BREAKFAST: 8:30am, toasted everything bagel with good butter, soylent green pill, hunger 3/5
Though I didn't ask for it, an everything bagel ended up in the freezer's paper bagel bag. Tasted ickily salty.
BP 8:45am: 115/75
AM SNAK: 10am, 24 oz water
BP 11am: 126/86
LUNCH: 1pm, bowl of sliced beef over white rice, udon noodles in soup, 2 shrimp shumai, water, hunger 4/5
Lunch with BFF Erikka in Times Square (she works close by), to the Japanese shop I don't love too much. Ordered a special plate with a list of a whole lotta stuff, but what I got was different - I guess they choose out of the list what they want to serve to you. The beef was unsauced so it was reasonable, and I ate the noodles but skipped the soup. Enjoyed catching up with Erikka more than the food.
Erikka suggested dessert after, and I glumly said I couldn't because I was restricting myself to one dessert a day. She cracked up, I guess it IS kind of funny. Still, if I were to eat dessert, the idea of having the rest of the day without sweets is uncomfortable. One dessert in the evening means I can look forward to it.
BP 1:45pm 116/80
PM SNACK: 4pm, a bag of Robert's Smart Puffs, hunger 4/5
Only 150mg of sodium for a big salt taste. Kind of like crunchy packing peanuts with a cheese powder coat. Would rather be eating chocolate or cookies right now. God. My palate needs to grow the f@ck up.
BP 4pm 123/86
DINNER: 7:30, large green salad with italian dressing, large bowl of shrimp stirfry with weird tofu/yam noodles, chocolate hazelnut gelato and three 2-bite brownies, hunger 4/5
Experimented with the left-over ingredients and a few new ones. Stirfry had the left over veg and dill, frozen shrimp from early in the week, got a new vegetable stock (not low sodium, but naturally about 50% less than the chicken stocks on the shelf). Rather than rice, found this odd low carb low calorie Japanese noodle made from soybeans and yam flour - tasted pleasantly slimey and weirdly airy. Watered down the stock and boiled it with corn starch - didn't have any wine, unfortunately. This time it wasn't bland, but still wasn't all that. Not ready to serve to guests, but this stir-fry thing with a thickened sauce has something to it - gotta find some hardcore old Asian recipes to figure out how to do it right. Gelato and brownies heavenly.
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, 3 one bite brownies, hunger 2/5
Sitting watching a DVD with B, my lust for more sugar really didn't dissipate after dessert, so after an hour, I somehow thought, hey, I haven't really finished with dessert! Now that the lust is gone, I know that was really a second round of sweets. But hey, its almost the weekend - I have next week to get it right!
Friday, August 17
Thursday, August 16
It's Gonna Be a Bright, Pancakey Daaaay....
ADDENDA:
That's to the tune of I Can See Clearly Now, btw....
BREAKFAST: 7am, 3 golden pancakes, chow-pill, hunger 3/5
We went to sleep without addressing wedding stuff, so I woke up at 6am and made us pancakes, on a new pan we got as a gift, with extra milk to see how it would be, and it was good. Turns out this evenings plans got smooshed, so we just chilled and we're going to spend this evening on wedding stuff. But this time, I think we're going to order in or eat in the neighborhood for efficiency's sake. I used to order in 3-4 times a week....wow, how did I do that?
BP at 8am: 117/77
AM SNACK: 24 oz still water
BP at 10:30: 121/83
LUNCH #1: 12:45, green salad from home, hunger 4/5
Busy working (on wedding stuff, he he), almost forgot to eat. Almost.
LUNCH #2: 2pm, .75lbs from organic salad bar of Thai beef and sesame noodles with tofu, 24 oz still water, hunger 3/5
Walked to a 'healthy' place a few blocks away with friends. For a healthy place, they do a strong business in burgers and pizza. Sure, they're probably hormone-free and whole wheat crusts, but is this really healthy? The definition of 'healthy' seems so amorphous to me right now.
BP 121/82 at 3:30pm
PM SNACK: 4pm, bag of Robert's Pirate Booty with cheddar, hunger 4/5
Really craving sweets, determined to keep it to one-a-day.
DINNER: 6:45pm, half a small lightly-cheesed pizza, a large serving of eggplant parm with a lot of cheese, a small side of pasta, 4 pieces of bread, one hoegaarden beer, hunger 4/5
B & I went to the new Isabella's Oven on our street, it's been getting raves from the Pizza Cognoscenti for a few weeks now. Though pizza and cheese are not yet on a list of Ilsa's banned-substances, I know it is a salt-bomb. Thing was, I was thinking more 'pizza' than 'cheese', and the pizza was a) light on the cheese as a good pizza should and b) AMAZINGLY yummy and well worth the indulgence. And it was an appetizer, not a big feast. However, the eggplant parm was dripping in cheese, about the equivalent of half a large pizza full o' cheese. But I was really hungry, I ate it all, and I was even too full....for a sweet dessert!!!
PM SNACK: 9pm, 3 fresh baked chocolate chip cookies from frozen dough, hunger 2/5
Walking home from the restaurant, I realized I was going to be jonesing for sugar when my stomach felt less full. The donut shop next door was closed, so I decided to get a small one-serving box of Entemann's chocolate chip cookies from a drug store. B lightly scolded me, but I explained to her how I'm a little like a junky, I don't need my fix right now but I can anticipate and moderate.
The Rite Aide did not have the dollar-boxes - they only had the big size, and this time it was "25% MORE FREE!" - an extra-fat-ass box! I waited on line, getting more and more pissed off about it. Why wasn't it 25% cheaper instead of 25% bigger? Why didn't I have the option of buying a single serving? And now I'm going to have this big box of temptation in the house that looks like a PM snack, breakfast and AM snack, too. Through more food out the window? Maybe I should just make my own and screw these guys and the industrial complex thats helping me get fat?!
