Rapid Impact

Monday, December 20, 2021

It is quite amazing how fast the daily routine can run off the rails.  Slept in yesterday and the result predictably was that I was late getting to sleep.  Excess screen time and too many thoughts didn't help, but even with those I still would have been up super late.  Also predictably I'm not functioning great on 4 1/2 hours of sleep.  Will have to hope to crash early tonight and get it fixed.

On the positive side, not much damage from the weekend.  My body would probably like a day off from the cheese, but otherwise all good.

 Breakfast:  Coffee

 Yup.

 Lunch:   Soup and toast

Standard.  Last of that batch of soup, which was my best yet. 

Dinner:   4 tacos mexican style plus avocado, 12 oz Miller Lite

The universe was telling me I should have ordered three - got 3 slices of avo and 3 cups of hot sauce.  Oh well.  Tasty.

Exercise:  Nope.  Got myself out there but surrendered very quickly, just wasn't having it.  Cold wind.  I did go to Walmart and walked around for a half hour, but I'm not really counting it. 

47.4

Let's Delay That Impact As Long As Possible

Sunday, December 19, 2021

I do enjoy it when I'm trolled by the scale.  At least I find the humor in it.  Enjoy might be too strong a word, but it is definitely amusing.  I was fully prepared for a big jump this morning.  Huge dinner with pasta and dessert.  Ate late.  Went to bed late.  Slept in this morning.  Still full.  No walk.  Thinking okay, I'm mentally prepared for a spike of up to three pounds.  Result?  DOWN.  Oh come on ... no, wait ... OK thank you let's postpone the bad news for a day or two then.

I will say that it was nice to have that little bit of extra pep that goes with having lost what I have.  I could go up and down the stairs a few times, move furniture, zip around setting up dinner, clean things up, all sorts of things.  And I didn't get tired.  Sure, I was wiped out when I went to bed but I attribute that to it being well past my usual bedtime -- I didn't even get home until the time I usually go to sleep.

Anyway, no super ambitious plans for today.  Cleanup, laundry, the stuff that I usually do on Saturday, make some soup.  I'm not the least bit hungry so it's looking like a two meal day which is fine.  Or maybe even one if I'm still not hungry come lunchtime.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.  That's all I'm feeling like so far.

Lunch:   Soup and toast

Finally ready for lunch about 1:30.  Fresh batch of soup, as usual I expect it will improve with a freeze, thaw and reheat.  Placemats still in the dryer.

Dinner:  Home pizza with meat sauce and mushrooms, 24 oz Miller Lite

Last dough I had in the freezer, for fun I tried making it in a cast iron pan.  Used leftover meat sauce from the lasagna instead of regular pizza sauce.  Very tasty.

Exercise:  Nope.  Call it a rest day.  Slept in until 7:30, I hope that doesn't screw things up too badly but it was nice to get eight plus hours.

46.8

Mostly Cheesy

Saturday, December 18, 2021

TGIS.  As usual.  Yesterday wasn't super productive but the rest of the week certainly was.  

Finally wiped out last weekend plus Monday's damage.  Just in time for another weekend.  Oh well, I'm not going to stress about it much, Christmas will involve plenty of excessive eating.  I just have to keep walking and keep things light when the opportunity is there.  Hit it harder after the holidays.  I was rather pleased and more than a little surprised that last evening's monster dinner didn't result in a gain.

Speaking of which, today probably will.  Too many carbs, way too much cheese.

Breakfast:  2 egg omelet with extra sharp cheddar cheese, toast w butter, coffee

Kept it simple, didn't have breakfast until almost 11 and I was ready to just eat something.

Lunch:  Spicy bacony beans w extra sharp cheddar

Sure is a good batch.

Dinner:  Lasagna, garlic toast, salad with ranch, 24 oz Miller Lite, christmas cookies w vanilla ice cream

Even though I only make it once a year I make a pretty darned good lasagna.  The only regret is that I bothered with the ice cream -- I've become such an ice cream snob, I don't even really like the cheap grocery store brands.  Give me the premium stuff if I'm going to eat it.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 42 minutes.  Much like yesterday, early stages were full of dontwanna but managed to get through.  Once I turn the corner four blocks in I feel like I'm committed.  Also went to the grocery store for an hour after I got cleaned up.

47.0

Dozer

Friday, December 17, 2021

Friday.  Good.

Still dozy in the mornings after I manage to get in a walk.  Not sure why, really, but I am.  Maybe I can get a little extra sleep this weekend.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Soup and toast

Yup.

