I had a chupaqueso this evening. Mozzarella shell (standard low-skim/part-milk stuff, not fresh) and Mild cheddar filling. Thanks to a slight pan malfunction (I should have used the griddle) I overcooked the shell just a bit, but the end result was still delicious.

I shared a few bites with the children. Patches (the 2-year-old) asked his usual “Is it yum?” question. I said yes, and gave him some.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Chupaqueso,” I answered.

He gobbled his first bite down, chewing very thoroughly (cooked mozzarella can be like that).

“I want more chupaqueso”

He got two bites before I finished it off. He asked for more, and I held up my empty plate and announced “it’s all gone.”

“You need to have more” he told me.

“*I* need to have more? For me, or for YOU?” I looked over my glasses at him.

He scowled at me. Lucky for him, Sandra was in the mood to give it a shot, and she cooked while I moved on to other things.

That blasted shoulder separation incident REALLY set me back.

1) It got me out of the exercise habit.
2) It got me dependent on external sources for pleasure-center stimulation (6 weeks of Lortab)
3) I broke the Lortab dependency with comfort food…
4) My diet shifted from a nice, medium-carb maintenance diet to being heavy on starches and sugars
5) I didn’t get back into the exercise habit

The result: I’m 10 pounds heavier. I’m officially “obese” for my height, since I’m about 25 pounds heavier than I should be, and I’m about 40 pounds over the 8% body fat weight I consider “fighting trim.” My energy levels are low, and I guess it’s a good thing I’m working at home since I seem to need about 10 hours of sleep per day. That’s 8 hours each night, plus two one-hour “not-really-a-power-nap” naps.

Enough is enough.

Low-carb dieting has always worked well for me, but it’s expensive. Well, last week Sandra and I decided that we’ll go ahead and spend the extra $100 or so each month, and put me back on the low-carb wagon. Last night I fried some egg-dipped mozzerella before bed. This morning I had cold ham for breakfast. Then I went shopping.

Mid-morning I had fresh mozzerella drizzled in olive oil. Midday, while pencilling, I snacked on hot chicken broth and celery sticks. I popped a few Li’l Smokies in the afternoon, and then headed for the gym. After a nice 45-minute workout, I came home where for dinner I had a low-carb Masaman curry — grilled chicken, not-lite coconut milk, masaman curry paste, and 5 packets of Splenda.

My energy levels are already starting to pick up. And good grief… I ate CELERY. And LIKED IT. The urinalysis kit (ketostix from Bayer) shows that I’m already pissing trace amounts of ketones, which means my metabolism is shifting from “sugar-on-the-fly” to “fat-burning.” Tomorrow I’ll be far enough into ketosis that I can start digging into actual salads: romaine lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, ranch dressing, and real chunks of crumbled bacon.

I’ll really miss buttered toast with my eggs at breakfast. And grits. And Nesquik (there isn’t any in the house — it’s too tempting). But if I can get my energy levels back up and drop 15 pounds between now and Christmas (5 pounds a week, I’ve done it before), it’ll be worth it.

–Howard

(p.s. Anyone feeling compelled to post anti-low-carb diatribes may take comfort in the fact that I’ll read your post at least once before deleting it. I’ve heard it all before, and I know what works for me. You don’t.)

From this article about the local historic railroad’s annual “Polar Express” Christmas ride. The article is about how they’re two cars short this year, which means they can sell fewer seats per ride, which in turn means that thousands of children won’t be able to ride the train to see Santa Claus.

The quote that drew me into the article (but not my favorite by a long shot) was “A freak railroad accident has meant that more than 1,000 Utah children will have to look elsewhere to visit Santa Claus this year.”

No, HERE is the best quote, set apart in its own paragraph 3/4 of the way through the article, during a description of how wonderful the train ride can be:

“One small child screamed in terror when handed to the bearded man for a photo.”

Ah, Christmas. The season warms the cockles of my heart.

All the way at the bottom of this article:

But Debbie Goetzke of West Allis, Wisconsin, said she loves the frenetic pace of Thanksgiving weekend shopping. She headed out at 8 a.m. Thursday to buy a newspaper for the ads so she could start planning her Friday shopping strategy.

“I finished my Christmas shopping in the beginning of October,” she said. “I just go out on Friday because I love the hustle and bustle.”

I guess the hustle and bustle is more fun if you can park at the far end of the lot and not care, because you’re not going to be carrying anything.