AMERICANA

Today....a public service

Former Kinks frontman Ray Davies releases his first solo album in nearly a decade today. The 15-song collection, titled Americana, is Davies’ first full-length since 2008’s Working Man’s Café. A day that sees the release of new music from Ray Davies is a good day indeed. Have a great day. I am sure that I will.

....
and if new music from Ray Davies wasn't enough.... today is also the release date of a new album from country music artist, Brad Paisley... Me?  I never heard of him before today. Apparently, there is one song on the new LOVE and WAR album, Drive of Shame, where he sings a duet with Mick Jagger. That's gotta be good! It is the year 2017 - apparently the BRITISH INVASION of music from England which began in the 1960's continues to this day.

Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, April 20, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Casey's - Grilled Chicken Wrap	500	45	17	40	1,666	0
	500	45	17	40	1,666	0
L U N C H
Hy-Vee - Chef Salad	900	24	66	52	1,661	14
	900	24	66	52	1,661	14
D I N N E R
Peanut Butter - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	600	47	27	14	245	27
	600	47	27	14	245	27
Totals	2,000	116	110	106	3,572	41
Your Daily Goal	1,930	241	64	97	2,300	72
Remaining	-70	125	-46	-9	-1,272	31
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

BASEBALL

Woke up this morning, what did I see?
A big black cloud hanging over me
I switched on the radio and nearly dropped dead
The news was so bad that I fell out of bed

just a bit of the lyrics from the Kinks song, Superman.

My point today, is that once again, I can't take the news. Real News. Fake News. It is usually bad news. I am still ticked off that the Republicans apparently punted on health insurance repeal and replace law which they have been promising for years and years.  It might be time for me to get back into an old passion of mine from a long time ago. Baseball. I probably won't. But I should. Opening day is about one week away. Although I live in Chicago, I remain a Yankee fan. The thing is, I am so far from following baseball that I cannot name one player on the team. Apparently I am not much of a fan. 

Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, March 26, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Essential Everyday - Butter Flavored Grits	500	105	5	10	1,700	5
Safeway - Honey Nut Toasted Oats	300	60	3	5	475	28
	800	165	8	15	2,175	33
L U N C H
Egg - Poached Egg, 4	300	2	20	25	629	1
Kirkland - Pre-Cooked Bacon	200	0	15	15	875	0
	500	2	35	40	1,504	1
D I N N E R
White Meat Turkey	600	3	8	133	2,810	3
Mashed Potatoes	200	29	8	3	304	2
	800	32	16	136	3,114	5
Totals	2,100	199	59	191	6,793	39
Your Daily Goal	3,134	392	104	157	2,300	117
Remaining	1,034	193	45	-34	-4,493	78
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

.

Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
7.75 Mile Urban Hike	122	1,273
Daily Total / Goal	122 / 30	1,273 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	361 / 210	3,711 / 4,130

.

.

YOM KIPPUR

Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish Calendar.  It is the Day of Atonement.  It is a day when Jews ask forgiveness from others.  It is a day of fasting.  I finished eating dinner last night at sunset and the fast ends 24 hours later after sunset on the following day. For those who fast, this means no food and no water. One cannot (or certainly should not) try to eat an extra large meal before the fast begins. I have long ago figured out that that was a silly idea.  So yesterday, Tuesday, I had 'normal' meals. (normal for me, that is.)   After my very enthusiastic physical activities on Monday, I was a sore in the morning, and had some difficulty just walking.  As the day progressed, the soreness dissipated and virtually vanished. After my afternoon appointment I still managed to spend 60 minutes on the ELLIPTICAL MACHINE in my building.  Restricting my workout to 'only' 60 minutes was my way of taking it easy for the day. Today is a day when our family will go to Shul (Synagogue) and as it appears that the weather is cooperative - my intention is to walk home the 6.5 miles after services.  Religious Jews refrain from driving on Yom Kipper - so my authentic religious experience will be restricted to my walk home after driving to Shul.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

 Tuesday MENU

breakfast oatmeal, center cut bacon, scramble eggs, 
                popped caramel corn, two gala apples                             1157 calories

lunch       corn snack, wasabi, granola, date pieces, two apples       1130 calories
dinner      seafood, spinach salad, OREO cookies                              820 calories


total calories consumed     3107 calories                                                              

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

STAR TRAC elliptical 62 minutes, manual, level 20   1520 calories

TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 1520 CALORIES

TUESday net calories 1587 calories

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

fitbit day 20

12657 steps

On Monday, my steps were over 50,000.  When I awoke on Tuesday morning, my first few steps were not so easy....It took until the early afternoon when my body worked out all the 'kinks' and by late afternoon I felt as good as new!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

My daughter accompanied me to the exercise room yesterday afternoon - what a nice treat!

My daughter spent a few minutes trying out the elliptical machine

I was pleased that I summoned the energy (& desire) to fit in
an exercise session after Monday's 40 mile bike ride -
I had neither the energy (or the desire) when the day started.

THE HARD WEIGH

'THE HARD WAY' is a song written by Ray Davies of The Kinks and first released on their 1976 album, Schoolboys in Disgrace.

For the past seven months, I have tried to limit myself to one trip to the scale per week.   Every once in a while I take preview to see where I am headed. Sometimes the scales makes me very happy and seemingly just as often the result is a hard weigh - which is always annoying.   I lost most of my weight in the first four months.  In the last three months I have been bouncing between 215 lbs and 224 lbs.  I take some satisfaction in that I have been successful in maintaining my weight.   I am aware that it has only been three months since I dropped 90 lbs - but up until now - I have NEVER been successful in keeping weight off after it was lost. In the two previous times that I have lost weight, the moment I stopped losing - I started gaining.  Not this time.   My weight has recently leveled off as I have nearly TRIPLED my calorie consumption.   For the first four months I was consuming 1000 calories per day maximum.   In recent weeks, I have been consuming nearly 3000 calories per day.   It is true that I have also increased the time spent working out each day.  More importantly, my workouts have become much more efficient as I am working out harder than ever and burning more calories per session.  I can do this as I am in much better shape and far stronger now than when I began in January.

