INTERIM GOALS & LONG TERM GOALS

The long term goal is simple.  Look healthy and be healthy.   My goal is to lose a lot of weight that I don't need to be carting around.   So far, I have 'only' lost 15 lbs.  My father had an excellent way of explaining just how much that really is.  He suggested going to the grocery store and picking up a piece of meat that weighed 15 lbs.   Carry that around all day, or all week - and then you can answer the question whether 15 lbs is a big deal or not.  I am convinced that my initial success has been dramatic and meaningful.   I think my knee does not hurt any more when I wake up in the morning - Is that real? Is it my imagination?  My goal is to lose something in the neighborhood of 100 lbs from my position at the starting line on December 24, 2014.  In order to lose 100 lbs, I will have to lose one pound at a time.  One interim goal would be the ability to shop at COSTCO.   This store, and most retail stores don't stock trousers or blue jeans for those with a 50 inch waist.   Costco 'only' caters to those 'svelte' individuals with a 44" waistline.  Even that goal might be nearly forty pounds away.   I will have to get to 44" before I get to 40" or 38."  I recently stumbled upon a decade old article on WebMD that explored the seemingly preposterous idea that health secrets could be divined from the members of the Rolling Stones. This article claimed that Mick Jagger has a 28" waist.   That is not my goal.

Another good day on the road: BREAKFAST 200 CALORIES, LUNCH (I had no time between appointments so I only ate the two apples I brought with me) 160 CALORIES, DINNER Turkey Chili at Panera Bread 280 CALORIES.   TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE 640 CALORIES.   I am looking forward to stepping onto my scale on Saturday morning.

I have a long way to go before I can blue jeans at Costco

THIS SURPRISED ME

Everything was going smoothly today in Day 10 of my new lifestyle.   Breakfast started with three poached eggs flavored with one tablespoon of bacon bits (245 calories).   Lunch took me back to Panera Bread for the turkey chili (280 calories).   Before dinner my family went shopping at Costco with my new menu requirements in mind.    We purchased big packages of Vegetables, Broccoli, and a box of 'salmon burgers.'   Each salmon burger is only 110 calories!   As my wife, Jennifer, cooked dinner, the aroma from the heated salmon burgers was amazing.    They looked tasty too!   I had asked for 1 cup of vegetables, 1 cup of broccoli and 2 salmon burgers.   This should have been a whopping 400 calorie meal.   It seemed odd to me that this looked like a lot of food.  As I started my meal, something happened that I cannot remember ever happening before in the past many years.... I chose not to have both salmon burgers.   I was completely satisfied with just one.   My delicious dinner became a 290 calorie meal.  My total intake today was only 816 calories.   I think the reason that I wasn't hungry enough to eat my complete dinner was that I am eating actual real food now.  The engine that is my body is getting high performance, high-octane fuel.  In the past, I was perpetually hungry.   I am trying to train myself to be hungry when it is a true physiological feeling.   In the past, I think I confused hunger with sugar craving.   They are not the same.  Something in me is really changing.

This would've been 400 calories if I had eaten it all

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