Year 3, Day 156: Everything tastes better at McDonald's

Every once in a while, you wake up with the determination and the power to stand up to the nut-monster. Today I vowed to be good and strong and really keep on the program. 30 Almonds? Ha, that's the ticket.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Strawberries
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Snack
4 oz turkey
3 sticks beef jerky
30 almonds
1 oz Boston lite popcorn

lunch; russo's ($5.25)
Romaine, red pepper, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

dinner:
tilapia a la emily
green beans

From Slashfood.com: Everything tastes better at McDonald's
Posted Aug 7th 2007 3:06PM by Bob Sassone

That's according to preschoolers, anyway.

A study done by a researcher at Stanford University has concluded that kids think that anything that McDonald's does taste better than anyone else. And not just the burgers and fries. This also extends to the milk, carrots, and apple juice! As long as it has a McDonald's logo, it's better. To quote Diane Levin, a childhood development specialist: "You see a McDonald's logo and kids start salivating."

There has already been news recently that some companies are going to stop advertising toward kids and I'm sure this news will add to that. Though I think McDonald's is probably advertising to adults more than ever now, with their "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. Over at the Obscure Store and Reading Room, a reader makes a good point, that when he was a kid going to McDonald's was a special treat, not a daily dietary choice. Now it's seen as a regular thing, I think, with many parents. I remember when I was a kid it was something that was done once in a great while, something I got excited about when we went out of town to the mall and we got to stop at the golden arches after shopping with family. But McDonald's are everywhere now, even in your small hometown, so those days are probably gone.

Year 3, Day 3: Get Out the Measuring Cup

Got out the ol' measuring cup again—from reading and rereading old blog posts I suspect my weight gain has more to do with sloppy habits than anything else. Truly, I have been eating all day most days, nuts, beef jerky, apples, not really being hungry or watching it. Got to get it back, and today was another attempt, though there was a LOT of popcorn. My brother, sister-in-law and niece came over and we all just sat around with the bag, eating it, till it was all gone.

Breakfast
Kashi

Lunch
3 Egg omelet with Salami
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
Bok Choy

Snack
~2 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
Diet Coke

Dinner
Soy-Ginger Pork Loin
Cabbage Romaine & Feta Salad (w/ Balsamic)
Asparagus
Cauliflower

Trying to make something happen in the strictness department and finding it very challenging. Don't have a lot to say- just that 178 hangs over my head, just enough to be annoying, but not enough to stop me from eating my weight in popcorn (on good days) or nuts (on those bad, bad days).

Year 2, Day 304: New Year's Day Happy Feet

On the very last day of my vacation, I eschew a second work out for a getaway to the movies with Ruby. Though the only showing of a film I didn't really want to see was at 4:30, I loaded up with Boston Lite popcorn and we vamoosed. Ruby has come a long way since I had to follow her around the theatre and take her out for the scary part. Now for a few Reese's Pieces, she'll sit still the whole time. It helped that it was crowded theatre. The movie was VERY strange (think Bas Lehrman does kids films) and no wonder, since the director was George Miller (of Mad Max fame). The message—that humans are destroying the natural habitat is not new, but some folks are bent of shape about it. I mean, go back to Planet of the Apes if you want to take an issue with that kind of messaging. Anyway, the film had a deeply disturbing color palate and a VERY disturbing passage where "Mumbles" is prisoner in an aquarium. I don't think the kids were old enough to get why it was disturbing, but I know most of the adults were giving it a "WHAT?" As it was, I was forced to eat some Reese's Pieces myself, especially when I noted that a serving size was 200 pieces!!!! I was generally appalled at the behavior at the movies. I either need to get out more often or much less often.

