What About Those Peanuts

Friday, January 31, 2020

Despite a misstep yesterday on balance it's been a very good month.  And it's Friday which is even better.  I've been working on my list of things to try and accomplish this weekend and it's more manageable than usual.  I'm taking that as a sign that progress is happening.

Felt okay again this morning.  Actually, it was interesting, in most areas I felt lean (leaner for me, that is), with the exception of a bit more upper belly bloat.  Again makes me wonder if there is something to the idea that lineolic acid causes that sort of thing and pushes me to stay away from oils, in this case refined peanut oil at CFA.  At least that's what I think they use, I can't say that I looked.  I know it's not lard, tallow or butter.

On a related note, I bought some peanuts a couple weeks ago and they're just sitting (in sealed cans, not in shells).  I wonder if I'll end up eating them.

Midday edit:  Ooh!  My new mattress came this morning!  I'm not going to be able to stop smiling all afternoon.  I assume it'll have to "inflate" for a day or two before I can sleep on it, but it's here.  So excited.

Lunch:  Ham and bean soup with bacon, 2 buttermilk wheat rolls with lots of butter, 2 oz expired guac

Freezer meals are great.  Rolls were frozen too, then thawed overnight in the fridge.  All good.

Dinner:  4 strips Kiolbassa pepper bacon, 3 slices extra sharp cheddar, 2 rolls with butter, Fage cherry TruBlend yogurt

Cleaning some stuff up.  Should have been quick and easy but the bacon was being fussy.  That's what I get for trying something different.

Time to go see if I can unroll the mattress, hoping to sleep on it Sunday night.

Exercise:  Nope.

116.8

All Expired Dinner

Thursday, January 30, 2020

An all around average day.  Nothing too good, nothing too bad.  No great accomplishments.  Didn't feel great, didn't feel awful.  All average.

Had a checkup with the doc, glad that my blood pressure is fine.  Top number is pushing it a bit, but still OK.  Pulse was also ok.  We'll see if the blood work shows anything interesting.   

Lunch:  2x CFA spicy chicken sandwiches, side of mac and cheese

Too much, wrong stuff, stomach let me know it too.  Next time, whenever that may be, I'll get less.  I need to come up with some other enticing options that are in that area.  Maybe I'll try the Chipotle since the Qdoba is mediocre.

Dinner:  2 eggs over medium, Alexia hash browns in butter, 5 strips Kiolbasa pepper bacon, 2 oz homestyle guac

One way to tell I've been overbuying groceries:  Most of the dinner items were past their good by date.  Seriously.  I figured the bacon and guac were probably just fine since they were sealed - the guac was definitely past its prime but edible.  I can't read the date on the eggs, they're probably close but there is only one left in the carton and they're eggs.  At least the hash browns weren't out of date as far as I know and the butter was fresh.  Sheesh.

Exercise:  Well, sorta.  I spent an hour and fifteen minutes wandering around Meijer, worked up a sweat since I was wearing my winter coat.  Need to stop doing that.  Pretty weak but I'm counting it.

116.2

Possibly Unblocked Or Less Blocked

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Feeling so positive I'm taking a break at work to start today's post.  I woke up this morning and felt okay, nothing especially great or bad.  Snoozed a bit but got going in a timely fashion.  No major aches and pains - leg is down to what basically feels like a contusion in the mid-femur area, foot okay.  Did the usual morning routine and left -- and took the stairs like a normal person.  Without feeling strained!  First time in ten days I haven't felt the need to take them very slow and cautiously.  Sure, the leg and knee issues were a major factor, but I was also just struggling.  No explanation, but man am I happy about it.  Let's hope it continues.

Lunch:  Salami, 2 slices extra sharp cheddar, leftover homemade rolls with butter, Fage cherry tru blend yogurt

Cleaned up the salami, it was a bit much.  I was quite sated.  Quick and easy, which is good since it was after 1:30 before I could eat.  Stupid meetings.

Dinner:  Leftover spicy stewed beef,  TCD style mashed potatoes with lots of butter

Really good.  The zip of the beef pairs so nicely with the richness of the buttery potatoes.  I'm a fan of this combination.

Exercise:  Nope.  On the plus side, I moved much faster today since I wasn't limping and didn't feel strained.  It was a really nice feeling.  Almost (almost!) had pep in my step.

116.4 

Taco Power

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

A moment of levity this morning.  Before stepping on the scale I summoned the power of tacos, beseeching them to give me a lower a number.  I don't know if it worked, but they did.  Despite not much activity there was a bit of a drop.  Happy and another win for tacos as diet food.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl, a little white rice, extra meat, a few peppers, red and green salsas, cheese, guacamole.

