MD has her Sunday performance of the Messiah, so we ate early.  On Sundays we typically split a bottle of Gazela, a cheap ($6 per bottle) Portuguese lightly sparkling wine that has a low alcohol content (about 30% lower than champagne).

Gazela Dec 7, 2008

We use it to make Mimosas.

Mimosa Dec 7, 2008

And, when they are ripe, as they are now, we always make our Mimosas with fresh orange juice from oranges picked moments before from the tree in our backyard.

Our orange tree Dec 7, 2008

MD fixed me one egg, a bunch of bacon and a couple of slices of low-carb bread.  I use a tiny bit of real blackberry preserves on toast when I eat it – I would rather do that than eat large servings of sugar-free blackberry preserves.  I got only one egg because when MD went to the fridge there were only two eggs left, and, being the selfish person she is, she insisted upon one for herself.

Breakfast Dec 7, 2008

The bacon is almost as rare as I like it.  Our family is divided.  MD and the two older sons like their bacon crisp – youngest son Scott and I prefer ours less cooked.  When Scott was a little kid, he told MD that he liked his bacon wobbly, so wobbly has become the term in our household for bacon cooked as Scott and I like it.  Scott’s test for wobbliness in bacon is the finger test.  If the bacon droops over a finger and hangs down on both sides, then it is wobbly.  This bacon passes the test, but I (and Scott) would prefer it a little more wobbly.

Wobbly bacon test Dec 7, 2008

After breakfast, MD headed off to the Granada to prepare for the final Messiah concert; I got down my football bets ( went 4-2 for the day) and headed for the golf course.

On the course there is a little kiosk at the 10th hole that usually contains finger sandwiches, nuts, etc.  Today most of the sandwiches were gone, so I was left with two little chicken salad sandwiches, which I ate just as pictured.  I didn’t worry about the tiny bit of bread.  I was walking 18, so I figured I was burning it off.

Snacks on the 10th hole Dec 7, 2008

Here is the view up my favorite hole #15.  The clubhouse in the distance is where MD and I had lunch on the terrace the day we had bunless burgers and fruit.

View from 15th hole Dec 7, 2008

Here is a photo of the mountains surrounding Santa Barbara at sunset.  This is just about at the time MD would be finishing her performance.

Dusk from tee of 17th Dec 7, 2008 (click to enlarge)

After golf I had to rush to meet up with MD and head to our granddaughter’s first Christmas performance and her school’s Christmas show.  Of course food was there to be had.  I grabbed a plateful of stuff and went outside to photo it.  I had a couple of plate’s full and took off the bread and ate the innards.  I don’t have any photos of the remnants, so you’ll just have to believe me.

Christmas pageant snacks Dec 7, 2008

After the Christmas pageant, MD and I went out to dinner to celebrate her putting the Messiah and the thousands of details she had been stressing over behind her.  We started out with drinks at the bar of a little Italian restaurant.  I had a glass of Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey on the rocks, which I found that I don’t like as much as I do Jameson.

Irish Whiskey Dec 7, 2008

MD had a Gimlet, which she loves and which she spilled half of once we got to the table.  There were two tables over slightly different heights pushed together with a tablecloth over them.  MD sat down and placed her Gimlet on the two edges and it immediately tipped over once she let it go.

We both had Caesar salads with anchovies, but without croutons.

Caesar salad Dec 7, 2008

I had a glass of Central Coast (Santa Barbara area) Pinot Noir – MD had a glass of chardonney.

Pinot Noir Dec 7, 2008

MD had fish. She left the potatoes and ate the asparagus.

MD

I ordered the pork chop, but they were out.  So I opted for the Zuppa de Pesce, Italian fish soup.

Italian fish soup Dec 7, 2008

That is it for our week of dining.  It’s pretty typical of how we eat normally.  Maybe a little heavy on the booze due to the freely flowing Veuve Clicquot at the Granada, but pretty typical otherwise.  Hope you enjoyed the posts.

