Monthly Weigh In: Truth Crushed to Earth Will Rise Again.

203-->203.6-->207

Regardless of this month's gain, I'm bullish on the future, and not just future weight loss. While this blog & food diary has a monthly spine of tracking my weight, the bigger picture is really more holistic. It's something I try to avoid going into detail here because, well, it ain't none of yo bidnezz...but it is the context. I recently completed an exercise in envisioning a future professional plan, and before I could even get my mind wrapped around that, this popped out of me:

Simply put, to get my internal life and professional life closer to where I wanted to be, I had to get my physical health in order first. I guess I started there because the second two parts intimately involve other people, while my body is mostly under my control and needs minimal participation from outsiders in the beginning. Choosing to go to culinary school to learn how to cook for myself (and others) was the first step. It helped build a new confidence to get parts 2 and 3 in order.

But looking at the ven diagram above, the design doesn't quite get it it. It's three parts that lie on top of each other and reinforce each other, but it's also a "virtuous circle" -- steps in a cycle that when repeated, gets stronger and stronger. What am I saying? I'm saying I think I'm coming to the end of the first cycle. I've completed these three steps....but now that I have, it's obvious one does not just stop. I'm a hell of a lot happier than I've been in a long time, but all three areas of my life definitely have room for improvement. I've made space for hope, planning....ambition.

Do people ever really change, or just keep repeating the same melody with different themes? In the recent finale of Madmen, the ending was vague enough (SPOILERS) to wonder if Don Draper went back to advertising the conquering hero (but an unchanged person at his core who is forever devouring his soul to spit out as advertising) or left it completely to zen-out as auto mechanic in California and truly embody the 70's me-decade, and the last ad was just a dismissal of advertising as an evil that devours all to sell crap (therefore implying that Don truly changed.) Of course the creator of the show has since said yeah, Draper want back to advertising and did that ad, but I like my version better. Don Draper truly changed. People can change. I want to change.

So I'm rededicating myself, and starting back at step 1. Using the confidence and knowledge I've received over the past 6 or so years, I'm going to push to lose....I know enough to not really set an arbitrary weight goal, but I will aim directly for a new comfort zone that takes in less calories. Should I use vanity for a motivation now? I'm not going to get any prettier or younger. My skin will eventually wrinkle and sag, my hair is only going to get sparser, and yes, my belly will only get bigger as nature takes it's toll. I want to rage against the dying of the light in the funnest way possible.  Yeah, I have that dad bod the internets have been all atwitter about, but really, it's so annoying that their isn't an equivalent "mom bod". No, me and my fellow middle aged dudes really don't need the culture to tell us how great we are by just being ourselves. No, vanity be not proud. I'm looking for Draper's final grin. Happiness.

So enough highfalutin' words. What now? I think a good place to start:

• Restrict to 2500 cal, and the snack calories need a rethink. Less sweets, more fruits.
• Eat more on rides and right after, less in-between rides. Keep weekends calm and non-compulsive.

Definitely more to come on this, but I suppose this next month is going to just be feeling it out, and a more concise game plan based on experience will come of it.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2758
A good week over all.

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BIKE CREDIT: 1890 cal
MONDAY COUNT: 2275

SLEPT: 8-9pm, 12am - 6am, 7 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am, iced green tea, 150mg caffeine

BIKE SNACK: 8:30am granola bar, 315 cal

BIKE SNACK: 9:30am, granola bar, 315 cal

BIKE SNACK: 10:30, hazelnut caramel tarte, +/- 800 cal

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, 2 slices pizza, +- 800 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, ice cream, +/- 800 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, fage with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, popcorn, +/- 600 cal
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2900

SLEPT: 8pm- 4:30am, 8.5hrs

AM SNACK: 4:45 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal  

LUNCH: 12:30, falafel, barley musrhoom soup, health salad, pickles, 580 cal

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

DINNER: 7pm, Mahi mahi, asparagus, 400 cal

EVENING GORGE: 8:30pm, chocolate chips & cashews, ice cream and chocolate syrup, +/- 1000 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2780

SLEPT: 9:30pm-1am, 3am-6:30am, 7hrs
My juicer broke! A part wore out, snapped, then destroyed another part. Masticating juicer ain't no joke. $50 in parts ordered, hopefully back up and running next week.

