Weigh-in: Just F-it.

192.8-->192.8-->196.6

There is a part of me that says, "Be afraid! Be very afraid!" with this little uptick, with my mind scolding me for the days I ate too many sweets or too much pasta. It wants to douse these flames with promises to eat extra less, work out extra more, and refocus to break through this plateau my weight loss has sat on for the past year or so.

Fuck it. Just….that.

There is a bigger part of me that says, "Dude, it's less than 4 pounds, you have 3 slices of lasagna in your stomach from last night's holiday celebration, and you're the fittest you've ever been in your entire life. So chill the fuuuuuuck out." Historically, I have put on weight in the winter, and lost it in the summer, a variation of 10-15 pounds.  Looking over the past month, eating-wise it wasn't great, and part of me is surprised I'm only up 4 lbs. The bigger part, again, is "DUDE. It was a great month on many (nonblog related) levels, circle back when you're ready." So I'm gonna go with that voice. I could still stand to lose another 20 pounds, but my gut doesn't protrude anymore and my arms look suspiciously thicker.

As Fall descends, I'm going to need to be more mindful of my daily caloric intake due to less riding and heavier seasonal foods, so maybe shave it here and there, maybe play with increasing the number of calories during the day so I'm not tempted by sweets or kind bars in the evenings. Moderation is nothing if it's not supported by balance.

-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 3023

That's an ugly number -- usually my vanity pushes that number down a little on the weeks that end with a weigh in. Just a lower bar to get over this coming month, I suppose.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 2440

SLEPT: 9:45pm-5am, 7.25hr
A bit tired from the weekend, over ate a bit on Sunday so easy to keep it moderate today.

AM SNACK: 5:15am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel, split pea soup, health salad, pickles, 620 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox almonds , 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with caesar dressing, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal
-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 2770

SLEPT: 10pm-3am, 5 hrs
Productive morning, did a lift, prep for lasagna baking tomorrow. Busy day at work, wasn't able to get a nap in, the horror.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea, 0 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, mushroom curry,  pickles, 620 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox seed mix , 300 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, grilled chicken breast,  roasted brussel sprouts, poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 670 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, 2 kind bars, half a bag of veggie straws, bag of honey grahams, 570 cal

-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2855

SLEPT: 9pm-4:15am, 7.25 hrs

Nice sleep, the kind I usually get after a day of bike riding, what a treat. Got lasagnas in the oven by 5:45am, that was nice.

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

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, steel cut oatmeal 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa,  pickles, 645 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox popcorn , 210 cal

PM SNACK 2: 5pm, poppa salad with cesar dressing, 180 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, shrimp pad thai, fried tofu, curry puff, most of 1 beer, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 2 kind bars, 410 cal

-----

BIKE CREDIT: 710 cal

THURSDAY COUNT: 4565

SLEPT: 9:30pm-2:30am, 5 hrs

Good morning ride. Holiday meal was a bit too much with me, ugg.

AM SNACK: 3am, iced green tea, 150mg caffeine, homemade granola bar, 185 cal

BIKE SNACK: 4:30am, homemade granola bar, 185 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds,  450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken sausage, black beans, roasted broccoli and shitakes, pickles, 550 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox oat crackers and onion marmalade , 200 cal

PM SNACK 2: 4:30pm, poppa salad with cesar dressing, potato stix, 580 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, homemade lasagna, ice cream, +/- 1200 cal

-----

FRIDAY COUNT: 2485

SLEPT: 9pm-5:30am, 8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 5:45am, iced green tea,

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, fruit smoothie, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, sardines and avocado on whole wheat toast, health salad, pickles, 615 cal

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

DINNER: 6:15pm, tray of random Wholefoods hot bar, +/- 900 cal

From Butts to Eating Clean: a true American story

Shonda's portfolio to get work as a stock photography model never quite hit it's mark.

I was out for brunch over the weekend, and while we were pursuing an exciting, free-form conversation stretching across too many topics to recount here,  my perfectly pleasant dining companion mentioned that she ate freely during the weekend (sounds familiar), and during the week she ate "clean".

I've heard that buzzword before on the periphery, and to be honest it raised my bullshit antenna. I casually asked, "Oh, clean? What does that mean?" Her eyes glanced down and to the side, a physical sign that she perhaps was not completely comfortable. She said something about no sugar and no flour. "Oh, carb free diet?" No, well, kinda, lean proteins and vegetables. I kind of wanted to ask more questions, but I could tell pushing it would not be gentlemanly. Fair enough, guys needling ladies about their eating habits can be creepy in the wrong context, and perhaps this afternoon was the wrong context.