Only an OK effort, some of the rice was undercooked.  Otherwise, it did the job.  I was hungry, as it was after 2:00 before I could eat -- I have no problem going 18 hours, but beyond that I want food.  Didn't want to wait the extra half hour to get back home either.  This is not my "usual" Qdoba and I've consistently found that it's not as good.

Dinner:  Spicy stewed beef, 2 homemade buttermilk wheat rolls stuffed with a cube of extra sharp cheddar and topped with butter and a sprinkle of parmesan

Freezer find, plus I baked up the rest of my bread dough.  Works pretty good as rolls and the cheese was a fun add.  I wasn't super hungry, despite eating at 7:30, so I didn't eat the full container of beef and will have the rest tomorrow.

Exercise:  Nope.  I did switch shoes today and my foot at least felt better, noticeably less pain.  Some gradual improvement with the knee and leg, so hopefully I'll be able to do something soon.  See my doc later this week, not that I expect that to affect anything.

117.4

Synonym Needed For Wiped

Monday, January 27, 2020

Whew.  After 8:00 pm and I just got home.  Long, busy day.  Mondays.

Pretty unremarkable in most respects.  Sleep was mediocre but at least I didn't have to get up.  Not much pep when I did.  Clothes are definitely a bit looser than they were a couple weeks ago -- nothing super dramatic but it's still obvious and a good feeling.

Lunch:  Leftover pizza from Saturday night

Ate it cold, at my desk.  It was good, though it would have been better reheated.

Dinner:  4 tacos, mexican style, plus a little avocado and hot sauce

Usual Monday dinner, also eaten at my desk.  I don't like this theme.

Exercise:  Nope.  Lacking in both time and energy.  A very lame excuse but true.

118.4

Making Rolls

Sunday, January 26, 2020

A positive morning mood today.  Managed to sleep straight thru until 6, then dozed until 8 as the aches and pains -- including, unusually, a grumbly back -- weren't enough to force me awake.  Bladder finally kicked me out of bed.  I've been in no hurry to get going.  Also positive, noticed a bit of belly shrinkage.  Still super fat, blah blah blah.  Even a small visible improvement is exciting though.

Breakfast:  2 strips thick cut bacon, medium avocado, coffee

Threw out the heel of the bread yesterday, it was well past prime.  Made some dough yesterday using a different recipe and bought mini loaf pans, so tomorrow night I'll probably try baking up a mini loaf.  There will definitely be trial and error involved.

Lunch:  Leftover biscuits and gravy

Lesser quantity of gravy than yesterday, but more biscuit than expected.  Still good.

Dinner:  Chuck roast with gravy, instant potatoes, carrots, homemade buttermilk wheat rolls with butter, 12 oz Miller Lite

Only overdid it somewhat.  I used quite a bit of butter on the rolls and added some to the potatoes.  In addition to what's pictured I had a second roll, a few more carrots and another T of potatoes. Oh and I must have added the gravy after taking the pic.

I made a pan of rolls, thought they turned out nicely.

Exercise:  Nope.  Not quite as active today, more of a rest day though I did a decent number of things.  All low intensity though.

118.4

Pork n Dairy

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Glad for a weekend.  I have ambitious plans, even if I may not be too strong in the ambition department.  We'll see how things unfold.

Decided to try starting on the bed last night, switching to the recliner if needed.  I managed to fall asleep reasonably fast and stayed asleep until just before 5:00.  Wasn't too exhausted when I got up and I was not able to fall back asleep in the chair.  Gave up before 6:00 and decided to just start the day.  Remains to be seen how this will impact my productivity.

Felt a bit leaner -- of course we are talking fractionally, not significantly -- this morning even if the scale didn't show it.  I've been pretty liberal in my starch consumption this week and should probably reduce it some, but I'm not going to worry too much as long as it's primarily a carrier for butter instead of a standalone.

Breakfast:  3 strips thick cut bacon, bread and butter, medium avocado, coffee

A very enjoyable breakfast.  Easy too since I had cooked the bacon yesterday.  Avocado was just perfection, completely ripe and so good. 

Lunch:  Homemade spelt buttermilk biscuits with homemade sausage gravy w CF sausage

Wasn't entirely sure how this was going to turn out, but it turned out quite good.  Used up a sausage that's been sitting in the freezer for a while.  As for the biscuits, note to self:  Butter the pan.  Doh.  The parts that didn't stick were pretty good, though they didn't rise as much as hoped.

Pretty frustrated right now with how I feel right now.  It's physically hard to do much of anything, between the leg and just generally feeling, I dunno, strained.   Fatigued isn't quite the right word.  Weak, tired and hurting.

