Welcome To Temptation Week

A quick recap of the week so far would go something like this:

Monday: Chili, one of my favorite dishes. I was tempted, very much so, but I did not partake of the evil dish.

Tuesday: Tacos. The ONE. If I was ever forced to select one single dish as my absolute favorite, this is it. But I simply turned from the kitchen, quickly dressed and went to the gym, never touching the villainous, enticing dinner.

Today? Fajitas. (The gentleman featured in today's video presentation is one who ate too many tacos and fajitas -- and no, this is NOT me)

Now in all honestly, the temptation posed by fajitas doesn't quit measure up to chili or tacos. Still, it is a favored dish to my palate, particularly when the fajita mixture is spread over a tortilla, coated in melted butter, then rolled inside that tortilla.

Of course, being the fitness and nutrition buff that I am striving to become, I knew full well the butter was out, but I could easily spread the fajita mixture on a couple of whole-wheat tortillas and enjoy. I even took a tiny little piece of the chicken, along with a small strip of pepper and onion, as a sample of what awaited me after my workout, and I have to tell you these fajitas had an especially enticing flavor.

Upon returning home from the gym I learned the full, vile truth: These fajitas were made with a homemade mixture. This meant they tasted so much better than using a store-bought mix, but it also meant about a gabillion tablespoons of olive oil, sesame oil, and soy sauce were used to create such a full-bodied, piquant taste.

That translates to a gabillion calories.

So, with head hung low, feeling a little bit like Charlie Brown after having the ball yanked away once again as he goes into his kicking motion, I trudged to the fridge, pulled out some lean pork chops, and made those for dinner. Don't get me wrong, I like pork chops. I really, really do. But those fajitas still call to me, a silent, fattening temptress adorned in Tupperware, sitting in the fridge, waiting...waiting...waiting...

But I am strong. I sit with my comforting pork chop, dining away from temptation's sight, knowing that one day...one day 80 pounds from now...I will enjoy those fajitas. Well, maybe not THOSE fajitas...

Exercise for the day:
Weight training for chest, shoulders, triceps.

Chest
Flat bench barbell bench press
135 pounds, 1 set, 10 reps
195 pounds, 2 sets, 8 reps each
185 pounds, 2 set, 9 reps each

Incline barbell bench press
115 pounds, 2 sets, 8 reps each.

Dumbbell bench flyes
40 pound dumbbells, 1 set, 8 reps
25 pounds, 1 sex, 8 reps

Shoulders
Seated dumbbell press
50 pounds, 2 sets, 8 reps

Seated backflyes
125 pounds, 2 sets, 10 reps

Triceps
Triceps pressdown
140 pounds, 2 sets, 10 reps

Seated Machine Tricep Press
240 pounds, 1 set, 12 reps

Abs
Seated Machine Crunches
110 pounds, 1 set, 15 reps

Food for the day

Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites
Mushrooms -- 1/2 cup chopped

Lunch
2 4-ounce lean turkey burgers
1/2 can low-fat pork-n-beans (had to do something with the leftovers from last night)

Snack
Salad, with lettuce, mushrooms, 2 ounces of lean ham. NO dressing.

Dinner
Lean pork chop -- 8 ounces

Snack
Raisin Bran -- 1 cup
Almond Milk -- 1 cup

Totals
1,345 calories
44 grams fat
151 grams protein

Drinks for the day
Water 80 ounces
Diet soda 32 ounces

Well, that's it for today, Day 3 of TEMPTATION WEEK. Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. I'm trying to see how many folks I can get to read my blog, so please feel free to share this with your friends on FB, via Twitter, and elsewhere. And leave any questions or comments you have in the comment section -- I try to respond to each one!

Tacos!!!!

This must be test week. Last night we (meaning, everyone in the family but ME) had chili, which is one of my favorite foods.

Tonight "we" one-upped that, with perhaps my absolute favorite food. Tacos. I can polish off a dozen tacos in a single sitting, and sometimes still want more. If you gave me a choice of nearly any food, I'd select tacos. I'd take them over ice cream, doughnuts, pizza, chili, hot dogs, hamburgers, steak (well, most of the time), maybe even lobster and crab.

Well, okay, the lobster and the crab might edge them out only because those would be such a rarity.

