Science sometimes ain't so...

It's really difficult to do the best thing for your body
health wise when you read so may conflicting and changing
views about so many things day to day.

Margerine is good for you..wait, its bad for you. You
read one study that says coconut oil raises HDL and
lowers LDL and another that shows HDL is lowered.

Salt is bad..salt is good..

Makes you want to scream!

It is so hard to make educated decisions about
things. So, how do you wade through all the
"experts" and their own version of the "real truth"
and try to be as healthy as you can be?

Sometimes its a stab in the dark. Many times I'll
read as many articles as I can and try to find
the median truth and go with that, which means
whatever the majority of them agree with. LOL.

And sometimes we might still get it wrong. But, at
least we're trying :)

Hang in there guys.

Wal-Mart. The store we hate to love :)

I know..Wally World. Its loved by some,
hated by others, but tolerated by most.

We have many Wal-Marts in our area, most are
either Supercenters or Neighborhood
Markets. For those who are not familiar with
the Neighborhood Markets, it's the grocery store
side of a Supercenter put into a building.

We have found Wal-Mart to be instramental
when following YOAD. They have a lot of items
that are cheaper and YOAD friendly and other
items we like for the diet that just can't be
found elsewhere.

Coconut oil. Yes, I have spoke of it in lengths
before. We use coconut oil on the diet. We believe
its healthy and beneicial despite what the YOU
docs say. It's not a cheap item at most
stores. Other grocery stores have small,
10oz jars of virgin coconut oil for $15
and the refined for close to the same price.
Wal-Mart (and ONLY Wal-Mart) carries the LouAnna
brand that I believe is a 16oz jar of refined for
$3.00. We still buy the expesive virgin
for sautees, but for deep frying like french
fries or fish, refined is best because it has
a higher smoke point. BOTH are healthy :)

A couple of the Wal-Marts around us also carry
bison. We enjoy bison every so often and
it's healthier than beef. Bison is not
easy to find and Wal-Mart has the best prices
for it in town!

And then comes the conundrum of thier own brand of
100% whole wheat bread. When we go to other
local supermarkets for 100% whole wheat bread
without HFCS, we generally would be looking at
about $3 per loaf. A few of the Wal-Marts
around us carry their own brand 100% whole
wheat bread made with brown sugar (no HFCS)
that meets the diet and for less than $1.50 per
loaf. The trick comes in that in other Wal-Marts,
the SAME EXACT BREAD IN THE SAME EXACT PACKAGING
has HFCS in it instead of brown sugar. Ugggh!
Why would they do that? So, if you are looking
to find some YOAD friendly whole wheat bread and
want to check out your local Wal-Mart, check
the label to be sure it's brown sugar and
NOT HFCS.

Wal-Mart also has a nice produce section
and other items such as South Beach
Diet brand that are less expensive than
most other stores in our area.

So, we have to say, Wal-Mart is a store
we love for helping us afford the diet
and staying healthy!

My menu today

The weekend was so hectic I did not have time
to post my menu today. So, I'll post it here.

We ate at a new restaurant for breakfast. I
had three scrambled eggs, 1 serving
griddled hash browns and some whole wheat
toast with a little butter. And of course, coffee. :)

We kinda muched around lunch time because
breakfast was around noon-ish. After
breakfast we did some shopping and other
running around, then came home and did our
work out for about an hour.

It was then dinner time and we made some AWESOME
tacos. Here is what we used:

Organic taco shells (organic whole corn meal,
sunflower oil).

Also ground turkey with some organic
taco seasoning with lots of good stuff in it
including dried tomatoes and habaneros.

While the turkey was browning, in a seperate
pan I sauteed some diced fresh sweet onions and
orange peppers cooked in macadamian nut oil,
and then added it to the turkey with some
fresh diced tomatoes, pepper, kosher salt,
hot sauce, garlic powder and cajun seasonings.

To top the tacos we used some organic
pineapple salsa, lettuce, lowfat mozzerella
cheese and more hot sauce.

