Week Six Official Weigh-in

Week 6 - Official Weigh-in (post-diet week) 

Previous weight: 387.2
Current weight: 375.4

+/-: -11.8 lbs
Total weight-loss to date: 22.9 lbs

 And the diet week is over! And the results are great!

I honestly didn't think that I had put on as much weight as the pre-week weigh-in indicated, but if I did then this puts things back on the right path.

Thanks to all who gave their support this past week. It means a lot. And thanks to all who challenged my willpower at times too by offering me beer and spirits. As much as I know you were being generous, you also were helping strengthen my willpower to new levels and I thank you.

Cheers!

Days Six and Seven - November 1st and 2nd, 2011

No technical difficulties this time on the delayed post, just an extremely tired young-ish man and his desire for sleep.

Day Six was a good day. I woke up, and headed in to work. I did not bring any soup with me because I had only one meal on my mind: chicken veggie bowl. It's basically a chicken rice bowl from a restaurant down the street, only the low carb option where they don't put rice and add more veggies. When I finally got my lunch I also added two side orders of teriyaki chicken. Good thing, too, because the chicken veggie bowl, which I get frequently, had about half of the normal amount of chicken on it this time. I slathered both the main dish and the extra chicken with spicy teriyaki sauce, and the main dish with a bit of Sriracha on top of it. Gotta love my spicy lunch; fuels the metabolism!

After that I went and helped my dad with some stuff, preparing for his move this weekend. I came home and relaxed for a bit, and had a bowl of soup. After a couple hours I started to feel hungry so I turned the oven's broiler on and let it heat for a bit, then opened up my two bacon-wrapped filets and broiled them. I also stuck in a foil packet of asparagus spears marinated in worcestershire and garlic. The filets cooked perfectly, but the asparagus, which I bought on Day Two and didn't use, was all dried out and was inedible. However, with the larger portion of veggies I'd had earlier I felt ok forgoing them. After a couple more hours I went to bed, as I felt incredibly tired.

Day Seven dawned, and almost immediately after waking I felt like just staying in bed. Not because I felt ill, but because it was so dang COLD! It was below 30 according to the thermometer downtown when I got to work just after 9:30... and it felt like worse as the wind blew. Eventually the sun came out and the temperature skyrocketed to the upper 50's. I didn't bring soup to work today either, and ordered a steamed veggie bento, with brown rice, from Hula Boy. I once again coated the lunch in spicy sauces; sweet chili on 1/3, jerk sauce on the middle 1/3, and spicy hot on the final 1/3. Mix it all together and it's a great meal. It also came with a small container side of marinated veggies. I admit I am curious as to what they marinade with.

After work I went and caught a soccer match at the local college, where the team is fighting for the league title, at the behest of some friends. Afterwards one of the organizers had offered to buy all fans who are part of the Timbers Army Northern Alliance (which I am) a round at the closest affiliate bar. Sadly, I couldn't partake, but I did have several large glasses of hot tea because I was cold! The sun had gone behind the clouds during the match and the wind blew pretty hard, so it got cold fast. While we were at the bar we got to watch the 2nd leg MLS playoff matches. Midway through the 2nd half of the second match, it was time to go watch my friend's teams up at Salmon Creek Indoor Sports Arena. A couple of good matches, the best so far for them.

Upon getting home just after 11, I made up some more brown rice, and enjoyed it. Some soup followed. And now that it's after midnight, I can have my Mint Milano :).

The week was a good one, but difficult at times. The smells of foods that I couldn't have were driving me crazy. The extra night dealing with them at work this past weekend didn't help much, nor did being at bars where they serve good food and good beers. But it was a good test of willpower, and I'm happy to say I came through with no issues!

Thanks for cheering me along this week! Weigh-in is tomorrow... hope it's good news!

Cheers!

Days Four and Five - October 30th and 31st, 2011

Technical difficulties once again led to a delayed post, and a double post as well. I think it's my internet connection/provider. But I digress...

Day Four is always a turning point. My least favorite day by far, but I know I'm halfway through and coming into the two best days of the week by far (the ones with MEAT).

I woke up late, due to my escapades the night before and late arrival home, and got to watch my football game. Let's not talk about that, it didn't go well. During the game, however, I ate three bananas. On the way to work, I ate three more. That was the extent of the bananas.

Work was quite busy, and I was finally able to heat up my soup with about a half hour left in the shift, once things died down. I wasn't able to finish it all though, but it was probably two bowls plus, so if I left a half bowl behind I'm sure I'm ok. Just some salt and pepper for seasoning, because I couldn't find the Tabasco. Along with the soup I drank a quart of skim milk. I decided to cut my milk quantity in half for this cycle, and it turned out to be just the right amount. With several glasses of water throughout the rest of my shift, it was a good choice.

After work, came home and went to bed, dreaming of the pleasures of the next day!

Day Five began nicely, sleeping in a bit but not nearly as late as the previous two days. I blame my cat for that, as she would NOT let me stay in bed. After finally getting ready to do things I went to help my dad move some things to storage, then came home. I was not hungry at all until around 5. I went to pick up my paycheck and have dinner at work, whilst I watched the football game (as my normal Monday Night Football plans were cancelled) and ended up putting in a good 45 minutes of unpaid work in order for my cooking to not be in the way.

The steak this week was a Buffalo sirloin, lightly (too lightly, in fact) seasoned with Garlic Gourmay's Killer Cajun seasoning. As buffalo cooks much faster than beef, I put it in the oven on a grate for 4 minutes per side, and then seared the sides for another minute or so each (it wasn't looking done). The flavor was different, but the meat was nice and tender and juicy. However, I felt it needed a little something so I got a small container of bbq sauce and used that as an occasional dip. I also had one whole fresh sliced tomato as a "side".

After a bit I went to see "Army of Darkness" as it was playing at Kiggins for Halloween. I bought a bottle of water and checked out the new Marquee beer and wine lounge in the upstairs area; it's small but charming, the bar is styled to match the building, and they have a decent selection of beverages, but only three on tap. The movie was good, but I knew that since I've seen it many times. After getting home I popped open a can of stewed tomatoes and have enjoyed them while I type tonight's entry. A bowl of soup will follow shortly, before bed.

Thank you all for reading, and hopefully resetting my router will help with my connection issues. Otherwise it might be time to try using a new browser (not that I don't have another one installed already; just only used for my web development).

Cheers!

Day Three - October 29th, 2011

Well, yet again my post is delayed due to technical issues... Might need to run some diagnostics. But I digress.

The day started off well. Got to sleep in, and woke up around 11. Had 2 bowls of soup around 4, when I was finally hungry, flavored with a little teriyaki and Sriracha sauce, and some pepper. Was able to get that down before work.

At work, I had two salads, one a small bowl with lettuce, olives, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a splash of Italian dressing. The second was a small wedge salad with tomatoes and onion, and a small touch of blue cheese (not the best choice, but it added a little flavor).

I drank a lot of water and a couple small cans of pineapple-orange juice (100% juice, no added sugar). I even had some unsweetened iced tea.

After work I went to a friend's birthday party, which was at a bar. Extraordinary test of willpower, as everyone was drinking all around me, and people offering me drinks, and I turned them down and didn't order anything but water. After that, went to another bar where a friend of mine was DJ-ing. Nobody offered to buy at this one, but I still didn't have anything to drink. Willpower :).

There ya go! Day Three in the books. Things are going well.

Cheers!

Day One and Day Two - October 27th and 28th, 2011

Well, for some reason it wasn't going to let me log in last night to post Day One, so here are both Days One and Two.

The morning began with the official weigh-in, where sadly the results were not very good. You can read about them there. Needless to say the day was off to a bad start. However, I made the best of it and packed my food for the day and went off to work.

