At Least I'm Noticing

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Thank goodness it's the weekend.  3 day work weeks that aren't that busy should not be so rough!

It was super peaceful out there this morning, almost at the level of a holiday.  I guess even people with fitness resolutions sleep in on Saturday.

I was thinking yesterday that I'm finally starting to notice a bit of difference in my appearance.  I mean I've seen a little as things go but not really all that much.  Finally it's really noticeable to me.  Don't get me wrong - there is still a long, long, long way to go (and patience is HARD) but it's great to finally SEE some results.

Edit:  I ran into someone I know at the grocery store and he was over the top effusive.  Nice.

Also, for whatever reason I'm really down again tonight.  This is hard to figure out.  I do know that it's sapping me of any desire to do anything and that's going to become a big problem if not rectified real soon..

Breakfast:  2 CF large eggs fried in a bit of real lard, 4 strips CF applewood bacon, coffee

Note the deft bacon placement to hide the broken yolk

I'm getting pretty darned good at frying a perfect over easy/over medium egg.  Happy about that.

Lunch:  Qdoba naked burrito, extra steak.  I asked for very light rice but got a pretty normal complement - the same disgruntled worker didn't give me the extra steak I asked for, so I asked the next guy on the line.

Good as always, not sure if it's $10 good though

I guess food service workers aren't the happiest bunch.

Snack:  2 Bubbies dill pickles.  These are fermented, not vinegar pickled.  Different, had to try them.

Dinner:  Leftover homemade vegetable beef soup

Goodness.

Last jar from that batch, I need to make some more tomorrow.

Also:  Glass of pinot gris.  New bottle, new variety to me.  Pretty decent.

Exercise:  Usual loop.  3.4 miles on the pedometer, three miles in the real world.  Roads were clear and it was a nice morning for it.  Maybe just a bit chilly.  It took a while to get into it, I was a little tight to start.  And I definitely lollygagged, time was an hour and five minutes even with no ice and almost no traffic.

Edit:  I'm sure I tacked on a couple more miles, between a bunch of shopping and walking through an ice carving competition.  Didn't wear the pedometer or anything.

48.8

Hours of Solitude

Friday, January 4, 2013

Maybe I was wrong about people breaking their resolutions already.  I saw several people this morning -- actually I think everybody I saw looked familiar from Wednesday.  So perhaps it was just an off day for some folks yesterday.  Nothing wrong with that.  I remain interested to see how long people last with their resolutions - to be honest, I like the solitude that I've had out there at 0 dark 30.  I could change my route and will likely do so once spring hits but this time of the year I definitely prefer to walk streets that are more likely to be clear and that means busier areas.  So be it.

Although it's just a 3 day work week and it hasn't been super busy I'm still glad that we're coming up on the weekend.  I have stuff that I want to do that doesn't involve sitting at my desk - a lot of stuff that I could have accomplished over the past couple of weeks if I didn't have the doggone holiday blues.  Doing better now, thankfully.

Breakfast:  1 container Fage 2% plain greek yogurt, a few frozen raspberries, coffee

I might just start referring to this as "yogurt".  I almost never eat anything other than the Fage and the individual containers are both generously sized and convenient.

Snack:  ~ 1 oz salami

Lunch:  2 large CF eggs fried in a bit of real lard, 4 strips CF applewood bacon, some leftover spicy beans, a few jarred jalapeno slices, 1/2 grapefruit

2013 will once again be the year of many egg pictures

Quite hungry today, despite the mid-morning snack (I doubt very much it was a full ounce, just a couple slices).  I cleaned out the fridge a bit, eating the last two eggs, the rest of the beans and finished the jar of jalapenos.  Also ate the other half of the grapefruit I had earlier in the week.  All very good - it may just be that I've figured out how to make a perfect over easy fried egg!

Dinner:  Taco Salad, spicy pork.

Plus hot sauce.  LOTS of hot sauce.

Good as always.  Hungry again, must be that extra exercise is triggering an appetite.

Also:  Glass of pinor noir.  End of the bottle.

Exercise:  Day 2 of C25k.  Same deal as Wednesday - I walked for a mile plus to get to the clearest spot around (though the streets weren't bad at all today), did the routine (jog 1 min, walk 1.5 min, repeat 8x), then walked back 1.25 miles or so.  Pedometer clocked at 4 miles, it's about 3.5 in reality, with the 3 mile loop and a mini-loop added during the running portion.  It wasn't too awful - giving thanks again to the basic conditioning that's in place from walking - but it definitely is higher intensity.  It gets the heart rate up a bit (but not excessively so) and by the end I'm huffing and puffing just a little.  Pretty happy with how it's going so far.

Not sure if I'll do day 3 on Sunday or wait until Monday.  I don't want to overdo it and I'm thinking about an extended walk tomorrow morning.  Also it's supposed to snow Saturday night and I have my doubts about doing much of anything if it's slick.  So yeah, probably Monday.

Edit:  I'm feeling it a bit - legs are heavy and I'm tired.  Looking very much like I'll do day 3 on Monday.  Need a good night's sleep tonight and we'll see how far I go tomorrow!

49.8

Broken Resolutions Already?

Thursday, January 3, 2013

After seeing notably more activity yesterday, today was back closer to normal.  I only saw a couple other people walking, no runners.  There was a very light dusting of snow which I guess could have discouraged people but it's not like we got the 2-4 inches that was predicted.  I'm obviously not complaining, though.  I enjoy the peace and quiet.

I could have used more sleep.  I went to bed at a decent hour, got to sleep fairly soon but was still deep in REM when the alarm went off.  The slow start put me about ten minutes behind schedule but otherwise no problem.

Breakfast:  1 tub Fage 2% plain greek yogurt with a few organic raspberries, coffee

Lunch:  ~ 5 oz leftover pork tenderloin, leftover spicy pinto beans

Decided to have this instead of eggs for lunch.  Shocking I know.

Perhaps not quite as good as last night but still tasty.  Upped the bean quantity a bit, I was rather hungry.  I had intended to grab a couple of slices of salami as a mid-morning snack but forgot to do so.  When I eat breakfast before 7 and lunch around 1 that's a lot to ask of a little yogurt.

Dinner:  ~ 2 oz CF cajun beef jerky, ~ 1 oz salami, 2 slices cheddar cheese.

Grazed.  Got home super late, not super hungry.  Probably going to hit the store tomorrow, didn't really have much in the way of vegetables on hand - I thought about going to get a taco salad but I wasn't hungry enough to really want one.

Also:  A glass of pinot noir.  Almost done with this bottle.

Exercise:  Morning walk, along what is now officially my favorite wintertime loop.  Pedometer said a whisker under 3.5 miles today, I know that it's just over 3 miles.  Not real surprised at the error, I kept my stride length quite short to make sure I didn't have too many footing issues.  Only came close to wiping out once.  I'll sure be glad when spring gets here - in fact I"ll be glad if we get the projected warm up next week - sounds like it might be warm enough to clear the streets and sidewalks.

