More Stats...Weigh In

Tomorrow is my day to weigh in, and I'm hoping for a good weight. Whatever it is I'll still have to be doing what I'm doing.

Thursday is also a fasting day. I went for a small ride on my bicycle today and it felt pretty good.

I haven't got anything else to write about today. We still have company in town, and when you got people in town, you deal with them.

I'm going to take the dogs for a walk.

That's it.

Peace,

What I ate Today;

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs, 2 potato pancake, 1 small piece of anchovy pizza, coffee w/sugar

Lunch; 3 small pieces of pizza

Dinner; steak quesadilla, chips, salsa

Exercise; 3.5 miles walking, 1 hr. cycling

Just The Facts Today

We have company from out of town here and I have to keep moving, taking care of our guests Britney and Paul, and enjoying the time spent with them, especially the baby, little Ella.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today: a normal day till dinner

Fuck it....to tired to report...pizza, pizza, pizza, thank god for pizza

3 miles hiking

Monday, Fasting, Guests, Feeling Good

For a day of fasting I've had quite a bit of food to eat. We have guests coming from the east coast tomorrow, and I'm making a bunch of food, pizza for starters. Everything has to be tasted of course. It's been all vegetables,= and fruit so I don't feel like I'm cheating.

I gave my body a little protein, cashews, this morning so it has something to to thrive on while I'm huffing and puffing all day long.

I'm becoming addicted to exercising. I have to say it again. I haven't felt this good physically in  a long time, and I'm really grateful for that  fact. I feel like I've been given a second chance or maybe a last chance. Some of the ailments that plagued me i.e., sore feet, chronic back pain, lack of energy, low sex drive (low T), are gone.

I feel great. I could expound on these words above more, but I think they speak for themselves.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 cups black coffee w/milk & sugar, 8 oz. orange juice, handful of cashews

Lunch: juice, single cappuccino w/sugar

Dinner; leftover chicken, brussel sprouts, salda, wild rice

Exercise; 3 miles hiking, 1 hour cycling

Accidents...Another Pleasant City Sunday

My wife Geri and sister-in-law Victoria were going to go for a big ride over to Alameda this morning. There's the Alameda street fair and we were going to ride along the shore and then the cannel and then get some food at our favorite pub. Vicky is a teacher in Oakland, but lives up north and we don't see much or her in the summer. She's my second best friend in the world.

I was going to wear my aerodynamic butt padded riding pants that I bought in Berkeley the other day because my ass was killing me from riding on that fucking dildo seat. I haven't built up butt callouses yet. The thing is I bought them because they were on sale, and they're another belt loop size too small. When I first put them on it reminded me of my mother who struggled to get into that girdle she wore everyday of her life. Well, I got them on, was ready to ride, and they were so friggin tight I had to make another stink in the bathroom before we left. They literally squeezed the shit out of me.

When I bought these bike riding fancy pants I was thinking positive for a change, not my usual self, and operating on a logical assumption that I'm going to loose more weight, and then I'll be able to get into these pants this fall, say October 1st. My fall ensemble for a pittance. I mean, they're not shoes. I've even lost weight in my feet, and my wedding ring is loose and needs to be re- sized. The one thing I was sure of was me and the pants needed more time apart from each other, but we we're also destined for each other.

So, I changed back into the shorts, adjusted my seat a little higher, refilled my water, etc etc.. By this time Geri and Vicky were saying, "come on already, let's get on the road." We were 5 minutes from the house, and we had pulled a couple of little hills. My legs, lungs, and heart getting into the rhythm of the bike and the road, leading the pack, but I would look back ever so often to see how Geri and Vicky were doing before we hit Park Blvd, the main street that would eventually take us all the way over the drawbridge to Alameda. I stopped, waited and looked back to see where the girls were. No girls. After 3 minutes I got worried and called Geri. Sure enough, Vicky had fallen and had injured her wrist. She was feeling sick to her stomach before they left.

Geri drove back to the house, and got the car and some ice. Then Geri and Vicky went off to the hospital. Sure enough she has a fracture, but she was ok. My sister, and ER nurse, said, "Any accident you can walk away from is a good one."

I feel terrible for her. She works so hard. She's such a good mother, and a wonderful, talented, positive person, but it reinforces for me once again about safety and doing a bike check before, during, and after every ride. Maintenance, luck.

The only silver lining out of this is that she'll be staying with us for a few days.

