Cold, cold, cold and then snow!?!?!

230 days

273.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.0 (pounds left: 1.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 80.0)

___________________________________________________________

Right back at 20

Hard to get away from here, but it was good to get through the workout this morning. Some of it may have been a little less-than-enthusiastic, but it got done. The sweat poured.

Breakfast

The Thursday special from Jagermeister Deli. Coffee. OJ. Meds and Vites.

Late Morning

Orange/Mango Yogurt with Cool Whip. Big water.

Lunch

A slice of Pizza. Big water.

Dinner

Wild Honey in Oyster Bay. Scallops, vegetables, mussels, chocolate cake.

Like yesterday, without the wind

231 days

274.5* pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.0 (pounds left: 2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 81.0)

___________________________________________________________

Way too cold for the morning workout

I can see where the dead of winter can be tough on plans like mine. I may yet get the workout in today, but the need to get Robin's car inspected and have its oil changed and have that all in the works by 8:00am and then having to drive her to work put the kibosh on things.

Breakfast

Before leaving, I had a pineapple coconut yogurt with Cool Whip and a cup of coffee. When I returned from dropping Robin in Great Neck, I noticed she had forgotten to take her white bag of baked goods to work, so I cut off a few slices of a scone to have with my second cup of coffee.

Also, *today's weigh in was done at 9:45am after breakfast and two visits to the throne room, but I'm reasonably sure of the number since, as noted yesterday, while I may have consumed a fair amount of water, I also consumed mashed potatoes, pretzels, popcorn, the odd spoonful of almond butter here and there and other things I normally don't, and, of course, the late night snacking couldn't have helped matters much. Yet a four-pound gain right after a similar drop is somewhat suspect from a statistical viewpoint. I will try to do better today.

Lunch

The Wednesday "usual," a Veggie Delite from Subway. Big water.

Late Afternoon

Tea, with a toasted slice of Zeke smeared with Apple-Cinnamon jelly. Noshed on a little chicken and rice while feeding Oliver.

Dinner

We had a big wonderful salad and Robin's even more wonderful lemon/garlic chicken. Big water.

Late Night

Pretzels, organic though they may be.

Super cold, super windy and super sunny

232 days

270.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.0 (pounds left: -1.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 77.0)

___________________________________________________________

Amazing what one day of lowered expectations can do

Not sure if that was really possible, but 3.5 pounds? I'll take it. I almost took 4.5 when the first step on the scale showed 269.5. That was exciting. Maybe I can make it return tomorrow.

Breakfast

I did my full routine this morning, and since I started a little later than I wanted to, I ended up merging breakfast and mid-morning snack in one sumptuous mea at 10:15aml: Kashi cereal with almond milk, with some flax and granola mixed in, a toasted half of an Ezekiel muffin with almond butter, coffee, OJ, vitamins and medicine.

Lunch

The Spicy Black Bean American Cheese Burger with red onion, artichoke, emerald relish and ketchup on a toasted Deli Flat. Big water.

Late Afternoon

An apple with Ollie and a cup of Royal Vitality tea with honey and a toasted slice of Ezekiel bread with Orange Marmelade.

Dinner

Ben Benson's Meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Big water.

Later

We went to the movies and had popcorn with way too much salt on it. At home, I had hot chocolate with a modified American cheese sandwich on a Deli Flat. I also consumed a bunch of "organic" pretzels.

Today starts out a lot colder and stays that way

233 days

274.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.0 (pounds left: 6.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 82.5)

___________________________________________________________

I'm lowering my expectations a bit

The holidays, and this cold that seems like it won't go away, have been tough on this process. Don't get me wrong...274 is a nice weight for someone who hovered so close to 300 for so long, but I need to turn this crazy boat around and head for 200. Anyway, trying to hit 267.5 for the past two weeks has been a bit unrealistic. I'll shoot for two pounds this week and try to beat it.

I'm also clearly becoming a NyQuill junkie. That stuff keeps me asleep too long. No workout again this morning.

Breakfast: A half grapefruit, the juice of which washed down the meds and vites. A cup of coffee and down to work.

Mid-Morning Snack: A key lime yogurt with Cool Whip and another cup of coffee.

Lunch: A sardine sandwich with red onion and artichoke on a Deli Flat. A Big water.

Mid-Afternoon Snack: An apple to share with Oliver.

Late-Afternoon: Green Tazo Zen tea with Stevia, a slice of toasted Ezekiel bread with Gourmet Pear preserves.

Dinner: Lauren came out and we went to Commack for salad and pizza. I also had two garlic knots, one with and one without goo all over it.

Sunny and gorgeous last Sunday of the decade

234 days

274.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 6.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 82.5)
• Average weight for the week: 272.8

___________________________________________________________

So...it didn't exactly work out as planned

Christmas Day, I never got around to doing this. Saturday, I was deep in other stuff as well and didn't do it either. But this morning, even though it was after 9:00am when I finally got going, I got going and did the routine almost all the way through. I only worked the elliptical today and not for very long after I discovered that my West Wing fling is over for the time being. I think.

