Quite The Weekend!!

It was a pretty good weekend.  Saw the Lindsay Lohan movie, "I Know Who Killed Me" on Friday.   I'll give her this, she did a solid job of acting.  It's just that the movie was lame.  Especially given her recent meltdowns, the only way I can see this as being remotely beneficial to her career is that you get to see lots of her half-naked and either having raucous sex with some guy or grinding off of a stripper pole.   Beyond that…not so much.  On the other hand, I also saw Live Free or Die Hard (thank you DAPGF for caving in, and I told you it would be good!).   It absolutely freaking rocked!  As much as I loved the original (and I still do), I think I have to rank this one higher.   It was insanely good.  Was it a violent buddy action flick?  Yup.  Did it kick ass all over the place?   Hell yeah it did!  Probably my favorite movie of this year, and I see almost 2 movies per week, so that should say something.

 

Managed to get lots of exercise over the weekend, including time at the driving range and a dawn patrol session at the beach.   Combine that with the fact that DAPGF now thinks that walking after our meals is a good thing, plus some honeydew stuff around the house and I was working it hard.  Which worked out to be a good thing, and a perfect complement to my food intake.   Normally the weekends are dangerous, particularly Sundays.  I'm not eating my Lean Cuisine meals, but instead going to restaurants for notoriously large potions of food.   This weekend, though, I just managed to do a great job of controlling what I ate.  Shrimp fajitas where I avoided most of the beans and rice.   A chicken quesadilla with almost no sides.  Chicken and Shrimp veggie Thai stir fry.  And then the evil day, Sunday.   It started with a pretty gnarly omelet and hashbrowns, but we followed that up with an hour-long walk by the beach.  But here's what saved me.   DAPGF was having dinner with some friends, so I got to stay home and stay in control of what I ate.  A frozen pizza and one of those micro-servings of Ben and Jerry's Fudge Brownie ice cream.

 

All of which leads to this.  Last Monday's weigh-in was 284.4 lbs.  I'd been aiming for 283.0 but faltered a bit, so the goal for this morning's weigh-in was 282.4 lbs, instead of the 281.0 that I should've been shooting for.  So I get out of the shower, towel off and step on the scale.   280.6 lbs.!!!!!  Holy crap!!  Not only did I better my specific goal, but I even bettered my original goal!   Yay me!!!  When I started this latest round of effort back on July 2, my goal was to lose 2 lbs per week.  With this morning's weigh-in, I'm running ahead of that!  DAPGF deserves recognition for the after-meal walks.  I'm so glad she has gotten into this, because it really helps undo any damage done by eating.   I deserve a bunch of credit for my incredible exercise efforts and my ever-growing will-power and self-control.  And again, MyFitnessPal.com has proven time and time again to be an excellent tracking and motivation tool.  My new goal for next Monday will now be 278.6 lbs.  I think it's been nearly a year since I've been this low, but with the progress I've been having I am hyper-motivated!   Wish me luck and all of you keep up your efforts.  I am proof that the average schmuck who loves to eat can actually lose weight.

Hey! Progress!

So Monday's weigh-in was 284.2 lbs.  Dinner wasn't too bad.  Chinese food and frozen yogurt.   Combined with the golfing at lunch, I only gained .2 lbs for the Tuesday weigh-in.  On a side note, my dog is kind of acting like a whack-job.   Or at least a dog with ADDD (Attention Deficit Doggie Disorder).  In the past, our walks have been "destination" walks, where we leave our little condo complex and go walk thru the neighborhood, up through a park and so on, taking a roughly 45 minute to an hour journey spread out over 3-4 miles.   Lately she's been obsessed with kitties that she's seen on some of the walks, and is constantly going back to those particular condos and just pacing back and forth, or around the building.   2 things wrong with that.  First of all, it isn't consistent walking.  She'll stop and spend a couple of minutes sniffing, and then she'll go to one side of the stairs and then back to the other.   5 minutes of that and I've taken maybe 20 steps.  The other thing is I'm just waiting for somebody to call the cops on me because I'm loitering or casing the place.   I mean, I'm outside of these people's houses at 6:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m.  What would you think?  So lately it's been after 20 minutes of this I just drag the dog away and we go home.   I've tried dragging her away with the intention of going on a destination walk, but she knows exactly how to walk anywhere in the complex and still find her way back to Kittie-Land (yes, DAPGF and I have named the place, for the two kitties who live on one side of the sidewalk (Kittie-Fabulous and Kittie-Wonderful – don't know the real names), and Burrito who lives on the other side of the sidewalk).   Crazy.

