Losing a part of me

Category: Plans

  • Day 255

    Saturday, October 1, 2022. The beginning of the tenth month of the Gregorian calendar, and the sixth day of the Jewish year 5783. The forecast shows a sunny day, and while it is currently 60° outside, we are looking at a high of 82°. It should be a nice day in Dallas.

    I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night, but when I finally did, I was happy to get eight hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep (interrupted only by a couple of trips to the latrine). I woke up refreshed and ready to face the day… and ready for an unhappy trip to the bathroom scale, which I anticipated because of how yesterday went.

    Not to keep you in suspense, not only was I pleased by the numbers on the scale, I was really pleased. I am back in ‘best ever’ territory again! It has been over three weeks since I was last under 315lbs, but the last time I weighed what I weigh today was March 11, 2021. That was the week I met my wife! Looking at that week, and looking at the numbers today, I am probably about three pounds from dropping below a BMI of 40. This morning, my BMI (Body Mass Index) is 40.2, and falling. I am still in the morbidly obese category, but I am only a couple of pounds from dropping from Obese Class III to Obese Class II. That will be a big psychological improvement.

    Yesterday did not end up going the way I expected, but it went better than planned. Leslie and I went to get new eyeglasses, which will only be available in a few weeks. Mine will be a new look for me, which is exciting and scary. We then decided to have a salad for lunch from a drive thru restaurant called Salad and Go. I had a Thai Chicken Salad, worth 360 calories. Leslie had a Cobb Salad with tofu and no bacon. Both of us really enjoyed our lunch. I did not end up walking in the afternoon, instead opting to spend it relaxing with my wife. Knowing that we were going to have to spend the entire weekend entertaining a rambunctious seven-year-old boy, it would likely be our last relaxing time together until we are back from California.

    For dinner we had nachos and tamales. The nachos were made with Impossible Meat, so I was able to have them with cheese… not the healthiest meal of course, but we make sacrifices for children sometimes. Also, while I did not end up going for a fitness walk, I did walk to the store (nearly two miles round-trip) to pick up wine for the kiddush. I decided that I am going to try in this new year to not only light the Shabbat candles, but also say kiddush and hamotzi (the prayers on the wine and the bread). Last night we did all of those, and it really made me feel better… and closer to my ancestors, starting with my father.

    Today’s plan involves an arcade, and whatever else may come our way. Leslie and the boy discussed going out for breakfast as I was getting up, and decided that they should just eat here. That is a relief for my weight management, as I love eating breakfast out, but should be eating a meal replacement for all but one meal. Yesterday’s salad was a perfectly acceptable replacement… just about anything I might have eaten at an American breakfast restaurant would not be. We will likely eat lunch out today, and I will be as sensible as I can be, based on where we eat. In the worst-case scenario, I will only eat a salad. We’ll see.

    What else is planned for the day? I don’t know, but it will be a great day whatever we do… and if we end up back home early enough, I might go for a fitness walk to kick off October. I fell 16,000 steps short of the September Step Month challenge; I do not plan to fall short this month. I am going to make October a month of successes, remembering how two years ago it was the beginning of my slide into weight loss failure. I started October, 2020 at 263lbs… and gained 24lbs that month. This October will be different… October 2020 was a month of failure; October 2022 will be a month of success. Will this actually be the month that sees me drop below the 300lbs milestone? I do not know… but if it is not, then it will get me close to it. I only dropped six pounds in September this year, mostly because of cheats and stuff. My goal for October is to avoid as many obstacles as I can, in a month that will have me in the USA for half of it, in California for a week of it, and at Disneyland for a day of it. Disneyland will be a challenge, but fortunately that will only be one day. Everything else I am hoping I can handle.

    My wife is absolutely gorgeous today in her lovely frock; her beauty reminds me of just some of the reasons why I should continue to lose weight and get back into shape. A beautiful and sexy woman deserves her man to keep up… or in our case, catch up! I also want to be healthy to spend as many years as possible with her.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Go The Distance!

