365 Days and Counting

I decided to jog and walk the usual Santee Lakes route.  There were no problems with my left foot; however, my left knee is giving me a little bit of a problem, but nothing serious. I'll take precautions and just walk for a day or two. As for the pain in the right arm (sounding now like a typical senior citizen who just spends all day complaining of aches and pains), it has diminished once again.  I can still feel it but it's only a distraction more than actual pain. I went to Sprouts and bought some salad and had that for lunch.  I drove around a bit and at Smart and Final, found a different type of chicken I will try. I had dinner with the folks at the Chinese place.  I did have a little rice and noodles (usually not on the diet) but nothing too drastic.  The swim at the gym went fine. Food intake: salad (350); Chinese food (800); chicken nuggets (350).

Trash day.  I went to the gym, but stupidly forget to bring my Fitbit.  I only walked for about a half hour.  Trash went well.  We both started a little early and finished at 8:00 AM never using the tractor.  It helped that Jose did a lot yesterday and it wasn't a big trash day. I decided I would still get the 10 K on the Fitbit and so after the day was done, I have about 14 K completed thought the it will read just over 10.  Am I started to get a little OCD about this? I went to the movies and saw The Book Club .  It was predictable but a fun watch.  I had a popcorn and soda, which I know is 500 calories, but it's so filling, I just don't feel right about it.  I suppose I need to just trust the facts.  It was the first time at the gym that I had to wait for a lane, but it was only about 5 minutes, which is just fine.  I need to start to get set up to add more laps.  I'm at 14 now and want to make 20 the norm.  I'm a...

Considering it was Memorial Day, I did my steps at Liberty Station.  There was an organized veterans run going on down there. I jogged and walked from there to Shelter Island and back. Papa called and wanted be to join him, Pam and Rick, Donna and Jose, and Mom for pasta dinner at 2 PM.  We had a nice time for a couple hours and were joined my Don and family.  I managed to stick with salad, and just a reasonable amount of pasta and sauce.  No meatballs, meat, or garlic bread. The gym had very few people and the swim went fine. Food intake: omelet (100); grapes (150); pasta and salad (800); chicken nuggets (400).

I jogged my Santee route once again.  I figure that Memorial Weekend is going to be jammed at the beach and I don't want any part of that, plus it's nice just to get it over with.  I did go to Lakeside as well. I finally caved and bought a bottle of whatever it's called for my constipation along with the blu-ray of Black Panther  and a banana.  I drank it down with some lemonade powder.  I absolutely can not stand the after taste.  It almost makes me puke, but it seems to be the only thing that works and after a couple hours it did just that.  Of course, I knew I was going to have to stay around the house all day.  It did get good enough that I managed my swim with no problems. Food intake: banana (100); chicken nuggets (700); soup (250).

I stayed home and did my walk around the Santee route.  For whatever reason, it seems to always do the trick and it works out well for me without getting too bored.  I listened to podcasts again, and though I'm having a little trouble at times with the connection, I enjoy them more than music.  There are times, I simply get sick of listening to music. I did my swim at the gym, which was very dead...memorial weekend...everyone is either out at parties or out of town, but it was certainly nice for me. I have to come up with something else to do during the two workout sessions.  Yes, I go to movies, but that's only once per week.  I feel I'm losing opportunities to get more work done on my weight loss.  I'm still have constipation, no doubt because of the diet, but I've tried different things to help it along and will probably have to resort to the liquid solution that I hate simply because it leaves such a horrible taste in my mouth that I can't seem to...

I decided to go to the gym this morning and also filled up the tank at Costco being that Memorial Weekend is here.  I watched the Netflix comedy program with Martin Short and Steve Martin.  It was very funny. I went to La Jolla and saw Solo: A Star Wars Movie , and I enjoyed it a lot.  I have a huge celebrity crush on Emilia Clark, but then again, who doesn't?  I took a nap for almost 2 hours.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not but I did feel groggy for a while afterwards.  The swim and sauna went fine.  It's Friday, so there weren't many people at the gym. Food intake: omelet (130); BBQ chicken breasts (630); chicken nuggets (500).

