End of Charade

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The last day of the year.  In a lot of ways, that's a very good thing.  2014 has been a bust in most respects.  I have done very little toward accomplishing any of my goals.  When I weigh in tomorrow, it will be a bad number.  I have slacked hard on exercise and have been binge eating.  There is no other way to describe it.  It's horrible.

But the sun will come up tomorrow ... eventually.  It has been such a strange winter.  No matter what it will be a new day and a perfect time to start fresh.

2015 goals.  I have them.

1.  Sell house.  This has been keeping me fairly preoccupied.  It's going to be listed ASAP, although I have doubts that it will sell right away.  If not I may need to do some things and try again in the spring.

2.  Make dietary changes and have them stick.  I know what I need to do.  A paleo style, carbohydrate restricted diet works for me.  I do eat dairy because I tolerate it well, but I need to cut out the sugar and the empty starch.  Protein, fat, vegetables and just a little fruit.  Easy.

3.  Get back on the exercise train.   Daily walking is where it's at.

There is more, but that's enough.  Let's go.

Hopefully Soon

Wednesday - Saturday December 13, 2014

I haven't been keeping track.  Rough week.

All meals have been out and I've been eating too much.  A handful of beers as well.

A Distinct Lack of Focus

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Struggling.  Up too late.  No motivation in the evenings.  Sluggish in the mornings.  Apathetic toward work.  Generally discouraged.  I need a boost.

Breakfast:  2 McDonalds sausage burritos, large coffee, some kind of filled donut

Lunch:  Cornbread scramble with potatoes, coffee

Dinner:  Qdoba burrito bowl I believe

Exercise:  Nope

---

Wrong Footed

Monday, December 8, 2014

Off on the wrong one again this morning.  Got up at the right time, switched the laundry, watched the news ... and went back to bed.  Late getting in as a result.  Bah.  Not sure why I am dragging so much lately.  Anyway, I hope to finish a project or two this evening and sleep early.  I need to get back to eating simple breakfasts and dinners at home -- I should be able to do that without messing the place up too much!

Breakfast:  Taco Bell California crunch wrap, coffee

Lunch:  Steak breakfast fajita with eggs, potatoes and veggies, coffee

Dinner:  Subway meatball sub, fritos, 24 oz Sam Adams

Exercise:  Nope

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A Weekend of Awful

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Sluggish.

Breakfast:  Nope.  Slept in.

Lunch:  5 Guys cheeseburger, little cajun fries with ketchup

Dinner:  Spaghetti with ground beef, salad, garlic toast, 12 oz Miller Lite

Other:  12 oz Bells Best Brown Ale, BK cheeseburger and medium strawberry shake.  I think I had a Culvers medium chocolate shake sometime also

Exercise:  Nope.


Saturday, December 6, 2014

Yeesh.

Breakfast:  Nope.  Slept in until 11:00

Lunch:  5 Guys cheeseburger, little fries with ketchup, 4 pc Wendys spicy nuggets, large Frosty

Dinner:  Qdoba burrito bowl

Exercise:  Nope.  Lots of movement on a house project but it doesn't count.


Friday, December 5, 2014

Breakfast:  Taco Bell California crunchwrap, coffee

Lunch:  Loaded cheeseburger, fries

Dinner:  Domino's bacon cheeseburger pizza

Exercise:  Nope

I think I have captured all of the awfulness.  I can still binge eat with the best of them.  It's sickening.

Title Shortage

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Dragging big time.  Latest night yet and it's not a good thing.  Necessary though.  Really looking forward to getting to the weekend even though it will be frantically busy.

Breakfast:  McDonalds sausage mcmuffin, large coffee.  I even ate the whole english muffin, not sure why.  Dumb.

Lunch:  2 eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, 2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee

Couldn't decided on what to have for lunch, so I went with a default option.  It was fine.

Dinner:

Exercise:  Barely dragged myself out of bed in time to go to work, so NOPE.  Need to re-adjust that schedule.

---

Rustled

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Perturbed, annoyed, whatever.  I'm having some issues right now.  Really lacking focus and where it shows up big time is at dinner.  Argh.

Oh, and I stayed up way way way too late last night.  Ugh.  Dumb but necessary.

Breakfast:  Large McDonalds coffee

Lunch:  Farmer's breakfast - eggs, ham, potatoes, green pepper, onion and cheese.  2 slices sourdough toast, coffee

Next time, I get the half order.  That was a bit much.

Dinner:  Qdoba burrito bowl.  1000 calories of yum.

Exercise:  Nope.

---

Too Much

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Too much eating today.  Actually it was just dinner.

Breakfast:  None.  Large coffee from McDonalds

Lunch:  Cornbread scramble, potatoes, coffee

Dinner:  Burrito bowl from Qdoba, chips and queso

Exercise:  Nope.

120.2

Yikes

Monday, December 1, 2014

Well, the weekend ended with too much eating.  Felt bloated this morning.  And I stayed up way too late resulting in a slow start this morning.  Hoping to get back on track today, though a leftovers meal does await this evening.

Breakfast:  2 slices Meijer pepper jack cheese.

Notably inferior to the Kraft.  I'll stick with the kind I like in the future.

Lunch:  Omelet with andouille sausage, peppers, onions.  2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee

This was good.  The eggs were a bit overdone, but it was fine.  It was difficult to resist the patty melt special, but I did it.  Now if I could just decline the toast.

Dinner:  Turkey dinner leftovers.  Yum.

Exercise:  Nope.  So tired.

120.2

Some Kind of Home Stretch

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The last day of the month.  Not a notable occasion.  I see a lot of working around the house ahead of me today, followed by a feast tonight.

Breakfast:  Cornbread scramble with potatoes, pico de gallo, coffee

No picture.  I've had this many times before.  Good as always.

