Back To More Fun -- 189 lbs (-40) [6X]

As fun as it's been eating whatever I want whenever I feel like it, I can honestly say that The Whisky Diet is more fun. Although I've been loading up on the crap I've been avoiding (ice cream, burgers, subs, donuts, pizza) rather than gourmet food, I am not enjoying it as much as I used to (at least according to my fallible memory). It's still fun, mind you, but it is a meaningless fun--devoid of challenge, learning, and complexity. After a lifetime of thumbing my nose at gourmet food, I can imagine it being a deeper fun, so perhaps I will give that lifestyle a try if I ever have the time and money for it. But for now, I have decided to jump off the wagon next weekend, and make scotch my sole playground, before I gain too much of the weight I lost.

Why scotch? I had already been gravitating towards scotch when I started seriously exploring different whiskies. Whereas I used to hate the smoky, peaty scotches, my taste buds did a 180 on this diet and now I love them. I have this romantic notion that they represent the purest form of earth that can be metabolized by humans. That is probably the purest form of BS, but the elicited emotion, the physiological effects, the fascinating history, and the dieting results are all very real and deeply fun. While I enjoy all types of whiskies, scotch currently feels most worthy of long-term, exploratory focus, inasmuch as I can afford it. Fate sealed the deal when I got hospital-sick on Canadian whisky and Irish whiskey, so those are out for now--though I may dabble in scotch-style blends and single malts from outside Scotland, especially where the opportunity feels right.

So, enough jibber jabber. Here's what's on the menu for December:
● Monarch of the Glen 3yr
● Old Crofter Scotch
● Ballantine's
● Dewar's
● Famous Grouse
● White Horse
● J & B Scotch
● Johnnie Walker Black
● Glenlivet 12 Yr
● Hamilton's Highland Regional Malt
● Hamilton's Speyside Regional Malt
● Hamilton's Lowland Regional Malt
● Hamilton's Islay Regional Malt

What I consumed Saturday -- 189 lbs (-40) [6X]:
● Yea's Wok egg roll
● 4 bites McDonald's pancake w/ syrup
● 6 oz instant buttered rum drink
● Plate of Yea's Wok Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Ginger Sauce
● Frost Doughnuts Pumpkin Walnut Fritter & White Chocolate Raspberry Old Fashioned
● Half Papa John's large, thin pepperoni, sausage, and spicy sausage pizza w/ Tabasco Buffalo Wing sauce
● 16 cheddar cheese cubes
● Slice Papa John's cheese pizza
● Apple slice
● 2 gummi bears
● Coffee w/ 2 tsp fiber

What I consumed Friday -- 188 lbs (-41) [4X]:
● Big slice Marie Callender's apple pie
● 2 mouthfuls Nissin Cup Noodles
● 5 pieces Yea's Wok General Tsao's Chicken
● Starbucks Cranberry Bliss bar
● .67 Starbucks snowman cookie
● Plate of Yea's Wok Sautéed String Beans with Tofu
● Plate of Yea's Wok Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Ginger Sauce
● 10 Rold Gold tiny twist pretzels dipped in Jif chocolate silk peanut butter
● Slice Marie Callender's apple pie
● 13 Ritz crackers w/ 2 slices of swiss & 2 slices of cheddar cheese

What I consumed Thursday -- 189 lbs (-40) [5X]:
● Coffee w/ 2 tsp fiber
● McDonald's sausage, egg, & cheese McGriddle
● 7 bites McDonald's pancake w/ syrup
● Cheese-only lasagna w/ 2 turkey meatballs
● Most of large popcorn at movies
● Yea's Wok egg roll
● Half Yea's Wok Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Ginger Sauce
● 3 pieces Yea's Wok General Tsao's Chicken
● Big slice Marie Callender's apple pie

What I consumed Wedneday -- 187 lbs (-42) [3X]:
● Trader Joe's pumpkin bar
● Starbucks old-fashion chocolate donut
● McDonald's Big Mac meal
● .75 McDonald's CBO grilled chicken sandwich
● Spaghetti w/ sauce, 3 turkey meatballs, grated parmesan, & 2 slices of garlic bread
● 6 Golden Butter crackers
● Coffee w/ 2 tbsp milk & 1 sugar cube

What I consumed Tuesday -- 188 lbs (-41) [3X]:
● Trader Joe's pumpkin bar
● 6 Pepperidge Farm Harvest Wheat & 6 Golden Butter crackers w/ 2 slices of swiss & 1 slice of cheddar cheese
● Banana & 2 apple slices w/ Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dream peanut butter
● Half peanut butter & jelly sandwich
● Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theater Butter popcorn
● Red Robin Tropical Sunburn Tavern Burger
● Red Robin fries & half grilled cheese sandwich dipped in sweet onion & bacon sauce

Intro Video -- 187 lbs (-42) [2X]

Without whisky or work to distract me this week, I'm having a bit of fun putting on a bunch of weight I lost. My new wager with myself is how much weight will I gain on before resuming the diet?

