Got the pizzas, but ...

I didn't eat them all at once. Yes, the Pizza Hut "special" is two medium two topping pizzas, a side of Buffalo wings, and potato poppers for $21.95 USD. I already had dinner (chicken burrito and chips and guacamole), but I still felt hungry. Could have been because I've worked out 8 days in a row. But when the pizzas came around 10pm, I only ate one small slice, a few wings, and a few poppers. The food might actually last a few days. I consider this a victory.

SDTC Workout

I joined the San Diego Track Club for their Tuesday Night Workout. I'd never run with them before, so I didn't know what to expect. We met at 5:30 at Balboa Park, and I was suprised to see over 50 people ready to go. We did hill work for about half an hour, then some strides (half a sprint), and finally 3 sets of 50 crunches. The group looked liked a bunch of professionals, and the average age was probably over 30. I didn't have any problem keeping up in the middle of the pack. Looks like a good workout for Tuesday.

Rowing Workout (77.4 kg)

I was driving by Lake Hodges before having dinner at Denise's, and I went to check it out. It was a very "mix it up" kind of workout, somewhere I haven't been before, and something I haven't done in a few years. Almost no one rents a rowboat on a big lake. The city provides them, but most people spend the few extra dollars for a motor. I rowed around the lake for about 50 minutes, which was a very good workout. I'd do it again, but probably back at Poway Lake, which is alot smaller, and has much less wind.

Salmon Burger (77.5 kg)

I'm really dropping weight quickly now, and the 34" board shorts I wore on last week's Hawaii trip fit a little big now. I'm still benefitting from the three realisations I made on the trip: 1) I don't need to eat two burrito (1200 cal) dinners, 2) mixing it up always helps, and 3) I'm going to look better thinner. I'm also plesantly suprised that I don't need to count calories to lose weight, and that eating small amounts of treats doesn't hurt my progress.

Last night I whipped up some chicken, proscuitto, half a tortilla, and some greek salad (with oil!) before heading out. Then, I was still hungry, so I had a fish taco as soon as I got to the casino. After the taco, I had half a Payday candy bar. When I got home at 4 am, I had some more greek salad. If only poker went as well as my diet last night.

Anyways, I should get back down to my 75.3 kg low weight within a few weeks at this rate. Today is a rest day, and I'm going to hang out by the pool at the casino hotel, and try to maintain this tan. I'll probably eat light today, just taking what I need over 6 mini-meals or so during the day. I plan to burn off more than I eat just moving around. I'd be ecstatic if I move the scales down tomorrow morning.

Chicken Noodle Salad (78.1 kg)

I've been cooking a lot of this lately -- chicken thighs, whole wheat spaghetti, mini-tomatoes, cuccumber, onions, red peppers, olive oil, vinegrette. When I'm at home, I toss it with mixed spring greens. But it packs well without the greens, tastes great, and saves at least $5/day in overpriced deli food.

I'm losing weight every day, by keeping the eating under control. Yesterday, I ran Torrey Pines after work (about 7km loop with 6%+ grade). I ate several servings of potato chips during the day, but I didn't completely lose it, and had an apple instead of other bad snacks. I had a large veggie omlete (probably 4 eggs), 1 1/2 slices whole wheat toast, and an orange for dinner. It was plenty of food. Maybe some people would consider that dieting, and restricting calories, but it's more about eating only what you need. I think about starving people in this world, and then I realise I'm eating like a king (on a diet).

Verna's Too (78.2 kg)

I didn't take many pictures on my Hawaiian vacation. In fact, the only ones I took were of food. Figure that one out. Anyway, I saw this "drive-in" on the way back from the Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii, off Hwy 11, near Hilo. I didn't know what a "Drive-In" was, and I figured it was a Drive-Thru. It's just a fast-food stand, with parking just in front, but no facility for taking/filling orders from cars.

The menu had some strange things I was afraid to try, so I stuck to the Deluxe Ono Burger, not knowing what Ono was, but admittedly being enticed by the "Deluxe" part. It took forever for them to make it, because they were filling a big call-in order. There were a couple of rough-looking locals watching me with vague but justified suspicion. I was starting to have second thoughts about the whole thing. While I was waiting around, I couldn't help from conducting a mental health inspection of the place. I lucked out that my order turned out to be a fish burger, with some real fresh veggies. It had quite a bit of white sauce, but that makes it good. I ate about 2/3'rds of it, since we were going to be eating again on board the ship in a few hours. All in all, it was a good stop and a good burger, all for $3.50. I'd make it a staple of my diet, if I lived closer.

Still On Track (78.3 kg)

I'm still in the right frame of mind, coming back from vacation. I made Outdoor Fitness Camps last night, and ran two miles beforehand. And, instead of eating the two burrito dinner, I made a salad with whole wheat spaghetti noodles, chicken thighs, spring mix (greens), onions, mini cherry tomatoes, cuccumbers and red peppers. I was still hungry, so I had an apple, then a banana, and a little bit of yoghurt. We'll see if this new diet is working after a few more days.

Lost Weight On Vacation (78.7 kg)

I had a great time in Hawaii last week, on a cruise touring the islands with my family. I was really skeptical at first, but by the 5th day on vacation, I didn't want to go home. I really experienced a change in perspective, after trying new things, and enjoying the warm weather and the beaches. I also received new inspiration to set a new target weight of 73 kg, and I learned a lot about how to get there.

The Norweigan Cruise Line ship had everything I needed to stay busy and to lose weight. They had satellite-based internet access, and I got a lot of work done during my downtime. (I woke up between 4:00 and 5:00 every morning.) They also had a pretty good gym, along with a aerobics room with spinning bikes. I worked out every day, and did outdoors things like kayaking and snorkelling. I lost 1.7 kg on the trip. This doesn't mean I starved myself; I had the chocolate tort desserts, and the cholocate croissants in the morning. I often had two breakfasts. It's just that I watched portions, and chose the high-fibre, low-starch items. But mostly, it was because I wasn't eating my usual two burrito dinners. I had the realisation that I didn't need two dinners satisfy my hunger.

Anyways, the trip helped me rededicate myself to the goal of getting down to 73kg. I realised I've been working out plenty, but that my eating habbits were very poor. (I attended a couple of seminars on board about health and fitness, which turned out to be sales pitches for some bogus $300 herbal detox products.)

The picture above is from an L&L Drive-In in Pearl City, HI. This is traditional Hawaiian fast food, aka junk food. I pretty much stopped eating after I took the picture. Don't worry, I ran about 6km (14 times around the ship) that morning.