SpokEasy

March 2021

Spendcation

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I need a spendcation! At least, I think that\’s what they call it: a specified period of time during which no money is spent, except for absolute necessities. I\’m shocked to see that I spent over $100 in various grocery stores since last Thursday; some $10 of it for totally unnecessary Diet Coke! OK, the sodas I do not need; but what about the rest of it? I need fruits and vegetables for a proper diet; and yogurt provides some protein. I don\’t eat much meat, so I need to get protein from somewhere; and I don\’t think that unstinting use of protein powders is the solution. Yesterday at Whole Foods I got enough bulk-bin nuts to last quite a while; so I probably won\’t buy any more for some time. (I can always find excuses, right?) I caved in and went to the salvage store this morning; and I took the trailer. As part of a spendcation, I need to keep myself out of that place! I got canned beans; and I found almond/coconut milk. I found jars of olives! The store still had Laughing Cow Lite, and I stocked up on it. The allure of the grab-bag bins held sway; and I found assorted bars that will make good ride food. Of course (and alas!) I got some candy bars, and packs of M&Ms. They\’re now stashed in the back of the fridge, where they\’re out of plain sight. With the weather starting to warm up, I\’ll need to keep anything chocolate in the fridge, anyhow. I got quite a decent haul this morning; and I got in a good bicycle ride to boot. But to help make this spendcation successful, I think I\’d better plan a jaunt on the road bike for next Saturday!

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Spare Us the Obscenity

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Spare us the obscenity! What\’s all this about Tastefully NUDE? This variety of GU-Gel is unflavored; and uncolored as well. Hence the designation \”nude\”. It can be a nice change from flavored gels, especially if you eat a lot of them. Eating \”goos\” is something that I generally reserve for my Sunday long rides; but I always have a couple of them my road bike\’s top tube pouch. Occasionally I need one while out on a weekday morning ride; and I also keep a couple of them in my bike trunk\’s pocket. Now and then I need one as emergency rations. GU-Gel comes in many other flavors; including one for the coffee lover. A great favorite of mine is Chocolate Outrage; and I like Salted Caramel a lot, too. As for going nude, please spare us the obscenity.

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Rationalize

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It\’s so easy to rationalize, isn\’t it? I usually don\’t feel the need to rationalize going for a bicycle ride; and I suppose that few of us do. My legs love to move! I need the exercise! It\’s how I get to and from the grocery store! No excuses needed for riding; but I sure rationalize about other things — probably much more that I realize. My trips to the salvage store, for one thing. Something in me is driven to hit that place week after week: who knows when COVID-19 might force a shut-down? It seems less likely as time goes on; but one never knows. I\’ll need to have supplies on hand if it does come to a shut-down. Hurricane season is approaching; and the time to prepare is right now. If a storm does head our way, I\’ll have ample supplies. Come to think of it, that stash of canned stuff is my security blanket! Then there\’s this morning\’s jaunt to Whole Foods. I spent close to $50! It\’s easy to excuse myself for blowing over $16 on various nuts from the bulk bins by saying, I won\’t need to buy almonds or hazelnuts for quite a while now; it\’s not as though I eat them by the fistful. I even wrote today\’s date on the paper/wire twisters that hold shut the bags, and now I\’ll be able to see how long supplies last. I needed the Calcium-Magnesium-Zinc tablets (almost $15 right there!); but now I have enough for three months. On the upside, I managed to resist buying Enlightened or any other frozen goodies. Now — ride to the salvage store tomorrow, or not? I feel like I need a morning to sleep in; but the \”thrill of the hunt\” is rising!

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Pinch Hitting?

