JEWISH FAMILY EXPERIENCES A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

What do Jews do in Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? If family is nearby, it is a good day to get together as everyone is off from work. Of course, the movie theatres are open everywhere.  Problem is, we already saw the new Star Wars movie - What else is there to see? It is a common tradition for Jews to go to a Chinese Restaurant on Christmas Day. That option is unavailable to us as our daughter has declined a trip to Chinatown in Chicago. Looks like we won't be going sledding either.  Temperatures across the country are unseasonably high and there is hardly any snow cover anywhere. All retail stores close early on Christmas Eve so shopping is out of the question as well.  Although this brings us to our 'Christmas Miracle'.

My daughter and I often will take an evening walk to a specialty candy store on Michigan Avenue right on Chicago's Miracle Mile. Dylan's Candy Bar. This small chain of candy stores is owned by Dylan Lauren,  the daughter of internationally famous designer, Ralph Lauren.

As I review this photograph, my guess is that founder and owner of Dylan's Candy Bar, Dylan Lauren, spends more time counting  the money that the stores take in on a daily basis rather than consuming her product(s).

Among the reasons that I particularly enjoy going to Dylan's is that I can purchase some very small amounts of candy that is priced by weight. The best benefit of the trip to Dylan's is that  it requires a roundtrip walk of a minimum 3.5 miles and it is a good way to accumulate steps for my 'hungry' fitbit. I anticipated that the store would close early last evening. I checked the website and the store announced that they would close at 6:00PM. I timed my late afternoon 92 minute workout on the elliptical machine to end around 5:15PM. As soon as I returned home, I announced that I was going to go to Dylan's. My daughter is almost always ready to accompany me for this trip. I told her that in order to get there before 6:00PM we could not waste any time. We walked there at a speedy power walk speed of 5 mph, which is faster than my usual speed. Usually my daughter implores me to 'slow down' when we walk together. Last evening, my daughter was moving faster than me! We arrived at the store at 5:48PM. This was more than enough time to make our regular selections and be on our way. The only problem was that the front door was locked with a sign taped to the front announcing that due to the Christmas Eve Holiday the store closed at 5:00PM. My daughter was very upset and I admit I was not too pleased either. There were still some employees within sight and I knocked loudly, yet politely on the front glass door. An employee did come to the door and open it to find out what my 'problem' was. He explained that the store closed early for Christmas Eve and I explained that we checked the website and had just walked two miles in order to get there before closing time. After a few back-and-forths of us each repeating our cases, the young man offered to get the the manager. A young respectful woman came to the door and without too much fanfare, did let us in.  We quickly made our usual modest selections of some bulk candy and when we asked to pay - we were told it was a gift. On the way out, we were asked one more time if we had gotten everything we needed. My daughter, was very respectful of the gift and said that she did not think it was right to take more after we knew we would not be paying for it. It was precisely then that the original employee we spoke with asked us if Sara would like a 'gingerbread house.' A gingerbread house may not have been something that we would have purchased - but my daughter did have fun making the icing and decorating it. At first it looked like we were going to be locked out of Dylan's - but, we were let in, we made out selections, the store made it a gift to us and gave us a gingerbread house too! I don't want to be too dramatic about this: However, it was a 'Christmas Miracle' for our Jewish Family.

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My daughter had fun decorating this gingerbread house

My day started at the doctors office for my annual wellness visit. Everything checked out real well.  My doctor continues to be somewhat amazed as what I accomplished this year. I showed him by before/after pictures that I had posted on by blog just yesterday. Before I left, he said that I was his 'hero.' That may have been over-the-top, but I did get the impression that he might have told my story to some of his other patients over the course of the past year. Before I left, my doctor, who is about one inch taller than me, and surely even thinner than I am, hugged me. I can not recall being hugged by any medical professional ever before. The best thing he told me was that my next appointment with him should be one year from now. What a great thing to hear from one's doctor!

