Moving Day

I've wanted to do this for a long time, but this blog has officially moved!  To continue following, I'll be at internalignition.wordpress.com.  Please keep following me, and thank you for everything!

Day 103--So Long Self

Admittedly there is a double entendre with this blog title.  I thoroughly enjoyed my day off from school, sleeping in, having a great work out, eating good food, relaxing, hanging out with friends...but its important we don't lose sight of WHY we get today off.  Because of my Savior's willingness to die, I can wake up each and every day, whether early or late, skinny or fat, with friends or alone, and know that my human self doesn't matter one stinking bit because Christ has redeemed my soul.  So on this Good Friday, I say So Long Self...not only are you a great workout song, but you're also a reminder of exactly who I am.  To use one of my favorite quotes: "I don't have a soul.  I AM a soul. I have a body."  And my soul is redeemed.

Breakfast--Return of the Steel Cut Oats.  It's been a while since I woke up early enough or with enough time to make some steel cut oats, but it was well worth it today.  I had about a third of a cup of dry oats with a tablespoon or so of peanut butter stirred in.  Delicious and filling.

Exercise--I hopped on the elliptical to try to save my legs some impact abuse, and I could immediately tell the difference.  It wasn't a taxing workout from a fatigue, weariness, "I'm about to fall over here" standpoint, and yet my heart rate was elevated and I maintained a great pace for about twenty minutes.  I also did some weight work, and then the kicker, some body weight squats.  Between the new cardio on the elliptical and the squats, my quads are VERY unhappy right now.  Might have overdone it a bit.

Lunch--Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat with jalapeno chips. I tried my new strawberry rhubarb preserves...kinda funky with the peanut butter.  And it almost has an autumnal flavor to it with the spices, so it was very out of place.  I think it would have been incredible about 6 months ago.  Whoops.

Dinner--Sushi!  Went to Miyako sushi with some of Abby's friends from optometry school and had a great time.  We split the spicy tuna roll with crunchy rice and I had the S&M roll (no idea why its called that...maybe because it's supposed to be spicy?) while Abby had the crunchy roll.  Oh, and I also had grilled jalapeno sushi, which literally consisted of half of a grilled jalapeno with sushi rice bound with seaweed.  I think the jalapeno was pickled in some soy sauce, because it was AMAZING.  The whole meal was great, because I love fish, and it was very well prepared.  We will certainly be going back.

So Good Friday = truly good.  And I'll leave you with the witty, and thought-provoking, tweet of one Mo Rocca:  TGIGF!!

Day 102--A Welcome Speed Bump

So, I was truckin' along, heading towards more weight loss glory, and then BAM: Thursday happened.  Whoops.

Breakfast--I overslept by a good 45 minutes today, waking up shortly after I need to leave my apartment to get to school on time.  This led to me grabbing a Fiber One bar as I was walking around the classroom getting stuff ready for the day.  Terrible breakfast.

Lunch--"Chicken" sandwich.  Usually I don't mind today, because its a chicken patty sandwich (not the greatest, but at least no sauce/cheese/unnecessary fat addition) with baked potato wedges and asparagus.  The chicken wasn't bad, but the potato wedges were cold and the asparagus was literally swimming in butter. Like, it had a yellowish tinge from the fat.  GROSS.  So I finished it off with a piece of bread and Justin's chocolate peanut butter for a more filling meal.

Snack--A couple of my delicious cookies.  Probably the best thing I've ever baked. Seriously.  I have students who will back me up on this.

Dinner--Tonight we had a gathering of friends (party just sounds weird and strangely ineffective to describe tonight) at the St. Germains.  Met a lot of new people, had some wonderful pizza and cupcakes (yep...) and had an all-around great time.  Thanks for the invite guys!

So there you have it.  Bad sleeping habits, unhealthy meals, no exercise...took me three days to fall back into bad habits.  The good news is that I have tomorrow off to work out and undo some of the damage, and I drank a lot of water today to help keep me relatively full in the in between.  So we'll see how bad things are tomorrow!

Day 101--Who Knew MercyMe Was Great Workout Music?!

The beauty of a four-day week at school is that Thursday suddenly becomes Friday and we all get to relax a day earlier.  The unfortunate side is that sometimes you forget what day it is, like today when I thought Wednesday was actually Tuesday and so I forgot to go to Science Olympiad.  Oops.  The ironic thing is that I had a conversation at lunch today about how if it wasn't for chapel I actually would forget what day it was...and then I did. Fail.

Breakfast--Cinnamon Swirl oatmeal.  Start the day out with fiber and you'll feel fuller than normal...which is a good thing when trying to lose some pounds.

Snack--Fiber On...FAKE OUT.  I actually consciously ate something else, which in this case was about three palmfuls of smokehouse almonds.  Probably too many, but it was only 260 calories, which is a great dose of protein and healthy fats (also nice when trying to feel full.)

Lunch--My beautiful wife decided to bring me lunch today!  I had a footlong turkey, toasted with bacon, lettuce, green peppers, cucumbers, jalapenos, and black pepper from Subway along with half a bag of Baked Lays BBQ.  The food was good...having lunch with Abby was better.  Thanks babe!