Then I remembered I had a container of cc cookie dough in the freezer, a nice healthy brand that has just about the same ingredients I would use if I was making it from scratch. Because they take a good 30 minutes to make from start to finish, it's not the kind of sweet snack I can be tempted by too easily - it's not just open the box and toss them back, it takes effort. So I put the box of cookies back and walked out.
That's to the tune of I Can See Clearly Now, btw....
BREAKFAST: 7am, 3 golden pancakes, chow-pill, hunger 3/5
We went to sleep without addressing wedding stuff, so I woke up at 6am and made us pancakes, on a new pan we got as a gift, with extra milk to see how it would be, and it was good. Turns out this evenings plans got smooshed, so we just chilled and we're going to spend this evening on wedding stuff. But this time, I think we're going to order in or eat in the neighborhood for efficiency's sake. I used to order in 3-4 times a week....wow, how did I do that?
BP at 8am: 117/77
AM SNACK: 24 oz still water
BP at 10:30: 121/83
LUNCH #1: 12:45, green salad from home, hunger 4/5
Busy working (on wedding stuff, he he), almost forgot to eat. Almost.
LUNCH #2: 2pm, .75lbs from organic salad bar of Thai beef and sesame noodles with tofu, 24 oz still water, hunger 3/5
Walked to a 'healthy' place a few blocks away with friends. For a healthy place, they do a strong business in burgers and pizza. Sure, they're probably hormone-free and whole wheat crusts, but is this really healthy? The definition of 'healthy' seems so amorphous to me right now.
BP 121/82 at 3:30pm
PM SNACK: 4pm, bag of Robert's Pirate Booty with cheddar, hunger 4/5
Really craving sweets, determined to keep it to one-a-day.
DINNER: 6:45pm, half a small lightly-cheesed pizza, a large serving of eggplant parm with a lot of cheese, a small side of pasta, 4 pieces of bread, one hoegaarden beer, hunger 4/5
B & I went to the new Isabella's Oven on our street, it's been getting raves from the Pizza Cognoscenti for a few weeks now. Though pizza and cheese are not yet on a list of Ilsa's banned-substances, I know it is a salt-bomb. Thing was, I was thinking more 'pizza' than 'cheese', and the pizza was a) light on the cheese as a good pizza should and b) AMAZINGLY yummy and well worth the indulgence. And it was an appetizer, not a big feast. However, the eggplant parm was dripping in cheese, about the equivalent of half a large pizza full o' cheese. But I was really hungry, I ate it all, and I was even too full....for a sweet dessert!!!
PM SNACK: 9pm, 3 fresh baked chocolate chip cookies from frozen dough, hunger 2/5
Walking home from the restaurant, I realized I was going to be jonesing for sugar when my stomach felt less full. The donut shop next door was closed, so I decided to get a small one-serving box of Entemann's chocolate chip cookies from a drug store. B lightly scolded me, but I explained to her how I'm a little like a junky, I don't need my fix right now but I can anticipate and moderate.
The Rite Aide did not have the dollar-boxes - they only had the big size, and this time it was "25% MORE FREE!" - an extra-fat-ass box! I waited on line, getting more and more pissed off about it. Why wasn't it 25% cheaper instead of 25% bigger? Why didn't I have the option of buying a single serving? And now I'm going to have this big box of temptation in the house that looks like a PM snack, breakfast and AM snack, too. Through more food out the window? Maybe I should just make my own and screw these guys and the industrial complex thats helping me get fat?!
Then I remembered I had a container of cc cookie dough in the freezer, a nice healthy brand that has just about the same ingredients I would use if I was making it from scratch. Because they take a good 30 minutes to make from start to finish, it's not the kind of sweet snack I can be tempted by too easily - it's not just open the box and toss them back, it takes effort. So I put the box of cookies back and walked out.
Wednesday, August 15
Human Chow in a Pill
ADDENDA:
Getting to work, I'm 113/90, that's odd. I really got to calibrate this thing against another machine. I've taken Ilsa's, B's, and Tamar's pressure with it, and they all came in low.
Ilsa did say that after reading this blog, she doesn't think I'm getting the nutrition I need, so she pointed me to this multi-vitamin supplement derived from food sources.....mmmmm, human-chow in pill form! Soylent Green circa 2007!
Thinking about the session I had with B and Ilsa last night, I think the pressure of the upcoming wedding is affecting me more than I thought. I think I need to settle in tonight and focus on all the details. It's only a few weeks away...
BREAKFAST: 9am, toasted onion bagel with the good butter, chow-pill, hunger 4/5
Too tired to make salad last night, so chopped all this morning, worked up my hunger.
LUNCH: 1pm, chirashi and small bowl of miso soup, water, hunger 4/5
Feeling fish. Wished it was healthier. The soup was a salt trap, and the lovely sushi rice bed the fish laid on could be brown. Now a meal from home of a bucket of brown vinegary sushi rice with some amature raw cut fish, that could be fun.
In the middle of the first few chapters of Animal Vegetable Miracle over lunch, starting to feel guilty for my gluttony. Maybe Ilsa is too nice to call a spade a spade, but I can call it whatever I want, and my sweet tooth brings out the glutton in me. Though maybe it's a bit too early, I gotta to try to seriously curtail my sweets intake. Cutting out diet coke and fries was too easy. This is the elephant in the room.
I wanted ice cream after the chirashi, I put it on hold. Maybe I can get by with ONE dessert a day? One sweet treat a day? Well, that'll have to be the ridiculously wonderful milk chocolate gelato waiting for me at home....
