JANUARY

JANUARY
SUCCESS
one complete month eating well
no chocolate chip cookies, no Oreos, no Hot Chocolate, no chocolate cake, no Hi Ho's, No M&M's (plain or peanut) No Potato Chips, no Bugles, no Hamburger, no Pizza, no Soft Pretzel, no gas-station hot dogs, no free cookies at the hotel, no flavored oatmeal, no Culver's, no Chick-Fil-A, no bacon, egg, cheese bagels at McDonald's, no White Castle, no Tacos at Taco Bell, no Whoppers, no cheeseburgers, no Klondike Bars, no milk shakes, no Brownies, no Hershey chocolate bar, no donuts, no doughnuts either.... In fact, no snacks since this decade began!

I will weigh myself Sunday to see just how much progress I have made.
January was a success!

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GUILTY PLEASURE

guilty pleasure

Something that you shouldn't like, but like anyway.

'JACK IN THE BOX' tacos every now and then is a guilty pleasure for me.

Although I have been slipping backwards for the past few weeks in my battles with my weight, I still take pride in the fact that I have stayed away from Burger King and McDonald's since December 24, 2014.  For many people, this would hardly be an accomplishment. For me, it was life-changing. Back in the 'bad-old-days' of being 309 lbs, I used to eat at either of these two establishments approximately one dozen times per week. Breakfasts. Lunches. Dinners. Bacon Egg Cheese Bagels. Double Cheeseburgers, Quarter Pounders with cheese. Big Macs. McChickens. Whoppers. High on calories. Low on nutrition. I have not eaten any of this for more than two years. To be clear, I did enjoy this food. I even expect that if I had a Big Mac or Whopper again, I would enjoy it. That is precisely why I don't tempt myself. I no longer think about this food. And I don't want to think about it.

This week while I was in Missouri, I did eat something that I used to enjoy 45 years ago when I was a teenager living in Long Island. Jack in the Box tacos. I know that Jack in the Box tacos are not particularly healthy. However, since Jack in the Box restaurants are not nearly as ubiquitous in my normal travels, I was not concerned about developing a new bad habit. It was just a guilty pleasure this week.

Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Instant Oatmeal- Maple	800	160	10	20	1,300	60
	800	160	10	20	1,300	60
L U N C H
Jack In the Box - Taco, 4 taco	760	68	44	24	1,280	12
	760	68	44	24	1,280	12
D I N N E R
Caseys - Turkey Club Wrap	400	43	15	22	1,343	0
	400	43	15	22	1,343	0
S N A C K S
Starbucks - Reduced Fat Turkey Bacon	230	28	6	13	560	3
Powerbar - Protein Plus Bar Vanilla	210	27	5	20	130	14
	440	55	11	33	690	17
Totals	2,400	326	80	99	4,613	89
Your Daily Goal	2,044	255	68	103	2,300	76
Remaining	-356	-71	-12	4	-2,313	-13
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 114 extra calories from exercise today

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POKÉMON GO

Have you heard about this new game called Pokémon Go? It seems to me that about half the country in America is already playing this new game. And the half that isn't playing now, will likely be playing soon. I know why I hadn't heard about this game until just recently - it was only released this very month on the 5th of July. I took a walk with my daughter yesterday around Chicago and at her urging I downloaded the game. I am glad to have a rudimentary idea about what this is all about - but I think I may be impervious to its charms.

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Pokémon Go is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile gamedeveloped by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company. It was released in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices.

The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, who appear on device screens as though in the real world. It makes use of GPS and the camera of compatible devices.  (wikipedia)

This was an edited screen shot from the game...I thought this was a mildly amusing photo.

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The weather in Chicago yesterday was spectacular: temperature in the eighties, low humidity, under a  deep blue, cloudless sky. My daughter and I took a walk that was not completed until we had logged 8 miles. Among her rewards were a visit to a boutique Donut Shop and for some reason she decided that she wanted to taste a Big Mac. I have not eaten at a McDonalds for the past 18 months. Although I reminded my daughter that a Big Mac was not exactly health food - I allowed her to order one and bring it home to eat. This photo shows her biting into her first Big Mac ever. As long as it does not become an addiction like it did for me - I think that she will survive the experience. I am certain that my dinner was far more healthy. My wife prepared a delicious homemade lasagna. 

My daughter taking her first taste of a McDonald's Big Mac
(As long as this does not lead to an addiction that afflicted me, I think that she should survive the experience)

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On a walk with my daughter, I was not walking at my normal speedy(4.3 mph) pace. This walk was about shared time together. It is a wonderful thing that my daughter, at least somewhat, enjoys our long urban hikes.

I made time for a quick 97 minute session on the elliptical machine after dinner.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, July 16, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
HOUSE RECIPE - OATMEAL	500	90	8	20	400	5
	500	90	8	20	400	5
L U N C H
Read 4 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Corn Thins Organic	575	100	0	13	325	0
	875	165	0	18	1,825	40
D I N N E R
Homemade - Lasagna	800	53	25	40	1,053	21
Sirloin Burger Country Vegetables	260	34	8	14	1,580	6
	1,060	87	33	54	2,633	27
S N A C K S
DARK CHOCOLATE GINGER	300	51	12	2	9	44
Nestle 100 Grand - Candy Bar	190	30	8	1	90	22
	490	81	20	3	99	66
Totals	2,925	423	61	95	4,957	138
Your Daily Goal	3,899	487	130	195	2,300	146
Remaining	974	64	69	100	-2,657	8
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,969 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	146	1,249
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	97	998
Daily Total / Goal	243 / 30	2,247 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1489 / 210	14,045 / 4,130

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One of the 'stops' on our 8 mile urban hike today was the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool.  We visited this specific ledge that my daughter stood under many times over the years. Fast forward ten years to yesterday. Same Park, same rocks, same girl, different appearance.

circa 2006 (my daughter could stand straight under this ledge)

circa 2007 (at this age, my daughter could no longer stand under this ledge)

circa yesterday (It is hard for me to believe that this girl was once able to stand straight under this ledge)

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, also known as Lincoln Park Lily Pool, is an example of Prairie School landscape architecture designed by Alfred Caldwell and located at 125 W. Fullerton Parkway (between Stockton and Cannon Drives) in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on November 6, 2002. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark on February 17, 2006. (wikipedia)
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with William Shakespeare, circa 2007

with William Shakespeare, circa yesterday

This statue of a seated William Shakespeare, designed by William Ordway Partridge, has been around for quite a while. It was unveiled in Lincoln Park, Chicago in 1894. 
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William Shakespeare..
by William Ordway Partridge [1861-1930]
Installed: 1894
Location: Lincoln Park: Grandmother's Garden..
On the base is inscribed Shakespeare's words from Hamlet..
What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty!
On the opposite side is Samuel T. Coleridge's words..
he was not for an age but for all time, our myriad- minded Shakespeare....

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one final (and wildly obscure) note about Pokémon Go...
The way that this game appears to be taking over America...
...reminds me of a specific episode from Star Trek The Next Generation that aired back in 1991.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

7.4/10

1,115

The Game 

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