"The Blog Almost Too Boring To Be The Most Boring Blog in America ... for Over 5 Years!"

until it got too many red cards from Wounded Duck and the Boredom Enforcement Committee ... now the tortoise's goal is to get to 10 red cards so he can get Big Dog to drive down and take a good long walk with the tortoise

P. S. This blog listens to its readers. We have the Benjamin Category Override for 5+ mile walks and now, it humbles Tortoise to say he has been named "Lou", by Doug Jr, in memory of Mr. Consistency himself, Lou Gehrig. Tortoise can hardly type the words to think he is in any way comparable to the noble Iron Horse. Thank you!


Monday, January 31, 2011

25

weigh-in after visiting Terreeeblay: 265.3,down 0.5 week&5.0 tot.Day 35 walk-1.02 miles in 23 minutes;Series2 tot 21.35miles in 9hr 4min.
breakfast - large bowl of oatmeal with yogurt, banana, vitamins, and water
lunch - scoop of mashed potatoes and a scoop of turkey with a homemade dinner roll and butter, water
snack - peanut butter and jelly sandwich and water
dinner - a can of low fat Progresso Italian meatball and vegetable soup with small serving of fritos and another roll and butter and water
snack - one fun size almond joy

Saturday, January 29, 2011

24


Day 34 walked 0.92 miles with my friend Terreeeblay the treadmill in 21 minutes; Series 2 total 20.33 miles in 8 hours 41 minutes.

No breakfast today just water when I finished hangin with Terreeeblay

Lunch Garden tuna pasta salad and water.

Snack one oatmeal raisin cookie with a 15 ounce Odwalla chocolate protein monster drink. I liked it.

Dinner A grilled chicken breast and wing with a half scoop of mac and cheese

Friday, January 28, 2011

23

Day 33 walked 0.87 miles with my friend Terreeeblay the treadmill in 20 minutes; Series 2 total 19.41 miles in 8 hours 20 minutes.

Breakfast:  Black bean wrap and water
Snack:  Ciabotta club breakfast sandwich and water
Lunch:  Jr double cheeseburger, small chili, small frosty and water
Snack:  Jr crispy chicken sandwich and water
Dinner:  One medium plate with 2 oz beef, chicken leg and thigh, one scoop each brocolli and brussels sprouts, also one scoop mashed potato and gravy.  Small dessert plate, with a few bites each of carrot cake and peach cobbler with a half scoop of soft serve

Thursday, January 27, 2011

22

12:10 (No, I haven't eaten up until now today ...)  Drema surprised us and brought pizza in.  I had one piece each of the Greek and the barbeque pizzas.  Very good.  Kept drinking my water.

16:30 Finished the last of the pot roast, probably 3 or 4 ounces with a medium baked potato and a little of the gravy.  Water.

25:40 Day 32 walked 0.86 miles with my friend Terreeeblay the treadmill in 20 minutes; Series 2 total 18.54 miles in 8 hours 0 minutes.

26:10 Black bean wrap on a medium mixed grain tortilla with cheese, half a tomato slice, a few leaves of spinach, and some Pace picante sauce.  Water.  This one always hits the spot!

21

9:00 Snack remaining 1/4 of a kefir shake, water, and vitamins

12:30 Medium bowl of oatmeal with yogurt and a banana and water

16:30 1 ounce of Blue Diamond smokehouse almonds and water

18:20 Day 31 walked 0.85 miles with my friend Terreeeblay the treadmill in 20 minutes; Series 2 total 17.68 miles in 7 hours 40 minutes.  Changed into my BYU shirt (thanks girls) and levis for the big game at 20:00.

19:30 Met Doug, he wanted to show me an awes new sandwich shop.  It's inside Fabulous Freddy's on Bluff.  It closed at 19:00.  Sadness befalls us.  We miss out on the latest, greatest place to get a pastrami sandwich in St. George.  (Something tells me the Hat and Jerry's (formerly Famous) Deli have still got these guys beat by a country mile, but we will see at a future time ...)  So we head to Tom's Deli ... also closed.  It's only 19:40 people, come on!

