McDonald's Chicken Problem

McDonalds recently announced it would stop purchasing chicken raised with antibiotics. This is major because they dictate the market. What this means is while the chicken industry has been spending decades moving slowly to remove "human-important" antibiotics from their chicken, McDonalds has come in and basically said, "Bullsh@t. Our chicken needs to be anti-biotic free in 2 years and I ain't payin' for it either." While Chipotle's customer base doesn't blink when their prices go up in reaction to the commodities market (hello, guac-fee!) or miss an ingredient because the supplier isn't organic enough (goodbye, pork!), McDonald's customers are on the losing end of the increasing inequality in the US. So in a weird way, McDonalds is not only fighting for health of it's customers, it's also a defender of 99%...

McDonalds will save us all.

These little changes make a huge difference because of scale. It can't be understated that these are relatively fast tectonic moves in the food industry that touch almost everyone in this vast country. While McDonalds doesn't touch everyone, when you add Costco,  Homophobia Chicken (aka Chikfila) and other players jumping on the bandwagon they created, yeah, it kinda is touching the majority of us.

On the other hand, before you accuse me of being a weird shill or apologist for McD's...: the whole system is f*cked, just like the propaganda video above points out. I comment on this system because me and my children live in it, and noting a rare and positive move is not an endorsement. A few years ago I wrote about the relatively secretive push by McDonalds to reformulate their McMuffin to add more whole grains. McDonalds did not really advertise this because changing the recipe of a core product for reasons of health instead of taste was considered bad for business. The fact that they are making moves as big and loud as anti-biotic free chicken speaks much more to board-room panic than a newly found love of man. It's more like a newly found approach to propaganda to weaken their enemies arguments.

Removing anti-biotics from chicken increases their grow-time by 20%, increases their mortality, and requires much bigger (and humane) spaces to stay healthy, among other additional costs. Will chicken still be profitable? Yes. Will shareholder value take a hit? Yes. Should we value human health over profit? McDonalds (or any corporation) will never say "human health" -- they will ask how can we market to people's desire for health to increase profit? The depth of the evil and arrogance of someone saying "corporations are people" is just sad.

This WWII propaganda poster needs to be recontextualized  for the relationship of Big Gubbermint and Corporate Personhood.

I'm a little surprised I'm still talking about McDonalds here, but they keep literally making the news, because they are the most desperate and dangerous of things: a multi-national corporation that is losing market share hand over fist. They must seek to control the storyline in the media to create a environment in which to claw back what they once had. The intersection of food, money, health and my childhood is just too tempting to obsess over for a few entries!

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2679
Calorie count too high, but I'm not eating garbage. I think I'm going to not stress about it right now but if my weight goes up in a few weeks, I'll have to seriously reconsider the issue.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 2485

SLEPT: 12pm - 7am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: noon, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 3pm, vegetarian meatballs, health salad, pickle, soup, 480 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, and cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, flounder, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 685 cal

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

-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 3180

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am, 9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot with honey, almonds, vanilla, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, chicken meat balls, lentil curry, steamed stringbeans, pickle, 560

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

DINNER: 6:45pm, frozen pizza, poppa salad with dressing+/- 1020 cal

EVENING SNACKS: 7:30-10:30pm, 2 kind bars, kid granola bar, veggie straws, 630 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2250

SLEPT: 11:30pm - 5:30am,  6 hrs

AM SNACK: 5:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad with dressing, sautéed chicken, pickles, 450 cal

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

PM SNACK: 6pm, cashews, 

DINNER: 8:30pm, Chipotle Burrito, 880 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 690 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2540

SLEPT: 9:45pm - 3:45am,  6 hrs

AM SNACK: 4am, iced green tea, homemade granola bar, 150mg caffeine, 220 cal

BIKE SNACK: 5:30am, homemade granola bar, 220 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am,Cabot with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad and dressing, sauteed shrimp & shitakes, pickles, 520 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, vegetarian dim sum, small cup of ice cream, +/- 1100 cal

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

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2940

SLEPT: 9pm -2am,  5 hrs

AM SNACK: 2:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 6am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice,  80 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 700 cal

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

DINNER: 6:30pm, rabbit, polenta, root veg & cream, broth, 1 glass cider, chocolate, apple crisp & ice cream, +/- 600 cal

DINNER 2: 9pm, vegetarian sticky rice, cookies, +/- 800 cal

Home Vs School Lunch: School wins.

