Done with BLOGGER - come visit our new spot!

Ok guys, I love Blogger.  However, there is no data storage here, so I have to move to a new site so that Tom and I can TALK to you, as well as having me WRITE at you.


I have our new site up and running.
www.hittingyourweight.com

The website is just getting started, but all new content will be posted there.

Thanks for reading.

New site pending!

I havent forgotten you guys.

I am working on a new website to host the blog, and the new podcast!

I will put up details as they happen.

Dr. Jason's Chili

This has been a pretty popular request, so I tested it out today and here's the result:
It makes about 10 cups of chili.  Nutritional content.
WHOLE BATCH 1500- Calories
Serving size - side = 1 cup / 150 Cal, main course = 2 cups / 300 Cal

Ingredients:
Seasoning: 2 teaspoons of each: coriander, chili powder, oregano, 2 tablespoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves. Combine these in a small bowl.
3 medium onion - diced fine
1 red pepper - chopped
4 ribs of celery - chopped
4 carrots - either grated or shredded in food processor
1 28 oz can Diced Tomatoes
1,25 # ground turkey breast
4 chicken Andouille sausage (if this is too spicy it's ok to substitute turkey Italian sausage) - sliced into coins
1/4 cup chicken stock
6 cloves minced garlic

Directions:
1) Heat Dutch oven to medium-high heat
2) Add onions, stir for about 1 minute, so onion does not stick
3) Cook the onion until slightly browned
4) Add 1/8 cup of chicken stock, celery and pepper
5) Cook for about 7 minutes, until celery gets a little opaque
6) Add Sausage and cook until sausage is cook all the way through, if the veggies start to stick, add a little stock - stir frequently - about 7 min
7) Empty everything into large bowl
8) Add garlic
9) Cook about 30 sec
10) Add about 2 tablespoons stock and scrape up any bown bits in Dutch oven
11) Add ground turkey
12) Use a wooden spoon to break up the turkey - cook through - about 5 min
13) Add seasoning mix and stir for about 60 sec
14) Add carrots and tomatoes and cook for about 2 min
15) Add the veggies and sausage that were set aside
16) Bring to a simmer for about 2 min, then lower heat to low and cover.
17) Cook for about an hour, checking to be sure there is enough liquid and that the chili is not sticking to bottom of Dutch oven, add stock if too dry
18) OPTIONS:
- if too spicy, add 6 tablespoons ketchup
- Ok to serve with 1 oz partially skim cheese- like Mozzarella
- Love legumes? Add canellonni beans, or black beans, or pretty much any bean

Share and enjoy!

Wednesday, 3/17/2010

Pretty sore today.  I had originally thought that today would be a great day to get a massage.  Doesn't look like that is happening.
Instead, I am working in my test kitchen to get a Light Chili recipe for you guys.  I don't use recipes for my chili, and I tend to like it pretty spicy, so I wanted to practice a bit and get it right.  So that when I write it down, it's just the way I want it.
Also, I have a unique opportunity for exercise today.  Yardwork. UPDATE AT BOTTOM!
I have a medium sized city yard.  Kristin and I do a ton of gardening in this space.  I need to get all the leaves (that I used as cover against the winter) into the bin, then shred them, then get them into the composter.

First I have to empty the bins, and the composter, and I need to get all the leaves raked up, etc. etc. etc.
I will wear my HR monitor and we can see how much I burned.

Meal #1
Coffee cream and sugar - 100
1/2 bagel, 1 oz cream cheese
410 Cal

Meal #2
1.5 cup turkey chili (not quite done turkey chili, that is), I should have the calorie total for this by tonight
225 Cal

Snack
GREEN TEA!
1/2 cup turkey chili - I think I'm going to have a lot of this today . . . 
1/2 roll
150 Cal

Meal #3
I am guessing this is going to be more turkey chili, but I will edit this in later.
Indeed - 2 cups chili
300 Cal

OK, so gardening in the city.  This is raking leaves, sweeping, shoveling, hoeing and a bunch of tilling for the veggie plot (about 10x5).
1 hour, 45 min
avg HR = 108
max HR = 126
Total calories - 740
That is pretty good.  Just wait until I need to bring in more paving pebbles, or topsoil.  I've been known to bring home 40 bags in a long afternoon.  I will totally be keeping my HR monitor on when I'm working hard outside!

Tuesday, 3/16/2010

I got essentially no sleep last night.  No idea why.  Kristin drove the kids and that gave me another hour, thank God.  Got to the gym, just in time, but had a great workout with Courtney, treadmill conference with Tom, then another hour shootin' hoops by myself.

Meal #1
Last night I ate.
I had about 2 cups frosted flakes - 250
1/2 Peach - 45
1 oz Ham - 100
1 oz Cheese - 100
Total 495

Meal #2
Chicken Wrap - 250 Cal
Beef Sandwich - 375 Cal
Total = 625

Snack
Blueberry, banana, peach, smoothie, 1/2 scoop protein = 215 Cal

So far = 1335, which is a lot, but I'm ok with that, since I had a good workout day.  Still, a 900 Cal dinner would totally trash that.  So - some extra protein, but as little fat as possible tonight and I should be ok.  Maybe I will up the fiber a little too, to help out the profile of carbs a little bit.  We'll see. . . more to come.

Meal #3
Chicken - 5 oz or so - 250 cal
Risotto - 150 Cal (not very much)
Smoothie - 250 Cal
Total = 650

Total for the day  =1985
This was a bad diet day, I think.  But with a 1800 Cal burn, I wanted to be a little on the higher end.  I would rather have been 1600, but /shrug.

The rest of the week is all about the diet.  I am going to hammer home 1200-1300 every day.  Then get real low on Friday, have a great weigh in on Sat (I hope).  If I can squeeze 3 pounds (unlikely) I will be down to 253, which will be 50# down from when I started the Largest Loser in June '09.  That would be cool.

Monday, 3/15/2010

Today I am not really working out.  Goin into work a little early for staff meeting, and did some light workouts over the weekend.  So today I'm gonna recover just a little.  To offset that I need to really watch my calories.  I ate a decent breakfast (though not a lot of protein) so I will need to be a little bit lighter the rest of the day.

Meal #1
Muffin - 350 Cal
Toast - 110 Cal
Ham - 1 oz - 100 Cal
Total = 560 Cal

Meal #2

Meal #3

Snack

Exercise

Sunday, 3/14/2010

Meal #1
Ham - 2 oz - 200 Cal
Jalepeno Havarti - 1 oz - 100 Cal
Hot Cross Bun - 200Cal
500 Cal

Meal #2
Smoothie - 1/4 cup blueberries, 1 peach, 1 banana, 1/2 scoop protein, ice, water = yum!
250 Cal

Meal #3
Baked Chicken - 300 cal
Mashed potatoes - 300 Cal
Salad - 100 Cal
700 Cal

Snack
2 oz potatoes = 150 Cal
Total = 1600

Exercise
I am taking Alyson to a birthday party.  Sometimes it's a 'drop-off' and sometimes it's a parents hang-out event.  I'm bringing my gym bag in case it's a drop-off.  Otherwise, I'll go to the gym after the party.  The eral goal will be trying to NOT EAT anything at the party.  I had a big brunch (500 cal) and an early snack (250 Cal) - so I'm full before the party.  I hope that helps.
Drop off party! Woot! I got to the gym for about 90 minutes , 500 Cal.  Not super high energy workout (I did lift a little too), but it counts!

Saturday 3/13/2010

Official Weigh-In = 256.0 #
Not as far down as I want it to be, but doing ok the past month or so.  I just started so slowly that it's taking me a bit to catch up.

Breakfast
Bagel with Cream Cheese = 500 Cal

Lunch
Nachos with chicken = 500 Cal

Dinner
Oven "fried" chicken and salad = 500 Cal

Snack
Smoked pork belly (which a local butcher makes and is AMAZING) = 250 Cal

1750

Exercise
500

Friday, 3/12/2010

Meal #1
Coffee with cream and splenda = 50 Cal

Meal #2
Salad with seafood, avocado, cider vinagrette = 500 Cal
Potato Pancake = 200 Cal

Meal #3
Egg white omelet with onion, 1 oz cheese

Snack
Granola bar

Total - 1100 Cal

The Recipe Blog - Dinner

There are lots of options here.  I wanted to give something that you can get out of the fridge and onto the table in about 20 minutes.  I also wanted something that would not take years of cooking training to get done right.  Finally, and most importantly, I wanted something that most folks would love. 

Personally, I love brussel sprouts, but I don't know if everybody else does, so making that a focus would be tough.  I figured that I would give a poultry and a fish, then a grain for a side dish, and give some options for variation.  I have a ton more recipe ideas for quick dinners, so if somebody wanted to know something specific - please, drop me a comment and I will get you a recipe.

Pulled Chicken
I have to trick my kids into eating chicken most of the time, but they love "pulling" the chicken.  The technique here is super easy.  Get two forks, hold the chicken with one, and scrape off chicken with the other one.  Put the scraped chicken in a bowl, then mix with sauce.

BBQ Sauce ingredients:
2 tbl spn unsalted butter
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspn cumin
1/4 teaspn chili powder
1/4 teaspn black pepper
Melt butter in medium saucepan.  Add the other ingredients, stir and bring to a a boil.  Partially cover and cook until reduced to 2/3 cup total (about 15 minutes) - stirring often.

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Preheat oven to 375
Pat chicken dry
Season with salt and pepper
Cook for about 15 min per pound or until the temperature reaches 165 degrees.  Take the chicken out and let it rest 5 minutes before pulling and mixing with sauce.
Remember that portion size is about 3 oz chicken.  For the sauce, about 1/3 cup is enough per breast.

