Internal Ignition

Moving Day

2011-04-23T11:02:00.001-05:00

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

2011-04-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-21T21:51:00.000-05:00

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?!

2011-04-20T21:52:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-04-19T21:28:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-18T21:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-17T21:00:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-16T21:51:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-15T21:40:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-14T21:18:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-12T21:53:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-11T20:18:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-09T22:12:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-08T23:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-06T21:04:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-05T21:40:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-04T22:06:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-04T12:10:00.000-05:00

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.

2011-04-03T20:32:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-02T09:34:00.000-06:00

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!

Day 81--My Arm is Falling Off

2011-03-31T20:34:00.000-06:00

So I've had the opportunity to sub for Coach Washington this week while he's in Chicago for the McDonald's All-American game with Amber Orrange, one of our seniors. He coaches middle school PE 7th period. Yesterday, I played catch with Matthew Douglas pretty much the entire time. It's been a long time since I've thrown a football for longer than ten minutes, and it didn't even remotely occur to me that I couldn't just pick it up, chuck it around, and be fine. Today, however, I walked into class, grabbed the pigskin, reared back...and threw it about ten yards, with some pretty substantial pain in my shoulder. The good news is that I worked it out after a couple of minutes, but the bad news is obviously that I'M OLD. Dangit.

I also started hacking my way through the next Epicurean Epiphany post for tomorrow. Get excited, because its one of my personal faves. Potentially shouldn't have knocked it out this quickly, but I couldn't hold out much longer. If that doesn't get you excited, well...I'm actually not surprised by that.

Breakfast--Peanut butter and peach-mango toastwich. The bread was...whole wheat? I dunno. Glad to get out of here. New food next week.

Snack--Fiber One bar! I know I said yesterday was the end of them, but oddly enough I found one buried in the bottom of my tub-o'-stuff. Yes, I have a tub-o'-stuff. Deal.

Lunch--Salad with "grilled" chicken, carrots, and cucumbers. And then I had cookies. Boom.

"Exercise"--Throwing the old football around. My arms might fall off. And by arms, I mean arms. I throw with both arms because I'm amused I can do it.

Dinner--Pei Wei! Had dinner with Abby and Lindsey, got my usual double dose of spring rolls and kung pao vegetables with brown rice. It was AWESOME. Good friends, and good food...excellent evening.

Dessert--After catching up on our weekly comedies (Perfect Couples=Awesome. Raising Hope=Eh. Mr. Sunshine=Why is this still on the air?) I had a Cherry Fage with honey. Good way to end the day.

Here's to Friday, and here's to going to Dallas! Wish me luck!

Day 80--Eighty?? Really?

2011-03-30T19:34:00.000-06:00

Man...time flies when you're losing weight. I can't believe its been eighty days since I challenged myself to get healthier and lose some of my gut. I think its been pretty successful so far, even if I know I could work harder. Thanks for sticking around this long, or if you're new to the Ignition, welcome to the show!

Today ended testing (thank the Lord) so tomorrow we get back to normal and I don't have to be freakishly bored all the time. Tomorrow also begins the awesomeness that is Amazing Grace, a vastly underrated movie if you appreciate God and history like I do. I'm pretty pumped...and I bet the kids fall asleep. Oh well.

Breakfast--I felt compelled to eat a bigger breakfast than I have recently for two reasons: 1) I couldn't remember what lunch was and wanted to be safe, and 2) I wanted to jump start my metabolism. I think I accomplished both.

Snack--My last Fiber One bar...rest in piece good friends.

Lunch--I'm not even sure what lunch was today, but I know it wasn't healthy. I had another salad, and grabbed some of the "grilled" chicken they keep in the salad bar. It definitely wasn't grilled, but it was actually really good. I wish I had found that earlier in the year!

After School Activity--This isn't food, but I wanted to celebrate the fact that I went to a restaurant supply store and snagged myself a chef's coat for the weekend. It looks really good...almost like its meant to be!

Dinner--My version of pasta carbonara. I don't like cheese or cream, so I went with bacon, crisped up and set off to drain, then I added asparagus and peas, then tossed it all with garlic and some rotini. It was amazing, even if my portion sizes were probably a bit off...

Dessert--Leftover raspberry sorbet from last night with some Dove chocolate fudge to make it a bit more indulgent. It was great, although it was unnecessary in retrospect. I thought I wanted sweets, but now my body is informing me it wasn't the greatest idea...which is wonderful for the future. I love sweets, but they should be special, not a necessary stage. Feels great!

So there we are...I'll probably take a walk later and do some weight work. Good stuff all around!

Day 79--Party Time at the St. Germains!

2011-03-30T06:49:00.000-06:00

So we celebrated my friend Jason Toy's birthday yesterday night, which was a great time with amazing friends and great food. Casey made this amazing teriyaki chicken and sticky rice, I made sauteed squash, mushrooms, and onions, and then there was Funfetti (what what!) cake and sorbet floats, courtesy of Safeway brand Apple and Pomegranate Apple Sparkling Cider. I wish I got paid for that little product placement.

The highlight of the evening was most certainly Ms. Julia Austen St. Germain, all two weeks of her. She slept almost the entire time, only got fussy once (and when I picked her up SHE CALMED DOWN. Alert the presses.) and generally spent the night looking as cute as possible and stealing my wife's heart. I've got some competition now, and I don't mind one bit.

On to the food...my memory isn't so hot right now since I'm exhausted, but this will be as accurate as I can make it.

Breakfast--Fage Peach with honey. It was another slow starting morning.

Snack--Fiber One bar.

Lunch--Spicy Thai chile tuna with spinach salad, crackers, and barbecue Zapps. Still funny.

Snack--Fage Cherry with honey. I went to the store to get stuff for dessert and reloaded on Fage while I was there. The Chobani was cheaper, but they only had pineapple 2%, and frankly, its gross.

Dinner--As I said above, I had a teriyaki chicken breast, about 3/4 cup white sticky rice, and a heaping pile of sauteed veggies. The vegetables had some Montreal Steak seasoning and a splash of Riesling white wine at the end, and I have admit--they were really good. Usually I don't cook with wine, or even have it in my possession, but I read an article the other day that really stuck in my imagination: "Home cooks season with salt and pepper. Great chefs season with salt and acid." So that's my new venture...how can I incorporate some acid into each dish, not for the sake of doing it, but to enhance flavors.

Dessert--Here's where the wheels fall off. They had a bowl of jellybeans out (so you know I'm screwed) that I nibbled on all night while cooking, and then I had TWO pieces of cake. C'est la vie...it was delicious, and I had a salad for lunch. I think I can deal.

All in all, not a terrible day, but not perfect. I still need to workout some, and hopefully Wednesday will provide an opportunity for that.

How about you, dear reader--do you use any special forms of acid (vinegars, wines, juices, etc.) in cooking that I should know about?

Day 78--The Frugal Gourmet

2011-03-28T19:55:00.000-06:00

Thus begins week two of our little attempt to plan out meals, hopefully saving money and allowing us to be healthier so we won't be tempted to eat junk food. Its harder to eat bad stuff when there isn't any bad stuff around to eat. After some simple planning last night, I got all the ingredients together for the week and it cost a whopping total of: 18 dollars. That's right...5 days worth of meals, 18 dollars. I'd say this is working out quite nicely.

The testing schedule today was just as weird as expected. I literally didn't do anything from about 9 til 1, then talked to my freshmen about sex using duct tape as a visual aid (thank you Eddie Boyer), then taught one Acts class that I don't see again until Wednesday. Business as usual.

Breakfast--Chocolate Cheerios and Mango Chobani with honey. Back on the protein/fat kick to get full, and it worked quite well.

Snack--Fiber One bar.

Lunch--Chicken, brown rice, and sauteed spinach. I will say...sauteed spinach is NOT good. I topped it off with another Fiber One bar because chicken and spinach isn't that filling and eating cups of rice just to get full seemed, well, dumb.

Snack--Cherry Fage w/ honey.

Dinner--Jambalaya rice, andouille sausage, and dark red kidney beans. Very filling, very cheap...a great meal. And it will definitely be complete when I finish it off with...

Dessert--Cupcakes! Gotta eat them before they go bad. Yeehah.

Day 77--Well, I Made it Eleven Weeks...

2011-03-27T19:54:00.000-06:00

...before I got bored. I'm at my lowest weight since last February, have done it almost effortlessly, and yet it was so easy to completely screw up today. I do believe I've hit a wall, and it bugs me.

Perhaps working out more is the key--all I've done is eat well, and there isn't much variety in that. I also have some ridiculous stress levels (more on that in the coming week) that have sapped me of my ability to care about my weight, and I can't stop thinking about cooking due to Jordan's FCC event, and let me tell you: when you're capable of what I'm capable of, and when you know what Jordan is capable of, simple salads don't fit the bill.

All this is to say: today's eating was a disaster, and I'm not really sorry for it. I will try to do better though.

Breakfast--Chocolate cheerios.

Lunch--Whataburger. Double whataburger, fries, Dr. Pepper, and some jellybeans.

Dinner--Three slices of Dominos (still gross) and three chocolate chocolate chip cookies. And another Dr. Pepper.

So I'm sure I ate like 3000 calories today and I didn't work out at all, but I did get a new iPhone and I should lift weights before bed.

Any suggestions/motivations to get me out of the funk?

Day 76--Butler!

2011-03-26T21:32:00.000-06:00

I'm not even sure its fair to call Butler a cinderella anymore. I mean, they appear capable of doing what everyone THOUGHT Gonzaga was capable of doing in the early 00's--winning a national title for the mid-majors. Unfortunately for them, they have to (probably) knock off the best team remaining in the tournament, and the only one seed left: Kansas. Good thing Kansas collapses more easily than the Metrodome roof (too soon?). Go Bulldogs!

In less eventful news, Abby had a softball tournament today. Her team was the defending champion, and, well...they don't have to worry about that anymore. She played very well though, and has a screwed up ankle and a scratched up leg to show for it. Chicks dig scars.

I neither went to the Farmers Market nor worked out today because I was lazy, the softball tourney happened, and then both basketball games were amazing, AND we had dinner with the Toys. It was busy, just not healthy.

Breakfast--Peach Fage with honey and a bowl of Chocolate Cheerios. I'm really a big fan of Chocolate Cheerios...they're good and (relatively) good for you, as chocolate cereals go.

Lunch--Half of a leftover chicken breast from the other night, some brown rice, and black beans, all topped with sweet chili sauce. It was delicious...I shall certainly concoct it again.

Snack--Really, throughout the day I ate about 4 handfuls of jellybeans. I finally did the responsible thing and threw the bag away after picking out the cherry ones. I love cherries.

Dinner--Brenner, two nights in a row. Booyah! We had eggs and pancakes at the Toys, as well as really good conversation. I also had two cokes. Oops. In my defense, I needed caffeine to help me stay awake...long day, and I'm not used to being in the sun. Took the strength out of me.

Church tomorrow, life group tomorrow night, then back to school for the Testing Week of Wackiness, or TWW from here on out. Sorry for the short post, but the brain is fried. I'll try to make up for it tomorrow.

And welcome back to the newlyweds, the Kings! Hope Mexico was fun!

Day 75--Generic Rebecca Black/Friday Joke

2011-03-25T20:52:00.000-06:00

Would you like the good news, the great news, or the amazing news first? Good news? Okay...we'll let the excitement build.

Good news (non-Gospel edition): There's a new Epicurean Epiphany post! I went with Byron Dawson's suggestion of balsamic vinegar. It's not as in-depth as the salt post was, but I still think its fun to explore all these ingredients that I use almost every day and learn more about them. Maybe you'll learn something too...click on the link and find out!

Great news: IT'S FRIDAY. All hail the weekend. I still haven't successfully recovered from the wedding, and getting up early for school certainly didn't help. Going to bed and sleeping for a while should remedy that particular situation. Also, heard a good word from Rob Bell today that was completely unrelated to hell and got to fiddle around with the Proverbs for a while, so it was an edifying day as well!

Amazing news: So my good friend Jordan Swim, who is at least partially responsible for every single thing about me (why I'm a Christian, why I cook, why I'm in ministry, etc.), has this incredible catering service, Vestals Foods, runs the Culinary Arts program at Allen High School, and also does these monthly gatherings called Food Creates Community. And yes, I'm link happy today. Deal with it. Anyways, his next FCC event is April 2nd in Dallas, and I get to help him put it together! I'm pumped about all of it, from shopping with the local vendors to actually running service in a kitchen. I'm also blessed to have a friend who is willing to let a moron like me in his kitchen. I'll be sure to report back with how it goes, and hopefully I can convince him to write an EE post sometime. The man has forgotten more about food than I know.

On to what I do remember: what I ate today. It isn't pretty.

Breakfast--Two pieces of whole wheat toast with chocolate peanut butter, courtesy of Justin's once again. I probably overdid it on the CPB, but I also knew that lunch was going to be shady at best, so I tried to plan accordingly.

Snack--Fiber One bar. Because there's a box of them by my desk.

Lunch--A piece of bread with even more CPB on it, a banana, and a bowl of lentil soup. I scavenged.

Snack--Handful of jellybeans. I forgot about them for so long, and then the bright yellow bag attracted my attention once again. Freaking Starburst marketing department...why you gotta be so good at your jobs?

Dinner--We had two choices: go out and eat something not that healthy that also took up some money, or go with breakfast foods we had in the fridge. Frugality won out, surprisingly, so we went with bacon, eggs, and roasted potatoes/peppers. I had a good portion of potatoes, about 2.5 eggs, and 2.5 strips of bacon. A delicious meal, if I do say so myself.

Dessert--And here's the problem. We had a movie night at school, showing Toy Story (a classic), and we also sold concessions. Cheap concessions. I had some sour belts, a sweet and salty peanut bar, and part of a Coca Cola. I'm a failure.

I think the lack of calories at lunch probably evened out the disaster this evening, but with no exercise to speak of, it still wasn't good. Hopefully the Farmers Market and an afternoon in the gym will help get everything back on track.

Enjoy your weekend!

Day 74--Oh Yeah...There's Basketball On!

2011-03-24T20:14:00.000-06:00

You know its been a weird week when I completely forgot we were in the middle of March Madness. Then, lo and behold, I turn on the telly to see San Diego St. and UConn duking (pun intended) it out. It's nice to have a memory like a sieve...means things are always fresh and new! Oh, and GO DUKE.

Decent day at school; our schedule is going to get really weird in the next week or so because the seniors go on Senior Experience starting tomorrow, then the beginning of next week is our lovely testing schedule that means classes take a backseat to the standardized testing we do each year. So...that'll be fun.

Breakfast--Toastwich baby! All natural peanut butter, Fredricksburg Farms peach preserves, and two pieces of whole wheat toast. You better believe its just as amazing as it sounds!

Lunch--Dilemma time. We had a CMT meeting today, and we ordered pizza that was literally dripping with grease, so I went with the school provided option: a baked "chicken patty" sandwich. Needless to say, I didn't finish that. But the asparagus and baked potato that came with it I devoured, along with a banana. It was great.

Dinner--Abby abandoned me for a dinner at her school, so I decided to tinker a bit. I wok-fried some ground pork, asparagus, and onion in a soy/mirin/cornstarch mixture that ended up producing a wonderful sauce. The whole thing went on top of some brown rice, and it was a great meal. Not sure the health content since I had to add some new stuff to the sauce (like mirin and a dash of stir fry sauce) but it tasted great and had good ingredients. That's really all I could ask for.

Dessert--Gummi bears, followed by a (much healthier) chaser of peach Fage with honey.

Exercise--Some weight work while watching the aforementioned basketball games.

Notice I avoided the cupcakes today. Points for me!

Day 73--Yearbook Party!

2011-03-23T20:49:00.000-06:00

I was (pleasantly) surprised this morning by the announcement that today we were going to have a yearbook signing party at the end of school. This, in itself, doesn't mean a whole lot. Teachers don't sign or receive yearbooks so its not a big deal for us. However, the yearbook signing party does mean one important thing: Schedule D. I LOVE Schedule D. Through crazy random happenstance, Schedule D aligns the stars in such a way that my lunch period and my off period line up next to each other. That means hour and a half lunch. BOOYAH!!

Today we also finished the book of Acts in my Acts class, which might seem a bit weird in Acts class, but...whatyagonnado. It was an enjoyable discussion, and I'm ready to get into the prison epistles and finish this thing strong.

Breakfast--Cinnamon Swirl oatmeal. It wasn't the most efficient morning...shoulda woulda coulda been better.

Snack--Fiber One bar! Woo!

Lunch--The hour and a half lunch manifested itself in a wildly unnecessary but delicious lunch at Wendy's. Spicy Chicken sandwich, lettuce only, with a large fry and a medium Frosty. I considered this to be a decent meal because of dinner, and the lack of substance it was going to contain. And it was AWESOME.

Dinner--Sweet chili-soy marinated/glazed chicken breasts cut up and put on a bed of spinach with pomegranate craisins, sunflower seeds, and an apricot-soy dressing. It was a great meal, especially the chicken. Usually I'm not with it enough to marinate the chicken before using it, but I'm really glad today was an exception. And the best part? All of it I either had on hand or bought in my shopping spree for the week. Two points for planning ahead!

Dessert--Strawberry cupcake. Best. Cupcake. EVER.

Exercise--Abby and I went for a walk around our apartment complex. Two laps isn't far, but it got the blood pumping. I also did some weight work...I'm glad I brought my dinky hand weight back from Plano. It's nice to have around so I don't have to hit the gym for weights. Way to go purchase-I-made-four-years-ago-for-some-reason-but-you're-just-now-paying-off. Two points.

Time Flies

2011-03-23T10:45:00.000-06:00

Its incredible sometimes to realize how much we change. As I've learned from my beard experiments and running into people who last saw me pre-fat loss, even a couple of months is enough to change someone dramatically.

Never has this been more evident in my life as we began the inevitable retrospective on Jenna's life for the wedding. It's still amazing that this:

Eventually turned into this:

My baby sister got married! I hope you're having a blast Jenna (and Seth)...I look forward to growing old and bickering with you until the world ends. Love you.

