Day 96 - The Petite Vanilla Bean

Hello blog.

Haven't gone back to the store yet but I'm actually planning to this weekend. Until then it might be restaurant food.

I had a petite vanilla bean scone, a tall skinny vanilla latte, a turkey sandwich on wheat no cheese, a slice of lasagna and two breadsticks.

Those are the petite vanilla bean scones. That was seriously one of the best-tasting things I've ever had, and they're pretty small. I went with petite and skinny, it's all still terrible though...

I think my calories were around 2,000 or a little less again, but I don't have info on the lasagna or breadsticks or sandwich. Might've been over.

I really sense that my motivation for this whole mission of mine here is going to really pick back up again within a few days and I'm gonna start putting together those steady declines again.

I'm planning to move toward the end of the summer. How perfect it'd be to drop some more weight before then.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Days 94-95

Hello blog.

For Day 94:

-3 Kind Bars
-2 Peach Yogurts
-Handful of raw spanish peanuts
-About 20 blue corn tortilla chips with mango salsa
-Finished off the raw spinach with some blue corn tortilla chips
-Finished off the berries
-1 bowl of Ramen noodles

For Day 95:

-4 Kind bars
-2 Peach Yogurts
-2 bowls of Ramen noodles
-2 Japanese ice pops
-1 Newcastle brown ale

Very snacky these past few days, and too much food for Day 95. I think I went over 2,000. But none of this was restaurant food, which is new to me. I find I have a lot more free time. I only realize that free time if I shop less and don't cook much, though.

I'm all out of Kind bars. Also out of produce, though. This gives me a unique opportunity to start putting a dent into the instant noodle population around here.

Clearly the human body was never intended to digest instant Ramen noodles, though. That much is extremely obvious. I'm debating just throwing most of it away.

That doesn't leave me with much though. I think I already commented that my kitchen is extremely empty all the time like Jack in Fight Club. Basically it's just alcohol I don't drink and condiments I don't use.

So tired.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 93 - The Google

Hello blog.

Been very busy with work and reading. I've also been putting together an investment portfolio which has been some of the most fun I've ever had. Researching all these businesses has exposed me to so much information I would've never bothered to look for otherwise. I now know what potash is, for example.

My first purchase was Google stock. It's weird to think I own a tiny piece of Google, and even weirder to think that every time I click on a Google ad now I'm increasing the value of my own shares by some trillionth of a penny.

Anyway, food. I ate food today. Real actual food.

I'm not sure if these things actually count as whole foods even though they came from a whole foods store, but I got blue corn tortilla chips, mango salsa, and some of the infamous Kind bars. Also got some yogurt but I haven't eaten any of that yet.

I had 2 Kind bars, and probably about 20 chips with salsa. Other than that I snacked on blueberries, strawberries, had a mixed green salad with feta and balsamic dressing, and for dinner I pan-fried a fillet of salmon in olive oil, then cooked spinach in the oil that was leftover in the pan.

I really have no idea how many calories I had because I wasn't measuring the oil or the dressing, and didn't weigh the salmon or the berries. Other than the time spent shopping and cooking (which in my mind I'm always thinking could've been time spent working), this is another thing I don't like about eating healthy food. The measuring to know how many calories I had.

Which is an absurd complaint to have, I know. As if it's better to know I had 420 calories of a double cheeseburger than to eat an unknown quantity of berries. But the uncertainty still bugs me a little.

Still, it was a great feeling to know I had done something very healthy for myself. And it was very satisfying to eat something I cooked for myself, like I knew it would be.

If I had to guess I'd say I was below 1600.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 92

Hello blog.

Like I said, this day was extremely similar to the previous. I managed to avoid the bite of corn tortilla though, and late at night I actually ended up eating a few sticks of chocolate pocky (probably like 80 - 100 calories worth) and 1 Hi-Chew (japanese fruit candy, 20 calories) and an ice pop (40 calories).