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 2pm, chicken meatballs, curry lentils, steamed strignbeans, pickles, 620 cal

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, momma salad, goldfish, 300 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad, cashews, 510 cal

DINNER: 8pm, vegetarian korean food, +/-900 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 1300 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2700

SLEPT: 11pm - 3am, 4 hr

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

BIKE SNACK: 5am, homemade granola bar, 3445 cal

BIKE SNACK: 5am, homemade granola bar, 445 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, Steel cut oatmeal,  450 cal

AM SNACK: 11am, banana, +/- 150 cal

LUNCH pt 1: 1pm, poppa salad with dressing, veggie straws, 310 cal

LUNCH pt 2: 2:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, pickles, 420 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, peanut butter crackers, 480 cal

DINNER: 6pm, chipotle burrito, ice cream, +/- 1300 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 765 cal
FRIDAY COUNT: 3135

SLEPT: 7pm-2am, 7 hours

AM SNACK: 3am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 2: 6am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

BIKE SNACK: 11am, home made granola bar, 390 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, pork tenderloin whole wheat, sautéed mushrooms, papa salad and dressing, pickles, 1050 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad and veggie straws, 310 cal

DINNER 1: 5:15pm, hotdog, fries, ice cream, +/- 900 cal

DINNER 2: 9pm, beet tartare, seafood brand, one glass of wine, dark chocolate, +/- 800 cal

Caffeine: It's a hell of a drug

Soylent green is people, and caffeine is speed. DO YOU HERE ME?!?! CAFFEINE IS SPEEEEED!!!

A few years ago I wrote a lengthy piece about caffeine, and I made some pointed comments about the packet of caffeine powder I had purchased on Amazon:

I have a small 8 oz packet of caffeine. That's 16 tablespoons, 48 teaspoons, or more precisely, 228 grams. If a cup of strong coffee is 200 mg, then this packet is....1,140 cups of strong coffee. Being that 2 cups worth would probably put me on edge, and 10 cups make me lose my mind, even one single ounce of the slim packet would clearly kill me. Poison, indeed - it evolved to be a natural pesticide to defend the plants who contained it.

Though I don't drink coffee or much diet coke anymore, I greatly enjoy caffeine -- before any early morning or extended bike ride, I'll dose myself with 150mg caffeine every 3-4 hours. I know it's 150 mg because I weigh it on a highly sensitive drug scale. 150mg is about 1/2 of 1/8 of a teaspoon, depending on how tightly it's packed (pro-tip -- don't measure caffeine by volume.) My packet of caffeine comes with no warning, no clear serving size, so it's with no amount of surprise that caffeine powder made the news this past week:

24-year-old James Wade Sweatt, a newly married, recent college graduate living in Georgia, blended a drink with powdered caffeine, also purchased online. Health conscious, he reasoned that pure caffeine and water would be a healthier way to get a lift than the Diet Mountain Dew that he usually drank. He overdosed, fell into a coma and died.

Caffeine is sold in bulk as a diet supplement for body builders and the like, and is pretty much unregulated and unrestricted, probably because of it's acceptance in society through our familiarity with it in coffee and soda. Indeed, something like 17 million pounds of the stuff are imported every year for use mostly in Coca Cola and the like. (Coke needs it because the pure caffeine is violently bitter -- if you tasted the full sweetness of caffeine-free coke, your body would reject it as too sweet. Doesn't hurt that caffeine is crazy addictive, too.)

However, with some bulk supplements like various protein powders, adding a few extra scoops to your smoothie might cause a person gastric distress. A scoop of caffeine powder is, with out exaggeration, guaranteed death. If a can of coke is 35mg and a strong cup of American coffee is 130mg,  a teaspoon will probably send you to the hospital with palpitations and paranoia and a tablespoon will end you.