19:50 Can't read the drive through menu board at Jimmy John's so we go inside.  Doug points out that number 13 looks a lot like the sandwich I used to love to get at Togo's -- turkey and swiss with fresh avocado and all the veggies with mustard, hold the mayo, on whole wheat.  Only one difference, this one didn't have the turkey, it's their vegetarian special.  I love my scrubbers, but I do like a little lean meat to go along with it, especially when it's cold and I'm hungry.  (I was going to eat a black bean taco after terreeeblay, but Doug was persuasive :) and now I'm really hungry.  So ... I look up and down the board, can't find what I'm looking for and finally just ask if they will add turkey to the number 13 for me.  The girl at the counter doesn't miss a beat, just asks if that means I'd like the number 12.  I look again, sure enough, it's the identical sandwich with turkey.  I'm feeling like a real genius at this point, what can I say.  Got it on 7 grain bread, overall I'd give the sandwich an 8 on a scale of 10.  I'd rather have my thick, fresh, whole wheat demi-bun -- this bread was good but was a little dry and they emphasized the alfalfa sprouts a bit much, otherwise you're looking at a 9.5, and that only because I don't believe in giving 10s unless you've just done the five dollar lawn.  (you've probably heard me quote the five dollar lawn story a zillion times already, I like it so much, but just in case, here's one of several places you can find it now (it was originally published in Reader's Digest in 1958) http://emp.byui.edu/SmithS/GradingTheCountessandtheImpossible.htm)

20:00 Actually I was getting ahead of myself.  We bought the sandwiches and went back to Doug's house to eat them with a few baked potato chips and water while watching BYU play San Diego State in basketball.  The game totally lived up to its hype.  I loved everything about it.  OK, I didn't know who Jimmer was until a few hours before game time, but he's the real deal.  Both teams played great.  They play each other again in 4 weeks in San Diego, and even though BYU looked good tonight, they are going to have to play the best game they have to beat San Diego a second time on their home court.  And they just might, so that will be a great one to look forward to ... although it's tax season and I've told Doug one game for the month of February, so we'll see which one he'll choose ... :)  It was also exciting  ...
  • watching it with Doug
  • feeling the excitement of the full house in the Marriott Center (reminded me of a game I went to with Sarah and Rachel when they were students there, there is just an amazing energy level there)
  • seeing BYU actually playing good D (you know what I say about how important that is, and how often I get disappointed)
  • watching the team work for Jimmer and be excited when he made all those amazing shots (he scored 43 of BYU's 71 points in the 71-58 win)
  • watching Jimmer be humble in the interviews afterwards and give credit to the team for their hard work and good screens
Thanks, Doug for a fun evening together!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

20

Day 30 walked 0.83 miles with my friend Terreeeblay the treadmill in 20 minutes; Series 2 total 16.83 miles in 7 hours 20 minutes.
10:00:  Kefir shake and vitamins
12:30:  Small bowl of lentils
14:30: Medium bowl of oatmeal and yogurt
19:30:  Dinner with the bishopric and Sherm Howard's:  Small pieces of elk and venison steak cooked two ways.  He watches Outdoor Life cooking shows and has it down - you couldn't tell it from beef, great!  Had one scoop of scalloped potatoes, two scoops of salad, and a half scoop of dessert.

Monday, January 24, 2011

19

7:30 The weigh-in after visiting Terreeeblay:  265.8, down 1.0 for the week and 4.5 total since beginning this blog 3 weeks ago.  My day 29 walk today was 0.81 miles in 20 minutes, making the Series 2 total 16.00 miles in 7 hours and 0 minutes.

8:30 Start on breakfast of a kefir shake and vitamins.

11:30 Finish breakfast.  That gives you an indicator of the kind of morning it was -- since it took three hours to drink a 14 ounce glass of liquid yogurt blended with fruit and other wonderful ingredients!

12:15  Visit Jacob, Hilary, and Maude.  Got to hold and love on Maude for a half hour.  She is terrific!  Extremely small, but her eyes, smile, and warmth definitely pull on your heart strings.

