Day 222: 232 pounds

Sorry for the few day delay in posting something.  It was a very crazy weekend filled with non stop action.  The good news is in a weekend that had a birthday party, Monster Truck Jam event and a round of golf, I didn't gain any weight.  I'm very happy with that!

I forgot to post something yesterday, but not to worry, I did good.  The only thing I lacked yesterday was exercise.  As for today, well it was great!  I started off my day with a cup of Fruit & Oatmeal from McDonald's and enjoyed that with a cup of their iced coffee.  If you have not tried the Fruit & Oatmeal from there, I suggest you do, its amazing!  For lunch Dawn and I were bad, we had Taco Bell.  I had a few crunchy tacos and they tasted awesome.  Hey, its Taco Tuesday who can pass up on that!  For dinner I made spaghetti with corn and garlic bread.  It was a great meal mainly because we all sat at the table and talked about out days.  The kids love doing this.  After dinner came exercise time, so I laced up my shoes and hit the roads.  I didn't go as far as last time, but went farther than my normal distance.  Tonight was just over 3 miles.  After my run I did my sit-ups, jumped in the shower and then watched Glee.  Yes I'm a Gleek!

So in my mind today was a good day.  I feel good with how it turned out.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Fruit & Oatmeal Cup, Iced Coffee from McDonald's
• Lunch:  Taco Bell (3 crunchy tacos)
• Dinner:  Spaghetti, Corn and Garlic Bread (1)
• Exercise:  Run (3 miles), 125 sit-ups
• Weight:  232 pounds
• Grade:  B- (Because of lunch)

Day 218: 233 pounds

Well somehow I gained a few pounds over the past few days.  Bummer!!  As much as that sucked, it didn't get me down because today was all about Brady and his 8th birthday.  Being it was his birthday it made today a great day.  I cant believe he is 8 years old already.  WOW!!

As for my eating and exercise today, well it was ok.  I went to pick up donuts for Brady's class for his birthday.  He choose donuts over cupcakes, smart little guy.  So this meant coffee for breakfast for me!  Come lunch time it was another lunch date, this time with Brady.  I picked him up from school to take him to lunch for his birthday.  He wanted Subway and that was perfectly ok with me as they have lots of healthy options.  I got the oven roasted chicken breast with a bunch of veggies on top.  Yummy!  For dinner Dawn made Brady's favorite meal that being a chicken pot pie type meal.  Its super good.  For Brady's birthday we had some cupcakes for dessert.  I had to have one and only one!

No exercise tonight as my legs were still feeling it from the 2 miles I did yesterday.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Iced Coffee
• Lunch:  Subway Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich & Chips
• Afternoon Snack:  Wheat Thins
• Dinner:   Chicken Pot Pie meal
• Dessert:  Cupcake (1)
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight:  233 pounds
• Grade:  B-

Day 217

Well as promised today was much better than yesterday.  It wasn't perfect, however it was much better.  The reason it was not perfect was because I had a slice of pizza leftover for lunch.  It was just once slice so I was ok with it.  I had just got done cleaning the house, so after a good two hour workout I figured a slice of pizza wasn't going to hurt.  What would have hurt more would be knowing I had a great slice of pizza sitting in the fridge.  Other than that the rest of my day went great! 

Since tomorrow is Brady's birthday and a Friday night we asked him where he wanted to go to dinner.  He said he wanted to go to BJ's Brewery but also wanted Dawn to cook his favorite meal.  So we decided on going out to dinner tonight and then cooking his meal on his actual birthday.  It worked out great because we had a gift cad to BJ's from Christmas (thanks April & Justin).  If you have never been to BJ's I highly recommend it!  They have a very large menu with all kinds of things to choose from.  However the best thing on their menu is by far the Sesame Chicken Salad.  Its amazing!  Both Dawn and I had the same thing and both cleaned out plates.

