Bug Killer

There was a bad side effect of eating a lot of fresh produce this past weekend. I had to throw away a few things that had gone bad....some green beans, what was left of a head of lettuce and some other items. Nothing major but was just time to rotate things out and get new fruits and vegetables. Anyways, there was evidently something yummy in my garbage can because when I went to throw things away, I got a bunch of little gnats/flies/whatever. They were flying all over! Just ticked me off and me with no bug spray. Well, I got some spray and then I tricked them...yep, I have more brain power than gnats/flies/whatever. I know that will shock many of you who know me but it's true, it's true!

So, I got a new cantaloupe tonight and threw away the rind and some old cantaloupe into a smaller garbage can that I would take out tonight. BUT, I let it sit out for a little while. I came back to it with my bug spray and they were all over it. The trap had been set and it had delivered. I sprayed all over and killed most, if not all, of those little bastards. BRAD 1, GNATS/FLIES/WHATEVER 0!!!!

As you can probably tell, my day was fairly boring and this served as a welcome victory in a day of stupid mistakes. Eating was fine and did a lap and a half around the building on a short afternoon break with my buddy Teresa(see, walk with me and you'll get a shout-out!).

Drafting Is Over!

I went to my 4th and final Fantasy Football Draft tonight. I love my leagues and the competition because I love football. But I am glad when my drafts are all over. Now I can just settle in and hope none of my players gets hurt.

We had our draft at Godfather's Pizza. I did have the buffet for dinner. I had a small salad, two slices of pizza, one breadstick, one quesadilla triangle and a little spoonful of pasta. It's not an ideal dinner but I really did hold myself in check and was full after what I had. It was really good and I felt good that I was able to control myself. My friend Jeremy was there to help me out and be my secondary "conscience" but it really wasn't necessary. I do thank him for being there to help me out if I had needed someone to pull me back in from the edge.

Overall I did have a good day and still stayed under 2000 calories so that was important to me. I'm down 40 pounds and still have about...well, about 200 pounds to go and lose. It's a long way but I keep just trying to look at it in 20-pound increments. It just doesn't seem too big a thing then, even though it's a long way off. I'm just continuing to battle and keep up the good fight.

Monday Morning Weigh-In #6

I am 6 weeks in and just weighed myself this morning. It's a good morning! I'm down another 4.2 pounds this week for a 6-week total of 40 pounds even!!!! It's been going really well and I just keep on truckin'. Six weeks and forty pounds....a little less than a pound a day which is pretty sweet and will hopefully continue. Huzzah!!!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Yesterday was a good day but I know there wasn't an evening post. I was too down from my 7:00 draft which did not go that well in my opinion and watching the Cowboys suck it up against the Texans. My first draft went really well, I think, so I'm happy about that. 3 FFL drafts down, 1 to go. Football season just can't get here soon enough.

Well, with all the poker and drafts, today I'm working on a few things like laundry and cleaning up around here and some other various odds and ends. My eating was good yesterday, I didn't have anything but water at Buffalo Wild Wings which was tough because Jeremy had an appetizer platter that looked really good along with various other items that other league members had. It's good though for me to be able to be around others eating things I would enjoy though and still being able to resist. It's tough sometimes to not have it but worth it for now in the long run. At some point in the distant future it'll be okay for me to have some wings again but that time is definitely not right now.

Farmer's Market Saturday and Poker Sucks!

Took a trek downtown this morning to the Farmer's Market. I picked up some peaches, Yukon Gold potatoes, green beans, some sweet corn and some awesome Chipotle Salsa. Just a beautiful morning out there and a nice walk downtown. They are also having a Blues BBQ festival down there and the smell of Bar-B-Que was strong in the air. Ohmygosh did it smell wonderful! Just all the smokers going......too early to have anything but the smell was heavenly.

Poker last night did not go very well. I did about as well as I could with the cards I got and the luck I had. But, I wound up with no money and a lot of disappointment. I guess the bright side was that I got home early and was able to get some sleep.

I've got a couple of fantasy football drafts today. One at 2:00 and one at 7:00. They both should be fun, one of them is with some Claims guys from work that I won last year so I must defend my title. Going to be a nice day and looking forward to some good times with my fellow fantasy football players.