-sigh-

Several years ago, I wrote about the idea of the government providing lunch for school children, how food is inherently political, and just having healthier food around is a good thing, even if snot-nosed little kids make a big noise about not eating it. Unfortuntately, the basic idea of the government feeding children while under their care is a partisan football. Pushing this massive public program forward towards healthier foods and more sustainable choices is a "liberal" agenda, while letting the market determine the cheapest, most business-advantageous foods be fed to children regardless of consequence seems to be the clarion call from the right.

Michelle Obama's agenda as first lady has been focused on children's obesity, because one would think no one would be in support of kids being fat. But while safe-for-business noise is made about kids exercising more, there has also been moves to make school food more centered on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, etc etc. There has been all sorts of push back, with the Secretary of Agriculture blatantly proclaiming that dietary guidelines will not consider sustainability, just "health", though we all know the health he refers to is business health over the health of the consumer. States look for exemptions from rules mandating healthier food because of claims they don't value children's health don't have enough funding, though a few cut through the politics and zero in on getting better stuff on their children's plates.

I don't care about what we can do for the environment, only what the environment can do for us.

A friend of mine recently placed her young child in his first school setting, and she had more than a little consternation about what he would be fed. Up until that point, he had a loving nanny-figure who would make him home cooked meals with a bit of care and soul, and now...Big Government grub? I understand -- packing a home lunch with care and love is probably going to be healthier than whatever a bureaucrat purchased on the commodities market for the best price possible. Well, that was my assumption, anyway...

One study, conducted in 12 elementary and intermediate schools in Houston, found that compared with what is served in school, lunches brought from home contained fewer servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and milk than the national program mandates.

Packed lunches also contained more desserts, chips and sweetened nondairy drinks, none of which can be served by schools that participate in the federal program. “About 90 percent of lunches from home contained desserts, snack chips, and sweetened beverages,” the study found.

A second study, conducted among pre-K and kindergarten children in four schools in rural Virginia, found that calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar were significantly higher and protein, fiber and calcium were significantly lower in lunches brought from home than in the meals served in school.

A third study examined food selection and plate waste by elementary and middle school children in four schools in an urban, low-income school district before and after introduction of the new meal standards. Juliana F. W. Cohen and co-authors found no increase in waste and a significantly greater selection and consumption of vegetables and fruits from the improved menus.

“These results suggest that the new school meal standards have improved students’ overall diet quality,” they wrote. “Legislation to weaken the standards is not warranted.”

It's  a nice thought that a parent's home lunch will always be better than a school lunch, but the facts don't bear that out. The food industry has so catered to a parent's convenience and a child's lizard-brain palate that a home lunch can become a lunchables pack, a juice box, and perhaps a bag of chips, a candy-bar like granola thing, and whatever else is convenient and "friendly". On average, the current state of a federally mandated school lunch tends to be more healthy than a typical home-packed school lunch. That's not to say that my friend's organic, balanced home lunches aren't vastly superior (or even my own whole wheat bagel, local pickle & washed cut strawberries aren't either), but she and I are not typical. 

Some foods should be "21 and over", because if you're going to eat this sh@t, you should be old enough to understand and accept the consequences.

It's a cop-out to say sex ed should be taught at home, not at schools -- the culture is such that too many parents won't do the right thing, diseases will infest the young and teen pregnancies will become a social issue. Once it affects you and me, it's not completely a personal or private issue anymore. Like sex, food is a personal, private choice certainly, but food can have grave impact on the public health, and can not be left to the vagaries of the market, or religion, or personal choice. There are valuable, vital reasons why government exists, and a superior school lunch across our great nation is one of them.