Cal = 373 - 23 g fat, 4 g protein for the whole batch of sauce
Cal for chicken = 94 cal - 1 g fat, 20 g protein per 3 oz serving

Salmon with lemon butter sauce
Salmon filets - 3 oz portions - patted dry, season with pepper
1/4 cup chopped butter - at room temp
2 tbl spn fresh lemon juice
2 tbl spn fresh parsley
1 tea spn dill
1 finely chopped shallot
2 tbl spn capers - thoroughly rinsed
1/2 finely sliced red onion
3/4 cup white wine
Serves 4, per portion: Sauce = 150 Cal - 12 g fat, Fish = 155 Cal, 7 g fat, 22 g protein

Directions:
1) Heat pan over medium high heat
2) Add salmon, cook for about 1 min on all sides
3) Remove fish from pan
4) Add wine, shallots, lemon juice to pan, scrape up any bits of fonde in pan.
5) When reduced by at least 1/2 remove from heat
6) Add butter, parsley, capers and onions to warm pan
7) Return fish to pan and pour sauce over fish
8) Serve with sprinkle of dill and slice of lemon

Kitchen Sink Couscous
(If you add lean protein, use as Main Course - great with shrimp!)
Whole Wheat couscous
To Be Continued . . .

The Recipe Blog - Lunch Recipes

Lunch ideas are tricky.  They have to be relatively portable for work.  They have to take almost no preparation.  They have to be satisfying, since there is rarely healthy alternatives.  Basically, you have to WANT to eat this stuff instead of just going out and grabbing a Greaseburger.

I tend to eat a fair amount of salads for lunch.  Adding some protein makes it pretty balanced, and I can generally get really FULL from veggies, with little added fats.

Seafood Salad
Salmon - 2 oz packaged
Shrimp - 4 large shrimp
1/2 onion
2 cups chopped Romaine
1 Tomato
1/2 cucumber
1 Carrot
1 rib Celery
Cal = 215 - 4g fat, 22 g protein

Pack the tomatoes and cucumber in a separate baggie from the drier veggies.  Ideally, the lettuce would be in its own bag as well.

Dressing:
#1 - mix 2 tbl spn extra virgin olive oil with 1 teaspn dijon in a jar with a lid, add pepper to taste
Cal = 244 - 27 g fat
#2 - 2 tbl spn low fat mayo with 2 squirts of hot sauce = 100 Cal - 10 g fat
#3 - squeeze some fresh lemon over the salad, and add a little pepper

Turkey Burger with salad
Ingredients:
Sandwich Thin (peppridge farms or arnolds) - Toasted
Turkey Burger - Jennie-O - 4 oz
Pepper Jack Cheese - 1 oz
Red onion slice

Serve with side salad of romaine, carrots, celery, cucumber, tomato - dress salad with fresh lemon
Cal = 450 (385 burger, 65 salad) - 18 g fat, 34 g protein

The trick with bringing this to work is to bring the burger in its own bag.  Microwave the already cooked burger for 1 min, then add the cheese and onion and microwave again for 20 sec.  If you can toast the bread at work, great, otherwise bring it already toasted (but don't microwave it - it'll get stale).




 

The Recipe Blog - Breakfast Recipes

I'm talking about cooking this week at the Largest Loser group class.
I wanted to put the recipes online to share with everybody, and to allow the group to find them, in case they wanted to try them.

These are 2 nice recipes for breakfast (lunch and dinner will be following).

SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
Strawberries - 1 cup - 46 Cal
Banana - 1 large - 125 Cal
Soy Protein Powder - 1 oz - 93 Cal
Flaxseed - 2 tbl spn - 118 Cal
Ice - 2 cups
Water - 1 cup
TOTAL CAL = 382
58g carbs, 10 g fat (flaxseed), 25 g protein - LOTS of fiber (so don't be too afraid of the carbs number)

Optional:
Yogurt
Orange Juice

I would think about using yogurt INSTEAD of banana to manage the calories a little.  The juice is an issue because of calories, but it can boost the sweetness a little and give some nice orange flavor.  If you wanted to use a little bit of OJ instead of strawberries, feel free, be mindful.


GREEK OMELET
Ingredients:
3/4 cup egg white substitute - 90 Cal
1/2 onion - 21 Cal
3/4 cup mushrooms - 12 Cal
1 cup spinach - 7 Cal
cooking spray
2 oz low fat feta - 70 Cal
TOTAL
200 Cal - 11 Carbs - 35 Protein

Directions:
1) Heat the pan to medium heat
2) OFF THE HEAT - spray the pan (on the heat = fire hazard)
3) Add onion and mushroom - cook until translucent
4) Add spinach - cook until wilted
5) Remove veggies from pan and set aside
6) If needed, give pan another spray
7) Add eggs, constantly scraping
8) When at least 1/2 cooked, add veggies and cheese
9) Serve with whole grain bread, if desired(since the calories are pretty low, adding some whole grains is a pretty reasonable option)

Friday, 3/12/2010

Meal #1
Coffee with cream and splenda = 50 Cal

Meal #2
Salad with seafood, avocado, cider vinagrette = 500 Cal
Potato Pancake = 200 Cal

Meal #3

Snack

Exercise

Thursday, 3/11/2010

Meal #1
Granola Bars 2x = 200

Meal #2
Smoothie = 350

Meal #3
Greek Salad with Chicken and Pita = 400

Snack
Bagel with cream cheese - 400

1/2 sandwich (Subway) = 300 Cal

Total = 1650

Exercise
1300

Wed, 3/10/2010

Meal #1
2 Granola bars - 200
Coffee - 50
Rye Toast, 2 slices - 150 Cal

TOTAL = 400 Cal

Meal #2
Rye Bread, 2 slices - 150 Cal
1 oz Cheese - 100
1 teaspn peanut butter - 45
TOTAL = 295

Meal #3
Pasta, 3/4 cup - 150
Turkey Sausage - 160
TOTAL = 310

Snack
Cookie - 110
Smoothie  - 200

DAILY TOTAL
1335

Tuesday, 3/9/2010

Meal #1
Bagel and Cream Cheese - 400
Coffee with cream and splenda - 25
TOTAL = 425

Meal #2
Salad Bar
spinach, sprouts, brocoli - 50 Cal
Chicken Salad - 350 Cal
TOTAL = 400 Cal

Snack
Energy Bar - 280 Cal
Smoothie (straw, banana, blackberries, flaxseed, protein) - 350 Cal
Total = 630

Meal #3
Turkey, 4 oz - 150 Cal
Potatoes, 1 cup - 200 Cal
Mushrooms, onions, carrots - 100 Cal
TOTAL = 450

DAILY TOTAL = 1925

Exercise
1100 Cal

Deficit = 1300 Cal

Thursday, 3/4/2010

I'm feeling a little pressure today.  I have lots of stuff to do.  I need to start my Spring Reading for doctor-stuff (to keep up to date).  I am considering adding Bariatric Medicine (the Medicine of Obesity) to my specialty (which would be a huge time and money expenditure).  My kids have lots of school stuff over the next few weeks.  I just feel swamped.

However, I can only control today.  I had an early meeting up here in Arlington Heights, and it's already over, so I am basically free until 2:00.  Guess who gets three hours at the gym today?
<- this guy!

Meal #1
Granola bar - 180 Cal
Dunkin Wake up wrap - egg and cheese - 180 Cal
Total 360 Cal

Meal #2
Jimmy John's Turkey Tomato - 335 Cal

Meal #3
Salad with grilled chicken and feta - 450 Cal
Pita - 100

Snack
1 TINY slice banana bread - 50 Cal
Coffee, black (blech, i need my cream and sugar!)

Total - 1600

Exercise
I was totally running on empty today.  No juice at all.  Still, I was at the gym about 2 hours.  I took a bunch of breaks and did not get the intensity up to where I wanted it.  I ended up with about 750 Calories.  I doubt that I am going to get my 1700 Calorie deficit  today - good thing I banked a few extra calories on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Total Deficit = 1400

Wednesday, 3/3/2010

No sleep last night.  I have to wake up early tomorrow, so no nap for me today.  Hopefully, I can get to bed early too!

Meal #1
Bagel - 200 Cal
Cream Cheese - 100 Cal
Total - 300

Meal #2
Strawberries - 50 Cal
Banana x2 - 210 Cal (that is a lot for fresh produce! I was surprised when I looked that up)
Soy Protein - 110
Flax Seed - 75
Total - 445

Meal #3
Chicken 4 oz - 115
Guacamole (homemade) - 220
Total -  335

Snack
String Cheese x2 = 160
Smoothie - 200 Cal
Peach - 100
Apple - 50

Total  - 1580

Exercise
Gym - 1100 had a 90 minute mix of cardio - elliptical, treadmill (mostly treadmill)
Post Lunch Walk - 200 Cal

Total deficit =1970
By the way, for the deficit I am giving myself a "normal" diet of 2250 Calories.

Tuesday, 3/2/2010

Sorry I missed the weekend.  I did ok on Friday.  Saturday started well, but diet was bad.  Sunday was a mess.  Monday, I was home with the kids (Pulaski Day).  Anyway, today we're back in action!

I've started using Sparkpeople.com again, in greater detail.  I need to do a better job being more specific with my calories.

