RED LOBSTER

I  am gaining momentum with my decision to change my life (again).
Last night I rediscovered Red Lobster.
The reason that these ubiquitous chains are important to me is that I need places where I can find, quick, health(ier) food while on the road.
I signed up for the frequent diner program.
They online nutrition builder allows one to be sure of what one is eating.
Last night I had the Caesar Salad w/chilled lobster and shrimp.
I am not tricked into thinking that this is 'health food.'
I am not really seeking 'health food.'
But I am looking to avoid the 'poison foods' that I have been eating for far too long.

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BLACK FRIDAY

Today is the so-called, Black Friday in the retail world. This is the mythical and legendary day when retailers are said to finally go into the 'black' - that is profitability. This is the mythical and legendary day when shoppers used to try to purchase a widescreen TV for some insanely low price by camping out in front of the store for a few hours (or days).   In days gone by, the nearest parking spot at a suburban mall might have seemed to be miles from the entrance, that is if one could even procure a parking spot at all. America has changed. The internet has changed retail. And with each passing year, sales volume online grows and sales volume at brick and mortar stores shrink.  It will likely be crowded today at the malls, but Black Friday ain't what it used to be. Very few things are.

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PRE-DINNER WALK

WALKING DOWNTOWN TO MEET MY FAMILY

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WALKING BACK HOME FROM DOWNTOWN.

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, November 23, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Grits	400	88	6	8	1,240	4
Colby & Monterey Jack cheese	160	0	14	10	260	0
	560	88	20	18	1,500	4
L U N C H
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	700	55	31	17	286	31
	700	55	31	17	286	31
D I N N E R
Beef Pot Roast	400	38	10	37	2,558	5
Mashed Sweet Potatoes	200	38	4	2	375	10
Classic Bread Stuffing	200	25	9	5	876	3
	800	101	23	44	3,809	18
S N A C K S
Frozen Fudge Bar	300	63	3	9	165	60
Volpi - Mozzarella and Prosciutto Roltini	300	3	20	30	1,975	0
Pumpkin Pie	400	52	18	7	394	26
	1,000	118	41	46	2,534	86
Totals	3,060	362	115	125	8,129	139
Your Daily Goal	4,427	553	147	222	2,300	166
Remaining	1,367	191	32	97	-5,829	27
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,497 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 212.1 lbs in 5 weeks     

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SNACKED

Snacking is something that I so successfully avoided when my weight initially dropped from 309 lbs down to about 220 lbs.  Over the past few weeks I have recently put back on about 20 of those pounds.  It is an understatement that the recent level of inactivity due to the hernia for the past 5 weeks have not been helpful to me. Now that the surgery is behind me, I am anticipating spending more and more time burning some calories and being much more active. While it remains true that one cannot undo poorly chosen ingested calories on a treadmill or elliptical machine - it is still a better hobby than sitting on a couch and snacking. Yesterday I 'snacked' and I couldn't be more pleased. It is because I broke my personal record on WORDS WITH FRIENDS.  My previous highest point total for one word was 'minivans' which earned 197 points.  My new record on WORDS WITH FRIENDS is 'SNACKED' which earned 218 points. There is some kind of cosmic irony that this is the word that is likely to remain my personal record for quite some time. It took me more than 2 years to best the previous record that I had scored with 'minivans.' What is your highest word score?

new personal record Words with Friends - 218 points

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Your Food Diary For:

Monday, May 2, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Malt-o-meal Cereal - Honey Nut Scooters	360	72	5	9	630	27
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 1 medium apple	95	25	0	1	2	19
3 Egg Omelette - Ham and Cheese, 1 Omelette	400	1	30	40	1,225	0
	855	98	35	50	1,857	46
L U N C H
Havarti - Costco Dofino - Cheese	110	1	9	6	210	0
Pepperidge Farm - Sourdough Bread	240	44	3	8	440	4
Cabbage Soup	100	10	0	2	79	6
	450	55	12	16	729	10
D I N N E R
Pizza Hut - Personal Pepperoni Pizza	630	67	29	25	1,590	7
	630	67	29	25	1,590	7
S N A C K S
Hershey - York Peppermint Patty	140	31	3	1	10	25
Apples - Apples, 2 medium apple	160	44	0	0	0	32
	300	75	3	1	10	57
Totals	2,235	295	79	92	4,185	120
Your Daily Goal	2,276	284	76	114	2,300	85
Remaining	41	-10	-2	22	-1,885	-34
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 346 extra calories from exercise today

Your Exercise Diary for:

Monday, May 2, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
MATRIX TREADMILL	79	512
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-166
Daily Total / Goal	80 / 30	346 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	80 / 210	346 / 4,130

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Tuesday was the first day since my laparoscopic hernia surgery that I attempted (and succeeded) to have an actual cardio workout. It was not the most vigorous workout that I had ever had - but it was not nothing. As per doctors orders I have removed plastic bandages over the two incision spots on my abdominal area. My followup appointment with the surgeon has been scheduled for Friday the 13th in about two weeks time. I am on my way back.

FIRST SESSION: 65 MINUTES, 4mph, 4.35 miles, 387 calories

SECOND SESSION: 13:24 MINUTES, 4.5mph, 1 mile, 125 calories

MALL OF AMERICA

Last night was my last night in Minneapolis for this trip.  After visiting my last customer yesterday, I returned to the New Hope YMCA for a 40 minute workout on their elliptical machine.  After a vigorous workout I showered up, grabbed a Jimmy John's Unwich and headed to the Mall of America.

The Mall of America is the biggest mall in the United States with over 500 stores.  My shopping list was still not complete as I was still looking for some brand-new white dress shirts.  The Mall of America is a four level mall and in order to walk once around a particular level one would traverse .6 mile.  I stayed at the Mall for around three hours and although I did a little shopping at Nordstrom Rack, most of the time I was just zipping around through all the levels and I figure that I probably walked nearly 5 miles during my visit.

Visiting the Mall of America might seem like an obvious thing to do while visiting Minneapolis.  In fact, I had been there twice in the past 20 years of visiting Minneapolis.  The 'old' Marc would have been far less interested in visiting a place that required so much walking, so much effort.  The 'new' Marc found this same requirement the exact reason for visiting.  I think that it is a great way to spend an evening in Minneapolis - it's a guaranteed multiple mile walk and therefore a calorie burning event It's a lot more challenging than spending three hours shopping on amazon.com and a far healthier way of spending an evening.

THURSDAY MENU

breakfast  Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal, one peach, one pear, one orange                     376 calories
lunch       28 raw whole almonds, apple, JIMMY JOHN'S UNWICH, pickle                500 calories
dinner      JIMMY JOHN'S UNWICH, pickle, two apples                                               410 calories

total caloric consumption  1286 calories

CALORIES BURNED
New Hope YMCA elliptical 40 minutes 481 calories

THURSDAY NET CALORIES 805 CALORIES

MALL OF AMERICA