Mad Science Food Division

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Glad to be getting closer to the end of the week.  Put the daylight alarm clock into action last night, it was effective in waking me up but it didn't fill me with any extra pep.  Still need more sleep and better quality sleep.

Breakfast:  1+ oz hard salami, 1 slice sharp cheddar

Hide the salami!

A little heavier on the salami.  I still have a lot left.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl

Above the rim.  That's a lot of food.

Standard stuff.  A big bowl today for no particular reason, just luck of the draw.

Snack:  2 oz Meijer hot and spicy peanuts

No photo.  End of the bag.

Dinner:  Pita bread, ~ 8 oz CF spicy beef bacon, can of V-8 juice

Not a very impressive visual.

Close to a beef bacon gyro.  If I hadn't left the tzatziki sauce out after I made gyros I would have thrown some on there.

Exercise:  40 minutes, core and cardio

137.8

Soup Resoup

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A pretty OK day.  At least it has been today.  We'll see what the scale says tomorrow.  I'm always interested to see whether I'll be punished for the bad stuff.  It's being kept to a relatively modest level, but it has definitely not been banished.

Breakfast:  ~ 1 oz hard salami, 1 slice mild cheddar, coffee

Not sure this can be made to be exciting

Standard.  Only had one cup of coffee instead of two.

Lunch:  Chick Fil A spicy chicken sandwich, small chicken soup w/ saltines, large frosted lemonade

Can't really tell much from this picture, can you?

Decided to try the soup instead of getting fries or nuggets, it was quite good.  One downside of going to CFA is I can eat a lot of it and it's not cheap.

Snack:  2 oz Meijer hot n spicy peanuts

Calorie density in image form

Pre-dinner warmup.

Dinner:  Homemade vegetable beef soup, 1 medium avocado

Souptaculer

Used a different recipe and a CF chuck roast instead of ground beef.  Quite happy with the results, meat was super tender.  Definitely could have consumed more than the pint.

Exercise:  Nope.  No valid excuse.

137.4

Unintentionally Avocado Intensive

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

I forgot what I had for lunch.  So I had an avocado for dinner.  I would say oops but NO REGRETS.

Still raining so another day without putting the evening walk idea in play for days where I don't take a morning walk.  Did get a workout in though. 

Breakfast:  ~ 1 oz hard salami, 1 slice mild cheddar, coffee

Let's see if I can go 3/3 with lolportrait mode

Standard.  About out of mild cheddar.  It's not bad when you eat it with the salami actually.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl. 

Not the best angle for this shot.

Stock standard.  My burrito artist went heavy on the queso diablo but relatively light on everything else.  You just never know what you're going to get.

Dinner:  Gyro, 1 medium avocado

I'll never be a photographer.

Not standard!  I've had one of those gyro kits in my freezer.  Bought it since you can't just buy gyro meat, which is too bad.  I like gyro meat way too much.  Anyway, this kit made three gyros.  I skipped two of the pitas and didn't use much tzazitki (however you spell that) sauce.  It was better than expected.

Exercise:  45 minutes, lots of arm and shoulder, some core.

I'm puzzled by how my muscles feel weak and tired and resistant, even to relatively simple and unloaded movements.  May just be getting old.

139.2

A Flood A Flood

Monday, February 19, 2018

Didn't get enough sleep last night, so this morning wasn't a super pleasant experience.  I really need to learn not to snooze, it just doesn't ever help things.  I did order a daylight alarm clock today and am kinda interested to see if that makes any difference -- it is really dark in my place.

Otherwise, I definitely had the hunger this evening.  Got an extra taco and they were beefy tonight so that's good.  I would really like to go for a walk before bedtime but it's cold and raining pretty steadily so that will not be happening.  I'd think about joining the YMCA but it's expensive and overcrowded.  Maybe some other time.

Breakfast:  ~ 1 oz hard salami, 1 slice mild cheddar, coffee

Pictures now more likely to be in lolPortrait Mode.

Standard.  Edible.

Lunch:  Corned beef hash with 2 eggs over medium, cinnamon raisin toast, coffee

First time in forever they put the toast on the plate.

Not quite as great as last week but still good.  Will eat again.