Dinner:   Keto bowl with ground beef

I got the bigger size.  Oops.  Yuge.  WAY too big.  About 3 meals worth.  Now I'm fat.  Okay, fatter.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, about 42 minutes.  Slower today.  Had a whole lot of dontwanna this morning and really it's mostly the fact that it was a familiar route that got me through it.  Never got loose, never felt good, no pep.  But I made it.  It wasn't painful or anything, just not enjoyable. 

47.4

Slow Bounceback

Thursday, December 16, 2021

The week keeps chugging along.  Not ideal how it's going, but it's going.  It definitely hasn't been great, it's taking longer than usual to recover from the weekend excess, because Monday.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Soup and toast

Yup.

Dinner:  Taco bowl, 12 oz All Day IPA, 3 strips leftover thick cut bacon

Yup.  And cleanup.

Exercise:  Nope.  Not a surprise, knew full well yesterday that it wasn't going to be nice out there - wind gusts up to 65 mph.  Elected not to go out in it, not in the dark, not with stuff down all over the place.

49.2

Butter Makes It Better

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Hump day, hump part of day.  Week is half over and that's a good thing.

I need to lose the mental block about walk timing.  I talked myself out of going this morning mostly due to having an 8:00 meeting .. and then I promptly got in just before 8 because I went back to sleep.  Sure, I definitely could have used the sleep, but come on.  Once that alarm goes off, get up no exceptions.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Soup and toast

Standard.  Another good batch of soup.  And I never get tired of the HSCR toast with generous butter.  

Dinner:  Taco bowl, 12 oz All Day IPA

Again standard.  New batch of taco meat, used a slightly different technique this time, good as always.

Exercise:  Nope.  Got up, but not out.  Ended up sleeping from 6:00 to 7:00ish in the recliner and of course was more tired than before when I got up.  Felt reasonably peppy once I got moving though.

49.4

Expect The Disconnect

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Intellectually, I knew the scale would be up today after two days in a row of big dinners.  Knew it.  And yet all morning before weigh in I felt lean.  Leaner anyway.  Still terribad fat.  But leaner.  Hopped on the scale and that myth was dispelled, hard.  Oh well.  Like I said, I knew it.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Keto bowl with ground beef

Meeting out that way again, so I had a late lunch.  I like the bowl, even if they raised the price a buck from last time which was what, last week?

Dinner:  Leftover meatloaf and prime rib, Siete nacho grain free tortilla chips, Cabot reserve cheddar cheese, 12 oz All Day IPA

Cleanup, aisle my fridge.  Forgot to take a photo due to a Zoom call.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, just under 40 minutes.  Notably quicker, especially on the first mile.  Had a little pep and picked 'em up and put 'em down faster.  Second half wasn't as quick but still respectable.  Like I said, I felt leaner and meaner.

49.8

Recoverathon

Monday, December 13, 2021

Whew.  I was tired last night.  Managed to make myself empty and reload the dishwasher with the last of the weekend dishes and I was done.  Capital D.  

I would like an explanation, though, about why I feel so much more tired if I snooze.  I woke up at 3:45, dealt with a foot cramp, and snoozed in the recliner.  Woke up with the alarm, multiple times in fact as I kept resetting it, and each time I was much more tired than I was at 3:45.  Guess I need to go to bed at a more consistent time and just refuse to snooze.

Anyway, that means today is a rest and recovery day.

Also of note, I was pleased that I didn't gain too much this weekend, though of course I am a little bummed that I gained at all given that yesterday was so active.  So it goes.  Have a work meeting tonight at a restaurant so today won't be great, but I'm well stocked on soup and taco bowls and spicy beans for what I hope will be a good rest of the week,

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Wild rice and ham soup, toast w butter

Last of the soup, first of the newest bread.  Both excellent.

Dinner:  Dinner salad w salsa ranch, rolls w a little butter (?), prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, 16 oz All Day IPA

New to me steakhouse.  Very good.  I did not eat all of the prime rib so I have some for dinner tomorrow.  Definitely ate too much, but at least I avoided a second beer and the dessert course.

Exercise:  Nope.  Rest day.

48.2

Achilleseses

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Wow, less than two weeks until Christmas.  So much to be done.  Scary.

It's kinda weird waking up well before 4:00 a.m.  It doesn't seem like that should be enough sleep, but I guess with eating less in the evening, semi regular exercise and fewer pounds I don't need as much.  I got up at 4:00 and tried lazing about on the couch for a change to see if I would be any looser.  Not notably so, unfortunately.  Oh well, I presume it comes with getting old.

