I Was Wrong!

Granted, smallest loss since I started, but at least it wasn't a gain!

Breakfast: two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, extra-thin fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana, whey protein, cinnamon, skim milk).

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), apple, carrots.

Snack: Mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese.

Dinner: Bottom round, two servings of asparagus, glass of wine (it is New Year's Eve, right?), dark chocolate.

So here's the deal: a too-green banana is a disgusting thing. I figured out to mix the skim milk concoction in to make the taste at least somewhat bearable. Thankfully the rest of the bananas have ripened and can be cut up and frozen now.

Happy New Year, everybody! I'm glad to be able to say I finished up the last three weeks of the year losing every week. This week's magic number: 6.447

I'm Gonna Call It Now: Gain This Week

I tried to be good. I really did. But I got up late, only had one meal before people started arriving tonight, and so the meatball buffet had me at "Hello." And then there was the other stuff. I did managed to get some fruit in, and I didn't have any chocolate... but with everything else I ate, that's not saying much! However, I only have the traditional New Year's Day party to worry about now, and I think I can behave there... so I'm also going to call no more bad eating until my birthday party.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana--a banana that wasn't ripe enough by the way, which is disgusting... and I have to eat the other half tomorrow), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Party grazing: About ten crackers with cream cheese and jalapeno jelly. About 15 pita chips with roasted red pepper hummus. About 40 meatballs. Yes, 40. Roughly equal amounts of each kind of meatball on the buffet... not that it matters. The buffalo chicken meatballs I also ate some fat-free ranch with. There was also another two crackers I ate, one with some sort of cheese spread, and another with... I don't know what sort of spread it was. If anyone that brought the other spread that wasn't the two-tone cheese spread or the hummus wants to share via comment, knock yourself out. Also: about one serving of fruit from Tim's fruit treat--two kinds of apples, pear, and some sort of citrus fruit, like tangerine or something (of which I had like one tiny bite of). A couple of pieces of that I had yogurt on, as well.

As soon as I finish typing: 5 prunes. Here's hoping in the morning, just before I weigh in, I'm moved to lose just a little bit of weight.

The Trouble with Broiling

Actually, what I think is the trouble with broiling probably is not what other people think the trouble with broiling is. My trouble is if I cook asparagus along with broiling the bottom round, I have the hardest time getting them to come out together and being cooked correctly. However, I'm getting close. I think I figured it out today... well, I figured out for sure how not to do it, anyway. What I need is one of those two-oven get-ups that I thought I'd never need... and still don't really believe I do (I honestly don't do a lot of "at the same time" cooking).

Whatever, I'll figure it out.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, apple.

Dinner: Bottom round, two servings of asparagus, mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, dark chocolate.

In other news, my overindulgence this week probably won't cause a gain... but will be causing the loss to be pretty small, I think. I really have to figure out the exercise thing. Crossing the street with Binx two days ago I was "kick walking" along with him, and wasn't winded in the least.

Perhaps the time has come. Perhaps now I can walk a few blocks without panting and wheezing.

Perhaps.

Late Start, but on Track

I was very slow to get up today. VERY slow. And, despite being a little hungry when I went to bed last night (which is the way you're supposed to go to bed, according to the O'Keefes), I wasn't in any rush to make breakfast--and not just because I forgot to buy eggs.

Actually, the plan was to heat up some of the grilled chicken and eat that instead of eggs this morning, then go buy eggs and hard boil a couple and put two of them (one of the yolks, mind you) in my salad instead of the grilled chicken.

Then I just decided to go to the store... and by then it was afternoon, anyway.

And I ran into a Colette there, and we ended up talking forever... so breakfast was way late today.

Breakfast (of sorts): Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, apple.

Snack: Mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese.

Dinner: Bottom round, asparagus (3.6 servings, to be exact), dark chocolate.

I keep wanting to try "cooking" my own yogurt, but never get around to it. Maybe Friday. We'll see.

Making All My Meals First Thing in the Morning!

I had a day-trip to Omaha today, and I realized when I went to bed I should probably just prep my lunch and dinner when I make my breakfast, thus being able to eat "right" today.

I prefer to bring my own food not because I don't trust others to be able to feed me, but because I don't trust my knowledge of what should be eaten in place of whatever I normally eat that isn't available. I seriously have researched most of what I eat--or at least the plant items.

