Turducken & Late Night Hunger (Day 122)

I'm still battling my late evening hunger issues. I did much better tonight. I didn't have my NS dessert because I'd had a protein bar earlier in the day and I wanted to stay under 1700-ish calories on the day. Late this evening I had a few strawberries and about an oz of blue cheese. 150-200 calories at most so I think I stayed around my mark on the day. I was hungry though. I just handled it better today.

My TURDUCKEN arrived today. We placed it into the freezer and re-read the cooking instructions. It doesn't appear to be very difficult to prepare. I'll shoot lots of photos during the prep and consumption of this monster.

Kim didn't feel well again this morning, but decided to go to the gym anyway. She pedaled slowly on the bike as I did my first 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. Then we began our back workout. I started with TWO SETS of pull-ups. This is the first time since I was in college that I've done multiple sets of pull-ups. 9 reps the first set and 6 horrible reps the second set. We moved on to the y-bar for 3 sets, then the t-bar for 3, next onto the seated row machine for 3 sets, and finally finished with 3 sets of lat pull-downs. Back to the treadmill for me (and the bike for Kim) for 30 minutes. After returning home and having lunch, I had to take a brief nap I was so exhausted.

I've had a decent food day. For breakfast I had an apple strudel scone, facon, a banana, and a slice of bread. My morning snack was a cup of yogurt. Lunch was vegetable beef soup and a veggie burger. My afternoon snack was a tiny bag of chocolate rainbow delights. Somewhere between the snack and dinner I had the remainder of a protein bar and a few bites of peanut butter. Dinner was veggie fajitas, fake veggie chorizo, bread, and cauliflower with cheese sauce. No dessert, but I did have the strawberries and blue cheese late.

Tomorrow we hit the gym to train arms along with our cardio, then I have a feeling I may have to take another nap.....

Training Alone & Staying Hungry (Day 121)

Kim wasn't feeling well, my mom was a no show, and DJ has been out of town so I trained alone today. 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill before starting my workout. I trained shoulders today, which if I had to pick a body part to train alone, shoulders would be it. I began with 3 sets of military presses, followed by 3 sets of side lateral raises, then on to 3 sets of upright rows, and finished up with 3 sets of rear delts. Back to the treadmill for 30 more minutes to finish up my exercise for the day.

Easy, good food day. I began with a double chocolate muffin, facon, a banana, and a slice of bread for breakfast. I forgot my morning snack (d'oh). Lunch was a veggie burger with a cup of NS chili with beans. My afternoon snack was a coconut almond bar. Dinner this evening was a new item, the buffalo chicken wrap. It looks really orange. Tasted ok. I added some cheese and a little cholula and it was pretty good. Along with wrap I had a sweet potato pancake, and cauliflower with cheese sauce. Dessert this evening was a double chocolate almond cookie with a little peanut butter added on top. Since I forgot my morning snack I decided to have a little cheese after dinner, so I cut a few bites of my newest cheese, Blue Hill. Very nice raw milk blue cheese. I also had a little bit of a protein bar throughout the day.

Since increasing my cardio to a full hour at the gym I'm still having cravings/being hungry after dinner-dessert. I don't have any issues with hunger during the day at all, only after my last meal. I haven't really noticed the hunger on the weekends though. Maybe it's just because I'm eating later on the weekends, or maybe because I typically don't train as long those days. Not sure. I think I'm still burning ~1500 calories during my workouts, so adding a little more protein/calories doesn't bother me. Add that to what I think is about a 500-700 calorie deficit from the NS diet, and I'm still pulling ~2000 calorie deficit totals at least 5 days a week. See, I'm trying to convince myself the cheese/protein/peanut butter is OK on occasion.

Kim plans to be back at the gym tomorrow for our back workout. Maybe I'll remember to snap a pick of us as we train one day to post....

Went Shopping & Now I'm Beat (Day 120)

Today Kim and I trained chest at the gym. Of course we began with 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, incline 13.5, speed 4.0. The workout was all machines today. 3 sets of seated chest press, then 3 sets of reclined chest press, followed by 3 sets of incline chest press, and finally 3 sets of machine flies. Back to the treadmill for me, incline 14, speed 4.0 for 30 minutes. Kim rode a little on the bike and then walked around a neighborhood while I finished up on the treadmill (she couldn't stand the boredom of the cardio any longer.

I've had a good, not necessarily "on" plan day. Breakfast was a banana nut muffin, veggie canadian bacon (not so good, I'll have to try cooking it differently), a banana, and a slice of bread. My morning snack was a cup of yogurt. Lunch was a curry veggie burger and cheesy homestyle potatoes. My afternoon snack was a double fudge bar. Dinner was Indian Masala Tofu, a bite of left over crab cakes, and a salad. My dessert was a chocolate crunch bar. I also had 1/2 a smoothie while shopping with my mother at a mall this afternoon.