Anyway, this is the third straight week of upward net at week's end, which is not good. I have to buckle down. Last week, there was a net gain of 0.2 pounds; this week it was 0.7. Next week, it's going to (somehow) be a loss!

Breakfast

Pancakes, a little bit of butter, and syrup. This morning, I tried something new. I ran out of soy milk at half of the 3/4 cup so I used my new Almond milk for the rest of it. It was wonderful. I'll have to see how it fares in cereal.

Mid-Afternoon

There was no late-morning snack because breakfast was nearly at lunch time. There was also no lunch for the same reason. But there were two Big waters and now there's a third with a piece of fruit.

Dinner

Before the movies, we went to Green Medley, a vegan restaurant that recently opened near us. We had some interesting stuff, though I tried to steer clear of the imitation meats, chickens and fishes. I had an eggplant in black bean sauce with asparagus. I shared various other things, including spinach noodles in peanut sauce, spring rolls, corn soup, scallion pancakes and imitation steak. We also had some popcorn at the movies.

Christmas Eve 2009

237 days

274.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 6.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 82.5)

___________________________________________________________

Blow up!

I know exactly how this happened. At one point, the scale even said 276.0! But after several weighings, the bad news was solid at 274. And today will not be an easy out.

Breakfast

First of all...there were no exercises today. If I get motivated, they may happen mid-day. Breakfast was the usual Thursday, plus a corn muffin—poison, I realize—but I had to get it out of my system, and see if I remembered whether the feeling of eating it was worth the 400 or so calories that went along with it. The answer is a sharp no.

Here's where it starts to go fuzzy

The small bit of good news, relative to the objective of this exercise, is that I did get motivated and I did work out in the afternoon. I got done a little after four in the afternoon (done, as in showered and dressed) and Robin and I got to Hicksville about 10 minutes late to get Jaime, Alex and Dean in the car for the trek to Old Field for Christmas Eve.

Once there, the food was all over the place. I can barely reconstruct, but I'll give it a shot, along with the two fairly good-size glasses of tequila I consumed that evening. At one point, there was a Johnnie Walker Blue waiting for me, but I had to pass.

I ate some peanut M&Ms, of course, but Jaime kept a pretty good eye on my consumption. I had asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. I would guess that I had three or four of those. I also had a bunch of those macaroni-and-cheese things, crab cakes, shrimp and steak (little pieces with some orange-colored sauce on them). I don't really remember much more of that stuff. I had two brownies (small squares, big on calories!), a piece of something called "death by chocolate" that I ate way too fast to notice and a handful of wonderful oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies.

All in all, a short trip to hell in a hatbasket, but a splendid time was had by all.

The day before the day before Christmas

238 days

272.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 4.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 80.5)

___________________________________________________________

Holding at 272.0

Not sure how, but I am. A small plateau in a nice place, but if it's all the same with the fates, I'd like to get down under 270 and keep this thing going in the right direction. I think it's going to require a bit more discipline than I've been exhibiting of late.

Breakfast

Peach yogurt with Cool Whip. Coffee, Gjuice, meds and vites.

Mid-Morning

Actually, it was a few minutes after 11:00am because I got involved with some other work. Half grapefruit and a Big water.

Lunch

Veggie Delite! After that, I had a little forkful of leftover pasta and eggplant parmesan from Robin's dinner last night, and then totally blew the rest of the day on a Toffee Crunch Bar. But there were two Big waters.

Late Afternoon

I probably had a few Big waters and a whole bunch of noshes on fruit (there was one great pear) and stuff I just don't recall, but there was no tea, no toast, no jam.

Dinner

I had a salad, then we had the leftover brisket, chicken soup with noodles (I also had a small bowl of noodles with chutch) and two latkes with applesauce. And pills. And a Big water.

Later, much...

Hot chocolate with Cool Whip.

Very cold, but sunny Tuesday

239 days

272.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 4.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 80.5)

___________________________________________________________

Snow melting steadily

You can't really see it happening, but the heights of the snow banks are steadily decreasing. Probably by tomorrow, Oliver may be able to jump on the snow covering our lawn.

Was yesterday a fluke? I'm thinking it probably was. That or I just ate way too much Chinese food and not enough water. Two pounds up. Not good. Got to shift gears again. But it's very hard to do when you feel like such dogmeat. Still, I'm leaving the week's objective right where it was last week. I doubt I can lose 4.5 pounds by next Sunday with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day right in the middle of all this, but I can try. I did okay at the wedding, after all.

Still in all, I did manage to do a modified routine this morning after dropping Oliver off to get groomed.

