Saturday is really mild

290 days

279.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 279.0 (pounds left: 0.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 86.5)

___________________________________________________________

Slept late, on purpose

Weighed in at 8:30am just to be timely, but the number can't be right. Probably yesterday's was also an anomaly. 280 to 277 to 279.5? Sounds a little weird, right? I'm writing this at 8:45am. Then I'm going to work out for a while. I may re-weigh. We'll see.

Breakfast

I had a small bowl of red raspberry granola and flax with soy milk, a toasted half Ezekiel muffin with Nutella and a cup of coffee.

Lunch?

More like "lunge." I had all I could do to avoid lunging headlong into the Halloween candy bowl. Up to this point, I've managed to overcome the urge, in spite of Robin's already accusing me of having done it.

I have, however, been munching on Z-crackers (Keith & Pam brought us another carton) and roasted pumpkin seeds from cutting our pumpkin this morning.

I ate my obligatory one of each thing in the Halloween bowl and we're going out to NYC for dinner at Rosa Mexicano and then we're seeing the Philharmonic!

At Rosa Mexicano we had some guacamole, followed by an empanada appetizer as my dinner with a small bowl of chorizo chili. We had sant'gria and afterward, we had coffee. Mine had some stuff in it.

When we got back to Syosset, we went to Bagel Boss and got dessert to have with tea while we watched the rest of the game. Mine was a black-and-white. So much for being good this week.

Friday is mild but overcast

291 days

277.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 279.0 (pounds left: -2.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 83.5)

___________________________________________________________

This is Friday, written on Saturday

Day five of the "Richie's little meals started out great. Exercise and all, even a run down the block, which the weather had curtailed for much of the week. Waking up to a loss of three pounds wasn't bad either, even if it might be hard to sustain. I checked it three times.

Written on Saturday because today, i.e., Friday, went by too fast to even try to do all those little meals.

8:15am

The new oatmeal, with the same old stuff on it, cinnamon, flax and honey.

10:30am

A half grapefruit.

12:30pm

Two hot dogs on the grill with mustard, ketchup and relish.

2:00pm

A pear.

6:30pm

Dinner. There was just no time for tea today. We went out to Mama Theresa's. I had an eggplant roll and a grilled chicken salad with a glass of Chianti. I drank a few glasses of water but way too much bread and butter.

Before popping off to sleep after picking up Alex at nearly 1:00am, I also had a raspberry ice from the freezer (where else would ice be?).

Thursday is overcast and cool

292 days

280.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 279.0 (pounds left: 1.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 86.5)

___________________________________________________________

Slight loss again

Day four of the "Richie's little meals" experiment. Since beginning, I've lost a pound each day (after first going up by a pound). Seems to be pretty good so far. I don't feel hungry. But I got up late enough this morning, after last night's horrifying Yankee defeat, to bypass the stationary bike until later this afternoon.

8:30am

Bacon-egg-and-swiss-on-a-roll-salt-and-pepper-bacon-very-well-done-please sandwich. It's the culinary zenith of my week, week in and week out. I also had Gjuice to wash down my meds and coffee.

10:30am

Had a white chocolate raspberry yogurt with Cool Whip. Big glass of water, then another.

12:00pm

Had a nice salad, with the works.

3:45pm

Had a combined tea and fruit snack. Had a small bowl of flax with soy milk. Another few big glasses of water.

6:30pm

The rest of the salad, followed by barbequed boneless chicken thighs with oven roasted potatoes.

Still soaking wet on Wednesday

293 days

281.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 279.0 (pounds left: 2.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.5)

___________________________________________________________

Slight loss

Day three of the "Richie's little meals" experiment. The day began by discovering that sometime during the night, a bag of Deli Flats had fallen off the top of the refrigerator in the kitchen and Oliver was eating them as we walked in. What a character.

In the meantime, Richie's "little meals" idea marches on.

8:30am

Bowl of Kashi. No fruit.

10:50am

Half grapefruit.

12:00pm

The weekly Veggie Delite from Subway, this time with a bag of baked chips, which comes in at nearly 60 less Calories.

2:00pm

Pear, cut in sections.

4:00pm

High Tea, with toasted baguette and Apricot preserves.

7:00pm

Dinner at home before the dreadful World Series game, but dinner was nice. A great salad (leftover from the Monday night), chicken, pasta with eggplant and an Amy's all-natural pizza.

Soaking wet Tuesday

294 days

282.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 279.0 (pounds left: 3.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 88.5)

___________________________________________________________

Slight gain

Since my morning was somewhat less than stellar, I'm guessing that I really didn't gain a pound. But I guess I'll have to wait until the spirit moves me to learn the truth.

In the meantime, Richie's "little meals" idea marches on.

8:30am

Half a grapefruit and the two remaining slivers of onion rye, toasted. One had a sliver of butter. The other had a reheated meatball, some sauce and a little grated cheese. I needed something more substantial than just a half a grapefruit to get things moving. The juice from that half powered my meds down and my second cup of coffee followed me to the office.