Day 72--Back to School. Yay.

2011-03-22T20:51:00.000-06:00

Le sigh. Spring Break is over, and its back to work. The good news is that I left minimal work to be done when I got back. The bad news is that it could have been zero work and I was too lazy. Oh well...tests will be graded, paperwork filled out, and the world will keep spinning. Presumably.

Today also began our little shopping experiment where I'm attempting to buy all of our weekly groceries up front. This will hopefully serve three purposes: 1) Save me trips to the grocery store and cut down on impulse buys when I'm in there every single day 2) We can plan our meals and have healthy options ready 3) Should be cheaper and healthier in the long run. I spent around 70 bucks today for tons of meals...some canned beans, some rice mixes, chicken, vegetables, sausage, ground pork (for this amazing asparagus and pork recipe I found) and then some condiments (sesame oil, soy sauce [it exploded in the parking lot...sad face], mirin, etc.), more yogurt...it was quite the haul. I'm interested to see how this all plays out!

I also really need to get back in the gym. The physical and emotional toll of the week has slowly dissipated, and now I feel almost normal. Unfortunately, for me almost normal is still fat. That needs to be corrected.

Abby had a terrible day today, and that sucks because she deserves to have some good days and because she hasn't had a break in about three months. First she had to get up with me (read: early) and study, then she had a test exactly a week after boards started, then she discovered she left her car keys (and, by proxy, her apt key, locker key, EVERYTHING) in Plano, so that was some unnecessary stress. If you could lift her up in prayer, she and I would definitely appreciate it...she's too good of a person to continually get stepped on by life like this.

Breakfast--Cinnamon Swirl High Fiber oatmeal with dried cherries, and cherry Fage w/honey. I ate a big breakfast because I knew lunch today was going to be a salad at best. It was actually worse than that. Side note: When I say "big breakfast" some of you may scoff, because lets face it: oatmeal and yogurt isn't big by normal standards. However, the best thing you can do to fill yo belly is eat a lot of fiber and protein, and high fiber oatmeal (duh) and greek yogurt give healthy doses of both, making it fairly large. At least by the standards of my stomach, which is all that counts in this space. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Lunch--A Fiber One bar and a bag of barbecue Zapps chips. There's an incredibly awkward story from high school involving Zapps chips, and anyone involved may be laughing uncontrollably right now. As they should. Moral of the meal time is that lunch sucked.

Dinner--Whole wheat penne pasta with some asparagus, yellow sweet onion, yellow bell peppers, garlic, red pepper flakes, and andouille sausage. It was really really good, although after my scant lunch I ate waaaay too much of it, and probably reduced any nutritional value that was in the pasta primavera concept. Whoops.

Dessert--A single chocolate cupcake from my lovely sister's wedding and a strawberry (variety! holla!) Fage with honey. NOW I'm full.

I know I need to do better eating, and assuming our lunch compatriots hold up their end of the bargain, I should have something healthy to eat every day the rest of this week. If they don't, well...I have another bag of Zapps in my desk.

For those that haven't scoped it out yet, my newest writing endeavor at epicureanepiphany.blogspot.com is gearing up for round two this Friday. If you have any suggestions for what I should tackle, let me know in the comments section. And please, tell your friends! I'll soon be featuring a guest post from Nathan MacDonald, and I hope to get more people involved. If you know someone passionate about food, specifically the beauty of individual ingredients at their best, then let them know about it!

Shout out to my European and Asian readers...the stats section of this thing continues to amaze me.

Psalm 34:8--Taste and see that the Lord is good!

Day 71--Houston Bound

2011-03-21T20:10:00.000-06:00

About three months ago I made the incredibly intelligent decision to take today off from work. I assumed that after the emotional stress of turning my sister from a Henderson into a King with a flick of my pen came piling down upon me that I would need a day to catch up. Man, was I right. Sorta. I really needed another week off, but they frown upon that at WCS. C'est la vie.

Jenna and Seth are currently living la vida loca in Mexico right now, hopefully enjoying a wonderful first night of their honeymoon along with some great food, beaches, and most importantly time together. Abby and I got back right in the nick of time for my eye appointment follow up, and everything checked out magnificently. In fact, I currently see 20/15 in my left eye. Booyah. Unfortunately, that means that I saw things all too clearly when I hopped on the scale after this week's festivities, which shall henceforth be referred to as CupcakeFest2011. It was a great week for my belly, but it wasn't a great week for my waistline. Ugh.

Breakfast--Cupcakes. Yep. My mom, bless her soul, didn't want to make breakfast after giving her only daughter away in marriage, and I don't blame her. That did leave us in kind of a bind though, and rather than persevere and grab some Chobani and whole wheat toast like an intelligent person, I went with a chocolate and strawberry cupcake. Oh yeah, and a plum. Because that makes it better. I suck.

Lunch--Here's where the uptick begins. We stopped somewhere in the middle of nowhere on 45 and got us some Subway. I had a footlong turkey with bacon on wheat, complete with lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, jalapenos (including one that tried to kill me...), black pepper, barbecue baked lays, and a wildly unnecessary, un-Lenten, but (in my mind) deserved Dr. Pepper. They say a Dr. Pepper a day keeps the apple..wait, that's not right. They say it rots your teeth. And they're right.

Dinner--Stir-fry. We got a bag of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, and I threw in half a red onion and 2/3 of an orange pepper, along with a cup of brown rice and some soy sauce/rice wine vinegar/spicy ginger sauce. It was delicious. I think I'm starting to get this saucing thing down, which is impressive since I usually don't even like sauces.

Dessert--A Fiber One bar. Thus begins the purge of the system.

Tomorrow we start school again, and it'll be harder and harder to stay on track. Tonight we're going to plan out all of our meals to save money and increase health value/decrease the ability to stray and be tempted. I hope it works!

Thanks again to everyone who reads this. I get discouraged sometimes because I feel like I'm fighting an unwinnable battle (even though I totally rocked my tuxedo this weekend...) but I know that all of you are thinking about me and lifting me up, even if its silently or from afar. As the Fotographing Fat Kid (But Not For Long!) says, you keep us going, and you really help motivate. I clicked on the stats button on this blog earlier and was blown away by how many people care about my health (or are amused by how badly I fail...) and keep coming back to check on me. Silent prayers, simple thoughts, and comments are all the fuel I need to get the next pound off!

Day 70--Wow.

2011-03-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

So the Henderson family is down a member, which seems only fair. Started with four, we should end with four. However, I'm pleased that our loss is the King's gain! My sister is now officially Jenna King, complete with signatures on marriage licenses and dozens and dozens of cupcakes (more on that later). The ceremony was beautiful, we had our fair share of screw ups and mishaps, but at the end of the day, Jenna and Seth are on their way to Mexico to have a glorious time as a new couple! Mazel Tov!

Eating today was a little bit, um, unique too. We woke up, rolled downstairs and my mom had breakfast fixed, then lunch was kind of on our own, and dinner was post wedding, and there were SO MANY FREAKING CUPCAKES.

Breakfast--Breakfast casserole. My mom has this ridiculous concoction of eggs, breakfast sausage, and crescent rolls that she bakes into a pyrex dish (it can also contain cheese, if you so desire) and its pretty much delicious from beginning to end.

Lunch--My mom, sister, and wife were at the wedding place getting ready for the day's festivities so dad and I were left to fend for ourselves for lunch. We went with Baker's Bros. deli, and I had a tuna salad sandwich with lettuce, roasted red onions, chipotle salsa, all on a fresh baked toasted bun. Along with barbecue chips and a Dr. Pepper (holla!) it made for quite the nice meal.

Snack--Cupcakes. I also had some fruit and asparagus, but seriously, the star of the show is the cupcakes. I had one strawberry and one chocolate, and they were both fantastic.

Dinner--Some more breakfast casserole! Woo! I also had a peach Fage 2% with honey, which is probably how I should have started the day, but oh well.

Dessert--Guess. Two of them.

Wonderful day, fantastic celebration, and now I'm exhausted...apparently when your emotional and physical limits are stretched all at once, it can take it out of you! I want to roll over and sleep...and so I shall.

Day 69--Oh Snap, My Sister's Getting Married

2011-03-19T20:47:00.001-06:00

Today was rehearsal day, or as I move we rename it, everyone goes crazy day. We got up, got dressed, drove to McKinney, and paraded around in our Sunday best (on Saturday) so that we can do everything right (on Sunday) and not make the bride have an aneurysm. There was minimal yelling, minimal temper flare ups, and I'm still not 100% sure I know what I'm doing, although if Jenna reads this before 3:00 pm on Sunday, don't worry...everything's fine!

It probably wasn't my finest culinary day either, because I have a tendency to get into this mindset of "it's a celebration, its worth it to splurge!" even when it's just Thursday and I'm happy I hit all green lights on the way home. Because a majority (read: all) of our entertainment budget goes to food, I see celebrations as an excuse to relax and enjoy what I consider to be the finer things in life. That being said, I tried relatively hard to behave today, although all of my celebrating added up in the end, as you will soon see.

Like, now.

Breakfast--Two homemade cinnamon rolls. The same rule for the blueberry muffins applies to the cinnamon rolls: you try to resist, then judge me.

Lunch--Spring Creek Barbecue for the rehearsal lunch. We had a small problem at my wedding. We couldn't have the rehearsal at the scriptural time because there was a wedding the day before ours. Therefore, in order to get the rehearsal in, we had to do it in the morning. Well, having a rehearsal, then sending everyone home, then having dinner seemed...stupid. So we did rehearsal lunch. Best. Idea. EVER. Therefore, Jenna took the idea, and it once again worked to perfection (for really the same reason...there was a wedding at the Cotton Mill tonight. Go figure.) leading to our barbecue meal. I had barbecue turkey breast with beans and green beans. I resisted fried okra (I love fried okra!) and bread, dessert, and beverages other than water. Healthy meal, right?

Snack--Cherry Fage 2%. Delicious as always.

Dinner--Here's where the wheels fall off. We had Chipotle for dinner, and you know what? I wanted a tortilla. I LIKE the tortillas. I don't eat bowls instead because I like the flavor, I do it for my health, and so I decided to "celebrate." Now, had I known that the freaking tortilla was 300 calories (Actually, its 290, but who cares) I might have thought differently. My burrito, by itself, with no sour cream (don't like it) or cheese (don't like it) or guacamole (don't like it) was around 850 calories. Yikes.

Dessert--Two pieces of whole wheat toast, two tablespoons of Nutella, and banana slices. It was a splurge, it was amazing, I'd do it again.

I kind of wonder what the scale will say when I get home. I've eaten kind of well (haven't I?) and exercised some and I still feel like I've gained weight. It'll be like a fun, horrible, nerve-wracking game!

Here's to the last night of my sister being a Henderson. I'm glad she's happy, I'm glad she's in love, and I look forward to many years of her being a King!

Day 68--Calm Before The Storm

2011-03-18T21:00:00.000-06:00

And so it begins. Tomorrow we have rehearsal, rehearsal lunch, and then something called a centerpiece party that I hope above hope that I'm not invited to. Today Abby came to town (finally) and we started putting the finishing touches on everything for the weekend. I'm excited about it all, but more excited that Jenna gets to be happy and the center of attention for a couple of days. She deserves it.

I accidentally slept in again today, but at least I figured out why. The alarm that I set (which hasn't gone off. Twice.) was apparently set on silent. Why in the world an alarm even has that ability, I have no clue. Silent alarms seem a lot like turning the alarm off. So anyways, hopefully tomorrow I can get up a bit earlier and throw my schedule back on track.

Breakfast--Went with the peach Fage 2% with honey, and I gotta admit...it was pretty good. Cherry is still my favorite, because I'm partial to cherries, but I like the peach too. Nice to have options. I also threw down another one of my mother's incredible blueberry muffins because, well, they're incredible. You couldn't resist either...don't judge.

Exercise--Twenty minutes on the treadmill with a variety of running, walking, inclines...it was solid. I also did minor weight work with my little twenty pound free weight. Not bad for a makeshift workout.

Lunch--Sandwiches. Two sandwiches, on whole wheat bread, with peppered turkey, lettuce, and a single pickle stacker. It was a great, filling lunch and fairly healthy I believe.

Snack--Green tea. I realize this isn't a food item, but since I did the whole "I'm only drinking water" thing over a week ago I decided to splurge with a little flavor.

Dinner--Snuffers, a burger joint in Dallas. Snuffers is known for two things: its burgers and its cheese fries. Neither are healthy, so both are problematic. I behaved and didn't get a burger, and I don't like cheese so I avoided the fries. I ended up getting the marinated grilled chicken strips and regular fries, which have some spicy salt mixture on them. This is also where I plug my new blog, epicureanepiphany.blogspot.com, which I conveniently wrote on salt today. Check it out and comment! Anyways, dinner was delicious, and my mom got the same thing so I ended up cleaning up hers too. And yes, I had water.

Dessert--A pink lady apple with a tablespoon of Nutella. It was AWESOME.

Not a bad day, and tomorrow could get really weird, so I better enjoy the healthy stuff while I can. Check back in for rehearsal news!

Day 67--Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

2011-03-17T20:32:00.000-06:00

Thirty-two years ago today my mom and dad got hitched in Abilene, Texas. Three days from now my sister and Seth will be getting hitched in McKinney, Texas. Love is in the air...every time I look around...

Breakfast--Before the food, let me say that sleeping in a king sized bed alone after being used to a queen with a co-occupant is WEIRD. I haven't slept very well, and I've had a horrid time even getting to sleep in the first place. Due to those complications, I've been sleeping in much later than usual, so today didn't start until closer to 10 am. When I finally got my butt downstairs, I had Cherry Fage 2% with honey and a single homemade blueberry muffin. They were both delicious, but again--there ain't no cooking like momma's cooking. I heart those muffins.

Lunch--Chick fila, an apparent genetic weakness. I had a spicy chicken sandwich with a large fruit cup and one of Jenna's fries that I took from her. It's just a great meal from start to finish.

Snack--Mango Chobani 2% with honey. I was working on my metabolism because I knew that for tonight's meal, we would be celebrating. And celebrate we did!

Dinner--We had a nice dinner at Cadot, a French restaurant in Dallas named after its acclaimed chef/owner Jean-Marie Cadot. It was definitely a typical European meal: slow, luxurious, and consisting of multiple courses. I had a Bibb lettuce salad with candied pecans, Granny Smith apples, and a mustard vinaigrette that was absolutely amazing as well as roasted duck with an orange/ginger sauce that came with roasted fingerling potatoes, green beans, and acorn squash. The duck was cooked perfectly, the vegetables were incredible, and the sauce was almost good enough to soak up with bread. While I really like roasted duck, there is usually a layer of fat on the outside of the breast meat that can be a bit troublesome if it doesn't all melt away. I only had to trim a couple of pieces, so well done M. Cadot.

Dessert--I eschewed the menu options for dessert--none of which tickled my fancy--for some chocolate kettle corn, and it was definitely worth it.

All in all, not a horrendous eating day, and I got my car serviced and Jenna picked up my tux. We ran a lot of errands, but that means I didn't have/take the time to exercise. Hopefully tomorrow will be better...

Also, I started another blog solely dedicated to food. It won't have theological ramblings, nor is it necessarily diet related. Check it out at epicureanepiphany.blogspot.com. And yeah, I like alliteration.

Day 66--Eating in Plano! Oh no...

2011-03-16T19:15:00.000-06:00

I should not be allowed to stand in a high-end supermarket and just think about meals. Baaaad things happen.

Breakfast--Two pieces of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana slices. Bar none, the healthiest thing I ate all day.

Lunch--There's this awesome deli near my dad's office named Mr. G's that we used to go to all the time when I was in high school, so when we went to have lunch with my dad we decided to go there. I had an awesome tuna salad sandwich on wheat bread with barbecue Baked Lays. It was great, but tuna salad (at least the pre-made kind...homemade is different) isn't really the healthiest option, even if it was delicious.

Snack--Fiber One bar. I have to do something to offset what's about to happen.

Dinner--This afternoon I got my hair did for the wedding (so I look less shaggy) and then went with my mom to Market Street to get some stuff for dinner. We settled upon Shrimp Fra Diavolo, which consisted of shrimp, zucchini, roasted broccoli, my pasta sauce with spinach, and whole wheat thin spaghetti with some garlic, red pepper flakes. It was incredible! I mean, I enjoy cooking for people, but its nice when those other people actually enjoy the food too, unlike some of my disastrous meals.

Dessert--...And here is the problem. While standing in the produce section, thinking about dessert (commanded by Jenna. When the bride wants sugar, you give the bride sugar), looking at strawberries, my mom uttered the fateful words: "Market Street has really good pound cake." It went downhill from there. We had strawberry pound cake that my mom turned into french toast, then I sprinkled it with sugar and bruleed it, THEN we made chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and macerated strawberries on top. When the longest paragraph I write on this blog is about dessert, the day has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Hopefully there will be exercise later (after I digest for an hour. Or three.) to counteract the calorie bomb from today, but I will admit...it was amazing food. Potentially worth it, assuming my tux still fits.

Also, I miss my wife. Come to Plano Abby!

Day 65--Plano!

2011-03-15T19:55:00.000-06:00

I'm home! Abby had boards starting this morning, so I rolled out of bed bright and early to make her breakfast (a fried egg and steel cut oats) and then rather than getting ready and heading to Dallas, I immediately fell back asleep. See, I suffer from a severe case of stress-induced insomnia, and between the wedding, boards, school, and life in general, last night was a doozy. I didn't go to sleep until about 2 am, which made getting up at 5:30 really bad.

Needless to say, I'm glad to be home. Gonna be a great Spring Break.

Breakfast--Cherry Fage 2% yogurt with honey. Yep...that was it. It gets worse as the day goes on, then gets better!

Lunch--Fiber One bar, and a singular mini caramel Cadbury egg. In my defense, I was driving at the time and didn't feel like stopping to grab food. I wanted to be home.

Snack--About a cup and a half of chocolate drizzled kettle corn.