Meal #1
Coffee, cream and sugar (Dunkin) - 100
Granola bar x2 (Eaten around 2 AM) - 200

Meal #2
Jimmy John's Turkey Tom (add cucumbers and Dijon mustard) - 335

Snack
Salami - 1oz - 100
Colby Cheese - 2 oz - 190
Bread - 1 slice - 100
4 cookies - 200
Total = 590, BAD calories

Meal #3
Smoked Pork Belly - 3 oz - 150 Cal
Chicken Breast - 4 oz - 120
Colby Cheese - 1 oz - 110
Risotto - 1/2 cup - 150 Cal


Total - 1755

Exercise - 1800 Cal (600 on my own, 800 with Courtney, 400 to cooldown on my own)

So, my calories were up (esp calories from fat), but still close to my 1600 goal on heavy workout days.
Today's total deficit ~ 2200

Thursday, 2/25/2010

I want a big day today.  I'd love to get 1000 Calories in, and I'd love to consume fewer than 1300.
So here is the plan:
#1 - coffee, cream and sugar - 110
#2 - smoothie (with protein)- 450
#3 - Salad with chicken + pita - 600
Snack - granola bar - 100

That's 1260 on the plan.
I had a TON of protein last night, so I think I can do pretty well today.  Just a little bump (smoothie) at lunch for the sugar and the protein to leave me full until dinner.
I am planning on leaving home around 11 to go to the gym.  That means I'll get there at 12, I can stay until 1:30, get my smoothie and still get to work by 2:30.
As the day progresses, let's see how close I can stay to the PLAN.
- J, 8:40 AM

Meal #1 - Coffe, cream and sugar 100
Meal #2 - Smoothie, 400 Cal
Meal #3 - Salad with chicken, feta and whole grain bread - 400 Cal
Snack - Energy Bar - 300 Cal
Snack #2 - more bread - 300 Cal
Exercise 825 Cal.
Pretty close to my plan - I'll take it!

Wednesday, 2/24/2010

Meal #1

Granola bar - 100
Low fat Cottage Cheese - 100

Meal #2
Smoothie - 350 Cal

Snack
whole grain bread - 300 Cal
Gouda - 150 Cal

Dinner
Brussel sprouts - 150 Cal
Chicken - 500 Cal
Whole Grain Bread - 300

Total - 1900

No exercise today - busy refueling.

Tuesday, 2/23/2010

Little bit of fatigue today.  Hard to get through the full workout.  Had to take more breaks than normal.  I think I can live around 1400-1500 calories, but when I have 800-1200 Cal workouts, I do feel the drain.  SLIGHTLY increasing my calories might give me that little bit of energy that I can take into the gym and burn off.

Also - I weighed myself yesterday before workout - 262 (despite basically doing NOTHING over the weekend and eating a little extra).  And today before the workout was 260.  I really want to get around 258 this week.  That would be about 3# for last week and 3# for this week (even though when I weighed in last week the scale showed +0.6).  Also, I think if I can keep up 700-2,000 calories burned in the gym, 6 days a week, then I can continue to lose 3 pounds a week.  That is my personal goal, since I have so much weight to lose.

I am noticing that I am getting a little bit weaker.  I KNOW I am losing a little lean mass (muscle) as well as fat.  I think on ONE of my 'off-days' I need to lift weights as well as walk/jog.  That is something I really want to bring up with Nick, Tom and Courtney.

Meal #1
Granola bar = 100
Coffee = 60

Meal #2
Roast Beef and Cheese sandwich = 500 Cal

Snack
Smoothie - banana, strawberries, yogurt, protein (1/2 scoop), flax seed (no juice this time, i made it with water and it tasted the same, but saved 100 Cal) = 275 Cal

Meal #3
Chicken, roast veggies (broccoli, fennel, leeks, potatoes, mushrooms) - ~600 Cal

Snack
kids mashed potatoes - 300 Cal

Total - 1835 Cal - a bit high because of the two snacks and bigger lunch and dinner.  Also, I felt like I was allowing myself to eat more tonight, to try and refill the tank for the rest of the week.  Gotta tighten the belt the rest of the week though!

Exercise
1300 Cal between Courtney and long cooldown - I warmed up with about 20 minutes of basketball with Dad.  I did not start my watch then though.  He got about 200 Cal, so I probably got a little more.  That's not included in the 1300, but I only wanted to record the numbers that are on the watch.

Monday, 2/22/2010

Late entry guys, sorry 'bout that.  Great day, Monday.

Meal #1
Granola Bar x2 = 200 Cal
Coffee, cream = 60 Cal

Meal #2
Smoothie (strawberries, banana, flax seed, protein, yogurt, OJ) = 510

Meal #3
Greek Salad, with chicken = 500 CaL
Pita = 100 Cal

Total = 1370

Exercise
800 Cal on the treadmill before work.  Felt great all day Monday.

Sunday, 2/21/2010

Meal #1
Coffee with cream and sugar - 110

Meal #2
Salad with salmon - 300 Cal
Sea Scallops - 200 Cal

Meal #3
1/2 CPK goat cheese pizza - 500 Cal
1/2 Small CPK salad - 300 Cal

Today is more like it, calorie-wise.  1410 Calories is much closer to where I want to be.
No exercise today, but I am totally recovering.  Tomorrow will be a light workout day, setting another big day on Tuesday.

Saturday, 2/20/2010

I am really sore today.  I think I made some bad decisions because of my intense workouts this week.  I wanted to give myself a little bit more fuel, to aid recovery.  I wanted to stay totally hydrated, to aid recovery.

I ate nutritiously yesterday, but the calorie count was probably about 1,800; however overnight I ended up eating apples with peanut butter - and had way too much peanut butter.  My total was probably 2,400 for the day.  Also, I drank like a fish.  I feel like I am carrying 3 gallons of water in my belly.

With the water/hydration thing - I dont think I am losing a ton of sweat.  Perhaps that is because I usually wear those underarmor shirts that wick away the moisture.  Perhaps that is because a lot of my calories are coming after workout, from walking (low intensity).  I dunno.  Whatever it is I need to listen to my body, instead of loading up on fluids 'just in case'.  I felt bloated after a few workouts this week because I drank a bunch of water.  Basically, I have to plan my meals ahead of time and stick to it.  I need to plan my workouts and tick to those too.  My water consumption can easily be done as needed - nothing needs to get planned there, since my problem is overdoing it, not really dehydrating.

Meal #1
Salad bar from whole foods:
about 2 oz pork
about 1/4 cup macaroni and cheese
about 1/4 cup edemame
about 1 cup beets
about 1 cup spinach
about 1 cup of assorted fresh veggies
no dressing, but obviously the macaroni and the pork were the naughty bits
It is really hard to estimate the calories here, but to round up, let's say 550 Cal

Meal #2
Straw-banana smoothie with protein - 400 Cal (thanks, Tom, for turning me onto the protein powder)

Meal #3
Potato Leek Soup - about 500 Cal

Snack
Bread and hummus - 600 Cal

Exercise
Training today, I will double check the watch later, but I think I hit about 525 Calories.

I had way too much bread today.  I need to focus in on the calories today to fix make this a great week.

Thursday, 2/18/2010

Meal #1
Granola Bars x2 - 200 Cal
Coffee with half and half - 50 Cal
Total - 250 Cal

Meal #2
Roast Beef sandwich, with cheese, on onion roll  - 430 Cal, but 19g fat 

Meal #3

Snack
1/2 bagel with cream cheese -  200 Cal

Exercise
Had a long walk/run on the treadmill today.  I took 2 extended breaks for stretching during the session, so that was good.  My hammies are getting REALLY tight and sore, so I need to ice up and stretch every day - hopefully multiple times a day.  Nevertheless - 850 Cal - so that is good.  I weighed myself today too

Exercise

Wednesday, 2/17/2010

I felt funky today after yesterday's pretty massive day.  I did get to sleep in a little, and figured walking it out would be a great recovery.
Meal #1
granola bar x2 = 200 Cal

Meal #2
veggie chili - 200 Cal
Trout Wrap with cole slaw - 300 Cal
Potato salad - 300 Cal

Meal #3
6 oz Salmon - 309
3/4 cup mac n cheese - 410
Carrots

Total = 1719

Exercise - I had about 450 Calories on the treadmill, and took the dog for a 2 mile walk (probably about 200 Cal).

I am a little disappointed with my big lunch, but it was from a restaurant that really does everything fresh, and, frankly, it was totally yummy.  Worth 900 Calories, I dunno, but damn close.  Overall, my nutritional content was good today, even if the calories were a little bit high.

Tuesday, 2/16/2010

Man, it feels like a Monday.  The first day to myself, after 5 days at home with the kids.  It was great having them home, but I like a nice quite day to be all lazy and SPEND THREE HOURS AT THE GYM!  Oh man, yeah, I totally rocked it out at the gym today.  Now I'm behind on all the other stuff I need to do (groceries, laundry, kids, karate class with kids, etc), but I think it was worth it after very domestic for the past few days.

My goal for this week is to edge below 260.0.  My last official weigh in was 263.2.  This morning I was 263.6.  It's Tuesday, so I basically have 4 days to get a 12,500 Calorie deficit.  Diet, at best, can give me 5k (more likely to get 4, 000-4,500).  I basically need 8000 Calories of burn this week.  I'm only working on Thursday, I have Tuesday workout and Friday workouts with trainers. Math, math, math, math, math . . . 

Meal #1
Coffee - 75
PB&J - 400 (I at this while mostly asleep at 3AM, and I really wish I hadn't)

Meal #2
Jimmy Johns #12, same ole - 425 (no chips this time)

Meal #3
7 oz Chicken, baked
3/4 cup cooked pasta with 1 oz. parmesan cheese


Snack
PB&J (See, this is why I usually do not buy peanut butter. . . .) 400

Exercise -
Hold on to your butts people - 2620 ! ! ! I found a GREAT GREAT GREAT trick.  Have a normal workout with the trainers.  Get that heart rate up for an hour.  Then . . . walk.  A lot. play with that speed and incline to keep the heart rate near your zone.  For me, the trainers get me to a max of 170-175, but I'm usually in the 150s.  After the workout when I'm on the treadmill I try to keep the heart rate in the 140s.  When it hits 150, I slow down or lower the incline, when it hits 130, I raise it back up.  That's it.  I just kept walking.  I never went above 3.7 mph, never set the incline about 7 percent.  I warmed up on the treadmill for about 30 minutes before my workout, relaxed for about 15 minutes, worked out with Tom for an hour, relaxed for about 10 minutes, then did about 90 minutes on the treadmill walking.  I was in that fat-burning zone just about the whole time.

