Days 183-189

Well I have been very busy. I have attended two sales meetings each three days long. So in the last 13 work days 6 have been in meetings. Yuck. They are a necessary evil.

I am beaming with pride over how I behaved during these meeting events which usually include all kinds of bad eating out etc. But I held strong. Was I perfect? No. But I don't think I have ever behaved this well. I really held myself accountable. And watched what I ate. I made choices that fit very close to the 15/6. One day I ran well under those numbers and another day I went just a touch over.

I avoided candy bars, fries, junk in general which allowed me to eat some pizza one night for dinner when we all went out as a group.  The old Bill would never have counted what he ate.

I have not weighed myself for a couple of weeks. I do know that I know can use my last belt hole comfortably--meaning I am not cutting off the blood to my hips and legs when I tighten the belt.

Going camping this weekend with another family we are close friends with and I am already planning the meals with Suzanne. I will try and weigh in on Saturday morning to see where I am before we go. I will post it that morning for all of my avid fans. Thanks for checking in and following.

Day 182 (274)

Mr. Jorge Cruise really has this thing down. The plan is not about counting calories or watching fat etc. The focus is on too much sugar and carbs which are the source of belly fat. I was skeptical at first. I used to be a calorie counter in college which was perfect because when I lived in the dorms, the cafeteria posted the meal choices for the day and the calorie count. But the 15/6 ratio makes things real simple and I don't need a little calorie book that I would have to carry around. Now I just have these little pieces of paper that I mark off with my sugar and carb consumption.

He also has me hooked on SoBee and VitaminWater both with 0 sugar (or less than 1 per 8 oz). Both of these use Erythritol as a sweetner which has been around since 1848. And he sings the praises of a few other sweetners that could be viewed as not man-made. They do have anywhere from 4 to 6 carbs per serving.

Keep in mind I don't drink a 6-pack of these everyday. I might have one every couple of days.

So last night I saved up my points on sugar and carbs so I could get a Yo Yo My Goodness which is a local yogurt ice cream place. It will be a while before I go back. The old Bill would have had 1-2 servings in a day if he was blindly obesessing and consuming. Frankly not healthy. This is perfect. I get my needs now and then and it takes a heck of a lot better. And I actually remember eating it. 

Until next time.

Day 179-181 Belly Fat Cure

The plan I am following is called The Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise. It is a combination of Atkin's meets You On A Diet. It is very simple. Jorge points out that we eat too much sugar and carbs. So he came up with this ingeneously simple way to count those two factors.

The ratio is a simple 15/6. That represents 15 grams of sugar a day and 6 servings of Carbs. One serving of carbs is 5 to 20 grams. So if you eat 21 grams you now have eaten two servings. The 6 is servings for carbs and the 15 is grams of sugar. Simple?

That being said he does narrow things down some more. Meaning no sucralose(splenda) Aspertame (or Nutra-Sweet--I call it Nutra-death because in heated environments it can catalyized into free methanol). Something you really don't want to drink.

How did I find this wonderful answer. My wonderful wife found on sale at a local bookstore.

What I really like is that it is easy and I copy these little sheets that let me mark off my intake for the day.

So yesterday I ate the following:

BFst--Over easy egg-slice of American cheese, slice of ham, on a Food For Life Muffin
This was a 0/2--so no suger and two carbs (15 grams per slice on the muffin)
AM Snack--2 celery sticks (med size) with 1 tablespoon of creamcheese which is half a gram of sugar and therefore does not count so this was a 0/0.
Lunch--Chicken Ceasar Salad from Panera--No croutons for sides again 0/0
PM snack: Forgot the snack
Dinner-two soft tacos with chopped up tomato, small dolup of yogurt (sour cream replacement--less sugar), chedder cheese,
2/4. Lots of carbs in the soft taco's. I was hungry and they were fairly big.

So for the day 2/6 which is really low. I am trying to really watch my sugar intake and it is working. I am not as bloated and I am actually hungry.

This is working for me. I know that I am losing weight.

Day 178 (270) Weigh In

Disappointment is a scale going the wrong way. I stepped onto the "machine" this morning feeling thin and what happens----237. Things that make you go Hmmmmm. I know that on Tuesday last week I was at 234. I really don't completely buy into what I saw. I was in my Adam suit but never mind. Not really concerned. I know that I am following the plan. And I have not been exercising.

Hockey tonight! That will help. Doing lots of honey-do's Friday, yesterday morning and today. We took the kids to Six-Flags yesterday afternoon. I have say that we have a knack for avoiding the crowds. Last year we went in late May or early June (before the public school kids got out) and no one was there and the weather was decent. So yesterday it was like a ghost town and the temperature was awesome. Suz and I believe that parents are crazy to go in the middle of the summer (yucky MO heat & humidity).

Honestly I am getting old for the rides but the joy on the kids faces when I go with them is worth the pain and upset stomach.

Oh and regarding Six-Flags. We went after lunch so I eat before we left and they all had ice cream etc. I had a diet coke and water. I was hungry but fine.

I had potstickers for dinner which met the sugar carb goal. I will start posting what I am doing on the food side so you can see how this works.

Day 177 (Actually 269) The Lost Days

A loyal reader and close friend asked me why my "Day's" were so off on the count for the blog. If you recall I started the "count" as of January 1 of this year. But a little less then half way is where I hit my personal diet wall. And I pretty much stopped blogging and I really was not on a plan.

My thinking was that since I was not really on the wagon that I would just not count those lost days. However you will note that I have put in parentheses above the actual number date. So I guess I will return to the higher number and count my "lost days" as part of the journey.

What I am happy about is that in those lost days which are probably about 120+ days, I really did not gain the weight back. So I have reached a kind of stasis. But of course I need to push to lose the rest of the weight.

Reading the Women Food God gave me an excuse to take a break and secondly taught me all kinds of things about myself. Things I won't share here but I may share in my own memoir or"fict-moir" which would be a blend of personal history of good old fiction.

Day 176

News Flash.....New lighter protein shake. Ok this Belly Fat Cure--BFC (the acronym sounds like KFC only healthier) has really got me cutting back. I think our government need to reads a book called Budget Fat Cure.

Anyway here is what I have come up with so that I get my "sweet" shake but not all the carbs and sugar.

Bill's Blueberry Chunky (its not a smoothy--the ice makes is clumpy)
1 Scoop of Protien powder
1/8 cup of Blueberrys
12 oz of Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla
1/4 cup of 2% Trader Joe's Greek Yogurt
Handfull of ice

This tastes much better than just a scoop of powder and 12 oz of water. So if you lower your expectations then this will be absolutely awesome.

And only 215 calories. 4 grams of sugar and 1 carb. How perfect is that. And it fills me up. Its not as thick as my orginal (750 calorie) shake which I already cut down to 380 calories but it fits the need once you have the plain powder.

Think of it this way. Cardboad with salt is much better than just plain cardboard. LOL!

Of course once I reach the goal weight I will go back to the 380 calorie version. Or something close. I think I will stay with the 1/8 cup of Blueberrys but add more yogurt.

Day 175

The starving hunger is going away. Now in Day 4 of the "Belly Fat Cure". It really is all about portion. I like this feeling of actually being hungry. Lean Quisine has actually improved or I am just so hungry the little black plastic tray could be filled with maggots and a cream sauce and I would not care.

What I like about this angle is that you basically measure you daily Sugar and Carb intake. And sugar is hidden all over the place. The ratio is 15 grams of sugar per day and 6 servings of carbs. So carbs are 10-20 grams (that is a single serving) but if you have 21 grams of carbs then you just had two servings.

Frankly, I think this guy is a genius. And boy when you really look at the sugar and carbs on labels your mouth will drop with all the worthless sugars and carbs we eat.

I feel like I am eating the way our bodies had eaten for millions of years and then all of the sudden with the advent of processed food at the turn of the 20th Century, we learned to eat too much all in the name of market expansion. Money, Money Money. Its all a conspiracy. Don't you feel like a calf in a cage where the evil food industry is meeting in dark smoky rooms with the medical industry and the government. The plan feed American's really large portioned unhealthy foods so that we all get diseases that the medical industry has to "cure" us of and then our National Health Care (our taxes) will pay for. Who needs personal responsibility when we have the government to take care of us.

NOT.....Don't get me wrong..I am all for health care for people who really don't have it and really want it. But do we all have to join the program. We have plenty of tax dollars that we could easily be far more efficient with.

Day 174

I will be doing the weigh ins again on Saturdays. So get ready for the excitement. I am sure you will all lie in bed Friday night wondering what my scale will say.

Days 171-173

Hi there. Has it really been since Sept. 3? That's just is not right. Well starting on Sunday I am now following the "Belly Fat Cure" diet from Jorge Cruise. I weighed in at 236.

I really have not moved much over the last couple of months both physically or wieght wise. I think in large because I lost that 20 lbs and then I hit a wall. And I was just not ready to push myself. I read of course the Women Food God book which was well worth it. So while I am following the BFC diet I am also following the Eating Guideline.

This first week has been tough. But it is all about the Sugar and Carb in take and portion control. You know in real estate it is all about location, location, location but in "personal real estate reduction" the catch phrase is portion, portion, portion.

Day 170

So, I come home from a long day and go to the fridge and also peek into the pantry looking for something.....an answer. But food is not the answer to the question.

Day 169

WFG focus's on our spiritual relationship with food. We seem to have lost this connection because of our technological pace. Frankly we move to quickly. One-Hundred years ago our lives centered around food, plowing the fields, planting the seeds, weeding, fertilizing, harvesting, storing etc. And then at the end praying thanks for the gift of its nourishment. This was a tough and simple way of life.

