Rudderless Bloat

Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Not much to say.  Another day of toil is underway.  Aimless bad eating, no exercise, not enough sleep.  I seem to wake up about 6:00 most days now and just can't get back to sleep.  I don't have enough pep to get up and get going, at least I haven't had the want to, but despite being tired my brain says no more sleep for you.  Scale was up today, no surprise.

Needless to say, I am not exactly locked in. 

Breakfast:  Toast, salami, coffee

 

Bought a tub of salami bites this week.  The color doesn't seem quite right but they smelled and tasted fine.

Lunch:  Birria tacos

 

Dinner:  Wendys daves singles, fries, glass of chocolate milk

 Too much.

Exercise:  Nope

136.8 

Carryover Effect

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

 I was not overly pleased with how yesterday ended.  Ate too much and did not spend enough extra hours at the office.  At least I slept okay I guess.  Was unable to get back to sleep once I woke up, brain started spinning thinking about work and that was that. 

Scale predictably up.  Hoping to not get too carried away this evening and get some extra rest.

Breakfast:  Toast, coffee

 

I was not hungry and nothing heavy appealed to me.  Had a donut later, birthday at work.

Lunch:  Jimmy Johns #9, salt and vinegar chips, lemonade

 

Looks like diet lemonade is no longer an option.  Boo.

Dinner:  Culvers double butterburgers w cheese, SF lemon pudding

Good burgers.   

Exercise: Nope.

135.4 

Neveready

Monday, November 9, 2026

I am just never ready for Monday morning.  It's like a reverse eveready.  Fortunately I'm not completely exhausted today, just tired.  Stressed.  A bit overwhelmed.  Another day.

Scale was very predictably up after eating way too much, especially last night.  Need to do better with Sundays.  And once golf season ends, Saturdays too.  And the rest of the week.  You have to put in work (nonwork) to stay this fat.

Breakfast:  Biscuit and gravy, coffee

 

Thawed this to eat over the weekend and never did, so there it is, starting the week off with a tasty but a bit excessive breakfast.

Lunch:  Birria beef tacos

 

"Birria" should be in scare quotes, it's chuck roast cooked with a bottle of Cholula birria simmer sauce.  Not bad but not remotely authentic birria.  Did a fine job of hiding it in this photo.  Served on a couple of tallow tortillas with cheddar cheese, a bit of dried cilantro and jalapenos. 

Dinner:  LC cheesy garlic pep pizza, crazy bread and sauce

Stupid work.

Will probably cap with the remaining cookie and a half plus a glass of milk. 

Exercise:  Nope.

134.4 

Avoidance Self Tax

Sunday, November 8, 2026

Weekends are too short.  It's already noon and all I've accomplished is running the errands.  Not nearly enough.  The worst part is that I could not avoid going to Meijer.  Going to Meijer on a weekend is always a bad idea.  Sometimes it's the worst idea ever.  Today it was just bad.  But at least it's done.  I am happier than ever to pay the Meijer avoidance self tax by paying higher prices elsewhere much of the time.

Scale ticked down, could have used more sleep, rinse, repeat. 

Breakfast:  Biscuits and gravy, 2 eggs over medium, coffee

 

Good as always.  Smaller portion today.

Lunch:  McRib, double cheeseburger, pretzel thins

Finally got my fix.

Dinner:  Home tacos, doritos, applesauce, 12 oz Miller Lite, chocobutterscotch cookies, ice cream

Sunday dinners.  Ate too much.

Exercise:  Nope, though the hour plus I spent at Meijer really ought to count, I was ducking and dodging like an NFL running back.

131.2 

Some Things Were Consumed

Saturday, November 7, 2026

It was nice to sleep in a bit this morning.  Didn't get much of anything accomplished, did enjoy the fresh air and exercise.  Disposed of a lot of water for whatever reason, so the scale ticked down.  It's been a fine day.

Breakfast:  Apple cake, coffee

I really should combine this with lunch since they were not far apart.

Lunch:  McDouble plain, fries

A little protein before golf.

Dinner:  16 oz Mich Ultra, cheeseburger, fries w ketchup

Again to the local 5 guys knockoff, always good.

Will have the last slice of apple cake for dessert.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart.  Not that much extra walking but still got plenty.  Not as tired as last week since I got more sleep.

132.8 

I Would Rather Sleep

Friday, November 6, 2026

Glad it is Friday, now I just have to make it through.  Not the ideal start, it was nearly 2:00 before I got to sleep.  I woke up at the usual time, just in time to hear a crash from something I haphazardly placed on top of the fridge falling off.  Great.  