Dinner:  Homemade pizza with pepperoni, bacon and mushrooms

Yeah, I love pizza night.  Not super impressed with myself and how I ate today, but at least it was all home cooked.  And once again I'm not tempted by the other half of the pizza, I'll have a great quick lunch on Monday.  Also:  I finally have been feeling better since late afternoon.  Got some things done, it's all good.  I was pretty worried earlier.

Exercise:  Not really.  I mean, I was active.  I moved a bunch of stuff -- slowly and gingerly in most cases, but I moved it.  Maybe even for long enough to count it.  But nothing intentional.

120.0

Stiff Like Board Extra Stiff

Friday, January 24, 2020

As usual, very happy that it is Friday.  Much to do today but there is a weekend - and time to do personal projects - in sight.  Maybe someday the project list will diminish to the point where I can focus more on relaxing but for now it feels good to knock things off.  Plus with multiple reorg projects going things are kind of a mess at the moment.

Not a good night last night.  I wasn't sleepy and I can't force it.  I rarely have had trouble dropping off when lying down but since I'm not a back sleeper it's a struggle in the recliner.  I did manage a few hours, but when I woke up an hour before my alarm I was so uncomfortable I hit the bed and managed to find a position I could live with.

Feels like a significant setback with the leg.  It was very stiff this morning and it was hard to lift it enough to get into the shower.  Very unstable as well.  Initially I couldn't get enough bend to get into my car, but it did loosen up enough after a couple minutes.  Now that I'm at my desk at work it's feeling a little better, but we'll see how it goes when I get up.  I did order a couple things from Amazon in hopes of improving my foot issues and I should really make a focus on wearing slippers or shoes on my hard concrete base floors.  May have to go back to compression sleeves for the feet too.  If I start having issues with my right leg or foot it's going to get ugly.

On a more positive note the scale continues to tick down, even after yesterday where I ate bread twice and had a little popcorn.  Happy about that and I really haven't been hungry at all.  Meal sizes are coming down but I'm staying sated.  Butter is a miracle food (and I'm only half-joking about that).

Lunch:  4 strips thick cut bacon, 2 slices extra sharp cheddar, buttermilk wheat bread with butter

Was going to have eggs but decided to skip it.  Baked up extra bacon so I'll be having that this weekend, nice to use up the package.

Dinner:  Salami, 2 slices extra sharp cheddar, buttermilk wheat bread w butter, Fage cherry TruBlend greek yogurt

A lot like lunch, actually.  Whittling some things down.  Disappointed to read the Fage label and it's low fat yogurt, though at least it's 1.7% and not garbage 0%.  Too bad, because it's pretty good.  I think I made up for it with my other food choices.  Might have popcorn later.

Had popcorn.  It was excellent.  Cooked in coconut oil, topped with melted butter and garlic salt.

Exercise:  Not a chance.  Limping badly.

119.6

Fifteen Yards Excess Bread

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Amazing how fast this month is flying by.  Reserved some dates for a long weekend trip in March and happy that it is within sight at about six weeks out.  Really could use a break soon.

Fair sleep last night, temporary recliner only night two.  It was hard to fall asleep and I did wake up about 4:00 with a vicious foot cramp - one issue with the recliner is that my legs are too long for the platform and the one foot is all messed up anyway.  I dealt with it and went back to sleep.  Felt reasonably good when I woke up, like the sleep was of acceptable quality.  No word on the mattress front, I was hoping they'd ship before the end of the week so I could maybe be sleeping on it by next weekend.

Lunch:  Salami, 2 slices extra sharp cheddar, buttermilk wheat bread with butter, Fage vanilla TruBlend yogurt

Late lunch due to work commitments, needed something fast.  This loaf of bread turned out well, I tried to influence the shape a bit more.  Also trying Organic Valley cultured butter, it's fine but I think I like Kerrygold best.

Dinner:  Leftover carnitas with Frontera avocado tomatillo salsa, green beans, bread with butter

This was OK.  Did the job.  Debating whether to have something more.  I should have made potatoes instead of eating more bread but I didn't run the dishwasher last night.  Oops.  Didn't feel like a hand wash project before dinner.

Decided to have a little popcorn.  Popped directly in butter -- tasted fine but I didn't care for the visual browning.  Should ghee-ify first I guess.  Added a little smoked paprika.  Good stuff.

Exercise:  No, though I again limped less today.  Might try pushing it this weekend a bit.

122.2

Team Recliner For A Day

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Today is off to a good start, something positive to report on the sleep front for once.  After recent misery I decided to give just straight sleeping in the recliner a shot and to my surprise it worked.  I had only mild difficulty falling asleep, stayed asleep all night and felt notably better than usual when I woke up.  No lingering grogginess or urgent need for additional sleep.  I didn't get up early, so I figure I got roughly seven, maybe even seven and a half, hours of acceptable quality sleep.  I expected that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep, since I'm not a back sleeper and usually only doze in the recliner if I was already asleep.  Happy.  We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

Some improvement in the leg, it's not quite as tight today, though it's still not normal and the knee remains unstable.  We'll see how it goes, but it's definitely a downer after it had been doing pretty well as recently as the weekend.

