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Monday, July 17, 2006

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.