Day 49 - The Kind Apricot & Almond

Hello blog.

I decided it'd be too wasteful to just replace my computer and spent the day fixing mine. It seems to be back to the condition it was in when I bought it. I think some program I installed within the last week was causing my startup process to not function right.

Anyway, my baby's all better now.

It wasn't the greatest day food-wise. I actually went to a vitamin store to pick up a few things and ended up buying two boxes of these:

They're pretty popular, I don't know if any of you have tried them. I think they're vegan but I'm not sure. Very pure ingredients label.

They're so unbelievably good, I ended up eating 5 of these throughout the day, which is too much.

Other than that I had two grilled chicken legs, a chicken burrito, and again an ice cream cone from McDonald's. The day was about 1800 - 2300 calories and didn't include any salads. I feel like I probably broke even on my weight.

What I was originally going to the vitamin shop for was this:

It's a zero-calorie citrus-flavored vitamin powder you mix with water. It's got B vitamins and a lot of vitamin C, and it tastes good. I like to drink it in the mornings.

I've pretty much decided I'm not going to work this weekend. So I'm calling in lazy, and I've got nothing to do.

Sunday will be the last day of January and will probably be similar to today as far as laziness in food goes.

January went very well for me work-wise, and it looks like I lost a little over 10 pounds, and I got to spend almost a week in a luxury hotel in New York. On paper that's gotta be one of the better months of my entire life.

I'll be kicking February off with a fast. One or two days. Green tea and Super-C.

I look forward to it.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 48 - The Computer Problems

Hello blog.

My computer is melting down. I can't even do basic stuff without it freezing and crashing and so on.

Thinking about just replacing the entire thing just because I know fixing it will be like a 72-hour root canal.

I had a fruit & walnut salad, finished the half cheese half cheeseless pizza I got, then had a mexican meal of grilled chicken with beans and rice and tortilla, with various salsas on the side.

My day was about 1800ish.

Oh yeah, and one of those ice cream cones I like from McDonald's. The 1800ish includes that.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 47 - The Cheeseless Pizza

Hello blog.

Having some computer problems this morning that are eating up time and kind of frustrating me. Quick post.

I had a fruit & walnut salad in the morning. Lunch was going to be some salmon and vegetables, but it turned into just vegetables because they ruined the salmon. They struck it off the tab though so I guess it's ok.

Had lunch and saw a movie with my sister. We saw the Book of Eli, which wasn't bad at all. I like post-apocolypse fiction. But she always seems to steer every conversation toward grieving about her trials and tribulations and it kinda gets me down.

Not to blame that but I was feeling depressed and went for some pizza. I sort of reached a compromise for myself though. I ordered no extra toppings, and got the pizza half with cheese and half cheeseless to lighten it up a bit.

I've never had pizza without cheese before and I've discovered I actually kind of prefer it that way. I really love the taste of tomato sauce.

It was the new Domino's pizza, and they've really stepped up their product if anyone wants to give it a try. It's vastly improved.

But it is still pizza, and I ate it. Almost 4 slices, 2 with cheese and 2 without. It was a little too much.

Calories this time were like 1100 - 1500 or so.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 46 - The Vegetarian

Hello blog.

Ate no meat today, and I'm thinking about making it a regular thing for a little while. Just to try it out.

I had a spinach and feta wrap in the morning with a skinny vanilla latte. Lunch was a fruit and walnut salad. Dinner was a southwest salad with no chicken.

And of course, I didn't finish any of it. :)

I think I'm below 800 calories this time.

And just because, here's a song I love. I hope you all enjoy it, too.


He's got quite a voice, doesn't he?

I really feel like I'm out of withdrawal. Any time you kick a bad habit you go through withdrawals, and I think that's completely over for me with binge eating. The thought of eating a ton of food in one sitting doesn't appeal to me in any way anymore.

I'm perfectly content with eating smaller portions. But what it's done is it's taken something out of my life that used to be a major part of my enjoyment in life, and I haven't found anything to replace it yet.

So I've just been working more.

My therapist always tells me I don't enjoy life enough. And he's right. But I just don't know what to do with myself when I'm not working or eating.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 45 - The Wraps

Hello blog.

Food this time was two spinach & feta wraps from Starbucks, with a skinny vanilla latte. Lunch was a fruit & walnut salad. I was going to stop there, but I got one of my intense seasonal cravings for baby back ribs, so I went out for a dinner of that.