There I ate one Gala apple, one pound of fresh blackberries (so fresh some of them weren't completely ripe!), and two bowls of soup. I added about half of a 1/8 ounce bottle of Tabasco for flavor, since I had forgotten to season the soup before leaving home.

Upon returning home, I ate another Gala, and then heated up another couple bowls of soup, this time adding some sweet chili sauce for flavor. A little too much tho. So ended Day One.

Day Two began on a much better note, as I had the morning off and was able to sleep in. When I finally woke up I wasn't very hungry, so I putzed around for a bit. When I finally did get hungry, I opened a bag of mixed raw broccoli, cauliflower, and baby carrots. From previous experience I knew the raw broccoli wouldn't go down well without something to moisten it so I had some water and also a small cup of lowfat yogurt ranch dressing. Between noon and 3:30 I finished the whole bag of veggies. The entire bag plus the dressing needed to make the broccoli palatable was approx. 425 calories.

I had to go to work at 5, but ended up being called in early. Working on the weekends, when I'm on the diet week anyways, is pretty difficult, because all the smells of foods I can't eat drive me crazy. Yet this is a test of willpower, and tonight I won it. I made it through the shift, and made my baked potato. It was a rather large one, and took forever to cook (having to even nuke it to finish, and it was still a bit raw). However, it was rather tasty.

I got home and was not very hungry at all, and as I finish the post I am still not hungry. I have yet to have soup today, and doubt now that I will, as it's 3am. I have soup at work that I can eat tomorrow, plus a whole half-full stockpot in the fridge. I have fruit and veggies for tomorrow, so I'm set.

Thanks for reading along. Sorry Day One was so late, but sometimes the Internet doesn't work right.

Cheers!

October 27th, 2011 - Official Weigh-in (pre-diet week)

Week 6 - Official Weigh-in (pre-diet week) 

Previous weight: 372.3
Current weight: 387.2

+/-: +14.9 lbs
Total weight-loss to date: 11.1 lbs


Ouch. May 28th was the last official weigh in, and despite eating healthy for the last several months, mixed with bike riding and walking (I won't lie and say it's been a regular schedule of exercise or that I haven't had unhealthy meals from time to time in this span) I have had a pretty big setback. I have had a couple of heavy meals (meats, rice, etc.) in the past 96 hours, so maybe that will have some effect on this weigh in, but we'll see how it goes. I knew I'd put a little back on, but it was fluctuating between 5-7 lbs for the most part.


Diet starts today. Let's get this back off again.

Update - October 7th, 2011

Alright, well, the trip to Vancouver went well, and now I'm waiting for payday to start my diet week cycle. So next week. Looking forward to it. This will be the full original cycle, so it'll be great to have everything set to a schedule again for a change. After just eating (mostly) healthy for a while let's see how my body responds.

I've been getting a lot of feedback from readers, asking me how progress is going since I'm not continually blogging anymore. They have expressed their condolences to my parent's ongoing divorce, as well as related some stories of similar experiences. One friend in particular has told me to be careful, because this could cause me to start overindulging and actually gain back all the weight I've lost. I am being very careful. I have had days where I've eaten more than I should have, but also either immediately before or after has been a day where I've consumed very little. Neither is healthy, but it balances out. I am working to prevent that from happening though.

Of course, there's been a few people who have chosen to "encourage" me by trying to shame me for lack of effort. Hopefully these people understand that doing so is not a great technique, that it can lead me to feel like a failure and eventually give up. This would be bad. So please, if you're currently trying to do this, stop. Build me up instead of tear me down.

I recently saw a quote (which I unfortunately didn't save) that goes along with this last bit. It goes something like this: "I may be less than some people expect me to be, but there's more to me than you'll ever know." I'm probably not doing it justice, but you get the idea.

Thanks again for reading. I'll let you know when the soup is cooking and the week can begin!

Cheers!

Update: September 20th, 2011

Well, things are still rather stressful for me, but I've noticed my holding weight, which has been bouncing back and forth is starting to do so less and less, and for the better, so it sounds like some things are stabilizing.

I'm probably going to do a full week cycle soon after I return from Vancouver BC at the beginning of October. See how that holds up with my system.

Also, tried on my jersey the other day as a measuring gauge of my progress thus far. When I first tried to try on a Timbers jersey back at the end of January, I couldn't even get into a 2XL-sized jersey. Three months later I was able to squeeze into one, but it was rather sausage-like. Last week, I am proud to announce, I was able to squeeze into my XL-sized jersey with a sausage-like fit, but I couldn't have done that 8 months ago. This made me feel pretty good.

I haven't been eating as much lately, which is good and bad. On one side, when I do eat it's mostly lean protein, like chicken or fish, some beef. On days when I'm not seeming to eat as much is when I have slips, where I have a little bit of a bad food, like a burger from McDonalds which is high in calories but in a small size. Luckily I have been not ordering much in those situations so the effect is minimized. For example, the last 2 days I've eaten fairly healthy.

Yesterday, my birthday, I enjoyed 7 oysters (5 of which were very lightly breaded and pan-fried; the other two were raw), as well as pork and (lightly breaded) calamari, and then later on smoked chicken wings, some diced potatoes, green beans and corn, and three meat balls. A slice of birthday cake was also consumed. Today meals consisted of a beef polish sausage with chili, cheese, veggies and jalapenos, a half a hot dog with onions, and sushi.

I've also been drinking lots of water and tea. Lately I've added some honey to my tea due to irritation from soccer matches, which won't be getting any better this week! I had some beer on my birthday, but for the month so far I haven't had much more than that.

Things are holding steady, which means that progress remains. I'm looking forward to seeing how this next cycle will go!

Thanks for reading, and for your support. And not just diet-related support, but in everything. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

Cheers!

Update - September 5th, 2011 (yes, it's been a while)

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't posted anything in over a month. Some of you are wondering "why?", and some of you may already know some of why already.

I'm just going to lay it out. My parents are getting a divorce. For years they've been unhappy together, and for a variety of reasons, but finally my dad went and filed around the time of my last entry. At first I didn't think it was going to affect me any, knowing that it was for the best and that they'd both be happy finally. But little did I know that I was wrong, oh so wrong...

The first inkling I had that I knew I was being affected by this was that I realized that I stopped practically everything I needed to be doing in Phase Two. I've ridden my bike 3 times since the filing. I have been to the gym once. I ate about half of the last batch of the soup over the course of a week and the rest went to waste. I haven't been eating like I planned out. Luckily my weight has been maintaining, with a fluctuation of around 5 lbs. both ways. But no progress has been made.

Another thing that I realized is that I started to drink more. Now, a couple of occasions were ones I knew I was going to, like a visit to the Oregon Brewers Festival and the Timbers Army Homebrew Tailgate, but it seemed like I was going out of my way to drink, and once I realized that I stopped. I think since then I've managed much better. But all this drinking has had a negative effect on the weight loss, and that's not surprising.

I've also been under a lot of stress. It's no secret that being under a lot of stress can cause weight loss, and I think combined with the heavy drinking and the sometimes horrid food choices I've made over the last month this is why I've maintained the same weight.

I keep wanting to put out the effort to make more soup, get on the bike, hit the gym, but when it comes down to it I just don't feel like it when the time comes, and I've come to realize that I've become depressed over the divorce. And they haven't even been to the first preliminary hearing yet!

I want to thank those of you who've talked with me about my lack of entries and progress over the last few weeks. Talking about it with friends has helped me to fight off some of this depression and make some positive progress again. I can't do it without you.

I can't promise that things will get immediately better as this process goes on, but I can promise I'll be doing my best to see that things get better. At the very least I'd like to be able to maintain my progress at the end of this proceeding, and give myself a great platform to springboard into another spree of pound-shedding.

Thanks again for reading, and for your support. It means everything to me.

