I haven't completely forgotten...

So...

I am still blogging and I am still trying, albeit not very successfully, to lose weight. I have had a few things working against me, not the least of which is my own self. The holidays, shopping, my sister being in town for Christmas, me and Dear and Patient GF going out of town for part of the holiday to see her family in Fresno (Fresno?!? Nobody goes to Fresno anymore!), and going on something of a tear on the poker tables have all conspired against me losing weight, much less blogging about it. I've had several days where I could have gone to the gym, and frankly SHOULD have, but instead I raced home to fire up the poker machine and continue on my win streak. My own fault. Oh well.

The holidays are just about over, although I've got one more extravagant meal to consume before 1/1/07 (New Year's Eve, probably the best steak I've ever had and definitely the absolute best tableside Caesar Salad you will ever come across), and then I start working in earnest. I'm going to join the Men's Health Belly Off Club and actually attempt to stick to it. Also, every day that I have the opportunity (weekends, and nights that DAPGF is teaching) I will be hitting the gym before doing anything fun like playing poker or blogging. Right now, I predict that the diet will be the toughest part of this. Breakfast is pretty safe (usually oatmeal), I'm starting to get some control over my mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacking, and for the most part lunch is pretty easy to control. Dinner is my big problem, mainly when DAPGF and I go out. She's not an eat at home person, even if it is to go out for cheap Mexican food. So we go out, and portion control becomes a big problem. If I'm paying for it, I'm gonna eat it. At a lot of the places we go, the food really isn't "optimized" to take leftovers home (sloppy enchiladas and such), so it all gets eaten. And Leon's getting larger! So it will be a battle, but one I intend to fight. Wish me luck. Obviously I'm attempting to get my act together now, but 1/1/07 and the game is on!

So enough of that. When last we left our hero, we were still fat. Here's the progress from 12/20 thru 12/28.

12/20 - 279.4 lbs and 36.5% body fat.

12/21 - 280.8 lbs and 35.7%

12/22 - 281.0 lbs and 35.4%

Out of town, and didn't have a scale. Really.

12/26 - 281.0 lbs and 37.0% Considering how much I ate and drank, I'll take it!

12/27 - 280.0 lbs and 37.3% Haven't really figured out the correlation between weight and BF.

12/28 - 281.0 lbs and 36.4%

Breakfast
Oatmeal - 160 cal

Snack
Pringles - 250 cal

Lunch
Lean Gourmet Lasagna - 310 cal
Campbells Select Chicken Noodle Soup - 180 cal
Oreo Cookies - 240 cal

Snack
Pringles - 250 cal

Dinner (here we go, out for Mexican food in Old Town San Diego)
Combo Meal - Beef taco, chicken flauta, quesadilla, chips and salsa
No idea how many calories, but probably too many.

I walked the dog in the morning and late at night, and sprinted with her for a few minutes after work, and that sums up the physical activity for the day. I will get better, dammit!

So. Getting back into the work swing of things. By and large it’s a good thing. Hell, after almost 7 months of being laid off, it is DEFINITELY a good thing. For the most part, it has helped with the weight loss, too. I’m not at home all day, within arm’s reach of the kitchen, so I have cut down the grazing. Likewise, I bring my lunch so I’ve got a finite amount of food to eat, further limiting the possibility of stuffing some chili-coated, deep-fried fat down my throat. Finally, being on a regular schedule has allowed me a little more consistency in getting to the gym. I haven’t been perfect, and trying to accommodate the needs of Dear and Patient GF does not allow me to go to the gym every single evening (which I would do if I could). Still, these changes, plus the more consistent times at the gym, plus the regular dog walks have helped kickstart the weight loss again. Three things that kind of hurt me from last week leading into this week:

1. Dinner at a Chinese Buffet. DAPGF and I are both suckers for Asian food, and given that we’re still on a pretty tight budget, the buffet is a decent alternative. Downside, unlimited baaaaad food. Sigh.

2. Dinner at Souplantation. Of course it’s healthy…it’s salad!!!! Buffet bad, moderation difficult.

3. Lunch out with new coworkers. There’s not a lot of food options near my new office, but there is a little surfer-Mexi joint about a mile away from the office (and about a mile from the beach…ya gotta love San Diego). Carne Asada quesadilla. Yummy. Evil. Sigh.

The latter part of the week was difficult to track, consumption-wise, and the weekend in particular was not conducive to logging the specifications(eating out and then going shopping...not a chance to log stuff in whilst fresh in the mind and gut). Given that, here's a summary of what happened to me (hey, clever tie in!) from my last post until now. When last we left our hero, he had survived a weigh in that rang the scales at 278.4, but we were anticipating ugliness at the next weigh in. Sure enough it happened.

12/14/06 - 280.0 lbs and 35.4% body fat. Meh.

12/15/06 - 280.6 lbs and 35.1% body fat. Considering what could have been, I'll take it.

12/16/06 - 278.4 lbs and 35.7% body fat. I ate very sparingly during the previous day (no cheating at all) and we had the Christmas party at my boss's house (holy carp what a house - 5000 SF, on a golf course with ocean views, and looking like one of those luxo homes you see being redone on HGTV and such), but the food was super healthy. A mix of cheeses was probably the most evil stuff (but OMG was it good), sushi, seared ahi tuna, lean carne asada, veggies, and so on. I also made it to the gym before weigh in, so I'm sure that had a little to do with it.

12/17/06 - 279.4 lbs and 35.8% body fat. Chinese buffet for dinner and no gym before weigh in. 'Nuff said.

12/18/06 - I weighed myself unofficially (I didn't write it down out of shame), but it was something on the order of 281.2 lbs. Gotta get my shame in somewhere. I didn't have time to weigh myself on 12/19, due to running late in the morning. Meh.

12/20/06 - 279.4 lbs and 36.5% body fat. Well, I erased those gains, thank God. Combination of being good during the day and not having much for dinner. I had plans to crank out some serious poker before finishing my Christmas shopping, so eating was a secondary consideration. I'll take it. Besides, I won all three poker tournaments that I entered! Woo hoo!!
Let's see if I can keep the downward momentum going! I'm sure it will be difficult, but I'm gonna try. Good luck to all of you, too, and have a happy holiday season!

Update

12/13/06. 7:15 a.m. 278.4 lbs and 36.1% bodyfat. Cool. Especially impressive given everything I ate yesterday. I did make it to the gym, and I still walk the dog first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening, so I am getting some physical activity. Still, given what I shoved down my throat, I am impressed that I actually dropped a smidge of weight.

Today started off with such promise. It seems as though it may have ended up ok, but I did a baaaad thing.

Breakfast
Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal - 160 cal

Snack
1 oz R/F Wheat Thins - 130 cal

Lunch
Carne Asada Quesadilla - Estimated 1000 cal (per Calorie King)
Hershey's Caramel Kisses (8) - 180 cal

Snack
1 oz R/F Wheat Thins - 130 cal

Dinner
Lean Gourmet Spaghetti w/ Marinara sauce - 280 cal
Chips and Salsa - Estimated 250 cal

Total: 2130 Calories. Weigh in should be interesting...

Let's see how long I can keep this going

Hey! Another post. Maybe I can build some momentum, like my San Diego Super Chargers!

12/12. 277.8 lbs, 35.4% body fat. A bit of progress...nice!

Breakfast:
Instant Oatmeal - 160 cal

Snack:1 oz reduced fat Wheat Thins - 130 cal

Lunch:
Budget Lean Gourmet 5 cheese lasagna - 310 cal
McDonalds Snack Wrap - 330 cal
Hershey's Caramel Kisses - 180 cal

Snack:
1 oz R/F Wheat Thins - 130 cal

Dinner: (here's where it gets ugly)
Thai Peanut Noodles - 600 cal
Ben & Jerry's Brownie Batter Ice Cream (Oh dear Lord is this stuff just completely evil, but in the best way possible) - 800 cal

Total: 2640 cal. Yeesh. I'm bad. I'm naughty. I deserve a spanking. Any volunteers? River Driver you are excluded for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is we're not from Appalachia!

So far the new job is working out quite well. Just waiting to get all the in-processing taken care of. We shall see.

Hey Everybody! I'mmmm Baaaack!!!!

I'm back!! I just finished my first day at the new job. After 194 days of unemployment, I'm back among the living again! I had no idea that it would become this demotivating...I lost the desire to play poker, I lost the desire to go to the gym, and I was bored enough that I constantly felt the need to nibble. Bad things. I went from a previous low of 277.4 and ballooned up to 284.2 at one point. Still, since getting the job offer, things seem to be looking up.

12/11. 280.2 lbs at 7 a.m. Meals went like this:

Breakfast: Nothing. Not the right idea, but not knowing what the kitchen situation was like, I didn't want to try and do oatmeal if it wasn't going to be an easy task.

Snack: Reduced Fat Wheat Thins - 240 cal.

Lunch: 10 piece Chicken McNuggets - 420 cal.
BBQ sauce - 180 cal.

Snack: Hostess Donuts - 420 cal.

Dinner: Lean Pockets (2) - 580 cal.

Dessert: Jack Daniels and Diet Coke (2) - 128 cal.

Total: 2128 calories. Could've been worse. At least I made it to the gym tonight. It looks like I'll get to go for 2 or 3 nights out of the week (when Dear and Patient GF is teaching) and probably mornings on the weekends. Hopefully I'll start to see some positive results.

Has it really been a month?!?

Wow! I am even more lame than I thought. Thanks to my darling little sister, River Driver for pointing out that it has almost been a month since I last posted. I blame the booze. Oh wait, I can't afford booze *sobs*. Seriously, there hasn't been much of anything going on. The job hunt is moving at the proverbial snail's pace. Since my last post, I've had two more interviews, one of which went to another schmoe, and one of which I'm supposedly still in the running for. There's been a few rumblings from recruiters looking to fill slots in So Cal's Inland Empire (Temecula to Riverside). Admittedly, the pay tends to be huge, but I'm faced with one of two and a half options. First, I could accept the job and just commute. Technically, that's doable. Technically. From a practical perspective, it's 100 miles each way between Casa de Hoff and downtown Riverside. 200 miles each day, leaving the house absolutely no later than 6 (more likely 5:30) and not getting home until 7:30 or so. The 2nd option is to take the position and rent an apartment or even a room up there during the week. Again, it is technically doable at the salaries that are being thrown around, but GF and I went thru the long distance thing (her here in San Diego and me up in the OC) for the first year of our relationship and we do NOT want to go back to that. The half option is to do either of the previous two, while attempting to convince Dear and Patient GF that living in Riverside or Temecula is just as good as living in La Jolla (it isn't), get her to find a job up there, AND try to sell a condo in the softening (dare I say flaccid?) San Diego real estate market. So the hunt continues. Any good juju, thoughts, prayers, virgins for sacrifice (just send 'em to me, I'll take care of the details, heh heh heh) you all care to send my way to appease the gods of employment, I'll take 'em.

