Year 3, Day 92: Sitting in Limbo

As a lark, we go out for dinner two nights in a row. Anxiety drives me to eat 40 chips and 40 tamari almonds AFTER dinner. We are waiting to hear about a big announcement with my company. Sitting in limbo is not good. Some people can't eat when they're stressed out. I can't remember a time that I wasn't reaching for the nuts (or their equivalent) when the anxiety-o-meter was on the rise.

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

Snack
4 sticks beef jerky
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
1 Extra Smokey
3 oz Orville Redenbacher Popcorn

Lunch: Demo's
Salad with Chicken

Dinner: Bernards
Boneless SPareribs
Shrimp Soong
A few string beans


Sitting In Limbo Lyrics
by Jimmy Cliff
From "The Harder They Come"

Sitting here in Limbo
Waiting for the tide turn.
Yeah, now, sitting here in Limbo,
So many things I've got to learn.
Meanwhile, they're putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

Sitting here in Limbo
Waiting for the dice to roll.
Yeah, now, sitting here in Limbo,
Still got some time to search my soul.
Meanwhile, they're putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

I don't know where life will take me,
But I know where I have been.
I don't know what life will show me,
But I know what I have seen.
Tried my hand at love and friendship,
That is past and gone.
And now it's time to move along.

Sitting here in Limbo
Like a bird ain't got a song.
Yeah, I'm sitting here in Limbo
And I know it won't be long
'Til I make my getaway, now.
Meanwhile, they're putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

I don't know where life will take me,
But I know where I have been.
I don't know what life will show me,
But I know what I have seen.
Tried my hand at love and friendship,
That is past and gone.
And now it's time to move along.

Gonna lead me on now.
Meanwhile, they're putting up resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.
Sitting in Limbo, Limbo, Limbo.
Sitting in Limbo, Limbo, Limbo.
Sitting in Limbo, Limbo, Limbo.
Meanwhile, they're putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

Year 3, Day 91: Constructions Strikes Out

Emily called me and insisted we go out for dinner because the noise of the construction next door was driving her batty. You don't have to ask me twice! We met there and after ordering, I took the kids on multiple escalator rides, because they both seem fascinated with them. Of course, the big score was getting to a set of escalators where the up and down ones opened up at the same point- at the bedding department at Bloomingdales. There, I could just lay down and let them go up and down for a hundred times.

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

Lunch: Chung Shin Yuan
2 sticks Beef teriyaki
moo shi pork
shrimp with vegetables

snack
1/2 cameo apple (other half was rotten)
.5 oz Boston lite popcorn
4 sticks beef jerky

Dinner: Paparazzi
Red leaf salad, goat cheese, balsamic vinaigrette
boneless breast of chicken
spinach, broccoli

From the South Beach Diet Newsletter- How Do They Know What I'm Thinking?

Fat: Friend or Foe?

Because fat is the most concentrated source of energy (i.e., calories) you can get from food, it's often vilified by popular weight-loss plans. Not all fat, however, deserves its bad reputation. Actually, good fats — like extra-virgin olive oil and canola oil — are an essential part of a healthy diet.

Did you know that fat plays a role in making vitamin D (which is actually a hormone) and other hormones, cushions your vital organs and bones, keeps your cells healthy, and aids in the absorption of vitamins A, E, and K? It does. The good fats have other health benefits, too. Nuts and seeds, which are rich in healthy oils, can help reduce LDL (the "bad") cholesterol levels, while oily fish that contain omega-3 fatty acids can help lower high triglyceride levels (levels of fats that circulate in the blood), making the blood less sticky and, thus, less likely to clot and cause a heart attack or stroke.

The South Beach Diet® encourages you to enjoy the good fats. Not only are they considered essential fats, meaning you must consume them in your diet to maintain good health, but they add flavor and texture to foods and help you feel satisfied. Certain fats, the so-called bad fats, should be avoided, since they contribute to heart disease and stroke. Here's a breakdown:

Good fats:

Unsaturated fat (mono- and poly-) exists in liquid form at room temperature. These are the good fats that are allowed on all Phases of the South Beach Diet®. Unlike saturated and trans fats, unsaturated fats can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. Monounsaturated fats include extra-virgin olive oil and canola oil. Polyunsaturated fats include the omega-3s found in fish oil.

Bad fats:

Saturated fat exists in solid form at room temperature. It's found in animal products and some tropical vegetable oils, like palm kernel oil. Eating too much saturated fat can lead to high LDL ("bad") cholesterol, which can ultimately contribute to heart disease.

Trans fats are created when an unsaturated fat (like vegetable oil) is chemically altered so that it stays solid at room temperature. Consuming trans fats can lead to clogged arteries. Trans fats are found in processed foods like chips, baked goods, and fast foods. You'll see the words "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" on the ingredient label if trans fats are present. The amount of trans fats is also listed on the Nutrition Fact panel.

Note: Children under the age of 2 should not be on a fat-restricted diet, since fat is important for proper brain development.

Year 3, Day 90: Kellog's to Curb Ads

Fast walk with two other Domaniacs. One starting a diet. Due to time restrictions, Christos Seven-Star was a necessity. I called ahead, which is really the only way, because if you order there, it takes nearly 30 minutes for them to prepare your two pound salad. It's really not fitting for a poor sub shop to have cook all their chicken to order. Since it's not a quality thing, it must be a cost-savings- like don't cook any chicken we're not going to sell- we don't have any second-gen products (like chicken-stew or something).

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

Snack
5 Sticks Beef Jerky
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
1 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
A few handfuls of Orville Redenbacher Popcorn

Lunch: Christos Seven Star
Greek salad with grilled chicken.

Dinner:
Hamburger
Leeks
Peppadews
Salad with Feta

Dessert
1 Chocolate Chip Cookie

Kellogg to Curb Marketing of Foods to Children
By ANDREW MARTIN
Froot Loops’ days on Saturday morning television may be numbered.

The Kellogg Company announced today that it will phase out advertising its products to children under age 12 unless the foods meet specific nutrition guidelines for calories, sugar, fat and sodium.

Kellogg also announced that it would stop using licensed characters or branded toys to promote foods unless the products meet the nutrition guidelines.

The voluntary changes, which will be put in place over the next year and a half, will apply to about half of the products that Kellogg currently markets to children worldwide, including Froot Loops and Apple Jacks cereals and some varieties of Pop Tarts.

The president and chief executive, David Mackay, said those products would either be reformulated to meet the nutrition guidelines or would no longer be advertised to children.

“It is a big change,” Mr. Mackey said. “Where we can make the changes without negatively impacting the taste of the product, we will.”

But if the product cannot be reformulated, Mr. Mackey said, the company will either market it to an older audience or stop advertising it.

The policy changes come 16 months after Kellogg and Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon, were threatened with a lawsuit over their children’s advertising by two advocacy groups, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and two Massachusetts parents.

Because of the changes by Kellogg, the groups said they would not proceed with the lawsuit against the company. Viacom was not part of today’s announcement.

“Kellogg’s position has really evolved over those months from pretty much ‘no way’ to acceptance of some nutrient criteria,” said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He said he hoped the Kellogg announcement would lead its competitors to adopt even tougher standards for food advertising to children.

Susan Linn, the co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said Kellogg’s decision to stop using licensed characters on sugary food was particularly significant. “Until now the industry has absolutely dug in their heels,” Ms. Linn said.

In the last several years, health officials have repeatedly warned that the steady stream of food ads aimed at children is contributing to the number of overweight or obese children, which has soared over the last four decades.

Some countries have banned advertising of nutritionally questionable food to children altogether, and some members of Congress have suggested that federal regulation may be needed in the United States, too. The food industry has promised to bolster its own self-regulation.

