Back pain and a rainy day

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Finally I wake up and I am below my Friday weight, I caught up with Sundays bad eating and hopefully will have a decent drop this week, and by decent I mean two pounds. this week sort of back fired on me because I was suppose to be hardcore workout guy and well, I am not. it started as a lazy weekend ending with some beers and carried into Monday like that, Tuesday I started working out and bamn! during some stretches my injury started acting up. My lower back where the disk injury was/is is killing me since last night and that is unfortunate for me because it means zero movement other than daily stuff like walking within the house, cooking etc. it usually takes a day or two to get the pain completely gone and this is the first time in a while that I have had pain from the injury. nothing I can do about it besides stick to the eating plan when this happens and thats what I am going to do. I am a little bummed about it but whatever, I will play with some light dumb bells this afternoon to see if it hurts and if not then I will at least get that in, and if not then I am on no exercise until the back stops being annoying. otherwise my day is great and I am in a good mood.

Intake for Tuesday came in at 1338 calories and was pretty spread out through the day, even if it was not the best food day in the world it was not bad either. while my Excel sheet says 1338 calories I know it was a bit more because while making the lunch packs for wify from the previous post, I was "taste testing" the chicken to make sure it was seasoned right, so I got in a couple calories there, not even close to the 162 that I had left mind you, but it was something and since I am all about being accountable I thought I would mention that fact. with that I give you the menu from Tuesday.

06/03/08 Breakfast
7:45 AM
1 banana 105
1 tbsp peanut butter 95

11:15 AM
22 oz watermelon 198

Lunch
2:45 PM
2 hebrew national hot dogs 90
4oz sweet potato fries 100
2 slices whole wheat bread 140
ketchup 20

Dinner
6:15 PM
2 Gortons fish fillets 340
3/4 cup white rice 150
1 serving of steamed broccoli 60
ketchup 20

8:00 PM
Dannon light yogurt 60

Grand total of 1338 calories for the day, it is raining and I have a pot of soup on the stove, hopefully my back feels better sooner than later but either way the food will be on track and whats a little bit of pain right? it will pass and then back to normal and back to dropping the weight, pretty soon (hopefully) I will be posting about how I am maintaining my weight instead of dropping it and that is a fact for sure. Thanks for reading along.

Also I put a few new pictures in my photo section of me and wify :)

As Ever
Me

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

ZIRCADIA 6/4/2008 9:55PM

Those Hebrew Nationals are amazing aren't they??? :D They are my total go-to for hot dogs. I also dig Gorton's, although I avoid it because of sodium and whatnot, they're tasty. Gonna go check out your pictures! OK I'M BACK! I forgot to add, so sorry to hear about your back stuff -- that SUCKS. I've had random back pain before where I've strained a muscle or something and it's so annoying. Hope you're feeling better soon!!! Also, tell your wife she's beautiful! :D The picture where you're half blinking is just gorgeous. Comment edited on: 6/4/2008 9:56:16 PM Report Inappropriate Comment

NOPLACELIKENOLA 6/4/2008 1:46PM

Good job (esp. being accountable!). My aunt is having terrible back pain for the past year with no solution in sight. Godo luck to you! Report Inappropriate Comment

HISHAPPYAPPLE 6/4/2008 1:35PM

I can relate. Back pain is frustrating! It's a pain that not many people understand because it's one they can't "see." I've had 5 back injuries in 18 years along with other back stress like 5 pregnancies and a herniated disk. It's hard when you feel good not to overdo it. I've been labeled with "cronic back pain." Be encouraged, in Feb. of this year I was tired of not exercising because it hurt. I made myself exercise (safely) and finally after about a month of diligently working out I passed the threshhold of "It hurts to exercise" to now "it hurts if I don't." As the weight drops and I get stronger the better I feel. You're doing great with your food. I hope your back feels better soon. Report Inappropriate Comment

JAYMATTER 6/4/2008 1:32PM

Back pain sucks. I hurt my back playing football in high school, and (omg! I can't believe I am about to say this) 20 years later it still flares up two or three times a year. Granted, the excessive extra weight around my middle is mainly to blame for the flareups -- just one more motivator today. Hopefully you have noticed some improvement over the course of your weight loss -- and hopefully the current bout vanishes in a hurry. Cheers! j. Report Inappropriate Comment

READY4MO 6/4/2008 1:14PM

Hope your back feels better. You are doing great with your food intake. WTG! Report Inappropriate Comment

