Trops Diary

Day 57

Day Shift

Damn, here I am procrastinating instead of doing all the chores that need to be done before I go to bed tonight. It's just 9:30, but I have easily 3 hors of chores. F is coming home tomorrow, and I'm leaving for work early, so everything has to be done tonight, but here I am killing time on WLF.

The day was pretty good. 215.2 this morning. Not below 215, like I hoped, but I'll take it. We'll see tomorrow.

Breakfast was a big thing of coffee. then I had three hard boiled egg whites on a wrap with low fat mayo at break time. Lunch was a bowl of cereal, then I was still really hungry so I had another before leaving work.

I had some errands to run before going home, and my mother in law has the kids overnight tonight, so I have plenty of time. I figured that I would do something different for dinner. Didn't have any ideas, so I posted in the Brat Challenge for some ideas. Driving around to do my errands I stopped at a free range poultry shop. Turns out they have all kinds of exotic meats, too. I picked up kangaroo burgers. When I came home I marinated them in some red wine and salt and pepper. Put it in the fridge and headed to the gym.

Pretty good workout. I haven't been able to get there in a while. I've been doing other things, like mountain biking the other day, but this week I haven't been keeping up on the workouts. I hit it hard tonight. I did a shoulder workout, then a leg workout. I really kicked the shit out of my legs till I was wobbly walking away. Then on to the ellipticore machine. I set it for resistance 10 and incline (?) 10. Then I did a pace of 120 for 90 seconds and then kicked it up for 30 seconds. The first time I kicked it up to 180, but after that I really sprinted. I was doing 240-250 for the 30 seconds. After 7 sets of that I was just dead. I tried to keep it up at the 120 to cool down but 100 was just about all I could do.

Of course then I run into my daughter's teacher. I can't walk, can't breathe, and I'm trying to hold a conversation and not look like a moron.

Came home and took a few minutes to gain the motivation to cook, then I made the kangaroo burger and some quinoa. I got some asparagus to go along with it, but I didn't feel like making it. I did make up some dill/yogurt sauce. It came out better then I expected. It's basically 2 tablespoons of chopped up fresh dill, two tablespoons of fat free yogurt, a little salt and some pepper and mix. Fat free and oh, so good. I cooked up the burger just in a pan with a very little olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Kangaroo is so lean that you can't cook it very long. I like my burgers rare, so I was really careful not to over do it. Damn, it came out good. I have three more of them for this weekend. Should be good for lunch.

Now for more procrastinating.
 
Damn this procrastination. I started doing some chores and came across a bin with my summer clothes. In it I found a kilt that I bought last year. Kilts are sized differently. I thought that I was getting my pant size, but it's more of an actual measurement of your gut, where the top of the kilt sits. Of course it was so small that I just could never wear it. I decided to try it on and it fits great. It's just a tad on the small size, but still wearable. I'm ok with that since I'm not done losing yet. This way it will still fit when I'm at goal. Very cool! Anyway, so now I'm going around the house wearing my kilt and loving it.
 
Day 58

Day Shift

I'm writing this early because I don't know what's up for the rest of the day. My darling wonderful wife is home, but exhausted. There are some things that we have planned for tonight, but everything is going to have to be played by ear.

This morning I woke to a nice surprise. Scale said 212.6. A bit of a shocker, and I don't know if it's a false low, but I'm taking it.
 
Day Shift

I'm writing this early because I don't know what's up for the rest of the day. My darling wonderful wife is home, but exhausted. There are some things that we have planned for tonight, but everything is going to have to be played by ear.

This morning I woke to a nice surprise. Scale said 212.6. A bit of a shocker, and I don't know if it's a false low, but I'm taking it.

oo congrats! You're so cute when you talk about your wife!!!
 
Day 59

Day Shift (Saturday)

Last night was much different then I expected. My wife was so tired from traveling all night and then she worked all day. My take is that if you catch a flight at midnight and don't land till 8:30 and still have another hour and a half till you get home, then you don't have to work that day. You put in your time. She's such a professional that she was still working at 6 PM. I wanted to make a really nice dinner for her, but she said that she really wanted something simple, so we got a pizza and read books till it was time for the kids to go to bed. We tried to watch a movie but she was asleep in 10 minutes. She needed to catch up.