Last November, for instance, 10 of the largest food and beverage companies, including McDonald’s, General Mills and Kellogg, vowed that at least half of their advertising directed at children under the age of 12 would promote healthier foods or encourage active lifestyles.

The companies also agreed not to advertise in elementary schools and to reduce the use of licensed characters to promote food. Those companies are expected to complete individual plans for how they will address the guidelines in the next 60 days or so.

But like Kellogg, a few companies have already unveiled tougher standards for advertising to children. Last October, for instance, Walt Disney said it would allow its characters to be used in food advertising only if the products complied with nutritional standards.

And in 2005, Kraft Foods announced that it would stop advertising to children products that did not meet specific nutrition guidelines.

Under Kellogg’s new guidelines, food advertised on television, radio, Web sites and in print that have an audience that is 50 percent or more children under the age of 12 will have to meet the new nutrition standards. Kellogg already had a policy of not aiming advertising at children younger than 6, so the new guidelines apply to children 6 through 11.

Kellogg officials said about 27 percent of its advertising budget in the United States aims at that age group.

Under the new nutrition standards, one serving of food must have no more than 200 calories, no trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat, no more than 230 milligrams of sodium (except for Eggo frozen waffles) and no more than 12 grams of sugar.

Cocoa Krispies cereal would not qualify because one serving has 14 grams of sugar. But Kellogg could still advertise Frosted Flakes to children because it has 11 grams of sugar. Shrek cereal does not meet the criteria either because it has 16 grams of sugar per serving and uses a licensed character.

In a related initiative, Kellogg said it would introduce new Nutrition at a Glance labels on the top right-hand corner of cereal boxes this year to make it easier for consumers to glean nutrition information.

Already a hit in Europe and Australia, the new labels will take information from the Nutrition Facts panel on the side of the boxes, which are mandated by the federal government, and highlight important facts on the front of the box.

The new labels will show consumers the percentage of calories, total fat and sodium in a single serving, based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet, and it will also display grams of sugar and specific nutrients like fiber and calcium.

Year 3, Day 89: What's Wrong with America

Today it was raining as we knew it would so we planned to take Ruby to the movies, Shrek the Third, to be specific. The movie was sorrowfully second rate which is sad given the fact that Shrek 2 was infinitely better than the first. I suppose it has something to do with the law of diminishing returns. The girls enjoyed it, because there were a lot of jokes regarding lower GI functions. As has been my norm, I brought lots of snacks, as did the other family we went with. We had plenty of snacks which was good because as long-time readers know, movie-popcorn is a killer.

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

Snack
1 Cameo Apple with Peanut Butter

Movie Snack
2.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn

Lunch TGI Fridays
Strawberry Fields Salad (no Strawberries)

Dinner
Hungarian Chicken
Salad with Feta & Cabbage & Balsamic

2-3 Chocolate Chip Cookies

We went to the movies with another family and their daughter, and we decided that after the movie (it got out at 1:00pm) we should go have lunch. We were in Framingham, which for people who don't live here, is a gigantic series of strip malls, shopping centers, big box stores and actual malls separated by busy superhighways, congested secondary roads and snarled, badly signed main streets. If there is a chain-store you seek, you will find it in Framingham. It feels like the test kitchen for ALL chain stores. Every restaurant that advertises on television hawks its sad wares from Applebee's to Ruby Tuesday's is here in the wide vista of parking lots and potholes. So it was sad but not surprising that my party ended up at TGIF (An acronym for Thank God it's Friday- I explain because KFC and iHOP also fell victim to the acronym-only problem). There, at nearly 1:30pm on Memorial Day in the shopping mecca of Massachusetts, we were greeted by no maitre'd, no table, and a confirming display that six out of ten people in the United States are overweight, with some of those people being morbidly obese.

Emily literally had to intervene to help us get a table and it was even time for the shift change. When we were finally seated, I tried my best to order what I thought would be the thing least likely to bring on Montezuma's Revenge. To avoid this at TGIF I thought I would avoid things that need require special handling (like food) and go with only the things that are most prominent- avoiding an issue with the little-handled eggs, for instance. I ordered the "Strawberry Fields" salad with a bile-filled smirk because who the hell are these folks to call it "Strawberry Fields?" As a Beatles fan, I found it offensive, yet I was so hungry I needed to get on with it. I decided to skip the strawberries because long-time readers know that I have a deep abiding love for strawberries and cannot see them in their probably once-frozen state on top of a bad chain-restaurant salad.

When the salad did come it featured not fresh "mixed" greens as promised on the menu but flat, near-dead iceberg lettuce, drenched, not 'tossed' in balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The chicken was the sorriest portion of protein I had ever laid eyes on, or touched without wearing lab gloves. No self-respecting airline would have served it. It had all the appeal of tofurky, with none of its flavor, or charm. I could barely eat anything on my plate, and as hungry as I was, I was additionally mournful at how different the actual dish looked from its delightful representation on the menu. In my dark moment, I was forced to realize how different this TGIF was from the Friday's of my youth-- an exciting new concept in restaurants in the heart of Newbury Street boston. The great looking, young crowd, great bar food, great drinks, and a place where the "funzy" atmosphere literally created its own good time.

Contrasting that with this dark, stinking, suburban excuse for a restaurant, run by heavy people who were laboring to do their jobs, and not seeming to have any fun at all. The food was absent food's charm, and probably most of its nutritional value as well. The kid's menu was a nice try, but both girls ordered spaghetti and would you believe it- they were out of both carrots AND mandarin orange slices, so the waitress offered to bring FRENCH FRIES as a SIDE DISH to their PASTA. And because at the moment, I could not remember how I got to be 55 lbs overweight, I had to ask "What's wrong with America?"

Year 3, Day 88: Sunday, Back to Normal

Slowly but surely, I am coming out of the trance and getting back to normal. I did work out today, and it was super hard, but I made it. Our friends who are Hungarian brought over some food because they knew Emily was sick. Though I told them Emily couldn't eat anything spicy, I said I was up for it. For some reason, this was not a stomach illness that left me feeling ill in the stomach. Not sure what caused it, but I know that it didn't really hurt my appetite. Just my luck.

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

Lunch
Salad with Chicken

Post-workout Snack
6 oz Stonyfield Yogurt
Peanut butter

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough with Ruby

Dinner
Chicken Paprikash
Broccoli

Every once in a while I go on a kick about something, and for whatever reason, this week it's been chocolate chip cookies. It's not just that I love that chocolate chip cookies. It's that it's an activity that I can do with Ruby that teaches lots of different skills- math, science and patience. Plus, you get to eat the experiment, and unlike other kinds of cooking, no matter how they come out, they're still good. And I proved it today- these cookies were totally messed up, but Ruby and I ate the cookie dough anyway. It's sort of like I was tempting the stomach illness gods—spicy hungarian food and raw cookie dough in the same day. But I seem to be out of the woods.

Year 3, Day 87: And Memorial Day Weekend is Off to A Fine Start

Though I was up again for an hour in the middle of the night, I actually slept until 9AM (!) and felt pretty good about it. Ruby and I went downstairs as usual but Emily had apparently come down with whatever I had, rendering useless the argument we ALWAYS have following an 'incident' as to whether or not it was the result of a virus or food poisoning. As she lay in bed all day I realized my recuperation period was over. The kids and I set out for the family gym and then back home for lunch. When we returned and got Magnolia down it was time for errands and then Ruby had a birthday party in Natick. We got back, had some kind of dinner, baths and bed. All in all, pretty uneventful for missing an entire parent.

