe, but it can be anything that fits two criteria. One, it is larger than yourself, and two, it can be called upon in your internal struggle to inspire you to stop doing whatever addictive thing that is hurting you. Common examples given were "the group", "my teachers" and "love". Huh, gettin' kinda yogic all up in thurrrr.

We are not people smoking a joint, we are joints smoked by people. Think about it.

But maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. OA comes at food with a very direct, simple idea: Unlike drugs and alcohol, one can not abstain and live with out it. Therefore, food must be approached as a source of fuel, not something to party with.

Wait a second, I love food! I love cooking good food and savoring it! But as I thought more about it, I remembered a few months ago I was at a birthday party for a friend of my 4 year old daughter, in a confined space, and it was loud and raucous. Lots of good food was on offer during the party, but it was when the cake and ice cream came out, all the kids gathered to sing happy birthday, the cake and ice cream was distributed and then.....silence. Everyone was sitting, focused on the food in front of them, adults and kids alike. Even though there was other great food at this event, it was this high sugar, high fat snack that defined the party, that calmed otherwise wild children, and soon would send them spinning off into higher levels of sugar-energy. This is normal?

So it's not about abstaining from food, but about abstaining from the compulsive eating or compulsive over eating of food. In these meetings, members told stories of how they obsess about eating 10 to 12 meals a day, others discuss how they could not stop until the entire half gallon of ice cream was gone. I'm not going to go into those stories here, as the meetings are, well, anonymous. And it's anonymous for a very good reason -- it's a place to reveal and discuss behaviors that would otherwise be looked at with shame, pity, anger or disgust in other settings, and it's important to know there will be no gossip or blow back from being open and honest.

How great would have this show been if it was all about addicts talkin' smack about each other? Maybe it was, I never saw it. Was it?

It makes one wonder how those "celebrities" on TV going through rehab are really benefiting from putting all their crap out there between commercials, when what they need is to be unjudged so they can get a handle on their bad behavior. I have discovered a podcast, however, of real non-celebrity people telling their stories, similar to the stories you might hear at an OA, or any 12 step meeting. You can search their library for just OA, though they interview all sorts of addicts, and it's all pretty riveting in the way reality TV was supposed to be before it became totally fake and scripted.

I don't think I'm going to write about OA again, though I think for the time being I'm going to continue to explore meetings. I haven't quite drunk the koolaide yet, but nothing I've heard makes me think it could hurt me anymore than I've already hurt myself with years of over eating and lack of thought about what I was doing to myself. All the bad habits that I've compressed into the weekends have allowed me to lose weight, but it's sitting there, a fat little weasel, just waiting for when my guard is down to come back out and do some serious partying with more than just cake. (Like ice cream! And brownies! And big bowls of pasta! And fries, and bread, and fried bread!)

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Oddly enough, food addiction got a small spot light in the media this week because one of the horrible dummies from some dumb morning gossip program wrote a book about her struggles. Funny, I see her using some 12 step language, but she kinda skirts that topic, as she is supposed to, because the 1st rule of 12 step is you don't talk about 12 step. Well, rule of media relations, anyway. I gotta skim her book in a store, to see if she goes there at all.
-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2366

A relatively decent eating week, though I did fall off late Friday, unrecorded as it is rationalized by "oh, it's just part of the weekend." Thinking of instituting some sort of "weekend report", to hold myself accountable for all my eating. Just think readers, now you'll be able to read about my eating all seven days a week! 

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MONDAY COUNT: 2300

AM SNACK: 3:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 350 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, peanut butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, health salad, 590 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, babganoush, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, shirataki noodles with shrimp, mushrooms, butter and dried herbs,  600

EVENING SNACK: 8:45pm, Frito's, 300 cal

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BIKE CREDIT: 750
TUESDAY COUNT: 2110

Up at 3am, out to Coney. Caffeinated granola bar helped, but not as dramatically as last week. Also, last week I was running on the fumes of almost no sleep, this time I had 6 hours in. 