The Food & Drug Administration does not restrict the sale of caffeine powder, despite it clearly being both a food, a drug, and extremely lethal in relatively small quantities. I recently checked out Amazon again, and they have stopped selling loose caffeine powder -- now it comes in 200mg tablets. Let me assure you, a 200mg horse-tablet is a lot harder to mindlessly overdose on than a tiny little bump of loose powder. Why is Amazon setting the standard for food and drug safety when the FDA should have ruled on this years ago?

The head regulator of caffeine at the FDA.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 3266
Eating a lot, feeling OK. Next week this will be put on trial.

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MONDAY COUNT: 3620

SLEPT: 8pm - 4am, 8 hrs

AM SNACK: 4:30 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, steel cut oatmeal,  450 cal

LUNCH: 12:30, falafel, barley musrhoom soup, health salad, pickles, 580 cal

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

PM SNACK: 4:15pm, 2 slices of dollar streetza, +/- 400 cal

DINNER: 7pm, flounder, asparagus, poppa salad with dressing, 520 cal

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

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, brownies, +/- 800 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 3295

SLEPT: 9:30pm- 5:45am, 8.25hrs

AM SNACK: 6 am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 1pm, sauteed shrimp and mushrooms over poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 575 cal

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

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, kind bar, veggie straws, brownies, +/- 600 cal

DINNER: 7pm, grilled chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, pasta, cupcake, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, cookies, +/- 400 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2930

SLEPT: 9:30pm-3am, 5.5hrs

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, chicken meatballs, curry mushrooms, steamed strignbeans, pickles, 600 cal

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

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad, cashews, 510 cal

DINNER: 8pm, korean food, +/-900 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 580 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 3055

SLEPT: 10pm - 3am, 5 hr

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

BIKE SNACK: 5am, homemade granola bar, 390 cal, 

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

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

LUNCH: 12:30pm, sauteed chicken over poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 625 cal

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

PM SNACK: 4pm, 2 slices of streetza, ice cream, +/- 800 cal

DINNER: 8pm, steak frites, a little ice cream and cookies, +/- 900 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 3230

SLEPT: 10pm-6am, 8 hours

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, slaw, papa salad and dressing, pickles, 810 cal

PM SNACK: 2:15pm, momma salad and cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, 2 slice of streetza, +/- 400 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, small piece of peanut butter fudge, +/- 300 cal

DINNER: 8:15pm, falafel salad, +/- 800 cal

Diet as Religion

Pray to Vegetable Jesus...

Food, shelter, companionship: there's not much more that we truly need. Some would throw in "God" or "religion" in the mix, but that would be like confusing software (content) with hardware (framing device). The need for grub, a roof and sex are all innate drives within us necessary for the continuation of the human race, and religion is one way to make sense of what otherwise can seem completely without order, meaning or pattern.

Recording my food logs that follow these entries every week is something of a ritual -- ritual: the foundation of any religion that creates a feeling of order and security. There is comfort in the repetition, in hopes that loyalty to this thoughtful "prayer" will lead me to self-improvement and improvement of that which is around me. So it is with little surprise that a professor of religious studies finally got around to just saying it: most cockamamie diets being pimped these days require the faith of religiosity, because they're not based in the reality of science. (Bolding mine.)

Religion helps people make sense of a chaotic world: Suddenly, there is order, and there are instructions. All you have to do is follow them. “You have a certainty about the choices you make,” Levinovitz said. “That gives you a way to make decisions, and it makes for a comforting world.” Likewise, nutrition science is a chaotic discipline. Eggs are bad for you until they’re not; MSG is a dangerous food additive until it’s not. It’s understandable why people would pick a way of eating and then stick to their guns; it gives them some solid ground to stand on amid ever-shifting recommendations.