Thursday Night

My last night before 2 busy days. Tomorrow night I have poker so I have to eat right when I get home so that I don't eat anything there. We really don't have much food anymore at poker but still want to be on the safe side. Then on Saturday, I have 2 Fantasy football drafts. One of them I can do at home on the internet so that's really nice but the other one will be at Buffalo Wild Wings. Now, I LOVE boneless hot wings. I really enjoy the regular hot wings but the boneless ones are fabulous. The problem is, hot wings and wings in general are not that good for you. The boneless ones at most places are especially bad for some reason.

So Buffalo Wild Wings, as much as I love you, you will not defeat me! We don't draft until 2:00 so I will be having lunch here at home before I go so I can stay away from all of those other things that aren't good for me. I'll stick with water and believe in myself to stay away.

There won't be a post tomorrow night or else it'll be REALLY late after poker. We'll just have to see. I got in one lap today around the building just because I didn't have a bunch of time but I'm hoping to get in some laps tomorrow so that's a goal for tomorrow. It's been so beautiful out and I'm loving having the windows open at night. Just wonderful and it also reinforces that football is right around the corner. Huzzah!!!!

Wait....That's Blackberry Pie!

It was a nice day outside today but I attended a funeral today. It was my first one in 7 years and I hope to not have to go to another anytime soon. The whole thing was very well done and quite a tribute to Leaan's husband, Brad. It was impressive and a fitting celebration of his life. He will be missed.

I still ate in moderation even though I didn't really want to eat very well. I wanted to eat more because I was sad but I did not. The luncheon was good and there was a lot of good food and desserts. Just anything you'd really ever want. I did not have a whole lot though.

I decided to have a piece of pie for dessert. I was going to grab a piece of peach pie but all those slices were pretty large and I was only looking for a small one. Well, I saw a small piece that looked like blueberry and picked it up. After one bite though, I had a big surprise.....it wasn't blueberry, it was blackberry! Now, this may not sound like much but I'm not a huge fan of blackberry pie. It's okay but I get the little seeds stuck in my teeth. I could've gotten a different piece but I didn't just want to waste this pie so I ate half of it. It was good but just not what I was looking for. I rolled the dice on that piece of pie and unfortunately lost.

Tuesday Day

Not much to say about today. I did well with the eating and did a couple of laps around the building with Teresa at lunch. After going to the visitation for Bradley Allison, got home and had a lean hamburger with no bun, a slice of cheese and some awesome Chipotle Salsa on it. Had that along with 2 ears of corn on the cob. The ground beef tasted really good. I made it up on the George Foreman grill and for some reason it was just very tasty.

Just not a lot to say today. It's been a hard couple of days because I know my friend Leaan is in pain. I hope she realizes how many people love her and that we're all here for her. It's no replacement for what she's lost but we'll do the best we can.

Monday Off

I had a vacation day today. It was a beautiful day out there today. I was able to have my windows and patio door open all day long and it was very comfortable. Did a little grocery shopping today and straightening up around this place, things had just gotten a little disheveled. Other than that, not a very noteworthy day. I did have a good weigh-in this morning that you could read in an earlier blog entry.

I've been doing really well and keep on......what's the word I'm looking for?? Oh yeah, TRYING! That's been one of my big downfalls in the past, I just wasn't trying all that hard. I'd have a few good days and figure I could have something as a reward and just eat bad. How messed up is that???!!! But that's what I did over and over. Three years ago I got to see what I could actually do when I put my heart into it. Now, I just have to put my heart into it and just keep going and get to the point where I don't have to think about it, I just "live" it. That's where I need to go, where I want to be, where I need to be.

I want my life to be mine. For the longest time my life has belonged to food and that's just really unacceptable. Food is an essential piece of life so it's not just like I can cut it out 100% or anything like that but I have to break my addiction to it. I've been doing really well so far but it's an everyday thing that I have to face, just like any other addiction. All I can say right now is that I'm winning and am going to continue winning because I want to have the type of life I enjoy, not just the type that I tolerate which is what I have been living. It's a struggle, but it's one I intend on winning.

Monday Morning Weigh-In #5

I kept a watch out all week on the scale and was hoping for a few pounds more than what I've gotten over these past few weeks and I kept being encouraged that would be the case. Well, it was!! I weighed in this morning at 5.6 pounds less than last week. Huzzah! That brings my total lost over these 5 weeks to 35.8 pounds. Very nice total so far and I'm proud of myself. I'm not getting too proud mind you because there is a long way to go and this is just a fraction of what I want to lose. I'm very happy though and plan on continuing racking these weeks up.

Just Not Sure What to Say....