AM SNACK: 3:15am, caffeinated granola bar, iced green tea, 350 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, Fage yogurt with agave, vanilla, almonds, 310

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, spinach daal, pickles, 580 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, babganoush, 200 cal

DINNER: 7pm, Subway veggie burger 6" hero, chips, 12oz diet coke, 760 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:45pm, Frito's, 300 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2605

Still felt honestly hungry a full 30 minutes after the Fritos, so I allowed myself that extra indulgence.

AM SNACK: 6am,  iced green tea, 0 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 350


LUNCH: 1pm, chicken sausage, roasted broccoli, sofrito black beans, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, hummus, 180 cal

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, poppa salad, miso tahini, 100 cal


DINNER: 7:15pm, hake loin, whole wheat cous cous, roasted asparagus, boiled corn with butter, kimchi, 765

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, Frito's, 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, Cheeto's, 300 cal

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2435

Nice dinner out with B. Made me crave....an accurate calorie count. But it was a nice place without a bottomless bread basket, and we skipped booze and dessert, so I think I did OK.

AM SNACK: 6:15am,  iced green tea, 0 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, Fage yogurt with agave, vanilla, almonds, 310 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, sardine & avocado on whole wheat toast, health salad, 575 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, hummus, 180 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad, miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, skirt steak, string beans, Yeminite tart, crispy chippy things, water, +/- 800 cal
Out at Babooshka with the wifey. We fortunately resisted dessert, 

EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, Frito's, 300 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2380

Electrical work in the office over the weekend, office manager commanding us to eat all the ice cream in the freezer. Uggggg.

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

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, fruit smoothie, 410 cal

LUNCH: 1:15pm, quarter pounder, 16oz diet cherry coke, 540 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, hummus, 180 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, poppa salad, home made Italian dressing, 150 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, challah grilled cheese, corn on the cobb, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, Frito's, 300 cal  

Happy New Year, fatties!

So many things wrong....

213.4--->212.8--->218.2
Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised -- the last few weeks I've been hungrier, and my calorie intake has regularly been over 3000. I am surprised because my clothes have only fit better over the past month, and my slowly enlarging muscles are starting to become a little visible (to my eye...and to the wifey's, as she insists I mention!). Perhaps muscle growth can account for a little weight gain? Hmm.

I think the #1 thing I can do to continue to lose weight is not to be discouraged, as this is a long-term project, as in life-long. Just because every month doesn't bring in a new number I can brag about doesn't mean I should just go get a bag of cookies and sulk in the corner -- too much is at stake. So for January I resolve to:

1. Be stricter in keeping calorie counts to below 2350.
2. Continue to not count on weekends, but to up the vegetable and fruit consumption throughout.
3. End daily desserts once and for all.

I can't beat myself up too hard because:

1. My body wants to gain weight in winter.
2. Biking will come back in the spring to help.
3. I'm still wearing sizes I haven't been comfortable in since high school.
4. I feel good, aside from weighing myself this morning.

Happy New Year, here is to a lighter, healthier 2013!

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This simple tea bag has enough power to: inspire a bunch of totally unfounded claims that are unchecked by the FDA due to the supplements loophole.

As it turns out, any hype around green tea being some sort of fat-burning miracle drink is pretty much utter silliness. While there might be some sort of fat-burning property to some aspect of the stuff, it would have to be ingested in such large quantities that even supplements equivalent to 8 cups of green tea a day are ineffective. I admit the fat-burning rumor was in the back of my mind when I started my habit, but I'll continue it because of four proven qualities:

1. it tastes good
2. it's low calorie
3. it wakes me up gently
4. it hydrates

So there.

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No one told them that Hipster Yoga and Clown Yoga shared the same studio....and time slot....and teacher...and students.