August 2nd, 2011

Well, yesterday didn't go quite as well as planned, as I had no time to make it to the gym nor get out on my bike, and due to the crappy budget dishwasher we have in the apartment it took two wash cycles to get the stockpot cleaned and ready to make the soup. So starting at just before midnight I got cooking.

I have a new kitchen gadget, called a Chef's Rival. It's like a food processor but instead of electric it's hand cranked, and does a better job already than my old food processor (which, let's face it, it cost all of $10 5 years ago, it couldn't be that great to begin with!). I started, like always, with the carrots. I put half in to start (too much for future reference), and got to work. Within 5 minutes I had all the carrots done, in fairly uniform size chunks for the most part, a time savings of 45 minutes (chopping up 2 lbs of carrots into tiny pieces is incredibly time-consuming). I also chopped up the green peppers, green onions and celery this way too. I think it's actually a good thing because before adding the tomatoes and green beans the stockpot was only half full, when usually it's closer to 3/4. This is also good because it helps prevent stuff from spilling over when it boils!

As far as food for the day, I had a pretty healthy day. I didn't have anything until almost 4 (which is NOT healthy), when I had two gyros from a deli, which were thick with the gyro meat, and heavy on the veggies as well. My parents invited me over for dinner, which was grilled salmon, fruit salad consisting of cherries, peaches and blueberries, and patty-pan squashes (you'll have to look them up... very interesting). And my dad also served some beer as well, not terribly healthy but it balances out! Apple pie and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream topped off the meal. When I got home, I made a small batch of salsa from

So here I am taking a short break at work to update this, and it's 1pm, still haven't had anything to eat. I'm debating running across the street to the hot dog cart. If I do, I'll get the beef polish like I always do, and have it loaded up with veggies, like is normal. Kraut is a veggie, right?

Thanks again for reading, and I'll try to post again later to finish off the day.

Cheers!

August 1st, 2011 - Phase 2 begins! (with weigh-in)

Well, it's been a long and crazy bit since my last bunch of regular posts. Tech problems plus an extremely busy schedule contributed to this, but now it's time to move on to the next phase of my diet plan. Phase 2, to be exact. But first, the official weigh-in:


Previous weight (May 28th): 372.3
Current weight (August 1st): 379.7

+/-: +7.4 lbs
Total weight-loss to date: 18.6 lbs


Well, frankly this is better than I expected. Near daily weighings had me as high as 384 at one point, but I've been trying to see how my body is reacting to not being on the regular diet weeks as they were in the past and how effective my changed eating habits were. Now I know. And yes, I had weak moments. Made some less than stellar choices for my dining options from time to time, but everybody does.


So, you're asking what Phase 2 consists of. As hinted in the last couple posts, the soup will be a mainstay of the diet. However, I'll be augmenting constant protein into my daily meal plans. This means I'll be eating a bunch of chicken, some pork, some beef, maybe lamb and goat from time to time (don't knock it if you haven't tried it), in addition to healthy diet choices like salads, veggies, fruits, etc. There will be carbs, and probably there will be some meals where I choose a less-than-healthy option, but it's ok; it's like one drop of salt water in Crater Lake. A fresh batch of soup is in the makes today.


Also in the plans for Phase 2 are 3 lifting days at the gym each week. One day will be devoted to upper body, one day for lower body, and one for the core. Why you ask? Well, one thing I learned long ago was that aerobic exercise is all well and good, but nothing burns fat like muscle does. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. So I want to put on some muscle to help fire up my metabolism.


Also, I'm going to be out on the bike much more. I'm going to try and target a one hour ride twice a week, plus (weather permitting) riding to Smokey's and back on one of my work days. I recently did the latter last weekend, shaving 10 minutes off of my travel time to work and a whopping hour and forty minutes off the return time (a easier route made a big difference though, although my improved physical conditioning played a major part as well). This will give me aerobic exercise in addition to the lifting.


This may be added to as things progress, but these are the three big tenets to Phase 2. These should really help me out in my weight loss journey.


As always, thank you for reading. I was happy to hear so many of you commenting on your notice of no entries. It means a lot that you read and encourage me, and push me when I slack. Your encouragement is a big reason why I continue to carry on.


Cheers!

Off-time update - June 29th, 2011 (didn't post for some reason)

The soup is made and chilling in the fridge, so I am pleased to announce that, after delays due to (you guessed it) budgetary issues and (here's a new one) illness, Phase 2 is about to begin.

I've got nice weather on the horizon for bike rides both around and to work on the weekends, nice new crosstrainers that breathe nicely to keep athlete's foot to a minimum, and my Zune is charged. I'm ready.

I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym and lifting weights.

Thanks for all the support.

Thanks for reading everyone, and thanks also for the support!

7/12/11 Note: For some reason this never posted when I originally wrote it. And I've been trying to get it to post for the last two weeks. Soup is now gone, but never made it into the gym. Been out several times on my bike however for some good rides. Weight has held steady, but my spreadsheet was lost a couple weeks ago and I've yet to re-create it. About to make more soup in the next day or so and then start lifting, light at first and then as I get used to the weights again I'll start to up the reps.

Off-time update - June 18th, 2011

So, as you may have noticed, I did not start my new cycle on this past Wednesday as I had originally planned. This is for two reasons: First, this week held my finals as well as a fairly heavy work week, which kept me from getting to the store to get soup fixin's like I have been purchasing lately. Couple this with, on top of that, my dad's birthday and Father's day as well, and it's been pretty full and left the coffers somewhat bare, despite the two paydays this week. Second, I have been putting further thought into my plans and adjusting to fit conditioning levels at first, and how to ramp those up.

Today I also provided myself with further motivation to get this ball rolling faster. As mentioned several times in previous entries, one of my main drives to do this has been to fit into a Timbers jersey, which run small. My plan has always been to purchase a replica jersey in an XL size. I know now that I can fit into a XXL size, barely (although that may have even changed in the last couple months), but I don't want to stop there. Unfortunately, today was the last day I had (for the foreseeable future) to go and purchase one at a good-sized discount compared to normal cost as well as if I borrowed one of my friends' season ticket discount card. The adidas employee store, where I was going to get this with a 50% discount (except on Timbers jerseys *grumble grumble*), was out of the XL replicas. The price was $50, meaning if they had also had the red jerseys in stock I could have got two at a very good price. However, not wanting to go for a large, I instead selected (at an additional $30 more than what I had intended to spend, yet still $30 less than the regular retail price) the XL authentic jersey, which runs slightly smaller than the replica does.

My new Timbers XL jersey

To those of you who are saying right now "wait, you have money for a Timbers jersey but not your diet?", well, let me explain. Last month, which to be exact is one month from tomorrow, the 19th, I was featured as an extra in the shooting of several Alaska Airlines/Timbers commercials, the first of which has now aired. The pay for this was $100 (not bad for approx. 6 hours of work!), and I resolved immediately to put that towards buying my Timbers jersey. Essentially, it was money for very little work on my part, and a means to an end (if you're curious to see the commercial, you can see my shoulder, as I was in the very last row on the plane, at the 17-second mark here).

Now why am I so happy with getting something I didn't want? Well, I can explain. As stated, the jersey I wanted already ran small. The one I ended up with runs even smaller than the one I wanted. This means that in order to fit into this jersey, I will have to lose even more weight than I was going to target with option A. This is very good. I now have even more inspiration because this jersey is essentially useless to me unless I can wear it. And I want to wear it, and wear it proudly. This is inspiration at its finest, as my friends agree.

I am going to put this in a place where I will see it daily when I wake up, and use that to fuel my program. I'm going to take that photo, which was taken with my cell phone, and make it my background so I'll see it whenever I look at my phone, and remember what my goal is. I want this to be the image that I see in my mind's eye whenever I start to waiver, start to slack. I will fit into this by the end of this MLS season, I promise you.

