Day 12 – Monday April 2nd, 2012

Well 6am came despite my prayers, and Spring Break is over. I packed up Carly and hit the road for the day. It’s always tough leaving my girls when I’ve been with them non-stop for eleven straight days. Upon waking up I took my pills and when I got to work I made my chocolate meal replacement shake.  Today I don’t have hard boiled eggs with me, so it may be a tricky day. I do have a mess of fruit and veggies though so hopefully I can get by on that.

The end of Spring break also marks the resuming of my Master’s class, which is on Tuesday nights. I need to get some homework done by tomorrow in order to be prepared. It’s gonna be another busy week!

At 10 am I had finished my Spark and meal replacement shake, and I set out to find my snack. I ended up settling on some celery with peanut butter and a carrot.  So far, it’s a LOT easier being back at work and dieting. I am busy and my mind is occupied, and there are a lot less temptations without my refrigerator around.  Plus, I can’t just leave work and go get a slice of pizza or a torta. Tortas are my favorite snack while I’m in Waukegan. It’s actually called a Torta Milanesa: A breaded steak cutlet on a Mexican roll with cheese, avocado, sour cream, and hot sauce. They’re to die for, but terribly unhealthy. I haven’t had one in 2012 yet. For lunch I am going to have a turkey sandwich, some more carrots, and perhaps some grapes or a cutie.

I haven’t decided on dinner plans yet. I need to start thinking about it or I am going to be stuck with something unhealthy. Brooke, if you are reading this, take something out of the freezer for dinner! ;0)

We ended up having turkey burgers (no bun) with some mashed red skin potatoes, and yep, you guessed, oven roasted kale.  My wife is severely addicted to kale.

Day 11 – Sunday April 1st, 2012

Where to begin. This morning was particularly scary and started very early. Around 2am I woke up with sharp pains in my stomach. I thought I had to “go”, but when I sat down on the throne nothing happened. The pains in my abdomen were getting worse by the minute, and all I could do was lay on the bathroom tile in the fetal position.  Brooke, being 8+ months pregnant, was not much help. She asked if she should call 9-1-1, and I told her I didn’t need that. What happened next is kind of gross, so you may want to stop reading here.

The pains went down into my legs and were excruciating. I felt like I was going to have a diarrhea explosion, my feet and legs were aching, and now an incredible headache emerged to top things off. The last thing I remember was seeing the massive pool of blood on the floor when I turned around trying to get comfortable. It was everywhere, and must have been pouring out of me from behind because I had no idea where I was bleeding from. I reached into my shorts and felt around, and when I looked at my hand it was deep red with blood.  The bathroom door was closed so Brooke hadn’t seen anything yet, and I instantly thought about it being very  important to not let her see, because a sight like this would have sent her into the delivery room immediately.

When I came to, I was in a hospital bed with an IV tube running into my butt. I was alone in the room, but on the small table next to me there was a greeting card in a tan envelope propped up against a vase of flowers. How long had I been out? This was the first question I needed answered. I grabbed the card and opened it up, and inside there was a note reading: APRIL FOOLS!

Did I get anyone? Of course, I am joking.  Advocare does not really make you bleed from the anus or send you to the ER. I don’t really have the time/energy to pull any April Fools jokes as this was a long and stressful week. This is the best I can do this year. Tomorrow it’s back to school and the daily grind. I think it will actually be easier because I’ll be even busier with work added into the daily mix.

Day 11 marks the start of the next phase of the 24 day challenge, and I get to open the purple boxes now. I was to make a Spark first today, and take the first of four packets of capsules that are part of the MNS packet. Each strip of packets comes in a grouping of four, resembling a strip of condoms. The MNS packets are basically vitamins, nutrients, and dietary supplements.

“This isn’t me. This is what the little strip of packets looks like though. I don’t know her either.”

“I’m gonna get very familiar with these…”

After 30 minutes I am supposed to have a meal replacement shake, that also mixes with water. I’m really not going to eat any food mid-morning during this phase (as least as I read things right now; I’m careful not to look too far ahead or I will get confused.

“I’ll let you know how this tastes around lunchtime when I update.”

I’m supposed to drink this at breakfast, and also take the 2nd packet of MNS supplements. I ordered chocolate as well, but I think the meal replacements shakes come in vanilla and berry too. Who would choose vanilla or berry when you could have chocolate? I suppose there are weirdos everywhere. Time to get to work.

