Category: Food Blogger Vs. Fat

Welcome to my week 17 update. My bike got another heavy workout this week, but so did my stomach. Read all about my trials and triumphs from the last seven days:

The Successes

Last week, I talked about my weekend of bike riding (and ‘racing’) – a full 22 miles across two days.

I beat that on Saturday with a 24-mile ride through the Lehigh Gorge with my friends, the Heffelfinger family.

We were taking the bike train, a special offering by the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railroad in Jim Thorpe. At the station, we loaded our bikes onto one of two flatbed cars, then grabbed seats on one of five passenger cars at the back of the train.

The train departed Jim Thorpe at 9:30 a.m., pulling us 25 miles north to the town of White Haven and the entrance to the Lehigh Gorge State Park.

The trail running through the park is part of the larger Delaware & Lehigh Trail network that extends from Wilkes-Barre in the north to Bristol, Bucks County, in the south. There are still a few on-road sections, but when completed, it will be a continuous 165 miles.

Our ride was on the longest continuous section of trail along the route, and one of great contrasts.

As we began our ride, we were crowded together with the seemingly hundreds of other riders who debarked from the train in White Haven. And for the first five miles or so, we remained in close proximity.

Throughout the ride, our trail hugged the Lehigh River, the second-most popular place to be as we passed kayakers, whitewater rafters and fishermen throughout our ride.

Along this northern section of the ride are several waterfalls where riders and other trail-goers gathered for photos. Water streamed into the gorge from the cliffs on our right, passing under the trail to empty into the river.

As we approached Jim Thorpe, we emerged from the tree cover and railroad tracks of the Reading and Northern and Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway replaced the cliffs on our right.

The second bike train of the day left the station at 12:30 and we were just three miles away from our destination when it came rumbling past us.

This section of the trail terminates in the public parking lot for the town of Jim Thorpe. I pulled up to my car after completing 24.2 miles in 1:54, burning approximately 1,000 calories in the process. The ride was almost entirely downhill so we were able to make great time, and I spent much of the ride in high gear on my 27-speed hybrid bike.

I felt great after the ride and felt like I could have kept going.

Earlier in the week I had spent two evenings pulling weeds (about 283 calories burned each time) and two hours of my Sunday was spent cleaning the house (372 calories burned). Neither are as exciting as a 24-mile bike ride, but it all adds up.

The Challenges

Already building that 1,000-calorie bike ride into my daily allotment, I knew that I would need a hearty breakfast. There are not a lot of places to grab breakfast closer to Jim Thorpe so I decided to stop at Hamburg at the good old Cracker Barrel.

French toast and hash brown casserole amounted to as many calories as I would burn, but that was perfectly alright with me because it left me with a full day’s worth of calories to play with for lunch and dinner.

What didn’t work out so well for me was finding a place to get lunch on the way home. I ended up in Tamaqua at a Burger King eating a 600-calorie chicken sandwich. I regretted it almost immediately, but my options were few.

This was my second fast food of the week as I had already had some Chicken McNuggets and fries from McDonald’s on Friday night (though, at 573 calories, it was actually less than the sandwich from BK).

And Thursday night was a little bit of an indulgence for me as well. You may remember a month ago my visit to Normandy Farm in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, for their Crab Fest. I was back again this week for the Summer Luau, enjoying pulled pork from the whole pig roast, pulled pork sweet chili, sausage, a cornbread biscuit and coleslaw.

And of course, I had to have dessert. There was a make-your-own s’mores bar, ice cream samples from Whole Foods, dessert shooters and a variety of fresh-made cakes.

I had two slivers – chocolate and raspberry – and they were incredible. Each had a hard chocolate outer shell and were layered with cake and filling. It put me over my calorie limit for the day, but I did not care at all.

The Results

Current Weight: 168.6
Weekly Weight Loss: -1.2
Total Weight Loss: 20.8

It’s another milestone this week as I broke the 20-pound barrier and almost made up for my stagnant week last week. Going over my calorie intake a couple times didn’t hurt because I had three strong days. I actually finished the week more than 1,000 calories under my target so I was almost surprised that I didn’t see a greater loss at the end. Still, nothing to complain about here.

The Week Ahead

If you’re tired of reading about my bike rides, I apologize in advance. This weekend, I’m taking my bike (and my dad) to our hunting cabin upstate. We’re already planning out our ride.

I’ll also have my fishing gear in tow which should be an adventure all its own.

We’ve crossed the halfway point in my journey to better health and it’s all downhill from here.

Yeah right. It only gets harder from here to continue the momentum and reach my goal. Here’s my latest update:

The Successes

This weekend belonged to me and my bicycle.

