Krakatoa Cafe

I did some last minute shopping downtown today, and I wandered around afterwards looking for an interesting place for lunch. I found the Krakatoa Cafe, which looks like a converted house in the Golden Hills area. I'd never been in the neighbourhood before, which is charming and interesting. The Krakatoa reminds me of a tree house, and they have all wood fixtures inside, and a it's like a college coffee shop. I sat and read the local arts newspaper while slowly eating 1/2 of this sandwich. I boxed up the other half.

The guy who took my order was wearing a t-shirt that had the words "MONO" a picture of a gun, followed by "KILL". I asked him if it was a reference to Phil Spector. He thought about it, then smiled and said I made his day. Glad I bring someone happiness.

Oh, by the way, I was feeling pretty much sick again, so I ate a whole bag of Double Stuff Peanut Chocolate Oreos.

I ran across a pictoral of someone's Arby's Roast Beef Challenge, which checking other photos tagged with roast beef.

76.0 kg

I'm not sure why I made a new low this morning, but I'm hoping it's true that you should eat plenty while you're exercising and losing weight. It's either that, or there's something really wrong. Well, comparing myself to Bruce Lee, I have a long way to go, so I'm not worried, I suppose.

I ate take-away from Indulgence Bakery again, this time trying the special-of-the-day low-cal rotini pesto w/ spinach, and a piece of artichoke quiche. I wasn't very satisfied, so I'll go with the buffalo burger next time.

Well Again

I probably get sick about twice a year, and it usually knocks me off my feet for a few days. I lay around the house for two or three days, then I'm completely over it. I don't like the idea of letting something linger for too long. I actually got pretty sick a year ago, when I was very heavy and unhealthy, and I eventually went to see a doctor. I was reluctant to go, because I looked like a sick, total slob. I was pretty embarassed in the doctor's waiting room. Evenutally, I got some antibiotics, which I'm actually taking now. This time, I had it the worst on Sunday and Monday, and just rested up on Tuesday. I plan to hit the gym tonight.

I ate some junk over the last few days. I ordered a large thin crust pizza from Pizza Hut, and ate it over 12 hours. Yesterday, I had 6 Dryer's Grand Light Ice Cream Bars in quick succession. I'd call that a binge. I also cooked chicken thighs, and had a Carl's Jr. Famous Star. However, I'm not getting a very good vibe from the OA meeting, because no one else seems to currently overeat, as they're all in tune with some Higher Power.

I got on the scale this morning, and I'm only 0.2 kg off my low, which is good news.

Thanks To Everyone That Gave Me This Bug

I've been down for the count since Sunday. I've been lying around in the same clothes for 48 hours now, and I've probably slept 90% of that time. I could barely muster the strength to drive to the store and pick up a case (9l) of diet lemonade cans, and a few sandwiches. I drank 12 cans (4.5l) in 12 hours, waking up each hour to drink another. Could have been related to the fact that I turned up the thermostat to 25degC.

I know that everyone at OFC had some kind of bug (Kristen, Angie, Jason), and it probably didn't help that I got to bed late Friday night, then spent the day in shorts at the Lucky Lady. Oh well, I guess you have to some down with something every once in a while.

There was a pretty good video on SNL this weekend, that's somewhat food related. Mostly, it's pretty damn funny. I like the line about being like Aaron Burr, dropping all the Hamiltons.

NFL Week 15 Bets

I can't proclaim a single mortal lock this week, but I bet $225 USD on the following NFL games this weekend:

$20 Cleveland Browns (+140)
$20 Arizona Cardinals (-1.5)
$15 NY Jets vs Miami Dolphins Over 35
$12 Pittsburgh Steelers vs Minnesota Vikings Over 41
$20 Denver Broncos (-9)
$20 Dallas Cowboys (+3)
$25 Dallas Cowboys vs Washington Redskins Over 35
$25 Denver Broncos vs Buffalo Bills Over 34.5
$50 Indianapolis Colts (-7.5)
$20 Seattle Seahawks (-7)

76.6 kg

I have no idea why I made a new low this morning, after all the binging and holiday treats lately. (I hadn't mentioned the tiramisu, cookie, and brownie on Wednesday.) I was really shocked when I got on the scale this morning. This really doesn't seem right to me.

Last night I went to Indulgence Bakery again, and ordered a beef salad with turkey chili, a piece of quiche, and a bar of chocolate. It was all very good. I actually saved 1/3 of the quiche and 1/2 the chocolate for breakfast this morning. I'm really enjoying take-away food, and I just don't cook anymore.

Well, since eating tamales, pizza, and chocolate isn't hurting my weightloss, I'm going to try to find some more tasty take-away. I'm sure there's some reasonable explanation why you can eat like this and lose weight. Sure, I'm working out hard, but I like to. Since I've refitted SPDs onto my biking shoes, spinning class has been like racing around on the road. Well see if the weightloss continues with this type of eating. It could be that I really was undereating the whole time I was losing weight, until last week. We'll see.