11:00am

Watermelon yogurt with Cool Whip, water. Some watermelon slices.

12:45pm

Wonderful spicy black bean burger with red onion, artichoke heart, relish and ketchup. More water.

3:15pm

Pear, cut in sections.

5:00pm

High Tea, with a frozen slice of pizza and another little chunk of baguette while I prepared dinner for Oliver.

7:40pm

Dinner out with the boys. One regular slice, one campagnola (with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes) and a bottle of water.

Monday, beautiful Monday

295 days

281.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 279.0 (pounds left: 2.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.5)

___________________________________________________________

Slight drop and change of routine

Another great night's sleep. Slept until nearly 7:30am after staying up late watching the Yankees remove the monkey from their back. Now I need to get rid of all of mine.

I wanted to weigh on time so I only did the stretches first. At 10:15am I did the calisthenics, push-ups and stuff like that. Later, around noon, I did the basement machine and crunches. So I spread the workout over the day, and I tried Richie's "little meals" idea.

8:30am

Half a grapefruit and half an Ezekiel muffin, toasted with almond butter. Gjuice to wash the medicines down and a cup of coffee to take down to work.

10:30am

Yogurt with Cool Whip after the living room routine.

12:00pm

Another half grapefruit. Also took one leftover meatball and some sauce and some grated parmesan cheese and made a sandwich of it on Deli Flats.

2:00pm

A sliced pear after my shower.

4:00pm

Time for tea, according to Freddie. Tea with a piece of baguette toasted.

7:00pm

Salad, veal chops, mustard, sweet potatoes. A small glass of red wine.

Sunny, dry and much cooler

296 days

281.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 1.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 88.0)
• Average weight for the week: 280.9

___________________________________________________________

Holding steady, weighing late

Another great night's sleep. Didn't get out of bed until nearly 8:00am. Didn't finish working out, showering and weigh-in until 11:30am, so it probably contains some inaccuracy.

Breakfast

A slice of onion rye toast with apricot jam and low-fat cream cheese. Two Kashi blueberry waffles with a sliver of butter and syrup. Gjuice with meds (which I totally forgot yesterday) and coffee.

Dinner

We made spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. We ate sensible portions and gave the rest to Oliver (but no garlic bread for him!). There was no dessert. At some point during the game, I made myself an almond butter-and-Nutella sandwich on Deli Flats. I drank a bunch of glasses of water.

Warm and windy and rainy

297 days

281.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 1.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 88.0)

___________________________________________________________

Back across, knowingly

At least I had a good sleep. I knew, after the way I ate yesterday, that there was no way I wouldn't gain a pound or two.

Breakfast

I had my usual Saturday half Ezekiel, but I added two Kashi Go-Lean blueberry waffles with lite syrup to the mix this morning.

Lunch

A sardine sandwich on a Deli Flat with a slice of red onion and an artichoke heart, a bowl of Won-Ton soup and a spicy tuna roll.

Dinner

We went out to The Orient in a group of eight people. We had soup, chicken dumplings, crystal shrimp dumplings, chicken soong, chicken with ginger and scallions, duck chow fun and shrimp with broccoli in oyster sauce. Later, we came home and shared pastries and watched "Johnny Dangerously."

Up early, really dark out

298 days

279.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: -0.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 86.0)

___________________________________________________________

Not this time...

But it could easily have happened. Good workout. Lots of sweat.

Breakfast

Oatmeal with honey, cinnamon and flax.

After breakfast, I drove to Great Neck to have some stitches removed. On the way home, I went grocery shopping and then came home and had a second breakfast (late morning snack? early lunch?) of eggs, toast, bacon and sausage. I went to hell in a hat basket, or whatever the phrase is. Sure felt good, for about a half hour. Then my stomach began to ache.

Lunch

Lunch was really not lunch. It was around 2:30pm and consisted of a small bowl of vegetarian chili with shredded parmesan cheese.

Dinner

Dinner was not really dinner either. We went to the movies with Ann and Bob and I had a black bean burger thing at the theatre after the movie. Robin and I shared an iced tea and I also had a Kashi Go-Lean Crunch bar and I tried a weird chocolate-peanut butter thing that was 147 calories but was big and crunchy enough to feel like 1000.

All in all, way too much to eat.

Thursday begins shrouded in a light fog

299 days

279.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: -0.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 86.0)

___________________________________________________________

And crossed back yet again!

Yet another weird weight fluctuation. This is the widest flip yet: four pounds. Perhaps it's time to look at a new scale? Either way, I'll take it, especially after what I consumed yesterday.

Breakfast

A friend called early this morning to invite me out to breakfast. Would I forgo my Thursday standard? I did. We went to a recently opened diner and I had essentially the same thing, but on a plate with crispy home fries (those'll probably send the scale back up tomorrow morning).

Lunch

Nice big salad. Some cheese sprinkled on top. Huge glass of water.