Meanwhile, I put together this video about some of my recent experiences:



What I consumed Monday -- 187 lbs (-42) [2X]:
● Carrot bread
● Krispy Kreme sour cream donut
● Couple of bites Nissin Cup Noodles
● Subway 6-inch hot pastrami sub on Italian Herbs & Cheese bread
● Bowl of Breyer's strawberry ice cream
● 17 Pepperidge Farm Harvest Wheat crackers w/ 2 slices of swiss & 2 slices of cheddar cheese
● .5+ peanut butter & jelly sandwich
● 3 scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, 4.3 slices bacon on toast w/ ketchup & tabasco
● Bunch of asparagus

What I consumed Sunday -- 186 lbs (-43) [6X]:
● McDonald's egg, bacon, & cheese sandwich (half the biscuit)
● Starbuck's apple fritter
● Taco-seasoned ground beef w/ lettuce, grated cheddar, and Newman's Own lite Italian dressing
● Krispy Kreme Banana Kreme & Strawberry donuts
● One-third bag Snyder's buffalo wing pretzels
● 10 green grapes
● Cheese-only lasagna
● Carrot bread

What I consumed Saturday -- 186 lbs (-43) [5X]:
● McDonald's egg, bacon, & cheese sandwich
● McDonald's hash brown
● 2 mini Dum Dum lollipops
● 16 Rold Gold tiny twist pretzels
● Starbucks turkey & swiss sandwich (half the bread)
● 6 bites McDonald's pancake w/ syrup
● Dairy Queen Peanut Butter Buster
● One-third bag Snyder's buffalo wing pretzels
● Taco-seasoned ground beef w/ lettuce, grated cheddar, and salsa
● 16 cheddar cheese cubes

What I consumed Friday -- 184 lbs (-45) [2X]:
● Jack In The Box Loaded breakfast sandwich
● 20 Snyder's peanut butter pretzel sandwiches
● Campbell's chicken noodle soup

I'm Done (for now) -- 182 lbs (-47)

Well, I over-did it at a party last night and woke up in a hospital at 2AM*. Given that I put my family through a terrible ordeal, I'll be abstaining from alcohol for at least a month. I may suspend the diet until then as well. I'm also going to transition to weekly, instead of daily, posts.

With all my talk about control, I'm pretty disappointed in myself.

* Blood tested .244 BAC

What I consumed yesterday:
● 2 coffees w/ 2 tbsp Seagram's VO whisky & 1 tsp fiber
● Half Starbucks cinnamon bun
● 8+ oz Seagrams 7
● 4+ oz Seagrams VO
● 4+ oz Jameson
● 8+ oz Bushmills
● 2 mini crab cakes
● 3-4 bacon wrapped blue cheese
● 2-3 thin egg rolls

184 lbs (-45)

Whisky to the rescue again!

What I consumed yesterday:
● 2 coffees w/ 2.5 tbsp Seagram's VO whisky & 1 tsp fiber
● .98 Seagram's VO
● 10 slices potato w/ grated cheddar, bacon bits, & 5 slices bacon
● Coffee w/ 3 tbsp Seagram's VO whisky

Seagram's VO -- 185 lbs (-44) [3X]

I couldn't make it until this weekend's whisky shopping, so I paid about $5 more for a bottle of Seagram's VO, supposedly the largest selling Canadian whisky, at the grocery store (oh, the shame). In my typical unsophisticated fashion, I found the mild vanilla taste quite comfortable. I also thought it would be good in coffee, and confirmed that this morning.

What I consumed yesterday:
● Trader Joes No Iron Multivitamin
● Coffee w/ 2 tsp fiber
● .65 Seagram's VO
● No-meat lasagna w/ 12 oz Archer Farms asparagus stir fry
● 2 small slices garlic bread w/ grated parmesan

186 lbs (-43) [4X]

If anyone has a pool going (as if) for when I hit 180, I am planning to stay home all of next week, which will hopefully be a no-op diet-wise. I'm betting on myself to land it between 11/30 and 12/7.

What I consumed yesterday:
● 12 oz Budweiser Select
● .68 cups Canadian Club Reserve 9 Yr
● No-meat lasagna w/ 2 turkey meatballs
● Small portion of spaghetti w/ sauce, grated parmesan, & 1.8 turkey meatballs
● 14 Snyder's peanut butter pretzel sandwiches

Grant's & Chivas -- 185 lbs (-44) [2X]

I tried experimenting with Grant's and Chivas, taking them in different order separated by a coffee break. I found them to be incompatible both ways:

● Grant's -> Chivas Regal: Chivas tasted more bitter/acrid
● Chivas Regal -> Grant's: Grant's tasted slightly sour/curdled

I'm almost done with the Grant's and will come back to experimenting with it after finishing my tour of inexpensive blended whiskies.

What I consumed yesterday:
● Trader Joes No Iron Multivitamin
● Coffee w/ 2 tsp fiber
● 14.5 oz Del Monte Green Beans (low sodium)
● 5 oz Chivas Regal 12 yr
● 2 oz Grant's Scotch
● 4 bites Starbucks cinnamon bun
● 15 Rold Gold tiny twist pretzels dipped in Jif chocolate silk peanut butter
● No meat lasagna w/ 2 turkey meatballs
● Coffee w/ 2 tbsp whiskey
● 5 spoons of Dreyer's French Silk ice cream
● 2 small bowls of Rold Gold tiny twist pretzels w/ semi-sweet chocolate chips & raisins