But you get the idea. I really, really, really like tacos. When I walked in the door tonight, the scent of taco meat cooking on the stove top enveloped me, conjuring images of tacky little Mexican restaurant wall decorations, mariachi music playing over the speakers, all-you-can eat baskets of tortilla chips with salsa, and a big giant plate of tacos.

Last night, I made the mistake of lingering in the kitchen, hovering over the pots of chili, looking longingly at the bubbling concoction, which led to me very nearly wrecking the diet for the day. Nearly. But, as I mentioned in my blog yesterday, I turned away the temptation, taking only a single taste (well, okay, I had another after I posted the blog, but that was just two spoonfuls, and they weren't even big spoons).

Today?

I walked through the kitchen, glanced at the taco meat, then proceeded to dress, go to the gym and ride 14 miles on the exercise bike.

Then I came home, had a couple of lean turkey burgers (just the meat, no buns, cheese, or anything else) and some low-fat pork-n-beans.

YUUUUUUMMMMM!

Anyway, that was my evening.

Now, for my exercise and diet for the day...

Exercise
Cardio
Stationary Bike, 42 minutes (22 on lvl 5, rest on lvl 4)
14 miles
425 calories burned

Eats for the day...

Breakfast
Coffee
Two whole eggs
Lean ham -- 2 ounces

Lunch
Bottom round steak -- 4 ounces
Mixed Asian Veggies -- 1 cup

Snack
Fat-free Greek Yogurt

Dinner
Lean turkey patties -- 2 (again, just the bare patties)
Pork-n-beans -- half a can.

Totals for the day
Calories -- 1,010
Fat -- 43 grams
Protein -- 133 grams

Water -- 80 ounces
Diet Soda -- 24 ounces

And that's about it for the day. Thanks for stopping by!

Tomorrow Never Comes

Given that yesterday (Sunday) was an off day, I decided I'd try to go just a little light on the eating today, a plan that was working quite well until I arrived home after a looooong day at work to find a big pot of chili on the stove.

Chili.

One of my favorite foods.

So I decided to, you know, have just a bit. Maybe a bowl. Or two. After all, I've done quite well on this little diet and exercise program, lost weight pretty fast, so one evening off the diet won't hurt, right? I can always go back strict tomorrow morning.

And that's when I stopped.

I've mentioned in some of my other blogs that I'm the KING of up and down dieting. In my very first post, way back on March 9 that I had hit 279 on the scales a few days earlier, something like 80 to 100 pounds over what I should weigh.

Maybe in some later posts I'll go into the reasons, some of the things driving me to eat over the years, but one thing suddenly stood out for me -- one of my problems over the years, one of the things that have undercut other weight loss attempts, was the fact I was always willing to go all-out, work hard in the gym, be super-strict on the diet -- tomorrow.

There was always a reason to say I'd start tomorrow.

Problem is, if you're not really willing to do what has to be done today, tomorrow never comes.

So I didn't eat any chili tonight. (Well, okay, I had ONE bite). There will be a tomorrow -- some tomorrow, down the road, I'll hit my ideal weight, I'll be 80, 90, maybe a hundred pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of this -- and on that day I'll eat all the chili I want. Or pizza. Or doughnuts (though I won't quit the nutrition and exercise plan, it'll just change, because I don't want to do this yo-yo thing any more, either).

Until then, though. except for the occasional planned free day, I won't be putting things off until tomorrow. I'll keep eating right today.

Now, for my day's eating and exercise.

Exercise -- I did both weight training and cardio today, although the cardio was a little shorter after having done the weight training.

Cardio
Stationary bike
25 minutes (9 at lvl 5, the rest at lvl 4)
8.5 miles
350 calories

Weight Training
Back and biceps

Seated Row
130 pounds, 1 set for 10 reps
200 pounds, 4 sets, 8 reps each

Lat pulldowns
100 pounds, 1 set x 10 reps
90 pounds, 1 set x 8 reps

Curl-bar curl
40 pounds, 1 set x 10 reps
70 pounds, 3 sets x 8 reps each

Food for the day

Breakfast
Greek Yogurt

Lunch
Bottom round steak, 5 ounces
Mixed veggies, 1 cup

Snack
Banana

Dinner
Boiled chicken -- 6 ouncs
Mixed Veggies -- 1 cup

Second Dinner
Protein Drink

Total for day
Calories 1,026
Fat -- 26 grams
Protein -- 139 grams

Water -- 60 ouncs
Diet soda -- 36 ounces

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by!