Edit: OK, I’m drinking the shake now, and it’s really good. These will be no problem to have everyday for the next two weeks. It is pretty thick though as there is a lot of powder to dissolve. Just like with Spark, I ended up using a lot more water than the 9oz. the instructions say to use.

I forgot to add, last night Brooke and I got on the subject of pizza. She mentioned she was craving it and that was all it took for temptation to set in. I started rationalizing about it being OK to “cheat” just once on the diet. I imagined only getting an individual sized pizza and eating it for lunch and dinner as to spread out my cheatery. In the end, I decided to give it a rest for the duration of the challenge. I want to see what the product will do when I follow the instructions and eat properly.  I tell you what though, I hope I am celebrating a monster negative number at the end of this so I CAN have something to celebrate.

Edit: At mid morning I had three more hard boiled eggs. You’d think I’d be sick of them by now, but its funny, when I start making them I have no desire to eat them. As I peel them I start to actually feel sick with the thought of eating them. As I eat them, I love them again and I scarf them up. I like them best when they are still a little warm, with a dash of salt. Not really hungry at all, before or after the eggs, so we’ll see how it goes with lunch. I am supposed to take the 3rd packet of supplements from the MNS box thirty minutes before lunch. Will update again later. Time to paint Brooke’s toenails and finish the laundry.

“I would love to get a midge…. er, “little person” to live in my cabinets. It would suck to lose the cabinet space, but it’d be worth it if I could train him to do the laundry.”

Final edit for day 11: For dinner I made tilapia dusted with garlic powder, salt, pepper and fiery spice mix. On the side we had instant potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts. This afternoon I had a major craving for something, anything with flavor and carbs and meat and cheese. The first thing I got stuck in my brain was Tacos El Norte. I imagined chips and salsa for an appetizer as I waited for my cheese enchiladas with mole sauce, rice, and beans. Then it was pizza, then I started thinking about Chinese food. It was brutal, and by far my worst hunger pains I’ve had since I started this challenge. I seriously was inches away from breaking down and going out to pick something up. I ended up taking a short nap, and when I woke up I hurried up and began making dinner. Maybe I was just overtired or something, because I was STARVING when I was having the cravings.  When this is over, I am gonna have to fight really hard to not do some serious damage. Hopefully the results will be worth it, and inspire me to push forward. Tomorrow its back to work, and days will start to fly by again. Pretty soon Easter will be here, and I need to think of some “healthier” options to serve.

Day 10 – Saturday March 31st, 2012

Today is day ten, and it also marks the last day I will be using the green box of cleansing powders and capsules. In the morning I took the Restore tablets, but I was short one packet of Herbal Cleanse drink because I had one on a day earlier when I wasn’t supposed to. Tomorrow I will be trying some of the other products, and it will be nice to break the routine with some new components. I had a few cuties for breakfast, and some HB eggs for a mid morning snack with some yogurt.

“Adios green box.”

For lunch I plan on having another sandwich on whole grain bread with some carrots, and for dinner I plan on making some chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, with steamed asparagus.

For my morning Spark, I chose grape today. Normally I go with the Manadarin orange, but I’m really digging the grape. I also got in some pink lemonade flavor, but I’m not big on that one. When you mix it with water, it turns into a milky orangey weird color, but not pink. The directions for Spark tell you to mix the packet with 8 ounces of water, but I always use a 20 ounce bottle of water with a few sips taken out. It still tastes perfectly fine. I couldn’t imagine it with less water really.

Late afternoon: Been busy around the house getting things ready for Ryker. I haven’t worked out since Thursday but I think what I am doing right now should count. I feel like I’m getting a workout anyway. As of this update, I am working on my third Spark of the day. Pretty soon I’ll be snorting the stuff.

“Anyone ever see this episode of “My Strange Addiction”? This chick was ridiculously addicted to snorting baby powder. It was so insane, and if you have the opportunity, check out this show. There was another episode with this 20 something year old lady who was addicted to carrying around, and smelling, her doll head. What a bunch of maroons.”

“I wasn’t lying. She went EVERYWHERE with that doll head, smelling it like some crack addict with a rock. It was bizarre. Another chick on this show was addicted to drinking GASOLINE. I’m not even joking.”