I had the privilege of spending some time with my dear friend T on Friday evening -- she's a bit of a yoga master, so of course we kicked off the evening with a yoga class (basics because that's how I roll). I haven't practiced yoga in a while but the last time I did I did notice some changes in my body. This time, said changes were more pronounced, with my increased strength making challenging positions....still challenging, but less so. In particular, chaturanga was different. It's basically a push-up position with your arms by your side and your elbows bend so your hands are towards the bottom of your chest. I've found this near impossible to stay in for more than a hot moment, but now I found it possible to linger.

But the next day, my left shoulder is painful and feels pulled. Last week, the NY Times had a piece about how men get more injured from yoga than women due to physiological differences. I brought this up with T over a healthy yogastic dinner, and she scoffed a bit at it. Not because it's not true, but because a) this has been well known for quite a while and b) the author has little science to back his claims but does have a new book to pimp. Still, I take some comfort from the piece as it's not strictly my own lameness that prevents me from moving forward in my yoga practice but my dang wang and huevos!

Regardless, I really enjoyed feeling my body respond in a way markedly different in the past and am tempted to take a more difficult yoga class next month. And if it means more hang time with T, all the better!  

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2885

Again, eating more calories on the one hand, feeling more hungry on the other. Still lower than the 3500+ calories I was eating daily, and certainly more veg.

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MONDAY COUNT:3200

Christmas Eve: We ordered in traditional Chinese food and kept it relatively reasonable, but holiday sweets lying around the house made the calorie count explode. Today and tomorrow, I gotta give myself a little slack in the calorie department as long as I'm eating in a way that doesn't make me feel sick and miserable.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea, 50 cal

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, kolon bloe with whole milk, banana, 390 cal

PM SNACK: noon, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, chicken teriyaki meatballs, whole wheat cous cous, steamed string beans, 7oz diet coke, 860 cal

DINNER: 5:45pm, singapore mei fun, shrimp toast, wonton soup, 7oz diet coke, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, 2 donuts, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, dark chocolate bar, +/- 500 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2785

Lots of off-the-hook eating opportunities today. Sweets got me good, but was able to keep the day relatively on track.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 50 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, fruit smoothie, 375 cal

AM SNACK: 11am, momma salad, pickle, 110 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, spiral ham, various stinky cheese with bread and crackers, chocolate covered graham cracker cookies, apple pie, chocolate cake, +/-1400
Xmas family gathering, I was doing well sticking reasonable amounts of ham and stinky cheeses with reasonable amount of carbs (hello large bricks of mac n' cheee!), until dessert came and I found some chocolate graham crackers hard to resist, and ate enough to feel the ol' tired run-down feeling I'd get from a sugar fest.

DINNER: 9:30pm, shrimp, roasted broccoli, mac n' cheese, +/-850
Didn't get hungry after the afternoon cookie explosion, resisted just settling my hunger with chocolate chips -- didn't eat enough veg today. Didn't really eat the mac n' cheese I made for the family gathering, but made some extra for here, as the kids love it. Did a back of the envelope estimation of the calories....oy, a small side serving, about half what I'd usually consume as a side, is around 600 calories. Had only 4oz of unadorned shrimp and low-cal broc, but damn that little brick of mac is filling.

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3105

Glad I had a proper dinner last night, felt good and properly hungry this morning. It was this time exactly last year I started a 2-week period of illness due to my failing digestive system and diet. Unfortunately, got too tempted by some pasta left overs Betsy brought home -- it was a small portion, but after baked potatoes, I was raging. Something tells me baked potatoes might be some sort of trigger food for me.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea, 50 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, kolon bloe with whole milk, 300 cal

AM SNACK: 11:15am, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, double quarter pounder, 750 cal
They served me a normal coke by accident, one sip and I said, "Eww!" A second sip to confirm what it was, then rather than trade it in, just tossed it -- do I really need diet coke that desperately? Harder was the fries I tossed out, as Edie loved her nuggets and apples and milk, but was not interested in the fries and I had to resist being the human garbage can repository of an extra 230 calories....

