Five pounds of stress? Five pounds of angst? Five pounds of FABULOUSNESS?

191.8-->191.8-->196.8

Five pounds up in a month, but have no fear. I have some legit reasons why I don't think it's as bad as all that. As the old wives tale says, a pound of fat is an additional 3,500 calories. That means I had to pack in an extra 583 calories every day this past month -- my weekend eating was not great, but not that bad.

On the pro five pounds side:

1. I had a really shitty, stressful month that included a week off from work.
2. It's January, unusually cold weather, and the recovery from the holidays.
3. The rollers didn't stick, and I have bike-ridden minimally.
4. My weekend eating was really off da hook.

On the anti five pounds side:

1. I've started to use the 2nd notch on my belt on a semi-regular basis, and the short sleeved gingham shirt that I got a while ago which I try on at every weigh in, feels a little closer to fitting.
2. Some friends commented that I look thinner this month, some crediting it to stress.
3. My lifting and pull ups are stronger than ever, and to my touch, my torso just feels a bit toner.
4. This weigh in was the first on a brand new scale.

So take that as you will. I'm still a fatty, but a smaller fatty. This coming Thursday, I have my annual physical. Looking above, see that spike around February '13? That was around the time of my last physical, and I found the doctor's scale to be a few pounds less than the home scale. So I'll take the doc's number as a legit secondary weight check.

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I treated myself to a new Vitamix blender, a small kindness while other parts of my life feel a bit troubled and uncertain. I never really bothered listening to the hype, it sounded a bit like a cross between the promises of an infomercial and the unrealistic jibber jabber of a cult, and they're so damn expensive. I got mine direct from the company, refurbished, so it wasn't full-on stupid expensive, but still more than I ever spent on a blender. After making my first smoothie with it, I instantly understood what the hype was about.

In the old blender, my smoothie would have to go about 2-3 minutes to get smooth, and would have the consistency of a thick, loose shake. In the vitamix, all the same exact ingredients and proportions, blended about 20 seconds and the thing was perfectly smooth and the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Just frozen fruit, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, a little pomegranate juice, vanilla, salt. Amazeballs.

Last week I made a blender soup (leek artichoke potato) and "light" Italian dressing in the blender from the recipe book that came with the blender. (I put "light" as opposed to "lite" on the dressing because there are no chemicals, thickeners or weird stuff in it -- at it's heart is a fresh tomato that has been blended out of existence to balance the oil and vinegar. On my next go, I may add some guar gum...) Both recipes need improvement, but bottom line the blender meets it's promises. May have to do a full entry once I have had more time with it.
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Pure and utter evil.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2678

Ugg, way over budget thanks to Friday night blow-out, but all considered, a decent week. I'm not going to beat myself up, it's winter.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2165

SLEPT: 10:15pm-4am, 5.75 hrs
Feeling a little bit under the weather, digestive issues. Powered through it, lifted weights, met all my obligations anyway.

AM SNACK: 4:15 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 410 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, falafel, leek artichoke & potato soup, health salad, pickles, 870 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15 pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 5 pm, poppa salad with homemade "light" Italian, 75 cal

DINNER: 7:15pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, cheese flavored crackers from graze box 500 cal
New Graze Box on the table while I ate, had to try one. Unlike last week, I was able to stop at just one. Really good.

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2435

SLEPT: 8:30pm-5am, 8.5 hrs
Good night sleep despite a toddler waking up in the middle of the night. Early morning cold weather bike ride to the UWS to deliver knishes to a bris, heated gloves worked well but toes got a little icy despite thick wool socks.

AM SNACK: 5:15 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:45am, Fage yogurt with agave, vanilla, almonds, 310 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meat balls, steamed string beans, madras lentils, pickles, 680 cal

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, korean chili rice crackers from graze box, 70 cal

PM SNACK: 5 pm, poppa salad with homemade "light" Italian dressing, 75 cal

DINNER: 7pm, grilled pork loin, roasted brussel sprouts, 390 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, cheetos, 300

EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, cashews, +/- 300
It blew the budget, but I was honestly hungry and cashews are reasonably healthy. The extra hour and a half I spent cycling in sub-freezing weather this morning probably explains the caloric shortfall, so I'm not too broken up about it.

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2865

SLEPT: 9pm-2am,5am-6am 6 hrs
Up early, couldn't get back to sleep so I rolled with it and did chores and watched a bit of TV. Then Edie woke up and cried for snuggling, so I jumped into bed with her and had a heavenly one hour snugglefest.

Due to being short of oatmeal and the light nature of the day, added instant ramen to lunch to bring the numbers up, a rare occasion. I know, I should try to pad with better quality calories, but this is a fun (and rare) indulgence back to the college days.

