Gluttony Be Gone

bird

2009-11-28T11:46:00.002-05:00

Fruit salad from last Christmas (2008)

Score One For the Chicken

2008-01-12T21:30:00.000-05:00

So there is this place near Concordia on St. Catherine street that has chicken...I may have visited it once or twice in the last year. They also have an all you can eat salad bar with an assortment of salads and usually two soups (take the pea soup hehe). Usually the chicken comes with potato of the baked or fried style...some people that I know like having potato both ways and sometimes simultaneously. A little tip if one were to visit this place would be to get the quarter chicken leg as it is the most bang for the buck as you get the chicken and the salad bar for one reasonable price.

Festive Fun...

2008-01-06T19:39:00.001-05:00

Alright. So here are the festive pics from all the food indulgence we've been engaging in...

Here's the turkey carcass... post-meal pic because we were too busy eating to take pics!

Swiss Vienna Almon Ring of course... a regular festive dessert!

Da Coffee...

More turkey carcass and bones.

Chris... after his 9-course Christmass dinner and his 2nd christmas dinner.

OK. New Day. New Year. New Year's Day appetizers up north at Sutton: Smoked salmon.

All the wine and wine glasses...

The potatoes were DELICIOUS!

Asparagus and mild blue cheese sauce! YUM

Carottes glacées.

New Day. Early January trip to the Polar Bear Club... this was from the post freeze-your-butt dinner at Le Bifthèque. Filet Mignon, medium with a baked potatoe.

Pre-freeze-your-butt lunch at some casse-croûte on the way there. Poutine, club, pepsi.

Eating my filet mignon....

Had help with the poutine and had one quarter of my club. After the polar bear club, Marc, Angie, Jeff and Charles helped me with the rest.
Angie and her filet mignon

Fine French food (Au pied de cochon)

2008-01-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

The Eve of the Mas of X-Mas

2007-12-26T14:40:00.000-05:00

The Appetizers

The Meal

Lindt Chocolate as the appetizers, with a meal of appetizers. We had cold cuts, different cheeses, breaded zucchini, onion rings, shrimp, along with bread and cream cheese. probably the most fattening meal of the year. Desert consisted of a strawberry cake from maxi.

The following were not eaten...

Pre race inspiration

2007-04-23T20:50:00.000-04:00

A little prerace inspiration

Fooled

2007-04-02T02:00:00.000-04:00

So after playing numerous April Fools jokes on people, I received the worst of them all. My sister who I thought were so kind in making me some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies had added their own secret ingredient to the cookies: BRAN. I should have gotten suspicious when I thought I smelled cinnamon in the cookies. Wish I knew about the bran 10 cookies ago.

Fast

2007-04-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

Considering how much I hate food, I've decided to begin today a 7 day fast, where all I'll consume is water with ions and some vitamins. I don't think I'll be missing food.

What's for breakfast?

2007-03-29T09:31:00.000-04:00

We'd like to know what you eat for breakfast... give us some yummy ideas!

Mon, wed, fri: One slice of 14-grain toast, all natural pb (pre-swim practice, same thing after)
Tues, thurs: OJ, 2-egg baby spinach omelet and a bowl of plain non-fat yogourt with strawberries and bran buds (about 1/3 cup of buds)
Sat, Sun: Hmmmm sometimes (blueberry) pancakes, sometimes PB + 14-grain toast!

You?

Poutine Experiment

2007-03-22T19:06:00.000-04:00

So back in November, Yvonne and I experimented a bit with poutine at the Decarie HotDog in Ville St. Laurent. Some of us left bursting at the seams. It should be noted that Yvonne also had a hot dog. 30 minutes after consuming the said poutine, we were in the pool swimming. We have concluded that poutine does not enhance swimming performance, nor is it beneficial to swimming attire.

smashing!

2007-03-08T23:04:00.000-05:00

More new creative ideas... Charles' smashed turnip and potatoe concoction! I wonder if we can mix together turnip, potatoe, carrot and cauliflower? Top it off with some corn and a thin layer of extra-lean ground beef to make a healthy shepards pie with steamed brocoli on the side and here you have a potent mix of vitamins!

This week's healthy creations

2007-03-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

I made this tuna salad sandwich this morning!

-one can of tuna packed in water
-a small carrot, grated
-a handful of spinach, chopped/diced up small
-one small avocado, smashed
-a squirt and a half of lemon juice
-a pinch or two of salt/pepper
-2 teaspoons of low-fat mayonnaise (to help the avocado glue things together)
-12-grain bread

Go ahead and try and analyse the nutritional content of this salad! I know avocados are not low in fat but I've been good lately staying away from animal fat sources and vegetable sources aren't as bad. I'm also trying to stay as natural and as un-processed as possible (-5 points for the canned tuna and another few points for the mayo).

Earlier this week I made the same salad with some chopped up home-made roasted chicken. Sorry, the chicken was great but didn't make it on this earth long enough to get it's picture taken...!

Big yolk

2007-03-08T22:50:00.000-05:00

Here's where the sun's been hiding...

Talk about a big yolk... or so it looked when I cracked open this egg!

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T22:06:00.000-05:00

I love chocolate cupcakes!!

Bday celebration 2 at Portus

2007-01-21T15:37:00.000-05:00

Stuffed pork with spinach

Seafood hot pot

Portuguese steak

Portuguese sausage

Grilled salmon

Grilled octopus

Dessert 2

Dessert 1

Cod and chick peas

Blue marlin carpaccio

Bday celebration

2007-01-20T14:56:00.000-05:00

Off to a bad start...

2007-01-03T07:51:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Festive Eating

2006-12-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

Have been eating well the past two days. Have had the pleasure of having Portuguese food one night, and Cafe Wok with pizza the next. I was pretty conservative with the Portuguese, but the Chinese food with pizza I may have overdone things a little. This is just training for the big tournament of eating!

Chicken

2006-12-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

Who's chicken of eating chicken? Not me that's for sure.

