Losing a part of me

Category: Food

  • Day 181

    I mentioned yesterday that I love it when the numbers on the bathroom scale are kind to me. This morning’s drop of 2.2 lbs is a result of several things that I did yesterday, including mostly good eating, a really strong walk, and drinking a lot of water. It might also be partially a correction for whatever seems to happen to my weight when I travel, whether by plane or by automobile. Either way, it was a good step in the right direction!

    It was brought to my attention recently that, with regard to my weight management program, I tend to be hard on myself… I accentuate the bad while minimizing the good. As I am currently on a journey of self-improvement, I am going to try to end that.

    I had two huge non-scale victories over the last few days, and I am quite thrilled with them. The first:

    I am a Microsoft Certified Trainer, and have been for sixteen years. After ten years, the program sends you a polo shirt every year… or at least, they did when I asked for them. After fifteen years, they send you a jacket. I know there are 20- and 25-year gifts as well, but I do not know what they are. While the polo shirts always fit well (and over the years I had XL through XXXL), the jacket (I have two) sizes are ridiculous… way too small, and for the past two years I have not been able to wear either of them.

    I was cleaning out my car this afternoon after my week-long travel debacle and I found it in the trunk. I had brought it to Leslie to wear in case she was cold at one point, and I forgot to take it out of the car. It made its way into my trunk, and has probably been there for five months. I tried it on… it is tight, but it fits, and I can zip it closed! Don’t get me wrong, it is far too warm this month to wear it… but come autumn, I will be happy to wear it… especially as I continue to lose weight so it will fit even better!

    The second non-scale victory: Yesterday I drove from Long Island, New York to Burlington, Ontario – a nine-hour drive, if you count the border and the stop for petrol – with three dozen Montreal bagel in the car. I knew they were there, and I did not eat even a bite of one! For those of you who have never eaten a Montreal bagel let me tell you… this is a huge accomplishment, and one that I did not expect to do. I knew they were there; they were in easy reach from the driver’s seat, and I did not touch them. I wanted to… but I did not.

    I should mention that I started my nine-hour journey without a cigar in the cabin, so when it was safe (Madison Avenue near 72nd Street in Manhattan) I pulled over in a bus-lane (try finding parking in Manhattan… I dare you), put my blinkers on, and ran to my trunk to grab a couple of cigars. Yes folks, rather than eating my feelings and anxiety, I smoked them away.

    (Spoiler alert: my feelings and anxiety are still with me… but I did not go off my weight management program in a big way because of them these last few days)

    As I wrote yesterday afternoon, I went for an epic walk. I also spent a lot of time thinking about things I need to do to be a better person and a better husband. Some of those things are obvious, some of them are harder for me to comprehend. That does not mean that I do not accept them, just that I have a lot of work ahead of me. I truly hope I am up to the task.

    Let’s cover what I ate… Around 9am I had a meal replacement shake, and another one after my walk (and after I wrote my article, so that puts it around 3:30pm). I had two pieces of chicken and a garden salad for dinner, followed by one Japanese biscuit and a very small amount of Smartfood White Cheddar popcorn. Yes, it was left over from the trip; I ate some on my way to Long Island from Montreal, and we all ate some in the hotel. After eating a bit of it (and truly I did not overindulge) I decided that as good as it is, it is not smart for me to have it in the house. I took it to the garbage room and poured it all out into the bin. Lead me not to temptation… I know exactly where to find it!

    While cleaning out the car, I brought the rest of the bagels upstairs, and I put them all into the fridge. I had given my neighbour Sue about a dozen and a half of them… she took care of Princess Sophie, and asked for nothing. I was happy to share! The rest went into my freezer, and I told my son that I have Montreal bagels waiting for him. When he comes to get them, they will be gone. In the event that he does not take all of them, I will bring what’s left to Lyle and Dorothy because I know they appreciate them too.

    Aside from that, I do not much feel like socializing. I am in a pretty bad way, so I might just drop the bagels off at my son’s and at Lyle’s when nobody is home so that I do not have to socialize. I really am not in the mood. We’ll see.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 178

    My passport finally arrived at 1:10pm yesterday, and after stopping for gas I was on the road by 1:18pm. As expected, I had problems at the border, but they did let me in. Yay.