The start of the Messiah Dec 6, 2008

Today was dominated by preparation for the Messiah, at least for MD.  I helped minimally, mainly by giving her moral support.  While she was at the Granada dealing with all the zillion last minute details, I was working hard on my own self-improvement program: I went to the driving range.  Above is a photo of the moment the concert began taken from where I was sitting.

MD, for whatever reason, refused to cook today, so we started off with breakfast at a little local eating place.  This was the worst breakfast we’ve had since this photo diary started.  I would rather have stayed home and had a shake.  The eggs were overcooked, the ham was dry, and the fruit was of weenie proportions and wasn’t all that good.

Breakfast Dec 6, 2008

After breakfast MD took off for all her tasks and I took off for mine.  When I got back to an empty house hungry, I had to fend for myself.  I sliced up a little salami, fished out a pickle from my jar and some peppers, and opened a can of sardines.  Made a nice little early afternoon snack.  Who says I can’t cook?

Early afternoon snack Dec 6, 2008

For those of you wondering about the crackers, they are Almond Nut Thins.  They have about a gram and a half of carb per each.  I always get out the 6 I’m going to eat, then put away the box.  If the box is within my reach, I’ll eat a lot more than 6.  These crackers taste great and are nice for those who are wheat intolerant because they’re made with almonds and rice flour.

Crackers and sardines Dec 6, 2008

MD came home mid afternoon and I listened to her recount all the things that had gone wrong and blown up on her at the Granada.  What a wonderfully supportive husband I am.  She took a breather for an hour or so, then she got dressed for the gig and headed back, leaving me bereft of a cook.  I considered (for about two seconds) preparing something for myself, but abandoned that craziness and headed up to the local deli.  The local deli had changed their menu, so the hot pastrami I was lusting for was no longer available.  I opted for a corned beef sandwich, so I got one to go and brought it home. Here is how it came.

Corned beef sandwich Dec 6, 2008

Here is how I fixed it.  I removed half the bread then put the two half sandwiches together, giving me a big, fat sandwich with only half the bread.

Sandwich with half bread Dec 6, 2008

But, as usual, I didn’t eat all the bread.  I do this all the time.  I start out intending to eat the bread on a sandwich or the bun on a burger, eat a couple of bites, then start picking the meat, tomatoes, etc. out of the sandwich and abandoning the bread.  Here’s what I left.

Bread uneaten Dec 6, 2008

I took these bread remnants and threw them away immediately.  If I had left them sitting there,  I would have picked at them, eating a little pinch here and a little pinch there, until all the bread was consumed.  That’s a lesson I learned long, long ago.

My daughter-in-law, my son (not the husband of the DIL, one of the other sons, the son of ER Dad fame) and his girlfriend picked me up, and off we went to the Granada.  We got there and proceeded immediately to the Patron’s lounge, where we hit the champagne.  And good champagne it was.

Veuve Clicquot at the Granada Dec 6, 2008

I had two glasses before the performance and two glasses at intermission.  Here are the four of us drinking up awaiting the performance.

Scott, Amanda, Katherine and yours truly Dec 6, 2008

And here is our DIL Katherine, who was one of the underwriters.  Since she is a lover of Veuve Clicquot, that’s what she provided as a part of her underwriting.

Founder of the Veuve feast Dec 6, 2008

We got to our box, the lights dimmed, and my lovely wife came out and gave a little opening address to the audience.

MD address to audience Dec 6, 2008

After the performance, which was a tour de force, we all retired to the Patron’s lounge to have snacks and more Veuve Clicquot (three more glasses for moi).  Here is a photo of my plate of hors d’oeurves.

Food at Patron

I had three plates of pretty much this composition – one for each glass of Veuve.  My wife couldn’t be involved without making sure that low-carb food could be had.  The little meat things are bacon-wrapped veggies and proscuitto bundles – both really tasty.  The little crackers were a vehicle to eat the avocado hummus (cutting hummus with avocado is a great way to pimp it lower carb.)

