So I Made A Lot of Food

Monday, October 6, 2014
Day 1

Hey, how about that.  I think I'm going to make it through an entire day of accountability.  I am pleased.  Oh, there are still temptations - I have a chocolate bar that I will probably need to give away and the remnants of some ice cream - but it's well into the evening and I think it's going to stick.  For today at least.

No reason to get into the timing, let's just say that this makes sense.  For the same kind of reasoning that new year resolutions make sense - arbitrary reasoning tied to the calendar.  Anyhow, it seems like the right time and I was up to the challenge today food-wise.  I was not exercise-wise.  I did get up this morning when the alarm went off but had woefully insufficient sleep so I napped on the couch instead of working out.  It'll get there.

Oh, and another random thought - I have had some ongoing allergy issues that drive my sinuses crazy at seemingly random intervals.  Afrin takes care of it, but you aren't supposed to use that stuff for more than a couple of days in a row.  That's a big thing that I'd like to figure out and resolve.

On with the show.

Breakfast:  Coffee.

Ugh.  I dawdled so long that I had to race out the door.  I considered grabbing a slice of cheese but decided not to do so.  No big deal, I wasn't real hungry.

Lunch:  Homemade vegetable beef soup, 1 slice sourdough toast with lots of butter

The usual homemade soup.  I freeze it in pint jars, it makes a good sized bowl full.  It's only 3 oz of beef so it's not a ton of protein, I might need to bulk that up, maybe use 2lb of ground beef or switch to using roast.

No picture, I forgot to take one.

Dinner:  3 CF jumbo eggs scrambled with a splash of milk, an ounce or two of Kraft multi-cheddar shredded cheese, 5 strips CF garlic-pepper bacon, a reasonable quantity of Alexia hash browns fried in butter, a little hot sauce.

My table presence, it is SLOPPY.

These might have been the best scrambled eggs I have ever made.  No idea why, really.  I used a splash of whole milk and stirred them while they were cooking.  Otherwise it was business as usual.  I hope that I have inadvertently stumbled onto the holy grail of scrambled eggs, because they were that good.  I usually fry them just because I have that pretty much down, it will be nice to have an alternative.

All in all a very satisfying dinner.  And yes, a lot of food.  I did get smart and used a smaller skillet for the hash browns -- it wasn't a major decrease over what I usually make, but it was less.  I should probably measure them, but for now this is good.

Exercise:  Nope.  I hope to move around some this evening cleaning up but that's about it.

---  (~125.0)

Adjustment Required

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

It is proving remarkably difficult to get myself to buy in completely.  I look in the mirror or have a moment where I feel bad and I think "it's time".   And then I go get a burger.  I'm just not there yet.  I need to be.

Today of course marks the beginning of a new month.

Breakfast:  Egg McMuffin, hash browns, large coffee

Lunch:  Marbled corn bread scramble with potatoes, coffee

Dinner:

Exercise:

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Sea Change Coming?

Monday, September 29, 2014

I actually accomplished two things this weekend.  The first was a standard step toward success -- I made a batch of soup.  It's simple but it's easy, it's good and it's ready to go.  I now have five meals worth of dump in a pan and heat goodness.

The other thing was really accomplished this morning, and it's odd to call it an accomplishment.  I realized, as I lay in bed waiting for the snooze alarm, that I need to just let go of the schedule of my dreams.  When I was having great success, I was getting up every day at 5:00, getting in my walk, and having a productive day.  But then I acquired certain social obligations (which really aren't relevant otherwise) which kept me up late.  Instead of going to bed by 9:30, I was up until 10:30, 11, 12 or later.  Needless to say I could only continue the schedule for so long.

I have been away from that schedule for a while now but have never given up on the idea, in part because it worked!  This morning, though, I could see:  As long as I have these obligations I just can't do it.  My body does not function on less than six hours of sleep.  It isn't made to do that.

So here is the deal.  I am going to start getting up at 7:00.  It doesn't allow me to seize the day as I would prefer (despite not previously being a morning person).  I won't have the luxury of getting to work before everyone.  I will have to make myself exercise in the evenings, which has never been consistently successful.  But I need to find a way to make it work.

Breakfast:  Bowl of homemade hamburger vegetable soup, coffee

The old standby.  Going to be going out for lunch so today won't be all good, but it's nice to get a healthy start.

When You Fail, You Fail

Monday, September 22, 2014

I am at least going to make myself get back into the habit of posting.  And taking pictures and stuff.  It wasn't a good day food-wise or exercise-wise, but still, posting is a start.

Breakfast:  None

Early lunch:  Cheddar cheese omelet with sausage gravy, 3 pancakes, coffee

Went out to lunch, had a good meal.

Dinner:  Firehouse subs large NY steamer sub

No picture on this one.  A quick stop between work obligations.  Stupid work.

Snack:  Limeade oreos, whole milk

Exercise:  Nope.  FAIL.

