Day sixteen

Wow.  Overall a good day.  I felt good waking up and had a good morning work out that I try to do every morning and usually succeed.  Today was the "55" short version that I do M-W-F, along with other body weight exercises.  I will say though that when I went to put on my jeans (today was a jeans day at work) they were tight.  In the past (before the holiday season) they fit better and weren't as tight.  So even though I'm back to the pre-holiday weight I obviously am not as trim as I was.  Of course the jeans had just been washed so hadn't stretched out yet, at least that's my story for now.

So I went to the gym after work (if you're keeping track that's two visits since the weekend) and based on a suggestion from L, I used the rowing machine.  Started out on the stair climber for 5 minutes and intensity of 1.  Then went to the rowing machine and rowed for 20 minutes.  Towards the end of the time I was getting the hang of it but I was hanging over the back of the seat so my butt felt out of position.  Didn't want to stop but next time I need to make sure I'm comfortable in the seat before I get going.

Here's the food list for the day:

Breakfast: Same as every work day breakfast.  Egg sandwich/banana/20oz of cold water.
Snack: Greek yogurt w/almonds
Lunch: Spinach salad with 1/2 can of tuna, cauliflower, pepper orange, tomato, and 1/2 cup of prepared quina from  Trader Joe's. 
no snack as I forgot the apple I was planning on eating.
Dinner: Spinach salad w/red pepper, cauliflower, turkey burger chopped up, cottage cheese, and mango-peach salsa.  On the side a handful of carrots sliced like chips.

Oh yeah I had a piece of Bit-o-Honey candy at one point during the day.

I'm very interested to see what my weight is this Saturday.  I feel that I should have broken into the 240's but am also afraid of not and being disappointed.  I guess if that's the case then it just proves that I need to be more aware of what I'm eating and how much exercise I'm really getting.  As we all know the only real way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in.  I think also it depends on how and what you eat.  Protein seems to be one of the keys along with carbs.  So I am striving to eat more protein and less carb's.  Alot harder than it sounds.  Carbs are everywhere, so for me the best bet is to be aware of what is carb-tastic and work on eating less of that.  Possibly taking protein and making it my bitch.

Day fifteen

So here we are again, welcome back.  I had a good day, not too over the top and still felt like life was happening.  I don't have much to say other than my clothes are fitting better and better.  I'm looking at the two new shirts and thinking about being able to wear them.  That's still quite far away in the future but not unattainable in reality.  I didn't go to the gym today as it's my Tues get together with friends and there's always food.  I did very well I think as I only had one serving (see below for the specifics) of what was offered.  Drank water also.  So here's the menu from today:

Breakfast: Egg sandwich w/avocado, tomato, canadian bacon, and skinny bun.  Banana and 20oz of cold water.
no snack in the morning.
Lunch: Spinach salad with tomato, cauliflower, salmon patty, and yellow pepper.
Snack: 2 handfuls of almonds.
Dinner: Curry with beef chunks over white rice(@ 1 1/2 cups) only had one serving in an eight inch bowl.  Included in the curry was plain greek yogurt, sliced almonds, chutney, and raisins as condiments.  There were chocolate chip cookies freshly baked and I had two.  I restrained myself on the cookies as they can very well be my kryptonite.  I also had a cup of apple cider mix.

So there that's not too painful.  I did very well with dinner and that's my new found resistance in practice.  Now will just have to see if I can maintain that resolve for the next couple of months.

I want to wear the new shirts!!

Day fourteen

No words of wisdom today just the facts:

Breakfast:  Egg sandwich w/canadian bacon,tomato,avocado.  Banana and 20oz of water.
Snack: yogurt w/almonds
Lunch: Spinach salad w/tomato and cauliflower.  Also salmon burger and yellow pepper (not mini).
Snack: Apple w/peanut butter
Dinner: Spinach salad with cauliflower,mini peppers,cottage cheese and turkey burger.  Instead of dressing I used mango/peach salsa (suggested by L).

Went to the gym after work and did work on the rowing machine.  Something different and fun.

Ok that's it.  Tomorrow is another day.

Day Thirteen SuperBowl Sunday!!

First up my day started weirdly in that I woke up to no power in my condo.  I had planned on getting up at 8:30, eating breakfast and then going for a long walk to try to offset the Sat nite feast and the Superbowl gorging.  Alright so I ended up waking up at 9:30 and fumbled around trying to figure out what to do and if I should panic about the food in the refrigerator.  I ended up not opening the refrigerator so the cold would stay as long as possible and headed out to pick up my weekly groceries.  When I got back the power was still out so I ate a yogurt w/fruit & granola that I'd bought at the store for breakfast and then went for a 45 min walk.  When I got back from the walk the power was still out.  I headed over to friends where we car-pooled to the house where the Superbowl party was going to happen and then the bellying up to the food trough started.

Breakfast: yogurt w/fruit and granola  probably a bit more than a cup serving.

The rest of the day:  Chili (three bowls) with chips and cheese and scoops of sour cream and guacamole.  A bowl of chips and cheese melted nacho style and just chips (more than a handful but not excessive) and guacamole.  There was rice pudding mixture that I had along with a healthy squirt of whipped cream.  A piece of cake that had fruit like stuff in it, spread with butter.  To drink I had seltzer water, which was very satisfying.  So there it is my Sunday food blog.  In case you're wondering after I got home my power was back on and I didn't eat anything else the rest of the night.

Day Twelve part two

So here's the skinny or should it be the fatty?  Dinner with friends during a social gathering involving action and adventure along with food.  I do this every Sat and it's always a challenge to see if I can make it thru without over indulging.  Not sure if I succeeded this time but here's the damage.