Climbed Back On The Scales

After a few days of binging, I decided to see how far I set myself back, so I got back on the scale this morning. Suprisingly, I'm only at 77.4 kg, 0.4 kg off my low weight, and I made a 20.0% morning body fat reading. So, even though I sat on the couch the entire Sunday, ate a medium pizza in 5 minutes, and ate 8 tamales over the weekend, and ate probably 350g of chocolate over 2 days, and two grilled cheese sandwiches last night, and had 3 rest days over the last 6 days, I'm okay on the scale. I didn't set myself back too far at all.

Binging is a part of life. Sure, there are people that won't eat the entire pizza. They're apparently saints. I won't do it in front of people, but on the couch and in front of the tv, the minimum amount of pizza I'm going to eat is one pizza (or all the pizza). I knew when I ordered it, I'd be eating all of it in one sitting. However, I wasn't sure if I'd be hungry later on for dinner. It turns out I was.

Sure, the first 3 slices tasted the best. Actually, the first slice had the most guilt. Well, maybe the last slice did. Or the penultimate slice, since I knew I was going to eat the remaining one a few seconds later. But the first slice tasted just like it did 6 months ago, when I was very overweight, and unhappy, and receiving my pizzas though an expanded mail slot in the front door (just kidding). But I'd order the pizza from the couch, in the same pair of sweatpants I wore every day, because they were the only things that fit. My hair would be bent in weird shapes from sleeping on it, and on Sunday, it'd have been a few days since I took a shower. The same guy from Pizza Hut would usually deliver, and he'd remember me from my fairly good tip. He'd probably also knew I was one of those eat-thru-delivery recluses. Anyway, like I said, the first slice reminded me of all that, because I can taste the oil baked in the Pizza Hut crust. It's buttery, but I actually don't like it.

Well, like I said, I withstood the latest binges ok, and I'm still on track, better for the experience. I'm looking forward to either spinning or OFC tonight, whatever works out.

Indulgence

I made it back to that low-carb cafe I ate at last week, and ordered some new things tonight. I found out the place is called Indulgence Bakery. I really love this place. They have a full staff, and all the facilities to bake amazing things, and to make tasty food. They also specialise in vegan, gluten-free, healthy, low-carb treats, with a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. It's really good food, because of all the subtle preparations with many spices and flavours. Most places don't put this amount of effort and detail into their food. The food smells so good in the car, I can't wait to get home.

This is Christina making cheesecakes. I talked to her while I was waiting for my order, and learned a little about what goes into them. They use a lot of healthy ingredients, which tends to keep the calories down, so if you want a treat, it's a reasonable way to go. She put a whole tray into the oven.

I tried the Bison Burger, served with a side salad, baked potato wedges, and coleslaw. Very yummy, and very healthy. You can tell by the taste that everything is made fresh to order, and everything is prepared healthy way. It's one of my favourite places now. I also ordered a quiche, which is great, and of course, healthy.

Should Have Bet More

I cashed out from my Bodog sports betting account, figuring I'm ahead. I cashed out $450, and left $11.09 in the account. Then I saw the over/under @ 44.5 points for the Monday Night Saints @ Falcons game, and thought it was a pretty good bet to take the over. So I bet $11.09 to win $9.64. I really thought about clicking a few buttons, and making a bigger bet. It would have been easy. Argh.

Did pretty good in online poker tonight. Up over $100.

Binge Weekend

Yesterday, I ate an entire medium pizza in about 5 minutes watching football. I also ate two tamales that morning, and 2 chicken thighs later on. I sat around and bet/watched football all day, and played a bunch of poker. Sorry, but it's the truth. Fortunately, my lock of the week came through (by 1/2 a point), so I wasn't on total binge & tilt. I also won a little playing poker.

I was pretty tired and listeless on Saturday. Sure, I was up late Friday night, but I really think it's the winter that slows me down. I really don't like the dryness.

The picture is from a party Alex from the Bambu Bistro threw for friends, locals, and customers on Saturday night.

I won't be weighing in for at least a week.

Tamale House

After the OFC workout this morning, I went searching the neighbourhoods around downtown for an authentic place for lunch. Pretty quickly, I found this place on 25th and Market. It's a very small place where they specialize in tamales, and they had about 6 people in the kitchen making them for the day. I had two there, and took a half dozen to go. It was a Spanish-only conversation, and everyone in the kitchen took turns staring at me.

77.0 kg

New low. Getting there.

Low Carb Cafe

I checked out a new cafe in Hillcrest tonight after spinning and strength training. I don't remember the name of the place, or the location, but here's a picture of a flourless chocolate tower that has only 110 calories. It's served warm with icing. I also had a steak sandwich, served with baked yam fries and coleslaw. Great place. I was the only customer at 8pm though. I drove 170 kph going home, because I was starving.

Driving around Hillcrest, I also picked up a pirate radio station, Free Radio San Diego on 96.9 FM. I heard that the FCC is a little more lenient with these low-power stations, but I was pretty impressed with the brazen way they said "Fuck" all the time. That's about all that makes the station unique. The music isn't that interesting. I'll check it out from now on.