Lunch:  5 Guys little cheeseburger, little fries

Burned some calories, needed real food.  Tried to keep it reasonable.  Should have gone to Qdoba.

2nd Lunch:  McDonald's triple cheeseburger, medium fries

This was a bad idea.  Needed more calories, should have made a better choice.

Dinner:  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, peas, rolls with butter, 12 oz Miller Lite.  Slice of pumpkin pie with cool whip

Super delicious but I ate too much.  Way too much.  And there are leftovers for tomorrow.

Exercise:  A ton of work around the house.  Raked leaves for a couple hours.  Worked inside.  I am dead tired.

118.0

Carrying

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Work work work around the house.  Not a memorable day, but I have been getting some things done which is nice.  So very much to do though.

Breakfast:  Cornbread scramble with potatoes, pico de gallo, coffee

No picture.  I've had it many times before.  So good.

Lunch:  Several slices of salami, Greek Gods yogurt plain

Meals were out of order today.

Dinner:  Burrito bowl from Qdoba

This must be about 1500 calories.  Sure is good though.

This thing was huge.

Exercise:  Nothing official.  Lots of movement today thought - cleaning house plus an hour plus shopping trip.

118.4

Feast On

Friday, November 28, 2014

Whew!  I really overdid it last night.  A big meal was planned.  Lots of eating expected.  And it happened.  Unsurprisingly I wasn't in a big hurry to make breakfast this morning.

Mixed bag on the sleep front.  I stayed up way way too late - I didn't even get home until after 10 and decided to let things settle even more.  Got up at the usual time but lazed about for an hour or more.  I really need to crank up the intensity.  Oh, and it would have been a beautiful morning for a walk.  I dragged the trash to the curb in the predawn and yeah it was a lovely crisp morning.  Oh well.  I really do hope to push it a little on the home improvement front today, so hopefully I'll burn some calories.

Which will be important, because I have a big leftover meal for lunch.  Then I'll be done until Sunday, when another feast is planned.

Breakfast:  2 large CF eggs fried in a bit of butter, 2 thick slices black label bacon, Alexia hash browns fried in butter, some 4 state cheddar, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

If I were hungrier I would have ATTACKED this.  So good.

Breakfast perfection.  It really doesn't get better than this.  Well, I suppose it could, but for breakfasts made by me this was 10/10.

Lunch:  Leftover feast.  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, mac and cheese, rolls with butter, fruit salad

Pictured but not consumed:  Jello.  Too full!

This was enough for about 3 meals.  Oh well.  So delicious.  Dinner will be very light tonight, I am stuffed.  I could definitely have done without the 2nd roll.  And I skipped the jello salad.

Dinner:  12 oz Sam Adams Boston lager.

Yup, I had a beer for dinner.  And truth be told I would have been happy with 1/2 of the beer.

Exercise:  Nothing official.

---

A Day of Thanks and Stuffing

Thursday, November 27, 2014
Thanksgiving Day

So nice to have a holiday.  I went back to bed and slept late, which won't do good things for me tonight but I am hoping that some evening tryptophan will let me get to bed on time.  Just a local feast for me today, which is nice.  I'll make a couple of dishes to bring but no heavy setup or prep.  A pleasant family evening.

Breakfast:  2 large CF eggs scrambled and cooked in butter with mushrooms, green pepper and onion, a little 4 state cheddar, 1 1/3 C ish Alexia hash browns cooked in butter, 2 thick slices black label bacon, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

Now featuring grapefruit!

Whew, that's a lot of stuff for one meal!  It was good, although my timing was a bit off, the onions and green peppers cooked from frozen a lot faster than I thought they would so the eggs were done early.  Oh well, no harm.  Oh, and I could have cooked the mushrooms more.  But still at least 7/10.

Lunch:  Greek Gods yogurt with a little raspberry preserves.  Decided to keep it light in anticipation of the feast.  Didn't bother with a picture, it's the same as usual.

Dinner:  Thanksgiving FEAST.  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, rolls with "butter", deviled egg, green olives, mac and cheese, a taste of cranberry, 12 oz Sam Adams, 12 oz Bell's Winter White Ale, a couple bites of candy, piece of lemon meringue pie, bite of apple pie

Oh, yes.  And yeah I had seconds.  And pie.

That plate was loaded.  And I went back for more.  I especially love the basics - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Yum.

Exercise:  Nope.  Moved around quite a bit doing stuff at home but not enough to count.

---

Rest Full

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

You guessed it, another day of going back to bed.  I feel better about it today though.  I didn't stay up late, I got up early and just found that I needed more sleep.  So I went with it.  As a result I felt pretty good when I did finally get up.  Of course I'll feel even better once I get into an exercise routine with no lapses, but it's a start.

I have big plans to accomplish many things during the holiday weekend, we will see how many of those things actually get accomplished.

Breakfast:  McDonalds sausage mcmuffin (minus 1/2 muffin), large coffee

No picture.  Actually now that I think of it, I have one from yesterday.  But in any event, the same deal applies - I was very late and was not impressive.

Doesn't that just look, um, well, um, fantastic?

Yup.

Lunch:  Omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avocado, 2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee

Breakfast for lunch never ever gets old

Back to an old favorite for a day.  Still good.  Didn't quite finish it.

Dinner:  Salami, 1/2 pickle, olives, carrot and celery sticks, yogurt with raspberry preserves

There were not the finest carrots I have ever had

Didn't bother getting out lettuce and making a salad.  Just fine for a light dinner, actually quite filling.

Exercise:  Nope.  Slug.

116.4

An Unhappy Trend

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Sleep.  It shouldn't be hard.  I'm making it hard.  Stayed up way too late last night, which meant another morning of going back to bed instead of walking.  Not happy about that.

