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