29 September Calories

Breakfast:

• smoothie, 400 cal
• muffin, 400 cal
• carrots, 30 cal

Lunch:

• Greek salad, 200 cal
• beef stroganoff, 400 cal

Dinner:

• stir-fry with rice, 200 cal
• PB & J, 500 cal
• carrots, 30 cal

Total: 2160 calories

Scale: 203.0 pounds, 51.0% hydration

228

To the 228:

I don’t think I’ve ever had a more pleasant surprise from Washington.

Thank you.  Thank you for listening to what your constituents wanted by an overwhelming margin.  Thank you for not caving in to ridiculous pressure from an executive branch that long ago lost all of our trust.  Thank you for not taking my money and giving it to those who do not deserve it.  I know we disagree on a lot of things, but just this once, it’s nice to see just a hint of backbone.  You might find that you have more in common with other parties now that your own parties have shown where they stand – with Wall Street, with President Bush, with no accountability, with flagrant disregard for the people of this country.

Don’t let this be the end – harden your stance.  Don’t let this bill come back, ever.  We just stepped away from the cliff of socialism, but we’re still near the edge and the Fed is doing everything it can to pull us over.  Cut them loose.  Let those fools on the Street go bankrupt.  My bank isn’t going anywhere, because they are a credit union, and they didn’t leverage themselves 30-to-1 in a crazy Ponzi money-making scheme.

28 September Calories

Breakfast:

• smoothie, 400 cal
• hot chocolate, 200 cal

Lunch:

• peach, 40 cal
• soup, 300 cal
• PB & J, 500 cal

Dinner:

• muffin, 400 cal
• hot chocolate, 200 cal
• ice cream, 200 cal

Total: 2240 calories

Scale: 202.4 pounds, 51.0% hydration

27 September Calories

Breakfast:

• smoothie, 400 cal

Lunch:

• PB & J, 500 cal

Dinner:

• sub sandwich, 500 cal
• chips, 300 cal
• soft-serve ice cream, 300 cal

Total: 2000 calories

Scale: 202.8 pounds, 50.7% hydration (dehydrated)

26 September Calories

Breakfast:

• smoothie, 400 cal

Lunch:

• cereal, 400 cal
• celery, 30 cal
• plum, 30 cal

Dinner:

• eggs and hash browns, 360 cal
• grilled chicken strips, 100 cal
• beef, 200 cal
• strawberries, 75 cal

Total: 1595 calories

Scale: 202.4 pounds, 50.8% hydration (dehydrated)

25 September Calories

Breakfast:

• smoothie, 400 cal

Lunch:

• fried pickles, 300 cal
• half a Hooters chicken sandwich w/blue cheese, 450 cal
• fries, 500 cal

Dinner:

• celery, 30 cal
• strawberries, 75 cal

Total: 1755 calories

Scale: 203.0 pounds, 50.8% hydration (dehydrated)

24 September Calories

Breakfast:

• cereal, 400 cal

Lunch:

• broccoli and ranch, 200 cal
• cabbage and ranch, 200 cal

Dinner:

• grilled chicken sandwich, 400 cal
• PB & J, 500 cal

Total: 1700 calories

Scale: 202.4 pounds, 50.8% hydration (dehydrated)

23 September Calories

Breakfast:

• cottage cheese and vinegar cucumbers, 200 cal
• 2 plums, 60 cal
• steamed broccoli and ranch, 200 cal

Lunch:

• cottage cheese, 200 cal

Dinner:

• grilled chicken sandwich, 500 cal
• Doritos, 750 cal

Total: 1910 calories

Scale: 203.2 pounds, 51.8% hydration

22 September Calories

Breakfast:

• 2 peaches, 80 cal
• cereal, 400 cal

Lunch:

• spanish rice, 500 cal

Dinner:

• smoothie, 400 cal
• peach, 40 cal

Total: 1420 calories

Scale: 203.2 pounds, 50.8% hydration (dehydrated)

Weighing Your Food

Most people seemed to react with a sort of “wow, that’s weird” when they heard that Lance Armstrong used to weigh everything he ate.  Having tackled this problem directly myself, it makes perfect sense to me.  Why?  Of course you need to know exactly how many calories you had.  But also, surprise surprise, food has mass.  You can see this in my weight in the last couple of days.  I had potatoes, bread, and some other rather solid and heavy food yesterday.  That food has … uh … not left yet.  And my weight went up because of it.  Once you understand that, the odd weight jump doesn’t bother you.  And if you’re Lance, you need to know exactly how much of your body is food and how long it stays in your system, so that you can be at your lowest possible weight come race time.