I was hoping this would be a fun post but it really won't be...it's very introspective I guess. My day today was okay. Had a good day with my parents and at my Fantasy Football draft in Peoria. I ate in moderation and stayed away from things that were bad for me. On that note, it was a successful, good day. But some days are not all about me, my weight or my challenges.

There was some bad news today in my small section of the world. A friend of mine, Leaan Allison, lost her husband in a 4-wheeler accident. I don't know much else than that but I know that this sucks. I feel so badly for her and her/his family. It's just such an unexpected thing and to someone so young it puts everything into perspective and makes you really look at your life. It just makes you realize how precious the gift of life is and how much we sometimes take the future we believe we are owed and our relationships with others for granted.

So, I'm just gonna say this...keep Leaan and her family in your prayers and thoughts. She's a special person and a good friend. Also, if you're reading this and you've got someone there....a husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, your kids, whoever, give them a long hug, a big kiss and let them know how much you love them because the future is promised to no one. Just do that today for me and say a prayer for Leaan, she needs them now.

Subway With The Folks

I'm spending the night at my parent's house tonight. Tomorrow I have a Fantasy Football draft in Peoria. My folks and I had Subway sandwiches for dinner. It was there choice because I was going to take them out to dinner. In respect for my current lifestyle changes, they chose that going this way would be better for everyone. I appreciate that.

Anyways, I had a 6-inch roast beef with double meat, no cheese, no sauce and the following veggies: lettuce, tomatoes, onion, spinach and jalapeno peppers. It was dang tasty. Lots of protein and not a lot of calories. With the draft tomorrow, I have to watch what I eat but it's one of those things where I have to learn how to cope and how to deal with it and not take part in all of the food. I may have a hamburger or a brat or something because it still will be what I have for lunch but I can't overindulge like I have in the past. It'll be difficult but as I said, this is part of life that I just have to adapt to and every time I can get one of these small victories I feel one step closer to all of my ultimate goals.

Denny's

Going out to lunch can be a little difficult. Just going out to eat is a challenge. I knew where we were going beforehand so I was able to prepare and that really helped me out. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, we went to Denny's for lunch. And let me tell you.....it was really good.

My preparation was crucial for me though because I knew what I was going to order before we got there. I knew what some options were and had made an informed decision about what I was going to be eating. Trust me, this really was kind of a first for me and a nice step. I wound up ordering a ham and cheese egg white omelette with an English muffin and seasonal fruit. The seasonal fruit was in place of either hash browns or grits in all the choices. In the past I would've ordered the normal omelette with hash browns and biscuits as my bread choice. So I wound up being able to have a lunch not too high in calories or fat that had some protein. There were a few too many carbs but I can live with that.

I'm very optimistic at how I'm progressing and staying on an downward weight trajectory. Physically I'm moving around better which is a giant plus. I still have a LONG, LONG, LONG way to go but things are looking up after my first 33 days. But overall I'm feeling pretty dang good and am just working on keeping my mind in a good place and staying within myself. Saying it is easy, doing it is a lot harder for me but I'm definitely getting better.

It's a Birthday Feast!

Today was my friend Teresa's birthday. Happy Birthday Teresa! Anways, there was a LOT of food brought in for her. There was delicious Death By Chocolate dessert, an Angel Food/Cherry/Pudding dessert, brownies, cookies, cupcakes, chips, dips and a cheese tray. I brought in the cheese tray. Of all of it, I had 6 little cheese cubes. They were good and a nice little treat.

Now, in the past I'm not sure how much I would have eaten. It's not that I ever took a whole lot at one time but I would just keep walking back there and picking up one of this, one of that, two of those and big scoops of cake and Death by Chocolate. It's all so delicious and I wouldn't have passed by that stuff once without picking up something. That was all something I did to hide how much I was eating. No one would ever see me with much but most would see me through the day with something.

I know I did these things because I was ashamed of how much I was eating but just couldn't seem to help myself. I always wanted more. Even if I was full, I would eat more. If I just would eat fast enough, my mind and body had a hard time keeping up with the consumption so the amounts would just add up and who knows how much I would eat. Well......too much was how much I had and there's absolutely no disputing that. It's a behavior I'm working on and trying really hard to change. It's going successfully and by all that is in me, it's going continue going successfully.

Wednesday Disappointment

Now don't get the wrong idea, it's not a big disappointment or anything, just a small one. Alison and I walked down to the Farmer's Market at lunch and I was all ready to pick up some edamame. I know it's a type of soybean but it seems to come up in some healthy recipes I see and is a good source of some protein. I decided it was time to give it a try but the one place I had seen it was not down there today. Denied!!