As I mentioned last week, I was going to be joining three of my colleagues to compete in the corporate challenge at the annual Pottstown Bike Race. The race was scheduled for Sunday afternoon so I figured I should get a warm-up ride in on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, I towed my bike to Hamburg for the 12-mile trip along the Schuylkill River Trail. It was my second visit of the summer, and I definitely felt better this time, completing the ride in 56 minutes.

That’s worth 519 calories, according to Lose It.

Sunday was the real adventure.

Attending the Pottstown Bike Race for the first time, I was blown away by the skill of the competitors in the actual races. In races that were 20-, 30- or 40-laps, they were turning lap times of less than 3:00 around the one-mile course. My average from the previous day was 4:40.

Of course, this was just the corporate challenge so no big deal, right?

Wrong. The other teams were serious about this race with some of the riders actually competing in the pro races throughout the day. In a four-lap relay, we were lapped. It would have been twice if not for the race director sending us early.

As the closer for our team, I was still waiting at the start line when the top two finishers crossed the line. Out of six teams, we were sixth, though I’m pretty sure there were a few spectators who walked the course faster than us.

But we had a good time, and I was motivated for riding at a more leisurely pace so after the race, I drove east to Graterford, just a few miles north of Collegeville, for a ride on the Perkiomen Trail.

The trail follows the Perkiomen Creek as it flows from Green Lane in the north to Valley Forge in the south, a 22-mile ride one-way. I was content with a shorter loop from Graterford north to Schwenksville.

Officially, it’s a rail trail that traces the path of the old Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. But in practice, it’s more complicated than that as the trail takes several detours – around homes and buildings. Sometimes it doubles as a sidewalk.

But it’s a fun ride nonetheless. In the five miles that I rode (10-mile round trip), the trail crosses over the Creek three times and alternates between crushed gravel and pavement more than I could count.

The town of Schwenksville is a little oasis for riders along the trail. It’s about three miles north of the halfway point of the ride, a community that offers both a small restaurant and a bike shop abutting the trail.

A few miles farther south is the Central Perkiomen Valley Park. It’s your typical community park, but it also has a few perks for trail riders, including a repair station and restrooms.

One of the coolest sites on the trail though is right at the Graterford Trailhead. The parking lot connects with that of the Pennsylvania Live Steamers – a club for miniature steam engineers that operate in various scales. The trains weren’t running, but the site of the replica station and full-size caboose harkened back to the days when locomotives traversed this same route.

The Challenges

Thursday and Friday were not good days for me. There were bagels from Panera in our breakroom at work so my snack was heavier than usual, leading to me finishing the day 116 calories over my budget.

Friday was worse. I had a large lunch at the new True Food Kitchen in King of Prussia. While the foods served there were developed by a nutritionist, it was a lot of food (more than I would normally order because it was free as part of their preview days).

If you’d like to read about my meal, you can check it out on the Crave Montco website.

And on Sunday, after a weekend of pedaling away the calories, I treated myself to a waffle cone sundae from Sonic. I’m still not sure how I ate it without making a mess in the car, but I was proud of myself for not.

The Results

Current Weight: 169.8
Weekly Weight Loss: -0.0
Total Weight Loss: -19.6

Well, it seems like my old pattern is back. One week on, one week off. Two weeks ago, I recorded no weight loss. Last week it was close to two pounds. Now it’s back to another wash.

I’m confident that next week will show the fruits of my labors.

The Week Ahead

It’s hot outside. Very hot. But work doesn’t stop because of the heat. Julie is away in New York City for a few days and I am tasked with weeding our vegetable garden so I’ll record some exercise in the evenings.

Then on Saturday, I will be again taking my bicycle for a spin, this time with my friends the Heffelfinger family as we head to Jim Thorpe a ride on the Lehigh Gorge trail.

It’s Week 15, halfway through my 30-week journey to better health. The goal has been, and still is, 30 pounds in 30 days. Here’s my midpoint update:

The Successes

My biggest success came on Wednesday when a combination of light meals and an hour of walking left me more than 500 calories under budget (even after treating myself to a chocolate banana smoothie).

I didn’t record any more exercise until Saturday when Julie and I spent most of the day walking. First, at the PA BBQ Fest, then at the Kutztown Folk Festival.

The Folk Festival is one of our favorite events, though we don’t make it every year. For me, it’s a chance to reconnect with my Pennsylvania German roots. For Julie, it’s an opportunity to see amazing crafts, and her favorite, quilts. And for both of us, it’s usually a chance to try some amazing food.

