Weigh In, Five, and Weekend Shenanigans.

The chart™

Morning, peeps! I didn't blog all holiday weekend but a lot of stuff sure happened.  First here's my Monday check in:

261 pounds. That means I'm exactly 60 pounds under my starting weight - a goal has been reached. :)

That also means I am a mere 40 pounds from my goal weight, and once I get there I don't plan to stop, I'm going to just have different goals beyond weight loss by that time.  I'll update my goal sheet and share that sometime soon too, but here's a fun look at my overall weight progress, both on my current push and overall. 

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving. I am going to devote a separate post to that tomorrow, since I have to hijack some awesome photos from Dawn's digital camera to spice it up.  To sum up though, it was very fun and food-friendly, too. I had some turkey, some green beans and mushrooms, and a little bit of a pretty righteous cake Dawn made for dessert. More on all that, later.

Friday, I did a short little bit of work in the morning, just for an hour or so.  I mostly popped by the office to see if it was busy enough that I needed to be there.. at the time it sure wasn't.  While I was there I learned that a co worker had some stuff which prevented really doing much for Thanksgiving.  That doesn't work for me, so after I left the office I went and got some apple cider and a couple of different types of cookies from the deli, and brought them back for the people working that day.

The Bhargavas in action.

Leslie and Parul dropped by mid day and we all went out to eat lunch at a Mongolian grill in Lynnwood.  Then the two of them went out walking with me on the good old college trail.  Thanks to their advanced gadgetry, I now know that the college walk is 5500 steps, and 2.5 miles. It was cool having the company and it was a beautiful day for a walk, sunny and dry.  As you can see in this photo, these two are just melting away!

Saturday, Dawn and I took care of some chores around the house and then she decided to go walking with me.  She's recovering from a hurt knee and bronchitis - but nonetheless, she walked the whole college trail with me, quite a trooper! I would put a picture of her up here too but generally speaking, I value my life enough not to post pictures of Dawn without her consent and signature in triplicate. Love you honey!

We went out to eat at Five in Edmonds that evening, a favorite hangout of ours. We shared some hummus and then ordered a few small pizzas for dinner.  I made a crack that it was going to be the most bread I've eaten in months.  I couldn't help but recall how we'd been at the same place several months earlier, at which time Parul ordered a pizza (he's a known pizza fiend) and made a comment about how he was breaking his food plan on purpose for the night. The parallel is amusing to me.

It's worth it:



Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella



Pear and Gorgonzola



Sunday, we started the day out with some serious laziness and it never got better for me, I didn't take a walk or do much of anything that particular day.. but, whatever. ;)

My brother and his daughter came by mid-afternoon and we all went out to grab some sushi from Blue C at the mall,  which Tessa likes.  I sneakily parked us a small distance from the restaurant so we could get in a minor little walk, haha. We rounded out the day and I made a healthy meatloaf for dinner, and Dawn made some of her righteous vegetarian soft tacos.

One other thing happened too.  I mentioned I have a holiday party coming up on 12/11 and I needed to decide what to wear, and was worried my clothes don't fit very well at the moment.  I tried on several sweaters and jackets from my closet, found out several are too big, one was too small, one is okay.

Then I tried on the button shirt that I wore for my wedding, and which I had worn to a few other holiday parties. A shirt that used to barely fit, and was super uncomfortable, tight, made my very self-conscious. Expecting it to be snug, I was utterly stunned when it floated on me. As in, I could pull it five or six inches out from my chest and stomach and the sleeves are too long.

I had to tell Dawn, "Sorry, I'm having a moment here. A 'Go Mark' moment. Hell yeah!" :D

Brined Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

I had some extra stuff kicking around last night and put together a pretty decent chicken and mushroom sauce dish.  The first recipe I found when googling sounded good so I gave it a shot, but altered it just slightly. 

I also sliced up and grilled some zucchini to go with this, it was a pretty good side. I would say asparagus would be better, personally.

OK ingredients time:

• 4 6oz. pieces of boneless chicken
• 8 oz. baby bell mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 cup splenda
• 3 tbsp yogurt margarine (softened unsalted butter would work)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

To brine + prep chicken:

1. Clean fat

2. Combine water, kosher salt, lemon juice in large bowl, soak chicken for 30 minutes.

3. Pat dry, liberally sprinkle with black pepper (pinch of salt too if you like, I skip salt whenever possible)

4. Grill chicken until done.

Mushroom and Wine Sauce:

1. Heat tbsp of the yogurt margarine/butter and a tiny bit of olive oil over medium in saute pan

2. Saute onions, mushrooms and cayenne pepper until soft (about 8 minutes for me)

3. Add wine, reduce until mostly gone
4. Add chicken broth, and very slowly add in flour + remaining tbsps margarine/butter while stirring.
5. Simmer until liquid is about 1/2 reduced.