The pizza thing is tough for me. We have a place here that does the wood fired oven pizza. Now there is pizza and there is pizza and these guys make a great pizza. Their usual pie is good, but they have a grandma pie that is unbelievable. It's a square pie, thin crust with very little real mozzarella cheese, lots of stewed diced tomatoes and tons of garlic and good olive oil. It's more expensive then a standard pie, but oh so worth it. We'll usually eat one pie for the family. F will have one or one and a half pieces, each of the kids will have one or two, and I'll eat the rest. Slurp-gone. Last time we got it, I really tried to keep it under control. Didn't happen. This time I was really hungry, so after I ordered it, I ate two bowls of cereal, as a preventative measure. It really helped. The only thing I ate when everyone else was eating the pizza was the end crust that I cut off for the kids. (They each want a middle piece and there is only one, so I take a side and cut off the crust. There, a middle.) The crust is just sooo gooood. It's like a garlic olive oil bread stick. I had two of those. No pizza and no garlic knots.

Then kids and wife were reading in bed and I was making some tea and suddenly a piece was in my hand and then it wasn't. What the hell just happened! There were three or four more slices in there, and that's just way too much. I grabbed a handful of raisins and chugged a bunch of water. I left the raisins and water on top of the pizza box and it helped. I revisited there twice more, but never opened the box. Too scary what could have happened.

The scale this morning wasn't too bad. 213.6, so up a pound from yesterday. Still not too bad, and certainly not as bad as it could have been. I should be able to do a decent workout today. That should help. Although the kangaroo was good and healthy, I've decided to save the other tow burgers for another day. I want to change it up a bit. I don't want my body to get used to the same thing all the time. Don't know what I'll do for lunch. I'll figure something out. Dinner tonight will probably be over at my mom's. I haven't seen her in a while. We'll see how that goes, too
 
Day 60

Day Shift (Sunday)

Yesterday was a blast. I ate an asparagus and roasted beets with egg whites. Healthy, but not what I would call a success. I was unsatisfied when I was done and it just wasn't a good blend of flavors. I also had a snack of yogurt with peanut butter and raspberry preserves. Now that is good. I know it sounds gross, but it's really good. I didn't exercise yesterday, either. Too lazy.

when I got home from work we went in the pool and stayed home and played. I picked up a big ole porterhouse steak and grilled that up for dinner along with a cucumber salad. Damn, that was good. I really tried to keep my meat consumption down, and I did a pretty good job of it, but the steak was cooked oh, so perfect.

I also made some strawberry drinks. Just a pint strawberries, juice of one lime, two tbs of sugar and ice in a blender. Served four, but added rum to the adults. Very good. Had that as a before dinner drink. Then after dinner we sat on the front steps watching the sun set across the field eating light ice pops. I picked them up. Blue Bunny, or something like that. 100 cal per pop. Not bad. The kids loved it.

After the kids went to bed we stayed up hanging out and joking with each other. I opened a bottle of champagne that we had. It was really good, and expensive, so F didn't want to open it. She said we should save it for a special occasion. I thought that there was no better occasion then right then. What do you save those things for if not to enjoy with the one person in the world that you care for the most. Well, that bottle is gone. It was good, but there is a local vineyard that has a sparkling chardonnay that we both like better. It's also about $70 less per bottle, so that's good, too.

This morning the scale read 212.6 After eating steak and drinking and everything yesterday, to see a decrease is nice. Now today I'll be good and tomorrow it will be up again. That's ok. It's good to see it down.

I can usually get some kind of workout at work on the weekends, but it looks like today I might not be able to. I'll see. My legs are still sore from Thursday. Giving them a rest these last couple days might be good for them.
 
good job mate, how exactly do you all fill your journals with such excitement I will never know, lol. I work , workout ,play with the kids, go to bed, lol. I just wanted to stop by and say grats on your continued success. It is hard work but you are doing a fine job, and I totally get the pizza thing, I just run whenever I see it, or seriously I could eat the whole thing. You seem like your in really good spirits and right on track. Again great job and I wish you continued success.

Kevin (cycling101)
 
I just wanted to drop by and say that you're doing well Trops.
You make me want to buy a bicycle, haha. We all have bad eating days,
ya just can't let a bad day turn into bad weeks and years. At least that's what
I've done in the past. I've had pizza one time in the last 2 months. My sister
was in town and totally con'ed me into it. The worst part was that it was
Papa John's. If I was gonna do that I should have really ordered Dante's which
is the best in town. Oh well, no pizza for me for a while :). Keep goin Trops, you
inspire me!
 
Day 62

Supposed to be a day off but I'm working Evening shift into Midnight shift

Tough couple of days. Sunday after work we went to the beach. Just a bay beach for the kids to use their new masks and snorkels. We saw a storm come in and put all the stuff in the van and waited for it to come in. Holy Shit this was a biggie. Everything was blowing over. Lightning striking all around us. Big ass bolts bouncing on all sides of us. It let up, and we left the beach and headed home. That trip was scary. Plenty of lightning still striking all around us. I was afraid that a tree would be struck and fall on the van. Usually it would be a pointless fear, but we were seeing trees down across the street everywhere. Even on the street we live on.