Breakfast

I combined breakfast and mid-morning snack in one today. Coffee, Kashi cereal with soy milk and flax and some granola mixed in, Gjuice to wash down the meds and vites and a toasted half Ezekiel muffin with almond butter. And, irresistably, a slice of challah bread with cream cheeses. Scrumptious. Delicious. Down to work.

Lunch

On top of a slightly toasted Deli Round, I placed a warmed artichoke heart, a spicy black bean burger with a slice of melted American cheese on it, some ketchup and the top of the bun. Consumed along with a Big water.

After a run to the bank, I took another Big water down with me back to work.

Dinner

I nibbled on some brisket while I fed Oliver. After that, I drove out to buy some Lotto tickets and got two slices of pizza to bring home. Another Big water. And another after that.

And later, another piece of challah with cream cheese and, finally, an apple.

Sunny and hopefully melting the snow quickly

240 days

270.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.5)

___________________________________________________________

There was no Sunday

But today, even with a late start, I got back on the horse and did a full routine. I am not sitting dripping with sweat at my desk, about to take my first shower in days. It's true. You do feel better after exercising.

Seeing how I actually dropped two pounds since Saturday, I'm going to unofficially declare yesterday's weigh-in as 271.0 for averaging purposes. With that, the average weight for last week was 272.1 pounds. But since the last two weeks have been somewhat off schedule, it's hard to compare that to anything beyond observing that the figure two weeks ago was 271.9, so this is a net gain of 0.2 pounds over two weeks. Not much of an achievement. More like a consolation prize.

And, for what it's worth, on top of another day without exercise, here's what I recall eating yesterday...

Pancakes, syrup, coffee for breakfast. No lunch in particular, but at least one pear, not shared. Not much water. Didn't feel all that great. I ate a blueberry bagel with reduced fat cream cheese before we went out around 4:30pm to pick up our friends and head toward Sunnyside for dinner at Bliss. Bliss was bread, wine and NY Shell Steak au poivre, with potatoes, bacon and vegimals of some sort. Later, I had a cup of imitation hot chocolate (Swiss Miss?) with one of those blondies from the box. All-in-all, not an exemplary day of eating.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Breakfast

Got to it at nearly 10:30am so I combined meals. I had a half grapefruit, a small glass of grapefruit juice with my medications and vitamins, a toasted everything bagel, something I rarely eat, but Alex didn't eat it while she was here and I wanted it, or I wanted something I could spread cream cheese on, even reduced-fat cream cheese and wash down with coffee. It did the job.

Lunch

More coffee, with a salad for lunch, with dressing and all that stuff on it. I also had a slice of challah bread with the aforementioned cream cheese. After that, a bite of a Scotch Bar with the rest of my coffee and back down to work.

Late Afternoon

I had a pear, which I never finished, and a Big water.

Dinner

We went to The Orient. I had a wonton soup, an egg roll, a couple of steamed chicken dumplings and then it was chicken chow fun, chicken with ginger and scallions and chicken with vegetables and shrimp with vegetables. Nice meal. No wine. Took my pills at the end. Went home and went to bed early.

Paraphrasing Raoul..."Big storm coming, boss!"

242 days

272.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 4.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.5)

___________________________________________________________

See-saw, and an unrealistic goal for the week

That much is clear now. Who knew I'd be so under the weather this week. Three days, including today, that I was unable to exercise, barely able to breathe through my nose, much less use it as much as I do when working out (in through the nose, out through the mouth).

Anyway, I did manage to shed a pound-and-a-half, so that's a little better.

Breakfast

Two Kashi blueberry waffles with a tiny bit of buttah and light syrup. Coffee, Gjuice, meds and vites.

Mid-Morning Snack: A toasted Ezekiel muffin with both Nutella and almond butter.

Lunch: A bowl of chicken soup, two actually, with noodles, and a slice of challah with reduced-fat cream cheese to send that plastic to recycling.

Mid-Afternoon Snack: A banana and an apple. Oliver did not share the apple with me. I also had another cup of soup and another 2 aspirins.

Late-Afternoon Snack: A slice of sausage pizza, cut in two pieces and eaten almost directly out of the toaster oven.

Dinner: As the snow finally began to accumulate, we had a baked ziti casserole with tomato sauce given to Robin by one of the patients in her office, that she doctored up, and, of course, meatballs.

Sunny but bitter cold with snow on the way

243 days

273.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 6.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 80.0)

___________________________________________________________

And two steps back in the wrong direction

It had to be the chili and the slice of pizza later in the day that upset the delicate balance, because overall, I was really good yesterday. However, the scale says otherwise. Up two pounds. Getting back under 270 is going to be harder than I thought.

I was also quite sick yesterday and this morning I was no better, possibly even worse. The Boston cold just won't give up that easily. I awoke around 6:00am, after the NyQuill finally wore off, and my nose was running like a faucet again. I did manage to get back to sleep and did not work out again this morning.

