Presents, Booze, and Hookers – Comedy and Fun

With cases of pneumonia going around and the same with strep, I hope everyone stays warm and tries to keep inside today. Most establishments are closed today so there’s not much to do anyhow. For those late risers, wake up and open your presents already! To those who had a late night 😉 I hope you didn’t have too much fun with drinking and having sex. If some of you are “trapped” with family, try to make the most of a “day of forgiveness” and spend time with your loved ones. To those who unfortunately must spend this holiday alone, find a friend to hang with to try to enjoy today. (A little alcohol and Christmas spirit never hurt anyone!)

As for me, today will probably be spent talking and laughing with my cousin Sol, playing online games, possibly calling distant friends, writing, and hanging out with family. Family’s “truce” with me is a bit short lived, so I do wish I had some good whiskey or amaretto to sip on the rocks while having a blast with Sol. I don’t have a strong PC anymore, so PC gaming is a bit limited on my scope. My portable games are pretty close to completion, I just have to buckle down and get the games completed.

I hope that those of you who got presents got pretty sweet ones, ’cause I didn’t get anything. Not that I “need” anything, but today is more a day of reflection for me. To be mostly out of debt is a thing that has a value that cannot be compared and I thank my family’s charity for that. Purchasing this domain is somewhat a gift to myself, as I had been meaning to purchase my own site and make a more “professional” looking web address but things kept setting me back. I know that Merinda helped me with the purchase, so I can’t take all the credit for gifting myself.

To those who got a lump of coal in their stocking, feel free to comment and go reflect on this year while doing a shot of liquor or a bottle of beer/ale. With 2008 on the horizon, you can recover and amend things for the new year. I look forward to a new year of opportunities, hopes, and dreams… Most of all, I hope that my wild gamble of a plan works… because if it does, then I will have redeemed myself.

Christmas – At Ease

Sunday, Monday, and today I am unable to go to the gym due to the holiday and my holiday shifts. It works out, because I tore a lot of leg muscle from Saturday with my cross step session. Family has been cheering me on for my progress and many of my clients from the office have taken notice about me “rapidly” losing weight. This has kept my spirits high and I am glad to see the fruits of my progress. I have been grateful for the whey protein that I have supplemented into my diet as a booster to my body’s healing needs, as my downtime for muscle recovery has gotten shorter from it. I am looking forward to returning to my routine by Wednesday and pushing forward with my training.

I have been a little more calorie conscious as far as food goes and I have been watching my intake. I do enjoy eating, but I don’t eat until I pass out… I have learned better portion control and the work outs have seems to make me want smaller meals at more often intervals. I don’t hunger as badly as I did before but I have been learning to eat before I am totally famished. My “caloric burn” calculation has kept me on par or with me going a wee bit over… hopefully I can get it to 80% of my daily requirements. Here are rough approximations of my “requirements” for calories:

  • Base calories: 2000 (for basic body functions)
  • 200 calories for bodily healing
  • 200 calories during work
  • 100 calories for driving (add an extra 50 – 75 depending on duration of drive time)
  • 350 average work-out calories
  • Total: 2850 calories required daily

Dietary changes have been at work so my intake has consisted of more grains and clean proteins. I am trying to increase dairy into my diet, because I have a feeling that it does help from memories of when I was working out and eating yogurt. I have minimized takeout to a last resort issue when possible. If I have a desire for take out, I try to stick to sandwich shop with minimal meat and dressing to keep clean. I have learned that “cheat days” are not bad, because they keep my morale up… I am happy with losing 5 lbs so far and hopefully I can be down in 140 to really make things count.