I'm still hoping that you'll keep it up with the feedback and encouragement as I take this next step in the weight loss journey. I'm making meal plans, finding recipes for low-calorie high-protein and low-(simple) carb meals that will build muscle and burn fat. I'm getting pumped. The weather is (sort of) getting better and that means more time out on the bike, and longer and longer rides. I'll say this, now that I'm older and don't have the free time like in my youth, it just amazes me just how much time I spent riding my bike around when I was a kid, even before I had my paper route. I miss that.

Thank you all for reading, and I'm glad you're taking this trip with me. I'm thankful for your support.

Cheers!

Off-time update - June 9th, 2011

Well, I had been hoping to jump right back in to the diet but unfortunately life happens. A multiple near-death experience last week has caused me to be broke until next week.

I am preparing a new attack strategy for my diet. I've noticed a troubling (to me) trend in my diet results, and that is that the weight loss is starting to taper off after each week. I am doing nothing different, but the weight loss is less and less each cycle. I'm sure that if the cycles were more regular there would be more weight loss accumulated, but I suspect that it would still taper down.

I am discussing currently with friends who are personal trainers how to move this diet into a new stage. Confirmed already is the daily consumption of lean meats, such as chicken, to provide protein to aid in the muscle-building that my new workout regimen will be fueling. The soup will also be a staple of the program; however, it will be 2-3 bowls a day in addition to meals. I will once a month do the original plan as a "cleanse" of sorts as well. This creates an average of 3:1 in weekly cycles. If this confuses anyone, I'll explain it better for you.

I'm excited for this new phase. The results so far have given me quite a bit of personal joy, and I hope to keep the momentum going. 26+ pounds lost (since I don't know exactly where I started), dropping a pants size, having more energy, and gaining more confidence are some of the benefits of this whole journey. And of course, the support from you, the reader, is one of the most vital and appreciated benefits I've received. I couldn't have done all this without you.

Anticipating Wednesday of next week as the start of Phase 2. I hope you stay along for the ride. It should be a fun one!

Cheers!

May 28th, 2011 - Official Weigh-in

Week 5 - Official Weigh-in (post-diet week) 

Previous weight: 378.0
Current weight: 372.3

+/-: -5.7 lbs
Total weight-loss to date: 26.0 lbs


Well, not the best week I've had, but not the worst either. And with a little bit of luck and some nicer weather on the horizon, it's going to get better from here on out!


Thanks again for reading along everyone. This week we passed 1000 visits to the blog, which is a pretty good milestone. States of Oregon and Washington, respectively, are leading the charge in readership, and the blog is now being read in 7 countries.


I appreciate your support everyone. Keep it up!


Cheers!

Day Seven - May 27th, 2011

Well the end of the diet week has been reached, and tomorrow is the weigh-in. Hopefully I made a good push!

Today was kind of a crazy day. Went in to the office and was there for a couple hours before the boss decided it was time to leave early for the weekend. After that I helped him putz around in the garage for a bit while he built some wooden frames for planter boxes. Then I went home, and relaxed before having to cover a shift at Smokey's.

I was feeling really hungry when I got to work last night, and luckily it was slow enough that I was able to eat 3 bowls worth of soup early on. That helped to tide me over until I was off work, which was at 10:30. I had brought my box of brown rice to work knowing I'd be there late, and so I cooked that in the microwave while I steamed some veggies in the oven (or kinda combination simmered-baked-steamed them). Put it in a to-go container and brought it home where I had my sauces. A third with sweet chili sauce, a third with teriyaki, and a third with teriyaki mixed with the Sriracha sauce. It was delicious. Ate it while I watched the movie RED.

All in all, I'd say it was a good week. I did forget to eat my mint milano's though :( So I guess I'll have them tomorrow.

Thanks again for reading! The weigh-in is in the morning!

Day Six - May 26th, 2011

Well, today was yet another day closer to being skinny, and it felt good.

Meat and veggie day, my 2nd favorite day of the diet week. And it was a great one. I was off to the office this morning and enjoyed a nice lunch of chicken with some "special sauce" and a bit of spicy teriyaki plus a bunch of steamed veggies. It was extremely tasty. I've figured that by upping the temperature of the food with hot sauces it will help fuel my metabolism and help kick this diet into overdrive. Will it reflect in the final standings? We'll see.

After work and school, I stopped off to buy food for dinner. I had a couple bratwursts while dinner thawed and flavored, and carmelized some onions to go along with them. Top them off with a bit of sweet hot mustard and they were quite yummy. No buns, of course! I paired this with a small chicken Caesar salad, no croutons and light dressing.

For dinner, I had a chicken breast that marinated in Worcesterchire sauce, a spritz of olive oil, some minced garlic, and a couple sprigs of fresh-cut rosemary from my parent's house. They marinated vacuum-sealed for about 3 hours, and then I baked the chicken with the rosemary sprigs on top for about a half hour. Just the right amount of time too. I made two just in case I was still hungry, but I'm still full and so I'm saving the second for lunch on Saturday. Paired with some corn with a bit of butter and some salt and pepper, and it was a great meal. One bowl of soup to follow that all up just before bed, and the day is complete.

I watched a movie while eating dinner tonight, and it actually helped pull me through some low times I've been going through as of late in my personal life. I can honestly say that I'm feeling more whole and at peace with myself than I have for a long time. Kind of weird that this movie sort of parallels my life, not exactly, but close enough that it resonated inside me. Wow.

Anywho, Day Five meal costs:

• Chicken and Veggie bowl: Bought by my dad (how generous of him!)
• Bratwurst: 5 for $2.98, ate two for a total of: $1.19
• Onion, small white: $0.38
• Romaine Lettuce for salad: Free from my other work
• Chicken breasts: $4.98 for 5, ate two for a total of: $1.99
• Corn: one can @ $0.58

Things like Worcesterchire sauce, the butter for the corn, the garlic, and the dressing were all things already purchased previously and so the costs aren't factored in.

Grand total of Day Five meals: $4.14

Everything was fantastic, and I'm ready to get a great night's sleep. I honestly believe it will be the best I've had in some time.

Cheers, and thanks for reading!

Day Five - May 25th, 2011

Yesterday (Wednesday, day 5) was a long day, so this is coming a bit late as I felt sleep was better.

Day started off with a screening for my best friend's sister to see if I qualified for a free dental cleaning for her final exams. While I haven't had a cleaning in 8+ years, apparently I didn't have enough of the right kind of tartar in order to qualify. I was told later that even people who have gone more than 20 yrs didn't qualify, so I guess I shouldn't feel so bad. Afterwards I stopped by Fred Meyer on my way to work and picked up some grape and cherry tomatoes for lunch.

Those didn't last past 1:30pm though, and I was still hungry. However, because of my day's schedule I wasn't really going to be able to eat until the end of the night, and so dealt accordingly.

After work I went to the Portland Timbers/AFC Ajax match. I was originally supposed to go with my cousin for her birthday, but she fell ill and I was left with a spare ticket. I managed to sell my spare ticket on the shuttle bus for what I paid for it, but sometime between then and the end of the night I lost the cash, so all-in-all I spent exactly what I intended to spend on the night. The match was fun, even though we lost 2-0, and I met up with some of my new friends afterwards. As I was incredibly hungry, I stopped at one of the Timbers Army-affiliated food carts outside the stadium and bought 3 carne asada (steak) tacos, and ate the meat (slathered in the hot sauces) minus the tortillas. All told it was probably about 4oz of meat.

Once I got home I heated up the oven on broil and prepared my steak for broiling. After about ten minutes I stuck the steak in and broiled it for 9 minutes. Perfectly cooked. This was a top sirloin I bought at Whole Foods, since it was on special. It was a little more spendy, but I figured I'd give it a shot, and it was good, but probably not worth the extra $1.50/lb that I could have bought it for elsewhere. One benefit is that they season it at no extra charge, and so they seasoned it liberally with garlic & herb and rosemary garlic seasoning, and then on the top I sprinkled some of the Garlic Gourmay Killer Cajun seasoning. Mmmm, delicious. And people wonder why this is my favorite day of the diet week!

