Food Diary – June 5, 2011 – the birthday and body image edition

Not at Christmas, not at New Year’s… not even at Chinese New Year do I let myself off with as much food as I do on June 5th each year, because, my friends, it is my birthday.

Having hung around for so many years, I hoped that I would be comfortable with who I am by now, which I apparently am not. With that in mind however, I try not to complain too much, and will keep working on myself until I reach that particular nirvana. My professional and personal life will probably give me new challenges as I go along, but I know that the physical side of my being is something I can actually control 100%, hence the food diary.

Before we kick off today’s insane eating-fest, I would like to point you to a blog (well a project really – occasionally, procrastination will find you inspirational things): “Kroppsbilder“. It is a Swedish (but accessible enough to all) blog that translates verbatim to “Body Images”, and is run by journalist and writer Julia Skott. Readers are welcome to submit pictures of themselves as clothed/undressed as they like, accompanied by any words (their own view of their body)/numbers (height, weight, age, number of children, etc.) they wish to share. The idea is to allow everybody to attach numbers to images, and to see what real bodies look like. I am pleased to see that all comments are very encouraging (moderated or not), and am glad that the project has brought acceptance to so many.

This morning I could not access proper breakfast as a Happy Birthday banner was blocking my cupboard.

Instead, I had a mug of coffee, and a small slice of raspberry and white chocolate sponge sandwich. With buttercream icing.

Followed by…

Another slice. When else?

After which I went food shopping.

Egg custard tarts with nutmeg. I had one... then I had one and a half later in the afternoon.

Sandwiched in the middle was this:

Banana bread beer. It looked interesting on the shelf so I thought I would try it. Had barely a small glass. Will probably use the rest in cooking.

Also ate lunch! I have been using sideplates as a method to control portion size slightly (I am very good at stacking), so I felt very full after a plate and a bowl of food.

Haddock and chips (oven version) with ketchup and extra light mayonnaise (not pictured); iceberg lettuce with light caesar dressing.

Pudding?

Chocolate fudge brownie milkshake. It's good for you.

To go with the custard tart mentioned above:

Mug of tea.

After this I felt really REALLY full, all the way into the evening. So this is “dinner”:

Two margarine-d potato cakes and a portion of mango pieces.

Water count: ~1l. Bad show, but I am still really full.

As my big day for this year has already drawn to a close, I would like to patronisingly wish you all a happy, healthy next year.

For now, I think my system operates better when I do exise some rules on what I eat. Though I did buy a Dipdab I have yet to eat. See you tomorrow!

 

Attention spans…

…mine is, admittedly, pretty short. I cannot help it though, as I am always worried I am missing out on something funy elsewhere if I stay on/in one topic/area for too long.

*goes to listen to a track preview*

Now, as childish as it is (alongside having a short attention span), I try to follow the televised Christmas calendar on Swedish television each year. It is very much an institution, having seen its first broadcast in 1960, and being very cleverly scheduled at breakfast time everyday from the 1st to the 24th December. Yes, accommodating the fact that children (key demographic) get up later during the weekend.

Having gone through some statistics, it seems that series with a mystery plot end up with a large following. Is this because it is easier to write clever cliffhangers into each episode? Or is it the general air of the theme that keeps the show more enticing?

This year’s calendar has a superhero theme. They do include the aforementioned clever cliffhangers, yet some polls show that children do not find it, erm, “impressive” enough. Given that some children are young enough to be contained in the key demographic, but old enough to watch films such as “Transformers”, is the CGI world completely demolishing the charm of old school performances? Paying due credit to performance of course – personally I shall stay neutral, but I know plenty of people who think “not much” of the acting contributions in films such as “Transformers”.

This leads to the ultimate question (for the day): are the impulsive, impressive CGI effects better at maintaining children’s attention, or is a well written story still superior in the long run?