Dinner:  A big ham baked in the oven.  This in turn was sandwiches on rye bread and a hard roll x2 but not all at once.  The sandwiches were accompanied by a broccoli salad from Hagen's, pork rinds (two handfuls).  I had less then 10 potato chips, instead ate a few mini peppers.  Seemed to satisfy my possible craving for chips.  The sandwiches consisted of ham, avocado,swiss cheese (1 slice), mustard, tomato, and two slices of rye bread.  The hard rolls x2 were made up of the same composition as the rye bread sandwich they were just much smaller (about 2" in diameter).  There were home made cup cakes of which I had two.  Also a handful of M&M's.  This was spread out over a seven hour period.  I didn't drink any Mt Dew (normally would have drank two cans and possibly another can of some other type of soda) just drank water.  I also grabbed a small piece or two or three of ham when going to the kitchen to get more water.

So there we go my Sat nite dinner.  I think I did fairly well except I didn't really need the third hard roll sandwich.  I could have just eaten the two sandwiches.  In hind sight that would have been the better option.  As I've said this is a learning process to adjust my thinking about eating.  If I can get my head and stomach to talk at the same time I think that would make a difference in my eating habits. 

Day Twelve part one

So I figured I would get this down before I forgot.  First up good news in the motivation department.  I am back to my before holiday weight, 250lbs.  Yay me!  Of course I had a bit of help there.  L has been great getting me to look a bit harder at my diet and that's a good thing.  I also feel a bit more committed to the gym.  If you were doing the math you'd find I actually went to the gym during the week three times.  For me that's not a record but it's a step in the right direction.  Currently on Tues and Friday I have social interactions that interfere with working out and I don't foresee that changing.  I also don't think that's a bad thing as long as I am trying not to over indulge during those interactions.  Which up to this point it has been a challenge for me.  Especially the Tues get together, Friday not so much as I'm actually at home so I have better control over what I eat.  I think that Tues' solution is to just remember that there is only one pass at the food trough.  Friday I just need to plan better and plan ahead.  Instead of thinking I will stop on the way home and grab something from the store, I need to have a dinner plan in place.  When I get home from work I can throw together the dinner and snacking menu and then focus on the situation at hand (WoW).  Alright here's the food blog so far today:

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/cottage cheese (2 big tablespoons)and honey (1tblspoon)
After work out meal: Two fish tacos/one carne asada taco, 3-4 pieces of cracklin (fried pig skin)
Mid-afternoon snack: Greek yogurt w/almonds

So that's it up to this point in the day.  I had a great workout with L and a good discussion about the consequences of food.  Talked portion control and possible snack substitutions.  I guess I will need to start buying apples at the store.

Ok more later.  I'm off to my Saturday get together and it's ham nite???

Day Eleven

Alright it's Friday and the weekend has begun.  Friday's are always interesting for me as I want to celebrate the end of the work week (I have no problem with work it's just great that I have two days off).  How do I celebrate the end of the work week?  With food of course, how else?  I do it every Friday wither it's payday or not.  Now most people celebrate Friday when it's payday but not me.  For me every Friday is payday, at least in my mind it is.  I have changed how and where I celebrate by not going to KFC anymore.  I was going to KFC every Friday as that was my treat.  Now I have changed that to Subway and limited myself to a 6" sub ( even when like today where they tempted me with a $5 for a foot long ) which I get on wheat and no cheese and lots of veggie in addition to meat.  I also walk to the Subway restaurant, it's about two blocks.  Sure not far but in the past I would have probably driven there or went someplace further away and maybe not quite as good for you.  I don't make it a meal for $.50 more and I don't get a soda.  I drink water with my lunch.

This weekend will be a wash as I have my game with friends and food on Sat nite and then on Sunday it's the Superbowl.  I already know there will be chili and lots of bad stuff to eat.  I'm just going to try to at least be aware of what I'm eating even though I'm sure I will over do it.  It just means that I will need to make sure I get as much exercise in the next week as possible to make up for Sunday.  Saturday morning is get on the scales day so we will see if I've lost any weight.  My pants and shirts are fitting better and I got a new work shirt and can't wait to wear it.  I tried it on this morning and I need to drop a few more inches off my belly and then it will look great.  More motivation.

Here's food for Friday:

Breakfast: As I've said breakfast doesn't really change other than possibly the meat.  This week has been a mix of roast beef(Mon/Tues), canadian bacon (Weds/Thur), and this morning I had a veggie patty.  So egg/thin bun/avocado/mustard/tomato/veggie patty.  Banana & 20oz of cold water.
Snack: Yogurt/almonds
Lunch: Subway-6" roast beef w/avocado and all veggies on wheat with yellow mustard.
no afternoon snack
Dinner: Ok this is always a challenge as on Friday evenings I meet up with friends on line for a session of WoW.  We start right after I get off work so for me not much time to eat.  I have done the KFC thing and I have picked up a pizza, I have put finger food type stuff in the oven and snacked on egg rolls and pot stickers.  So I have tried to change that.  Tonite I made a large salad with cauliflower, mini peppers ;) and cottage cheese along with a chicken patty and a salmon patty chopped up and mixed in the salad.  Then about three hours later I cut up a pear and a banana and had that as a late night snack.  I also drank this very odd Japanese plum wine drink.  It was probably only about 4oz or 5 not quite sure.  Weird stuff.

Well that's it, I'm starting to fall asleep here so the Sat work out is just around the corner and I am off to bed.