Tuna Casserole

2006-12-13T08:02:00.000-05:00

In an effort to eat healthier, I made a tuna casserole the other day... with red peppers, green peppers, green onions, havarti cheese and whole wheat macaroni. Sorry no pics. Next time!

boycotting the Veggirama@Place-Montreal-Trust

2006-12-07T20:36:00.000-05:00

So I was at Place Montreal Trust around 7:25pm the other day, in the food court in the basement level and was looking for some post-workout refueling and I came across the Veggirama which looked pretty interesting... A sandwich on whole wheat bread, 2 kinds of salad (your choice), not a bad meal. Since it's Christmas month, all the malls are open till 9pm and subsequently so are the food court counters. So I walk up to the nice Veggirama man and order my sandwich and he tells me that they don't make sandwiches anymore, that they're done with sandwiches for the day. Clearly they have bread, there are 5 loaves sitting on a shelf above his head and the sandwich meats/salads are not even covered in plastic wrap yet. I look at him incredulously and ask again if I heard right. It's 7:30pm on a weekday night, 2.5 weeks before Christmas and they don't make sandwiches. I mean this place's main selling point is that they make healthy sandwiches. I thank him kindly (though other words were swirling in my mind) and walk next door to the pseudo-japanese joint and settle for a chicken and veggies dish with rice.

I make sure to sit right in front of the nice Veggirama man's counter to show him that even if he's too lazy to make sandwiches an hour and a half before closing time, that there are other people who will get my business. Then this woman walks up to him and before you know it, he's ... yes... making a friggin' sandwich! WTF!???

Veggirama/Cultures has always been big on marketing... or at least every other restaurant I've ever crossed. They are outwardly open in offering you a taste test and inviting you to try their food, hoping that you will be too shy to walk away and order somewhere else after you've just had a mouthful of their main dish (yes that would be me. Once and never again). Lazy, they are not. They want to please you, they want your business. Except for this one of course.

So I'm boycotting this one forever. VEGGIRAMA at Place-Montréal-Trust. Take note.

This week in eating : my take

2006-11-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

So I did the nitrate (hot-dog) study... swimming and nitrates don't mix well. They work better for running apparently, must be that the sea-sickness and nitrates swirling around don't react well together. Oh well... so much for that one.

This Week in Eating

2006-11-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

Had a very full eating week. Pacini's last Friday, Steak and Cheese Sub on Saturday the banquet snack, breakfast buffet on Sunday, along with the pastry I had before the breakfast. There may have also been a cinnamon bun from Saint Cinnamon mixed in the week too. Also could have had some grilled chicken, anybody want to attest to that or help describe it? I don't know what has gotten into me this week (figure of speech, I think it's explanatory what's gotten into me). All week long I've also been craving poutine but I think I can resist those 'urges' for a while at least. Well it could be worse, it's not like I had a grilled cheese sandwich today, and what if I did? Next week will be different though, as that is what this blog is all about, for the gluttony to be gone, and well I'll actually do a little running.

Post Banquet Subway

2006-11-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

After being most unimpressed with the three course snack I had at the XC banquet, and feeling like I deserved more for my efforts I went on the prowl. After getting tipped off by Link about incoming pizza, and getting my hands on a slice, I found my way to Subway where I had the "Grilled Steak and Cheese" displayed below.

Longtime since I've had a sub from Subway, and it was good and it fixed my appetite problem. Now I feel like I have to go for a run...

Bagels

2006-11-09T21:17:00.000-05:00

So, I went for a little lunch time walk and found myself at the Faubourg and decided to get some bagels. Half a dozen seemed right (you can guess where this going), and within twenty minutes I had consumed four bagels. Feeling satisfied I stopped. After going for my run later in the afternoon I finished the remaining two. The long and the short of it is that I consumed half a dozen bagels in four hours...it's all about moderation right?

Spinach Muffin

2006-11-04T22:31:00.000-05:00

Muffins this un-appealing should be just as illegal as cheap junk food -- after seeing this, I couldn't stomach anything remotely healthy.

Post Race Vietnamese

2006-11-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

After my provincial trot in the mud last Sunday, I took my coach's lead and went to La Merveille du Vietnam on St. Denis just on the corner of Mont Royal along with others from the Concordia XC team. There were many tempting choices I could make, but I chose what looked the most appetizing at the moment, and that was the Singapore noodles, the beef and broccoli, and the Fung Poo Chicken. Not bad at all, although I found the noodles a bit spicy even though I was assured they weren't. Unfortunately even though the portions were large, my appetite was larger than the plate, and I went home and had good sized portion of Sauerkraut...I guess climbing mountains in the mud will make you hungry.

Dessert from Ottawa

2006-11-02T16:39:00.000-05:00

Ok so this is not a new one... Here's a picture from Ottawa 2006 (ING Ottawa race weekend). Sean and I were at Don Cherry's restaurant (please no comments) and this is what he ate the night before his race... Carrot cake and chocolate fudge peanut butter goodness. Ok alright I ate the carrot cake. (ah HAH... photos DO lie!) And it was delicious! It more than made up for the mediocre salad I had for my main course...

Thanksgiving at the Bifteck

2006-10-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

Went to the Bifteck for Thanksgiving this year with family rather than have the traditional turkey, stuffing, etc. I have to say that I'm not the biggest fan of having big slabs of meat on my plate and this was no different. I had a hamburger that I had to send back as I found it to be under cooked (I'm not a fan of having raw meat either).

As you can see I also had french fries (photos don't lie). That picture doesn't really show the true size of that hamburger. You can also see that there was cheese.

I also suggested a blooming onion that everybody around the table shared.
Yes, it was breaded, and the plate did have a pool of grease when we were finished. Pretty delicious, although I don't think I want to eat another one for another seven years (same amount of time I last had a blooming onion).

The food I had at the Bifteck wasn't bad, but I have to say it wasn't exactly my cup of tea...I think I would have preferred the traditional Thanksgiving supper. Oh well, I guess I just have to wait until Christmas.

Hot Dogs

2006-10-08T23:27:00.001-04:00

I know many people may think that this blog is excessive, frivolous and possibly even childish. But in reality it's a work in progress. Heck a couple of months ago Y and I determined that two small pizzas had a greater area than one large pizza.

