(In other by-the-numbers news, my jean size has dropped from 38 to 34 in that same period of time… and I’m now buying medium t-shirts for the first time since I was 14.)

People have been asking me about what I’ve been doing to drop weight… and to quote a colleague of mine who has also dropped a lot of weight recently, “it’s 90% what you put in your mouth.”  Granted – I’ve been on a pretty regimented gym routine – but I attribute a lot of the shrinking to changing my eating habits.

But the weight loss does come at the expense of my palate and some favourite things I used to chow down on that I don’t anymore.  So… here it is.  The list of five things I don’t eat anymore (but kinda miss)…

1.  KFC Gravy

The Colonel had a secret recipe not only for great chicken, but also for a killer gravy.  And killer indeed.  An individual serving clocks in at 100 calories (63 of those from fat), 7g of fat, and 750mg of sodium.  Yikes!  Still… I kinda miss it…

2.  McDonald’s anything…

Back in January, I had a craving for McDonald’s that I had to satisfy.  So, on my way home from work I picked up a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Medium Fries, and a Diet Coke.  After not having eaten McD’s for some time, it was the most vile thing I had eaten in a long time.  Simply put… every time I get a craving for something from the golden arches, I think of that experience back in Janaury (and how ill I felt afterward), and I remember why I don’t eat there anymore.

3.  Starbucks Sweets…

Mmmm… Venti Coffee Frappuccino… Venti Non-Fat Caramel Macchiato… Apple Fritters… They all taste so good.  And are soooo sugar filled.  I’ve nuked them all from my Starbucks routine.  Today, I’m a Venti Americano guy, and if I’m craving something sweet, I’ll reach for a Tall Black Tea Shaken Lemonade (and that is a rare treat.)

4.  Chocolate (kind of)

I shouldn’t say I’ve eliminated chocolate completely from my life.  It’s the one thing I simply can’t nuke.  But I’ve changed how I consume it.  I might go for a single Mars bar per week.  Or a handful of M&Ms from the quarter vending machine in the kitchen at work.  But I don’t keep it in the house.  And usually if I’m reaching for a chocolate bar, it’s a comfort thing — so it’s a good chance to check up on my “how am I feeling” factor…

5.  Cookies

Again, I’ll never turn down the rare offer of a cookie from a friend (thanks to JGL producer Tammy on Thursday for bringing in some fab oatmeal-raisin cookies from Tastebuds), but I don’t actively seek out cookies anymore.  Chewy chocolate chip have always been the go-to thing for me… and buying a bag of them would usually end up seeing them devoured in a single night.  

So, while I’ve excised five things I loved from my diet, there are five things I do eat with some routine or regularity…

1.  Almonds

These are the ultimate go-to snack at work for me.  I keep a bag on my desk, and when I get the munchies I grab about half-a-handful.  They are protein and fiber-rich, and are good for keeping me from wanting to snack.

2.  Chicken

I love chicken.  I always have.  At home, I usually prepare it as a stirfry.  I often pick a lot of prepared-lunches with it in (ie: SmartOnes Chicken Parmesan, Lean Cuisine Chicken Carbonara).  I’m a huge fan of using chicken as much as possible…

3.  Hamburgers

Yes.  Hamburgers.  This is the once a week treat that I can totally justify.  The patties I buy are the Safeway Eating Right Extra Lean Steakhouse burgers.  They are low in sodium… and taste awesome.  They let me get away feeling I’m still eating a hamburger without all the crap found in fast food ones…

4.  Apples

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right?  They’re one of the few sources of sugar I take in on a daily basis.  Juicy and tasty and good-for-you.

5.  Rice

I can’t remember the last time I cooked a potato.  But I really love using rice if I need a starch with a meal.  It really adapts well to many different flavours, and is easy to cook.

So there you have it… not a food diary per se, but a tiny glimpse in to what I’m eating (and what I’m not).

The group is Justice. The album is called Cross. Yes… it’s 4 years old. Far be it for me to pretend like I’m discovering it… but it sounded awesome. The whole album is solid and I am now officially a fan.