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, apple/carrot/beet/kale/ginger juice, 175 cal

DINNER: 6:15pm, broiled flounder, roasted brussels, baked potato, pickle, 7oz diet coke, 930 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, gnocchi, rigatoni with sausage, +/-300 cal
Betsy brought home leftovers. I was too hungry to stop.

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, dark chocolate chips and peanuts, +/-500 cal

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2590

Good work out in the morning.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea, 50 cal

BREAKFAST: 10:30am,steel cut oatmeal, 375 cal

AM SNACK: 12:45pm, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 3:15pm, chicken sausage, quinoa, string beans, 690 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, popcorn, a few sips of diet coke, +/-175 cal

DINNER: 7pm, chicken jalfrezi with rice, onion bahji, chocolate hazelnut ice cream, water, +/- 900 cal

Didn't finish my dinner, it just wasn't very good. Went light on the rice, skipped naan bread all together. Needed the ice cream just to feel like I had a yummy meal.

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, cheesy poofs, +/-300 cal

Tried to avoid an evening snack, but just got hungry. Hopefully my estimations were accurate. At least they feel honest.

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2745

Woke up a little hungry and nicely sore in my upper arms from yesterday's work out, which is great - progress is being made towards that one golden day in the future where I actually do one damn pull up. C & Lil' A came over for breakfast, made a meal I've never counted because it's usual a weekend treat, kind of an eye opener.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea, 50 cal

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, 2 waffles, 2 slices bacon, 7oz diet coke,  720 cal

I've only made waffles on the weekends, so I was surprised to find that each single waffle had 280 cal. They taste great, using only real whole unadulterated ingredients, but a stick of butter (800 cal), a cup and half of flour (832 cal), five eggs (450 cal) all add up, even when divided by 9. The recipe only calls for 2oz of sugar (215 cal), so it's not a total horror, but still. I think last time I made waffles, I was hungry and I ate 5. 1,400 cal at one meal, standing by the oven!!

LUNCH: 2:30pm, almond butter and jelly on whole wheat bread, momma salad, 7oz diet coke, 550 cal

Nice that I don't feel too hungry, even this late. Usually I eat two sandwiches, was easy to do one. Also makes me think of the surprising high glycemic index of bread, whole wheat or not.

PM SNACK: 5pm, apple/carrot/kale/beet/ginger juice, 150 cal

Fuel for some yoga-ing.

SNICKLE DINNER: 7:45pm, vegan Cesar salad, lentil soup, water, +/- 500 cal

SNICKLE SNACK: 8:45pm, popcorn, diet coke, +/- 175 cal

EVENING SNACK: 12:30am, slice of streetza, +/- 250 cal

EVENING SNACK: 1:15am, chocolate chips and peanuts, +/- 500 cal

Cum On Feel the Noize / Essential Yoga Truths

If you read the daily news about the latest in obesity research, you may find yourself getting stupider by the day. On one hand, society is heading over a cliff o' fatness and we're all doomed, and on the other hand, fat people seem to be healthier than thin people. Cum on feel this noize!

A report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was recently issued, entitled, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011". In a one year period, sixteen of the 50 states got more obese, and none declined. The report also looks at figures for the last twenty years: back then no state had an obesity rate over 15%, while now two thirds of all states are over 30% obese, and now only one state out of fifty is less than 20% super-chunky.

“Today, the state with the lowest obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995,” said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director of TFAH. “There was a clear tipping point in our national weight gain over the last twenty years, and we can't afford to ignore the impact obesity has on our health and corresponding health care spending.”

Bobby "Wood" Johnson was teased about his name by fat kids growing up. Little did they know that he would get the last laugh....

