NEWEST CHICAGO WHOLE FOODS STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE

I have a few favorite supermarkets: Hy-Vee, Mariano's, Kroger, Fresh Thyme, and Whole Foods. So many people who I speak to always tell me how difficult it must be for me to eat on the road. It can be difficult. However, during the past 15 months I have discovered that there are plenty of places to make a great salad - and it is these types of markets that offer that option.  The newest Whole Foods that will open some time in 2017 is finally starting to take shape at the triple corners of Ashland/Lincoln/Belmont Avenues in Chicago.  This two story structure will be the second largest Whole Foods in Chicago.  Basically, it is moving across the street from a much smaller store which has been in the neighborhood since 1996.  A few months back this blog posted a photo of the empty lot.  Things are finally starting to take shape (literally).

This is what Chicago's newest Whole Foods looks like now

.

This is what Chicago's newest Whole Foods will look like in one year

The first time I spoke of this new location was Tuesday, July 7, 2015.  The title of that blog post was:
TWO THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2017.  Aside from looking forward to a new Whole Foods in 2017, I was speaking about how I was looking forward to a new President in 2017 as well. If Donald Trump gets the nomination for the Republican Party - I will no longer be looking forward to the Presidential Election at all. A November general election between two progressive Democrats will not make me very enthusiastic.

Your Food Diary For:

Monday, March 7, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
2 Egg Omelette With Ham and Cheese, 1 Omelette	383	2	21	32	810	2
Kirkland - Pre-Cooked Bacon, 6 slices	240	0	18	18	1,050	0
Homemade - Egg and Cheese Sandwich, 1 sandwich	260	28	11	14	550	2
	883	30	50	64	2,410	4
L U N C H
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 85 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	20	0	0	2	65	0
Louis Kemp - Crab Delights Leg Style, 3 legs (85g)	70	11	0	6	430	1
Roundy's - Sliced Beets, 1/2 cup	40	8	0	1	250	6
Hard Boiled Egg, 1 Large Egg (50 g)	78	1	5	6	62	1
DRIED MANGO SLICES	220	56	0	4	2	40
	428	76	5	19	809	48
D I N N E R
Spaghetti With Meat Sauce	320	84	2	14	0	0
	320	84	2	14	0	0
S N A C K S
Malt O Meal - Honey Nut Scooters	240	48	3	6	420	18
YOGURT PRETZELS	190	28	0	2	180	19
ORGANIC SOY NUTS ROASTED & SALTED	300	21	17	23	105	3
	730	97	20	31	705	40
Totals	2,361	286	76	128	3,924	92
Your Daily Goal	5,753	719	191	288	2,300	215
Remaining	3,392	432	114	160	-1,623	123
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3,823 extra calories from exercise today

.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Monday, March 7, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace	40	636
PRECOR AMT (ADAPTIVE MOTION TRAINER)	125	2,241
Walking, 5.0 mph	17	638
Walking, 4.0 mph, very brisk pace	17	176
Walking, 5.0 mph	9	137
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-5
Daily Total / Goal	209 / 30	3,823 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	209 / 210	3,823 / 4,130

.

total calories consumed 2361 calories

total calories burned (elliptical) 3828 calories

total net 1467 calorie defecit

. . . . . . . . . . .   

fitbit day 187

30134 steps  
. . . . . . . ...

.

I have been talking about it for weeks now... While I have continued to congratulate myself for maintaining a rigorous adherence to a workout schedule - I have definitely 'dropped the ball' when it comes to curbing my appetite.  One problem is that it true that one who works out, increases one's one appetite which can negate the whole point of working out in the first place. But here's the thing.  At one point, I will get it together.... and....

It might be a few days before I get this 'bitmoji' thing out of my system....!

PIZZA PARTY

I accomplished two BIG things yesterday.

1. I managed to satisfy my craving to enjoy some pizza
2. I managed to string together one consecutive day of under 1000 calories!

For the past few weeks and months - I have let my appetite and my food cravings swerve out of control.  It was not a total abdication of the program but I was starting to really turn in the wrong direction.  I absolutely needed to prove to myself that I could summon the willpower necessary to get through the day without consuming 3000+ calories.  The funny thing about this was that since I woke up yesterday morning with this goal - it was not so difficult.   Please remember, IT IS ALWAYS EASIER TO EAT WHATEVER ONE WANTS - but it is likewise NOT SO difficult to cut back if one desires.

