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.