There are break downs by race and income (summary -- the darker and poorer you are, the fatter you tend to be) and policy recommendations (summary -- the beverage industry will not be amused), as well as individual reports by state. My family's home state, NY, is the 11th least obese state, woooo! Still, at 24.1% of New Yorker's officially being Fatty McFattfatts, that doesn't seem so hot. Trimmest state? Colorado at 19.8%. State most super-sized? Mississippi at 34.4% Guess they need all those extra i's, s's and p's to help expel air as they try to pull up their pants.

Colorado rush hour commute. The fattest ones get eaten by bears.

To add some color to the story, the study's author gave some good quote to ABC News:

"With 6 million new cases of diabetes, 5 million cases of heart disease and stroke, and more than 400,000 cases of cancer in the next 20 years, we are on a tragic course that will have a horrible impact on the quality of life of millions of Americans and could overwhelm an already over burdened health care system," said Dr. Jeffery Levi, study author and executive director of Trust for America's Health.

We are heading over a cliff, sooner or later we will all be economically hobbled tubs o' goo enslaved to our P90X-worshipping overlords. Or will we?

In study after study, overweight and moderately obese patients with certain chronic diseases often live longer and fare better than normal-weight patients with the same ailments. The accumulation of evidence is inspiring some experts to re-examine long-held assumptions about the association between body fat and disease.

So what explanations are offered for this paradox?

1. More food delivers more calories, but also more nutrition. Skinny peeps might be skinny but under-fed.
2. Thin people are genetically programmed to become sick. Evolution has caused our bodies to seek out calories, and a survival-of-the-fittest has screened skinny people into the less-likely-to-survive group over millions of years.
3. Doctors give less attention to pretty skinny people than ugly fat people.
4. McDonalds is delicious so shut up. There is so much hype about obesity that we're missing a different factor.

And what could that factor be? The article hints that it may be "fitness". 

Research that does tease apart weight and fitness — like a series of studies conducted by Steven Blair at the Cooper Institute in Dallas — shows that being fat and fit is better, healthwise, than being thin and unfit. Regular aerobic exercise may not lead to weight loss, but it does reduce fat in the liver, where it may do the most metabolic damage, according to a recent study at the University of Sydney.

I'm living under the working assumption that to lose weight, I must eat less calories, but to feel good, I must maintain a certain level of fitness. This article would suggest that my "feeling good" also means maintaining a healthy, well-functioning body - regardless of weight.

There is another piece in the NY Times recently that looks at a study which looks at the relationship between exercise and weight-loss. In short, you do nothing, you lose no weight. You do some moderate exercise, you lose weight. You do a whole lot of exercise, you lose....less weight.

The men who had exercised the most, working out for 60 minutes a day, had managed to drop some flab, losing an average of five pounds each. The scientists calculated that that weight loss, while by no means negligible, was still about 20 percent less than would have been expected given the number of calories the men were expending each day during exercise, if food intake and other aspects of their life had held steady.

Meanwhile, the volunteers who’d worked out for only 30 minutes a day did considerably better, shedding about seven pounds each, a total that, given the smaller number of calories that they were burning during exercise, represents a hefty 83 percent “bonus” beyond what would have been expected, says Mads Rosenkilde, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Copenhagen who led the study.

The researchers suspect that the 60-min-a-day exercisers were not being totally accurate in reporting there calorie intake. Basically, the theory is that if you work out hella-lot, you get a lot more hungry and:

1. it becomes easier to over-eat.
2. encourages more periods of sedintariness as you're blown out from hard work outs.

A more moderate work out will leave you less hungry, less likely to over-eat, and instead of drained, you will be energized to be involved in a more active lifestyle.

Mitt Romney: "Perhaps if they were to exercise less and go get jobs, they'd be less hungry."

Not to brag (OK, I'm bragging), I kinda already knew this. I've been doing 100+ mile bike rides over the last decade, riding to work and riding for fun.  (That's, uh, three separate things, not 100+ mile fun bike rides to work.) And yet, multiple friends over the years have commented about how amazing it is that I ride so much, but still retain a nicely obese frame. Well, I ride off a certain number of calories, then I would thoroughly enjoy eating a certain number of calories... and then a certain number of calories more.