This week's goal 8k.
Toady 2,620.
Remaining for 3 more days - 5,380.
I must average 1,800 per day of burn.
Oh man, this is going to be really tough.

Monday, 2/15/2010

Had a nice day today.  Kids had their last day off (5-day weekend).

Meal #1
Fruit smoothie - strawberries, bananas, light yogurt, about 1 oz OJ - 300 Cal

Meal #2
Turkey, veggie wrap - 345 Cal
Chips - 200 Cal

Meal #3
stir fry veggies with smoked pork belly (about 1oz) and 1 oz manchego cheese - 500 Cal
Salad - 100 Cal

Snack
1/2 PB&J = 250 Cal

1650 Cal

Exercise - tough day today.  I was on the treadmill about 40 min, but didn't get my heart rate up at all.  Only about 300 Cal burned, which is a really low number for me.  Oh well, training session tomorrow.  Time to dial it up!

Sunday, 2/14/2010

Happy Valentines Day!
So - we got to sleep in a bit, which was nice.  Lounged around the house, took the kids to play in the snow at the park, went out for breakfast, cleaned up the house for a bit, watched a little TV.  Awesome lazy Sunday.

Meal #1 -
Egg white omlette, with ham, american cheese and lots of veggies - ~600 Cal
Now, I'm overestimating the omlette I think.  There was probably 1 oz of ham, and about the same of the cheese, I'm sure that it was cooked in grease of some kind.  But it was a reasonable size, and egg white, so I will round up and say 600.
Toast (no butter) - 120 Cal
Potatoes - Alyson ate 80% of mine - 100
Pancake - again, the kids at 80% - 100 Cal
So - rounding everything WAY up puts me at 920.  Honestly, it was between 600-950 for breakfast.

Meal #2 -
Baked chicken - 120 Cal
Salad - 200 Cal (a little bit of olive oil in there)
Total - 320

Snack
Crackers and hummus - 200 Cal

Daily Total - 1420

I think that is a decent day, considering that we ate out for a big breakfast. I did not get much exercise today.  i am going to try and hit the gym with the kids tomorrow, otherwise I will have to workout at the dojo when they go for karate (which is never as good).

My goal this week is >3.5#.  I have 6 days - every day has to be about 2000 Cal deficit.  I was a little bit light today, so I need to make it better the rest of the week.  Still, even on a light day, with a good diet, I think today was a weight loss day.

Sat, 2/13/2010

Pretty good day today - new weight 263.2.
7.4 # down this session and 30# down since June.

Meal #1-
Bread with peanut butter - 280 Cal
Coffee with cream - 75 Cal
355 Cal
 
Meal #2
Hot dog, pickle, tomato, relish, bun - yum! - 450 Cal
Salad, with 1 oz feta, 1/2 oz dressing - 200 Cal
650 Cal
 
Meal #3
Sushi - lots of different kinds
Probably 1 cup rice total, 5 oz fish, assorted veggies - the real issue would probably be the soy sauce (which is essentially liquid salt)

Snack
3 prunes - yum! - 60 cal
8 whole grain wheat thins - 50 cal
Hummus - 60 Cal
170 Cal
 

Friday, 2/13/2010

Dang it.
So, I missed a workout while recovering with Katie from the stomach flu.
I've missed two workouts in the past 6 days.  I've also had a really light week working out on my own.  Not good.

Meal #1
granola bar - 100 Cal
banana - 50 Cal

Meal #2
Mac n cheese - 460 Cal

Meal #3
Chicken "stir-fry" - 250 Cal
Veggies - 75 Cal

Snack
Turkey Chili - 250 Cal

Thursday, 2/11/2010

Day 1 of the 5day weekend for the kids.  Gonna try and bring them to the gym tomorrow (bright and early).

Meal #1
Granola Bar - 100 Cal

Meal #2
Soup - 250 Cal
Salad with chicken - 200 Cal
Potato Pancake - 300 Cal
1/2 Pancake - 150 Cal
Total - 900 Cal

Meal #3
home made, whole wheat pizza
Crust - 300
Sauce - 60
Cheese - 120
Total = 480

Snack
Fried chicken drumstick - 250 Cal

Daily total - 1730

That's not a great diet day.  My lunch was far too big.  Even though it was pretty healthy, I could have skipped eating 1/2 of one of Aly's pancakes, and probably skipped my potato pancake too.  That would have made today much smoother.  Also, with the kids home, Kristin doing 80 hour weeks at work, and everybody else up to their elbows busy, it's gonna be a little hard to squeeze in EXTRA workouts.  But I will have a great workout tomorrow and on Saturday, then get going again next week.

Wednesday, 2/10/2010

Snow day!
I updated my Facebook page today, "Shoveling is cardio".  Good thing too, it's the only cardio I got today.

Meal #1
3/4 Muffin - 350 Cal
Coffee with cream and Splenda - 30 Cal

Meal #2
Egg whites, with mushrooms, onions and 1/8 cup of part skim moz. - 170 Cal

Meal #3
Mushroom Rissoto - this is a VERY calorie dense dish.  I probably had about 1/2 cup uncooked rice, which translated into about 1.25 cup cooked (probably a touch more).  There is butter and cheese in here, so portion control is huge.  Still, it's really filling, and I added mushrooms, onions, etc. to it.  600 Cal

Snack
Valentines chocolates from the kids school x4 = 200 Cal

Exercise - I said shoveling is cardio, which I did for almost 45 minutes today.  I also walked the dog for about 30 min (maybe 1.5 miles).  Not a big day for exercise, and tomorrow I have the kids, and work, so it'll be tight.  Friday should be another big day tho (I hope).

Pop Survey

I will be giving a lecture in a few weeks on cooking.
I plan on making breakfast, lunch and dinner during our hours together.

Here's the question:
anybody have any requests or suggestions or foods that they just cannot eat?

Post comments here if you can, if you can't put a comment on the thread - email me at:
jgruss42@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Tuesday, 2/9/2010

So - I am generally the captain of food labels.  I love them, I read them, I study them.  Today (although I'm feeling 100% back to normal after a sluggish end to last week, and cramp-y beginning to this week), I misread labels TWICE!!!!

So the low-fat protein bar for 140 Calories?  Yeah, decent fiber, the brand is usually pretty tasty - I'm golden.  EXCEPT - it has TWO SERVINGS per bar.  Yeah, so I didn't notice that until AFTER I ate it.  Not nice food label people - not nice at all!

Then, after a great workout with Courtney, it's lunch time.  There is a Jimmy John's right by the continental club.  I get my usual (#12 - no mayo, no cheese, extra cucumbers, extra sprouts) and I decide to treat myself with a bag of jalapeno chips.  Not bad 150 Calories.  Ok, well, it's totally an indulgence, but I'm a little hypoglycemic and I certainly have earned a 600 Cal lunch.  BUT WAIT - this bag is two servings too (2.125, actually).  I had eaten nearly 2 servings before I noticed that.  It's complete BS.  Why dont they just say it's 10 Calories per serving but there are 25 servings?  Dammit!

Not reading the labels cost me 290 calories today.  That is about 35 minutes on the treadmill.

Meal #1
M-F-ing protein bar - 280 Calories

Meal #2
Good #12 - 425 Cal
Bad chips - 300
Total 725

Meal #3
Home made pizza (store bought whole wheat crust)
Crust - 1/4 pizza = 150 Cal
1/4 cup part-skim mozerella - 80
1 oz fat free feta - 30
1 pat butter - 20
onions, bell peppers, mushrooms - 30
Total 310

Snack
Strawberries - 200 Cal
Hummus - 100 Cal
Toast with low fat cheese - 100 Cal

Total - 1715

Exercise - oh baby, I'm back - so hour with Courtney, cooldown, walk/jog incline, cooldown, walk =  
2145 Calories.  Of course, I get home, start shoveling snow and cramp up all over, heh.  My neighbor actually asked if I was ok since I was basically leaning over the shovel.  Who knew that you use abs while shoveling?!?

Monday, 2/9/2010

I had a weird day on Monday.
Alyson is no longer sick, but I pretty much got her stomach flu.  I didn't have a million trips to the bathroom or anything like that, but just felt really bloated and cramp-y.  The good news, I basically didn't eat.  Hahaha.

Meal #1
Grilled Chicken Sandwich - so, ask Susanne about this one, I totally turned a 800 Calorie lunch into a 400 Calorie lunch.  Cheryl got us lunch at work for our noon meeting, and thoughtfully got my grilled chicken.  Totally healthy right?!?  Sure, except for the 1/4 CUP of mayonnaise that I took off it.  I had to scrape the chicken, both the top and bottom bun, and I had to toss the tomato (which I love) to get rid of all the fat.  I was left with a totally tasty piece of chicken, lettuce and bun.

Snack
Dunkin Donuts, egg white turkey sausage flatbread - 225 Cal

Meal #2
1/2 serving light pasta 100 Cal
Turkey Chili - 250 Cal
Hummus - 200 Cal

Total - 1175 Calories

No exercise, but I'm feeling better and ready to go.

Sunday, 2/7/2010

Meal #1
Skinny Turkey and Swiss from Potbelly's - 399 Cal
(sounds good right?  BUT - 1500 mg sodium! - it didn't say that on the sign, I found that one out online)

Snack
1 slice bread, 1 oz ham - 190 Cal

Meal #2
Spaghetti - 1/2 cup
Sausage - 1/4 link
3 slices bread
Ballpark?  450 Cal

Meal #3
2 slices bread
Salad
Total - 200 Cal

Overall a pretty light day, I think, but no exercise.  I had kids all day today.  C'est la vie.