Because of that I think I actually went slightly above 1400, but not by much.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 91

Hello blog.

Ate just once today. A lot of grilled chicken, rice, beans, salsa and guacamole. Definitely below 1400 for the day but still a lot for one meal. I don't think guacamole was allowed per my rules, and I also took 1 bite of a corn tortilla before I remembered that I couldn't have it.

Was in a hurry in the morning so updating this at night. I've just bought "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham which I'm reading for the first time ever, so I might be up all night with that... so the update on Day 92 (which was today) might be coming up in just a few hours!

(Spoilers) It was almost exactly the same as today.

I think I remember saying something about planning for Day 93 when I updated for Day 91, so I guess I'll do some more planning right now. For Day 93 I'll take Kim's suggestion and grab some groceries from a whole foods store (Henry's). I won't eat anything but whole foods and won't eat any restaurant food.

And for Days 94-96 I won't eat restaurant food, and will only eat food I have available here at home. No promises on the quality though... but I'm sure I'll have some leftover groceries from Day 93. But I also have a lot of instant noodles, canned beans and rice and condiments and oatmeal around.

I actually ordered some chocolate pralines (what we call truffles they call pralines) from Belgium off Amazon along with this book I'm reading. They should get here around Wednesday. Was planning to eat like 1 - 3 a day. For fun.

Will keep it below 1600 from 93 to 96.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 90 - The Sparklehorse

Hello blog.

I had 2 chocolate covered graham crackers with a skinny vanilla latte, a crispy chicken sandwich with a small fry, and a plate of chinese food including orange chicken, broccoli beef, crab rangoon and a small amount of both chow mein and steamed rice.

I didn't write it down so I don't recall the exact number, but I totaled it all up yesterday and it came out to slightly above 2500. So I went slightly over my plan, but I'm not stressing about it. I'll try to make up for it by coming in under for Days 91 and 92.

I just found out yesterday that one of my favorite musicians, Mark Linkous, committed suicide a week ago. He led Sparklehorse, which used to open for Radiohead.



Oh well.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 89

Hello blog.

Today I had 3 crunchy tacos, half of a bean burrito, 10 chicken nuggets with sweet chili sauce, and a small fry.

A bit under 1800, and I drank plenty of water.

Someone's visiting on Day 90, so I think I'll go up to 2500 then. On Days 91 and 92, I'll keep it below 1400 and eat only grilled chicken, beans, rice, and vegetables.

And I'll plan for Day 93 on Day 91!

I welcome any suggestions for rules I should plan for myself to follow on Day 93.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 88

Hello blog.

Did this day what I said I'd do the previous. Drank a ton of water and kept it below 1900.

I had a tall chocolate frap, 2 of the new original recipe chicken fillets from KFC with half a serving of macaroni and half a biscuit, and white rice with orange chicken and rangoons.

Frap 420, fillets 340, half mac half biscuit 180, white rice with orange chicken 700 (didn't finish rice), rangoons 180, total 1820.

On day 89, I'll drink a ton of water and keep it below 1800.

Until then,
Eric

Day 87

Hello blog.

I'm running out of original titles for all these posts, and running out of original pictures since it's not often I eat something new is it.

Hmm... here's some John Mayer. Who doesn't like John Mayer, right?



I was successful in doing today what I said I was going to do yesterday. I drank a ton of water and kept it below 2,000. I had a slice of lemon loaf and a short skinny vanilla latte, a bowl of jambalaya with a biscuit, a caesar salad with no meat, and a reduced fat vanilla cone.

According to internet sources, which I do check and accurately calculate every day, I had about 1500 calories. The calories on the jambalaya looked too low though so I would report it as 1500 - 1800.

Keeping track of macronutrients and below is a little too time-consuming for me, though. I like being able to keep this blog going with about 15 minutes a day so I can keep my sanity and stay productive.

It felt good setting specific goals for Day 87 on Day 86, so I'm thinking of making it a regular thing.