But this year was different. Having just eaten barbecue all morning, we skipped the wurst, the grilled sweet bologna, the Dutch fries and the funnel cake. Though toward the end of our day, Julie did splurge on strawberry shortcake and ice cream. It was too much for one person so I had to help her with it.

Sunday was a day of celebration for my brother Matt and his wife Lauren. We spent the afternoon at their baby shower (the little one is due September 2).

Normally, baby showers are more challenge than success, but this was unique and my brother and I spent about an hour playing quoits against some of Lauren’s relatives (we split our two games).

Later I got even more exercise, albeit less exciting, when I mowed our lawn (a little more than an hour of mowing is worth 404 calories).

The Challenges

The challenges were real this week. Thursday and Friday I had to really watch what I ate because there was no opportunity to record any exercise.

And Saturday, while I did get a lot of walking in, I also ate a lot. If you haven’t read my recap of the PA BBQ Fest yet, it’s available here.

Then at the party on Sunday, I grazed on snacks most of the afternoon – mostly enjoying Philly Pretzel Factory rivets plus a slice of chocolate cake.

The Results

Current Weight: 169.8
Weely Weight Loss: -1.4
Total Weight Loss: -19.6

After a stagnant week last week, the results are back this week. And I can mark another milestone off the list as I have broken the 170-pound barrier.

This is the lightest that I have been – and I feel the fittest that I have been – in more than 10 years. And that only lasted for one summer before I started to gain it back. This time, I have no plans to put the weight back on once it’s off.

The Week Ahead

It’s a slow week, but a hot week. With temperatures in the high-90s and unbarable humidity, it’s going to be hard to get exercise.

At least until Sunday. On Sunday, I will be joining several of my colleagues at the Pottstown Bike Race where we will compete in the corporate team event. It’s a four-person, four-mile relay race so I only have to actually race for one mile.

But I’m not going to take my bike all the way to Pottstown to ride just one mile. After the race, I’m planning to hit the trail for an hour or two.

Or until I need to stop for dinner.

It’s Week 14 of Food Blogger vs. Fat (where does the time go?) and it’s update time. This week we celebrate a milestone while also celebrating the Fourth of July.

The Successes

In my open, I mentioned a milestone. That came on Sunday when I recorded my 100th consecutive of tracking my weight loss on the Lose It! app.

Lose It! has played a key role in my weight loss so far, helping to hold me accountable for everything that I eat.

Everything gets recorded in the app from a single teaspoon of ginger (two calories) to the regrettable McDonald’s milkshake (610 calories).

Many sources have cited the benefits of keeping a food diary – it makes you aware of how much food you’re actually eating, it makes you realize what exactly is going into your body and it makes you feel guilty about eating that extra snack.

All of those are true for me. I read nutritional labels a lot more closely than I should, and I spend way too much time researching restaurant meals before I go.

Without Lose It!, I would not have made it this far.

The Challenges

Recording everything has its downfalls, including knowing exactly where I went wrong in my dieting. This week was easy to find. It was the Fourth of July holiday weekend so Julie and I decided to take advantage of it (we each had off Saturday, July 1 through Tuesday, July 4) with several day trips.

Saturday we visited Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania State Museum. It’s a great museum – extremely family friendly – and I highly suggest it for anyone interested in their home state.

Before the museum, we made a stop at Harrisburg’s Broad Street Market.

Broad Street Market is one of the larger farmers’ markets that I have seen in the area. The market spans two buildings with several vendors set up in the open space in between.

One of the buildings is completely devoted to dine-in and takeout restaurants, and they cover the globe from Asia to the Caribbean and all places in between.

I couldn’t resist trying the market’s African kitchen – Tasty Dishes – and some jollof rice.

Jollof rice is yellow rice with a little bit of seasoning. It was served with stewed chicken legs and fried plantains.

The best part was the chicken. It was a little sweet, not barbecue chicken but similar. It also went great with the rice.

The woman behind the counter asked me if I liked spicy and being the manly man that I am, I said yes. So she also gave me a dollop of spicy paste that consisted of ginger, garlic and jalapenos.

I didn’t feel so manly after I got my first taste. Julie said she could see my eyes light up when it hit my tongue. It was the last bite that was intentionally ingested.

Later that day we stopped at A&M Pizza in Lebanon for sandwiches. The rolls at A&M are some of the best around (I’ll be visiting the recently re-opened Wernersville location for a blog soon) and it’s a favorite stop of ours when we’re in the area.

I had the chicken parmesan sandwich and we shared my side of fries. It’s a lot of food, but I didn’t feel like I had overdone it on this day.

Sunday felt more like overdoing it when Julie and I made a late afternoon visit to Knoebels Grove.

