A May Day

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Day 120

Catching up...

Breakfast:  ~ 3 oz Dietz & Watson oven roasted turkey, 0.75 oz jalapeno white cheddar

Lunch:  extra big 3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avacado; sausage;  coffee

Snack:  ~ 2 oz spicy peanuts

Dinner:  Chef salad with ranch (and a few croutons);  3 x 12 oz Miller Lite

Dessert:  NSA rice pudding cup

Exercise:  9 holes with cart, a decent amount of extra walking

May days with meaningful exercise:  1

April In Review

A quick look at April's results and May goals:

I didn't have a lot of time when I put together goals for April, so they were short and simple.  Lose 15 lbs, 15 days of meaningful exercise, make some kind of improvement in sleep schedule and being on top of things at work.

Suprisingly, there was more success than there was FAIL.  I weighed in this morning and thanks to a last day drop of most of a pound I ended up down 15.2 pounds in April!  That is, assuming that I trust my scale, which I don't, at least not fully.  But I'm going with it -- except I'll round it off so I don't have to remember fractional pounds.  15 even it is.

On the exercise front I think I hit exactly 15 days, which is good, but it required a vacation which is not sustainable.  So it's a success but I have not made any progress in figuring out how to work exercise into my workday routine -- other than golf league starting up.

As for goal #3 I made no improvement in sleep schedule and on balance I would say that I'm less on top of things at work than more so this goal is a FAIL.

May goals:

1.  Again, lose 15 pounds.  I've been pretty consistent the last 3 months and I hope this continues for a few more.  I'm roughly 1/3 of the way to a longer term goal weight, so there is plenty to go.

2.  15 days of meaningful exercise.  Same story, if I can figure out weekdays the weekends take care of themselves.

3.  Broadening this goal to make some kind of improvement in work/life balance.

4.  Renewing the improve sleep schedule goal.

5.  Adding a catch up on yard maintenance goal.  My yard looks bad and it makes me unhappy.

6.  Insert amounts paid for food into posts.

More specific goals would be better but I am out of time.

Mondays: Not fun.

Monday, April 30, 2012
Day 119

Crashed out early after a stressful day.  Work isn't getting better.

Breakfast:  ~ 1.5 oz jalapeno white cheddar cheese

Lunch:  Wendy's spicy chicken guacamole club sandwich

Dinner:  Taco salad, spicy pork  ($7.90 + tip)

I went to Meijer after dinner and spent $25.98, the biggest items being breakfast meat and lol pudding.

Exercise:  LOL no.

All One Liners

Sunday, April 29, 2012
Day 118

I don't think I'm quite going to make my target for this month, darned vacation.  We'll see.

Today was another ridiculously busy day.   There is just no letup.

Breakfast:  3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese, avacado; sausage; coffee ($11.01 + tip)

Lunch:  "Deluxe" brat with mustard and onion (~ 1/4 bun) ($3.00), ~ 2 oz Meijer hot n spicy peanuts

Dinner:  2 grilled hamburger patties, some salad (lettuce, tomato, cheese) w/o dressing

Dessert:  NSA rice pudding cup

Squeezed in 18 holes (with cart), some extra walking.  Enough to count and I am flat out BEAT.

April days with meaningful exercise:  15

Double Double Day

Saturday, April 28, 2012
Day 117

Even the weekends are crazy.  I decided recently that I needed to reorganize my office.  To do that, I decided to get some more surface space.  Went to IKEA, which isn't local.  That took much of the day.  Then I assembled, moved, sorted and moved stuff some more.  Got up early and the next thing I know it's 12:30 a.m.  Yikes.

It occurred to me yesterday that I could just note how much I'm spending on food right here on the blog.  I've tried off and on for years to keep track and this seems like a no-brainer since I'm trying to post almost every day.  A true "duh!" moment.

Breakfast:  Cracker Barrel double meat breakfast, coffee ($9.73 + tip)

Lunch:  Cracker Barrel double meat breakfast, coffee ($9.73 + tip)

Yeah, the same thing.  Different location and six hours apart.  I had a tough time deciding whether to repeat breakfast or (probably) repeat dinner.  Love breakfast, although the morning meal didn't agree with me entirely.

Dinner:  Taco salad, spicy pork ($7.90 + tip)

Exercise:  Two laps around IKEA, tons around the office.  Yep.

April days with meaninful exercise:  14

Engage Catchup Mode

Friday, April 27, 2012
Day 116

Not much to report.  Super busy day.

Breakfast:  ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch:  3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese, avacado; sausage; coffee ($11.01 + tip)

Dinner:  Taco Salad, spicy pork ($7.90 + tip)

Dessert:  NSA rice pudding cup

No exercise.

Not Real Motivated

Thursday, April 26, 2012
Day 115

Not feeling real motivated to do anything today.  Fortunately I had a day-long event that took care of the work portion (other than the emails and phone messages that piled up) and it was just the evening blahs.