Weight is kind of a funny thing. As I noted in an earlier post, I'm a notorious yo-yoer (who of us isn't?), and in the past month, it has been a yo-yo experience. Interestingly enough though, my range is the same 3 pound range it usually is, just three pounds lower than the peak of my fatness. Over the past month I've ranged from 280.6 lbs to 277.4 lbs, as opposed to the 283 to 280 it yoostabe. I guess that's soemthing. I'm still snacking as I read, particularly in front of the computer. I wish I could find something to distract me from that. As I noted earlier, if I'm doing something, hell, just about anything, I don't even think about snacking. But I'm spending a good solid 4 hours a day surfing the job boards and sending off resumes (over 100 in less than 3 months, sad), so there's a good chunk of time to be stuffing Wheat Thins (at least they're reduced fat) into my face. I'm quite convinced that if I could cut that out I would start to see some downward trending in the avoirdupois. I've tried gum and hard candy, but they don't give me the same satisfaction. I wind up crunching thru the candy and then I'm ready for some chips, or the gum flavor goes flat and I'm ready for something crunchy. So it goes. I hope all of you out there are continuing to find success in the weight loss department...give us weak-willpowered folks something to aim for! For the record, today's meals saw the following:

Breakfast
Bowl of Cocoa Pebbles with skim milk - 250 cal

Snack
Bowl of Cocoa Pebbles with skim milk - 250 cal (hey, I like 'em)
Reduced Fat Wheat Thins - 300 cal

Lunch
2 Turkey breast sandwiches - 500 cal
Frozen Burrito - 300 cal

Snack
Reduced Fat Wheat Thins - 300 cal

Dinner
Lean Gourmet Spaghetti Marinara - 240 cal
Cocoa Pebbles (this was sorta dessert for the chocolate factor) - 250 cal

Total - 2390 cal. Didn't make it to the gym this morning...the dog got sick and I had to clean the carpet. Something of a mini cardio workout there, but not nearly a makeup for the gym. Definitely going tomorrow. Still, got the morning dog walk in (30 min), the afternoon sprint (5 minutes ranging from steady jog to full speed), and the evening stroll (which should be an hour's worth) will be coming up at 11:00 p.m. pst. Every little bit...

Finally a bit of housecleaning. I've updated the weight stats on the sidebar and added a few links I promised I would. Fat Bitch, Really Too Big Cactus Freek, and Twice The Man are now set up for easy linkage. Hopefully I can turn this here post into some sort of momentum and get back into the swing of things. We shall see. Those of you who for some silly reason still stop by, thank you for your patronage. See ya bounciing 'round the room.

What? I Still Have a Blog?

Yes, I am uber-geigh and lame for not keeping up with the posting. I am trying, and I've managed to get back to posting somewhat regularly on my poker blog...maybe I can get back into the routine here, too.

So first of all, I'd like to thank those of you who still check in, see how I'm doing, and are willing to offer up words of advice and encouragement. Twice the Man, reallytoobig, and FatBitch, links will be added in short order. Dan and BSN, glad to see that things are still going well for the both of you. Whichever one of you wins the Pool, enjoy my money. :) And congrats to my sister, RiverDriver. She was in San Diego last week for a conference and she's looking great. She's dropped a bunch of weight and is really making strides in returning to the good old days of thin-ness. She may not think so, but even GF noticed that she's dropped weight. We even hit the beach to get some relief from the heat that has been baking the country.

For the record, I did track my weigh-ins every day except the mornings of 7/8 and 7/9. Those were the dates of the Vegas trip, and circumstances were beyond my control. The short and simple version is that from 6/30 to 7/16, I dropped from 278.6 lbs to 277.6 lbs. During that period, I saw a fat peak of 281.4 lbs (I think I'd missed the gym the previous day due to an interview) and a low of 277.4 lbs Saturday morning. I really do yo yo more than I should, and I haven't completely figured out why. I'm fairly consistent in my eating (being home all day, it isn't that difficult to eat the same crap all the time), and I make it to the gym and/or the beach fairly regularly, so I'm not sure why the yo yo. I don't make it to a formal workout every day (I do walk the dog several times a day and hit the beach several times a week, but on the upswing days, I don't see a correllation to my workout schedule.

Here's a typical sample of what I do eat during the day, to give you some idea of how us unemployed folks get thru the day.

Breakfast
Carnation Instant Breakfast with skim milk - 220 cal.

Snack while surfing the job boards, blogging, and playing online poker
R/F Wheat Thins or R/F Gardetto Snack Mix or Scoops with salsa - 350 cal.

Lunch
Assorted Budget Lean Gourmet Meal - 250 to 300 cal.
Frozen Tinas Burrito - 300 cal.

Snack again while on the computer
Assorted chips, etc. - 350 cal.

Dinner
Nights GF teaches Assorted "diet" frozen meals (Healthy Choice, Whole Foods Kitchen, etc.) - 250 to 450 cal.
Nights GF doesn't teach - Random restaurant experience (Chipotle, Red Robin, etc.) pushing probably 1000 cal or so. All told, anywhere from 1700 to 2500 cal for the day.

A big chunk of what I need to get a better handle on is the computer snacking. This was also a problem when I was working. I read a lot. Books, magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes, tatoos on the inner thighs of hot chicks, wait, scratch that last one. But you get the idea. Ever since I was a little kid I've read, and when I read, I snacked on something. I honestly don't remember if that was a parental bribe to get me and my sister to read, but they've never had the healthiest attitudes towards meals. They've gotten better over the years, but still way too much creams, gravys, butters, and so on. But when I read, I have this compulsion to snack. Now, you could take the same 3 hours in the morning that I might spend on the computer and send me to the beach or plop me down at a construction site to do inspections, and I won't miss the snack at all. For some reason, though, when I read I need to be nibbling on something. I've tried to control it with gum or hard candy, but it doesn't quite work. I'm trying to control it better while I'm home during the day, so that when I (hopefully soon) return to the working world I won't have this need to snack.

I am drinking a lot (non alcoholic) during this heat wave. Damn our realtor who said that we were close enough to the beach to not need air conditioning. I'm calling bullshit on that. It's hot in here, dammit. I'm drinking water and Diet Coke by the gallon. Seriously, I figure I'm drinking 5 or 6 pints of water and 3 or 4 pints of Diet Coke over the day.

Here's hoping things are well with you and yours, wherever you are. Keep it up and I'll try to get back to posting more regularly. Stay cool out there.

Update

I've been a slacker this week in keeping track of my grazing, I mean eating. This being home all day, job hunting on the web is most certainly not conducive to avoiding snacking, much less being enjoyable. I do have the weight stats, though, so here they are.

6/26 - 278.2 lbs and 35.6% body fat.

6/27 - 278.8 lbs and 36.3% body fat.

6/28 - 277.4 lbs and 36.6% body fat.

I'm not doing as well as I'd hoped, much less as well as the other bloggers in our little competition, but this is the lowest weigh-in that I've had without the assistance of food poisoning! Woo hoo! I did track my food intake today, so I can give you those details here.

Breakfast
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal

Snack
R/F Wheat Thins - 240 cal

Lunch
Lean Gourmet Lagsana - 320 cal
Campbells Select Chicken Noodle Soup - 180 cal
3 pcs ghiradelli 70% cocoa dark chocolate (holy crap is this stuff good) - 140 cal

Snack
R/F Wheat Thins - 240 cal

Dinner
Chipotle Chicken Burrito - 1047 cal

Total for the day - 2387 cal. I honestly had no idea the burritos were that evil. For the record, I checked on Calorie King to see what the chicken burrito salad option checks in at, because that's the way I try to order when we eat at Chipotle. Getting the chicken salad instead of the burrito saves more than 300 cal (704 vs 1047). The major culprit is the flour tortilla at 340 cal. Good to know.

One thing I've tried to do, both to try and control my eating/physical activity and to simply help my mental state while I job hunt is to put myself on a schedule. No more coming in from walking the dog and plopping down in front of the computer to surf job listings while playing poker, and deciding to shower at 2 in the afternoon. Frankly it will probably help my poker game, too. Set time for the dog walks, set time for the gym, set time for job hunt/web surfing, set time for poker, and with the weather as fan-dam-tastic as it's been here in San Diego, set time for the beach. Hope life is good wherever you are.

Weekend Update

Hey, I'm still posting! Woo hoo!

6/24 - 280.2 lbs and 35.6% body fat. As I figured, the combo of a substantial lunch and a substantial dinner had an impact. Still, it could've been worse.

Breakfast
Nothing.

Lunch
1/2 of a ham and swiss sandwich, a small caesar salad, and a chocolate chip cookie at Boudin Sourdough. What amazing bread. No calorie count, sorry. That'll be a theme for today.

Snack
Reduced Fat Wheat Thins

Dinner
Asian Fusion Tapas at Roppongi. Tiger shrimp skewers, kung pao calamari, seared ahi tuna, grilled flatbread, and crab cakes. Evil good stuff.

Dessert
Mixed bag of chocolate covered raisins, chocolate covered brownie bites and chocolate covered cookie dough (sense a pattern here?) that we were able to sneak into the movies.

6/25 - 279.0 lbs and 36.2% body fat. I guess the chocolate covered festival didn't do as much damage as I expected.

Breakfast
Nothing

Lunch
Reduced Fat Ravioli - 380 cal
Lean Gourmet Whole Wheat Rotini pasta - 260 cal

Dinner
1/2 of a small veggie pizza from Round Table Pizza - 500 cal

Dessert
1 scoop of Marble Slab Birthday Cake ice cream - 450 cal

Total for the day - 1590 cal. My best day yet! Of course, I'll probably gain weight for the Monday weigh-in, just to spite myself.