Dinner--No snack...took a nap instead.  Abby is spending the evening with some of her friends from Optometry school, so I was on my own.  She likes to work out before dinner, and I'd rather do it afterwards when I have more energy from the food.  Therefore, the schedule was flipped today.  For dinner, I took the two extra burger patties from yesterday, half an onion, and three eggs and made breakfast tacos with some corn tortillas.  It was great, and should have been a solid dose of protein from all the meat and eggs.

Dessert--I made cookies. Chocolate chocolate chip cookies to be exact.  In fact, I undercooked them a bit so they were warm, gooey, chocolatey...and I had the willpower to only eat one.  Holla.  The rest shall be gifts...I just like baking, even if the results make me large (and in charge).

Exercise--I ran about two miles, and I actually mean ran.  I've always had problems staying focused running, because I usually get bored out of my mind and then I focus on how tired I am and then I quit.  Today I went with the Generous Mr. Lovewell album from MercyMe, and WOW.  Whenever I got tired, a song like Move, All of Creation, or Beautiful would come on and I would get this incredible burst of energy.  I spent all of All of Creation running with my hands lifted in praise to God...something I probably couldn't do without falling over most days and something I definitely wouldn't do with other people in the room, but today I overcame both.  According to my Nike+, I burned about 340 calories, which is a nice workout.

All in all, a great day.  Good nap, good food, GREAT workout, and tomorrow is "Friday."  I think I'm well on my way to my new goal!

Day 100--Goooaaaaaalllllll!

Ironic title because Manchester United has been el sucko lately, but oh well.  I'm taking a cue from Nathan MacDonald and setting a new goal for myself in my weight-loss odyssey.  For those that are loyal readers, you may remember that my old goal was to not be so large for my sister's wedding.  I (sorta) achieved that goal, because I looked better but with the way tux sizes roll I was still in a suit designed for a much larger man.  Anyways, that goal was a month ago tomorrow, and I can tell since I haven't set a new one that I'm much more prone to relaxing, splurging, and maintaining the status quo instead of working hard on my health.  So here we go:  School ends May 27th, exactly 37 days from now, and I'd like to lose 10 pounds between now and then.  That's around 2 pounds a week, and it will certainly require more work than I've been putting in recently, but I think I can do it.  If (WHEN!) I succeed, I'll be down to 220 lbs, also known as my junior year of college on my way up to 230.

Breakfast--Peanut butter and strawberry jam toastwich on whole wheat bread.  I accidentally bought jam as opposed to preserves, but I'm not complaining...makes for a great filling in cakes and actually makes for a more satisfying toastwich.  Duly noted...self.

Snack--Moving along...

Lunch--Tuna salad with crackers.  Thankfully this is a four-day week, and thankfully there's only like 27 days of school lunches left (not that I'm counting...) so I won't have to A) eat their food and B) keep eating the same simplistic options for lunch all the time.  That will be a glorious day.

Snack--Two cups of kettle corn during my off period.  Trying the healthy snack thing again...I told you, I fell off the horse.

Exercise--That's a word not recently seen 'round these here parts, but sure enough I got off my butt and trekked over to the workout room.  I ended up running/walking for 20 minutes and probably could have gone more but I got bored.  Then I lifted some weights to work out some tension in my shoulders, and all was well in the world.  I also tried my new Nike/iPod Plus that Abby got me for my birthday (Yes, my birthday was 2 months ago.  I lost the receiver for a while, then stopped working out...its had an inauspicious beginning.) and I really liked it except I used my iPhone and the music on there is more driving music than workout music, so I ended up using Mumford and Sons, which worked out really well.  Something about The Cave leads to great running...

Dinner--Bacon burgers, Jason-style.  Abby diced and crisped three slices of bacon that I integrated into the burger patties, and since my 1.3 pounds of chuck made about 6 patties, we probably only ate a slice of bacon each.  Using toasted sandwich thins as buns and minimal condiments means it was a really healthy burger.  We had chips and beans as a side to go with the bacon burgers.

Dessert--Dreyer's Chocolate Chip ice cream bars.  One bar is only 130 calories and really good, especially to satisfy a chocolate craving.  Unfortunately, they're also expensive and we're kind of broke, so when the box ends, I'll have to find alternative sources of goodness.  C'est la vie.

So here we go...37 days for 10 pounds.  We can do this!

Day 99--Slow Cookers and Donuts

Today was a vast array of triumphs and defeats, especially in the culinary department.  While all Mondays are, by definition, atrocious this one was less bad than others.  I've noticed that as the school year inches to a close, two things are happening: 1) the students are getting more and more rambunctious and undisciplined, and 2) the teachers are becoming stricter and losing patience.  This, of course, is a bad combination for all involved, and I told my students as much today.  Hopefully we can work together to keep everything in line for the rest of the year, but I certainly doubt it.

Breakfast--In my Senior Bible class we watched Invisible Children this morning, so I decided to be nice and bring in some donuts for the class.  Unfortunately, I also ate three of them. Whoops.

Snack--Fiber One bar.  It's like I could create a template for this blog and just keep firing that out.

Lunch--Salad greens with grilled chicken, carrots, and a Snickers chaser.