August 17th 2006.

Now we think we have made a new startling discovery. We hypothesize (seriously) that hot dogs improve running performance. These claims are supported by Y's recent performance in the 800m race at the Asian Community Games back in June where she had a barbecued hot dog thirty minutes before her race in which she ran her fastest 800m of the season. I achieved similar results today running my fastest 8k ever after having two barbecued hot dogs the day prior.

Coincidence? I think not. In the future we will be looking for subjects to participate in a study of running while eating hot dogs...Possibly during an 800m race. I believe Y is also planning a study on hot dogs and swimming performance.

Cinnamon Bun

2006-10-06T18:48:00.000-04:00

Gee, I wonder what happened here?

Things I've Eaten Recently

2006-10-05T23:38:00.000-04:00

A cookie I had from Saint Cinnamon in the Faubourg...I love their cookies.

A berry drink/shake I made, delicious.

Another Ramadan meal, this one with some rice and a piece of chicken and salad. The spice was manageable this time.

Ramadan II

2006-09-27T22:20:00.001-04:00

Y wanted pictures, Y now has pictures...the green stuff in the picture turned out to be pretty spicy, and I'm ashamed to say I didn't finish it. The rice had a bit of a tang to it, and was pretty good for being rice. Of course those twinky shaped things were sweet baklavas...a dessert.

Ramadan

2006-09-26T22:07:00.000-04:00

We are in the midst of Ramadan...today at Concordia on the menu from the MSA (Muslim Student Association) was Pakastani food. Although I came late due to a running practice, I did get my greasy fingers on some bread which I could fill with the leftover sauce and meat. Lets just say I had a couple of pieces of bread. So for the next couple of weeks at sunset when possible I will probably be going to the Concordia cafeteria for tastes of the Middle East.

Duck starter

2006-09-26T20:48:00.000-04:00

Mmm... duck

Oktoberfest

2006-09-19T23:58:00.000-04:00

Oktoberfest has already begun. Here is a listing of some of the delicious foods I could be (and some that I probably will soon be) eating.

Bavarian Menu

I'll keep you posted on any delights I have from that list, like the Leberwurst I should get cracking at.

In Tribute of JLO

2006-09-10T18:42:00.000-04:00

See Turkish Delight for details/explanation on these pictures of ecstasy.

For JLO, the mountain running bagel boy

2006-08-22T22:39:00.000-04:00

Pizza and Mango Slush

2006-08-17T21:36:00.000-04:00

Went for an impromptu lunch with Y this afternoon at Double Pizza on De Maisoneuve. It was not bad the pizza and I found it crustier than in previous times I've had pizza from there (yes I've been there before). Neither of us felt too guilty about the two slices we each had as both of us had recently been out chasing gazelles and Y had also done some fishing. We felt this hunting and fishing more than made up for the pizza we consumed. Besides that, it was a pretty productive outing as we figured out that two small pizzas had a slightly larger area than one large pizza. After the pizza, we headed one block West along De Maisoneuve to get a mango a slush (eventually we'll have pics) to help wash down the pizza we just dissolved. All and all a pretty sweet and tasty outing.

Very yummy

2006-08-14T22:51:00.000-04:00

Yummy

2006-08-14T22:48:00.000-04:00

The Muffin Man

2006-08-10T23:25:00.000-04:00

Was just thinking about the muffin man.

Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man?
Do you know the muffin man
Who lives down Drury Lane?

Yes I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man?
Yes I know the muffin man
Who lives down Drury Lane?

We all know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man?
We all know the muffin man
Who lives down Drury Lane?

On a side note, I always get Drury Lane mixed up with Pillsbury Lane.

Loaded up

2006-08-03T23:14:00.000-04:00

We were at it again... No less than 4 days after our previous fill-up, we were back for more. Yep, you guessed it... Fresh Mango slushes! Met up with Chris and TB for drinks after work/school for a well-deserved refill. Ohhh why no one had a camera is beyond my comprehension, I guess that means we'll have to go back for another one, guys!

Korean delight

2006-07-30T17:56:00.000-04:00

Yummy. Wish I could have it every day

B&M's

2006-07-27T23:27:00.000-04:00

So the three musketeers were out and about again. One musketeer was hungry, and another musketeer knew a quick fix that they seemed quite experienced with. While not all the musketeers had the same degree of expansion, one musketeer who will remain un-named marked the occasion with additional onions.

This meeting of the three musketeers also spurred the idea of having a list of possible locations for future meetings, outside suggestions are welcome!!

Kraut

2006-07-23T23:45:00.000-04:00

Had Sauerkraut today. Although typically a winter dish as it is a preserved food, there had been a half empty jar sitting around since the spring that was asking to be cooked and enjoyed. You can never go wrong with cabbage, and Sauerkraut is no different. Cabbage is a very nutritcious vegetable, although as Sauerkraut can become slightly junky when considering the bacon and sausage added to enhance the flavour. Nevertheless, the lightly sour kraut I had today is a welcome forshadowing of one of the treats of the harvest that will be coming in the autumm. So I anxiously await the pending crunchy delight that I will enjoy more often in the fall.

Community preview

2006-07-23T22:37:00.001-04:00

I've been ordered to blog this so here's a preview before I write my report...

Bacon Cereal

2006-07-16T22:16:00.000-04:00

I don't know how I keep on coming across these things, but I do, so I blog about it. This is not cereal, this is really blue cheese with bacon dressing topped with Bacos, whatever that is, that somebody ate like cereal and took pictures of. My stomach churned as I read this, but in another light it made me glad that this person went through all the trouble of describing this dish to the world. Yes, yes, this person just made whatever was my worst dietary sin look one hundredth as bad as what he (I don't think any woman is capable to even contemplate such an un-novel idea) has proudly created and consumed. To the creator of the bacon cereal, thank you.

Again

2006-07-13T23:15:00.000-04:00

Been a long day at work and at the gym... Today I swam, then aqua-jogged, then cycled. So it was a little late to have a 6-course meal after the training so I opted for a bowl of ... yep you guessed it!

