Day 94 - 100, THE END of the First Challenge

Net loss - 8.0, total loss 80.6

Feel free to read that last number one more time. I will wait.....that's right, in 100 days, I lost just over 80 pounds. I really did not think I could do this well. I thought I would do ok, I thought I would lose some weight, but I did not think it would be that much. First off, thank you so much to everyone who supported me on this and to all the people who answered my many, many questions (DM, that's mainly you).

I learned quite a bit on this diet about myself and what I can do. I realized that when I really focus on something and care about it, I will succeed at it (Granted, it was called 100 pounds in 100 days, but losing 80 pounds is still pretty impressive). I learned that I need to make better decisions when it comes to food (fast food is NOT the way to go). I make really good eggs (I knew this already, but it was reinforced). And the most important thing I learned is that I am a lot happier and more confident when I am exercising and losing weight, and those are 2 things I want to maintain.

One interesting thing about my diet that I learned from RM is the last thing I will share. He kept trying to get me to watch The Biggest Loser. I would try, but I am just not that into Reality TV, but I would still ask about the show as I was still interested to see what they were doing. I am not sure if I mentioned this in a previous blog, but I auditioned for this most recent season of the show, and obviously, was not on the show. For those not familiar with the show, there are about 16-20 adults who go to live on this compound and workout and people get voted off the show every week. Of those who started, 4 people stayed at the compound through the whole thing, with no job, with a personal trainer, with special chefs teaching them how to cook healthier food, working out several hours a day for 101 days. Of those 4 people, over 101 days, with all that, they lost between 75 and 85 pounds. While I was on my diet, I worked full time, had no personal trainer or chef, cooked my own food (of course there were days I went up a lot too, like after Thanksgiving) and was on it 100 days and still lost 80 pounds. No need to clap, I just patted myself on the back. But seriously, I was blown away when RM told me that. I was surprised that I did that well on my own and I wished I was on the show, because I would have won.

And on that note, here are some pics:

Face pic the 1st day

Face pic at the end

Body pic the 1st day

Body pic at the end

Random pic of me sleeping the day before the diet

Please continue to read my blog, as I try to maintain for 25 days and start another 100 Day Challenge in 2009. Happy New Year.

Day 87-93

Net loss - 2.0, total loss - 72.6

Thanksgiving was good. So good in fact, that I gained almost 4 pounds. My family was in Chicago, so I went to a friends and went to town. I got there about 1.30 PM and started snacking until we ate the actual meal at 6.30. The food was so good though. Luckily, I worked through everything I ate within 2 days, and lost all that weight pretty quickly.

And I am almost done with the diet. I am excited. I am happy that this is done and that I did so well on it. I have a week to go, and then 25 days of restricted freedom. I say restricted because I plan to eat, but I know I have to control it and not go crazy. Then another 100 days, and by Tax Day next year, I will be all done.

I know these posts will not be every day anymore, but I will still post at least once a week.

Day 83 - 86

Net loss - 4.6, total loss, 71.4

I broke through the barrier I wanted. All it took was hard work and discipline. And a lot of willpower. As I said before, I dressed up as Santa Friday night, pics below. That was fun, but to be honest, it was a little creepy. I just did not feel right trying to entice little kids with candy. Granted, most of the kids who were really wrong did want to talk to me anyway. They would look at me and cry.

Day 68-76

Net loss - 4.2, total - 64.0

This has been a long week. I know I should keep posting more regularly, but I keep putting it off. I have had some bad days (as shown on the weight chart on the right), but I am maintaining. I keep working out, and I am trying to stick to my diet.

One thing I have noticed is how hard the middle 1/3 of my workouts are now. I am running now, well slowly jogging, and using that demon elliptical machine more and more. When I use the elliptical, I will use it for 60 minutes on days I don't lift weights. When I run, I have been building up to this, I run 15 laps on the outside lane of a track. The last time I went, I ran on the straight-aways and walked on the curves. Anyway, minutes 20-40 on the elliptical or treadmill and laps 6-10 are so hard to get through. I always try to talk myself out of the extra laps/minutes, but when I get through those, I know that since I have completed 2/3, I can finish what I started.

