Sunday, May 27, 2012

Day 40 - The End of Days

Sunday - The last day of Survivor Diet 2012.  This couldn't come soon enough. Due to poor planning on my part, I ended the SDC on Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend instead of Friday.  Oh well.  As a result I did not get to enjoy the food and drink that was available at the shore celebration with my family.  This included a rack of pork roast, a variety of alcoholic beverages and some chocolate dessert treats.  Instead, I brought a couple pieces of fluke that I had prepared a few days ago, a bag full of steamed crabs and another bag of romaine lettuce from the garden.  In actuality I think my meal was just as good (if not better) than what was prepared by others - with the exception of the pork roast - which was very difficult to pass on.

So day 40 came and went and later that night I was reflecting a bit on the successes and failures of this year's SDC.  If I had to sum it all up in a few words I would say it was somewhat of a failure, anticlimactic and a bit boring.  On the positive side, I lost about 15 pounds from when I started but my goal was 25.  On another positive note, my blood pressure is completely normal and my headaches have been virtually non-existent.  On another positive note, I fit into many of my size 34 pants (previously 36), I have lost one notch on my belt, I fit into most medium sized t-shirts (although large is still a better fit).  On another positive note, I have learned about raising bees and now have a thriving hive in my back yard - and although I didn't start this early enough to get any honey production from them this year - I'm optimistic for the future.  Plus, they will help pollinate the vegetable garden all summer.

Ok - why so bad then you might be thinking?  Well, once again I did this whole thing alone - nobody seems to have any interest in joining me so although I get a lot of support from others, it's not the same as having additional participants to share experiences and learn from.  I feel like I'm running out of new ideas and new foods to eat.  Doing the same thing year after year - salt from the ocean water, clams, backyard greens, trout, bluefish, striped bass, fluke, crabs, beans and rice.  Over and over and over - it gets monotonous.  That's why I introduced the chickens last year (didn't turn out so well because my neighbors made me give them away) and the bees this year.
Secondly, I feel a little defeated because I did cheat a bit this year.  And although I justified it by giving up several weekly rewards it still feels as if I only did the challenge half-assed and if you ask me, this year I was not up to the challenge.

Where do we go from here? Each year I try to reflect on the experiences I have gathered and try to come up with a plan for a way to live life better in the future.  After asking my 11 year old son, Ty what I should do he replied, "You need to continue this for another 3 weeks."  Other than not really wanting to, I didn't have a very good response for him - so I decided to do it.  I still have 10 pounds to drop and I'm going to do it - 3 more weeks.  The 2012 SDC Extension is now scheduled to end on Sunday, June 17th.  There you have it.

I don't think I'm going to blog every day but I'll try to fill in the blanks where I can and take pictures or video of things I eat and adventures I experience.  One thing to look forward to in the next month is an adventure for Giant Tuna up in Cape Cod.  Stay tuned. . .

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Day 39 - The Crabs Have Arrived!

Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend.  It's a perfect morning to do a little crabbing with the kids.  I spent some time last weekend re-baiting the crab trot line with about 60+ new pieces of chicken wings.  After seeing a few crabs last week and catching that one delicious soft shell crab last Tuesday - I figured it was time to throw out the trot line and see what's out there.
Unfortunately it was dead low tide when we started at about 8:30 in the morning.  It was me (the driver), Jamie (spotter), Ty (netter), Gavin (counter).  It took a while to get the line out and get things going.  Although it was not fast and furious, we managed to catch 17 respectable crabs in a couple hours.  There were lots of egg bearing females that we had to throw back but most of the males we caught were very nice sized.  These crabs will make a fine final meal for the SDC 2012.
I went through the garden when we go home and picked the remaining swiss chard that was still good.  While I was steaming the crabs, I also steamed up some of the chard and ate a whole plate full of that.  It was really good and I have been neglecting my greens a bit over the past few days.  There is a lot of romaine lettuce in the garden now - ready to eat.  I think I'll wait until I can make a nice dressing for it on Monday.  I've had a few plain salads over the past week and it's starting to lose its appeal.  Is it really a salad - or is it a bowl full of lettuce leaves?  Whatever.
After steaming the crabs, I cleaned them all up and threw the shells back into the river.  I have a full bowl of steamed crabs, several pieces of fluke and a bunch of lettuce - no problem with quality meals to the finish line.  It would be nice to have a big double scoop of chocolate ice cream with marshmallows though.  Well, a couple more days and that will be ok too.
We are going down to Lavallette on Sunday and that is Day 40.  I didn't plan this schedule very well.  Day 40 was supposed to be on Friday of Memorial Day Weekend!  I incorrectly counted backwards when I chose the starting date a few months ago.  Oh well.  It is what it is.  My Dad is going to be slightly disappointed because he is planning on cooking a roast of some sort.  He'll get over it - and I'll try to stay true to the end.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Day 38 - The End is Near - Or Is It?

Friday at work.  Fluke fillets in the broiler.  Lots of water.  Sound familiar?  I tried to get Eric or Jeanine to come down to try some trot line crabbing tomorrow for the Memorial Day Weekend kickoff - they were busy with other plans.  It is low tide tomorrow morning - so not the best for boating and fishing.  Maybe I can get the kids to go with me.  If not, I'll go by myself dammit!
I lost a couple pounds this week - overall down about 16.  The bulk of weight loss came in the first two weeks though.  Hasn't been much more after that.  It's interesting how I can shed 15 unwanted pounds in 2 weeks just by not eating junk food.  I think I'm at my ideal weight (185) right now but I need to lose about 5-10 more so that when I spring back after the diet it over, I'll hopefully be back to 185.  If I stop now, my post diet 5-10 pounds will come back quickly and I will not be happy with that result.  Plus I have a Biggest Loser competition at work so for the next 8 weeks I will be in semi-survivor diet mode.  I can do it.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Day 37 - Boring Post

Thursday at work.  Fluke fillets in the broiler.  Water.

Day 36 - Filled with Fish

Wednesday - The weather report looks good and the tides were telling me that fishing in the afternoon looks best.  I called up dad and we took off for some fluke around 11:30. It wasn't as hot as last Wednesday - but the fish are definitely still here.  We landed on really nice one - about 24 inches - and all together seven keepers.  We threw back about another 7 as well.  It was tough fishing but it was a nice day out on the water and we had a great time.  Can't complain about that. 
I put the fish in a refrigerator bin and will plan on cleaning them after work tomorrow.  I can honestly say I have too much fish now.  I still have about 8 packs of vacuum frozen pieces for a future date.  This batch will last me until the end which is only 4 days away.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Day 35 - Soft Shell Crab Delight!

I was at work all day today and planned to put the killie trap out on my way home.  I am going to try another fluke fishing mission with Dad tomorrow afternoon.  Well, as I threw my trap in the water near the boat ramp I looked down on one of the pilings and saw a nice big crab attached to it.  I was pretty hungry too so I drove home really quick to get my crab net.  It was still there when I got back and I carefully, yet skillfully scooped him up.  Right away I could tell that this was a softshell crab as it went kind of limp in the net.  Even better!  This was going to make a GREAT meal for me tonight!
Softy

Monday, May 21, 2012

Day 34 - Strawberries Abound

Egg sushi hand roll for breakfast

After coming home from work on Monday evening I checked through our strawberry patch and low and behold the redness had arrived!  Almost like magic overnight the green and pink berries have ripened into wonderful morsels of sweetness.  There wasn't a tremendous amount - but the sweetness is so welcome at this point in time.  And I know there should be more to come over the next few days.  So good.

And more on the way. . .