Oh well, maybe next week. I'm not sure if I'll make it down to the Farmer's Market on Saturday because I'm heading home to see my parents and a fantasy football draft on Sunday. Should be a good weekend. I'll have to watch my eating though because things like this have some food that isn't good for me. There's been more cake and some ice cream around work so I'm staying away from that. Just got to keep up the hard work and moving towards my goals.

Apple, Apple, Apple

I had a different type of day. Had to drive down to the Apple Store at the St. Louis Galleria tonight after work. Luckily they were able to fix my iPhone with no charge to me because it was under warranty and there was no visible physical wear and tear so it wasn't like I had thrown it against a wall or dropped it or anything. That made me happy but it was a long drive down and back.

Eating was kind of messed up today. I had to run an errand over lunch today and then wasn't able to eat lunch until about 1:30 or so. It unfortunately upset my stomach too which didn't help with the long drive but I got through. Then waiting to get into Apple I wasn't able to get dinner. I waited until my drive home and stopped at an Arby's in Litchfield. I got 2 Regular Roast Beef sandwiches with no sauce and then a small water. Not great to eat at 9:20 or so but I could've done much worse. Just way tired right now but my phone is all fixed up and looks better than when I got it. All in all, not a bad day, just different.

Things Are Getting Fixed

It's been a good day today. I lost some more weight over this past week and I'm happy about that. I need to get the pounds lost per week higher but just losing a few pounds every week is great and something more to build on. I got my new air conditioner installed today, turned in my faulty HD DVR boxes to get some new ones and dropped my laptop off to get it tuned up and upgraded with some new RAM and larger hard drive.

The one bad thing is I have to get my iPhone fixed/replaced and I need to drive to St. Louis to the Apple Store. I have to go down there tomorrow night so I'm not sure if there will be an update tomorrow night. If there is, it'll be late. Since I have to go to the StL Galleria, I'll probably do a little walking around so that'll be good.

I'm feeling really great about how things are going right now though. I'm pretty proud of myself for how I've done and where I see myself heading. I'm staying strong and keeping my eyes focused on looking forward and not falling into the same traps I have fallen into in the past. I'm not letting some people get me down and staying positive. I'm excited about things and that's a wonderful, wonderful thing. I've done well in this past month but this next 30 days is about kicking some more butt and doing even better.

Monday Morning Weigh-In #4

I've basically made it a month! That's a nice first milestone to reach as far as timewise. I lost another 2.6 pounds this week to bring my grand total in 4 weeks to 30.2 pounds. YEA! Okay, in one month I've lost over 30 pounds and I really haven't started working out really hard yet. I'm riding the exercise bike 5-6 times a week and trying to walk some but haven't really started with the weights yet. That's coming in a few weeks. I'd like to have lost somewhere between 40-50 pounds before I go back to the gym. My lower-calorie eating plan is going well and I'm really sticking to it.

I want to thank all of you for your continued support. You're providing me with a great amount of strength and I'm very grateful for you all. Keep reading, keep hoping and I'll keep losing weight. Once again, thank you all it's very appreciated!

My Dad Broke Something Again

A few years ago I had a desk chair that I loved. It was high-back mesh chair that was originally something like $150. I got the floor model on clearance for about $60 so that was a pretty good deal. I'd had it for about 7 years and it was the most comfortable desk chair I'd ever sat in. WELL, about 2 years ago or so my folks came down and my dad sat in it and I don't know what happened but it broke 2 days later. He had commented while he was sitting in it that it felt strange. I blame him for the death of my chair.

The reason I tell you this story....my folks came down last weekend and my dad commented on how old my air conditioner at the apartment was and that he was surprised it was still running. I had never had a problem with it. Guess what happened??? Today, my air conditioner died. D-E-A-D. And it's HOT outside!! It's being replaced with a new unit tomorrow morning so that'll be nice. I just wonder what my dad will break next.......

Well, maybe all this sweating will get off a half-pound or something. HAHA! I have fans so that's good but it should be an interesting evening. It's just one night and it has cooled off a little from earlier in the week so those are the "good" points. Yep, yep, yep, going to keep looking on the bright side.

Sometime Soon...Well Maybe Not That Soon

Sitting in my bedroom, putting away some laundry I looked at my closet which had one door open. It still amazes me the amount of clothes I have that are too small. In my closet alone, I have 7 plastic containers filled with polo shirts, t-shirts, pants and shorts that are not my current size. There are another 2 containers, of the same size as the ones in the closet, that are under my bed. These aren't the really big containers but you can still fit quite a bit in them. I also have things hanging in my closet that do not fit me.