When discussing my weight routine with a close friend who shirked her own routine because it became too much for her, I told her I worked out twice a week for about 45 minutes. She was shocked, implying that wasn't nearly enough. I guess if you pay for a gym membership whose reason for existing is to get you to work out as much as possible, they're not going to direct you to the minimum it takes to see long-term results. My 2x weights, 1x long bike ride per week is working for me. I don't know if I'm "fit", but I'm definitely feeling good.

I feel the noize, and I'm trying to float above it while keeping my cool and not just throwing my hands up and giving in to my cravings for brownies and television. I had a close friend in 2000 who lived here but had residence in Florida, and she chose to use her absentee ballot to vote for Ralph Nader because she could not see any difference between Bush and Gore. She ain't my friend anymore. She could not feel the noize.

This is not a political blog, but when Big Beverage, Big Food and Big Farm kick up so much dust to create confusion about health to protect their profits, how can one not try to wade through the conflicting messages?

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Falling doesn't hurt that much  with a pair of gigantic invisible testicles. 

I took a yoga basics class with the HVS Friday evening, and an essential yoga truth was unveiled to me during the class. All those yoga people in crazy positions, like balancing their whole bodies on their pinkie fingers while splaying their legs? It's not because they are connecting to some magical spiritual force that allows them to deny the laws of physics. It is because they are as strong as hell. I guess a heady mix of vegan diet, comfy clothes, babbling in Sanskrit and doing stretches all day will do that to a person.

I only noticed because this was the first time I practiced yoga since I've purposefully been trying to lose weight and gain muscle. At first the poses seemed magically more easy and comfortable....am I connecting with the great Googamooga or Ghee or Yogurtmonster? No, I thought, I'm just a little more fit from regularly lifting up big round dumb pieces of iron. It would be nice to credit myself as being closer to the Ur-Spirit of Bacterial Enlightened Dairy, but I gotta keep it real.

At the KIR Church, they are strictly athiests, because they KEEP IT REAL.

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Housekeeping: Next Monday is the 1st, weigh-in day, so the next entry will be delayed by one day. 

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2339 cal
REFINE SUGAR %: +/- 10%

Seems every Monday I glide out the day easily while staying under my budget minimum, while by Friday it's almost impossible to stay below the budget maximum. I think this means two things:

1. I'm having a "calorie hangover" from the weekend of eating above the calorie maximum.
2. When I reach my final goal, my maintenance calorie budget will be higher than my current maximum.

This week's average was within budget, so that's a very good thing. While things that are straight up sugar (brownies, vegan ice cream, iced green tea) are counted, I do not count the sugar of the ricotta pancakes, the teriyaki pineapple meatballs, the smoothie, all of which are savory but have some sugar in them (other than the smoothie, which is sweet but has all the fiber and nutrition of whole fruit in it.) I'm of two minds, trying to get down to one....

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MONDAY COUNT: 2075
The weekend's eating was kept reasonable, with a ride to City Island on Sunday and a little bit too much homemade apple crisp and pie-spice ice cream that evening. While food shopping in the evening with Edie, decided I wanted to eat something fun for dinner -- had a very healthy lunch, could indulge for dinner. Got a box of 6 White Castle sliders, noticed the whole box's calorie count could work into my budget. A side of veg instead of fries and it's a reasonable dinner.