Also did 20 girl push ups and 20 sit ups.  Form still not good on those.  Next time I'll probably drop the count and be absolutely certain to use correct form - all the way down on the push ups for one thing.

51.6

More Activity Noted

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I wonder how long it's going to take before I stop typing 2012.

Between it being a back to work day and people out there getting going on their new year resolutions there was definitely more activity this morning.  I saw at least a half dozen people and a couple dozen cars - quite a bit more than has been the case the last couple of weeks.  It's pretty hard to beat the absolute silence (this is in town) of early holiday mornings.  It was also fairly cold but once I got going I was quite comfortable.

Breakfast:  ~ 1.5 oz salami, 1 slice sharp cheddar cheese, coffee

Assume without additional information that these are the armour novara deli salami and the Kraft big slice sharp cheddar.  I have a couple more days supply of each, then I will probably switch to soup for a few (assuming that I get around to making another batch).

Lunch:  2 large CF eggs fried in a bit of real lard, 4 strips CF applewood bacon, ~ 3 oz Meijer organics vegetable juice, 1/2 of a large grapefruit

I ate two strips of bacon before I remembered to take a picture.  Oops.

One of my better efforts.  Eggs were perfect over easy.  I was actually a bit hungry come lunch time.

Dinner:  6-7 oz CF pork tenderloin, leftover spicy pinto beans

Pork tenderloin and spicy beans

Holy moly was this delicious.  I browned the tenderloin in a bit of real lard in an enameled cast iron dutch oven, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders and threw it in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.  When I pulled it the instant read went right up to 150.  Let it rest for a couple and sliced.  Served with some leftover spicy beans which I did a month ago and had in the freezer - the time REALLY improved these, they were so tasty.

The best news of all is that I have about 5 oz of roast and lots of beans leftover for tomorrow!

Also:  I'm assuming that I'll have a glass of pinot noir when I do the dishes in a bit.

Exercise:  Day 1 of the Couch To 5k (C25k) program.  I did it exactly as programmed, using the app, except that I walked a mile or so to get downtown to clear streets and then after I was done I had at least a mile and a quarter home.  Day 1 involved 8 sets of run for a minute then walk for 90 seconds.  It didn't hurt too bad - let's be realistic, I was doing a slow jog not a sprint - considering that this would be the most I have run in years.  By the end it actually felt like my form was coming - it was an actual jog, not a shuffle.

Anyhow, the lolpedometer said the end total was 4.1 miles - with the few extra loops I did to complete the jogging plus the 3 mile walking route I'd guess it was close to 3.5 miles.  Walked mostly in the street again, the pavement is nice and clear while the sidewalks are still icy.  It's supposed to snow tomorrow which will potentially screw up the walk, but hopefully it'll be cleared up for Day 2 on Friday or Saturday.

Also:  Thank goodness I didn't start C25k totally stone cold.  That would have really sucked.

51.8

Starting At 54

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

May 2013 be a breakthrough year for me and a happy and healthy year for anyone reading.

I did not stay up to see it in, preferring instead to greet the dawn.  I went for a walk and then went to the beach to see the sun rise.  Beautiful.  I am going to be more appreciative of such things this year.

Pre-breakfast:  1/2 oz salami, coffee.  A tiny bit of fuel before the hike.

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

New year's resolution ... even MORE egg pictures!

The old standby, one more time.  It was actually too much food - I may be too full to have lunch!

Lunch:  None.  Was actually too full and had an early dinner.

Dinner:  Strip steak, green beans.

This was a grocery store steak, broiled.  It was OK.  Wouldn't be my choice but as a guest I try not to be too critical of other people's choices and cooking.

Also:  1/2 glass of pinot noir.  A nice treat while cleaning up my kitchen.

Exercise:  I got up at the usual time and did my favorite 3 mile loop (which showed as 3.3 miles on the pedometer today).  That is about the perfect distance for a regular morning walk, at least it is for me.  After that I had some coffee and waited for it to get closer to sunrise, then I went to a local park and hiked down to the beach.  Lots of stairs, it was a good workout.  The not-so-trusty pedometer clocked it at 3.2 additional miles.  I'd guess it was more like 2, but with the stairs it was an excellent workout.  It was also very peaceful -- there was nobody else there in part because it was still dark when I started -- and I'll definitely be going back.  I feel absolutely wonderful today.

54.2

December in Review, 2012 Wrap Up and January Goals

Time for a quick wrap on 2012.

December was more successful.  If my quick look back is accurate, I dropped 19 pounds.  Granted that I had put on some in previous months, but I still ended the year at a new low.  I think I'm down 111 pounds total from my worst official weight.

The exercise front has also been successful beyond my wildest dreams, and most of my losses can be attributed to that.  I've been able to walk nearly every day (thank you mother nature) and have been stretching the walks out because - much to my shock - I have found that I truly love a good walk early in the morning.

I failed miserably at my goal of being more organized at work.  I'm doing a bit better at home though.

It's been a roller coaster ride the past couple of weeks.  I had been in a great place mentally for the entire year until the holidays hit.  I have survived and I hope to be in a spot where they don't come back next year. That's where my new year's resolutions and goals come in.

January goals:

1.  Lose 15 pounds.  This is the standard, and one which I need to meet to accomplish my longer term goals.  There is absolutely no way I will fail if I keep getting in good walks and avoid bingeing.

2.  Continue the exercise.  I say 15 days minimum but in reality I want to at least walk every day the weather permits (and indoors when possible on days it does not.  Oh how I wish I could afford a gym membership for the winter even though I hate treadmills).

3.  Fix the work flow at work.

2013 goals:

1.  Lose a bunch more weight.  I have a specific number in mind but I don't feel the need to post it.  It should suffice to say that there is still a bunch to go.

2.  Start a couch-to-5k program and soon.  I'm going to take it super slow.

3.  Do a 5k, just because I can.  I have one picked out the first weekend in May - if the weather permits me to be ready.

4.  There are some social goals to be accomplished as well but they are far beyond the scope of this blog.  

In The Streets

Monday, December 31, 2012

Wow, the last day of an interesting year.  I'll probably reflect more tomorrow but I can say that it's been an experience.

To my surprise, I found myself unhappy with people (including myself) who shoveled their sidewalks this weekend.  I didn't get warm enough yesterday to really clear anything so there are all kinds of icy spots on cleared stretches.  The ones that were left snow covered were not slick at all.  The good news is that there isn't a whole lot of traffic at 0-dark-30 so I could mostly walk out in the street.  Not real happy about the number of slips but at least none was major and I did not fall.  Stupid winter.

Planning on puttering around at the office this morning and then doing other stuff in the afternoon.  I can't believe I'm saying it but I will really be looking forward to getting back to the regular routine.  A busy me is a happy me.  Okay, at least a happier me.

Breakfast:  ~ 1 oz Armour novara hard salami, coffee

Lunch:  2 large CF eggs scrambled in a bit of real lard, 1 slice Kraft big slice sharp cheddar, a little Meijer naturals hot salsa, 4 strips CF applewood bacon

In a shocking development, this photo protrays... eggs

Not one of my finer efforts.  Eggs overcooked, addition of salsa a big meh.