New Low Body Fat %

I noticed I hit some new lows on my scale's body fat meter lately. I made a 19.0% evening reading when I came back from Vegas. I made a 19.5% reading this morning. When I started 6 months ago, I was at about 30% body fat.

I'm pretty excited about breaking the 20% mark. I haven't gotten down this low since college. I barely broke 20% four years ago, when I was in good shape. Here's my old Yahoo! calendar when I tracked my previous weightloss. I made it to about 20%, and 75 kg late fall 2001, but I received a bread maker for Christmas that year, and I lost it soon after.

Right now, my waist size is 33". I'm going to get it down to probably 30". When I was growing up (like grade 8), I wore 28" pants. If I get down to that level, call me anorexic.

Ok, I probably ate about 200g of Godiva chocolates yesterday at lunch. That's well over 1000 calories. Go ahead, lecture me. When I binge like this, it's because I have emotional problems. When other people do it, it's because it's a natural reaction to calorie-laden fats and sugars, and a product of evolution.

Virtual Vegas

Couldn't get enough of Vegas over the last few days, so I'm back online playing. I should also set up a chat session with my GA sponsor while I'm playing.

Lock Alert

What am I missing here? The Redskins are only -3.5 @ Arizona this weekend. I'm half-in on this action.

77.2 kg

Hit a new this morning after the Vegas trip. I thought I would have lost more, but it must have been all those desserts and candy. Oh well, back to the normal programme.

Well, At Least Someone Won

This is George's tally sheet for his total action on the trip. I'd say the guy couldn't lose, except he finally had a -$1900 session last night. By his crazy gorilla math, he's up +$3325 USD.

Mid-Trip Report

Everyone is heebing it up big time except for me. George was like pumped up like to $3 1/2 G's, before he went to play at the Mandalay Bay private casino with his friend betting $40,000 per hand. John has been dominating the one table sit-and-go tourneys with 2 first place finishes, and a 7th in the Orleans $100+$25+$125(Rebuy) tourney tonight. Below is Eric with the chip lead at the final table of the tournament. He took 3rd, which paid $1300. We took our winning streak out on the floor, and dominated the house games for another hundred or so, and got comp'ed breakfast by the craps manager, who changed the minimum bet from $3 to $5 on the shift change, and told us we weren't grandfathered in at the lower limit. This is pretty much wrong, but we didn't care, we just colored out and sat around looking bored. That pretty much stunned him.

Getting Unstuck

Got four hours of sleep last night, but made it to the gym this morning for strength training and 40 minutes of hard cardio. It's a nice spa here at Treasure Island, and there were some serious fitness fans there this morning. I was good at lunch, and had a turkey burger. Afterwards we started walking to the Bellagio, and it was a little cold and boring, so I decided to run there.

I played poker for a few hours, and won about $200. The guys played a few satellite tournaments, but didn't win anything today. Everyone is up except me. George is killing at blackjack, and is up at least $2500 USD. We're headed to the Orleans for more poker. I know George will want to get lap dances, and I'll probably spend some money there, but nothing like him. Hard to take photos in there.

Already Stuck

I immediately got stuck on the plane banking Pai-Gow with my "friends". When we got to McCarran, these girls were wearing mini-skirts and otherwise conspicuously holding signs for these celebs. I guess they're shilling for a club called Body English, or Jude and Jared wanted everyone to know they're flying coach.


The first trip to the ATM. I'm already stuck, so I'll be making another trip soon. Even if I don't gamble. Aiyah.

Semi-Binge Tonight

It's been 8 or 9 days straight of workouts, so I decided to binge a little with take-away from Mona Lisa Foods, a restaurant/grocery in Little Italy. I got a Deluxe Sub, which means fatty meats, cheese, and oil, but on a suprisingly crispy roll. I also got 3 pieces of imported Italian chocolates, and ate probably 350g of very tender squid anti-pasto.

I'm headed to Las Vegas tomorrow night with some friends, for a very long holiday, returning Tuesday night. It's been a while since I've gone on a trip while being in shape. I plan to have a lot of fun. My friends plan to gamble a lot.

77.4 kg

New low this morning, after eating only the Ahi special, what was left of the salad rolls, and some muselix last night. I had a sausage and salad roll for breakfast, a tostada for lunch, a piece of chocolate, a package of Corn Nuts, a granola bar for a snack. It probably totaled about 2100 calories. I did an hour of spinning, which probably burns off about 1000 calories. Since my resting metabolism burns off 2000 calories, I'm nominally at a 900 calorie deficit, which should burn off about 110g of fat. That's about right, since I'd lose 0.77 kg for a good week, and I do just okay and lose around 0.5 - 0.6 kg. It all adds up.


My breakfast today: 120g soy breakfast sausage, 1 green pepper, 1/4 onion, mushrooms, corn tortilla. About 320 total calories.