Day 4 (Day 117)

Okay, I'll clean it up a bit later on, but I'm pretty sure now that my day counting was off on the past few posts. Today is definitely day 4 since I got back on the wagon, and it's definitely day 117 since the first of the year. So, now that that's out of the way...

Yesterday was again a good day, though as always it was shaky and a tightrope walk. I managed to not eat anything too bad, though I did snack a bit uncontrollably on some granola I bought later in the evening.

Breakfast was more fruit, lunch was a few forkfuls of a tuna and egg salad made by the maid at my boss's house, and dinner was an early helping of spicy tuna and avocado roll sushi from the supermarket. But the lunch was barely a lunch, and the dinner came really early (5:00 p.m.), so I picked up some cottage cheese, strawberry jam, and granola and had a bowl of that around 8:15 p.m.

No exercise, except the three walks. But hopefully this weekend we'll get things moving, as I'm planning on playing tennis with a friend tomorrow.

So, now just the facts:


Day 3 food:

Strawberries (about 10)
Orange
Water
Tuna and egg salad (about 6 forkfuls)
Water
Avocado roll (10 pcs.)
Spicy tuna roll (5 pcs.)
Cottage cheese with jam and granola (small bowl)
Granola (about 6 handfuls)

Day 3 exercise: Three long walks

Daily weight: 239 lbs. (down 3/48)


So that's that. Hopefully I'll survive the weekend and then we'll be off to the races.

Thanks for reading!

Day 3 (126)

So, two days in a row... Now, onto Day 3. (I'm actually 1/2 way through Day 3 already, but I'll pretend like it's the morning.)

Yesterday was good, though again I was tempted to eat and eat and eat... but didn't!

I started the day with a banana (and remembered to take my vitamin), had an apple mid-morning, a can of soup for lunch, a couple (ugh) of rice cakes, cottage cheese and fruit mid-afternoon, another banana, and then the chicken/rice/salsa/guacamole/lettuce thing from Chipotle. So, I was snacking all day, but I'm confident that everything I was eating was good for me.

Oh, I also popped about a dozen strawberries and a dozen grapes right under the wire at 8:45 p.m. They were extra delicious, and helped me not feel too hungry at the end of the day.

I didn't manage to get any exercise in, as I had another day like the prior two (8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with Boss #1, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with Boss #2, and 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. house managing down at the Coronet Theatre). So, all in all, there wasn't much time to get a run or some yoga in...

Anyway, I'm glad that I got two days put together. Today should be another good day, though so far it's not getting any easier.


Now, just the facts:

Day 2 (125) food:

Banana
Apple
Water
Chunky chicken gumbo (entire can)
Rice cake (2)
Water
Banana
Cottage cheese doubles
Water
Chicken/rice/salsa/guacamole/lettuce

Day 2 exercise: three long walks

Daily weight: 240 lbs. (down 2/47)


Thanks for reading!

Day 2 (Day 125)

So now I have to string together a few more days like yesterday, and perhaps I'll be able to get this train back on the tracks.

By no means was yesterday an easy day. But, I managed to fall into a few old habits that seemed to work well and get myself going. I had a banana for breakfast, an apple mid-morning, soup for lunch, a rice cake as a snack, and chicken/rice/salsa/guacamole/lettuce from Chipotle for dinner. No snacking, no picking, no eating after 9:00 p.m., no binging.

I didn't really get any meaningful exercise in, managing only three long walks. But that wasn't important at this juncture. Eating properly was, and that's what I managed to do.

I also managed to get a good night's sleep (8 hours) which felt really good.

So, onto Day 2. Hopefully today will get a bit easier.

I did weigh myself, and I am up 13 lbs. from where I was when I last reported. 242 lbs. I assume the damage could have been worse, so I'm not entire disappointed. It's still a decent chunk of weight to have to to get off, but I feel like I can do this.


So, just the facts:

Day 1 (125) food:

Banana
Apple
Water
Chicken chunky gumbo (entire can)
Rice cake (1)
Water
Chicken/rice/salsa/guacamole/lettuce (entire order)
Water

Day 1 (125) exercise: Three long walks

Daily weight: 242 lbs. (down 0/45)



So that's that. I also took a few pictures. I'll get those posted soon.

Thanks for reading!

Back on the wagon...

I've avoided doing this post, as I've avoided many things... But, perhaps today it's time to get back on the wagon.



To continue the analogy just a smidge further... the good news is that not every wheel has fallen off the wagon. As this blog is called "Four Vices," and as most wagons have four wheels, I am happy to report that only one of the wheels has fallen off.



Food. (Not surprising.)



I have managed to not smoke pot, still, since January 1. I have managed to keep my gambling in check (just playing in my Saturday night poker game and one small trip to Vegas with friends, a very functional trip, if I do say so myself), and I've managed to keep my sex life under control (and, as promised, I will not mention much more about that!). So that's the good news.



The bad news is, I couldn't keep the lid on my eating, and reverted to many many many bad habits. And once I started down that road, it became increasingly difficult to get out of the rut.



There were a whole slew of triggers that helped to push me over the edge, a combination of internal struggles (frustration with a short plateau, a lack of faith in my ability to keep things going), and lots of external temptations (I never knew I liked In and Out Burgers, the realization that a Caesar salad has no nutritional value, chocolate is delicious).



And so why this morning? Why not yesterday morning? And why not tomorrow morning instead? I don't know the answer to that. I have been doing the deal-making in my head for about a week now, wanting to start this, but also unable to do it.



One of my old habits, a small bit of obsessive compulsive disorder, I think, is my ability to have something one day, enjoy it so much that I will want to have it every day... So about four weeks ago I was sooo tired that I wanted a coffee. But I didn't have just any coffee, nope, I had a large mocha latte from The Coffee Bean. And I washed that down with a piece of coffee cake. And wouldn't you know it, I had another the following day. And the day after that... And on and on.



This morning, though, today, I told my boss I'd get to work at 8:00 a.m. rather than 9:00 a.m. And somehow, with the hour less of sleep, the deal I made with myself was to skip the coffee and go straight to the office. I decided to have a banana at the office rather than the coffee. And I've decided that this one right decision can lead to another right decision. And another... And (hopefully) another...



So we'll see. Today and tomorrow are going to be tough days no matter how you slice it, because I am working not one, not two, but three different jobs. I'm with boss #1 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Boss #2 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. And house managing a show at the Coronet from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. All back-to-back.



But, I think I have a plan. Banana, apple, water, vitamin for breakfast. Soup for lunch. And Chipotle (no cheese!) for dinner. I think I can pull it off.



So that's it. I'm not going to beat myself up too much about what's happened, but rather just brush myself off, learn from the mistakes of the past few weeks, and move forward.



As for the physical set-back I've suffered, well... I'll take a picture tomorrow (the batteries were dead on the camera this morning). I'm pretty sure I've put on about 12 pounds from where I was when I stopped tracking. I'll do a weigh-in tomorrow morning too. And moving forward, I'm going to track my weight not only from the 287 that I was at when I started back in January, but also from wherever I end up tomorrow morning.



Wish me luck in Phase 2! Thanks for reading!