Got home to no electricity. had a barbecue of pork chops and country ribs. Portion control was really the name of the meal. Oh, we had rubbed the ribs the day before and it was so so very good. First time that I made a rib rub. Certainly not the last.

Electricity came back on about 2 AM Monday. Monday was a day off. I mowed the lawn and did a bunch of chores and stuff, but it was so hot. I changed my shirt three times from dripping in sweat. I tried drinking enough, and I drank one measured gallon of water plus everything else and I was still thirsty.

I went to the gym and did a good chest workout and a half ass triceps workout. Then I tried to do a bit on the treadmill and failed miserably. I was trying to get the speed to change up and down and the like, but it would never change fast enough. I was running trying to hit the buttons to slow it down and it was still going too fast and I had to keep up. I think it wasn't all the machine's fault, but I wasn't going to try that one again.


Today was good. Breakfast back on track. Lunch... I don't think I had any lunch. Didn't realize it till just now, either. Dinner I made the last two kangaroo burgers and shared them with a friend from work. I also made a cucumber salad and sweet potato fries. Good dinner.

I went to the gym today. Did a really good shoulder work out and had nothing left for biceps. I got on the precore and tried do do something, but just got nowhere. It was still a success as far as I'm concerned. Too damn hot for any real exercise.
 
Wow, the foods you describe sound mouthwatering. Pizza is typically one of my big downfalls but i had it the other day and it wasn't really the same... I hadn't had it in awhile.

I guess it's been really hot up where you live. We've been kinda lucky here in UT... The weather is about to change though and it will probably be a pretty hot summer. It's basically the desert though, so it's a nice dry heat :)

Great work at the gym! I need to start back into my strength training routines pronto.

Take Care,
Sam
 
Thanks, Sammy

Food in general is my downfall. I just love food. I love good food. Everyday pizza just doesn't hold my attention, but real NY wood fired brick oven pizza. Fresh mozzarella made from buffalo milk (that's the real stuff) oregano that is not dried out, tomatoes stewed into sauce. Now you have my attention.

You aren't the only one here, Sammy, that says that they've lost the taste for something. I've read some time on here that people go back and eat something that they've given up and they just don't have the taste for it. Not me. No such thing as too sweet or too rich, too fatty or too savory. I love new flavors, deep, rich, savory, subtle, I'll take them all.

That's one thing that I really fear. I know that my love of food has brought me here and can drag my sorry ass right back. It's something that I do worry about, but hopefully this will be permanent. That's something that I haven't figured out, yet.
 
Day 63

Midnight Shift (Ugh!)

Ugh, the dreaded midnight shift. I worked a double last night, and got off this morning. Got the kids off to school and then bed. I didn't weigh myself at home, but at work I was 210. I know that scale is a little lower then the one at home, but it's good to see. It will be better when it's under 200. Didn't sleep too long because I had plans to go biking with some friends. I met up with them and we did a trail that is paved. Paved roads suck. No excitement. No fun. I did get some good workout, though, since I was riding a mountain bike. So much drag when you really get going. The guys I was with were slow, but that was ok by me. It was still fun, even though I bitch.

Hurried home to get the kids off the bus and made them a snack. Then it hit me that I haven't eaten anything all day. No fruit or anything. Two bowls of cereal, then a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and I'm still hungry. I put it off till dinner, but I promised the kids I'd make them make your own tacos. I make everything up and heat up some chili for myself. They each eat one and a half tacos leaving all that yummy goodness sitting in the serving bowls, just taunting me. I don't. I go for another bowl of cereal. Still hungry. Sill looking at the taco makings. Down three really big glasses of water. The tacos are still looking at me. Tuck the kids into bed, and go to clean up from dinner. Damn! Still hungry. One more bowl of cereal and another glass of water. I think I'll be good now, but Damn, that wasn't easy. All in all, not a good day for food. Kept it pretty much on the healthy side, but too much on the volume and not enough variety. Tomorrow we'll see.

