Good session 9-tabling

I just finished a session playing 9 tables on Ultimatebet. The first hour went very poorly while I had a bad run of cards, which is hard to believe when you are playing 9 tables! Then I finally had some decent cards and most of my all-ins were good. I finished up 2 buyins.

I got pushed off one hand when I had AK, the flop was K high with no straights or flushes, I bet the pot, and one guy raised huge. I decided he had to have two pair or a set, I folded, and he showed AK. I suppose that was probably my best case scenario, aside from a bluff or a K with worse kicker. But I didn't know the player.

I only had one bad beat. I had aces, there was a standard raise and about 4 players called...I wanted to be heads-up, and thought someone might be crazy enough to call, so I made a huge overbet reraise that would cover anyone (like 7 times the pot), and one guy called! I was thrilled! The board came all rags and I went all-in which was about 1/2 the pot. He called with a pair of deuces and there wasn't one on the board! Unfortunately, the river was a deuce. That cost me 1 buyin right there. I was pissed, but honestly I was thrilled that I trapped him. I just got unlucky.

And I didn't put a bad beat on anyone. Good karma.

- schneid

Jason and Erin's wedding

We went to Bloomington, IL for my cousin Jason's wedding this weekend. It was a mini-reunion of sorts for the Japanese side of my family, since my Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Terry, Uncle Denny, cousins Mika and Kenneth, and my sister Debi and her boyfriend David came from out of town, as well as Jason's sisters Dana and Kristen and their mom, Aunt Jill. It was certainly the first time that all of those people had been together since the last reunion in 2004.

We stayed at The Chateau which is a nice hotel. It's related to the Jumer's in Urbana where we had our rehearsal dinner in 1993. It was a really nice place with a French theme and decor.


The immediate family was at the rehearsal dinner, so I planned a dinner on Friday night for the rest of our family. Unfortunately, it was just a little too early for Debi and David due to their arrival time. The remaining 9 of us had dinner at Orient Gourmet Japanese and Chinese restaurant. It was a very small place but they were able to reserve a table of 9 for us. We ate great sushi and good Chinese food and had a great time.

Afterwards, we stopped by Terry and Carolyn's room so that Uncle Terry and I could trade some beer. He brought a six-pack of Dominion Oak Barrel Stout, and I brought a mixed six to trade. We tried the Stout and also a Dominion Octoberfest. I liked the stout, which good flavor but a lighter body for this type of beer. The Octoberfest was nice and malty.

Aunt Carolyn and Mika were entertaining Anna and she was roaring with laughter and this pillow-person that Aunt Carolyn made. I can remember how much I looked forward to seeing Aunt Carolyn when I was a little kid.

On Saturday morning, we swam at the hotel with the kids. They had a great time, but the pool was freezing! Then we made the mistake of going in the hot tub, which felt great, but then the pool was like ice. The kids jumped back in and I finally relented and let them push me in. Ben and Anna are really becoming excellent swimmers. Anna has a swim vest and really gets around. Ben doesn't need any aid and can swim the width of the pool. He is really improving his freestyle. The kids take swim lessons every week.

We had lunch, then headed to the wedding which was at 2:00. It was at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Bloomington. The church was amazing, designed in art-deco style with a soaring cathedral and beautiful stained glass. The ceremony was really nice and Jason and Erin looked very happy. Ben and Anna took turns leaning into the aisle to take photos. Anna was just running out of gas when the ceremony ended. Fortunately, Aunt Carolyn, as she always does (and always did when I was a kid too), brought some little notebooks and notepads for the kids, and that helped keep them busy.

We went back to the hotel briefly after the ceremony and had a drink at the bar with our family, then headed back to the reception - about 2 hours early - so that the kids could take a nap in the car.

Debi came up with the idea of a money tree for a wedding gift, so we did that together. Since the tree would fit better in the van, we took it with us. But I had to lean it over 45 degrees, and the decorative rocks in it were sliding out. Every time I stopped, started, or turned a corner, you could hear the rocks pouring out of the pot, and the kids cracked up every time. There were about 4 inches of rocks in the top of the pot and they had all fallen out by the time we arrived.

Ben and Anna were wiped out from staying up so late on Friday. They fell asleep pretty quickly and we ran some errands and drove around Bloomington. It reminded us a lot of Champaign-Urbana.


The reception was at a cool place called Central Station Cafe in downtown Bloomington. We sat with Debi, David, and Uncle Denny. Anna decided she was going to sit with Mika and her family. Mika and Kenneth really kept an eye on her and made sure she had dinner. Ben did a lot of reading to keep occupied.


Later, when the dancing commenced, Ben and Anna were a riot. Ben was dancing like a maniac - I don't know where he learned those moves, which you might call a fusion of disco/swing/karate. Anna enjoys dancing with other people, and she especially liked dancing with the bride, who she thought looked like a princess. Ben doesn't really need other people, just some music with a good beat...and some space...watch out for those spinning kicks! They also played with some other kids and kept busy, and our relatives were helping keep an eye on them, so we really enjoyed the reception.

I (re)met the woman who had been the flower girl at Aunt Jill's wedding where I was the ring bearer (31 years ago). I said I was sorry that I never called. :)

On Sunday morning, Aunt Jill had a brunch and we spent more time with family and had a nice breakfast.