6/23

6/23 - 279.0 lbs and 37.8% bodyfat. Up 2/10 of a pound since Thursday morning. Given all that I ate, I'll take it.

I really couldn't keep a detailed food log today, due to circumstances beyond my control. I mean I know what I had, but it would be difficult at best ot attempt to guesstimate or recreate the weight for each meal.

Breakfast
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal
2 Lean Pockets Breakfast sandwiches - 300 cal

Snack
Peanuts - 150 cal

Lunch
Teppen Steakhouse combo of miso soup, shrimp, New York steak, fried rice,and assorted veggies

Snack
Jack in the Box chocolate shake

Dinner
GF got home from work late, so we went to this Chinese place she knew about. Won Ton soup, Kung Pao Shrimp, and steamed rice.

We shall see what the day will hold...

Getting Back Into It

So...when last we left things, I was fat. Well, I still am, but I'm starting to head in the right direction again.

6/20 - 281.6 lbs and 36.3% body fat.
6/21 - 280.4 lbs and 35.9% body fat.
6/22 - 278.8 lbs and 38.4% body fat. Maybe there is something to this rededication thing after all.

Breakfast
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal
Lean Pockets Breakfast Sandwiches (2) - 300 cal

Snack
Peanuts - 340 cal

Lunch
Turkey and Swiss Pita Sandwiches (2) - 400 cal

Snack
Wheat Thins - 270 cal

Dinner
TGI Fridays Potato Skins - 500 cal
TGI Fridays Santa Fe Chicken Salad - 300 cal

Total - 2330 cal. More than I should've had, but dinner screwed us up. When we go to places like TGI Fridays, we usually get veggie burgers in an attempt to be a little more health conscious. Unfortunately, TGI Fridays has removed veggie burgers from their menu, for reasons unknown. As such, dear and patient gf wanted some comfort food, and the potato skins were it. So it goes.

I'm lame. I know. Whatever.

So the past two weeks hadn't been going too badly, until this weekend. At one point I'd gotten down to 279.2 lbs, but as of this morning, I weighed in at 281.2 lbs. The weekend was not good, combining a beer laden (mmmm, beeeer) poker home game with an Italian food-fest for Father's Day. I wish it was that easy, to just point to that.

Unfortunately, this whole being laid off thing kind of has me drifting (and not in the fast and the furious way). I am rededicating myself to a bunch of things that have been falling by the wayside. First of all, I'm trying to put myself back on some sort of schedule. When you don't have to head out the door to go to work, it becomes far too easy to stop doing things that you should. I didn't make it to the gym this morning, but I took a nice long run/walk with the doggie. I just had my instant breakfast for breakfast, instead of grazing my way thru the kitchen. I'm sitting down to do my job search before I jump into a poker game (ok, hadn't planned on blogging yet, but some people actually seem to care what is up with me, so I feel justified). Basically, I'm trying to get my head screwed on straight and kick my ass into gear again, and I promise that this will include regular blogging (reading and posting). I invite you all along for the ride, and feel free to offer up your comments.

Monday

When last we left our hero (me), the weigh in from Sunday was 280.2 lbs. Let's see what happened on Monday.

6/5 - 280.0 lbs and 38.0% bf (dry feet)

Breakfast
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal
I am attempting to avoid all things muffin.

Snack
String Cheese (2) - 120 cal

Lunch
Healthy Choice French Bread Pizza - 360 cal
Ghirardelli Caramel Chocolate Squares (2) - 145 cal

Snack
String Cheese (2) - 120 cal

Dinner
Whole Foods Organic Cashew Chicken Dinner - 400 cal
Healthy Choice French Bread Pizza (that dinner was really small) - 360 cal

Drinks
Jack Daniels and Diet Coke (2) - 300 cal

For the day, 2025 cal. We shall see what Tuesday holds.

I'm Still Here!

So. Combine the holiday weekend with some absolutely weird times at work, and you get no real time to post. I work in the real estate development industry in San Diego, and the market seems to be slowing down. As such, things are really sketchy at work. Not exactly like another blogger who actually had to delete his blog due to workplace politics, but sketchy and uncertain nonetheless. As things progress (or regress as the case may be) with work, I'll update things as appropriate. In the meanwhile, back to the fat!

During the period of darkness, I was not keeping a detailed food log. I had started to, but as things headed south following Memorial Day, that took a back seat. I did still weigh myself each morning, and I can post those results here. As a point of explanation about my body fat percentages: my scale measures bodyfat, but part of how it measures it depends on my hydration. Particularly, how moist (soft? supple?) my big feet are. I normally weigh in after I get out of the shower, so all is typically good. If I weigh in before I shower (work with me here), my feet, which are callused from wearing flip flops far more than I should, register as more solid to the scale which leads to an increased body fat measurement. During this period, which included barbecues over the holiday weekend, beer over said weekend as well, and a significantly increased amount of Jack Daniels during the week following Memorial Day, my weight stayed remarkably consistent. I didn't manage to lose anything, but I didn't really pack anything on either. Given the circumstances surrounding the past 10 days or so, I'll take it. Here's the numbers:

5/26 - 279.2 lbs and 35.2% BF
5/27 - 279.4 lbs and 36.5% BF
5/28 - 280.0 lbs and 35.5% BF
5/29 - 280.0 lbs and 35.6% BF
5/30 - 281.6 lbs and 34.6% BF
5/31 - 280.2 lbs and 37.1% BF
6/1 - 280.6 lbs and 36.2% BF
6/2 - 280.2 lbs and 38.6% BF
6/3 - 280.0 lbs and 34.5% BF
6/4 - 280.2 lbs and 34.7% BF

Hopefully I'll be able to get back on the losing track and be able to post more regularly. More so, I hope things settle down on the work front. Things are kinda fugly and uncertain, and I'm hoping that the stress doesn't cause me to seek out comfort food. Wish me luck.

Thursday

5/25 - 280.8 lbs, 33.9% bf. Yes my food intake on Wednesday was not good, and it shows. At least the body fat percentage is dropping. Today could've been better, so let's see what happened.

Breakfast
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal
Croissant - 470 cal

Snack
Wheat Thins - 125 cal

Lunch
2 Turkey Pita Sandwiches - 400 cal
4 Hershey's Kisses - 90 cal

Snack. I had to go out to a meeting in the afternoon, and I got a wicked craving for McDonalds fries. Stupid stupid stupid.
Medium Fries - 350 cal

Dinner
Budget Gourmet Spaghetti - 280 cal
Chips and Dip - 300 cal
2 Toll House Cookies - 220 cal

Total for the day - 2455 cal. Not good to hit an upswing right before the weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to work out more and do a preemptive first strike against the inevitable restaurant assault GF has planned.

Wednesday

5/24 - 279.0 lbs, 34.5% bf. Without being too graphic, I would guess the timing of when I weighed myself explains the .2 lbs I gained. So it goes.

Breakfast
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal
Croissant - 470 cal (I was out of oatmeal)

Snack
Wheat Thins - 125 cal

Lunch
Jack in the Box Southwestern Chicken Pita - 230 cal. This is one of the best fast food items in terms of calories vs. taste and satisfaction that I've ever come across. The spices and flavoring are good, you get a lot of stuff, and it doesn't cost too much. The only downside is that it isn't very road friendly. Pitas generally aren't that durable, and because this stuff is all sauteed (chicken, corn, onions, etc.) there's some grease that winds up in the pita, and over time can compromise the structural integrity of the pita. Eat quickly.
Small Curly Fries - 270 cal
4 Hersheys Caramel Kisses - 90 cal

Snack
Wheat Thins - 125 cal

Dinner
Beef Teriyaki Combo dinner - est 800 cal
Baskin Robbins Chocolate Mousse Royale (1 scoop) - 400 cal. Sue me. GF wanted ice cream, she got ice cream. At least I didn't get a full sundae!

Total for the day - 2730 cal. Not good. Dog walks were shorter today, too, so we'll see how the Thursday weigh-in goes.


Again, thanx to Alex from whom I shamelessly stole another funny pic.

Tuesday

Still inching down.

5/23 - 278.8 lbs, 34.6% bf. It's like I'm playing micro stakes Limit Hold 'Em. I may not be making huge moves, but I'm moving in the right direction.

Breakfast
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal
Oatmeal - 150 cal

Snack
Croissant - 470 cal

Lunch
Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup - 180 cal
Turkey Pita Sandwich - 200 cal
4 Hershey's Caramel Kisses - 90 cal

Snack
Reduced Fat Wheat Thins - 250 cal

Dinner
Budget Gourmet Angel Hair Pasta - 240 cal
Chips and Dip - 300 cal

Total for the day, 2100 cal. Low limit grinding. So it goes.

Monday

5/22 - 279.6, 34.8% bf. And once again we're moving in the right direction. I guess all that walking around Doheny State Beach at the Blues Festival paid off. We'll see how Monday turns out.

Breakfast
Oatmeal - 150 cal
Instant Breakfast - 220 cal

Snack
Reduced Fat Wheat Thins - 250 cal

Lunch
Taco Bell Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito - 490 cal
Taco Bell Mexican Pizza - 540 cal
4 Hershey's Kisses - 90 cal

Originally I was going to have a turkey pita sandwich and some soup, but the soup can was damaged and I couldn't trust the quality of the contents, so...I went out. Bad me.

Snack
Wheat Thins - 125 cal

Dinner
Organic Chicken Flautas - 480 cal

Total - 2345 cal. If I would've eaten what I intended to eat, I would've saved over 500 cal. Meh. Tuesday is a whole new day.

The Weekend

So. Lotsa food. Let's see what happened.

5/20 - 280.2 lbs, 34.3% bf. Bleah. Dropped the doggie off to be groomed, so no breakfast. While we waited to pick her up, we walked around downtown La Jolla so GF could shop. Probably a solid hour of walking. I'll take it.

Lunch
GF took me to Azul La Jolla for their tapas buffet. I'm sure I ate well over a thousand cal.

