Delightfully Messy

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Last day of the month.   It's supposed to warm up starting this weekend and spring will really be here.  Looking forward to it greatly, I really need to get outside more.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee w cocoa butter

Standard

Lunch:  Home tacos w carne adovada, mexican cheese blend, sour cream, salsa and fire sauce

Last of the adovada, will be making another batch most likely this weekend.  And I'll be buying more lettuce next week too I think.  Making the salad isn't that much more work than tacos.  Anyway, this turned out good even though it was massively messy.

Dinner:   3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avocado, 1 sausage patty, banana bread w butter, 24 oz All Day IPA

One more egg, one less sausage patty, otherwise the same as last night.  So good.  Overcooked the eggs slightly (using a different pan on a different burner) but they still tasted fantastic.  Note to self a bit less heat next time.

Exercise:  Nope.  I would actually think about going for a walk tonight but it's frigid.  Golf on tap for the weekend, warmer weather next week.

105.2

Using The Power For Good

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Apparently the power of tacos extends to the taco salad.  Add one to the diet and boom, a drop.  Weirdly enough it felt like I got rid of some extra liquid despite eating many carbs at dinnertime.  I dunno.  The human body is strange, man.  

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee w min cocoa butter

Standard.  Seriously should have a stock photo for this.

Lunch:  Taco salad w carne adovada, beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, jack cheese and Kumana avocado jalapeno sauce

Closer.  Pretty close, actually.  The cheese was invisible.  The sauce was closer but still not quite right.  I might have to try my standard Valentina extra hot and/or make my own which I plan to attempt anyway.  Oh, and I screwed up the order putting the pork on last instead of the cheese.  Oops.  Not like it matters since it all gets mixed up but the appearance is off this way...

Dinner:  2 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avocado, sausage patties, banana bread w butter, 24 oz All Day IPA

Was thinking about this all day after deciding that I would make it for dinner.  Yum.  Tried to keep it in check some (2 eggs, 2 strips bacon, the smallest avocado I had) but it was still a lot of food.  I was gifted some banana bread on Sunday so I ate a piece, otherwise I obviously wouldn't have any on hand.

Still have all ingredients (including 2 sliced of bacon from this weekend's batch) so I forsee a repeat tomorrow night.

Exercise:  Nope.  Still no luck getting up earlier, even though I'm doing far better at getting into bed earlier.  Getting to sleep (i.e. putting down the phone) is still a work in progress.

105.8

Salad Days

Monday, March 29, 2021

Busy day.  I managed to drag myself to the office a bit early but not nearly as early as I had hoped.  I have a hard time winding down on Sunday nights, especially when there is a basketball game or something on TV.  Nice not to pay a price for yesterday's indulgences, but I think clearing the system had more to do with that than anything else.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee w min cocoa butter

Standard.  I forgot to add a cocoa butter wafer to my second cup of coffee.

Lunch:  Taco salad with carne adovada, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, Meijer mexican 4 cheese blend.  Yellowbird jalapeno sauce.

First crack at recreating the taco salad.  Pretty good in most respects.  I think the carne adovado is a pretty reasonable substitute for the spicy pork, I think it's mostly just a different pepper selection.  I can experiment with others next time.  Impulse bought the hot sauce yesterday and ehhh.  It has a little heat but I'm not crazy about the nose or the flavor profile.  Will try something else tomorrow I think.  The multicolored cheese also looks funny, might try straight jack tomorrow.  All in all a pretty successful first attempt I think.

Dinner:  Leftover chuck roast with gravy, 4 cheese mashed potatoes, rolls with butter, 24 oz All Day IPA

Tasty but too much.  I really should have spread this over two meals.  I didn't eyeball well.

Of note:  I actually had a window of time this afternoon where I felt good.  Lean, loose, had a little pep in my step.  It's been a while since I could say that!  Alas it was fleeting, but it gives me a little boost of hope.

Exercise:  Nope.

108.2 

Self Awarded

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Feels like an award is in order.  For something really, truly, deeply stupid.  I actually sat down and ate all three meals at the dining room table yesterday.  For the first time in approximately forever.  Gimme a trophy.  Seriously though it is nice to have a table I like and if I can continue not to pile stuff on it maybe I can start a streak.  There isn't any reason I have to eat in front of the TV or computer screen, it's not like I have six course multi-hour mealtimes.

No surprise to see the scale higher this morning.  Lots of food, little activity and uh the system is a little backed up.  Might have to up the fiber.

