How I lost 25 pounds

The way I lost the last 25 pounds, in reverse order.

3.  Get really sick so you can't eat for a week.
2.  Enjoy a lot of anxiety in a changing real estate market.
1.  Eat This Not That

Tanya and I really started trying to eat better.  We didn't really eat horribly before, but we made some small changes.  At dinner Tanya would make the lower fat or lower calorie versions of the meals, and 90% of the time they actually tasted just as good or better.  If we have to eat out we don't order french fries, even the kids want the fruit cups at Chick-Fil-A.  I stopped eating a bag of tortilla chips with cheese dip every week.  I had no idea how bad those were.  Tonight I had carrot sticks with fat free blue cheese dressing and a few slices of cheddar cheese on low sodium saltines.  It's not very scientific, and I am no nutritionist, but it's been working for Tanya and me.

Recently I found this great site and have loved the blog posts from the author of the book 'Eat This, Not That'.  Here's a link to the most recent post, and a brief excerpt.  In this post he gives 7 great snack foods.  #6 was the one that destroyed my favorite on the go breakfast.

6. When You Need to Wake Up and Go...

Eat This:
Eggs and Whole-Wheat Toast
Eggs are a great source of protein, and having them for breakfast sets you up for a perfect day of eating. Saint Louis University researchers found that people who eat eggs for breakfast consume 264 fewer calories the rest of the day than those who eat bagels and cream cheese.

Not That!
Bagel and Cream Cheese
At 500 calories and 20 grams of fat, this deli disaster is one of the worst ways to start your day. Sixty grams of fast-burning carbohydrates will cause a dip in energy and a spike in hunger, long before lunchtime. The same goes for croissants, danish, donuts, and pancakes.

I have never been too big of a donut fan, but I love Bagels and Cream Cheese.  I always got the low fat Cream Cheese so I thought it was pretty healthy.  Most bagel store bagels are at least 250 calories plain... so it's just not a good start.  Tanya recently made eggs for breakfast for the kids and they loved it, so I think we'll have to start doing that more.  Whole Wheat English Muffins are REALLY good tasting too... maybe I'll go get some for breakfast tomorrow.

Now that I've lost a bit of weight I need to get into shape.  As the world will see on July 29th, I am VERY out of shape.  I am preparing for the mocking.

http://jorgstyle.blogspot.com/2008/06/wipeout-update.html

Are Gas Prices Making You Sad?

I've always been frugal.  I can remember going grocery shopping with my Mom when I was a kid and pointing out the items that were lowest price per ounce.  I also learned how to get a lot for my money in many ways, truly trying to stretch each dollar I had, which was never as many as I wish I'd had.  It seems gas prices have been causing people to think about buying new cars, scooters, carpooling to work, etc.  It's always good to think of ways to save a buck, but it often takes a nudge like gas prices approaching 5 clams to prod us along.

I'm really glad that I only commute 10 miles each way to work.  My truck gets a solid 8 miles to the gallon around town so it still costs me $10 just to get back and forth.  I remembered a website that somebody shared with me a while back where you can enter your zip code and find the lowest priced gas in your area.  I ran a quick search for my zip code and here's what I found.

Now this may not seem earth shattering, and it's really not, but here's the math on the potential savings.  I usually pump at least 20 gallons of the refined black gold into my behemoth every time I fill up and the difference between the lowest and highest priced stations in my search was 22 cents.

.22 Savings per gallon
x 20 gallons
=  $4.40 per fill-up - For some of you $4.40 isn't much but to me it's a free spicy tuna roll next time I'm eating sushi.

$4.40 per fill-up
x 52 fuel stops a year (if you're lucky to only stop once a week)
= $228.80 - Now that's a lot of spicy tuna rolls!

My Dad probably fills up 2-3 times a week so just making sure he hit the right station could save him as much as $686.40 a year.  He gets better mileage than me, and has a smaller tank so these are just numbers for examples sake, but it makes a decent point.  To drive it home I'm going to take it a step further.  Let's say that you are in a 35% tax bracket, that $686.40 you would have spent by not hitting the cheaper station would have taken $926.64 of earned income to buy.   Lastly, if I were to invest that $686.40 savings every year into a interest bearing account earning 6% by the time my oldest daughter would be turning 18 (14+ years from now) the account would have nearly $15,000.  All of that just by making sure you pull into the right pump.

