Oh, that old feeling, how I have missed you...

So, I joined a gym.

One would look at me, and think that it won't last.

The fact is that I used to play soccer and hockey.

So, when the lady who tried to sell myself and my mate a membership at this local sports club asked me why I wanted to join, that was what came out of my mouth.

I was a pretty good goalkeeper, actually. Barring a sever ankle sprain, I would have gotten a partial scholarship to play for UConn when UConn was taking apart Division I in Men's Soccer. Unfortunately, I did get that severe ankle sprain, with UConn scouts, and their goalkeeper's coach, looking on. Such is life.

I then resurrected my passion for soccer when I worked in Manhattan a decade ago. I joined Chelsea Piers, paid my way to play, and signed up for a house team. For those of you faithful readers that don't understand what that means, I signed up to play with a bunch of guys who didn't know each other.

My record - 6-2-2. I pulled three shutouts out of my ass, including one 0-0 tie. To do that in an indoor league is doubly impressive, since those leagues are fast paced and high scoring. We snuck into the playoffs, as a house team. We lost in the first round to a much better team, but we lost by a goal.

As far as hockey, I wasn't very good. Honestly. I didn't stop very well. But, I could skate hard, I had a scoring touch, and I could fight and check hard. Why did I check hard? Because I used other players to stop. All I want in that regard? I just want to play a pickup game WITHOUT having a heart attack.

I mentioned this to a friend of mine, and I finished the statement with: "I don't want my life to end at 35! I'm still young!"

I get riled up about it, admittedly.

Let me explain.

I should never have let this happen to myself. I joined NYSC about four years ago and I enjoyed going. It was part of my weekly routine (I went twice a week), and it was a vehicle to pamper myself. I would spend 25 minutes total on the bike, move to the cybex circuit and then back to about 15 minutes on the bike.

Then I got transfered to Bay Ridge. And then I gave in to a sedentary lifestyle.

I was more interested in sitting on the couch and eating McNuggets or some such, than looking and feeling better. So much for the joys of instant gratification.

So, I went back to the gym.

2 days in and I am sore as hell.

Oh, burning soreness, how I have missed thee!

Between the diet and the exercise, I might actually be able to pull this off...

...All I need for motivation is right across the street from the gym - a sports complex, with both indoor soccer and hockey. Take that, fatty! There's a new sheriff in town!

101 things in 1001 days - The Update

1. Get a better job. One with a stable schedule, health insurance, and a steady predictable paycheck

So, I've been hired as a substitute teacher's aide by the Middlesex County DOE. The school I'm attached to intends to use me every day. All I need to do is get a TB test and pass a background check and I'm in.

18. Rejoin a gym

Done. Went to the gym on sunday. I'll blog about that a bit later.

19. Get an exercise regimen

I have an appointment on Wednesday with a trainer. The gym I just joined gives you 6 free sessions.

36. Drink only one can or 20 oz. bottle of soda per day.

I haven't had soda in about three weeks, save once. Diet Coke is disgusting. I don't know how I drank it for so long.

39. Revisit the acoustic thing with Brian.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is going to happen. I have mentioned it to Brian a couple of times since posting this list, and as his answer was a bit wishy-washy, it seems as if my days of playing with him are at an end. However, things have begun to unfold with Corey, so...

45. Take more video during family and friends' functions and edit a year end highlight reel.

I haven't been taking video, but my camera has not really left my side during family functions and gatherings of friends.

93. Contact my cousin Rick.

I have tried to do this and have failed miserably. I will continue to attempt to find him. It seems that he has moved away from Lexington, KY.

97. Stop eating tacqitos.

Yeah. Me and taquitos have had a nice, peaceful, amicable divorce.

So, what have we learned?

I'm basically off soda.

I had a glass of diet coke on Sunday afternoon and it was god damned nasty.

I know that I'm a caffeine addict. The only thing that keeps me awake some days is a good cup of coffee. Otherwise, I flounder around and can't quite get through the mist and turn down the white noise that goes on in my brain without it.

I've had varying amounts of the chemical in my brain for such a long period of time that I don't believe I can honestly survive without it.

It's worse than quitting smoking for me. And from what I've heard from others is that they had an easier time dumping a heroin addiction than cigarettes.

My mate and I went out to a valentines day dinner. It was wonderful. We shed the idea of trying to diet that night, although we tried to make good choices. But, the bread... oh wonderful warm and tasty bread... and the pasta... of which I've been dreaming... It was a wonderful dinner, and it was filling and satisfying... almost too much so.

Unfortunately, it wreaked havoc on my digestive track and I almost regretted it. I say almost because, at the end of the day, it was a wonderful meal, with wonderful company, on a wonderful day.

But, what did I learn?

Honestly, I don't think, when all is said and done with this diet, that I can ever go back to eating as I once did. I have to make better choices, and, like when I was "learning" to drink, I need to learn my limits. Maybe I should not get the pasta fagioli when I know that the meal itself is going to be very rich. Maybe instead I should have just gotten a house salad, or something lighter. Maybe I ask the waiter for whole wheat pasta, if it's available.

