Ahi Tuna Special

Seared Ahi Tuna over noodles with vegetables, $12 USD at Bambu Bistro.

Mexican Fiesta

I was immediately drawn to this taco stand in Little Italy, and had to try it out. I had a very good bean tostada. I was too hungry to photograph it, and just wolfed it down. Take a closer look.

The Biggest Loser (Season 2, Live Finale)

The grand finale of NBC's The Biggest Loser aired last night as a 2 hour live special. The final three contestants were on their own at home for the last 5 months, training for the final weigh-in on live television. I really thought that Seth would win, but Matt's bulldog dedication and athletic instinct saw him through to losing a total of 46% of his starting weight. Suzy looked great and gave it a great effort, but came up a few % points short.

Again, it's a very inspirational show, and it motivates me to shoot for higher fitness goals. Most of the contestants looked amazing, and were unrecognisable from their earlier selves, both physically and in personality. They often talked about their new zest for life, as they jumped around on stage.

I'm not sure what the viewers draw from the show. I guess it depends on your outlook. Skeptical people will probably dismiss it one way or another. Maybe some people think the diets are too restrictive. (You see Suzy in a Thai restaurant cry because she can't eat anything on the menu. Seth won't eat pasta or carbs. Notice how I had a Thai burrito last night.) Or maybe people think the workouts are too demanding. Me, I see that I'm going to drop another 5-8 kgs, and feel great about it.

Thai Burrito

I picked up dinner again from Bambu Bisto. Alex whipped this one up with beef and peanut sauce, since I was really hungry. I just ate it, and I'm watching the big live finale of The Biggest Loser. I also had an apple, and I'm thinking of what I'm going to have next.

Yep, It's Monday

I was psyched for tonight's spin class, because I pulled out my old Diadora road shoes and changed from the Look-style cleats to SPD, and was ready to go. But I left them at home, and I was bummed. Lynne was teaching, so I got over it.

Bambu Bistro

I saw the Bambu Bistro last week while I was waiting for my take-away at Chef's Wok. It's an Asian fusion restaurant at 4th and University in Hillcrest, about a block from my gym. When I saw it last week, I wanted to ditch my order at Chef's Wok, and get something better here. I actually hadn't paid for my steamed fish order yet, so I could have done it, but I guess my parents taught me better. Instead, I put it at the top of my list for the next neighbourhood restaurant to visit.

The place is great. They're well set up for take-away, which is perfect for me. It's also fresh, healthy food, that in fits perfect with my food philosophy. Chef Alexandria is the owner, and she whipped up the salad rolls above. She's fun to talk with. And yes, her salad rolls are much better than the ones at Saffron, which are just mass produced. I could immediately tell the difference just by looking at them. They were great. I should have asked for some sauces though.

I ordered teriyaki salmon for my main calories. I was too hungry to photograph it before I ate it. I was suprised I didn't have to take out 1/2 the jasmine rice, because it was appropriately portioned. Wow, I landed in an alternate universe where overeating isn't institutionalised. The vegetables were probably prepared healthy as well. Anyway, I cleaned up the plate. I found a new healthy place for take-away, and I'll explore the menu in the next few weeks.

77.8 kg

I pretty much ate the same over the Thanksgiving break as I would have normally. Mainly good stuff, but the usual candy, chips, desserts, and the eating while watching television. I made up for the bad stuff by working out, and barely managed to make a new low weight this morning. I was almost afraid of getting on the scale this morning, because I ate a lot of leftover turkey yesterday, and that 225g x 6cal/g = 1350 calorie trail mix, a bunch of muselix, an apple, an avocado, etc. Could have been worse.

The picture above is the inside of the Village Club. It's a tiny poker room that's been family-owned since 1947. There are regulars there that have probably been there that long. I should ask some of them. Then again, I've been playing there for over 10 years. Ahem. I took the picure last Friday after the post-Thanksgiving OFC workout. That's the cageless cage, with Warren the floorman counting out some money with the cashier who's on the phone. It's funny how there's no seperation at all between all the cash and chips, and the rest of the room. Well, the place is manned 24 hours a day, so I guess it doesn't matter.