Cherry yogourt (thank you Danone) and sprinkled with 1/3 cup of da bran buds! (no pics, you already saw that and if you are of sane mind, you don't need to see that again. I don't know how you can eat 125 or 175 ml of yogourt, I say the best way to eat yogourt (assuming it's low fat) is by the bowl... And preferably with fresh fruit and some cereal/oatmeal/granola of some kind.

Hmmm, yogourt and bb is getting pretty boring... wonder if I can find alternatives!

Altaib

2006-07-13T17:38:00.000-04:00

I was hungry hence I was looking for something to eat, and the most convenient place to facilitate my urge was Altaib on Guy, not far from De Maisoneuve. Altaib is probably better known for a place to get a quick slice of pizza. Today I wouldn't be having pizza though. Instead I had a zaatar, and a laham baagine. I don't speak Arabic, so I don't exactly know what those two foreign names mean, but I would assume they are a reference to the type of wrap you're getting.

The wrap displayed on the left seemed to have a basil paste that was sharp but not too sharp. The other wrap I had, had beef inside. I asked for vegetables to be included in the wrap. With vegetables you get lettuce, onions, pickles, olives, red and yellow peppers (which I opted out of), I believe also tomatoes, and my favorite, pickled turnips. The pink pickled turnip from the Middle East is what I always look forward to when I have Middle Eastern food. They're sour, yet have a distinct sweetness to them.

For under 5$, these two wraps left me satisfyingly full, and they sure beat the greasy pizza I could have had instead.

Juicy Peach

2006-07-12T07:24:00.000-04:00

After causing some of my readers' (well at least one) cholesterol levels to skyrocket after introducing them to the Krispy Kreme Burger, I thought I'd describe a more healthy form of food ecstasy.

I picked up my tender victim, so soft and full of pectic acid, I knew this would be a treat. I took a bite into its furry skin, clamping down on my jaws and tearing open a bloody wound, contaminating the hand supporting the lifeless body. I ran over to the sink so to hide any further evidence of my murder of passion. Further stabs at the body severed its jugular causing a downpour of red juice. Continuing on my relentless attacks, I didn't stop until there was only a pit.

Krispy Kreme Burger

2006-07-11T23:07:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon this novelty (see link for picture but brace yourself it's discusting) of all places but a running message board. While some people get tempted by just the "bread" of this burger; this burger brings an entirely new level of gluttony. Thankfully I'm many kilometers away from such dangerous offerings. Apparently though, the gastronomically innovative baseball team that came up with this burger has also in the past come up with the "World's Best Hot Dog" (and Yvonne thinks the best hot dogs are on the streets of TO and NY) which consists of a hot dog with two strips of bacon, sauteed onions, sauerkraut, and chedder cheese. But back to the burger. The burger will be exclusively sold in the stadium, and will consist of a burger with chedder cheese, and bacon all between an original KK donut and will supply the consumer with more fat than one is supposed to consume in a day. As much as I love food, even this I think would be too much for me, even just to try once in a lifetime, but hey that's why you have friends with cameras, right!!

Oatmeal

2006-07-11T04:14:00.000-04:00

While some people get their kicks from eating rabbit food, a.k.a. Bran Buds, I quite enjoy Quaker Oatmeal.

I eat my oatmeal warm and with milk with a spoonful of brown sugar to the 1 cup oatmeal. Eating oatmeal leaves a warm feeling in the stomach. While the colon blow factor is not even close to that of Bran Buds, one cup of Oatmeal is supposed to yield about 30% of the daily recommended allowance of fibre. The texture of my oatmeal when cooked is yes soggy like a cereal, but the fact that it is warm makes up for this sogginess. Some people will continue eating food that tastes like cardboard, Quaker Oatmeal is a comparable alternative to that carboard cereal that is not only palatable, but also has taste.

Da Buds

2006-07-09T21:51:00.000-04:00

So this is what I had for dessert tonight...

A bowl of cherry (sorry Denis!) yogourt (danone) sprinkled with 1/3 cup of Bran Buds (aka cardboard). Apparently da Buds are real popular amongst runners in Dorval/West-Island and well you know how it is, I succombed to the peer pressure, I went out to set myself back 6 bucks to see what the hype was all about...

It's definitely better than the regular worm-like All-bran. It's consumable, I mean there really isn't much NOT to like about it besides that it's pretty tasteless and boring but I mean I suppose it IS healthy and all.

Nathan's Famous

2006-07-08T20:43:00.000-04:00

I realize that this blog is supposed to be about the contributors encounters with food but I saw this...Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest and I just had to add it. On a related matter, my record of hot dogs consumed is 8 over a 2 hour period (please no comments from the peanut gallery although they will comment anyways!). After eating all those hot dogs I did not consume another hot dog for 2 years afterwards.

Anybody wish to enter next year's contest?

Still no meat

2006-07-08T20:13:00.000-04:00

Still no meat today...

Went to Première Moisson on my way to the gym and had a low-fat yogourt with healthy granola (home-made or PM-made si tu veux) and fresh berries on the bottom. After my cycling workout, I had 2 nectarines (hmmm sweet and juicy). But that's where it all fell apart... After the 2 nectarines I jumped in the pool for an hour and headed out to grab dinner before heading to work (yes, work). What did I grab, you ask?

Green salad dressing on the side (not too bad so far)
All-dressed pizza minus the pepperoni, light on the cheese.

I ate half of the pizza and brought the rest to the office for lunch later this week.

Now I'm craving another PM Yogourt! Ironically, I had one about 4 months ago and could not finish it because it seemed to lack ... flavour. But it seems like I've grown to like the taste of very simple plain food and I prefer this yogourt to the flavoured or sweetened ones. Scary isn't it?

Supper

2006-07-08T18:46:00.000-04:00

Not liking being told I'm slacking off, I'll report about my food intake of the day.

