January Foodie Pen Pals Reveal

And it's that time again! Time for ...

It's been a few months' hiatus, but thankfully, the return engagement of free food in the mail went yummily well.

This month, I was paired up with Andrea, a fellow academic administrator who lives in Pennsylvania. She knows the joys of endless committee meetings AND she like ska music! It's like looking in the mirror!

I sent her some sumac rub, local NYC chocolate bars (one with quinoa and the other with chardonnay), Polish candies (chocolate prunes!) and some other local treats.(And once again, I forgot to take a photo before it was boxed. Mea culpa!)

And what did Andrea send me? A localized extravaganza:

There's a nice blend from Nicholas Coffee, Sea Salt Vanilla Caramels from Valos Chocolates, tapenade and hot pepper tomato paste from Delallo and Ciciarelli Bros. Italian dressing.

Andrea said she uses the dressing as a marinade. I'm not usually a big dressing guy, but this one was very simple with no sugars or odd gum extracts. It made a great topping for arugula and mandarin segments. With enough left for future marinades.

The coffee made it to my office coffee maker and it was quite lovely. The tapenade makes for a nice toast topping at breakfast (yeah, I'm a savory morning guy) and the spicy paste is earmarked for an upcoming sauce.

And the caramels?

Drooooollll

So thank you, Andrea for the great package! It's what Foodie Pen Pals should be all about!

If you're interested in joining the great food exchange, check out the site.

A Catalog of Cooking, or Streamlined eating in the Library

A page from Teen Cuisine, illustrated by Peter Max.

Yes, that's a page from one of the hundreds of cookbooks in my personal collection (although I did not take this photo). I can't say I find a late 60's teen party cookbook too Streamlined inspiring but man, the overall design makes it a great addition to any dinner party, room or rap session.

Yes, I've mentioned before about collecting cookbooks, some for their historic entertainment and others for actual cooking. And I do scour the web for inspiration. But I would be remiss in both my Retro and Streamlined Ska Librarian physiques to not talk about some great resources for recipes and menu planning available from libraries. 

Some resources are a little more esoteric, such as New York Public Library's great menu collection, for which you can help add metadata. (Crowdsource Delmonicos!)

But there's also a new beta site that I'd like to share: The OCLC Worldcat Cookbook Finder. 

Worldcat is a website that links up to thousands of library catalogs all over the world. It's a nice way to find out if a book is available in your area or if you can get it through inter-library loan.

The Cookbook Finder can be  searched by the usual terms, but also by ingredient, method and (be still my heart) Dewey Decimal Number. 

[I find those librarians that poo-poo DDC in favor of some more "popular" classification systems to be just missing out.But that another post for another time.]

And let's be honest; much as I love owning cookbooks, price and space does not always allow that personal library to grow. Thankfully, cookbooks are a big part of library collections. What if I really wanted to try some new eating plan and perusing the web just wasn't doing it, as it was too disparate and not easily self-contained? This, my friends, is the way to go.

So, I'm going to recommend a few items that have inspired me in my Streamlined Ska Librarian lifestyle. And by "inspired" I mean I enjoyed these ideas for recipes and promptly saw how I could fit them to my own style, technique and need. These are all from my own collection, but are also available in libraries. The following links are to the Worldcat pages.



The Gefilte Variations by Jayne Cohen.

This has some really nice variations of traditional Jewish foods (and the author's a librarian!) but oy gevalt! These recipes take time and equipment! Certainly not something always easy in a small NYC kitchen. The ingredients are simple (for example, the amazing potato-onion kugel is just potatoes, onions, oil, eggs, rosemary and salt) but they often require several pots, multiple preps stages and a LOT of space! Still, these are easily tweakable to inspire your own variations, with or without gefilte. 

Het grote kookboek : een culinaire ontdekkingsreis door meer dan 800 recepten

I know we often make fun of British food, but having worked with the Dutch for so long, those Brits ain't got nothing on bad food reps! Still, in order to better appreciate "echte Nederlandse keuken" (and help me get a better grip on the Dutch language), this book has come in handy. And while not all the ingredients are the same across the pond, it's nice to know it's not all bitterballen and stoempf. In fact, some of it is downright healthy! (gestoomde zalm met asperges, anyone?)

Crumbles & Tatins by Aude de Galard and Leslie Gogois.

I picked this book up in a Paris bookshop some years back. This is a perfect example of French food that is not overly fancy or very difficult to make. In fact, the recipes are remarkably simple. And they run the gamut of taste from those of us who like boudin noir to the more healthy variations of vegetables. However, it does use butter because, well, it is France. But you can still tweak it to make it to your liking and needs. 

