Day 912 and an attack on me.

Day 912 and an attack on me.

bike ride Green tea k2 Zed tea maker Weight Loss

Wednesday went pretty good on all fronts of this war on blubber and you could imagine the shock and awe that my body experienced in the beginning when it was all brandy spankin' new and this morning my quads looked up at me with a whimper and said "no mas senior" not unlike back then. I woke up and my quads and shoulders are sore because of a bike ride that I took and the fact that I waxed my entire car yesterday afternoon, the bike ride was of course with daughter in tow but I hammered the entire ride both ways standing on the pedals for almost the entire cruise and I have to say that riding that way uses a slightly different muscle group than when sitting judging on the way I feel today. My intake was slightly over but well within my limits and I drank more than two gallons of fluid throughout the day, oh and I found out that I am NOT allergic to wasp stings when I was attacked during my bike ride and making green tea just got easier.

Deciding to take a ride over to a dam that's close by turned out to be more painful than I was expecting because of some small flying terrors. We roll up to the dam and hop off of the bike and head on over to look at some wild life and bamn! bamn!! BAMN! my right calf felt like it was burned and hit with a bat or something all at the same time I look down to see a small swarm of black wasps all around my leg. Looking up I told my daughter to run as I watched wasps in formation slip one after another out of the hand rail on the bridge so we took off down the dam and stayed about half way across until the cloud of attackers dissipated. I will very likely be heading back over to the dam later this afternoon with a can of wasp spray to exact my vengeance on the little fuggers as I am sitting here with 6 stings on my leg not feeling to awesome, here are a couple shots from our ride.

A shot of our chariot parked next to the dam, this was pre wasp attack.

We had a few visitors come over to see what we were doing out on the small pier near the dam.

A shot of the bridge over the dam taken from the pier.

Finally a look at the lake from the middle of the bridge.

For my birthday Wify got me the bestest gift that ever was! an ice tea maker! so now when I forget to make a gallon over night I can just plug in the old ice tea maker and bamn! 13 minutes later three quarts of fresh and ice cold green tea. The instructions says that it calls for filters but when using tea bags there is no reason to use any as the bags work just fine all alone and last night I brewed my first pitcher of the good stuff and to my amazement it was strong enough. I was expecting it to be weak because it brews the tea hot in a little catch thingy at the top and then drops it into the pitcher of ice thus making iced tea, I love this gift. I brewed a pot this morning so that I could take a couple pictures to post up and I timed it to see how long it would take and 13 minutes seems to be the magic number, here is a photo of the new toy and some tea that I made this morning which is darker than normal because of the black tea that I added.

Some tea plus that dandy tea maker plus a pitcher of ice and..

Bamn! 13 minutes later an ice cold pitcher of green tea! I used 3 green tea bags, 1 green tea/passion fruit bag and a black teabag in this batch but haven't tasted it yet so I will report how it came out tomorrow.

Over all my focus has returned and we seem to be getting it done again in the intake department while the exercise is starting to come along as well. Measuring every bite that goes into my mouth again to kick start some losses is my plan and I'm stickin' to it because like I said yesterday it works. Its time to head out and do a little weeding in the garden followed by a bike ride so for today that's all I got, Thanks for following and thanks for the support and remember that we are the ones controlling what goes into our mouths.

As Ever
Me

I have discovered, nectar of the Gods!

I have discovered, nectar of the Gods!

