L'été, L'Estate

So with summer comes all the produce of the farm, often just outside the Capital, fruits and vegetables, some called Heritage because they are no longer grown in commercial farms and only Artisan farmers (love the term) cultivate such old varieties. The vegetable markets here are not like in Rome on Via Alessandria but the variety is quite interesting. It is different but nice nonetheless and you get to talk with the sellers, many have been in the business for years.

My neighbourhood market on Via Alessandria, shopped at those very stalls 

Last night rather late got a Tweet from ART IS IN which is a wonderful bakery www.artisinbakery.com and a huge success, owned by a young man who loves dough and bread making at 250 City Centre Ave.

His tweet said, as of 11am tomorrow come and get fresh out of the oven your Puglia loaf. Now I know this type of bread which could be bought at Lucarelli on Via Alessandria everyday. So I go to Art Is In and the beautiful loaf of Puglia bread still warm from the oven and that smell of fresh bread, is there any more memory of childhood inducing as fresh hot bread, a real luxurious sensual smell. The loaf is 1 meter long, like a big baby. It is delicious, had some for lunch today, reminds me of our Roman home instantly.

                     Rome, the ancient Via di Porta Latina, with the aquaduct Claudia behind me, one of the many aquaducts crossing this park in Rome.

I then went to the Parkdale street market to get some of the vegetables currently available, not much so far, too early in the season and the weather this year has been a bit cold and rainy. Bought yellow and green zucchini and field tomatoes, bell peppers. We are going to roast it all in a bit of Olive oil I got from Genio at Sanguiccio on Preston street. http://sanguiccio.ca

Our orchids are doing well, the one we received as a gift at our return to Ottawa 2 years ago from our friend B.J. has now multiple branches.

My brochures for my French lectures series on Wednesday afternoon at the National Gallery of Canada starting this September are in from the printer.  We have to mail 300 of them to members who do not have a computer. www.gallery.ca
Each lecture is either $5 dollars for adults or $3 dollars for students, a bargain really.

                                        Roccoco clouds very 18th century over Ottawa.

            You can imagine the Gods of antiquity sitting in the clouds. A very baroque sky for Ottawa. 

diet & balance

Since I arrived in Italy I have gained weight, how much I am not sure exactly, maybe 3 kg. that is about 6.6 lbs. not a lot but I don't like it. I did a lot of gym work in China, boxing helped me to loose weight quickly. I really enjoyed the boxing exercise and a few years ago I also developed a fondness for Thai kick boxing. Here in Rome it is different, I don't feel like going to a gym and I really need a coach to push and motivate me.
About a week ago a colleague at work mentioned this dietitian in Parioli. I made an appointment and went to see her today.
First the good news, I found out that I do not weigh 85 kg as I thought but 79.4 kg big difference when you think of it. I would like to weigh between 70 to 75 Kg. or 154 to 165 lbs. So I need to loose 10 pounds to reach the top of my ideal weight.

More importantly I have to reduce by body fat mass, this is the dangerous fat around the waist for men which can lead to all kinds of health problems as you grow older. The doctor is German and speaks Italian, I understand Italian but speak to her in English which she understands. Basically she explained that this is not a diet, diets do not work and are a fad which gives the illusion that you are trying to do something. You have to eat and be happy with what you are eating and she is not asking me to change my eating habits either. It is all about balance and amounts of food you eat to satisfy your appetite and drinking 2 liters of water per day.



She explained that I should not eat a large amount of pasta with a rich sauce and then have bread and a rich dessert all at once. I do not do that but I can see that I should not do a Primi (pasta) and as Secundi (meat) at the restaurant. Basically you eat a pasta dish with a sauce but the amount is reasonable, measured, no bread and no rich sweet dessert, instead have a fruit for dessert. If you have a steak eat, 100 gr, no potatoes, instead have a green salad with a spoon of olive oil. So basically I knew all this before and it reminded me of what I had seen in China and in Italy in terms of eating habits. This is why men are thin here.

This weekend I will do sort of a detox diet, only fruits, salad and 2 liters of water per day. Bread is not out, but if I have some it should be dark Rye bread.

I return to see her in 2 weeks for a second evaluation. Here we go, what we will not do for la bella figura.