Lunch:  2 slices of pizza, coffee

Mid-day meeting, someone bought pizza.  Restraint achievement unlocked.

Dinner:  Pork carnitas with Frontera avocado-tomatillo salsa, butter-heavy mashed potatoes, green beans

First taste of the carnitas I made several weeks ago and sent to the freezer.  Pretty good, reheated well.  I did not eat all of them, only a bit more than half.  Need to adjust my freezer portion sizes if I'm going to eat other things.  We'll see if it reheats again well tomorrow night.

Exercise:  Sadly not really possible, so no.  Some improvement today though.

122.6

Working Title Ow My Leg

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Ugh.  Rough night, rocky morning.  Awake too late, terrible interrupted sleep, got out of bed at 5 and limped to the recliner.  Bad leg is seriously tight and sore, this is different and not good.  About the only positive news is that I did get a couple hours of what felt like OK sleep in the recliner, at least I didn't wake up during.  It took several snoozes to get up and going.   It is going to test my patience to the max waiting for my new mattress to be built and shipped cross country.  Hopefully in two weeks it'll be ready for me to sleep on it.

Lunch:  Keto sausage balls, homemade buttermilk bread with butter

Forgot to take a photo so recycling yesterday's pic -- bread was a bit larger (and quite stale), less butter.  The sausage balls are good, though my stomach isn't thrilled about them for some reason - possibly the almond flour, though I've never noticed problems when I ate almonds.

Dinner:  Salami, extra sharp cheddar cheese, popcorn popped in coconut oil with butter and salt

Had plans to cook stuff, wasn't feeling it when I got home.  Decided to go with easy.  First time popping corn on the stovetop, turned out very good though I did over-salt it.  Will be interested to see what happens.

Exercise:  Not a chance.  Limped around most of the day.  Knee is quite unstable, leg muscles tight and out of whack, everything swollen.  Dunno what I did but OW.

123.0

Deficits Adding Up

Monday, January 20, 2020

Regular work day for me.  Rough start.  Another night of little sleep, though at least this time I don't think I woke up until almost 6:00.  Tonight's project will be looking at mattresses.  I don't want to spend the money but in order to change my sleep arrangments (to a different bedroom) I need one.

Lunch:  Keto sausage balls, slice of buttermilk wheat bread with butter

In hindsight, this was a bit much and I should have divided the balls into thirds.  Oh well.  Still good, though I didn't heat them up enough for my taste.

Dinner:  4 ground beef tacos, mexican style plus avocado and hot sauce

Standard Monday GOAT dinner.  Quite stuffed.

Exercise:  Nope, no chance.  Tired.

---

Ketoballs

Sunday, January 19, 2019

I was curious to see what the scale was going to look like this morning.  I ate three meals including a lot of carbs - bread and pizza crust - yesterday.  It didn't feel like I was letting go of enough water compared to what I drank.  And I had a truly miserable night of sleep -- to bed before 11, asleep by 11:30, awake at 1:15 and then again 25 minutes later after an intense dream, 3:45, 5:15 up and to the recliner but no additional sleep.  Yuck.  On the positive side, I was quite active yesterday considering I never left the house.

You know what?  There was a small drop.  Yes!  

The usual caveats apply, of course.  It could just be random variance or scale error.  But I'll take it.  Also pleased that despite the ongoing lack of sleep I'm not particularly sleepy this morning.  I'll probably get fatigued at some point, but I'm not sleepy.  There may be hope that I'll accomplish something.

Breakfast:  Slice of buttermilk wheat bread with butter, 2 strips thick cut applewood bacon, 1 medium avocado, coffee

Remembered to eat the leftover bacon from yesterday.  An excellent breakfast.

Lunch:  Leftover KAF recipe homemade deep dish pizza with pepperoni

Almost as good reheated.  Why wouldn't it be, it's pizza.

"Snack":  Keto sausage balls

I have had this in the queue to make for a while, finally got around to it this afternoon.  Of course I had to eat one (edit: THREE!) for quality control purposes!  I'm undecided as to whether to split the remaining quantity into two servings or three.  We'll see how hungry I am tomorrow at lunch.

Dinner:  Chicken, spanish rice, cheddar cheese, a few black beans, about a dozen tortilla chips with Frontera tomatillo avocado salsa, 12 oz Miller Lite

I didn't eat much.  In addition to what's pictured beans, one more small scoop of rice, the chips and salsa.  Managed not to eat any cake or ice cream.  If I hadn't had the sausage balls I'd think I came up short in the fat department this evening.

