MARCH GOES IN LIKE A LION AND OUT LIKE A LAMB

March,
In like a lion, out like a lamb?
I don't know if I am the lion.
And I am sure I won't be a cuddly little lamb in 31 days....
Nevertheless....

MARCH 1st greeted me with a weight of 265.5 lbs
Now, for most people this is not good news.
but for THIS PERSON who weighed 297 lbs on JANUARY 1, it is great news.
I wonder what I will weigh on APRIL 1st?
I will find out in one month.

WENT TO BED HUNGRY - BUT LET ME EXPLAIN

Typical conversation I have had all my life:
Question: Are you hungry?
Response: I could eat.

Yes, one can 'always' eat... I think the only times in my life I have felt that I could not eat were literally the few times in my life I have dined at a buffett brought myself  almost to the point of puking.  Other than that extreme situation - every other moment in my life - I have been 'hungry.'

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sidebar: true story    Once year not so long ago for my birthday went to all-you-can-eat sushi.  I always get my 'moneys worth' at places like this.  I ate a bit too much too fast and had to run to the bathroom with the desire to puke.  I didn't, but after a few minutes the sick feeling left me and I was able to continue eating.  Was I still hungry?  Uh...no.... But why should a lack of hunger stop a fat pig from eating?
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Of course, this is moronic.  I have never denied being a moron when it comes to food.
For example, last night, after a very slim dinner of a Reduced Fat Turkey Bacon sandwich at Starbucks eaten around 5:30PM, I found myself 'hungry' when I pulled into the town where my hotel was at 8PM.

I kinda asked myself: Am I hungry?
My inner response: Of course, I was.

But I chose to get past the feeling, I had a large glass of water in my hotel, and I focused on doing something else and not thinking about food.  When I woke up on Friday morning, did I rush down to breakfast to finally feed my 'starving self?'  Of course not.  I was not 'starving' the night before.  I did not wake up starving.  I feel a bit hungry.  But this hunger is likely real.  So enough typing... time to go downstairs from my hotel room and grab some breakfast. I'm hungry.

See you tomorrow!


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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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Thursday February 20

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AT THE DAWN OF THIS DECADE I WAS NEALY 20 POUNDS HEAVIER

AT THE DAWN OF THIS DECADE I WEIGHED NEARLY 20 POUNDS MORE THAN I DO TODAY.
That 'dawn' was just 18 days ago!

The Dawn of this new decade started at sunrise just eighteen days ago. On that day, I weighed 297 lbs.  Just eighteen days later, I weigh 278.5 lbs - down 18.5 lbs in eighteen days!

On Monday morning, I retired my new Columbia Pants purchased in October and revived a pair of Ralph Lauren 46B waist Black Jeans.  They were tight on Monday, but I was happy just to be wearing them again.  By Friday they were absolutely comfortable. Next stop, they should get loose, then ill-fitting, and then retired as I rediscover some 44W pants I have lying around somewhere.

YIKES! HOW MANY CREAMERS DID YOU SAY?

Oh boy... When I buy a coffee at Starbucks I often add Zero Calorie Vanilla syrup. This ain't health food - but at least it has no calories.  When I am having by free included breakfast a hotel in the morning, I often add three or four 'creamers' to a cup of coffee. Really? Not any more. Not after today. That ship has sailed! Each of these little packages contain 35 calories!  Who knew?  Not I. The information is not hard to find, but one does have to look. The calories are not printed on this ubiquitous container.  Yikes!

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Goodbye Columbia 50, Welcome Ralph Lauren 46

Back in October as my weight was increasing and increasing, I was running out of options for pants. I needed to go home to visit my Mom for a family function.  I literally had nothing remotely appropriate to wear.  I purchased a pair of Columbia pants, 50W.  They were ridiculously loose when I got them... but as 2019 drew to a close they started to fit much better - which is quite sad as I was 'growing' into them.

This week I was able to 'revive' a pair of Ralph Lauren pants size 46. They ain't loose. But they fit.  Before too long, I hope to make these too big, so that I can hunt in my closet for the some 44's.
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I am a ridiculous person.  I am good at gaining weight and losing weight.  I really stink at maintaining weight. Well at 280+ that will not be something I need to worry about for quite awhile!  There is nothing about my current weight that I wish to maintain!

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Thursday May 30

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Day 3, 2019 Revival, ELKHART

On Monday, I drove to Elkhart to be in place for a Tuesday morning appointment. I ate pretty well, and I managed a 6 mile urban hike. Good Day.