I really enjoyed the time we spent with my aunt, uncles, and cousins over the weekend. We don't get to see the out-of-towners very often, and they are some of the genuinely nicest people I've ever met. We also have a lot of similar views of life. I wish that we could see them more often.

We packed up and headed back around 12:30. It's a pretty easy ride from Bloomington. We enjoyed the rest of our day and have some great memories. And we're looking forward to doing it again at Dana's wedding in May!

- schneid

Sept 29 and 30 update

There is no...Sept 29 and 30 update. Sorry, see this post to see what we were doing this weekend.

I did get some exercise while swimming with the kids at the pool, not to mention carrying a heavy tree up a flight of stairs. I managed to not overindulge in food too much.

- schneid

Sept 28 update

189 today. Yesterday's run did the trick. Tim and I are planning to run twice a week. It would be nice if we could run together 3 times, but that will be very difficult to schedule...plus I really want to start playing basketball at lunch too. Tim only lives about 30 minutes from me, so if we really wanted to, we could meet half way and run on the weekend. Half way would be downtown Aurora, and we could run along the Fox River Trail. That would be a nice run.

I'm setting a goal of 180 lbs by my birthday, which is October 24. I need to lose 1 lb every 3 days, which is achievable if I keep eating well, running and playing basketball, and I probably need to do some exercise on the weekends too.

Food:

• 16 oz black coffee
  
• bowl of granola cereal
  
• bowl of green chili corn chowder
  
• lots of sushi
  
• 1 piece shrimp tempura
  
• bowl of miso soup
  
• a little szechuan chicken
  
• 1 glass of white wine
  
• a few snacks in the car, like a few potato chips and cheese-its
  
• 1 diet Pepsi
  

Exercise:

• none today. Went out of town.

I worked a 1/2 day and we went to Bloomington, IL for my cousin Jason's wedding.

Dinner was awesome. We had reservations at a place called Orient Gourmet in Bloomington, IL. They had Japanese and Chinese food. I ate way too much sushi, which I hadn't had in quite awhile, including spider roll (deep fried soft shell crab), spicy tuna roll, spicy crunchy salmon roll, unagi (barbecued eel), and some tuna and yellowtail pieces. Mmmmm mmmmm! I also tried my aunt's shrimp tempura which was served in a huge portion and was great. It was probably the best tempura I've ever had. There was a lot of panko in the batter and it was so light but really crunchy.

- schneid

Sept 27 update

190 today. Well, a hair under 190, but let's just leave it at that. I'm going to run today so that should help.

Food:

• 2 granola bars
  
• 16 oz Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee, fresh-roasted and fresh-brewed!
  
• big salad with grilled chicken breast and balsamic dressing
  
• plain iced tea with lemon herb tea
  
• szechuan chicken - a chicken breast and a few onions and mushrooms with yummy sauce
  
• 10 potato chips and 20 fritos (this was a slip up, the kids left their uneaten bags on the table and I had a craving)
  
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
  
• 1 beer (Three Floyds Gumballhead and man was it good)

Exercise:

• run 3.2 miles

Awesome run today again with Tim R. I ran 1/2 mile to the Forest Preserve, but Tim gave me a ride back. We did an extra 1/2 mile there, so I just didn't have the legs to run back. Soon!

- schneid

PS: Keep commenting and inquiring about my progress! Thanks!

More 8-tabling on Ultimatebet

I was 8-tabling on Ultimatebet on Tuesday night and plan to do more on Thursday. I was pretty disappointed on Tuesday. I played for about 2 hours, and lost 1 buyin (of 8 total) over that time. I ran really bad for those 2 hours...tons of bad hands and getting all-in with KK vs. AA twice in the space of 5 minutes. I managed to slowplay trip Qs and have my opponent river a J to give him Js full of Qs. I feel like I'm playing pretty well and mixing up my game, so I expect to do better in the long run.

- schneid

Sept 26 update

190.

Food:

• 1 granola bar
  
• 2 cups coffee - black!
  
• salad with giardiniera
  
• small bag pretzels (160 calories)
  
• handful sunflower seeds
  
• 20 oz diet Pepsi
  
• 1 pork chop, 1 small sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, peas
  
• 10 peanuts
  
• large decaf coffee with cocoa, skim milk, and 2 equals - I really had a craving for chocolate, looked at the unsweetened cocoa container, and it's not bad for you

Exercise:

• volleyball

My green coffee beans arrived in the mail yesterday. The air popcorn popper that I won on eBay had already arrived. So, I roasted some coffee last night and drank some fresh coffee this morning. It was gooooood. The coffee is so good and not bitter that I can drink it black. This was an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe which my friends think is the best in the world.

It didn't seem like a good day food-wise. Fortunately, I didn't have much time for dinner or I probably would've eaten more. I felt like I had too many snacks.

- schneid

Sept 25 update

190 today! Woohoo! I didn't eat much yesterday and ran almost 3 miles to drop that pound. I feel pretty good today after that run, just a little soreness in my legs.

Next major goal: 180 lbs

Tim R and I are now talking about running twice a week if we can find time.

Food:

• 1 cup coffee with h/h and 1 Equal
  
• small turkey and swiss sandich on a whole wheat roll
  
• small bag of pretzels
  
• 20 oz diet Pepsi
  
• chicken cacciatore with a little spaghetti
  
• 1 cup decaf coffee
  

Exercise:

• ran after work for 25 minutes.