    I wrote this morning that I would need to register two walks of thirteen kilometres each today and tomorrow to come close to achieving the September Step Month badge from Garmin, which did not seem at all reasonable, considering that my longest walk to date was 10.5km.

    I killed today’s walk, breaking records… not Dallas records, but actual since-I-started-walking records. I did achieve the 13km distance, with an average page under 10m00. Obviously, my step count was higher than ever, as was my calories burned. Even so, I am still 23,750 steps from earning the badge… but I was not thinking about the badge as I walked. I was thinking about going the distance. I was thinking about shattering my limitations, and not simply beating my old record by .25km. I wanted to get out there and shatter things.

    • Distance: 13.02km (9km)
    • Duration: 2:08:09 (1:27:49)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 9:50 (9:44)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m40 (x2) (9m18s)
    • Steps: 16.3k (11.4k)
    • Calories burned: 1,571 (1,083)
    • Elevation gain: 66.6 (39.1)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 126 (130)

    Of course, the day is not nearly over (I should press the Publish button around 2:15pm), so it is still possible for me to end the day needing only 20,000 steps to earn the badge. It will not be hard for me to walk another 4,000 steps today – that will involve a trip to the recycling bin, maybe a couple of walks around the complex. I’ll take out the trash, maybe I will offer to do whatever shopping is needed (although I do not think there is any needed, as Leslie placed an order with Amazon Prime this morning). I don’t know… but if I wake up tomorrow needing only 20,000 steps, then I will try for the badge.

    The problem with that previous sentence is that I do not have too many days in the past year where I walked more than 18,000 steps… and I am not sure if I have broken the 20,000-step mark. I know that if I even want to think about that badge, I will have to hit 22,000 steps today, and then 20,000 tomorrow. Doable? Yes. Possible? Sure. Likely? That’s a whole other story.

    In the meantime, I signed up for some October challenges on Garmin. There is the Garmin Pink October, meant to support breast cancer awareness. It is 100,000 steps in 10 days… perfectly achievable. There is the Halloween Walking challenge, for which I will have to complete a 3-mile walk between the 28th and the 31st (no big deal). The big challenge though is the October Step Month, which is the continuation of the September challenge I am working toward. 300,000 steps in the month. If I do not get lazy as I did this month (My first recorded walk was only on September 5, and then from the 10th through the 23rd I only recorded three walks) then I should be able to knock that one out of the park.

    Something that I will have to start paying attention to when I get back to Canada mid-month is the weather. I have been spoiled, both in Canada and in Dallas, with the weather these last few months. The last half of October is when things in Canada really start to cool down, and more importantly start getting really wet. If I am going to be walking outdoors when I get back to Canada, I will have to start thinking about weather-appropriate clothing. I have a few baseball hats, and I have long-sleeved shirts and training pants. I also have my new Team Canada jackets which would probably be good outerwear. My biggest challenge will be remembering how important it is for me to get out and do it. Hopefully my beautiful wife will remind me if I do not get out for a couple of days. Hopefully I will not need prodding or reminding.

    The rest of the day is open for me. I have a few minor bits to take care of, but for the most part my day is over. Leslie is making dim sum for dinner (which we all love), and so far, I have only had two meal replacements. I will have another one around 3:00pm, and then the dim sum. Of course, I am drinking a lot of water… and yes, I stopped midway through my walk to pick up a Gatorade Zero. I think I am doing pretty well on my plan. My diet buddy texted me a few hours ago to let me know she is looking forward to talking this evening, and that she has a weight-loss announcement. I have no idea what that means, but I hope she accomplished something amazing. I am crossing my fingers for her.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 253

    As I had hoped, I was happy with the numbers on the scale again this morning. At just over 315lbs, I am hoping that I can have a few more good days before heading to California. Don’t get me wrong. I do not plan to indulge in California. I am just saying that I want to stay on track here. I will be taking meal replacements with me and will even be fasting for Yom Kippur.