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7 SECRETS TO TURN YOUR BODY INTO A FAT BURNING MACHINE

1. Reduce your calories on Monday and cut out all sweets

2. Reduce your calories on Tuesday and cut out all sweets

3. Reduce your calories on Wednesday and cut out all sweets

4. Reduce your calories on Thursday and cut out all sweets

5. Reduce your calories on Friday and cut out all sweets

6. Reduce your calories on Saturday and cut out all sweets

7. Reduce your calories on Sunday and cut out all sweets

BONUS SECRET: SPRINKLE IN SOME EXERCISE 

(Exercise doesn't make up for over-eating, but it is healthy)

My daughter works at Wrigley Field. She is one of the people who scans tickets allowing entry into the ballpark. She often gets driven to Wrigley Field before work - but she enjoys walking home afterwards. The walk is a bit more than two miles. I often walk to Wrigley and watch the game on the giant outdoor screen at Gallagher's Place. It is a quite enjoyable place to catch some baseball and rays. On Saturday, I thought I would s-t-r-e-t-c-h that 2.6 mile walk to about five miles.  Instead,  I stretched it to twelve miles.  After the game, my daughter wanted to go to Costco eatery for dinner, so we walked there too.  My wife picked us up after that, which was good, because I could barely walk after walking 14+ miles between lunch and dinner. It was the most I had walked in more than half a year. My fitbit recorded more than 30,000 steps, also the most in more than half a year. Three weeks ago in the depths of my weight-gaining stupidity it was painful to walk half a block to the local bank. I thought that I had gone too far backwards and that I would never regain my ability to put on a pair of shoes and log some serious miles.  Thankfully, as far backwards as I had gone... my reversal seems to be taking place and once again, I have become a walking, talking, fat-burning machine. Oh yeah!

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TWELVE MILE HIKE FROM HOME TO WRIGLEY FIELD
(apparently without using GPS!)

Wrigley Field to Costco for dinner

If you order the Costco Chicken Caesar Salad AND USE THE DRESSING CONTAINER THAT THEY GIVE YOU WITH THE MEAL... YOU CAN ADD ABOUT 400 CALORIES TO THAT MEAL!

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Direct route from the corner where we live to Wrigley Field is only 2.6 miles.  I made it a twelve mile walk on Saturday.

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I am still 260+ pounds. By definition, that is morbidly obese. I honestly think that with my ridiculously short haircut and now a healthy looking tan earned while logging some serious outdoor time - I look much better than the 260+ pounds says I should. I am looking forward to getting into the 250's and well below that too... One (fitbit) step at a time... What I know is this... three weeks ago, I couldn't stand looking at myself in the mirror... I can stand it now.

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DAY 14

I have now completed two complete weeks, 14 days, of my greatly reduced caloric intake.
I have lost 12.6 lbs in that short time.
So no longer am I the blob of 283.6 lbs.
I am a much smaller blob of only 271lbs.
Truth is, I feel pretty good.
I am guessing I will feel a lot better once I duck under the 270's.
Shouldn't be too long now...

6

I woke up on Saturday, which will be Day 6 of my re-energized willpower campaign to reverse the course of my recent fat-building lifestyle into a fat-burning lifestyle. So, it has only been FIVE DAYS as of Saturday morning, that I made this change.

Weight loss can happen fast. Never quite as fast as weight gain. But fast, nevertheless.

I stepped on the scale and whereas the last time I saw 277.6 I was disgusted.

This time I saw 277.6 and I was very pleased.

In just five days, I have dropped SIX POUNDS.
It was not my imagination that the trousers I had been wearing lately fit better.
They are still a stupefying 46 inch waist.
AT LEAST THEY ARE NO LONGER UNCOMFORTABLY TIGHT!


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Sadly my fitbit is long gone, lost but not forgotten... Still my iphone somehow claims to monitor my motion and steps... and I did walk back and forth to Wrigley Field yesterday... so the 5 miles makes sense

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FITBIT

Earlier this year I had thought that I would have been interested in the Apple Watch to sync with my workouts.  When the watch was finally revealed, I was underwhelmed by what it could do and overwhelmed by its high cost.  I declined to get involved with this product.

Yesterday, however, I did add an electronic device to my life - FITBIT.  Specifically FITBIT ONE.

I made my purchase in Wisconsin on the way home and managed to save a full 5% on sales tax.   On the way home, I stopped at a Starbucks to get it up and running and synced to my MacBook Air and iPhone.  As simple as it was, I was still confused and needed to call customer support for help.   Something amazing happened.  I was talking to a live person within 30 seconds.  That alone, makes me a very enthusiastic fan of this device.

