Day 306: Sixth Night of Chanukah

I was the youngest in the gym today by 20 years. Also, the place was nearly empty, which I suppose is due at least in part to revelers skipping their workouts in order to secure their New Year's Eve roasts and the like. Today's moment of being choked up on the elliptical machine came from hearing the song "To Sir with Love." Specifically the line "And how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume? It isn't easy but I'll try." Although I never really had a mentor except for Rob Blumenfeld, who during my first year at Camp plucked me out of obscurity to have star in his play, but when I hear "To Sir with Love" I think of my friend Ray Metz, who honestly was as the words say "A friend who taught me right from wrong and weak from strong—that's a lot to learn." Soon it will be five years since he's gone. And I know he would tell me one thing: "Don't be afraid."

Breakfast
Two Slices Multi-Grain Bread Balthazar Bread
Super Chunky Peanut Butter
1st of 3 Cracker Barrel Cheese Blocks

Post Gym-Snack
3 Strips of Chicken
10 Whole Grain Wheat Thins
2nd and 3rd of 3 Cracker Barrel Cheese Blocks

Lunch
6 oz. Blueberry Yoplait Yogurt
1/4 cup Almonds/Cashews
1 Dried Peach, 4 Dried Apricots

Post-Lunch Snack
2 Cups of Microwave Popcorn
Coke Zero

Dinner
Steak Tips
Broccoli
Salad a la Molly

Today was a funny day eating wise since at 10AM I started a play date for Ruby at someone else's house and then I skeedaddled to the gym. En route back from the gym to my house, I ran into Emily who slopped me with some chicken (which was good because I was feeling woozy and light headed). At home after my shower I had some cheese and crackers (remembering that you can more efficiently metabolize carbs in the short period following a workout) then back to the marathon play date. When it ended at around 2:00pm, I again was starving and had the ol' yogurt snack but as the day wore on I found I needed the popcorn to get through to dinner. By dinner it was fine, but I am certain I blunted much of the four miles I burned off today.

Day 305: Chanukah Night Five

The first day I'm waking in Boston in a week feels very good, even though Emily has a mysterious hacking cough that I'm starting to develop also. I'm scheduled to go work today and somewhere in the back of my mind I'm trying to get to the gym, or go for a walk or do something. Of course, it's raining cats and dogs and so I focus on just trying to get to work, which turns out to be an olympic activity in itself. On balance, the Rye from Balthazar is good, but if you're not eating it fresh, the multi-grain has it all over.

Breakfast
Two Slices of Balthazar Rye Bread
Super Chunky Peanut Butter
1 oz Cracker Barrel Cheese
Tea

Snack
1/4 Almonds/Cashews
1 Dunkin Donuts Medium Coffee (Half-decaf)
3 Dried Peaches
1 oz Cracker Barrel Cheese
30 Pistachios
1 6 oz. Yoplait yogurt
1 pink lady apple

Lunch
1 6 oz Can of Tuna
1 Joy Stick

Dinner
Cheeseburger (93% Sirloin)
Pickles, Peppadews
Salad a la Molly

By the time I got to work it was near lunch time. Having spent most of the morning just trying to get there, I could not turn around and go to lunch (and as you can read by the above description, the deluge continued) so I just concentrated on drinking my coffee (a must for a return-to-work day) and snacks and tried to plow through some items that badly needed my attention. By 1:30 I needed to eat and there's little in the kitchen, so I opted for a can of tuna, straight from the can. It reminded me of the Garfield comic (back when it was funny—can anyone remember that?) where he was eating coffee straight from the can and said "Why dilute it?" By the time I got home I tanked up on snacks. I am missing dessert.

Day 304: Night Four of Chanukah

Today Emily and I set out to get back to Boston. Our original plan was to pick up our niece and go to the local community market, that does does a nice job of fruit salad, tuna salad and the like and eat that on the road, but en route Emily said she'd like to stop at Reins (http://www.reinsdeli.com/) on the way back, so we figured "Okay, we'll do that." When we got there, it was like the scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" where everyone demands their money because the S&L is failing, only at Reins people were demanding stuffed derma and side of latkes. We were thinking we would take out if the line was too long but the take-out line was too outrageous, so we split. I thought, 'they are turning away money with their poor line policing.' If Roger Berkowitz from Legal ran Reins, they'd be making TWICE AS MUCH MONEY, they'd have second restaurant and would be considering going public. Instead, they lost our business but we all enjoyed their bathroom. We made do with what was in the car.

Breakfast
2 Slices of Balthazar Multi-grain Bread
Peanut Butter
Tea

Lunch
2 Joy Sticks
1.5 Cheese Stick
A few slices of Clementine
2 Dried Peaches
4 Dried Apricots

Dinner
Shrimp
Sauteed Cabbage
Salad ala Molly (that is diced carrots, and a dressing of Olive Oil and Lemon)

As you all know, traveling in the car is tough, but it's even tougher when you plan on several stops you don't make to get food-supplies. Then, you're trying to feed your kids and all your plans go to hell. However, I've been on the diet long enough that I know that you have to make do and in the words of Ruby's preschool, "You get what you get and you don't get upset." So I gave up my yogurt (to Ruby, who devoured it) and made two with two joysticks. Naturally, when we got to Boston I spent nearly $200 in groceries and we all got caught up on our calories.

303: Chanukah Night Three

One piece of advice for those who love a dieter: Don't eat their food—for any reason. As a dieter, you have to work hard to make sure you are not eating what you should not. This means you know what foods you CAN eat and how MUCH of that you can eat. If you have counted out 30 nuts, or five cups of microwave popcorn, that's your portion. Regular people (aka those not on a diet) may not have any idea how sacrosanct those foodstuffs are. But I noted it outside of my own life that the protection of your diet-portion is crucial. It's been said that dieting can make you cranky, and when you live it, you see it, in little pieces, every day, why that is so, so true.