As someone who doesn’t do roller coasters, Knoebels is my favorite amusement park (no entry fee means I don’t feel guilty watching other people riding the Phoenix). Knoebels also has great food – the best amusement park food in the country according to many surveys.

While we both enjoy the grab-and-go snacks throughout the park, Julie and I are big fans of Knoebels’ sit-down restaurant, the Alamo.

Don’t let the name fool you, there’s nothing southwestern about the Alamo. Instead, it’s a family restaurant with classic American diner food.

I had the roast beef with mashed potatoes and applesauce (if you read my blog from Sunday, you know why I was inspired to order it). It was served with a personal gravy boat to pour as I chose.

The roast beef is more of a pot roast-style with tender chunks that pull apart easily. The mashed potatoes are like homemade.

The applesauce deserves a paragraph of its own. It’s my favorite applesauce that I have eaten anywhere, a one-of-a-kind dish that is sweeter and packed with more flavor than any other version. It’s almost like eating a caramel apple that has been crushed into sauce. I love it.

Monday was a day trip to Doylestown (I think we’ve about covered all points of the compass over the weekend) which included a heavy lunch at Paganini Ristorante. We both ordered ravioli – Julie with gorgonzola sauce, me with tomato sauce. She definitely had the better of the two, but mine was lighter.

And Tuesday was, of course, the Fourth of July and picnics. And a cup of ice cream from Sweet Ride at the West Reading fireworks.

The Results

Current Weight: 171.2
Weekly Weight Loss: -0.0
Total Weight Loss: -18.2

It was a wash this week, but that wasn’t surprising with my weigh-in coming after a heavy eating weekend (I weighed in Monday morning so Monday and Tuesday will affect this week’s weight).

The Week Ahead

There’s no rest for this weary food blogger this week. The holiday is behind me but on the horizon is the PA BBQ Fest at the Leesport Farmers Market. It’s one of my favorite events of the year because I get to try a lot of barbecue all in one place.

This Saturday and Sunday also marks the last weekend of this year’s Kutztown Folk Festival. Sure, there’s lots of great entertainment and history on display at the Folk Festival, but I’m in it for the food.

One thing about Pennsylvania Dutch food though: it’s not exactly low-cal. Neither is barbecue, come to think of it. Should be an interesting week (and a heck of recap next week).

Lucky 13 – this is Week 13 of my journey to better health. Settle in because this is the longest update so far, but I think you’re going to enjoy it.

The Challenges

If you read last week’s blog, you know that I was spending the week in Quebec City for a conference. There are a lot of great things about travel, but being on the road can be an obstacle to healthy eating.

Tuesday and Friday were spent hopping from plane to plane and airport to airport. (Take my advice: don’t fly Air Canada. If I ever go back to Quebec, I will drive).

When I finally arrived on Tuesday – two hours late – I drove to the hotel and headed to our opening reception. It was mostly light fare of cheese and crackers until they brought out the main attraction: poutine.

For those unfamiliar with this French Canadian specialty, poutine has three ingredients: French fries, gravy and cheese curds. This version was served in a little takeout box.

I wish I had it from an actual restaurant because this didn’t do the dish justice. The fries were lukewarm and the gravy wasn’t thick enough. But it was the only real entree at dinner so I had to force it.

And if you couldn’t guess, none of the three ingredients would be considered healthful super foods.

It’s hard to have portion control at a conference, especially when a buffet is involved. Wednesday morning I managed to restrain myself as I dined on delicious crepes and a side of breakfast potatoes.

Lunch was a served meal of filled pasta with tomato sauce. I hesitate to call them ravioli because that was Thursday’s lunch. It was okay, and that might have been an exaggeration given that it was the only option.

Dinner, on the other hand, was a feast. We were all left to our own devices so I wandered the big city (it’s actually more of a medium city) on my own in search of adventure and food.

What I found was Cafe l’Omelette, a little bistro in the Old City (Vieux-Quebec) that caught my eye mostly because the menu was printed in both French and English.

They were serving five varieties of poutine, but I wanted to experience more of the area cuisine so I ordered the Specialties Quebecois, a three-course menu featuring some of Quebec’s other favorite dishes.

It started with a bowl of pea soup that looks and tastes nothing like the baby food-esque split pea soup that I am familiar with. Instead, it more closely resembled a ham and bean soup (though these were definitely peas,  not beans) and there was even ham in it. It was an enjoyable start to the meal, and somehow, this was the lightest course.

One thing about Quebec cuisine, it’s not light. And that was evident with my entree: meat pie. It’s exactly what it sounds like: beef (in this case, roast beef) inside a traditional pie shell. Of course, it was all topped with gravy, because it’s Quebec.

