Partially Clearing Lettuce

Monday, August 3, 2020

Whew, no lettuce-triggered issues last night.  Slept decently, didn't wake up much, though I did snore more than I have been lately.  No cramps is such a blessing.

And I got rewarded for another day of much walking.  If I can maintain during the week, by the close of next weekend I should blow past my pre-corona low.  Now if I can just dial in some walking other than on the weekend that would be swell.

Lunch:  Taco bowl - beef, mexican cheese, guac, jalapeno cilantro salsa, fire sauce.  Croissaint with butter, Fage vanilla TruBlend yogurt.

Thawed the taco meat for yesterday but never ate it, then I didn't feel like making tortillas or a salad at lunch today so I ended up with a bowl.  Quite tasty and another reason why I need to make bigger batches of taco meat, it's so easy to thaw and reheat.

Dinner:  CF ribeye steak, mashed potatoes with lots of butter and sour cream, 24 oz All Day IPA

A very luxurious dinner.  I was going to fix this yesterday but didn't.  And I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Had designs on having some peas too but didn't take the time to search the freezer to see if I had any.

Exercise:  Nope.  Rest day.

90.4

Feeling Those Aftereffects

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Feeling a bit beat up this morning after yesterday's hiking.  Sleep was okay but nothing more than that, I wake up too often and shift constantly.  That's what happens, I guess, with chronic pain.  At least it's low level.  Hopefully it won't impact my usual Sunday morning chores.

I do like what the walking does to the scale, though I admit I don't always find the change to be real noticeable.  Seems like when I had success seven or eight years ago it was more visible.  That may be a function of just not getting in the daily walking, could be the weekly yo-yoing, dunno.  But whatever.  As long as it keeps dipping I'm pleased.

Breakfast:  1 egg over medium, hashbrowns cooked in ghee with a knob of butter later, 4 strips CF applewood bacon, coffee

So good, even with the inferior non-Alexia hashbrowns.  I'm completely serious, if I ever had one day left something like this would be my breakfast.

Lunch:  Red lentils, Ethiopian style.

This was a new one to me, friend sent me the recipe and I had to try it.  Very good, though next time I'll seek more heat and less sweet (ginger)

Dinner:  Taco salad, al pastor.   12 oz Miller Lite.  Strawberries w Rebel vanilla ice cream

Was going to make a steak but decided to save it for tomorrow night.  Big salad, hope the lettuce theory doesn't kick in tonight!

Lots of food today.  Hope I don't pay for it tomorrow lol.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, lots of extra walking.  Pedometer credited me with 5.25 miles.  A very comfortable day, only high 70s though humidity was pretty high.  Felt good and not super tired tonight.

91.8

Ahhh With Many Hs Saturday

Saturday, August 1, 2020

Flip the calendar, one more month closer to ending this 2020 nonsense.  July was pretty solid as I was able to lose nearly all of the COVID 19 bloat.  This week featured a successful transition to something more resembling 2MAD, though I did have a bobble and stretched those eating windows a couple times.  All in all, a success.

Breakfast:  Breakfast tacos -- 2 scrambled eggs, mexican cheese blend, onion, tomato, fire sauce.  2 strips CF applewood bacon, coffee

Really tasty.  Really enjoyed this breakfast.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl -- sm scoops rice and pintos, brisket, fajita veg, salsa, cheese, sour cream and guac. 

Been a long time.  Was going to try a new mexican place but you had to call in to place a takeout order so I went to Qdoba around the corner instead.  One of the better bowls I've had.

Dinner:  Culvers mushrooms swiss burger, 12 oz Miller Lite

Lunch and dinner were a little close together (4pm, 7pm), that's just the way it goes.  Was going to have strawberries and ice cream but I think I'll skip it.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, lots of extra walking looking for other people's lost golf balls.  I acutally grabbed the pedometer this morning, it said 5.5 miles, plus tack on another 2 more for a trip to the tent sale and a long hike around the grocery store.  If I don't cramp up I'll sleep well tonight!

94.4

Could It Be Lettuce?