I don't want Big Government out of my kid's school lunch. I want Big Food out of my Big Government.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2975
Oof. A good but high-stress work week, not a happy number but something to consider,  finding a new balance.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2885

SLEPT: 12:30pm - 6am, 5.5hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, vegetarian meatballs, health salad, pickle, soup, 480 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, and cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, flounder, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 685 cal

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

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, children's granola bars, 400 ca

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2820

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am, 9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot with honey, almonds, vanilla, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, chicken meat balls, lentil curry, steamed stringbeans, 550

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, small amount of lomein, kind bar, 2 chicken nuggets, popcorn, 5 children's granola bars, +/- 1300 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2890

SLEPT: 9:30pm - 6am,  8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal
Mili helped me make it as he usually does, but then he spilt it. Looked like  a crime scene. -sigh-

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, slice of pizza, sautéed chicken, pickles, 450 cal
Forgot my salad at home, ate it with dinner, -sigh-

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, Chipotle Burrito, poppa salad with dressing, 1080 cal

EVENING GORGE: 9pm, kind bar, 6 kid granola bars, 800 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 3090

SLEPT: 12am - 5:45am,  5.75 hrs

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am,Cabot with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad and dressing, sauteed shrimp & shitakes, pickles, 520 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, kid granola bar, 100 cal

DINNER1: 7:30pm, samomsa chat over sting beans, chocolate, tea, +/- 700 cal

DINNER2: 10pm, fresh pasta with homade sauce, kind bar, +/- 800 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 3190

SLEPT: 11:30pm -2:30am, 4am- 6am,  5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice,  80 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 700 cal

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

DINNER: 5:15pm, hot dog, fries, ice cream +/- 900 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, frozen pizza, 800 cal

Weigh In: F-U, cold, I'm my own man.

206.2-->204.4-->203.0

Three pounds over two months sounds a bit small-time and petty, but thats the thing: real and sustained weight loss is a slow, unsexy battle. Still 13 lbs away from my low a year ago, and -snort- 51 lbs from having a "normal" BMI (but only 9 lbs from going from "obese" to "overweight") (BMI is kinda suspiciously overly simple.) I could say here that last month was trying, and some bummer times caused me to lose my appetite (bad), and the last few weeks saw some relief from that but saw my appetite come back very strong (also bad). I guess I could focus on the negative, that I'm having a hard time keeping a consistent diet, calorie-wise. 

But. Bottom line is I feel physically good despite almost no bike riding these past two months, and during record cold times when most people gain weight, I pushed the needle a reasonable, healthy amount to the left.

Not going to dissect what I did right/wrong or micro-goals for the month, life is still a bit too chaotic. However I will note that my weekend eating has never been better, less going-for-it to get in things I denied myself during the week. Though that sounds like a tossed-off line, in reality that means literally 100s, if not 1000s of calories less per week for my system to handle. That would help explain  a continued moderate weight loss, despite being a few hundred calories over my daily budget pretty much every day...
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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2611
A meh eating week, 3 of the five days reasonable, two not.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2510

SLEPT: 11pm - 6:30am, 7.5hrs
Nice to have an evening gorge that surprisingly did not blow the doors off the budget.

AM SNACK: 6:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:15am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, falafel, health salad, pickle, soup, momma salad, and cheezits, 910 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, flounder, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 685 cal

EVENING SNACK: 6:30pm, popcorn, +/-400 cal

EVENING GORGE: 7:30-10pm, kind bar, cookies, 2 children's granola bars, 725 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: ----

SLEPT: 11:30pm - 5:30am, 6 hrs
Dentistry in the evening messed me up.

AM SNACK: 6:45 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, chicken meat balls, lentil curry, steamed stringbeans, 550

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 7pm, ice cream, kind bar, frozen pizzas, ----
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2500

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am,  9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad with dressing and sautéed chicken, pickles, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, Chipotle Burrito, 880 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, kind bar, 200 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2545

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 5:30am,  7.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 5:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad and dressing, sauteed shrimp, pickles, 425 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, kind bar, 200 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, steak sandwich, fries, meat balls, chocolate cake, water, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, peanut butter and chocolate syrup, +/- 200 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2890

SLEPT: 11pm - 5:30am,  6.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice,  80 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 700 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:15pm, sweet & sour soup, shrimp in oyster sauce, white rice, summer roll, tea, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, tarte tartine & vanilla ice cream, +/- 800 cal

Chipotle, considered

The Generation Y Big Mac

The NY Times has had the blogosphere pinging this past week with a look at just how many calories you eat when you eat Chipotle. Chipotle is what I referred to last week as the "New McDonald's", a "fast-casual" restaurant chain that serves up Mexican-influenced food that is easily customizable and supposedly healthier than the old "fast-food" McDonald's. With a close look at exactly what people are eating, the number of calories consumed at Chipotle are really not that different than what people were eating at McDonald's.