Breakfast:  Breakfast tacos (2 eggs, cheddar jack, sour cream, salsa verde and fire sauce), 4 strips Meijer bacon, grapefruit, coffee

Delicious of course.  And quite easy since the bacon was left over from yesterday.

Lunch:  Culvers mushroom swiss burger, Boulder Canyon avocado oil salt & pepper chips

Chips were fine, but maybe my tastes are changing, I didn't get the enjoyment I expected.  Also broke my table streak but that's okay.

Also taste tested my run at carne adovada:

First impression is that it's quite tasty.  A little slow heat.  We'll see how it is on day 2.

Dinner:  Chuck roast with gravy, 4 cheese mashed potatoes, carrots, rolls with butter, chocolate pecan cookies with a taste of butter pecan ice cream

Sunday dinner man.  It was all extra good this week.

Exercise:  Nope.  Cold windy rainy miserable day.  I did hike around the grocery store for more than an hour so maybe I should count that.

108.8

Rewarded For Doing Absolutely Nothing Right

Saturday, March 27, 2021

TGIS.  It wasn't a particularly good week.  In terms of productivity, it was abysmal.  I'm so behind and the stress is getting to me ... just not in a way that makes me productive.  I'm tired of thinking about work when I go to sleep.  When I wake up (and consequently can't go back to sleep).  In the shower.  You name it.  I need to make a massive push, get more caught up and then just start saying NO.

Anyway, despite stuffing myself on pizza last night, the scale showed a small drop this morning.  I don't feel bloated (more than usual anyway) and even though it wasn't a great night of sleep it wasn't terrible.  So I dunno why but thank you scale for the bit of sympathy.

Breakfast:  2 eggs over medium with hot sauce and salsa verde, refried beans, 4 strips Meijer bacon, grapefruit, coffee

Tried the beans and they worked nicely.  Wanted to see if they were good, since I'm planning to use some variety in my attempt to recreate the taco salad this week.  These were Meijer organic green chile and lime.  Also trying a new variety of coffee this morning, Meijer Pikes Peak blend.  Nice and smooth.

Lunch:  Smoked brisket with a little BBQ sauce, dill pickle chips

Thassalotta brisket.  And it was tasty.  Used maybe half the cup of sauce, I usually don't bother but a little taste was in order and it was pretty decent.  This local place has weird hours that basically rule out ever getting it for dinner and it's a shade on the pricy side, but it's not that much more than a combo meal somewhere so it's worth it. 

Dinner:  Home tacos with cheddar jack, avocado, sour cream and fire sauce, 24 oz All Day IPA

Easy, fast, delicious.  When everything is premade anyway.  One of these days I should make tortillas again, but it's just too convenient to spend $2 on a 30 pack at the store.  I almost bought a fresh kind that are supposed to be good at Walmart yesterday but remembered that I had a full package on hand already.

Exercise:  Nope.  No golf today and notably inactive.  Disappointing, I had high hopes.  Supposed to be cold tomorrow so no golf again.

107.8

Nothing To See Here Moving On

Friday, March 26, 2021

TGIF, of course.  Not super motivated today which is bad, since work is stacked to the ceiling.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee with a little cocoa butter

Standard.

Lunch:  Culvers double mushroom swiss burger, hot dill pickle chips

Pickles not pictured.

Dinner:  Pizza Hut thin crust pep ham green olive

I know, lots of whining this week.  I gotta own my stumbles.  Should have eaten before going to Walmart after work.  For chain pizza it was really good.

Exercise:  Nope.

108.2

Not Here Not There

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Another day.  Vaguely encouraged by a good snore score and feeling pretty decent this morning.  Wasn't notably sleepy after I woke up though I did snooze just a bit.  These are good things.  Nothing good about the scale but no surprise given the pizza.  Eating the rest of it for lunch today, so I'll be up again tomorrow.

Breakfast:  2 slices, sharp cheddar, coffee w just a bit of cocoa butter

Standard.

Lunch:  Leftover home pizza with ham, pep and mushroom

First in the oven, last in my belly.  This was the best one, nice crispy crust.  Reheated perfectly.

Dinner:  4 eggs over medium, hash browns with a little onion, 2 1/2 sausage patties, 24 oz Miller Lite

Excellent in all respects.  Wouldn't change a thing.  And I won't even be mad at the scale tomorrow morning -- I wanted a big fat greasy breakfast for dinner so that's exactly what I had.  Had a broken sausage patty in the bag (and 2 1/2 left for next time) so I lived it up.

Exercise:  Nope.  Need.