But, I think I made this batch a bit too hot for
my wife. I like mine a bit warmer than she
does. However, I have to give her credit.
When we first met she wouldn't eat
anything hot or spicy. Now she is just
a few notches below me. I try to keep
it just hot enough for her and that
works for me. Sometimes I miss the mark
a little. But, she still enjoyed it. :)

Good health to everyone!

Phychological issues

No, I'm not a psychopath. But, then again, do
psychopaths know they are psychopaths? :)

Seriously, it has to do with my perception that
I am still FAT!

My wife says I am skinny, colleagues say I am
skinny, but I have some extra belly fat that I don't
like and to me that makes me feel like I am still
fat!

I have been told I am fat since the 9th grade so that
has been ingrained into me for a very, very long time
that I am NOT skinny. :)

I guess it's going to take a while to get used to the
idea I am at a normal weight.

I guess I am also worried once I "rest" and concede I
am normal, I won't work as hard to be sure I stay this
weight. But, I think that's just the worrier in me and I
really don't think that's going to be the issue.

Just me rambling on. But then, isn't that a point of
a blog? LOL.

Good day to everyone :)

5 pounds left to go...

Okay, today is not an official weigh-in
day which is not for another few days. But,
I do weigh myself 2 or 3 times per week
at different times. This is to see trends
and to learn how my body deals with what I am
eating and stuff.

As of this morning, I was exactly 185lbs.

Wahoo! My ultimate goal when I first
started YOAD was 180lbs.

It's actually the ideal weight for my gender, age,
height and body type :)

I would be happiest staying within 175lbs and
180lbs from here on out!

So, I have to get this last 5lbs off.

My last problem is that my body fat percentage
is still a few points higher than what I like
even though I am at a healthy weight. Stubborn
belly fat!

Well, I'm even more stubborn and I've
started to work out more to get this
extra body fat off for good!

I hope everyone has a GREAT Thursday :)

In a pickle....

This is kinda an update to yesterday's post about joining
the gym.

Up until yesterday, I had either been walking at work
OR going to the gym.

Yesterday I did both.

That would not necessarily be a problem. I came home,
and went to the gym before I ate dinner and then came
back home at about 8:00pm and figured out my total
calories for the day.

Oh boy! I was at at a 1300 calorie defecit for where I
I like to be for the day. Ummm..I don't normally have
1300 calorie dinners. LOL. Not anymore anyway *GRIN*.

Well, I squeezed in 1000 calories with my dinner
and dessert so I ended up actually not that bad.

So, today I plan on doing the same thing, go on my walk in
the afternoon AND work out at the gym tonite. So, I am
spacing the extra 300 or so calories between all my planned
meals ;)

It should make it easier on me tonite.

Of course, I am adding healthy foods like a banana, some
extra wheat crackers and some tuna.

I think I'm going to like working out more at night :)

Good health to you all!

I joined a gym :)

About two weeks ago I joined
a gym. Well, I joined a rec
center that has a gym inside :)

The rec center is literally
a half a block away from my front
door so it makes it very conveinient
to pop in for a quick work out.

The hours, though, are typically
8-9 Mo-Sa and 1-6 Su. This makes
it difficult to get in a morning
work out as I have to report
to the man at 8am.

Since starting YOAD I pretty much
have not been doing any other
exercises other than walking.
My wife and I started out walking
30-45 minutes most evenings, but
then I started to walk on my lunch
breaks at work and then my wife
didn't want to walk anymore at night.

So, its been two weeks now as a
member of the rec center. I am still
doing my 45-50 minute walk during
my lunch break at work. In the
evenings I like to go down and get
some extra time on the treadmill.
Usually 20-45 minutes. I also do the
stationary bike and I tried my hand
at the eliptical machine, but I don't
care for it.

The last three times I was there,
I'm starting to hit the weight machines.
I looked up online how to use them
and I am not doing all of them.
There is a vertical press, a horizontal
press and an ab machine I have been
working on. Not too tough. 10-15 reps
using a weight to make it kinda tough
to get the last 3 or 4 reps in.