Breakfast
Cheerios & Heritage Flakes
1 Banana
1/2 cup Blueberries
Soy Milk
Tea

Snacks
1 Banana
10 Saltines with Super Chunky Peanut Butter
Diet Coke
Handfuls of Almonds & Cashews

Lunch
White Meat Chicken
Pickles
Broccoli

Dinner
2 Strips Turkey Bacon
4 Scrambled Eggs

Aside from my nut frenzy in the afternoon, I managed to skip all the day's temptations including pizza, ice cream and cake at the birthday party, and then any kind of dessert or liquor at home.

Year 3, Day 86: Back to Work, Gently

Though people felt I was crazy for going to work, I knew that I was going to have a long weekend, and I honestly, I didn't want to fall that behind in things. I knew a few focused hours could do a lot of good. On route to the office, I went to CVS and loaded up with crackers, cheerios, apple sauce and more gatorade.

Breakfast
Two Slices of Spelt Toast
1 with Peanut Butter, 1 with Jelly
A few bites of Ruby's uneaten PBJ/on Spelt
Tea

Snack
1/2 a sleeve of premium crackers
gatorade

Lunch
1 slice of 7grain bread
a few slices of Russo's Turkey

Home-Snack
A hand full of cashews & almonds

Dinner
Breast of Rotisseries Chicken from Whole Foods

At lunch I went to Russo's but didn't have the constitution for a salad, so I opted for a loaf of seven grain bread and some turkey. I basically am trying to get myself back on the program, with gentle foods. However, then I remembered that turkey is very slimy and so that was that for the turkey. I didn't quite make it all day at work, but I did have the energy to pick up a mysteriously flavorless rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods. I wonder how they do that?

Year 3, Day 85: Recovery

Of course, I keep thinking that most people who have a stomach illness that nearly sends them to the hospital lose weight. But here I am, feasting on toast saltines, cheerios, bagels and Gatorade, just mitigating any weight loss I might have achieved through a lower volume of food. Sigh.

Breakfast
1 Slice of Toast
Tea
5 saltines

Lunch
1.5 Cups of Cheerios
1/2 bagel with jelly
1 Applesauce
Gatorade

Dinner
White Meat Chicken
5 Saltines

I am hungry, but totally wiped out. Of the several versions of Gatorade, some have high fructose corn syrup and some don't. It's too late now but I probably should have gotten Powerade, with its lower carbs and less sweet taste. Maybe next sickness.

Year 3, Day 84: Sick!

I guess I passed out a few times over the night. Very bad. Not sure exactly what happened; it had something to do with the worst leg cramp I've ever had. Usually they wake me up, but then they go away. This one just went on and on and on. Until I guess I fell out of the bed (and consequently chipped my tooth). Emily couldn't wake me, and as she was doing the old cheek-slapping bit, I guess Ruby came in and asked if everything was OK. Emily called 911. When I came to, she told me to get dressed and come downstairs because they would soon be here. I must say the firemen (where were the paramedics?) were awfully gruff with me. It boiled down to: did I want to go to the hospital? Answer: I did not.

I stayed home from work; stayed in bed. Took a break only to go see the doctor, who I am not crazy about. No surprise, they couldn't tell us anything. I went home and got in bed.

8 Saltines
1 Slice of White Toast
Tea
Gatorade
Banana
1 Bite of Apple-Banana-Strawberry Applesauce

I managed to keep track of what I was eating, but unlike the few other stomach/GI illnesses I have had since starting the program, this time I literally could only focus on the worst possible (read anti-South Beach) things: white toast, gatorade, saltines. I made my peace with it and tried to focus on getting better. The day after, we were all convinced it was the Blue Ribbon salad. My sister-in-law even lodged a complaint. The irony of irony: Blue Ribbon's response was "we get our salad from Russo's."

Year 3, Day 82 Tennis, Plus Food Poisoning

As the weather gets warmer, it becomes time for young men and their women to start thinking about getting outside and playing more tennis. For tonight's date night, Emily and I were going to play, but we always have the issue about eating. We can't eat after tennis, it would be like 8:30-9:00pm. That's a no-no (though studies have rebuked the 'myth' that eating late at night is harmful to your weight loss aims). So, we've tried going to dinner in our tennis clothes (the Met Bar, it was great, but sweaty) and eating only beforehand. Neither is great, so the real solution is to start to play at 5pm, so at 7pm you could eat at a regular dinner time. Tonight, we tried to eat at home first, with me opting for a big green salad. Oddly, no one else wanted it- everyone else there (Magnolia, Ruby, Emily and Maria) just ate the BBQ.

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

Lunch
4 Sticks Beef Jerky
1 Cameo Apple

Lunch: Wonton Kitchen
House Special Egg Drop Soup
Chicken & String Beans

Dinner: Blue Ribbon BBQ
Chicken Brisket & Burnt Ends
Pickles
Big Green Salad

After dinner, we played about an hour of tennis. Emily won, 7-5. I was really hoping to take her to the tie-breaker, but she outplayed me, and partially psyched me out by her constantly noting the two people on the next court who, in her opinion, SHOULD have played on court #3 instead of #2 so there would be an empty court between us. She was really mad about that. When I got home, I knew I didn't feel well, but I wasn't sure why. At 1AM I was heading downstairs for the rolaids. At 4AM I was surrounded by five firemen in my living room.

Year 3, Day 82: Anxiety=Out of Control

Mondays are hard, but this one had more than the usual amount of angst. For starters, Cupcake the Guinea Pig had to be returned and there was a tearful goodbye. Then we were waiting for the call at work. We were on pins and needles all day. It finally came at 5pm. By then I had eaten every snack in the room. It was inconclusive; back to the nuts.

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

Snack
6 Beef Jerky
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
1.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
1 Stick Barbecue

Lunch: Russo's ($5.41)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Dinner
Breast of Chicken
Broccoli & Cauliflower

Dessert
A few bites of moldy pie
almonds & cashews
chocolate pudding

I may not have explained it to you all, but there is one particular player at our card game, I'll call him "Dave" who insists on getting dessert all the time. And not just ANY dessert, but Pie. Though he is pathologically late, he always wants to stop at the farm stand en route and get a pie for thirteen dollars. Now let me stop you. If everyone at the game wanted to eat pie, I'd be all for it. But they don't. As a result, there is always left-over pie and "Dave" wants us to chip in for the pie. It's ridiculous but every time there's pie. This time, since the pie was Strawberry-Rhubarb, which is my absolute fave kind of pie in the whole world, I decided I would take it home, rather than foist it upon "Dave" to take home as punishment. Of course, by Monday, when it's farm-stand pie (read: made without preservatives) you really shouldn't eating it after three days when it wasn't refrigerated. Well, I've been on a dessert kick and I did eat a bunch of it and then I looked down and noticed that it was really, really ripe with mold. I tossed it in the trash and then worried myself sick until I fell asleep, concerned the volume of mold would cause me to kick the bucket. Ordinarily I'm not this fragile, but there's been a work situation...

Year 3, Day 81: I Don't Want to Work Out

I kept thinking "I'm not going to work out today, I'm going to skip." I was sick, it was raining and Magnolia had a birthday party to attend in the morning, which is usually when I go. It was only the second birthday party she has attended, and it was the first kid's birthday party I ever attended that was a "Whole Foods" party. That is, there was no High Fructose Corn Syrup. There was only Apple Juice. There was an omelet plate and a turkey bacon plate. The cake was cheesecake with strawberries. Everybody was very very frookie. I must tell you, I found it overwhelmingly odd that these two things that belong together (kids and healthy food) were in fact, and at long last, together at a birthday party. I did end up eating a strip of turkey bacon and an egg that I plated for Magnolia, who, naturally, refused it so she could focus on climbing on another child's head while chasing a balloon sculpture that was bigger than her. Lots of kids were refusing to eat. I kept thinking- how would I plan MY Whole Foods party? I think I would focus more on foods kids normally eat (pretzels, cheese sticks, small fruit like grapes) and not so much on adult food (lox and bagels and pancakes) that were not really appealing to the kids or really toddler-friendly. The party apparently was supposed to be an 'outside party' but the dripping wet swing set told the tale. As for my workout, In the end, I ended up going at 3:30 and did 7.2 miles in 65 minutes. I didn't do any weight training.