Floyd on Britain & Ireland by Keith Floyd. 

What was I saying about the Brits? Well, there's also Keith Floyd. Before all the new, hip cuisine of Great Britain, there was this fabulous rather inebriated fellow who would appear on television and who knew how to cook. Again, the ingredients may not always match up to US products, but you can easily Americanize your groats and potted shrimp. What I do like about it is that these are recipes to really "get your hands dirty" using all partsof plants and animals. 

So, go browse, borrow and cook!

 

 

The Resolutions will not be Televised

Not even a full month later and my gym is back to it's quiet atmosphere at 5 AM. Of all the new crowd squeezing into that space, only one person remains. That's not a very high percentage.

There could be a lot of reasons for this. For one, my current gym is not exactly high end and the equipment isn't always in great shape. I cannot imagine myself being a regular there had I not had gym experience and training beforehand. It's not very welcoming to a new person eager to get in shape.

But also making a New Year's Resolution for health isn't really something that always sticks. Two recent studies address intention-behavior relationship to physical activity.  Both of them are reviews and analysis of previous studies, and the results show that there are often too many variables for a solid response. However, there does seem to be an almost 50% gap between intent and activity. And a lot of that has to do with exactly what is the specific intent of physical activity. In other words, people had unreasonable expectations.

And when it comes to resolutions, our intent is usually beyond the scope of reasonable action and activity. "This year, I'm going to the gym every day and I'll be ripped by the summer!" is a recipe for failure. "This year I'm going to walk 30 minutes 3x a week." or "This year, I will replace all lunch desserts with a piece of fruit." is a more attainable goal.

So, jumping into a gym because you are "going to have a six pack" or "be buff" or "lose 100 lbs." while nice, probably ain't gonna work. And that's why I know my previous attempts at healthiness failed. 


My own "clickable" moment certainly wasn't on Jan 1st and it certainly wasn't a huge goal. I wanted to lose 20 lbs. No time limit, no special diet, just "I want to lose 20 lbs." As that happened, I realized how I did it and what i could then set as my next goal. THEN it became something with larger intent that could match my own process. I knew I could go the gym daily and I knew that I could eat healthier. And because I lost that 20, I knew another 20 could happen. And another, And another. Reachable goals make it easier to get to the next level.


It's not too hard to figure that out, but it's hard for us to make it happen.


So what was my resolution this year? I'm continuing my attendance in MOOCs, and I'm starting one on food chemistry. Nutrition and geekiness! It's definitely behavior in which I know I can stay active. 


References:

Rhodes, R. E., & de Bruijn, G.-J. (2013). How big is the physical activity intention-behaviour gap? A meta-analysis using the action control framework. British Journal of Health Psychology, 18(2), 296–309. doi:10.1111/bjhp.12032

Rhodes, R. E., & Dickau, L. (2013). Moderators of the intention-behaviour relationship in the physical activity domain: a systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 47(4), 215–225. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2011-090411

2014: Polar kicks and stolen squats

The Retro Ska Librarian (i.e. me before 2011) started running while living in Tokyo.  And Tokyo is like San Francisco in that it never really gets snowed in or extremely cold. The rest of Japan gets covered in blizzards, but not where I was running. Sure, there were other weather issues, like typhoons, killer humidity and earthquakes, but I never had to worry about running in freezing weather.

Running back in NYC was a bit of a wake up call, weather-wise. But as I got more into the exercise, very little stopped me on any fitness endeavor. I couldn't let weather stop my progress.  That being said, I also quickly realized that there were some limits in regards to certain temperatures for outdoor activities:

• Lowest temperature in which I could run outside in a t-shirt: 50F
• Lowest temperature in which I could run outside in shorts: 40F
• Lowest temperature in which I could walk/jog to the gym in shorts: 30F (it was never a long run)
• Lowest temperature in which I could run outside period: 19F

I realized anything lower, even when in thermals and properly covered, did not go well, leg-wise, lung-wise or head-wise. Not to mention watching the steam from your mouth freeze your glasses onto your nose.

So, during this Polar Vortex, with single digit days and minus temp windchill hitting the city, I shivered my layered self to the gym to try to get in some hearty workouts. But of course with a new year comes the new crowd to the gym. 2014 freeze out!

My earliest attempts at working out always happened after 10 PM. Gyms were usually uncrowded and seemed less intimidating when there's only fellow, chunky, middle aged guys. After getting into training more heavily, I began going early in the morning. Still usually uncrowded and bonus! I had evenings free! I also had dropped the anxiety of working out in front of people.