Breakfast

My usual Friday oatmeal breakfast, with coffee, Gjuice, meds and vites. Before heading downstairs, I decided to try a blondie from the box Robin got. Sooooooo good. Probably enough calories to last the rest of the day. Brought down a leftover green tea from last weekend.

Lunch

I was supposed to go up for a grapefruit but never went. Instead, around 12:15pm or so, I went up and went out in the terrible burt sunny freezing cold and lit the grill and put a Morningstar Italian Veggie Sausage on it, then went in to sort papers. Big water.

Mid-Afternoon

Went up and did some more sorting while eating a banana. Big water.

Late-Afternoon

Came up and had some nice hot Tazo Zen Green tea with Stevia, and a slice of tasted Ezekiel bread with St. Dalfour wild blueberry preserves.

Dinner

For now (5:05pm) it could be brisket. And at nearly 9:00pm, it was. Along with a wonderful home-made chicken soup with noodles to try to make me feel better. :-(

Cold, but sunny and no red sky today

244 days

271.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 4.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.0)

___________________________________________________________

A step back in the right direction

The goal for the week is probably a little too challenging, but at least I was ale to shift gears again coming out of the weekend eating festival and being under the weather and shed a measly pound this morning.

Breakfast

Bacon, egg, swiss, salt, pepper, roll, coffee, Gjuice, med (1) and vites (several).

Mid-Morning

Lemon Chiffon yogurt with Cool Whip. A Big water.

Lunch

The return of the Chili test: Today's candidate was a Hormel Turkey and Beans, billed as 98% fat free (until I smeared it shredded parmesan cheese). It was quite good. Really good taste and no meat, only poultry and beans and low-fat beans to boot. Really very tasty, a definite contender for the eventual regular Chili slot. A Big water, and another to go down with me. And an hour or so later, I went up and got another.

Mid-Afternoon

A small bag of Cracker Jack (remnants of Boston) and an apple, shared with Oliver. Actually, there were two apples; the first one was abandoned mid-munch as the rest of it looked bad. The other one wasn't much better. A Big water came downstairs with me.

Late Afternoon

I had some green Raspberry Gardens tea with Stevia and a slice of Ezekiel toast with strawberry preserves while I was cooking for Oliver. A big cup of chicken broth. After I walked Oliver I reheated a slice of pizza and then went down to work again with another Big water.

Dinner

We began with a wonderful salad, leftover from last night. That was followed by a rotisserie chicken that we devoured; it was so good. It was kind of tiny, like a cornish game hen, but it was great. After dinner, we went out to do some shopping.

Much sunnier and much colder

245 days

272.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 5.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 79.0)

___________________________________________________________

Stasis again

First few steps on the scale were horrifying. I woke up feeling sick again and for the second straight day, I have not worked out. I nearly threw up a few times before taking Oliver out, but managed to keep it—whatever it was—down. Anyway, net-net, no gain, no loss.

Breakfast

Yogurt and Cool Whip over the remaining blackberries. Coffee. No meds or vites.

Late morning

A half grapefruit and another cup of coffee.

Lunch

Subway Veggie Delite and two Big waters. That's one spicy sandwich! Oh yes...and ah apple, shared with Oliver.

Mid-Afternoon

An orange and another Big water.

Dinner

I made a wonderful salad, if I may say so myself, and we each had a Waygu beef burger on the grill with it.

Later

Around 9:30pm, I had a dish of raspberry sorbet and some Cool Whip, and another taste of almond butter and Nutella (tiny).

Warmer and drier but still gray

246 days

272.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 5.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 79.0)

___________________________________________________________

Chocolate and nuts undo my day

And the pizza was certainly two slices too many and the water was certainly several cups too few. So I ended up gaining a half-pound instead of losing one.

Also, this cold that was brewing under the surface reared up big and this morning I felt awful, especially in my throat. One result: no workout this morning. I slept until 8:30am and I have a full day of work ahead of me, so the workout will be the victim.

Also, to some degree, everything will be skewed today as I begin a long-distance job around 10am that could last past dinner.

Breakfast

Kashi, cereal with blackberries, flax, granola and soy milk and coffee. No pills or vites.

Late morning

I had a toasted half Ezekiel muffin with almond butter on it and another cup of java.

Lunch

Tried a different brand of spicy black bean burger today. Same as usual underpinnings and toppings. Took longer to cook, but was basically the same flavor. Had a Big water.

Mid-Afternoon

Had a pear that was shared with my hound dog. Also had a tablespoon full of almond butter. Love that stuff.

Late-Afternoon

Didn't do tea today and didn't do toast. But at this point, I had another slice of pizza and another Big water.

Dinner

After feeding and walking Oliver, and prior to heading back down to continue working past midnight, I heated up some leftover spaghetti and meat balls (like one meatball and seven strands of spaghetti in a lot of sauce), smothered it in shredded parmesan cheese and ate it with a fork and a hot dog bun. And another Big water.