I got this homemade tamale from Sunny's Market next door.

What Do They Call Cole Slaw?

Well, it's probably salade de chou. But the poutine is a better bet. I've had it in Canada, on a bike tour, at the end of a long ride, on a rainy day. We were starving and cold, and found a tiny grocery/restaurant in a tiny town along the Trans Canadian Trail, and it was perfect.

After running Torrey Pines, I went shopping and picked up some new running and road cycling shoes. I should have eaten and photographed some of our quirky regional food, but I bought a 225g bag of trail mix, and ate it instead.

The Day After

The Outdoor Fitness Camps trainers woke up early the day after Thanksgiving, and treated us all to a free, burn-the-cake-off day after workout. I'm messing around with a boxing glove. I can't recommend Camp enough. It's inexpensive, social, and effective. No corporate middlemen. Just you and Randy or Jason keeping it real.

Went to the Village Club after the workout. I bought a tamale and banana from Sunny's Market, then played Pai-Gow, $3/$6 Hold'Em, and $3/$6 Omaha8. I didn't stay long, since I figured I could pay for the family dinner with the profits, or dump it all back.

Thanksgiving Day

It looked like a Thanksgiving Day Parade at Torrey Pines this morning. Lots of people enjoying the day off, and pre-emptively burning off tonight's holiday calories. I did my usual 6km run (2.5km hill).

Say it isn't so. Kelly LeBrock of teenage Weird Science and mid-life The Lady In Red fantasy has signed on for the upcoming Celebrity Fit Club 3. Okay, it's one thing to put on weight after your career, but it's another to stoop to doing a VH1 reality series. Here's a preview of the train wreck.

Update 1:00pm
Mortal lock #1 in the bank. Couldn't believe that line (Atlanta -3 @ Detroit) when I saw it. Send it. Now I'm headed to the gym for strength training before the family dinner.

Update 10:00pm
G.d. Cowboys. If they made that short field goal in the last 3 minutes of regulation, they would have avoided overtime, and I would have won the bet. I'm cashing out +$75 from last Sunday's buy-in. I won't bet this weekend.

Dinner was nice, seeing family, playing with kids and dogs was fun. Overeating is not a temptation when I'm with people.

The Biggest Loser (Season 2, Week 11)

Last night was the last episode taped on the ranch. The remaining 4 contestants fought for the final 3 spots in the home leg of the competition. Next week will be the big live finale, where we see how the 3 finalists did on their own. It's been somewhere between 3 and 6 months since they taped that episode, so we should see some dramatic "after" footage.

Overall, the show was very inspirational, as usual. We saw the results the Losers accomplished during their stay on the show. The interviews were very emotional, and brought up the feelings of insecurity they had with their old weight, and how their new confidence and outlook make them feel like a different person. It's very inspirational tv. Ranks up there with the Olympics. I knew there was a reason NBC was always my favourite network.

Rest Day

I'm pretty tired today, so I'm not going to the gym tonight. It's a good day to recover from working out 8 of the last 9 days. Of course, these are my triggers for binging -- fatigue, rest day, tv, couch. Maybe I'll visit a friend.

Update 6:57pm
Still haven't binged yet.

Update 11:44pm
Haven't binged. Ate 200 calories of frozen fish, an apple, an orange, baked chips {russet potato, sea salt, rosemary}, and half a baked onion.

Played poker for like 4 hours, lost $3.50.

Thanksgiving Plans

Atlanta Falcons (-3) @ Detroit Lions

Dallas Cowboys (+2) @ home vs. Denver Broncos

78.0 kg

Made a new low this morning, mostly because I've been cutting back on my high-calorie dinners. I started following Jason's advice, and cook low-fat proteins, and eat them with more vegetables. Of course this works, but I've been suprised that I haven't been miserably hungry. Usually, when I hear claims of "I was never hungry" from people on a 1200 calorie/day shake diet, or the like, I roll my eyes, and say to myself, "sure, whatever you say". So I won't even make the claim. Anyways, Jason told me I'd feel a big difference when I got off the saturated fats (Tacos El Gordo, fatty chicken thighs, etc.). Well, yes, he may have a point.

