Losing a part of me

Category: Cigars

  • Day 417

    The correction continues! After the initial gain Friday morning of 2.2 lbs., I am once again down .4 lb. this morning, the same as yesterday morning. I am quite content with that. I jogged yesterday, but I also ate a quite a bit, including a very tasty roll (brought from Canada) with our lunchtime (non)chicken burgers, and also some of the chips that the Mexican restaurant brought to our table last night. I tempered both of these though. While I was always going to eat two patties for lunch, when Leslie asked me I told her I would only have one roll for both of them. While eating the chips with salsa, after a few (maybe twenty chips but probably fewer) I said no more… and I did not take a single other chip. That second one is a huge victory for me, considering the last time I cheated was in a very similar situation, with very similar (though inferior) nacho chips. We came home and enjoyed a couple of cigars on the balcony, which was also always in the plan.

    In the morning, after Leslie successfully talked me out of going out to eat, we did pick up our café lattés from Starbucks to enjoy with our first cigar of the day. We have a cigar that just pairs perfectly with the drink, and while it is too soft for an evening cigar (for our tastes) it is a perfect breakfast cigar. I know that the latté is not strictly a good choice, but I am in Dallas with my wife, and I want to share things with her… like this. We have some traditions that we are starting that I hope that we can continue long beyond the time when we are only visiting with each other. A weekend morning on the balcony with a good coffee and a delicious cigar is one of them.

    Thinking I had to earn that running badge from Garmin, I set out for a jog after lunch. The weather here has been strange, and while we were sitting on the balcony with jackets on at 10:30am, at 2:30pm it was hot. I was determined to earn that badge, so even after 3km (at which point it was 85° without a cloud in the sky) I left the jogging activity tracking… even though I switched to a brisk walk. I finished out with 3km jogging and 4.5km walking, a very respectable outing by any means. Of course, it was not until I got home that I realized that the challenge is for next weekend. Grrr. No matter, I got out and I stayed active. I plan to do the same thing every day this week… and I am relieved in that regard that yesterday was an anomaly… the forecast high for today is 66°, and with two exceptions, the long-range forecast does not show it going above 60° for the rest of my trip.

    This evening Leslie and I are having dim sum for dinner, which will be a special treat. In anticipation of that, after our coffee and cigar we are going to a mall where we have a couple of things we actually need to buy, but we are also going to do a lot of walking together. It will be a nice Sunday activity.

    I will mention that I am definitely sleeping better these last few nights than the previous few weeks. I have not taken melatonin or anything else, I am simply sleeping with my wife in my arms, which makes everything better. This morning we both opened our eyes around the same time, and when I asked her what time it was she gasped – it was 10:20am! It took us a few seconds to realize that the clocks had sprung forward for Daylight Savings Time. That does not change the fact that we both got more than ten hours of sleep last night. I cannot remember the last time I was able to do that.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 281

    Yesterday was one of those days that had the potential for me to go off the rails on my program. I got some very disturbing news, and it really upset me. If it was not for the unwavering love and support of my wife, I do not know what would have happened. I am relieved that the only transgression from the program yesterday was a bag of popcorn… and it was the last bag that I had in the house, so that should not be happening again.

    The results of staying on track? My weight dropped 2.4lbs, which is exactly how much I gained two days ago from my post-vaccination cheat splurge. I am still .2lbs from my lowest weight (which I recorded Monday morning, before that splurge), but if I stay on course today, I will hopefully be back into the best-weight-ever territory either tomorrow or latest by Saturday.

    I did not join the gym yesterday as I said I might. That is still in the plans, but yesterday was not a good day… it was a day to sit on the balcony and smoke a cigar and to reflect on what happened. It was also a day to renew my Microsoft ‘Expert’ certification, which was set to expire November 8. My certifications are part of my professional credibility, and I do need to maintain them to stay relevant. The renewals are not nearly as difficult (nor as regimented) as the actual certifications are, and I was able to finish it in less than thirty minutes. It is the second renewal that I did this week – the other being for my ‘Associate’ certification, which would have expired October 30. Getting these out of the way took a bit of a load off my mind indeed. I expect that in the next week or two, I will probably try to earn a couple more certifications… but that will depend on a lot of factors.