Exercise:  Nothing specific.  Pretty active again today, trip to Home Depot etc.  But no extended time I can point to and say that qualifies.

123.8

A Day With Too Much Bread And Only So Much Ambition

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Thank goodness for another weekend.  Last night wasn't too different from the night before, though I did manage to go to sleep sometime after 11.  Woke up at 3:30.   Slept fitfully after that, finally giving up at 7:00.  On the plus side, I'm not too terribly tired and not sleepy so that's a plus -- the worst days are the ones where I'm so sleepy I can't get out of the recliner.  This is not one of those days.  Still, I'm probably not going to be too ambitious.  We also have another winter weather event going on, so most of the day (or all of it) will be spent at home.

Breakfast:  2 strips Wright thick cut applewood bacon, slice of homemade buttermilk wheat bread with lots of Kerrygold butter, coffee

Let's see how the new phone camera does.  Made a few strips of bacon to have some for dinner and some grease to season up the cast iron pan.  Of course I did the bacon in the oven instead of the cast iron because I'm ridiculous.

Lunch:  Ham and bacon and bean soup, bread and butter

Intended to be yesterday's lunch.  Good stuff, if a bit much.  Thankfully most of the extra volume is just water/stock.

Dinner:  King Arthur Flour Crispy Cheesy Pan Pizza with Pepperoni

This is their "recipe of the year" for 2020 and since it's pizza you know it's going to be good.  And it was.  Highly enjoyable.  I ate half (successful again!) so I have lunch for tomorrow all set.

Ah, nuts.  I just remembered that I had saved the other two sliced of bacon from this morning to throw on the pizza.  Oh well, hopefully I remember them tomorrow.

Exercise:  I'm counting it.  Worked on assembling a bed frame (plus many other house projects), worked up quite a sweat doing that and it took a couple hours.  Not the same as a nice walk, but movement and some heavy lifting.

125.4

Diet Specifications

Saturday, January 18, 2020

So I've been thinking.   

I've read a lot of information about various diet plans.  A lot of it conflicts.  My read yesterday was the Optimal Diet, also known as Polish Atkins.  There's a lot of overlap there with other lower carb plans, but not complete overlap.  Some of the stuff is just the opposite.  There will never be any way to completely harmonize all the different plans.

What I need to formulate are a list of rules for myself.  "How I Eat". 

In making that list, for a starting point anyway, I should take into account the material that I've read.  Atkins, Eades, Optimal, Nourishing Traditions, TCD, all the different sources.  Yeah, I'm not going to consider vegan sources -- I'm satisfied that I'm designed to eat protein and fat from properly raised and wild animals.  Also, I'm going to take into account the things I've learned about myself from past success -- and failure.

So, a first draft:

1.  It needs to be obvious enough that I don't have too many "can I eat this?" questions.  

The rules need to be simple, easily applicable and repeatable.  As part of that I think it will be helpful to think out in advance a few things I can eat at any given restaurant that I'm likely to visit.  

2.  I shouldn't have to track macros or do any other detailed calculations. 

I've used My Fitness Pal to track things and frankly, it's kind of a pain.  Reporting here is as much as I want to do.  I don't want to have to.  Which is not to say that I will entirely refrain -- I think it will be interesting to try and do calculations from time to time.  But I don't want to have to plan meals based on macros.  Really, it's simple:  People managed not to be fat in the past without tracking, so no reason I shouldn't be able to do the same.

3.  Eat protein liberally, fat generously and carbohydrate sparingly.

The core principle.

My chosen sources aren't too far apart on this.  Sure, they differ.  Carnivores advocate zero carbs.  TCD thinks they're necessary to get enough fat and for the body to process it optimally.  Whatever success I've had in the past was mostly with carb restriction.   I don't think I'm at a point where zero carb would be sustainable, so let's try and restrict them and consume them with fat following the other rules.

4.  Avoid vegetable and seed oils like the plague and minimize other consumption of unsaturated fats / lineolic acid.

This is going to be a new one.  And a challenge.  Processed and restaurant food contains "vegetable" oil.  It's the blessing and curse of civilization.  I can control it somewhat by cooking and eating at home, from scratch, with real ingredients.  But as above, I need to be prepared when I'm not.

It's virtually impossible to completely avoid unsat fats, since pretty much everything that has fat has a combination.  But if I can avoid the worst of the worst that'll be a huge improvement.  Bye bye restaurant french fries.  Potato and tortilla chips.  Lots of stuff.  I don't eat a lot of some things that I would avoid under this rule, like mayonaise.  I can live without avocadoes, though I do enjoy them and have seemend (see taco night) to tolerate them well.  They may make a comeback.

