Day 313-314: Angel's Food vs. Devil's Food



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Angel's Food vs. Devil's Food

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Kreme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?"

And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.

So God said, "Try my fresh green salad." And Satan presented Ranch Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them." And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said, "It is good." Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil's Food."

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald's and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, "You want fries with that?" And Man replied, "Yes! And super size them!" And Satan said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

Then Satan created HMOs.

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Not sure who to give credit to for that joke, it is easily found on a number of various joke sites, I lifted it from HERE.

I found this joke quite humorous, and also quite telling in how it is our nature to take good action and soon follow up with new not-good action. It is a constant struggle to address old and new challenges to healthy living. Fun, have to have fun each day; but we also have to stay on guard each day.

For the record, I LOVE & prefer Angel's Food over Devil's Food cake!

YOU?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 312 - Tempt, Taunt & Try

Shamrock shakes, oh they tempt us so.

Especially my wife, she love her a shamrock shake.

She was out of town this past weekend when I bought these.

Brought them home for the kids.

When did they start putting whip cream & cherries on them? 

Consider this your public service announcement for the day.

Car seats, yes they can taunt. Recall recently my niece spent a day with us.

Having her with us required me to put the old skills for installing a car seat to use.

Boy, designs sure have changed in a decade.

Took me a solid 5 minutes to install & 10 to uninstall the next day.

I am pretty sure strapping in astronauts is less complicated.

Traffic, definitely a source for trying my patience.

Especially in winter.

Oh this winter picture of my ride in to work this a.m., pretty huh?

Wrong, no Currier and Ives wonderland here.

Just a bunch of impatient soles adding to the commute time via their inability to be patient.

Not sure if you can see the sign in this pic, looks close...

I am game to try many things in life, variety is the spice of life & I like it spicy!

But WTH is eyebrow-threading???

I have no idea, and I don't think I want to know.

Nope, my $5 is staying in my wallet.

 Progress, not Perfection people... Make that what you try for this day!
Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 296 - Defining Super Sunday

Super is working hard enough to get a good sweat going.

Super is waking up in the morning and wanting to be sure time is made to exercise.

Super is planning weekly menu options that are both healthy & tasty.

Super is looking forward to the food that comes with the big-game and knowing I won't over-indulge.


Super is Super Bowl Sunday, A Steelers victory will be Super-Duper!

 Enjoy your Day and the Game!!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 279 - Give Me Teased & Taunted Over Self-Pity & Guilty

Is anyone else here an admitted yo-yo dieter? I am raising my hand here, which is hard leaving me to type with one hand.

Even after 278 days into this latest mission, the longest I have ever been on to seriously drop allot of weight; even now I still feel I am still struggling to stay focused on doing what I ought to do day in and day out. Even when I try hard and use my happy-focused face (see picture), it isn't always easy.

It is the mind-game of it all that really is the struggle though. By now I would hope this would be so 2nd-nature and that my mind would have stopped entertaining desires for vats of ice cream wrapped in bacon smothered in cheese sauce with a side of buffalo wings. But my mind still does taunt me so. Perhaps it always will.

I suppose there is an alternative; I could just give in. Oh how easy that would be. My mind would be at ease. Or would it? Wouldn't it just begin to taunt me in reverse, heaping scoops and ladles full of guilt upon me for diving into that which will keep me obese until my unfortunate death at a young age? Oh I know my mind would do just a thing.

So, I guess it is a choice of which mind-game I want to play. The game of being teased & taunted to eat what I know I shouldn't. Or the game of being self-pity & guilty for eating what I know I shouldn't.

I am choosing to accept the fact that I will be teased & taunted, perhaps forever, while hoping with all my super-hero powers that they will abate over time. And if not, I know I am strong enough to survive their assault upon my mind. I have to be - it is that simple; I have to be stronger than my temptations.

Which choice have, or will, you make?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 268 - 55% Progress

It's weigh-in day, weigh-in day, weigh-in day... that would be the day I weigh-in.

Feeling good about this weigh in too as I've dropped 2 pounds this past week. Cool, that is 2 pounds closer to my goal weight of 199! Since starting this mission last April I've dropped 55% of the weight I have set out to drop. Oh Yeah!

This past week I have been vigilant about tracking my calories & exercise. In part inspired by Bobbie over at Anonymous Fat Girl who gave us THIS amazing post last weekend. I've been using the Lose It! app on my iTouch and this week I calculated a calorie deficit of 6,809 calories. That calculates oh-so close to 7,000 which is the calories one needs to burn to lose 2 pounds. So Bobbie, thanks again for that post! Check it out folks if you missed it.
Big temptation challenge today; family birthday party. We'll be convening the families over at Bill's Pub to celebrate those who turn a year older this month. Bill's is known for it's pizza and also serves up an dang-good bacon-cheese-fry appetizer which I will have none of. I will have some pizza, but very little. I've been here a few times over the past year and have done well to restrain myself. I expect today to be another such day of restraint.