I really appreciate all of the support I am getting and all the people reading this. I will try to post more often. And cheers to my sister, who has started her own diet and has lost 15 pounds so far. Keep going.

Nothing really exciting has been happening since last week. I drove up to LA this morning to have breakfast with my friend Aesea. Her name isn't really Aesea, but when I met her Freshman year in high school, she told me that was her real name and, young, innocent gullible me totally bought it. It was good to see her and catch up.

I am sure there is more I could say, but that is all for today. And to whoever posted the comment to my last post, you are correct.

100 Day Challenge Update

I am so sorry for the delay in posting, I have been lazy. Of the 3 things I am focused on for this diet (food, exercise and blog), the blog comes last. The past few days I have done extra workouts and have ignored this blog. Tomorrow, I will be posting a new blog and updating all the numbers and the weight loss chart.

More tomorrow, but for now, please enjoy this video:

Day 65

Today - 0.6, total - 57.4

ELECTION DAY. I went to vote around 9.30 today convinced there would be a line. I was so stoked when I got there and walked right in, signed in, voted and left all within about 10 minutes. It has been a long time since I voted, the last time was in 2000, so it felt good to do it this time. I am curious to see what happens and who wins.

As for the diet, I finally broke through a barrier. The last time I was working out and trying to get in shape, 2005, the most I lost was 57.2 pounds. I finally broke through that number on this diet and have lost more than the 2005 diet. It is a really good feeling especially since this time it took just over 7 weeks and last time it took 19 weeks. I have been much more disciplined about the diet this time though.

This is not a long post, I know, but if you have not done it, get out there and vote.

Day 62-64

Net loss - 1.4, total - 56.8

I apologize for not posting over the weekend. My internet is still not working, thus, I cannot post from home. Halloween was ok. There was a lot of build up, then it kind of fell flat. I still dressed up though. On Saturday morning, I tried running for the first time. OK, I lied, it was more like slow jogging, but definitely faster than walking. I went to a track and walked 3/4 of a lap and then jogged the last 100 meters. I did about 10 of those and for the last 3, I walked half a lap and jogged the last 200 meters. It was not bad, but it was not great. I have never really run in my life, even when I played baseball. The total distance of the walk/run was 4 miles, so it was a good workout.

Saturday night was interesting. I went out with DM and my friend AA. For those of you who don't remember AA from a previous blog, read this before continuing. She once again confirmed her nervous farting and told more stories about it. I actually felt a little bad, because as she explained more about it (she hates meetings because she can't control her flatulence), the more me and DM laughed. DM was laughing so hard she was crying. Then it got weird. AA began to tell us, in detail, about colonoscopies. She has had 2, so she knew quite a bit about it. I don't feel it is necessary to go into detail, but let's just say, if you ever get one, get the kind were you are put under, unless you like the feeling of air blowing up your ass.

We went to Hennessey's in Laguna again, hoping to see The Creepers, who are a really good cover band. Once again, we were disappointed because there was a different band playing. They were ok. We saw some crazy stuff at the bar though. There was a guy, who either forgot Halloween was the day before and decided to dress up Saturday night as a douchebag, or really was a douchebag. It was hard to tell. It was too dark to take a pic, but I will try to describe what I saw. He was wearing torn jeans (with a huge hole in the knee), a sport coat, a dress shirt (unbuttoned to the middle of his chest and with the sleeves unbuttoned and way too long), and a lame silver chain. The best part was his hair. It was not that long, but it was greased back to his scalp and he had it pulled into the one of the smallest ponytails I have ever seen. He was an expert dancer though. In one 10 second span he went from air guitar to air drums and at the end, he even threw in some air piano. AWESOME. Oh yeah, and he was dancing with a chick who had the word "STARLET" airbrushed on the ass of her pants (we couldn't figure out the word at first, and had to stare at it for quite some time to figure out what it was). I think they got along because her hair was shorter than his, and pulled into an even smaller ponytail (which after I saw her, became the smallest ponytail I have ever seen).

Sunday was not that interesting. I had the day off, so I went to work out twice and watched a lot of football. Anyway, here are some of the pics from Halloween.

