GUT CHECK TIME: Willpower Part II

DAMN!!!

I was doing so good! I successfully avoided the Timbits all day, ate leftover whole wheat spaghetti and unsweetened apple sauce for lunch instead of going to the local greasy spoon with everyone else, JUST ate an apple 30 minutes ago for a healthy snack.

Then a sales rep here brings us Rolo Ice Cream Bars.

It couldn't be helped.

F Word.

M@

GUT CHECK TIME: Willpower

My co-workers are cruel.

Openly taunting my weight loss battle for their own amusement.

One of them hung a picture of a Baconator in my cubicle.

And today, one of them brought in Timbits. The cubicle right beside me. Box of 40.

So far, 9:27 a.m., and I haven't taken any. I will be strong!

And if there are any co-workers reading this, please come and eat the Timbits!

M@

GUT CHECK TIME: New Week

Hello all. Very quick post as work is absolutely retarded right now and I have no time for blogging, in all honesty.

Down to 219 lbs. as of this morning, ate so-so on the weekend (not perfect, but MUCH better than last week) and had a slight melt-down Friday night when I pigged out on East Sides, but in my defense, I had to work til 9:30pm and it was on the company, so...booya.

Had to hit work this morning for 7:00, so breakfast at home was skipped, and a Timmies breakfast sandwhich was purchased. I feel horrible for getting one as I've directly cut them out of weekday dining, but today looks to be an absolute marathon at the office (could be here when the sun goes down, likely a few hours past) so I'm not sweating the breakfast too much. All the rest of my food is healthy today, and if I get home at a decent hour, I'm gonna work out, promise!

So, that is all for now. Check out the Ryan Coke Experiment for more on healthy eating.

GUT CHECK TIME: A good week thus far

Well I have to admit I have done very well this week.

Breakfasts: Oatmeal each morning with a touch of sugar so I'm not eating paste. Sometimes chased with a bowl of bran flakes.

Lunch: Lean Cuisine Panini on Monday and Wednesday, accompanied by an orange and a peach-mango apple sauce thingy. An additional sandwhich later in the day as a snack and an apple.

Tuesday's lunch brought much temptation, as the sales department thought it would be a good idea to have a pot-luck lunch. I had one coldcut sandwich on whole wheat bun, and 5 different kinds of salad. (Caesar, pasta, colslaw, potato and garden). I took no sweets, and, most important of all, no nacho chips and spicy cheese dip. That's right, I manned up in the face of nachos. Rare for M@.

All I've had to drink during the day has been water, except on Tuesday I had an orange Gatorade, and last night while BBQing I had an MGD. I know, beer during the week's a small slap in the face of this process, but when you're BBQing in 25 degree weather, beer's ok. Right? Right.

Supper's have been good, too. Tuesday night was leftover awesome fajita casserole, and last night was BBQed steak, onion and green pepper-kabobs, and brown rice.

So it's Thursday morning, and I'm down to an even 220 lbs. I've lost 2 pounds in 2 days. Not bad, should help me considerably in the month-long Challenge vs Swinny!

Speaking of challenges....


This is the 15 Week Challenge. Click on the logo to read all about Amy's good idea. I would normally volunteer for the challenge, but I'm already focussed on my current task at hand. However, if you're serious about weight loss, this is a fantastic blog, very inspiring, and the challenge is an awesome idea.

M@

GUT CHECK TIME: Official weigh-in

As of this morning, my official weigh-in is 222 lbs. My opponent weighs in at 218.

Whoever has lost the most weight (or has gained the least?) after July 15th will be declared the winner of round 1. First person to win 2 rounds will be declared the winner, and will receive a prize from his opponent. As of now, the prize has not been determined.

My idea of a KFC gift card was rejected.

M@

GUT CHECK TIME: The first weekend

Well, I'm not gonna sugar-coat it....(HAHAHAHAHAHA, I slay me. But seriously, forks....) I did NOT have a good weekend, despite some signs of improvement. Let me explain.

Friday night was the perfect opportunity to go completely healthy. Laura wanted Swiss Chalet for dinner, and I thought, "Perfect! I can order all healthy stuff off the menu!" Well, I didn't pig out, but I didn't go full tofu either. Kinda met halfway. We ordered the same thing we always do. Family Chicken & Ribs Feast. A whole BBQed chicken, half rack o' ribs, and 4 sides. (And 4 dinner rolls). So, all roles were ordered whole-grain. The sides were mashed potatoes, rice, greek salad for her, garden salad for me! That's right, no caesar salad, no fries, I manned up and got the light Italian dressing and everything.

Food came, ate 1/4 of the chicken, SKIPPED the ribs entirely (made for a solid lunch the next day) and was filled, not stuffed by the end of it. No snacks that night, and I thought, "Ok, not a bad start to the weekend."