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

Magnolia's party Snack
1 slice turkey bacon
1 egg

Lunch:
Salad
Brisket/Burnt Ends

Postworkout Snack
6 oz stonyfield yogurt
3-4 tablespoons super chunky peanut butter

Dinner
Steak Tips
Broccoli

Dessert
3 Chips

From the South Beach Newsletter: Chicken Fingers
What's for dinner? How about this fun, family inspired meal? It's sure to please diners of all ages!

Makes 4 servings (2 to 3 strips each)

Description
Try topping a mixed green salad with these tasty strips, or enjoy them with a South Beach Diet®-friendly condiment. If you can't find whole-wheat bread crumbs, make your own: Toast a slice of whole-wheat bread in a 300°F oven until dry, about 10 minutes. Pulse in food processor until fine crumbs form.

Ingredients
3 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
Salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions
1. Trim excess fat from chicken. Lay pieces on counter; cover with parchment or wax paper. Pound each piece to an even 1/2-inch thickness. Cut each piece into 3 equal strips.

2. Whisk eggs with a pinch of salt in a shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, combine crumbs, flour, salt, and pepper.

3. Working with one piece at a time, dip both sides of strip into egg mixture. Transfer to crumb mixture; pat both sides of chicken with crumbs. Set strips on a wire rack to air-dry.

4. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat; add strips and cook, 4 minutes per side, until golden brown and crisp. Serve hot.

Per serving:
275 calories
27 g protein
16 g carbohydrate
3 g fiber
11 g total fat
2 g saturated fat
157 mg cholesterol
205 mg sodium

Year 3, Day 80: Huh? What?

Amazingly, I had a conversation with some work mates about the importance of eating breakfast. Some of them were not into "doing any work" in the morning. I sometimes take it for granted how soothing it is (albeit repetitive) to cut up strawberries and bananas, measure out cereal, coffee, etc. It's very satisfying. I can't see wanting to eat a prepackaged cereal bar (though they are yummy) when you could be eating something fresh or hot (like an omelet and turkey bacon).

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

Lunch;
Salad
Brisket/Burnt Ends

Snack
A few apple pieces
diet coke
popcorn

Dinner
Tuna
Broccoli, Cauliflower

The saturday after poker can leave me totally wiped out from the usual nut frenzy, shameful poker losses and lack of sleep. Drinking lots of coffee usually helps. One of the things I must look out for is feeling that tired feeling and trying to make it up by eating chocolate. I know it's happened to all of you, if not with chocolate, it was something else. Don't lie, it just makes it worse.

Year 3, Day 79: Poker

Once again I approach my monthly card game, and once again I must strenuously avoid eating nuts and/or popcorn throughout the day. When you've fallen into a food rut, it sometimes gets very hard to get out of. I realized today that I should not be thinking of the card game as a time to have an orgy of nuts or food, though I realize that I have, in a scaled-down, and more nutritious fashion, been allowing myself to do that. What I should be doing is allowing myself a few extra calories should I NEED them, not planning on eating them. Shame on me. Why doesn't anyone write to tell me that?

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

Lunch: Russo's ($5.81)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Snack
1 cameo apple
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
2 sticks beef jerky

Dinner/Poker
Tamari Almonds
Almonds & Cashews
Pistachios
Popcorn
2 Moo-shi Pork
Double Cooked Pork
Beef Teryaki
Boneless Spareribs

Even if you count the Chinese food as a wash for dinner at about 700 calories, you can't think that the three kinds of nuts and or popcorn is good—it's got to total over a 1,000 calories for the night. I really need to bring a lot of celery sticks to the next game. Maybe that will help.

Year 3, Day 78: Norwood Disapoints

We have been very lucky at chowhound in terms of picking restaurants for date night. Special places were discovered in Dedham (Isabella's) and Westwood (Chiara Bistro) so I guess I started to feel like I could do no wrong. Well, every web surfer gets his comeuppance and I got mine by driving to the dilapidated strip mall that is also called Norwood. To my dismay, the restaurant was located IN a Sheraton hotel. Now in the restaurant's Web site, it says it is located "BY" the Sheraton. I realize I can be faulted for improperly interpreting this, but it does not say "IN." Heart sinking, we soldiered on and were rewarded with a totally MOR dinner. Why I ordered black-and-blue Tuna at a hotel restaurant Norwood may be a question I find I am asking myself on my deathbed. All in all, it wasn't a disaster, but I would not qualify it as "special" or "deserving a return trip."

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

Lunch: Chang Shun Yuan
Beef with Celery
Chun King Pork

Snack
1 Cameo Apple
1 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
2 Sticks Beef Jerky

Dinner: One Bistro
Caesar Salad (no croutons)
Black and Blue Tuna
Bok Choy
2-3 Pieces Cranberry Nut Bread with Hummus

More and more, restaurants are serving their cold or room temperature bread with various kinds of fats, ranging from straight oils to more complicated hummus-type mixtures. From an enjoyment perspective, I support all of that. From a nutritional perspective, it's pretty lousy to serve white bread with butter before the meal. The problem with the bread appetizer is not only that it's bread; that it's served with fat; but that you eat it as if it's something that doesn't count. It's 'designed' to be mindless eating. Not only do you not "count" it, but you'll generally eat it because when you arrive at the restaurant, you're hungry. Worse, you'll eat it till it's gone (unless it's really bad). Feeling the bread's temperature has been a new (10 years) thing for me, picked up from Emily's father, who would always hand-gauge the bread before deciding whether to eat it or not. Very often, he was heard to ask the waiter to 'crisp up' the bread for him in the oven. Though Emily and I would often hide under the napkin during this order, we did nearly always take part in the bounty of the request's fulfillment.

Year 3, Day 77: Don’t Point That Menu at My Child, Please

Despite the soreness, went on a brisk walk today with two other Domaniacs. It was an absolutely beautiful day. The sun was shining with a little bit of wind. The walk actually helped.

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

Snack
1 Extra Smokey
3 Sticks Beef Jerky
1 Cameo Apple
1 oz Boston Lite Popcorn

Lunch: Tantewan
Chicken Nadd
Fresh Rolls

Dinner: Blue Ribbon BBQ
Brisket
Burn Ends
Big Green Salad
Bok Choy a la Emily
Red Cole Slaw.

De Gustibus
Don’t Point That Menu at My Child, Please

By DAVID KAMP
IT seems like such a wonderful concept when you encounter it for the first time as a parent. You go to a restaurant as a family, are seated and given menus, and the waitress cheerfully turns to your children and exclaims, “And these are for you!” Their own special menus — kids’ menus! Sometimes these are little laminated things, peewee facsimiles of what Mom and Dad are holding. Sometimes these are placemats that not only tell you what foods are available but also contain mazes and word-search puzzles.

No matter what, the menu offers chicken fingers with French fries. And typically, as you go down the list, macaroni and cheese, a hot dog, a hamburger, grilled cheese and some kind of pizza.

