Day 35 – More Like the Bug than the Windshield

Some days you’re the bug and some days you’re the windshield. Today I am a bit buggish so I’ll keep this brief.

Thankfully I love chicken because it is now a staple of my diet.

The problem is that not everyone in my home has as much of a desire to eat a flock of chickens a week. Rumor is that someone might be getting sick of it. Due to this I am always trying to change up the recipes to keep mealtime different.

Today I decided to make Chicken Fajitas which was a first for me.

The bulk of the ingredients are actually good for you including the chicken, three different colors of peppers and onions. This is especially so if you pre-steam the vegetables and then cook them with the chicken in a frying pan with Pam Olive Oil. There are even whole grain flour tortillas that you can opt for if you so choose. Of course you bring the warm and fuzzy dietary feeling down a notch if you choose to throw in cheese and refried beans.

I have to say that these were really very, very good.

I hope that you are well and thanks for stopping by!

Week Five – I’m Way 2 Fat results!

Week Five – I’m Way 2 Fat results!

Week five resulted in a weight loss of 2.8 pounds. The progress to date as well as my comments are listed below:

Week #1

292.6 start

280.8 week one weigh in

11.8 pounds lost week one

4% overall body weight

Week #2

280.8 last week

276.8 this week

4 pounds lost week two

15.8 pounds lost in two weeks

5.4 % overall weight loss in two weeks

Ending weight 276.8

Week #3

276.8 last week

273.2 this week

3.6 pounds lost week three

19.4 pounds lost in three weeks

6.6 % overall weight loss in three weeks

Ending weight 273.2

Week #4

273.2 last week

270.4 this week

2.8 pounds lost week four

22.2 pounds lost in four weeks

7.6 % overall weight loss in four weeks

Ending weight 270.4

Week #5

270.4 last week

267.6 this week

2.8 pounds lost week five

25 pounds lost in five weeks

8.5 % overall weight loss in five weeks

Ending weight: 267.6

Strange: Same exact weight loss as last week down to the tenth of a pound!

Milestones: 25 pounds lost to date and I have broken into the 260’s for the first time in a long, long time!

Well I really don’t know what to say about these results. I’m obviously happy that I have lost more weight and have done so every week of this effort. This logically points to the successful methods of weight loss that I have adopted with the help and support of all of the kind visitors to this site.

Most important to note is that there hasn’t been a single time over these five weeks when I have been hungry. I am eating healthy food at more regular intervals. I am also not beyond eating a regular meal or two during the week depending upon schedule and/or social need.

Despite all of that I am a ridiculously impatient person. I want to see big results every week even though logic dictates that this isn’t possible- at least in a safe manner that ensures long term success.

Last week when I was whining in a similar manner my sister told me to go to the supermarket and look at a one pound package of hamburger then imagine that in one week I lost nearly the equivalent of three of those packages in body fat. I’ll also rest upon the image of five five-pound bags of sugar strapped to my body to remind me of how much heavier I was five weeks ago!

Bottom line is this… this is working and it’s working well. I have no intention of stopping this effort and will continue until I am where I need to be weight and health-wise. Even after that I won’t surrender the healthy eating lifestyle for fear of back sliding.

If you are out there and wondering if you can successfully partake in a similar effort I assure you that you indeed can! It doesn’t matter if your goal is to lose twenty pounds or one hundred twenty pounds- you can do it!

Day 34 – Cutting Hair Without Alcohol

First of all the picture above is in no way related to this post. It’s just that I stumbled upon it in my daily picture search and it made me smile- so I had to share it!

Today’s big victory was that I made it through cutting Tom’s hair without drinking Jack Daniels or beer! For years I have been cutting my buddies hair in the garage and the ingestion of spirits during the event is a time honored tradition. For those who haven’t been reading this blog for long on March 10^th I confessed to drinking alcohol the last time I cut Tom’s hair. See:

https://imway2fat.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/day-14-im-way-3-fat-i-think-i-drank-my-dinner/

While both Tom and I got beat up pretty bad as a result of that post and today we swore it would be different. By different I mean that I didn’t drink but Tom did! What was good for Tom is that we didn’t have a repeat of a tragic haircut that occurred a few years ago. We documented that problem with a photo which I am placing below. I have obscured part of Tom’s face not for his protection but for yours! I did take the liberty of adding a booger to his nose – but he deserves it!