So, on Day 88, I'll drink a ton of water and keep it below 1900.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 86 - The Caloric Deficit

Hello blog.

Ate badly today, BUT! I had a reasonable amount of calories. About 1850.

Had a burrito with chicken beans rice and salsa, then a burger, then another burger with a small fry and diet coke.

It's Tuesday morning right now, and I definitely don't feel like I'm going to exceed 2,000 calories today. So things are looking better for the moment.

I've been drinking a ton of water lately. Or by lately I guess I mean yesterday and this morning.

I can't leave my desk very often during the day so I've just been refilling 4 Solo cups with water instead of the usual 1. Looks a little silly but it gets me drinking more.

Most of the calories we expend (and basically all of the calories I personally expend) are used simply to keep our body temperature up. So it's a fact that ice water actually has a very slightly negative calorie balance. And I guess it keeps the stomach full. And it just feels good to be completely hydrated all the time, too.

So that's my focus for day 87. Stay below 2,000 and drink a ton of water.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 85 - The Eh

Hello blog.

I had chili with bread, and two individual servings of Chinese entrees (kung pao chicken and sweet and sour pork) with cream cheese rangoons. That was about 1900 I think. Then later I had nachos, half a burger, some fries and half an ice cream.

Somewhere in the 3,000s.

Sundays are inconvenient for fat people because of the "I'll start Monday" excuse, which might be the single most powerful excuse out there...

...I'll start Monday.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 84 - The Blah

Hello blog.

I had a slice of coffee cake, a skinny vanilla latte, then eggs with bacon and sausage, then pizza and hotwings.

I've been incredibly depressed these last few days, and I'm breaking out a little. I'm almost positive the depression came after all this bingeing, not before.

My mind keeps searching for excuses to eat junk food. Pretty much reverting to 3 months ago, but still haven't been eating as much as I did then if you can believe it.

Day 85 will be the day that I correct myself.

Fingers crossed.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 83 - The Still Too Much Food

Hello blog.

Had 1 enchilada, half a serving of beans, half a serving of rice, a roast beef sandwich, most of a burger, a small fry and some macaroni.

About 2700.

Still fat...

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 82 - The Slightly Less Food

Hello blog.

This time I had a chicken burrito, a steak taco, a serving each of kung pao chicken and barbecue pork a la carte, and a grilled chicken salad with light cilantro dressing. About 2400 calories. I dialed it back a bit at least.

Going to try very hard to run at a calorie deficit tomorrow.

Until then,
Eric

Day 81 - The Food

Hello blog.

Had a breakfast sandwich, half a burger, a side of macaroni, a short vanilla latte, a mexican dish with tacos/beans/rice, 2 donuts, a cup of milk, and an oreo cookie shake.

About 4,000.

I keep telling myself I'm going to stop and then not stopping. I don't know how to.

At least work's going well.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 80 - The Food

Hello blog.

Had a breakfast burrito, a chicken sandwich, a chocolate frappuccino, a blueberry muffin, a hotdog, a handful of trail mix, and some bbq ribs with potato chips.

About 3800 on the day.

I woke up and my monitor was dead. I went to a net cafe to kill 2 hours researching monitors until Best Buy opened. They didn't have the monitor I wanted, but pointed me to a store that did in San Bernardino, which is probably the roughest area of the Inland Empire where I live.

While driving out there I was pulled over by two motorcycle cops for not wearing a seatbelt. They didn't flash their lights, they just yelled over their speaker telling me to pull over, which I didn't hear because I had the radio on. They eventually got my attention by riding up to my driver's side window.

When I finally pulled over the cop came up to the window yelling at me like I was refusing to pull over, which I found completely ridiculous so I was arguing with him and he was flipping out.

There should be some minimum standard of what police have to do before you're required to pull over, and I think that should be flashing lights, because pulling people over by yelling at their car isn't very effective. He might as well have been trying to pull me over telepathically.