Since December 24th, 2014 I have not had a hamburger.  Considering that I used to average eating 6 or 7 hamburgers per day - this was no small lifestyle change.  I also have refrained from eating pizza. That particular itch needed to be scratched.  While shopping in Mariano's Market, one of the sample stations had a tasty low calorie boxed pizza for their customers to try.  I tasted it and it was quite good.  And with that one taste, my dinner was decided.   I ate only enough to maintain my extreme low calorie consumption for the day.

I am not sure if having 1/2 of a boxed pizza qualifies as a Pizza Party - but from my perspective, it did!

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 Wednesday MENU

breakfast   John McCann Steel Cut Oat Meal                                   300 calories
lunch         Organic Baby Spinach Salad w/hearts of palm, tomato    80 calories
dinner        1/2 Roundy's Organic four cheese pizza, chicken broth  470 calories
SNACK     one apple, corn thin                                                          123 calories

total calories consumed  973 calories

calories burned

HOME STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL 92 minutes, level 20                     2260 calories

CALORIES BURNED 2260 CALORIES

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Tuesday net calories NEGATIVE 1287 calories

Yesterday, my net calories consumed was MINUS 1287

AND WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE NUMBER 1287....HERE IS A COMPLETELY USELESS FACT:

A famously long sentence in Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner contains 1,287 words.

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It has been so long since I have had an actual LOW CALORIE salad - THIS SALAD WAS ONLY 80 CALORIES!
This salad was simple, spinach with hearts of palm and tomato - NOTHING ELSE!

one half pizza is only 450 calories - and that was my dinner (although I did add a chicken broth soup as well)

from wikipedia:

The 1983 Guinness Book of World Records claims the "Longest Sentence in Literature" is a sentence from Absalom, Absalom! containing 1,288 words. The sentence can be found in Chapter 6; it begins with the words "Just exactly like father", and ends with "the eye could not see from any point". The passage is entirely italicized and incomplete. Some claim that the Guinness Book of World Records is wrong about the longest sentence. The Molly Bloom soliloquy at the end of James Joyce's "Ulysses," is 4,391 words, not to mention dozens of stream of consciousness novels such as Bohumil Hrabal's Dancing Lessons for the Advanced Age which is an entire novel written in one 13000 word sentence. However, it should be understood that Absalom, Absalom! has the longest grammatically correct sentence in literature, whereas a sentence like Molly Bloom's soliloquy is really just many sentences with no punctuation.

MYSTERIOUS WEIGHS

Mysterious Ways is a song released in 1991 by the rock band, U2 in 1991.  Mysterious Ways was released as a single in November 1991 and was originally released on their album, Achtung Baby.

Mysterious Ways - U2

I have had a few MYSTERIOUS WEIGH(INS) over the past few months.  Some weeks when I expected to drop a lot of weight, I dropped very little.  Other weeks, I had no expectation of showing great progress, and nevertheless, weight had melted off me in that week.  This week I really upped my calorie count.   I have been unsuccessfully fighting the urge to eat a lot as I was experiencing cravings all week.  I know that I have been eating too many apples.  I think I have been eating too many almonds.  I think I might have loaded my salad bar salads a bit too much.  Todays weigh-in will guide me - it will show me if I have over eaten too much or if I am still going according to a schedule.  I would like to continue losing weight.  I am absolutely ready to lose weight much more slowly and much more steadily than I did in the initial four months.  That said, it's time to hop onto the scale and see where I am.

216.1 lbs

I weigh 216.1 lbs.
I lost 6.1 lbs this week.
I lost 92.9 lbs in 136 days. Today begins Day 137.
I averaged .68 lbs lost/day since Dec 24, 2014.
I have lost 14 inches from my waist. 
This week I wore 36" waist Ralph Lauren Jeans for 1st time.
I also can now wear a pair of 36"Banana Republic dress pants.
I will always be at the beginning of a journey that never ends.
I weigh 216.1 lbs. (137 days ago I weighed 309 lbs)
I have lost 30.1% of my weight since Dec 24.
I have lost 2.7% of my weight since last Saturday.
(Last week was the week that my weight mysteriously popped up.)
I have had an amazingly wildly successful week losing 6.1 lbs.
I have a BMI, body mass index of 28.91 (far away from obesity!)
I had a 42.0 BMI on 12.24.14 just 115 days ago (Class III obesity)
I wonder about achieving a 'normal weight' - the charts say 186.8 lbs - I'm not too sure about that...
I know this, regardless of what the BMI charts show - Marc Jacobs is no longer a fat man!
I have two words to describe how I feel right now - very good
...I know how to begin this week... 
32 minutes ELLIPTICAL

