Saturday. Yoga with “Bed Head”…as usual! Let’s chat about Pull-ups, shall we? And, a date night with my wife! I would say that this day couldn’t have got much better!

Well, as you can see, I didn’t deviate from my norm by much this morning.  Okay.  Not at all actually.  But, that doesn’t mean you couldn’t do a little something different yourself…..how about a Veggie Omelette with some Free Range Bacon?  Wash it down with a big glass of Unsweetened Organic Iced Tea AND some Organic Berries.  And, you would be golden!  If you are one of those silly folks that doesn’t really “do” eggs…..which, by the way, is a REAL booger of a situation in which to find one’s self…..that is to say, NOT being an “egg eater”…..  (Some might argue that the egg….in its entirety…..not yellow-less…..is one of the World’s Most Nearly Perfect Nutrition Sources!  And, omelets work real well as a morning “Low Glycemic” food source that most of us are very comfortable seeing on our plates as a “Normal Breakfast” Option)…..but, if you insist that you simply cannot regularly consume (and enjoy) eggs, you could also do the right thing this morning by just grabbing a meat source, some veggies (grilled or not), and a fruit source.  And, voila.  You have made yourself a “Breakfast for Champions!”   (How about a little of the left over oven roasted chicken you baked last night, some Zucchini sauteed in a little olive oil and real butter, and a big bowl of Organic Blackberries on the side?……As an aside to all you egg eaters, you could substitute eggs for the chicken.  And, there you go for your perfect Egg Breakfast!  For all you non-egg eaters, I guess you could substitute some free range pork bacon in lieu of the chicken.  And, you might find yourself eating something that looked a little more “like breakfast” to you.  But, folks, remember, breakfast is definitely NOT going to look exactly like “breakfast” did before you started eating Low Glycemic…..that is because you are not going to be seeing any breads and grains before you on the table.  (Wow.  That knocks out toast, bagels, croissants, cereal, waffles, and Cream of Wheat....just to name a few.)  And, in the interest of not spiking your blood sugar in a nearly straight upward line, you are definitely NOT going to be seeing fruit juices anywhere near your right or left hand at any point during the day….even breakfast.  If you want fruit, eat some actual fruit….not the resulting liquid that comes from juicing it!)

Anyhow, after eating my “morning usual”…..(an UnDenatured Whey Protein shake and some Organic Berries)…..I threw on my Yogo attire and grabbed my Trusty BPA Free Camelbak Water Bottle and headed for Saturday morning Yoga with my wife.  Please note that, yes, that is “bed head” in the picture.  Please don’t let “getting ready” get in the way of you making it to an exercise opportunity.  Exercise opportunities are not fashion shows.  No one cares what your hair looks like…..or, if your make up is applied in its most complimentary manner….And, if they do care, they are probably not here to get healthy and fit anyway….which, I hope, IS your motivator for having to sit here and read this dribble and be cattle prompted out of your easy chair and into an exercise facility about 5 or 6 times per week.

As you may remember, Saturday mornings get a little crazy around the Curry Home.  And, this one was not going to prove to be an exception to that generalization.  Charly Kate’s Saturday Morning regular tennis lesson was off …..thanks to the rain.  (One item crossed off the list.)  But, there was still a lot to do.  I rushed out of Yoga and over to my local CrossFit facility to grab about 20 minutes of work on the Pull-Up bar.  Yes.  I know that you cannot even do ONE pull-up.  Or, at least you THINK you cannot do one pull-up.  Actually, the pull-up is one of the 3 or 4 most important exercises that you can do for your body.  Check out all the areas of muscle that have to flex/fire in order for the folks in the pictures here to pull themselves up to that bar!!   (By the way, Pushups, situps, and Air Squats….might arguably be the other most important exercises….especially if we are talking about stuff you can do …for free….at your own home or while traveling on the road.)  And, just because you cannot do one (unassisted) pull-up does not mean that you cannot do them at all.  How about throwing “pull-up band assist” into an online search engine and see what you get.  Rogue Fitness is where I purchased mine.  I suggest getting everything from the blue down to the red….and, actually, let’s double up on the red one.  By wrapping these rubber band like things over the top of the pull-up bar and stepping into the loop on the other end, you can create an “assisted pull-up” opportunity for you and your body.  The wider the rubber band into which you place your foot, the more assistance you will get to help you pull your chin up to that elusive pull-up bar!  Wow.  You CAN do a pull-up.  And, you should.  In fact, it would be wise to avoid another week in your life passing without you doing at least one workout per week whose main intent is the simple act of “pull-ups”!  Hey.  It will do your body good!

