Ah, Thursdays. Other than my rotator cuff exercises, I get to goof off and not exercise. Tomorrow is shoulders and legs days, the most draining day of the week.

All I (should) do on Saturday is a long run, and Sundays are for goofing. Now that it's getting warmer, I'll be working at the drop zone more on the weekends and that isn't goofing off and it helps me from getting preoccupied with food.

Speaking of food preoccupation: I clocked in at 129.4 pounds this morning. So see, my Sunday night cheat didn't hurt me; I'm still steadily losing.

When I started, I weighed 136. From what I have seen, I lose about 3 pounds of water weight when I eat low carb so I have lost about 3.6 pounds in the last 2 1/2 weeks. That's quite acceptable.

I am contemplating moving my refeed period from Sunday to Saturday night. Saturday night is party time at the drop zone and everybody who hangs around either goes out to eat as a group or orders pizza. Starting the refeed then would allow me to be with them.

Of course the big problem is the food is high fat plus there's plenty of beer around.

Heck, I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Sunday morning I'll have that bagel then I'll get back on the diet hamster wheel.

Sometimes I have to go out of the way and create a more interesting meal than my usual chicken thigh and broccoli dinners. Last night, I made tacos. When I do this I am far more careful with calories counting.

1 lb 7% fat ground turkey
6 oz. diced onion
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and peppers
Chili Powder
ground cumin
cayenne pepper (or Sriracha sauce or chili garlic paste mmmmmmm)

Brown the turkey; put the onions and garlic in with the turkey while it's browning. If too much water accumulates, spoon some of it out. It doesn't have to be bone dry. add the spices to taste then dump the can (undrained) in there. Add a little water or beef stock if it's too dry. Stir, let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes uncovered, stir occasionally. Let most of the liquid evaporate. (the spices seem to incorportate better if you have at least a little liquid in the beginning).

Now, if you want to go low-low cal and low carb, make a taco salad, I.E. in a bowl put a bunch of shredded lettuce and about an ounce of shredded Monterey Jack or whatever cheese then about 1/4th of this mixture. Add jalepenos and/or salsa (Pace is my favorite) Last night I used 2 low carb tortillas. I also had to use ground chuck because I couldn't find 7% turkey - the gound turkey breast tastes like sawdust to me and the %15 actually has more calories than the chuck.

Anyway, my total damage for that meal was around 540 calories (bringing my total for the day to just under 1,000). I felt pretty stuffed. And meals like this feel like cheating.

Oh, as I continue with my dieting monomania, have I ranted about the When You Eat myth? I used to think that if you stopped eating at like say 5pm, you would lose more weight. Horse poop, if you are eating the same amount of calories as you normally would. If you stop eating at 5pm because that makes you eat less, then yes it works. It does not matter when you eat! If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight.

I was thinking of one aspect of dieting: cravings.

Right now, since it's Thursday, I am feeling some effects of having eaten hypocalorically for the last 4 days. It isn't bad; I feel just a little thready but it isn't hunger. I can think of all kinds of foods and wish I had some but it isn't a true craving. I am not staring at my lunch and drooling. 11 am will come around soon enough. I love this feeling; it means I am handling not eating.

So what causes those cravings? Soon enough, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a few weeks, my brain is going to start talking to me about the Oreos in the snack machine. I will point out that I have no change, and brain will urge me to go search the car. Or go out to the gas station and get $20 out of the ATM. And since I'm at the gas station why don't I pick up some Gardetto's or some beef jerky, since I like those better than Oreos? We can't break the diet I'll say. Brain will say, it's only 250 extra calories, that won't do much damage.

But since I love oreos, once I get back from the gas station and chow on whatever I have bought, I'll be thinking about the extra change in my pockets from that $20 I cashed. Before I know it, the next 3 days will have me spending that $20 all on food which might include 1 or 2 visits to MacDonald's for a Quarter Pounder, large Fry, and a big-assed Dr. Pepper.

I'm so happy all these ideas repulse me right now, but the cravings are coming. They always do.

What causes them? Psychologically, it's probably that we want what we can't have. Human nature. Physiologically, it's probably your body telling you to eat something already, we're starving. Women get a double-whammy because of monthly hormone fluctuations.

I'm hoping the refeed will counterract the cravings, or at least leave them controllable. Hah! We'll see.