Now technology has made food so accessible in the first world, I feel like I am forever fighting the vending machines who are ever present and calling my two children as if these machines were food temples. Imagine if we replaced the vending machines with prayer stations--the aethists would go crazy but I wonder how much it would effect obesity?

I think we should have 3rd world countries filled with vending machines, but the food would be free and of course healthy. That would go a long way to end starvation. I would like to calculate how much all the vending machines could help countries that are starving.

Getting back to the point. The author of WFG is really calling us to see the Eucharist in food. She does not say that. My assumption is that using that word would not be PC. But I will use that word. Food is the doorway to the soul. Food used to be a celebration. Now meals are an inconvienance, an inturruption like going to the restroom. It is another task that we need to get done to get to the next task of the day.

And folks, that is not healthy. Meals are the first place we need to find our souls, our families. Family is what we measure our lives by, especially when we die. Family is the only tangable physical thing (being) we leave behind. Family transcends time in the physical world and meals are the alter, the unifier of the family. Meals are where we are a family. We learn about eachother's days. We help eachother. We teach each other about transformation. We love.

Day 168 The Eating Guildelines via WFG

Here are the simple Guidelines:

1. Eat when you are hungry.
2. Eat sitting down in a calm environment. (This does not include the car.)
3. Eat without distractions. Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books,
    intense or anxiety-producing conversations or music.
4. Eat what your body wants.
5. Eat until you are satisfied.
6. Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others.
7. Eat with enjoyment, gusto, and pleasure.

Plus one that I add (for now):
8. It's OK to leave food on the plate and even throw it away.

Day 167 I Have Returned

Yes, I am still alive. Where oh where did William go? I have been distracted and failing with my goal. I have had to take another approach. The last go around stopped much to short of the goal.

So yes I finished Women Food and God (WFG). And I have been working through the book bit by bit, chapter by chapter reviewing and typing out all my highlights and making personal notes to myself about subjects, lines etc that strike a chord.

Bottom line is that the book opened up my eyes to things that must change in my life in order for me to get back to where I belong--health wise.

WFG ends with 7 Guidelines which I am committing too. You will see them tomorrow. I am writing them out as one blog so that you can see them and focus on them.

Day 166 Boot Camp

My thought last week, "Life is Boot Camp for Heaven," is not to be taken that I think life sucks.

My point is that boot camp gets us into shape. The best shape of our lives and when we embrace it for a great cause then we are driven to do the best we can for our purpose (or purposes) in life. Life is where we learn how to get to Heaven. We have to work with the gifts we are graced with. That means that we have to develop them and share them. Think of the gifts as our muscles. If we don't use them they atrophy and we learn nothing. We must get up and move--push ourselves to new places, expand our lives, open our minds. And when we are "injured" we work that much harder to heal and move on stronger and smarter.

Day 165 Ice Hockey Is Like Coming Home

Walking into the locker room, I was not sure I could remember how to put on my gear. Regardless, I was 2nd to last to leave the locker room and I was in full sweat. Who needs a warm up?

But once I hoped over the boards and my skates touched the ice, I was transformed. I can't remember the last time I felt so alive. Everything about hockey is linked directly to my soul; the smell of the pads drenched in sweat like dripping sponge; my foot scrunged into the boot so tight and comfortable that the skate literally feels like it is me; the soft sound of ice shaving under the blade; the cool air filling my lungs as I breath in and out so deeply that my ribs hurt; my aortas' pounding so hard it feels like it's going to open up my chest (just like the Grinch when the spirit of Christmas enters is heart) but also so hard it feels like a two cylinder piston with turbo.

This must be what Bobby Orr felt when he took the ice in Parry Sound, Ontario at the age of six.

The real story is I stunk up the ice. Sixy Five minutes of ice time--pure torture. The first time I looked at the clock was the 38 min mark (meaning I had only played 28 minutes), I thought, "I still have to skate THIRTY EIGHT MORE MINUTES. What the hell am I doing here?" I was ready to go home. But I stuck it out. We were losing 2-1. And I was already minus one (meaning the other team scored a goal when I was on the ice). Well, I ended up minus 5 and we lost 6-1. So If I had not been on the ice at all maybe the game would have been tied. LOL!!!

As I walked out of the locker room, I understood why I love hockey so much. It is the physical battle almost medieval. I am still convinced that hockey players are the strongest physical athletes in any sport. The are in the best shape bar non. I challenge anyone who thinks hockey is stupid to put on all the gear and play. For me it is a work out that take you to the edge. I would love to see Tony Hawk put on skates. PX90 would become pointless. I am starting to feel sore. By Wednesday I will hardly be able to move.

I have never felt so good after playing so bad and then losing in all my years of hockey.

Day 163 & 164

I did weigh in on Saturday for the first time in over a month. 234 lbs. Does not surprise me.

Saturday my nephew married so we had a busy day. Very hot. July hot and HUMID. Did tons of dancing at the reception. Had a blast. Emma is a dancing machine. I could barely keep up with her. Even little H got into the act.

Sunday Dad's Day, we went to my MIL (mother in laws) and swam. My bro and his family came over too.

Then I played hockey. Which I will talk about for tomorrow. I will be blogging the rest of the week on WF&G.

Day 162

Life is Bootcamp for Heaven.

Think about that one. It came to me today. I will blog again tomorrow.

Day 161 Woman Food And God (WF&G)

So 30 days ago I was back. NOT.  But this time I really am staying.

I will be blogging about the book WF&G and examining my notes. The book really is not about women but more about how we deal with life and where we run when things become hard or difficult. This is an extremely complex and meditative book.

In the prologue, she says "I believe we are walking talking expressions of our deepest convictions; everything we believe about love, fear transformation in God is revealed in how, when and what we eat". And in the same paragraph "God--however we define him or her--is on our plates".

This is a very Catholic sentiment. What she is saying is that hunger is linked to our coping mechanism. But the hunger is really unease or spiritual discomfort or disquiet. And to calm ourselves we turn to compulsions. It could be gambling, drug addiction, or food in this case. And given the rise in obesity in this country, one could argue that is our national epidemic.

Her point is that God is the window to our "hunger" issues. He is the nourishment we are craving. I suspect some of you may get turned off by that. She does soften it a bit for PC purposes. But I think her point is that God is home. God is the place you can go no matter how bad things are and in God you will find understanding, acceptance and forgiveness.

I will say this. For a long time I felt that I had a hole (hunger) at my core. And I would use food to fill that core (or sink hole) but it always failed to work. This goes back to my childhood as I have discussed in previous blogs. My path was one of self destruction on many levels. Until one day, when I was 15, I said, "no more."

My intention here now is to write about my notes which I made in the book and in so doing discuss the book in a general way. I found the book to be focused on the cause of the complusive unconscious eating and learning how to end that unhealthy way of coping. And this in large part is about one's own spirituality rather than diet x, y or z.

Two thoughts. One...this is very hard but Two, as the author points out, once you practice "The Eating Guidelines" and really take them to heart it becomes easy. Roth does not reveal the guidelines until the end of the book because they are so simple. If you cheat and look at them before you read the whole book you would miss the point of the journey as to how and why they work. So, sorry, but I am not going to tell you what they are yet. The funny thing is, they, the guidelines, remind of my family dinners before my parents split. I guess this is why I love "The Waltons" so much now.

Warning, if you choose to purchase the book, which I highly recommend, be prepared to only read a chapter a day. This book is like eating a 70 oz steak or a huge flourless chocolate wedding cake. My wife made herself sick reading it in two days. It really sends ones mind swirling in thought.

Day 131 "I AM BACK"

Needless to say my days have been really busy. Whenever you hear about a Hurricane in the Gulf, a War in the Middle East (or just tension there), an oil spill etc, my work life becomes intense. And then on top of that this powerfully insightful book Women, Food and God is very thick. You really have to set aside enough time to basically meditate while you read it. You can't really cover more than a couple of chapters at a time. So that is my lame excuse.

I have not been going to the gym like I was nor have I been religously watching what I am eating. That being said I my lbs have not moved from the 230 level. I went to my doctor on May 3rd and he was happy that I have lost the 20 lbs and he of course wants me to stay the course and lose more.

Hockey starts the first Sunday in June. I hope that my knees and back hold up. I am looking forward to it. The doc told me that usually by 50 they guys stop playing. We'll see. I want to put Mr. Hockey to task (that is Gordie Howe). He played into his early 50's before he finally stopped playing in the NHL. He did continue to play after that just not professionally.

The next blog will be about Geneen Roth's book.

Blog Update

Hi All,

I have not forgotten you. I am in the process of reading Women Food and God, so my mind is trying to process this book. It is turning my thoughts inside out. I will try and finish it over the next couple of days. And then blog extensively on it.

Day 103 & Meals

Extremely tired. Drove 12 hours today 450 miles. (Combined with 210 plus miles yesterday) I could never be an over the road trucker. I would be addicted to coffee and I would never sleep. I could not imagine bouncing around in the trucks cab all day.

I did start the Women, Food and God book but I am too exhausted to write about it. I promise I will tomorrow.

Here is what I ate:

2 McEgg and Canadian Bacons
3 bags of nuts
BBQ Beef on Mixed Greens (interesting)
Bison Chilli that poor Suz tried to make today (she is sick please her heart)
3 Popcycles

Day 102

Work is extremely busy--on the road again today and tomorrow. Up in IA but hitting the gym late today. Although a quick 9 holes before the sun goes down would be fun. The gym is more important.

I am getting to the point where I may need a new belt or two soon. I have some old ones and they are pretty scary looking. Its amazing what one can find in the closet. That is another story.

I finally have Women Food and God so you will be hearing from me on that book tomorrow.