Snack--Some cracked black pepper and sea salt chips while I was waiting for dinner to get ready.  They're my new favorite kind of chip, but I can't find many that I like as much as my first batch from some random brand at school.  Any suggestions?

Dinner--Braised brisket that I've had in the slow cooker for about 5 hours yesterday and an hour or so today.  All I did was add a pound and a half of brisket (seared off and seasoned with salt and pepper), a jar of roasted pepper salsa, a chopped onion and some water to loosen it up a bit, then let it do its thing.  It was amazing, especially with some salad and roasted potatoes seasoned with rosemary from my rosemary plant on the balcony. Score!

Dessert--A piece of whole wheat pita with chocolate peanut butter and marshmallow creme...a poor man's S'more if you will.

So, donuts are bad, brisket is good, and tomorrow is another go at it.

Day 98--Awkward Hand Motions

Had the privilege to teach class this morning at church, and for the first time in a while, I felt really good about the outcome.  We focused on John 15, where Jesus tells His disciples that He is the vine and we are the branches.  In the midst of our discussion on gardening, memories, and the apocalypse (ask if you want to know), Jason Toy made some ridiculous hand motion for a vine with branches.  It resembled spirit fingers, an awkward palm tree, and what I can only assume is the hand-motion for "pay me my money!"  It was incredibly weird and cannot be duplicated.

In other news...Abby's home!  Huzzah!  The cat is still psychotic, we're both relatively exhausted, but at least I can hear the sound of another live human being.  She had a wonderful weekend on the retreat but I have to admit I like her here as opposed to there.

Breakfast--Fiber One bar.  I actually ate something else too, but I can't remember what it was.  I got up early, made dinner for tomorrow in the slow cooker, got showered, dressed for church, put some stuff up from the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, ate the unknown product and a Fiber One bar, then went to church.  I just cannot for the life of me remember what that was.

Lunch--Panera Bread!  I had a Thai Chicken Salad with a small piece of baguette.  The salad was PHENOMENAL.  It had lettuce, chicken, edamame, roasted red peppers, wonton strips, cilantro and a spicy thai vinaigrette.  Absolutely fantastic, to the point where I may have to drive back down there to have it again this week.

Snack--So I finally made a decent gluten-free dessert.  My first attempt at flourless chocolate cake was a rousing success, given that my Life Group absolutely demolished over half of it.  For the final presentation, I layered some strawberry jam and almond "shingles" on top.  It doesn't look the greatest, but for my first try, I'm fairly pleased.  Hopefully the recipient will be just as happy! (I listed this as snack because I nibbled while making it.  It was goooooood.)

Dinner--Sonic before Life Groups.  I had a Sonic burger with mustard (the low calorie alternative), tater tots (not so low-calorie), and cherry Dr. Pepper.  Good meal, but a great Life Groups.  I love those guys.

So all in all, not a terrible weekend.  I've decided that the sheer act of living in Houston destroys most of my baking attempts, so whenever I recreate this stuff in a lower humidity climate I should be infinitely more successful.  Congrats Houston: you killed something I truly love.

Day 97--Hello Metrocity

Brief recap of today:  Abby being here > Abby not being here.

I went to the Farmers Market this morning, and I have to admit...I was whelmed.  Not overwhelmed, not underwhelmed, just plain whelmed.  Nothing jumped out at me, nothing looked great, everyone was sold out of bacon except one farm that was charging outrageous prices (like, double what everyone else was..sketchy) which probably explains why they weren't out of product...not so good.  So I went to Central Market since I was in the neighborhood (roughly) and got some good stuff for snacks.  More FSTG chips, kettle corn, etc.  It redeemed an otherwise worthless morning.

I ended the day (and spent the afternoon...) up at school for our movie night.  This time it was Megamind, which I hadn't seen before but actually kinda enjoyed.  The first Will Ferrell movie I've liked since...Ricky Bobby? Even that took a few tries.  Potentially Elf or Anchorman, whichever came out last.  It was a good movie, but the food selection...not so hot.  And I didn't plan well.

Prepare for carnage.

Breakfast--Um...didn't happen.  Planned on getting Fusion Taco @ the FM, but then the whole experience drained me so much I didn't feel like standing in line and waiting.  So I just failed on this part.

Lunch--I had my leftover Pei Wei from the other day, as well as an addition of some diced veggies from CM.  I think it had water chestnuts, carrot, celery, onion...not sure what else.  It was good though.

Snack--Toastwich (to make up for breakfast?) with chocolate peanut butter and cherry jelly.  Very black foresty.

Dinner--I apologize to everyone who cares about the size of my waistline for the next few phrases. Peace be with you. Here's what I ate:  three cups of kettle corn, a Snickers, sour belts, a coke, and two cookies. I planned on eating pizza, but with the butter cookie fiasco of yesterday, I figured piling more grease in my system wasn't a good call.  So logically I ate my weight in sugar.  I suck at this.

Dessert--Really? There was no dessert. READ WHAT I ATE FOR "DINNER."  I should eat a salad for dessert, then run 8 miles.