Let me close this post by giving another shout-out. This guy is a blogger who had allot to do with me getting off to a great start on my mission. I recall receiving great advice from him on topics such as how to restrain yourself when going to parties, brunches, etc.. 

Over the past few months he has become largely absent from the blogs and as is true with so very many who fade from the blogs, his progress with his own mission to be healthy has faded. He has allowed himself to justify poor habits and put back on a chunck of weight. But, he did grace us from his blog last Monday where he owned up to just that (how else would I have known his state) and he let us know WHY... I have no doubt Kyle has what it takes to rebound and hope to see him posting that he is doing just that soon. 

Have a Great Sunday everyone!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 235 - Momma Said, Wait No She Didn't

Had an excellent day yesterday even though it was extremely busy. So busy all I could do blog wise was post that brief excuse for a post from my cell phone. Momma said there'd be days like that. Well, she never expanded upon that warning to the point there will be days where you take your truck in for 'routine' maintenance and it costs you $1,600 in the end... no she didn't. But, that was part of my day yesterday.

I did catch a break yesterday in that my evening plans softened up enough to allow me to get in a great work out on my new weight bench. There you see a pic of me in action, my spotter felt I was doing fine enough to take the time to get that shot. After the weights were worn out I wanted some more so I went upstairs to the treadmill and got in three miles on that. I really dislike treadmills, thus why this weekend I went outside for my failed attempt at 13.1 vs. hitting the treadmill. But, falling back into the cold and coughing that was much of my weekend was less appealing than the treadmill so we got together & tolerated each other. Eating and drinking was spot on too so all smiles yesterday sans the truck news.

Wanted to get to a shout out since last week, been scatter brained lately it seems, better late than never applies here I believe. Dawn of Fixing Myself Thinner said something in fine fashion in a brilliant post after returning from her Thanksgiving trip. Her trip challenged her ability to keep it healthy and provided a lesson on environment and the key role the environment we are in plays in our ability to succeed in our daily mission to be healthy.

In attempts past I have wavered in and out with the advice that it is wise to clean house, get rid of all the no-good-tempting foods and keep them from coming back. In general, this advice is hard to argue; if a temptation is not there then it is harder to give into it. Myself, my mind is cautious of anything labeled, 'general' as I see them as lazy attempts to over-simplify how something applies to all of us as a whole. Good sense for one person is nonsense for another. Strong will in the face of temptation comes easy to one but is a panic laden experience for another. Thus we are all different in how we deal with situations and issues regarding weight loss, general or otherwise. 

Dawn's post wasn't as much about our immediate environment however, I wandered a bit in tangent there. Instead she reminds us we are going to find ourselves out there, in environments we do not have full control over, but that fact need not be reason to pack in the healthy behaviors for a moment or a weekend. For those times where we know ahead of time that we will be in less than diet-friendly environments a little planning ahead can allow us to arm ourselves with healthy options. I won't bother with a list or tricks or tips as so many bloggers are posting here around the holidays with how to survive them. Most of them apply year round. Of course planning ahead is ideal, but take a further lesson from Dawn; don't forget to take the protein bars you made with you when you venture out :-)

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 223 - Post Turkey Ugh

Hope all had a great Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving was filled with good food and time with the family. I ate well, and didn't over do it. Oh I wanted to. That turkey was calling me to come and get some more of that succulent breast meat. Those mashed sweet potatoes were singing a seductive song which was so lovely. And the pumpkin pie, it just had to sit there and use ESPN to keep it's presence on my mind. Yeah, I so wanted to go and load up a second plate, but I abstained. What a difference a year makes. In years past I would have loaded up two and three plates before surrendering to my recliner for an afternoon nap.

Hope all that are out shopping in the early dark hours of the morning survive the madness. You wont ever catch me out there shopping when the body should be sleeping. This morning I am headed out early though; need to drop my son off at school by 6:30 a.m. so he and his wrestling team can make the not-quite-an-hour'ish trip to Barrington for a tournament. He'll spend all day today there and if he is not eliminated all day Saturday too. Thankfully his practice yesterday was in the morning so it didn't interfere with family plans. The tourney starts at 10 a.m. so I will have time to get in some exercise before heading down myself to spend the day watching the action.

Is the exercise in your plans for today?

Some exercise can help shake free the ugh feeling you may be feeling from over doing it yesterday.

And if you didn't over do it, just get some exercise in just because.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 221 - Holiday: Bring It

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Who doesn't enjoy a holiday? Well, there are plenty of people that do not look forward to holidays for a variety of reasons. So the question instead should be who doesn't enjoy the holiday food? In less time than it takes to dredge a forkful of turkey through gravy I can answer that question myself with a I DO.  