I went to the Lucky Lady Casino last night for the first time in years. It was ackward saying hi to the floorman Steve, since I kind of just disappeared 2 1/2 years ago. But, these little casino reunions happen all the time. Regulars might disappear for a while, then suddenly come back.

The Lucky Lady is one of the last two licensed card rooms in San Diego, on a lease that expires when the owner Stan leaves this earth. The license is not transferable, since the city doesn't want card rooms anymore. The story seems to be that the city issued a lot of licenses back in the early 80's for some reason, until there was a glut, and a political scandal with the brother of the mayor. Or something like that. It left a bad taste in the city's mouth, and they decided that was that. The Lucky Lady is the last of it's kind, for a while.

Torrey Pines Run @ 78.4 kg

After chatting with John at 2am, and watching him play a few online sit-n-go tournaments, I got some sleep, and got up tired, but determined not to waste the entire day. I was motivated enough to drive to the Torrey Pines state park by the beach, to try my new camera. <-- That's a still.

I like running up the big hill outside of the state park (2.5km?) with the bicycles. I had the idea of filming myself passing the bikers, but the best I could do was to keep close for a bit. Here's a video of me trying to keep up with a bicycle.

Usual Saturday, Plus Ikea

Denise had the great idea to look at kitchen remodelling stuff at Ikea, instead of places like Home Expo, which are probably twice as expensive. Put it this way, last time we went to Home Expo, I spent $75 on a book, a scented candle, and a base. Today, I spent $75 again, but replaced all my dishes and glasses, and bought more scented candles and holders, kitchen towels, and an office waste paper basket. Ikea is the Swedish Walmart.

We also split a ham & cheese sandwich with two cokes for like $5.75. The authentic people tried the meatballs at the cafe.



Otherwise it was a normal Saturday, meaning I did spinning, OFC, took a nap, had dinner at OA, and went to the casino. As soon as I walked into the poker room, I saw dealer Anna, who called me over because she was really excited about trying Outdoor Fitness Camps after Denise told her about it, and that I left "early" last night for it. She ended up dealing my table, and I gave her directions, URLs, and phone numbers, and she's planning on showing up next Saturday. Then the floorman came over and broke our game, so our players could fill up a bunch of other short games. Usually, the games start breaking after midnight, and there's not much you can do about it. Luckily for Anna, they converted the table to a $200 max buy-in No-Limit game. She asked if I was going to play, in a suprised way, and I could tell she liked the idea better of me cashing out with a reasonable win, and not playing the No-Limit game. Thanks for looking out for me Anna :)

Casino Friday Night

I was cleaning up at home, and Denise called to go to the casino. Thank god for co-dependents. We saw Anna the dealer, and we had a little chat between her downs about her hair and how she usually flat irons it for 45 minutes, and this was the first time I saw her with her naturally curly hair. That was about the highlight of the night. Except for the craps game, which they modified to make it a lot more exciting. Before they used two 6-deck shoes with the A-6 cards, and for each "roll", they'd just pull one card from each shoe. It was flairless, pre-determined (did anyone every ask to burn a card from just one of the shoes?), and only the true degenerates played the game. Tonight, it was much livelier, because they now deal it similar to Pai-Gow, where they put a 12-card deck (A-6) x2 into an auto-shuffler, and they burn the first 4 cards, then use the next two for the "roll". The dealer throws down the cards face up, very Pai-Gow-like. It's a great change for the game, and a little bit of genius went into the idea.

Anyways, I took off early while I was winning, and I left Denise even more up than me. We'll see if she ultimately cashed out ahead.

On the way home, I saw a car completely ablaze on the freeway. The only thing left was a little bit of frame. I didn't see any police or fire department. It was very strange, like Paris or something.

Discovering Hillcrest

I talked with a girl from spinning class after the workout, and we shared complements about being fit, losing weight, etc. I saw this girl on Tuesday do two consecutive 60 minute step classes. Any two cardio classes in a row seems excessive, even to me. She was interested in how I lost my weight, making sure I wasn't starving myself or anything. I reassured her that I binged frequently, and we made a friendship.