Breakfast:  McDonalds sausage mcmuffin (minus 1/2 muffin), large coffee

No picture.  So late this morning that I had to get breakfast and coffee after my first appointment.  It was okay but I should not be eating this.

Lunch:  Cajun omelet with andouille sausage, green pepper and onion, 2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee

Ragin' good.

Back to the same place I went yesterday.  No breakfasty specials, but this was plenty good.  I'll be back.

Dinner:  Romaine salad with salsa, green olives, 1/2 dill pickle, 3 slices salami.  Greek Gods yogurt with a little raspberry preserves

Randomness.  So much randomness.

Without the yogurt this would have been pretty light in the protein department.  Pretty pleased with the light dinner concept though.

Exercise:  Yeah, no.  FAIL.

117.4

Toughen Up Son

Monday, November 24, 2014

I need to get mentally tough.  I overdid it last night.  And I paid the price this morning.  I stayed up a little later than usual to give myself extra time to digest but still:  When I woke up this morning I didn't stay up long.  Went back to sleep and got 2+ more hours of solid sleep.  Lots of dreams.  It didn't help my ambition any that it was raining again but still, this was about needing more sleep.  And eating like crap last night surely played a role.

Breakfast:   McDonald's sausage mcmuffin (minus half of the english muffin), large coffee

No picture.  I was very late this morning and didn't remember to eat anything until I was pulling in for a coffee.  I'm sure there are many better choices but so be it.  This was edible at least.

Lunch:  Restaurant special:  A square of scalloped potato casserole with 2 eggs, kiebasa (?) sausage, sauteed green and red peppers and onions, 2 slices sourdough toast, coffee

This picture doesn't come close to doing justice.  Just ... YUM

Oh.  My.  Word.  I tried another local place today.  I had previously had lunch there once or twice and it was okay but not overwhelming.  This, however, was INCREDIBLE.  It was a special of the day and it was fabulous.  And the best part?  It was $5.00.  With coffee and a healthy tip, under $9.  I'm going back, and soon.  The rest of the breakfast menu looked pretty standard, but if they have specials like this I'm in.

It was a ton of food and way way too much starch.  But so good.

Dinner:  Iceberg salad with salsa and green olives, 3 slices salami, 1 container Meijer organic unsweetened applesauce

Quick and easy.

Late dinner, needed to just eat.  Also figured I should go light given the enormous lunch!

Exercise:  Nope.  Fail.  And given that it's HOWLING and snowing sideways again tonight it's not looking too promising for the morning either.

118.6

Howling, Mad

Sunday, November 23, 2014

At a certain point last night, I just ran out of gas.  I recognized it and went to immediate bedtime mode.  I even slid into the old bed, since it was made up and my hard surface bed wasn't.  And then I couldn't sleep.  Go figure.  I guess I'm full reconverted to sleeping on the hard surface.  I had to move.

Anyway, I got up at the usual time this morning and the wind was just howling.  I want to get out there and walk, I really do, but I really struggle with the idea of fighting 20-30 mph wind gusts.  Even when it's not cold.  It rained yesterday and melted the snow.

So I'm a little mad.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll go to the mall this afternoon and do a couple of laps for exercise.  We will see.  Oh, and I should get outside and put away a couple of things.  Before the snow returns.

Breakfast:  3 large CF eggs, 3 strips thick slice black label bacon, 1 C hash browns in butter, a little 4 state cheddar cheese, coffee

Overcooked bacon in this picture

The usual.  I'm down to a couple of ounces of the cheddar ... really have been good about just using a little bit.  I had to buy large eggs yesterday, I didn't see any of the jumbos.  Not a big deal, really, though 2 of the jumbos has been the perfect quantity.   Oh well.

Lunch:  Big salad with iceberg mix, salsa, 1/2 pickle, a medium avocado, 3 slices of salami, a little pepperoni.  Leftover cold chicken leg.  1 cup Meijer organic unsweetened applesauce

I think I'll be eating more salads.

This was quite good and held up well.  A lot of fat in that salad considering that there is no dressing!

Dinner:  Lasagna, a little salad, garlic toast, chocolate sheet cake and ice cream

Fail:  Before the addition of salad.  And I had seconds ... and then some.

I can hear the FATness

This was all kinds of FAIL.  I ate too much lasagna.  Had toast.  And then had cake and ice cream.  It was a birthday party.  Not mine so I could have said no.  I didn't.

Exercise:  Nope.  Awful weather plus lazy.

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Almost Giving Thanks

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Another dismal weather day.  Rain which is freezing on contact, changing over to all rain.  Yuck.  Needless to say it's going to be another day that I won't be outside walking.  At least it is Saturday, so I can get my workout in doing cleaning and moving things around.

Breakfast:  2 jumbo CF eggs fried in a pat of butter, 3 slices thick slice Black Label bacon, just over 1 C Alexia hash browns fried in butter, a little 4 state cheddar, coffee

I am expert at hiding the hash browns

A bit high on the calorie count I supposed but delicious.  I hope the anticipated level of activity today will justify it.  Oh, and I'll need to go very light at dinner.

Lunch:  Chicken pot pie filling, lots

I had another big scoop to finish it off too.  So full now.

My goodness was this delicious.  And it's not that hard when you have precooked chicken.  It does have some bad stuff in it - the smallest potato I could find in the 10 lb bag I bought for Thanksgiving, 3/8 C of whole milk and 1/8 C of flour.  It also has lots of chicken, carrot, celery, (dehydrated) onion and chicken stock plus spices.  Yum yum yum.

Dinner:  2 big slices of pastrami, usual yogurt with raspberry preserves

I didn't bother with a picture.  A little late due to watching football.  Oh, and you know what?  My stomach isn't crazy about pastrami.

Exercise:  Nope.  Ended up being a pretty lazy day.