But what about when diets aren’t comforting? Many of them, after all, suggest worlds in which modern life is overflowing with toxins, even in safe-seeming foods — shouldn’t these beliefs be aversive rather than attractive? Not so, said Levinovitz. He used the Food Babe, the very popular food blogger who sees terrifying chemicals everywhere — and who is frequently wrong in her doomsaying — as an example. “One thing I realized — why would you want to live in a world filled with toxins? Why would you follow the Food Babe — isn’t that a terrifying world to live in?” Levinovitz said. You could easily make the same statement about religion: Why would you want to believe in a world where humans are inherently sinful creatures? The idea sounds upsetting from a nonreligious perspective. “But it’s not. It’s a comforting one … The only thing scarier than a world full of toxins is a world in which you don’t know what the toxins are.” If the choice is a nuanced, complicated understanding of the world that contains some uncertainty or a more clear-cut and sharply defined approach, the latter vision is often going to win out.

So beliefs that gluten is the devil, or carbs are the root of all problems, or if only we ate like cavemen did thousands of years ago, or whatever specious thought can pop into your head about food...they all can give focus and "answers" that the science and research can not. As long as you buy in, don't question too deeply, and "keep the faith", your answers will always be true.

Did Mary get pregnant without ever being touched? Did all those Genesis guys live to be 400? (No, not Tony and Phil, the biblical ones.) Is our guess at what a paleolithic diet really better than the modern diet, even though the lifespan was literally half of what it is today? Does food require moral judgement: is there inherently "good" food and "bad" food,  or is all food just different ratios of fat, protein, carbs and nutrients? With a smattering of contaminates?

One of my best friends in the world is a vegan, through and through, walks it and talks it. I enjoy observing her diet when dining with her, and on rare occasion cooking for her. Her food and her lifestyle and spirituality are so intertwined that I suspect she would not be offended by the idea of diet as religion. Diet is religion, and why wouldn't it be, as food is a key point where the world enters us and we become the world. Why not treat that world kindly as we want ourselves treated?

Why does this feel more like a defense of cannibalism?

As with religion, diet is a framework that is bendy enough that it can be used for good or evil. Good: saving the world. Bad: trying to look like an unrealistic role model for the sake of others. My dietary religion is not organized, published or followed by anyone other than myself -- I have a direct and personal connection to my diet god, no gatekeepers or priests or hucksters needed. My holy trinity:

1. Makes me feel better
2. Makes me look better
3. Supported by science

Another religiousy-feeling organzing concept in regards to food was popularized by Mark Bittman a few years back: Eat real food, mostly plants, not too much. The framing device I personally keep coming back to to help make sense of why our food supply has been seemingly degraded and making us fat and sick is quite simple: Capitalism's amoral drive for profit takes advantage of and amplifies the human's amoral drive for sensual pleasure, regardless of civic responsibility or consequence. Damn, I should write a book about that and start my own diet religion...Scientology will have nothin' on me...

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 3141
Good week. Eating neither slim nor out of control. A few weeks to the scale, to see if this is the way to go...

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MONDAY COUNT: 3550

SLEPT: 10pm - 4:45am, 6.75 hrs

AM SNACK: 5 am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: noon, falafel, chicken soup, health salad, pickles, 610 cal

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

PM SNACK: 4pm, slice of pizza, +/- 300 cal

DINNER: 7pm, flounder, asparagus, poppa salad with dressing, 520 cal

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

EVENING SNACKS: 8pm, peanut butter crackers, kind bar, chocolate chips and cashews, +/-  800 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2730

SLEPT: 9pm- 4:45am, 7.75hrs

AM SNACK: 5 am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 2pm, chicken meatballs, curry lentils, steamed strignbeans, pickles, 620 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 7pm, grilled pork loin, poppa salad with dressing, 700cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, popcorn, kind bar, +/- 700 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3050

SLEPT: 11pm-4:30am, 5.5hrs

AM SNACK: 4:45 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, Fage with almonds, honey, vanilla, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, grilled pork loin, poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 720 cal

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

PM SNACK: 5pm, cashews, 310 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, chipotle burrito, ice cream, +/-1380
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THURSDAY COUNT: 3645

SLEPT: 10:30pm - 6:30am, 8 hr

AM SNACK: 7am, 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: 1pm, sauteed shrimp and mushrooms over poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 575 cal

PM SNACK: 2pm, Jamaican patties, 830 cal

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

DINNER: 7:30pm, Stouffer's Frenchbread Pizzas, 820 cal

EVENING SNACKS: 8:30pm, chocolate chips & cashews, veggie straws, +/- 500 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2730

SLEPT: 9pm-3:30am, 6.5 hours

AM SNACK: 4am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, slaw, pickles, 610 cal

PM SNACK: 2:15pm, momma salad and cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, slice of streetza, +/- 200 cal

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

Chipotle, Reconsidered

A mad scientist genetically modified a lemon by slipping the DNA of the NBC turkey into it's cells...