You can be cynical and just mutter 'Murica! under your breath, and assume fat-asses will get their fat-ass calories no matter what, whether wrapped in an image of the Hamburglar or lubricated with the sheen of "food with integrity™". One fully-loaded Chipotle Burrito packs the caloric and salt punch of two Big Macs. I only had my first Chipotle Burrito last Spring and was kind of surprised how heavy it was, but also was surprised how much I liked it.

'Murica.

It's been NYC law for a while that all chains with over 10 or so locations must post calorie counts, and this law is being rolled out nationally. (Thanks, Obama!) While McDonald's is pretty cut and dry with everything being the same anywhere, with Chipotle everything is customized so each item displays a range of calories. Being all modern and with-it, Chipotle has a user-friendly on-line nutrition calculator that takes the mystery out of it. According to the research, a typical burrito is over 1000 cal, and once soda, chips and guac are added, can easily double for almost an entire day's budget of calories. 

Personally, I skip cheese, rice and sour cream but always go for the guacamole, and my burrito is just under 900 calories, which for me is a very large meal. I match it with a homemade 2/3 pounds of big green salad (200 cal) after a day of light eating to stay somewhere near my calorie budget. For years, McDonald's big defense of their explosively fattening food is that it was "a healthy part of a balanced diet", failing to really define or advise on what that meant, leaving it in the laps of the individual. In this day and age, finally we are being given the information needed to individually tease that out.

Still, it's the new McDonald's. It can be brushed away as cynicism that this is just more of the same, but there is an edge of truth to it. Convenience as a tent pole is an American value that blurs what we are actually sacrificing.  Cheap food at the expense of our planet is another blurry tent pole, but I have to give credit to Chipotle for starting to alter the landscape of massive meat producers in the US by pushing back on ethical and environmental standards -- when the chain goes ahead and pulls an in ingredient due to lack of availability of a meat due to a major producer not meeting their standards, it makes the news (and yes, good publicity for the type of consumers to whom it matters.) I'm wary of corporations gaming the media to produce positive thoughts to maximize profits, but at the same time the ideal of free-market capitalism is that if there is enough left-wing pinko commies in the market place who want to eat, supposedly the market will start to reflect that. It's just the cheating, stealing and profit-at-all-cost ideology built into corporatism that makes me very uneasy.

Actually, McDonald's is becoming the "New McDonald's" with an international interior/exterior design facelift and a new system of customizing burgers. It's kinda....sad.

When I first started looking at seriously changing my eating permanently to permanently change my weight, I indulged in McDonald's once a week during the week as an emotional sop and release. That soon was replaced by Subway's veggie burger, just as convenient but marginally healthier. I'm finding that once-a-week habit now being replaced by Chipotle, though the shear number of calories makes it an uneasy fit. Gosh, I may have to stop being so lock step and maybe mix it up week to week to suit my needs of moderation on the fly! Now wouldn't that be something. Something in my head is whispering perhaps this is an interesting path to walk down.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2817
Dramatic week, not as hard as past months, finding my appetite coming back with a vengance. I guess that's a blessing and a curse.

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MONDAY COUNT: 3345

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 7am, 8.5hrs
Ironically, because of feeling better than I have in a while, my hunger came back with a vengeance.