So he got my information and walked away. He finally calmed down, came back, apologized for freaking out, explained that he has to be rough because there are so many drug dealers and violent offenders in San Bernardino, then he gave me a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt.

I then drove around in circles in the shittiest city in the entire country because the roads don't make any logical sense down there. I was lost for hours trying to find this Best Buy.

I finally did and I bought the monitor and drove home, and that was my entire day.

I'm really happy with the monitor at least.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 79 - The Food

Hello blog.

Had a breakfast burrito, a slice of lemon bread, chocolate covered graham crackers, a vanilla latte, 2 cheeseburgers, a small Hi-C, a chicken sandwich, a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries with ranch.

About 3800 on the day.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 78 - The Last Day of February

Hello blog.

Today was the last day of February. The last day of any month is traditionally a celebratory day for me since there's a tendency to measure progress in my field in terms of 1 month blocks.

I didn't go completely crazy though. Lunch was pizza and chicken wings and breadsticks, and dinner was leftovers of that.

The pizza came in tiny little squares and was the thin and crispy variety. I had the equivalent of about 2 traditional slices for lunch and the same for dinner. 7 total chicken wings on the day, and I think 4 or 5 breadsticks total on the day.

Beer was present but I drank none of it.

Not sure about calories. Somewhere around 2,000 I'd guess.

March has officially begun as of 40 minutes ago, and I'm already awake, and I'm taking the whole day by storm. This is the beginning of my 372-hour month. Odds are high that I won't succeed, but odds are even higher that my failure will still result in a very productive month.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 77 - The Caffeine Scare

Hello blog.

Ate nothing but candy and sugar free Red Bull today. Had 3 candy bars and 3 gigantic cans of sugar free Red Bull in a pretty short time frame between like 5am and 8am.

That's what the face of evil looks like.

462mg of caffeine, and I actually have a history of extreme sensitivity to caffeine. I don't know what I was thinking.

I was having all the symptoms of caffeine intoxication. The worst ones were the dizziness, paranoia and trouble breathing. It was like I couldn't get enough air and was feeling like I was gonna pass out and I was seriously thinking about calling an ambulance (not kidding).

I don't know what made me think caffeine was a good idea. As a teenager I'd have the same episodes with caffeine, sometimes even worse where I'd end up with night terrors and feelings of impending doom etc.

I have to have some kind of caffeine allergy. That or my mind just reacts adversely to it, or I'm extremely sensitive to it, or something. I think most people could drink 6 Red Bulls in a row without feeling like they were going to die and wanting to call an ambulance, but not me apparently.

I went to a 7th Day Adventist private school when I was around 13, none of the practicing 7th Days were allowed to consume any caffeine at all. And they're some of the longest lived people on the planet.

Like 800 calories. When the symptoms were at their worst I took a fish oil supplement and a multivitamin thinking that might help. With the stomach ache and everything I just wasn't hungry after that.

February was one of my best months ever in terms of work and that's really got me motivated for March. March starts on Monday and is a 31-day month, and right now I'm thinking about scheduling myself 372 hours (12/day) which would be the biggest workload I've ever taken on.

My lifestyle during that stretch would be intensely miserable but the feelings of accomplishment would be unlike any I've ever felt before. I can't see any reason why I can't do it. And now would be the time since there's no major holidays or birthdays in March.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 76 - The Tacos

Hello blog.

Had two of those chicken caesar bowls, and for dinner I felt like tacos.

I had 3 corn and 3 flour, for a total 840 calories (according to Del Taco's website).

Throughout the day I also had 6 sugar free Red Bulls (3 big cans, 6 total servings). My body's circadian rhythm is off right now and I'm trying to bring it back to getting sleepy at a normal time, instead of at noon. That's 60 calories since it has inositol.

Less than 2,000 on the day.

