Weigh In: Fatty Boom Boom edition

192-->190.4-->194.6

Well, that's a drag. Lot of 4 day weeks this past month, between a holiday and a food-heavy extended weekend in Montreal. I really thought summer would see me weight trend down, but due to my increase in calories, should I really be surprised I'm bouncing around the low 190s instead?

When dealing with variations this relatively small, over month-long periods, we could just be talking about statistical margin of error, influenced by hydration and output. Still, I feel a rededication coming to getting my calories back to 2200-2300 during the week...

Gawd knows I'm not a teenage girl, where the onslaught of media images commanding me to be a certain kind of sexy drives vulnerable people crazy. I fear for my daughter. But man, just glancing at so-called "Men's" magazines in passing at a newsstand or at the playroom, they're just as terrible as the lady-mags. All the guys are ripped, all the content is either about getting ripped, sex, clothes or things tangential to those things. Bleah. Gotta do some research, do an entry about body image that could serve both me and my 5 year old girl. If I start getting down in the dumps about a silly 4lb fluctuation this month, that could rise to crazytown levels if I don't check myself.

West of Doucheville, just a freeway exit away from Donttazemebro City

I can't do any more physical activity than I'm doing -- one weight lift and 100-200 miles per week on the bike is enough, it fits my schedule and it makes me happy. If I'm going to push the scale's needle below 190 and keep it there, I have to try to get to 2300 calories during the week again, and be a little easy on Fridays and let 'r rip on weekends enough to keep me satisfied. Some strategy for next month:

• Cut out Cheetos and Fritos for the time being.
• If I eat enough to meet the calorie budget, no snacks, even if it means going to sleep hungry.
• Poppa salads going bad before the end of the week. Package cut components separately and mix together during daily food prep. Whatever element goes bad first won't spoil the whole thing.
• Make one of the two weekend days "conservative", keeping the quantity of calories reasonable without counting.

Bottom line: despite this fermenting brew of self-doubting and slight disappointment at the weigh in, I'm hopeful. I'm still strong, healthy, I'm present for my kids and my kids are great. Refocus, kick ass a little harder, do the work, do the research and answer the questions, enjoy the ride, move on. Everyday is a winding road. I want know what love is, I want you to show me. We are the world, we are the children.

-----

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2788

I can do better. I'll do better.

-----

MONDAY COUNT: 2725

SLEPT: 6pm-10:15pm, 12:15am-5:30am, 9.5 hrs
Totally forgot the poppa salad today, damn, and it was freshly made in the morning. Felt a sugar craving after dinner, was able to keep it calm with a kind bar.

AM SNACK: 5:45am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel and hummus, chicken soup, health salad, pickles, 660 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, Grazebox seed mix , 290 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, broiled flounder, roasted asparagus, Fritos, 665 cal


EVENING SNACK: 7pm, kind bar, 200 cal


EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, homemade popcorn, +/- 300 cal

-----

TUESDAY COUNT: 2920

SLEPT: 9pm - 4am, 7 hrs
Decent weight lift in the morning, a little too easy going but hey, it's summer.

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

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken meatballs, mushroom masala, steamed string beans, pickles, 600 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45 pm, momma salad, Grazebox toasted corn mix , 260 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, grilled chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, fritos, poppa salad with ranch dressing, 900 cal

MISC SNACKS: 6:30-8pm, a few mouthfuls of tortellini, small bowl of cheetos/fritos, kind bar, +/- 500 cal
Really hungry, did some random grazing, starting with finishing my kid's meals. This was different, as I didn't lose control, and avoided any sweets. This feels new.

-----

WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2460

SLEPT: 8:45pm - 2:30am, 5.75 hrs
Good eating day, putting myself to bed early circumvented the need for additional snacking.

AM SNACK: 2:45am, iced green tea, 0 cal

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

AM SNACK: 7:45am, veggie straws, 130 cal

While I laid on the couch, my youngest child decided instead of eating his veggie straw snack, he poured it into a bowl then came up to me and pretty much force-fed me the whole bag, one by one. At first I resisted, but he kept on saying, "Mmmm? MmmmmmMMMMmmm?" and when the first one went in and crunched, he lit up like he just discovered a gold nugget in a river bed, and quickly repeated the act until the bag was gone. Moments later, he was back with another bag, but I had to lay down the law.

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa, pickles, 685 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad, Grazebox pretzels and peanut butter, 240 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, poppa salad with ranch dressing, 170 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, cashews, 390 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, shiritaki stir fry with shrimp, shitaki mushrooms, oyster sauce, 365 cal
-----

BIKE CREDIT: 675 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2395

SLEPT: 9:30pm-3am, 5.5 hr
Avoided post-dinner ice cream as I was expecting to go to a drinks thing after, but didn't feel great and went home and got to bed early.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, granola bar, 150 mg caffeine, iced green tea, 350 cal

BIKE SNACK: 4:45am, granola bar, 350 cal

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

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, vegetarian meatballs, roasted broccoli, black beans, pickles, 590 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, momma salad, Grazebox rice crackerz, 210 cal

DINNER: 6pm, vegetarian dim sum, +/- 900 cal
-----

BIKE CREDIT: 300 cal
FRIDAY COUNT: 3440

SLEPT: 8:30pm-3am, 6.5 hr
Bit of a stressy day, took it out a little on a short 15 mile ride in the early evening, really helped.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea

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

BREAKFAST 2: 7:30am, fruit smoothie, 500 cal

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

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, work ice cream, +/- 750 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, hotdog, fries, ice cream, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, Stouffers Frenchbread pizza, 410 cal