Another thrilling day

Change from beginning of program: -6.2 LBs
Goal: 39 LBs to go
Activity: working
Temptation: Mexican food
Fruit and veg: 4

Breakfast: Nothing. I had to fast for my periodic blood work. It's time to check my thyroid.

Lunch: Lebanese Luby's - vegetarian sampler with many different veggies and salads. And hummus and rice.

Dinner: Chuy's. Not too many chips (surprisingly). Two shrimp tacos and a little bit of rice. I was full to the point of pain.

Evening activity: Grocery shopping. I bought next to nothing because I was so full.

Then I hit my fourth Marshalls in three days and finally found the pair of shoes I wanted - in the color I wanted.

Get this - the weatherman just said that we are much drier than yesterday. The humidity is "only" 63%.

My evening with Bono and the boys

Change from beginning of program: -4.8 LBs
Goal: 39 LBs to go
Activity: recovering
Temptation: chocolate cake, guacamole (not at the same time)
Fruit and veg: 4

So last night, my little sister and I saw U2 in concert. This was the third time we have seen them (spanning the past 17 years). The show was great, although Bono seemed a bit tired.

We drank a lot of beer. A. Lot. Of. Beer.

Did I say that we drank a lot?

I was feeling a bit crappy. Not quite ground-up dog puke bad, but not on top of the world either.

I turned to my faithful friends who have helped me through many similar situations - carbs. Wonderful carbs. Breakfast consisted of two slices of pumpernickel bread with cheese melted on top. And some chocolate cake.

The reason my sister and I saw U2 and drank so much is that we were celebrating our birthdays. The concert fell one week after she turned 40 and one week before I will turn 39. Again. So the chocolate cake was a joint birthday treat.

By mid-morning, I was feeling better - despite the fact that I spent 90 minutes on conference calls.

For lunch, I turned to another proven hangover helper: Mexican food. Chips and salsa and green sauce, and bean and cheese tostadas with extra lettuce and tomatoes.

Dinner: Leftover macaroni and cheese (with the pasta purchased in Rome). And then because I had some avocados that were at the peak of ripeness, I made some guacamole and ate it with chips.

For good measure, I had some ice cream later in the evening.

And all of this on the day before I go to the doctor and have to get on the scale.

Hey, I can't feel too bad. Even Bono is getting a bit pudgy. And he runs around the stage - and around the world - all the time.

Observations of Rome

Stop signs are optional. At least according to every taxi driver I had.

House wine is the good stuff, not the cheap stuff like it is here.

Rome is full of tourists.

Seafood is on display in many restaurants - fish heads and all.

Back to reality (again)

Change from beginning of program: -6.8 LBs
Goal: 36 LBs to go
Activity: catching up on last week's TV
Temptation: ice cream
Fruit and veg: 3

The good news - I did not gain weight while in Rome. All that walking must have paid off.

Being gone for a week took a toll, and I took a day off work today to catch up on sleep and TV shows. I handled the grocery shopping and laundry yesterday.

Breakfast/lunch: Homemade mac and cheese, made with pasta from the grocery store in Rome. Pear.

Snack: Ice cream

Dinner: Fresh spinach and a pear

Snack: Ice cream

Another snack: More of that delicious mac and cheese

Not looking forward to work tomorrow...

Still eating

Change from beginning of program: -4.8 LBs
Goal: 39 LBs to go
Activity: doing laundry and ironing
Temptation: the best food in the world
Fruit and veg: 4

The binge continues...

Breakfast: Two slices of pumpernickel with hummus.

Morning snack: Four Reeses minis at work.

Lunch: The best food in the world at Churrascos. Plantain chips with oily, garlicky, delectable sauce. Salad with creamy dressing. Beef (yes, beef - again) with creamy sauce. Taquito with cheese and peppers. Fried yucca and grilled carrots. I left there as full as a tick.

Dinner: Our favorite seafood restaurant. Wonderful appetizer of avocado, tomato, and shrimp with tortilla chips. To continue my record of eating food that was just too damn fattening, stuffed shrimp (fried) with fries.

Why do they call it stuffed shrimp? The shrimp are not stuffed; they are covered with a delicious mixture of crabmeat and some kind of breading and then deep fried. It's more like the crabmeat breading is stuffed with shrimp. Another mystery to ponder.

Evening snack: Beer. Lots.

I'm packed and ready to leave for Rome in less than 7 hours.

I plan to eat wonderful meals, drink wonderful wine, and see wonderful sights.

Oh yeah, and work.

Did. Not. Stop. Eating.

The binge that began this morning did not end.

Lunch: Chuy's, where I ate way too many chips. I did restrain myself and order just one chile relleno (a wonderfully delicious cheese-filled pepper dipped in batter and deep fried) with rice and beans. And guacamole on the side. With more chips.

Hey - that guacamole counts as a fruit! I probably had another serving of vegetables in the amount of salsa I had.

Dinner: Leftover baked potato. Ice cream. Cheese and crackers. Beer.

Feel like crap.

Not ready for the trip yet. I mean, I'm ready to get the hell out of dodge for a while, but I have about a zillion things I need to do here before I go. I could easily be up all night tomorrow night, which would make it easier to sleep on the plane.

Can't. Stop. Eating.

Change from beginning of program: -5.8 LBs
Goal: 38 LBs to go
Activity: chewing
Temptation: got sugar?
Fruit and veg: 1 (so far)

Woke up hungry. Had two slices of pumpernickel with hummus at home. And a brownie.

Got to work. Had a small can of cranberry juice because I woke up with a raw throat (allergies). But I cannot get sick just two days before leaving for Rome.

Then had two Reeses minis out of habit.

Then had most of a jelly donut because a manager insisted that I have it.

It's only 9:15 a.m. and I have had most of my daily allotment of calories.