I finished the night with the minimum one bowl of soup, and headed off to bed.

Cost of Day Five meals:

• Cherry & Grape tomatoes: $2.99/ea for $5.98
• Carne Asada tacos: $1.25/ea -$0.25 discount for $3.50
• Top sirloin steak: $9.03

Total cost of meals: $18.51

This ends up being one of the more expensive meals of the week, but for good reason: Steak is delicious and worth the cost for a good one.

Thanks again for reading everyone, and for your support!

Cheers!

Days Three and Four: May 23rd and 24th, 2011

Well, I was a bit worn out last night to post Day Three at my regular interval, so here's both days combined!

Monday was a pretty easy day. I didn't really feel hungry til around 4pm, and so when I was about to leave on some errands I put my remaining asparagus in a big Zip-lock to marinade with some teriyaki and garlic. They ended up marinating for about 3 hours by the time I cooked them. I also had a double Gardenburger wrapped in lettuce. I figured I needed some extra fuel, and since the patties are only 100 calories each I could probably get by, considering I didn't have anything earlier.

I ended up cooking all that plus eating my 3 bowls of soup while I sat with my friend Joe before we went off to his softball games. He played the late ones and then he wanted to have some beer with his teammates afterwards, and since I offered to drive him I was kinda stuck. Luckily the bar supplied me with all the coffee I could drink! After dropping him off at home I hit up Winco for some bananas and skim milk for the next day.

Today I woke up and headed off to work. I polished off a bunch and a half of bananas and about a third of a half gallon of the skim milk while I was at the office. I ended up leaving my milk in the mini-fridge accidentally, so I've been kinda thirsty but don't wanna drive across town to pick it up. After class tonight I finished the 2nd bunch of bananas, and I only have a few left. I am about to eat my soup as well. Oh, and when I met up with a friend to pick up my cousin's birthday present tonight we met at Starbucks, and I bought a Venti (fancy Seattle word for "Large") tea.

I have my steak seasoning in the fridge for tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that! I still need my tomatoes tho; since I have an appointment before work tomorrow, I can stop on the way to the office to get some. I'll have to go fresh since there's no can opener!

So for Monday's meals, I had:

• 1/2 bunch of asparagus, cost: $2.10
• 2 Gardenburger patties, cost: $1.50

Total Monday (Day 3) meal costs: $3.60

For today's meals, it is:

• Bananas: $4.22
• Skim milk: $1.68 (I'm never gonna drink the rest before it spoils so it goes down as totally used)
• Tea @ Starbucks: $2.65

Total Day 4 meal costs: $8.55

Thanks for reading, and sorry about not getting yesterday's entry up in a timely matter, but hopefully you'll forgive me for being tired and needing to go to bed.

Cheers!

Day Two: May 23rd, 2011

Ah, I love the smell of weight loss in the morning...

I woke up fairly early, but wasn't hungry at all. So I toyed around for a bit, and eventually I was hungry enough to have a fairly large bowl of soup, with some salt, pepper and some Sriracha sauce added to it. Mmm, spicy and good.

That held me over until my break at work. It's baked potato day, and I had just that with a little bit of garlic butter and some chopped green onions. I paired that with a Gardenburger wrapped with lettuce with a little bit of ketchup, mustard, and some more lettuce and a couple slices of tomato and a half bunch of asparagus marinated in Italian dressing and grilled/baked. Delicious, nutritious, and filling. Made pretty much everyone at work jealous, at least the asparagus did.

I'm home now, and about to heat up some more soup. I want to try and get 3 bowls in total for today.

Also, something I said I was going to start doing the last go-around I am actually going to follow up on, and I'll have to back-edit yesterday's entry to do so as well, as I don't have the receipt in front of me.

The cost of today's eating, non-soup, was:

• Gardenburger: $2.99 for 4/ $0.75/ea @ Safeway
• Asparagus: 1.05 lb @ $3.99 lb for a total of $4.19, 1/2 bunch = approx. $2.10 @ Safeway
• Potato: Free from work.

Total cost of food for the day (w/out soup): $2.85

I probably would have spent less on the asparagus if I'd have bought it when I bought my soup ingredients but oh well...

Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Day One - May 21st, 2011

Well, today was kinda disappointing because of all this Rapture ballywho, and yet here we all are. Guess you can't believe everything some religious nut says, right?

Well, it took longer than I thought to get my stockpot clean, so I ended up waking up early and making the soup today. On the bright side, I got to eat some of it while it was still freshly warm, and not reheated.

I ate probably 4 bowls of soup today, along with 4 Braeburn apples. I just wasn't all that hungry today, so I ate when I was.

Also, I want to give a shoutout to Gateway Produce on the corner of Andresen Rd and 25th st. They have some of the best prices for fresh veggies and fruit out there, and the quality is good. Talked with the owner when I bought my veggies and he explained that they have to beat retail store prices in order to stay in business, and that they also get to reject deliveries if the quality isn't up to scratch. And from what I've seen and used, they're doing a great job, and the soup and my other fruit/veggie-based meals are all much better for it.

Soup costs for the week:

• Carrots: 2 lb bag for $1.69
• Celery: 1 bunch for $1.61 ($0.88/lb)
• Green Onion: 1 bunch for $0.50 (2 for $1)
• Green Pepper: 3 for $0.99 (Recipe calls for 2 but these were kind of undersized so I used 3)
• Green Beans, canned: 2 cans for $1.16 ($0.58 each)
• Diced Tomatoes: 2 cans for $1.16 ($0.58 each)

The other ingredients, the veggie soup mix paste and beef bouillon (substituted for the broth), were purchased in advance in volume and since I've since lost the receipt I don't remember the cost, I can't factor that in to the soup cost at this time.

Total Soup cost: $7.11 for the week, and for 7 days, that breaks down to $1.02/day ($1.0158 if you want to be exact)

Day One meal costs:

• 4 Braeburn apples for $2.12 ($0.89/lb)

Thanks for reading!

Week 5 - Official Weigh-in (pre-diet week)

Previous weight: 376.6
Current weight: 378.0

+/-: +1.4 lbs

Well, I feel awful about having to put this off for so long but unfortunately making my ends meet is a bit more important than my diet.

I'm not terribly surprised that there was some gain, but at the same time I'm happy that it was less than two pounds. At one point during the last near-month I weighed in at just over 372, but I knew that was too good to last.

This is going to be my last pure diet week. I am going to start my workout program up full-force during the next cycle, which means to help aid in building the muscle needed to burn extra fat I am going to be adding a lot of chicken into my diet. Baked chicken, either plain or seasoned, but not fried.

Well, here goes!

Off-time update - May 20th, 2011

Good news, Tomorrow is Day One of the new diet week.

It would have been yesterday, but I forgot about an all-day catered event I was taking part in, and after an extremely long day I didn't feel up to making soup. So I bought all the things I needed today after work and once the stock pot is finished in the dishwasher it's soup time!

With all this talk about the Rapture coming tomorrow, I debated waiting to see if it was worth spending the money, but I decided what the heck, if tomorrow isn't the Rapture, then I'm going to be set for the next diet week.

Well, weigh-in is in the morning! Make sure to check in and see where I'm at!

Off-time upate: May 11th, 2011

Well, this has been long overdue...

It's been nearly two weeks since the last day of the most recent diet week. I have been horrible about this, but I've been incredibly busy as well and just crashing when I go to bed. Forgive the unattentiveness of the posting of late.

So due to events that would interfere with the diet week, and then a delay in tax return arrival, I will be resuming the diet next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.