Early in my tenure as a parent, I thought children’s menus were the greatest thing, a quantum leap forward in the human condition. We didn’t have them when I was a child, at least not at restaurants where adults would be happy to dine. (There were always “family” restaurants in the Friendly’s-HoJo’s idiom that offered junior sundaes and burgers.) I was thrilled that someone had come up with this innovation, that civilization had advanced to the point where children at good restaurants were now immediately placated with children’s food, so we adults could plunge worry-free into our adult business of drinking alcohol and eating things with tentacles.

For restaurateurs there are advantages, too. Marc Murphy, the chef and an owner of Landmarc in TriBeCa (and its new sister operation in the Time Warner Center), says doing a children’s menu has helped the bottom line at his bistro, which is known for its neighborhood clientele and value-priced wines.

“It totally drives that early seating for us,” he said. “The kids eat what they eat, and with our wine program, the parents can have fun.” Landmarc serves up the requisite greatest hits — the fingers, the burger, the grilled cheese — and throws in some curveballs, like “green eggs and ham,” flavored and colored with pesto sauce.

As for me, my outlook on children’s menus started to change at some point — probably around the 102nd or 103rd time my children ordered chicken fingers with French fries. Even if the chicken fingers were good ones, made from real breast meat rather than pulverized and remolded chik-a-bits, I was disturbed by their ubiquity and their hold on my kids, who are 11 and 8 years old.

I noticed that accommodationist chefs were making chicken fingers available in Italian, Chinese and Japanese restaurants, where chicken fingers aren’t even culinarily justifiable. I perceived that my children’s chicken-finger meals outside the home were informing their eating habits inside the home, where they were getting more finicky. I heard from other parents that they were experiencing the same thing.

In short, I came to the realization that America is in the grips of a nefarious chicken-finger pandemic, in which a blandly tasty foodstuff has somehow become the de facto official nibble of our young.

For all the fretfulness I’m obligated to express over the health implications of this pandemic — chicken fingers are often fried, and are often accompanied by fries — I’m much more rankled by its palate-deadening potential. Far from being an advance, I’ve concluded, the standard children’s menu is regressive, encouraging children (and their misguided parents) to believe that there is a rigidly delineated “kids’ cuisine” that exists entirely apart from grown-up cuisine.

I grew up eating what my parents ate, at home and at restaurants. Sometimes, the experience could be revelatory, as when I tried fish chowder for the first time on a trip to Boston, or when my mother attempted Julia Child’s Soupe au Pistou.

Other times, dinner was merely dinner, not transcendent but comfortingly routine. And then there were those bummer meals that I just didn’t care for, like stuffed cabbage, but that I endured because my parents offered no other choice. It was all experiential grist for the mill, and it made me — like millions of other Americans of my generation who were raised the same way — a fairly adventurous eater with a built-in sense of dietary balance.

It pains me that many children now grow up eating little besides golden-brown logs of kid food, especially in a time when the quality, variety and availability of good ingredients is better than ever.

We accept that it’s bad not to read to young children lest it affect their “wiring,” and that it’s bad to let them slack off on exercise lest their muscles not develop, but we’re kind of lazy on the palate front. And really, discovering new foods and flavors is one of the most delightful experiences that childhood can offer. Personally, I far preferred it to reading and exercising.

There’s no single seismic jolt that created the adult-child food divide, but we can’t underestimate the influence of the McDonald’s Corporation’s introductions, in 1979 and 1983, respectively, of the Happy Meal and Chicken McNuggets. The instant popularity of these products signaled that there was a ton of money to be made in marketing foods explicitly to kids (even at fast-food restaurants, where kids were already psyched to be).

Since then, the food industry has developed a whole new segment predicated on what the nutritionist Marion Nestle, in her book “What to Eat,” calls the “ ‘kids are only supposed to eat kids’ food’ strategy.”

Ms. Nestle notes that ConAgra manufactures a product line called Kid Cuisine: prepackaged meals in compartmented, TV-dinner-style trays. If you visit the company’s Web site, you’ll find that all 14 Kid Cuisine meals are beige-yellow-ocher in color — a grim hallmark of the genre — and 5 of them are built around an entree in the breaded-chicken-nubbin family.

Realistically, there’s nothing to be gained by pining for that halcyon world where kids weren’t constantly being hustled; the genie is out of the bottle. But if we’re stuck with the children’s menu, there’s no reason it can’t be improved upon and made less of a sop to cosseted little fried-food addicts. And it’s encouraging that some important players in the hospitality industry, like the Walt Disney Company and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, are taking action on this front.

Both companies were motivated primarily by the new national concern over poor nutrition and childhood obesity, but each has produced a response that also addresses the dead-palate issue. Effective last fall, Disney stopped serving French fries automatically with kids’ entrees at its theme parks, “providing equal choice of fries, baby carrots, or grapes, not really pushing one or the other,” said Mary Niven, the vice president of food and beverage operations at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.

Ms. Niven is leading her company’s “Well-Balanced Foods Initiative,” which also entails experimenting with new meals outside of the chicken-finger paradigm, such as arroz con pollo, the traditional Latin American dish of chicken and rice, and a baked chicken leg in an Asian-style citrus marinade, served with rice noodles.

Likewise, Ritz-Carlton launched a “Healthy Kids” program for children four years ago. The program not only de-emphasizes fried foods but also gives its chefs a freer hand to create their own kids’ menus. Vivian Deuschl, the vice president for public relations at Ritz-Carlton, who oversees the program, said it was set up in response to changing customer tastes.

A 20-year veteran of the company, Ms. Deuschl said that kids’ menus “started out on a limited basis in the ’80s and picked up in the ’90s as our demographics started to shift, especially at our resorts. We were getting more families, usually ones where both parents worked, so they didn’t want to leave their kids behind on vacation.”

At first, these guests were only too happy to indulge their children with a nonstop fingers-and-fries diet while on vacation. But in the last few years, Ms. Deuschl said: “We sensed a lot of tension. Parents were ordering things off the adult menu for their kids: crab cakes, pastas, stir-fries of vegetables.”

Perhaps no chef has taken the mission more to heart than Tony Miller of Latitude 41, the restaurant of the Renaissance Columbus in Ohio. (Renaissance, like Ritz-Carlton, falls under the Marriott International corporate umbrella.) “We do not have a chicken finger in this restaurant,” Mr. Miller said. The father of a 4-year-old girl, he constructed his “Fun Menu” to appeal to children without pandering to them.

“It features zero fried foods on it,” he said. “We do grilled organic chicken teriyaki, a seared fillet of whatever fish is in season, and a four-once fillet of natural beef with smashed potatoes. I have not received a single negative reaction from adults or kids. Not one. The kids say ‘Man, that’s the best steak I’ve ever eaten!’ ”

Mr. Miller is also shrewd in recognizing that parents are after not dumbed-down or deflavorized food for their kids, but rather smaller portions and prices. At the rates he’s charging — from $5 for the teriyaki to $8 for the small fillet, including beverage — he’s in the ballpark with lots of diners and chain places.

Marc Murphy, the Landmarc chef, said that it’s simply a matter of “not making a big deal of out of it” when it comes to your kids’ food preferences.

His own 3-year-old daughter usually skips the children’s menu at his restaurant, he said, and “eats the linguine alla vongole, with baby clams, when we run it on Fridays.” But it’s harder as your children get older and more exposed to the wider world; that’s when the pandemic claims them. In my family, it’s been a matter of getting back to that simple idea — the kids eat what the parents eat — and cutting off those little fingers.

Year 3, Day 76: Paradise Bakery

Still sore after tennis. Really surprising. Not like a "I hurt myself" sore, but a "haven't used those muscles in a dog's age" kind of sore. Really glad about that. Hoping if I get over it, I can get back out there. Maybe three hours is the proper amount of time to get the right work out. When you think about it, a lot of tennis time is spent standing, walking, and doing things that are not very high on the calorie-burning scale.