Saturday, 2/6/2010

What a night.  Alyson, my 7 year old, was channeling Linda Blair from the Exorcist and threw up about 20 times.  She was a wreck.  Finally around 1 AM she settled down a bit.  She came to sleep in our bed  I had to keep her at the edge of the bed, in case she needed to run to the bathroom, and the missus will only sleep on the other edge of the bed, so I got the middle.  After about 45 minutes of non-sleep, I gave up and headed to the couch.  I woke up, automatically, at 6:30 and realized that after about 3 hours of sleep working up would be unrealistic.  The kids have ballet on Saturdays, so Katie went, and I stayed home with Alyson.  I will have to find a way to get 1000 Calories burned today, but I don't know if that can happen, since Kristin is going in to work, and I'm on daddy-day-care duty.  Same tomorrow, actually.  I'll be with my folks and my sister, maybe I got a baby sitter around here somewhere.

Meal #1
Egg Beaters - 75 Cal
Onions - 10 Cal
Mozzarella -  75 Cal
Turkey burger - 140 Cal
Banana - 25 Cal
Total =325
That is a meal that I really enjoyed and I'm happy that it came in around 300 Cal.

Meal #
Turkey Chili - 400

Snack
Bread and hummus
Calories - 250

No real exercise today - spent most of the day watching my daughter not eat or drink while moping around on the couch.

Friday, 2/5/2010

Meal #1
2 light yogurts - 200 Cal

Snack -
light yogurt with corn pops cereal - 200 Cal

Meal #2
2 light tacos - 300 Cal

Meal #3
Greek salad, Pita - 400 Cal

Snack
2 slices bread with peanut butter - 250

Dinner
4 oz Beef with onions - 300
1/2 cup rice - 300


Wow - in retrospect, today was a horrible diet day for me.  1950 Calories!  If I was at my weight, that would be mediocre.  But that kind of day will not work when I'm in weight-loss mode.  Going to have to have a great week this week.  Gotta hit my stride and keep it up.

Exercise - 950 Cal total, had a warm up and cooldown on my own, but had a great session with Dr. Nick today.

Extra post tonight

I just saw this on Yahoo!
Worst sandwiches in America

The #1 worst sandwich has enough salt for a day and a half, and an entire day's worth of Calories.

Thursday, 2/4/2010

So yesterday was a rest-day.  Today I'm not so lucky.  I tried the gym this morning.  I had no juice at all.  I still went to the gym, but after 20 minutes I left.  It was about 125 Calories, and I was totally unsatisfied.  I thought that I would be able to get either to the Bally's or to the gym in Arlington Heights.  I was pretty disheartened after the poor showing at the gym, but I went to the Centennial Club Gym in Arlington Heights around 1, because Tom was going to be there, and I figured I wouldn't be able to cheat too bad if he was there.

Once I got on the treadmill  . . . nothing.  I was totally zapped.  I could have just as easily gone to bed, as done a workout.  But I stayed.  I ended up getting about 600 Cal - I had to bounce from treadmill to lifting to stretching to treadmill, but at the end of the day - I did about 700 Calories.

Now, I still wish I had more energy.  I have not been sleeping well and I really just need a day or two to sleep in and get my 8 hours (going to bed early doesnt work for this insomniac).  But, 700 Calories in the bank is pretty good, regardless of how peppy I am.

Meal #1
Bagel w/ light cream cheese - 375
Coffee with sugar - 50
Total - 425

Meal #2
Jimmy John's #12 - no cheese, no mayo, extra cucumbers, extra sprouts - 425
Total - 425
 
Snack
Dunkin Donuts wake up wrap - 175
1/2 can of sierra mist - 70
Total - 245

I'm already at 1095 calories.  Even if I have a 405 Calorie dinner, I'm still on the high-end for me today @1500.  I better have LOTS of veggies tonight!  Carbs are the devil today by the way, the bagel this morning was not even that good.   : (

Wednesday, 2/3/2010

Ouch.  I am more sore today than I have been in a while.  I'm certainly going to workout today, but I am going to backoff the intensity.  My goal today is about 500 Cal, so I think I'm just going to walk at an incline of 3-6, fairly slow speed (2.9.3.5).  I want to walk-off the soreness some.  Because it's going to be a lighter day exercise-wise, I need to be SUPER STRICT with my diet.  Going to really shoot for 1100 Cal or less today, which is about 300 Calories per meal.  I will need to get enough protein in there, so I need to be REAL tight with fat-calories.  We'll see.

UPDATE - I am feeling REALLY low energy today.  I have not taken a day off in about a week, so today is the day to rest.  I'm super sleepy (despite my daily coffee x2).  Anyway, I will take the dog for a walk to loosen up a little, but other than that I'm letting the batteries recharge today.

Meal #1
Light Yogurt with cereal - 130
Bread with light cheese -110
Total - 240

Meal #2
Salad - 80 Cal
Veggie Chili, 1 oz cheese - 180 Cal
Sweet potato - 100 Cal
1 tbl spn Mayo - 50 Cal

Total - 410

Meal #3
1/2 cup peas - 55 Cal
7 oz chicken - 325 Cal
1/4 cup noodles - 80 Cal
Total - 460 Cal
Daily Total  - 1110

So a great day Calorie-wise.  I am racking my brain to see if I forgot any Calories along the way.  I totally cannot think of any.  I ate lunch out, so my Calories might be a little light.  Even if I am 200 Cal off, I think I still met my goal.

Tuesday, 2/2/2010

Meal #1
Whole grain bread with jam - 150 Cal
Coffee with cream and splenda - 50 Cal
Whole wheat bagel - 300 Cal
Total - 500 Cal

Meal #2
Salad with beets - no dressing - 35 Cal
Egg white scramble with mushrooms, onions, lite feta cheese, one slice of french bread - 200 Cal

Total - 235 Cal

Meal #3
2 small pieces of pizza -  400 Cal
3 oz chicken - 150
whole wheat tortilla - 150
Total  - 700 Cal

Daily total = 1435

Exercise - My goal was to hit 2000 Cal again.  I came a little bit short of that.  I don't think there was enough fuel in the engine this morning.  Lots of excuses, somewhere to be at Noon, only 5 hours sleep, full afternoon schedule to distract me, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, the plan was to get to the gym at 9, stay until Noon and do about 600, 800, 600 Cal across the 3 hours.
In reality, I got the the gym at 9:20, and left around 11:45.  I still got in about 1400 Cal or so, but I pooped out around there.  So far this week my burn has been really good, so I think I'm where I want to be, but I need to avoid two things:
#1 - overconfidence - good weight loss on Tuesday =/= good weight loss on Saturday (I have 4 days to blow it)
#2 - lose the ability to maintain balance in my life and feel good with the successes I'm having, i.e. self destruction

The solution?  Eat what I'm supposed to eat and work out hard every day.

Monday, 2/1/2010

So, Febuary through August is my CME (continuing medical education) time.  I spend a significant portion of every day basically catching up on all the new science in rehab medicine.  It's a lot like studying.  It's a pain in the ass, boring and time consuming.  But it's necessary. Somehow I need to squeeze this in amongst all the other things asking for my time: kids, the missus, the dog, work, marketing myself for more work, writing to improve the market for more work, working out, keeping the house in one piece (the missus is even busier than I am), and my two big hobbies: blogging and fooling around on the internet (which I assure you are different things).  Anyway, it's February 1st, so my schedule changes by about 2 hours per day of reading.  Planning ahead is the only thing that is going to keep me at the gym.  Which I did today after dropping the kids off at school.  Undoubtedly, some days I am not going to get to everything, but for the next 10 weeks, getting my workout in is one of my biggest priorities.

By the way - preworkout weight = 270.2 (gym scale), post workout weight = 267.5.  So, overall pretty good start to the program, but I'm looking for 3-4 pounds per week instead of 1 pound per week, so I really want to keep up the intensity!  Remember too that I was about 310 a year ago . . .
/looking back proudly
/looking forward defiantly

:)

Meal #1
3 pieces whole grain bread - 210 Cal
2 tbl spn jam - 120 Cal
Coffee with cream and splenda - 30 Cal
Low Cal vitamin water - 25 cal
Total - 385 Cal


Snack
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Wake-up wrap - dunkin donuts - 220 Cal

Meal #2
Subway 6 inch Turkey on wheat (bread scooped out), with 1 tea spn lite mayo - 300 Cal

Meal #3
Salmon 6 oz - 300 Cal
Sauce - 100 Cal
Salad with lite dressing - 100 Cal
Total - 500 Cal

Total for day - 1405 Cal

Wow, so way over my my personal goal, calorie-wise, but still below my Tom-determined calories.  I'm learning it's really hard for me to get 1000 Cal.  I am actually waiting until I am hungry to eat, and I think that is keeping the calories lower, by removing higher calorie snacks.  Still, where should I trim calories from the above meal?  No sauce with dinner?  2 pieces toast in the morning instead of 3?  No snack?  If I did all 3 of those things I would save about 400 Cal and would have hit my goal.  So I think I need to tighten the belt even more.

Sunday, 1/31/2010

So, yesterday's workout was good.  I got abut 800 Calories or so.  Today, I am hella sore.  I wonder if my moderate water intake contributed to that.  Or if the fact I did not do a long walking cooldown.  In any event, I am REALLY sore today.  Ouch.
I survived my diet pretty easily.  We're going over to my parents house today, so I'm going to have to really tighten the belt to avoid overeating.

Meal #1
Light yogurt - 100
Honey nut cheerios - 110
Blueberries - 50
Total - 260

Meal #2
Chicken, sauteed - 6 oz - 240 Cal
Soup - 200 Cal
Risotto (like 4 tbl spns) - 60
Salad, no dressing - 10 Cal
Low-cal biscotti - 40 Cal
Total - 550 Cal

Meal #3
Chicken with veggies and Whole Wheat couscous -
About 4 oz chicken, about 1/2 cup uncooked couscous, about 1 cup mixed veggies - tomatoes, carrots, celery
Salad
Total - 450 Cal

Snack -
3/4 cup Honey Nut Cheerios - 100 Cal

So - Bigger lunch and slightly bigger dinner than I had hoped for drove the calories up to almost 1400 today, I was hoping for 300-400 less.  I liked the way I started the day, but the carbs for lunch and dinner were too much.

