Honestly, I have to admit that even after only 3 days I’m starting to think that I really need to go out to eat. I think I know the reason for this–the huge amount of freaking food commercials. Hell, there’s even commercials not related to food, but that reward you with food!

Crazy stuff!

My Mood:

Been feeling very good these past two days. Maybe it is the excitement of the challenge, or, the overall increase of healthy food in my lunches. Or, heck, maybe it’s the 64oz of water that I’ve consumed. Not sure what it is…but I do notice a change. I suspect, though, that over the next few days I will feel affected.

What I ate:

So far, I’ve had the following:

• Hot dogs with some mustard.
• 2oz of chips

Day 2 of 62 and I’m still going strong. Why, you ask, would you report on day #2 about my status…

The reason is I really want to make sure that I’m keeping a log of this test. If things don’t go well on it, I need to figure out why. Typically a week’s status will make it to the front page (not daily)…but I do plan on making daily updates.

My Mood:

Been feeling very good these past two days.  Maybe it is the excitement of the challenge, or, the overall increase of healthy food in my lunches.  Or, heck, maybe it’s the 64oz of water that I’ve consumed.  Not sure what it is…but I do notice a change.  I suspect, though, that over the next few days I will feel affected.

What I ate:

So far, I’ve had the following:

• Sandwich (slice of provolone, 1oz Lite Turkey, .7oz pepperoni, 1 tablespoon light mayo, pepper) on whole grain bread.
• Mustard for use on the sandwich.
• A Yoplait Yogurt
• An apple.
• 2oz. Light Sour Cream and Onion Chips.  Very light on the weight watcher points.
• Pretzel M&Ms. Gotta have a little fun .

What I shouldn’t have consumed:

I was in a hurry to leave the house today and decided to consume a Diet Pepsi.  I usually don’t consume much soda…

What I need to do, additionally:

I need to consume more vitamins.  Renee, I think, is also in the same boat.  We might head out tonight to buy some.

I’m not sure about my friends, but sometimes I find that life needs a little reorganization. Many times I find that Renee or I fall into cyclical methods in our lifestyle…it’s a rut that we can’t get out of. So, I find that the best way to get out of it is to simply call an “all-stop” and reorganize how we go about things. I recently called an all-stop because our war chest of monies had been getting smaller and smaller due to unforeseen expenses hitting us. This was things like pet bills, going out to eat, car expenditures, etc. It, quite literally, scared me to the point of reorganization. I’ve done things to get us organized, but only changing our lifestyle can help with our repair and rebuild.

I came up with my own way to help rebuild the war chest and, at the same time, benefit myself (and Renee) personally. I’m not going to eat out at any restaurants for the month of July and August. This essentially includes any place that prepares the food for me. This does not, however, include pre-packaged food available at the grocery store. Eating out, for me unfortunately, has become too much of a ritual. I do it almost 3-4 times a week. While I’m not always paying for it…I shouldn’t be doing this as much as I have been!

So, with that, I’ve instituted this new challenge for myself. Think it can be done? Only time will tell, but I’m surely determined.

Tools I’m Using to meet this challenge:

1.   A strong will.

Food commercials are everywhere.  And, damnit, the food looks so tempting on the television.  Usually this leaves me hungry…but I must fight the temptation .

2.   Weight Watchers Online (www.weightwatchers.com).

Weight Watchers Online, honestly, has got to be one of the best tools I’ve ever used for tracking your intake during the day.  It really helps to bring into perspective caloric consumption, exercise completed, etc.  So far I’m really loving it.  There are options to attend meetings with weight watchers…but it does cost extra money.  I did do the meetings with Renee for a while but found that they really didn’t help me -or- make me feel more accountable for my food actions.  Really, what I feel, is that I should rely solely on myself for enforcing my eating habits.

3.   Support from my Wife and peers.

4.   A gram/ounces scale at home.

The other very important tool that I’ve been using is a scale at home.  Many times it can be tedious to count out a serving — it’s much easier to weigh it.

So recently a I found myself with a problem. I couldn’t concentrate, I felt extremely flighty when it came to memory, etc etc etc. I was really getting concerned with it.

Many people would say, well you just need to get more sleep…you’re working yourself too hard. I didn’t want to believe it, but you know what, you’re right! Starting this past weekend I made myself (and it was hard to do) get at least 10+ hours of sleep on the weekend. I still got my stuff done, because I was still staying up late. But the biggest change overall is I’ve started to fall asleep at least near 11pm on the week nights. This afforded me at least 8 hours of sleep.

It’s almost mid week and I feel awesome. I don’t feel like everything is a blur and finally (finally!) I can think in a concise fashion. I predict in the next few weeks of this I’ll eventually return to my normal self. Maybe even play around with different sleep schedules.

Great animated GIF sent by my friend Brian.  Looks like he’s driving it!