I actually thought about going for a walk, but it's been raining so I couldn't. But I definitely thought about it. Maybe when it stops raining I'll actually move my limbs for once. :)

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 75 - The Caesar Bowl

Hello blog.

So I scrapped that idea for now, and ate twice today. First was one of these:

With a lot of creamy cilantro dressing.

Later was a pretty big chicken burrito with plain corn chips.

I can feel myself getting pretty impatient with this lately.

Not sure what I'm gonna do about that. Something.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 74 - The Mealaday Plan

Hello blog.

Today I had some candy, then dinner was some grilled chicken.

I had two breasts and a wing, with beans and rice, and 2 small corn tortillas, with salsa and guacamole (mmmm). It was just the one meal for the whole day, and it got me thinking.

What would a single nutritionally perfect meal look like?

Would it have like 20 half-bites of 20 different kinds of fruit and vegetable? What kind of beans would it have? What kind of meat?

I don't know. The idea of a nutritionally perfect meal sounds appealing to me. And the idea of eating just once a day sounds appealing to me, too. It's a lot less stressful and there are fewer opportunities for me to overeat.

So here's what I'm going to try over the next... well, tomorrow. And I'll see if it sticks. I'm just gonna eat once a day a few hours before bed, and the meal is going to include some form of animal protein, some form of carbohydrates, and a multivitamin. And some other more colorful stuff. I'll figure it out later.

Maybe some fish oil, or red wine.

I started positioning my feet a little differently on my scale, and I think it added a couple pounds. They're more toward the center of the scale now and I think that gives a more accurate reading?

I should buy a new scale. Mine is crappy.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 73 - The Beans and Rice and Chicken

Hello blog.

Breakfast was a flashback to a few weeks ago. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, and rye toast. It's a meal I was eating quite a bit when I think I was doing a little better with this diet. About 600 - 700 calories.

Like I said in my last post, I also had Kung Pao Chicken a la carte.

Pictured here is an authentic version of the dish served in Shanghai. What I had was a very small 250 calorie portion of the westernized version.

I ate this too early in the day and ended up getting very hungry by the evening. Tried to keep it reasonable-er and went with a mexican plate of beans, rice, and chicken, with one tortilla. About 700 calories.

I guess 1600 - 1700 or so on the day.

Was actually about to go out and spend 1000 calories like they were quarters in the hands of a kid in an arcade, but Kim's post brought my fat-guy guilt to an all-time high and I went with the beans and rice instead.

Asking people in my life how my eating affects them sounds like a great idea on paper, but I can't imagine how I'd ever bring myself to do it. Even if I decided to, I'd probably sit there unable to even start the first sentence. It'd seem too dramatic to me. And one of my siblings has already put my parents through enough drama, I'm always trying to be the one that doesn't have any for them.

It's kind of funny that you brought up that idea though, because just this morning I was heading out and I saw a note taped to my neighbor's apartment door. My neighbor's a black guy who I was always pretty sure was gay, living with his mom and I think his sister. The note taped to the door was a list of declarations, and among that list of declarations were things like "I declare I'm going to sing for a living" and "I declare I'm going to become a millionaire."

The two that stood out were, "I declare I'm going to meet and marry the man of my dreams." Later followed by, "I declare I'm going to be a better man." I don't know if this was his way of coming out to his family, but it seemed really grandiose and weird to me.

Basically, how I felt about my neighbor when reading that note, is how I'd expect everyone else to feel if I started asking them if my eating makes them sad. And I don't want to be that guy.

It wouldn't take very long, though. I only know like 3 people on a personal level.

You're right though, my problems are much more than just binge addiction. And yeah, I'm continuing to meet with my psychologist every week. I actually recently learned I meet the diagnostic criteria for Asperger's syndrome.

Not sure how I feel about that.

I lost my train of thought.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Days 71-72 - The Stella Artois

Hello blog.

