Breakfast:
3 sausage patties
2 eggs
strawberries

Lunch:
Fajitas (no wrap)

Snack:
Ultimate Crunch
carrots

Dinner:
Rack of ribs
cucumber

Drink:
water
orange juice
beer

Symptoms: Pretty stiff in the morning (I wonder why...)

Breakfast:
bacon and egg sandwich (2 eggs, 2 bacon strips, ezekiel bread)
blackberries

Lunch:
chicken strips (Wendy's)

Dinner:
Calamari
spinach salad
Prime Rib
Tiger Prawns
veggies
brownie-Lindt Tartufo-GM Cake

Snack:
Rice Chips

Drink:
water
3 Innis and Gunn beer

Symptoms:

Breakfast:
4 bacon slices
gala apple

Snack:
Mini cucumber
sugar snap peas
red pepper

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
asparagus

Snack:
almonds
ultimate crunch

Dinner:
fajitas

Snack:
Rice Chips
Calamari

Drink:
water
2 beer

Symptoms: All good

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas
mini cucumber

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
red pepper

Snack:
Ultimate crunch

Dinner:
Pork Steak
asparagus

Snack:
chicken nuggets

Drink:
water
1 beer

Symptoms: Good

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
almonds

Lunch:
roast beef
red pepper

Dinner:
2 hamburger patties
big salad

Snack:
Calamari

Drink:
water

Symptoms: All good

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Lunch:
Rib steak
roasted peppers
asparagus

Dinner:
2 hamburger patties
big salad

Snack:
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: All good

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
almonds

Lunch:
roast beef
red pepper

Snack:
cherry Larabar

Dinner:
Rib Steak
roasted peppers
asparagus

Snack:
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: All good

Breakfast:
4 sausage
4 egg omelette
strawberries

Lunch:
Roast Beef
Salad

Dinner:
Chicken wings
1 slice of pizza
salad

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Little stiff in the morning

Breakfast:
4 sausages
strawberries

Dinner:
chicken wings
pepper, carrots, cucumbers

Snack:
Riceworks Sweet Chili Rice Chips

Drink:
water
beer

Symptoms: All good

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
Almonds

Lunch:
Beef Roast
Asparagus

Snack:

Dinner:
Chicken wings
The Big Salad

Drink:
water
2 beer
1 glass of red wine

Symptoms: All good

Diet confirmation

A while back I posted about how I came to believe that diet might be causing my arthritis and I mentioned some corroboration. One source was the book "Eat Right 4 Your Type". This book explains a bit about the evolutoin of blood type in humans and how each type has an ideal diet. Turns out I am O+. According to the book people with O blood type should, generally speaking, be eating a high protein low carb diet.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
red pepper

Lunch:
All you can eat Thai food (twice in the same week!)

Snack:

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Feeling good except i think my body is using up all my energy trying to digest all that meat i ate a lunch

Self fulfilling prophecy?

You know what's awesome? Awesomeness, that's what. That's probably why they named it 'awesomeness', because there is no better word to describe it.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
almonds

Lunch:
pork steak
asparagus

Snack:
Pecan Pie Larabar

Dinner:
Roast beef
big salad

Snack:
almonds
grapes
Riceworks Sweet chili rice chips

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Feeling good. Still tired in the evening. I think my kids are stealing my energy.

New ideas suck

Great, now my kids are going to bed one hour later. That means one hour less of quite solitude in the evening. Curse you inventor of Daylight Savings Time! Curse you William Willet!!!

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
mini cucumber

Lunch:
All you can eat Thai food - yum

Dinner:
Roast beef
asparagus

Snack:

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Still feeling lethargic in the evening

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
almonds

Lunch:
Pork steak
red pepper

Snack:
Cherry Larabar

Dinner:
Lamb
Big salad

Snack:
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: No pain or discomfort but I felt rather lethargic in the evening

Breakfast:
2 sausages
4 egg omelette
strawberries

Dinner:
All you can eat wings at Kelsey's
cookie

Drink:
water
apple juice

Symptoms: Little stiff in the evening.

What is an Omel?

Breakfast:
3 sausages
4 egg omelette
strawberries

Snack:
grapes
almonds
turkey bite

Dinner:
pork steak
big salad

Snack:
dry ribs

Drink:
water
1 beer
orange juice

Symptoms: All good

Breakfast:
3 strips of bacon
fuji apple

Snack:
baby carrots

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
big salad

Snack:
almonds

Dinner:
wok box

Snack:
grapes
riceworks sweet chili chips

Drink:
water
1 beer

Symptoms: All good

Memorable TV Spots

Just once, I want to hear Kevin Malone say, "It's that big chunk...OF FUDGE!" If you remember the old Oh Henry commercial you will think this is hilarious.