A year or two ago, at the end of a hard week at the restaurant, I'd get a box of these burgers, maybe match them with some frozen onion rings, then complete the meal with between a half and a full box of Entemann's donuts. Replacing onion rings and donuts with 6oz of string beans, it's what's for dinner now.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea, 25 cal

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, kolon bloe and whole milk, 300 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken sausage, roasted Brussel sprouts, baked potato with butter, 7oz diet sprite, 860 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad, 60 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, White Castle burgers, steamed string beans, 7oz diet sprite, 830 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2200

Started the day with a homemade breakfast, finished the day with a dinner with two veg and without a starch component, wound up hitting my minimum. Went to sleep a little hungry, but was feeling down/angry/anxious about unrelated things, which I kinda harnessed into not eating more.

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

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, lemon ricotta pancakes, bacon, 685 cal
Had another kid and parent over for breakfast before they took Edie out for the day, so I made a nice breakfast. Did not know the calorie count until after eating. I actually served myself about 440 calories, but since Edie did not eat some of her meal, I ate it for her and POOF, 685. So easy to over eat.

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 2:45pm, vegetable patty & a jerk chicken patty, 730 cal

PM SNACK: 4:15pm, 7oz diet sprite, 0 cal

DINNER: 7:15pm, teriyaki pineapple chicken meatballs, health salad, string beans, 660 cal
Had to remove the planned whole wheat cous cous to hit the calorie budget after this morning's pancakes. Large pile of cabbage and string beans helped a lot, only 150 cal all together. The rest went into 12 meatballs, out of a large pack I picked up at Costco. Suspiciously juicy, I had to check the ingredients after I tore through them. "Teriyaki" simply means sweetened with sugar, salted up with soy sauce, and dosed with umami with some miso.  The sugar syrup probably added to the juiciness. Still, surprisingly palatable, not overly sweet or pineapply.
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2305

Lifted weights in the morning, rode bike to Red Hook to do recruiting for my culinary class. Offered samples of brownies to lure them in, as tempting as it was to eat a bunch, it wasn't that hard to abstain. Took Edie up to Grandma's house in the afternoon. Despite an unmeasurable restaurant meal, felt hungryish in the evening so probably did not surpass my maximum budget.

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

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, smoothie, 380 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, quarter pounder, fries, diet coke, 900 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, shrimp scampi over white rice, side salad, water,+/- 900 cal
Diner on the UES. Too many choices. Relatively healthy, but when this dish came, the whole surface of the plate was just a huge mound of rice. Pushed about 1/3 of it to the side, and other than a few nibbles of Edie's french fries, kept it relatively reasonable.

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 7oz diet sprite, 0 cal

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2630

Went over the budget with a snack quickly following an unsatisfying dinner. After riding around 2 tots on a bike all over Brooklyn, was too tired to cook meals for the kids AND make myself proper dinner, so I popped in some  pizzas. Got too hungry to wait, and micro'd some pancakes. After eating, just not feeling satisfied, and ate some of Edie's chicken and the remnants of homemade brownies in the fridge. One thing you can say for sugar, when you consume it at the end of the meal, it switches off your hunger fast.

Don't feel too bad about going over the budget, the bike riding probably off-set  it to a reasonable degree.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, full fat Fage yogurt with honey, vanilla & almonds, 365 cal

LUNCH:12:45pm, two almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat multi grain bread sandwiches, momma salad, 7oz diet coke, 965 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, 14 oz diet sprite, 0 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, Stouffer's french bread pizzas, 2 lemon ricotta pancakes, 1000 cal

PM SNACK: 7pm, piece of breaded chicken breast, homemade brownie, +/- 300 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2485

A good day, got some chores done in the morning, had a nice afternoon out with the kids and friends. Got to take an over-due basics yoga class with the HVS and friends. A nice end to the week.

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

BREAKFAST: 9am, kolon bloe with whole milk, 300 cal

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

LUNCH: 1:30pm, veggie burger sub, potato chips, diet coke, 760 cal

SNICKLE SNACK: 8:15pm, black cod teriyaki, hijiki, basmanti rice, "corn bread", +/- 600 cal

SNICKLE SNACK: 9:30pm, vegan ice cream cone, +/- 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, slice of streetza, +/- 300 cal