May 10 - Mother's Day

Mom wanted to check out appliances at Lowe's today. Her refrigerator is making ugly sounds; we think the compressor is shot. I figured I'd check out new ovens since mine is 50 years old (yes, really).

Why is it that the ovens I like are over $2,000? Do I really cook that much anymore to justify that cost?

Breakfast - At Johnny Mangos. Breakfast quesadilla with beans, scrambled eggs. I asked for only a small portions of potatoes and didn't eat the bread.

Lunch - Leftover pizza.

Dinner - None. However, as the night went on, there was a howling from the freezer from the ice cream bon bons that have been there since January. I had to eat them (and then eat some more) in order to silence them. The yellow stuff in the mixer is sugar, and the molded sugar skulls are in the final pic.

May 9 - I Eat A Pizza

It was a busy Saturday and I sorta forgot to eat until 8pm when I got pretty hungry. For better or worse, there was a DiGiorno pizza in the freezer.

I ate 2/3 of it. According to the package, that should be my caloric intake for the day.

Thank you very much.

Breakfast -Coffee. Flax Oil Gel Tab

Dinner - 2/3 of a pizza.

May 8 - Back to Life. Back to Reality.

I will probably spend most of the weekend cleaning up the photos from Wednesday's event. I will also try to detox a bit after a couple of weeks of big eating.

Breakfast - Coffee. Gel Tab.

Lunch - At One Walnut with a coworker. Bread, 1/2 of this lamb shank.

Snack - 3 dehydrated pears

Dinner - I forgot my phone! sorry! Jalepeno poppers, bean salad.

May 7 - Back from the Ball

Yesterday was an amazing day. It hasn't quite sunk in yet how lucky I am.

Flight Home from NYC around 1:30pm to Chicago. Chicago to Cleveland.

Breakfast - Egg white, feta and onion omlete with coffee from Fluffy's on 55th

Snack - An apple. (trust me, I wanted a good New York bagel.)

Lunch/Dinner - Airport fare: yogurt, soy chips, low sugar cookie

May 6 - A big day.

Yes, I am having a "big" day from all of the food I ate yesterday, but today is a big day because in about 2 hours, I'm flying to New York to be with my friend, Russell Trusso, whose jewelry is debuting at Bergdorf Goodman. I took the photos for this collection and I'm so thrilled to be documenting the day for him. Tonight's dinner is at the Four Seasons and I plan on eating well. Unfortunately, I don't think that I'm going to have much time to snack during the day.

I have been packing clothes and camera equipment for days. I can't fathom that today is the day.

Wish me well! I fly back tomorrow.

Update: With my "big day" came "big eating" although I was restrained compared to my abilities to pack it away.

Breakfast - a cheese and onion omelet, 2 slices of toast (didn't eat the hashbrowns) from a diner in Midtown.

Lunch - a delightful buffet at the Sherry-Netherland private club. On my plate: 2 duck pierogi, some celery slaw, carrot souffle. There was TONS more food, but I was being dainty. Dessert: 2 strawberries and a shortbread cookie

Dinner - at the Four Seasons Restaurant. There's a reason this place is a classic. The food was spectacular. Appetizer: Prosciutto and white asparagus. Entree: Crispy Duck. (ate about 1/2 of it.) Dessert: Choco-banana mousse.

May 5 - Happy Cinco De Mayo

I'm sure everyone will be clamoring to go to Cozumel's for lunch today. I'm going to avoid the crowds and probably just nap. Got to bed late last night and woke up at 4am. I'm whooped!

Breakfast - Leftovers from Jan's "Little Bags of Ambush". 2 bags of fruit. 3 bags of cheese & crackers. 1 bag of chocolate covered raisins (no, I didn't eat them all at once sitting. That's what made it so dangerous. I just kept snacking. Ugh.)

Snack - A donut. Sure. Why not? It had sprinkles.

Lunch - See above. It was a non-stop food fest.

Dinner - Star Restaurant. Macadamia encrusted brie w/sweet pears. Wedge Cesear salad w/anchovy and mustard dressing

May 4 - A Note From Tucker Shaw

Tucker Shaw is the man who inspired me to start Snap It, Fatty. His book, "Everything I Ate", is a photojournal of what Tucker consumed over a 1 year period. I took his idea an modified it into a way to lose weight.

The last time I wrote to Mr. Shaw, I had just started Snap It, Fatty, and I had shed my first 7 lbs. Tucker congratulated me on the journey in this email, but I had no idea he was following the blog.