(Note:  I am not recommending running straight from Yoga to CrossFit.  Please don’t take my morning’s example as a suggestion.  I just needed to get a little practice on CrossFit’s “Kipping” Pull-ups.  And, since I don’t yet have a pull-up bar at my home….(give it a couple more days, I will have one this week)….and since the CrossFit facility closes at 11 Am on Saturday….this was my only chance!  As a general rule, I don’t do “two a days” on exercise…..There is a time and a place for exercise.  And, in general, that time and place does NOT really need to occur twice in any given day.  Your body can make do on a lot less exercise than some of the over-exerciser crowd might think.  You do need it.  You just don’t need to overdo it.  Additional note within this NOTE:  I don’t with to offend here.  But, in truth, for most of you, I assure you that you are not yet in any eminent danger of a need for worry that you might be guilty of anything remotely approaching the concept of “overexercising”……..Sorry! ……)

After the Kipping Pull-up practice, I bolted home to grab my girls for a little Saturday lunch with dad.  (My dad was getting BACK out of the hospital again today…..where there was talk of anointing him the absolute worst patient in the history of hospitals….No.  Not the history of THAT hospital.  I mean the history of hospitals since the inception of the concept of hospital.  Yes.  He IS that bad.)  Anyhow, I wanted to get my girls fed in time to get to see “Papa” before he and my mother headed for their home… 90 miles from ours.  So, I gave the girls their choice of options…..as always.  And, believe it or not….as always….not a single tiny voice cried out “McDonalds”….or, for that matter, anything that sounded remotely like a source of fast processed food.  After a bit of discussion, the group was able to come to a consensus.  And, off to Grand Street Cafe we went!  (Momma, once again, declined the opportunity to join us.  If you have children, you can probably guess why…..!)  But, as it happened, the girls were on their best behavior.  And, I was able to truly enjoy my lunch.  Since there was no “Fish Special” today….(Actually, I bet there was some fish back there.  But, the young gal that waited on me was fairly new.  And, I didn’t want to overdo her experience with my table of me and my 4 girls…..aged 8 and under…. by explaining to her that I DID know that there had to be some fish left over from yesterday’s Pan Seared Snapper Special.  And, could she go back there and ask the Chef about it) ……. So, instead, I ordered the Braised Beef Short Ribs laid atop a mound of Sautéed Veggies (which had spent most of the last 10 minutes of their time here on Earth getting Pan Sautéed in Olive Oil and Real Butter…. immediately prior to being laid under my lunch’s protein source…. and finding themselves placed upon the table directly in front of me….for my eating enjoyment!)  Wow.  Now, does that look like “Diet Food” to you?  Oh.  Darn.  I took the picture BEFORE the girl got back out to me with the Au Jus that she had failed to have them pour all over the top of it.  (I think HER idea of “Diet Food” and MY idea of “Diet Food” may differ a tad!  She was only about 20 somethingish.  So, her belly didn’t yet show evidence of her total lack of knowledge of the benefits (and advantages) of Low Glycemic Eating.  I will check back with her when she is 30 somethingish and see if the same still holds true………..Sorry to say.  But, Not likely!)

Well, when you do make the unwise decision to “over exercise” in the morning, you are going to see that you are gonna need a few more calories in the afternoon to see any chance of making it through to dinner without risking the need for a hookup to an actual I.V. bag.  And, I started noticing that “need” developing about 3:30 in the afternoon.  We were in the midst of getting some afternoon stuff done.  So, I didn’t really think I had time for my normal afternoon apple and almond butter break.  Instead, I grabbed an Isagenix Undenatured Whey Protein bar.  Now, that was okay.  But, I don’t think it was my BEST option.  Let’s try to only grab a protein bar as an absolute last resort.  Why?  Cuz if your protein bar is anything close to tasty…..and, why would you be eating it if it weren’t?…… it probably is carrying some excess luggage to give it that tasty taste….and, that excess luggage probably equates to an unnecessary glycemic spike that your body most certainly does not need.  The Isagenix bar is a pretty good option.  But, if I were running that joint, I would figure out how to make that bar without those “rice crisps”.  What is a “rice crisp” anyway?  Sounds like a glycemic spike waiting to happen.  And, I would also figure out how to ixnay the sugar alcohols in that bar.  (Some really smart guy came up with Sugar Alcohol at some point in the modernization of the world.  And, as far as I can tell, it roughly equates to “sneaking something which approximates sugar into your food without having to state in the nutritional information on the package that there are actual sugar grams in that food source”.  I could be over-worrying here.  But, on this topic, I am going to try to stay “better safe than sorry” for just a little while longer…..at least until the jury is finished with their deliberations.)  Anyhow, the Isagenix oatmeal raisin bar is potentially the best tasting, close-to-low-glycemic bar that I have ever eaten. But, the truth of that matter is that it is just too darn sweet!  Note to the Folks at Isagenix:  “Lose some of the stuff you put in there to make it that sweet.  And, you would really have a winner!”  Anyhow, what should I have done instead of eating the Protein Bar.  Easy…..And, just as fast.  I should have grabbed the biggest spoon in the silverware drawer and dug it deep into the Artisana Raw Organic Almond Butter jar and pulled out about 2.75 tablespoons of that magical stuff and stuffed it into my mouth….How long would that have taken?  Probably less time than it took to unwrap and eat the Protein Bar.  And, the potential future health ramifications might have been so much more positive…..Oh.  And, you will probably remember that Almond Butter is very very high in Omega 3 fat.  (Fat burns very slow.)  So, chances are that I would have felt more satisfied….and, for longer….(thanks to the slow burning fat content)…….if I had made the Almond Butter my afternoon’s snack fare.  What was I thinking?!

