Month / September 2014

by stephenhow

More Starch Please

IMG_1769I hit a new low weight this morning, and I’m finally heading below 80 kg, towards my final weight of 70 – 75 kg. Losing these last 5-10 kg will be fun. I’m eating the way I want to, unafraid of any of the popular diet superstitions (e.g., “carbs make you fat”, or “fat makes you fat”), and watching my weight ease down to where it belongs.

I picked up 500g of fresh spaghetti from Assenti’s on my way back from spin class. I made traditional Spaghetti al Pomodoro, using some olive oil, garlic, and fresh basil. I ate 250g of the spaghetti, but I’m still hungry. I’ll probably pick up another 3 lbs of corn tortillas from Gabriel’s. Or maybe I’ll get a veggie burrito from Taco Rey on 4th. Or maybe I’ll just eat the other 250g of spaghetti. I’m not sure. All I know, is I’m still really hungry.

by stephenhow

More Street Tacos

IMG_1763Rode the monthly Paseo de Todos with Urban Bike & Social last night, which went so smoothly, there was a 0 minute wait crossing the border back into the US. It didn’t even feel like an 80 km ride, nor did it seem like 1:30 am when I got back home. I got this Korean Asada taco from a food truck in San Diego. In Tijuana, I had a carne asada taco, a cheese & bean quesadilla, and a cane sugar Coke. (They tell me that Brasilian cane sugar is cheap, and they don’t subsidize corn in Mexico, thus no HFCS.)

I ended up eating more animal products than usual this week. I had about 6 eggs, 500g of meat, and some butter, totaling around 1500 calories. So about 7.5% of my calories came from animal products this week. That’s a bit more than my usual 5% average, but not too bad in the scheme of things. My meals never felt too heavy or greasy, as they always included plenty of fresh vegetables.

by stephenhow

Julian “Bakery” @ La Jolla, CA

IMG_1756With all the recent controversy surrounding Julian Bakery, I thought I’d ride my bike out to their shop, and see what “Paleo Bread” tasted like. I was hungry from riding the night before, and had half a dozen tortillas before bed, but no breakfast before the ride.

The “bakery” is about 20 km away, on roads I usually ride. I got out there fairly quickly, setting a PR on E. Mission Drive. I arrived hungry and thirsty. The shop is in a very nice part of town. It’s clean and tidy, but very small. It’s really just a retail outlet for books, pre-made, packaged “Paleo” treats and products, with a rack or two of packaged bread. There’s no actual bakery on the premises. It’s more of a very small boutique. If you make a special trip to this store, you’ll probably be disappointed.

There’s a busy (packed with queued people), popular cafe two doors down, and everyone hangs out there. A few people straggle into the “bakery”, but I don’t think it’s what people are looking for. A Paleo “bakery” is definitely a little out-of-place, and you get the idea that it’s more of a pet idea of the owners than it is about making money. (It’s probably no easy task running a profitable local bakery, but you probably need a kitchen, and you’ll have to sell stuff that everyone likes, i.e., sugary and fatty treats.)

There’s just one woman tending the shop, and she toasts up some samples of the breads and waffles. I tried some, and they weren’t horrible (unlike the infamous Julian Bakery “sponge” video.) They weren’t tough or anything, but they weren’t pleasing like real bread. The slight aftertaste makes you wonder what you’re eating.

I didn’t want to buy a loaf, because I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy it. I’d rather buy fresh-baked bread from my nearby real bakery, Bread & Cie. That place is an extremely successful business, that’s often packed, and they distribute to most of the local supermarkets and restaurants. I’ll eat a whole loaf of their NY Rye in one day (often one sitting), and it’s not a problem. We need calories. Bread is wonderful.

I needed to eat something, so I bought one of their Paleo brownies for $5. I could care less about the price, I needed some calories for the ride home. It was okay, but you could tell there wasn’t any sugar in it. I felt a little better with some fuel, and moved well. I PR’ed Mission Beach Sprint South, had a good climb up Catalina in Point Loma (near a PR, but had a stoplight and some headwind), and PR’ed on N. Harbor Dr. So, the brownie seemed okay as fuel. (Strava says I burned 1000 calories on the ride.)

So, if you really think you need Paleo bread, go ahead and buy it from Julian Bakery. But don’t complain to me about the taste or the price, what do you expect when you make bread without carbs? My advice is crazy, radical, and extreme: eat real, fresh whole-grain bread, it’s good for you.
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