Dinner
Wokked Kobe Beef - est. 450 cal
Fried Rice - est. 500 cal

Dessert
Gelato - est. 150 cal

Total for the day, around 2600 cal

5/21 - 280.2 lbs, 35.0% bf. The walking seemed to have done the trick. Today we drove up to Dana Point in the heart of The OC (just south of Laguna Beach) for the Doheney Blues Festival. Ton of bands, right on the beach...all good. Lots of walking from the parking lot to the festival, so maybe I'll survive the weekend relatively unscathed. We got into Dana Point around 10:30 a.m., so breakfast and lunch became brunch. Amazing how that works.

Brunch
Omelete (ham, mushroom, provolone) - est 600 cal.
Side of bacon - 150 cal
Sourdough Toast - 400 cal

Dinner
Udon Noodles and Prawns - 650 cal

Dessert
Brownie and ice cream - 500 cal

Total for day - 2300 cal.

The morning should be interesting...

End of the week

Been a little busy these past few days. Late nights on the poker tables have kept me from posting these past few days. But the weight has been going in the right direction, so I'm happy. Wish I could say the same about the poker bankroll.

5/17 - 280.6 lbs and 35.0% bf. Despite the advice I gave to Awe the other day, I think the pizza got me. Today wasn't too bad, though.

Breakfast
Oatmeal (150 cal) and instant breakfast (220 cal)

Snack
Wheat Thins (250 cal)

Lunch
Salad (90 cal) and Lean Pocket (280 cal) and 4 caramel hershey's kisses (90 cal)

Snack
Apple (90 cal) peanuts (200 cal)

Dinner
Whole Foods Cashew Chicken (440 cal)

Total for the day - 1810 cal, my best day yet (when not suffering from food poisoning.

5/18 - 278.4 lbs, 35.1% bf. And Wednesday paid off. Traffic was extremely screwed up, which allowed me to miss the muffin guy that comes thru the office every morning. Who knew a jackknifed semi truck carrying gravel (no major injuries, btw) could be beneficial?

Breakfast
Oatmeal (150 cal) and instant breakfast (220 cal)

Lunch
Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle Soup (220 cal), Lean Pocket (280 cal), a slice of pepperoni pizza (est 350 cal), and 4 hershey's kisses (90 cal)

Snack
Peanuts (200 cal)

Dinner
Healthy Choice Country Glazed Chicken Meal (230 cal) 4 slices of low fat cheese (180 cal)

Total for the day, approx. 1920 cal.

5/19 - 278.6 lbs and 34.9% bf. Thursday's dog walks weren't as long as normal (doggie was hungry and wanted to get home to eat...don't we all).


Breakfast
I was out of instant breakfast, so I had my croissant (470 cal)

Snack
Wheat Thins (250 cal)

Lunch
Turkey breast sandwich on sourdough (roughly 400 cal) and 4 hershey's kisses (90 cal)

Snack
Wheat Thins (250 cal)

Dinner
GF wanted to go to California Pizza Kitchen We split the spinach artichoke dip (250 cal), the field greens salad (175 cal), and the BBQ chicken pizza (600 cal)

Total for the day: 2485 cal. All things being equal, I expected worse. Hopefully the scale will be kind in the morning. (thanx to Alex at Something's Gotta Give, from whom I shamelessly stole this pic)

Tuesday

5/16 - 279.6 lbs and 35.3% bf. And the downward slide continues. Big milestone...dropped below 280 without the assistance of food poisoning! Didn't make the gym on Monday, but I made it tonight. Felt really good.

Breakfast:
Carnation Instant Breakfast - 220 cal

Snack:
Croissant - 470 cal

Lunch:
Submarina Triple Play sandwich - 480 cal

Snack:
Apple - 90 cal
Reduced Fat Wheat Thins - 250 cal

Dinner:
1/2 Small Pepperoni Pizza (Round Table) - 490 cal

Total: 2000 cal. Not great, but not too bad. Consistent with other days, and I have been slowly losing the weight.

Monday

5/15 - 280.6 lbs, 35.8% bf. Exactly the same as Sunday morning before we hit the buffet. Breakfast was normal (370 cal), croissant for a snack (450 cal). Lunch was a lean pocket and my salad (370 cal). I had a BRC burrito from El Pollo Loco as a snack (500 cal). Dinner was some mini pizza bagels (440 cal), for a little over 2100 cal for the day. Hopefully Tuesday will not be so dangerous.

Update

5/12 - 280.0 lbs, 35.2% bf. And the downward trek continues. Didn't do my usual routine, so I had a croissant (damn, they're good). Then I actually had to go home and wait for the plumber to come and fix a leaking water heater. Fortunately, it was nothing like StB's recent troubles with leaking pipes. Anyway, I had my salad mix for 90 cal, and a pita sandwich for approximately 300 cal. I did have some chips and salsa as a snack, adding roughly another 300 cal. Dinner was roughly 800 cal of sushi, followed by roughly 600 cal of dessert from Extraordinary Desserts. All told, I probably inhaled 2560 cal for the day. Not good.

5/13 - 280.2 lbs and 36.0% bf. I guess the gym helped. I did a bad thing, though. GF and I were pet sitting for the weekend, so I went to go let the critters out into the yard for the day. I gave in to the siren song of 2 McMuffins for $2.50. I know BSN will feel my pain. Not feeling too hungry, I had some chips and salsa around lunch. Frankly, I was more focusing on the bloodbath I was taking at the poker tables, than I was on eating anything. Dinner was at Red Lobster. GF and I shared a helping of some lobster flauta things, a caesar salad, and their lobster chops. I have no idea how many calories I consumed, but I'm sure it was way too much.

5/14 - 280.6 lbs and 35.8% bf. Long walks with the doggie seem to have been helping minimize the damage. I don't know how today could possibly be minimized, though. Mother's Day. GF and I went to a brunch buffet at Loews Coronado Bay Resort (we celebrated with my mother last week, before her new round of chemo started. She's doing fairly well, all things being equal). Omelet bar, sushi, rolls, various cheeses, smoked salmon, 5 different kinds of caviar, tortellini, prime rib, turkey breast, ham, jumbo shrimp cocktail, crab legs, salads, taco bar, champagne, and one of the most evil dessert spreads I've ever seen, including a chocolate fountain with skewers of marshmallows and rice krispy treats looking for all the world like Willy Wonka's own version of ka-bobs! I don't even want to speculate how many calories I consumed. Because it was brunch, we eventually did get hungry again, and shared some Pad Thai and a Spicy Vegetable dish. We shall see what Monday looks like.

To sum up the week:

Weigh in on 5/7 - 283.0 lbs. 0 lbs lost from start.
Weigh in on 5/14 - 280.6 lbs. 2.4 lbs lost for week. 2.4 lbs lost from start.

Pounds to go: 40.6 lbs.

Thursday

5/11 - 280.2 lbs, 35.3% bf. Marching in the right direction...here's hoping I can keep it going.

On the road, had a croissant sandwich for breakfast (450 cal). No time for snacking.

Lunch was a cobb salad, for right around 500 cal.

Caved in and had some Jack in the Box fries (350 cal).

Dinner was this Ethnic Gourmet organic chicken, rice and veggie meal (300 cal), followed up by some chips and 5 layer organic Mexican dip (500 cal).

All told, around 2100 cal for the day. I'm still eating more calories than I'd like, but not nearly what I used to eat. If I can continue to build this into some consistency, I should do pretty well with the weight loss.

Update

5/9 - 282.8 lbs, 34.3% bf. Considering how Monday went, with the ballgame and everything, I'll take a .8 lb gain.

The day started off scary. I didn't take my breakfast or oatmeal in, but somebody brought in donuts. Mmmmmm, donuts. So I had two for a total of 450 cal. Mid morning I had some reduced fat wheat things, for around 280 cal. Lunch, I made a couple of pita sandwiches, total between the two was around 400 cal. I caved to the chocolate demons (a fix is in order) and had a haagen dazs bar (360 cal). I had an apple for an afternoon snack (90 cal), hit the gym on the way home, and had a chicken burrito salad from Chipotle, for around 560 cal. All told, a little over 2100 cal.

5/10 - 281.8 lbs, 35.3% bf. I'm hoping I'm getting into a steady pattern of small daily drops. Instant breakfast on the way in, and a croissant upon arrival. Wheat thins as a snack, and the pita sandwiches again for lunch. To address the chocolate fetish, I bought a bag of caramel-filled Hershey's Kisses. They taste great, and the caramel ones have the fewest calories of any of the Kiss family. 4 of them only total 90 cal and 4g of fat. Another apple, and the gf made (turkey) bacon, lettuce and avocado sandwiches for dinner. Rough guess, 600 cal for the sandwich. Today, around 2100 cal for the day. I didn't hit the gym, so we'll see if that made the difference yesterday.

5/8

5/7 - 283.0 lbs, 35.6% bf. Yup. It's all back, right where I left it. Yes I gained back what I'd lost during my illness, but that was to be expected. Lunch was this Italian buffet that my mother wanted to go to for an early Mother's Day (long story). The food was pretty good. I tried to be careful in what I ate, but it was difficult. I'm all about carbs, pasta in particular, so an Italian buffet is a dangerous place. Rough guess, I shoved around 1000 cal down my neck. Dinner was sort of better. Nachos, bad (but soooo tasty). 1/2 veggie burger with a side salad, not so bad. Still, that added roughly another 1500 cal to the day, for a total of 2500 cal, plus or minus. Not the way to lose weight.

5/8 - 282.0 lbs, 34.8% bf. Hmmm. Down a bit because the wind beneath my wings made me lighter on the scale. I honestly thought the Italian buffet (I thought only the Chinese did that) would have killed me. Who knew? Monday was not going to be a good day. Caved into the muffin guy and had a croissant, in addition to my usual breakfast regimen. Breakfast - 380 cal. Snack - 470 cal. Lunch was soup and salad, for a total of 310 cal. Needed a chocolate fix and had a Butterfinger bar for an additional 270 cal. Some reduced fat Wheat Thins as an afternoon snack added another 250 cal. Then came "dinner". My company has season tickets to the San Diego Padres. I got the tickets for tonight, so I went with my dad and a buddy of mine. Started off with a hot dog (350 cal) and an MGD beer (150 cal). Then came a plate of nachos (approx. 800 cal) and another beer. All told, I consumed almost 3000 cal today! At least I'll get to hit the gym for the next few days. And yes, the Padres swept the Cubs and continued their 9 game winning streak! w00t!

