What I Spend

[jacob]

Fascinating discussion. Having lived in a few areas with poor connections or cycling infrastructure, I know how difficult it is to travel by bike when engineers are only considering cars.

Not just engineers, but also the public. One of the first questions I was asked by the staffer assigned to new arrivals in the US was "whether I liked to ride bicycles?" This question confused me greatly. "Not really. I guess bikes are okay. I always use one to get around, but I don't like-like it. Especially not when it's raining."

In most of Europe, cycling is considered "transportation", whereas in the US cycling is still considered "recreation". This explains a lot about how the infrastructure is set up. There's no or very few bike-trails found in Europe. People would consider them pointless.

[J_]

There's no or very few bike-trails found in Europe. People would consider them pointless.

Mbt-bikers in the Netherlans and in Austria use long used hiker-paths to ride on. Very unpleasant for hikers. Bikers are even complaining: there are too many hikers. An inversion/stealing of use!

[Stasher]

That was 15 years ago and I'm appreciating many of those improvements now. This type of volunteer work would be a worthwhile activity for anyone reading these forums. Cities need systems thinkers to actually build networks.

Great comment WRC, that is what I'm doing with my free time thx to ERE and why I shared those links above with Scott and pushed the issue on not giving up on going by bikes whenever possible. (I've been to Chicago once and damn yes those massive Stroads and multi lane highways are intense)

We are making massive leaps and bounds locally in a nearby city where I attend advocacy progress, an amazing place to be an ERE type but the downfall is the obscene cost of housing here now. The network is getting so good we can have rolling events like this, https://www.vicnews.com/community/hundr ... ia-7360409

[Scott 2]

@suo - Heavy stuff. No intention of road biking. I'm striking things off my list like "rear rack for yoga mat" or "sun gear for UV 10". Hitting that hour yoga class would be a 45 minute bike, each way. Some very unpleasant stretches, lots of intersection crossings, etc.

The safe options are slow and often not fun.


@wrc - I think advocacy in my area is pretty good. Some obstacles just aren't very solvable. We're talking six lane highways, with pedestrian usable crossings every 4-5 miles. Any road with on/off ramps is effectively un-bikable.

There's another wall created by a river, railroad, and canal running parallel to one another. The bridge crossings are about 70 feet high and a mile between cross roads. Even where there is a protected pedestrian path, riding it absolutely sucks. Chain link fence between you and a vertical drop, with semis zooming past at 50mph.

Within boundaries created by stuff like that, getting around is slow, but highly feasible. Getting past the choke points is tedious though. Just one can double the duration of a ride.


@7wannabe5 - space for an e-trike is quite the infrastructure.


@J we've got the hiker conflict here as well. Peak times bring out families with their small children and dogs. Half the hikers can't pick a side. It's chaos. The other day we saw a guy walking his rabbit. You have to plan on people watching, knowing it will be slow. Get out there while they're sleeping though, and the ride is awesome.


@stasher - that's a cool thing to advocate for. Chicago has a critical mass ride you'd probably appreciate. A couple places to mountain bike too. The recreational side of things is quite good. Expensive to live near though, as you noted.

[Scott 2]

CSA pickup #2. Beets, carrots, radishes, arugula (rocket?), spinach, radish micro greens, mixed lettuce x 2



1. We've already decided against the CSA for next year. It creates obligation to both a time and place, along with spawning food prep chores. We resent that, more than we value farm fresh local organic produce. First world problems.

2. The greens are a focus of the root vegetables. Since it's organic, they expect you'll eat carrot tops, beet tops, radish tops, etc. They are interesting to try once. I'd rather saute a bag of pre-washed kale from Aldi.

3. The produce has bugs and dirt. Annoying. I tend to buy away wash and chop steps when I can. Super appreciative of modern food processing.

4. I might buy store radishes now. Some of the fresh ones are spicy, like a mild hot pepper. Much better than bagged salad, my primary exposure to the vegetable.

5. My wife made the beets. They're a huge mess. That alone is a no for me.

[brainstorm]

I tried a half-sized CSA box last year. I really liked the variety and quality of the food, and the dirt was oddly satisfying - it felt more like the produce was straight from the local farm. But as a single person, even one who eats a lot, I couldn't even come close to using all the food and there was a lot of waste (even with the half-portion). It seems well-suited for couples or families who are interested in spending some time to explore new foods and recipes/uses for that food, but maybe some efficiency-focused meal preppers could make it work for them too. I'm glad they seem to be getting more popular around here. It's certainly hard to compare against places like Aldi if your priority is price or convenience.