This was a very tasty recipe. You could prep the chicken differently, or even just grill it 100% plain and serve with the sauce.  To healthy it up even more - skip the marinade, and instead of butter/margarine, use a little corn starch to thicken the sauce.

I cook a lot of brown food, and we have brown plates. NOM.

Losing weight.. and other things.



My ring :)



So, almost all of my damned clothes are getting too big. I also have a freaky story about my wedding ring.  It got too loose to wear on my ring finger a little while ago, and lately, pretty loose even on my middle finger, where I have been wearing it.

Recently, I took Dawn over to Target in Lynnwood because she wanted to buy a new pair of gloves, and we needed a few other things.  When we walked in the front of the store, immediately there was a rack of women's winter gloves.  She tried on a nifty pair of fingerless gloves that have a little part which tucks over your fingers when it gets cold, but keeps them free otherwise so you can use your phone, camera, etc. more easily.

She had me try them on too, and I thought they were ultra comfy.  Then we hung them back on the rack, and she tried another few pairs from the rack.. wasn't sure.

We spent a while longer in the store, getting some other things and Dawn looked at gloves in other places as well. I think we were there for about a half hour more or so.  She ultimately decided to go with the first pair of gloves and we went back and grabbed them, and checked out.

Then I noticed, my ring was missing. I said, "Honey.. now.. don't freak out, but... I don't have my ring. I probably just took it off at home, while doing dishes or something. Don't worry."

If there is a better way to get your wife to freak out than to tell her "Don't freak out," I don't know one.

So we got home, and I looked around the typical places my ring would be.. nope, not there.  Then Dawn unpacked her shopping bags, and her gloves and put them on.. and inside one of them, in the finger, was my wedding ring.

So basically, it came off when we tried them on initially and sat there in that glove for a half hour while we walked the store, and we just so happened to grab that exact same pair of gloves from a rack of identical gloves to buy later on, or I wouldn't have a ring any more.

YIKES.

That bad boy needs resizing, but we're going to wait until later in case (or I should say, for when) I lose more weight too.

In other news, Dawn has craft night tonight and I am all alone this evening.  I'm going to cook up a big batch of chili for upcoming lunches and such, and I have a ton of chicken breasts I need to clean and freeze, and I plan to cook a few up for dinner.

I'm finding bell peppers to be a very nice part of my diet lately and they are very colorful too.  I think I am going to marinate some chicken for a little bit and maybe do enchiladas.  Trick is - dodging the tortillas, etc.  Corn is better than flour, but I'm going to find a way around it.

It'll be more of an enchilada stir fry and side salad.. thing, I guess. Haha.

Monday, Thanksgiving Looms, and Hike Plans.

Click for Big Size™

Gooood morning. My Monday weigh-in is 264 today - down 4.5 pounds from last Monday.  I was actually down to 262.5 at my lowest, yesterday morning, kinda freaked me out a bit to me that much lower than I was on this past Monday.

I had last Thursday+Friday off, and the 4-day weekend was awesome. Leslie did my walk with me Friday, and I ate pretty responsibly at the party she held Saturday evening.  She had some of that good chili going on, and I had some veggie crisps.

Yesterday, I had some leftover turkey tacos for lunch and in the evening, grilled up a couple of low-fat burgers, chopped fresh pickle and tomato, and lettuce, and I tried some 100-calorie whole wheat sandwich thins for buns.

I didn't get out walking Saturday or Sunday - gave myself a pass for the weekend as I was caring for Dawn in her sickness, and kind of busy.  I wonder if that, combined with adding a little bread back in, accounts for me fluctuating, weight-wise.

I don't really care, still making good progress.  :)

Here's a summary of my progress at the moment, looking pretty good. Over halfway now to my goal weight of 221 - psyched to be on the downhill!  I still look in the mirror and think, "Oh look, a fat guy." I think I'll be dealing with that for quite a while, I'm not used to there being less of me yet. It's pretty good motivation if nothing else.

Now, in truth.. I'm getting a little scrawny on the arms and chest department, and I have bony hips going on, it's a little weird for me.  Definitely about time to get my ass (also bony) to the gym and see about adding a little bit of weight training to the cardio I've been so good about.  I don't need to 'buff up' or anything, but I want to be more fit so when the time comes, I am able to do stuff like running, climbing, etc.  To me, that's the real 'phase III' of my plan.

I figure I need a goal, for that.  I think I have one, too.  Since I've been walking so much, one of these weekend days when the weather is cooperating, I am going to try hiking from my place over to the Alderwood Mall, and then back.  There are 2 viable routes. The one I'd probably take to avoid waiting at a ton of lights is 3.7 miles, making it a 7.4 mile hike.  I'm guessing that's about an hour each way, at my walking pace. Call it 1 hour, fifteen minutes with wait times for lights maybe.

I'm psyched to do it - and I'm psyched that I'm psyched to do it.  I think it'll be fun.

