Josh Shear

If you've been following my daily food intake on Facebook, you'll notice that I'm having a bowl of borscht every night.

Last Sunday, we made enough soup for the week. It's ridiculously easy, and tastes better as the week goes on.

Ingredients:

6 fresh beets
1 beef bone (we used a split knuckle bone, because it's what was available)
Water

Preparation:

1. Cut the greens and ends off the beats. Wash them thoroughly.

2. Place the beets and beef bone in a large pot of water. Bring to a boil, and keep boiling for 2 hours.

3. Remove the beets from the water; put them in a bowl and get them cool enough to handle.

4. Peel the beets, then shred them.

5. Put the shredded beets back in the pot. Simmer until you're hungry.

You may want to add some salt and pepper to your bowl, but you might not. Up to you. I like it with pepper, not salt. Yummers.

I haven't really had a chance to try something new in the kitchen for a while. So I thought, "Hmm, who wouldn't love some paella tonight?" And there was paella.

I cooked the rice in a rice cooker; it's white rice with turmeric, because apparently saffron is unavailable in my local supermarket. I did a quick Google search in the spice aisle, and discovered turmeric is "the poor man's saffron." Good enough, I guess. It was tasty anyway.

While the rice was cooking I had two other items on the stove:

• A pan with diced onion, diced red pepper, hot sausage and bay scallops, seasoned with black pepper and dried parsley sautéing in olive oil
• A pot with littleneck clams and shrimp (I also got two cherrystones to serve as a strong visual, for presentation – that's the big clam you see on the right).

When the rice was done, I mixed in some peas. I drained the sausage/scallop mixture and added it, then the clams and shrimp and tossed the whole lot together.

We enjoyed it with this year's Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau, which is probably the best vintage in a few years. I always forget how much I like this wine.

This one was real easy and really tasty. I'm not actually sure how much pork I used; I got a huge tenderloin and cut it into a few parts and froze most of it. But you could use this on any amount of pork that fits in a 9x13 casserole dish.

- Pork, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 bananas, sliced
- 1 can apricot nectar
- 1 can banana nectar

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until fully cooked.

I did this with steamed baby carrots.

I'll take a break from blogging this here after this post (maybe I'll move to once a week or something), but I had a day yesterday after doing my first prescribed workout. Everything hurt afterward except my abs, which only didn't hurt because everything else was too fatigued to work them well.

Which makes today an abs day, I guess.

Incidentally, I supplement my daily intake with 2,050 mg of ginseng and a multivitamin (Centrum, if it matters to you). I also drink a lot of water, probably in the 100-120 oz range.

Fitness
- 2 miles walking over 8.5 hour standing shift
- 45 minutes racquetball, fast pace
- Free motion biceps: 30 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps
- Bicep curl: 30#, 3x12
- Tri pull, slanted handles: 70#, 3x13
- Tri pull, rope, thigh split: 50#, 3x12
- Seated bench press: 70#, 3x12
- Lat pull: 90#, 3x15
- Deltoids: 10# 3x15
- Leg extension: 90# 3x15
- Leg curl: 80# 3x13
- Back extension: 30#, 3x15

Food
- 1 c Special K with 1/2 c 1% milk
- 1/2 c 1% cottage cheese
- 1 med. banana
- 20 oz black coffee
- 1 c nonfat peach yogurt
- 4 fresh dates
- 1.5 tbsp reduced fat peanut butter with 2 tsp honey on 1 multigrain sandwich thin
- 6oz baked chicken
- 1 med. apple
- 1/8 c shredded cheddar cheese (clearly my indulgence for the day)

I won't do this here every day, but my first day of keeping a food log went something like this (next, I'll actually have to start doing calorie counts and that sort of thing, but at least I'm starting to take note of what I'm eating).

In terms of exercise, I stand for about 8.5 hours per day at work, and walk about 2 miles during the course of an average shift. Yesterday, I also played 90 minutes of tennis at a moderate pace, and did 30 minutes of other light cardio (biking at a low resistance, walking the track at a slow pace).

