Historic Uses for Alcohol

 Ramblings  No Responses »
Jul 272021
 

— Historic Uses of Alcohol —

Quaff — verb: to drink a beverage, especially an intoxicating one, copiously and with hearty enjoyment.

|Like everything else they do, Sexy Beasts quaff with gusto.

Oᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʏᴇᴀʀs, alcoholic drinks have played divers roles:

  • Many cultures drank alcoholic beverages to avoid water-borne diseases such as cholera.
  • Russians have long drunk vodka in the belief that it keeps them warm.
  • Ancient Egyptians building the pyramids were paid in beer. (See: Beer Built the Pyramids.)
  • Italians say a glass of wine improves the appetite.
  • Parisians drink wine and smoke cigarettes in outdoor cafes to appear sophisticated.
  • Biblical references suggest wine was one of the principal beverages of the Israelites.
  • In suburban America, teenage boys throw kegger parties to lower teenage girls’ inhibitions.
  • In Japan, sake is used in Shinto purification rituals.
  • Around the world, Champagne is thought of as the celebratory beverage of choice.

      I’m not about to tell you not to drink alcohol, because I know, as a Sexy Beast, you’re likely to.
     As am I.
     Just be aware of the calories you’re consuming and drink safely.

Plan on employing one or more of these strategies to moderate your consumption when you do drink:

  • Don’t regularly exceed to two drinks a day. No binge drinking. Harvard Medical School studies have shown two drinks a day for men (it’s one a day for women) may even be beneficial to your health.
  • At parties, intersperse glasses of water: one drink, one glass of water, one drink, one glass of water….
  • Designate a driver or use Uber when you’re out and about. (Sexy Beasts do not drink and drive.)
  • Consult the list below and consider choosing the lower-calorie options.

Distilled Spirits (gin, rum, vodka, whiskey)

Short pour                                      1 ounce          64 calories
Regular pour                                  1.5 ounce        97 calories
Make-it-an-early-night pour           8 ounces       512 calories

Don’t forget to account for the calories in any mixers you use. You can find nearly any mixer in a no-calorie variety.

 Wine

Dry wine (red, white, or rose)        6 ounces       150 calories
Port, Sherry                                    3 ounces       90 calories            
Sweet wine (Mad Dog, etc.)           6 ounces       270 calories

Brews

Regular beer                                  12 ounces     150 to 200 calories
Light beer                                      12 ounces     85 to 145 calories
Stouts and ales                              12 ounces     200 to 450 calories
Nonalcoholic beer                         12 ounces     65 calories

Hard Cider                                    12 ounces     150-200 calories
Hard Seltzers                                12 ounces     90-120 calories

Dieting Advice Parallels Writing Advice: “Get Another Wife, Live-in Lover, Roommate.”

 Ramblings  No Responses »
Jan 072018
 

Dieting Advice Parallels Writing Advice:“Get Another Wife, Live-in Lover, Roommate.”


Hmmm, maybe I do need a new husband.

In my friend Jim Frey’s excellent guide How to Write a Damn Good Novel, II, (start reading it here) he tells of a woman at one of his workshops who complained she didn’t have time to write:

I suggested she quit her job.

She smiled sheepishly and said she couldn’t do that. They had a big mortgage and her husband liked to travel, so they were making payments on a Winnebago. Her husband would kill her, she said, if she quit her job.

I said she should get another husband.

She blinked with astonishment. She said I was kidding, of course.

I was not kidding, I said. There are a lot of husbands out there—find one who will support your writing.

She walked away, muttering that I was a lunatic.

I may be, but that doesn’t change the facts. You can’t become a writer if you surround yourself with no-sayers. And if your spouse or live-in lover or roommate is not supporting you, you will have to change either their minds or your living arrangements.

Your ship won’t make much headway dragging an anchor.

How does Jim’s advice apply to dieting? If you need to ask….

Setting Diet Goals

 Dieting Sucks  No Responses »
Nov 282011
 
This post is unedited material I’ve written for The Sexy Beast Diet. Constructive criticism is appreciated, after all everyone needs an editor. Just click the “Add Comments” link at the top right. Thanks!

Chapter Two: First Things

Let’s get started.

Habit number two of Stephen Covey’s famed The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is “Begin with the end in mind.” Good advice, let’s take it.

Set goals you can meet

I admit, as Sexy Beasts, we shudder at the thought of handcuffing ourselves to any one course. We are free-souls meant to satisfy our every whim and wanderlust.

Of course, there are times when handcuffs may come in handy. If the bedposts are…but wait, I digress.

On the other handcuff…uh, hand, knowing where you are headed has its advantages. For instance, how would you know when you arrived if you didn’t know where you were going?

With this in mind, let’s set some dieting goals. Our goals need to be both firm and reasonable.

The firm part is easy because, as Sexy Beasts, we are decisive beasts, confident in our ability to self discipline.

The reasonable part is a bit harder for us. Let’s face it, there have been times when we’ve bitten off more than we could chew. This isn’t, in itself, a bad thing. Always good to shoot for the moon and all that old chap, but with our dieting we have to be reasonable or we stand the chance of becoming dispirited and a dispirited Sexy Beast is ah…dispiriting.

Let’s set two goals: how much and how soon.