On A Serious Note...

So did you ever stop to think..."Is this where I thought I'd be at this point in my life?"

Before we get the answer to that statement a few other things to take care of.  Tonight was a semi-big closet cleaning.  This is the second time I've had to do this and just like the first time it's bitter sweet.  I know have room to walk into my closet and actually get to the little shelves in the back.  I have a donate/give away pile about two feet high and have around 25 extra hangers with nothing on them.  I also got rid of some of my awesome ties that definitely date back to the 90's!  Some pretty sweet ones too.  So, like I said...bitter sweet; I had to get rid of some of my favorite shirts, but you know what, they don't fit anymore which is definitely a good thing!  Like everyone says...it's a good problem to have.

On top of that it was a weekend of hockey...Friday nights game was much better then today's.  An 8-1 victory on Friday kept the Greyhounds in the hunt for a playoff spot!  Capped off with a 2 goal and 3 assist (+7) effort by yours truly!  It was a great team win and it seemed like everything was clicking even without two of our regular defensemen.  Today got off to a bad start; a bad goal that literally jumped off the boards behind the net and hit our goalie (Mikey) in the back and went in...started a quick downfall for us.  We actually lost 7-2 (misreported on my Facebook LOL) we just didn't have enough offense to punch some of the good chances in.  I had a nice wrist shot, followed up by a back hand that just went a little high over the crossbar.  Also since we again were down two of our regular defensemen, I played most of the game.  Three more games left between the two teams and I'm going to miss 2 of them since I'll be in Montreal this coming weekend.

Finally the serious part.  So this weekend was not just hockey, but great because Erin and I got to babysit our niece Norah.  What a little adorable munchkin she is!  We got to play together, hang out, read some books (more like one, since she walked away after she gave them to us 99% of the time), had bath time, went out for some area shopping and I even changed my first ever diaper.  Did pretty good if I may say so, but I had a lot of help from Norah as I think she knew this was my first time.  So all of this great stuff comes down to my first question of the blog..."Is this where I thought I'd be at this point in my life?".  Some of you know of the troubles Erin and I have been having with this whole baby stuff.  And without getting into it too much, yes I thought at this point we would have a baby by now.  But unfortunately that's not in the cards yet.  It's difficult and we definitely go through a lot of hard times with so many of our friends having babies and what not.  However we are more than excited for all of our close friends, family and everyone else we know that have had or are having babies.  It was just a short realization of what we don't have yet...a complete family under our roof.  Driving around with Norah, having to put her in and out of her car seat, and rolling around with her in the little Target cart was so much fun.  Makes me a little sad that we haven't had the chance yet...but no matter what happens we will always be the best Aunt & Uncle to Norah we can be and I will be the best godfather to Isabella!  So to answer the question...no it's not where I thought I'd be...even without having a baby yet I think I'm a lot better then I ever thought!  I have Erin to thank for that!  Love you babe!

Well on that note, before I get to choked up over here, I'm going to sign off for tonight.

I Should Watch What I Say

OK so apparently a few of you saw my Facebook status from the other night announcing big news to come in tonight's blog.  Well there is big news but not to what some of you were thinking; If we bought a house, were having a baby or won the lotto, I don't think I'd be announcing it here first....maybe second LOL.  The big news has to do with of course the weight loss.  I am down an even 65 pounds (it seems like its been so long) and now unbelievably can fit into a size 38 waist jeans!  Pretty fricken awesome.  I still try to think back to high school and still I don't think my waist was that "small" even back then.  Who knows...if only I hadn't thrown out my jeans from freshman year of college not too long ago.  They didn't really fit before the diet and had a lot of holes and Erin wouldn't let me keep them anymore.

So this brings on a whole other issue; I have to go through my damn closet again and throw shit out!  WTF  It's annoying but it a very good way!  Now back to the store at some point to buy new polo shirts for work and what not.  So there it is, the big news...from now on I will re-phrase my teasers for the blog if anything semi-important happens.  Sorry to get anyone a little crazy (namely Erin) over it.