When I came across this image on google image search, I straight up thought this was a turd on a plate. Just thought I'd share. Because this is the right context.

That's what the Internet is for, because no one has ever ranted creepily on the Internet! My google-fu is strong. What, pray tell, is "eating clean?"

The Eat-Clean principles are:

• Eat six small meals a day.
• Eat breakfast every day, within an hour of getting up.
• Eat lean protein and complex carbohydrates at every meal.
• Have two or three servings of healthy fats every day.
• Get fiber, vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes from fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Control your portions.
• Drink 2 to 3 liters of water (about 13 8-ounce cups) every day.

 The foods to avoid:

• Over processed foods, especially white flour and sugar
• Artificial sweeteners
• Sugary beverages, such as soda and juice
• Alcohol
• Foods with chemical additives like food dyes and sodium nitrite
• Foods with preservatives
• Artificial foods, such as processed cheese slices
• Saturated fats and trans fats
• Anti-foods -- calorie-dense foods with no nutritional value

Sounds like a stricter version of current "common sense", but the whole drink-a-ton-of-water has been questioned -- if you are in tune with your body, you can just drink when you are thirsty. It's when people are full of sugar and drugs and drug-like foods that you can confuse hunger for thirst and vice versa. Still, my bullshit-o-larm is ringing loud: someone is saying that this list of do's and do-not's are somehow universally applicable to all people? And jargon like "anti-food" tend to muddy the water when it comes to understanding the concept of balance and moderation -- calling a Big Mac an "anti-food" might be satisfying on some level, but that doesn't make it true or accurate.

Of course, when profit motive gets involved, all bets are off. After all, the guru behind eating clean is also the author of that classic for all time, the Butt Book.

Tosca Reno (born May 22, 1959) is the New York Times best selling author behind Your Best Body Now and the Eat-Clean Diet(r) series. She is also a certified Nutritional Therapy practitioner.[1] She is also a fitness model, columnist, and the author of the "Eat-Clean Diet" series.[2]

-sigh- So much for credibility.

It is impossible to target any place on your body for fat loss, unless you are talking surgery. Implying you can is a very popular way to separate insecure ladies (and a growing number of men) from the contents of their wallets. So with that in mind, what does one find if you were to read ALL FRIGGIN' TWELVE 'Eat Clean' books Mz. Reno wrote in the space of 5 years?

First you need to step back and remind yourself of some basic truths.

There are three ways a food could negatively affect your health, longevity, or body composition.
1. Contributing to a caloric excess which leads to negative health problems from being overweight.
2. Causing nutrient deficiencies by diluting the nutrient density of your diet.
3. Directly interfering with your body’s functions, causing specific diseases, increasing fat gain, or accelerating aging.

Simply put, no food does any of these things, and all food does these things, because balance. Too much of something will cause excess calories to collect as fat. Too little of something will cause nutritional deficiencies. And if your eating something that messes with your functioning, it's probably not a food - its a drug. And yes, food can be so refined that it acts like a drug in your system. It's not a mere coincidence that the only simpler carb than sugar is alcohol.

Balance and moderation are what’s important, and the definition of both of these terms depends on who’s eating the food and how much they’re eating.

And it is that information gap -- balance and moderation varies culturally, physiologically and emotionally from person to person -- is where the lever to separate you from your cash lies. I guess if you are going to be a diet guru and make a living, you have to publish or perish. And if your going to make billions of dollars for a corporation with a food product, you better explore those drug-like effects of legal food to trade on it's addictive qualities. One may be hooking you, and the other may be unhooking you, but make no mistake, they both want the same thing for you: for you to pay them.
-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 3036

Too many sweets, but looking back it was a surprisingly stressful week, it was a reaction to that. Hopefully I can get back in the saddle next week, let's not beat myself up.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 3260

SLEPT: 11pm-4am, 1:45pm-2:45pm, 6 hrs
After missing 2 weeks for legit reasons, got back on the horse and lifted this morning. A little bit disappointed about the over snacking in the evening, left over ice cream from the weekend…which actually now that I write that, is kinda amazing that I can have "left over ice cream", that's kinda a big deal. And I gave a little bit to E&E, for a rare weekday "ice cream party", which made it feel special.