Breakfast
Two Slices of Balthazar Multigrain Bread
Peanut Butter
Tea

Snack
Cheese from 1/2 slice of Pizza
Almonds/Cashews
Coffee
Yogurt

Lunch
Hot Dog with Mustard
Cole Slaw
Bok Choy

Dinner: Chinese
Shrimp with String Beans
Chicken with Broccoli
Spare Ribs

Throughout all this we must be adding on various bites of Team Cheerios (Magnolia forces me to eat them) every day, and also baby yogurt, apple sauce and oatmeal. All the time when I am trying to feed her, she is also trying to feed me. I do not want to squash this ambition by refusing her, though I try to fake it as much as I can. But you can only do so much faking—they get to a point where they don't want FAKING they REALLY WANT YOU TO EAT THIS CHEERIO, NOW. So you must oblige, and hope that there's an elliptical in your future, somewhere.

Day 302: Day After Christmas/ 2nd Night of Chanukah

I got on the Detecto scale at my mother's house and it said 193. This may have led me to feel free to have today's Soy Cappucino. "But you look so skinny" is one of the things that I heard over and over again upon seeing lots of my relatives, and people in my family. That's a great thing, but it's not why I did this. Of course, every time someone says that, I think "yes, but why didn't you TELL ME HOW BAD I LOOKED BEFORE?" It made me think of the five top reasons for anyone to go on a diet and to stay on a diet:

1. Because it makes you feel better physically
2. Because it makes you feel better mentally
3. Gives you a feeling of accomplishment
4. So you can fit into your clothes/buy new clothes
5. So people will tell you look good

Breakfast
Slice of Bread with Cheddar Cheese (about 3 oz)

Lunch
Olives
Corned Beef, Salami, Onion and Eggs
More Cheddar Cheese
Heel of Bread

Snacks
Almonds & Cashews
Soy Cappuccino
30 Pistachios
1 Pear
A Few Slices of Clementine

Dinner
Brisket
Corned Beef
Spare Ribs
LOTS of Pickles
Some White Meat Chicken
Salad
Cole Slaw

Besides the temptation of the holidays themselves, there is also the transitions between houses. Emily and I always go on the "six city tour" which is really a three-city tour now, but it used to be a four-city tour and besides, six is funnier-sounding anyway. Traveling anytime with two children is already challenging, as is traveling between Long Island and New Jersey at any time, so adding them together can be stress-inducing. In order to coordinate the best possible napping or not-napping time, we may end up compromising when we should be eating, and then can add to the absent-minding eating, or the low-blood sugar situation that leads to eating the wrong things.

Day 301: The Christmasesty Chanukah Ever

As one might expect, being at a place where there is a holiday gathering is a trap in many ways for one trying to watch what they eat. For starters, there are irregular eating times. Also, there are "all day" foods that are put out to please the early arrivals stragglers, and hungry droppers-by. Though with my help we ended up putting out dried and regular fruit, my mother had originally put out macadamia nut brittle and peppermint chocolate bark, as well as carmel chocolate sticky paws from Williams-Sonoma. For some crazy reason I forgot to bring peanut butter, so even from the beginning I was having trouble. The day started with a brunch full of some of my fave foods (from the old days): bagels, cream cheese, lox, white fish and the like. Today I made do with a spelt english muffin. I tried to be good, but by the end of the day I, and my adherence to the diet, were toast. During the evening I was moved practically to tears by Ruby's ability to spin two of her younger cousins in her grandmother's office chair, waiting until they had arrived 360 degrees to yell "boo" and other things that made them laugh with uproarious, and amazingly, unending delight. The thought that I (with Emily) had instilled in her the ability and the desire both to make others laugh, and the caring about other people that that that implies was a gift.

Breakfast
1 Spelt English Muffin
Cheddar Cheese
Whitefish
1 Cup Green Tea

Lunch/Snack/Everything Else Not Dinner
Lots of Almonds and Cashews
1 6 oz Cherry Yoplait Yogurt (the worst flavor so far)

Dinner and Everything That Went with It
Assorted Cheeses
Chopped Chicken Liver
2 Slices Turkey
A bit of Salad
2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread
Pickles, Peppadews, Olives

Following Dinner
50% of a Black and White
1 very small piece of peppermint chocolate bark
1 bite of a carmel chocolate sticky paw (gave the rest to Ruby, which she enjoyed the hell out of)
2 bites of stilton cheese
2 glasses red wine
1 slice of Pear

If you never lived or ate a lot Jewish bakery desserts in New York, you might not know that the "Black and White" is a bakery treat that is often mislabeled as a cookie but is really like a sort of a flatter, slightly less moist cupcake. It has a baked-on frosting but in New England it is frosted afterwards, which is an "Infamnia" or "Insult to the family"—answerable only by a Mob hit. These black and whites are so prevalent in New York that they have etched a place in my cerebral cortex and being close to them set off a pavlovian response that made me crazy until I ate half of one (because Ruby had half). Of all the things that I would have thought I would have gone off my diet for, I never would have said a black and white, but what can I say? We are our choices, and life is about choices. So by the transitive axiom, I am a black and white. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the first night of Chanukah, a family celebration, oh, and Christmas.

Day 300: Trip to Christmaskah

On the 300th day of the South Beach diet we set out to New York. Though we have gotten the packing the car with two kids down to a science (the key is doing it the night before, no matter how much you want to watch television), we still have not figured out the eating thing. Due to a unexpected diaper event, we pulled over sooner than expected, and Ruby got chicken nuggets and Emily and I split a Caesar wrap at Fresh City Wraps. Needless to say I realize this is not a very good alternative for me, since it is essentially salad and croutons wrapped in white bread.