SWEETZMIX 6/4/2008 1:09PM

I hope ur back gets better. Sucks!!!! I don't have an injury or severe pain like u, but I know how it feels to be out of commission. I had severe lower back pain when I felt I couldn't get out of the bed. Also knee pain as well where my knee would give out. It was due to my weight gain & I haven't had it in sO long, I forgot. Just maintain ur weight loss & u never know u might lose a lil something anyway. In April I was home sick for a week & didn't work out but I still lost 2lbs. I was told that since I started working out & eating right my body was in that momentum & my metabolism probably increase. Don't know if it is true, but hey u never know. Ebony Report Inappropriate Comment

MRSMIZZLE 6/4/2008 1:03PM

Hopefully it doesnt take long for your back to feel better! Back pain is the worst....makes some things impossible. Way to go with the food! ~Mon Report Inappropriate Comment

Saving money while dieting? who wouldda thunk??

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I have a few minutes so I thought I would pop on here and drop a short post up for the evening, I just got done making lunches for my wife for the next twelve days because were on mission to see how much money we can save whilst losing all of our weight. She was eating Lean cuisine's or smart ones for Lunch every day at work and if you buy these little convenient packages of goodness you know that they can be pricey, usually she can get them on sale four for ten dollars, and if she is lucky five for ten. so we were doing our bulk shopping list for the week last Saturday and came up with the idea to make our own little version of these lean cuisine meals since I am a pretty good cook and don't mind a little work to save a few bucks.

She and I just made 12 portions of the BBQ rice beans and chicken that I posted the recipe for a day or so ago and packaged them up and they are in the freezer right now. We bought a whole chicken while shopping this weekend and I baked it this afternoon so that it would be cool to make these little meals this evening, 2 cans of Goya black beans and made a pot of rice. The whole chicken was less than $5.00 we bought the Goya beans for 3 cans for $2.00 so the beans we used cost $1.34 the rice was oh I don't know, we have a 20lb bag that we bought for like $8.50 or something so lets say the rice was $.50 so grand total for these 12 lunches cost us $6.84 if I call the chicken five bucks, that works out to $.57 per portion. we had BBQ sauce in the fridge and black pepper and Mccormick spices in the cabinet so I won't include those in the total.

Each portion contains.

1/2 cup cooked white rice = 100 Calories
1/4 cup black beans = 45 calories
2oz shredded chicken with BBQ sauce on it = 120 calories

Total calories 265 per portion.

Now I came up with the calories for the chicken @120 per 2oz because it is mostly white meat which is about 50 per oz and the dark meat is about 60 or so per oz add the BBQ sauce and I just rounded it to about 60 per oz which I think is pretty close.

I am sure I will dip into these for a lunch here and there myself and I plan on making a Spanish version of these little portions as well as an Asian themed version, I have an idea that the Asian one will be very low in calories as I plan on using lots of veggies. The best part? tomorrow it is suppose to rain all day so I will make a soup with the carcass from the chicken that I used for the lunches, so we will have 3 containers of soup in the freezer by tomorrow evening and a nice home made spicy Spanish themed soup for dinner tomorrow night and all that will cost us is whatever the Veggies cost, which I estimate to be under $6.00, maybe I will figure that out as well and put it in a later post. with gas prices going up the way that they are and with food prices rising daily every bit counts and all of this creativity with my cooking and planning helps a ton there, and look at that! I am on a low calorie diet plan, eating healthy, getting my fill of highly nutritional home made meals and no special buy it now for only 3 easy payments of $39.99 miracle diet plans in sight.

As Ever
Me

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

DONEPAT 6/5/2008 7:45AM

That's a great idea, I'm going to try that. I have a reynolds Handi-vac- instead of the food saver or plastic containers. I got it on sale at Target for 6.00 and the bags are about 2.85. You may want to check that out. Gonna try your recipe. Patty Report Inappropriate Comment

YARDENXANTHE 6/5/2008 12:04AM

Good job! Plus, you KNOW what is in each & every bite! Awesome, now I know why you're the Done Dude of the day! :) Report Inappropriate Comment

NYMPHAMOI 6/4/2008 11:34PM

Wow Great idea! One question, what'd you freeze/store them in? Report Inappropriate Comment

LEO_SUNGIRL1 6/4/2008 1:39PM

Go ahead! Very resourceful article. Comment edited on: 6/4/2008 1:37:51 PM Report Inappropriate Comment

KMEKATE 6/4/2008 12:24PM

Super cute, super smart and super saver to boot! Well done. Report Inappropriate Comment