Friday, July 31, 2020

TGIF.  Big time.  I got a pretty decent amount of work done this week at the office, need to take care of some business at home this weekend.  I did run to the farm at lunch and stocked the freezer -- I'm good on roasts, steaks, ground beef and eggs.

Anyway, on the title.  I'm not entirely serious, but I did spend a minute or two pondering whether my consumption of lettuce/salad triggered the leg and foot cramps.  I mean that plus the sugar from the McFlurry were the real deviations from my day-to-day diet.  I should look back and see if I've had crummy nights of sleep after taco salads.  I don't think it's likely, but I so desperately want to find the answer.  Of course it's also possible that the bunch of good salt (with potassium and magnesium) I tossed on my popcorn made a difference last night.   Anyway, it was a much, much better night.  And I only had a brief window of snoring even.

Lunch:  2 McDoubles

No photo.  The price you pay for spending your lunch hour driving to a farm 30 minutes away.  Needless to say I went over on time.  These were adequate.

Dinner:  Tacos with onion, tomato, mexican cheese blend, guac and fire sauce, 24 oz All Day IPA, strawberries w Rebel vanilla ice cream

Not my best effort on the tortillas.  I managed to salvage the dough, at least most of it.  Still delicious and I'll have a couple available for breakfast tacos if I have time in the morning.  Had to toss my remaining cilantro, I would have done so earlier but the store was out last weekend.

Exercise:  Nope.  At least I had a little pep to do some chores this evening.

95.0

If I Only Knew Seriously I'd Change

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Miserable night of sleep.   First wakeup was at 12:30 -- I think I nodded off at 11:30.  Long night of leg and foot cramps.  Awful quality sleep.  Super tired when I had to get up, which was too bad since I had finally gotten a short stretch of decent rest.

If I knew what I had to change to avoid the cramps I'm pretty sure I'd do it.  Last night was different in few ways -- I had salad and corn on the cob (some anyway) and a bit more beer -- but I didn't have any electrolyte loss from sweat or otherwise and no wine tannins or anything.

At least I didn't get punished too badly on the scale for yesterday's indiscretions.  I disposed of quite a bit of liquid overnight and I'm sure that helped.

Lunch:  Ham, 2 slices swiss cheese, bacon, Fage cherry TruBlend yogurt

Cleanup on aisle my fridge.

Dinner:  Culver's mushroom and swiss burger, popcorn w butter and cheese, 12 oz Miller Lite

A standard when I don't have anything planned for dinner.  Decided I might be too tired to make tacos and postponed that plan to tomorrow.  Couldn't decide what else to eat, remembered that I had a fresh bag of popcorn.  Made less than usual because I couldn't remember if my pan would hold 1T or 2T of kernels when popped.  Must be 2T.

Exercise:  No chance.

95.2

Wenfail

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Sigh.

Breakfast:  Coffee w/ cocoa butter

May stop posting breakfast unless I eat something.

Lunch:  Leftover KSB, yogurt

Dinner:  Steak, baked potato w sour cream, corn w butter, salad no dressing, 12 oz Two Hearted Ale, 18 oz +/- All Day IPA

Also:  McDouble, oreo McFlurry

Dangerous to your diet to be out and about late at night (hour drive home).

94.8

Continue I Guess

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Time races on.  So much to do.  Yikes.

Breakfast:  Coffee (w/ cocoa butter)

Lunch:  Leftover keto sausage balls, Fage cherry TruBlend yogurt

Dinner:  Meatball sub, pickle slice

Good as usual.  I may need to eat something before golf on Tuesday,

Exercise:  9 holes with cart.  Pretty low energy tbqh.

94.6

How Many Ways Can You Spell BLEARGH

Monday, July 27, 2020

Super, super busy day.  It's going to be an insane week.

Breakfast:  Coffee with cocoa butter

Food was quite unnecessary.  No issues at all today.

Lunch:  Kinda corned beef hash - hash browns, a slice of corned beef, 2 slices swiss cheese, 2 eggs over medium hard.  3 strips bacon

Quite good, I like breakfast.  May even have the same tomorrow, dunno.