    Charlie came over for a visit today, which means that I will not be going out until it is time to pick my cleaning lady up from the train station. The weather might or might not be conducive to a cigar on the balcony – we will see how I feel – but I do know from last night that it is time to start using the patio heater. I also invoked (for the second time in a week) my mantra that if I am not enjoying a cigar, I should not be smoking the cigar. I threw out the cigar I was smoking a little past the halfway point. I should have lit another one, but I decided to step inside to warm up. It was only then that Princess Sophie told me that she wanted to go out for another walk, and so we went… we would have spent longer outside, but we saw the massive skunk (it must be the same one from the other night… unless there is a family of gigantic skunks living around here) so we both decided to come inside.

    I really miss my wife. The other day I was sitting on the porch with Lyle, and he told me that he understands why… that when he drops Dorothy off at the train station in the morning, he misses her terribly, and that is knowing that she will be back in the evening. How much worse must it be, he asked, knowing that when Leslie and I part, we will be apart for a month every time. He is right, it is agony. I miss her, and she misses me. We can only hope that the US State Department does not take too long processing our visa application. The sooner we can be together, the better.

    I joined the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) last night. I am far from retired of course, but my wife was making fun of my age (she is nearly a decade my junior), and I realized that if I joined, she would automatically become a member as well. There are discounts associated with the membership, so I figured ‘why not?’ It was just something to do… and I suppose it is just one more card that someone wants me to carry around in my wallet.

    I am not sure if today might be my last regularly scheduled meeting with my diet buddy before she goes for her surgery. We might have a couple more weeks, but I will have to ask her about that today. I am really hoping that things go well for her. I am also hoping that I do not fail yet again and find myself wanting to follow in her footsteps. I really want to lose all the weight I have to lose in a healthy manner, and a non-surgical one. I know that my prolonged obesity will have made lasting changes to my aging body, but I want that to be the extent of it; I do not want to make any surgical changes to my body. As I might have mentioned the other day, my ex-wife seems to have overtaken me in the number of scars, and I do not want to try to catch up again.

    It is time for me to get on with my day, so I will close here… have a great day folks!

  • Day 277

    I celebrated my latest milestone last night. As I said I would, I enjoyed a steak. It was not my midday meal, which was my usual chicken. No, I had a second meal yesterday. I had a steak, and I had another salad around 7:00pm. Because of that, I was worried that I was going to lose the progress I had made the previous day. While I did gain this morning, it was .2lbs, and nothing earth-shattering. I can live with that, knowing I was able to celebrate and not pay too badly for it.

    I spent a lovely afternoon with Lyle and Dorothy yesterday, and while I do not expect to have company for it, I expect that my day today will go similar to yesterday. I will sit on the balcony and smoke a couple of cigars. I will either read or watch movies on my tablet – I watched a documentary about the music of James Bond the other day, and now I am drawn to watching the series in order. I started yesterday with Dr. No, and will probably follow that up with From Russia with Love today. Who knows? I have not been feeling great and want to take it easy. If I was sure that I am not sick, I would take my son the younger for breakfast. These last few days, I have been sneezing and coughing a lot; it could be from allergies, but I suspect it was the sudden exposure to colder weather, and not dressing appropriately for it.

    The kids are playing. That is to say, Charlie came over for a short play date, and he and Princess Sophie are frolicking and play-fighting. It is so nice to see them having fun. Unfortunately, it reminds me that my wife and I are apart, and that we will not be able to frolic until her next visit in twenty-six days. Yes, I am counting. Of course I am counting… I have not been able to hold her for the last week since she dropped me off at the airport. Long distance relationships are hard. I am relieved that the sadness over the physical distance between us had not manifested itself in falling off the food wagon. It would be so easy for me to use that as an excuse to gain weight. No, I have to stay strong and stay focused. We will be together soon and forever, and I have to lose weight and get healthy if I want our life together to be a long and happy one.