Now, I just need a weekend day where it isn't pouring down rain or snow. We'll see. ;)

Thanksgiving is this week and that is going to be very fun, we go to my sister's house for that every year and people bring good eats.  We deep-fry a turkey, and oven roast another - there are a lot of mouths to feed!  We'll be making sure there are Dukan friendly foods there too since several of us going are on good eating plans at the moment.  It'll be interesting to see how it goes.  I know I'll eat smart and have a wonderful time.

One more thing:

My burgers from last night.  93/7 beef, sliced tomato, chopped pickle, 100 calorie whole wheat sandwich thins, mustard, Heinz reduced-fat ketchup.

Nom nom. About 350 calories, with the bun in.

Friday lunch+ walkin' the trail.

Being on vacation these last 2 days has been pretty nice, we didn't do much but the chill time has been refreshing.  Yesterday I took a nice roundabout walk to get to the store and pick some stuff up for Dawn, about 40 minutes.

Today, Leslie dropped by early in the day and we all went out to lunch and to Target to get some stuff for tomorrow.  We wound up over at Red Robin and Leslie promptly snagged a nutritional menu.

The two items there I have been getting when I go are the Ensenada Chicken Platter, and the sandwich you see here - their 'simply grilled chicken sandwich' - with a lettuce wrap.  About 350 calories in this thing, and another 32 in the steamed broccoli I had as a side dish.  Sodium, though, is 906.  Pretty steep! The platter, double that. Now mind you, that'd be if you included some of the stuff I don't eat like sauces, bun, etc.  Still, pretty much you are gonna get more sodium when you eat out.

The average burger on the menu? 1100-1300 calories. And that's not even including fries, fatty dipping sauces, etc.

Yikes.

That's as many calories as I eat in a whole day, just in a burger.

We hit target and walked around a bit, got some new hot pads and oven mitts, and Dawn and I scored some purple t-shirts to wear to the Saints Row party Leslie and Parul are throwing tomorrow. We're gonna represent. ;)

When we got back, Leslie and I hit the trail and did the 2+ mile walk around EdCC. I was afraid the leaves might have fallen all over the trail and would be a walking hazard, but it wasn't too bad... not sure if they keep the trail maintained year round or not.

I got this pretty snazzy shot of the clouds while we were out and about today.  It was supposed to SNOW a little today but it didn't happen.  In fact the sun was out - but it was cold. Anyway, here you go, and now I am off to prep some chicken to marinade for grilling tonight.  Dawn has been recovering from bronchitis too so we're pretty much zonked in the living room most of the time.

Vacation Time

Hmm.. what to write about...

Oh hello there.

I didn't write a blog post yesterday. I was a busy dude, getting ready to go on vacation, since I have today and tomorrow off.  I've been getting in plenty of walking this week and keeping a good eye on the diet. Things are going well.

Can't explain why but I have dropped a pound or so almost every day this week since Monday. The body is a mysterious thing when you are in the midst of weight loss.. sometimes it cooperates, sometimes not. Looks like this week is a loss week for sure.

Next week is Thanksgiving. I need to come up with something to cook and bring to my sister's place which is "Mark friendly" - turkey will be fine of course. I'm looking forward to it.. we always have a very nice family dinner. :)

We were going to spend today and tomorrow taking care of holiday gift shopping and stuff like that.. but unfortunately, Dawn has come down with bronchitis, so she's couch bound for the moment recovering. I'll get plenty of time to chill out and write, play some games, etc.  The weather outside sucks, so I am gonna be Mr. Treadmill and some other exercise at home today and tomorrow, seems like.

We also made some pretty awesome Thanksgiving cookies from Pilsbury. Well by 'made' I mean 'put in the oven for 10 minutes.'

I'm feeling very comfortable on my weight loss program at this point.. I have enough knowledge now about how to be smart when shopping and pick healthier items, and enough experience cooking that I am making all of my own meals and sticking to things very well. 

Just this week I am struggling with finding anything to really post about here - so I might take a few days off from it for the weekend. Got some fun stuff coming up. :)

Okbai.

Beltin' Tuesday in the face.

Nothing major to talk about today.. I'm feeling pleasantly brain dead to be honest! Down another pound this morning, for some reason this last week my body has been shedding them like crazy.  I'm not going to complain!  I had some tasty chicken and asparagus for dinner last night, some chili for lunch and some yogurt and oat bran earlier.

I do have one nice thing to report on I guess - I had to get a new belt this past weekend, my old one has been getting looser and looser, I even punched a new hole in it a while back to get it tighter.  Moving down a belt size is definitely an awesome feeling.  Most of my spare weight is around the middle, after all.

Once I get to wear a belt (and pants) at my actual waistline, I'm gonna flip out, I think. It's been so long since I could do that, I don't even remember.  I just bought pants for work a month or two ago and they are already getting too big.. ack! I guess it's a good problem.