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel, split pea soup, health salad, pickles, 620 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nut mix , 330 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with caesar dressing, 600 cal

EVENING GORGE: 7pm, 2 kind bars, half a pint of ice cream, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal
-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 2840

SLEPT: 11pm-5am, 1:45pm-2:45pm, 7 hrs
Damn, second day of eating a sweet during the week. My eldest needed some intimacy and encouragement, and despite it involving sweets close to her bedtime, we cooked together for pretty much the first time. After I mised the cookies, she was able to unwrap the butter, pour in the sugars, crack an egg with only 1/2 of the shell falling in, add the chips (after tasting one to make sure our ingredients were good). Previous attempts at this were met with enthusiasm, but her lack of attention and coordination made her participation mostly eating -- I felt like tonight was the first time I actually met the potential Jr. Chef in my daughter.

I guess putting it that way, TOTES worth the cookie dough snarfing on a week night. Let's just not let it happen too often, ok?

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea, 0 cal

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

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

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, mushroom curry,  pickles, 620 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nutmix , 320 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, grilled pork tenderloin,  roasted brussel sprouts, poppa salad with Italian dressing, 690 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, a few spoonfuls of chocolate chip cookie dough, 2 cookies, +/- 600 cal

-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2760

SLEPT: 11pm-3am, 1:30-2:30pm, 5 hrs
Good day, but too bad about the ice cream. Hmmm.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Fage full fat yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa, pickles, 770 cal 

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, Grazebox crackers , 210 cal

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 170 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, old school dim sum, ice cream, +/- 1000 cal
-----

BIKE CREDIT: 690
THURSDAY COUNT: 3160

SLEPT: 8:30pm-3am, 6.5 hr
Good ride, though knees a little achy. 

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea, 150mg caffeine, granola bar, 225 cal

BIKE SNACK: 4:30am, granola bar, 225 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm,vegetarian meatballs, roasted broccoli and shitake mushrooms, Indian spinach and cheese, pickles, 695 cal 

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, Grazebox crackers , 210 cal

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, half of a poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 85 cal

PM SNACK: 5:45pm, raisin bran with whole milk, +/- 300 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, Stouffer's French Bread pizzas, lots of cookies, +/- 1500 cal
-----

FRIDAY COUNT: 3160

SLEPT: 9pm-12:30am, 1:30am-6am, 8 hr
Up in the middle of night, medicated with some TV. Too many cookies the night before.

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea,

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, fruit smoothie, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm,almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, pickles, health salad, 620 cal

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

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

Vitamins: There are no magic pills.

Magic beans, I tell ya!

When I was probably four or five, my mother would serve my brother and I orange juice and a "Fruity Pebbles Flintstone Multivitamin" with our breakfasts. I liked the vitamin, as it looked like a Flintstones character, was sweet enough to be mistaken for candy and would be an unexpected color every morning. I don't remember when she stopped serving them to us, but for some reason she deemed us 'healthy enough' at some point.

When I was in my early 20s and living in my first post-college apartment, I soon started feeling a bit run down. I didn't think to alter the lack of sleep, massive amounts of diet coke or sugary carb bombs masquerading as meals. Instead of actually changing a single damn thing in my life, I went down to a local drug store and perused the massive wall of vitamins and found one that had a little bit of everything. And by 'little bit', it was close to 100 to 500% of every vitamin the USDA lists on the back of food. If a little is good, then more is better, obviously.

Suffice to say, after one pill a day for about 2 weeks, I started feeling….strange. Still run down, but my head was fuzzier, joints rubbery, sense of balance slightly tweaked and a little bit nauseous all the time. On a hunch, I stopped taking the vitamins and within a few days, I was back to my run down self.

I was probably taking massive overdoses of all sorts of otherwise harmless substances, but really, should I do the research and find the right vitamin in the right dose to maximize my health? Probably not.

Many medical studies show positive health effects from higher vitamin levels. The only problem? These studies often can’t tease out the effect of the vitamins from the effect of other factors, such as generally healthy living. Studies that attempt to do this typically show no impact from vitamin use — or only a very tiny one on a small subset of people. The truth is that for most people, vitamin supplementation is simply a waste of time.

Good health is not good for business. So buy more vitamins to get HEALTHIER!

Just like last week, the studies that seemed to show that vegetables makes people superior also might have shown that superior people eat more vegetables. Ipso facto, people who take vitamins are healthier, because healthier people take vitamins. That Flintstone chewable as a kid probably didn't make me magically healthy, but the habit my mom got from serving it reminded her to be mindful of her kids health, thereby coloring some of her nutritional choices for us.