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Fed Up, To Here

Friday, November 21, 2014

Annoyed by my sloth.  Another non-walking morning.  I had hopes of hitting up the store and at least doing a couple laps there.  Did it happen?  Nope.  Instead after being awake for a couple of hours I napped.  And the forecast for tomorrow morning?  Freezing rain.  Yuck.

Breakfast:  5 or 6 slices of salami, 2 mugs chicken boullion, large McDonalds coffee

No photo taken.  Getting the coffee took much longer than it would have taken to clean the coffee maker and brew a pot.  Stupid.  Oh well.  And I just grabbed the salami because it was convenient.  Figured I needed to eat something anyway.

Lunch:  Omelet with cheddar cheese and bacon, 2 slices sourdough toast with "butter", coffee

This wasn't my favorite ever.

Good but not great.  I'm still working on finding the absolutely perfect omelet.  I like the skillets at this place but they have a LOT of potato.  Maybe I'll get one next time and just not eat all the potatoes.  That's an idea.

Dinner:  1/2 of a Meijer deli chicken, 1 whole dill pickle, Greek gods yogurt w/ raspberry preserves

Yogurt not pictured

Late dinner after shopping.  I was hungry.  And now I am very full.   The chicken was all right, I guess.  I suppose I am just not the world's biggest chicken fan.  But with more time on my hands tomorrow I think I'll try to make the leftovers into something delicious.

Exercise:  Nope.  I did spend more than 90 minutes shopping this evening, but it was at a leisurely pace.  It doesn't really count.


120.2

Can It Please Be Spring Already

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Another wintry morning of sitting on the couch instead of walking.  While couching is kind of pleasant, it isn't going to get me where I'm going.  So I need to get back to work.  If this awful weather pattern continues I need to hit the mall or the megastores and do some indoor hoofing.

Breakfast:  3 big slices pepper jack, coffee

I didn't bother with a picture.  The avocados I bought yesterday felt like they aren't quite ripe so I'll let them sit until tomorrow.  I had an odd slice of cheese so I just finished off the package.  Another thing to add to the grocery list!  Even though I just went to the store yesterday maybe tonight I'll clean out the fridge and go back to stock up.

Lunch:  3 eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green pepper, onion, cheese; 3 sausage links, 2 slices sourdough toast with "butter", coffee

You know I love me some breakfast for lunch

Tried a different local place.  It wasn't bad but it probably won't go into the rotation.  The sausage was definitely not impressive and it wasn't notably inexpensive.

Dinner:  Salami, 1/2 dill pickle, a couple carrot sticks, olives, Greek Gods yogurt with raspberry spread.

Ate late, a little hungry, forgot to take a picture.  Same thing I've been eating, except I was out of celery sticks.  Now I'm out of carrots too.  And cheese for breakfast.  I guess I have to go back to the store!

Exercise:  Nope.  Not such a good excuse today.  Hoping to get out tomorrow.

120.8

Wimpin'

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Not nearly as nasty out there this morning but I still wimped out of walking.  Not good.  I have so far to go I cannot let myself get sidetracked by a weak mind.

I don't have a whole lot of pep this morning, that's for sure.  Stayed up too late.  There were reasons.  Even one good reason.  But it ended up being an exercise in futility and now I will pay.  Oh well.  I don't feel too awful which I think is a side benefit of getting up at the same time every day.

Breakfast:  1 medium avocado, 2 big slices pepper jack.  Coffee.  2 mugs chicken boullion

Not pictured:  Hot beverages consumed on couch

My new favorite mini breakfast.

Lunch:  Cornbread scramble, pico de gallo, diced redskin potatoes, coffee

Lousy picture of a delicious meal

This is without a doubt my single favorite breakfast out meal.  I like lots of stuff.  I flat out love this.   It's a lot of food, quite a few calories and too much starch, but it is so good.

Dinner:  Salami, 1/2 pickle, carrots and celery, olives, Greek Gods yogurt with a little raspberry preserves

Freshest salami ever!

I almost bought a roasted chicken since I had to go to the store anyway but decided to hold off.  I am getting very low on all of this stuff, but I probably have enough for tomorrow night.  Liking this light meal approach.  And the greek yogurt is so close to having a bowl of ice cream.  It works,

Exercise:  Nope, not really.  Had a couple decent hikes today but nothing over 10 minutes so it doesn't count.  And I think we have several more days of nastiness ahead.  It's setting my exercise plans back no doubt.

---

One of the Challenges

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

As I feared, it is way too nasty outside to walk.  The wind is howling and there is snow blowing all over the place.  As much as I need the exercise, I'm not going out in that.  All the schools are closed, even the universities and some of the government functions.  Not a snow day for me, but one where it was easy to just spend a few hours on the couch instead of walking.

Breakfast:  1 medium avocado, 2 big slices pepper jack cheese

Yum.  Decadent.

I believe these are organic avocados but I am not 100% certain.  Too lazy to check the bag.  I have one left for tomorrow, maybe I should hit the store and do a few laps today for exercise and MOAR avocados.

Lunch:  Omelet with bacon, cheese, mushroom, green pepper and onion, 2 slices sourdough toast, coffee

I'd like a western omelet, except change this and this and this...

Smaller omelet, different place.  Tasty and filling though.  At some point I will cut down to 1 slice of toast or maybe just omit it all together.

Dinner:  Salami, 1/2 pickle, olives, carrots and celery, Greek Gods yogurt with a little raspberry fruit spread

I like this dinner.  It's fast, easy and doesn't generate a lot of dishes

First time trying the Greek Gods yogurt.  It's good, very similar to the Fage - of course that's expected, how different can plain full fat greek yogurts be?  Added a few olives because I like olives.  I am going to need to hit the store, though, as I am now out of salami and perilously low on some other things.