DAY 101 MEALS

2 Egg Omlete with leftover asparagas (cage free) eggs
Boston Bibb and Mixed green salad with roasted skinned chicken breast
Almond pack and Omega pack
Chicken Braut from Whole Foods, Egg Plant mush, Brussel sprouts, half a cresent roll
Sugar Free Popcyle, and bird seed.

Gym 30 Min on Elyptical and 20 min light free weights, chest and arms, and back.

Day 101 & Last Saturday's Weigh-in

Hi there. I am back. I will be keeping these short and easy if I am capable of that. I have not been going to the gym. I am still watching what I consume. And I will document that again. I have been extremely busy with work etc.

My wiegh-in on Saturday April 10 was 228 lbs. I have been working on myself again also. Suz found a book called Women, Food and God. She feels that it will really help me tackle my underlying issues with food etc. I will admit that obesity has nothing to do with food and everythinng to do with what goes on inside us.

I will leave it there for now. But know that will be discussing this book. Also now that I am about 7 weeks away from Phoenix Bill I am going to re-introduce lifting weights two days a week along with aerobic again. I have not been going to the gym since we returned from Spring Break the last week of March.

Day 90

Egg Beaters
Pappy's BBQ--Turkey, Beef, and one rib (Customer Lunch)
2 Almond and 1 Omega Pack
Chicken Breast w/light Pesto and grilled Califlour
2 Crystal Lite Pops
2 Vodka, water, lemon and splenda cocktails

Dayt 89 Meals

Two grilled cage free eggs
Grilled Chicken w/mixed greens, litte chedder cheese, tomatos, and an omega trail mix pack
Almond pack and Trail mix pack
Flounder, green beans
2 Crystal lite pops (one teaspoon of Flemmings Chocolate Pecan Pie) WOW!

Day 89 Last Week

Last week I did not follow a strict diet per say. I did bring my nut serving packs which saved me. I ordered salads as much as possible. I did not eat fries, which I would normally do on vacation. I was happy with not gaining anything. I have a lot on my plate right now so you wont hear from me again unitl Saturday. I will continue to document my meals. 

Day 88 Meals

Egg Beaters
Grilled Chicken Salad with Newmans Balsamic
2 packs of Almonds
A small dinner Ceaser, pulled off the croutons. Ate one small pc of bread plain, 8 oz Filet, 3/4 of a palm of shoe string potatoes, tablespoon of mashed potatoes, and two tablespoons of corn. I went to a customer dinner with a Supplier and my boss. We went to Flemmings. I did not have dessert but brought home the extra for dessert for Suz to eat. I did have 3 cups of decaf coffee with a ttouch of cream and two glasses of wine.

Day 87 Pants

I am back. I doubt you missed me.

So this morning, I went through my closet examining my dress pants. And low and behold, to my delight, I now have three more pairs of pants that I can wear and my black belt, which I put two more ice pick holes, a few weeks back, are now looking a little silly on these "new" pants.

I have myself fitting back into 38 inch waist pants. I was in 42's and squeezing into 40's back when I started this journey. Also I have nice pair of Banana Republic Black Dress pants that are 36" waist that I can force myself into but they are still too tight for comfort. But I am closer to them. So I have 6 pairs of dress pants.

And Suzanne is still giving me the "You look horrible in those jeans" look but I am not going to waste money on hangout jeans. Not until they look like the new suit, suit pants we bought in November, will I buy a new pair. I bought a new suit around Thanksgiving and had it all fitted. And now the pants have all kinds of extra fabric and they look silly but they are black to its ok--you really don't notice, unless your name is Suzanne. Not until I the clothes look like they did on the little boy in Big will I buy new ones. Or have them taken in or burn them or donate them.

Day 87 Meals

Egg Beaters
TJ's Omega Trail Mix
Grilled Chicken Ceaser Salad
Omega Trail Mix
Corned Beef, Carrots, Brussel Sprouts
3 Crystal Lite Pops

Spring Break

I am on Spring Break with the family. I will be blogging again next week.

Day 79 Bobby Orr Again

I can't help myself when it comes to Mr. Orr. I never watched him play live except on NBC's game of the week on Saturday afternoon's which was only a couple of times. But I was glued to the TV when he came on. And I was crushed when they did not have him and my Bruins on. Who would want to watch the Philadelphia Flyers, who were just a bunch of goons (fighters)?

I dont really know how to explain him. You have to see him play for yourself.  This video talks about him.
Bobby Orr Video. And this video shows him in action. Bobby Orr #4 Just look for the guy with No. 4 on his back skating as if all the other players are road pylons with jersys on.

My dream was to one day meet him and get an autographed jersy. But now I just see him as a man who had an awesome gift. He, of course, recognized his talents as such--a present. And in those days he and the other players did not celebrate like they do today when they score. I like that old school mentality. Just because you score doesn't mean the game is over.

I think alot about his short career and if you read anything about his own feelings on the subject he always stresses that so many little boys and men dream to even play one shift in a game so nine years and two Stanley Cups is pretty darn good. He never complains about what could have been. But I often wish he could have played 20 seasons. My bet is that he would have surpassed Gordie Howe in many stats and Wayne Gretzky would have been chasing Orr instead of Howe.

Day 78 Weigh In

Ok.....here we go..........230LBS
I have not gone #2 in a couple of days.

Day 77 Meals

Protein shake
Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad
Omega Trail Mix
Sugo's Eggplant parm which was awesome and lite. Two pcs of bread (little pcs) and two little bites of kids pasta and two glasses of red wine.
Two Sugar Free Jello's and Lite Whipped Cream and a Crystal lite Lemonade popcyle.

For you St. Louisans Sugo's is a must. Very authentic Italian, not at all like Pasta House which looks like McDonald's compared to this place. Fresh clean food and normal serving sizes not glutton man sizes. However the pasta dishes are pretty big so you just get to take it home and the kids can get two more meals out of it.

Day 77 Hockey Part II Bobby Orr & Gordie Howe

For those of you who know nothing about hockey, the guy on the left is Bobby Orr, the greatest defenseman the game has ever seen and on the right is Gordie Howe, the greatest "old school" player. Gordie Howe owned every scoring record, until a fella named Wayne Gretzky came along.

But before Wayne there was Bobby Orr, who changed the game into what it is today. Bobby Orr revolutionized the game in the late 1960's to the mid 1970's, until after only nine years, his knees wore out from all the hacking from other teams tyring to stop him. The Bruins were the first team to score 300 goals in a season in a large part because of Mr. Orr. In his day, the rest of the players looked like pylons as he skated around them. He could single handedly take over a game when he wanted to.

Gordie Howe on the other hand epitomized brute toughness. He was not a speed deamon. He was pure might and power. His era was one of speed and power. Which is pretty much what the modern NHL game is today.

When I was a young boy,  Bobby Orr was my idol along with the Boston Bruins. I was not alone in this worship. But in my mind I played with the Bruins and dreamed that one day I would play with Bobby Orr before he retired. I spent hours in the basement, with my strap on roller skates,  replaying the 1972 Stanley Cup Playoffs where the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers who had Brad Park, Jean Ratelle, Eddie Giacamon and many other great players.

This was my refuge before I got away with eating my feelings. I would listen to the AM radio and skate to Elton John's Benny and the Jets, Saturday Night, etc among many other great bands while I scored on poor old Eddie Giacamon. I was the hero and this ritual saved me. This was my routine from the ages of 9-12 living on Westmoreland (1973-1975) before my mom and I moved to 7122 Pershing. Those were magical times. I would come home from school, strap my skates onto my hard shoes and go at. Then break for dinner and head back down again after dinner. I really picked up some skills without any training. I think kids nowadays really miss out on that alone time where you make up games in your imagination.

Day 76 Meals

2 McEgg & Hamm
Grilled Chicken Ceaser Salad
Omega Trail Mix
Turkey Meatloaf, Fennel, Grilled Cauliflower
2 Crystal Lite Pops and a handful of Pistacio's with the shells

Day 76 Weather and Back Pain

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

I hit the Y @ 5:30am. Then off to my breakfast--McEgg & Ham--Do you like that one? So I am chit-chating with Ester (she is a sweet older lady (past retirement age) who works mornings, who waits on my at McD's and she tells me that she is happy that Spring is on the way. And I mention that they are talking snow Saturday here. To which see replies, "I am going to make some nice cookies for the nice weatherman but if he's not so nice I am going to put something not so good in it." I am not going to eat any of her cookies.

So I tell her that we should all be weather people. We'd get paid for getting it right half the time. Then I said "imagine if I ordered my Egg McMuffin and you left off the muffin and you said "well sorry its just how we made it. Thanks for your money--see you next time." She liked that one.

A more serious subject--My back continues to bug the heck out of me but I keep forcing myself. I have to believe that once I get to my goal the pain will go away. I keep reminding myself that Bobby Orr, a great hockey player for the Boston Bruins and Larry Bird, a great basketball player for the Boston Celtics, played in great pain for years. But I believe that I can greatly reduce my issues. I noticed before that when my weight hit 190 and below my back felt like it was brand new. Look at it this way. At 70 lbs overweight, I may as well be pregnant.

Note: these hotel beds suck and they really don't help my back at all. It seems like some large person sleeps in every bed on one side so the bed sinks on one side. It's as if Goldilocks is really fat and she sleeps in every bed in every hotel until she finds just the right bed, but in the meantime she is ruining all the beds for everyone. Ha Ha. Maybe its not Goldilocks, maybe its the three bears who moved out of their house because Goldilocks was too picky. Ha Ha.

Day 75 Meals Road Trip Tips

I am in South Eastern IA so the food choices are limited. The Holiday Inn breakfast is horrible and there really are no options. So what does a healthy person do?

McDonalds.......McDonalds?!.....Yes.....Here is a road trip tip. Order the Egg McMuffin but remove the egg and the ham (Canadian Bacon) and skip the muffin and american cheese. And poof there is your opition.

