July 18

Post 892, Day 199 of 2013
- and 930 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Nothing much to say today, so I'll just be a little affirmative (and very positive):

I am so grateful for what I have - I really won the lottery being born when, where, and as I was.

I am even more grateful for the wonderful stuff  I sense is coming my way in the (unknown-to-my-conscious-mind) future.

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         208.0 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     207.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

Considering how much of yesterday's food was off-plan, I am just real, real happy with this result, and today's meals are just perfect.

Food Log 

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

Lunch

Roasted turkey, red bean and egg salad on Spring Mix greens with red cabbage.

Snack

Soft-serve ice cream.

Dinner

Chorizo sausage.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  22 oz.   Water: 156+ oz.

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July 17

Post 891, Day 198 of 2013
- and 929 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I had this thought about life in the United States of America:

This is a bad place to be dark-skinned, and it is an especially bad place to be poor. This country treats people non-white-skinned people, and people in less fortunate economic strata as though they were bad. 

The Constitution says this is wrong, every religion says this is wrong. In this country, it is policy. 

And, it is getting worse. 

I thought electing a black president of the Democratic Party would make things better. It turned out pretty much the opposite, as this president is stacking up to be just as bad, and in some ways, even worse, than the last one.

I wouldn't have thought that was possible.

In this country, the people in power, the people who are wealthy, regard anyone that is not powerful or wealthy as an inconvenience. 

About three hours after I wrote the above, I saw this:

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         207.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     207.6 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

Good enough.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Chia gel.

Lunch
At Ruby Tuesday:

Chicken Fresca and spaghetti squash. Not shown: two trips to the salad bar.

Snack

Soft-serve ice cream sundae:

Dinner

At Eskapes:

Scallops Carolina.

Snack

Ezekiel Sprouted grain cereal with blueberries, almond-coconut milk and stevia-inulin blend.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  0 oz.   Water: 178+ oz.

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July 16

Post 890, Day 197 of 2013
- and 928 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

It is, of course, the middle of a heat wave in the Northeast, and that can mean only one thing: 

My air conditioner is out. On the 3rd (top) floor of my apartment, that means it is hotter inside my apartment than it is, out.

The landlord promises a new AC as soon as she can arrange it, but there are no spares left, it seems many of the wall-through-type air conditioners went down last week.

Luckily, I can spend most of my time outside the apartment.

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         207.6 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     209.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.8 lbs

Diet Comment

Progress.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch

Wild-caught salmon, hard-boiled eggs, red kidney beans, red cabbage, Spring Mix greens and balsamic vinaigrette.

Snack
Soft-serve ice cream.

Dinner

Protein bar and a Salad of Spring Mix greens and kale with balsamic vinaigrette.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  22 oz.   Water: 128+ oz.

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July 15

Post 889, Day 196 of 2013
- and 927 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I have lots of opinions and I express them frequently and freely. "Freely" is the important word in that sentence - my opinions are as free from attachment and hubris as I can make them, which is, apparently, much more than some people can imagine they are.

One reason is that I try to think through my opinions before expressing them. Another reason is that I welcome the discussion that follows a difference of opinion, which can result either in affirmation or correction.

The exchange of ideas and the discussion of opinions - that's my idea of fun. I also enjoy the look on people's faces when I accept that my opinion was wrong, and, therefore, must be changed.

They look at me like I'm an alien .

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         209.4 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     210.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

I'm glad to have lost any weight at all after last night's terrible eating.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Protein bar.

Snack
Nutty Butter cookies.

Lunch

Dal Tadka and scrambled eggs. Not shown: Salad with Spring Mix, red cabbage and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Cocoa-kale-hemp-chia protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, chia gel, vanilla whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon, psyllium and stevia-inulin blend.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  22 oz.   Water: 160+ oz.

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July 14

Post 888, Day 195 of 2013
- and 926 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

The band gave one of its best performances tonight.

Which only means that the mood is good, which is very nice - for a change.

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         210.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     208.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 2.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Ah, well. This was completely expected, given yesterday's off-plan eating. I went out with the band after our performance - it was dinnertime, and I hadn't eaten anything up to that point.

Maybe it was the shot we all drank before the performance, but I ordered the wrong thing, and ended up eating a bunch of off-plan stuff. That's two days in a row.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch

Skipped.

Dinner

At Zebb's: A 'smothered' sirloin steak, which is a nondescript cut of meat covered in melted cheese, onions and peppers. On the side: broccoli, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn bread.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 102+ oz. A shot of something, I don't know what, in something pink-colored, again, no idea.

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July 13 - Cheat Day

Post 887, Day 194 of 2013
- and 925 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I know, I said no more cheat days, and this didn't start out to be one, until I just got a little crazy at the regional market, due to the presence of a home-baked walnut-cinnamon coffee cake. That was it. All bets off. I did manage to eat okay, for the most part, the rest of the day, but first, that cake.