AM SNACK: 9 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

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

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, momma salad, cheezits 310 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, poppa salad with dressing, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, cashews, 340 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, flounder, asparagus,  485 cal
1945

EVENING SNACK: 6:30pm, popcorn, +/-400 cal

VARIOUS SNACKS: 7:30-8:30pm, peanut butter and chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, crackers and cheese, +/- 1000 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2565

SLEPT: 11pm - 7am, 8 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, mussels and fresh pasta in wine & olive oil, 1 donut, herbal tea, +/- 700 cal

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

DINNER: 6pm, sautéed chicken breast over poppa salad with dressing, pickles,  445 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, cashews and chocolate chips, +/- 600 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2755

SLEPT: 11pm - 7am,  8 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

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

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

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, cashews, 255 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, Chipotle Burrito, poppa salad with dressing, 1080 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, cashews and chocolate chips, +/- 500 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2870

SLEPT: 11pm - 6:45am,  7.75 hrs

AM SNACK: 7 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 3pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, pickles, 610 cal

PM SNACK: 7pm, momma salad, cheezits, 3100 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, Souffers French Bread Pizzas, 840 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, chocolate chips and cashews, +/- 500 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2550

SLEPT: 9:30pm - 6am,  8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice,  80 cal

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

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad with dressing and sautéed chicken, pickles, 420 cal

DINNER 1: 5:45pm, hot dog and fries, ice cream, +/- 800 cal

DINNER 2: 8:15pm, ramen, shumai, +/- 900 cal

McDonalds, reconsidered

I don't mind minimum wage, I get paid in lovin'.

I was born at the dawn of the 1970s, a time when restaurants served only a fraction of the food we consume. McDonalds, one of the early fast food franchises, blossomed while others stayed in place or withered. Millions and millions, then billions and billions, then trillions were served. 

I have fond memories of my parents taking me there on rare occasion, maybe once every other month. It wasn't any more or less healthy than it is now, but it was more expensive -- smaller portions for proportionally more money than today. For me, it was tasty and exciting and different. I assume for them, it was easy and convenient and the kids wouldn't complain. As a pre-teen on my very first "long distance" bike ride to the mall, I rewarded myself with a McD's chocolate shake. As a teenager, I remember going to a McD's with my mom super early in the morning and getting my first McMuffin, right before we got on a bus to DC to protest for a woman's right to abortion.

I remember when a man was a man, a woman was a woman, and a McMuffin was an environmental nightmare.

I have very personal associations with this restaurant whose food has basically been exactly the same all these years. Sure, the portions are bigger and the menu has expanded exponentially, but a McDonald's plain Quarter Pounder is exactly the same burger I ate as a 7 year old. Not only that, but where ever I go in the world, that Quarter Pounder is ALSO the same burger I ate as a 7 year old. Just from a logistics and consistency perspective, it's clear why McD's has a reputation in the business as a true goliath and legend.

Over the past 5 years or so, McD's business hasn't been doing too well. Increased competition from newer chains of fast and "fast-casual" joints are catering to the tastes of the younger generations who indulge in fast food. Better ingredients, ethically sourced, customized --  all sorts of burger chains are nibbling at their core business, and a burrito joint of all things is the McDonalds of 2015.

Oh, OK,  integrity in food is trademarked. Everyone go home!

I've written here before about the laughable attempts of McDonalds to try to demystify the quality of their food, and their status as a legacy brand that may be on the way out. Regardless, I've continued to occasionally eat at the place, usually at the insistence of the love of McMuffins from my eldest child. It's kid food, just as I remember it from the warm fuzzy days of my own childhood. That association is a bright Golden God, and one that marketers depend on. 

I try not to overthink it -- feeding my children nutritionally suspicious food, OK, but it's not every day or even every week. I try not to think of the eating habits I'm passing on to my kids -- they know this is just special-time food, right? I try not to think of the rain forests in Brazil bulldozed to allow grazing for cheap beef to feed an international commodity supply chain -- that's so far away and out of view. I try not think of how McDonalds has dominated food deserts and highway rest stops since I was born in the early 1970s -- it's just a good business model that has grown because people like it, not because it leverages money and power to push out potentially better options, right?

It's shockingly easy to push a lot of fraught thought aside to the altar of the warm-fuzzy nolstalgic love of my deceased parents. My parents have been gone for nearly a decade, but as I leave behind childish thinking that doesn't serve me well as a grown-ass man, my relationship with them has only become more complicated. 