McDonald's is shutting down stores, and Chipotle proudly announces that they are in the process of completely removing GMO's from their food. The king is dead, all hail the king....right? Or perhaps, as usual, the King is wearing no clothes...

A few months ago, I considered Chipotle, and came to the conclusion while it may seem like a better choice than the fast food that came before it, bottom line was it was still too calorie-dense to not be part of the obesity epidemic, from which most other food-related health ills spring. Recently, NPR published an interesting piece spurred by the recent GMO announcement that took my line of thinking a few steps farther. Why can't we take Chipotle's announcement about GMOs, and by extension, Chipotle itself, too seriously?

1. Corn Syrup & GMOs: They still sell soda, full of GMO corn-syrup.
2. Environment: While some crops use GMOs to be weed-resistant, many of the commodities Chipotle use are also weed-resistant, just by using different methods. Either way, super-weeds are evolving and the environmental damage is pretty much the same.
3. Salt: Chipotle food still contains a huge amount of salt, a multiple of the recommended amount for a meal.
4. Science: there is plenty of rigorous science proving the excess consumption of Chipotle food sugar, salt and refined carbs can be disastrously unhealthy. No such science backs up the idea that GMOs are unhealthy.
5. Meat: Regardless of the humanitarian standards trumpeted about their meat supply, the fact remains that these same animals are fed a diet that is a majority of commodity crops that are raised....with GMOs. 

So despite the announcement, you're still getting plenty of GMOs in your drink and perhaps in your meat, you're still getting way too many calories and salt, and you're not really being that much more environmentally friendly. Let me bang this drum once more: well, capitalism. The corporation needs to make a buck, and whether it's because the consumer is getting what they want or THINK they're getting what they want, as long as the buck is made, that's the final measure of success, right?

Is it time to call it "Capitalism's War on Food" yet?

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2849
Good, if high-calorie, eating week. My metabolism is kicking into high gear, right? Uh, right?

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MONDAY COUNT: 3090

SLEPT: 12am - 6am, 6 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 2pm, falafel, split pea soup, health salad, pickles, 640 cal

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

DINNER: 7pm, flounder, asparagus, poppa salad with dressing, 520 cal

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

EVENING SNACKS: 8pm, peanut butter crackers, 480 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 3050

SLEPT: 9pm- 4am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 4:15 am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 2pm, chicken meatballs, curry lentils, steamed strignbeans, pickles, 620 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 7pm,Stouffer's french bread pizzas, poppa salad with dressing, 1040 cal

EVENING SNACKS: 8pm, peanut butter crackers, kind bar, 680 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT:2880

SLEPT: 9pm-4am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 4:15 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, grilled chiken, poppa salad with dressing, 650 cal

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

PM SNACK: 5pm, cashews, 310 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, chinese food, +/- 1000 cal
Out with a friend.
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BIKE CREDIT: 730 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2605

SLEPT: 10pm - 2:30am, 4.5 hr

AM SNACK: 2:45am, iced green tea, 150mg caffeine

BIKE SNACK: 6am, homemade granola bar, 340 cal

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

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

LUNCH: 1:45pm, sauteed shrimp and mushrooms over poppa salad with dressing, quinoa, pickles, 875 cal

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

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, seafood risotto, flatbread pizza, bread, chocolate cake & ice-cream, water, +/- 1000 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2620

SLEPT: 11:30pm-5:15am, 5.75 hours

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, slaw, pickles, 610 cal

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

DINNER: 6pm, burrito, chips, +/- 1100 cal

Monthly WHOOPS!