Dinner--Mexican pot roast. I really really like being home. We had pot roast, crudite (carrot and celery sticks...fancy terms help), black-eyed peas, and cornbread. It was delicious, and the only decent meal I had all day. It would have been the best meal regardless, but it was nice to eat real food.

Exercise--I walked/ran on the treadmill at home for 15 minutes and burned off one of my meals (either breakfast or lunch), followed by some minor weight work. Felt good, especially with the lack of sleep and the fact I've been painfully sore the last few days from stress and poor sleeping habits. It's also nice to get some work in at home.

Metabolic

2011-03-15T15:49:00.000-06:00

Experienced a really weird phenomenon over the last couple of weeks while working out. Sometimes I'll get on the treadmill or bike and my heart rate will immediately jump to where it needs to be, stay there, and everything is kosher. Other times, I'll get on and it just won't pick up at all, no matter how hard I bike, fast I run, the incline...it feels like running through mud because my body won't respond. Still other times, I'll start running and it will instantly ramp up past where I need it to be and no matter what I do (short of stopping) it won't settle down, which is a very uncomfortable feeling. Its like my resting heart rate, which should be pretty constant, fluctuates from day to day.

To give a frame of reference, Lance Armstrong is famous for having a resting heart rate (RHR) of 32 beats per minute. That means his heart beat every two seconds, which I'm sure felt incredibly weird. My RHR is substantially higher because I'm not a world-class cyclist capable of climbing mountains in France for fun. My RHR is NOT, however, around 140, which is what the machines at our gym keep trying to tell me sometimes. That would be really REALLY bad for my health.

I think we have a spiritual RHR as well. When we're "in shape" like Lance, it takes more to get us really excited and fired up. It's during these times that we either work even harder and experience our greatest times of growth, or we rest on our laurels, lose our conditioning, and end up sliding back into bad habits. When we have those bad habits, we are awakened more easily by God and we experience the endorphins (like seeing a beautiful girl, riding a rollercoaster, watching a thrilling movie, etc), the rush, of finding Him again and our spiritual heart rate increases dramatically.

I listened to a Matt Chandler podcast today on my way to Plano that talked about studying Scripture and how important it is. As I remake my body, and talk about remaking my spirituality as well, it occurred to me that I need to work out my soul as I work out my body. I need to be so in shape that it takes hard work to get me really spiritually fired up, and then I need to put forth that work. Just because Lance was in shape doesn't mean he didn't work hard or feel the burn in the Pyrenees, and just because I know the Word of God doesn't mean there won't be things that stir my soul and awaken the fire in me. I just need to make sure that I'm taking care of my body, inside and out.

"My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." Psalm 84:2

Ignition

2011-03-15T00:20:00.001-06:00

For the six of you that read my blog, you may have noticed some design changes. What started out as a place where I could lay down my thoughts has obviously evolved into a tool to help craft a new me, and so the "Internal Ignition" moniker has undergone a change as well.

Originally, I used that phrase to talk about God being a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24) and how we need to be consumed from the inside out. What starts as a spark can turn into a great conflagration, especially when that spark is undeniably Divine in nature. The interesting thing is, even with a shift in focus, the idea of ignition still holds true. This is oversimplifying things greatly, but my goal through dieting and exercise is to restart my metabolism--to get my natural rhythms burning hotter than they usually do; in essence, internal ignition.

For some reason, when I got to college, my usually trusty internal motor just stopped. I went from weighing 160 lbs all throughout high school, regardless of what I ate or how much, to almost 250 by the time I started losing weight in early January. I don't look the same, I don't feel the same, and I routinely get quizzical looks at airports when security officials compare my current visage to that of my drivers license, taken my senior year of high school.

This happens in our spiritual lives as well. We burn and burn and burn, lighting the way for others, acting as a "city on a hill," and (depending on the quality of your Sunday schooling) telling others that we will never hide our lights under a bushel. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, either consider yourself lucky or mourn that you missed out entirely. The jury is still out.) Then, seemingly, one day the fire just dies. We can't do what we used to do, we can't pour ourselves out anymore, we just can't...ignite. Whether we like it or not, we have a spiritual metabolism. That's why we experience things like spiritual highs and lows. When we run out of fuel/stop caring for ourselves the fire goes out, and that's a huge problem.

I'm sure the similarities can be stretched out (the quality of fuel we're using, new friends, new habits, new pressures and stressors, etc) but the point is, most of us at some time in our lives find ourselves craving a new spark. It's not uncommon that I find myself staring in the mirror, looking for some signs of change I can hang my hat on as I fight, checking the numbers, chalking up moral victories along the way, and constantly reminding myself that its a marathon, not a sprint. What is uncommon is that those exercises can be applied to my spiritual AND physical lives. We can't neglect one and feed the other anymore than we can let our physical or spiritual selves waste away and stay whole. I hope I can work as hard reigniting my fire for my Creator as I do trying to get my stupid metabolism restarted.

Here's to letting God consume me in every way possible, and for a rededicated internal ignition.

Day 64--The Day Before the Chaos

2011-03-14T18:51:00.000-06:00

Well, tomorrow begins boards for Abby, my trek to Dallas for Jenna's wedding...in short, chaos all over the place. Or as some idioms would have it, out of the frying pan and into the fire. The one good part, other than getting to see my family and going to Dallas, is that tonight I had the honor and privilege of cooking Abby's last meal. That may sound a little morbid, but I'm game for any excuse to bust out the tools and have fun with food.

Today was a pretty solid start to Spring Break. Slept in until about 10, had lunch with some of the Sugar Grove guys, lazed around, cooked a wonderful meal, and tonight I'm packing up for my journey tomorrow. I can't complain!

Breakfast--Eggs and toast, which sounds really simple, except in this case the toast was a toastwich with Justin's Chocolate Peanut Butter. I'd guess about two tablespoons, and it was definitely filling. So a toastwich and two eggs for a great breaking of the fast.

Lunch--Went to Wings and Things. I have to admit...I still like Buffalo Wild Wings better. It's more expensive, the service is usually crappier, but I'm a big fan of good food, and the wing flavors, fries, etc. are better at BWW. That doesn't mean that lunch today was bad though. Great company and decent food makes for a great afternoon. I had two chicken fingers and 3 lemon pepper wings with some fries and water. Chalk up two more dollars for Blood:Water!

Dinner--Here's where things get goooooood. Abby requested pork chops and mashed potatoes, so that's what we had. I seared off a butterflied pork chop, then oven roasted it to perfection along with some broccolini. I also made mashed red potatoes. The key was the sauce...oh the glorious sauce. After removing the pork chop from the pan, I added two garlic cloves, half a red onion, and half a green apple as well as 5-6 sage leaves. After I caramelized them, I added some pure apple juice and apple cider vinegar, cooked it down, scraped the bottom of the pan, and ended up with this great pan sauce that was good on the pork, on the potatoes, on the broccolini...I think it'd be good on cardboard.

Dessert--Perfect capper to a great meal. I sauteed some bananas and made caramel all around them, then added blood orange juice and let it all turn into a sticky, sweet, tangy, gooey mess. That, dumped on top of Dulce de leche ice cream, is a great way to end a wonderful day of food.

That being said...I'm excited about eating Mom cooking. She puts me to shame on her worst days; I humbly (and hungrily) bow to the master.

Day 63--Attack of the Pizookie

2011-03-13T20:34:00.000-06:00

Daylight Savings Time is the ultimate double-edged sword: in the fall, gaining an hour is amazing, but in the spring, losing an hour? Death. Needless to say, today was the spring version, and I woke up feeling that something had gone horribly wrong. This is Spring Break, but we're getting up around the same time I usually get up for school? Wrong on so many levels...and the oatmeal promise from yesterday didn't happen.

Church today was great. I really felt like class went well; potentially the best Sunday class I've done this year. Unfortunately, there were 5 kids there, due to Spring Break. I hope those five really enjoyed it, because I definitely did!

Breakfast--Abby made cinnamon rolls this morning, and I was determined to not eat any...and then I stepped out of the shower and smelled them. I had two small cinnamon rolls, no icing (300 calories), a Fiber One bar to help them go down, and then pineapple Chobani 2% yogurt with honey. The pineapple was a fail...the rest of the meal was great. So for once, my problem with the greek yogurt wasn't the yogurt, but the fruit additives! I think I'm becoming a GY snob... In my defense for the upcoming meal, our original plan was to have sandwiches for lunch. Something light and fibrous. Not what happened...

Lunch--Caution: If you are emotionally invested in my weight loss journey, skip to dinner. Just do it. Don't ask questions, don't skim, just move along. Have you stopped reading? Good. Now, to everyone else, we went to BJ's Brewhouse with my friend Philip Murtaugh and his family. Philip just moved to Houston and came to Sugar Grove this morning, so we decided to hang out afterwards. I had pulled pork sliders with crispy onion strings for my meal, and then Abby and I split the pizookie trio. For those who don't know what a pizookie is, its a cookie, baked in a small deep-dish pizza pan (hence the name) until its a bit crispy on top but usually not cooked all the way through, topped with ice cream. It was AMAZING. I had cookies and cream (made with Oreo crumbles in the cookie batter) and chocolate Ghiradelli ice cream. I'm sure it was just as disastrous for my health as it sounds. At least I drank water?

Dinner--I made a great little noodle dish with Asian flavors. I think the thing that I'm the most proud of in my cooking repertoire is that I can take some stuff from the fridge and turn it into a decent meal. For this round, I took some whole wheat thin spaghetti and added sauteed orange bell peppers, broccolini, snow peas, garlic and ginger, then wok-fried it all with some soy sauce, some spicy ginger stir-fry sauce, and a splash of rice wine vinegar. It was just as amazing as it sounds...I hope I can recreate it!

Dessert--Cherry 2% Fage yogurt with honey. I'm an addict.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a detox day, but its also Abby's last day before boards so we're planning a celebration supper tomorrow night, assuming she holds up her end of the bargain and gives me a menu. I'm pretty excited about it!

Day 62--The Final Countdown

2011-03-12T21:36:00.000-06:00

Well, its almost upon us: the Henderson family loses a namesake in a week. Jenna's wedding, the impetus for this particular endeavor, is next Sunday the 20th (throw up a prayer or three for us then!) and I know she's ready to get the show on the road. My goal for this Spring Break is to make sure I don't gain all the weight back that I've lost. In fact, it'd be a glorious achievement if I somehow had to get my tux resized next week (as long, of course, as it doesn't screw any of the carefully made plans. In fact, we never had this conversation. Knock on any wood near you. Twice.) and I could see some actual physical proof of the effort I've extended. I'm also pulling my whole "don't shave for a long time" trick again. It's all about the motivation and the mental tricks.

Breakfast--I made eggs and bacon for me (to celebrate SB2011) and for Abby (study brain food). Four strips of all natural bacon (more on that in a second) and 5 eggs. I ate three eggs and 2 strips of bacon rolled up in a toasted piece of whole wheat naan--my last piece of whole wheat naan. Sadness. As for the "all-natural" bacon...what the crap is NOT all-natural bacon?! Have I been eating that particular product? Robo-pigs? I mean...seriously. Perhaps they just call it all natural now to go with the new organic phase, but if it is truly a new style of bacon, I'm disturbed on many levels.

Exercise--25 minutes on the treadmill. Some jogging, some incline, but the key is that my heart rate stayed where it needed to be. Afterwards I did some minor weight work, but honestly, I just wasn't feeling it today. Usually I'm all about the weights and the cardio drives me nuts, but today it was switched. Who knows what happened.

Lunch--Leftover fried rice and Putt Woon-Sen from last night. It was just as good the second time around, and more importantly, just as filling.

Snack--We took a little trip to Randall's so that I could stock up on Greek yogurt. I go full out when I find good healthy food products. More cherry, a couple more mango, and I even talked Abby into grabbing a couple to give them a try. I had a cherry Fage, 2%, with honey, and it was really really good. I'm still not sure how I feel about a food product that I have to completely doctor to eat, but its good for me so I won't ask questions.

Dinner--Chick fila. After weighing nutrition options between Wendy's and Chick fila, I went healthy (even if I really wanted a Frosty) and stuck to my Spicy Chicken Sandwich and large fruit cup. This time I added some jalapeno chips on the side for crunch and salt and I was very satisfied.

Tomorrow, church but no Life Groups for Spring Break. I'm also potentially getting a watch (grown-up maneuver) and a new pillow (needed maneuver...the old pillow is dead or dying) when we pick up Abby's new toy from the mall. I'm feeling oatmeal in the morning...

Day 61--Spring Break Begins!

2011-03-11T22:20:00.000-06:00

Nine days off. NINE! I'm pretty stoked about this prospect. It's not that I don't love my students, but sleeping and seeing my family sounds really REALLY good right now. Today was test day, so it was pretty low-key from a teaching standpoint. The sad thing is that while my Spring Break is beginning, Abby's is ending. I wish we could have spent more time together on the days off, but we've got plenty of years to do that.

I have a small confession to make: I can't seem to get Greek yogurt out of my system. Every time I read anything about healthy eating, freaking Greek yogurt comes up. So, once again (in an effort to keep the sugar down from yesterday's post) I bit the bullet and tried it again. I took the advice of one of my students, Andrew Dunlap, and tried 2% yogurt as opposed to the straight up nonfat (added a bit of cream to the mix) and then I added honey to the still funky mixture. The result? Delicious. I'm a convert.

Breakfast--Toastwich. Went with the higher quality ingredients, including Fredricksburg Farms peach preserves, and it made a big difference. Amazing little toastwich. I also had the potentially last cup of Yoplait I'll ever have; cherry pomegranate. (Side note: This is a lie. There is a Cherry Orchard Yoplait sitting in the fridge and I will devour it with much relish.)

Snack--Fiber One bar. Number one choice of those wanting to lose some weight because its delicious and nutritious.

Lunch--Peanut butter sandwich. All natural peanut butter, peach mango preserves, and two slices of whole wheat bread. Coupled with about 12-15 jalapeno chips and a single 40 cal package of gummy bears, it was a stupendous (working on the vocab) lunch.

Snack--Cherry Fage Greek yogurt, 2%. With a teaspoon of honey, it made a great snack, which I never thought I'd say. Props to those who badgered me into trying it again.

Dinner--We tried a new restaurant, Nit Noi. It's a Thai place really close to our apartment that we found on a recommendation from Casey Burton. I got the Putt Woon-Sen with chicken, ginger fried rice with thai basil, and then Abby got regular fried rice with chicken. A) It was a great meal...I really like Thai food. B) It wasn't terribly expensive, at least given the portion sizes. C) The portion sizes means we have at least one more meal in the fridge, and probably two. That makes it a great deal all-around.

Dessert--Chobani Mango Greek yogurt, again 2%, and again with honey. See? Converted.

It may seem counter-intuitive that adding honey to yogurt would make it have less sugar, but for around the same dose of sugar (still probably less...its not exact) there's almost twice as much protein, and its the slow-acting kind that allows you to feel fuller. I'm a fan now, and will be purchasing more tomorrow.

Bring on the break!

Day 60--The Two Month Itch

2011-03-10T21:43:00.000-06:00

Well, I've hit a pretty solid lull. In fact, I'm not sure it qualifies as a lull because I'm pretty sure I'm gaining weight somehow. I don't know if its lack of exercise (even though I haven't exercised consistently yet...) or the fact we've been eating really well recently (cheap is better? That doesn't make sense) or stress (possible...Spring Break will help this one) or some unknown problem. I felt really good about my progress for a while and now I feel slightly frustrated. The water for Lent thing should help, as should having some time off for SB where I can work out and regulate some things. I'm just a bit frustrated, which feels bad this early in a lifelong process.

Breakfast--Toastwich with peanut butter and peach preserves. I'm hesitant to use my good jellies and preserves on these types of applications because I know the peanut butter will overwhelm the taste, but I rarely eat jelly on toast by itself because the peanut butter is so filling/satisfying. So maybe I should just suck it up and try it soon and see what happens. I know better ingredients=better health, but I'm still figuring out exactly what that means for simpler meals.

Snack--Fiber One bar. I'm glad to have those back. This wasn't a hunger/sustaining issue so much as attempting to keep my metabolism going.

Lunch--Chick fila from the awesome wife! Spicy chicken sandwich and a large fruit cup, which was probably more sugar than I really needed, but it helped me get through the day. As did the cookies I didn't plan on eating, but then they had extras in the teachers' lounge that I almost never go in but did today. Westbury is out to fatten me up.

Dinner--Barbecue! We got a half-pound of bbq turkey from the local Brisket Barbecue place (which is overpriced btw...probably won't be partaking again) and I baked a couple of potatoes. I also sauteed a zucchini, some broccolini, and a quarter of an incredibly beautiful orange bell pepper with garlic, salt, and pepper as a side. That meal, coupled with Corky's BBQ sauce from Memphis (courtesy of my sister), was some of the best food I've had in a good long while (at least since the tuna...so a couple of days. We eat good food!) and ended a very nice Thursday.

Dessert--Popped the juice of one of my blood oranges with a sprinkling of sugar into a saucepan and made a great sauce to go over 1/2 cup of mango sorbet. It was really REALLY good.

Perhaps my problem is sugar intake. Between the fruit, the sorbet, the gummy bears, the palmful of jellybeans and the various other sources of sugar (cookies, dried fruit, Fiber One bars, jelly) that I've been eating recently, I can see how that would be a problem. I'll try to avoid it for a couple of days and see what happens!

Day 59--Lessons Learned

2011-03-09T21:34:00.000-06:00

There are a bunch of rules I'm slowly figuring out as I make this journey towards defatification (look it up...its not a real word) and better overall health. Here are the big three so far:

1) Drink water. Not as in "make sure you get your 8 glasses of water a day" so that you constantly feel like a walking waterbed, but as in "man, water is so much healthier than ANYTHING else." Days I drink only agua I feel so much better than days I change it up, even for some juice or a small soda. That being said, for Lent I officially committed to give up everything but water and donate the savings to help Africa get clean water: www.bloodwatermission.com Check it.