During this photo food diary session I’ve not eaten a few things I would probably have eaten had I not been doing this project.  Tonight I made up for it.  I ate something I wouldn’t have eaten had I not been keeping this diary.  I had a cookie and a half.  I didn’t really want them, but I figured no one would believe me if I showed only photos of a pristine low-carb diet.  I actually intended to eat two cookies, but I could choke down only one and a half.

Cookies at Granada Dec 6, 2008

Here  are the Prez and First Man of the Santa Barbara Choral Society posing in front of the mantel in the Patron’s lounge at the Granada.

MD and spouse Dec 6, 2008

And, finally, here is a photo of the whole group in the same setting.

Katherine, MD, MRE, Scott, Amanda Dec 6, 2008

The night was a huge success for MD.  We came home and she hit the rack to get some beauty sleep before she has to get up and do it all again.  Sans me this time, of course.  I’ll be on the golf course.

Messiah ad Dec 5, 2008

The day started off today with a mad tear by the bride to make sure the full-page ad for the Messiah was in the entertainment section of the local paper.  You can see her above brandishing it proudly.  She’s holding the paper as she is because she doesn’t want anyone to see her bed head.

Chocolate shake Dec 5, 2008

I started off the day with a chocolate protein shake made the way all the others have been.  But this time I was about half way through the shake when MD starting yelling, “What are you doing?  You’ve got to take a picture.”  Oh, yeah.  So, what you see is what’s left of the chocolate shake.

I busied myself with a load of projects this morning while MD went off to do a couple of radio interviews for the Messiah.  I thought she was going to be gone for a couple of hours – she thought she had told me she was going to be gone for most of the day.  Since MD is my life-support system where food is concerned, it didn’t occur to me that I would be without someone putting food before me all day.  But I soldiered on awaiting her return.  While soldiering I ate a handful of mixed nuts.

Handful of mixed nuts Dec 5, 2008

As the day wore on, I ate another handful of mixed nuts like the one above.  And another.  Three all together throughout the late morning and early afternoon.  I ate nothing else.  But I did take a swig of pickle juice, which I dearly love.  I have my own dedicated jar of pickles so that I don’t slurp from a jar that someone else might grab a pickle from.  Since I was alone, I took my own photo.

Pickle juice Dec 5, 2008

I almost didn’t put this photo in because I’m not including photos of water, coffee, tea and any other non-caloric beverages (there were none other than these three), and pickle juice probably qualifies as being non-caloric, but since it is a good thing on a low-carb diet, I decided to include it.  Why is pickle juice a good thing?  Because it has a lot of sodium.  Sometimes on low-carb diets, people get a little sodium depleted.  Why?  Because insulin makes the kidneys retain sodium, which is why people who have hyperinsulinemia retain fluid.  Excess sodium causes fluid retention.  When starting a low-carb diet, most people spend a lot of time in the bathroom getting rid of that excess fluid as their insulin falls, and their kidneys release the sodium.  So, since I’m on a low-carb diet virtually all the time, I like to add a little sodium from time to time because I know I constantly get rid of it.  And it gives me a good excuse to drink the pickle juice.  Other more squeamish types drink bouillon.

When MD finally got home, she was in a sweat to get changed and get back downtown.  The chorus has a final rehearsal tonight for the big event tomorrow.  And, unfortunately, the Santa Barbara Christmas parade is tonight, and it goes right by the Granada theater where she will be rehearsing.  She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to find a place to park.  So, I suggested that we leave early, beat the parade crowd and grab a bite downtown.  Then she would be right by the Granada, and I could come pick her up after when all the parade traffic had died down.

We ate at a great little Southern-style restaurant right next door to the Granada called Tupelo Junction.  We’ve eaten there for breakfast many, many times, but never for dinner.  And they have the absolute best bloody marys in town, one of which I always have when we have breakfast there.  I decided to throw caution to the wind and have a bloody mary before dinner, which I’ve never done before.  But I’ve never been confronted with Tupelo Junction’s bloody mary at dinnertime either.  Here is is.

Tupelo Junction Bloody Mary Dec 5, 2008

Their bloody marys include a crab claw and pickled green beans, both of which – to my palate – are infinitely better than and olive and lemon or whatever they usually put in bloody marys.  De-frigging-liceous!

