Day 161

It was a fun day for me today, yes fun.  Why you ask, well I spent a good chunk of the day playing with Lego's.  Brady has a pretty good collection of Lego's, some small some big.  However only a few of them are fully built.  The rest were just in piles like a tornado rolled through.  He is asking for more for Christmas, so I told him that I wanted everything re-built before Christmas otherwise all the new pieces would be lost in the mix.  He asked me if I could help him and I gladly accepted!  I don't think playing with Lego's will ever get old, I love it.  Dawn even said at one point today "I know what I'm getting you for Christmas"

As for my eating today, it was good.  However I did have a donut for breakfast, just one!  I made a coffee run and Dawn wanted just one donut so I got the #1 (coffee and 2 donuts) as its cheaper.  Yes I know donuts are not good for you, however just one is not going to kill me.  For lunch I heated up some leftover turkey, just turkey.  It might be a week old, but it tasted good!  Dinner was similar to lunch, but this time it was leftover chicken, green beans and a little mashed potatoes.  The fridge is officially empty of all the leftovers.  I did good!

Tomorrow is clean day so I will get plenty of exercise doing that, and maybe I just might go out for a bike ride or walk.  I still have a cough hanging around so I don't want to push running.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Donut & Coffee
• Lunch:  Turkey (plain)
• Dinner:  Chicken, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight: n/a
• Grade:  C+

Day 160

I did better today in regards to my eating.  I say better because I didn't snack on junk food like I did on Monday.  Breakfast was yet again toast and coffee.  I know its nothing fancy, but I like toast and we all know I love coffee, so why not stick with it.  Now as for lunch, well I did slip up a bit as I had some pizza.  We had a few things to do on our lunch so Dawn suggested we do a lunch date before heading to Walmart and the Post Office.  She wanted to try this place called Sauce that's located just down the road at Dana Park.  Its been there a long time, however we have never tried it.  All I can say is we will for sure go back.  It was awesome!  We shared a small salad and a small pizza.  The pizza is brick oven thin crust and they have tons of different kinds, however we couldn't seem to go away from the normal peperoni.  I look forward to going back.

Once we got home we both got busy with stuff and before we knew it we had to pick up the girls.  We had not even thought about dinner nor did we really want to cook anything.  This means only one thing....McDonald family chicken nugget meal here we come.  Yes I know its fast food and not good for you, but for $8.99 we can feed our entire family of 5.  You cant beat that!  After dinner the kids all took baths and we then headed out to look at some Christmas lights.  The kids watched Elf in the car and ate popcorn that we pre cooked before leaving.  They thought it was the coolest thing ever.  I just wish there were more lights to look at.  Hopefully more go up after this weekend.

I will say that trying to stick with a diet during this time of year is not easy.  There are going to be many days when we are on the go and cooking wont be an option.  There are also going to be lots of holiday goodies just about any place we go.  I really need to lock it up and get focused.  Last year around this time Dawn and I both started diets and it was tough, but we really stuck with it for a few months before slipping up.  I know I have that info somewhere so I will dig up and write a post about it.  Till tomorrow....

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Toast & Coffee
• Lunch:  1/2 Salad and Pizza
• Dinner:  Chicken Nuggets
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  C-

Day 159

The Monday after a holiday weekend is never fun, but its something we have to deal with.   Not really much to say about today.  I did some work and put up more Christmas lights.  I'm almost done putting them up, however I think I could keep adding more and more if Dawn didn't tell me to stop.  I cant help it, I have some Clark Griswold in me!

I will say that my eating today was not good.  It started off good with some toast, but for lunch I heated up a small piece of lasagna that was leftover from Thanksgiving.  Dinner was homemade taco night and anytime we do that I tend to put on a eating display.  I love homemade tacos!  After dinner the kids wanted Dawn to make some cookies, so she made a batch of those pre packed ones you get in the store.  Unfortunately I had a few of those (peanut butter & chocolate chip) as well.

So on that note I'm looking forward to getting this day done with and putting it in the past.  I'm going to really focus hard tomorrow on eating right, small sizes and no snacking on junk.  I can do it, its time!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Toast & Coffee
• Lunch:  Lasagna (leftovers)
• Dinner:  Tacos (homemade)
• Dessert:  Cookies (3)
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  F

Day 158

We woke up to only one kid this morning as Brady and Lily went home with Rylee and Jake for a sleepover last night.  Its crazy how only one kid life feels like.  Dawn was taking Ashley & Brett's family photos this morning so Brady and Lily just came with them.  We hung out there for about an hour and then headed to get some lunch.  Of course the kids wanted Red Robin. 

