10 in 20 – Day 3 – Going good
Welcome to Friday and the start of the weekend, where you will want to eat…EVERYTHING.
Did not wake up with a headache this morning so that is awesome. Felt pretty good. I think I’ve found my balance in eating just the right amount.
Hopped on the scale this morning and…..down another pound and a half! Whoo! That’s 2.5 lbs since the start. This is what happens when I start eating right, I’ll drop a few pounds right at the start then plateau a bit then drop steadily.
I will say Ii’m still getting some major cravings though. I started today with a salad from a place called Chop Stop. I’ll talk about the salad more below, but let me tell you what the Grant of a week ago would have done.
Chop Stop is in a little strip mall type area with some other food places a CVS and a Sprouts Supermarket. For the longest time I’d go get a Chop Stop salad then go to Sprouts and get some bananas to have at my office. On the way through Sprouts one day I notced big barrels of all different types of candy. I love me some covered pretzels. Chocolate, Vanilla, Yogurt, whatever…I like them. I saw the Chocolate Covered pretzels and tabulated up the Weight Watchers points for them. 14 chocolate covered pretzels is 5 points. Since the first day I saw those pretzels I’d buy some bananas, a bottle of water and a HUGE bag of chocolate covered pretzels. Not just 14. 28, 38, more. And then the moment I’d get in the car I’d just start eating and, most times, have it finished by the time I got to my office. A 10 minute drive away. Yeah. Not proud.
So today I went to Chop Stop, then Sprouts to get bananas and I didn’t even walk down the pretzel aisle. I did want to get something besides bananas though. Something different so it would sorta be a treat like pretzels. I decided on a couple pears. 0 WW points and I love me some pears. So I’d call that a win.
After my run I was craving that burrito but I resisted, going for a Subway sandwich instead. I’m on track.
So let’s get to today’s food.
Chop Stop BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad – 12 WW Points*
I love this salad and I love Chop Shop. I go back and forth between this one and their Greek Chop. I’ve been more into the BBQ Chicken one recently though. Big bowl of chopped lettuce, corn, black beans and black olives. The Olives don’t come standard, tortilla strips do, so I swap them out. The * above is the total figured out with the tortilla strips. I think it’s a little less, but I still use the full 12 points in my tracking.
Pear – 0 WW Points
I was so looking forward to this pair and it was just okay. I gotta learn how to pick out a good pear. If only there was some recourse at my fingertips that would have such information….. Kidding. I know I could just look it up on YouTube and have a 11 year boy in Kentucky show me how to do it.
Banana – 0 WW Points
Good old banana. Not much to say except I ate it. And it was better than the pear.
Subway 6″ Turkey on Wheat, Baked Lays Sour Cream & Onion Chips & Bottled Water. WW Points = 11 Points
Same old, same old. But it’s a good one.
Activity – 30 minute run
Took my vitamin this morning, again and I’m feeling good. Liking that things are headed in the right direction. Remember, I’m not looking to lose exactly 10 pounds by October 20th, close is good. Want to loose a little more than 2.5. though so work continues.
Thank you for all the support messages here and on Facebook. I really appreciate it.
Goodnight!
10 in 20 – Day 2 – Down a pound
Welcome to Day 2. You’re gonna hurt.
I ate too little yesterday, no doubt about it. Shortly after midnight, my head and stomach hurt pretty bad. I was screaming at myself, inside my head as I usually do, to eat SOMETHING. I refused and just went to bed. See, I’m letting you in on my sickness, my body was telling me to eat and I refused. Now, I refused because, if I ate at that time I would eat a TON. Two, three bowls of cereal. A huge sandwich. Something and a lot of something. So I just went to be hungry.
In the morning, my head hurt even worse than it had before. At about 7AM it was so bad I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and fixed me some instant oatmeal. Ate a bowl of it and went back a rested for another hour or so, feeling much better.
My usual routine is to get up, get ready and leave the house. I never eat breakfast and usually do not eat for an hour or two (or three) after getting up. Usually I’ll eat around 10:30am or 11am. That may have to change. I may need to eat SOMETHING before getting going in the mornings.
Today went well and I consciously ate a little more than yesterday, while still staying in my WW daily points allowance. I also started taking a daily vitamin this morning. Everything I read about losing weight and such says to do so, so I did. I actually take them off and on, but I’m going to be more conscious about taking one daily now.
Anyway, after getting up, the second time, and getting ready I weighed myself. 177 lbs! Down a pound already! My head works this way though, “Crap! I should have weighed myself BEFORE eating the oatmeal. I might have weighed less!” I didn’t eat a POUND of oatmeal, but my head still goes that way.
So, onto what I ate today.
2 Packets of Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar Lower Sugar Instant Oatmeal. WW Points = 6
Love Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal. Always have. SECRET: Love eating this stuff right out of the packet. No water, no heating up. You heard me. Love it that way. I ate it in a bowl with water this morning.