Breakfast
2 Sliced Eggs
2 SLices Balthazar Multi-Grain Bread
3 oz. 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
Coffee

Lunch:
Fritata
Salad

Snack
Beef Jerky
Half of a 6.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
Reese's Pieces

Dinner: Paparazzi
Garden Salad
Boneless Grilled Chicken
Broccoli
Asparagus

I've been studying up alot on the nutritional value of popcorn and how really really damaging the movie theatre version of it is. It's hard to get a real factual grasp because much of this information is kept under wraps and no movie theatre chains ever own up to any results. The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) made headlines a few years ago when they "outed" movie theatre popcorn but many critics say their only purpose in life is to make people "afraid of their food." When I did what research I could, the numbers really were horrifying. One Medium movie popcorn (which at 11 cups, is very small if you ask me) has 910 Calories, and 639 of them from fat. Compare that to a similar volume of Boston Lite Popcorn which has 420 calories and 120 of them from fat. (I also looked at Newman's Own microwave, and it was about the same as Boston Lite.) The total fat in movie popcorn is 71G while the Boston Lite is 12G. According to Nutrition Action, "That’s almost three day’s worth of sat fat, or what you’d get from six Big Macs." It has an unhealthy level of saturated fat because most chain theatres pop their corn in coconut oil (The Coolidge in Boston does not, as I have made popcorn there). Since the general rule of thumb is to avoid foods that have over half of their calories from fat, we'd all better be skipping the movie popcorn. Unless, that is, we're considering it "the treat" for the night. Most folks skip the chocolate in favor of the popcorn because it's healthier. In the final analysis, it's probably better to get the Raisinets or Goobers because at least you're getting some nutrition from them. It's such a sad state of affairs, because I truly love movie popcorn. Now I will have to content myself with sneaking in a bag of Boston Lite everytime I go and want popcorn. But that's nothing for me, since Emily and I once snuck in an entire Thai dinner, with Salad. But we were more adventuresome then.

Year 2, Day 294: 2nd to Last Friday Off of the Year

Today Emily and I went on a date, as nothing is happening at work (we all had the day off) and nothing is happening anywhere—except for "doorbusters" which is the offensive name for sales that start early with and are 'too good to miss.' Of all the days to have off, today was the day the JCC decided to redo their gym LIGHTING and so I was forced to go somewhere else for a workout. They had set up two alternatives—the YMCAs in Newton and Needham. I wasn't really that keen on going to either one of them but I had settled on the one in Needham because I knew how to get there and it was closer. Emily suggested I go to Wellbridge Athletic, which she joined to play tennis in April but the membership has been collecting dust (though still being paid). I took her guest pass and headed over there but they waved me in with a nod. They have all the most modern equipment in a sun-flooded room that was perfectly temperate. All the units have TV and there is an endless supply of free towels in two sizes (the JCC makes you pay $1). There were three different ellipse machines and just like Goldilocks I had to figure out which one was best for me. When I did, I realized it was going to be a much harder workout than I'm used to. It had a lower-arms setting and when I did I was VERY out of breath. I did do 60 minutes, but because I dropped my ipod, had to get rid of my gum, and accidentally hit 'end' instead of 'pause' I had to do it in three increments of 15, 38 and 7 minutes, respectively. I was huffing and puffing, and watching the clock intently, which is never a good sign. I have no idea how many miles I went because I didn't know how to work the contraption. After the workout I did three sets of 5 15-lb ab crunches on the ab-cruncher. I had to stop because I thought if I did any more the blue and pink stars around my head wouldn't go away. I met Emily and we went for a nice lunch and a movie.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Banana
Blueberries
Ikea Muesli
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Postworkout Snack
3 Tablespoons SC Peanut Butter
6 oz. Plain Yogurt

Lunch: The Met Bar
Greek Salad with Chicken

Movie Snack: Boston Lite Popcorn

Dinner:
Eva Chan's Spareribs
Eva Chan's String Beans and Cauliflower
Bok Choy

I don't know why, but the holidays have put me in a bad mood for some reason, even though I am enjoying them, have a lot of time off, haven't gained any weight that I know of and have gotten great gifts for my kids. Really, I have no reason to be bitter and mean and yet I am. Though it is rare that I would say anything bad about Russo's, I must say that the salad I had today at the Met Bar may have been the best salad I ever had. It was literally perfect. The lettuce, the amount of feta, the done-ness of the chicken, the red onion, it put all my best efforts to shame. I realized I was hack-of-a-salad-maker and these people were geniuses. We then went to the movies (we saw Borat) and I insisted on doing my thing, which is bringing the Boston Lite Popcorn in instead of buying it. Though most people do this for the savings, I do this to avoid the calories. Popcorn popped in coconut oil (like they do at movies) is as bad for you as you can make popcorn. It is delicious, though.

Then we had a surprise "almost last night of Chanukah" at our neighbor's house where I ate the world's best Chinese food. Crazy.