Off My Diet...Way Off.

Jerry's "New" GMC Truck

























I'm pretty much off my diet plan as far as losing any fat, what with Fourth of July fish fries (sole, shrimp, oysters, French fries, and onion rings), an unplanned trip to Chili's for their Fajita Trio and Molton Chocolate Cake (the three of us shared one serving of dessert), pizzas, wine, hot dogs, chips, dip, and fresh Mediterranean bread slathered with butter. Oh and Cacao Reserve dark chocolate. I am the naughty one!

Oh well, there's always another Monday (or Tuesday or Friday) to start fresh. On the up side, my scale is behaving (our humidity is back to a normal 15 percent) and I'm holding steady at 122 pounds. Body fat percentage was down to 21.6 percent Thursday and up to 23 percent this morning. I can't trust the accuracy of this morning's reading because I had a load of sodium yesterday. Water retention affects the reading and I'm definitely bloated. When we came out of Chili's I had to loosen my seat belt!

I got some kick ass weight lifting in last week and all the protein I'm gobbling is going to good use. I'm still sore from Back & Chest day. This is the main reason I'm NOT worried about a cheat weekend. I'll be hitting the weights hard next week too, along with swimming, pool jogging and the treadmill.

The unplanned trip to Chili's came about because Jerry scored a free camper shell on Craig's List. So Saturday morning we drove to Lemmon Valley (north of Reno) and picked it up. I haven't blogged about it yet but Jerry bought a new pickup when he got home from California. She's a 1974 GMC Sierra Grande standard 1 ton with duallies and can haul pretty much anything. She runs on propane which is nice as it's $3.39 a gallon as opposed to $4.17 a gallon for gasoline.

So Bruno and I got treated to Chili's because we rode all the way to Lemmon Valley.

Hey, any excuse to eat, right?

The wild horse photos were taken here in Stagecoach. There were several mares with foals hanging out along highway 50 besides the turf farm.

Happy Fourth Of July, Recipes & Links

Happy 4th Of July!

May we remember this weekend that one of our greatest blessings is freedom.

Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower


Liberty is the possibility of doubting, of making a mistake,... of searching and experimenting,... of saying No to any authority - literary, artistic, philosophical, religious, social, and even political. ~Ignazio Silone, The God That Failed, 1950


Liberty: One of Imagination's most precious possessions. ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Here’s a few recipes you can whip up for any Summer barbecue or bash from my book “Weight Loss That Works” – soon available by eBook.

Spiced Pepper Salad

1 cup each: red, yellow and green bell pepper slices
¾ cup sweet onion (Walla Walla, Vidalia, or Maui) slices
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Cover and chill 1 hour before serving. Makes 4 servings. 1 serving equals 1 cup. Nutritional Information: Calories: 70 Carbs: 9 grams, Fat: 4 grams, Protein 2 grams.

Gulf Coast Garlic Shrimp

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 fresh garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 (4 ounces) cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons fresh parsley

Spray a nonstick skillet with non fat cooking spray. Add red pepper, garlic, bay leaf and sauté a minute. Add shrimp and salt, sauté 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from skillet. Add wine and parsley, bring to a boil, and cook about a minute until reduced to 1/4 cup. Return shrimp to skillet, toss to coat. Discard bay leaf. Makes 4 servings. 1 serving equals 1/4 of shrimp and sauce.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 218, Carbs: 4 grams, Fat: 3 grams, Protein 43 grams.

Links

Here’s a must read link for you. Mark McManus’ How To Build Muscle And Burn Fat At The Same Time

Tony Horton’s Newest “One On One Training" video number one "Plyo Legs" (in a series) is available. I ordered mine this morning. This product isn’t listed in the website’s products yet! This is an early bird offer sent to Power 90X grads, so take advantage now.


Let’s revisit a classic by Dave Draper, THE SECRET IS THERE IS NO SECRET

There are basically two types of people who use weight training for fitness. Type A, the driven and type B, the not-so-driven. Though the degrees of difference vary, I know that for those of you of the A type, it would be an act of cruelty to keep you from your workout - an absolute impossibility, like stopping the movement of a glacier or the stampede of wild horses.

And then there are amongst you of the B type, neither lazy nor irresponsible, who can't seem to make it to the gym (or the garage) on a regular basis. You have a long list of reasons why you can't and some of them are even pretty good. It is to this larger half of the population to whom I speak.

To be effective, exercise must be consistent. This is the first and foremost precept of physical conditioning. If there's a secret, it's consistency. Don't quote me on this, but I believe bad exercise, badly executed consistently is far better than no exercise at all. Getting to the gym whether you want to or not, even for a short appearance, a salute or a bow is vitally important to the health of your fitness lifestyle. A break in consistency leads to the erosion of your training foundations, and without sound foundations no structure will stand. Read more.

And check out Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty Tips


Enjoy you holiday!