Time to account for three days

247 days

272.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 267.5 (pounds left: 4.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.5)

___________________________________________________________

I'm back on the air

It's Monday, and for those of you out there who care enough to notice, there were no postings on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Why, one might ask, is that so? Did I fall completely off the wagon? Well...not exactly.

On Friday, I ran through the entire program, weighed in, disappointingly, at 271.5 and had my usual Friday breakfast of oatmeal, cinnamon, honey and flax, with coffee and Gjuice to wash down my meds and vites and then helped my lovely wife finish packing for a trip to Boston to witness (and participate) in the wedding of a close friends' son.

On the way, when we finally got far enough out of our own ways to get on the way, we stopped off for something to eat on the way. We stopped at a strange bagel establishment I had never visited. My wife, however, has visited every bagel establishment and thought this one would make a great place to pick up something for the trip.

What I picked up was a non-gluten bagel with some weird "vegetarian spread" on it. In typical bagel store fashion, this stuff was piled so high that when I bit into it, the contents sprayed out from everywhere except where I bit, landing on my clothes, my seat and the floor of the car. I did manage to taste some and consoled myself that it might possibly be a better thing for me to be eating than a "normal" bagel slathered with oceans of cream cheese. I also had an Arizona diet green tea with ginseng.

And that was all we ate until we arrived in our hotel room, where we snacked on the contents of a "goody bag" left by the bride's parents. There were cashew nuts, Hershey's kisses and dried fruit...and a few bottles of water.

Later, we had dinner at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, in the EMC Club. It was baseball fare: sliders, hot dogs, sausages, chicken tenders, beer and wine. Oh yes...there was a platter of vegetables and a guy cooking latkes as Friday was the first night of Hanukah.

Saturday was a bit chaotic

The original plan called for us to go to Cambridge to visit my friend Mark, who has been a friend since childhood. Many years ago he married a Bostonian and has lived there ever since.

But the best-laid plans, as the saying goes... Robin got intercepted by a call from a cousin whose daughter is a student at B.U. and was not feeling well. Robin bowed out of the trip to Cambridge and spent the morning with this poor girl and then took the train back into town to get "fututsed" for the wedding. I had a bagel and coffee with my friend and his wife.

There was no lunch to speak of. Instead, I sat in the room and played around on my laptop and then took a nap.

Later was the wedding. There was a lavish cocktail hour and all the food there and for dinner was quite good, but I stuck to my eating plan. I did have a dirty martini, but it got me so sweaty that I had nothing else but water to drink for the rest of the evening.

I won't try to detail what I ate, other than to say that I probably should not have eaten any of it, especially the desserts, which were plentiful. I left over most of my salad and dinner, didn't eat any of the bread on the table and watered myself profusely. But none of that behavior could really compensate for the orgy of hors d'oeuvres. Even then, I probably behaved myself better than ever before at one of these things.

Sunday...

...began with a huge brunch at 10:00am. There was an omelet, a very nice one, with turkey bacon, American cheese and mushrooms. There were two mini-croissants, a half a bagel, some fruit (mostly fresh raspberries), Gjuice, a piece of sausage, some scrambled eggs (salted and peppered) and even a slice of French toast.

And then there was the white knuckle ride home in blinding rain, occasionally mixed with snow. We left Boston at 12:27pm and arrived home shortly after 4:00pm. The rain was coming down in buckets. I left to get Oliver, then came home, fed and walked him and came inside and dried up and decompressed. We had various ideas about dinner, but eventually just reheated some frozen pizza, spaghetti and meat balls, ate while we unpacked, watched TV and dozed off back to "reality."

Which brings us, at last, to today...

I did oversleep a little, almost missing the bus back to the wagon, but after around 25 minutes, I did get in gear and ran through the whole program, upping the pushups to 20. Then I got on the scale, bearing an unshakable sense that my three-day hiatus had actually been a one-way trip to diet-and-exercise hell. But then a miraculous thing happened: net-net, as we like to say around here, I gained only a half-pound since Friday. And if I have my way about it, that half-pound will be long gone by tomorrow, along, hopefully, with one of the two I gained back last Friday. Portion control returns!

Breakfast: A half grapefruit, the juice of which washed down my vitamins, and a cup of coffee.

Lunch: A very long teleconference separated me from my 10:30am yogurt. So I passed. At around 12:15pm, I went up and had a sandwich just like last Monday's, only this time, I used sardines marinated in chipotle sauce and paper-thin sliced red onion under the warmed artichokes. The roll was the same. A Big water and back to work.

2:15pm: Shared an apple and a pear with Oliver.

4:0opm: Green Gardens raspberry tea with a toasted slice of Ezekiel bread, smeared with Cape Cod Pear jelly.

Dinner: Two slices of pizza at my softball Board meeting. Then another two when I got home.

Forgotten bits: Way too much snacking on cashew nuts and Hershey's Kisses today, and probably not enough water.

