Today’s Quote – garyskitchen.net

March 22, 2026

Becoming an Artist

When I finished reading The Writing Life by Annie Dillard I realized my writing will never achieve the level of the great ones. But I am OK with this just as I was OK with deciding not to pursue writing for a living. Too hard, too demanding, too much time spent writing words into the universe where no one reads what you’ve written. Maybe if I took this writing thing seriously I could have gotten a lot better. Maybe if I had become a better writer the angels above would have tossed me a bit of luck. Maybe it’s not too late to start writing better. It’s always easier to work tirelessly on your art when you don’t depend upon it to put a roof over your head, food on the table, clothes on your back. The Artist must start somewhere.

Mimi and Papa by Madelyn. I’m the one on the right.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”

Steven Pressfield from The War of Art – https://stevenpressfield.com/2020/10/the-unlived-life/

January 11, 2026

Common Food Preservatives Linked to Higher DM2 Risk

Over the study period, 1,131 cases of type 2 diabetes were identified among the 108,723 participants. Compared with people who consumed the lowest levels of preservatives, those with higher intake showed a markedly increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Overall preservative consumption was linked to a 47% higher risk. Non-antioxidant preservatives were associated with a 49% increase, while antioxidant additives were linked to a 40% higher risk.

INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale). “Common food preservatives linked to higher risk of type 2 diabetes.” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260109080211.htm (accessed January 10, 2026).

Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1, and studies of twins have shown that genetics play a very strong role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Race can also play a role. Yet it also depends on environmental factors. Lifestyle also influences the development of type 2 diabetes. Obesity tends to run in families, and families often have similar eating and exercise habits. Genetics of Diabetes – https://diabetes.org/about-diabetes/genetics-diabetes

Remember this:

Stay as thin as you can as long as you can – https://lifeunderwriter.net/2022/04/05/stay-as-thin-as-you-can-as-long-as-you-can/

And watch out for those preservatives.

December 17, 2024

“Sit down and write. People who want to write, talk about writing.”

Sit Down, You’re Not Finished Yet: Writing Advice From My Dad

Excuse me, I have to sit down and write.

October 25, 2024

Maybe

I write a phrase, then wait for what follows. Then hold still as nothing more comes. Then I delete the first words and fall back into silence.

Maybe all that has been written before is enough. Maybe it’s time to say less—time to hide quietly beyond words and positions and insights. Maybe it’s time to allow what has come before to be what has already happened.

Maybe it’s time to stop. Maybe just this morning or maybe tomorrow too. Maybe only occasionally. Maybe not at all for a long while.

We’ll see.

Blog post by David Rynick May 11, 2021 – https://davidrynick.com/blog/

I feel the same way today.

May 24, 2024

Quote for Today – 05.24.24

“We’re not born with unlimited choices. We can’t be anything we want to be. We come into this world with a specific, individual destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who we are from the cradle, and we’re stuck with it. Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”

Steven Pressfield

August 12, 2023

Lifestyle Habits and One Not So Scary Chart

Suicide by lifestyle takes ages.
Bill Bryson

Yesterday was haircut day and Kevin the Barber being typically Kevin asked again how old I was. When you run a busy shop with lots of customers I’m sure the personal details of all of us just sort of run together. When I confessed my age Kevin complimented me by saying I was the youngest looking almost 69 year old he’s ever seen. Of course a comment like that sends me straight into overthinking mode.

Having spent nearly a half century researching and understanding what kills people I’ve come to the conclusion (like Bill Bryson) that the majority of us tend not to do the simple small things that make a big difference. Since this blog started as a food blog here’s a simple observation about my dietary habits. I had pizza last night for dinner. This morning I was two pounds heavier than I was yesterday morning. This variation in weight for me is eerily predictable. Can you imagine how much I’d weigh if I ate pizza 2-3 times a week? I can, so I don’t.

One of the upsides of my blog writing is connecting with my readers. Ol Red Hair sent me a link to an interesting article on lifestyle habits. I already had a version of the article saved for future reference and unlike my usual spur of the moment let’s blog this link I started to overthink (again). But Kevin’s compliment made me think more about overall lifestyle and despite the observational construct of the study I’ll claim causality exists. I’m 8/8, batting 1000% on this list.

