Powered By Tacos Again

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

It was a pleasant visit to Taco Monday yesterday and I didn't pay for it, which wasn't a huge surprise given my past musings about the power of tacos.

Definitely sluggish again this morning and it wasn't hard to talk myself into dozing.  Had a stressful morning and the anticipation really did not help.  Nor did the prospect that I may have been exposed to COVID yesterday.  System failure on that.  I'll be watching for any symptoms and I'm sure that even the slightest dip in how I feel will be concerning.  As of lunchtime I don't feel great but I can't point to anything in particular that would make me run out and test.  Temp was normal.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:   Hamburger soup, HSW toast w butter

Standard.

Dinner:  Oscar Meyer naturals roast beef, leftover TCD style mashed potatoes, Epic salt and pepper pork rinds, 12 oz All Day IPA

Didn't have the patience to wait for my steak to cook.  So I scrounged.  Singed the inside of my mouth after heating the potatoes to nuclear hot.

Exercise:  Nope.  Rest day.

52.2

Happy Kind of Confusion

Monday, November 29, 2021

I really didn't know what to expect this morning.  I anticipated that the scale would be up - it wasn't a great weekend of diet-friendly eating.  There was a holiday, after all.  Yesterday had lots of suboptimal stuff.  I didn't get any notable exercise other than a few flights of stairs and a computer install which no I do not count.  And yet ... a big drop.  To a new low.  WHAT.

That's a great way to start what will undoubtedly be a very Monday kind of day.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:   Leftover chicken and wild rice soup, HSW toast w butter

Happy with the soup.  Will make again, probably, since I have ingredients including most of a bag of wild rice.  Might do ham next time since I have that on hand.

Dinner:  4 ground beef tacos, mexican style w hot sauce.  12 oz All Day IPA

Pretty wiped out tonight so I went with Taco Monday.  Still darned good for $5 plus tax.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 44 minutes.  Slow today.  Very gimpy for the first mile or so - tight achilles, cranky feet, legs not really buying in.  Eventually loosened up some and the home stretch was at a much more normal pace.

52.8

Lazing About

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Lazy start.  Got up but didn't feel great - scratchy throat appears to have been due to some overnight drip.  Shower and coffee appears to have largely taken care of it, but it was enough to keep me from going outside and walking.  I might also need a nap as I'm relatively tired.

Pleasantly surprised by the scale, still up for the weekend but OK.  Definitely let go of a little water, which is weird especially after eating a bunch of potatoes for dinner.

Breakfast:  Omelet with bacon, cream cheese and guacamole, 4 strips bacon, 1/2 grapefruit, glass of whole milk, coffee

Very tasty, if a bit much.  Okay, a lot much.  Didn't really need the glass of milk but I had it to clean up the half gallon.

Lunch:  Homemade chicken with wild rice soup

Knockoff of a recipe from Byerly's in Minneapolis.  Quite tasty, though I think it'll be better on reheat.  Ate an extra couple ladles too.

Dinner:  Culver's mushroom and swiss double burger

Needed to keep working so I went with something relatively quick.

Exercise:  Nope.  Rest day.

56.0

Not In The Face K

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Expected much, much worse than I got from the scale this morning.  Not sure why it was as benign as it was but hey I'll take it.

Reasonably happy with what I got accomplished yesterday.  I didn't go anywhere and unfortunately I didn't make myself go to the office, but at least it's notably cleaner in some places around here.  Plenty more to do, of course.

Breakfast:  Leftover sausage strata, medium avocado, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

Yum.  That strata reheats so well.  Alas I am now out of it, I only made a half pan.

Lunch:  Spicy bean bowl with nacho Siete chips

A clean out the fridge concoction.  I had a smaller quantity of beans leftover after filling my jars, so I threw that in with the rest of my leftover turkey and half can of Rotel.  Cheese on top.  Turned out pretty decent.  Lots of beans went into the freezer so I may be eating them fairly often.