Not much else of note.  Scale down fractionally, still in this rut where I have a blowout and it jumps, then over days it gradually drifts down.  No discipline.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

Again.

Lunch:  Chuck roast w gravy, mashed potatoes, toast

 

Again.  Last of it.

Snack:  CFA spicy w pepper jack and ranch, diet lemonade

Stopped for a lemonade and talked myself into a free sandwich. 

Dinner:  Italian beef sandwich, fries

 

I didn't order fries.  I got fries.  Because they know me and my usual order.  Doh. 

Will have another slice of apple cake for dessert, with a glass of milk.

Exercise:  Nope

133.6 

Lessons Which Don't Sink In

Thursday, November 5, 2026

A bit of a slow start this morning, I really could have used an extra hour or two of sleep but oh well.  It was nice waking up with a feeling of accomplishment.  I did not quite finish my rearranging project but I made a lot of visible progress and hope to be able to wrap it up this evening.  Scale was back down some.

One thing that was definitely noted was that eating less dinner (and maybe just a bit earlier) is so much better for me.  So much easier to get into productivity mode.  Will I ever absorb that lesson fully?  Probably not.  But for a day at least it was noted.

 Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

Again.  I was scrolling through the archives before sleeping last night and am thinking I might go back to a lower carb breakfast, seems like I had a fair amount of success eating a bit of salami and cheese.  Keep it easy and small. 

Lunch:  Chuck roast with gravy, mashed potatoes, toast

 

Again.

Dinner:  Twinburger, onion rings

 

OK.  And a slice of apple cake for the capper.

 

(Obviously did not eat the whole thing, c'mon man).   I did it all by hand instead of breaking out the mixer and the texture was notably different.  Not obviously better or worse, just different.  Very tasty.

Exercise:  Not really.  I had ideas, more than I had execution.

134.4 

The One Thing You Need To Fix Right Now

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Paying the price for two straight nights of extreme fail.  I feel like I've been doing better at avoiding binges, but man not this week.  It's bad.  Especially since last night I didn't really pay that much of a price in discomfort.  I was full, but that's it.  I didn't even run notably hot overnight.  Ugh.  Need to not binge.

Scale up obviously.  Didn't get much sleep.  Glad I am planning to not work tonight.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

Again.  I forgot the photo, but it's exactly like the other days.

Lunch:  Chuck roast w gravy, mashed potatoes

Again.  Very tasty.

Dinner:  Wendy's daves singles

OK.  Had a glass of chocolate milk later for the capper.

Exercise:  Surprisingly, yes.  I did not need to work tonight -- well, I should have but I knew I was not going to -- so I spent a couple hours on a furniture rearranging project.  Worked up a lil sweat, got in some good movement.  So I am counting it.

137.0 

Unprojected

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Phew.  Finished my work project about 4:00.  I am just spent.

Going to do not very much and go to bed.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

Again. 

Lunch:  Two slices pizza

Meeting, they always bring in pizza.

Dinner:  Bacon cheeseburger pizza

I swear I am so fried that I ordered this before I remembered that I had pizza for lunch.  Oh well, it was tasty.  Going to get beat up by the scale though.

Exercise:  Nope

135.0 

Round Mound, Rebounded

Monday, November 2, 2026

A new week and we're into a new month.  The back half of October was decent, the weight slowly ticked down.  I could do a lot better, of course, but there were positives.

Scale was up today, though, after some fail yesterday.  Back at it.  Going to have some rebounds, I'm afraid.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

Again.

Lunch:  Chuck roast w gravy, mashed potatoes

 

Again.  Pretty tasty.

Dinner:  Culvers double deluxes, fritos

Stupid work.

Exercise:  Nope.

135.6 

I Post Food Photos Not Tragedies

Sunday, November 1, 2026

A fairly strange start to a new month.  I was very tired last night - predictably, due to the sinus issues.  I went to sleep not long after 10:00.  And I woke up at 12:15.  Without the ability or need to go back to sleep.  Ugh.  It's a really weird feeling to know you desperately need sleep and your body is like yeah no.  It wasn't even the usual cause (worrying about work), I just somehow hit the sleep off switch.

I did eventually go back to sleep and made use of the extra hour from the time change.  Not feeling bad so far.  Will be spending the day at work, which is unfortunate given that it's a beautiful day for November, but that's life.