After lunch we headed to Home Depot so I could get some new Christmas lights for the house.  It seems like everything is going to LED now a days, however I'm not a huge fan of the color some of them give off.  So we went with the old school big clear bulbs.  Plus they are way cheaper then LED lights.  I'm sure at some point in the future I will have to buy LED because you wont be able to find the other ones anymore, but until that day I'm sticking with old school style. 

Once we got home I got to working on the lights.  What a big project it is just to get them up on the house.  The peaks of our roof are much higher than our old house so I have to extend my latter all the way out and even then its almost not enough.  I felt fine up on it, however Dawn was freaking out!  I finally ran out of day light but did get all the lights up on the house.  The small lights in the trees will have to wait.  It was then time for dinner, leftover chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans from last night.  Yummy!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Iced Coffee
• Lunch:  Chicken Caesar Wrap (with fries)
• Dinner:  Chicken, Mashed Potatoes with Green Beans
• Exercise:  Putting up Christmas Lights (I was sweating more than if I went running)
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  C-

Day 156 & 157

I forgot to post something on day 156 (Friday) because I was invited to the ASU game that started at 8pm and didn't get over till midnight.  By the time I got home I was in bed within minutes.  Other than that Friday was pretty laid back.  We put up our Christmas tree as a family and it took about 4 hours.  We took our time and enjoyed it.  As part of the tradition we watched Christmas Vacation and Elf in the process.  Good times!

As for today (Saturday), it was great.  After back to back nights of not getting to bed till well after midnight I was hoping to sleep in just a bit this morning.  However having 3 kids kills that possibility.  Dawn was taking some photos for a friend this morning so it was me and the kids.  After my long night I was in major need for coffee.  So I told the kids it was time for donuts and I think they beat me to the car.  When we got home the kids ran into the house to start munching on their munchkins and then as I was walking it, I bumped the wall and my coffee went flying landing upside down shattering on the tile.  I slipped out a few lets say not so good words.  I then told the kids "come on, get back in the car we are going back.  I need coffee".  When I pulled back up to the drive thru window the girl said "hey your back"!  I told her the reason why and in return I got a free coffee and she gave me an extra punch on my loyalty card.  So it all worked out in the end. 

The afternoon was a busy one as we were getting things ready for Dawn's family who was coming over for dinner for her Mom's birthday.  As Dawn started making dinner for everyone I went out to do the yard work and start putting the Christmas lights up.  I didn't get that far in putting up the lights because each set that I had on the house last year, more than half of them were not working.  Only one strand was fully working.  I guess its time to upgrade to some new lights.  I'm glad I tested them before hanging them on the house! 

As for dinner, it was awesome.  We had a house full of people and kids and everyone was having a great time and all the kids were playing great.  Always a good time.  Oh and the meal Dawn made was so so good!  It was a good day!

On a separate note, once this weekend is over I plan on getting back to the diet and exercise routine 100%.  I had a feeling that once Thanksgiving was here that the few days following it would be a rough one.  But don't worry I will get back on track.

Till tomorrow.....

Day 155: 229.5 pounds

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I had no time to get this posted yesterday, and that's ok because I was just a little bit busy.  I woke up about 730am and from that minute it was non stop till about 3am, yes 3am.  Its a bit long of a post, but worth the read!

I had a plan to not eat that much for breakfast and lunch because I knew that our Thanksgiving dinner (4pm) was going to be massive!  So for breakfast I had an iced coffee and piece of toast.  That got me going and boy did I need it as I had to make my devil eggs.  I boiled 4 dozen the night before so all I had to do was cut them and make the filling mixture.  That took about 2 hours, but I had the football game on so that helped.  I was getting hungry while making the eggs, so when I was done I made a protein shake to hold me over.  We headed out to Scottsdale about 3:30pm and ate around 4:30pm.  I cant begin to tell you how much food there was.  I was in heaven!  This is the one day a year that I don't hold back and eat anything I want, and I did just that.  I had one full plate of all the normal Thanksgiving items and when that was done I went to get a plate of lasagna.  Lasagna is a fixture at every holiday event, its awesome!  After that was done I rested up for about 20 minutes and then tackled the dessert table.  Everything was so so good.  Thanksgiving was a success! 

