Monday Morning Weigh In

I woke up and jumped onto the scales this morning (I'm lying, I very carefully stepped onto the scales) and discovered I'd lost 5 pounds last week! That brings the total to 18 pounds in 3 weeks. I now weigh 257. I know I've said it before, but this is the easiest thing I've ever heard of to loose weight. On to week four and hope to be in the 240's within a week or so!

End of Week 3 (Day 21)

Today marks the end of my third week on the program. My third weigh in is in the morning. This week I feel like I've had a good week, unlike last week when I felt like I didn't do so well (even though I had). Looking forward to the beginning of week 4.

I had to adjust my training schedule today. My gym is closed tomorrow for Labor day, so I had to train chest today. I started with 3 sets of bench presses, followed by 3 sets of incline presses, next up was 3 sets of decline presses, finishing up with 3 sets of machine flies. I've had 3 cardio workouts today. This morning and this evening Kim and I walked some of our dogs (Belle, our Pug this morning, and Jack this evening). I also did 30 minutes of cardio after my workout on the treadmill at the gym, incline 11.5, speed 3.5.

My meals today began with apple cinnamon oatmeal (NS), facon, raspberries, and a slice of multigrain bread. My morning snack was my usual yogurt and grapes. Lunch consisted vegetable beef soup (NS), broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce. My afternoon snack was about 1/2 a pack of pretzels with 1 tbs of peanut butter. This only mildly helped the pretzels. For dinner I was very excited to eat a dinner that I thought I had eaten previously and really enjoyed, the oriental steak with green peppers and noodles. I was unhappily surprised to learn that this was not the same meal I had a few days ago. That was the teriyaki beef with vegetables. So tonight I ate the oriental dish along with 2 servings of broccoli in the entree's sauce along with a salad and a slice of multigrain bread. This meal was nowhere near as tasty as the teriyaki meal. For dessert tonight I had the nutrichocolates (NS). I heated them up just a bit and liked them much better than the first time I ate them unheated.

Passed a Pizza Test (Saturday, Day 20)

Tonight I went to visit an old friend who was in town for the first time in years. There were no fewer than 4 large pizzas to be had. Kim had commented during the Georgia football game that it just didn't seem right that I didn't have a Tombstone pizza in the oven (my favorite football food), so pizza was already on my mind. I stuck to the plan and drank my water while visiting. Last month I'd have eaten at least one pizza.

I was only able to get a single cardio workout in today. Kim and I walked our Jack Russell (Jack) around the lake during a light rain. I didn't go to the gym for at all because I watched the Dawgs loose their season opener :( I also missed the second walking of the dogs during the visit with my old friends.

For breakfast I had low-fat granola cereal, raspberries, a slice of multi-grain bread, and egg whites. My morning snack was my usual yogurt and grapes, except this morning I tried a coconut cream yogurt instead of vanilla, which was nice for a change. Lunch was black bean tortilla soup, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce. Afternoon snack of honey mustard pretzels with a little wing sauce (have to have something in order to eat the pretzels). Dinner was a sourdough pizza with some turkey bacon (17 slices adds up to 70 calories & I used about 6-7 slices) and a dash of 2% cheese, 3 servings of broccoli and cheese sauce, 5 olives, and another slice of multi-grain bread. Dessert was a milk chocolatey delight bar.

I weigh in again on Labor day & I feel like I've had a good week. I did have to eat 1 snack off program during the week, so we'll see if a single small carnitas taco did me in or not. I kinda feel like I should be running around all day Sunday screaming and yelling, "Last Chance Workout!" or something. Sorry, guess I'm ready for the only reality show I've ever watched to come back on. If you don't watch "The Biggest Looser" you should give it a try. It does have the typical sucky parts of a reality show (the drama) but most of it is so sweet to see as people make the changes they thought they never could. I wish they didn't vote people off & they all could stay and train for the entire season. Guess that's why I'm not a TV exec. Hope everyone has a safe and fun Labor Day!

Day 19

I forgot my snack again today when I left headed to a job site. I decided not to eat anything until I got back home, unlike my taco day yesterday. I also shot photos of my meals today (and progress at the job site) but between the time I removed my card from my Nikon and put it into my Mac, all the photos vanished. So no photos today.

Friday's are leg days for me, and this workout was brutal. I switched up exercises this week and it did the trick as far as getting me out of a rut with my leg training. I started with 3 sets of hack squats (they were so intense I vomited a little bit), followed by 3 sets of leg presses, then 3 sets of leg extensions. I continued with hamstring next. 3 sets of leg curls & 3 sets of hyper extensions. I had the uber cool feeling of being moments from passing out after each set of hyper extensions. I could see little stars flying around in my field of vision & had fond memories of my old gym back in Athens. We used to pass out regularly when training legs there. Good times.

I had a another easy day following the NS program. For breakfast I had low-fat granola cereal (NS), facon (fake bacon), strawberries, and a slice of multigrain bread. Yogurt and grapes for my morning snack. Lunch was a fudge graham bar (NS and served warm), 2 servings of broccoli and cheese sauce. My afternoon snack was eaten about 2 hours later than usual. It was the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Biscotti (NS). This was my first try with any of the biscotti snacks. It tasted okay, but it was quite crunchy. Dinner was chicken pasta parmesan (NS), 3 servings of broccoli with cheese sauce, 5 olives, and a slice of bread. Dessert was an oatmeal raisin cookie (NS) served warm. I think I like all off the NS cookies. Imagine that, I like cookies.