Uhhh.. since I got nothin' else, here is a picture of where a belt is supposed to go - and where it really goes when you are a Fat Guy.

Monday weigh-in, the big Five-Oh, and German Chow.



Click for Ze Big Version

 Goood morning, peoples. I was a little too busy (and then too preoccupied) to blog over the weekend.  Instead, I did something else - passed the 50 pounds lost milestone on my diet! Passed it and never looked back.  My official (Well, you know, as official as a weigh-in which consists of me and a scale at 6:45am can be) weight this morning was 268.1.  I had to check it about three times, I was so psyched.

Numbers do not lie.

To recap some numbers, since this is a numbers-y post, that means I have come down a total of 52.9lb, losing a cool 6.4 pounds this last week.  That's one of my biggest loss weeks since the start of this change, probably motivated by knowing I cheated the week before.  In the longer-haul, that puts my overall total loss at 71.9lb as you can see on this amazing Markmade™ chart.

While I will be the first person to tell anyone bored enough to listen that your weight on a scale is but one of many things which matter when losing weight and getting healthier, I think that's pretty damned awesome. :)

This weekend I did something I would have never even considered a year ago.  Dawn went off to Seattle to a photo class, and I knew we had a wedding reception (Congrats again Ted + Amy!) that night.  We didn't have a card yet... so I decided I'd just head out the door and walk to the store. Not the store 6 blocks down either, but the one about 1.5 miles from home.  After I got to the store and obtained cards: MISSION SUCCESS! -- I found it was pouring rain. So I walked 1.5 miles home in the pouring rain.

Guess I'll have a good story to tell them young whippersnappers some day. "When I was your age..."

Last night, Dawn and I did some grocery shopping and stopped at that same store when we finished up and I said, "I think I am gonna just have you leave me here, and I'll walk home. Yep, I'm serious." And off I went. :)

Amazing what you can do when you start to feel better.



Rollin' em up..



In other news, Christmas is just around the corner, about 6 weeks now. We always have some people over, a nice family and friends feast. That means this year, those coming to my place for Xmas chow get to eat food prepared by a vegetarian and a high-protein, low-fat diet enthusiast!

Dawn has decided in the wake of a kick-ass trip to Leavenworth this August that we're making German food for people this holiday.


Cookin 'ems!



She tried a few experimental recipes tonight as practice, and I was absolutely psyched by the results. Sure.. a little off-plan for me, but so tasty. And it's for the sake of the holidays.. so it's OK, right? Right?



She made some sauteed red cabbage with balsamic vinegar,  some spaetzle (egg noodle pasta) with meatless meatballs and mushroom sauce (Yes we used 98% fat free soup!), and a Rouladen (German meat-roll up) which I later labelled a meat zeppelin.  Oh, it was fantastic.  Thinly-pounded round steak brushed with Dijon mustard, diced onion, paprika + spices, and a few strips of turkey bacon, rolled up, cooked in a pan and served with gravy.

Yeah, I am not giving away more since this is an Xmas thing for peeps this year, but I had to share a few pix.  The cabbage was also pretty good but we think we'll try another recipe for that.

Anyway - in honor of passing the 50 pounds lost waypoint, I thought I'd make a little picture by way of celebration. So, here are 50 little pixel Marks. ;)

Friday check in, and some thanks.



Prik King. Spicy! Tasty. Silly name.

 Howdy, peeps. It's Friday, the wind is blowing, and it's pretty gross outside. Nevertheless, I took 3 walks today, since I got here early enough to sneak in a bonus.  I went down to Noppakao thai for lunch to meet Leslie and she promptly told me she did 160 minutes of exercise today.  That woman is kicking ass!

This weekend marks the first fall storm really, and it's looking to be a nasty one. I'm going to have to shift to more indoor exercise myself, so we'll just see what I can figure out.

I'm getting pretty damn close to a milestone in my diet.  Every day is a new challenge for me and I like to look at it that way.  Pretty soon, I am going to move into what I am starting to think of as 'phase 2.5' of my diet, where I will introduce some new exercise activity, etc.  I'm definitely feeling energetic enough for it and it's exciting to be there.

What is most important to me is not looking skinnier, but feeling better, and watching my healthy.  Diabetes runs in my family and I do not have it, and losing the pounds is a pretty good way to help lower the chances I will develop it at some point.  Have to take care of my heart, too, as troubles in that area can come from weight problems too.. already I am looking at pictures even from earlier this year going, "Wow. I can't believe I didn't make a more serious effort to get healthier before this."

So back to my milestone comment. Here's a little picture->

The real start of my uphill struggle was almost 2 years ago at 340 pounds.  I was only down to 321 after over a year and a half of going to the gym halfheartedly and walking occasionally.