5.  Eat when hungry but it's okay to be hungry.

I think this will settle in at two meals a day during the week, usually, with three on the weekends when I am home or on the road for golf.  If so, it'll work a lot like intermittent fasting during the week without any special effort to fast.

6.  Don't sweat the small stuff

This is really a corrolary to rules 1 and 2.  A little bad stuff won't kill me.  A little sugar here.  A little extra flour there.  Sure, I'd probably lose weight faster if I slavishly followed some very restrictive rules, but honestly I'm fat enough that the weight should come off steadily for now with just these basics.

I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with some of the issues like Sunday family dinner.  I can control what I eat, of course.  I may just have to be more assertive / take more control.

Anyway.  There it is, for now.  Let's see how it goes.  Today and tomorrow have some off-plan things lined up already, but there are things I can and will do to get going.

Post Details Later

Friday, January 17, 2020

In the abstract not a very interesting day, but to me I guess it was.  Horrible night of sleep, didn't fall asleep until after 1, woke at 3:45, dozed fitfully until 6 and then just gave up.  So very little rest.  Ended up feeling fine all morning, faded a little right after lunch, then finished OK.   Still, I should go to bed early.  May or may not happen.  Oh, and I didn't pay a price on the scale for last night's dinner debacle.  Yay.

One thing I definitely have to do is change when I get groceries.  It was super busy tonight, to the point you didn't want to stop to pull anything off the shelf because you might get run over.  I guess Friday nights aren't the answer.  Probably should do early mornings ... or just shop elsewhere.

Breakfast:  Slice of homemade buttermilk wheat bread with Kerrygold butter, coffee

Baked a loaf last night, decided to try it.  Good stuff.

Lunch:  CFA spicy chicken sandwich, 8 pc nuggets, mac and cheese

Picked up my new phone at lunch, which meant a fast meal.  Being close to a CFA and free nuggets was attractive.  Plus I know (see tomorrow's post) I'm going to need to avoid this stuff as part of my new plan.

Dinner:  Meatball sub, fries

Another reason not to shop on Friday nights, dinner at 7:30 or later.  Like I want to cook then.  I don't even want to take pictures, so here's one of the inside of the bag.

Exercise:  Nope.  Soon.

126.0

Eliminating The Elimination Diet Or Something

Thursday, January 16, 2020

I got so inspired I started this post last night.  Go figure.

Another slow start.  Didn't fall asleep until well after 1:00, so I was less than perky come morning.  But, frankly, not as bad as I expected.  Which is a good thing.  Still, very glad tomorrow is Friday.

A thought I had last night on the conflicting information that's out there:  I'm going to experiment to find things that work for me.  I think the internet calls it N=1.  One example, TCD says no to avocadoes since they're mostly unsaturated fat.  Keto/lowcarb/etc says yes to avocadoes because they don't particularly spike insulin.  (Or something like that, I'm grossly oversimplifying).  I have some avos in the fridge I bought before reading about TCD.  I'm sure I'll still eat them, but I don't know if I'll buy more, it'll depend on how it goes.  There are plenty of other things I can and think I will eliminate -- for example, the Donkey tortilla chips.  They're tasty but they're fried in corn oil, which is about the worst fat out there according to TCD and they're not kosher on any diet focused on carb restriction.  We'll see if I eat the rest of the bag first though.  Probably will.

Lunch:  Wendy's double with cheese, plain, minus bun and one slice of cheese

That other slice of cheese stuck to the bun so completely that it was a complete loss.  I may need to resort to triples in the future, though this wasn't particularly good so it's not likely to happen too often.

Dinner:  Poor man's brisket nachos (Donkey chips, shredded cheddar, can of diced jalapenos, a medium avocado, leftover chuck roast, can of Herdez salsa)

Holy mother of something, I should not eyeball stuff when I'm hungry.  That was enough for 3 people and I didn't come remotely close to finishing it.  I did eat the entire avocado and the salsa, but the rest, not remotely close.  It was decent, if not quite great.  Did clean up a bag of cheese, the last of the chuck roast and much of my remaining bag of Donkey chips, so that's good.

Still ate too much and I'm quite stuffed.

Exercise:  Nope.  Going to stick around the house tonight.  Getting close to the point where I need to get moving though, excuses are weak and I've been feeling a little better.  I do think about ten more pounds and I'll see a definite bump in how I feel.

127.2

Cold Pizza Diet Wanted

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

A little sluggish this morning.  My schedule is definitely a couple of hours off and I need to try and fix that over the next few days.  I have an early start on Friday so I'll definitely get a nudge there whether I like it or not.  I still think it would be glorious to wake up early and rested.  Some day.