- 1 c Special K with 1/3 c 1% milk
- 1/2 c 1% cottage cheese
- 5.5 oz V8 juice
- 20 oz black coffee
- 1 c nonfat blueberry yogurt
- 1 1/2 tbsp reduced fat peanut butter + 2 tsp honey on a multi-grain sandwich flat
- 1 c baby carrots
- 1 tsp fresh nuts (2 nuts)
- 4 oz baked chicken breast (no skin)
- 1/2 medium banana
- 1 Clif bar

When I graduated high school, I weighed in at a slim, though certainly not wiry, 115 pounds. Sometime after that, I was taking 18 credit hours, working full time and editing the school newspaper. Exercise wasn't an option, and I would eat at any time I had the chance. At some point, I hit about 215 pounds. If you've not met me, I'm 5'3" on a good day; that made me really big.

The past few years, I've had my good seasons and my bad seasons. I tend to go between about 160 and 175 pounds; according to the Body Mass Index (BMI), that puts me on the lower side of obese – although social convention is such that you'd probably classify me as "thick," not obese. But social convention and health are much different.

Also, BMI is a bunch of hooey, as it doesn't take into account fat percentage and body type, classifying your average pro athlete as borderline obese and someone like Shaquille O'Neal as morbidly obese at 7'1" and 325 pounds and well under 10% body fat.

I'm stepping off on a 12-week personal training journey, which will overlap with a more intensive program I'm starting in January. Basically, it's going to work like this. Once a week for 12 weeks, starting next week, I'll meet for a half hour with a personal trainer. I started yesterday with a preliminary session that gave me a workout routine, took my measurements, and came away with a sample meal plan.

Today I start with some cardio (a couple of tennis matches), and tomorrow I begin more of a cardio-plus-resistance training workout. I'm working with Roger at Gold's Gym in Dewitt. He gave me a couple of options on each muscle group, and also gave me some exercises I could do at home.

For me, the hardest part, I think, will be to control my eating. I've always been OK at eating decent foods, but portion control is an issue for me.

Beginning in mid-January, which is about 9 weeks away, I'll be doing a more intensive 12-week program, which involves small group personal training three times a week, as well as a diet plan.

In an effort to keep myself accountable, I'm blogging here, and there will be something going on elsewhere on the web, but I can't tell you about that yet (before the end of the month, I hope).

My goal is to drop some pounds and a bunch of body fat. My stated goal for the 12-week program is 20 pounds, but I'm willing to trade a few pounds for body fat, since muscle weighs more than fat.

I'll spare you the before pictures, unless and until they become interesting for my story. But here are the beginning measurements:

Weight: 169.7 (shoes on)
Chest: 40.5 inches
Waist: 39.5 inches at the navel (If you're buying me pants, though, get me a 33. 39.5 would be a tight hula hoop.)
Hips: 40.25 inches
Waist:Hips Ratio: 0.98 (This is a new number to me; the goal should be to get under 0.95.)
Bicep: 13.375 inches (flexed)

Body fat (skin fold/calipers):

Bicep: 5.9 (This, I'm told, is really good and shows I'm doing something right there.)
Tricep: 13.7
Subscapular: 18.1 (This is that roll of fat on the back.)
Illiac Crest: 20.1 (This is the love handle.)
Total body fat percentage: 23.1%

To give you an idea of what I've started eating...

Dinner last night: One baked chicken breast (baked in pear nectar); half baked sweet potato with a pat of low-fat butter substitute; 1/4 cup broccoli sauteed in 1/2 tsp of butter substitute and oregano

Breakfast this morning: 1 cup Special K with 1/3 cup 1% milk; 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese; 6 oz black coffee; 5.5 oz V8 vegetable juice.

Onward!

This comes to me by way of the Alchemical Nursery and the Syracuse Peace Council. The Peace Council's dinner is this coming Saturday, the 25th.

***

The Syracuse Peace Council will be holding their 74th birthday dinner this coming Saturday Sept 25th, 6pm at St Lucy's on the Near Westside in Syracuse.

SPC is a great organization here in Syracuse, and a group with much affinity to Alchemical.

The dinner will feature retired Col. Ann Wright, the highest ranking officer to resign in protest of the US invasion of Iraq. Ann Wright also helped to reopen the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2001. For the past 7 years, she has been a tireless activist for peace - showing up everywhere a person of conscience might be needed. She traveled to Iran on a citizen diplomacy delegation, returned to Afghanistan in 2009 with a study group, joined the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza in 2010, and in September she will be an expert witness for the "Creech 14" trial of nonviolent activists protesting the Drones.

Sliding scale donation: $15-74

Make reservations ASAP to guarantee your place at the dinner! Walk-ins are welcome on a first-come, first-served basis.