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, December 24, 2015

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
NO BREAKFAST....FASTING FOR BLOOD WORK AT DOCTOR'S OFFICE
L U N C H
Marianos - Spicy Curried & Kale Walnut Salad, 1 Cup	360	36	26	6	460	0
Mariano's - Asian Broccoli Kale Slaw, 1 C	200	28	10	4	520	0
MARIANO'S - HUGE SPINACH SALAD, 1 SALAD	500	0	0	0	0	0
Mariano's - Chicken Milanese (Estimate), 6 oz Chicken Breast	461	11	18	60	560	11
	1,521	75	54	70	1,540	11
D I N N E R FONDUE-SHRIMP, ROAST BEEF, BROCCOLI MUSHROOMS, BREAD, SWISS CHEESE
Shrimp - Raw, 10 medium	64	1	1	12	89	0
Wegmans - Deli Roast Beef, 2 oz (aprox.4 slices)	60	0	2	10	230	0
Broccoli - Broccoli, 1 cup	60	6	1	5	49	0
Mushrooms, white, raw, 1 cup, pieces or slices	15	2	0	2	4	1
Bread - Bread Baguette, 1/4 baguette	150	30	1	5	0	0
Emi Swiss Knight - Fondue Au Fromage Suisse - Swiss Cheese Fondue, 0.5 cup (57g)	260	4	18	16	720	0
	609	43	23	51	1,091	1
Totals	2,130	117	77	121	2,631	12
Your Daily Goal	4,507	563	150	226	2,300	169
Remaining	2,377	445	73	105	-330	157
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 2,577 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace	29	368
Walking, 5.0 mph	19	405 <-speedy walk to Dylan's Candy Bar
Walking, 3.5 mph, brisk pace	25	236 <-slow walk back from Dylan's Candy Bar
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,478 <-(resistance level set to '20')
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	90
Daily Total / Goal	166 / 30	2,577 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	902 / 210	13,293 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 2130 calories

total calories (5.25 miles, 92 minutes elliptical) 2487 calories

total net calories 357 calorie deficit

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fitbit day 113

26384 steps

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A girl and her gingerbread house... Shouldn't this be eaten once it's made? or is only for show?

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That is my daughter, Sara, peeking through the gingerbread house 'window.'

IS IT PURPOSEFULLY CONFUSING?

I really enjoy buying bulk foods at the various grocery stores that sell them.  I can purchase nuts, granola, dates, dried fruit, and other exotic low and high calorie treats in as small a quantity as I like.  These sections of the grocery store are self-serve - so there is no issue with embarrassing oneself asking for as tiny a portion as you want.   One simply takes what one desires, bags it, and marks it with an identifying number and it is paid for at the counter.   It is no more difficult at checkout buying six or seven bulk items in tiny quantities than buying anything else sold by weight at the market.

HOWEVER, THERE IS ONE THING THAT IS QUITE ANNOYING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE.

In each store, the nutritional information is plainly marked on each product.  The calories, the fat, the carbs, the protein, etc.... It's all there... And it's all there marked in grams.

In each store, each item is sold by the pound.

Why is that?

Wouldn't it be much less confusing for the consumer if these products could be sold by the gram?   Would it not be at least more beneficial to the consumer if the weight that was printed on the label at least gave the weight and the grams.  This would be a simple programming change and would cost the store nothing to do.   I suspect that this is purposefully kept confusing.

The reason that I say this is that each food looks so reasonable in its caloric content.   Is a food that is 150 calories per 28 grams high calorie?   Well, it is, if one buys half a pound and eats it at one sitting.

Anyway, I have trained and continue to train myself to take very small portions.   Usually before I eat these treats I go through the mathematical contortions of changing the pounds purchased to the correct number of grams and figuring out how many portions I did buy.

As a recovering food addict, less recovered, and more addict.... I seem incapable of buying these delicious foods and NOT finishing whatever it is that I have bought.   That is why it is so important to me to buy small quantities at the outset.