The crust was a little overcooked in places, but the beef was fantastic and the gravy had a little something extra that I still can’t quite put my finger on.

And there had to be fries on the side (to be fair, the menu said nothing about fries). Oh and there was a salad. I’m not sure how that fits in, but it was there, and I ate it.

The third course was Quebec’s favorite dessert: sugar pie. Think of it as pecan pie without the pecans. It had a gooey sweet filling with a tasty pie crust. It’s like Quebec’s version of shoofly pie.

Needless to say, nothing I ate here would fit my diet.

The next day was more conference food: breakfast potatoes and fresh fruit at breakfast; ravioli and sautéed vegetables at lunch; and a served four-course dinner including  salad, cream of broccoli soup, stuffed chicken breast and chocolate mousse cake.

Friday’s journey home included a stop at Tim Horton’s for breakfast for muffins and orange juice and a hearty lunch of a hamburger and fries in the Montreal airport.

The Successes

Upon arriving in Quebec City, I picked up a rental car. But after a drive to the hotel, I parked it for the week.

I missed out on the hotel room block for our conference (the Hilton) and instead stayed about a mile away at the Best Western. I made the walk between the two hotels a total of 10 times (five times each way), but that was only the beginning of my exploration.

I walked across the Plains of Abraham, hallowed ground to French Canadians. It was here during the French and Indian War that the British defeated the French, essentially giving them control of Canada. Today, it’s an expansive park with lots of walking trails.

An added bonus during my visit was seeing the construction of a temporary stage and grandstand for an annual music festival. I even got to hear a rehearsal on Wednesday night, though it was in French so I couldn’t understand a single word.

I made my way along the Promenade de Gouverneurs to the famed Hotel Frontenac. Built as a destination for railroad travelers, the hotel is a stunning piece of architecture that towers over the city and looks out upon the St. Lawrence River.

A highlight of my walks was walking through the old city gates. It was like traveling through time – forward one way, backward the other. The walls that once kept the city safe from its enemies now protect the Vieux-Quebec from the encroachment of downtown modernity.

Over the course of my three days in the city, I walked for a total of 7.5 hours – about 20 miles by my best estimate. Most of it served no purpose other than to explore.

The Results

I ate a lot of calories. I burned a lot of calories. It turns out, I burned more than I ate:

Current Weight: 171.2
Weekly Weight Loss: -1.6
Total Weight Loss: -18.2

After a flat week, it was good to see the results come back this week.

The Week Ahead

Compared to last week, the next seven days are easy. Julie and I are planning a few day trips over the holiday weekend but hopefully our exploration can overcome the extra calories, just like last week.

Greetings from Quebec City, Canada! As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel lobby north of the border where I am attending a marketing research conference.

But that’s not going to stop me from checking in with my weekly update. So here it is, Week 12 of Food Blogger vs. Fat:

The Challenges

It was a crazy week for me that saw me dining out a lot more than usual. Wednesday night I attended a meeting where I ate way too much junk (chocolate chip cookies and lemonade).

Thursday, I visited Normandy Farm Hotel & Conference Center in Blue Bell for their Crab Fest dinner. I don’t eat crab, but I enjoyed everything else on the menu – chicken, sausage and mini S’mores pie.

Friday was our visit to Bixler’s Lodge for my weekly review.

Saturday was the annual The Truck Stops Here: Mobile Madness food truck festival at the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles.

As a foodie and member of the museum, it is one of my favorite events of the year and one that I look forward to every June.

Many of the trucks were repeat visitors, but one new addition that I was excited to try was Philly Fry.

There are two Philly Fry trucks (Red and Blue) operating in South Philadelphia along with a third location inside Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. I love a good French fry so this was my first stop.

Philly Fry offers a wide variety of loaded fries, but I wanted a true taste so I got a small bucket of fries only while my in-laws, who were joining us at the festival for the first time, tried the cheesesteak fries.

I thought the fries were excellent. They were battered and fried to a crisp – the kind of fries that no longer resemble potatoes but are completely irresistible. The cheesesteak fries meanwhile, were topped with shaved steak and melted cheese, with plenty of both to ensure that every bite tasted like the South Philly favorite.

My main entree came from Mom-Mom’s Polish Food Cart. Last year, Julie and I sampled the halupkis and pierogies from this small wagon. This year, I had the kielbasa sandwich.

It was a giant sandwich loaded with homemade sauerkraut that was a perfect complement – not too sour to overpower the flavorful sausage.

After a walk through the museum, the day ended with a stop at the Mister Softee truck for dessert. Julie loves her chocolate-covered ice cream cones and I can’t resist a good Mister Softee milkshake.

