Hump Day

Today's Weigh In: 272.4
Today's Calories Counted: 2400
Yesterday's Weigh In: 270.2
Yesterday's Calorie Count: 2654

It's been insanely busy lately - haven't had two minutes. I wanted to blog yesterday with my weigh in (so close to sub-270), but it just didn't happen. As it stands right now, I should be in bed.

Here's my breakdown:

Breakfast: Wheat Chex w/ 1% Milk
Lunch: 2 oranges, an apple and dry tuna fish out of the packet
Dinner: Spinach stuffed chicken, salad and Lipton's noodles
Snacks: Jell0 cup and spoon of PB (not together - that'd be gross)

Fat - 18.6% (50 grams) Protein - 26.8% (161 grams) Carbohydrates - 43.7% (262 grams) Alcohol - 0.0% Other - 10.9% Daily Sodium Intake - 3,120 mg Daily Cholesterol Intake - 232 mg Daily Fiber Intake - 32 grams

I've decided I'll just list my foods instead of cut/paste the list just because it looks tacky. Couldn't really get it to fit and it wasn't exactly aesthetically pleasing, so I'll stick with this style. The nutritional breakdown gives the details.

I've been exhausted lately, but that's just because I'm working a real schedule lately. Up at 5:30, in the gym by 6, straight to school (student teaching), straight to work - home early tonight, by 6:20 - last night it was a late night, Monday I didn't see the house until after 10:30pm.. one thing I have to be aware of is my sleep schedule. I'll go w/o real good sleep for a while and wonder why I get sick. Strong body, strong mind. Sleep's an important part of that.

So the Super Bowl is a few days away - and tomorrow is the last day of January. Some important milestone for us FATties this weekend. Tomorrow we find out how we all did for the first month of our "resolutions" - and Sunday, we test our ability to eat in moderation and NOT destroy our work in January. For our Super Bowl party we're thinking ahead - there's probably going to be some "not-so-good" stuff, but Erin's going to be making an awesome Chili - that's what I'll be eating.

Healthy living starts with planning. A failure to plan is a plan to fail.

Look at me with all these cliches. But, it's true. How's everyone else doing to wrap up this month?

Go Mongo!

Weigh In: 272.0
Calories Counted: 2075

First, the charts:

Item		Grams	Calories
Mon, Jan 28 2008
	Breakfast
	A Apples - Granny Smith	154	80
	A Oatmeal Crisp Crunchy Almond	180	720
	A- Milk, Lowfat, Fluid, 1% Milkfat - With Added Vitamin A	488	205
	A Light 'n Fit Nonfat Strawberry	170	60
	Lunch
	Homemade vegetable soup	252	156
	A Grapefruit - Raw, White, All Areas	236	78
	C ROLD GOLD Classic Style Tiny Twists Pretzels	42	165
	Dinner
	Mongolian Sirloin/Mushrooms		401
	Snacks
	Pumpkin Bread	62	210
	Total Calories Consumed		2,075

Fat - 23.8% (59 grams) Protein - 20.4% (113 grams) Carbohydrates - 55.9% (311 grams) Alcohol - 0.0% Other - 0.0% Daily Sodium Intake - 2,594 mg Daily Cholesterol Intake - 54 mg Daily Fiber Intake - 23 grams

I did well again on my calories - yes, I had pretzel sticks, but they were limited, and honestly, I'm not really concerned about pretzel sticks. Other than that, I did what you guys were giving advice about. Veggie soup for lunch, I'm starting to realize that I actually LIKE grapefruit, and I had sirloin with mushrooms and broccoli from Monoglian BBQ for dinner. No rice, no tortillas - just the meat and veggies. Not a bad night.

I'm exhausted, but INCREDIBLY proud tonight. You guys know Jim and I (and Melissa!) are doing the 3-day walk here in Michigan benefiting breast cancer. Jim and I worked Mongolian BBQ tonight and had a fund raiser. We raised over $550 in three hours for the cause. Plenty more to go, but that's a good start.