Dinner:  4 ground beef tacos w cilantro, onion, cheese, avocado and hot sauce

Definitely excessive.

Delicious as always.  Gotta love Taco Monday.

Dessert:  Chobani Flip

I don't know why I thought Banana
Low Fat Yogurt might be a good idea.
It wasn't.

Meh.  It was free at the grocery store this week.  Won't be getting again.

Exericse:  Nope.  Rain and more rain.

141.0

I Assume The Consequences Are Delayed

Sunday, February 18, 2018

I expected to feel worse this morning after yesterday's eating.  I did end up sleeping in and very late, ending up in a crazy dream where I hopped a flight on a whim between the Bahamas and Jamaica only to realize mid-flight that I didn't have my passport.

I've never been to the Bahamas.  Or Jamaica for that matter.

Anyway, today holds the promise of some activity.  I just hope it's not too cold out there.  Oh, and bad eating as I have a birthday party this evening to attend.

Breakfast:  1 slice sourdough with butter, 3 strips our family bacon, 1 egg over hard in butter, 1 slice medium cheddar, glass of V-8, coffee

Sammy!

I was very pleased with how this turned out.  It would have been easier to eat with a top bread but the cheese was melted just enough to hold it all together.

Lunch:  Spicy beans, 1 package buddig ham

Seriously, I give up.

From last week's batch.  Not bad at all.  I also tasted a spoon or two worth of the batch of vegetable beef soup I made this afternoon.

Dinner:  American ghoulash, garlic toast, some Lays sour cream and onion chips, strawberries and blueberries with a sprinkle of sugar, super chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream

No, this wasn't all of it.  

Oof.  Poor self control. 

Exercise:  Walked to get my car.  Only 3/4 of a mile or so but at least there was a pretty solid incline so I got nice and warm.  Interesting blend of bodily resistance (not quite fatigue but similar) and a little pep in my step once I got going.  I'll take it.  Nice reminder too of how badly I need to get out there every single day.  The next two are going to be a challenge due to forecast heavy rain.

140.2

Weekends Are For Fail

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Maybe not entirely for fail but for fail none the less.  It's easier to eat outside the routine.  I had different dinner plans but aborted for a close-to-home option when it started snowing hard.

I did make it to the farm this morning and stocked the freezer nicely.  I also organized the freezer and yeah, I've got lots of good meat on hand.  Let's eat more of that, you know?

In summary:  Man I ate a lot of starch today.  Not cool man.

Breakfast:  1 slice sourdough with butter, 5 strips Our Family standard bacon, coffee

Bacon was good but not life changing.  Back to applewood.

Pretty standard stuff this morning.  I didn't make any eggs, though I could have.

Snack:  ~ 1/3 chocolate coconut donut, coffee

Ate a bite before the photo, this was about half.

I tried to break it in half.  Fail.  This was left from yesterday.   (Edit:  To be clear, a whole donut was left from yesterday, they got me one and I never got around to eating any of it.  Ate part today, the rest is left yet)

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl

Now if I can just figure out their rewards program

Good as always.  I couldn't decide on a plan for lunch, so I went with a default option.

Dinner:  Stromboli (pepperoni, sausage, peppers, cheese)

This was the "small" size.  Yikes.

Not planned.  Tried something new.  I think I'll stick to their pizza.

Exercise:  Nope.  I was a bit more active than usual according to the pedometer but nothing close to an actual block of exercise.  Which is not good, since I've got plans for some serious golf in a month.  Need to get to that walking.

141.4

Shrinking Guts

Friday, February 16, 2018

I can't say that my gut is shrinking much just yet, but I have been less hungry of late.  Like this morning.  I ate about two bites of my buttered sourdough and decided I didn't want any more.  Instead of eating it anyway I let it go.  Like a normal person.  For once.

Breakfast:  A couple bites of sourdough with butter, 2 slices mild cheddar cheese, coffee

I need more jumbo coffee mugs!

The blandest cheese ever.  I think I was going to use it in something, now I'm just eating it to be done.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl no bean version

A rare post-stir photo

Standard.  I guess I could have had beans since I ended up not having them for dinner.  I like Qdoba.  I go there enough I should really figure out their stupid rewards program.