So last night was Valentines Day (yes yes a BS holiday made up by the greeting card companies), but more importantly it was my 9 year anniversary of the day Erin and I started dating.  I remember the night all those years ago, sitting in her driveway at her dad's house and having one more present to give her a poem, that in a clever way asked her ""out" (even though we had, by others take, been going out for a while).  I was so nervous that I could barely give her the frame without shaking.  Luckily she said yes, unlucky for her...look what it got her..me for life!  We've been through highs and lows, laughs and cries, stupid fights and awesome times...I wouldn't change a thing and am so happy that a) she emailed me while I was working with the band at Sacred Heart and b) I asked her to that Soundtigers game one night after Christmas (I think).  Here's to 9 more wonderful years!

And lastly I have some food!  LOL  So this week has been cooking out of the 'Cook This not That' book, and let me tell you some marvelous dinners were had (even though Erin couldn't eat tonight's (not feeling well) and the salsa on the mahi mahi made her stomach upset on Monday).  So Sunday night was Balsamic Honey Pork Chops with sweet potato; Monday was Mahi Mahi with a salsa verde over cous cous and mixed vegetables; Tuesday was Hoisin Beef Tips over brown rice and vegetables and finally tonight was Chili Mango Chicken over rice.  All very good...the best was the Beef Tips!  Tonight's dinner was SPICY, but good. Here are some pictures for you to take a gander at.

Mahi Mahi

Hoisin Beef Tips

Chili Mango Chicken

Big weekend of hockey coming up, and possibly seeing an old college friend and the countdown to Montreal has begun as well! Night everyone!

Another One Bites the Dust

Sunday morning, the sun is shinning and it's probably cold outside!  One of my favorite movies of all time is on TV right now...The Lion King!  Did you know that it took animators at Disney about 3 years to animate the wildebeest scene...just something I read on IMDB.  Anyway...this past week I didn't have any weight loss...still holding strong at where I was before.  However, the biggest thing to happen and the reason for the title is that I'm down another pant size!  I am now able to fit into a size 38 waist...you don't even know how unbelievable that feels.  I went from a size 44/46 (or so) to now a 38/40 (because for whatever reason a 38 isn't a 38 in everyone's jeans LOL go figure) and I bought a number of new polo shirts in an XL.  For the most part things are going very well!

From Coach Nicole @ SparkPeople

Another semi "milestone" is down, and another weigh in comes in just a few days...who knows were I'll land on the scale but I think I'm at the point now that I don't "really" care what the number is.  I feel a thousand times better, fit into sizes I can't even remember ever buying and hockey is going better than ever!  We are also eating very, very well!  Another thing that this lifestyle change has brought back is my love for the culinary arts.  I'm cooking like never before; so many good things on the menu from night to night.  The education part of this journey has been the best.  Learning about food and exercise, dieting, the do's and don'ts, the right and wrong and best thing of all is the fact that for whatever reason, somehow other people (friends and whatnot) have taken steps to change their life as well.

People have said to me that i'm an "inspiration"...and I put that in quote's and use it very loosely becuase I really don't think I am.  I'm just a guy who had to make a change in his life...and I have the best teammate on this journey (Erin), who I couldn't have done this without!  If I have sparked a thread of healthiness in other people that is great...but an inspiration not sure if I see it.  I had to do it, but I'm just an ordinary guy doing something to get me healthier and hopefully live longer!  I've said it once and I'll say it again...if I can do it, anyone can.  You just have to have the patience, determination, energy, focus and fortitude to do it.  Read and research as much as you can and just get going!

Last but not least...last week I made a Turkey Parmesan...it was fantastic!  Turkey cutlets, with some homemade sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese and a side of whole wheat pasta.  Well it's time to make breakfast to start the day off right!  Have a great Sunday everyone!  Keep up the good work.