A 1/3 rack of baby back ribs, with a buttered roll, a few yam fries, and a few bites of coleslaw.

And in accordance with my new rule, I didn't finish any of that food. I left a minimum bite or swig of each item for the trash bin. Basically I fed it to bacteria.

If you've never had a spinach & feta wrap from Starbucks, I recommend you go out and get one immediately. All this for just 240 calories, and it's a 10 out of 10 on the flavor scale.

I'm really enjoying this new rule I've made for myself of not finishing anything. I find it helps my brain be more willing to stop itself before that point of excess, because as soon as I sit down to eat, I already know beforehand that I'll never finish it all.

As a child there was a lot of drama at the dinner table over my unwillingness to finish food. My parents would get very angry and leave me at the dinner table for hours, while I just sat there refusing to eat any more. I started to think they just wanted an excuse to leave me at the dinner table so I wouldn't bother them while they watched TV.

That more or less ended when one morning, my mom woke me up for school (I guess 3rd or 4th grade) to find that I still had a piece of meat in my mouth from the night before, that I was unable to swallow.

I had difficulty swallowing meat.

So anyway, I don't know if that's a trauma that's caused me to overeat or to feel pressed to always finish all my food. I've heard some psychologists relate that the things that traumatize us in childhood and adolescence become things we desire in adulthood.

But to be independent and make the decision that I'm never going to finish any of my food feels pretty good to me now.

I'm not sure how many calories I had today because it's really difficult to estimate the ribs. But if I had to produce a range of possibility, I'd say my total calories for this day were about 1400 - 2200.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 44 - The Artisan

Hello blog.

Had a few things throughout the day this time. Had a spinach and feta wrap, a southwest chicken panini, a fruit and walnut salad, and one of these:

An artisan breakfast sandwich with ham from Starbucks.

The name is a little grandiose. But it was pretty good. They've improved the sandwiches a lot recently.

Finished the day off by treating myself to a small ice cream cone.

Less than 1600 calories on the day I'm pretty sure.

I'd like to weigh 180lbs now, please.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 43 - The Panda Express

Hello blog.

Opened up my day with a low-carb plate of 3 eggs scrambled, with 4 strips of bacon and 4 sausage links.

There are a few schools of thought with diet and I think I generally tend to err on the side of being anti-sweets and anti-starch more than anti-fat and cholesterol, so for me I consider this a success.

Partly because I believe that's what causes diabetes, and in the past I've felt myself slipping into diabetic symptoms. The heart racing and palpitating after a carb-heavy meal was a daily occurrence and it can be scary. It toys with your body's natural insulin. I'd always get the shakes, the scary heart symptoms, and be hungry again within a couple hours.

I didn't finish all the eggs, or all the sausage, or all the bacon. I've got this new rule for myself, where I don't finish any food I get. I always leave at least a bite or swig behind of every individual food or drink I'm having. Less than 750 calories for breakfast.

Then for dinner I went with some Panda Express.

I got the mixed vegetables instead of the usual rice or noodles. And two entrees, their new "firecracker chicken" and barbecued pork. About 700 calories total if I ate it all, but I left behind a little of everything, so I'm guessing 600.

Finished the day off with a little 90-calorie iced dulce cinnamon latte thing from Starbucks, which I again didn't finish.

Less than 1500 calories on the day.

New pictures at 246. Feels like ages away.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Days 38-42 - The Trip to New York

Hello blog.

I had an amazing, exhausting and busy time in New York. Ended up staying an extra night.

And honestly, being home makes me feel like shit. The Ritz-Carlton has me feeling extremely ungrateful about my apartment right now, and I really miss some of the people, and I'm just in a deep hole of depression right now.

And the baggage handlers destroyed the battery charger to my digital camera, so all I have for you is this stock photo of Lady Liberty.

My bag got delayed, later found out it was opened and inspected by the TSA. When it finally arrived, a bottle of nyquil had been punctured and had ruined a few things in the baggage. Battery charger, a jacket, and the interior lining of the baggage.

...

As for food, I ate far less than I thought I would. For some reason I just didn't have much of an appetite and was more interested in other things happening around me.

Let's see if I can remember everything I ate over the last 5 days...