At this point - I've lost an amazing (to me) 68 pounds, and 49 has come off just since the end of August, and the start of me taking this seriously.  I'm about to hit my 50 pound milestone, and that makes me feel awesome, and a bit emotional.

Thanks again to anyone who reads this blog, and to my friends and family who have been pretty awesome support so far.  I don't really think I could have done this without you folks.  I've even had support at work, a few compliments here and there, people asking about my diet, and my friend Trudi does 2 walks with me most work days.  She says we'll be jogging in no time. We'll see. ;)

Most importantly thanks to my lovely wife, Dawn, who has been utterly supportive and helped me make good food choices for quite some time now.  You're awesome, honey!

I'm lucky to have such a fantastic bunch of people in my life. :)

Back on track + Talkin' about fats.

<- So there's my good news this morning, back on track and have tossed the extra weight I gained as a special bonus for last week's minor cheating adventures.  Excuse me while I engage in some minor self-congratulation:

"Self, good work."
"Oh! Why, Thank me!"
"I'm welcome! Keep it up."
"I've got a deal."

Now that that is out of my system - literally - I'm pushing on towards my next mini-goal of 260 pounds. I would like to see that happen by the end of November so I have some work to do.  I found a pretty killer new weapon in my battle of Mark vs. Mark this week though, namely Fat Free cheeses.  I didn't realize how much I was missing cheese in my flavors while cooking, and it is strangely difficult to FIND fat-free cheese at the store.

Most places have fat free cream cheese, but I had to go to Safeway to find fat-free shredded cheddar cheese, and Albertson's to find fat-free mozzarella cheese.  Is it really that rare for people to want to buy it? I guess it must be.  Most store have 'light' versions of products - but that is a treacherous food label.  A lot of times a 'light' version of a food product replaces what they had to remove with something else - and often, the replacement is no better for you.

You can't eat a 100% fat-free diet anyway, long term.  It's actually quite bad for you - fats are a natural part of our diet.  The trick is actually WHICH fats you eat.  I've read up about this in all sorts of places, and having a little basic knowledge helps me pick healthier things to eat now with just a quick glance at any product's nutrition label.

Dietary knowledge changes frequently - we're still trying to figure it all out, after all.  I'm also not a qualified nutritionist but I think these basic facts are generally agreed upon by people who are:

Trans Fats: Avoid these completely, if you can. 

Saturated Fats: Eat in moderation. It's not good for you, but in small amounts, normal.

Unsaturated Fats: You need these as part of a nutrition balance. They can help with cholesterol, etc. You'll see these as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Mono is slightly better for you.

Omega-3 fatty acids: Basically, the fat you get from fish.  These are very good for you. They help with cholesterol, heart disease risk, and are an anti-inflammatory. That's why some doctors want you to take fish-oil pills when your joints ache, etc.

I've read from several places that about 25% to 33% of your foods should contain 'good' fats. So, trimming the bad stuff is important.. but getting the good stuff is too.  It helps with your 'bad' cholesterol, your skin, and all sort of other useful things.

Next time you peek at something you love to buy - peek next to it and see if there's a version which is better for you. Odds are, it costs slightly more - tastes slightly different - but you'd get used to both in no time if you went that way.

Also of you were like I was before starting to change my ways, you might not know the proper way to interpret food labels.  Go anywhere on the internet and you'll see a million versions of the following. I think it is a pretty good basic guide.

The serving size is pretty important - don't overlook that.  A lot of products, people will buy and eat the whole package/container of something thinking it is healthy without noticing that the nutrient label says there are '2.5 servings' per container.  If that's the case.. you have to multiply the whole nutrition label 2.5 times.

Here is an excellent link with information about food labels from the FDA.  The chart at the bottom is particularly interesting, it can help you interpret what a 'light' or 'reduced sodium' label on a package means, etc.

If this seems like a lot to know - it is. But, once you are armed with some basic food knowledge, you can make better choices.

I'll also share this from personal experience - don't agonize over this all day when you shop either. Just be smart and consider making a few small changes to start out.

That said, here's a comparison I made of Kraft Shredded cheeses.. the mild made with 2% milk versus the fat-free stuff.  Remember... 5% or less is 'low' and 20% or more is 'high' when reading these.

Chicken + Mozzarella w/Tomato Sauce

So I found a treasure at the store, finally... fat-free mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.  Surprisingly tough to locate.. Safeway had the cheddar, Albertson's had the mozzarella.

Naturally I was all, "Oh snap. I can cook something awesome with these.. I'm allowed fat-free dairy."

Then I said.. "Chicken Parm. It has to be done."

I made an oat-bran based breading and some home-made simple tomato sauce, and then sauteed up some zucchini on the side.  For Dawn I cooked up some Trader Joe's "meatless meatballs" in the oven, since she is a Veggiesaurus.

This was so tasty. A good start towards curing my food boredom!

           Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken - skinless, boneless, cut into tenders
• 15oz can low-sodium tomato sauce
• 1 small tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• About 4 tbsp oat bran (or breading)
• salt + pepper
• 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 cup water
• Small bit of olive oil

Tomato, Onion and Garlic Sauce:

1. In a saucepan, saute the onion + garlic with a tiny bit of olive oil, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the diced tomato, saute another minute

3. Add tomato sauce, 1 cup water, pinch of salt if desired, and oregano

4. Simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes, uncovered, to thicken.

Chicken 'parmesan':

1. Rinse + pat dry chicken tenders w/paper towel
2. In a bowl, combine oat bran, corn starch, pinch of salt + pepper
3. Lightly dredge chicken in breading. (Take it easy, we're not deep frying here)
4. In a large skillet, brown the chicken over medium heat until cooked, about 4-5 minutes per side.

Zucchini side dish:

1. Put a tiny amount of olive oil in a saute pan, heat to medium
2. Add slices of zucchini

3. Lightly sprinkle some salt, pepper, or other herbs

4. Saute for just a couple of minutes. Don't overcook.

Serve chicken with sauce over the top, sprinkle on fat-free mozzarella (or a cheese of your choice).

Nom nom nom

I am a broken toaster.

Me in 2010... unbelievably uncomfortable.

You know that feeling you get when you correct something which has been bugging you for a very long time, and then you say to yourself, "Why the hell didn't I do that earlier? It's so much better now!" -- that is a great feeling.  It can come from something tiny - like replacing an appliance which has not worked for a year, and all of a sudden you have a new one.

You think to yourself, "I feel a bit foolish for waiting this long to correct that."

I found a picture of myself from 2006 yesterday while digging around in some old files. I'll save it for later, but it I believe it shows me at my heaviest.  I don't know a scale number, but you can really see it in that picture.  I'm frankly too embarassed by it to put it here at the moment.

I dug up a journal I started writing in January 2010 when Joanne and I first went to the gym.  Because of that, I know that I weighed 340lb. at that time.  That was 65.5lb ago for me at this point.  It's a little incredible to think about, for me.  I sat and looked at that pic I found and I was embarrassed by it.  A little ashamed. 

Then I moved past all of that, and I decided I have about that much more to lose, still, too - and this showed me it can happen.  If I lost 65+ pounds, I can certainly lose another.

I think it is only when we falter that we get to discover our ability to self-correct.

Maybe you have never been seriously overweight, but it brings with it a whole host of personal issues that you deal with on a daily basis.  Just like you get used to a toaster which doesn't quite work right, but you don't bother replacing it for years, you can get used to living in a body that isn't working properly and you adapt to the inconveniences, discomforts, and embarrassment it brings.  When you finally take action and move to repair it - you definitely say to yourself, "Why.. why... why... didn't I just do this a long time ago!"

Table.. digging in.. must.. smile.. rrrrrr..

If you're reading this and you've never been seriously overweight, you might not know that larger people are constantly dealing with some of this stuff.  And, if you have been there - I bet you will be nodding your head along some of what I am about to illustrate.

Here are just a few of the things which you deal with in day to day life as an overweight individual.  By no means is this a complete list, just off the top of my head.

1. Clothing is something you battle. Constantly:

• You wear big clothes - but buy them even bigger than you need, because you think it can help hide your shape and they are more comfortable.
• Shirts ride up. Shirts with buttons near the collar come open, have to be redone all day.
• When you do tuck a shirt in, it comes untucked.  All the time. You tuck it in almost every time you stand up.
• Pants don't fit - so, you wear them fastened under the belly, not at the waist. Legs are too big or long thanks to that. You're constantly pulling them up.
• Belts are uncomfortable. They dig into you, especially buckles when you sit.
• Can't shop at normal stores.  So, clothing can get spendy, and is rather limited.  Basically, your clothing is something you struggle with every day.

2. Seating was not built for you.

• Chairs with arms on them pinch your hips and sides.
• Booths at restaurants, especially with immobile tables, are too small.
• Riding on a bus or plane is uncomfortable.  On a plane, I had to ask for seat belt extenders.
• Going someplace like a sports stadium, good luck fitting in seats. Or concert halls. Etc.
• Even if you get comfortable at first.. often, just sitting  for a long period is uncomfortable.

 3. Difficult to sleep - for me anyway. I would lay on back, and feel weight on lungs. So I'd sleep on my side, and fidget a lot. It was just tough to get and stay comfortable.

4. Uncomfortable in public - for example at movie theaters.  The seats would be too narrow or small.  I'd sit next to strangers and constantly be aware of my size, and worry that I was brushing against them.  Moving through smaller spaces like between cars parked in a lot is tougher, etc.

 5. Driving and riding in cars - some more than others.. as a tall guy anyway it is a challenge. As a chubby tall guy, it can be downright uncomfortable.. long car or bus trips are agonizing.

