Week 26 | Week 27
April 4-10, 2020
I lost a little over 5 pounds this week, but that’s not enough to cover the gain I had last week. I can see now that I am creating my own plateau and developing my own struggles. I truly can be my own worst enemy. This is generally the crux of my failures and as time runs by I am steadily realizing that I am in a truly unique situation to slash more weight, develop muscles, and do some brain training.
But I have absolutely no discipline. I have an opportunity to improve in various ways, but I find myself sitting around, eyes glued to screens. Snacking, watching TV, playing video games, and simply wasting time. I have somehow tricked myself into a negative headspace. I guess I believe since the whole world has frozen, I should freeze too? Anyhow, I bounced back from last week’s screw up somewhat, but not completely. I suspect it will be a few weeks of clawing my way back to where I left off, but can I keep it together?
He’s clawing, he’s fighting, he’s showing heart! Can he make it? Can he get another wind? Is he giving up or giving out?
I wish I knew.
Week 27 Summary
Bell Peppers Are Best
I love bell peppers of all colors. There are four colors and they have four very distinct flavors. If you don’t believe me, go buy them and give it a try. Report back. They vary in sweetness, and of course, they vary in different vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants. If you can squeeze all colors into one meal, that meal is going to offer some health benefits. Nothing you will notice immediately, but definitely something that will help clean you up regardless.
I have found that the best way to take in these delicious harbingers of good health are to treat them like bowls, or cups, and stuffing them with whatever flavors under the sun you favor. If you aren’t of the dieting kind, you can totally stuff your pepper with unhealthy levels of real cheese, olive oil, Italian sausage, that REAL marinara and surround them in a moat of pasta. Shit, that sounds really good.
If you’re me, however, you gotta count those points. I do this two different ways, but I always take four bell peppers, one of each color, give them a proper wash and I cut out the stems and split them in half. Remove the seeds and the white membranes and then I coat them real lightly with olive oil (a tablespoon for 8 halves). I put them in a pan, bowl side down and I sprinkle salt and garlic powder on them. I roast them in the oven for like 25 minutes are 400-425. While they roast, I begin mending the flag they will fly.
- Marinara
- Lean ground meat (If you can even get it right now)
- Onions
- Turkey pepperoni
- Shredded mozzarella (Velveeta or the really low fat kind)
- Parmesan
- black olives
- mushrooms
- Brown your meat and chop it up. Season with salt, garlic, and Italian Seasoning.
- Dice up your onions, black olives, mushrooms and slice the pepperoni into smaller pieces if you please.
- Once your peppers are ready, layer in this order: Marinara, meat, onions, mushrooms, olives, cheese, pepperoni, Parmesan, and sprinkle some garlic on top of that.
- Oven at 425 for 25 minutes.
- Enjoy with some corn on the cob and if you got some low calorie bread, make garlic toast as well!
- Lean ground meat (The leanest ground beef is 5 points for 8 ounces)
- Onions
- Jalapenos (Fresh please)
- Chopped bell pepper
- Chopped tomatoes (Fresh!)
- Black beans
- Corn
- Spanish Rice (The Uncle Ben’s microwaveable kind is fine)
- Taco Sauce (Taco Bell brand is 0 points)
- Cheese to top it off (completely optional, I like to keep my points down, so I skip)
- Brown your meat. You are making taco meat. Once it’s browned, season with salt, garlic, onion powder, chili powder, and cumin. I don’t measure, it’s time you experiment. Try not to get crazy with the cumin, it is the strongest seasoning in the pile. Pour water in, bring to boil, once it boils, throw it on simmer and stir occasionally until the fluid is mostly gone.
- While you are doing the meat, chop your veggies.
- Take out those bell peppers and do the layers: Two Tablespoons of rice, fresh veggies, beans, corn, meat, optional cheese and back in the oven at 425 for 25 minutes.
- Serve your bell peppers on a bed of corn and beans if you have any left, and drizzle taco sauce all over them. The spicier the better.
Two completely different meals with essentially the same ingredients. All easy to get as well.
Yardwork Diaries Part 1
I don’t particularly care for yardwork because of its repetition, but it feels more productive than exercising in the house. I mowed, I weedwhacked and I did some limb trimming along with clearing the fence line some. I have a cedar tree that I have been meaning to clear around and I finally did that. The results were magnificent. I have another BIG cedar tree that I want to clear around as well, but those limbs are high and the underbrush around it is thick. That will be a project.
I have some dead trees to split up and drag to my burn pile. Currently we are under a burn ban because of this pandemic mess, but the day it’s lifted I am going to get about five gallons of diesel and have a super sized bonfire. I have a dense pile of logs, limbs and trash that’s ready to burn. I want that pile burned and I was the dirt under it for projects. I live on a red clay hill and rich soil is difficult to come by.
Speaking of rich soil, I am almost done with the slowest gardening project ever. About 20 more buckets of top soil and maybe 20 bags of compost and we will be ready to roll. The dirt pile I am pulling from is steadily being whittled away and moved. Before long I won’t have to mow around it anymore!
La Pictoria!
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So I baked some chicken and used crushed up corn flakes. Those things are unreasonably high in points, by the way. They were delicious and went well with pan fried squash and mustard!
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So we ordered a new playground thing for the kids and unbeknownst to me, it was coming in two boxes. Me and wes sorted the boards out for nothing! Next week!
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Blaze and the Monster Machines board game? Check! Fun? No.
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Cheat day was pizza and garlic toast for lunch. Delicious, but I ate way too much.
Sharing My Life Story: The Diets of Doom, Old School Atkins
Disclaimer: I can’t vouch for the exact age I was when this happened, but I was definitely in junior high school.
As a younger teen I was a hot mess. The angst was hitting, the anger was hitting, the hormones were eating me alive and I had bitch tits. I was huge, I needed to lose weight. I had aspirations to be a great basketball or baseball player. I had hopes of landing a nice gal. I was making plans. I had bitch tits.
In the effort to help me, my mom landed upon this hardcover dieting book by Robert Atkins. I will give you the gist of what my mom took from that book: Bacon, cheese, hot dogs, water, GO! Pork skins and sugar free Jell-O were great too. Everything I loved, and all I could eat. With plenty of meat (hunting and fishing are great providers) in the house, I was going places!
Breakfast was typically a pile of bacon, eggs however I desired, and cheese. No toast, which was a bummer, but that was fine. This was the best diet ever. For lunch it was always ham or tuna fish, cheese, cheese and oh look, cheese! Boiled eggs sometimes and then some cheese. Dinner was always some big meat feast and maybe some kind of vegetable? I can’t remember.
I lost a bit of weight in a short bit of time….Then things started happening.
To be continued…