In the meanwhile, weight has been fluctuating from the last weigh in up to 382 and back again. It's kind of annoying. I can go a day with all healthy foods and it says I'm up 6 lbs and then eat a cheeseburger and have it drop four. I have been eating fairly healthy, with breakfast several times over the last two weeks and as many non-fried foods as possible. Avoiding pizza as much as possible as well, despite how good it is. I've had quite a bit of baked chicken/turkey as well. Lean protein is good, after all.

I hope this is a good enough update for you. I'll try and do more as I lead up to the start of Week 5.

Cheers!

April 28th - Official Weigh-in

Previous weight: 382.4
Current weight: 376.6

+/-: -5.8 lbs


Well, after my weigh-in on Easter looks like I only lost an additional tenth of a pound, but that's ok. Any loss is good, right?


To date, total weight lost is: 21.7 lbs.

Day Seven - April 27th, 2011

Whew! Finally made it! Another week of weight loss is in the books, and tomorrow I'll find out just how much I lost this time around.

I started the day by going in to the office, stopping on the way because I remembered it was Administrative Assistant's day. When the discussion of lunch arrangements came up before our AA came in, my diet was taken into consideration, which was awesome. Luckily, there were several options, and the closest/most convenient was the best one.

At the Hula Boy restaurant behind the office building I scoured the menu until I saw a rice and steamed veggies item. The only one on the menu! So I got that, with brown rice of course, and for the side dish the marinated vegetables. I got the Big Kahuna size, so I could make sure I got enough (last time I was in there my Kahuna was a bit lite on the fare). I did get enough, and using their selection of sauces I coated 1/4 of each in the following: Teriyaki, Sweet chili, Jamaican Jerk, and Spicy Teriyaki. The last two, probably the combination of the two together anyways, actually brought sweat to my brow. This doesn't happen often. A couple of my coworkers offered me some of their extra coconut shrimp, but I happily passed, knowing if I really wanted I could come back tomorrow after class during happy hour and have some for myself. I won't, but I could.

I got home from work and started to work on my homework. Around 6 I started feeling hungry again, and started to plan for dinner. I ended up going to Winco to get a bag of broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots, some teriyaki sauce, and some salad mix. I had a couple small bowls of salad with just some olive oil and balsamic vinegar sprinkled over the top, and then around 8 heated up rice. I added a small can of corn and diced green peppers just before cooking, and then cut up some of the broccoli and cauliflower and steamed them with some of the baby carrots. I basically made my lunch all over again, minus the spicy teriyaki and jerk sauces. I only had enough steamed veggies for half the rice though, so on the 2nd half of the rice I just drizzled some teriyaki over the top. Good stuff.

A bowl of soup to top the night off, as well as my customary 2 mint Milanos, and it's been a pretty successful diet week.

Weigh-in is tomorrow, so make sure to check back and find out what the new low is!

Cheers!

Day Six - April 26th, 2011

Yet another of my favorite days of the diet week: more meat!

I took another three bowls worth of soup with me to work today, but I didn't get the chance to eat any before I left to finish my homework before class. Seeing as how it's meat and veggies day, I grabbed a rotisserie chicken from Fred Meyer and some canned corn, and ate my fill of both before class.

After class, I went to the gym. Having eaten my fill of lunch I was not really up to lifting weights today so I alternated between hot tub, cold shower, sauna, and another cold shower. After I left I could tell that my muscles had loosened up considerably, evidenced by the loud cracks as I tilted my neck. I really should do that more often; might help me in my workouts too.

On the way home from the gym I stopped by the store again and picked up a salad-in-a-bag (lite) and a couple other things I needed too, including brown rice for tomorrow. When I got home, I cut up the remainder of the chicken and threw it in with the salad, leaving out the croutons (even tho they were non-fat and low in sodium).

I am, as I write this, eating a bowl of soup, but sadly I had to dilute the remaining broth to make sure I had enough for this batch, and I can definitely tell that it's less than spectacular, even with salt, pepper and hot sauce.

That's all for now. Thanks for all the support and most of all thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Day Five - April 25th, 2011

Ahhhh, the day I most look forward to when I start the diet week. Steak day.

I took three bowls of soup with me to work today, and didn't eat at all until nearly three in the afternoon. I don't know if it was the better vegetables or what, but I didn't add any seasoning to the soup and it tasted great! I can't remember it tasting that good plain. Ever.

I was going to buy my steak from the butcher shop near my place, but it was closed, so I went to Fred Meyer instead. They had top sirloin on sale for $6.99/lb. I got the smallest one they had, which was approx. 19 oz, and then picked up a can of stewed tomatoes, sliced in half. I let the steak season for about a half hour with garlic, salt and pepper on both sides, being pressed by one of my cast iron skillets. Then I heated another up and started to cook it. Cooked it for 5 minutes on each side, and then put it on the plate with my tomatoes and went to watch the Blazer game.

The skinnier section of the steak was perfect, but then as I started to get further up into the thicker part of the meat it was too rare, even for me. So I reheated it for about 3 minutes on each side, covered this time, and it was perfect.

I'm probably going to have another bowl of soup before bed, but then again I might not. I'm still kinda full.

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

P.S. I'll get a picture of the steak up soon.

April 24th, 2011 - For My Doubters

Yes, I have doubters. Some of them, if not most, read this blog. If you're reading this, you know who you are. I know who some of you are.

It has come to my attention that you, while encouraging me to my face, have been talking behind my back, questioning my choices and decisions. I don't like that. Not one bit.

You ask how I can be losing weight when you view me eating one somewhat unhealthy meal in a day, assuming that I don't eat healthy during the rest of the day. You ask how it is that I can't afford my diet food when I can afford other things. You question my devotion to my weight loss goals. You ask other people close to me about it, but don't have the guts to ask me yourself.

Well, I have some things to say to you.

First, maybe the reason you see me eating an unhealthy meal is because I'm at work, and aside from a salad there isn't a healthy thing on the menu to eat. Maybe I've been so busy that I don't have time to make a healthy meal before everything gets turned off for the night. How do you know what I eat when I'm not there, what you haven't seen with your own two eyes? I've made a pretty serious effort to eat better, healthier meals. But when you're in a time crunch there isn't always a healthy option, is there? When I'd like to bake some skinless chicken pieces, which is extremely healthy, I can't because the oven is turned off, leaving me only a deep fryer, so I make some chicken strips. Maybe I've eaten salads and fresh veggies all day, and would like a cheeseburger for dinner. That's my choice, and when it's an off-diet day I have a whole open world of menu choices to choose from, healthy or not. Just because you see me eat one unhealthy meal doesn't mean that's all I'm eating. Don't assume; you know the rest.

Second, maybe the reason I have money to spend on things other than food is because I've budgeted for it, and saved. A guy needs to be able to enjoy life a little, ya know? And considering that in the "off time" that I've had, including a 21 day and nearly 28 day span where my food budget has been smaller than I'd like, that I've got a net weight loss of 7.2 lbs., I'd say that I'm doing alright. Maybe I could lose more weight faster if I diverted some of my other budget money to my food budget. I won't deny that. However, my food budget money comes from my regular income, where my other budget money, to be used for activities, books, new furniture, saving up towards a new car, etc., comes from my tip money. You might think I do more more than I actually do. Ask my roommate: I go to work, and I come home and hide in my room for the most part. Occasionally I go out to spend time at a friend's house or an event, but most of the time I'm a homebody, unless I'm at the gym, which is getting to be more and more lately as I build from 1-2 times a week. I also know how to entertain myself cheap. If I want to go to a movie, I'll wait for it to go the $3 theater, instead of paying over $10 to see it when it first comes out. The only new movies I've seen in first-run theaters the last couple years have been because of free passes I've received as gifts. I don't have a ton of spending money so I budget it well. I save. So again, don't assume.