    With that said, my plan for the day is to stay focused and stay on track. I know that there is more temptation while I am sitting at home doing nothing, but at the same time, I can (and will) smoke my cigars and relax, and just try to keep myself distracted and busy. I will make my regular afternoon meal, and I will read and watch TV. At around 2:00pm, someone should be coming to collect a table that I have been trying to sell on Facebook Marketplace. I will be glad to be rid of it, not because it takes up a lot of space or because it is not useful, but because I am trying to slowly downsize. I want to get rid of things that I do not need. Come to think of it, I might list a couple of other items for sale today too. There, after I wrote that sentence, I re-listed my Ikea chair and ottoman for sale. If they sell, I will need to find another way for Princess Sophie to hop up onto the bed.

    It is a beautiful day outside, and the temperature is currently on a slow crawl up to a high of 18° Celsius. I put on a short sleeve shirt today, which means that I will be wearing a jacket as I sit outside. I could have avoided that by wearing long sleeves, but that’s life.

    I am being stabbed tomorrow and cut on Tuesday. If that sounds like I am having flashbacks to my Army days, I assure you it is nothing so violent. I have scheduled my fourth Covid-19 booster and a flu shot for tomorrow afternoon (the stab). I have scheduled a haircut and beard trim (the cut) for Tuesday. It seems like I am actually acting somewhat responsibly these days, taking care of what needs taking care of. Who knows? Maybe the shots will make me lose my appetite for a few weeks!? Probably not… nothing else ever has. Although I will say that as Lyle and Dorothy discussed a particular sandwich yesterday (that I am sure is very good, but as a reasonably observant Jew is anathema to me) I thought I might lose my lunch. Not the same, is it?

    Have a great day folks! It is officially Cigar O’Clock!

  • Day 276

    NEWS FLASH! After a week of faltering on my program and seeing my weight staying roughly the same (within a pound and a half), I was able to stick to the plan yesterday, eating only what is prescribed in my weight management guide, plus a challah roll with peanut butter, which replaced two meal replacements.

    SCALE VICTORY! I crashed through that elusive 310lbs barrier! With a whopping 2.6lbs drop from yesterday, not only bringing me into that last 300-pound decade, but also back into the best-weight-ever territory.

    Yes, it is entirely possible that the next time I see my wife (which will be in 27 days) I could weigh under 300 pounds… that terrible milestone that I have always hated, and that for the many years of my weight loss struggles I have viewed as the boundary between absolutely disgusting, and just really bad.

    My scale app (it should surprise nobody that I have a Bluetooth scale that connects to my phone and tracks my progress in the cloud) has a field that I set for myself years ago – likely sometime during my 2020 weight loss attempt – that is my target weight. I set it at 210lbs, which might or might not be realistic. For the first time since March 7, 2021 (almost exactly a year and a half ago) I am less than 100lbs from that goal weight.

    While it might be easy to see my next major milestone as being that century – I am 8.4lbs away from registering under 300 pounds – that would neglect one huge milestone that is between now and then. While I do not remember the first conversation I had with her, I know that Leslie and I started our training for the FastTrack team at Microsoft together on March 1, 2021. My best weight from that week was 305.6lbs, the morning of Wednesday, March 3. My next milestone is that… I am 2.6lbs away from my lowest weight since I met my wife. While she has seen pictures, Leslie has never known me weighing less than that. I am truly looking forward to her seeing me start to get slimmer than she has ever known me… and her watching me continue to shrink until I am at last in good and healthy shape.

    It is worth mentioning, by the way, that according to my scale app my Body Mass Index (BMI) is below 40. In fact, it has been straddling the line around 40 since the beginning of the month. This morning it is neither 40.1 nor 39.9… it is 39.6, which is cause for note as well!