So in review:  I miss Abby, my cat is going insane because she loves Abby and hates me (and is therefore very moody and upset), I've eaten TERRIBLY, the movie wasn't bad, and oh yeah, Man U and the Rangers both choked today.  Goodbye Saturday...you won't be missed.

Day 96--Experimental Procedure

Today was test day, which is still code for "I sit and answer questions all day."  Its a great day...no thinking on my part.  Unfortunately, Abby left for Girl's Retreat this afternoon, so I'm here by myself for the weekend.  That means two things:  hygiene is going to be neglected in unfortunate ways (although I have run the dishwasher and cleaned up after dinner) and I can just screw around in the kitchen without judgment being passed.  Let the games begin.

Breakfast--Another toastwich.  I had lots of bread going on at once this morning, from my peanut butter and peach-mango toastwich to the sandwich I made for lunch today.

Snack--Officially my last Carman's bar.  RIP.

Lunch--A peanut butter and mango-peach (see what I did there for "variety?") sandwich on whole wheat with cracked black pepper chips.  Not healthy, but suspect catfish was the other option.  I win.

Snack--Beef jerky and some more chips.  Less than one serving...but still not the smartest thing I could have done.

Dinner--Here's where things get interesting.  I made pizza, except it wasn't normal by any stretch.  I put my homemade tomato sauce on whole wheat pita, topped it with mozzarella, then covered it all with bacon and leeks.  The sauce, bread, and bacon/leeks were all amazing...cheese still sucks.  I don't understand how you people eat that stuff.  I scraped it off and enjoyed what became my bacon-leek tart.

Dessert--Baking practice.  I found this great recipe in Bon Appetit for honey-cherry lace cookies.  Because Abby doesn't like cherries, I subbed pomegranate craisins for the cherries, and my first attempt I misread "heaping teaspoons" for "heaping tablespoons" for the cookie size.  Therefore, all the cookies melted into one giant glob of buttery nastiness...I threw it out.  The second batch worked MUCH better, although its still got way too much butter in it for my taste.  For someone who has attempted to avoid unnecessary fats and junk, my body is SCREAMING at me right now trying to figure out what I did to it.  I hope they're better tomorrow when they've dried out, or I'm going to have to tinker with the recipe a bit.  Can't handle the buttery slickness.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend like I plan on enjoying mine...stay safe and God bless.

Oh, and Westbury kids--come to the movie night tomorrow. 6 o'clock, Megamind. Boom.

Day 95--Trashketball

I consider my job to be fairly important.  I have about 100 impressionable minds and the task of discussing the gospel of Christ--the greatest news anyone has ever heard.  Sometimes things get emotional, sometimes things get funny, and sometimes I think its downright thrilling.  That being said, the most excited I've seen any of my kids all year was today when Delvin Dickerson managed to throw a tennis ball into a wicker basket from the other side of the room.  It was freaking pandemonium...cheering, hugging, students running around the room.  I have no idea what I need to do to get them as excited about Jesus as they are about trashketball, but I've got a month and a half to figure it out.

Breakfast--Peanut butter and peach preserves whole wheat toastwich, prepared by the lovely wife.  That's twice in the span of a week that she's made breakfast for me...which may be twice more than the entire time we've known each other.  It's exciting!

Snack--Fiber One bar. Of course.

Lunch--Peanut butter and banana sandwich.  Unfortunately, the options today involved meatloaf. And something that began with the adjective "buttered."  That was enough for me...eating healthy and "buttered" don't work.

Dinner--Jalapeno chip crusted chicken fingers, baked beans, and corn.  Those "Food Should Taste Good" jalapeno chips were good to the very end, and made an incredible crust for the chicken without having to deep fry it and gain calories.  AND, it was slightly spicy but Abby ate it. So double win.

Dessert--I wanted chocolate cake...I settled for a little less than a cup of mango sorbet.  It wasn't a bad trade-off.

Tomorrow's the beatitudes and test day, and then the weekend...glorious, glorious weekend. And the Farmers' Market!

Day 94--Herbs and Peppers

Well, I finally broke down and did it.  After years of deliberating and always talking myself out of it, I am now the proud owner of one rosemary plant and one jalapeno plant.  They are sitting proudly on an old Omaha Steaks cooler on our apartment "balcony."  So at the same time I'm both Green-thumbed and red-necked.  Suits me well...and hopefully we'll have some fresh herbs and delicious peppers to spice up the summer's cooking!

Speaking of Omaha Steaks, they called me during dinner for the fifth night in a row, and finally I couldn't take it anymore and asked to be taken off their calling list.  The lady seemed annoyed that I asked her to do this...when SHE KEEPS CALLING DURING DINNER.  6:40, every day, like clockwork.  I enjoy their products, and the sales are really nice, but not enough to talk to you every day. Or every week. Or even every month...I mean, there's a LOT of food in there.  So goodbye Omaha Steaks...I won't miss you disrupting my meals.

Breakfast--Oatmeal!  On purpose!

Snack--Fiber One bar. I actually wanted something sweet more than I wanted the fiber or health benefits, but I suppose I got both anyways.  So boom.

Lunch--Pulled pork sandwich that actually had recognizable pork in it! Huzzah!  I also had some chips.  I wanted a mango, but the one I brought had already left for the sweet hereafter.