Damned biological reset. Although, I have been exploring tastes with this diet and discovered a great stew... Next time, I want to try it in a slow cooker. I bet that would bring out the flavors even more....

Anyway, back to my crunchy orange sticks and box drinks... Lesson learned.

The Slammin' Veggie Stew for the Protein-less diet

Lack of protein, yes.

Lack of taste? HELL NO!

1 small butternut squash – peeled sliced and cored

1 small acorn squash – peeled sliced and cored

1 can tomatoes, skinned and in juice

2 small can of tomato paste

2 zucchini – peeled

2 medium eggplants – peeled

2 cubes each of beef and chicken bullion

1 small container of diced mushrooms

2 small sweet potatoes – peeled and cubed

1 red pepper - chunked

1 yellow pepper – chunked

2 slices of a large Spanish onion – diced

4 – 6 cloves of garlic (to taste) – diced

4 teaspoons of olive oil

4 – 6 whole bay leaves

1 package fresh stew/soup herbs

1/2 small package of fresh rosemary

4 cups of water

To prepare:

The most time you’re going to spend in all of this is peeling, cutting and coring the two squashes. But, you want to make sure there are no seeds left over. We took the squash and sliced it and grilled it. The first go round, the pieces were too big and I would recommend halving them after grilling.

Take your sliced eggplant and do the same. We used a George Foreman grill, but a pan would be fine. If you don't have a Foreman, add two teaspoons of olive oil, in addition to the 4 listed, to use in the pan.

Take your peppers, your zucchini, and your sweet potatoes, all chunked and cubed, and put aside for now.

Take a medium saucepan, and your bullion cubes and make broth. When the water is boiling and your cubes dissolved, add in the herbs, 1 clove of diced garlic, and the tomato paste and stir. Once simmering and mixed, remove it from heat.

In a large (!!) stew pot, place the remainder of the garlic, the bay leaves, and your olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Add sweet potatoes, zucchini, onion, and peppers. Pour in half of the sauce. Add grilled squash and eggplant, along with the canned tomatoes. Add in rest of the sauce. Bring to simmer, stirring frequently. Once it’s simmering, put your top on the pot, reduce to low heat and cook for 30 – 40 minutes.

Let it sit for an additional 35 minutes off heat.

It will feed two people for about 4 dinners.

Enjoy.

Hardcorehardcorehardcorehardcore

So...

This is day 2. I've eaten carrots, an apple, and had a box cranberry juice.

Remember those box drinks from when you were a kid? Apparently, they are way healthier for you than what we all originally thought. When I was a kid, I just thought they tasted good. Now, I'm drinking them like they are replacing missing blood.

I also had "The Green Monster" again, without the cheese, because there is no real room for cheese on this detox menu. That's really the hardest thing for me. I love cheese. Always have. I'm the type of guy who will come home and eat a slice of cheese for a snack before I go to bed. I always consume the leavings in a bowl of grated cheddar, and I always have cheese on my sandwiches. Subway? Yeah, extra cheese. Deli sandwiches? Absolutely, pile it on! That salad was good, but I really missed the feta.

As I have said here before, I am a caffeine junky. Even with having four cups of green tea, I was feeling a bit light headed last night when Celia and I went to dinner. I had to have a cup of coffee before the world lost further focus in front of me. It would have been bad. I have had caffeine withdrawal. Migraines, crankiness, short attention span... There is no way I can tackle weight loss and caffeine detox. You would have to break out the methadone and serve me up that every morning like the heroin addicts do. I would have to enter a 28 day program in the midwest. It would look like one of those trainwrecks on celebrity rehab. I would have to enter into a 12 step program for COFFEE!!

Screw that.

I like being awake too much for that to be a worthwhile cause to follow.

Hell, I've given up soda - I had unsweetened iced tea last night with dinner, and have been drinking multiple cups of green tea at work for the last two days.

Do I feel better? Good lord, not really. I'm sure this will lift as my metabolism restarts, but I feel like a doormat. Now, I just need to tough this out.

More carrots await.

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.

1/21/10 - Nervous Eating

1/21/10

OK, so I lost track.

Admittedly, I'm about to use a couple stupid excuses for not keeping track of my caloric intake with any kind of accuracy. But, the last few days, unless I'm missing something drastic, for 4 out of 5 days I was hovering around 2200 calories.

Unfortunately for Wednesday, Thursday, and Tuesday, this was not the case.

One behavior I know I have an issue with is nervous eating. Whenever something bad happens, or when I'm under pressure at work or school, my food intake goes up exponentially. I'll snack a lot. I'll eat single slices of cheese. I'll drink huge amounts of soda. Basically I will do everything you shouldn't do when you're trying to lose weight.

I've heard of support groups and things like that for nervous eating, and as I am a recovering addict, I probably should attack this behavior like I would an addiction. It's not like I'm enjoying food when I eat like that. I'm sure Freud would have a field day with the oral fixation part of it.

Maybe I should go get a self help book. I know they're out there I just haven't really looked into working on this particular ailment.

Caloric intake for 1/20/10: 2216 calories