Photo food diary Friday Dec 5, 2008
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.
“His Lux Aeterna is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard”
Nice to hear that. I was the only person in my circle of friends who had ever heard of Lauridson until I began buying the Lux Aeterna CD and giving it away to people. I agree that there are passages that are otherworldly in their beauty. People are usually stunned when they learn he is a 20th cent. composer. It sounds like something out of an almost magical, distant past.
Ok, if you like Lux Aeterna, I bet you would (or do?) love Anonymous Four’s American Angels.
I’ve never hear Anonymous Four’s American Angels. I’ll give it a try. If it’s anything like Lux Aeterna, I’ll be all over it. Thanks for the recommendation.
so, if one were in a hurry to lose that last 10-15 pounds, because of one’s bet with one’s cruel wife, how dangerous would it be to skip food altogether and just have 3 or 4 shakes per day? Not that I really plan to do that, just curious.
btw, here’s my tweak to your shake recipe (I like more fat, less or no ice, in mine)
6 oz very cold water
6 oz coconut milk (or half and half, or heavy cream)
2 scoops powder
Polaner’s sugarless jelly- 1 heaping tablespoon
half banana
Since there are no carb requirements in the human diet – only fat and protein, both of which you would be getting – I don’t see a problem. However, an easier way to deal with a cruel wife may be the issuance of a pink slip, which is always my threat to MD when her cruel tendencies bubble to the surface.
“I am talking about compounding bioidentical hormones. A discussion of all these issues is beyond the scope of the comment section. MD is the real knowledgeable one of us in this matter. I’m trying to get her to put up an entire long post about it. We do address the issue in the new book, but not in huge depth.”
Dr Eades, that was one of your comments in one of the previous posts…
I would LOVE to hear what MD has to say about this. I’ve been on a ketogenic diet (with a few minor slips) for about 5 months now. Occasionally my carb intake has been about 15% of daily caloric intake (I track this all with a spreadsheet) but most of the time it is really down around 8%, often lower. I’ve lost around 10 pounds during this time. I weighed 164 and now weight 154. Based on your body fat calculators and I estimate I should weigh around 125-130, which seems about right based on what I used to weigh about 10 years ago and weighed as a teen. I’m 33 and have been between 145 to 155 for the past 4 years or so.
I don’t exercise, so I’m hoping that some weight training and fasting will help break me out of this plateau. I’m also cutting out cream in my coffee and hoping that helps. I’m finding it much more difficult to lose weight this time around, and being slightly older. I wonder if that might not have something to do with hormones (I’m female) so I’d love to hear what MD has to say about this. I’ve gained and lost this 30 pounds 2-3 times now over the past 15-17 years. I guess that may have something to do with it as well.
Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger on this – it’s a common problem, especially with women. As I wrote, there is a fair amount about hormones in the new book, but I’m trying to get MD to post more. Maybe once she’s past this Messiah gig we’ll all get her back.
Your day looked like one of mine when my wife is out. I could cook, but I will forage instead.
I was curious about your deletion of the corn from your veggies, it didn’t look like much. Are you always that rigorous? Thanks for everything.
Nah, I’m not always that rigorous. I just don’t particularly like corn, so I figure why waste the carbs on something I don’t really like. Plus, I’ve been doing this kind of dieting for so long that I’m pretty much on auto pilot. For example, I don’t even think about it when I get a salad with croutons – even if there are just a couple. I remove them all without even thinking about it.
“Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger on this – it’s a common problem, especially with women.”
Thanks! Very interesting — this hormonal issue is just not something one hears about regularly, even in the paleo/primal/WestonPrice circles, so I eagerly anticipate your new book. So I definitely look forward to being educated about this. I don’t feel depressed, though, since I’ve certainly not expended all my options just yet. I could still try an all meat diet, fasting, etc.
Notably, except for one minor time when I was a teenager (when I ballooned from 120 to 170 pounds) I have never eaten copious amounts junk food (sugar, chips, etc.). I have ALWAYS eaten what the mainstream considers to be a healthy diet, and basically got to where I am now (which is overweight but not obese) simply by eating rice, beans, potatoes, pasta, bread and the occasional dessert. The fact that I gained so much weight on these foods is telling.
Even considering minor slips I’ve had in the past five months, though, mostly just drinking too much milk and eating too much cheese cheese, with one candy blowout (I was finishing writing a dissertation and defending, so it was a relatively stressful time) I’d consider what success I’ve had pretty remarkable because I’ve managed not to *gain* weight.
