DrFeelgood

Sabotage! I had the opposite problem this week--my 'official' weigh-ins are Saturday mornings, so that's what I recorded; but I hopped on the scale again Sunday morning for a sanity check and was down another 1.7 pounds after only 24 hours. I really wanted to amend my records because crossing that first 10-pound line means that I'd be over halfway to my 12-week goal and I'd get to eat ice cream. But the stickler in me prevailed and I'll just have to wait another week--provided that Friday's barbecue doesn't skew things too badly.

W3 Sunday: one Dr Pepper, only water thereafter. Lunch was beef enchiladas with red sauce and cheddar cheese. I was snackish in the afternoon, and after trying to appease it with cheese and nuts I added a whole carrot and a fresh apple--that finally quieted the brain weasels. Dinner was grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs and a large baked potato topped with scallions and plenty of butter. That made for a very satisfying day moderately under target at 2087 kcal. Day off of church duties meant that I got to sleep in real nice and slow-play the morning until service time. When we got home I made my lunch and then did very little until the evening, then I went out back to practice chipping for an hour or so. A fine day and a good start to the week. 👍

Week 2 Check-in: scale says 237.7 lbs, down 1.1 from last week and 9.2 total for the challenge so far. I'll happily take that result after jumping back up over 239 on Wednesday morning. As third weeks historically go for me this one was pretty mild--still a downturn (expected) from weeks 1 & 2 but not as big an emotional hurdle as those in the past have been. I'm still not sure what was off with my MFP numbers, but I'm suspecting the brisket that was a feature of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. This week will give me a chance to try it again since I'll be making a big BBQ lunch for the office to celebrate another 'successful' fiscal year-end on Friday. If I can't get good numbers then I'm just going to go by feel. By next week I expect to have dropped the first 10 of my 50-pound goal, and I think that might merit some ice cream. That'll be a nice way to mark each 10-pound increment along the way, I think. Week 2 Saturday: excellent day started with a single Dr Pepper after my weekly weigh-in. I also had a pear for breakfast because I don't really get much fresh fruit these days--the Boyz tend to mow through everything that MFG buys in pretty short order. Lunch was leftover barbacoa tacos, followed throughout the afternoon by a few snacks: cheese, pecans, and a GF chocolate-chip cookie that MFG made for me. For dinner I grilled some Asian-ish marinated boneless skinless chicken thighs and served them with sides of steamed Jasmine rice and stir-fried mixed vegetables. It was all very good and very filling even at just 1892 kcal for the day. No Move goal for Saturday but I was mad busy all morning and evening with car cleaning, yard work, meal preps, and plenty of golf practice.

Starting Weight: 246.9 lbs 09-09: 242.2 lbs (-4.7) 09-16: 238.8 lbs (-3.4) 09-23: 237.7 lbs (-1.1) Another pound lost this week, I'll take it. I had a rough start to this one--for the first few days my counting was accurate but I still felt like I was overeating, and by Wednesday morning I was up a pound. I tightened it up for the remainder and managed to regain my momentum. The coming week should be a good one! I'm going to need a different reward than I was thinking about since a used set of golf irons popped up at a price I couldn't pass on and they're currently en route to Casa Feelgood.

W2 Friday: one soda then water. Lunch was leftover beef over rice with gravy. I added a Reese's in the afternoon for a treat. Dinner at home was barbacoa tacos with guacamole, pico de gallo, and queso fresco. I measured everything out to get to 1919 kcal. I had errands to take care of on the way home from work, and then it was time for dinner, so I pushed off my Move until later in the evening. Once the sun was on the other side of the house I set up my hitting net in the backyard and spent 40 minutes working on golf swings. Was fun and productive--and way faster (and cheaper!) than hauling my gear to the driving range. I'm going to leave the net up all weekend so I can go out at will and keep working on swings. Have a great weekend y'all!

W2 Thursday: one Dr Pepper, then water all day. Lunch was leftover GF spaghetti with tomato sauce and a link of Italian sausage, none of which seems to have messed with my belly. For dinner MFG threw a bunch of beef chuck cubes into the Instant Pot with beef broth and salt and pepper, and I made a pot of rice. When the beef was done I made a gravy with the broth and steamed some broccoli. Later in the evening I added some pecans for a snack to total up the day at 1960 kcal. All green for what turned out to be a super-busy day. I didn't get a chance to sit down until 11 pm, and by then it was time for bed--must've cursed myself with the "super-sedentary" comment from yesterday morning.

I took a very long break.