It's a start. LOL.

I don't want to get buff..LOL..me???
Heavens no. But, I just want to
stop losing muscle while I continue
to lose the last 10% of extra body
fat I still have clinging on for
dear life :)

I hope everyone has a great Monday!

Back to Sundays...

Well, I am back to Sundays as my
"official" weigh in day. If you
check my dates to the left, you will
see most of them were done on Sundays,
a few on Saturdays and the last couple
have been on Fridays.

But, I am always off of work on Sunday
so it just makes it an easier day.

I have also added a Guestbook to my blog. This
should make it easier for visitors to simply drop me
a quick note or to say hi.

Well, I'm off to the gym in a few minutes.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Mini-stall

Good morning everyone!

Well, I'm the same weight today as I was
one week ago (sigh). Very surprising since
I weigh myself 2 or 3 times per week (to see trends)
and a couple of days ago I was 186.4lbs. So, I was
expecting to see at least a 1 pound loss this morning
if not a little more.

Weight is funny. We can usually have a 2-4 pound
difference within the same day.

And, I did increase both my calories and my exercise
last week for the first time in a longtime. Maybe
my body is still adjusting to the changes.

I hope to be down by this same time next week. We'll see.

Have a great day!

French Fries...Yummmm...

Many of you have probably noticed we cook
french fries at least once per week as part of
our healthy diet.

What? French fries? The backbone of the fast-food industry
which lately has come underfire for causing the majority
of the obesity problem in the United States? Healthy?

Yup, french fries :)

True, prepared with transfats, cooked in trans-fatty
oils and consumed unchecked by the handfuls with other
unhealthy menu options can definately make french
fries unhealthy.

Is there a way to do better?

Well, as we all know french fries are just cut up potatoes.
Potatoes in themselves are very, very healthy. High in
fiber (with the skin), high in potassium and vitamin C,
having a handful of other necessary nutrients, potatoes most
definately can fit into a healthy lifestyle.

French fries are best when made fresh at home using a device
to cut the potatoes or by simply using a knife. They can
also be found pre-cut in your grocer's freezer; just be sure
to read the ingredient label to be sure there's no
partially-hydrogenated oils or butter solids listed that
were used in the preperation process. You CAN find them.
Just dig! :) Many common brands are now making
organic varieties which are excellent choices!

How should they be cooked? They can be baked in the oven
or fried in healthy trans-fat free oils. But, what are healthy oils?

There are two classes of oils. One is good for raw applications
like salad dressings. The other is best for high temperature
cooking applications such as making french fries.

The best oils for high temperature cooking are those highest
in monounsaturated fats, such as peanut oil. Oils high in
polyunsaturated fats such as canola, soybean, corn, sunflower
and safflower degrade when heated up and are very unstable.
When fats are heated these unstable fatty acids are easily
transformed into harmful compounds such as free radicals
and 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE). When you cook
with polyunsaturated oils you create these toxic substances.

HNE is particularly insidious. Over the past 20 years an
increasing number of studies have found links between
HNE and increased risks for cardiovascular disease, stroke,
Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s
disease, liver problems, and cancer. Researcher A. Saari
Csallany, a professor of food chemistry and nutritional
biochemistry at the University of Minnesota calls it, “a
very toxic compound.” Based on her studies presented
recently at the American Oil Chemists Society annual meeting,
she recommends that people avoid all foods fried in
polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

You also have to take into account the calories associated
with the french fries. When deep fried, they absorb about
4-6 grams of oil per serving which adds roughly 50 calories.
1 to 1&1/2 servings is typically what my wife and I enjoy
which is normally between 200-250 calories, including the oil.

When eaten in the right amounts with other healthy meal
choices and cooked in a healthy oil, french fries can easily fit
into any healthy eating lifestyle!

Enjoy!

It's been a good Wednesday..

I hope everyone has had a good middle of the week.

So far the day has been good to me.

Got some good exercise in tonite at the gym, had a good dinner
and soon we'll be hitting the old bed.

