Day 5 - 7/6/23 - Not Losing Weight Today, But It's Ok!

Let's start off right off the bat saying that the end result of today is NOT the scale going down.  And I knew that would likely be the case going into this day and I did my best to combat it, but it was inevitable.  First off, to lose 2 pounds a day for 4 days is unsustainable.  Additionally, when I'm eating that well, eventually there is a day that's less perfect and on that day, the scale shows it.  So I'm just telling you up front that while I was not as perfect today as the other days, it was still a REALLY good day, in my mind.  Here goes:

 Breakfast:  Breakfast was fine.  I went to Griddle This and had my egg white, taylor ham and whole wheat toast sandwich.  I really am trying not to eat out and also saving money by cooking at home, but once in a while, it's good for your mind to go somewhere you like, and I really like going to this place. 

Now, notice there is a Red Bull in this picture.  For the sports fans, I'm going to call this a "scheduled Red Bull Day" or a "load management Red Bull."  What do I mean?  Well, I really love Red Bull.  I just like the taste.  But I'm trying to get away from it on a daily basis.  I scheduled this Red Bull today - my first one in 5 days - because it seemed like a good day for it.  That's all.  I won't have another one tomorrow, and if all goes well, I won't have another one for 5-6 days. 

Lunch: For lunch, I was a good boy and had a little salad.  Lettuce, Chick peas and cucumbers, my usual.  Anyone who has known me since HS lunch knows that I love my cucumbers.  In fact, some coined my HS "diet" as the "Cucumber diet" based on my undying loyalty and love for those crisp, seeded pieces of goodness. 

As a little side to my salad, I made these 2 little "Fried mac & cheese" things.  Kristyn grabbed a small container of these last weekend and they've been in the fridge.  I wanted to give them a try.  Usually, this would be a situation where I'd cook all 10 of them and throw them down like a huge oinker.  But I showed restraint and just threw 2 in the air fryer.  They were REALLY GOOD!  I mean, it's basically Kraft Mac & Cheese (as my lunch buddies at Cresskill call it, "prison food") with breading around it.  Right up my alley!  This was a nice little "cheat" during a very healthy lunch.

The Rest of the Day:  So the NJ Association for Jazz Educators had a summer meeting at our president's house in Mount Olive.  They were great hosts and provided some great food for us.  This is the part of the day that I have been scared about, in terms of my diet.  It's the reason I knew I was not going to lose weight today.  The best I could do it try to manage the damage, and I think I did that.  Here's the breakdown of the rest of the day:

• Drinks:  I had a few light (and ultra lite) beers.  I only brought 3 because I didn't want to end up drinking 6!  :-)  But I also brought a bottle of Lagavulin  to sip on.  I wasn't driving, so it was cool.  :-)
• Pre-Dinner pickins':  There were chips, crackers, cheeses, etc.  I really struggle with that.  (Bet you can't eat just one!)  But I was good. I had literally 5 potato chips and 5 tostito chips as well as 3 crackers. That was it for the night on the finger foods!  HUGE victory for me.
• Dinner:  I had a hamburger on a bun, 1 chicken drumstick and 4 little pieces of sausage (Not equivalent to a whole sausage link.)  Again, usually,  I would have had more chicken, put the sausage on a roll and had more sausage.  So this was a reasonable dinner for a BBQ situation
• Snack: They had this amazing cookie platter.  I had 2 cookies.  I do not feel bad.  They were good for my mental health!  :-)   But again, usual me would have had 4-5 cookies probably.  

So in the end, what did I eat?  3 beers, some scotch, 10 total chips, 3 crackers ,a burger, a piece of chicken, a little sausage and 2 cookies.  

What would I have had last week if the same event happened?  A crap ton of chips, crackers and cheese, 6 beers, a burger, 2-3 chicken parts, a sausage sandwich and 5 cookies.

Ask me, this is a victory.

Late night snack:  I had an outshine frozen fruit bar.  Delicious treat during the latest episode we binged of 90210!  :-)  (BTW - every time I watch the show,  could skip the 90 second intro song, but I just can't help but let it play.  That songs gets me going every time!  :-)  Go back in time and check it out for yourselves.  You'll thank me later.  (Hey Pete - I see a new project in our future, if you wanna dust off the ol' FLIP!")

WEIGHT UPDATE:  As of 7/7/23 at 7:30am, I'm up 1.6 lbs from  yesterday, but down 6.4 from day 1.    This little blip of going up really doesn't mean much to me as I'm confident in the work I'll do tomorrow to balance out today.  Aside from that, weighing yourself every day is not exactly the way most people handle their business, so as long as in general, I'm down a little each week, I'll be cool.  Slow and steady wins the race, right?