UPTOWN GRILL LASALLE, ILLINOIS

On Friday I was with a particularly good customer from 10AM until 9PM.
Afterwards we had a dinner at Uptown Grill in LaSalle, Illinois.
I am so used to eating virtually every meal at Red Lobster, Applebee's, Panera and Starbucks.
Now that I have trained myself to make (relatively) healthy choices - I selected menu items which although were not listed with calories - I was confident that I was making somewhat smart (and tasty) choices.


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273.2 POUNDS

Watching one's weight on a scaled from day-to-day is maddening... I had thought that I had dipped below 270 - apparently I have not... Weighed myself on Wednesday morning... and I am 273.2... Since I was 297 on January 1st - I better revel in the accomplishment and not get caught up being disappointed that I am not in the '260's' just yet...

LONG DAY BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS

On Thursday I was out and about from 7AM until nearly 2AM early Friday morning... I am going to forgive myself for eating just a bit more than normal... I was pretty happy to find an open Applebee's at 11PM in a small town, Terre Haute, Indiana

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SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

While most of the civilized and uncivilized world was watching the Super Bowl and downing beers, chips, chicken wings and and zillion other high calorie treats... I stayed on 'the program.'  I also watched the game - I just did it without consuming hundreds of unwanted, unneeded, unwelcome empty calories.

Weirdly, I had a salad for breakfast, as that was readily available at home in the morning...

Other than that, I have logged another good day of careful eating.

I have been eating a lot of fish lately... it was time to eat some actual meat, so I did.

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18 HOUR DAY - OUT AND ABOUT

As I review my food consumption today, I see that this is the first time I have exceeded 2000 calories this year.  I woke up at 5:30AM and scarfed down a quick breakfast at the hotel before taking a 45 minute in order to be at an appointment at 7AM.  When I returned to my hotel around 9AM, I stopped and had a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks.  I also had two significant meals for lunch and dinner. I stayed away from pure junk food all day, as I have all year - and I feel OK about my going over 2000 calories.

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ADIOS SODA

I have successfully drastically cut back my soda consumption.   I do think I have picked up my coffee consumption with artificial sweetener.  I have vastly picked up my water consumption.  Each time I visit Applebee's, Panera, or Red Lobster - my beverage of choice is water. It is hard to change a lot of bad habits at once, but I have been at least somewhat successful.  And I have now been at this for a grand total of 18 days... The biggest step, was that first one... When I finally decided (again) enough is enough. Never has 278.5 pounds felt so good.  (And by the way, I am not fooled - it is still incredibly morbidly obese - but at least I am going in the right direction for the first time in a long time.

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Applebee’s

I am rediscovering all the places I used to visit when I lost so much weight a few years ago.

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DOUBLE DIGITS

Double digits.
TEN DAYS
progress being made.

Perhaps in a couple of weeks or so I will be able to wear the XL long sleeve button down shirts my Mom gave during my last visit last October.

I didn't even bother to try them on.... but I will be wearing them soon enough.

On Saturday morning, I weighed 282.1 lbs.
Since I did weigh 297 lbs on January 1st.
I guess I am 'happy'

The ridiculous thing, is that back (a long time ago) when I was under 230 lbs and crossed that border into the 230's I was depressed.

The direction one is moving is everything.

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LOOKING LIKE MYSELF

In recent weeks, as I have already lost 69.5 lbs, on the way to a minimum 100 lbs weight loss, I have heard something more frequently.

My cousin, Robin, in Canada commented that I now look much more like my father.
My childhood friend, Stephen, in England commented that I look now like he remembers my Dad.
My neighbor, Rivka, commented that she sees the family resemblance between my daughter and me.

I myself, can look in the mirror and 'see' my Dad staring back at me.

This was my Dad in 2002, at the time he was approximately 75 years old.

This is me, age 57, only 18 years younger than my Dad was in the above photo.  I didn't say we were identical twins...at least we look like we were related!   And even in this picture, at 239 lbs,  I am still approximately 50 lbs heavier than my Dad  was then in the above photograph.  When I was 309 lbs, I resembled Jabba the Hut

Jabba the Hutt (Star Wars)   I do prefer the way I look these days.

I do not believe that it was God's intention that I should walk around looking like Jabba the Hut.

