Gone for a Few Days

Headin to Knoxville and will have no internet access. Be back Monday night, don't miss me too much! Have a great weekend!

Gimme Some Blogger Strength

Thoughts for Today
We're heading to Knoxville tomorrow morning to visit friends and family, and of course I look forward to seeing everyone, but I definitely find myself thinking a lot of the places we used to love to eat when we lived there. One place in particular, Naples, an good old 1950s-60s era family style Italian restaurant is really stuck in my head, and there's nothing healthy about it. This is the kind of weekend that has thrown me off the wagon in the past, but it won't this time, regardless of what the scale says when we return. So, folks, gimme some blogger strength to eat in moderation this weekend, even if I splurge a bit.

Exercise
Going to run 20 minutes on the Wii Fit after this post, will exceed 10,000 pedometer steps by end of day.

Breakfast
A banana. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch

Grabbed a quick Chick-A-Fila sandwich on wheat and a side salad with a little bit of the berry vinegarette dressing. No croutons. Big glass of water.

Dinner
About a 6 oz. grilled Sirloin steak and fresh mushrooms marinated in Moore's with broccoli (Bird's Eye Steamer) and roasted redskin potatoes with sea salt and cracked black pepper. All portions fit neatly into the sections of a kiddie tray.

Snacks
A 2 oz cup of Weight Watchers Chocolate Brownie ice cream. A Fuji apple. About 4 malted milk balls (Whoppers) and a few Baked Tostitos with Herdez salsa. 1 girl scout cookie (Samoan).

Enough Whining!

Thoughts for Today
My recent few posts have largely been griping and whining about not losing weight as quickly as I would like, but I'm officially off of that soapbox for a while. As I was typing in the foods I ate today I realized that, yeah I'd like to lose faster, but overall I'm doing what I set out to do: eating the foods I WANT to eat and still managing to very gradually drop weight (or at least not gain very much). Today was a pretty average day in terms of eating and it included bagels, buffalo wings, cream cheese, ice cream, malted milk balls, corn chips, and even a friggin Girl Scout Cookie. It sure doesn't look like any "diet" I've ever seen but it works for me. Granted, the portions were nothing compared to what I would have eaten in the past and I'm hitting 10,000 pedometer steps most days, but the point is I'm still eating food I love and I haven't denied myself anything that I really wanted since January 1. And this morning's scale even finally showed a loss of a pound! Who knows what tomorrow's reading will show, but whatever it is, I'm just gonna keep on plugging away.

Exercise
10 minutes running on the Wii Fit, will at least get close to 10,000 pedometer steps today.

Breakfast
A banana and a Bagel Thin with a little Parkay Spray. A Bagel Thin looks like a bagel that has been steamrolled. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch

Met my wife and youngest daughter at Alpine Bagel. The wife and I split a Pole Vault, which is this great bagel sandwich piled with turkey, sprouts, lettuce, and a little bit of cream cheese. Also had a small bag of jalapeno chips.

Dinner
The wife has found a recipe for baked Buffalo wings which are really pretty good. They aren't as good as the Hooters-style (fried) wings she makes, but I had 5 of the baked and could have eaten may more. Also we had a Birds Eye Steamer bag (Baby Peas and Mushrooms), and mashed potatoes (which I seasoned with Mrs. Dash, not salt, thanks Tammy!).

Snacks
A girl scout cookie (Samoan). A Skinny Cow French Vanilla Truffle. A Fuji apple. About 4 malted milk balls (Whoppers) and a few Baked Tostitos.

A Sad State of Affairs

Thoughts for Today
I saw a 1/2 lb loss this morning on the scale and was really excited about it. Obviously, a 1/2 lb could be just fluctuation that will sway back the other way by tomorrow. But I was excited about it because I haven't really lost any weight in February even though I'm eating just as well as I did in January and exercising a helluva lot more.  Back in January, I was pretty much disappointed if I didn't have an every day update to the weight loss chart on my blog's sidebar. I'm not bothering updating the sidebar tonight because I want to check again tomorrow to see if the minute loss was real or not. Either way, talking this much about a silly 1/2 lb is a Sad State of Affairs.

Thanks y'all for listening to me whine.

Exercise
20 minutes running on the Wii Fit, will easily exceed 10,000 pedometer steps today.

Breakfast
A banana and 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch

Thai food. Ginger Chicken. Ate only 1/2 the steamed rice and 1/2 the spring roll. Very spicy but didn't seem too salty.

Dinner
Leftover home made chili (AGAIN!) with 92% lean ground beef. Had a decent sized bowl with 8-10 fat free Saltines.

