Exercise - None, planned day off

Water - 18 cups

Food - 1922 calories (21% fat, 43% carbs, 34% protein)

Breakfast - protein shake, 3 clementines (159)

Lunch - whole wheat tortilla, mustard, smoked ham, cheese blend, roasted veggies with balsamic vinegar, apple, fruit salad (513)

Dinner - sirloin steak, corn, snow peas, butter, salad, salad dressing (662)

Snacks - protein shake (x2), apple, fruit salad, biscotti, ketchup crispers (588)

The day off from exercise was nice. I got the soup made (turned out nicely) and have already frozen 11 portions. Also made up a couple of double portions for the neighbour two doors down. After 10 years of living here I actually met the woman (and her husband) this summer. My mother dragged me down there to have drinks one night. It turned out that the husband used to work with my last plant manager. In fact, it was funny, because he’d picked me up one morning for a business trip and actually mentioned that he knew one of my neighbours. Anyway, they were here before Thanksgiving and it was good because over our Thanksgiving weekend he was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately he did not make it, and now a few of the neighbours are making sure she’s doing okay. Usually when I’m was making things to freeze I make a point of putting some aside for her.

The biscotti turned out okay, but not fantastic. I suspect it might be the fact that they’re lower fat recipes. I’m going to compare them to some regular recipes. Both of the ones I’ve made recently are from Cooking Light, so I need to see if it’s me, or the recipes. Although I’m a pretty good cook, I’ve always considered myself a mediocre baker. The last pot of soup will be made Wednesday as I have a few ingredients I need to pick up tomorrow. Tomorrow it’s also back to the treadmill…

I actually feel a little guilty as I type this.  It’s like the treadmill is mocking me.  Right now it’s acting as a clothing rack, which is kind of funny, because that’s often what unused exercise equipment becomes.  No, I’m taking a planned day off.  I decided that the recurring pain in my left knee should be a subtle sign not to over do it.  If it were summer and I could switch to swimming I would do so.  Instead I decided that I would allow myself a day off.  I’m still aiming for 7 hours on the treadmill weekly and 90 mins of other exercises, but I will just do them in 6 days.  So, I’ve made my Beef Mushroom Barley Soup and I’ll probably make the biscotti soon.  Although, a nap sounds like a good idea as well.

On the television front I’ve started watching House MD.  I can’t decide if I like it or not, but I’m kind of running out of things to watch, especially when on the treadmill or using the weights.  I’m a tv junkie, usually it would be running now while I’m at the computer, but I’ve tried to stop doing that.  What happens is that you end up tuning into the same shows at the same time.  I mean, I like Crossing Jordan and I like Law and Order: SVU, but watching them every day eventually gets you into a rut.  Especially when you start seeing episodes that you’ve seen a couple of times already.  And it could be just me, but it seems like the same shows have been in reruns forever.  I also watch television with my mother in the evenings.  So I have to find something that she’s interested in as well.  So at the moment we’re watching Without A Trace (almost through Season 4), Brothers & Sisters (almost done Season 1), and McLeod’s Daughters (an Australian show, 4 episodes and we’re current).  It’s amazing how many episodes you go through in an evening.  We break up the dinner hour as well, bringing our salads downstairs (bad habit, but it drags the meal out).  With commercials cut out hour-long shows run less that 45 mins so zipping through 5 in an evening isn’t that big a deal.

Over the last few months we’ve gone through Ally McBeal from start to finish, and caught up on shows we missed when away.  Next up will be Crossing Jordan (I stopped watching it piecemeal during the day), back to Star Trek: The Next Generation, and we’ll try Sex and the City (she says she’s interested, but I wonder how far we’ll get).  Usually this would all be broken up with things we watch new, but the writers strike has stopped that.  I’ve got a ton of stuff saved on DVDs.  Can anyone suggest anything that might be of interest?

God, I really miss the warmer weather.  I’d much rather be having a late afternoon swim, followed by some work in the garden.  Or even sitting on the patio with some friends and a drink (I make a passable lime juice based drink with Splenda).   I realize that most of my social activities are seasonal.  Other than the occasional meal out around Christmas I tend to do most of my socializing when the weather is much nicer.  Of course a lot of this is because most of the people I socialize with don’t live where I do.  Nobody really wants to commit to anything more than a short drive when you don’t know what the weather will be like.

Oh boy, another whiny, introspective post.   I think I’ll sign off and go upstairs and start making the biscotti!

rainbowsmiles - I know you commented on one of the sub-pages, but I thought I’d say thanks here.  I think the one must every person who wants to lose weight is a scale that gives your current weight.  Unless you’ve only gone over the max on a scale a week ago, not knowing is a very dangerous position to be in.  Congrats for figuring that out.  It took me way too long to do that.