Dinner:  Keto sausage balls, 24 oz All Day IPA, strawberries w Rebel vanilla ice cream

Made a double batch, so I'm set for sausage.  Balls.  The joke writes itself.  I haven't had dessert yet, but I think I will -- I can clean up the kitchen and make taco meat while the berries are thawing.

Exercise:  Nope.  Slept poorly and snoozed as long as I could.

96.5

Need A Third Day, Wish Not Granted

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Whew.  Tired this morning.  Not enough deep sleep.  I'm behind schedule and could really use this weekend to have a third day.  Alas, no bonus days off until Labor Day.

At least there is exercise.  Which does very nice things to the scale.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Getting a head start on 2MAD.  Have a relatively early tee time this afternoon and slept in so I'll be doing brunch instead of needing two meals.

Brunch:  Homemade corned beef hash - 2 eggs over medium, hash browns, corned beef, onion, swiss cheese.  2 strips Meijer thick cut bacon

Delicious.  Worst bacon ever to work with though, not impressed.

Dinner:  Taco salad, al pastor.  12 oz Miller Lite, strawberries with Rebel vanilla ice cream

Had some heat tonight for some reason.  That is not a complaint, in fact I hope it's not a one-time occurrance.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, lots of extra walking.  It was hot and humid, really glad I had lots of water because I drank all of it.

97.0

Above The Line

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Glad it's the weekend.  Didn't sleep great, but feel good today.  I did manage to go back to sleep for an hour after I initially woke this morning and was dreaming hard, so that helped.

I grabbed groceries this evening, looks like it'll be a good week to start 2MAD -- the store was sold out of the croissants.

Breakfast:  McD 2x sausage mcmuffin, coffee

Lunch:  3x Al Pastor tacos, mexican style, 12 oz Miller Lite

Grabbed the tacos on the way home (is it still lunch at 4:00) from a mexican place, they have a kitchen in the back of a grocery.  Very solid.  Love tacos.

Dinner:  Culver's mushroom and swiss burger

Always good.  I was going to have strawberries and ice cream, but it's almost 9:00 already.  If I have anything it'll probably be a gin and tonic.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, moderate extra walking.

100.2

Day Uh Two

Friday, July 24, 2020

Just absolutely wiped out.  What a week.

Breakfast:  Croissaint with butter, coffee

Lunch:   CFA 2x spicy chicken sandwich, frosted lemonade

On point.  Apparently I forgot to snap a photo.

Snack:  DQ oreo cheesecake blizzard

Dinner:  Sourdough with butter, pizza sauce, whole milk mozzarella.  12 oz Miller Lite

Obv there were more pieces than this.

Exercise:  Nope, though I did get in an unusual amount of work-related walking

99.6

Bad Time For A Cheat Day

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Had one.  It's been a while.  And tomorrow lunch will be out too, so more of the same.  Then a more standard weekend and time to get buckled down.

Breakfast:  Jalapeno cheddar bagel with veggie cream cheese, bacon, egg and cheddar.  Coffee.

Best local option for a drive thru breakfast.

Lunch:  Leftover pizza, pep bacon onion mushroom

Snack:  CFA frosted lemonade

Dinner:  Sack of Taco Bell, 12 oz Miller Lite

Exercise:  Nope.

96.4

Round Mound

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Okay, it's time to admit it:  What I'm doing during the week is not working.  I'm doing fine on the weekends, though that of course is probably mostly due to activity, but I'm bouncing up during the week.  This has been going on long enough since the latest reboot to acknowledge it as a problem.  

Analyzing it, there are a few things that stick out.  I'm not following any particular plan, this is just an ad hoc adoption of various strategies that I've followed in the past -- less fast food, more home cooking, avoid sugar and vegetable oil, that sort of thing.  I don't know that I have sufficient desire -- even though my motivation is decent right now -- to slavishly follow anything too restrictive.  I'd be just fine with gradual loss, small drops, etc.  I'm eating way too much wheat in particular.  So, in the interest of personal accountability, here are some things I want to do:

1.  Go back to 2MAD during the week starting Monday.  Pretty self-explanatory.  Today at least I wasn't notably hungry so I think I'm ready to do that anyway.  It should mostly just be a mental thing.  Doing so will get rid of a few calories (not that I track those) and many carbs (even though I worry less about those when consumed with butter).