2) In order to lose weight properly, buy a box of plastic spoons--the bigger the better. This one may seem weird, but bear with me. Some of the best things you can possibly eat to lose weight: yogurt (spoon), oatmeal (spoon), brothy soups (spoon), high-fiber/low-sugar granola (spoon)...you get the point. Also, as I've started cooking healthier, its IMPERATIVE to try out what you're making as you're making it. Taste as you go and season properly. Salt, pepper, vinegars, spices, and herbs usually have zero calories and can make anything taste delicious. In fact, there will be more on that phenomenon later on when discussing dinner.

3) Lots of small meals, not three smaller meals. Made that mistake today...breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all great, but not overly satisfying because I ramped up my metabolism and then never sated it. Silly metabolism...I've missed you.

Breakfast--Cinnamon Swirl oatmeal with dried cherries (spoon). The more fiber and protein you start the day with, the fuller you feel as you go along. Bueno.

Lunch--Today was pulled pork day, and to be honest...I just couldn't do it. The longer this year goes on, the more frustrated I become with our supposedly healthy lunches. Potato chips, fried vegetable cakes with what appeared to be sour cream sauce all over them, vegetables sauteed/swimming in oil, and then what is advertised as pulled pork but really resembles, well, nothing porcine. Spring break will be good for my palate, if not my waistline. Instead of taking the plunge with the sandwiches, I had a salad of lettuce, cucumbers, red and green peppers, and my trusty Thai Chile tuna. It was good, and I only used four crackers this time to clean it up! Success.

Dinner--I made stir-fry tonight. Usually the stir-fry goes one of two ways: mushy and completely overcooked or completely over-sauced. There has been no in between...until tonight. I threw my last fresno chile (tear), some ginger, broccoli, snow peas, and a pork chop into the trusty wok and then added some sesame oil, reduced sodium soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and (wait for it...) peach preserves to the concoction at the end for a sauce. A pinch of cornstarch and BAM--excellent stir-fry over brown rice! Tasting as I went with the sauce really helped because I knew at the end I needed some sweetness, and the jelly and peaches just dissolved into the overall sauce. It was a great meal...except I made it so much with previous failures in mind that I didn't make enough! Usually the whole thing is so heavy from sauces and other failures that we can't eat it all. Tonight? Scraped the wok. Oh well.

Second Dinner/Dessert--I had a piece of whole wheat toast with Justin's Chocolate Peanut Butter on it. Seriously...if you haven't found some yet, do it now. It's sweet, its chocolatey, its salty, its got protein, some good fats in it...and for a relatively large amount it has the same calories as the store-bought overly processed stuff. I'm a huge fan.

So tomorrow I'm concentrating on more, smaller meals. Apparently oatmeal, salad, and vegetables and rice won't hack it. Duly noted...maybe that's rule four?

Day 58--Hey Cody Glenn. This is a Food Blog. (Usually.)

2011-03-08T21:03:00.000-06:00

So now you know.

While Mondays are an eternal, swirling void of suckitude, apparently Tuesdays aren't that bad. In fact, I'd say this one was actually really freaking good. My good friend Jason Toy was nice enough to come do chapel for us at Westbury, and he literally brought the truth. It's a message I try to share with my students as often as I think about it, but it bears repeating even more than that: don't take truth for granted. Do the leg work, do the research, and figure it out for yourself! That's part of what I love about cooking...its so much trial and error even above and beyond recipes. We just so often get stuck in the rut of absorbing information, ingesting it, and then regurgitating without actually thinking. Not a good habit, especially where our salvation is concerned. So thanks JToy for the message...you really did bring the truth.

Breakfast--Toastwich with two tablespoons of Justin's Chocolate Peanut Butter. One a side note, I found out the other day that the company my new favorite source of protein comes from is called Justin's Nut Butter. Really Justin? Really?

Snack--I held off on the snacks today because I knew what was coming for lunch. Planning ahead is huge, especially when you're trying to be less huge. Its a great tip, regardless of what I'm about to describe for lunch.

Lunch--Popeye's. Stop judging me. For our campus ministry team meeting we went the variety route and got some good, spicy fried chicken, biscuits, and fried apple pies. In my defense, I didn't eat the biscuits...but I did have two legs, a breast, and two (DON'T JUDGE ME) fried apple pies. I was hungry, and also knew that dinner was going to be relatively small.

Dinner--Leftovers! I polished off the last of my Subway from yesterday's lunch. So a 6-inch sub, and then some of my Food Should Taste Good jalapeno chips, which I still can't recommend enough. They're incredible chips.

In beverage news, tomorrow starts Lent. I'm partnering with Blood:Water Mission to give up all drinks except water for Lent. I'm also working with World Vision ACT:S for relentless acts of justice, but this is a food blog. Join with me to give up drinks, be a little healthier, and help some people in need of clean water that we take for granted! Final Dr. Pepper was tonight...done it before, and I'll do it again.

Day 57--JELLYBEANS!

2011-03-07T19:46:00.001-06:00

Easter candy might kill me. It's not that I don't possess any willpower...actually, yes it is. Freaking jellybeans.

Breakfast--Cinnamon swirl oatmeal. I decided it was important to start the day off with some fiber, but I may have gone a little overkill on this one.

Snack--Apricot granola bar. Although I guess technically its an apricot muesli bar, courtesy of Carman's again. They're good, but so painfully dense.

Lunch--My spectacular wife brought me Subway. I got a footlong turkey on wheat with bacon, lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, jalapenos, and black pepper, with Sun Chips and a Dr. Pepper. Weird thing was, I only ate half of it! There's a change...especially since I ate a whole one like a week ago. Bizarre isn't it.

Dinner--Cheap's the word. We had some jambalaya rice mix with pinto beans and cornbread. Probably not the healthiest of all meals, but it cost about 3 dollars for the whole thing and it was really REALLY good. I also figure we've worked out a lot recently so my body could use some solid food.

Dessert--Stupid jellybeans.

Short post, because honestly? It was Monday. Monday's should be forgotten.

Day 56--Eight Weeks of Work

2011-03-06T19:56:00.003-06:00

I'm having a bit of a wardrobe problem. Shirts that I couldn't tastefully wear eight weeks ago now fit relatively well, but the pants I've had (my jeans, old pairs of khakis, etc) are starting to sag a bit. And by a bit, I mean a lot. Not going to lie though...wonderful problem to have.

Breakfast--It was imperative that we started the day correctly, so we went with the Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats. I added brown sugar and almonds to mine, although after loading it up I remembered my peanut butter trick. So that sucked. The oatmeal, however, was incredible and very filling. I also threw down a mango. I love mangos...no frills, just cut it in half and enjoy. Best fruit by my estimation...maybe even more than cherries (probably not though). That's saying a LOT.

Lunch--PF Changs after church. However, it was really an absolute disaster. We went for the wonton soup, but ended up that everything BUT the wonton soup was really good. I had a side of Sichuan Asparagus, half of an order of Chicken Fried Rice and one bowl of the soup. We ate all the wontons, but the broth...there was funk in the broth. It's fitting that we're talking about Elisha in my OT class tomorrow, because a bunch of his miracles involve him fixing either water or soup. Could have used him today.

Snack--My last plum and a 100 calorie sandwich thin with some Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut butter. It was wonderful, and gave me the energy for working out. I will say though...for chocolate hazelnut, Nutella is better and the caloric difference is worth the better taste.

Exercise--I walked/ran on an incline for 20 minutes, then lifted some weights to try to work some soreness out and balance out yesterday. It felt goooood. And, I got to listen to some of Mark Goodacre's podcasts. He's incredible, and has some pretty cool ideas about NT theology. You should check him out--NTPod Podcast. Do it.

Dinner--I made whole wheat rotini pasta with roasted broccoli and pasta sauce. The sauce was comprised of tomatoes, garlic, a diced fresno chili, some salt, pepper, and sugar. The whole meal was amazing!

Dessert--I think I'm going to have 1/2 cup mango sorbet with another one of my mangoes...they're just so good!

Last week before Spring Break starts tomorrow. The good news is that Abby might bring me lunch some this week. The bad news? I still have to go to work. Oh well...can't win them all!

Day 55--Freaking Robert Burns

2011-03-05T21:35:00.001-06:00

So I had planned to head to the Farmers' Market this morning to grab some Fusion Taco and some produce. Of course, Fusion Taco informed me last night that they wouldn't be at the Farmers' Market, and then this morning it was randomly cold and rainy. Plans aborted. The best laid plans of mice and men...

I will say though, the day wasn't a total waste. In fact, I'm a big fan of three day weekends, if only because I eat REALLY well. Evidence of this is forthcoming.

Breakfast--Dunkin' Donuts baby! I had one chocolate kreme (yeah...that's how they spell it. I think it adds 200 calories with the "k" but whatever) donut. Originally I bought two, but I couldn't actually eat more than one. My stomach is shrinking to normal proportions! Huzzah!

First Lunch--Yeah, its one of those days. I made a VERY successful and therapeutic trip to Central Market, where I sadly used the last of my gift card from my birthday. It made it three whole weeks...c'est la vie. While there, I picked up some amazing quinoa salad and some sushi for lunch, as well as some other goodies. My lunch was a shrimp fusion roll that involved rice paper, shrimp, imitation crab (I know...), lettuce, celery, and carrot. They were delicious. The quinoa salad involved black quinoa, mango, mandarin oranges, cabbage, carrot, orange juice, rice wine vinegar, and some ginger. It was AMAZING, and its not the last time we see that particular food product today.

Second Lunch--The problem with sushi is that it just isn't that filling. When Abby got home from studying, we went to Chick Fila, and I had an 8-count nugget, fries, and a lemonade. I think it was decently justified because...

Exercise--We hit the gym. Oh yeah. I walked/ran for 15 minutes, then lifted a bunch of weights. I'd say my heart rate was properly elevated for at least 45 minutes, which felt great. I need to do that way more often.

Dinner--Here's the good stuff. While walking around CM, I ran into the most amazing tuna steak. I just couldn't resist. So we had a salad of locally grown spinach on which I put more of the quinoa salad, blood orange segments (I freaking LOVE blood oranges, look how amazing they are with the multi-colored goodness), and seared tuna seasoned with salt, pepper, and sesame seeds. To dress it, I took the juice of two blood oranges, about a quarter cup of soy sauce, some salt, pepper, and a quarter cup of mango-peach jam I bought today. Reduced it down, and BAM--deliciousness in salad dressing form. The entire meal was incredible...so incredible that I ripped off Nathan MacDonald and took a picture of it. Enjoy the sensory delight, although I'm sorry you couldn't taste it.

Dessert--The second one of my kreme donuts from earlier. They're probably horrible for me, but they're fantastic donuts. I love them very much, and wish they were low-cal. Oh well.

Tomorrow, we've got church and then prepping for the last week before Spring Break. Friday, come soon!

Day 54--Happy State Basketball Finals Day

2011-03-04T20:47:00.000-06:00

So apparently a couple of years ago at Westbury, after a two year hiatus, the basketball teams (boys and girls) made it to state. The semifinal games are always on Friday and the championship game on Saturday. When the teams made it to the Final Four, there was a mass exodus from school: teachers, coaches, players, cheerleaders, students, EVERYONE. Made it a ghost town. Since then, they've made sure that the Friday of state has been a day off from school. Due to this lovely fortune, I didn't have work today. Unfortunately, I used that opportunity to go to the doctor, just like when I was in elementary school.

My visit to the optometrist went well. New glasses, new contacts, a tongue-lashing from the attending...a pleasant day at the office, even if it was Abby's office.

Breakfast--Cinnamon swirl oatmeal. No fruit. Last time was a mess.

Lunch--Chili's! My wonderful grandparents gave me a gift card for my birthday, so Abby and I celebrated a Friday where we could actually spend time together. We did the two for twenty deal, so we split the crispy onion and jalapeno stack for an appetizer (only ate a third of it) and then I had the Margarita Chicken. It was still 600 calories, but it could have been much, much worse.

Dinner--Jimmy John's. I went with the turkey and ham instead of bacon, lettuce, cucumber, oregano, and I only ate one slice of bread. I had some jalapeno and some sweet potato chips to go with it.

Dessert--Gummy Bears. I had a really unhealthy fascination with Gummy Bears, especially the Haribo kind. Four mini packs equals 150 calories of fruity, sugary deliciousness.

Farmers' Market in the morning, to grab (hopefully) some strawberries, some mint, and some butter lettuce to make myself an incredible salad with the blood oranges I got last weekend. Of course, I've made plans before that haven't exactly come to fruition. Check back tomorrow for updates!

Day 53--Mismanagement

2011-03-03T20:52:00.000-06:00

Today was one of my favorite days at school--Pep Rally Day. The reason I appreciate these far too infrequent celebrations actually has nothing to with the pep or the rally...I have more school spirit for Westbury than I did for Plano West (my alma mater) but that's not saying much. I have more school spirit for San Dimas High School Football (word on the street is that they rule!) than either. Probably.

No, the reason I love me some Pep Rally Day is that its also Schedule D, or as I like to call it, proof that things could be done better. I have the period after lunch off on Schedule D days, so I get to have an extra long lunch, AND it shows that we can get all 8 classes in by 2:45 without losing much instruction time or having huge schedule issues. Win/win!

Breakfast--High Fiber Cinnamon Swirl oatmeal with freeze dried mangoes. The oatmeal was a winner, the freeze dried mangoes...not so good in the oatmeal. In fact, it was really bad. Mistake!

Snack--Fiber One bar...my last one for this box. RIP Fiber One bars...we hardly knew ye.

Lunch--Cafe Express with the awesomeness that is Megan Gilbert. We had a great time...definitely one of my favorite teachers at WCS. I had a burger with lettuce, onion, pickle, bacon, a small amount of ketchup, and sweet potato fries. It was amazing...I miss good burgers.

Dinner--The moment we've all been waiting for...the Dinner of Awesomeness! I baked a chipotle-lime chicken breast from Central Market, then made smashed potatoes with roasted garlic, and topped it off with sauteed kale. The potatoes were smashed and not mashed because I didn't add any dairy (butter, cream, milk, etc) to the mix, just a whole head of roasted garlic and some salt. They were really good, but even better with the kale mixed in. I crisped up the last of my Farmers' Market bacon, then wilted the kale in the bacon fat, added a splash of cider vinegar and a teaspoon of honey, threw the bacon back in, and stirred to deliciousness. Kale is one of the healthiest greens (or any food for that matter) you can eat, although I'm sure I dampened that a bit with the bacon. It was an amazing meal, and 2 hours later I'm still VERY full. Success, and well worth the wait. Now I just need to buy some more bacon at the Farmers' Market on Saturday!

Three day weekend starts tomorrow...I look forward to having cooked, thought-out meals that I can control and dictate what goes in my body. Access to the gym without migraines will be nice too.

One week until Spring Break! Woohoo!

Day 52--Derailed

2011-03-02T21:15:00.000-06:00

I agree with Bill Simmons, aka The Sports Guy, about weird sports cliches. Why do we say a player needs to get himself "untracked?" Isn't that bad? Don't we want to be on track, on the path, not careening wildly out of control? Isn't this what we are attempting to avoid as athletes? These are the things that preoccupied my mind today because I spent a lot of it in total darkness.

Apparently I'm prone to migraines. This is a recent development, something I'm sure I can chalk up to the crap place that is Houston (add it to the list) and definitely the most debilitating of them all. The kidney stone sucked, and really hurt, but it ultimately avoidable. The sinus infections can be treated. Migraines just cripple me, and with increasing frequency. I ended up teaching three classes today with my eyes closed, spent all of my free time in the darkened faculty bathroom, and then quit a period early because opening my eyes made me want to vomit. Needless to say, I went home, turned off all the lights and took a long, darkened nap. I'm sure it will come back to bite me tonight if/when I can't sleep, but I wouldn't be functioning now if I hadn't done it. My head still hurts, and we're approaching 10 hours. Yippee.

Breakfast--One piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter (the normal kind) and one of Carman's granola bars. Or as I've discovered, they're called muesli bars. Silly Aussies.

Lunch--Hot dog day. Yay... I had a bun with two franks, some steamed cauliflower, and a banana.

Snack--Because I felt I deserved it (a recurring trend...I'm sick and gaining weight as the day goes on) I had some mini gummi bears. I found these awesome little Haribo packages that are like less than 40 calories a pop. I mean, pure sugar, but two or three of them won't kill you, and they made my headache feel slightly better.

Dinner--Here's where it gets depressing. Abby was hungry and I didn't start cooking in time, so my excellent dinner got put on the back burner. We had Wendy's instead, which isn't a horrid consolation prize, but still... I had a spicy chicken sandwich, lettuce only, a large fries, and a large Frosty (again, because I felt I earned it).

Dessert--You are probably saying to yourself, "Wait, dessert? Isn't the Frosty dessert?" And you'd be right. But since I've had such a crap day, I ate the ears off my marshmallow bunny. Vengeful? Probably. Delicious? Certainly.

I'm also eating jellybeans. Not many, but enough. I'm gaining weight as I type. Dangit.

Here's to no head pain, good dinner, and the end of a short week tomorrow. Wish me a better Thursday.

Day 51--Raging Cajun

2011-03-01T21:44:00.000-06:00

I am EXHAUSTED. I can't tell if its because we've watched more movies this week, so I've been sitting more, or if its because in OT we've had some long, detailed stories so I've been talking more. One way or the other, I am worn out, even with naps and decent nights of sleep. I really need to workout tomorrow AND I'm going to be rocking a wonderfully healthy meal for dinner. I like planning meals out early...takes the stress out and it gives me something to look forward to. Double bonus.

Breakfast--One slice of whole wheat toast with Justin's All Natural Chocolate Peanut Butter spread. Two tablespoons is 170 calories and it's amazingly delicious. So delicious, in fact, its not the last time today I ate it. Also threw down some cherry yogurt to really fill out the meal.

Lunch--A sweet potato, some sauteed green beans, and a piece of whole wheat naan with--you guessed it--Justin's spread. Great, great lunch.

Snack--1/3 cup of jellybeans. It was a long time between lunch and dinner...and they're really good. Don't judge!

