Vicarious Gourmet

Looks Like I Picked a Bad Day to Start a Diet

2008-08-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, it may be a lousy excuse, but considering this is one of, if not the absolute, worst week of my professional life, I think I will defer the hard start of the diet to Sunday or Monday.

Today we say goodbye to dozens of colleagues. There will be cake. That I can avoid. Thank goodness our tradition is not to say farewell with pie or cookies. There will be drinking. That I will not avoid. It will be a highly emotional day.

Once we're able to move past this day, things will still be hard, but in a different, busier way. No excuses at that point.

Weight - 248.

Still Struggling

2008-07-31T02:49:00.000-07:00

Bad stuff at work and I have no discipline when there's this much stress. We're shedding staff and people are leaving every day, with the biggest exodus coming on Friday when nearly 50 people walk away for the last time. In addition to the loss of friends and institutional knowledge, there are other complications created by the exits that have made this week a mess.

We tend to honor the leavers with cakes and pastries, and that leads to a dangerous environment for stress eaters like me. Coffee cake, tiny chocolates and a couple of cookies completely blew me off course yesterday. Not to mention another couple of OGs when I got home to take the edge off the day.

Keeping my fat fingers crossed that today will be better, or at least my discipline will be a little more in control.

Weight - 248.

Struggling to get started

2008-07-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

So, over the weekend I smoked a couple of pork shoulders and made pulled pork bbq for my son's baseball team party. Ever since, I've had leftover pulled pork for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's left me wondering that if you eat the same food over and over and over for a significant length of time, do you eventually reconstitute into whatever it is that you've eaten? If so, I'm in jeopardy of turning into a pig. Or a bigger pig than I already am.

I've rationalized by figuring it's a good way to get back into Atkins, if sloppy. However, I admit that the sauce contained some brown sugar and a little Worcestershire Sauce, which also contains some Atkins-unfriendly ingredients.

I also snuck a cookie in last night. Oh, and a couple of Old Granddad's on ice (tough day).

Anyway, last night I finished the last of the pork (oink). Today I'll be a lot more conscientious about eating healthy and more stridently on plan.

Starting weight - 247.

Happy New Year

2008-07-29T04:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know. I'm a little late to the party. But I've been busy and knew when it was time, the spirit would move me to get going.

I started this blog because I need to take better care of myself. A few years ago I had a wonderful experience on the Atkins Diet. I lost 70 lbs., my cholesterol and triglycerides dropped and I felt pretty darn good. The past year or so, though, I've been dealing with a high degree of stress in both my personal and professional lives. Then last year I started a food blog and in the name of research, completely let go of any discipline I'd gained while dieting. I'm not back up to where I was when I started my pre-Atkins weight loss, but I've gained about 30 lbs. back and I'm not happy about it.

Now it's time to get serious about taking it off again. One of the things that helped me when I first did Atkins is that their site had a daily journal where I could track what I ate. It really helped me stay conscious of what I was stuffing into my mouth. That feature seems to have gone away, so I am planning to use this blog to chronicle my food intake. It probably won't make exciting reading for you readers, but perhaps once in a while you'll find a recipe or suggestion of a snack that could be helpful. I'll also chart my weight loss.

So, consider this a journey. Feel free to hop in and ride along.

Vote in the Food Fight!

2007-12-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

On my other blog, sullicom, we're in the finals of our Food Network Food Fight - a battle of celebrity chefs.

The finals pit Alton Brown against Giada De Laurentis.

Visit the site and place your vote now!

Visit My Other Site

2007-11-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

While I'm trying to figure out what to do with this blog, take a moment to stop by sullicom, my site dedicated to bbq, hot sauce, cool music and other comforts for the body, mind and soul.

It's a lot of fun. I think you'll like it.

2007-10-23T01:42:00.001-07:00

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Enjoying Food At An Arm's Length

2007-10-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

I like food, but realize that it may eventually kill me.