Mastering the art of eating

Change from beginning of program: -4.0 LBs
Goal: 40 LBs to go

Activity: none

Temptation: creamy jalapeno dressing
Fruit and veg: 4

Saw "Julie and Julia" today. LOVED it! I read the book when it was first published. Julie's adventures in cooking were quite entertaining. I remember seeing Julia Child - in black and white - on TV when I was a child. I don't know if her shows were in black and white, but our TV was. My mother always said that French cooking was too complicated, so that's one cuisine I never learned to cook. I asked my mother recently if she had a copy of Julia's cookbook, and she replied that she did not because French cooking involved too many sauces. I guess some things never change.

The movie inspired me to cook. Just what I need when I'm trying to eat only what I need and not what I want. I bought her cookbook on the way home from the theater, and I have read through all of the front matter. I looked at a few recipes, but I haven't decided what to try first.

I did bake a batch of cookies to satisfy my need to cook. My artist friend is designing a wine label for our next batch of wine, and I'm paying in cookies. Most of the cookies are already packed and ready to be shipped on Monday.

From the time Bigfoot woke me up (9:30) until the time we got back home after dinner (8:30), today was rush, rush, rush. He woke me because we were moving CDs that had matured from the bank that offered 0.65% interest to the bank that offered 2.45%. We both had money to move, hence doing it together. I cashed out a few days ago, but he had to wait until today. I dropped him off at one bank, so that he could cash out, and I ran to the farmer's market that was just around the corner. Well, it was under the freeway and two lights and a right turn and a left turn away from the bank, but in Houston that is considered just around the corner. (By the way, the farmer's market had pretty slim pickins. The heat has killed just about everything.) A mere 15 minutes after dropping Bigfoot off, I picked him up and we headed for the new bank. Setting up the new accounts took forever because the systems were down and they had to do it more or less manually. In the meantime, my friend and her children were heading to our favorite Mexican restaurant. I had to tell them I would be late.

I dropped Bigfoot off and headed for the restaurant, where I wolfed down chips and the creamy jalapeno sauce/dressing. As I had not had a chance to eat any breakfast, I was famished. Although I ordered a taco salad with guacamole, I did not have a healthy meal. The 900 chips before the salad didn't help. And the decadent fried tortilla shell, dipped in more of the creamy sauce/dip/dressing just made me feel bloaty. But, boy, did it taste good.

We went to a bookstore that is going out of business and stocked up. By the time we located a newspaper to see the movie times, we had just 15 minutes to get to the theater. We dashed over there and made it before the movie started. But even though we were at a mutliplex, the movie was being shown in a small theater. And they had bussed in many residents of a retirement community. We had to sit on the second row and look up the whole time.

Then it was off to Target to get some breath spray for Bigfoot. One hour and $60 later, I headed for the house. To my surprise, Bigfoot was mowing the lawn. Why the surprise? He generally won't mow if I'm gone because if he got hurt he wouldn't have anyone to take him to the hospital. (He had a lawn-related emergency room incident before he moved in, so I understand his logic - for once.) While he mowed, I cleaned the kitchen and the pile that accumulated all week when I was in my work-induced funk.

Dinner was at a seafood place (not our favorite one) near the house where they serve 25 fried shrimp and fries for $12.95. It's a nice place, and I substitute a baked potato for the fries. I ate too many shrimp and still brought some home. Most of the potato is intact, and that will most likely be my breakfast tomorrow.

Since dinner, I have felt like crap. Probably the combination of too much greasy food (chips, dressing, fried shrimp) and too much food in general. And the heat. Let's not forget the heat.

Holy crap! I'm back over a barrier I had hoped to not ever cross again. The chocolate and alcohol every day this week finally caught up.

I just wish I didn't like food so much.

Call Me Stupid

Change from beginning of program: -6.0 LBs
Goal: 38 LBs to go

Activity: 1 hour, 45 minutes of digging in the garden

Temptation: candy and beer
Fruit and veg: 5

This is Friday's summary. I was just too damn tired to write it on Friday.

I have never read Moby Dick (the outcome of being "educated" in rural schools), but I know that the first line is "Call me Ishmael." And I believe that the book is about the search for a great white whale.

Well, call me Stupid. And I don't need to search for a great white whale - I am one.