So in that light,  what if I went into a McDonalds, ordered some food for me and my kids, and then was asked by the counter person to ring up my dead mom in exchange for a free meal?

A new marketing blitz from McDonalds has kicked off with the Superbowl a few weeks ago. It involves a game where random customers are asked to pay with random "loving" acts in exchange for not have to pay with money. 

My first reaction was: those poor saps who have to work at McDonalds and now have to deal with this sh#t.

This is a pretty blatant example of emotional labor: the requirement that a low-wage employee not just show up to work and adequately perform her duties, but that she put on a veneer of happiness and cheer for the customer to elicit an emotional response in him. For example, in 2013 Pret A Manger put up on its website (and then subsequently took down) expected “behaviours” its employees were supposed to exhibit, like creating a “sense of fun” and appearing “genuinely friendly.” The ones it wouldn’t allow, on the other hand, were bad moods and acting like they were “just here for the money.” Because ordering a sandwich is now supposed to be a delightful experience, and of course a low-wage clerk is at work for something other than a paycheck.
This is what’s pernicious about emotional labor: it requires poorly paid people to slather a smile onto their face and cover up the real conditions under which they labor. 

My second reaction was a lot more personal: those marketing suits are trying to create warm, fuzzy memories and associations that had happened naturally between me and my parents. So for the unsuspecting, unaware customers who are brought into this interaction, the parents (while maybe the subject) are not the actors creating a relationship with you -- it is the corporate brand becoming the one feeding you and loving you. It is the underlying relationship with my own parents that has had me get comfortable with eating McDonalds, and importantly for the marketers, it is this underlying relationship that has brought me to recreating it with my own children.

McDonalds is not people, it is a corporation. And as it suffers at the hand of a free market and generational shift, it becomes the most dangerous thing -- a corporation, a being without morals or ethics, that will do anything to preserve and expand it's profits. They're willing to fatten, exploit and consume me, and my children, but they will not manipulate the love between me and my parents, or as a parent, me and my children.

Though my kids don't know it yet, I am boycotting McDonalds until this marketing campaign is over. If my kids forget about McMuffins and happy meals by the time it is over, so be it. My parent's love is stronger than corporate love.

Actually, they're all the Hamburglar.

-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2510
Life is still pretty ugh, but the ground work is being laid for a much happier Spring. Test bike ride on Tuesday through the slush to Coney Island was a slow slog, but laying roots is never as sexy as a flower in full blossom.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2620

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 6am, 7.5hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot Greek with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, momma salad, cheezits 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi, mani, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 650 cal

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

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 2 kids granola bars, almond butter & chocolate syrup, +/- 400 cal

-----

BIKE CREDIT: 600 cal
TUESDAY COUNT: 2495

SLEPT: 10pm - 6am, 8 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea


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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

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

BIKE SNACK 1: 2:30pm, homemade granola bar, 215 cal

BIKE SNACK 2: 4pm, homemade granola bar, 260 cal

DINNER pt 1: 6pm, poppa salad with dressing, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 6:45pm, veggie straws, 260 cal

DINNER pt 2: 7pm, Stouffer's French Bread pizzas, 840 cal

EVENING SNACKS: 7:30-8:30pm, kind bar, 2 kids granola bars, 2\400 cal
-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2305

SLEPT: 9am - 6am,  9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, Cabot Greek with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, cashews, 255 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, Chipotle Burrito, poppa salad with dressing, 1080 cal
-----

THURSDAY COUNT: 2520

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 6am,  7.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

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

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

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, slice of pizza, +/- 300 cal

DINNER: 7:15pm, faux-chicken parm, faux-roti canai, +/- 700 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, chocolate cake, +/- 600 cal
-----

FRIDAY COUNT: 2610

SLEPT: 1am - 6:30am,  5.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice,  80 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 12:30am, fruit smoothie, 500 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, momma salad, cheezits, 320 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad with dressing, apple pie, 560 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, falafal salad thing from Maoz, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, vegan brownie, +/- 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:45pm, ice cream, 250 cal

Herbs ain't what they used to be, literally.

