Day 35

I weighed in on Sunday. Last week I lost 3 pounds for a total weight loss of 20.4 pounds.

In an effort to try and incorporate more vegetables into my diet, I made a veggie-heavy pasta sauce last night with canned tomatoes, red peppers, red onion, swiss chard, mushrooms and ground beef.

I had a new roommate move in yesterday afternoon and I have several tasks that I am working on for the Kansas Equality Coalition. My parents are coming next Monday to visit for Thanksgiving. What I'm saying is: I'm pretty busy so you may not be hearing much from me this week.

Day 31

Breakfast (7:30 a.m.)
1/8 "Thing" (2"x4" piece)
Hot tea with splenda

The Thing is gone! I'll have to work on some sort of fruit and nut bread, cookie or bar that is a bit more pleasant. It was edible, though.

Snack (10:00 a.m.)
2 clementine oranges

Lunch (12:45 p.m.)
2 1/4 c. broccoli cheese soup

Snack (2:00 p.m.)
2 oz dry roasted almonds
1/4 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. raisins

Dinner (5:30 p.m.)
2 c. broccoli cheese soup
5 c. popcorn (popped in oil with salt)
1 O'dell's Ale

Day 30

Breakfast (7:30)
1/4 of "Thing" (4"x3" piece)

Read yesterday's post. The "Thing" is a late-night creation. It's okay. It's a somewhat bland carbohydrate vessel for putting rasins and walnuts in my belly. There are ways on which it could be improved. Perhaps someday I will make real granola bars, or walnut-rasin wheat bread. For now, I have the "Thing" and it is edible if not great, so I will eat it until it is gone.

Snack (9:45 a.m.)
1/8 of "Thing" (2"x3" piece)
2 clementine oranges (tangerines? satusmas? mandarins? What the hell are these things?)
2 c coffee w/ 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

Lunch (12:30)
1 1/2 c. broccoli cheese soup
2 Weight Watchers chicken ranchero snack wraps

I wound up eating dinner at my friend Jon's house. He had picked up a bunch of hours d'oeuvres from Sam's and wanted to try some.

Dinner (6:45 p.m.)
2/3 c. mixed nuts
3 bacon wrapped tenderloin bites
1 mini spinach dip
1 chicken spinach cup thing (?)
1 mini raspberry brie en crute
3 "little smokies" in blankets

Snack (8:00 p.m.)
5 c. popcorn, salted, popped in oil

Day 29

Its been a couple weeks since I kept a food journal - updating throughout the day the foods and beverages that I have consumed and calculating the calorie content. I find food journaling helpful because: 1. It helps me keep track of how many calories I am consuming; and 2. It helps me make sure that I am eating enough fruits, vegetables and dairy.

Breakfast (9:00 a.m.)
1 slice wheat toast
1 teaspoon honey
2/3 tablespoon peanut butter
1 pear
2 c. coffee with 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Lunch (12:30 p.m.)
2 Weight Watchers chicken ranchero smart mini wraps
1 grilled cheese sandwich
1 1/2 c. skim milk

The comfort food craving continues. Last week, I made a chicken-noodle-veggie casserole. Tonight, I made broccoli cheddar soup. I've had a bag of frozen broccoli hanging out in my freezer for several months, and it was starting to show signs of freezer burn. Soups, stews and casseroles are good ways to use up less-than-perfect produce.

Dinner (6:15 p.m.)
2 c. broccoli cheddar soup

About the soup:
It started with a roux made from about 3/4 stick butter and 1/2 c. flour. To that, I added about 1 1/2 cups lowfat, low sodium chicken broth and 2 1/2 cups skim milk. That mixture was brought to a simmer, then 2 cups frozen broccoli pieces were added. Once the soup reached a low simmer, I added salt and pepper to taste, then added about 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar. This resulted in a soup with a medium-thin "creamy" base. It wasn't as thick (or as high in calories) as most of the broccoli cheddar soups I've had in restaurants.

Snack (8:30 p.m.)
1/2 (4"x7") of "Thing"

So, I was kind of hungry, wanted a granola bar but didn't have any. I set out to make my own. But I didn't have any oatmeal. But I did have whole wheat flour. What resulted was a "Thing." The "Thing" consists of 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2/3 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup rasins (briefly reconstituted in water), 1/3 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 egg and 1/3 cup skim milk. I wanted to make an 8"x8" pan of "granola" bars. The mix I made up didn't quite fill the pan, so it wound up being 8"x7". The "Thing" was about 1/4 inch thick. It was okay. I was hungry. I ate half.

Day 27

This week I weighed in at 328.6 pounds. I only lost 0.4 pounds this week, but I have lost a total of 17.4 pounds since early August.

This was a busy week. I ate more restaurant food than I have in the past few weeks. At Monday's 140conf, there were heavy hours d'oeuvres from Marcella's. Tuesday night I met with the Reno County Democrats at the Anchor Inn (greasy, heavy Mexican-American buffet). Wednesday, I didn't feel like cooking so I went through the drive through at Spangles (cheeseburger and fries) before going to the grocery store. Thursday I assembled a casserole during my lunch break and then threw it in the oven before heading to the Fox Theater to volunteer during the performance of Oklahoma!

Last night I volunteered at the Fox for another show, then went to my friend Christian's house afterwards. Although I ate dinner around 5:30, by the time Christian and his roommate Jason pulled enchiladas out of the oven at 9:00, I couldn't resist trying them. Around 1 a.m. I had another. Oh, and Friday night I made a batch of (18) homemade chocolate chip cookies. I'm the only one who has eaten any. There are only 6 left.

By eating more meals at home next week and by being a bit more meticulous with tracking my food intake during the day, I hope to loose 1.5 to 2 pounds.

Day 22

Yesterday was my first day working the 5:30 a.m. shift at work. After work, I got the awesome opportunity to attend the 140 Character Conference Small Town at the Fox Theater.

I was under the impression that the conference would be about how to use Twitter and ...stuff...and...well, I wasn't really sure what it would be about, but I got a free ticket from my friend Patsy Terrell so I went. It was more than I expected it to be. The conference consisted of many 10-15 minute presentations by a variety of people - educators, volunteers, the Hutchinson Police Department, the girl who got Topeka to change it's name to Google, marketers, adventurers and farmers.

The conference was less about "This is the internet. This is how to use Twitter. This is how you use social media to make money." and more about "Hey, we have a never-before-seen opportunity to connect with people around the world in amazing and incredible ways. This is my story. This is something awesome that has happened because of this crazy technology."

The conference was organized by Jeff Pulver and Becky McCray. It was the first "Small Town" 140 character conference. Others have been in New York, LA, DC, Vegas and other large cities. At the end of the day, Jeff and Becky told us that Hutchinson had the 4th highest turn out (better than DC, Boston and San Francisco) and the most people still in the audience at the end of the day. They also told us that we had the best live vido streaming and wi-fi connection - thanks to my friend Ron Williams at HutchNet Wireless.

Yesterday I did pretty good, although I did consume a large amount of cheesy, creamy spinach dip and a croissant (as part of a turkey sandwich). Today I slept very late and had some white bean and chicken soup for lunch. The soup consists of mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot), garlic, chicken broth, about 1/3 chicken cut up into small pieces, and 3 cups navy beans. I made the soup Sunday for dinner and had some for lunch yesterday