Dinner:  Rotisserie chicken, TCD style mashed potatoes, jello and cranberry.  12 oz All Day IPA

Barely held off the urge for a pizza.  Didn't feel like cooking but I managed to do it.

Edit:  Add a few more Siete nacho chips.  Doh.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 42 minutes.  A couple of icy stretches meant I had to be a little cautious.  At least most of it was clear and dry.  Tested out my new hat and it was toasty warm.

58.0

Questions Of Worth

Friday, November 26, 2021

Ahh, the morning after a binge errr feast.  More eating to come today (leftovers!) but I have mostly convinced myself to cut it there and eat more normally on the weekend.

Did some wondering this morning if it was worth it.  I was quite tired last night and went to bed about the normal time.  Woke up with a foot cramp about midnight (at least that was the only time).  Looks like I had a couple fierce rounds of snoring.  Not super rested this morning and I dozed for a couple hours in the recliner.  Obvious weight gain, though my prediction was wildly pessimistic and I overshot the mark by a full three pounds.  At the end of the day, though, I think my answer is still yes.  I do love a good turkey feast, I enjoyed making it and I enjoyed the company.  Once or twice a year.  Worth it.

Breakfast:  Leftover sausage strata, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

Yum.

Lunch:  Rotel sausage dip, Siete nacho cheese grain free tortilla chips, slice of pecan pie, glass of whole milk

I might be up five pounds tomorrow.   

Dip was great, used cream cheese instead of my usual cheddar cheese sauce and the Siete chips were on sale so I bought them to try.  Delicious.  And the pie is great.  Working on cleaning up the milk, I had too much since I ended up doing less cooking than expected.

Dinner:  Leftover feast - turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry, jello, rolls w butter, glass of Pinot Grigio, 12 oz All Day IPA.  Will have the rest of the pecan pie later.

Yummo.  Stuffed.  Fat.  Happy.

Last of the pie.

Exercise:  Nope.  Rest day.  I didn't check to see if it was still snowing.

59.0

Thanking

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Thanksgiving Day

Giving thanks today for a little progress, another trip around the sun, continued health of family and friends, thinking of those we have lost.  

It was a very pleasant morning out there, mid 40s and no wind is so nice for this time of year.  Quiet, too, with almost nobody out.  It did mean that I didn't get to smell bacon frying when I went past the breakfast place downtown, but so it goes.  Peaceful.  I don't quite have the same love for the morning walk that I found all those years ago but it has become more routine and it can be enjoyable.

Lots of eating to do, lots of cooking too.  Pleased that I wasn't up after yesterday -- It didn't feel like I ate to excess, more the fact that I had a fast food burger plus dairy and ate late.  Didn't even trigger lots of snoring.

Breakfast:  Sausage strata, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

Best one I have ever made.  SO good.  Wow.

Lunch:  Taco bowl, 12 oz All Day IPA

Oh, and I ate a caramel while making the pecan pie.  Decided not to wait until dinner since it's going to be at you know dinnertime.

Dinner:  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, cranberry, jello salad, rolls with butter, 24 oz All Day IPA, a glass of pinot grigio, caramel pecan pie with vanilla ice cream

All turned out fantastic.  10/10.  Stuffed.  Probably 10,000 calories, zero regrets.  And I have leftovers.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 40 minutes.  A hair faster but my pace is my pace.  No struggles today, just a steady march.  It does help, I think, to have a regular route and a podcast to listen to.

56.8

Oaktowns

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Lots of leaves blowing around this morning.  Still some on the trees, too.  

Expected but still disappointing jump on the scale.  Definitely retaining water.  Which is a bit odd because I do not feel puffy and it's not especially notable.  Legs have actually been less puffy.  But it's definitely true and something to deal with after the holiday.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSW toast w butter

Thawed some regular bread given that I may have a need for some this weekend.