Breakfast:
4 bacon slices
fuji apple

Snack:
Sugar Snap peas

Lunch:
pork roast
red pepper

Snack:
almonds

Dinner:
chili
big salad

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Pretty good

Breakfast:
4 bacon slices
fuji apple

Snack:
Sugar Snap Peas

Lunch:
Pork roast
asparagus

Snack:
Apple Pie Larabar

Dinner:
T-Bone Steak
salad

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Still a little discomfort in the right leg

Breakfast:
4 sausages
fuji apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
pork roast
red pepper

Snack:
a few almonds

Dinner:
chili
big salad

Snack:
grapes
rice chips

Drink:
water

Symptoms: still discomfort down my right leg

Breakfast:
4 sausages
fuji apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
pork roast
red pepper

Snack:
Pecan Pie Larabar

Dinner:
2 hamburger patties with bacon and cheese
asparagus

Snack:
rice chips
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: still some discomfort all the way down my right leg

Breakfast:
bacon and egg sandwich - 2 eggs, 2 bacon strips, ezekiel bread
Orange

Lunch:
pork roast
salad

Dinner:
chili
peas

Snack:
rice chips
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: some acute pain in my lower back going down my right leg for most of the day

poker night

Breakfast:
Bacon and egg sandwich (ezekiel bread, 2 eggs, 4 bacon strips)
1/4 sourdough waffle
strawberries

Snack:
almonds

Dinner:
Pork roast
big spinach salad

Snack:
corn chips
veggies and carmelized onion and garlic dip
chili

Drink:
Apple Juice
water
4 beer

Symptoms: Cant remember

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
sirloin steak
red pepper

Dinner:
sirloin steak
big spinach salad

Snack:
dry ribs

Drink:
water
2 beer

Symptoms: Cant remember.

Breakfast:
4 sausages

Snack:
pecan larabar

Lunch:
2 chicken legs
red pepper

Snack:
almonds

Dinner:
sirloin steak
big spinach salad

Snack:
grapes
rice chips
almonds

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Good day

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
Boun Thai Buffet

Snack:
beef jerky
peanuts

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Pretty good

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
chipolte Pork Steak
asparagus

Snack:
ultimate crunch

Dinner:
4 chicken legs
red pepper

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Bit of pain in the morning

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
chipotle Pork Steak
asparagus

Snack:
oranage
Ultimate crunch

Dinner:
4 chicken legs
big spinach salad

Snack:
beef jerky
peanuts

Drink:
water
1 beer

Symptoms: Still stiff in the morning

Breakfast:
3 egg omelette
3 slices of turkey bacon
half a gala apple

Lunch:
pulled beef
baby carrots

Dinner:
Chipotle Pork steak
asparagus
natchos

Drink:
orange juice
water
beer

Symptoms: Little bit of discomfort in the morning

Breakfast:
4 sausages
1 hard boiled egg
strawberries

Lunch:
ham
peas

Snack:
Riceworks Rice Chips
grapes

Dinner:
Pulled Beef
Big Salad

Snack:
peanuts
rice crackers
hummus

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Pretty sore and stiff first thing in the morning

My Microwave Is Dumb, Part Two

It has already been established beyond a shadow of a doubt that my microwave is dumb. But here is futher proof. The timer on my microwave is retarded. YOu would think it would be pretty hard to screw up a timer and you'd be right. All you really have to do is count down until the time runs out and beep a couple of times. Pretty standard stuff right? Well my microwave handles that just fine. It's when you throw the whole monkey wrench that is opening the door into the mix that it gets confused and forgets what it was doing. The assumption a microwave should make is, unless a button is pressed, and it has to be the 'right' button - not that stupid fan or light button, the timer keeps ticking down. But not my microwave. If you open the door while it is counting down the timer pauses. It's as if it says, "Wait one second there Champ. I've been counting down for a couple minutes now and everything has been going smoothly but now you've opened the door and I just don't know what to think. I'm going to have to stop what I was doing and wait till this whole door opened thing gets sorted out." Ok, whatever (idiot). Fine, stop counting down. But when I go to close the door (remember, i haven't pressed any buttons) I expect that the timer would pick up where it left off. Apparently that is way to much to ask. When the door is closed my microwave says, "YOu really shouldn't have interrupted me counting down by opening the door. Now I'm really confused. First you wanted me to count down, then you opened the door - for no reason(!) - and closed it again and now I just don't knw what to think. I'm just going to sit here with 2:35 left on the timer and wait for you to tell me what you want. Ok? That work for you? Can you try to keep focused next time and just worry about one task at a time?" Moron.
Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
red pepper

