March 31 - Fasting

Post 787, Day 90 of 2013
 - and 821 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I watched 'Skyfall' again, and liked it better than when I watched it the first time. I didn't eat all day. I missed the call to let me go back to the studio and get the right track to replace the back-leveled one. I went out and played a little.

It isn't a bad life, but my toilet's messed up. Aggghh!
 

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         209.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     208.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

In the aftermath of my HCHC day, I had no appetite. I didn't plan to fast, but it just happened. Gotta like when it happens naturally like that.

Food Log 

Breakfast

Skipped.

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner

Skipped. 

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  0 oz.   Water:  64+ oz.

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March 30 - HCHC Day

Post 786, Day 89 of 2013
 - and 820 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Sometimes, you just gotta say fuck it.

Finished the CD today. Almost. Left the studio with one cut mastered from the wrong file.
You can hear the other cuts here: i am Fool songs from "Freak In The Machine".
 

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         208.8 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     208.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

I didn't weigh myself, I had to wake up and move quickly, I didn't eat and packed my vitamins for breakfast at the Wailin' Trailer Studio. Also, today is annual jelly bean day, the one day a year I eat what was, at one time, my very favorite candy.

Food Log 

Breakfast

Almond croissant and jelly beans.

Lunch
At Lao Village: 

Top: Laotian sauteed fish and vegetables with rice. Below: Spring Rolls with peanut-tamarind dressing and Laotian vegetable soup. After: More jelly beans.

Dinner

Ezekiel Golden Flax sprouted grain cereal with blueberries, almond milk, chia seeds and stevia-inulin.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water:  42+ oz.

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March 29

Post 785, Day 88 of 2013
 - and 819 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Why do I make plans for the future?

(Almost) everybody does it. I don't know anybody who 'gets it right' as in, their future - whatever period we're talking about after 'now' - turns out exactly as planned. Many people believe in a kind of predestination, where their future has already been decided, and they just have to stick around and let it unfold. Sometimes they give up on planning, and just go with the flow, as it were. Sometimes, they plan despite it.

I'm one of those who has a slightly off-center view of predestination: Because I know, in my heart and mind, that space-time is a human-manufactured illusion, that there is no objective difference between what has happened and what will happen, the idea that 'the future' is predetermined makes sense to me.

But, there is the subjective side of things - stuck in the space-time continuum - that understands how our thoughts and perceptions influence our experiences. Because, until we transcend the sensual world, and can merge with the infinite, our perceptions influence our thoughts, and our thoughts determine our reality in a never-ending cycle.

So, I make plans, hoping that doing so influences (or, in a circular way, is influenced by) the way my reality unfolds. 

Planning to do things by myself is always simplest, obviously. Vacation has to be planned, because my time off from work is regulated both by the amount of time and the scheduling, which is not ad hoc. Appointments for health stuff, too. Upcoming gigs have to be taken into account. Things scheduled by other people that I am or would like to be involved in require planning. When I want to involve other people in my activities, it involves some planning.

And so on.

When I plan, which I do, I always keep in mind two things: The Yiddish proverb, "Man plans, God laughs"; and the quote from "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr: "Nothing succeeds as planned." While I don't believe in capital-G God (old, bearded white-guy running the Universe - remember Mr. Natural?), and find several consistent-but-alternate interpretations of the Vonnegut quote, these things very much inform my attitude about planning.

And yet, I still do it.
 

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         208.0 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     209.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Nice weight drop after yesterday's "perfect" on-plan eating day. 

Food Log 

Breakfast

Cocoa-kale-hemp-protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon, vanilla, psillium and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Roasted turkey, black beans, Spring Mix, baby spinach, cole slaw blend, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Pepperoni, cole slaw, hard-boiled eggs, guacamole, and (fail!) a ginger-orange dark chocolate bar.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  42 oz.   Water:  116+ oz.

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March 28

Post 784, Day 87 of 2013
 - and 818 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I had a very interesting lunch today, with my friend Al and band-mate John. I delivered Al his own i am Fool business cards and press kits: He's going to try to get the band gigs. We talked at length about the band's prospects.

I continue to insist that there is nothing wrong with the band, in any area, that couldn't be resolved with more playing time.

I've never been with a group of musicians who invested less time in a project they expected to be sustainable. On the other side of the coin, I've never been with a group of musicians whose performance was so good with so little investment in time.

The group has challenges, for sure. We are not a group of equals, in any way. We have unequal amounts of instrumental mastery, very different musical tastes and backgrounds, different amounts of performance experience, music business experience, resulting in different attitudes about playing music. We are at different places in the human life-cycle, different places in our working careers, resulting in different sets of obligations.

We are also not a well-organized or defined group. Everybody contributes, but the majority of our source material and all our lead vocals come from one person. Ultimately, that means that four of us are a backup band.

For the most part, this means that, although we can toss around ideas all we want, make plans, set goals, what happens is one person's decision, not the group's. That person is not me, and, while most of the time that's okay, sometimes I wish I had more control. 

But those thoughts pass quickly.

The dynamic of the group is cooperative. We all want the group to 'do well' even though there are five different definitions of what that means. We should probably have a meeting and get on the same page as to what the band is about.

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         209.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     208.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

After yesterday's snacking fails, I shouldn't be surprised. Glad I did better today. 

Food Log 

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with spinach, black beans, onions, peppers and celery, topped with salsa.

Lunch
At Ling-Ling's Chinese Buffet and Grill:

Brussels sprouts, kimchee, and, from the "Mongolian Grill", my go-to dish, pork and chicken with cabbage, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, snow pea pods and broccoli.