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I\’ve never been a pinch hitter on a bicycle team; but I guess you can call it pinch hitting when I make substitutions while cooking. Sometimes it\’s make the substitution; or not try out the new recipe! Today I took vacation because I had several things I needed to get done. With that extra time, I hauled out The American Diabetes Association Vegetarian Cookbook; and tried the Basil Ginger Cashew Pilaf, on page 57. And did I do some some pinch hitting! First, the recipe says to use white basmati rice. I have none; but why buy basmati rice when I\’ve got lots of brown rice? So I cooked up brown rice. The recipe uses peanut and dark roasted sesame oils. I don\’t have either one, so I used sesame seed oil. Another substitution I made was peanuts instead of cashews. I\’ve got to use up those roasted-in-the-shell \”goobers\” that I bought at the salvage store a while back. And I didn\’t want to buy fresh ginger root; so I used some ground ginger instead. The onion, carrot, celery, and bell pepper I could leave unchanged. Perhaps most notably, I didn\’t have any fresh basil. Fresh herbs are crazy expensive, so I used a teaspoon of dry basil leaves. Maybe I could have used more than that; next time I\’ll try it. This recipe makes a LOT: a good 11 cups; and I packed most of it away in the freezer. Naturally I ate some right away; and it\’s really good. Some day I\’ll try it with chopped cabbage instead of carrots and celery. Oh, there I go again! This will be like Hoppin\’John and its many variations. Mañana Tomorrow is another work day; but at least it\’s Friday 😊 I\’m thinking of how I\’ll get in my riding: a short spin on the road bike; and then take the hybrid to Whole Foods? Or rig the hybrid for a load; ride around the park a few times; and then head for the store? The former means I can get in some real \”unclimbing\” work; but it\’s too easy to stay out too long that way. Then I might not have time to go to the store and be back home in time for clocking in. The latter means plodding along; but it will be easier in a way because I won\’t need to go home and switch bikes. I can think about it tomorrow before I go out. Mañana is good enough for me; and I don\’t have to get out there and do any pinch hitting for a racing team.

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Caving In

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I’m always caving in, one way or another. When I have hard efforts planned, I cave in too readily when the lactate burn sets in. I find myself caving in too much when it comes to my diet, too. When I plan the next day’s meals, it’s too easy to plan for too little. Then I get hungry too soon, and wind up buying M&Ms, or cookies. Or I just decide, I! Don’t! Care! and grab whatever is closest! That’s what happened last night. I had gotten  too hungry; and I was grouchy; clumsy; and felt very depleted. And what I went for was high-carb stuff! Among other items, I pulled that Sport Shake from the freezer and ate it like ice cream! This morning I had a “recovery“ drink before going out to ride. A gear-up drink, perhaps? Post-ride, I ate rather more breakfast than usual; yet I was hungry again by 9 am! I’m glad I had some granola bars at my desk for such emergencies; but before lunch break rolled around – you guessed it – I was hungry again! I ate some of the prunes I had with me, to hold me over; and during lunch break I bought a Clif Builder’s bar to fill out my lunch. It didn\’t keep me from getting hungry again before afternoon break time; and before I left work for the day, I was hungry yet again! That left me caving in for the third or fourth time today; and I ate a GU-Gel before riding home. For tomorrow, I\’m planning an early run to the supermarket; and tonight I must make my shopping list. AND I\’d better eat a pretty substantial meal before heading for the store. If I don\’t, I\’ll be caving in and buying stuff I don\’t need!

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Survival

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Survival of the fittest. Surviving Monday at work. It\’s uphill work, isn\’t it? Getting through a long Sunday ride seems like a matter of mere survival when I\’ve got a strong headwind, and I\’m getting tired. Weekday morning rides are about merely surviving the miles when it\’s cold and windy; and don\’t get me started about foggy mornings! Keeping the prediabetes diet going often seems like barely hanging on day after day. Planning meals and snacks day by day is sometimes tedious. I\’ve also noticed that, what seems like a lot of food on paper, often isn\’t enough! This is a bigger problem on days when I have to work on site. I often get hungry between meals; and I run out of the snacks I brought to work with me. Then I\’m too likely to turn to high-carb junk! Today, in fact, I lost it big time. What can I eat that will fill out my calorie needs, but is 1) not high in carbs; 2) not high in fat; and 3) low in cholesterol? Not to mention inexpensive. If this is so hard when I work on site three days a week, what will it be like when the pandemic is over; and I have to work on site all week? Preparing all these lunches is time-consuming; it\’s tiresome lugging so much food along; and if I buy lunch, it\’s much harder for me to keep my eating plan under control. Today I took a crack at survival without buying a Diet Coke at work. I drank a small one before I left home; and took along green tea to drink at work. It didn\’t provide the caffeine kick I\’m used to. Survival in this case didn\’t last until 9 am!