After we got home I helped get the kids ready for bed and then went for a run.  Tonight I pushed myself a little harder and was able to extend my distance to 2 miles.  I was super happy with that.  Mix in the two hours I spent cleaning the house and the 125 sit-ups with the run and I had one hell of a day on the exercise front. 

Now its time to go sit on the couch and watch Baseball IQ on MLB Network.  Its the best trivia show on TV and its all baseball related.  The format of the show is each MLB team held their own trivia challenge and one winner was sent to the MLB Network studios in New Jersey to compete against the other people form all the other teams.  Its a head to head single elimination challenge with the winner moving on to face another winner.  When all said and done there will be just one winner.  You might be wondering why I'm writing so much about this, well the cool part is my boss with the Dbacks Josh Defamio is the person representing the Diamondbacks.  His match up airs next Thursday when he goes up against someone from the Houston Astors.  I know alot about baseball, but he makes me look like an idiot, no joke.  We do trivia all the time during the season and its not even fair when he plays.  He could tell you every player to win the NL MVP in order back to probably the 60's and their positions.  Yeah he's good!  So I think he has a really good shot at winning.  Make sure you watch if you get the channel!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Coffee & Bagel
• Lunch:  Pizza (1 slice)
• Dinner:  Sesame Chicken Salad
• Exercise:  Running (2 miles), 125 sit-ups, 2 hours of house cleaning
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  A+

Day 216

Not much to say for today, it was a bad one. It started of good with a decent breakfast, however it went down hill after that. Brady had a half day school meaning no lunch for him. When I picked him up I let him pick lunch, he choose McDonalds. Then for dinner we ordered a pizza because we still don't have anything in the house. We have not gone to the store in a while. We are making a full load tomorrow (thank goodness). I will say that the pizza place we tried was awesome. It's right down the street and is a true New York style place. Amazing pizza. I wanted to go running, but since my day was crappy I figured it didn't matter if I went or not. It was not going to do any good. Had I had a great day of eating then a run would have really helped burn extra stuff and made a difference.

Well these things happen and need to be expected. I need to stay positive and keep my head up. Tomorrow will be, I repeat will be an awesome day!

Daily Recap:

Breakfast: Oatmeal and coffee
Lunch: McDonalds Cheeseburgers (2) and a few Chicken Nuggets
Dinner: Pizza
Exercise: n/a
Weight: n/a
Grade: F

Day 215: 231 pounds

So I got on the scale this morning after taking yesterday off from weighing myself. As you know I didn't have the best of weekends when it came to my eating. So I was hoping to see something around the number I previously was. Im very happy with the 231 number. Let's hope I can get back into the 220s this week. Keep your fingers crossed.

The rest of my day was pretty laid back as I kept it easy. I made some toast for breakfast after getting home from getting coffee. For lunch I had a date with Lily after she was out of school. Of course she picked Paradise Bakery, it's her favorite place. I love their chicken walnut sandwich, so I was ok with going there. One word for dinner....tacos! Yeah I love me some tacos and can't just eat one. Oh well, I enjoyed them and that's all that matters.

I didn't go running tonight in order to give my legs a rest.

Daily Recap:

Breakfast: Wheat Toast (2) and Coffee
Lunch: Chicken Walnut Sandwich
Dinner: Tacos (a handful) :)
Exercise: n/a
Weight: 231 pounds (one pound gain from previous weigh in)
Grade: C+

Day 211, 212, 213 and 214

Monday is here yet again, so that means its time for a weekend review.  Sorry its long!  I promise the rest this week will all be short!  So....It was one very busy weekend for us.  We had a funeral and wedding on Saturday and then family photos on Sunday.  So in order to get everything in place for those events I had a list of things to do on Friday.  The good thing is I was very active and did plenty of moving around.  However the bad side of it was my eating.  After the funeral we went to lunch with Dawn's close friends and enjoyed a Mexican restaurant in north Scottsdale called Ajo Al's.  I had the chicken taco and chicken enchilada combo, and it was amazing!  Then after lunch we had to hurry home to get ready for the wedding where there was of course more great food.  I don't recall the exact stuff they served, but it was chicken, steak, veggies, mashed potatoes and salad.  It was buffet style so I had a little bit of each.  I also had plenty of drinks and I mean plenty so my calorie intake was off the charts.  But it was a great time!  I got to hang out with Donny and that was awesome.