I do believe that I am beginning to look the way that God had originally intended for me.

My eating habits, successfully subverted God's original blueprint for myself - but I am in the middle of reversing that.  AND IT FEELS GREAT!

That 309 lb guy that visited the doctor on December 24th, was not the 'me' that I was supposed to be.

NOW I AM LOOKING LIKE MYSELF.


TUESDAY MENU

breakfast  TRAVELODGE two scrambled eggs with one sausage patty               256 calories
lunch        SUBWAY           double chicken spinach salad w/tomato & onion       220 calories
dinner      APPLEBEE'S     grilled chicken caesar salad (without dressing)          370 calories

total calories consumed   846 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED
6AM TRAVELODGE ELLIPTICAL MACHINE  40 minutes     553 calories


net calories  293 CALORIES

Travelodge Breakfast: scrambled eggs, one sausage patty
approximately 250 calories

APPLEBEE'S grilled chicken caesar salad (no dressing)  370 calories.
Without the dressing, I promise this still tasted quite delicious and fulfilling.

RED LOBSTER

Sometimes it takes me a second time to order a food item at a restaurant in order to get precisely what I want.  For example, the first time I ordered a Jimmy John's Unwich, it automatically came with mayonnaise which practically doubled the calories of the lunch.  After that mistake, I switched to mustard and have cut out hundreds of calories considering how often I now go to Jimmy John's.  Another example was the first time I ordered a salad at Applebee's, it came drenched in sugar enriched high calorie dressing, and this meal too, practically doubled my calories that I had planned.  These days, I ask for the salad on the side, sometimes I dip my fork in the salad to get a small taste, other times I skip the dressing altogether.

Red Lobster offers a limited number of choices for a low calorie meal.

One must be careful about the various side dishes, sauces, and dressings

that might be added to anything that one orders.

Two nights ago I decided to see what I could select for a dinner at a Red Lobster.  I ordered a Wood-Grilled Shrimp Taco meal which came with Wild Rice Pilaf.  I did not realize that the side dish of wild rice pilaf added an additional 170 calories that I wasn't counting on.  The nutritional guide published by Red Lobster listed the Wood-Grilled Shrimp Taco as 600 calories - but once ordered, it automatically came with the rice which I hadn't realized was not part of the listing showing 600 calories.  No harm was done, my total calories on Monday were still only 1180.

On Tuesday, I had a plan.  Did I mention that the Wood-Grilled Shrimp Tacos were absolutely delicious?  On Tuesday, I started with breakfast at Starbucks and skipped the blueberry topping with my oatmeal.  I made a point of having an 80 calorie Turkey Tom Unwich at Jimmy John's.   As dinner approached my calories consumed were a mere 240.   This left plenty of calories to 'spend' at Red Lobster.  My Tuesday night Red Lobster Meal started with 70 calorie Garden Salad as appetizer.  My main course did include one side dish of 50 calories of broccoli and the high point of my meal was the 600 calorie Wood-Grilled Shrimp Tacos!  By days end on Tuesday, I was still under 1000 calories.

RED LOBSTER GARDEN SALAD, NO DRESSING 70 CALORIES

RED LOBSTER WOOD GRILLED SHRIMP TACOS w/BROCCOLI   $11.65    650 CALORIES

Yesterday, my day began again at 7AM in the Eastern Time Zone darkness at the Marquette YMCA.  I had a little better luck setting the machine for the kind of workout that I wanted.   I successfully set the machine for the resistance, my age, my weight but failed to properly set the time.  So after 21 minutes, I made note of my progress, took a five minute break, and got right back on the machine for another session lasting 24 minutes.  My total workout was 45 minutes and the total calories burned was 627.  Perhaps this morning, when I return to the YMCA,  I will get all the settings correct.

An early morning elliptical selfie...I take an twisted joy wearing my WHITE CASTLE cap when I workout.  I expect it is going to be a very long time before I experience the legendary WHITE CASTLE CRAVE again - now that I am a health conscious fat burning machine. 