Tomorrow is a holiday, Happy Thanksgiving in advance. We will be entertaining family and serving a very traditional Thanksgiving spread. I will say without reservation I am looking forward to the time with family and also the food that will surround us like a coyote would surround a helpless rabbit. Bring it on I say!

Getting healthy, I say bring that on too. And I've been bringing it since April. Is getting healthy hard work? Absolutely! Is it difficult? To a degree it is especially when getting started and sifting through the mazes of how to do it.

We are humans, so it is natural that we make most everything we do more difficult than it really is. On holidays, we can really make a twist out of enjoying the day while staying healthy. I have done it as recently as this past Independence Day and Easter. Fretting over the menu or the buffet that would be there that day; spending the day doing a careful tip toe through the maze of food before me.

I am not, NOT, doing that tomorrow or ever again. I am not making holiday's difficult anymore because they shouldn't be. Simply, what we do everyday is what we should do holidays. Sure, the food on a holiday is different in that it is more tempting. But our approach to the food that day should be no different than any other day. Practice the same good sense where portion size and nutrient balance is concerned. Don't make it any harder than that.

Enjoy whatever food it is that is part of your holiday within the same guidelines you'll apply to your food today, and the day after the holiday.

By the way, what is going to be on your holiday table?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 209 - Simply, Got Purpose?

Back to health blogging after a two day break. These past two days I dedicated my thoughts to the USMC Birthday and Veterans Day respectively. While I am all about the "Me First" philosophy to being healthy and being our best in general, on days such as those I simply insist on placing less attention to me and more thought to them.

This week thus far has been a good one for exercise. Not great, but good. Have put in a couple of cardio sessions and one on the weights. For whatever reason I feel my weight sessions lately are lacking fire. The exception being the one at the YMCA this past Sunday. It simply could be I am bored with what I have been doing and need to shake it up not just a little but a good deal.

This week thus far has been another saga of inconsistency with the diet. Overall I have eaten good, but not great. My guard is not as high as it needs to be at present as I have been more open to temptation than I should. Saying that is simply frustrating because I am a simple guy, and discipline should be simple. Temptations are not good for you and thus should not be had; there for do just that and do not give in to them. A majority of the time I am A-Ok with that simplicity. But why not 99% of the time?

Note I purposely meant 99%, not 100%. No human can be 100% consistent with healthy eating day in and day out for a lifetime. And we ought not feel we need to be or try to be... 99% yes, 100% no; simply that's my opinion.

Therefore I repeat, why not 99% of the time? Something to ponder...

In quickly pondering this my mind quickly picks up on the word 'purpose'. Simply (I am 99% committed to over using that word today), simply what purpose does doing this serve? No, I am not asking what is the purpose behind my mission to get healthy. Rather, what is the purpose for doing what I am considering doing right now?

I believe in times of inconsistency that I am not asking myself that question, or any similar question, before I commit to action. Nope, just doing what is there to be done, whether it serves a purpose worth serving or not. So, the real challenge for me is not the act itself of eating something I shouldn't, or too much of a good thing, etc... rather the challenge is to simply check myself before I act. Simply before eating this or that ask myself "What purpose does eating this serve and is that purpose worthy to me."

Oh, the picture above. I have no picture at all that goes with the text of this post. Usually I do, today not at all. When such a predicament occurs, the only proper action is to simply post a cat picture.

I hope you enjoy this picture of Zinger as much as you enjoy your Friday!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 140 - Rebounding From Wedding

The afternoon is almost gone and I am just sitting down for some blogging. It will be a short sit as I need to get ready to go see my son play soccer soon. But at least wanted to get a post up and checkout a few blogs before I go. I'll be back this evening to read more blogs and see how everyone is doing.

Hope all of you are doing well as we start this weekend. A long holiday weekend it is too. Myself, woke up feeling sluggish. Between the wedding rehearsal on Thursday evening and then the wedding Friday I am wiped out. And I was not even in the wedding party, so you can imaging how wiped out my wife is. So much so she is upstairs taking a nap before the soccer game.

While I didn't go binge crazy over board at these two events I did eat a good 300-400 calories more that I intend on a given day, where a given day day for me is 1700-2000 calories. Lets just say I likely took in 2500 calories on each of the last two days. Not terrible, the old me would have taken in 3-times that. Not good either as I did eat more than I should have. Thus why I felt sluggish this morning too.

But I did not let that feeling get to me, I did the opposite actually. Instead of wallowing in some pity I used that feeling for motivation and declared this a Two-A-Day day. In part to get moving to relieve myself of the sluggish feeling and in part to undo any damage I may have done the past two days. Weigh in day tomorrow, and I am weighing in and announcing the milestone achieved tomorrow as I set out to do at the beginning of the week.