Exercise:  Nope.  Unfortunately.  If I were more motivated I would hit the store and do a couple laps, but it's not looking likely.

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Ugh Winter Walking

Monday, November 17, 2014

It was a little hard getting out there this morning, but as I expected once I got out there it was fine.  I might want to look for a different mask solution, but otherwise the gear is good.  Unfortunately it was icy.  No road maintenance yesterday and the sidewalks are slick too.  So I cut it short.  Felt like a decent workout for the brief period it was at least.

The forecast is for 6-12 inches of snow over the next 24 plus hours, so tomorrow's walk might be interesting.

Breakfast:  1 medium avocado, 2 big slices pepper jack

Fat, it's what for breakfast

Hoping this sticks well!  (Edit:  It did!  Very pleased, not hungry at all)

Lunch:  Denver omelet with 2 slices of sourdough toast, coffee

This is what a 4 egg omelet looks like apparently.

This was a huge omelet.  It might not look that impressive, but it was a lot of food.  Sometime I want to see about doubling the veggies.

Dinner:  Salami, 1/2 dill pickle, carrots and celery, tub of Fage greek yogurt with a little raspberry preserves.

Remembered to take photo just in time.  Ate most of pickle first!

Another repeat.  Feels like a solid light dinner.

Exercise:  Walk.  As mentioned, cut it short, only 15 minutes.

123.8

Water Reduction

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Well, I made it through one day.  Plus another early morning.  Other than the headache yesterday, feeling decent so far.  A few aches and pains, but nothing serious.  Happy about that -- I am such a wimp when I don't feel well.  It looks like I disposed of a little water weight too, which is nice.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if I can keep it in check at dinner this evening.  I hope so, since I will most certainly be tired enough to go to bed as soon as I get home.  Guess that means I better get cracking on the many tasks I have to do today.  Someday I'll set aside Sunday as a day of rest, but this weekend it needed to be Saturday.

Breakfast:  2 jumbo CF eggs fried in a pat of butter, 5 strips Plumrose bacon, 1C hashbrowns cooked in butter, a little cheddar cheese, coffee

I realized this morning that I had thick cut bacon, so
a few more calories than I had thought yesterday.  Oh well.

Basically the same as yesterday, except I cut the hash browns down even more.  I think I'll probably go with the higher amount (1 1/3C vs 1 C) in the future.

Lunch:  3 slices salami, 1 big slice pepperjack cheese, 1/2 dill pickle, carrot and celery sticks, 1 medium avocado

Smorgasbord?

We will see how well this holds me.  I'm pretty much expecting to need a snack, since dinner won't be for many hours (and I shouldn't eat that much then anyway).

Snack:  More carrots and celery with ranch dressing

Thank goodness for leftover (unopened) restaurant ranch!

This worked, I guess.  I never did go out and get more yogurt, maybe I'll pick some up tomorrow.

Dinner:  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, just a bite of corn, 12 oz Miller Lite.

No picture.  I ate a bit more than I had hoped, but it wasn't too horrible.  I think I still kept the day total in check and I'm not so full that I expect to have trouble sleeping.  So okay.

Exercise:  Walk, ~ 1 mile or so.  Same route as yesterday.  I didn't clock it but it was somewhere in the 25-30 minute range.  It was enough.  My back was a little cranky, but nothing serious.

127.4

Never Enough Batteries, Never Enough Charge

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Wow, halfway through November already.

I think I finally reached a point yesterday of saying enough.   I've been close - which is obvious given the number of false starts I've had in the last couple of months - but never quite there.  I think it is time.  I had a major life event two and a half weeks ago I have just been feeling lost.  I'm still somewhat lost but I know that I can find a small measure of purpose in fixing my weight and condition, so I'm going to grab on and see how it goes.  This morning has been great, though.

Oh, and I'd like to track weight again, but I have very little confidence in the batteries in my scale.  I should remember to get new ones.

Breakfast:  2 jumbo CF eggs fried in a very small pat of butter, 5 strips Plumrose bacon, ~ 1 oz Sargento 4 states cheddar cheese, 1 1/3 C Alexia hashbrowns fried in 2T of butter

Advanced fat guy strategy:  Hide the hash browns
and cheese under the healthy eggs!

Delicious as always and I think about the right quantity.  I ditched the toast and cut the hash browns way down (about in half, I think) to 2 servings.  I didn't measure the cheese but I'm comfortable it wasn't more than that - I've been using this bag for a while.

Lunch:  Bowl of homemade vegetable beef soup

Comfort food.

Good stuff.  Not the finest batch I have ever concocted, but good none the less.

Dinner:  2 slices of salami, a couple of carrot and celery sticks, 1/2 claussen dill pickle, 1 tub Fage full fat greek yogurt with 1T of raspberry fruit spread

Crudites?

This was a pleasant light dinner.  Lighter dinners are definitely part of the plan - if I am going to continue to go to bed early, there is no reason to eat much in the evening.

Other:  2 mugs of chicken boullion.  Not the healthiest thing in the world (seriously, just read the ingredients and cringe) but warm and comforting.

Also, ~ 4 oz of Simply Lemonade.  I was feeling pretty awful this afternoon, so I took in some carbs and took a long hot shower.  It helped.  I hope that carb withdrawal isn't a big issue, it really hasn't been in the past.

Exercise:  Yes!  Walk of somewhere around a mile.  Maybe a hair more.  Much like the old days of success.  Got up at 5:00, dawdled for a little while but got out there about half past.  Beautiful cold crisp morning, no traffic.  Distance felt about right for the first day - I wasn't super tired when I got home but I could feel that I had been working.  Not much pain, just some complaining by the muscles around my right knee.  Hoping to add a few blocks tomorrow.  I need to find my pedometer.