Anyway, scale blipped down despite massive quantities of fries. 

Breakfast:  Biscuits and gravy, hash browns, 2 eggs over medium, coffee

 

Again.  Extra good this morning.

Lunch:  Toast

 

Not what I had planned, but it worked.

Dinner:  Brat w MR, chips, salad, 12 oz Miller Lite, choc chip cookie and ice cream

 

Sunday dinners.  Also 2x TB crunchadillas.

Exercise:  Nope. 

133.0 

And We Haven't Even Fallen Back

Saturday, October 31, 2026

Ugh, my body clock is now screwed up.

Been struggling the last couple days with out of nowhere major sinus irritation and it was really bad last night.  Finally resorted to Afrin after midnight which cleared it out.  Still didn't sleep great.  Ended up half dozing until almost 9:00 just to try and get something close to sufficient rest.  We'll see how it goes.

Scale minimum down, felt notably bloated this morning.  Hopefully some exercise will help with that.

Breakfast:  2 slices toast, coffee

 

Bought rosemary italian bread this week, loaf is gigantic.  It must be three pounds.  Probably good to eat some before freezing so it doesn't take up so much space.

Lunch:  McD double cheeseburger, small fry

I ordered a McDouble plain.  I got a double cheeseburger with the works.  Fast food is like playing the lottery.

Dinner:  16 oz Mich Ultra, a couple pretzel sticks, cheeseburger, fries w ketchup

Way, way, WAY too many fries.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart

133.6 

Even If Busy Yay Weekend

Friday, October 30, 2026

Whew, made it through another week.  It's not going to be a normal weekend due to a major work deadline on Tuesday, but I'll still get a little fresh air and a respite from a few things.  Now I just have to figure out when I'm going to get some chores done.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

I considered other options but stuck with the basics.

Lunch:  Open faced turkey sandwich

 

Had a medical appointment near the BBQ place and this was their special this week.  Very tasty.

Dinner:  Chuck birria, Pretzel Factory rye pretzel thins

 

Successfully talked myself out of going out, did pick up the pretzels w my grocery run.  They were past the expiration date by a month, lol.  

Will have a glass of chocolate milk for the capper. 

Exercise:  Nope.  Won't be able to do any significant weight lifting for the foreseeable future, so I really need to start doing some regular walking.

133.8 

Eatinest

Thursday, October 29, 2026

Just feel like eating tonight.  Not good.

Busy, busy day.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

Again.

Lunch:  CFA spicy w pepper jack, fries, diet lemonade

Stupid work.

Dinner:  Chuck birria w rice, Masa lime chips w salsa

 

Too many chips.  At least I made myself eat my lunch for dinner.  Will have a glass of chocolate milk to top it off.

Exercise:  Nope

134.8 

The Smallest Hours

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Well.  That was not how I wanted to start the day.

Went to bed a little late, shortly after 11:00.  Slept okay.  Woke up at 3:00.  Awake.  Knew I wasn't going to go right back to sleep.  Scrolled for a while.  Tried to go back to sleep.  Failed.  For hours.  I got zero additional sleep.

Ugh.  Looks like it'll be a long day.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

Again.

Lunch:  Birria chuck bowl

 

Same as yesterday.

Dinner:  Wendy's daves singles, jalapeno parm crisps

And a glass of chocolate milk for the capper.

Exercise:  Nope.

135.6 

New Tasty

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Busy day.  I actually got quite a bit done but sure did not feel like I gained any ground.

Scale up but not that much.  Slept okay.  Reasonably rested.  Okay then.

I won't get the official word from the doc until Friday but I saw the result from my medical test and it's good news.  Looks like it will probably be another year before the possibility of major surgery.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slices smoked cheddar, coffee

 

Stock, although this is Our Family instead of Sargento cheese.

Lunch:  Birria chuck, birria rice

 

Made (essentially) the birria stew from the box of Old El Paso birria broth, minus the carrots and celery.  Cooked some basmati in the rest of the broth not used to cook the meat.  Turned out quite tasty, will eat again (the next three days).

Dinner:  Culvers double deluxe, leftover pizza, brownie and ice cream

Cleanup plus a burger.

Exercise:  Nope

136.0 

Fail Of The Comprehensive Garden Variety

Monday, October 26, 2026

Not a notable day.  Tired.  Sluggish.  Ate horribly.  Not productive.

Crash early, try again tomorrow.

Breakfast:  McD egg mcmuffin, BEC, hash brown.  Coffee

Post blood draw.