So that's what I did first thing this morning. It worked out pretty good--but I don't know that I'd do it every day!
Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, apple.

Dinner: Bottom round, two servings of asparagus.

Yes, I'm missing a serving of fruit... but I'll live!

Final Holiday Meal of the Season!

And I went all-out for it! Whatever. I just don't want to end up with an overall gain for the week. Pray for this.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch (the holiday meal): Slice of apple, roll, turkey, corn pudding, stuffing (?), green bean casserole, noodles (with chicken, I think), mashed potatoes. After meal grazing: slice of apple with dip, three (yes, three) more rolls, two slices of banana bread, about four croissant things with chocolate in them (they had a name, but it escapes me). Bit of iced cookie. Little more turkey. Grazing sucks.

Dinner: Bottom round, two servings of asparagus.

So now I have to make it through the week. Day trip to Omaha tomorrow. If I don't pack a lunch (and maybe a dinner), I won't do well. And guests over Thursday night, with plenty of graze food available. I must plan accordingly. Must.

Stupid Popcorn! Stupid Cookies!

Okay, stupid me.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, vinegar), carrots, apple.

Dinner: Um... no, not really. Had about 6 cups of movie theatre popcorn, no fake butter added. Then, at Ben & Tricia's where I ran a quick errand for my out-of-town friends, I ate some cold turkey (I think it was turkey--by the way, Tricia, I ate some cold maybe-turkey while I was there earlier) and three of the Santa cookies. Don't judge. I hadn't had dinner. Well, if you don't count the popcorn and the cookies.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll probably be bad again, but I have to get back on the wagon Monday for sure... although I'm driving to Omaha on Monday. I need to pack a lunch and plan well.

Somebody Start Using Soothing Tones NOW!

Ugh. It speaks for itself...

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch:

Hello? Lunch?

Hello?

After no lunch: About 10 sugar cookies. Maybe five or six actual baked cookies, and the rest batter off of fingers during the prepping process (no worries about lack of hygiene--hands were washed after each "snacking").

Dinner (or Late Lunch): Baked tilapia, carrots, sharp cheddar cheese, mixed nuts. Yes, we can maintain.

After dinner at party: Carrots, green peppers, broccoli (about a serving of vegetables altogether), ham sandwich on wheat bun with spicy mustard, some cheese, some shrimp, couple of chocolate-covered cherries of some kind or other, a few chocolate-covered pretzels, some peppermint-fudge-brittle stuff, few chips with salsa, Oreo ball... and maybe some more sweets.

The day did not end well.

And I had such a great start to the day. I'm so close to a mini-goal, I can taste it!

Actually, I can still taste a lot of chocolate and sweets. I need some water.

Anyway, the magic number for this week is 6.439! Just to give you an idea, my first mini-goal is to get that to 6.523. The next mini-goal will be at 6.669 or so. On that day, I'll be doing a very happy dance. It will be a landmark day, for sure. But the big goal is still to reach 10.

Okay, I will recover. I've had bad days before. Family Christmas dinner is Sunday. I'll be good tomorrow, do what I can on Sunday, and then be good most of next week (although I'll probably have a bad meal Thursday night, which makes me a little nervous, what with stepping on the scales Friday morning and all).

Whatever, I refuse to gain. I'm still trying to put together a decent 30-minute indoor exercise routine. Once I have that together, I'll be unstoppable.

Unless you offer me candy.

Oh Yeah, Cookie Dough...

It's 11:19, less than an hour to midnight, and I just realized I was going to make cookie dough today--and was all worried about the temptation to sample it repeatedly.

Guess what, I need to go to the store and buy some ingredients to make some cookie dough. I guess I'll do that right after I finish blog-updating.

Breakfast: Baked tilapia, slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, apples.

Dinner: Mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, bottom round, two servings of asparagus, and dark chocolate.

I just realized I have to cut up some bananas and some red peppers, too. In my defense, a chunk of time was unexpectedly spent looking up scholarships online, and I got wrapped up in a video project or two as well. Okay, not so good in the defense department...

And ANOTHER Thing About Price Chopper...

Law, I've become someone with an opinion about a grocery store...

But seriously, those self-checkout lanes need to come with an option of "I brought my own bags." I have to set everything down on the bag area, since it also works as a check that I'm not stealing the things I just scanned in, and if I put my bag down there first, it thinks I'm stealing something. So I basically bag after I've rung it all up.