Breakfast
1 Spelt Muffin
Super Chunky Peanut Butter
1 oz. Cracker Barrel
Tea

Car Trip
50% Caesar Wrap
1/4 cups Almonds/Cashews

Arrival In New York
6 oz Yoplait Light Yogurt
6 slices Pastrami, Mustard
2 slices Corned Beef
Pickles

Dinner
Shrimp Cocktail
Olives
1.2 Australian Lobster Tails
House Salad

Tonight, we as a family went to a Seafood Restaurant that we have been going to for about 27 years. I used to think of it as an olympic eating opportunity—especially the "Shore Dinner" with its promise of multiple rich courses from steamers to lobster. Plus, there was always dessert and coffee. Tonight, for the first time ever on record, I did not finish my dinner OR have dessert. While for many of you this may be a common occurrence, but for me it is an ability that was hard-won and something that I am amazed I can do. Even today, the idea that I "might never get a chance to eat this food again" still haunts me, though more often than not, I beat it back as ridiculous nonsense. It helps that I have a job, so unlike when I was a starving college student, if I want to buy a lobster some time, I can. For me, this was the real family get together of December and I always have the olive pits to prove it.

Day 299: The Day Before The Day Before

It was a funny day, because I wasn't going to go into work on time; Ruby had a some kind of 'holiday party.' I thought it was going to be something I observed, but instead it was something where I had to get involved. I had to muster 16 kids through affixing cotton balls to paper plates with glue sticks and then adding glitter. By the time I got to work it was 11:30; soon after we had lunch; soon after that everyone dried up and went home to get ready for their last minute stuff. At 3:30 or so, I was the last person at the office.

Breakfast
1 Spelt English Muffin
Super-Chunky Peanut Butter
1 oz Cracker Barrel Cheese
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
1 medium dunkin donuts coffee (half decaf)

Lunch
Beef with Broccoli
House Special Egg Drop Soup

Dinner
Omelet with Turkey Bacon,
50% Jalapeno Cheddar
1 oz Cracker Barrel Cheese

By the time I got home (the traffic was horrendous) it was still early but we didn't know what to do. We couldn't go anywhere because the streets were clogged; we didn't want to cook and there was little in the house; we were going to order take out but we couldn't decide on anything. We ultimately decided to just 'eat what was in the closet.' Somewhat disappointing, but when you can separate your expectations from your reality, you can really enjoy it whatever it is you're forced, by destiny, to eat.

Day 298: Thursday Before Break

As the holiday season rolls to its ultimate conclusion, it becomes harder to get a return call, professional customer service, or a parking spot anywhere near anywhere that sells anything that could be remotely considered a gift. I know for a fact that people in the corporate world start to evaporate yet someone scheduled (actually rescheduled a meeting for today at 4:00pm. Instinctively, I knew this meeting would not happen, and did my professional best to follow up with each person involved to see if they were still "on." Neither returned my phone call. My thoughts have been about next year's Christmas CD and whether or not I have enough room in my car for all the Balthazar bread I will have to buy.

Breakfast
Last two pieces of Balthazar Bread
Super Chunky Peanut Butter
1 oz Cracker Barrel Cheese
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
dunkin donuts coffee

Lunch
Broccoli feta omelet
five strips bacon

Dinner
rainbow trout
sweet potatoes
cashews

Amazingly, today's lunch made it unnecessary to eat until dinner, and even then I wasn't quite hungry. I must remember that if you want to not be hungry, eat the lunch I've described above...I probably should eat that the night before a fast. Of course, it will kill you quick, but it is filling.

Day 297: Another Agitating Day

Today, again work takes a front seat as I agonize over how to make a particular project come out the way I want it to. It requires more than planning and skill, it requires a lot of lucky breaks. I think someone described the Red Sox in 2004 as being the recipient of all the lucky breaks that year. That's what I needed. There is a meeting regarding said project at 9:30AM. The outcome didn't work out exactly as I had hoped, but it's not over yet. I am amazed at the level of activity in the world right now—breathtaking because I seem to remember that this is usually when the world starts to creep to a halt. The ceaseless energy may be because Christmas AND Chanukah fall on a Sunday, meaning everyone has this week to get everything they're going to get. At home, we have given up trying to ignore Christmas, because Ruby comes home singing "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Robin laid an egg." In my opinion, she knows the true spirit of Christmas—we can't hide it from her anymore.

Breakfast
2 slices of balthazar bread
peanut butter
1 oz cracker barrel cheese
tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
1 clementine

lunch
A pound of Salad
Greek Salad with Grilled Chicken

Dinner
shrimp and garlic with bok choy
1 bite of Magnolia's yogurt with Wheatabix

Meanwhile, I continue to agonize over how to tip various people in my life—mailman, trash collector, but most of all Ruby's school bus driver. I can't help thinking that the mailman brings me junk mail and catalogs I don't need, and if I had a truck I could do without the garbage man (Needham has a dump-system, so you have to pay to have people collect your garbage), but the bus driver does the most important job I can imagine. I think he should get something special, but for the life of me I don't know what that is. Any suggestions? And don't say Balthazar bread, there won't be any left after tomorrow (until I go back to New York).

Day 296—One Bad Apple

Today at work was just a day where everything had some kind of problem. On top of that, things were happening with the neighborhood I live in—in the middle of lunch I spoke to a reporter for a half hour, and then at after work I had to rush home to go to a meeting at town hall regarding a life-altering new development behind our house. It got approved. It's days like this that make you want to dive deeply into a pool of whatever they cover the Boston Creme donuts with and just drown happily. And does anyone know why Dunkin Donuts has not yet tried covering everything in chocolate? Why not a Jelly-covered donut? For those who might think those flavors do NOT go together, I will remind you that the Jews have been eating chocolate covered jellies for years since "the old country" in Kiev, and probably going back to Moses.

Breakfast
2 slices of balthazhar bread
peanut butter
2oz 50% jalapeno
tea

Snack
1/4 cups almonds/cashews
1 joy stick
1 dunkin donuts coffee

lunch
spicy green beans with chicken
wonton soup

dinner
salty sweet chicken a la em
string beans/spinach
sweet potatoes

Sometimes when I'm writing I forget to explain the title of the blog. Sometimes, as longtime readers know, the titles have no explanation, but today was because I brought an apple for lunch and its poor, mealy quality made it inedible.

I realize now how Peter Jackson (director of Lord of the Rings and King Kong) could lose 70 lbs— he's so busy! I barely had time to eat then I had to go to this meeting. By the time I got home I was not going to put anything in my mouth (except a no-calorie fruit2O) so I was just hungry, and totally agitated until I went to bed.