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 Saturday MENU

breakfast   three poached eggs, oatmeal, center cut bacon, bulk foods  1161 calories
lunch         SEAFOOD SALAD, SESAME SEAWEED SALAD            530 calories
dinner       SALAD BAR, cherry vanilla granola                                      780 calories
SNACK    BULK FOODS                                                                         949 calories

total calories consumed 3420 calories

calories burned

elliptical machine 92 minutes, manual, level 20              2217 calories

CALORIES BURNED 2217 CALORIES

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Saturday net calories 1203 calories

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WHOLE FOODS - PORTION CONTORTIONS

Watching your calories?   Lots of people are.  I am.  Did you know that EVERYTHING is low calorie?  (that is, if you make the portion small enough)  Did you know that EVERYTHING is high calorie? (that is, if you make the portion large enough)

Here is a riddle that always trips up people...once.   WHAT WEIGHS MORE, A THOUSAND POUNDS OF BOWLING BALLS or A THOUSAND POUNDS OF FEATHERS?   Here is a similar question:  What has more calorie, 500 calories of CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES or 500 calories of celery?

Have you ever gone to the supermarket and purchased a PINT of Ben and Jerry's Rocky Road Ice Cream or some similar product.  Have you noticed how many portions (servings) the manufacturer claims are within this container.  I don't know about you, but I have always considered one pint of ice cream to be ONE SERVING.  Of course, this is the type of thinking that quickly helps a person expand his/her waistline to 50 inches (and beyond) and causes the scale to tip past 300 pounds as it did for me.

Similarly, just because a type of food is healthy DOES NOT MAKE IT LOW CALORIE.   For example, nuts are a healthy snack food.   How many almonds can you eat at one sitting?   I am sure that I could eat scores and scores of them - and that is the problem.  Just because a food is healthy, does not make it a low calorie option if you overdo the portion.

I remember eight years ago when I initially lost eighty pounds. (you know...before I gained back every single pound and added nine more for 'good luck.')   Back at that time I 'discovered' WHOLE FOODS for the first time.  And once I discovered WHOLE FOODS, it didnt take me long to discover their BULK FOOD section that this store and similar grocery stores have for their customers. In the bulk section one will find granola, figs, dates, raisins, cherries, all kinds of different nuts, chocolate covered raisins, and a whole bunch of delicious real, non-processed, allegedly healthy foods - just not necessarily low calorie.

                  

Each bin is clearly marked with the caloric content (per some ridiculously small portion - often just 28 grams.   Do you know how many POUNDS THERE ARE IN 28 GRAMS?  (ANSWER: 28 GRAMS=.06 POUNDS) There are very few products that are listed at more than 250 calories.  Sounds good, right?  WRONG.   Just because one serving of anything is 'only' 250 calories - does not make it low calorie - especially if that serving is ONLY 1/4 cup, and the consumer unknowingly perhaps consumes three, four or perhaps five servings!

The secret to navigating the bulk foods section is to understand portion control.   In recent weeks I was starting to make the same mistakes that I made eight years ago - I was buying these foods with reckless abandon and trying to trick myself into believing that I was not eating much more than one serving.  DO YOU REALIZE HOW SMALL A CUP IS?  OR A HALF CUP?  OR A QUARTER CUP?  DO YOU KNOW HOW LITTLE 28 GRAMS IS? DO YOU REALIZE HOW LITTLE FOOD IS CONTAINED IN A BAGGIE THAT WEIGHS .06 POUNDS?

I know that I really didn't.   So the question is: What to do?

The answer was simple and I guess one can say that it took me a nearly a decade to figure it out.  Now, when I visit the bulk section at WHOLE FOODS or similar upscale markets that offer a bulk section I might come armed with a measuring cup.  In fact, my measuring device is a rectangular shape and I can read the markings to know what a 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup or full cup is.   I pour my purchase into the measuring rectangle first so I know precisely how much of whatever it is that I am buying.

Now, I realize that there are normal human beings out there that are capable of buying large portions of anything and rationing the amount they eat once they are home.  My problem is that I have not cured myself of the urge to overeat.  I still do not have the willpower to resist foods that  are in my home or simply with me on my person. I try to carefully buy what I am going to eat one meal at a time when it comes to these delicious bulk foods. This is the only way I know how to try to control my urge to eat.  YES, I HAVE LOST 90+ POUNDS - but I know myself too well - I am not 'cured' of the problem that brought me to that level of morbid obesity in the first place.