Dietary intake today:

10:30 – GoLean Cereal with fruit

1:00 – Leftover Chicken Cacciatore from yesterday’s dinner

4:00 – Almonds

7:00 – Ok- I tried something different today. When I went shopping I picked up Turkey Cutlets. I breaded them and baked them and am posting a picture below. I served a baked potato and an individual steam-fresh bag of corn. I have to say that I wasn’t too impressed. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. It just isn’t something that I could see me doing again. I have seen recipes for Turkey Kabobs that I might try sometime though.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day and as always I am feeling a bit of trepidation ahead of that. Monday nights always have me wondering what I could have done better the previous week. I’m also expecting that bad week that will likely pop up on occasion.

As always I wish you well and thank you for dropping in to check out my progress.

Day 33 – Days Off are Killing Me

At the least days off are frustrating me in terms of a healthy eating plan! Today, Sunday, was a perfect example of this. After an out of control night of bingo on the previous evening Deb and I overslept in the morning. As we get up and rush around trying to get the day under way we find that it’s after noon time before I get my first meal into me.

Come around three o’clock I’m in a panic because it feels like it’s almost dinner time- which is my last meal of the day! I eat quickly at that time and before you know it is indeed dinner time and I eat a great meal- but this only works out to eating three times in the day. This compared to seven times in a normal work schedule day!

I suppose that the lesson to be learned here is that I have to remember to put eating first. Even while running around I should have at least grabbed a baggie of fruit or a handful of almonds to get the day started.

My left knee has been very sore since my last run which while being expected is still concerning to me. As the pain hasn’t gotten any better or any worse over the last three days I may try to run through it tomorrow and see what happens.

Dietary intake:

12:30 – I had a blue berry pancake. Pure decadence indeed! For the first time in my lifetime I ate a pancake without butter and only used a sparse bit of syrup. It actually wasn’t bas in that manner. To me this just indicates that we simply need to recondition our eating habits from what we have always considered the norm. I did turn down an offer of bacon that was mere inches from me. That was exceedingly difficult and I may have spent a moment or two softly weeping!

3:00 – Egg whites with red, yellow and green peppers on dry 12 grain toast.

6:00 – I have made this twice now- I suppose it’s Chicken Cacciatore but as is my nature I didn’t use a recipe I just winged it. I just cook some chicken breast pieces in a frying pan with Pam. I steam red, green and yellow peppers and mix them in with the chicken. I then use a little pasta sauce and serve over whole wheat pasta and it tastes great! I am including a picture I took of it while it was still in the frying pan.

Well 22 days are in the books and I can’t believe how quickly it has gone. Thanks for your continued support and I look forward to any feedback you may have.

The “I’m Way 2 Fat” Diet Tip of the Day

For liquid intake I primarily only drink water or black coffee. I have never really had a sweet tooth as I would always opt for a cheese burger over a piece of pie but I was never beyond eating both!

What I tend to miss the most is the bad habit of having a big snack at night while watching TV. On nights when this is really bad I have found something that makes me feel like I’m cheating having a sweet snack yet only surrendering 10 calories in the process.

Propel Fit Powder

Maybe it’s because I only drink plain water or black coffee but this stuff tastes really great! It is purely psychological I’m sure but having a glass of water with this powder mixed in make me feel like I am splurging. I don’t know what chemicals are in it or how many lab rats it may be prone to killing but right now it works great for me!

Your mileage may vary.

Day 32 – Shower Day and Bingo Madness!

One of the keys to success in this diet and exercise program is putting yourself on a regular schedule and planning ahead. Despite the best laid plans sometimes life overpowers those efforts. Today, (Saturday), was one of those days. Today was the bridal shower of my beautiful daughter Nicole. To see pictures of that event feel free to view them on my other site at:

http://onemanoneview.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/nikkis-bridal-shower/

So the day started off normal enough as I did go into work and as you’ll see below the eating schedule was pretty normal up until lunch. After that I left work early and helped with the clean-up and related mule work during the post-shower activities.

Shortly after the shower we were then scheduled to go and play Bingo at a large facility in Nashua with some friends and coworkers of my wife. That’s right- I said Bingo! The upside to going there was that I now feel very, very young! The median age was about 113 and those folks take that game way, way to seriously!

I was unaware previously but apparently old folks have taken to forming gangs and violence is not uncommon- especially if you yell Bingo when you don’t have it! Apparently the blue hair gang is noted as being the worst and if someone with green tinted hair pushes their walker through their bingo table area then violence could occur- it just “Depends.”