At this moment, my bp reads 115/77. Slight beginning of a small headache, maybe need to drink water. If my bloodpressure really is closer to normal, no wonder why those meds wrecked me a few months ago...
PM SNACK: 4:45, Bag of Robert's Smart Puffs, 24 oz still water, hunger 4.5/5
Really wanting sweets. Sitting around, thinking about wanting sweets, then thinking maybe I should eat something small but not sweet, like a potato....duh! A bag of something savory. This bag of cheesy poofs only had 150mg of sodium, could be a lot worse. Planning to do grocery shopping after work, don't want to be insanely hungry while doing that.
As I'm eating my cheesy poofs, a coworker puts a box of dark-chocolate covered macadamia nuts under my nose and asks if I want any....I felt like crying, felt like explaining if I ate one, then I'd have to write about in my blog how lame I am....but I didn't. So I didn't, and I'm not!
DINNER: 8pm, large green salad, scallop and vegetable stirfry in a low-sodium broth/wine sauce over wholegrain black rice, a small piece of chocolate cake and half a pint-tub of milk chocolate gelato, a glass of wine, hunger 4/5
Funny, I usual only make such a complicated effort to cook on special occasions, but on this average-ish Wed night, cooking like this made it special in itself. The internet-found recipe called for a little wine, so B brought home wine and we had a glass, it was calming. This was the first time I ever cooked with either corn starch or broth or black rice, and the final product was just ok, a lot of things could of been better (was too bland, for one - I gotta make my own stock in the future, the low-sodium stuff is eh) Regardless, it was a lot of fun and B seemed to appreciate the effort.
Went a bit crazy on the gelato, but it sure was good. Guaranteed no snacks for the rest of the night!
Getting to work, I'm 113/90, that's odd. I really got to calibrate this thing against another machine. I've taken Ilsa's, B's, and Tamar's pressure with it, and they all came in low.
Ilsa did say that after reading this blog, she doesn't think I'm getting the nutrition I need, so she pointed me to this multi-vitamin supplement derived from food sources.....mmmmm, human-chow in pill form! Soylent Green circa 2007!
Thinking about the session I had with B and Ilsa last night, I think the pressure of the upcoming wedding is affecting me more than I thought. I think I need to settle in tonight and focus on all the details. It's only a few weeks away...
BREAKFAST: 9am, toasted onion bagel with the good butter, chow-pill, hunger 4/5
Too tired to make salad last night, so chopped all this morning, worked up my hunger.
LUNCH: 1pm, chirashi and small bowl of miso soup, water, hunger 4/5
Feeling fish. Wished it was healthier. The soup was a salt trap, and the lovely sushi rice bed the fish laid on could be brown. Now a meal from home of a bucket of brown vinegary sushi rice with some amature raw cut fish, that could be fun.
In the middle of the first few chapters of Animal Vegetable Miracle over lunch, starting to feel guilty for my gluttony. Maybe Ilsa is too nice to call a spade a spade, but I can call it whatever I want, and my sweet tooth brings out the glutton in me. Though maybe it's a bit too early, I gotta to try to seriously curtail my sweets intake. Cutting out diet coke and fries was too easy. This is the elephant in the room.
I wanted ice cream after the chirashi, I put it on hold. Maybe I can get by with ONE dessert a day? One sweet treat a day? Well, that'll have to be the ridiculously wonderful milk chocolate gelato waiting for me at home....
At this moment, my bp reads 115/77. Slight beginning of a small headache, maybe need to drink water. If my bloodpressure really is closer to normal, no wonder why those meds wrecked me a few months ago...
PM SNACK: 4:45, Bag of Robert's Smart Puffs, 24 oz still water, hunger 4.5/5
Really wanting sweets. Sitting around, thinking about wanting sweets, then thinking maybe I should eat something small but not sweet, like a potato....duh! A bag of something savory. This bag of cheesy poofs only had 150mg of sodium, could be a lot worse. Planning to do grocery shopping after work, don't want to be insanely hungry while doing that.
As I'm eating my cheesy poofs, a coworker puts a box of dark-chocolate covered macadamia nuts under my nose and asks if I want any....I felt like crying, felt like explaining if I ate one, then I'd have to write about in my blog how lame I am....but I didn't. So I didn't, and I'm not!
DINNER: 8pm, large green salad, scallop and vegetable stirfry in a low-sodium broth/wine sauce over wholegrain black rice, a small piece of chocolate cake and half a pint-tub of milk chocolate gelato, a glass of wine, hunger 4/5
Funny, I usual only make such a complicated effort to cook on special occasions, but on this average-ish Wed night, cooking like this made it special in itself. The internet-found recipe called for a little wine, so B brought home wine and we had a glass, it was calming. This was the first time I ever cooked with either corn starch or broth or black rice, and the final product was just ok, a lot of things could of been better (was too bland, for one - I gotta make my own stock in the future, the low-sodium stuff is eh) Regardless, it was a lot of fun and B seemed to appreciate the effort.
Went a bit crazy on the gelato, but it sure was good. Guaranteed no snacks for the rest of the night!
Tuesday, August 14
120 over 88
ADDENDA:
I got my blood-pressure cuff last night. I've measured myself several times, and it's ranged from 117/75 to a high of this morning's 128/89. I know the #s that freaked my doc out was 140 over 100.
From Wikipedia (my italics)
I just retook my pressure: 120/88!! I know you can't just say everything is fine from one reading, but initial measurements suggest my blood pressure is just a little high, not oh-my-god-Stroke-is-imminent high. This is interesting. I will continue to montitor my bloodpressure through the next few days to see if there are any patterns or exceptions.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, oatmeal with a little honey, butter and salt, hunger 4/5.
Only a teaspoon of butter, but it gave the oatmeal such a more satisfying flavor and mouth feel.
AM SNACK: 10:15am, mint, 16 oz still water.