Then, for good measure, I ordered the Bloody Mary Braised Baby Back Ribs from the dinner menu.  As you can see, these come with baby corn.  I had them switch the corn out for some sauteed Swiss chard from the Crispy Fried Free Range Chicken entre.  Just about the time our dinner came, I noticed that there was smoked bacon collard greens available on another entre that I hadn’t noticed.  Although I love Swiss chard, there’s no green that I love more than collard greens.  And to think I could have had them cooked with smoked bacon.  Ah, well, there’s always next time.

Bloody Mary Baby Back Ribs Dec 5, 2008

As you can see, this is one large pile of ribs.  I ate every one with my bare hands. The Swiss chard came with kernels of corn sprinkled on it, which I picked off.  The bloody mary sauce on the ribs wasn’t as sweet as it looks.  It was more tangy.  It probably had some sugar in it, but I didn’t care because I hadn’t had more than about 10 grams of carb all day – if that.  And I did eat every single one of the little fried onion rings.  But I ate only half of the home-made apple sauce.  It was nothing to write home about.  This home made business is a real pet peeve of mine.  How can restaurants call their food home made?

After dinner, MD and I went right next door to the Granada.  I intended to drop her off and head home.  But instead I decided to stay and watch a little of the rehearsal.  And take a couple of photos of the Granada.  Here you can see it looking back from the stage.  It is a magnificent place.

Granada from the stage (click to enlarge)

It is an old theater from the 1920s that just underwent a $60 million renovation.  The acoustics are unbelievable.  If you look at the left side of the photo, you can see the box I’ll be sitting in tomorrow night.  Being married to the President has it’s perks.

My box at the Granada Dec 5, 2008

box

And I shot this photo of MD and group singing there little hearts out.  MD is right in the middle in the front row.

Rehearsal Dec 5, 2008

The soloists that Marilyn Horn selected for this performance all have voices that are out of this world.  The performance will be taped to be rebroadcast on the local classical station.  I’ll get a few cuts and put them up for whose who are interested.

Black cherry shake Dec 4, 2008

The recipe for this is:

6 oz water
1.5 -2 scoops vanilla protein powder (low carb)
1 cup of ice
1 oz coconut milk
1/2 oz Torani Sugar-Free Black Cherry syrup

Worked all morning on all the comments that had stacked up while I played golf yesterday.  At lunchtime, MD and I ran out to get our mail and go to our local market and get a chicken.  The rotisseried chickens at this market are about two bucks more than at the other markets in town, but are much, much tastier.  MD is convinced it is because these chickens have been brined before roasting.  It does make a huge difference.  All the other chickens look as good, but taste kind of bland.  Here is the whole chicken as it comes.

Rotisserie chicken Dec 4, 2008

MD carves it, splits it up, and plates it all out.  We have developed a way of sharing.  I get two wings and a drumstick and thigh.  She gets a drumstick and thigh and the skin from the breast.  She saves the breast meat for soup, which I’ll probably end up having before the week is out.

My share of the chicken Dec 4, 2008

We had to run a couple of errands downtown, so we decided to eat at one of our hangouts, Dargan’s Irish Pub.  We ordered a pint of cider while waiting for our food and another pint about halfway through.  I love hard cider.  Not a bad deal carbwise either if it’s the dry kind, which this is.

First cider Dec 4, 2008

Second cider Dec 4, 2008

For supper I had a 12 ounce rib eye steak with a Portobello mushroom sauce on it and extra vegetables.  Unfortunately for me, the vegetables that came with it were steamed broccoli and carrots, heavy on the broccoli.  I used to like broccoli a lot, but I’ve since become kind of burned out on it.  But I ate it anyway.  A little butter, salt and pepper helped it go down.

Steak at Dargan

After we left Dargan’s we decided to run down to the Granada to see the marquis all lit up.  Here is a photo from across the street.  You can see the headline for the Messiah on the right.  The Granada is a fabulous place.  I’ll be in a box there Saturday night (one of the perks of being married to the president), and I’ll take some pictures.  There is a fru fru party after, so I’ll have my trusty camera to record any noshing I may do.

