THE HART-SERIES: February 8, 2008 to March 7, 2008

February is always one of the busiest times of the year for me – next to April and then June – for my bookkeeping, accounting and income tax business. It’s obvious that I can’t keep up with a simple task of documenting and recording all of my food intake, and counting points trying to lose weight.

The good news is, that during this period, I weighed myself only twice. On the morning of Friday February 22, 2008 I weighed 273.5 lbs and on March 1st, 2008 I was back up to 276.0 lbs. The bad news is that I’m still heading upwards and on Friday March 7, 2008 (yesterday morning) I am back up to 279.0 lbs.

So What Is Wrong With Me?

First of all, (no Joke) but in February I was on a 6 day week. I was eating all over the place. If you scan the dates of the pictures below .. the missing dates were probably the dates that I worked all night or, slept very little that day with power snoozes. In my mind – I was working 24/7 .. well, feeling like I was anyway .. and only eating once a day. For the rest of the day I would have either toast and peanut butter for breakfast, coffee and maybe a few handfuls of Puffed Wheat or maybe a Thinsation snack of something like that. Mentally, each day – I would kind of guestimate in my head if I was over 20 Weight Watcher points and that would pretty much guide me to how much and kind of Supper dinner I would have. And, I would keep the camera on my kitchen table and religiously take the picture of my dinner. There was 2 days from February 8-29th that I ate out – once at Palatal Restaurant again for a Mongolian Stirfry and Feb 28th I pigged out at A&W with probably about 100 points (double Mozza, onion rings, large root beer, PLUS a whistle dog). I didn’t eat that day and was a little sick on the 29th from that excess, but booooooooy that burger and onion rings tasted good!

And – working my butt off – suddenly my deadline passed, and my adrenalin slowed down. I was checking emails more. Catching up on my blogging. Twittering. And eating as much as I did in February. Yet, I have gained weight. Also, I’ve been trying to get back on a 24-hour day (opposed to a 28-hour day) and trying to sleep 6-8 hours a day since the beginning of the month, and you know what? It’s hard. One night I slept 11 hours and woke up at lunchtime, which was my breakfast, and still had a quick lunch and then ate dinner at dinner time.

I’m still Not Giving Up!

I can’t walk away from this 3rd attempt to get back in shape, like I did the past 2 years. Tomorrow is a new day. So I have started a new notebook and I’m keeping it with my camera and starting tomorrow – a new day – I go back on my diet, and counting points. Hopefully the weather will start to let up and I can get some outside exercise .. but, I have been cycling in my basement on the exercise bike. The only thing is – compared to how many hours my wife works out a week … (about 7 hours) My 10 minutes of cycling while drinking coffee in the morning doesn’t cut it. I have to get serious on that aspect too.

So, this is what I have been eating anyway

I’ve discovered Pita pockets, and have enjoyed the convenience of having a quick sandwich .. rather than the time it takes to make a really tasty salad. Other than that, I’m pretty much eating the same ole same ole stuff. One day I will come back and shrink these pictures, but in the meantime .. please wait while the pictures are loading.

THE HART-SERIES: February 1-7, 2008

Day 31 to Day 38, still trying to lose weight (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur)

Friday February 1, 2008

Coffee, Oranges, Pita Pocket Sandwich with lettuce and vegetables, Pita Pocket Sandwich with 100g turkey breast and lite Mayo, Strawberry Milk (Quik), Melba Toast

– Total 30 points
– Still have 35 weekly flex points available
– No picture available

Saturday February 2, 2008

Coffee, Toasted Blueberry Bagel, Dinner at Sister-In-Law’s Birthday Party, including Meatballs and soup, and Robins Donuts

– Total 41 points
– over by 9 points, 26 flex points remain
– No picture available

Sunday February 3, 2008

Coffee, Puffed Wheat Cereal, with 2% milk, orange, Pita Pocket with 100g turkey breast, dry puffed wheat cereal, toasted blueberry bagel

– total 22 points
– under, still have 26 flext points remaining
– picture of my brunch