So heading into Sunday I was drained and possible hung over (haha).  But we had family photos with all of Dawn's dad's side, so I had to shake it off and get ready to put my smile on.  We took the photos at 3pm at the Scottsdale Arts Center in old town, so by the time we were done it was dinner time.  Dawn's dad favorite restaurant is Los Olivos (Mexican) and its walking distant from where we were.  So it was back to back days with Mexican meals.  I had the same thing again, chicken taco and chicken enchilada.  After dinner I headed home to change and then went to play softball.  I played extra hard because I wanted to burn off all the bad food I had this weekend.  When I got home from softball I managed to get some sit-ups in and then called it a night/weekend.

As for today (Monday), it was great!  It started with me passing on weighing myself just because I knew the type of weekend I had.  I really didn't want to see a large increase in weight from last seeing the 230.5 number.  I will push the weigh in back a day and post about it tomorrow.  The rest of my day went great as well.  The good news is I got back on track with eating better and exercise!  Because of the long and draining weekend, I was in major need of some coffee this morning.  I enjoyed a bagel along side the coffee as well.  Come lunch time I was pretty hungry but having not gone to the store in a very long time my options were very limited.  Dawn and I decided to get some grilled chicken wraps from Wendy's because it was quick, easy and healthy.  Those held me over till just around the time I picked up Brady.  On my way out the door I grabbed a protein bar and ate that on my way over to the school.  They make for a great snack as they give me energy and fill me up in between meals.  I was able to round up a few things in the house for dinner avoiding having to eat out again.  I grilled out some steaks, made a rice a roni package and cooked some green beans.  I will say that it made for a very yummy dinner that everyone enjoyed.  After dinner we took the kids for ice cream, but I was strong and said no.  I opted for a nice run in the cold once we were home! 

So yeah today was a good day.

Daily Recap:
Breakfast:  Bagel & Coffee
Lunch:  Grilled Chicken Wrap from Wendy's (2)
Afternoon Snack:  Protein Bar
Dinner:  Steak, Rice and Green Beans
Exercise:  Run (1.5 miles), 125 sit-ups
Weight:  n/a
Grade:  A+

Day 210: 230.5 pounds

Coming off what I thought was a good day and having felt great running I decided to weigh myself again this morning to see if I had broke the lock on the 232 mark.  Sure enough I did and I was now down to 230.5.  I was so excited that I almost did cart wheels in my bedroom!  Hopefully I can keep going in the right direction.

The rest of the day was another great showing on my behalf.  After dropping the kids off for school I went and got a coffee and headed home to work.  Once home I made some ever so tasty and popular wheat toast.  Oh how I love me some wheat toast.  Today is Thursday so you know what that means.  I spent a solid 2 and half hours cleaning the house and was 100% drained when finished.  I was ready for a nap; however I had to get back to work.  

Come lunch time Dawn wanted to go try this place in Gilbert called Flancers.  It’s this sandwich/pasta place that gets amazing reviews.  We both shared a turkey sandwich and oriental chicken salad.  It was very good and we will for sure be going back.  Now as for dinner, well that’s where I went bad, not horrible, but bad.  Dawn had game night tonight with her cousin, so dinner was something quick.  Everyone that follows me knows that Thursdays have been turning into pizza night.  Well it was again tonight.  But like I said, I was not horrible with it.  I had only one slice and 4 small boneless wings.  I felt pretty good with myself after.