MENU

breakfast    STARBUCKS classic oatmeal (no toppings)                                 160 calories

lunch          JIMMY JOHNS turkey tom unwich                                                80 calories

dinner        RED LOBSTER   Three Wood-Grilled Shrimp Tacos w/broccoli                   

                                                Garden Salad w/smidge of Caesar Dressing     720 calories

  

total calories consumed     960 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED

7:00AM YMCA elliptical machine 21 minutes     292 calories

five minute break

7:26AM YMCA ellpitcal machine 24 minutes      335 calories

total calories burned    627 CALORIES

TOTAL NET CALORIES     333 CALORIES

MUSTARD vs. KETCHUP

Sometimes I actually feel silly admitting the things that I admit on this blog.  After achieving the milestone of 57 years last November, I have now discovered that I like mustard. All my life, I have NEVER purposely put mustard on anything, ever.  I put ketchup on hamburgers. I put ketchup on hot dogs. I have put ketchup (and mayonnaise) on roast beef sandwiches. When I was much younger, I put ketchup on corn.

Now that I am really trying to cut back on calories every which way I can, I have been looking for alternatives for ketchup and mayonnaise.  As a result, I have discovered mustard. I had a Jimmy John's UNWICH (lettuce wrap sandwich) on Sunday evening and I ASKED FOR MUSTARD.  It was delicious.   I officially like mustard.  

Starting this week, I consider myself a person who likes mustard.

I think that my tastes have been changing over the past few weeks.  No longer is the taste of sugar, and chocolate permanently coating my tastebuds.

Although most mustard is NOT zero calories, most of the mustards that I checked out at the supermarket were 5 calories for one TSP.

Ketchup, has around 20 calories for 1 TBSP.   Who knows how much ketchup I drowned my french fries in or slathered on a burger.  Ketchup also has one thing that one won't find in mustard - SUGARS.   Mustard is clearly the healthier choice.   And there are hundreds of different mustards in the marketplace to try.   I just purchased a bottle of HORSERADISH MUSTARD and a bottle of WASABI MUSTARD.  I am looking forward to trying these. 

TUESDAY MENU
breakfast   STARBUCKS Blueberry Whole-Grain Oatmeal               220 CALORIES
lunch          Jimmy John's Bootlegger Club Unwich w/Provolone       280 CALORIES
dinner        Applebee's Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad w/o dressing     370 CALORIES

total calories consumed   870 CALORIES

calories burned
6AM    Days Inn Stairmaster 40 minutes                                              400 CALORIES
930PM  YMCA Royal Oak, Michigan ELLIPTICA  60 MINUTES   660 CALORIES

total calories burned   1160 CALORIES

CALORIC DEFICIT   -190 CALORIES

Last evening at the YMCA (Royal Oak, Michigan) I spent an hour on the elliptical machine. The settings were completely different from my elliptical at home.  I never did figure out how to increase the 'resistance.'   Still, I spent one full hour on the machine, burned 660 calories and the machine calculated that I took 8398 'strides'.   I have nothing to compare that to - it just does seem like a rather large number.   I will be back today, Wednesday, so it might be interesting how different my next session will be.   

AISLE BE CAREFUL SHOPPING HERE

A few days ago, I mentioned that I ordered a salad in a restaurant which arrived to me dripping in high calorie dressing.  It doubled the amount of calories that I had anticipated consuming, and I ate it before I realized that this was not the low calorie salad that I had intended.  I want to give some more examples from the Applebee's Nutritional Information Website regarding the difference of salads with and without dressing.    I am not picking on Applebee's.   I like Applebee's.  I like that there are so many Applebee's restaurants around the country that I can and will be visiting.   I like their food.  I like the ambience of the place.   And I even like their salads.  I just have to remember NOT to get their salads with dressing.

CALORIE INFORMATION WAS LIFTED DIRECTLY FROM APPLEBEE'S WEBSITE

SALADS WITH & WITHOUT DRESSING                 CALORIES          

FRIED CHICKEN SALAD - NO DRESSING                                680
FRIED CHICKEN SALAD WITH DRESSING                            1110           430 calories of dressing!

GRILLED CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD - NO DRESSING         370
GRILLED CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD WITH DRESSING       800           430 calories of dressing!

GRILLED ORIENTAL CHICKEN SALAD - NO DRESSING      590
GRILLED ORIENTAL CHICKEN SALAD WITH DRESSING  1290          700 calories of dressing!