131.8

Apathy, Not Like Neuropathy

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Sigh.  Just not feeling it.  Getting up early but not exercising and not eating right.  It was easier to get moving this morning so that is at least going in the right direction.  Not saying much and it is notable that I've gained some significant weight lately.

Breakfast:  2 McD breakfast burritos, coffee

Lunch:

Dinner:

Exercise:



Monday, November 10, 2014

Breakfast:  TB California crunchwrap, coffee

Lunch:  5G cheeseburger, little fries

Dinner:  Qdoba burrito bowl, candy corn, raspberry lemonade

Exercise:  None

Just plain awful.

Blowing Up Breakfast

Sunday, November 9, 2014

The wheels never stop turning.  I may be lousy at execution I do like to think about what I can do better diet wise.  Today's pondering is on the subject of breakfast.   Mine has gotten too large and too carby.

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled in butter, 2 thick slices bacon, a little cheese, hash browns, 2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee

Ditching the toast is the easiest fix.  The hash browns might be a bit harder - I do enjoy them mixed in with the eggs and cheese with a splash of hot sauce.  Maybe I can cut down to 1 serving.

Lunch:  5G cheeseburger, little fries

Dinner:  Chop suey casserole, green beans w cheddar cheese, a couple peach slices, rolls with butter

Exercise:  An hour or two of moving stuff.  Enough to tired me out, which isn't saying much.

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Still Struggling, But Getting Closer

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Yep, struggling.  Went to bed early last night but couldn't sleep.  Did eventually get there and slept well.  Put in some work today - not enough, not close to enough, but some work.  I'll get there.

Breakfast:  2 eggs fried in butter, 3 strips thick bacon, hash browns, 2 slices sourdough with butter, coffee

Usual weekend breakfast.  Need to cut the starch a bit.

Lunch:  5 Guys cheeseburger, little fries, Steak n Shake chocolate shake

Snack:  Chips and onion dip.  Meh.

Dinner:  Bowl of homemade vegetable beef soup.

Exercise:  3+ hours of moving.  Moving stuff that is.

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Missing That Push

Monday, November 3, 2014

I am closer to doing what I need to do but I am not yet doing it.  Today I got up when I was supposed to get up.  I actually woke up at 4:30 again, got up at 5, and promptly did NOTHING.  For hours.  Just moping.

There is a switch somewhere inside me that needs to be flipped.  I just don't know exactly what it will take to flip it.  I mean, if I don't do something about this extra weight and poor physical condition my life expectancy won't amount to much.  I need to do something.  And yet I mope and muddle along.  Pathetic.

Breakfast:  Tim Horton's bacon,egg and cheese biscuit, 10 pc timbits, coffee

Lunch:

Dinner:

Exercise:

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Wish You Were Here

Sunday, November 2, 2014
Day 2, Try X

Glad to have daylight savings time today.  I was a little later than I wanted getting to sleep last night - need to banish the screen from the bedroom, which I'll start tonight hopefully.  And although I woke up a couple of times I still managed to sleep decently I think.  I kinda want to get a fitbit or something to monitor how I"m sleeping these days, but I probably won't.

Anyway, not quite the usual Sunday.  I will need to work a bunch today, so no golf and probably not much in the way of exercise.  Which is unfortunate.  Oh well.

Breakfast:  2 eggs fried in a bit of butter, 3 strips OM thick cut bacon, Alexia hash browns cooked in butter, a little Sargento 4 state cheddar, sourdough toast with butter, coffee

Delicious despite some small FAILs 

I fried the eggs instead of scrambling them.  Good both ways when mixed up with hash browns and cheese!  I haven't been adding a ton of cheese but it does add a nice dimension.  Ate the extra heel of the bread, which was pretty small.  Got it out of the freezer, making room for the new loaf I bought yesterday!

Lunch:  5 Guys cheeseburger, little fries.  Same as yesterday.  Unusual to do 2x in one weekend.

Dinner:  Broiled chicken, wild rice pilaf, green beans, a little cheese sauce, 1/2 corn muffin with butter, a couple of sugar cookies

Snack:  McDonalds medium fries, medium chocolate shake

Exercise:  Nope.

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A New November

Saturday, November 1, 2014
A convenient day to call "Day 1, try X"

Well, as has been the trend lately, a brief period of effort fizzled out in the face of adversity.  And by adversity I mean stress induced by work, poor sleep and that sort of thing.  Oh, and apathy.

That said, there has been a meaningful change in my life this past week.  As a result, I should be able to fix (after a year and a half) my sleep schedule.  I can go back to what was working for me.  I'm looking forward to it.  Getting there will be a little bumpy -- I have gone to bed early the last couple nights in order to catch up and I think I'm finally there -- woke up at 4:30 this morning.

Anyway, I will need to make some diet adjustments which probably aren't happening until the week gets rolling but this is still a big deal.  It's not all positive, not at all, but as relates to my personal physical health it's a pretty big deal.  Now I just need to muster some serious want-to.

Breakfast:  Usual breakfast of kings:  2 CF jumbo eggs scrambled in cooked in bit of butter, 3 strips OM thick sliced bacon, Alexia hash browns cooked in butter, a bit of Sargento 4 state cheddar, sourdough toast with butter, coffee.

Dunno why but I like the way this looks in the giant IKEA bowl

It's a bit much but it sure is good.  If I destarch it some it will continue.

Lunch:  A couple small bowls of chili with jalapenos, sour cream, cheese, oyster crackers.  Several slices of cornbread with butter.  A donut and coffee.

Played in a golf event, ate what was there.

Dinner:  5 Guys cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, grilled onion, mushrooms and jalapenos, little fries with lots of ketchup.

Standard 5G order.  So delicious.

Dessert:  Culvers medium chocolate shake.  Okay, this was really not necessary.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart.  Tired thanks to getting up early and bad eating and being fat.