Snacks
A girl scout cookie (Samoan). A Skinny Cow French Vanilla Truffle. A Fuji apple.A navel orange. About 6 malted milk balls (Whoppers) and a few Necco wafers.

Our Scale is a Jerk

Thoughts for Today
Thanks everyone for the advice on reducing salt, today I don't think was too salty. Hopefully will see some results on the scale soon, because I'm getting really sick of seeing the number day after day. Even worse, the first time I step on the scale, it almost always shows a loss of a pound or two, as if to tease you. But then the next 3-4 times you step on, the number creeps back up to the same old place. That's it for tonight, see y'all tomorrow.

Exercise
A little over 8000 pedometer steps, walked around Kroger quite a bit.

Breakfast
2 cups of black coffee, got so busy at work I forgot to eat.

Lunch

Greek food. Chicken pita sandwich stuffed with all the vegetables. Excellent and didn't seem too salty.

Dinner
Leftover home made chili with 92% lean ground beef. Had a decent sized bowl with 8-10 fat free Saltines.

Snacks
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bar. About 8 natural almonds. A girl scout cookie (Samoan). A Skinny Cow French Vanilla Truffle. A Fuji apple.

Salt Substitutes?

Thoughts for Today
Today began a week long war on salt and I guess it was an OK start. The plan is to eat all dinners at home this week to cut out all the sodium piled on at restaurants. So I stopped on the way home and picked up some kind of salt subsitute for the wife to try in her chili, but we tried a little shake and it tasted like metal, so just went with a little bit of the real deal. If anyone has a favorte salt substitute, I'd be glad to hear about it. I'm already noticing how salty restaurant food is. Lunch was Bourbon Chicken, a tasty and fairly lowfat/low cal meal, but I could really taste the salt this time. All in all, not a bad start to war on salt week, but tomorrow will be better.

Exercise
Ran 10 minutes on the Wii Fit, will do 10 more soon. Over 10,000 pedometer steps so far.

Breakfast
Bowl of Special Low Fat Granola 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch

Met the wife at the food court at the mall. Had a Bourbon Chicken Rice Bowl and ate only 1/2 the steamed rice.

Dinner
Wife made a pot of home made chili with 92% lean ground beef. Had a decent sized bowl with 8-10 fat free Saltines.

Snacks
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bar. About 5-6 natural almonds and a few Baked Tostitos.

7 Random Facts About Me

Thoughts for Today
As per the Beautiful Blogger Award, here are 7 random facts about me in no particular order. Tomorrow I will pass the award onto 7 of the many others I enjoy blogging with:

(1) My favorite candy bars are Zagnut, Clark, 5th Avenue, Charleston Chew, and Necco wafers.
(2) The next car I would like to own is a new Chevy Camaro.
(3) When I went to college, I was deadset against the idea of joining a fraternity, but I did and many years after college I still consider my Phi Psi brothers some of my closest friends, even the ones I haven't talked to in years.
(4) My favorite sports teams are the Tennessee Titans, Tennessee Vols, Boston Red Sox, and Boston Celtics.
(5) I can have conversations with my son that consist almost entierly of quotes from our favorite movies, tv shows, songs, etc.
(6) I once ate an entire large pizza because I was pissed at someone.
(7) I could easily have devoted (1)-(7) to my wonderful wife and family but I was trying to stick to random facts about me.

Exercise
The wife and I took a long walk at a beautiful park we had never been to. Around 8000 steps right now.

Breakfast
Bowl of Shredded Wheat with a little Special K Low Fat Granola sprinkled on top. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch

Subway. Turkey and Black Forest Ham with green peppes, onion, lettuce, black olives, spices, vinegar/oil. Baked Lays. Diet Coke.

Dinner
Hamburger (92% lean) on wheat buns with a terrific recipe for baked oven fries that my buddy Ruth Anne was kind enough to share with me. They turned out GREAT, thansk Ruth Anne! Here's the recipe in her words:

Peel 2-3 potatoes, or however many fries you want. Cut into wedges. I cut the potato in half, then cut each half into thirds.

Toss with olive oil. Season; I used Lawry's, but you can make up whatever combo you want. Salt, garlic powder, onion, paprika, etc...

Lay in a single layer on greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for an hour or until soft. Broil for extra crispiness.

This was a Weight Watcher's recipe I had and it really is very good! Cuts out the butter/sour cream/bacon/cheese that makes baked potatoes so good. ;-)

Snacks
1 Fuji apple. Split a thin beef of beef jerky with the wife after our long walk.

I Was Already Beautiful and Didn't Know It!