Okay, not the biggest issue in the world, but when you shop like every other day, it gets irritating.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, prunes.

Dinner: Mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, bottom round, two servings of asparagus, dark chocolate.

I'm still in the air about what to bring to the family deal. I'm seriously thinking of preparing asparagus. Is that un-holiday-y of me? But then I'd take care of a vegetable while I wreck the rest of my meal! Cody has volunteered to make fruit salsa and cinnamon chips, and we're in discussions about how that would work. Since we're having this the day after Christmas, I'd hate to have him spend Christmas day prepping food for an event he won't be at!

Then again, if he becomes a chef, he'll be doing a lot of that.

Whatever, I'm still on the fence.

Yes, I Can Sit in a Car with Someone Eating Fast Food and Still Turn Down a French Fry.

After we looked at a school today, Cody was hungry (actually, I was, too, but was determined to hold off until I got home, where I could eat a salad, an apple, and some carrots), and I stopped by BK to get him what turned out to be a typical teen lunch (seriously, where does it all go?). The smell did make me wish I had a burger and some fries, but when he offered me a fry, I still managed to turn it down.

He apologized as soon as he offered, actually, but I explained that it was kinda cool to be able to have the willpower to say, "No, I'm good."

Seriously, me and willpower have never traveled in the same circles. Until recently, anyway.

Breakfast: Baked tilapia, slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), carrots, apple.

Dinner: Bottom round, about two-and-a-half servings of asparagus, sharp cheddar cheese, mixed nuts, raisins, and dark chocolate.

I had to step on the scales this morning. I was just paranoid. All is well. Still, I worry that I worry. Maybe worry is taking up the spot my feeding frenzy used to live in.

Now THIS is What Winter Break is All About!

I did nothing today. Seriously, nothing.

Okay, I existed. And I watched some television and played some Wii and helped Cody get his phone to communicate with my computer under his login. And I did some laundry. Oh, and I fought with my computer to print a picture of Mom to put in that ornament I bought weeks ago. (I won.) I'll probably replace some bulbs that aren't working on the tree, too. I have to do something to keep busy until it's time to try to go take a picture of the bloody moon.

But my point is: despite my confession to the contrary, I did nothing today.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, vinegar), carrots, apple.

Snack: Mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese.

Dinner: Bottom round, two servings of asparagus, dark chocolate.

My whole schedule was off, as well. I slept way too late because I stayed up way too late, and that's a bad habit to get into, but I'm going to be up somewhat late tonight as well, since I want to try to get pictures of the eclipse. I'm seeing posts on fb about cloud coverage, so this may all be for naught... but I'm going to try, anyway. I mean, I have to do SOMETHING today...

Episode Whatever: The Short Long List

I went to the store to buy raisins and milk. Seriously, that was all that was on the list.

Well, technically carrots were on the list, because I realized earlier today I was going to be down to -1 baby carrots after lunch tomorrow.

And, I guess apples were on the list, because I realized I was out of apples as well just as I was pulling into my parking spot.

So I'm heading toward the apples and I realize I'm about to run out of romaine mix, and in just another couple of days would be out of spinach... so I added those to the list there in the store.

Right after I picked up the carrots, I saw the bananas, and realized I may as well pick some up, as they'll take a couple of days to ripen, and by then I'll be out of bananas.

Then, I saw the "international" food aisle, and thought I should see if I could find that item that I may or may not have identified correctly from dinner last night. They actually look more like this thing called "bean strings", which I can't find on the internet--or at least on a site in English. I didn't buy any, but going down that aisle led to my remembering I needed some more Pam (the olive-oil variety).

And, as long as I'm getting extra-virgin olive oil Pam, I should probably pick up some extra-virgin olive oil, right? Especially since I'm almost out.

But the next aisle over: raisins. Original mission halfway accomplished!

Once I had that taken care of, I headed off toward the milk--and actually overshot it, which led to an internal debate about buying eggs--and then started looking for those "I don't want plastic or paper" cloth bags, as I'd left all mine at home.

That search reminded me I was almost out of vitamins, and the trip to the vitamins made me go by the toothpaste--and I'm almost out of toothpaste, so...

And come to think of it, I haven't replaced my toothbrush the past four times I should have--or however the math works out on that.