108.2

Unwarranted Encouragement

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

And today we have the flip side of yesterday -- despite having pizza and feeling bloated around the middle today (fat, not so much water or gas or anything), the scale was down.  I actually re-weighed because I didn't believe the first number.  The second came back a half pound higher and a third weigh confirmed so I went with that number.  Even that is a positive.  And it's a fine reminder that the scale is only so accurate -- I'm not using something commercial grade here, it's just a home scale.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee

Forgot to add any cocoa butter, was going to add half the usual.

Lunch:  Keto sausage balls, avocado, hot dill pickle chips

There are a lot of dill chips in this tub, I feel better about spending three bucks on it.

Dinner:  Leftover home pizza with pep ham and mushrooms, 24 oz All Day IPA

This one looks a little different because I ran out of mozzarella so I used an open bag of cheddar jack to finish it off.  Have to say, it was very good.  Same crust issue, not as crispy as I like due to lack of preheat time (and I didn't leave it in too long tonight either - 12 minutes is not quite enough to be optimal).  

Exercise:  Nope.  This is getting irritating.

108.0

The Taco Salad Memorial Post

I was reading through the archives and came across this particular photo of the late, great taco salad from a now long-gone local Mexican place.  I wish they were still around, I would literally eat there four times a week for dinner.   Taco salad, no shell, spicy pork, medium hot sauce.

Other local places make a decent taco salad, but it's never the same as the OG.  The current place adds rice and lots of it (even if you ask for light rice).  They have al pastor, which I love, but nobody has the spicy pork -- the old place had al pastor too, this was a different meat.

Goal is to try and make something that at least passably resembles the spicy pork.  I would also love to figure out a really great hot sauce -- the bottled stuff is fine for a lot of things, but for the taco salad nothing surpasses the squeeze bottle full of red or green gold.

Let's do it.  Lettuce, tomato, onion, spicy pork, mexican cheese, some refried beans.  They used to put sliced avocado on it too.  And lots of hot sauce.

Vague Discouragement

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

I get kinda discouraged these days when the scale bumps up.  I mean, yesterday wasn't a great day, I ate too much and too many carbs.  But it wasn't a fast food day or a bunch of pizza.   It was just too much food and too little activity.  Extra annoying since I felt leaner when I woke up.  

I could, you know, just do better.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee with less cocoa butter

Standard.

Lunch:  Wendy's Daves Double

On the go, small window, get burger, eat burger.   It was fine.

Dinner:  Home pizza tavern style with pepperoni, ham, onion and mushroom, 24 oz All Day IPA

I didn't let the oven preheat enough so the crust wasn't as crisp as I'd like.  I didn't roll the dough quite thin enough.  So what?  It was still delicious.  Did the 3 dough balls out of a 2 ball batch again, so I have similar pizzas for the next two nights.  Rough life.  Then I need to buckle down

Exercise:  Nope.  Maybe could have gotten up this morning.   I stayed up far later than planned due to the basketball.

109.4

Hunting Inspo

Monday, March 22, 2021

March rolls on.  Another busy Monday, made worse by not working this weekend.

I killed a few minutes this morning looking back at a year ago.   Hard to draw too many conclusions other than yeah I eat too much and the wrong things and don't walk enough, but still I'm optimistic that I have room for improvement and can drop a few before my trip.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee w cocoa butter

Standard, no photo

Lunch:  Keto sausage balls, plain Greek Gods yogurt, hot dill pickle chips

Good stuff.

Dinner:  3x american, 2x mexican tacos, 24 oz Miller Lite

If they're going to keep making the tacos this fat I need to cut the number I get, possibly by 2.

Exercise:  Nope.  

108.8

Well At Least It Is Spring

Sunday, March 21, 2021

Whew.  Had a successful and much needed night of sleep.  Moderate snoring, more than I would like.  Asleep by 10:30 or so.  Minimal waking before my alarm went off at 7:00.  Good temperature regulation.  Felt OK when I got up - nothing noticably wrong.  So I've very happy about that.  I was very, very, very tired last night which is why I did essentially nothing other than watch basketball on TV.  It was all I could do to load up and run the dishwasher, I was that tired.  Pleased that the late day carbage last night didn't completely wipe out the good work of getting out there and golfing.

More of the same on tap for today, since it's going to be another nice day.  A trip to the grocery store and golf this afternoon, I expect to be wiped out again.

Breakfast:  2 sausage patties, medium avocado, coffee

90% fat, 100% delicious.  Decided to change it up -- not terribly hungry but needed a little something.

Lunch:  Wendy's Daves Double

Just not enough time to make pizzas as planned.  It was fine.