There was a lunch meeting today, so I'm going to try to work out later in the afternoon.

- schneid

Multi-tabling on Ultimatebet

When I play poker online, I play 4-6 tables at a time. You can play very tight and wait for good hands to come. I would like to play more tables, but even 4 tables overlap on my monitor. Ultimatebet has a miniview that displays the table in a much smaller space, maybe about 2" high x 6" long on a 1280x1024 screen. One problem is that my monitor can't do 1600x1200; the other problem is that in the miniview, my desktop doesn't have enough horsepower to do the graphics. If I open up a few tables in miniview, the cards start to disappear. And it's awfully hard to play poker if you can't see the cards.

Last night, for the first time, I hooked up my laptop to the monitor. I used the miniview and 8-tabled for awhile. I would've done 9 but I ran out of money to spread around. It was tough keeping track of so many tables, but this forces you to fold any marginal hand. You just don't have time to fool around with mediocre cards.

It took some time to get used to where the data is displayed. I misread my cards a couple of times, and didn't bet when I should've because I was hurried. But I started to settle into it and was reasonably comfortable after an hour. I also lost my stack with KK vs AA on one table. But in one hour, starting with 8 buyins (one per table), I managed to win 2 buyins. I certainly don't expect to always win at that rate, but I made some mistakes due to the new look and feel, and I was getting terrible cards. I mean really. I was dealt about 500 hands in that hour and had about 15 pocket pairs...the expectation is 29 pocket pairs. I'm going to keep doing this and as I win more money, keep working my way up the limits and see what happens. I've been treading water for awhile at .10/.25 and .25/.50 no-limit, so we'll see what this can do for my bankroll.

- schneid

Why I love the internet

I wear extra-wide shoes. Basketball shoes are narrow, probably because men that play basketball are tall and thin and have narrow feet. I, on the other hand, have short (size 10) wide feet. I bought some new shoes about 6 months ago, played basketball twice, and my feet hurt so bad I could barely walk for a week, and felt like I had bruises on the balls of my feet for a month. Needless to say, I stopped playing basketball then.

You can't get wide-width basketball shoes at the store. You have to order them. I went to Sports Authority to try on shoes, and figure out what my proper size would be by trying on New Balance running shoes. Sports Authority has those in wide widths, and you can order wide-width basketball shoes from New Balance. So I determined that I needed a 10 4E New Balance shoe. Then I went online to find some and they retail for about $80.

Then Google found an ad in craiglist. In New Hampshire, no less. A guy was selling two pairs of exactly the shoes I wanted in exactly my size - 10 4E. One pair was worn once, and cost $25. The other pair was brand new for $30. I called the guy, paid by PayPal, and he shipped them within 4 hours...these shoes were on my feet in 4 days. I bought the cheaper pair and they fit great, so now I'm buying the other pair.

And that's why I love the internet!

- schneid

Sept 24 update

191 today.

Food:

• 1 large orange
  
• 8 oz coffee with h/h and 1 Equal
  
• 1 orange
  
• 2 granola bars
  
• szechuan steak stir fry - steak, onions, green pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, yum!

Exercise:

• Ran 2.8 miles and walked .5 miles at lunch with newly inspired friend Tim R (Tim's not new, he's old. His inspiration is new.)

Tim and I at McDowell Forest Preserve, and I decided to also run there and back. It's about a 1/2 mile. At McDowell, we ran and walked a 1 mile loop twice. I think we ran and walked about 1/2 and 1/2, maybe even ran more than that. (But by distance that would be about 3/4 distance ran and 1/4 distance walked). So let's stretch a bit and say that we can 1.5 miles and walked .5 miles. Plus I ran another 1.3 miles there and back. So I ran about 2.8 miles and walked .5 miles today

I have to admit that when I stepped outside, it was hot and I thought, I should drive over there. But I had just told Westy that I was going to run over, so didn't want to cop out. And running back to work afterwards was tough but I ran all the way.

It was awesome running with Tim. He also needs to get into shape and lose weight, and he's actually in worse shape than I am right now. But he's done this before and within a week or two we'll be the same. I haven't seen Tim that much lately so it was great to get together and hang out. We've been friends since fourth grade. Instead of going out for lunch, we will try to run once a week!

Szechuan sauce

• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled ginger
  
• 1/2 cup canned low sodium chicken broth
  
• 2 tablespoons sherry
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  
• 1 tablespoon red chili paste
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon sugar (to taste)
  
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

- schneid

Sept 23 update

Sorry, pretty busy. 191 today.

Food: multi-grain oatmeal with 1 tbsp brown sugar (didn't help nearly enough, was like eating a the box that the oatmeal came in), coffee with milk and 1 equal, 6" Subway turkey and ham sandwich (lots of veggies, no mayo), sugar-free lemonade and ice tea, a couple chips. I made our entire dinner on the grill: 10 oz rib eye steak, 1/2 zucchini, about 10 french fries (grilled), 2 corn on the cob, and 10 oz red wine. I definitely felt like I pigged out. I really didn't need that much steak, fries, or corn. I'm going running tomorrow to make up for it and hope to lose about 3-4 lbs this week.

