Thursday February 20

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HIGH CALORIE TUESDAY

My dinner at Red Lobster was Southwest Style Shrimp Tacos... what I should have done was not add the Cup of Lobster Bisque.

Only compared to what I have eaten the past two weeks was my calorie count high yesterday.... Nearly 2000.  This proves again to me how easily it was for me to have 5000 calorie days when I was eating with reckless abandon.

Tuesday was the 14th day of January, the 14th day of the New Year and the 14th day of this brand-new decade.  So far this decade, I have not had chocolate, I have not had ice-cream, I have not had a fast-food hamburger, I have not had fruit juice with breakfast, I have not had a bagel, I have not had a doughnut, I have not had french fries, I have not had potato chips, I have not had a Pop Tart, I have not had any of the free chocolate chip cookies that are available at Fairfield Hotels when I check in, I have not had sugared breakfast cereals, I have not had flavored oatmeal, I have not had a milk shake, I have not had any M&M's.... And I do believe, almost no matter what I eat - as long as I don't eat the garbage on this list - I will successfully lose weight. In fact, belief is not important - I have done this before in my life. Simply cutting out this garbage leads to weight loss.

Something else I have tried to do with some great success is to vastly cut down on drinking diet soda.  Now I am sleeping better, as I am not walking up multiple times per night to (being inelegant here) 'take a leak.'

FORSYTH, ILLINOIS (DAY 66)

Working with a colleague, Wednesday morning, I awoke from my Forsyth, Illinois hotel and headed out for an extremely early, pre-dawn hike. I logged 10 miles before returning for my breakfast.

It's been quite awhile since I have taken a photo of one of my meals.... but c'mon.... today for lunch I had a LOBSER BLT at 'BIZOU' in Decatur, Illinois. Up until today, I didn't know that there was such a thing as a LOBSTER BLT!

MYSTERY SOLVED!

On October 15, 2017 I wrote about some unusual 'wildlife' that I encountered in the middle of Chicago during one of my urban hikes. I have reprinted my original post below:

I had long ago given up hope that someone would respond to my original email.  Yesterday at 2PM I received an email from Mr. Matt O'Hara whose many titles included: IDNR-Fisheries (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), Aquatic Nuisance Species Aquaculture Program, Natural Resources Advanced Specialist, and Asian Carp Project Leader. This guy is apparently very busy, I am grateful that my email was addressed even if I had to wait nearly three months for a response.

Here was the response:

Hello Marc, 

Thanks for your email, about the creature you encountered. The creature is an aquatic crawfish, this crawfish is a nonnative or invasive crayfish to the Chicago area known as a “Red Swamp Crawfish”. Although the Red Swamp Crawfish is a native to the very southern tip Illinois, they are invasive to northern areas. They can outcompete native crawfish for food and habitat.

Thanks 

Matt O'Hara

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So this mystery is solved.  I never really thought it was a lobster, but it sure looked like one. I also never really thought it was a scorpion, but it sure looked like one. I had never really ever seen a Red Swamp Crawfish before, so it never occurred to me that it might be one. I am very grateful to Mr. O'Hara for taking the time to answer my question.

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I was well aware that I have been overeating the past week. I have 'smartly' combined this with zero amount of exercise. No shock  when my Saturday weight was 248.9 lbs. 

* * * * * * * * * *

my original email included two photos.

Greetings,
Although it was lightly raining around 4:00PM when I was on Goose Island, Illinois earlier today October 14 and headed to the bridge that takes one to North Avenue - I spotted this creature (approx 3”) slowly walking along the road.  Was this a scorpion? 

Thank you for letting me know.

Marc Jacobs
Chicago

WILDLIFE

Among the reasons that walking about town, or taking a real hike in a park is far more interesting than mindlessly walking on a treadmill as I used to do, is that outdoors one can see real wildlife. During my hikes I have seen frogs, snakes, deer, herons, chipmunks, turtles and wild turkeys. Yesterday as I hiked through Goose Island I spotted something that appeared to be moving. At first I thought it might be a leaf, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be something that I would have never expected to see on a Chicago street. I think it was a scorpion. It was about 3 inches long, and when I got near it to take its photo, it curled up in a defensive position. I sent this picture to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to see if they would be kind enough to confirm my sighting. If I hear back from them, I will let you know... If it wasn't a scorpion, then perhaps it was a three inch lobster, and that seems highly unlikely. But seriously, a scorpion? In Chicago? Walking across the street? 

It took a lot of effort to squeeze in this 6 mile urban hike yesterday.... It rained practically the entire day. In fact, there were thunderstorms in the morning, afternoon and evening. When I set out on this hike, with my daughter, the rain had stopped briefly. This break in the precipitation was short-lived, so we got a bit wet. 

Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, October 14, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Grits	300	66	5	6	930	3
Trader Joes - Pumpkin O's	220	50	2	4	280	18
	520	116	7	10	1,210	21
L U N C H
Read - 3 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Mariano's - Spicy Salmon Maki	350	39	16	14	278	0
	650	104	16	19	1,778	40
D I N N E R
Rana - Roaster Tomato & Mozzarella Tortellini	600	89	16	22	1,244	2
	600	89	16	22	1,244	2
S N A C K S
Select Choice - Chewy Oat & Honey Granola	200	38	4	4	110	14
Snack Cheese	100	0	9	6	163	0
	300	38	13	10	273	14
Totals	2,070	347	52	61	4,505	77
Your Daily Goal	2,934	367	97	147	2,300	110
Remaining	864	20	45	86	-2,205	33
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,004 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 218.9 lbs in 5 weeks.