Shopping today nearly did me in. Today was probably the first time I've been in a mall in 6 months. The good news is that I more or less finished my Xmas shopping. I realized I know nothing about clothes, or fashion. I looked at a few items of clothing, gave up and asked where the old people clothes were located. They pointed me in the direction of the golf apparel. Much better.

Weigh In & How I Spent Sunday (Day 119)

First off, my Monday morning weigh in, then on to the adventures of yesterday.

I weighed this morning and was pleased (thrilled) to see the readout of 206.1. That's down 4.6 pounds from last week! Total lost on NS is now 68.9 pounds! Total lost since my heaviest (which was ~288) is 81.9 pounds! On NS I've averaged losing .57 pounds per day. Not. Too. Shabby. I'm now with sight of my first goal weight of 200, but I'm gonna go down to at least 190. So I'm very happy and ready to get to the gym to start another productive week on plan!

How I spent my Sunday.

Sunday was the day my sister scheduled her son's first birthday party. Kim and I loaded some of my photography gear into the Denali, picked up my grandmother, and drove in the nasty, foggy, icky weather to my sister's place for the party. We were greeted by the Amazing Screaming Oliver, who did not like how things were going as we were setting up for the party. He soon calmed down and everyone had a very nice time. I shot a couple of hundred frames and spent all night selecting and editing the photos. If your interested, here's a set from the day.




I was very well behaved, food wise at the party. Among the items I saw laid out to feed upon were little sausages wrapped in bacon, chicken salad, BIRTHDAY CAKE, fudge, etc. I had exactly 1 bacon wrapped sausage, a bite (not a piece, but a bite) of fudge, a taste (which is less than a bite) of chicken salad, and 1/2 a slice of birthday cake. The cake was amazing. Cream cheese icing! Before NS I'd have eaten no fewer than 4 huge slices. I'm impressed with my new self control and mindset concerning food.

After the party wrapped up Kim and I headed to Pappadeux for a little meal. We had some oysters (raw), large shrimp, and crab claws. We also split a lobster salad. We managed to eat less than 1/2 the salad and brought the rest home. After our meal we drove to the Whole Foods market to grab a few items needed for Kim's upcoming cooking extravaganza. The main things I found were a wedge of mushroom infused cheese that I love, a little Brie to try, and a Blue Hill blue cheese. Unfortunately, I loved all of the new cheeses. Now to exercise moderation and self control. We also had to find some chocolate covered espresso beans and we were shocked to find bags and bags of them in the chocolate covered nut area of the store. I sampled a couple once we were home and they are delicious. 7.2 calories each! I also found a new peanut butter. It is an organic peanut butter with white chocolate. Less calories than normal peanut butter (only by 10, but that IS less) and delicious! I'm a hot tea drinker and I was delighted to find a chocolate tea. It is caffeinated (which is fine with me) and when served with a little fat free 1/2 & 1/2 and some zero calorie sweetener, it's just magical. It is called Double Dark Chocolate Mate'. I also grabbed some new 7 spice chai and a sampling of Darjeeling.

One final note. If you're in the Atlanta area, or just love reading about good food (I assume all of us do) I want to point you in the direction of The Blissful Glutton. She's a great food blogger, trained chef, and has NEVER disappointed when I try one of her reviewed restaurants. She just returned from her honeymoon in Paris and is detailing the meals from the trip. Enjoy.

More New Foods (Day 118)

This post is for Saturday, December 12th, 2009.

I had a very slow, lazy kinda day. My exercise for the day was a 2 mile walk with Kim and JJF in the near freezing cold during the afternoon. Jack began the walk wearing a little fleece sweater, but by about half way, he had managed to run through a mud puddle and tear the sweater mostly off. He finally refused to take another step until we removed it. Then he was off to the races. I felt very good, but Kim was experiencing some leg soreness from our Friday workout. She did very well and we finished our walk averaging about .2 mph less than usual. Leg soreness, combined with very cold air (for North Ga., anyway) and a dog wardrobe malfunction, I thought we did very well.

Good food day. Not perfect, but good. Breakfast was a new item for me, the cinnamon bun. I nuked it a little to much, but it was still good. It is a little on the small side, but by the time I added a banana, yogurt, and a slice of bread I was very full. My morning snack was a little strange. I think I had to much banana (I know I did) with my yogurt smoothie at breakfast, so I didn't have a fruit with my snack. I did have my dinner portion of bread and added a Morning Star Chick'n Patty as a protein and made a little sandwich. The sandwich had both protein and veggie servings (to many for a morning snack) so for lunch I only had a chocolate caramel bar. First time I'd tried it and I liked it as well. My afternoon snack was a chocolate chip cookie with a little peanut butter added. Dinner was another new item for me. BBQ Pork Wrap & it was good! The pork reminded me of the same taste as an old Pizza Hut BBQ Pizza, or maybe a Sonic BBQ sandwich (both of which are no longer available). Maybe it reminded me of the BBQ sandwiches we were served in high school, I'm not sure. Anyway, it reminded me of something and I liked it (took me a lot of typing to say that!). Along with the wrap I had 2 servings of cauliflower with cheese sauce. Dessert was a coconut almond bar. Kim went out to dinner with an old classmate and brought me home a small cream cheese brownie. I cut a small piece (about 1/4) and it was delicious. I'm gonna have a little more for breakfast and let Kim have the rest.

