'Cause I'm Backsliding!
Got a little bit high.
Backsliding! Ate some chocolate pie.
Backsliding! Are my pants getting tight?
I'm Backsliding, Backsliding . . . .
It's not funny. Not even a little bit. But I'm having dome trouble dealing with it.
And I hate to face up to it.
In fact, I've avoided facing up to it for nigh on to three weeks now. But I have been on slippery slopes before, and I know how that story ends. So I stepped on the scales yesterday before I started exercising. And the sign said 193.8 pounds for my insides. (Oooph!) After Schwinning and HWing, that went down to 190.4 pounds, which was (a) better but (b) 11.4 pounds more than my best recorded post-exercise weight and therefore (c) unacceptable. So I decided to do something about it.
So I'm back to the blog entries (which helps to keep me honest, because it's so damned embarrassing to admit when I fuck up) and back to weighing food and counting calories. I don't really have a number of calories in my head right now, which I really should do, I know, but I'm just going to see how it plays out for a bit first. Just the act of recording what I eat and publishing it helps me to keep things where they should be, though, so that might be good enough. We'll see how it goes.
Week 43: Monday, December 4, 2017:
Wake-Up Weight: 194.4 lbs.
Breakfast:
Trader Joe's bran cereal 198c, raisins 90c, milk 50c, coffee 20c =
358c
Lunch: ☕20c, pretzels 110c, bread 160c, 16 oz water
290c, 16 oz water
Exercise: 62 Schwinn minutes, LWs, post-exercise weight 191.8 lbs.
Dinner: salad 115c, corn 170c, chicken 150c, bread 160c, butter 35c, cauliflower 50c, pretzels 220c, sunflower seeds 100c, fffudge bar 80c, apple 100c, 16 oz water
1180c , 16 oz water
bran cereal and milk 145c
1973c
Which is more than I was hoping for, but then again I didn't do running totals during the day, so I guess it's not as bad as it could have been. Still, it does give me some insight into how much I was over-eating, since this was most definitely a much more restrained day than any of the days I've had in the past two and a half weeks. I have some work ahead of me.
Week 44: Tuesday, December 5, 2017:
Wake-Up Weight: 191 lbs.
Breakfast:
coffee 20c, cereal and milk 145c, ham and toast 100c, 16 oz water
= 265c
Lunch:
pretzels 110c, soup 230, crackers 120c, cauliflower 75c, apple 95c, 16 oz water, chocolate 80c
= 710c
Exercise: 5 mile walk in the mall, 62 Schwinn minutes. Meant to do the HWs today, but I was really feeling some strain in my shoulders, and I just decided not to push it tonight. Re: the Schwinn minutes, I experimented with the stopping after 15 minutes again--15:01 / 355c / 67rpm, 30:06 / 720c / 68rpm, 45:04 / 1084c / 68rpm, and 62:06 / 1477c / 68rpm. Now, I haven't actually gone back to check, but I think that those calories burned and rpm figures are the best I've ever turned in . . . and today really wasn't my best day ever. I was tired from the Mall walk (which I haven't done in awhile) and didn't get very good sleep last night because of the rain. So maybe the 15 minutes and stop repeat X 3 actually is better in terms of the burning of the calories? I have to admit that at least right now I like it more. 15 minutes isn't as intimidating as 62, for one thing.
More news as it happens.
Oh . . . post exercise weight was 188 lbs.
Dinner: banana 105c, hershey kisses 110c, sunflower seeds 200c, crab cakes 140, chips 140c, cat cookies 110c, tuna with mayonnaise 300c, crackers 120c, 16 oz water
= 945c, 16 oz water
2220c
Again, more / no running totals. I was actually on the good side of 1800 after dinner, but then that tuna started calling to me, and I hate to go for it. I guess it's a consequence of going hard at it on the exercise, but it was more than just hungry, it was like my cells were eating themselves and crying about it. Or maybe that's just my excuse for not being more disciplined, but I'm going to call it a victory. In fact, I'm going to go have a fat free fudge bar (80c) and make it an even 2300 calorie day.
Also, I've been thinking about Causes. Not to eliminate or even mitigate my sloveniness, not at all. But to be able to see it more clealy, and maybe to be able to handle things better next time around.
So here's what I think caused my biggest and most recent Backslide.
(1) Laziness, plain and simple. I got tired of keeping track of everything, tired of pushing hunger / desire away all the time.
(2) Several people told me I'd lost enough weight, not to lose anymore, etcetera. And so instead of enjoying my accomplishment, I was feeling criticized. I shouldn't have been affected by it, but I was. I shouldn't have passively accepted those criticisms, but I did.
(3) I was feeling like I'd Made It . . . even though I hadn't yet reached my goal of 180 lbs.
(4) I was really hungry. I mean, no kidding. REALLY hungry. That gets old.
(5) I was thinking that since I was burning so many calories per day (what with 1 1/2 to 3 hours of exercise per day), that I could just eat whatever I wanted to eat. Add to this that my doctor told me that as you replace fat with muscle your body burns calories more efficiently.
So . . . I think that that's what went down. Add in that I've also been drinking more than I usually do, and that that adds a few calories as well. Plus iI always eat a lot of shit food when I drink.
And that's how I gained back some pounds. Not sure how many, but maybe as many as ten. Not terrible, but I definitely want to put a stop to that now . . . and get back to where I was three weeks ago.
So here I go.