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FRIDAY MENU

breakfast  two poached eggs, 2 cups oat meal w/prune, two slices turkey 'bacon'               505 calories
lunch        MARIANO'S HUGE SPINACH SALAD                                                           500 calories
dinner      7 ounces Salon Fillet, asparagus, two cups MISO SOUP
                Spinach Salad w/hearts of palm, tomato, mushrooms, artichoke hearts
                28 almonds                                                                                                            699 calories  

TOTAL CALORIC CONSUMPTION 1704  CALORIES

calories burned
2:30PM elliptical 32 minutes 460 calories

FRIDAY NET CALORIES 1244 CALORIES

It is a challenge to NOT to find a subject spoofed by The Simpsonns

HUGE SPINACH SALAD from MARIANO'S
loaded up with lots of healthy, albeit low calorie foods:
cucumbers, tomato, ham, chicken, imitation crab, celery, artichokes,
 hard boiled egg, mushrooms, onions,  sunflower seeds and one stuffed grape leaf
(somewhere buried below is quite a lot of spinach as well)
I randomly assign 500 calories to such a salad - It surely can't be much more if more at all.
I used only squeezed lemon as my dressing.

 

MARIANO'S FRESH MARKET

Mariano's Fresh Markets burst upon the Chicago scene a few years ago.  It is a fabulous SUPERMARKET.  It has a wide variety of foods and special amenities.  On Saturday my family took advantage of the FREE GRILLING option for the first (and very definitely not the last) time!   We all loved it!

from Mariano's website.

company overview Mariano’s is unlike any other store. See for yourself how we bring you the freshest high-quality foods from just about everywhere in the world...be it kosher bagels from down the street, or mozzarella from Caserta, Italy. And we created a neighborhood shopping environment filled with amenities like an Italian coffee shop serving authentic gelato, a wood-fired pizza oven, and sit down sushi bar; not to mention a full-service pharmacy. All at prices so compelling, that our Shop well. Eat well. Live well.philosophy can become yours too.

history The first Mariano’s opened in Arlington Heights, Illinois in July of 2010. Named for the Chief Executive Officer, Robert Mariano, the store was designed and built to deliver the highest quality products from around the world and those produced locally to shoppers with unequaled service and hospitality.

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Our family selected BLACK ANGUS BONELESS TOP SIRLOIN STEAKS.   The steaks were cooked to our specific instructions with seasonings we chose and we brought them home and feasted. Of course, I limited myself to just 4 ounces.   Sure, I could have eaten more.   But I am always reminded by what my physician, Dr Tenhundfeld told me back on December 24th during my initial 'wellness exam,'  "There's another meal coming in six hours."   I no longer feel like I have to eat as much as I might feel capable of eating.  I do limit myself by thinking about portion control.  There is always another meal coming, always another day of three more meals.  Each meal is not an eating contest!  Each meal is not an all-you-can-eat festival (as it used to be for me)  I am making changes.  I am still in the process of trying to break life-long habits. I continue to make changes.  

OUR STEAKS - BEING GRILLED AT MARIANO'S
I had my 16 oz selection cut into four 4oz portions, the bigger piece was for my wife and child.

SUNDAY MENU

breakfast  two poached eggs, oat meal w/prune, turkey sausage patties                       345 calories
lunch        BLACK ANGUS SIRLOIN, spinach w/cherry tomatoes, tortilla soup       430 calories
dinner      6 oz JUMBO SHRIMP, spinach salad w/cherry tomato, tortilla soup      
                homemade HEINZ SHRIMP COCKTAIL SAUCE (1 TBSP)                      300 calories

total caloric consumption 1075 calories

CALORIES BURNED
10AM elliptical 32 minutes 473 calories

TOTAL SUNDAY NET CALORIES  602 CALORIES

6 oz COOKED SHRIMP from MARIANO'S FRESH MARKET - 100 CALORIES

LOST MY SECOND TURKEY

Regular readers of this blog might remember that nearly one month ago, January 21, I  reported that I had lost 24 lbs in 24 days and to highlight that achievement I posted a photograph of myself holding a 23 lb turkey. 