The next day, we hosted a Father’s Day picnic at the house complete with burgers, hot dogs and strawberry pretzel pie for dessert so there was no opportunity for my body to recover from Saturday’s feast.

The Successes

While I somehow kept close to my calorie goal through most of the week, I had few moments that I could call “successes.”

I did a lot of walking during the food truck festival and at Crab Fest, but that was a wash with all of the food that I consumed.

Beyond that, I had two lunch walks and spent some time on Saturday and Sunday doing some house cleaning, but other than that, it was a rather uneventful week.

The Results

Last week was a wash. I am hopeful that my weight was actually skewed higher because my heaviest eating days were Saturday and Sunday and that I will have a much more successful week to come.

The Week Ahead

As I mentioned in my intro, I am in Quebec City for a conference. You may have guessed, that means it’s another crazy week for this food blogger.

I fly home tomorrow (Friday) for my second travel day this week. In between, I have attended workshops, listened to lectures, explored the city, and of course, sampled the local cuisine (poutine anyone?). I look forward to sharing those adventures with you in next week’s blog.

It’s week 11 of my journey to better health, and we’re talking Home Chef, volleyball and desserts.

Note: I have moved my weigh-in day from Saturday to Monday to be closer to the blog’s publish date.

The Successes

This week’s successes were twofold.

First, Home Chef continued to deliver with well-portioned meals that helped me make it under my calorie limits.

On Wednesday, Julie and I enjoyed pork tacos al pastor. The three tacos were filled with ground pork, cilantro, shallots and pineapple. With three tacos each for Julie and I, it was plenty of food to where I didn’t need a side. And at 956 calories, it fit right in line with my allotment for dinner.

Friday was the lightest Home Chef meal that I have had so far. The chicken Kiev was delicious and just 496 calories. The pan fried chicken was topped with parsley butter and served with a side of green beans.

Sunday was a grilled sirloin steak salad. Most of the time, Julie is charge of cooking. Sunday was my turn.

It was listed as “intermediate” skill level. I think that just means it uses more dishes and pans because it wasn’t a hard dish to prepare, but it made quite a mess.

The salad dressing was not my favorite – a mixture of mayonnaise, buttermilk, olive oil and dill that didn’t get as thick as I think it should have. But the steak was good and so was the grilled romaine lettuce (I grilled lettuce and I liked it).

My second success was my weekend. The week was light on exercise (see below) but I made up for it starting Saturday night with a 2.8 mile walk along the Union Canal Towpath trail at Gring’s Mill.

Saturday I really let loose with nine holes of disc golf in the morning followed by an afternoon volleyball game at my cousin’s high school graduation party.

I’m not very good at volleyball to begin with. Couple that with the fact that I was 13 to 14 years older than my teammates and opponents, and it was a recipe for a lot of aches and pains. But it was worth 125 calories so at least I had that going for me.

The Challenges

It was hot. Really hot.

That made it hard to get exercise through most of the week – walks at lunch were just not happening. If not for an evening of lawn mowing on Thursday, it would have been a really bad week for me.

I had calories to spare most days, but I didn’t spend them wisely. Instead, I ate a lot of junk:

• Monday: Whoopie Pie
• Tuesday: Popcorn
• Wednesday: Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Thursday: Baklava and Carrot Cake (They were mini desserts, okay?)
• Friday: Whoopie Pie
• Saturday: Banana Cake and Ice Cream Sandwich
• Sunday: Strawberry Shortcake

Basically, I need some non-sweet snacks around the house to take the place of dessert.

The Results

Current Weight: 172.8
Weekly Weight Loss: -0.8
Weight Loss Since Start: -16.6

I was just shy of my one-pound weekly goal, but coming off a week where I lost 1.4 pounds, it was still a great result.

The Week Ahead

This is shaping up to be a crazy week. I have various meetings and events Monday through Thursday, and Friday will likely be a bloggable meal so that doesn’t leave a lot of opportunity for evening exercise.

It’s also still hot. So lunchtime walks, if they happen, will be short.

Also, I’m going to make a pig out of myself on Saturday at the annual “The Truck Stops Here: Mobile Madness” food truck festival at the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles. If you love food, cars, local history or any combination of the three, I hope I see you there because it really is a fun event with some creative food trucks at an amazing hidden gem of a museum.

It’s the 10th week of my journey to better health. This week, we celebrate three things: Memorial Day, NASCAR and my birthday.

The Successes

As mentioned last week, I spent the past weekend at Dover International Speedway.

I am fortunate enough that I’m not attending just as a fan, but as an employee of the track.

My friend Lynn is Dover’s Social Media Manager. She and I were interns together four years ago and bonded over a love of racing.