Since the ride to Alameda pooped out I decided to ride up to the Montclair farmers market and get some goodies for a nice meal for Vicky.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 poached egg one piece of brown bread, potato pancake with s & p, olive oil, 2 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, cup of instant coffee w/milk & 1 sugar

Lunch; handful of cashews, peach

Dinner; Pan fried chicken olive oil, lamb curry sauce and chicken tika masala sauce, s & p, little rice, great salad Geri make with fresh berries, tomatoes, olives, fresh lemon, olive oil,  water melon

Exercise; 3 miles hiking,1 hr. biking

drugs work

Riding....Saturday Stats

I can make it up the hills now riding my bike, and today I smoked Geraldine riding to Berkeley and back, smoked her. I am now burning off all the fuel I'm putting into my body and then some. I'm getting the feeling my little weight loss system is actually working.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs, potato pancake w/cheese, chives s & p, 1 piece brown bread

Lunch; energy bar, double cappuccino w/ 1 sugar, chocolate, cinnamon

Dinner; large bowl of leftover pasta

Exercise; 3 hours cycling(maybe 25 miles), 1 mile walking the dogs

Friday

With the weekend looming Geri and I are planning on a big ride out to Emeryville on Saturday to the kite festival at Cesar Chavez Park. I might take my good camera. It's a long ride for me, probably an hour each way.

Sunday we're going for a ride up in Petaluma with my sister-in-law Victoria. I think the best thing about cycling is that I get to spend more time with my wife, my best friend in the whole world. How many best friends do you have? There's only one.

No blogging this weekend. I will journal what I ate and my exercise.

I'm making pasta tonight with fresh tomatoes from the four vines that we have in the little bit of garden out back, along with fresh basil. Pasta always makes me happy.

Talk at you Monday.

That's it.



Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs, 1 potato pancake w/s & p cooked w/olive oil, black tea w/agave

Lunch; plumb, peach and a handful of salted cashews

Dinner: Penne pasta, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh garlic, salt, brussel sprouts and pan fried eggplant, olive oil, garlic, s & p, Italian chicken sausage, red pepper flakes and Romano cheese

Exercise: 5.5 miles walking, trail and street

I might have exceeded the 1,000 calories I've allotted  for myself today.

Cycling, Alice, Belt and More

I hit the road on my bike for a shot ride this morning. It was hot in Oakland today, by Oakland standards that is, mid to high 70's. I'll sweat and sweating is good. Release those nasty toxins that we build up in our bodies, and it burns that fuel we take in.  I had leftover crab bisque for lunch and lord know that's rich as can be.

Alice showed up unannounced today and said, "Now that you got all those toxins out of your system it's the perfect time to put some more back in." This type of logic make no sense to me, but I follow Alice's advice to the letter. I did as she instructed, and she left to visit more old hippies.

I shortened my new belt by another inch today. I think I'm over the hump, but I'm sticking to my words when I said I would check my weight on August 1st and not till then. Over the hump for me would imply that I'm past the halfway mark of my goal of loosing 74 pounds, or 180 pounds, by the end of the calendar year 2013. My real goal is to to be 170 pounds actually. In 1975 when I was hitch hiking around the country doing research I was a scant 155 pounds, solid muscle.  So, when I do my weigh in next Thursday we shall see how close we've come so far. I'm starting to feel like my old body from 96' is back again, only I'm twenty year older. Granted it's not the same body from 75', but I'll take it.

The Protestant work ethic is alive and well, even though I was raised Catholic. Hard work pays off every time, and gimmicks weather they be sold by hucksters behind a circus tent or doctor's on TV, will not work.  There's not pill, no magic fucking potion to sprinkle in your tea, just hard work and will power. Life's tough, so get tough.

Still got a long way to go. Hope springs eternally.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; black tea w/agave, 1 plum

Lunch; quinoa salad and small bowl of crab bisque

Dinner; Big salad w/feta, yogurt, mustard, fresh lemon, herbs of Provence, s & p, sliced peach, steamed baby carrots, black olive from (guess), another plumb. A little pop corn for desert, no butter.

Exercise; 2 miles walking 30 minutes biking.




Exercise;

Mission Accomplished

The fast is over and I feel pretty good. I awoke this morning my shoulder feeling better, and just a general positive attitude about the day, which is not my usual MO. My general East Coast frame of mind is if all is fine right now it can't last long, and usually it doesn't.

I'm going to take it easy again today and do some light work around the house, gardening, cleaning out my closet, a little shopping, taking care of the animals, and biding my time till I can eat something solid, but light.