Dinner:  12" deluxe pizza

Pizza, the one food I could eat every day of my life.

A planned indulgence.  Hopefully this is the last one for a while.

Exercise:  Usual morning walk.  Varied the normal loop ever so slightly to get extra time on a clear stretch.  On bad days I may need to just do that stretch a few times.  Ended up at 3.5 miles according to the pedometer, 1 hour and 5 minutes.  Actual distance was probably less since I didn't use full stride a lot - had to watch my footing.  Also did 15 girl push ups and 15 sit ups.  Those are getting a bit easier though they are still hard.  I haven't dreamed up a goal for those for 2013 yet but I probably will.  I like goals.

Edit:  I drove the usual loop and it clocked in (who knew I had a trip odometer?) at just barely over 3 miles. So I'm getting something like a 15% error on my mileage.  Boo.  Also checked against google maps.  Bah.

Inaccuracy

Sunday, December 30, 2012

I had planned a different walk this morning, but that involved driving to a destination to scope out a route.  Since the roads were slick I skipped it an instead did my favorite in town route.  I think I've done this route before and it ran about 3.3 miles, today it came in over 3.6.  I'm not entirely sure why, though I suspect it's because I was taking shorter, cautious strides to deal with the snow and ice.

Also of questionable accuracy was my weigh in this morning.  I did it after my walk and was pleasantly surprised with the number.  If I was a wrestler or crazy I could very easily cut weight and reach the first of the year under a major milestone (albeit many pounds above where I'd hoped to be at this point).  I'm not crazy, though, so I'll probably just weigh in as usual on Tuesday to start the month.

Anyway, and not to turn this into a mental health blog or anything ... but emotionally I continue to be up and down a bit.  Thankfully not Christmas weekend down, just a bit low and out of sorts.  I can deal with that.  One of the best ways to do so is just to get out and interact with people - I had a pleasant encounter with a lady at the health food store yesterday and I had a very good time playing cards for a few hours.  I need to do even more of that, just getting out there.  It helps.

Pre-breakfast:  1/2 oz Armour novara hard salami.  I figured I had better eat a little something before going on my walk since it had been something like 15 hours since I ate last.

Breakfast:  Omelette with chorizo, green chiles, red pepper, tomato, habanero peppers and cheddar cheese topped with salsa, diced potatoes, 1 slice sourdough, coffee.

One thing to like about this place - only 1 slice of toast.

Went out for breakfast, not my usual spot.  This one is very good - lots of stuff made from scratch - but it's fairly annoying that it's so hard to avoid the starch.  They also have excellent coffee.

Lunch:  Bowl of leftover vegetable beef soup, 1 slice Kraft big slice sharp cheddar cheese (not pictured)

Added a bit of crushed red pepper for extra zip.  Pretty good!

Last fridge jar, I think I have one in the freezer.  I will probably make another batch on Tuesday since I'll have the day off and lots of time to do stuff.

Dinner:  1/2 of a 12" homemade pizza with sauce, cheese, pepperoni, ground beef, ham and green olives, salad with a little italian dressing, 12 oz Miller Lite

I didn't know what was on the menu this week.  Pizza remains my nemesis.

Exercise:  As mentioned, a familiar loop which measured 3.65 miles on the pedometer.  Felt great, could have easily gone longer.  Fairly happy that I did not, though - I forgot to put my cold weather gear in the dryer so I had to wait for that before I could get out there.  Judging from the couple of sets of footprints in the snow I was not the first person out for once.

Six Hours and Some Miles

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Some assorted first world problems today.  I went to bed pretty early last night - I figured if I was asleep by 9:30 (which I was) I would get seven solid hours before the alarm.  I moved the alarm up 15 minutes because I've been a little poky getting out the door during the work week.  I didn't get my seven hours, though - I woke up at 3:30 and didn't really get back to sleep.  I gave up and got up at ten after 4, feeling just dandy.

I was a little worried about the walk this morning, since it snowed yesterday and the sidewalks weren't clear.  Fortunately my shoes proved to have sufficient grip and I only slipped a bit once.  I'll call that great success.

Also in the first world problems - I walked so long this morning that my coffee maker's heating element shut down well before I got home.  It keeps the coffee warm for 2 hours.  Doh.

Breakfast:   A couple leftover oatcakes, 6 slices CF applewood bacon w/ a little pepper, 1 slice Kraft Big Slice sharp cheddar cheese, coffee

This picture has no eggs.

Delicious as always.  In hindsight I probably should have cut a couple strips of bacon and fried up a couple eggs instead but I eat enough eggs as it is.

Lunch:  Qdoba naked burrito, 1/2 rice, double steak, pico, hot salsa, cheese and sour cream.

So good.

Was going to eat at home.  Got hungry while doing errands.  Lots of errands.

Snack:  ~ 2 oz CF cajun beef jerky

Dinner:  None.  Can you believe that?  I went and played cards,staying longer than planned.  No dinner.

Exercise:  Extra long walk today, 5.5 miles in about 1 hour 40 minutes.  Felt strong throughout, a little tired in the legs now that I'm done and have breakfasted.  Definitely quieter out there on the weekend, really a pretty nice morning.  I'm still amazed how much I'm loving this - it's rapidly becoming the best hour (or more) of the day.  I get a lot of thinking done.

Edit:  The errands racked up a bunch more mileage, I'm over 9 miles for the day and it's only mid-afternoon.

Deciding, Not Always Easy

Friday, December 28, 2012

I felt better yesterday evening.  I had a good dinner and a nice talk with myself.  Not having much experience with depression it was interesting to feel the physical difference.  I've been doing pretty well this morning although I can feel a bit of slippage.  Being realistic about things I suspect it's going to be another rough long weekend even though I have a few awesome things planned.  So it goes.  I did set some more goals this morning which are really, really ambitious.  I'm going to have to work HARD in 2013 to accomplish them.

First, though, we need to close the books on 2012.  Objectively it's been a decent year.  I've lost some weight.  I'm in better shape.  I've identified some things I want and how to get there.  I'm not there yet - hell I'm not close - but I have a plan, a map and a target.

Breakfast:  Bowl of leftover homemade vegetable beef soup, coffee

Same deal as yesterday - I had my camera handy and just plain forgot to take the picture.  Next time.   And there will be a next time as I have a jar in the fridge for lunch or dinner tomorrow.

Lunch:  2 jumbo CF eggs, fried in a bit of real lard, 4 strips CF cajun bacon.

Also much like yesterday.  I had 4 strips of bacon left in the package so I had 4 instead of 3.

Snack:  ~ 2 oz CF cajun beef jerky

Dinner:  1 container Fage plain 2% yogurt with a few organic frozen raspberries

Also:  1 glass pinot noir

Exercise:  Almost the identical route to yesterday, 3.25 miles in an hour.  I do like to vary my routes but this one is a winner.  Not as many christmas lights on this morning (which is too bad) but they are still on downtown so that portion of the stroll is still beautiful.