Also on the interwebs, a TV show I used to watch when I was much younger (oh… in my early 20s) has now found a new life online. MTV’s Undressed was kitschy to some, sleazy to others, and just plain fun for folks like me. The story lines are hilarious… the acting is so-so… and the show is solid. One episode per week is now being posted at UndressedTV.com.

Finally, as you might have gathered by now I’m a huge fan of Twitter. Well, now you can track my stats (and those of others) — seeing just how often we tweet, and what we’re tweeting about. Check it…

That is all.

+J

Bike talk time is 2:58.

WTF. They’re BLASTING Jesse McCartney’s “Beautiful Soul” right now. I thought this was supposed to be “power hour” with “loud music” and “explicit lyrics”. Boo. Cue the Eminem in my earphones.

There. That is much better. Eminem is such an angry old man. That anger translates well when trying to burn a few calories.

In case I haven’t had a chance to brag to you, my magic digits these days are 214. Yep. 214 pounds is where I’m currently at, down from 235 at the end of November. The goal is still 29 pounds away when I get to 185 (and I WILL get there!) People (don’t) ask me “John, how’d you do it?” The answer is simple – a highly disciplined diet, working out 4-5 times a week, and routines.

The food was an easy thing to fix. Yeah, there is still dinner out with friends, but I’m smart about it – and I do build an occasional cheat in to my food planning. I also graze at work – lots of almonds, fruit twice a day, and portioned, pre-packed lunches. (Yep – they have a little more sodium than I’d care to get in one serving, but it’s the portioning that matters most to me.)

The thing I realize (and it is a sad realization) is that to keep the momentum up, I’m probably going to have to shake everything up again going to a new level of routine, hard work, and discipline. But I think I’m ready.

Bike talk time is 15:20. (Yes, I’m a slow iPhone typist.)

Speaking of food, two of the guys from Frozen have embarked on something that is in my list of “100 things” – going veggie. @dejong and @selfreflexion have been solid on the veggie front for some time now. I have to admit, I’ve tried veggie stuff a few times with various results. Yves Mexican ground round is sweet for tacos. But what turned me off the veggie train were a couple of veggie burgers I picked up about 2 years ago. It was like eating paste. Not good.

All that said, the guys swear by extra firm tofu. Hmm. Might have to find an excuse to use it.

Bike talk time is 21:02.

Remember that episode of “The Office” where they’re participating in “Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meridith Palmer Memorial Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure”? I always have visions of Andy Bernard in that episode whenever some hardcore guy gets on a treadmill next to me at the gym.

Bike talk time is 28:30.

There are now dolls in the image of President Obama’s daughters? That is reeeeeally disturbing.

On that note, I’m going to wind things up. Coming up on cool down time here and I plan to enjoy the ride.

Later!

+J

Some things are a little wild, some things are a little tame, some are a little on the bizarre (and possibly out-of-character) side.  Some things will take a lot of work and a little luck, others will be easy to cross off.

Regardless, these are my 100 things.  What are yours?

100 things to do before I die (in no particular order) :