So, how's everyone enjoying the blog?

I hope you're getting some great insite of how it's possible
to be on YOAD and still eat normal meals.

That's the main reason why YOAD works for us. We still have
much of the same meals we had before the diet. We have just tweaked
many of them to be YOAD friendly. Or some we limit to once every
few months or so which works, too.

We plan to be eating this way for the rest of our lives so if we cannot make
it work for us in the long run, then we'll just end up going back to our
old habits.

Nope. We refuse!

Well, I'm rambling. LOL. We're watching the 2nd half to lastnight's "Biggest Loser".
Gotta go finish it :)

Night all!

Pizza!

Tonite for dinner we are having some home made
pizza!

Boboli is a brand of ready-made pizza crust that puts
out a 100% whole wheat version...and it's VERY good!

We use a provolone/mozerella shredded cheese blend,
some YOAD approved pizza quick sauce and usually
some sliced onions, like we are doing tonite. Other
nights we may also add fresh mushrooms and
orange or red bell pepper slices. MMMMmmm.

Typically we look at between 1000 and 1200 calories for
the entire pizza. Which works great for my wife and I!

We once made some home made fresh pizza
dough using 100% white whole wheat flour. It actually
was good but much, much, MUCH more work. And, it
really wasn't that much better than the Boboli to really
think the extra time was worth it.

I hope everyone is enjoying their evening!

Have a good night! I gotta go put the pie in the oven :)

E-mail from a reader

I got a great e-mail from someone reading my blog.

Since I think it may help others, I thought I would
post questions from the e-mail and then
my answer.

I am interested in your menu's from when you first started....
I'm sure your first weeks on the plan are different than your
eating habits now...
I have made quiet a few of the recipes from the Internet site
but would like to view your food plan especially the first
month you started...
I hope to be 70 lbs less a year from now...

DR

Here is my response to DR -

Well, what we are eating now is not all that different from
what we were eating then. We've just had 10 months to dig
and search for more stuff that would meet the diet. I
remember for dinners we had LOTS of turkey. Either ground
turkey for tacos (organic taco shells) or sliced rotissori turkey
from Boston Market and from a local grocery store.

Also, a lot of chicken. Esepecially skinless, boneless thighs. For
lunches back then I was having sliced turkey sandwhiches
with 1/2 tablespoon of canola mayo and some brown mustard
on 100% whole wheat bread. We have always been eating
whole wheat crackers. Either Triscuits or the South Beach
Diet brand.

Salads are a lot of what I eat and have been eating. Fills me
up with not a lot of calories. I tend to use Kraft Light Italian
dressing and other light dressings.

Turkey hot dogs were a good, quick staple as well as turkey
hamburgers, always on 100% whole wheat bread.

And turkey or chicken sauages. There
are a lot of brands and flavors out there.
Sausage like Keilobaska (but made
from Turkey or Chicken)

We did less french fries back then than what we
do now but we still had them. Organic and either
baked in the oven or fried in 100% peanut oil.
(or coconut oil but that's what we use and we know
it's not YOAD approved)

Baked potatoes, canned peas and green beans, steamed
brocolli and carrots...good stuff. And, of course, fruit.

Portions were the hardest for me. I ate much more back
then than what I do now. But, I was 100 lbs heavier :)
Start slow and try to reduce the amount without being hungry.
Listen to your stomach. Start with a small portion and go back
for seconds ONLY if you are still hungry, waiting about
5 minutes inbetween plates. If you are not still hungry,
don't get anymore. Also have plenty of fluids with your meal
as sometimes your body can send signals of hunger when
it's really thirst.

Most of what you see on my menus today would be
fine for just starting out. Especially the core meals, not so
much the snacks.

Hope this helps.

And, DR, I am SURE you can lose that 70 pounds!

Let me know if I can be of more help!

Another lazy day..

It's been a day off for both my wife and I.

I had to reformat her computer and re-install Windows, she was
having some hardware problems with Planetside and this should fix
the problem.