Thoughts for Today
Short post today - getting ready to head to O'Charleys to have a few drinks with some friends. But before I go, gotta give a big shout out to my buddy Enz who had given me the Beautiful Blogger award back in January. At that time, I had just started blogging, and I don't think I even saw it or knew what these awards meant. But now that I've been at it awhile I realize it means people are enjoying reading your blog, and I definitely appreciate that a lot. I really get a lot out of reading your blogs too. Again, I don't have time to fulfill my "Beautiful Blogger" obligations, but I'll really try to get to it soon. Good night y'all!

Exercise
The wife dragged me around a lot of different stores today, 11,000+ steps worth. No Wii Fit necessary tonight.

Breakfast
Bowl of Shredded Wheat with a few Multi Grain Cheerios sprinkled on top to give some flavor to the hay-like qualities of the Shredded Wheat. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch

Chik-a-Fila sandwich on wheat with a side salad and a Diet Coke. Just a little bot of balsamic vinegarette dressing on the salad.

Dinner
Pan-fried chicken with panko bread crumbs, peas, and corn. Reasonable portion of all.

Snacks
About 10 natural almonds. Because we were celebrating a birthday today, I had a small piece of homeade devil's food cake wth vanilla frosting. Also, one of those Fudgesicles that's the size of a popsicle.

Beautiful Blogger

Thoughts for Today
A big thank you to my blogger friend Journey for today's award and shout out - I really appreciate it and I will proudly fulfill the terms of the award tomorrow, but I'm pretty exhausted tonight. When I started this blog last month, I honestly didn't think anyone would even find it among the milllions of sites out there, much less present me with a Beautiful Blogger award! So even if I didn't eat to win today, I still won something.

Well next week is my War on Salt, so I guess I've got the next day or two to get my last fixes of the super salty stuff I love. I don't know if you guys engage in this kind of stupidity, but usually in the days preceeding any committment to changing my eating habits, I tend to load up heavily on that which about to be banned or at least minimized. For example, towards the end of December, I had chosen Jan 1 as my start date to losing weight. But that last week of December, I ate loads of pizza, huge sub sandwiches, lots of red meat, fried chicken, ice cream, candy bars, and so forth. So by this foolish logic, I will probably eat a lot of salty things up until I wake up on Monday morning. Today was no exeception. Good night y'all.

Exercise
Ran 20 minutes on the Wii Fit again and will reach 10,000 steps by night's end.

Breakfast
Bowl of Multi Grain Cheerios. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Went with the guys at work to Blue Coast Burrito for a small chicken burrito which really wasn't all that small, but was very good. Stuffed with rice, pinto beans, onions, black olives, lettuce, and jalapeno peppers, and a touch of sour cream. I should have at least ordered the wheat tortilla but didn't. Good old white flour. Corn chips and salsa are tough for me to eat in moderation, but I managed to eat only about 10-12 chips with some pineapple salsa. Diet coke. Overall not a very healthy lunch, but I hadn't been there in a long time and I just didn't want to eat a salad.

Dinner
Went the the wife and our son to Captain D's for Seasoned Grilled Tilapia with green beans and baked potato, and rice. Just a little bit of sour cream on the potato. Ate only 1/2 the rice and did NOT eat the roll, which is basically like fried dough at the carnival.

Snacks
As if lunch wasn't heavy enough, a guy at work came around handing out bakery chocoloate chip cookies about an hour after lunch. I took one and was gonna eat just half, but of course that didn't happen. I ate it all, but at least it wasn't that big a cookie. About 4 malted milk balls (Whoppers) and a couple spoonfuls of Reduced Fat Moose Tracks ice cream (Purity).

Next Week is War on Salt Week

Thoughts for today
Well the response from you guys was overwhelming in favor of cutting way down on the eating out to get past this possible salt plateau, so I will try that approach for the duration  of next week. I probably will still get some lunches out at work because I like getting out of the office for a while during the day, but I'll try to be more salt-aware even at lunch. Probably won't go out to dinner at all next week and will keep the salt in mind for the meals we make at home. So far this year I've paid no attention to salt, but I think it's time. Thank you all for the great feedback, I really appreciate it!

A silly side note. One other reason that I am not big on eating lunch at work is because I'm not that into putting stuff into community fridges. At a place I previously worked, someone was swiping parts of other people's lunches and on some occasions even grabbing the meat out of their sandwiches.  Is that nasty or what?!?

Exercise
Ran 20 minutes on the Wii Fit again for the third night straight. Might even run another 10 minutes after this post. In either case, should reach well over 10,000 steps by night's end.

Breakfast
Bowl of Multi Grain Cheerios. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Subway. Roasted Chicken sandwich, toasted with all the vegetables, spices, and vinegar. Baked Lays Chips (Southwestern). Diet coke.

