I HAVE LOST 27.4 POUNDS

Gee, this 'program' seems so easy to me every time I get on it.
What's the program?
Essentially do not eat sh*t foods!
I am no health nut - I still consume artificial sweeteners
I am enjoying the croutons on my salad
I am enjoying the salad dressing on my Casesar's salad
I am enjoying a portion of French Baguette with my soups
I am eating the turkey, vegetable, pork and other sausages as part of breakfast with my eggs

But what I am not doing since January 1st....

No Reese's Pieces
No M&M's
No candy
No chocolate brownie with sprinkles
No sprinkles
No chocolate brownie
No chocolate cake
No vanilla cake
No cake
No doughnuts
No donuts either
No milkshakes
No Chocolate Milk
No Klondike Bar
No Nestle's chipwich
No Ice-cream
No flavored yogurt
No potato chips
No Cheetos
No McDonalds
No Arby's
No Jack-in-the-Box
No Taco Bell
No Burger King
No Culvers
No Panda Express (although there are some healthier options there I could consider)
No Chick Fil A
No Fast Food
No French Fries anywhere
No Cheeseburger with or without french fries
No Hamburger with or without french fires
No Costco Hot Dogs
No Pizza with extra cheese
No Pizza with regular cheese
No Foot Long subs at Subway
No Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
No freshly baked free cookies from the Marriott when I check in
No free cookies left in my room as a reward for being a frequent traveler
No cookies from anyone from anywhere at any time

The Result...

Since January 1st, I am down 27.4 lbs - This morning I weighed 269.6 lbs.

This decal is for marathon runners, to announce to the world that they ran more than the required 26.2  miles.  Today I am using this to remind myself that although I have never been nor never will be a marathon runner, and therefore will never get lost on a marathon course.... I have coincidentally lost 27.4 (pounds) - and that is worth shouting about.

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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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GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Today, Thursday January 15, is DAY 23.   For twenty-three days I have broken my habit of eating at  McDonalds, Burger King, Panda Express, and White Castle.  For twenty-three days I have broken my habit of eating an unending river of snacks including Hershey Bars, M&M's, Hostess Ho-Ho's, Klondike Bars, Dunkin' Doughnuts, Nestles Chocolate Chip Cookies, Lays Potato Chips, and quite a few other unhealthy things.   (You understand, that it took some real 'effort' to balloon up to 309 lbs.  You just don't wake up one day 100 lbs overweight - you really have to 'work' at it!)

I have some GREAT EXPECTATIONS of GREAT SUCCESS in my quest to look healthy and more importantly to be healthier.   As much as I would like to snap my fingers and lose all my weight by tomorrow - it does not work that way.    My 'BIG' Ralph Lauren slacks which are waist size 48 and were too small, when I first fished them out of my closet two weeks ago,  have become loose.   It is ironic that these slacks which have been patiently awaiting the day when their owner could wear them again, may soon be packed off and donated as they will soon be too big for me.   It appears that their window of opportunity to be worn will last only three weeks. Good. Time to go shopping!

I must remember to manage my expectations with regard to the speed of my weight shedding.   I cannot expect to lose weight going forward as fast I have in the initial stages of my new lifestyle.

A friend posted this amusing New Yorker Magazine cartoon on her facebook page a couple of days ago.   I told her that I was going to use it for my blog.   This cartoon basically sums up the importance of having great expectations, but also emphasizes that the expectations should be reasonable.   I would like to lose one hundred pounds before next New Year's Eve.   I have two things going for me.  I only have to lose one hundred pounds not thirty-eight thousand pounds. New Year's Eve is nearly twelve months away.  I believe that I can manage my great expectations!

This morning started off well.  The treadmill at my hotel was out-of-order.  I hopped onto an elliptical machine for the first time in seven years.  This machine didn't power on.  I had no measurement of distance or calories burned or resistance level.   I know this.  I spent twenty minutes on it and it was a struggle.   Therefore it was a good workout.   My next goal is to start using an elliptical more often and increase the amount of time I can spend on it.   My all-inclusive Days Inn breakfast was two hard-boiled egg and one orange.  (Approximately 240 calories)

My next weigh-in will be early Saturday morning.   
I can't weight!  (<----- not a typo - just a minor attempt at humor)

New Yorker Cartoon by Kaamran Hafeez

CHILLY OUTSIDE - CHILI INSIDE

After finishing up with my customer around 1:30PM today I got into my car and used my GARMIN GPS to locate the nearest Panera Bread restaurant.  Last evening, while checking nutritional information posted by virtually every chain restaurant - I 'discovered' a 'Natural Turkey Chili with Beans' that looked tasty.   The caloric content really grabbed my attention.   Honestly, I couldn't believe that a bowl 1.5 Cups (402g) was only 280 Calories.   In the past I would have left my appointment and scooted over to Burger King or McDonalds (it is hard to drive more than 1/2 mile in parts of America and not find one of those restaurants)   Today, I navigated to the Panera Bread restaurant and enjoyed what seemed like the most delicious meal I can ever remember.  It is helpful to be truly hungry before sitting down to a meal.   I feel like I just landed on an exotic planet and I am discovering all its strange and new delicacies.    Sure, I know that this all sounds somewhat ridiculous - for the past many years I have been a victim of my laziness and stupidity.   I am experiencing my own personal Exodus out of a self-imposed slavery.  I am free.   Tomorrow I will weigh myself with my clothes on - as I was weighed in the doctors office.  I am curious to learn how much weight I have lost in this first week.   Happy New Year!

PANERA BREAD TURKEY CHILI WITH BEANS 280 CALORIES

CONFESSIONS

It is said that confession is good for the soul.  I will use this post to confess the sins of eating like a moron.   On the road, my lunches and dinners were really not too varied.  Favorite spots were McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Panda Express or White Castle.   The purpose of this blog is ultimately to share secrets of successful weight loss.   But before I get to that subject I am going to share the 'secrets' of successful weight gain.   Here were some of my favorite meals with the calories as provided on various websites that I checked today.

Panda Express Two-Entree Dinner HONEY WALNUT SHRIMP, ORANGE CHICKEN, CHOW MEIN and an EGG ROLL   1480 calories

Subway Footlong Sweet Onion Teriyaki and Harvest Sun Chips 950 calories
              or
              Footlong Seafood Sensation and Harvest Sun Chips 1050 calories
              or
              Footlong Meatball Marinara and Harvest Sun Chips 1170 calories
             (Jared famously lost weight at Subway, surely he made better choices!)

McDonalds Four (4) Hamburgers (almost never ordered fries) 960 Calories
                     or
                    Three (3) McChicken Sandwiches 1110 Calories
                    (I had thought that chicken was a somewhat 'healthy choice'  WRONG!)

Burger King Four (4) Hamburgers (almost never ordered fries) 960 Calories

White Castle Ten (10) Hamburgers (140 calories per burger)    1400 Calories

Ok, that's it... I have officially bared my 'diet' of the past many years.   In between these breakfasts, lunches and dinners would be an array of chocolate cakes, candy bars and ice-cream.   Now that I have finished divulging my secrets of weight gain, the secrets of my upcoming weight loss are fairly obvious.   STOP EATING THIS CRAP!   My brother, has asked me many times if I enjoyed eating at these places.   My answer was always the same: Yes.   It is time for me to find some new alternatives.

In order to end this post on an upbeat note:  I made friends with a nearby treadmill and walked 1.9 miles in 30 minutes.   The machine indicates that I burned approximately 190 calories.   That is not the amount of calories in one chocolate bar!   It will serve to make me think long and hard before I stick another chocolate bar in my mouth.