At this point I could go for two weeks without solid food, but that's not healthy. After 3 days the body starts to breakdown muscle, basically feeding on itself. I'm trying to build up muscle and burn fat. Bottom line, the body needs some form of protein, weather it be meat, fish, poultry, goat's milk, cheese, quinoa, whatever.

Fasting is interesting to me. Once you get past those miserable first two/three days of stomach cramps, and hunger pangs this euphoric feeling sets in. It's a high to be sure and Lord knows I love to get high. I can see how someone, not me for sure, could go the complete opposite direction, and become a skeleton.

It's all about the balance. I did this because I wasn't loosing the weight I needed to. Bad eating habits were creeping back into my diet. I was eating to much red meat, dairy, and and bread, all the other things that I love. Most of all I was just eating too much and drinking too much. I can eat these things, all of them, but again, only in moderation. Also, I was cheating on my weekly fasting days, eating more than I should during my twice weekly daily fasts. On those two days that I have chosen to fast I'm going to work hard not to eat anything beside juice and the other 3 days of the week to limit my caloric intake to 1,000 calories a day and keep up the exercise, especially biking. Saturday and Sunday I can eat more of the things that I love and crave, in moderation.

I think I'm going to do this 3 day no solid food fasting every four months. It's good for me to reaffirm my goals and to keep an eye on the prize, not to mention cleaning myself out. The object  is to be healthy and to have balance Grasshopper.

Those first two days are a bitch.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast, black tea w/agave, mango juice

Lunch; mango juice, orange juice

Dinner; brown rice & ground turkey with steamed vegetables.

Exercise; 1 mile walking.....tomorrow I ramp it up again.

Fasting... Day 2

Fasting this time is not easy. I've done three day fasts before, and this is the toughest one. I've decided that the 3 days is enough. I'm not going for the 3.5 days. I had quite a few hunger pangs, and a headache yesterday. I feel pretty good now.  After the 3rd day it's usually no big deal. I went on an 8 day fast once once.

I'm  pretty sure I flushed out plenty of toxins because I've been pissing like a race horse. Fluids in, fluids out. I actually feel pretty good now. My energy level is the highest it's been since I started Sunday evening.

So, tomorrow I eat whole food. I'm going eat something bland, brown rice, ground turkey and a nice big salad for dinner.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today; nothing, I'm fasting

Exercise; 2.5 miles

Cycling + 3 Day Fast

Much of this last weekend was spent cycling around Oakland and Alameda. ALameda is very easy to bike around because it’s so flat. Saturday Geri and I spent four hours huffing and puffing around Jack London Square, then all over Alameda and back.

Some of the city streets in Oakland are treacherous. There are some legitimate bike lanes, and some streets that have cycles stenciled on the asphalt but there is no actual bike lane. My question to that is, “what the fuck.” More second rate city bullshit. Alameda on the other hand has actual bike lanes, your own space. 

Sunday we went up to Skyline Blvd. in the redwoods, and we were climbing this hill when I got a headache. I’ve had these headaches before. They start slow and they build and they feel like the top of your head is going to explode. Not good.

This is not something to be ignored. I stopped immediately and drank some water, rested for fifteen minutes, and then we worked our way back to the car. I like the hills, but I love the flats. On the flats I can get a good aerobic workout going, a steady mantra with my legs, lungs, and heart. I’m going to leave the mountains for hiking with the dogs, and the tour de France people. The flats are my kind of biking.

I am fasting for the next 3 days. Wish me luck. I need to clean myself out and begin a new on Thursday. I’ll make it a 3 and a 1/2 day fast. I‘ll be doing a minimum amount of exercise during this period. I need to take it easy because I've been pushing myself. My right shoulder hurts from bending over the handle bars. My legs are all cut up from the petals on the bike. 

I’m a little battered and bruised but I feel pretty good. A couple of days of cleaning myself out, and I’ll feel even better. I’ll probably get a headache from no food tomorrow, but it comes with the fasting.

That’s it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today; agave drink is the only thing I've had today

Exercise; 1 1/2 miles walking

Stuck At 214...The Real Wall

So far I've lost 40 pounds on my quest to reshape my old fat ass to what it was when I met my beautiful bride Geraldine almost 25 years ago. Loosing 40 pounds and keeping it off is no small accomplishment for me, but I haven't lost an ounce for the last 3 months. This is very frustrating to be sure.

