Critique my Refrigerator and Pantry

From time to time, I catch shit from people about things I choose to eat and drink, like Coke, jelly beans, Pringles, etc. But unless you've been inside my fridge and watched me eat on a daily basis, what the fuck would you know about my day to day diet?

So in the interest of full disclosure, I hereby present pictures of my fridge contents:

Above is the business part.

Top Left:

• Bottles of Gatorade. These are used during swimming, biking and running. Behind the Gatorade bottles are my bottles of Endurox R4, which has been my preferred recovery drink for 15 years.

Top Right:

• Coffeemate, low fat Hazelnut. Yes, it contains sugar. I like it.
• Behind the Coffeemate is coffee. For years I used to ship 100% Kona coffee here, and it was delicious, but I don't drink as much coffee as I used to (3 small mugs in the morning), and I am good with Starbucks or Gevalia or whatever looks good at my grocery store.
• Bottles of Infinit. These are here for the Tour of Sufferlandria. Normally, I only use Infinit for rides of 3+ hours or when I both swim and run in the morning before work. For the Tour, I'm drinking it every stinking ride because I want the caffeine and race-type fueling. I have 3 custom Infinit mixes that I use as needed--for Monday-Friday of the Tour I am using my lower calorie mix, and for Saturday and Sunday I'm using my fairly high caffeine, higher calorie mix.

Second Shelf, Left:

• Eggs, eggs, eggs! The small bowl has hardboiled eggs. I eat one for breakfast every day.
• Herring. This is a snack food for me. I like it from time to time. 

Second Shelf, Right:

• One container of brown rice.
• One container of a chicken/vegetable dish that was in my freezer, that I will eat either for lunch or dinner today depending on how I feel. It will go over rice.

Drawer, Left:

• Various protein snacks live in here, such as string cheese (sometimes Cheddar), braunschweiger (yep, I love that stuff), regular American cheese, Canadian Bacon and Lox, depending on what I'm in the mood for. The lox and Canadian bacon are for when I do a swim/run combo and I need to eat a significant snack after, which consists of an English muffin buttered with one of them on top.
• Corn tortillas (you can't see them). For when I want a bit more carbs with dinner (to soak up some sauce) or an ad hoc tortilla wrap.

Third Shelf, Left:

• Homemade banana/wheat germ muffins (in the bags). I eat one of these for breakfast every day, with a hardboiled egg. Gluten! GMO wheat! Sugar! Canola oil! These things will surely kill me!
• Behind the muffins is a big chunk of Parmesan cheese, that I periodically grate to go on top of salads or rice.

Third Shelf, Right:

• Cherry tomatoes, for salads
• More containers of brown rice. I made about 8 cups for the week, and it keeps well.
• Yogurt. This is what I consider dessert, when I want it.
• Bread. GMO wheat! For when I want toast or the odd sandwich.

Bottom Drawer, Left:

• Lemons. I use these when I roast a whole chicken. The chicken is stuffed with 2 separated heads of garlic, a halved lemon and some rosemary.
• Salad greens. I could buy the greens loose, but I'm lazy and I like the easy variety of the packaged ones.
• A small container of pignoli. For salads.
• Garlic. You can't see it, but there are 4 heads in there.

Bottom Drawer, Right:

• Coke! Because I like it during long runs on the treadmill in winter, to load up calories before long workouts, or when I've delayed a mid-day run or bike past lunchtime and need calories but can't eat lunch because then I'd need to wait even longer. On average, I probably drink 1.5 Cokes per week.

Above is the door. It contains condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard, BBQ sauce, Chinese sauces), grated Parmesan (in the Jewel container), Starbucks espressos for emergency caffeine, almond milk (used in my breakfast muffins), a package of coffee (because it wouldn't fit in the freezer), bread crumbs, lemon juice, spare Coffeemates, Kringle Cream (it's awesome), Limoncello (it's also awesome), English muffins (which I will swap out for the homemade ones in late spring) and...BEER.

Above is the main part of my (smallish) freezer. In here are chicken (whole roaster and drumsticks), some steaks, some fish (salmon), a chuck roast, coffee, meatballs (in the Dean's containers), a Lean Cuisine (I usually eat one of those for lunch), and various containers of tasty things I've cooked in bulk and then frozen so I can use them on weekdays when I have zero time to cook. Also stuffed in there are a couple of slices of my deep dish pizza and lasagna in the tinfoil.

Above is the door of my freezer. Butter (butter keeps extremely well in the freezer), more coffee, and containers of various tasty things like pesto (I make a huge batch every August and dole it out as needed throughout the year), pasta sauces and rice toppings. And a few small ice packs.