Exercise: Walked around downtown Aurora after church.

- schneid

Sept 22 update

191 this morning. I can't wait to get under 190. I haven't been there in about 3 years.

Food:

• 1 granola bar
  
• 1 large McDonald's hazelnut iced coffee with 1 cream and 2 Equals...hopefully they don't put a bunch of sugar in there
  
• 1 can diet Pepsi
  
• iceberg lettuce with taco meat (hamburger), black bean and corn salsa, green peppers, nonfat sour cream, and just a tiny bit of shredded cheddar.
  
• 1 tortilla chip (yes, 1)
  

Exercise:

• none, really...walked with the kids for a round of mini-golf and at the park.

I made some black bean and corn salsa tonight. Mmmmmmmm it was good. Here's the recipe:

Black bean and corn salsa

• 1 15oz can black beans
  
• 1 1/2 cups cooked corn (cold)
  
• 1 cup prepared salsa
  
• juice from 1 lime
  
• 2 tbsp onions, chopped
  
• 1 tbsp green onions, chopped
  
• 2 tbsp green peppers, chopped
  
• 1 tbsp roast red peppers, chopped (optional)
  
• 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
  
• 1 tsp cumin (to taste)
  
• 1/4 tsp ground chipotle peppers (to taste)
  
• Mix it all up!

This turned out really good. We couldn't stop eating it. All the amounts are to taste. You might want to add some chopped jalapeno, I didn't have one. The chipotle gives it a nice smoked flavor. And you should add enough cumin to taste it. Some roasted chili peppers would probably help too.

- schneid

Sept 21 update

192 this morning (3 days in a row). Still, all told it's 8 lbs in 9 days. I'm exhausted from working out and I wrenched my back a couple days ago, so I might not work out today. Instead, maybe I'll take a walk tonight while my kids ride their bikes.

I did get a workout last night when some neighbors threw out their old cabinets. Today is North Aurora cleanup day, so you can put any junk by the curb. They remodeled their kitchen and threw out the old cabinets. So at 12:30 last night after poker, I used our little red wagon to drag the cabinets down the street and put them in our garage. Our laundry room (which is 30' x 7') needs some cabinets and they will be perfect.

Sorry for updating this late. I worked until 1:15, so couldn't work out at lunch time...plus I was pretty sore and tired. I did get a long walk in with my kids in the evening. Maybe 1 mile.

Food:

• 2 granola bars
  
• 1 cup coffee with h/h and 1 equal
  
• stir fry with chicken and lots of veggies, one scoop of szechuan sauce, plus some of my homemade curry dressing.
  
• green tea
  
• 1 granola bar
  
• 1 20 oz diet Pepsi...was dragging again
  
• 1/2 Panera Asiago roast beef sandwich, bowl of chicken noodle soup, and a bite of a chocolate chip cookie

Exercise:

• 1 long walk

- schneid

Sept 20 update

192 this morning.

Food:

• yogurt (no granola today, I think I ate too much yesterday)
  
• 1 cup coffee with half and half and 1 Equal
  
• lunch was chicken stir fry with broccoli, green peppers, onions, chinese cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots. 1 scoop of szechuan sauce, and I added my homemade fat-free curry salad dressing. It was gooooood.
  
• green tea
  
• 1 20 oz diet Pepsi - needed a boost again
  
• grilled chicken salad with homemade ranch dressing
  
• 20 oz beer
  
• 1/2 cup nuts (pepitas, sunflower seeds, almonds, dried cherries, raisins

Exercise:

• volleyball at lunchtime

Tonight is poker night. I'm going to limit myself to 12-16 oz of beer and a handful of snacky stuff (probably this mixture of pepitas, sunflower seeds, almond, and soy beans that I just bought).

I tried about 4 different beers on Thursday night but shared them and only had about 1/4 glass of each. Also had the nuts as a snack.

I stopped at Trader Joe's the other night. Someone mentioned that they have a great frozen fish selection, and they really do. Ahi tuna was 4.79/lb. They have a lot of great products, including a wide selection of cheeses, which I'm not really eating right now. Lots of fun gourmet stuff. I was surprised that the prices are pretty good. I've only stopped in there a couple times before.

Homemade ranch dressing recipe

• 1/2 cup nonfat mayo
  
• 1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
  
• 2 tsp minced green onion
  
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
  
• 1 tbsp minced onions
  
• 1 tbsp minced red bell pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp parsley
  
• enough water to make it dressing consistency
  

It's pretty good. And it's about 9 calories per tbsp. Hidden Valley Ranch is 71 calories per tbsp. I might try some buttermilk next time to see if I can get it to be closer to store-bought.

- schneid

Coffee

I am definitely going to spoil myself with some good coffee. I just won a West Bend Poppery II hot air popcorn popper on EBay, which I'm going to use to roast green coffee beans. This is a highly recommended brand of popcorn popper for this purpose and they are no longer manufactured. I also ordered some green coffee beans from Sweet Maria's. They have a sampler pack of 8 coffees from 4 continents. I requested decaf for half of them, so Suzette can enjoy them too. I can't wait to roast my own coffee!

The main purposes for roasting your own coffee beans are:

• You can buy exactly the coffee beans that you want. Different beans have really different flavors. Most people don't know that because most coffee is overroasted and they all taste the same.
  