Breakfast
3 oz. Panera Whole Grain Bread
Super Chunky Peanut Butter
Coffee

Snack
2 Hard Boiled Eggs
4 Sticks Beef Jerky
1 oz. Boston Lite Popcorn

Lunch: Russo's ($5.53)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Dinner
Pecan-Encrusted Salmon
1 Chicken Thigh
Broccoli, Cauliflower and Bok Choy
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar

Dessert
1 Bite of a cookie from Paradise Bakery

Emily was on a field trip and encountered the Paradise Bakery, a Western regional chain that has a location at the Prudential Mall in Boston. She came back with a few cookies that day, bemoaning the fact she didn't have more. Then she dragged my niece back there and came back with a whole slew of every kind of cookies. Trying my best to remain calm, I had one bite. It was very good- soft and yummy, but I was able to use my super South Beach Diet powers and put it back, just enjoying the one bite.

Year 3, Day 75; Sore After Three Hours of Tennis

Boy, I didn't think I'd be sore but today I could barely get up I was crotchety and creaky. Mostly gluts and thighs; I felt quite old, but also good to have worked our hard enough to be aching. I must get more tennis in. Last time Emily and I played, she was not up to three hours worth.

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

Snack
5 Sticks Beef Jerky
1 Cameo Apple
.5 Oz Boston Lite Popcorn

Lunch: Russos's ($5.53)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Dinner
Old, Salty Tilapia
Lots of Salad
A few bites of Burger

After dinner Ruby complained of a stomach pain. I suggested we 'walk it off', which are words that would never have been uttered once a long time ago. We walked past the T-ball game in progress where I inappropriately glowered at all the folks on my park and we walked to the new mall of Omaha steaks, Jos. A. Banks and Panera bread. At Omaha steaks, three very bored salespeople leapt to sell me on a refrigerated room full of meat, kept in retail-style boxes. The one with the worst skin and halitosis was nearly on top of me, asking if I wanted to know more about the product. The store is about the size of a large dorm room so I nearly had to step back to make sure we didn't collide. I asked him if the steaks were organic, and in a deft, mournful teenage mumble he said 'no, not organic' waited one second out of respect, then continued on into his rambling sales speech. Ruby and I took a few flyers and moved onto Jos. A. Banks where we got a slightly more roomy treatment from a higher-level of sales person. After that, I took her to Panera, where I bought her a chocolate chip cookie and some milk. We sat down at a table facing the sunset and I read her passages from the Omaha steak catalog. Then, both aching, me from the tennis, and her from her stomach, both limped home, laughing, as the T-ball parents drove away. And I glared at them again.

Year 3, Day 74: Three Hours of Tennis

Well I'm not sure it's as good a workout as 90 minutes in the gym, since there is a lot of time spent at rest, but Emily's sister and I played three hours of tennis today. She won, 2 sets to 1, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. It was great to be out on the court but my arm has not completely gotten back to normal since last year and as a result I can't really serve. Serving is where lots of free points come from so I feel that being scrappy enough to take one set says a lot. Though since my change of life I have been able to cover a lot more of the court, that isn't the whole story. You have to be able to get to the ball AND hit it back correctly; that was a problem today.

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

Lunch
Fritata with last night's vegetables
Big Green Salad with Chicken

Snack
6 oz plain yogurt
3-4 tablespoons Super Chunky Peanut Butter
1 oz Cashews/Almonds

Dinner
A few bites of sesame noodles from the NYT times that I cannot make properly for some reason.
Broiled breast of chicken
Asparagus
Another BIg Salad with Feta, Balsamic

I desperately need a new tennis racquet. I am on the hunt, and will report back when I get one. I suppose that playing with a different grip might help me a lot.

Year 3, Day 73; Another Bat-Mitzvah

Getting ready in the morning for the Bat-Mitzvah I was thinking about how I could stave off my 10:30 hunger pangs when I would probably be in temple. Also, I was having visions of stuffed derma in my head. Nearly every single Bar and Bat-Mitzvah I went to growing up had stuffed derma. You couldn't get it away from it. By Mitzvah #14 I was brave enough to try it, and depending on the level of class of the event, it was sometimes very good. But for the most part I learned to avoid it, pushing it away from my plate with a well-practiced dexterity, so I could eat my flavorless chicken and too-flavored, over-salty rice, and uncooked or overcooked vegetables. Most of the time, it was better that standing near the parquet dance floor and not dancing, just bobbing my head along with the same 15 songs (like A Fifth of Beethoven, Fly Robin Fly and You Make Me Feel Like Dancing by Leo Sayer).

Breakfast
2 crusts of bread with super-chunky peanut butter
Kashi

Bat Mitzvah/Lunch
Lox
Egg Salad & Tuna Salad
Salad
Cheese from Pizza Slices (~5)

Snack
1 oz. Boston Lite Popcorn

Dinner
Peppadew-Talapia a la Jane (Fantastical!)
Cabbage-Apple-Dill Salad
Assorted Vegetables

As it turned out, this Bat-Mitzvah was a very low-key affair. Bagels, Lox, Salad, Pizza (very good) and cakes and stuff. It took a little work to make a good SoBe plate but I managed it OK. Also managed to avoid all of the desserts. Ruby and Emily both so knocked out from the 1 hour car trip both ways and the event that they fell asleep in the car—we left Magnolia at home. When I got home, Ruby and I set out again and Emily crashed. Later in the evening, my brother-in-law and I spontaneously caught a Saturday night showing of Spider Man 3. Much to my amazement, it was really, really poor. People were laughing in the wrong places, and I caught myself looking at my watch and wishing I had some popcorn to eat.

Year 3, Day 72: Emotional Hunger vs. Physical Hunger

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

Snack
4 Beef Jerky
1 Cameo Apple
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar

Lunch: Russo's ($5.17)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Dinner: Le's (Formerly Pho Pasteur in Select Locations)
Edamame
Beef Teriyaki
Filet of Striped Bass with Ginger, Scallion
Green Salad with Sugar-Balsamic

Emily's relatives came into town. Though we all like to eat at home, tonight Emily decided we'd go eat at the Mall. We went to Le's formerly Pho Pasteur and it was good, though somewhat disjointed. The hallmark of this meal is that there are several special needs of the food variety represented, besides me, there's Uncle Mike, a vegetarian, my niece is who is sometimes Kosher, my other niece who like me watches what she eats, and my kids, who only eat noodles. Basically, a good time was had by all, and then we got ice cream and carried our children out screaming and licking.

Year 3, Day 71: Date Night at 51 Lincoln

Last year for Emily's Birthday we went to "Le Soir" a fancy restaurant located in nearby Newton, MA because 1) we wanted to try it and 2)our old next door neighbor used to work there. Disappointingly, my next door neighbor with an unusually high voice had moved on and left no forwarding note. Therefore, I am left to wonder why neither he nor his wife ever responded to my last email. Back at Le Soir (that we called "The Swerve" because of how we avoided it when my neighbor did work there) We had a very good (but expensive) dinner. That was a long time ago, when we had two kids and we didn't go out much. Now that our kids are older and we can go out more, we went back to the restaurant that took its place. It was also very good, and we noted two little babies there, that we could hardly take our eyes off because they are so cute. It reminds me of the old joke that the couple gets a babysitter for the night so they can get away to a romantic restaurant and talk about their kids. The food was absolutely fantastic, so was the wine and the dessert menu (we didn't have anything but we oohed and ahhed at it). The logo of the restaurant takes a little getting used to, and I heard the chef doesn't like 'substitutions,' so you were warned.