First up on the Two-A-Day: Stanton Hill. My son was with me and as well the JV high school football team was there using the hill. Luckily the section I use was available and off we went. A brisk 60F day out made it pleasant, though the high winds were a bit of a nuisance. Last time out here I missed a new PR on this hill by a few seconds. It had been over a month since I hit the 20 laps up & down mark. We set our sights in on 21 this time and gave it all we had. And have it we would, we nailed 21 with about a minute to go,not enough time to get in a 22nd lap, that'll have to wait for another visit and be happy with this PR, Oh Yeah!

Second up on the Two-A-Day: the 3.6 Mile Neighboorhood II loop. AI had a light lunch after the hill and a brief rest and then off I went by myself for this walk. My goal was an hour, my best so far was just over 61 minutes. This is a loop through our sub-division, into the next and around two large park and back. All concrete and asphalt, some small inclines and declines; friendly walking terrain you could say. Along the way I listened to the latest podcast from MizFit & Shauna, which was both motivating and at the same time there were parts where I just wanted to sit on a park bench and listen because my own breathing was getting in the way of listening. But know I had the luxury of listening to it again later on, I kept going. And going I went to a 60:43 finish. Aother PR for this day, Oh Yeah!

Ok, I am off to the shower and to soccer. Have a great day everyone!

Catch your blogs later this evening and catch you back here tomorrow for my weigh in.

Oh, have you checked out MizFit & Shauna's podcast? If not use that link up there and give it a listen; good stuff!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 139 - My D'Oh Tonic

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Up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday and went out for a walk on my neighborhood 2 mile loop. I don't know if itis walking first thing in the morning that makes a difference, or if I'm just on a performance up-tick, or what, but I obliterated my PR's for that loop & my 1-mile walk time, 31:53 and 15:30 minutes respectively. The loop time was more than 1-1/2 minutes faster than my previous best. Maybe it is the darkness and that my eyes can't wander off as far & lose focus. Whatever it was, I aint complaining.

When do you exercise, a.m., noon, p.m.? Have a preference? Liz posted yesterday on the pro / con of when we exercise; I enjoyed this read and am sharing it here for you to enjoy as well.

Wedding day today for our friends Eileen & Brian. Have the day off work, leave about noon'ish to get my wife where she needs to be, then the wedding with the full one-hour plus Catholic mass, then a reception complete with dinner and dancing and all the typical reception stuff. Perhaps home by midnight at the earliest. Wish me luck in my upcoming fight against today's food temptations.

On Sunday I reported a 2 pound loss for last week and my pleasure with it. Indeed I was pleased. But, I know I left something on the table. No, I'm not talking about an extra serving of pork chops; I did leave that on the table on purpose. However I also made a mistake that saw me leave on the table the opportunity to lose more weight last week.

What did I do, I drank tonic water. I usually drink a 20-24 ounce glass three or four nights a week. I like tonic water, always have. About a month ago I was looking for an alternative to diet soda, and water, and remembered tonic water so I scooped up a few 2-liter bottles and have been working on them.

What's wrong with tonic water? Myself, I thought nothing at all, I mean; it's just carbonated water right? Enter my wife. She comes home Saturday morning from the grocery store with DIET tonic water. Huh? What do you mean diet, it's water with bubbles and quinine; how much more diet can you get?

For validation I go check the nutrition facts on the bottle I've been drinking, ARGHH! It is loaded with high fructose corn syrup - WHAT!!! An 8 ounce serving is 100 calories. Yikes, on nights I've enjoyed a glass I've sucked in an extra 250 - 300 calories. D'Oh!

Down the drain that bottle went, and I thanked my wife. She saved me sooner rather than later; imagine if I hadn't discovered this for say 3-6 months from now? Perish the thought.

So, had I not been so dim-witted I may have had a hair better progress in the bank. Oh well, I am really not mad, not at all. Over the past 136 days you may have picked up on that I am very calm headed; not easily upset or put off. Live and learn, love and laugh; and laugh I did at my tonic water error.

Have you made any diet errors?
Please say you have, I can't be the only one; can I?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 70 - World Cup Feast

The USA plays Ghana today in the World Cup. Only sixteen teams left and the remaining games are elimination games. Win, and move on. Lose and go home. Our kids are huge soccer fans and all into the World Cup fever. The game starts in about an hour.

This morning they awoke and asked that we have a feast for the game. Ok, I like a feast, so I ask what they want; chicken breasts, salad, fruit, wild rice; does any of that sound good to them? Oh no, not for a world cup game, "We want a Bacon Explosion!", they say in unison. Apparently my wife made them a deal; if the USA makes it to the round of sixteen they can have a Bacon Explosion. Yeah, our kids love there Mom allot :-)

The Bacon Explosion, have you heard of it? (click here for recipe). Oh it is nothing short of a culinary master piece. As good as it is, it is also very bad. An all out blitzkrieg on a healthy diet. Being the trooper I am, with the help of my son Ryan, I have made one for them. There you see the one we made this morning as it hit the smoker for its 2.5 hour smoke bath. Basically the Bacon Explosion is a pork lovers delight that consists of pre-cooked bacon bits wrapped within a layer of Italian sausage and then that layer of sausage rolled up in a lattice of bacon slices. It is about the size of an american football before it gets smoked. I also put some onion and jalapenos in mine.