My birthday is 7 weeks away and I need to loose 14 pounds to reach my goal of 200 pounds. That's 2 pounds a week. Then I have 4 months to loose another 20 pounds as my stated goal of 180 pounds by the end of the calendar year. Granted I've done some binging. Thursday I must have had at least 3500 calories. The 5 beers and the shot of whiskey alone is 2,000 calories. Then there's been the pizza binges.

Still what puzzles me is I lost weight before I hit the wall with the present regime I've been on for the last 9 and half months, so why no weight loss in the last 3 months? I've even ramped up my exercise, added cycling to the mix and I'm walking more than ever. Granted the cycling has only been for the last 3 weeks, but I don't plan on not cycling. To be completely hones,t and to live up to the code of the "Confessions of a food junkie" I have been lax lately, hoping that increasing my exercise regime would compensate for the food binging.

This Monday I'm going to do a cleanse and fast for 3 days. Then I'm going to start from the beginning yet again. That's the story of my life. Of course you could look at each day as starting over again. I'm pledging right now to not have any beers, whiskey or wine till Sept. 7th when I have a big blow out party scheduled with my friend  Erwin, my instructor from culinary school,  who turns 70 on the same days as myself. I will let Alice visit as often as needed. She hasn't been around much these days. Maybe that's one of my problems.

On the days that I fast, usually Monday and Thursday, I'm going to try and limit my calorie intake to 1,000 calories a day. Also, more veggies, fruit, and whole grains. I'll evaluate this at the end of July, weigh myself, and see how much I've lost. I still might need to loose 10 pounds in 5 weeks and 2 pounds a week is tough. It's all tough.

My parents raised me to believe that this life was a struggle, and that in between the struggle there were moments of joy and happiness. They were right of course.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; small potato pancake, 2 poached eggs, 2 pieces of ham, coffee w/milk and 1 sugar

Lunch; Korean BBQ chicken & kimchi grinder, 2 handfuls of chocolate covered raisins

Dinner; small salad and cheese burger

Exercise; 4 hours cycling and 1.5 miles hiking w/dogs

Lazy Friday

After dinner, pizza, salad and beer, with our good friend Charlie I went out and played music with my friends till midnight. I drank another two beers, smoked some of mother nature's finest, and had a shot of whiskey. Today I just vegetated.

That's all I got. As my wife would say, "You don't get paid to write this crap." She's right again.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today,

Breakfast; black tea w/agave, 1 piece of walnut toast

Lunch;water melon

Dinner; cheese burger, salad, corn on the cob w/s, p and olive oil

Exercise; 3 miles walking

No Fast Today

I couldn't fast today so I'll give it a shot tomorrow. I was really hungry this morning and had resolved that I could make it through the day until I was on the way to a dog walk around 9:00 AM. I was digging inside my glove compartment for my sun glasses, and there was a chocolate bar with nuts all inside it.. I didn't buy it, so Geraldine must have stashed it there. It was 330 calories and I just couldn't resist, so I ate it.

Now, that is a food junkie confession if I ever read one. After a series of dog walks I came home and ate the rest of the leftover ravioli from last evening. Then I took a nap with Frida, our dog.

We're meeting our old friend and ex-band mate Charlie in Berkeley for dinner tonight. I'm taking Frida for her nightly walk right now. Who knows what we'll eat, but I'm still full from the chocolate and small bowl of ravioli.

That's it for today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; black tea w/agave

Lunch; 2 handfuls of nuts, chocolate bar, small bowl of ravioli

Dinner: who knows? it will be healthy whatever it is

Exercise; 5 miles walking/hiking

What to write about + Crogue Monsieur Video

When I write this blog each day I usually have absolutely no idea ahead of time what I'm going to write about. I hope something will happen so I have something "interesting" to write about, but what I might find interesting someone else is going to think is stupid and they're probably right.
It's all fucking stupid.

I don't have a full time job in the food industry, so I don't have any titillating information about Wolfgang Puck or Alice Waters. My experience with food on a daily basis is rather boring. Most people's experiences in life are boring. I actually want it to be boring, or simple might be a better word.

People who have "exciting"  lives have complicated lives. They have a staggering amount of drama to contend with, and I hate drama. Look at these people on these reality shows. Why would you subject yourself to something like that? It's nerve racking shooting an 8 minute cooking video. Why would somone follow these people on TV or in the tabloids? They never seem satisfied. We think they have glamorous exciting lives, but trust me on this one, these are some of the most miserable people on the planet.