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After Party

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Day 9

Ugh.  I didn't do so good digesting last night's megameal.  I didn't even consider eating anything until mid-morning and then ate almost nothing.  I had "lunch" at 3:00.  

It surely didn't help that I slept VERY poorly last night.  I may need to put the hard surface sleeping on hiatus until I get into a better routine.

Breakfast:  2 slices Kraft sharp cheddar, 3 slices leftover CF garlic pepper bacon, large McDonalds coffee

Lunch:  5 Guys cheeseburger, little fries with lots of ketchup

Dinner:

Exercise:  Nope.   Golf rained out and physically a wreck today.

124.6

Yerbl

Monday, October 13, 2014
Day 8

I was not inspired by anything today.  It was bad.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee

Lunch:  Corn bread scramble with pico de gallo, diced redskin potatoes

Dinner:  16 oz ribeye, mashed potatoes, salad with ranch, firecracker shrimp, 32 oz IPA beer, carrot cake.

Got an invite out to dinner at one of the very best restaurants in town and over did it.  Big time.

Exercise:  Nope.

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Possibly Payback

Sunday, October 12, 2014
Day 7

Well, the other shoe dropped.  I got very little sleep Friday night, ended up doing just fine all day Saturday and then at bedtime the light switch was flipped off HARD.  I woke up this morning with the alarm and didn't even pretend to get up ... shut it all the way off and slept ... until 11:15.  Oops.  Now everything is all sorts of messed up and who knows how I will handle getting stuff done before tomorrow.

Oh well.  The good news is that I feel pretty decent.

Brunch:  2 jumbo CF eggs scrambled with a splash of whole milk and cooked in a bit of butter, 4 slices CF garlic pepper bacon, Alexia hash browns cooked in butter, maybe an ounce of Kraft triple cheddar cheese, 1 slice sourdough toast with butter, coffee

Add a splash of hot sauce and you have a feast

Delicious as always.  This is really dialed in.  Of course it is a bit too much food - forgivable because of today's wonkiness - and definitely too starchy.  But it is real food, cooked at home.  And it is yum.

Snack:  Small bag of peanuts.  I should have paid attention to what size - 1.0 oz?  1.75 oz?

Dinner:  Spaghetti with ground beef, green beans with cheddar cheese, garlic toast, 12 oz Miller Lite, 12 oz Two Hearted Ale

Ugh, Sunday dinners.  They tend to be not so diet friendly.  Oh well.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart.  Not much extra walking.  Did feel peppier due to good sleep though!

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Screwing Up Something Non Diet

Saturday, October 11, 2014
Day 6

Well then.  After last night's dinner FAIL, I had a routine do-nothing evening.  Went to sleep a little later than usual, actually fell asleep on the couch.

And then I woke up at 2:30.

2:30 a.m.  Ugh.  I tried to go back to sleep.  Got a drink of water, worked out a little cramp, crawled in bed.  No luck.  Shortly after 5:00 I got up and did a little reading.  I dozed lightly about 7:00 and finally gave up about 9:30.  Today is now TOTALLY screwed up.

Brunch:  2 CF jumbo eggs scrambled with a splash of whole milk and cooked in butter.   5 strips CF garlic pepper bacon.  Maybe an ounce of Kraft triple cheddar.  Alexia hash browns cooked in butter.  1 slice sourdough with ample butter.  Coffee

Oh yeah, and a little hot sauce.  Must have hot sauce.

How is that for a meal with lots of butter?   And lots of starch.  I could have skipped the toast but decided to have a slice before I put the loaf into the freezer.  Anyway, at least it was brunch.  I didn't eat immediately when I got up and hopefully now will be good until dinner, which might be shaded a bit early.

Snack:  Zucchini cooked in a bit of olive oil, topped with avocado, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.

Waste of a perfectly good avocado if you ask me...

Some times you have to try something different.  This sounded like a good idea -- a recipe from a blog.  But ... yuck.  I ate less than half.  I just don't like zucchini.  Oh well.

Dinner:  Leftover pot roast, 3 small russet potatoes boiled, peas, 12 oz Bells Two Hearted Ale

Too many potatoes?  Well, yeah.  But yum.

A very solid dinner, topped off with a nice beer.  Not the most diet-friendly stuff, but it's cool.

Exercise:  If I had possessed just a little bit more zip at 5:00 I could have walked.  But given that I got maybe 3 hours of sleep before I woke up, it was not happening.  9 holes golf, with cart.

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Favor In Small Progressions

Friday, October 10, 2014
Day 5

Happy Friday.  Assuming that I make it through today that will mark one five day work week of reasonable compliance and general apathy toward the stuff that has been killing me.  As I know intellectually it hasn't been that hard.  Sure there is a little kid inside screaming that it's not fair, but it's still not that hard.  My brain actually won out a few times this week, including at the store yesterday.  I considered buying a 85% cocoa chocolate bar for the freezer but was able to think about it long enough to make a conscious decision to just stay away for the time being.

Then again I did buy ketchup so that I could make dozen island dressing if I get around to making those meatballs, so it's not like I'm perfect.

Anyway, today should be another fairly routine day to be followed by a busy weekend.  I need to find time to cook, hopefully I can.

Breakfast:  2 slices Kraft big slice sharp cheddar, coffee

Standard.  For now.

Lunch:  Cheddar cheese and sausage omelet, pancakes with "butter" and coffee.

Sausage.  LOTS of sausage.  Seemed like cut up links, too.

That kind of day.  Went out.  Had sausage instead of gravy with my omelet and it was just fine that way.  So a nice little dip in bad stuff there.  Still a lot of food.

Dinner:  Lots of deluxe thin crust pizza, salad with italian, 24 oz Two Hearted

Invited out.  Went.  Ate too much good food.  This is a fail, but at least it was a delicious fail.  No picture due to being with company in public.