Breakfast:  2 egg omelet with cheddar cheese and onion plus sour cream, 3 strips Smithfield thick cut bacon, medium avocado, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

Deluxe breakfast.  Was the thickest thick cut bacon I have ever seen, I think the 12 oz package had six strips.  Which means this was a bit much, but whatever.  Probably would not buy again.

Also had a runt buttermilk pancake when I made those later for the freezer:

Turned out just fine even if the buttermilk was a couple days out of date.

Lunch:  Wild rice and ham soup, nacho Siete grain free tortilla chips

Good.

Dinner:  Meatloaf, box potatoes, green beans, rolls w butter, 12 oz Miller Lite

Also good.  Ate quite a bit, was hungry.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 40 minutes.  A bit faster today, despite grumbling achilleses.  They got over it.  Really the only negative was due it being Sunday and my being out a bit earlier than usual neither of the restaurants that I pass was frying bacon like they usually do before they open.  Sad.   So I had to make my own bacon aroma when I got home.

Also:  11 holes, walking.  iPhone credits me with 15k steps today with roughly 9k of them related to the golfing.  Whatever it was, a fine workout.

47.4

The Not Really Day

Saturday, December 11, 2021

TGIS.  I know the saying is usually TGIF but I was way too busy yesterday to feel any kind of relief that it was Friday.  Got home and was in bed not long after 8:00.

Of course early to bed means early to wake, which was sometime around 3:00.  I did manage to make myself go back to sleep until 5:00 and then dozed for a while after my aborted walk in the recliner.  Finally feeling decent after a cup of coffee, I definitely needed the extra sleep.  As an added bonus, very little snoring recorded and a good number on the scale ... though once again I'm less than fully confident in its accuracy.

Breakfast:  2 egg omelet with cheddar cheese and a bit of sour cream, sausage patty, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

Quick and tasty.

Lunch:  Wild rice with ham soup

Version 2.0.  Winged it based on the Lunds and Byerlys recipe.  Added celery, more onion, more broth, used milk instead of half and half.  And much more ham.  Turned out very good.  I've really been eating well lately.  Have plenty left for the next couple of days.

Dinner:  Culver's mushroom and swiss burger, 12 oz Miller Lite

Not the most visually awesome burger but it was tasty as always.

Exercise:  Not really.  Got up, checked the weather which seemed OK despite what was a miserable forecast, and got out there.  Moved very slowly, was very tight.  Just did not feel right.  So between that and a lack of confidence in the weather holding -- we're supposed to get wind up to 60mph this morning -- I turned back before I made it more than a half mile.  Less than 15 minutes.  I'll be active around the house today which will help, but that'll probably be it.  Edit:  Went and walked around a craft show for 20 minutes plus, so another kinda-counting but not really activity.

47.0

A Visibly Cheesy Day

Friday, December 10, 2021

Quite a week.  Wiped out.  At least it's been a pretty good one, especially on the scale.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Keto bowl with ground beef

Could really call this breakfast ... got up at 4:30, finally ate after 2:00.  Whatever you call it, it was fantastic.  Really enjoyed it.  If this place was local I would eat there often.

Dinner:  Spicy bacony beans with extra sharp cheddar, 12 oz All Day IPA

Best batch of beans ever?  Maybe!  They were excellent.  And I have like 8 pints left in the freezer.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, around 43 minutes.  Usual route, usual pace with no noted variation.  Felt okay throughout, no struggling but not a ton of pep after getting 5 1/2 hours of sleep.  Woke up well before the alarm.  Also did my grocery shopping before work and spent a couple hours this afternoon walking around a property.  Lots of steps today.

48.4

Postive Rebounding

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Not really sure what to make of this morning.  Felt kinda puffy.  Didn't walk.  Hopped on the scale and it bounced around some before settling on a number ... which was much lower than expected.   A good thing, of course.  I weighed again it gave me the same number so I'm recording it but it has re-raised questions in my mind as to how accurate it is.  I wonder if I have an old scale in storage that I could break out as a sanity check?

The more relevant takeaway is that I appear to rebound decently from the weekend and holiday badness.  Just like after Thanksgiving I have already dropped past my start of weekend low.  This is a very good thing, it's a relief to be able to think that a bad day can be erased relatively quickly.  Not an excuse to eat badly, just a comfort to know and that as long as the train stays on the tracks I'll get back to losing promptly.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, toast w butter

Standard again.

Dinner:  Taco bowl, 12 oz All Day IPA

Standard yet again.