Lunch:  CFA spicy w pepper jack, fries, diet lemonade

Solid.

Dinner:  LC extra, crazy bread and sauce, brownie and ice cream

No idea why this sounded appealing but it was decent.

Exercise:  Nope

135.2 

Saved By No Parking Sorta

Sunday, October 25, 2026

Fortunately yesterday's nap did not completely screw things up.  I went to bed a little late but still at a reasonable hour, sleep was interrupted a few times but I got back to sleep.  And I even got a little extra as the clock I look at decided that daylight savings time had begun and set itself back an hour.

Scale down despite dubious food choices.  Won't be down tomorrow.

Breakfast:  Biscuits and gravy, 2 eggs over medium, coffee

 

Again.  Good again, though not quite 10/10.  Portion a bit smaller than usual and the hash browns were a shade crispy.  Still enjoyed it.

I had a wicked craving for something sweet afterward so I went past the rare bakery that's open on Sunday.  No parking spots open nearby so I kept going.  Ended up working on a Labretz european cookie assortment I received as a gift, along with a glass of milk.

Lunch:  2 CF brisket cheddar sausages w jala mustard, spicy dill pickles, 1 slice smoked cheddar

 

More cleanup.  Also had a little basmati rice cooked in birria broth.

Dinner:  Steak, chips, green beans, 12 oz Miller Lite, brownie w ice cream

Sunday dinners.  Also a small sack of taco bell.  Ate way too much today.

Exercise:  Nope

133.6 

Flag Delayed Bloating

Saturday, October 24, 2026

An absolutely gorgeous fall day.  Just shy of 70 degrees, sunny, perfect.

Felt a bit bloated when I got up and the scale confirmed.  First day in a while where it's been up and doubly so up sharply.  Yesterday wasn't a good eating day and today has been iffy.

And I took a 3 hours nap this afternoon.  Tonight should be interesting.

Breakfast:  2 eggs over medium, bacon, hash browns, raisin toast w jam, coffee

 

Standard pregolf fare, pretty good today.

Lunch:  12 oz Miller Lite, CFA spicy w pepper jack, fries, diet lemonade 

I was unsure about the lemonade.  I ordered diet, it didn't taste particularly diet but it also wasn't crazy sweet like regular.  So it was either the best diet lemonade ever or they gave me regular and my taste buds are dead.

Dinner:  Chips and onion dip, chocolate milk

When you don't wake up from your nap until after 7:00 you don't need much. 

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, average walking

135.8 

Relative Slowing

Friday, October 23, 2026

TGIF.  Still have to make it through the day, but we're only so many hours from relative freedom.  Relative being the key word here.  A pause in the barrage of calls, a slowing in the waves of emails.  A day or two where maybe I won't get further behind.

Not much of note.  I was quite surprised to see the scale down this morning.  Did not expect that as yesterday was not a particularly great day with the eating.  I do think it helped that I had dinner earlier than usual.  It was still too much as I remained quite full when it was time to get ready for bed.  Dinner is probably the biggest change I still need to make.  I've settled in with not needing much of a breakfast and most days have featured a decent lunch.  It's dinner that's the problem.  I'm working on it.

Breakfast:  Biscuit and gravy, coffee

 

Now this was more than I needed, but since I didn't eat it last night I cleaned it up this morning.  Gravy good, biscuit meh and a bit stale but still fine.

Lunch:  Chuck roast, mashed potatoes, gravy

 

I have surplus this week and I decided to pass on the carrots.

Dinner:  CF brisket cheddar sausages w mustard, McClures spicy dill pickles, chips and Daisy onion dip

And a glass of chocolate milk for dessert

Exercise:  Nope

132.8 

Junkyards

Thursday, October 22, 2026

I eat a lot of junk.  But today's title doesn't have anything to do that.  I went to an actual junkyard.  It was ... okay not that interesting.  I just didn't have a theme.  

Busy day.  Scale blipped down, sleep was meh.  Had an incredibly vivid dream that featured having my vehicle stolen in Chicago.  I haven't been to Chicago in years.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

On the run.  Had other ideas, quashed them.

Lunch:  Jimmy Johns #1, salt and vinegar chips

Audible due to lack of time.

Also had a peanut butter cookie from a box someone brought in.

Dinner:  Twinburger, onion rings

Much more reasonable side of rings tonight.

And a glass of chocolate milk for dessert.

Exercise:  Nope.  Nothing  that counts anyway.