Why did I write about this and how did I get to this place today? I haven't got a clue.

There is a new Old Hippie Chef video on youtube titled Crogue Monsieur, translated into our native language of english that means Crunch Mister, or Mister Crunch, or even simpler, toasted cheese sandwich.

It's 6:46 AM and it's time for me to walk the dogs. That's complicated enough for me.

That's it.


Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs, 2 pieces of ham, 1 potato pancake, 1 piece of walnut bread w/butter

Lunch: 1 Italian chicken sausage and water mellon

Dinner; spinach ravioli  w/homemade pesto, kale salad w/cucumber, radish, black olives, red bell pepper, olive oil, fresh lemon, s & p.

Exercise; 7 miles walking, 1 hour cycling

Tuesday 7-16-13

Today was a much better than yesterday. My stomach has calmed down considerably.

I ate a big breakfast of poached eggs, potato pancake, and ham and I felt tired and weighted down. The thing about a big breakfast, especially one with protein, is that I'm not hungry all day. I walked it right away with three dog walks, different clients, and I was good for the day. I need more veggies, and tonight I'm making a kale salad with all the fixings.

All is quiet on the western front.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs, potato pancake, 2 slices of ham, black tea

Lunch; nothing

Dinner; Baked chicken, mashed potatoes, kale salad w/red bell peppers, black olives, cucumber, grated carrot, olive oil, fresh lemon, s & p

Exercise; 7 miles walking

Monday Monday

I ate a lot of food this weekend. As a result my stomach is all fucked up today and I had a killed headache. I'm not use to a lot of saturated fats or desserts full of carbs and sugar. The demons are still with me. Geri and I biked all over Alameda Saturday. It felt great then I ruined all the good cardio work by eating a large basket of French fries and drinking an Anchor Steam beer.

I think I'm going to do another 3 days fast to cleanse myself and get back on the wagon next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Today was a fast day, and I got some good exercise in, so I know with a good night's sleep this evening I'll feel better tomorrow. 

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today; 

Breakfast: black tea w/lemon, cappuccino 

Lunch; nothing

Dinner; toasted cheese sandwich on sweet batard bread and one chicken sausage, 4 chocolate cookies & one peach

Exercise; 4.5 miles walking, 1 hour biking

Dinner With Penny, Paul, and Kirby... Saturday

Paul is one of my best friends and an old bandmate of mine. We had a band together years ago called the G men because we played a lot of songs in the key of G,  and still do. Playing with Paul is effortless, and I can't say that about everyone I've ever played with. We really don't even have to look at each other. We know exactly where we're the song is going, even if the song has a bunch of twists and turns. We listen to each other is what we do.

Paul can play just about anything he picks up, piano, guitar, bass, harmonica, accordion, fiddle, banjo, mandolin. He's like an Italian Roy Clark.

I've had this musical simpatico with other people and it's magical. In order to be a good performer you need to spend you time on the stage projecting your energy toward your audience, not conducting your band mates.

Paul's wife Penny is an angel; smart, talented, sweet, tough, and wise. They just got back from Italy after three weeks, and we watched their little dog Kirby while they were gone. She weighs three pounds and completely dominated our house of animals as soon as she arrived, including us humans. I fell in love with Kirby. She's a little piece of work.

In addition to be a great musician Paul is also a director/actor/teacher. He teaches at ACT in San Francisco. Penny is fluent in French and teaches French to little rich kids.  On top of all these talents Paul is a kick ass chef and tonight he is cooking Salmon.

So, that's my dumb blog for today. Friends, food, music, dogs, exercise, how can you go wrong.

Geri and I hit the road on our bikes Saturday.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; rye toast w/butter

Lunch; French fries, 1 Anchor Steam beer

Dinner; Salmon dinner with Penny, Paul and Kirby

Exercise; 2 miles hiking, bike ride all over Alameda

Late Night And Pigging Out

It's late and I'm just getting to this blog now, which means it will be a short one.

I kinda pigged out today, and I'm OK with it. It's not like I'm going to eat like this every day, so no big deal. I did do quite a bit of exercise, so there it is.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs on sour rye batard bread, one potato pancake, 2 cups of instant black coffee

Lunch; 1 pieces of rye toast w/cheese

Dinner; chicken quesadilla, small bag of chips, salsa, whole pinto beans and rice. Piece of rye bread and butter. Go figure. I love rye bread.