Was also a bit bloated.  Not sure if was eating pizza after 8:00 pm or the chips and salsa verde or a combination of both but I definitely was holding on to some extra liquid.  We'll see if it goes away today.

In other news, I noticed yesterday that I'm finally getting into this.  My interest level the past few years (and many attempts) is best described as superficial.  You probably have to go all the way back to the successful period in 2012-2013 to find a time where I was actually super invested in what's going on here.  Otherwise, just recording stuff.  This is a very good sign and makes me hopeful.

And it's not just the novel-length posts!

Another sign of being into it is that I've been reading more stuff online about different eating plans.  I've read more about keto, carnivore, croissant, French, whatever.  Of course there is a ton of conflicting information, but it's been interesting trying to puzzle some things out.  One thing I do wonder is if I'm super sensitive to vegetable/seed oils, since I do better when I don't eat them.  I should ask the mexican place if the corn tortillas they used are fried in lard instead of corn oil.  Could blow my whole theory right up.  (Insta-edit:  Looks like soft corn tortillas aren't even fried in any kind of oil.  Note to self, buy some masa harina.).  Obviously it's incredibly difficult to avoid them in 2020 USA but it is possible.

I think I'll be experimenting with some things, trying to see if I can keep the trend line moving downward while still enjoying food.  I should have room to do so since I have lots of extra weight.  Just a question of whether I can consume some level of carbohydrate while still losing.  On a related note I found this morning that Walmart carries a quality brand of animal fat (Fatworks) so I picked up some lard and some tallow.  I can get lard from the farm I patronize but have no local source of tallow.  Looking forward to frying up a potato or two.

Lunch:  Cold leftover pepperoni mushroom 4 cheese pizza

Good stuff and about as quick and easy as it gets.  If only every day were that simple.  I'll have to look and see if I can tweak pizza any to fit better into any reasonable diet plan.  Only eating half at a time is a step in the right direction at least.

Dinner:  Leftover chuck roast with green peppers, TCD style mashed potatoes.

Decided to only re-heat half of the last portion of the roast (since it would be too much) and to try the super-buttery mashed potato recipe from the croissant diet page.  300g potato is about 45g of net carb, which isn't as much as I would have guessed.  It's also more potato - 2 of what I would call medium potatoes came out to 283g.  4T of butter is a lot of butter, probably double what I would use normally and I always though I was pretty generous with the good stuff.

Anyway, this greatly improved my enjoyment of the roast.  Very delicious and I'm quite full.  Since I only did maybe half of my last container of roast I'll probably do this again tomorrow night, especially if I don't retain a bunch of water.  Maybe I'll have some green beans or something since I'm now out of the roasted green pepper.

Exercise:  Nope.  A pretty sedentary day.  I should go out now and do something, but it's already after 7:30 and an early bedtime is the best idea.  I'm also quite full.

127.2

Arguing For Tacos

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

I have noticed that my weight tends to be lower on Tuesday than it is on Monday.  I always weigh in the morning before I get dressed for the sake of "consistency".  Jokingly I've attributed that to my habit of indulging in takeout Taco Monday at the local mexican place -- they're good and it's hard to beat $1 tacos.

Today because I am a moron and because I don't really want to be at work I decided to attempt to quantify the impact of tacos.  I determined that I ate these tacos and recorded my weight both days 24 times since the beginning of 2019*.  On the day after eating TACOS my weight was lower 19 times, higher 5 times, with an average loss of 1.3 pounds. 

Sounds like I need more taco nights.  A lot more taco nights.  I could be at my goal by summer!

I know, I know.  I'm not serious about suggesting that this "proves" anything.  It may be mostly lag from the weekends where I'm usually much more active.  On two of the five increase days the gain was explicable due to fast food lunches, but two others showed a 1 lb increase despite "clean" eating.  It absolutely could just be variance with the scale -- three of the five increases were just 0.2 lb -- or with fluid retention.  I certainly don't trust the accuracy of the scale since I'm up there not too far from the capacity limit.

(* Data is incomplete since there are stretches of no reporting.)

 Now, with all those disclaimers, I will say that it's pretty amusing that tacos "could" be a weight loss food.  When you are as fat as I am that is.

Anyway, since I'm in active avoidance mode I will also say that getting a new chromebook has been very helpful as far as keeping up with posts.  It's just so much more pleasant to use than my old one which was having screen issues.  It would be great if I could track the entire year.  Also:  I'm not going to get carried away with goals, especially weight-related ones since I know how hard I can fail, but I think it would be reasonable to try and be down 25 lbs before my next trip in about two months.  I should have at least ten of that in easily disposed water weight, the rest would be attainable just by eating on plan for a stretch ... he says as he plans another testing night of homemade pizza.