Still been off my diet. It's kind of been put on the back burner for a while now. I'm not gonna make any promises about what's going to happen with it, since we all know how much that would be worth, but I'm going to keep making attempts at getting back with it like I have been.

Been having some of this the last couple days, along with leftover pizza and hotwings. Very frat house of me. Other than that there was a turkey bacon cheddar sandwich, some stuffed jalapenos, and one other thing I'm struggling to remember. Sorry.

Stella Artois reminds me of the time I spent in New York. Kind of how adults return to McDonald's for those happy childhood memories, I guess I go for Stella to remind myself of complimentary shoehorns and $60 almond milk pancakes.

As I'm writing this post I'm in the middle of day 73. So far I've had a modest brunch and future plans are to just have for dinner a small serving of kung pao chicken a la carte. Kind of a stupid plan, but wish me luck.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 70 - The Birthday Party

Hello blog.

Today was somebody's birthday, so went off my diet. Basically ate a whole lot of chicken wings, drank a few beers, and ate a bunch of pizza. And a slice of cake.

Not even going to try to estimate calories.


Rushing right now. Hope you guys had a great weekend.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 69 - The Whitest Boy Alive

Hello blog.

Went to Starbucks and got a slice of banana walnut bread with a tall (small) cappuccino. Took some milk chocolate covered graham crackers with me because they're just too delicious. They do something to that milk chocolate, I'm not sure what, but I think it's the best milk chocolate in the world.

Here's a YouTube of a song I like because I don't have a picture of food:



For some reason I seem to like things not many other people like.

Anyway, later had a crispy chicken sandwich and then a chicken quesadilla with guacamole. About 1600 - 1800 calories on the day.

The day after this one (which is actually today since I always blog about the previous day) is somebody's birthday, which I went off my diet for.

I'm actually really looking forward to waking up tomorrow.

Until then,
Eric

Day 68 - The Southern Style

Hello blog.

A lot of repeat foods today. I went for some Chinese which I do often. I asked for barbecued pork, they were out. I asked for beijing beef, they were out. I asked for mandarin chicken, they were out.

So I ended up getting kung pao chicken and broccoli beef, with a big side of steamed vegetables.

When I went to pay for the food they said they threw in some free spring rolls since they didn't have any of the stuff I wanted. +200 calories.

Later I pulled through McDonald's. The amount of cheeseburgers I'd be eating if I didn't have this blog might astonish you. But I can rarely bring myself to eat a cheeseburger anymore because I see it as one of the worst things to have to report here.

Same with any kind of candy bar or cake type thing, or non-diet soda, or milkshake, etc. French fries oddly enough I don't feel any shame over, which is strange because they're just as bad as any of those other things I mentioned.

Anyway at McDonald's I went with one of these:

The southern style crispy chicken sandwich.

I managed to resist that urge to order french fries, but kind of parlayed that into an excuse to order some ice cream. Which is something I said I wouldn't do anymore, but I also said I'd follow a bunch of rules which I suck at following.

I think I'm better at eating fewer calories in general than I am at following specific rules. Which is unfortunate, but maybe eventually I'll start making healthier choices. I don't know.

Not sure where this big drop is coming from. Could be dehydration from all the coke zero. Calories on this day were about... 1400 - 1700 or so. I'm sure it'll level off, it's not possible that I actually lost 3lbs of fat/muscle in a day.

Edit: I just realized this marks my first 30lbs lost. Yay.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 67 - The Huevos Rancheros

Hello blog.

Went out to breakfast and saw something on the menu I've never tried before. Huevos rancheros.

It's basically delicious cooked peppers and onions and sauce on top of eggs on top of a tortilla. The dish I ordered looked pretty much like that, except instead of beans and rice it came with beans and hashbrowns.

I had a few bites of the hashbrowns and a few bites of the beans, but for the most part left them alone.

I really liked it. It's pretty rare that I don't enjoy something new.

Over lunch I had a smallish caesar salad sans chicken, and I think a granny smith apple.