So, to recap...

Original mission: raisins and milk.

Actual purchase: apples, romaine mix, spinach, carrots, bananas, Pam, extra-virgin olive oil, raisins, milk, toothpaste, vitamins, toothbrush. (I convinced myself to hold off on the eggs.)

Also: shopping hungry is hell on earth. Everything bad looked extra-good. I ate an apple on the way home.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread (I should have gone down the bread aisle to see what was on sale, now that I think of it), fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red peppers, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, prunes.

Snack: Apple, mixed nuts.

Dinner: Baked tilapia, two servings of asparagus, sharp cheddar cheese, dark chocolate.

Speaking of grocery shopping: They know we know those "saver" cards are to track our purchases and compile data about us, right? I mean, do they think it's some secret? The reason I ask is this: Couldn't they make those automatic check-out things recognize things you purchase regularly and put those on the "popular items" screen so I don't have to search for the Honeycrisp apples every single time? This goes for red peppers, as well. And asparagus. Thankfully, yellow bananas are a popular item

Okay, way too much about a simple trip to the grocery store. Ben & Tricia and the girls went out of town today, so I'm not at my regular Sunday gig. I've opted to blather on in order to keep myself occupied.

Well, Other Than the Sodium...

I ate at Hong's tonight (I don't know the full name--I just know typing "Hong" into the Garmin got me the place Jordan and I had eaten at before), and I think I behaved. I mean, I don't know for sure what this one thing was, and I had crazy sodium because the "sauce" I put together had lots of soy sauce... and I guess I should look up sesame oil, just to be sure it's not like the worst thing ever... and I suppose it would help if I knew what was in the "house sauce"...

Whatever, I feel I did pretty good. The fact I didn't go up for a round two is enough for at least a real good pat on the back, were I able to reach far enough to give a real good pat.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red peppers, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, apple.

Dinner: Mongolian stir-fry (broccoli, onion, red and green peppers, chicken, mushrooms, what I think was shirataki noodles, and a sort-of Mongolian BBQ sauce (two ladles of soy sauce, ladle of wine, ladle of sesame oil, ladle of house sauce, and half a ladle of kung pau sauce)). And I threw some cashews on after it was fried up.

I'm not having my cheat meal tomorrow, so any bad in this meal can be blamed on "cheat meal".

Am I Onto Something?

This week was my third-biggest loss since I started this! But guess what else: the week after my big "bad" Thanksgiving week was my third-biggest loss since I started this up until... well, this week.

So I wonder if there's something to being a little "bad" for a couple of meals, then getting back onto the path to thinniddity. Seriously. Any people who know about these things have any input on this. I'm just some guy who read a book and then tried to remember what was in it, so I know nothing (or so close to nothing as to be just about the same as).

Whatever.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red peppers, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), prunes, carrots, and a chocolate truffle.

Dinner: Bottom round, two servings of asparagus, mixed nuts, sharp cheddar cheese, apple.

Yeah, that's right: chocolate truffle. I'm a rebel. Actually, some kid made it, so I really am a risk-taker. I did have a debate about it, and it wasn't internal, so I got called a woman. Or a girl. Some sort of female. I've known a few females (some of my closest friends are females), and other than the whole cooty thing they seemed to go through when I was in elementary school, they seem pretty okay. So when I think of a comeback, I'm going to call those folks up and let 'em have it!

And the magic number: 6.329!

I Prep Food a Lot

Seriously, I'm always chopping or cutting or grilling. I'm not complaining. This is just something I noticed today. I kinda like it.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (banana, yogurt), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red peppers, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), prunes, carrots.

Dinner: Mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, bottom round, two servings of asparagus, dark chocolate.

I'm also thinking about food a lot... what to try next, etc. I don't know, I never thought much about Doritos.

Up Again

Okay, first of all I'm up later than I want to be. Yuck.

Secondly, I watched the end of "Up" tonight. I love that movie.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), apple, carrots.

Dinner: Bottom round, two servings of asparagus, mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, dark chocolate.

Can you tell I weighed in this morning and was back on the losing side again? Note the inclusion of cheese and chocolate (I already brought the mixed nuts back into the mix last night).