• You can roast exactly the amount that you like. You might like a lighter or a darker roast.
  
• It is fresher. As soon as the coffee is roasted or ground, it loses freshness. You should use roasted coffee beans within 1 week. So this is almost the only way to get really fresh coffee. Green coffee beans are fresh for up to a year.
  
• It doesn't need anything added. You can drink it black.
  
• It's reasonably priced. The coffee is $5-6 per pound online. Even considering shipping costs, this coffee is cheaper than the Papanicholas coffee that I like (5.99 per 12 oz on sale).

Thanks (or blame) to Rob W. and Russ M. from work for putting me onto really good coffee!

- schneid

Sept 19 update

192 this morning. I didn't have much time for lunch or dinner yesterday, so ate a little less than usual. Plus I jogged yesterday. And my shins feel terrific today - no trouble from the run.



Food:

• granola and yogurt
  
• 16 oz coffee with 1 half and half and 2 Equals
  
• small grilled chicken breast with sport peppers and onions
  
• bowl of corn green chili bisque
  
• handful of mixed soy, pepitas, almonds, sunflower seeds
  
• 2 slices frozen pizza
  
• 3/4 package microwave popcorn
  
• 1 BEER!

Exercise:

• volleyball at lunchtime

I took the afternoon off to prepare for our first den meeting and I was busy up until it started. I didn't have time to make anything healthy for dinner so had some of the kids' frozen pizza. Had some popcorn as a snack later. I really need to just take a portion and put it in my own bowl, rather than eating out of the big bowl. Before I knew it, I had almost finished the bag. I did finally splurge and have a beer...mmmm, it was a Surly Furious and it was good. I hadn't had a beer in 9 days, so I was due. I'll try to only have 1 tomorrow at poker night; I planned to have 2. I don't feel like this was a very successful day food-wise, so I plan to have two salads tomorrow. I just marinated some chicken with lemon, basil, olive oil, onions, garlic, and a few other things, and we'll have a grilled chicken salad for dinner. Yum!

- schneid

How I'm losing weight

In case anyone doesn't have time to read 10 different posts, here's how I'm trying to eat healthier and get into shape:

• exercise every day
  
• eat in moderation
  
• eat a lot more vegetables (lunch and dinner are mostly vegetables)
  
• eat less fat
  
• eat fewer carbs
  
• eat big salads for lunch
  
• eat yogurt
  
• eat healthy oils
  
• avoid unnecessary calories (e.g., make my own salad dressing, put 2% milk in coffee instead of half and half)
  
• drink more water
  
• drink less diet soda
  
• drink green tea and black tea
  
• drink less alcohol, just a few drinks per week
  
• don't go out to eat
  
• NO fast food, no potato chips, no french fries, no greasy food, very very limited sweets (I have eaten 1 small chocolate chip cookie and 5 chocolate chips in 1 week)

Exercising at lunchtime every day has another benefit - I can't go out to eat.

Once my weight is down where I want it (170) or if I feel great and I'm exercising enough and my weight is pretty good (180), I will start adding things that I want (i.e., beer, french fries) back into my diet in moderation.

In the past week, I have not eaten cheese, fried foods, junk food, desserts, or pasta. If you look at the bullets at the top, you might think, "How can you eat less carbs and less fat unless you are on a high protein diet?" It's because I'm eating way less overall.

In case anyone has any concerns, I'm getting some bloodwork done soon because I changed cholesterol medication. And I'm scheduled for a physical in November.

- schneid

Sept 18 update

194 this morning. Same as yesterday, so I think I was dehydrated then and also I ate a little more for dinner last night than usual (a steak, mmmmm). I'm wondering if I should jog a little in the morning, to get my metabolism revved up for the day...I could jog for 10 minutes and sprint a block or two. Wonder if that will work?

I remembered to bring my salad dressing to work today! Here's the recipe. It's good on salad and for dipping (meats and veggies).

Curry salad dressing

• 1 cup nonfat mayo
  
• 1 tbsp ginger (crushed through garlic press)
  
• 1 clove garlic (crushed through garlic press)
  
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro
  
• 1 tbsp chopped green onions
  
• juice from 1 lime
  
• 1 tsp garam masala
  
• 1 tsp curry powder
  
• salt and pepper
  
• water

Mix all ingredients except water. Then add water and mix until it's the consistency of salad dressing. Amounts are all to taste, so you will need to adjust, to get the flavors that you prefer. I'm going to try making a homemade ranch similar to this. It's about 20 calories per tbsp and almost no fat. This recipe should make about 2 cups of dressing.

Food:

• yogurt and granola bar
  
• salad with my homemade dressing, yum
  
• banana
  
• granola bar
  
• 2 cups coffee, one black, one with 1 Equal and a little milk
  
• 1 20 oz diet Pepsi - I really needed a boost this afternoon
  
• steak stir fry - Suzette used last night's leftover steak, plus sesame oil, ginger, garlic, red chili paste, soy sauce, onions, green peppers, and some other stuff that I can't remember and it was fantastic. Really awesome flavor.

Exercise:

• ran and walked for 32 minutes outside today. I was sick of working out so I hit a few weight machines and then went for a jog. I walked and jogged the first half, then jogged all the way back. It was nice to get some fresh air and it felt pretty good (ok, it sucked, but afterwards I felt pretty good). My shins seemed to hold up pretty well.