122.6

Picture Post

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Hey, how about that, a couple of pictures.  I'm not sure that this really qualifies as a meaningful start to the diet, though it is sadly noteworthy that breakfast and lunch were home cooked, and dinner will be too.  If I can manage to avoid snacking or dessert it could be a no drive-thru kind of day.  That would be a step in the right direction.

I am currently thinking that during the week I am going to start eating breakfast for dinner as often as possible.  I want to have some easy lunches like soup or chef salad available.  Breakfast can be fairly minimal.  If I do that, it's an easy game.

Breakfast:  2 jumbo CF eggs fried in a bit of butter, Alexia hash browns cooked in olive oil, 4 strips CF chipotle bacon, small avocado, coffee

Breakfast.  Yum.

This was probably 7/10, but since it was breakfast that means it was really 9/10.  Maybe another 30 seconds for the hash browns and another day of ripening for the avocado.

Lunch:  3 strips (~ 4 or 5 oz) CF smoked brisket, leftover mashed potatoes, 3 corn tortillas, coffee

Sometimes weird is good

I'm not sure the tortillas were truly necessary, but it was kinda interesting to eat these leftovers as (effectively) a sandwich.  I guess I also could have toasted some bread, but whatever, I have ample tortillas on hand.  Cutting back on starch didn't happen here.

This was the first time I have purchased the pre-cooked CF brisket.  It's pricey at ~ $11 or $12 a pound, but it is quite good.  Pre-cooked quality meat is expensive but nice to have on hand for lazy times.  I opened the 1 lb package, had a bunch for dinner last night, this and I'll get another meal out of it.

Dinner:  Chicken breast, a little rice, green beans, cheese sauce, rolls with butter, a slice of blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream.

A bit much, but good.

Snack:  McChicken, medium chocolate shake.  FAIL.

Exercise:  Nope.  Was planning on 18 holes with cart but the weather sucks and I'm not 100%.

---

Return of the Mack?

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Hey.  Been a long time.  It's been months upon months of bad eating, no exercise and no accountability.  It really does need to stop.

There isn't any reason at all why it should be super difficult to get back on track.  I have let things slide in almost every aspect - the one thing I have held onto is the no soda pop - but with a little focus I can do this.

I'm not sure it will start today.  I might need to make a grocery run this evening in order to have things on hand (yes, I have been eating out that much).  I'm thin on a lot of stuff that I'd like to have on hand, farm stuff.  Maybe I should run out there too and stock up.

Anyway.  Lots of reasons to just do this.

New Month, New Thinking

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Okay.  Again.

Here's the deal.  I need to do better.  I have not had a great deal of motivation, but I'm really unhappy with my bloated gut and general malaise.  Doing better isn't hard, I just need to do it.  And maybe now I can.

I was writing down some receipts last night and came to the realization that I spent a TON of money eating out last month.  I ate out far more often than I ate at home.  That changes.  Now.  June is going to be a fast food free month!

Seriously.  When you're me, that will be a challenge.

Let's do it.  Better health awaits.

Breakfast:  Alexia hash browns prepared in butter, 3 slices leftover Meijer bacon, coffee

I also forgot to set out an avocado, so much advance FAIL

Poor planning in action, I am out of eggs.  Ate the last two yesterday.  I need to go to the farm this week to restock things like ground beef and real bacon anyway, so I'll pick up a couple dozen while I am there.  Love me some eggs.  Going to need extra protein before lunch.

Lunch:

Dinner:

Exercise:  18 holes with cart

Days without fast food:  0

---

May You Be Full of FAIL

May 2014

My goodness.  More awful eating.  Seriously awful.  Binges.  Extra meals.  Sugar.  Way too much fast food.
Minimal exercise.

FAIL.

Let's do better.

Try Try Try Try

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Sigh.  More fail.  Extreme fail.  Really bloated.  Tired.  Just not good.

The only positive is that I think I'm about to the point of being ready to commit.  Really, really commit.  To not just a "diet", but to a wholesale lifestyle change.  In a way, a change back to what was working for me, but really beyond that.  To a vision of what I want to be.

Anyway, today will involve fail.  But I am closer.

Breakfast:  2 eggs fried in a bit of butter, Alexia hash browns in butter, coffee

Always delicious, especially when I nail the eggs.

Lots of butter!  Went a little easier on the hash browns at least.  Didn't fry up any bacon, wasn't crazy about how my open package looked.  I really need to get some good stuff from the farm.

Lunch:

Dinner:

Snack:

Exercise:  18 holes with cart.

---

Almost On

Sunday, May 4, 2014

There was something of a failure of will yesterday.  But it could have been much worse.  At least there was no ice cream involved, nor any sugar at all, so it's a small positive.  Of course I ate about 4,000 calories, which is a big negative, but I'm thinking positive today.