Dinner

A salad and two reheated slices of pizza. While cooking Robin's omelet, I had two slices of Jarlsberg Light cheese rolled around leftover pieces of Nova. After dinner, I also had a slice of onion rye with cream cheese, purely out of aggravation as I watched the Yankees dig themselves a hole and then climb up and over, only to get buried again and force the ALCS back to the Bronx Saturday night, where I may likely have a ticket and the forecast is for humidity and rain...lots and lots of it.

No...not out of the woods just yet

300 days

282.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 89.0)

___________________________________________________________

This is really Wednesday

For some reason, this software thinks I had two days on Tuesday. Go figure.

Anyway, I'm sure this is another weird weight fluctuation situation. There is really no way I could have gained three pounds yesterday. So either yesterday's or today's weigh-in was flawed. Either way, I'll have to redouble my efforts yet again.

My late night last night resulted in a shortened workout this morning. I only did about 15 minutes on the elliptical and did not run outside or rake any leaves.

Breakfast

Kashi cereal with soy milk, banana, flax and granola. A half grapefruit. Gjuice with the meds and coffee.

Late morning snack

A pear.

Lunch

My Wednesday special: Veggie Delite with Chipotle chips from Subway.

Mid-afternoon snack

Reheated slice of mushroom pizza.

Dinner

Salad, barbequed boneless chicken thighs and sweet potatoes. Later, a 100-calorie fudge bar.

Am I finally out of the 280 woods?

301 days

279.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: -0.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 86.0)

___________________________________________________________

The psychological barrier is crossed, again

I have flirted with this number a few times now, but this week, one way or another, I will cross it for good.

Breakfast

A bialy with reduced fat cream cheese and a watermelon yogurt (no Cool Whip). Gjuice to wash down the meds and a cup of coffee.

10:30am Snack

A pear, and a large glass of water.

Lunch

While sorting papers and other related stuff, I cooked two hot dogs and ate them with ketchup, mustard and relish. Washed down with another monster glass of water.

Dinner

Two turkey burgers and a nice salad.

A clear and beautiful sky

302 days

282.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 89.0)

___________________________________________________________

I awoke, oddly, at 2:13am

But after taking care of that business, I fell, mercifully, back to sleep and awoke again briefly at 4:30am and finally at 6:10am, I got up and started my workout.

My morning constitutional was quite a bit smaller than usual. I attributed that to my less than normal intake yesterday. But to end up with a net gain of 2.5 pounds makes no sense at all. I'm going to attribute it to bizarre stars in the morning sky. That, or bagels really are simply poison. On to breakfast.

Breakfast

A half of an Ezekiel muffin with almond butter and the remaining 1/4 of an everything bagel with 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (probably a bad idea after this morning's weigh-in). Nonetheless, I am undeterred.

Lunch

Veggie burger with a slice of red onion, a slice of Asiago cheese, some relish and ketchup. After that, I had a cherry vanilla yogurt with some Cool Whip. Later...about four hours later, I had a banana.

Dinner

A bottle of water and two slices of pizza at our SYAC Board Meeting, plus two Yodels. When I got home, I merged two tiny slices into a third (technically speaking, I had four) and heated that up and shared it with my dog. Then I watched the rest of the Yankee game and went to sleep.

Late morning after a late night

303 days

280.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 283.0 (pounds left: -3.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 86.5)
• Average weight for the week: 281.5

___________________________________________________________

After dinner, we drove one daughter home

That was around 8:30pm...we drove to the Bronx and back. All day all the talk was about a Nor'easter coming our way. The ball game would be cancelled, yada yada...

But none of that happened. We miraculously made the trip in about an hour and got home to watch the rest of the Yankees-Angels game, which went on and on and on until after 1:00am. At 5-plus hours, it was probably the longest game in post-season history.

Brunch

No breakfast or lunch today. We ate at 10:45am. One of my daughters stayed over with her boyfriend and woke up in the mood to fight; that or she just kids in a way I don't appreciate and she apparently doesn't care how I feel. So that put a damper on my enjoyment of my food, but for the record, it was a blueberry bagel and a half everything bagel, both with cream cheese, nova, baked salmon, Jarlsberg, tomato, whitefish salad, coffee, Gjuice and, of course, my meds.

Dinner

Technically speaking, I ate dinner around 4:15pm today. I had two leftover pieces of chicken and a pear. Then I made myself an almond butter-and-banana sandwich on a Deli Flat with a smear of Nutella. But then later, we went to see our friends and had Chinese food with them, including egg rolls, spare ribs, chicken with broccoli and string beans, the latter two in very spicy garlic sauce.

Another cold morning, with much rain to come

304 days

280.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 283.0 (pounds left: -2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.0)

___________________________________________________________

Why so much focus on the weather?

It just occurred to me that most of these posts seem to begin with a weather-based headline, yet the subject is losing 100 pounds in a year. I guess the answer is that I'm so set in my basic plan that the weather seems to be the only thing that changes. Oh well...

I turned the alarms off before going to sleep last night so I could sleep in just a bit this morning. I had just watched the Yankees take the ALCS opener from the Angels and was flipping through channels until past midnight and tomorrow (that is, today) being Saturday, I decided it would be cruel to wake Robin up so early.