Above are the top shelves of my pantry (it's a closet). Some cooking vessels, including a lobster pot, a tart pan and my good cookie sheets, and on the lower shelf are my flours (gluten! GMO wheat!), rices (brown and jasmine), sugars (brown and white granulated), and spare food wraps.

Above is the remaining shelves of my pantry. Lots of good things in there! Various sauces for Chinese cooking, couscous, sardines, tomatoes and tomato sauces, Chinese vegetables, olives, anchovies, beans, soups, sauerkraut, salsa, wheat germ, almond milk, ketchup, pickles, coconut milk, chile sauce, canned fruit, garlic chili paste, and there's a bunch of pasta in there.

So yes, I do eat some processed foods, I do eat some sugar (aside from naturally occurring in the fruit I eat which is typically bananas, dried figs, prunes, and seasonal fruits like berries, mangos), I do drink beer and the occasional aperitif or cordial (I have a pretty good wine rack in my dining room, too!), and I do take in engineered sports nutrition. I prepare my breakfast and dinner foods from scratch, and go out to eat maybe once a week or every 2 weeks, preferring sushi, good Italian and lately Caribbean.

I didn't take pictures of other food areas, like spices, oils and crackers. I use a lot of olive oil. Salads are topped with olive oil and creme of balsamic. I have fallen in love with the specialty Triscuits--cracked black pepper, sweet potato and roasted sweet onion. Sometimes I'll have a few with cheese on top as a snack, or have a few with dinner. I have a bag of fun size Paydays that are in reserve for long bike rides or whenever I feel like it. I have a package of Keebler cheese/peanut butter crackers that I like when doing long (3+ hour) rides. I have some jelly beans.

I cook on weekends only unless I have a day off work. Broiling a steak or fish or chicken does not constitute cooking to me. Cooking is a dish requiring prep time, at least 5 ingredients, and some watching. I've come to know a bunch of recipes in my favorite cookbooks that I make over and over. Pasta sauces are for when I'm training > 15 hours per week. Rice toppings are good any time. The pizza and lasagne are once a year deals, since they take a shitload of time to make. I'm still trying to decide if/when I will make my annual batch of green chile--it's another dish that takes the better part of a day to make, but I have no room in my freezer currently! I can now start extracting containers from my freezer, and when I have removed 4 or so, then I can make my next thing and freeze it. What happens is that by summer I have a whole bunch of different things in there to choose from, which is really nice, and they supplement grilling outdoors. In summer, I'm usually training like a beast and eating more pasta, and there are many pasta sauces I like that require very little time, and so I will make one when I feel like it (spaghetti carbonara, walnut pesto, sausage/cream, on and on!) and eat it for a few days.

Could I eat more cleanly? Of course. But I do pretty OK, I think, eating appropriately for the amount of training I'm doing, a good amount of fruits and vegetables (I have fruit for morning snack and on top of salads and in some rice toppings, and dinner features a lot of vegetables and some at lunch), a good amount of lean protein, appropriate use of starches, and I'm not a big dessert person. I do indulge in the occasional McDonald's, but that's about it for out to eat junk food. In my daily diet, most of my sugar comes in the form of sports nutrition. There's that little bit in my coffee, breakfast muffin and lunch. Sometimes I go through a phase where I'll have tuna and vegetables for lunch. It's healthier than a Lean Cuisine, but I also like a hot meal at lunch. I don't feel like I'm sacrificing. EVER. Do I think my racing would be better if I cleaned up my diet even more? Fuck no. It's important to me to enjoy life even though I train fucking hard. Good food is one of the rewards of hard training. I'm cognizant of the need to replace and top off my glycogen stores, not get fat, and time my meals and snacks based on my training. This is what works for me. Time to finish breakfast!

I love food--I love shopping for food, I love making food, and I love eating it. But I am also aware of nutrition, and I think I have it covered!

Swim Til You Puke

3100 yards of fun, especially with water about 84-85. Felt a little residual tiredness, but the warmth of the water seemed to affect me more than the Monday TIRED. Drank coffee during the workout instead of Gatorade, as I managed to sleep until 5:30 when the coffee pot went off, so I didn't have time to have my usual 3 cups before hitting the pool.

I did pretty well (for my sorry-ass swimming that is) on the 150's, but slowed down a little on the 100's. But then the 25's at the end felt pretty fun!