Since Dawn was out I had to pass on going running, but that was ok with me.  Last night when I went running my legs felt fresh and I was able to push it harder than normal.  I think this is because I had a night off from when I last went.  So by skipping tonight hopefully I can go tomorrow and will feel good in the process.  I did however get my sit-ups in while watching American Idol so at least I did something.  Wait, I cleaned for 2.5 hours, that’s something!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Toast & Coffee
• Lunch:  1/2 Turkey Sandwich and 1/2 Oriental Chicken Salad
• Dinner:  Pizza (1 slice) and 4 boneless chicken wings
• Exercise:  House cleaning (2.5 hours), 125 sit-ups
• Weight:  230.5 pounds
• Grade:  B

Day 209: 232 Pounds

I normally start my morning off with a nice cup of cold ice coffee, however this morning I started it off with a dentist appointment.  Who doesn't love those!  It was the first time I have been to the dentist in a while, so it wasn't pretty.  Once I was done, it was straight to Dunkin Donuts for that coffee!  The rest of my day was pretty normal.  I weighed myself and was still 232 pounds.  Looks like I might be stuck in one of those funks where its hard to break free from one set number.  I will keep working hard at it.

Overall, It was a good day in my books!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Ice Coffee
• Lunch:  Leftover Spaghetti (1 small plate)
• Dinner:  2 plain Cheeseburgers (McDonald's)
• Exercise:  Run (1.4 miles), 125 sit-ups
• Weight:  232 pounds
• Grade:  B+

Day 208

It was a back to normal work from home day today.  The kids were back in school after the MLK holiday, so Dawn and I had a quiet house to get some work done.  Aside from work it was a pretty simple/normal day in my world and in my diet/exercise journey.

I ate good all day, however didn't get the chance to go for a run because I was watching The Help.  We got it on Red Box the other night and I have been wanting to watch it.  Boy am I glad I did, great movie!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Wheat Toast (2) & Coffee
• Lunch:  Leftover Chicken, Potatoes and Broccoli
• Dinner:  Spaghetti & Veggies
• Exercise:  n/a
• Weight: n/a
• Grade: B (no exercise)

Day 205, 206 & 207: 232 pounds

Yes I know I have not posted something the past two weekends.  Its not that I'm forgetting, its just not easy.  Our weekends have been super busy and I don't see them slowing down anytime soon. So its much easier for me to hold off on posting something till Monday and then do a weekend recap mixed in with my Monday posts.  So here it is!

Day 205 and 206 (Saturday & Sunday):

Busy, busy, busy!  Dawn dropped Brady and I off at his football game Saturday morning at 10am and then took Lily to dance class.  Once she was done she met us back at the game.  It was the first game of the season for his flag football team and they won 35 to 6.  The coach has him playing Quarterback and on the first play of the game he unloaded a 50 yard TD pass.  The pass itself was probably about 10 yards, but the kid hit the corner and never slowed down.  He also passed for a few two point conversions.  They also lined up at wide receiver a few times and caught each pass that came his way.  He's got Larry Fitzgerald hands =).  When the game was over I told Dawn "man he had like 20 fantasy points today".  She called me a nerd!  After football and dance I had to get Brady over to his cousins house as he was spending the night.  So the rest of Saturday it was just me and my girls.  That's always nice for a change.

As for Sunday, well the highlight of my day was my round of golf.  It actually was the highlight of my weekend next to watching Brady play great in his game.  I play at Starfire Golf Club in Scottsdale (Hayden & Shea).  Its an Arnold Palmer design course, so by no means is it a walk in the park.  When all said and done I came in at a 77.  Its my lowest score ever on a full size course!  My next best is a 78, twice on the Phoenician and a 79 at Kokopelli.  You probably don't have to think to hard to know how I know this.  Yup, I have an awesome spreadsheet with all my golf scores dating back to August of 1999.  I keep my scorecards from every round and log them into my tracker file.  Its awesome!  I know I have lots of other rounds before 1999, however I'm still looking for those scorecards.  So until I find those, this round of 77 goes down as my best.