Lunch:  Leftover italian beef style chuck roast, a little way past prime spelt rye bread.

Satiety!  What a concept!  This was too much food.  I ate maybe 2/3 of it and then I ... stopped eating.  I could get used to that.

Dinner:  Donkey chips and a can of Herdez salsa verde, homemade pepperoni, mushroom, 4 cheese pizza.

More satiety.  I am not even remotely considering eating the other half of the pizza that's cooling on the counter.  I'll be satisfied to eat it tomorrow.  It was delicious by the way.   Now, once I get through this bag of chips, I should see about not buying more.

Exercise:  Nope.  Super tired today plus I worked very late.

126.8

Redirected By Fed X

Monday, January 13, 2019

Ah, the dawn of another week.  I spent a few minutes this morning compiling a list of things to do ... as usual it's infinitely longer than the list of things I'll actually get done.

Paid the price a bit this morning for yesterday's crap eating.  It requires a lot of activity to offset the garbage and I did not get there.  At least today will be better in the eating department.

Had a nice experience with Fed Ex today.  I wasn't home to accept a delivery, so they dropped it off at a Walgreens three blocks away and left me a voice mail.  It couldn't have been easier to pick it up and so much more convenient than the Fex Ex office which is a good 20 minutes away.

Lunch:  Deconstructed chicago italian beef

Okay, I just like the name.  I used a recipe from the food network yesterday to cook my chuck roast to get approximately the flavor of an italian beef.  I roasted a green pepper and added some giardiniera to my bowl, along with some past-its-prime rye spelt bread with the end of a stick of butter.

Very tasty.  Will eat again -- tomorrow, in fact.  Minus the bread though, unless I can salvage a bit more.  I will say that I should have made more portions, this was a LOT of food.

Also, as mentioned, I'm not going to bother listing breakfast unless I actually eat something.  Just assume that there was coffee.  I don't drink as much, but usually one or two cups are part of the routine.

Dinner:  4 tacos mexican style with cilantro, onion, avocado and hot sauce

Standard taco Monday.  Best deal in town.

Exercise:  Nope.

129.4

Ice Semifizzle

Sunday, January 12, 2020

I haven't been outside yet but it sounds like iceamageddon wasn't as bad as projected.  Certainly enough to be annoying, but without the widespread power outages.  I'm happy about that.  And shaking my head at the people on social media criticizing the local meterologists. 

Not a lot of sleep last night or pep this morning.  Decided to do my roast in the crock pot instead of the oven, it's just easier and I might want to venture out if it's not too bad.  We will see.

Breakfast:  2 eggs over medium in butter, spelt rye bread with butter, coffee

Decided to make today a three meal day with the early start.  Quite delicious.  The bread is past its prime and probably not edible beyond tomorrow, so I will probably mix up another batch.  I think I'll try making a half loaf size but restricting the horizontal spread in the pot using aluminium foil and parchment paper. 

Lunch:  Chips and salsa, 2x Taco Bell beefy fritos burrito, shredded chicken burrito, fire sauce

Alas, my roast was not done at lunch time.  I had some chips and salsa after a successful run to Walmart for can Herdez while I waited for the roast, then it wasn't done.  So I got Taco Bell in between trips to the storage unit.

Dinner:  American style goulash w parmesan cheese, garlic bread, 12 oz Miller Lite, 2x McChicken

Fail.

Exercise:  I'm counting it.  Moved a lot of heavy bed pieces and boxes.  Pretty active day.  And I am completely and utterly wiped out at 9:00 pm.

128.8

Waiting For The Ice

Saturday, January 11, 2020

It's going to be a quiet day.  No plans.  Managed to sleep in a little and delay doing anything until about 9:30, soon to be followed by some low key weekend chores like laundry.  About a zero on the excitement meter but I'm perfectly fine with having a rest day.  No ice yet as far as I know but it could happen any time. 

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.  If was going to bother posting breakfast: coffee going forward I'd probably have to start taking mug shots.

Lunch:  2 jumbo eggs over medium, kiolbasa breakfast sausage, sharp cheddar, Alexia hash browns in butter, coffee

Breakfast bowl.  This was a bit much, though it did do a good job of keeping me not hungry for eight hours or so.  The sausage was the weak link, I just don't seem to get it hot enough for my liking even though I heated it for quite a while.   Oh well, it was still good.

Dinner:  CF beef bacon, Donkey chips with Herdez roasted tomato salsa

The other half of last night's dinner.  Tried eating the beef bacon first to see if I'd eat fewer chips.  Maybe it worked.  Maybe.

I have a roast to cook tomorrow, hopefully it's done in time for lunch.

Exercise:  Nope.  A moderately active day including a little heavy lifting but nothing sustained.

128.2