134.6 

Capabilities TBD

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

I didn't think I overdid it but I still ate too much dinner last night.  My gut was still working on it when I went to bed - which was not notably early - and I ran hot again.  One of these days maybe I'll prove capable of eating earlier and eating less.

Otherwise though things are okay.  Didn't sleep great but feel decent.  Scale ticked down.  We're that much closer to the end of the week.  All good things.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

Thought about having yogurt but since I was pushing it on time I stayed the course.

Lunch:  Chuck roast, carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy

 

Different approach on the reheat today.  Better.  Also fewer carrots.

Dinner:  Culvers single mushroom swiss burger, fries, diet root beer

 

Audible.  Was out car shopping (not for me) and didn't feel like cooking.

Had a glass of chocolate milk at home for dessert. 

Exercise:  Nope.

135.0 

Running Hot

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Yesterday did not go as planned.  Forgetting to calendar something major tends to screw things up.  Good grief.

Anyway, I was fine not eating lunch, but was predictably ready for food at dinner time.  And also predictably I ate too much, too late.  And did I mention too much?  Ugh.  My body spent a very long time dealing with it and a lot of the processing was by running hot.  Sheesh.  I don't enjoy being that warm.

Despite it all the scale was for some reason down, which I will take.  Hopefully today's schedule will work better, though I'm still scrambling.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

Again.

Lunch:  Chuck roast w gravy, 1 C mashed potatoes, carrots

 

Another round.  Was actually a bit too much.

Dinner:  Biscuit and gravy, 2 eggs over medium

 

Home version.  Meijer biscuit.  Probably 5/10 on the B&G scale but still pretty tasty.

Also ate the last slice of pizza.  I will have the last slice of the apple cake later.

Exercise:  Nope.

135.6 

I Need Synonyms For Epic

Monday, October 19, 2026

Fail.  Serious fail.

I thought I had a free morning to get some things done.  NOPE.  Instead I had an all day thing that required me to scramble to reschedule the stuff I had in the afternoon.  What a mess.  It's a sign of how far behind I am that I did not have this on the calendar.  Nobody's fault but mine.

And it messed things up.

Anyway, scale down, didn't get enough sleep -- I really need to eat less on Sunday evenings.

Breakfast:  Toast, 1 slice smoked cheddar, coffee

 

Glad I ate something, because ...

Lunch:  None

Got a lunch break, spent it scrambling not eating.

Dinner:  Little Caesars pepperoni, crazy bread and sauce

More work.  More more more.  On the plus side, this was probably the best LC pizza I've ever had.  It was legit good.  Still terrible for me, but tasty. 

Will probably have a slice of leftover apple cake whenever I get to go home. 

Exercise:  Nope.

136.6  

Ten Of Ten

Sunday, October 18, 2026

After a pleasant Saturday, time to get some things done.  Slept in a bit, so I'm already behind.

Scale down a bit, which is nice.  Exercise was enough to overcome excessive eating.  At least I never considered eating anything more after having dinner about 5:30.  Just should have skipped the chili.

Breakfast:  Biscuits and gravy, 2 eggs over medium, hash browns, coffee

 

The usual and it was a 10/10 experience today.  Less busy since I went later (but before the after church rush), got a good spot immediately, food came fast, all my favorites were working today, kitchen crew did a great job and the coffee cup never got dry.  That's why I am likely to keep going, even though I have make biscuits and gravy on my to do list for today (most of which is going into the freezer).

Lunch:  Toast

 

Didn't need much, had a fresh loaf. 

Dinner:  Hamburger patty w a little ketchup, baked potato, carrots, french apple cake w vanilla ice cream

 

Sunday dinners.

Exercise:  Nope.  Did okay yesterday but I was still pretty tired out.

137.0 

Okay Flatness

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Glad to make it to a weekend, though I have far, far more to do than time to do it.

Scale was flat this morning, which seemed like a win since I felt puffy.  It'll probably be up tomorrow.

Breakfast:  2 eggs over medium+, hash browns, 3 strips bacon, raisin toast w jam, coffee

 

Not their finest effort, not at all.

Lunch:  Chili, cornbread bites, 16 oz Mich Ultra

 

Kinda disappointing, actually.  I should have just skipped it.

Dinner:  Cheeseburger, fries w a little ketchup

From the local 5 Guys knockoff.  Very good as always.  Fewer fries than usual which was fine with me since they were also better than usual.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, plenty of walking

Tired.

137.8