Dinner:  Culvers mushroom and swiss double burger, sugar free butterscotch pudding

Very late dinner.  2 servings of pudding (1/2 small box), cleaned up what I didn't use for the pie.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 40 minutes.  Usual loop, usual pace.  Felt OK.  Not peppy but more steady on the uphills.  Maybe a little tight in the achilles but not enough to be a concern at all.  The first few blocks were dead into a stiff wind, not looking forward to days when it's way below freezing and it blows like that.  Brr.

57.2

Rice Hangover Possibly

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

I noticed this morning (and thinking back to last evening) that there is some water being retained.  Ugh.  Hard to figure, I mean the only notable thing yesterday was having a slice of keto pie.  I suppose that could have tipped the balance but it just doesn't feel likely.  Oh well.  It's a small thing, I just get cranky when I get home from my 0-dark-30 walk and the scale shows higher.

I really shouldn't obsess, this week in particular.  I have lots of holiday eating planned.  Weight will be gained.  It just needs to be transitory.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSCR toast w butter

Yup.  I'm so verbose.

Dinner:  Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, roll with butter, 12 oz All Day IPA, last slice of keto pie

From local BBQ place I hit a few times this summer.  Was going to get this tomorrow night, but since our family meal is in serious jeopardy I figured why wait.  It was quite good, even if they forgot the little tub of cranberry.  I even watched the worker dish it up, it just didn't make into the big container.  Oh well.

And yes I'm fully aware of the irony of getting this carb bomb after whining earlier about water retention.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, just over 40 minutes.  Same route, which I like because it's not as dark as some of the alternatives.  Went without my glasses for the first time today, on this route I can get away with it.  On some others the risk of tripping and falling would be way too high.

55.8

Rest From Walk Weekend

Monday, November 22, 2021

Pleased that I tolerated yesterday's walking quite well.  I never got notably tired -- we played in 4 hours and I never sat down or stopped for more than a minute.  I wondered about a couple late hills but they were no issue at all.  And I burned off lots of calories including all that rice.  Good times.  Got a solid night of sleep and had a planned rest day this morning.  Thanksgiving week is off to a pretty good start.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSCR toast w butter

Slices were a bit bigger in this batch (which means the non-CR bread will be smaller).  Good as always.

Dinner:  Taco bowl, 12 oz Miller Lite, slice of keto butterscotch cream cheese pie w whipped cream

Duplicate of yesterday.  One fat slice of the pie left for tomorrow night.

Exercise:  Nope.  Rest day.  I did look a little and I think yesterday was the first time since 2013 that I walked 18.  Happy it went as well as it did.

54.0

Eating Isn't Everything

Sunday, November 21, 2021

I was not real sure what I was going to see from the scale this morning.  Felt a little bloated and definitely backed up.  At the same time, I got a lot of walking in yesterday and the eating wasn't as awful as last weekend.  And ... it was not great bob.  Like I said yesterday, weekends need to look more like the weekdays since those, for the most part, are going well.  Oh, and I should add a couple bites of bread -- had to test the new batch of homemade bread as I bagged it up for the freezer -- and a bit of butter to last night's eating.

So it goes.  May be able to get in some more golf this afternoon, we will see if the weather holds.  They've backed off the forecast of meaningful snow tonight into tomorrow so maybe there will be a chance over the holiday too.  Who knows.  I definitely don't bank on what the long term forecast says.

Fun with numbers:  Just for entertainment I made a spreadsheet of scale results for days where I eat breakfast for dinner versus taco salad versus taco bowl.  It's not perfect, since there is some variation in exact composition (especially of breakfast) but I'm not trying to prove anything in particular.  The results were interesting -- taco dinners resulted in between 3 and 4 times the average loss the next day compared to breakfast.  Bowls were no worse (slightly better in fact) than salads.  Only one day was a gain out of 12 for tacos.  3 out of 9 (plus a zero) for breakfast.  I tried to be as consistent as possible, which was relatively easy given that I've had soup and toast every single one of the sample days for lunch I think -- I didn't tabulate days with a weird lunch.   Kind of eye opening!  I should also do a sheet of what my awful weekends are doing to my progress sometime.