 

Anyway, I was bound and determined to make up for the Chinese food on Tuesday.  I didn't go to the range at lunch, but went to the gym after work and then went and shot 9 holes at this little executive course near Casa de Hoff.   I got home late enough that I only had time to eat a single, 250 calorie Lean Cuisine and some Wheat Thins.  End result, Wednesday's weigh-in was down to 283.6 lbs.  I lathered, rinsed, and repeated the process for Wednesday.  Gym and then 9 holes of flog, and then a small dinner.   Thursday's weigh-in, 282.6 lbs.!!  w0000t!!

 

Again, I'm not perfect (far from it), but I am continuing to prove (mainly to myself) that I actually can control what I consume and make efforts at losing weight.   Wish me continued luck, and may you all find continued success in your efforts to do whatever it is that you all are attempting to do (unless it's make me fatter!).

Yeah, I saw this coming...

I was a naughty boy.  So when we last discussed my corpulence, I was making some progress.   But, dear readers, if you recall I purchased a box of Little Debbie Snack Cakes.  I mauled those on Tuesday and Wednesday, and failed to make it to the gym on both evenings.   Then came Thursday.  I had to be on the road very early, so I could be about 150 miles away by 8 a.m.  So no time for a proper breakfast, so we hit the Mickey Dees drive-thru for some McMuffin-y goodness.  Besides that, I haven't been thru the drive-thru for a meal in some time, so I was tempted at all turns.   I finally caved in and made my lunch a mix of Arbys and Wienerschnitzel (mmm, chili cheese dogs).  And to top it off, when I got back to the office that afternoon, we had people in from our corporate office.   And of course we like to show our visitors a good time, so someone had gone over to the nearby Karl Strauss brewery and procured a jug of their finest Amber Lager (one of my Top 5 desert island beers) which we proceeded to drain.   Not exactly a light beer.  So Friday's weigh-in actually hit 286.4 lbs, more than 2 pounds higher than the last good weigh-in on Tuesday.

 

With my goal of 283 for the Monday weigh-in fading quickly, I stepped it up.  I took some extra time at the driving range on Friday (comp time from getting going so early on Thursday), and I made it to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday.   End result, this morning's weigh-in was 284.4 lbs.  1.4 lbs shy of my goal, but given my meltdown I'll accept it.  

 

I'd love to continue the pattern I'd been on, which would've made this week's goal to get down to 281 lbs.  I'm not sure how realistic that is, so I'm making my 2 pound loss goal 282.4, which is 2 pounds from today.  If I can do better, then Yay Me!!!  If I make my goal, then good on me again.  If I don't, well, I'll keep trying.  I'm off to a good start today.  Just my bagel and some string cheese and several glasses of water.  The driving range will be visited (as it usually is on Mondays) which will help matters, and hopefully the doggie will want long walks.   As long as DAPGF doesn't torpedo me with dinner tonight, I should be in pretty good shape to get thru the week.  Wish me luck, and as always, shouts to MyFitnessPal.com for having such a great tool for a great (big) tool.

I think I'm liking this...

So at my last post, I was expressing amazement that I'd dropped all the way down to 283.6 lbs, and was hoping that I wouldn't implode over the weekend.   And the weekend was a little of both.

 

Friday dinner was kind of doomed for us.  We got a late start, and wound up at a very good sushi place in La Jolla village.  They actually had an all you can eat special for $25 per person.  Danger!  Danger!   What made it worse was that, unlike some of the mega buffets like Onami or Todai, you actually submitted your order form to the sushi chef and he made your order fresh.  Jeezus did we eat a bunch, but damn was it good.   DAPGF and I did go for a short walk after dinner, and I did walk the dog later, but I knew I'd been a baaaaad Hoff.  To top it off, I wasn't able to hit the gym Saturday morning.  