    My goal for today is to do my best. Charlie is visiting with Princess Sophie for a couple of hours, and his mom asked me to not leave them home alone. I could drop him off at her apartment and go out, but I would rather not do that. Liz and Charlie have been so good to us that I think it is the least I can do to let them play together while she is out gardening. I will head to Lyle and Dorothy’s house after lunch, whether Liz is home or not… she should be. However, I do not have to go out before that… despite maybe wanting to go for a walk.

    While this weekend (and the next few days) is scheduled to be pretty nice, I know that winter is coming. I have been giving more serious thought to a gym membership. I spoke with my former personal trainer today (who is also a Facebook friend) and asked if she gets any sort of bonus or recognition if she brings me in to the club, but she does not. I will likely go into the club Monday or Tuesday to sign up.

    While joining the gym will give me access to the aerobic exercise machines that will take the place of my outdoor fitness walking, it will also give me access to anaerobic equipment, which will let me work on growing muscles. I do not want to be a body builder, but larger biceps and triceps would be great. I guess I should speak with my wife to confirm what she wants me to look like… I do not think she will want me to have a swimmer’s body, but if I am such a huge proponent of communications, it would be a good idea to ask!

    Okay, enough procrastinating. It is time to go about my day. I am going to make lunch, and then likely I’ll head over to Lyle and Dorothy’s to enjoy a cigar smoking afternoon on the patio. With a forecast high of 20° Celsius today, it might be the last day of the year where that mark will be hit. The next few days are projected at 17°, and from there it just drops into mid-autumn temperatures… and precipitation. Today will not be the last good cigar smoking day of the year… but if it was not for my propane heater, it would be one of them.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 275

    I did slightly better yesterday than the previous couple of days, but I am still not happy with my cheating. I have to get off that merry-go-round. Leslie had a good talk with me about it, and I told her that I have just been out of sorts this week… in my head. I assured her that it is nobody’s fault but my own. I am hoping that with the coming of the weekend, and the nicer weather, I will be able to get back on track. While it might be windy, it should be warm enough for me to enjoy a cigar on the balcony after lighting the Shabbat candles this evening. I do not know if I am cheating because I have not smoked a cigar since Saturday, but they do help.

    This morning I got onto the scale before I showered and was a pound down from yesterday. I then got onto the same scale after I showered and weighed .2lbs more than yesterday. I am sticking with the first weigh-in… I don’t know how 20 minutes can make the difference of 1.2lbs, but I also know that weight loss can be maddeningly frustrating. Again, it is not the points on the graph that matter, it is the overall (hopefully downward) trend.

    If you ever wonder if people can really change for a person, I am sitting at my desk at 8:30am listening to the new Taylor Swift album, which dropped last night. It is pretty good! I am also enjoying a cup of coffee, waiting for my students to come into the room. I took Her Floofness for a walk, then came home and said my prayers before making my coffee and shake. Leslie is a huge fan of Ms. Swift, and while I will not automatically like anything for anyone, I am happy to give it a shot. She has a pretty good sound… so far, I think my favourite song on the album is called Vigilante Shit. I’m not sure why, but I like it!

    Today is going to be a tough day of teaching. It is the last day of class, and I am way behind in the material, so I will have to zip through a lot of it. Normally, I lecture for a bit, and then give the students lab work to do. I am likely going to leave all of the labs for the end of the day (and the weekend) because I have to get through all of the lectures. I am rarely in this spot, but I have been in worse spots… the students should be happy in the end!

    My goal for the day is to not cheat. I will have my chicken and salad for lunch, and the only carbs I will have are in the challah and wine I have for the Shabbat blessings. If I can make it through to the end of class, then I will be able to have a nice bit of challah, and that should satisfy my out-of-band hungers for the day. All I have to do is get to 5:00pm… and the peace and blessings of the Sabbath, which along with challah and wine will also bring a cigar.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 269

    Yesterday went exactly as I expected that it would. I had a meal replacement shake for breakfast, leftover Mexican food for lunch, and Italian food for dinner. The only real cheat in there was the dessert that my wife and I shared… a decadent piece of cake with a canoli on top (which she insisted I have). It was only because of that I was concerned that when I got onto the scale this morning I might be disappointed… but I was not. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. Wednesday I was in best-ever territory, before giving back a little over 1.5lbs over the next couple of days. I am back to within .2lbs of where I was, and that is a good feeling.

