Shopping

Quick summary.

Again playing procrastinator. I was going to update yesterday's entry, but ended up falling asleep. Now while my clothes are washing, I'll try to do a quick entry.

Yesterday, I did my morning jog with a light breakfast - banana (90cal), 8oz. orange juice (110cal),  and 4 prunes (100cal).  Headed to the mall to buy my usual meal at the Panda Express now called China Max...

I had to stop.  I couldn't finish on my tablet.  Whether it was me, or my tablet, it was more trouble than time saver.  Of course I will continue using my tablet, but probably not for blog entries (or at least not long entries.

Anyway, yesterday I had my usual meal at the mall.  The difference is that I counted the calories this time.  Each item was between 1 and 1.5cups:

Broccoli Chicken - 180cal.

Fried Rice - 570cal.

Orange Chicken 400cal.

Snapple Fruit Punch - 200cal.

In total, my single plate of food came to about 1,350 calories.  I was a bit annoyed with myself for the two steps forward, two steps back situation I seem to keep finding myself in.  To make matters worse, I went to another mall and being thirsty, I ordered a Wild Berry Smoothie (330cal) from MacDonald's. And I still hadn't eaten dinner.  To try to salvage my motivation and avoid finding comfort in a pint of Hagen Daz (with the false promise of starting again next week -- as I've done so many times in the past). I decided to walk part of the way home (30 minutes), and calculated the mall walking I did to add another 350 calories to my calorie bank remainder (157cal.).  So, I was able to go home with about 500 calories available for dinner.  I ended up eating Tuscan Vegetable Medley (80cal), a Greek yogurt(140cal), and a couple of fruit cups.

Today, there was suppose to be a rain storm, so I was a bit worried about not being able to do my morning jog.  Luckily, the rain held off.  It was windy and very chilly, but with my long underwear, sweats, and knit cap, I was very comfortable. 

I also went food shopping today (about $98) poorer.  The plan was to purchase food that I could create my own "single-servings" and see if that helps.  One of the things was a pack of baby carrots and a bottle of "0 calorie" ranch dressing.  I'm going to try to put 2 tablespoons of dressing in a snack bag, and I'll put a few carrots in another snack bag so that I have something to munch on tomorrow.  I also bought a few Health Choice Meals.  Next week, I want to try to having the Healthy Choice Meals for lunch instead of dinner, and see if I can lose weight that way.  Yesterday, I also want to drop the orange juice for a week and see if gives me a few extra calories to play with.  Lately, I've been buying the 8oz. 6-pack(110cal. each).  However, a single orange is about 70cal. each. 

I gave myself a two week commitment to jog in the mornings before work.  Hoping that I will be able to stick with a routine.  Next week will be the second week.  By May 1st, I want to take the workout routine up a notch.  The plan is to continue the morning jogs, but I want to start strength training.

I think that's enough for now.  Hopefully, I will be able to update this blog sometime during the week.

I'm going to attach a photo of my new lunch bag I bought at the mall yesterday (about $10 at Wal-Mart).  This new one is a bit larger than the green one posted here a few months ago, but not as large as the Polar Bag also posted here.  It is large enough to hold the full meal Healthy Choice, and my Klean Kanteen aluminum (1qt.) canteen with room for yogurt, fruit, and ice. 

Procrastinator

The procrastinator has returned! I'm on a 30 minute bus ride to the mall. Since I forgot my book, I thought a quick blog update would be good.

So, the work week has been the usual stressed out adventure. Everyday last week, by the time I returned home, it was late, I was tired, I would be asleep within 20 minutes. The only positive is that I managed the stick with my morning jog. My goal is to stick with it for two weeks and hope the route takes hold. it meant barely getting to work on time, and needing to take a taxi each day, but I think it was worth it. I haven't been dieting, but I have been watching my portions and (sort of) counting calories. I haven't lost weight so much as tightened up a bit. I had to put on my 36in pants because my 40s were too loose. People have been complimenting me on my weight loss, but I've been hovering at 202lbs for the last coupe -- I can't see the screen on my tablet. I'm typing blind. I tink that is my cue to end this entry. besides, I'm almost at the mall. I goung to Barnes &  Nobles to pick up the next book the book club has assigned. I also want to pick up a beginner's runner book.Now that I have the 45minute run under my belt, I need to take it up to the next level. The bus has arrived.

Quick Entry

This will be a tablet entry, so it should be short.

Today was day two of my lite jog in the park. it was hardee to get started, but once I was in the park, I enjoyed the run. today I did a modified version of stage 3 (walking for 3 minutes, running for 2 minutes, and repeat).