14:30 Eat lunch.  A large bowl of Willyne's special mixture of lentils, barley, polish sausage, and tomato sauce.  Definitely high quality!

18:00 Dinner.  Had a medium glass plate of three small pieces of pot roast, one scoop of potatoes, some gravy, and a scoop of peas with a large glass of 1% milk.  Had three Biscoff biscuits (cookies) for dessert.  That will be it for the day with one exception.  I'm planning on a "Castle" party for an hour with Willyne and Danielle at 21:00.  Danielle has offered to make me some of her popcorn the old fashioned way cooked in a pan on the stove, which I plan to really enjoy!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

18

Breakfast:  Oatmeal and yogurt
Snack: One Reese's peanut butter cup
Lunch: Can of Progresso soup and crackers
Snack:  A chocolate ultra weight loss shake
Dinner:  Oatmeal and yogurt
Snack:  One black bean, cheese, lettuce, and tomato roll-up on a medium wheat tortilla  No sour cream.
Water all around

at 21:40 we had ...
Day 28: Walked 0.73 miles with terreeeblay the treadmill in 18 minutes.The tortoise's Series 2 total is 15.19 miles in 6 hours 40 minutes.
A good day!

Friday, January 21, 2011

17

Day 27: Walked 0.73 miles with terreeeblay the treadmill in 18 minutes.The tortoise's Series 2 total is 14.46 miles in 6 hours 22 minutes.
Breakfast:  Large bowl of old fashioned oatmeal cooked at 20% power for 4 minutes in the office microwave, with a 6 ounce container of Greek Gods pomegranate yogurt and water

Lunch:  One cup of Willyne's lentils, barley, and Polish sausage delight in tomato sauce.  It really is a delight.  Water to drink.

Snack:  A small orange and the last of the peanuts (1/2 a cup, maybe) from City Council meeting two weeks ago.  That's before shelling them. 

Dinner:  A 15 ounce can of Nalley's turkey chili served on 2 ounces of Fritos chips with water.  One Reese's peanut butter cup for dessert.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

16

Day 26: Walked 0.73 miles with terreeeblay on a flat surface in 18 minutes. Series 2 total 13.73 miles in 6 hours 4 minutes.
Breakfast:  Kefir shake.  No vitamins today.  Drank a large glass of water.

Lunch:  Medium bowl of lentils, barley, and sausage in tomato sauce, with water to drink.  Yummy.

Dinner:  The rest of the lasagna (a couple scoops), my mother's special jello and cottage cheese salad she made for a church gathering last night (small bowl), and more water.

No snacks.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

15

Day 25: Walked 0.72 miles with my friend on a flat surface in 18 minutes. Series 2 total 13.00 miles in 5 hours 46 minutes.
Breakfast:  Kefir shake, vitamins, water
Lunch: remaining 1/3 portion of garlic shrimp pasta, a bread stick, and water
Snack:  1 small scoop lasagna, water
Dinner:  Large bowl of oatmeal with a leftover half-pint container of whole milk from Cracker Barrel last   Saturday, and more water
Snack:  2 handfulls of peanuts, before shelling them
Hangin' in there!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

14

Day 24: Walked 0.72 miles with my friend on a flat surface in 18 minutes. Series 2 total 12.28 miles in 5 hours 28 minutes.
No breakfast, didn't get around to it.  Not a good idea, I know.  Drank two large glasses of water.
Lunch:  A turkey, avocado, cheese deli sandwich, 1/2 ounce of potato chips, and water.
Snack:  A handful of red grapes and a handful of peanuts (before I shelled them) and water
Dinner:  One scoop of lasagna, half a scoop of shrimp pasta, two bites of lemon cake, half a piece of garlic bread, and water.

Monday, January 17, 2011

13

Day 23: Walked 0.72 miles with my friend on a flat surface in 18 minutes. Series 2 total 11.56 miles in 5 hours 10 minutes.  Weigh-in:  266.8 pounds, down 1.2 pounds this week and 3.5 total so far in 2011.  My goal for the year is 20 pounds.  I am pleased to be the passionately smiling tortoise!