So when she realized that she needed help on race weekends, she called me. This was my sixth race weekend as her assistant.

My job is basically to be everywhere, hopping between driver appearances, pit road and events around the track, taking pictures and posting to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

I get to do a lot of amazing things – I drove Dover’s official pace car, shot a t-shirt gun and ate a slice of Richard Petty’s birthday cake (more on that later).

I also walked. A lot. Walking is my preferred method of getting around the speedway. The track is one-mile around so everytime that I walked from the infield media center – home base for the race – to the fan zone, I was walking about a mile each way. I did that multiple times throughout the three days while doing shorter walks and a lot of standing.

It was a great weekend, and I got plenty of exercise, but it was almost impossible for me to quantify it in my Lose It app.

The Challenges

This was a week that presented an array of temptations.

It started with Memorial Day weekend and a Sunday picnic of hamburgers, baked beans, ice cream cake and strawberry pie.

Monday was worse. We had pizza for lunch. And at dinner, there were more hamburgers on the menu, plus potato chips, chocolate zucchini bread and ice cream.

Tuesday was Shady Maple Day (aka my birthday). We went for breakfast, and I was as disciplined as I could possibly be (baked French toast, potatoes and an apple cinnamon pancake), I still couldn’t keep within my calorie limit for the day.

The birthday celebration continued on Wednesday with cannoli dip at work and Rita’s custard after dinner.

My weekend at the races followed. For all of the walking that I did, I did just as much eating. Meals were served buffet style – enchiladas, pulled pork sandwiches and manicotti were among the menu options.

And I couldn’t resist the chocolate chip cookies, Oreos and popcorn that were there for the taking in the Media Center.

Sunday was the best of times and the worst times. I ate a slice of Richard Petty’s birthday cake – a delicious piece of art created by Desserts by Dana – a former winner of TLC’s Cake Boss. This was better than 99 percent of cakes that I have tried. The layers of frosting were the perfect level of sweet. The cake itself was light and airy. It was perfect.

If that wasn’t bad enough, I stopped at McDonald’s on the way home. Not my proudest moment, but if you’ve ever driven between Dover, Delaware and Reading via Routes 41 and 10, you know that there are not a lot of options.

The Results

Current Weight: 173.6
Weekly Weight Loss: -1.4
Weight Loss Since Start: -15.8

I know I did a lot of walking, but even I am shocked by the results. I was going to be happy to just break even. Instead, I was right on pace (given the extra two days before my weigh-in).

The Week Ahead

It’s a return to normalcy this week. No racing. No birthday celebrations. No reason to not make my goals.

It’s Week 9 of Food Blogger vs. Fat, and in this week’s update, I take my bike for a couple spins and eat a little too much at a wedding.

Successes

This was the week where I finally took my bicycle out for a spin.

On Sunday afternoon, I met my brother in Hamburg for a ride on the Schulykill River Trail. A six-mile stretch of the SRT leads north from Hamburg, mostly paralleling Route 61 into Schuylkill County.

The 12-mile round-trip takes me about an hour. The grade is slight – uphill heading out and downhill coming back (a lot better than trying to do it the other way around).

Less than a half-mile into the ride, the trail crosses a historic trestle, carrying riders over the Reading and Northern rail line.

The trail and rail continue along the same route through Port Clinton, where the railroad’s passenger cars sit idle at the station.

Shortly beyond Port Clinton, the trail slips out of Berks and into Schuylkill County for the rest of the ride.

After six miles, the trail comes to a sudden stop. A pair of picinic benches and a chain link fence mark the northern-most point of the trail.

On the other side of the fence, a long-abandoned railroad bridge lays in disrepair. It stands as a reminder, both of the trail’s railroad heritage and of the signficant work that still remains to make the completed Schuylkill River Trail a reality.

I had a second opportunity to bring the bike out on Friday afternoon.

After closing the office early, I had a few hours to myself before Julie arrived home so I decided to go for a quick ride along the Union Canal Trail.

Starting off at the Berks Leisure Area (the small picnic area near the Country Meadows retirement community and the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead), it’s a roughly 7.5-mile round-trip to Reber’s Bridge and back.

I averaged 12 miles per hour along the ride – a steady five-minute mile pace, though it was much faster on the downhill return trip.

As far as calories, the two rides were worth 489 and 326, respectively, setting me in excellent shape for the week.

The Challenges

As mentioned in last week’s blog, Saturday was spent attending a wedding. Weddings are hit-and-miss on the food. This one was a hit.

The buffet – always dangerous – included chicken francaise, eggplant rollatini, penne pasta and several more entree options. There was also a desert buffet, and of course, wedding cake.