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

Snack
4 Beef Jerky
.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn

Lunch: V Majestic
1/3 Vietnamese Pancake
Shrimp with Green Beans

Dinner: 51 Lincoln
Mussels (I ate some of the bread)
"New Salad" that really was a caesar
Tilapia with Spinach and Garlic

After our date, we went around town and hit an ice cream place called 'the junction', which is located INSIDE the train station at Needham Junction. It can be downright creepy to visit a dark train station in the shadow of a overpass at night when no one's around, but there were a few families online and despite its somewhat haunting ambience there was definitely a vibe there. We went to two supermarkets and the drug store. We must do such store-hopping because we have to stay out of the house till Magnolia is asleep (8:30) but our dinner is usually at 6 or 6:30 so it's over by 7:30 and they we're in a position to need to kill time. We could probably plan our dates a little better, but judging from other two-kid couples I know, I think we're doing well just to get out at all.

Year 3, Day 70: Another Day, Another South Beach Diet Six Dollar Salad

Yes, I work hard. I diet. I walk. I exercise. And then every day I write down what I eat. And what do I get? Nowhere. If you use Google's Blog Search tool for "South Beach Diet", I don't even rate. I searched through top 20 pages and I don't even come up. Now you could argue that's because I don't use the term "South Beach Diet" in my postings, whether in quotes or just plain like this South Beach Diet. It's sad because I don't mind coming behind other diet blogs, but when the search results look like this:

South Beach Diet and Diet to go
4 Jun 2007 by Onedollaridea
Hey guys seriously I have been trying to promote these affiliates so hard but I havent got a single conversion. Over $60 bucks lost on ppc. I am using laser targeted key words. Is any one getting conversions from any of these two ...

It can really get you down.

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

Lunch: Russo's ($6.01)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Snack
4 beef jerky
1 cameo apple
.5 oz boston lite popcorn

Dinner
Rock Fish
Salad
Peas

The rockfish tonight (for my South Beach Diet dinner) was not the venomous kind, but Striped bass, a member of the Moronidae (common name: temperate bass) family. I was not crazy about the peas because they are high in carbs, which you should watch, according to the South Beach Diet. Why one cup has 41 grams of carbs and 6 grams of sugar! I wonder what the South Beach Diet would have to say about that!

Year 3, Day 69: The Million Calorie March

Tonight I went to see an independent film at the Coolidge called "The Million Calorie March" it is the story of Gary Marino, a man who weighs in at 397 lbs and decides it's time to change his life. He begins that and an awareness campaign for pediatric obesity by walking from Jacksonville, FL to Boston, MA (1200 miles). Obviously, the film was important to me, and the organizer of the event knew this and that's why I made the short list of people to attend the screening. We were all asked for feedback at the end and naturally, I had a lot to say. All that's relevant here is that there was a gag reel at the end where all the people in the film said "We love you no matter what you weigh." I told the producers that THAT message was exactly wrong and contrary to the film's message as a whole. Though it made me feel like a wet blanket, it needed to be pointed out. Ironically, Gary's wife appeared and noted that 'as the pounds fell off, so did the sense of humor.' Something Emily has often said about me. It might be true that fat people are jolly and that they lose their jolliness with the weight. It certainly warrants further study. For more on this, go here .

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

Snack
1 Cameo Apple
5 Sticks Beef Jerky
1 oz Boston Lite popcorn

Lunch: Talk of the Town Diner
Spinach, Bacon & Feta Omelet
Side Salad

Dinner
Breast of Chicken
Salad
Cauliflower

Three of of us Domaniacs went for a walk today (thought not a million-calorie march) and after a unusually sweaty, fast walk, we decamped at the local "Talk of the Town" Diner. There are three diners in walking distance but only two of them are worth going to and only one is worth eating at. The other one, Tresca's Eating Place really isn't worth going but it's so close that the weather sometimes makes it an option. The laughably named "New Yorker" diner really is just a haven for drunks and tourists who don't know any better. It was great in its prime, but its shoddy exterior and uninviting grout tell the tale. Of course, none of these are like the Greek-style diners I grew up with in New York, but for a flat egg-omlette, they'll do.

Year 3, Day 68: 100 Almonds Break Record

By my estimate, 21 large almonds is 1 oz or 170 calories. Assuming these tamari almonds are half size (I'll allow) it would still be an additional 500 calories in one day. I guess if you then subtract a second snack like an apple or popcorn (which could range from the 100-200 calorie range) you'd still have an extra 300 calories, and that's still not good. What can I tell you? Stress eating+proximity to almonds=overdoing it. The truth is tamari almonds are like crack. Please don't start eating them, you'll never stop. Really. There was a billboard in Kenmore Square that used to say "We Make You Us". I never understood it, until now, when I am secretly making you seek out tamari almonds so you too can be hooked.

Breakfast
3 oz. Jane's Homemade Bread
4 Slices Virginia Ham
Coffee

Lunch: Russo's ($5.41)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Snack
100 tamari Almonds
3 sticks beef jerky
1 dark chocolate m&m

dinner
tilapia
leeks

dessert
1/2 square of spicy Aztec chocolate

I've also noticed that what you eat for breakfast makes a big difference about the nature and frequency of your hunger later in the day. A big egg breakfast is proven to be a winner, but I'm sticking with the cereal for the best for me. I'll keep trying, but expect recidivism.

Year 3, Day 67: A Hard Workout

Workout was hard today. Result of a lot of sugar I suspect. Found it hard to get in a groove. I was using a different machine. Aside from the 6.5 miles in 66.30 minutes, I did 80 ab crunches and 15 Squat Thrusts, that made me see blue stars and feel wobbly. Is that a good thing? On the plus side I got there early and so I was done by 10:30am.

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

Postworkout Snack
6 oz Stonyfield
3 Tablespoons Super Chunky Peanut butter

Lunch
Big, Big Salad
Breast of Chicken

Snack
.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
2 Slices of Cameo Apple

Dinner
Jalapeno Cheddar Burger
Cauliflower
Plus a few bites of corn, hot dog prepared for the kids

Dessert
1 oz Nuts
1/2 Bar Dark Spicy Aztec Chocolate Bar (Strange but Good)

I have gotten into a dark chocolate groove. Though its health benefits are not in dispute, the thought that I would go out to the shed, wrap my stomach in cellophane and eat all the chocolate I buy at one time is not very far off from reality. There is not too much I have trouble resisting in the dessert world, but dark chocolate is pretty hard to pass up, and worse when you start eating it. Tonight's experiment was weird enough that I could resist it, though.

Year 3, Day 66: The Next Day Cometh

Continuing my desire to break my breakfast rut, I treat myself to a third egg and a third strip of turkey bacon. After all, it is the weekend. However, the ghost of my last night's excesses continue to haunt me.

Breakfast
3 Eggs
3 Strips of Turkey Bacon
Coffee

Lunch;
1/2 Big Green Salad
Brisket
Beans, Cole Slaw & Green Beans
(Blue Ribbon)

Snack
1 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
1 Cameo Apple

Dinner:
Cheddar-Bacon Burger
Cauliflower
1 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar

This was one of those days where we thought we were going to set out on a single errand, but ended up doing a whole bunch of things. The trouble is, by the time we were in deep into West Newton, we realized Ruby had a swimming lesson at 12:30 and it was 11:55! We quickly thought of Blue Ribbon and high-tailed it there. Turned out to be a great plan as they were open and one was on line. We all snarfed our food down quickly then raced back home to get into swim gear.

Year 3, Day 65: Date Night on Friday

Ordinarily a great day for walking, but meetings scheduled at 11:00AM and 1:00PM (that both didn't happen) precluded it. Don't you hate it when that happens? Instead it was a trip to Russo's. You might be wondering now if I'm bored of Russo's yet. Answer: no. Though I do wish they would vary the cold salad ingredients as they seem to vary the style of cooking chicken. Some days it's big pieces that are barely cooked, some days it is small, burnt knobs. And believe me, on the days that it is not those, it is every variation in between.

