Flailing

Friday, June 19, 2015

Yuck.

Breakfast:  2 McDonalds breakfast burritos, large coffee ($4.31)

Lunch:  Turkey reuben with chips ($9.95 incl tip)

Snack:  2 Taco Bell chicken burritos ($4.01)

Dinner:  1/2 deluxe pizza, dinner salad with italian, ~24 oz Miller Lite  ($7.00)

Exercise:  9 holes with cart

Total spent:   $25.27

Waiting for Weekend

Thursday, June 18, 2015

More fail.

Breakfast:  Taco Bell sausage crunchwrap, coffee  ($4.22)

Lunch:  Qdoba burrito bowl  ($8.90)

Dinner:  Domino's thin crust pizza w/ ham, pepperoni and onion ($8.47)

Exercise:  45 min core and arms

Total Spent:  $21.59

Weak Wednesday

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Bah again.

Breakfast:  2 McDonalds breakfast burritos, large coffee ($4.23)

Lunch:  2 eggs over medium, 3 bacon, 2 sausage links, coffee ($9.95 incl tip)

Dinner:  Little Caesars pepperoni pizza ($6.55)

Exercise:  Nope.

Total Spent:  $20.73.  Again way too much.

Terribleish Tuesday

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Bah.  Catching up.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, large Tim Horton's coffee ($1.91)

Lunch:  Gluten free place club wrap with side of fruit, coffee, peanut butter cookie ($14.19)

Also:  Taco Bell chicken burrito, 2 spicy tostadas ($4.00)

Dinner:  Hamburger patties, american cheese, a little potato salad, some salad, 36 oz Miller Lite ($23.00)

Exercise:  45 minutes leg and core, 9 holes with cart

Total spent:  $43.10.  Yikes.

A Mondayish Monday

Monday, June 15, 2015

Tired.  Slept pretty well but did not want to get up.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, a few potato chips, large McDonalds coffee ($1.79)

Lunch:  2 eggs over medium, 3 strips bacon, some hash browns, coffee ($7.30 incl tip)

Next time ... DOUBLE BACON

I ate maybe half of the hash browns.  That was way too many.

Dinner:  2 mexican style tacos and 2 american style tacos ($5.30), the rest of the chips, 24 oz Shiner Bock (on hand)

Weird packaging for the loss

Must be Monday.  Oh, and there was hot sauce involved.

Exercise:  Nope.

Total Spent:  $14.39.  Too much.

A Bad Day

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Not feeling it.

Breakfast:  None

Lunch:  5 Guys cheeseburger, little cajun fries  ($9.31)

Dinner:  Hamburger, mac n cheese, celery with ranch, a little fruit, some potato chips, 12 oz Labatt Light, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream

Also:  Culver's chicken fingers with ranch, chips and dip, 12 oz Shiner Bock  ($5.29)

Exercise:  Nope.

Total Spent:  $34.60, figuring about $20 spent on food at Meijer.

Additional Fail

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Sigh.  Bad eating, bad everything.  At least I got in a lovely nap this afternoon.  More of the same tomorrow I am afraid, I have a birthday party to attend.

Breakfast:  2 eggs over medium, bacon, hash browns, 2 slices raisin toast, coffee ($18.44 for 2 incl tip)

This place doesn't go crazy, so the hash browns aren't over the top.  It was okay.

Lunch:  Reuben panini, french fries, ketchup, 12 oz Miller Lite ($3.00 for tip)

Same, no crazy quantities.

Dinner:  English muffin with cream cheese, 12 oz Shiner Bock

Beer, it's what's for dinner.  Cleaning out the fridge some.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, lots of hiking

Total spent:  $21.44

Ample Fail

Friday, June 12, 2015

Not a very impressive finish to the week.

Breakfast:  McDonalds sausage mcmuffin, small coffee ($2.85)

Had a blood draw, couldn't eat at home.

Lunch:  Salad ($6.53)

Salad.

Okay.

Dinner:  Qdoba burrito bowl ($8.90)

Okay.

When nothing else sounds good there is always Qdoba.

Also:  Shiner Bock + small bag of Jays hot stuff pork rinds ($10.85)

One down so far, might have a second.

Exercise:  Nope.  Not a good day.

Total Spent:  $29.13.  Oof.