Breakfast:  ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch:  Chef salad with ranch (& a little tartar sauce), coffee

Dinner:  Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert:  NSA rice pudding cup

I was given a cup of tartar sauce by mistake with my salad at lunch and I dumped half of it on the salad before I noticed.  Oops.  Other than adding some unnecessary carbs, no harm done.

No motivation, no exercise.  We'll see if I can make a big push this weekend to get caught up at life and if so maybe I can start thinking seriously about how to incorporate exercise into weekdays.

For Lunch, Breakfast Is King

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Day 114

Pretty normal day. So much to do, so little time.

Breakfast: ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch: 3 eggs scrambled with tomato, onion, green pepper and mushrooms & cheese, 2 sausage patties, coffee

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

Tried a different lunch place today. Not as good but it was convenient. I sure like breakfast for lunch!

No exercise today, going to get back to work in a minute here.

Reinforcement, Meet Stumble

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Day 113

I got more positive reinforcement yesterday and then again today. Two people commented yesterday on how I'm losing weight -- one was someone that I was particularly pleased about -- and then today someone I know stopped me at lunch to talk about it. It's going well.

And then of course I have a screw up. Tuesday nights are golf league. Tonight the course provided food -- lasagna. Yeah, not going to eat that. Oh well. Most weeks I can get a salad with meat and that will be fine, this time the lack of protein left me quite hungry so I got a sandwich. A good sandwich, but still a fast food sandwich. Bleh.

Breakfast: ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch: 3 egg omelet with bacon, avacado, cream cheese and onion; 2 sausage patties; coffee

Pre-golf snack: 2 oz spicy peanuts

Golf: 3 x 12 oz Miller Lite, plate of salad with ranch dressing

Nightcap: Wendy's spicy chicken guacamole club sandwich. 770 calories, 54 net carbs.

Anyway, I did get in some exercise - 9 holes with cart, fair amount of extra walking.

April days with meaningful exercise: 13

Stock

Monday, April 23, 2012

Day 112

Pretty standard Monday. Dragging a bit by the end of the day, didn't get great sleep last night.

Breakfast: ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch: ~ 6 oz leftover steak, 1.5 oz jalapeno white cheddar cheese, 6 oz V-8

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

No exercise of note.

Insufficient

Sunday, April 22, 2012
Day 111

There just wasn't enough time this weekend. I didn't even have enough time to get this post up.

Breakfast: 3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avacado; sausage; coffee

Lunch (I guess): Jalapeno brat with mustard and onions (I ate about 1/4 of the bun); ~ 2 oz Meijer hot and spicy peanuts

Dinner: Scrambled eggs with cheese, 1 sausage patty, 4 sausage links, 1 strip bacon, 1/2 slice raisin toast with buter

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

Exercise: 18 holes with cart. Did a good job of getting in extra walking.

April days with meaningful exercise: 12

Many Miles

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Day 110

Tired this evening. It's been a busy day with lots and lots of walking. I got in 18 holes of golf this morning - with cart but I walked quite a bit, mowed my lawn and spent some time picking up sticks, did the grocery shopping and have been working around the house. I wore the pedometer for the yard chores and it said I walked two miles which seems a little high but not outrageously so since I was out there for the better part of two hours.

Breakfast: ~ 1.5 oz swiss cheese

Mid-round snack: Jalapeno brat with mustard and onions, I ate maybe 1/8th of the bun

Lunch: Chef salad with ranch, 2x 16 oz Miller Lite

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup. I also had a bite of NY strip steak.

The breakfast choice was not a good one. My stomach wasn't terribly happy with me. It settled down some after I ate the brat. I need to come up with some golf course appropriate snack food -- I like eating a little something at the turn and the choices tend toward the junk and are expensive. I guess I could always pack some peanuts or something.

Lunch was good. First time eating the salad at the club, they use fancy greens instead of iceberg lettuce but it was quite good. Will eat again. (And again, and again, and again...). As an added bonus they fixed the tap so the beer was good and cold. Probably didn't need the 2nd one.

Cooked up a steak I had in the fridge after dinner. I'll probably eat that tomorrow.

April days with meaningful exercise: 11

Finally A Small Difference

Friday, April 20, 2012

Day 109

I literally could eat the same thing every day. What I've been having this week is so good. It's not sustainable budget-wise, but seriously I really could eat it every day. I might not even die of scurvy if I did.

Small differences today. I ran out of ham and I was on the other side of the county so lunch was different. I really think I'm going to start having breakfast for lunch most days (just more at home) since I like it so much. One of the things I want to do is hit the restaurant supply house and see if they have the sausage patties I've been getting with my omelet, those things are like crack. Perfectly seasoned.

Breakfast: ~ 1.5 oz ham, ~ 1.5 oz swiss cheese

Lunch: Cracker Barrel double meat breakfast with 1 slice toast; coffee

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

Exercise: Did a fair amount of walking tonight shopping but it really doesn't count.