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         208.0 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     207.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

My late-night sugar and alcohol binge should have been the end of it, but see my comments above about my 'best intentions' road to Hell, narrated below. Meanwhile, tomorrow's weight will doubtless reflect the day's excesses.

Food Log 

A Food Narrative
I woke up late, went to the Regional Farmer's Market to get eggs. I ended up with a coffee cake and a gorgeous bunch of kale, too.

I started eating around 1:30pm. I finished eating around 7:30pm. In between, I had:

• Coffee cake
• Sauteed kale with scrambled eggs
• A kale and blueberry smoothie, with protein powder, chia gel, cinnamon, vanilla and stevia-inulin blend.
• Pepperoni.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  36 oz.   Water: 64+ oz. 

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July 12

Post 886, Day 193 of 2013
- and 924 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

A lot of fun at the Landmark tonight.

The show - a fundraising event for the theater, put on by a former employee of the Dinosaur BBQ who began 'designing' the show there, seven years ago, then took it to NYC to do events around it five years ago. It is called, "The Naughty Little Pig" and it is, basically, a burlesque show, with sexy acts and musical numbers.

She is a rock singer, and I don't know if she writes (I'll bet she does), but for the event she got together with a bunch of excellent musicians, all of whom I know, and did an incredible set. 

i am Fool opened the show, and had the most playing time. I don't think the sound was good, and fixing it made it louder, too loud for some of the theater-goers, who 'fell back' away from the stage (we were playing in the upper lounge of this elegant old theater). I think we were very well received.

I got some compliments, anyway.

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         207.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     207.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.0 lbs

Diet Comment

No change. See my Dinner below and Daily Comment above to know why I'm not optimistic about tomorrow's result.

Food Log 

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

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast and black beans on Spring Mix greens with balsamic vinaigrette. 

Dinner

At the theater, I had some green room stuff - pepperoni, vegetables with Ranch Dressing dip. There really wasn't much. Later, I had barbecued pork. Still later, I had some "pudding shots" and got a little tipsy, which led to a late night cookie binge.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 120+ oz. 

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July 11

Post 885, Day 192 of 2013
- and 923 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

As my brother has told me, I don't know anything. The context is that nobody knows anything.

But we can't walk around and interact with other no-nothings without making some assumptions. Of course, we have all been told what happens when we make assumptions.

And there's the tautology, how do you know nobody knows anything. 

Today's meditation.

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         207.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     206.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

That is almost no change. On the other hand, it looks like I got away relatively unscathed with a big candy bar (and some blueberries, usually reserved for the now-extinct cheat days).

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast and black beans on Spring Mix greens with balsamic vinaigrette. 

Snack

Ezekiel Golden Flax sprouted grain cereal with blueberries, coconut-almond milk and stevia-inulin. Not shown: Protein bar. Later, a can of wasabi peas (big mistake).


Dinner

In three parts: First, seasoned lentils; second, Italian-style chicken sausage (with peppers and onions); last, mashed faux-tatoes (smashed cauliflower with butter, salt and pepper). No pic,  because I made and ate them one-at-a-time.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 138+ oz. 

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July 10

Post 884, Day 191 of 2013
- and 922 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I understand insecurity. I have a large quantity, and I believe most people have at least some.

But I'm always surprised to find people who are insecure about skills and talent I find them possessing in abundance.

Am I missing something? Is this just the neurotic nature of our time? You possess something, so you are hyper- (self-)critical and hyper-sensitive about it. At the same time.

This came up when a band member reviewed one of our performances, and offered to resign, or take a new role to help with recordings, but not appear live and "drag down the band".

WTF?

The talents and limitations of the individual members of the band are not equally distributed, but there aren't any members who don't have more talent than limitations. And the band is more than the sum of its parts.

And the person who offered to leave is one whose talent far overshadows the limitations (which are only a mental defect, anyway).

If I didn't know better, I'd say it was a fishing-for-sympathy trip. I don't think it is, I think it is another example of the self-loathing that seems to lie just beneath the surface of so many admirable people these days.

But I am sympathetic - and more than a little chagrined that someone I like and credit with enormous talent, ability and accomplishments, could be so full of self-doubt and fear. 

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         206.8 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     206.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 0.0 lbs

Diet Comment

No change. That's cool. On the other hand, today was an all dining-out day. We'll see what that means for tomorrow.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Chia gel.

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 and broccoli.

Snack
Chocolate bar (dark chocolate with hazlenuts). Blueberry-Kale smoothie (Almond milk, kale, blueberries, vanilla whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon, vanilla, psyllium and stevia-inulin blend).

Dinner

At Eskapes Lounge: Steak medallions in red wine reduction, over sauteed vegetables (spinach, peppers, onions, mushrooms). A couple of glasses of good red wine.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 148+ oz. and 2 glasses of Pinot Noir.

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