Day #4, also Sunday, also the end of my Wkend...

The very first thing I'd like to mention (see before and after shot of my core - left is before and right is after Day 3) - which I keep on forgetting to mention - is the fact that my weight is already down! It fluctuates between 5 to 8 lbs! Wow? Just to rain a little on that parade as I sometimes enjoy doing - that weight is very likely 'water-weight'. Since I am nothing near a scientist and much of what I know is what I have been told, which we all know is very possibly incorrect - take this 'water-weight' thing however you want. Regardless, I'm sticking to it until a professional tells me that I'm wrong. Any professionals around ready to give free advice?

Otherwise, Sunday proved to be a tad more difficult than the previous 3 days. Awful processed kiddie foods began to smell like culinary delights - especially when it was my turn to feed the Nut (my son Ben). Luckily, I only grabbed one little morsel of leftovers that were on their way to the garbage anyway - BUT, I stopped right there and didn't cram the entire helping down my throat. Now that's discipline isn't it? All those teachers over the years racking up parental punishment for me who 'claimed' discipline was lacking - can stick it where the sun don't shine! Oh yeah! I had the perfect opportunity to slop down 6 or 7 spoon fulls of breaded kiddie shrimp without the possibility of anyone ever knowing - but stood true to my survivalist spirit and dropped the remainder in the trash!!!!

Anyway, one thing I've learned for certain these past few days - if you have more food than you need, a lot of it ends up as worm food. Don't get me wrong, I've always known we waste food, and it honestly has always bothered me a great deal... I just didn't know we could very likely feed a person (maybe two) on what gets discarded so nonchalantly. Wow, are we really that gluttonous? (by 'we' I mean everyone - I'm not singling my family out - because I know there are folks who are a lot worse and YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!)

Regardless, Sunday a.m. I ate my usual bowl of 1/2 cup of oatmeal and an egg in a tortilla. I also had one cup of coffee from a leftover pot that would have ended up in the sink anyway - see how I justify the tiny bits of extras here and there? The rest of the day I drank water and an occasional sip of the ice tea I made last night from 5 of my tea bags I had purchased originally. I'm sure a soft drink would taste like the heavenly nectar of the gods at this moment - but again, no one ever died from a lack of Dr. Pepper as far as I know... medical professional, thoughts???

Continuing with lunch, I had a half of a cucumber we had grown in our backyard, another bowl of 1/2 cup of lintels mixed with 1/2 cup of jasmine rice mixed with Taco Bell mild sauce and washed it down with some delicious tap water. That evening I cooked a few cups of my pinto beans that I had soaked over night the other day, along with 5 potatoes for future rations. Dinner consisted of (1) microwaved potato with margarine, another bowl the lintel/rice combo and the rest of the cucumber. SHOOT ME!!! Just kidding, it really isn't that bad - at this point anyway. Furthermore, I've been feeling a little light-headed lately and hunger pangs have begun - but it's really not very debilitating at this point. I had to deal with a lot worse when I lived in San Francisco all those years back - but that was mainly due to the fact that I drank most of my paycheck away. I don't recommend or condone that behavior now - I am, of course, a Father and a member of this community with responsibilities, etc., etc., etc...

Info regarding Day 5 and beyond is up next....

Day One, Two and Three in a nutshell...

The first morning, which was Thursday, I started with an egg in a corn tortilla and 1/2 cup of oatmeal with a sugar packet I 'pilfered' from a local restaurant to make it more bearable, AND began to soak some pinto beans (see pic). Turns out I like the oatmeal a lot and the egg and tortilla weren't that bad either. In reality, it's more breakfast than I generally eat - which brings me to the conclusion that healthier days are over the horizon (right?). At the ol' Oil Refinery Office Trailer, I ate 1/2 cup of lintels (love them) with the jasmine rice and a sprinkle of season all. I had a couple of drinks stored away from earlier in the office frig and almost automatically reached for them, but stopped myself and stuck to water. I tried to explain my 'adventure' to a couple of co-workers but found it difficult to express my excitement orally - so, I'm sure they think I'm a little crazy. They kept coming up with anti-diet statements such as, "I couldn't go without my beer..." and, "I got high cholesterol, but the medicine makes me feel funny, so I told my doc f**k-it, I'm gonna eat and do what I want..." As brilliant and fool-proof as these arguments are - I still felt somewhat speechless and unable to turn the tide. That reminds me of one reason I never wanted to become a lawyer.

Also, on this day I discover to my disappointment that my brother-in-law has decided to abandon the cause due to extreme light-headedness and fatigue - if you know him and are interested in what his suffer limit was then ask him...

The next morning after suffering through an awful night of an ear ache on a level of pain I have never experienced in my life, I was forced to stay in bed by my beautiful and knowledgeable wife. This actually helped my diet a bit, since I slept a majority of the day. I still ate a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and mixed it with a banana I had purchased for .10 cents from the local neighborhood food bank (my wife's pantry) for flavor reasons. For lunch I ate a fairly drab bowl of cabbage soup, which tasted like dirty tap water - but sucked it down regardless for fear of reaching the uncontrollable starvation stage when one's stomach succeeds from the oppressive power of the brain and forms the confederation of smorgasbord which targets anything edible.