As of yesterday, February 14, I have now lost 46 lbs in 52 days. 
(I never believed that I was going to continue to lose exactly one pound per day.  Nevertheless, 46 lbs in 52 days ain't too shabby!)

46 lbs = TWO TURKEYS

Naturally, I needed to return to the supermarket to take a new picture.

FEBRUARY 14, 2015   On this date, I weighed myself

and discovered that I had lost 46 lbs since December 24.

I had wanted to hold two turkeys that weighed 46 lbs, and 

the two turkeys that I did find only weighed 42 lbs.

For the purposes of this photo - that's close enough!

(I am wearing my brand-new 44 waist blue jeans)

JANUARY 21, 2015   Back on that date, I had lost 24 lbs and posed with a 23 lb turkey to visualize my accomplishment.  On this date, I was happy to wear my size 48 waist blue jeans.  They have since been donated to Goodwill. 

SATURDAY MENU

breakfast     three poached eggs, two slices turkey 'bacon'                                      280 CALORIES

lunch           Maryland style crab cake, Pumpkin Soup, Spinach salad, balsamic   342 CALORIES
dinner         Chicken Tortilla Soup, Spinach, balsamic, Sockeye Salmon Burger   312 CALORIES

total calories consumed  934 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED

6AM    ELLIPTICAL MACHINE, 30 minutes    400 CALORIES

11AM   ELLIPTICAL MACHINE, 30 minutes   400 CALORIES

total calories burned     800 CALORIES

TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE      134 CALORIES

LOST TURKEY

Regular readers of this blog know that I reported this past Saturday that I had lost 24 lbs in 24 days.   I am currently only weighing myself once per week so although I assume that I have continued to make progress - I can offer no evidence of additional progress at this time.

There is a reason why I am resisting the urge to weigh myself daily.  Seven years ago when I did lose 80 lbs (before I added them all back on and tacked on nine more for good luck) I did weigh myself daily.  One's weight can fluctuate a pound or two within a 24 hour period.  It would sour my mood to hop onto the scale and discover that my weight had bounced back up a pound or even two pounds over 24 hours.  I have removed this annoyance by weighing myself only weekly.

Over the three day holiday weekend I was focusing on just how much weight 24 lbs really is.   I found my answer at Mariano's Supermarket in Chicago when I was shopping with my family on Sunday.   I am posting a picture of me holding a 23 lb turkey.   As you can see, it requires two hands to hold it.   This turkey represents the amount of weight that I have lost.  It does appear that the additional spring in my step is not my imagination. You try carting around a 23 lb turkey all day and all night and see how debilitating it is.  Conversely, if one is freed from the burden of carrying an extra 24 lbs, the increased energy and zest for life skyrockets.

The thing is....
I am planning on LOSING THREE MORE TURKEYS (and maybe a couple of hens!)

Holding a 23 lb turkey.  I can't imagine carting this around all day.  No wonder I am lighter on my feet these days.

Tuesday started off well.  I woke up early and spent one hour on the treadmill before breakfast.

I made a mistake during the day when I ordered lunch at Applebee's.

Previously I had found something on the Applebee's nutrition website that I wanted to try.

A Grilled Shrimp 'n Spinach Salad should have been only 260 CALORIES.

(I failed to note that this is the calorie count without the dressing.)

When the salad came with dressing, it was absolutely fantastic - and I ate it....

The calories for this with the dressing is a whopping 500 calories.
I will not make that mistake again.
Lunch was more calories than I had planned.
I cut down on dinner to keep under 1000 calories for the day.

From now on, every time I order a salad - I will always ask the for the dressing on the side.

When I arrived home, I jumped back on the treadmill for another hour.

TUESDAY MENU

BREAKFAST   three poached eggs with two slices of turkey 'bacon'                                                                         280 CALORIES
LUNCH            APPLEBEE'S GRILLED SHRIMP 'n SALAD w/dressing                                                                        500 CALORIES
DINNER           3 Cups Baby Spinach w/two tablespoons of Marie's Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing         
                         Trader Joe's 1 cup Chicken Noodle Soup with veggies                                                                       175 CALORIES       
                               
 TOTAL CALORIC CONSUMPTION TUESDAY        955 CALORIES

Total calories burned during 2 hours of exercise 1200 CALORIES

NET CALORIC INTAKE WAS NEGATIVE 245 CALORIES

I am looking forward to stepping onto my scale on Saturday.