-5 or 6 beers
-1 jack and diet
-skirt steak with pinot noir sauce and parmesan truffle fries (small portions) with a buttered roll
-chocolate pyramid (small portion)
-3-egg omelet with spinach, cheddar and mushroom fricassee (half) with a slice of 7 grain buttered toast and a half-glass of orange juice
-almond milk pancakes with carmelized bananas and pure maple syrup (small portion)
-2 slices of thin crust cheese pizza
-half bottle of sprite
-half a vegetarian sandwich with broccoli cheese soup
-half an apple
-half a chocolate chip cookie
-small portion of pringles
-Schlotzsky's original sandwich

I'm pretty sure that's everything. The in-room dining at The Ritz-Carlton was incredible. Probably the best food I've ever had in my life, and with the best service. The skirt steak with pinot noir sauce in particular was just out of this world delicious.

I definitely had less than 1500 calories per day on average, and definitely never ate more than 1200 calories in one meal. So no real binges. I could have picked healthier options though obviously.

This makes quite some time without a big binge. The fact that I didn't bother to binge in New York despite the fact that I basically gave myself permission to... I think is a good sign. And kind of strange honestly.

I really miss the comfort and joy I had in New York. And I feel really depressed right now.

I'm considering Sunday a day off. I'll be unpacking and cleaning and getting ready for the work week all day. And... I'm really not looking forward to it.

I'll be back to work and salads by Monday.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 37 - The Asiago Bagel

Hello blog.

Flight leaves in 8 hours. This will be my last post until after I get home from New York, on the 22nd.

I didn't have much time to eat this day. I ate twice, and both times pretty much just gave in to whatever I felt like, while keeping the calories within reason. I was really stressed and kind of upset at how busy everything's been for me lately.

Still am.

I had this asiago bagel with cream cheese from Starbucks, along with some kind of hot milky beverage. I'm not sure what it was because it wasn't what I asked for, but there wasn't really time to complain. It was tall and I drank maybe a third of it.

Then for dinner I had a grilled cheese sandwich with a small fry, some ranch dip, and ice water. Didn't eat all the fries and didn't use too much of the ranch.

I really have no idea about the calories for this day, but I'm sure it's somewhere below 2,000. Probably much lower.

I'll be keeping what I eat written down throughout my trip to New York and I'll bring this blog up to date in one megapost after I return. I expect to gain a few pounds.

Exhausted,
Eric

Day 36 - The Pita

Hello blog.

Rushing because I've got a huge list of errands I need to run all day.

Had a turkey and cheese sandwich on pita, half an apple because it was bigger than my head, a spinach feta wrap from Starbucks, and a small hot chocolate from Starbucks.

Was going to have a salad but unfortunately it was all wilted in my fridge, and I accidentally left the dressing packet out overnight. :(

Not sure on calories, but I'm guessing like 1600.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 35 - The Microwave Burrito

Hello blog.

This time I had a microwave burrito in the morning. That's kind of a weird craving I was having, just because it's been so long since I've used my microwave. Also had a "health nut turkey" sandwich with a bit of mayo and horse radish sauce, and a regular old banana on the side. Dinner was a southwest salad with black beans, roasted corn, jack cheese, and without chicken.

Yummm.

It was kinda bland.

About 1300 - 1450 calories or so for the day I think.

My flight is rapidly approaching. Lots of stuff I have to do before then. I really feel like the days aren't long enough most of the time.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 34 - The Dubious Sandwiches

Hello blog.

Today I had 5 things, but can't quite remember the order I ate them in.

I had a fruit and walnut salad, a chicken caesar salad with grilled chicken (using a tip from fellow blogger Kyle Gershman I was able to use less of the caesar dressing by resealing the package and shaking it up), and two small ham sandwiches I bought from a gas station. One of them I had with a bit of horse radish sauce, which almost made it seem edible.

My good friend ice cream. Again, by the end of the day, my calorie count was so low, and I used it as an excuse to get some ice cream. Or more specifically, the vanilla cone from McDonald's.

I'm just addicted to these things.

About 1800 calories on the day I guess.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 33 - The Original Recipe

Hello blog.

Treated myself to a 2-piece meal from KFC this afternoon, with coleslaw and mac & cheese.

I had them give me 2 legs because the legs are the smallest. Less than 800 calories for the meal, which isn't too terrible.

For dinner I had a grilled chicken garden salad, with a reduced fat balsamic vinaigrette that I actually liked for a change. Only unhealthy ingredient there was a tiny bit of shredded cheese (not even enough to taste it, really) and a few croutons.