Most of the clothes were bought 3 years ago when I was 160 pounds lighter than I am now. I hope to one day get back to that weight so that these clothes can be utilized. One thing that really stinks about being overweight is the price of clothes. I know it takes more material to make them and all of that, but some of the prices are just soooooo much higher than those of "normal" sized folks. That's why I have these containers...when I was down at that size, I was buying a bunch because everything was cheaper and just seemed like such a good value to me.

Unfortunately many of those items were never worn or barely worn. I know I could donate them but I'm using them as some motivation. There were some things in there I really liked and I would really like to be able to get back into some of the jeans and pants I had. I had a pair of cargo pants that I bought that I loved but only got to wear maybe 3 times. Those were some comfortable pants.

And trust me, it'll be posted on here when....and notice I say 'when' and NOT 'if'....I'm able to wear these things. It's gonna take awhile but every size I go down will lead me one step closer to these clothes and one step closer to a healthier me and that is really one of the best outcomes I can have from this journey.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I know this is a blog about weight loss and all that goes along with it but it's also a blog of my life and today is my mom's birthday. Now I won't say how young she is but my mom is a special woman who I love. I just want her to know she's loved and appreciated by all those who are a part of her life. I can't imagine life with a different mom and am truly blessed to have the one that I do.

Happy Birthday Mom!!! I love you!

Hot Outing

We had our P&C Divisional "Outing" today. It's the one where we go to a local school and do some community service. A couple of years ago we went and painted a map of the US on a playground and did some other work. Last year we organized a school library and did some landscaping work. We did that again this year at a school in downtown Springfield not far from the Mann. It was pretty fun and I won a $20 gift card so that was nice.

There was really limited parking so to get there and back, we had to ride school buses or walk. Well, Sherry Hidlebaugh and I decided to walk back when we were done with our stuff. It's about .85 miles so it's a little ways but dang it was hot again. It was a nice walk though and we had fun. I got to come home a little early as well.

There were some good things to eat but I kept myself in check. I did have a bratwurst and a hamburger but in the past I would've gone back for seconds but I didn't do that today. I had a nice salad with some canned salmon on it for dinner which was nice.

Well, it's beginning to look like a nice thunderstorm here with a whole boatload of lightning. Looks pretty sweet across the sky. Lets hope the power doesn't go out.

Macaroni and Cheese

So today I'm at work and talking to my friend Stephanie when she starts telling me about some FABULOUS macaroni and cheese at a place here in downtown Springfield. She described it as bowtie pasta, bacon, some pulled pork and with some pepperjack cheese. Mmmmmmm....sounds delicious. BUT, not something I really needed to hear. I mean, come on! Help me out here!! HAHA! Just kidding Steph, it sounded good and I'm fine with you describing it. It did sound really, really good.

It was a good day today but extremely hot again. We have some outing tomorrow at work and holy schnikes it's gonna be hot. At least we can wear shorts all day so that'll be nice. They haven't given us "Shorts Fridays" in August this year which has been surprising. In the past it seemed like each year Fridays in August were the coolest day of the week but this year they've been really hot.

Took last night off from riding the bike but gonna ride it again tonight. I've been doing 20 minutes a night with increasing resistance. I'm trying to ride the same distance with each of these resistances so I'm actually working harder to do that. Trying to build up some strength. There's some football on tonight so I'll be watching that riding along. As soon as it cools down I'll start adding in some walks too.

It's HOT!!!

Sweet Sassy Molassey!! It is so hot out there. I know you all know this but good gosh it's just terrible. I really wanted to walk downtown to the Farmers Market today or at least walk around the building a few times at lunch but I also don't want to be sweating through a pair of pants...it's just not a good look for anyone.

Anyways, I learned once and for all to never buy peaches at a supermarket...they were horrendous! I was going to have one for a snack this afternoon and it was about the worst peach ever. I can only seem to get good ones at the Farmers Market so I will wait. Maybe I'll go downtown this weekend to get half a peck.

Someone at work had a birthday today. They had Dunkin' Donuts, bagels, chips and dip, and a big chocolate chip cookie among other things. I stared long and hard at a bagel but decided it was best to stay away from it. I've tried a new breakfast cereal, it's Kashi Go Lean Honey Almond Flax Crunch....long name but a good cereal. Very crunchy and good flavor. I highly recommend it.

