Down 40 Pounds

Today I officially hit an undisclosed weight that is 40 pounds lighter than I was in January. I'm very happy about this, and I feel good (I'm sure I'll feel that much better after I loose another 40.)

Every six weeks our gym tests our fitness level. The trainer wants to make sure that we are progressing enough. The tests have never been really hard, so no big deal. The only thing I know about this next test is that I'll have to run 1.5 miles. I can do that, I couldn't have 2 months ago.

As part of the wife's new diet, she is drinking the concoction in the picture below:

I'm also drinking it now, because it is surprisingly good. I had someone in my office tell me about green smoothies before. He said that he and his wife are basically vegetarians during the week, and eat meat on the weekends. They do this for a couple of reasons, but when I asked about his protein to carb intake he shrugged and said you have to have the green smoothie.

Now the green smoothie is lots of things. In fact, years ago I worked with an older lady from Germany. She would always bring in her "green drink". I finally asked her what was in it, and she said, "whatever I have in my refrigerator." I thought this sounded disgusting, and quietly mocked her about it. Now I am turning into the guy that brings the weird green drink to work.

Here is the recipe for the above smoothie:

• 2 Cups of fresh spinach


• 1/4 - 1/2 Cup Milk (I used 1%, but the recipe actually called for rice milk.)


• 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I kind of guessed on the amount because I didn't want to wash a measuring spoon.)


• 1 Whole Banana


• 2 Scoops of Protein Powder (I used chocolate, but vanilla would taste equally good.)


• Ice

You just put it all in a blender, and puree. It tastes very good, mainly like banana and peanut butter (Elvis would have liked it.) This makes enough for two people if you use really big glasses. I would say that I had about 16 ounces for mine. I used an online recipe nutrition calculator, and came up with the following numbers. About 240 calories, 23 grams of carbs, 33 grams of protein. Pretty good for one meal.

Apology for not posting, and the wife's new diet

Sorry I haven't posted much this week. It's not that there is nothing to write about, it's that there is so much going on, especially with a new puppy in the house.

Until yesterday, our dog only had eyes for me. I didn't think anything of this, as I would be the "alpha male" in our household. (Note I said alpha male, and not head of household, or anything else. I know my place.) I have also had many dogs, and for some reason small animals and small children seem to like me.

The big problem with this is that she has separation anxiety, and I was the only one who could calm her down. Even when everyone else was home, she would watch out the window for me, and when I came in would bound up to me, and freak out until I sat down and properly greeted her (read freaked out about her.) Turns out this is exactly the opposite of what I should have done. So now I ignore the extreme behavior and calmly greet her. She has also started to relax around the other family members, especially my wife and oldest daughter.

We have a cage/kennel for the dog, but she hasn't used it since we have had her. I'm going to be working on this with her to see if her own private space helps her out.

Now on to the new diet. As part of our gym membership, I'm helping with the website and social media. This, in turn, results in not paying so much for the gym. I think it's a win-win. This month our trainer came out with a new diet. This is kind of an add-on to the boot camp training we go through, so I wont tell you everything, in fact I'm going to oversimplify it here. Basically it is a raw carbohydrate diet. You need to eat a protein and carbohydrate at each meal, but the carbs should come from an uncooked vegetable or fruit. He also has some other things thrown in like a green smoothie that is really good. My wife started this diet this week (I've been doing something very similar for about a month and a half, but will be moving to this new diet soon.) The wife's biggest problem with this? No caffeinated drinks. Now as we are LDS she only had caffeinated soda. This brings up the old joke:

Q: How do you tell the LDS members from non-members in Utah?

A: The temperature of their caffeine.

My wife has been getting serious headaches because of the lack of caffeine in her diet. The trainer has given her special permission, on one day a week, to have up to 32 ounces of a diet drink, as long as she has drank 60 ounces of water by noon. Drinking water is a big test for my wife. Ever since she was pregnant with our second child (I think it was #2 honey, so don't be angry if I got that wrong) she has had a hard time drinking water. This is due to the fact that when she started getting morning sickness, she would wake up, drink a glass of water, then be sick. That association has not left her mind. She is doing well, and has accelerated her weight-loss with the new diet. I'm proud of you honey!