Day 60 & 61

Net loss - 1.2, total - 55.4

HAPPY HALLOWEEN. This is one of the best holidays of the year (besides my birthday and Christmas). I will be posting pics of my costume, but for now, what I will be is a secret. So I could not post last night as my Internet is not working at my house and I have to go to my friends to post (ultra annoying). But I am still here, and I am still working out. I want to thanks those of you who are still reading even after the week off.

It has been a few weeks, and I tweaked it again, so I will list my menu again. I have tried to cut out a lot more carbs again to break through a plateau, and it is working. Also, I am still trying to eat every 3 hours, but obviously, the meals are remaining pretty small. This is what I eat on a daily basis now:

Breakfast
1 banana (before I work out, this will not change)
2 eggs scrambled with onions, hot sauce, spinach and parsley (I also add 1/2 a piece of low-sodium chicken sausage (from Trader Joe's) and a slice of low-fat cheese on the the days I lift). I was adding peppers, but I found them to be too much. I really like the eggs and onions breakfast.

Snack 1
1 apple or pear
1 yogurt (it was Activia, but I switched to Dannon Light & Fit)

Lunch
Salad with lots of lettuce, spinach, parsley, broccoli, peppers (red, green and yellow), cabbage, and low sodium salad dressing spray.
3-4 oz of chicken - this I barbecue after using a no sodium marinade and then cut up and put on the salad.

Snack 2
1 low-fat string-cheese
4-5 oz of celery sticks and baby carrots (not 4-5 oz of each, 4-5 oz total)

Dinner (Snack 3), but this is not everyday,
2 turkey/lettuce wraps - 2 slices of low-sodium turkey, some spinach, mustard, 1 slice of low-fat cheese, 2 romaine leafs.

And that is all I am eating these days, as well as drinking lots and lots of water. I think I am drinking about 3 liters of water a day. I have been on this diet for 61 days now and I am wearing pants that are 3 sizes smaller (comfortably) and shirts that are 2 sizes smaller. I feel really amazing when I put on clothes now, and that makes it so much easier to maintain.

Sometimes working out is really difficult though. For example, yesterday, I was going to go the gym in the afternoon for a second workout. I came so close to talking myself out of it. Even as I was driving there, I kept thinking I could just turn around and go home and it would be ok. As I drove in the parking lot of the gym, I thought about driving through to the other side and going home. When I got out of my car, I wanted to get back in. By the time I stepped on the demon elliptical machine, I was really close to calling it a day after 2 minutes, but somehow, I stayed on. I pushed through and went the 3 miles I wanted to go and I was happy I stuck with it. The feeling of pushing yourself through a workout and getting that extra mile, that extra minute, that extra incline is pretty amazing. I feel so good when I done working out, I just have to get through that first 5 minutes.

Like I said above, my clothes are shrinking as well, so I wanted to show off. I am a nerd, I know, but I wore some new clothes yesterday and I was really proud of it, so I was telling everyone who would listen that what I was wearing was much smaller than what I was wearing before.

Me, ready for work (shirt 2 sizes smaller and pants 3 sizes smaller)...striking a pose

Really, though, you might need to see the outfit again

This is my new sweater (I have never worn a V-neck before)

and pants that I have not worn in about 3 years:

WHAT? WHERE? Is Timmy trapped in a well? Who is Timmy?

Are you sure? I didn't see anything...

Over there?

I think you might be wrong, I am going to look the other way...

I hope you have a good, scary Halloween.

Days 52 - 59

Net loss - 7.8, total - 54.2

I am back. Sorry about the absence, but I needed to get away. I will be blogging again, everyday, and writing about how I am doing with this diet. I put the total loss at the top of this post, but there are daily numbers on the side. I also updated the weight-loss chart.

What has happened in the last week? I have been working every day and still losing weight. I am trying to stick to the diet, but yesterday I strayed. They had cake at work, so I indulged and had a piece of chocolate cake. It was pretty tasty. I tried to compensate by going to work out after work, and I still lost some weight, but not a lot.

I know I have been putting this off, but I am going to post some before and after pics.

This first one is me and Gootch on the Baseball Road Trip. We are in Pittsburgh

and this is a week before the diet started.

2 days ago, down 52 pounds, wearing clothes that were way too small 2 months ago.