 

Saturday's weigh-in: 285.6 lbs.  Yep, gained 2 pounds.  But once again, I knew that this was a temporary setback, and that I did have the ability to lose the weight again.   So lunch was actually pretty light…a lean, bbq pulled pork sandwich (no breakfast) and then a "smaller" amount of Mexican for dinner.  All told, I only took in 1500 calories or so, which is about the smallest amount I've ever consumed over one 24 hour period (without the assistance of Montezuma's Revenge).   DAPGF and I took a walk and then I had a pretty long dog walk.  I was hoping that I'd been good enough to maybe get below 285.0, which was my goal for the week.

 

And Sunday's weigh-in: 283.2 lbs!!!  w00000t!!  How about that!   My only fear was that I'd gone to the gym and then weighed myself fairly late in the morning, so I knew the much earlier Monday morning weigh-in would probably be higher if only because of that.   Anyway, no breakfast but lunch consisted of some calamari, some veggie spring rolls, and a shrimp cobb salad at a restaurant with one of the finest views in Del Mar.  That all seemed to work out relatively healthily.  Dinner consisted of some tasty evil Thai food and frozen yogurt for dessert.  We actually have a "boutique" yogurt place here (it's just how we roll in San Diego), and I couldn't resist a layer of cookie dough, followed by cookies and cream yogurt (it really tastes like a freaking oreo cookie, not just vanilla with oreo bits), followed by chocolate custard yogurt topped with actual crushed oreo.   Mmmm.  Sweet fattening goodness.  I took the dog out for her walk and prepared to face the Monday morning music.

 

Monday's weigh in: 285.4 lbs.  Yep.  I knew that Sunday torpedoed my progress.   My goal from the previous week had been 287.0, and I hit 287.4.  Since I was so close, I made my 2 pound goal for this week 285.0, instead of 285.4.  I didn't hit the actual target weight, but I did hit the 2 pound loss goal.  So again, because I got so close, this week's goal will be a weigh-in on Monday 7/23 of 283.0 or lower.  So I set out to work hard on that goal.  I was careful in my eating.  I did my bagel/cream cheese for breakfast.   Snacks consisted of wheat thins and string cheese, and I did go to the store at lunch and got some beef jerky.  All that protein, low in calories, and very low in fat.   Great nibble food to have around.  I did munch a bit more than I intended, and there was one other bad thing I did.   Sunday night, DAPGF and I were watching something on Discovery or Food TV or one of those channels, and they did a teaser on Twinkies.  GF asked when the last time I had a twinkie was.   Honestly it's been over 10 years, but it got me kinda jonesing.  When I was at the store, I looked at a box of twinkes.   Back in the day, Ho Hos were my guilty pleasure, but there's nothing wrong with twinkies.  So I look at a $3.99 box of twinkies, and right next to it I see a box of the Little Debbies Ho Hos knock-off's for only $1.29.   Well how can I pass up that bargoon?  So I had a few snack cakes on Monday afternoon.  Meh.   Dinner was Red Robin for the righteous BBQ Chicken Wrap.  It did come with "never-ending" fries, but I tried not go gorge myself on them.  I had a nice long walk that evening with the dog, and then another good one this morning, hoping that I'd not gained anything more than I already was.

 

Tuesday's weigh-in: 284.2 lbs.  Down 1.2 lbs!!  I think I may be getting a handle on this.   I know that I've got a loooong way to go to get below 240 lbs, but I'm starting to feel as though I'm understanding how to actually eat in a way that will help me lose weight.   And again, I must give props to My Fitness Pal.  Whether it's legitimate or I'm just psyching myself into increasing my metabolism, being able to track my caloric intake directly against what I burn, and more importantly being able to track all activities that burn calories, is really helping me see what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, how to correct that, and what progress I'm actually making.   If you haven't tried it, check it out.  I think you'll be pleased.

 

 

So, umm, wow!