This is what I ate yesterday for breakfast. But I had two cheeseless and muffinless, McMuffins.
Snack--Lunch was a bag of Frito Deluxe Nuts. I was in no-man's land. This was about 450 calories.
Snack--Omega Trail Mix
Dinner--again a double Grilled Ceaser Chicken salad and water.

I hit the Y late in the day.

Day 74 Part II

So I get up this morning, before I leave for my road trip, and hop onto the scale. And what do you get?... 231lbs? I did hit the gym on Saturday and again today at the Y here in Iowa. I think I just ate and drank too much on Friday night. So tomorrow I will stay on the McD's plan (lunch and dinner salads). I brought the nut packs with me for the snacks.

I still think I should have lost more weight last week because I ate some larger meals than I should allow myself and I "cheated". Hence my devotion this week. Lets see what happens.

Normally when I am here in IA, I treat myself to a great dinner both nights. And cheese popcorn etc. But lets try the McD's (I should own stock in McD's....nahhhhhh...that just doesn't seem right). Whole Foods might make more sense.

Breaking 230 would be awesome! 

Day 72 Through Day 74 Meals

Ok game on....Saturday was not great. But not really bad either.

BFT--Egg Beaters
SNK--Omega Trial Mix
LNC--Grilled Chicken w/mixed greens
SNK--almonds
DNR--3 small servings 1/4 wheat pita with pork loin and some veggies.
DSRT--2 glasses of Newman's Cab and a pettifore, a little snowball, small cup cake, and some kind of small chocolate covered creame cheese sucker thing.

Sunday--All the above thru Dinner:
DNR--grilled chicken and veggies
DSRT--3 pops

Monday--
Egg Beaters
No snack
Panera Ceaser Salad w/chicken
Roasted Almonds and Omega Trial Mix
Chicken Chilli--One bowl

Tuesday--
Egg Beaters
Almonds and Omega Trail Mix
Panera Chicken Ceaser
Almonds
McD's Salad with Chicken 2 of them
Omega for dessert.

Day 71 Weigh In

I am really upset with myself........238 lbs..............I have been eating celery with peanut butter which I did not put on the list for Thursday's meals. Not sure why I  forgot that but I ate 4 pcs of celery with peanut butter that day.

The only thing I can think as to why I am at 238 is that I had two lunches at Bandana's, and I had some heavy meals this week.......ie eggplant boats, and the big meal last night along with the alcohol. Also I have been eating extra Go Lean (cereal at breakfast).

So I think my body went into save mode. Meaning that it thinks it needs to store up the calories because I have been eating hearty meals vs the normal lean fare I have been feeding myself.

So I need to regroup. It is funny because I weighed myself on Monday and I was about 231. So I have to bear down again and drink more water when I get the hungrys. My guess is that I will drop right back down.

Off to the gym.

Day 70 Meals

BFT--two cage free eggs and 1.5 cups of Go Lean
SNK--Omega Trail Mix
LNCH--leftover meat mixture from Eggplant boats and left over grilled chicken salad
SNK--two packs of almonds
DNR--SCAPE w/Suz (date night) NY Strip Steak, Carmelized Cauiflower, potato pancake (two bites) Suz had the rest....two Whiskey's and diet coke.
Then a beer and Cafe Eau's bar.....then went to a party and had two more beers (AB's Amber Bock)

Day 69 Meals

BFST--2 cage free eggs over easy  & 1.5 cup of Go Lean
SNK--None
LNCH-Bandana's, double slaw, 1/2 pc of Texas Toast, Smoked Turkey
SNK--bird food, and Omega Trail Mix
DNR--Green beans, Fennel, Chicken
DSRT--Two jello servings and lite whipped cream, 2 crystal lite pops

Day 69 Hockey Part I

I am declaring my goal to get back on the skates. I played adult ice hockey for 14 years. Ten of those years I played pick up hockey two nights a week, Thursdays and Sundays. Then I took a year off when Emma was born. My close friend Matt, otherwise known as Big Daddy, talked me into playing in the HNA (Hockey North America) which is an adult league hockey. I played with him for four years until I just could not handle the 10:30 PM games.

Hockey is awesome exercise. Short, quick, hard bursts of energy that really whip you into shape fast. Why the sudden interest again. Well I have learned that there are a couple of early morning ice times at my municipality ice rink. Six am on Wednesday and Friday. Perfect ice time. But before I re-enter the ice, I need to get into decent shape, plus I need new skates.

Also another buddy has asked me to play in a Sunday night, 8 PM,  summer league with him which is very reasonable time.

The ten thirty times really got to me because I would get home around 12:30 and I would be all wired up. Then I would finally fall asleep at 2 am, but I would be exhausted the next day. I felt like a drank a twelve pack of beer but without all the fun that goes along with that. So I had enough. But earlier ice times are much more up my alley.

Day 68 Meals

BFST--cage free egg over easy & Fiber One 1 cup bowl
SNK--none
LNCH--Harry's Grilled Chicken Ceaser no croutons
Snack--4 pc celery 2 with cream cheese and two with peanut butter
DNR--Pork Tenderloin on lettuce bed with carrots, etc....a recipe that Suz found in Cooking Light. Liked it
DSRT--2 Crytal Lite pops

Katie---I made popcorn.....I was dying for it. So I am sure it wont help me but I needed it.

Day 67 Meals

BFST--egg beaters
Snack--raw almonds, blue diamond half a sleeve
LNC--Mac D's Salad w/grilled chicken & Newmans Balsamic and two diet cokes
SNK--other half of sleeve
DNR--Chicken Ceaser Salad @ home
DSRT--1 beer and 2 glasses of wine (Emma's last basketball game so Pizza party at the coaches house)

Day 67--On the Road

On the road today. I will have something for your entertainment tomorrow.

Day 66--Meals

BRKFT--Egg Beaters
SNK--Omega Trail mix
LNCH--Bandana's BBQ (yes a cheat meal) Smoked Turkey Lunch Plate, green beans, slaw and 1.5 pc of Texas Toast. YUMMY!
SNK--Unsalted roasted Almonds and CLP (Crytal Lite Popcycle)
DNR--Roasted Chicken Breast and Grilled Veggies from Whole Foods (only ate half the breast, too big)
DSRT--CLP (2) Lemonde and Rasberry

Day 66--BBC America's You Are What You Eat

There is great show on BBC America called You Are What You Eat. The show stars a nutritionist who basically saves unhealthy people from their horrendous food habits and helps them get their lives back.

My favorite scene on each show is where the "food nanny" comes on and spreads out on the table what each person eats for the week. Boy does that have an amazing effect on people. Once you see the food, the amount and what it is, you really dont want to eat the slop ever again. It is a must see if you have pay TV.

I caught one the other night, where this guy lost 100 lbs in eight months by simply no longer eating slop and changing over to heathly veggies and protiens. He was a completely different person. For instance, he no longer got up at 3am and made and entire Shepard's Pie and ate it all by himself.

I think I really like to see the food spread because it forces me to think about what I am shoving down my throat. I love to see the utter disbelief on the peoples' faces when they see what they consume, which tells me that they are not consciously eating.  Watching the show reminds me that I don't want to go back to "Zombie Eating".

Day 65 Meals & HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!

BFT--Protein Shake
SNK--Omega Trail Mix
LNCH--Grilled Chicken w/mixed greens w/some broccoli and two Crystal Lite pops
SNK--Roasted Almonds Unsalted, Cauliflour and two more Crystal Lite pops
DNR--Egg Plant Boat which is ground beef 95% lean, chopped up eggplant, tomatos, feta cheese (Emma's Fav)
DSRT--1/4 of Birthday Cupcake and two more Crystal lite pops and cup of Go Lean

As you can see I am craving sweets and I was hungry today. Tomorrow no shake. Back to Egg Beaters. I also think I am hungry because I had another big day outside working in the yard, the backyard today.

Day 65--Busy Weekend

Happy Sunday. Very good day yesterday. Racked the leaves, put down Grub-X, fertilized, and seeded. Took Emma to her B-ball game and Henry to his Flag Football game. Who needs a gym?

That was just the front yard. Ha Ha.Today it is the backyards turn.

Day 64 Part III Meals

BF--Protein Shake
SNK--Trader Joe's Unsalted Roasted Almonds Serving Pack
LNC--Grilled Chicken w/mixed greens and Newman's Lite Balsamic Vinegarette, shaved parm
SNK--Crystal Lite Popcyle (after lunch) & 3 Celery sticks and peanut butter @3:30pm
DNR--Dewey's Greek Salad w/grilled Chicken
DSRT--2 Crystal Lite Popcyles

Day 64 Part II NEW FEATURE

PLEASE NOTE: I HAVE CHANGED THE SETTINGS SO THAT YOU CAN NOW MAKE COMMENTS W/OUT SIGNING UP FOR ANYTHING.

Day 64--How Do I Feel (and weigh-in)

Well, I can finally wear a watch again. And my wedding band is getting loose. Watch out Suzanne! Ha Ha. I feel good. I have been tired because I have not been sleeping well. But last night was a good sleep. It has more to do with everything around my job. There is just a ton of stuff going on. But overall I feel much better than I did on Janurary 1. My back is getting better. I am not as sore, meaning my legs, muscles and joints. I will continue with the aerobic for another month and then I will reintroduce weight training and eventually run. But we will see about the running because of my knees.

Ok so the weigh in was........234 lbs.....so I lost 5 lbs this week. Not sure why I did not lose more given my diet. I think my body is adjusting again. I am not panicing. Keep the eyes on the prize. I have not gone #2 for a couple of days so that may be the issue. If I can keep losing 5 lbs a week, I could lose 20lbs this month alone which could put me at 219 on March 30th, which is still on schedule for PB (Phoenix Bill).