Saturday was bad. BAD. Breakfast was normal, pancakes and eggs, not great, but hardly an alarm. Lunch was leftover chicken, and a couple ribs (4-5 to be exact, nothing major). Then we went to Connor McPolin's 2nd birthday party. It was like an alcoholic walking into Cheers. Or Buckner walking back into Shea (to quote a movie). Anyways, the gracious host was piling on the BBQed beef, and there was a LOT of food up for grabs. Now these people are nice people, and as such I hate to offend. Am I gonna be the arsehole who says, "Oh, no thanks, Ken, I'm perfectly stuffed after ONE cheeseburger (with bacon)." No, I'm not gonna be that guy. Hell, they likely budgeted for my attendance at this BBQ, so I CAN'T very well say "I'm on a wee diet", no, I can't be a jerk. So I have 2 cheeseburger, one of those awesome garlic sausages, and a couple Bud Light's to wash'em down. I KNOW! Shut up.

Sunday was much better. Having crashed horribly on Saturday, and accepting the fact that weekends are virtually hopeless for healthy eating, I go into Sunday with a relaxed attitude, and make out pretty well, all things considered. Mirrored breakfast from Saturday, pancakes and eggs. (It's easy, Nathan partakes, it's all very cute). Peanut Butter Bagel for lunch, then it's off to the ball diamond for a double header. (I didn't pitch in either game, so it's tough to gauge exactly how my dieting affected my pitching, but I went o-4 at the plate, so there's that).

Home at 7:30, collect a BBQ chicken from the grocery store (Laura's idea, I lobbied for healthy Subway subs, a la Jared, she won) and had some more chicken. All good, some macaroni salad and carrot sticks and it was an ok Sunday. Great compared to Saturday, not too good compared to my goal.

Monday! Back on the horse! One bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, chased by a bowl of bran flakes! Kept the Honey Bunches of Oats in the cupboard. Lunch? Lean Cuisine Panini, cheese string. Snacks later? Apple. Orange. Peach-mango apple sauce thingy....unsweetened! Dinner was Laura's AWESOME Fajita Casserole, very healthy, very good. Broccoli too. Snack tonight, just a bowlful of the aforementioned Honey Bunches. That is all. I should be tryng to get more veggies into the diet, may brave some of that V8 Fusion stuff I keep hearing about. Laura loves it, Chipper over at A Little Bit of Everything Sports says it's good stuff too. We'll see.

So, my resolve is to go Monday to Friday as a health nut, allow Saturday to be whatever it is, and then try to regain my dignity on Sunday. The blogger over at Double Nut Flush Draw has challenged me to a duel to lose weight. Payoff has not been discussed, but starting now, the player to lose the most weight by July 15th wins. One month. Weigh in to come tomorrow morning. Stay tuned!

M@

PS. For all you Rogues fans, we lost both games of the double header 4-0, and 5-4. I'm on the mound Tuesday night against the best hitting team in the league, the Good Ol' Boys. With some solid improvement on my mechanics since the last time I faced them, I'm looking forward to a better result! 7:00pm at the Blackburn Arena.

GUT CHECK TIME: Day #1

"Day damn one, Vivian, Day damn one." - Uncle Phil

"Let the great experiment begin!!!" - Tobias Fünke

Well, I survived the night. And at 8:00 am this morning I weighed in at 225.5 pounds.

Given the choice between spaghetti and haddock, I chose spaghetti. Basically we're trying to pick foods that Nathan can eat along with us, and since the fish is coated in batter it's likely not that healthy for either of us. However, upon picking spaghetti, a look to the cupboard presented a dilemma. Do I eat delicious spaghetti, or blah 100% whole grain spaghetti. Well, obviously I had to go 100% whole grain. But I wasn't optimistic. It's kind of like when Meg White does vocals for the White Stripes. It's still technically the White Stripes....but, you know.

Well, it wasn't all that bad. I often underestimate my own cooking ability. The spaghetti sauce was homemade, since we don't wanna give the little one the store-bought stuff. (We buy the sodium-free tomato sauce and dress it up ourselves.) Extra lean ground beef, onions, the sauce, and a teaspoon each of chili powder, garlic powder and italian seasoning, and we were off to the races. A tiny pinch of salt for myself and a side of peas, and I had myself one healthy meal.

For a snack later that night I had....nothing! Unusual for me, but them were some big pizza slices at lunch.

This morning a bowl of bran flakes chased by a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats (kinda sugary, I know) and that's where we currently stand. Lunch is leftover spaghetti, some peach slices and a cheese string. Supper? And the weekend beyond? You'll have to tune in Monday morning to find out. I'm optimistic I can keep up the health kick, but the weekend DOES pose many challenges. We'll see how I do.

Last week, when I started this thing, my plan was to kick it healthy Mon-Fri then I'd be at-ease on the weekend to eat as I wanted. But with my relapse this week, I'm gonna see how I can hold up against the constant threat of burgers and beer this weekend.

M@