Psychotron - Daily Diary 18

3/9/11

Calories: 1,670
Activities: "leg exercises"

Normally I'm not big on acknowledging religious holidays (or religion at all really), but this year, I decided to give Ash Wednesday its due. So, I had no meat all day. I had a salad, and some vegetables and dip, and some chips and salsa. The chips and salsa were left over from the party over the weekend, and really, I need to get rid of them. They're this giant temptation that's been sitting in my house, drawing me in for an entire week. I think I'd better just throw them out...

I put leg exercises in quotes because they weren't really any sort of regular leg exercises. It was just me doing squats in my bedroom while I was waiting for the League of Legends queue to pop. But I was the good kind of sore for three days afterward, so it must've done something.

3/10/11

Calories: 1,280
Activities: gym

I've noticed that I usually have good days when I find a good entree at work for lunch. Thursday they had kebabs and green beans; it was 360 calories worth of awesome, and I was happy and controlled the rest of the day, diet-wise. I went to the gym and had a pretty strong workout. I knew that I'd had some kind of disappointing workouts, so I went in thinking that I needed to really step it up. Mission accomplished.

3/11/11

Calories: 1,828
Activities: none

Try this on for size: it was a Friday in Lent, and I consciously didn't have any meat. It's just another way for me to challenge myself, and I'm in a challenge myself kind of mood these days. The only thing, though, is that when I choose not to eat meat, about half the time I end up having pizza, which is okay, but not that great for you. Anyways, it worked out.

Went to the hockey game, it was pretty great. And I wore my brand new Dave Steckel jersey. In case you're wondering, yes, that's the guy who the Caps traded to New Jersey in the Arnott deal. I ordered it like three days before the trade deadline, assuming he was safe. Oh well. I still love him. And I do like having an unconventional jersey; this just makes it really unconventional.

3/12/11

Calories: 2,086
Activities: walk

So I've noticed that on weekend days that I don't have plans, I tend to get into food-eating trouble. It's like, if I'm just sitting around, for some reason, I default back to snacking. So, what's the resolution? Make plans. Make plans like my life depends on it. I've always hated having plans, so this is another change of pace. But it should be fun to hang out or whatever, right?

Went for a walk with a cute neighbor. I think she's married, though. :)

3/13/11

Calories: 2,104
Activities: none

Headed back down to the Verizon Center on Sunday for another Caps game, and another Caps victory. The games are a lot more fun when the team wins. Also, this game's tickets were the prize for last month's weigh-in victory. So it was especially sweet to savor such a great experience.

More notably for this blog, however, is that I breached my new goal of 2,100. Even though it was by a mere 4 calories, it's a disappointment to be sure.

I know what you're thinking: "But Joe, you had plans. I thought you said when you have plans, you get in less trouble." That's true. But my plans were still in flux right up until they started happening. We didn't figure out food plans until mere moments before the eating started, which ended up with me eating 3/4 of a personal pepperoni pizza, then going out to dinner just a few hours later. I'm still confident that more concrete planning would have resulted in better eating decisions.

Looking Forward

As I hinted at, I'm going to focus on having some kind of concrete plans for each day this weekend. I've been invited to a food party on Saturday night, which isn't exactly perfect for the diet, but again, I can plan for it. So there's a pretty decent chance I go to that. Sunday, as always, is a harder day to figure out, but I've got time.

Psychotron - Daily Diary X

We're like Super Bowls; once we get up to a certain number, we start using Roman numerals...

...not really. Just this one.

Anyways, on to the content.

2/11/11

Calories: 1,800
Activities: walking

Eddie and I have been walking with some more frequency at work, which definitely feels good. I know what you're thinking: "How can the Battle Marshal so blatantly support one competitor?" Well, let me answer your question with a question: why don't you get out of my face? :)

I also walked to dinner over at Hard Times. I had thought about getting my classic Santa Fe salad, but it's been forever since I had wings, and I generally don't get a ton of protein, so I decided to "splurge." I put splurge in quotes because, while I had plenty of wings, it was the best day I had over the weekend calorie-wise, and because really, 1,800 calories is a perfectly fine day.

2/12/11

Calories: 2,137
Activities: weightlifting

I built on my successful weightlifting session from Wednesday and had an even more productive day on that front. Everything I've read tells me that building muscles is great for losing weight and getting in shape. Plus a pretty girl told me pretty girls like guys with muscles...reason enough to do most anything, right?

Oh, Saturday was also the day I almost tried my pineapple chicken thing. Yes, almost. When I was actually confronted with the choice, I was too afraid of messing it up and having to either eat something unpleasant or cooking up another dinner. So I steamed some Santa Fe vegetables (only like half vegetables, it's got broccoli, corn, black beans, and red peppers), and made a couple grilled chicken sandwiches with some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. That sauce is the boss. It says so on the bottle.

So for now, we'll stick with just eating pineapple straight.

2/13/11

Calories: 2,553
Activities: walking, Rock Band

It's funny. A while ago when I was looking for information about dieting (more than a year ago), I found some calculator that suggested I aim for about 2,400 calories a day to lose weight at a steady pace. That's sort of where I drew the 2,500 calorie goal from.

Anyways, on one of my forays into trying to keep track of my calorie intake, I found that I was regularly crossing the 3,000 calorie threshold. Like, pretty much every day. I remember one night I went to Red Robin and got a milkshake and a burger, and the daily total was like 4,500. So when I get to 2,553 in a day and am a little disappointed in myself, it helps me to realize just how far I've already come from a mindset standpoint.

Anyways, went on a long walk with Eddie around our neighborhood, played some Rock Band, then did a little too much drinking, which may have contributed to me not feeling up to the work week this morning. Or maybe it was just a case of the Mondays.

Looking Ahead

I have my mandatory health consultation meeting on Tuesday morning, and I'm supposed to do some kind of orientation at the gym, but after that, I should be free to go crazy at my office's fitness center. I've never actually been inside it, so it'll be interesting to see what sort of amenities they've got to offer. Anthony, I'll let you know about the personal trainer thing. Eddie said he thinks they offer group sessions and classes, but that they're all free.

One more thing. For anybody who wants to donate something, but can't think of anything appropriate, I will relay this information. On Super Bowl Sunday, I was on the last notch of one of my belts. I put on the same belt this past Sunday, and it simply would not hold my pants up. My point being, Nick and I are probably going to need to rebuild our wardrobes as this competition goes on. A gift card to JCPenny, Kohl's, etc would help to defray some of that inevitable cost.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody.