Day 459 - Here Fishy Fishy

I know, I know; I showed you a picture of fish yesterday. But, those fish we did not eat, which is a shame I know. But this fish, this fish I did eat. And it was so good!

Up there you see it as I placed it on the grill. It rests on a cedar planked soaked in water & lemon juice. The fish, Steelhead Salmon, is seasoned with a fish seasoning I bought in Seattle (the fish I did not buy in Seattle), and crusted in Onion & Garlic Macadamia Nuts. The came from Hawaii and from this package to be specific...

Here is dinner after it came off the grill...

Before I closed the grill I tossed in a handful of apple wood chips while cooking to give it a lovely blast of sweet smokiness.

As good as it looked coming off the grill I must say it looked its best when I plated it...

Yes, I was in the mood for fruit with dinner. or maybe I was in the mood for sweetness without the bad news from the sweets in the candy counter or bakery aisle.

That dinner was a great way to cap off a great workout. After worked I got my youngest off the couch to join me for C25K-Week1/Day2. The 93F heat was definitely a challenge. A slight breeze tried to take some sting out of the heavy air but to little avail.

Cameron is a soccer player in high school so you would expect him to look at this workout as a walk in the park. But it was quite the opposite for him. He has become quite out of shape since the end of soccer season his freshman year. Even though he hit his final growth spurt over the past six-months, oh how we hope it is his final spurt; his appetite spurted as well and not with a desire for healthy eats.

Thus he struggled to make it through the 60 second jogging segments and his walking segments were quite slow. He knew it, and wasn't happy about it. Soccer tryouts are in a couple of weeks and the start of his sophomore year  five weeks away; yes summer break has begun its descent for landing.

Myself, I got through D2 much better than D1. A day of good eating and anticipation of the workout helped that progression occur. Later this week I will get Day3  in and conclude the trio of workouts that make up a week. Hopefully I can grab Cameron for another workout; doubt he shares that same hope.

Got any recent successful grilling experiences to share?

What about exercise experiences?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 410 - Have I Bored U Yet?

Welcome to Wednesday, Welcome to June; yes it is June already!

I'll resume the 14 part series on Leadership Traits soon. I never intended to present it 14 days in a row but to break it up over several weeks. Remember I have BADD, Bloggers Attention Deficit Disorder ADD, so I tend to jump topics from day to day without much rhyme or reason at times.

Actually I am way short on time this morning. We are moving within the office here. We do this every 12-18 months, shift everyone around to a different location within the corporate campus. Today is that day, today I am moving 14 columns to the north and 7 rows to the east. Our buildings are laid out like spreadsheets and cubical locations addressed similar to how a cell in a spreadsheet is addressed. Have I bored you yet? Have I scared you away from wanting to work here?

Anyhow, as I am short on time, let me share some recent photos of my days...
Up to there, my son's t-shirt he wore to the YMCA last week; hilarious.

And here Andrew is at the gym getting his curl on...

Ashley waiting for her cheesecake to arrive; we were at the Cheesecake Factory, what else would one wait for there?...

Cameron cleaning his rifle, notice the cat on the chair next to him? No animals,or cats, were hurt in publishing this post...

The family photo for Ashley's graduation; nice to see the boys dressed up for the occasion...

Me at the YMCA last week, taking a breather between sets I think...

My wife and Squishy after graduation; she has not let her go since...

Ribs going into the smoker on Memorial Day; they were my best yet!

Enjoy Your Wednesday!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 170 - Loose, Bang, Beef

Seems like it was Monday just seven short days ago. Monday it is, so lets see what I can bring to the blog today. How about some pictures to start the week off nice and easy...

The first one is there on the left is from Saturday. I decided to try on a few shirts I've had set aside in hopes of being able to fit in them someday. When I bought this it was skin tight. And I dislike tight fitting clothes. It was very pleasing that it is no longer tight and now is quite loose around the gut. This shirt will go in my drawer of shirts exercise use, the weather is getting colder I need some long sleeve gear. Can't use being cold as an excuse to not get out there and get the miles in.

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Here are the boys Saturday evening getting there rifles zeroed in for deer hunting season which starts next week.
Top left is Andrew with his Savage .30-30.
Top right is Andrew in a pic looking down the 'tube' they shoot into. Can you see the paper target at the end of the tube 25 yards away? Yep, 25 yards, that short range is what we use to zero the scopes. If your tight on target at 25 yards then you will be at 300 yards.
Bottom left is Ryan and bottom right Cameron. Both have their own Savage 7mm which were their 8th grade graduation gifts. This was the first time Cameron's was fired and wow was it way off the mark out of the box.

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On Sunday I smoked my first Beef Brisket. Many of you know I love BBQ and getting meat busy on my grill or smoker. For whatever reason I had yet to put a brisket on the smoker. On the left is a raw 4 lb. brisket waiting for some love. On the right a happier brisket after getting some lovin with a light oil massage and a big fat kiss of sweet-mesquite.