Finally, how can you have the nerve to question my desire to lose weight? When I first weighed myself for this journey, I was dumbfounded, shocked, and brought nearly to tears. For years I've tried to lose weight, several different plans from books and magazines, and all with the same outcomes: 2-3 months in with no change or progress shown. I finally find something that is working for me, doing almost no extra physical activity than my normal daily routine, that I've now lost nearly 22 lbs on, and you still have the nerve to talk behind my back and question how devoted to this plan I am? Do you really think I want to weigh nearly 400 pounds? Do you think I'm happy to look like this? Seriously? How in the hell can you even begin to think that I'm happy with my current physical shape? Not to mention that I have LOST 22 lbs. I'd say that I've been sticking with something that works, and that I'm showing results. For someone that's supposedly not devoted, I'd say that's pretty good. This is the most un-logical point of all, and yet from what I hear people are saying crap like this. For the last time, don't assume.

It really makes me angry that people are questioning me and my decisions. It's all people who have well-established and dependable streams of income, legal or not. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but not everyone has a steady income stream. I'm one of them, and I make do with what I have. Everyone likes a nice tasty meal, myself included, and when I'm not in my diet week and have the opportunity to make one that might be unhealthier than you would like me to eat, well, that's not your choice to make. You can suggest to me nicely that I might make a healthier choice. But if I've been craving a cheeseburger for over a week, and I have the opportunity to have one, then damn it I'm going to have one. I am capable of eating a cheeseburger without eating a ton of french fries along with it. In fact, I rarely eat french fries anyway. And for the love of God, I'm losing weight. Don't question my desire when the proof is in baggier pants that I have to pull up all the time (and yes, there are witnesses) and more energy. If you want to make sure I'm sticking with the program, and I am because for once something is actually working, then encourage me, don't doubt me and talk behind my back. Build me up, don't tear me down. Believe me, things you say when I'm not around are being relayed to me, and I don't like it. And really, some of you have no room to talk, either.

They say that you have to believe in yourself before others will believe in you. Well, I believe in myself. The question is, do you believe in me too?

Day Four - April 24th, 2011

Today is Easter, and frankly not an easy day to be on a specified diet program, but I've had to make due.

Woke up late so I didn't have anything to eat at all until about 4:30, when we were at Easter dinner with family. I had a cup of black coffee after the church service today, but that was all. When I got to the restaurant I knew I wasn't going to be able to stick with the skim milk and bananas most likely, and I was half right: they had skim milk. I had two glasses.

When the appetizers came, it was mostly fried foods: calamari, onion rings, and a cheese and veggie platter. The "veggie platter" consisted of celery sticks and carrot pieces, along with the cheeses, crackers, and a salmon pate.  So I had four carrot pieces and two celery sticks. My dad attempted to pass me one onion ring, but with some encouragement from my uncle I resisted.

When it came to meals, there wasn't much to choose from that would be diet friendly. I ended up with a Caesar salad with grilled chicken (the latter at my dad's urging). I devoured it.

Since I got home, several hours later, I'm extremely hungry, and I'm currently on my 9th banana in a half hour, with 5 more to go, plus I'm about a third of the way through a half gallon of skim milk as I type. I have yet to have any soup, but I'll have a couple bowls I'm sure.

On another note, I discovered an error on my initial weigh in. I was a bit dyslexic when I typed the entry, and so instead of an initial weigh in of 393.8 lbs., it was actually 398.3. After checking my spreadsheet, which is the immediate entry I make on the weigh-in, I have corrected both the first weigh-in as well as the pre-diet week weigh-in for Week 2. I also discovered that when entering in the pre-diet week weigh-in for this cycle, I mistyped the entry, adding .3 lbs. This has been corrected also. Current weight loss as of my weigh-in this morning, while unofficial, is 21.6 lbs., and has been updated on the header on the front page. Thank you to my uncle and my sister who brought this to my attention.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter.

Cheers!

Day Three - April 23rd, 2011

Today was much like yesterday, in which I didn't eat a whole lot but it seemed like it.

During the first half of the Blazer game this afternoon I ate the second veggie tray. I then had a mixed bag of celery sticks and carrot sticks at work.

When I got home I had a bowl of soup and the pound of strawberries that I had left.

Happy Easter everyone. I'm probably gonna have trouble tomorrow, but that's a story to be told later.

Day Two - April 22nd, 2011

So today was a bit different than normal, mostly because when I left for work this morning I forgot to take either vegetables or soup, so by the time I got home at 2:30 (short day for the holiday weekend) I dove right into one of the vegetable trays I bought. Tons of baby carrots, some broccoli, and celery sticks. The ranch dressing that was included with the tray was made with a non-fat yogurt, so it was actually quite healthy by comparison, and I'll admit I used it to help get the raw broccoli down.

I forgot to get some chopped green onions or chives for my baked potato for dinner, so instead I put on the usual butter, some garlic salt, and sprinkled some of my cajun seasoning into it for extra flavor. Mmmm... delicious. Baked it for nearly 3 hours @ 400 degrees... next time I think I'll raise the temperature a smidge so the skin gets nice and crispy.

I followed that up with a big bowl of soup, heavy on the veggies and easy on the broth (I swear every time I make this since the first that the amount of broth lessens each time). Added a dash of salt and some of the Cholula hot sauce for flavor, and gobbled that right down as I watched a short movie.

Looking forward to tomorrow, when I have not only the veggie tray to look forward to again (which I'll probably destroy during the Blazer game) but also the other pound of strawberries and the big pear I still have. I'll also be able to snack a bit on some of the veggies at work tomorrow as well; celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower... make a salad with nothing but veggies and no dressing (doesn't sound good but what the heck, right?) or perhaps if tips are good enough to spare some from my gas tank I'll splurge on a bottle of the calorie-free dressing I've seen at Fred Meyer. Not sure how that works, but at least it would add some flavor to the otherwise dry salad.

Gotta get some bananas and skim milk for Sunday too, although I don't anticipate just soup and bananas for food... it is Easter after all... I'll just have to wing it, but not go too crazy.

Thanks again for reading. Today the blog topped the 800 view mark, and I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to read up on my journey. I'm at about 10% of the weight loss I want to make, and hope that it keeps up on this pace. Keep up the great encouragement!

Cheers!

Day One - April 21st, 2011

Ok, so this is getting posted a bit late... like about 13 hours late. My bad.

So today was kind of boring as far as the food goes. I ate a pound of strawberries, a large pear, and four bowls of soup.

I also drank a good amount of water.

I know, not the quality of exposé you're used to, but I unless you want to hear about all my other exploits of the day... feel free to chime in if you do.

I felt really happy though at the end of the night. I was trying to hold off on snacking on more strawberries and was looking through the freezer and very nearly had some vanilla ice cream (low fat/cholesterol/sugar) but held off.

Another nice tidbit of news: I went on Wednesday to pick something up in Portland, and had the opportunity to try on one of the Portland Timbers replica jerseys in a 2XL size. The last time I tried there was no way I was going to fit into it. However, after two months of dieting and nearly 20 pounds lost I was able to squeeze into it (not skin-tight but not loose either). Progress!

It's kind of sad but that's one of the reasons I really decided to go gangbusters on the diet program, was to be able to fit into my jerseys again. The Timbers jerseys run small for some reason, because of the particular type of pattern and material adidas uses to make them, so for me to fit into one is a big step! Already I've noticed I have more waist room in my jeans, and am having to resort to a belt again to keep them from falling down constantly.

I'm hoping to keep up the good work. I'll know I've made really good progress when I get to the point where the 2X authentic jersey fits, because it's even smaller than the replica. But in all actuality I prefer the replica anyways, so when I can fit into an XL replica it will be a good day.

Thanks for reading, and hope that you'll give me some feedback! For those of you who want to, all you need is a Google account to be able to leave comments.

Cheers!

April 20th, 2011 - Diet costs

Some people have asked me how much I'm spending on this diet. Well, for the first time, I have some answers.

