Shame and a Scale are Great Motivators

Ok, I don't even know where to start here.

Let's start with that 'what's for dinner' series that pretty much went nowhere.  It was a great idea.  Except, I constantly forgot about it.  So yeah, that might not happen that often.  But, now that I have a phone that isn't a total and complete pile of steaming feces (thanks, Chase), I am more likely to make that happen.

That being said, 'more likely' and 'going to happen' aren't the same thing.

So, if you live anywhere in North America that is north of, say, South Carolina, then you know that this winter has been THE WORST WINTER ANYONE UP HERE HAS SEEN SINCE THE LAST WORST WINTER THAT ANYONE HAS EVER SEEN AND HOLY CRAP THEY'RE NAMING THE STORMS WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE.

Anyway, winter-wise, it actually hasn't been horrible.  Just long.  Really long.  This is important to the narrative.  Like...in a movie, when they make a point out of showing you a picture on a mantle, and the camera lingers a little too long, you know that picture or whatever in it's important.  Or on The Walking Dead, when someone who isn't a MAJOR player (anyone not named Rick or Carl or Darryl, in my estimation) gets even a little bit of character development at the beginning of show, you know that poor motherfucker is zombie chow by the end of the episode.  Unless it's Andrea, which is a shame, since I can't wait for her to become kibbles and bits.

Where was I?  Oh yeah.  By the middle of last summer, running had become pretty much my only major form of exercise.  I was doing it every other day, a 5k each time.  I had grown to love running and it was working for me.  By the end of the season, I was in the best shape I'd been in for a very long time.

But then Winter came.  Seriously.  On a side note (yeah, I know, maybe I should start using footnotes...), fuck you Ned Stark.  'Winter is Coming'.  Bite me.

It's been a seriously long winter.  Since the end of October I've been out running once.  The problem is, I don't have a treadmill, and haven't really replaced the running with anything else.  I couldn't keep all the weight off that I had lost, and by last week, I was back to 314.  Still off my high of 371, but I was down to 270 at one point.

So, a couple weeks ago, I started doing some weight training again.  I was faithful to it, but it wasn't working out.  My access to the Bowflex Selecttech weights had been lost (and thanks again, Mike, for letting me borrow them.  You kick ass).  The weights I did have at home just weren't cutting it.  I didn't have enough to make effective workouts.

Frustration, thy name is Vinyl Weight Plates.  Seriously, these things, although cheap as hell, are simultaneously ridiculous.  Useless due to their enormous size.  Also, I didn't have enough of them.

Also, over the last two years, my ability to budget has become almost superhuman.  I've been able to squirrel money away even facing monster car repair bills.  Seriously, I've probably put six thousand in car repairs in that stupid Bonneville in two years.  I have also made other changes just in the last two weeks.  I quit drinking soda (except for an energy drink every morning, you can have that when you pry it from my cold dead fingers) and I quit smoking.  Again.  I haven't bought a pack in almost two weeks now, although I'll still bum one from people at work from time to time.  So there's an extra 50 bucks or so a week back into my pocket.

So, long story...ummm...less long...I used some of that savings to buy the Powerblock adjustable dumbbells. After reading Steph's amazing exercising resurgence, I decided to make another run through the Chalean Extreme program.  I bought them today at lunch (heh, my car looked like I had a couple dead bodies in the back, it was drooping pretty far) and decided, since it was a Wednesday, I would do a Burn Circuit 1 today, and a Burn Circuit 2 Friday, and start the program proper on Sunday, so it would be a natural weekly progression.  I did the first Burn Circuit already, and it pretty much kicked my ass.  Something three weekly weight workouts over the last 2 weeks hadn't done once.

So, anyway, that's where I'm at right now.  Maybe I'll write more often now that I really have something to write about.  Maybe Masterpoo Theatre will come back.  Maybe not.

What's For Dinner...umm...#...I Forget

Took some hilshire farm smoked chicken sausage and sauteed it with some sliced potatoes, diced onions, and garlic.  Threw some steak seasoning in there, too.  Once it was done, sprinkled some cheddar cheese on top and broiled that.  It came out really good, had a small second helping.  That's a salad on the side,

What's For Dinner #3

Ok, so I missed three days.  Friday was a fish sandwich and onion rings from f-n-a pizza, which was very good.  Saturday I skipped dinner, I wasn't feeling the greatest.  Sunday was homemade pizza and breadsticks.  Yesterday the boys wanted Chinese, so we ordered that.

Today you see pork loin from the slow cooker in asian bbq marinade from bj's.  Eight hours on low was too long, it was a little dried out.  Sides were brown rice and steam in the bag vegetables, which were awesome.  I had two helpings of those.

I also finally got out for a run Sunday.  I did a full 5k distance, albeit slowly.  Still, having not run in nearly five months, it was awesome.  It felt great.  Too cold to run tonight, and no one to watch the boys, so I will get on the stationary bike tonight while catching up on Fringe on the tablet, once they are in bed.

-Jason.

Canada Is

The Muppets kill me.  Really.



Pulled from theCHIVE.

What's For Dinner #2

Subway BLT Footlong and baked cheese crackers.  Diet cola.

What's for Dinner #1

Ok, the plan here is that at dinner every day I will create my plate, take a picture and add it here to the blog.  If I go back for seconds, I will upload that picture too.  Like an online food diary.  Let's see how this works.

Anyway, what you see here is 2 small to medium sized pork chops that I seasoned with McCormick BBQ Seasoning and cooked on the Foreman Grill.  Which didn't go well.  The outside started burn before the inside was cooked, so I finished it up in the microwave.  It came out OK after about 45 seconds in the microwave, and it actually tasted good enough that I didn't need the barbecue sauce that is in the pic.  As a side there is some white rice with liberal amounts of soy sauce and a romaine salad with some carrot, some shredded cheese, a little diced ham, and probably a tablespoon of italian salad dressing.

Not a terribly healthy meal, but decent.  I shouldn't have gone with two pork chops, though.  It was a bit too much.

Oh yeah, that's Tops Diet Cola in the glass.