Thursday, March 17, 2011

This is the Sea

200.4 lbs

I stepped on the scale this morning and it read 200.0 lbs. I'm sorry but I just didn't believe it. I must have weighed myself 10 times before I got 200.4 consistently. I am a stickler for accurate numbers and it was driving me nuts today. I have become obsessive compulsive about the whole affair. As I have said before, consistency is the key to almost everything.

I have to be honest and say that I get compulsive about a great many things, weight loss and health are now part of the list. Here are a few other things I am compulsive about: my wife, my friends, my kids, music (duh!), sound in general, books, cars, the Phoenix Suns (duh part deux) and Guinness. The last two don't really go well together so all my various pieces of Guinness paraphernalia have come down over the years. I still have a few things here and there - a black and gold cigar ashtray, bar glasses, a glowing sign etc.. I love me some Guinness. My emotional bond with the drink could not be stronger since I met my wife again with one in my hand.

Guinness is interesting as beers go. 12 oz of the stuff is actually lower in calories than a Sam Adams Light. 12 oz of Guinness has 9.8 g of carbs and 125 calories which is pretty decent for a non light beer. I also like it because it is a nitrogen based beer and not CO2, there is a difference. I believe I have never had a headache from drinking Guinness for this exact reason. There is also the taste factor, nothing can compare to a properly drawn pint from a fully Guinness certified establishment. As much as Stella Artois likes to talk about their ritual pouring I have yet to come across a bar that does it and I like Stella as well. Watching someone pour a Guinness correctly is like watching someone do close-up magic. If the head on the beer is right I usually draw a smiley face unless someone has the right stuff and properly stamps it with a shamrock.


"Geez what does Guinness have to do with health?" Well, in a lot of countries, specifically Asian ones, our friend from the St. James Brewery is used as a health or virility drink. In Ireland, lots of old timers would start the day with a raw egg cracked into a Guinness. "Guinness is good for you!" was one of the various slogans used for the drink over the years and it might have a point. Guinness, because of the brewing process, is chock full of the same antioxidants that can be found in fruits and vegetables. Also during the process of making Guinness, fish bladders are used to filter out yeast from the beer. Fish guts are pretty good for you too. Oh and it works as well as low dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks. We would be wise to heed our elders. Drink up buttercup!

Since it is St. Patrick's day, a holiday that was not necessarily celebrated in Ireland for a number of years until it echoed back from American shores, you would think I would be tipping back some of that Vitamin G today but alas, no. I have a phrase for Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day - Amateur Hour.

Now I have had beer during the week several times during the experiment and small amounts of alcohol are very much allowed if not encouraged for so many health reasons. But I am this close to 200 and I am more compulsive about that now than I am Guinness. It feels like I am on the precipice of something great; that was the river, this is the sea. I will make up for it on Saturday, I promise.


Here's a little Irish ditty for you from a true Irish band, ladies and gentlemen - The Waterboys!


1 comment:

  1. A day where you dont learn at least 1 thing is a day wasted.
    Nitrogen based? I did not know that.
    Genius.

    ReplyDelete