As for my diet and exercise on the weekend, well I don't really remember everything I ate, but I know I did good because I watched what I ate at every meal.  I didn't really get to exercise because I didn't have enough time.  I'm sure I burned some good calories golfing yesterday.Day 207 (Monday):

I started off my morning by getting on the scale.  I was hoping to see the same number if not lower than what I was on Friday.  For the past few weekends it seems that I come out of the weekends having gained a few pounds.  Well not this time!  This morning I was 232, the same as I was on Friday!  I should be able to get back into the 220's this week for sure!

Brady was out of school today because of the MLK holiday.  However the girls still went to the sitters because Dawn and I had to work.  Brady played legos most of the day and kept quiet.  For breakfast I went back to an old favorite, wheat toast and coffee.  For lunch I kept it easy with a PB&J sandwich (chunky PB of course).  After lunch I got back to work but did find some time to take Brady to the batting cages.  Once I got home it was time for an afternoon snack so I mixed up a protein shake.  Dinner, well it was awesome!  Dawn made Parmesan baked chicken with roasted potatoes and broccoli.  Its one of my favorite meals that I could easily eat four helpings on.  But I kept it to just one in order to have some leftovers for tomorrow.  I cant wait.  I then went running after dinner and did my normal route.

I feel that I started off the week with a great day.  Lets hope I can continue to build on it going forward this week.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Wheat Toast (2) & Coffee
• Lunch:  PB&J
• Afternoon Snack:  Protein Shake
• Dinner:  Baked Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli
• Exercise:  Running (1.4 miles), 125 sit-ups
• Weight:  232 pounds
• Grade:  A

Day 204: 232 pounds

I decided to weigh myself in back to back days for the first time in a while.  I was very happy to see that I didn't gain anything and that I was the same from yesterday.  The main reason I did this was so I could know what I weighed on Friday so I could compare it to Monday.  These darn weekends have been a thorn in my side lately, hopefully this one is better.

The rest of my day was pretty simple.  I worked (of course), did some much needed yard work and took over some yard sale items to the Babcocks.  My food choices for the day probably could have been much better, but some times there just are no options.  That time is right now as we are in major need of a store run to load up on just about everything.  That will be happening this weekend, so next week I will have plenty of home cooked meals, both lunch and dinner.  For lunch I was really craving a burrito, but knew I had to avoid Filbertos.  So Dawn and I went to Baja Fresh and I got the Burrito Ultimo.  Its the first time in a long time we have gone there.  I forgot how good they are!  For dinner we just grabbed some cheeseburgers from McDonald's on our way to drop off the yard sale stuff.  We like to keep it easy sometimes! 

I put off going for a run tonight because I hurt my calf last night running.  I was on my final stretch and could see my house when I felt something pop/pull in my left calf.  It didn't feel good!  I walked the rest of the way home.  It was still a little sore this morning so I decided to take it easy today.  I did still get a good work out in doing the yard work.  That was a good 2 hours.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Coffee & Donut (1)
• Lunch:  Burrito (Baja Fresh)
• Dinner:  McDonald's Cheeseburger (2)
• Exercise:  Yard Work (2 hours)
• Weight: 232 pounds (same as previous)
• Grade:  C (when looking at it, my eating really sucked today)

Day 203: 232 pounds

I was a bit worried to weigh myself this morning after having ate pizza for dinner last night.  However I did get a run in and did some sit-ups last night, so I was hopeful it would not be bad when I stepped on the scale.  Looks like the decision to go running in the cold paid off as I came in at 232 pounds this morning.

It was a rough morning for Lily as she didn't want to wear the jeans we picked out.  If it was up to her she would be in a dress with leggings or tights 100% of the time.  However she is not the parent.  With it being pretty cold out we told her she had to wear pants today.  This lead to her throwing a fit for a good 25 minutes.  Finally she got dressed and was off to school.  I needed some good coffee after that!