I tested out the C25K app a bit last night (while on the couch, obviously) and it seems to work quite nicely.  I'm planning on looking for a pair of bluetooth headphones this weekend (or, I guess, a cord extension) so I can keep the phone in my pocket.  I don't do armbands.  Too fat.  I also need to load up some more music, maybe make a playlist or two.

I also looked at the official training guide for a major local running event - I'm talking thousands of runners - and the 5k training schedule looks downright easy.  The C25K program is more rigorous.

Yeah, I'm hoping to be able to jog a 5k the first weekend in May - health and weather permitting.  I plan to sign up early to commit myself to doing it.

The Smallest Bit of Perspective

Thursday, December 27, 2012

I could add some comments on a tiny bit of perspective gained yesterday but it's not really relevant to what I post about here.  I suppose my fluctuating mental health is at least slightly related but it's not that interesting.  I'm still experiencing some pretty significant swings and will be quite glad when holiday season is completely over.

On the food front, I made a batch of vegetable soup last night so I'll be eating some of that over the next few days.  I need to remember to freeze a couple jars and get in the habit of pulling them out.

Edit:  I'm getting really tired of this.  I need to pull myself out.

Breakfast:  Bowl of leftover vegetable soup, coffee

I blanked on taking a picture, so mad about that (not that it would be especially exciting) - I even had the phone handy I just plain forgot.  Also, I should probably try and figure out nutrition, this bowl had ~ 1/4 lb CF ground beef, most of a carrot, 1/4 of a medium onion, a couple stalks of celery and 1/2 of a russet potato, plus parsley and seasoning.  And 3/4 T of butter for cooking the vegetables.

Lunch:  2 jumbo CF eggs fried in a bit of real lard, 3 strips CF cajun bacon

Yeah, I broke a yolk.  Otherwise, perfect.

Dinner:  Taco salad, spicy pork, light beans.  Did not take a picture.  I was going to have a glass of wine later but I ended up brushing my teeth and said the heck with it.

Exercise:  A nice 3.25 mile walk, just two minutes over an hour.  Really a perfect loop, I might have to do that one again (I haven't been repeating anything).  I love walking through downtown during the winter when the lights are on and it's peaceful - that's the best part of walking super early.  I really want to move up the time a bit more yet so that I'm out between 5:00 and 6:00.  Oh, and I managed 12 girl pushups and 12 situps.  Form is still lousy but they're coming slightly easier.  (btw I refer to them as "girl" pushups because it amuses me, not to diminish the physical ability of women.  It's 100% LOL @ me).

Braced For It All, I Hope

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Wow, the last couple of days have been rough.  I don't think I've ever experienced the holiday blues like that and it was surprisingly difficult to handle them.  Getting busy with preparations and gatherings helped - I almost think I did too many things too far in advance, so I didn't have enough to do.  In hindsight I should have also gone to the library and picked up a couple of books to read.

Anyway, my usual optimism has returned this morning and I feel quite a bit better.  I got in a decent walk this morning but it was hampered a bit by my decision to wear an ankle brace.  I was a little concerned that my ankle was a little tweaked.  For whatever reason, wearing the brace today messed with my achilles a little bit so that I couldn't get my stride quite right.  I guess I will hope that I don't have to wear it often.

On the eating front, after some holiday indulgence I'm refocused and more determined than ever to fix that problem area.  It may be that I can't fully "solve" things but I do plan to make every effort to minimize the blowups.  If I can remain on plan for the next five days I think I'll have pizza for new year's eve.  Otherwise I have been and need to continue thinking about ways to reduce intake while increasing activity.  I could really hear the clock ticking this weekend.

Breakfast:  ~ 1 oz Hormel tuscan salami, 1 slice Kraft big slice sharp cheddar cheese, coffee.

I'm really not a big fan of the Hormel salami.  I'm not sure that I'm a big fan of mass produced salami in the first place but I haven't found an acceptable alternative.  I will probably go back to using Armour for my bulk salami.  Another thing I should rethink - breakfast.

Lunch:  2 jumbo eggs fried in a bit of real lard, 3 strips CF cajun bacon, some leftover chips & dip

Pictured:  Eggs.  Not pictured:  Chips and onion dip

 Finished off the chips, let's try and get through a few days without now okay?

Dinner:  1 cup Fage 2% plain yogurt, a few frozen raspberries, a couple spoonfuls of vegetable soup

Most unexciting picture ever

It would have been quite late (i.e. after 8:00) before my vegetable soup was ready so I decided to eat a yogurt.  I wasn't all that hungry and this was just fine for dinner.  I haven't quite mastered the finer points of being on this schedule where I try and go to bed about 9:30 so I can get up before 5:00.

Also:  ~ 2 glasses of a California pinot noir

Exercise:  Decent walk, clocked in at 2.6 miles.  Google Maps suggests that number is inflated a bit and that it was really more like 2.2 miles, but I don't know.  Whatever.  I'll stick with the pedometer mileage unless I find that it's really, really off.

Christmas Peace

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

A peaceful and beautiful start to the day.  I did not see another person or car on my walk this morning for more than 20 minutes.  It was a beautiful, mostly clear, calm morning and I had the world to myself.  At least to the extent such a thing is possible in town.  Many folks left their christmas trees and lights on so it really was a pretty hike.

I tried dealing with the seasonal blues with family and booze yesterday and it worked decently.  I'm definitely not out of my funk but it was still a nice time.  It's the alone time that gets me and thankfully walking helps there.  Fewer deep thoughts yo.

Edit:  Holiday blues returned with a vengeance in the afternoon, subsided during evening events and returned one last time in the evening.  Yikes.

Breakfast:  1 medium organic russet potato, peeled and boiled, leftover sausage and some shredded cheddar cheese; coffee.  Decided I didn't want to wait until brunch.

Lunch:  Sausage strata, oatcakes, 2 slices bacon, 1/2 grapefruit, ~ 5 oz orange juice

Snack:  Chips and onion dip

Dinner:  3 potato rolls with butter, ham and turkey slices, a little green bean casserole, some diced potatoes with cheese and sour cream, a bite of cranberry, a couple mini dill pickles, celery with ranch dip, 12 oz Coors Lite, ~ 3 glasses of riesling, ~ 1/3 bottle or more of cotes-du-Rhone.

Also:  The last two red waldorf cake balls and one bite of almond banket.  I'm good on sweets for a while.

Exercise:  Fairly similar to yesterday but I sliced off the last loop.  Ended up at 3.4 miles in an hour and five minutes.  I honestly expected it to be much slower - I was dragging pretty good after getting about 4 hours of sleep last night.  I might need a nap today.

Surviving and Hiking

Monday, December 24, 2012

More erratic mental health.  I'm good this morning, thanks, but struggled some later on yesterday.  Many reasons, none of which are relevant.  Looking forward to getting back into the usual routine.

Extra long walk this morning.  I needed it and other than my knees grumbling a bit it felt just fine.  I'm thinking that I'm going to have to start allocating an hour a day (instead of the 20 minutes or so I'd planned) for the morning walk on weekdays.  Speaking of which, all that time with just myself and my headphones is great for thinking.  I am thankful that morning thinking seems to be clearer and happier.