Anyway, back at it.  Slept in big time.  Thinking seriously about whether I might need to abandon all hope of my desired routine, which would be going to bed early, getting up by 5:00 and getting out for a walk.  That's what I was doing, but for various reasons it has been a long time since I could do it consistently.  Too many nighttime demands.  So what I'm thinking is with the return of golf season, I get up later, like at 7:00.  Work, get home about 6:30, have a minimalist dinner and get in my walk about 7:30.  When the weather is decent I can get it in by hitting the golf course.  That gets me home in the 9:00 range, with time to clean up, do a project maybe, meet my social obligations and still get to bed around 11:00.  Maybe this will work.  Refinements will undoubtedly be necessary and it is heavily dependent on my getting done during the day what I need to get done.

Oh, and I really need to remember to step on the scale tomorrow.  I wonder how much damage the last month has done.

Breakfast:  2 eggs over hard in a bit of butter, 4 strips spartan bacon, Alexia hash browns cooked in 3 T butter.  Coffee.

The eggs, a bit over done.  Pity.

For variety I did these in butter instead of in evoo this morning and I think the flavor is actually a bit closer to regular diner hash browns when done that way.  I wondered if the heat would be too much for the butter so I kept it down just a shade, no problems noted.

Lunch:

With the late breakfast I didn't need anything major for lunch.

Dinner:

Exercise:

---

Horse, Back On

Saturday, May 3, 2014

After another lengthy stretch of eating all of the things and bloating up like crazy, my mind is finally in the right place to do this.  It shouldn't be so freaking hard, but it is when you're working a ton, not getting enough sleep and are already susceptible to stupid eating decisions.

So let's do this.  A minor tweak this time around -- going to try being a little more serious about cutting the starch.  Not like I'm going zero carb or anything, but I'd like to keep the starch numbers reasonable and only eat it at one meal per day, typically dinner.  Breakfast isn't a problem (though I will again have to give up the drive through), lunch shouldn't be too bad as long as I mostly just stick to breakfast foods.  I will probably have a little extra starch on the weekends - at the moment, in the form of hash browns - but should whittle that down too.  Not sure if I'm going to worry too much about tracking calories -- if I don't eat much starch, the calories kind of take care of themselves.  Oh, and no sugar obviously.  Looking forward to ditching that.

Needless to say, April was way over budget on spending, ate out constantly.

Breakfast:  2 CF eggs over medium fried in a little butter, 4 strips Spartan bacon, Alexia hash browns cooked in ~ 2T evoo, coffee

Standard.

This is always so good.    No exception this time, everything pretty much perfect.  I need to get to the farm to get the good bacon and some more eggs, but I haven't been out that way in a while.

Lunch:  Chips and onion dip.  FAIL.   Once again proving the wisdom of the maxim "don't go to the grocery store when hungry", especially when there is a big sale.

Dinner:  Qdoba steak burrito, chips with guacamole.

Exercise:  Nope.

---

---

Excessive Vacation Mode

Through Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Yeah, vacation mode went on longer than it should have.  There was a mountain of work waiting for my return, deadlines and just plain laziness.

Really would like to get back on the horse.  Now.

Not looking forward to seeing what the scale says tomorrow.  And I have definitely notices a spike in aches and pains associated with a crappy carbtastic diet and no exercise.  Time to fix things.

And Then One (Plus FAIL)

Friday, April 4, 2014

The last day before vacation is always brutal.  Today should prove to be no exception, even though it will be a little different than past years.

Blowup yesterday and today probably won't be great either.  I'll deal with it.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories)

Lunch:  Five Guys cheeseburger all the way plus jalapenos, little fries with a cup of ketchup, some peanuts

Dinner:  2 eggs fried with butter, bacon, hash browns, avocado

Day Totals:  Not even going to guess, it's a lot.  Vacation mode.

Exercise:  Yeah, nope.

103.4

Vacay

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Breakfast:  Cracker Barrel sunrise sampler breakfast, coffee

Lunch:  Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich, medium fries, small Hi-C

Dinner:  Chili's guacamole burger, fries, salad with ranch, draft Yuengling

Snack:  1 fun size snickers, 1 snack size reeses PB cup

Exercise:  Nope.  Driving.

T Minus Not Much

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Getting so close it is crazy.  Vacation.

Edit:  Total meltdown.  Triggered by emotional response.  So stressed, so frustrated that I cracked.  Not proud of it, not at all.  Tomorrow will also be tough, and then I have to make myself forget about things while on vacation.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).  As per usual.

Lunch:  Marble cornbread scramble with diced potatoes, coffee  (1,200 calories)  Also:  Soft pretzel, 2 cookies (800 calories)

It has been a while since I had one of these...

These are what you call WAGs.  Also:  If I'd held out just a couple more minutes I could have said no to the junk.  Felt like crap after eating it, that's for sure.

Dinner:  Subway 12" ham and provolone, usual stuff (940 calories).  Not pictured.

Dessert:  Theo and peanut butter (305 calories)

Day totals:  3,430 calories.  Or thereabouts.