Green tea green tea recipe recipe Weight Loss

I have been playing around with my green tea recipe and have struck gold as far as flavor goes, anyone that reads my blog daily knows that I drink green tea every day and as much as I can get into my cup! but buying the pre-made gallons of Arizona Diet Green tea was starting to get expensive at an average of $3.00 per gallon and the price has creeped up to $3.19 per gallon locally in many stores so I went back to brewing my own again to save a few bucks. I make the tea right in the Arizona tea bottles that are 1 gallon, I fill the bottle with hot water straight from the tap and I use 3 different kind of tea bags to get the flavor that I like, here is my secret recipe. I use 2 Arizona green tea w/ginseng tea bags, 1 generic green tea bag bought from a local Chinese market (this tea has a strong flavor compared to the Arizona brand bags) and 2 Black tea bags, thats it! put all five bags into the mouth of the gallon bottle and place the cap back on and leave it alone for about an hour to an hour and a half and bamn! a gallon of fresh green/black tea, and last night I stumbled on something that makes this blend nothing less than exceptional to the pallet. I usually cool the tea on the counter until its slightly more than room temperature and then into the refrigerator it goes until cold and to drink it I pour it into a large glass and add splenda to taste but as I said last night I figured out something simple that adds so much to the flavor! ready for this? lime, thats right plain old lime juice squeezed into the splenda laced tea. We had some limes left over from a six pack of Guinness that we bought (I have a recipe for that too) and rather than let them go bad I decided to slice one in half and squeeze some into my tea, now this might not seem like a ground breaking idea or recipe but man if I could bottle this stuff for retail I know it would sell! lime will be going into all of my green tea from this point forward and I think anyone out there that drinks green tea should give this a try.


Yesterday I rode my stationary bike for 35 minutes total and I did 40 push ups, I mentioned in my last post that I was upping the exercise again and I am doing just that. I want to start off slower than full on and thats why it was only 40 push ups and the bike ride is what to expect as I feel that 30 minutes is enough for cardio, especially since I am going to be adding more ST. I wanted to get a walk in this afternoon but its decently windy outside or as the man in the plastic box says "blustery" and still low 40's and having my daughter to bring along I am not sure its a good Idea today for her sake, I will ride the bike for sure and there is a possibility that I will get in a solo walk when wify gets home and can keep the kiddo cozy inside.


This week started off rocky where intake is concerned, I ate that chicken parm grinder on Saturday and I had pizza for lunch on Sunday but even with that said I expect to have an ok week this week where a loss comes into the equation, why? because its what I want so its what I am going to have and next week will be better! my last entry mentioned that I need to lose an average of 4 pounds per week if I am to hit that new goal I set for myself of losing 200 pounds in 2008, that 4 pound average does not include this week so whatever I get this week is extra and ort of like bonus poundage towards that goal and I am going to work for that edge. somehow I have become entirely driven to hit this goal and lost that 200 pounds by years end and I am unsure where the push came from but I am glad its here and know that I will do whatever I can to hit that mark.

To sum it all up, Green tea plus black tea with a shake of Splenda plus lime equals nectar of the gods, I am going to be one sore and sweaty individual in the next couple months and I am going to need every ounce of determination to hit my goal of 200 pounds gone in a year. compare that to last year at this time and you get, Cherry coke equals nectar of the gods, the sore and sweaty part was probably still true but for different reasoning and 200 pounds gone was a pipe dream as I was believing about a surgery to cure my ills. My oh my what a year can do.

As Ever
Me

Country casual part deux and some Green tea for me

Country casual part deux and some Green tea for me

Green tea Weight Loss

The mystery has been solved! though it was only a day to you all, I have been pondering this for weeks and last night wify called her cousin up to ask. country casual is "linen shirt, nice khaki pants and sandals" was the response we got, so I said "oh you mean Romance novel coverish" a giggle and a yes later I have my answer. I don't wish to buy clothing that Fabio would wear, because it would be the single time that I wore it and meh to that, and I was ok'ed to wear a kilt am I crazy for actually considering it? I guess I can appease the bride and buy some cargo type khaki shorts, and a nice light button up shirt to go with the Fedora, hmmmm and maybe bare feet, we shall see.

This past Saturday we bought 8 gallons of green tea when we went shopping, it was on sale for $2.50 per gallon so we bought all that was in the store. I cracked open the last of the bottles this morning so unless I go back out shopping I will be having home brewed green tea for the rest of the week, which isn't bad, just not as convenient. I mention the tea because through this entire change its the one thing that I go to when I want to have something with zero calories that I actually really really enjoy the taste of. I was drinking green tea before I decided to lose weight and I think I have grown to like it even more now than ever. If I am drinking it, its going to be green tea or water, I don't think I have had anything but that in at least a 2 month period, barring a random and not often beer here and there. Green tea has a ton of positive reactions with our bodies, the Catechins in the tea have been shown to have anticancer and anti inflammatory properties which that alone makes it worth drinking, then go ahead and add that it has been shown that it affect cholesterol levels in our bodies in a positive way and boost metabolism as well, so whats the problem? why aren't YOU drinking it?