Next week's goals are primarily to not eat out so much. I have a bunch of stuff on hand to eat, I just have to cook it and eat it!

This Is A Repeat

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Day 108

Yup. Same ol', same ol'. Good eats, too much time at work.

Breakfast: ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch: 3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avacado; sausage; coffee

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

No exercise, alas.

After Season

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Day 107

Very standard day. I didn't go back to the office tonight (should have) but did manage a short period of work at home. I also spent a couple hours picking up the basement. A nice improvement but I still have some cleaning to go down there and that's before I tackle the rest of the house. Spring cleaning here I come.

Breakfast: ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch: 3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avacado; 2 sausage patties; coffee

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

I could probably count today as an exercise day since I was moving around a lot, moving boxes and stuff, but I am not going to count it.

Happy Tax Day

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Day 106

For most people, today sucks. For me, it's mixed. On one hand it makes me miserable because I send in an extension payment and wonder how I'm ever going to come up with the rest of what I owe. But on the other hand it marks the end of a super busy season and I'm very happy to be done. On balance, I think I'm happy.

Yet another super busy day, I didn't get home until almost 7:00. Had a quick dinner, picked up a few sticks in the yard and am decompressing. I think I will try to pick up for a bit and go to bed early. I got another random complement on how I look so I was pretty pumped about that. Otherwise, just another day ... only with good food!

Breakfast: ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch: 3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and avacado; 2 sausage patties; coffee

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

Exercise: Not so much, just a little puttering around. Not going to qualify. If I can grind through some of the backlog at work I can hopefully have a little more time on weekdays now.

Like I Said, I Was Expecting Worse

Monday, April 16, 2012

Day 105

I was worried when I got up this morning that I would pay for this weekend. There were a lot of beans in the chili. And I ate quite a bit of it, with extra calories from the cheese and sour cream. I hopped on the scale, and instead ... the first digit had changed! I am below my first milestone weight. It's unofficial since it's not the end of the month, but it's still very exciting.

Later on, I got some more positive reinforcement as another person at work pulled me aside and told me how much better I look. I have to admit I like hearing that since I really don't see it. Sure the clothes fit better but when I look in the mirror I see pretty much the same ol' same ol'. I think I'll take their word for it.

Breakfast: ~ 3 oz ham

Lunch: Chef salad with ranch, coffee

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

I have a steak in the fridge I've been meaning to cook but it was too windy tonight to grill. Maybe tomorrow, if I have any energy left after work. We'll see about that.

Exercise? During the week? Yeah, uh, no. Went back to the office yet again. Home at a relatively civilized 10 pm, didn't feel like doing much though, going to bed.

I Was Expecting Worse

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Day 104

I thought this would do more damage. Will explain in Monday's post.

Breakfast: ~ 2 oz ham

Lunch: 4 cups of chili with cheese, sour cream and lots of jalapenos

After golf: 16 oz Miller Lite

Dinner: Chicken cordon bleu (homemade) - chicken breast, slice ham, slice swiss cheese, some breadcrumbs. Asparagus

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

Exercise: Yep. Again with the 18 holes with cart.

April days with meaningful exercise: 10

This Is Diet Food? Uhh

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Day 103

Catching up after a weekend in which nothing much got accomplished. Slow golf event + home mishap = FAIL. The mishap was that I got a geyser of water out of the floor drain when I did a load of laundry ... time to clear the line out to the street again. Boo.

Breakfast: ~ 1 oz swiss cheese

Lunch: 4 cups (no idea what size, that's not cups of measurement) of chili with cheese, sour cream and lots of jalapenos

After golf: 16 oz Miller Lite

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

Exercise? Yes! 18 holes (with cart, alas). I walked extra whenever I could.

April days with exercise: 9

Is It April 15 Yet?

Friday, April 13, 2012

Day 102

Glad it's Friday, even if it's Friday the 13th. I nearly got creamed by a lady who didn't stop at a stop sign this noon and I nearly took out a guy on a bike in a parking lot this evening. I think it's time to stay home now.

I checked the scale and I'm a solid few pounds below my weight before vacation. I don't know that I'm going to hit my goal this month but at least the water is gone and I'm back losing. On the food front, same old stuff (which I like).

Breakfast: ~ 2 oz ham, ~ 1 oz swiss cheese

Lunch: 3 egg omelet w/ bacon, avacado, cream cheese, 2 sausage patties, coffee

Dinner: Taco salad, spicy pork

Dessert: NSA rice pudding cup

It never ceases to crack me up that a taco salad is diet food, but it is. Other than some refried beans everything else is totally good. I might go a little overboard on the hot sauce but whatever, as long as I'm losing steadily I'm OK with eating some taco salads.

Probably no exercise, it's been a long week. I will probably do some stuff around the house if I muster up some zip but it won't be enough to count.