Warmup: 400s, 300p, 200k, 200dr
Main Set: 5x150 @T-pace+20"SI
1x200 n/s 20"RI
5x100 @T-pace+10"SI
2' bonus rest
18x25 fast/ea, ea/fast, ea, fast 40"SI
cd 100

A Day in the Life, Part II

Continuation of yesterday:

5:40AM Drive to the Y to run. Towel Nazi is not at the front desk, so I'm able to score 2 towels so I can actually dry off after I shower.
5:50AM I'm on the treadmill. I brought a can of Coke with me and a bottle of Gatorade. My stomach isn't right from the coffee, and I'm thinking it's going to be mostly Coke. Suprisingly, my legs do not feel too bad, although the Zone 1 shit feels waaaaay too slow. There are an awful lot of smiley, morning workout people at the Y. 25% of them recognize me.
6:20AM Time to start Zone 2. It still feels slow, but not that bad. I'm able to take sips of Gatorade now, although periodically I want to gag and puke anyway.
6:50AM 1 hour down, I get to--you guessed it--take yet another shit. Ah, the pleasures of running, training hard, and a high metabolism. I use the opportunity to change the CD in my CD player (still no iPod, don't start on me) while I am in the can.
6:55AM Back on the treadmill, and a friend, Jamie, comes in. One of the first entrants into the Hottie Brigade. I love talking to him, it's like we both get motor mouth when we see one another. One of these days I hope I get to ride with him again.
7:55AM I'm done! It was a good idea to run on the treadmill today. My legs had been pretty beat up from last week, and they finally feel "normal" again. Well, as normal as you feel after running 2 hours.
8:15AM I'm back home, ass in chair, working, sucking down Endurox R4. Ready to face the leftover crises from yesterday, but I am easing into things, and after prioritizing, think it won't be such a hectic day after all.
10:15 One long call, and now I'm getting hungry. Colleague wants to chat post-team call, which is good, but I am fucking starving, so I'm on the speaker phone making myself breakfast or whatever it is. 4 eggs, 3 pieces of Canadian bacon chopped, scrambled and cooked in butter, English muffin also buttered. Man, I love eggs. I wolf this down and start to feel better.
12:00PM I'm fucking tired. I want a nap, but there's no time for that. Must keep working.
12:30PM Guy arrives to go over with me what yard work I'd like him to do. First time I'm paying someone to do some of it for me--I have just run out of time for some reason this year, and I want it finished before June rolls around! Stuff like trim all the shrubs, weeding, etc.
1:00PM Back into work crisis mode, but I seem to have a handle on things. Start wondering how I am going to make it through the day without a nap. Eat some bananas, which helps temporarily.
4:00PM Work is under control; maybe I can finish up my lifting from yesterday, so I do (16 minutes is all), but my muscles are screaming at me while I do it (bis, tris, chest), and yet I do a little posing in a mirror and am happy about how I look.
5:15PM I call it a day, workwise, and get ready to go to The Bike Shop. Load Bitch into car first, blanket on top, and LGL on top of her. My bikes are having sex back there. I'm concerned that the metals (magnesium and boron carbide) will commingle and birth some mutant bike back there.
5:40PM I'm at The Bike Shop. So what am I having done? Well...Bitch is getting BLUE (or as they call it, blau) Nokon cables! Also, I'm ditching the X-LAB and getting a carbon behind-the-seat-bottle holder. I needed to observe LGL being lubricated one more time so I know how to do it--she has special lubrication needs due to the way her Nokon's had to be installed. I also had them switch the cassette on the back (I can do it myself, but what the hell) since I'm riding in Wisconsin on Saturday. I also picked up my new Louis Garneau Rocket Helmet (I got the blue and white one, of course):


It's fucking gorgeous, and looks good with Bitchie. I also had shims put into the left shoe of both LGL's and Bitch's shoes, since my left foot is different than my right and my left leg has a functional shortness compared to my right. I also picked out new carbon cages (curiously enough, Profile Karbon Kages) for Bitchie once she has carbon on her butt and on the seat tube. She is going to look awesome once they are done with her! I also looked at (first time you are hearing about it) fixies online, and have decided on this one:


I'm going to put cowhorn bars on it with sweet bar tape, Cane Creek brake levers,

and no, I don't have a name for it (I think it's a HIM) yet.
8:30PM I get home (yes, my bike shop trips are legendary lately), throw pasta into the microwave, load the coffee pot, crack a beer, start making a list of crap I need to do on Friday, wolf down the food, decide I better eat more, think about TV, scrap that idea, grab a package of crackers and read yesterday's newspaper in bed for about 15 minutes, decide I better pass out since I have to be done swimming by 7:45AM (and I'm doing the 4,000 yard workout again).