Canceled With Regret

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Frustrating day.  I had a meeting run way long, resulting in cancellation of my scheduled workout.  Not good.  At least tomorrow is Friday, I think I will crash early tonight.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, large Tim Hortons coffee ($1.91)

Lunch:  Salad ($5.93)

Well this is certainly a crummy picture

I remembered to take a picture after I had already eaten the cottage cheese.  Otherwise, just your basic salad, though I got breaded chicken bites instead of ham cubes.

Dinner:  Qdoba burrito bowl ($8.90)

Looks weird, tastes great

The usual assortment of stuff.  The girl making it took my 'light cheese' very literally for once, but I more than made up for it in the queso department...

Edit:  Hungry tonight, no idea why.  Gong to add some greek yogurt to the totals.  (on hand ldo)

Exercise:  Nope.  Argh.

Total Spent:  $16.74.  Too much.

Heavily Breaded

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

I guess today has been okay.  On the plus side I got a wonderful night of sleep, about 8 hours.  Felt pretty good this morning.  On the negative, I am not terribly inspired especially with work and to exercise.  Oh well, I guess it doesn't all come easy.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, large McDonalds coffee ($1.79)

Had the coffee mid-morning for a change, still tasted good.

Lunch:  Omelet with andouille sausage, green pepper, onion and creole sauce, coffee ($9.95 incl tip)

Not really the most inspiring picture, is it?

Pretty standard and quite tasty.  Now if I can just convince them to make me a breakfast bowl.

Dinner:  English muffin with veggie cream cheese, 3 breaded fish filets, some avocado, a slug of V-8, greek yogurt (all on hand)

Avocado FAIL right here

Not everything is pictured, obviously.  I ate the muffin while waiting for the fish -- I had planned to have salad but of course the salad mix I opened this weekend was no longer edible.  I ate maybe half of the avocado, it really wasn't ripe all the way through.  The fish was delicious but had too much breading.  I wonder if there is a "lightly breaded" version available.  And I had yogurt for dessert.

Too much starch.  I need to get over my dislike of going to the grocery store and get more fresh veggies.  I could have made some canned green beans or something, but I didn't.  Again, oh well.

Exercise:  Nope.  Should have!

Total spent:  $11.74.  Not too bad.

Versus Buffet Take Two?

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Another day.  Posting this a day behind because I forgot to bring my computer home.   Oops.

I was looking forward to the dinner buffet tonight because it said it was a gyro buffet.  I love gyros.  And in the end ... it was just chicken gyros.  Boo.  Total false advertising.  I passed and ate at home.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, large McDonalds coffee ($1.79)

Lunch:  Salad  ($6.05)

Yes, I ate it with a spoon.  No forks available.

Pre-golf:  English muffin with veggie cream cheese (on hand)

Golf:  48 oz Miller Lite ($14.00)

Dinner:  Ham/salami sandwich with mustard on sourdough, 1/2 dill pickle, Greek Gods yogurt with raspberry spread. (on hand)

Not too thrilling but edible none the less

Exercise:  45 minutes mostly core, 9 holes with cart

Total spent:  $21.84, a lot but not bad for a golf day.

Sweet Sleep

Monday, June 8, 2015

Ohh, nice.  Finally a good night of sleep.  I did NOT want to get up this morning.  No cramps, no discomfort of any kind, just solid, solid sleep.  It was beautiful.  Let's see if it continues ... I will not be drinking wine for the time being, I will say that!

Anyway, off to a slow start.  Lots to do today but not much enthusiasm.  Hopefully it kicks up a couple of notches!

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, large Tim Hortons coffee ($1.91).

I forgot to set up the coffee maker and didn't feel like doing it this morning.  Oh well.

Lunch:  Salad ($6.18).

I even tossed in a couple of strawberries!

Late and on the road, stopped at a grocery chain and made a salad.  This may become a regular feature.  It's not cheap but it's not awful, either - restaurant prices are definitely higher...

Dinner:  4 tacos - 3 mexican style with cheese, 1 american style ($5.30)

Now that's a crummy angle for a photo.  Good grief!

Taco Monday.  I justify it by noting that I went back to work for a couple hours after picking these up and I didn't get home until after 8:00.  A bit much but quite tasty.

Exercise:  Nope.  Regrettably not.   Going to try and get up earlier tomorrow, it would be huge to get a walk in and get that sleep schedule fixed up.

Total Spent:  $13.39.  I note that I was ~ $50 too high last week, need to cut the coffee and either eat out less or put less food in the fridge.  Or both!