Finished the day with some ice cream, because I again had a craving and my calorie count was still so low for the day I felt I could afford to indulge a little.

About 1500 total calories on the day.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 32 - The Broccoli in a Salad

Hello blog.

This day was pretty familiar ground. I had bacon and eggs with lightly buttered rye toast in the morning. They gave me potatoes even though I asked them not to, and I expertly did not eat a single bite of them.

Then for dinner I had one of these:

The grilled chicken garden salad from Chick-Fil-A. Somebody mentioned Chick-Fil-A salads in the comments and I thought I'd give it a try.

They were right. This has been one of my favorite salads. I especially liked the presence of broccoli, which I love and which is something you don't often find. And it even came with roasted sunflower kernels (wow).

I had it with reduced fat berry vinaigrette dressing. Less than 500 for the whole salad, and a little over 700 for the breakfast. I had about 200 worth of chocolate pocky as a snack in the evening, so about 1400 calories for the day.

This is pretty amazing that I've been able to eat meals of less than 1500 calories without being dominated by a desire to eat more. My binge eating disorder really is in check right now.

I think the worst meal I've done in the past 32 days was below 1500 calories, and it hasn't happened all that often. Coming from eating 2,000+ calorie meals 2 - 4 times a day, I feel like I'm making real progress.

And I'm eating salads. I think I've eaten more salads in 2010 so far than I've eaten in all of 2009.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 31 - The Theatre

Hello blog.

I went to the movie theatre and caught a matinee of Sherlock Holmes during my apartment inspection. I had some popcorn and some M&Ms, with a diet coke, about 700 calories. I don't think I could ever give up movie theatre popcorn. It's not an everyday thing, anyway.



I'm always reminded of this video whenever I go to a theatre these days. The really old footage and Zooey's 1950s style vocals, I just love it.

Other than that, I just had a salad with grilled chicken and honey dijon dressing. Less than 1400 calories on the day.

I've booked a trip to New York. January 19th - 22nd I'll be at The Ritz-Carlton on Battery Park. While I'm there, there are a few things I'm definitely eating. Pizza, a street vendor hot dog, a bagel, probably a frivolous room service meal, and probably 2 in-flight meals. I'll be writing everything down with calorie estimations, and those 4 days will all be posted about in 1 blog entry after I get home.

Also I'll probably be walking a lot more.

I'm not giving myself a free pass to eat unlimited quantities of food on my trip, but those certain things New York is known the world over for, I think I'd regret not having them more than I'd regret the cholesterol. I'll be trying to keep it below 2500/day at the most.

I don't know if I'll have much time for photos, but we'll see.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 30 - The Bad Decision

Hello blog.

The other day's ribs were enjoyed so much that they made an encore. Had a meal identical to the previous one, probably about 1400 calories.

Then on my way out of a Walmart, I made the poor decision to get Wienerschnitzel for some stupid reason. About 1400 calories of chili cheese garbage there.

This is what you order:

And this is what you get:

I again had a small fruit and walnut salad in the evening, pushing the calorie total to just over 3,000. Which in terms of thermodynamics, is about par for the course. If I gained, it was less than 3 ounces. So I don't feel like this is a failure that has to completely derail me.

Immediately after eating the second bad meal I felt regret, and was briefly tempted to just omit it from my blog entirely out of embarrassment. But this blog would be totally pointless if I'm going to be dishonest with it, so there you go. You get to see all my weaknesses.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 29 - The St. Louis Ribs

Hello blog.

This time I worked through the whole day without eating, basically. By the end my appetite was pretty crazy, I had a craving for some ribs and I knew a place. They also make homemade potato chips fresh out of the frier. I had both, with a bit of garlic bread they came with, and a diet coke.

I actually felt guilty so I brought home one of these to eat later in the evening.

The fruit & walnut salad they make for McDonald's. It's basically apples, grapes, a small amount of candied walnuts, and some low fat yogurt. I couldn't really imagine how that could possibly be so bad for me so I didn't care that it was coming from McDonald's.

Things are really busy right now because on top of work I've got an apartment inspection tomorrow. Having to do a lot of cleaning to make the place sparkle, and a lot of extra work to make up for the time lost spent cleaning and etc.

I'm also planning and preparing for a trip to New York, which will be more lost time, which is more time that I need to make up for with work. Very busy!

Same old graph.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 28 - The Cranberry Walnut Salad

Hello blog.