Week 44: Wednesday, December 6, 2017:
Wake-Up Weight: 187.6 lbs. Is that right? Maybe not. Right after I got my weigh-in in the batteries flashed lo, and I couldn't get another reading.
But until I get replacement batteries and fire it up again, I'm going to hold onto the idea that it COULD be correct, because that is not such a bad thing to weigh on a Wednesday morning, is it?
Breakfast:
coffee 20c, bran cereal and a little tiny bit of milk 152c, 8 oz water
= 172c
Exercise: walked 6 miles with Pat in The Mall. It's amazing how much easier it is to walk 6 miles with Pat than it is to walk 5 miles by myself (as I did yesterday). It's all about the people you hang out with, ennit?
Lunch: Avocado Salad Roll 200c, pretzels 110c
= 310c
___482c
Speaking of Kroger's Avocado Salad Roll . . . and, actually, all of their "sushi roll products" . . . I have grown very found of these things. They are (1) not very expensive, (2) readily available, (3) no prep time at all, and (4) decent on the calories and nutrition side of the equation. Of course, I could eat about ten of them without breaking a sweat, but that's pretty much true of anything I eat, especially at lunch time. Those afternoon hours are tough, man. I feel that my greatest Moderation Challenge comes between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 3 p.m. Can I get a witness?
30 second knee stretches, 3 sets each leg
20 four count toe touches
20 push-ups plus one minute plank
30 second hamstring stretches, 3 sets each leg
10 push-ups plus one minute plank
20 four count wing stretchers
10 push-ups plus one minute plank
30 four count twists with dumbbell
10 push-ups with one minute plank
And that really cut down on the "wasted" rest time. In fact, it was pretty much non-stop activity, which is what I wanted to see if I could make happen. And it didn't stop there, oh no, as I decided to split up the bike stuff in the same way, thus:
14 minutes + 1 hard minute = 15:04 / 351c / 67rpms.
Then I did 30 iron cross-y things with the dumbbells, followed by 30 prone french curls, followed by 30 bench presses with the 20 lb dumbbell.
And then I intended to head back for another 15 minutes on the bike, but the phone rang, and I knew I couldn't bike whilst talking (since the bike is so damned loud), so I ditched that plan and went back and finished the HWs, thus: 30 leg lifts, 25 bench presses, 20 leg lifts, 20 bench presses, 50 sit-ups. Then 20 twenty pound dumbbell curls, 20 rowing motion, 20 shoulder rotations, 15 presses, 20 toe raises.
Got back to the bike then and did it in three fifteen minute (-ish) sections, thus: 15:04 / 351c / 67rpms;
15:03 / 330c / 65rpms;
15:05 / 335c / 65rpms;
17:11 / 365c / 64rpms.
I put the first set up there for an easy comparison. It's kind of interesting. There was a big enough lag time between sets that the Schwinn readout re-set, so I can clearly see that this time around I kind of lagged after the first round, which isn't what I would have expected. But then again, I did begin to exercise around 3:30, and I'd just walked 6 miles from 9:30 to 11:00 or so, and I really didn't feel quite ready for it, it was just the best time of the day for me to get to it. And even given that, the numbers aren't at all bad. And that last set takes into account the two minutes of cool down, hence a drop-off is to be expected there . . . even desired, as it wouldn't be a cool down otherwise.
It was a pretty good work out. And some more good news:
Post Exercise Weight: 184.4 lbs. That's not bad. Feel like I'm getting there. And Holy Shit! I know this will change as soon as I drink some water and have dinner, but for a moment there I'd lost ten pounds in 50 hours. That's caRAYzy, ennit?
Dinner: soup 220c, crackers 180c, 16 oz water, vodka 192c *, banana 105c, vodka 192c, pretzels 110c, Hershey kisses 120c, chips 400c, ham 231c, sunflower seeds 100c, pretzels 110c, fffudge bar 80c, crackers 200c, granola bar 170c, cereal and milk 150c, vodka 192c
Oh, man. I am really not wanting to total all of that up. Before I do, let's just say that this is what happens every time I hit the booze, and six vodka and No Calories Diet Root Beers was a bit more than my control center could handle. Surprisingly, I continued to write down everything as I went. Even more surprisingly, as bad as this looks . . . and it looks REALLY bad to me . . . it could have been worse. I just get SO HUNGRY when I'm drunk. What's up with that? Okay. Deep Breath. Our survey says . . . 2,752 calories. For a day's total of 3,234. That's too much, in case you didn't notice. Oh, Vodka. Speaking of, that booze alone accounted for 576 calories. Come to think of it, that doesn't sound all that bad to me. I mean, that's like two candy bars. And 9 ounces of vodka will make you feel a whole lot better than 3 ounces of chocolate. Until you wake up in the morning, anyway.
* Breaking News: in seeking out caloric information for Pinnacle Vodka **, I have just discovered (kapow!MIND!wopak) that a shot glass holds 1.5 ounces of alcohol, not the 1 ounce I had always thought. So there you have it.
**More Breaking News: this is the first time I've ever bought vodka, and possibly the first time I've ever drunk it. Decided to give it a try because Walgreens didn't have the whiskey I was looking for (a vanilla flavored thing I saw advertised) and because it was five bucks cheaper than the whiskeys on the shelf. I also had some vague hope that it would have a milder taste than whiskey. And? Not. At all. It wasn't bad once mixed, but I much prefer Dos Trader Joe's Blended Whiskey, and ahmo go get me some more of that asap.