Going to celebrate the holiday with a couple of family events today so the eating will be less than good.  Same thing tomorrow, then it's back on the horse with renewed focus on Wednesday.  No reason to wait until January, I'm more determined than ever to change.

Breakfast:  3 egg omelet with bacon, cream cheese, avocado; sausage; coffee.  Not pictured, I've had it at least 50 times this year.

Lunch:  Assorted crackers, bar cheese, cheddar, a couple handfuls of nuts, chips and onion dip

Not scientifically tracked but quite a bit of this junk.

Dinner:  Sirloin roast, some bread cubes with cheese fondue, a few green beans in vinagrette

Also:  4 Miller Lites and the best part of a bottle of riesling.

Exercise:  Added on to yesterday's route, made a loop downtown to enjoy the lights.  Ended up being 4.3 miles, 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I'm poky, always seem to regress to 20 minute miles while walking.  Knees grumbled a bit but not enough to be worrisome, legs a bit tight but not bad.  Also got in 10 girl pushups and 10 situps (both with poor form, need to work on that) when I returned home.

Thinking About Next Year

Sunday, December 23, 2012

I haven't been in the best place mentally the last couple of days.  I'm usually a pretty happy person, but every once in a while I spend too much time inside my own head and it gets me down.  It tends to be worse when I get out of my routine.  Fortunately I'm feeling better this morning and a nice long walk helped.  I've never before understood people who said they get a feeling of mental well being from exercise (e.g. "runner's high") - actually that's not true, I did experience some of that once before in my life but I chalked it up to other factors - but I'm starting to get it.  I feel much more peaceful when I've just knocked off a good hike.

Since I'm planning on taking the 24th off from work and likely the 31st as well I've been plotting what I'm going to do, exercise-wise, for the extra days.  Another reason to love weekends - I can stretch out the mileage and not even worry about whether I should cut it short and go to work.  

If I ever get on top of things at work I might end up being the zen king.

Anyhow I have a couple of cool ideas for different routes on Christmas Day and on New Year's Day.  Both are going to require some extra time and some extra patience but are very doable.  Patience is the hardest part for me.

Breakfast:  2 eggs fried in a bit of real lard, 5 strips CF cajun bacon, coffee

Oatcakes postponed to 12/25.

Lunch:  Double cheeseburger, fries.

Snack:  Chips and onion dip.  I just put "don't buy onion dip" on my list of new year resolutions.

Dinner:  None.  Ate too many chips, not hungry.  Probably going to have a couple glasses of wine though.

Exercise:  I had one route in mind for today but decided to save it for the 25th so I changed mid-walk.  Did a different loop instead, adding an extra segment toward the end to tack on some more mileage.  Ended up clocking in at 3.3 miles on the dot and just a minute or two over 1 hour.  It was a beautiful morning, upper 20s, no wind, not many people out and about.  Love it.

Bad Eating Incoming

Saturday, December 22, 2012

I cracked last night, not really sure why.  The only saving grace was that I downsized the pizza.  Oh, and maybe I'm burned out on chips and dip.  Maybe.  I still don't know why I've been wanting them.

The next four days are going to feature some excess eating.  It's the holidays, it's virtually unavoidable.  I've missed a lot of it, thankfully, because I don't have many parties to go to but there are several events coming up.  Scheduled to go for pizza tonight, nothing much tomorrow, then family stuff Monday and Tuesday.  I'm hoping to get in some extra exercise to help and I think the weather is going to cooperate.

Breakfast:  Bowl of leftover stew, coffee

Even better after a couple days in the fridge.  Yum!

I put the third jar in the freezer to see how it does, will be interested.  It would be nice if I could make a double batch and end up with six or eight servings ready to go on a day's notice.

Snack:  Popcorn.  Surprisingly filling.

Lunch:  Qdoba naked burrito, 1/2 rice, double steak.  The usual.

Dinner:  Deluxe pizza, ~ 24 oz Miller Lite.  I actually ate a bit less than I thought I might, lunch was a little later than planned and stuck with me quite well.

Exercise:  Stretched out the walk this morning, ended up at 2.34 miles according to the pedometer.  I threw in 4 jogging intervals of a block to a block and a half - didn't push it harder since it had been most of a week since last time.  It was icy in spots and I had to be careful but that actually worked well - to minimize the toll on my knees in particular I'm trying to watch my stride and not get too carried away.  Maybe when I'm a lot lighter I can stop worrying about it but for now I must be careful.  Oh, and when I got home I managed 6 girl pushups and 10 situps.  Lousy form on both but at least they were a tiny bit easier than last time.  Progress.  Overall it felt like a decent workout.

Oh, and in case I haven't said so recently, I really am starting to love getting up and walking in the morning (at least when the weather cooperates) - it was finally calm, maybe 30 degrees and just beautiful today.  Happy.

Also, for something to do I hit a museum to check out one of their exhibits and did some shopping.  Tack on another 3+ miles and several flights of stairs.  A good day for the hoofin'.

Waiting It Out And Stuff

Friday, December 21, 2012

Still miserable out there this morning.  Currently snowing, which I don't mind, and blowing hard.  Yuck.  Hoping I can get back outside tomorrow.

Went to several holiday parties yesterday.  I didn't feel like I did too horribly, considering, but I did still eat stuff that I ordinarily would not have consumed - at least I like to think that.  I had quite a few people comment on how good I look (which I find quite amusing because I'm still fat as hell, just notably less fat) and I even got tabbed for a potential blind date.  Pretty nice.

Breakfast:  ~ 1 oz Hormel tuscan brand salami, 2 slices Kraft big slice sharp cheddar, coffee

Tried the Hormel.  Meh, not a big fan, vaguely chemical in taste.  I need to find different quick breakfast solutions.

Lunch:  2 jumbo CF eggs fried in a bit of butter and olive oil, 5 slices CF cajun bacon, ~ 3 oz Meijer organics vegetable juice

And on the fifth day, he said let there be eggs.
 It's in there somewhere, right?

Some of the better eggs I've done, perfect over easy.  Also the first time trying the cajun bacon, quite good but on first thought I like the garlic/pepper version better.

Dinner:  Small deluxe pizza

Snack:  Chips and onion dip.  Ergh.

Exercise:  Since it was still awful I went and hiked around Meijer and Walmart.  Spent a total of $1.50, got in just under a mile.  Nothing much but at least I got moving.

Storm Out

Thursday, December 20, 2012

A thoroughly miserable morning outside.  It's barely above freezing (which isn't a big deal, but ...), windy and raining sideways.  It sounds like the worst of the snow will miss us over the next two days but wind gusts up to 50 mph and a bunch of slop are in the forecast.  It doesn't look like I'll be spending any time outside.

I wasn't feeling particularly lean this morning but randomly decided to hop on the scale anyway and was very pleased to see a number come up that was 2 lbs lower than my previous low mark this year.  I don't have to be perfect to keep losing, I just have to be better.  Of course perfect would be better yet but I'm human and a pretty weak human at that.  Still a long, long, long, long way to go.