    As we were getting dressed for the event yesterday, I decided to try to put on one of the new belts that I bought last month, which did not come close to fitting then. It was tight, but I was able to wear it. I am calling that another huge non-scale victory. I doubt it will fit with every pair of pants that I own, but if it works with some then I am happy by the minor progress.

    Another victory, and it is partially connected to the scale, is that my Body Mass Index (BMI) is under 40. In fact, it has, over the past two weeks, registered under 40 on five days, not surprisingly the five days when my weight was at or under 311lbs. The best that it has ever been was 33.4 on September 27, 2020… my best day from my last weight loss journey. It is disheartening to realize that even with all of my progress this time around, I am still fifty pounds heavier that I was then, and that it might take me another five months to get there.

    I know that weight loss is a marathon and not a sprint, and there is no healthy (and non-surgical) way to lose weight quickly. I just wish I thought I could do the full program completely (meal replacements only, no food at all) for a couple of months and drop it all… but I do not think I would be able to do it. I am worried that I would, as I always have, fallen off the wagon… hard. No, slow and steady is my best course to long-term success. I know that, and I plan to follow that… I just don’t have to be happy about that.

    Our plans for today have changed. We were originally going to drive out to Cigars International again for the event, but after yesterday’s Davidoff event (which was a real bust), we decided to stay closer to home. I am a member of a cigar lounge that is a five-minute drive from the house, and we will have just as good a time on the patio there as we would on the patio of the lounge at CI, which is a bit of a schlep. The staff told us what we could expect from the Oliva event today, and frankly there is nothing that will tempt me. Had we gone out there, we would have had to buy a couple of boxes of cigars to make it worth our while, and truthfully, I don’t mind spending the day at Addison. It is just more of a homey feeling to it.

    My goal for today is to relax with a few cigars, and to eat reasonably smart. I had a meal replacement for breakfast; we might have salads for lunch, but that will be up to Leslie. Dinner tonight will be our last dinner together for this trip, which is sad… but at least we know that in just over a month, she will be coming to Canada for ten days. With that said, I am not looking forward to flying back to Canada tomorrow.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 268

    I knew that after a few days of tremendous weight loss, I would be adjusting for a couple of days. The only thing I am looking forward to about being back in Canada is the boring normalcy of my regimen… I will not be traveling, I will not be going to restaurants, I will not be going to cigar lounges where the host insists I try a dram of Irish whiskey to give my opinion on a particular pairing. I will not be invited to backyard barbecues where I am fed liberal quantities of carne asada.

    I was speaking with Leslie yesterday, and lamented how nice it would be if by the time she arrived in Canada next month I could fit into my 2017 suits. I know that will be an amazing non-scale victory, but I also tie it to a scale victory… about the same time I drop below 300lbs, I should be able to fit into those suits and shirts. I remember that the first time I wore one of them to synagogue services in 2020, I was around 296lbs. Leslie loves wearing dresses, and I would love to dress up in a nice tailored suit to accompany her. I do think I look pretty good wearing my custom-tailored pants and sports jacket (which I had made in March, and then tailored down in August), but there is something special about a suit… and while I do have ‘fat suits,’ I do not ever want to wear one of them again. I want to wear clothes that make me feel like I deserve to walk into a room with my wife, and not look like Fat Albert.

    Yesterday went almost, but not exactly the way I expected it to. Both Leslie and I completely forgot about the leftovers, and I went to pick up salads for us for lunch from our favourite drive-thru salad place. I do want to state, for the record, that it feels really weird to have a favourite drive-thru salad place, but that is a conversation for another time. For dinner, we did go for Chinese food, and while I did make a bad choice, and ate more than I should have, I did not really overdo it. However, I do know better than to have the sweet and sticky Szechuan sauces. Next week, I will eat much better, but today and tomorrow I am going to enjoy dinner with my wife!