Breakfast:  Kefir shake and vitamins
Lunch:  Small portion of chicken and vegetables with water.
Snack:  Couple handfuls of peanuts (before taking the shells off), a small twix bar, and more water.
Dinner:  Chinese buffet, my date for the week with Willyne.  Green beans, broccoli, a half dozen coconut shrimp (in a sauce, not fried), a couple pot stickers, a small scoop of fried rice, a small scoop of honey chicken, a couple ounces of vanilla soft serve, and two almond cookies with water. 
Done eating for the day at 5:30 pm.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

12

10:00 Breakfast with Willyne at Cracker Barrel.  Conversation was great.  Breakfast disappointing, highly unusual for them.  Had to wait a looooooong time for service, then it wasn't cooked well.  Two eggs, over easy, cheese potatoes, grits, no butter, ate with the meat they brought, a sausage patty, slice of bacon, and a couple ounces of ham. Didn't eat the biscuits or the gravy.  Had water to drink.  Had a couple bites of Willyne's pecan pancake and a bite of the fried apples. 
13:30  Lunch at the office:  2 chicken legs and a sandwich of two thin slices of smoked ham and two thin slices of cheese with lettuce, with water.
16:30 Snack:  One small Twix bar from my Christmas stash.
18:00 Dinner at the office:  A slice of lasagna and 1 1/2 hot dog buns prepared as cheese bread with water.
21:30  Day 22: Walked 0.64 miles with my friend on a flat surface in 16 minutes. Series 2 total 10.84 miles in 4 hours 52 minutes.  Now very thirsty.  Drank 20 ounces water.

Friday, January 14, 2011

11

6:45   I passed a milestone today:  Terreeeblay & I have walked over 10 (10.20) miles together in 4 hours 36 minutes spread over 21 days - today: 0.62 miles on a flat surface in 16 minutes.

10:00 Breakfast was a large bowl of oatmeal with a cup of yogurt and a banana.

13:00 Lunch was a single scoop of lasagna featuring Willyne's homemade sauce, sooooooooo good!  Had one piece of cheese bread and 4 bites of divine Italian lemon cake (again homemade).  I am so spoiled.

18:00 Dinner was three reheated fried chicken legs and my second large cup of water of the day.

And that's a wrap.  Though I do have a confession to make.  I really wanted some vanilla ice cream for about four hours of the late afternoon and early evening.  Somehow I got past the craving without giving in.  Can't promise I always will, this is a day by day tortoise putting one foot in front of the other journey.

If you fine readers have any tips on how you have successfully passed those tempting moments, please comment on them here!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

10

4:30 Made it to bed after finishing last night's work
9:00 Get up.  Terreeeblay will wait for this evening.
9:15 Drink kefir shake, take vitamins
13:00 Eat remaining apple grape chicken salad (a scoop) with some lettuce.
17:30 Eat a large bowl of tomato barley sausage soup.  Soooooooooooo good!
19:00 Drink water
22:20 Completed Day 20 walkin' with Terreeeblay 0.61 miles on a flat surface in 16 minutes. Series 2 total: 9.58 miles in 4 hours 20 minutes.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

9

6:54  And on the19th day the tortoise walked with Terreeeblay 0.62miles on a flat surface in 16minutes.Series2 total:8.97miles in 4hours4minutes.
8:00 Drink Equate ultra weigh loss shake with vitamins and large glass of water
8:45 Ate 3 pancakes with 2 sausage patties and syrup. 
9:45 Drink second large glass of water.
11:22 Start third large glass of water.

13:00 Lunch - a scoop of the chicken, apple, red grape salad with the remaining half croissant from yesterday with water

15:00 Snack - a single Reese's peanut butter cup and a half ounce of almonds with water.  I am up to 48 ounces of water for the day.

17:00 Dinner - plate of vegetables and chicken.  one scoop vanilla ice cream, no toppings.  water.

18:00 Went to the temple with the bishopric.