We went to the gym earlier and worked out, then off to the store
for some essentials, stopped at Subway for lunch and now we're
back home.

Just finishing up the work on her PC.

The rest of the evening will be quiet. We have hotdogs and brocolli planned for dinner
and maybe some gaming later on.

Everyone have a great evening!

Bison for dinner

Last night we bought $20.00 worth of Bison Top Sirloin Steaks. Which amounts to two 8oz steaks.

They were yummy!!

Bison is great to have as it gives you a lot of iron and protien without the saturated fat
typically associated with beef.

This is because beef is usually marbled and has fat throughout the meat. Bison has almost
no marble and most of the fat can be trimmed off the edges of the cuts. This gives you a much
leaner cut of meat.

Here are some nutritional data I just pulled off the web.

Ground Turkey (regular)
4 oz cooked
Calories 170
Calories from fat 90
Total Fat 10g
Saturated Fat 3g

Ground Sirloin (Beef)
4 oz cooked
Calories 150
Calories from fat 50
Total Fat 5g
Saturated Fat 2g

Ground Sirloin (Bison)
4 oz cooked
Calories 130
Calories from fat 30
Total Fat 3.5g
Saturated Fat 0.5g

For those that may not know, bison is another name for buffalo.

We have been enjoying bison since about 4 months before going on YOAD and we have enjoyed including it in our meals . The texture is nearly identical to beef as is the color (maybe a tad darker because it has a little more iron than beef) and has a taste very similar to beef albeit a little bit more dry. This is caused by the reduced fat content. When you cook bison, you will
see very, very little fat in the bottom of the pan. Instead, you will see mostly water.

The sirloin steaks we had tonight were tender and tasty! Mmmmm.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

For The Newbies :)

My wife sat down last night and finally made the time
to read my posts on my new blog.

Oh, we talk all the time and she knew of what I was
posting but had not actually read each post.

She liked what she read but then commented that she
was worried newbies to YOAD would read what I was
saying and may get the wrong idea that things I
had posted like Big Macs and Ice Cream Bars
were okay for the diet.

I explained I simply wanted to post my real life experiences
following YOAD as best as I could as an indivudual and
I wanted to just share those expereinces.

But, I had to agree with her. I do not want to give the
wrong impressions to any new people first starting out
that may be reading my blog out of curiosity and maybe
perhaps seeking a little guidance.

I have been on YOAD for 10 months. That's a long time.
When my wife and I were first on the diet, we were very
strict about what to have and not to have and were still
learning the foods we could have and couldn't have.

No ice cream, no Big Macs, no Sun Chips and the list
goes on. It took us about 2 weeks to "detox" our bodies
where we no longer felt we were being deprived of anything
and actually did not want the bad stuff anymore.

The first 2 or 3 weeks or so are the most important for the
diet because it really teaches you to read labels and
figure out good from bad and reprograms the brain in your
gut what types of foods it should be telling you to eat.
It should also be the strictess you follow YOAD to help
achieve this.

Also, portion control is very, very important and I think is
one of the keys of my success with the diet. I used to eat
until my belly was burstin' and then I'd get up and waddle from
the table happy. Now, I have enough to be satisfied and
even sometimes a little bit full but never, ever stuffed.
And this is where you want to be!

Once the detox period is over, it's still not party time. On any
given week, 90-95% of the foods I choose are STILL YOAD
approved or YOAD friendly and I am happy with that.
You may want to be closer to 100% and that's great, too.
You have to find the best way to follow it for you while
trying to stick to it as best as you can, and then strive for
a little better! :)

You can do it!

I'm a Hybrid :)

Having this blog is great and its enabled me to go
back and view my diet and what I write and I came
to a realization about how I am losing weight.

I think I am using two different weight loss methods,
both proven to help anyone lose weight. I follow YOAD
about 90% of the time. This helps me to not store fat,
to quickly burn more of what I am eating and more
imprtantly, making me much healthier.