Whew, I am getting so hungry writing this. However, I am making this Bacon Explosion for them for the most part. I shall allow myself a small slice of this delicacy, and no more. We are also grilling up some corn on the cob and a salad will be made as well. This morning my son Cameron whipped up a batch of salsa which I've shared with you before (click here for that recipe). I'll get a bunch of that salsa goodness busy in a good sized salad and that will be my main course. The slice of bacon explosion love will be my side dish.

Exercise, we went on a walk this morning to get some cardio in. I plan on getting in my dumbbel routine sometime this afternoon after the game too. Definitely trying to be sure I burn off whatever Bacon Explosion that does enter my body today.

What are you up to today? Watching any World Cup action??

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 69 - Blue Streeeeeak!

TGIF to all of you in blog-land. A day off of work my family & I. Off we are to play for the day in Milwaukee. We'll take in a tour at Miller, then have lucnh at Maders - OMG Almond Crusted Trout, and then Usingers & stock up on pork products. The over/under bet on how much bacon we bring home is 5 pounds, any takers? So, yeah, no temptations for us to fend off today; good-grief what we put ourselves through in the name of family fun.

Click HERE for Blue's post yesterday re: Streeeeeak!

Do you read Blue's blog? If not, please do. Her post I linked there is the inspiration for my post today.

Above you see my own Streeeeeak! picture, it'll be on my blogs side-panel going forward; I am calling it My Streeeeeak!-o-Meter.

Blue, she said we could set up rules for it as we wish. Well if Blue said so, then by gosh I am going to do so.

Here are the rules of my own particular Streeeeeak! I am going to do my Streeeeeak! on a weekly basis, so I will tally up weeks I live up to these rules. My rules are that I abide by the changes I have committed to. They can be seen to the left on my side-panel (My Changes (I'm Committing To)) or here: MY CHANGES. Each week I do abide by them I will tally up one on the Streeeeeak!-o-Meter. If I don't abide then the tally returns to zero. I'll do the tallying on Sunday with my weekly weigh-ins.

Way to go Blue!!

I am going to Streeeeeak! How about you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 62 - Cow on a Skateboard

FRIDAY, that's what today is in case you didn't know.

This weekend my wife & I are going out of town to attend a wedding for a buddy of mine from high school, Mark or 'Vish' as I've known him for nearly 30 years. Very happy to see my friend who I haven't seen in nearly 2 years; last time was at our 25th high school reunion in 2008. This is his 2nd time around with wedding knots so it is a low-key event. Low-key or not, the temptations will be abundant. Bar food everywhere, beer beer & more beer everywhere. You see, I have never been with this guy and not out drank him. Well, I won't out drink him this weekend; my wedding gift to him :-) I will survive this weekend!

Even away I'll try and make posts this weekend from my cell phone as best I can, I probably shouldn't guarantee I'll post though. As well I'll try and follow on with you if I can. And if I can't, I'll be back Monday to work and to blogging.

Exercise, I don't think I have talked much about exercise in my recent posts. Yes, I have been getting in my exercise, at least the minimum I've committed to; see my commitments here.

Monday this week I did my dumbbell routine and then did my 2 mile neighborhood walk. No exercise the past two days. Yesterday I went downstairs and got busy on my home gym routine. But, it didn't go so well. For some reason I couldn't get into a groove. With each rep, the form just wasn't happening, I felt as awkward as a cow on a skateboard.

After three of the ten exercises in my routine I was really struggling to do more than 3 or 4 reps without stopping for a breath. Sad! Looking to the ceiling, I considered going upstairs and trying again later.

Silent for too long the obese-michelin-man looking lessor-demon creature of my past sat up on my left shoulder & piped up. After a snort and chuckle, "Aint happenin, givin the pantry a workout is happenin though", he offered.

Silly suggestion, but, perhaps he has a point. Maybe I was zapped and needed an energy boost. So I scurried upstairs and grabbed a slice of water melon and gobbled that down like a coyote at a prime-rib buffet. Was that dumb? Eating a piece of fruit during a weekend hoping to get some fast energy to carry me through the workout?

Back in the basement, exercises four, five and six are forced; ugh just not feeling it. What is going on? "Have some more'n that watery melon, and a beer, huh, huh, how bout one?" the hungry-demon jabbed on.

