PASSOVER

from wikipedia...

Passover or Pesach (from Hebrew פֶּסַח‎ Pesah, Pesakh, Assyrian; ܦܸܨܚܵܐ "piskha"), is an important, biblically derived Jewish holiday. The Jewish people celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation by God from slavery in Egypt and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses. It commemorates the story of the Exodus as described in the Hebrew Bible especially in the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. 

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Passover will begin tonight. To everyone who celebrates...  May you have a meaningful holiday.
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Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, April 9, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal	780	162	9	18	1,020	72
Kirkland - Pre-Cooked Bacon	200	0	15	15	875	0
	980	162	24	33	1,895	72
L U N C H
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	600	47	27	14	245	27
	600	47	27	14	245	27
D I N N E R
Cheese Pizza Slice, 1 Slice	700	70	28	44	1,370	7
	700	70	28	44	1,370	7
S N A C K S
Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich	300	48	10	4	260	24
Honey Nut Toasted Oats	300	60	3	5	475	28
	600	108	13	9	735	52
Totals	2,880	387	92	100	4,245	158
Your Daily Goal	3,102	388	103	156	2,300	116
Remaining	222	1	11	56	-1,945	-42
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
6 mile urban hike	83	1,128
Treadmill, 3.5mph	60	266
Daily Total / Goal	143 / 30	1,394 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	414 / 210	4,752 / 4,130

HAPPY PASSOVER

Last night was the first night of Passover. Our family of three, enjoyed a Seder, as Jews around the world have been having for 3000+ years. During the Seder we tell the story about how the Israelites were given their freedom by God (with an assist from Moses) from their 200 years of slavery under the rule of the Egyptian Pharaohs.  During the retelling of this story, it is hard not to be in awe of God who revealed himself to the Jewish people and gave them the Torah. One definition of the Torah is that it is life's instruction book which guides one to lead a moral and meaningful life. It is where The Ten Commandments were revealed for the first time.  These rules have served as the foundation of a moral lifestyle for the Western world. 

There is one part of this story that has always troubled me. It is this: While it is impossible not to be thankful to God for releasing the Jews from the bondage in Egypt - we learn too, that sometimes God works at a pace that we may not completely understand. 200 years is a long time. I sometimes do wonder if America must descend into a further darkness, before the guiding hand of God sets our country on a better path. I do not know the answer, I can only ask the questions. That being said, I would like to wish a meaningful Pesach (Passover) to all my fellow Jews around the world. And since today is also a Saturday, let me add: Shabbat Shalom. 

My wife Jennifer, prepared the traditional Passover Seder Plate on a plate that was owned by my Grandparents.

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, April 22, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker Oats - Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	640	132	8	16	800	48
Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
	830	182	9	17	804	86
L U N C H
Jamwich - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	520	70	30	18	700	26
CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA, 1.5 CUP	480	80	14	10	120	30
Campbell's - New England Clam Chowder	360	36	20	10	1,780	2
	1,360	186	64	38	2,600	58
D I N N E R
Potatoes, red, flesh and skin, baked, 0.5 potato large	132	29	0	3	18	2
Home Made - Matzah Ball Soup, 1 cup	118	10	6	0	450	0
Homemade. - Roasted Stuffed Tomato	100	9	7	2	593	0
Beef, cured, corned beef, brisket, cooked, 3 oz	213	0	16	15	827	0
Manischewitz - Matzah, 1 Matzah	100	21	0	3	0	0
	663	69	29	24	1,888	2
S N A C K S
GIN GINS ORIGINAL CHEWY GINGER	120	30	0	0	0	30
	120	30	0	0	0	30
Totals	2,973	468	102	79	5,291	176
Your Daily Goal	1,977	247	66	99	2,300	74
Remaining	-996	-220	-35	20	-2,991	-101
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 47 extra calories from exercise today

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I was already having difficulty keeping my weight stable before I injured myself with the hernia. It has now been three weeks since I have had any meaningful exercise - this is reflected in my weight this morning: 235.5 lbs.

AND THOU SHALL DWELL IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN

The Goshen in the title of today's blog post refers to a specific place near biblical Egypt.  I have no intention of dwelling in Goshen - but I did lodge there last evening. Goshen, Indiana.  After a two hour trip out of Chicago, I arrived in Goshen in the late afternoon and managed to squeeze in an 11 mile walk.

I did not have much sunlight for this walk and in the future I am going to have to find well lit streets if I am to be out after dark.  As much as I am enjoying outdoor walking - it may be time to start taking advantage of my YMCA membership during the sunlight shortened wintry nights that I will be facing for the next few months.