    I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, then a bagel while sitting and waiting with Stephane. I did buy some peanuts (less than a dollar’s worth). I honestly do not remember eating lunch!

    Shortly after six p.m. I stopped along the road to get a sandwich from Subway. I would usually have made a different choice, but Leslie told me that is what she and her son were eating, and I wanted to eat with them. I had a chicken sandwich with onion teriyaki sauce. If I was not trying to keep moving, I would have ordered a salad… but I needed to move! As it is, I only pulled into the hotel at 10:30pm.

    Yes, I did buy a bag of Smartfoods white cheddar popcorn, but I only ate a little bit, then left the rest for Leslie and her so .

    Yes, I cheated yesterday… but not badly at all!

    This morning I had a bagel with peanut butter which was delicious! We went to a movie, and I did buy popcorn… but without butter. For lunch, we went to Wendy’s. I had a spicy classic chicken sandwich and a bowl of chili. While I could have done better, I could have done much worse too!

    We spent over an hour in the swimming pool, and that was a lot of fun. This evening we are going to the wedding, and I will just be conscious of what I eat so as to not do badly.

    Have a great evening folks!

  • Day 173

    I am not surprised that I gained four pounds over the weekend, and nearly six pounds since the day of my birthday. It could have been worse. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that in my sadness yesterday evening I had two large bowls of cereal right before bed. Yes, I had a great time at the concert with Lyle and Dorothy and Tamara, but I miss Leslie when she is not there, and so rather than having something reasonable to quench my hunger, I sat down at the table at midnight and chowed down. Today will be better, and tomorrow’s numbers on the scale will be as well.

    Of course, tomorrow morning I am driving to Montreal, which means I will have to be extra vigilant with sticking to my diet, or at least to eating reasonably healthy. At Leslie’s I was able to control what I ate because Leslie and I did the shopping, and she does a good job of helping me to stay honest and on track. While we are meeting up Friday in Long Island, I will be on my own at my friends’ house tomorrow through Friday, and there will be a lot of long-distance driving to boot. There is only one person who can keep me on track, and I shave his face in the mirror every morning.

    I have a neighbour who will be looking after Princess Sophie for the week. She is so wonderful, and I will miss her. Leslie told me that her son really wants to meet her, but first things first. He will meet me on Friday, and next month he will meet Her Royal Floofness.

    I have had a headache for the past hour, so I am going to finish up a couple of things and then try to relax with a cigar, and hopefully talk with my wife.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 171

    I do not like gaining weight. I really do not like gaining a pound and a half overnight. I really did like the piece of chocolate birthday cake that my godson’s parents gave me and devoured every last bite of. Sometimes it is had to see the cause of the effect. This is not one of those cases.

    Leslie and I had a lovely omelet for breakfast this morning. Sautéed onions, dill, and cheese make for a good eggy breakfast. We also had some fresh blueberries to compliment the meal.

    In a couple of hours, we will drive to Cambridge for my birthday party. It will be good to see my friends, but I know Leslie is reticent about meeting a bunch of new people. The last few days have taken a bit of a toll, and I understand that. I hope today will be fun though… and that I do not go too crazy off my diet.

    I made a conscious decision to take a couple of days off of my power walking. I know that my leg muscles needed a bit of a break! I will try to go for another walk on Monday, and then Tuesday I am driving to Montreal… where yes, I can still walk!

    Thursday I will be driving to Long Island, where I will meet Leslie and her son on Friday. I am really excited about that! I have not met him yet, but we have spoken, and I cannot wait to get to know him. I am also excited for my buddy who is getting married, but that is of course secondary to my meeting the boy.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 170

    It is not fair that when you have a great diet day, you wake up the following morning and your weight is not down (or is even a little up). However, as Leslie keeps telling me, the chart of a diet’s progress is never a straight downward line, rather it is a squiggly snaking line trending downward; as long as it is trending down, I am on track. Also, after a few days of tremendous drops, it is normal for the progress to level out for a few days. I know that I am doing well on my program, and Leslie continues to point out the progress that she is seeing in me. Yay!