Very sunny, very windy, pretty crazy

251 days

269.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 269.0 (pounds left: 0.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 76.0)

___________________________________________________________

One more comes off again!

Nice to be back under 270 again, even if breakfast will push me right back over the top, I know I'm heading into the 260's, where, at the end, is 250! That'll sure be an amazing place to be.

Yet no matter how much weight I lose, I still see a very heavy guy in the mirror, especially towards the end of each day, when the water I've consumed seems backed up to my neck.

9:15am

Heart-attack-on-a-plate. I still enjoy every bite. Also, coffee and Gjuice to wash down the meds and vites.

12:15pm

Two pieces of reheated chicken and a vanilla yogurt with fresh blackberries and Cool Whip. And, a Big water.

2:30pm

Oliver and I shared a pear and I had another Big water. Later, within the hour, we also shared an apple and I poured yet another Big water.

4:30pm

I started preparing Oliver's food for while we're away. While preparing, I sampled quite the little bunch of chicken peeled from the carcass of the other night's dinner and gradually mixed and extended so that Oliver got three meals out of it plus tonight's dinner. During that preparation, I also had a cup of Tazo Zen Green tea with Stevia and a toasted slice of Ezekiel bread with raspberry preserves cut in nine pieces.

7:50pm

Whole wheat Spaghetti and meat balls, with some grated parmesan cheese and iced tea. Took my vites and pills with dinner.

Blinding rain, big winter storm

252 days

270.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 269.0 (pounds left: 1.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 77.0)

___________________________________________________________

One more comes off

Would have been nice to lose another two at this, but today looks like a fairly light eating day, so maybe tomorrow I'll get back under 270 again.

10:25am

There was no breakfast or mid-morning snack time today since it was torrential downpour day and I had to drive Robin to work since I'll be picking her up there later on. Before getting back I stopped off at Subway to pick up lunch.

I ate a half grapefruit and an orange-mango yogurt with fresh blackberries and Cool Whip. A coffee came down to work with me.

12:15pm

The Wednesday Veggie Delite from Subway. And two Big waters.

2:00pm

Oliver and I shared a red pear. My slices had some almond butter on them. Mmmmm. Another Big water.

6:55pm

A burger, fries and a bottle of water at the Burger Joint in the Park Lane Hotel before Carnegie Hall.

Almost back

253 days

271.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 269.0 (pounds left: 2.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.0)

___________________________________________________________

Two more come off and the gears shift again

This was gratifying. When you're doing it correctly, you know what the results will be. It would be nice, this week anyway, to get the number down low before the wedding and, of course, to control myself as much as is humanly possible at the wedding.

9:15am

A nice big bowl of Kashi with granola, flax, soy milk and fresh blackberries. Coffee. Gjuice with meds and vites.

10:30am

A nicely toasted half Ezekiel muffin with almond butter (one tablespoon...a serving is two). A Big water.

12:30pm

A most wonderful spicy black bean cheese burger with (from bottom to top) a toasted bialy bottom, warm sautéed artichoke, a thin slice of red onion, the Morningstar Farms product itself, nuked, a slice of Jarlsberg Light, melted, some B&G emerald relish, Heinz Ketchup and the toasted top of the bialy.

Topped off with another Big water.

2:15pm

Another Big water and an orange, which Oliver would not share with me. A quick sniff and he literally turned up his nose at the fruit.

4:30pm

I fed and walked my friend and then came in and had a Black Vanilla Tea with Stevia and a toasted slice of Ezekiel bread with pear preserves, cut in 9 pieces. And a Big water.

7:50pm

Boy's Night Out...one regular slice, one vegetable slice and a Big water.

11:00pm

A 60-calorie natural fruit bar (raspberry).

Cool but sunny Monday

254 days

273.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 269.0 (pounds left: 4.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 80.0)

___________________________________________________________

Still at 20 pounds

My nose continues to run, but I did all of the routine today but only did about 20 minutes on the treadmill. I gained a pound. I still ended up pretty good last week. This week will be tough. There's a wedding on Saturday in Boston.

Breakfast

At around 9:30am, I had my half grapefruit and coffee. No Gjuice, not vites, no pills this morning.

11:15am

November 21st white chocolate raspberry yogurt with Cool Whip. It was fine. Another cup of coffee.

12:45pm

A sardine sandwich with heated artichokes in a potato roll with a Big water.

2:10pm

A pear, shared with Oliver.

4:00pm

Tea...Tazo Zen Green, with Stevia, a toasted slice of Ezekiel bread and strawberry preserves, cut into nine little pieces.

6:30pm

A slice of "everything" pizza at Costco, and then some chicken and a teaspoon of almond butter and Nutella for dessert.