It seems crazy I could have such a drastic change just for one bad meal item on Friday and some fairly bad (but nothing like I used to do) eating on Saturday night. I wonder if I'm sleep-eating. I'd pretty much have to be sleep-shopping as well, though. There's candy in the candy dish, but it's only disappearing when Cody is over. And if I was drinking the soda in the fridge, I'd be sleep-recycling, too, because the cans aren't to be found.

Whatever. I got under where I was last Friday with two days to spare. I'll call it a good week.

Carrots, and More Carrots

Another pretty typical day, I suppose. I need to buy some vegetables, hence the double-up on carrots, but I just didn't have it in me to go to the store after going yesterday and the day before.

Breakfast: Baked talapia, slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), apple, carrots.

Snack: Mixed nuts, raisins.

Dinner: Bottom round, carrots.

I can't believe I didn't report this earlier, but here it is: weekend before last I helped Ben & Tricia get their tree put up and decorated, and after we were done we were headed outside to see the view from the street. Ben noticed there was a light on upstairs that would "ruin the view", so I ran upstairs and turned it off and ran back down before heading out.

Really. Ran. Seriously. I didn't even think about it until I was halfway down the stairs.

Just sayin'.

Nothing to Report

Not the best day. Not food-wise. Morale-wise, it was just about the worst. So it goes.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Carrots, apple.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

Dinner: Bottom round, about three (maybe four) servings of broccoli.

That's all there is. Working on undoing the damage from Friday and Saturday, so not too worried about that.

Have I Mentioned I Hate Any Gain?

Argh! Hate when I gain, even if it's a bit (and this doesn't strike me as "a bit", so it's worse). I realize what I'm doing now needs to be sort of a full-time thing, but you'd think it wouldn't be a big deal to have some rice on Friday night and typical party fare on Saturday night.

Is this what normal people go through? I mean normal-weight people, because I haven't believed in "normal people" for close to thirty-five years or so now.

Whatever, I'm going to start waking up 30 minutes earlier to do some exercising. I can't deal with this gain nonsense.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), apple, carrots.

Dinner: Honey-something chicken (two thighs, part of a breast fillet... yes, I know, shut up--it was the "free meal" despite the other "free meals" I had this weekend), about a cup of noodles (egg noodles, I think), about two or three servings of peas, and a little over a serving (maybe a serving-and-a-half) of Brussels sprouts.

I have to weigh myself tomorrow. I'm sure there's even more damage. Stupid willpower.

Great Party! Bad Eating by Me!

Yeah, I was naughty. Lump of coal for me!
Breakfast: Baked talapia, slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, apple.

Dinner: Well, really it was just a bunch of party food. I'll try to summarize as honestly as possible: About 30 meatballs (10 barbecue, 10 Italian, and 10 buffalo chicken). About half a serving of smoked salmon. A potato skin with sour cream. Spinach-artichoke dip (about a quarter cup). Two stuffed mushrooms. Maybe three. Then these things I should know the name of, but don't. Sort of a puffy pastry deal, tiny, some with chicken, some with spinach. I had about four or five of each of those little temptresses. A large number of baby carrots--seriously, like twenty or so. And about five little broccoli florets... maybe six.

So I'll weigh in tomorrow, to see how much damage I've done. Oh, and I realize I didn't put the number on yesterday's post. I'll go back and put it on there after I get this done. Sorry about that. It's been a crazy few days.

Because Jordan Wanted "On the Border"

Because Jordan wanted "On the Border" tonight (and because I don't have willpower of steel), it wasn't the best day. But by far not the worst (thanks, Thanksgiving weekend)!

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Apple, carrots.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

Dinner (At "On the Border"): Three chips and about 3/4 cup of salsa, Chicken Salsa Verde (which was grilled chicken with salsa), about a serving of red pepper, some zucchini and some squash, and some "Mexican rice" as they call it (about a cup). I ate it all. I should have left the rice, but it was there, calling to me.

Like I said, not the worst day, but I wish I hadn't had the rice. I'm sure it won't kill me or even set me back that much. Just don't like giving in, I guess!

Addendum (12/12/10 at 12:24a.m.): I forgot the magic number for the week! 6.25. Strange that it came out only needing the hundredths place (actually, not so much as there was no decimal involved in the scale reading for this week, I guess), but there it is! Again, the goal "magic number" is 10!

Eating the Same Thing

Here's the deal about me eating the same thing every day: I pretty much did this before, but it was all crap. Seriously, I could walk you through the list of things I would buy and what I would eat and we'd be talking about something else a minute after I started, because it would take about 20 seconds to list them all.