Snack:
orange
Ultimate Crunch
almonds

Dinner:
pulled beef
big spinach salad

Snack:
dry ribs

Drink:
water, 2 beer

Symptoms:

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
red pepper

Snack:
Cherry Pie Larabar
almonds

Dinner:
Pulled Beef
Big Spinach salad

Snack:
Rice Works Sweet Chili Rice Chips

Drink:
water

Symptoms: All is well on the pain front.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
went out to Marcello's
chicken wings, meatballs, chicken, dry ribs
greek salad

Snack:
Orange

Dinner:
pulled beef
big spinach salad

Snack:

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Good good all good.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
red pepper

Snack:
Pecan pie Larabar
a couple of each of: ultimate crunch and almonds

Dinner:
pulled beef
big spinach salad
oatmeal apple cookie
Snack:
grapes
apple pie
cashews

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Almost all the stiffness and pain was gone this morning

Breakfast:
2 slices of bacon
2 turkey sausages
2 hard boiled eggs
gala apple

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
eggplant
big spinach salad

Dinner:
ham
peas

Snack:
grapes
cashews

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Very stiff all day, also fatigued.

Breakfast:
4 stips of bacon
golden delicious apple
cinnamon bun

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
peas

Snack:
Ultimate Crunch

Dinner: (went out for dinner to the Almanac)
BBQ Ribs
sweet potato fries
baby carrots
snow peas
salad

Drink:
water
Orange Juice

Symptoms: Very stiff in the morning (I wonder why?) and some pain and spasms developing along the spine in the afternoon evening.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Lunch:
striploin steak
red pepper

Snack:
grapes
cashews

Dinner:
spring rolls
ginger beef
cashew chicken
curry veggies
apple pie

Snack:
potato chips

Drink:
water
2 beer

Symptoms: Still feeling good

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
red pepper
asparagus

Snack:
Chocolate Bumble Bar
couple of almonds

Dinner:
Striploin steak
big salad

Snack:
French Onion Sun Chips

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Feeling good.

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
red pepper

Snack:
almonds
Ultimate Crunch

Dinner:
Striploin steak
big salad

Snack:
Toasted Almond Crispy Cat candy bar
Sweet Chili Riceworks Rice Chips

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Feelin' good

Blurb:

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
Baby carrot
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
red pepper

Snack:
pecan pie larabar

Dinner:
Striploin steak
asparagus

Snack:

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Little stiff in the morning.

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
Boun Thai buffet:
ginger chicken
veggies
spring rolls
galanga(?) soup
curry chicken

Snack:
Riceworks chips
Orange

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Little stiff in the morning.

The post with no name

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
meaty chili
red pepper

Snack:
almonds

Dinner:
3 hamburger patties (little ones) w/cheese and bacon
big salad

Snack:
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Stiff in the morning

Me and Hindus

Hindus and I have something in common; we both revere the cow. My reverence just manifests in a slightly different way. I eat them. And I am thankful for their presence. I'm not sure what the Hindus find so appealing in the cow and I have to assume that it has nothing to do with its taste. Although, maybe, they, back in the day, used to eat cows, became so enamoured with the flavour that they just couldn't bring themselves to consume them any more. Whatever, I don't know. All I know is, there is one thing that Hindus and I can agree on and that is the cow is a sacred creature.

Breakfast:
bacon and egg sandwich
(2 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, ezekiel bread)

Snack:
Riceworks Sweet Chili rice chips
grapes

Lunch:
ribeye stead
big salad

Snack:

Drink:
Apple juice
water

Symptoms: Pretty stiff in the morning

Red Robin

Red Robin has awesome burgers. I stop short of saying "Red Robin has the best burgers ever!" because, well, I haven't tried all the burgers available. But it is a safe bet to say that their burgers are very satisfying. They were one of the first, that I know of, to use 'onion straw' and they've got chipolte mayo (again, a pioneer). While they embrace the new they are still hanging on to the classics, for instance, as long as I can remember (18 years!) they have used the whiskey river bbq sauce, and it still stands up as one of the best sauces ever. So, today Jackie and I went out for a burger. I had a Whiskey River BBQ Beef burger and, here's the thing, they only charge $1.79 for an extra patty. So I had 2 extra patties. Why not, right? That's less than the cost of a pop. How can a beef lover pass that up? Two extra patties might be going over the top a little bit but a double burger isnt so bad right? I think this is one of those little secrets as I didn't see the extra pattie advertised on their menu at all. C'mon, less than a pop!

By the way - it's 'Red Robin' not 'Red Robin's' It's not 'owned' by a guy going by the handle 'Red Robin'. Ok?