Dinner--We tried out Boudreaux's, a cajun place near our apartment with our friend Lindsey Willis. It's probably the closest restaurant, as the crow flies, to our humble abode and yet we'd never been there before. I had 12 blackened shrimp, which was way too much but I wasn't sure about portion sizes, and then some really good fries. It wasn't a good meal health-wise, or price-wise, but it was still quality food. However, that's our second new restaurant in three days that we spent too much money on only to figure out that there is a cheaper, and probably better, way to eat there. We live and learn.

Keep your excitement levels down for tomorrow's meal...it's going to be a doozy!

Theory of Relativity

2011-03-01T20:45:00.000-06:00

This is another non-foodie post. Sue me.

Today in my Acts class we discussed Acts 21:1-16. During this particular passage, Paul learns that when he gets to Jerusalem, he's going to be bound hand and foot and taken into custody by the Romans, who frankly don't like him very much. His response to this prophecy is to basically say "Bring it on!" To me though, that's not even the most amazing part of the story.

Paul receives this prophecy while in Tyre, a church he didn't help start. Our class is very Paul-centric (It's called Acts and the Pauline Epistles...) so its really easy to forget he's not the only Christian in the joint. When he greets the brothers in Tyre, my first reaction is always to say "Oh yeah...there are other people telling the world about Christ." It, in essence, breaks down the fourth wall of our reading and we become aware that we are seeing a very, very narrow thread of history.

The most incredible thing that happens to me every time this passage comes up is that not only am I aware of Paul's contemporaries, but I become aware of God's story. He called Paul to this mission, called him to his final show in Rome, and unbelievably calls us to continue the story. It's so easy, so tempting, to read the Bible and think idealistically about how things were, how amazing these heroes of our faith are, and to long for the good ole days, but the story isn't over!

Even though the Bible, as a book, ends in Revelation, God's story and mission keeps trucking along. We are called just as Paul was called. The decisions and actions Paul lived with dictate what we can do today...through very loose logic I could even say that Paul going to Tyre was necessary for me believing in God. God's story predates us, it will outlast us, and it is the eternal, never-ending idea of love. We just get to play a small part in the passion play, exactly like Paul did.

Amazing what a small church in Tyre can make you think about, eh?

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Timothy 1:17

Day 50--Mooooooo...

2011-02-28T20:48:00.000-06:00

Guess what the downfall of dieting is? It's not ice cream, although that is delicious. It's not baked goods, even though I'd love to eat a cake right now. Or an entire pie. It's freaking grazing. When things are portioned, ordered, and set out for me, I eat pretty well. When I leave a bag of jellybeans sitting on the table in front of me while mindlessly watching Unique Eats on the Cooking Channel about farm to table food and restaurants, bad things happen. Like grazing.

On a side note, school is draining. Looooong Monday.

Breakfast--About a quarter of a cup of cherry vanilla granola and an apricot-almond granola bar, courtesy of Carman's brand--It's Australian!

Lunch--Chicken Teriyaki with broccoli, peppers, onions, and snap peas. Not a bad lunch! I finished it off with a cup and a half of the dark chocolate kettle corn. Wunderbar.

Snack--Snickers! Like there was any doubt.

Snack #2--Dang it...I wanted a palmful of jellybeans. Then there weren't any cherry ones, so I kept pouring, and then there was a lot of the orange ones--waaaay too many for a good balance--so by the time I was done there was probably a quarter-cup of jellybeans in my belly.

Dinner--Chipotle! Buy one get one free Chipotle! Woohoo! I had a bowl with rice, black beans, barbacoa, lettuce, corn salsa, hot salsa, and one singular cup of coke. It was nice, although I have to admit for the calories I wish I had gotten a burrito instead of the coke. Live and learn.

Not a horrid day, but not great. I need to cut down on the random mindless jellybeaning and I'm out of Snickers, so that's good. Here's to Tuesday!

Day 49--Seven Weeks, _____ Pounds.

2011-02-27T23:15:00.000-06:00

Well I wasn't going to make it easy for you to find out was I? Got to build up the suspense, something I learned from my incredibly apathetic and potentially stoned Oscar host, James Franco. I mean seriously...he looked so bored it was hard to watch, but watch I did. I also predicted 16 of the 24 awards correctly, which isn't bad considering I actually knew three of the other winners and marked the wrong bubbles. Oh well.

Got a great compliment at church today after I taught the combined youth class. Most of our kids and adults were at SoulLink this weekend, which was an amazing weekend where God definitely made Himself known. Me, Abby, and the 10 kids who didn't/couldn't go enjoyed a bizarre lesson from Numbers, a very underused book of the Bible. While leaving, one of the women at church that helps with the youth stopped me to say A) that she enjoyed my communion thoughts from last week (Bonus!) and B) that she noticed that I had lost a lot of weight. Huzzah!

As of this morning's weigh-in, I've lost over fifteen pounds (15.4 to be exact) in seven weeks, which is pretty amazing. I lost this much weight in about four months the last time I attempted this, so the speed in which its melted off has been humbling and motivating all at the same time.

That being said, I ate relatively badly today, so the fifteen might be back on!

Breakfast--Whole wheat toast, one slice, half peach preserves and half peanut butter. It was good, filling, and most importantly small because...

Lunch--We tried a new barbecue place. It's funny, because the two food types that REALLY suck in Houston are Mexican and barbecue--two you'd think would excel here in South Texas. And you'd be wrong. We've had some of the worst barbecue and some of the worst overall mexican food I've ever endured. Needless to say, we weren't expecting great things at our stop this afternoon (that I think was actually called Brisket BBQ) but it wasn't terrible. I had sausage, ribs, fries, and green beans and then Abby had brisket, turkey, corn and potato salad. The meats weren't bad, the sides were, and the sauce was unremarkable. It was also expensive. However, you can get a massive chopped turkey sandwich (and the turkey was great) for like five bucks, so we'll be going back now that we know what to order to watch calories and our pocketbooks.

Exercise--I ran/walked for twenty minutes and lifted weights. I couldn't get my heart rate down...and yes, I know that sounds counterintuitive. Exercising is like cooking--if you want fat to melt away, you need slow, constant heat. My HR got up when I started running and due to a clogged airway (Allergies! Yay!) I couldn't breathe regularly enough to get it down. It was a decent workout, but I think I helped cardio more than fat burn, and that isn't the goal right now.

Dinner--Subway! I had the footlong turkey with bacon, lettuce, jalapenos, cucumber, green pepper, black pepper, and then instead of chips I had two cookies. I wanted the cookies!

Dessert--Half a cup of jellybeans. We had an Oscar watching party and it didn't go as planned...at all. Couldn't get the TV to work, couldn't find a live feed on the internet...debacle. Luckily we went to the Toys' apartment and watched it there, but I mindlessly ate jellybeans the whole time. Thankfully, I measured out some beforehand so I couldn't go overboard!

Tomorrow starts a four-day week, so I can gear up for the extra rest coming my way!

Day 48--Sleeping in messes with my schedule...

2011-02-26T21:29:00.000-06:00

So I slept in until 10 am. 10! It was well-needed and much enjoyed. Abby had a Practice Management meeting this morning at some gawd-awful early hour and I regained consciousness long enough to tell her bye, and that was all she wrote. I can't remember the last time I slept in that late.

However, there was a big problem with sleeping in and eating breakfast that late. Breakfast at 10, lunch at around 3, and then dinner at 7 was a big shock to the system...I feel like I ate lead today, even if it was mostly healthy.

Sleeping in also means I didn't make it to the Farmers' Market, but I did run by Central Market, which was almost as good. More strawberries, some plums, blood oranges, and then some incredible dried fruit and granola bars--wonderful shopping experience.

Breakfast--A three-egg omelette with the leftover black beans and potatoes from our taco salad the other night. It was VERY dense, and very, very good.

Lunch--I made some vegetable latkes I found in my Whole Foods Cookbook that my sister, Jenna, got me for my birthday. They had potatoes, carrots, and zucchini and then I added some cayenne because I love me some spice. They definitely should have been a bit drier--there was a step left out or an ambiguity in the recipe--but they were pretty good, especially for 150 calories per massive pancake. I also had one of my plums to add some tartness and acid to the overall meal.

Dinner--Toastwich for dinner! All natural peanut butter, peach preserves, and two slices of whole wheat toast. It's not a good sign when that's the lightest thing I ate all day.

Dessert--Remember that Easter candy? Marshmallow bunny for the win! Abby ate one of the ears though...so it wasn't the full caloric load.

Altogether not a horrid day. I should have found time to work out, but I was too busy making a Twitter account. Shows where my priorities lie eh? Church tomorrow, Oscar party tomorrow night, and hopefully some exercise and vegetables in between!

Follow me @RevJakey34 if you feel so inclined!

Day 47--Weekend FTW!

2011-02-25T20:39:00.000-06:00

Weekends are just amazing. If it wasn't for the fact that Spring Break and then summer were waiting for me juuuuuust around the corner, I might explode. But I can do this! (And I realize how pathetic this all sounds. It's been a long year.)

Breakfast--In a play on Nathan MacDonald's wafflewich of goodness, I made myself a toastwich with some all-natural peanut butter and cherry jelly on whole wheat toast. It was really really good!

Lunch--When the menu says "Fettuccine Alfredo Carbonara" you know things have gotten out of control for lunch. When it says that AND its a school lunch, you know things are just plain wrong. One student reported that it was cakey...which is not a good descriptive term for anything other than cake, and certainly not for a creamy pasta. Because I don't like cheese/cream/milk/butter/etc., lunch was out of the question to start with, but it's nice to know I made the right call. I went to the nearby WalMart and got a thing of deli meat (200 calories), some focaccia bread (it was TERRIBLE), and fruit (cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries) that I topped off with a Snickers. Satisfying, healthy, and NOT fettuccine alfredo carbonara...win/win/win.

Dinner--Whole wheat rotini pasta with zucchini, broccoli, and mushrooms as well as some andouille chicken sausage. I also had a piece of naan for some added fiber and goodness, and it was all delicious. It also reminded me that I badly need to purchase some more garlic...thankfully the Farmers' Market is tomorrow!

Dessert--The last of my birthday whoopie pies with a half a cup of raspberry sorbet. Good way to end a good day.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get some good organic ingredients and we can work out some to get my metabolism back on track. The kale, broccoli, and zucchini in the fridge can't hurt either!

Day 46--Easter Candy!!

2011-02-24T21:22:00.000-06:00

My favorite holiday for candy is Easter. Halloween is fun, Christmas is unique, and I'm a big fan of chocolate so Valentines is passable, but Easter candy is just sublime. So you can imagine my childlike joy when I walked into Randall's this afternoon to be greeted by giant pastel displays. The only problem now? ITS TWO MONTHS UNTIL EASTER. My willpower will be tested...as evidenced by the marshmallow bunny and bag of jellybeans sitting next to me on the couch.

Breakfast--My final attempt at greek yogurt ended with exactly two bites. After holding down the bile, I threw it out and got my trusted cherry Yoplait...and it was delicious. Coupled with a half cup of cherry vanilla granola, it was a stellar breakfast.

Snack--Fiber One bar. Seriously, I know I eat them a lot, but they are so good and an amazing source of fiber. Eat them...eat them now.

Lunch--Chick fila chicken sandwich and barbecue chips, courtesy of the Campus Ministry Team. Not my first choice, but substantially healthier than pizza or Popeye's fried chicken, that's for sure.

Snack--Snickers bar. I'm becoming addicted to them...not good.

Dinner--Here's where things get a bit interesting. I haven't eaten enough vegetables at all recently, so I kept thinking what I could do to increase the intake. Salad is an obvious choice, but I've had some issues with feeling full, so a salad in itself wasn't going to cut it. Abby suggested taco salad the other night, but I didn't want to spend the money on ground turkey and ground beef just isn't that good for you. So my solution was to make taco salad...but I used potatoes instead of meat. I parboiled them, then smashed and "fried" them in a skillet along with some carrot chips and then followed the instructions on the taco seasoning. Combined with some black beans that I cooked with cilantro it made for a very tasty and very filling meal...one I will certainly be repeating in the future (although without the Hot taco seasoning...that was a bit much. Sorry Abby).

Dessert--While watching Perfect Couples (if you aren't watching it, you're making a mistake with your life) I had a cup and a half of chocolate covered kettle corn--140 calories. Booyah.

Here's to Friday, and more importantly, the weekend! I miss my Farmers' Market, and can't wait to go back!

Day 45--Culinary Exhaustion

2011-02-23T20:56:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning and I haven't been this sore in FOREVER. I'm not sure if it was the impromptu basketball session yesterday morning or working out for the first time in a good long while or my apparently terrible night of sleep, but I felt like death. It's really hard to get moving in the mornings when you're sore, and its even harder to feel good about what you're eating when you don't feel good to start with.

I guess that's a complicated way of saying this isn't a great food day, but it wasn't terrible either. It was blah, which is about how I feel.

Breakfast--Cinnamon swirl oatmeal with dried cherries. That's right, I was too lazy to cut up strawberries.

Snack--Candy. Not the wisest choice (or even in the top 100) but it was really good and the sugar helped give me some energy to get through my freshmen classes. They're some of my favorite lessons, but today's subject was especially brutal. Someone should have informed the biblical authors that parts of the OT are painful and boring when it comes to teaching.

Lunch--Chicken, broccoli, steamed cauliflower, snow peas, and "vegetable fried rice." I don't even know what that means...but it didn't suck. Bonus! I ended it with a Snickers, which was delicious.

Dinner--Pei Wei, but not my usual. I had a bowl of the Thai Wonton Soup as well as Chicken Lettuce Wraps. It was all amazing...hit the spot, and no dessert necessary!

Today felt like Thursday, but it was Wednesday, and tomorrow IS Thursday but at school it'll behave like a Friday. Yay for screwed up calendars and Campus Ministry meetings...

Day 44--What's in a Name?

2011-02-22T21:11:00.000-06:00

Two random non-food related thoughts for today:

1) Watch Raising Hope. If you aren't, your Tuesdays aren't complete. Trust me on this...especially if you have a psychotic relative of any age.

2) Until we are content with ourselves and happy with what we are, we will never be happy with anyone else, including God. For some reason we take our insecurities and flaws, project them on others, then get mad when God doesn't make everyone in the world "normal." As Rob Bell says in his Nooma video "Name," what exactly is normal?! We define normal for ourselves...everyone else gets their own standards. I need to be happier with Jason and therefore happier with what God has richly blessed me with.

On to the food!

Breakfast--Cherry Vanilla granola with sliced strawberries (starting to go bad...) and cherry yogurt. It was incredibly filling, but that didn't stop me from partaking of...

Snack--About a cup of the dark chocolate drizzled kettle corn. Seriously, its addicting.

Lunch--Two peanut butter and cherry jelly sandwiches on whole wheat sandwich thins, which are only 100 calories each instead of 100 for a single slice of bread. I also had some jalapeno chips (I wanted chips okay) and then water to wash it all down. I drank a LOT of water today...almost twice as much as I usually do. I'm not sure why either, but it felt good to be so hydrated.

Snack--Snickers bar. At 280 calories its a bit much, but the peanuts help fill me up.

Exercise--I ran for 15 minutes and then tried to lift weights, but the stupid machines were broken. Yay for Remington Park...

Dinner--Breakfast sandwiches. Three scrambled eggs, about a slice of bacon, and then three more of the sandwich thins. They were delicious and filling. I also attempted greek yogurt again, this time Chobani, and it was...eh. I've got a couple more because they were on sale and I'll probably eat them with granola, but I'm still not a fan. Too much...twang. I still like my Yoplait.

Dessert--Whole wheat toast with Nutella and strawberries. Just as good as it sounds!

My weight is still dropping, although I can't tell if its dehydration from my cold medication or actual weight loss. Exercising again will help, but as of this morning I'm down almost 15 pounds in less than two months and I've exercised like 10 times total. If I can ramp that up, who knows what I can do!

Day 43--BT!

2011-02-21T20:32:00.000-06:00

Another Monday, another week of school, another horrendous week of lunch. Yay for that...

Breakfast--Cinnamon Swirl oatmeal with sliced strawberries. The strawberries did something to the consistency of the oatmeal...waaaaay too runny for my tastes. Gotta work on that in the morning.

Lunch--A Fiber One bar and an ounce of dark chocolate with a tablespoon of peanut butter. May sound like a weird lunch, and honestly it is, but I needed some sugar to get me through the day as well as some fiber to try to reset my system. Mission accomplished on both fronts.

Dinner--Whole wheat angel hair pasta with mushrooms, edamame, and some chopped up bacon. It not only helped clean out the fridge, it was incredibly delicious. I'm not entirely sure how healthy it was, but I'm also pretty sure I don't care.

Dessert--A mango. I LOVE fresh mango, and this one was super ripe and definitely hit the spot. It makes me wish I had bought more than two.

Tomorrow we begin the peanut butter and jelly crusades at school as I start making my own lunch to counteract the weirdness of our menu. Wish me luck and smaller weigh-ins!

Day 42--Answer to the Ultimate Question

2011-02-20T22:20:00.000-06:00

If you don't get the title, either you aren't cool or I'm not cool. Guess which one is more likely?

The day after was not nearly as good as the actual birthday. 26 isn't a crushing number, but it definitely feels a bit strange...I'm on the downward slope to 30. Weirdness.

Some good news though! For the last two years I've been stubbornly holding on to pairs of 36x34 dress pants--a size I haven't been able to wear since my senior year of college--because I spent money on them and I didn't want to waste it. Well, today I got bored and tried a pair on...and they fit! Wonderfully! I lost a pant size!!

Unfortunately, my terrible eating habits of the celebratory weekend leaked into today as well. If I don't get back on the horse tomorrow, all may be lost.

Breakfast--Cherry Vanilla granola with fresh sliced strawberries. It was incredible!

Lunch--Tortilla soup at Gringo's. Usually, the service is good and the food is excellent. Today, the food was excellent and the service was, well, awful. I'm not sure what happened, but it was bizarre all the way around.