    I have a lot of work to do this morning, and I have a 12:30pm meeting about a class that I am teaching next week. Before that meeting, Leslie and I will sit down for a lunch of leftovers – I’ll finish off the Mexican food, and she will attack the Chinese food. After my meeting, we are going to the Davidoff event at Cigars International, because that is far and away Leslie’s favourite brand of cigars. I will find time between this and that to shower and dress up, as it will be a fun and special dress-up outing for both of us. After the event, we will likely have a nice dinner around that area.

    After dinner last night, Leslie got the confirmation email that my laptop has shipped, and will be here in time for me to take it back to Canada. I am quite happy about that, as it means that as soon as I get home, I can advertise this laptop for sale. While the two devices are reasonably similar in specs (both Core i7 processors with 16gb of RAM), the new one is 15” (this one is 13”), and most importantly – the reason I actually decided to buy it – the new one will be under warranty. With the amount of travel I do, I consider that a huge benefit. For the last year, I have been using a laptop that is not under warranty, and while I am not doing the same amount of travel I once did, it still has 15,000 miles on it – which includes three round-trips from Toronto to Dallas, one round-trip from Dallas to California, and several road trips from Toronto to Montreal. I am hardly concerned when it is sitting on my desk, but a laptop in motion always has the potential to break. In short, new laptop = geek-out fun!

    You can tell that autumn is in the air, even in Dallas. Last night, Leslie and I sat out on the balcony with a cigar and a beverage. While it was not cool enough that I thought to put on long sleeves, it was definitely not hot enough to worry about my wife being uncomfortable. Yes, she much prefers the cool weather to the hot. I can only imagine the shock to my system when I arrive back in Canada…

    My diet buddy and I had our weekly check-in yesterday, and she told me more about her decision to have the surgery. I am going to continue to try to support her, although I suspect that she might decide later on that she needs someone that can relate to her experience. We will see.

    While it might get cooler this evening, the forecast high today is 86° Fahrenheit, which will be quite warm. I will not wear my sports coat in the car on my way to the event. As I mentioned, I have some work to do this morning, which I guess I should get at.

    Have a great day everybody!

  • Day 266

    Best-Weight-Zone is a great place to be. I am back to what I weighed at the end of February, 2021. My best weight of that year would be three days later, the day that I started my contract with Microsoft. I weighed 305.6lbs that day (March 3). By March 31, I weighed 325.2lbs. I had not quite given up… but I was close to it. My actual give-ups were probably the day that my father passed away (April 19), and then the day I returned to Canada (July 16). That will not happen this time.

    I worded that in a way that made it sound like something happened to me. No, it was me doing it, and so a better way to say it would be I will not do that this time. My goal is to get slim and to stay slim… no matter what external forces push me. That is a great goal of course… but the reality is that it is an extremely difficult course that I am on, and I have to remember to persevere, no matter what. If I falter one day, I have to get back on track the next day.

    The psychology of weight loss is complex. Anyone who says otherwise does not understand the forces at work. It is simple to say ‘I will not eat anything bad. I will not eat excessively. I will continue to exercise.’ It is not nearly as easy to maintain that attitude long-term. That is what I have to do… and if I fall off the wagon on any given day, I need to pick myself right back up the following day and continue. Alcoholics use the mantra ‘One day at a time.’ I have to keep going. I have to remember what I discussed months ago in this very journal, about how overeating is an addiction just like alcohol. To treat it otherwise is to belittle the difficulties in losing weight, at least for someone who has been obese their entire life (or in my case, my entire post-Army life).