So if we were to reject all vitamin pills and supplements, I guess we would all keel over from malnutrition and deficiencies of the micronutrients that make us live, right?

To be clear: Serious vitamin deficiencies can cause serious problems (scurvy in the case of vitamin C, rickets in the case of vitamin D, beriberi for vitamin B).1 But if you live in the developed world and eat a normal diet — even a pretty unhealthy one — you will be nowhere near this kind of deficiency.

Despite the panic and fear surrounding our American food supply in 2014 (and I'll admit, sometimes I've been part of the noise that helps foster this), it is pretty impossible to be deficient in the a great majority of micronutrients as long as you don't have an eating disorder (hello pizza guy!) or digestive impairment. Junk food in our diet is pushing out the vegetables, fruit, whole grains and other stuff that has naturally occurring sources of vitamins. Many years ago our AP flour became 'enriched' with various vitamins, salt became iodized and the majority of Americans are getting their vitamins through refined food. These things were mandated by law because despite the profit required by the morally corrupt food industry, a public decimated by malnutrition would kill the economy. And so the hamster wheel of capitalism keeps spinning, powered by that lil' hamster named you.
-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2820cal

Not the greatest eating week, and skipped the weight lifting again, but got some good miles in, and life is interesting.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 2390

SLEPT: 10pm-5:30am, 1:30-2:30pm,  8.5 hrs
Body sore, dehydrated last night from a fast 100 miles on the bike Sunday. Good to test the boundaries, even better than plans got canceled and I got to lounge around, order in food and (try to) get to sleep early. Was going to wake at 4, but pushed it off because I knew I could get my chores done if I woke at 5:30. I was right.

AM SNACK: 5:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel, split pea soup, health salad, pickles, 620 cal 

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, Grazebox seed mix , 260 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with caesar dressing, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal
-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 3420

SLEPT: 11pm-6:15am, 1:45-2:45pm, 8.25 hrs
Up a little late last, let myself "sleep in" as there is still lingering soreness from Sunday's ride. Hopefully will get a long-delayed weight-lift in tomorrow.

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, madras lentils,  pickles, 680 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nut and roasted bean mix , 260 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, grilled chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, poppa salad with Cesar dressing and fresh tomato, 570 cal

EVENING SNACK 1: 7:30, 2 kind bars, 1 kid granola bar, peanut butter with chocolate syrup, +/- 700 cal

EVENING SNACK 2: 11:30pm, 1 Stouffers French bread pizza, some kraft mc n cheese, +/- 600 cal

-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3354

SLEPT: 12:30pm-6:15am, 5.75 hrs

Work stuff, a conversation with a new friend, life being good, just kept me up late thinking. Skipped weight lifting and ate too much, let's just not make this a new habit. Ate horribly at a rare ballgame in the evening, really messed with my system.

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, steel cut oatmeal 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa,  pickles, 645 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox cracker mix , 220 cal

PM SNACK 2: 5pm, poppa salad with Italian dressing, 180 cal

PM SNACK 3: 5:45pm, 2 vegtable samosas, +/- 200 cal

DINNER: 7:15pm, cheese steak, garlic fries, frozen lemonade, +/- 1500 cal

-----

BIKE CREDIT: 650 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2370

SLEPT: 11pm-1am, 4:30am-7am, 1-2:30pm,  6 hrs

Cheesesteak sat poorly. Couldn't get back to bed so I rode early, got more sleep when I got back, and took a nice nap at work. After shock of stadium food with me through the first part of the day. Skipped caffeine and granola bars for the ride because I didn't want to yak. Had an active late night with a nice friend, had to eat a little before bed.

AM SNACK: 1:15am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, fate whole yogurt with almonds, honey and vanilla, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:45pm, chicken sausage,  pickles, diet coke,  230 cal 
Stomach still a little tichy, tossed my broccoli and black beans. Black beans a little freezer burned, gonna toss the remainder of that batch.

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, Grazebox pistachios , 200 cal

PM SNACK 2: 5pm, poppa salad with fresh tomato and Italian dressing, 180 cal

PM SNACK 3: 7pm, kind bar, 200 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, vegetarian Ethiopian food, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 1:30am, 1 Stouffer's French bread pizza, peanut butter & chocolate syrup +/- 800 cal

-----

FRIDAY COUNT: 2570 cal
Great dinner out with a friend I don't see nearly enough.

