January 25th Exercise Diary

I went 2.7 miles on the elliptical in twenty six minutes today and I averaged 6.1mph. For awhile I had been alternating every day between the elliptical and the treadmill but lately there has been a lady coming down and using the treadmill when I am down there so I can't use it. This just started about a week ago so I am hoping this is either a new year’s resolution or she is waiting for it to get nice out so she can walk outside. Either way it is my goal to outlast her, until she gives up on her new year’s resolution, starts walking outside or retires. LOL I guess we all need something to keep us going.

Browning Hamburger and Other Ground Meats

Awhile back I talked about browning meat in the microwave. You can do any meat hamburger, ground turkey and ground sausage is what I have done but you can do any other ground meat you have around as well. It is a practice I learned from my Mom and it is healthier then browning meat in a pan on the stove because you don't cook the meat in its fat. It is fairly simple all you need is a plastic strainer and a ceramic bowl that it fits in so that there is ample space for the fat to collect below the strainer. First you place the meat in the strainer and set your microwave to fifty percent cooking power cover the strainer with a paper towel, or as I usually do a paper plate, and cook it for five minutes. Then take it out and use a spatula to break up and mix the meat. Next recover the meat and place it back in the microwave. Once gain set the microwave to fifty percent cooking power and cook for another five minutes. Take it out again and use the spatula to break up and mix the meat. Finally recover and place back in the microwave at eighty percent power for three minutes. Now you should have a pound of nicely browned meat that works great for many things and is much healthier than if you browned it on the stove in its own fat.

January 24th Food Diary

For breakfast I had a piece of the egg casserole from Sunday, a glass of apple juice and a cup of coffee with the last of my pumpkin spice creamer in it.

For Lunch I had the rest of the frozen pizza from Sunday’s lunch, a yogurt and a orange.

In the afternoon I finished my 8 cups of water even though I had a hour and a half meeting to go to.

For supper we made homemade pizza with sausage, turkey pepperoni and mushrooms. It turned out really good and I had two big pieces. My big problem came when my wife brought home some caramel peanut clusters and cashews I binged on before supper. I hate binging and it makes me feel bad afterwards but sometimes it is like an alcoholic who can't stop drinking and you don’t realize it until you have gone too far. On the bright side this is my first binge in about a week so let’s hope I can keep the next one at bay for even longer.

January 24th Exercise Diary

I hit the elliptical today for twenty six minutes. I went 2.6 miles at an average of 6.0mph. I was very pleased by the number. I was hoping I could just do the same as I did last Friday and get 2.4 miles. Now hopefully I can get on the tread mill tomorrow and do some inclined increments.

January 21st - January 23rd Weekend Update

Over all it was a pretty good weekend. I feel like I ate pretty well, didn't over eat and did some physical activity. On Friday night we ran some errands so we got a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way home. I had some bread sticks and only had 2 pieces of pizza.

On Saturday my parents were in town so we meet them for lunch at Runza where I had a double cheeseburger, large onion rings, large lemonade and a bowl of broccoli cheese soup. This was probably my worst meal. In hind sight I should have had a single burger and no soup but I had skipped breakfast and I was starving. Saturday afternoon and evening we hunkered down and watched some movies during a Midwest snow storm. While we watched the movies I had a bag of microwave popcorn in the afternoon and then two hotdogs for supper. Saturday afternoon I also made up an egg casserole for breakfast on Sunday and all of next week. It is a really simple recipe, I will put up later, that you make the day before and let sit in the fridge overnight before you bake it.

Sunday morning I got up and did a little physical activity. I saw the sun coming out around 8:30a.m. so I got my winter gear on and fired up the snow blower. I cleared off a 3 foot drift on the driveway and all of our sidewalks in about 20-30 minutes. Before I had gone out I threw the egg casserole in the oven so when I got back inside it would be ready to eat. The casserole was great and I had a glass of juice and a few cups of coffee with it to warm me back up. For lunch I had half of a frozen pizza. Then for supper we ordered some sandwiches from a local sub shop.

January 22nd Weigh In

The scale is still taunting me with Err but I feel better and healthier. Plus I have officially moved in a notch on my belt! Hopefully the elusive 330lbs is not far off now.

January 21st Food Diary

For breakfast today I took part in Doughnut Friday. I had a pudding filled doughnut and a bottle of tropical juice from the vending machine.

For lunch I had frozen dinner lasagna, yogurt and a small orange.

In the afternoon I finished my 8 cups of water for the 4th time this week.