LUNCH: Noon, fresh turkey on whole wheat with swiss, LT&O, mustand, bag of sunchips, small amount of water, hunger 4/5
Rather then go pile drive a pizza or a brick of chinese food, I think I'll hold off till I'm more certain about my health. Seeing Ilsa (with B) tonight, a good time to reevaluate.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, 6 linden cookies, 24 oz still water, hunger 4/5
Again, hungry and desiring sweets. BP right after cookies: 117/81, hmmm. Is this thing working right? That's slightly LOW. Maybe I should have a doc's appt sooner and calibrate my monitor vs. his wall-mounted blood pressure-oscope.
ADDENDA: 4pm. Small headache from the cookies. BP 130/88. Hmmmmm....
DINNER: 7:45pm. 5/8s of a pizza with onions and mushrooms, half a large green salad (with one olive), one roll with olive oil.
What a better way to eat after a meeting with a nutritionist than to indulge in that which one should not. The meeting didn't really go into food as much as B & I's relationship, touching on how we relate through food - we eat very differently. B eats a little too much like a girl, and I think Ilsa may be implying I eat a little too much like a boy. Maybe our goal should be to eat a little more gender-neutrally!
Kinda wanted pepperoni on the pizza and to eat all the olives, but it would of tripled my sodium intake for the day.
PM SNACK: 9pm, 2 scoops of milk chocolate gelato, hunger 3/5
Got a lot of good healthy stuff from Whole Foods on the way home....and this. He he. What's pizza w/o ice cream? B only had a spoonful. (Ooo, should I be writing about B's eating? Does that make me a snitch? God knows I don't to help her be insecure about what she eats!)
I got my blood-pressure cuff last night. I've measured myself several times, and it's ranged from 117/75 to a high of this morning's 128/89. I know the #s that freaked my doc out was 140 over 100.
From Wikipedia (my italics)
Typical values for a resting, healthy adult human are approximately 120 mmHg systolic and 80 mmHg diastolic (written as 120/80 mmHg, and spoken as "one twenty over eighty"), with large individual variations. These measures of blood pressure are not static, but undergo natural variations from one heartbeat to another and throughout the day (in a circadian rhythm); they also change in response to stress, nutritional factors, drugs, or disease.Huh. Does this mean my blood pressure is under control? A little high? Still a lot high? Maybe my blood pressure was so high at my doc's because I road my bike there (hard, in the rain)? More from Wikipedia:
Home blood pressure monitoring
Up to 25% of patients diagnosed with hypertension do not suffer from it, but rather from white coat hypertension. Thus, well-performed, accurate home BP monitoring can prevent unnecessary anxiety, as well as costly and potentially dangerous therapy in many millions of people worldwide. Home blood pressure monitoring provides a measurement of a person's blood pressure at different times and in different environments, such as at home and at work, throughout the day. Home blood pressure monitoring may assist in the diagnosis of high or low blood pressure. It may also be used to monitor the effects of medication or lifestyle changes taken to lower or regulate blood pressure levels. Home monitoring of blood pressure is especially useful for patients who suffer from white coat hypertension, where blood pressure levels are elevated in the Physicians office.
I just retook my pressure: 120/88!! I know you can't just say everything is fine from one reading, but initial measurements suggest my blood pressure is just a little high, not oh-my-god-Stroke-is-imminent high. This is interesting. I will continue to montitor my bloodpressure through the next few days to see if there are any patterns or exceptions.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, oatmeal with a little honey, butter and salt, hunger 4/5.
Only a teaspoon of butter, but it gave the oatmeal such a more satisfying flavor and mouth feel.
AM SNACK: 10:15am, mint, 16 oz still water.
LUNCH: Noon, fresh turkey on whole wheat with swiss, LT&O, mustand, bag of sunchips, small amount of water, hunger 4/5
Rather then go pile drive a pizza or a brick of chinese food, I think I'll hold off till I'm more certain about my health. Seeing Ilsa (with B) tonight, a good time to reevaluate.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, 6 linden cookies, 24 oz still water, hunger 4/5
Again, hungry and desiring sweets. BP right after cookies: 117/81, hmmm. Is this thing working right? That's slightly LOW. Maybe I should have a doc's appt sooner and calibrate my monitor vs. his wall-mounted blood pressure-oscope.
ADDENDA: 4pm. Small headache from the cookies. BP 130/88. Hmmmmm....
DINNER: 7:45pm. 5/8s of a pizza with onions and mushrooms, half a large green salad (with one olive), one roll with olive oil.
What a better way to eat after a meeting with a nutritionist than to indulge in that which one should not. The meeting didn't really go into food as much as B & I's relationship, touching on how we relate through food - we eat very differently. B eats a little too much like a girl, and I think Ilsa may be implying I eat a little too much like a boy. Maybe our goal should be to eat a little more gender-neutrally!
Kinda wanted pepperoni on the pizza and to eat all the olives, but it would of tripled my sodium intake for the day.
PM SNACK: 9pm, 2 scoops of milk chocolate gelato, hunger 3/5
Got a lot of good healthy stuff from Whole Foods on the way home....and this. He he. What's pizza w/o ice cream? B only had a spoonful. (Ooo, should I be writing about B's eating? Does that make me a snitch? God knows I don't to help her be insecure about what she eats!)
Monday, August 13
Beef Cheek Hangover
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, 3/4 of a toasted sesame bagel with good butter, a pint of lime perrier, hunger 2/5
Got to bed 1ish, had good sleep despite being full of organ meets and freddos. Not hungry, but wanted to start the week off on the right foot.
AM SNACK: 10:30am, 24 oz of still water.