Sunday we're headed to my sister's place in Atlanta to celebrate her son's first birthday. I've got photo duty so expect a few pics soon. I'm gonna limit my food at the party to just a taste of a few things. I may have to stop at my favorite Indian place for some palak peneer on the way home (don't worry, it's not goat brains, it's spinach with Indian cheese).






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Sloppy Joe, Chocolate Rainbow Delights Review & Kim's First Leg Workout (Day 117)

So far I've read nothing good about the new Sloppy Joe Meal. This is concerning to me because I loved it. Have my taste buds become so acclimated (jaded?) to NS that I now PREFER NS foods? First off, the Sloppy Joe meal is a vegetarian meal (soy protein, according to Kim, I didn't take the time to read the label, I just ate it). Of course this NS version doesn't taste like a real sloppy joe, but it's somewhat similar. Add some mustard and you're really close. I'll definitely add more of these to my next order.

I tried the Chocolate Rainbow Delights for my afternoon snack. Big surprise, I liked these too. The only drawback is the serving size. Miniature food. Tasty, but small. I'll add more of these next month too.

Today was Kim's first leg workout since her return to the gym. We began with 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, speed 4.0, incline 13.5. We began the workout with Kim on the leg press machine as I was on the true squat machine for 3 sets. Next Kim moved to squats and I moved to the hack squat machine for 3 sets. Our next exercise Kim did 3 sets of lunges as I did 3 sets on the leg press. We both moved to the leg extension machine for 3 sets next. Hamstrings followed. We began with 3 sets of standing leg curls, followed b 3 sets of seated leg curls, and finished with 3 sets of hyper-extensions. We returned to the treadmill for 10 more minutes before calling it a day.

Good food day today. Breakfast was another new item, the Double Chocolate Muffins. Nuked them for a few seconds and they were lovely. Along with the muffins I had a yogurt banana smoothie and a slice of bread. My morning snack was a cup of yogurt. Lunch was a veggie burger with cheesy homestyle mashed potatoes. My afternoon snack was the new chocolate rainbow delights. Dinner was the new sloppy joe, with 3 servings of broccoli and cheese sauce. Dessert this evening was a caramel chocolate bar. I heated it up a bit and it was yummy!

Two more pics for you. The first is just silly. It's my stash of NS food. I not only have all of my food, but I have a lot of Kim's food too. Once I reach my goal and begin to transition back to non NS food, I will have plenty of meals to use during the process. The second pic is of Kim, Belle, Santa, Jumping Jack Flash & I. This photo is this year's Xmas card. It was taken at a local pet rescue during their annual fund raiser



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A Couple of New NS Foods, & Kim Can Still Cook (Day 116)

This post is for Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Kim had various errands to run so I was off to the gym alone today. I began with 30 minutes on the treadmill, incline 13.5, speed 4. My workout today was biceps and triceps. Triceps were first up. 3 sets of press downs, 3 sets of overhead presses, and finishing up with 3 sets of rope press downs. Biceps began with 3 sets of standing dumbbell curls, followed by 3 sets of seated incline curls, and finally 3 sets of straight bar pulley curls (I did what we call 21's for the final 3 sets, 7 from the bottom to the mid-point, 7 from mid-point to top, and 7 full reps). Back to the treadmill for 30 more minutes of the same before heading home.

I had a very good food day, until about 10PM. Breakfast was a chocolate chip scone, facon, a banana, and a slice of bread. My morning snack was yogurt. Lunch was vegetarian chili with a Morning Star Original Chick'n Patty. My afternoon snack was a chocolate chip cookie with a tiny about of peanut butter. For dinner I tried one of the new meals. Swedish Style Meatballs with Pasta. Not to bad. Not really Swedish Meatballs, but not to bad. Along with the NS meal I had corn, peas, and cauliflower in cheese sauce. My dessert was a coconut almond bar, with a little peanut butter. I really like the new bar. Kinda creamy on the inside. I'll most definitely order more. Kim got home late from a meeting in Chattanooga and brought home 1/2 a slice of pizza. It had pesto, spinach, black olives, and onions. It was delicious. I think this is the first taste of real pizza I've had in months. 1/2 a slice is so much better than the WHOLE pizza I used to get her to bring home to me. Not to mention this had no meat, before it would have been no veggie!









Kim had a practice run with some items she is going to cook for Xmas yesterday. One was a tart which had olives, smoked cheese, and other savory goodies. Another was zucchini rolls stuffed with a cream cheese. The final (my favorite) was a cheese pastry stuffed with an olive. Delicious. Thankfully she took all of the with her to her meeting in Chattanooga and everything was consumed there. I did snap a few pics though.

Leg day tomorrow. Get ready Kim.