Tuesdays With Melto

I had to give a speech today at work for Toastmasters. Nothing huge but a 5-7 minute speech. I gave it on baseball and steroids and how many didn't care about Alex Rodriguez hitting his 600th home run. It went pretty well but I'm glad it's over.

I need to ride the bike tonight. I rode for 20 minutes last night on a Resistance of 3. Not anything special with taht but I really tried to keep going pretty quick. I felt good though and am really trying to ride every night. It's very important to me to keep that up even when I'm not feeling the best to at least ride for a little bit, burn some extra calories.

I'm not sure why but I've been having trouble lately falling asleep. Once I'm asleep though I sleep like a rock. It's something that I need to figure out because I'd like to get that extra hour or so of sleep I'm losing a night. I'll eventually figure it out though or I'll just start falling asleep really easily. Not a huge problem, just a sort of nuisance more than anything.

The Suggestion Box

Well, it's another Monday and I'm entering my 4th week of this life change. So far I have to say it's gone pretty steady and pretty well. My support system has been wonderful and this blog has been interesting to maintain and I feel a sense of responsibility to post each night and keep doing well because I know I'm getting a ton of good thoughts, good vibes and I might even pick up the faintest hint of a good vibration. Not sure about that one but I think so.

I'm here to ask all of you for a little help with the blog tonight. I've heard some suggestions from people about what they would like to see on here, things they'd like to know or just generaly things they're curious about as they pertain to my life and formerly tragically awful eating habits. The week of fast food orders came from a suggestion and I'm looking for more. These are a couple that I have so far:

What would I eat throughout a normal or average work weekday and then a weekend day?
How much money would I spend a week on food or, how much am I saving now?
Why would I eat what I would eat?

Those are some suggestions but I'm looking for more. I'm not saying I'm going to do every suggestion...depends on the exact nature of the request. I'm also not saying they'll be done right away, some may be a little harder to answer than others. The ones I have listed above will be answered but they take a little bit of time to answer, especially that third one.

So, if there's ever been anything you've wanted to ask me or just any fat person in general but were afraid to ask, here's your chance. You can either just post it in the comments section or, just send me an email at: lbb316@yahoo.com. I'll respond and let you know my feelings on the subject and then there'll be a blog post.

Looking forward to some thoughts, ideas and/or suggestions. Thanks!

Monday Morning Weigh-In #3

Had another good week but not a huge weight loss number. I did lose 3.4 pounds to bring my 3-week total to 27.6 pounds. Even though I didn't lose alot this week, my clothes are fitting somewhat better. Pants aren't as tight, shirts are a little looser, things like that. So I know that I'm making progress and moving in the right direction with all of this. I had taken measurements 3 weeks ago but I can't find the page I wrote them down on. I can't believe I lost them without ever entering them in my spreadsheet. I'll need to redo them soon.

It's still a good day with some more weight off. Huzzah!

Any Given Sunday

It's been a really good weekend. I've gotten my protein percentage up this week and my carbs down so that was good for the week. We'll see how it does tomorrow during the weigh-in. I rode the bike this morning and worked out a little more this afternoon which was followed by a nice hour-long nap.

I'll be riding the bike a little more tonight watching the Cowboys-Bengals preseason game. Aaaaahhhhh....the first preseason game of the year. That just means we are getting very, very close to the open of the NFL season. Only 5 weeks away from the first Sunday of football.

It's been a good 3 weeks. Let's all hope for a great weigh-in tomorrow and I'll be talking to you all again soon!

Saturday Night Special

Not doing much tonight. I just got done wrapping up some fish and meat and getting it into the freezer. I'm also hardboiling some eggs that I have as parts of salads and as part of breakfast most mornings.

All in all it was a good week. I ate well and stuck to the plan. Walked outside some at work and rode the exercise bike. I even went with some friends from work to Mario's for lunch on Friday. It's an Italian place with a pizza buffet. I've eaten way too much there. I can say though that this time I didn't. I limited myself to one slice of pizza...cheese thin crust, no other toppings. I had some cottage cheese and peaches as well as a small salad with a vinagrette dressing. There was also a small bowl of tortellini soup that was really good. I was very happy with what I ate and how I limited myself.

My folks also came to visit today. It was a good time and nice to see them. A good day to end off a good week.

Fast Food Foibles #5

Tonight wraps up the week of Fast Food Foibles. I've already really covered the main 4 places I would buy fast food or order from. This last place I would get something from only very rarely, maybe once every month or so. The main items in the order would need to be on sale for me to stop. That place is Burger King.