Not wanting to give in I start exercise seven. But after the first set, I've had it with the bumbling display I was putting on for the Demon and gave in to him. Up the stairs I went to see what dinner would be tonight. Leftovers; one left over pork chop and fresh caesar salad for me. Dinner done, it was yummy, I eye up my recliner for it is time chill into the evening.

"Horse$#i%!!!!!", screams the healthy-alien inside me.

"Huh, where you been, playing chutes and ladders with my intestines?" I bark back.

Smiling to myself, I ask around for a walking buddy, but nobody is game. No problem, I am a big boy and can go outside alone. My 2 mile neighborhood walk here I come. Ipod on, check. Cell phone, check. Alien and Demon, um check. Off I went.

Bugs, bugs the whole way. That sucked, well the Demon found it funny; yeah I could hear him laughing. Before I knew it I get to the 1-mile turn, check the watch, hhmmm, 18:02, not great but not bad at all.

"You know if you do the second mile in the same time you'll get a new PR for this loop", states the Alien.

"Really?" I ask myself.

"Yeah, really, I can ADD!" exclaims the Alien.

"HaHaHa...", the Demon roars in eiree laughter, "It's called multi-ply-intation you Alien fool!", he fusses.

"Enough you two, Enough! Hold On." I announce.

Purpose found, pick'em up and set'em down. Groove found, Form happening; this cow was Rock'in that sidewalk. Ipod volume maxed, sweat giving into gravity, bugs; didn't even notice them still playing their irritating game.

That second mile came in at 17:09, a PR for a mile stretch, The loop came in at 35:12 - more than a minute faster than my previous best for another new PR. That called for a few fist-pumps in the drive way. Cool indeed - Way Cool, made up for that poor home gym workout earlier.

"Did it?" the Alien asks calmly.

"Ha, umpnh", the Demon tried to start up another laugh track but was quickly silenced by the Alien foot that found the inside of his mouth.

The next five minutes were all Alien. Watch, check. Ipod volume back to max, check. A starting line on the sidewalk found, check. Off I went.

Around the block I went, just a bit more exercise to be sure I redeemed myself for earlier. Not really sure how far it is around my block, certainly I will check the next time in the car. Regardless how far it may be, I got around it in 4:35, slow or fast who knows.

Heh heh...it was fast. I forgot to mention that Alien inspired extra block, he got me to JOG around the block.

It wasn't pretty, not even close. It wasn't easy, oh I came so close to stopping. But I made it around without stopping. First time I jogged in an embarassing large number of years.

Oh Yeah - I Rocked that last block, I Rocked that work out; I Rocked this day!!

If I don't get to blog this weekend  - you keep Rock'in all weekend!

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!!

Day 53 - Shrimp vs. Moo

Good Morning, how goes it this fine day Bloggy People?

Who likes SHRIMP?

I like shrimp. We took the kids out to one of our favorite steak houses last night; Backyard Steak Pit. It was the final act in celebrating our youngest's graduating 8th grade. We had the huge gathering of the clans to celebrate a couple weekends ago. Last night's dinner was just my wife, our kids & I in a more intimate celebration over food. We've done this for each 8th grade graduation and the assumption is we will do so for each high school graduation starting next year as well.

Anyhow, back to shrimp. That picture is one of the gorgeous grilled shrimp on my plate. It, and all of the shrimp & scallops on it, were works of perfection. I tried to do it justice by immortalizing one of the shrimp in pictures with my cell phone but feel I failed to capture it's awesomeness. I don't know, looking at it makes me wish it were dinner time again.

Now you may be wondering, "Didn't he say they went to a steak houses - their favorite favorite steak house"?

Why yes we did, and, no I didn't order any steak. Pause... letting that sink in for a minute... I can't believe it myself. During the drive there I was struggling with what to order; we've been there so many times I have the menu memorized, literally. I was thinking of going with the smallest fillet on the menu, it is an 8 ounce hunk of heaven. But by the time we sat down I had convinced myself that I could do better, that I really didn't want to take any chances of voiding out the past few days of hard work (3 mile walk Monday & did the full dumbbell routine Tuesday before dinner).

You should have seen it. This healthy-alien currently inside of me who is firmly in control, I haven't come up with a name for him yet; have any ideas? Well he, or maybe he is a her, was going at it hard with the hungry-demon who has been in control of me for a couple of decades. The creature is not too happy about the new kid, alien, on the block let me tell you. The expletives were flying, bleep bleep bleep was heard throughout my head, the creature even tried the "don't you love me anymore" routine.

Too my surprise the alien won yet again, yes it does still surprise me; and the creature crept away with his head down to go moap behind a kidney for the rest of the meal. Grilled Seafood Kebab with wild rice and a garden salad is what I had. The old me would have had the 20 ounce hickory crusted ribeye with fully locked & loaded backed potato and that same garden salad with the croutons, bacon bits and super-duper fattening dressing which I omitted last night.