So.  My Monday weigh-in to start this week was 287.4 lbs.  This was .4 lbs heavier than my goal, and almost 2.5 lbs heavier than my low point of the week, one day previous.  Despite that setback, I was still feeling good.  I had proven that I can lose the weight if I am just careful about how much crap I shove down my neck.   Anyway, Monday was not the best day.  I had to run home at lunch and get some stuff I'd forgotten in the morning, which meant that I ate a lot more than I intended to.   I did hit the gym on the way over to Mom and Dad's house, but I counteracted that with chips, salsa, a quesadilla, and two huge margaritas at Chevy's, with my sister.  End result, Tuesday's weigh-in was about 1 pound heavier than Mondays.   Still, I was optimistic because I had proof that I could lose the weight.  And in this I must give DAPGF full credit.  She is getting older (like the rest of us losers), and she's finally noticing that her metabolism is slowing and the weight isn't staying off like she would prefer.   So we go walking after dinner, usually for about a half hour or so.  In addition, I did go to the driving range at lunch on Tuesday, and had some nice, long doggie walks.   Wednesday's weigh-in was down to 286.8!  Progress!  Wednesday I hit the gym after work and was really tight on what I ate.   Thursday's weigh-in, 285.4 lbs.!!  Thursday, I went to a work luncheon but lucked out with the food.  Salad, and penne pasta in tomato sauce with chicken breast.  And I went and played this tiny little 9 hole executive golf course near Casa de Hoff after work.   DAPGF was out, so I was very careful with what I ate (Lean Cuisine BBQ Chicken Pizza, yummy).  When she came home, we went for another 30 minute walk, and then I had a 45 minute dog walk.   Friday morning's weigh-in.  283.6 lbs.!!!!!!!  Outside of the few days surrounding my mother's death, I haven't been near 283 in several months at least.   I do have the weekend to worry about, but I'm doing too well.  You can bet your collective asses that I'm going to do everything in my power to not backslide.   And I've said it before and I'll keep saying it…My Fitness Pal is a phenomenal tool.  Honestly I couldn't tell you whether it truly is keeping me on track, or whether the idea of using it is making my body process stuff better I couldn't tell you.   I do think that it is keeping me on track.  My sister isn't a fan of food journals or exercise logs, but I say Nay Nay.   Because of how My Fitness Pal is set up, it really lets you see your progress.  One look and I can tell whether the physical activity I've done (again, it lets you track just about anything) has "made up" for whatever I've eaten, or whether I need to put in extra time at the gym to burn off something naughty I've eaten.   I think that's the key…having calories in and calories out integrated.

 

So good luck out there.  Have a great weekend.

Cancer still sucks

Someday, hopefully sooner than later, we will find a cure for this shitty disease known as cancer.  But for now, here's a person who could use some kind words and thoughts.

 

Cross-posted at The Randomness and What Happened

The one in which we foresee both the good and the bad...

And the weekend was a mixed bag.  I had been making stellar progress this past week.   In fact, the Sunday weigh-in was all the way down to 285.0 lbs.!!!!  I haven't been that low in months!  I know the golfing was a major contributor, but I'd actually gotten down to 285.4 lbs for Saturday morning, so the golf counteracted the many beers consumed.  I proved to myself that I can actually lose weight, IF I DON'T GO OVERBOARD WITH STUFFING FOOD DOWN MY NECK!!!  

 