I was standing in line to get my bingo cards and I had one old guy actually shove me because I was in his way and an old lady yelled at me telling me to stop blocking the aisle. I was very scared. At one point I used the men’s room and couldn’t believe the line for the handicapped stall. I made the mistake of cracking a joke about it and some guy pinned me in the corner with his wheel chair while two dudes with walkers used their ‘Daubers” to tag my head with their gang sign! It was humiliating! I am posting a photo below but I have obscured my identity for fear of retribution!

All of the above is mostly true- I swear!

Food intake for the day:

4am – GoLean Cereal with blue berries

7am – Red grapes

8:30 – Banana

12:00 – Lunch. Individual Birds Eye steamed Brussels sprouts and corn, green grapes and cashews

4:30 – Due to the shower and with no other options available I had to eat “normal food.”  I wasn’t happy but it was better than risking Bongo Hall Food! A small dish of Swedish Meat Balls, pineapple and potato salad. Evil food- but it did taste good! Probably not too bad if taken on rare occasions in moderation such as this.

I hope that all is well with all of you. As always I appreciate your support!

Day 31 – Varying Degradations of Fatness

Today I walk/ran. I have been choosing to do that every other day to allow my knees to recover. I am amazed that each day the effort is getting better with far more running than walking. I used to love to run and I am starting to get that feeling back again.

What is nice lately is that I am having more and more people take note of the fact that I am obviously losing weight. I also feel much, much better and I too can see that I’ve lost a lot of weight. By weigh-in on Tuesday I will have likely lost over 25 pounds. Despite all that, without a doubt, I am still “Way 2 Fat!”

That fact is a sad indicator of just how big I had let myself become. Being that big makes even large weight gains appear to be but a grain of sand in the Sahara! I can lose another 25 pounds after this and the average person looking at me will still see me as being fat. To those who know me I will simply be less fat.

Despite that reality I do look forward to a day when I lose the “fat” descriptor and turn it in for something better like “chunky!” I will not be deterred!

Again- I don’t want to preach here but I would encourage all of you who need to make healthier choices. It can and does make a difference in how you feel and how you look!

Food intake today:

4:00 – 12 Grain oat with reduced fat peanut butter

7:15 – Green grapes and two slices of low sodium deli turkey breast

9:20 – Cashews

11:30 – Two small pieces o grilled chicken breast and strawberries.

2:00 – Pineapple

6:30 – Date night! Splurged with red meat, corn and a potato.

One thing that is nice- and cheaper too is no longer ordering as a matter of course a crock of French onion soup as a starter. I wonder how many calories and sodium I save just with that small change. I swear that the waitress was trying to sabotage me as she threw a bowl of popcorn in front of me that I didn’t order. I just shoved it aside and refused to partake. Normally I would have inhaled that- so again- a smaller change that over the course of time will work to my benefit

Day 30 – Eating on the fly – or not!

Some days present special challenges an today was one of them. I found out last night that both of my parents were in the hospital. They live about three hours away from where I live. I decided to go and see them today so I went into work at 5AM and asked for four hours vacation time later in the day.

I left work before noon and made the three hour trip there and got to spend ½ hour with each of them before turning around and making the three hour trip back home. Due to this exercise today was limited to flexing my right foot on the accelerator. When that made me breath heavy I put the cruise control until I could go back to using my foot again! For upper body I changed the radio stations frequently! I as going to cut a hole in the floor of the car and use it Fred Flintstone Style but Deb would have gotten really mad!

What this driving exercise did point out to me is the lack of viable dining options while on the run like this. Prior to this effort the natural choice would have been a “heart attack in a sack” from McDonalds. I actually wanted to eat on the run but take a McDonalds is the food of the devil right now! I think that one meal such as that could eliminate days of positive effort.

Ronald McDonald should be locked up for manslaughter! He doesn’t deal crack but the French fries that he deals are highly addictive and can lead to death!

I am curious to hear from you folks as to healthy options while on a mission like this? Salads aren’t possible while driving so what else is there. For me I just chose to hold off until I made it home. I ate later than I wanted but at least I was in control of what I ate.

Food intake today:

4:00 – GoLean Cereal and Strawberries

7:00 – Green grapes and two slices of low sodium deli turkey breast

9:20 – Cashews

12:00 – In the car west bound- two small pieces o grilled chicken breast, red grapes and almonds.

2:30 – In the car west bound – Strawberries

4:15 – In the car east bound – pineapple

7:30 – Red and green peppers scrambled in egg whites over dry 12 grain toast.

I hope that all of you are well and look forward to your input about eating on the run.