Breakfast:
4 sausages
2 hard boiled eggs
gala apple

Lunch:
Whiskey River BBQ Chicken burger w/bacon (3 patties)
tossed salad
Toffee Sticky Pudding (From Upper Crust Cafe - horrible service, by the way)

Snack:
OJ
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Very stiff in the morning.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
meaty chili
red peppers

Dinner:
ham sandwich
big ceasar salad
roast beef
brownie
pecan pie

Snack:
veggies

Drink:
water
2 beer

Symptoms: Nothing to report

Please, if you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis or even just have chronic pain, consider visiting the link below

When I first got my AS diagnosis I went on-line for info and quickly found Kickas.org. This is where I first heard that diet can affect, even cause (or be a contributing factor), arthritis. This was a few years ago now and a new idea at the time. I decided to adopt the diet whole-heartedly and, with various other interventions (I did a bunch of stuff all at the same time so I can't be sure what help, if it was actually just one of the changes), quickly got the pain under control. Since then I've gotten independent corroboration from 2 other sources that the low starch diet is the one for me.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
double bacon cheese burger (with bun)
large salad (mostly shredded iceburg)

Snack:
Cherry Pie Larabar

Dinner:
Honey Chicken (from wokbox)
big salad

Snack:
spicy peanuts
strawberries
couple of almonds

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Feeling pretty good today both in the morning and after lunch.

Not full, just bored

While I'm on this diet I rarely get full. Usually, I just stop eating because I feel like a glutton if I go on (a problem I don't seem to have at a buffet) or because the food is gone or because I just get tired of eating. Basically, my patience for sitting there trying to satiate myself wears out and I get bored and move on. Within 5 minutes, sometimes less, sometimes as I'm 'finished' I feel as hungry as I did when I sat down.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
meaty meaty chili
red pepper

Snack:
handful of almonds
Ultimate Crunch

Dinner:
Ham steak
big salad

Snack:
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Still stiff in the morning. Some mild back pain throughout the day.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
fuji apple

Lunch:
meatballs
carrots
sugar snap peas

Snack:
Ultimate Crunch

Dinner:
Roast Beef
Big salad

Snack:

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Still stiff in the morning.

Food on monday

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
fuji apple

Snack:
baby carrot
sugar snap peas
almonds

Lunch:
meatballs
red pepper

Snack:
orange

Dinner:
chili - beef, italian sausage, bacon
big salad
apple oatmeal cookie

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Still pretty stiff in the mornings.

Falling behind

Still catching up from the weekend.

Breakfast:
4 sausages
2 fried eggs
fuji apple

Lunch:
Roast Beef
big salad

Dinner:
Meatballs
frozen peas

Snack:
grapes
apple oatmeal cookie

Drink:
water

Symptoms: Quite a bit of pain and stiffness. I always seem to fall off the wagon on weekends.

Catching up to do.

No time to bather, I've got some catching up to do. Went over to Kevin and Treyna's place to watch 'The Big Lebowski' and the UFC match. "Phone's ringin' Dude."

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
fuji apple

Lunch:
Meatballs
big salad

Snack:
Grapes

Dinner:
Chili
cheese
crackers

Snack:
Nuts
Strawberries
dark chocolate

Drink:
water
5 beer

Symptoms:
Fairly stiff in the morning.

Two are the number of things that are funny in this post.

This is funny. And so is this.

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
fuji apple

Snack:
celery
almonds

Lunch:
beef meatballs
green beans

Snack:
Apple Pie Larabar
almonds
Ultimate Crunch

Dinner:
Papa Murphy's Pizza thin crust pizza

Snack:

Drink:
water
2 kokanee beer

Symptoms:
Sharp, but low grade, pain in the tail bone. A reminder of how things used to be.

Grapes

I had some grapes sitting in my fridge for over a week and when I finally got to them they were fine. I didn't think much of this until a day later; they were sitting, completely enclosed in a plastic bag, for over a week and they didn't spoil?! Maybe I'm just being paranoid but that doesn't seem right. They come all the way from Chile, spend who knows how long on the shelf, then sit for a week+ in my fridge and they are like they just came off the vine. They started going pretty bad once I washed them and left them on the counter though. Within 2 days a lot of them had mold growing on them.