Week 44: Thursday, December 7, 2017:
Pearl Harbor Day. Well, I got bombed a bit early, but woke up at 3:30 a.m. and didn't feel too bad--at least not physically.
Breakfast: sunflower seeds 200c, banana 105c, coffee 20c, 16 oz water, bran cereal and milk 150c
= 475c
16 oz water
Exercise: 12,700 steps, which is about 7 miles. Wow, really? Didn't seem like that far, but I think that's correct. That's what my pedometer is telling me, and it has been pretty truthful of late. It also tells me that I've burned 690 calories so far today. Hmmm. Does that mean that the 1,303 calories I've consumed (including lunch) is a net of only 613 calories? I like that math, but I don't know if it works that way.
Lunch: crackers 200c, ham 143c, pretzels 110c, granola bar 170c, apple 95c, Hershey's kisses 110c
= 828c
chocolate 80c *
Exercise: Just did stretches (with push-ups and planks) and the LWs (which took about 26 minutes, by the way), as the long walk this morning strained a tendon in my left leg a bit, and I didn't want to stress it. If I have enough time later tonight and if I feel better I might give it a try, but that's unlikely as we're all going to a Day Springs event tonight. But I think a six mile walk and a half hour's worth of exercise is a pretty good day, all in all, don't you?
Dinner: salad
* This was not entirely my fault. I gave Joe a big Hershey's bar for his birthday, and he wanted to share it with me and Jacqueline. So I ate those two delicious blocks of chocolate not for myself, but to affirm the goodness of sharing to my youngest child. Just one more service I offer.
Week 44: Friday, December 8, 2017:
Week 44: Saturday, December 9, 2017:
Well . . . I've been having some trouble keeping my focus on this stuff. I have been doing a good job with exercise every day--in fact, I just hit 105,000 steps for the week, and I still have today to add to that, which is pretty good, at least amongst my best walking weeks. And yesterday I did a little exercise experiment with alternating between stretching, biking, and HWs, so that I ended up doing non-stop exercise for an hour and a half. (And it went well. In fact, my biking--in four fifteen minute shifts, went 355c / 67rpms, 348c / 67rpms, 351c / 67rpms, and 390c / 66rpms. That's a grand total of 1444 calories burned, which is most excellent. I'm thinking that this 15 minute shift approach is the way to go. Especially so now that instead of "resting" after 15 minutes I'm going to do an exercise with my weights for a few minutes--literally just 3 minutes or so--and then getting back to it. I suspect that this also allows my body to maintain a higher heartbeat even when I am not on the bike, which should contribute to more burning of the calories. I'll poke around and see if I can find any data to substantiate my guess on this.)
But the eating and the recording . . . not so much of the good job. I'm going to try to re-boot it, though.
Sigh.
Breakfast: cereal and milk 150c, 16 oz water, coffee 20c
=170c
Exercise: 4 mile walk in the Mall with Pat.
During said walk, Pat mentioned that one of her friends, who had seen me for the first time in a long time . . . maybe even a year . . . said, "I know you told me that he'd lost weight, but you didn't tell me that he was cut." Which I'm not, obviously, but still, I have to admit that that meant a lot to me . . . especially in that it was not said for my benefit, y'know? It's amazing to me to discover how much I really do need positive feedback at some points. You'd think that your own will and determination alone would be enough to keep you on the straight and narrow, but that certainly is not true for me.
Lunch: sunflower seeds 100c, Ham sandwich 130 + 123 mayo 30 tomato 35 granola 170 pretzels 110
= 698c
_868c_
16 oz water
lentil soup 120c, coffee 10c, Roma tomato 35c, pretzels 110c, apple 78c
= 353c
Exercise: Did stretches, but started feeling very weak, like I was getting sick, so didn't do any biking or weights.
Exercise: Did stretches, but started feeling very weak, like I was getting sick, so didn't do any biking or weights.
Dinner: hot chocolate 90c, salad 135c, pizza 700c
= 925c
2146c, 32 oz water
Week 44: Sunday, December 10, 2017:
Breakfast: bran cereal 1with milk 460c, coffee 20c
Week 44: Sunday, December 10, 2017:
Breakfast: bran cereal 1with milk 460c, coffee 20c
Got home from church and one of my first thoughts was, "I'm sick. And my religion has one hard and fast rule: you don't watch what you eat when you're sick--it watches you."
So I didn't go nuts, but I stopped keeping track. Didn't think I was going to exercise at all, but my legs started tightening up, so I thought I'd do my stretches. After I did them I felt that I could do a little bit more, so I tried the first set of push-ups and plank. That was rough, but after I finished I thought, Well, hell, that was the hard part, maybe I should just go ahead and do the other three sets of ten push-ups plus one minute of plank. And when I finished that I felt okay, so I thought, Maybe I'll just do 15 minutes on the Schwinn. And that was pretty unpleasant at first, so I took it really slow, and then it started to be okay. So okay that at the end of it I thought I'd rest for a minute and then do another 15 minutes. And that went really well, so I decided to finish it up with two more 15 minutes sessions. (Final calorie count was 1353, and the rpm count on the last set was 67 . . . so pretty damned okay.) And then I thought I might as well go ahead and do the LWs, which I did. And you know what? I didn't really feel sick at the end of all of that. And my leg muscles didn't hurt anymore, either. So there's that.
Week 44: Monday, December 11, 2017:
Breakfast: toast 65c, egg 90c, coffee 20c
= 175c
Exercise: 6+ mile mall walk with Pat.