Exercise:  Nope.

100.6

Vacation Countdown

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Oh my.  Only three more work days until vacation.  Things could get intense.  And then on vacation the eating will probably get intense.  If I can avoid going too crazy it will be a win.  There will be excess, of that I have no doubt.

I really should go back and add a few hundred calories to the total.  There was a small amount of peanut butter left in the jar, so I cleaned it up.  That's fat guy talk for I ate more food that I didn't really need.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).  As usual.

Lunch:  Western omelet, 2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee (800 calories)

As usual breakfast for lunch is all sorts of win.

There was more toast to the toast than usual, but less butter.  Gonna call it a wash.  As usual had a couple dots of Marie Sharp's hot sauce too.

Dinner:  5+ VanDeKamp beer battered fish filets, green salad (785 calories)

A big ol' salad, most of the calories from AVOCADO

There were a couple odd fragments in addition to the 5 filets.  Since the package is sold by weight, the total for the two days should be right on.  Anyway.  Salad was iceberg, pickle, salsa verde and avocado.  Yum.  Didn't need any dressing.  I saw a facebook post today for never brown guacamole, so I definitely need to remember to try that!  Love guac.

Dessert:  1/4 Theo 70% cacao salted almond chocolate bar, 2 T meijer creamy natural peanut butter (305 calories).

Bought a new bar, store was out of the 85% kind.  Also trying it with creamy PB.  I should really just have the chocolate, but I am a peanut butter addict.  Oh, right, a good reason not to have it around.

Day Totals:  2,075 calories.  Just a shade high.  But not bad.  Maybe I'll do a couple projects and burn off the excess after I finish this up.

Exercise:  Nope.

103.0

Just a Fool

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

No foolin', it's April.  Scary how fast March went.  And this month might go even faster.

I was reasonably happy with how March went, food-wise.  Once I got the ball rolling it felt like I hit a pretty good groove of eating right around target.  I still have further improvements to make (buh bye starch) but I have gotten used to tracking things and I like hitting goals.  Now if I can just add exercise.  It will probably have to wait until after April 15, but it is coming.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories)

Lunch:   Buffet lunch - 4 slices of a small pizza, some kind of fancy salad with dressing, a cheese stick and a little bit of pasta (1,500 calories)

One of the very worst pictures I have ever taken.

I really don't have the faintest idea how many calories this was.  The pizza was from ~ 12 inch pies and was both thin crust and modestly cheesed.  Lots of cheese on the cheesestick.  The salad had all kinds of stuff in it, including corn and black beans.  And I have no idea what kind of dressing it was that I put on it.  All around FAIL.  But it was quite tasty and I (barely) resisted the temptation to get a second plateful.  I don't know that I would have ever chose the salad (actually it was two kinds, I tried both) but it was really good.

Dinner: 5 VanDeKamps beer battered fish filets, salad with ranch dressing (725 calories)

Dinner for one.

But for the utter excess of lunch this would have been just fine.  It was quite tasty.  The beer batter filets might be slightly better than the regular ones - for one thing they cook faster.  Calories are the same.  Both have way too many ingredients.

Dessert:  1/4 Theo 85% cacao bar, 1 T meijer natural peanut butter (205 calories)

Day Totals:  2,715 calories.  Eating out (non breakfast and not subway) is a problem.

Exercise:  Nope.  I did walk a few blocks to lunch and took the stairs, but it's not like I'm going to count that.  My knees are very much looking forward to less weight and more consistent walking!

---

March Spending Challenge Results

So I've been keeping track of what I spend on food and trying to hit a budget target.  For March, the result was FAIL, though not horribly so.  I went over Week 1, though nearly all of that was a trip to the farm to restock the freezer.  Hit the target Week 2 and Week 3, went over Week 4, though a good chunk of that was non-grocery items and stocking up for the coming week and a trip.

Let's try again.

Busy and Holy **** Tomorrow IS APRIL

Monday, March 31, 2014

Not ready for it to be Monday.  It is going to be a crazy busy day.

I wonder if I replaced the batteries in my scale if it would be more accurate.  It bounces all over the place.  This morning, the numbers were surprisingly lower than I would have expected considering last night's blowout.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories)

Lunch:  Subway 6" ham and provolone on jalapeno cheese, all the veg except spinach, southwest sauce (470 calories).

Forgot to take a picture, but not like I haven't had this before.  Last day though for both the $3 sub (oh no it goes back to $3.50) and the jalapeno cheese bread.  Too bad on both accounts.

Dinner:  Beef soft tacos (925 calories)

Taco Monday!

Leftover meat from Saturday.  5 corn tortillas, iceberg, salsa verde and a big 150g avocado.  Oh, and hot sauce.  I might need to dial back the hot sauce.  Just a bit.

Dessert:  1/4 Theo 85% cacao chocolate bar, 2 T Meijer natural peanut butter.  (305 calories)

Also previously pictured, this time with more PB.  I bought creamy PB for the next time.