I stepped on the scale at 10:00 PM and was 194...that looks pretty good. Must've been the run today. I'm trying to drink a lot of water tonight so that I'll feel confident in the scale if it says 193 tomorrow.

- schneid

Sept 17 update

I was at 194 this morning, which was a little surprising because I exercised less and ate more this weekend. I feel a little dehydrated, though, so maybe some is water loss.

Food:

• yogurt with granola
  
• coffee with half and half, 1 equal
  
• big salad for lunch with ranch dressing, watered down
  
• 1 black tea, 1 green tea
  
• ribeye steak
  
• 3/4 cup cooked corn
  
• mushrooms and onions
  
• 3 tater tots
  
• 5 chocolate chips
  
• and a partridge in a pear tree....
  

Exercise:

• 25 minutes on the bike
  
• 17 minutes weight lifting

I downloaded the first episode of the show Weeds, which I've never seen, and watch on my video iPod while cycling (stationary bike). That helped me stretch it out to 25 minutes.

I made homemade curry salad dressing this morning with ginger, green onions, garlic, curry, masala, nonfat mayonnaise, and water. And then I left it on the counter.

2 tbsp of Ranch dressing is 143 calories and 15.5 grams of fat. 2 tbsp of nonfat mayonnaise is 27 calories and less than 1 gram of fat. I'll save a lot of calories.

I haven't had a beer in a week. I think I will treat myself to 1 or 2 on Thursday night at poker if I can lay off the snacks. Nothing gets stored as fat faster than beer. It's hard to not drink it when I have about 30 different varieties at home. But once I get my weight down, I'll add it back in moderation.

- schneid

Cermak Fresh Market

There is a new grocery store in Aurora called Cermak Fresh Market. It's on Route 31 a couple miles south of I-88 and a couple miles north of downtown. It is fantastic! It's typical of this type of market in that the meat and produce are abundant and cheap, but brand name stuff like cereal and soda is expensive. They have a great selection of ethnic specialty items too. There were many Mexican and Asian products. I went on Saturday to only buy produce, meat, and some Asian condiments. By the way, Vietnamese red chili sauce is way hotter than the chili sauce I had at a Thai restaurant this weekend!

There were some sales, and we bought local Gala apples, huge Spanish onions, pears, and limes for 10 cents each. The prices of the meat were great. A package of assorted pork chops was .79 per pound. Rib eye steak was $4 per pound! I didn't need any meat, but I might start shopping weekly to get fresh produce and meat. Meat is one of the few things that I really crave that fits into a healthy diet.

- schneid

Sept 16 update

I weighed 196 this morning.

We had a great time with Kim and Dennis last night. We had Thai food and watched a play at a small theater in downtown Aurora called the Riverfront Theater. It seats about 100 people. We saw "The Night of the Living Dead - The Musical". It was really funny and I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the small theater. Everyone in the audience and the cast seemed to know each other.

Food:

• no breakfast, granola and yogurt, and coffee for lunch
  
• 12 oz. fruit smoothie (strawberries, raspberries, and ice, maybe sugar)
  
• a few bites of ice cream
  
• crusted tilapia on curried vegetables with homemade fresh salsa, and peas
  
• about 30 almonds

Exercise:

• chasing Ben while he learned to ride his bike. He's finally got it! He was able to ride almost the length of the block a few times.

We went to Oberweis to celebrate Ben's accomplishment. The kids had these huge waffles cones that were dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. I had a fruit smoothie, which may have had some sugar. I only ate 3/4 of it and had a few bites of everyone's ice cream. Their chocolate peanut butter ice cream is awesome.

The tilapia wasn't as crunchy as I would've liked. But the combination of the tilapia, curried vegetables (more of a thick sauce), and salsa was great. Yum!

- schneid

Sept 15 update

Hooray, it's Saturday. I weighed 197 today. I've done a good job for about 3.5 days.

Food:

• granola bar crushed into yogurt
  
• coffee with 2% milk and 1 Equal
  
• 1 can tuna, 2 tbsp mayo, celery, onions, green pepper, green onions, pickles, cilantro. I don't have fat free mayo yet, so that was a little excessive (90 calories per tbsp), but I've only had about 600 calories so far today.
  
• 2 diet Pepsi
  
• 3 cups jasmine tea
  
• 1 helping cashew chicken
  
• 2 satay chicken
  
• tiny bit of yellow curry
  
• 1/2 cup rice
  
• some cucumbers and other veggies
  
• 3 tbsp chili sauce
  
• 1/2 bowl of popcorn

Exercise:

• shot baskets with our neighbor Matt for a little while. I'll try to do more later.

We had Thai for dinner with Kim and Dennis at Thai Spice in Aurora. I love yellow curry but it has a lot of coconut milk, so I just had a tiny bit. The chili sauce was really good and I had a lot, so hopefully there's nothing bad in it. I ate about 2 or 3 cashews in the cashew chicken. This was about 1/3 or 1/4 of what I would usually eat at a Thai restaurant.

Suzette and I split a bag of microwave popcorn. It has surprisingly few calories for the amount that you can eat and it's filling.