Face pic from the start of the diet.

Today's pic.

That will conclude this post, I just wanted to get back into posting everyday. I am going to blog and workout everyday. 46 pounds to go.....

Day 51

Today - 0.0, total - 46.4

I did not lose any weight today and that is ok. I went grocery shopping yesterday. As a treat for being on the diet for 50 days, I bought one of those salads in a bag (with dressing) and some pre-marinated chicken. It was a little salty, but it was really tasty. I didn't realize how much I have changed since the diet started. Before, I would have wanted something fried for dinner to celebrate followed by a chocolate dessert and no salad in sight. I know that this is how I am going to eat when I am done with the diet to maintain my new weight and I liked it. It was tasty and satisfying.

I really don't have much to say today, so that is all for now. More tomorrow.....

Day 50

Today - 0.8, total - 46.4

I am halfway done, I am halfway done, I am halfway done. This is such a good feeling. I have been looking forward to it since I started. I know that now that I am halfway done I can keep pushing for the next half. I am really proud of what I have accomplished so far. I started out walking 2 miles a day and now I am walking 5.5 miles and uphill. I have dropped 2 shirt sizes and almost 3 pant sizes. I can fit into some of my clothes for the first time in 3 years, and I am now the lowest weight I have been in well over 3 years. This is amazing.

So what did I do to celebrate the halfway point of the 100 day challenge? I did yoga for the first time ever. Let me tell you how badly I wished it was being filmed. Grace, balance and any sort of flexibility have been lost on me but I tried. It was ok at first, the general stretching, but then the hard part started. I almost fell over several times, especially when we were supposed to be standing on one leg. Luckily, I was in the back row, in the corner by another guy who had never done yoga before.

Overall, a good day, and a great 50 days. Here's to 50 more...

Day 49

Today - 1.0, total - 45.6

I went to the gym this morning instead of going on my normal walk. I figured I could do more there than just walking. I did the elliptical machine for 30 minutes and then walked on the treadmill for an hour. It was a good workout, but I was surprised by, not only how many people were there at 6 AM on a Sunday morning, but by the fact I was there at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. I have been thinking about using the bikes at the gym too, but I am pretty sure that would not be a pretty picture.

When I weighed in this morning, I was surprised that I dropped a pound. This means that I am at the lowest weight I have been in 3 years. Like I said before, I worked out with a personal trainer during the summer of 2005. I dropped a lot of weight, but put it all back on when I stopped working out and stopped eating nutritiously. With the pound lost today, I am exactly the same weight as the lowest point of working out in 2005. In 2005, to get to the weight I am now, it took 19 weeks. This time, it took 7 weeks. This weigh in was pretty amazing, and with the clothes shopping yesterday, I am really happy right now. I am excited to see what the weigh in will be tomorrow...

Day 48

Today - 0.2, total - 44.6

HAHAHA. If you didn't read it, read my sister Shalini's lovely comment from the post yesterday (thanks for that sis). I know I need to put things in perspective sometimes, but I usually forget to do that. Today was a really good day. I admit, last night, when I was posted, I was pissed, but it had nothing to do with the diet. It is of no consequence what happened, I am over it now.

Today was really good though. Work was the same old same old, nothing new in that really. However, we were having a big sale. Let me backtrack a little. Before the diet, I was too big to shop at normal stores for clothes. Unfortunately, XXL shirts and size 42 pants just didn't cut it, which is what most stores carry. I had to shop at the Big & Tall stores (when I would shop, which was not often, I would always just say I went to the mall and that I couldn't remember what store I went to). A couple weeks ago, when I noticed I could wear smaller clothes, and wear them well, I started looking at the clothing at my store. Obviously, since the clothes didn't fit me before, I never bothered looking. Now, I admit, I am always looking at what we have and what I would like.

As my friend from cosmetics was leaving, I asked her to help me shop for some clothes. When we got upstairs, she asked me what my style was and I had no answer. Because I couldn't find clothes before, I always just wore t-shirts and jeans (now I have to think about style....brutal). As we were looking around and trying things on, I was blown away at the clothes that fit me now (we also had a lot fun with it and I cannot wait to lose more and go shopping again). Granted, some clothes still fit small and just don't work, but some of the clothes fit well and looked good. I felt so good about that and I really felt compelled to start pushing more on this diet. I think I am hitting a small plateau again, and the only thing to tweak now is that I have to do more when I work out. I am doing so well and need to not only maintain, but do more.