Stupid Super Bowl Jinx

So the Super Bowl was yesterday and the Giants once again beat the Patriots.  And for the second time I wore the apparently jinxed Patriots shirt and they lost.  I definitely do not have good luck with wearing something of the team I'm rooting for in the Super Bowl...so far 0-5...I knew I should have bought a damn Giants shirt. Good food last night during the Super Bowl too; I made two different dips - a spinach pesto dip with fresh veggies and guacamole with some pretty darn good organic chips.  We also had some awesome chicken wings, some sliders, pigs in a blanket, buffalo chicken dip and a Mexican bean dip.  The spinach pesto dip was interesting...Greek yogurt, frozen spinach, pesto, salt & pepper.  It was very good, but something just was either missing or just not right with it.  I still can't put my finger on it...Good food, good friends and even though the Giants won a good game.

Oh well...Even though it was hockey season once the Bears season ended, it's DEFINITELY hockey season now.  Two big games tomorrow night...1 being the Devils vs. the Rangers at MSG and the other being a weekday Dragons game.  We need this game to bring us back .500; as long as we have forwards we should have a shot!  Friday night the Greyhounds won their second game in a row and I had 1 goal in the game bringing my season total to 3 goals and 4 assists.  We pretty much need to win out the remainder of the season to make the playoffs.

Tomorrow is another weigh in...we'll see where the scale lands tomorrow.  On a final note...tonight's dinner was so simple (and I've made it before, just not this way) yet so delicious!  We had Shrimp Scampi over brown rice with an egg-less Caesar Salad (homemade dressing BTW).  The shrimps were so good that I definitely could have eaten the entire bag...this week has some pretty awesome dinners lined up as well!  Tomorrow we're on our own since I have a hockey game.  Time for bed...later!

Sometimes I Get So Frustrated

So a little late for Tuesday but here is a quick one.  I really get frustrated sometimes with stuff...most of that comes from what I call "bumps" in my normal routine.  Now they're always going to happen, I know this...but I feel like if I hit a bump in the road, overall I take like a step back.  The bump could be not working out, missing a meal, or eating out.  This weekend it was the eating out that was the bump in the road.  It seems as if no matter how hard I try to "eat good" when I eat out, it never happens and I'm annoyed with myself.  I get sucked into my old ways when I eat out I feel.  Now it may not even be the case; most of the time I'll research the menu before I go to see what is best to eat, however in my head I just feel guilty.

The last few days Erin hasn't been feeling too hot so dinners have been on my own.  Nothing to crazy, just a chicken and mushrooms dish the last two nights (nothing special) and then Satay Chicken Burgers with sweet potato fries.  These burgers were actually very flavorful; melted peanut butter and scallions really gave it an interesting but very good taste.  Other than that, not much else on the food front lately. 

I did however get a new phone and today found an app called Fooducate.  It's a pretty interesting app; you scan the bar code of a product and it will give you the "healthiness" grade of that particular food.  For instance the almonds I eat as a snack are an A-...and the fiber granola bars i like to eat are a C.  It breaks down the nutrition stats and ingredients list and gives you some insight into what you are eating...does your product contain more than 35 ingredients - if it does the app will tell you that it is heavily processed.  Maybe it contains hydrogenated oils...it'll give you a breakdown of that and some more nutrition information on those types of oils.  The best part is that it gives you some healthier choices.  Now some of these you might not be able to get in your area, but my granola bars gave me other options of bars and even nuts and fruits.  Instead of one of the fiber bars I could make a healthier decision by having an apple or maybe an Atkins or Lara bar.  So far it's pretty cool, however it also has made me a tad paranoid.  LOL

On an ending note...got down another pound this past week!  Total of 63 so far...don't know how much I like this slow as molasses weight loss, but I'm still on the right track and have to realize that with more working out and a lot of weight gone already it's going to slow down.   12 pounds left to go in 8 weigh ins...hopefully I can do it!  See you guys next time.