“You couldn’t make this stuff up I tell ya.  In an upcoming episode, another whack job is addicted to drinking her own urine. I shit you not. If anyone actually reads this, shoot me a message and I’ll post a picture of her crazy self too, if you’d like me to provide proof”

Piggy backing off that “drinking urine” story, I’m about to make dinner. Nothing gets the ol’ appetite up like drinking urine. Warm salty urine. Mmmmmm. I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and get that first pee of the day cup in me, to start my day. Do you think she eats asparagus once in a while to switch up the flavor profile? I bet she does.

Day 9 – Friday March 30th, 2012

My last official day of Spring Break. I’ve spent most of the week getting ready for baby Ryker and hanging out with C-Rose. I’ve also spent a little time making sure Brooke is taken care of. Days are flying by like minutes. We are over half way ready, but we haven’t even started, if that makes any sense.

This morning we were lacking in groceries, so Brooke wanted McDonald’s breakfast. Why me? Brooke got a sausage biscuit and a hash brown, Carly had two orders of bacon/hashbrown/orange juice, and I had a yogurt from home. Pretty proud of myself for passing this test. It was tough, but its getting easier. I really don’t like McDonald’s, but their breakfast really hits the spot. Pete – 1, McDonald’s breakfast – 0.

Chores, chores and more chores later, I ate my HB eggs and a cutie with my Spark. Today I am supposed to get some new flavors of Spark in: grape and pink lemonade. Will try and update after lunch, but I have a lot planned for this afternoon.

“Drew Brees, the official spokesperson of Advocare. Drew has received many a Christmas Card from me for winning me fantasy football titles. Thanks Drew.”

For dinner we had some baked pork chops, boiled cabbage, and mashed potatoes. Later on in the night I had two pieces of string cheese for a snack, along with another Spark.

Day 7 – Wednesday March 28th, 2012

Today is a milestone day for the 24 day challenge. After today I begin a new phase, which includes switching back to the Herbal Cleanse drink in the morning again. As I type this I am eating three Mandarin orange cuties, and a Mandarin orange Spark. I cooked breakfast for both Brooke and C-Rose this morning and it was TOUGH to not have either thing I made. Carly had a pancake with some batter I made yesterday, and I made Brooke a three egg omelet with mushrooms and cheese. Serenity now!

Soon I will being making my HB eggs, and figuring out what to check off the honey-do list today. Spring break is half way over after today, and that makes me sad. When I look in the mirror I feel thinner, but I can’t gauge how much weight I’ve lost.  I know if I was able to work out more consistently, it would be more, but I can only do what I can do. Today is a new day, and I’m going to try and avoid the landmines that life plants in front of me just long enough to sneak away to the gym when C-Rose takes her nap. Wish me luck…

8:00pm: I was able to work out this afternoon.  I ran a mile (~12 min), lifted weights (Bench press, incline bench, lat pull down), and rode the elliptical for 30 minutes. I would have liked to do a few more exercises of weight training, but time was tickin.   After my shower I weighed in. I decided at the beginning of the challenge I would weigh in on Thursdays, so you’ll have to wait for the results until tomorrow. I want to get every last pound off before I post something.

For dinner I made some chicken with veloute sauce (chicken stock, and a simple roux), with oven roasted kale and some cannellini beans. I also sauteed up some mushrooms on the side. I used small amounts of chicken stock to braise the mushrooms in, and when it dried up, I added more. They came out pretty good. Tomorrow it’s back on the Herbal Cleasne drink. I’m ready to try one of these other boxes of powder that are still unopened. Variety is the spice of life after all.

“Our new favorite vegetable. If you haven’t tried it, you should. It’s one of the best things for you that you can eat, seriously. Line a sheet pan or a cake pan with foil. Remove stems from kale and wash. Spin in a salad spinner to dry, or pat with a towel. Add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and toss with salt and pepper. Roast in oven at 450 for 12 minutes, then take out and stir up kale. Bake for another ten minutes and devour. It gets crispy and smokey, and very delicious.”

Day 6 – Tuesday March 27th, 2012

Woke up a little later than normal today and within minutes I started off the Advocare routine with the Restore tablets, and a banana. Mid morning I ate three HB eggs and some grapes, followed by more supplement pills. For lunch I had the same Buffalo chicken sandwich and some carrots. I also has two Sparks as of 4pm.

One thing I realized today was that I had forgotten to take the Herbal Cleanse tablets last night so I took them right when I realized it. I had to count the remaining tablet packages and I still had one extra package. I must have missed another day too. There’s a lot of things to remember people, and when you don’t prepare in advance you are going to make mistakes. I’ll let you know how it works out for me, but I can say I “feel” a lot better so far.