Whoo, ok, so after all that, I bought a shirt and tie and a sweater. Admittedly, I have never been a sweater guy, but a few more pounds to go and it will look really good. What a good day after yesterday. Who would have thought trying on clothes would do that.

Finally, to "Anonymous" who left the YouTube video for me to watch yesterday. Thank you for that, it was a good video. But who are you? Feel free to email me at: saschablog100@yahoo.com.

Day 47

Today - 0.4, total - 44.4

Not much to report today. Lost more weight. Worked out pretty hard in the morning. Work was lame. Great.

Day 46

Today - 0.4, total - 44.0




What a day. I went on a long walk today (which has now just become "my walk" as opposed to an "extended walk"), that was 5.5 miles. The worst parts were the 2 major hills I walked up. It was not easy, but I pushed through. I realized that like much of this diet, I do not like the struggle and the work, but if I make myself keep working, I feel better about completing something I put my mind to and I feel great about the results. I have really become adapted to this diet and exercising every morning feels so good.

After the walk, I was a little sore, but I think that was from yesterday. I am trying to add to my workouts, so I did the elliptical machine for 20 minutes. I did not like it. I made it through, somehow, but it wore me out. I then walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I walked 40 minutes at an incline including a total of 10 minutes at Level 5.0, which is more than I have been doing.
One really interesting thing about yesterday was that I was broadcast on the internet. Let me explain. I was talking to one of the people that works in Cosmetics the other day about my diet and what I had changed in my life. It turns out, her and husband have a nightly show that they broadcast on blogtv.com called J Francis Radio. She asked me to be on the show to get my story out, and so I said yes. Anyway, they called me last night and interviewed me about the diet. There are a few links as they break the video into 10 minute segments, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

It was good to get a new audience to share my story about this Challenge (and to those of you who listened last night, keep reading and tell your friends). I will also be on the show, in the studio, next Tuesday night. They broadcast at 9 PM PST at http://www.blogtv.com/People/Jfrancisradio, so remember to check it out.

Day 45

Today - 1.0, total - 43.6

I am still going pretty steady this week, dropping 1 pound a day. I am going to go on that hike again tomorrow and I am excited. I think I will be able to do better this time. What is that you say? I never posted the video I promised of the hike? My bad. I finally got to finish editing it. Please enjoy this video:




Also, I have been looking at some pics, some before-and-after if you will. Just so you can see the difference, I am going to post some pics from today and from New Year's Eve 2006. As for the shirt I am wearing, it stems from a night out with some friends and confusion over shots of tequila (not to mention the Tequila Club) and me trying to reason with our waitress. This is the story as it occurred October 2006 (that I remember):

I went to a Mexican restaurant, Freds, in Dana Point with a few of my friends. We had some beers at bar while we waited for a table. As we had some time to kill, and my ability to do shots and still stand is always in question, we decided to take some tequila shots (and really, a shot of Patron always make a dinner better). We take the shots, get seated and start looking at the menu.

You may not know this about me, but it has been said that I have the attention span of a fly. I usually don't pay attention to any one thing for very long, so needless to say, the menu got boring. As I looked around the restaurant, I noticed one wall covered with some plaques and a bunch of pictures and the phrase (in GIANT letters), "The Tequila Club." I asked our waitress what it was and she explained that it was a list of people who joined and then consumed 1 shot of every type of tequila that they serve. I knew immediately that I had to join and ordered 4 more shots of tequila (I was informed that they only served 5 shots a day to a person for safety reasons as they had 50 varieties of tequila. Not that I would have done 50 shots, but I could have made a big dent in the list that night had there not been a 5 shot rule.). I did not care what the shots were, just the first 4 from the tequila list.

The shots were served in a timely fashion and after a few minutes I had taken 2 of the 4 shots ordered. At this point a young lady walked up to the table and following conversation took place (keep in mind, she was not in any uniform and had no name tag):

Her: I am sorry to inform you that the Tequila Club is no longer active, so I can take these shots back and not charge you, but if you keep them, I have to charge you and I have to charge you for the 2 shots you already did.
Me: Who are you? Do you even work here?