    I was chatting with a friend that I will be connecting with when I am there, and he said I was looking good in a picture that I posted. I thought about it for a minute, and then looked it up. This morning I am 33lbs lighter than the day that I left California. I forget, when I remember back to what I weighed two years ago, that sixteen months ago I was hovering just below the 350lbs mark, never mind what I weighed 253 days ago. I remember around February when one of my California buddies was video chatting with me and said something like, ‘Mitch, what happened? You were doing so well!’ I felt horrible, even though I was back on the program, trying to get healthy again. I am glad that I am going back there looking… well, not as slim as I did two years ago, but still much slimmer than when I left there.

    The forecast for today is not as hot as it was yesterday. I have a meeting for an hour this morning, and then I will kit up for a walk. I do not know if I will be breaking records today, but with the slightly cooler temperatures, I should be able to have another epic day. Over the past nine days I have averaged over 11,000 steps per day… and that includes four days that were abysmal with regard to step count. If I had registered just one more good fitness walk this month, I would likely be ready to collect the September Step Month badge from Garmin Connect… which would mean 300,000 steps for the month (or at least 10,000 steps per day). With only today and tomorrow left in the month, I am 41,700 steps short of that goal. Two good days will leave me short by about 10,000 steps. I would have to make both today’s and tomorrow’s fitness walk 13km each for it to be on the table. That is not likely. I will, however, try to get the October Step Month badge!

    As we hoped, Leslie and I took her son for sushi last night. It was very good, and I indulged. I did not go over the top, but I did have a good healthy meal. I suspect that had I held back, I might have been .2lbs lighter this morning. In the balance, I think the indulgent meal was worth it.

    I am hoping to speak with my weight loss buddy today. I hope she is doing well, and we have a lot to discuss. I also realized that I should probably plan to order another case of meal replacements to be delivered when I am back in Dallas after California, so that I will be able to take them back to Canada with me. I will take inventory today and see what I have left, and then plan accordingly. I will also be taking meal replacements with me to California, and if I am going to do that, then I had better think about ordering a proper shaker bottle… while my buddy might have a blender, I will be out and about most of the time, and I cannot rely on that. Amazon, here I come.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Killing It!

    • I was planning on walking after my afternoon meeting. When we got home from the bank, I looked at the forecast and changed my mind. The current temperature at the time was 78°, but by 1:30pm it would be up to 90°. I did the math and knew that I had just under 2.5 hours to walk, cool down, shower, and be at my computer in time for the call. I could do it if I did not try to overdo it. I did not think it would be a problem, and it would be fine.
    • Distance: 9km (10km)
    • Duration: 1:27:49 (1:40:51)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 9:44 (10:03)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m18s (9m40)
    • Steps: 11.4k (12.7k)
    • Calories burned: 1,083 (1,203)
    • Elevation gain: 39.1 (47.5)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 130 (126)

    Owing mostly to the heat, I never expect to break records when I am in Texas. I hit the ground running though, and I knocked out the first five kilometres in a whopping 47:24, which had my average pace at under 9m30s! I was thrilled, but I was also losing hydration and electrolytes. I stopped at the 6km mark and bought a Gatorade Zero to supplement the bottle of water I was working through. My pace for the last four kilometres was about 10m03s per kilometre, the same pace of my entire walk from yesterday.

    I walked into the apartment sweaty and thirsty, but very proud of my accomplishment. I do not expect to be able to maintain this sort of pace every day, but every once in a while, it is good to push myself. I do not know if I did it knowing that I had to hurry home for my meeting, but whatever it was, I did it. Let’s see if I can do it again tomorrow!

    Today’s fitness walk was my eleventh such walk for the month of September. It has not been a very successful month, but at least I can finish strong, and spring into October on a good roll. Yes, of the eleven fitness walks of the month, four of them have been in the last five days. If I hit the road tomorrow and Friday, I will have a great streak to end the month with.