She recommended I try the St. Tropez cafe down the street from the gym. I decided I'd go out and check it out, since I've really only eaten at about 5 places over the last few years. (Saffron, Tacos El Gordo, The Brother's Deli, Whole Foods.) Hillcrest is a beautiful neighbourhood, about as city-like as you'll in San Diego.

I picked up a proscuito panino at St. Tropez. It was nice walking along a city street, and I talked to a few people as I checked out the shops. Some guy started calling my name from about 50 metres away, as he was standing in the doorway of a bar. I looked around the first few times, but assumed he was talking to someone else. Then he called me again, looking at me. I walked over there, and he looked like he knew me or expected me. But, as we talked a little, I think he picked up that I was straight, and he starting making an apology about a mistaken identity. I was confused, but he wasn't. Must be some protocol I don't understand.

On my way back to the car, I stepped into the candy shop by the gym. I talked with the shopgirl a little about the Wonka Bar I bought, and it ended up being a long conversation about good movies, old movies, and Hollywood history. It turns out we both have nostalgia for a time we never experienced, that was closer to our parents time. I often talk to my mom about movies from the 40's. She really likes movies that are family dramas, like How Green Was My Valley or Mildred Pierce. My mom especially remembers the role of Veda, and the actress that played her, Ann Bylth, because they're about the same age. I know she's has always had something against the rich girl characters in the movies, and Veda's eventual comeuppance reaffirmed her sense of cosmic justice. What would we do without AMC?

$19.87 USD

I didn't make it to Ranch 99 yet, so I just stopped by Henry's. This kind of proves my point that groceries here are about half the price of Whole Foods.

I'm following a few key tips from Trainer Jason this week: 1) avoid saturated fats, and 2) improve posture. So that means chicken tenders instead of the nice fatty chicken thighs that taste so good. Of course I start off the new diet by binging on the entire bag of pastachios above. The nutrition label said I ate 11 servings * 190 calories/serving, but their crazy math must count the shells the same as the nut. The shells weighed a total of 170g, so there were only 170g of nuts * 6 cal/g = 1020 total calories. I've binged worse.

$32.33 USD

I'm sick of overpaying at Whole Foods. However, they maintain some mysterious power over me, which pulls me back into the store over and over. At Henry's, a similar basket of goods would cost about $15. I paid $3.99 for that string chese block in the back. The apple here costs $.88, where its about $.10 at Henry's. Once I bought an apple and a pair from Henry's for $.17. It seems pretty silly to go through the process of operating the cash register for $.17. I bet that organic natural soda behind me in line rung up at $3.99.

So what is it that makes people happily and loyally overpay for their groceries at Whole Foods? The quality and variety of the food? The swankiness of the store? The social scene? I have to admit, for me, it's the Old World atmosphere of the store. It's the people behind the counters cutting and weighing the meats. It feels like a market.

There must be other happy shopping places in town. I know that Ranch 99 is the closest thing to a Chinese market, and people really like it. There has to be a nice little market in Little Italy as well. I'll find something.

78.4 kg

New low this morning. And I ate plenty of corn tortilla chips last night.

Monday Is Spin Day

Lynne is the best spinning instructor at the Hillcrest 24 Hour Fitness. Of course, Ryan on Tuesdays and Thursdays is everyone else's favorite, guess why. I look forward to Mondays, and spin on Tuesdays, because there's no Outdoor Fitness Camps. By Wednesday or Thursday, I don't really want to do another spinning workout, so I make OFC.

Falafel Dinner

I had this falafel with the OA group on Saturday night. I skipped the meeting, and just went to dinner. Everyone there understands. They're accepting of almost any admitted flaw in personal behaviour. Except I'm not supposed to judge anything about myself negatively. I find I tend to be self-critical, but it's not like I do anything about my observations.

This falafel was excellent, as usual. The cuccumber and tomatoes are always fresh and crisp. Someone in the kitchen makes this with love. I had eaten some salad rolls and tacos earlier, so I ate about 3/4 of the falafel, and wrapped the rest for breakfast the next morning.