GRILLED SHRIMP'N SPINACH SALAD - NO DRESSING        630
GRILLED SHRIMP'N SPINACH SALAD WITH DRESSING      990          360 calories of dressing!

PECAN CRUSTED CHICKEN SALAD - NO DRESSING           900
PECAN CRUSTED CHICKEN SALAD WITH DRESSING       1340          440 calories of dressing!

I think I have made my point.   So, us folks who are trying to lose weight and think it's smart to eat a salad - we should be careful.    If you are going to have a salad dripping in dressing served at a restaurant... fugedaboudit (forget about it), you might as well have an Ice Cream Sundae.   It will not be healthier, but you might find it more satisfying - and it might be lower in calories!

AISLE BE CAREFUL I'll be careful in the SALAD AISLE, high calorie zone 

I have been writing and editing this page for a few days.  I had the idea of checking a salad dressing that we have in our own refrigerator with Hershey Chocolate Syrup that we buy for our daughter who enjoys chocolate milk.   Our daughter is a skinny rail, she eats healthy foods, and she enjoys treats too.   Very normal stuff.

Both of these products, Hershey's Syrup and Marie's Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing each have the same serving size: two tablespoons.  Hershey's 2 tablespoons is 100 CALORIES and MARIE'S CREAMY CAESAR 2 tablespoons is 120 CALORIES.   I found this culinary discovery fascinating.

MARIE'S DRESSING: 2 TBSP - 120 CALORIES

SERVING SIZE: 2 TABLESPOONS - 100 CALORIES

CONCLUSION:  If one finds both of these products in their refrigerator when searching for a salad dressing.   The LOW CALORIE OPTION is the Hershey's Chocololate Syrup!

I am not sure that it will taste so good on a salad, but one has to admit that that is a surprising fact.


MONDAY'S MENU (DAY 34)
BREAKFAST  hotel scrambled eggs, two small sausages                                  256 CALORIES
LUNCH            4 oz. Salmon, Chicken with Rice Soup                                      323 CALORIES
DINNER           85g Broccoli Rabe Rapini
                           1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
                          Premio Italian Chicken Sausage, Cup Chicken Noodle Soup     263 CALORIES

TOTAL CALORIC CONSUMPTION       842 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED

6AM  TREADMILL: 60 minutes @ 4 mph (4 miles) 600 CALORIES
6PM   TREADMILL: 60 minutes @ 4 mph (4 miles) 600 CALORIES
9PM   TREADMILL: 60 minutes @ 4 mph (4 miles) 600 CALORIES

NET CALORIC DEFICIT     958 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.

FIRST MEAL 'ON THE ROAD'

Today, December 30th, I am away from home on a two day, one night trip.  My wife who has been incredibly supportive made an omelette before I headed out the door at 7:00AM.   For lunch, I ate the two navel oranges that I had cut up before I left.   (Refrigeration was not a problem, the temperature in Wisconsin was 15°F (-9.4°C).

My dinner was planned 24 hours in advance.   I selected the specific dinner that I wanted to order at an Applebee's Restaurant' near my hotel.   Once I got to the restaurant, I knew exactly what I wanted.   GRILLED CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD (NO DRESSING).   At my wife's suggestion I added two lemon wedges to give the salad some extra flavor.   It is amazing how a food that I had no interest in whatsoever a mere six days ago could taste so delicious.  Wait, I retract that statement.   What is amazing is the laziness and stupidity with regards to eating that I have maintained for many years.   I am re-learning all the things I learned 7 years ago when my weight fell from 300lbs to 220lbs.   Nothing I can do about the past.  According to the Applebee's nutritional information posted on their website, my dinner was a scant 370 calories.   (In fact, it was a bit less as I asked that the croutons NOT be included in my dinner.)   Eating well on the road, requires some thought and planning - it sure is worth it!    TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE TODAY=955.   In the 'old days' (you know, December 23, 2014) I could have easily knocked down 955 calories BEFORE lunch!   My first official home weigh-in will be January 1.   I am looking forward to announcing my initial results in two more days.  My belt has already told me that I am making progress.

APPLEBEE'S GRILLED CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD w/o DRESSING 370 CALORIES