    Knowing that Leslie and I will be spending most of the weekend entertaining her son, I doubt I will be able to walk Saturday or Sunday, and Monday I am flying to California. Tuesday I will walk, but Wednesday is Yom Kippur, so I will be fasting and at synagogue services all day. Really, with my California jaunt, I likely will not be able to get into the swing of things for October until I am back in Dallas the afternoon of the ninth… but I will make sure to get right back on track starting that afternoon.

    Leslie was worried that the boy would want to go for fried chicken this evening, which I would not have been able to eat. Fortunately, when they came in, he announced that he wanted sushi, which is absolutely doable for me. In preparation for the evening meal, I have only had meal replacements today (three of them in fact, exactly what I should be having). All this to say that tomorrow I am looking for a happy number on the scale.

    It’s a gorgeous day in Dallas, and I am just happy to be alive, loved, and healthy.

    Have a great evening folks!

  • Day 252

    I said something in a meeting on Friday last week that was haunting me yesterday. Fortunately, I got a good response from the head of the team I am working with. We were meant to have a meeting scheduled for today, and I had not heard back from them, so I started to worry that they took offense. When I got a meeting request from them this morning, it lightened my load somewhat. Yes, we are all good, and yes, I remember my French-Canadian slang. There are a few words in the dialect that can be used both gutturally, and to describe something in business as a disaster. I used one of those words to describe part of their systems, and it bothered me for a bit that I might have stepped over a line. The good news is that the people who implemented the systems are no longer with the company, so there should have been no personal insult. It all worked out.

    I mentioned in yesterday’s article that I had toast for breakfast, and then after my walk, I had a sandwich for lunch. After that, I only had meal replacements. I hope that as of today I can be completely back on track. My last two weigh-ins were bad, but this morning I was back in the right direction. I am not quite back down to 315lbs, but I am close to it. With any luck, I will be able to stay on track today. No, luck has nothing to do with it. I have to stay on track, and blaming or crediting luck is silly, and possibly counterproductive.

    This morning I walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I almost went for the last of the raisin challah from Rosh Hashana, which would have been delicious with some peanut butter. I picked it up… and I put it down. I prepared my meal replacement shake and a cup of coffee. There is no luck involved in weight loss, and there is no raisin challah either. I have said it before; however tasty and satisfying it would be, the satisfaction of weighing less tomorrow morning outweighs the tasty challah treat. I also know that this evening, Leslie and I are going to take her son for dinner this evening, and that will be my only meal. I said at the beginning of the holiday that I wanted to be back on track today. I meant it!

    We have a meeting at the bank this morning, and then in the early afternoon I have a meeting with my customer. If that meeting ends when I expect it to, I will go for my walk in the afternoon. If it goes longer, I might have to forego the walking today, which I do not want to do. It may not be an addiction, but I still enjoy it. I also enjoy knowing that I am getting closer to my goals.

    While walking yesterday, I was thinking about addictions. Why is it that it is so much easier to become addicted to food, booze, drugs, whatever than it is to get addicted to exercise and physical activity? Yes, the former are easier, but the latter is actually good for you, literally something that we need. It should be easier to get addicted to things that are good for you. After all, have you ever heard of anyone with a salad addiction? Of course not. I freely admit though that I am addicted to foods… and not the good foods. I am addicted to foods with little to no nutritional value whatsoever. That just sucks.

    I understand the science behind the addiction. Sugar and salt are both substances that our bodies crave, and carbohydrates give us energy. That energy can be used for good – yesterday, after eating my toast with margarine, I hit the road and did a ten-kilometre walk. That energy can also be wasted, at which point the carbohydrates simply convert to fat, rather than burning off. The fact that I understand the science does not mean I am any less thrilled with the fact that salads and exercise are not easy addictions to come into, and that I would happily fight someone for a plate of Buffalo wings. Life is not fair.