21:00 Watch second half of Jazz game with Doug and Coolio (Shaun Del Toro).  Shaun made a fantastic guacamole that included diced fresh tomatoes.  I had two servings.  It was a great hour together, thanks Doug and Shaun!

22:00 Head back to office from Doug's.

27:30 Finished work.  Didn't eat anything more.  Headed home.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

8

Breakfast, oatmeal with yogurt, water, and vitamins
Lunch, chicken, red grape, apple salad with lettuce and 1/2 croissant and water
Snack, cup of italian tomato and barley soup with a wheat roll and butter
Dinner, one medium whole wheat tortilla with lightly melted cheese
21:55 Day18 - walked 0.61 miles on a flat surface with Terreeeblay in 16 minutes. Series 2 total: 8.35 miles in 3 hours 48 minutes.

7

6:40 Weekly weigh-in at 268.0 down 2.3 on Day17-walked 0.61miles on a flat surface in 16minutes. Series2 total: 7.74 miles in 3 hours 32 minutes.
8:00 Breakfast:  Kefir shake, cup of water, vitamins

11:30 Lunch:  1 croissant with chicken, red grape, apple salad and lettuce.

14:35 Snack:  a cup of homemade italian tomato and barley soup - yum!

18:15 Dinner:  fried chicken breast, one scoop mashed potato with gravy, one scoop corn, cup of milk, bowl of ice cream with a couple peach halves, one small white powdered donut. 

23:45 Snack:  grabbed a handful of almonds on the way out the door back to the hospital to greet Maude!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

6

1:00 Woke, then tried to be quiet for an hour in and out of the little room we called the water closet in England.  I think I was most successful, although at the end I was also trying to stifle a cough.  C'est la vie! Finally settled down after taking 2 1/2 tablespoons of Western Family's version of the famous pink medicine you take when you have these issues.  Knott's Berry Farm's Ghost Town used to have signs for "Lydia Pinkham's Pink Pills For All Practical Purposes", guess it reminds me of that ... 

I also slowly swallowed a zinc throat lozenge with a small attempt to mask the zinc flavor with "cherry".  They are effective, that's why I use them.  But the flavor stays with you a looooooooooooooooong time.

6:42 Woke for the day.  It's Saturday, decided to rest an extra hour this morning.  Brushed my teeth.  Zinc flavor is still there.

7:18  Started vacuuming the family room.  My visit to Terreeeblay will wait for the evening today ...

8:06 Went to Farmers' Market to get a few items for my sweet.  They even had red grapes!  Those are hard to find this time of year, none at Wal-Mart or Lins, but Farmers' came through ...

8:48 Went through the drive-up mail box, got a phone call from Willyne that Sue needs her charger.  Turns out it's in the bag for her Mac that she left with me while I am creating a spreadsheet for her to track consignment sales at the Ugly Trailor.

9:36 Drove to the office ... to work on a personal project today!

10:42 Located Sue at her store.  Drove over to take her the computer bag.  She'll bring it back Monday night so I can continue on her project Tuesday, and she can use it in the meantime.  (I had been told on Thursday when she brought me Microsoft Excel for Mac and her computer that next week was fine, but she was missing her computer while I was thinking of ideas for the spreadsheet)

11:06 Drove back to the office.  Needed to get some "cheerful" music on.  After a little channel surfing (how much can you do in a ten block drive) I settled on "107.3 The Fox", they were playing an old favorite from 1967 ...

[Original Video] Los Bravos Black Is Black 1967 - Canal Nostalgia  (sorry no picture, can't get an embed code on this one, but it plays fine in a separate You Tube window if you click on the underlined link.  Reminds me of "travelling music" heading north on the Golden State Freeway (I-5) just before Gabriel Herman checked in at the top of the Grapevine on the way to the cabin on Breckenridge Mountain east of Bakersfield.  Ask my brother John if you'd like his version of what I'm talking about.