So I got started late on my exercises. It's 9:00am as I write this, which I usually do just before my work on the machines and my run down the block. That means that this morning's weigh-in won't be until nearly 10:00am...

...and in spite of the relentless snacking yesterday, I managed to lose another half pound.

Breakfast

A whole Ezekiel muffin with almond butter on one side and Nutella on the other. Don't want to lose too much too fast ;^)

Lunch

A bowl of Michelle's soup and a coconut-pineapple yogurt with Cool Whip.

Dinner

An evening of fun and frolic at The Jolly Fisherman in Old Roslyn with my wife, my in-laws, my brother- and sister-in-law, two of my daughters and one of their boyfriends. I had a bunch of nuts, cheese and crackers at the bar, then a dirty martini, a salad and a wonderful broiled scallops dish with artichokes, tomatoes and capers. For dessert, we all shared a piece of chocolate mousse pie and I also had a taste of their famous banana cream pie.

Friday at last

305 days

281.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 283.0 (pounds left: -2.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.5)

___________________________________________________________

It's ugly out there

But in spite of the ugliness, I did the entire routine, including running outside in the rain and raking in the yard. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. No loss, but no gain. Stayed steady at 281. If I do no better than this, I'm better off than I was on Monday, but there are still two days to take a few more pounds off this frame. The only potential obstacle will be a restaurant dinner on Saturday night, but that's The Jolly Fisherman in Old Roslyn and there's a good chance that I can eat properly and not blow it, especially if I'm really good all day.

Breakfast

Oatmeal, with cinammon, honey, flax and granola. Gjuice with meds. Coffee.

Lunch

Two pieces of chicken, reheated. Bowl of leftover salad. A few pieces of Z-crackers (soon they'll be gone!). Michelle's soup. Big lunch.

Dinner

We had Kobe beef burgers. While preparing sautéed onions for Robin, I had about eight Ritz crackers with sliced Asiago cheese on them. I also had a pretty nice pear. I had a slice of red onion, a bunch of warmed artichoke and some ketchup and relish on mine. We had a few glasses of Ménage à Trois red wine. Later, I finally finished the remaining sliver of pear pie, with Cool Whip.

The rains arrive, just in time for baseball

306 days

281.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 283.0 (pounds left: -2.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.5)

___________________________________________________________

Not one but two storms are coming

And not just storms, but Nor'easters. At least one of the Yankee playoff games will likely be rained out, sort of like my hope of getting below 280 this week. Was it the garlic bread? The spaghetti? The meatballs? The grated cheese all over those and my salad? Either way, somehow, in spite of the hard work, that half pound came back this morning. There's still time, but it's still a battle.

Breakfast

Thursday morning standard...bacon-egg-swiss-salt-and-pepper. A couple of pieces of Z-crackers with almond butter and some Gjuice with the pills.

Lunch

Salad, and a few Z-crackers with melted cheese.

Dinner

On her way home, Robin called to ask what I thought about going out for Chinese, or bringing some in, with two of our friends. But by the time she had finished sitting in nearly an hour of traffic, she was pissy and cranky and didn't want to go anywhere. "What do you want to eat?" she asked. "I don't know...I thought we were having Chinese so I sort of oriented myself in that direction," I replied.

So for about a half hour, we hemmed and hawed and while I waited for her to decide what she wanted, I munched. Watermelon. Honeydew. Z-crackers with cheese. Z-crackers with almond butter. An apple. A sliver of leftover pear pie (it's still there). I probably had enough to eat right there.

Now she was finally getting hungry. "What do you want to eat?" came again. I stood my ground. So she acquiesced and said, "Okay...call them up and see if they still want to go." I called and they were gone. I called one of their cell numbers and they had just sat down in a pretty fancy place nearby that was having 50% off dinner. We jumped and ran.

I had a scallop and gorgonzola risoto. It was fabulous. For dessert, we shared a chocolate cake with a scoop of raspberry sorbet.

It's really getting cold out there

307 days

280.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 283.0 (pounds left: -2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.0)

___________________________________________________________

And not just cold

The 2009 league championship series are set to begin Thursday night in L.A. where the Phillies meet the Dodgers. On Friday and Saturday, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim visit the New York Yankees...BUT...the weather reports are calling for rain Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a significant fall storm at the root of it all. If it's bad enough, it could play havoc with the schedule.

The good news...another two of those unnecessary pounds are gone and I'm only a half pound away from 280 again. With five days left before the week ends, I should make it with room to spare unless I get stupid.

Breakfast

Kashi cereal with some flax and some granola. Coffee and a swig of iced tea with my vitamins and medicine.

Lunch

Veggie Delite from subway with Chipotle Sun Chips. "The usual," accompanied by three 16-ounce glasses of water...bloat city!

Dinner

The plan is for spaghetti and meatballs with Robin's parents as guests. And that plan turned out to be true. It also included a garlic bread and a wonderful salad, made by yours truly.

See you tomorrow!