Snack--Snickers bar.  So so good.

Dinner--Taco salad with potatoes instead of beef. I threw some black beans on top to add texture and protein with the sauteed potatoes, jalapeno, and onions.  I think it was just as delicious as last time...Abby disagrees.  So that will probably be the end of that particular recipe.  Feel free to steal it and keep its legacy going.  We hardly knew ye.

Dessert--Cherry Fage with honey and chocolate chips.  A fitting end to a weird and not altogether pleasant day.

Here's to getting to try again tomorrow.

Day 93--Hang You Up

Confession: I am a big Yellowcard fan. Have been since high school, and I'm not ashamed.  The first couple of listens, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the new album though.  The one keeper, at least at an incredibly superficial level, is their single "Hang You Up."  The song is great, the video is great, and the acoustic version they recorded for MTV showcases how musically solid they can be.  Also, I've had it stuck in my head all day, as does Abby.  Whoops.

One of my students, Andrew Dunlap, introduced me to the Warrior Diet today.  The main premise is that you eat very little during the day (i.e. a warrior on the hunt...not eating large meals) and then gorge at night (i.e. after you catch/kill something).  It sounds a bit like yo-yo dieting to me, but the reviewers on Amazon swear by it.  Have any of you used it/heard of it?  It's not really an option for me, because I am NOT dieting--just trying to eat healthier as a lifestyle choice--but I'm intrigued by the idea and can of course tailor a lifestyle around it.  So how about it readers? Any thoughts?

Breakfast--Chocolate cheerios. My last bowl...sad day.

Snack--Carman's apricot almond muesli bar.  Delicious, and I actually thought it was my last one of those too, but then I found one in the pantry.  Huzzah!

Lunch--Spicy thai chili tuna on salad greens with a Fiber One bar for some added substance.  Great meal, but I'm sort of getting tired of it as a lunch substitute.  Looks like PBJ is making a comeback...

Snack--Pomegranate frozen juice bar.  Oddly, for pomegranate, it didn't have a ton of flavor.  Great for calories, great for texture and temperature...needs more acid perhaps? Oh well.

Dinner--Pei Wei!  I had Mandarin Kung Pao vegetables, this time with fried rice (yeah yeah...don't judge. There's a reason.), vegetable spring rolls, and edamame.  This may sound like a lot of food, and to be honest--it is. But that was the point.  We ate all of the edamame (fiber and protein), and I only ate two spring rolls (leaving four) and half of my entree.  Therefore, I've got another meal waiting for me AND I ate relatively healthy food for dinner.  Edamame is a wonderful product...I'm a huge fan.

Dessert--A single piece of chocolate peanut butter whole wheat toast.

All in all, a great day.  And tomorrow's dinner is going to be excellent...so get pumped!

Day 92--Stepping Out

Every couple of months or so I'll cooking something for dinner that has me asking my beautiful bride "did you every think you'd be eating [fill in food product here] and enjoying it?"  Inevitably the answer is no, and so I am able to take great pride in the fact that I've introduced her to something new, delicious, and "adventurous ."  However, as I've tackled new culinary challenges and Spring has awakened my sense of passion and fervor, I came to the realization that I very rarely try something new for myself.  It's usually something that I had once or twice, or used to eat at home but can't really afford now, but never something that I just look at it and say "someway, somehow...I will cook and enjoy that." Therefore, I've made a conscious effort to try new stuff and see what happens.  It may absolutely suck (see: daikon) or it may be delicious (see tonight's dinner), but at least I've got the courage to try and ask myself, "did you ever think you'd make that for dinner?"  No, no I didn't. But I'm glad I did.

Breakfast--Oatmeal.  I've missed you, old friend.

Snack--Fiber One bar.  Not exactly missed, but still nice to get a routine going again.

Lunch--Stupid SAGE dining.  The menu for today clearly says "Potato Kale Soup," which loyal followers will note as one of my favorite offerings.  However, there is an EXTREME difference between potato kale and potato and leek soup.  One is broth, the other cream.  One is hearty, the other rich. One I'll eat, the other I won't.  Therefore, the backup plan was some asparagus, grilled chicken, and a peanut butter sandwich. Lunches at WCS suck.


Dinner--Here's the awesomeness...so great, I even have pictures.

Leeks, caramelized in bacon drippings, then braised in apple juice and Riesling, topped with crunchy bacon pieces.  I've never had leeks before, never ordered leeks before...now I wonder why I hadn't done this sooner!  This might be the best side dish I've ever made...it was like candy.  I almost ate more standing at the stove than I did on my plate.

Roasted pork loin with a sweet and spicy rub.  I finally mastered the art of applying a rub to get it to caramelize into a crunchy crust.  And there are leftovers...

Roasted potatoes with salt, pepper, and some ancho chili powder.  They added a great silky, smoky flavor to go with the buttery leeks and tender pork.  All in all, an incredible meal.

And, because she's my favorite, I bought Abby some flowers.  Welcome to Spring everyone!