I got an early start and headed to Mission Beach where it was overcast but okay for jogging.  I managed to do it all I should have and finished in enough time to get to Costco in Santee as they opened and bought a few things and also to the 99 cent store for more Lite drink powder.  I didn't really do much else as I stayed in bed for my nap a little longer than I should.   I played some Poker Stars with Terry.   I watched some TV, did some computer stuff and eventually made it to the gym for my swim.  My arm has not healed and occasionally hurts, but nothing serious.  I'm a little disappointed that my Scetchers are already ripping on the side.  Is this because I'm wearing them hard or are they poorly made?  Nothing else really...to report.  Food intake: omelet (130); BBQ chicken breasts (420); chicken nuggets (500)

I did my walk around here in Santee going through the Mast Park and to Big Rock Park. My left foot prevented me from jogging as much as I'd like, but I did manage the 13K for the day. I napped for an hour and had dinner at the parents.  My mom stayed in bed and Pop made a great dinner, though he wasn't being too careful about my diet because he prepared deep fried shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, string beans with egg, and garlic toast.  He also made some apple turnovers.  I managed to stay away from the bread and the dessert, but with only the two of us, I thought it would be rude to not eat some of everything else.  I will admit, the potatoes were SO good...it's been a while since I've had fried potatoes.  All told, I don't think it was that bad, but I've always maintained, that dinner at the folks would be the one time I'd allow myself to go over the goal line if I had to.  I did swim at the gym and added a couple of laps.  I'm now up to 14 la...

Being a Tuesday, there no question as to how I'm going to get my needed steps in.  I was up at 4 AM and went to the gym at 5 to work on the treadmill.  Doing the hour it watching comedy on my Ipad goes fast, but it's frustrating that an hour doesn't give me my daily requirement.  Fortunately, I make sure that I do as much walking as possible during trash pick up.  When I was done for the day, I had over 12 K so a job well done.  I've gotten into the habit of going to the movies on Tuesdays because popcorn is half off and then I use my points to buy a small Coke Zero and then pay for an upgrade.  So, with the movie being free using my Movie Pass, I end up paying $4.44 for the entire thing.  It's a great deal.  Had I paid full prices for everything, I would have plus $30, which of course, I would never have paid.  I saw Deadpool 2  and it was as expected, lots of fun. On the way out of the theater, I stopped at Walmart and found a larg...

I decided to make the Santee route as it was convenient and I really did get a late start not leaving until after 11.  It was just one of those mornings that I took what time I needed.  I end up the day with 12 K steps. I'm writing this blog at 3:45 PM because I forgot to write it this morning, almost blowing the perfect daily stream I have going.  But because it's so late, I'm forgetting what all I did yesterday.  I know it wasn't much.  I did visit Cindy and I watched some TV.  I finally got around to watching Howard's End  on STARS Network with Haley Atwell, whom I have quite a celebrity crush on.  I surprised myself by how I was getting into it, but then at episode four, they suddenly skipped time and ended the show.  What the hell?  I was very disappointed. The swim went fine and the pool had a couple lanes open, which surprised considering it was Monday night.  The light in the sauna was down and there were a lot of peop...

I decided to go to Pine Valley and jog the old route I used to when I lived there.  I took plenty of pictures and posted them on Facebook, as I usually do and I had a huge response.  I visited my old landlord, Ken Kerl, for a while.  It turns out his step-son, Kyle, now lives in my old house.  We talked for a good while.  The jog/walk doesn't quite make the 10K, so I walked around Viejas casino for a bit.  It has changed so much since I was last there. I tried a couple of games, but lost.  I did finish the day with 12K.  I have to remind myself that this exercise will last for 365 days.  It's now been only 140--not even half way there--and that I have to be patient and just look at the day ahead of me.  I bring this up because after my swim at the gym, I look down and still see this huge stomach and abdomen.  Yes, it's gone down some, but still has so much fat, it's deflating.  I have lost weight in my legs, face, and arms, b...

I decided to stay around here, so I did my steps on the Santee Lakes route.  I jogged most of it.  I'm completely clueless whether or not I'm hurting my knees or not.  There is no pain, but simply from the fact I'm jogging on cement every day and jarring my knees--common sense tells me that can't be a good thing, especially for an over-weight 67 year old man.  But I'm not feeling any pain, though admittedly my legs are tired. I suppose until I feel actual pain, I will continue.  I managed 12K steps today. I'm beginning to try to nap (something I've never done my whole life) for an hour or so each day.  It's not always successful, but I feel that the rest is helping me through this exercising and dieting I'm going through.  My sleep at night fluctuates from 6 to 8 hours, though the latter is rare, so I'm sure the nap is a good thing.  I'll keep trying and see what happens. The swim at the gym went without a hitch.  I did find a container f...