Hey, Becca, maybe you need another surprise in your life (since you thought it was so amazing I had been to a Carpenters concert at BYU in a previous lifetime) ... the Association sings this much better than I do, but yes, your father sang this song live in concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in 1971 (the same arena that he and his sons got into a hand motion scuffle with a large black traffic lady when leaving a Clippers game 20 years later.  The lady won and they went down a street (read:  back alley in Watts) that still scares him thinking about it, but his sons still laugh about that incident now) ...

there is even proof on an old 33 album floating around our house somewhere ...

The bass line on that song is a lot of fun!

11:18 Cooked some old fashioned oats, ate it with the last of my strawberry yogurt, and started on a large glass of water and vitamins while typing this post from 1:00 until now.  And yes, the zinc flavor is still in my mouth.   But I haven't coughed again either.

13:11 Took a quick break from my project and heated a piece of pepperoni pizza.  My computer is now playing "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, followed by "Henry the Eighth I Am" by Hermans Hermits.  I'm smiling ...  OK, back to work now ...

14:04 Ate the other leftover piece of pizza I have here with me.

16:45 Snack - remaining 1/3 of a small Croshaw's coconut pie Willyne gave me to take to the office a couple days ago, along some peanuts I shelled and ate (peanuts came from that surprise treat bag at City Council last Wednesday night).  I just started a third 16 ounce glass of water for the day.

20:15 Arrived home from work.  Ate a plate of dinner:  two croissants with a red grape, apple, chicken salad filling, small scoop each of berry jello pretzel salad and lemon pudding with mandarin oranges and little pieces of cookie.  Had a 8 ounce cup of homemade lemonade.

21:20 Day 16 - walked 0.52 miles on a flat surface in 14 minutes. Series 2 total: 7.13 miles in 3 hours 16 minutes.

Friday, January 7, 2011

5

6:30  Terreeeblay is a good walking companion. On day 15 we went 0.53 miles on a flat surface in 14 minutes. Series2 tot 6.61 miles in 3 hr.

10:00  Started drinking a chocolate Equate ultra weight loss shake, taking my vitamins, and drinking my first 16 ounce cup of water of the day.

11:45  Heated and ate a 15 ounce can of Nalley's turkey chili with beans, along with a piece of cornbread and a serving of lettuce.  I'm now about halfway through that cup of water I started at 10 am.

13:00 Finished the water.

16:30 Got a snack at Popeye's in Mesquite after an appointment to get me energy to get home.  Chicken wrap and a side of rice and red beans.  Drank a second large cup of water.

20:00 Back at office.  Ate last 1/3 of a chicken pot pie, last of mashed potatoes and pot roast (1 scoop of potato and about three bites of beef).  Dessert was a vanilla cupcake from Willyne's birthday.  Drank a small cup of water, so I'm now at 40 ounces of water for the day.

That will finish me up for today.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

4

7:30  Day 14 My friend and I walked 0.52 miles on flat surface in 14 minutes. Series 2 total 6.08 miles in 2 hours 48 minutes.

11:00  Breakfast late today.  Had an Equate chocolate ultra weight loss shake (11 oz) and vitamins.

12:30 Ate a plate of left over pot roast and mashed potatoes.  No seconds.  Started on a 16 oz cup of water.

14:40 Start on second 16 oz cup of water.

16:10 Had 1/2 ounce Blue Diamond smokehouse almonds for a snack.  Also drank a packet of Emergen-C, acai berry flavor, 1000 mg vitamin C, electrolytes, etc. with 1/2 cup warm water.  Tastes good, by the way.

18:00  Dinner at Dairy Queen with Willyne and Michael Ragozzine.  Had a grilled chicken salad with blue cheese dressing and a cup of water.  Also had maybe half (probably not that) of a strawberry mini blizzard, about equivalent to a small scoop of ice cream.  The scrubbers in the lettuce are doing their job a half hour later, feels so good inside!

21:35 I'm going to make it with no more food since dinner.  Yea.  I had a total of 40 ounces of water today.





Wednesday, January 5, 2011

3

Happy Birthday, Willyne!!!