Dinner:  2 ground beef tacos, 1 pork taco, all plus cheese avocado and hot sauce

100% win

Yup.  A lot more expensive than Mondays though.  I think I may have a cider too.

Exercise:  45 minutes of core and shoulders mostly.  Went pretty well.

140.4

Something New

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Made a major purchase today.  Stressful, but so far I'm happy with it.

Breakfast:  1 slice sourdough with butter, 1 slice sharp cheddar, coffee

Forgot to take a photo, go figure.

Lunch:  Corned beef hash w/ 2 eggs over medium, cinnamon raisin toast, coffee

Pic taken after cutting and mixing in the eggs.
Almost forgot.

Apparently bagging on my lunch place helped, this was even better than Monday.  10/10 will eat again.  BTW I only ate one slice of the toast because I was ... full?!?

Dinner:  Fried lake perch with tartar sauce, french fries with ketchup, 16 oz Miller Lite

Slaw dish looked ENORMOUS.
Did not want.

Invited out, it was OK.  I didn't find anything on the menu too exciting.  Didn't eat the slaw.

Exercise:  Nope.  I did do some stairs though which was nice.  Not quite as challenging.

141.4

Soup And Sandwich

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Weird day today.  Standard start, then I didn't have lunch until 4:00.  And some other stuff, which I'll perhaps detail later.

Breakfast:  1 slice sourdough with butter, 1 oz hard salami, 1 slice sharp cheddar, coffee

I give up.

Out of the salami.

Lunch:  Chick Fil A spicy chicken sandwich, large frosted lemonade

No picture, on the go.  It was a really good sandwich and the frosted lemonade is crack.  I did manage to skip the fries.

Dinner:  Spicy beans, 2 strips CF brisket, medium avocado

Yeah, that.

The beans were from the most recent batch, tasted good.  They were, however, really, really, really soupy.  Oh well.

Exercise:  Nope, short on time today that's for sure.  Too bad, because it was actually pretty nice.

141.8

Too Much Too Early Too Late

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Ugh.  The stress got me.  Woke up from a work-related nightmare at 4:15 am. 

Made it through the day but pretty tired.  Certainly too tired to do much of anything this evening.  And I'm convinced that the tiredness played a large role in the dinnertime cracking.

Breakfast:  1 slice sourdough with butter, 1 oz hard salami, 1 slice sharp cheddar, coffee

You don't even have to ask how I feel about photo rotation issues.

Even had an extra cup of coffee this morning.  I knew it was going to be forever until lunch so I had the sourdough too.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl, no bean version

Would it be gauche to just ask for a bowl of brisket and guac?

Standard.  Not quite as huge as usual.  Still delicious.

Dinner:  Domino's thin crust ham, pepperoni and onion pizza

Darned convenience.

Yeah, fail.  Tasted good though.  Of all the chain pizzas I think this the one I like best.

Exercise:  45 minutes focus on biceps, triceps and core.   It went better than expected.

140.4

I Don't Don't Like Mondays? Maybe?

Monday, February 12, 2018

On second thought, even Mondays that I don't hate kinda suck.

Woke up really super early this morning, but it was due to stress and not anything productive.  Didn't get up and do anything to alleviate the stress, either.  But today has been survived.  Tomorrow may be worse.

Breakfast:  ~ 1 oz hard salami, 1 slice our family sharp cheddar, coffee

This picture would be unimpressive no matter how it's rotated.

I didn't get Armour salami since there was a backup at the deli.  This was some packaged kind and it was merely OK.  Probably won't get again.

Lunch:  Corned beef, hash browns, 2 eggs over medium, cinnamon raisin toast, coffee

Fantastic if not healthy.

After bagging on my favorite lunch place last week this time my meal was outstanding.  Go figure.  It helped that it wasn't busy.

Dinner:  3 ground beef tacos, mexican style plus cheese, avocado and hot sauce

They gave me lots and lots of cheese.

You gotta love taco monday.  What a delicious dinner.  Again not healthy but delicious none the less.

Exercise:  Nope.