Exercise; 2 miles walking, 6 miles cycling

Thursday 7-11-13

It was a nice brisk day in the east bay today.  There's nothing else to report. Very busy in the extreme.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; black tea w/agave

Lunch; nothing (fast day)

Snacks; some nuts, peach, salami

Dinner; turkey cheese burger, salad w/avocado, carrots, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, black olives,
             water melon, black tea w/lemon, & agave

Baseball and Food

Food goes with everything you do and baseball is no exception. The game last night was great. We took the ferry over and back from Jack London square. The the fog stayed away and the weather was phenomenal.

I have been to some bad ass foggy games out in the bleachers at Candlestick park. I was at one game where time out had to be called till the fog lifted, and we were all out in the bleaches howling like wolves. When the fog did lift there was a full moon in it's place, shinning like a big silver spoon. That game went int11 innings and the Giants won. I miss that park.

AT&T park is beautiful, and the food is much better than the A's ballpark. It's all expensive, too expensive. I wound up eating a baked potato with all the fixings on it, a cheese burger, and two beers.

The Giants new outfielder Tanaka made his debut last night. He got a hit, grounded out, and walked. He got on base twice in his first big league performance. He also made a spectacular catch that robbed a home run from the Mets, who were victorious in the end. I am a Mets fan but I was sporting Giants colors last night.

There was a lot of action but I knew it was over when the Giants switched pitches in the top of the 8th with the bases loaded. I  said to the guy sitting next to me, "This is a classic set up for a grand slam." First pitch, center field, gone.'" He looked at me and said, "You did that man.", and all I could reply was, "If I only had that much power." It ended up 10 to 6.

There is nothing like a great  baseball game and we were not let down last night.

Geri and I noticed something very strange about AT&T park. There were scant few people of color there. It was a sea of white folks and not one Black, Hispanic, Asian, or gay couple made it onto the jumbotron when the cameras were doing shots of the crowd. Most of the people of color at the park were working at the park.

When you go to the A's ballpark it's a world affair, a true cornucopia of culture. The food is not as good as it is at AT & T park, but the beer is 3 dollars cheaper, the weather is generally guaranteed to be good, and you can go on a Wed. for 5 bucks. A family of 5 can go twice for what Geri and I paid last night.

I did drop the F bomb last night, and I got a dirty look from a couple in the row in front of us. How I long for the good old days in the bleachers at the Stick.

It seems like all the edges that made San Francisco an exciting city to live in have been ground down, smoothed and polished to a bright lustrous sheen. It's a city for the well to do or the poor.  The working class doesn't seem to be around much any more.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs, 1 potato pancake

Lunch; water melon

Dinner; Leftover chicken, quinoa, veggies

Exercise; 4 miles walking

Skinny Tuesday

I decided to fast today. Since I forgot to fast yesterday. I'll be eating ball park food tonight at the Giants/Mets game, so I might as well watch my girlish figure today. Maybe I'll have some water mellon or a banana.

I know my father and mother are rolling over in their graves at the price of a ticket to a baseball game. Seventy one dollars for a good, actually a great seat, but please. I'm going back to the A's games for $5.00 Wednesday from now on. We make a good living here, but I can't justify this extravagant price to see a baseball game. Include the ferry over from Jack London Square, food, and a beer or two and we're talking two hundred dollars.

The Giants game went 16 innings last night. That's almost the length of two games. If it went that long tonight then I wouldn't mind spending that kind of money. I'm wearing my Pacific Coast Seals jacket  but I'm rooting for the METS. They're my team.

I'm hoping I can get a couple of good shots so I'm bring my Sony NEX 7 camera tonight. I don't care if I ever come back.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; black tea, agave

Lunch; water mellon, handful of nuts

Dinner: ballpark food, maybe a beer

Exercise; 3.5 miles walking

Forgot to fast

I completely forgot today was a fasting day, so it looks like this week I might only fast on Thursday. Tomorrow Geri and I go to the Giants game against the Mets, and the Mets are my team. Geri is a Giants fan having being born in San Francisco. It will be ball park food tomorrow, maybe a beer. The good thing is we have killer seats and we're taking the ferry from Jack London Square. No bridge or parking hassles. We have great seats. It all cost a fucking fortune.

When I moved back to the city in 89' I was working for myself painting victorians. I would take off days and go to the game at Candlestick all the time. It was $2.50 to sit in the bleachers. It cost more to park, $3.00, than it did to get into the game.