I am also following just a calorie reduction method.What
this means is that I count my calories, and I know
exactly how much I need to sustain my current weight.
Which is about 2250 calories per day right now. To
lose1 pound per week, I should reduce my calories by
about 3500 calories per week or 500 per day. Which is
1750 calories per day.

Right now I am using a program called Calorie King and
it keeps track of everything and gives me cool bar graphs
of my calorie history and helps me stay on track.

Right now my daily calorie intake varies between 1500
and 1800 calories per day staying on the 1500 side more
days than not. This is taking into account my daily walking
and other exercise but NOT counting normal daily activities.
Just times that I set aside and dedicate for exercise.

So, I normally take a 50 minute brisk walk at work which is
about 250 calories that I burn. I put that into Calorie King and
it deducts it from my total calories and gives me my net calories
for that day which is between 1500 and 1800 calories.
Very cool!

Using the 2 methods works for me.

Mmmmm...Dessert

Tonite for dessert I tried some celery sticks topped
with some new peanut butter I just bought last week.
It's 100% natural with cinnamon and raisins. It's
actually very, very good peanut butter and very
yummy on the celerey sticks :)

Everyone here probably knows by now I push the
limits of YOAD and I have been known to stick a toe or
foot outisde the "box" at times. But, that is allowed as
YOAD recommends a healthy lifestyle with many options
that allow you to roam outiside the rules within moderation.
The hardest part is that you have to be your own
talisman in determining what's having a minor diversion
within moderation and what would really be considered
breaking the diet.

Its not easy.

I am happy to say that with a clean conscious I really
believe I have not broken the diet in 10 months but I have
done my share of raoming staying within the bounderies
I have set for myself to be considered within moderation.

With that said I tried something new tonite. And, it was
not only a treat for me but a BIG treat for my wife. It is
called "Tofuti" and it's an ice cream that is diary free.
It's made from Tofu!

My wife has loctose problems and whey problems so milk
and ice cream are HUGE problems for her, even though she
loves ice cream. She just can't have it like when she was younger.
I stopped by a local grocery store to get a few items and I
wondered into the health food section and in the freezer case
I saw the Tofuti Ice Cream bars. Okay, the sugars were a
little bit high, but no HFCS and no milk. Just frozen Tofu
and small amount of white flour listed in the outer shell.
No biggie.

So, I bought a box that had 6 small bars, about 120 calories
each, and as I was walking to my car I was telling myself "Why did
you buy these? They are gonna taste like crud". LOL. Well,
when I got to the car I broke one out and....OMG! I would
have bet $100.00 it was real ice cream. It was sooooo good.
And when I came home I gave my wife one and she flipped
over it and it did not upset her tummy!

So, I was already enjoying one sugar free ice cream bar per week
on the diet as a small treat. I have now replaced that with
the Tofuti bars. They can now not only be a small weekly treat
for me, but for my awesome wife as well! :)

Have a great night everyone!

Why coconut oil?

Why coconut oil? Isn't that unhealthy?

YOAD says all saturated fats are bad. And, they are 99% correct.

About a year ago I was reading a post on a message board while
researching canola oil and its health beneifts and I ran across how
healthy coconut oil was. Wait a second. Stop the presses. Back in
the 1980's, we were all brainwashed into believing coconut oil was
evil and unhealthy for us. But, back then they also said all
cholesterol was bad and margerine was good for us.
See a trend?

Okay. Not all cholesterol is created equal and the same goes for
saturated fats. Coconut oil, as well as Palm oil, has a unique chemical
make up that's different than 99% of the other saturated fats.
Different make up means it has different affects on our bodies. These
oils are made primarily of medium chain fatty acids. This makes the oil
very easy for us to digest. Once in our stomach, the oil is quicky used as
energy and very little of it is stored as fat in our bodies.

Compared to other oils like soybean or canola which is made up mostly
of long chain fatty acids which makes the oil much more difficult for our bodies
to digest. Much of the oil makes its way into our intestines where it is stored
as fat until needed for energy by our body.