Here's another list of ways to save money on gas, not endorsed by me but it's out there on the 'interweb' so it must be true.

One of my favorite holidays

I love the 4th of July. Yes, I love the celebration of the independence of our Nation as I am a true patriot, but really I just love fireworks.

I was hanging out with my good friend and neighbor Craig and although I totally overstayed my welcome (sorry guys) we did have some fun with fireworks they brought back from the Valley of Fire in Nevada as well as shot his wrist rocket. Nothing like some juvenile fun after a long day at the office.

I wouldn't have blogged about this otherwise but Sara jokingly asked if I'd already blogged the firework since apparently I mobile blog a bit. The video is pretty fun, but I turned it off before we noticed the ground was smoking which was great.

I'm looking forward to lots of fun pyrotechnically enhanced July 4th celebrations... so let me know if you have the goods and we'll come to your place. I'll bring hot dogs and a lighter.

P.S. Craig is an Architect and does great work... if you need any plans worked up or know of somebody let me know and I'll get you in touch.

Political Aspirations?

When I was on WIPEOUT I made a couple of political comments. Apparently, they've leaked out quite a bit and it's created quite a buzz. I first heard about some online forums that were talking about the forward thinking ideas I shared and their positive impact, but then I heard about some serious talk. Anyways, a friend forwarded me this video and I was stunned.

Husbands today and WIPEOUT

Two quick things. My sister had this test on her blog, so I thought I'd see how I measured up against husbands of the 1930's. To be totally fair, my wife would need to take this for me but I tried to answer honestly.

161 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

What's funny is that I was just recently considering how much more Men do these days. This is not a sexist argument. I am not saying that Men do more than Women. My wife is an amazing, remarkable woman. How she takes the kids shopping alone is enough to earn her a Super Mom badge. I was watching an old show and saw the Dad just kicking back in a lounger reading the paper after a day at the office and chuckled to myself. When I come in it's kids around the ankles, roll up the sleeves and help any way I can. I think this is how most Men are these days. We're more domesticated than our Grandfathers were.

Secondly.

WIPEOUT starts tonight. I'm not on until July 29th, but it should still be a fun show to watch.

Since Wednesday

These are my prescriptions since Wednesday (not including the two batches of IV drugs during the ER trips). I can't even think of the last time I've had to get a prescription for being sick so this is a real treat. Rush Limbaugh would be proud.

Home from the E.R. again

Still no diagnosis, but at least this time they hit the spot with a nice cocktail of drugs. They gave me a high dosage of an anti-inflammatory, another big anti-biotic, some spectacular narcotic of a pain killer and one other wonder drug. I was able to eat dinner and even enjoy a home made brownie... I must be on the road to getting better.

My culture results should be in tomorrow, and if there are nothing definitive there then they will refer me to an ENT specialist. But as long as I can eat and breath I'm better than I was this morning.

Hey wait... what was in those brownies?

Is this really blog worthy?

I don't know if sharing my mystery throat infection with the world is really appropriate, but it takes my mind off of things and I think one or two people out there may like staying apprised at my situation. I'm back at the ER... We'll see how it goes this time. This trip was Tanya's call. When I was having a hard time swallowing she had me show her my throat and she said it's nearly swollen shut. Even the 'hanging ball thingy' as she calls the uvula is swollen all crazy.

And the winner is...

I was taking Darvocet for the pain circus that was going on in my mouth, but it wasn't really doing much the last couple of days. When we were at the hospital yesterday the Dr. prescribed Vicoden.

MUCH BETTER.

I'm going back to sleep now.No, they aren't really blue and red gel caps, but I liked picture.

At the E.R.

so, after 5 hours in the E.R. they finally came in to give me the test results. Nothing. But they are sending me home with more potent drugs.