Porto’s Southwest Steak Salad (No dressing, tortilla strips or cheese) & Bottle of water. WW Points = 12 (estimate)
I love this salad form Portos, a cuban restaurant right across the street from my office. Little tricky to figure out the exact points here as Portos doesn’t have their nutrition available but really only the avocado, steak and black beans count (and I think in my tally I actually over counted the beans. The salad comes standard (like a car) with tortilla strips, cheese and slathered in dressing. I ordered without the tortilla strips and cheese and asked for dressing on the side. When they brought it they forgot the dressing. For a brief second I was going to ask for it then decided I didn’t need it. Great salad
Apple Slices – WW Points = 1 (I say apples are 0, but according to the nutrition on the back of the bag they are 1.)
Mid afternoon snack of some apple slices. Same picture as yesterday, but it’ll save time to recycle pictures.
Subway 6″ Turkey on Wheat, Baked Lays Sour Cream & Onion Chips & Bottled Water. WW Points = 11 Points
Yeah, the chips add more to the point total but, as I said earlier, I wanted to eat a little more than yesterday and avoid that headache. So far so good.
ACTIVITY: 30 MINUTE RUN
My usual run through Toluca Lake. Love running through there. Quiet streets, not a lot of traffic. Shade. Great place to run. Also wanted to note that I usually run before my evening meal, I’m just listing activity last on these report pages.
So that’s day 2! Another day down. I’m realistic in that I know I won’t be losing a pound a day, but losing one off the bat sure feels like a good start. Got the ‘offer’ for the big creative thing I’ll be doing on October 21 (the reason I’m focusing on this slimming down), si it looks like it’s a go. Don’t want to announce too wildly until I get the contract in hand. And my passport. 🙂
With that tease I’ll bid you a goodnight!
10 in 20 – Day 1
So here we are at the end of Day #1.
I will say this day was pretty easy. First days, usually are for me. Over the past few months I’ve had a lot of first days. Even some ‘two days’ but then things fall apart after that. The Wednesday Morning weigh-in helped focus me today, though. 178lbs! Yikes. To give you a little insight into that Yikes, I was 170 on August 28th! 8 pounds in a month! YIKES!
I got through the day pretty good. Around 2PM I got REALLy hungry. Luckily, I have some apple slices packs in my office fridge. I know, I know, just buy real apples. I can’t eat apples the ‘normal’ way, long story. These are just easier.
I’m focusing on the Weight Watchers program as I do this. It’s worked for me in the past. I’m also trying out a few other apps and techniques as well which I’ll talk about over the course of this experiment.
I’ve written before on here about The Magic Spreadsheet. The tool I’ve been using to inspire me to write 500 words per day. Well the guy who came up with the idea for The Magic Spreadsheet has now created The Magic Workout Spreadsheet. It’s the same idea except instead of writing every day, you get points for working out. And, unlike The Magic Worksheet, there’s no set minimum. You decide what you need to do each day to earn a point. For me I decided at LEAST 30 minutes a day. As I said in my post yesterday, I usually do that anyway. I may step it up a little, but for now I’m focusing all my energy on eating right.
So, let’s get to today’s meals and the pictures of my scrumptious food.
LUNCH: Subway 6″ Turkey on Wheat, Apple Slices & Bottled Water. WW Points = 8 Points
First warning, get used to this meal. You’re going to be seeing it a lot in the next 19 days. It’s my go-to meal. When I lost the 70 pounds originally, it was mostly by eating Subway sandwiches. Back then I’d eat a foot long Veggie Delite once or twice a day. Anyway, what more can you say? It’s a Subway sandwich.
SNACK: Apple Slices – WW Points = 1 (I say apples are 0, but according to the nutrition on the back of the bag they are 1.)
These are from Target. As I said, around 2PM I felt like I could eat a ton of just about anything. I reached for a bag of these and then was fine. This is actually pretty amazing because I currently have a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins in my fridge as well. I could have reached for one of those. No, I remained focused. Also want to mention here that I drink a ton of water throughout the day. It’s pretty much all I drink, so during the day I go through several bottles. Yes, bottles, get off my back you hippies!
DINNER: Sharky’s 1/2 Chicken Power Plate with Broccoli & Yams w/ Jalapeños. Bottled Water. WW Points = 10 Points
No Subway for dinner. I like Sharky’s. A lot. Remember when I mentioned the burritos yesterday? They come from Sharky’s. Sharky’s has a lot of healthy stuff, like this, that is really really good. Is this something I could have easily made at home? Yes, well, maybe except for the Yams, but I like the ease and convenience of eating out. I’ll explain why one day coming up. Anyway, this is a great meal and fills you up.
ACTIVITY: 30 MINUTE RUN
My usual run. No Wii Fit today for a few reasons, but hope to add that in soon. Running is always helped by a great podcast to listen to and recently that’s been Nerd Poker. It’s pretty hilarious. NWFW though.
Well there you have it. The end of Day #1. 19 to go! Thanks for joining me.
100 Word Wednesdays – Police Blotter Stories – Make It Stop!
Another 100 word story based on an item from the police blotter of my hometown of Burlingame, CA. Enjoy! Link to the article follows the story.
Make It Stop
By Grant Baciocco
Day 365
It started at 5:30am this morning. A bit earlier than it has the past few days. Today he’s using the side of his fist, a nice departure from him using his knuckles. Perhaps they are sore from 6 days in a row. Good. He deserves a little pain for the pain he’s put me through.
I had thought I’d grown used to it now that is has been a year, but I do believe, today, I have reached my wits end. Today I may have to do something about it. I may have to make a call.
—