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
carrot
celery

Lunch:
Boun Thai buffet
- spring rolls
- panang beef (?)
- chicken satay
- veg

Dinner:

Snack:

Drink:
water

Symptoms:
Clean as a whistle

Chlorine in drinking water

I have heard much about the pros and cons of having our drinking water treated with chlorine. On one one had it kills almost all microorganisms, basically sterilizing the water, and on the other hand it can react with organics naturally present in the water to create by-products that may be cancer causing. Cancer, of course, sucks but the microorganisms eliminated during the chlorination process are no joke either: cholera, typhoid fever, and others. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. I don't think the system is going to change soon, we are probably going to have chlorine in our water for some time to come. So what to do about it? A while back I seem to remember someone telling me that you can rid your tap water of chlorine (and, its odor and taste) simply by letting it stand uncovered for a day or so. So, I started doing just that. I noticed the difference immediately. Water left standing tasted fresher and cleaner. Now I'm spoiled, I can't go back to drinking straight tap water. I guess you can use a carbon filter (i.e. Brita) to accomplish the same thing.

It's hard to gauge the health benefits of this sort of change. Considering the studies seem to be all on long term health impact. I read the book "Free to Fly" a while back and in it the author basically recounted a story of how a character reacted to a glass of tap water after abstaining from tap water, to avoid chlorine, for a long period of time. I don't think this is a foreign concept; that, once a harmful component of diet, in this case chlorine (possibly), is removed for a length of time, then introduced again suddenly, that a person could have a shock-type reaction to it. Then again maybe I'm just talking out of my ass. Anyway, my experience with chlorine is certainly not notable in any way. I started letting my water stand at the same time as I made all sorts of other adjustments to my lifestyle in the hopes of managing my AS. As it turns out they worked. Well something worked. I'm not sure what exactly. Maybe it has something to do with the removal of chlorine. Maybe that is a small part of my health turnaround. Maybe it is a placebo. I don't care. The risk is negligible and the cost (in terms of dollars and effort) is right, so why not?

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas
handful of almonds

Lunch:
roast beef
carrots
red pepper

Snack:
Ultimate Crunch
few more almonds

Dinner:
beef meatballs
big salad
sweet potato fries

Snack:

Drink:
water

Symptoms:
Hard to tell if I'm stiff from arthritis or because I had an intense workout yesterday.

A week's worth of meals in one night

I like to minimize the amount of time I am working on meals. I like to work in bulk. For instance, today I took out 3 packages of hamburger (0.7 kg or so each) with the intention of, in a couple of days, once they have defrosted, mixing up some hamburger patties and cooking them all up. Once they are done I'll eat a couple, package a bunch up and take them to work for a couple day's worth of lunches, and freeze the rest. I've been doing this sort of thing for a couple of years now and have it down to an art form. I'm still improving a little here and there but for the most part my system is working out quite well. The only drawback is I get a little tired of having the same thing for lunch or dinner 2, or 3, or 4 days in a row. But that is the price of effeciency. I couldn't imagine going back to the old system of making dinner every night with only enough leftovers for the next day's lunch. That just doesn't work and it stresses everyone out.

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
roast beef
red pepper

Snack:
pecan larabar
a couple of chunks of Mrs. May's Ultimate Crunch
couple of almonds

Dinner:
cajun shrimp
big salad

Snack:
grapes

Drink:
water

Symptoms:
Pretty good, just a little stiffness in the morning.

Strike one Safeway

This morning I started my quest to get some organic information (certification, etc) from Safeway. I surfed on-line for 20 minutes or so and, although I did find individual store information, I didn't come across a number for a Canadian regional office. I did find an 800 customer support number. I called it, made my selection on the voice answering system, and was placed on hold. I probably should have kept better track, but I spent about 2 minutes on hold before Bob picked up. I wasn't sure if I was calling the world, North American, or Canadian help line so I asked him where he was, he said Phoenix, AZ. When I told him that I wanted to talk to someone about the organic apples that I buy in my store in Western Canada he transfered me. Right away I was back on hold, for another couple of minutes. This time Susan picked up. I told her the same story; I am looking for info regarding the organic apples I purchase at my local store in Western Canada (I asked and she was also in Phoenix). I guess she knew just the person I needed to talk to so she put me on hold. Spent another 5 minutes or so on hold and suddenly I'm back to making a choice in a automated system. After selecting what I thought were the right choices I am right back at the start menu and who should pick up after a couple more lonely minutes on hold but Bob! Full circle. I related my tale of holding woe to him (he didn't seem to care) and asked for the number to the Western Regional Office. He said he couldn't give that to me, actually he didn't really think it existed because he wouldn't even transfer me to such a location. He did offer to transfer me directly to a store though. Any store I wanted, I guess. But, now I am leery of their transfering ability and I have to get to work, so I ask him for the number. He says he can't give it to me but will transfer me. No thanks Bob. I think I will just take my chances on trying to find the number myself using the store locator conviently located at http://www.safeway.ca/. It takes me about 15 seconds to find the number for my local store. I knew that this was the case when Bob told me he couldn't give that number to me, only transfer me. I wanted to point out to him that the number he was withholding wasn't some nationally guarded secret and available to any idiot (and smart people too!) with the ability to spell 'safeway' correctly but I hate doing that to people. I know full well there is some stupid rule in place, probably to save them from libel, that prevents the good folks at the customer service line from actually doleing out customer service. So I hate to give him a hard time.

