The Smack-Down!

A little backstory here. My boss has recently found a service that is offering to pay people to blog for their website. He’s signing up for it, and will be making about $300 a month to write about his family. He’s been encouraging me to find a subject there and write about it as well.

Boss : I’m just trying to get you some extra money every month.
Me : You should just give it to me!
B : But what lesson would that teach you?
M : Ummm…That if you’re a good person people will give you money?
B : Ok…So why would I give you money?
M : Because I’m a good person!
B : I see we’re stretching the boundaries of “good” here.
M : You should pay me for writing in my blog!
B : I already do.
M : Shuttin’ up now.

D’oh!

I just got the OMGWTFBBQ smackdown from my boss.

Weight Tracking Summary

Your current weight | 279.2 lbs
Weight change since your last recorded weight | -0.4 lbs
Total weight change to date | -140.0 lbs

Well, so far the new POINTS plan seems to be working out. I added 63 POINTS to my diet over the course of the last week, and I’m still down 0.4 pounds. I’d have liked to see a bigger loss, but as I said previously I think if I were to be honest I probably haven’t really changed my eating all that much – It’s just official now. I am still progressing well with Yourself Fitness (although I haven’t upped any of my workouts to 45 minutes yet), and generally very satisfied with where I’m at and going.

Still 1.2 pounds away from my pre-Goth Cruise weight, though. Amazing how hard it is to fix two weeks of utterly undisciplined eating.

Pictures later for those on the filter.

Spew

Christ, I’m tired today. This is the net result of having a training class followed by a meeting followed by a large lunch. I just want a nap.

And so it goes.

A note to any and all tourists who may, at some point, wish to visit our beautiful state and possibly visit the holy rodent empire.

Toddlers do not like Disney World.

At all.

To a one year old, Mickey Mouse isn’t a well loved cartoon character. He’s a giant fucking rat that is going to eat your head. Riding around in a stroller in the hot Florida sun isn’t fun. Waiting for an hour and a half outside of a ride with said cranky infant is a nightmare.

Here’s a little rule of thumb to go by – If the child can’t scream “Disney World!!!” at the top of their lungs as they approach the park, leave them at home. You’re wasting your money, as neither the child nor anyone in the party with them is going to have a good time – And Disney really is a place where, for what you are spending, you damn well better have a good time.

Oh, yeah…and while I’m on the subject…Believe it or not, a Honeymoon is supposed to be a time when a newly married couple spend quality alone time together…

And have lots and lots of sex.

It’s not supposed to involve children or parents.

Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but I am. Some people need to remember that weddings are about the people being married, and need to leave their own wants and desires at home.

Experiments in Creativity

I’m the primary cook of the household. As with most families, everyone aound here has their own likes and disklikes when it comes to food. It’s a fine balancing act trying to get different foods on the table that everyone is going to enjoy. Sometimes, I just have to make the decision that someone is on their own that evening if I to make something different (the most common example being fish). As a family, we get tired of the same old dishes over and over again (and really, there’s only so much “helper” you can eat).

netgoth and xanyboi have gotten me turned on to Alton Brown’s Good Eats. He devoted a recent show to “pouch” cooking, and I thought it looked like a great way to cook some white fish that I recently picked up at Sam’s Club.

The results were less than stellar.

To start with, I put a 1/2 cup of Chardonay in the parchment paper with the white fish. I put a tablespoon of butter in there with it, and covered the top of the fish with bread crumbs and parsley. I cut a lemon into thin slices and lined the top of the fish with them, then put some minced garlic, red onion, and mushroom on it as well. I sealed the whole kit and caboodle up and put it in the oven at 425° for 20 minutes.

The good : The fish was incredibly moist, and evenly cooked. It had a great smell, and really seemed to absorb the flavors of the ingredients that I put into the pouch with it.

The bad : Chardonay is not a good flavor to be absorbed by white fish. It was, at the same time, bland and yet overly sweet. There wasn’t a “hint” of wine flavor to the fish – When you tasted the wine, it was pretty much all you tasted. There was far too much moisture in the pouch, making the thinner portions of the fish very soggy (where the fish was high enough to be out of the liquid, it was moist but dry and the bread crumbs weren’t breaded mud).

