Weight: 379.6 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: 12.2 lbs. in 7 weeks
Kind of disappointed that I only seem to have broken even this week. Still need to get off my ass and start getting some exercise. Beginning of the week was bad since I didn't just throw away the leftover peanut brittle like I should have. But I'm not going to let it derail me.
Weight: 379.6 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 12.2 lbs. in 6 weeks
I played with fire yesterday. Since I'm going to be getting together with a group of friends today, I decided to try a recipe for Dr. Pepper Peanut Brittle that I saw on Homesick Texan. I sampled a few pieces for quality control purposes but I showed some self-control and didn't gorge on the stuff. Interestingly I'm finding the left over peanuts a bigger temptation than the candy. In any case, judging by the scale this morning I didn't do myself too much damage yesterday but if my friends don't finish off the peanut brittle I may have to throw the remainder in the garbage so it's not a temptation.
Weight: 382.8 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 9 lbs in 5 weeks
I didn't come close to achieving my goal of starting an aerobic exercise program but I did reach my short term goal of 385 lbs. and yesterday I noticed that I needed to take my belt in a notch so I'm feeling pretty good anyway. My new short term goal is to reach 375 lbs.
Common excuses used to justify eating fast food instead of cooking something yourself is that it takes too long to cook, it's too much work, and I've even heard it said that it's cheaper to hit the local drive thru instead of cooking something yourself. Let's see if that's true. Here are two meals:
Meal A is a hamburger from a local fast food restaurant. It has bacon, cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles and onions on it. It comes with French fries, ketchup, and a soft drink.
Meal B is a baked tilapia filet, seasoned with some Old Bay low sodium seasoning, with steamed peas and corn and a glass of skim milk. Also included but not pictured, because it was eaten while the tilapia was in the oven, was a lettuce and tomato salad sprinkled with a little cheddar cheese and lightly drizzled with a low fat salad dressing.
I'm sure it will come as no surprise that Meal B is the more nutritious meal but it might be a surprise that Meal B was also faster, less work, and cheaper to prepare.
Preparing Meal A consisted of getting in my car, driving to the local fast food place, waiting in line at the drive thru window, and then driving back home with my meal. I could have shaved a little time off by going to a closer fast food restaurant but not a whole lot. While not exactly a lot of work, obviously I couldn't do anything else while driving.
Preparing Meal B consisted largely of taking things out of bags and putting them in bowls or cookware. The lettuce portion of the salad was ready made so it was a simple matter of taking a couple of handfuls out of the bag and putting them in a bowl. I used cherry tomatoes that had to be rinsed off in the sink before adding to the salad but that didn't exactly take a lot of time. The cheese was already shredded. The tilapia simply needed to be taken out of the bag, put in a baking dish, sprinkled lightly with seasoning, and put into the oven, which I'd pre-heated while making the salad. The peas and corn came in single serving packs that simply had to be put in the microwave and heated for a couple of minutes. Very little work with most of my time spent waiting for the fish to be ready during which I ate my salad while watching television.
So what about cost? Meal A ran just a hair over $6 while Meal B was around $4.
Nutrition-wise, it's no contest. Meal A is high in fat, starch, and processed sugar. Meal B is low fat, has a nice bit of fish, and several servings of vegetables.
It's easier than ever to make simple, nutritious home cooked meals. The next time you're at the grocery store, take a good look around. You might be surprised at the amount of healthy, nutritious food that comes ready to eat or cook these days.
Weight: 385.2 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: 6.6 lbs in 4 weeks
Not really sure what happened this week. I didn't fall off my diet or anything like that. In fact the main change in my diet was switching out white rice for whole grain brown rice. Still, I'm not going to worry about it too much at this point. Since I don't seem to be having too much trouble sticking with my diet I think it's time to move to the next phase of my plan. This week I'm going to start working on getting some aerobic exercise.
The Democrats are excited that Obama has pretty much sewn up the nomination so I thought now might be a good time to examine both the Democrat and Republican slogans.
The Obama campaign has been touting, "Change We Can Believe In." Well what change can I believe in? Change involves taking a risk. You hope for the best but there's always a possibility things will take a turn for the worst. Right now the Democrats are in control of the House and the Senate with a good shot at taking control of the Presidency. I'm thinking they like things just fine the way they are so when it comes to change I can believe in, I believe the DNC doesn't want any real change.
Always ready to jump on the bandwagon, the Republican Party has made its slogan, "The Change You Deserve." Well, I think the change I deserve is for this country to be represented by people genuinely concerned for the welfare of the electorate rather than the acquisition of power purely for the sake of power. Somehow I don't see the Republican's delivering that. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if you vote Republican and McCain is elected, you'll see little to no change which is exactly what you deserve if you fall for their line of bull.
We'll never see true change until there is a wide variety of viable political parties. Only then will politicians actually be forced to represent their constituents because if they don't they'll be replaced by someone who will. Which is why come November you won't see a single vote for a Democrat or Republican on my ballot. I'm casting a vote for true change. How about you?
Here is a story from the nation's capitol that ought to scare you. In order to combat crime D.C. officials want to seal off entire neighborhoods and set up checkpoints where the police would check people's identification to verify that they have business being in that neighborhood. Imagine having to prove to the police that you live or work in a neighborhood and facing potential arrest if you can't produce the appropriate documentation. Is this the United States or Nazi Germany?