Both my previous fancy gym and my current ... not-as-fancy ... one usually have that small handful of people each morning, say 5 or 6 people. That's enough in a small gym to evenly share equipment and work around others' regimens. 

The past few days have been packed at 5 AM. 25 people all with that determination to get in shape for 2014. Now, I naturally support any initiative at getting healthy, whether it involves weight loss, stamina building or what have you. But already that number has slightly decreased as the week has gone on.

And I catch myself giving attitude. There's half of me that wants to grab these folks in their new gym clothes and give them that push of support. The other half wants to them to clear the hell out so I can get to the one level squat rack.

I'm glad the former half is winning at least figuratively. Noting says "creep" more than bugging someone when they're working out, but I am totally supporting this push. I've been there. A recent post on Buzzfeed from one of their regulars hits a lot of the same issues most of us have felt about body issues and determination. Will there be a follow up to his one post? Who knows? But at least one has to take it in the spirit in which it was given.

And to be honest, I'd rather see these folks trying to get their gym on than falling back on a fad diet. Which is why the best 2014 news I've seen so far is this article that some of the bigger weight loss companies are being charged with fraud.

Does this mean more people will stop hoping that sprinkling stuff on their food will make them lose weight? A scan through a lot of weight loss forums does not give me hope. I have not seen one discussion thread on this FTC ruling. Rather it's about more supplements, more miracle foods, and not a lot about exercise or eating better.

It's been a year of blogging about my Streamlined lifestyle. It hasn't really gotten any easier to maintain. But I'm still here doing it. 

So during the next freezing day when a 10 mi. run is sidetracked into a weight training session, I hope to see all you new folks still there. Keep at it. Just remember to share the equipment.

References:

Tanzer, Myles. “Yes, My New Year’s Goal Is To Get In Shape.” BuzzFeed. Accessed January 11, 2014. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mylestanzer/yes-my-new-years-goal-is-to-get-in-shape.

Wyatt, Edward. “4 Weight-Loss Companies Charged With Fraud.” The New York Times, January 7, 2014, sec. Business Day. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/business/us-charges-4-companies-with-deception-in-weight-loss-products.html.

Race to the End (of the year)

I have been proud of myself that I have managed to maintain the exercise ethic and good eating habits during this tense holiday season. (The holidays don't make me tense, but let's just say it's bad timing). A great 10 mile run on XMas Eve Day, some frozen bike riding yesterday and today I was up at 5 AM to get my heavy chest/tricep regimen done before having to schlep to work.

Except the gym wasn't open. Mind you, it was supposed to be, but it wasn't. And I stood there for 25 minutes in my winter coat and shorts, hopping up and down, assuming they were just running a bit late and at least I could get in a partial workout. Or maybe quick cardio. Or something, which soon became less and less of something...

But it was not to be. Someone just didn't bother coming by to open the place up. Well, you get what you pay for. So, I took that pissed off attitude and channeled it into some sort of sweaty activity. In this case, 15 minutes of HIIT on my apartment floor (much to delight and amusement of my cat) and then a brisk icy bike ride up to work (with several more blocks of walking. The NYC bike rental program doesn't yet go that far uptown). So I arrived, cold, sweaty and late.

Do I feel better about this morning? Not really. Better than if I did nothing, but I wanted something much more intense and had given myself the time to do it. I tend to know that unless I get some sort of intensity going in my workout, I don't feel like a lot has been done. Back in my retro Ska Librarian days, a little bit of exercise made a huge difference. But in Streamlined form, I can't just slack off and think lowering my calorie count is going to make the entire difference to health. Even if one is not looking to lose weight, just getting your butt moving helps.

It's the reason I took up running in Japan. I was bored, I had no money for a gym and I got breathless walking up stairs. This from the once-young Ska Librarian who would be dancing non-stop at most ska shows in the tri-state area. Running was for health and stamina. The weight loss idea came later. 

But that being said, it is the intensity that matters. I should feel like I got a workout when I exercise. I'm not in the "must do it til you puke or are injured" school, but you should feel sweaty and used (as it were.)

And now, as if on cue, here's the latest from the NY Times telling us that studies show that intensity does matter, especially if don't have much time to exercise. And it can cause a profound difference in our physical and mental well being. 

And that's why I do it at an intense level. I can see how much better I handle stress, how much better I feel, how less likely I am to grab that infamous tub of frosting. And that's why it's frustrating when it's out of one's control like when your gym "accidentally forgets" to post the hours for this week.And knowing enough that substituting a 15 minute HIIT workout instead better mean that I'm going to (paraphrasing the Times article), "maintain a thumping heart rate and spray sweat droplets around the room."