Monday February 4, 2008

Coffee, Orange, Pita Pocket with 50g Turkey, Chicken Fingers and Fries, Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream, with Syrop

-Total 52 points
– over by 20 points, 6 flex points remain
– Picture of my lunch

– Picture of my dinner

Tuesday February 5, 2008

Coffee, Weight Watchers toast, Oranges, Toasted Blueberry Bagel with Peanut Butter, Dry puffed wheat Cereal, Thinsation Peanut Butter Snaps, and rice cakes

– total 28 points
– under, still have 6 flex points left
– picture of my dinner

Wednesday February 6, 2008

Coffee, Toasted Blueberry Bagel with peanut butter, Dry Puffed Wheat cereal, Sundried Tomato Pita with 100g Turkey and lite mayo, Thinsation Chips Ahoy, President Choice Sweet & Salty Almond Bar, Reeses Puff Cereal with 2% milk

– Total 36 points
– over by 4 points, 2 flex points remain
– Picture of my dinner

Thursday February 7, 2008

Coffee, Reeses Puffs Cereal with 2% milk, Palatel Mongolian Stir Fry, Robins Donut Coffee, Soda Pop

– 28 points
– under – Week ended with 2 remaining flex points!
– No picture available today.

THE HART-SERIES: January 22-24, 2008

Days Twenty-One to Twenty Three, still trying to lose weight (Tues, Wed, Thur)

Yes: I’m still counting! (even though I haven’t been posting in this blog)

For the ease of speeding up the blogging of my daily meals .. I will now post several days at a time to catch up on things. This will become more evident over the next few months as I become increasingly more busy during my day job (income tax preparation, etc) and especially so around the 20th and around the last week of each month

Tuesday – January 22, 2008

Coffee – 1 point
Pasta Salad – 6 points
4 Weight Watchers Toast with Peanut Butter – 4 points
Thinsation Peanut Butter cookies – 2 points
Thinsation Oreo cookies – 2 points
Pasta Salad – 6 points
4012 Orange – 1 point
Dutch Chocolate Yogurt Ice Cream – 5 points
Orange – 1 point
Melba Toast – 2 points

* No picture was taken January 22nd

>> Total 30 points, under
>>> Still have 8 splurge points left (after deducting January 21, 2008 excess of 20 points from 20th splurge points)

Wednesday January 23, 2008

Coffee – 1 point
4012 Orange – 1 point
Flax Cereal with 2% milk plus refills (2 points per cup) – 9 points
Orange – 1 point
Pasta Salad – 6 points
2 Blueberry Bagels with 200g turkey – 12 points
Orange – 1 poiint

>> Total 31 points, under
>> still have 8 splurge points left

* Picture of my Breakfast:

* Picture of my dinner:

Thursday January 24, 2008

Coffee – 1 point
Flax Cereal – 7 points
Pasta Salad – 6 points
Toasted Blueberry Bagel with Peanut Butter – 6 points
Tim Horton’s coffee with flavor shot of butter caramel – 2 points
Tim Horton’s Chicken Fajita on wholewheat wrap – 8 points
(MEMO: According to Tim Hortons Nutrition Page: 380 Cal, 15 Fat, 5 Fibre)
Orange – 1 point

>> total 31 points, under
>> Finished off the week with 8 splurge points remain!

* No picture was taken

THE HART-SERIES: January 21, 2008

Day Twenty, trying to lose weight … (Monday)

It’s Pasta Salad Week!

Last night, While pigging out on mini donuts .. I made a new batch of HART’s FAMOUS PASTA SALAD .. counting as 3 points per cup. Hopefully it should last me the week!