Taco Encounter (Day 18)

Today I had my first non NS meal since I started. I forgot to pack my morning snack and didn't realize it until I arrived at a job site 30 miles from home. I thought about skipping the snack all together, but late in the afternoon I was hungry so I went to a nearby taco stand. I had 1 carnitas (pork) taco. It was very small with only a few small pieces of meat, along with cilantro, onions, radishes, and a little slice of carrot on the side. Before starting the program I would have ordered at least 4 tacos, a burrito, and maybe a plate of carne asada. So I was very pleased that I only ordered a single taco. Quite an accomplishment for me. Oh, the taco was outstanding.

I trained biceps and triceps at the gym this morning. 3 sets of press downs, 3 sets of overhead presses, 3 sets of rope press downs for my triceps. For biceps I started with 3 sets of seated incline curls, followed by 3 sets of standing dumbbell curls, finishing up with 3 sets of rope curls. Cardio at the gym was my usual 30 minutes on the treadmill at incline 11.5 and speed of 3.5. I walked up and down stairs and worked for about 4 1/2 hours this afternoon, so I'm sure I got a little workout in all that. My final cardio of the day was a walk around the lake for about 30 minutes.

My meals today began with a new type of NS cereal, the cluster crunch cereal, along with 3 egg whites, a banana, and a slice of multigrain bread. I liked the new cereal as much as all of the others (guess I like cereal). Morning snack of yogurt and grapes as usual. Lunch today was bean and ham soup (NS), broccoli & cheese sauce, and creamed spinach. My afternoon snack was the carnitas taco. For dinner I had the wedged potatoes with beef steak (NS), creamed spinach, cauliflower with cheese sauce, and a slice of multigrain bread. I left out one of the veggies since I had some veggies on the taco earlier as well as leaving out my fat serving with dinner since I'm sure the carnitas had a little fat in meat. For my dessert I had the delicious white cholocate chunk cookie (NS).

I think I had a good day, taco and all.

Day 17

Tonight I found myself at the grocery store around 9PM. Typically if I was at the store this late it was because I freaked out & absolutely had to have some Krispy Kreme's or maybe some Phish Food. Tonight I bought 3 different types of frozen vegetables and a loaf of low fat, low calorie multigrain bread. What a difference 17 days makes.

I managed to work out and get in my first round of cardio this morning before heading to a job site just after lunch. I trained my back at the gym, doing 3 sets of pull downs, 3 sets of iso-low-rows, 3 sets of seated rows, and 3 sets of straight arm push downs. Cardio at the gym was on the treadmill for 30 minutes, incline 11.5, speed 3.5. After dinner this evening Kim and I enjoyed our nightly walk around the lake.

Today's food added up to just a little over 1500 calories. Maybe I should drop my 1oz of bacon for a while. For breakfast I had low fat granola cereal (NS), a banana, a slice of bacon, and a slice of multigrain bread. Morning (after my workout today) snack of yogurt and grapes. Lunch today was pasta with beef (NS), broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce. My afternoon snack of BBQ soy chips were enjoyed on the aforementioned job site late in the afternoon. Dinner tonight was my first experience with the thick crust pizza (NS), along with a salad with olives and peppers and a few slices of turkey pepperoni, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce, and a slice of bread. I added some low fat cheese and turkey pepperoni to the pizza and it was great. Well, at least I thought so. Kim tried a bite (less the pepperoni) and gave me a frown before saying, "I'm glad you like it."

I've noticed quite a few people on the NS blogs having trouble consuming all of their water. I've got the exact opposite problem. I'm thirsty all day long. I think for the day I'm gonna total over 120 oz. This is where I use my free calories/food. Most of my water is mixed with crystal light. This adds up to about an extra 100 calories a day.

Day 16

I survived a lunch out with my family today. Everyone else ordered food, I had water (with a lemon). Luckily I had just had my NS lunch so I wasn't hungry. We sat outside (a rather cool day here in Georgia) and while everyone ate I sipped my water, enjoyed the weather, and watched my sister's baby try to grab and throw everything he could get close to (he was strapped into his seat so he wasn't very successful)

I trained shoulders today at the gym. 3 sets of military presses, 3 sets of lateral raises, 3 sets of upright rows, and 3 sets of rear delts. All that followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill (incline 11.5, speed 3.4). Finally this evening Kim and I walked around the lake with one of our dogs (Jumping Jack Flash Gordon County, our dog's name...don't ask).


The day began with blueberry muffins (NS), an apple, a slice of multigrain bread, and a glass of lowfat chocolate soy milk. This was my first taste of the muffins and I really enjoyed them. I'm not really a muffin kind of guy so I was surprised. My normal morning snack of yogurt and grapes followed. Lunch was a chocolate raspberry bar (NS), broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce. I didn't love the raspberry bar. Probably won't order any more of those. My afternoon snack today was the zesty herb snack mix with a little hot sauce. Dinner this evening was my first try with macaroni & cheese (NS), along with 3 servings of carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower in cheese sauce (amazingly I'm not sick of this stuff yet). The mac & cheese was great. Of course my judgment could be a little off since I haven't had anything other than the NS entrees for over 15 days, but I think I liked it anyway. Dessert was a peanut butter cookie. Heated it up for 20 seconds and it was warm, soft, and yummy.


Another good day. Looking forward to some more cooler weather here (it was 115 on a job site last week) and to the start of the college football season this weekend. Go Dawgs!