So, if I have to think of resolutions for 2014, these would be mine:

• Find a new gym that keeps their hours
• Find a new trainer to increase that intensity
• Make 10 miles the minimum for each run
• Make sure that even my "make-up" exercise sessions induce sweaty floors and a thumping chest

It's not about weight loss, it's about returning to that good feeling. 

Happy almost 2014.


References:

For Fitness, Intensity Matters. (n.d.). Well. Retrieved December 26, 2013, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/for-fitness-intensity-matters/

Sweetly coming clean at the end of the year

We're rounding the corner to the end of 2013, which means we are approaching the first anniversary of this version of my blog. Now most research shows that the majority of blogs only last a few months. It's hard to actually find current stats on this because even Technorati's "State of the Blogosphere" hasn't been updated for a few years, which I suppose says something right there.

Obviously social media changes (Friendster anyone?) and perhaps blogs will be gone soon and only Instagram/Vine will remain, but as for now, I am pleased I have managed to keep this format going to many visitors. This is the third iteration of my blog in the past 15 years(!) and probably the most viewed of all three. Maybe weight issues are that much more exciting to folks than ska music and librarianship.

And what have I learned? Well, even though this blog does have a lot of links to research, it is still my personal journey and it's both freeing and terrifying to talk about oneself online. I worry sometimes that it seems narcissistic, but it really isn't too surprising that I get a of e-mails and posts from folks saying they went through the same thing. I suppose one way we deal with uncertainty is to find answers we feel match our own beliefs and wishes, but the idea that others seek the same can be empowering.

So, it's time get a little more personal and be a little more terrified. It not only marks the 1st anniversary of the blog and the 2nd anniversary of weight maintenance, January 2014 also marks the 13th year since I stopped "partying". 

I won't go into huge details, but let's just say my earlier years were not spent in a very healthy way, which probably didn't help my weight either. Just as food was used to feed feelings, so were other items. And while calling food an addiction can be troublesome at best, one can certainly see some similar behaviors from food intake and illicit substances. Ritualized preparation, hiding behavior from others, the obsessive quality of searching for it, the binge events, even withdrawal.

Yes, withdrawal. Years ago I went on an Atkins-like diet, with only about 10g of carb intake a day. This was after eating lots of cakey-candy snacks a few times a day. Naturally, the water weight came off pretty fast and furious. I lost 14 lbs. in the first week. And that first week was AWFUL. When I told people it felt like withdrawal, most people poo-poo'd that, saying, "Oh, Dan, don't be dramatic." 

But it did. And I knew it did because I'd been through withdrawal. The aches and shakes. The unstable moods and emotions. The shamble of bodily functions. The signals from your body trying to suck one tiny milligram of that substance back into your system. And this time it was just from sugar. 

It made me much more aware of the power of food. So, is sugar addictive? I can't say it from a scientific point, but I certainly saw the connection to other addictions.

And now there's some new research that shows sugar affecting different parts of the brain's reward system, more so than fat. Which means of course that all those Low-Fat/Non-Fat treats which usually have more sugar in them are actually worse for you. But it also shows that the action of sugar can mimic addiction. It rewards us in our pleasure centers. But like any substance, it doesn't mean everyone is affected the same way. Some people can handle it and some have more trouble. However, anything that excites our pleasure zones tends to be more desirable in large amounts.

But I also think this speaks to a lot of the other "special diets" out there, because even though they all have their acolytes, a lot of them can be traced back to less sugar. Paleo? Well, you're probably eating a lot less processed sugar, unless you're one of those cookie baking paleos. Gluten-free? Well, most of those gluten treats are processed baked goods with sugar. So is it really gluten that was causing your self-described health issues or was it something else? (Note: I do understand and appreciate the difference between the actual immuno deficiency disease of celiac disease and those who just claim they "can't eat gluten" until it comes to cupcakes.)

Whatever the idea, how much has sugar played in it? 

And don't get me wrong. Sugar can be great. I'm not kicking it out of my kitchen. A pinch in sauce is usually as important as that pinch of salt. And baking with agave syrup is not the same. But I also know need to be vigilant to see when I'm jumping from occasional treat to bingey/addiction behavior.  

So now we start a new year and there will be new media pieces on food, new fads and new acolytes. And hopefully there will be continuing blog entries of the Streamlined Ska Librarian. I still have so many things to post about, such as the search for a new trainer, the continuing issues of men's clothes and perceived body image, and the rest of my continuing journey. 

So Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all my readers, lurkers, linkers, friends and family. Thank you all for being part of this. 

And Happy Multiple Anniversary to Me! See you next year!