Day 295: Monday Begins, Shoulder Doesn't

The shoulder continues to hurt. I got a note last Friday that said "the school bus will now be arriving five minutes earlier every day." This piece of breaking news means that instead of waking Ruby at 7:05 I have to wake her up at 7:00, which means I have to wake up at sometime with a 6 in it, which is crop dusting hour. It also means eggs (unless they are hard-boiled the night before) are a thing for weekends only, since I just can't handle the break-neck pace of bed to bus (including hair) in 45 minutes. I must keep to my bread for breakfast diet, though on Oprah Bob Greene mentioned that starting the day with a big breakfast was a good way to get your metabolism going. I do want to a have a big breakfast—I just want have to a big lunch and dinner, too.

Breakfast
2 slices balthazar bread
peanut butter
tea
2 oz 50% jalapeno light cheddar

snack
coffee
1 joy stick
1 cheese stick
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
2 apples cameo
1 oz peanuts

lunch
stuffed chicken
asparagus
broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes

dinner
pork cutlets
a bissel sauteed spinach
broccoli
5 string beans
1 oz cracker barrel cheese
handful of unsalted cashews

For some reason, I wasn't very hungry tonight; it could have to do with the fact that I had a lot of snacks—I was very, very hungry this afternoon. I ate the apple I had brought to work on Friday (but didn't eat) and the one I had with me. Then, I had to eat some peanuts. When I got home, I didn't really want to eat dinner, but I still wanted to eat cheese and nuts. It's the time in the blog where I wonder "where is the red, orange and yellow food I should be eating?"

294: Holiday Anxiety

Today was the first day that I realized that unlike Christmas gifts (all set, thanks) I have no Chanukah gifts for anyone I know or love. This is causing me to have a small aneurysm. Additionally, I continue to have a painful right-arm shoulder problem (which is absolutely aggravated by poker playing and blog writing) that plagues me much of the day.

Breakfast
2 Eggs Over Easy
2 Strips Turkey Bacon
2 oz. 50% Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
9 Whole Grain Melba Toasts with Peanut Butter
2 Whole Grain Toasts with 1 oz Cracker Barrel Cheese
1 Cameo Apple

Lunch
Romaine Lettuce
Feta Cheese
Tuna

Dinner
Chicken a la Em (Whole Wheat dredged and fried)
Brussel Sprouts (yummy)

Dessert That I Nearly Ate But Thought Better of It
Chocolate Cheesecake

I did go to the gym today and do 4 miles on the elliptical. Though my shoulder was killing me I could not stand the thought of descending into inactivity because of it. I knew I wasn't going to aggravate, and if last week was an example, it would probably help. I added my tiger balm, took my advils and got moving. Today's travesty on CNN was a 3-year old who died of the flu of her parents who wished they'd been advised by their pediatrician to get the flu vaccine. They formed a coalition called families fighting flu (http://www.familiesfightingflu.org/) which I support, but I've got to tell you, it makes that last mile just so much less pleasant.

Day 293: Le Jour Ensuite

If you're reading this, and you don't have any hobbies in your life that you love, then you certainly won't understand how hard it is to leave a card game, even when you know it's irresponsibly late at night. I was just reading a remembrance by a photographer who was assigned to shoot John and Yoko in the last month of his life. He missed his deadline because John and Yoko wanted to hang around and talk. Yes, he missed his deadline, but he KNEW his deadline, he just wasn't going to force John and Yoko out of his house so he could get the pix his probably crabby (and jealous) boss. So it's hard to leave, and even harder to get up. Everyone at the game has kids, but I can tell that when my kids can drive (aka "they don't need me") it will be much easier. Of course, by then I won't be able to stay up that late because I'll be use to going to bed at 10PM.

Breakfast
1 Cup Ezekial Cereal
with some Crispy Wheats thrown in
1 Cup Soy Milk

Lunch
6 Oz Yogurt Yoplait Light Banana Strawberry
Almonds/Cashews
1/4 Dried Fruit cut up
Coffee with Soy Milk

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
1 oz. Cracker Barrel Cheese Stick

Dinner
Steak Tips
Leeks

The day after is always somewhat of a blur, and I try not to engage in too much bleary-eyed eating. Getting through the day requires a lot of caffeine, even if I am allowed to fall asleep again when Emily gets up (and I am very grateful for that). We actually took a family trip into our old neighborhood of Brookline, and boy has it changed. If I hadn't been so tired, I could have gotten tearily-nostalgic, and if you want to talk about what makes you reach for the box of chocolates....

292: A Big Day for a Tooth on the Mend

Double trouble for me today as I have both my company's holiday lunch outing during the day and poker at night. To boot, the morning is featuring a "wintry mix", which is New Englandese for everything cold that come out of the sky and land on the ground: snow, sleet, hail, rain and frogs. The morning commute was a mess, and on the way to our holiday luncheon, I was not only having second thoughts about the event we were going to (the road was often being obliterated by a freezing slushy spray, courtesy of several large trucks) but the game I was to attend that night. As it turned out, by the time of the game, it was not only clear-skied, but it had warmed up enough (about 42 degrees) so that all the ice had melted off the roads and everything was dry. It's just one of those life lessons where you just keep on going and sometimes it all works out OK. Unless you have to include whether you win or lose at the card game in the final balance sheet.