So Safeway, that is strike one against you.

Also, for the love of pete stop your senseless policy of butching everyone's names! My God, don't you realize that you are the butt of a joke that spans the hemisphere?!!?

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
Chinese New Year today and all in our office got together for a big feast and I participated. I don't really like the cheap chinese food anymore, mostly because it makes me feel groggy shortly after I eat it.

Snack:
orange

Dinner:
The last of the giant shrimp (6-7)
big salad

Drink:
water

Symptoms:
Stiffness in the morning but not as bad as yesterday.

Not taking good care of myself...

Every so often, when I don't follow the diet, I wake up in the early in the morning (usually 6 or so) and can't get back to sleep because of extreme tightness and discomfort (I stop short of calling it pain) throughout my back. This morning was one of these mornings. Through experience, I've found that the only thing that alleviates it and I am capable of accomplishing at that time, is to sit up. So, ususally I get up, all bleary eyed, and go sit on the couch and watch TV or surf or read or whatever. Then, within an hour or so, the discomfort has passed and I can, if I feel so inclined, go back to bed. But, usually I just stay up because the kids are up and there is no going back once that happens.

Breakfast:
bacon and egg sandwich
(2 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, 2 slices of ezekiel bread)
ketchup

Lunch:
(leftovers from yesterdays over-the-top meal)
5 shrimp (that word just isn't appropriate when you actually look at them) + pinapple mango chutney
calamari + tzatziki
sweet potato fries
big salad
Snack:

Dinner:

Snack:

Drink:
apple juice

Symptoms:
Lots of stiffness in the morning, not that is all that unexpected considering what I have eaten so far this weekend.

Bubba's 5th Annual Seafood Fest!

Here is what was on the menu for Bubba's 5th annual seafood fest (Daddy may have gone a little overboard):
crab and artichoke dip
coconut shrimp (Found 6/8 shrimp at Costco; got 2 bags - 2 kgs in total!) + pineapple mango chutney
calamari + tzatziki
king crab + clarified butter
bacon wrapped scallops (again, some nice ones from Costco)
cajun shrimp
smoked mackerel
ginger beef
japanese chicken wings
sweet potato fries
salad
bread

...and, Auntie Sabrina made a narwal cake!

Breakfast:
Bacon and Egg sandwich (3 bacon, 2 eggs, and 2 slices of Ezekiel bread)
strawberries

Snack:
crab and artichoke dip
corn chips

Lunch:
coconut shrimp
calamari
king crab
bacon wrapped scallops
cajun shrimp
ginger beef
salad
(narwal) cake

Snack:
apple pie and ice cream

Drink:
water
little bit of apple juice
3 beer

Symptoms:
Very stiff throughout my back this morning, probably because of eating fast food yesterday.

Just food today

Breakfast:
5 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
sugar snap peas

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
cucumber

Dinner:
chicken fingers
onion rings
(running around for Bubba's b-day so I went to DQ)

Snack:
dry ribs

Drink:
water
2 beers

Symptoms:
Nuthin'

Further investigation of organic foods

I went to Homegrown today to get some Ezekiel bread and started asking the staff about some of the organics that they, and other grocers, sell. The only specific they could give me was that they were grown without using pesticides. I wanted to know if there is some sort of standard that allows a grower to use the 'certified organic' stamp and they said that different certifying groups have different standards. We agreed that a good place to start would be to compare the certification of one product (I chose gala apples since they are one of my favorites) from a bunch of different places. She said she would get it from her grower and I'm going to try to get it from Safeway and Superstore. I haven't been to the local IGA in a while but last time I was there I don't remember seeing any organic apples. I wonder why. More to come soon.

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
grapes

Snack:
baby carrots

Lunch:
2 hamburger patties
sugar snap peas

Snack:
pecan larabar

Dinner:
ribeye steak (last one )
big salad

Snack:
grapes
1/3 of a Nakid organic chocolate bar (holy bitter batman)

Drink:
water

Symptoms:
Nothing to report

Star Talk

My favorite Star Trek incarnation was 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. Yeah the first two seasons were terrible but after that all they did was produce excellent episode after episode. They took advantage of the greatest gift that sci-fi offers: examining issues from an oblique angle. For example, there was the examination of gay rights in the episode "The Outcast".