Dinner:  Hard shell tacos with LTC x4, applesuace, a few Doritos, one bite of chocolate ice cream

Tasty.  All tacos are good.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart. plus the trip to the grocery store this morning.  I have managed to screw up my pedometer, but I believe the step count of 12,550 is accurate.

109.6

Kinda Bitter TBQH

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Well that's certainly disappointing.  Wake up, feel decent, get rid of water, feel lean ... and the scale is up a full pound.  C'mon man.  Sigh.  Okay okay I get it.  More walking, less carbs.  Still going to make the pizzas this week but I get it.

Breakfast:  Bacon, coffee.  Followed by 2 eggs scrambled w cheese, sour cream, salsa and hot sauce, croissaint with butter

One way to drown your sorrows is with a plate of bacon.  Just saying it's a way.  That's all.  Mmm hmm.  That's right.  A way.

Decided to eat the last croissaint and won't buy any this week as part of operation wheat less.

Lunch:  Not applicable.  Did have 12 oz Mich Ultra after golf.

Dinner:  Taco salad with al pastor, extra avocado

Really hit the spot.  Obviously audibled away from making pizzas tonight.

Later:  Yellow rice.  Straight up carbage.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart.  Messed up my pedometer so no idea on distance, did some extra walking but not a huge amount.  Quite tired and I didn't feel good.

110.2

Overwheated Overcheesy

Friday, March 19, 2021

A little disappointed to see a small bump on the scale.  No snacking, eating as planned, even slept pretty well.  So it goes, there is definitely some randomness involved.  But it's also a sign that I need to dial back the starch and maybe the cheese too.  Still going to make pizza this weekend but then maybe I should take a hiatus for a bit.

I was very pleased to have gone a number of hours without snoring for the first time in a while.  Hoping that continues as the weight drops.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (w cocoa butter)

Added back some cocoa butter to the routine morning.

Lunch:  Croissaint w butter, ham, hot dill pickle chips, plain yogurt

Standard stuff.  New kind of pickles, endorsed by my niece.  They're pretty decent.

Dinner:  2 eggs sunnyside, hash browns, 2 sausage patties, medium avo, sour cream & salsa.  12 oz All Day IPA, 12 oz Miller Lite

Delicious as always.  Hungry tonight.  Thinking about testing out a rye or vodka or gin & squirt zero sugar 

Exercise:  Nope.  Need to do better.  Golf tomorrow.

109.2

Ain't It A Shame

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Say it with me:  Pizza is not a diet food.  Ain't it a shame.

Notwithstanding that fact, I've just had it for the third day in a row.  And I have full intentions of making another batch of three this weekend.  It remains to be seen if pizza is tolerable if more exercise (i.e. golf) is involved.

Solid night of sleep last night, in bed at 9:00, asleep by 10:30, up after the alarm without residual sleepiness.  A good morning, though it was a lot of hours.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee

Standard, no photo.

Lunch:  Croissaint w butter, ham, dill pickle, Greek Gods plain yogurt

Standard, forgot to take a photo until just before I ate the yogurt.  Oops.

Dinner:  Leftover pepperoni pizza, 24 oz All Day IPA

Pretty good.

Exercise:  Nope.  Very bad.

108.8

With Extra Loudness

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Trying to get the sleep schedule on track, it's not going great.  Plus:  Managed to get in bed at 9:00.  Minus:  Didn't actually get to sleep until well after 11:00.  Bad, loud snoring night.  Didn't feel awful when I got up but sleepiness overtook me and I ended up dozing in the recliner until late.  Sigh.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee

Standard, no photo.

Lunch:  Croissaint with butter, ham, dill pickle, Greek Gods plain yogurt

Also standard but with photo.

Dinner:  Leftover home pepperoni pizza, 24 oz Bells No Yeah beer

Good stuff.  Making smaller pies working so far.

Exercise:  Nope.

109.0

Predictable Consequences

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Eat like crap and way too much and you get weight gain.  Rocket science this is not.

Better today, somewhat anyway.  I may need to really buckle down if I'm going to see a notable drop before upcoming golf.  I have about five weeks to work with, theoretically I could lose some of the gut.

Got up a little earlier today, but not much.  Going to try and move it up a little every day, hard to be patient when I have infinite work to do.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee

Standard, no photo.

Lunch:  Keto sausage balls, medium avocado

The KSB are sure a nice easy lunch.

Dinner:  Homemade pepperoni pizza, 24 oz All Day IPA

Chicago tavern style.  Made 3 11" pizzas, in hopes that I'll eat less at a sitting.  It's still quite a bit, about the size of a frozen pizza, but not quite as much as the last time.  Photo is after eating several squares while waiting for the 2nd and 3rd pizzas to bake.