Breakfast
Two Slices Balthazar Bread
Peanut Butter
50% Jalapeno Cheddar Light

Snack
1/4 Almonds/Cashews
Coffee

Lunch: Japanese Steakhouse
Shrimp Appetizer
Salad
Miso soup (with Mushrooms)
Lobster Tail
Zucchini & Onions
Tenderloin

Poker
Pistachios
Cashews/Almonds
Olives
Roll Mops: Turkey, Corned Beef, Swiss Cheese
Cole Slaw
Pickles
Half-Sour Tomatoes
Peppadews
1 Russian Vanilla Cheesecake Bar

And so there is a fairly big lunch which accounts for almost no afternoon snacks, but I must say that the so-called 'healthy' fare at the Japanese steakhouse (Benihana Style, they chop it and cook it at your table) is a farce. They add butter and oil to everything and only the divine creator knows what they put in it prior to our arrival. I'm not saying it's not yummy, I'm just saying it's like all other restaurants—full of a hidden stick of butter in everything you eat, even the so-called "spa menu." That night I figure I'll go light, but I did indulge myself in a dessert—previously described here in these pages as the "Russian Dessert." I swear, the first person who figures out who to market this dessert to America will either get rich, or get a promotion. It is basically chocolate cheesecake inside a Yodel. I couldn't find a chocolate one on line, but here is a link to the vanilla version (not as good; I ate this by accident): http://www.russianfoods.com/showroom/product0140A/_hide_/vendor003E7/default.asp. Note the description: "A light alternative to Cheesecake, this chocolate covered treat with natural vanilla flavor will remind you of the 'good old days'. " Whoever can tell me what THAT means, please raise your hand.

Day 291: He That Wears the Crown

I knew I was going to the dentist today, but I thought it would be a routine affair. He was supposed to just take off the temporary crown and place the new, permanent one on. But as luck would have it, I was not responding to the anesthetic (he and the nurse were fretting that there might have been a 'bad' shipment) and so multiple swabs, shots and wildly unpleasant sensations (accompanied by unpleasant mental images of metal things being swirled around my inner cavity) later they wrapped it up and I left, somewhat dizzy, and with more than one footprint on my chest. Needless to say, I could barely talk, and when I did it wasn't audible. While some part of me thought this was funny, I tried to retain from laughing lest anyone think I was putting them on. I had no appetite and no coffee and so I was in kind of a daze. This was good for the diet, but not so great for anything else.

Breakfast (The Usual)
Two slices of Balthazar Bread
Peanut Butter
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Light Cheddar
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
1/4 cup dried fruit

Lunch
Broccoli and Cheddar Soup (from Panera)
1 8 oz. Columbo Light Yogurt (Peach)

Dinner
1 Strip Catfish
A few Bites of Bok Choy
1 Piece of Cut-up Hot Dog that went astray from Ruby's plate

About four hours after the appointment I started to get hungry, and even though I could just barely talk, and I couldn't chew on my right side, I ate my soup (some co-workers were kind of enough to take pity on a pathetic creature). As fate would have it, Emily was at the Subaru dealership having the car tuned up. Instead of waiting, our salesman lent Emily his car so she could tool around instead of wait in the very depressing waiting room (though it must be said that they feature wireless Internet). For some reason, this same salesman had a blow-up with a customer and was being "sent home" for the day—causing him to call me because he didn't know where Emily was! Well, I could barely talk and now I had to find Emily (who rarely answers her cell phone). It was a funny moment, and actually, she was pulling up in front of the dealership only moments later, but I sure was bummed out for that few minutes that I thought I would have to convey emergency messages in caveman-like tones.

290: In the Bleak Midwinter

There is not much to say except that I have vowed to add a day of exercise to my routine but so far have just gone weeks with only one trip to the Gym. This is problematic, and I feel it every day. It has been equally bumming me out that the days are so cold (though maybe in a few months we'll be accustomed to these temps) that being outside is just not good. In fact, it's so cold in our office that being inside is not that good either. Today several folks were out sick, so it was extra quiet.

Breakfast
Two Slices of Balthazar Bread
2 oz. 50% Jalapeno Light Cheese
Tea

Snack
1 Dunkin Donuts Medium Coffee (Half Decaf)
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
1/4 cup dried fruit
6 oz yoplait yogurt

Lunch
Spicy Chicken with Eggplant
Special Egg Drop Soup

Dinner
93% Sirloin Burger
Emmy's Spicy Bok Choy
Pickles 'n' Peppadews

Also this Friday is yet another poker game, and the last one of the year. It will be a challenge to keep the food-volume to a minimum. But hopefully, I'll be able to chew gum by then.

289: Baby, It's Cold Outside

The dreaded cold weather makes it nearly impossible to go outside for a brisk walk, because spending more than a few minutes outside makes you want to come back inside—fast. Additionally, it makes you crave something comforting and delicious—and of course, I'm thinking of big Blue Room Buffet food—rashers of bacon, fluffy omelets, fresh waffles and the like. My compromise is almost always some version of Chinese food.

Breakfast
Two Slices Balthazar Bread
Peanut Butter
50% Jalapeno Light Cheese

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
1/4 cup dried fruit
1 cameo apple
1 oz. peanuts

Lunch
Broccoli and Beef
Asparagus with Chicken

Dinner
Flounder
Cabbage

While I am in a breakfast rut, Ruby told me she didn't want the same snack every day (she only had it a few days in a row). But we are clearly in different places in our life. I realize I must eat different foods but it makes planning for days at the office so much more challenging. The cold weather also makes me want to go to Dunkin Donuts more often, though amazingly I am never tempted to buy anything, because I know well the feeling of the crankcase oil in your stomach after three toasted coconuts or boston creme (my favorite). I did almost buy a dozen for the office today, but then I remembered they all get sore if I try to push junk food on them and don't share in the calories.0

Day 288: Pounds of Salad

I am once again in a breakfast rut, although happily so. The Balthazar bread is so good it barely needs toasting and I want to bring it with me and give it out to the world. A friend of mine (who does not need to go on a diet) told me he was going to start next year by "giving up bread." I said, "no, no" don't give up bread—just give up the bad bread—empty, white calories, sugar-laden and useless white bread. When I think about it, the only thing I've really given up that was a STAPLE of my diet is Subs, which when I was growing up, were called "heroes." Naturally, they are also called "grinders" and "hoagies" but I for all around general usage I prefer the term "Sub", especially since it seems to be the term of choice in New England. The truth is, I'm so much better off without them, because they contain the aforementioned bad carbs; because they were more often than not not very good; and because their portion size is more than I should be consuming. Last, but not least, they nearly always necessitated a bag of salty, yummy chips.