143.2

In Which I Am Wake Resistant

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Another night of suboptimal sleep, though I got to bed earlier than I thought I would.  Woke up, wasn't awake.  Woke up for real and the sun was up.  Oops.  Almost 9:00.  That's not good.  If I can ever get myself onto a real schedule maybe I'll invest in a daylight alarm clock.

Breakfast:  Slice sourdough with butter, 1 egg over hard, 1 slice our family sharp cheddar, 5 strips our family bacon, can of V-8, coffee

Bacon disappointment

A nice, if salty and greasy, breakfast.  The breakfast sandwich was good.  The bacon, alas, was not as good as yesterday.  Some of that, I think, depends on cook time and how much grease is blotted.  I think it's better if you don't blot it so much (like I did today).  I like it soft.

Lunch:  4 slices CF brisket, a whole lot of Vigo yellow rice

Rice.  Yellow Rice.

If your reaction to that picture was "holy **** that's a lot of rice", you would have had the same reaction I did.  I clearly did not eat half of the package last time.  Note to self, portion it next time, it's enough for 3 servings.  Really good, though.  I bought more yesterday.

Snack:  2 oz Meijer hot and spicy peanuts.

Weird that they come in a bag instead of a can now, but I guess that way they can charge more per ounce.

Dinner:  Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, 12 oz Miller Lite

No that is NOT a pork chop.

The steak was eye of round, which isn't great as a steak but that's how it was cooked and consumed.  It was OK.

Exercise:  Nope.  Argh.

---

Beaned Up

Saturday, February 10, 2018

As I feared, making a batch of spicy beans last night took forever.  I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight and my whole schedule is off as a result.  Way off.  Stress level is also off the charts.  Stupid work.

Breakfast:  2 eggs fried in butter, spicy beans, 4 slices Our Family bacon, coffee

Aaaarrrrrrrrrgh

I had an odd amount left over after filling my jars last night so I saved it for use this morning in the place of hash browns.  Which worked fine, though the beans easily overwhelmed the eggs.  Also, there is something about freezing and thawing the beans that deepens the flavor, makes them better.  At least I think it does.  These were not as good as the jars I've pulled out of the freezer this week.  We'll see how this batch is later.  Also of note, the bacon was not the usual thick cut, it was some regular store bacon that I bought for project since abandoned.  It was ... fantastic?!?  I may have to swtich.  We'll see if it's as good next time, I have a couple strips left for tomorrow.

Lunch:  12" antipasto pizza

At least the pizza picture isn't messed up.

This is pretty major fail.  I should know better than to sit down with access to more pizza that I should eat.  I need to portion it and put away the part that I'm not going to eat right now.  Because otherwise, I eat it.  That's what I do.  Pizza is damn kryptonite.

Dinner:   None (so far), decaf coffee

At least I wasn't hungry because I ate all that pizza between 3:00 and 3:30.  Oh, that reminds me, I did not have a cider last night.

Exercise:  Nope.  I did fish out my pedometer and put in a new battery.

143.6

Happy National Pizza Day!

Friday, February 9, 2018

It's a thing, apparently.  Fitting that it's on Friday, which is my favorite day of the week to eat pizza.

I did not eat pizza.

Believe me, I thought about it.  A lot.  I like pizza.  A lot.  But I also like sleep and if I want to get to sleep before midnight and make a pot of beans I needed to start on them, not wait for a pizza.  So pizza will have to wait.

I did have a lot of other stuff today though.

Breakfast:  Slice of sourdough with butter, 1 CF japaleno snack stick, coffee

Again skipped the buddig and I didn't take the time to fish out salami.  Last of the snack sticks.

Lunch:  Scramble with egg, american fries, ham, green pepper, onion and cheese;  2 sausage patties, 2 slices cinnamon raisin toast with "butter", coffee

Yeah, that's the half order

I like this place for lunch .... I'm just not crazy about the food.  I ate about half of the scramble, the eggs were overdone and I'm not all that wild about american fries.  I would have asked about subbing hash browns ... but I'm not crazy about those either.  I've become quite the breakfast potato snob apparently.

Pre-Dinner:  2 oz Meijer hot n spicy peanuts

Almost forgot to include this.  Yeah, today was calorifffffffffic.