After eating everyone just hung out, talked and watched some football.  Other than the food, visiting with family is the next best thing.  It also gave Dawn time to put the final touches on our game plan for Black Friday shopping.  Based on deals we had decided to go to Walmart first and then Target.  Walmart was starting their deals at 10pm for non electronics.  All electronics were not going on sale till midnight.  So we got there about 9:45pm and what I witnessed after that was like nothing I have ever seen, nor wish to ever see again.  All of the big sale items that were going on sale at 10pm (so 5 minutes after we walked in) were lined up in the isles with tons and tons of people just waiting for the green light.  Finally at 10pm an announcement came one that Black Friday was officially starting.  It then turned into a full on war for those items.  We were looking at one of them, however when seeing people jumping over other people and diving into piles of boxes, throwing elbows, pulling on each other, we decided it was not worth it and headed to the toy area.  It took me at least 30 minutes to get there and it was only about 200 feet.  It was wall to wall people, and these were people who had no concern for the people around them.  At one point I was stuck in the bike section or about 20 minutes without moving.  At least the people around me at that time were nice.  We finally got to where we needed to be and were able to get a few things on our list.  The next challenge was making our way to the checkout and then waiting.  I have never been to New York City on New Years Eve, however I'm pretty sure it would be just like my experience at Walmart!

Once we left Walmart we headed to Target.  They were not opening till midnight and we got there about 11:30pm.  The line outside was probably a few thousand people deep, no joke.  However Dawn found a way to sneak into the line up near the front. Target had it going on and was very organized.  They made announcements outside that they were only going to let groups of 30 in at a time every minute or so.  Once in the store they had tons of employees guiding people in certain directions.  There were lots and lots of people but since they were so organized and had a plan, it worked out and was not that bad.  We got a few more things that were a smoking deal before heading home about 2:30am.  Dawn's parents were at the house watching the kids so we needed to get home.  Once at home I stayed and Dawn then headed back out to another Walmart.  She was hoping that since it was a few hours into the morning that it would not be that bad.  It was a smart move as she said it was not that busy. 

Finally we both called it a day/night/morning at 4am and got some sleep.  What a day!  The good news is I have tons of leftovers that I get to enjoy over the next few days.  I cant wait!

Again Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Iced Coffee & Toast
• Lunch:  Protein Shake
• Dinner:  A FEAST!!!!!
• Exercise:  Lots and lots of walking all day and night!
• Weight:  229.5 pounds
• Grade:  n/a (it was Thanksgiving)

Day 154

Only one more day till I can sit back, eat, relax and of course watch some football.  But first I had to get through today, that being Thanksgiving Eve.  It was a very busy day for me however not so much on the work front.  I took a 1/2 day today because I had some other things to take care of, the biggest being a round of golf.

So to recap today's events, it was like this.  I dropped the kids off at school and the sitters.  After that I headed down to get a nice cold cup of iced coffee from DD's.  I returned home and did some work for a few hours and then started to clean the house.  As everyone knows I normally clean the house on Thursdays, however this Thursday is Thanksgiving and there is no way I will be cleaning the house.  It was nice because Dawn helped out this week, however we both had to stop after getting about 3/4 of the house done as she had some work to do and I wanted to get a hair cut before playing golf.  So I headed down to Supercuts and got a trim and then headed to the course.  I played Greenfield Lakes with my father in law, brother in law and one of Dawn's uncles (Uncle Marty).  The course is small with lots of par 3's some par 4's and two par 5's.  I shot a 68 (par is 62) and was happy with it.  After golf I was instructed to pick up some dinner as both Dawn and I didn't feel like cooking (McDonald's it was).  Once dinner was done it was back to finishing cleaning the other 1/4 of the house (our bedroom & mop).  After all of that was done it was time to boil and peal some eggs in preparation for tomorrow.  I'm in charge of making Devil Eggs for the big family dinner and to save on time I like to boil and peal the eggs the night before.  When your cooking 4 dozen eggs it makes it a ton easier.  Once that was done it was time to just sit down, write this post and then call it a night!

Oh and the highlight of my day was that I got my photo from the Diamondbacks from when I was the employee of the month.  I took a photo of it the best I could and put it below.  Geoff Blum is on the left and the team President Derek Hall on the right.  Its pretty awesome and will be framed and mounted next to my bat.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Toast & Coffee
• Morning Snack:  Celery & Peanut Butter (1)
• Lunch:  Hot Dog (1, in the car on my way to golf)
• Dinner:  Cheeseburger (1) and 4 chicken nuggets from McDonald's
• Exercise:  Golfed, Cleaned House, Mopped
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  B+

Day 153: 231.5

With only a few days left till the biggest eating day of the year, I made the decision to go very easy on eating the next few days.  I need to make sure that I'm 100% prepared for the task at hand =).  Really I need to do this every day again so I can get back to losing weight at a quicker rate!