I'm just drained - was up at 5:30am, out the door by 6:00, and just walking in the door after 10pm tonight. Gym, school, work, fund raiser, collapse.

But it was a good day - I got a lot accomplished. And I'm pretty proud of what we did tonight for the fund raising efforts - for those of you who could make it out, thank you!

401(k)

Weigh In: 273.4
Calories: 2164

401's an important number, especially this time of year. 401(k)s are investments for tax season, and this is my 401st post, which makes the word "investment" mean something else for me. Jim posted a fantastic blog yesterday about Entitlement and what he's "entitled" to. To add to that theme, I've been thinking about the investments I've made into my weight loss plan.

I've invested a ton into this - not just the time that it took to write out 401 blog posts. I've put over a year into waking up and being in the gym before 6am. I've sacrified a ton when it comes to eating whatever the hell I've felt like eating. I've put things aside in order to reach my goals.

I've benefitted a lot in the past year because of this. My constant backaches are gone. My snoring is gone. My acid reflux is gone. I have more pride in myself. I know that I can accomplish things that I never, EVER thought I'd be able to do. I can look myself in the mirror - and even though it's not where I want to be - it's POSSIBLE. I've invested quite a bit into this.

And with every good investment there are strong growths and some days where the market isn't so good to us. And just like money transactions, you never sell low. You don't bail out when the trends are heading downward. You DO NOT GIVE UP when it looks like times are tough.

That's an investment.

I've been struggling a lot lately, to the point of wanting to fold. The past few days there's been quite the discussion on my blog about the right way to do things, the right eating habits, the importance of nutrition vs. exercise, and we all have our ideas on how to do things. Constant improvement is what has to happen. I'll be altering the food intake some - I want to start cooking more on the weekends to plan longer term meals. I want to eat more 'natural' but I know with financial restrictions I don't have the luxury of heading to the Whole Markets food store to spend the money that it would require.

When you can't invest money, you invest time. That's the next step in my growth. I'm going to make the most out of my meals - try to eat more natural, and keep the calories around 2000. But if I have to eat a Lean Pocket because I wasn't able to make a chili - that's OK to me too. As long as I don't follow it up with a large pizza and a basket of chili fries, then I will be ok. There's decisions to make, and even if it sounds like an excuse, sometimes I have to substitute 'quality' for convenience. That's my life, and I'll never apologize for it. I'll just continue to work hard, continue to focus on improvement, and over time, my investments will mature.

I'm a stock worth holding.

That being said, here's my breakdown for the day. Long day tomorrow - 5:30 up, 6:00am gym, head to school and work, and then straight to Mongolian BBQ for our fund raiser to raise money fro Breast Cancer Awareness and the 3-day walk. Hope your weekends went well.

Sun, Jan 27 2008
	Breakfast
	A Grapefruit - Raw, Pink And Red, All Areas	123	52
	B KELLOGG'S SPECIAL K RED BERRIES	62	229
	A- Milk, Lowfat, Fluid, 1% Milkfat - With Added Vitamin A	244	103
	Lunch
	B+ Bread, Wheat - (Includes Wheat Berry)	50	130
	B- Peanut Butter, Smooth Style - With Salt	64	383
	Strawberry Jelly - Smucker's	40	100
	Dinner
	C+ Santa Fe Chicken Salad - Fresh Tastes Salads	798	740
	Fat Free Honey Mustard		120
	Snacks
	A Apples - Golden Delicious	204	98
	Pumpkin Bread	62	210
	Total Calories Consumed		2,164

Fat - 31.3% (77 grams) Protein - 18.2% (100 grams) Carbohydrates - 50.5% (278 grams) Alcohol - 0.0% Other - 0.0% Daily Sodium Intake - 4,307 mg Daily Cholesterol Intake - 227 mg Daily Fiber Intake - 25 grams