It's also coconut oil's unique properties that has a documented affect of
increasing our metabolism and aid in weight loss. In the 1940's and 1950's,
farmer's were able to buy coconut oil very cheap and some decided to feed
it to their livestock to fatten them up. To their amazement, after adding
the coconut oil, they discovered that their cows were losing weight and
getting skinny! So, they stopped adding the coconut oil and the problem
went away.

Coconut oil also has anti-virul properties. There have been nermurous
studies done on HIV patients that when given coconut oil on a daily basis, it
significantly reduced the amount of HIV in their bloodstream.

My wife and I spent the better part of a month reading literally about
100 different websites as well as some books before we decided coconut oil
would be beneficial to us. Of course, we get only the non-hydrogenated kind.
Any oil that is hydrogenated is unhealthy.

Have a great day, everyone.

Last day of the long weekend

Well, I've been off for 3 days. Days off are great except I don't seem to have
as good control of my calories on my days off as I do on days I work.

My work day is very structured with snacks and pick-n-sticks and
it makes it easier to stay within the range I want each day as far as
calories go.

But, I have enjoyed the rest and got some stuff done I needed to. So, I
can't complain.

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

Meatloaf for dinner....mmmmm

Hello everyone.

I wanted to say thanx to everyone who posted under me "Hello" blog entry. It's great that
I can share experiences with everyone!

It's been a lazy day and I have spent the last three hours playing Planetside! Fun,
fun fun! But. my wife has to work and she is due back home shortly and she has requested
my homemade meatloaf. I haven't made it in 4 months. So, I've decided to post my recipe for all to enjoy!

Most of the ingrdients are YOAD approved. The only questionable one is
matzo meal. But, I don't use a lot and that's the way I have always made
it and my wife and I have decided not to change the recipe. Matzo meal
is not whole but not as processed as white flour so it has a tad more
nutrition than regular bread crumbs. You can substitute some a YOAD friendly
additive if you like.

Here are the ingredients -

1 medium size red onion
1 medium size orange pepper
2lbs of 96% lean ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons A-1 sauce
4 oz tomato sauce
A few shakes of kosher salt
Bottle of ketchup or chili sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Cut onions and peppers fine. In a saucepan, sautee the onions and
peppers until tender. Any oil will work. Set aside and allow to cool
for a few minutes. Then, in large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients
starting with the ground beef. When onions and peppers are
cool enough, add into mixture and throughourly mix all ingredients.
In baking pan or other appropariate dish, place "glump" into pan and
form a loaf shaped...thing. :) Place into oven and bake with lid on for
60 minutes. Then, remove pan and add a thin layer of ketchup or chili
sauce on top of loaf, and then place back into oven with lid off for another
20 minutes. Take out and it's done.

Entire meatloaf will be about 1800 calories, give or take 100 or so.
Of course, we have only a slice or so for dinner and the rest
is left overs. MMmm...even better :)

Enjoy!

New day, New stuff

Well, I usually post at night but today I am off of work and decided to make a
daytime post.

With my digretion from yesterday's unhealthy snack behind me, I start the day
fresh and ready to make only good choices.

I weighed in the morning at 189lbs. Wahoo. Officially 100lbs lost since starting the
diet on November 7th. But, better than that, it marks my baby steps into
not being overweight anymore. That's right! 189lbs is the threshold I needed to
be to achieve a 24.9 BMI. That puts me no longer overweight albiet on the high side
of normal...but still normal :) Yeah!!

My wife and I decided to eat out this morning. We rarely eat at resturants anymore
and when we do it's almost always for either lunch or dinner, so having breakfast out is
more rare. I think its because its hard to find YOAD approved stuff in resturants for
breakfast.

Behind where we live there is a neighborhood diner and they have a great breakfast I like
that has 2 eggs, 2 slices of whole wheat toast, 2 turkey sausage patties, 2 slices of tomato
and coffee. All of this is YOAD friendly. So, that is where we go when we want to have
breakfast out these days. And it was good!

Well, its off on my 1 hour walk so you all have a great YOAD day and I'll blog at you
tomorrow!