Dinner:  CF brisket, Vigo yellow rice

Wow, the angle makes that look like a TON of rice.
It wasn't.
It was two servings though.

First time eating the yellow rice, it was just something I had on hand that someone had recommended.  Quite good and easier than when I made it myself, but that ingredient list.

I am considering having a cider later.  I have two left and it is Friday night.  We'll see.

Exercise:  Nope.  Need to get on that this weekend.  A snowy morning.

144.0

The Same But With Ham

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Another day, another dollar.  Maybe even two dollars.  I can't say that I have lots of pep or enthusiasm, but I've had worse days.  Not sure if I mentioned it but yesterday I actually had some pep, even jogged a step or two in a rare fit of energy.  Not the case today but whatever.  One of these days.

I did make it to the store tonight in hopes that sometime this weekend I'll be able to make more beans and a batch of soup.

Breakfast:  Slice of sourdough, lots of butter.  Coffee

Decided to skip the buddig this morning, I was late and wasn't feeling it.

Snack:  CF jalapeno snack stick

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl

This is not a stock photo.

No beans today, otherwise the usual bowl.  It's a lot of food and a lot of calories but it is good.

Dinner:  Spicy beans with 1 package of buddig ham, small avocado

A very very good batch.

Put the buddig I didn't eat this morning to use.  Also happy that I had 2 avocados left in my bag since the first one was overripe and unappealing.

Exercise:  45 minutes core, back, shoulders mostly.  Average.

144.8

Freezer Finds

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Feeling a bit more upbeat today which is nice.  Getting up was a little easier (though it wasn't any earlier), fewer aches and pains, not as stressed, all positives.

The other day I found in the freezer -- okay, I didn't exactly have to look hard -- three jars of spicy pinto beans that I froze the last time I made them.  It's been a while, so I had some trepidation as to how they would taste.  Had one tonight and they came through quite well!  That's such an easy dinner (as long as I remember to thaw a jar) -- toss 'em in a pot and heat.  If I have time to make some more they may well go back into the rotation.

Breakfast:  1 slice sourdough, lots of butter, package buddig beef, coffee

I'm getting to the point where the more butter the better I like the bread.  I could do without the buddig.

Snack:  1 CF jalapeno snack stick

Lunch:  1 slice meat pizza w hand tossed style crust, Arby's roast beef gyro, coffee

A laughably terrible photo of the 'gyro'.

Didn't know if I'd get anything to eat at my lunch meeting but they ordered pizza.  Decided to try the 'gyro' afterward since I kept the pizza to one slice.  It was quite good, though no match for a real gyro.

Dinner:  A pint of spicy pinto beans, 1 package of buddig turkey, small avocado

Have I mentioned how I hate rotation fail?

As mentioned, happy with the beans.  Used up a package of turkey.  And the avocado was a nice addition too.  A most satisfactory dinner.

Exercise:  Nope.  As mentioned I may need to consider evenings, not excited about it though.

143.6

Temptation Part Nine Thousand

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

I just don't understand my brain.  I had dinner.  A decent dinner.  I certainly didn't skimp.  I was sated without being stuffed.  And yet driving home I still had to struggle with the temptation to get more food via drive thru.  It makes no sense.  Why do I have the psychological need to binge?

Managed to fight it off but jeez it's annoying.

Breakfast:  Slice of sourdough with butter, package of buddig ham, coffee

I think I'm going to try salami and cheese instead.

Snack:  1 CF jalapeno beef snack stick

Decided to eat something before working out.  I think it was a good idea.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl

QDOBA

The usual.

Dinner:  Fried perch, 1/2 baked potato w butter, a slice of bread, a couple onion rings, small salad w thousand island, cup of beer cheese (?) soup, a chicken wing, crackers and bar cheese, 16 oz Two Hearted

Sounds worse than it was.  Portions weren't huge.   Ate a variety instead of a lot of any one thing.

Exercise:  45 minutes mostly core today.  Worked pretty hard.

143.6

Slight Inspiration

Monday, February 5, 2018

While I accomplished ~ nothing this weekend I did spend a little time reading some of the archives.  And not just the FAIL parts.  It was pleasant reading through some parts where I actually succeeded.  I'm going to have to go back again and again to reinforce the good stuff.  It's not that difficult:  Walk and cut the carbs.