Still, each Saturday morning I wake up and step onto the scale and I am usually unsure if I will have a good weigh or a hard weigh.   This morning, I had a good weigh!

The Kinks Schoolboys in Disgrace, 1976

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

218.9 lbs

I weigh 218.9 lbs.

I lost 2 lbs this week

I lost 90.1 lbs in 206 days. Today begins Day 207.

I have lost nearly 16 inches from my waist. 

(I am just beginning to wear (squeeze into) 34" waist blue jeans and slacks.

I will always be at the beginning of a journey that never ends.

I weigh 218.9 lbs. (206 days ago I weighed 309 lbs)

I have lost 29.2% of my weight since Dec 24.

I have a BMI, body mass index of 29.28 (far away from obesity!)

I had a 42.0 BMI on Dec 24 just 206 days ago (Class III obesity)

I have one word to describe how I feel this morning: PLEASED

...I know how to begin this week... I think it might be another good day to visit my 'hometown' YMCA.  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

 FRIDAY MENU

breakfast  steel cut oat meal, medjool dates, dried mango             791 calories
lunch        Whole Foods Salad Bar, Turkish Figs                           440 calories
dinner      White Fish, Southern Collared Greens, Trail Mix          999 calories
SNACK   granola, dried mango, medjool dates, pistachios            703 calories

total calories consumed 2934 calories

calories burned

HOME ELLIPTICAL 65 MINUTES, MANUAL SETTING, LEVEL '20'  1528 CALORIES

Friday net calories  1406 calories

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kinks Album Covers

Wisdom from THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD

CARRY THAT WEIGHT

The tradition that I started is that on Saturday mornings, I often use the name of a song or album and twist the words a bit to give it some connection to my weight loss.  Today, I have reached into the Beatles catalog and titled my blog post, CARRY THAT WEIGHT.   I have not twisted the name of the song in any way.  CARRY THAT WEIGHT was one of the suite of songs that closes the Beatles album, Abbey Road.

ICONIC ALBUM COVER FROM THE BEATLES:  ABBEY ROAD

All my life I have steadfastly refused to be a Beatles fan.   All the while knowing that they were an extremely talented collection of musicians.   A few years ago I came across about 5 Beatles cd's at a thrift store, and for $2 each I was compelled to buy them.   I listen to them fairly infrequently - but I admit now - as I have always admitted - these guys had talent.

Still I prefer (in no particular order) ROLLING STONES, BLUE OYSTER CULT, QUEEN, MOTT THE HOOPLE, AEROSMITH, PINK FLOYD, DEEP PURPLE, IAN HUNTER, BLACK SABBATH, LOU REED, JETHRO TULL, HEART, RUSH, ALICE COOPER, BOSTON, THE CARS, TALKING HEADS, CHEAP TRICK, CLASH, DAVID BOWIE, FRANK ZAPPA, GUN 'N ROSES, RAY DAVIES, MICK JAGGER, ROBERT PLANT, LED ZEPPELIN, PETE TOWNSHEND, THE WHO, U2, and even SPINAL TAP (OK, maybe not Spinal Tap)

It has been great fun to continue to see customers that I have not seen since before I started shedding my pounds.  When I tell them how much I have lost they are mostly amazed, as I continue to be as well!  One comment I often get is that you never looked so heavy.  Or you never seemed incredibly fat.  Yes, I was 309 pounds and I guess I knew how to CARRY THAT WEIGHT.   Life is much better now that I don't CARRY THAT WEIGHT!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

220.9 lbs

I weigh 220.9 lbs.

I gained 5.8 lbs this week?

Water, water, water... either my weight was under-reported last week or it is over-stated this week.  No way could I have gained 6 lbs in one week.

My waist size is still shrinking...  I am annoyed... but will simply continue on my way...  Is it possible that I really am gaining muscle?  I do know that muscle is much denser that fat.  

I lost 88.1 lbs in 199 days.Today begins Day 200.

I have lost nearly 16 inches from my waist. 

(I am just beginning to wear (squeeze into) 34" waist blue jeans and slacks.

I will always be at the beginning of a journey that never ends.

I weigh 220.9 lbs. (199 days ago I weighed 309 lbs)

I have lost 28.5% of my weight since Dec 24.

I have a BMI, body mass index of 29.55 (far away from obesity!)

I had a 42.0 BMI on Dec 24 just 192 days ago (Class III obesity)

I have two words to describe how I feel this morning: disappointed and determined!

...I know how to begin this week... I think it might be another good day to visit my 'hometown' YMCA.  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

 FRIDAY MENU

breakfast  Two Apples, smoked Oysters in oil (one can)       300 calories

lunch        cucumber salad, two apples                                   251 calories

dinner      Whole Foods Cioppino Soup 12 ounces, 

                Whole Foods spinach salad, wasabi peas, 

                dried mango slices, original corn snack                 1225 calories

SNACK  GRANOLA, TRAIL MIX                                        951 calories

total calories consumed 2728 calories

calories burned

HOME ELLIPTICAL 65 MINUTES, MANUAL SETTING, LEVEL '20'  1606 CALORIES

Friday net calories  1122 calories

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~