This morning, so glad the alien won!

Hockey Update: GAME SIX is tonight of the Stanley Cup, puck drop is at 7 p.m. Chicago (central) time on NBC. No this not a paid promotion. My butt will be glued to my recliner promptly at 6:59 p.m. - where will you be?
GO BLACKHAWKS!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 45 - Busy To Lose

Hope all enjoyed the holiday weekend. A good weekend for me and my clan. And generally a healthy one too. Sunday we had our family gathering and while a majority of the food was fried, it was largely a catered event, I didn't over eat and kept the belly filled with water and veggies & fruit.  Got in a couple of exercise sessions too. Saturday my son & I thrashed the home gym and I also hit the elliptical for 30 minutes. Yesterday my wife & I went for a walk around the Nippersink forest preserve. It was just a 1.3 mile walk around the place. We were planning to do a 2nd loop but the rains were so near and we just didn't care to get caught in the rain. And rain it did. So in the end the holiday weekend did no damage to me in my efforts to get healthy.

Back to work today, I am sure that is the same story for many of you. While I would certainly like to spend less time working than I do, or not have to work at all; I do find that it is easier to maintain attention to healthy behaviors on work days. Simply there is less time for the mind to wander to temptation. Oh sure, before I started this mission over 40 days ago my mind did wander to temptation, and it still does. But the difference now is that I have adopted an attitude that doesn't allow me to give into temptation so easily. Being at work helps shore up that attitude. When tempted I can dive into my work and more easily push temptation aside.

Do you find keeping the mind and hands busy helps with living healthy? What do you look to busy yourself with to push temptation aside?

Hockey update: Blackhawks beat Philly in game 2 last night and lead the series 2-0. Sweet, but not getting over confident or complacent. Last year the Red Wings took a 2-0 lead on the Penguins to then lose the series 3-4. So nothing has been won yet. GO HAWKS!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 43 - 19% Progress (and HAWKS WIN)

Hooray it is weigh-in day! Seriously, does anyone really feel that ecstatic about a weigh-in before they get on the scale. Personally I cannot say that I really feel ecstatic, but I do look forward to them. They are a validation of my behavior of the past week, whether or not I have lived up to Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!

So let's get down too brass tacks. Brass tacks, does anyone reading this really have any brass tacks in their home? Brass, what is so special about brass tacks vs. say aluminum, or... yeah, who cares.

It is with grand jubilation that I report to you that this weigh in calls for an Oh Yeah! As of just moments ago I am now at 19% of the way to my goal; I've lost 23 pounds in six weeks, 5.5 of them this past week. Today I weighed in at 297 pounds.

Could it be? Could it seriously be that I have exited the 300's and will never go back for a visit?

Oh how I hope so!

No, "hope" need not apply here. I will NEVER revisit the 300's!!!!

Let it be said that May, 2010 was the last month I ever put a scale over 300, NEVER Again; NEVER!

Two days ago I received in the mail my reward for reaching my 10% weight loss goal (12 lbs. lost ); my new workout clothes. It sure felt good getting them in hand and knowing I earned them versus just buying them because I could. In just ONE more pound I'll have that 20% weight loss reward in sight. Nice to know, but let me not get ahead of myself.

Before I get to what is going on today, did everyone see my quick post yesterday evening of my wife & I? We attended game one of the Stanley Cup and we were like kids in candy shop; a sugar-free candy shop :-) I know most don't care two shakes about hockey so I will keep this brief. But my wife & I are life-long hockey fans. And the blood in our veins is Blackhawk Red. For the better part of the past decade our team has struggled and missed the playoffs. But the past two years they found their steel and have the Blackhawk nation on edge. When they were last in the Stanley Cup, 1992, I couldn't afford a vowel let alone tickets to such an event. But today, thankfully we could, so we went. Who knows when in our lifetime they will ever make it back. And did we get our moneys worth. A back and forth brawl with the Philadelphia Flyers for the entire sixty minutes. In the end, the score was 6-5, BLACKHAWKS WIN; see for yourself...

That pic may be a bit fuzzy, sorry; pic from my cell phone. One game down, three more to go and we are the Champions! Ok, deep breath, relax...

Today will be a challenge as it is party day. A party at the sister-in-law's to celebrate a couple of 8th grade graduations, Cameron our youngest and Alicia our niece. Also my wife's Uncle just turned 75 and of course we'll party in honor of Memorial Day too. I am sure many of you have similar food challenges this holiday weekend. We've been there before, we will be here many many times ahead. We also know how to survive these events and enjoy ourselves while even enjoy some tempting foods without completely wrecking our hard earned progress towards our weight loss / healthy living goals. What, need a refresher on what to do at a party and not over do it? So do I, it is always a good idea to revisit what works when faced with the challenge of temptation. Easiest way to do that is revisit some posts or mine, and comments of yours, on just that topic. My Day 13 post is where I asked for help and your comments which helped me come up with a game plan, and my Day 15 post illustrates just how well I did employing that generous and useful advice of yours. Or, review this - I just remembered that I've summarized allot of that good advice on my MY WHAT? page; once there just scroll down to the section titled, "What My Mission Has Taught Me...".