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 Thursday MENU

breakfast    oatmeal, apples                                                                       1000 calories

lunch          three apples                                                                               240 calories

dinner        Subway double chicken spinach salad                                      220 calories

SNACK     beef jerky, mango, chewy ginger, two slices bacon                 530 calories

total calories consumed 1990 calories

calories burned

YMCA PRECOR elliptical machine 125 minutes, interval 1:1

resistance level 20/incline level 20 : resistance level 15/incline level 15     1715 calories

TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 1715 calories

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Thursday net calories 275 calories

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fitbit day 1:

My fitbit was recording 'phantom' steps and 'phantom' stair climbing while I was cruising down the highway after I set it up.   Once I noticed this, I turned it off.  I need to investigate why this was happening.

Once I arrived at the YMCA for my two hour and five minute workout on the elliptical I turned it back on and it recorded more than 13,000 steps. I bought this device fully aware that it will be addicting.  This little wonder will definitely be accompanying me to Half-Dome at Yosemite National Park - now only 27 days away!

GOLDFINGER

GOLDFINGER was the villain from the James Bond, agent 007, Ian Fleming novel (and 1964 movie) who loved all things gold.   Not sure if you should call me Goldfinger or not....but clearly....

This is how James Bond first meets 'Goldfinger' in the movie - cheating at cards

Sometimes expectations are not quite met.
This is true in movies, and real life.

...Congratulations are in order.   Apparently I have graduated from Starbucks 'Green' level to Starbucks 'Gold' level.   The remarkable thing about this that amuses me is that prior to six months ago - I was not a Starbucks customer at all. I was hardly a coffee drinker.   I started visiting Starbucks for breakfast as they do offer low calorie, healthy choices that agreed with my new lifestyle.  Once I learned about the various zero calorie sweet flavorings that I could add to coffee, I did start drinking AND ENJOYING COFFEE.  Apparently lots of coffee - as I have graduated to 'GOLD' status.  'Green' level did not merit an actual card.  Yesterday in the mail I received my 'GOLD' card!

Yesterday at my local Chicago YMCA, I had a great workout.  I have recently been enjoying the PRECOR EFX elliptical machines and setting the workout to 4:3 Interval.  The 'miles' registered on by the machine after a 125 minute workout have neared or just cleared 10 miles.  Yesterday I stepped onto the machine and set the machine to MANUAL, I set the elevation to maximum level 20, and I set the resistance to maximum level 20.  I did not know what to expect from myself.  Since I had set the machine to 120 minutes, out of habit I set the machine to a 'goal' distance of 10 miles. I had assumed that I might not reach it as my strides per minute would be reduced at maximum levels for the entire workout.  I surprised myself.  I completed the workout and the machine recorded that I had 'travelled' 10.6 miles (and burned 1738 calories.)  This was by far, my best, hardest, most effective workout on this machine.  

Sometimes when I am struggling to complete a workout on one of these machines, there is one major thing that propels me to the 'finish line.' It is my desire for the workout to run to completion so that I can enjoy the 'high' I feel when I snap the photo of my 'Workout Complete Totals' that display on the screen when I am done.  This is why I so often post these photos on my daily blog - especially when I work on the specific machines that display this information.

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 Saturday MENU

breakfast   Whole Foods Steel Cut Oatmeal, Caco Goji, Cherries     631 calories
lunch         Whole Foods Spicy Tuna Roll, various bulk items         1103 calories
dinner        HOME COOKED turkey burger, salad, asparagus
                  various bulk items                                                           1441 calories
SNACK     GIN GINS CHEWS, YOGURT ALMONDS                   195 calories

total calories consumed 3371 calories

calories burned

YMCA PRECOR EFX ELLIPTICAL 125 MINUTES, 1738 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED 1738 CALORIES

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Saturday net calories 1751 calories

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dinner: home prepared salad, Costco Turkey Burger, Asparagus
after dinner I visited a Whole Foods for some 'desserts' that added to the calorie total

from the Starbucks website....

Keep the Free Drinks & Eats Coming

Collect 30 Stars within 12 months and step up to the Gold level for one year. At Gold level you get:

• A free drink (including bottled items such as Evolution Fresh™ juices) or food item for every 12 stars

• A personalized Gold Card

• Special Offers just for you

Once you’re at Gold level it takes another 30 Stars to maintain Gold level for another 12 months. And since you get a free drink or food reward every 12 Stars, you get at least two rewards for just staying Gold!

If you don’t qualify for the Gold level again by your anniversary date (i.e. the date you qualified for the Gold level), you’ll revert to the Green level and lose all your Stars. Don’t let that happen!

If it does though, don’t worry—if you earn 30 Stars again within 12 months, you’ll move from Green level right back to Gold level.

 and finally...some random 'GOLDFINGER' photos

Here's an 'important' heads up for all you 'Bond' fans out there.... The next James Bond movie, starring Daniel Craig will be released in theaters on November 6.  The movie is titled: 

S P E C T R E