Dinner

Chicken-feta cheese-spinach sausage and cole slaw. Not shown: Spring Mix and baby spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  20 oz.   Water:  132+ oz.

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March 27

Post 783, Day 86 of 2013
 - and 817 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I found out something interesting today, very interesting in that it is a twist on what I already knew: That I caused my own case of gallstones, which resulted in having my gall bladder removed. 

The twist is in how I did that: By losing weight. The extra twist: My gall bladder removal has changed my ability to lose and maintain my weight loss.

For a self-actuating person, I have a pretty sick sense of humor.

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         208.8 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     209.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

After yesterday's snacking fails, I shouldn't be surprised. Glad I did better today. 

Food Log 

Breakfast

Cocoa-kale-hemp-protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon, vanilla, psillium and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Chicken-feta cheese-spinach sausage and hard-boiled eggs with a Spring Mix, baby spinach and cole slaw mix salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Dal Tadka (lentil curry) with peas.

Snack

Baked salmon with baby carrots and home-made mayonnaise.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  20 oz.   Water:  88+ oz.

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March 26

Post 782, Day 85 of 2013
 - and 816 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Rehearsal was cancelled tonight (again? Yup!) so I went to a jam I usually don't get to so that I would get a little playing time in. Got a chance to play with some more singer-songwriters, that's always a good workout. These folk guys, with their internal rhythms and fancy changes are really difficult to play with. The host of the open mic, a locally well-known (and ery, very good) bass player, gave me the ultimate compliment:

"I'm glad that was you up there, not me."

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         209.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     207.6 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 1.6 lbs

Diet Comment

After yesterday's snacking fails, I shouldn't be surprised. Glad I did a little better today. Only one fail... 

Food Log 

Breakfast

Cocoa-kale-hemp-protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (36g protein),  cinnamon, vanilla, psillium and stevia-inulin blend.

Snack

Reese's Peanut Butter cups (fail!).

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast on Spring Mix, baby spinach and cole slaw mix with balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

At J&P Pub:

Cobb salad (steak, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, white cheese, avocado, romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppercorn ranch dressing). 

Snack

Hard-boiled eggs and guacamole.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  20 oz.   Water:  104+ oz.

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March 25

Post 781, Day 84 of 2013
 - and 815 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I had a good practice with Karl, he of the guitar-singing-songwriting duet.
Thought I'd post some pics taken at the concert:

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         207.6 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     207.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 0.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Thanks to that late, high-calorie high-sodium dinner, weight is pretty much the same. 

Food Log 

Breakfast

Skipped.

Lunch

Cocoa-kale-hemp-chia seed-protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (36g protein),  cinnamon, vanilla, psillium and stevia-inulin blend.

Snack

Sugar cookies (fail). Baby carrots with home-made mayonnaise.

Dinner

Wild-caught salmon burgers with cole slaw. Not shown: Spring Mix with balsamic vinaigrette.

Snack

Celery with home-made mayonnaise. Ezekiel Almond sprouted grain cereal with almond milk and stevia-inulin blend (fail).

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  20 oz.   Water:  104+ oz.

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

March 24

Post 780, Day 83 of 2013
 - and 814 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Tonight was the big concert, opening at the Palace Theater. I felt 'off' for a time leading up to the performance, maybe due to a little nervousness, although it didn't feel like that. It just somehow felt a bit unreal, and very mundane.

The sound check was a disappointment, as expected. When you are low man on the bill, you get leftover settings and hope they're not too far off. Listening to the headliner and then the second-billed group, I wondered how my bass would come across. I don't play the same style or get the same sound as the other bass players, and wouldn't be all that happy with the sound of either. However, ultimately, the two headline bands sounded pretty good, so I had some confidence in the sound people.

Our sound check, as I said, was short, perfunctory - just identifying who was coming up where on the soundboard, and maybe some level notes. We did one song - the others got quite a bit more) and were off.

Then came the wait for the performance. Then we were up, and it was over in a flash. I think it went well, the feedback was good. We sold a couple of CDs and even a T-shirt. People did come out to support us. There was a good photographer there, the same one that took my favorite performance picture ever, so I should get some good pics from this.    

After the concert, a tiredness overtook me, then a different feeling of emptiness. Then sleep.

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         207.8 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     209.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.6 lbs

Diet Comment

Given yesterday's high-carb, high-calorie day, I'm glad the weight gain wasn't greater. 

Food Log 

Breakfast

Skipped.

Lunch

Cocoa-kale-hemp-chia seed-protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (36g protein),  cinnamon, vanilla, psillium and stevia-inulin blend.

Dinner
Pepperoni, celery and home-made mayonnaise. Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  0 oz.   Water:  104+ oz.

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March 23

Post 779, Day 82 of 2013
 - and 813 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

This was a 'down' day - not emotionally, but physically. I watched a movie, some TV. I didn't eat that much. I took a nap after all my hard work. I watched the Syracuse basketball game (they won, moving along to the NCAA 'Sweet 16'.

Then I went to sleep.     

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 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         209.4 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     208.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 1.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Given yesterday's high-carb, high-calorie day, I'm glad the weight gain wasn't greater. 

Food Log 

Breakfast

Skipped.

Lunch

Scrambled eggs, spinach, black beans, salsa, and chicken-feta cheese-spinach sausage.

Dinner
Cocoa-kale-hemp-chia seed-protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (36g protein),  cinnamon, vanilla, psillium and stevia-inulin blend.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  30 oz.   Water:  64+ oz.

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!