Cramp Style

Sunday June 7, 2015

Another annoying night with the cramps.  Foot and ankle, 2:30 a.m..  Calf, 3:45 a.m.  Calf again 5:45 a.m. And one more time when the alarm went off.  Ended up dozing back off, no surprise given that sleep came in such small chunks.  Each time it happens I have to get up and walk around - there is no laying there and usually no sitting, too painful.

Some random googling suggests that there is a chance that the wine is a factor.  It doesn't seem likely that I have other common issues, particularly dehydration - I drink a lot of water.  I finished off the bottle last night, no more wine for a while, let's see if that's potentially a thing.  Sulfites may be the issue.

Anyway, today is already kind of screwed up.  I have lots to do, and yet I think the weather forecast is for thunderstorms which may mess things up.

Breakfast:  English muffin with veggie cream cheese, glass of V-8 juice (on hand)

Needs MOAR protein

I didn't eat until almost 10:00 so by then I was thinking something fast.  I didn't even make coffee.

Lunch:  McDonalds double cheeseburger, small coffee ($2.85)

Went to an open house which made me almost late to golf, so it was this or nothing.   I almost went Taco Bell for a cantina bowl but just could not pull the trigger.  Of note, felt crappy after eating this.

Also:   Sleeve of roasted peanuts (comped)

Didn't remember the weight but the package said 290 calories.

Dinner:  Large square of baked spaghetti, 3 slices garlic toast, small salad with thousand island, 16 oz Miller Lite.

In case you were wondering, no, I did not eat the whole thing!

FAIL.  Terrible menu for me and I didn't show restraint.  The good news is that the rest of the day was probably 1,000 calories, so I'm only a few hundred over instead of thousands.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart.  Nothing else of note, lazy day.

Total Spent:  $2.85.  Should have been zero.

The Good Kind of Loose

Saturday, June 6, 2015

A very pleasant feeling this morning.  No aches or pains - though I did sleep the last hour through a mild cramp in my foot - and my clothes were a bit looser!  Yes!  Even small amounts of positive change are super reinforcing.

Speaking of cramps, I've now had them the last two nights.  I wonder if there could be any connection to drinking wine?  I don't usually see any obvious correlations, so who knows.  Might need some more potassium also.

Managed to avoid drinking any beer after golf, which helped with dietary stuff and not spending money!

Breakfast:  English muffin with veggie cream cheese (on hand), large McDonalds coffee ($1.79)

I should not eat this every day, but it was quite tasty.  I ate it too quickly, I think, because my mind was still in full CONSUME mode after I finished it.  But no problem.  Ate a little earlier than usual as I needed to be out the door by 7:30, but it held pretty well.  I didn't need to eat again until lunch was ready at 2:00.

Lunch:  2 medium eggs fried in a bit of butter, 3 strips Meijer thick sliced bacon, a modest quantity of Alexa hash browns cooked in butter, a slug of V-8 juice and a packet of Taco Bell fire sauce (all on hand).

Standard.  Needed salt and pepper.

The new stove is not as powerful as the stove in the old place as the hash browns did not get crispy.  I probably could have used less butter as well for the small quantity I made - it wasn't more than a cup.  That reminds me, I should find my kitchen scale.  Another item missing, also need to find the salt and pepper.  This was all just fine though.

Dinner:  Grass fed NY Strip Steak, asparagus grilled with a little olive oil (all on hand)

STEAK.

First time I have grilled in a while and the first time ever for asparagus.  I was pretty pleased with the results, I think I ate about 6 oz of steak (it was just under 8oz on the package) and almost all of the asparagus.

Also:  Planning on drinking the rest of the riesling, so presumably another 2 glasses.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart.  I really should locate and start using the regular pedometer, because I don't keep my phone in my pocket when golfing!

Total Spent:  $1.79.  Win and it could have been zero if I had hooked up the coffee maker.

A Most Unusual Sensation Satiation

Friday, June 5, 2015

Settling into the routine.  It is not proving to be too difficult, really.  I'm eating less breakfast and making better, if not perfect, choices at lunch and dinner.  An occasional treat is nice too - a beer, a glass of wine, some fruit, that sort of thing.

Anyway, today's title is based on something that is super weird to me.  I went to the grocery store after work and took way too long.  I spent quite a while debating what I wanted to get for dinner and could not decide.  A rotisserie chicken?  Mini meatloaf?  Something else?  I finally gave up and just decided to have a chef salad using some of the stuff I was buying.  Anyway, long story short, I'm famished.  I get home, throw stuff in the fridge, quick make dinner.  I sit down, eat half of the english muffin with cream cheese and ... I'm satiated.  SAY WHAT?  I'm never full, at least not anytime close to when I start eating.  Never.  Well, except yesterday when the same thing happened before I really dug into the eggs.