As I cut and paste the eating diary into next weeks entry, blogger saved over my draft with a copy of next week's. I did a few paragraphs telling you how good the last month was, hinting at professional and romantic progress, and how despite gaining about 1/2 a pound, my caloric intake is averaging close to 3K rather than the 2.3K that it took to lose weight a while ago. My weekend eating seems to be gaining steam in resembling my weekly eating, with a little less salads, a little more desert and a hell of a lot less repetitions. Feels right.

It's for the best I suppose, as struggle and conflict reads a bit more interesting than self-satisfaction and smugness. And I sure as hell will save draft copies elsewhere next time!

Choices, choices, choices

Is there any idea that stock imagery can't express....cheesily? 

A few months ago, a close friend expressed some concern that I both spent way too much time thinking about what I eat, and was puzzled why I eat the same things over and over again, week after week. It seemed rather obvious to me, so obvious that I had a hard time explaining it. After some thought: I eat the same pre-measured diet over and over again 5 days a week is so I don't have to think about it. Recording it is simply a safety measure, so I don't have to worry that I'm losing focus.

Too much choice is....too much, especially if we are not aware of all the factors needed to make an informed choice. A recent piece in the New York Times elegantly explains how the government can take three different tacts to given choice with significantly different outcomes:

Until last month, all 50 states had a simple policy for voter registration: If you want to become a voter, you have the opportunity to register. Oregon is now the first state to adopt a radically different approach: If the relevant state officials know that you live in Oregon and are 18 or older, you’re automatically registered as a voter. If you don’t want to be one, you have the opportunity to opt out.
We could easily imagine a third approach. A state might decide that if you want some kind of benefit — say, a driver’s license — you have to say whether you want to register to vote. Under this approach, the state would require you to make an active choice about whether to be a voter. You would have to indicate your desires explicitly.

Three methods:

1. opt in - you must actively make a choice to participate
2. opt out - you must actively make a choice not to participate
3. active choice - you must make a choice to participate or not participate.

In an ideal world with unlimited time, unlimited resources and unlimited knowledge, all choices would be active choices. In reality, we depend on a representative government, on financial planners and lawyers, on parents and spouses, on our employers and on our media gate-keepers to make choices for us every moment of the day so we aren't flooded. Indeed, the industrial revolution in the processing of our food supply is a way of limiting choices -- there is a lot more choice in a kitchen stocked full of raw, unprocessed ingredients that rely on a home cook to come up with a home-cooked meal than in a box of Kraft Dinner.

A box full of many, many (bad) choices.

Making voting registration opt-out results in a bottom-line good: more people can and will vote. Well, good for pro-democracy people who believe people should vote in their self-interest, bad for the politicians who depend on the laziness of the people to stay silent.

There is one national party who is very against opt-out voting, and it would be disingenuous to play like it's somehow "neutral" not to name them. It's a fact. The Republicans want to make it harder for people who don't agree with them to vote. Maybe the Democrats do, too, but they don't act on that evil urge. Anyway,...

In 2004, Congress authorized the Department of Agriculture to allow states and localities to automatically enroll eligible poor children in school meal programs, rather than requiring their parents to sign them up. As a result, millions of such children now have access to school meals.

Is this because a bunch of poor, anti-government parents all of sudden got hoodwinked into buying into the system? Or because when you step back and take a macro-look at things, too much choice allows a shockingly large amount of important choices go unmade? As the old saw goes, "war is not lost by the wrong decision, war is lost by indecision."

Any choice that a positive response will be a benefit to society should always be opt-out. Voting, enrolling kids in free-lunch, health insurance, education, and yes, vaccinations, should always happen automatically. You can then choose not to vote, or protest the gubbermint's hands on maaaah kiiiidz, but bottom line a lot of good will come from simply making things automatic in the positive.