I had another day with a good amount of work on my plate, but of course its never a problem to get it all done.  Working from home gives me the flexibility to get stuff done at my own pace but more important I don't have any distractions holding me back.  I love it!  I did sneak in  few snacks while working, but they were good and healthy snacks in celery with peanut butter.

After picking up Brady we headed out to some sport stores to do some "window" shopping.  Its one of our favorite things to do, it never gets old.  After getting home I fired up the grill and cooked some hot dogs and made a broccoli and rice mix to go with them.  It was one of those quick and easy meals tonight.  Works with us!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Toast & Coffee
• Morning Snack:  Celery & Peanut Butter (1)
• Lunch: Tamale
• Afternoon Snack:  Celery & Peanut Butter (2)
• Dinner:  Hot Dog with broccoli/rice mix
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight:  231.5
• Grade:  B+

Day 152

I forgot to post something yesterday due to the fact that it was a very busy day and night and I ended up passing out on the couch about 9pm, so here it is. 

For some strange reason I like to fall asleep on the couch every now and then, but only for an hour or so.  What I dont like is waking up at 2:30am with the TV still on and having a stiff neck.  It drives me nuts when this happens becasue its time I could have been in my comfy bed.

As for the rest of the day and why it was so busy.  Well it was a Monday and I had plenty of work to do.  Dawn and I took our lunch break and went to do a little shopping for some pre Black Friday deals.  We then had to pick up Brady from school and go in and pickup the candles he sold in his fundraiser.  After that I had more work and had someone coming over to the house to buy an old home stero system I was selling on craigslist.  I also worked with Lily on riding her bike with no training wheels.  I'm very proud to say that she has it down now, its so awesome!  Then came dinner and we all went out for some Mexican food (yummy).  After we got home it was kid clean up time and then we helped Brady and Lily with their Christmas list.  Lily did her's pretty quick where as Brady is still working on his.  He's nuts!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Bagel & Coffee
• Lunch:  Tamale
• Dinner:  Tacos (2) with beans and rice
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight: n/a
• Grade:  C-

Day 151

Not much to report on for today.  The good news is today was not as busy as yesterday.  We had another birthday party this afternoon for my nephew (Jake).  Before going over there we all just hung around the house and watched some football.  It was a perfect way to start my Sunday.  Once at the party I resumed my role of watching football and doing nothing.

When we got home, yup you guessed it more football.  I love Sundays!  No time for exercise today and even if there was I don't think I would have done it.  I have been feeling great of late, I don't want to do anything to go south again.  Maybe in a few days I will resume.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Iced Coffee
• Lunch:  Subway Sandwich, Potato Salad and some chips
• Afternoon Snack:  Birthday Cupcake
• Dinner:  Pizza (2)
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  D

Day 150

Finally, it was yard sale day!  Both Dawn and I set our alarms for 5:30am so we could get up, get the signs out and pull everything out into the driveway.  However we didn't wake up till 6:30am.  If it was the summer we would have lost a good hour already, however with it not getting light out till about 7am, we were still ok on time.  Our first guest showed up about 6:45am and purchased a few items.  So it was official, we were in business.  After a few hours and almost all our stuff gone, we called it a day.  We were pretty happy to see most of our big items gone, however our computer hutch was still standing.  We were asking $200 for it and were told many times today that was a super steal given its condition and quality.  But every person that said that of course was not going to buy it.  So after calling it a day I counted up our money and it was a $420 profit.  How awesome is that!  Dawn had also put the computer hutch on Craigslist, this time for $300 and within an hour we got a call and sold it for $265.  I was shocked that it sold so dang quick.  So we post more stuff on craigslist and within 20 minutes I had someone lined up to purchase an old surround sound system for $60.  So now our $420 profit is up to $745 and we are not done.  Its been a great day, I love yard sales!


So yard sale aside I did ok today.  My breakfast was a coffee and a donut during the yard sale.  I think its almost standard that you eat donuts during yard sales.  Its quick and easy!  As for lunch, well that was something special.  During the yard sale some lady came by and asked if we wanted to buy some Tamales.  Umm, yeah I would, I love tamales!  So I heated up two of those and relaxed on the couch for a little bit.  Dinner was at Peter Piper Pizza for my nieces (Aidyn) birthday party.  I love their pizza, I was hungry and was around family, so I ate up.  It was good times!  


Now its 11pm and I'm very tired and ready for bed.  To recap today was very busy yet again, oh and we have made over $700 selling random crap we no longer wanted or needed.  


So till tomorrow....