So for breakfast, I had a spoonful of chicken salad and two pieces of toast with a small slice of salami with a mouthful of water (so I wouldn't get dehydrated) before I headed out the door for a 22km trot. After getting home, I downed 3/2 litres of water as I was thirsty from the run. I then proceeded to have two sausages with two pieces of toast. A bit later I consumed about 10 slices of watermelon. Within the last hour, I had a relatively large fuzzy wuzzy peach, a can of tomato soup with 8 slices of toast taken with gulps of icewater. At the moment I'm snacking on a yellowish with a tint of red apple, thinking of having a semi-ripened banana after.

Veggie

2006-07-08T11:10:00.000-04:00

Not sure if it was a consious effort or some sub-conscious brainwashing but I've not had any meat since... Tuesday! (cupcakes is not meat!) I think my body might still be trying to burn off that fowl we had on Monday night (and what a good bird it was).

I just had to post something because I could not stand to see those delicious looking cookies anymore every time I open this page!

I had two smoothies yesterday, one for breakfast (mango magic from Jugo Juice, so refreshing) and a blueberry-strawberry-banana smoothie from Veggirama. I think it had some yogourt in it too.

No pics but breakfast this morning consisted of an omelette (3 egg-whites, 2 yolks) with lots of mushrooms, some onions and green peppers and a sprinkle of shredded mozzerella cheese. And of course a mango. The mango was so sweet and juicy I nearly felt guilty for eating it, it's probably sweeter than candy! I think I'll have another one tonight (I don't feel THAT guilty).

What's up guys, either you are slacking off the eating or you're not reporting!

Broke Parole

2006-07-04T23:01:00.000-04:00

While TB confessed his latest crime of dietary deliquency as I like to say, I figure I may as well. Yes these were the cookies (actually only two) that I mutilated while on parole for my escapades on Monday evening (more on that at another time). They were so soft doughy and tender, and sweet with juicy creamy melted black and white chocolate chips distributed in the centre. As with most sweet things I consume I downed it with a glass of deep white cows milk. While these cookies didn't leave a warm spot in the stomach like the fresh off the conveyer belt donut TB had (I confess I've had KK too but they were complimentary), I could eat more worth in calories of these cookies than of KK donuts because these cookies aren't messy to eat, rather dry in the palm, but definitely not dry in taste. While this crime I had was only a misdemeanor, hopefully being the newest member of this blog will help keep me honest in my eating habits and quest of clean eating. Posted by Picasa

Temptation

2006-07-04T21:20:00.000-04:00

Argh... I passed by Marché Centrale en route to Future Shop. I did not find what I was looking for so as I left dejected, I felt the siren call of K.K. beckoning me towards her. I didn't realise that such solace would only cost me $1 plus taxes. As a bonus, the price dropped by a penny (thank you GST cut). Ah... yummy yummy yummy I got love in my tummy...

Summer plans

2006-06-28T22:05:00.000-04:00

Well well well, it's been a while. Lots to talk about... you know that in this case no news is usually BAAAAAD news. Since the last post, I have run 2 road races and one track meet and that will be all for 2006. I'd say I pretty consistantly sucked at almost all three outings but did indeed have some fun. So now I'm on a summer rehab/strength and conditioning program that my AT gave me for the next 6 weeks (fun fun fun...) and apparently I could/should lose some weight and should see a nutritionist. Well that won't be much fun for this blog wouldn't you agree? As if I didn't have enough documenting to do documenting every stretch (duration, intensity, effort level), cardio activity, strength exercise, I'd probably have to document every carrot, celery, apply and ounce of water I intake on a daily basis. I'm a programmer, not a documentation specialist!!!

Ok I'm just grumpy because I just got back from physio and the prospect of documenting AND doing all this nitty gritty (admit it, boring) conditioning stuff (instead of RUNNING!) is quite depressing. The prospect of finding a way to lose weight in the process is even worse.

Hey, it's my birthday, I get ONE day a year to complain and TODAY is it...!

Hopefully we will be posting more in the next few weeks (ie: next Monday night...).

Oops

2006-04-14T23:01:00.000-04:00

The little moments

2006-03-05T15:02:00.000-05:00

It's been brought to my attention that I may have an eating disorder. After much deliberation, I think that the volume of food consumed (in terms of volume, frequency and duration) is commensurate with the amount of running I do.

Mind you, I am vigilant about the choices I make. Perhaps it's just a reaction to the goals that I have set for myself. When running is framed in such a way that its structure becomes noted for its rigidity and not its progression, I need to find some means of escapism.

I enjoy training in all its forms (yoga, drills, and running), but I what has been relegated to the periphery is the fun factor. Dining with others (especially runners) provides solace to such a rigorous program. Though I agree that the occasional dalliance with food will result is sub optimal performance in the long run, what matters is my emotional and spiritual state of being.

Eventually at one point in life, a man's memories become more important than his dreams. When that happens I want to look back with a smile. With so much time dedicated toward training, it's the little moments munching away and enjoying the lighter moments that be the ones that matter the most.

Do not be fooled

2006-03-04T22:58:00.000-05:00

Do not be fooled... Just because there is little action here does not mean that there has been nothing to report.

Details to come...

Comfort food

2006-02-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

Perhaps it's conditioning or some chemical in the food but when the chips are down, I seek solace in food. THe cold weather has provided me with reason to, "hunker down" and eat to my hearts content.

A friend passwed away recently and I managed that transition with difficulty. Perhaps the sugar was just the right, "pick me up" needed to over come this loss.

Though I have been running, I believe that its contribution to my less that stellar eating habits was a marginal one. The increase frequency of running forces me to eat properly prior to running. My stomach is quite sensitive to what I consume prior to running. As a result, I eat healthier.

When I am with pleasant company, I tend to eat more. Food tastes so much better when it's shared with someone. Despite finger pointing (I won't name any names) I think they enjoy munching as well.

If eating more is the price of happiness. I'm willing to run all the more to work it off.