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
baby carrots

Lunch:
2 burger patties
green beans

Snack:
couple of almonds
orange

Dinner:
ribeye steak
big salad
small slice of b-day cake

Snack:
grapes

Drink:
water
1 beer

Symptoms:
Considering the treats I ate yesterday I would have expected some fallout but I don't feel any discomfort. I'm cured!

Plum sauce....really? Can they actually call it that?

Since I am obsessed with food I may as well insert a little rant here and there on my blog. Which I will do now. I've got some plum sauce in my fridge and a while back (because I am obsessed) I checked out the ingredients. And here they are, in the same order as the bottle: water, sugar (something my body needs anyway!), pumpkin, white vinegar...Wait, what? Pumpkin? Did I accidentally buy pumpkin sauce? Double check the label, nope, there it is in black and white - "Plum Sauce". Ok, its gotta be in there somewhere, keep listing: ....white vinegar, modified corn starch, and finally, plum puree! Yumm! (Sounds like some plums accidentally fell in the vat while they were making their pumpkin sauce) Right there in between modified corn starch and salt. I'm going to start calling it modified corn starch sauce though. Or maybe pumpkin sauce. Lets see how my kids like that. "Who wants some 'pumpkin sauce' to dip their chicken fingers in? Nobody? How about 'salt sauce'? Still no takers? Well then kids, all I've got left is 'modified corn starch sauce' then. Anyone?"

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
gala apple

Snack:
carrots and sugar snap peas

Lunch:
2 burgers
green beans

Snack:
couple of almonds
orange

Dinner:
Couple of slices of roast beef
big salad
a little cookie and 3 corinthians (couldn't help myself)

Drink:
water

Symptoms:
No news is good news.

Microwaves can be dumb you know

My new microwave likes to play dumb. Normally, when you press the number pad of a microwave it builds the time and then when you have entered the correct length of time you hit 'start' and it starts doing its microwave thing. But mine thinks a little differently. When you hit the number pad it does nothing. Just sits there and stares at you as if to say "What? Can you be more specific?". See, you have to tell it what you want it to do first. You have to hit the 'Cook' button first. Then it says, "Ohhhhh, you want to cook something. Why didn't you just say so. I thought maybe you were going to do some calculations. You know I don't do that right? I'm a microwave. All I do is cook stuff. So, now go ahead and enter the time". Idiot.

Breakfast:
4 slices of bacon
apple

Snack:
handful of carrots and sugar snap peas

Lunch:
ribeye steak
yellow pepper

Snack:
handful of almonds

Dinner:
2 hamburger patties with cheese and bacon (couldn't resist)
green beans

Drink:
Water

Symptoms:
Feeling good today, just the slightest bit of stiffness in the back.

Breakfast:
6 slices of bacon
2 fried eggs
handful of strawberries and blackberries

Lunch:
Ribeye steak
salad

Dinner:
Went to Scott and Jodi's for dinner -
veggies, rice chips and dip, phyllo wrapped salmon, and a small slice of cheesecake for dessert

Drink:
water, some regular and sparking AJ

Symptoms:
Oddly enough, given the discomfort the past few days and what I ate yesterday, i would have expected to be more stiff and sore this morning but I woke up feeling fine.

I went to safeway and asked a couple of the produce guys if they knew anything about their organic foods. They answered a bunch of questions, unfortunately none of them were mine. It was pretty clear they have no idea. The one dude suggested that I contact the main produce guy at the Calgary Regional Office. So that's what I will do and we will see. I guess the one piece of info that he did give was that the gala apples were from Washington.

4AM Snack:
Couldn't sleep last night so I got up and watched some of season 4 of the Office and made myself a dozen chicken wings

Breakfast:
6 sausages
fuji apple
couple of blackberries

Lunch:
Slice of Almond Crusted pork roast with creamy apple sauce
big salad

Dinner:
We went to Terry's birthday party where they had a snacky type buffet -
shrimp, veggies, spring rolls, tournados (i think that's what they are called), rice chips and dip, deli meat, spanikopita, and a little slice of cake

Snack:

Drink:
water, a big glass of OJ and 2 bottles of beer

Symptoms:
The stiffness is spreading and starting to border on pain. It is quite uncomfortable to bend at the waist. I blame the spring rolls on thursday and the rice chips yesterday.

While we're on the subject of Superman...

Why is Superman ripped with the rippling muscles? We all know he gets his mighty strength, laser vision, freeze breath, forehead cowlick, etc from our yellow sun, but why does that make him stacked? Are all Kryptonians tight? Are his muscles bulging out from under his skin due to the lower air pressure here on Earth - like a deep sea fish brought up too close to the surface? These are all important questions and I won't rest until they are met with clear.....zzzzzzzz

Breakfast:
4 sausages
fuji apple

Snack:
handful of baby carrots and sugar snap peas

Lunch:
2 big slices of almond crusted pork roast (still one to go)
1 red pepper

Dinner:
Slice of meatloaf - I couldn't even finish it, it was horrible. I threw the last slice out. Good riddance.
Mini cucumber
Handful of Riceworks Sweet Chili rice chips

Drink:
Water water everywhere.