Dinner was going to be half an italian sandwich and 3 stuffed jalapenos, but unfortunately turned into an italian sandwich and 7 stuffed jalapenos.

I think around 2100 - 2400 calories on the day. If I had eaten what I was planning to for dinner it would've been like 1500 - 1800.

My willpower has been sucking lately. I'm thinking about skipping breakfast from now on. Or going on another fast.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 66 - The Organic Banana

Hello blog.

Really simple day today.

I had an organic banana to start.

It was a lot smaller than a non-organic banana. And it smelled more banana-y. Probably because the organic ones aren't genetically modified to grow larger, right?

My mango rotted before I could eat it.

Then I had some chinese food. Kung pao chicken, beijing beef, and chow mein noodles, with a side of rangoons.

Then I came home, made yesterday's blog post, then slept for literally 17 hours straight. (I just woke up)

Still losing weight. Calories for today were around 1100 - 1400.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 65 - The Cappuccino

Hello blog.

It's getting difficult to remember what I've eaten recently, because my sleep has been so erratic lately. But I'm pretty sure I started with a cappuccino from Starbucks.

I don't really see what the big deal is with Starbucks. I think they do a lot to make the products seem like they're of a much higher quality than they actually are.

McDonald's of the coffee shop world I guess.

I had that with a spinach and feta wrap. Mid-morning I had a donut, then ate nothing until one roast beef sandwich for dinner.

Probably around 1400 - 1600 on the day.

My sleep has been really bad recently. I just finished what I needed to for work today and I'm about to go to sleep. It's 4:00pm and I just feel really sleepy for some reason.

I actually didn't mention that I've added Coca-Cola Zero to my diet. I bought a case of it and have been drinking like 6 of them a day the past couple days. I didn't think it was relevant since it's zero calorie, but that's probably the source of my sleep problems right there.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 64 - The Saint Valentine's Day

Hello blog.

I already warned you about this day so don't act surprised. I had a bowl of golden grahams with 2% milk, a small cheeseburger, a small fry, chicken nuggets, and some chocolates. Dinner was a small plate of spaghetti with meatballs and cheese cooked at home and eaten by one sad fat man.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 63 - The Kiwifruit

Hello blog.

Today wasn't good. I hate holidays and how perfectly they work as a convenient excuse for me to eat poorly.

I had 2 kiwifruits in the morning.

Along with some cottage cheese and raw spanish peanuts. Fruit, raw nuts and cottage cheese work really well for me, because I don't ever really crave any of those things. They're safe foods to keep around the house because I know I won't binge on them no matter how hungry I get.

It fell off the rails from there. I had a quarter pounder and a small fry. Then later I had a corn dog. Then later I had a roast beef sandwich. A little under 2,000 calories total, I think. Or a little over. Thereabouts.

The quarter pounder was a direct result of a trailer for From Paris With Love. In it, John Travolta talks about a "royale with cheese", which is what his character in Pulp Fiction (one of my all-time favorites) ordered from McDonald's in France. They call it a royale because no one over there understands the metric system.

Product placements and advertising for shitty food, it really owns me.

That and I've just been feeling really abnormally miserable lately. I'm just miserable all the time and the only thing that will improve my mood is really terribly shitty food.

I always cover the previous day with these blog entries. At the time I'm writing this one, Saint Valentine's Day has already passed, and in terms of food it was a little worse than this one. So be prepared for that.

I really enjoyed the kiwifruit. And I just learned it's an excellent source of Vitamin K.

I bought some organic bananas and fresh mango. Gonna keep trying new fruits.

I'm really disappointed in myself.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 62 - The Pear

Hello blog.

Today went a little better than yesterday I think. But just a little. I had a pear.

Mmm, pear. I cut this one up into wedges so I didn't feel so much like a 5th century villager this time.

I also had a small handful (less than a quarter cup I think) of raw spanish peanuts, and a serving of lowfat cottage cheese with a bit of salt and pepper. Oh and a dill pickle spear.