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Uncanny

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Doesn\’t it seem uncanny, the way things pile up on you? Or, to be honest, not so uncanny. I keep bringing home the canned goods much faster than I use them. It can also seem uncanny the way prepping the next day\’s meals eats up so much time! For this morning\’s breakfast, I planned black beans with corn tortillas. Sounds like a simple, easy-to-prepare meal, right? It\’s not so simple when I have to open the can of beans and rinse them; and then get them stored in the fridge. Tuna for lunch isn\’t so simple, either, when I don\’t want plain old tuna fish. I had to drain the tuna; and then I chopped up a scallion and a bit of red bell pepper. I also wanted a bit of mayonnaise and a little lemon juice in the mix; and had to cut the lemon and store what I didn\’t use in a jar. As part of my lunch, I planned carrot sticks with lemon/fava bean dip. That meant I had to measure out the dip and put it in a small container; and as to the carrots, I had to clean up a two-pound bag of them! All that took about an hour, especially as I had to wash dishes to clear the kitchen counter before I could even begin. This is why I like to prepare a work day\’s lunch the night before. Even if I don\’t go out on the road bike, there isn\’t time to do all that and eat a proper breakfast in the morning. Things are apt to continue this way. My weight is down where I want it; but if I let the meal planning/prep slide, I\’ll be back where I started. Seems uncanny, doesn\’t it?

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Out of Sync

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My Garmin has been out of sync. A while back, I needed to re-enter my heart rate zones for some reason; and I didn\’t do it quite right. I wrote the zones that I use on a piece of index card, which I taped to the road bike\’s handlebars. I refer to the card while riding; and I saw that the zone readings the Garmin\’s screen gave me were out of sync with the zones on that card! The heart rate reading I was seeing on the screen would correspond to Zone 3 on the card; but the zone reading on the screen would be 4! I can\’t get an accurate idea of my workout that way; so after this morning\’s long ride I re-did the zones online. I hope they get into the Garmin as it\’s recharging; if I need a Smartphone to sync, then I am sunk! Today I put in 31.30 miles, but as usual was quite the slowpoke: I averaged only 10.82 mph. On the way home, the wind was NE at 12-13 mph; with gusts of 21-23 mph. I feel like such a weakling when I\’m plodding along against the wind; and other riders whiz past me like I was backing up. I\’m too lazy to dig out my old cycling journals to look up previous rides in similar conditions. If I did it, I just might find that I\’m a little better at riding against the wind. Today I tried a new recovery drink: Sport Shake Vanilla Power. As perhaps you can guess, this was a salvage-store find. It\’s too high in carbs to have regularly; but it was a nice change from chocolate. Gosh, did I just say that? Something must be out of sync.

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I Need SS Anonymous

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I need SS Anonymous; SS as in salvage store. I just can\’t seem to keep myself out of there! Despite my having plenty of stuff already, I rode to that place again today. I enjoy seeing what I can find; and besides, the pandemic isn\’t over yet. I still haven\’t shed the \”suppose there\’s suddenly a big shut-down\” mentality. On top of that, time flies; and hurricane season will be starting before I know it. I say again and again, the time to prepare is before the season begins! I took the trailer again, so I could use the cooler; and I\’m glad I had the cooler. I found a pound block of medium-sharp cheddar; and Laughing Cow Lite. This time I decided to get a pack of turkey franks. There wasn\’t any hummus that I saw; but I found some kind of fava bean dip, and got some to try. Naturally I hit the grab-bag bins, and today I made up a large bag. I didn\’t fill it completely; but even so I got 33 items for five bucks. Alas, most of it is candy; such as M&Ms Hazelnut Spread. I rationalize such purchases by rationing out such goodies. I still had several packs of those hazelnut M&Ms; and I bought them months ago. Now I have to make space for this new load of stuff. That gets trickier as time goes on, and I continue to add to my hoard. Thus I need SS Anonymous! All this talk about food is making me hungry. I think I\’ll go heat up those turkey franks; and plan tomorrow\’s ride.

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365 Whey Protein

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365 Whey Protein Powder has long been my go-to product for recovery drinks. To me it\’s too expensive to use daily; but I enjoy it after my Sunday long rides. I also like to have it after a weekday morning ride that includes \”force\” exercises. The catch: this powder seems to take a long time to dissolve into liquid. If I had a blender, it might not be a problem. As it is, I mix it up the night before I plan to use it; and let it sit in the fridge. I\’ve tried using 365 Whey Protein Powder in dairy milk; and in almond milk. Both are good; but if you\’re watching calories and/or carbs, almond milk is lower in both. Incidentally, I keep getting hungry too often during the day lately. And then I eat junk! I thought it might help if downed a protein drink in the morning; but it didn\’t seem to. Maybe I need a pint of it instead of a half-pint? If you want a non-dairy alternative to 365, you might like to try Purely Inspired. I found it in the salvage store a week or two ago; and I think it\’s good. (I would — it\’s chocolate, after all!) Purely Inspired is vegan friendly; and has no cholesterol. Whichever protein powder you choose: enjoy!

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