2.  Cut down the starch, especially wheat.  Getting rid of the morning meal will help.  I may need to change up what I do for lunch -- sandwich and yogurt is easy, repeatable and was working fine earlier, but maybe I should.  I'm probably going to focus more on fixing dinner, though.  It's vaguely ironic that I'm planning to make pizzas tonight but I don't like to waste stuff.

3.  Try and make one of the two meals less carby.  I can do things like steak or a burger patty or sausage balls or bacon and eggs.  They don't need to have starch, they just taste better that way.  It's more likely to be dinner since I have more control over that.

4.  Keep portions in check.  Other than Tuesday night dinner I think I've been doing OK, I'm gradually become sated more readily.  I'll probably never tame the monster fully, but by getting on a regular schedule and remaining well hydrated I'm mostly good.

5.  Eat more tacos!  Even though this conflicts with #2, I plan to experiment with eating home tacos more regularly.  They're easy, since I can do the meat in batches and freeze it, tortillas in batches and fridge them.  Quantities can be be kept in check, I can divide my pound of taco meat into either 3 or 4 servings.  I can vary them by making different meats or breakfast or using different toppings.

Actually, as a combo of 3 and 5 I could make taco salads at home.  If I have the meat precooked and just need to reheat it it's not exactly hard.  Just a bit annoying.

That's enough for now.  I'm going to try to clean up a few things I have on hand this week, most weekday improvements will have to wait for Monday.

Breakfast:  Croissant with butter, coffee (1x w cocoa butter)

Standard.

Lunch:  Ham and swiss on sourdough, Fage cherry TruBlend yogurt

Also very standard.

Dinner:  Pizza with pepperoni, bacon, onion, mushroom, whole milk mozz.  24 oz Allll Day IPA

Tomorrow's jump might be a rocket.

Exercise:  Nope.

96.8

Rebound Medium Size

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Some days I enjoy the weight guessing game.  Guessed correctly that there would a rebound after a bunch of walking in the heat and humidity on Sunday, but my guess was a half pound short.  I guess we'll chalk that up to terrible Monday eating.

Anwyay, onward.

Breakfast:  Croissant, butter, coffee (1x cocoa butter)

Standard.  At least for now.  I will say that I am not at all hungry after eating this.  Edit:  Apparently I did not take a photo this morning, so here's yesterday's pic.  Looks just like what I had today.

Lunch:  Ham and swiss sandwich on sourdough with butter, Fage cherry TruBlend yogurt, pickle spear

Also very standard.

Dinner:  Meatball sub

No beer tonight, just water.  More sauce this week and as usual this was too much food.  I will pay for today tomorrow morning on the scale.

Exercise:  9 holes with cart, really no extra walking.

95.0

Fair Rewards

Monday, July 20, 2020

Woke up this morning thinking how annoying it would be to have done all that extra walking yesterday and to get something like a higher number on the scale.  Thankfully that did not happen, I'm guessing I would have been quite bummed.  I considered it a possibility, since I needed a fair amount of liquid to rehydrate.

Was really not very ready for it to be Monday again, although some aspects of life are slowed way down due to coronatimes work isn't so much.  Lots to do and not enough hours to do it.

Breakfast:  Croissant with butter, coffee (1x with cocoa butter)

Got a deal on croissants this week, a four pack was marked all the way down to $2.10.  Crazy.  Also, I seem to have decided that the 2MAD plan is going to wait another week.

Lunch:  Ham and swiss on sourdough, Fage cherry TruBlend yogurt, pickle spear

Standard stuff.

Dinner:  Breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs, bacon, onion, cheddar cheese, guacamole and TB fire sauce.  Also:  12 oz All Day IPA, Rebel mint chip ice cream

Improvised.  Leftover tortillas from yesterday, bacon was already cooked, onion chopped.  Took less than 30 minutes which is about as much patience as I have.  Turned out quite good, would eat again.  Debating some beer and/or dessert as I type this.  Edit:  Went with both.