Let's Try It Again

Hello Readers, if there are any here.

It has been awhile.  I've been a bit out of it.  This will be a ramble to get the ideas out as quickly as possible.

Braces
I've had the braces for a while, and I am starting to get used to them.  A few times I've needed the dental wax, but I think my mouth has adjusted to the scraping. I'm still annoyed at the cheese-grater like fell of these things.  It doesn't matter how careful I chew, food gets stuck so easily.  Pain, well other than the heavy-handedness of the dental assistant putting in the wires and ties, I haven't really felt pain, just discomfort.  My dentist told me a couple of days ago that she isn't ready to close up the gaps yet because my teeth still need to be repositioned. 

Philadelphia
I was lucky enough to be invited to an educational convention in Philadelphia.  It was a nice experience.  I upload some photos...eventually.

Hamsters
A colleague at work, had a litter of hamsters, one an impulse, I offered to take one.  I ended up spending about $95 dollars on equipment for the little guy (or gal).  We agreed that I wouldn't take one of the hamsters until after spring break.  I finally set up the cage, which was a pain in the neck to do. It looks really cool...from a distance.  However, up close, it has that cheap "Made in some third world" quality.  I'll need to buy some needle nose pliers and wire to secure the cage.  Well, in my excitement to make sure my hamster would have everything, I forgot the buy a water bottle, bedding, and a food dish.  So, with the pet store across the street from my dentist, I went shopping for the hamsters -- The hamsters had another litter of babies right before the vacation and again on an impulse I offered to take another one, so my hamster wouldn't be lonely.  When I left the store, with the few items (water bottle, bedding, food dish and a few chew toys), I spent another $50.

American Museum of Natural History
Basically, it was an informative experience. Not what I was expecting. The museum didn't do a very good job of providing information for the different events. Once paid for, the only information provided on the receipt was the "showtime" and a partial title. It turns out the "show times" were just times given for crowd control purposes. The extra exhibition fees were basically for the decorations accompanying the 5 ~ 10 minute video clips that repeated every few minutes. A greater attempt to let customers know the locations of the special exhibition would have been very helpful. Oh, and avoid the elevators if you can, they seem to be always crowded and move as slow as molasses.


Movies
I'm currently on spring break vacation/recovery.  I went to a couple of movies recently:
John Carter in 3D
The Lorax

Mirror, Mirror
It was a fairly entertaining movie. I didn't laugh as much as others did in the theater, but I did laugh a few times. I thought the movie was a great starring movie for Julia Roberts. I thought Julia was better in the movie than Nathan Lane. I don't know why, but his character really annoyed me. I also thought the actor playing the prince (Armie Hammer) did a very good job. I thought all of the actors really enjoyed working on this movie, I just think Roberts and Hammer did better jobs with what they had to work with. Lastly, I wasn't too fond of the evil queen's "ending", but I suppose when that queen is played by an internationally known movie star, They don't want to out right kill her off -- unless the actress wants the character dead.

Wrath of the Titans in 3D
 This was an enjoyable movie. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining. I believe there was a lot more action in this movie than in the first one. As long as you can suspend belief in what you're watching, I think you will enjoy the movie. My main complaint is the lack of consistency with maintaining the "god/human" balance in Perseus (Sam Worthington). Although, the movie tried to show that Perseus was human by the excessive amounts of moaning and groaning he was doing and the wounds he received.  After awhile, I lost count of how many superhuman feats Perseus went through. I can't even guess at the number of walls he was thrown against or through. A nice movie if you enjoy fantasy movies. After the movie, I was flying solo for dinner at Dallas BBQ across the street. The food was good. The service was also fast. When I was done there, I went across the street to the Venus Diner for a banana split and a slice of apple pie.

Exercise/Dieting
Until today, I was eating like there was no tomorrow, all the while with the idea (lie) that I would start exercising.  If you've been following me on FourSquare, you will know that for the last few months, I've had dinner at one fast food place or another.  And about 3 times per week, I would end with a pint of Ben & Jerry's or Haggen Daaz ice cream.  Today however, was the first time in almost a year, I went to the local park to do a bit of lite jogging.  I followed the plan from the book, "Run Your Butt Off".  It felt good to be back in the park, I'm going to try to keep it up this time.  Today, I did the walk for 4 minutes, and run for 1 minute for 30 minutes (Stage two).  I also ended up jogging for another 6 minutes afterwards.  Tomorrow, I'm going to modify Stage three (walk for 3 minutes and run for 2 minutes).