Based on my calculations, I ate about 1,100 calories. It was one of my heaviest meals since beginning my diet.

But it was all worth it. Especially for the eggplant rollatini, an amazing vegetarian friendly dish of fried eggplant stuffed with ricotta.

After that, the week went according to plan and I have been under my calorie count ever since.

The Results

Current Weight: 175.0
Weekly Weight Loss: -2.0
Weight Loss Since Start: 14.4

It was a fantastic result, and one that I needed going into this week.

The Week Ahead

This is the craziest week of my year. Memorial Day and picnicking is just the start. Tuesday is my birthday, and I am going to celebrate the only way I know how: with a trip to Shady Maple.

If that weren’t enough, I have Fightins tickets for Wednesday night. And Thursday night, I leave for my twice-a-year trip to Dover International Speedway for NASCAR weekend.

That means three days of walking but also three days of eating less-than-healthy. This week’s weigh-in will have to wait until Monday. That’s when we’ll see how much damage was done.

Seven weeks and 11 pounds are behind me as we reach the eighth installment of Food Blogger vs. Fat, my journey to better health through better eating and exercise. Here’s a look at the week that was May 13 – 19.

Successes

Recently, I wrote about Graze and how healthy snacking has helped me achieve my goals.

This week, I want to talk about another subscription service that has helped both Julie and me: Home Chef.

Home Chef is meal-in-a-box delivery service similar to the more popular Blue Apron or Hello Fresh. As a subscriber, we choose our menus for the week, and on Wednesday, a box arrives with the ingredients for three full meals, including meats, sides and garnish.

We had experimented with all three aforementioned delivery services in the past and found Home Chef to have the best food – more inspired dishes that were closer to restaurant quality.

Each meal comes with a recipe card that includes illustrated instructions and nutritional information. But most importantly for me, they’re perfectly portioned for two. There’s no waste and no temptation to overindulge.

Last week’s menu was a reminder of why we love the service so much.

Our first meal was veggie sloppy Joes with sweet potato rounds. In place of ground beef, the sloppy Joe was made with button mushrooms (Georgio brand) that were mixed with shallots, walnuts, taco seasoning, crushed tomatoes, ketchup and honey.

It was served between two slices of Texas Toast and it was amazing, one of the best vegetarian meals that I have eaten at home or elsewhere. The sweet potatoes on the side were the perfect compliment. Best of all, it filled me up just as much as a “real” sloppy Joe.

Thursday night was our first repeat meal with Home Chef: chicken with basil-pecorino cream sauce and roasted vegetables.

A note on our menu card from the first time simply reads, “excellent!” And it is.

The cream sauce is incredible – a mix of heavy cream, pecorino cheese, basil pesto and butter. It serves as the bed for the chicken, which is already coated in pecorino and pesto. It’s sweet, rich and creamy, and pairs perfectly with the chicken. Of course, I sop up whatever is left with the red potato and bell pepper.

The final component of last week’s box was steak Wellington with roasted carrots and mushroom demi-glace.

Georgio mushrooms were again featured, both in the sauce and in the pastry wrap with the steak. The carrots were well-seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme. And the demi-glace was delicious, giving a salty-sweet flavor to the steak.

As far as calorie-counting, it was three meals and three victories. The meals clocked in at 652, 830 and 800 total calories, respectively. Each one fit perfectly into my daily goal of 2000 calories.

The Challenges

Monday was the rough day. As I mentioned in last week’s blog, it was the day of the Montco Golf Classic, an event produced by my office that included lunch, dinner and on-course snacks.

I came in 427 calories over my daily budget (I would have been fine if I hadn’t indulged in the rigatoni sample from Maggiano’s or the vanilla soft serve at the end of the day).

The rest of the week was routine. With me hitting my budget every day, I was able to make up for my Monday and finish the week within 17 calories of my budgeted allowance.

The Results

This Week’s Weight: 177.0
Weekly Weight Loss: -1.0
Total: Weight Loss: -12.4

The plan worked exactly as it was supposed to. I had calories budgeted to lose one pound. I made it through the week on budget, and I lost one pound. I couldn’t have asked for a better week.

The Week Ahead

As always, I’m writing this on Saturday so by the time you read this, most of these things will have already happened.

This evening is the wedding of my college roommate and his best friend. Julie and I will be celebrating the wedding of Brian Ziller and Gina Biagiotti with our friends and trying to not overindulge on wedding cake.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I have a bike ride scheduled with my brother – 12 miles, here goes nothing – to hopefully offset any damage done at the wedding.

Other than the persistent rain that has marked this month, it’s a normal week and shouldn’t present too many challenges.

That means  a week of no excuses.