You can still see an A's game for $5.00, and park for free at the BART station. That's my kind of entertainment.

It's late and I don't much feel like blogging. Here are the basic facts of life for an old hippie.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 eggs poached on 1 piece of brown bread, black tea w/agave

Lunch; nothing

Dinner; pan fried breaded chicken w/steamed veggies and quinoa

Exercise; 5.5 miles walking/hiking

Sunday Stats 7-7-13

Just the stats.

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs, potato pancake, 1 piece of brown toast, black tea w/agave, banana

Lunch; lamb curry w/basmati rice, small salad and 1 piece of pepperoni pizza

Dinner; salad w/bunch of stuff in it, a couple of pieces of salami

Exercise; 2 miles walking, 8 miles cycling

My ass and my crotch area are killing me. The hills of Oakland are brutal.

Saturday Stats & My Torker Bike

We went cycling along the Emeryville estuary today with my wonderful incredibly generous present from my wife Geraldine. It was any long distance which is fine with me. It's going to take a while to build up my stamina. Oakland has lot of hills. In fact the east-side of Oakland is all hills. I think I got a good handle on the gears, and how the bike handles and now I'm ready to hit the street, hoping that I don't get hit or just fuck up my damn self. This bike is very user friendly. Shifting is a breeze.

I know the streets of east Oakland like the back of hand, but driving or walking is much different than cycling. I know where all the wide streets are, so even if it takes a little longer and the grade is not as horizontal as I would like, it's safer. My reaction time is not what it was not long ago, so I need to take it slow. I hate that word victim.

I grew up on a bike. I had the first 5 and 10 speeds when they came out. I rode my ass off all over Connecticut and New York State. In our neighborhood we had anything you could get on 2, 4 or more wheels. Go carts, soap boxes, roller skates, skate boards, 50 cc, 90 cc Honda dirt bikes, mini bikes. I got a Stingray bike for Christmas when I was 10. It looked so cool, but it was slow. If you were cycling over to Bethel it wasn't worth shit. Popping wheelies and jumping packed dirt mounds, take the Stingray. I had a lot of bikes, a lot of cars and trucks.

My first car was a Sunbeam Alpine. It was the same model and color car Sean Connery used in the first James Bond. I was 15 when I bought it and I didn't even have a license. It was the summer of1968 when I was working at the Wagon Wheel Inn. I paid for it myself, $350.00. It was red with black leather interior, and a convertible of course. Memories.

Physically there are a number of things that need adjusting when riding a bicycle in the 21st century, like my crotch from sitting on that seat. I opted for a custom seat because I didn't want that dildo like banana seat crammed up my ass. I know if I really take to this I'm going to be getting some chaffing down there for sure.

I also opted out for straight handle bars instead of the curly cue standard ones all the power racers use. I'm no power racer. This is better on the back for me. Even with these handlebars, and this small flat 8 mile ride we did, I can feel it between my shoulders. Posture is important when riding.

I can already tell it worked my core area and that's what I need to work on. Actually my whole fucking physique needs reconstruction, or just turning back the clock twenty years would be very cool for many a number of reasons. C'est La Vie.

I'm a woos now, and that's life. The young lion is now just an old pussy cat.

We stopped at that funky joint, the Seabreeze, along the way. I got french fries, and Geri had a beer. We might be old but we're still having fun, and best of all we're still in love with each other.

I did mention food in there twice and threw the love twist at the end. Remember, this is a food blog. Eating is what we do so you can do everything else.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 poached eggs S & P, potato pancake s & p, 1 piece of brown toast, black tea w/1 tsp agave

Lunch; french fries w/ketchup, 2 sips of beer

Dinner; mixed salad w/honey mustard dressing, 5 pieces of Lanesplitter pizza (no meat), water mellon

Exercise; 2 miles hiking, 8 miles bike riding

The Day After The War

Despite the noise I slept like a baby. It was like Damascus out there last night. On top of the bombs and the gun fire the young folk living next door decided to throw a party in honor of the 4th of July.
They love drinking games, and of course when people get drunk it can and it did get loud.

There are still bombs going off today and most probably for the rest of the weekend, but the worst is over, including the heat wave.

The BBQ we attended was quite tame by comparison. The food was excellent,  and I ate way too much. So, today is my fasting day. In addition to the 8 or 10 desserts that were there Geri made a wonderful chocolate cake called a Texas chocolate cake. It was obviously a Texan who came up with that name, but what makes it a Texas chocolate cake is beyond me.