A pretty good day, all told.  I went to Lake Murray but when I got there, it was drizzling so I headed back home.  I drove back at 11:30, and though it was overcast, I did my walk.  I'm still frustrated that it's not a complete circle around the lake as the path is gated off.  However, the entire path and back is 10K, so it's a good place to add to my routine walk paths.  I didn't do all that much.  I did go to Sprouts and bought a bag of salad and a banana.  I managed to get my swimming in and the sauna.  Aside from that with a nap for a half hour, it was just watching TV.  I think I need to find something else to keep me more active.  Some good news on the arm...the pain, though slightly still there at times seems to be going away. Food intake: omelet (100); chicken salad (350); chicken nuggets (500).

I decided to head downtown and Little Italy this morning.  I end up putting over 12K going up and down streets and through Seaport Village.  It was a nice walk.  For a moment, I thought I'd have to stop for my left foot, but it end up no longer hurting.  The trolley ride went fine. I also did manage my laps at the gym, so all of my daily goals were met.  It's a bit of a slow day with nothing else to report other than I'm still having pain in my shoulder.  I'll give it until next week but will make a doctor's appointment if it doesn't approve. Food intake: omelet (150); Panda Express (500); chicken nuggets (500).

I went to Mission Beach and managed to jog in all the usual marks.  It was a tad cool, but it felt good to get through it with little foot pain. My shoulder pain is slowly getting better.  There is still certain movements that kick it in, but I'm feeling confident that in a week, it should be gone.  I can only assume that this was a pinched nerve or something of that nature. Had dinner at the parents.  Papa made a beef stew, which was delicious and I agreed to have a small piece of custard pie.  Both are good low calorie dishes.  He made garlic toast but I managed to stay away from that. The swim at the gym went without a hitch.  I'm considering adding some laps as 12 doesn't really take very long and I think I'm ready thought my arms do feel the strain--but aren't they supposed to? Food intake: BBQ chicken (300); soup (250); dinner (750); chicken nuggets (300).

Trash day so I got up at 4 AM and went to the gym on the treadmill and then the trash pickup went well and we finished at 8:30.  I had some chicken breasts for breakfast and being still tired, I went to lay down and slept until 1 PM--very rare.  I got up and went to the movies to see Life of the Party , which was a fun movie. So I'm having a very sharp pain in my right shoulder.  If I push on it and stretch it in a particular way, it's a knife-searing pain, really hurts.  Twice last night it woke me up.  I thought I'd make an appointment with the doctor, but then I thought about a time last year when I had a very similar pain in my left hip joint.  I was very concerned then as well; however, after about a week, it went away.  So, I've decided to wait a bit.  It doesn't hurt at all when I swim or don't touch it.  More on all this later. I did go to the gym and did my laps and ended the day with 14K+ steps. Food intake: chicken breasts (6...

I decided to get my jog in with the Santee Lakes circle at 7AM.  It went well as my I am jogging more and more.  I'm so relieved that my new shoes are giving me no trouble and I'm also happy that my orthodics work in them as well.  I'm not sure just what they do, but I could use all the arch support I can get.  I ended the day with over 15K.  I went to Mom and Pop's for lunch and to give her the donut holes, which she just loved.  Donna brought Kentucky Fried Chicken and made potato salad, both of which are not good for my diet, so I kept it to just one piece of chicken and a small portion of salad, which was good.  The chicken left an oily taste in my mouth--am I starting to change?  Normally, I'd love that, this time, not so much. After a couple hours I came home and tried to take a nap.  I watched the Padres and some TV and finally went to the gym, which was a bust as the pool area was packed with people and many in the lap pool. ...

All around it was a good day for the diet, though I did allow a very small deviation.  It was Mother's Day and I had driven to Mary's Donuts to buy a couple dozen doughnut holes eventually having to return to buy two more dozen to fill a jar I had bought for the occasion.  Unfortunately, she is ill and so I'll have to wait until today to give it to her.  I had about a dozen left over and yes, I had two of them (55 calories each) with my coffee.  It's not the calories that leave me slightly guilty, it's the sugar that I know I shouldn't eat.  However, that's a small quibble.  I did my run around the Santee Lakes route and then walked a bit at Harbor Island while waiting to pick up Hugh from the airport.  We had lunch at the Hawaiian BBQ here in Santee and I've discovered an option meal.  The BBQ chicken salad was excellent.  They advertise that it has only 180 calories, but that's bogus because it comes with a scoop of rice, which by itself ...