Slightly warmer out this morning

308 days

282.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 283.0 (pounds left: -0.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 89.0)

___________________________________________________________

Are all things really possible?

Two-and-a-half pounds gone, just like that? Snap? Go figure. Maybe there's still a chance that I'll get down under 280 again this week. Maybe a lot of good things can happen.

Breakfast

White Chocolate Raspberry yogurt with Cool Whip and a teaspoon of flax mixed in. Coffee and Gjuice with my vitamins and pills.

Lunch

Two dogs, with mustard, ketchup and relish and three veggie meatballs I found in the freezer in an unmarked bag. They were pretty good.

Dinner

Boy's Night Out, at Portofino. A bottle of water, and two loaded slices, one with spinach and mushrooms, the other, frequently urged on me by my daughter Jaime, Buffalo chicken. Both very good and filling, possibly too filling.

At the pool hall, another bottle of water and a half of a donut (shared with Richie) and back at home, I sliced up a honeydew and a watermelon, had some of those and another big glass of water.

It was cold out there this morning, but it felt right

309 days

285.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 283.0 (pounds left: 2.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 91.5)

___________________________________________________________

Almost bagged the whole thing

It was nice and toasty in bed this morning. Before going to bed, I closed the bedroom window. Last night was really, really cold and I knew it would be freezing in the morning. But I cranked up the engine and got started around 6:20am after a little snooze and moved up to the next level.

And after all that, when I saw the scale, I was extremely discouraged. It's incredible how much work is involved in taking it off and how easily it goes back on. I'm right where I was a month ago, like the entire month never happened.

But I'm not going to give up. If it takes a greater effort, then that's what I'll have to give it. It's a setback, and I promised myself I would not beat myself up over those when they occurred. I'll get right back into it and get those pounds back off.

Breakfast

Coffee. Ezekiel muffin with almond butter and Nutella. Gjuice with vitamins and pills.

Lunch

Veggie burger on Deli Flat with red onion, artichoke, swiss cheese, relish and ketchup.

Dinner

Pancakes. No butter, only syrup.

Throughout the day, lots of water.

Haven't slept this late in "can't remember when"

310 days

No weigh-in

___________________________________________________________

We were very lucky to arrive alive

We both got very loaded last night. I didn't even wake up until nearly 11am and before I knew it, we were in the car on the way to a bridal shower. I spent it downstairs with the father of the groom and his future in-law, watching a baseball game.

There was no weigh-in and no workout this morning. Tomorrow I will get back on the horse.

Brunch

There was a salad with chicken, some French toast with syrup and baked apples and a slice of rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream. And coffee.

Dinner

We brought in grilled chicken salad from Mama T's and a pizza. I had one slice with mushrooms and one without. For dessert with had tea and these enormous chocolate chip cookies. And now I'm ready to die from undoing so much good work.

Tomorrow morning, it's back to the plan. No more distractions until the big wedding in December.

Not a hangover exactly, but...

311 days

282.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 278.0 (pounds left: 4.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 88.5)

___________________________________________________________

...but a nasty backache at 3:30am

It could have been worse, but either way, chips, alcohol, bread (on the burger and slider) undo a lot of good, hard work. And tonight we have a huge black tie wedding, where there will be an hour of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and idle chatter before we sit down to get completely stuffed. I could theoretically end up undoing both this week and the weeks leading up to it.

Brunch

I didn't actually weigh in until after 10:00am, so the number above is suspect; and in view of the upcoming binge later today, I decided to combine breakfast and lunch into a single event. I had the last leftover piece of Michelle's french toast casserole, with butter and syrup to start and finished with a toasted leftover piece of bread Robin got with her dinner from Pasta-Eria last night. On that went the remaining sliver of vegetable cream cheese on one side and Nutella on the other. All washed down with Gjuice for my vitamins and medication, and coffee to take down to work.

Dinner

Hard to recap. We went to a wedding. We drank like fish. Four, maybe five double tequilas. The cocktail hour was a stuff-a-thon, though I tried to have a semblance of self-control. I had one soft taco and one quesadilla, a plate of barbequed meat and fish including lamb chop, chicken, beef, salmon; back inside there was shrimp, oysters, cheese, salami, Italian sausages, a plate of fruit, coconut chicken and shrimp, scallops wrapped in bacon (I think I had six of those), chicken saté (chicken-on-a-sticken)...I don't remember much more. Then there was dinner. A nice salad and a piece of Chilean sea bass. Very good. A roll with butter. Dessert—here's where I actually controlled myself and only had a single chocolate mousse parfait, a little chocolate cup with liqueur of some sort inside and finally, a hand-rolled cigar. Never got to taste the wedding cake. It was gone before I got back from my cigar break.

Suffice it to say, not a chance of making the objective for the week.

Of bread and water

312 days

279.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 278.0 (pounds left: 1.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 86.0)

___________________________________________________________

At least I got my last-second wish

Three straight days of positive progress and I couldn't sustain it. I knew it. The bread was my undoing; the water probably kept it from being even worse. As I stepped on the scale, after doing my entire workout, after running the block for the fifth day, after cleaning up another section of the yard, I whispered to myself, "Please don't let it go back over 280!" Wish granted, by the skin of my teeth.