WEIGH-IN UPDATE: 233 LBS......you know why. So 6 lbs since last Saturday.

SPRING IS HERE! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. Go outside and get some vitamin D.

Day 63 Meals

Did not really sleep well yet again.

30 Min on the gerbils at the Y.

BFST--two cage free eggs
SNK--Omega 3 Trail Mix and 3 Celery Stalks
LNC--Petite Salad from Struabs, mixed greens, goat cheese, dried cranberrys, pecans, and I added a palm of grilled chicken
SNK--Crystal Light Lemonade Pop
DNR--Fish, green beans. parsnips
DSRT--Crystal Light pop

Went to my brother Paul's house to watch a movie with the cousins.....I did eat some broccoli, and cauflower w/little bit of hummus......he had chips and other stuff but I stayed away from it. I did have two handfuls of popcorn, lightly salted w/out butter.

Day 63--My Grandfather

My mom's dad is my current inspiration. I have been thinking about him the last couple of days. I never met him.

Dr. Nicholas Aloys Schnieder was one of the most highly respected, and widely known doctors in St. Louis, during the 1930's and 1940's until his tragic death on May 3, 1947. He was a general practitioner.

He was a handsome man as you can see from the photo to the left. Lucky for me I got his hands. What strikes me about him is his dedication to health. I remember reading one of his internship journal entries where he discussed that he was "gluttonous" and that "tomorrow (he) will have to take vigorous exercise".

The quote, written by his older sister, a nurse herself, under the picture reads, "Dr. Nicholas A. Schnieider, efficient and precise in all he did. Never weighed more than 138#. Died May 3, 1947". He was only 5' 7" tall. His conscious eating and attention to his health really meant he practiced what he preached.

During his time general practitioners did everything; house visits, hospital visits, operations (everything except eyes) and he even had his own office. I have heard many stories about how, in those days, people would give him eggs, chickens, fruit, produce etc as payment for his services. Keep in mind this was during the Great Depression. He would even hire men to fill the coal in their house furnace and live in the basement until that person found steady work. I am always amazed at what a very generous man he was.

The story goes that my grandmother, heartbroken (obviously), when he died, left his doctor bag by the front door where he kept it until she moved out of their house, eighteen years later, in 1965. I still remember that bag. He even had pharmaceuticals, he had invented, in that bag. I loved playing with is stethoscope.

He died because, while changing out the winter storm windows, a sash fell on his abdomen and ruptured his spleen. Today he would have easily survived through surgery, but, in 1947, the older doctors on staff at St. Louis University Hospital would not operate because they did not know what to do. Ironically my childhood family doctor, Dr. Nestor, a young doctor at the time was present and had been in WWII and he knew he could save him, but no one would listen.

Dr. Schneider was so dedicated that he performed three surgeries on the morning after the incident and then he collapsed and they admitted him to the hospital. He slowly bleed to death. Completely inconceivable in today's world, in the US. If this happened today......can you spell "malpractice"?

HAVE A GREAT FRIDAY.......See you tomorrow for the Saturday weigh-in.

Day 62 Part II--Meals

Really struggled today.

Gym again 50 mins on gerbil.
BFS--egg beaters and one cup bowl of Go Lean with Almond Breeze
SNK--Omega Trail Mix
LNCH--Panera's Chicken Cesear salad (nothing else...meaning no bread)
DNR--Eggplant, brussel sprouts, and Salmon
DRT--2 jello's with light whipped cream, bird food, 1 more jello w/out wc, and 1 cup of Fiber One w/Almond Breeze.

I am very tired. Having a tough time sleeping. Woke up at 4:45 am and could not get back to sleep. Too many thoughts.

Day 62-Cold Souls

I like to watch movies. This fact drives my wife crazy because I will declare that I am going to watch three or four movies. I can't just watch one. Movies are like watching books for me. I really enjoy the images and the subtle messages etc within the movies.

In fact our first date was a movie. Sling Blade of all things. Who goes to see Sling Blade on a romantic first date? And who laughs at the opening scene when the main character confesses that he is in jail for killing his little brother? Me.

Billy Bob Thorton's character talks just like a customer I used to call on, in central Missouri. For example...."Hi Billy Bob how are you?...long uncomfortable pause......"F i n e.".......again long uncomfortable pause......so then I ask "What did you do last weekend, Billy Bob(not my customers real name)?....yup..another long unsettling pause....response..."I.......w e n t......to.......my....ma's...huhmmm"...... These exchanges with my customer were more painful than removing your own wisdom teeth with a vis-grips without Novocaine.

So when I heard Billy Bob Thornton, I could not help myself. You can't imagine the look Suzanne gave me. Even in the dark. Anyway, the enough with the funny digression.

On to my point. There is a movie, remember I love movies, out at Blockbuster called Cold Souls, staring Paul Giamatti who plays himself. He is so depressed, that he has his soul removed and placed in storage. His soul happens to be, of all things, a chick pea. And then someone steals it from storage and sells it on the black market where some Russians buy it.

And so, of course Paul goes through a journey to get is soul back. But when the time of reunification finally comes, his soul rejects him. Only when the woman helping him tells him that he must put special glasses so that he can see his soul does it come back to him. I found the movie to be a funny dark comedy. If you like this kind of thing, you might consider renting it. It reminded me of a Woody Allen film.

By the way I mention this because I think I now have those glasses on and I am holding myself accountable for who I am. I am helping that fat depressed little boy who weighed about 70 lbs when his life started to come undone. But first I told him that I love him (to heal him) and that it is ok and "you have to get up now and change your life." It is time to accept your weaknesses and do something to change them--turn them into something strong."

Our bellybuttons are both a scar and a birthmark. Our bellybuttons are the symbol of our chance at life, the opportunity to make our own way. And when are cut away from our mothers that is the moment the journey begins. It is the first lesson. Out of pain comes growth. Even the planet tells us this. In the winter, when life is largely dormant, we prune and in the spring, the plants and flowers flourish.

Day 61 Part II Meals

Today was a real life test because we went out to dinner.

BF--Egg Beater omlete w/leftover fennel and just a touch of parm.
Snack-Omega 3 Trail mix from TJ's single serving
LNCH--grilled chicken ceaser
Snack-Zippo, nothing
Dinner--Whitimore House Family Night, Ceasar Salad, Fried Chicken (dont panic). I picked off all the fried and ate only the flesh, black eye'd peas, green beans, and one teaspoon of mashed potatoes (how is that for a serving size).
DSRT--Orbit peppermint gum and bird food. (They had pie and ice cream)

Day 61

I think I will burn my "fat" clothes when I reach my goal. What do you think? Should I donate them to Goodwill or St. Vincent DePaul?

Day 60 Part III Meals

BFST--Protein Shake
SNK-roasted almonds
LNCH-Chicken Ceaser Salad
SNK-Bird food and Ajvar (roasted red peppers, roasted egg plant, red pepper flakes) 2TBL Spoons
DNR-Bowl of chilli, (kidney beans, diced tomatoes, lean free range ground beef from WF)
DSRT--Crystal Light popcycle,and bird food, and two more table spoons of Ajvar.

Was starving today and chilli helped

Also just so you all know I have been going to gym everyday since last Saturday and running on the gerbil machines for 40-50 mins. I think I will take a break from that tomorrow to give my body a one day rest.

Day 60 Part II--Elastic Pants

The link attached below is where I pulled a couple of pictures for today's blog subject. Check it out. http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.

The pic to your left illustrates many points regarding elastic wear. This is why I don't shop at Walmart. The website is funny and sad at the same time. I will say this. Walmart is a great gage of showing you where we might be headed in terms of the health of our nation. Just closely check out the photo. If the National Healthcare Bill passes, we will be paying for this woman's lack of fitness.

I noticed, about a year ago, when Egg Nogg Bill was in his infancy, that Kohls now sells elastic dress pants. Maybe this has been going on for years but I never reached the girth where I had to consider such options. And I am embarressed to reveal that I did purchase one pair, and still have refused to wear them. Regardless, this is a bad sign for America. We are giving into obesity.

Clothes with elastic should only be permitted in certain settings such as, the swimming pool or around general water activities, when running or playing any kind of sport, for pj's, underwear (or lingerie depending on what you prefer) and for most importantly pregnant women, who should have the only true pass for wearing stretchy waisted pants in public while they have a large belly. So if you are wearing stretchy pants, that is loose/over sized stretchy pants, and someone asks "when are you expecting" you have no right to give that person a dirty look or give a nasty reply even if you are a male. Ha Ha. Take it as a sign that you need to wake up. Keep in mind that I have no issue with people wearing spandex in public as long as are in shape.

So if you are not pregnant and not working out or doing something "special" with your better half then you can not wear elastic anything. Elastic allows us to ignore our growing belly's. For pregnant women it represents a celebration. And it shows they are "working" too making a baby.

In addition, sweats or elastic pants are not for wearing all day, unless you are running a marathon or you are about to go into labor. So any of you out there who work out of the house and have an "office" day, you need to put on your work clothes, not sweats or elastic based attire. Sweats or elastic clothes are meant for movement and sweating. Hello, that is why we call them "sweats". They are not "drys" or even "lazies."

The picture to your right is how one should look when wearing Walmart fashion. This is Jillian Michaels. The caption describes her as looking for her next "Biggest Loser." I am sure she wont have a problem. I applaud her for making a career out of fat.

She looks like a cheerleader who is going out of her way to help the unhealthy nerds, me being one of them. And I tell you what, if she woke me up everyday dressed like that making me go to the gym, I would stay there all day, until I couldn't move anymore. Ha Ha.