    I ate mostly well yesterday, although if I were to add up my cheats, they would include a Japanese biscuit, a quarter of Leslie’s tuna sandwich at lunch, and four boneless chicken nuggets at dinner (Leslie ordered ten, and knowing how much I love wings, she gave me what she did not finish). Even put together, those three things would not amount to an egregious weight gain. Yes, I am up a little bit this morning… but since a week ago today, I am down a lot. That is the trend, and that is what matters!

    My walk was a good one, and I have to remember that not every measure of success is numeric. Yes, my pace was slower than it was the previous day, but that does not take into account the fact that I went for the walk despite my legs still feeling the previous day’s walk. It also does not account for the higher temperatures. Additionally, my thighs are still chaffed because for my first walk of the week I did not wear the proper shorts. It was a longer walk than I have done, and I am very happy with it.

    • Distance: 7.5 km (7.25 km)
    • Duration: 1:22:42 (1:17:03 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:01 (10:37)
    • Steps: 9.3k (8.8k)
    • Calories burned: 429 (419)
    • Elevation gain: 28m (27m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 112 (114)

    I made a scrumptious omelet for breakfast this morning. To change it up a bit, I decided to cook an all-beef hotdog into it, which of course meant no cheese. While the hotdog was good, Leslie and I agree that it is not nearly as good as the all-beef salami I used to buy. The difference is that I had the hotdog in the house, and I do not need to go buying a kilo of salami for one meal… because of course we know that it will turn into several meals over not nearly a long enough time.

    For lunch I plan to make a chicken salad. I have been marinating two chicken breasts in Mojo for the last day and a half. I plan to bake them in the air fryer, and then chop it up and then blend it with some onions and dill, and then mix it with mayonnaise. In a few minutes Leslie and I are going to the supermarket, and I will pick a couple of very nice and fresh buns to make sandwiches.

    We are driving to Strathroy for dinner; Leslie is going to meet my god children! Today is Douglas’ birthday, and we have some very exciting presents for him… and of course for Cynthia as well. I haven’t seen them (or their parents) since April, and it will be wonderful to spend time with them. Amanda is aware of my dietary requirements with regard to religion, but with regard to the weight loss plan, the best I can hope for is to be able to exercise moderation. Cam will try to ply me with scotch… I will try to be good though.

    Tomorrow is the ‘big’ birthday party that my friends are throwing for me. Leslie and I will start the day with a reasonable breakfast (or brunch), and then we will drive out to Cambridge for the festivities. I do not plan to be good, but I also do not intend to gorge myself.

    It feels good to be able to close the week knowing that I am tremendously down from a week ago… especially with the travel, the birthday celebrations, the stress and anxiety of so many things. I do not expect to lose seven pounds most weeks… but if I can lose two to three pounds per week, I will be a very happy man.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 166

    The day started earlier than needed when a Princess Sophie decided she wanted to go out earlier than usual. Okay, 7am is not really a stretch, so Leslie and I took her for a walk. When we came back, I resumed my normal morning routine. The bathroom scale showed a great number… 2.4lbs down! I’ll take that any day of the week!

    Because of jet lag, a late night, and an early morning we took a mid-morning nap. Afterwards, we took our showers, and I made us lunch. Oh, and I trimmed my beard down and shocked my wife (and not in a very positive way). I’ll remember to not do that without consulting her in the future!

    Leslie asked me for a tuna sandwich for lunch. She says I make the best tuna sandwich she has ever tasted, and I love giving her what she wants. Last night we bought a challah roll for that purpose, and she loved it. I had leftover chicken… and the last inch of her sandwich 🙂

    We spent the afternoon in Niagara. We bought fresh strawberries and cherries from the farmers, and that is really the best way to get them. We snacked on some of them in the car, and they were scrumptious! We also stopped at a couple of lookout spots to look out at nature. It really is gorgeous down there.

    We stopped at a place that has a giant moose sculpture for a bit, and bought some goodies: we bought maple syrup for her to take home to friends, we bought a t-shirt for her son, and we adopted a bunny moose who has tremendous emotional significance for us both, for reasons I will not go into here. He still doesn’t have a name, but I suspect Leslie will love that buddy forever!