This time around, instead of buying my produce at Winco or Fred Meyer, I went to Gateway Produce (25th St and Andresen Rd in Vancouver). I have been pleasantly surprised! For the green beans and diced tomatoes I purchased those at Winco, however. Everything else listed for this came from Gateway.

For soup fixin's, I was able to purchase one bunch of celery, a bunch of green onions, 2 1-lb bags of baby carrots (cheaper than the whole carrots!), 2 green bell peppers, 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cans of "fancy cut" green beans for a total of $7.19. This is, of course, not counting the cost of the water used to make the soup or the previously purchased beef bouillon and vegetable soup paste.

For days 1 (fruit), 2 (veggies + baked potato), and 3 (fruit and veggies), for two 1lb containers of FRESH strawberries, two big veggie platters (with ranch dip that I can't have), two big pears, and one large potato for Day 2's dinner, the total came to $9.16.

So, for the sake of breaking it down meal by meal, that's a total of $16.35 spent total. For the soup, I eat roughly 2 bowls a day, making it 51.3 cents a bowl (rounded up to $0.52). The other stuff comes out to $3.05 a day, rounding down from $3.0533. This means that my daily meal cost for the first three days (barring the purchase of more fruits and veggies as needed, which will most likely happen) is $4.09.

Better health and better diet for less than $5 a day. Not too shabby.

Obviously, once you tack on meat and some of the other ingredients for days 4-7, that might jump higher. But I'm going to keep track of it, and I'll post daily cost summaries as well in my daily wrap up.

Week 4 Official Weigh-in (pre-diet week)

Previous weight: 378.5
Current weight: 382.4

+/-: +3.9 lbs


Weighing in over this extended off-time has seen a low of 376 and a high of 387. I'm hoping that this gain is due to the volume of water I drank yesterday and last night before bed.


Here goes!


4/24/2011 Update: I discovered an error on this entry; the weight posted for the previous weigh-in was 378.5 lbs., not 378.8 lbs. as initially entered. This has been corrected above.

Off-time update: April 20th, 2011

Ok, well, due to an increased schedule load I haven't been able to update as frequently as I like, but this ends now. I am purchasing diet groceries this afternoon and the cycle begins again tomorrow. Yay!

The good news is I have been maintaining a weight hovering right around my last weigh-in. This is very good news. Another item of note is that local celebrity Joey Webber, a.k.a. Timber Joey, has taken an interest in my diet plan and might even give it a shot. Hopefully I'll be able to get some feedback from him on his experience with it.

I am most definitely ready for this cycle to start again; it's been way to long.

Look for the official weigh in tomorrow morning and the nightly posts as well!

Thanks again for reading. You guys are awesome!

Update - April 9th, 2011

So I have once again slacked on maintaining a decent record of my off-days during an overly extended break. I apologize. I tried to do this a couple nights ago when I had some spare time but for some reason I couldn't connect to the page.

Things have been holding steady weight-wise during the off time. I have been eating as healthy as I can, with a few exceptions, and have been considering myself very lucky to have not really gained any weight, but I haven't lost any either.

I am anticipating being able to start Week Four next week, but I am debating on starting it immediately when getting paid or waiting until after the Timbers match on Thursday, at which I would undoubtedly like to enjoy a beer. I suppose that as long as I am still monitoring closely the food that I am eating an extra three days (on top of the much extended time that has passed) wouldn't be completely out of the question.

Thank you to everyone that has contacted me about my diet since I went off the last diet week. I appreciate your well wishes and support. I am grateful to have you in my life.

The next entries will be coming soon, of course. I hope you'll keep reading, as boring as they are.

Cheers!

Off-diet update - March 27th, 2011

Well, things are going alright so far. Weight has fluctuated a bit up and down but is maintaining right around the same spot as the weigh in, which is good. I have eaten one or two not so healthy meals but for the most part I am sticking with good stuff... some left over soup for example.

Again the end of the month approaches and I find myself strapped for diet menu cash... This has not been a good month for the diet. However, despite this I have still managed to lose weight. This is a good sign. I hope the trend continues, and as my uncle pointed out in a comment on the last weigh in, if this rate continues as is, I should hope to be down to my target weight by January. (previous inaccurate statement removed)

Thanks for reading everyone, even on these days when I'm not writing as much because of my busy schedule. Hopefully I can get some data plan back on my cell phone soon and can update from my phone instead of being a slave to the computer.

Be good humans!

March 22nd, 2011 - Official Weigh-in

Previous weight: 386.2
Current weight: 378.5

+/-: -7.7 lbs


Not a bad week! Portions were small and despite one small slip on a cold day with free hot food offered, things went pretty well. This is a good step!


Since I have some leftover soup I'll be able to start again in a couple days and not feel the sting as much wallet-wise; and as the weather improves (hopefully) I'll be able to get out on my bike and really get that weight to drop!

Day Seven - March 21st, 2011

LAST DAY!!!

I was pretty bad today, but for good reason.

I made all my food up last night in advance for my day today. But unfortunately I discovered today that the soup is awful cold and that the rice is pretty hard to eat when it's cold as well, and the teriyaki not as flavorful when cold, and it basically made the whole batch of rice and broccoli stick together in one hard-to-break clump. At least I had the snow peas and celery sticks.

I had some water, and some pineapple juice, and then some black coffee to stay warm (first a venti cup from Starbucks, which was awful, and then some free coffee from Stumptown provided by the Timbers for those in line). But then they also handed out slices of Papa Murphy's, and after smelling the slices of Hot Lips pizza all day and being fairly hungry I took a small slice of plain cheese when they came by... I regretted it about five seconds after I finished it, but it was warm and I was cold.

After getting home I warmed up the rice, added some sweet chili sauce, and I've eaten about half of it, and still have soup to eat. But it was a good day overall, and the weigh-in is first thing tomorrow morning. It's a good thing my weight is back down again, but we'll find out just how far tomorrow!

Cheers!

Day Six - March 20th, 2011

Today diet-wise was a great day. However, I forgot to add something to yesterday's post so I'll just put it here.

I had just finished my steak dinner and was waiting for the boss to finish his paperwork so I could go home. I meandered over to the soon-to-be-removed ice cream bin and grabbed one of the ice cream sandwiches that they had in there, the kind with two cookies on the outside. I was just about to open it when I stopped, looked at it, and remembered that I couldn't have it. So I put it back. And there you have it... a near slip, and some good strong will-power by yours truly.

Well, back to today. I woke up at about 8 to put the last ingredient of my first meal together, and then went back to bed. When I finally woke again, it was time; I went out into the kitchen, turned off the power to the slow cooker, got a plate, and served myself some corned beef and cabbage.

It was well worth the wait. I know what some of you are saying: "But David, you can't have potatoes on this day in your diet!" Uh, do you see any potatoes? NO! I had corned beef, and cabbage, and that was all. The only change I would make for the next time I do this particular meal is to use fresh corned beef, not canned.

A little while later, as I started to feel hungry again, I popped out some oysters and made some pan-fried oysters using very little oil to grease the skillet. They were delicious! Note to self: Get small oysters next time; Medium is just too big.

For dinner, at work, I baked up a chicken breast and two drumsticks, and steamed some broccoli and cauliflower. The chicken was amazing; no added flavor, and the meat just pulled right off the bone. The veggies I topped with a smidge of garlic butter and some salt. Some of the melted garlic butter got onto some of the chicken, which added a bit of nice flavor. Sorry y'all, no pictures of the chicken unfortunately.

When I got home, I heated up a bowl of soup and used some Red Robin seasoning for flavoring. It was ok... Def. need better flavor options.

Tomorrow is the last day of the diet week. Made up food tonight since I'll be out and about almost all day tomorrow. Make sure to tune back in tomorrow and see what happens!

Cheers!