Breakfast:  Pancakes w/ butter & maple syrup, bacon, coffee

Freezer cakes, leftover bacon, easy five minute meal on the griddle.  Carby but delicious.

Snack:  A few Epic salt and pepper pork rinds.  Finally finished this bag, spread out over ~ 4 snacks I think.

Lunch:  Yellow rice with diced ham

Carb loading before golf.  SMDH.  At least I cleaned up the open package of ham.

Dinner:  Taco bowl, keto butterscotch pie, 12 oz Miller Lite

Standard bowl with the Siete chips.  A very fine dinner and I'm glad I had it handy so I could talk myself out of getting takeout.

I made a half pie this morning - it's an almond flour crust, filling is cream cheese and sugar free butterscotch pudding.  A little whipped cream on top.  Not bad.

Exercise:  18 holes walking.  I need to try and figure out if it's the first time I've walked 18 holes since Thanksgiving 2012.    15k steps and it went just fine.

54.8

Easing In

Saturday, November 20, 2021

Lots of musings today, which figures given that I've been awake for three hours and the sum total of my accomplishments is I walked and I got cleaned up.  Oh, and I just made a cup of coffee.

Still, I'm calling that a successful start.  Easing into things, I woke up at 3:30 and took plenty of time to do very little.  Went out at my usual time, maybe 15 minutes earlier than I have been since I was fully awake at 5:00 instead of just waking up.  Between successful eating yesterday, clearing the system and a walk the scale was primed for a nice drop.  All good.

It was interesting that I encountered nearly zero people this morning.  No walkers, runners or dog people.  I know it's a weekend and I'm slightly earlier, but it was pretty nice (with appropriate gear) so I would have expected a few.  A couple people were working to open a restaurant for breakfast downtown, a police officer returned to the station and an ambulence went by a few blocks down, but that was about it.  Maybe a car or two but nobody else.  I usually only expect that kind of peace and quiet on Christmas morning.

I have plans to cook and bake stuff this weekend, but I'm definitely thinking that I should eventually move toward eating more like I do during the week, at least during the golf off season.  I'm a little addicted to seeing that scale move down.

Breakfast:  2 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and guacamole, coffee

One of the best omelets I have ever made, which admittedly isn't saying that much.  I didn't have a ripe avo so I just used a mini cup of guac -- honestly, I may do that more often since the cups on average can be less expensive than even the small avos.  At least they were this week.

Snack:  A few Epic salt and pepper pork rinds

Didn't need many.  Just a few - lunch was delayed by bread baking.

Lunch:  Home pizza with ham and mushrooms

Tasty, though dough again well past its prime from the freezer.  I think I have one left.

Dinner:  Tuna melt bowl (tuna, avo mayo, dill pickles, green olives, american cheese), 24 oz All Day IPA

No bread in this tuna melt.  Just trying something new.  It was pretty good, we'll see how well it sticks.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, just under 40 minutes.  A bit quicker today, actually felt good on the flat stretches.  Uphill was still a bit of a struggle -- okay, that's overselling it, but it's notably harder.  Felt faster, was faster.  Also:  9 holes, walking,  Took about an hour and a half.  My phone credited me with 6,200 steps or so.   I was at 4,600 beforehand (including the walk) so it was a good hike.

53.4

Things That Make Little Sense vol 900

Friday, November 19, 2021

A little bit of a frustrating morning.  First time in a while where I woke up and my body actively resisted doing so.  Got rid of some water, dozed and was still very much not ready to get up when the alarm went off.  So I didn't.  Plan was to do my grocery shopping before work but I cut it too close so I did not go and will have to do it this evening instead.  I just don't understand why there are days like that, I was in bed early, went to sleep at a reasonable time if a bit later than I planned and it seemed like I slept "ok".  Argh.