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

Lunch: Russo's ($5.51)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Snack
4 Sticks Beef Jerky
2 Hard Boiled Eggs
1 Royal Gala Apple (not as good as Cameo)

Dinner: Chiara Bistro
1 Glass Sangria
Spinach & Frisée Salad
Fried Poached Egg, Bacon Lardons, Pommery Mustard Vinaigrette
Grilled Marinated Atlantic Swordfish Steak
Chick Pea, Cherry Tomato and Spanish Olive Salad
Harissa Oil, Greek Cucumber~Yogurt Relish

Dessert Bubbling Brook
1 Scoop of Turtle Ice Cream—Chocolate, Carmel, Chocolate covered Almonds

After a lot of thought and one false start, Emily and I picked Chiara Bisto in Westwood. Neither of us had ever been to Westwood before, but we thought it was just swell, if not really really tiny. We had arrived early and were going to do some 'site-seeing' but we realized Westwood has only one street and it's filled with tiny strips of general stores separated by your occasional very cool restaurant. Instead, we mozied in and took our seats. We were very excited by the atmosphere and we were able to get a quiet table in the corner. That didn't last long because the place filled up so by the time we left it was pretty crowded. In total uncharacteristic style, I ordered a Sangria- which may well be documented as the beginning of the end. It was so sugary that I had to ask that it be taken back and have some red wine poured into it. (In a similarly uncharacteristic move, Emily ordered a drink with lavender in it!) After shocking my system with that, it was onto some of the bread basket. The dinner was outstanding, one of the best we have had in a while.
It was a beautiful night, and as usual, we finished our dinner at it was about 7:30—no time to be going home to the kids, so we followed the north star to Bubbling Brook, an ice cream/fried clam shack we had heard about from a neighbor. The waitress told us it was just down the road. Though I usually eschew it all, the combination of a tough day, being on a date, a nice night and lots of sugary sangria sent me to order a scoop of Turtle Ice Cream (see description above). I ATE ALL OF IT except for what Emily had. It was fantastic and I loved it. On the way home I was already planning my next gym visit and cursing myself! But it was worth it.

Year 3, Day 64: More Muffies

Again called to answer the child care bell, I eschew work for the role of dropping off Magnolia and then a few hours later, picking her up. As is our habit of two days, I take her to Panera where she can get a 'muffie', aka the top of the muffin. She doesn't eat too much of it, but the whole experience of stopping somewhere and getting something with her is an awful lot of fun. Especially since it's literally on the way home and only two minutes from our home at that. Overall, she's very well behaved, but she doesn't seem to have a taste for any protein, just chocolate chips. I wonder where she gets that from?

Breakfast
3 Eggs
3 Strips of Bacon
Coffee

Lunch: Panera
Greek Salad with Chicken

Snack
1 Cameo Apple
1 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
4 Sticks Beef Jerky

Dinner
Pecan-ed Salmon
Chicken Thighs
Robert's Kicked Up Salad (for Emily it has almonds, olive oil and bacon bits in it)
A few nuts

I must admit that when I ordered my salad from Panera I was not hopeful. I have started to realize that in general, the offerings made by corporate America's food outlets are somewhat lacking, and this may have as much to do with their massive scale as it does their total absence of caring. But for whatever reason, the salad at Panera was nice, if not slight by Christos Seven Star standards. It did not succumb to airplane-level (or unnamed airport cafe level) salad, so that was enough reason to be happy.

Year 3, Day 63: I Force Magnolia to Eat a Banana

Magnolia has had a case of diarrhea that we have been trying to address over the past few days. There have been several fronts: electrolytes - through gatorade (though "ice rain" is the only kind without high-fructose corn syrup and artificial color that I could find) through pedialyte (though trotted out by pediatricians from coast to coast, is universally and consistently reviled by children) and its imitators (Gerber's liquilytes, which is the exactly the same as pedialyte). We've been watching the sodium, giving her a diet of dry, salty foods (crackers, rice, toast) and on the advice of our doctor, avoiding all dairy except yogurt. I had been trying to get her to eat a banana for a few days, but she refused. She has a long history of asking for a banana and then not eating it, so when it's just me, Magnolia and banana it's a tense situation. The doctor also suggested the banana might be the best thing for her, so I did what parents have done for generations when they need a kid to eat something- they cover it in sugar, and in this case, chocolate, more specifically, nutella. It worked like a charm.

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

Postworkout Snack
6 oz. Stonyfield Yogurt
3 Tablespoons Super Chunky Peanut Butter

Lunch
4-day old turkey
Salad

Snack
Almonds & Cashews
A handful of butter microwave popcorn
.5 oz Boston Lite popcorn

Dinner
Robert's Turkey Crumble
Lettuce Leaves
Chicken Breast

Very rare mid-week workout. 6.5 miles in 65 minutes then 80 ab crunches. Feeling good about the washboard abs. Could take another year, if I keep up this blistering pace. I must seek professional help, but honestly, the trainers usually ignore me in favor of the younger and older folk. I keep telling myself to make an appointment but I never think about working out while I'm at work. Is that wrong?

Year 3, Day 62: Mars Bars for the Vegetarians

Mars bars get veggie status back
Mars has abandoned plans to use animal products in its chocolate, and has apologized to "upset" vegetarians. The firm had said it would change the whey used in some of its products from a vegetarian source to one with traces of the animal enzyme, rennet. The Vegetarian Society organized a campaign against the move, asking members to voice their concerns to parent company Masterfoods. Mars said it became "very clear, very quickly" that it had made a mistake.
In just one week, more than 6,000 people bombarded the company, which produces the Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Galaxy brands, with phone and e-mail complaints. Forty MPs also signed a petition to voice their opposition. Fiona Dawson, managing director of Mars UK, said the company had listened to customers and decided to reverse its decision.

HAVE YOUR SAY
The Mars turnaround is about profit, not people power Michael Winston, UK "The consumer is our boss and we had lots of feedback from consumers who were unhappy about the change," Ms Dawson said. "It became very clear, very quickly that we had made a mistake, for which I am sorry. "There are three million vegetarians in the UK and not only did we disappoint them, but we upset a lot of the consumers."'Principled decision'

The Vegetarian Society had called the move by Mars "incomprehensible" and "a backward step" at a time when consumers were increasingly concerned about "the provenance of their food".

We are very pleased that they now recognize the importance of integrity to all their customers, especially vegetarians. Dr Annette Pinner Vegetarian Society Mars replied that, by admitting its products were no longer suitable for "extremely strict vegetarians", it was making a "principled decision".

Now it insists it will begin changing its recipes back immediately.

Dr Annette Pinner, chief executive of the Vegetarian Society, said she was pleased Mars had been "honest enough" to admit it had "made a mistake".

"A Masterfoods representative has made contact with us and we are very pleased that they now recognize the importance of integrity to all their customers, especially vegetarians," she added.

Rennet is extracted from calves' stomachs and was to have been used in the ice cream versions of all Masterfoods' bars too.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6673549.stm

Published: 2007/05/20 00:31:07 GMT

© BBC MMVII

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

Snack
5 sticks beef jerky
1.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn

Lunch: Christos 7-Star
Greek Salad Kebab

Dinner
Pork
String Beans

Fast walk today, just the two of us. It was a rare nice day. By May 1st you usually see a lot of them, but this year it's been more cold and wet than anything else. I need the walks but I'm afraid we're going to have start walking more often, farther or faster. Could I be a walking junkie?