Day 60 Part I---SPECIAL WEIGH IN

I thought since today is the 60th day that I would check my weight to see where I stand at 60 days.

So here goes.........233 LBS! That is 18 lbs since Jan. 1. I am trying to push myself to get below 230 lbs by Saturday. We will see how close I get. Plus as you recall I reward myself with something every 10 lbs lost. Not a food item. More like a book, music download etc.

I will have two more blogs today. Blog II is funny and serious. And of course the last entry is my food for the day.

Have a great day!

Day 59 Part II--The Meals & NOTE: SPECIAL 60 DAY WEIGH IN TOMORROW

BF--Egg Beaters
SNK--nut & fruit single serve pack
LNCH--Cesar Salad w/chicken
SNK--roasted alomond pack unsalted
DNR--Flank Steak, Fennel, and Broccoli
DSRT--one sugar free, fat free cherry jello cup and light whipped cream, one lemonade and one rasberry Crystal Light pop.

Per my note in the title page of this blog---tomorrow I will be doing a special 60 Day weigh in just to gage my progress over the first 60 days. I have less than 90 days to reach Phoenix Bill or as close to him that I can get.

Day 59: Belts and Who is Katie?

Belts are an interesting subject. They allow you to document how you are doing on your weight -- like your pants -- without getting on a scale. But they can be tricky too because it depends on the pants one wears. The belt will fit each pair of pants differently. For instance, khaki pants with a belt is different from jeans with a belt.

So you could spend a weekend in your jeans on the last hole of the belt and then when work starts on Monday, even though you have behaved all weekend, you could gain a notch on your dress pants. So you can't pay too much attention unless you notice a serious change up or down the notch holes, meaning when you gain or lose more than one notch.

You know you are getting somewhere when you need to ice pick a new hole in your belt. That is victory.

One last quick note on pants--the button on your pants needs to be at your belly button. Tightening your belt below your belly button is cheating, especially if you have Dunlap's Disease, "where your belly dun lap over your belt."

So who is this Katie? My imaginary friend? My second wife in a polygamous marriage? (I am not Mormon.) Has Bill lost his marbles trying to get to Phoenix Bill? The later may be the most true. Ha Ha. Actually, Katie and her hubby, John, are close friends of mine. They are extraordinarily healthy people, and Katie, bless her heart, has gone out her way to help me in my adventure. Honestly, they have both been working on me for a while, but the stubborn old man that I am, I kept finding excuses until last Dec. 31 (and yesterday).

Day 58 Part III Today's Food

All, I will blogging my meals at the end of the day everyday. My thinking is that this will force me to end the day's eating, like brushing your teeth, something my Father-In-Law would do to stop himself from eating.

BF--One sunny side up cage free egg (two pcs of toast--again Katie, prior to our discussion)
Snack--roasted unsalted Almonds serving pack
Lunch--The other half of the veggie wrap this time no tortilla (post discussion)
Snack--pc of celery, human suet(Katie's suggestion of nuts and honey,) and the little serving pack of nuts and cherry's too. ( I was starving because lunch was not much of anything)
Dinner--chicken, acorn squash, zucchini,
Dessert--one Crystal light raspberry lemonade Popsicle, and a cherry jello and black cherry jello both with a small bit of light whipped cream.

Did get on the gerbil machines again today for 50 mins and watch the US vs Canada Gold Cup Game.

Day 58 Part II

Yesterday's Food 2-27-2010:

BF--Protien Shake
Snack--Fiber One
Lunch--Turkey Meatloaf 4-0z and Veggie Wrap 1/2 of it with the tortilla (wont do again)
Snack--Orange
Dinner--Sushie from Straubs
Dessert--Apple, and 1 cup Go Lean ( yea yea, I know...Katie, this was before we had the confrontation today)

Day Fifty-Eight Sunday

No more Sunday's off as I will be documenting my meals for everyday.

I hope you like the quote of the week. Really think about what Mr. Knight is saying. The story is that his dad told him this. I forget the circumstances, but I really like his simple straight forward, "look the day in the eyes," approach to life, no matter what the day throws you.

This is a great documentary, The Way We Get By, which follows the lives a three older adults, who get up everyday, no matter what time of day or night and drive to the airport in Bangor, Maine, and greet our soldiers as they come off the planes. No matter the weather or how physically bad these three people feel. The soldiers are always amazed, surprised and very joyful.

You can catch the show on PBS.org.

Day Fifty Seven Part III

Yesterdays Meals:
BF--egg beaters
Snack--orange
Lunch--LoRusso's Chicken Cesar but I had some crackers with olive oil, and butter
Snack--orange
Dinner--San Si Sushi.....Rainbow Roll with a small salad. I ate little of the salad
Dessert--one Oatmeal cookie and half cup of Go Lean with my Almond Breeze

Day Fifty-Seven Part II

When we act obsessively, when are consumed by something that is bad for us, it is called addiction. But when the obsession goes to something positive it is a passion.

I am learning folks. I did not expect this to be easy and fun all the time. I am digging at the root of my issues which are binge eating, drinking etc. These addictions, I will call them, are my coping mechanism when stress hits. Now instead of "laying down" and watching TV, I need to get up off my rump and walk etc.

I am a person who is on a highway. I do fine if no one else is on the highway, and there are no exits, or billboards. But when I hit a stretch of distractions (pot holes, bad drivers etc metaphorically), I allow them to become excuses for getting off the road. Instead I need healthy rest stops where I can get out and stretch etc. These rest stops in my case would be, reading, writing, playing with the kids, exercise etc.

So the goal is to consciously choose the passion over the addiction. Or make the "good behaviors" the release or become my new addictions. Retrain the brain.

I cannot solve the past but I can avoid the bad triggers and make them into guns, with a safety.

I am very tough on myself. Because of my childhood, see earlier blogs in January, I try very hard to be a good husband, parent, employee. So I struggle within that balance and I knock myself for not being perfect because I want my adult life to not be like my childhood. And when I beat on myself, I run to the poor behaviors.

Here in lies the Phoenix piece. The focus on staying "in the game" and not letting the distractions take me off course. And rising out of the ashes of my past wings blazing.

Fifty-Seven

Saturday weigh-in........239lbs.

I have a lot to say and I will blog again later today. I will be writing on Sunday's as well. Obviously it is Bill's "Come to Jesus Party."

Needless to say, I have many things going on in my head.

Off to the gym

Fifty-Six

My dear friend Katie sent me a couple of emails yesterday in a dialogue about my eating habits. And she can't be any more on target. I am being lazy and sloppy. The whole purpose of the blog is to keep me mindful of my bad habits.

I am committing myself to writing about what I honestly eat everyday. I have been inconsistent in sharing that. I know that if I write it down, I have nowhere to hide.

Katie is 9 months pregnant and runs faithfully. I feel like I am pregnant but I sit around and eat bon bons. Ha Ha. Not really. But I do have a tendency to let myself "look the other way" when certain situations arise.

For instance, when I was on this supplier training, I could have easily had the turkey sandwich, removed the bread, eaten the lettuce and tomato with no mayo or cheese.

I have to be more consciously offensive.

You will be seeing my habits again.

Yesterday:

BF--fruit plate (no grapes), and small cheese danish
L--chicken Cesar salad with Tom's Balsamic Vinegarette
D-Suz made lean beef chili w/chedder cheese. 1 bowl. 10 little Triscuit triangles.
DSRT--3 oatmeal cookies....yea I know Katie.............

Day Fifty-Five

Richmond is a city of tremendous history, but I will never get the chance to really look at the history because I am in sales training.

No, I did not make it to the gym. But as an unheathly trade off, no breakfast. Lunch was a turkey sandwich and dinner was St. Louis Style Ribs and four drinks. Lots of socializing with the supplier.

What is it about St. Louis Ribs? I never hear about them on the food channel or anywhere in St. Louis, but they show up in the oddest places. Why Richmond VA? Am I missing something? What makes them St. Louis Ribs. Do they look like the Arch? Isn't that a wishbone?

I did stretch this morning. Does that count for anything? I cant wait until tomorrow is over. Take me away Calgon.

I did manage to eat mixed fruit this afternoon at the "snack time." When one goes on these training trips, the host provides meals and so it is a mind field to find healthy choices. So I made a cup of fruit, canteloupe, honeydew and strawberrys.

But the Ribs at dinner just killed all that. The choices were 12 oz steak, somekind of stuffed chicken breast (which sounded really scary), seafood pasta, and the ribs. I was scared of the steak because the establishment was a brewery and in St. Louis the brewery steak is no Ruth Chris steak. So I gambled. The steak looked great. It was not 12 oz which sounded huge. More like 6oz. How was I to know. And it looked like a "filet" which was not in the description.

Bring on tomorrow!

Day Fifty-Four

Very tired. Did not get to the gym. The hotel does not have one. But the Y is across the street up the way a little. So the goal is tomorrow am before my meetings begin. Did manage to have a turkcy sandwich for lunch and a couple of onion rings. Dinner was real crab cakes. Not ground up mush we get in Missouri.

Day Fifty-Three

I found this awesome book, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan at Target. I can't put this thing down. It's funny, and a quick read which is perfect for my ADD disorder. I will be blogging on it's themes here and there. The intro was really fun. The author is a journalist who has become obsessed with the subject of food and how it effects our health. Some of you may already know about this guy so be patient with me if you do. He says many things that I have tried to live.

And I will have a quote of the day or week, which will be a mix of foodisms, and whatnots, things that make us laugh etc. That will be coming soon. You will see some changes to the Blog over the next couple of days, weeks etc.

I did hit the gym yesterday morning. Today I will be traveling to Richmond VA until Thursday afternoon. So I will keep you up to date with how I do on this road trip. I will most certainly be consuming fish.