Granada theater Santa Barbara Dec 4, 2008 (click to enlarge)

Here is a freezing MD posing in front of the poster for the Messiah.

MD in front of Granada Dec 4, 2008

And a close up of the poster.

Messiah poster Dec 4, 2008

After we got home, we started the final season of the House of Cards Trilogy, a Brit series about the infighting in parliament and the Prime Minister’s office.  One of the best things I’ve ever seen done for television.  Was originally shown in the early 1990s.  While watching, I got a hankering for some Izarra, a Basque aromatic liqueur.  I had a tiny glass and sipped on it while the show was playing.

Izarra Dec 4, 2008

Breakfast Dec 3, 2008

Went to lunch at my golf club.  The grill has a great burger that comes with choice of fries, fruit, salad or cole slaw.  I always choose the fruit.  While waiting for the burger, the waitstaff always brings a small bowl of nuts.  MD and I picked all the almonds out of this bowl.  We left the peanuts.

Nuts at lunch Dec 3 2008

As near as I could figure, I probably ate about a dozen almonds.

And I ordered the burger without a bun.  I slathered about a tablespoon (maybe a little less) of ketchup on it.  This patty is pretty big, probably about 3/4 inch thick.

Lunch Dec 3 2008

I had a glass of unsweetened ice tea to drink.  The best part of this whole deal is that this lunch costs a whopping $9.75.  I just noticed that there is no bacon.  This burger usually comes with a couple of strips of applewood smoked bacon.  That’s how it’s listed in the menu.  I didn’t even notice it was missing at lunch.

I went out and played golf at another country club after lunch.  After the round, I went in the clubhouse and succumbed to a Jameson on the rocks.

Jameson on the rocks Dec 3 2008

We proceeded from the clubhouse bar to the pro shop where there was an open house and pro shop sale going on.  There were hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer.  Since I can never let free wine, beer and/or hors d’oeuvres pass me by unmolested, I partook.

Hors d'oeurves and wine

The snack was fruit, a couple of kinds of cheese and some prosciutto.  The wine is a Brander Syrah.  I had another half plastic glass of EOS cabernet sauvignon and a quarter of a glass of EOS zinfandel.  Hey, it was a long open house with a lot going on.  I noticed my behavior changing for the first time since starting this photo diet diary.  I would probably have gone back for another plate of food had I not been doing this exercise.

While the open house was going on there was a raffle.  We were all given one raffle ticket when we showed up there at the place (as Arlo Guthrie would say).  There were several drawings, and on the very last one my ticket got selected.  I was the proud winner of a pair of brand new Nike Air Zoom TW 2009 golf shoes.

MD was rehearsing tonight for her big Messiah performance this weekend, so I was left to my own devices for supper.  I called a friend who is recently single to see if he might want to go for a burger with me.  He had a group of guys (most of whom I knew) at his house cooking steaks, so he invited me over.  My friend is a low-carb dieter, so I knew I would be safe.  He was grilling steaks and zucchini on the grill and roasted a few root vegetables (parsnips, turnips, carrots and beets).  He had also made a cream sauce with poblano peppers in it (this guy loves peppers).

Supper Dec 3 2008

Of course there was wine, and of course I had some.  It was an Australian shiraz.  I had a glass and a half.

And for dessert…

Dessert Dec 3 2008

Blackberries, blueberries and heavy cream.  At least I didn’t have pomegranate again.

MD just got home from rehearsal, and, as usual after a rehearsal, she’s wired.  We debriefed a little and now plan to watch a Brit mystery DVD.  Tonight it is Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren.  While watching, I’ll nurse a small glass of 12 year old Jameson neat over the 2 hours that the show runs.

12 y/o Jameson nightcap Dec 3 2008

I’ve drunk much more booze of one kind or another tonight than I almost ever do.  But, how often does a guy win a pair of Nike Tiger Woods designed golf shoes.  Back on the straight and narrow manana.