Was hungry in the evening and saw 3 tiny left over chocolate chip cookies in the pantry from the kids. First thought was to throw them out, second thought was what a waste that would be so I threw them back without much thought. BING! Game on! Two bowls of peanut M&Ms then jumped off the shelf and forced them down my throat.

Fair enough, I had a stressful day at work and family stuff, it was a sweet release (pun intended) and as long as it doesn't become a new regular habit, I'm not going to beat myself up. It's too far into the month to effect Friday's weigh in, one way or the other.

AM SNACK: 2:15 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am,  steel cut oatmeal, 295

PM SNACK: 12:15pm, pomodoro crackers from Graze Box, 65 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, ramen, 2 pickles,  790 cal

PM SNACK: 4:15pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 5:30 pm, poppa salad with "light" Italian dressing, 75 cal

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, roasted salted cashews, 160 cal

DINNER: 8:15pm, shirataki stir fry with shrimp, shitaki mushrooms and oyster sauce, 360 cal 

EVENING GORGE: 8:30pm, 3 little chocolate chip cookies, 2 small bowls of peanut M&Ms, +/- 800 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2195

SLEPT: 10:30pm-5am, 6.5 hrs

Did a work out, felt a weird body-cloudiness -- not quite tired, not quite achy, not quite zoned out, somewhere in between all three, and the only thing I can think is that the M&Ms I ate last night are showing their effect on my physiology. When I was heavier and regularly indulging in sweets and high-calorie binges, it's effects would have simply been "normal", but now it stands out. Interestin'. 

AM SNACK: 5:15 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am,  fage whole yogurt with agave, vanilla and almonds, 310 cal

AM SNACK: 11:45am, black pepper pistachios from Graze Box, 105 cal
Nice in it's simplicity, but made ordinary pistachios pop well.

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, 2 pickles,  410 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, momma salad, 2 pieces of fancy cheesy bread with charcuterie, an olive, a mini quiche, +/- 400 cal
Fancy event for the staff in the office I work. Skipped hummus, ate around the sweets. Good thing I had under-planned for my calorie consumption today.

PM SNACK: 4:45 pm, poppa salad with "light" Italian dressing, handful of olives, mini quiche, 2 pieces of fancy cheesy bread with tomato, +/-375 cal
More fancy food with the salad.

DINNER: 7:15pm, Subway 6" veggie burger sub, diet coke, 435
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FRIDAY COUNT: 3730

SLEPT: 10:15pm-4:45am, 6.5 hrs

Ugg, blow out into the weekend. In the past I wouldn't report these, just chalking it up to an early start to the weekend, so here is a point for honesty...

AM SNACK: 5 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9am,  thick fruit smoothie, 410 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, health salad, 2 pickles, 610 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, cheetos and tortilla chips, +/- 100 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, steak sandwich, fries, a little ice cream and cookie, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, slice of streetza, +/- 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, bag of cookies, some homemade vanilla ice cream, +/- 1000 cal

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WEEKEND REPORT:
New month, might as well get back on the horse, as I'll probably/hopefully never has a month as quite as uniquely horrible as January. Saturday brought a reprieve in the weather and got a nice 50 mile ride in the morning, and lots of friends and kids over in the afternoon for a puppy party, featuring ice cream and brownies. Sunday I took it upon myself to be mindful of calories, and now that I estimated it, damn, I can do better than that.

SATURDAY
BIKE CREDIT: 1165 cal
SLEEP: 8:30pm-4am, 7.5 hrs

BREAKFAST: 4:30am, ice green tea, 100mg caffeine, a little homemade chocolate ice cream

BIKE SNACK: 7am, homemade granola bar

BIKE SNACK: 9am, homemade granola bar

AM WATERING: 10am, quart of water

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 1 french bread pizza, handful of pizza bagels, water

PM SNORT: 1:30pm, 1 glass of cava

PM SNACK: 3pm, 1 medium portion of homemade brownie and ice cream

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, a little chocolate ice cream

DINNER: 5:45pm, sesame chicken and pork fried rice, egg roll, half a full-sugar coke, some vegetable lomein
Sesame chicken was gross, left most it over and threw it out.

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, cheetos, peanut M&Ms


SUNDAY: +/-3440 cal
SLEPT: 10pm-5:45am, 7.75 hrs

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea, 0 cal

AM SNACK: 6:15am, bowl of cheetos, cashews and peanut M&Ms, 540 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, 3 waffles, chocolate ice cream, 4 slices of bacon, +/- 1200 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, almonds & M&Ms, +/- 600 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, chicken tikka roll, salad, +/- 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, homemade chocolate brownie, +/- 500 cal