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

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, fruit smoothie, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, almond butter and grape jelly on toasted whole wheat, health salad, pickles, 600 cal

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

DINNER: 6:30pm, Lobster roll, pork belly, 1 beer, ice cream, +/- 1000 cal

The Moral Superiority of Vegetables

SNACKPOCALYPSE with Chloe Grace Moretz, Tyler Posey, and First Lady Michelle Obama from Funny Or Die 

This morning on the way to work, I ran in to my old friend, Ilsa. She was my nutritionist many years ago. Ilsa was studying some sort of holistic nutrition, and while some of the things she advised were a bit out there and tangential to nutrition in hind site, I really got a lot out of it. It set me on a path of thinking about food seriously, which led me to culinary school. Ilsa, combined with the c-school and a health scare, got me out of a life-long rut of binge-eating sugar so often it was less like a binge and more like a constant stream of crap down my throat.

When stock photography perfectly summarizes a life once lived...

But with any transformation, there is the fear of indulging the "born again" extremist factor. Change is good, but running from yourself in fear and disgust can make for crazy times. People who are "Ding dongs are cool" one day, then a few weeks later are proselytizing a raw-vegan-gluten free-clean-organic lifestyle should be held up to scrutiny: they may very well be emotionally unstable, sometimes even mentally ill.

But as I think about the change I've undergone, and what I'm going to say to Ilsa when I take her to dinner in a few weeks, I can't help but think, have I become a true believer? As can be seen by the comedy clip above, the push for fruit & veg as a large and normal part of our diets is growing both in our culture and in our political conversation. And now there is a study to back it up.

People who ate more fruits and vegetables over the 13-day period reported higher average levels of curiosity, creativity, and positive emotions, as well as engagement, meaning, and purpose.

Quite literally, this study is implying that those who eat more fruit and vegetables are better than you. Fortunately, if you read down the summary, the researchers fully admit there is no causality proven -- eating fruit and vegetables may make you a better person, or perhaps better people just happen to eat more fruit and vegetables. Still, I can't get out of my head studies of eugenics that 'proved' the superiority of certain races to others.

All that stock photography of women joyously eating salad? This study proved why.

I can only speak from my own anecdotal evidence that now that I have added regular servings of broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts, spinach, carrots, green salad, and nasty-ass fresh vegetable juice 5 days a week, I do find myself feeling better about things, less prone to foul moods and the ability to read minds and fly. Let's just not be snobby about it, please?
-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 3182

Oy, thats a big number, and doesn't even feel like it was a crazy week. I an do better.

-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 2950

SLEPT: 9pm-4am, 7 hrs
Didn't feel well rested, some gastric distress during the day, feeling down, too. Gave in to some homemade sweets in the evening which worked in two ways -- the plain ol' sugar rush and chocolate smile was a mood elevator, but also it felt like a real special treat, too, not a mechanical indulgence to chase the sugar dragon.

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

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

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel, split pea soup, health salad, pickles, 620 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nut mix , 320 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with caesar dressing, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, homemade brownies, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal

-----

WEDNESDAYCOUNT: 2750

SLEPT: 9pm-6am, 2-3pm, 10 hrs
Felt a bit crummy yesterday, I did set my alarm for 4 to lift but thought the extra sleep would probably be better for me than weights. As I write this in the late morning at work, I'm totally convinced I made the right choice, I needed that sleep.

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

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, steel cut outmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, mushroom curry,  pickles, 660 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox spicy nut mix , 310 cal

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 170 cal

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, kind bar, 200 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, stir fried shrimp, broccoli and shitake mushrooms with shiritaki noodles and oyster sauce, 1.5 homemade brownies, +/- 800 cal
-----

BIKE CREDIT: 690 cal
THURSDAYCOUNT: 3970

SLEPT: 10pm-2am, 4 hrs
Not enough sleep, then a long emotional evening that ended well, but I needed to stuff my face weekend-style when I got home. This would be a horrible thing if it was on the regular, but I really needed it, and dare I say, I deserved it. It felt good, not out of control, like both a physical and emotional need being met. Wish my body/mind didn't work this way, but it does, and I'm not going to beat myself up.