Exercise:  Nope.  Happy to have a day off.  I should do upper body stuff or something but I don't think I'm going to start tonight.

93.0

Sir Something A Lot

Sunday, July 19, 2020

I like big drops and I cannot lie.  Especially ones that are unexpected, unsignaled and just generally out of nowhere.  I sure don't feel extra light this morning.  But no, I am not complaining.  Only five more covid pounds to go and then I'll get back to trying to make a dent in the pre-existing fatness.

Raining pretty good this morning, though not the heavy storms that were forecast.  I hope it clears off in time for some golf this afternoon, I like what the exercise does for me.

Breakfast:  4 strips bacon, coffee

OM thick cut this time.  I know I have a package from the farm in the freezer, going to have to pull that out soon and decide if I should shift to the local product. 

Lunch:  Homemade tacos with onion, cilantro, cheddar, guac and hot sauce

My tortilla game needs work.  I think I've been making them too dry.  This time I'm using warmer water and a bit more of it (since it's cool here in the AC).  Edit:  HUGE win.  I was definitely making them too dry -- these were not brittle and puffed up beautifully.  I made six tortillas instead of the three enormous ones I made last week, used three and was just right full.

Dinner:  Taco salad with al pastor pork, Rebel mint chip ice cream

Dependably good.  There is another mexican place opening in town, I wonder if they'll have a decent taco salad.  I still miss the old one.

Exercise:  18 holes with cart ... except I walked most of the back nine due to cart issues.  Somewhere between 2 and 3 miles of extra walking.  I am tired. 

96.0

Vitamin D Me

Saturday, July 18, 2020

A nice summer Saturday.  There was a pleasant breeze which kept it comfortable -- the humidity level is definitely up and without it things would be steamy.  Not deep South steamy, but more than we're used to around here.

Breakfast:  Leftover keto sausage balls, coffee

The KSB are tasty and they seem to keep me satisfied, so I'll probably keep making them. 

Lunch:  3 tacos, mexican style with al pastor pork, hot sauce

Tried a new place since it was on the way home.  Good stuff.  The al pastor was different than my usual place, it was almost like it had been grilled or fried, not sure how to describe it.  Whatever it was, it was tasty.

Dinner:  Culvers mushroom and swiss burger, strawberries with Rebel mint chip ice cream

Found myself a bit hungry despite the late lunch.  Not a big deal, just a good thing that I didn't have anything snackable handy.  Made myself get up and do the grocery shopping and pick up a burger.  Might have a beer or two later, we'll see.  (Edit:  No beers, 9:00 by the time I had dessert and certainly didn't need them.)

Exercise:  18 holes with cart, a decent amount of extra walking.  Pleased that despite the exercise and the heat I'm not as tired as usual.

99.4

Whew Ban Five Day Weeks

Friday, July 17, 2020

Made it through.  Barely.  It was a struggle.  On the plus side, I've been feeling okay in the mornings despite not getting a large amount of sleep and I got a little dip on the scale this morning.  I really do think that going to 2MAD, especially if one of them isn't as carb infested, will help the cause.  I could also eat less and exercise more, but when have I ever done that?

It's supposed to be a toasty weekend, but even a few hours outside will do me good.   Definitely needs some of that Vitamin D.  I bought a heavy duty folding chair to stick in my trunk so I am good to hang out outside most anywhere, it was delivered today.  Pretty excited, actually.  It would be a bit much to tote long distance (it's like 13 pounds), but from trunk to yard is no problem.

Breakfast:  Leftover keto sausage balls, coffee (1x w cocoa butter)

A highly satisfactory breakfast.

Lunch:  Leftover pizza from the freezer, I think this was pepperoni and mushroom

Quality suffered a bit from being in the freezer, but not bad.  I couldn't decide what to eat and had not thawed anything.  I could have had a sandwich but went with this instead.

Dinner:  Meatball sub, 24 oz All Day IPA

Like I said, had not thawed anything.  This was good.  If I'm hungry later I might have some berries and ice cream but as of right now I'm good.

Exercise:  Nope.

99.6