Day 149

Its not that I forgot to post yesterday, its just because I didn't have any time.  Yesterday (Friday) was a very busy day for me.  After getting done with work it was all me and the kids for dinner as Dawn went to the movies.  After dinner (hot dog) was over and the girls to bed, me and Brady headed to the garage to get stuff in order for the big garage sale today (Saturday).  I finally called it a night about 12:30am and headed to bed.

As for the rest of my day, it was good.  I don't really recall what I ate, but know I didn't do that bad.  I was so active that I'm sure I burned more than I ate.  

So with that said I will now start to work on my post for today.  

Day 148

It was another busy day for me, both work and personal stuff, more so on the personal stuff.  I started the day off with a nice refreshing cup of iced coffee.  Perfect way to start a Thursday.  Speaking of Thursday, I spent a good chunk of my morning cleaning the house and getting more stuff set aside for the yard sale this weekend.  We have a good amount of stuff so it should be a success.  

Dawn and I went to Pita Jungle for a lunch date today.  It was very nice to spend some alone time with just the two of us.  Plus the food is amazing there so it was a huge win.  After lunch we walked over to the self serve yogurt store.  I got a small cup of non fat min yogurt and it was awesome!  Once we returned home I got back to cleaning as I still had to vacuum and mop.  After picking up Brady from school, we went outside and played some football and enjoyed that awesome weather.  

We all went to get the girls and then stopped and picked up a Little Caesars Hot and Ready pizza for dinner.  Cant beat a $5 meal for a family of 5!  After dinner came time to relax and watch some Thursday night football.  I was looking forward to watching Tim Tebow play.  He's not the best quarterback in the league when it comes to standard NFL QB skills, actually he might be the worst.  However he has more heart and passion than any quarterback in the league.  After watching the game tonight I would put money on that statement.  The guy is a winner, a big time winner!  Who wouldn't want to be around a guy like that.  

So on that note I will be done for the day.  So till tomorrow....

Day 147: 232 pounds

We are looking to have a yard sale this weekend, so I spent a good chunk of my day getting stuff in order for that.  Of course I did all of this on my down time with work (ha ha).  We have a good collection of stuff that we will hope to sell.  However knowing how our yard sales go, I don't think we will have any issues getting rid of most of it.  I really hope so because I don't want it coming back into my house/garage.  It also makes for good timing because Black Friday is next week and we like to get a lot of our shopping done on this day.  So having the extra money in our pocket will help a ton.  

As for my eating, well it started with bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and boy were they good.  That held me over till lunch time when I heated up more of the leftover baked spaghetti.  My afternoon snack was a nature valley peanut butter granola square.  They are only 90 calories, 100% natural and a perfect snack.  Dinner was some good ole home cooking.  Dawn made BBQ chicken breast in the crock pot with some mashed potatoes and green beans.  This meal is always a big hit in our house, therefore I don't have any leftovers for tomorrow.

So overall it was a good day and I got lots of stuff done around the house.  So till tomorrow.....

Day 146

Today was a rough one for me. Not with my eating and exercise, but my work.  I had to let someone know that they no longer had a job after this Friday.  For those that have done this, you know how I feel.  If you have never done this than trust me when I say that its one of the hardest things you will ever have to do.  It makes you sick to your stomach almost to the point where you want to throw up.  However its part of my job and as much as it hurt to delivery the message, I'm just glad it was me delivering it, not getting it delivered to me.  

After taking the kids to school this morning I made a coffee stop before heading back home to work.  Once I got the news that today was the day to communicate the "news", I got busy preparing for it.  Because of this I didn't get the chance to eat lunch till about 2pm.  I heated up some leftovers from last night.  That bakes spaghetti meal Dawn made was almost better leftover.  After that I got back to work and stayed busy up till I had to get Brady from school.  

Once he got home he wanted to go throw the football around and I sure could use the break so off we went.  While playing in the backyard we saw a hot air balloon fly over the house, and it was pretty low.  It was pretty cool because we could hear the people talking and hear the hot air being blown up into the balloon.  Since it was so low I told Brady that it must be landing somewhere nearby.  So we jumped in my car and started to follow it around the neighborhood until we finally found where it was going to land.  It was this park area in the neighborhood just north of us.  It was crazy to see this large balloon come down in the middle of this neighborhood park.  There were lots of people running up to watch it land.  Once it was on the ground the guy flying it told everyone they could help jump on the balloon part to get all the air out.  It looked like tons of fun.  I told Brady to go out there and play, but he didn't want to.  I think the size of it kind of scared him.  I don't blame him, the thing was huge!

Once we got home it was time for some dinner.  After the day of work I had I didn't feel like cooking and just wanted some quick.  We all agreed on Taco Bell.  A few taco's later and I was ready to call it a night and watch some TV.  