After enjoying my bagel and coffee I did some work for a few hours.  Once I had some free time I picked up the cleaning supplies and got to work on that.  Thursdays are my slowest day of the week at work, so finding time to clean the house is easy.  It works out nice this way, plus its a really good workout.  Once the cleaning was all done it was back to work before getting some lunch.  Dawn and I had a lunch date and tried this new little independently owned bakery just down the road.  We love to give back to the little people trying to succeed at their own business.  We didn't get there till about 1pm and they close at 2:30pm, so our options were pretty limited.  We both had a chicken salad sandwich, and were very happy with it.  I will for sure be going back. 

We had to do dinner on the go tonight because we needed to go to Walmart after picking up the girls.  Lucky for me there is a Wendy's in the Walmart parking lot.  So it was a grilled chicken wrap night for me.  After getting home and everyone in bed I headed out in the cold for my normal run.  One of these days I will look to increase the distance, but for now I'm happy with what I do.  It makes me feel good and its about all my knees can take. 

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Bagel & Coffee
• Lunch:  Chicken Salad Sandwich with a pickle
• Dinner:  Grilled Chicken Wraps (Wendy's)
• Exercise:  Run (1.4 miles), 125 sit-ups, House Cleaning (2 hours)
• Weight:  232 pounds
• Grade:  A

Day 202

I don't have much to report on for day 202 (Wednesday) so I will keep this short.  It was an ok day for me on the diet/exercise front.  After getting the kids to school I got my coffee and headed home for some toast and to get to work.  Lunch time was leftover time for both Dawn and I.  The meal was so good that even Dawn enjoyed some leftovers. 

Dawn had somewhere to go with her parents and sister so that left me in charge of dinner for me and the kids.  We are in need of a big grocery run so our options are pretty limited.  With that said I decided to do the next best thing and get a Little Cesar's $5 Hot and Ready pizza.  Cant beat a large pizza and bread sticks for only $7!  So that's where I did bad, the pizza.  However I only had two slices and one bread stick so there was plenty left over. 

After Dawn got home I was still a little upset with my dinner choice so I attempted to go burn it all off with a run.  It was pretty darn cold out, but I sucked it up and got my normal run in.  It made me feel good and I ended the day on a high note.  Tomorrow morning (Thursday) I will weigh myself with hopes of seeing the 232 or lower number again. 

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Wheat Toast (2) & Coffee
• Lunch:  Leftover Pork Loin & Broccoli
• Dinner:  Pizza (2) & Bread stick (1)
• Exercise:  Run (1.4 miles) and 125 sit-ups
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  C

Day 200 & 201: 233 pounds

Yet again I skipped a day of posting yesterday.  However not to be worried it didn't mean that I was not good on my diet.  I ate good, but didn't get the chance to do any exercising.  After dinner I was pretty tired so I called it a night by falling a sleep on the couch at 9pm.  It was nice.  One huge highlight from yesterday, not diet related, was Brady got his second report card for Q2.  He got all A's!  This is the first year (second grade) that they give letter grades in three areas.  There are also scores of E (excellent), S (satisfactory) and NI (needs improvement).  In all those areas he got E's!  The last section of grades are numbers, 3 (exceeds grade level standards), 2 (meets grade level standards) and 1 (does not meet grade level standards).  He got all 2's and had two 3's.  Dawn and I are so so so proud of him.  It was the highlight of my day!

Keep up the good work buddy!

As for today, well it started very early, like 4:30am early.  Charlotte has been dealing with some asthma issues the past few days and it this morning seemed to be the worse.  She woke up at 4:30am coughing really bad so we knew it was time for a treatment.  However we were out of the medicine for the treatment machine (not good).  So Dawn did the next best thing and got in the hot shower with her.  Luckily Dawn's dad had some extra medicine, so while she was in the shower I headed out to pick up the medicine.  Its kind of nice being up that early for a change.  I just wish it was because of something else, not because my little princess was sick.  So of course the early rise meant I needed coffee even more.  After dropping the kids off at school I went and picked some up along with a bagel.