Exercise:  Nope.

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A General Failure of Motivation

Thursday, October 9, 2014
Day 4

Hooray for inertia!  Seriously.  In just four days I have developed some pretty good apathy toward eating bad stuff.  It fits right in with everything else -- today I have been VERY unmotivated.  It has been appalling.

I did make it to the grocery store this afternoon so that I could pick up some additional veggies and stuff.  I am prepared to make another batch of soup and I have a few salad fixings as well.  Now I just have to decide what to have for dinner tonight!

Breakfast:  1 big slice Kraft sharp cheddar, coffee.

No photo.

Lunch:  Omelet with bacon, green pepper, onion, cheddar cheese.   1 slice sourdough toast with butter.

Still very hard to go wrong with breakfast

I decided to go out (dubious, but it's that kind of day) and went with a western omelet except I asked for bacon in place of the ham.  It was quite good.

Dinner:  1/2 of a package of Tyson pot roast with gravy, 1 boiled russet potato, green salad (Dole Mediterranian however that is spelled mix, pickle, salsa verde)

Roughage.  Yup.

Why do I like potatoes so darned much?

I think this was the first time I tried one of the pre-cooked entrees of this type.  It was pretty decent.  Not the same quality as local meat prepared with all real ingredients, but still pretty good.  And it was very easy, which is obvious, since that's the selling point.

Interestingly (to me anyway), the package calorie count for the pot roast and gravy was only 630.  Officially 3.5 servings, but to me it's two modestly sized portions.  Still, a little over 300 calories isn't bad at all -- add another 100some for the potato and not much for the salad and it's a light meal.

Exercise:  On a day of zero motivation?  I don't think so.

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Maybe Not Quite As Sluggish

Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Day 3

I woke up and got up on (the late) schedule this morning, which was good.  I did not, however, rush around and charge into the day.  Instead I was a slug again, just not as much.  Fortunately I did have something that I needed to do at work so I couldn't dawdle too much.  It is going to be a busy day.

Breakfast:  ~ 1 slice Kraft sharp cheddar (Big Slice), coffee

I say ~ 1 slice because this package is very crumbly.  Sometimes that happens.  Oh well.  It's still good.  I do think I should get away from eating just cheese for breakfast -- someday I should try no dairy but I don't see that happening soon.  It is just too convenient.  Convenience is the key.  And that reminds me, in one of the low carb cookbooks there was a meatball recipe where the author mentioned how good they were cold with thousand island dressing.  I might have to make a batch of those sometime, I remember the recipe as being pretty good!

Lunch:  Cheddar cheese omelet with sausage gravy, 3 pancakes with butter/margarine, coffee

 I need to learn to ask ... is it butter or margarine?

I almost had enough time to stop home for lunch but as it turned out I did not.  So out I went when I got a break - not until 2:00! - and got breakfast.  Next time I think I'll try just getting sausage instead of the gravy.  Of course I should skip the pancakes but I think I'm not too worried about having starch with one meal.  I will just need to be good come dinner time, and judging from how full I am I don't think that will be a problem!

Dinner:  Homemade vegetable beef soup, 1 slice sourdough toast with lots of butter

Mmmm soup

I can (and will) eat this all the time.  It's such a simple soup, but it's good.  I'm sure I could find ways to punch up the flavor even more, but I like it just fine.  And the one slice of toast is a pleasant complement.  In the future I may find that I need to axe the toast, for now let's see how it goes.

Dinner also notable for being later than usual - I actually didn't need to eat right away when I got home!  It would be awesome if that continued.

Randomly, I find myself quite curious about how many calories I took in today.  Obviously breakfast was just over 100.  Dinner seems like 600-700 at most.  Lunch, who knows.  1500?  Regardless, with even a little activity I will lose weight if I eat less than 2500.

Exercise:  Nope.  As mentioned, sluggish.  And late afternoon the sinus allergy issue really kicked my butt.  I don't like to do *anything* when it's there.  I'm a wimp.

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Sluggish

Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Day 2

As you might expect, I am not real perky today.  The end of yesterday wasn't too bad -- I was a little hungry but not enough that it was bothersome.  And I was pleasantly surprised to not have any kind of sugar craving.  I have definitely liked being off sugar in the past but that stuff is everywhere and it's addictive.

Breakfast:  Coffee

I dinked around a long time this morning, very glad I didn't have any early appointments.  And knowing that I would be having an early lunch I went with no breakfast.  I don't think this will be a regular choice - I really should eat *something*, but I will probably keep it fairly light.  I think that best fits my skewed schedule right now.  If I were to go back to getting up early and going to sleep early I would want to make dinner the lightest meal.

Lunch:  3 jumbo CF eggs scrambled with a splash of whole milk and cooked in a small pat of butter, ~ 2 oz Meijer honey ham, an ounce or so of Kraft multi-cheddar shredded cheese, 2 crusts sourdough toast with lots of butter

Eggs were good again, yay

Had to call an audible on this - I forgot to pull out a soup and getting it out of the jar from a completely frozen state just doesn't work.  At least I don't have the patience to make it work!

It was fine.  It's interesting how my tastes are changing - I used to really love ham.  Now, most ham just seems inferior.  I don't know if it's the pork, the factory "cure" or what, but it just doesn't taste nearly as good as I think it should.  If I can find a kind that I like I think I'll stick with it, even if it costs more.  Not a fan of this kind!

Dinner: 1/2 lb hamburger with mayo, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, french fries with ketchup, 16 oz Bells two hearted ale, 16 oz Miller Lite

Not exactly diet food.  The good news is that I don't feel out of control.  No doubling down.  Just a meal out with friends.

Exercise:  9 holes with cart, no extra walking

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