So, if you're wondering about me getting tired of eating just about the same thing every day: I don't know how I do it, but I know I was doing it before I started this!

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Prunes, carrots (five baby carrots instead of six--I dropped one on the floor in the cafeteria!)

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

Dinner: Mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, bottom round, about three servings of broccoli, dark chocolate.

Now I have to go grill up some chicken. Maybe I should get a bigger George Foreman Grill so I can grill it all at once instead of having to go through several batches!

Planning is Everything, Apparently

Yeah, I remember thinking I needed to cut up and freeze a banana last night. And then I was making breakfast and realized there was no frozen banana. I need a housekeeper just to keep track of food needs.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of double-fiber whole-grain wheat bread, skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, prunes. (I got to go home for lunch today as I had a meeting this afternoon.)

Dinner: Baked talapia, few servings of broccoli, mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, dark chocolate.

So, yeah: plan. Seriously was off in the morning because I felt hungry earlier than I was used to. Wonky day, but not the worse thing that could happen to a person.

Got on the scale this morning to see what immediate damage was done by the bread-eating the day before. Apparently I'm losing so far this week, but not as much as I was this time last week. So it goes.

White Bread is My Willpower's Kryptonite

Dinner at Lyndsey's tonight. I can handle it. After the Thanksgiving "scare", I know I can overcome any bad meal. It just sucks to fail, I guess.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), whole-grain wheat toast, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Carrots, apple.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

Dinner: About a cup-and-a-half of angel hair pasta, about half a cup of spaghetti sauce with beef, two servings of asparagus, three (count 'em: one, two, three) pieces of garlic bread, side salad (romaine, onion, tomato, croutons, cheese of some kind) with light balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Well, I'll weigh myself tomorrow and see how much I regret that pasta and the bread. I'm not going to worry too much about it. That just makes for lost sleep, and I don't need that!

More Fish for Breakfast!

Yes, I have re-heated fish for breakfast. I like it. Don't judge.

Breakfast: Baked tilapia, slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Carrots, apple.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

Dinner: Bottom round, couple of servings of asparagus, sharp cheddar cheese, mixed nuts, raisins, dark chocolate.

Not a lot to report. Haven't been weighing daily--was a helpful motivator after the holiday, but I kind of like a air of mystery about it, you know?

Potato Night!

Really it was cheat night, but I think of it more as potato night, as this is the one time in a non-holiday week I eat potatoes. It's how I roll. Speaking of rolls, white bread is still a seductive devil.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), carrots, apple.

Dinner: London broil, peas (1.5 servings, maybe), corn (one serving, maybe), mashed potatoes (about a cup).

I don't know how the self-control switched got turned on. I seriously don't. I don't know if the stars aligned, or what. It just did. People keep asking, and all I can think is that I stopped trying and I started doing. The frustrating part is I don't know how to turn that into something that means anything to people lucky enough to live outside my mind.

At Long Last: The Bread Story

I had a different title for this, but then I decided to share the bread story. It made no sense to have a random title there and a couple of sentences here explaining I couldn't think of a title, so I've switched it all to reflect the fact I'm going to finally share the bread story.

There's no car chases or UFOs in this story, so don't get all stoked and whatnot.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), prunes, carrots.

Dinner: Baked tilapia, about two servings (more, probably) of steamed broccoli, mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese.

Snack: Dark chocolate.

And now I'll finally tell the bread story, even though I don't have dates. Many months ago, I tried this diet thing out for a few days. At that time, I bought a loaf of double-fiber whole-grain bread. I put it in the bread box. I forgot it was there.

I remembered it was there several weeks later. How many weeks, I don't know, but long enough that I was sure it was a moldy and disgusting mess that I didn't want to look at until trash day.

For several weeks, I'd forget to throw it in the trash as I got ready to head out the door with trash in hand on trash day. Finally, one night when I was getting trash ready the night before in a fit of foresight (which told me if I got it ready the night before, I'd not have to remember to get a couple of gross items out of the fridge), I remembered the bread box and the green bread I was sure to find in there. I went to get it out and throw it in the trash.

Turned out: not green bread. No mold to be found anywhere on this stupid loaf of bread. Seriously. None.