Breakfast

The Friday standard, oatmeal with cinnamon and honey. Gjuice to wash down the vitamins and pills. Coffee to accompany me down to work.

Late morning snack

Sliced up a canteloupe and had some. Mmmmm.

Lunch

A sardine sandwich, with red onion and artichoke. Followed by a yogurt with Cool Whip. Two large glasses of water were consumed and a Z-cracker, smeared with vegetable cream cheese, was the take-away.

Dinner

One close friend is in from Florida, and another came out from the city so the three of us could go out to Major's Steakhouse to get toasted and watch the Yankees play the Twins in Game 2 of the ALDS.

Drinks: I started with a dirty Martini with three olives. Wonderful. I followed that up with three double-shots of Corzo Tequila. I certainly did get toasted. That would have been bad enough.

Food: While drinking, I ate an entire basket of crispy potato chips. For an appetizer, we shared a bunch of meatball sliders, the current hot item in bars and restaurants that is really nothing more than a White Castle dressed up and overcharged. For dinner, I had a swiss cheeseburger (no bacon) with lettuce, tomato and a slice of red onion. There were French fries; I shared them with Gary, who had eaten just before coming out and didn't feel much like having a real meal. Just beer, and, of course, trying to pick up women. Being the one married guy out with his two confirmed bachelor friends, I was entertained mostly by the ball game.

Thursday is a wonderful morning

313 days

278.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 278.0 (pounds left: 0.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 84.5)

___________________________________________________________

Exercise may be becoming an addiction

This morning's run down the block was almost fun. The hardest part is always waking up and getting started, but I love having it done before the day really begins.

Breakfast

Why do I love Thursday? Bacon-egg-swiss-salt-and-pepper on a roll. I love it. This morning, I also had a slice of that baguette that's lingering in the kitchen. I toasted it and had it with my coffee with a tiny bit of butter.

Lunch

Today's repast began by taking a leftover piece of baked salmon and rolling it inside a thin slice of Jarlsberg lite. This was then shared with my faithful companion, Oliver, who would have drooled all over my toes if I didn't. He's really not supposed to have cheese anymore, but his is a face that is hard to resist.

The rest of the meal was a construction project, assembling a vast array of little things to eat using the remaining six inches of baguette as a substrate. The baguette was cut in half and then each of the two pieces were sliced open and toasted. Here's how they were used:

The first piece was used to push salad around in a bowl and soak up the remaining dressing and small pieces of salad. The second piece was used to do the same with some reheated leftover brisket (I think that stuff is nearly three weeks old, but it's still quite tasty). The third and fourth pieces were smeared with a little almond butter and consumed slowly and deliberately while I attended to some obnoxious paperwork.

I then grabbed a nice tall glass of water and headed back down to work.

Dinner

I started with the final remains of that great salad from the other night. Robin brought in some things from Fairway. For me, a piece of chicken Française. For her, two pieces of broiled chicken (I ended up eating one of them). For both of us, crispy, deep-fried potato pancakes (one apiece) and some pureed sweet potato thing with other vegetables in it.

On balance

Lots of water was consumed today; nearly two pitchers full. But lots of bread was also consumed and that will probably send the dial pointing the other way tomorrow morning.

Early morning rain

314 days

279.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 278.0 (pounds left: 1.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 85.5)

___________________________________________________________

In spite of the above-mentioned inclement weather...

...I continued the same workout. It was really quite good. Even running in the rain wasn't too bad, and the third day of running down the block was, as I'd hoped, easier than the second.

And the weigh-in was a delight. The first glance was, hopefully, a harbinger of things to come...277.5. I knew that couldn't be right, so I got back on a few times and saw the number above, which is perfectly fine with me.

Breakfast

Kashi cereal with a sliced banana and some granola sprinkled on top. A glass of Gjuice my pills and a cup of coffee.

Snack

Around 11:15am, I went up to get some water and had a very small serving of Mott's Pear Sauce (which expired, according to the label, in 2007, but was still quite good) and a single Z-Cracker with a smear of vegetable cream cheese. Hit the spot.

Lunch

The Veggie Delite, of course, with Chipotle Sun Chips, from Subway. Wonderful.

Dinner

At my friend's house, again. I had a bowl of fruit, a turkey sandwich on rye with mustard and Russian dressing, a few slices of other lean meats, another half roast beef sandwich on rye also with Russian dressing, a cup of coffee, a thin slice of banana nut bread and a chunk of a blueberry donut.

Then we got in the car and drove our daughter back to Sunnyside.

The expanded regime continues

315 days

280.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 278.0 (pounds left: 2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.0)

___________________________________________________________

Yesterday worked

Yesterday was hard, but what it lacked in ease and fun was more than made up for in productivity. I got a lot accomplished yesterday. This morning, I did the whole thing again, and it was great. The run down the block wasn't as daunting, and I suspect that if I keep it up, it will get easier and easier. I'm still way out of breath when I get to the end, but by the time I walk back, I feel great.