Her: I am the Night Manager, look I have keys.

Me: I have keys too, does that mean I work here?

Her: I have a $1,000 key.

Me: (Excitedly) I HAVE A $1,000 KEY ALSO. (Then there was an awkward pause where she just stared at me, then...) So the waitress does not know there is no more tequila club?

Her: I guess not.

Me: So you're saying she didn't get the memo?

Her: No, she didn't.

Me: It's a pretty important memo, don't you think? Shouldn't it be your job to make sure that everyone know?

Her: It is, but I still have to charge you for the shots if you keep them.

Me: Well, they are already on the table, I will keep them. Make sure everyone gets that memo though.

The waitress came back and tried to explain more, but by that time, I had had 3 shots of tequila and a few beers. I stopped caring, but I was annoyed about them trying to take the shots back. Were they going to dump them out or pour them back in the bottle? If they were going to dump them out and waste them, I should have been able to keep them. I really hope they weren't going to pour them back in the bottle, that would have been nasty. The night was fun anyway, and as a Christmas present, I was given the shirt that I am wearing below.

New Year's Eve 2006, front

New Year's Eve 2006, back

A few months ago

Today, front

Today, back

Not too shabby eh? Also, I talked about a walk with DM during the first week of this that was uphill both ways. I did not like that walk then, but I am going to go on that walk again today with her. I am pretty sure I will not like today either, but it will be a good test to see how much I have changed since I started. I am confident I will do much better today then I did 6 weeks ago. More on that tomorrow....

Day 44

Today - 1.0, total - 42.6

I ate the Kashi Hot Cereal today. I had the Vanilla, and it really was not that full of flavor, but it tasted good. I was expecting a little more flavor, but I was not totally disappointed. I am interested to see how the Cinnamon flavor tastes.

As for work, it was not that interesting other than one thing. I was walking around the Fine China department and saw something that surprised me. I saw a crystal dreidel made by Waterford.

It is not that I have anything against dreidels, or Waterford, I just think it is really weird that we have a dreidel that cost $100 and doesn't even spin. Oh, that's right, I forgot to say that I tried several times to spin it and it would not spin.

Yesterday, I forgot to talk about what I was drinking. Obviously, no alcohol first of all, but really, all I drink is water. Every so often, maybe once a week, I have a Diet Coke. On the days I lift, I have a grape Powerade Zero (which is really good). Other than that, when I eat lunch, I add a packet of the Lipton Green Tea mix to my water. It breaks up the monotony of water.

That is all for this post, have a good one.

Day 43

Today - 1.0, total - 41.6


I have tweaked my diet again. I realize that it has been awhile since I talked about what I am eating, so I will talk about it again today. I went grocery shopping yesterday, which overall, was not that exciting, but I did see something that made me a little confused. Check out the pic below:

As you can see, this is a box of Kashi High Fiber Cereal. What I don't understand is the picture or the name of the cereal. Good Friends? Are casual acquaintances not allowed to get an increased boost of fiber? Why are the people so happy? Are they so happy because they had experienced some blockage and they are now much more regular? If you click the link above, it takes you to the Kashi web site, specifically the page for this cereal. On that page it describes the cereal as follows: "This high-fiber trio of flakes, twigs, and granola is absolutely delicious." Am I the only one who does not get that excited about eating twigs? Am I a bird trying to build a nest? I do not understand. Can someone explain this please?


Just to clear things up, I am not bagging on Kashi in general. I did buy their oatmeal as I am trying to change what I am eating, and I have heard that Kashi is supped to be really good for you. In case you are wondering, I got the Vanilla and Honey Cinnamon flavors. As soon as I try them, I will let you know how it is. Anyway, I just don't understand the Good Friends cereal. Maybe it's just me.

I also bought Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt. I was eating Low-Fat Activia, but decided to try something new. The Light & Fit has less carbs than Activia, which should help.

Alright, now for the food. The first menu is for the days I lift weights as I will eat more protein on those days and the second menu is for the other days of the week.