    For dinner we had pickerel with dill which was delicious, and a salad of course. We are about to sit down for desert… berries and cherries!

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 165

    Leslie and I are at the airport on our way home to Toronto. Getting through checking in and Security was a breeze… even though the TSA agent at Security was a bit of a prick.

    One of the advantages of flying business class is that when all of that rigamarole is behind us, we can relax in the business class lounge – in the case of American Airlines, the Admiral Club. It is the first time in year I’ve flown American, but the lounge is similar to the ones I am used to. I have a cup of coffee, Leslie has a sofa, and we have ninety minutes before boarding starts.

    This morning my weight was down another pound, which puts me exactly where I was before I got onto the airplane nearly three weeks ago. To be on vacation and not gain weight is a success, even though I was way down for a few days. Damn those tasty treats!

    One thing I am happy about is that my weight stayed stable, but I did not deprive myself. For example, yesterday for lunch we had a wonderful hamburger and fries. I only had beef twice during my stay here… well, three times if you count the pho.

    I will see the doctor on Wednesday, and I am hoping to be at least one but maybe as much as two kilos down. I am crossing my fingers. I have not walked since Thursday, but tomorrow is a holiday for Leslie (and the entire USA) so we will probably go down to Niagara Falls for the day. Tuesday morning I will resume my walking routine.

    Have a great day folks… and I’ll see you in Toronto!

  • Day 161

    I did not lose any weight this morning. I did not gain any either, so I am happy… especially knowing that not only did I have fried chicken nuggets with lunch, but also had a couple of (small) cookies, and then at 10:15pm Leslie and I shared a bag of microwave popcorn. Every day that I do not gain anything back after cheating the day before is a success.

    On my walk today I expanded my radius, as I have done every walk so far. While the distance I walked today is exactly what it was Monday, I did a bigger square. The difference is that when I arrived back at the apartment complex, on Monday I still had another half-kilometre to walk, while today I got to the door of our apartment at exactly seven kilometres. I am going to try for an extra kilometre tomorrow, but I need to look at a map to see how I am going to do that. It would not be hard to say ‘Oh, I’ll walk one more block’ only to find out it adds an extra three kilometres to the walk. I am sure I could walk 10km… but no at a respectable pace. Here are today’s stats:

    • Distance: 7.00 km (7.00 km)
    • Duration: 1:19:42 (1:21:17 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:23 (11:36)
    • Steps: 8.7k (8.7k)
    • Calories burned: 396 (287)
    • Elevation gain: 31m (28m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 110 (106)

    If you have not yet figured it out, the numbers in brackets are the statistics from my previous walk, and not an average or whatever. I am happy with the progress that I am making, but I am especially happy with the increased frequency of my walks. From my first walk (April 2) to my last walk in Canada (May 5) I walked four times, for a total of twenty-one kilometres. Since arriving in Dallas (and recovering from Covid) my first walk was on June 23; as of today (June 29) I have walked four times as well… for a total of twenty-three kilometres. My goal is to keep the cadence up, and gradually improving the distance. I am curious to see what effect the cooler Canadian weather will have on my pace and endurance when I arrive back next week. I am excited to keep going. As well, when I am back in Canada I will get back to my Taekwondo. I expect that between the walking and the martial arts, I will start to see significant victories… both on the scale and off.

    Today has been a good day for me with regard to food… so far. I had cereal for breakfast, which is not really a good start but is also not terrible. For lunch I had a piece of leftover fish with some cauliflower, and some macaroni and cheese (a very small amount). For dinner I made a delicious arctic char that I marinated in lemon juice all day, and Leslie prepared some rice. I suspect that between the food and the exercise, I should be happy with the number on the scale in the morning.

    Speaking of scales, I made an appointment for next Wednesday to see the doctor. He will weigh me, but I also have a couple of other things to discuss with him. Say what you want about the Canadian national health system, when I want to see my doctor it is never a long wait… and I have never gotten a bill from him!

