A Small Town and A Big Ego

8:04pm

Ok, so I took a day off from blogging. I had to finish reading the Tehran Initiative by Joel Rosenberg. Seriously… if you have not read the series starting with “The Twelfth Imam”, what are you thinking? Shut down this blog right now and order it on Amazon or go to your local bookstore right now! It really puts the times we are living in, in perspective and has a positive outcome… What is that you say? Something positive? Yup!

So… your probably wondering how I am doing on my “food lifestyle makeover”? Well, I’d say pretty good for a 6’6” Viking like myself! I’m not going to say it’s easy, by any means. In fact, it is the single hardest thing I have ever done and I am not even sure if I am going to make it (if I am being honest), but the truth is the truth. I am giving it my full attention and I see myself winning this fight.

Tonight (Halloween) I took my kids out trick-or-treating. I live in a small town of 2600 people. We have one main street that looks like a town ripped from the pages of a Louis Lamoure novel. You can still ride your horse up to the saloon and hitch it to the hitchin’ post and there are sleigh rides all winter long through the town for anyone who wants a ride. Halloween is one of the times of the year that the town comes together and all of the businesses on Main Street have candy for the kids. People bring their kids from miles around to participate.

Like anything in my town, it takes a little longer to do just about anything because you know everyone. You can’t just walk down the street and expect to not talk to anyone, no… you engage in many conversations. One constant theme of conversation was how good I was looking. Apparently the entire community knows that I am on a diet and they are expecting good things. It is always nice to have someone complement you though. So… if you decide to choose the Simple to lose plan, move to a small town… it’s good for your ego. Ha ha

Day Three... A little better, but still VERY HUNGRY

3:19pm

I woke up really late this Saturday… Had breakfast at noon and now I am making my first Simple to Lose brownie. It’s in the oven baking at 350 for 19 min. I will let you know how it turns out.

For some reason my body is aching on this diet and I’m not able to sleep like normal. I’m sure this will change as I get used to the diet plan and daily grind. I was up until 4:30am. I should have been making better use of my time though… I could have brushed up on my scrabble words or played countless rounds of Othello on my iPod.

3:42pm

Oh My… That is a very scrumptious brownie.

6:22pm

I am reading “The Tehran Initiative” by Joel Rosenberg and I cant blog for a while… because I am going to have to read this all the way through.

A day for a Community to give

10:04am

I have made it 58 hours now on my Simple 2 lose diet. So far… not simple, but I’m hoping for brighter days. The part that is a little confusing is getting comfortable with the things you can and cannot make in your Lean and Green meal. Other than that… everything else is simple because you just open up a freeze dried packet, add water and… presto, instant “food”. This morning I had my instant egg packet. It’s definitely better to cook it in the microwave.

1:00pm

I received a nice tip from my coach today. She had a blog that has great recipes and ideas for how to make the food taste better. I used one of the ideas for lunch. I took the wild rice soup in the water and let it sit for 15 min before cooking it. It made a world of difference. My only problem now is that the soup boils over within the first min of cooking. It is “simple to lose” most of my meal because it spills out inside the microwave… I have now learned that lesson and it will not happen again… Trust Me!

8:26pm

A much better day all around. I took the strawberry shake packet and blended it in a blender with crushed ice… Oh… Ya!!! Very nummy. That made a great 3:00pm meal. Then at 6 I had a small lean steak (6oz cooked) and a very nice salad. I could not finish it, because I was full… so I’m now patting myself on the back because I think that is the first time in ages that I have not finished a meal.

Also, today was great because a friend of ours in the community reached out to my wife and I. She was struggling as a single mom, trying to make ends meet and even make her rent & heat payment. She was going to be kicked out of her house on the 5^th, but I brought it up to my facebook friends and within 17 min, her rent was paid and she had 100 gallons of propane donated to heat her house. By the end of the day, our little community even donated wood and funds to make up for her back rent. I love how community can meet the needs of those within it. We don’t need government to tell us when to be charitable, or even rely on government to take care of us… we rise above on our own and act… like human beings were created to act. Thank you community of Bigfork Montana, for caring for one of your own!

Day two is as tough as they say it will be!

10:26am

Yuck… is not the only word that describes how awful the “Oatmeal” food packet tasted this morning, but it is the nicest thing I can say about it. Unfortunately I cannot get that taste out of my mouth. I think I need better microwave cooking containers or I did not make that correctly. How can this be allowed to be eaten? I felt like Neo in the movie “The Matrix” after he takes the blue pill and enters reality. He is stuck in the ship and they have to eat some slop that pours out of a tube into a bowl and everyone eats it because it has all of the nutrients that they need but tastes like cr@p. I… will NOT be having the oatmeal food replacement meal ever again TUVM (thank you very much).

2:43pm

I have to tell you… I’m not in good shape today… Very week, to the point that I am too dizzy to work. I’m not sure if I am sick or if this is normal. I can’t really write any more.

4:48pm

I just read a happy email from my health coach… She said “Just read your blog post and burned calories laughing! You have a way with words! If you need to, have an extra meal. You could even cut a bar in half and eat as needed. A cup if chicken broth will help with energy also. Just make sure it is low sodium. I promise, it does get easier!” So… now I’m running to my kitchen to grab something. (OK… I’m not actually running, but you get the picture)

5:49pm

I just ate my lean and green meal. I had a salad and a wonderful salmon steak cooked to perfection. I actually have energy and feel much better, so that means that I’m not sick, just hungry. Hunger is a serious issue… We have it so good in America. God bless those who are going to sleep hungry tonight… may God give them excess tomorrow and meat their needs. I’m going to work now… Goodnight!

The First Day

10:00am

Well, I started the day by weighing in… 373.2 pounds is what the new digital scale said. I took a photo… I will try to post it. Then I dug through my box of freeze-dried food and looked for “Eggs”. After following the directions, I added water and presto… Eggs. Not bad, however I am left wanting. I am actually a little shaky and light headed as I write this. My next meal is at noon.

10:43am

Talked to my coach because I was not sure about having a Coffee with some milk in it. She showed me that it is OK, I just need to check off one of my three condiments for the day and it will be accounted for. Now that I have had my coffee… all is good.

12:23pm

OK, Lunch is going well. I’m having the Wild Rice and Chicken soup… Holy Cow… This is good. Or… it could be that I’m really hungry, I’m not sure. Nope… it’s actually very tasty. I’ve also had four glasses of water so far this morning and that really helps. I was a little shaky as I opened the door to see the Jehovah Witnesses this morning, but I was able to tell them all about my new diet plan and they are going to pray for me… so I feel much better.

2:40pm

I’m almost unable to think… I’m so hungry. I keep wanting to get up and munch on something and my stomach is gurgling like crazy. I am truly light headed and I have to get up and go play a show (www.badlarrys.com) at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake. Luckily they have a salad with chicken on it that I can have for dinner. I will let you know how the rest of the day goes… but now I get to make a snack!!!

3:17pm

OK, so I’m standing in front of my refrigerator looking in for some reason and then I come out of my stupor and just start laughing because I’m food delirious.

11:38pm

Oh Man… I made it!!!! Somehow I made it through my first day! I went to play a gig at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake with zero energy… I set up and had my lean and green meal (Garden salad with chicken) and that gave me the energy to play the 3-hour show. At the end… after total exhaustion and packing up the sound system… I had my peanut butter bar. Off to bed! Goodnight Gracie…