Dinner
Asian food at the neighborhood  place. Bento Box. Ate only about 2/3 the Kung Po shrimp, 1/2 the yellow rice, and 1/2 of a killer good eggroll. Also tried a sushi roll I had never in my life heard of - the Mango Chicken roll and it was excellent. Water and hot green tea (no sweeteners).

Snacks
Oats and Chocolate Fiber One Bar.

Mini Plateau and a New Plan

Thoughts for today
I've hit at least a mini plateau, haven't lost much weight at all in February even though I've been exercising and eating decently. So I want to try something different. I've been eating out way too much because we've had a lot going on, we're empty nesters, and it's just been easier to go out than prepare meals the past few weeks. But I'm thinking I might see different results if I go a week where lunch is the only meal I eat out, and I and keep up the exercise and water consumption. Will save some money too! That's about all I got for tonight. Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Good night y'all.

Exercise
Ran 20 minutes on the Wii Fit again and will be over 12,000 steps by night's end. Going to make the 20 minute run my new routine after I get home from work each day.

Breakfast
Oats and Chocolate Fiber One bar. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Went with the wife and two co-workers to Otter's for garden salad with two buffalo tenders and a big glass of water.

Dinner
The wife and I went to the neighborhood Mexican place for Chicken and Shrimp Fajitas. Did not eat any tortilla shells, sour cream, or guac. I actually like having fajitas that way, as long as I squeeze lemon juice all over everything. Just a little bit of rice and beans, and only a few chips and salsa. 2 bottles of Michelob Ultra Lite.

Snacks
8 Whoppers (malted milk balls). Oats and Chocolate Fiber One Bar.

First Buffet of 2010

Thoughts for today
The wife and I went to my favorite Indian food place for lunch and it's a buffet, my first one of 2010. I did OK. Not great, but OK (see details below). Buffets have traditionally been my "I gotta get my money's worth" downfall even though it usually doesn't cost any more than other restaurants. I tell you, all the silly rationalizations of this nature are probably how I gained most of my weight. Another one of my old rationalization techniques goes like this...eat a couple pieces of pizza, be full, but take a 3rd one and slice it down the middle so I'm only having a little bit more. Then I see that half a piece just sitting there looking lonely and cut that piece in half. Before I know it I've finsihed the 3rd piece and started the same process  on the 4th. Today might not have been the most healthy meal of 2010, but at least I didn't try to eat them out of business. Good night y'all.

Exercise
Ran 20 minutes on the Wii Fit tonight in order to break 10,000 steps and I think 20 minutes running is my new daily minimum. Lots of steps, good exercise, and it makes me really thisty for water.

Breakfast
Big bowl of raisin bran. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Indian food buffet. Authentic and excellent. I can't name most of what I ate other than Chicken Curry and Vegetable Marsala, but every bite was terrific. I had one reasonable size plate filled with all kinds of great chicken curry and a bunch of dishes I can't even pronounce, but I avoided anything that was obviously battered or deep fried. Went back for seconds of a really good cabbage dish, but used a much smaller plate for the seconds and didn't finish. Also of note, the seasoned grilled pita bread (Naan) that is served as an appetizer was terrific and probably not healthy but I manged to eat just one half a piece, when I normally would have had them bringing out multiple baskets of it.

Dinner
I cooked up a batch of spaghetti with multi grain pasta. No meat sauce this time since lunch was heavy. Used a couple wheat hotdog buns and split a 100 cal english muffin to create makeshift garlic toast with Smart Balance spray and garlic and minced onion.

Snacks
6 Whoppers, yes the candy, not the burgers! 10-12 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins. About 10 natural almonds. A few scoops of reduced fat Moose Tracks ice cream.

Shaking Up the Metabolism?

Thoughts for today
Last night's meal was a fantastic meal in a romantic atmosphere with a piano player clinking away at classics. The wife opted for the tenderloin (beef) and I for the pomapano (fish) so we could mix and match. Both were fabulously perpared and seasoned. The appetizer of seafood filled artichoke was insanely good, dessert was terrific, and even the bread was extremely good. All this and more downed with glasses of champagne made for a terrific night out and probably more calories and fats than I normally eat in 2-3 days. And little did I know I was just getting started. After dinner we walked around for quite a bit and finally started to feel a little less full and then we went to a terrific production of Fiddler on The Roof where unbeknowst to me they were serving complimentary champagne and cookies and brownies and so on. Do you really need to ask if I partook? I figured I might as well do it right since I was binging anyway. The wife tried to tell me some sort of "it's good to shake up your metabolism with different things to shock the system now and then" craziness. If so, I gave it a helluva shake, but I prefer to just call a binge a binge! Back on track today though as if it never happened, but I'm glad it did. Hope y'all had a great Valentine's!