LUNCH: 1:30pm, Indian combo, saag paneer, chickpea curry, yellow lentils, basmanti rice, a little yogurts sauce, a small bit of raw onion, plus a chocolate icecream cone, hunger 4/5
Tried the paneer to change things up. I was expecting this Indian cheese to be salty, but it wasn't at all, it reminded me of tofu (and according to wikipedia, it IS saltless!) Score!! I just started reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetable Miracle" over this meal, and after reading for 10 minutes, got the vibe I'm in for a treat. I also realized that even though I finished eating 10 minutes ago, I was still hungry. Not very hungry, but the kind of hunger that does not go away by itself. My mouth still hot, had a soothing chocolate cone. I'm happy to report that it wasn't a sugar craving that lead me to it, but more of it's sensory qualities.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, organic marble pound cake, 24 oz still water, hunger 3/5
Working my way around the organic baked selection downstairs, still too sweet. Regardless, my desire for sweets seem to becoming clearer, overlaid over simple hunger. I was a little hungry.
DINNER: 7pm, sizzling seitan medalions in orange sauce, sticky rice, a couple of vegetable dumplings, a couple basil-mooshu rolls, half a piece of chocolate cake.
Dinner at Zen Palate in Union Square with B and her friend Lisa, after some vegetable shopping in the green market. Mostly vegetarian day, after the organ-meat fiesta of the day before. Betsy was so hungry she got cranky and a bit out of sorts, not very good.
ADDENDA: I didn't have any snacks til bed!!
Got to bed 1ish, had good sleep despite being full of organ meets and freddos. Not hungry, but wanted to start the week off on the right foot.
AM SNACK: 10:30am, 24 oz of still water.
LUNCH: 1:30pm, Indian combo, saag paneer, chickpea curry, yellow lentils, basmanti rice, a little yogurts sauce, a small bit of raw onion, plus a chocolate icecream cone, hunger 4/5
Tried the paneer to change things up. I was expecting this Indian cheese to be salty, but it wasn't at all, it reminded me of tofu (and according to wikipedia, it IS saltless!) Score!! I just started reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetable Miracle" over this meal, and after reading for 10 minutes, got the vibe I'm in for a treat. I also realized that even though I finished eating 10 minutes ago, I was still hungry. Not very hungry, but the kind of hunger that does not go away by itself. My mouth still hot, had a soothing chocolate cone. I'm happy to report that it wasn't a sugar craving that lead me to it, but more of it's sensory qualities.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, organic marble pound cake, 24 oz still water, hunger 3/5
Working my way around the organic baked selection downstairs, still too sweet. Regardless, my desire for sweets seem to becoming clearer, overlaid over simple hunger. I was a little hungry.
DINNER: 7pm, sizzling seitan medalions in orange sauce, sticky rice, a couple of vegetable dumplings, a couple basil-mooshu rolls, half a piece of chocolate cake.
Dinner at Zen Palate in Union Square with B and her friend Lisa, after some vegetable shopping in the green market. Mostly vegetarian day, after the organ-meat fiesta of the day before. Betsy was so hungry she got cranky and a bit out of sorts, not very good.
ADDENDA: I didn't have any snacks til bed!!
Sunday, August 12
Stomach in my Stomach (Sunday)
ADDENDA:
I know I loosen up on the food obsession on the weekends, but this was not a normal Sunday - for today was Betsy's bridal shower, and I had no idea of what that entailed, food or otherwise...
BREAKFAST: 10am, 3 pancakes and 3 pieces bacon, hunger 4/5.
Residual hunger from yesterday's ride, good thick sleep. This was my opportunity to make pancakes from scratch for Betsy and her mom, experimented with adding more milk and whipping the eggs in the mixer, they came out fantastic (my horn: toot toot!) Really good vibe to cook for B's mom. When my mom was ill and I was taking care of her, I made pancakes and bacon often, it reminded us of when my dad would cook breakfast.
AM SNACK: 11:30am, medium wedge of watermelon, hunger 3/5.
B and Momma gone, alone. B implied there would be food at the bridal thing, so I resisted eating a full lunch.
PM SNACKS: 2-4pm, a few crustless finger sandwiches, fancy chocolate cookies, a piece of coconut cake, a little mozz & tomato salad, a few bites of a gingerman cookie, a few chocolate pocky, a couple of glasses of seltzer.
When I nervously entered B's cousin's house (Hi Cathy! Hi Janet!), Momma quickly grabbed me by the arm and threw me to the wolves, but not before an impromptu photo session. Someone behind me stuck a gingerbread man cookie in my hand, and not knowing the significance of it, promptly bit it's arm off - I was hungry! A few crustly sandwiches, some yummy cookies, the gourmet fumes of a party well presented. The meet n' greet aspect, like a bike ride, kept my stomach tight n' quiet, fortunately, but the sweets did give me a headache after a bit. I found there was a matching bride-cookie, uneaten - doh! Good thing I didn't eat the head. The paraplegic groom and the well-dressed bride cookie came home with me and B.
On two side notes, I was surprised when Janet told me she was reading this blog. A) I haven't really advertised it, but I keep in public to help me stay honest and B) it's kinda boring, isn't it? But it was really nice talking to her about it and her own diet dilemmas. I told her that I obsess about everything that goes into my mouth here, on my blog, so I don't have to obsess about it at all other times - that never really occurred to me till it popped out of my mouth! And on a second side note, during a conversation with another about the diet this person ate to lose weight, she mentioned something called 'diet bread'. That gave me the heeby-jeebies on a few different levels. Not quite sure why yet, but maybe I'll work it with Ilsa!
LUNCH: 6pm, 3/4 of potato spinach kinish with mustard. 3/4 of a can of diet Sprite.
Not starving, but knew I was going to be hungry soon, and dinner wouldn't be until later. This was the last can of Sprite in the house, couldn't finish it because it just tasted.....thin and chemically bitter under a false sweetness.