I won't go on, because there are just too many examples.  I don't think it is too dramatic to say that being very overweight is very like being in a small personal hell most of the time.

  

So... if replacing a broken toaster makes you feel like you should have taken action sooner - it's nothing compared to repairing yourself.  I've been on a journey for nearly 2 years to try to lose weight, but only really found my true focus for it a couple of months ago.  In just that short amount of time, I feel immeasurably better, more confident, and less embarrassed by myself.

If you are like me, and you know you have a weight issue but don't think you can do something about it, or you 'plan' to do something about it later.. just get going. Stop making excuses. Approach it with the knowledge that you have to change your lifestyle - but the reward will be an end to everything I just mentioned above, and a renewed sense of self purpose and confidence.

Yeah, it's going to suck, and be incredibly hard to stick to a changed food plan, and exercise.  But that is just what ANY addict goes through when going cold turkey.  Here, I was addicted to bad food, overeating, sitting around and being lazy.  When I finallywanted a change bad enough I made it and, wow -- I feel awesome, and better every day.

Makes me want to tell everyone...

Fix the damned toaster! ;)

And the fallen shall rise.. temporarily.

Click for the big version.

So, last week was quite a challenge for me.  To put it mildly.  It was a week filled with fun stuff, but also with a bit of cheating on my diet for the first time.

Part of my blog here is to cop to that - and I did. I gave myself a pass when I took Dawn out to dinner for her birthday and it was the first of several times I cheated on the food plan this week.  I had a little birthday cake, a handful of Cheetos, and I even had a fast-food burger Sunday (though, no cheese, etc.. pretty plain.)

Probably to me - the worst cheat though is I didn't get a walk in on Saturday.  I just didn't have enough time early in the day (though I busted ass doing tons of house chores the evening before and that morning, so I dud burn some calories).  And the day was a long one filled with company, no real time to get it in there.

As you can see on the grand old chart, there were predictable consequences to this stuff, I put a pound on this week.  A chart that just goes down is boring anyway, right?

Right?

Yeah, OK. I can't but that either, and I'm the one selling it. ;)

So this week is 'get back on track' week for me.  I'm not worried about last week, because it gave me a chance to re-evaluate my goals, re-examine my behavior and tell myself, "Well, well, well. You sort of screwed that up there, dude. Way to go. Now, can we please get back to being responsible?"

I did get in a very nice long walk Sunday, I took some mail Dawn had down to the post office on foot, then walked over and walked the college trail back, and that felt really great.  It's getting mighty cold outside, in the mid thirties these past few mornings.. I'm not seeing many people out on the trail now.  Soon it will just be me and my headphones.

Mongolian Death Knell

Okbai.

The Mongolian Grill that Leslie and I go to for lunch every Friday by Juanita Beach Park has closed. They had a sign  up Friday which basically said:

HI CUSTOMERS. OUR LEASE EXPIRED. OKBAI.

So, we went over to Noppakao which is right there and has excellent Thai food. We love Noppakao anyway so not the end of the world, but it was a surprise.

Thai food is a good healthy eating choice - lots of stir fried veggies and proteins, and you can get it without rice and noodles if you want to stay on the healthy path.

I went for the "Heavenly Oyster Whatever" (OK, I forget the name) - but basically, it is a stir fry with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and chicken, and I asked for extra chicken.  3 star, which for them isn't too deadly.

It's delicious. Here you go.

Heavenly Oyster Sauce Whatever - in all its glory.



Zooming in so you can be all, "Oh, look. A zoomed in shot."


Well, this has inspired me a bit, too. I recently determined I am BORED of most of the food I am cooking lately and need to try somethings new. So, I think I will try and figure out how to replicate the dish above. How hard can it be, after all?

The topic of chili came up again today too - and then soup.  I have to tell you. I am no great lover of soup, and I plan to wage full-on war against it in a future post.

Oh, soup. You are going down.

Down to Chinatown.

WHATEVER THAT EVEN MEANS.  >: |

Cheaters never prosper.

I kind of miss you, but, stay away.

I've been on my diet.. well, let's call it a food plan.. since August 29th. It's near the end of the 9th week now, and for the first time this week I really cheated on the diet.

I knew it was going to happen at some point, I'm only human.  With that in mind, I'd "pre-planned" a few cheats. Specifically, my anniversary (already done, and only minor) - and then Halloween, and birthday for Dawn, and myself.

This week I had a couple of cupcakes, dinner which involved cheese and bread (still on the 'no' list in this phase of Dukan) - and a couple pieces of Halloween candy.  I also had a little peanut butter on a slice of toast yesterday afternoon just to go, 'Whee, I did this.'

I guess pre-planning to cheat could be called something else - namely, testing yourself. You could also call it self-sabotage and not be wrong.  I wanted to know if my willpower was better, so, we'll see after this week.