A new study involving over 700,000 U.S. veterans reports that people who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can expect to live substantially longer than those with few or none of these habits. The eight habits are: being physically active, being free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, having a good diet, not regularly binge drinking, having good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships.

For the study, scientists used data from medical records and questionnaires collected between 2011-2019 from 719,147 people enrolled in the Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program, a large, nationally representative study of U.S. veterans. The analysis included data from adults age 40-99 and included 33,375 deaths during follow-up.
These eight habits could lengthen your life by decades – https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995553

The estimated impact of adopting different numbers of healthy lifestyle factors on additional years of life expectancy among men as compared to men with none of these habits. While adopting more healthy lifestyle factors at a younger age is associated with the greatest gains in life expectancy, adopting even a few of these factors or adopting them at an older age can still bring significant gains. Image Credit VA Million Veteran Program

“Habits can be changed, if we understand how they work.”

“This process within our brains is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.”

“To change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.”
Charles Duhigg from The Power of Habit

All of this overthinking has reminded me I need to write the Changing Habits chapter in my future Best Seller. But first I need to work on my procrastination habit.

Tomorrow.

March 24, 2023

Chicken Thigh Week – Friday

Friday 3/24

After 47 years as a cardiologist with 200,000 patient visits, I can firmly say that vegans are my healthiest patients. I certainly agree with you it is not easy. My position is that 90% vegan which is 19 of 21 meals a week will do just fine. Foods should be, prior to preparation, ideally organic and unprocessed whole foods exactly as they grow up out of the ground and in the field.
H Robert Silverstein, MD, FACC

I found this quote in the comments section of an online article years ago. The 90% Solution has been my targeted balance of meals ever since. Yet the older I get the more I realize things are never that simple nor easy. Life is never simple nor easy. Too many of us don’t know what we don’t know.

More Things I’ve Learned About Myself

Over time I’ve revealed more personal information. At first I hesitated to share personal details about my journey. Now I’m much more relaxed about my privacy than in the past.

My personal journal remains my primary journal. My blogs have become journals as well. They’re all me. Remember what is here is only a part of me.

I write differently in my personal journal than I do in my public journals.

Writing in a journal has incredible health benefits so Keep a Journal (not just about food). Going back in time develops wisdom.

For the first time I’ve taken a deeper dive into where I’ve been in this blog. Some of what I discovered surprised me. I sometimes don’t follow my own advice. It is always easier to say rather than to do. It’s been quite some time since I posted Keep a Journal/Food Diary. I can’t remember the last time I tracked my meals.

When The Boss is away I listen to more jazz when working.

I’ve taught myself how to write more in my journals during the day when taking work breaks.

Today’s Meals

Breakfast – Buttered whole wheat toast, oatmeal with raisins, milk

Lunch – Two soft beef tacos

Snack – crackers

Dinner – Black bean chili, Texas Corn Bread

No Chicken!

March 22, 2023

Eat Only When Hungry

Retrain yourself to recognize feelings of hunger and respect them. Eat when you feel them and stop when they stop. Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. This approach starts with eating breakfast, planning snacks, or eating only part of your lunch and saving the rest for a snack later on in the afternoon. Eat regular meals but don’t eat by the clock.
Eating When You’re Hungry versus Eating on Schedule — https://www.dummies.com/article/body-mind-spirit/physical-health-well-being/diet-nutrition/general-diet-nutrition/eating-when-youre-hungry-versus-eating-on-schedule-202578/

February 25, 2023February 26, 2023

Ten Random Thoughts – February 2023

I’ve had one of those nasty “Non-Covid Illnesses” for half of the month. This explains my paucity of posts.
On the bright side, I’ve lost five pounds.
There is much truth to Tiny Humans as Potent Disease Vectors.
I’ve made and eaten lots of soup this month.
The whiskey stock has not been touched.
Beer on the other hand has been quite valuable in keeping my throat moist.
Reheating leftover brussel sprouts in the microwave will make them explode.
The Boss has this Non-Covid Illness too. This is the first time in years we have been sick simultaneously. Togetherness.
With little motivation to do much of anything I’ve read and/or finished six books so far this month. I may have not started a book in the same month I finished the book but this is better explained in a post on ADD.
My Chicken Meatloaf was Tiny Taste Tester Approved. It’s a nine year old post.