So overall today was a crappy one!  So till tomorrow.....

Day 145: 232 pounds

I weighed myself this morning for the first time in over a week.  I was not sure what to expect since I was sick all last week, but figured I would be about the same as last reported.  Am I happy with that number, of course not.  However I am happy knowing that I have been feeling better and know that I can slowly start to get back on the diet track.  I had set a goal a few weeks back of hitting the 222 pound mark by Thanksgiving.  I'm still aiming for that, however missing a week and now not being able to really exercise has me thinking that it might not happen.  However you never know, 10 pounds in 10 days could happen.  

Today also marks day 145, that's 55 days away from 200!  I started to think the other day that I should aim for breaking my 200 pound mark by day 200.  That would be fitting don't ya think?  In doing the math it would mean that I would have to lose just about a half a pound per day.  It might be a reach, but I think I'm going to give it a try.  At least it something fun to work for!

As for my day today.  Well being a Monday and me being back at work, I started my day off with a nice cup of hot joe!  A Chipotle just opened down the road at Dana Park, so that meant I was going out to get lunch today.  I went with a Grilled Chicken burrito bowl, a personal favorite of mine.  Having this just down the road is going to become a favorite of mine for lunch, however I wont over due it.  Dinner was a home cooked meal.  Dawn made this spaghetti meal that baked.  It was awesome and of course plenty of leftovers.  Overall it was a good day.

Till tomorrow....

Day 144

Another day in the books and with exception of a head ache, probably lack of coffee, I felt great.  I only coughed a few times!  It rained all night and a little bit this morning, however that went away and it turned into a beautiful day.

Dawn made pancakes for breakfast so we enjoyed those before sitting down to some football.  We pretty much did nothing the rest of the day.  I did take some time out of my football watching to make a PB&J for lunch, but returned quickly to the couch to finishing watching the Cardinals take down the Eagles.  After the game was over we cleaned up the house a little bit and all headed out for a family walk.  Like I said above, it was so nice out.  Brady and Lily both rode their bikes while Dawn and I walked pushing Charlie in her little car.  It was good family fun!  Dinner was some hot dogs (Chicago style), yummy!

Tomorrow is Monday and the start of a new week.  I think it will also be a good morning for a cup of coffee, but we will see.

Till tomorrow.......

Day 143

Things are starting to look up for me as it was another good day on the health front.  I was tired most of the day, but that was not because of being sick, but because of only getting a few hours of sleep last night.  Night time is still a bit rough for me with my coughing.  It seems that I'm up every few minutes drinking some water to stop the cough.  However last night it was not only the cough, but it was Charlotte.  She has not been feeling good and last night it really showed.  She went to bed around normal time (7:30pm) however woke up about 11:30pm coughing and screaming.  She looked so tired but would not stop crying and would not go back to bed.  Finally at 2:30am I decided to take her out for a drive.  After 30 minutes she was sound a sleep and I returned home.  So when all said and done Dawn and I got to sleep from 3:30 to 7am.  Yes it sucks, but I would do it every night if it meant taking care of my little princess!  It's what we do as parents.  So yeah I was tired all day, but still felt good.

We had a family out day and went to the mall this afternoon.  We ate some lunch, walked around and got the kids some "Christmas" clothes for the upcoming big day.  It's always a good time walking around the mall, especially this time of year.

As for my eating today.  For breakfast I enjoyed two bowls of Cheerios.  Lunch was at the mall and I had a footlong Subway Roasted Chicken breast sandwich covered with veggies.  Dinner was 3 tacos from Jack in the Box.  Yeah I did!  So that was it on the eating front today.  No hard exercise other than walking around the mall.  I'm not going to be in any hurry to push exercise because I don't need to get sick again.

So till tomorrow.......

Day 142

I felt really good today.  I still have a pretty bad cough that comes and goes at random times and I still don't have my voice back, but other than that I feel good.  I might not sound it, but inside I feel it.  Based on history the cough will probably hang around a few more weeks, but I should start to get my voice back in the next day or two.  So things are really looking good on the cold/sick front. 

I'm also aiming for Monday with getting back on a normal diet eating schedule/plan.  Like I said in previous posts, this week has been far from normal so I cant really count it. 