There was a time this didn't mean medical weed.

I wouldn't be so bold to question the efficacy of herbalism and herbal supplements in blog like this. It's a way of approaching health care from before the advent of modern science. Limited amounts of research has been done to mixed results in confirming the beliefs about the power of herbs that have been passed down through the centuries. It raises the question of the value of the placebo effect. It stirs passion among those who believe.

But if you see herbalism as a legitimate challenge to established, powerful and profitable modern western medicine, it should be no surprise that politics has been no friend in helping herbalism travel the road to become a main-streamed, safe alternative. Recently, New York State tested herbal supplements from major national retailers doing business in NY. The majority of the supplements did not contain the herbs advertised, and some contained potential allergens not listed on the label, like wheat, nuts and soy.

Under a 1994 federal law, supplements are exempt from the F.D.A.’s strict approval process for prescription drugs, which requires reviews of a product’s safety and effectiveness before it goes to market.
The law’s sponsor and chief architect, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, is a steadfast supporter of supplements. He has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the industry and repeatedly intervened in Washington to quash proposed legislation that would toughen the rules.
Mr. Hatch led a successful fight against a proposed amendment in 2012 that would have required supplement makers to register their products with the F.D.A. and provide details about their ingredients. Speaking on the floor of the Senate at the time, Mr. Hatch said the amendment was based on “a misguided presumption that the current regulatory framework for dietary supplements is flawed.”

Generic Old White Guy Politician, or....face of eeeeevil? You be the judge.

I wouldn't call Hatch a "steadfast supporter of supplements" so much as a supporter of the supplement industry' money. Two right-wing memes are at work here: one, the push for less regulation and smaller government and letting the market determine the quality and safety of products for sale. The other, perhaps more nefarious and more paranoid, is that the kind of people who would take herbal supplements are unlikely to vote Republican. Adding to that, a certain strain of anti-science craziness that has allowed measles to return to the American population would also see keeping a science-focused establishment organization like the FDA off of their supplements as some sort of "good".

Proponents of western medicine who know very well that regulating the safety and efficacy of their tools are key to keeping the trust of the public is key to their survival. To argue that the same should be done for herbalism would be to argue against their own interests. That argument would assume a certain amoral motivation which I can't believe the majority of real people in the health industry share, but corporations who bleed the system for maximum profit and have made our health care system unsustainable? Corporations are not people, indeed.

I have a friend who helps run a community garden in Brooklyn. Last summer she grew vegetables, beans, corn and yes, herbs. For all the economic might, cultural capital and world leadership the United States possess, the only herbs I'd trust enough to experiment with to see if the old ways really were legit would be in it's unprocessed form, from her hands. Does it really have to be this way?

-----

This yogurt just rocked my casbah.

ADDENDA: I've been eating around the other Greek yogurts in my local markets, and I'll be damned if I just had one that I think is a legit challenger to all-time heavy-weight champion Fage. Well, it certainly registers on my taste buds, but it may be less "authentic" (though I am hardly an expert in Greek culture to make that call.) Cabot is a not just a brand, but a cooperative collective of dairy farmers in New York and New England -- it may not be organically-raised-grass-fed blah blah blah, but it IS owned by the producers, not a corporation representing outside interests. Most interestingly, their yogurt is 10% fat, and the 1 cup serving is 320 calories compared to Whole Fage's 220. And damn it if ain't smoother, richer and creamier than Fage's, if a slightly more muted tang and distinctly Greeky in flavor. Still, it's just dairy and bacteria, no sugar, gums, preservatives or crap like in that Chobani garbage.

Distinctly Greeky in flavor.

If Chobani is Celine Dion (and their "for-cooking-only-4%" snot yogurt is the EDM remix), and Fage is the Beatles (0%=the first couple of albums, Whole= Rubber Soul through Sgt. Pepper), then Cabot Plain Greek must be the Clash. Or something.

-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2590
An unexpectedly difficult week. Winter. Found some respite in food, I admit, but didn't fall off the edge.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 2100

SLEPT: 10pm - 6am, 8hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

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

DINNER: 6:30pm, chicken sausage, poppa salad with dressing, 580 cal

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

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal

-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 2490

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am, 9 hrs
Stomach off for a lot of the day. Despite that, did not gorge too heavy in the evening, thank goodness.