Today I had:

Coffee – 1 poiint
Breakfast Pasta Salad – 4 points
Thinsations Oreo cookies – 2 points
(all day) Mini Donuts – balance from yesterday – 24 points
Lunch Pasta Salad – 6 points
Dinner – 4 Weight Watchers Toasted w/100g turkey sandwiches – 4 points
Dinner Pasta Salad – 6 points
4012 Orange – 1 point

Picture of my dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 20, 2008

Day Nineteen trying to lose weight (Sunday)

Coffee – 1 point
4 Weight Watchers Toast with Peanut Butter – 4 points
Dry Fruity Cheerios Cereal – handfulls for snacks – 3 points
Mini Donuts @2 points each – >> 1/2 of this packet! 24 points
176oz Lean Machine Grilled Chicken Breast – 6 points (168g) diff to dogs as treats!~

> 38 Points, over by 6 points
> 28 splurge points remain

I went shopping today to Sobey’s to get some ingredients for HART’s Famous Pasta Salad and those Mini Donuts looked delicious! I forgot – that each mini donut counts as 2 points however!

Picture of My Snacks For January 20th & 21st

Picture of my Dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 18, 2008

Day Seventeen .. Watching my weight (Friday)

Coffee – 1 point
4 Weight Watchers Toast with Peanut Butter – 4 points
Sweet & Salty Bar – 3 points
Lunch at Koya Kiosk Beef & Chicken Teriyaki – 12 points
Tim Horton’s coffee – 2 points
Tim Horton’s Chocolate Chip Muffin – 9 points
Melba Toast – 2 points

>> 33 total points, over by 1 point
>> New week! 34 splurge points remain

Picture of My Dinner

I didn’t take any pictures of my dinner, because I didn’t eat dinner – I just had melba toast as a snack.

THE HART-SERIES: January 15, 2008

Day Fourteen watching my weight ..

Coffee – 1 point
4 Weight Watchers Whole Wheat toast, with Peanut Butter – 5 points
Melba toast, pack of 8 – 2 points
Nutrigrain Sweet & Salty Bar – 3 points
Organic Salad with red and Green Peppers, and spritz dressings – 2 point
4 Weight Watcher bread, with 100g shaved Turkey with Mayo sandwiches – 6 points
Bowl of cereal, dry as snack food – 4 points

>> Total points – 23 points, under
>> still no splurge points available this week

Hey! Have you tried the Weight Watcher’s Bread yet? Actually .. I was curious what it was like, but basically – it’s half size bread that’s half as thick. So, 2 slices is 1 point. I find I can use less peanut butter and you don’t need as much meats, etc (or else the bread will fall apart).

Picture of my Dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 14, 2008

Day Thirteen watching my weight …

Coffee – 1 point
Flax Cereal w/2% milk – 7 points
2 Rice Cakes – 2 points
1 Thinsation cookies – 2 points
2 Sweet & Salty Snack bars – 4 points
Chunky Prime Rib lean beef Soup 540ml – 5 points
4 whole wheat toast with peanut butter with 2 types of honey from farmers market – 9 points

>> Total 30 points, under
>> Still no splurge points remain

Picture of my Dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 13, 2008

Day Twelve watching my weight…

Coffee – 1 point
4 whole wheat toast with margarine, cinnamon and brown sugar – 11 points
Melba toast – 2 points
2 Quaker Rice Cakes – 2 points
Salad – Red and Green Pepper, white onions, hard boiled egg, croutons, mini marshmallows, bacon bits, low fat poppyseed dressing – 9 points

>> Total 25 points
>> no splurge points remain

That’s maxxie peaking into the picture at the bottom .. I think I presented this salad quite well, instead of dumping the single colored peppers in the bowl I spread it around the outer edge to give me a fluffier organic salad and room for the other toppings!

Picture of my breakfast

Picture of my dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 11, 2008

Day 10 watching my weight …

Coffee – 1 point
Thinsations cookies – 2 points
2 Rice Cakes @1 pt each – 2 points
Tim Hortons Coffee w/Flavor Shot Butter Caramel – 2 points
Salad with Red Peppers, bacon bits, croutons, dressing, 50g turkey, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese – 8 points
2 Whole Wheat toast with Peanut butter – 4 points

>> Total 19 points today, under
>> It’s a new week today – total 32 splurge points remain!

I am totally into this new Organic Field Greens Salad from Superstore over the regular garden salads I have been eating for the past couple of years!~ It’s a nice change! That whole container was $4.69 and it’s quite cheaper, and its expiry date seems to be twice as long as regular salad. PS: the noname Toasted Sesame vinegrette dressing is also quite tasty.