Day totals: 1,885 calories.  Maybe I should have eaten more at lunch (and less dinner ldo)

Exercise:  Nope.  Crazy work day.

105.2

Two Step Future Action Plan

Sunday, March 30, 2014

I hate to think about it, but it really is the truth.  If I want to lose the weight at an accelerated pace, I need to do two things.  Simple things.  One, cut the starch.  My weight fluctuates too much and I retain fluid when I eat it.  I have been ending up between 100g and 150g of carb most days, it needs to be under 50g.  Second, I need to exercise.  Walk, building right back up to 3 miles a day.  An hour a day is not in any way too much time, it's a small investment in well being.  So:  When I get back from vacation, I need to do these.

Tired this morning, stayed up to watch the basketball.   Better off if I don't care, or if I had a DVR.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).

Photo evidence of something

No real way to make this interesting, I'm afraid.  Another Sunday of trying to eat the usual breakfast, so that I can have a good lunch and then the usual dinner issues.

Lunch:  3 eggs fried in a bit of butter, 4 strips Plumrose bacon, 2 C Alexia hash browns (815 calories)

Cracked open the new, giant bottle of hot sauce too

Almost perfect.  I forgot to turn the heat down on the hash browns, so they were just a bit toasty.  Otherwise fantastic.  I didn't reduce the quantity on anything and actually added an egg, since it's early, a long time to dinner and I was hungry.  Hope I can be responsible tonight.

Snack:  2 slices sourdough toast with peanut butter (570 calories).

The ever-glamorous stovetop paper plate shot

Got very hungry.  This was an irresponsible choice.

Dinner:  Canned spaghetti with ground beef, salad with homemade ranch, garlic toast (1,500 calories)

Not pictured:  Seconds.

Yikes.  I got carried away.  Oh, and that is way more dressing than I usually use!

Day Totals:  3,070 calories.  And that might be conservative.

Exercise:  Nope.  Puttered around the house, that's it.

105.2

Time At Fast Forward Speed

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Wow.  One week from right now I will be on vacation.  Yikes.  That's a scary prospect.  A lot of work needs to be done before I can go.  And the thought of being away for a full week is always terrifying.  At least with a phone and laptop I can do stuff that's urgent but maybe not right-at-that-minute critical.  Oh, and it will be APRIL on Tuesday.  March has gone by so fast.

In a pretty positive mood.  Saw some good things on the scale this morning.  Feel decent.  Really want to get out there and walk, weather is slowly getting to the point where that's easier.

Breakfast:  2 eggs cooked in a bit of butter, 4 strips Plumrose bacon, "2 C" Alexia hash browns fried in 2 T evoo, coffee (750 calories)

Weekends were made for this

It wasn't my finest breakfast effort - the bacon and hash browns were just a shade less done than I prefer, but it was still good.  Love breakfast.  Of course now I have to watch my calories the rest of the day, but given that I plan to just have pizza/salad and tacos and I know what the numbers are on those it shouldn't be too hard to manage.  No dessert though.  Oh, and I did weigh the hash browns this morning - I was definitely shorting myself using volume measurement and that explains why I got so many more servings out of the bag.  I think I might actually dial back from 3 servings to 2, when weighed 3 is a lot!  #fatguyproblems.

Lunch:  Einkorn/parmesan crust pizza with ham, salad (625 calories)

Another tasty salad variation, even without dressing

Bumped up the cheese on the pizza to 3/8 C.  No avocado today, just iceberg lettuce, pickle and red salsa plus whatever part of the ham I didn't put on the pizza.  I'm also out of pickles and iceberg ... guess I need to restock a couple things!

Dinner:  Homemade beef soft tacos (675 calories)

Adios, bottle of Tapatio.  Kaput.

Good as always.  Very simple this time, just iceberg, a little red salsa and hot sauce.  And lots of beef.  Good CF beef.  It occurs to me that I have been eating a lot of hot sauce.

Day Totals:  2,050 calories.  Just a shade high.  I guess I could have skipped a tortilla or that extra 1/8 C of cheese.  Oh, well.  It's the weekend and I've been active.

Exercise:  Nope.  I had hopes for walking this morning.  Got up again.  Didn't get out there.  At least it was a very active day doing stuff around the house.

103.2

Not Much Action In This Action Shot

Friday, March 28, 2014

TGIF as usual.  Dragging this morning, didn't get enough quality sleep.  Not sure why, went to bed early.  Definitely woke up more than usual.  Oh, well.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).  Standard.

ZOMG breakfast action shot!

No idea why I felt the need for a photo this morning.  I might be loopy.

Lunch:  Five Guys cheeseburger with mustard, lettuce, tomato, grilled onion and jalapenos (875 calories) a small serving of peanuts in the shell (175 calories)

Not pictured:  Peanuts

This was a really good burger, and for $6.09 plus tax not all that outrageous.  I decided to go with the regular (double) burger instead of the little burger and passed on the fries.  I did have some peanuts while waiting though.  I think I may be overstating the calories on those, but hard to say, not like I weighed them.