Life will toss you some curve balls now and again. Today we had another Ryker (our baby boy who is on the way) scare, when Brooke called me from her mom’s house saying we had to go in because she was having contractions. It was a quick and uneventful visit, but my girl was HUNGRY upon leaving and I eat when I’m stressed so I had another temptation coming straight for me.

Despite the Ryker scare, I had kept up with my eating schedule the whole day. She wanted a sandwich and we settled on a local Italian deli. I stole a couple of potato chips, but in the end I passed. When we got home I fixed a little bowl of the leftover Italian beef from yesterday with some giardiniera for a snack. Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a leeetle bit.

If it wasn’t for the baby scare, I don’t think I would have been hungry today.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. For dinner I bought a Rotisserie chicken, and I made a small batch of mashed potatoes (using redskin minis) and some edamame.  Edamame was damn good too! We will most definitely be eating this little bean again.

Day 5 – Monday March 26th, 2012

Woke up around 8:30am (first time in quite a while) for my first day of spring break. Today Carly and I are going to my mom’s retirement party. I am packing a lunch and snacks of veggies, a chicken sandwich, fruit, and some almond butter with celery. I ate my eggs and a banana in the car on the way to the party, and earlier I drank a Spark and had some grapes. It really does feel like you eat a lot on this program. I haven’t had many hunger pains/cravings.

When we got the party I noticed right away it was catered by Buona Beef. I decided to live a little and eat with everyone else, and save my packed food for later. (Right after I talked about being good, I know. It’s hard!) Buona means “good”.

I had some Italian beef with hot peppers (no bread), a few gnocchi, and a salad with very little dressing. I was able to skip the sweets, and pop, saying no to cupcakes and cake. I still feel bad for eating red meat instead of my lean proteins and wheat bread, but my mom only retires once so I might as well live a little. (I know, I need to stop saying that!). Pretty soon I’ll be stopping at McDonald’s and making up excuses as to why I could eat it. It just seems like things keep coming up where I am tempted beyond control. I plan on being good from this point forward. No more funny business.

Despite cheating on pizza, popcorn, and the Italian beef, I really think I did to a good job of limiting my portion size. This has been a problem in the past so the taste of these foods was welcomed, and I was able to skip away without getting seconds and thirds and fourths. I’d really regret getting to the end of this 24 days and not lose any weight because I blew it.

Since we had to travel so much for the party, and then attend a doctor’s appointment for Brooke, I can’t work out today. I’m a little disappointed, but the rest of my week is clear and I plan on getting a workout in Tues-Wed-Thurs-Fri. That should help get back on track.

Tonight we are doing leftovers for dinner, and I will probably have some of the leftover Asian turkey lettuce wraps. To be continued…..

Edit @ 5pm. Well an old friend came in from out of town, and we had to meet up for an early dinner. We went to a Chinese food buffet and destroyed the place. Just kidding! I’ll add more later today when I have more to share….

Ate the leftovers for dinner as planned. Took C-Rose for a walk with the dogs, and then played with her for about an hour worth of activity. Sumpin bettahden nuttin.

Fell asleep early tonight…

Day 4 – Sunday March 25th, 2012

I woke up today at 10:30am, feeling pretty good. I left Brooke to sleep some more, and I went downstairs to prepare to leave to go scoop up C-Rose. When I got in the kitchen I saw all my Advocare stuff and just felt lost! Where to start? I swallowed the cleansing drink and made my Spark while gathering some grapes and my medications/Advocare capsules for the day.

After picking up Carly, we set out for a Daddy-Daughter day at Mariano’s for some grocery shopping. We arrived at the store at about noon, and before going in I ate my three hard boiled eggs. It was tough to choke them down this time. While we were shopping I ate some more grapes, and the capsules. After we got home I put her down for a nap and had a sandwich with Buffalo Chicken breast lunch meat, a slice of American cheese, and some mustard. I had to choke this down too.

Now it’s almost 3:30 pm, and I am nearly caught up in my Advocare cycle. I am supposed to eat a snack right now, but I truly cannot. I guess I am going to have to skip the snack, and have an early dinner instead. We are going to see the Lorax tonight, so that should be fun. Dinner will be Asian turkey lettuce wraps with lots of fresh veggies.  I will update later if there is anything good to share.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I picked up some mild giardiniera at the store!

