A little behind...

April 2
Oatmeal — 250
Chicken salad (with vinagrette dressing) — 380
2 chicken sandwiches — 940 (wowza!)
granola bar — 90

April 3

salad — 250
a Big Mac — 560
grilled chicken with squash and spaghetti sauce (don't sleep on it!) — 340
2 granola bars — 190

April 4

Trip to Golden Corral — 950
Salad with shrimp (vinaigrette dressing) — 350
Sweet tea — 350

RALEIGH — There seems to be no way of getting around fast food.

If a news event comes up where I'm going to be tied up for an extended period of time, going home for that healthy meal I prepared is out of the question.

Let's face it, the granola bars can only hold me for so long.

This week, we've dealt with six deaths and one shooting victim. That's meant a lot of eating on the go with no end in sight.

I find myself working harder in the gym after I've been denied my basic right of a lunch break though. It works to balance out what's going on.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

Anybody got a tip to handle a busy day? I filled up my extra storage compartment with twizzlers and granola bars in case it looked like lunch would come later. And yeah, I know there are more healthier options at fast food places. Usually my wallet's empty, which means the 2 bucks I do have will go for something on the dollar menu. Can you show me something healthy on the dollar menu? Me, either.

On the bright note, I've lost 5 pounds as of today. My goal is to drop 20 more before May 1. Let's see how next week — and 5 days in Puerto Rico — affect my chances.

April Fool's Day

Meal 1: grilled Salmon steak, green salad — 300
Snack 1: Granola bar, cup of fat free yogurt — 190
Meal 2: Green salad, topped with grilled Salmon and tomatoes — 350
Snack 2: 1 Granola bar — 100
GOSH: Five Peanut butter cups — 400
(Woke up late, so the third meal isn't happening. I may get a yogurt cup or something tho.)

There's definitely a trip to the gym in my future after work.

So today I made my goals for the month of April. I seem to be smashing all the other ones, so I've gotta do something different to keep my head in the game.

I want to lose 15 pounds this month. It's enough to put me at -65 for the year, but also to get me back in it. The last month (struggling through the food while maintaining the workouts), I cheated myself, but I still lost 10 pounds.

So this weekend, I pigged out. I bought a lemon pound cake like no other with the goal of downing something I hadn't in a while to take away some of the heavy cravings I've been experiencing.

As you can see by the peanut butter cups, it didn't really help.

But my determination will. Damnit, I wanna be down 75 pounds (wow, it doesn't sound like so much until I write it) by Memorial Day. I'm going home for a reunion picnic with some of my elementary school friends, and I'll be seeing the fam. They haven't seen me since November, and I can't wait!

". . ."

When April starts, I'll be posting all that I eat, just to make sure I'm not putting the wrong things in the body.

This way, I'll be able to at least tell myself "hey, do you want that to go up on the blog?"

Likely, the answer will be no, and I'll keep it movin from the chocolates, pizza and other sweets that get the best of me.

I've lost two of the four pounds I put on last week, which brings my total to 49 pounds down since Jan. 1.

I'm down two pants sizes, my 17 shirts fit normally again, and I can't wait to start weights in April.

Getting back on it...

The gym wasn't even an option today.

When I woke up, my entire body ached. I don't know what it was, but something told me to stay home.

I've been thinking of tooling with my regimen, which has been working wonders. I read somewhere that the best way to keep it effective is to keep it new. At least, that's the way I took what I read.

When I do get back to the gym (which better be today or Thursday), I think I'll only do half the cardio, and add some weights to the routine. After all, light weights burn fat AND build muscle.

Any pointers?

M_Dubb, +4...

I'm back from out of town, but I'm back with a little something extra.

I gained four pounds while I was out of town.

That means tomorrow starts a new day with the same pace I'd been on before I left. I love that I was able to lose 10 pounds during the first half of this month. Now, even with the plus-4 I brought back to Raleigh, I'm trying to get that total to 15 for March.
And the daily digests start now.

I feel like rubber, but that's a good thing?

I stayed away from weights early on because I was told there was so much excess weight I needed to get off, I needed to get a head start on the cardio.

Problem is, I feel like a water bed.

Now I know some people like the fact that I have a little more on me, but I'm getting to the stage in this experiment where I wanna be as hard as I feel.

That, my friends, ain't happnin.

So I'm going to seek a second opinion. I mean, it's not like I'm going to start over. But I need to know how soon I can start toning.

I know this stuff didn't get on me overnight, but I'm feeling like a caterpillar getting ready for the cocoon phase.

What do I do? Who do I ask? What will become of me?

OK, that last one was a little over the top, but ya know...

Where I usually fall flat

I eat sweets to keep me up on long road trips. With the passing of my aunt last week, and the fact that plane tickets are priced through the roof, I'll be driving the SUV home for her funeral.

Oh, boy.

I dunno how I'm going to be able to make it through. Usually the sugar is what helps me when I'm close to conking out. Maybe I'll buy something upbeat like the new Danity Kane CD to keep me going. I dunno. But I'm gonna need all the help I can get, without my good friend Hostess to help me out with those 10 hours.