Day 29 – Fat Little Guy on My Shoulder

Today was a great day for me in terms of exercise. Not so much in that I did indeed exercise but that I was able to overcome that fat little guy on my left shoulder who is good at talking me out of it!

I came home from work with the expectation of doing the run/walk. I hadn’t done that in a couple of days because my left knee had made it clear that some time off was in order. I made the mistake of coming inside and sitting in front of the computer- I should have never sat down!

Next thing I know that little guy is whispering in my ear, He’s saying “you got five hours of sleep last night. Forget exercise today and take a well deserved nap,” Oh how good a nap would be indeed!

I almost fell for it for the temptation was great! Despite that I went to put my sweats on and found they were in the laundry hamper. As only a guy could do I pulled them back out figuring they’re not going to smell much worse shortly!

I walk out the front door with my iPod in hand and am about to start running when I see that the iPod isn’t working! From my left ear I hear “you can’t run without the iPod- that’s your distraction from the awfulness that is exercise!” I had to agree with the little guy and came back inside to see if I could get the iPod working- which I could not. “Nap’s back on” I hear!

But here’s the news of the day… I ignored the voice and went out for the run/walk anyway. I knew that what I wanted more than a nap was to get healthy. Rest is fun- but so is living a long life. This effort is about making choices and today was a day where I chose good choices over bad.

He best part is I was rewarded with a good run/walk. I increased the amount I was able to run throughout the route and took five minutes off my normal time. For the first time I believe I ran more than I walked and I felt terrible- and great all at the same time when it was over. I was beet reed, sweating like a hog and breathing like an anonymous phone caller but it was all good. Today I slapped down that fat little guy on my left shoulder!

Food intake today:

4am – GoLean Cereal and strawberries

7am – Red grapes and two slices of low sodium deli turkey breast

9:20 – Cashews

12:00 – Two small pieces of grilled chicken breast, green grapes and strawberries

2:15 – Pineapple

5:35 – Fresh grilled vegetables with a little bit of stir fry meat.

To all of you- I appreciate your support. If I knew you weren’t checking in on me the fat little guy on my left shoulder might have won today!

Day 28 – Preparing the Feed Bag

Tuesday’s are the last of my days off every week so I’m usually busy trying to catch up on things I should have done on the other days off. About the only thing I like about getting back to work is the regular eating schedule. In preparation for tomorrow I already have my “feed bag” on the counter. I’ve also separated out my baggies of food that I will take with me in the morning. I have a plastic block of something that is in my freezer that I throw into the feed bag and it keeps things cold all day.

I bring with me as much of a variety as I can so I have different choices based upon what I feel like at the time. I certainly wont eat everything but here’s what’s going in the bag in the morning:

• Red Grapes
• Green Grapes
• Strawberries
• Banana
• Pineapple
• Pecans
• Cashews
• Peeled tangelo
• Two slices of low sodium deli turkey breast
• A small pieces of cooked chicken breast

There are a lot of options there for a 10 ½ hour time period. Whatever doesn’t make the cut is still cold when I bring it home to it cycles back into the fridge. This is where all of the effort parsing out these items and precooking chicken breast for the week pays dividends. It’s all about the preplanning and thinking it through!

Dining today:

8:30 – I had 12 grain toast with a thin spread of peanut butter on it. What was different this time is that when I went shopping I bought Smukers Reduced Fat peanut butter without stabilizers added. Basically that means when you open it there is peanut oil collected on the top that you have to stir into the peanut butter then refrigerate it.  T tasted fine to me and it’s just one more small dietary change for the better.

11:00 – Scrambled egg whites with red & green peppers.

1:30 – A little bit of the leftover Chicken Cacciatore from last night.

5:30 – I rolled chicken breast in egg whites and coated with whole wheat bread crumbs. I baked it on a thin metal rack on top of a cookie sheet and it came out nice and crispy. With that I quartered some red potatoes and microwaved them. I then threw them in a pan with a very small amount of butter but a large dose of garlic to brown them just a bit. I felt a little guilty using that tab of butter but when I thought about it I couldn’t remember the last time I used butter with or for anything! I rounded it all out with some steamed broccoli.

Still to come tonight- Tuesday’s have turned into healthy apple crisp night. It’s the one night of the week where I have anything to eat after dinner. If anyone has an interest in the recipe I listed it in one of my previous posts.

Thank you so much for checking in with me here today. Know that you are always welcome and always appreciated.

For those who are interested here is a link to a post I put up on my other blog today:

http://onemanoneview.wordpress.com/