Day Fifty-Two: Loose Pants

How jeans fit seems to be a bane for everyone, but most especially for my wife. This may be true of all wives. I really have no clue since I only have one, which I can barely understand or handle anyway. I don't understand harems or polygamy. That alone would give me so much stress I'm sure I would die trying to keep them all happy.

Back to the jeans.....At one point in my life, I really liked Levi jeans. Straight legs were the best fitting as I recall. Now keep in mind I was 6 foot and weighed about 190 lbs so I was a lean Phoenix Bill love machine. I loved that style. And like all styles, they fell out of flavor.

Somewhere along the line jeans changed. Now they are thin, and designer jeans cost in the $150-$200 dollar range. Suz is obsessed with my jeans. Now don't get me wrong: She has every right to. I certainly like to tell her what to wear on certain occasions. The issue I have is that she buys me jeans, I put them on, and she swears she loves them and that I look great in them. And then, like her brownie disorder, a month later she declares she hates the jeans because they are falling off me. Ha Ha.

What is a husband to do? Shut up, agree, and let her buy me more jeans that eventually don't fit.

My general practice is that the "good fitting" jeans are worn on nights out. So the loose jeans become my hang around the house, or honey-do jeans; but then when I wear them doing that, I still get "the look". But I have learned to ignore it -- the look, that is. What am I supposed to wear around the house when I clean the gutters, repaint the rooms, clean the fireplace, and clean the basement? My $200 dollar jeans? Heck, I may as well go buy a tux and wear that around the house while I do all these jobs. In fact I might be able to get one for $150.00, complete with slacks, jacket, dress shirt, and bow tie. Ha Ha.

I could swear that when I was at Mizzou, I was the person who started the "pants on the ground" fad all the way back in the late 80's. (I sound like Al Gore.) When I came back from Phoenix, in the fall of 1986, I had a pair of jeans that no longer fit me. I had a new job in the snack bar @ the Hudson and Gillette dorms. I worked there 4 days a week at night until midnight. I would smell like burgers, nachos, cheese sandwiches, popcorn, corn dogs, fries, pretzels, you name it. I smelled awful. So I used my loose jeans.

And in those days I would not wear underwear -- commando as some say it today. Well, there were some fine young ladies, unbeknownst to me, that had a nickname for me -- in fact a couple of nicknames. One was "teddy bear" or "bear" because I was cute and strong looking. But the other name was "crack man" because my pants hung down so you could see my "plumber's" cleavage.

They all thought it was funny and in fact ordered food that would make me have to prepare it or get it from the storage so that they could see my "pants canyon." I did not know about this for a while until I started dating one of the young ladies, and she told me the entire 2nd floor of Gillette shared this fact about me with great delight. And here I thought they just liked my jovial personality. Once I learned that I was the butt of a joke (yuk, yuk), I bought some new pants that fit. But the joke continued.

I wish Suzanne would find the jean fitting issue funny. I have taken to wearing belts now so that it greatly reduces the canyon factor. This is very important now that I am a dad. Although I did catch Henry laughing at my pants one day when he was helping me with some chores.

Day Fifty-One

CLOSED.....COME BACK TOMORROW. This week I will talk about exercise; aerobic vs weight training.

Day Fifty

And the weigh-in says..............240 lbs...........too much bread. As you can tell, I love bread. I am on the road this week to Richmond VA for three days of training. Salads, fish, salads fish etc. I will keep you up to date with how I do.

I apologize for the needless weigh-in suspense. Suzanne was out of town as you know. Lets just say the single parenthood is for no sane person. You know there is a real reason why our great grandparents married quickly after they lost a spouse. The threat of insanity. Ha Ha.

Literally you lose your mind when you are outnumbered. You need two parents to help in the battle. And if you are an ancestry scientist like myself, you will note that often times the grandparents lived with the families.

When I looked at the craziness of our modern lives. That really makes more and more sense and we may end up going back to it if health care and social security go bankrupt. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have my mom, who has a tough time getting around, or my mother-in-law in my house. If nothing else they could play UNO with my kids while I make dinner. How simple is that. And I know that my little monsters would certainly reduce their fighting quota each day. Who wants to upset the grandma's who give them money and presents on their B-Days and Holidays plus they get to spoil them. I really would not mind it one bit.

Day Forty-Nine Dr. Oz

I will be slowly reading "You On A Diet" and posting in relations to my readings. My hope was to blog today about Dr. Oz but did not get a chance to read anything yet. You will hear from me next week on Dr. Oz.

With Suzanne gone, and work being so busy, I have not had much time to think. Thankfully she returns tomorrow afternoon.

I am not feeling to good about tomorrow.

Day Forty-Eight Stretching--Part II

Suz leaves later today for a business trip of her own until Saturday. This is a huge deal in our household. We have been married twelve years this May and she has only gone away by herself, I think twice, for more than one night. Needless to say this fact drives me bonkers. I am never alone with the kids in our house. And she would not say it is because she doesn't trust me. She just likes being family. Plain and simple. I am looking forward to our little adventure. Now back to business......

Dr. Oz stresses that stretching is vital for flexibility. I never used to look at stretching as being very important, until after I turned thirty, which is when our bodies start falling apart. Stretching increases flexibility, which stops us from stooping over when we age. Also stretching helps remove pain too, in the knees, the back etc. I learned this the hard way. My Dr. (Dr. Michael Bartell), about 15 years ago, when I went in for a check up, told me that I was too stiff and that if I stretched more often my lower back pain and knee pain would dissipate and lessen. He was right. However, because of my lack of stretching I already had some wear and tear on my left knee cartilage.

Stretching elongates muscles and prevents injuries. Warming up (stretching) circulates blood to the muscles and heats them up which loosens them and makes them viscous and ready for action. This simple activity greatly reduces injury. I also like to think to that the increased blood also helps our joints where the muscle connects. Warm muscles help the cartilage reduce stress when we are active. The warm muscles that are elongated spread the stress out there by lessening pain etc.

Please know that I am no doctor. Most of what I am saying here is more common sense about how our parts work in unison. Just think about how our entire body works within itself kind of like how nature is connected. The bees need the pollen and the plants need the bees to survive. That is really where I am coming from on this whole idea.

Day Forty-Seven Stretching--Part 1

Stretching is one of the most important things you can do each day for your body's health. I always knew this, but Suzanne has really made me look at it another way. Those of you who have seen Suzanne stretch could see my statement two ways.

Suzanne is a stretching maniac. She does it everyday faithfully. Now I recall seeing my Mom go through periods where she would stretch at night and I always thought it was funny and weird looking. But Suzanne's stretching is a whole other subject.

It should be censored. And she is so innocently oblivious to her contortions because her entire focus is to awaken the muscles in her body that I can't help but watch her when I get the opportunity. Lets just say I love to watch her. (OF COURSE!) Now I know that she stretched in front of one her close girlfriends at the Y one time and Suzanne made her friend uncomfortable. I would have been agitated too, but for different reasons. Ha ha.

My point is that stretching is very important and I would argue that it is as important as exercise itself. Tomorrow, in a more serious light, I will focus more on why stretching is so vital to our health.

Day Forty-Six

I hated brussel sprouts when I was young. My mom used to boil the heck out of them. I still recall coming home to a house that smelled like toots. I can remember thinking "What is wrong in here? Mom must be sick....Oh man, yoooh. What died.....Oh, mom boiled brussel sprouts." God bless her, mom confessed that they did "smell" but "they are so good for you William". Let me tell you there is nothing worse than going to bed with that oder in your bedroom. Now if I had created the smell on my own, well that is another matter all together. Ha ha. And if I had with that kind of strength, I am sure I would have died from methane asphyxiation.

But now that I am older and far more mature(ha ha), I love them. Brussel sprouts are the most neglected of all veggies. Yes I know the mere thought of my previous image sends one as far away as possible.

There is a huge difference between boiled sprouts and steamed sprouts. Steamed sprouts keep some of their crunch and most of the smell inside. The texture adds much more to the eating experience. And they just taste better. All that toot smell comes out with boiling so the water is the source of the methane oder. When you steam BS's you keep all the vitamins and minerals and the oder is greatly reduced. Plus you can do some fun things with them. When I was single, I created a pasta dish with whole wheat spaghetti, roasted garlic gloves, olive oil, salt, pepper and you guessed it steamed BS's. Yummo. Simple and healthy.

So the point is that BS's are really good for your digestive track. They keep cancer away. I guess cancer does not like the smell of toots. So that is one good way to look at it. You are eating toots that kill cancer. Ha Ha.

Day Forty-Five

Dear Katie and all of my wonderful followers/readers,

The protein shakes are back on! So given my success last week, I am retracting my declaration to swear off all protein shakes. I did not reveal how I altered a few things regarding the shake in-take last week. So here is the scoop.

First of all, I stopped making them for dessert. And then I reduced the size of the shakes and I cut out the fruit. For instance, I would have one for breakfast. I did this once and then I had one as the afternoon snack and then one day for lunch. The lunch was the toughest because I was famished by dinner and that was the night I ate popcorn and the small bowl of Fiber One.

How did I have so many and still lose weight. I changed the recipe. I reduced the sugar, and the size. Here are the components and doses:

1/3 cup of Greek yogurt (Trader Joes)
1/4 cup of milled flax seed (Red Mill)
1/4 cup of oats (Red Mill Thick)
1 scoop protein powder
8 0z of Naked Juice (but the high protein versions w/30 grams)
4 0z of Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla
hand full of ice (1/2 cup)

sometimes some blueberries
sometimes 4 oz of Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla

The Almond Breeze would reduce the thickness so it made it easier to swallow through a straw. The thickness factor does slow down your consumption rate, which in my case is needed.

