Halloween!

It's Halloween time again, all those little 'fun sized' candy things are great cheat snacks. They tend to be in the 80-100 calorie range. You just have to be willing to only eat ONE. Snickers aren't too bad, Whoppers are surprisingly low in fat compared to other candies. We also have mini gummy bear packs and such.

Thanks to Men's Health magazine and their "Eat This, Don't Eat That" book that points out some healthier alternatives to some foods.. including the Whoppers tip. :)

Don't forget about Three Musketeers and York Peppermint Patty!

(still slacking.. you'll have to find your own link to Amazon for that book hah)

Wow.. slacking..

I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted anything to this blog. Completely got tied up in life and work and all that. I find that, at some point, I start spending so much time logging, twittering, reading forums, etc, that I'm doing nothing else. So I kind of slacked on posting updates to our culinary adventures.

Here's a quick update. I'm currently down to 209 lbs. Still haven't really been exercising, although I finally got another gadget I was waiting for. Guess it's time to really shape up and justify spending money on gadgets. :)

Nutrisystem is about 50/50 these days. That is, I'm still generally following the eating schedule and guidelines on what to eat, but not doing it so strictly. Eating less often (more like 3 regular meals instead of 5 or 6 small meals) and I'm eating about 1/2 normal food and 1/2 nutrisystem.

Breakfasts have been 1-2 eggs on a piece of whole wheat bread (just one, not two) with some low/non-fat cheese. The Kraft stuff is pretty good and actually melts. hah Sometimes I'll have a Nutrisystem oatmeal (or two) and maybe a yogurt.

Lunch has been a sandwich, or a Nutrisystem bar/bucket. Sometimes as a snack, I'll get a slice of that low/non-fat cheese and a piece of whole wheat bread.

Dinner once or twice per week (not counting a cheat day or two) might be chinese takeout, or last night was Bertuccis (salad and a reasonable amount of pizza). We made potroast and probably ate more than a proper "serving" of that once or twice, but that's done now. Nutrisystem dinners are still quick and easy. That's what I did for dinner tonight. Right now I'm having a snack of some smoked gouda and melba toast (out of crackers dammit! hah). But not eating a whole brick of gouda.

That's probably the most important thing you can learn on diets like this, portion control. Don't just grab a box of crackers and a brick of cheese. Cut off a reasonable amount of cheese, grab a handful of crackers and put the rest away.

Still taking Saturdays and/or Sundays off and eating whatever (within reason). Some of the worse weekends have set me back a few lbs. I hit 210 a week and a half ago, then went back up to 213/214 after a weekend of being bad. It seems to drop back down a pound or two by going back to the lower salt of the normal diet, but that's still a few steps backwards. It's good to be aware of setbacks so you can compensate by eating a little better for a while.

Anyway, thanks for whoever may be reading this. Obviously someone is, I just got my first comment tonight. :)

I plan on posting a kind of "exit analysis" of the diet, as a reminder to myself what a realistic diet should be. But I think I'm done with Nutrisystem for now. I lost about 30lbs and see what I need to do to stay on track, so mission accomplished for me!

I feel great and am really happy I did this, even if it cost $600. It's hard to put a price on easy/lazy weight loss and the lessons I've learned.

Cheat day 8/16/2008

Starting weight: 222

Breakfast: 1/2 cranberry/orange scone, 1/2 spanakopita from farmer's market

Lunch: Main Ingredient - Chai latte, mediterranean chicken soup (tomato based lots of herbs and barley?), 1/2 chicken curry sandwich on croissant

Dinner: Beef, chicken, shrimp skewers on rice, tea

Snack later: Some leftover noodles and such from Emi's dinner

Bottle of Mt Dew.

Day 23 - Friday 8/15/08

Starting Weight: 222

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Chocolate chip granola bar
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of cheese
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - ??

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  none?
  
• Fruit Serving
  none?
  

Lunch - 12:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate raspberry bar
  
• Salad Serving
  none
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Zesty herb snack mix
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Thin crust pizza
  
• Vegetable Serving
• Salad or Fruit Serving
• Fat Serving
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  1/2 chicken curry sandwhich (semi cheat)
  

Dessert - none

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  None
  

Glasses of Water: 3
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 22 - Thursday 8/14/08

Starting Weight: 221

Breakfast - 8:45

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutriflakes cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Stonyfield fat free chocolate underground yogurt
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - 11:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice low fat ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  none
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Tomato corn chowder
  
• Salad Serving
  Cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Zesty herb snack mix
  

Dinner - 5:45

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Meatloaf w/potatos in tomato sauce
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  none
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 5:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  none?
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 21 - Wednesday 8/13/08

Starting Weight: 222

Breakfast - 10:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutriflakes cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of low fat ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Crackers
  

Morning Snack - 1:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice low fat ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate peanutbutter bar
  
• Salad Serving
  Cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Pretzels
  

Dinner - 7:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Rotini w/meatballs & tomato sauce
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Fat Serving
  Meat from leftover paella
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Rice from leftover paella
  

Dessert - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Chocolate chip cookie
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 20 - Tuesday 8/12/08

Starting Weight: 223

Breakfast - 8:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Low fat granola cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  1 oz steak
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - 11:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Lucerne light yogurt - Vanilla
  
• Fruit Serving
  none
  

Lunch - 11:45

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Vegetable beef soup
  
• Salad Serving
  Cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 2:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Chocolate chip pudding
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Beef taco
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Green onions
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Lettuce
  
• Fat Serving
  Olives
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Tortilla
  

Dessert - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Almond biscotti
  

Glasses of Water: 3
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: none