Lunch today was leftovers from dinner last night.  We had Pei Wei (Chinese Food) last night because we allowed Brady to pick since he got all A's on his report card.  Leftover Chinese food is the best.  Dinner was an amazing home cooked meal.  Dawn made a pork loin in the crock pot that's seasoned with garlic and a bunch of other good stuff.  Its so good!  We had that with some roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli.  It was a perfect dinner and even better we have leftovers for tomorrow. 

Oh I also weighed myself this morning and was 233 pounds.  The last time I weighed in was Friday and I was 232 pounds.  So the one pound gain from the weekend and yesterday is I guess ok.  I will get it back by the end of this week.

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Bagel & Coffee
• Morning Snack:  Protein Bar
• Lunch:  Leftover Chinese (white rice, beef & chicken)
• Dinner:  Pork Loin, Roasted Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli
• Exercise:  125 sit-ups
• Weight:  233 pounds
• Grade:  B

Day 198 & 199

I didn't get the chance to post anything about Saturday and Sunday because I didn't have time.  However there really wasn't much to talk about on the diet/exercise front.  The weekends are hard because we are all together all day.  So yeah its hard to find time to exercise and sometimes eat good on the weekends.

I will resume posting tomorrow about my day.

Day 197: 232.5 pounds

I didn't get the chance to post yesterday because it was a non stop night. We had Lily's party from 4:30 to 7pm. When that was over just the girl cousins came over for a sleep over. Since it was girls night I decided to go over to my brother in laws and sleep there. So yeah it was a busy day.

The best part of the day was weighing myself and seeing 232.5 pounds. On Monday I was 235 and I had worked hard all week, so the 2.5 pound loss was great. Let's keep it going!!

Till tomorrow....

Day 196

Happy 5th Birthday to my little princess Lily.  I don't think she really understood what a "golden" birthday was, however today was hers and we made sure to let her know many times.  Its crazy how fast she has grown up.  It seems like just yesterday she was being born.  But to think that she's 5 and the middle child of 3 is crazy.  Before I know it she will be a teenager asking for the keys.  Yeah I got a good 8 years before I have to deal with that.

As for me and my diet today.  Well it was another great day.  This week has been awesome to me so far.  I have been able to stay focused, not over eat and lay off the sweets and snacks.  As normal I enjoyed some wheat toast for breakfast, washed down with some coffee.  After breakfast came house cleaning time (it's Thursday).  After everything was cleaned came lunch time.  Dawn heated up the leftovers from last night and I enjoyed a bowl of that.  It was just as good as yesterday!  The decision for dinner was up to Lily.  Since it was her birthday we wanted to let her pick.  Of course she picked Paradise Bakery because of their Mac-N-Cheese.  I went with my normal, the Chicken Walnut Sandwich.

Once we got home the kids had baths and it was then time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out candles.  We didn't have a cake, but had cupcakes so luckily 5 candles fit on one cupcake.  I'm proud to say that I didn't have any (high five), but rather went for a good bike ride.  Yeah it was a good day!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Wheat Toast (2) & Coffee
• Lunch:  Chicken over Pasta (leftovers)
• Afternoon Snack:  Protein Bar
• Dinner:  Chicken Walnut Sandwich
• Exercise:  Bike Ride (30 minutes, aprox 4 miles), 125 sit-ups, House Cleaning (2 hours)
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  A

Day 195

Another great day in the books!  I started off my morning with two slices of wheat toast before sitting down to work.  Work kept me busy up till lunch time when I made a very tasty Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.  I recently got more chunky peanut butter, so I have been in the mood for it.  I'm sure it will blow over at some point, but in the mean time I will keep enjoying them.  Besides I don't think its really that bad for me.  Its much better than a Big Mac and Fries!  

I had a few errands to run after lunch and before I knew it, it was dinner time.  Dawn had been making a chicken dumplings meal in the crock pot all day so the house was smelling very good.  We put the chicken over some egg noodles and had a side salad to go with it.  The best part of making meals in a crock pot is that it makes a lot.  So we have plenty of leftovers for a few days.  I know whats for lunch tomorrow.  

