Week 1 (click here) Week 2 (click here) Week 3 (below) Week 4 (click here)
Week 3, Day 1: Thursday, November 7, 2002
The start of the third week of 800-calorie-a-day dieting and I've done really well. I wasn't going to weigh myself for the first five weeks, but since that was entirely arbitrary (except that that would have put it right at Thanksgiving), I went ahead and stepped on the ol' electronic scales today. I was pleased to see that these first two weeks have resulted in a weight loss of 9.5 pounds. Some of that is probably water weight and the last few days before I started all this, my weight seemed to fluctuate by 3 or 4 or even 5 pounds, so I won't put too much into this (dwelling-wise), but it's at least a nice start. I haven't weighed what it showed on the scales, therefore, for many, many years. Got to work at home today, so was able to get to an earlier start than usual without the commute, wearing presentable clothes, etc. So, went out for a dinner break for sushi since all I'd had the rest of the day was half the container of cantelope cubes and got full before I could order and eat more of what I wanted when I went there. That's good, because I saved money and had plenty to eat anyway, but boy oh boy was the fresh salmon good tonight! Yum! I think next time I'll just try it sashimi instead of sushi, but I don't have calorie tables for that as plentiful as for the Nigiri sushi. We'll see. At any rate, the day's food:
off and on in the morning 7 oz, cantelope 58 4:30p 2 pieces eel sushi 172 same time 2 pieces salmon sushi 128 same time 8 pieces California Roll 256 5:30p 1 Fun Size Snickers bar 75 later in evening 3 tsp sugar (1 straight and 2 in different cups of hot herbal tea) 45 Total: 734
Week 3, Day 2: Friday, November 8, 2002
noon 1 apple 65 2:30p 1 can Green Giant niblets corn 320 8:15p 1-1/2 egg (Magic had the other 1-1/2) 120 same time 4 slices diet bread 160 same time 1 Tb ketchup 15 same time 2 slices 2% milk cheese 90 Total: 770
Week 3, Day 3: Saturday, November 9, 2002
It was the day for the monthly Rainbow match, but was foggy and rainy and wet all over, so I just went back to bed and slept in 'til noon. Then played ping pong in Sun City at the Club for three good hours and came home and made a big portion of spaghetti, good for four meals. It had been probably a year since I'd had spaghetti, so it was especially good. The entire contents included a jar of garden vegetable Ragu (660), 2 small cans mushrooms (80), 8 oz. 96% lean ground beef (300), and 8 oz fettucine noodles (1600).
4:30p driving back from ping pong lettuce and some parmesan cheese from dressing-less McDonald's salad shaker 30 5:00p 1/4 the spaghetti mix detailed above 660 7:00p 1 Fudgcicle 90 Total: 780
Week 3, Day 4: Sunday, November 10, 2002
It was pleasantly cool and sunny out today after the couple of days of rain we've had, so I opened the upstairs windows and just slept in until I thought I'd better get up, around 2:00ish. That felt really nice, especially after having had to contend with barking dogs all night long, and I thought they were behind me, but turns out it was Dakota next door, whose family seems to be gone (still) and the poor critter has been out in the cold and rain all weekend long. I threw some food over the fence and a couple of rawhide chewies tonight, but she's still all alone and I have no idea when Troy and family will be getting home. Hope she's okay. (Actually, I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl dog, but it's a big, strong, muscular boxer and I feel sorry for it.) So, I 've been dieting now two and a half weeks and I decided to step on the scales this morning just for kicks. I've lost 12 pounds, so that's nice. I'm not tracking it as "official", yet, though, since I'll probably do that for sure, for good, on Thanksgiving morning, like I'd been telling myself all along. That will mark the beginning of the sixth week of this, so by then, there should be even more weight lost. At any rate, I'd set out some hamburger yesterday for the spaghetti and didn't realize there was as much as there was, so I 'had' to eat hamburger tonight. So, here's what I ate today:
3:00p 1 banana 101 4:00p 2 4-oz (each) 96% lean hamburgers 300 same time 4 slices diet bread 160 same time 2 Tb ketchup 30 same time 1 Tb sweet pickle relish 15 same time 2 slices 2% milk cheese 90 8:00p 2 tsp. sugar 30 same time 1 cup Kashi 70 Total: 796