I'm glad the holiday is over.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; black tea 1 sugar

Lunch; nothing

Dinner; turkey sandwich w/dijon mustard, bowl of seafood bisque, water mellon

Exercise; 5 miles walking

A Place At The Table.....America's Dirty Little Secret

I saw a great Bill Moyer's special with the director of the movie A Place At The Table and the head of an organization called Witness to Hunger. This movie is about the epidemic of hunger in America, something no one wants talks about. I was involved in a free food program in the late 70's in Redding California, and we were distributing food to a couple of thousand  people a month.

I think this movie has been out for a while and I'm behind the loop, as usual. Congress doesn't think that the government is solely responsible for hunger in America, and would like to shift more of the burden onto charities, that's us, an old Ronald Reagan/Casper Wineberger tactic from 1980, and slash the hell out of the SNAP program, which currently is helping 48 million people in the US.

That's right, 48 million people in America are getting food stamps, and are going hungry on a monthly basis, 17 million of those are children, our future.  Speaking of 1980, at that time there were some 400 food banks in the US, now there's 4,000.

Poverty level in the US is $18,000. for one person, $32,000. for a family of 3. Try operating on those numbers. Quite a large number of the people who are receiving food stamps are people who are working full time for companies like Walmart, making $7.25 an hour. That's $290.00 a week before taxes, which would leave you around $220.00, at the end of the week. Good luck with that.
Another dirty little secret is that a large number of service men and women's family who are protecting our country are on the food stamps program or SNAP as it's now called.

Congress doesn't want to "subsidise" the poor. It's OK to subsidise the oil and coal industry, the railroads, the large agriculture business interests like Jolly Green Giant, but not poor people. Those kids don't need to eat food to get ahead. They can breeze through school with no breakfast or lunch. It'll keep them nice and thin.

Obesity and poverty go hand in hand. The price of fresh produce and fruit has skyrocketed by 40%, but the price of processed foods has gone down. Forced with hunger anyone would take the higher calorie diet for less money. $3.00 a day is what food stamps doles out. Try eating on three bucks a day.

Funny thing is that in the 70's we almost had hunger in America licked, but it came back with a vengeance. Problem is we have more poor now. The "middle class" is shrinking. It was a documentary back in the late sixties that led to the decline in hunger in the US. Maybe this one will get us back on track. I don't believe it will but I applaud the folks who fight the good fight.

It seems to me that less and less people care about our most unfortunate, and have bought into the political line that it's the poor that are dragging this country down, not the corporations and the wealthy, many of whom pay little to no taxes.

I hate to be a downer, but that show really pushed my buttons. We have the power, we're just so divided it's sad. For a generation that stopped a war, we sure have turned out to be big assholes.

Watch this movie.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; 2 piece of herb bread w/butter, 2 poached eggs

Lunch: With my friend Buzz....sandwich, with salad, glass of wine

Dinner; Turkey sandwich, handful of chocolate covered raisins.

Exercise; 6 miles walking

Exercise; 7 miles walking

Weigh Day + The Bike + Fasting + BART + Hot

I weighed myself today and I'm 210 pounds on the money. That's good news, but also a little disappointing. I was 210 a month ago. Although I haven't gained any weight I'm also no closer to my goal than I was 30 days ago. I was hoping to have a five pound edge over my bulge battle.

I have two months before the next weigh in and I need to be 10 pounds lighter. Bottom line, more work, less food. If I look back at the past 8 months I've lost 5 pounds a month consistently, but the fact that I didn't loose any weight in the last month has me a little concerned. I think I'm going to weight myself at the end of the this month and see if I've lost that 5 pounds I need to loose.

Geri bought me and early birthday present, a shiny new bike. I feel like Pee Wee Herman. You won't catch me riding it till the fog comes back and cools the east bay down. It will be in the 90's again today, tomorrow, and who knows for how long. Till then the bike will remain parked in the back yard.

Another fast day. I may decide to fast on Friday this week instead of the usual Thursday because of the holiday.

BART,  Bay Area Rapid Transit is on strike. I'm glad I don't have a regular job in the Big City.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Breakfast; black tea w/1 sugar, orange juice

Lunch; nothing

Snacks; cashews

Dinner; Turkey sandwiches, may, mustard, tomato, black pepper, some chocolate covered raisins, Brussel sprouts

Exercise; 6 miles walking