After my dinner settled I put on my exercise clothes and headed out for a run.  It was a little chilly, but once I got going it didn't bother me.  So overall it was another great day for me!  Till tomorrow....

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Toast (2)
• Lunch:  Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich
• Dinner:  Chicken Dumplings over Pasta with Peas, Corn and a side Salad
• Exercise:  Running (1.4 miles), 125 sit-ups
• Weight:  n/a
• Grade:  A

Day 194: 233.5 Pounds

So I don't normally weigh myself in back to back days and post about it, however after the great day I had yesterday both eating and exercise I figured I would give it a go this morning.  I was very happy to see that I had dropped a pound and half in one day.  I will take it!

As for today, well it was another good one!  I know I should be eating a decent breakfast, however this morning all I had was a large coffee.  I really was not hungry and didn't feel the need eat anything.  While enjoying my coffee I did some work and then headed out to the front yard to take down the Christmas lights.  For those that know me, I'm very detailed, so taking down my lights is no quick process.  I spent about 3 hours taking them down, why you ask?  Well I label everything so I know next year exactly where each thing goes.  It makes putting them up so much easier!  Yes I'm a nerd!  During this time Dawn and Brady ran up to get some lunch.  I was just going to go with a PB&J again, but we didn't have any bread Left so it was a grilled chicken wrap day for me.  Yummy!

Next came dinner, and boy was it a special one.  Tonight it was Breakfast for dinner at the Campbell house. I love it when this happens.  Its like a special treat!  The menu consisted of eggs, bacon and pancakes.  Everyone one of us ate very good.  I think the kids ate more then if it was served in the morning.  See its something about breakfast food for dinner. 

After dinner came another night of exercise.  Tonight was a bike ride as my knees were still sore from the run last night.  Its good to mix it up every other day.  Tomorrow I'm sure my quads and lower back will be hurting.  On top of the bike ride came my 125 sit-ups.  It was a good night!

Daily Recap:

• Breakfast:  Iced Coffee (large)
• Lunch:  Grilled Chicken Wrap (2)
• Afternoon Snack:  Protein Shake
• Dinner:  Eggs, Bacon and Pancakes (one plate)
• Exercise:  Bike Ride (30 minutes), Sit-ups (125) and 3 hours of taking lights off the house!
• Weight:  233.5 pounds (drop of 1.5 pounds from yesterday)

Day 193: 235 pounds

Im back!!! It's been a while since I have posted, but it was no secret that I pretty much took the month of December off. It was fun and I sure did enjoy some good food during that time. However as promised today was the day I got back on track.

Today also was the first day I have weighed myself in a few weeks. I knew based on what I had been eating that I didn't want to see the scale. I had told myself last night that it wasnt going to be good and I needed to be prepared for the worse. So I braced myself for those two steps on to the scale this morning, closed my eyes and stood there. I slowly opened one eye at a time until I saw the damage. Now don't get me wrong I'm not happy with being 235, however am at piece with it. After all it could have been much worse.

So with that out of the way it was time to get focused on my day. The girls returned to the sitters today, however we still have Brady home till Thursday. My breakfast and lunch were both from the kitchen, so that was a big win. This afternoon Brady and I got time to go to the driving range and shared a large bucket of balls (good exercise). Come dinner time it was again another home cooked meal, this time steaks with baked patatos and some corn/peas. Talk about awesome!

Now for what I think is the best part. Exercise! Yes not only did I go to the driving range, I also went running and did sit-ups. It had been a while since I ran so I for sure was feeling it. But im a tough guy and sucked it up. I was very proud of myself for getting back out there. I don't plan on slowing down.

So with that said I will say it again, I'm back and ready to win this journey.

Breakfast: Wheat Toast (2)
Lunch: Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich
Dinner: Steak, Baked Patato, Corn & Peas
Exercise: Golf driving range (2 hours), Running (1.4 miles), 125 sit-ups
Weight: 235 pounds (not for long)
Grade: A