Dinner:  Einkorn/parmesan crust pizza with ham, green power salad (750 calories)

Just made up that whole "green power" name because it's ALL green.

You gotta love pizza.  And this was a great salad.  Iceberg, 1/2 a pickle, salsa verde and a nice big 120g avocado.  Super yum.  I determined before cooking that eating the avocado would mean no dessert tonight (well, that and the peanuts at lunch, stupid peanuts).  I'm happy with the choice.

Day Totals:  1,985 calories.  Bingo.

Exercise:  Nope.  Another good day of getting up early though.  Pleased with that, though I was more tired than I have been.

105.4

Working Until The Weekend ... And Then Working Some More Probably

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Another long day upcoming.  I need to just CRANK out some work.  We'll see if that happens.  Between being tired, allergies, dealing with constant interruptions and just plain not being motivated it could get ugly.  But I need to keep reminding myself that if I have any hope of a full day of relaxation this weekend I need to get some stuff done.  A lot of stuff.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).  The usual.

Lunch:  Jimmy Johns #5 Vito sandwich, pickle (700 calories)

Doesn't that look like more calories to you?

I am surprised.  The Jimmy Johns website says that the sandwich has 644 calories.  That seems low.  Maybe I'm unfairly comparing it to the giant club sandwiches that have more meat, dunno.  Anyway, rounded up a bit just in case.

Dinner:  5 VanDeKamp's crispy fish filets, salad with romaine, salsa and salsa verde, pickle, 125g avocado (800 calories)

Hey look a salad that's not ALL green!

Decided to live it up and cracked open some red salsa to add to the salad.  And had a big avocado just at the peak of ripeness.  With some calories to play with, why not?  A tasty dinner.  I wonder if I can find a recipe for spicy breaded white fish.  Hmm...

Dessert:  1/4 of a Theo 85% cacao chocolate bar plus 1 T of meijer crunchy natural peanut butter (205 calories).  Yep.  Why not.

This is yum.

A very nice dessert bite.  Yum.

Day Totals:  1,890 calories.  Pretty awesome to hit target and to not be hungry.

Exercise:  No, although I feel good about getting up shortly after 5 for a number of days in a row.  I didn't even snooze a bit this morning and felt pretty good, hard surface sleeping is helping.  What else would help is some weight loss though, my knees are still super cranky.

103.0

I Swear I Am Not Jared

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

I have obviously had Subway a lot lately.  Not entirely sure why other than the fact that it's a reasonable combination of cheap and not overly calorific.  I have been seriously considering making that lunch like 4 days a week.  I could certainly eat better food and for less if I ate at home, but it does provide a nice assortment of veggies and it's quick and easy.  Not sure I'll go for it, but I'm at least considering the idea.  One downside is the continued starch, but hmm.  We'll see.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).  The usual.

Lunch:  Western omelet, 2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee (800 calories) slice of pie (400 calories)

Let's put the (lousy) picture of dessert first!

Extra yum today.  

Out to lunch, had breakfast as usual.  The pie was a surprise, a present from our server, homemade.  I'm not going to say no even if I should.  It was very good.  The calories count is a total guess, it may even be low though I bet it's pretty close.

Dinner:  5 VanDeKamp frozen breaded fish filets, romaine green salad (575 calories)

Hey, something different!  And no hot sauce required.

This was a meh idea.  I saw that the fish was on sale, plus I had a coupon.  So tonight's main course cost something like $1.50.  It was tasty enough - I like breaded whitefish.  I'm just not real crazy about the ingredient list, too many, um, "ingredients".  So if I'm going to eat fish, I'm going to have to start buying plain old flash frozen no preservative filets.  Maybe I won't even need breading, dunno.  Anyway, tasty enough.  Skipped the plan to make homemade tartar sauce, didn't need the calories.  And the salad was super simple, romaine, pickle and salsa verde.  No dressing.

Day Totals:  1,960 calories.  Yep.  Plus or minus a hundred or so due to pie.

Exercise:  Yeah, um, no.  Better day for getting up and staying up early though.

105.0

Inconsistency in Enthusiasm

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

I'm fairly frustrated by the wild swings in my level of enthusiasm.  Last week I was driven to succeed at work.  This week (so far) I am tired, bored and apathetic.  It would be nice if I would grow up already.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).   The usual.

Lunch:  Subway 6" ham and provolone on jalapeno cheddar, all veggies no spinach, southwest sauce (470 calories)

Same meal, different picture.

One of the better Subways I've had.  Then again, no reason I couldn't just get this as a salad.  I should look into whether it's still $3.00 plus tax if I do it that way.  I really should have some nuts or something in my office to snack on at the end of the day - this just isn't quite enough calories to get me comfortably to dinner.