All in all, not a great cooking experience – But a good learning experience. The quality of the fish itself in the end result makes me definitely want to try the method again. Next time, no wine – or at the very least not a chardonay and not nearly as much. I might go with another sauce altogeher or just use butter for the steaming moisture. I definitely need to put some kosher salt and freshly ground pepper in the mix as well, and maybe some parmesan and oregano along with the parsley.

Tomorrow night – Crock pot pot roast (which is already prepared and ready to be turned on when I leave for work in the morning). That one, at the very least, I know is a hit.

Any suggestions you all might have on other things I can try with this method are welcome. I’d post the pictures I took, but as the meal wasn’t all that great I don’t wanna post ’em.

Yourself Fitness Progress

So today was my fourth Physical Challenge since I started using Yourself Fitness again. The Physical Challenge is where you do a series of tests to determine how your progress is coming with the program. You do 2 minutes worth of jumping jacks to test your cardio fitness, squats to test your lower body strength, push ups to test your upper body strength, crunches to test your core strength, and a stretch to test your flexibility.

For the first time I’ve noticed some significant improvements.

For starters, my resting heart rate has gone from being about 40% of my working heart rate to over 50% of it, meaning that where two minutes of jumping jacks used to be a “moderate” level of intensity for me, it’s now considered “light.” I’m doing 10 more squats now then I was when I started, and about 7 more crunches. Unfortunately, my push up number hasn’t moved since day one (1 whopping push up, and barely one at that) and neither has my flexibility (although I attribute some of that to still having a bit much excess flesh on me to get into the full stretch). I’ve recently increased the size of the hand weights I’ve been using for my upper body workouts, though, so I hope to start seeing some improvements in that area soon.

All in all, I’m really pleased with myself and the progress I’m making. I’m starting to really see a difference both in my workouts and in my muscle definition. My arms are getting larger and more “cut” looking, and my legs (which were pretty spiffy to start with) are getting even more toned. It’s easier every day to find the motivation to do my workouts, and I’m actually on the verge of increasing some of them to 45 minutes a day (I’m doing 30 every day now).

I’m proud of myself, and I’m determined to keep this up. It’s going to be hard next month when rehearsals start for We Won’t Pay, but I’ll find a way. I’ll also have the added benefit of being physically prepared for the challenge that is going to be the rehearsal process. From everything maladr1n has indicated, this is going to be a taxing one.

Go me!

Weight Tracking Summary

Your current weight | 279.6 lbs
Weight change since your last recorded weight | -4.0 lbs
Total weight change to date | -139.6 lbs

1.6 pounds away from my last known weight before Goth Cruise. Whoo hoo! Still sticking with the daily Yourself Fitness routine (haven’t missed a day yet), and seeing some very positive results in the muscle/tone department.

Now…Weight Watchers is beta testing a new program in our market (and, as xanyboi said, I didn’t sign an NDA with them). Basically, if you’re a guy, you’re getting more daily points. In my case, it’s a lot more. Nine a day. This may seem like an inordinate amount (and it may turn out to be so), but…

Well, I’ll just paste what I wrote to Xany in response to his displeasure about the new plan –

I think the change makes sense. I did the math again after we left the meeting. I didn’t get another 5 points a day. I got another 9. 63 more points a week than I’m currently supposed to be eating. Truth is, though, supposed to be eating is the key there. Even when I was having nothing but success on program I quite frequently went over my weekly allotment of points. For the longest time, Friday night was my “fuck it” night. I was going out with my friends to eat every Friday, and pretty much ordering whatever I wanted. I would journal all that day, and every other day in the week, but Friday nights I ate whatever the hell I wanted – and I consistently lost weight. I’d be willing to bet that during that time period I was eating in points about what I’ll be eating on this new program.

Here’s the thing, though – It means I’m going to have to be MORE diligent than I was before. Because if I’m eating these extra 63 points every week and still going over…I’ll have issues.

You’re right, though. I think we owe it to WW and anyone who joins after us to be REALLY diligent about this new plan to make sure it’s solid.

I’m kinda jazzed about the new changes. Even when eating well, I would often deal with late night hunger (not just munchies), and have a few reasonable snacks before going to bed. This would make me feel like I cheated, and I’d get discouraged by the end of the week. So…we’ll see.

419.2 / 279.6 / 225

I’m going to do this.