Breakfast
Two Slices Balthazar Bread
Peanut Butter
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Lite Cheese
Tea

Snack
12 oz Coffee (half decaf)
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
4 dried apricots
15 pistachios
1 Cameo Apple

Lunch
Pounds of Salad:
Greek Salad with Chicken (from Christos)
(I did not explain this but this salad is so big that I really should split it with someone but always eat the whole thing, by myself).

Dinner: Blue Ribbon BBQ
Ribs
Burnt Ends
Sausage
Red Cabbage
Baked Beans (Most fed to Magnolia)
Cheezy Cauliflower
Beets

The great thing about Blue Ribbon BBQ is that as long as you avoid the corn bread, most everything there is SoBe friendly; you just gotta watch the volume. Watching the volume is hard, but again, my advice to anyone who wants to go South Beach—load up on foods you can eat in your house and eat when you're hungry (but not after 8:00pm if you can help it). If you're going to have a lot of protein in your diet, you'll be needing a lot of floss.

287: Back to the Gym

Shoulder notwithstanding, I was determined to go to the gym today. Wasn't sure whether or not I could make the elliptical or whether or I'd have to the recumbent bike or whatever. I got dressed and went. When I got there, I was surprised that NOT ONE of the elliptical machines was occupied. How could this be? It wasn't the Christmas season, as this it the JCC. Undeterred by the absence of all people, I signed up for "D" (which is the machine positioned between two TV sets, so I never have to be trapped, though sometimes still am) and got on. I did an hour and five miles, which is a first.

Breakfast
Two Slices Balthazar Multi-grain bread
Peanut Butter
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheese
Tea

Snack
6oz yoplait raspberry
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
2 oz. Cracker Barrel Cheese
Assorted Dried Fruit (Apricots, Plums, Peaches)

Lunch
Chicken a la Emily
Cabbage
Peppadews

Dinner
Steak Tips
Broccoli

It was really a cinch to go five miles today—I could have gone six, but the time did not allow. I didn't really have a chest-heaving, tired, sweaty work out, just a very good to be back type of thing. I must get with the trainer, that will be new year's resolution, along with getting back to phase one for at least two weeks.

286: Birthday Party, Fondue

Fortunately, today began with a good workout of clearing out six inches of snow from the driveway. However, I shortly grew tired and achy and decided to move onto less physical activities. For the most part there wasn't much to except bundle up Ruby and send her outside to play with her friends, then get her ready for the birthday party at 4pm and a dinner invitation from our neighbors after that.

Breakfast
Three SLices Ezekial 4:9
Peanut Butter
Cheese

Snack
1/4 cup Almonds/Cashews
Ass't Dried Fruit
Apple
Cheese of 1 Slice of Pizza
Dunkin Donuts Medium Coffee

Lunch
Greek Salad:
Cabbage, Lettuce, Feta, Carrots, Chicken

Dinner
Lamb Fondue
Tomatoes, Oil and Salt
Pickles
2 Bites of Baked Potato
2 Bites of A Chocolate Cheese Thing

Really it would take an entire blog of this length to describe the dinner we had at the home of our Russian neighbors. But since our last dinner (which was a carb-fest) we told them that next time they would have to be more aware of our carb-phobia. So they took us seriously, serving fondue—which is their way of saying "cook your own meat in boiling hot oil served in a fondue pot atop a can of sterno." Aside from cooking the meat in fat, this actually is unintentionally diet-friendly, because it takes five minutes to cook a piece of lamb, meaning in 30 minutes you have had six bites of lamb. I did have a bite of a baked potato (cutting it to give Ruby, who except for potato chips is a total potato refusenik). Lastly of note was a dessert that was actually like a Yodel filled with chocolate cheesecake. It was fantastic—I have not been able to stop thinking about it since, even though I may never eat lamb again.

Day 285: Snowed In

Though the weather persons have proven over and over again that they can't really predict the weather, today was of special note since nearly every forecast the previous night had a different take on the storm. As it happened, it turned out to be quite a significant storm, dumping about 6 inches on the ground. I prefer to have a few 'warm up' storms of less than an inch, just to get started. I thought I would get Ruby off to school (the last report I saw said two inches turning into rain) but when I got up her school was cancelled. So I thought, I 'll just wait till Emily and the baby are up and I'll split, but by the time they were up the storm was in full swing. I opted to stay home.

Breakfast
2 Slices of Ezekial 4:9
Peanut Butter
3 oz. Cheddar Cheese
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
60% Cameo Apple
1 6 oz Yoplait yogurt

Lunch
Chicken Breast a la Em
Sauteed Red, Orange and Yellow Peppers
Peppadews
Pickles

Dinner
3 Strips Turkey Bacon
Cheese Omelet
Fruit20

The worst thing about 'working from home' is that you have to pass the kitchen nearly every five minutes of the day, not to mention whatever you're involved with feeding the baby. Of course when you can't get out of the house, you do end up "eating what's in the house," which we did, culminating in the old eggs and bacon dinner. It was good the next day was 40 degrees because the cupboards were pretty bare.

284: Back on Horse

Went for a brisk walk with just one other co-worker today. It went quickly; it was cold; and many patches of ground were ice-covered. The Charles River upkeep is not what it should be, and definitely not safe for those who fear 'hip-breaking season.'

Breakfast
2 Slices Ezekial 4:9 Bread
Peanut Butter
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup Almonds/Cashews
8 Dried Apricots
1 Medium Coffee (1/2 decaf)
1 Cameo Apple

Lunch
Greek Salad with Chicken

Dinner
93% SIrloin Burger
Sauteed Onions
Cheese
Pickles
Peppadews
Broccoli

Certainly if there's any reason I'm in a rut it has not only to do with the fact that I'm not getting to walk or exercise, but that I'm eating the same foods all the time. This is a challenge and I'm not sure how to get out of it, unless I could devote myself full-time to the pursuit of interesting alternative foodstuffs. Aside from walking today, I was proud that I went a day without pistachios (even if I shoved in a few extra cashews there at the end of the day).

Day 283: Detecto Says "197" - Ugh.