The nice thing is that since all the prices are by the pound - there is no problem with buying 1/4 pound, 1/8 pounds, 1/10 pound or 1/20 of a pound of anything.  This works for me.   I buy real small portions, usually of a bunch of different items... and it still can add up.... but it does not add up to some unknown high number which will derail my calorie control efforts.

For example...today I had breakfast at the Whole Foods prior to my two-hour workout.
I bought TURKISH FIGS, MANGO SLICES, CHERRY VANILA GRANOLA, GINGER CHEWS, and even some CHOCOLATE CHIPS!  Sounds like a feast, yes?   Well, it was not exactly a feast - although the total calories of this potpourri of foods was 995 calories.   But here is the amazingly interesting fact that I am going to share with you today.... Can you guess how much money I spent to buy this 'feast'?   $19.95?    $9.95?   $6.95?   Here is the answer.... I spent $3.20!     And here's how:

.05 lb (22.7 grams) Sun-Dried Turkish Figs (actually only one fig!)  @ $8.99/lb               .45
.05 lb (22.7 grams) Dried Mango Slices                                             @ $14.99/lb                .75
.33 lb (149.5 grams) Cherry Vanilla Granola                                      @ $2.99/lb                .99
.08 lb  (68.1 grams) Ginger Chews (six candies, that's it)                   @5.99/lb                  .48
.04 lb (18.2 grams)  Cacao Chips (a bit more than 2 tablespoons, that's it) @$9.99/lb     .40
SALES TAX                                                                         .13
GRAND TOTAL ------$3.20 (BUT STILL 995 CALORIES!)

.05 lbs sun-dried turkish fig   74 CALORIES
.05 lbs dried mango slices       62 CALORIES
.33 lbs cherry vanilla granola 654 CALORIES
.08 lbs ginger chews (candy)    120 CALORIES
.04 lbs cacao chocolate chips     85 CALORIES
TOTAL CALORIES  995 CALORIES (but it cost only $3.20)

TODAY'S LESSON....WATCH THOSE PORTIONS!

and if you are wondering....28 GRAMS = .06 POUNDS (THAT MY FRIEND, IS NOT A LOT)

another thought:  It would be quite something else if one had to ask a store clerk for .06 pounds (28 grams) of anything.  One could easily make the argument that that would be obnoxious and an unfair way to waste the time of a store clerk.  I think it would be.  I am talking about bulk food operations where it is 'self-serve.'   No one's time is being wasted.  There is no embarrassment factor.  

conclusion: The bulk foods section at the grocery store can be a horrible place for a calorie counter to buy food - OR THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO BUY FOOD.   

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 WEDNESDAY MENU

breakfast  cherry vanilla granola, semi-sweet cacao chocolates, 
                 dried mango slices, sun dried FIG, chewy ginger               995 calories
lunch        WHOLE FOODS 'BEET' BURGER, sausage (86 grams)
                 ginger harvest mix, raw cacao goji, strawberry vanilla granola,
                 crystallized ginger chunks, red delicious apple                   1211 calories
dinner       wasabi green peas, chewy ginger, toasted coconut almonds,
                 original corn snack                                                                 403 calories
SNACK   KIND BAR ALMOND COCONUT CASHEW CHAI BAR 200 calories
      
TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED 2809 CALORIES

calories burned

CHICAGO YMCA 125 MINUTES PRECOR EFX ELLIPTICAL MACHINE
                   9.83 MILES ('ONLY')                  1560 CALORIES

WEDNESDAY NET CALORIES  1249 CALORIES

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I did not 'hit' my target of 10 miles today...however,
I still think I had a pretty good workout!  1560 CALORIES!

I HAVE A QUESTION FOR MYSELF...

UH...what happened to the plan of working out seven days per week for thirty minutes per day?

Recently I have been working out for two hours plus each day!   

I would not be doing this if I was not enjoying it... and finding the time is not difficult when one starts at 6:00AM in the morning! (and sometimes earlier!)

It's so unlike me to go overboard... 

yeah...right!