That last part is the key, obviously, and I aptly demonstrated it on Sunday.  After a fantabulous weigh-in Sunday morning, it was time to let the games begin.   I didn't hit the gym because my back was a bit sore, so I soaked in the steam room.  I sweated out a few calories, so I'm ok with that.   Lunch was a chicken taco salad thing that isn't too dangerous (no sour cream), but probably still fairly fattening.  Dinner was a BBQ Chicken Pizza at California Pizza Kitchen with DAPGF, and the cheese and carb-y goodness I'm sure did some damage.   Still, we went for about a 45 minute walk afterwards and made up for some of that.  The killer was what happened late that evening.   I pretty much hadn't been on the computer all weekend, and I wanted to check email, look at some of my favorite websites, and generally screw around.  So after DAPGF crashed out and I walked the dog, I jumped on the computer.  This is just shy of midnight, mind you.  Now, I know that you're not supposed to eat right before you go to bed, that it screws up your metabolism, etc. etc.   But the stomach started growling and I was needing just a little something salty.  So I went to the kitchen to grab something.  Did I grab a 60 calorie string cheese?   No.  Did I grab a few Wheat Thins?  No.  I grabbed the whole bag of Wheat Thins Toasted Veggie Crackers, using the rationale of "I don't want to make noise crinkling the bag getting out just a few chips, so I'll just bring the whole bag to the computer.   I'm not going to be on very long."  And next thing I know, 2/3 of the bag is gone!  End result, Monday's weigh-in was 287.4 lbs. 

 

Major bummer.  Not only did I gain 2.4 pounds from Sunday morning, but I also missed my goal.   Still, I'm trying to look at the positive.  I demonstrated that I can lose weight.  Now I just need to stop the little snacking problem.   Because the goal for this morning was to be 287.0 or below, the goal for next Monday (7/16) is 285.0 lbs or below.  I've got a couple of things working in my favor.   First, I get a bonus night at the gym tonight.  Little Sister is in town, and we've got to go thru some things that Dad has sorted out.   So DAPGF is on her own tonight and I'm hitting the gym on the way to Dad's (so weird to not say Mom and Dad's, btw, yesterday was their 40^th Wedding Anniversary.   Mom may not be here physically, but they're still married and Dad's still in love.  Cancer still sucks) house.  In addition to tonight, DAPGF starts teaching her new quarter this week, so instead of just one normal night of gym and online poker, I get two nights.   If the weather holds, I'm hitting the beach for some of it to catch the evening glass-off .  I also discovered a tiny little 9 hole executive golf course near Casa de Hoff.  It doesn't look like anything spectacular, but it will be good to work on the short game, pre-twilight fees are only $8, and the walking will be great exercise.   I had a good feeling about last week, and by and large I was right (except for the very end, which technically was part of the next week), and I've got another good feeling about this week, too.   Good luck!

Are the numbers really going down?

So yesterday's weigh-in was 286.8 lbs, and I was generally pleased that I'd only gained .4 lbs.  Yesterday was not a good food day.   DAPGF and I were house sitting over the 4^th, which necessitated my driving past (meaning thru) the drive thru on my way to work, and succumbing to the egg-y, cheesy goodness that is fast food breakfast sandwiches.   But dammit, I'm bound and determined to make up for it.  I walk the stairs all day.  I go to the driving range.   I know that DAPGF and I are going walking after dinner, and I know that I'm walking the dog later in the evening, but I'm pretty sure that it's not going to work.   When lo and behold, the email of emails comes down.  Our corporate office in Sacramento, where all of our network servers, internet servers, and email servers are located, is relocating and all of the servers were going to be shut down at 3 pm!   Well, hell!  If I can't even get on the internet, what's the point in staying.  So I left early and hit the gym on the way home!   Dinner consisted of mainly sushi, and the aforementioned walks. 

 

And the Friday weigh-in?  286.2 lbs!  Dropped .6 lbs!   As long as I don't completely fall apart over the weekend (and I'm golfing on Saturday which will definitely help the exercise side of things), I'll be ahead of my goal for the week.  

 

I have to say, My Fitness Pal is my new favorite thing.  I've kept the food diaries before, and I've tried to track my exercise, but this just works better.  First of all, it has a database of both food and exercise entries, and they run the spectrum.   Canoeing.  Golfing.  Playing a musical instrument.  Mowing the lawn (push or riding).   Walking the dog.  Walking up stairs.  I think this is it's greatest feature.   Not only can you track the obvious (20 minutes on the elliptical trainer burns 400 calories), but all of these things you wouldn't necessarily think twice about are listed.  It makes it much easier to see just how physically active you are, and it takes the calories burned and applies it to the calories consumed to give you your net figure.  It makes it so easy to see where you're doing things right, where you're doing things wrong, and what you need to do to make up for a poor decision (like going out to lunch with coworkers and having all fried appetizers and several beers, not that I would ever do anything like that!).   If you haven't gone over there to check it out, I highly recommend it.