Update @ 9pm: Went and saw the Lorax and I ate some popcorn. I was able to stay away from the soda though.  The Lorax was AWESOME. Highly recommended. I was still feeling good up until bed time and I wasn’t hungry at all. Eating a half bucket of popcorn will do that to you though. It was neat to see how they brought Dr. Seuss’ world to life, and extended the story outward to translate to the screen.  I was a little worried that they’d ruin the basic story by adding too much. The makers of this did a super job.

I’m starting to get worried as I’ve now cheated on the 24 day challenge twice. I still feel very good, and I actually even feel like I lost some weight. I want the best results possible though so it’s time to buckle down. No more monkey business for me. Tomorrow is a new day.

Day 3 – Saturday March 24th, 2012

Its the weekend and now the real test begins. I instantly felt the pressure of cheating on my diet when I woke up. Saturday mornings are meant for breakfast with the family. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage are so yummy, but I need to take a step back and keep my eyes on the prize. I was tempted to break out the eggs and make a cheesy egg scramble but I didn’t. Settled on the normal Greek yogurt and a small amount of grapes after the cleanse drink. Afterwards I boiled some eggs for later and drank a Spark. It was easier to be good after I got something in me.

Tonight will be the real test, when I am off to a poker game where I know PIZZA will be. I shudder at the thought. Beer will also be there, and I intend on having a couple, but I don’t want to ruin what I have going. I will update later with how the rest of the day goes…

“Hoping to look down and see this a few times tonight.”

Before heading out to run some errands, I ate three HB eggs and a yogurt. I kinda forced the last egg and yogurt down. Finished it up with my arsenal of pills and headed out. At this point in the day I am starting to realize that this blog nonsense is just like having another job. I actually asked Brooke if I should quit doing this today. I need to update it when I have thoughts or it will get stale I’d imagine, if it hasn’t already.After some errands I put the girl to bed, and ate some lunch. Ham sammich, 1 slice american cheese, on whole wheat bread with two carrots. Need to drink more water today. For a snack, I had almond butter with celery, a piece of string cheese, and a yogurt. Off to play poker soon, dinner is going to be rough tonight. Must stay strong.

20 or so hours later….

OK, where to begin. I arrived at the poker game in St. Charles with two buddies and was able to catch up with some old friends for an hour or so before the tournament started. My wife Brooke was staying at her mom’s house with C-Rose while I played, just in case anything happened. I never really go out so this was a once in a great while type gathering, so what could go wrong?

I was starving after a short while of being there. A beer made its way into my hand and before it was half gone, it was filled up for me again. I had two in total, and was able to stop there. Not too shabby, if I don’t say so myself.  When the pizza came, I stayed outside on the deck with a couple of buddies, deliberately avoiding them. I could smell them from the deck though. After ten minutes or so, I decided I needed to eat and pizza was gonna be the victim.  I had two small squares of thin crust sausage and pepperoni and I instantly craved MORE.  Two more squares of cheese pizza later and I was really feeling bad about myself. I ended up downing one more slice for five slices total. I felt guilty but whatever. I had no choice. Pizza – 1, Pete – 0.

The tournament started and I was winning from the jump. My chip stack kept growing and growing, and every time I seemed to look down at my cards I was holding face cards. The stack kept getting bigger and bigger.  Around 11pm we were taking a short break so the smokers could smoke and stretch. I walked outside and heard my phone ringing, and when I looked down in was Brooke. I knew right away what was happening. She told me she was going to the hospital with contractions, but when she asked the doctor if I should come right away, he told me to wait and see the prognosis.  I didn’t feel comfortable with that, so I left the poker tournament and my stack of chips. It was an easy decision.

After dropping off my friends I hurried to the hospital and arrived around 12:30pm.  Her sister Lori was there (thank you!!!) and Brooke was hooked up to an IV. She was having contractions, but the doctor didn’t think she was going into labor.  By 1:45am, they gave her a shot to stop the contractions, but informed us she would need to be evaluated for TWO MORE HOURS. Around 2:15 I found a spot in the waiting room to curl up and rest, and at 3:45 a nurse woke me up to tell me it was time to go home. We were back in bed after 4am at home, and I took the Herbal Cleanse pills then.

What a night.

We don’t really know why all this started in the first place, but of course, Brooke thinks its my fault. She says it all started with the hot giardiniera. 😉

I ended up finishing in 5th place in the tournament, even though I wasn’t there to play for the final two hours. If I had made it to fourth place, I would have won some money. Oh well.