Today will be a bit of a challenge - multiple holiday parties to attend.  At least I think I can still have a regulation dinner.

Breakfast:  Bowl of stew.  This bowl contained ~ 1/3 lb of CF stew meat, 1/3 of a big organic russet potato, 1 medium carrot, a couple ribs of celery, 1/3 of a medium onion, a little parsley and some spices.

Terrible picture, caused by dining room table
 being covered with Christmas stuff

I'd give it about a C+ - the vegetables and broth were delicious as always, the meat was poorly cooked.  A different cut probably would have been a better choice.  I think next time I'm going to try making this with ground beef instead - I would think that should work since the meat is cooked separately except to bring it together.

Also:  Coffee, 2 chocolate covered red waldorf cake balls.  I made those last night and had to do quality control.  I actually didn't have much desire to do so but since I don't have any other guinea pigs available I did it.  I had one of each kind, 1 tiny 1 normal sized (I forgot to make a tiny one of the white chocolate kind so I had a broken one).  They were good but sugar isn't doing much for me these days.

Lunch:  2 slices party rye toast w/ sausage and cheese topping, 1 celery stick with ranch, Jimmy John's sub of some kind (I think it was italian) and bag of potato chips.

Dinner:  Taco salad, spicy pork.  Medium hot sauce.

Same salad, picture taken by new phone

A++ salad tonight, one of the best I've had within recent memory.  Yum.

Also:  1 glass riesling.  This is one of the blandest wines I've ever encountered.

Exercise:  Since it was so crummy out there I didn't walk outside, which meant no jogging intervals either.  Maybe this weekend.  I did go to Meijer and walked around as much as I dared while getting a couple things, the pedometer gave me a disappointing 2/3 of a mile, not even 15 minutes.  Boo.

Plans Changed; See You In An Hour

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

I had planned to do a bunch of cooking last night, clean out the fridge, that sort of thing.  Plans were changed when I got home and discovered that if I raced to FedEx I'd have a new phone to play with.  So I did and there went the entire evening.  Can't say that I regret it.

Breakfast:  ~ 1.5 oz Armour novara hard salami, 2 slices Kraft big slice sharp cheddar cheese, coffee

Last of the Armour salami.  Really, it's been fine.  You have to wonder about it, but I really doubt that it's truly any different than any other mass-produced salami.  I don't think I have the right home environment to do it but I should at least look into what would be involved in doing my own charcuterie.  I know there are a number of books on the subject out there.

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

I hadn't planned to go out again today but got a call to do so.  Who am I to say no?

Dinner:  Chicken mush bowl.  Leftover chicken breast with some leftover pinto beans mashed a bit and cooked in a little melted real lard.  Mexican cheese blend, pico de gallo and sour cream.

Can't think of a better description than "Mexi-mush".

This was OK.  It was really random and didn't quite come together - the beans didn't really lend themselves to mashing, I didn't use enough lard to truly make refried beans and adding the chicken at the same time probably didn't help.  It was filling, though, and I was not hungry at all later even though I stayed up until 11:00 making holiday treats.

Also:  2 glasses Grand Traverse Select semidry riesling wine

Exercise:  Usual morning walk.  With no extra steps at all it's just barely over 1.1 miles.  I can't stretch it much without crossing some busy streets, but if I get out there well before 6:00 like I did today it's not as much of an issue.  I messed around with my stride and it took just over 20 minutes.

No jogging intervals today.  The C25K program is a 3 day per week program and it makes sense to me to give the body every other day off from the pounding.  So weather and health permitting I'll mess with it again tomorrow.  It'd be nice to get a little bit of a base laid before starting the program - I was looking at a map for one of the local 5ks and it seems like a looooooooong ways right now.

Also did 10 situps (woo).  Decided to alternate situps and pushups on the same theory, best to give the body a day to recover.  Will hopefully try the pushups again tomorrow.  A little sore in the upper arms this morning.

In The Dark, Many Ways

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Things are back to normal today.  I did a better job of going to sleep at a reasonable hour yesterday, though I was a bit stressed about all the things that remained undone.  I have a couple of cooking projects (most notably stew) that I want to get done and there just wasn't enough time.  Possibly tonight.

It was notably dark when I was out for a walk this morning.  As for the title of today's post, I was searching around yesterday trying to figure out what I should do in the way of shoes if I'm going to be serious about stepping up my exercise regimen.  Totally confusing and honestly pretty frustrating.  Finding something to fit my enormous feet properly will be a challenge.  I may just stick with what I have, more on that some other time.  I also don't have any other gear - I look pretty funny ambling along in jeans, layers and a hood but that's OK, there aren't that many people out if I go before 6:00.

Breakfast:  ~ 1.5 oz Armour novara hard salami, 2 slices Kraft big slice sharp cheddar cheese, coffee

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

Snack:  ~ 1.5 oz Meijer peanuts.  Finished off the container.

Dinner:  2 Taco Bell chicken burritos, 1 container Meijer greek yogurt with a couple frozen raspberries

Busy, ate late, stuff wasn't thawed, yadda yadda.  Fail but not the worst fail ever.

Exercise:  Usual loop, clocked in a just over 1.1 mile, about 18 minutes.  As a pre-pre-pre-prelude to attempting the Couch to 5k program I decided to test out a couple little jogging intervals.  I did four of them, about a block each (so not very far or very long) and they felt okay.  The last one was more like a block and a half and that's about as far I wanted to go that time.  Walked the rest of the way and feel fine.  We'll see if I can bump things up before actually starting the program.  I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to make it work anyway, since I have no place to jog (it's insulting to runners to call what I do running) indoors and it WILL snow one of these days.  I may just do the best I can until spring, we'll see.

Also, I decided to add some other stuff today so after I finished my walk I did a whopping total of 5 modified (i.e. girl) pushups and 5 situps.  These were surprisingly difficult, especially the pushups.  Yeah, I'm out of shape and heavy.  And I have quite a gut that makes situps a challenge.  It will be interesting to see if I can progress on those.  No goals yet.

YERGH

Monday, December 17, 2012

Totally unready for it to be Monday and I screwed up big time last night.  I didn't get home until 9:30 or so - already past my bedtime - and it took well over an hour to do a couple things and get ready to sleep.  I don't think I nodded off until close to 11:30.  I got up at the usual time today but instead of moving around and going out for my walk I just snoozed.  My body was just not rested.  I'm going to have to try real hard to wind down a little early tonight so that I can get back on schedule.

Breakfast:  ~ 1.5 oz armour novara hard salami, 2 slices Kraft big slice sharp cheddar cheese, a little coffee.  Late, late and late = grab and go.

Lunch:  2 jumbo eggs fried in a bit of butter, 5 slices Meijer bacon, most of 1 small organic avocado, some potato chips left from yesterday (thankfully now all gone)

ZOMG BACON.  Oh, yeah, and eggs.  Always eggs.

Good as always.  Eggs were pretty much a solid over medium, very pleased.