DINNER: 9:45pm, (add the adjective 'wonderful to al the following) a few pieces of bread, 2 marinated chickpea bruschetta, a large portion of warm tripe a la parmegiano, a bit of green salad, a fistful of tender cold green and white beans, beef cheek ravioli with truffles and a goose liver reduction, pistachio chocolate semifreddo, 5 little samplings of different sorbets, one glass presseco, lots of water.
This was a meal to remember, to celebrate life with, to bond with and recognize life-long friends. My BFF Tamar took me out to a dinner of my choice to celebrate the end of my bachelorhood, as she originally couldn't make my bachelor party. I was a bit tentative about choosing a restaurant, as Tamar is a strict vegan (she eats no animal products what-so-ever). I love and respect that about her, and enjoy changing up and eating vegan-friendly when I'm out with her, but if given a choice of any restaurant, it'll by default probably involve tasty animals.
So I threw out Babbo, Batali's premier spot, and she scored reservations. I've never been, and had an idea of what to expect judging from his television shows, writings, cook books and interviews I've taken in over the years. I did know I would have to eat stuff I didn't normally go for, and that stuff would not be shared with Tamar. I know Ilsa wants me to expand my palate, but I don't think this is what she had in mind.
Everything was exceptionally fresh and well presented. The waiter was mercifully totally prepared to arrange a menu to suite Tamar's needs, and she was pleased as punch, which made the shared enjoyment of this meal more so. Uhhh, pleasing. The green bean appetiser was cold, but the beans were blanched then iced to a perfect crisp but not fibrous consistency - I gotta dig up the technique in the cook book. I've never eaten tripe, so this was a challenge. The portion was surprisingly large (I guess it's not flying out of the kitchen!) and looked really good, like little strips of a cross between fajita meat and octopus, bathed in a fresh tomato sauce with just a sprinkling of cheese on top. Putting it in my mouth, my first thought was, "Hmmm, tastes like what a zoo's monkey cage smells like!" - very gamy to the point of funk curling up my nose a little. The feel, the bite of the meet was wonderfully moist and just the right amount of springiness. The grilled bread that came with it cut the funk nicely, and before I knew it the plate was gone, and my stomach was full of stomach. Next time I have Chinatown dimsum, I'm definitely gonna join Danny for a selection of tripes (a cow does have 4 stomachs, after all!)
The beef cheek ravioli is as signature Batali dish, so I had it thinking, hey, how weird can a beef ravioli be? Again, gamey. This cut of meat is very flavorful, and how it was prepared with the liver and truffle seemed to accent the gaminess rather than hide it. The pasta wrapper had a nice bite to it that was similar (but somehow better) than the pasta I've made....something to aspire to.
I didn't know what a semifreddo was (why not just go the whole freddo?) but the pistachio chocolate thing (a pistachio mouse with a chocolate shell over a thin chocolate cookie surrounded by a pistachio sauce) was really good, and thankfully not gamy at all. Despite not eating most of the day, I was beyond stuffed and slowly pedalled my way home. Tamar is da bomb. I hope something good happens to her soon, so I can take her (and B) back there soon.
I know I loosen up on the food obsession on the weekends, but this was not a normal Sunday - for today was Betsy's bridal shower, and I had no idea of what that entailed, food or otherwise...
BREAKFAST: 10am, 3 pancakes and 3 pieces bacon, hunger 4/5.
Residual hunger from yesterday's ride, good thick sleep. This was my opportunity to make pancakes from scratch for Betsy and her mom, experimented with adding more milk and whipping the eggs in the mixer, they came out fantastic (my horn: toot toot!) Really good vibe to cook for B's mom. When my mom was ill and I was taking care of her, I made pancakes and bacon often, it reminded us of when my dad would cook breakfast.
AM SNACK: 11:30am, medium wedge of watermelon, hunger 3/5.
B and Momma gone, alone. B implied there would be food at the bridal thing, so I resisted eating a full lunch.
PM SNACKS: 2-4pm, a few crustless finger sandwiches, fancy chocolate cookies, a piece of coconut cake, a little mozz & tomato salad, a few bites of a gingerman cookie, a few chocolate pocky, a couple of glasses of seltzer.
When I nervously entered B's cousin's house (Hi Cathy! Hi Janet!), Momma quickly grabbed me by the arm and threw me to the wolves, but not before an impromptu photo session. Someone behind me stuck a gingerbread man cookie in my hand, and not knowing the significance of it, promptly bit it's arm off - I was hungry! A few crustly sandwiches, some yummy cookies, the gourmet fumes of a party well presented. The meet n' greet aspect, like a bike ride, kept my stomach tight n' quiet, fortunately, but the sweets did give me a headache after a bit. I found there was a matching bride-cookie, uneaten - doh! Good thing I didn't eat the head. The paraplegic groom and the well-dressed bride cookie came home with me and B.
On two side notes, I was surprised when Janet told me she was reading this blog. A) I haven't really advertised it, but I keep in public to help me stay honest and B) it's kinda boring, isn't it? But it was really nice talking to her about it and her own diet dilemmas. I told her that I obsess about everything that goes into my mouth here, on my blog, so I don't have to obsess about it at all other times - that never really occurred to me till it popped out of my mouth! And on a second side note, during a conversation with another about the diet this person ate to lose weight, she mentioned something called 'diet bread'. That gave me the heeby-jeebies on a few different levels. Not quite sure why yet, but maybe I'll work it with Ilsa!
LUNCH: 6pm, 3/4 of potato spinach kinish with mustard. 3/4 of a can of diet Sprite.
Not starving, but knew I was going to be hungry soon, and dinner wouldn't be until later. This was the last can of Sprite in the house, couldn't finish it because it just tasted.....thin and chemically bitter under a false sweetness.