Curse the influences in my life!

5/6 - 280.2 lbs and 35.7% bf. Damn. Between the Marie Callendars, the weekend dinner, and recovering from my illness, I gained back 3 pounds. And that weigh in was after hitting the gym in the morning!

So. Walked the dog. Hit the gym. Went to the store (think Natural Cheetos). Came home and had a dry box of Trix cereal (120 cal). Lunch was shrimp fajitas. Calorie King's database puts the average shrimp fajita meal at somewhere around 1000 cal. Damn. Dinner was Vietnamese food. Soup, a noodle dish, and this wok-seared filet mignon dish that was outrageously good. Rough guess, another 1000 cal. Dessert, small piece of pie (300 cal), and I'm at another 2400 cal. Sunday is another day. We shall see...

A Sign of the Apocalypse

So I'm wandering thru the grocery store this morning, buying the usual crap. Bottled water. Pita bread for sandwiches. Soup. Diet Coke. It was near this last item that I stared deep into the abyss. In a quick flash of insight before my eyes exploded, I whipped out the camera phone and shot this picture:

NATURAL CHEETOS?!?!? Holy Hebrew National Franks, Batman! I was unaware that there was anything natural about them in the first place! Once I slipped the Thermonuclear Protection of my Mil Spec Oakley Eye Jackets over my suffering eyes, I was able to read some of the information on the bag. First of all, it said "no artificial colors. Huh? Cheetos are about nothing BUT artificial colors! Do you really think that shade of cheeto orange occurs in nature? Apparently they use organic flour and white cheddar cheese (byproducts, I assume). And in keeping with the whole organic-natural-healthy vibe, instead of an obviously clear plastic bag, the bag was still plastic but had that brown paper bag appearance thing going on at the top and around the label. Be afraid, be very afraid, as they also had other varieties such as Natural Tostitos chips. I'm sure Natural Doritos aren't too far behind.

5/5 - 277.0 lbs. and 35.0% bf. And the slide continues. The day started off correctly, with the instant breakfast and oatmeal morning. Lunch consisted of another mixed greens salad with fat free ranch dressing and a Lean Pocket Cheeseburger sandwich thing. Then came the afternoon (cue bells of doom). We had a going away party for one of the employees. We had Marie Callendar Banana Cream Pie and French Silk Pie. Curse them all!!! I had one piece of the French Silk pie, because I'm a sucker for anything chocolate. Damn them to hell! Dinner consisted of a variety of sushi rolls. As best as I can estimate from Calorie King, probably 800 cal worth. And on the weekend the gf gets to go out and have dessert at one of several swanky dessert places. I managed to get away with having half of a slice of this Grand Marnier Chocolate Truffle cake. I'm lucky if that half alone was only 400 cal. All told, probably around 2500 cal for the day! We'll see what the morning holds...

5/4

Weigh-in on the morning of 5/4. 278.8 lbs. Let the purging continue. I did go to work on Thursday, but I was still feeling the effects of whatever it was. I ate, but for some reason (hmmm) it was a lot easier to control my intake, selection, etc. I guess when you're not really feeling good about the idea of eating, it's easy to not eat. Shocking revelation, I know. On to the nitty gritty.

Breakfast was the usual combination of the Carnation Instant Breakfast on the drive in, and Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal after arriving at work.

Breakfast - 380 cal

Lunch was a mixed iceberg salad with fat free ranch dressing totaling 90 cal, Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle soup for an additional 220 cal, and an Oreo ice cream bar. Damn those chocolate demons, but surprisingly only 260 cal.

Lunch - 570 cal

Afternoon snack. I brought an apple to eat, but the evil people in the office I like to call everybody, decided to bake Otis Spunkermeyer cookies. I work for a home builder, and if you've ever gone thru a new home model tour, often the developers will put out cookies and bottled water and other stuff. So we had the frozen dough in the office kitchen, and the office manager decided that cookies sounded great. So I had two. Amazingly, only 96 cal for the two of them. Calorie King had my Red Delicious apple pegged at 92 cal, so I'll take the trade off.

Dinner wasn't bad. Got home late, walked the dog, railed a bunch of poker bloggers in a tournament, and vacuumed around the house. By this point, it was getting later, so I killed my extra nibble time. I had a Celeste frozen pizza for one (Zesty four cheese) for 440 cal. Not too bad, all things being equal. After that, I also had some chips and salsa that added approximately 250 cal. Meh.

Dinner - 690 cal.

All told, I ingested 1736 calories. This is the first time (yesterday notwithstanding) that I consumed less than 2000 calories, in many years. Not to gross anyone out, nothing seemed to stay in my system long, so this might actually be a significant drop. I started off at 278.8 lbs. The morning weigh in should be interesting.

I be illin'

5/3 - 280.4 lbs and 39.5% bf. Yup. Purging myself of everything I'd consumed in the previous 24 hours netted a 3 pound drop. BF went up, but I attribute that to a lack of hydration. I think that's what my sister said causes that. Had a Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle soup for lunch (220 cal), and gf thought I needed some roughage for dinner so we went to Souplantation. Maybe 1000 cal there, I don't know. Either way, I was in and out of the bathroom all day, so anything I ate didn't hang around long. We'll see what Thursday holds.

5/2

5/2 - 283.0 lbs and 35.2% bf. Day started off ok. Breakfast and oatmeal (no croissant - w00t!) for 370 cal. Staff meeting all morning. Had to blast up to Riverside for a quick meeting. Had some Chef Boyardee R/F ravioli for 380 cal. Couldn't help myself and had a Taco Bell Chicken Caesar Grilled Burrito for another 670 cal. Did my meeting. Had the nibbles driving home and actually hit McDonalds for some fries. I haven't had fries in months! They tasted good, but I don't think my system can handle that much grease anymore. I was dying by the time I got back to the office, and was in and out of the bathroom for the remainder of the day. GF had a crappy day, so I passed up on the gym (wasn't feeling up to it anyway) to take her out to dinner. Yes I still wasn't feeling well, but going out to eat makes her happy so...

We go to this (seems to be a California thing) health-mex place in La Jolla. I had the shrimp fajitas, figuring that those were as safe as anything. That place absolutely rocked! Of course I still wasn't feeling well, but I don't think it was from the fajitas. I spent the evening engaging in reverse consumption. Helluva weight loss plan. Next post will reveal how beneficial driving the porcelain bus can be.

5/1

5/1 - 284.4 lbs and 36.0% bf. The day started off scary, but I did ok. Instant breakfast drink, and then a ham/cheese croissant. Evil good. Must kill muffin man that comes thru our offices. That gave me 690 cal to start the day. Mid morning I had some pickles, for an additional 20 cal. Next, lunch consisted of a Lean Pocket (290 cal), and some Campbells Select Chicken Noodle Soup (180 cal). I caved into the chocolate demons, and had an oreo cookie ice cream bar. Surprisingly only 260 cal. Some reduced fat wheat thins (130) cal as a snack. Dinner was a Celeste frozen pizza (400 cal) and some chips and salsa (approx 300 cal). All told, under 2300 cal. Not great (I think to maintain my weight (ha ha ha) I have to have around 3000 cal), but in the not too distant past I was logging 3600 calorie days regularly. I've got a ways to go, but progress is progress.

Weekend Update

4/29 - 284.8 lbs. and 36.0% bf. So I go have a nice steak and lose a half a pound. Hmmmm. Didn't make it to the gym, but had a nice, hour-plus aerobic workout with the doggie. Then spent the day running errands. Had healthy, ghetto Mex food for lunch, and a bunch of tapas for dinner, at this killer Asian-Fusion place called Roppongi. For those who don't know what tapas are, they are basically "appetizer for one" size portions of finger foods or other assorted appetizers. We ordered a sushi roll, kung pao calamari (not deep fried), this lump crab and artichoke dip, and shrimp and scallop pot stickers. As a side note, we saw the movie, United 93. Absolutely incredible! An amazing portrayal of the events of September 11, 2001, and the passengers on Flight 93 who kept their plane from hitting Washington, DC. I literally was gripping my seat handles as the passengers were planning their attack on the hijackers. There really was no politicizing of the movie, just a seemingly accurate retelling of the events of 9-11. I absolutely recommend that movie.

4/30 - 283.8 lbs. and 36.4% bf. Guess the tapas did their job. Long walks with the doggie. Spent the day walking around. There was an Art Walk street fair in San Diego's Little Italy district, and me and the gf spent the afternoon walking around. Got sunburned for the first time this year. I also did some walking around while the Jeep was being detailed. Because of the Art Walk, breakfast got lost in the mix, and morphed into an early lunch. GF and I split a Caesar salad and some penne pasta rustica (tomato sauce with peppers and sausage). Dinner was at Fuddruckers for veggie burgers with all the trimmigns. We'll see what the tale of the scale says in the morning.

As promised, the weighty details.

4/26 - 285.0 lbs and 36.1% bf. All I can figure is that I was on the road that day, and hit a Souplantation for lunch. Buffets of any kind are not g00t. Also played pokah that night and had a few Jack and Diet Cokes.

4/27 - 284.0 lbs and 35.6% bf. Out of oatmeal, so I had a croissant for breakfast (damn the guy who comes thru the office every morning). Lunch was actually somewhat healthy...not on the road, so I had a lean pocket sandwich and a bowl of Campbells Select Chunky Chicken & Egg Noodle soup. Bad things for dinner. I got a hankerin' (is that the correct pronounciation, Jill?) for PF Chang's Kung Pao Shrimp.

Yup. Bad scene, Bix.

4/28 - 285.4 lbs, 35.5% bf. Again, had a croissant with my breakfast drink because I was out of oatmeal. Brought a healthy lunch, but got sent on the road. Managed to be relatively good...Jack in the Box Southwest Chicken Pita and two tacos. All told, around 600 cal for lunch. Dinner was not good. Hungry Hunter Steakhouse. Very tender New York Strip, rice pilaf, salad, and a piece of cheesecake for dessert. Saturday morning (later than now) should be interesting.