    Several months ago, I wrote an entry called Temptations and Cravings in which I discussed the allure of a particular fried chicken restaurant… I discussed how after the last time I ate it I felt nauseous. I knew that I should not be tempted by it, but I was. That was on Day 9. You would think that by today, 257 days later, I would be over that craving. Yet just three days ago, as I was driving toward the salad place which was closed, I saw this chicken place and was sooo tempted. I know it made me sick! And yet there I was, so tempted to pull in to take home a bucket of extra crispy. Whoever said that food is not addictive was completely out to lunch… pun intended.

    My foot is hurting again today (and has been since last night). Perhaps the six kilometre walk yesterday was not my best idea. I’ll get over it, but if tomorrow I feel like heading out, I will first decide if the pain is worth it. I am perfectly ready to say that it is… but Leslie might have another position, as she does not enjoy seeing me in pain.

    The plan for today is to spend it at the cigar lounge. Leslie is going into her office for an event, and so I could either sit at home pining for her (which I will do anyways), or I could sit at the cigar lounge enjoying a stick or two. I quite think I prefer that second option. For the first time in a fortnight, we will be alone this evening – her son went back to his father’s house. As such, this evening will be a date night, with a nice dinner, and then drinks and cigars on the patio. While we love spending time with the boy, we also love spending time alone. Also, after her week with him at Disneyland, I know she needs a bit of a break from him, and a bit of adult time will do her well.

    It is another beautiful day in Dallas, and we are going to enjoy it. I will probably sit outside at the lounge today, depending on a few different factors.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 261

    I do not usually write at the end of the day, but it has been a very busy and packed day. Last night I did not get to bed until 2:15am, after a long and great day. I did start the shake with a meal replacement shake and a cup of coffee, and then I headed out.

    I started at my rabbi’s house, where his wife made me a plate of food (rabbi, wife, you get it, right?) that was tasty and healthy. It consisted mostly of eggs and avocado, and it was delicious. While it was my intention to be there for an hour or so, we ended up chatting until 1:30pm, at which point I drove to Beverly Hills.

    The Grand Havana Room is an exclusive private club that has many members whose names you will know. I sat down with two very good friends, and before long there were nine of us around the table, many of whom I knew from previous visits to the club, plus a couple of new guys who were equally great to chat with. I ordered a scotch (which I later realized was a $40 dram), and later a café latté. When those friends left, I joined another friend’s table (which was planned weeks ago), and we sat around discussing and solving the ills of the world, all the while enjoying fine cigars, plus another cup of coffee.

    It was 8:30pm by the time I walked out, and I realized I had not eaten since 10:00am. I was meeting other friends in Glendale, and I had the choice of an amazing khachapuri (an Armenian and Georgian delicacy that is essentially a personal pizza with lots of bread and cheese, plus an egg in the middle) … or I could go to Zankou, an Armenian rotisserie chicken restaurant that was always a favourite of mine. While I can get chicken anywhere, and khachapuri is hard to find in the parts of the world I usually frequent, I also knew that the chicken was a much more weight management friendly option (although still not perfect). I opted for the chicken.

    After dinner I went to the cigar lounge where I used to hang out when I lived in Glendale, where a bunch of guys (all of whom I know pretty well) were playing poker. The plan was for me to wait there and smoke, waiting for my buddy (with whom I was staying) to finish playing. They wrapped at 12:15pm, and he and I headed back to his place. I knew I had an early morning, so I decided to pack my suitcase before going to sleep. All I had to do in the morning was wake up, shower, get dressed, put my sundries into the suitcase, and head out.

    I indeed started early, arriving at the breakfast restaurant by 8:15am. I had an incredible avocado toast with an egg, plus a couple cups of coffee. I saw a friend for a bit, and then headed back to the rabbi’s house. Today is the day when the community is invited to finish building and decorating the succah (for the upcoming holiday Succoth). I knew they were expecting people to start coming in the afternoon, but I was meeting two friends – one for lunch at 11:45am, and then one for a cigar at 1:15pm), and I wanted to sit with him to talk one last time before I leave. Also, while I love his wife, I am glad she was not home, lest she feed me again!