Sunday I ran Torrey Pines and did a strength workout at the new gym in the swanky downtown La Jolla village. I was really exhausted, so I limped home, and laid down for the rest of the day on the couch. I watched helplessly as I saw all 4 of my NFL bets win, while I only booked one of them.

78.6 kg

Finally, I strung together a few days of reasonable eating, and made a new low weight this morning. Also, the hours of hill climbs and sprints in spinning class didn't hurt either. As opposed to the double fast food meals on Monday night that actually did hurt.

I haven't translated the sign above, but I'm pretty sure they're talking about carnitas inside the bodega. It got my curiosity piqued, so I walked in to the store that's been next door to the Village Club, but I've never visited in 10 years. I was impressed they had fresh produce and a butcher. It's a cheaper, local version of Whole Foods. I bought 4 avocados for $2, and a bag of diced nobales (cactus) for $1.89. Next time I'll try the puerco.

Tacos El Gordo

I've probably had lunch at Tacos El Gordo about twice a month since starting my fitness and weightloss plan. Usually, I average about 3 tacos per trip. Today, I limited myself to two of them, since Trainer Jason convinced me the idea of scarfing down tacos following a killer OFC workout didn't make too much sense. He obviously doesn't like guacamole. Well, maybe he has a point, since last night I ate a steak, then two sausages, a yogurt, and muslix. And during the day I had 350 calories of candy. Today I did spinning before camp, trying to catch up. OFC was especially good, as we had nine people, the sun was out, and it doesn't even feel like fall yet. Emily brought her 2-year old chocolate lab, and I ran around with her for some extra sprints.

Usually when you see a simple menu like this, it means the customers are there for the house specialty. I've only used two of the prices so far, the $1.65/taco, and the $1.10 drink (free refills). It's a "taco, taco, taco, coke" kind of place.

Left Casino Early Tonight

Logged a small +$41 USD win in $3-$6 Hold'Em. The usual degenerates were there at the Village Club, lots of gambling going on in the games, lots of players on tilt. I saw Jeff on his third or forth buy-in in the $1-$3 No-Limit HE game, and I felt fortunate with my little win, so I picked up at about 9:15pm. Ace came by, wearing a shirt and slacks for the first time I've ever known him, and asked if I was out. I told him yes. He asked if I won, I said "$41". In kind, he told me he cashed out over a hundred that morning. But when I told him I cashed +$56 and +$57 last weekend, he told me how he'd stopped playing for a week, because he has a -$180 loss and another hundred+ loss. He told me his system of finding somewhere else to play if he lost twice in a row in the same room. He started telling me about some AKs and AJs hands he lost in the morning, and how it convinced him to cash out. I don't really encourage people when they tell me about their bad beats. I don't respond to these stories. As a rule. Especially when they're about low-limit games. He took the hint, and walked off.

Someone asked me today if I played poker for the excitement of winning. Or rather he assumed I played for that reason. I told him I play because I have nothing else better to do. I had to convince him of this. I guess most people associate chronic gambling with chronic losing. Poker is the only table game where this is not necessarily true. I might be a burn-out though. I explained to him there were a few players that just walk around, passing on games, with a vaguely unhappy look on their faces.

I'm All-In (Texans @ Colts Over 45)

I had $35.28 left in my Bodog sportsbook account, so I put it all on this early game on Sunday. I've cashed out a net +$130 profit, and I'd like to keep cashing out some wins. In other words, I can't quit. I looked over all the early games, and I like this one. The other bet I would have considered was the Patriots -4 @ Dolphins, and maybe the SF +13.5 @ Chicago.

I realised the equivalent of cashing out these small wins would be to pack lunch everyday. So, I grilled up 300g of chicken thighs (from CostCo), and I'm brining it to the office. That's like a $6 win right there, over buying a fish sandwich from the deli. Like it matters.

79.2 kg (Still)

The recent binging hasn't added any kilos, but it's slowed down my weightloss over the past few weeks. The temptations you encounter on the road, outside of your routine can really put a dent into your plan. It's helpful when you can ask people to help police your food, and they do it. Someone saved me from a slice of pizza yesterday that would have turned into two or three slices, in addition to the chicken, ribs, salad, and cookies I'd already eaten. Friends don't let friends eat junk food. The property management group sent us a pizza, ribs, chicken, cookies, brownies, salad, and sodas as lunch for the 3 of us. Ahhh yes, American portion sizing.

