July 26 Monday Back To Basics and Cabbage Soup!

Ran 3 miles today (Monday the 26th of July). Have run an addition 23 miles on top of that since I last posted. Total so far: 224/ Miles to go: 776. Way behind the 1000 miles a year goal, but have decided to keep running and see both how many miles I can run in a year and how long it takes me to run 1000 miles in my 56 year old body.

Gambling investment so far $84 with winnings of $45 so losses so far equal $39. Gym Rat tells me I should buy two lotto tickets each time....one with my number and one quick pic....thinks only the quick pics actually win based on the winning numbers he sees ("I mean, who would pick on their own 4 or 5 numbers in the same sequence?" or so his argument goes). Debating that theory. Implementation would mean an increase of $2 a week. I will decide Wednesday when I make my purchase of lotto ticket and Weekly Grand.


I hit a slump, big one, with the running and writing. After my last post about a month ago. I have been traveling a lot and also teaching at night (7:50 to 9:30 which means I get home after 10 many nights a week). Finished last class of summer school Friday with the exam. These are excuses which reminds me of what a coach once told me in high school "Excuses are like ass holes. Everyone has one but they all stink!" In any event, since I last wrote I have been to New York twice, Ashtown Oregon and Chicago. I don't plan to travel for a while. Hopefully this will help me get back into the running/writing routine.

But speaking of traveling, had an "airplane" experience. As the small Delta commuter jet from Medford Oregon (closest airport to Ashtown) was about to land in Salt Lake City, it pulled up and did not land. The pilot came over the intercome and explained "I guess you realize we did not land. The landing gear did not go down. But don't worry, we have a lot of gas so we will circle the Salt Lake until we figure out what to do."

Holy $@%$," I thought,' "What do you mean when you say don't worry?" "What am I supposed to do?" Everyone was looking at everyone. I did what all good Catholic boys do....started praying all the prayers I had memorized as a child...the Our Father, the Act of Contrition, some Hail Marys, etc. I also thought, "Why tell us this? I really did not need at this moment to know that the landing gear were not going down....Ok....if they can't get them to go down and we need some special training right before we crash...tell me. But now, just let me fly in blissful ignorance of my potential demise." Fortunately, the pilot later came back on the intercom and said they had fixed the problem. Everyone breathed a collective sign of relief and the flight attendant (only one on the mini plane) told us that their pilots were the best! Later a former pilot friend of mine told me that the pilot had to tell us why when we did not land, but I did not believe him...or at least felt like he could have been less precise.

Lots of fun things happened on these trips and I may write more about them later. For tonight, tired and wanting to post, I will just let you know that today is day 7 and the last day of my 7 day Cabbage Soup Diet (also sometimes called the Dolly Parton diet....oh my). I have done this once before. It is a good way to jump start a diet/exercise routine. You are supposed to lose 10 lbs in on week. All my traveling and over indulging combined with less running the past month had left me feeling bloated in my tight pants. I want to lose 20 lbs by Labor Day, hence this jump start.

The diet is fairly simple. You make this soup and eat as much as you want every day. The soup consists of green onions sauted, two bell peppers, a bag of sliced mushrooms, some carrots, celery, a large can of tomatoes and you add a large bottle of V-8 juice and water. You can also add beef or chicken broth and lipton onion soup mix if you want and other spices. I like to use the spicy version of V-8 juice and/or spicy tomatoes. The soup tastes good (if you like V-8 juice) but you do get tired of it after a few days.

On day one of the diet you can eat as much fruit (other than bananas) and drink no sugar added fruit juice and have as much of the soup as you want. On day two you eat as much vegetables (other than corn or beans) and the soup and reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter for dinner. On day three you eat as much soup, fruit and veggies as you want but no potato. Day four is my favorite. You eat the soup and 8 bananas and a quart of skim milk. By then, you are so tired of soup and veggies the bananas taste great as does the milk. Day 5 you can have steak, tomatoes and the soup and Day 6 you can have steak (or skinless chicken or broiled fish) and soup and veggies. The final day (today) lots of brown rice and soup and veggies and you can drink sugar free fruit juice. I end up having to make a second pot of soup about day 5 or 6. You can also drink tea (I cheat and drink my coffee black) and should drink lots of water.

So tomorrow morning I will stand on the scale and report back to you how much I have lost. I feel thinner, and better. One thing about the diet is that you don't drink alcohol, so I have missed my wine and scotch for a week now. Starting tomorrow I am going to try to do the "push away" diet for a few days....i.e. just push the food away before I am stuffed and also the "avoid the whites" diet (no bread, potatoes, sugar) which means higher protein and less carbohydrates. We will see how I am doing on Friday again. Saturday will be a through away day. Going to visit Mrs. Savage in Tyler and whatever she cooks I will be certain to eat....and I will have the obligatory cocktail with her at the appointed hour.....Life is Good!