Exercise
A quick run on the Wii Fit pushed me over 7000 steps, but that's the bare minimum to get HealthMiles credits for the day. I need to get back to doing 10,000 a day but I've been at working at home some instead of at the office and just am not picking up the normal amount of walking that comes in the course of a normal workday.

Breakfast
My first bowl of Multi Grain Cheerios and I actually liked it a lot. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Subway. Roasted chicken with all the vegetables, vinegar/oil, and spices. No cheese. No mayo.

Dinner
97% Fat Free Hebrew National hotdog on wheat bun with sauerkraut, spicy mustard, and grilled onions. and sweet potato fries. I could have and wanted to have two hotdogs, but made do with a little extra kraut and another big glass of water.

Snacks
6 Whoppers. 10-12 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins. About 15-20 natural almonds.

Happy Valentine's Day Blogger Friends!

Thoughts for today
Happy Valentine's Day y'all, hope you have a great one. I am happy to report I have not piled on the candy. The wife did buy me a carton of Whoppers because I love them, but I've managed to eat only at a couple handfuls and plan to make them last a long time. Breakfast and lunch were pretty light because I know we are going to be eating this meal for dinner. After dinner, we are going to see a production of Fiddler On the Roof, so I'll have to fill in exactly what I end up eating tomorrow. Should be a fun night. I hope everyone is enjoying theie day.

Exercise
Today will be a challenge to get in 10,000 steps but maybe we can walk around some between dinner and the play and pick up a few.

Breakfast
Bowl of Shredded Wheat. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Bumble Bee chunk white tuna and white vinegar on two toasted 100 calorie english muffins with about 20 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins. Glass of water.

Dinner
Will have to fill in the details later as dinner is a multi course meal with choices.

Snacks
Small cup of fresh cherries. About 12-15 Whoppers.

I Expect My Junk Food to Deliver

Thoughts for today
I normally don't have 2+ slices of the good fatty pizza anymore at one sitting, usually more like a slice and a salad. But today I had to run an errand to the mall with my son and it turned out Sbarro's was having a $9.99 for any pizza special, so needless to say I went for it. Growing up, I always loved Sbarro's pizza and it looked so good today behind the glass windows, so a fresh hot pepperoni pie sounded great. But it just wasn't the way I remember it. Wasn't bad, but tasted more like a decent frozen pizza than the great New York style slices of my youth.

Since starting this journey on New Year's Day, it's always disappointing on the occassions when I take the plunge and eat some junk which doesn't end up satisfying my craving. I expect that out of healthy food sometimes, but I always expect my junk food to deliver the goods, and today it didn't.

Exercise
It took a 10 minute run on Wii Fit and about a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood, but I got my 10,000+ pedometer steps.

Breakfast
Wife cooked up a small omelet which hit the spot..2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Two slices of pepperoni at Sbarro's. Diet Pepsi.

Dinner
Asian food takeout. Chicken with garlic sauce, steamed rice, and a couple won tons from the soup. All portions fit neatly in the sections of my penitentiary style tray.

Snacks
Small 6 oz cup of WW chocolate fudge brownie ice cream, which was really good. Not diety tasting at all. 10-15 Reduced fat Wheat thins. 1 piece of Russell Stover Valentine's candy, a molassess chew and it was great.

Edge Of Darkness

Thoughts for today
Short entry because we are going out soon with some friends for dinner and to see Edge of Darkness. Will give my movie review and fill in the rest of my food log tomorrow. As I have started to develop a steady group of blogger friends, I've noticed my topics of discussion slowly branching out into other areas of life beyond strictly talking about weight loss and food intake, which is cool. I though I don't "know" any of you, I feel like I do sometimes. Have a good weekend and will catch up with y'all tomorrow.

Exercise
7000+ pedometer steps, didn't meet 10,000 cause spent a lot a time with friends.

Breakfast
A Java apple and 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Met the wife and a friend at Otter's for salad topped with 3 buffalo chicken tenders (fried). I probably should have gone with grilled chicken on the salad instead, but I figured it was kind of a compromise between what I I've had there in the past - combo platter of buffalo tenders, fries, and a side of fried pickles. Plus I barely ate any of the balsamic vinegarette dressing because the buffalo sauce gave the salad such a good flavor.

Dinner
Chop House for a burger with red beans and rice. Have to admit it was nice to eat a good thick burger on a big kaiser type roll. Cup of black coffee and glass of water.

Snacks
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bar.