I ate the above chicken tacos on Sunday, and I made something pretty similar last night, except I didn't have any lettuce. They were great, and I still have a bunch of chicken frozen from my CostCo visit. I also had a sausage, apple, string beans, bok choy, and muslix. I did a full strength workout plus spinning, and I probably underate for the day, because I had hunger-induced nightmares all night.

Biggest Loser (Season 2, Week 9)

Okay, I have to admit I'm losing interest in the show. They're down to just 5 players now, following the elimination of Shannon. I'm still impressed by the performance of Dr. Jeff, who lost another 14 lbs for the week, which is insane. I'd expect a book from this guy, but I'm pretty sure he's not allowed to write about his Biggest Loser experiences. Otherwise the show is pretty boring. I liked it better when there were team competitions and dynamics.

I ate really poorly (read: binged) on Monday, a travel day. I don't even want to get into the details, but let's just say the BigMac tastes pretty good, but the Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack-In-The-Box isn't very good. And their fries suck. And mini Sweedish Fish aren't as good as the whole ones. And Thai food is fantastic. Yesterday I did a full strength workout before spinning, but I felt pretty crappy from the effects of the junk food. I went to Whole Foods to get healthy food for a detox dinner, and picked up a Thai chicken wrap, beef and mushroom stew, seasame string beans with Shitake mushrooms, and an orange. That felt much better, and I caught up with 9 hours of sleep last night. I'll make spinning again tonight, and will eventually hop back on the scales.

Papachito's

We went out for Mexican-like food at lunch. Denise got the veggie burrito, which I used to love. I got the grilled chicken tacos. I hadn't been to Papachito's in years, since I got really heavy, although it's just around the corner from my house, and serves very healthy Mexican food.

As soon as I stepped into the door, I looked up at the tv mounted in the corner, and saw that Oakland had pulled ahead of KC with a minute or so to go. What happened? I was winning that bet (KC -3) a minute before, now it looked like I was going to lose it. My under 51 bet was in danger as well. I ordered my food, and something miraculous happened, because KC ended up with the ball with :05 left and 3 points behind, but decided to go for the win. They pounded it into the endzone, and I won both bets.

I won all 4 of my football bets today, and ended up about +$80 USD for the day. Of course, that just pays for the $75 I spent today on a scented candle with base, and a book on rennovating the kitchen. How gay is that?

Workout, Binge, Sleep, Confess, Gambo

I did the usual cycle this Saturday, waking up to do the 7:15 am spinning class, the 9:00 am OFC workout. I had some chili for breakfast, then a sandwich from Starbucks, then 3 salad rolls, two sausages, a bunch of crackers, and 7 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I took a long nap until 5:30 pm, then took a shower, and headed to the Overeater's Anonymous meeting. Actually, I headed directly to the restaurant for the dinner following the meeting. Then I found out the meeting was still going on, so I went back to participate, though I thought I was going to be able to skip it, and just have dinner.

Anyways, it was good to hear some of the open sharing. There's always something that hits very close to home, and is very true. It's not everywhere that people open up like that. Actually, it's not anywhere you'll get this. So the meeting was really good, and talking to people after was also very helpful. Dinner was great, because I find I have so much in common with everyone there.

Afterwards, I was in a great mood, and I headed to the Village Club and ended up in the $1/$3 No-Limit Hold'em game. The action was a little crazy, as usual I guess, with "Kamakazi" Lee going all-in about 5 times in the hour and a half I was playing. He was under the weather, and had a flu or something, so if I get sick (which is highly probable), you'll know where I got it from. I won just one hand, but it put me up about $50. I limped in with pocket sixes, and flopped a set. Two guys behind me flopped top two pairs (aces up), and I check called the flop, and bet into them on the turn. I took down the pot, which was about $150. If I had topped of my buy-in, it'd have been a lot more.