Burger King has just never been my favorite so I would only stop when they had Whoppers at 2 for $4. I guess that really gives away my order.

Normal Order: 2 Whoppers with cheese and Large Fries.

Just those items when combined total 1980 calories, 115 grams of fat and 171 carbohydrate grams. A very large total when it's just the two burgers and fries.

I would never really go often to Arby's, KFC, Subway, Quizno's, Popeye's or Long John Silver's. Each of those were an every once in awhile thing...Subway and Quizno's for lunch when Quizno's was downtown near work. In fact, I probably haven't been to Long John's in years. No matter how you want to look at it, just too much food at any of these places I've mentioned this week.

Fast Food Foibles #4

I scream, you scream, we all scream for....ICE CREAM! Yes we all do. Who doesn't love some ice cream especially on super-hot, super-humid Illinois summer days? It's delicious and refreshing, especially some soft serve. And who rules soft serve? Dairy Queen. Ahhhhhh, Dairy Queen....soft serve paradise.

Just like Taco Bell, Dairy Queen is another place that Springfield did without for a few years. There's one across town but not one near me where I could get something and get home before it all melted. Well, that all changed a few months ago. They opened up a new DQ about 3 minutes from me by car...bad situation for a chronically overeating fat guy.

Most times I would just buy a Blizzard because I hadn't had one in a long time and they are an awesomely refreshing treat on a hot day. But then I decided to stop some times for dinner and a Blizzard. I stopped a few times in the past few months and here was my order:

Normal Order: 2 Chili Cheese Hot Dogs, 2 Double Cheeseburgers and a Large Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard.

I wouldn't eat the Blizzard right away after the other items but would give it some time. That doesn't make it the right thing to do or make it any less bad. The nutritional info for that order on the whole: 3100 calories, 161 grams of fat and 254 carbohydrate grams. It's all bad but the Blizzard alone is 1060 calories, 45 fat grams and 140 carb grams of that total.

There were also times that I would buy a box of Buster Bars. There are 6 of those in a box. Now, I wouldn't eat all of those at once but I found that these are the nutrition facts for 1 of those: 480 calories, 31 grams of fat and 45 carb grams. Just not good either.

Just another place I have to stay away from for a long time. And even if I did have anything from there it can't and won't be anything like it was. I can promise everyone and most importantly myself that that won't happen ever again.

Fast Food Foibles #3

Mmmmmm....Mexican food. Still makes my mouth water a little bit just thinking about it. I do love tacos, burritos, nachos, etc. The cheese, the seasoned meat, the tortillas, it's all just really good. BUT, it's not good for you when eaten in large quantities and that was/is/has been my downfall. I loved it a few years ago when Taco Bell re-opened in Springfield. For a few years, this town was without any Taco Bells at all. Looking back, maybe it was a good thing we didn't have any so I couldn't go through their easily accessible drive-thru.

Have I ever really talked about drive-thrus? I loved drive-thrus. They give you a perception of anonymity because while you're interacting with a person, you aren't really looking them eye-to-eye....you're in your car listening to the radio or looking at your phone while they're inside the building. I have hardly stepped into a fast food place in the last 10 years unless it was at lunch and I went with other people. Of course, I ordered a lot less food in those situations because I would never eat this amount in front of them.

Anyways, back to the Taco Bell orders. There are 3 different orders that were fairly "normal" orders for me when I would make a run for the border....yeah, run...about the only "run" I was doing. Here are the orders:

Normal Order #1: 2 Soft Beef Tacos, 2 1/2 Beef Combo Burritos and 1 Crunchwrap Supreme
Normal Order #2: 2 Soft Beef Tacos, 2 1/2 Beef Combo Burritos and a Nachos Bell Grande(with no tomatoes...who wants those when you've got cheese sauce and sour cream?)
Normal Order #3: 2 Soft Beef Tacos, 2 Beefy 5-Layer Burritos and a Nachos Bell Grande(still no tomatoes...they would add some type of nutrition to the meal...maybe I was scared of potential salmonella or something)

Normal Order #1 has 1860 calories, 75 grams of fat and 217 carbohydrate grams.
Normal Order #2 has 2090 calories, 96 grams of fat and 224 carbohydrate grams.
Normal Order #3 has 2290 calories, 104 grams of fat and 258 carbohydrate grams.