1.  Visit Belgium.

2.  Backpack across Europe.

3.  Get in a hockey fight.

4.  Go to a European soccer match, and sit with the rowdies.

5.  Be an extra in a movie.

6.  Work for CNN.

7.  Write a screenplay.

8.  Be free.  (Debt free, responsibility free — just free.)

9.  Spend New Years in Times Square.

10.  Be the centre of attention on a red carpet.

11.  Become “internet-famous” (even if for only 15 minutes.)

12.  Learn to skateboard.

13.  Be quoted in Time Magazine.  (Bonus points if my picture is in it!)

14.  Take the red eye from LA to New York.

15.  Launch an internet start-up

16.  Spend a month on sabbatical from the internet.

17.  Get lean.

18.  Grow a mustache (only to shave it off and never let it grow back again.)

19.  Meet Oprah.

20.  Study a non-Christian religion.

21.  Try being a vegetarian for a month.

22.  Write a song.

23.  Ski a double black diamond run at Whistler-Blackcomb.

24.  Go on a completely unplanned road trip.

25.  Be a barista at Starbucks.

26.  Visit Vietnam and Thailand.

27.  Have a long distance (500+ km) relationship.

28.  Learn to tango.

29.  Be fit enough to do the parallel bar dip.

30.  Live in Vancouver.

31.  Stay at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.

32.  Shoot, write, edit, produce a documentary.

33.  Be on a reality TV show.

34.  Treat my parents to an international vacation.

35.  Hang out backstage one-on-one with a rock hero.  (I have a few to choose from.)

36.  Unwittingly be “the other man.”

37.  Learn Japanese.

38.  Close down a small town bar.

39.  Go on stage and bomb horribly during an open mic night at a comedy club.

40.  Master snowboarding.

41.  Be stranded somewhere on Christmas.

42.  Crash a wedding.

43.  Invent something.

44.  Be caught up in a protest. (Not necessarily participating…)

45.  Go on a humanitarian mission.

46.  Grow, maintain, and harvest a garden.

47.  Be arm-candy at a black-tie event.

48.  Own at least 1 share in each of of AAPL, GOOG, and MSFT.

49.  Ghostwrite a book.

50.  Go on a LONG hike in the mountains.

51.  Serve Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen.

52.  Fall asleep at my desk.

53.  Throw a huge house party.

54.  Get a tattoo.

55.  Spend a winter working at a mountain resort.

56.  Learn to surf.

57.  Storm out on a date.

58.  Learn to play the piano.

59.  Have a blog posting dugg to the front page on Digg

60.  Fast.

61.  Run a marathon (or a half marathon).

62.  Join an improv group.

63.  Tour a chocolate factory.

64.  Volunteer for a major event.

65.  Be in a boxing match… and win.

66.  Camp out at a major music festival (Bonnaroo, ACL, etc.).

67.  Go watch Saturday Night Live in person.

68.  Write a script for a TV pilot.

69.  Be storm-stayed at a truck stop overnight.

70.  Create an application for the iPhone.

71.  Have a holiday not unlike that portrayed in “Sideways”. (Minus the whole nefarious affair, and forgetting one’s pants at a woman’s house…)

72.  Solve a mystery Scooby-Doo style.

73.  Act in a Shakespearean play.

74.  See Ben Folds live in concert.

75.  Be *that* reporter during a hurricane (you know… standing outside, holding on to a garbage can, and hoping not to fly away.)

76.  Help build a Habitat for Humanity home.

77.  Be a bartender (like for real – not just at a social gathering.)

78.  Work retail one year during Christmas shopping season. (As a part-time gig… to see how people get treated.)

79.  Have dinner with the Prime Minister.

80.  Go to a geeky convention (ComicCon, CES, MacWorld).

81.  Attend a hockey game at Madison Square Garden.

82.  Learn a martial art of some sort.

83.  Write something for Wired Magazine.

84.  Be part of a broadcasting team covering a major emergency (24+ hours of continuous coverage.)

85.  Build something out of wood.

86.  Simply *attend* (not plan, organize, cover or otherwise be part of the staging of) a Hollywood VIP party.

87.  Meet Sidney Crosby. (Fitting…)

88.  Get a piercing.

89.  Go skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa / at Rockefeller Center in NYC.

90.  Make a scene.  In public.  Loudly.

91.  Learn yoga.

92.  Go to an old fashioned, deep south, Texas-style barbeque.

93.  Make an impromptu trip to see something I’m passionate about (a show, a band, something.)

94.  Go to a major movie festival.

95.  Acquire a taste for sushi.

96.  Try wakeboarding.

97.  Spend a day eating fast food in Los Angeles with Zsa Zsa Gabor while cruising around in a convertible. Barring that, spend a day cruising around Los Angeles in a convertible.

98.  Learn rock climbing.

99.  Own a motorcycle.  (Sorry, Mom.)

100.  Knit something (toque, scarf, or sweater.)

If I was in Saskatoon or Regina, I would have been lined up outside the big box meccas of consumerism like Best Buy or Future Shop. But I’m not in the city today. I’m back behind the garlic curtain — in Yorkton.

A quick drive down Broadway at 7am confirmed one thing : there indeed are only a handful of places to go Boxing Day wild. I’m standing in one of them now as I type … Wal-Mart. (I **was** at Zellers… but that was just wrong.)

Granted… I’m going to find a good deal of some kind here… But it just doesn’t have the same geeky afterglow of shopping at an electronics temple.

Want to see pix?  They’re up on Flickr.