SAMSMOM60 6/4/2008 11:30AM

Hey, I did the same thing...not the same recipe but the Smart Ones turned out not to be too smart for my pocketbook. I cook in bulk on weekends and freeze my own also. I got out of the habit though and you have inspired me once again! Report Inappropriate Comment

MRSMIZZLE 6/4/2008 11:04AM

Wow...LOVE this post....I do the lean cuisine thing for lunch, I have GOT to try this!!!!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

WHIMSYT 6/4/2008 10:03AM

WAY TO GO on being the DONE DUDE o'the DAY!!!! Hey, I wanted to point out 3 more things-- (1) not only are they less expensive, but they are far healthier because you don't put in near the amount of sodium those convenience prepackaged foods have!! and that makes a difference not only in blood pressure, but on the scale as well since sodium makes us retain too much water. (2) you are doing your part to help save the earth!!! Losing weight, saving money, AND saving the earth all in one fell swoop......WAY TO GO! (3) if you would consider switching to brown rice, your nutrition would skyrocket heads above the white stuff!! Plus, it would feel more filling for longer because of the added fiber and nutritious B vitamins! You rock, DONE DUDE!!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

GRACEFULTURTLES 6/4/2008 10:00AM

Inspiring me to get cooking! I also cook up breakfast in advance for easy out the door stuff. I can't do the bars anymore. And my selection is limited here in Germany. But I am totally going to try the rice beans and chicken, as well as an asian version. THANK YOU!! Report Inappropriate Comment

JDMAKEIT2HOT 6/4/2008 9:58AM

your doing great .... and your wife is lucky she got a man who loves to cook! Report Inappropriate Comment

~*~*LISA*~*~ 6/4/2008 9:43AM

Wow...that is really great and such an awesome idea. It'll also be great for my little starving teens when they come home from school. Thank you for posting that and I'll be looking for future recipes :) Report Inappropriate Comment

SWEETZMIX 6/4/2008 9:39AM

I am glad u wrote this blog because as of Monday night me & my BF were discussing the same thing. Gas & food prices are ridiculous plus when trying to eat healthy it can be expensive. I really like the Smart Ones & Healthy Choice, but they are pretty expensive. I usually have them in the house for when I get tempted for something, I pop one of in the microwave. We usually have enough dinner for the next day, but my schedule changed at work. So now I get home at 7pm (my BF always gets home late) & I still want to work out & stuff & have to be up at 6:25am the next day. I wanted to try & make dinner & lunch for a week at a time this weekend for me & my BF. If ur saying ur saving a ton of money, & it seems that way to me..I will definately give it a try. I love ur blogs, ur always got something useful on them!!! Ebony Report Inappropriate Comment

WOODLANDMYST 6/4/2008 9:26AM

Excellent ideas! I make batches of beans and rice then freeze for future meals, but never thought to make my own frozen entrees like that. Thanks! Cyndy Report Inappropriate Comment

ZIRCADIA 6/3/2008 9:40PM

WOOHOO!!! That is some serious money saving!! What kind of containers do you use for freezing? Report Inappropriate Comment

BBQ rice, beans and chicken dish...a recipe by me.

Monday, June 02, 2008

A few people have asked me about this recipe so I posted it up on my blog, feel free to take a look at it and try it out! it is very tasty yet simple.

zeusmeatball.blogspot.com/

zeusmeatball.blogspot.com/2008/06/bb
q-rice-beans-and-chicken-disha-recipe.
html



As Ever
Me

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

ZIRCADIA 6/2/2008 10:11PM

MMMM sounds good, and right up my alley for sure. ;) Report Inappropriate Comment

JAYMATTER 6/2/2008 7:15PM

Aye, I like the sounds of that recipe. Will have to give it a try soon. Report Inappropriate Comment

GLORYTOGLORY 6/2/2008 4:45PM

sounds yummy Report Inappropriate Comment

The Monday after a terrible food weekend.

Monday, June 02, 2008

The Monday after

Monday is here and back to business I must go, Saturday we did our beginning of the month bulk shopping trip, and Sunday we went to my Mother in laws house for dinner which proved to be a relaxing day that took me completely off of my regularly scheduled intake plan. Saturday I came in at calories, though I do not know exactly how many I had on Saturday because of some late night popcorn, the calories on my excel sheet say 1095 and I would be very surprised if I had more than 400 calories worth of popcorn so I will call Saturday under calories, we watched "The Pianist" with Adrian Brodey, it is an older flick but I have to say that it was one of the best movies I have seen in a while, I really enjoyed it a lot, if you have not seen it I would recommend it for sure, its the story of a Jewish Pianist and how he survived Warsaw during the Nazi invasion. it is a little bit of a long movie, about 2 and a half hours but very much worth the time in my opinion 9.5 out of 10, and here is the menu for Saturday.