Also noting that there may well be a correlation between eating breakfast for dinner and less than optimal results on the scale.  May have to explore that in a little more depth, if there is truth to it I may need to change up my dinner options.  Doesn't seem to be an issue on weekend mornings, but that may just be a function of following it up with hours of walking around.  Something to investigate anyway.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:   Hamburger soup, HSCR toast w butter

Yup.

Dinner:  Taco bowl w/ Siete grain free tortilla chips

Yup.

Really, I hardly even need words for today's eating.

This weekend will be different.  I have a couple new menu items lined up and I bought a *lot* of groceries.  So I'll be making things.  All of the things.  Plus more for Thanksgiving and then the following weekend.  

Exercise:  Nope.  Ended up being a rest day.  Will do some grocery shopping tonight but that doesn't really count.  ... It ended up being well over an hour of "fun".  Still not counting it.

55.4

Meh For Effort Egg Version

Thursday, November 18, 2021

All good so far today.  Managed to get up.  Walked for a third day in a row.  Standard eating planned for today and tomorrow.  No change on the scale but it felt like a consolidation day when I got up this morning.  Now I just need some good eating days to lauch things further downward ... as we roll into Thanksgiving week.  Guh.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.  

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSCR toast w butter

First from the most recent batch and really good.  I added some leftover beef stock when I made it and I like what that seems to have done.

Dinner:  2 eggs scrambled with polish ham and some extra sharp cheddar, hash browns, 12 oz All Day IPA

Meh.  Not notably good, not sure why.  I ate it and it was a lot of food but I didn't really enjoy it.  I suspect the hash browns were the culprit.  Probably would have enjoyed more as a breakfast sandwich but I didn't have any regular bread thawed.  Or I could, you know, just not have the carbs.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 42 minutes.  Same route and time as yesterday.  A little gimpy but not too bad.  Definitely much colder and breezy.

55.0

Lost Sort Of In The 50s

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Had a debate this morning with myself about walking.  Ultimately the fact that it was fifty degrees pushed me out the door.  I'm still pretty marginal when it comes to doing back to back days but other than a tight achilles today felt fine.  We'll see about later and about tomorrow morning but things are good for now.

Speaking of things that are good, another new low on the scale this morning.  I'm sure it wasn't entirely the result of yesterday's haircut but that certainly did not hurt...

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Taco bowl with Siete grain free tortilla chips

Very late, super short lunch so I went with the quickest thing I had on hand.  I'll eat the soup I had planned tomorrow.  Got a lot of chips out of that 5 serving bag (I did 4 when I had planned on 3 before opening).  Ate a couple while the meat was heating, they taste kinda like Wheat Thins to me.

Dinner:  3 eggs sunnyside, hash browns w extra butter, 2 sausage patties, Meijer spicy veg juice, 12 oz All Day IPA

GOAT bowl, sausage version.  Always good.  I like bacon better but only by so much.  This was a bit too much food, we'll see how well it gets digested before bedtime...

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 42 minutes.  Same loop, a hair slower due to the aforementioned achilles.  Oh well, I made it.  Last 50 degree morning of the year, of that I'm quite certain.

55.0

Smoothed

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

I definitely like it when I wake up before my alarm and can ease into the walk.  Managed that today, getting up a half hour early.  Got out there, got it done, smooth.

Also got a haircut this morning and liked what I saw in the mirror.  Still tremendously fat, just less so.  Visibly less puffy.  Managed to get rid of most of what I put on over the weekend, just water weight as usual - it takes a lot of calories at this weight to put on real fat and while I ate a lot of starch it wasn't pounds of extra calories bad.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSCR toast w butter

Standard.  I really need to not put odd pieces of bread into my freezer packets.

Dinner:  Taco bowl with Siete grain free chips, 12 oz All Day IPA

Tasty again.  Didn't even finish off the bag of chips somehow which is astounding.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 40 minutes.  A few seconds faster than Saturday, same route.  May be my preferred one for a while, we'll see. 