W2 Wednesday: one soda, then water--check. Carnivorous lunch was leftover grilled chicken with some brisket and provolone cheese. Dinner was GF spaghetti with marinara sauce and Italian sausage links which closed out the day at 1783 kcal, and that still felt like more. Maybe I just don't need as much as I think I do since my "workouts" aren't really all that intense and my "sedentary" is like super-sedentary. Speaking thereof, Move was very good. There were rolling blackouts throughout the region and the office had no power yesterday, so I took my laptop home in the morning to telework the rest of the day. That meant I could get to my exercises promptly at quitting time, and I spent nearly 30 minutes with the usual planks, bridges (lots of bridges), pushups, leg-lifts, and various stretches. Core and glutes are definitely improving, and it's really not that tough at all to knock out some exercise while watching a sitcom after work--makes me want a rack at home all the more. After dinner MFG and I dropped the Boyz at church and then went shopping, so I got bonus Move while walking through Sam's Club with my lovely wife. Alas my stomach found something disagreeable about yesterday's eating so the rest of the evening was just resting and coping with power outages. I did crush many candy levels before bed.

Thanks! I occasionally get glimpses of the golfer I could be if I played more often. Some day... ____________________________________________________ W2 Tuesday: one (large) Dr Pepper from the quickie-mart while refueling the Rad Dad Van in the morning, only water for the rest of the day. Lunch was leftover brisket and mashers, dinner was grilled chicken with rice and a cucumber salad. I was well below target for the day so I added some chips, cheese, and GF bread to get in green range. All pass. For a bit of a sanity check this morning I hopped on the scale, and it's up a pound since Saturday. That would seem to confirm my suspicion that my MFP numbers haven't been quite right. I'm going to go at 1800 per day for the rest of this week and try to regain some momentum.

I forgot to report my Week 1 weight in the previous update: Saturday morning's hop on the scale said 238.8 lbs, down 3.4 from the week before and 8.1 for the challenge so far! 👊 W2 Monday: one Dr Pepper, then water. Lunch was leftover brisket with mashed potatoes. I wanted and had room for chocolate in the afternoon, so I went and bought a milk bar with almonds (healthy!). For dinner I had grilled chicken breast, and I finished off the last of the broccoli-rice-cheese casserole along with a small salad. MFP says 1869 kcal for the day, and I'm struggling with trusting that the numbers are accurate this week. I'll take the yellow for an under-target Monday--I definitely didn't want to eat more than I already had. MFP is wild. When I search the database for smoked brisket I get dozens of results that range from 30 to over 80 kcal per oz. and everywhere in between. I went with the highest one and still feel like it's under-counting. This is also Week 3 for me, and we all know how the brain weasels love to set up camp in my head during Week 3. I'm coping. The weather was excellent after work so I drove over to the golf course and did some chip-and-putt for a little while, then I walked over to the first tee to play a few holes (1-2-8-9 makes a nice 1-mile circuit that takes less than an hour to play). I hadn't quite loosened up my swing so the scoring wasn't great (6, 6, 4, and a three-putt 7), but the exercise was nice and I had fun. The par on 8 (played almost perfectly) gives me hope that I'll eventually be okay enough at this game. That's how golf sucks you in. My short game is really taking shape, now I need to develop a reliable tee club and figure out how to hit a consistent punch shot to get out of trouble. I can work on both of those in my backyard--if I'm ever motivated enough to set up the net, that is.

They enjoyed them, but I think I poisoned the well a little bit by telling them that the 2nd one was by far the best. We finished each movie by heading to Youtube and watching the corresponding HISHE, which has long been my favorite channel.

Golf today, hopefully some time in my workshop throughout the rest of the week (now that it's finally cooling off), movie nights with my Boyz--we did the Nolan Batman trilogy last weekend and this weekend will be the Matrix trilogy, and generally just a nice calm week of family life. Wednesday is bills day and Thursday is pay day, I always enjoy those.

I feel that--Sundays are that way for me with worship-band duties, which is precisely why I quit doing weigh-ins on Sundays. 👍

That's why I do mine first thing on Saturday mornings--it's the most consistent time of the week for me. Sunday/Monday weigh-ins are all kinds of skewed by big meals, unintended fasts, high-intensity activities, mild dehydration and/or constipation, etc.

W1 Saturday: one Dr Pepper in the morning, only water all day. Lunch was leftover chicken and a potato. For dinner we had a few cheap pork steaks that MFG found on super clearance--they looked like the new trainee meat cutter was using his feet or something--so I seasoned them and threw them on the smoker while the brisket was going, and MFG made a broccoli-rice-cheese casserole. 1948 kcal. W2 Sunday: one Dr Pepper (the big one) in the morning on the way to church for worship rehearsal. Lunch was the brisket (really good, and very filling--I ate less than half of what I programmed) with mashed potatoes. I snacked on some chips and cheese in the afternoon while watching a movie with muh Boyz, then I made tacos for dinner with the brisket trim that I ran through the grinder. Outstanding! 2334 kcal, and it was a fair bit of work to get the number up that high--even with brisket. So concludes a very-busy and highly-productive yet not-all-that-restful weekend. I'll definitely appreciate getting to park it in my desk chair at work tomorrow for a few hours.