- schneid

Dinner with Charon and Ryan

On Friday, I had dinner with two friends from high school who I hadn't seen in 21 years. I don't have time to post now, but I wanted to create this entry so I don't forget. I'll try to do it this week.

Also, here's a link to Charon's photos from the 20-year reunion of the Woodstock High School Class of 1987. I can only recognize a few people. Charon, I hope you don't mind.

- schneid

Sept 14 update

I was a hair under 198 this morning...we'll just call it 198. My shins are really sore from the exercise, but the rest of me is just regular muscle soreness and my joints feel good.

Food:

• light yogurt with a granola bar crushed in it
  
• 12 oz coffee with 1 tsp (15 cals) of hazelnut powdered creamer - no sweetener
  
• 3 oz Ethiopian coffee, black
  
• huge salad for lunch, spinach, romaine, carrots, green peppers, peas, onions, kidney beans, vinegar and oil.
  
• black tea
  
• granola bar
  
• went out to dinner: 1 glass red wine, 1 scallop, 1 date wrapped with bacon (bad I know), 2 lamb chops (small rack of lamb size), 1 slice bread and olive oil, about 1/2 a potato, and assorted greens and mushrooms from the appetizers.

My friend Rob W. at work generously shared a taste of his homebrew coffee. He buys green Ethiopian coffee beans and roasts them. I was surprised at how good it was. It was the best coffee that I've ever had without cream and sugar. I can drink black coffee - I never thought I would say that - if it's this good. So I'm going to buy some and start roasting myself (roasting the beans, that is, I'm not climbing into the oven). Rob has pointed out a couple of good sites for ordering coffee beans: Sweet Maria's and Fresh Coffee Beans Company.

And no diet soda today yet. It hasn't been that hard to cut out, although I need the caffeine. I've been drinking green tea and black tea instead.

Exercise:

• 20 minutes on the bike
• 20 minutes lifting weights

- schneid

Sept 13 Update

I have lost 2 lbs so far! Down to 198.

I don't think it's water weight since I drank about 2 gallons yesterday. Anyway, we'll know within a week that it's real weight if the number keeps going down. I'm writing my weight in a column of numbers on the bathroom mirror at Greg's suggestion. I need that immediate feedback. I'll live if I don't lose weight over a couple of days; I realize that I'm putting on some muscle too.

I'm also going to set a reward for getting my weight below 170. Of course, if it's an expensive one, I'll have to get spousal approval. But honey, I'm going to save $720 a year in health insurance costs! It's been 10 years since I've been under 170.

I feel great physically and emotionally. In fact, this is physically the best I've ever felt after jumping back into serious exercise. Usually, the first time I return to lifting weights, I overdo it and I'm in serious pain for days. I'm sore now, but it's a good sore. I think all the veggies, antioxidants, and water yesterday helped, and I'm sure the Advil didn't hurt.

I've found a cool web site called MyPyramid Tracker. You can enter everything you eat and it does a complete nutritional analysis. I've used this in the past because I thought I was deficient in certain vitamins and minerals. Even with the current healthy diet, I'm not getting enough B vitamins, due to barely eating any grains yesterday. I'll have to work on that.

The funny thing about yesterday is that most of my calories were from fat. I basically only ate vegetables...there was oil in the stir fry and oil in the ranch dressing. I'm going to cut down on the oil we use to cook and use nonfat mayonnaise to make homemade dressing.

I skipped the diet soda and had some green tea instead. I have some friends at work who are coffee snobs (they roast their own beans) and they are educating me about the joys of really good coffee.

Food:

• 1 granola bar
  
• coffee + half and half + Equal
  
• green tea, orange herb tea
  
• mongolian stir fry - lots of veggies, only a little rice, with szechuan sauce
  
• handful of sunflower seeds
  
• Rosh Hashanah dinner: 1 matzoh ball soup, 1 gefilte fish, 1 kishke, 2 small meatballs, 2 small slices of brisket, and a 1/2 glass of red wine. (If you want to know what any of that stuff is, feel free to ask.) For dessert, one small chocolate chip cookie, decaf coffee with artificial sweetener and skim milk, and a few pieces of fruit salad.
  
• lots of water

Exercise:

• 2.5 minutes on the elliptical machine (man that's hard)
  
• 12 minutes on the bike
  
• 15 minutes lifting weights
  
• 25 minute walk around Tellabs. We have really nice walking paths. I had no idea it took so long. I couldn't work out any more so I thought I would take a cooldown walk (wasn't all that cool) and decided to walk the whole path.

And remember, if you see me putting unhealthy food in my mouth, knock it out of my hand or tackle me!

- schneid

Sept 12 Update

Man, I was sore when I woke up today. In particular, my ankles were really sore from the run, and my entire legs were too.

Exercise for today:

• I rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes. My legs wanted to quit after about 5 but fortunately the World Series of Poker was on TV and that kept me going. I should put some episodes onto my video iPod.
  
• I hit the weights hard and did 1 set on each of about 6 machines. I checked the time and only 10 minutes had gone by (sheesh). So I did 10 more minutes on mostly the same machines. My legs were shot so I did all upper body.
  
• I also took the damn stairs this morning.
  

Here's what I ate today:

• granola bar (90 calories) for breakfast
  
• 16 oz coffee with 1 cream and Equal
  
• big salad for lunch with lots of spinach, green peppers, celery, onions, and no cheese or bacon. I did have 2 tbsp of Ranch dressing which I watered down. I need to make some homemade lo-cal dressing.
  