Breakfast

A small slice of leftover baguette (from Sunday night's dinner) with vegetable cream cheese, coffee and a key lime yogurt with Cool Whip. A glass of Gjuice to wash down the pills and vitamins and a cup of coffee to start work.

Lunch

Today, it was an odd combination. I had to go to a memorial service and timing was too tight to eat at my regular time. I came back home to change my clothes and walk the dog and then head over to my friend's home where the crowds were gathering post-service.

Before I left, to dampen my appetite a bit, I had a small salad. When I got there, I had a few cups of coffee, a small plate of fruit (watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew, pineapple—my summer saviours), one chocolate ruggie, two mini-black-and-white cookies, a half of a roast beef sandwich and a half of a too-hard chocolate chip cookie. Yes, sports fans, I actually threw half a cookie in the trash.

If I don't have another thing to eat all day, there's still a remote chance I might not gain any weight today. But temptation is everywhere. My friend Gary is on his way into town from Florida and I'll be meeting up with him at Christiano's in a little bit. I'll try not to eat or drink anything over there, because it it wasn't enough of a temptation, I still have to go back to the other house with my wife when she comes home from work and she's going to be hungry. I'll have all I can do not to stuff my face. We'll see how it turns out.

Dinner

Christiano's turned out well. When I got there, it was a beautiful fall afternoon, blinding sun, light breeze and Gary and his buddies were hanging out in the outdoor café part of the place. So we stood outside and talked for nearly an hour. They kept offering me a beer or some pizza but I politely declined.

Back at my other friend's house, however, things didn't go nearly as well. Not terrible, but I just couldn't not eat anything. I started with a half of a corned beef sandwich. I left the bread over and used no condiment, just eating the meat, slice by slice. I also had a bowl of fruit and some water. Later, before going home, I grabbed a half of a turkey sandwich, with a little dressing of undetermined composition. This time, I ate the bread. After that, I had a ruggie, a bite of a cannoli, which got tossed, and another mini-black-and-white.

So, I didn't exactly stuff myself, but I'm reasonably sure I undid whatever good I did the day before and all day up to that point. As always, time will tell, but I'd sure like to end this week under 280 and stay there for good.

Cool Monday

316 days

281.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 278.0 (pounds left: 3.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 88.0)

___________________________________________________________

Rearranged and expanded routine

As I've been working my way back to something resembling physical fitness, it's been my goal all along to eventually move some of this exercise out into "the great outdoors," but to do so within the constraints of sensible time management. After all, I don't want to be oversleeping, working out until 9:30am, showering and dry by 10:00am and working by 10:30am. I want to be at my desk E-A-R-L-Y, worked out, dry, fed and happy.

So before I went to bed last night, I juggled the schedule a little and found that if I got up at 6:15am instead of 6:30am, I could somehow get all that accomplished. As I write this, I'm dripping with sweat at my desk, but I've just finished 30 minutes on the treadmill, which was preceeded by some gardening (raking), a run outside, a walk outside, my 100 crunches, my calisthenics and my stretching. As soon as the sweating stops, or subsides enough, I'll hit the shower, get dry, get weighed and have my half Ezekiel muffin breakfast and get to work...

Breakfast

...and that's exactly what I did, plus the half glass of Gjuice with my medicine and vitamins.

When I first stepped on the scale this morning, it said 278.5. A second later, it changed to 280. I got off the scale and back on and then it started going up and down and all over the place, so I settled on the 281.5 because going from 282.5 to 278.5 just seems like too unlikely a swing and it seemed like the average number I got. Maybe yesterday's weight was wrong; maybe today's is too. This is a long haul. In a few months, 278 should be a speck in the rear-view mirror.

Snack

A wonderful Mcintosh apple at 10:10am or so.

Lunch

A peach yogurt with Cool Whip. A handful of kalamata olives.

Dinner

Three pieces of Z Crackers with vegetable cream cheese as an appetizer. A fabulous salad. Two and a half crab cakes (I ate the remaining half of Robin's second one), with some tartar sauce. An ear of corn with a very small amount of butter and Tabasco sauce.

And tons of water all day long.

The envelope please...

317 days

282.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 89.0)

___________________________________________________________

Too much Chinese food?

Hard to say what the culprit is for a net gain of a pound in a yo-yo week, but I'm reasonably sure the few fried noodles and the fried chicken last night made significant contributions. But the real big change in my diet this past week, looking back on it, is the decrease in fruit consumption. We're moving out of fresh fruit season, or so it seems, and that's going to make it more difficult than ever to keep this thing moving in the right direction.

Breakfast...and a shortened routine

My daughter Lauren told me that I shouldn't exercise every day, that the body needs some time to recover from all the working out. Since I slept until nearly 9:00am today, I began the day by doing a very reduced set of exercises so I could weigh myself before it got to be way too late to be meaningful. I generally weigh myself around 8:15am. Alex says you should try to weigh yourself at the same time (give or take a few minutes) every day because your weight fluctuates as the day goes on.