My reward for breaking the food plan this week a few times has been no weight loss all week, and I put a pound back on. That's not the end of the world but it made me feel very irritated.  I consider that a good thing. ;)

Basically, I have something going on here and what it boils down to is a combination of three things.

1. I'm getting a little bored of my regiment of the same/similar foods lately. I need to find some new stuff to cook.

2. My weight loss has slowed down.  Since it slowed, I have caught myself thinking, "Well that's it, it's gonna just slow more and at some point stop. Then probably go back up." Which is so not true, of course, if I keep working on it.

3. I'm really feeling the huge journey remaining from my weight now down to the goal.  I think part of this comes from hearing other people I know making all sorts of plans to do things I am not ready for yet.  Picturing myself doing them is fun, but I have a lot of work to do.

It is a cliche to say it but, this sort of personal change is a marathon, not a sprint.  I am past the 'easy' part of it now and into the long, dedicated remainder of the marathon and it is a bit tough.  Fortunately I have quite a bit of support from people that I know and that is awesome.

Anyway, just kind of rambling there.

Tomorrow we have a bowling shindig for Dawn's birthday, and not much up Sunday. It'll give me a chance to be active and on Sunday, I'm planning to get in some extra exercise, see if I can't atone for the food evils of the week a little bit.

And now, a picture:

No more cheating... or it's time for the alligators with guns.

Girardi's Osteria

Wednesday was Dawn's birthday and we went out to eat at Girardi's Osteria down in Edmonds.  We've been there once before, this year on Valentine's day.  This place is a really awesome Italian eatery, with THE best bruschetta.

Eating out is definitely a challenge in the road to weight loss, but not an insurmountable challenge.  I did have a little bit of the bruschetta, but a modest amount.  This is the first time I have had bread of any kind since August this year.

I asked Dawn, "Is it weird that I haven't had bread for several months?"  She thought it was.  So do I.  It was delicious but I think I am gonna keep that off the menu for the time being regardless - it was a special occasion.

Dawn had some awesome butternut squash ravioli for dinner.  I had grilled coho salmon with veggies (Asparagus, zucchini, cauliflower, green beans, peppers, carrots). My dinner came with polenta too, I shared that with Dawn - it was damned delicious.

I ate too much. I'll admit it.  I commented, "This is the first time I have felt this overly full in months. I know I used to do this all the time, eat until I was uncomfortably full. All the time."  So, the changes are making themselves known now.  I had most of the veggies boxed up and will have them with lunch tomorrow!

I had an extra pound on the scale this morning thanks to this adventure, but it was a happily earned one, haha.

On another note - I wrote, again. NaNoWriMo is in swing, I felt the tug. I have the groundwork for 2 books outlined, and I wrote part of a chapter today in my few spare moments.  I want to really dig into it in the next few days so, these blog posts are gonna get skinnier too.

I guess that's fitting.

Here are some pix from tonight. Enjoy. Happy birthday Dawn! :)

Bruschetta - asagio cheese, aged balsamic, capers, olives, tomato.. mmmm.

My scrumptious dinner. This restaurant is really good.

Halloween

Halloween fell on a Monday this year - and man, were there a lot of examples of junk food lying around the office.  We had a staff costume contest, pumpkin carving contest (I won 1st place!), and they fed people. But of course, it was pizza, and candy, and cupcakes, etc.  They bought WAY too much also.. here's a pic of the cupcakes, there are still this many left, and if you work in an office you know how rapidly free food usually vanishes.  Everyone was sick of them, hah.

I did the only responsible thing as a steadfast dieter and current weight-loss junkie: I went out to lunch with Leslie instead last Friday during the Halloween pizza party.

Then we get to Monday, and actual Halloween.  I brought a couple of these cupcakes home, and I had one for dessert, as well as a couple of little candy bars from out Halloween bucket, after the kiddos stopped coming by.

Cheat! Cheat! Cheat! ZOMG!

Well sure, technically. But a planned one, and that's what matters.  I don't even think I really enjoyed it - the cupcake made my sweat a bit, not used to eating sugar at all.  It made for a decent willpower test though.  Got it out of my system and back on track - next hurdle will be Thanksgiving.  I'm already scheming to bring over a healthy side-dish!

It's been foggy here lately too, and I saw the coolest spider web while out walking mid-morning near work:

There's one other thing on my plate this month - so to speak - and that is the arrival of the infamous NaNoWriMo. Sounds like an Eskimo village - but it's the National Novel Writing Month.  I know many people who are getting in on this madness and I think I shall become one of them.  I've always wanted to write a book - and I've always written smaller things, and had tons of ideas.

It might mean my blogging takes a shorter turn here until we clear November, but I am gonna still put these up.  Multitasking!

OK, over and out. :)

Oh yeah one final pic! Dawn and I as Alice and the Mad Hatter!