While none of the orders are good, evidently the Nachos Bell Grande was a HUGE mistake and the introduction of those damn tasty yet damn horrible Beefy 5-Layer Burritos months ago was another killer. Yes Brad, that was your problem, not the whole order!!!

Well, that does it for Mexican...well, Taco Bell...food. I think I'm really grossing myself out with all this stuff I ate. Consuming enough food in one meal for a family of four is no way to live your life.

Fast Food Foibles #2

Today we are covering pizza. Most of the time I would order Papa John's online. It was just the easiest way to do it. I didn't have to call and talk to anyone, I could make the order for whatever I wanted and basically only deal with the delivery driver. I could order early and set it up to get there whenever I wanted. It just made it very convenient.

Most of the time, my order would consist of a Papa XL pizza, the 16" one, with sausage, mushroom, pineapple and extra cheese. I would also get an order of cheesesticks and then get a couple of their dipping sauces for the crust. Many times these dipping sauces were a Cheese sauce, Honey Mustard and a Ranch. These would be used along with a Pizza sauce that came along with the cheesesticks.

Now, I wouldn't eat ALL of this.....but MOST of it in one sitting. I would eat about 6 slices of the pizza, the whole order of cheesesticks along with the cheese, honey mustard, ranch and pizza dipping sauces. The final tally for this amount of food: 3705 calories, 175.5 grams of fat and 393 grams of carbs!!! Holy schmoley!

This would sometime be eaten later at night too which just made it even worse. I probably did this one time a week...maybe two if it was a week I just didn't feel like making dinner very much. Just scary.

Fast Food Foibles #1

Yesterday I said that I would put in the blog some of my "normal" or "regular" fast food orders. I started to look up nutrition info for these orders this afternoon. It was really crazy how things add up and the scary-ass numbers that wind up coming out of all of this. I'm just going to jump into it and for our first installment, it will be the place that I probably went to the most because it's on my way home and very convenient: McDonald's. There are 2 parts to this...the normal order which has 2 possibilities and one that I would sometimes consider a late night snack.

Normal Order 1: #1 Value Meal Large - Big Mac, Large Fries, Large Dr Pepper; along with 2 Double Cheeseburgers
Normal Order 2: #1 Value Meal Large - Big Mac, Large Fries, Large Dr Pepper; along with 1 Double Cheeseburger and 1 McChicken Sandwich
Snack Order: 2 Double Cheeseburgers and an M&M McFlurry

Normal Order 1 is 2230 calories, 100 grams of fat and 262 grams of carbohydrates
Normal Order 2 is 2150 calories, 93 grams of fat and 268 grams of carbohydrates
Snack Order is 1590 calories, 71 grams of fat and 173 grams of carbohydrates

Holy crap! Right now I'm eating around 2000 calories a day and this put me over the amount in one meal and this doesn't even take into account all the other stuff I ate during the day, be it for meals or snacking. Just crazy to think about. Just really sad that I was killing myself slowly with that stuff. Probably had one of the normal order variations at least once a week and the snack probably once every 2 weeks or so on average. Really hard to look at and think about when you put it all down like that.

Weigh-In #2

Two weeks in and the second weigh-in is done. This past week I lost 6.8 pounds to bring my grand total in 2 weeks to 24.2 pounds. That's pretty good! I'm very pleased by the amount of weight I lost this week. Brings me up to a nice total so far and lets hope I can keep up the 6-8 pounds per week for a little while. I know eventually it'll come down more and I'm happy by any weight loss amount but I hope to keep pulling some bigger numbers for a few weeks.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

The 2nd week is basically over! I'm feeling more and more confident as each day goes by and with two weeks under my belt, things are going great. Weigh-in #2 is tomorrow morning and although it won't be another 17.4 pounds, I get the feeling it's going to be good. I've been feeling more energy here lately which is really good and just makes me more capable of doing things. It's just crazy how tired eating all of that stuff can make a person. You always hear that food is our energy, which it is, and you'd almost think that more would give you more energy....WRONG! I know it's a stupid thing to think but it's also unbelievable just how much it goes the other way.

Starting tomorrow night, in addition to little updates about my day, I'm going to be going through some of my "normal" fast food orders from different places. Just what exactly I would eat for meals or sometimes even snacks. Just to demonstrate the sheer volume of the garbage I was shovelling in on a daily basis to not only those reading but to myself. I know I've thought about it but I'm going to look up what the calorie, fat, carb counts of these meals are. Might be one helluva shocking week. I think it'll be good for me in the end though.