Quick post because I feel horrible right now and I still have to work at least 6 hours through it.

I had ice cream in the morning (my sore throat is the worst in the mornings), ramen noodles and a bit of candy over lunch, and dinner was an apple cranberry walnut salad.

This with I think a raspberry vinaigrette. That's feta cheese, by the way, which I'm a huge fan of.

About 1800 calories for the day. So I was at a calorie deficit and I ate some vegetables. Good enough for now.

Still 20 pounds to updated progress photos.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 27 - The First Twenty

Hello blog.

I had a cheese enchilada plate with beans and rice over lunch. I brought home a salad to eat, but whatever sickness I have got a little worse and I didn't feel much like eating. The worst symptom is the sore throat, so I just had a bowl of ice cream.

In the past, whenever I've faced any kind of hardship, I'd always give myself a free pass to eat whatever I wanted. I'd actually find myself thinking during a bad day at work, "I'm going to order the whole menu when I'm done here." It's like a way of blaming external forces for my own bad decisions. Basically a rationalization for my bad behavior, along the same lines of what you see from alcoholics and drug addicts.

There might've been a little of that in play for the ice cream. Just a little.

I still have the salad in my fridge though, and I'm feeling a little bit better. I'll eat it today (all my posts cover the previous day).

Anyway, as the title of the post mentions, I've dropped my first 20 pounds, and I've got update photos. And here they are.




First the original front, then the current front. Then the original side, then the current side.

I have a standardized foot placement and posture and everything, and I tried to replicate it all as best I could.

So that's what it looks like when somebody goes from 286 to 266 (6.993% body weight reduction). 20lbs would look like night and day for normal people, but when you're huge, 20lbs doesn't make a big difference in how you look.

20lbs to updated progress photos.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 26 - The Ham & Cheese Omelette

Hello blog.

For some reason I woke up and wanted a ham and cheese omelet, so I made it happen.

I ate this with a side of 3 or 4 strips of bacon. It was more food than I anticipated, but it was really good so obviously I had to eat it all. I think about 1200 calories total.

Then my dinner salad came with shredded cheddar, crispy chicken, and ranch dressing. Probably the least healthy and most delicious salad I've had so far. About 700 calories.

Finished the day with some candies. A little over 2,000 for the whole day.

I actually woke up with a sore throat. I thought it was because I slept without the heat on for the first time all winter, but now I'm thinking I may actually be sick. I still feel sick at the time I'm writing this (the next day). But it hasn't gotten much worse.

Still haven't had a proper binge in a pretty long time. Still 2 pounds away from photos...

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 25 - The Nothing New

Hello blog.

Not much to report today. I had instant noodles with a bit of chocolate pocky, then I had a bacon ranch salad with crispy chicken from McDonald's. Below 1200 calories on the day.

Partway through eating the candy, I actually lost interest in it. Which is pretty amazing, because I hadn't gorged myself or anything, and I actually didn't want any more food.

I think for the first time I'd say I really don't have binge eating disorder right now.

Though I'm sure I'd be amazed how easily it can come back.

Still 2 more pounds to photo updates.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 24 - The Gnocchi Marinara

Hello blog.

I took my mom out to a little Italian restaurant for lunch this day. I ordered the potato gnocchi with marinara meat sauce, garlic bread, then ate this little raspberry cookie-type thing that they make there.

I ate a little over half this much. And the garlic bread was pretty heavily buttered.

Then when I got in front of the computer, I kind of lost track of how much chocolate pocky I was eating. It could've been as much as 800 calories throughout the day.

I could've gone without dinner at that point, but remembering my commitment to try to eat at least one salad each day, I did go out and get a caesar salad with grilled chicken for about 450 calories.

Not entirely sure, but I think the day was around 2200 - 2600 calories. That's obviously too much, but my worst days used to be three or four times that amount. I wasn't paying much attention this day, and still I didn't binge, which I think is a good sign.

I'll try to come back strong with a lower calorie total.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 23 - The Creamy Cilantro

Hello blog.

Today I skipped breakfast for lunch. Pulled through a McDonald's determined to not order beef, and ended up with this.

The Premium Crispy Chicken Club. It comes with bacon, swiss and mayo. A little over 600 calories.

I got it in the meal and tried to order it small, but they just ignored me and punched in a medium. I don't think they actually offer their value meals in a small. So add medium fries and a medium plain iced tea to that.