05/31/08

Breakfast
11:00 AM
3/4 of a zone bar 175

12:00 PM
1 banana 105
1 tbsp peanut butter 95

Lunch
2:30 PM
1 pear 85

Dinner
6:30 PM
6oz deli turkey 180
3 slices whole wheat bread 210
1oz tings 160
1.5 tbsp miracle whip 45
sliced tomato 15
ketchup 15
large dill pickle 10

10:00 PM
Big ol bowl of popcorn

Sunday was a bad day for the intake, Breakfast was a deli turkey sandwich at around 10:30 am followed by a zone bar on the way out the door around noon, My wife bought a coffee coolata from dunkin donuts around 2:00 pm and I drank at least 1/4 of that while driving around looking at a house my mother in law may be buying, upon getting back to my Mom in laws place her boyfriend offered me a beer and I turned him down until he was pouring his and he made the offer again, it was a Belgium wheat beer that has hint of orange to it and was served like a Corona, except an orange slice in place of the lime, its a very light smooth beer and the orange...well lets just say 5 beers later I was sitting by the fire pit in the back yard making and consuming smores, doh! Dinner was the same because it was post beer, I did not count what I ate and I did just eat pretty much what I wanted to, Shrimp and Scallop shishkabobs and BBQ chicken, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob and a salad, hey what can I say? its nice to indulge once in a while. I won't pretend to be able to even take a close guess at what my intake was for Sunday so it shall remain an unknown.

I hope everyone else had as nice a weekend as I did I hope not as calorie filled but thats another story. everything is still on track with the weight loss otherwise and because of this weekend I am going to take it easy this week with the intake and try and eat as good as possible to try and counteract some of the bad intake from Sunday. look for a recipe on here very soon, maybe a little later this afternoon. keep on keepin on and remember that its only life, enjoy it while ya can.

As Ever
Me

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

YAHTZEELOU 6/4/2008 9:25AM

Oh Lord I used to drink the you know what out of Blue Moon when I was in college. Like it was goin' out of style. Like I had a thirst I couldn't quench. Whew. Reason #456 why I was overweight and still gaining?! Haha. Anywho, it sounds like a good weekend! Report Inappropriate Comment

GLORYTOGLORY 6/2/2008 1:19PM

Great attitude yesterday behind you start out the week doing what you know to do. Next time you might want to log those cals just to make you aware of how much you indulged. When I write it down it helps me to binge lighter the next time!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

HISHAPPYAPPLE 6/2/2008 12:49PM

I enjoyed "The Pianist" too. Great movie! You blew it with the food, but the good thing is that you know you did. Tracking food makes a huge difference because we can see what we did and change it. You the man! Report Inappropriate Comment

KMEKATE 6/2/2008 12:30PM

I think a blow it meal every once in while is okay. I lost 115 pounds on Weight Watchers in 54 weeks and ate a meal of whatever I wanted every Wednesday night. Report Inappropriate Comment

SPACEMONKEY_D 6/2/2008 11:32AM

Hey, I think you did pretty good. You know where you messed up and there is no problem for you to stay on track.. You are accountable and tooo me THATS THE POINT!! Report Inappropriate Comment

JAYMATTER 6/2/2008 9:37AM

Blue Moon is an excellent choice of beer on which to indulge of a nice Sunday afternoon. No blame there. Report Inappropriate Comment

HEATHERBFIT 6/2/2008 9:36AM

I'm glad to know that even the great slip sometimes... Especially when they are so motivational (as you are) that they say ah, well, and get back on track! THANK YOU!!!!!! I slipped up MAJORLY on Saturday, very similar to your Sunday, and when I tracked close to what I had eaten, it ended up being over 3,000 calories. :( But Sunday was a new day and I got RIGHT back on track, spending all day making healthy recipes for the next few weeks' lunches and stayed a bit under my calories while being full all day. :D Plus, today is day 6 of my quitting smoking and I feel great! :) Thanks again - you really are an inspiration to all of us DONEys... :) Report Inappropriate Comment

SWEETZMIX 6/2/2008 9:25AM

Sunday is no big deal trust me. I do that once a week, eat what I want. As time has progressed instead of stuffing my face, I watch what I eat but I indulge & go over just a lil with one thing I really want. I went over yesterday by two something cuz I wanted more Edy's Yogurt Blends Ice Cream. (Try the Pralines Caramel Crunch...awesome) I wish u nothing but the best this week & I know you will be posting about ur weightloss by ur weigh in. Ebony Report Inappropriate Comment

Into the 20's!! dropped another 3 this week :)

Friday, May 30, 2008

This 2002 Honda 919 weighs in at 427 lbs, this happens to be one of the bikes that I am considering buying when I hit my goal weight.