Vanilla shake Dec 2, 2008

Started off the day with a Vanilla shake with just a touch of caramel syrup in it.

Didn’t eat lunch until early afternoon.  MD and I went to the Habit, which is a well-trafficked Santa Barbara hamburger/sandwich chain.  It was a chilly damp day today in SB, but we ordered at the window and ate outside.  MD whined about the cold, but she manned up and ate outdoors with me.

Note the line to the left of the soft drink machine.  More about which later.

Here is the menu.  Pretty simple but inexpensive and very good.

Habit menu Dec 2, 2008

MD ordered a BBQ Bacon Char burger protein style (with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun) and a regular drink.  I also ordered a BBQ Bacon Char and a Tri-Tip Steak sandwich and a regular drink.  We got our drinks first, then waited for our lunch.  Here is how it came.

2 BBQ Bacon Chars and 1 Tri-Tip Steak sandwich 12/2/2008

Here is my Tri-Tip sandwich up close and personal. (Tri-tip is a Santa Barbara special cut of beef.  I’ve never seen it anywhere else, but every place here has a tri-tip sandwich.)

Tri-Tip Steak sandwich Dec 2, 2008

I told you it was good.  Plus I had the BBQ Bacon Char as did MD.

BBQ Bacon Char sandwich Dec 2, 2008

We both finished our sandwiches and ate all the little peperoncini in the cup in the 2nd photo above.

We had soda water (or seltzer) for our drink.  I don’t know how many of you know this, but you can get soda water out of most soft-drink self-serve vending machines.  There is a little button that is sometimes in the back, but more often in the front of all the dispensing levers.  All you have to do is put your cup under the spout and push the little button and you get non-caloric, fizzy soda instead of HFCS- or aspartame-containing soft drinks.  Here is MD dispensing.

Dispensing soda Dec 2, 2008

Here is the little button up close:

Soda button

As MD and I ate and watched the other diners, I noticed a pattern.  People would come to the window, order their meal, and get their drink cup and a numbered ticket.  They went immediately to the soft drink dispenser and filled their cup.  I watched at least 20 people, and ALL of them got the HFCS-sweetened drinks.  I didn’t see a single diet drink customer.  These folks would all slurp on their drinks while awaiting their orders.  Once their orders were called, they walked to the counter, picked up their food, walked by the soft drink dispenser and refilled or topped off their drinks.  Then they sat down and ate.  After they ate, they disposed of their trash (we’re a clean lot here in Santa Barbara) and walked by the soda machine for one last refill before they walked away.  Each of the regular cups holds what looks to be about 16 ounces, but with ice, probably holds , say, 12 ounces.  Each 12 ounce soda contains about 40 gm of high-fructose corn syrup.  Multiply that by 3 (or at least 2.5) and that gives you how much HFCS each of these people consumed during their lunch.

Late in the afternoon, I scarfed into a bag of mixed nuts and threw back TWO handfuls of the following size.

Handful of nuts Dec 2, 2008

For supper, MD made chili.  No beans.  Just meat, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and whatever she uses to make the chili sauce that holds it all together.

Chili Dec 2, 2008

I had this bowl and the rest in the skillet, which was probably about 3/4 this much.  We had diet tonic to drink.

Pomegranates and blackberries Dec 2, 2008

If you can believe it, we still have this stuff left from when we bought it early last week.  I’ve got to admit that despite how much I love it, I’m beginning to get a little tired of it.  MD tells me that there is enough for one more go round.  Then, thank God, it will be gone.

I’m going to go ahead and post this now.  If I eat a snack tonight or drink anything other than a non-caloric beverage, I’ll put it up at the head of the list on tomorrow’s digital diet diary post.