I think the key here is the reduction of the juice carbs and less yogurt and the fact that the portions (calories) were much smaller. The high protein Naked juice is chalky but since there is a ton of graininess anyway, due to all the fiber (the oats and flax seed), I did not mind it.

All the fiber really helped "move" things along. Who needs Metamucil? The changes kept the shakes thick and filling. And it helped with the sweet attacks.

I have been using a chocolate protein powder from EAS. Not my favorite. In these fruity shakes I prefer vanilla, but I have always been a vanilla guy. When I drank the protein powders on their own, I found "Champion Whey" to be the best tasting. I found it at Nutrition Express, a supplemental on-line store But I don't want to pay $80 bucks for a 5lb jar. So buying EAS Vanilla will be a permanent store item once I run out of the chocolate which will be soon.

I will be back tomorrow.

BFST--1 cup bowl of fiber one and my Almond Breeze
LNCH--Spicy Combo Sushi w/brown rice. I have been asking for extra wasabi and ginger and reducing my low sodium soy sauce to just a couple of drops per pc as opposed to drenching them.
DNR--Suz make a Corned Beef with carrots and brussel sprouts.
DSRT--one of my famous shakes. (wont do this again this week for dessert)

Day Forty-Four Feb. 14 Valentines Day

Sorry. We are closed on Sundays. Happy Valentine's Day.

This coming week, I will blog on a few topics: stretching, the dreaded protein shakes (new recipe) and Dr. Oz.

"Be kind to your Mama" (Elvis) today! Thank your parents today if they are with us here or on the other side waiting for us. It is because of them we are all here. They may not have been perfect but they loved us. And that is as perfect as we can get.

Day Forty Three

Ok, I have a new plan. Exercise twice, stretch a lot, have three protien shakes (none after dinner), eat popcorn and you lose weight. Just kidding.

Finally good news. The weigh-in is 237! What? The body is a strange thing. When you think you are losing you are not and when you think you are gaining you are not.

So I lost 4 lbs this week. So my eating habits must have a major part in this and my body is adjusting.

Day Forty, Forty-One and Forty Two Feb. 10-12

Hi again. I have been extremely busy with work. And my BP is now up again so my experiment of not taking my Diovan is not working. The issue is that I have not been hitting the gym and I have failed with the protein shakes. Katie, I love the protein shakes--TOO MUCH. I am happy to confess that I am like a dog. If the bowl of food is there, I will eat it. Suzanne witnesses this. Please know that I don't snort or lick when I eat and it is not from a doggy bowl. Anyway I learned this about myself many years ago. So when I lived alone (pre-marriage), I kept my place devoid of all temptations.

When I was in college, living in the dorms, I learned how to survive on dorm food. The first semester I gained weight, which is normal. But then as the years went on, and after working in the cafeteria, I learned that the food wasn't all that appetizing. Once you actually see how they make it, you really don't want to eat it. Imagine large vats of pee with a butter slim on the surface. Yuck! It looked like some type of chemical spill, witch's brew, or child's vomit.

So when I entered graduate School, I moved into an apartment. Finances helped keep me within a food budget, but on Sundays I would splurge---KFC or something like that. Sunday was the fun day because in the dorms, we had to fend for ourselves for dinner.

Nowadays, my choice would be to not have "goodies" in the house. Suz is a candy freak. She hides her stash all over the house. It is like living with an Candyaholic. I find candy in various drawers, cabinets, closets etc and they are generally old and stale. I think she needs to join CAA (Candy Addicts Anonymous). She claims that the kids need to have goodies but they don't eat her goodies. They eat cookies etc. Needless to say the arguments with the kids over candy, treats never cease to end.

For my part, since I started this whole thing, I have not been rummaging around for her treats so to speak. Ha Ha. At least not those treats. Ha Ha. Nor have I been partaking in her baked goods. She loves to make brownies. She goes on these brownie binges where she finds "the recipe" to end them all. And then after a couple of brownies decides to throw them all away. I think we could create a good sized college fund from all the wasted powdered chocolate, sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips. Ha Ha.

Anyway....went to the gym on Wednesday. My knees have been killing me so I have been struggling. Will go again tonight. Food wise I have been doing well. Yesterday I had the last protein shake for lunch but I was starving at dinner and had some popcorn after dinner for a snack and a small bowl of Fiber One. So I am done with the shakes. People survived for years without shakes.

Have a great weekend. I am dreading the weigh-in tomorrow.

Day Thirty-Seven through Thirty-Nine (Feb. 7-9th)

No I have not been swept up in the blizzard hitting the East Coast, eventhough that would be fun. No I have not gone to the gym over the last couple of days either. No real excuses. I have been swamped with work, but that really is not an excuse. I will be going later today. Food wise I have been behaving. I will bore you later with my list.

Day Thirty-Six Saturday Feb. 6th

241 lbs. Nothing gained and nothing lost.

NOW IT IS TIME TO GET SERIOUS! I have been lazy but I have learned out to maintain. I know how to eat good food and not gain weight. I think I have perfected it. Now it is time to move forward and jump start things.

I will be much more focused this week. I will list everything I am eating and I will start with Super Bowl Sunday.

Day Thirty Five Friday Feb. 5th

So I have missed a couple of days. Friday was not bad. I hit the gym. Not feeling so go as evidenced from yesterdays blog.

Scrambled eggs for Bfast
Sushi for lunch
And we had a group of friends over. I ate very little and had two beers and two rum and diet cokes. Suz tied on one and had a ton of fun.

Tomorrow is the weigh-in

Day Thirty-Four

Lets do a recap of the first real sales trip, out in the Midwest, where my food options and health resources are greatly compromised. And a review of how I fared. Eastern IA is truly a mecca of Midwestern cuisine.

Monday I was able to have a Panera salad for lunch as there is a Panera in Quincy IL. And I feasted on a Micky D's Cesar Salad that night with chicken. Of course I managed to purchase two small bags of Smart Food Cheese Popcorn. And as it turned out those were the last two small bags in town as evidence of my desperate attempt to locate another bag on Tuesday night, visiting every gas station/quick mart in town, only to fail in my efforts. I guess it was a sign. Ha Ha.

Tuesday morning, I was desperate and I did fall. I had an Egg McMuffin with sausage and then a sausage biscuit. Here is why I did it. I drove west for the day, into uncharted territory, on HWY 34, where I prospected (this is where I look for new potential customers and make cold calls). I had an elaborate plan to bring my Iowa Manufacturers Guide, but of course my 46 year old damaged brain forgot the book. So I had to drive blind. Now my goal was two small towns that I had highlighted on my IA map. As noted in yesterday's blog this amounted to ten hours of windshield. I did manage to pick up a few prospects.

The key here is that I knew that more than likely I would not get to lunch. Hence, the Micky's run in the morning. I knew that it would hold me over until dinner. I know excuses, excuses but in my mind eating this would be better than walking into a small town joint where everything is fried, in fact they fry so much at these joints that there is an oily residue on the tables and chairs.
When I returned to my home base, I hit Martini's, the best local restaurant, and I ordered Sushi and a small Cesar Salad. After dinner I began my feeble attempt to find my popcorn, which gladly ended in disappointment.

Now to yesterday. So I hit the fitness room; treadmill for 30 min. I tried, once again, the free Holiday Inn breakfast. They had omelets. I cant describe what it tasted like. I was so bad that after one bite it went bye, bye in the trash. So I had no breakfast Wednesday morning. Then I had a Cesar Chicken Salad for my customer lunch. It was very good. However about an hour out of town, heading back south, I had an "attack". Needles, gas bubbles and I am in the car not sure exactly what is going on. I ended up in a FastStop Gas Station in a horrendous restroom for 40 minutes. Nothing else need be said. That FastStop will now be etched in my memory forever, and I will never return to it again. Ha Ha. I think if it would not have been so cold--nature would have been a far better restroom. Ha Ha.

So I had Sushi again for dinner when I finally made it home. Suz picked up two little boxes of sushi at our local Schnuck's, which is the local family owned grocer (they aren't little $1Billion in annual revenue...it sucks when you realize you were born into the wrong family). And I had a half shake for dessert.

Day Thirty-Three

Another tough day on the road. Many issues in-between calls. 10 hours of windshield time. No exercise. To exhausted. Back was sore.

Day Thirty Two

Here I am in beautiful, eastern IA. I like it here at night -- even though the king bed @ the Holiday Inn is sunk like an elephant sleeps on the right side -- because I get a lot of work done. There is no knocking on the door or yelling. No one to tell me to turn down the volume or turn off the TV. I usually settle into HBO, log on to the computer, and type away on my emails and log my sales calls on Salesforce.

This seems like largely innocuous activity; however, there are temptations everywhere like the snack machine. But the snack machine tonight was water. I was very tempted to hit KFC for dinner, but alas I made myself go to McD's and get a Caesar salad with chicken and used the olive oil vinegarette dressing. You see, my favorite restaurant in town in closed on Mondays now. Martini's is the best place to eat and they have a Sushi appetizer which is really a meal-sized portion. So that is the dinner plan for tomorrow.

BKFST--Protien Shake (Katie, I can't help myself--Acai berry, a new one, is awesome) I will only have one more this week.
LUNCH--late Panera Greek Salad w/chicken. And yes, part of a baguette and a small portion of broccoli soup. And two shortbread Valentine Day Cookies. I KNOW I KNOW.
DINNER---McD's Caesar Salad with chicken, water. Then I had an orange for dessert. And two small bags of SmartFood popcorn.

Today was a Bad day.........take note, however. It was very hard not to go to KFC or buy a whole bag or even two of Smart Food popcorn and a couple of candy bars from the snack machine.

NO GYM too exhausted from all the driving.