Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!

Finally!....   Finally I have broken that elusive glass ceiling of the 30 Lbs I’ve been trying to surpass in my weight loss journey. 

This morning, after our devotional and walking my mile, with the rest of the POPs (Praying Off Pounds) guys, I weighed in this morning with a 33 Lb. weight loss…   Hallelujah!

It’s really been frustrating.  This is week five of hovering around the 25 to 30 Lb. mark since I started this back in February.  It was originally so easy.  I skipped bread, cheese, potatoes and fried stuff and in return, I’ve lost about 3 Lbs. per week.  Not so during April and into the first week in May. 

This particular target weight that I’ve been shooting for has been a long time coming.  I’ve always said that when I reached it, I would reward myself with something really tasty and bad for me, like a plate of cheese enchiladas with a fried egg, over-easy, on top…

I like to refer to it as “A Heart Attack on a Plate”.  I’m talking about a platter of about 1500 calories of pure Cheesy Tex-Mex Decadence, with Salsa poured liberally across the top of it…   Dare I say; It’s better than sex!...  

Well, maybe not, but it’s up there…

Now that I’ve reached this millstone, I’ve made a profound decision…   I’m putting off my "enchilada fix" for a later date. I’m setting a new target weight for the platter of enchiladas and I’m going to be good heading into the weekend. 

This could be a pretty weekend, weather-wise, and it’s time to break out the boat for the weekend.  I’ll have to opt for rewarding myself with cold beer (instead of the plate of cheese enchiladas with the proverbial fried egg on top).  Cold beer is just easier to handle on the boat, than Mexican Food.

Plus, I’m taking my lovely bride, of 10 years, to Vegas for our Anniversary and her birthday.  Not sure how bad the diet will suffer there, but you can rest assured that I won’t be walking into Emeril's in Las Vegas and ordering a scoop of Tuna with a Dinner Salad. 

Nope…   Won’t really be counting calories in Vegas, but I will still try to avoid the bread and potatoes.

Vegas is still about 4 weeks off, so I’m hoping to drop another 10 Lbs. by then. 

I’ll be helping to plant some 275 Lamonto grape vines for a friend who has a vineyard (The Grand Magnolia Vineyards, in Flint, Texas) in the coming days, so that should be good for some exercise and maybe a few extra Lbs. 

I’ll keep you posted…   Adios!...

Copyright © 2011 Denning Key

"Convenience" can be a four letter word...

Ok…   I know it’s been almost three weeks since the last blog, but I’ve been busy.  Also, there’s been very little to write about since my weight has stayed the same for four weeks in a row now.

The last time I went to the clinic for weigh-in was two weeks ago and my weight was EXACTLY the same as it had been at the previous weigh-in two weeks before. 

I’ll admit, there was that little fishing trip with 5 of my buddies, down to Rockport, Texas for some Bay Fishing.  And let’s face it, you can’t really eat a scoop of tuna or chicken salad plopped in the middle of some fresh romaine lettuce while fishing.  It just isn't convenient.

My original intentions were noble…   In the interest of "convenience" I decided to take stuff like smoked almonds, lightly salted peanuts, pickle spears and celery sticks to eat on the boat…

A funny thing happened at the grocery store.

As I was stocking up on my supplies, there were six-packs of cans of Vienna Sausages.  Now I’m not a real huge fan of Vienna Sausages, but there’s something inherently esoteric about fishing and Vienna Sausages. 

Just the thought of it takes me back to my childhood and fishing with my grandfather and those special childhood memories of learning to get the first “Vinnie” out of a can of Vienna Sausages without tearing it up or destroying the rest of the “Vinnies” in the can.  It’s like one of those “hunter/gatherer” traditions that is passed from father to son, or in my case, grandfather to grandson. 

I’m not talking about standing in the kitchen and digging the first “Vinnie” out with a fork.  I’m not even talking about using a tooth pick, although many fishermen will tell you it's ok to use a toothpick.  I’m talking about that secret technique of getting that first “Vinnie” out with no accoutrements of cutlery, or picnicware… It's such a special moment when you see someone get that first "Vinnie" successfully out of the can and you just know that all is "right" with the world.  

If you’re a true “God Fearin’, Redneck, Son of the South” you know what I’m talking about.   Otherwise, you’ll have to go fishing with me to learn how.

Needless to say, I bought a six-pack of Vienna Sausages for the trip.  We ate 2 cans on the way down.  The others were polished off on the boat.

Dinner wasn’t much healthier, although I managed to stay away from bread and french fries.  I think it was the two dozen Cajun Grilled Shrimp on Friday Night and the multiple pounds of Boiled Shrimp & Crawfish that caused me not to go near the bathroom scales until about day 4 after getting home from the fishing trip.  Just the sodium alone was enough to make me retain about 10 gallons of water weight.

To make a long story short, I opted to skip my weigh-in last week so I could concentrate on getting to a reasonable goal by this coming Friday.  Hopefully, by then, I’ll have dropped the 3 to 5 lbs. since the last weigh-in and just in time for the proverbial butt stabbing with the B12& B6 Combo Shot.  

I just hope I don't get lectured to about not following the plan.  I’ll be sure to report how that goes.  

Adios for now…