Late morning snack Dec 1, 2008 Chocolate/caramel shake

Mid-afternoon snack Dec 1 2008 Salami/peppers/pickles

Dinner Dec 1, 2008 Steak and wedge salad

Diet tonic two glasses Dec 1, 2008

Dessert Dec 1, 2008

Breakfast Dec 1, 2008

A few years ago I read an article in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (a poster from an ADA meeting) about a different way of doing dietary diaries.  The researchers had their patients write down what they ate and photograph it with a digital camera.  As you can see from the poster (reprinted in full at the bottom of this post), subjects underreported their intake in their written diaries as compared to their photographic diaries, with the biggest omissions in the written record coming from sauces and condiments.

I’ve thought about this since I read it and always thought it a good idea.  Now, with almost everyone having either a small digital camera or a cell phone with a built-in camera, it makes much more sense than trying to remember everything eaten and writing it down later.  And there is a huge difference between the words “two chicken thighs’ and pictures of two chicken thighs that came from KFC with all the breaded coating from their Original recipe and two chicken thighs from a rotisseried chicken.  Yet, all too often, people eat the first, then simply write down ‘two chicken thighs’ and wonder why they aren’t losing weight when they review their diaries later.

A recent study has again confirmed what a lot of previous studies have shown: that people who keep diaries tend to lose substantially more weight than those who don’t.  Which means that if you’re on a weight-loss program and want to really make your efforts count, you should probably keep a diet diary.  And, given that they are so much more reliable, keep that diary in digital form.

I’ve decided to do that very thing for a week and publish it on this blog.  I’m doing this for a couple of reasons.  First, I don’t really need to lose any weight so I’m not doing it for that reason, but to answer the question people most often ask us is: What do you eat?  This digital record will show everyone what we (or at least what I) eat over a week’s time.

Second, it’s easy to fool oneself.  And the camera prevents that.  MD and I once went to a luncheon with a lot of low-carb aficionados.  At that luncheon, MD and I were the only ones who were at a normal weight – everyone else was overweight, some almost morbidly so.  I listened as the waitress took orders around the table and noticed that everyone ordered a low-carb meal.  Not only did they order low-carb meals, they took pains to make sure the waitress knew they didn’t want any croutons on their salads, no bread, no breading on anything, no possible hint of any added carbs to the vegetables, no carbs in the sauces, etc.  The thought that went through my head at the time was that if these people ate this way all the time they wouldn’t be as overweight as they were.  Had all these people been forced to examine digitally their own at-home eating, they may have been in for a big surprise.

What you see at the top of this post is my breakfast this morning, made for me by my lovely and talented wife.  What you see directly below this paragraph is a photo of a Cafe Americano that I made for myself (note the wonderful crema).  I drink about three or four of these before noon, one in the afternoon and a cup of decaf Americano after dinner most – but not all – nights.  (Click here if you want to see me make one of these most delicious drinks.) I’m not going to photograph every cup of Americano, but I will photograph everything else that goes into my mouth.  And I’m not going to try to be on my best dietary behavior like the people at the low-carb luncheon – I’m going to post photos of whatever I eat warts and all. And I’ll include any booze that I throw back, but I’m really cutting back this week in preparation for all the holiday cheer that I won’t be able to resist later in the month.

Cafe Americano Dec 1, 2008 and everyday

I plan to continue with my regular posting with these photo diaries interspersed. I’m going to categorize this entire week under Photo diet diary, so you can click on that to get the entire week all in one place without having to click through all the other posts.

One last thing. A few years back MD and I were guests on the new Donny and Marie show.  The producers asked us to give them a list of an entire day’s worth of low-carb foods for one person.  We wrote up a typical breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack menu.  When we got there and got on the set all the food for an entire day was spread out on one table.  I was stunned to see that much food.  As Marie was talking to MD about some woman thing, I did a quick eyeball calculation and found that the food presented was what we had written in the menu.  It’s one thing to see one meal’s worth of low-carb fare laid out before you, but an entire day’s is another matter.  Let me tell you, it is a lot of food.

MD and I didn’t get a recording of this show, so if anyone out there happens to have it, let me know via the comments.  I’ll try to talk you into letting me borrow the tape so I can digitalize it and get it up on YouTube.  It’s really an amazing thing to see. And I’ll return your tape unharmed.

Below is the poster that inspired this post.