Hey Gang,

Here is what I ate update for December 28th, the Back on Track Edition. Today's eating is the second day in a row of being "Back on Track". My next cheat/refeed/eat like a normal person/celebration meal with be on New Year's Day. There will be a second, "unscheduled" party time meal on Sunday night when we celebrate with the staff at the animal shelter for a year of successful adoptions. Please note what I said in the last email, the vacation edition, that it is what you do most of the time that counts. This second, unplanned event is an opportunity to celebrate life with people I have grown really close too over the last few years and that is what pleasure eating is really all about. It is not about sitting home alone watching Gray's Anatomy (my testosterone levels drop 10% if I even enter the room when that show is on) while crying into your Chocolate Covered Pretzel Ice Cream from Ben and Jerry's. That is not enjoying food, that is self medication.

Now when it comes to that extra meal I will enjoy it to the max (as you will read about next week) and will not feel one bit of guilt over it. Basically I have two meals out of 35 this week that will be calorie dense. Can't say I feel like that will be such a big deal.

But without further delay, here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 Breakfast:
3 hardboiled eggs (Two of which were goose eggs from my sisters hen house and they were disgusting but I was hungry and I ate them anyway. On a personal note I hated geese already for pooping all over Princeton and blocking traffic on Mapleton road. Now that I know that even their offspring taste horrible I find my self at a new level of disgust with their existence)
2 slices of trader joes double fiber wheat bread with a little smuckers jelly(I buy my wheat bread at trader joes because it costs more and it makes me better than people who shop at the regular grocery store because it shows I care more about the environment and sustainable, equitable farming practices. Either that or I was there to buy beef jerky and realized I was out of bread).

Meal 2 (Post Workout):
1 protein shake with 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder, ice, and water
1 apple
1 orange
1 oz. raisins

Meal 3:
1 Can of Tuna (7oz.)
1 serving of baked nathans fries (I am out of baking potatoes)
1 cup broccolli with sea salt (just threw a handful of frozen broccolli in a microwave safe dish, added in some water and then nuked it till it was done then added some sea salt for sodium flavored goodness).

Meal 4:
1 bag Trader Joes Beef Jerky
4 Quaker Cheddar Rice Cakes

Meal 5:
Not sure yet, the meat I need to marinate is not yet unfrozen but I pulled a bag of left over MOP out of the freezer last night so hopefully that will be defrosted by the time I get home. MOP = Meat over Pasta (see instructions below)

Meat Over Pasta:
Take 1 tbsp of olive oil and sautee 1/2 onion, 1 zucchinni, several cups of spinach, and 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
Add in 1 package of 90% or leaner organic ground meat (from shop rite) or 1 package of ground sirloin from McCafferty's or 1 package of ground turkey breast from either place. You can go as lean as you want with this one because all the vegetables and tomato sauce keep it moist. Brown the meal till it is cooked through in the same skillet as the vegetables.
Add in 1 can/jar of tomato sauce. I like Rao's marinara or that fat guy from the food network named Mario something or other which is also at McCafferty's (not the fat guy but his sauce).

Let all that cook together for 10 minutes then get a bowl the take add 200 to 250 grams for smaller people and 300 to 350 grams for bigger people of the meat/sauce/veggie mixture to 150 grams of pasta for smaller people or 200 grams of pasta for bigger people. This meal actually tastes better as left overs since all the flavors get a chance to mix together better.