This is so strange to me, but I sure hope it continues.  If I am not hungry and know right away that it will make me uncomfortable to eat a bunch more ... I won't.  This would be a revolutionary change.  I could eat one slice of pizza instead of five!  That sort of thing.  If only I knew why!

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar (on hand), large McDonald's coffee ($1.79)

Standard.  I'll hook up the coffee maker this weekend.

Lunch:  Omelet with andouille sausage, green pepper, onion, maybe cheese and cajun sauce, coffee ($9.95 incl tip)

Not the greatest ever but still solid

Also pretty standard.  And good.  And hot.  Yum

Dinner:  Chef salad (salad mix, mushrooms, ham, salami, ranch dressing), 1/2 dill pickle, Aunt Millie's sourdough english muffin toasted with Kraft veggie whipped cream cheese (on hand after spending $41.08 at Meijer)

Don't know why I couldn't eat more SALAD

Oh my goodness, that english muffin was tasty.  And I have like five more for the week!  Not as many calories as a bagel, I suspect.  But very good.  As mentioned I couldn't eat the whole salad, I ate maybe half of it.  I did eat the dill pickle.

Also:  Will have a couple more glasses of wine.  2012 Chateau Ste Michelle reisling, so a little sweet.

Exercise:  Nope.  Beautiful evening but I didn't get home until after 7:30, made dinner and soon I'll be ready to crash.  Not a great week for sleep.

Total spent:  $11.64 plus $41.08 at the store, so $52.72.  I did buy a dish brush.

Non-Titled

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Pretty happy with how things are going.  Not perfect, of course.  But well enough!

I am really starting to look forward to working diligently on my sleep schedule and getting into a regular walking routine.  I know that I cannot fix everything overnight - not even over a few months.  But each day I make the necessary effort is one day closer to the end goal.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar (on hand), large McDonalds coffee  ($1.79)

I didn't quite have enough gusto last night to get the coffee maker cleaned and set up.  I do have it unpacked which is progress and I have a fresh can of coffee in the pantry, so it's not like it will take a major effort ... and that will save me several dollars a week if I break the drive thru coffee habit.

Lunch:   Gluten-free club wrap, side salad with ranch, coffee ($11.54 incl tip)  Oh, and a tiny sample bite of carrot cake

I don't usually like weird lettuce that much but this was good!

Yum!  Bigger than it looks, it was quite satisfying.

Tried a new gluten free cafe and bakery.  They don't have a super extensive menu and I was bummed to see that they stop serving their breakfast options at 11, but ... this was really good!  It was today's lunch special.  I didn't ask what recipe they used to make the wrap - hopefully it wasn't primarily soy, but it was thin enough that it isn't a big deal.  Everything was very fresh and tasty.  The ranch was the runniest dressing ever which makes me think they might have made it on site instead of buying Kraft.  I'll eat here again!

Dinner:  3 medium CF eggs, scrambled and cooked in a bit of butter, a little shredded cojack cheese, 4 strips Meijer thick sliced bacon, generous glass of low sodium V-8 juice.  (all on hand)

Return of the eggs.  The hash browns were too old so they got pitched

While I thought I was hungry when I got home, I couldn't eat all of this.  I did eat the bacon - note to self, that's a LOT of bacon, you need less with the thick sliced - but only about half of the eggs.  They were good, I was just full.  I didn't have any veggies to jazz them up, too bad, so I opened a bottle of V-8 that's been languishing in the fridge for quite a while.

Also:  I cooked dinner at home!  This is a big deal.  I have been eating out, getting take out, pizza, convenience stuff I can eat at home.  Tonight I ate real food I cooked.  Yes.

I think I will probably crack open a bottle of wine in a bit.

Exercise:   45 minute arm and core.  This one felt like work, most exercises were to failure.  Less stretching.  And can you believe that I forgot for a minute and initially typed "none"??

Total Spent:  $13.33.  Not unhappy about this.  If I can eliminate the coffee in the morning and eat small dinners at home I can eat out quite often for lunch during the week and still hit my budget.