Right after midnight Jeff Rose tapped my shoulder, and offered me $6 to get up. He was first on the list, and wanted to play. I was very happy to pick up, and take the $56 profit. That's a net of like +$150 USD profit for the weekend. When I cash out little wins like this, it tends to pay for my little expenses during the week. I can live with it.

I think I ate about 2700 calories today. That's probably the right amount, although the 700 calories of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups was probably a bad choice.

Recovered From Binge

I had the courage to get on the scale this morning, following the Thursday night (and Friday morning) binge, and thankfully, I'm still at my lowest weight. Yesterday, I woke up and went right to the California rolls, crackers, chicken thighs, and avocado. I binged, and wanted to go back to bed, and stay home for the day.

Finally, I got my butt up and into the office, and sort of skipped lunch, and minimized dinner. I went to the casino to play poker with Denise, and also to see Anna the dealer. It'd been a month since I was there, and I told Anna she looked different. She smiled, and said it was probably the you-know-what, which we knew was weight, and she was happy. Then I told her about my binge, and she told me about hers the previous night, then she told me she wasn't eating anything today, and I said me too. She showed me her knew bling. Jesus, I'm gay.

I'm headed off to spinning, then OFC. Denise is coming by later. I'll see how she did after I left at 11:30 last night. I ended up +$57 USD, and played a little more online for another +$40 or so. Gotta run.

The Rabble Just Don't Get It

Ok, I have to admit my whole foods, anti-McDonald's bent is probably just me being elitist. Or maybe it's the rabid convert in me not being able to shut up. Anyways, I'm feeble-minded enough to be swayed by the other side of the argument saying that Super-Size Me is agenda-laden sensationalist corporation-bashing propaganda. As you would guess, several people that decided to write/produce/star in their own counter-documentaries to Super-Size Me, where they go on 30-day McDiets and lose weight. In fact, there's a website that summarizes these filmmakers and the anti-Spurlock backlash.

It's enough to make me want to blog my own McDiet. Or maybe just a fast food diet, since I really like Tacos El Gordo.

Binge Trigger: CostCo

I became a CostCo member last night, which was good news and bad news. The good news is that I was able to buy four cases of drinks like Propel, for less than 1/2 of the retail price. I also picked up a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken thighs for about 1/3 what it costs at Whole Foods. I filled up my whole freezer with this kind of stuff. The bad news is that the California rolls that I got there (for about 1/3 cost at Vons) sent me on a huge eating binge last night.

While I started off okay, with a few of the California rolls and two chicken thighs, it quickly escalted to 12 pieces of California roll, and three thighs. Then I started eating a bunch of crackers, and humus. Then I cut open 1/2 an avocado. Then I ate 5 Reeces Peanut Butter cups in quick succession.

I did do an OFC workout last night, but I really needed to wake up and burn some calories off. But I got on the bike this morning, and I just didn't feel it. I wonder if I'll run tonight. This is really supposed to be my rest day. So often my rest day coincides with my binge day. It's kind of that I'm tired from a week of workouts, but wouldn't it be great to just suck it up, and lose some weight? Argh. I'll probably do a strength training session tonight.

Weren't We The Liberators?

First mentioned in Fast Food Nation, the placement of a McDonald's less than a kilometer from the Dachau concentration camp memorial and museum, is the epitome of bad taste. Who's to blame? Some enterprising Bavarian who pettitioned for the franchise, or the souless corporation that granted it? A gold mine located next to a concentration camp, Dachau receives about a million visitors per year (1). According to Morgan Spurlock in Don't Eat This Book (based on his movie Super-Size Me), visitors to the camp found flyers on their windshields reading "Welcome to Dachau. Welcome to McDonald's."

Someone should respond to that by spray-painting above the entrance to McDonalds, "Arbeit Macht Frittes".

Spurlock does a good job of analyzing what we all suspect. While we're exporting our American "culture" to the world, we're also exporting our obesity epidemic. I liked it when our top export was Mickey Mouse. Oh well, give the people what they want. Homogenize Me.

Don't Eat This Book is in the vein of Fast Food Nation, although Schlosser focuses on the non-health related costs of our beloved cheap meals, while Spurlock focuses on the way we could and should all live better through concepts like slow food. He compares the way we used to live (eat) vs. our current unhealthy trends. The differences are astonishing. He believes in what he's writes, and lives healthy with his fiancee Alex Jamieson, who, as we learned from the movie, is a vegan chef.