Dinner:  Broiled CF boneless chicken breast, leftover pinto beans, pico, kraft mexican cheese, jalapenos from a jar and a little sour cream.  Mexi-Chickibowl.

Not pictured:  Lettuce.  Not pictured because I didn't have any lettuce.

When it comes right down to it I like beef better than chicken but chicken does taste good.

Also:  Just over 1 glass of semidry riesling wine.  Finished the bottle, finally.

Exercise:  No morning walk.  Not happy about missing it.  I have entertained thoughts of doing some pushups or something tonight but I think I'm going to just reboot in the morning and give myself the day off.

Rained But Not Out

Sunday, December 16, 2012

It started raining yesterday about 11:00 and really didn't stop until about 7:00 this morning.  Even then the air was full of moisture.  I'm just glad it stopped, since not going out for a walk first thing actually seemed ... odd?

Yeah, I think odd is the right word.  Out of the normal.  Contrary to routine.  I think this morning stuff is really starting to take hold.  I woke up a few minutes before my alarm again, that's several times this week and is SO much more humane.  When it stopped raining I was actually eager to get out there for a walk.  This is brand new, undiscovered territory people.  It's all coming together and I'm not sure what's been the most beneficial - the hard surface sleep, the regular exercise, the so-so weight loss, the consistency, whatever - but it's working.  I feel so much better and I'm starting to resemble a real person in so many ways.  It's fairly miraculous.

I was a little worried yesterday, my bad ankle was bothering me after the morning walk.  After listening to it bark for a while I put on the ankle brace (which I haven't worn in several months) and stuck with that all day.  I am quite pleased that it is not bothering me today, at least not so far.

While eating I compiled a "to do" list for the day - it occupies a full page of notebook paper.  FML.  It's going to be crazy.

Breakfast:  Leftover oatcakes, 4 slices Meijer bacon, coffee

No blueberries and no vegetation, just cakes n bacon

You know how this picture is different than yesterday's picture?  ZOMG different plate.

Lunch:  2 Culver's double deluxe burgers

Snack:  Chips and onion dip.  Lots.

Dinner:  Chuck roast with box cheesy mashed potatoes, carrots and gravy, a roll with butter.

Exercise:  Morning walk was good for 1.2 miles, then got out to the golf course in the afternoon for the last time (probably) of the season.  Walked 9 holes in the drizzle, pedometer said 3.6 miles.

Not All That Scrooged

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Today's goal was to do the holiday shopping.  From scratch (i.e. no lists, no idea) to wrapped.  I didn't quite get there but at least I made a lot of progress.

That level of crazy also meant bad eating, though it was counteracted somewhat by lots and lots of walking.  I mean I went to a half dozen big box stores and I went to Meijer twice.  I should have worn the pedometer but didn't because it was raining.  Miserable day after about 11:00 am.

Breakfast:  Blueberry oatcakes, 3 slices Meijer bacon, coffee

Hey does this look familiar?

Yep.  Standard weekend stuff.  So good.  Once again scaled the recipe down to 2/3 C of oats and buttermilk so I can just eat it Saturday/Sunday.  I might even think about scaling it down to half a cup but that might be going too far.  Also of note, this recipe is super forgiving - I haven't measured anything in weeks.

Lunch:  Qdoba burrito bowl, light rice, double steak, pinto beans, pico, hot salsa, cheese and sour cream.

Stock order.  It should sound familiar...  I have a phone photo but haven't bothered uploading it so far.

Snack:  Chips and onion dip.  Lots.  Bleh.  See walking, lots of.

Dinner:  See lunch.  Same exact thing.  Yeah, seriously, I ate twice at Qdoba in one day.  WTF.  It was getting late, I was a ways from home and needed dinner.  None of the other options were appealing.  I actually think that the fact that a drive thru McBurger didn't sound very good is progress of a sort.

Exercise:  Stretched out the morning walk nicely.  Ended up with 2.33 miles, about 45 minutes.  And then, as mentioned above, I shopped until I couldn't stand it any more.  Lots of exercise.

Fun Delusions

Friday, December 14, 2012

Today is off to a good start.  I got a bit more sleep last night so I was not quite as sluggish this morning.  As an aside it's still 1000x better than it used to be but I was very poky yesterday.  Anyway I had some coffee, checked email and such and went off to get dressed for my walk.  I happened to look in the mirror at just the right angle ... and it actually looked like I had a waist.  Wut.  I mean, that would be fabulous ... but I'm miles away.  Just an optical delusion but it was enough to get me to hop on the scale and ... despite the fail, even the bobble yesterday, I'm still right about at my low!  I didn't even do the little things to get those last few ounces.  Happy.  Happy.  Happy.

I don't know that it was directly related, but I positively flew on my walk after that.  And it's even Friday!

Breakfast:  ~ 1.5 oz Armour novara hard salami, 1 small container Fage 2% plain yogurt, some frozen organic raspberries, coffee.

Didn't bother with the picture, it's not as if this is exciting and the nutrition is pretty easy to figure.

According to myfitnesspal, this comes out to 335 calories, 28g protein, 15g carb, though 8g are from the yogurt and there is a school of thought that they're handled by the cultures.  I also overestimated the raspberries, so this really should be set at 300 calories, more like 10g of carb.  An OK breakfast.

Lunch:  Italian beef sandwich, small fries.  Uh, yeah.

Snack:  2-3 oz Meijer peanuts

Dinner:  Taco salad, spicy pork.  No shell.  The old standby.

If they had Qdoba in this town I'd probably go there four times a week.  Just sayin.

Also:  1 glass riesling wine.  Getting there on this bottle.

Exercise:  Usual morning loop.  I must have cut the corners or something because it was closer to 1.1 miles than 1.2 miles.  Felt fantastic, moved faster.  Time was a shade under 20 minutes.  I could have jogged today.

Bonus exercise!  Since I grabbed takeout for lunch I applied some of my time savings to getting in a few holes at the golf course.  Ended up with just under 1.5 miles in about 35 minutes.   Woot.

Can You Feel the FAIL Tonight?

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Perhaps that title is a bit harsh, but seriously, there is no reason why I can't string together a week or more of consecutive good days.  At least I feel decent and looking in the mirror I've definitely shed some retained water.  I forgot to jump on the scale but I'm convinced that if I'm good I should reach a new low before the end of the month.

Hi, I'm an addict.  I didn't get to be fat because I have good impulse control all the time.

Anyway, today should be OK.  I puttered around the house and dozed some this morning so I was quite late.  I cut my walk short, hoping that I'll be able to get in some more later.  Basically it was shopping last night that got me all screwed up schedule-wise and the shopping FAIL didn't help my frame of mind any.

Breakfast:  ~ 1.5 oz Armour novara hard salami, 1 small (7 oz) container of Fage 2% plain yogurt, some frozen organic raspberries, coffee

Tried the Armour salami for the first time.  It was OK, tasted pretty good.  Ingredient list isn't too horrible but obviously I'd prefer not to eat factory meat at all.  I think I'm going to try and hit the farm tomorrow or Saturday and I'll give their stuff another try.