What stupid thing did I do? In my ongoing quest to make fried chicken for Bigfoot that he likes, I bought some "Cajun-All" seasoning at the grocery store. As I will not ever eat the chicken, I thought I should try the seasoning before I used it. I put a small amount in my left hand, wet my right index finger and stuck it in the seasoning then into my mouth, and then I cursed myself for being an idiot. I was sober! And I didn't taste anything for hours because my taste buds had been seared off.

Of course, I then had to drink plenty of beer for medicinal purposes - to numb the pain.

Breakfast - the usual. Too much candy from the dish at work.

Lunch - healthy, at least. Met my friend and her children at Sweet Tomatoes and had a big salad, followed by a small, but loaded, baked potato.

Afternoon - Because the very needy - and noisy - people that I work with will NOT LEAVE ME ALONE, I reached the breaking point. I had to have a mixture of Reeses and ice cream. I didn't really have the time to drive to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard, so I went to the company cafeteria, bought a Reeses, and asked them to mix it with their fat-free frozen yogurt. They added a bit of milk for blending purposes (which was OK), but they also added crushed ice. The thing tasted OK, but the crushed ice was still somewhat chunky. Next time, I'll know to tell them not to use ice.

Evening - Wandered around Costco and Kroger because I'm pathetic and that's the best I can do on a Friday night.

Dinner - Leftover shrimp scampi at 9:00. Then the seasoning and beer. Then Alka-Seltzer because I felt like crap.

What a week. I need to figure out how to manage my stress at work better. Those people really do drive me crazy.

WTP?

Change from beginning of program: -6.0 LBs
Goal: 38 LBs to go

Activity: 1 hour, 45 minutes of digging in the garden

Temptation: candy and wine
Fruit and veg: only 3, sadly

Last night, my sister was sitting next to her almost-3-year-old daughter (a.k.a. The Real Mini Me). My sister saw something that made her say, "What the F?" She said "eff" because the child was near her. The Real Mini Me knows many of her letters, so she quickly replied, "What the P? What the T?"

So now my new response to any puzzling question will be "What the P?"

Breakfast: multi-grain bread and hummus (for about the 15th day in a row). Two 3 Musketeers minis at the office

Lunch: Couldn't find anyone to go to lunch with. Went to an Italian restaurant and ate shrimp scampi while reading a book on compulsive eating. Nice. Then went to the bank and closed out a CD because the renewal rate is .65%. What the P???

Afternoon snack: Snack size Almond Joy and Kit Kat. Yep, it was that kind of day.

Dinner: Leftover Mexican food.

We had a miracle on Mobud today - rain. Our first rain of August. 38 minutes of hard rain. I was ecstatic. I've been waiting for rain for weeks because I needed to weed, put down some new edging, and work on the compost pile. I was able to do all of those things. The compost pile is huge, but it is nice to make my own dirt. The cucumber and tomato plants are now a part of the compost pile, and I'm prepping the beds for the fall garden.

By the time I came inside, I was literally soaking wet from sweat. Houston is as humid as hell already, and the time after a rainstorm is as humid as hell in a rainstorm.

Because I had worked so hard, I felt like I deserved some wine. So I had a bottle from the Maydelle Winery - a spot we found a few months ago. They make fruit wines, and I ended up buying a case when we visited. Oh, and I had to have some Triscuits and Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp with the wine. Basically, everything I burned off in the garden is back in my belly now.

Why do I even try?

Pink vs. Chocolate and Wine. Wine Wins.

Change from beginning of program: -6.0 LBs
Goal: 38 LBs to go

Activity: walking on treadmill - 1 mile - and ironing

Temptation: cake and candy
Fruit and veg: only 3, sadly

Too many meetings make Pink eat chocolate. Two 3 Musketeers minis in the morning, plus one in the afternoon. Plus two Dove bites.

Breakfast: OK - hummus and multi-grain bread.

Lunch: Too many chips - with green sauce - at a Mexican restaurant. Two bean and cheese tostadas. Not bad, except for practically licking the plate clean. Discussed the Obama health care plan with my lunch mate. Discussed is not the right word. Listened to a diatribe is more accurate. And the diatribe is based on Fox News propaganda - there is no meat to it. When I asked what specifically was wrong with the health care proposal, she could give no concrete answer. Surprise, surprise.