Confession

2006-02-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

I did my duty and am proud of it too. The man needed to go shopping and my presence was requested. Ah well what girl can say no to shopping on her lunch hour huh? A hungry one, that's what! Don't get me wrong, we did go shopping. For about 10 minutes. Then we got sidetracked and the rest is all downhill from here. Mister here goaded me into a smoked meat sandwich and a coke. Oh yeah you read right. He had fries and I had mashed potatoes. I believe the words pronounced at the table were "I won't tell if you don't tell". Uh huh. Now it's all out on the beautiful WWW.

Now that's all good for him since he's actually RUNNING these days as opposed to my half-baked idea of a cross-training schedule. Just to keep my metabolism and my endurance, I need to train twice a day and hours on end to make up for the lack of intensity. This morning's bike workout was absolutely wonderful. I did a 30-minute workout consisting of 2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy. Tonight was a 30 minute simulated tempo on the eliptical followed by drills, stretching and lots of icing.

So being on the DL is not an ideal situation to be in considering the amount of food that teases me on a daily basis. I have been craving soft drinks like nobody's business. I see Coke everywhere I go and I have it on my mind all the time. Today I even caved (2nd time today) and had a diet 7-up. Satisfied my bubbly craving.

I better hit the pillow before I come up with more ideas... That's all for today's confession!

Run hard and fuel well.

Bad week

2006-02-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a bad week. It started out ok. But the discipline was lacking, the motivation was low, the injury was nagging, the mileage was a big fat "ZERO" this week (unless you count all the hours I spent cross-training (twice daily) to try to keep the weight down). Let's see... this week I had a coke on tuesday, fries on thursday, some fried chinese food and half a coke (we shared. It was Turtleboy's idea) on friday, and ugh more coke today (Saturday). The last coke was ahem someone's idea since I had already pretty much messed up the week, SOMEONE suggested I go all out. If it's any consolation, I ate soup for the rest of the meals. Low-carb, low-sodium staple diet food for the injured and the weight-watching. It was all in all a pretty bad week, diet aside so I'm going to take the next day (Sunday) to clear my mind to start the new week fresh and sharp. The good news is that I started running again. I ran to the gym and back which normally takes me about 10 minutes one way (injury-free) and took me 13 minutes today (including walking breaks to give the knee a chance to recover).

I also went for physio last week and I'm happy with the progression. Jean-Yves is not worried, it's still February (although spring is really just around the corner).

Still, I'm itching to run. I'm itching to run. I'm itching to run. I just want to get out there and go...

It's all in the head

2006-02-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

I thought about my week and suddenly I remembered what Denis had said in a previous post's comment :

"The beautiful thing about Eating well and training hard is that eventually you find that, that is what you prefer. Given the choice between Fries and a Pink Lady apple I will take the apple almost every time. Stick with the good choices. Good habits are as easy to form as bad habits."

The week started out very well. Vegetable stew/soup for lunch every day, and on occasion, a slice of belgium bread lightly toasted. I've been loading up on all types of yogourt, the drinkable kind and the ones you eat with a spoon - all low fat. I brought low-fat snacks (carrots, crackers etc) and made sure I had a good supply of healthy food to eat (lunch and supper) so I wouldn't be tempted to go out and buy evil evil food. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday went relatively well. Thursday I cracked. For lunch I went downstairs to Presse-Café for an eggplant in tomato sauce dish with rice and salad. Healthy, but not the vegetable stew-apple-yogourt-slice of toast I had planned. I ate half of it (restaurant portions are really too big) and kept the rest for dinner that night. However, I barely made it home that night around 8pm when I got hungry again and stopped by a greek restaurant to pick up a souvlaki pita.

Now normally, I pay to play as JW puts it. Burn the calories before you consume them. Or something like that. I know that it's generally not a good idea to start calculating energy consumed and energy burnt on a daily basis but ever since I landed myself on the DL, I've been slightly paranoid about gaining weight that will slow me down once I am healed.

I found this extract of an article on runners and eating habits (thanks Chris) :

[...] runners tend to be more inclined toward food fetishes than sedentary folks and even many other types of athletes because weight and energy levels play such a huge role in running. "Disordered eating and excessive running often go together," says Suzanne Girard Eberle, R.D., a sports dietitian and author of Endurance Sports Nutrition.

In pursuit of a perfect diet that will produce optimal running performance, many runners forget about the need for balance and variety in their eating. "Some runners even develop a fear of a particular food or food group," says Susan McQuillan, R.D., the author of Breaking the Bonds of Food Addiction. Such restrictive eating patterns can wreak havoc on your running goals--they'll slow you down, tire you out, and even make you sick.

Nutritional Misfits, Runner's World Online

So there is no perfect diet. And for some people, good habits may take a little longer to form than bad habits. I think a little bit of trial and error is needed to see what works optimally for you. But the dillema is not "knowing what works for me". I know what works, I just have a hard time sometimes sticking to it. Working in the heart of downtown doesn't help matters either. I am forever taunted by all the good looking food I see as I stroll along Ste-Catherine during the lunch hour. Not to mention all the invites to go for lunch and dinner, mostly in restaurants serving "fast-food" and other food items I should be avoiding.

I generally have a hold on other types of discipline (ie: work, training, etc) but when it comes to food, all hell breaks loose. I think maybe instead of keeping our three "infractions" for one particular day, we should try to spread them out a little over the week so that our mind does not have time to build any uncontrollable cravings. After all, it's all up there in the mind.

Eating with reckless abandon

2006-02-10T20:18:00.000-05:00

I've come to the realisation that what is shocking is not the amount of food consumed by when the binging occurs. I've been away for a while pondering this strange behaviour of mine. I am convinced that this binging is my body's reaction to all the healthy food I've consumed. Junk and healthy need to coexist in peaceful harmony. When these forces of nature of out of balance, corrective forces apply. The converse occurs when too much junk food is consumed. I am wracked with pangs of guilt.

Reflecting on all the food I consumed last Superbowl weekend was justified :)
Let's see, chicken wings, KFC, chocolate, chips, almonds. All in copious amounts as well. Of course, following that horrific display of gluttony I have been good all week. See how everything works out?

The People want to know...

2006-02-07T23:24:00.000-05:00

Hey... TB! No news, good news? You been running like Geb and eating like a star?