Dinner--Pizza at Life Groups. I'm just going to say it--Domino's pizza is disgusting. If you like it, you have awful taste in food. I haven't had a good piece of Domino's since they sold it at my high school in 10th grade, and I'm sure that was crap too, but it was better than our normal lunch. Just nauseating. I had part of three pieces (and by part I mean the pepperoni and the ends of the crust) and then a cupcake that Amy Miller made with thin mints and mint icing.

More lunch disasters this week and I'll get to flex my creative muscles to overcome it. We also found chocolate drizzled kettle corn...its fantastic and not a caloric bomb. Success!

Day 41--Diary of an Old White Teacher

2011-02-19T21:46:00.000-06:00

Okay...so I'm not really old. But I'm older today than I was yesterday! Today was an excellent 26th birthday...the best one I've ever had, as 26th birthdays go. Probably the best one I ever will have, too. Lots of quality food, lots of quality time with family, and lots of well-wishing from good friends and family.

Breakfast--Fusion Taco baby! I LOVE Fusion Taco...although, in the spirit of full disclosure, I usually get the pita instead of the taco. Mine today had chorizo, sauteed peppers and onions (I believe its a poblano pepper), and roasted potatoes on top of the greatest pita bread I've ever had. I know my friends that have spent time in the Middle East will probably find fault, but for what I know, it's heavenly.

Snack--Greek yogurt. I have to admit (again...full disclosure) that it really sucked. I learned that the yogurt I've been eating is apparently "bad" for me (according to the guys at Men's Health) due to the high sugar content or some such rubbish. I'll take the extra sugar grams for actual taste, thank you very much.

Lunch--Chipotle! (This day is EXCELLENT food-wise...wait until dinner.) I had my usual--a bowl, with cilantro-lime rice, black beans, fajita veggies, barbacoa, hot salsa, corn salsa, and lettuce. I also had, for the first time in two months, a Coca-Cola. It definitely made the meal, even with the unnecessary addition of calories. I missed it, even if I do like tea and water and all that fun stuff.

Dinner--I went to Central Market which, coupled with my Farmers' Market trip earlier today, led to this doozy of a meal: Scallops, seared in bacon drippings, with roasted broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes with jalapeno-bacon bits. I got some pork belly from the Farmers' Market and diced it up with a diced jalapeno, and then crumbled the whole mess on the mashed sweet potatoes. It was incredible, even if I'm biased because I made it all from scratch.

Dessert--I also got a TON of fresh strawberries from the Farmers' Market, so I sliced 3-4 up with some sugar, macerated them, then had one of the whoopie pies on top. An absolutely fantastic ending to an absolutely fantastic day of eating, even if my waistline will suffer for it tomorrow.

I can't think of a better day, regardless of the celebration, and I'm very glad I got to share it with my beautiful wife and her family. Thanks for everyone who reads this and who thought about me today--you're the best gift I could ask for!

Day 40--Birthday Party!

2011-02-18T20:53:00.000-06:00

I will readily admit that today's post, as well as tomorrow's, isn't going to be very, um, healthy. I turn the big 26 on the 19th, and I'll be celebrating the best way I know how: with good food. I'm going to be partaking of some quality grub tomorrow, made by my own hands, and I'm pretty pumped. Doesn't mean its going to be good for the waistline though.

Breakfast--1/2 cup of Cherry Vanilla granola with some dried cherries. I also had 4-5 small powdered donuts...because my birthday is tomorrow, I decided class today would be pretty laid back. I got donuts for my first period and Jolly Ranchers for the rest of the day...unfortunately, the kids didn't eat all the donuts, so I helped clean up the rest. Not so good.

Lunch--My beautiful wife brought me Chick fila for my birthday! Spicy chicken sandwich and fries, no lemonade to cut down on calories, and it was absolutely amazing. Best lunch all week!

Dinner--China Stix! This is probably my favorite restaurant in Houston, but Abby doesn't like it and has terrible luck every time we go. I had some pork dumplings, along with a chicken and vegetable rice bowl. I wish it was with brown rice, but this thing is so authentic, its not even an option. It was as good as I remembered...which is pretty darn good.

Dessert--I bought some mini whoopie pies to celebrate, so I had a couple (only 350 calories for both) with half a cup of raspeberry sorbet (only 150 calories). It was a lot of sugar, but for splurging it wasn't too bad.

Tomorrow I have a Dr. Pepper cooling down in the fridge...it will have been almost two months. I miss my carbonated friend. Happy Birthday to me!

Day 39--Falling Off the Horse

2011-02-17T21:06:00.000-06:00

Warning: This was NOT a good food day. Or a good health day. Or a good teaching day. Really, I'm just going to go to sleep and act like Thursday never happened. Bleh.

Breakfast--Cherry yogurt. Yep. That's it. I ran so late today, I had time for yogurt. I suck.

Lunch--Chicken patty sandwich, which may or may not have actually been made of chicken, half a baked potato and some asparagus. The kicker comes that while talking to friends at lunch, I somehow ate FOUR chocolate chip cookies. Mindless eating is the devil.

Dinner--Jimmy Johns. Due to science olympiad practice, I didn't get home until 5:30, so no snack. Sandwiches sounded good, so I went with my usual along with some Food Should Taste Good jalapeno chips. I'm very stuffed...no dessert needed.

Short entry for a blah day. On a happier note, I was down below 234 this morning, so I'm approaching 15 pounds lost. I'm sure I did extreme damage today, but oh well...I'll try again tomorrow.

Day 38--I'm Not Getting Better...

2011-02-16T21:00:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning feeling like I had swallowed cotton balls. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't swallow, I could barely open my eyes--I was completely dried out. Stupid Houston weather. Thankfully, a shower and some hydration got me functioning enough to get to school, but I felt kinda icky all day. I hope I'm over it...and that I don't get the flu that is being passed around. Had more students and teachers out today!

Breakfast--Caught in the midst of my dryness attack, I ran out of time to make it to school reasonably early, so I went with cherry pomegranate yogurt and apple slices for breakfast. Sadly, not the weirdest meal I had all day.

Lunch--I'm not even sure what the lunch at school was today...I just know that I didn't feel like going down there just to be disappoint/eat peanut butter again. Lunch consisted of a Fiber One bar, some craisins, and 2 cups of kettle corn. Not the healthiest choice.

Dinner--I made some asian chicken stock (shout out to my sister, Jenna...she gave me an amazing Whole Foods Cookbook that gave me the idea/recipe) and then added chicken, asparagus, and broccoli to the soup. I topped mine with bean sprouts and edamame, and it was incredible. One bowl and I was stuffed, even with my sketchy eating habits today.

I really want to get healthy enough to work out again, but I don't know when that will happen. One of my students, Miriam, is going to make me cupcakes for my birthday on Friday, so whatever happens I know I'm going to have a calorie bomb then. And it will be totally worth it!

Day 37--The Letdown

2011-02-15T21:41:00.000-06:00

With all of the pomp and circumstance of yesterday, today was a definite bummer at school. Everyone was back in normal clothes, no balloons, no candy, and to top it off, the flu is claiming victims left and right. Pray for my health...I don't need another bad illness!

Breakfast--Cinnamon swirl oatmeal with dried cherries and cherry yogurt. It was incredibly filling, even though I ate...

Snack--...A Fiber One bar. I wanted some sweetness and knew that lunch wasn't going to be great. Chapel today reminded me how lucky I am to even have food, but for the purposes of this blog, nutrition and eating right will take priority over my sense of blessedness. If that makes me sound ungrateful, I apologize--I really am grateful for all God has blessed me with, especially food-wise--but that just isn't the point of these posts.

Lunch--Peanut butter sandwich, about 200 calories worth of sweet potato corn chips, and a banana. It was a solid, if boring, lunch.

Dinner--We went to Whole Foods tonight to get some stuff for Abby's lunches as well as stock up on more naan, and so we decided to hit up the salad bar while there. I had some greens with green onions, mushrooms, cucumbers, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, almonds, grated butternut squash, and a small portion of balsamic dressing. That, combined with a small (3x3 inch) poppy seed ciabatta loaf was less than five dollars. Score! It was also delicious, so double score! We'll definitely be doing that again, and hopefully soon.

No dessert, because I'm still a bit stopped up and sick, so I'm full from dinner. As we approach my birthday though, sweets will be incredibly tempting...and Dr. Pepper returns from hiatus on Saturday!

Day 36--Valentines Day Edition

2011-02-14T20:59:00.000-06:00

Well...I'm not better yet. The antibiotics are working, I think, but there's still some gunk in there and I'm still incredibly foggy most of the day. My students were completely brain dead today, and it didn't help that we did Romans 9 in my Acts class. Check it out sometime...its pretty dense.

Our Valentines Day was exceptionally lame--Abby is still studying for Boards/tests and I'm still under the weather, so we stayed in tonight and I watched all my DVR cooking shows from while we were gone. Amazingly, around this most auspicious of holidays, EVERYTHING was about chocolate. I can look, but I won't touch!

Breakfast--I was as out of it as you could possibly be this morning (and showed up to school ten minutes late...) so I went with the cherry vanilla granola, half a cup, and some dried cherries on top. I needed fast, and it obliged.

Snack--Fiber One bar around 9:30. I know the usual time is around 10 or 10:30, and that might even be the recommended time, but I'm in the middle of class then so I go earlier.

Lunch--Peanut butter sandwich and a banana. It was filling and honestly, I need some sweetness to help stem the tide of candy and whatnot that could come my way.

Dinner--Ah yes...dinner. I made panko-crusted oven fried chicken, oven fried potatoes, and peas. For the usual southern meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and peas, this was a pretty healthy and delicious alternative. I added barbecue rub and salt to the flour before I breaded and dunked, and it added just enough flavor to make them very good.

Dessert--Yep...no dessert! I'm full enough from dinner that I don't need sweets, as tempting as they might be. Score.

I'm thin enough my pants don't fit right anymore...and it feels great, even if it might hit me in the wallet when I need to reload my wardrobe. Completely worth it!

Day 35--Home Again, Home Again

2011-02-13T22:25:00.000-06:00

We returned home from Plano tonight, and I must admit, it was a great weekend. Got to see some old friends, got to see some new family, and most of all, got to see my sister gloriously happy with her future life. Between the laughs, the friends, and the food, it was all enough to almost make me forget that I'm still sick.

Almost.

Breakfast--Mom made bacon, biscuits, and eggs (like I said...home rocks) and I added an apple to make myself feel better. All in all, I had two small (like 1.5 inch diameter) biscuits and a piece and a half of bacon to go with two scrambled eggs and my apple. I did well.

Lunch--After church (home!) we went to Rockfish Cafe, where I indulged in some sweet peach tea (the best tea EVER) with blackened mahi-mahi, seasoned rice that I ate half of, fries I ate all of, and mixed vegetables that were limp and flavorless at best. However, the fries and mahi were EXCELLENT.

Dinner--Bowl of chocolate cheerios and blueberries. We thought we were in a rush for our plane, and it turns out it was delayed half an hour so we had plenty of time. Oh well. While waiting, we ran into our good friend Emily Holloman and got to have a great talk with her that we wouldn't have had if we were on time. God's little common graces!

Back to the grind tomorrow...here's to antibiotics and sleep!

Day 34--Plano!

2011-02-13T09:36:00.001-06:00

We got up early Saturday morning so that we could catch a flight to Dallas for my sister's wedding shower. I will not be in attendance (I've paid my dues there) but since Abby is a bridesmaid, she decided she should go. I'll get to hang out with my dad, so its going to be a good weekend all-around. I still have my sinus infection, although I feel much better today than I did yesterday. My sense of taste is also returning...bonus!

Breakfast--Cinnamon swirl oatmeal with dried cherries. We were in a hurry, and it was early for a Saturday.

Snack--3/4 cup Chocolate Cheerios. Those things are GOOD and its only 100 calories for the 3/4 cup! Winner!

Lunch--Chick fila, a favorite of my parents and my wife. Spicy chicken sandwich, large fruit cup, and water.

Snack--I tried to find Nutella--which we have, but I couldn't locate it--but resorted to more Cheerios. Like I said...good stuff.

Dinner--Roast, potatoes, and carrots with green beans and salad with homemade cherry balsamic dressing. I miss my mother's cooking...she's much better than me.

Dessert--We celebrated my birthday last night, so my mom made a chocolate meringue pie. I had a very small piece and only ate half of it (I was honestly still stuffed from dinner and still stuffy from the sinus stuff) but it was an incredible pie. The presents were pretty good too!

All in all, I feel better, but not working out and having junk consistently draining down my throat has made eating a chore and I feel like I'm gaining weight. I hope I heal quickly so I can get back on the horse and keep losing weight!

Day 33--Houston Killed My Immune System

2011-02-11T20:18:00.000-06:00

When growing up, I NEVER got sick. If I did, it was usually a massive undertaking (chicken pox, flu, etc). For some reason, since moving to Houston, I get sick every two months now. I've been to the ER once in my life (stitches) and yet I got a kidney stone--in Houston. Sinus infections would hit me once a year in Abilene, and yet I think I'm on number three this year--in Houston. I feel like I have an air pump filling my head up like a balloon...this place might kill me, but its definitely killing my ability to eat healthy.

Breakfast--This would be the last time I felt good today, and I use the word "good" loosely. I had Cherry vanilla granola and cherry pomegranate yogurt. It seemed easier than messing with oatmeal or anything else in my weakened state.

Snack--Fiber One bar. Something with a little taste was important...my taste buds are slowly dying.

Lunch--I had planned on Red Bean Soup, except it wasn't what it usually is (again, NO CONSISTENCY) so I had tuna on salad again. Chef Tony, to his credit, made the teachers cupcakes for Valentines' Day, and since I felt like death, I indulged. I ended up satisfying my chocolate craving, just not in the way I expected.

Dinner--After a much needed nap to try to recover a bit, my beautiful wife went to get me Pei Wei. I needed something with flavor to fight through the fog, so I went for the Mandarin Kung Pao vegetables again. I could taste them (bonus) and it was filling enough that hopefully I won't need any sugar before bed.

We head to Plano tomorrow for Jenna's wedding shower, so updates might be a little bit scattered. For my loyal reader(s), I promise I'll make it up if there are lapses!

Day 32--Teddy Roosevelt?

2011-02-10T21:42:00.000-06:00

Today's chapel (yep...chapel) featured none other than Theodore Roosevelt. Or an impersonator at least. Funny thing is, the man was actually really good. It was interesting, funny, referenced God numerous times...I approved. For some reason, we can't find anywhere but church, and yet He is all around...even in a RoughRiding president.

Breakfast--Cherry Vanilla granola. I missed it. I also had cherry yogurt to complete the cherry-ness. I love cherries.

Mid-morning snack--Fiber One bar. I overate today. Advanced warning.

Lunch--We had a surprise (to me at least) campus ministry meeting today, so the fact I brought my lunch was kind of negated. I had quinoa with dried pomegranate craisins, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. I also had two pieces of pizza. At least I didn't get cookies...

Snack--Apples and caramel. Abby got home late, so I needed something to tide me over until dinner. It did the trick.

Dinner--Penne pasta with broccolini, zucchini, onion, yellow bell pepper and some garlic. It was incredible, and very colorful.

Dessert--I gave into my chocolate cravings. As I'm writing, there are flourless chocolate cookies baking in the oven. Now, I tinker with the recipe, messed with proportions, and I'm cooking them like cupcakes instead of cookies, so there's a good chance it won't matter and I won't get to taste them at all...but I gave in nonetheless.

It was a solid day...exercise tomorrow and some more controlled proportions and I should be back on track!

Day 31--A Month of Less Me

2011-02-09T21:12:00.000-06:00

Well, the good news is that the weather is cool. I love me some cool weather. However, the bad news is that Houston drivers SUCK and no one can seem to handle the cold.

So...yippee for that.

I had a revelation today regarding my faith: Christianity makes WAY more sense in context. By that I mean, pulling the gospel out of the entire faith story (Genesis-Revelation and beyond) loses some of the meaning and impact. Studying David outside of the history of Israel makes about as much sense as studying one president and assuming you know everything about America. God is the god of eternity...not just our lives, and not just one era.

It also means a lot to me for my struggle to lose weight. Some days I just don't feel it...some days I just want chocolate. Lots and lots of gooey chocolate. And its really easy to get down on myself on those days because I feel weak, I feel unmotivated, and I feel like within a week I'll undo everything I've worked so hard for over the last month. But its a marathon, just like our faith. God made the world however-many years ago for Abraham, for David, for Paul, and for me. He probably made it for my kids, and my kids' kids, and so on. His Kingdom is a marathon...we just get to enjoy it while we're here.

Breakfast--High Fiber Cinnamon Swirl oatmeal with dried cherries. Delicious!

Snack--Fiber One bar. Again, I'm craving the sweet stuff, so I went with that as opposed to something else. It did the trick quite nicely.

Lunch--Thai chile tuna on a bed of lettuce with carrots, cucumbers, and some crackers. It really hit the spot...just spicy and filling enough to satisfy without being a health disaster.

Dinner--Chick fila spicy chicken sandwich, roasted edamame, and an apple. The SCS was less than 500 calories, as is every entree at Chick fila, and then the edamame and apple seemed like a better alternative than fries. Although, I did have one of Abby's fries...they are really good.

Exercise--Fifteen minutes on the treadmill and some weights. My arms are starting to feel overworked...I think I need variety in my workouts. Suggestions?

Dessert--Cherry pomegranate yogurt before I hit the hay. I can withhold the chocolate cravings for one more day.

Day 30--Longest. Day. Ever.

2011-02-08T22:05:00.000-06:00

Today started oddly, at least for anyone who has ever known me. It was a very solid day, just...different.

Exercise--That's right; we're starting with exercise. Due to the food fiasco of yesterday, I just didn't feel good. So Abby and I got up at 5 am, trekked to the exercise facility, and went through a quick workout before school. Not a bad way to start/won't be happening often, if ever again.

Breakfast--Two scones and cherry pomegranate yogurt. It was an excellent way to refuel.