The woman at the front desk of my hotel let me know that if I walked 3 miles down the road that I would find a nice trail.  It got dark soon after I arrived, but I did enjoy finding this river trail even if I only experienced it for a short time.

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This afternoon hike was 'only' 11 miles.  Too much of this walk took place under a moonless dark night.  The few parts of the walk that took place in a suburban subdivision were extremely enjoyable. The parts where I was walking along the road were not quite as relaxing.

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Your Food Diary For:

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Jones - Sliced Ham, 2 Slices	50	1	2	8	410	0
John McCann Steel Cut - Oat Meal, 1 cup	600	108	0	16	0	0
FARM FRESH EGG-LAND'S. BEST - GRADE A EGG LARGE, 2 egg	120	0	8	12	130	0
Clif Bar - Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch (2013), 1 bar (68g)	250	41	7	10	200	21
FRESH THYME - DEHYDRATED PAPAYA (lLOW SUGAR), 52.5 g (approx 1/10 cup)	175	44	0	0	44	32
WHOLE FOODS 8890 - STRAWBERRY VANILLA HEMP GRANOLA, 54.45 g (3/4 cup)	248	40	8	5	59	15
WHOLE FOODS 7089 - 42% CACAO SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS, 41.25 g (approx 2 TBSP)	193	28	11	3	0	22
	1,636	261	35	54	843	89
L U N C H
WHOLE FOODS - NATURAL WASABI GREEN PEAS, 0.38333294205272195 cup (30 grams)	138	22	3	5	276	2
WHOLE FOODS 7700 - ORGANIC DATE PIECES w/OAT FLOWER, 62.0 g (2 TBSP)	186	46	0	2	15	34
WHOLE FOODS 5938 - UNSWEETENED BANANA CHIPS, 39.0 g (1/4 cup)	221	21	13	3	6	1
WHOLE FOODS 7236 - SUPERFOOD CEREAL HEMP & GREENS, 45.9 g (approx 1/2 cup)	174	27	8	4	33	12
	719	116	25	13	331	49
D I N N E R
Forrelli - Rice Cakes Multigrain Thin, 36 SLICE	720	144	0	0	720	0
	720	144	0	0	720	0
S N A C K S
Dang - Toasted Coconut Chips - Caramel Sea Salt, 3 oz (28 g)	480	48	30	3	570	30
	480	48	30	3	570	30
Totals	3,555	569	90	70	2,464	169
Your Daily Goal	4,988	623	166	250	2,300	187
Remaining	1,433	54	76	180	-164	18
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
....................... our Exercise Diary for: Tuesday, November 3, 2015 Cardiovascular Minutes Calories Burned Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace 144 2,159 MFP iOS calorie adjustment N/A 899 Add Exercise Quick Tools     Daily Total / Goal 145 / 30 3,058 / 590   Weekly Total / Goal 309 / 210 5,671 / 4,130 ....................... TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED 3555 CALORIES TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 2159 CALORIES NET CALORIES 1396 ....................... fitbit day 62 31051 steps .......................

M.C. ESCHER

Some staircases are harder to climb than others.

It is clear that that there might be unique challenges if one lived in M.C. Escher's world of RELATIVITY.  from Wikipedia:

Relativity is a lithographprint by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, first printed in December 1953.  It depicts a world in which the normal laws ofgravity do not apply. The architectural structure seems to be the centre of an idyllic community, with most of its inhabitants casually going about their ordinary business, such as dining. There are windows and doorways leading to park-like outdoor settings. All of the figures are dressed in identical attire and have featureless bulb-shaped heads. Identical characters such as these can be found in many other Escher works

The stairwell in the building in which I live thankfully is much more straightforward,  the distance from the ground floor to the top floor, which is home to the fitness room is 25 floors.   Yesterday, Monday, 25 May...25 floors were traversed by me.  This is a personal achievement which makes me extremely happy.

There have been a few occasions when I had previously tried to simply go from the ground floor up to the 12th floor where I live. Religiously observant Jews do not use electricity on Shabbat (Sabbath) and although I am not a traditional religiously observant Jew who follows this custom, yet there were a few times when I wondered what it would be like if I was.  How would I manage to get home without the elevator?  It was likely more than one year ago when I climbed the twelve flights a two or three times. It was not easy, I had to stop multiple times along the way to catch my breath and by the time I entered my apartment I was completely weak-kneed, out-of-breath and practically ready to collapse.  That experiment was not completely successful.

I have been a Shabbat dinner guest at the home of friends of mine that are religiously observant Jews who do follow the laws of Judaism much as they are prescribed in the Torah (First Five Books of Moses, Old Testament) and when I walked with them back to their apartments after a Friday evening service, it was embarrassing how challenging walking up just 4 flights of stairs to their homes could be for me.