Day 91--Sleep and Jesus

I love our Life Group.  While we definitely missed the St. Germains, the Smiths, Hamilton, Patrick, Chris, Crysta, and everyone else who couldn't make it tonight, I'm pretty sure its scientific fact that the world is at least 93% better on the weeks we meet.  Tonight we discussed James, an amazing book, and I feel reenergized for the week and for my relationship with God.

I also slept about 11 hours today to recover from the weekend, and man I do feel tons better.  Softer bed, new pillow, NOT getting up before dawn...in the words of Charlie Sheen, tiger blood. No wait. Winning.

Breakfast--Abby made pancakes!  I had like four 4-5 inch pancakes, half of which had chocolate chips.  It was a great breakfast...good to be home.

Lunch--Because breakfast was kinda late, lunch just didn't happen.  I had cherry Fage with honey about 3...does that count?

Dinner--Wendy's!  Ironically, our hotel in Abilene was right next to a Wendy's, but I never went over there to eat.  Opportunity lost.  Anyways, I had a spicy chicken sandwich, lettuce only, with fries and a Dr. Pepper.  Scrumptious (trying out new vocab words...yay or nay?).

Exercise--Throughout the day, I did some squats, some free weights, and then Abby and I took a walk around the complex a couple of times.  All about getting the metabolism back online...

School tomorrow. Yeehah?  I hope the lunches are manageable!

Day 90--Return of the Jedi

Or at least the Westbury Christian TCSIT contingent.  That's right, I'm finally home. I get to sleep in my own bed, eat food I prepared, and have a face to face conversation with my wife.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

We had a wonderful trip.  The kids did extremely well, with some surprise successes and some expected dominations.  I was incredibly pleased with our results and proud of how hard all the participants worked to put on a great show for the judges and those of us lucky enough to get to watch.  All the hardware we brought back was just icing on the cake.  Unfortunately, another bus trip means another weird eating day, so being back also means a return to a decent schedule.  Here's the end of the madness.

Breakfast--A waffle and a banana.  Eating in a hotel continental breakfast...you eat what you can.

Snack/Lunch/Snack--I don't know what this is.  From the span of 10:30 to 3:30, here's what I ate:  two bagels from Einstein Bros, cherry poptarts, some almonds, a palmful of sour cherry gummi something or others, and water.  Sounds...healthy?

Dinner--Arby's!  Large roast beef and fries.  It was delicious...I love me some Arby's.

And now I'm home.  No dessert, because I've eaten enough sugar recently to kill a small horse, and lots of water to help my body recover from the climate and humidity changes.  Life groups tomorrow, then back to the grind on Monday!

Day 89--Hello, Good Friends

Alright...cat's out of the bag. I've been in Abilene the last two days for TCSIT, an academic competition for private and parochial Christian schools in Texas.  It's been a whirlwind of a trip, with little free time and less time to breathe.  Our kids have done amazingly well though, with many of them making the finals in their events and all of them competing and performing admirably.  Because of the nutso schedule, finding time and places to eat has been a bit difficult, and therefore today's menu is a tad...different.

To everyone in Abilene I didn't get a chance to see: sorry.  Literally my free time has happened around 11 at night or 5 in the morning, and I'm not overly sociable at either time.  I like sleep, and my body likes it when I sleep.  I'll try to catch you on the next go around!

Breakfast--Half a cup of granola with half of a Yoplait strawberry yogurt.  It wasn't my first choice, but its free hotel breakfast. Whatyagonnado.

Snack--A palmful of smokehouse roasted almonds.  It really helped take the edge off.

Lunch--Sharky's...oh how I love thee.  Had a great time with Sarah, Michelle, and my new friend Brittany. They were kind enough to kidnap me and take me to lunch, and for that I am grateful.  I had a whole wheat burrito with chicken, potatoes, rice, black beans, lettuce, roasted pepper salsa, and cilantro. With a side of chips it was a fantastic meal, if not the healthiest of all options.

Snack--The rest of my almonds.  And I have a bag for the ride home. Holla!

Dinner--Little Panda...another long lost friend of mine.  I had the house fried rice and a mango on the side. Again, not healthy, but worth it.*

Dessert--Frozen yogurt with Leah Bouteller.  I had salted caramel and chocolate with a sprinkling of Reese's chunks (probably around half a PB cup).  It was good food, but better conversation.  I'm excited about hanging out with her some this summer!

I dearly love Abilene...it truly is one of my homes now.  Coming back is a renewing experience, and since this is now the third time this school year I've been in its borders, I feel pretty darn good.  I could even see myself back here for an extended period of time some day...who knows?

*Worth it disclaimer completely dependent on me getting off my butt and working out upon my return to Sucktown--I mean, Houston--and getting back into a decent routine.  So, value TBD.

Day 88--Crazy Eights

Two important things:

1) There won't be a new EE post tomorrow. I just don't have the time. I might crank one out this Sunday, but for the ten of you that read it, sorry...I'm a slacker.

2) Due to an insane schedule, there won't be detailed updates here either, at least until Sunday afternoon.  I will, however, try to give brief accounts of what I ate to keep myself honest.

Breakfast--Oatmeal. At 4:45 am. Suck.

Snack--Cherry sours...we stopped at a gas station. Those aren't good for me.