Exercise:  Nope.  Got up at the usual time but clearly needed more sleep.  Listened to my body (yeah right) and took an extra hour plus of snoozing time.  

49.6

Feel The Lean

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Early wake up this morning, beat the alarm by a good half hour.  Didn't really do anything for me, just wasted the time.  Managed to boot myself out the door for a walk, not a bad morning.  The snow kicked in after I went to work so I didn't have to worry about footing.

Of note I definitely felt a little leaner this morning and that my appearance reflected that.  Of course the scale wasn't so sure, it made sure to remind me that I haven't undone the weekend damage yet in full.  But how I look and how I feel are important, it's not just 100% scale.  And feeling leaner is nice ... yes, even though I'm still incredibly fat.

I tried on the smallest pants last night and you know what?  I could get away with wearing them.  I'm still not planning to break them out for about another 15 pounds, but they're doable now.  Which is not a complete surprise, but it's still cool.  I'm going to have to retire some more of the top end pairs soon, it's getting so they won't come close to staying up without the suspenders.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, raisin toast w butter

I think both were from the prior batch.  I'm definitely on to the current week's soup for tomorrow, still have a couple slices of bread left.

Dinner:  Taco bowl, 12 oz All Day IPA

Standard.  Also had a bowl of popcorn w butter:

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, about 41 minutes.  Usual loop, usual pace.  Pretty steady, no major issues.  Can't say I felt great at any point but at least the achilles never barked too loud.

52.2

Rapid Rise

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Stress levels rising rapidly.  Way too much work to do.  Paying for not working this weekend.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, toast w butter

From the new batch of soup, tasty.

Dinner:  Nacho/taco bowl, except with leftover chuck roast, 12 oz Miller Lite

Guac, sour cream and cheese make pretty much anything good.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 41 minutes.  Not windy as was forecast so it was fine out there.  I can deal with 18 degrees if it's not blowing too hard.  Pace was steady and no strain on the first hill which was encouraging.

53.0

After The Blow

Monday, December 6, 2021

Consequences.  Ate way too much yesterday.  Scale, up.  Expected.  Not as expected:  I needed more sleep.  I crashed at a very reasonable hour and still was definitely not getting up when the alarm went off.  Slept two more hours.  Felt decent then, but already late morning I'm tired again.  We'll see how I react to lunch.

Anyway, it's cold and super windy and generally not very nice outside.  Stupid winter.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Leftover wild rice and ham soup, toast w butter

Yuge bowl of soup, really it was two servings.  Just ate what I had left.  Toast was from this weekend's baking, very good of course with lots of butter.  Well sated.

Dinner:  4 tacos mexican style w hot sauce, 12 oz Miller Lite

Taco Monday.  Good, if not quite great.  Back to eating at home tomorrow ... I don't mind spending $5.30 on dinner once in a while, that's for sure.

Exercise:  Nope.  I had kinda pre-talked myself out of it before I went to bed, turns out it would have been marginally OK -- breezy, not the howling winds of mid-morning.  But still not very nice.  We'll call it a rest day.  

52.2

Return To Expectations

Sunday, December 5, 2021

A pleasant if pretty routine morning.  Didn't sleep well for some reason, so I got up early.  Didn't do anything until the regular time, got in a regulation walk and it's time for some coffee.  All good.

Weather looks dismal for the next couple days, walking chances TBD.

Breakfast:  2 egg cheese and onion omelet, raisin toast w butter, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

Cleaned up an open package of shredded cheddar.  Pretty tasty.

Snack:  Oscar Meyer naturals roast beef

Cleaned up an open package, wasn't looking like I would eat it any time soon and I wanted to wait for my soup to finish before fixing lunch.

Lunch:  Rotel dip (sausage, cream cheese, Rotel) w Siete lime grain free tortilla chips

Ate WAY WAY WAY too much of this.  First time in a while for a blowout.  Just kept eating.

Dinner:  Chuck roast, box potatoes, carrots, gravy, butterflake rolls w butter, peaches

The ol' Sunday dinner problem.  /shrug.  I'll be up tomorrow but back at it.  Was all good and few regrets.  More lunch regrets than dinner regrets.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, about 41 minutes.  A shade faster, no knee braces today.  Felt pretty good, for the most part.  Was peppy going up the first hill until the very end, which is both good and bad.  We'll see if that continues to get better.  I don't have trouble with the distance or duration, I just struggle a bit with hills.

50.6

Getting Close To A Goal

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Not *the* goal, of course, but an interim goal.  Another nice little drop going into the weekend, happy about that.  Just hoping to keep it together through the end of the year without too much holiday damage.  So far I'm pretty optimistic.  Maybe I'll hit this interim goal this week.  Let's hope.