However I will mention that I have hit a milestone that I have not been able to do in a long time.  Today marked the 5th day in a row without coffee!  That's huge for me as I have been getting it every day for the past few weeks.  However I wanted to stop drinking it daily for a few reasons the main one being I was not liking how it was making me feel of late.  The caffeine high was starting to go away sooner making me want more or other sugar items.  This is not good!  When I started this journey 142 days ago I quit coffee cold turkey because I knew it had lots of extra un-needed sugar and this was not going to fly on my diet.  It was very hard, but I got through it and started to feel so great.  However over time I started to drink it again leading up to every day.  Then this past Sunday after dropping Dawn off at the airport I stopped and got a large iced coffee (french vanilla flavor and cream/sugar) from Dunkin.  It was very tasty!  This was also the day I started to get really sick.  So as I'm sitting on the couch starting to fall apart and get weaker and weaker by the minute all I could think about was the coffee I just drank.  I started to think me not feeling good was related to it.  It was not till a few hours later when I started to shake from being so cold that I knew I had the flu coming on.  But still it was the coffee that was fresh in my mind.  I'm sure everyone has a story like this where they eat something and get really sick and its that one thing they can only picture, taste, smell making them never want it again.  Well that was me last Sunday.  I couldn't even watch a DD commercial when it came on without wanting to puke.  Crazy!

So I'm hoping by quiting again that it will not only save me money every day, but get my body free from a good amount of un-needed sugar.  Remember sugar is carbs and those are not good carbs meaning they can turn into fat.  It all really makes sense that my little bit of weight gain over the past month could be directly related to drinking coffee every day!  It would probably be different if I drank it black or with just cream, but I cant.  I have to have cream, sugar and vanilla flavor.  It was also good timing for me to quit again because when you quit you get major headaches from the caffeine withdrawals.  The good news is my head was already pounding from being sick that I didn't feel it at all.  However I did today, but got past it.  There are still going to be days when I get a cup, but those will be very spaced out.  After all it is the holiday season and the peppermint mocha at Starbucks is back!

That's the post for today.  "And as always stay classy San Diego!"

Day 141

It was a much better day today.  I didn't sleep good at all last night, coughing every 2 minutes.  I also was up most of the night with Charlotte who was also having some coughing and breathing issues.  So it was a few rounds of treatments, etc for her.  I gave myself a treatment and was finally able to get about 2 hours of sleep and don't recall waking up during it.  So that's a good sign.  I also had enough energy to get my Thursday cleaning done.  It felt good to be up and moving around at a pretty normal speed.  

I'm not really focused on my diet and exercising this week just because of my health.  I cant exercise and I have not been eating normal so there really isn't a point.  I think that's understandable!

Lets hope that I feel even better tomorrow and into the weekend.

Till then......

Day 140

Another sick day, but the good news is Dawn came home!  Not much else to say, everyone seems to be feeling ok.   Brady is getting a little cough but nothing serious.  Charlotte is a little worse than Brady with some breathing issues but always has a huge smile!  As for Lily, well she seems to be perfect (so far) and is having no issues.  We will keep our fingers crossed!

Till tomorrow!

Day 139

24 hour flu my ass!  I'm going on 3 full days of this crap!  I really hope it starts to let up tomorrow.  As for my eating, well it wasn't a ton.  I had lots and lots of water, chicken noodle soup, crackers and some ginger ale.

That's about all I have to talk about today.  Till tomorrow...

Day 138

I just noticed that I never posted yesterday.  I didn't have much to say as I'm still super sick.  So on that note I'm taking another sick day!

Till tomorrow!

Day 137

Sick, very sick!  Yes I'm fighting what I think is the flu.  It came out of nowhere and has it me big time.  I have not felt like doing anything all day.  My body is weak, every bone hurts, I go in and out of the cold/hot phase.  It sucks! Its also not the best of timing.  Dawn left this morning for Florida till Wednesday, thank god I have Brady to help me out.  He was such a good boy today taking care of me and doing anything I had asked.  Maybe I should pretend I'm sick every day so he acts this way =).

So with that said I'm done typing.  As I'm sitting here typing this I have pants, shirt, jacket and a snuggie on and am still am freezing!  Its time for bed!  I don't think I will be doing much work tomorrow as I can see lots of rest in my future.

Bye!

Day 136

Its late and I'm to tired to really type anything.  So with that said here we go.  Dropped Dawn and Lily off at dance, went and got a coffee, walked around Dicks Sporting Goods, picked Dawn and Lily up from dance, ate leftovers for lunch, watched some football, put kids in time out, made frozen pizza for dinner, played Sorry for game night, watched some TV, typed this post!  Now its time for bed as I have to get up early to take Dawn to the airport.  She is heading to Florida tomorrow for a few days for a huge conference.  She is very excited that she was picked to go because the key note speaker is Bill Clinton!  I would be excited as well, its a former US President.  Plus its being held at Disney World.  I'm calling it a vacation more than a work trip.