Lunch--Taco Bell. Again.  I had three crunchy tacos, fresco style, and two chicken soft tacos, also fresco style.

Snack--Fiber One bar.

Dinner--Quiznos turkey bacon club.  Turkey, bacon, lettuce, on wheat, with a mango on the side.  Pretty good dinner.

Dessert--Small Oreo shake from Jack in the Box.  I still don't understand why people eat there.


That's it folks...pray for the students competing tomorrow at the various events! (That's cryptic, but I'll explain it later. Promise.)

Day 87--Rockin' the Early Weekend

For reasons that will be explained later, I don't have to go to school again until Monday. SCORE.

The one downside is that I have to get up at around 4:15 tomorrow. WHATEVER THE OPPOSITE OF SCORE IS.

...and that pretty well sums up my day.

Breakfast--Chocolate cheerios (I overslept today to make up for getting up early tomorrow) and a Fiber One bar.  Waaaaay too much chocolate for one morning.

Lunch--Hot dog, seasoned cauliflower...oh yeah, and a banana.  My life during school days is kinda blah.  This is why I enjoy weekends...the rest is nice, but the food is wonderful.

Dinner--Two peanut butter and peach preserve sandwiches with whole wheat bread.

Snack--As opposed to dessert, I went with edamame, with my special cayenne/sugar/salt mixture.  It proceeded to light my mouth on fire. Totally worth it.

As for losing weight, well...the malaise continues.  Perhaps things will get better after the weekend?

Day 86--Baking as a Stress Reliever

About halfway through today, my wild weekend finally caught up to me.  I was exhausted, had stopped up sinuses, a slight cough...and therefore I went home at lunch.  I can't afford to get sick, so some sleep and fluids were necessary.  For my 6th and 8th period students who take the time to read this...sorry I bailed on you, but its better than the alternative. Trust me.

Today wasn't a great food day, but I'm getting back on track.  I have this weird habit where the best stress relief I can get actually comes from cooking and baking.  Unfortunately, when you're on a diet, baking can be a problem.  Now, I understand you can bake healthy stuff using applesauce and sweeteners (see yesterday's post to see what I think about Truvia...) but lets be honest: good baking involves sugar, butter, and usually an addition of chocolate and/or cream.  On that note, I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  I followed the recipe in my Joy of Cooking (if you don't have one, leave this page, go to Amazon, and buy one. Now. I'll still be here when you come back) and I have to admit, it needs some tweaking.  I need to increase the chocolate chips and tinker with the sugar ratios, but they were GOOD.  I'm going to keep a couple, then send the rest to school with Abby tomorrow to minimize temptation.  After the nap and the cookies though, I feel much better.

Breakfast--Cinnamon Swirl High Fiber oatmeal.  Like I said...getting back on track.

Lunch--For our campus ministry team meeting, Brenna had the brilliant idea of getting Taco Bell.  Not only do I love Taco Bell, but they have relatively healthy options when you drop the cheese like I do. I had four tacos, which is 670 calories but 11 grams of fiber and a load of protein.  Good work Brenna.

Dinner--I had breakfast sandwiches comprised of 3 strips of bacon (around 200 calories), 3 eggs and 4 slices of whole wheat toast.  So for the day, with about 3 oatmeal cookies thrown in, the calories might a bit high, but I think they were pretty good calories and nothing too extreme.  Just gotta keep it up!

Also, I'm at 6,000 pageviews for the life of this blog, about 4,000 of which have come in the last 86 days.  Thank you all so much for reading and sharing my journey.  It may seem rambly (word I made up...feel free to steal it and enrich your vocabulary) and often times disjointed, but you have no idea how much its helped me become, well, less of me.  Here's to 6,000 more!

Day 85--Back to the Grind

I'm falling off the horse here.  We haven't worked out in three weeks, I'm not eating as well, I'm certainly not controlling portions...this isn't good.  I've got to make sure I stay under control, because fluctuating weight is almost more dangerous than being overweight.  So here we go.

Breakfast--A cup of Chocolate Cheerios.  I really need to start my days out better, but after this weekend I couldn't get myself out of bed this morning.  I hope to start out with oatmeal and yogurt and stuff better than chocolatey cereal, even if that chocolatey cereal is actually relatively healthy.

Lunch--Chicken teriyaki, snap peas, and white rice.  Admittedly, not the best lunch either, but I had a rough morning for various reasons...it was an eat and run adventure.

Snack--Cherry Fage with honey and chocolate chips.

Dinner--Chipotle.  I got a bowl with rice, black beans, fajita vegetables, chicken, hot salsa, corn salsa, and lettuce.  For once, willpower kicked in and I had water.  Been a while since I did what I was supposed to do...sigh.

Dessert--I made brownies, but I wanted to try truvia in them to cut down on calories.  I've heard really good things about it, but...eh.  Too sweet, goofy aftertaste...not a fan.  I'll stick with the real stuff, since it's cheaper, tastes better, and its easily controlled.  So thanks truvia; you screwed a perfectly good pan of brownies.

Not a terrible day, but I know I can get better.  Here's to trying again tomorrow!

