Memoirs of a Soon-to-Be Former Fat Guy

Greetings and Salutations!

The Vista desktop shows a temp of 75 degrees at 7:11 AM. Uhm, yuck? Alas, only the government can control the weather, so there’s no use complaining about it.

Getting down to business, however, Sunday was a very productive day. I was able to finish taking the paint off the old bar, sanded the wood, so it’s almost ready for paint. A quick history of the bar… we bought it from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. For those who are unfamiliar with the ReStore, they sell used and donated building materials with the profits going directly to Habitat for Humanity. It’s a worthy charity and I’ve both bought and donated in the past.

So, we found a lonely used cabinet and realized it would be a nice height for a bar… it just needed some TLC. That’s where I come in. I built a ceramic tile top for the lonely cabinet to start, now I’m fixing the cabinet itself. So far I’ve finished the unfinished side, stripped all the paint and sanded it down. I also built a divider so we can make better use of the space underneath. Since the bar is going in the Penn State room (we have themed rooms… more on that later) it will be bright white with navy blue trim.

The inimitable Mrs. T. had to cover a tennis match yesterday, so I had ample work time.

I also baked off about 10 pounds of chicken breast. Here at Chez T, we will make a whole bunch of whatever protein and then portion it out for freezing. With chicken, I slice it thin and divide it into 4 oz. portions. Afterward, back in the freezer. That way, when I’m getting ready for work, I can just grab a bag of chicken out of the freezer and it’s already a healthy portion. Makes getting dinner together a snap! Also, by just baking it with a little spray of olive oil, it’s easy to customize the flavor. I like more heat that does the wife, so I can spice it up to my heart’s content.

Anyways, after the tennis story was filed and I got a well deserved shower, we had to go in town to the newspaper office. I realized we were close to Lancaster Brewing Company (www.lancasterbrewing.com) andwe had been talking about eating there for the three years we’d been living in Lancaster County. So, I set the GPS and off we went.

Place is loaded with character, brew tanks line one wall. It’s a little dark inside… needed to use the iPrecious to light up the menu, but that’s OK. Mrs. T. had a glass of strawberry wheat, I went with their Litening Lager. I probably should’ve tried the Kolsch, cause the lager was a little disappointing. But the food more than made up for it. I had a pretzel-crusted chicken, which was served with a red bliss mashed and perfectly done asparagus, all with a cracked mustard and cheddar cheese fondue. No, probably not the best food for losing weight, but tasty. There would be pictures, but it was too dark for the iPrecious.

Afterward, came home and watched The Next Food Network Star and Iron Chef America, followed by a walk and some cleaning. All told, a productive and fun weekend. Back to the grind today.

Speaking of the grind, I work at a place which is not always conducive to healthy living. It can be very stressful, there’s a lot of sitting on your butt and staring at a computer screen. I’m lucky to work with someone who keeps me honest by encouraging me to go for walks and to eat right and to stop grazing at the vending machines. Never underestimate the power of your support system… if you don’t have people to lean on sometimes, you will fall down.

Today’s weight: 309.0 (down 11.0 from Thursday)