Good morning!
Wow, we had SUCH a great time yesterday - AND I stayed WELL within my RDI. I did great. :)
The results show on the scale this morning. I'm down 250g of fat, and down 500g muscle, and equally down in water. I don't think there is any actual muscle loss. If there is, then it's minimal. I'm happy with the result.
I just want to have a couple of kilos off of me. I'm well on my way to that. Goal weight is still 80. 2.6 kilos to go.
Of course, I might be a little heavier tomorrow, after several days of nice losses, and a Halloween party tonight. :)
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We went to the little international food festival. In essence, it was little more than "just" a small market, with about 25 different stands - most of them selling foods. There were representatives from Finland, Poland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and many other European countries. Everyone had samples, and of course we had to try a bunch of things.
When I saw all the samples, my initial thought was that I might as well just toss all plans about going low calorie out the window, but then I thought the better of it. I figured it could be a challenge instead.
I was VERY rigid about going for the smaller samples. I didn't over-do it. I made good choices all the way.
I tried to keep a mental note of everything that I did, and ended up at about 300 calories, pretty much between tiny pieces of cheese and sausage, and the best chocolate I have ever had.
300 calories is INCLUDING 25% for errors. It's a safe number.
For lunch, we went to the Spanish food stand, and had a superb seafood risotto. It was the BEST! The alternative was grilled German sausages with fries. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm on a mission, here. :)
I had brought my little food scale, a handly little pocked thing that I bought on Amazon.co.uk. I weighed my risotto before I ate, and there was 450 grams. I finished what I felt like, picked out the excellent seafood in the rest of the portion, and tossed the rice away. All in all, I had 200 grams of lunch. Again, superb.
Lunch was registered as generic seafood risotto that I found in my calorie counter, and clocked in at 268 calories. Not bad at all. Both Wife and I really liked the food, and we were more than happy that we didn't fall into the dogs and fries trap. We would have missed out on a more than excellent meal.
We did a good bit of shopping. Wife bought some bee's wax candles shaped like little dragons, and she bought cheeses (which I am certain I will enjoy too) and French Nougat.
I bought some of that superior - SUPERIOR - home made chocolate.
I had some of it later in the day - before 7 PM - and it is amazing. The good thing about it is that it is so rich and flavorful that I can't possibly eat more than a small piece. I have NEVER had chocolate like this before.
...and at the same time I don't feel like I'm in a rush to finish it. It's nice. It's worth savoring.
I actually had planned to enjoy a full 100g piece on the train home, but I only made it through 25. Not bad. Saved me 400+ calories. :)
Here are a few pictures from my favorite stand at the market:
Nice, huh? I'm glad I went in there with a plan or a mission, and that I managed to stay focused, or this could have de-railed faster than anyone could say "Hey, who ate all the chocolate?!?".
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So, after the market we browsed the shopping street. I found a couple of movies, and a few other bits and pieces. We bought some pork rinds at a local butcher's shop, as we both felt like a snack but didn't want sugar. We LOVE pork rinds in this house. :) I got a small portion, and we enjoyed it.
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Then it was time for dinner - the ultimate challenge. LOL.
We were going to our favorite rib house. I ordered the smallest portion of ribs, and a baked potato with butter on the side.
I had my scale out again, and weighed everything before eating, so I could weigh bones and everything else after, in order to know exactly what I had eaten.
The results were surprising, in a good way.
I finished my ribs. Meat was 150 grams. A similar piece in my food calculator says 323 calores. This is relatively lean meat (as lean as spareribs go), the baby back ribs kind. The sauce is not super sweet and I don't think it has more sugar than what is in the one I entered.
Other than that I had ONE small baked botato with absolutely no filling. I never touched the butter. I never touched the side of sauce. It just wasn't needed. The only thing I had was meat and the potato. It was a super nice meal still, and I didn't feel like I was missing out at all.
The total cost? 450 calories. How about that?!
Then, of course, I started fantasizing about dessert. They have the most awesome ice cream bar - eat all you can - at the place. Essentially, I had 700 calories left, and I could EASILY have several portions without doing damage. I didn't, though. I really didn't want to get into the sugar, since I am doing well without it. Besides, I wanted the chocolate on the way home, and I knew that I could have one or the other, but not both. The chocolate won.
So, total cost at the restaurant stayed at 450 calories.
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On the train I pulled out the chocolate, and I was really looking forward to enjoying it on my way home. I had an hour left of my feeding window. So, I had one bite of chocolate, and realized that there was absolutely no way that I could finish a whole piece. It was so full, rich and flavorful that it just satisfied on the spot. It was incredible! I had one more small(ish) bite and packed it away. Total cost: 25 grams, and about 130 calories.
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So, I can DEFINITELY claim mission accomplished on yesterday's journey. My RDI I set for yesterday was 2,000 calories, and at the end of the day I had consumed 1548. I like that - a LOT!
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Today, is of course the next challenge. The first Halloween party. Wife is cooking. I had kinda missed that bit. I was probably too busy and stressed out to realize.
It comforts me, though, because now I know what I'm eating. It's gonna be GREAT food, but I can EASILY make a plate that is sane on calories.
It's Indulgence Day today, but I really don't want to go full force pig-out. I want to do good, and keep seeing results.
So, my plan is simple. Today, I will not open my feeding window until it's either time for the party dinner - which is at 4 PM - or if I get really hungry (which I doubt I will). This will essentially give me 3500 calories that I can enjoy dinner for, and there is no chance that I will at all reach that level. No chance.
It's gonna be tex-mex food, and it will basically be a tortilla or two, lean meat, beans and rice. I will focus on the meat (for protein) maybe with a tortilla, and skip the rice.
Desserts will be fruit and cake. I will go for fruit. I have no urge to be drinking alcohol, so that's out of the way, and I will just have water and diet soda. I will make SURE that I can have diet soda.
This could be relatively easy to go through.
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And then, of course, it will be my birthday tomorrow. Next challenge. :)
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Today, I'm thankful for:
- Acing my mission yesterday.
- Wife!
- Meeting a total stranger on our walk yesterday and having an awesome, hour-long talk.
- Halloween party with Wife cooking!
Also, I want to thank you guys who wrote to me and asked if Wife is okay. She'd doing better - which means that so am I. There is still some way to go, but things are seemingly brightening up a little day by day. I appreciate your concern.
Yesterday, she LOVED the day. I'm so happy I could give it to her.
Life is good!