I looked all over it (opened the bag, took out the bread in the second wrapper (vacuum-wrapped? I don't know) and looked all over for any mold anywhere on the stupid thing) and couldn't find any sign that I should not eat this bread beyond the knowledge it had been purchased months before.

So I put it in the fridge next to the loaf of whole-grain wheat bread I was about to finish off.

Several days later, I opened the fridge at breakfast and realized I had run out of that loaf of bread the day before and didn't replace it (I had been considering just throwing the old loaf out without tasting it, as it made me a little nervous). So I decided to give the old bread a try.

It tasted fine. Seriously.

But then I decided I couldn't tell anyone about it until after I'd finished the loaf. If I told someone and they gave me a good reason why I shouldn't eat it, I'd have to go buy another loaf of bread, and frankly that seemed like a waste of money when ignorance would give me permission to go ahead and eat it.

You can find the date I started eating it. It's the date I started typing "double-fiber whole-grain bread" instead of "whole-grain wheat bread" for breakfast every morning. I'm almost through the loaf that replaced it when I did finally finish it off, so it's probably been about a month now that I've been hanging on to this story.

So go ahead, tell me why I shouldn't have eaten the bread. I can't go back in time and not eat it (if I could go back in time there are a kerjillion things above that on the list, seriously), so what do you expect me to do about it?

One of My Best Weeks, Oddly Enough!

Seriously, out of nine weeks, there were only three where I lost more weight than this week. Last week wasn't one of them (actually, last week was third from the bottom, so actually maybe that's where Thanksgiving really kicked my butt).

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Carrots, apple.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

Dinner: Bottom round, three servings of asparagus, mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, dark chocolate.

This week's number: 6.200! Hooray!

I've been asked a few times what has motivated me. Maybe that's a long entry on the other blog. I know what has kept me motivated is actually losing. I've never done this before. All I knew how to do before was do what I've always done and hope good things will happen. It is great if you want to gain way too much weight and be told you can't ride amusement park rides!

Seriously, I've never thought about what I eat as much as I think about it now. Or when I eat, even. Or where (I try to avoid having the t.v. on when I eat--and I try in vain to try to have the computer off, but I've decided that will never happen. I don't have a family to visit with, so I'll keep my computer going and read facebook posts or whatever while I eat, thank you.

I don't know. I've never thought about my health so much before now, and most of that stems from the fact I'm having success. I'll have to think about the motivation to start. The rest of it is just inertia.

I'm at a Loss

Okay, I've lost more weight (or at least as of this morning--maybe I gained a bunch today somehow) this week than I thought I would! Hooray for that!

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Carrots and apple. Yes, I'm that boring.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

Dinner: Bottom round, couple of serving of asparagus, mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, dark chocolate.

Also: I got the tree trimmed today, with Cody's help. I would have done it earlier, but I got the vibe he really wanted to help for reasons other than just being helpful--and I was right! Good on me and my latent psychic abilities... or my ability to read people Whatever. Anyway, we got the tree trimmed, and that's a good thing. That's also the closest I came to exercise.

It's a Joy to Dance on a Whim

Seriously, the combination of all the things I've been doing has led me to bouts of dancing for no reason (well, there's usually music playing at the time... usually) around the house. This seldom happened before, and if it did, I didn't have the energy to do it for long. Now I just go on and on until I'm afraid the neighbors might somehow be able to see through walls.

Breakfast: Two eggs (one yolk), slice of whole-grain wheat bread, fruit smoothie (yogurt, banana), skim milk with whey protein and cinnamon.

Snack: Carrots and apple.

Lunch: Salad (cup of spinach, cup of romaine mix, serving of red pepper, serving of grilled chicken, olive oil, balsamic vinegar). I have to say I feel I have perfected this salad. I love it. I keep thinking I'm going to get tired of it--and I almost did when tomato was in the mix. It's of the deliciousness.

Dinner: Bottom round, two or three servings of steamed broccoli, mixed nuts, raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, dark chocolate.

Now that I'm back under where I was Friday (it was a scary few days there when I didn't think I was going to lose this week), I've put some of the snack items back. Actually, I hadn't really thought about taking them out--life was just such that I wasn't home in time for a snack, and when it was time to eat I just wanted to eat my meat and veggies and be done with it.

This may not be my best loss week yet, but I'm fairly sure it won't be the worst, and I'm happy with that!