I actually forgot to mention these chili and lime seasoned pistachios that I had yesterday. I had some of those again today as a brunch-type morning snack while I was getting set up for work.

Lunch was Chinese food. I had some broccoli beef, some kung pao chicken, and too much chow mein. I was originally going to get orange chicken instead of the broccoli beef, along with some cream cheese rangoons, but those are both deep fried. I actually found myself thinking about this blog at the menu, and thinking I'd much rather come back here with a story about broccoli beef than have to come back here and confess to deep fried chicken and cream cheese rangoons.

This must be how married men feel when their wives are getting on them about their cholesterol.

It feels kinda good.

Finished the day with a small caesar salad. I had it with croutons, which now that I think about it might actually be deep fried. Oh well.

Tomorrow I'm having kiwi.

Until then,
Eric

Day 61 - The Plum

Hello blog.

The first day of eating grocery store food went a little shaky. After a week of eating crap I'm actually feeling some withdrawals at this point. I gave in and had a chicken burrito and a steak taco, honestly because I knew I had that excuse. Fat guy logic.

So then I got home with my groceries, and I took them out of the bags, and used my fridge for something other than drinks and condiments for a change.

My kitchen always reminds me of that movie Fight Club. "A house full of condiments and no food. How embarrassing."

The rest of the day went pretty well. I had a quarter cup of raw spanish peanuts (they're not technically raw because it'd be illegal for them to sell it that way, they've been heat treated). I had a plum.

There's a plum. Just a raw plum. I felt like a 5th century villager or something.

And I also had yogurt. Too much yogurt honestly. I love yogurt, I should probably go with cottage cheese instead that way I'm not tempted by yogurt all day. And dinner was a salad with grilled chicken (precooked) and fresh grated parmesan cheese.

So that's my first time eating groceries in a very long time. I guess my goal for tomorrow will be to go sans burrito.

So to recap, here are the rules I followed:

-Eat a fruit
-Eat a salad
-Avoid all deep fried food

And the rules I broke:

-Eat less than 1400 calories
-Avoid everything that doesn't look like a plant or an animal (flour tortilla)

We'll see how I do tomorrow.

Until then,
Eric

Days 56-60 - The Superbowl

Hello blog.

I fell off my diet over the Superbowl, my computer exploded, and I gained 4 pounds.

My life has been pretty messy these past few days. I lost all of the data on my hard drive, so I've had to reinstall everything, reconfigure some touchy software, and reconstruct a huge database. It's like a big pile of work that I don't get paid for.

I'm just about fixed up now though. My life will be back to normal within a couple days.

With regard to my absence, I didn't keep any record of what I ate, but it was too much. Beer, meatballs, a pulled pork sandwich, potato chips, lots of pistachios, pizza, chips and dips, hot wings. Basically typical Superbowl fare extended over a 5-day period.

Without a functioning computer at home I feel like I'm in limbo or something. I really live through my computer. I can't even receive a bill without my computer. I can't get work done. I can't pay a bill. I can't communicate with people. I'd find myself sitting around my apartment not knowing what the hell to do with myself.

I actually watched an entire episode of Maury. That guy is just pure evil. And I ate a lot of bad foods, I think mostly out of boredom.

But I'm fully back now. Back with a functioning computer. Back to my daily updates, and back to healthier eating.

The plan I'm going forward with is pretty basic. Keep it under 1400 calories per day, avoid all deep fried foods, eat a salad and a fruit every day, and generally avoid all food that isn't immediately recognizable as some kind of a plant or an animal.

I've just come home from the grocery store (hear that), with some fresh fruits and yogurt and raw nuts and salad.

If you see me deviating from that plan I outlined, please do give me hell in the comments. :)

Yuck. This graph makes 4lbs look like a mountain.

It'll be back off in no time.

Until tomorrow,
Eric