    Okay, so here’s the plan for the day: I had my meal replacement and am drinking my coffee. While preparing for my early afternoon meeting, I will have my second meal replacement. After that meeting, I will go for a walk – not as long as yesterday’s, especially knowing that it will be quite warm out, but a walk, nonetheless. I will come home, cool down, take a shower, and likely have a third meal replacement. When Leslie and the boy come home, we will decide what to do for dinner; it will most likely be sushi, but that will be their decision. I will go along with whatever they decide, and I will just try to make good decisions when we are at the restaurant. We will come home, and while Leslie spends some time with her son, I will either participate, or I will give them space. That will be based on how things go. By the time I get into bed, I will have ingested under 1,200 calories, and as few carbohydrates as possible. Sound good? If that works, then tomorrow morning I should once again be happy with the numbers on the bathroom scale.

    Of course, if it were that easy, I would be slim already. That is why we say ‘One day at a time.’

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 251

    On this, the second day of Rosh Hashana, I woke up and told my wife, ‘I am going to walk ten kilometres today.’ I have not come close on any walk in Dallas so far, but the temperatures were not too bad – it was in the high seventies when I started, and probably up to 85° Fahrenheit by the time I was done. I looked at Leslie and told her that if I was going to go, now was the right time to head out, before it got too hot.

    The only record that I broke today was my distance walked in Dallas, not really a measurement I track religiously. Leslie joked with me that my average pace was over 10:00/km, so what’s the use. We had a good laugh about that.

    • Distance: 10km (7.5km)
    • Duration: 1:40:51 (1:13:40)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 10:03 (9:49)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m40 (9m28s)
    • Steps: 12.7k (9.2k)
    • Calories burned: 1,203 (941)
    • Elevation gain: 47.5 (34)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 126 (126)

    There’s no question that I was a bit slower today than usual, and I am not sure why that was. I know that I did a couple of double-backs to wait for red lights, but that should not affect my pace that badly. I was wearing Asics and not Adidas, which definitely have a different feel to them. I also know that I felt a bit of a bump in my foot for the first kilometre, but I do not think that was anything other than a bunched up sock that fixed itself in the first little while.

    I did eat bread for breakfast and had a sandwich for lunch. I am hoping that the carbs this morning helped with the walk, but I am done with bread for the next few days. Tomorrow I will be back to meal replacements for most of my food intake… plus probably one meal per day. For that meal, I might have to bite the bullet and make it the evening meal, because starting tomorrow we will be with Leslie’s son, and I do not want him to think that I am not participating as part of the family. I am okay with that… he’s worth it, and so is Leslie.

    I do not know what our plans are for the evening, but Leslie understands and supports my meal plan, so we might get something for her, and I will have a meal replacement. We’ll see… the holiday ends this evening, and I am not going to make any more excuses. The next few days are weight loss days, baby! I am going to get on that plane to California next Monday as lean and mean as I can!

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 249

    For those of you who have been reading this blog for a long time, you will know that I have days when I expect to be down, and days when I expect to be up. There are days when I expect to be down, but disappointingly I am not, and there are days when I expect to be up, but I am pleasantly surprised that I am not. While I did not go terribly overboard yesterday, I did not follow the plan, and I expected my weight to be up… but was hoping that I might get lucky and either stay the same, or maybe even lose a couple of ounces.

    When I stepped on the scale this morning, I was so pleasantly shocked by a three-pound weight loss from yesterday morning! I was overjoyed, and even if it regulates back a little bit tomorrow, I feel that I got a reprieve for some bad behaviour. Who knows, maybe I was right, and that being in Leslie’s presence is conducive to weight loss!

    Yesterday’s cheating was not completely terrible, but there were a few things I did wrong. The first of which is that I ate far too much dim sum at lunch. It is not something that I do often, but dim sum is one of my favourites. Of course, I had just come in from an extremely good workout walk, so my metabolism would have taken care of the calories much better than if I had not walked.