FCC Dinner 4/2/11

Here are the pictures and my recap of the Food Creates Community event from Saturday night.  It was above and beyond anything I could have hoped for...much thanks to Jordan for trusting me and to everyone who came out!

Amuse: Artichoke hummus with flatbread, a parsley leaf, and capers.  It was refreshing and a great way to start out the meal.

1st Course: Caramelized onion and mushroom soup with an herbed goat cheese crouton.  I have to admit, as someone who doesn't eat cheese, having to spread 50 croutons with a creamy chevre was...unique?  The croutons looked delicious, even if I wouldn't like them, and the soup was fantastic.

2nd Course:  A sweet pea puree, blini (small savory pancake), creme fraiche, asparagus, whole peas, and smoked salmon, garnished with lemon juice and shaved carrot.  Lots of components, lots of work, and completely worth the effort.

3rd Course:  I'm sad to say I don't have a picture of this one...we ate it too fast.  Jordan made a sweet potato cornbread that we turned into a bread pudding, with chives, roasted red bell peppers, and topped with purple kale, roasted Texas smoked sausage, and a splash of honey.  My favorite dish of the night, save the dessert...but I'll get to that in a bit.

4th Course:  Roasted chicken with an herbed oil, with the herbs coming straight from the garden outside the restaurant kind enough to lend us their kitchen.  The Garden Cafe in Dallas is a stand-up establishment run by some great people.  Can't recommend it enough.  The chicken was topped off with a cauliflower-kale puree, sauteed mushrooms in white wine and sauteed red peppers in some of the chicken fat.  We garnished with orange juice, parsley, and some collard green flowers.  Just a remarkable plate.

5th Course: Sweet, sweet dessert.  Jordan made a batch of brown sugar biscuits that acted as the shortbread in our Texas Strawberry Shortcake.  I made a sabayon sauce (a vanilla custard flavored with wine) and a strawberry-citrus jam to garnish the plate, and then we topped it all with whipped cream and grapefruit zest.  I ate my fair share of biscuits and of course tasted the sauces as they came along, and let me tell you...you missed out.

I encourage all of you to check out Jordan's catering service as well as FCC, because its not only incredible food, its an unique and fantastic experience.  I hope he lets me participate again, but even if it doesn't work out, I got to say I was a professional chef for one night, and for that I am grateful.

Day 84--Yep. I Skipped a Day.

Our little Food Creates Community endeavor Saturday night was amazing.  I would be more than happy to share the menu, but its so far above and beyond what I usually put on here I'm afraid it would set the bar too high.  I might come back tomorrow and add my pictures in a separate post.

This weekend was just an absolutely incredible time.  From seeing my family to being able to cook phenomenal food to a wonderful service at Creekside this morning, I've very rarely had so much fun or been so ultimately exhausted.  Creekside is a church in Midlothian where my cousin Steve is worship minister.  For the first time in my life, I was able to spend time with Steve twice in the span of 12 months.  Usually he's in Nebraska or I'm in Colorado or something gets in the way, but it was great to get to see him and his beautiful family.

One unfortunate byproduct of FCC was that we didn't get to eat.  We were working so hard that first thing I knew, it was midnight and I'd eaten two biscuits and a spoonful of strawberry jam I made for the dessert course of FCC.  So in some ways, that explains the food, um, debacle thats about to ensue.  Also, I have no free-will.

Breakfast--Another one of Jordan's brown sugar biscuits, a blueberry muffin, and some strawberry jam made from strawberries from Jenna's wedding.

Lunch--A burger with mustard, lettuce, onions, pickles, and bacon, and then a side of fried okra.  Because I was so tired/hungry, I honestly didn't care what I ate, which is a horrible way to pick food.  However, lunch with Steve was excellent, and it really was an incredible burger.

Snack--Another Bucky's trip...not so good.  I had some sour belts.

Dinner--Whole wheat rotini with chicken, diced potatoes, onions and peas sauteed with some garlic and white wine.  I will admit, cooking with wine is a pretty great way to add flavor.  That whole acid spiel I gave/read about is certainly true.

Dessert--Strawberry Fage with honey and, for a little variety, some chocolate chips.  It was amazingly good...maybe a new dessert tradition.

After a long and industrious weekend, some sleep and routine will actually be nice.  Here's to another week of school!

Day 82--Dallas Bound

I apologize for my late posting.  It's going to be another late night tonight, but I'll get around to posting about today...sometime.

Breakfast--Chocolate cheerios.  Trying to cut down on dishes since we're leaving; seemed like a good choice.

Lunch--Grilled chicken sandwich and a peanut butter sandwich.  Also, pray for my student Khadeem Lattin.  Right before lunch, he fell during basketball practice and suffered a concussion, among other complications.

Snack--Fiber One and cherry Fage.

Dinner--Leftover Pei Wei: spring rolls and kung pao veggies.  Delicious the second time around as well.

Dessert--We stopped at Bucky's on the way to Dallas, so the wheels fell off a bit here.  I had sour cherry punch straws, a Code Red Mt. Dew, and sunflower seeds. Meh.

Sorry this is so stilted, but I'm getting ready for tonight's adventure.  I'll report back later!