That evening I had a bowl of jasmine rice and lintels with a dash of season all. Which brings me to another conclusion - season all is not a very good spice and is already making me a little sick. Damn, I should have read that other blog thoroughly (ha), because, my wife Laura, told me that was one of the regrets the $30.00 for 30 Days blogger hat tI've used as my reference had once his adventure was complete. He writes that next time he does the 30 Day thing, he will invest in a more interesting combo of spices to kill a bit of the monotony. Luckily, we're surrounded by junk-food restaurants that lay out condiments up for grabs, which I have no issue with pilfering a few to create a bit a variety in my culinary day and avoid throwing up. There's no rule against free condiments - anyway, they owe it to me for the high blood pressure and high cholesterol their food left me. Cop out? You decide...

The third day of 30 days - which has been reduced to 27 days - math skills I'm sure is impressive to see...My ear and entire right side of my face don't hurt quite as much and are less swollen than before which I am thankful for. I ate a boiled egg and an extra yoke from my son Ben's boiled egg, which he thinks are 'yucky'. Yucky is good for me... That afternoon I ate a corn tortilla with an interesting version of 're fried beans' which closely resembles a pile of mystery substance one finds on the sidewalk on the other side of the tracks which gives you a touch of that feeling you need to regurgitate. I ate it anyway... and it was better than it looked - similar to oysters, escargot and Shoney's breakfast buffet after 10:00 a.m. I made hot tea as a side dish and continued to drink bucket fulls of water...

That evening my bro and sis-in-law invited us for a cookout - or should I say, invited my wife and son with myself as "the entertainment". No, I did not touch the luscious looking grilled chicken and soft, velvety and sweet chocolate cake. I had a baked potato with some raisins on the side which was pretty good actually.

By the way, not to offend the one Buddhist I know, but the little statue to the left is the adventure's mascot...

8/27/09 - The Beginning of the end....

Today I begin my $30.00 for 30 days challenge - which basically means, I have shopped for $30.00 worth of food from which I will eat every meal for the next 30 days. I still have a little under 4 bucks left, which I'm planning on blowing on pasta or raman noodles. I am unsure exactly when I'll do the remainder of my shopping since a horrible ear ache has slowed my progress down a little for the past day or so.

Anyway, the following is the food I have purchased so far (see photo to left also):

1. Jasmine Rice = 5Ibs.; 2. Eggs = 2 dozen;

3. Lentils = 2.4Ibs; 4. Pinto Beans = 2.4Ibs.
5. Rolled Oats = (2) 42 oz cartons; 6. Margarine = 4 sticks; 7. Potatoes = 10 Ib bag (30 ea);

8. Carrots = 2Ib bag; 9. Cabbage = 1 head; 10. Green Tea = 24 tea bags; 11. Corn Tortillas = 4.58 Ibs.; 12. Can of tomato sauce = (2) 8 oz cans; 13. Seasoned salt = 4.5 oz.; 14. All purpose Hot & Spicy Sauce - 1 bottle. That all comes to approx. $26.08 + 10 cents for a banana I bought, which leaves me with approx $3.92 to blow anyway I'd like!

Below is the picture I wanted to post - but my wife said it made my maturity level too obvious.

Anyway, I'm doing this for a few reasons - The first is the fact that I am an extremely fortunate man who lives a reasonably comfortable life - safe and sound except for whatever the news tells me I need to be scared of (the crime rate in Germantown, TN is fairly low and everyone has an alarm system just in case). My biggest fear here in Germantown is to remember to take the recycling down to the corner on Wednesday morning - I don't even have to take the garbage down, since the garbage men come all the way up our driveway to empty our cans! Even though I live a life of relative comfort - I forget how truly lucky my family and I really are. Therefore, 30 days for $30.00 will allow me to walk in someone else's shoes just for a little bit. I am not naive and understand that I'm barely scratching the surface here, but nevertheless, I will gain a little more insight in the life of the less fortunate.

The second reason I'm taking this exercise is just to see if I can do it - why the hell not? I can't go hiking up the Alps, since I don't have the vacation and am in terrible shape - so, why not be adventurous in other ways - especially one you have little chance of dying from!?!?

My biggest challenge will be 24/7 food availability - portions 3 times what we should be consuming and mostly non-nutritional junk tempting me at every corner. On top of that, I have discovered that I am an impulsive, serial snacker and eat much more than my share (which tends to be the trend here in the U.S. these days.) So, as you can imagine, it will be a challenge. Anyway, missing a burger or two here and there ain't never gonna hurt no one - am I right? Junk food will still be there when I'm done with this.

The third reason is the fact I could stand to lose some weight - yes, I am the fattest I've ever been my entire life! And I took a nice 'before' belly photo, but my wife told me posting it would be in poor taste. 185 pounds used to be my fat weight, but now I'm 200 +...of course, I carry it well. Another Plus, I'm pursuing this nutritionally, not just by purchasing a "bunch of raman noodles" which someone suggested...that will very likely lower my cholesterol level - so, who can argue against that? Not to mention an increased energy level and a more positive general outlook...now that's worth it to me.

The fourth reason and most important reason for this adventure is charity - I plan on giving the amount we normally spend on groceries that is saved during the 30 days to charity (still determining who and where). If you are already calling me a yellow-bellied, commie, liberal at this point, all I can do is leave you with one thought: When has it ever hurt anyone to give a man who's down a hand? Helping others is well beyond politics, my friend. Also, anyone who is interested in donating feel free to let me know - I'll produce the name of a charity shortly....

So, those 4 reasons ought to be plenty. From now on, I'll begin to post daily or every other day a sort of 'diary' of what I eat and experience. Keep in mind, if I say anything that will offend anyone, or what might seem like shot at your manliness and crap like that, I don't mean to and am not looking for a fight, I just tend to ramble sometimes...