Week 3, Day 5: Monday, November 11, 2002
Car in the shop, after taking it to one place that said it was "impossible" what was happening, so I broke down and took it to the dealer, whom I absolutely detest and haven't taken it to ever since the fiasco of buying it from them over 4 years ago. They needed to order the parts, so they've kept the vehicle and although I don't need to go anywhere, it's just odd not having transportation and being house-bound, whether I like it or not. Was able to work at home today, though, so that's nice. Got up extra early, thinking I could drop off the car as soon as some places opened at 7:00, but the ones I first wanted, before the dealer, didn't open 'til 8:00, so I just got some work done first. Then today was the day for the cable guy to come and take down the cable from the middle bedroom. Homeowner's association sent a letter saying I either needed to paint it to match the stucco or remove it. Actually, they just said paint it, but I elected to remove it. I never liked the way they did it in the first stupid place, leaving so much exposed on the outside walls of the house, looking idiotic. Too bad it took over three years for it to be noticed, though, so no telling what Gestapo we have on the Board now to be concerned with such small things. At any rate, I rarely watched TV up there when I painted, so the TV can now just be used for watching video tapes and playing video games when kids are over, but wouldn't you know it? I felt like painting and watching TV up there tonight. Tried getting reception w/o the cable and I couldn't get ANYTHING. Hmm. I'd have thought at least something crappy would have come in. Oh well, never a dull moment. Then, the idiotic cable people came to take down the cable they'd put up, and although I explained to the minion on the phone the reason it was coming down, what my concerns were, etc., did they bring any spackle or filler or paint? Nope. So, fortunately I had some spackle in the garage, and the guy patched a couple of the holes with it while he had the long extension ladders up, but it isn't exactly the right color, so who knows what, if anything, will happen now. Meanwhile, the slowpoke who was supposed to come by and give me a quote on painting it (and the rest of the house), a week ago, still hasn't come by, so hopefully when he gets around to it, he'll be confused and waste some extra time trying to find what he's there for. I could call him and tell him not to come by, but serves him right and I just don't care, so I won't. Grouchy, can you tell? Today's food was a disaster. Don't know exactly what happened, but I just ate everything in sight. I did write down the food while eating it, though, so perhaps I'll actually itemize it and write it down here for posterity. Nothing tasted all that good, though, and that's just disappointing. Even the 1/4 of the spaghetti mix that was so absolutely delicious the other night...just didn't do it for me today. Without adding, I have no idea how many calories I ate, but probably around 1800 or more. So, of course, it was still fewer than most people eat in a day, but far, far, far, far more than I should have, could have, and wanted to. Oh well.
Week 3, Day 6: Tuesday, November 12, 2002
I'm typing this a couple of days later, so can't remember exactly how I felt, but I know I let the imprecision of the day before, coupled with having to be home-bound again while my car was in the shop all day long, the day was a minor disaster and I ate way too much junk and didn't keep track, etc. Fortunately, I didn't have too much awful stuff around, but there was some mini-Halloween candy that I never touched then, and now I did. All in all I probably stayed under 1500 calories, but still, it wasn't what I'd wanted/hoped.
Week 3, Day 7: Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Again, this is after-the-fact and I can't recall how badly I did, but it wasn't pretty. Wasn't awful awful awful, but wasn't even close to 800. Alpha lab testing at work had free food, and I'm a sucker for that, though I didn't go nuts or anything, just too much. All in all, again, probably stayed under 1800 to 2000 for the day, but that was stupid and unnecessary and I should have kept track but just wasn't in the mood. Glad the week is over...