Repeats For Free

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

So far, so good.  Not everything is in place yet - my sleep schedule is still a mess, I'm not fixing enough food at home, that sort of thing.  But progress is being made.  Some progress.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar (on hand), medium black Tim Hortons coffee ($1.70)

Deception!  I got a flier yesterday that said there would be a $1 special today.  Nope.  Oh well, they got an extra sixty-four cents from me.

Lunch:  Omelet with andouille sausage, green pepper, onion, cajun sauce.  Coffee  ($9.95 incl tip)

Looks kinda funny without the toast!

Very tasty and piping hot!  I cannot say just how much I love getting piping hot food.  It is such a rarity.

Dinner:  Qdoba burrito bowl (FREE)

featuring lots of FREE QUAC

Went with the same combo as yesterday, and I only went back because I knew it would be free thanks to points on my Qdoba card.  Yum.  A lot of food and a lot of calories.

Also:  16 oz Miller Lite.  Last can in the house, from now on I'll try not to keep it on hand.  Will still have a couple at the golf course though.

Exercise:  Nope.  Not real close to getting up early (was up until ~ 1:00 before I slept), had early work to do, being a bum this evening.  Too bad, because it's nice out there.  Quite sedentary according to phone app also, with < 3000 steps.  Yuck.

Total spent:  $11.65.  Still too much but a lot more like it.

Versus Buffet

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

A second day with a post.  This is a positive trend, even if I'm not being perfect.

It really is interesting how quickly I notice improvements.  Even as soon as this morning there were some body parts that feel better.  Even one day of consciously trying to avoid sugar is helpful.  Now if I can just avoid the starches and get rid of some excess fluid that would be outstanding.

Breakfast:  2 slices Kraft big slice sharp cheddar (on hand), large Tim Horton's coffee ($1.91)

Back feeling better means I could easily get food out of the fridge!  Now I just need to clean it out, restock a few good things to eat and really push hard to not eat out all the time!

Lunch:  A large salad bar salad with lots of ingredients and ranch dressing ($6.58)

Salad instead of eggs!  A radical idea!

Let's see, bad things.  Dressing.  A little cheese.  Umm. Maybe a few too many olives, I dunno.  Bacon bits.  But lots of good low calorie vegetables and some ham chunks and a little chicken.  Vegetables actually sounded good!  I decided to do this in anticipation of a bigger dinner - it's buffet night, probably.

Dinner:  Qdoba naked burrito, 3 Miller Lites during golf ($8.90 + $11.00)

That's a lot of calories I think.

I couldn't decide what I wanted for dinner, the buffet didn't appeal to me.  Finally ended up at Qdoba.  Went with rice, pinto beans, shredded beef, fajita veg, queso diablo, pico, hot salsa, light cheese and sour cream, guac.  I think that's it!  First time trying the shredded beef, I usually get steak.  It was pretty good, will get it again.

Exercise:  45 minute core workout - stretching and some light weight exercises, mostly.  I've been doing this for a month now, twice a week, and I am actually coming to enjoy it.  Also, 9 holes with cart.

Total Spent:  $ 28.39 - expensive day!

A Quasi-Successful Day!

Monday, June 1, 2015

It wasn't a clean win but it was pretty good.  I'll take it for a start.  I was not able to get up this morning to walk, and as it turns out it didn't matter much -- when I did get up I had back pain (very unusual) and barely was able to hobble around getting ready for work.   Maybe tomorrow.

My scale is packed away in a storage unit somewhere where I won't be seeing it any time soon, so I won't have any weigh ins for the foreseeable future.  Oh well, it's easy to judge how it's going based on how the clothes fit!

Breakfast:  Large black McDonalds coffee.  ($1.79)

I would have had to bend over to access the fridge for food, so I elected to skip it.  It wasn't a big deal, though I probably shouldn't drink coffee on an empty stomach.

Lunch:  3 eggs over medium, italian sausage link with green peppers and onions, coffee  ($9 incl tip)

My old favorite place closed, so no more avocado bacon omelet.  This was a decent choice.  It's better with hash browns obviously but oh well, smart eating is smart eating.

Dinner:  4 tacos - 3 mexican style with ground beef, onion, cilantro plus cheese, 1 american style.  ($5.30)

I had to work late so I just got take out.  Obviously I'm hoping to cut way back on this, but for today it was OK.  And yes, that many corn tortillas is way too much starch!

Also:  16 oz Miller Lite.  (on hand)

Exercise:  Nope.  Phone step count of 4419, lightly active.  Tomorrow will be better.

Total Spent:  $16.09