Lunch: 16 oz water, coffee 10c, salad 55g lettuce = 8c, 45g radishes = 7c, 100 g tomato = 18c, 55c cranberry sauce = 88c, meringue cookies 90c, coffee 10c, pretzels 110c, granola bar 170c
= 478c
653c
Exercise: Schwinn 62 minutes + HWs
Did the alternating thing again, this time with the warm up stretches and push-ups planks, then with the Schwinn and HWs. So it was pretty much continuous exercise for about an hour an a half--except for a brief break to get a report from Joe's CLS worker. As for the Schwinning, it went like this:
15:04 / 316c / 64rpm
30:01 / 664c / 65rpm
15:05 / 350c / 67rpm
32:06 / 734c / 66rpm
Wasn't really planning on splitting the timing that way, just depends on how long the HW bit takes. The most important number is the calories burned, though--not because it's accurate, as I'm sure it is not, but because it is one figure which I can use to compare one exercise session with another. And in this case, the grand total is 1398, which is pretty bad ass. It is interesting to see that the third fifteen minute section was my best in terms of rpms, though, and even more interesting to see that the final section was right behind it. Sure didn't feel that way--I was struggling for most of those last seventeen minutes.
I also did a pedometer check before and after biking, and it showed that my 62 minutes = 8,508 steps. And that's on top of 6 1/2 miles walked. Gonna be a big step day.
Dinner: salad 106c, spaghetti 400c, 16 oz water, lentil soup 120c, fake meat 70c, crackers 180c, cranberries 110c, 16 oz water, pretzels 110c
= 1096c
1749c, 48 oz water
Week 45: Tuesday, December 12, 2017:
Wake-Up Weight:
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast 80c, egg 90c, 16 oz water
= 190c
coffee 10c, meringue cookies 90c, pretzels 110c, banana 105c, 16 oz water
= 505c
Before Exercise Weight: 188.4 lbs
Exercise: Did a full-on 93 non-stop pretty much all aerobic minutes. Did the full 62 minutes of Schwinning--partially just to see if I had it in me today . . . which I did--and came out at 1453c and 67rpms, which are pretty excellent numbers. It was hard, though. Followed that up immediately with the LWs. And my post exercise weight was 185.6 lbs. Starting to like my numbers again mmm-hmm.
bread 160c, fig butter 35c, cranberry sauce 110c, vegetable patty 60c, coffee 20c
385c
Dinner roast beef 510c, bread 160c, spinach 60c, sunflower seeds 100c
830c
= 1720c
And that would have been good. But then there was some drinking. Vodka. Which is not nearly as good as Trader Joe's Whiskey. So it required some eating. And it mos def got away from me.
Maybe manana.
Week 45: Wednesday, December 13, 2017:
Wake up Weight: 187.8 lbs.
Breakfast: toast 80c, egg 90c, a smidge of sunflower seeds 10c, coffee 20c
= 200c
Lunch: 16 oz water, pretzels 110c, bread 160c, fig butter 45c, banana 105c, meringue cookies 90c, granola bar 170c
= 680c
880c
Exercise: stretching and push-ups / plans--added one push-up to each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th plank reps, so 11/11/11 there--then 62 minutes of Schwinn in 15 minute sets (17 on the last) intermixed with HWs. Did 17 presses with the 20 pound dumbbells. It was hard. I'm thinking about moving up the weight on the LW dumbbells, though . . . especially as I had thought I was using 15 pounds (and probably wrote it that way), but realized that they're actually only 10. Which is fine, but I think I can push it just a little bit more. We'll see. Post exercise and shower weight: 185.4 pounds. Getting there. Slowly. But surely. I think.
cauliflower 50c, tomatoes 18c
Dinner: soup 260c, fake meat 140c, 16 oz water, crackers 120c
588c
1468c
bread 80c, pretzels 220c, fffudge bar 80c, sunflower seeds 150c, 16 oz water
1998c
But then I was REALLY hungry, so I had some cereal, milk, and banana for another 250c. So it was an over the top day at 2248 calories.
Week 45: Thursday, December 14, 2017:
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast 80c, egg 90c, 16 oz water
190c
Exercise: 7 mile mall walk with Pat.
sunflower seeds 100c, coffee 20c, toast 160c, butter 35c, fig butter 25c
340c
530c
meringue cookies 45c, banana 105c, 16 oz water
And then the day just kind of got away from me, and I was pushing to get my Schwinn and LWs in, but only got 1/2way through the Schwinn before it was time to fix dinner for the kids and sister Mary, and as I was rushing around the kitchen, sweating like a beast, I decided that that was enough of the tracking for this day. I did manage to go back and finish the Schwinn time and do the LWs, though.
Also, it occurred to me that one of the reasons I feel compelled to record the tedious and boring details of my diet and exercise life is, most assuredly, because it helps me in two ways: (1) to keep track of things, which is very useful, especially in retrospect . . . and I often find that I want to go back and look for things that I hadn't even thought were important when I recorded them, thus inspiring me to attempt to record in even greater details, and (2) it helps to keep me honest, because just the chance that someone else might be reading this shit is enough to curtail my worst dietary behaviors in some cases. But I'm also thinking that there is a chance that this could be helpful for somebody else Out There. Because my struggles are all over these pages. (Well . . . "pages.") I do well sometimes. I fuck up sometimes. I slip up sometimes. I REALLY fuck up sometimes. But (so far, knock wood) I always come back to The Struggle, and I'm still heading in the (vague, amorphous) general direction of my goal.