So it was about 1,000 calories.

In the morning I had some dark chocolate pocky sticks for a snack. Then mid-afternoon I pulled through El Pollo Loco and got a chicken caesar salad with creamy cilantro dressing. Also ordered 2 grilled chicken legs and ate those. Then later when I ate the salad, had some more dark chocolate pocky.

No gains.

About 2100 calories today. Too much. I'll need to specify small orders from now on, I don't need medium fries. And I guess I could do a better job of staying away from the pocky.

Keeping up with my commitment to eat a salad every day so far. It feels good. Go me.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 22 - The Chopped Cob

Hello blog.

This time I had a 3-egg plate in the morning, scrambled, with 3 or 4 strips of bacon, and two slices of lightly buttered rye toast.

I also ordered a diet pepsi with this, but after a few sips I wasn't sure I could trust it was diet, so I ended up not drinking it.

I took home a chopped cob salad with fat free italian dressing. It had grilled chicken, avacado, diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar, bacon, and one hard-boiled egg. Dressing and all, it was about 750 calories total. And I couldn't finish it all.

I was really unhappy with the low fat italian. They need to keep it flavorful, and flavor comes from fat and sugar, so as far as I can tell they basically just replaced the oil with corn syrup. It was like eating my salad with maple syrup or something.

That does reduce the calories a good amount since fat grams have 9 calories and sugar grams only have 4, but I think next time I'd probably just go with a regular italian.

Probably about 1400 calories on the day, or another 100 if those sips of pepsi were non-diet as I suspect they were.

Two more pounds to the first 20-pound loss and new pictures.

For people who don't understand why I can't go to the supermarket and buy fresh food all the time. I take on a tremendous workload because I'm able to give myself unlimited hours and the work is incentive-based. Fresh food needs to be cooked and also expires quickly. I don't have time to be my own chef, and I don't have anybody that's willing to cook for me all the time, other than people in restaurants.

I thought about hiring a personal chef or assistant, but I just think that would be way too weird and don't think I have enough use for one for it to be worthwhile. I also have certain social phobias that would make it very difficult for me to have a stranger around all the time.

What I'm doing now is probably better than what I was doing before. And what I was doing before was probably better than what I was doing before that. Maybe things will just continue to improve.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 21 - The Steak & Egg

Hello blog.

I got all my food from Jack in the Box again. It's a matter of extreme convenience. Being able to get all my food for the day before work, eat part of it then, and eat the rest after, is just very convenient for me.

I ordered a crispy chicken pita snack, a steak and egg burrito, and a southwest crispy chicken salad, for a total of about 2,000 calories.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that burrito.

The pita snack weighed in at like 400 calories. It was way bigger than I was expecting it to be. That they call that a "snack" is quite ridiculous.

My original plan was to remove some ingredients from the southwest chicken salad to compensate for the unexpectedly high caloric content of the burrito and pita, but at the end of the day it just didn't happen that way.

I found out it came with spicy corn sticks. If they were just regular corn sticks everything would have gone according to plan, but I'm a junky for spicy food.

And then they weren't even spicy to me. Oh well.

I was pretty impressed with that salad, though. It came with roasted corn and black beans and jack cheese. The southwest dressing was good. I find myself really enjoying these salads.

I feel a bit like Nacho Libre when he could finally afford to make salads for the orphanage instead of bean slop. How salads in that movie seemed to be regarded as the most expensive and tastiest of all foods.

Good for them for not giving in to product placement and having Nacho buy Coca-Cola or something.

Just four more pounds to updated photos. I'm fully expecting there to not be hardly any difference, but we'll see.

Until tomorrow,
Eric

Day 20 - The Two Salad Meals

Hello blog.

It was the first day of the new year, and I felt like making a change. Not a resolution, because calling something a new year's resolution always seems to condemn it to failure. Not something big, either.

I've just decided to eat more plants. I'm gonna try to have at least one salad a day for a while. I might start bringing in some fruit, too.

I had two of these, the chicken club salad from Jack in the Box. One before work and one after.

I ate it without croutons (lower the calories and carbs a bit) and without tomatoes (I hate tomatoes). There was bacon and cheese and ranch dressing, so it's not completely without things to cry about. Each salad was about 750 calories, so 1500 for the day.

The graph is coming along. This is going to take a long, long time...

...

Until tomorrow,
Eric