Year 2, Day 357, Last Day of Vacation, Poker

I did get to the gym today—amazing since there was absolutely so much to get done on my one real vacation day at home (in between handing stuff at work via email). I did 7.25 miles in 65 minutes (at level 5) then I did my 50 ab crunches (5 sets of ten, roughly). I was keen on going to the gym for a lot of reasons, but one is the theory that it would help me at the card table. It did in fact help, in two ways. One, I always feel great after going to the gym—it's like cleaning out your desk, or finishing some long overdue task. That kind of thing, much like writing—the overwhelming need to keep doing one's chores can be paralyzing, but the freedom when you complete the task in inspiring. Secondly, it help to know that I burned off an extra 500 or so calories (that's a conservative estimate) so I worry less about the cavalcade of nuts that I inevitably will consume. As it turned out, I did do better tonight—coming in second—than I have done in the three previous games, so that's either a testimony to working out or the power of positive thought.

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

Lunch
Chicken Breast
Cabbage & Romaine Salad with Feta

Postworkout Snack
1 Large Fuji Apple
2 Sticks beef Jerky
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar

Dinner/Poker
Cashews & Almonds
Pistachios
Boston Lite Popcorn
Moo Shi Pork
Beef with String Beans in Black Bean Sauce
Mongolian Chicken
Shrimp in Lobster Sauce (Dark sauce)
Boneless Spareribs
Szechwan Spicy Pork

We used to play poker in Lower Allston (nicknamed L.A. by the few hipsters that lived in between exiled KGB refuseniks and incoming Brazilian immigrant families that made up the neighborhood that lived in the shadow of the Mass Pike. The neighborhood wasn't much but EVERYONE delivered there, so there was a panoply of choices, though for about 8 out of every 10 weeks we ordered from Moogy's, a sub-shop operated by college staff so busy slacking off that they often refused our orders for reasons that strained credulity and made one suspect that for one reason or another they might be...incapable of fulfilling our order. One night it was because 'they ran out of buns.' One night "the toaster isn't working" and so on. We came to realize we'd need several backups. The truth is we ate so much (Funyons, Doritos 3-Ds, Cheese Cubes and Fritos) even before the food got there that we really could have done without the food. The point is, now we really only have two choices, deli or chinese. I tend to overeat more at the Chinese table, because it's my soft spot (one of many)