Six meetings today. Six scheduled for tomorrow. Thank gawd they pay me well. Otherwise, I would be hanging from a rafter by now.

Dinner: Leftover cappelini pomodoro from the Olive Garden when I took my friend for her birthday on Monday. Then a bottle of wine.

Hey - I had to try this wine. Sister and I are planning our third batch, and I'm testing which variety we should make.

And some leftover cake chunks.

On the positive side, Bigfoot shamed me into walking. I made it only one mile, but one mile is better than sitting on my big fat arse all night and watching TV. I just spent MOST of the night sitting on my big fat arse and watching TV. And drinking wine.

I often say that my life is boring. Some days, like today, boring is good.

And wine is good.

File this under "I just THOUGHT I had seen it all"

Christian sex toys

I didn't realize that dildos had religious preferences.

My butt hurts

Change from beginning of program: -8.0 LBs
Goal: 35 LBs to go

Activity: working

Temptation: kolaches, chips and green sauce, beer
Fruit and veg: 4

Sat on my arse from 9:00 - 6:30 with no real break. My arse hurts.

You know how when you stand for a long time your feet swell and hurt? I think my butt is swollen.

Spent today in a meeting room taking notes in a meeting between developers and marketing - two groups with the same end goal but VERY different ways to get there. They had a box of kolaches sitting there, so I had to have one even after eating my breakfast of multi-grain bread, hummus, and raspberries. For lunch during the meeting (UGH), I had the leftover shrimp pasta in garlic butter from yesterday. The garlic made my mouth taste sour, so I cut another kolache in half and ate the half. Then I got up and walked across the room and ate the other half. Oh well. And then on a break, I had four (!) 3 Musketeers minis.

Even though the meeting ended at 5:00, I worked until 6:30 to catch up on email and organize the notes from the meeting. Then I met the team for dinner, and I totally blew it.

Chips (way too many), green sauce, red sauce, cheese enchiladas, lettuce and tomatoes instead of rice and beans, and 4 beers at the restaurant. 2 beers at home, so far.

I know I'll feel like a slug tomorrow. Perhaps that will motivate me to get on the treadmill to get used to walking before I go to Rome in 8 1/2 weeks.

Undulating

Change from beginning of program: -8.0 LBs
Goal: 35 LBs to go

Activity: working

Temptation: beer and cake
Fruit and veg: 5

A few years ago, Bigfoot heard the word "undulating" on some show and asked me what it meant. I demonstrated, and he told me to never do that again. Of course, I do it every chance I get.

A few weeks ago, they had a 48 hour marathon Spongebob Sponge Bash, and I recorded all 48 hours. I'm watching a few episodes every day until I get through them all because they crack me up. The episode I'm watching now shows Spongebob watching a sea anemone undulating and then turning the channel to football quickly when his pet snail enters the room. Just like a man in real life...

Enough about a spongy fry cook who lives in a pineapple under the sea and his undulating anemone fantasies...

Breakfast was (surprise, surprise) multi-grain bread with hummus, and raspberries.

For a morning snack, I had a small slice of the bundt cake I made yesterday for the Ghirardelli contest. It started as a pound cake, and I added chocolate chips, then I put melted chocolate into half the batter, then I layered it all in the bundt pan with raspberry jelly. And topped it with a scrumptious mixture of chocolate chips melted with heavy cream and corn syrup. It was pretty tasty.

Lunch at the Italian restaurant consisted of a small salad (yes, with dressing already on it) and what they called shrimp scampi - but it was really angel hair pasta with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and shrimp in a garlic butter sauce. I took half of it with me and then forgot to get it out of the refrigerator to bring home at the end of the day. Typical.

After working at home for 2 hours after work I had a veggie enchilada and rice and beans that were left over from a visit to Chuys. And the last pluot.

Evening treat: beer. 4 so far. I need it, as I will spend the next day and a half in a conference room taking notes during a clash of the departments meeting. Followed by a team dinner. I'll be lucky to get home by 10:00.

Good news for the day: My trip to Rome is officially booked! I'll be there the first week in October, and I'll have a few non-work days to visit the city. I cannot wait! I need to start studying Roman history now so I'll have a clue as to what I'm seeing.

I need to start building up my tolerance for wine, too. (I wish.)