Year 3, Day 25: Is It Really A Wonder?

You know, I have always considered myself a marketing guy, and I always appreciate shameless marketing, no matter what. But in my old age I have grown more sensitive to the misleading marketing tactics being used to market shitty products to kids. And Wonder "Kids" (I'm surprised they didn't make it "kidz") really takes the cake. Here, they are taking a product, that for the most part really only appeals to kids anyway (that includes college students and arrested adults who act like kids) and pretending to make a new product that is specifically "For" kids. But if they were really making a product for kids, how about if they could just leave THE HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OILS out of them? Well they didn't. And to make it worse, they don't publish their complete nutritional information on their web site. Very misleading. They only publish the vitamins in their bread, not the ingredients.

Breakfast
Kashi (plus bear naked granola)
Heritage Flakes
Strawberries
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Lunch
Turkey, Chicken
Salad Feta Balsamic

Snackz
4 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
6 oz Vanilla Stonyfield Yogurt
Peanut Butter, to taste

Dinner
Turkey Crumble
Lettuce Leaves

Another trip to the gym, another 6.25 miles in 65 minutes, slowest in some time. It was a struggle, but I still managed to walk downstairs and do 80 ab crunches. I am starting to like the downstairs gym. I know I will get into the machines. I'm not sure that I'll ever really be into weight lifting. That reminds me of all the psychopaths from my high school. I am not so eager to relive those days.

Year 2, Day 338—Slippage

Always worried about slippatge, especially after a great weigh-in. The feeling that I can "add" or "treat" myself to something feels like slack in the leash, but I'm never sure that I'm interested in that slack, because as Courtney Wayshak used to ask "Where does it end?" Of course he was given to hyberbolic rantings, but he still had a point. I'm afraid mostly that if I live life off the leash I'll go to the dogs in a hurry.


Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Lunch
Breast of Chicken
Salad

Snack
1/2 apple
6 oz. Plain Yogurt
3 Tablespoons SCPB
2.5 Cups Boston Lite Popcorn

Dinner
Brisket
Carrots, Celery, Onions
More Salad

One of my favorite workouts today. I made it 8 miles, a new record, in just over about 68 minutes on level five. Then after that, I was able to get onto the ab cruncher and do my typical 30 reps. I got lucky because I arrived at 10:15am and signed for a 10:30am and 11:00am space on the elliptical, but the woman on the one I signed up for split halfway through her session, so I got a bonus 15 minutes.

Year 2, Day 325: A Little More Normal

Well it's been a few weeks of slippery sliding (especially where nuts are concerned) but today I made an honest-to-goodness effort to get back to will power. Even though my salad weighed in at a whopping $5.77, I couldn't finish it during my lunch sitting, so I brought it to my office to eat as a snack later. Unfortunately, I also spilled about half the remaining salad on the ground (and my floor is no place to eat from) so there was a calorie savings. I was no monk of food, but it was a nearly nut-free day (I had some peanut butter while preparing Emily's toast this morning).

Breakfast
2 Soft Boiled Eggs +1 Hard Yolk
1 Slice of Jane's Walnut/Whole Wheat Bread
1 small bite of peanut butter
Coffee

Snack
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
3 Sticks Beef Jerky
1 oz Boston Lite Popcorn

Russo's ($5.77)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Dinner:
Tilapia
Fried Onions
Cauliflower

Some mornings I find it very difficult not to eat any more after I'm done with breakfast. It's especially hard when I make hard boiled eggs for Magnolia and she doesn't like the yellow part. I always end up eating at least one of her yolks. I figure it's not as bad as finishing Ruby's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, waffles with syrup, or pop-tart crusts, as I have done in the past, and for SOOOOOO long.