Another sunny Sunday morning

255 days

272.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.5 (pounds left: 0.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 79.0)
• Average weight for the week: 271.9

___________________________________________________________

Nearing 99%

Only my nose continues to run, and when I wake up after NyQuill I get the "have to empty the NyQuill overnight dumptruck" effect that causes me to cough and blow for about an hour, which happened today around 5:00am. I did manage to fall back to sleep and sleep until 8:30am. Then I got up and did an almost full routine. I left out the situps and the crunches today.

The scale was a big disappointment, but 269.0 was probably a statistical blip anyway. I'll get there again, and soon. Still, I end up, for once, right where I wanted to be at week's end. Today's number was also taken late, like most of this week, so the whole week could be a blip too. But the net loss for the week is 4.9 pounds from last week, so I'd say this was a good week.

Breakfast

We did the bagels and fish number this morning. I had a blueberry bagel and half a poppy, all with reduced fat cream cheese and nova. Coffee. GJuice with vites and pills.

1:45pm

Toasted the other half poppy seed bagel with cream cheese and a Big water.

3:45pm

I had a wonderful, big Comice pear. And a Big water.

6:30pm

Dinner in Manhattan with Jaime and Dean at Gnocco Café. We had their house appetizer, which was a paper-thin toasted something or other with prosciutto and a "stuffed fig" appetizer which also sat on a bed of prosciutto. For dinner, I had some kind of macaroni with braised prosciutto and arugala. We didn't have dessert until we got home later and Robin and I cleaned out the leftovers from last night's dessert with some tea.

Cold, wet and nasty with snow possibly on its way

256 days

269.0 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.5 (pounds left: -3.5)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 75.5)

___________________________________________________________

Nearing 98%

My throat is no longer sore. I'm no longer coughing. My nose continues to run, but not as badly.

I took NyQuill last night but the wine had me up at least four times to pee during the night. I did my basic stretches, then took Oliver out but it was really raw outside and when I came back in, I had one of those monumental visits to Prince Albert in the can so I decided to weigh myself right then and there.

When I looked down, I saw 271.0. I thought to myself, "Wow...how on earth did I lose a half pound after pounding down that meal last night...and with all that wine?" Afraid the next reading would be much higher, I climbed on again and this time, the number was 269.0. Now I was really [I think the word is] flummoxed. I moved the scale. 269.0. I moved it again. 269.0. I moved it back and did it again. 269.0. I'm takin' it!

I've crashed through the 270 barrier. Is it possible? Can I somehow sustain this through tomorrow? Tune in tomorrow!

So...in small celebration, I bagged the rest of my routine for the morning and had a slightly bigger, more delicious...

...Breakfast

A bowl of Kashi, with Flax, granola, banana and soy milk. Coffee. A toasted Ezekiel muffin...both sides, one with almond butter and one with Nutella.

Lunch

No lunch. Breakfast was too late and too filling. But I did have a very Big water.

Late afternoon

Had a pear with Oliver. Then went to Fairway with Robin where I snacked on peanuts, baguette with some sort of vinegar soak and numerous pieces of aged Gouda cheese.

Dinner

It did snow, though nothing stuck.

Jaime cooked us a wonderful turkey meatball dinner with fusilli and broccoli. It was the first time she ever made us dinner and it was a huge success.

We drank wine (two, maybe three glasses) and later, Greg came over and we all shared various dessert things from Baked to Perfection in Port Washington. There was a layer cake with kind of almond flavoring, a two colored mousse, a key lime tart, a tower of whipped cream surrounded by chocolate and a bunch of others. I think those were the ones I ate. I also had two Big waters and a cup of coffee.

Much cooler, but still sunny

257 days

271.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.5 (pounds left: -1.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.0)

___________________________________________________________

Nearing 95%

My throat is no longer sore. I'm no longer coughing. My nose continues to run, but not as badly. And, by some miracle, I got up before 8:00am and did the entire routine. I write this as I sit in my chair dripping with well-deserved sweat. Once that flow stops, I'll be in the shower and on then on the scale...where, for the third consecutive day, I'm in a holding pattern at 271.5!

Don't get me wrong...I love this weight. It's the best weight I've been so far. But when you get down here, you start to develop a real yearning to see a 6 replace the 7 in the second digit spot. Could I hit 269.5 this weekend? There are no major eating festivals on the horizon so it is possible. I can certainly get into the 260's in the coming week.

I did walk through the whole routine, again, but this time, as portended yesterday, I did the whole 30 minutes on the treadmill, with a good deal of running.

Breakfast

At 9:45am, the weekly dose of oatmeal, with cinnamon, honey and flax, coffee and a swig of Gjuice with my pills. Now that I've learned that a full glass of that stuff is worth 90 calories (and OJ is 110), I'll take smaller swigs, much as I'd love to chug one...which is like a whole meal.

10:45am

A half grapefruit and a Big water.

12:15pm

Had a 295 calorie lunch: a 140 calorie hot dog roll wrapped around a MorningStar Farms Italian Sausage (veggie) for 120 calories, 20 calories of mustard and 15 calories of relish. And a Big water. And I shared a pear with Oliver.