Since these experiences were my frame of reference for STAIR CLIMBING before this weekend began - it is easy to see why I was concerned, actually somewhat petrified that I was going to have a very tough time hiking HALF DOME in October.

As I wrote yesterday, I still expect this hike to be very challenging.  Now I have confidence that I will be able to rise to the challenge. (In fact, I need to be able to rise 4800 feet for this challenge!) This blogger, who clearly is a bit daft, could not wait to attempt the 25 floor walk-up on Monday after successfully walking up and down 13 floors on Sunday.  My workout for Monday took place at 1:00AM  - particularly early on Monday morning.

I entered the elevator and in order to get to the 25th floor - I rode down to the ground floor.  I exited the elevator and WALKED UP 25 FLOORS.  I was a bit winded when I arrived.  I rested for about two minutes and proceeded to the ELLIPTICAL MACHINE for my 32 minute workout.  After finishing on the elliptical machine, I WALKED DOWN 25 flights of stairs back to the ground floor.  Then I took the elevator back up to 12.

TIME WALKING UP 25 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS,  GROUND FLOOR TO 25:       4 MIN,   6 SEC

TIME WALKING DOWN 23 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS, 25 TO GROUND FLOOR: 3 MIN, 21 SEC

It will be interesting for me to see how much I can imrove on these times as I progress.  Perhaps at some point I will attemept to walk up, walk down and REPEAT.  We'll see... There is no sense in overdoing it.  For the time being, I will be satisfied with one round trip periodically.

MONDAY MENU
breakfast  Steel Cut Oat Meal w/prune, two poached eggs, two slices turkey bacon  505 calories
lunch        spinach salad w/mushroom, tomato, hearts of palm, beets   28 almonds    589 calories
dinner      spinach salad w/mushroom, tomato, hearts of palm, beets, slice bacon
                 chicken broth, 4 ounces Black Angus, honey nut & banana granola          829 calories

total calories consumed  1923 calories

CALORIES BURNED

ASCENDING 25 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS 4 MINUTES              60 calories
ELLIPTICAL MACHINE 32 MINUTES                                  496 calories
DESCENDING 25 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS 3 MINUTES            20 calories

total calories burned  576 CALORIES

MONDAY NET CALORIES   1347 calories

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My list of favorite artists is likely a list of just one entry.  Ever since I was a Junior in high school, M.C. Escher's artistic interpretations have captured my imagination.

The art world can be a funny place....
Here is a New York Times story from 2006

A Pollock Is Sold, Possibly for a Record Price by Carol Vogel

Published: November 2, 2006

The Hollywood entertainment magnate David Geffen has sold a classic drip painting by Jackson Pollock for about $140 million, art experts with knowledge of the transaction said yesterday.

 This so-called painting, "No. 5, 1948" measures approximately 4 feet by 8 feet.  in 2006 it sold for $140,000,000?  Really? 

PASSOVER - EXODUS FROM MITZRAYIM

Friday night was the first night of Passover.  Most people know that Passover (Pesach) is a holiday that commemorates the exodus of the Jewish People from slavery in Egypt (Mitzrayim).   The story was depicted in the famous Cecil B. DeMille 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses.

My Rabbi at the Chabad House that I frequent has explained that among the things that make this 3000 year old story as relevant today as it ever was - is that many of us need to escape from slavery.  Some of us may be slaves to fashion, or money, drugs, or as in my case....I was a slave to a voracious appetite for unhealthy foods.   For the past 3+ months, I have been escaping from Mitzrayim.  No longer a slave.  I am free.  And it feels real good!  Chag Sameach.  (Joyous Festival, Happy Passover)

SATURDAY MENU

breakfast   one round Shmurah Matzo                                                                            120 calories

lunch         My Fit Foods Korean BBQ Tenderloin, spinach salad, 12 cherry tomatoes 447 calories

dinner       spinach salad, 12 cherry tomato, Panera Chicken Tortilla Soup bowl, matzo 497 calories

total calories consumed 1064 calories

CALORIES BURNED

2PM elliptical 32 minutes   485 calories

SATURDAY NET CALORIES     579 NET CALORIES

From the chabad.org website: 

Shmurah matzot are round, kneaded and shaped by hand, and are similar to the matzot that were baked by the Children of Israel as they left Egypt. 

My Chabad Rabbi introduced me to Shmurah Matzo three years ago.
I had never seen such Matzo before, or even heard of it.
The Matzo is watched (guarded) through each step of production.