Exercise - I was planning on NOT working out today at all.  "Recovery Day".  But at my parent's house, Dad wanted to go to the gym, so I tagged along.  I ended up doing 650 Calories on the treadmill - incline jog and walk.

Saturday, 1/30/2010

So - only one pound.  Not good.  I am totally not satisfied with that.  My goal for the program is 30#, so I need to really see bigger numbers right away.
I need to change my diet in a BIG WAY.  I am going to make a big shift in the way I eat.  I am only going to eat when I am hungry.  Weird, right?  Well, too often I find myself eating because it's dinner time.  I am afraid of letting go of food.  No idea why.  Just is like that.  That has to stop.  I try and justify it a million ways, "If I wait until I'm starving, I'll overeat." "My body needs fuel to keep the workouts going."  "If I get too low then my metabolism slows down too much."

Well, if I undereat, I will deal with that IF it happens.  My new goal is 1000-1200 calories a day.  Starting right now.  To that end, I am no longer writing breakfast, lunch, dinner.  I am not going to lump snacks into one (instead of scattering them throughout the day).

Meal #1 12:14 PM
Plan - Post workout - lean protein and veg.
Veggie omelet. 
1 cup mushrooms (sliced), 1/2 onion sliced thin, 1 Roma tomato - saute' with 2 pats unsalted butter
when mushrooms are tender, pour in 1/2 cup egg-white substitute.
I top mine with 2 dashes of Tobasco.
 186 Calories - 12 Carbs - 9 Fat - 15 Protein

Cantelope - 1/4 of melon - 53 Cal
Yogurt light blueberry - 100 - - 0 fat, 6 Protein, 18 Carbs

Total - 336 Cal

Meal #2
String Cheese - 80 Cal
Whole grain toast, with 1 tbl spn jelly - 80 Cal, + 50 Cal
Cantelope - 1/4 melon - 53

Total - 263

Meal #3
Turkey patty - 270 Cal
1 slice whole grain bread - 160
Sauteed veggies (zucchini, onions, mushrooms) in 1 tbl spn olive oil.
1/2 red pepper - 30
Lite mayo - 15
low cal vitamin water - 25 Cal

Total - 500

Snack
Light Yogurt - 100
Strawberries - 3 oz.

Exercise - I had team training today - ended up being around 800 calories, after my cooldown.


PS - I fixed the blog settings, so it's easier to leave comments now.

Friday, 1/29/10

Well, the kids are home today, so the whole schedule is off!  : (
No workout today (that is not that bad anyway, since I really think I needed a day to recover a bit).  Took the girls for our ritual lunch date at Glenn's Diner

Breakfast
1/2 cup Corn Pops - 100 Cal (but basically pure sugar)

Lunch
Salad (spinach, romaine, tomatoes, onion, cucumber) with:
1/2 Avacado - 150 Cal
3 oz Lobster - 75 Cal
2oz shrimp - 75 Cal
2 oz Trout - 150 Cal
3/4 cup Mac and Cheese - 400 Cal

OK, well, that was a HUGE lunch.850 Cal in one meal!  But - lots of lean protein.  The big mistake was obviously the mac n cheese.  Still, overall I am actually happy with the meal.  We ate very slowly.  We had lunch as a family.  The meal was nutritious, overall.  I am planning on having a VERY low calorie, low residue dinner.  After I finish this post, I'm taking in UNDER 200 Cal, and starting to get rid of a little bit of the 5 gallons of water (literally) that I've had since Tuesday's mega-workout.  Remember that I'm not keeping that water, I'm just borrowing it, but it take a while to work itself out.  I have been drinking 1 coffee a day, and about a gallon of water a day on Tues, Wed and Thurs.  Expecting to lose the TWENTY POUNDS of water that I consumed in 3 days is a bit much to ask.  So, I've done all the right things this week.  I have no idea what the scale is going to say tomorrow, but I've put in the work and it's really just the first week for me. I'm definately establishing a pattern of 5-6 days a week of workouts, and 1400-1600 calories per day.

Honestly though, I'm really nervous about the weigh in.  I'm not even competing, but I'm still pretty nervous about it.  In order for me to be on track I want 3 pounds tomorrow.  I don't know if that is going to happen, but that is my goal.

Thursday, 1/28/2010

Breakfast:
Coffee with cream and sugar - 100 Cal

Lunch:
Roast Beef Sandwich - 350

Dinner:
Greek Salad, no dressing - 500 Cal
Pita - 100 Cal

Snack:
Whopper Jr. - no mayo, no cheese - 260 Cal
Energy Bar - 180 Cal

Exercise - 700 Cal on the treadmill next to Tom, who certainly did MORE than 700 Cal.

Wednesday, 1/27/2010

Little bit sore today, but not horrible.  Didn't sleep real well, just couldn't get comfortable.

Breakfast: 
Apple
Coffee with cream and splenda

Lunch:
Whole wheat bread - 2 slices - 140 Cal
Turkey 3 oz - 90 Cal
hummus - 2 tblspn - 40 Cal
Goat Cheese - 2 oz:- 150 Cal
Cucumber
Tomato

Dinner:
Pork Chops - 0.5 oz (just a bite)
Bacon - 3 slices
Mac N Cheese - 1/2 cup
Brussel Sprouts - a lot - perhaps 2 cups
Salad (red bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, onion)

Snack (spread out over 2-3 snacks):
6 tbl spn humus - 120 Cal
Whole grain bread - 3 slice - 210 Cal
Turkey - 3 oz - 90 Cal
Apple

Exercise:
45 min mixed cardio at Bally's ~ 475 Cal

Tuesday, 1/26/2010

Big workout day today.  My new plan is to do 30 minutes a day (or more) of workout on my own - whether or not I'm training with Tom or Courtney.  Also, Tom kinda threw down the gauntlet with me, so I really want to have a huge week.

Breakfast:
Coffee with cream - 100 Cal
Banana - 40 Cal

Lunch:
Jimmy John's #12 - no mayo, no cheese, extra sprouts, extra cucumbers - 450 Cal

Dinner:
Salad (no dressing) - 40 Cal
Chicken - 6 oz - 190 Cal
Whole Wheat Pasta - 1 cup - 225

Snack (scattered throughout the day)
3 granola bars - 300 Cal
2 String cheese - 180
Lite Yogurt - 80

Workout:
45 min cardio + 50 min with Courtney + 45 min cardio =
2250 Calories

The BIG NEWS?  I feel fine.  My Achilles are a little sore, so I took a walk after I got home from the gym - just to loosen up a little.  I'm going to ice up tonight and pound some more water (and maybe a few Tylenol).  The big deal will be working out tomorrow too so that I can STAY loose.

Monday, 1/25/2010

Breakfast:
1/2 Bagel with cream cheese - about 300 Cal
Coffee with cream and splenda - 75 Cal

Lunch:
Turkey Sandwich on whole grain bread - 400 Cal

Dinner:

Snack:

Exercise - BACK TO THE GYM!  I actually7 got there today.  Not a great workout, but 25 min on the eliptical and some weights for arms and chest.  I was in a bit of a hurry, since I go into work a little early today for meetings, but I squeezed it in.  Finally!  I had a good diet day yesterday for the most part, and I very much want the diet momentum to continue, adding 30-60 min exercise on my own (whether I work out with trainers or not) will make the difference between a 1-2 pound week and a 3-5 pound week (I hope).

Sunday, 1/24/2010

Breakfast:
2 Yoplait lite blueberry yogurts

Snack:
String Cheese
Apple

Lunch:
2 slices whole grain bread
2 oz. brie

Dinner:
Poached Salmon (6oz.)
1/2 cup whole wheat cous cous, mushrooms, onions, 1 pat butter
Salad (no dressing)
Poached carrots, celery and onions

Saturday, 1/23/2010

Breakfast:
Dunkin donuts coffee (no sugar, no milk)
DD egg, bacon, cheese to go wrap

Lunch:
Salad, 5 oz grilled chicken, 2 oz feta

Dinner:
Grilled chicken (skin on)- about 8 oz
Sweet potato



Exercise:
35 minutes of group exercise with Courtney.  I had pretty bad foot cramps today, I think I tied my shoes too tight to start with.  I am going to try to get a light workout in tomorrow to make up the time.

Thursday, 1/21/2010

Good diet day, but no gym.  My adductors were screaming at me today, so I wimped out.

Breakfast:
Coffee with mil, apple, peanut butter - 175 Cal

Lunch:
#12 Jimmy Johns, no cheese, no mayo, extra cucumbers, extra sprouts - 450 Cal
Light Chicken Taco - 125 Cal

Snack:
Lite, egg white turkey flatbread from Dunkin - 280 Cal
I have to admit that I was a little surprised that the Cal were so low on the Flatbread.  It was pretty good.  Of course, LOADED in Sodium, but pretty good otherwise nutritionally.

Dinner:
Greek salad (<1oz feta, ~2 oz chicken, <1 oz oil) ~300 Cal

So - I'm pretty full today, and under 1400 Cal, so good day, even without the workout.
Tomorrow I have training at 8AM.  My only issue there is the time - I dont work well that early - Daddy is totally gonna have to have some morning coffee!

wednesday, 1/20/10

Katie stayed home from school today.  She had a good nap, we had lunch together, and walked together with Duffy for about a mile.  She's not gonna stay 5 forever, so I'mglad that some days I can keep her home and kinda cuddle her all day.  Aly and Katie are a huge part of the reason I'm doing this!

Breakfast:
PB&J (at about 3 AM) - 450 Cal

Lunch:
Coffee, with cream (just a drop, really) - 80 Cal
Salad with greens, onions, tomatoes, 1/2 avocado, and lots of fish (crab, shrimp, trout), dressing was lemon and oil - ~ 600 Cal

Dinner -
Homemade pizza with chicken, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms - totally yummy ~675 Cal

Snack:
String Cheese - 80 cal

Exercise - just the walk - 200 Cal, tomorrow is gym day, before work.