Yesterday was so hot and I was working out sweating buckets wearing my old cotton tshirt that just hangs off me now. Nice that it does, but I don't look all that much thinner wearing such a baggy shirt. Not that I care, really. I'm not in it to look hot. Too far gone for that. I want to be healthy, but working out in such a baggy shirt in this heat is just too much. I head to kohls where they have some pretty good sales on workout clothes almost every day. I see that they have some space age polyester sweat wicking tshits for ten bucks each. I figure, ok, now I'm a large, but let me take a medium in just to see. These things are supposed to be tight, right? Maybe a medium is good for a workout shirt. I figure that I'll try that one on first. Holy Shit! It fit? Even a little room? It's not even tight. No way am I a small. This thing must be made to fit loose, but Damn! a medium? OK, I'll take two. :D


I went to work wearing my new shirt and a pair of 34 shorts. Shirt tucked in. Of course the shirt has some lines down the side that give the illusion of being thinner then you are, but hell, I'll take it. I got a couple of real nice complements from the guys at work. It felt good to get some real complements. I still haven't gotten any from anyone who doesn't know that I"m trying to lose weight. I'm waiting for that one. Some one who hasn't seen me in a while and doesn't know that I'm losing weight to say, Trops, you are looking great. What are you doing. Nope, only from the people who are looking for it. Oh Well. :ack2:
 
Day 64

Midnight Shift

Midnights suck. I'm trying to do everything right, and I pretty much do, for the most part. Eating yesterday wasn't good, but I guess it could have been worse. I just have no energy to do what I really want to do.

I got up early and did a run. It wasn't too hot so I thought it would be ok. I did only 2.6 miles in 24 min. That's an average of 9 min 14 sec miles. Ok, still not that fast, but better. I wanted to do 3.2 miles, which would have taken me to the end of my course, but my heart rate monitor hit 180 and I decided to stop. I heard that max HR is 220 minus your age. That's 180, so that's max. To go beyond that would be foolish, I think. So, I stopped. Oh, well, tomorrow is another day.

Haven't eaten anything today. Haven't wanted to, really. Probably part of my problem with the no energy thing, but that's the way it is. I'm not going to put food down my throat just because it's time.
 
Eat! My friend;)

Congrats on the 34 shorts. We're the same size right now, so if you want to borrow clothes or something, just let me know :) jk... I'm the same way with buying clothes to try to give the illusion that I am thinner than I am. I think everyone does that, they are stupid not to. I'm still sporting a gut somewhat, so ya gotta do what you can, right? I've been finding I'm more medium than large lately. Some sizes I'm in between, like a Marge... Just more incentive to secure myself into a medium size in everything. I'm still holding strong at 210, same as you. How tall are you, guess we're about the same size? Everyone's body is so different...

Sorry about the work schedule. I've just been informed I'm going to have to cover some nights here at the end of June. I'm all about making extra dough with overtime but, when the hell does it end, LOL? oh well...

Take Care,
Sam
 
is a pretty good heart rate determinator :D

hitting your max though isn't something i think you want to do .. you want to work within a percentage of that max hr...

though it think some people justhave faster heart rates than others do... and you might just have a higher heart rate...

Do you know what your resting heart rate is? and your blood pressure?
 
Congrats on the 34 shorts. We're the same size right now, so if you want to borrow clothes or something, just let me know :) jk... I'm the same way with buying clothes to try to give the illusion that I am thinner than I am. I think everyone does that, they are stupid not to. I'm still sporting a gut somewhat, so ya gotta do what you can, right? I've been finding I'm more medium than large lately. Some sizes I'm in between, like a Marge... Just more incentive to secure myself into a medium size in everything. I'm still holding strong at 210, same as you. How tall are you, guess we're about the same size? Everyone's body is so different...

I'm 5'7 so I'm short for a guy. Short fat and ugly. The trifecta. Fortunately my wife likes short and ugly, and doesn't mind fat.

I still don't believe the medium, though. Large for most shirts, I'll believe that, but not medium.
 
I'm 5'7 so I'm short for a guy. Short fat and ugly. The trifecta. Fortunately my wife likes short and ugly, and doesn't mind fat.

Awwww - but you're not really fat anymore... so she gonna trade you in for a short ugly fatter version? :D

She'll keep ya I bet :) probably has you trained just the way she l ikes you :D

oh yeah andnone of that ugly talk - :D
 
is a pretty good heart rate determinator :D

hitting your max though isn't something i think you want to do .. you want to work within a percentage of that max hr...

though it think some people justhave faster heart rates than others do... and you might just have a higher heart rate...

Do you know what your resting heart rate is? and your blood pressure?

My resting heart rate is 62. At least that's what it is when I'm sitting typing on the computer. Just walking around brings it up to 80-90 or so. When I'm running or jumping rope I'm always in the 170+ range, but I do hit 180 every now and then. If I'm biking I'm usually 145-165 with the occasional 175 for those big hills. Lifting weights I'm usually around 120-145.

I haven't gotten my blood pressure in a while, so I don't know what it is. I know that it was high, but I forgot to ask the last time I donated platelets.

:beating: I've been told that I have a big heart, but not by any doctors. Does that count?
 
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