References:

“Food Addiction – Myth or Reality?” Accessed December 22, 2013. http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=217521&sc=808.

Kamal, Ahmad M., and Jacquelyn Burkell. “Addressing Uncertainty: When Information Is Not Enough / Faire Face À L’incertitude : Quand L’information Ne Suffit Pas.” Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science 35, no. 4 (2011): 384–396. doi:10.1353/ils.2011.0030.

Stice, E., Burger, K. S., & Yokum, S. (2013). Relative ability of fat and sugar tastes to activate reward, gustatory, and somatosensory regions. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 98(6), 1377–1384. doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.069443

Virile Holidays

More than just some...

And days later, I'm still digesting.

Now that the big (or double big) holiday is done, there's still little escape from the feasting opportunities. The prerequisite work related holiday parties (3 this week), the times to be social with pals (2 cocktail parties plus my annual "guys steak night without the spouses" I've done with 3 of friends every year for the past decade or more.) And let's not forget New Year's Eve. Cooking, socializing and nibbling that's more like grazing.Yup, even for someone like me who doesn't celebrate Christmas still gets overwhelmed by festivities and stress. It's festive eats, with stress related eating.    

Now granted, this is the time of year I see folks who I only see occasionally. many of them have never seen me in Streamlined form. Even those who have seen me still comment how great and different I look. The comments are now skewing away from "You're so skinny!!" to "Oh my god, you look like a football player!" *fumbling grope towards my chest and arms* 

But even with this ego stroke and my friends copping a feel, I still have bouts of doubt about my appearance. Bigger muscles means tighter clothes which means thoughts of weight gain, which leads to....yes...stress eating.

So, I am trying to continue my awareness when it comes to food intake now more than ever. After these years of Streamlined life, I tend to be more set in decent size meals and afternoon  snacks (usually a piece of fruit), but evenings can be dangerous. Add to that the holiday grazing and it can be very messy.

At this time of year you can find eight billion articles, blog posts and videos on trying to "eat right" during the holidays. But instead of looking for low-cal egg nog and only eating rice cakes, I have to just go with the more mindful eating ideas. I know I'm going to want to try certain holiday snacks and totally denying it will probably just make me have a binge attack at some point.

However, I also don't subscribe to "Oh, it's a special occasion" because, let's face it, you can justify that for just about anything. And with 5 events in one week, does that mean every meal is a special occasion? I don't think so. Yes, I'm the one who just brought in 5 lbs. of rugelach from my neighborhood oasis, Moishe's, for my staff party, but I didn't eat any. Why? because I can get them anytime! (They are good, though!).

So, unless there is amazing sweet or gooey homebaked something I must try (and even then only a few bites), I tend to stick to the cheese, nuts, fruit and olive plates at parties. A little salt, a little fat, a lotta fiber and protein. It keeps you going, it keeps you social and while it can still be a chore not to graze, it keeps you less on the sugar fueled binge attack mode. 

And these are my usual go to snacks. I was never a huge nut eater in my Retro Ska Librarian days, but now they perform a tasty duty in my diet. And there's certainly enough recent studies showing their health benefits.  

When I was in my more severe calorie counting stage, I kept pistachios on hand at all times. It was also easier to pour a bowl of unshelled pistachios and the extra bit of effort to eat them made it less likely I would just be mindlessly shoveling them in my mouth from the jar. In some ways it's like a little extra treat when you find one that you haven't unshelled and eaten. You can even fool yourself of the extra half a calorie you burned shelling them. 

And bonus! A recent study shows pistachios can improve erectile function parameters! Between increased testosterone from weight lifting and my pistachio intake, I'm should be leading a remarkably fulfilling social life!

And how YOU doin'?

Manly functionality aside, my goal is to get through this month and start 2014 at the same place I was 2013. Yet I know that's impossible, because my body is already so different. It took me a few years to get used to skinny Dan. Now I'm muscly Dan. Neither of those is what I was for 90% of my life. But I intend to ensure that I will not slip too far this holiday season, nor will I obsess needlessly over anything gained right now.

In fact, all those nuts should make me very popular this new year!

Streamlined Ska Librarianship is a lifetime commitment. Not a sloppy holiday slip. With or without nuts.


References:

Aldemir, M., Okulu, E., Neşelioğlu, S., Erel, O., & Kay|[inodot]|gil, Ö. (2011). Pistachio diet improves erectile function parameters and serum lipid profiles in patients with erectile dysfunction. International Journal of Impotence Research, 23(1), 32–38. doi:10.1038/ijir.2010.33

Snacking Your Way to Better Health. (n.d.). Well. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/09/snacking-your-way-to-better-health/