Tuesday, 1/19/2010

Feeling a little better today.  Still with incredible post-nasal-drip, and spells of pretty bad coughing, but better.

Breakfast:
1/2 Eggo - 80
coffee with cream and sugar - 100

Post-workout snack:
nature valley oats and honey granola bar - 190 Cal
String Cheese - 50
Low cal sports drink - 25

Lunch:
#12 from Jimmy Johns (no mayo, no cheese, extra cucumbers, extra sprouts) - 425

Dinner:
Chicken Kabobs
Whole Grain Cous Cous

Exercise:
Fitness eval -
45 min with Tom -
~700 Cal total
Gonna walk the Duff-man later today, I think.

Monday, 1/18/2010

Breakfast:
0.75 of an Eggo, with a touch of lite maple syrup (leftover from Katie)
1 slice cinnamon raisin bread
1 tblspn peanut butter
1 teaspn jelly

Lunch:
Whole wheat sub roll
2 oz turkey
1 tbl spn lite mayo
veggies
1 oz. potato chips

Dinner:
Chicken, tomatoes, capers, onions saute'd (no oil)
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Fettucini
1 oz Parmesean

Exercise - 2 mile walk with dog, but no gym - big workout tomorrow. . . yikes!

Sunday, 1/17/10

So I took a few days off from the blog.  I didn't workout, and ate so-so.  I have been miserable with this totally normal cold. I am a big baby when I get sniffles, so that is my excuse.  I'm back at it today.

BREAKFAST:
Leftover Beef Fajita (no tortilla) - 400 Cal

LUNCH:
Wendy's grilled Chicken Go Wrap - 250 Cal

SNACK:
Popcorn (about 1 cup, popped) - 55 Cal
Shrimp Fajita (small tortilla, pesto, 2 shrimp) - 200 Cal

DINNER:
Lite Chicken Parmesan - 450 Cal
Salad with vinegar and oil - 150 Cal

Exercise - none to speak of, still having tough time breathing

Thursday, Friday and Saturday

 . . .were skipped secondary to illness.

Wednesday, 1/13/2010

Aly is home today because she was too tired to wake up this morning, and basically needed a mental health day (*she's 7*).  I still have my cold, which is settling in nicely into my chest.  Still, I can control my food today.

BREAKFAST
1/2 PB&J on whole wheat - 300 Cal
SNACK
1 cup Turkey Chili - 200 Cal
LUNCH
French Onion Soup - 300 Cal
Salad (no dressing, but I used lemon - which ended up squirting 100% into my eye making me blind for about 15 minutes and cause the worst pain I have ever felt - yeah, that kind of day) - 100 Cal
SNACK
1 cup turkey Chili - 200 Cal
DINNER
Chicken with Pesto - 400
Home made pizza - 400

1800 Calories, while home all day with the kiddo is really not too bad.  It is not the 500 Calorie deficit I wanted, really, but it's not far from it.  My goal is to get about 1400 Cal a day, but <1800 is ok.  The days where I go over 2000 Cal are the ones I worry about.

No additional inspiration today.  I hope to see Dr. Zhu tomorrow and get some of these cold symptoms under better control.

Tuesday, 1/12/10

I have some work at home today, but I think I'm feeling well enough to head to the gym once I get that done.  It's been almost a eek with no gym, so I'm eager to get back into a rhythm.

BREAKFAST:
Turkey Chili (not just for dinner anymore!): 300 Cal
Coffee with skim and splenda: 50 Cal

LUNCH:
Tuna Salad Wrap

DINNER:
Turkey Chili

SNACK:
Apple, carrots

I was thinking about the Season 2 Largest Losers from FHA.  So many of them did awesome.  There are so many things that they are doing better now.  The biggest difference?  Attitude.  The nervous laughs are almost gone.  All that is replaced by a huge stack of confidence.  Watching them work-out is so cool.  You see people ATTACKING their workouts.  And I'm not just talking about 1-2 people who got really fit.  I mean EVERYBODY.  They RUN.  They do GREAT pushups.  Their form is better, sure, but that hesitation is gone.  They are starting to trust their bodies.  You can see it when they are done working out.  Their movements are so much more confident.  The way they hold themselves up and walk into the clinic is remarkably different.  There is a great sense of pride to all of it.  Sure we can change people's bodies, but the real change is between the ears.  Now they they KNOW they can change into whatever they want, goals seem within reach and it's super cool.  For me, I definitely have had a better sense of pride.  I have so much further to go, that I want to avoid being over-confident.  But I know I can do it.  I take continue to take off 2 pounds a week until I am where I need to be.  My body can change into the body I want.  I have to keep THAT in my mind all the time, and it's sure to make the difference.

Monday, 1/11/2010

Still pretty sick today.  It's just a cold, but I'm all headachey and stufy and it's not too fun.
I didn't get a workout in over the weekend and I did a poor job tracking my Calories.  The good news is that I don't think I made too many poor diet choices.  We'll see when I get to the scale tomorrow.

Today's plan:
BREAKFAST:
Small coffee with cream and sugar - 100 Cal
Protein Bar: 280 Cal

LUNCH:
Salad with Chicken, Blue Cheese (no dressing) 400 Cal

DINNER:
Hot Dog, many veggies (no fries): 500 Cal

SNACK
Turkey Chili with Salsa: 400 Cal

Exercise - unlikely, unless the dog convinces me to take him for a walk.

I was thinking about what happens when you fall off the wagon with diet and exercise.  Many times I get pretty fatalistic about it.  I stop working out, then I feel defeated and embarrassed and I don't really start up again.  Same thing with the diet.  I have a bad day and that leads to two or three or 5 weeks.  Well, that was the way it happened before.  Now I have a very different opinion about fitness.
#1 - Fitness is not binary.  It is not 100% or 0%.  There is no all or nothing.  It is totally a spectrum.  You don't skip from 310# to 180# and poof! - - - you're FIT!  Fitness moves subtly.
#2 - Fitness is graded on 2 items - health and time.  The one that I am always forgetting is TIME.  You can't get skinny and fit and then say, "whew! That's over - bring on the ice cream!".  There is NO FINISH LINE.  The goal of getting fit is BEING FIT!  The journey from #310 to #190 (which is my goal) is all about the destination.  The path is where I learn everything I need to know about being healthy, and learning all those good behaviors.  However, once I am at my goal, the journey continues.  I will always have to work at exercise.  I will always have to make good diet choices.  ALWAYS.  Even when I'm "done", I'm not done!

So there is no wagon to fall off of.  The program never ends.  When you have a bad day, or bad weekend, it's just part of the journey, but the journey lasts your whole life whether you want to be on it or not.  So, since we're going to have these bodies anyway, we might as well take care of them!

UPDATE - Starting to feel a little better.  Hopefully, i'll be well enough by tomorrow to get to the gym!

Sunday, 1/10/2010

Still pretty sick.  I am not sleeping too well either because I'm so stuffed up.  Also, I am the biggest baby when I get sick.

Plan:
BREAKFAST:
1/2 PB&J
Pineapple
LUNCH:
1/2 Turkey sandwich
Pineapple
Apple
DINNER:
Turkey Chili
SNACK:
Apple
 Clementine Oranges

Gym: not really am option today.  I am having a bit of a hard time breathing, because I'm so stuffed up.
Did I mention that I'm a huge baby?

Saturday 1/9/20910

I'm pretty sick today.  Bad head cold.  Sinusitis is not fun.
Anyway, Kristin and I are home with the kids all day today.  So other than sleep, I need to go to the grocery store.
The plan
BREAKFAST:
Whole Wheat toast
LUNCH:
Hummus
Salmon Wrap (whole wheat tortilla)
Blue Chips and Fresh Salsa
DINNER:
Hummus
Turkey Sandwich on Whole Wheat

Gym:  I can't really move much today, so I'm skipping the gym.  I am really a baby when I get sick.   : (

Friday, January 8th, 2010

BREAKFAST:
Dunkin Donuts wake-up wrap - egg and cheese = 170 Cal
1/2 bagel - 170 Cal
1 oz cream cheese = 150 calories
Coffee with SKIM and splenda = 30 Calories
YIKES - 500 calories at breakfast!?!?!?  Not Good.

LUNCH:
Egg whites, Slice of Cheese, 1 slice whole wheat toast. - 250 Cal

DINNER:
Pasta Saltimboca - from The Italian Village downtown - at least 900 Cal

Gym - I have a lot of excuses today.  They are really good ones, I assure you! It's about 50-50 I will go (probably a little less than that).  Good news?  I've already spent 30 minutes shoveling snow, and Duffy (the dog) totally needs a walk today.  So, even if I miss the gym, it will be a pretty active day.

It is incredibly challenging trying to reverse a lifetime of habits.  The one constant is that nearly all habits because routine when you stop thinking about them.  The things you do automatically require no thought.  These actions are almost a passive response.  That's bad and dangerous.  We will never make a good decision when we are not trying to make a good decision.  Without thinking 'What is the BEST THING I can do right now?  What is MOST IMPORTANT to me?" - without that consideration, people (absolutely including myself) will just do the simplest thing.  Healthy living is not hard, but it takes more active thought than the couch potato.

Thursday, Jan 7th, 2010

Full disclosure, I am writing this on Friday.  I got home super-late from work because of traffic.

BREAKFAST:
Coffee with cream and splenda - 100 Cal
LUNCH:
Taco Bell - fresco chicken burrito - 350 Cal (which I will never have again - it has 1.3 GRAMS of sodium and it tasted awful - but I have tried their fresco tacos, and while those are salty too, they are better than this)
SNACK:
Granola Bar: 90 Cal
DINNER:
1.5 oz Lamb Chop
Salad with 2 oz Feta Cheese and a Pita - 1 oz Italian Dressing
SNACK:
2 pieces cinnamon raisin toast

Gym - none, but a 30 min walk with the dog through the snow.  I wasn't wearing my monitor, but it was pretty vigorous.  I also completely bailed out on starting my push-up, squat, crunches routine.