 

Wherever you are, I hope you had a great 4^th of July, and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Progress!

As I said, I think it's going to be a good week.  I started off on the Monday weigh-in at 289.0.   Tuesday I spiked up to 290.4.  Monday's dinner was just wrong on so many levels, and it just illustrates how weak I can be at times.  After fighting pretty hard to limit what I ate, I went to dinner with DAPGF at this local curry place.  We go here fairly often, because the quality is good and the prices are very reasonable.   That being said, our "frequent diner" card has the requisite number of punches in it to qualify for a free entrée.  Woo hoo!   So instead of ordering the regular size, I ordered the large portion of their Teriyaki Chicken.  And I ate the whole bloody thing, including using my jasmine rice to soak up the rest of the (admittedly yummy) teriyaki sauce.   End result, despite an hour at the driving range in temps approaching 90 degrees, a half hour walk with DAPGF, and a 45 minute dog walk that evening, I gained almost a pound and a half for the Tuesday morning weigh-in.   But instead of getting down on myself, I resolved that I would be better on Tuesday.  I worked diligently to control my intake (using my new favorite tool, MyFitnessPal.com) and track my physical activities.  So on the 4^th, I woke up, walked the dog, and instead of hitting the gym I went to the beach (I <3 San Diego!) and got about an hour's worth of bodysurfing in.  Weigh-in when I got home, 286.0!!!  Cha-ching!!  Food and adult beverages are part of every 4^th of July celebration, and mine was no exception.   Weigh-in on Thursday morning, 286.4 lbs.  Considering the beer and pizza, I'm pretty satisfied with only gaining .4 lbs.  That gives me hope that my recent switch in the breakfast department, combined with a renewed effort at physical activity (more walking, more golf) will really get me on the downward trend.   I've actually met (and exceeded) my goal for this week…I just need to make sure I don't backslide.  Good luck with everything you're doing out there.

Well this is pretty nifty...

So courtesy of my fellow fat poker player, Big Slick Nuts, I present you with a pretty slick new toy.  Myfitnesspal.com.  I've kept the food diaries (Microsoft actually has a pretty nifty Excel template that does this), I've used the food databases, and I've done the exercise.   Myfitnesspal.com actually combines all of this in one place.   Enter some basic data (age, gender, height, weight, desired weight, basic daily lifestyle) and it will spit out a formula for how much net calories you can consume each day.   And here's where the integration pays off.  You enter your daily food intake.  Pick stuff off of their existing database, or if your particular item isn't listed, you can enter the nutritional information yourself and add it to their database.   The database isn't nearly as comprehensive as Calorie King , but by being able to enter your own foods it helps everybody out.  One other cool feature about the meal logs is that you can save a meal.  If you eat the same basic meal several times a week (packet of instant oatmeal and a banana, for example), you can save that meal combo and then it becomes a one-click process to log your breakfast.   Based on your nutrition plan that it created for you, it keeps a running track of how many calories you still have left for the day.  It also tracks your hydration, so you can make sure you're drinking enough water (unless you live in Tijuana!).  The final portion of this that makes it such a useful tool is the exercise log.  Did you walk the dog?   Log it and it calculates how many calories you burned.  Going to the driving range, walking up stairs, mowing the lawn, pushing a stroller, log it.   Based on the log, it calculates how many calories you burned, and then adds/subtracts that from your total calories consumed to give you your net calories for the day.  And the final capper?   It's free.  Go ahead and sign up.  I know that I can always use another tool to keep me accountable…you probably could too.

It's going to be a good week...

Sez me…

 

This past 2 weeks has been brutally hectic.  Working late several nights, over the weekend, all to get a proposal together for a potentially $1.8 million contract.   We got it done, and now it's a waiting game to see if my company is going to be called for an interview.  I've got more projects to work on this week, but I'm hella relieved to be done with that proposal.   Of course, if we get the project I'm looking at 2 solid years of being busy, but it beats being unemployed.