Year 2, Day 324: Chuck E. Cheese

Ruby and another kid who's a friend of Ruby's missed a party that was held at Chuck E. Cheese last year. They missed it because the party was during the middle of the day following an early release day. Neither parent could arrange either the pick up or drop off. We promised them that since they missed the party, we'd (I'd) take them there some day by themselves. It so happens that day was today. I made sure I went to the gym early in the day so I'd have extra energy and not be crabby. Adults at a Chuck E. Cheese are likely to have their last nerves on display and I did not want to be one of them. My plan was pretty good, except for the fact that the pizza they were bringing out every 10 minutes smelled FANTASTIC. I was glad we left when we did because it was starting to get to me. I did notice that they had a salad bar, though, for which I awarded them a lot of style points. The salad is probably atrocious, but it's nice that they offer an alternative.

Another word about Chuck E. Cheese: what's the big deal? When I was growing up, places like that were called "Game Rooms," by kids and "A Waste of Money" by parents. I think the only thing new is the bright lights. When I was growing up, the game rooms were dark, unrentable lots in a mall where lots of arcade games could be stored cheaply and children could be left while their parents were free to shop.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Ikea Muesli
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Lunch
Hamburger
Salad

Snack
6 oz. plain yogurt
4 tblespoons super chunky peanut butter
.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
6 tortilla chips with melted cheddar/montery jack cheese

Dinner
Breast of Chicken
Cauliflower

Did about seven miles on the elliptical, though I was thrown off one machine and had to finish on another. It is very difficult to keep your pace when you are switching from machine to machine. Some have different controls, and when they added television screens to the machines, they added the TV controls on the handles of some of them, making them annoying to avoid. Recently, the crowds have been such that in order to stay on a machine without getting into trouble, I reset the mileage. This is because there is a post 30 minute maximum when people are waiting, which I think is foolish, but probably necessary. As I from New York, I do what all New Yorkers do, which is take advantage of the situation with the knowledge that everyone will do it when they need to. Following that, I Did 3 sets of 10 reps of ab crunches, too. I am starting to like the downstairs gym, where all the strength training equipment is. I just have to get past the part where I get light-headed.

Year 2, Day 317: Will Work Out for Peanut Butter

Today I realized the only reason I really continue to exercise is that so I can eat peanut butter. And lots and lots of it. For the most part, I really keep off the stuff except on workout days. Occasionally I have it as breakfast but I can really get carried away with a spoon and a jar, which amazingly, is not much different how I used to be growing up and in college. Of all the foods that I ate in irresponsible quantities, Peanut butter is probably the only one that I still carry the same candle for now. Mostly, this is because I have discovered Teddies, which I often wax about here. Teddies has proven to me that I should speak to every parent in the world and convince them to throw away their JIF, Skippy (even if it is the "organic"), Peter Pan and other sugar-laden brands and embrace the one true Peanut Butter of all Peanut Butters, Teddie. With only two ingredients, peanuts and salt, it just doesn't get any better, unless you get the super chunky kind. And take a tip from me—you need to mix it up good in the beginning but if you eat it as frequently as we do here, you won't need to refrigerate it. Refrigerating peanut butter is like putting heating up ice cream—it really kills the whole experience of the texture and consistency.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Ikea Muesli
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

snack
1 oz Popcorn/Smartfood

Lunch
Trio meats Blue Ribbon
Big Salad

Postworkout Snack
6 oz plain yogurt
4-5 tablespoons Super Chunky Peanut BUtter

Dinner
Brisket
Cauliflower
Broccoli

As I am nearing the end of my second year, I am very happy that I have gotten into a groove as far as exercise goes. Today, I went 6.5 miles 65 minutes which is not necessarily that great because I like to have gone seven miles, but sometimes the time allowed and the conditions mean you've got to get off the machine. I continue to contemplate other exercise machines, but for now it's going to be the elliptical. I'm only up to level five and it goes a lot higher. I haven't taken it through all the paces (urban, hill, etc.) so that's going to be tough too. Then there's that stair-stepper. Plus all the resistance and strength-training equipment. I'm working up to it, slowly. As anyone who knows me will tell you, two years to work up to it is not that slow for me.