Not So Fun Day Off
August 18, 2006
As today is my Friday off (I get every other Friday off), I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing day working off my to do list. I had lots of catch up work to do on the four computers scattered around the house. Suzanne was going to get on the riding mower and cut the field grass on our property.
Well, she had problems getting going as she couldnt get the mower to start. The battery was dead. As it turns out, she had left the key in the ignition from last time and it evidently had gotten turned, probably by one of the kids. So, we decided to jump it. Not being a mechanic, I wasnt sure how doable this was since I couldnt tell if the mover battery was a 12 volt or not. Not deterred, Suzanne went ahead and tried to jump it, but nothing happened.
Frustrated, she got on the phone and called our neighbor Larry who is a classic car collector and does a lot of the work himself. Larry came over and promptly jumped the mower with his truck. Not sure what Suzanne (and my less than stellar support) was doing wrong, but anyways it was now running. Suzanne took off on the mower to take care of the yard. Larry jumped back in his truck and started to leave. I began waving to Larry to catch his attention and remind him that Suzanne’s Volvo was parked a short distance behind him. He merrily waved back to me and promptly backed into Suzanne’s car.
The damage isnt too bad but some body work will be required. The worst part is that Larry feels bad now and he shouldnt. Its just a car. The front passenger side corner by the light is crumpled in. The car is driveable. We have an appointment with the dealer on Tuesday. Luckily, they will provide us with a loaner car for free.
About 15 minutes after all that excitement, Suzanne came driving back on the mower and grabbed me. It seems that it was no longer cutting and violently shaking. After some looking it appears that the blade is severally bent and hitting the sidewall. This keeps throwing the belt off too. So, now we got a guy coming to fix the mower.
I did manage to get the computer updates and maintenance work done, so all is well that ends well. Glad I have a scrim (match against another clan) this afternoon with my 158th America’s Army clan.
Saturday, we will celebrate Sean’s birthday. The actual date is Monday. He wants to go to Benihana’s for dinner and then play some putt putt. This will be our first test eating out since moving to the NutriSystem diet.
NutriSystem Diet Week 1
August 14, 2006
Well, the first week of the NutriSystem diet is over and the results are pretty encouraging. After the first week of this new diet, I have lost 8 lbs. I have a little trouble with that number because I had my doubts about the starting point last week. It seems that the last week of non-diet food before the NutriSystem was a bad week. Anyways, I am pretty excited about losing the 8 lbs.
After one week, I think I can safely say that this is doable from a food quantity and taste standpoint too.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the quantity of the food. You get all this pre-packaged food that you have to eat, so that was scary, but you have to add a bunch of food on your own which is mostly fruit and vegetables. So, yeah, if you had to only eat the pre-packaged stuffy, you would be pretty hungry. Every meal, except for the afternoon snack, you end up eating four or five things. Each “thing” is a relatively small portion, but it is a variety of things and in sum is enough food. I get to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and am having 2 rolls a day. I dont think I had more than a dozen rolls in the last 3 years on the low carb diet. The only time I was hungry last week was one evening when I forgot to eat my afternoon snack.
As for the quality of the food, I am not sure I could be happier. Now, we aren’t talking gourmet food here, but I havent yet found anything that I thought tasted bad. I still have a few shakes that I havent tried, so that may change 
There are only two things that have proven to be a drawback to the NutriSystem diet for me. First, I dont get to cook much anymore and that is/was one of my passions. I should be able to get back to it once I get to my goal weight. I made some homemade spaghetti yesterday for the kids to have for dinner just to cook. It actually wasnt even that tough to not dig in myself while cooking. The second drawback is no “hunk of meat”. I got used to eating nice amounts of meat on the low carb diet. On NutriSystem, you get very small portions of meat. A lot of the pre-packaged entrees have meat in them, but its a pretty small quantity. For two of the daily meals, you get to add a portion of dairy or protein. So I use that opportunity to have some chicken or lean meat, but its only 1 ounce. No more 16 ounce Rib Eyes steaks for a while. Actually, I used to eat more chicken than beef, but a 1 ounce piece isnt that large.
On a side, note, Suzanne lost 3 lbs in her first week of NutriSystem, so she is happy too.
Bottom line – this diet appears to be doable though I doubt anyone would eat the pre-packaged stuff for the rest of your life. The hope is that it teaches you portion control and eating from a variety of food types for balance.
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