The people want to hear about a) The BBQ and b)Superbowl. What you ate, that is.

;)

I've eased up the running a little and replaced a few workouts with daily dates with the eliptical machine. I've been eating plenty of vegetables and getting in lots of vitamins and minerals hoping that I'll have a speedy recovery. Stay tuned!

diet and injuries

2006-02-07T05:28:00.000-05:00

What a start to the week. I've been cross-training and jogging (so slow I could read a book) so not as to aggravate the ankle and knee "issues" I have (apparently it's fatigue). There are many many many reasons why being slightly "injured" ("pas besoin de s'énerver encore, on est juste février...) is not a good thing : diet needs to change. Infractions have to be reduced. Heck, everything needs to be reduced and frankly it's reducing ME to tears (ok pas à ce point là....). I brought a bucket full of vegetable soup and a little bit of chicken to work to eat all week (lunch and supper). But no matter how much less I eat, I still crave that adrenaline of going out there and just running. The eliptical machine has been my friend these last few days and to be honest, he's no replacement. There is no machine in the gym than can replace that feeling of being high on endorphins (stay with me here, we're talking about running).

So now the dillema is how to balance my dietary intake with my dimished need for carbs (no matter how many hours I can cross-train on that eliptical, it just won't cut it as a workout) and lower intensity training? Hey, TB, what did you do when you were on the DL last month?

Stay tuned.

First Infraction of the Week

2006-02-04T06:02:00.000-05:00

Je suis sortie avec Les Boys (du bureau) hier soir, un genre de 5 à 7 qui était plutôt un 5 à 8h30. Carlos & Pepe's était notre destination originale, mais sans réservation, on n'y était pas bienvenue. Notre 2e choix, 3 Brasseurs nous obligeait d'attendre 2 heures, encore parce qu'on n'avait pas réservé. Mais Dieu-de-la-Nutrition merci, on a décidé d'aller au Bâton Rouge. Petite marche avant de remplir l'estomac et "on va là pour MANGER" il paraît. Presque tout le monde a commandé des frites. J'ai opté pour (hé, je suis originale, je commande toujours la même chose à chaque fois) l'assiette Santa Fe - poulet grillé avec légumes grillés et fromage de chèvre - et une patate au four toute garnie. Vous voulez connaître la définition de "Toute Garnie"? Non, il n'y avait pas de peppéroni. Ni de bacon. C'est une patate avec du beurre, de la crème sûre, du fromage cheddar jaune râpé et des échallottes. Ok. J'avoue. J'ai commis une infraction hier soir (la patate). Mais quelle infraction... hmmmm. Paraissait-il qu'on était là pour manger et puis après on allait au Vieux Dublin pour boire mais il y avait pas mal de bière sur la table (non, j'ai pas touché à une goutte, j'aime pas).

Alors petite marche après le souper pour arrêter au bureau un moment (ok, c'était un peu plus qu'un moment) et ensuite : destination Au Vieux Dublin. C'était relativement short and sweet, de la bière pour la plupart, jus de canneberge pour moi. Alors une soirée réussie, une seule infraction dans toute ma semaine (hé, c'était vendredi soir) et aujourd'hui c'est ma méga-journée 2 entraînements de course + une séance de Yoga. Sur ce, je vous laisse pour poursuivre la journée folle du samedi.

Amnesia

2006-02-03T10:28:00.000-05:00

Week two of this operation is winding down and I have come to the realisation that once you forgo, "flavour" in your diet, adherence is a cinch. The fond memories heartburn and indigestion from spicy, greasy food are now but a distant memory. The taste of salt dancing on the tip of my tongue like angels on the head of a pin. All the sweets I would indulge in from once upon a yesteryear only exist dreams and soon fade the ethereal when return to this cruel reality. All this ruffage has reduced me to f a cow lowing in the field as chewing my cud *moo*

I have random thoughts running through my mind as I find myself in this flavour deprived state of delirium. I often ask myself, "Do they have meat flavoured veggies?" I relish the thought of lettuce that tastes like roast beef. Mmm.. relish. How about carrots that taste like sausage? Carrots would no longer be considered a homogenous product. Think of the marketing possibilities for the Carrot growers of America.. Reality is overrated, delirium is where it is at.

I've been good thus far having only committed one infraction thus far. My grease levels were at critically low levels and I could hear my joint squeaking during my run. As "an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure" accordingly to the adage, I erred on the safe side, considered a pound of grease but settled for only an ounce (Troy). Went for some Singapore noodles with dry garlic sparerib the other day.

The other two infractions are being saved for this weekend. As it is Superbowl weekend, I believe that this weekend should be an exception to the rule. Hmm.. Chips, pretzels, chocolate covered almonds, soda, pizza, French fries. And that's just for starters! I'm not sure whether I'll actually have all of that,, but their memory is fading fast and I feel it is necessary to resurrect them by writing about them. " Oh. Eve, you are so cruel! First you get us kicked out of the garden of Eden and now out of, "Flavour Country". Why do you spite me so?

Counting down the days before I can say, "Hello again, for the very first time"

TB

Calcium and vitamin-rich foods

2006-02-02T18:29:00.000-05:00

I'm home early with a bad headache. It's been quite a long week and it's not even over yet. I've been good today (I left my wallet at home by accident) and had the last quarter of my tuesday carbo-loading pasta meal for lunch. Yes, I managed to stretch the plate of pasta into 3 meals. I think the servings are way too big and eating that much pasta in the middle of the day is deadly. I brought 2 drinkable yogourts from home and bought a McDonald's Parfait au Yogourt with the pocket change I found in my coat. I think I've recovered relatively well from tuesday's workout (muscular wise, there was no problem) but my ankles are a little sore (hence the load up on calcium to prevent a stress fracture).

