Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Daily Plate

This is a very cool site. Especially for someone that really is not in touch with what goes in versus what one would 'work out' on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

So how would one try to calculate exactly how well or poorly they are doing with respect to food consumption and daily activities and exercise?

The Daily Plate website is the answer. www.thedailyplate.com

A friend showed me this site and I created my profile. Some of the cool attributes for someone like me who sticks to a pretty routine diet and exercise events are saved events and quick exchange of specific food items from a prior event group. Thus, you do not have to retype them daily. Just point and click and a previous event (you already spent a few mins updating with all the specifics needed) can be easily added to your daily event tracker.

Now, I must warn you that this list of events is pretty graphic. Even the events under "S" listing covers pretty much EVERYTHING you could imagine, it also shows the calorie amounts for certain events so you can be discreet and select something else... instead of the obvious choice. Another warning would need to include the suggested intake amounts depending on how much weight you want to lose. I needed to go to several other sites to assure myself the lofty calorie daily goal was correct. For sometime now, no not a resolution, I have been slowly dialing it back. Something about hitting the 330 weight mark (and my son's view - which I will get to later) did not sit well with me. So when I decided to change - that was it. Change completed! Sooner or later my beloved caught wind of it and she started helping, which is truly the source of any success I will have now or in the future. It is amazing how many choices there are in the food aisle, so if you choose wisely you can eat pretty normally and kill two birds with one stone. A life philosophy in my book, yes, but it works extraordinarily well in this weight loss thing.

Oh before I forget... this is not diet. I hate the word. I do not agree with its intent or its public image regarding what a diet really is saying. (You are too large and need to scale down.) It may be semantics and critics could argue to persuade me, but in the end I just do not agree with the label. I am changing so my kids will have every positive option in front of them. I do not want to hear (ever again) what my innocent you boy told me in early December... that was just a perfectly innocent outlook and word choice, yet it without question knocked me off my feet!

Back to the site, well this sucker puts in direct view exactly what I take in and burn off, so it leaves me with a strong sense of reality... something that could be easily cloaked without such a tool in my case.

Maybe more to come on this topic in the future... maybe not, but one thing is for sure. There will be a whole lot less of me whenever I hit my stride or equilibrium of physical fitness. Racquetball; weight training; never using an elevator; choosing my consumption wisely; and increased activity with my kids are my weapons of choice. I am strongly considering another mission.... but that will be decided later in 2008. I would need to consult with my west coast friends to successfully achieve that milestone if I elect that path.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Rock Band

A good friend of mine urged me to get Rock Band. At the same, his brother just found out that I do not own a single piece of music. I have some on the computer and I have more on the 360 ripped from public resource CD favorites. To the brothers amazement, I just simply do not have time for certain things in my life. I have a beautiful wife. Three lovely children which mean the world to me. I have a small group of people I call friends which I either correspond, game, or spend time with. I do the 8-5 thing and after that I am into racquetball. There is not much time for anything else.

Well, after several conversations about how cool, interactive, and family oriented the game set is... I decided to ask for it for Christmas. Well what do you know... under the tree (after I spent several hours "sleeping" until about 3:30am) I did not see a present fitting the required dimensions. In truth, I kinda already knew from my inside sources certain hints went unnoticed. A couple days after Xmas, and all things I did get were returned, I finally bought Rock Band.

The game is a great deal of fun. My kids got a taste of it; my wife loved the idea of working the vocals; and the online play is better than the single player... which is most cool of all. I can see Rock Band playing on my 360 for several weeks to come.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Toshiba

I'm back. Enjoy the pics.

Almost done transferring the old stuff to the new, but more posts to come.

Peace.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Comp is down... for the count!

Hey everyone!!

I can tell you for a fact those Geeks and Geeks Squad do not know their ass from their elbow. I was desperate. I have been without Internet access at my home for a little over a week. I attempted to complete a secure ID log on for work. I have done this hundreds of times in my past... even on this very same PC. Well, my attempt was partially successful and when I attempted to sign out and sign back in... my internet access was corrupt. I tried all the usual suspects... checked the dam cords... reset my cable service... reset my system in order from cable box; router; pc; and xbox. The silver lining to this tragic story is my xbox. NO PROBLEMO... and I want to keep it that way.

Anyways... friends attempted to trouble shoot with me and it did not work...

So I take my PC to BestBuy. I bring my Dell to the black/white/orange section of the store where men and women in muted black and white surry around from PC to PC staying for a max of 30 seconds as they multi-task software loads and the like. A cheeky fellow name Greg asks if he can help me....

  • he does a diagnostic
  • he reviews my settings
  • he loads some basic fixes
  • he makes a determination it could be my network card or something within the operating system program - either way to determine is a max of 40.
  • "the sucker okays the work"
  • he installs the brand new network card
  • FAILED to access the internet!!!
  • he then asks about my connection at home (I have one - xbox live)
  • he starts chatting about live... his gamer tag... I respond... I'm the 'It's not your fault' guy... he chuckles... "not vs. me" and I respond with "SCDA - any time" it will not be your fault....
  • he attempts to sell me on a total reinstall after telling me the network card was flawed - which is clearly was not...
  • he was not shocked when I declined that option...

So I have been without PC at home for eyons... it seems!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Still Here...
just nothing to say recently.

On my current play list:

Call of Duty 2 ------> preparing for the Call of Duty 4 recently released.
Halo3 -------> playing whenever the group is on... and not much recently.
TenchuZ -----> Very fun game. Just completed it.
Dead Rising ----------> will be playing this game next. Should be fun.

Racquetball:
I'm recovered. I dropped my first game back, which was a waste since my lack of conditioning actually cost me the game.

3-2 at this point. However the season timeframe is almost up and I cannot get anyone to reschedule.

I may very well end up 3-8.

I'm in the process of reaching out to my peeps I speak with every now and then, but have not lost anything with I hope.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Still Here...

just nothing to say recently.

On my current play list:
Call of Duty 3 ------> preparing for the Call of Duty 4 release.
Halo3 -------> playing whenever the group is on... and not much recently.
Chromehounds --------> for the elusive fight at every map achievement... I will get it!
Dead Rising ----------> will be playing this game next. Should be fun.

I love getting great games for less than 10 bucks and usually closer to 5.99. It is awesome, since I have the patience to wait and favorites to play in the meantime.

_________
_________

Racquetball:

While I recover from injury all is quiet. I'm 1 and 1 and 4 games to make up so far. I hope to be back in action within 1-2 weeks.

_____________
_____________

Halloween Party tonight... my kids look adorable and cannot wait to see them in action.

6 yr old = Princess
4 yr old = Pirate
2 yr old = Raggity Anne

the Mrs... Devil (oh la la)
I'm going as a schlep that works on Saturday (right now!!)

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I play with Twelve Year olds...

and lose. No, that is not accruate. I lose badly!

I opened the fall season in the Purple division (again) with a refreshing beating. A 12 yar old took it to me beating me in less than 25 min 41-5. I did what I could. I made adjustments. I found what he does not do well too late to make a come back. Next time, and there will be a next time, I hope to score more.