As I discussed earlier, I'm trying to reconfigure this here bloggy thingie. As such, posts and some formatting will probably change this weekend. Bear with me whilst I figure out the logistical crap.

Really quick...

You may have noticed, that I rearranged the furniture here. The obvious reason is the way cool tracker that BSN found. The black text didn't work with the dark background on the old template, so here we are. The deeper reason, which I have come to realize as the month of April draws to a close, is: I. Am. Lame.

I don't have my weight measurements for the past several days with me (they're at home, on the desk, waiting to be blog-i-fied), but since I started this thing late in March, I've GAINED 2 pounds!!! WTF?!? I must make myself more motivated, if not for my health and not for all the bloggers I expect to meet in Vegas in July at the World Poker Bloggers Tour, then for the money!! As I noted previously, several other poker bloggers are setting up a weight loss contest. $25 entry fee, highest percentage of weight lost wins. Money goes for a pizza party, probably without the pizza. Either way, I'll take all the motivation I can get.

So watch this site. Formats will change, sections will be added, virgins will be sacrificed (hey, I'm serious about this). Hold on tightly (heh), because it's gonna be an interesting ride.

Update

4/22 - 283.0 lbs, 35.0% body fat. Actually went to the gym this morning. Pain is g00t! Lunch was bad. Azul La Jolla for their tapas buffet. All kinds of evil good stuff. Hummus and pesto dips, sushi rolls, portabello pannini sandwiches, several pasta salads, several leafy salads. Dinner wasn't too bad. A bridal shower for one of gf's coworkers. I actually napped in the Jeep while the festivities went on, and then I was summoned. The party was going to last longer, and I needed to use the restroom. One thing led to another, and I'm winning a bottle of wine in a sexual charades game! w00t! Munchies included 7 layer dip (not mine, btw), chicken enchiladas, and a variety of finger foods. Beer was also consumed. After that party (which we left around 7), we went to a house-warming party for a teacher that gf teaches with. Sangria, stuffed mushrooms, six different kinds of cheeses, crackers, etc., etc.

4/23 - 283.0 lbs, 35.7% body fat. No real damage. Sweet. Long walk with doggie, but no gym. Brunch was splitting a garden sink omelete with hashbrowns and toast. Dinner was Olive Garden for a sampler appetizer, salad, and penne rustica (peppers and sausage).

4/24 - 283.0 lbs, 37.6% body fat. Interesting. On the road today, so breakfast is normal for weekday. Lunch was 2 El Pollo Loco BRC burritos early, with a Carls Jr. BBQ Chicken Sandwich later. Meh. Long doggie walk & vegetarian taquitos for dinner. Playing poker, so Jack Daniels came along.

4/25 - 283.1 lbs, 36.4% body fat. Gain .1 lb, but drop 1.2% body fat. I don't understand it either. Breakfast normal. Lunch was a Submarina turkey, beef, and ham sandwich. I know, not the best, but no mayo, etc etc. Dinner was bad. Chipotle, for a chicken burrito. These things are huge, almost as big as the Chicken Monster burrito from Freebird's World Burrito. Mmmmm. Freebirds. The Chicken Monster. Two tortillas, beans, rice, chicken, cheese, and the secret ingredient: bbq sauce! You can add a variety of other things to one (onions, cilantro, salsa, etc.), but the original and best is with just the bbq sauce. They have several locations scattered around Texas, but the original is the one that I went to, in Isla Vista just outside the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Evil good stuff. Anyway, Chipotle burritos are very good, but I'm sure not good for me. The morning will tell...

Attentive readers of this here bloggy thing may have noticed a few new links added to the blogroll. It seems that several of us online poker players have a few pounds to drop. Big Slick Nuts is attempting to reclaim his moniker of Little Slick Nuts. Falstaff is looking to drop a few, well, more like 40 pounds (kinda like me), and also mentioned that Fat Dan wants to become Thin Dan. It looks like we're getting a contest together. Specifics still aren't set yet, but it looks like a bunch of poker bloggers will be gambooling on pounds lost instead of buy-ins lost. Details will be provided as they become available. Should be interesting.

Getting caught up...

Allllll righty then. I really have to get into a rhythm with this here brog, but heck. I also need to get into a rhythm (besides the up and down) on the weight loss. I’m lame, I know, but I really want to kick my ass into gear. I am going to start by trying something that a coworker told me about. As way of background, this guy is a former firefighter and now construction worker, and he’s in extremely good shape. He says he’s not all “abb-ed out” anymore, but he looked cut enough in a t-shirt that I’ll take his advice. He says that when he watches TV, during commercials he does one of two quick circuit workouts. If your endurance is lower (me), he does sets of 10 or 20 reps of first crunches, then pushups, then tricep/shoulder dips off of a chair/couch. He cycles thru those throughout the commercial break. The other one is when your endurance is greater. First commercial break, you do crunches the entire break. Next break, you do pushups the entire time. Next you do the dips, and continue the pattern for the rest of the evening. It seems to be a nice way to tone up and keep the metabolism boosted while watching TV. I will definitely give that a try.

It’s update time. When last we discussed the saga of my fat (4/16), I was at 284 lbs and 36.3% body fat. That was Easter Sunday. I kept to a minimum the candy I consumed, had a relatively light lunch, and dinner consisted of fairly small portions of ham, scalloped potatoes, sourdough rolls, and Jodi’s wicked good green beans. They are sautéed in something (olive oil?) with mushrooms, onions, and I think a little bit of garlic. They are sooooooo good, and I never thought I’d say that about any vegetable (right, Jill?).

4/17. The self-control on Easter paid off, with a weight of 282.6 lbs and 35.8% body fat. Nothing exciting or unusual to eat at any of my meals. Good long dog walks.

4/18. 282.0 lbs and 35.6% bf. The day started off so promising. Staff meeting, so no opportunity to snack after breakfast. Unfortunately I went on the road, right after the meeting. I needed to hit an ATM to get some moolah for lunch, and the route from the ATM to the freeway took me right past a Chinese buffet. Damn. Those places are just freaking evil. I attempted to make up the difference at dinner by limiting myself to a leftover ham sandwich, but it wasn’t enough.

4/19. 283.4 lbs and 35.6% bf. Yup, those Chinese invaders attacked my soft underbelly and occupied my territory. In lieu of normal breakfast, I had a bagel with reduced fat cream cheese. One of our contractors came in for a meeting with our Purchasing Manager, and decided to bribe everyone with bagels and coffee from Einstein Bros. Oh well. I was out of soup and Lean Pockets, so lunch was of the fast food variety. Jack in the Box has some tasty food that is surprisingly not too bad, so I had a Southwest Chicken Pita (230 cal, 3.1g fat) which is very tasty and seemingly healthy, but watch out that they don’t load too much juice/grease/whatever into the pita with the meat and veggies, because the pita tends to commit structural failure. I also had 2 of their tacos (total 320 cal, 16g fat) which aren’t perfect health food, but are perfect drunken beach food. Dinner consisted of this Curry/Indian place in Pacific Beach called World Curry. Probably not the best.

4/20. Could be worse. 283.0 and 36.4% bf. Different morning. Company quarterly meeting out at the Pala Mesa Country Club with a catered breakfast. I managed to exhibit some semblance of portion control, and had some eggs, some bacon, a croissant, and orange juice. Back on the road again, lunch consisted of a classic chicken burrito from El Pollo Loco (636 cal, 19g fat). Dinner could’ve been worse. Healthy choice French bread pizza, some chips and salsa, and some grapes. Which leads me to…

4/21. Today. Weigh in was 283.0 lbs and 35.7% bf. No change on the weight and the bf is down. Hopefully today will not be too evil. Breakfast was normal, but I have to go out to lunch again. We’ll see…

Update

The yo yo continues. Consistency at the gym was not achieved, and being the week of my birthday, extravagent meals and other naughty foods were being consumed with abandon.

4/13 - 283.6 lbs, 35.5% body fat
4/14 - 284.0 lbs, 35.4%
4/15 - 282.8 lbs, 35.0%. The day before consisted of especially long dog walks, which I assume helped. Other than that, I've got no idea why the weight was down on the morning of 4/15. We went out for steak and drinks to The Palm restaurant. One of the best ribeye steaks I've had in a long time. In poker it's called Variance.
4/16 - 284.0 lbs, 36.3%. Again, not sure why. Ran errands all day. Dinner was fairly light, so I've got no idea. Meh. We'll see what next week holds.

Birthday Update!

Quick update. I’ve been on the road and just overall busy. Besides work, all I’ve been doing is car shopping and taxes. I finally, for the first time in quite some time, made it to the gym last night. Pain is goot. I haven’t even had much time for poker! Oh well. At least I’ve got the dog walks for regular physical activity. So, now that I finally found my log sheets from the past week (got folded up in the tax stuff…I wonder if it’s easier to deduct my weight from my taxes. It’s can’t be any more difficult than deducting it from my body!), it’s time for a series of updates. Side note, I finally got the body mass (euphemism for fat) calculation tool on my scale to work. Something about my big feet. Meh. Here we go.

Didn’t eat much on Saturday due to communications breakdown. GF had to go to a baby shower and I had to wait to rescue her from it. Suffice to say, snack for breakfast and no lunch. Dinner was nice and healthy. Seared sushi-grade ahi tuna, from Sbicca in Del Mar. Outstanding view of my Pacific Ocean (just blocks away from my highschool beach bum days at 19th Street) and exquisite food. End result, weigh-in Sunday morning was 281.0 and a body fat percentage of 35.1%

Sunday 4/9. Weigh-in as above. Bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, because we were meeting my parents for lunch to celebrate my impending birthday. Red Lobster. Tried to be good and had the shrimp combo. Some deep fried shrimp, and scampi. Didn’t remember seeing the grilled ones, tho, don’t know why. Dinner was Thai, a spicy chicken dish and pad thai with shrimp. Not the best set up, and I knew I was going to pay for it.

Monday 4/10. Yup. I suck. 283.0, body fat 36.0%. Bleh. To top it off, I’m on the road all day. Gotta behave, gotta behave. No snacking, amazingly enough. Usual breakfast. Lunch was El Pollo Loco, BRC burrito and a couple pieces of chicken. No fries! Woot! It’s been a long time since I had a French fry. Dinner was a French bread pizza and something else that was a low fat frozen dinner. I’ve done better and worse. So it goes.

