OK... Back to basics

So, back to business.

I've been trying to manage my diet between gigging and studio time, along with two studio shoots, and not really having a kitchen of my own. In that time, I have rediscovered a wondrous creation - THE SALAD.

I had been thinking about what had worked for me in the past as far as weight loss goes, and realized, much to the dismay of my inner-carnivore, that I lost nearly 65lbs just by becoming a vegetarian.

NOW! That doesn't mean I'm going to become one of those militant vegetarians that wants to spray paint people in expensive mink coats. It doesn't mean that I'm going to throw out my 100% leather Doc Martens... It just means that I need to jump start my metabolism from roughly 7 - 8 years of eating crap. For instance, remember when I grand opened the Bay Ridge CCity? Bay Ridge was the best and worst place for me. So many different tastes, so many places to eat... I was never tired of trying the food from the various take out spots along 86th street. Besides, there was a Popeye's right across the street. That was awesome.

Unfortunately, between that, and all the gig food, the late night stops at Quick Chek, 7-11, and diners, and not particularly eating well when I was at home - including living with THE WORST DIABETIC ever - my metabolism came to a screeching halt.

Of note: I actually got an accurate weigh-in of myself about two weeks ago. As it turns out, I am way heavier than I thought I was. All it did was strengthen my resolve.

I prepared for this. Over the last two weeks or so, I have been eating a lot of salads. The place we usually order from has a great one called "the green monster." It has lettuce, green olives, cucumber (which has become the world's greatest thing to me again), and feta cheese. I chose a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It was excellent. I had a chicken salad at applebees last week, too. It, too, was exceptional.

I, however won't address what I had last night during the Super Bowl. I figured it was time to enjoy one last disturbingly awful meal, before I got hardcore this week.

So, I'm doing this whole detox thing. It consists of eating a very strict diet for a week. Now, I know I'm not going to be able to ditch caffeine, but the soda is gone. I write this as I sit here with a cup of green tea, and plowed through a bag of baby carrots. The funny thing is that it actually filled me up!

I'm committing to it once more. Time for change.

Here's the starting weight: 357lbs

Now, let's see what I can do to affect that.