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