Tuesday 4/11. 282.8, body fat of 36.5%. So I drop 2/10 of a pound and pick up .5% body fat. I believe it’s called “margin of error”. Usual breakfast, with a croissant for meeting strength. Again, I suck. Oh well. Lunch in the office consisted of Healthy Choice chicken noodle soup and a Lean Pocket sandwich. Total lunch less than 500 cal. And the best part of the day, I made it to the gym!!!! Woot!!!! Not a stellar workout, but anything is better than nothing. Dinner was a couple of organic, vegetarian flautas that were really good. GF unfortunately had a bad day, and needed dessert. Conveniently, it was $1 scoop Tuesday at the local Baskin Robbins, so away we went. I had every intention of just having one scoop, but they brought my favorite flavor back…chocolate oreo crunch. 2 scoops later and I’m in a chocolate coma on the couch, watching DVR’d episodes of The Apprentice, and alternating between petting the dog and snoozing. Fairly long walk later, and I crash out.

Wednesday 4/12. D-day. Or rather B-day. Today I am 35. And the winning weigh-in: 282.0 lbs, and 36.4% body fat. I didn’t have time to do the other measurements, but not really going to the gym at all, I doubt there’s anything that would’ve changed significantly. Breakfast was normal, and I’m getting ready to head out on the road. Must behave. Must behave.

I really didn’t put too much thought, planning, or effort into this experiment, and my up and down results reflect that. As such, I’m going to keep going. I’ve got a poker tournament in Vegas that I’m playing in this summer (Vegas in summer, at least I’ll sweat off any weight I gain by drinking!), and I’ll see what I can do by then. I intend to go to the gym consistently, several days a week, and try to get back into some sort of rhythm. Wish me luck.

Meh

283.0. Yup. I celebrated last night and paid the price for it. But oh holy crap was it worth it. Dear and patient gf (aka Jodi - figure if I can name the dog, why not the gf?) took me out to dinner for my impending birthday last night. She normally doesn't like Italian food (she is Italian and grew up with Italian nearly every day, so she's kind of burnt out on it), so she relented and we went to Trattoria Acqua down on the cove in La Jolla. The calamari was some of the most tender I've ever come across. She had the lobster ravioli, one of their signature dishes, and it came in some sort of tomato basil cream sauce. Oof. Me, I threw caution to the wind and had their special of the day: Truffle, Portabello and Porcini Mushroom lasagna. Jebus what a meal. It was this silky smooth orgy of flavors. I only ate half of it (damn bread) but holy crap was it good. They topped it off with a complimentary flourless chocolate cake. And IGH fatter. At least Ginger took me on a long this morning. We'll see what the day holds.

Yo yo yo yo

And the story of my life, up and down and up and down. After what seemed to be a good day yesterday, I weighed in at 282.0 this morning, up a pound. Due to the chill in the air, doggie didn't want to take long walks, so maybe that was it. Both last night and this morning, out and back in less than 5 minutes. Oh well. Breakfast - usual. Lunch - not so usual. Out of soup, so I had a couple of hotdogs. Evil, I know, but hopefully they won't do too much damage. Dinner is not going to be pretty. Dear and patient gf is taking me out for Italian, to celebrate my impending 35th b-day on Wednesday. I already avoid anything with the word "alfredo" in the title, so maybe it won't be too bad. We'll see. Hell, maybe I'll get to the gym on Saturday!

On a related topic, my original thought behind this here inter-webby bloggie thing was to track my (hopeful) weight loss from back in March thru my 35th b-day. I had hopes of actually hitting the gym, even occasionally, during this period. One thing has led to another, tho, and that hasn't worked out. So I'm going to keep this going. I do have my goal weight of 240 to make, although I must confess that this particular target seemed so much more attainable when my (old) scale was telling me that I weighed 263, not 283 like the new accurate scale tells me. Oh well. I'm gonna try, dammit. I don't like that a lot of my clothes are tight or don't fit. Cue Rocky music. Here I go again (or was that Whitesnake). Think thin.

And so...

Real quick for 4/5. Started off at 282.6. Usual breakfast of breakfast drink whilst driving to work, followed by instant oatmeal at the office. Some gum and some diet coke later, we hit lunch. Amazingly, today, I wasn’t on the road. Even more amazing, I was working thru lunch. I had to bail out of work early to go pick up the new ride, so I decided to lunch at my desk and just plow thru. Had a Lean Pocket and some of the Campbell’s Select Chunky Chicken Noodle soup. Some wheat thins and trail mix in the afternoon. Dinner was a Healthy Choice French Bread Pizza and a Lean Cuisine lasagna. Also consumed some chips and salsa and some Jack and Diet Coke while playing poker online. I think the key is lunch. When I’m on the road it is so tempting to hit places I really like, like Souplantation or a Chinese Buffet. Unfortunately my problem is self-control, and I consume way more food than I should. Then I get nuked.

4/6. The lunch observations paid off! 281.0 lbs.!!! Downward ho! Breakfast, identical. Lunch, identical. Dinner will be at Casa de Hoff, where I have a lovely supply of frozen dinners, not just by the usual suspects (Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, etc.), but also some quality organic and/or vegetarian meals by Whole Foods Market, Amy’s, Cedarlane, and others. I’m thinking I might see another small drop by tomorrow morning. Again, my key seems to be lunch, because I’m not getting any real physical activity in besides walking the doggy. We’ll see.

Bleah.

So. The walking to and from the ballpark paid off. All that bad food, and I was only up to 283.2 lbs, this morning. Unfortunately, I was on the road and succumbed to the siren song of a quick drive thru. Breakfast was the usual, with a croissant thrown in for staff meeting support. Two BRC burritos from El Pollo Loco for lunch (the small ones), and a chili cheese dog from Wienerschnitzel as a snack. Dinner was a Mexi-chicken salad from Chipotle. The doggie took me on long walks each time, including a nice 45 minute stroll in the rain, so hopefully the damage won't be too bad. Still, I think I'm doing this wrong. Yes, the damage isn't too bad. Why do I sound like a politician trying to justify a budget deficit? I really have to remotivate myself. Maybe I can use the rain to my advantage somehow. Wish me luck.

4/3/06

Ok. Started off at 282.0. Yes, I'm not seeing a huge drop, but I'm not seeing a huge gain. If all goes well, I'll start hitting the gym again this week. Sadly, I don't expect it to go well...don't know why, it just seems that way. Oh well.

Today was not as good as it should have been, but it could've been a lot worse. Oatmeal and instant breakfast. Lunch was a ham & cheese croissant and a Healthy Choice French Bread (or was that Freedom Bread) pizza. Then the sky fell. I went to the ballgame. Rather, I started off by meeting Troll, Gato, Erin, and Lynn at Dick's Last Resort, the self-titled "shame of San Diego". If you ever are in SD and have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. The decor is awful, the music is loud, and the servers are extremely rude. They'll wad up napkins and throw them at you! It is so cool! Anyway, a couple of tall Sierra Nevadas were quickly quaffed. Quickly, because I had parked 15 or 16 blocks away, so I had a nice, brisk walk from the Pathie to the bar. Then it was another 4 or 5 blocks to the stadium. One big red ale, one hotdog, two diet cokes, some nachos, and a slice of pizza later, the Padres kept the 'roided one, Barry Bonds, from doing any major damage. He went 1 for 4 (a double, no dingers) and the Padres beat the Giants 6 to 1! Woo hoo! Then another 20 or so blocks back to the car. Another French Bread pizza and a couple of glasses of water, and I'm calling it a day. Watch a little TV with the gf, and then play some poker. We'll see how good/bad the day was tomorrow morning at my weigh in. Think thin.

Hey Kids, It's Update Time!

OK. Real quick.

3/29 - Weight in a.m.: 282.8 lbs. I was on the road, but didn't do too badly food-wise. Wheat Thins for breakfast (8 a.m. staff meeting, no time for anything else). Fast food (trying to be careful) for lunch. Whole Foods frozen enchiladas. 310 cal, 8g fat, 42g carb, 5g fiber, 16g protein. Not nearly enough physical activity.

3/30 - 281.4 lbs. On road again. Oatmeal for breakfast. I forget what lunch was, and I went out with a friend from Rhode Island (Aaron "Zippy" Katz) for sushi and beers. Oh well.

3/31 - 282.2 lbs. Yep. Gained a pound. I blame Karl Strauss and his Amber Lager the night before. Oatmeal and Instant Breakfast for breakfast (logically enough). Salad bar at Sizzler for lunch. Out with gf and Zippy for dinner at a wicked-cool restaurant, Indigo Grill. Had prawns and several drinks. Bad, naughty Zoot.

4/1 - 283 lbs. I suck. Missed breakfast. Not trying, but was originally going to have brunch with Zippy and his family. That morphed into lunch. Lobster Burrito and shrimp taco. Yum. Evil. Dinner was Hunter Steakhouse (long story, but it was the gf's fault due to her bodily needs during a certain "time" of the month. shut up. we're all adults, and I'm sure the few of you who read this are mostly female, Roscoe not withstanding), and it was evil good.

4/2 - 283.6 lbs. Probably would've been worse, but doggy took me on a long run/walk. Thanx, Ginger! Omelete for breakfast with gf. Spent the day walking around car dealerships looking at things. Leading candidates to replace the Pathfinder are a new Pathfinder, Grand Cherokee, and Explorer. Updates will follow. To reward tireless gf for putting up with my car needs, we went to a swanky restaurant in Del Mar, The Poseidon. Tried to eat somewhat good, but the gf likes a lot of food. Calamari, caesar salad, clam chowder, and seared ahi.

We'll see what the day holds tomorrow. Probably bad. Padres home opener. That means beer and bad food. It may rain, so we'll see.

Quick and Dirty Update for 3/28

So, I decide to get all dedicated and stuff on this losing weight thing, and the forces of the world conspire against me. Just finding the time to do these entries is difficult. So to do the update for Tuesday, 3/28:

Weight: 281.6 lbs.
Change from previous day: down 1.6 lbs.
Overall change from baseline: down 1.6 lbs.
Pounds to go to reach my goal: 41.6 lbs.