Piss Poor Behavior

Thoughts for today
Y'all can read about the salad I had for lunch below. It really was good enough to devote a blog post title to, and I'll definitely order it again someday. If I was one of those bloggers who posted pictures of their food, this would make the list. Funny thing is I felt like I overate, even though it was a relatively healthy salad. I'm not a big avacado fan so I removed that, and the yellow from  the boiled eggs, as well as the majority of the cheese and potato sticks from the salad. But other than that, I ate the whole bowl and it was practically as big as one of those family sized bowls. I definitely realized when I had eaten about 2/3 of the bowl that I wasn't hungry anymore, but it I just kept plowing away until it was gone because it tasted so good. So while I rate this as a Fair on the calorie/fat consumption scale, I have to give myself a Piss Poor on behavior sacle, because I clearly ate just to eat. No big deal to overeat for the one meal,  but just I don't want to open the gateway to that kind of behavior. It would be especially pathetic to let a salad be the thing to open that gateway!

Exercise
Ran 1.75 miles on the Wii Fit. 11,000+ pedometer steps.

Breakfast
Nothing but 2 cups of black coffee. Got busy at work and all of a sudden it was after 11am and time for lunch.

Lunch
Dan McGuinness, a local Irish pub. The rest of the table had fish and chips, which I'll admit looked good. But I had one of the best salads I ever had in my life, with vingarette dressing. It was kind of like a Cobb salad but without all the deli meats, instead it was topped with grilled marinated chicken. I'm glad it was really good, as it cost over $10! Big glass of water.

Dinner
The wife made up our new found lowfat Philly Cheesteak recipe, which is really good and we had a side of sweet potato fries, also very good. Big glass of water.

Snacks
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bar. 10-12 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins. A few spoonfuls of 1/2 fat Moose Tracks ice cream. About 1/2 a slice of frozen pizza our son had made around the time I got home.

Steps Is Steps

Thoughts for today
Our oldest daughter came over tonight on the premise of having some of her mom's chili that she loves so much for dinner. She wasn't in the house 30 seonds before somehow managing to turn her problems into our problems. It began with her vehicle starting to act up just before getting to our place, and then all the issues related to not having transportation for the night fell into our lap as well. So it's been kind of a stressful silly day, BUT with all the running around on her behalf I got my 10,000 steps fairly effortlessly. I did my normal 10 minute run on the Wii Fit when I got home, but other than that all steps were earned during the natural progression of my crazy day. I think I preferred last night's running around my house in the freezing pitch black to finish up my daily steps over this, but what the hell, steps is steps.

Good night y'all and thanks for all the comments on yesterday's post, I always enjoy reading them.

Exercise
Ran 1.75 miles on the Wii Fit. And got my 10,000+ steps throughout the course of the day (see above).

Breakfast
2 Fiber One apple bran muffins. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Mineo's for a slice of cheese pizza and a house salad with a vinegarette. Even though I ate pizza, I was still chided by my work buds for eating rabbit food (the salad). Excellent lunch. Diet Coke.

Dinner
Leftovers from wife's terrfic homeade chili with 10-15 fat free Saltines. Several glasses of water and a Michelob Ultra Lite.

Snacks
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bar. 15-20 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins. A few pieces of raw broccoli and a Java apple.

Feeling Like a Fool, but an Inspired Fool

Thoughts for today
I found this post from my blogger friend Ruth Anne the other day inspiring. She mostly wrote about the Super Bowl, but the second half of her post was the part I really took something from. The way she managed to do her workout video when there were clearly a million and one great and legitimate reasons not to made me realize that I can make an exercise committment too. Yeah I've been doing the pedometer thing, but mostly I've just been doing what was required (7000 steps) to get daily points and bonus points. After reading Ruth Anne's post, I decided there is no reason I can't get at least 10,000 steps every day of the week. This will require a decent amount of exercise beyond the normal steps I get in a routine day and I think will be critical to getting where I want to get in terms of weight loss. Well, it was getting near bedtime tonight and I only had a little over 8000 so I just ran up and down the stairs a bunch of times and got tired of that. Then I ran laps around our house in 15 degree weather looking and feeling like a fool, but I finally got to 10,000. Hopefully no neighbors saw, thanks Ruth Anne!

Exercise
Ran 1.8 miles on the Wii Fit. Did lots of other silly things (see above) to get to 10,000 steps.

Breakfast
2 Fiber One apple bran muffins. Very good. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Jersey Mike's. Not exactly a healthy sub, but an excellent sub. Regular size roast beef and provolone on wheat with tomato, lettuce, banana peppers, onions, spices, and vinegar. Several glasses of water.

Dinner
Wife's homeade chili with 10-15 fat free Saltines. Excellent batch! Several glasses of water.