    I joined a cigar lounge today. I spent the afternoon there chatting with some of the members and staff, and of course smoking cigars. I have always said that cigars are a great way to get to know people. When I first moved to California, my then-girlfriend was shocked by how quickly I was able to meet people. Three or four of the people I met my first month in California are still friends to this day. Today I met a couple of great people that I look forward to getting to know. Tomorrow I will head down there for a couple of hours again, but I am going to a movie with a friend of ours in the early evening, so it will only be a quick cigar.

    Have a great day folks, and stay positive!

  • Day 159

    My weight keeps creeping back up. This morning it was back to where it was the day that I left Canada. I guess there was a weight loss effect to Covid, and I have recovered. I am not worried… I know that I am snacking on some things that I should not, but I am also eating mostly pretty well, and I am walking a lot. Today’s walk was my longest since I got here and tied for my longest. Here’s the breakdown:

    • Distance: 7.00 km (5.00 km)
    • Duration: 1:21:17 (56:10 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:36 (11:09)
    • Steps: 8.7k (6.1k)
    • Calories burned: 394 (287)
    • Elevation gain: 28m (25m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 106 (108)

    As we can see, I am not walking as fast as I could, but I think the distance is important. Tomorrow I will try to speed it up a little… my first 7km walk I had a pace nearly 40 seconds per kilometre better than I did today. I should also remember that it was probably 15 degrees (Celsius) cooler than it was today. Yes, there is room for improvement… but I also have accomplished something!

    Breakfast today was cereal. Tomorrow I will go back to preparing omelets, which I suspect is a lot healthier for me. Lunch was leftover salmon with salad… and two (very small) Japanese chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They were so good! I will make something reasonably healthy for dinner… although I am thinking of making air fried potatoes. We shall see

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 155

    My walk this morning hit a lot of firsts. It was, firstly, my first post-Covid walk. I know I am not yet 100%, but I did want to give it a try. It was my first walk in Dallas, and my first walk in 36°c heat (that is about 96° Fahrenheit). All good starts. I took it easy, so it is also the first time I am posting my stats here where they are worse than the previous attempt.

    • Distance: 4.00 km (7.00 km)
    • Duration: 46:17 minutes (1:15:57 minutes)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 11:33 (10:51)
    • Steps: 5k (8.7k)
    • Calories burned: 226 (402)
    • Elevation gain: 22m (22.1m)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 108 (114)

    All in all, I am extremely happy that I did it. I will try to do it tomorrow, but I have to remember to bring a bottle of water with me. Yes, it is bloody hot out there!

    Breakfast was good… I had an omelet with onions, broccoli, and cheese. After I came home from my walk, Leslie and I decided to be bad… we ordered pizza. We do not cheat often, and I have been jonesing for a pizza for months. It was delicious indeed! For dinner, I will make chicken wings and a salad. Leslie is still new to the air fryer, and I want to introduce her to new ways to make food for her son. We bought the wings the other day, and I defrosted them overnight. She has a great sauce that we will use, but air fried is so much healthier than regular fried!

    My downward trend on the bathroom scale continues, and I hit another low this morning. I am thrilled by it! Leslie said that every time my weight hits a plateau, I just have to come to Dallas to see her. Maybe she is right? I doubt that Covid is having a real effect on it, but who knows? I am now three pounds down from my last weigh-in at home. To make things even sweeter, after my walk I stepped on the scale and was another two pounds down… I know that I lost a lot of water during the walk so it does not count… but it is still cool. If I were to have gotten weighed by my doctor at the same weight as I weighed in this morning, I would be 3.5 kg down from my weigh-in just over two weeks ago. Woohoo!

    I did enjoy my first cigar last night, and I was able to taste it, although I am not sure that I got the full effects. I got a strong note of cinnamon from the very first puff to the very last, which is not what this particular cigar should taste like. I will stick to a cheaper cigar for tonight if I decide to have one.

    It does get hot down here in Texas, that is for sure. A few people warned me about it, and I knew… but I forgot. Yessir, summer in Texas is not like summer in California. I will absolutely get used to it, I just forgot that the heat can be oppressive here.

    Have a great day folks!