    While I did meet Orrin and his son for lunch, I did not eat, having finished my breakfast only a couple of hours earlier. We sat outside and I smoked a cigar while they ate (it is a cigar-friendly terrace). While I wanted to keep the chat going, I had to then drive to Woodland Hills, where I was meeting Bob.

    The owner of the cigar lounge (do you see a pattern to this trip?) recognized me, and asked why I never showed up. You see, right before I left for Canada, I met him at the lounge where I was a member, and I promised to come by and see his new lounge. I had been there, but not since before he took it over. I promised I would, right after I got back from my ten-day trip. That ten-day trip turned into I never ended up coming back to California, and so he thought I left him hanging for sixteen months. We sat and discussed many things about the cigar industry. Yes, Bob came by for a while and we caught up, but what was supposed to be a 90-minute stay at the lounge ended up taking up my day… and evening.

    As we were halfway through our third cigar, the owner invited me to join him and several of his members at one of their houses for a barbecue. I went, and it was a great evening. They barbecued carne asada (essentially steaks), and because most of them are Jewish, they invited me to say the prayers over the wine and challah. We sat for a couple of hours, then Johnny and I had to head out. He drove me back to the lounge (where I had my car), and we parted ways. I drove to my hotel, and am happy to be in my room. It was a long and wonderful day.

    I had two meals today, both of which had more bread than I would normally eat, but were mostly good nonetheless. Aside from the challah, dinner was mostly protein and salad. I do not expect that I will pay too dearly for it.

    Tomorrow, I am driving to Disneyland, where I will spend the day with my wife and her son. While I have very little interest in theme parks, it will be a great day… and at the end of the day, we are building a droid, which will be fun. Mostly I am looking forward to hugging my wife, which I have not been able to do since she drove me to the airport on Monday. I will try to eat well during the day, but I am scared of what options there will be at the Disneyland park. I am crossing my fingers.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 221

    Following our walk, Leslie and I had a great day. We went to a mall to pick up a couple of things (and to walk around… but at a much more leisurely pace. The original plan had been to go there, then to the Asian stores, and then for dinner. What we ended up doing was going from the mall to Cigars International Superstore (where we had a fabulous time sitting out, drinking, smoking, and watching people), and then at around 8:00pm we decided to go get food.

    We had miscalculated how busy the restaurants were going to be. In the end, our only viable option was P.F. Changs, which is tasty but not great for weight management. We ordered well, we ate smartly, but the restaurant must order MSG by the truckload, because I was feeling it all night. My weight this morning is up, but it is a temporary up; just like the other day with the rotisserie chicken, I know I am retaining water because of the sodium. In a day or two, that will fix itself.

    Leslie made a very valid point yesterday that I need to learn to be able to have a very small piece of something that I like without feeling that I have to gorge myself on it. The example she gave was a piece of a chocolate bar that she was eating. I am afraid that if I have one piece, I will then want two pieces… and it will not take very long before I will be devouring entire chocolate bars. If I am going to break my unhealthy relationship with food (a phrase and a concept that I have repeated over and over along this journey) then I need to be able to have one piece… and be satisfied by that. If I am not satisfied by it, then I need to restrain myself. I need to know that I can have the one… but I cannot have the second piece.

    I should mention that I also had a glass of scotch at the lounge… I mention it because I do not want to leave out any transgressions. I should not have had it, but I did… and I enjoyed it tremendously. Fortunately, I do not have the same addiction to alcohol that I do to food; I was satisfied with the one drink, and was not tempted to order another.

    The forecast for the day is another hot one, with no shelter from the sun. I am going to go out for my walk shortly. Yesterday I wore my new Adidas shoes which were great! Today I will wear my Asics shoes, only because I feel it a good practice to not wear the same pair day after day. I have a quick stop to make along the way to pick something up, but because of the heat I will not be going for records anyways. The temperatures are going to be very hot today; it is already 30° Celsius (85° Fahrenheit), on its way up to 36°/97°. I am going to make sure I drink a lot of water along the way, and pace myself.

    Have a great day folks!