Phew. Now it's Friday...
2:45AM I wake up. At first I'm not sure whether it's stress, I'm hungry, or I have to pee. Lay there for awhile, and guess what? I have to take a shit AND I'M HUNGRY. Take care of the first item, then make a sandwich, eat it while reading a little bit more of the newspaper, and then try and go back to sleep. No such luck, really, but laying down is still a good thing.
3:55AM I look at the clock and decide, close enough. I'm awake. Turn on the coffee pot, put on a record (I'm loving the new turntable, and I still LOVE Ska--like I need to listen to really fast, crazy music, you know). Grab a Power Bar and get rolling. Think about what I have to do today--swim 4,000 yards, work on major crisis at work, maybe run a little bit, go grocery shopping later (and booze sampling), stretch, fix bottles for Saturday's festival (Patti and I are riding the ENTIRE IMWI course and then running--I wonder if I can pull it off), begin packing for Saturday, set the coffee pot, OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.

And yet, despite all this craziness, I am loving life!

A Day in the Life

Lest you think I have way too much time on my hands to be playing with streamers, here's how yesterday went down:

4:30AM Wake the fuck up. Take a shit (this is what wakes me up lately), get some coffee and a Power Bar. Visit the Internets.
5:30AM Take out the garbage, recycleables and some yard waste. Try and straighten up the mess of bottles and dishes
6:00AM Make Voodoo Mix, put defogger into goggles while taking yet another shit, put on swimsuit, put in contact lenses, look in mirror and shout, "IT'S SHOWTIME!"
6:15AM Drive to Y.
6:30AM Have some laughs with guys in the pool. Start 3,800 yard workout, and after finishing warmup, realize it's actually going to be 4,000 yards.
7:45AM Finish swim workout, get yelled at by Rasta Guard, head to shower, shave, change, drive home.
8:15AM Start working. First, assess crises by checking email and then start addressing them.
9:00AM First conference call of the day
9:45AM While on one phone line, another line rings, ask them if I can call back later, finish the conference call and doorbell rings. People are here to seal my driveway, so I move my car to my neighbor's driveway.
12:15PM Literally run out the door and go run about 7 miles, again, using Voodoo Mix, because, well, I need it now.
1:30PM Slam down Endurox R4 and heat something in the microwave for lunch and take a quick shower. Work, work, work
4:00PM All hell has broken loose at work, but I'm under control. Make a bunch of phone calls in order to triage the various situations. Doorbell rings around 4:15--it's my neighbor who needs to get into her driveway, so I move my car onto the street in front of my house.
5:30PM Done with work, lift weights for :45, since I've been putting it off since Monday. Think about whether I want to go run some errands. Decide not, I'm too fucking tired.
6:20PM Mow the lawn because we've been getting a lot of rain lately and figure I'll be too tired tomorrow to do it and besides I need to go to the bike shop right after work.
6:50PM Grab a beer and stretch for :25--this is a priority. Realize I should probably eat dinner. Put pot of water on stove to boil for some pasta. Check email.
7:45PM I am finally eating dinner. Think about watching some TV and maybe reading a little bit of the newspaper, decide I don't have time for it and try and relax while eating dinner ACTUALLY SITTING DOWN AT THE TABLE. Think that I should eat more because I have to run 2 hours in the morning, but my stomach can't handle it. Have some wine.
8:30PM Decide to enjoy spinning some records on my new turntable. The fidelity is unbelievable, and I'm very happy I didn't give away all my vinyl. Decide to assemble the streamers onto my race belt for Triple T, and in a flash, figure, OK take some pics, what the hell, upload them, do a quick blog post, go back downstairs and listen to a few more tunes.
9:15PM Decide I better get to sleep because I need to be up before 5AM to be running by 6AM.

Today...
4:30AM Wake the fuck up. I didn't need the alarm, which I had actually set, because, well, I needed to take a giant shit (AGAIN). Turn the coffee pot on. Don't bother putting actual clothes on, but apply Body Glide and suit up to run.
4:45AM Have some coffee and a Power Bar. Look at today's run workout. Fuck. 2 hours, but no worries I feel pretty good.
5:10AM Take another shit. My body is like a furnace lately.
5:15AM Put in contact lenses and get run bag ready to go, write this post (I type REALLY FAST).
5:30AM Go outside and look around the yard. It's only 41 degrees, so I'm running on the treadmill today.

Later!