    After a glorious early-afternoon nap, Leslie and I decided to spend a couple of hours in the pool. It was glorious to be able to sit in the water under the hot sun with my beautiful wife, smoking cigars and just being in love. It was not until we started discussing dinner ideas that I realized that it was our three-month anniversary! A date night was indeed in order, and the restaurant we decided on was called Whiskey Cake. She had told me about it before, and that she wanted to take me there for at least a scotch… to thank me for something I did a long time ago. We got dressed up and went.

    Our reservations were for 8:45pm, and we walked in perfectly on time, thanks to her skillful driving. We sat on the patio, and the waiter brought us the whiskey menu, which included American, Canadian, Scottish, Irish, and Japanese whiskies. I opted for a flight of four Japanese expressions called the Kampai Flight. It included the Yamazaki 12, the Hakushu 12, the Nikka Coffey, and the Nikka Barrel. Each one was quite delicious… and from the first named to the last, the got better in that order.

    We shared an appetizer of hummus with vegetables and a few pieces of pita, which was quite delicious. It is rare that a restaurant in North America has a dish seasoned with za’atar, and it tasted delicious. For our main course, Leslie ordered a mushroom meatball sandwich, which was simply out of this world. The waitress told us later that it was a staff member who opted to become vegetarian who was playing around with ideas at home and landed on the recipe. Kudos to that staff member! Knowing what I was drinking, I was tempted by the rib eye steak, but decided to be good and ordered the salmon. I decided to be bad and ordered the French fries with it. While that was a monumentally silly decision for someone on a diet, I decided to splurge. My wife and I were celebrating, and I wanted to enjoy myself.

    The celebration continued when we got home, with a bottle of champagne – one of my wife’s favourites – which we enjoyed in her new and very lovely painted champagne flutes. The evening was a lot of fun… and the weight loss program could start anew on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, Monday morning (after our festive Erev Rosh Hashana meal on Sunday evening.

    You can see from this how I was expecting my weight to be up this morning. Not only was it down, but it is also back at the 315lbs mark… for the first time in nearly three weeks. I have only registered one day below that weight, and I am looking forward to continuing down… hopefully tomorrow, but not likely. As I mentioned, dramatic one- and two-day weight drops tend to adjust up on the third day; I am down six-pounds since Friday, which we can all agree falls into the dramatic range. Who knows? Tonight is Rosh Hashana… maybe the Lord will be merciful and grant me another drop tomorrow! I know, it does not work that way. Does it?

    This afternoon we are going to see the Immersive Van Gogh Experience. It should be interesting. I have heard from several friends who have seen it in other cities that it is fabulous. I have never been the art museum type, but this looks like something completely different. I am going into it excited and with an open mind. It will also be only the second time that I am going into Dallas proper, despite this being my third trip here. Dallas is a huge city, and Leslie lives in a suburb. Suburban life is so rich that truly, one scarcely needs to go into the city itself. If you need any more proof, I do not think I have been in downtown Toronto since moving back to the Greater Toronto Area thirteen months ago!

    I usually close my daily piece with the simple phrase, ‘Have a great day folks!’ Tonight, Jews around the world celebrate the New Year, and so I feel I should close by wishing all of my Jewish readers a happy, healthy, and sweet New Year, le’Shana Tova uMetukah. May the coming year (5783) bring blessings, health, and joy to you and to your family.

  • Don’t Lose Your Head!

    It is important, whatever one’s state of mind, to be prepared. When one is not prepared, bad things can happen. Fortunately, sometimes those bad things can be mitigated, and no harm is actually done.

    I was not in a great frame of mind when I left the house this morning to go for my walk. A misunderstanding led to a miscommunication, which led to my mind being elsewhere as I prepared to embark on my fitness walk. The consequences were that I left the house wearing my wedding band (my fingers swell when I walk, making it extremely tight) and my chain (no big deal) … and I left without water. Even if the thermometer was not tipping over 90° Fahrenheit, that is never a smart move.

    In fact, I left without my satchel, which is strange because I seldom go on a fitness walk without it. I even went looking for it (and found it) before going out… and then left it right where it was. When I say my mid was elsewhere, you can believe it truly was.