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 1:45pm, Cabot yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, 500 cal

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

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with dressing, 520 cal

PM SNACK: 7pm, popcorn, +/- 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, almond butter and chocolate syrup, +/- 400 cal
-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2655

SLEPT: 12am - 6am,  6 hrs
Due to lightheadedness and high emotions in the afternoon, I hit "send" instead of "cancel" and delete. Hence, the ice cream.

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, cashews, 255 cal

SOMETHING: 6pm, pint of ice cream, 1480 cal
-----

THURSDAY COUNT: 2610

SLEPT: 8pm - 6am,  10 hrs
Broke habit for donut and tea at a coffee shop. Not as a falling off or problem, but a needed emotional break, like a little slice of weekend. Was helpful.

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

SOMETHING: 9:30am, large hot green tea, large chocolate covered donut, +/- 500 cal

BREAKFAST: 2pm, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

PM SNACK: 2:45pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

LUNCH: 4:15pm, adobo shrimp with poppa salad with dressing, 440 cal

DINNER: 7pm, tortellini in jarred sauce, half a bad gluten-free cookie, +/- 600 cal

EVENING SNACKING: 8pm, veggie straws, kid's granola bars, kind bar, +/- 600 ca
-----

FRIDAY COUNT: 2790

SLEPT: 2am - 7am,  5 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot greek yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 550 cal

AM SNACK: 11:30am, hot herbal tea 0 cal

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, momma salad, 80 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, poppa salad with dressing, 200 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, hotdog, fries, ice cream and brownie, +/- 800 cal

SNICKLE DINNER 2: 8:30pm, seitan sandwich, a few chickpea fries, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, cheezits, Cabot greek with chocolate syrup, +/- 500 cal

Monthly weigh-in

203.2-->206.2-->204.4
Well, it's a small comfort to see some results of the resolutions I took on toward the end of December. Between it being winter f'real and not enough bike riding, some balance was achieved by upping the weight lifting a bit and throttling back a little on the daily calories and unrestricted the weekend eating. Certain parts of life outside the scope of this blog are in flux and has both served to refocus me and help me strip down the noise to what needs to get done.

February is the coldest month in the north east, and seems like the darkest. My road bike will go into the shop soon to be revitalized for the upcoming season. My body is hopefully on the right track to get ready to hit the roads hard in Spring. Even if this month's loss isn't that statistically significant, it can't take away that I'm still 30 below my heaviest, and that it was not a fluke. Recently, this article gave me pause, made me think about the forces around the regaining  over the last half year. Ugh, the complications of being human!

-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2526
A little surprised by the high average, but still feels less than what I was doing pre-January.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 2745

SLEPT: 8pm - 5:30am, 9.5hrs

AM SNACK: 5:45 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11:45am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, falafel, health salad, pickles,mulligatawny soup, 725  cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, 100 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, cheezits, 210 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad, with dressing, 600 cal

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

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal

-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 2640

SLEPT: 9pm - 7am, 10 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, fage yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 12:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, 2 slices streetza, half glass prosecco, +/- 700 cal

DINNER: 6pm, poppa salad with grilled chicken breast, 620 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, ice cream, +/- 200 cal
-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2275

SLEPT: 8pm - 6am,  10 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 150mg caffeine, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: noon, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

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

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, cashews, 255 cal

DINNER: 8:45pm, Chipotle burrito, poppa salad, 1100 cal
-----

THURSDAY COUNT: 2320

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 6am,  7.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Fageyogurt with almonds, honey, vanilla, 450 cal

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

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, poppa salad with dressing, 200 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, extremely not-good meal at Mission Chinese, +/-1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:45pm, kind bar, 200
-----

FRIDAY COUNT: 2650

SLEPT: 11:30pm - 7am,  7.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 11:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

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

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, momma salad, cheezits, 290 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, falafel salad, +/- 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, vegan chocolate cheesecake brownie, +/- 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, freezer burgers, +/- 750 cal