It is interesting how different people learn about low carbing. I got here because two years ago when the pet food scandal emerged, I educated myself about how bad most pet foods are for pets. After seeing the dramatic benefits for my pets with an all meat diet, I was hooked on learning about an appropriate diet for humans, too. Certainly if I was that concerned about my pets I should be even more concerned about my own diet, I thought. From my raw diet for pets contacts, I learned about the Weston A Price foundation. I kept learning from there. There is a domino effect. The one person who educated me about pet diets has spurred an information cascade that has probably now led to at least 10-20 people that I know of being educated about low carbing, through me. Who knows how many people will learn about it.
The ridiculous thing is that I had a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology with a strong focus on evolution, well on my way to getting a PhD, and it hadn’t even occurred to me until two years ago that a grain based diet is not appropriate for carnivores. Duh.
GCBC and Nutrition and Physical Degeneration were enormous eye openers. If anything can turn you off to sugar and starch, it is reading and seeing the terrible degeneration and illness that is caused by modern foods and modern ignorance. There’s such an enormous amount of diabetes, cancer (my mother got three different cancers between the age of 25-27), Alzheimer’s etc. in my family, and I feel so wonderful on a low carb diet, that I’m not even remotely tempted to go back to my high carb ways. Ever. Even if I am not losing weight quickly. Yesterday we had to go to McD’s and my partner ate the hamburger with bun, a big coke full of sugar and medium fries. Forget the weight issue, all I have to do to keep from eating fries is to imagine myself coming down with cancer.
What upsets me most is that the medical community is so ignorant of these basic facts that are of such crucial importance to the longevity, health, and happiness of all humankind. I would imagine it is the biggest scam in the history of medicine. It’s very upsetting to see so many of my family members refuse to change, and suffer greatly for it (my father has had the same cancer twice now, I wonder if low carbing could have prevented these cancer occurrences and the recurrence) due to modern ignorance on the part of the medical profession. I’ve tried telling my boyfriend’s statinated father and my diabetic grandfather (who has also had two cancers) about this stuff but the lowfat propaganda is so enormous it is almost beyond hope for them. I will try once more with Christmas gifts of Protein Power and then that’s it.
Thankfully for most of us who are either young or with open minds, it is not too late.
Oh, and interestingly, I have had 8 teeth removed because my palate is so small. Of course, if you have read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration you know all about the effect a lack of fat soluble vitamins may have on this. Both my mother and my father have perfectly normal teeth. But my mother’s pregnancy diet was terrible, and she was a nurse, too. (I have a strong suspicion her diet contributed to these three cancers she got at an early age…. including Hodgkin’s and histiocystic lymphoma of the liver).
Oooo, a restaurant where you can get Swiss chard and greens as sides! Excellent.
My grandson (age 12) has always had a thing for pickle juice, but it just sounded so nasty to me, I usually wouldn’t give him any. I don’t know if I should tell him my nutrition hero drinks it! I read in a newspaper not long age that some company freezes pickle juice into popsicles–I think called Pickle-sicles (not sure of spelling)–and apparently they help to lower blood glucose.
I wonder if men not being able to deal with the wife being gone and having to feed themselves is rooted in childhood when mommy made all the food magically appear on the table. I’d love it if my husband were willing to learn how to be my sous-chef, but that’s not likely to happen.
My favorite remark, one that I make often, is: I’m not really a cook, but I play one on TV.
Dear MRE, Love your blog and am always referring people to it. Regarding the shake for breakfast, I don’t know how it was made, but if you’re using a protein powder I just wanted to alert you to the possible negative effects (especially if it’s soy). The Weston A. Price Foundation website has some info on protein powders and how damaged, and damaging, they can be. I think you are familiar with their work.
http://www.westonaprice.org
I’m following a low-carb version of Nourishing Traditions and the first thing I had to toss out was my soy powder, rice protein powder, wheat protein isolate, etc…. Now I get raw milk from a local farmer and ferment my own yogurt and kefir. They make great smoothies with a big dose of beneficial bacteria.
Just a FYI, forgive me if someone already posted about this. Just looking out for your health and appreciating how you’ve looked after ours for so long.
Laurel
I’ve published the recipes for the shakes both on the posts and in a number of comments. Our protein shakes are made with whey protein only – no soy. So don’t worry about us.
Best–
MRE
Sorry about all the comments, but I am wondering which Lux Aeterna recordings or performances people recommend? (and I’ll make sure to order it from Amazon through this site)
Two good ones are the one by the LA Master Choral and the one by Britten Sinfonia and Polyphony. Two completely different sounds, but complimentary.
Hey, Dr. Mike — a few things:
* My darling husband passed out and keeled over several months back, scaring the ever-loving crap out of his wife. Called 911, went to the ER, had a bunch of tests run, and what they came up with was that he was hyponatremic. We don’t avoid salt at all, but we eat so little processed stuff that we get less salt than most Americans, I’d bet. Plus, of course, eating low carb we don’t retain sodium. The rest of the summer he drank water with a pinch of salt in it before exercising or doing yard work.