Last week was spent behind the ‘Garlic Curtain’ (aka Yorkton) visiting the family. It has been a while since I travelled home, so this was a good catch up visit complete with rich, hearty, homestyle food. It was so tasty -yet bad for the waistline. That said, it’s home cooking and it is hard to beat.

While I was in Yorkton, I was relatively stranded from the social grid (save for my Macbook Pro) because my iPhone decided not to work. It simply wouldn’t detect the EDGE network, cutting me off from cell phone calls, text messages and the mobile web. It was amazing how quickly I got used to not having my phone handy at all times to do simple things like quickly looking something up on Google, or posting a witty – yet salient – quip to Twitter. By the time I hit the road on Friday, it was a total surprise to not only hear my phone ring, but to have stable service.

However, when my phone DID ring, I was dismayed that it was (yet again) for the folks who owned the number before I did. It seems they have a collection agency chasing them, and it’s the kind of one that uses a robocaller to make outbound calls. I tried calling in to the number once to tell them they have the wrong number, but after a 45 minute wait on hold, I said ’screw it’ and just started ignoring the calls. By the end of the week lady week, the calls were approaching two-a-day. That is when the straw broke the camel’s back. I called Rogers and got them to change the number. (They even did it at no charge!). Since then? No annoying calls. Hurrah!

Bike talk time is 15:10.

This weekend also saw me complete the purchase of all the gear I need to to and hurt myself in the mountains. I am quite proud to say I now own a snowboard jacket, pants, mitts, a new beanie, and wrist guards. Oh. And. A base layer. All I need to do now is rent a board and boots, and I’m set.

Going snowboarding is going to be one hell of a fun week. For the last three years, I’ve kept on saying I’d to and learn… And now I’m finally going. Whether I’d not I’m any good is beside the point. It’s all about having fun. And not breaking any limbs. And, if I yen turn out to be even half hood? I’ll have a new winter hobby.

The only thing left to do before heading off for the mountains is to get a haircut. Right now, I’m between three options. The least offensive (and probably most-worth-the-value) us to go to Angles and get the ol faux hawk. It is versatile, and wears well both for work and play. U could shave it all off again (which isn’t a bad thing since cold weather season is near and I get touque head somethig bad.) The other options I’m considering (and mom – because she reads this blog – cover your eyes) is to go for the shaved down mohawk landing strip… which could make me look particularily badass, and be easily converted to a plain ok shaved head upon my return to work.

Ahhhh. Decisions, decisions. What to to, what to do. (Your suggestions are welcome in the comments… )

Bike talk time is 27:20.

And with that, I’m going to wrap up yet another blog post from a stationary bike. It’s been a slice!

+J

I just finished reading Tribes by Seth Godin.  It is a fantastic book talking about the daring we all must embark upon in order to lead others.  

Read it.

+J

Lately, I’ve been bringing my iPhone in to the gym more and more during my cardio for the benefit of extra music to listen to (compared to my Shuffle that I use while doing weights), and to watch videos like Diggnation. But I rarely surf or text because both hands are often on the treadmill or the elliptical.

So far – impressed with the performance of the Wordpress app. No formatting options, but I’ll survive

ADD moment : BC just lost! Home playoff game for the Riders! (Ok… Like I care. But still, home playoff game = good radio!)

Speaking of riders. Riding. Anowbpaes. (That was supposed to be ‘Snowboards’…) In case you don’t read my tweets or Facebook, I’m going snowboarding at Sunshine this month. Or at least I’m supposed to be. Called the hill today to book my package, and they’re unsure if they’ll have enough snow to open in 9 days from now. So, I might have to plan to go during my last week of holidays instead of the first week. Need to book soon, regardless.

Gym Talk time is 15:20.

In other randomness… I recently signed up for Movie Central again. For those who knew me as a kid, you’ll never believe this, but I don’t watch a lot of tv anymore. Except in winter. And Saskatoon winters are effing cold.

The upside to Movie Central now is the new HBO Canada channel, which has all my face HBO shows in one place. Boo-urns to Shaw, though, for not getting the program guide working properly at launch, causing me to miss the first 5 episodes of this season’s Entourage. Grr.

Well, by the look of the timer on the bike, by time here is done. Laterz.

+J