The day started out well.  I walked the Santee Lakes route and finished early feeling good.  My new shoes were doing the job though I started to get the left foot nerve feeling just as I ended.  I did my laundry and had a salad. I picked up Cindy at 4 and spent the evening at her Uncle Mike's 90th birthday.  The family is huge and though I really don't know any of them, they were very nice to me.  Though they had fresh pizza and pasta, I stuck to the salad and had four small meatballs.  They did have a sweet cake and they handed me a slice.  I did take one bite and ate the fruit and threw the rest away.  The sweetness of the frosting hit me immediately.  Eating very little sugar, I think I'm really alert to the taste. I didn't get back home until 8:30 PM so I didn't do the swim, waited for my rounds and called it a night.  Food intake: chicken salad (350); dinner salad and meatballs (500); bite of cake (100).

So...yesterday was a tough one.  All my intentions were good.  I got all my morning routines done and got on the Trolley to go to Little Italy to do my walk.  However, when I got there, it was not only cold, it was drizzling...so crazy for San Diego in May.  I knew I didn't want to walk in this so I headed back to Santee.  I did shopping and had a salad with chicken and then I just couldn't get motivated.  I tried to take a nap but and just laid there for a couple of hours.  I figured I could get the steps in tonight an hour before my swim.  I simply had no energy today.  I did have some popcorn to ward off some hunger and it was good but the guilt (completely unnecessary) crept in.  I finally went to the gym at 7 and did my walk on the treadmill watching a Netflix movie, ANON, which had some nudity and that was embarrassing as I didn't want people to look over and see me watching porn or something.  After 45 minutes, I began feel...

I decided to stay here in Santee and did the loop through Mast Park, and completed it with 11K.  I did jog a lot of it, but I'm finding my legs are getting more sore and tired.  I have no doubt that all of the jogging on cement is taking its toll. I went online to find shoes just for this and none of what I found seemed to be much different other than more cushion.  I went to the mall and at Famous Shoes found some Scetchers that seemed to be okay.  I'll try to get some some Dr. Sole's for them to add more cushion.  There really isn't many more options to get me off the cement other than the treadmill plus that would put a serious dent into my wandering around the city and posting on Facebook.  At 67, I'm not totally sure I'm doing this right and I have no doubt most would say I'm not, but it's where I'm at as of now.  I'm surprised how fast I went through my last shoes, but then I've never undertaken this kind of work on them, so I suppo...

After yesterday's down point, all it took was getting back to Mission Beach and completing the route with jogging in all the right spots to really get me back on track.  It's funny how your disposition can go through these phases of being up and down.  At least today, I'm back on track. The weather was perfect at the beach and I finished the day with 15K.  Hugh came and we parked his truck in the back lot and had lunch at Panda Express and then I ran him up to the airport.  I watched some baseball, played some on the computer and did make the swim at the gym, so it was a good day. Food intake: Panda Express (500); chicken nuggets (500); chicken strips (300).

I got everything done I had planned.  I went to the gym and did the treadmill for an hour, then did the trash pick up.  I drove to Encinitas and did some walking and got the pic for the Facebook entry.  I surprised Jon and Libby at the office and spent some time with them.  I went to the movie, TULLY, which was not what I expected--enjoyed it--didn't love it.  And then I finally had dinner with the kids and drove home.  I got home at 7:45 PM and simply did not go to the gym and do the swim.  I was tired having logged on more than 21K and having gotten up at 4 AM.  I'm fine with taking that off the table for a night.  I'm a little blue this morning and can't really explain why.  I'm feeling unmotivated.  My legs are tired, hell...I'm tired.  I'm sure it's temporary and I will  go to Mission Beach and run, which I'm sure I'll snap out of it.  I am going through a bought of constipation, which is not surprising as this...

I'm getting pretty good at planning things to do for the following day and actually getting them all done.  At least for the past couple weeks or so.  For example:  Today is going to be full of things that are on the schedule--do the usual morning routine, go to the gym, do the trash, go the Encinitas for today's Facebook post and walk, go see a movie, meet the kids at a taco place, come home and hit the gym for my swim.  This will be one chalk full day.  I'll report tomorrow how it all went. As for yesterday (remember, I write these the morning after), I went to Harbor Island for my walk.  It turns out, two laps around the island is 10K so it's a good spot.  The weather was great and I was treated to the USS Roosevelt returning from a tour steaming into port.  I should mention that I walked the entire way...no jogging.  I think I needed to give my legs a bit of a rest and it's likely the same today.   I went to the store and trie...