Snack--Cherry almond granola. I needed something sweet to munch on during the morning, since my clock was so screwed up, and the granola did the trick. It's good stuff...find it at Whole Foods.

Lunch--So apparently SAGE is just off a day. The soup I planned on eating yesterday appeared on the menu today, so I had two bowls of potato kale soup. It was actually very good and filling...as it should have been YESTERDAY.

Dinner--Beck's Prime. That place is officially TERRIBLE. We will not be going back...ever. I got a coupon in my email celebrating my birthday: buy one sandwich, get one free. Therefore we paid for one chicken sandwich, one order of fries, and two drinks...twenty dollars. It would have been thirty without the coupon. And the portions are waaaay too small for that price, the management has attitude...forget you Becks. I can get better food at cheaper prices pretty much anywhere. You lost our business.

Dessert--I made the ridiculous mistake of watching a Cooking Channel program on chocolate after a craptastic dinner, which really activated my sweet tooth...and yet I withstood the onslaught and didn't eat! Go me!

I also got fitted for my tuxedo for Jenna's wedding tonight. It felt GOOD to tell her I weighed 235...especially knowing I was knocking on the door of 250 a little over a month ago. Gotta keep it up, but progress has been excellent so far. Thank you again for everyone lifting me up by reading/praying/hoping along with us!

Day 29--Grumble.

2011-02-07T20:25:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know I've railed against this numerous times, but my school's lunch is going to be the single biggest obstacle in losing weight. It's not nutritious, it very rarely follows the menu online, and the word consistency doesn't fit. I can't tell what ingredients are going to be in what from one week to another. For instance, today was chicken piccata with potato kale soup. Or, in actuality, it was sloppy joes with tomato soup. NOT THE SAME THING WCS.

Because lunch was such a disaster, it screwed the rest of my day pretty solidly. On to the food.

Breakfast--Cinnamon Spice high fiber oatmeal and blueberry yogurt. It did its job and kept me very full most of the morning.

Mid-morning snack--However, that doesn't mean I didn't decide to fiber up for a snack. One Pink Lady apple, for the win.

Lunch--Broccoli and half a peanut butter sandwich. I really dislike SAGE.

Snack--2 cups of kettle corn. It was delicious.

Dinner--So, I attempted to make a healthy meal, but unfortunately it involved two things I've never made before. Roasted chicken with garlic, roasted vegetables that involved daikon (note: Daikon really sucks. REALLY REALLY SUCKS.), and some crimson lentils (those are...unique?) sounds great in theory, but it didn't work. The daikon wasn't good, the vegetables weren't good, the lentils were annoying, the chicken was partially perfectly cooked, partially overcooked. Really, I just sucked. Dinner fail.

Dessert--A Rome apple and a tablespoon or so of Nutella. I need to workout tonight...it will get my mind off food and help channel some of the energy I did get from my horrid food.

Mondays...what a drag.

Day 28--Beard Be Gone!

2011-02-06T20:11:00.000-06:00

In an effort to gain some motivation from my wife, I made a decision 28 days ago that I wasn't going to trim my beard until I had lost 10 pounds and kept it off. I've spent the last week flirting with the line, and then yesterday, BAM. Trimmed the junk out of it.

In reality, there were dual reasons for this particular ploy. First off, it looked so horrifically gnarly that I knew Abby would help me with my goal. Granted, she still made cupcakes, biscuits, and the like, but she also pushed me to exercise and has helped me walk the straight and narrow. She was more ready to see Grizzly Adams go away than I was, and I felt like a small hamster was stapled to my face. Secondly, I like to see progress. Because I am doing more maintenance than a massive overhaul, the steady decline in numbers is hard to see. I occasionally notice there's less of me around the middle, but for the most part its when I see people every 3 months that they notice (and its only been 4 weeks...haven't had that joy yet). But when I finally trimmed my beard...there was a new person underneath. I am not a considerably vain person, I don't do my hair, I usually forget to get haircuts, and obviously I let my weight go. However, I can't stop looking in the mirror...the person staring back at me hasn't existed in a long, long time and I think Abby and I both missed him.

Breakfast--Apple cinnamon scones, strawberry yogurt, and a banana. The scones are 140 calories a pop, so 3 scones + yogurt + banana = around 650 calories. That my seem like a lot, but I knew that lunch was going to consist of...

Lunch--Extreme pita. Booyah. A small Thai chicken with half a bag of Sun Chips and some blackberry tea was only ~425 calories total, and lots of fiber.

Snack--One ounce of dark chocolate with a tablespoon of all natural peanut butter. We went to Whole Foods after lunch and picked up some daikon, broccolini, Rome apples, Pink Lady apples, more kettle corn, some dark chocolate, and then Abby got granola, yogurt, and some frozen lunches. The chocolate will be going to school with me for a mid-afternoon pick me up.

Dinner--Leftover Pei Wei with some extra edamame thrown in. Still delicious, even the second time around.

Dessert--Apples and caramel and 1/2 cup mango sorbet.

Probably a high calorie day, but not too extreme for the overall goal. And I still have the man in the mirror to keep me going.

Day 27--Saturday, the Sequel

2011-02-05T20:51:00.000-06:00

Not gonna lie...getting up when I wanted for two days in a row was spectacular. I feel rested, relaxed...and craving more Saturdays. Not a good sign for the rest of the school year. Abby studied most of the day, so I was left to myself where I could read, get some groceries, catch up on my ancient Roman history...a solid all-around day. Tomorrow I hope to hit up Central Market/Whole Foods for some better produce and then it will be an incredibly complete three day weekend.

Breakfast--We wavered between scones and oatmeal. Oatmeal won out. I went with my power-packed oatmeal again: dried cherries, almonds, honey peanut butter and a banana.

Lunch--Two pita pocket sandwiches with green bell pepper, broccoli slaw, and cajun turkey as well as some jalapeno chips and a blueberry yogurt. It was a solid, solid meal. Experimenting with bread options has helped out a lot, because I'm not stuck with whole wheat bread all the time. Pitas, naan, sandwich flats...as long as they are full of fiber, I'm down. Reading nutrition labels isn't that difficult.

Snack--Cherry pomegranate yogurt and a banana. Both products of the aforementioned grocery run.

Dinner--Abby, while studying, went to Escalantes with her old roommate Lindsey, so I had the opportunity to get my Pei Wei special: Mandarin Kung Pao vegetables, brown rice, and spring rolls. It was, again, delicious and, again, I only ate about half. It also left some room for...

Dessert--Cherry and mango crumble. The crumble was flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, less than a tablespoon of butter, and some oats. It was very VERY good, and its such an easy, flavorful, relatively cheap dessert. You can also just make one serving, so there isn't temptation to go back for more.

Tomorrow: Church, Extreme Pita, and fruit shopping? Sign me up!

Day 26--Snow Day, Only Without the Snow

2011-02-04T21:35:00.000-06:00

The Houston weather forecasters are apparently wildly incompetent, but at least for today I don't mind it one bit. We got the day off from school because we were supposed to get hit with 2-5 inches of snow, but with the exception of bridges, overpasses, and the bottom step from our apartment, there is hardly any evidence of precipitation at all. So we got a day off from school without being penned in! I'm sure I'll complain in April when we lose our bad weather day, but for now I am thrilled. Sleeping in and eating real food is always a bonus.

Breakfast--Steel cut oats with banana slices, almonds, dried cherries from a local farm in Boerne, a half tablespoon of honey peanut butter and a cup of cherry pomegranate yogurt. It was delicious and incredibly filling, because three hours later I still felt like I had eaten an entire brick. Making it all the more impressive is that before lunch...

Exercise--I ran/walked for 16 minutes (still building endurance, and my knee is still janky) then lifted some weights and cooled down on the bike. Felt good.

Lunch--Thanks to my good friend Nathan MacDonald's blog, I had a craving for burritos today. Thanks to the bad weather predictions, it was safe to get out to go to Chipotle. I had a bowl with rice, black beans, fajita veggies, steak, corn salsa, hot salsa, and lettuce, along with two small corn tortillas on the side and an iced tea. I have to admit, I like drinking water a lot, but flavor is nice, too. It was warm and spicy--an excellent counter to the cold weather. Even though we didn't get the snow/sleet, Mother Nature brought the thunder temperature-wise.

Snack--An ounce and a half of dark chocolate with some all natural peanut butter spread on it. It was not only amazing (I LOVE Reese's...) but it was pretty filling too. I need more dark chocolate now!

Dinner--I sauteed some zucchini, broccoli, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, and andouille sausage with some whole grain angel hair pasta. I love pastas, especially since garlic is such a fantastic flavor, so when we indulge with some we try to make sure its as healthy as possible. The whole grain pasta (400 calories for 4 ounces) and andouille chicken sausage (300 calories for two links) mean we can have a good Italian meal without the usual Italian calories.

Dessert--Against my better judgment, Abby made mini cupcakes with homemade chocolate frosting. I popped a couple (so to be nice...of course...) and then followed it with a banana so I didn't feel like a complete failure. They were delicious, but will be the only two I eat.

It's great, because today felt like Saturday, but really, tomorrow is Saturday! The extra day of rest, exercise, and controlling my food (read: NOT being at the mercy of school) should help me shed some more poundage. Thanks again to everyone who reads this; any comments of encouragement will help motivate me in my quest to be healthier and lose some of my excess me!

Day 25--Wintry Mix Edition

2011-02-03T21:40:00.000-06:00

We're about to get destroyed by winter weather...BRING IT ON!!!

Breakfast--Apple Cinnamon oatmeal. That's right, variety is back.

Mid-morning Snack--Apple! It was amazing...I wish I had another one.

Lunch--Carrots and brown rice. Yep, that's it. I was planning on having brown rice and lentil soup, and then SAGE Dining decided to not make what was on their menu, and of course I didn't have a back up plan. It was...lame. I finished it off with a Snickers so I didn't feel useless (or tasteless).

Snack--Cherry yogurt and a banana. I ran by the store on the way home to stock up a bit before the wintry mix hit, thinking it was supposed to happen at 4 pm (its 9:30...still dry...) and I didn't want to get frozen out.

Dinner--Cajun turkey, broccoli slaw and cilantro on whole wheat naan and about 3/4 cup of edamame with my homemade spice mix. It was delicious.

Dessert--I attempted to make chocolate meringues, and for whatever reason, it didn't work AT ALL. I had to completely alter the recipe to try to salvage it somewhat. The results were iffy, but maybe will be good with some raspberry sorbet. Or I wasted good chocolate. One of the two.

Altogether not a horrid day, and even with the ice we plan to work out some tomorrow, so hopefully I can keep things going down. I've stagnated recently and I'm not a fan of that.

Snow Day

2011-02-03T19:36:00.000-06:00

Note: This post is not food related. It's Jesus related. Sorry to disappoint/thrill.

I spent today with the incredible honor of teaching my juniors about Romans 5. After enlightening us on the concept of righteousness by faith opposed to the law or anything else, Paul explains that Abraham is the ultimate example of this phenomenon: a man, holy by worldly standards, who needs grace just like Hitler needed grace. In chapter 5, Paul explains why we need this righteousness. Contained within is one of the greatest phrases in the entire Good Book: "While we were still sinners..."

Christ died for us IN SPITE of what we are. He knew exactly what we are, what we can become, and what we've done. The part of this that boggles the mind is that, as humans, we are seemingly programmed to show disdain for those who wrong us. In fact, the exact example I used in class was "we don't give money to homeless people because we think they'll use it to get..."

Every class, without fail, said, "Drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes." We judge off stereotypes, expectations, and fears.

Fast forward to around 5:30 pm, when my lovely wife returned home from school. First words out of her mouth? "I think we should take some gloves to the homeless man sitting on the corner, and take him to a shelter." My first thought? "It's cold and potentially dangerous. This isn't a good idea." Second thought? "I'm potentially the worst Bible teacher EVER." He appeared to be very grateful for the gifts, and while he rejected the offer of the shelter, I think he'll be okay tonight.

I have the day off on Friday because of the snow I was so content to sit inside in the warmth and avoid. Apparently I'll need it to think about exactly what I'm doing with the grace Jesus has given me. Seems to me I can do a LOT more.

Day 24--Rolling Power Outages?

2011-02-02T19:35:00.000-06:00

So apparently the Texas energy coalition got together and decided to help save energy across the state by enacting rolling power outages at various times. There are two problems with this plan, which in itself wasn't flawed: They didn't tell anyone (ANYONE) it was going to happen, and sometimes the power didn't come back on (ask my parents). Needless to say, it made class interesting when 20 minutes in today the power went out and they weren't able to really communicate what was happening. Good times.

Breakfast--Cherry Vanilla granola AND an apple. That's right...added some fruit. Booyah.

Lunch--Hot dogs and steamed cauliflower. Instead of eating two hot dogs (and therefore two hot dog buns) I just put two franks on one bun. Boom. I also had half of a PB sandwich because the other sides today were sketchy at best and I needed something to stick to my ribs. Passable lunch, but not great.

Dinner--Because we knew the weather would be disastrous today, I decided not to mess with getting dinner supplies after school. Instead, I planned ahead and yesterday I got some pinto beans for an incredible dinner. A quarter of an onion, four strips of bacon--diced, and 2 cups of pinto beans in some water/chicken stock and it sat in the slow cooker all day. It was delicious! We made some cornbread muffins to go with it, and I must confess, I am stuffed. Filling, cheap, and tasty...I'm a fan.

Dessert isn't necessary, but we went to bed at 9 pm last night and may have a repeat performance tonight. Something about freezing temperatures screams blankets and sleep.

Day 23--22 Degree Edition

2011-02-02T07:50:00.000-06:00

Well, it took until February, but winter decided to show his pale face in Houston finally. After a week of 75 degree (!) weather in Houston--in January--we finally hit below freezing this year. I'm weird in that I love cold temperatures. In fact, as it was plummeting yesterday, I stood outside and just inhaled the goodness (in retrospect, inhaling deeply in Houston is NEVER a good idea. I may die from that.) and felt my spirit lifted. Cold is good.

This morning it was 22 with a wind chill of 8, so all of us are moving pretty slowly. I even have some lazy students that refuse to come to school because its "too cold." Spoiled.

Breakfast--Once again, Cherry Vanilla granola. I just don't get up early enough to eat anything else. I should probably work on that...but it works for me.

Mid-morning snack--Fiber One bar. Trying to undo the damage of the Whataburger run.

Lunch--Green beans and a sweet potato, with some salad on the side. Usually this is my favorite lunch day, but the pork looked sketchy and a long discussion on the Trinitarian nature of God threw off my feng shui. Also, I exploded my sweet potato all over my shirt because it somehow popped like a grape. Stupid delicious potato.

Exercise--Ran for 15 minutes, lifted weights (I'm trying to make myself look fit by smoke and mirrors) and biked for a bit, then because it was so cold, we ran back to the apartment.

Dinner--Leftover spring rolls and Mandarin Kung Pao vegetables, with some blueberry yogurt just for kicks. I think I'm a fan of yogurt, which should be good as long as I behave and don't eat it all the time.

Dessert--Half of a brownie with Abby. It was good, and its no longer taunting me, sitting on the counter.

All in all, a good day I think. The scale didn't reflect that, but then again, I didn't drink as much water as I should have, so I think my equilibrium is thrown off. We'll see how I measure up on Thursday.

Day 22--Go Go Go Joseph

2011-02-01T07:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday night we had the honor and privilege of getting to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat put on by Dulles High School. It was amazing! The kids were very talented, the sets were gorgeous, and the music was catchy as usual. Abby and I were both very impressed with the entire thing.

After the show, we were able to go to Hobby Airport and pick up our friends, the Toys. They had spent a long weekend in Denver seeing her family and skiing (lucky!) and then we picked them up last night after they were delayed in Denver due to snow and in Houston due to fog. It was a long trip for them, but I'm glad we were able to help!

Breakfast--Cherry Vanilla granola. As if you had to ask.

Lunch--"Orange chicken," which I put in quotes for a reason, snow peas and a salad. It wasn't great, wasn't bad, just...food.

Dinner--In lieu of a snack, Abby and I had an early dinner before the show (BIG MISTAKE) because she wasn't able to eat lunch at school due to an under qualified attending and some bad research. Chick fila yielded a Spicy Chicken sandwich, a fruit cup, and some lemonade. I still struggle with the no-soda thing, but lemonade makes it all better...for that meal.

Second Dinner--Yep. We had such a long break between dinner (5 pm) and going to sleep (Midnight) that I began to develop a wicked headache due to hunger. Unfortunately, since we were by the airport, and it was late, fast food was really our only option. For those that don't know, the area around Hobby is the picture-perfect definition of sketchy. Ergo, we went a littler farther away and got some Whataburger. My hamburger and fries certainly wasn't the healthiest choice, but I feel like its the least-healthy decision I've made since starting this, so I feel kinda good about that.

Because Monday was so bad, Tuesday will be a day of over-correction. Just warning you.

Day 21--Newsflash: The Internet at Westbury Is Prejudiced Against Blogging

2011-01-31T17:41:00.000-06:00

So I tried to blog this morning, as is my ritual during my planning period, but for some reason the internet at school decided my login page was affiliated with terrorists or something. It's usually weird, but this tops them all, since I use that page, oh, I don't know...10-15 TIMES A WEEK. But I'm not bitter.

Sunday was fun day because Abby came home (!) and class was good at Sugar Grove (!) and I discovered a new favorite entree at Pei Wei (!) so there was excitement all around! On to the foods:

Breakfast--Cherry Vanilla granola before church. It was quite the task to drag myself out of bed in the morning, but I survived. My time management skills, however, did not.

Lunch--Pei Wei with the wife. I usually get the Mandarin Kung Pao chicken with brown rice, but for some reason I was feeling rebellious so I went with the Mandarin Kung Pao vegetables. That's right...just vegetables. With extra vegetables. Coupled with the brown rice, it was filling enough I only ate half before I was completely stuffed, and it was delicious. I also got some vegetable spring rolls, which again are like 110 calories a pop, so the whole meal didn't set me back too badly, and I have enough left over for um...leftovers. And I got to eat with Abby, and she's pretty awesome, so it was a wonderful meal.