56.8

Off On Wrong Foot

Monday, November 15, 2021

Ugh.  Monday.  Got off to a very inauspicious start -- the alarm went off, I shut it off, didn't jump right out of bed.  Checked what a thought was a couple minutes later ... NOPE.  It was more than an hour later, after 6:00 and too late to get out and walk due to early work obligations.  Argh.  I knew I was pushing it and stayed up too late last night but I had hopes that I had banked enough sleep to get by.  Apparently not.  I did not even feel like I went back to sleep but I must have.

It was also definitely not a successful weekend on the food front.  I didn't do quite as much damage as I feared but still, two days of notable jumps later I'm dissatisfied.  Should be a good week this week, maybe I can do better this weekend and build a little momentum before Thanksgiving.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSCR toast w butter

Standard.  Tasty.

Dinner:  Taco Bowl w Siete grain free tortilla chips, 12 oz All Day IPA

Yum.  We'll see what the body thinks about the carb count.  Didn't seem to be a problem on Friday, but who knows.  Also:  You get quite a few of the chips in a serving, more than I would have guessed.

Exercise:  Nope.  See above.  FAIL.  Quite irked by this since I feel pretty decent, took some steep stairs this morning (at work) without issue - I have taken the elevator plenty of other times due to fatigue.

59.0

Very Much As Expected

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Fully expected to pay for yesterday and I did.   It probably didn't help that I didn't get in a walk this morning and things are a little backed up, but whatever.  I should really go to 2MAD on weekends too but there are so many good things to eat and this time of year I have a little more time at home to make them...

Breakfast:  Pancakes, 4 strips bacon, coffee

Easy leftovers breakfast, pancakes from last week and bacon from yesterday.

Lunch:  Pizza toast (just sauce and cheese), cracker crust pizza w bacon

Cleaned up some HSW bread and made a dent in the other stuff.  Was still hungry so I cleaned up the cheese and the bacon.  Did need the space in the fridge.

I definitely have the hunger today.  Probably all the CARBS.

Snack:  Epic salt and pepper pork rinds

The pizza didn't really do anything for the HUNGER but the pork rinds subtly killed it.

Dinner:  Deli roast beef in leftover tomato gravy with leftover TCD style mashed potatoes

Reheated nicely.  A splash of milk in the potatoes, an ice cube of beef broth in the gravy and both were like new.

Exercise:  Nope.  Miserable day and the legs definitely were in favor of a rest day.  It was a VERY lazy day.

58.2

Overshifted Much

Saturday, November 13, 2021

TGIS.  Was able to get to bed at a reasonable hour, but not early.  Slept okay.  Woke up ... at 3:15.  Got rid of some water and pretty quickly figured out that I was not going to get back to sleep.  Sigh.  I don't usually do too well on less than six hours.  But it's been going okay so far three hours later.  I felt better during my walk, it wasn't hard to get out there after being up for a while.  We'll see how hard I fade later but fingers crossed it will be OK.  But yeah, getting up that early would be an overshift of the schedule.  Big time.

Time to get cleaned up and see if those Siete chips did anything negative.

Breakfast:  3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avocado, slice HSW with butter, coffee

Whew.  That was a lot of food.  I'm stuffed.

Lunch:  Home pizza with ham and mushrooms

Not a lot of pizzazz in this old dough from the freezer, but it was still tasty.

Dinner:  Deli roast beef in homemade tomato gravy, TCD style mashed potatoes

I had fun with a new toy - an electric vegetable peeler - and winged the gravy (butter, flour, seasonings, onion, beef stock and tomato sauce), turned out delicious.  And I have more for lunch tomorrow and will try freezing a container of the gravy for another meal.  I may yet have an All Day IPA.

Yeah, WAY too many carbs today but they sure have been tasty.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 41 minutes.  I added two blocks onto Thursday's distance, largely repeating that route.  It's not easy, there is a good sized hill that has to be navigated both ways.  Felt a little more spry than usual so I think the pace was slightly better.  I do hope to get down to a legit 20 min/mile or better soon.

56.2