At 7:35 a.m. the brisket went on the smoker (left) and at 2:15 p.m. it was ready to come off and rest for a bit (right). Is that not a sexy piece of meat or what?

Rested and ready to serve it is time to carve and get to eating (left). My plate gets two thin slices for our late-lunch time feast (right). I got a good smoke ring on this brisket and it was quite good. Truth be told, it enjoyed its time in the smoker about 30-45 minutes too many. I would've preferred it a bit more medium rare. Live and learn.

Hope all of you had a good weekend.

Healthy eating and some exercise amongst all the fun.

Enjoy the week.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 143 - BBQ'n & Drive'n

Hope all had a fine Labor Day yesterday. A good one was had by our clan. Since I took Sunday off from exercise I chose to exercise Monday holiday or not. My son & I got in a dumbbell routine and did five sets of push ups & sit ups. A good workout, and a needed one considering the food temptations to come.

Monday I was up before sunrise bringing the smoker up to temperature and getting five racks of baby back ribs on. See them in that picture there? Oh, no you can't, the lid is closed, silly me. Trust me they are in there. And in there they stayed for eight hours cooking slow on a low temp. When done they were proclaimed perfect.

BBQ'ing is a passion of mine and I am good at it. Mission to get healthy or not I will always get my BBQ'n on. The difference now is that I don't eat like the pigs I BBQ. Instead I exercise moderation with my passion.

Today I enjoyed just four ribs from the small end of the rack. That was probably two more than I should have eaten if I am honest with myself. The old me would have eaten an entire rack of ribs minimum. The old me was not responsible and could spell moderation even with spell-check. What, you like ribs too? Ok, here is a pic of the result for your eyes to feast upon...

Dry rub BBQ on the left and wet BBQ on the right. Two types of wet...

The bunch in front is sauced with Sweet Baby Rays and the bunch in the back is sauced with an Apple-Bacon blend.

As if the ribs weren't temptation enough I receive a call when driving home in the evening. This call comes with a request to bring home Dairy Queen for a couple of back home. It's Labor Day, sure why not some ice cream to end the holiday. Not for me, I told myself. A mile up the road I tell myself, well, I could have just a small blizzard, right? Two miles later, Nope, not going to do it; the ribs were enough indulgence today. DQ is now just a mile away, screw it, I am having Ice Cream! The DQ driveway in sight, NO! In the DQ drive thru which is six cars deep, Ok, treat yourself to a blizzard already and walk it off later. At the drive thru window I order a Peanut Buster parfait and a Oreo Blizzard, pay a ridiculous $8+ and drive of with ice cream for the sweet teeth at home. None for me; Commitment wins, Temptation loses.

And later that evening my wife and I went out for a brisk walk to end it on a healthy note. Again a fine Labor Day yesterday. How was yours?

Tuesday it is today, back to work. My day today started with a drive into work. It was an oddly congested and I'll say adventurous drive. One which I decided to try & find some fun in by capturing some of it's emotions...

#%$@&!, Cut off by a squishy little car; I hate squishy little cars!

Argh, the squishy little car has NO brake lights and is getting bigger in my windshield extremely fast!

Ha Ha!... Local radio'heads talking about Illinois politics; best comedy on the air.

Soooo, when was the last time I used my moon roof?

PLEASE... why do trains run during peak commute time?!

Um... is that cow doing a heimlich maneuver on that other cow?

Really? I left home with my own barn door wide open...

If I had three wishes, what would I do with them?

Uh Oh!

Oooo, somebody knows how to dress for traffic.

Green, the light is GREEN, Yippee!!

So, how was your commute today?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 57 - 24% Progress

Sunday, or is it Sundae? yeah, lets go with Sunday, less calories. Happy Sunday to all!

That smoked leg of lamb below, that was dinner last night. It spent three hours on my smoker and boy did I get a good garlic & spice crust on that sexy leg. Saying it was delicious would be an understatement worthy of prison time. Temptation to eat 2nds and 3rds and, well I was tempted. But I abstained from temptation and had a single slice. Oh there are left overs, so my protein today just may be another slice.

Last weekend I hit the 20% weight loss mark on my mission. Having gone a week without back-sliding I can now order my reward for hitting that mark; a new laptop computer bag. I've had the same one my employer gave me for about 5 years, maybe more. Now when we get new laptops we don't get new bags, so it is time for me to get my own. And I shall do just that later today.

It is weigh in day. I was a bit apprehensive when I stepped on the scale as I had not exercised for a couple days this week while busy celebrating the Blackhawks title. But I knew I had been eating well so I wasn't too apprehensive. I have had better weigh in's lately, but as my goal is for a 1.5 pound per week loss, I can't be anything but smiles again this week. Today I got off that scale at 24 % of the way to my goal, I've lost 28.5 pounds in EIGHT weeks; 1.5 of them this past week.

Today I weighed in at 291.5 pounds. Feels good, so good, that I want more. More losses, more feel good. So off I go to get a quality breakfast and find some exercise that needs doing.

Have a good Sundae!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!