    I never walk with my wallet. I keep a few dollars in both Canadian and American in a pocket of my satchel, in case I need to buy a drink along the way. Without the satchel, I did not even have that. Fortunately, I do have a payment method set up on my phone, so halfway through my 7km trek I was able to stop at a convenience store and pick up a bottle of Gatorade.

    • Distance: 7km (10.5km)
    • Duration: 1:11:22 (1:42:06)
    • Average Pace (Min/km): 10:11 (9:43)
    • Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m33s (9m26s)
    • Steps: 8.7k (13k)
    • Calories burned: 857 (1,261)
    • Elevation gain: 27 (31.7)
    • Average cadence (steps per minute): 120 (126)

    I broke no records today. Well, I think it is my longest walk in Texas thus far, but that is not really important. It was a good walk. Not only did I get a lot of exercise, I had the opportunity to clear my head and to think. Unlike the last several walks (during which I have been listening to audio books), today I listened to my music. I did not have to focus on anything other than putting one foot in front of the other, and to not walking into traffic. I was able to think about things and come back home with a clear head.

    I suspect that after lunch, Leslie and I might grab a couple of cigars and head down to the pool. It is a mighty hot day out there, and Leslie found a new cigar that she loves at the event last night. I will be happy taking a couple of decent sticks (also most likely purchased at the event last night) and spending a lovely few hours soaking and smoking with my gorgeous bride.

    Leslie is preparing chicken dim sum for lunch. I am excited about that, and think that I earned it, what with my foray into the heat this morning.

  • Day 248

    It was a relief this morning to see that I dropped back under the 320lbs threshold. The number on the scale yesterday really freaked me out. I am glad to be back under that mark. It is all thanks to Leslie – her aura is conducive to weight loss. Yes, that is an inside joke! Seriously though, I had a couple of opportunities to go off track, and she helped me to stay the course.

    We had a lovely day yesterday. We had some errands to run in the morning, and when we came home, I made Leslie her salmon melt (as I wrote about yesterday). When Leslie finished work, we got ready for our fun evening at the cigar event. On the way, we stopped to have passport photos taken. We need that for some paperwork we are filing.

    For dinner, we decided on Portuguese chicken. Leslie loves a particular place, and I can see why – the food was fabulous! While we ate later than I normally would, the meal itself fit right into my regular meal plan – chicken with vegetables. It was absolutely delicious, and I look forward to going back there soon.

    Despite the late dinner, it turned into an early night. We were both tired, and I had no problem being in bed by 10pm. I obviously needed the sleep, as despite a couple of pitstops, I did sleep through to morning.

    Today we have very little planned, but we will have a great day together I am sure. I might go for a walk, we might spend some time at the pool. Who knows? It is a beautiful day in Dallas, and we will enjoy it together.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 247

    The bad news: I fell completely off the wagon yesterday, from the time I got to the airport until the time my flight landed. My weight this morning is back above 320lbs… although not by as much as I expected it would be.

    The good news: I am in Dallas with my baby, and all is right in the world. We went for Shawarma last night for dinner, and then we sat by the pool smoking cigars. It is so good to be back with her. Life is just better when we are together.

    After running some errands, I made us lunch today. The base was a salmon salad with light mayo and onions. For Leslie, I made a salmon melt on a challah roll with aged sharp cheddar. For me, I mixed it with vegetables and poured olive oil and balsamic vinegar on it. Not my best work, only because I was lazy. Had I done it properly, I would have made and dressed the veggie salad separately, and then put the salmon salad on top. Oh well, it still wasn’t bad.

    This evening, we are heading to the Cigars International lounge for an event. Of the three events that we are planning to go to there in the next month, tonight’s is the one I am least excited about. It will be a great event for sure, but the other two are really exciting. After the event, we will grab dinner, and then come home to light the Shabbat candles. All in all, it should be a good day. Why? Because I am back with my baby!

    Have a great day folks!