Ok, I have rambled on enough here. Whatever you do today enjoy it and stay healthy doing it!

GO BLACKHAWKS!

Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!

Day 40 - Progress Picture Day

My 10% Progress pictures are up finally, they are HERE or above via the link for MY PROGRESS PICS. I had the day off of work for the most part, hence the casual attire for a Wednesday. Hmmm, I don't see much difference, but it is only 10%.

Yesterday I stopped and filled up my gas tank. Now that's not too exciting or worthy of blog space is it? Nope, I agree, silly me. Kind of like posting on Facebook that you are 'Getting gas' when doing so; like anyone cares.

Well here is why that is important, at least to me. Across the parking lot from the gas station is a Culver's. Mmmm, familiar with this semi-fast food chain? Home of the 'butter-burger', which really isn't worth it's hype. They also are known for their frozen custard which deserves more hype.

Many many many times, I mean many, I have hit this particular Culvers drive-thru and grabbed a frozen custard for the rest of the drive home. And none of those times, I mean none, did I intend that frozen custard to be a meal replacement. Hmmm, the frozen custard diet, has a nice ring to it. No?

Those visits were purely impulse, just a feeding frenzy as if I were a shark in a pool of bloody custard flavored fish. Yeah, I put no thought into that analogy. Drawn to the place like a magnet, especially when I first stopped for gas next door & had a few torturous moments to stare at the place while gassing up.

Back to yesterday as I'm gassing up & yes I was staring at Culvers. I look at the marquee for the custard flavor of the day; OMG it is Chocolate Carmel Twist, that's a good one! And then it happened; I looked away before the gas tank was full. My mind went on to other things, the Blackhawks I think. Ok, so I looked away, not worthy of blog space. Well then how about this... Without conscious effort my mind, body and spirit stepped up as never before; I left the gas station, drove passed Culvers, past temptation, and didn't look back. Huh, who am I?

I am Patrick, nice to meet you by the way, who on Day 2 of this mission committed to NO MORE FAST FOOD, that's who. What else was I supposed to do?

I'm thinking NSV.

Who is in control of you today?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!

Day 21 - Hello Weekend

So who has plans for an awesome weekend? Certainly Mother's Day will see most have plans of some sort with family. Myself, Sunday is just a day at home as there are kids sports activities planned. Beyond lavishing my wife with some gifts Sunday will be fairly routine. Recall we celebrated our Mother's Day with a brunch last weekend for all the moms and grandmas; so glad no buffets this weekend.

Today I get my wife all to myself so we're going on a date. Dinner will be included, Cooper's Hawk, so there will be a bit of temptation to survive. But I am trying a technique I read somewhere he on blogger; go online and preview the menu before you go and decide on a healthy option to order. The idea is doing so lessens chances you will give into temptation's best shot at beating you, when you are at the table looking over the menu on a hungry gut surveying all of the many non-healthy options seducing you. Having look at the menu this morning I am going to order the Pistachio Crusted Grouper. Now I must admit, these technique does seem a bit rigid and may take a hint of fun out of dining out. While I have decided to try this I will listen to the specials the wait staff has to offer and compare them against my choice and then make the final decision. We'll see how it goes tonight.

What about exercise, who has exercise planned this weekend? Myself, I'll be working through a home-gym weight-workout today; actually soon after posting this. The past couple of days I have got in my cardio so not planning any today. Thursday I did a 2.2 mile / 41.5 minute walk and Friday I did 45 minutes on the elliptical. Sunday I might get some cardio in; I only say might as it is supposed to be a windy, cold, wet weekend here and I'd like to get outside for that cardio if I can. Where I'd really like to go for a walk is back to the forest preserve I walked in this past Thursday evening. This is a place nearby which I had never been to before. It was far larger than I expected and excellent for walks and runs of distances of a mile or two to five plus if you wish to make it one lap around this place. Weather permitting we will do so. Hmmm, I think you can call that a Non-Scale Victory; perhaps it's more of a discovery. However had I not decided to go on this mission I would likely have never gone to that preserve and discovered how cool it is. Yeah, I think I chalk it up as a NSV. No?

Sunday is weigh in day for me. Not expecting to have a let down today so I am hopeful to report a nice loss tomorrow. I'll be happy with anything at least 1.5 pounds less than last Sunday. That's my goal, 1.5 pounds a week minimum.

Have fun with your plans, your exercise, your day today!

Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!