Today was a rough day.  I made a few bad diet choices.  I didn't overeat, per se, but the choices were still bad.  One of the traps I need to avoid is the mini-quit.  Where I 'take a break' from the diet and exercise for a few days.  Seriously, 1-2 bad days can ruin a week or two's worth of work.  I need to have better vigilance.  I need to pay more attention to where my head is and where my emotions are taking me.  Frustrated?  Bored?  Anxious?  Food is not the answer anymore.  I also need to think about why I don't spend 5 minutes doing exercises before bed.  It's a form of mini-quit.  I'm avoiding failure, avoiding embarrassment, avoiding everything by not starting.  Well, as long as I keep writing about it, I can't avoid it, so I might as well get the work done.

Wednesday, 1/6/2010

BREAKFAST
1 slice of cinnamon raisin bread: 100 Cal
Coffee, cream and splenda: 100 Cal
LUNCH
2 cups Vegetarian Chili: 250 Cal
1/2 Jalapeno cornbread muffin: 150 Cal
Salad with roasted fall veggies and 2 pieces of bacon: 300 Cal
DINNER
1/2 cup Tortelini: 100 Cal
Carrots: 50 Cal
SNACK:
???

Gym: elliptical 30 min, + walking warmup and cooldown = 478 Cal

I was pretty proud that I got to the gym today.  I also went out for lunch with a friend.I made some pretty good choices at lunch.  700 Calories while eating out RIGHT AFTER A WORKOUT is not a bad thing.  Especially when there were  2 pieces of bacon involved not a lot of fat or processed carbs in there.  In fact, I am so full from lunch that I had an especially small dinner.

I did not have a ton of time at the gym today, so I was able to push myself pretty hard.  It was like 7/10 on the ol' Dr. J Intensity Scale for People Who Measure Things on Scales from 1 to 10.  I had my podcast on and pushed through it.  I am going to try for another short workout tomorrow before I have to go into work. 

Today's theme is progress.  Getting 3 days of food records in the blog, as well as exercise records, is progress for me.  Every day I DO think about 'what am I going to write today?'  I FEEL the pressure to do something productive with my day.  I have other real life responsibilities that I need to better incorporate into my routine, and if I can apply the same level of pressure to myself I think it can work really well.  Essentially I need a fancy 'To Do' list with consequences for missing.  I used to put 30 things on my list, get my favorite 20 done and be happy that I did 20 things.  Now, I need to make a real list of the MOST IMPORTANT things that need to get done, and do ALL OF THEM.  This week feels like I'm getting closer to that.

However, that is all kinda wishy-washy stuff, IMO.  What I really NEED is to have some metrics.  Some measurable items to track my progress.  I'm going to add PUSHUPS, CRUNCHES and SQUATS to my daily routine.  I'm simply going to do as many as I can, without taking any kind of break.  I will do this every day before bed, and save the results.  That is a great way to add something that takes hardly any time out of my day.  My starting numbers will be pretty low, no doubt.  It's fairly embarrassing putting down some numbers that look weak.  But, 'admitting you have a problem' is always the first step.  Watching The Biggest Loser yesterday was a pretty big inspiration.  All of the contestants had to do their first weigh in in front of a huge crowd.  THAT would be tough.  Writing down my push ups on a blog in front of, well, nobody . . . not as tough, but the sentiment is there!

Tuesday, Jan 5th, 2010

So - I'm not sure if I will get to the gym today.  I'm babysitting my niece, Celia, for a few hours this morning.  I might have time before I need to go get the kids for karate.  I dunno.

I ate overnight, which is something I really, really need to work on.  I think I should prepare for this, instead of pretend like it's not going to happen tonight.  If I have melon or berries ready in the front of the fridge, I can grab those instead of grabbing processed carbs.  I also have to bank a few hundred calories to account for those that I take in overnight.

Yesterday's food: 
BREAKFAST:
Egg-white fritata, with cheese - 300 Calories
Coffee (cream and splenda) -100 Calories
LUNCH:
Thai - 500 Calories
SNACK:
Cheerios - 100 Calories
Carrots - 40 Calories
DINNER:
Turkey chili (day #2, and YUM!), with 1/2 oz Parmesan:  400 Calories
OVERNIGHT:
Chips, 1/2 Italian sausage, 7 mini-cookies, 1/2 PB&J = 800 Calories

Now, if I had taken 5mg of Valium and slept through the night I'd be a drug addict eventually I'd avoid the calories.  Instead, if I had a WHOLE CANTALOUPE I'd save about 600 calories and be on my mark.  So, instead of ignoring the truth of my overnight eating, I think I need to PLAN FOR IT.  If there are carrots, berries and melon in the front of the fridge, I think I would go for that first.  We'll try that tonight!

Today's Plan:
BREAKFAST:
Cinnamon, Raisin Toast: 150 Calories
Coffee with cream: 100 calories
LUNCH:
Turkey Chili (no cheese), 1 slice whole wheat bread: 400 Calories
SNACK:
Carrots, lots of carrots: 60 Calories
DINNER:
Chicken and Pesto: 300 Cal
Pasta: 100 Cal
OVERNIGHT:
Carrots: 100 Calories
Leftover pecan Brownie: 200 Cal

EDIT: No Gym, I was babysitting pretty much until it was time to go get my girls.

One of the great things about going through this process is that it's ok if I get a little bit selfish.  I am not shopping for what everybody else wants. I am shopping for what I NEED.  I can get the food that is best for me, and the family can adapt very easily to it.  I make good food.  Nobody is suffering.  I assure you, I am feeding my kids more than a handful of dry quinoa each night.  : )  But, I need to give myself permission to deny THEM the things that will give them fleeting and insignificant food-pleasure.  I need to treat myself (and ultimately THEM) better than that.  I need to do what's most important for me - that will be what is most important for my family in the long run.

One another note - my wife has been having difficulty getting up at 5 AM (go figure).  She prefers working out before work, but she also likes being one of the first people in the office in the morning (which is her most productive time).  So she was already waking up early to get a head start to work.  Working out after work is generally a drag for her.  Today, she did it pretty easily.  She got up HOURS BEFORE DAWN and got to the gym, had a nice workout, and still got to work at her normal time.  I am so proud and impressed!

Monday, Jan 4th, 2010 - 277 pounds

OK, drove the girls to school - zero calories.   :p
Went to the gym and ran 0.75 miles, then did 20 minutes on the elliptical with the height at 10 and resistance at 6 (lower than I normally do, but I went for an hour yesterday, so I wanted a little bit lighter elliptical today).
The workout calories are on my heart rate monitor, I will try to get those edited into the blog later.

For breakfast:
Veggie egg white fritata - 1 medium onion, 1 green pepper, 3/4 cup egg white (eggbeater stuff), 1 tablespoon butter (no salt)
Big ass coffee - 0.5 oz half and half, 4 Splendas

I have not added up that calories yet, but I figure them to be around 250 for the fritata, and about 75 for the coffee.  I am totally stuffed.

Lunch was some Tom Yum soup with chicken.  Also some basil chicken, a little bit of rice and some noodles.  I skipped the egg roll and the satay for lunch.  I did use the peanut and sour sauce with lunch.  Probably around 600 calories.

I am going to bring 3 carrots to eat on the drive home from work, so that I am not totally starving when I get home.  Last night I made 3 days worth of turkey chili for the missus and me, so that is the plan for dinner tonight - turkey chili and a mountain of produce.

EDIT: Overnight I was borderline bad - 1/2 PBJ, handful of potato chips.

Today is a tricky day, time-wise.  I am actually going into work early: 11:30.  Don't hate me, that is actually early for me.  But I drove the kids to school, worked out, cleaned the kitchen, made breakfast, got lunch packed up, wrote my blogs, got showered and changed and got on the road by 10:40 (this last part is kinda hypothetical, since I'm still writing, all that stuff is in the future).  But the real issue is balance.  Trying to balance work, kids, home, diet, exercise, hobbies (I totally wanted to log in to World of Warcraft this morning to get stuff done on my priest-character (that is a healer, not a religious thing)), the dog, the weather, etc etc.  But people tend to do only two things:  stuff that they like, and the stuff that will  prevent stuff that they HATE.  What about fitness?  Frankly, I don't like being fat, but it would be tough to say that I HATE it.  I sure don't like going to the gym.  So where does that fit.  Traditionally, it fits in at the very back of the line, the bottom of the list, and usually that stuff does not get done.  Finding balance for me means doing everything on the list.  The trick for me, is to make a really sharp list and stick to the goal of getting 100% done.

Blogging today was a goal, but now I'm like 10 minutes late getting in the shower so that I can get to work on time.  Balance is not easy.  It pretty much sucks.  But it does give me something wonderful to complain about!

Singing off and heading for the shower . . .

Welcome to Dr. J's First Health Associates Fitness Blog

I am writing this fitness blog to help focus my energy.  I want some greater level of accountability.  I have a long road ahead, and if I can write every day, if I can be accountable to the blog, then I can succeed.

About me, I was 310 pounds.  From May to August of 2009 I went down to 271 pounds.  Today I am 277 pounds.  I am about 5'10", so I SHOULD be about 160 pounds.  Even with my 'larger frame' (I'm being generous to myself), I should be about 180 pounds.  I have never been below 200 pounds in my adult life.  When I weighed 205 (in college), I was quite fit.  Getting to that weight is my ultimate goal.  But, every pound between then and now is a hurdle that I have to jump.

I plan on tracking my food and exercise in this blog.  I should include some recipes, if I get good stuff.  I will also be including my workouts.  I will weigh myself at the gym and at work.  I will note any difference between the scales, to be honest.

Wish me luck!