I did my Santee Lakes loop, which is perfect as it's just over 10K.  This is because today, I went to Penchanga with Martin to play poker.  There won't be much to report today as the entire day was at the poker table.  One bit of good news: I finally had a winning session; albeit, I left with only an $18 profit--though it was more than that considering I tipped the dealer probably around $12 and $2 for a couple of diet Cokes.  At least it breaks my string of poker losses.  I am going to seriously consider switching to a 1/2 game sometime down the road.  I got back home and after a salad, I headed to the gym for my swim and sauna.  As I said, simply not much to report. Food intake: omelet (150); grapes (200); salad (350); chicken nuggets (350).

There's something about the title Day 125 that has a feeling of benchmark or achievement; however, for me, it's just the next day in a string of 365 days.  I've been thinking lately that if and when I do reach that mark and achieving the challenge I set for myself what would happen next.  First of all, I have to get there, and barring injury, sickness, or emergency, I have every intention of getting there, then what?  I'm fairly certain I will continue this blog.  I have many characteristics of OCD in me from the small (I must  have all the dishes washed before going to sleep or I need  to close all the cupboards in the kitchen) to the large, I have got  to get my blog out today or get in my walk.  My biggest challenge will not be completing this 365 diet and exercise routine and lose the weight, but it will be to keep the weight off .  That I have never been able to do.  I certainly hope that after a year, I will no longer be able to ...

I did my steps at Mission Beach once again.  It was a perfect morning and I did manage the entire jogging markers, so I'm jogging as much as walking, though I continue to wonder why and when my jogging became so slow.  The only people I pass are the one's walking.  Everyone else jogging passes me by easily, thought that's okay.  The entire point of jogging is to get my heart rate up, then down, then up again.  My research shows that pattern is the most beneficial to burning calories. I was back by 10 and turned in my time sheet.  The rest of the day wasn't much.  I did play some online poker with Terry and then did my laps at the gym and did get in some sauna time.  There are still huge chunks of time in the day that I need to find a way to burn calories instead of sitting around on the computer or watching TV.  This is turning into somewhat of an obsession now. One thing to mention again is that my appetite is really down now.  I so...

Marking the 1/3 of the way to the 365 Days.  It's been a success so far as I've lost almost 60 pounds and I've been very disciplined with my 10K.  I believe there are only one or two days I missed that mark, though I'm not totally sure.  I took the trolley to the Convention Center and did my walk around the two islands but I was disappointed that all of that only netted 8500 steps.  I walked to Little Italy and finally headed back to a surprisingly very busy trolley car.  I did manage the 12K for the day and I did my swim, but I didn't get the sauna because it was just too crowded.  It was an overall successful day. Food intake: grapes (100); chicken salad (300); soup (250); chicken breasts (500).

It was rainy in the morning, so I decided to just go back to the gym on the treadmill to get my steps in.  Even after almost an hour and a half, I still didn't quite have all the steps in, but I was only a little short and knew the rest of the day's things would get me the needed steps, which it did and I ended up with just short of 12K.  Being Wednesday, I knew it was dinner with folks, so I stuck to some grapes for breakfast and a small salad for lunch.  However, it was one of those rare times that I actually felt I needed to eat something else, so I made 6 chicken nuggets, which hit the spot.  Papa called and said instead of the Boston Market, Mom wanted to go to the Outback.  I picked up Cindy, who really helps out keeping Mom interested and talking and on her better behavior.  I had the usual chicken and broccoli...good but not quite as good as before.  I've been prone to taking small naps lately.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm bored f...

Big day today as it is weigh in day.  It was 238, a 13 pound loss from last month.  Considering my goal was ten pounds per month, this is good news.  For whatever odd reason, I'm not as elated as I should be.  I worked so hard, I thought it would be a little more, but shame on me--it's a damn good weigh in day.  This means that on June 1, I should be in the 220s.  I must  maintain this pace. When I consider that all of this started at 297, I should  be quite proud.  However, 238 is a weight where I should have started a diet and not have let it get as high as it did.  So, perhaps a mind set that I'm starting my diet today.  I still have more than 50 pounds to shed, but the timetable apparently is a good one. My steps today (no jogging, I'm giving my knees a rest) was at Old Town, by way of the Trolley.  I enjoyed the walk and really enjoyed going through all the shops.  There are SO many Mexican restaurants there, I ha...