Finally Made Good Chili

It's about my 5th attempt making chili, and it's the first batch that tastes good. The key was getting away from that crock pot, or the slow oxidizer, as I like to call it. I'd put in the best ingredients, in a huge batch, turn it on in the morning, full of anticipation when I'd get home to eat my perfect chili. And each time, I could barely get myself to eat it.

This time I made it on the stove, and it only took about 45 minutes. I took a pound (450g) of ground buffalo, an onion, garlic, a green pepper, and browned them together. Then I took a packet of chili mix, added the equivalent of a can of pinto beans I soaked overnight, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 4 diced roma tomatoes, then the browned meat, and cooked for 30 minutes. It's great.

I had some multigrain crackers and parsley & scallion humus. I'm grilling some carrots now too. I'm filling up on fiber before I see if I'm still hungry. I have some canteloupe if I'm not too lazy to cut it up. I should probably eat some yogurt.

The Biggest Loser (Season 2, Week 8)

Jillian Michaels, please console me. My Trainer Randy says she probably doesn't charge more than $250/hr, although it might be inflated now that the show is on. There has to be a stripper training service somewhere, afterall, this is the internet age.

Last night on The Biggest Loser, they voted one of the strong guys (Mark) off the show. Doctor Jeff lost 10 lbs in the week, a loss he's been averaging over quite a few weeks. They're down to 3 men and 3 women. For the second week in a row, Suzy and Seth won immunity before the weigh-in, and they took advantage of it (again), "losing" only 1 or 2 lbs each. That's two weeks in a row that Seth has hidden his weight loss. That's a lot of water, but also probably fibre in his GI. He'll probably mete out his real loss at the next weigh-ins, managing his weight as demands.

I'm happy for the small amounts of weight I can manage to lose each week. It takes time, but I'm getting down to my goal. In spinning last night, I still noticed I need to get remaining 5kg off my waist. It's hard keeping up with these hot gay guys.

I matched my lowest weigh-in this morning at 79.2 kg and a new low of 21.0% body fat. Looking over my progress for the month of October, I lost about 2.4 kg, and all of it fat. My body fat fell about 3%. For November, I'm hoping to do about the same, maybe better.

Catfish Dinner

I went shopping at Henry's tonight, instead of Whole Foods, and my bill was only $15 USD. It'd be triple that at Whole Foods. I bought some blueberry Muselix, which has almost no fat, asparagus, catfish, beef, banana, apple, tortillas, organic eggs, and an onion. When I got home, it took about 15 minutes to make dinner (above). I had some muselix, and may have some fruit before going to bed.

Today I had a turkey wrap, sushi, potato chips, peanuts, a mini Kit-Kat (broke the pledge), and the above meal, which I estimate to be less than 2200 calories. I did 60 minutes of spinning at max intensity, and 40 minutes of strength training.

My weightloss is suffering from the bad food from the one day road trip, and the kid's party the next day. It doesn't take much to reload those fat cells. So, it's back to cooking good food, and eating well during the day. Maybe I should cut out the 300 calories of chips every day.

Just What We Needed

Yes, it's a french fry vending machine, called the Patatas Chef, ready to serve up a "fresh" batch of fries in about a minute. Yes, now we can pass on the relatively nutritious sandwich, and get right down to the part of the meal that tastes the best. Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation reports that in 1960, the average American ate about 81 pounds of potatoes, and 4 pounds of french fries a year. By 2000, we shifted to eating about 50 pounds of fresh potatoes, and 30 pounds of frozen fries. These machines are the answer to closing the final gap.

Not suprisingly, this idea has been tried a few times by other companies. There's an Ore-Ida machine in the basement of building 7 at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology). A company called Tasty Fries went public, then went pink-sheet over the idea. The technology used by these products vary: some use dehydrated potatoes, requiring no refrigeration; the Ore-Ida machine doesn't fry, but uses hot air to cook the fries. Bring back the Automat. Or wait for the food replicators.