6:00 PM - doors open, appetizers
6:30 PM - Dinner is served (featuring Middle Eastern cuisine, all dishes are vegetarian or vegan)
7:30 PM - Program

Ann Wright is is the co-author of "Dissent: Voices of Conscience" and one of the featured portraits in artist Roberty Shetterly's "Americans Who Tell the Truth" series (on exhibit at the ArtRage Gallery while Ann is in town, check their website for details on the September 26th book signing!).

Contact Jessica (315-472-5478, jessica@peacecouncil.net) to make your reservations, or make online reservations at www.peacecouncil.net/bday.

For those Syracuseans not in the know, Funk 'N' Waffles is a great little spot on the SU hill. It has a menu of interesting waffle creations (including chicken & waffles, pulled pork waffles, and a new favorite for some of my friends: a stuffing waffle with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce), good coffee, and free wifi.

They are good citizens, opting for local eggs, Dinosaur BarBQue sauces, and other local options when possible.

The only complaint I've ever thought of is that they close at 4:30 on Mondays, which is kind of early.

So, as co-chair of the 40 Below Civic Engagement Task Force, I approached the venue about staying open a little later to host a social networking event, which started at 5:30. I arrived a little before 5, and was pleased to see they had something of a walk-in crowd, which meant they weren't bored in that hour between when they typically close and when we were to start.

Then we brought in 16 people – very few of whom had been there before. And almost to a person, they were so impressed with the venue that they said they would not only return, but bring other new people.

If eight of those people do return with two new people each, and then half of those new people do the same, that's a lot of new customers, thanks to being willing to keep the lights on and paying two employees for four extra hours.

That's a minimal investment for a lot of new customers – and let's not forget that so much of small business marketing is helping the non-profits in your area.

Awesome job, Funk 'N' Waffles.

I've always disliked it when people use the phrase, "Is that kosher?" to mean, "Is that OK?" An example: "We're thinking about moving our weekly meetings from Tuesday to Wednesday since we're missing at least two people every Tuesday. Is that kosher?"

People will use "kosher" – which they've otherwise only heard used in relation to pickles – even when they'd also use phrases like "developmentally disabled," "differently abled" and "African-American" (even when that last isn't an accurate description for the the person).

Some background on the word kosher. It's most commonly used to describe food that follows the laws of kashrut, spelled out in the Old Testament. Even if you're not Jewish, you probably know the biggies: no mixing milk and meat, no pork, no shellfish. It stretches well beyond that, of course; the laws of kashrut outline not only which animals may be eaten, but also how they are slaughtered.

I grew up, as did some of you, in Reform Judaism. Our tradition is that times change, and so must we. We now raise milk and meat cattle separately; does the ban on eating the "meat of the calf in the milk of the mother" still apply? How about the ban on pork, now that we understand how to cook it without risking disease?

But it goes beyond food. Here is a part of Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro's sermon from Rosh Hashanah Eve:

Consider kashrut. In the beginning, Reform Jews tended to ignore kashrut. It seemed to be a relic from the past without any apparent meaning in the present. When I grew up as a Reform Jew, that was the interpretation of kashrut that I learned.

But now comes the fun – and the real possibility of Reform. In these last few years, Reform Jews have come back to that word kashrut, which means “appropriate,” and we’ve asked if the term can’t be adapted. Perhaps kashrut for us can become a way of thinking about all the implications of what we eat. Modern kashrut can mean we pay attention to how veal or coffee or any food product arrives on our plate. Is it appropriate? Is it moral? Is it kasher?

Note that kashrut means "appropriate," in the sense of morally appropriate, as opposed to an appropriate decision to move a meeting.

What is appropriate, food-wise or not, today? I don't have answers, so I'm asking. What, do you think, is an appropriate way to live, to eat, to spend your money?

I'm getting really good at the one-pan thing. Sure, I did the rice in a cooker, but here was last night's dinner.

I used chuck steak and bay scallops to keep the cost down. The chuck steak gets soft enough if you cook it in enough liquid, and it turned out that the bay scallops were the right choice here, since sea scallops would have taken over the flavor of this dish and made the creativity part of it moot.

We started by sautéing some sliced baby bellas, then poured some condensed mushroom soup in there. We had some leftover sun-dried tomato marinade we had used on some chicken, and of course added a healthy amount of the best stuff on earth (Sriracha).

We added some diced red bell pepper, then the bay scallops and cubed chuck steak, poured the whole thing over some jasmine rice, and enjoyed it with a Gnarly Head Cab.