AM SNACK: 2:15am, iced green tea, homemade granola bar, 150mg caffeine,  240 cal

BIKE SNACK: 4am, homemade granola bar, 240 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, Fage full fat yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts,  pickles, 570 cal 

PM SNACK: 1pm, work ice cream, +/- 600 cal

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, Grazebox popcorn , 230 cal

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 170 cal

DINNER: 6:15pm, Chipotle burrito, handful of chips, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING GORGE: 10pm, ice cream, cookies, small apple pie, +/- 1000 cal
-----

FRIDAYCOUNT: 3060

SLEPT: 10pm-4am, 6 hrs

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9am, fruit smoothie, 500cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts,  pickles, 570 cal 

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, Grazebox chips , 160 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 170 cal

DINNER 1: 5:15pm, hotdog, fries, ice cream, +/- 1000 cal

SNICKLESNACK: 7pm, a very expensive vegan chocolate shake, +/- 500 cal

Weigh In: Steady as she goes

194.6-->192.8-->192.8

This past month I have been watching my food intake a little less, just reusing calculations of repeating meals rather than scale them, trusting the feel of the food rather than the numbers. So while it would have been nice to see a weight drop, I'm quite pleased I've maintained -- I'm doing something correct. And the happy blond smiley lady from Fitness Magazine agrees….

Ummmmm goopy.

Eating seems to be "normalizing" around 2800 calories a day. I took a cheesy Fitness Magazine quiz on  line and surprisingly, it came to the same conclusion. Though I inputted myself as a middle aged male, I think any combination of age, gender, height, weight (or race if they asked it) would have rewarded me with a young skinny blond woman looking weirdly psyched to eat something meh.

My bicycle fitness is at a summer peak -- I recently did an early AM Thursday ride to Coney Island that  was the third fastest bike trip there -- out of 171 recorded rides there, the top two being from 1999. (Yes, I record the numbers of all my non-casual bike rides) My fitness level is similar to what it was 15 years ago. That makes me feel both good and middle-aged. My muscles seem to be responding well to once-a-week lifts, I suspect though my weight is steady, my muscles are are replacing some of my fat mass.

No plan to change anything up in September, though I suspect in October I may have to consider trimming back some calories to meet the cooler weather and the pulling back of my cycling schedule. Kinda looking forward to doubling up the weight lifting in October, though.

-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE:3017

Overate a bit this week, but it was in good fun.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 2820

SLEPT: 9pm-6am, 9 hrs
Ahhh sleep. Had an active but under slept weekend, nice to have some thick, deep sleep.

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

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

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel, chicken noodle soup, health salad, pickles, 780 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nut mix , 330 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with ranch dressing, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 3390

SLEPT: 9pm-4am, 1:45-2:45pm, 8 hrs
Some insomnia, met with some kid cookies. As long as this doesn't become a regular thing, I can't really beat myself up.

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

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, lentil curry,  pickles, 680 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nutmix , 290 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, grilled chicken breast,  roasted brussel sprouts, poppa salad with Ranch dressing, 670 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, chocolate chip cookies, +/- 300 cal

EVENING GORGE: 10:30pm, 4 baggies of mini graham cracker cookies, 840 cal

-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2775

SLEPT: 11pm-4:30am, 1:30-2:30pm,  6.5 hrs
Nice dinner out with a friend, good eating day despite that.

AM SNACK: 4:45am, iced green tea, 0 cal

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

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

LUNCH: 1:45pm, sautéed chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa  pickles, 695 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox seed mix , 270 cal

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

DINNER: 7pm, 1 piece of bread & butter, scallops, foi gras on toast points, soup shooter, 1 beer, water, 1/2 chocopeanut butter sundae, +/- 1000 cal

-----

BIKE CREDIT: 700 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2920

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 3am, 4.5 hrs
Not enough sleep.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea, granola bar, 150mg caffeine, 205 cal

BIKE SNACK: 4:45am, granola bar, 205 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, sardine & avocado on whole wheat, roasted broccoli & shitakis, pickles, 680 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, momma salad, Grazebox peanut & corn mix, 270 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, free work ice cream, +/- 800 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, falafel sandwich, +/-800 cal

-----

FRIDAY COUNT: 3180

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 6am, 7.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea, 

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

BREAKFAST 2: 8am, Fruit smoothie, 500 cal

LUNCH: 11:45pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, slaw, pickles, 610 cal

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

DINNER 1: 5pm,  hotdog, fries, ice cream, +/- 800 cal

DINNER 2: 7pm, pizza, meat ball, glass of wine, fancy cookies, +/- 800 cal