Dinner--Wendy's Spicy Chicken sandwich, medium fries, and a medium frosty. We had some coupons I wanted to partake of before they expired, and Mens Health recently gave the thumbs up to the SCS, so you could say it was a win-win on both price and healthitude.

Dessert--Um...I got a frosty. Duh.

School today was interesting, but not disastrous food-wise. Check back tonight for an update on the edible madness!

Day 20--Motivation

2011-01-29T21:18:00.000-06:00

I guess its about time for me to reveal the real motivation behind most of this stuff. Aside from wanting to look healthier and feel healthier, my sister Jenna is getting married on March 20th. In a moment of either brilliance or insanity (I'll let you know March 21st...) I offered to be the officiant for her wedding. I really don't want to be the big fat guy in the tuxedo, so I'm trying to get myself into better shape before I go in for my fitting later this week. Vanity has its benefits I suppose.

Breakfast--One unfortunate byproduct of Abby being gone is that there isn't anyone to entertain the cat in the mornings. At 6 am, I was woken up by London going berserk outside the door to our room. I stayed in bed for a couple more hours, but it was drifting sleep interspersed with her pathetic cries. When I finally awoke/got out of bed, I decided to treat myself with an omelette. It was two eggs, half of a serrano chile, roasted potatoes, and onions, vegetarian-style. It was also delicious.

Lunch--Jimmy Johns. Double turkey, bacon, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, oregano, on whole grain bread with my newfound chip obsession, Food Should Taste Good Jalapeno chips. They're amazing, and 12 of them is only a little over 100 calories.

Snack--1/2 cup of Strawberry sorbet.

Exercise--That's right...bum knee and all. I walked (not ran, couldn't) for 15 minutes, lifted some weights, then biked for 10 more. It was a decent workout, especially since my knee is sore afterwards--I'm glad I didn't push it any further.

Dinner--Whole grain rotini with onions, green bell pepper, and a single link of andouille sausage, seasoned with garlic and red pepper flakes. It was amazing, but not overly filling because it's pasta.

Dessert--Two pieces of bread with some Nutella spread on them. Now THAT was filling.

Abby comes home tomorrow...and trust me, the masses are rejoicing.

Day 19--Home Alone!

2011-01-28T22:06:00.000-06:00

Yep. Abby has abandoned me in Houston so she can go home to meet her new baby cousin. I wish I could have gone with her, but responsibilities here kept me from being able to go so here I am, left to fend for myself. The good news is that shortly after Abby left, I managed to sprain/tweak/slightly damage my knee at a WCS soccer game (that I was just watching...sigh...) so I'm immobile and can't get myself into too much trouble. The bad news is that I'm immobile. I hope I can move tomorrow...the Farmers Market/Central Market are calling my name!

Breakfast--Cherry Vanilla granola. I was giving tests today, so sleeping in was a must. I didn't have anything to prepare at school, low-key, it was incredible...

Snack--...and also left me time to get donuts for my class on the way to school. I planned on sharing and not partaking, but then the students kept talking about how good they were and, well, one thing led to another and two donuts later, I agreed with them. Fail. I ate a Fiber One bar afterwards to try to overcome my weakness.

Lunch--Campus Ministry Team...you might kill me more than anything else. Aside from the stress of the whole situation, we also have terrible food (healthwise) at our meetings so lunch was two pieces of pizza and some chips.

Snack--Kettle corn before the aforementioned soccer match. (We got slaughtered too...it wasn't pleasant.)

Dinner--Some cajun turkey on whole wheat naan with asian broccoli slaw and fruit salad. It was GLORIOUS.

Dessert--After carefully weighing my options...I went with kettle corn. I'm sure I'm running this thing into the ground, but its so freaking good I can't help it.

Assuming I can walk, tomorrow will involve Fusion Tacos and some locally-grown deliciousness. Until then...

Day 18--Curse You Open House

2011-01-27T21:27:00.000-06:00

So tonight we had our Spring Semester open house. We started at 6:30 and didn't leave until short after 8. Unfortunately, I didn't eat dinner beforehand, thinking we might get out earlier. Completely screwed up my eating schedule in an already messed up day. Definitely not my finest eating performance.

Breakfast--Cherry Almond granola. I told you...variety. It was superb.

Lunch--I expected to have a campus ministry meeting, but thats tomorrow instead. So since I planned so badly, lunch consisted of some sweet potato chips, a peanut butter sandwich, and some cookies. Never said it was healthy.

Mid-afternoon snack--2 cups of Kettle corn. I LOVE kettle corn, and the whole two cups had 140 calories. Score.

Mid-evening snack--Because of the screwed up eating schedule, I had another snack before the open house. Another cup of kettle corn and half a cup of cherry vanilla granola (VARIETY!) was enough, with the help of some grapes, to tide me over until dinner.

Dinner--100% Taquito! 3 Tacos de Asada (grilled beef, cilantro, and onions in corn tortillas) along with some corn tortillas and pico de gallo on the side was excellent, and should be relatively healthy too. We usually get chips and salsa, but I decided the tortillas, unfried, would be a better alternative.

That wraps this installment. I'm afraid pizza is on the menu for tomorrow's CMT meeting, so I'll need to pack some sides to help me limit my intake. Then Abby is leaving me (sadness!) so I'll be on my own to eat healthy for a couple of days...check back later to see if I survive!

Day 17--Wednesdays are Long Days

2011-01-26T21:19:00.000-06:00

Between being Hump Day and Science Olympiad, Wednesdays seemingly take forever. Add in the fact that all of Houston has collectively lost their minds while driving and its easy to see why, at 9 pm, I'm exhausted and about to go to bed. The good news? Salmon.

Breakfast--Apple cinnamon oatmeal with pomegranate craisins. I got more granola at the store today, so variety will be introduced soon. And by variety I mean what I had to eat last week.

Snack--Another Fiber One bar. They don't seem to be having much effect other than giving me some energy, so I'm going to spice things up with some kettle corn tomorrow, see if it makes a difference.

Lunch--Beef with broccoli, steamed cauliflower, steamed sugar snap peas, some real craisins, and a Snickers. The Snickers was actually more of an afternoon snack, but it wasn't long after lunch (I needed sugar to stay awake...rough day) so I'll count it here.

Dinner--Sesame-ginger salmon en papillote, or for normal paper, wrapped in parchment paper packets. It was salmon, with bell peppers and (in my packet) portabello mushrooms and a sesame/soy/ginger/citrus marinade. It was good, although it needed some sweetness to counter everything out. Maybe I'll add some honey next time. It was a recipe from a woman I've never tested before, and honestly her show on Cooking Channel is TERRIBLE, so I'm not surprised it needs tweaking.

Dessert--Half of a brownie from Whole Foods. It was a great shopping experience: salmon, some cream of tartar for the meringues in the offing, kettle corn, some healthier chips, more naan bread, and then the brownies that Abby was eyeing the other day when we were there. Half of one was just right, even if it was God knows how many calories. Worth it.

I'm going to crash...hopefully snacks will get me through the day tomorrow, and then you'll get to hear about our Open House and how Abby and I went to dinner afterwards and ate unhealthy stuff! Looking forward to it...

Day 16--Sweet Sixteen, but Without the Sweets

2011-01-25T20:35:00.000-06:00

Today was actually a rousing food success. Ate good stuff start to finish, worked out for a bit, drank a liter of water (and counting)...I feel good. Which probably means tomorrow will be disastrous. Yay for feelings of dread...

Breakfast--Cinnamon spice oatmeal with dried cherries. I know instant oatmeal from a package isn't the healthiest choice, but I don't need to add sugar (I buy lower sugar anyways) nor do I need to think about what I'm doing. Boil and pour...easy as, well, oatmeal.

Snack--Yep. Mid-morning snack. Booyah metabolism, booyah. I had a Fiber One bar, and it was scrumptious.

Lunch--Spicy Thai Chili tuna on a bed of greens, cucumbers, and shredded carrots with crackers and another tangelo. True to form, I wore the tangelo juice around the rest of the day. I need a bib.

Snack--One, yes one, spoonful of my homemade chocolate/marshmallow fluff mousse. It was delicious and gave a sugar boost for...

Exercise--Lifted weights, biked 10 minutes, ran 10 minutes. The biking 10 minutes may seem lame, but as I get into better shape, it takes longer for my heart rate to get up to acceptable levels. Therefore, my friend the exercise bike decided to help by increasing resistance haphazardly and without real warning. I rode my "bike" through what felt like wallpaper glue, and now my legs hurt.

Dinner--Jimmy Johns, the best sandwiches ever. I had a double portion of turkey, bacon, lettuce, onions, oregano, and cucumber, all on 7-grain whole wheat bread with these awesome sweet potato-corn chips. Satisfying meal all the way around.

Dessert is a no go, since I'm trying to watch my girlish figure. I may make chocolate meringues tomorrow though...light, airy, and 28 calories a pop. Bring it on baking.

Day 15--A Case of the Mondays

2011-01-24T18:54:00.000-06:00

Having willpower is like breathing...you don't realize you're lacking it until it's too late. That was the thought running through my head as I stood in the Randall's parking lot this after, holding the ingredients to complete my dinner of leftovers and smelling the amazing smell of Jax Grille across the street. For those not from Houston, Jax is food your mom would make if she owned a restaurant and had a menu longer than most books of the Bible. The enticing aroma of grilled meats came wafting through the rain and for a brief moment visions of fried okra and buffalo burgers came dancing into my head. I was able to hold strong and get in my car to drive away, but Jax may be on the menu for tomorrow. Fair warning dear reader(s).

Breakfast--Apple Cinnamon oatmeal. I had a dream that I got up early, had plenty of time to make breakfast and get ready, and then I actually woke up and saw I almost overslept. Oops.

Lunch--Potato and Kale soup, as well as a Twix. After devouring said candy, I looked at the nutritional information (yes, I realize I did those backwards) and was taken aback at what a moron I am. Twix is bad for a diet.

Snack--Tangelo anyone? The good news is that it tasted delicious. The bad news is that I'm going to be finding juice drops all over the place as long as we live here. That was the most explosive citrus I've dealt with in a long time.

Dinner--Leftover taco soup with some grilled naan bread and roasted garlic. Garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, in foil, for an hour...wow. It was delicious!

Dessert--While its wildly unnecessary, especially with my Twix disaster earlier, I have no doubt my sweet tooth with get the better of me later on. I bought a Green & Blacks dark chocolate candy bar the other day and may grab a square or two of that.

Tomorrow begins the first day of my attempt to fix our lunch health disaster. I may go with tuna and fruit to save some stress. I'm still under 240, but I've plateaued, and that's not good. I'm going to ramp up the fiber tomorrow and add some snacks, see if that helps.

Day 14--Two Weeks Down, A Lifetime to Go

2011-01-23T20:56:00.000-06:00

Woke up this morning to some bad news: Penny Wilson, a dear friend and child of God has gone to be home with Him. She had been battling cancer, and while I'm comforted that she is no longer suffering and in paradise, the world is a lot dimmer without her light in it. She will certainly be missed.

Between that and various other goings-on from the weekend, church just wasn't an option. I know its weird that a Bible teacher and minister doesn't always go to church, but get over it. It threw off my eating feng shui, and that's what's relevant for this post.

Breakfast--Two pieces of whole grain toast with peanut butter. It was delicious, even if I did feel like a dog trying to get peanut butter out of the corners of my mouth on occasion.

Lunch--We attempted to get 100% Taquito for some healthy, small portioned Mexican food, but the line was chaotic, so we went with Wendy's instead. Spicy Chicken sandwich, lettuce only, large fries and a medium frosty (don't judge) kept me full all afternoon.

Dinner--Lasagna with salad and bread. I usually don't eat lasagna because I don't like cheese, but I was hungry and just scraped most of the "good stuff" off anyways. I followed it up with a big plate of salad sans dressing, and I went through two liters of water today. I know I can drink more, but its pretty good from where I was at two weeks ago.

Dessert--Cupcake leftover from Audrey's baby shower. Delicious, and relatively small.

I'm really looking forward to my birthday because I swore off soda until then. Hopefully by then (Feb. 19th for those buying me things) I will have made water a part of my lifestyle to where sodas will be an occasional treat, and the desire for a cherry Dr. Pepper from Sonic won't have killed me. We drove by a Sonic tonight and I got twitchy...not a good sign.

I need to eat better at school (like, by bringing my own stuff from home) so that's the plan for this week. Thanks for whoever reads this!

Day 13--The Food Network is Bad for My Health

2011-01-22T18:40:00.000-06:00

Abby had Practice Management this morning, so I was left alone until about two o'clock. This was perfect time for lazing around, doing chores, watching Man U absolutely destroy Birmingham, catching up on DVR shows, etc. Unfortunately, because I watched all the DVR shows, when we got to this afternoon I didn't have anything to watch, which led to channel surfing. The channel surfing led to cooking shows, which led to a reference to french toast which led to...well, on to the food.

Breakfast--Steel cut oats with a dash of brown sugar and sliced bananas. It was nice to have a good, hot, cooked breakfast that didn't involve the word "instant." And it was filling.

Lunch--I took some leftovers and turned them into deliciousness. Broccoli, green beans, brown rice, and some of our leftover chicken breast, with a dash of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and orange juice was an amazing meal. Coupled with our leftover spring rolls from Pei Wei and I was one very happy Asian food enthusiast.

Exercise--Went to the gym, listened to Matt Chandler, ran for 15 minutes, biked for 10 minutes, and lifted some weights. Felt good, and Matt Chandler brought the thunder, as usual.

Dinner--Here's where the french toast came in. We went to Whole Foods and got a loaf of Challah, which turned into cinnamon french toast. Instead of eating processed syrup, I took a lemon and some blueberries and made my own. It was INCREDIBLE, even if Abby didn't like it. Great meal, but high calorie count. The one good thing is that it was so filling, and relatively sweet, so dessert is unnecessary.

I'll be back tomorrow after church and Life Group, which is going to have some lasagna involved. Must plan accordingly!

Day 12--Attack of the Tuna

2011-01-21T18:44:00.000-06:00

Let's just say my day involved Veggie Tales, Heidi Montag, Brett Favre, Michael Steele, and Debi Mazar. Fridays are weird.

Breakfast--Once again, a banana and 1/2 cup Cherry Vanilla granola. I'm excited about the weekend because breakfast won't be rushed for once.

Lunch--There wasn't a single portion of lunch at school today that was even remotely appetizing, so I brought some Thai Chili Tuna from home and put it on a bed of greens, with some crackers. It was delicious...tuna is an underused aspect of my diet because Abby claims she doesn't like it. Pssh.

Dinner--Taco soup, comprised of ground turkey, garlic, half a poblano pepper, some potatoes, half an onion, some baby carrots and Hot Taco seasoning, courtesy of McCormicks. Throw in some chicken stock and vegetable stock and I made a LOT of soup and it tasted delicious. Since Abby is abandoning me for her Practice Management meeting tomorrow, I get to have soup for lunch. I'm okay with that.

Dessert--Cherry crumble. You'd best believe its delicious.

I hope I can maintain focus for the weekend...lots of fiber and water should keep me on track!

Day 11--The Retreat

2011-01-21T07:41:00.000-06:00

I was all excited I crossed the 240 mark, and I apparently celebrated by being a glutton. Good work idiot self. The good news is that its FREEZING outside (literally...Abby's car has an ice warning snowflake and it came on for the first time all year) so my shivering should knock a few calories off. I'm convinced this is why Coloradans are healthy--they either shiver calories away or they wear so many clothes they sweat it out. Sneaky Colorado...sneaky.

Breakfast--1/2 cup of Cherry Vanilla granola and a banana that wasn't quite ripe. Combined with the sweetness of the cereal, it tasted a lot like glue. Sweet.

Mid-morning snack--Non-existent. Because Tuesday/Thursday are my chapel days, snacks are usually inconvenient. Instead I played beanbag basketball with Brenna. I think I won.

Lunch--Chicken sandwich, sweet potato wedges, regular potato wedges, asparagus, and--the kicker--chocolate chip cookies. Plural. I was all excited about my willpower last week, and then goofed this week. I had 2 during lunch, and then...

Snack--...I had two here as well. They were great, and since I had Science Olympiad practice afterwards I treated myself. Big mistake, because...

Dinner--Dinner was Pei Wei. Crispy Honey Shrimp with brown rice and Vegetable Spring Rolls. I know the Spring Rolls seem like excess, but I looked at the Pei Wei nutrition info and 3 Spring Rolls is the same caloric hit as an order of edamame, which is what I usually get. Granted, edamame is all fiber, but it was about the same. And delicious. Also, dessert was completely out of the question because I ate so much food today. I'm not so good at this.

So Friday is going to be full of salads, fruits, and high fiber meals...I need to fix the damage done. Be back later with the update.

Day 10--Crossing a Threshold

2011-01-20T07:37:00.000-06:00

Woke up this morning and lo and behold...I'm under 240. Huzzah. The bad news is that I still have around 30 pounds to go before I'm remotely satisfied, but its still a fast accomplishment and one I'm proud of. It's amazing what trying can do...

Breakfast--1/2 cup of Cherry Vanilla granola. I can't seem to get myself going in the mornings this semester, and my "eat a big breakfast" plan has suffered because of it. I just need to make sure its a focal point and get up and moving. Perhaps placing the alarm across the room would help...

Snack--Fiber One bar. Again, awesomeness.

Lunch--Two bowls of Garden Vegetable Soup and some crackers. Brothy soups are good things, although I question the sodium levels of this particular batch. Either way, it was really good.

Dinner--Rosemary and Garlic chicken breast, green peas, and sweet potatoes. Coupled with water, it was one of the best meals I've made in a long time (and a far cry from my NY Strip disaster of last week). We had a lot of chicken leftover because I roasted the whole package, so I think some dinner salads are in the offering this weekend.

No dessert, because sweet potatoes are good enough and because I ate a lot of peas...I was stuffed.

Until tomorrow!