7:00  Walked 0.52 miles with my friend on a flat surface on Day 13! Series 2 total 5.56 miles in 2 hours 34 minutes. :)

8:30 Eat one black bean taco for breakfast.  Here's the ingredients.  Gently warm a small wheat tortilla with grated two cheese mixture, add a scoop of heated black beans, dice two avocado slices and a tomato slice, put on a generous amount of lettuce, roll up so the ingredients don't fall out ... and enjoy!

10:00 Start drinking a 16 oz cup of water and take vitamins while working.

12:00 Halfway through the water and vitamins.  Eat a second black bean taco.

12:30 Finished the water and vitamins.

14:00 Started a second 16 oz cup of water.  Ate a bowl of old fashioned oatmeal with a cup of Mountain High strawberry 1% milkfat yogurt.

16:55 Finished a client appointment.  Grabbed 1/2 ounce of Blue Diamond smokehouse almonds on my way to city meetings. Finished the second cup of water.  Hopefully dinner won't be too late, but probably will be.

18:30  We were provided a surprise bag of treats at city council tonight.  I had a half dozen peanuts and 3 white chocolate peppermint kisses

20:15  Got home, after taking the trash to the street and starting the dishwasher (first things first!) I had a bowl of homemade vegetable soup and a piece of cornbread.  No butter, no honey, no condiments period.  And I enjoyed the cornbread and the soup very much!

I think I'm doing reasonable, which is my goal.  Tortoise like progress on walking.  Tortoise like progress on eating.  It all adds up.  Even if I only lose 20 pounds in an entire year, picture what a 20 pound bag of potatoes looks like, and figure I won't have to carry it anymore.  And I hope to have better stamina and cardiovascular health too.  Nothing spectacular, just solid, sustainable improvement.  One day at a time!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

2

Doug the smiling tortoise walked 0.52 miles in 14 minutes on flat surface treadmill on Day 12. Series 2 total 5.04 miles in 2 hr 20 minutes.
Breakfast was kefir shake and vitamins.  Slowly drank it, didn't finish until 10:30.  Had client meetings until close to 3.  Halfway through I had a 5 minute break, had a snack of Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds 1 oz.   Lunch at 3-- a plate of 5 oz pot roast, one scoop mashed potatoes, one scoop corn.  3 cups of water today, all at work.
Dinner at 6:30, a quick bowl of Willyne's homemade vegetable beef soup and one crescent roll.  Had a snack at church, some members in 6th ward brought in an apple pie for all of us clerks.  Home made from fresh apples.  No ice cream or other topping, just the pie.  Had a second snack at 10, Willyne surprised me with a scoop of peppermint ice cream.

Monday, January 3, 2011

1

I walked 0.52 miles in 14 minutes on a flat surface on Day 11.  Series 2 total 4.52 miles in 2 hr 6 min.  Then I did a weigh-in -- 270.3 pounds, down 1.7 over holidays.  Still way high for me -It's a start :)
Here's a picture of my breakfast ...
a kefir shake (complete with spoon, it's thick and tasty!)  with my array of vitamins.  The quote in the frame behind the glass is good too, for more on that check my I Believe blog for today ...
No morning snack today.  Lunch was a reasonable size bowl of old fashioned oats cooked for 4 minutes at 20% power in the office microwave, with three scoops of Mountain High strawberry 1% milkfat yogurt.  Probably sounds strange, but I like it!

Afternoon snack was the remaining 23 bites of last week's lean sirloin steak, about 6 ounces worth, and a 3 teaspoons of peanut butter.  I'm finishing my third 8-ounce glass of water to go with it. I'm wishing dinner would get here ...

I am the passionately smiling tortoise.:)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We had dinner with Fred and Sue this evening.  Pot roast, mashed potatoes, corn, sparkling grape juice, with warm peach cobbler for dessert.  Not exactly "be good" food, but certainly delicious.  I thought I was reasonable on the portions, and I did not eat anything more the rest of the evening (so nothing after 6 pm) and that is actually my biggest challenge.  Overall, I would say it was a pretty reasonable day.  We'll build on that tomorrow.