So there's that.
Week 45: Friday, December 15, 2017:
Wake Up Weight: 186.6 lbs.
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast and margarine 275c, 16 oz water
295c
Lunch: bread 120c, crab and mayonnaise 200c, pretzels 165c, coffee 20c, crackers 200c, Pringle 75c, cookies 110c
Week 45: Saturday, December 16, 2017:
= 190c
coffee 10c, meringue cookies 90c, pretzels 110c, banana 105c, 16 oz water
= 505c
Before Exercise Weight: 188.4 lbs
Exercise: Did a full-on 93 non-stop pretty much all aerobic minutes. Did the full 62 minutes of Schwinning--partially just to see if I had it in me today . . . which I did--and came out at 1453c and 67rpms, which are pretty excellent numbers. It was hard, though. Followed that up immediately with the LWs. And my post exercise weight was 185.6 lbs. Starting to like my numbers again mmm-hmm.
bread 160c, fig butter 35c, cranberry sauce 110c, vegetable patty 60c, coffee 20c
385c
Dinner roast beef 510c, bread 160c, spinach 60c, sunflower seeds 100c
830c
= 1720c
And that would have been good. But then there was some drinking. Vodka. Which is not nearly as good as Trader Joe's Whiskey. So it required some eating. And it mos def got away from me.
Maybe manana.
Week 45: Wednesday, December 13, 2017:
Wake up Weight: 187.8 lbs.
Breakfast: toast 80c, egg 90c, a smidge of sunflower seeds 10c, coffee 20c
= 200c
Lunch: 16 oz water, pretzels 110c, bread 160c, fig butter 45c, banana 105c, meringue cookies 90c, granola bar 170c
= 680c
880c
Exercise: stretching and push-ups / plans--added one push-up to each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th plank reps, so 11/11/11 there--then 62 minutes of Schwinn in 15 minute sets (17 on the last) intermixed with HWs. Did 17 presses with the 20 pound dumbbells. It was hard. I'm thinking about moving up the weight on the LW dumbbells, though . . . especially as I had thought I was using 15 pounds (and probably wrote it that way), but realized that they're actually only 10. Which is fine, but I think I can push it just a little bit more. We'll see. Post exercise and shower weight: 185.4 pounds. Getting there. Slowly. But surely. I think.
cauliflower 50c, tomatoes 18c
Dinner: soup 260c, fake meat 140c, 16 oz water, crackers 120c
588c
1468c
bread 80c, pretzels 220c, fffudge bar 80c, sunflower seeds 150c, 16 oz water
1998c
But then I was REALLY hungry, so I had some cereal, milk, and banana for another 250c. So it was an over the top day at 2248 calories.
Week 45: Thursday, December 14, 2017:
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast 80c, egg 90c, 16 oz water
190c
Exercise: 7 mile mall walk with Pat.
sunflower seeds 100c, coffee 20c, toast 160c, butter 35c, fig butter 25c
340c
530c
meringue cookies 45c, banana 105c, 16 oz water
And then the day just kind of got away from me, and I was pushing to get my Schwinn and LWs in, but only got 1/2way through the Schwinn before it was time to fix dinner for the kids and sister Mary, and as I was rushing around the kitchen, sweating like a beast, I decided that that was enough of the tracking for this day. I did manage to go back and finish the Schwinn time and do the LWs, though.
Also, it occurred to me that one of the reasons I feel compelled to record the tedious and boring details of my diet and exercise life is, most assuredly, because it helps me in two ways: (1) to keep track of things, which is very useful, especially in retrospect . . . and I often find that I want to go back and look for things that I hadn't even thought were important when I recorded them, thus inspiring me to attempt to record in even greater details, and (2) it helps to keep me honest, because just the chance that someone else might be reading this shit is enough to curtail my worst dietary behaviors in some cases. But I'm also thinking that there is a chance that this could be helpful for somebody else Out There. Because my struggles are all over these pages. (Well . . . "pages.") I do well sometimes. I fuck up sometimes. I slip up sometimes. I REALLY fuck up sometimes. But (so far, knock wood) I always come back to The Struggle, and I'm still heading in the (vague, amorphous) general direction of my goal.
So there's that.
Week 45: Friday, December 15, 2017:
Wake Up Weight: 186.6 lbs.
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast and margarine 275c, 16 oz water
295c
Lunch: bread 120c, crab and mayonnaise 200c, pretzels 165c, coffee 20c, crackers 200c, Pringle 75c, cookies 110c
Week 45: Saturday, December 16, 2017:
Well, shit, man. I am just really struggling to keep up with the tracking and recording of the consumption. Not doing so bad on managing what I eat, and doing quite well on the exercise--yesterday I walked five mall miles and did a full set of Schwinn and stretches and push-ups / planks. And my weight is back to around 186 pounds, which is pretty good. And maybe just eyeballin' it is good enough. But I'm going to keep trying to go Full Monty for a bit more. Breath.
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast 60c, egg 90c
= 170c
And then we went to see the new Star Wars movie. And I did eat some of that popcorn 1 , Yes I did. And then I took the kids to Jo Ann's house. And went directly to Highland Coffee to meet a pal. And didn't get home until 6:30 or so. So I didn't do anything exercise-y, and I didn't keep track of what I ate.
1 And I just have to say . . . I don't really have any great longing for popcorn. It's just kind of like eating cardboard. But the kids were enjoying it and I wanted to be there with them. And you know, just shoveling handfuls of that shit into my face without knowing how many calories I was consuming was quite a pleasant experience.