Menu 1 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and possibly 1 day on the weekend as well)

Breakfast
1 banana - I still eat this every morning before working out.
2 egg scramble - I make this with onions, peppers (red, green and yellow), chicken sausage, spinach and parsley. Occasionally, I will eat this with 2 slices of Oroweat toast. I also mix in spices and hot sauce. It is really good.

Snack 1
Yogurt and an apple

Lunch
Salad - romaine, spinach, peppers (red, green and yellow), cucumbers, carrots, cabbage and this low-sodium/low-calorie spray salad dressing.
Chicken - I am going to barbecue chicken again and add about 3-4 oz to the salad (on some of these days, I will not have toast for breakfast, and I will make a sandwich for lunch).

Snack 2
Low-fat string cheese and either celery or carrots

Dinner (this isn't really dinner, more of another snack)
2-3 slices of low-sodium sandwich meat rolled with lettuce (and/or spinach) and mustard and low-fat cheese (I tried this tonight and it was really good)

Menu 2 (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday)

Breakfast
1 banana - before working out.
Kashi Hot Cereal and an apple - More to talk about later after I actually try it.

Snack 1
Yogurt and celery

Lunch
Salad - romaine, spinach, peppers (red, green and yellow), cucumbers, carrots, cabbage and this low-sodium/low-calorie spray salad dressing.
Chicken - I am going to barbecue chicken again and about 3-4 oz to the salad.

Snack 2
Low-fat string cheese and carrots

Dinner
2-3 slices of low-sodium sandwich meat rolled with lettuce and mustard and low-fat cheese

After much thought, and consulting with DM, I think it will be good to change up what I am eating and control the carbs more. I am really starting to like this diet. I also realize that I am satisfied with what I am eating which makes sticking to the diet that much easier. We will see how it turns out at the end of this week.

Day 41 & 42

Net loss - 0.6, total - 40.6

I could not post last night as my internet decided not to work. I am not sure what the problem was, but there was nothing I could do. So, it is Sunday and I am watching the Chicago Bears game. Since I live in Southern California, the powers that be do not show the Bears here very often, so this is making me really happy to watch the game. Now if they could win, that would be even better. I changed my schedule a little bit for the game. I was going to go for a long walk today, but I woke up late, so I cut my walk in half (so I can watch this game), and I will go for another walk after the game.

Speaking of my walks. I had to work yesterday, so I woke up early and went for my walk yesterday morning like normal. I was not aware of what the weather was when I left and I nearly froze. Before I continue this, I have to say, it is not very often that I complain about being cold. Since I am large man, it is almost like I carry around my own personal heater and I do not get cold. One example of this follows: A few friends and I decided to go to Disneyland (which, according to rumor, is the happiest place on earth.....that does not sell beer) a couple Decembers ago. December in the OC is a lot different from December in Chicago (where I am from), so I wore a t-shirt and jeans. My friends wore hoodies and complained about the cold, but I thought it was ok. In fact, I noticed people there wearing scarves, mittens and even winter coats. I thought it was really weird, especially when we left and the temperature in the car said 55 degrees (13 degrees Celsius). That day I was not cold. Yesterday, I was FREEZING. My hands were numb and even my toes started to get cold. I did not like it, but when I made it to the top of the hill, the sun was out and it warmed up a little. I was still so cold, I didn't sweat which is very odd for me.

As for the diet, here are some pics.

This is from the first day of the diet.

This is from today.

I continue to be amazed at what I am doing and how well it is going. I was not really sure how I would react to this diet when I started, or even how well I would do. 6 weeks in, 41 pounds lighter, stronger and more energetic. I feel so good. What can you do in 6 weeks?

Day 40

Today - 2.4, total 40.0

I was shocked to see how much I have lost since my last weigh in. I was not expecting that much of a drop. I am now right back on track as I have dropped 40 pounds in 40 days. 40 Pounds. It is such a big number and it makes me feel really good. I think a lot of that has to do with the hike from yesterday (which is mapped out here).

I am going to post a video of the hike, but that will have to wait. I did not finish editing it yet. As for pics, there will be more. It got late really quickly today, so this is a short post.

(To the person who posted the anonymous post yesterday, who are you?)