I received this yesterday:

Hey Nick,

I just peeked at Snapitfatty and wanted to say congratulations. Fifty pounds! You are amazing! You are what, six months in now? Bravo, truly. What an inspiration. Way to go, brother. Makes me want to pick my camera back up and get rid of the ten pounds that settled onto my gut over the winter.

You know, I think one mark of genius is the ability to give real-life meaning to an abstract idea, and you've done that, emphatically. That makes you a genius. Congratulations.

Best to you, and I'll still be watching,

Tucker

Now, if that doesn't give me the incentive to shed these last 2 lbs to get to my 50lb goal...

Breakfast - Jan was hosting an APL food orgy. For a buck you could purchase all sorts of tasty sweets, but bless Jan - knowing that I was watching what I put in my gob, filled bags with fruit, veggies, cheeses and other healthy treats. I dropped $4 and ate heartily. (Uh, Jan - you could make this a monthly event/business. I'd gladly support your efforts!)

Lunch - Spinach Salad

Snack - 2 truffles that Bob had left over from Christmas. Meh, not a fan.

Dinner - Pier W for 1/2 of this Antipasto pizza and then the 3 sliders. MOO!

Five months ago, I started Snap It, Fatty in an attempt to reel in my blossoming figure. In the past 150 days, I've lost nearly 50 lbs and have become much more healthy in the process. As a result, I thought it was time to update the profile picture.

Compare this to this color photo from November 2008. As my friend, Jan, pointed out - even my fingers were fat.

This mid-life crisis thing can be a powerful motivator if played correctly. Yes, I'm spending more money on clothes, scooters and all of those other toys. I'm taking up new hobbies with a renewed interest in learning. (I actually hope that this phase of "the crisis" never goes away. ) But this time in my life has also given me a new appreciation for a sense of self and the world around me.

Gotta enjoy it while its still here.



Breakfast - I FORGOT MY PHONE! First time in 5 months I left the house without it. I felt naked. Figuratively, that is. Anyway, went to Denny's with Mom and got the new Grand Slamwich.

Never again. Here's what I found out about it online: Total calories: 1,320. Fat grams: 89. Dietary fiber: 4 grams. Carbs: 72 grams.

And that doesn't count the hashbrowns that came with it. That's it. Game over. I'm done for the day.

May 2 - A Full Day Ahead

Mowing the lawn. Making a Sugar Skull to give to a local shop owner to celebrate an open house. Going to the scooter shop to visit their open house. Pick Up Dry Cleaning. Seeing a show at 5pm. Going to an art gallery show after that. Possibly going to a burlesque show after that. And if I have time, figure out how to use the bracketing feature on my camera and learn HDR processing in Photoshop Elements.

Stay busy, fatties!

Breakfast - Coffee. Flax Oil Gel Tab.

Snack - PEEPS! I didn't have any this Easter, and I found these on Clearance. Sweet Marshmallowy love.

Lunch - Leftover veal paprikash. Is there anything that the convection oven doesn't make taste better?

Dinner - Spinach Salad

Late Snack - 2 slices dehydrated pears.

May 1 - Hacked the Wrong Way

Readers of this blog will recognize that on the last day of each month I tend to eat a little more. It's a little game that I play that raises my weight a bit for the first of the month, making my goal of losing 4lbs in a month a little easier. Call it what you will - a reward day, a hack day, a cheat day.

Yesterday was the last day of April and I didn't play the usual game. I only had a couple of salads the entire day; I just wasn't that hungry. This resulted in a 2 lb weight loss, meaning that this month I start at 185 lbs instead of 187, 188 or 189.

That means that by the month's end, I should lose 4 lbs which will then make me hit my "50 lbs lost" mark.

WARNING! A FULL DAY OF EATIN' AHEAD!

Breakfast - Came back from the dentist around 11:30am ravenous. Since I was still numb, I needed something filling and flavorful. So I made popovers. I intended to only eat 3, but the butter and powdered sugar were so tempting, I ate all 6.

Dinner - went to a Hungarian restaurant with Mark & Brian. I think I surprised them when I ate as much as they did. Bread with an amazing feta & onion dip. About 3/4 of the veal paprikash shown. A piece of chocolate torte.

Post-Dinner - What better to have after dessert than more dessert? Stopped at Truffles with the boys. Had some coffee and then ate the last bit of a Russian Tea Cake that Mark ordered.