Dinner:  Breakfast bowl again, this time 2 eggs fried in a bit of butter, the rest of the 'sausage', and 252g of the Alexia hash browns (2 C) in 2 T evoo (1,100 calories)

If this bowl is full of anything other than lettuce...
 you know I ate too much.

Again a lot of calories but a lot of food.  I cut the eggs from 3 to 2, skipped the sour cream and scrambling and didn't open another can of salsa.  Super delicious as is, even though the eggs were a bit overdone.  I was amused to determine that I had 209g of hash browns left in the package for today after I had already used 2 cups 3 times, so either I way undershot or else the package information is messed up.  The sausage was better the second day, which wasn't much of a surprise.  More time for the flavors to meld.  And I overestimated the calories slightly both days, since I have counted way more green pepper and onion than I actually put in.

Dessert:  3/4 oz (1/4th of a) Theo 85% cacao chocolate bar, 1 T meijer natural crunchy peanut butter (205 calories)

Lousy picture of a dessert

This was pretty good - I mean, it's chocolate and peanut butter.  Not as perfectly paired as a less intense chocolate and creamy peanut butter, but it's what I had on hand and still a lovely treat.

Day Totals:  1,960 calories.  Yep.  And I even had dessert.

Exercise:   Nope.  Being a little active this evening but again nothing that counts.  Soon I hope.  Going to be an early to bed kind of night.

105.6

Oh Here We Go Again

Monday, March 24, 2014

Oh look, it's Monday again.  I'm actually not too upset about that fact, though the upcoming week is pretty much going to suck.  I am fairly content with the projects I got done this weekend, though I certainly would have liked to have accomplished more yesterday.  Anyway, on we go.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).  Usual.

Lunch:  6 inch ham and provolone on jalapeno cheddar from Subway (470 calories)

Not a stock photo, though it is a stock sandwich.
Hard to beat for the price.

As has been the usual lately all the veggies except spinach plus southwest sauce.  It's not great but it is edible, $3 plus tax and not terribly calorific.  Re-checking the Subway site I did not use correct numbers for the times I splurged and got double meat.  Oh, well.  At least it wasn't like I forgot a pan of brownies.

Dinner:  Breakfast bowl (3 eggs scrambled w/ 1T sour cream in a bit of butter, 1/2 lb seasoned ground pork, green peppers, onions, 2 C+ Alexia seasoned hash browns) with salsa verde and hot sauce (1,250 calories)

The bowl.  Yum.

This was a lot of food.  And it was good.  I originally wasn't going to add eggs since I was planning on having those for lunch, but since I didn't get lunch until 3:00, I decided to scramble a couple up and throw them in the bowl.  I'll have something like this again tomorow!

I am fairly perplexed by the hash browns (LOL volume measurements).  The serving size is 2/3 C.  It says there are about 9 services in a package.  So 2/3 x 9 = 18/3 = 6 C or thereabouts.  I measured and ate 2 C on Saturday and Sunday.  I didn't measure today but it was at least 2 C, probably a bit more.  And yet there is still quite a bit left in the package!  I don't get it.  I did buy another bag, so after I finish this one I'll measure by weight next time.

Day Total:  1,905 calories.  Check.  They could be distributed better but I'm happy.

Exercise:  Nope.  Not enough sleep.  Tired today.

105.6

How I Know

Sunday, March 23, 2014

How I know that I need to cut the starch?  Still have a bunch of water weight.  How I know that I need to exercise?  Unrealistic expectations are not being met when it comes to the pace of loss.  Oh there is a bunch of other stuff I know, but who cares?

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories)

Experiment time.  Having the usual weekday breakfast with plans to have an early-ish lunch.  Maybe not as early as it might be come summer, but still.  We'll see how it goes.

Lunch:  2 CF eggs fried in a bit of butter, 4 strips meijer bacon, 2 C Alexa seasoned hash browns fried in 2 T evoo (760 calories)

Hey look, it's a bowl

Same as yesterday's breakfast just with one less egg, one more strip of bacon and served in a bowl.  The bowl actually worked quite nice.  Anyway, I was kind of inspired by the presentation - there are a ton of variations on this that would be good.  I'm going to try one with seasoned ground pork tomorrow for dinner, I think.  I could do a western bowl with ham and green peppers, maybe scramble the eggs.  Add cheese.  I could skip the eggs, do it with beef and maybe some tomato.  Of course I could just use a regular potato, too.  I will say that the frozen hash browns are easy, though.  This is one of those times where paying for convenience isn't terrible.  Oh, and I found they were $0.28 less at meijer!

Dinner:  Chop suey casserole, green beans with cheddar cheese, roll with butter, a little applesauce (1,200 calories)

Calories are definitely a guess on this one.  I didn't go nuts but I did eat quite a bit.  Seems to be my destiny on Sunday nights.  At least I refrained from eating any cake.

Day Total:  2,145 calories.  More or less.  Satisfied with this - I think the small breakfast on Sundays in particular is the way to go given my dinner issues.