Day 2 – Friday March 23rd, 2012

Woke up today feeling great! I wonder if today being the last day of work before Spring Break had anything to do with it? Probably.  I chugged my sludgy Herbal Cleanse, grabbed my food for the day and hit the road for work.

After settling in to work I scarfed a bowl of red seedless grapes and made my morning Spark energy drink.  Then I began my day by calling my missing students to get their butts into school, and teaching Algebra to the ones who were on time. Shortly after 8am, I realized I had forgotten my hard boiled eggs, and panic set in.  What was I going to eat today?  Yesterday the eggs and oranges had me stuffed until lunch, and I wasn’t even in desperate need for lunch either.  Without them I felt like I might cave under the pressure, and as I entered the break room I noticed the familiar odor of something strangely addictive.

There on the table in the middle of the room, were two large buckets of chicken wings, two boxes of bakery fresh donuts, and a bag of chips with the big daddy size of French onion dip.  My mouth immediately began to water, and I think I even drooled a little. I walked over to the fridge to put the rest of my food for the day inside, while passing all my grubby co-workers who were devouring the treats.  It was tough, but I made it out without caving.  I immediately began to think about where I could score some hard boiled eggs for my 10am mid morning snack.  I called the Peacock Family Restaurant in town, and had my eggs ready to go in plenty of time. Thank heavens for the Peacock. It cost me $3.49 for the three eggs, but I figure it was worth it despite being able to buy a few dozens for that price.  Lesson learned: don’t forget ALL your food on the 24 day challenge.

The eggs and oranges disappeared quickly at 10am, and I also took my medications and the Omega Plex capsules.  Throughout the day every time I turned around, I’d see a staff member with a paper plate full of pizza. The aroma filled the hallways and crept into my classroom. The nerve of some people! Pizza has to be my favorite food (as long as there isn’t any foie gras around) and to smell it all day was unbearable. I started to sweat a little bit when the realization struck home regarding when the next time I’d be able to eat pizza again.  It’s devastating. Eyes on the prize, though.

I had a leftover chicken cordon bleu (not breaded; baked) and some carrots for lunch.  My bottle of water count was somewhere around four by lunchtime. I wasn’t really hungry, but “pizza” is stuck in my head. Calling to me.

“I hate this dog.

Before going to the gym I had a Greek yogurt and two celery stalks with almond butter (~2TBS) and a Spark. My workout today was ended abruptly, but I still got a decent amount of work in:

Ran a mile (12 min 15 sec)

Bench press 1×10 (135); 2×5 (185); 1×5 (205); 1×5 (215)

Incline Press (fixed); 4×10 (135)

Lat Pull Down 4×10 (100)

Seated Rowing Machine 4×10 (80)

Elliptical (Weight Loss/Level 3) 15 min

I would have like to finish my elliptical program but it didn’t work out that way. Since we hadn’t taken anything out of the freezer for dinner, and the late hour, we decided to just go out to eat. I was instantly very negative about going out to eat, but I brainstormed to try and find a place that wouldn’t be too unhealthy.  We settled on HuHot, a build your own stir fry place. You pick out your protein (I went with chicken and tilapia), starch (used the tiniest bit of rice noodles), veggies (I grabbed most of them), and a sauce. Most of my concern regarding unhealthy foods for HuHot centered around the sauces.  I realize a lot of sugar and fat are in these sauces so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overdoing it, or picking something that was way too unhealthy.  In retrospect, I should have asked for some nutritional information. Carly was being a pistol, and it was getting late, so I went with my gut. I chose the Black Bean Garlic, Hot Chili Oil, and the super spicy red sauce (forget the name). When I got home I hopped online and checked out the nutritional info, and low and behold, I did a good job selecting sauces. Surprisingly, most of the sauces there are fairly low in calories, carbohydrates, and fat. I also had a side Asian house salad (dressing on the side, used a teaspoon, maybe two) and a few bites of my wife’s Egg Drop Soup. The soup and the salad were nothing to write home about, but I had two plates of stir fry loaded with lean protein and tons of veggies. I didn’t use hardly any noodles, and I didn’t miss them really.

We did a little more shopping and then rushed home to get C-Rose in bed. No more real hunger attacks the rest of the night, so I finished day two with the Herbal Cleanse capsules and some Call of Duty carnage.

“Charlie is Oscar Mike.”

Edit to add: Carly Rose had an apple for dinner, and some chocolate milk. She wouldn’t try anything at the restaurant and she skipped her afternoon nap so she was cranky. We didn’t want to push it.