 

A side effect of the work situation was that I played practically no poker at all for almost 2 weeks.  My first game of any substance, hell the only game I played recently was a 9 player $11 turbo on Tilt that I got into at about 12:30 in the morning, because I finally had a moment and was itching to play.   I played solid ABC poker and managed to take 2^nd place…that was my first cash in a while so I'll take it.

 

Last week had some rough spots on the weight loss front, which I partially attribute to how busy I was with work.   No gym last weekend, no gym on Wednesday, and after working late on Wednesday I succumbed to the siren call of Pickup Stix' House Special Chicken.  And I added 2 pounds that evening.   I fought back during the remainder of the week, and made it to the gym on both Saturday morning and Sunday morning.  Sunday's weigh-in gave me a fighting chance at hitting my 2 pound loss goal for the final week of June, but Sunday's eating did me in.   I'm not sure exactly what it is about Sundays (meaning why DAPGF and I eat what we do on Sundays), but my Monday morning weigh-ins are never good.  Case in point.  Sunday lunch was this killer restaurant in Solana Beach , where everything is organic, lean, and home-made.  So of course we order some of the least healthy things on the menu.  Calamari as a (very tasty) appetizer.   A Caesar salad to split, and a spiced turkey meatloaf (it tastes amazing) sandwich with home-cut Kennebec fries.  Then dinner.   Rubios Fish Tacos for a shrimp burrito.  And the weigh-in this morning was almost 2.5 pounds heavier than Sunday's.  So I'm starting (again) at 289.0 lbs, which is just about the heaviest I've ever (knowingly) been.  But the difference is, I've got a good feeling about this week.

 

I can't point to any one specific thing, but I feel good about this week (and everything else to come).  Over the weekend I managed to get some good housekeeping stuff done.  I made it to the gym twice.  DAPGF's new semester of teaching starts, and she's teaching twice a week which means two days plus the two weekend days of gym (or beach) opportunities.   On the beach note, the weather here in San Diego has been fantastic (eat your hearts out), and I'm dragging my fat to the beach for some good wave action.   I've gotten current on all my bills that piled up when I was out of work last year.  My checkbook register is all up to date, I've planned out my budget for the next 6 months, and it actually looks good, and my car insurance is going down because a speeding ticket expired and goes off of my record.  

 

I'm also trying something new on the diet.  I'm giving up on the oatmeal (for now) because one packet just doesn't do enough to keep me satisfied until lunch.   So I would then munch on my planned morning snack, and then my planned afternoon snack!  If I was lucky, that would hold me thru lunch, but then I'd have to go buy some sort of afternoon snack which seemed to never be low fat or healthy.   So I'm trying out a bagel with fat free cream cheese.  All told, about 260 calories and so far it's managed to fill me up better than a single packet of oatmeal.   Maybe if this one thing shows any kind of success, I can build some willpower off of that and do a better overall job of controlling my eating.

 

In addition to the gym and the diet changes, I'm going to the driving range.  The budgeting has allowed me money for time at the range once or twice a week, so I figure Mondays and Thursdays or Fridays (gym/beach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) will give me some more exercise opportunities during the week, with the added benefit of keeping me occupied and not stuffing food in my face.   And for those of you who don't think swinging a golf club is exercise, go hit a hundred balls in 45 minutes to an hour.  I think you'll be surprised.

 

Finally, just having gotten some cleaning done around the house, buying a 2^nd hard drive cable for the new computer, getting the bills and budget current, I'm making a more concerted effort to plan my time wisely.   I suffer from poor time management skills, and it's been a problem both in my personal life as well as my professional life.  Having gotten caught up on my "chores" is giving me the opportunity to organize my overall life a little more efficiently.   Everything from planning out specific work tasks and checking email to playing poker and blogging, I'm trying to do a better job of time allocation and prioritizing.   Hopefully this will build on itself and I can apply it to all aspects of my life.

 

Self-control and will power.  This blog was started as a weight loss blog, and those two characteristics are key to any successful weight loss.   Maybe the expansion of the focus of the blog will help me control the expansion of my waist and gut!