In my rush I didn't take a picture, in part because I killed my LOL phone battery before 7 am.  Nice.

Lunch:  Double cheeseburger with extra cheese, small fries.

At least I contained the fail a little bit.  I usually would have gotten an extra burger and/or extra fries.  Still a lot of FAIL but fail happens.  At least it does when you're me.

Snack:  2-3 oz Meijer peanuts.  Seemed like a lot.

Dinner:  Hybrid taco/burrito bowl.  Same thing I've been eating but I didn't bother with the lettuce.  Didn't feel like it and it's not like iceberg adds much of anything other than bulk.  CF ground beef with taco seasoning, Meijer pico de gallo, Kraft mexican shredded cheese, jarred jalapenos, sour cream and a bit of hot sauce.  Quite good.

Who stole my lettuce?

Next week I think I might try this with chicken or steak and if I remember to make them some pinto beans.  It would be just like Qdoba, well almost, but with 100% less rice.

Also:  1 glass semidry riesling wine.  It was better when I opened the bottle a week or two ago but it was still a nice treat to enjoy while doing the dishes.

Exercise:  Shorter loop today, was crunched for time a bit.  About 2/3 of a mile or so, about 15 minutes.  Felt great.  Not just good, great!  Had a little foot cramping earlier in the morning but that cleared up and I had no aches or pains whatsoever.

Movement Is Slow

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Fatigued this morning.  Not sleepy - I again woke up before my alarm - but tired.  I haven't had much in the way of energy.  I had a little trouble getting to sleep again.  I think I'm going to have to shut off all the devices  and go into wind down mode a bit earlier.  I like nights when I just lay down and drop off.

Breakfast:  Leftover italian chuck roast, Fage 2% plain yogurt and some frozen organic raspberries, coffee

Last of the roast-hicans

Why would you import frozen raspberries from Chile anyway?

I didn't think I had quite enough roast so I ate the rest of a container of yogurt.  I might be weird but I like it just fine plain with a few berries.

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

Standard lunch out.  The omelet was smaller than usual which is probably a good thing, sometimes it's really stuffed.

Snack:  ~ 2 oz Meijer peanuts

Dinner:  Qdoba naked burrito.  This time I got it with half as much rice and double meat.  A better selection and very tasty though expensive at nearly $10.

Snack:  Chips and onion dip.  FAIL.  Maybe I need to go to the grocery store only when feeling ill or something.  Yeesh.

Exercise:  Usual morning walk, ~ 1.2 miles, about 20 minutes.  Today I discovered that if I breathe exclusively out of my nose (which I never do) pulling the mask up over my mouth is much less annoying and my face can stay warmer.  That's really the only part of my body that's exposed and it's really not bad unless I'm walking into the wind.  I'm happy with the rest of my gear.

Slug-a-Lot

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Interesting day yesterday.  I felt fantastic in the morning, sluggish after lunch, energetic again after my snack and then meh after dinner.  I also disposed of a ridiculous amount of liquid, which had a lot to do with the many cups of coffee and several bottles of water I consumed.

Sluggish today.  I woke up before my alarm but suspect that I didn't get great quality sleep last night.  I had trouble getting my brain to shut down and I had not fully digested dinner - a bad combination of eating too late (I didn't finish until 7 and wanted to go to bed at 9) and eating too much.  I really need to try eating an afternoon snack and an extra small dinner.

Felt good during my walk but it didn't really perk me up.  At least I didn't fight it, I'm starting to like this.

Breakfast:  Leftover italian chuck roast with a little kraft mexican shredded cheese, coffee

I can't believe I forgot to take a picture.  I was even playing with the phone while I ate.  Duh.  Picture the same thing as yesterday plus a bit of crushed red pepper.  Maybe a little less meat and I didn't even bother with the juice.

Lunch:  2 eggs scrambled with a little onion and green pepper, 1 slice Kraft big slice sharp cheddar cheese, a little hot sauce; 5 slices Meijer bacon, ~ 3 oz MO vegetable juice, coffee

If I had a dollar for every time I had eggs for lunch ... hey look, it's BACON!

 Mmmm, extra bacon.

Snack:  ~ 2 oz Meijer peanuts.  Got smart and packed some when I went back to work.

Dinner:  Homemade taco salad.  Iceberg, pico de gallo, jalapenos, mexican cheese blend, sour cream, CF taco meat, a little hot sauce

Yep.  Taco.  Salad.

Good stuff.  I should have enough stuff to do it again tomorrow night, then I might have to do something different.  Going to have to hit the farm soon.

Exercise:  I'm not quite qualified to use the term "usual", but ... yeah, the usual loop.  ~ 1.2 miles, about 20 minutes.  I'll probably stick with it during the week as that's about as far as I can go without crossing busy roads and even at 6:00 a.m. there is a fair amount of traffic.  I guess I could go around again or something but I've never been a big fan of that -- probably the reason I'd never be a long distance runner is I get bored.

Bust/Burst

Monday, December 10, 2012

So the weekend was kind of a bust.  I failed.  Again.

All I can do is get back on the horse.  And try not to fall off so darned often.

Thinking positive, I feel great this morning.  I never thought I'd say this but I'm really starting to enjoy the whole getting up early and going for a walk thing.  Getting better quality sleep has really revolutionized how I approach the day - I have barely struggled with getting up in the morning which is just stunning to me.  I never knew that my mattress was killing me, but it was.

I have this extra burst of energy this morning and it's wonderful.  It wasn't extra coffee, I drank the now-usual amount.  I did have the grassfed chuck roast leftovers for breakfast, that's really about the only thing different.  I didn't get in extra exercise.  I didn't get extra sleep - if anything I was a little short because I had some difficulty shutting my brain off last night (plus I ate too late).  If I have leftover roast again tomorrow and feel this good again I might have to make that an official breakfast food of champions.

Breakfast:  Leftover italian chuck roast with some shredded Kraft mexican blend cheese, coffee

Hiding under the cheese:  Beef.  And pepperocinis.  Yum.

I ended up not eating the juice, didn't need it.

Lunch:  3 eggs fried in a bit of butter, 3 slices Meijer bacon, 1 small past-its-prime organic avocado, coffee.

Eggs?  Eggs.  Overcooked eggs.

 Standard stuff.

Snack:  ~ 2 oz Meijer peanuts.  I got hungry around 4:00.  Luckily, I had an unopened jar of nuts.

Dinner:  Homemade taco salad with iceberg lettuce, roasted red pepper, Meijer pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, sour cream, kraft mexican cheese.  Meat is CF ground beef with Meijer taco seasoning.

The key to a good homemade taco salad
is to overpower the boring iceberg lettuce

Quite good and entirely too big.  I need to dial down the size of what I eat for dinner.

Exercise:  Usual loop, ~ 1.2 miles, ~ 22 minutes.  I thought it might be too icy to walk but it turns out that it was just fine.  Still need to start doing some upper body exercises and build strength.  Maybe I'll start with some situps and (lol) pushups.