Football Sunday tomorrow!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Bowl of Cheerios & Coffee
• Lunch:  Leftover Chinese food
• Afternoon Snack:  Mini Candy Bar (2) =(
• Dinner:  Frozen Pizza (3 slices)
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  C

Day 135: 231 pounds

Well it was another weight in day and my weight has not moved at all.  I guess this is a good thing, yet still drives me nuts!  I have been trying to do so much better this week and yet I have not seen any results on the scale.  However I will say that I can feel it.  The scale might not be showing it, but I just have that feeling like I'm a bit lighter than I was last week.  That's a good thing as it builds confidence.

The rest of today was pretty normal.  I did manage to get to Discount Tire to have my tires rotated.  Lily got a huge kick out of the tire shop and watching my car go up on the lift.  All she seemed to care about was how black their hands were getting from touching the tires.  How cute!  Dawn went to a boutique with her cousin so dinner was just me and the kids.  Earlier in the day I was watching Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) and they were at an Italian restaurant and it made me want....Chinese food.  Yeah I know weird to get Chinese form seeing Italian.  There is this place just down the road that has some decent Chinese so we ordered from there (its no Green Leaves).  It has been a very long time since I have had Chinese food and boy was it great.  It hit the spot and I have plenty of leftovers.  I don't know about you, but left over Chinese is the best. 

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Bagel & Coffee
• Morning Snack:  Grapes
• Lunch:  Grilled Chicken Breast
• Dinner:  Pork Fried Rice & Chicken Chow Mien
• Exercise:  100 sit-ups, Squats (3 sets of 15), Lunges (3 sets of 12)
• Weight: 231 pounds
• Grade:  B-

Day 134

Cleaning Day!  I spent two and a half hours this morning cleaning the house as I normally do on Thursdays.  I think if I try hard I can get it down to about 2 hours, however that would be cutting is close.  Its no worries with me as I enjoy doing it because one I love a clean house and two its good exercise. 

Brady had a game tonight so we were at the fields from 7 till almost 10.  Late games are the pits when its a school night, however to a kid they don't care about the time, to a parent we care!  It was a good game, they played really good, but came up short by one run. Brady grounded out in his first at bat, walked in his second and singled in his 3rd.  He also played catcher for an inning and did great.  While all of that was going on Lily was running around playing with some girls (twin sisters) from a boy on  Brady's team.  She had a blast.

Among all of the fun things from today was some good eating by me.  I went with a bowl of cereal for the second day in a row.  Heated up some left over grilled chicken for lunch and had a grilled chicken wrap from Wendy's for dinner.  Dinner had to be quick tonight because of Brady's game. 

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Cheerios (1 bowl)
• Morning Snack:  Grapes
• Lunch:  Grilled Chicken Breast
• Afternoon Snack:  String Cheese & Yogurt
• Dinner:  Grilled Chicken Wrap (2)
• Exercise:  House Cleaning (2.5 hours)
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  A

Day 133: 231 pounds

Well my weight didn't move any from the other day, no worries it will at some point.  The rest of my day was pretty simple yet again.  I went with cereal for breakfast, more leftovers for lunch and some home cooking for dinner.  Dawn made another first time meal in Chicken Piccata (grilled chicken & pasta with a cream sauce).  It was awesome and of course there are leftovers.  So not only do I still have leftover chili, but I now have left over chicken and pasta.

Tomorrow will be a little more exciting as Brady has a baseball game, oh and its cleaning day! 

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Cheerios & Coffee
• Morning Snack:  Yogurt Cup
• Lunch:  Leftover Chili (bowl)
• Afternoon Snack: 
• Dinner:  Chicken Piccata with some Pea's & Carrots (Jenny!)
• Exercise:  100 situps, Squats (3 sets of 10)
• Weight:  231 pounds
• Grade:  B

Day 132

Nothing major to write about today as it was a pretty basic day, work from home (blah, blah, blah).  I did manage to get the yard work done today.  Its starting to look like Tuesdays are my yard work day while Thursdays continue to be house cleaning.  It seems to be a good game plan so I will stick with it, or at least try.

I also got in some exercise tonight (aside from the yard work) and it felt great!  One day at a time!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Bagel & Coffee
• Lunch:  Bowl of Chili (leftovers)
• Afternoon Snack:  Kit Kat (Bite Size from the kids basket)
• Dinner:  Pretzel Dog
• Dessert:  Pumpkin Seeds (few)
• Exercise:  Yard work (1 hour), Running (30 minutes), 75 situps
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  B+