DINNER: 9:45pm, (add the adjective 'wonderful to al the following) a few pieces of bread, 2 marinated chickpea bruschetta, a large portion of warm tripe a la parmegiano, a bit of green salad, a fistful of tender cold green and white beans, beef cheek ravioli with truffles and a goose liver reduction, pistachio chocolate semifreddo, 5 little samplings of different sorbets, one glass presseco, lots of water.
This was a meal to remember, to celebrate life with, to bond with and recognize life-long friends. My BFF Tamar took me out to a dinner of my choice to celebrate the end of my bachelorhood, as she originally couldn't make my bachelor party. I was a bit tentative about choosing a restaurant, as Tamar is a strict vegan (she eats no animal products what-so-ever). I love and respect that about her, and enjoy changing up and eating vegan-friendly when I'm out with her, but if given a choice of any restaurant, it'll by default probably involve tasty animals.
So I threw out Babbo, Batali's premier spot, and she scored reservations. I've never been, and had an idea of what to expect judging from his television shows, writings, cook books and interviews I've taken in over the years. I did know I would have to eat stuff I didn't normally go for, and that stuff would not be shared with Tamar. I know Ilsa wants me to expand my palate, but I don't think this is what she had in mind.
Everything was exceptionally fresh and well presented. The waiter was mercifully totally prepared to arrange a menu to suite Tamar's needs, and she was pleased as punch, which made the shared enjoyment of this meal more so. Uhhh, pleasing. The green bean appetiser was cold, but the beans were blanched then iced to a perfect crisp but not fibrous consistency - I gotta dig up the technique in the cook book. I've never eaten tripe, so this was a challenge. The portion was surprisingly large (I guess it's not flying out of the kitchen!) and looked really good, like little strips of a cross between fajita meat and octopus, bathed in a fresh tomato sauce with just a sprinkling of cheese on top. Putting it in my mouth, my first thought was, "Hmmm, tastes like what a zoo's monkey cage smells like!" - very gamy to the point of funk curling up my nose a little. The feel, the bite of the meet was wonderfully moist and just the right amount of springiness. The grilled bread that came with it cut the funk nicely, and before I knew it the plate was gone, and my stomach was full of stomach. Next time I have Chinatown dimsum, I'm definitely gonna join Danny for a selection of tripes (a cow does have 4 stomachs, after all!)
The beef cheek ravioli is as signature Batali dish, so I had it thinking, hey, how weird can a beef ravioli be? Again, gamey. This cut of meat is very flavorful, and how it was prepared with the liver and truffle seemed to accent the gaminess rather than hide it. The pasta wrapper had a nice bite to it that was similar (but somehow better) than the pasta I've made....something to aspire to.
I didn't know what a semifreddo was (why not just go the whole freddo?) but the pistachio chocolate thing (a pistachio mouse with a chocolate shell over a thin chocolate cookie surrounded by a pistachio sauce) was really good, and thankfully not gamy at all. Despite not eating most of the day, I was beyond stuffed and slowly pedalled my way home. Tamar is da bomb. I hope something good happens to her soon, so I can take her (and B) back there soon.
Apple Turnovers from Heaven (Saturday)
ADDENDA:
I woke at 5am to make a 6:20 train to Garrison with my road bike. Off the train at 8, my lungs were burning and my legs were screaming about five minutes later as I pushed my way up the steep grade from river to hilltop. Three miles east lay my parent's gravesite, which I visited and had a good cry and an outloud conversation, saying things I would of taken great pleasure in saying to them if they were here.
Thing is, I did this journey a few weeks before I left for my cross country bikeride - I wanted to attack and climb the hills of the Hudson Valley to get me ready for the climbs of the California mountains and Ozarks. This time I went more to commune with the folks, get my head clear as we come closer to my wedding day.
On the previous ride, I distinctly remember my hunger and what I ate - a slice of pizza outside of Croton-Harmon and a big plate of Chinese food around Irvington. Add to that a huge case of the runs in the public bathroom outside the 1 train in Van Cordlant Park.... This time, my mood was more....serene. The ride went by in a flash, the hills weren't as challenging as I remember (bumps compared to the Ozarks) and what I ate was considerably different....
BREAKFAST #1: 5:30am, toasted bagel with good butter, hunger 2/5. Not hungry, but too early to buy donuts. Even Dunkin' doesn't open till 6am.
BREAKFAST #2: 10am, BLT bagel, bag of linden cookies (lots of water), hunger 3/5. Outside the graveyard at Adams Corner's, me and mom ate snacks here several times when we visited my father. The smell of bacon tempted me. This is the first time having conventional bacon in a while, and I was kinda surprised how much I didn't like it - salty to the point of unpleasantness, it actually interfered with the porky, smokey flavor that makes bacon so good.
AM SNACK: 11:30ish, swig of fizzy water (lots of water). Ilsa gave me a packet of something as an alternative to Emergen-C, which I was hoping to use as a low-sodium replacement for Gatorade. Emergenn-C tasted like pee to me. This stuff tasted like burnt pee. I think I'm going to invent my own sports drink involving fresh citrus and apple juices (from a juicer), honey, water etc. Doesn't this Emergen-C stuff come in a pill?
PM SNACK: 1pm, apple turnover (lots of water), hunger 2/5. I passed through a huge farmers market in Peekskill about 10 miles away from Adams Coerns, but I was still bacon-stuffed. Another 20 miles up and down, I was grinding up the hill in Ossening, I remembered the farmers market there from the previous mountain bike ride, but I just was not hungry. As I squeaked past the turnoff, the idea of CIDER DONUTS raced through my mind, and I immediately turned back and shot down the hill. The donut peeps were there, but this time I had a big apple turnover.