Well, it's been a long time coming but I can't say all the signs weren't there—a big Thanksgiving, two weeks with no walks, and finally, a weekend without working out. What does this all lead to? A gain of 1lb. The doctor said (and I quote) "you're wearing all your winter hoo-hah, so you're probably more like 195." This is sweet, but factually untrue. By the time I was weighed (albeit on a VERY different Detecto scale) I was wearing only my jeans, socks, skivvies and a hospital johnny. Those things do not weigh more than a pound, but even if they do, I realize, with great sadness, that I will not be able to rely on the weekly walks anymore. I realize that I will have to work a morning gym visit into my routine. A coworker advised me today to 'shower at the gym.' It's one of those pieces of advice that you get and when you get it, you flinch because it's the truth and you don't like what the truth is. To use an annoying cliche expression, I can 'do the math' and realize she's right—if I don't shower at the gym there's no way to do a reasonable workout and get to work on time. Maybe in summer, it's doable by a thread, but in winter, it's a locker for me all the time. I am learning so much on this diet.

Breakfast
Three Eggs (1 broken)
2 strips turkey bacon
2 oz cheddar cheese
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
1 Medium Dunkin Donuts (half decaf)
8 dried apricots
30 pistachios
1 cameo apple

Lunch
Shrimp with Vegetables
Wonton Soup

Dinner
Tilapia a la Em
Spinach a la Em
Some Broccoli and Cheese

When I was relating the story of how I came to be at the Doctor's office, The doctor (not Dr. Parent, the original Doctor who saved my life) but Dr. Slater, another Dr. in the practice, pointed to my age on the computer monitor and said "That's your problem." In a sitcom-like moment I both laughed with the factuality of the statement and then said "What do you mean?" She said my metabolism had 'slowed down' and now I would have to EAT LESS and EXERCISE MORE to break past by 196-7 blockage. And I thought "Good God, it's just getting harder and harder." More gym time, less food. Though honestly, all you have to do is look at the above list and realize I COULD cut down a little down. Especially on the pistachios.

282: The Mysterious Injury Continues

Last night Emily had to literally call a doctor, get me a prescription, go the CVS and get it for me. Such are the duties of a devoted wife. I literally had to be medicated because I was in constant (and I must say, quite annoying) pain. It wasn't like the "ow ow" kind, or even the 'scream till you get a shot of morphine' kind, more like, there was no way to sit, move or stand or lie down that wasn't painful, but you couldn't stay upright because you were so uncomfortable. Ultimately, you find the least uncomfortable way to be and just try and take a break. With a lot of medication, I went to sleep, but it was fitful, and Emily said I was moaning much of the night. When I awoke, it started all over again, so I figured I wouldn't go to work. Luckily, Ruby didn't have school (one of five million professional days) so I didn't have to get her ready for school or drive her. I tried to see my doctor (my PT told me to call my doctor right away) but she couldn't see me until the next day. Loading up on Aleve, I figured I'd go to work, since being at home with the kids was just an invitation to reaggrivate anything that might be calming down. The whole 'off your routine' thing is an invitation to eat twice your weight in nuts, which is a basic approximate of what happened.

breakfast
2 slices ezekial bread
peanut butter
tea
cheese

extended lunch:
salami/cheese
ham cheese rollmops
1 heart romaine

snack
almonds/cashews
plus two big helpings of cashews at work
8 dried apricots
1 medium dunkin donuts coffee (half decaf)

dinner
greek salad with grilled chicken
fruit2O

I thought I would just eat some snacks at home and then go to work and come home and have dinner, but my need to take constant breaks from the computer sent me to my leftovers which I finished, and then to the extra nuts that came as a gift. I also discovered fruit2o (which doesn't look right when I type it). It's actually quite good, though I can't for the life of me figure who would drink it an why, as it is simply filtered water with Splenda-fruit flavoring in it. It has some kind of sugars, but not enough to be listed under 'sugars' on the label. It has no calories and no carbohydrates (though I think like almost all diet foods, it's high in sodium). Again, I'm not sure why anyone would want to drink water with Splenda, but I happened to enjoy it—and coincidentally, Emily bought some to help re-hydrate during breast-feeding but she didn't like it so it just sat on our shelf for ages. The shoulder thing started to feel better by evening, but then sleeping was still impossible.

281: Shoulder to Cry On

This morning I was practically immobilized my shoulder-neck injury, making it nearly impossible to type. I did manage to go to work but it was just making things work. I made a few notes about what I ate, but beyond that I had to stop. As part of being old, things to start to hurt and there's no reason. Not that there's no reason this time, but I'm just preparing you if you're in my age bracket or worse.

Breakfast
2 slices ezekial bread
peanut butter
tea

snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
8 dried apricots
fruit2O

lunch
roll mops; ham/cheese
1 heart romaine
olives to taste
diet coke

dinner
leftover chinese: stringbeans and pork
some chicken soup

One of the things about writing my meals down and then going back and writing blog entries is I get a sense of how little of some of the right things I eat. For instance, I remember that there was this plastic bag we got from a farmer's market (where I bought a lot of strawberries) that had a list of the foods you should eat by color. I realize I am not eating enough orange foods, or hardly any. Also, very little yellow foods. I mean, there I am trying to eat green foods and I'm missing out on all these other red, yellow and orange foods, which, to be honest, are my favorite colors. Some of the cheese I eat is orange, but I don't think that's natural.

Day 280: Ow, My Shoulder Hurts

I realize this is not a very inventive title for this blog entry, but it's truth. Between hoisting up Magnolia and using the computer all weekend long to finish up this year's Xmas CD, I was in a constant state of traumatizing my right arm, neck and shoulder-area. Right now in fact I'm not sure how much more I can type. But I hate to fall behind.