It was a pretty cheesy day.

Exercise:  Nope.  Need to change this.  NOW.  It will be a struggle, though, until I'm more caught up at work.

110.4

Walked Out

Monday, March 15, 2021

I was pretty tired last night.  Not sleepy, though, which foiled my plans for getting up early today.  It hasn't been the most productive morning.  

Yesterday's dinner choices (especially) were not ideal.  I could feel the water being retained and I drank a lot of it.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee

Standard.  No photo.

Lunch:  Leftover american goulash with parmesan

Cleaned up, good to be done.

Dinner:  3 american style, 2 mexican style tacos.  Hudsonville salted caramel brownie ice cream

Sure, they picked this week to give me FAT tacos.  And I really need to not buy ice cream even when it's free.

Exercise:  Nope, rest day and it's frigid out there.

109.4  

Screwed Up By DST As Usual

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Ugh.  I thought I was ahead of the game.  I went to bed early.  I even was tired and sleepy enough to get to sleep at a very reasonable hour.  I woke up at a reasonable hour.  I got up just after 6:00, new time.  Was fine for a bit, and then wham, fatigue hit and I dozed on and on, next thing I knew it was 10:00.  FFS.  So I'm hours behind schedule with lots to do today.  Dammit.  

Happy not to pay a price for last night, I was still a bit uncomfortable when I first got up, I'm taking that as a sign that my stomach is shrinking ever so slightly.

Breakfast:  Breakfast tacos, grapefruit, coffee

Same tacos as yesterday, again exquisite.  But messy.

Lunch:  Culvers mushroom & swiss burger

Audible triggered by golf plans.  I don't really track 0 calorie beverages but again had Dr Pepper Zero Sugar.  I even bought a 12 pack for the office today.

Dinner:  American goulash, salad w/ lemon dressing, garlic bread, applesauce, apple pie w vanilla ice cream

Family standby.  The pie was half of a 4" pie from the store with a small scoop of ice cream -- too much goulash and garlic bread a much bigger problem!

Exercise:  9 holes walking.  Also did the grocery store.  Wish I'd remembered the pedometer (this reminds me, must find it) since I am quite tired.

109.0

Making Rounds

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Glad to have another weekend, even though the to do list is so long I couldn't get through it in a month.  Fortunately I feel pretty decent this morning and ready to tackle some stuff.  Was pleased to see the best snore score in a while last night, being less bloated is definitely helping and I'm at least a little optimistic that I'll be able to tweak things further and get good rest more consistently.  Really not too many physical issues at the moment other than extreme fatness - just started treating the never ending callus on my foot to see if I can get that under control, still have a structurally messed up left knee that reminds me periodically that it's not right, but other than that things are pretty good.

Plus it's pizza day.  Yay.  I did the math and divided my two dough ball recipe into three balls, in hopes that I can reduce my consumption per sitting.  Should make 11"ish rounds instead of 14".

Breakfast:  Breakfast tacos, 5 strips Meijer bacon, grapefruit, coffee

Best effort at breakfast tacos yet, they were delicious.  2 eggs scrambled in a pat of butter, a pinch of cheese between the tortillas, sour cream, hot sauce and jalapeno verde salsa.  Will eat again.  Tomorrow, in fact.

Lunch:  Keto sausage balls, medium avocado

Yum.  I've also been working on some Dr Pepper Zero Sugar, which I have to say is quite good.  It's better than the regular Diet Dr Pepper which is the best diet soda in my very limited experience.  I've always resisted drinking diet soda, chemcials and all you know, but there are other things more likely to kill me so I'll be having some I think.  

Dinner:  Dominos thin pep ham jala, lettuce salad with lemongraitte dressing, 24 oz Bells No Yeah 

Oops.  Forgot to clean some spilled cornmeal out of the oven and it smoked pretty good while I was preheating to make home pizza.  Given the limits on my ability to deal with it other than by letting it cool down and cleaning up tomorrow, I audibled to Dominos.  I'll make pizzas tomorrow hopefully.  Dressing for the salad is lemon juice, dijon, garlic, olive oil, S&P.  Not sure what to call it.

What a dummy.  It didn't smoke when I did the bacon this morning, but at the higher heat boom smoke city.

Exercise:  Was pretty active, so I'm counting it.  Emptied a small storage unit (almost), hit some golf balls, walked around.  I'd prefer something more purposeful, but for a start this is OK.

109.6