Breakfast:  2 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese and guac, 2 strips bacon, 1/2 grapefruit, coffee

My omelet game is getting stronger.  Very tasty and also pretty easy.   I didn't bother flipping it but would have if the photo were important to anyone.

Lunch:  Ham and wild rice soup

Same recipe as last week but I made the OG version with ham instead of chicken.  Good stuff and I ate plenty.  Forgot to take a picture (oops) so here is one from last week.

Dinner:  Culvers mushroom and swiss burger, 12 oz Miller Lite

Late quick dinner.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, about 42 minutes.  Usual route, usual pace.  Loosened up pretty readily, struggled a bit with the first hill but otherwise felt fine.  I do think the knee braces slow my pace, some day soon I may try without just to see if I'm faster.

50.4

Always A Good Thing

Friday, December 3, 2021

Ahh TGIF.  Thank goodness.  It's been a long week and it's not the end of the day yet. 

Nothing much interesting.  Routine is pretty good right now.  I did talk myself out of walking due to rain - I would say I need to get that sorted out gearwise (cold rain is just not something I'm settled on how to deal with) but it shouldn't be too much of an issue for a few months.  Had a small drop on the scale to another new low.  Which I like, of course.  Had a couple more random favorable comments this week from people that know me.  

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.

Lunch:  Soup and toast

Standard.  Figured I can save some words in the description.

Dinner:  Nacho/Taco bowl, 12 oz All Day IPA

Also standard, just have to decide what to call it.  Last of the ranch Siete chips.  I bought lime and nacho for next week.  Not getting the photo to work for some unknown reason, will try again later.  (Edit:  Got it now)

Exercise:  Nope.  Got up at the usual time and I did go to the grocery store before work but that doesn't count.  I was even in and out in just about 30 minutes which never happens.

51.4

Course Comma On

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Nothing much exciting.  Moved the alarm up a half hour hoping to get to work super early.  The super part didn't happen but I was early, early enough I guess.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup.  Had a third plus cup out too, it was a bit too much coffee.  Two is the sweet spot.

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSCR toast w butter

Standard.  Still good.  Probably fine with dropping the toast descriptor -- if I'm eating bread at home it's some that I made.  Exceptions, if they happen, would probably be easier to note.

Dinner:  Steak nachos, 12 oz All Day IPA

Same as yesterday except with guac.  And no pork rinds.  Decided I like the nacho flavor better than the ranch flavor Siete chips.  Haven't tried the hint of lime kind yet, maybe next week.

Exercise:  1.8 mile walk, 43 minutes.  It didn't take as long to loosen up a little this morning, only six or eight blocks.  Not real fast as there was a pretty good breeze in my face for a long stretch but whatever, it was nice out there, almost 50 degrees.  Pretty great for December walking.  Too bad it's not a weekend, I defnitely would have liked to have fit in 9 holes or more.

52.0

Dozy December

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Tired again when I got up this morning and I've started to notice a trend - on days I get my walk in, like today, after sitting for a bit in the recliner I want to doze.  And I have been.  Got at least a half hour in today and even had to set an alarm to make sure I woke back up.  I could have stood to sleep a bit earlier last night (though I wasn't sleepy much before I did crash) and there was a bit more snoring but still, it should be enough.  Oh well, didn't hurt much of anything.

November in the books and it was fairly successful, with a nice drop on the scale even with the holiday jump and other assorted blips.  The post holiday readings appear to be legit as there hasn't been a rebound yet.  Happy about that.

Breakfast:  Coffee

Yup

Lunch:  Hamburger soup, HSCR toast with butter

Standard.  And I still look forward to eating it.  

Dinner:  Steak "taco" bowl - CF ribeye, extra sharp cheddar, sour cream, ranch Siete grain free tortilla chips.  Also had a few pork rinds and 12 oz All Day IPA

Didn't feel like cooking, so I improvised based on what could be heated quickly.  I cooked the steak last night so I only had to reheat for a few minutes in some beef stock and it was dinner time.  It was ... OK.  Probably going to have the exact same thing tomorrow night.

Exercise:  Walk, 1.8 miles, 42 minutes.   Again pretty slow early as various leg parts were kinda cranky.  Never really felt strong or great or loose but I made it through without incident other than a little struggle on the uphill.   No worries.  Even thought some after I finished about where I could add a little distance without losing the gist of this which is to stay in relatively clear and lighted areas since I haven't been wearing glasses.

52.2