We like it when a website allows us to check that blessed box that says “do not ask me again.” If we are busy — and most of us are — choosing not to choose may be the best choice of all. A fundamental reason is that it frees us to focus on our deepest concerns.
Consider the revealing words of President Obama: “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” There is a lesson here for everyone, not merely presidents. If people were required to make active choices about all decisions involving their diets, their finances, or their health, they would have far less time to think about their families, their work, and their favorite forms of recreation. (bolding mine)

Choice is held as right in this society, as it fits in well with consumerism and capitalism -- the right to choose your doctor will magically make the health care system stronger, the right to choose one of 100 different sugared breakfast cereals is an exercise in freedom, the right to choose a president from a centrist bought-and-paid-for Democrat or a centrist bought-and-paid-for Republican will strengthen our democracy. Sometimes too much choice is just white noise, but sometimes choice is an illusion if all the options are just slight variations on the same theme. Then we must question the system that limited the choices, but that's a rant of a whole 'nuther level.

I eat the same thing week in week out about 90% of the time, 5 days a week. I'm cool with it.

You can choose which ever color you'd like, as long as it's black.

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Presented without comment: McDonald's is closing a lot of stores here and abroad. Chipotle announced in a year's time, there will be no genetically modified food served in their restaurants. 

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2850
A very intense week. Probably took in too many calories, but I did get to ride a lot. I'm very not-bored.

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MONDAY COUNT: 3270

SLEPT: 9:30pm - 6am, 8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 2pm, falafel, chicken soup, momma salad, 600 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, poppa salad with dressing, cheezits, 410 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, tilapia, asparagus, 350 cal

EVENING SNACKS: 6-8pm, popcorn, cashews & chocolate chips, kind bar, left over bagel and creamcheese, +/- 1300 cal

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BIKE CREDIT: 1340
TUESDAY COUNT: 2285

SLEPT: 9:30pm- 5:45am, 8.25hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am, iced green tea

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

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

BIKE SNACK: 12:15pm, cashews and chocolate chips, 535 cal

LUNCH: 3pm, quarter pounder, fries, diet coke, 920 dal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, Stouffer's french bread pizzas, poppa salad with dressing, 1060

EVENING SNACK: 7:15pm, popcorn, +/- 400 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3030cal

SLEPT: 9pm-1am, 3:30am-6:45am, 7.25hrs

AM SNACK: 7 am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST: 11am, Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, chicken meatballs, curry lentils, steamed strignbeans, a pickle, 610 cal

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

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

DINNER: 7:45pm, Ethiopian food, water, +/- 900 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, two cookies, +/- 600 cal
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BIKE CREDIT 1070 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2155

SLEPT: 11pm -1am, 3am-6:45am,  6.75 hrs

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea

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

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

BIKE SNACKS: 12:30pm, 3:30pm, homemade granola bars, 150 mg caffeine, 490 cal

LUNCH: 5:15pm, sauteed shrimp and mushrooms over poppa salad with dressing, 625 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, vegetarian dim sum, +/- 1500 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 3510

SLEPT: 12am-6:30am, 6.5 hours

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, slaw, momma salad, cheezits, 1000 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, halibut, sausage, gnochi, fancy cake and ice cream, water, +/- 900 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, pint of ice cream, 1000 cal

Kind Bars Vs Reality

A few years ago,  I looked closely at the idea of the granola bar. I bake my own granola then bar-ify it with a heady mix of nut butters, molasses, egg and other ingredients. There has been a big market for pre-made granola bars since the 70s; however as time went on they kinda devolved into candy bars with just a whiff of "health" on them. A block of sugar and fat with a few oats stuck in them is still candy.

A more modern phenomenon is a new class of good-for you bar that is kinda like a granola bar, but dispenses with the rolled oats -- the nut bar is exemplified by Kind bars. With a vaguely hippy-dippy stoner name, modern packaging whose block colors look like an abstract rainbow, and an ingredient list that features nuts front and center, it has replaced the granola bar among the health conscious set as the go-to grab-and-go convenience snack. However, all may not seem like it is.

At least four of Kind LLC’s self-proclaimed healthy bars are in violation of “healthy” labeling requirements, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which sent a warning letter to the company.
“Your products do not meet the requirements for use of the nutrient content claim ‘healthy’ on a food label,” William Correll, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in the letter, dated March 17 and released publicly on Tuesday. “You should take prompt action to correct the violations.”

