Gaining Belly, Losing Mind

Restaurant food is designed to kill you. Slowly. It makes you fat and slowly destroys you. It is simply impossible to eat out often and keep your weight under control. I can’t at least, and I have proved that over and over, but my latest episode with this phenomenon has me really rattled.

I weigh every morning so I can detect patterns between what I eat and what I weigh. Last night my wife and I met some friends at the Crystal Grill one of Greenwood’s landmark eateries. I swam first to create a calorie deficit. The water at Twin Rivers was 72 degrees. That is starting to get a little chilly for me. Then at the Crystal, I ordered a grilled salmon salad and drank water. After I got home, knowing how restaurant food is, I went out for a 4.2 mile run followed by a .25 mile walk to try to burn off some of that salad. Did I mention the dressing was a light vinaigrette sort of thing? Did I mention I ate a salad? Did I mention the salmon was grilled?
This morning my weight was:

a)   The same as the day before

b)   Less than the day before

c)   More than the day before by just a little bit

The answer is

d) more than the day before by 1.4 pounds!

I have conducted similar experiments dozens of times in the past. The scales always the scream the same song the next morning. If I eat at a restaurant, no matter how much I exercise and no matter what I eat or how little of it, the result is always the same: I gain weight and it takes several days for that weight to leave my body.

Several days of hard work.

Just thought I’d let you know why you’re fat. You’re welcome.

Back to the training front. Monday I rode my bicycle to work, lifted weights in the afternoon and after night class I ran 9.6 miles. Tuesday I swam 2,800 meters, ran 4.2 miles, rode my bike to school, walked .26 miles, ate a salad, and gained 1.4 pounds. Congratulations to myself.

Wednesday was not one of my better ones at work. My frustration with one of my Comp II class has been growing. They are struggling to write one paragraph every three and a half days. Most of them are. Others are bored out of their minds. It seems like I have two extremes of students: bright and not so much.

I lifted weights in the afternoon and went out for a 5.22 mile run after night class. By Thursday morning I had only lost .8 of the weight gain from Tuesday night. To say I am a little pissed would be a huge understatement. I need my long adventure run which I probably can’t do Friday because I have to take a family member for a surgery in Jackson. Maybe I can do it that afternoon. If not, I will have to settle for an out-and-back Saturday on Money Road.