Anyway, it was back to basics. Pancakes, no butter. But while I was cooking, I had two paper-thin slices of Jarlsberg Lite cheese and a few pieces of Z crackers.

Lunch

We went into New York to visit a friend is very ill. His girlfriend worked at the camp where my youngest daughter was a counselor and she was there, along with some other friends. She cooked a lot of great stuff and what she made was supplemented by what one of his friends brought over from "Arthur Avenue," which is the headquarters of great Italian food in the Bronx.

To the best of my recollection, I had two small servings of a spinach pasta with artichokes that she made, a few slices of Italian bread, each with a few pieces of sausage. I had two pieces of chicken sausage, one ravioli, one meatball, two chocolate-covered almonds, two Hershey's kisses, a few chunks of watermelon and a grape. And some water.

Dinner

We headed for Fairway after the city, brought home some groceries. Robin made capellini with marinara sauce and meatballs and garlic bread. What we didn't eat, Oliver finished.

Altogether, I'd say I probably started the day okay but it went rapidly "to hell in a hatbasket," from a nutritional point-of-view anyway. Not having dessert. Will be back on track early tomorrow as I figure out how to navigate this month.

Another grim looking morning

318 days

281.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 0.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 87.5)

___________________________________________________________

Small progress is still progress

I probably could have consumed more water yesterday; and that pear pie is a giant stumbling block that I apparently do not have sufficient willpower to avoid. Mercifully, only one piece is left and I think it may be starting to exhibit mold!

Breakfast

A nice hunk of Michelle's leftover French toast casserole (my poor excuse to use syrup and butter), with coffee and a swig of Gjuice with my pills.

For the past ten days or so, I've been doing a half hour on each machine and 100 crunches downstairs. I'm starting to lose my "apron," as Robin says it is called, which in more mundane terms is "B-O" (no, not "body odor," but "belly overhang") so the exercise is really paying off, although it does make the reduction in number of pounds a bit more of an uphill struggle.

Lunch

A wonderful salad (third and final pass at the same leftovers). Lettuce, tomato, three different colored peppers—red, yellow and orange, scallions, red onion, shredded carrot, cucumber, olives, artichoke, shredded parmesan cheese and French dressing. I may have left out an ingredient or two. Maybe not. I also had a couple of my friend Keith's Z crackers smeared with the remaining French cheese, some kind of Camembert-derivative. All washed down with two very large glasses of water and followed by the kind of colon-clearing trip to the can the stuff of which dreams are made. (And to think I came upstairs thinking of having a yogurt!)

Dinner

The Orient. Hot and Sour Soup, with some noodles. Chicken dumplings, half an egg roll, some shrimp with broccoli and eggplant, some pork chow fun and some crispy fried chicken. Didn't overeat, but it was probably too much food all the same. The scale will tell the tale tomorrow morning.

A step back in the right direction

319 days

281.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 1.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 88.0)

___________________________________________________________

It's the water, stupid!

I consumed a lot of water yesterday, and in spite of certain foods I consumed, I still lost a pound and a half. This is the direction I want to be in. Lost time is not found again.

Breakfast

Oatmeal with honey and cinnamon, a tiny leftover roll from Mama T's with low-fat cream cheese on one half and some of that nice, soft French cheese on the other.

Lunch

A sliced pear, a bowl of salad with some Challah to push it around in the bowl, a reheated final piece of Zorn's chicken and an Orange Mango yogurt with Cool Whip, all washed down with a huge glass of water.

Dinner

I had two hot dogs, with mustard, ketchup and relish, and a small bowl of baked beans with some iced tea. For a late dessert during the Yankee game, I had a slice of pear pie.

More trending in the wrong direction

320 days

283.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 280.0 (pounds left: 3.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 89.5)

___________________________________________________________

When I double-checked the number, it was even worse

I gained a pound, again. Something is wrong. And when I got back on the scale to see if maybe it was a fluke, it went up to 284.5, then down to 283.5. So I'm sticking with 283 because it was the first number.

I feel like I'm losing my positive momentum. Looking back on yesterday, it was all wrong, with the sole exception of the workout. For the past several days, I've been doing 100 crunches instead of the meager 27 I had worked up to over the first several weeks. I can feel that working on my mid-section, but at the same time, I seem to be losing the battle of temptation with all this extra food in the house.

Breakfast

And only two glasses of water that I can recall from yesterday is probably another culprit. My daughter Alex says to go back and look at what worked. And odd as it may be, what worked on Thursdays has been the Thursday staple: bacon, egg and swiss cheese sandwich. So that's where I'm starting today.

Lunch

I had a bowl of Michelle's soup and a small toasted roll with some almond butter.

So far, I've had three glasses of water by 2:00pm and will shortly grab another...and another.

Dinner

We grilled a pair of Kobe beef burgers, which I had with a slice of red onion and some ketchup and relish on a Deli Round bun. Before that, I had a salad (and a small piece of bread) with the works. All washed down with some diet Green tea.