Snacks
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bar. A bunch of carrots, green and red bell peppers, cucumbers leftover from the Super Bowl vegetable tray, dipped in balsamic vinegar. 10-15 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins.

Zucchini Fries Don't Suck

Thoughts for today
The pounds are once again slowly dropping and I think the pedometer is partially to credit. Also, I was sufficiently inspired enough by a blogger friend of mine who did her daily workout even though she had all kinds of insanity going on that day to commit myself to doing 10,000 plus steps every day no matter what's going on. Have a good night y'all.

Exercise
Closing in on 12,000+ steps on the pedometer. Ran 2 miles on the Wii Fit.

Breakfast
2 Fiber One apple bran muffins. Very good. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Can of Bumble Bee chunk white albacore mixed with vinegar on a couple toasted Healthy Life 100 cal english muffins. Several glasses of water.

Dinner
Wife found a couple lowfat recipes for Philly Cheesteak and zucchini fries (baked). Now I grew up with Italian deli's that had killer cheesesteak sandwiches and I likes my fries to be made with potatoes, so I didn't go in with high expectations. But it was really good! I could easily have eaten another cheesteak and not only do zucchini fries not suck, I actually went back for a few more. Several glasses of water.

Snacks
A Java apple. A leftover apple bran muffin. 10-12 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins. A few spoonfuls of 1/2 the Fat moose tracks ice cream.

Super Bowl Of Chili

Thoughts for today
Because of the big game today and other stuff we had going on, we didn't have much time for lunch, so we made a quick trip to Wendy's for chili and it really is pretty good. I prefer the wife's homeade over all others, but if you gotta grab fast food and want something pretty healthy (300 cals, 7g fiber), I think it's a good way to go. Adding a pack or two of their hot chili sauce flavors it nicely too.

And I was happy to see the Saints win. I'm not a Saints fan, but I truly believe a sports team can bring a town together and help restore people's pride in their city.

Exercise
12,000+ steps on the pedometer, I guess I did lot of pacing during the Super Bowl!

Breakfast
Bowl of Wheat Chex with skim milk. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Wendy's. Large chili with 8-10 packs of Saltines. Very good!

Dinner
Wife made up some great hot wings and oven roasted red potatoes for the big game. I only had 3 wings, but they were great. A few Michelob Ultra Lites.

Snacks
Vegetable tray (green/red peppers, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers).  I used balsamic vinegar to dip and that was pretty good. We did attempt to make some WW mexican dip and I don't know if it's the recipe or how we made it, but it did NOT work out and quickly was trashed.  Tasted kind of like old bread and metal.

A Pound Is a Pound

Thoughts for today
Well it took almost a week, but dropped 1 more pound, so that's good. I kind of miss the quicker pace that pounds were falling off when I first started, but I sure don't want those pounds back. So I guess I have to get used to a slower pace and start really stepping up the exercise. Hope y'all are having a good weekend.

Exercise
7600 steps on the pedometer.

Breakfast
Honeycrisp apple. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Greek food. Grilled chicken salad with a wheat pita and 1 small packet of Greek dressing. Excellent!

Dinner
2 bowls of Wheat Chex with skim milk. Sometimes I like breakfast for dinner.

Snacks
Small pack of natural almonds. Honeycrisp apple.

Go You Chicken Fat Go

Thoughts for today
Running on the Wii Fit, or running on real roads for that matter, is boring to me without having some kind of distraction like music. My son saw me running to some old Loverboy songs on Wii Fit, and decided that wasn't good enough, so he started digging out all kinds of cheesy inspirational 80's songs like the Rocky Theme and Your The Voice. I have to admit it made the running go a lot faster, and it always makes me laugh how today's generation seems to know all the 80's songs as much and I do. All this 80s music made me flashback even further to the 1970s, more specifically to gym class in the 1970's. I remembered there was this God-awful song the gym teacher used to make us listen do while we did jumping jacks and sit ups and such and it went something like "Go You Chicken Fat Go." Of course one quick search on the internet turned it up instantly. Were any of you (see link below) subjected to this nonsense?

Go You Chicken Fat Go

Exercise
9000 steps so far. Two running sessions on the Wii. The second run clocked in at almost 2 miles!

Breakfast
Honeycrisp apple. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Greek food. Chicken platter. Ate only 1/2 the rice and half the pita bread. Vinegarette dressing on the salad.

Dinner
KFC, that's right KFC. 1 Chicken Breast (Original), side of mashed potatoes with no gravy or butter. Traded half the biscuit for one of my wife's grilled chciken wings, which was pretty good. Granted KFC isn't diet food, but this isn't a diet it's a life change, and if this were the old me (a few weeks ago), I would have gone for the buffet probably and ate who knows how many cals.