You need a good oil on your salad. Plus 8 cups of water per day. Plus fruit (which I lack in my diet)

Picture of my dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 7, 2008

Day Six

Coffee – 1 point
4 whole wheat toast with Peanut Butter – 7 points
Cereal Reesers Puffs (2 & heaping bowl for lunch) w/2% milk – 11 points
Nature’s Premium Blueberry Bagel – 6 points
Carrots – 0 points
Red Peppers – 0 points
Green Peppers – 0 points
Calorie Wise Creamy Poppyseed Dressing – 4TBSP – 6 points

>> Total 31 points, under
>> 22 splurge points still remain

Picture of my dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 5, 2008

Day Four

Coffee – 1 point
2 shots Whiskey – 4 points
Toasted Turkey Sandwich 100g on wholewheat with Mayo Lite – 5 points
2 Toast on wholewheat with Peanut Butter – 4 points
Perkins Restaurant – Country Skillet, with side of pancakes – 20 points estimate
Perkins Restaurant – scoop of ice cream with chocolate syrop – 8 points estimate

>> total 42 points >> over by 10 points
>> 22 weekly splurge points remain

I was feeling sickly today, but the family got together with my Father-In-Law and we took him out for dinner. I wish Perkins Restaurant had better nutritional information online – but, they don’t. The skillet had scrambled eggs, sausages, hash browns, hollaindaise sauce, ham, peppers, etc .. with a side of 3 pocket pancakes instead of toast.

Picture of my lunch

THE HART-SERIES: January 4, 2008

Day Three

15 Swedish Meatballs – 15 points
Bagel with Peanut Butter – 5 points

4 shots of Rye Whiskey during the day – 8 points

>> 28 points, under
>> 32 weekly splurge points remain

I am sick now (Sat. Morn. as I type this) and sick as hell on Friday bed-ridden with some flu bug. My throat is scratchy and hardly able to speak, and weak. I was taking shots of whiskey and jumping back into bed.

Picture of my dinner

THE HART-SERIES: January 2, 2008

Day One .. Third Try ..

I’m back on my diet .. so-to-speak. By diet, I am meaning that I am really eating whatever the heck I want, but I’m also keeping track by writing down everything as I am able, and counting points as if I was still back on Weight Watchers. Most of the points can be found on my “recipe/points” page or found elsewhere. Hopefully, besides portion control .. this journal will help keep me on the straight and narrow (losing weight) and help me help myself get back into shape.

The posts of my daily meals will start with .. “THE HART-SERIES:” .. in case you wanted to skip over 100% of these boring articles which are basically my daily journal. If I don’t post something daily, I’ll just recap as soon as practical .. but don’t worry – I’m still writing everything down daily.

As for included pictures, I plan to take a picture of one meal per day and post it in the blog. Hopefully, the pictures will automatically appear in my Gallery, although I am not sure in what order. Back in 2005, where my weight was a little higher .. I was limited to 32 points per day and I’ll keep that as my upper limit throughout 2008. Also, I am allowing myself 35 extra “splurge” points per week that all points over 32 points in a day will be deducted from. If I don’t make 32 points in a day, I will not add points to the splurge points.

For more detailed process of the Weight Watcher process that I am following, feel free to check out the archives the the HART: Getting In Shape category!

Anyway .. here we go!

January 2, 2008

Coffee & low fat cream – 1 point
Fruity Cheerios w/2% milk – 5 points
Palatal Restaurant – Mongolian Stir fry – 9 points
Salad – with 100g turkey, red peppers, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, dressing – 7 points
2 whole wheat toast with Peanut Butter – 4 point

>> total 26 points // under
>> 35 splurge points remain.

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* If you have a diet blog or are fat-blogging and documenting your weight loss and getting back into shape during 2008 .. please let me know! I’ll start a page and link everybody up and perhaps, start a Battling Obesity Biggest Loser contest or something~ (we’ll see!)