I just realized that I problably should get more calcium in my diet. I don't drink milk (never liked it) and I don't love yogourt but eat/drink it for the vitamins and minerals. I slowly built up my mileage and my body feels like it has comfortably adjusted to the volume of training but I'm worried that the change in intensity will have an effect on my already-damaged ankles (3 bone chips floating in my left ankle). Turtleboy has been promoting his yogourt and banana diet forever now and I think it's a great combo. They both have lots of potassium for recovery and plenty of calcium for the bones. I'm starting to realize (as I walked down the aisles of my local grocery store) that low-fat isn't enough to cut it. It's better to pick vitamin-rich foods instead of empty low-fat calories.

So part of the deal is that we get a certain amount of "passes" a week should we have a certain craving. 3 is the magic number and it is valid for one portion of whichever illegal food we should choose to indulge in. For example, a can of Coke or Sprite (355ml) is one pass. If you happen to have ordered fries with that, that's 2. What happens if we pass 3?

Stay tuned for more... (we haven't decided yet!)

Lâche pas!

Carbo-loading

2006-01-31T21:52:00.000-05:00

Surprise surprise, I had lunch with Turtleboy today. Tuesdays are our speed workout days (with our respective coaches) so I thought it would be a good idea to go for pasta today. I ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese which was alright. The portion was huge, much bigger than I wanted to eat but I had expected that. I settled for half of the plate (boy that was definitely enough) and brought the rest back to the office.

Ok so now is the time to get out your ultra sarcastic remarks: I've discovered that pasta is great for running hard workouts. No really. I mean pasta as opposed to... oh say... rice noodles or simply rice. I think I'm slowly adapting to the new eating habits and I think the trick is to never let yourself get so hungry that you make the wrong choices. I've been snacking on bananas, low-fat yogourt, low-fat biscuits and crackers (nothing in excess, just small portions).

Training was truly amazing tonight. My first workout with the team this year (Thank you d-day!) and I am happy with my progress. I felt great and much better than I had expected. I am by no means peaking, but the endurance I built over the winter has more than definitely paid off. I'm happy with where I am for January, but am worried about how I will increase the intensity over the next few months and how my body will react. I suppose that's another reason to fuel up properly with the added stress I will puting on my legs.

One last thing : Potassium. Fill up.

sensations

2006-01-31T20:38:00.000-05:00

I had lunch today with Eve and ordered a plate of penne pasta with sausage and bell peppers. At the end of the meal, she noticed that several slices of sausage remained on the plate. In response, I quipped, "I have to cut back."

That phrase, though trite, held a significance that I am still trying to understand as this message is being written. The sensation of having reduced yourself to an insulin induced coma, brings me back to a previous life when I was heavier set and ate with reckless abandon.

The physical implications of such a condition are obvious: sluggishness less agility, low endurance, no energy. I had no idea of how the mind follows the body. Imagine being in frame of mind following an exhausting workout all the time. That would be the basis by today's standards of how I would describe my state of mind back then. The emotional state of being would be tied in with society's perception of beauty and the efforts to fit in. That is a topic of conversation on to itself.

I admit, I've experimented with various forms of physically transforming myself and I have come to the following realisaion: I prefer strength over power. I am able to grow stronger without losing my flexibility due to my yoga. I enjoy the sensation of being sleek, nimble and agile. The benefits transcend the physical and affect my mental, emotional and spiritual state of being. It instills a peace of mind and a confidence that never has been experienced elsewhere.

Yoga is the vessel by which I am able to arrive to where I am today. Each vinyasa, every bind and bend bring me closer to understanding my body and place in the world. I can feel all the muscles groups strengthening individually and collectively as my balance and coordination have improved. This sense of heightened awareness is one that I do not want to let go of. Insulin induced comas are the antithesis of all that I have worked so hard to realise.

I am having difficulty articulating these sensations as they are new to me. Every day brings a new discovery. Regardless of the outcome, I'm here to enjoy the ride

Change

2006-01-30T20:33:00.000-05:00

The mind is a powerful creature. It can take you straight to the top... or bring you lower than low. I've been fantasizing about McDonald's fries all day. I nearly caved around 6:30 pm this evening but luckily, I became overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and sat myself back down in order to prevent an infraction. I'm relatively happy with my week. If my math serves me right, I committed 3 infractions this week : Chips on tuesday (followed by an excellent workout none-the-less), shrimp tempura on saturday (Chinese New Year, not my fault) and a soda (sprite) to wash it down. Like Turtleboy here, I felt sluggish. I was definitely a victim of an IIC (Insulin Induced Coma) as I passed out around 9pm, nearly half and hour after taking that last bite.

I think part of the exercise is to be aware of the choices we are making, and also to be aware that we HAVE choices. I started bringing my lunch to work (chicken, carrots, celery, rice) last week and had dinner once at Coaster's on Avenue du Parc with LG. While she ordered fish and chips with fries (hey, she must be doing something right, she won the race), I played it safe with a grilled tuna steak, veggies and a small portion of rice. It turned out to be extremely beneficial as I had a jam-packed Saturday that included 2 runs and a yoga session.

So here's to our 2nd week of change. There really is no big secret to good performance. Eat well, train hard. Be disciplined. On and off the road.

Cheers.

Old habits die hard

2006-01-29T23:13:00.000-05:00

Given that the legitimate purpose, desire and means to achieve our lofty goal, I am having trouble ridding myself of old habits. The transgression was, in my opinion, not that severe. I snack on McCain french fries (they didn't taste so good) and indulged myself on a can of soda (Coke). I realise that this errant behaviour will only hurt me in the end in my performances and end up losing credibility in the eyes of Ms. "CIA"

However, a strange sensation resulted from this evenings tryst with junk food: I felt sluggish and out of sorts. Despite all the sugar in the can of soda, I wasn't "wired" (a la Sudafed way) but felt uncomfortable with the soda flowing through my system. Then again, it could have been that steak. Mmm...

And so, as I wind down for the evening, a new week begins. My resolve remains firm and my focus steadfast as I reiterate my committment to this project. Until the next infraction. Probably sooner than later

G'nite

Welcome. Bienvenue

2006-01-29T19:36:00.000-05:00

Welcome. Bienvenue. You'll hopefully leave here either with a handfull of laughs or a fistfull of pity. We'll let you decide. Hope you enjoy your visit and come again soon!