You will have to go to zeusmeatball.blogspot.com/ to see what weighs as much as I have lost because spark only lets me put one photo up.

Weighing in

Another Friday has come to Us so another day to record ye old weight, its funny to me that I choose a day of the week to represent my accomplishments for said week, it is after all just a day in the sea of days but it shall remain. This week I thought I was going to have a terrible week as last weekend I was very much not "on track" as far as my eating went, but I am happy with my loss for the week, this morning I hopped on the scale and it reported back to me that I weigh 427 pounds on this fine Friday morning, that is a 3 pound loss from last Friday, Not bad for a week that I honestly thought was going to be my first gain week. this 3 pound loss this week brings me to 107 total pounds lost to date, not bad for a guy thats not buying into the "miracle diet" craze eh? I thought that I would put an update on how wify was doing on todays post as well, she is down to 190 lbs as of this morning which is a total loss of 46 lbs since Jan 1st. She looks great and I am equally happy for her as I am for myself for losing all of this weight, collectively we have dropped 153 pounds off of ourselves in just 5 months thats more than both of our children weigh combined! Moderate exercise and diet is proving to be the way to drop this weight for me as well as my wonderful wife.

This weekend we have been invited to dinner at my mother in laws place, we are either having scallops and shrimp sishkabobs, or salmon steaks depending on the weather, were suppose to get some rain tomorrow and if that happens salmon will be on the plate. I am looking forward to a walk around the lake so I do hope the rain does not ruin that part of the visit for me. otherwise nothing in our plans for the weekend. My intake has improved from last weekend, as I said I was not "on track" then, but this one will be better. Thursday My intake was good and I ate a big ol pile of watermelon late in the day just to get in my calories as it was almost 8pm and I was still almost 500 calories under. Here is the menu for Thursday.

05/29/08

Breakfast
9:45 AM
smart ones meal 230
whole wheat english muffin 100
omega 3 spread 25

Lunch
2:30 PM
1 progresso soup 120
1/2 cup rice 100

4:00 PM
sugar free jello and cool whip 50

Dinner
6:30 PM
1/2 cup kidney beans 120
3/4 cup chopped broccoli 30
3oz chicken 180
3/4 cup white rice 150

7:45 PM
21 oz watermelon 189
6oz sweet potato 150

Grand total of 1444 calories for the day which is right where I wanted it to end for the day. I do need to start walking regularly again, I took more than a week off because I want to try this cycling one week on one week off with the exercise thing and see if it makes the weight come off in bigger chunks. This week is a hardcore exercise week so I look forward to being tired, sore and sweaty and I plan on having a smile on my face the entire time. Thanks for following along.

As Ever
Me

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

NES211 5/31/2008 4:01PM

congrats on all the weight lose!!! i enjoy reading your blog. keep up the great work!! sincerely, Vanessa Report Inappropriate Comment

ZIRCADIA 5/31/2008 9:10AM

YAY for you and your wife!!! Also your food sounds really good... that chicken/sweet potato/broccoli dinner sounds so gooooooood!! :) I might be stealing some ideas from you. :D Well, talk to ya later! Report Inappropriate Comment

GLORYTOGLORY 5/30/2008 2:03PM

Congrats to you!!!! Congrats to your wife too guys lose quicker than woman and her weightloss is amazing too!!! Love it another family supporting eachother in health goals!!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

BIGGIRL2082010 5/30/2008 1:39PM

Keep at it - you (AND your wife) are such an inspiration! Thanks for sharing! Cheers, Maya Report Inappropriate Comment

HISHAPPYAPPLE 5/30/2008 11:37AM

You and your wife are doing wonderful! Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Very inspiring! Report Inappropriate Comment

MRSCAROLB2 5/30/2008 11:02AM

I loved your blog very inspiring. You and your wife are doing great! I know you will get the new bike by the determination in you blog! to you and your wife. Keep up the good work! Report Inappropriate Comment

WRITER28 5/30/2008 9:55AM

I'm reading your blog faithfully and I'm jazzed for you that you have done what you've set out to do. This is proof that setting goals and having the mental determination to see them through does work! I'm also happy for your wife, so you can tell her that someone reads about her on your blog and is aware of what she's doing too. to both of you; keep on truckin'! Carol Report Inappropriate Comment