I'm not sure if you've mentioned it before here. Do you have a composting or other system for dealing with food scraps?

[jacob]

The main problem with these boxes (we had a subscription once too) is that they come "picked all at once" thus forcing you to use them at a high-rate before they spoil. It's a lot easier when they come from your own garden and you can go out and harvest as you need them. With a box like that it's "oh, I guess we'll be eating sauted green tops with everything (goes well with rice and beans or in tortillas) for a week starting tonight!

The boxes are usually sold with the "forced choice" being sold as a feature to try new things. The bug of that is that it also comes with "forced timing".

You can chop the beets up in little squares and put them in any tomato sauce based dish. You can also shred them with the shredded carrots for a good salad.

[zbigi]

You can chop the beets up in little squares and put them in any tomato sauce based dish. You can also shred them with the shredded carrots for a good salad.

Polish (I'm sure they're present in other culture as well) beet soups are also great. Beets only is "barszcz", while beets and (young) beet tops is "botwinka". Both are awesome, although I'm not sure how to make them taste good without the broth base (Scott2 is a vegetarian AFAIR).

[7Wannabe5]

Whether it's a CSA box or your own garden providing you with too much bounty in the moment, the way to handle it is to keep processing the food forward for future you to eat. For example, saute all the greens (not the carrot tops), bake them into a casserole with brown rice, sunflower seeds, cheese, etc. Cut the casserole into portion sizes. Freeze in portion size microwave safe containers. Now future you has easy lunch every Wednesday for the next few weeks. Roast the beets and the carrots, eat 1/3 for dinner, place 1/3 in a pickle jar with olive oil and vinegar and will keep for some time, puree the rest for soup and freeze. etc. etc.

[Scott 2]

Launch day switch 2 acquired. It's a good day to be retired. Let's go!


@brainstorm, my wife and I are sharing an every other week pickup. There's a short menu to choose from, with the share allocation giving you credits. Produce is priced in said credits. So the volume is manageable, though it definitely dictates about half my vegetables for the week.

All the other options I could find locally, were trucking in regional food from neighboring states. Then driving all over to drop it at each house. Expensive, but also seemed to miss the mark a little on why I think CSA is appealing.

@jacob - my wife is still doing her container garden. I'd agree that's much more consumption friendly. It's cool to see the plant lifecycle. Especially as she does all the work. It's a lot. Physical too. I can see the consumer solution would be weekly CSA share, trash whatever fails to hold interest.

@zbigi, yep vegetarian. My wife roasted and is eating the beets. Sauteed the greens. Cooked down, the volume is very manageable.

@7wannabe5 - I'm too lazy to process forward. I imagine if my sweat equity was in the food, I'd feel much different. Already consuming it all feels extra important.

[theanimal]

We make pesto from our carrot tops, I shared our recipe here: viewtopic.php?p=294494#p294494

[Scott 2]

@theanimal - thanks for sharing your experience with the carrot tops. My wife's been eating the greens in her salad. She tried sauteing the stems, but found them too tough. The CSA was literally giving carrots tops away. As much as you wanted. I think most struggle to eat them.


A couple pages back, I alluded to considering what's next. I still need to expand the details of how I explore. Meanwhile life moves forward. I'm favoring depth over breadth.

1. I ruled out an escalation of bike commuting. We've also had crap air quality lately, so biking has been further limited. It's clear I only need 1 of my 2 bikes. I'm still watching for a good window to join my Dad on his rides.

2. We figured out my wife is in burnout. So I've taken on some of her daily chores, while she's working through her backlog and making space for restoration. Some tools that have afforded me more space, could help her as well. But when the burnout has already set it, it's too late. Restoration has to come before change.

3. Foster kittens arrive tomorrow. That's a household effort. Just two, and they're already 10 weeks old. So purposefully easier than usual. I may need to lean in a bit more as well.

4. My launch day purchase of the Switch 2 keeps video games a priority.

5. I've been skipping my second weekly yoga class more often, tending to replace it with a simple forest walk.

6. With the lean in on lifting, I've decided to see what it's like to reach ~12% body fat. I dunno if I'm willing to stay there. I like pizza, ramen and super premium ice cream. But I'm throwing money at it, experimenting with scientific wonders like protein wraps and halo top. It's an entirely different way of eating, and thus time consuming.


