http://www.philharwell.com/diet Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:33:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This has certainly been a challenging six weeks.  The question now is:  where to go from here?  Certainly I can't go back to my old diet;  that will just lead back to more weight gain.  However, this diet, while effective, is very tough to maintain, and has a lot of ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/19/closing-thoughts/ The verdict is in: my end-of-diet weight is 244.8, which is a weight loss of roughly 28 pounds! This is the fastest weight loss I've ever had, and of course I'll have to work to keep it off. But it will be worth it. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/19/weekly-weigh-in-final/ Well, today is the last day of the six-week program. I am so thankful that God has helped me through a tough diet. Tomorrow I will have my final weigh-in, and I will post that along with some closing thoughts. Today's meals: Breakfast: one toasted sourdough english muffin (plain). Lunch: ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/18/day-42/ Today's meals: Breakfast: did not have today (slept in). Lunch: another BYB double burger (like usual). Snack: did not have today. Supper: had a little egg drop soup, and some pieces of chicken breast later in the evening. Drinks: water, unsweetened tea. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/17/day-41/ Oops. I was going to get this one on time but it slipped my mind! Anyways, this is the last day according to the book, but I wanted to go ahead and go for six full weeks, so I still need to go until Sunday. Today's meals: Breakfast: english ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/17/day-40/ Sorry I missed my deadline again! Today's meals: Breakfast: one toasted sourdough english muffin with egg. Lunch: chicken breast with buffalo sauce and corn. Snack: did not have one. Supper: ate out at Garibaldi's. I had the grilled chicken salad with buffalo sauce (see previous entries). Drinks: tea (sweetened with ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/16/day-39/ Another late post. At least, I don't have very many more of these to do. Today's meals: Breakfast: two plain toasted sourdough English muffins. Lunch: ate out at Cheeburger Cheeburger restaurant. Had a grilled chicken salad (grilled chicken, lettuce, baby greens) with Tabasco sauce. Supper: ate out at Rafferty's. ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/15/day-38/ Today's meals: Breakfast: smoothie. Lunch: leftover chili and a carrot. Snack: another carrot. Supper: beef barley and vegetable soup (with some extra spices added) Drinks: water, tea sweetened with Stevia. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/13/day-37/ Today's meals: Breakfast: grapes. Lunch: did not have today. I didn't feel like making lunch due to being sick. Wasn't that hungry anyways. Snack: did not have today. Supper: chili. Drinks: water. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/12/day-36/ A few more pounds lost: I'm down to 249!* I've crossed the 250 threshold! And only one more week to go. * well, 249.4 to be exact, but I like to deal in round numbers. So let's round! Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/12/weekly-weigh-in-week-6/ Today's meals: Breakfast: grapes. Lunch: Back Yard Burger (the usual). Snack: almonds, grapes. Supper: potluck at the church building tonight. I had roast beef, carrots, and a little bit of sourdough bread. Drinks: water. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/11/day-35/ Almost halfway through Phase III! Today's meals: Breakfast: did not have today (slept in). Lunch: grilled chicken with hot sauce, corn, half of a sprouted-wheat bagel (toasted). Snack: did not have today. Supper: steak, sourdough roll with butter. Drinks: water. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/11/day-34/ Another late post. Sorry! Today's meals: Breakfast: grapes, I think (oops, can't quite remember!) Lunch: ate out at Piccadilly Cafeteria with co-workers. Had chopped steak with onions, steamed broccoli, corn, and fruit (strawberries and grapes). Snack: did not have one. Supper: fish, onions, Ezekiel pasta. Drinks: water, tea sweetened ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/10/day-33/ Today's meals: Breakfast: smoothie. Lunch: leftover steak and pasta from Tuesday. Snack: did not have one. Supper: grapes (appetizer), stew meat cooked in salsa and garlic, half of a sourdough roll. (BREAD!!!!!!!!!!) Drinks: water, tea sweetened with honey. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/08/day-32/ Today's meals: Breakfast: grapes. Lunch: did not have today. I called in sick to work today and slept until mid-afternoon. Snack: did not have today. Supper: grapes (appetizer), fried chicken breasts with hot sauce, corn. Drinks:  water. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/07/day-31/ A month already! (Sorry this one is late). Today's meals: Breakfast: pineapples. Lunch: leftover chili. Snack: did not have one. Supper: pepper steak, corn, Ezekiel pasta. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/07/day-30/ I'm now down to 253! That's about 20 pounds in only 4 weeks! I'm very excited. Also, I signed up today at the YMCA. Hopefully exercise will help this weight loss thing go even better! Again, thanks for all the encouragement so far. I really praise ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/05/weekly-weigh-in-week-5/ Day 1 of Phase III! More beans, nuts, some grains, etc. are now added in. This is, of course, the final phase! Today's meals: Breakfast: smoothie (the usual). Lunch: steak chunks and corn. Snack: did not have one. Supper: the main course was chili, but the big deal was ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/05/day-29/ Today's meals: Breakfast: pineapples and grapes. Lunch: baked chicken (with Tabasco sauce), steamed broccoli and carrots, corn, green beans with olive oil. Snack: a few grapes and some leftover chicken from lunch yesterday (with Tabasco sauce),. Supper: another BYB double burger (we were on the road back to Memphis). Drinks: ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/04/day-28/ This actually, now that I think about it, is going pretty fast.  I'm almost at the end of Phase II! Today's meals: Breakfast:  did not have today (slept really late). Lunch:  hamburger steak (home cooked by Mom!), chicken salad (chicken, lettuce mix, green onions, onions) Snack:  did not have one today. Supper:  2 hamburger patties ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/03/day-27/ Oops, another late one.  We're visiting my Mom in Alabama this weekend. Today's meals: Breakfast:  grapes. Lunch:  Back Yard Burgers double low-carb burger. Snack:  more grapes. Supper:  ate out at Ruby Tuesday (passing through Corinth, MS).  Had a ribeye steak with "premium baby green beans" and steamed broccoli (and I think a little garnish or ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/03/day-26/ Today's meals: Breakfast: smoothie (similar to the last two days). Lunch: ate out at Fox Ridge Pizza with a bunch of my co-workers. Had a hamburger steak (with onions, green peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms). Snack: did not have one today. Supper: steak with fried onions and green beans. Drinks: ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/02/01/day-25/ Today's meals: Breakfast: smoothie (like yesterday's). Lunch: chicken breast, fruit salad (apples, oranges, strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries). Snack: did not have one today. Supper: we ate out at the Panda Garden (Chinese restaurant). I had curry chicken (stir-fried chicken, snow peas, bamboo shoots, carrots, red and green peppers, onions ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/31/day-24/ Oops! This one is really late. Sorry, I forgot again. Today's meals: Breakfast: smoothie (yogurt, peaches, pineapples, grapes, strawberries). Lunch: leftover chili from Monday. Snack: 2 carrots (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). I also had an evening snack of fruit salad (blueberries, raspberries, apples, ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/31/day-23/ No gain or loss this past week. I'm still at 259. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/29/weekly-weigh-in-week-4/ Today's meals: Breakfast: apple slices, raspberries, blueberries, and a carrot. Lunch: ate at the Cockeyed Camel again today. Had grilled chicken breast with hot sauce, cream corn, and green beans (which, I discovered too late, were cooked with bacon in them, so I may have ingested minute amounts of ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/29/day-22/ Today marks the end of the first half of the six-week program. Only 3 weeks left to go! Tomorrow, of course, is another weigh-in. Today's meals: Breakfast: omelet (eggs, red and green bell peppers). Lunch: potluck today. I had roast beef, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Supper: fried chicken* ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/28/day-21/ Today's meals: Breakfast: raspberries and blueberries. Lunch: low-carb double burger from Back Yard Burgers (like before) Snack: did not have one today. Supper: we ate out at Ryan's tonight, and we both got the Mega Buffet. I ate a salad (lettuce, shredded carrots, mushrooms, and cucumbers), corn, carrots cooked ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/27/day-20/ Today's meals: Breakfast: canned pineapples. Snack: more canned pineapples. Lunch: steak simmered in salsa, green beans. Supper: Serena and some of her co-workers ate at Steak and Ale today. I got the leftover steak! Plus I had kidney beans, broccoli and cauliflower. Drinks: water, unsweetened tea. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/26/day-19/ Oops, this one is a little late! Didn't quite get to writing before midnight. Today's meals: Breakfast: canned pineapple. Lunch: steak chunks with red and green bell peppers, green onions and carrots. Snack: 2 carrots (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Supper: a "shell-less" taco (basically just ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/26/day-18/ Today's meals: Breakfast: kefir smoothie, some grapes. Lunch: an apple and a bottle of water. Snack: grapes. Supper: chicken caesar salad with buffalo sauce at Garibaldi's (like last week). Drinks: water, unsweetened tea. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/24/day-17/ Today's meals: Breakfast: kefir smoothie, grapes. Lunch: steak, green beans. Supper: kefir smoothie, chicken wings (with hot sauce). Snack: grapes (throughout the day, and some in the evening). Drinks: water, tea sweetened with Stevia. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/23/day-16/ I weighed in this morning at 259! That makes about 14 pounds so far, approximately. Blogged with Flock http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/22/weekly-weigh-in-week-3/ Phase II is finally here! Among the new things that I can have now are several fruits (oranges, apples, and so on), a few different kinds of beans, and more! Today's meals: Breakfast: mixed fruits (pineapples, red and green grapes, and strawberries). Lunch: tuna, carrots, and some avacado slices that ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/22/day-15/ It's the end of Phase I! Yay! Today's meals: Breakfast: omelet (eggs, stew meat, red and green bell peppers, mushroom, green onions). Lunch: we had a potluck at church today, but I could hardly have any of the foods available, so Serena cooked up chunks of steak (sautéed with onions ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/21/day-14/ Today's meals: Breakfast: omelet (same as yesterday). Lunch: baked chicken wings with poultry seasoning and hot sauce. Supper: now here's a funny story. Serena was not particularly hungry so she did not want to cook a meal. And I wasn't really hungry either so I figured I'd just ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/20/day-13/ First off, I just want to write some thanks. First of all, thanks to God for helping me through this. I could not have done this alone! Second, thanks to all the people who have been encouraging me along, and complimenting me on my progress. It ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/19/day-12/ The last three nights I've had bad heartburn and some chest pains. Went to the doctor today and he told me it was acid reflux. Got some medicine so hopefully this will go away quick. Today's meals: Breakfast: omelet (eggs, red bell peppers, green onions). Lunch: tuna (with sea ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/18/day-11/ Today's meals: Breakfast: just scrambled eggs. Lunch. this was tough. At work today we hosted the first day of a developers' conference, and we provided lunch -- Corky's barbecue. And of course, it wasn't on my diet (the pork was out of the question, the chicken had barbecue ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/17/day-10/ Today's meals: Breakfast: omelet (eggs, green onions, leftover pepper steak from last night, and goat cheese). Lunch: leftover roast from Sunday. Snack: 2 whole carrots, snacked on throughout the day. Supper: baked chicken wings (with seasoning and hot sauce), salad (lettuce, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, celery, also with hot sauce). Drinks: ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/16/day-9/ Today was a little weird. I had the day off from work, and I just stayed at home most of the day. Breakfast: omelet (eggs, green onions). Lunch: I didn't have lunch today. I slept from around noon to 2pm. When I got up, I figured that ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/15/day-8/ My scale is really weird: I weighed myself multiple times and pretty much got a different weight every time, with a range of about 10 pounds from lowest to highest. We gotta get a new scale. If the scale is correct (or in the ballpark at least), I've apparently ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/15/weekly-weigh-in-week-2/ The cravings are continuing, but I have yet to give in. I have faith that God will see me through this. Today's meals: Breakfast: you guessed it, omelet (eggs, green onions). Lunch: OK, I said that we needed to not eat out so much, but we went to Back Yard ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/14/day-7/ Week 1 is almost over! Tonight I felt a bit of weakness. This is starting to get tough. After not having any kind of sweets for several days, I was really wanting something sweet. Serena bought some strawberries (allowable on the diet) and that was a very welcome ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/13/day-6/ Not much to say about today. Pretty much just more of the same. Today's meals: Breakfast: omelet (eggs, green onions). Lunch: pepper steak (see yesterday's supper entry), fried onions. Snack: munched on carrot and celery sticks throughout the day. Supper: ate out again (shouldn't have done it but oh well. ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/12/day-5/ Today was a little rough. I felt what I'm pretty sure is withdrawal due to lack of sugar and possibly the decrease in caffeine. I had a few dizzy spells and a general "yucky" feeling. It wasn't too bad but it was unpleasant (as well as distracting ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/11/day-4/ I'm surprised by my own strictness with my diet. I don't normally have very strong willpower, but I've been able to resist temptations, and have tried to be exact with the regulations of my diet. I'm convinced therefore that God is definitely working on my heart. And ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/10/day-3/ Well, dieting hasn't been too hard thus far but I know it'll get tough real quick. Today's culinary selections are: Breakfast: omelet (pretty much the same as yesterday's) Lunch: tuna (no mayonnaise), salad (cucumber, lettuce, carrots, celery), sea salt and peppercorn medley Snack: steamed veggies (same as yesterday but with ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/09/day-2/ I'm still a bit nervous, even though I'm now a day into the diet. The temptation to cheat was not too strong, but I suspect that it'll get worse over time. Having to live without my favorite foods is tough, but it's even harder to live without sodas, ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/08/day-1/ What diet program is complete without a "before" weight measurement? As of this morning, I weigh 273 pounds. http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/08/weekly-weigh-in-week-1/ OK, I wasn't sure if I'd ever really do this, but... I'm on a diet. Sure, I've been needing to lose weight for a long time now, and I've thought up some plans before, but I'm finally getting serious about it. Last year, my friend Paul went on this ... http://www.philharwell.com/diet/2007/01/08/welcome-to-my-diet-blog/