My intake for Wednesday was good and I stayed under calories, I had 465 calories at the end of the day that I had not used up and wify was making popcorn so I had me a Gigantic bowl with some omega 3 spread and cheddar seasoning on it. though I did not add up the calories for this exactly, I know it was not close to the 465 that I had left so I am under calories, I just don't know exactly how much. I did have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and that was my first one in 4 months, now I miss them. otherwise all is well and I am on track with this change, which as I type this I realize is a way of life now, I do not have to try and stick to it, I do not crave the "bad" foods any more, I mean would I like to eat a bacon and onion pizza with a big glass of milk and some jalapeños on the side? sure, but the difference is that I realize that its not good for me and choose not to. it is amazing how easy this is when you just let go of the, dare I say "addiction" to food, and just eat reasonably instead of gorging yourself with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, ice cream, cake and the likes. food is for nutrition not for recreation, and that does not mean that you can never have a good old fashioned home cooked high fat meal, it just means that it cannot be the norm. Thats what I have on my mind this morning and this is the end of the page, so again I thank you for following along and I thank you all for your comments and emails and support etc etc etc, come back again now Ya'll hear.

As Ever
Country casual boy

Green tea and my Guitar

Green tea and my Guitar

Green tea tea

I just thought I would make a post with some of the Green tea choices out there and the 3 that I use. I have been drinking green tea for about 5 years now, but not for its benefits more so for the taste, I recently added green tea to my new lifestyle for its benefits vs its taste. BUT that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy it, and what I have found is that not all green tea tastes the same or good. the first of the teas that I use is whats called "Gunpowder tea" and is basically just dried green tea leaves, I have a jar that came from china via a friend of mine that I use to work with, she brought it back for me. to me it has a light taste and no tartness at all, and I drink it with nothing more than the leaves, drop 1/2 tspn (approximately) into a cup of hot water and in about 15 mins time the leaves hydrate and open up and you have a nice cup of tea.

This is how the "Gunpowder tea " comes packaged and below is how it looks after it hydrates

I also use Green tea in a traditional a teabag like any old Lipton tea would come packaged, which is the easiest to make just pop a cup of water in the microwave with a bag in it and you have tea in a few minutes. I find that the tea in the bags is a little bit tart compared to the gunpowder tea, but as it is the most convenient and fast to make its what I usually have unless I am just relaxing and don't care that it takes a bit more time to make. I do use a small amount of white sugar in the bagged tea. The tea I have was bought at a Chinese grocery store in Bridgeport CT, I won't bore you with a picture, we all know what a teabag looks like ;)

The third kind is something my wife found while out looking around, Arizona tea makes a diet green tea with Honey and Ginseng, the label says 0 calories and this stuff is good! I am still researching this Arizona tea to make sure it is just the tea, honey and it says sweetened with splenda, everything I have found says its the real deal as far as being brewed tea so far. so it will be on the menu until I find something saying otherwise.




The Health Benefits of Drinking Green Tea

Green tea is particularly rich in a type of polyphenols called catechins, which studies say helps the body burn fat.


Green tea has been proven to reduce cholesterol levels, as well as triglycerides. It can even prove beneficial for those who wish to increase their HDL ("good") cholesterol levels.


A boost in the immune system, as well as weight loss, has been seen in those who drink green tea on regular basis.


Green tea also provides anti-cancer agents that can also be found in black tea.


When dieting, some of the benefits of drinking green tea can be seen through the high concentration of antioxidants that can be found.


Reports have found that green tea possesses 50 times more strength than Vitamin E and C.


Studies have also shown that the benefits of green tea for dieting are visible when drinking one cup every day for one year. A loss of five pounds is one of the advantages to making this a habit.


I just thought I would post this information up because I have been reading and maybe someone else who may not have tried green tea could use the info and or opinions on brands etc. that and my daughter took a chunk off of the head on my guitar by knocking it off of its stand tonight, and I had to get it out of my mind, I just hope she didn't damage the way it sounds. so far it looks like its ok (other than the chunk missing) but I will likely get it checked out anyways.

As Ever
Me