* I like chicken bones, or at least those pin-like bones in wing tips. When they’re roasted crisp, I’ll chew ‘em right up. Yummy. The rest of my chicken bones I save to boil for broth.
* I don’t make or eat a lot of low carb baked goods, except when I’m working on recipes for a book — I’d generally rather have eggs for breakfast than pancakes or waffles or whatever. But I do get good results with almond meal (or pumpkin seed meal) and vanilla whey protein, and I don’t see why this is less “real” than the standard wheat flour. I think my stuff tastes better, too. Goes without saying (though I’ll say it) that it keeps me full a heckuva lot longer, and doesn’t crash my blood sugar.
Had your husband followed my lead and drunk pickle juice regularly, he would have avoided a trip to the ER.
Dear Mike -
Sort of a tangent, but a fair one from the comments I’ve seen. I would not want to guess who the best current composer is (whatever “best” means in this context) – that reminds me of the distinguished conductor who was asked which was the greatest orchestra in the world. His answer was to defer: “I’m not inexperienced enough to answer that question.”
Anyway, we live in a time of wonderful music, though the general culture was pretty much purged of classical music in the Cultural Revolution of the 60s, so most people are oblivious of it.
Arvo Part is a fine composer, though some of his music is very austere. De Profundis, either in its small vocal ensemble guise or in its full chorus setting, is gorgeous. Tabula Rasa, a kind of double concerto for violins with strings and prepared piano, has a fantastically intense first movement that starts with something gossamer and seemingly casual, but that builds to a huge cadenza that releases its energy into the darkest, most desolate slow music I can imagine that gradually dies away into a subtle and powerful ending – an implied final note: not sounded, but heard in your mind. Look for Gidon Kremer’s recording. And there’s Arbos, a piece for brass and percussion that sounds like an announcement of the appearance of one of Rilke’s angels. Or Fratres, especially in the version for cello ensemble, a kind of hymn to the warmth and pain of human connection.
Philip Glass has written some powerfully lyrical music, both concert music and film music, from the opera Satyagraha on. Good starting places are the violin concerto – another one of Kremer’s best performances – the string quartets (my favorite is #4 with the lamenting finale), and his elegantly haunting soundtrack for Cocteau’s film of Beauty and the Beast.
Michael Nyman is mainly a film composer. He came to general notice with his scores to movies by Peter Greenaway and, of course, his score to The Piano. There’s an Argo disc that you can get from iTunes called “The Essential Michael Nyman Band” that has great stuff on it, including mock-Handel (really based on music by Purcell) from “The Draughtsman’s Contract” and some stunning reworkings of Mozart’s great Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra in the pieces from Drowning by Numbers. Also worth a look-again you can find it on iTunes- is a disc of his music reworked for full orchestra: the concerto he made out of The Piano; the pieces featuring solo violin, including the searing Miserere paraphrase, and excerpts from Prospero’s books with the mind-blowing Prospero’s Magic and its transfigured and reconciling twin “Cornfield”. A lot of Nyman is lyrical, whimsical, and sardonic – all at once. Think of him as the offspring of Weill and Prokofiev.
Another British composer worth hearing is Gavin Bryars. He’s best known for his Ivesian piece on the sinking of the Titanic, but he wrote some haunting smaller pieces: a cello and piano work “The South Downs” and a great viola concerto “The North Shore”, both inspired by places in England.
Adams has been crowned with fame and popularity, but some of his pieces are quite good. Harmonielehre, a huge orchestral piece, is a challenge to the mind and a delight to the ear. The Chairman Dances is a lovely little piece, but a troubling reminder of Adams’s seeming deafness to the horrible nature of some political figures and movements.
There are lots more to mention. I love some of Torke’s music and if you like Gubaidulina, there’s Kancheli waiting in line. Not to mention Dutilleux, and Golijov…
But I go on too long.
Stephen
Your depth of musical knowledge vastly exceeds mine. I really appreciate the recommendations because I love to track down new music. I hate to admit that I don’t know any of the composers you mentioned except for Philip Glass, whom I’m not particularly a fan of (but, then, I haven’t heard the specific pieces you mentioned), and Gubaidulina, whom I find a little too discordant for my unsophisticated ear. Thanks again for all the recommendations. I’m keenly interested – based on your review – to track down the pieces by Arvo Part.
Hey Dr. Mike,
So I find myself grocery shopping late at night, and I was hungry. I grab a jar of pickles and start eating them. I too love the pickle juice, and I thought about this post. I drank it, after eating the pickles.
Saline laxative, anyone?
Unfortunately the whole jar was much like a magnesium citrate bottle, except much tastier… unexpected side effect of too much sodium perhaps?
Maybe. But I don’t know for sure. It’s never had that happen to me.