Week 45: Sunday, December 17, 2017:
Still didn't keep track of the calories, I'm sorry to admit, but I did exercise: a full session plus the HWs. And I upped the push-ups to 12 each set after the first, so that's now at 20+36 = 56 total, which ain't bad. And I also pushed on the dumbbell presses and did 17 of them, which was really hard, but I actually felt that it might be possible for me to push it a little farther if I felt like it.
And then I watched the Packers get their asses handed to them by those bastards out of Carolina. Maybe they should have stuck with Brett Hundley?
Week 45: Monday, December 18, 2017:
Another day, another go at it.
Breakfast: biscuits, 400c, coffee 40c, 16 oz water
= 440c
Exercise: 62 Schwinn minutes--straight up this time, as I wanted to make sure that I still had 62 straight minutes in me. It was tough, but I did okay: 1380c, 65rpms. Also did a pedometer comparison check, and it showed 7,881 steps, which sounds about right, I suppose. (It is only 179 steps short of my "actual" number of steps, and since I occasionally have to let go of the handlebar to wipe the sweat from my face or fast forward through commercials, that would be about right.) I also did the LWs and timed the whole shebang: 97 straight minutes, most of it in aerobic land.
chips 210c and dip 90c, 16 oz water, 90c of vegetable mix
= 390c
Dinner: salad 95c, spinach 30c, lentil soup 280c, 16 oz water
granola bar 170c, pretzels 110c, fudge bar 100c, hot chocolate 90c, chips 140c
= 915c
1745c, 48 oz water
I have to admit that I wasn't sure how that would all add up today. After the breakfast club, I didn't do a running count, so it was all a surprise. And I knew that I had gone a bit overboard because I made a spinach and avocado dip for the kids and I had to have some of that with some chips . . . and that shit doesn't come cheap, calorically speaking. But I think I'm done eating for the day, and as the dust settles I see . . . an under 1800 calories day? Fuckin' A, Bubba.
Note to self: You have a lot more control over how your Calorie Day goes if you do a running count . . . at least after each meal. Nuff said.
Week 46: Tuesday, December 19, 2017:
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast 60c, egg 90c, spinach 45c *, 16 oz water
= 215c
* I used a little bit of that spinach dip from last night in my eggy in a basket, and it was quite delightful. And only added 45c, which sounds pooty good to me.
Exercise: Did an early morning bit (9:00-ish) at the Y with Jacqueline, and only managed to get a bit over 30 minutes in on the stationary bike
. . . so that's 31:06 with a 319 calorie burn. It was actually a challenging ride, and I am not completely sure that I could have kept it up for another 28:54 minutes if I'd had the chance, but Jacqueline was having a difficult time so I didn't have to find out how far my stamina would take me on this one. It's actually quite a different experience than riding on my Schwinn. All in all I think the Schwinn is a better workout, but I wish I had the opportunity to do this Precor on a semi-regular basis, just for a bit of variety and Muscle Insanity!!! Heh heh. Anyway, after that I did the LW routine, even though I did it yesterday, because I wanted to try out heavier dumbbells. I was hoping to try 12 and 15, and kind of sort of did, but the Y only had one dumbbell of each weight, so I used a dumbbell in one hand and a kettle ball of the same weight in the other. It was just a little bit awkward, but it turned out to be more informative than I thought it would be. I'd had no interest in the kettle ball previously, but I found that it functioned quite well, and I think I saw some of them that were cheaper than dumbbells, so I'm going to consider that instead of new (heavier) dumbbells. Speaking of heavier . . . I did a full 20 rep set with the 12 pounds, then a full 20 rep set with the 15 pounds, and I think I want to go for the 15. 12 just didn't seem all that different from the 10 pounds I've been using. Just to make sure I could hang, I went ahead and did a 10 rep set and a 5 rep set with the 15 pounds, and it was fine. So I'm going to go do me a little shopping right now on that. Details at 11:00.
Also did a little time in the hot tub . . . and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Those jets of water felt good, man. If I win the lottery, after I give the Louisville Free Public Library a bucket of money, I'm going to join the YMCA.
Uggggh. And then a Christmas package arrived. And it had mixed nuts. And chocolate covered cherries. And I took of it thereof, and I did eat, and it was good. So I kind of lost track of things.
Holidays are hard. Like math.
Week 46: Wednesday, December 20, 2017:
Once more into the breech. Sigh.
Breakfast: coffee 20c, pear 109c
And then . . . well, funny story. Not really. Just a very odd day. It was pretty much same old same old for the first bit. Then I took Jacqueline to the Y and got on the stationary bike and started going to it. But a little past the 15 minute mark
I mean, she it. So for 37 minutes and 10 seconds of exercise I'd only burned 200 calories? I was not pleased. But duty called, so I followed Jacqueline out and figured I'd just start all over again when I got home.
But then I decided that it was high time that I put my new exercise board together, so I did that. And it took a very long time. Finally got it together, but . . . it's not exactly what I thought it would be. Don't even know if I can use it for leg lifts, and sit-ups look a bit convoluted as well. Sigh. I was not feeling energetic. But my legs were tight, so I decided to just do a slow-fish ride on the Schwinn for a half of an hour. And ended up with 32:47 and "610c" burned, so not a completely terrible day, but I just didn't have it in me to do anything else.
Come to think of it, it was a really shitty day.