Breakfast
2 slices Ezekial Bread
Peanut Butter
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
6 oz yoplait yogurt

Lunch
Turkey Sandwich (Hold the Bread)
Cole Slaw
Pickle
1 Very Questionable Granny Smith Apple

Dinner: Chinese From Green Tea
1 Teriyaki Beef Stick
2 Spare Ribs
2 moo Shoo pancakes
2 helpings string beans with pork

Excellent dinner. Big disappointment of the day was that I was dressed and ready to get out there to exercise but a combination of me feeling bad and Emily feeling bad meant that I ended up taking Ruby to the family gym for another two hour stretch, and not working out. I'm sure it worked for the best but now I have to go get weighed without a work out and I'm not too happy about that. But I'm even less happy that I might have to see a chiropractic again...

279: A Day of Shopping

Ruby and I got up and because we needed to get Costco pronto, we vamoosed out of the house as early as we could. We's in an out, and on the way home we stop to get bagels, as she decides her new favorite thing is to have bagels and 'dip them' into cream cheese. I take her to finagle a bagel where we examine all the varieties of bagel. Not surprisingly, she stops me at chocolate and becomes transfixed by the bagel shooting to the cutting machine. If you don't know what I'm talking about it, you owe yourself a trip—they've set it up so that no human has to cut a bagel. They have a sharp saw blade spinning all the time (it's on the far end of the counter). Counterhelp up front find out what kind of bagel you want and drop it on the convey belt, to meet its untimely death by dissection.

Breakfast
2 Eggs Over
2 Strips Turkey Bacon
2 oz CHeese
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews

Lunch
Tuna on a Whole Wheat "everything bagel"
2 oz cheese

Dinner
Flounder with Scallions
Greek Salad

AFter the bagel store, we went shopping at Bread & Circus where I bought up the whole store in preparation to make chicken soup, pesto, and generally act like a craven New Englander following my innate need to stock up on unnecessary items prior to a big snowstorm. I was going to try and get to the gym today, but I thought tomorrow, with its birthday party, looked like a better chance. As it was, I spent two hours at the JCC- only I was in the children's gym and didn't break a sweat.

278: Good God, It's Friday

Today did not start well as Ruby could not sleep between 2:30am and 5:30am. She wasn't sick, and couldn't REALLY point to anything scary in her room (for instance, something in the closet that moved was very big for me when I was young) and so there was a bit of a Chinese water torture thing where she woke up every 15 minutes to tell us that she still couldn't sleep. As we are accustomed to sleeping at these times, we were dismayed. Nothing we tried worked—changing pillows, comforters, lights. This morning I was toggling plans between whether to get my hair cut (am looking quite shaggy) or getting weighed at the doctor's (as it is the first of the month). As the hours ticked by last night, I realized I was going to be able to do neither, and I would be lucky if I could drag my ass to work after getting her to school. Though her school begins at 8:30, we got there about an hour late. Luckily, it's Kindergarten, so we didn't miss much, though I was glad the teacher said we wouldn't have to stay afterschool for some extra curricular block-printing.

Breakfast
2 slices of when pigs fly bread
peanut butter
2 oz cheese
tea

Snack
12 oz coffee (half decaf)
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
25 pistachios
1 joy stick

Lunch
Spicy Green Beans with Chicken
Hot and Sour Soup

Dinner
Pork Cutlets
Snow Peas with Oyster Sauce

I must tell you that after all these years of eating When Pigs Fly bread and loving it, I have now become a refusenik as of this morning. The experience of the Balthazar bread has ruined me for bread, possibly forevermore. I'm not sure I can go back to pedestrian breads. If this is so, it will be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. If not, I'll have to just content myself by eating less stellar breads or what is known as 'settling.' This is common for people from the West Coast who can't believe what East Coasters call "Mexican Food" and common for East Coasters transplanted Westward when they try to find "Pizza", "Deli" or "The comfort of those who are rude and cold."

277: A Very Unspectacular Thursday

Sorry to report that there is very little to report. I did realize, with some shock, that the Soy milk I have been on occasion drinking, contains SUGAR (well, Naturally Milled Organic Evaporated Cane Juice but what's the difference?). That's bad. It's not like milk doesn't contain sugars (lactose, for instance) but I thought I had discovered something good and good for me. You know the other day when I had a Starbucks Soy Cappuccino I thought "this sure is yummy," but I had that feeling of suspicion. A coworker hipped me to the fact that the Starbucks uses a soy with HONEY in it. Darn—another place where they have caught me trying to be good and plying me with sugar without my knowledge.

Breakfast
Two heels of multigrain bread
peanut butter
tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
65 pistachios
6 oz yoplait lite yogurt

Lunch
Shredded Pork with Cabbage, Peppers
Beef with Broccoli
Hot and Sour Soup

Dinner
Chicken South Beach a la Emily
Salad with Lemon-Ginger Balsamic Dressing

And you know, I don't really miss eating rice with my Chinese food, except that it makes it so much easier to sop up all the sugary MSG juice. That's the whole thing about the carbs. You don't really miss them from a 'craving' perspective, but they do make everything so convenient. That's why the Earl of Sandwich was so wise. He realized that you could get real frustrated eating roll-mops all the time, and that if you meat on bread it makes it much easier to do something else while you're eating, like read the newspaper, or surf the Internet. Okay, he didn't know that, but I do.

Day 276: Rain on my (Walking) Parade

Another torrential downpour and another day where I cannot go for a walk, despite the un-winterly temperatures of 59 degrees. It would not have mattered much since the days have been so busy that finding the time for a walk might have been impossible.

Breakfast
Two Slices Multi-Grain Bread (Balthazar)
Peanut Butter
Tea

Snack
1/4 cup almonds/cashews
65 Pistachios
6 oz lite yogurt Yoplait

Lunch
Grilled Mahi-Mahi
Mesclun Greens
Diet Pepsi

Dinner
90% Hamburger
Onions, Cabbage
Broccoli, PIckles

As November is ending, I must go back to get weighed. I continue to struggle with this activity every time I consider it. I want to skip it, but I must go. I feel sorry for people who live with a scale in their house and feel tempted to get on it every day. I am glad that I have limited my exposure to this once a month, but it still feels like a lot. As always, I am afraid I have gained weight and despite my twin tennis outings, and feeling like something of a winter sloth. Stay tuned.