Losing Weight

So I've started the Atkins diet. I don't like to use the word diet though, so I've decided to call it my Daily Intake Extreme Transformation, or D.I.E.T. for short. Since starting on this....D.I.E.T., I have lost 26 pounds in just over two months. Basically I'm cutting out most sugar and carbohydrate rich foods, such as bread, pasta and pastries.

It's really not as bad as it might seem. Yes it is, who am I trying to kid. But it's not unbearable. I have been introduced to the wonderful world of vegetables. Yes I know they existed before, but I hadn't indulged in them often. I guess I still don't indulge, but I do partake of them nearly every meal. I would never have considered veggies for breakfast, but they go quite well in omelets.

Still I'm limited on what I eat, as far as veggies are concerned. I guess I just don't like the taste of many of them yet. But the acquired taste is expanding. And with that my waist is shrinking. I've had to drill new holes in my belt and the pants are baggy. Ah, losing weight is an expensive hobby.

An interesting side note, I am preparing an emergency supplies kit for....an emergency. I put the stuff in an old backpack I had lying around. Anywho, I put it on to check the weight of the bag, and I got on the scale, and the weight was as much as I weighed when I started my D.I.E.T. It's like I was walking around before, but now I had a weekend worth of supplies with me. AWESOME!!!

So, I'll continue this D.I.E.T. because it truly is a transformation. I must change for life the type of foods I eat if I want to get and stay healthy. My goal is 40 more pounds, and 20 of them by my upcoming 41st birthday, which is less than two months away. Wish me luck.

Steelers are Super, Again

Well, this is over a week late, but the Steelers are going to the SUPERBOWL for the chance to win their record 6th Superbowl ring. Oddly, they are playing against the Arizona Cardinals. Congrats to them for 2nd place. Not bad for a team that entered the playoffs at 9-7.

I haven't recently noticed a whole lot of new Cardinals gear around. My hope is that I can find an old beat up Cardinals t-shirt or hat on somebody. I'm sure there are real fans out there. But seriously, good luck to them and their team. I can't hate on Kurt Warner. He's an awesome human being. I just hope he has a great game, albeit in a losing effort.

Running, running, running

So I began training for the Portland Shamrock 5K Run. I ran two miles yesterday and today at the Willamette Park. The river was very high. In fact, I couldn't see it because it was so dark, but the rushing sound was quite scary.

I don't have too much pain in my legs. I guess my slow building up technique is working. I am running about a 13 minute mile for now. I'll work on increasing as my training continues.

Cheers.

Steelers Win!!! On to the AFC Championship Game.

Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled out a great game against a worthy opponent. I was slightly concerned going into the weekend. Our offense hadn't been very dominating this year. It seemed like our defense always had to come to the offense's aid and rescue the game. But this game vs. the Chargers, it was a different story.

They started off with a drive for a TD. But it was pretty much all Steelers after that, until a point in the game that it really didn't matter. The defense was, as expected, tough as nails. But the offense attacked like I hadn't seen them this year. Makes me feel a lot better about playing the Ravens this weekend. It still won't be a cake-walk, but a healthy Willie Parker will definitely help the offense click along.

We shall see.

Disturbing Dream 1-9-09

I clearly don't post enough on this thing, but such is life I suppose. If I was meant to be a writer, then I would be a writer. But I digress. The purpose of this post is that I had a very disturbing dream last night. I have been trying to practice remembering my dreams because I think there is much to be learned by our unconscious activities. Whether you believe in this or not, I think God speaks to us through our dreams. It's like our spirit is more alive then and trying to get something through to our physical self.

Anyway, here it is. I was locked-in somewhere with one other survivor, a female whom I can't remember. I watched the stalker kill people violently and figured, “I’m next.” As he approached me with the knife I didn’t even fight back. He began to press the tip of the knife just enough to break the skin of the roof of my mouth and then he collected blood in a small tin square container. But the corner seams of the container weren’t sealed and the blood slowly seeped out.

He became angry because I wasn’t filling it with enough blood quickly enough. He then had me open my mouth and he pressed the knife tip into my upper gum. I resisted, but he said to cooperate or it would be more painful. He jabbed the knife repeatedly into my gum and collected the blood. But it still wasn’t enough.

All this time I don't know what was happening to the woman, except she was understandably panicking and screaming. She really began to freak when the blood was seeping because she thought he would then want to hurt her in his anger.

I convinced him to give me the knife and I would cut myself to get the blood. I began cutting across my tongue, not too deeply, and dripping blood into the container. It was very slow, so I took the knife and poked it into the underside of my left forearm and twisted it. Blood came pouring out, but it was combined with a semi-clear gelatinous substance that I thought might be fat. I was afraid that, though I had enough blood now, it might be tainted with impurities. I awoke.

Weird indeed. I'll have to consider this as to what the meaning is.

Here we go. 9-2-08

I have finally completed my dreaded Chemistry class online. This was as tough as the Calculus classes I finished prior to this one. Not because of the material or level of difficulty (it was only Chem 100), but because it was an online class. And the instructor, in my opinion, was not a good teacher. She made it more difficult than it needed to be. But I won't go into details since the class is DONE. Woo....hooh.

I have many things to look forward to now. I started tackling the many tasks at home that have been neglected while in this class. And I had DirecTV installed, with an HD DVR receiver, premier service package and...dah,dah,dah,dah.......the NFL....Sunday....ticket. Yes. I didn't think the NFL could be any better than getting to watch any, no wait, every game on Sunday. But it's all in HD. Holy crispy clear picture, Batman. I mean, even Tiger-less golf tournaments are viewable when HD is in the picture.

As soon as the newness of HD TV wears (never) I'll be free to do the repairs on the home that had been put on hold. First for the weather, then for school, and now for NFL? No, my wife will make sure I get to it. I'm actually looking forward to doing the house fixes. I am tired of the bumpy floor and an occasional slug coming in from under the back door. Kana hates slugs.