Week 46: Thursday, December 21, 2017:
Breakfast:
toast 60, egg 90, ham 41, coffee 20, 8 oz water
211c
Lunch:
220 X 3 = 660c, 8 oz water
871c
Week 46: Saturday, December 23, 2017:
Well. The chorus to a Neil Young song is running through my head right now: "Why do I keep fucking up?"
I wake up feeling pretty determined to track everything I eat, keep an eye on it, and make sure that I come in under the 1800 calories wire. And I do fine until after lunch. And then The Hunger sets in. And sometimes I resist it completely, and sometimes I mostly resist it, and sometimes I don't resist it at all. Add to that that last night I discovered the wondrousness of Jim Beam Vanilla Whiskey. (Trader Joe's had sold out of its blended variety, so I had to look elsewhere for my satisfaction.) Which, by the way, was quite wondrous. And I drank it straight, so not too many extra calories there (5 shots, so about 400 calories . . . less than two candy bars). But I also ate some chips. And a big sweet potato. And some more chips. And some pretzels. And a bowl of cereal. So even though the hours of the day before my binge were pretty low-calorie, I'm sure I went way over 1800 by the end of it all.
Sigh.
Today is another day. So let's go.
Wake-Up Weight: 189.2 lbs.
Breakfast: coffee 20c, cereal and milk 170c, eggs 180c, polenta 46c, 16 oz water
= 416c
Exercise: 6 mile mall walk with Pat.
Lunch: pretzels 110c, ham sandwich 160+123+30= 313c, coffee 10c,
= 433c
849c
crackers 200c, coffee 10c, chocolate 145c
dinner: salad 15+30+30+20= 95c, rice 108c, chicken 120c, cookies 110c 16 oz water
= 788c
= 1637c, 32 oz water
chips 200c, Pretzels 110c, 16 oz water, hot chocolate 110c
2057c . . . which is a bit more than I was aiming for.
Your BMR value is 1749. This means that your body will burn 1749 calories each day if you engage in no activity for the entire day.
Ped says 915 🔥so far.
Week 46: Sunday, December 24, 2017:
And then we went to see the new Star Wars movie. And I did eat some of that popcorn 1 , Yes I did. And then I took the kids to Jo Ann's house. And went directly to Highland Coffee to meet a pal. And didn't get home until 6:30 or so. So I didn't do anything exercise-y, and I didn't keep track of what I ate.
1 And I just have to say . . . I don't really have any great longing for popcorn. It's just kind of like eating cardboard. But the kids were enjoying it and I wanted to be there with them. And you know, just shoveling handfuls of that shit into my face without knowing how many calories I was consuming was quite a pleasant experience.
Week 45: Sunday, December 17, 2017:
Still didn't keep track of the calories, I'm sorry to admit, but I did exercise: a full session plus the HWs. And I upped the push-ups to 12 each set after the first, so that's now at 20+36 = 56 total, which ain't bad. And I also pushed on the dumbbell presses and did 17 of them, which was really hard, but I actually felt that it might be possible for me to push it a little farther if I felt like it.
And then I watched the Packers get their asses handed to them by those bastards out of Carolina. Maybe they should have stuck with Brett Hundley?
Week 45: Monday, December 18, 2017:
Another day, another go at it.
Breakfast: biscuits, 400c, coffee 40c, 16 oz water
= 440c
Exercise: 62 Schwinn minutes--straight up this time, as I wanted to make sure that I still had 62 straight minutes in me. It was tough, but I did okay: 1380c, 65rpms. Also did a pedometer comparison check, and it showed 7,881 steps, which sounds about right, I suppose. (It is only 179 steps short of my "actual" number of steps, and since I occasionally have to let go of the handlebar to wipe the sweat from my face or fast forward through commercials, that would be about right.) I also did the LWs and timed the whole shebang: 97 straight minutes, most of it in aerobic land.
chips 210c and dip 90c, 16 oz water, 90c of vegetable mix
= 390c
Dinner: salad 95c, spinach 30c, lentil soup 280c, 16 oz water
granola bar 170c, pretzels 110c, fudge bar 100c, hot chocolate 90c, chips 140c
= 915c
1745c, 48 oz water
I have to admit that I wasn't sure how that would all add up today. After the breakfast club, I didn't do a running count, so it was all a surprise. And I knew that I had gone a bit overboard because I made a spinach and avocado dip for the kids and I had to have some of that with some chips . . . and that shit doesn't come cheap, calorically speaking. But I think I'm done eating for the day, and as the dust settles I see . . . an under 1800 calories day? Fuckin' A, Bubba.
Note to self: You have a lot more control over how your Calorie Day goes if you do a running count . . . at least after each meal. Nuff said.
Week 46: Tuesday, December 19, 2017:
Breakfast: coffee 20c, toast 60c, egg 90c, spinach 45c *, 16 oz water
= 215c
* I used a little bit of that spinach dip from last night in my eggy in a basket, and it was quite delightful. And only added 45c, which sounds pooty good to me.