Well, as mentioned above, it was “Date Night” with Angie….as are almost all Saturday nights.  And, tonight, we were heading to “Louie’s Wine Dive”…..it is only a few blocks from our home.  And, we have been dying to give it a 2nd chance.  We were very glad we did!  Lots of fun stuff on their “by the glass” wine list….including the locally sourced white that we used to start our night.  (No.  You should not EVER put a white wine to your lips unless you are counting this as a “Cheat Meal” nutrition opportunity.  Most assuredly, they will all spike your insulin levels.  Drink red wine….or, drink water!)   Anyhow, in addition to the wine, they offered a lot of other locally sourced options to satiate your appetite as well!  We started with a cheese tray of locally sourced cheeses and meats.  Please make sure your hand doesn’t get confused and think it is okay to grab hold of that bread-like substance there at the forefront of the picture.  That is NOT for you.  Just put the cheese of your choice on a bit of that meat there.  And, throw it into the old mouth.  You just avoided a mile-high glycemic spike…..since bread’s glycemic index is nearly equivalent to that of a Snicker’s Bar.  No.  I am not kidding.  And, yes.  This does included “Whole Grain” anything.  Just keep your hands away from the bread and no one….especially you…will get hurt!

We continued on our evening’s food journey with a fantastic salad with fresh field greens, goat cheese, tomatoes, bacon, and balsamic vinaigrette.  Mmmmm.  Fantastic.  (Not as good as my wife’s salad preparations for me at home.  But….still….darn good!)  And, we finished up by ordering….and, sharing…..a couple of Low Glycemic Dinner entrees.  Angie had roasted chicken with pan sauteed zucchini and squash.  I had Spicy diablo shrimp….without the pasta that was supposed to go with it.  Instead, they cooked it up with all kinds of veggies sauteed right into the sauce.  Was the sauce fattening?  Number one, I didn’t eat very much of it.  And, you shouldn’t either.  You really don’t need to submerge your food in anything approximating “Sauce”…..especially if you don’t know exactly what is in it!  I am not too worried about fat….as you already know.  In fact, I eat a ton of it ….no pun intended….every day.  But, since I am unfortunately not a Chef, I could not guess what grains might have gone into the manufacture of this especially tasty sauce.  Probably none.  But, even so, I carefully dabbed off each shrimp and/or veggie I ate….before I placed each piece into my mouth.  And, then….after ingesting each piece…… I carefully washed it all down with a good swallow of the 04 Blair’s Estate Reserve Red Wine that we had brought along with us to serve as our dinner’s 3rd companion!

(Note:  In general, you won’t see David eating much of anything that has a sauce with it that is this creamy.  This is borderline to “cheat meal” territory for me…..even though it didn’t have anything that I think may have spiked my blood sugar in it.  “Good” fat is good…in fact, necessary.  “Bad” fat is not as bad as something that would spike your blood sugar.  Even so, let’s not go out of our way to find manners in which to push it into our systems.”……Oh.  And, as mentioned above, swap the white wine for some red.  And, if you don’t like red…..well, that is a problem all of its own, isn’t it?…..But, if you don’t like red, don’t drink wine.  And, since there is no other drink option with alcohol in it that could be considered “Low Glycemic”, just skip the alcohol altogether….except on your one weekly cheat meal…..My mother has never tasted anything with alcohol in it during her 70 year tenure on this Earth.  And, she is doing just fine.  You will too.  I promise.)

Following dinner, we went downstairs to enjoy a little live jazzy blues type music.  And, we switched from red wine to water.  And, we also didn’t wash the whole dinner down with “something sweet”…….And, no.  You shouldn’t either.  No.  It would not be wise to just go ahead and do it and worry about getting a fresh start on Monday.  How has that mode of thought worked out for you thus far?  I would suggest you do what I do after dinner…..grab yourself a big helping of water…..maybe even in a BPA free Camelbak Water Bottle…..and, don’t let anything else cross those lips before morning time.

Just Eat What I Eat.  Really.  It will do your belly good.

Over and Out