Oh man. Growing up, I loved them hostess apple pies, with the little bits of dehydrated white apple in syrupy apple bath enveloped by a flakey crust. As an adult, I rarely eat these, as they're way too sweet and kinda crappy tasting. This apple turnover was the adult version. The crust was light and flakey, encrusted with granulated sugar but more buttery than sweet. The insides was a dark brown apple mush, equal parts sweet and tart, and overwhelmingly apple-y - absolutely no syrup, and didn't need any. I got a good slow sugar rush, that pushed me back up the hill.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, large wedge of watermelom, hunger 4/5. Taking the train home from Van Cordlant, I realized I had enough energy to ride all the way home, but not enough time. Had a cliff bar on me, but just wasn't hungry. By the time I got home and relaxed, my stomach loosened and my jaw slackened and down went the watermelon. Yum!
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 3 graham crackers with organic peanutbutter, hunger 4/5. Ravenous.
DINNER: 7:00pm, large mostly vegetarian Ethiopina meal, hunger 4/5. Ate with B and her mom, whose never had Ethiopian food before. Ordered a weird beef n' kale thing to go along with, my muscles were a little burnt and long-chain proteins like beef help quicken recovery.
PM SNACK: 9pm, cherry italian ice, hunger 3/5. Jonesing for sweets, felt good.
PM SNACK: midnight, one bite of gnochi, small bowl of rice crispies and whole milk, hunger 3/5. Hunger from the day's activity reared up again. Tried making some frozen gnochi, but didn't let the water boil and it became an unappetizing porridge. The small bowl of cereal satisfied me.
I woke at 5am to make a 6:20 train to Garrison with my road bike. Off the train at 8, my lungs were burning and my legs were screaming about five minutes later as I pushed my way up the steep grade from river to hilltop. Three miles east lay my parent's gravesite, which I visited and had a good cry and an outloud conversation, saying things I would of taken great pleasure in saying to them if they were here.
Thing is, I did this journey a few weeks before I left for my cross country bikeride - I wanted to attack and climb the hills of the Hudson Valley to get me ready for the climbs of the California mountains and Ozarks. This time I went more to commune with the folks, get my head clear as we come closer to my wedding day.
On the previous ride, I distinctly remember my hunger and what I ate - a slice of pizza outside of Croton-Harmon and a big plate of Chinese food around Irvington. Add to that a huge case of the runs in the public bathroom outside the 1 train in Van Cordlant Park.... This time, my mood was more....serene. The ride went by in a flash, the hills weren't as challenging as I remember (bumps compared to the Ozarks) and what I ate was considerably different....
BREAKFAST #1: 5:30am, toasted bagel with good butter, hunger 2/5. Not hungry, but too early to buy donuts. Even Dunkin' doesn't open till 6am.
BREAKFAST #2: 10am, BLT bagel, bag of linden cookies (lots of water), hunger 3/5. Outside the graveyard at Adams Corner's, me and mom ate snacks here several times when we visited my father. The smell of bacon tempted me. This is the first time having conventional bacon in a while, and I was kinda surprised how much I didn't like it - salty to the point of unpleasantness, it actually interfered with the porky, smokey flavor that makes bacon so good.
AM SNACK: 11:30ish, swig of fizzy water (lots of water). Ilsa gave me a packet of something as an alternative to Emergen-C, which I was hoping to use as a low-sodium replacement for Gatorade. Emergenn-C tasted like pee to me. This stuff tasted like burnt pee. I think I'm going to invent my own sports drink involving fresh citrus and apple juices (from a juicer), honey, water etc. Doesn't this Emergen-C stuff come in a pill?
PM SNACK: 1pm, apple turnover (lots of water), hunger 2/5. I passed through a huge farmers market in Peekskill about 10 miles away from Adams Coerns, but I was still bacon-stuffed. Another 20 miles up and down, I was grinding up the hill in Ossening, I remembered the farmers market there from the previous mountain bike ride, but I just was not hungry. As I squeaked past the turnoff, the idea of CIDER DONUTS raced through my mind, and I immediately turned back and shot down the hill. The donut peeps were there, but this time I had a big apple turnover.
Oh man. Growing up, I loved them hostess apple pies, with the little bits of dehydrated white apple in syrupy apple bath enveloped by a flakey crust. As an adult, I rarely eat these, as they're way too sweet and kinda crappy tasting. This apple turnover was the adult version. The crust was light and flakey, encrusted with granulated sugar but more buttery than sweet. The insides was a dark brown apple mush, equal parts sweet and tart, and overwhelmingly apple-y - absolutely no syrup, and didn't need any. I got a good slow sugar rush, that pushed me back up the hill.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, large wedge of watermelom, hunger 4/5. Taking the train home from Van Cordlant, I realized I had enough energy to ride all the way home, but not enough time. Had a cliff bar on me, but just wasn't hungry. By the time I got home and relaxed, my stomach loosened and my jaw slackened and down went the watermelon. Yum!
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 3 graham crackers with organic peanutbutter, hunger 4/5. Ravenous.
DINNER: 7:00pm, large mostly vegetarian Ethiopina meal, hunger 4/5. Ate with B and her mom, whose never had Ethiopian food before. Ordered a weird beef n' kale thing to go along with, my muscles were a little burnt and long-chain proteins like beef help quicken recovery.
PM SNACK: 9pm, cherry italian ice, hunger 3/5. Jonesing for sweets, felt good.
PM SNACK: midnight, one bite of gnochi, small bowl of rice crispies and whole milk, hunger 3/5. Hunger from the day's activity reared up again. Tried making some frozen gnochi, but didn't let the water boil and it became an unappetizing porridge. The small bowl of cereal satisfied me.
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