Snacks
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate fiber bar. 20 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins.

200,000 steps

Thoughts for today Nothing much to report, been hanging around the same weight since the end of last month, but not long enough to call it a plateau yet. Hopefully, adding the pedometer thing to the mix every day will help get the pounds dropping again. I joined on of their online challenges where I have to take 200,000 steps over the course of a month, so if I can keep up the 7000 every day, I'll just make it to 200,000. 

Exercise
7600 steps including a quick walk around the neighborhood with my dog.

Breakfast
Active Lifestyle Oats and Chocolate fiber bar. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Asian food. Ginger chicken. Ate only half the spring roll and about 2/3 the steamed rice.

Dinner
Leftover spaghetti from last night with multi-grain pasta. Garlic bread on 100 calorie English Muffin with Parkay spray. Glass of water.

Snacks
Active Lifestyle Oats and Chocolate fiber bar. 3 frozen chocolate covered macadamia nuts.

Six Minute Miles?

Thoughts for today
The Wii Fit tells me I am running just a little under 1 3/4 miles in 10 minutes. I calculated this to be equivalent to 6 minute miles. I have to imagine that running on the open road, I would get nowhere near 6 minute miles. So I'm not sure I trust the Wii's distance calculating ability, but I will say that 10 minute run gives you a good little workout. I'm going to try to start doing it right when I get home from work every day. It's good calorie burning, and now that I am doing the pedometer thing, it will help a bunch with getting my 7000 steps in every day.

Exercise
Ran on the Wii Fit, distance unknown.  8100 steps on the pedometer so far today, so met the 7000 goal.

Breakfast
Active Lifestyle Oats and Chocolate fiber bar. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Met the wife for Greek food. Chicken platter with rice and pita bread and tabouli. Ate only about 2/3 of the rice and 1/2 the pita bread. Vinegarette dressing. Diet Coke.

Dinner
I made up a pot of spaghetti (wheat), which was a big hit with the wife. Didn't have the lowfat ground beef, so had to use 80% lean, but only sprinkled a little bit in the sauce, enough to taste it. Garlic bread on 100 calorie English Muffin with Parkay spray. Glass of water.

Snacks
Active Lifestyle Oats and Chocolate fiber bar. 3-4 frozen chocolate covered macadamia nuts.

10,000 Steps!

Thoughts for today
I'm liking the pedometer so far. The goal is to hit at least 7000 steps a day. You pick up a surprising amount of steps (about 100) for doing little things just like walking to the rest room and back at work. I purposefully parked further away from my building than normal, and we did some extra walking at lunch so I'd stay on track for the 7000. Ended up with 10,000+, which I thought was a good start. Yes, this means that now you'll have to listen to me carry on about how many steps I took from now on!

Exercise
Ran about 1.75 miles on the Wii Fit, of course I was wearing the pedometer while I did the run so I'd get credit the the steps!

Breakfast
Active Lifestyle Oats and Chocolate fiber bar. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Met the wife for Subway. Roasted Chicken on wheat with green peppers, lettuce, black olives, tomato, jalapeno, parm cheese, oil, and vinegar with BBQ Baked Lays and Diet Coke.

Dinner
Our oldest daughter made some pintos and cornbread. Had a decent sized bowl. The cornbread got a little burned on the bottom but still good. 2 glasses of water.

Snacks
10-12 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins with a slice of Reduced Sodium Boar's Head ham. A couple frozen chocolate covered macadamia nuts.

Pedometer Has Arrived

Thoughts for today
Today by pedometer for the corporate wellness program my company recently started arrived in the mail. I've got the software setup and the pedometer is up and going. You hook up the pedometer to your computer at the end of the day and download your steps, and the goal is to do 7000 steps a day which is about 3 miles. When I get enough 7000 step days, I start earning $$, so maybe this will get me exercising more. Will let y'all know how it goes.

Exercise
Getting started with the pedometer took the place of any regular exercise. I taken a big 171 steps so far, LOL.

Breakfast
100 calorie "alternative" bagel from Publix with a little bit of cream cheese. 2 cups of black coffee.

Lunch
Chicken Nick's. 3 Chicken Tenders with very HOT buffalo sauce to dip the tenders. Side salad with a little vinegarette. The tenders were fried  so not the healthiest lunch, but what the heck I only had 3. Glass of water.

Dinner
Leftover Chinese takeout from yesterday. Chicken with Garlic sauce and won ton soup. We were low on leftover rice so the wife made some brown rice, and sauteed some fresh cabbage, garlic, and green onion  and added it all to the mix. It was actually quite good. 2 glasses of water and a Bud Lite.

Snacks
10-12 Reduced Fat Wheat Thins.