Day 18 - May 21, 2013 - a Bad Day

Weight: 247.2 lbs

Today was a real off day.  Things never seemed to click at any point.  I mentally could not get things on track. Looking at the scale tick up another .2 lbs in the wrong direction was a frustrating way to start the day.

Breakfast was ho-hum.  I started thinking about pizza by 9 am and feeling bad about it.  I called my wife around lunch time and explained how my day was going.  She, oddly enough, was feeling the same way.  So, up went the white flag. Dinner would be pizza at Brewer's Cafe (Barley's Casino and Brew Co.) tonight. We also had a Groupon that was expiring soon.  I skipped lunch, partly due to food indecision paralysis (where to eat, what to eat, when to eat, etc.) and partly to save the calories for dinner.  Tonight was my first binge.  It's the worst day on the diet since I started, and I felt bad about it from the start.  I knew I had to get back on the rails the next day and not let this thing spiral.

Overall, I didn't get too far out of line (who am I kidding?).  I skipped lunch, not a good thing for metabolism, but I saved calories there.  I only ate two slices of pizza (far less than I used to eat on a regular basis.)  I didn't want to order the onion rings, but my wife wanted to order them ("for our son" ).  So I wound up eating half of those.  I only drank water, but finished the meal with bread puddling and a scoop of ice cream on top. I really fell off the wagon.  I felt out of control.


Breakfast:
 2 egg omelet with chorizo, spinach and onion
 16 oz water

Lunch:
No lunch

Dinner:
1/2 an order of onion rings
2 slices of meat lover's thin crust pizza
32 oz water
2 oz sample of blue berry hefeweizen

Dessert:
Slice of bread pudding with vanilla sauce and a scoop of ice cream

we'll see what the scale says tomorrow ...

Day 17 - May 20, 2013

Weight: 247.4 lbs/247 lbs


WTF? I stepped on the scale and almost 1.5 lbs had appeared since yesterday (a non gym day).  It took a while to feed my son this morning.  He must have been hungry.  Nature called right after that.  I then decided to try the scale again, why not?  Apparently, I must have pooed about half a pound (.4 pounds to be exact), because the scale was reading that much lighter.  Are you kidding me.  Oh well, another day.

So on Mondays I have boxing class first thing in the morning.  So my intention was to have a pre-workout meal (chocolate milk), but in all the rush of getting my son ready, I forgot.  So I worked out on an empty stomach.  My chocolate milk turned into a post workout meal.  After a cardio or resistence training workout, there is some leeway for carbs two hours afterwards (How to Get Thinner by the Minute - John Berardi, Ph.D.)  I figured I'd be fine with a chicken burrito from El Pollo Loco, so that's where I went for lunch with the wife.

I honestly, don't remember the rest of the day.  I don't think any bad food decisions were made, I just didn't mark anything down to remind my self.  As I write this several days later, I just don't have any recollection of what happened the rest of the day.


Post workout meal:
12 oz. chocolate milk

Lunch:
EPL avocado and chicken burrito
24 oz water

Dinner:
?????

Dessert:
?????

we'll see what the scale says tomorrow ...

Day 16 - May 19, 2013

Weight: 246 lbs


After yesterday's diversions, there was not much damage at the scale. Since I started a lifestyle change, I haven't had cravings for sweets.  I've always had craving for sweets, as long as I can remember.  Now when I get a craving, it's for bread really (pizza, pancakes, hamburger bun with a hamburger in it).  Come to think of it, I've always loved white bread, since I was kid.  My aunts told me that my father used to love white bread too.  Perhaps, it's a genetic hand me down.  Anyway, I did some internet reading on artificial sweeteners (just simple Google).  There is anecdotal evidence that suggests that artificial sweetener may cause an increased desire for sweet food items.   I have passed on the artificially sweetened drinks (water, please!)  I haven't craved sweet desserts at all.

For breakfast I made everyone a chorizo and spinach omelet.  For lunch I got lazy, and decided to eat out instead of prepare a meal.  I though falafel sounded good, it's just chick peas.  So, I went to a nearby Mediterranean restaurant I had never tried (Parsley).  They didn't seem to have falafel by itself, so I order the falafel bowl, which include 6 falafels, a layer of Mediterranean rice and a layer of salad.  I wasn't too sure about the rice.  I asked the woman behind the counter about the rice, but she wasn't too knowledgeable about what type of rice it was.  It was yellow and she just described it as Mediterranean rice.  I think she squirted some tzatziki on everything at the end.

My theory is that you can get away with eating half of any meal that's served to you in a restaurant and still be full.  So I ate half the falafel, but finished off the rice and salad because they wouldn't age well in the fridge.  For dinner I ate my leftover falafel and remaining chicken thigh (leftover from earlier in the week) with half a bag of microwaveable mixed veggies. Dessert was the remaining strawberries that my son didn't eat that day, plus a few baby carrots.    Not a bad day.

No gym today.



Breakfast:
Chorizo, spinach and onion omelet
16 oz water

Lunch:
Falafel Bowl: 4 falafel on top of "Mediterranean rice" and Mediterranean salad
16 oz water

Dinner:
Leftover falafels (2)
Leftover chicken thigh
1/2 bag of microwaved frozen green beans
16 oz of water

Dessert:
 4 unripe strawberries
2 handfuls of baby carrots
16 oz of water

we'll see what the scale says tomorrow ...