2:15pm

Shared another pear with Oliver, and had another Big water. He really loves pears. He can almost tell when it's not a good one.

5:15pm

Fed and walked Oliver, had sliced Jarlsberg Lite sandwich on Deli Flat.

6:45pm

What's for dinner? Pollo El Paiso in Westbury with Richie and Eileen. We shared a half rotisserie chicken, shrimp in garlic sauce, skirt steak, a great big fried red snapper and some plantains, some yuccas, some rice and, of course, salad and lots of fruity Sant'gria.

Indian Summer in December

258 days

271.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.5 (pounds left: -1.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.0)

___________________________________________________________

Almost at 90%

My appetite came back last night, but I'm still not all the way back. I still needed the Quill last night and despite crashing a little before 9:00pm, it still bagged me until nearly 8:00am. That or my alarms are not annoying enough.

Anyway...stasis for a day. No gain, no loss. If how I ate yesterday was how you eat to maintain your weight, I could do it. But it's a fine line.

I did walk through the whole routine, however, for the first time in several days. I wasn't up to a full half hour on the machine, not even back at 15 minutes yet, but tomorrow is another day.

Breakfast

Thursday special, missed last week. It was like a truckload of wonderful. But it was eaten at 10:15am, so the mini-meal deal is more or less off for today.

Lunch

The remains of the salad and a Big water.

2:15pm

Shared a pear with Oliver, and had another Big water.

6:45pm

Skirt steak on the grill, with sautéed onions and baked potatoes (no butter...I used the onions as my covering for the potatoes). Also, some mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Iced tea.

Sunny and cool, rain on the way tonight

259 days

271.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.5 (pounds left: -1.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 78.0)

___________________________________________________________

Still not at 100%

I bagged Boys Night Out last night, but Robin's sister would up in Hackensack University Medical Center so we went to Joisey to hang with her, Ray and Ricky. Miraculously, there was no traffic either way.

This morning, the NyQuill bagged me until after 9:00am. Truthfully, I could crawl back in bed and sleep the rest of the day, but I won't. I did no stretching or exercise early, so maybe I'll work out a bit later. But I'll take the lost pound, which brings me within two pounds of 270 and the nicer numbers that lie beyond that milestone.

9:30am

Blackberry yogurt with Cool Whip and a coffee. Gjuice to wash down the vites and pills.

12:30pm

Subway for Veggie Delite with cheddar and sour cream chips. Big water.

1:45pm

A pear to share with the hound. A Big water.

4:05pm

Went up for tea but then took off my clothes, went to the living room, did my 18 pushups that have yet to be done at the correct time this week, went downstairs, did my side, front and back crunches and then got on the elliptical for the rest of an episode of whatever I was watching. Maybe I did 12 to 15 minutes. It was good. It made me feel a small sense of accomplishment.

6:30pm

After feeding Oliver, I drank a bit of leftover broth, then had my tea and toast. When Robin came home, I had two small bowls of salad, some leftover chicken and eggplant parmigiana that she brought home from work.

Still under the weather, but attempting to work out

260 days

272.5 pounds

___________________________________________________________

Objectives

• Week's End: 272.5 (pounds left: 0.0)
• Year's End: 193.5 (pounds left: 79.0)

___________________________________________________________

Another day not quite right

I NyQuill'd out last night before 10:00pm. I didn't wake up today until almost 8:30am. It was a great sleep, but as anyone who takes NyQuill can tell you, when you blow your nose in the morning, whatever was under control all night to allow you to breathe and sleep comes completely unglued.

The one, small bright spot in all this was that I was just uninterested in eating yesterday, so the pounds that came off were easy ones.

This morning, however, I forced myself to do the stretches and some of the calisthenics (18 fingertip pushups today). I'm a little ambivalent about the stationary bike, but I'll probably give it a shot because I don't want to totally lose momentum with my workouts.

Breakfast

Did not happen. Again. Nor did the mid-morning snack. I would have consumed quite a bit of food by then, but that did not happen.

Instead, I took a break at 10:30am and got on the floor to do my crunches and then, after another break (of work!), I got back in there, on the stationary bike and did my half hour. Then I cooled down at my desk and around noon, I went up to shower and eat.

Lunch

Leftover salad, with my special topping (red onion, shallot, artichoke, olives and shredded asiago), and a spicy black bean burger, with a thin slice of Jarlsberg light, that same salad topping, some relish and ketchup on a Deli Round. One Z-cracker with almond butter. And a Big water.

2:25pm

A banana and a Big water.

4:45pm

A cup of Green Numi Monkey tea with Stevia and a toasted end of Ezekiel bread with pear jam on it.

7:15pm

Robin brought home a few slices of pizza for me. I also ate a little of her chicken roll. Big water. Then a trip to New Jersey to see her sister in the hospital.