• 1 cup green tea
  
• handful of sunflower seeds
  
• 1 diet Pepsi
  
• stir fry for dinner, no rice
  
• lots of water
  

And that's all I ate today. Under 900 calories according to http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov. And not bad. The stir fry was awesome. Suzette made it with fresh ginger, garlic, cilantro, sesame oil, green peppers, zucchini, onions, and chicken. I didn't feel deprived. I enjoy eating vegetables, it's just that my brain thinks that I want cheeseburgers.

I don't know what to do about the cream in my coffee, but it's only about 50 calories. Maybe I'll bring some milk into work or get some low-cal powder creamer.

I am sore and tired, but it's a good sore, mostly muscle aches and not too much joint pain. I might have been in better shape than I thought.

Thanks so much for everyone's support! Day 1 has been a success!

- schneid

It's time to lose weight

I'm making a serious commitment to losing weight. The impetus is a conversation that I had with Paul at our pack meeting tonight. While talking about the chocolate caramel corn that the Cub Scouts sell, he mentioned that he had lost 70 lbs about 18 months ago. I was shocked, because Paul is in good shape. He changed his diet, changed his work schedule, and worked out twice a day - he lost 70 lbs in 3 months. I don't expect to lose so much weight so fast, but I need to start doing something about it.

I recently found a health assessment from 1996. According to it, I weighed 167 and had a body fat percentage of 20%. I was running with Marty and Gary and I got into decent shape, running 4 miles three times a week. That lasted about a year.

A lot of time has passed and I am now 200 lbs and who knows what % body fat. Frankly, I will be very happy to lose any weight. I haven't been 190 in a few years, and I certainly haven't seen 180 in about 7 years. 165-170 would be a good range to shoot for. I'm only 5'7", so in theory I could get down to 150. I haven't seen 150 since college (about 17 years ago). I really enjoy playing volleyball and basketball and I'd obviously play much better (ok, my friends might say I would still suck) if I lost a bunch of weight.

I even have financial incentive. I pay $90 per month for life insurance because I'm so overweight that I'm in the same category as a smoker. It would only cost $30 per month if I lost 30 lbs. I could save $720 per year and buy my kids 3 more minutes at college.

Here's where you can help: Please read this blog and post comments. Trash talk, encouraging words, harassment, support, ridicule, advice, anything is fair game. I will post all my exercise and every single thing that I eat.

I have slightly improved over the last 6 months. I eat a huge salad for lunch a couple of days a week and I rarely eat breakfast from McDonald's. That might not sound like much of an achievement, but I was eating crap for breakfast a couple of times a week and crap for lunch every day. I've been playing volleyball once a week. I've gotten into the gym sporadically. We have a fitness center at work so there is no excuse. The guys also play basketball at lunch time several days a week, and I've felt like I needed to get into better shape to play, but no more excuses.

Here's the plan:

• Exercise at least 5 days a week.
  
• Use the stairs at work (I'm on the fourth floor).
  
• No fast food.
  
• Limited sweets.
  
• No junk food.
  
• Cut down on snacks on poker night.
  
• Eat yogurt, fruit, or granola bars for breakfast.
  
• Actually eat breakfast.
  
• Eat salads for lunch as much as possible.
  
• Eat more of the healthy stuff at dinner and less fattening food.
  
• Drink lots of water. I'm always dehydrated.
  
• Drink green tea.
  
• Cut back on beer.

That last one is going to hurt. I've found a lot of good beer lately, and I've been drinking about 7 per week. That's not too much, but I'll cut back and slowly add it back to see what the effect is. There's a reason they call it a beer gut.

This list is pretty funny. I'm on the 4th floor at work and in the first year, used the stairs once. I'm totally out of breath when I get to the 4th.

Before writing this post, after my conversation with Paul, I came home and jogged for 20 minutes. It was a nice cool night, about 58 degrees. It felt great (and awful). Then I drove my car to check the distance, and it was only 1.6 miles, so I tried to jog more, but I'd already drunk about a gallon of water, and only did 2 more minutes and .2 more miles. But that's farther than I've run in about 10 years, so it's a start. The total was 1.8 miles in 22 minutes.

I'll post my progress daily (except maybe on weekends) - if I don't, bug me!

- schneid

Summer Volleyball Second Place

Here's our summer volleyball team, To Kill a Blocking Nerd. From L-R, Jim, Westy, Mike, and Schneid.

Well, we took second place again in summer volleyball at Tellabs. We played decently overall. We've never taken a game against the team that beat us in three matches this summer, and probably a couple matches in 2006. We'll get to play them again in the fall league once or twice. They're good sports and we really enjoy playing them, it would just be nice to win. They're very consistent and don't make a lot of mistakes, but if we played our best, we could win.

- schneid

Cub Scouts Starts

Yes, the insanity begins...Ben started selling popcorn for Cub Scouts yesterday. He is a Wolf Scout this year and I'm the den leader. Fortunately, I have some parents who will be co-leading the den, since we are combining with another den. That will help a lot, in addition to the experience from last year.

- schneid

Why is spam always about this

I can't be the only one who gets this much spam and it's always about the same topic.



- schneid