The FDA's definition of healthy is simply a limit on the amounts of things like trans fats, salt and sugar. While Kind correctly argues that whatever the fat-content of nuts may be, they are nutritionally sound, but it's not the whole story.

Kind has rapidly expanded and has introduced a wide variety of both flavors of nut bars and other products, like granola (excuse me, "Oat Clusters") and granola bars (nope, "Healthy Grains Bars"). You don't have to go far in this expanded product line to find something like the "Almond & Coconut" kind bar whose trans fat are a multiple of what the FDA recommends and triple the sugar load, and further variations that involve chocolate and other trappings of candy. The system demands expanding profits at all times, so in the food world, that always means devolving into finding the broadest possible appeal...which means increasing salt, sugar and fat.

Serving for serving, not hella different nutritionally than a Reeses.  OK, a little bit more fiber.

I get my kind bars in bulk from Costco, and they come in 2 plain-jane flavors, basically fancy names for vanilla and chocolate. Looking at the list of ingredients, all the nuts are in front, but as one "mixed nut" ingredient, and each one has several sweeteners, including sugar, honey, glucose, and "chicory root fiber", which is another fancy term for a low glycemic sweetener. Straight up according to the listing, each bar contains about a teaspoon of sugar. This isn't just a bunch of nuts pressed together, this is a bunch of nuts bound with sugar. The truly "kind" thing would to simply eat nuts and not a processed bar.

I'll continue to eat kind bars for the same reason I'll continue to juice vegetables every morning. My juicing is not a replacement for my twice daily raw vegetable salads -- it is a supplement to get more nutrition in that otherwise would be overwhelmed by too much fiber. I sparingly eat nuts -- almonds with my 2x weekly yogurt, a serving of cashews once a week to keep away the hunger, and the kind bar is a convenient way to keep some variety and decadence without feeling like I'm hurting myself. 

But make no mistake -- it is a highly processed, packaged and marketed product that is not as good as just eating nuts. 

Chuck D was talking about food marketing, right?

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 3091
Weird week, cycling kept me hungry, though I wonder if following my hunger to these higher calorie counts is the way to go. Will know in  a week or so. Just so much going on, don't have the mental space to focus too much on the food thing...

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MONDAY COUNT: 2940

SLEPT: 11pm - 5am, 6hrs

AM SNACK: 5:15 am, iced green tea

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

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

LUNCH: 2pm, falafel, split pea soup, health salad, pickle, 620 cal

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, momma salad, cheezits 310 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad, 200 cal

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

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

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, flourless chocolate cake,+/- 400 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 3040

SLEPT: 11pm- 6am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 5:30 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, grilled chicken, steamed string beans, Mushroom curry, pickles, 600 cal

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

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad, 200 cal

DINNER: 6:15pm, Chipotle burrito, 880 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, kind bar, peanut butter cracker, 420 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 1260 cal
WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3090 cal

SLEPT: 9pm-2am, 4am-6am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

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

AM SNACK: 8:15am, half a horrible ham and cheese biscuit thing, +/- 150 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, Fage yogurt, honey vanilla, almonds, 150 mg caffeine, 450 cal

BIKE SNACKS: 12-2:30pm, 1 homemade granola bars, digestive cookies, 730 cal

LUNCH: 3:45pm, tiapia, health salad, pickle veggie straws, 650 cal

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

DINNER: 8:15pm, bibimbop, seafood pancake, kimchi, various little plates, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, waffle & ice cream, digestive cookies, +/- 800 cal
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BIKE CREDIT 640 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 3295

SLEPT: 11pm -4am,  5 hrs

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

BIKE SNACK: 6am, homemade granola bar, 235 cal

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

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

LUNCH: 1pm, sauteed shrimp,  poppa salad and dressing, 400 cal

PM SNACK: 2:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, peanut butter crackers, 480 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, pizza, salad, +/- 900 cal cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, pecan pie, tea, ice cream, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, kind bar, peanut butter & chocolate syrup, +/- 500 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: x

SLEPT: 11pm-7am, 8 hours

AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 12:30pm, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

Things got busy....