I still need to trim my projects list. I'm not letting that slow me down.

[ertyu]

Kittens! And strength to your wife, burnout is no fun.

[guitarplayer]

My wife's been eating the greens in her salad. She tried sauteing the stems, but found them too tough.

My simple solution for anything that is too tough is to chuck it into a slow cooker for a few hours when I cook legumes.

I am yet to encounter food where this method won't cut it. The hard break is when you deal with fibre that is never going to be edible, for example that found in lemongrass, outer parts of stems of some edibles such as mature broccoli or rocket, or wood (like when you pick shiitake or honey mushrooms with some wood by accident).

[2Birds1Stone]

6. With the lean in on lifting, I've decided to see what it's like to reach ~12% body fat. I dunno if I'm willing to stay there. I like pizza, ramen and super premium ice cream. But I'm throwing money at it, experimenting with scientific wonders like protein wraps and halo top. It's an entirely different way of eating, and thus time consuming.

How far away are you?

[zbigi]

Also, re: 12% body fat, on people over 40 it's not always a good look. At that age, you're losing your natural facial fat deposits anyway (hence people get various fillers via plastic surgery), and, if you make yourself very lean, you might look less attractive. Consult your wife

[jacob]

Also, re: 12% body fat, on people over 40 it's not always a good look.

I disagree. Given the widespread tendency to let things go, maintaining low body fat past the age of 30 will take years of one's bodily appearance. More importantly, the activity required to keep BF% low makes it possible to maintain the speed and agility of someone [much] younger.

[Scott 2]

@guitarplayer - That's an interesting thought. I already slow cook beans often. I'll see what next week's CSA brings.

How far away are you?

No hard data. There's a local place that will do your first dexa scan for $75, but I don't think it would change my actions near term.

My objective mirror estimate is 18-20%. I'll often have vascularity in my forearms. Hints of it in the upper arms. Flexing the abs creates some movement, but no real definition. Flexing the quads shows 2 heads above the knee, but no definition beyond that.

Maintenance means eating pretty much whatever I want, a couple treat foods every day. My blood work is good. Outside intentional exercise, I'm fitter than I ever need.

I think 12% is a 12-20 week effort, depending if I take a mesocycle off in the middle. I'm willing to eat differently, but not wreck my mood or energy.

What I question, is how many of those daily treats I'm willing to sacrifice long term. Right now, I'll casually down a frozen pizza, pint of ice cream, or couple pastries. I find a lot of joy in those experiences. Often...


@zbigi - I'll worry about getting too lean when it happens. That's a highly solvable problem. One shift I've made in lifting, is simply trying what the experts suggest. They seem to favor bouncing between 12-15% body fat. So instead of pointing to my blood work, or that I'm the fittest 40 year old at Aldi, I can try the thing.

They were right about both lifting straps and squat shoes. I could've put those to use about twenty years earlier. Ugh.


@jacob - The performance impact is part of where I'm curious. What's the experience like? I'll never be coordinated, but it's a new way for me to exist.

[jacob]

@jacob - The performance impact is part of where I'm curious. What's the experience like? I'll never be coordinated, but it's a new way for me to exist.

In terms of how the typical person assigns performance to chronological age ("well, of course you can't be expected to be able to XYZ when you're N years old"), it's like staying young for a long time ... or growing "physically decrepit" very very slowly.

There is only one physiological variable that is related to age (before the age of 60) and that's VO2max. That's why endurance events have a masters division for people over early30ish. For professionals sports, the age problem is mainly one of not being able to train 4-6hrs per day anymore (it's just too hard on the body wrt recovery, etc.) and thus not being able to maintain the required extreme performance level. However, not aiming for professional level performance, it's certainly possible to be competitive with 25yo amateur athletes.

[2Birds1Stone]

If you start eating "cleaner" and I use that word with a little tongue in cheek, your palate will probably change. My inner fat kid is bigger than most peoples, and stuff like frozen pizza's and cheap low quality pastries doesn't get me excited anymore. When I was ~18-20% bf myself, I would be all over them....but after a few months of serious dieting I just crave more of the healthier options. YMMV

It's reasonable to drop .5-1% of your bodyweight per week, with a concerted effort....so your timeframe sounds about right. Good luck with the progress, if you can figure out how to enjoy the process, it'll be a walk in the park as you're unlikely to reach your lower intervention point before 12%.

And if those "treats" are super important to you, maybe a 4-5 day calorie cycle aligned to your training could give you the best of both worlds.