Breakfast:  1 slice sourdough w/ butter, package of buddig beef, coffee

Lunch:  Marbled cornbread scramble with pico de gallo, diced redskin potatoes

Dinner:  3 ground beef tacos, mexican style plus cheese, avocado and hot sauce.  Might have a cup of decaf too.

Exercise:  Nope.  Unsurprisingly I could not get out of bed on short rest.

145.8

Another Superb Owl Sunday

Sunday, February 4, 2018

I'm on board with having the Monday after the Super Bowl being an official holiday.  It's never enjoyable to have an 8:00 meeting or something, really takes away from whatever enjoyment is there.

Set an alarm for early this morning, in hopes that I'd be up to a walk in the snow.  No dice.  I'm really having trouble getting out of bed on any kind of short rest, a testament to just how poorly I sleep.

Breakfast:  CF spicy beef bacon, a slice of sourdough with butter, coffee

I like this stuff.

I think by now the generousness of the butter can safely be implied.  Lol at me, a person who used to go real light on the butter.

Lunch:  3 eggs in butter, 4 strips thick applewood bacon, hash browns in butter, a small avocado, can of V-8

We have the breakfast.

Quite a feast.  I miss the good hash browns.  Otherwise it was quite decent.

Dinner:  Ham, salami and cheese sandwich w mayo on a sub roll, chips, salsa, some dips, 12 oz Miller Lite.

Didn't eat that much considering. 

Exercise:  Nope.  Lazy and tired.

146.0

Step Back

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Not a good day today, though really the only unplanned part was eating dinner.  The issue was eating lunch too early and I didn't feel like getting too hungry.  Hmm.  No vegetables either.  Not good.

Breakfast:  Slice sourdough with lots of butter, CF spicy beef bacon, coffee

Really nailed the time and temp on the beef bacon, it was fantastic.

Lunch:  Chick fila a spicy chicken sandwich, fries, large frosted lemonade, 8 pc nuggets

Lots of calories.  Sugar too, darn that uber delicious frosted lemonade.  Stuff is like gold crack.

Dinner:  Lee's Famous Recipe 3 strip spicy snack with ranch

Exercise:  Spent an hour or so walking around a convention center.  Plus a good hike to and from the car.  I'm counting it.  My back wasn't too happy with me the first half of the day, so it was a bit of a struggle.

146.8

Stomach Wins Again

Friday, February 2, 2018

Quick post tonight.

Breakfast:  2 slices sourdough with generous butter, package of buddig ham, coffee

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl

Dinner:  Domino's thin crust pepperoni, ham, onion pizza

Exercise:  Nope.  Bitterly cold.

145.4

Stomach Over Brain

Thursday, February 1, 2018

It's a new month.  Sort of getting on track in late January has boosted spirits and a few pounds have been shed.  I can't say that it's been a huge breakthrough, I'm still fat, tired and weak.  But at least there is a little reason to be optimistic.

Coming home after work my stomach was lobbying for a pizza or burger.  Of course I wasn't actually hungry, it just wanted the feeling of being full.  Mouth joined in and the chorus was loud and obnoxious.  But I prevailed.  Barely.  Stupid traitorous organs.

Breakfast:  2 slices sourdough with generous butter, 1 package buddig beef, coffee

Standard.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl

I like pics so much better in landscape.  Doh.

Also standard.  Today's burrito artist was a little more generous.  It was a good bowl.

Dinner:  CF spicy beef bacon, 1 slice sourdough with generous butter, V-8

Okay, that's NOT a pretty picture.

I probably could have skipped dinner.  Without much consequence even.  But I am wondering if one of the reasons that workouts have been hard lately is that I'm just not eating enough.  We'll see.  I did enjoy it though -- even though I overcooked the beef "bacon" it had nice heat to it.  Will eat again (and not just because I still have 2/3 of the package left!).

Exercise:  35 minutes variety.  Lots of core.  Today was a MAJOR struggle from the start.   Just very weak and kind of tight.  Heart rate got up quick.

145.4