Exercise: Did an early morning bit (9:00-ish) at the Y with Jacqueline, and only managed to get a bit over 30 minutes in on the stationary bike
. . . so that's 31:06 with a 319 calorie burn. It was actually a challenging ride, and I am not completely sure that I could have kept it up for another 28:54 minutes if I'd had the chance, but Jacqueline was having a difficult time so I didn't have to find out how far my stamina would take me on this one. It's actually quite a different experience than riding on my Schwinn. All in all I think the Schwinn is a better workout, but I wish I had the opportunity to do this Precor on a semi-regular basis, just for a bit of variety and Muscle Insanity!!! Heh heh. Anyway, after that I did the LW routine, even though I did it yesterday, because I wanted to try out heavier dumbbells. I was hoping to try 12 and 15, and kind of sort of did, but the Y only had one dumbbell of each weight, so I used a dumbbell in one hand and a kettle ball of the same weight in the other. It was just a little bit awkward, but it turned out to be more informative than I thought it would be. I'd had no interest in the kettle ball previously, but I found that it functioned quite well, and I think I saw some of them that were cheaper than dumbbells, so I'm going to consider that instead of new (heavier) dumbbells. Speaking of heavier . . . I did a full 20 rep set with the 12 pounds, then a full 20 rep set with the 15 pounds, and I think I want to go for the 15. 12 just didn't seem all that different from the 10 pounds I've been using. Just to make sure I could hang, I went ahead and did a 10 rep set and a 5 rep set with the 15 pounds, and it was fine. So I'm going to go do me a little shopping right now on that. Details at 11:00.
Also did a little time in the hot tub . . . and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Those jets of water felt good, man. If I win the lottery, after I give the Louisville Free Public Library a bucket of money, I'm going to join the YMCA.
Uggggh. And then a Christmas package arrived. And it had mixed nuts. And chocolate covered cherries. And I took of it thereof, and I did eat, and it was good. So I kind of lost track of things.
Holidays are hard. Like math.
Week 46: Wednesday, December 20, 2017:
Once more into the breech. Sigh.
Breakfast: coffee 20c, pear 109c
And then . . . well, funny story. Not really. Just a very odd day. It was pretty much same old same old for the first bit. Then I took Jacqueline to the Y and got on the stationary bike and started going to it. But a little past the 15 minute mark
 |
| Which translates to 125 calories burned in 15:02. |
I saw that Jacqueline was having a bit of a tiff with herself (she was across the room on the treadmill), so I thought I'd just do some time on the treadmill instead. It was the first time I'd been on a treadmill since I hurt myself last year, so I took it kind of slow. I was still surprised when Jacqueline said she was finished and wanted to go swim and I looked down and saw this readout, though:
I mean, she it. So for 37 minutes and 10 seconds of exercise I'd only burned 200 calories? I was not pleased. But duty called, so I followed Jacqueline out and figured I'd just start all over again when I got home.
But then I decided that it was high time that I put my new exercise board together, so I did that. And it took a very long time. Finally got it together, but . . . it's not exactly what I thought it would be. Don't even know if I can use it for leg lifts, and sit-ups look a bit convoluted as well. Sigh. I was not feeling energetic. But my legs were tight, so I decided to just do a slow-fish ride on the Schwinn for a half of an hour. And ended up with 32:47 and "610c" burned, so not a completely terrible day, but I just didn't have it in me to do anything else.
Come to think of it, it was a really shitty day.
Week 46: Thursday, December 21, 2017:
toast 60, egg 90, ham 41, coffee 20, 8 oz water
211c
Lunch:
220 X 3 = 660c, 8 oz water
871c
Week 46: Saturday, December 23, 2017:
Well. The chorus to a Neil Young song is running through my head right now: "Why do I keep fucking up?"
I wake up feeling pretty determined to track everything I eat, keep an eye on it, and make sure that I come in under the 1800 calories wire. And I do fine until after lunch. And then The Hunger sets in. And sometimes I resist it completely, and sometimes I mostly resist it, and sometimes I don't resist it at all. Add to that that last night I discovered the wondrousness of Jim Beam Vanilla Whiskey. (Trader Joe's had sold out of its blended variety, so I had to look elsewhere for my satisfaction.) Which, by the way, was quite wondrous. And I drank it straight, so not too many extra calories there (5 shots, so about 400 calories . . . less than two candy bars). But I also ate some chips. And a big sweet potato. And some more chips. And some pretzels. And a bowl of cereal. So even though the hours of the day before my binge were pretty low-calorie, I'm sure I went way over 1800 by the end of it all.
Sigh.
Today is another day. So let's go.
Wake-Up Weight: 189.2 lbs.
Breakfast: coffee 20c, cereal and milk 170c, eggs 180c, polenta 46c, 16 oz water
= 416c
Exercise: 6 mile mall walk with Pat.
Lunch: pretzels 110c, ham sandwich 160+123+30= 313c, coffee 10c,
= 433c
849c
crackers 200c, coffee 10c, chocolate 145c
dinner: salad 15+30+30+20= 95c, rice 108c, chicken 120c, cookies 110c 16 oz water
= 788c
= 1637c, 32 oz water
chips 200c, Pretzels 110c, 16 oz water, hot chocolate 110c
2057c . . . which is a bit more than I was aiming for.
Your BMR value is 1749. This means that your body will burn 1749 calories each day if you engage in no activity for the entire day.
Ped says 915 🔥so far.
Week 46: Sunday, December 24, 2017:
Day started off quite well, then I started feeling like uncooked shit. Might be sick. Anyway . . . through with it for today. And tomorrow, too, 'cause even I take Christmas off.
To be continued . . . .
Speaking of . . . it's Tuesday, so new week . . . maybe time to start a new page. This one has been kind of a record of losing, after all, hasn't it? I would like to have another going at some winning. Peace out.
Lowest Weight Recorded To Date:
179 lbs
(which was a post-exercise weight).
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