Symptoms:
Stiffness all day in the lower back. Could be from the thai food yesterday, maybe it is from getting used to the new office arrangement - doesn't feel very comfortable.

Organic apples, worth the price?

Because I eat apples everyday and it is fairly easy to get organic apples that's exactly what I try to do. Superstore has some awesome organic apples and the price isn't too much more than you would pay for regular apples. Safeway's organic apple selection is OK but they don't have my favorites. OverallI would liken the difference in appearance of the regular apples to organic apples to that of developed photos: either they are glossy or mat. REgular apples usually shine like the sun, probably due to whatever they are being coated with after picking, while the organic apples have a mat look to them. I'm assuming that they aren't covered in wax and crap. I hope so anyway. Once the checkout lady at Safeway asked me if it was worth it purchasing organics and I honestly didn't know. But my response was that it is worth the gamble. One day I'm going to have to figure out what exactly the difference is.

Breakfast:
4 Sausages
Fuji apple

Lunch:
Went to Baun Thai for lunch today for their awesome lunch buffet. Had: approx 12 chicken satay, 12 spring rolls, some broccoli, and cant remember the names of the last 2 but it was spicy shredded beef with red peppers and a mushroom soup type dealie, except the mushrooms were halved.

The beauty of going all out for lunch is I find I don't have to eat the rest of the day; its 7:30 and I'm still full!

Drink:
Just boring ol water, approx 1 litre. Super thirstly for some reason.

Symptoms:
Unfortunately I can't stay away from the spring rolls and I assume that they are wrapped in rice paper and now is when I pay for it. Overall its not so bad, just some stiffness on the lower right spine. Usually, if I have been adhering to the diet previous to the visit to the buffet, and I have, I should be good tomorrow.

A thought on water...

One of the suggestions made to me during my visits to my Naturopath was to not drink anything during a meal; wait 30-45 minutes and then go to town. Why? Well, the way that it was explained to me (or at least, the way I remember it), when you eat your gastric juices get going and drop the ph in your stomach down, which is ideal for digestion. When you quaff a measure of water with a ph of around 7 guess what? The ph in your stomach increases and digestion becomes less efficient. I don't have any scientific evidence kicking around that house that backs this claim up but it does make sense. I implemented this change around the same time that I modified my diet so it is difficult to tell what sort of impact that it had but I can say that when following the diet and avoiding drinking with a full stomach I feel much much better.


Breakfast:
4 Sausages
Fuji apple

Lunch:
Couple of slices of Pork Roast
Asparagus

Snack:
Handful of almonds

Supper:
Big slice of meatloaf (only 2 to go!)
cucumber slices

Snack:
Handful of strawberries and blackberries.

To Drink:
Again, I didn't keep track but at least 1.5 litres of water

Symptoms:
I don't recall experiencing any pain or discomfort throughout the day.

Not meatloaf again!

Ug. Yes. Meatloaf again for dinner. Its my own fault. Also, it is the fault of the cow that I arrange to have killed so I could fill my freezer with its succulent meat. Too bad I turned that succulent meat into a fairly tasteless meatloaf. My kids won't touch it (I wonder why?). Of course my wife won't either. So it is up to me. It's been a couple days now and I've still got a couple days left to go. Don't worry about me, I'll get through this. I always do. One day I'll post about the meatloaf my wife made for me. If I got through that I can get through this. Anyway, here is what was on today's menu:

Breakfast:
4 sausages
Gala apple

Snack:
Apple Pie Larabar

Lunch:
Couple of slices of leftover Almond Crusted Pork Roast with Creamy Apple Sauce
Salad purchased from Sunterra

Snack:
Handful of Chili-Lime Almonds

Dinner:
Couple of slices of the aforementioned meatloaf with what can only be described as the most disgusting looking 'gravy' imaginable.
Half a yellow pepper and a couple of sugar snap peas

Snack:
Couple of strawberries (yum!)
Couple of squares of Ultimate Crunch

Drink:
I probably should keep better track but I'm sure I drank about 1.5 litres of water.

Symptoms:
Didn't really feel any pain or discomfort throughout the day but my hands are very dry. I have found that they often crack if I haven't been adhering to the diet and, sometimes just when I am coming down from an attack. Of course it could be because it is freakin' dry here!