I know I never formally announced my goal weight. Given the scale controversy, I don't know how likely it is I'll be able to attain my goal within any reasonable amount of time, but my goal weight is 240 lbs.

3/28 was not entirely a bad day. Food-wise, I did pretty well. For breakfast, I had my oatmeal (150 cal) and my breakfast drink (220 cal). In the middle of the morning, I had approximately 1 oz of Reduced Fat Wheat Thins (approx 140 cal). Lunch consisted of Campbells Chunky Beef with Garden Veggies soup (approx 240 cal) and a Lean Pocket (280 cal), finished with 4 Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies (approx 310 cal). I had another handful of Wheat Thins (140 cal) in the middle of the afternoon, and was all ready to eat a Lean Cuisine or something similar when I arrived home. Unfortunately, here's where the gods of chance and annoyance crashed the party. I had taken my truck to the dealer to have some work done on it. Unfortunately, the estimate to fix everything that was wrong came to $1900! So that delayed me in getting home and put me on major tilt. For any non-poker players who wonder about that, "tilt" is basically when you are totally bent out of shape and freak out. So I finally get home (almost bought a brand new Nissan Pathfinder on the spot, but that's another story) after fighting traffic thru the rain, only to find out that the lovely gf had an absolutely crappy day at work and that she was on uber-tilt as well. The easiest way to calm her down is to feed her, preferably at a nice restaurant. So we picked an Indian place here in San Diego, figuring that a curry dish with veggies and chicken breast wouldn't do too much damage. So after trying to find a parking space for a half hour, we gave up and stopped at a...wait for it...Chinese Buffet!!!! Evil! Especially because I'm a whore for Chinese food in general, and noodles/pasta in particular! All you can eat lo mein, rice, won tons, etc.? Holy crap! I'd conservatively estimate the meal did 2000 cal of damage, for a total consumption of approximately 3500 calories. Oy!

Well, maybe my physical activity would make up the difference. Not really. Not having a vehicle, I stayed at my desk. Given the rain, I didn't golf or go walking at lunch, either. So rough calculations give me a total calories burned for the day of approx. 2500. As expected, this did have a bad effect on the weight, but I'll save those details for the next post. On that topic, I am trying to figure out how I want to format all of this info. I'll be playing around with structure and content in future posts, but for now I'm beat and need to sleep.

3/27/06 - not the start I was hoping for

So we begin. I set about taking all of the baseline measurements, only to realize that my scale, which is many years old and has lived in many different houses and apartments, has decided to not function properly. So, a new scale is in order. I got one of the nice Health-o-Meter digital ones like my sister has. Not quite as fancy, but plenty effective. This does throw things a little out of whack, because I always weigh myself first thing in the morning, before I consume anything. Today's baseline was actually taken around 8 p.m. Maybe that will artificially inflate the base and make it seem as though I'm losing more than. The extreme downside is that I realize just how much my old mechanical scale had malfunctioned...my weight is up by more than 15 pounds!! Of course this is in line with the difference I noted over Christmas, when I weighed myself on my sister's scale. Oh well. Baseline measurements:

Weight - 283.2 lbs.
Waist - 43.5 inches
Gut - 47.0 inches
Chest - 49.0 inches
Bicep - 17.0 inches

Now, besides the scale, the other part of the day that was not ideal was I had to be on the road, early. So no chance to get my breakfast or lunch put together, so I eat on the road. This is one of my biggest problems. If I'm going out on the road later in the morning or early afternoon, I typically can put together at least my usual breakfast of a Carnation instant breakfast drink wtih skim milk, and a packet of instant oatmeal. I drink the drink on the way into the office, and eat the oatmeal when I get there. That gives me a good mix of vitamins, protein, fiber, and all that fun stuff for around 350 calories. Not so the case today. In a hurry and, probably due to the impending diet program, jonesing for something hot and cooked. Lunch was a little better. The upside of today is it kept me from snacking, which is one of my major downfalls. Anyway, here's my meal recap:

Mini box of Fruit Loops - 120 cal, 1g fat, 28g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g protein
Sausage McMuffin - 450 cal, 26g fat, 31g carbs, 2g fiber, 20g protein
Souplantation - 1070 cal, 35g fat, 123g carbs, 10g fiber, 40g protein
Butterfinger Bar - 270 cal, 11g fat, 44g carbs, 1g fiber, 4g protein
Whole Foods Cashew Chicken - 440 cal, 12g fat, 63g carbs, 1g fiber, 20g protein
2 Samoas Girl Scout Cookies - 150 cal, 8g fat, 19g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g protein

A grand total of 2230 cal, 93g fat, 308g carbs, 16g fiber, 86g protein (**update - I corrected my math. I can only add when I'm drunk, not just tired!). All of the caloric information was either taken directly from the package (where possible) or from a phenomenal website food/calorie database, Calorie King. This website is amazing. Want to check out how bad the stuff is at Taco Johns or Chick-Fil-A? They've got it. If you're looking at something that is at least a regional chain, odds are it's probably listed in there. This site also had information on general food types (breads and cereal, juices, milk and cheese, vegetables, meat, candy and snacks, etc. If it's sold at a grocery store, or a deli, or a 7-11, it's probably in the database. Anyway, there's that shameless plug.

Physical activity is another story. During the majority of the day, I was driving or sitting in a meeting. I had some minor home improvement stuff to do at home before the gf came home, so I did that instead of going to the gym. I used a pretty slick "how many calories did I burn?" calculator that I found on HealthStatus.com. Total calories burned today, a little over 3000. All things being equal, not a bad start. Adding the extra pounds just because of a new scale sucks, but it is what it is. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to pack a lunch and avoid the fast food. Wish me luck.

So here's what I'm thinking

Here's the story of me and my fatness. First of all, I am a big guy. I'm 6'3", and I actually am big boned (apologies to Cartman). The downside was that I always ate. Lots. That's been my problem, and I figured if I'm going to actually stick with some sort of weight loss plan, making it public (or at least as public as the inevitable 2 or 3 people that will read this) was the best thing to do. My goal is to daily post what I ate and drank, and what physical activities I engaged in. I intend to formally start on Monday, 3/27, and see what kind of progress I make by my 35th birthday, on 4/12.

I was in pretty good shape in college. I ate, drank, and smoked whatever I wanted. Being young certainly helped, but I lived several miles off campus at UC Santa Barbara. Every day would turn into a 5 mile jungle warfare mountain bike adventure to get to class. Me and a buddy would show up for class bleeding, muddy, and with ripped clothes. Life was good. Being that far off campus and having a rather spread out campus to work from, I rarely went home between classes. I'd walk or ride around campus and Isla Vista (the most drunken, most densely packed 1/2 square mile west of the Mississippi River). The part time job I held was doing sales for a window tint company. I'd drive to my territory, park the car, and walk around for several hours. Finally, the condo we lived in was situated adjacent to a several square mile open space area between our development and the ocean. It was a great place to ride mountain bikes or run. Most mornings I'd get out for a mile or two, and if the weather was warm enough, I'd run a couple of miles out to the beach, and then dive into the ocean for some body surfing. After that, I'd walk back up to the top of the bluff (if you've seen the Ugly Kid Joe video for "I Hate Everything About You", that was filmed less than a mile south/east of my bluff, so you have an idea of what it looks like), and run home.

Graduating and getting an office job wasn't the best thing. I mean it was from a financial perspective, but sitting at a desk for 8-plus hours a day didn't help keep the metabolism moving. That and the inevitable office potlucks conspired to add to my midsection. I did what I could, but it was becoming a battle. Moving to Newport Beach/Costa Mesa helped. It was a 10 minute bike ride downhill from my apartment to 36th Street beach in Newport (just up the beach from Dennis Rodman's house). In those days, I'd wake up around 4:30 and walk across the street to 24 Hour Fitness. I'd work out on cardio and abs for around an hour, and then get ready for work. After work, I'd haul ass home, change into my swim suit, and hop on the bike to ride to the beach. I'd get in and body surf until the green flash at sunset hit. If you've never been in the Pacific when the sun drops below the horizon, you've missed out. It's really a Zen moment, you are one with the world. Anyway, I'd hop back on the bike, ride back up the hill, shower off, change clothes, and go back to the gym to lift weights for an hour.

Getting a commuter job started off looking as though it would be bad, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As before, I'd wake up early, but the 24 Hour Fitness in Aliso Viejo kind of sucked. As such, I'd run for a mile or two, shower and get dressed, and then drive the hour-plus into Los Angeles. At first, I wasn't working out in the evening at all. After an hour and a half of slogging thru LA rush hour, the last thing I wanted to do was go back out after getting home. So I found a really nice 24 Hour Fitness about 15 minutes away from the office and started working out there after work. I'd go for about an hour to an hour and a half with cardio and weights, and get home not much later than I would have at rush hour.

Moving to San Diego and moving in with the gf has proven to be the biggest obstacle (my ever increasing age notwithstanding) to keeping the weight off. Well, she can't take all the blame. I still eat bad food and much more of it than I should. But my workout schedule has been seriously compromised. We've now got a dog. I used to run in the morning, but if I go out in the morning without taking the dog, she gets upset and poops in the living room. Fine, I'll take her out for a run. Unfortunately, she's kind of ADD and will chase rabbits only to come to a dead stop to sniff something. And I can't take her out too early, because she has to hold it the whole day. She can, and she hasn't had any accidents from that, but we don't want to push it. So I wind up with limited time in the morning to get any kind of physical activity in before the half hour drive to work. So that leaves the evening. On nights the gf teaches, I am able to stop at the gym on the way home from work, and get some physical activity in. On the nights she doesn't teach, I need to come home so we can have dinner and spend time together. And make no mistake, I'm not complaining about spending time with the gf. It's just frustrating to not be getting the physical activity in that I used to. There's also a driving range near my office. I try to get there on my lunch break whenever possible. Unfortunately, that hasn't been too often since the beginning of the year. Between the weather and being on the road, I haven't been to the driving range more than a couple of times this year.

So here's my plan. Starting Monday I'm going to measure my baselines (weight, waist, etc.) and post them. Then, I'll post on what my food intake was and my physical activity was for the day. My thought is that if I have to put it out here for everybody to see, maybe that will help me to stick with it. Wish me luck.