Exercise:  Nope.  Much less active today.  Tired, even took a nap.

108.6

Which Sauce?

Saturday, March 22, 2014

I was thinking last night about hot sauce.  I have been enjoying a bottle of Tapatio I bought on a whim and that had been languishing unopened until lately.  At lunch yesterday I had some Marie Sharp's.  I know there are hundreds of sauces out there, maybe I need to start looking around.  But maybe not right away, since I bought a huge bottle of Tapatio on closeout at Meijer last week for $1.04.

Breakfast:  3 CF eggs fried in a bit of butter, 3 strips Meijer bacon, 2 C Alexia hash browns with onion, garlic and white pepper cooked in 2 T evoo, coffee (800 calories)

Pretty much breakfast perfection on a plate

I had to pick up something at Wal Mart last night, so I looked at their hash brown selections.  The Alexia potatoes sounded good, they didn't have preservatives or additives and I had enough room in the budget so I went with them.  Oh my.  Very tasty.  I could probably dial down my serving a bit - the potatoes and oil are more than half of the calorie count for this meal - but still:  Yum.

Oh, and the plan for tomorrow is to try a small breakfast and to do this meal for an early lunch.  I hope it works out!

Lunch:  Beef soft corn tacos (650 calories)

It bugs me when I forget to take a picture, only to remember just after I finish eating.  Grr.  Anyway, this was the leftovers from last night.  Kept it to 4 tortillas, no sour cream or avocado.  Yum.

Dinner:  Personal einkorn/parmesan crust pizza with ham, romaine salad no dresssing (575 calories)

Yo man where's the dressing?

Pizza was superb as always.  It was a little thinner than usual and I think I prefer it that way.  I like a crispy crunchy crust - edge pieces are always my favorite with a thin crust.  Anyway, just topped it with some ham I wanted to use up -- also being calorie conscious.  As for the salad, I was lazy and didn't make any dressing.  My buttermilk was expired anyway.  Turns out it was just fine without it.

Day total:  2,025 calories.  Right on.

Exercise:  Nothing formal.  But I did work around the house all day and ran a couple errands, so I was definitely more active than usual.  Tired by the end!

108.4

Now With Less Subway

Friday, March 21, 2014

Well then.  I can't remember ever eating Subway twice in one day.  I'm not a fan, really, but it's edible.  Let's move on.  Anyway, it's Friday and TGIF.  I am hoping for a weekend plan of getting a lot of stuff done on Saturday followed by some time off on Sunday.  I didn't do that last weekend - worked Sunday - and I've been more burned out this week than usual as a result.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories)

I probably will not do it until I come back from spring break and things settle into the summer routine, but another weekend thing that I think I should try is eating the small breakfast.  It's just easier to keep the calories in check when I can eat 900 calories each for lunch and dinner and not worry about going over.  The summer routine should help, since I'll be out an about on Saturday morning after breakfast and will probably be looking to have an early lunch on Sunday.

Lunch:  Western omelet, 2 slices sourdough toast with butter, coffee (800 calories)

Good stuff, you betcha

Decided to go out.  I'll end up slightly over budget for the week but not by enough to be upset.

Dinner:  Beef soft corn tacos deluxe (950 calories)

I know, it looks like all my other pictures of tacos

I added all kinds of stuff, basically everything except tomato and jalapeno and cheese.  5 tortillas, the full half pound of meat, iceberg, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce and verde salsa.  Yum!  And leftovers!

Day total:  1,935 calories.  I am so tempted to go eat 65 calories of peanut butter.

Exercise:  Nope.  I have gotten up at 5:00 two days in a row, though, so I have hopes.

108.0

Well This Could Be Something

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Up super early.  Unfortunately it's not to exercise, it's because I ran out of gas for work stuff yesterday and I have a deadline today.  If I could just adjust and keep getting up at this time (dubious) I could really get back into walking and that would be awesome.  Expectations are low, though.

Breakfast:  2 slices sharp cheddar, coffee (185 calories).

The usual.

Lunch:  Subway 6" double meat ham and provolone sub, all the veggies except spinach, southwest sauce (470 calories)

For a picture, see dinner.

Dinner:  Subway 6" double meat ham and provolone sub, same as lunch (470 calories)

Forgot picture at lunch, barely remembered at dinner!

Yep, had the same thing twice in one day.  I really need to consider some other on the go options.  Or, better yet, not be so freaking busy that I can't stop for lunch.  I almost went Jimmy Johns for lunch but at least at Subway I know what the calories are, they'll add lots of veg, and the regular ham six inch is only $3 this month.

Dessert:  3 T meijer natural peanut butter (300 calories)

Day total:  1,425 calories.  Hardly seems possible!  And I really wasn't hungry.  Being busy will do that I guess.  Now watch, I'll need 3,000 tomorrow.

Exercise:  Sigh.  Nope.

107.4