Most of my blogs are all business - diet & exercise. Here is one for fun.
(updated 9:00pm)

Dunna-Nunnas
As many of you know, families develop their own words for things... I just had a flash back to my 'weight gain' period where I packed on the fat I carry today. Those of you who have gained weight know how this goes: Your pants get tight, but you wear them until they are completely painful to wear - or simply impractical (For example, the threads holding the button give up - >POINK< )

I resisted going from 36 to 38, but after that I realized that I would rather accept where I am and be comfortable instead of shoe-horning my dough into something made for a leaner physique.

My wife came with me the day I bought my first pair of size 40 pants. I disappeared into the changing room to try them on. Much to my chagrin, they fit really well. As I made my way over to the seats outside the changing room, I started singing my own version of the Batman theme.

duh-na nuh-na nuh-na nuh-na Fat Pants! FAT PANTS! fat pants! Fat Pants!

My wife was in tears from laughing so hard. Since that day, we've called our largest, loosest pants "Dunna-nunna's"

The best part was the day I went from 40 to 42. I had a very serious conversation with my wife where I actually said: "Babe... I've got to buy some new dunna-nunnas." She shook her head and said *tsk* "No more bigger dunna-nunnas after this for you, mister!". Then we both looked at each other and laughed at how funny we sounded.

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I suppose the "real" best part is the fact that 42s are now almost too loose to wear.

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Today
I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't go back to a 30% deficit... The problem is - you can't tell how succesful (or unsuccessful) a plan is until you see it in action for several weeks. I'm going to stick with the current plan for at least 3 more weeks to see what happens with the numbers.

Downtown: Good Preparation
We took a family drive down town to the railroad museum to check out the model railroad. (My son LOVES trains. We try to go once every month or so.)

I was so proud of myself... I actually packed my snacks before we left (cottage cheese and two pieces of fruit). I even packed enough for the rest of the family. Lunch, however was going to be at a restaurant... and we hadn't planned on anywhere specific.

The Field
As you may have noticed from my name, I've got some Irish blood in my family tree. I proposed to my wife while we were on vacation in Northern Ireland, so we feel a special attachment for our local Irish pubs. There are at least two downtown in San Diego: The Blarney Stone and The Field. The field has more people from Ireland actually working there, so that is where we prefer to go.

To Boxty, or Not To Boxty
I am a sucker for a traditional Irish dish called boxty. Boxty is a potato pancake that is usually folded over corned beef or chicken and, like most irish dishes, has a thick, fattening, cheesy cream sauce. You'll find it in any decent Irish pub in the U.S., but there isn't a restaurant in Ireland that serves it. It's the sort of dinner you'd find in a typical Irish household, but it is considered one of those "I don't feel like cooking, so that's what we're eating" sort of meals - much like a frozen dinner in the U.S. (That's why they find it funny that we serve it in restaurants here.)

As we stepped into The Field, I was mentally weighing my willpower. Do I go for the fattening boxty or try to find something healthy? I already knew the answer to that before I sat down. I was drooling for some boxty.

The San Diego Chargers were playing the Patriots today, so the pub was comparatively empty, even though they had the game blaring from every TV.

We ordered... I got the boxty and some mushroom and leek soup. (A cream soup.) When the boxty arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were conservative in the amount of cream sauce they used. Our other favorite pub (closer to home), Tom Giblins, dumps about a quart of sauce on their boxty. The Field drizzled a little line across the top.

Kind Fate...
I dutifully scraped the sauce off and checked the contents of the boxty. It had some fantastic looking chunks of lean chicken breast and grilled veggies - that was it! No cream sauce inside. Holy cow! It was a healthy boxty! So - in a rare display of generousity, fate allowed me to get what I wanted and stay on my diet at the same time *laugh*

Return to Sender
After we were winding up the meal, I eyed my son's chips. Chips ( essentially "steak fries" ) and malted vinegar are another food of the 'common man' in Ireland... so I grabbed a few and prepared to indulge myself that way. Eating that oily fried potato was one of the most revolting things I've tasted in ages. I spat it back out (discreetly).

Food Memory
I had a flashback to that same exact sensation. In 2002, when I was eating nothing but chicken breast, tuna and veggies, I decided to take a break from my rigorous diet and get a burger and fries. The hamburger was okay once I scraped the mayonaise off, but the fries nearly made me gag. Eating whole foods for a long time made me not only forget fast food - it made me HATE it. I'm SO GLAD to have that feeling again.

Irritable...
When I'm dieting the wrong way, I'm grumpy and depressed because my calories are too low. Today, I had an odd sensation toward the afternoon. I felt great inside, but I had a really short fuse with my son. Even now I'm have that odd feeling of being happy but irritable... I may actually be low on calories. Let me check.

Oops - A Low Carb Day
Ah HA - found it... Wow. My calories are great - its my macronutrient ratios that are off. I ended the day with a whopping 33% fat, 32% protein (which is good)... and an extremely low 35% carbs. This is fine for a carb depletion diet, but I need between 45 and 55% carbs to stay on target. Low carb diets are used by bodybuilders to strip away the last few pounds of fat before a contest... and the side effects are well known: Irritability, fatigue and mental fog to name a few. Low carbs might even explain the ripping headache I have right now.

Unfortunately, I have hit my calorie targets for the day, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get my carbs up. Fortunately, its Monday, which means it's back to the soup, tuna and potato lunches.

Caloriewise - 4 perfect days
One last brag to close the blog. I have had 4 perfect calorie days in a row. One high day at 2500 and three low days at 1850. Had my ratios been better today, it would have been three perfect days all around! I'm so glad tomorrow is a high calorie day... I can sleep in on a Monday morning. Sweet.