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Day 33 - Softball Sunday

I call this day softball sunday because I have 4 games scheduled today starting with one at 8:30 in the morning up in Basking Ridge to play with Gary's team.  I brought the kids with me because Debbie is going into the city all day for something.  After playing two games up there, I drove back down here to play another two with my team.  I had water for most of the day and a couple bites of the kids bagels that they didn't finish.  They are such wasters it's ridiculous!
Well, the softball distracted me from early morning until about 3:30 pm and then I came home to broil up some fish fillets.  It was a good day overall - I'm sure I lost some weight.  I won all 4 games and had a good time - injury free. 
Tomorrow starts another work week.  I have fluke in the refrigerator and plenty of greens growing in the garden.  I also have a few strawberries about to pop soon so that will be a welcome sweet treat in the upcoming days.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Day 32 - Nothing planned

I'm sitting in bed on Saturday morning thinking about what to do today. I think I'll take the kids out for breakfast. It's going to be a nice weekend. I don't have any fishing planned because I have a fridge full of fluke. Oh, that reminds me - I have to vacuum freeze a lot of that fish to preserve it.
Catch ya later.

Plenty of Fluke in vacuum bags

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Day 29 - GREAT Fishing!

Wednesday
I have posted a short video of my fantastic fluke fishing day today - all by myself.  It is on the YouTube Channel called TheSurvivorDiet (without spaces).  I will try to link it here when available.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Day 27 - Blur

Monday is a blur.  I have no idea what happened.  Stupid blog.  It's a good thing I took some pictures when I ate my fluke sushi hand rolls.  Otherwise my mind is a blank.


Yum! (needs soy sauce)

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Day 26 - Mother's Day

Sunday - Mother's Day.  Went down to Lavallette to visit with Mom.  As usual there was plenty of food available there.  I was pretty good though - staying true to the SDC.  I even dipped a bunch of strawberries in chocolate for mom as a gift. 

It's probably obvious but I'm just not that into writing this blog this time around.  I'll catch up when I can but it is definitely lacking.  If there is anyone out there in internet land reading any of this stuff, I wouldn't know it anyway.  So it's tough to maintain it when there is no audience.  I suppose I am doing it mainly for myself - so when my future self reads this some time in the future you can see how lazy I have gotten going from last year to this year.  Sorry.  I'm a bit hungry and cranky.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Day 25 - Fising with Dad and Kids

I had a nice tennis match in the morning to kick of the Oceanport Men's Tennis league.  I met a new guy to the league and although I won, it was apparent that I definitely need some work.
Fish Sandwich
 This day has its highs and its lows for sure.  The plan was to go fishing in the mid afternoon around high tide.  On our way to the boat ramp my trailer started making some strange noises coming from one of the tires.  I couldn't figure it out but I was a little upset because I just recently had the trailer completely serviced and there shouldn't be any issues with it.  So that's the beginning.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Day 24 - The Headache (20 Days late)

It's Friday - nice to have the weekend coming up.  I am trying to plan a fishing excursion in the afternoon on Saturday with Dad and the kids if they are interested in coming along.  Today I am starting to accumulate some BIG killies for bait to be used with my special secret fluke fishing rigs.  So every time I drive home from work or to work or past the boat ramp area i have been checking my trap and if there are any large killies in it I put them into a holding bucket.  I already have a lot of big ones so it should be good enough for fishing tomorrow.  I should get some more tomorrow as well.

I finished the last of my fish supply today.  It was very good but now it's gone and I will try again tomorrow.  Until then, I will start eating some of the lettuces that have been coming up in the garden.  There are also lots of strawberries that are starting to pop up and should be turning red into next week - hopefully.  And hopefully Jamie doesn't go picking and eating all of them before I get any!

At lunchtime today I took Linda to DnD for a coffee and she came out with a box of Munchkins.  Uhgh! I tried to be good but once again those friggin' chocolate Munchkins did me in.  They have a power over me that I can not explain - nor do I understand.  So. . . yes, I was bad. . . again.  But here's my punishment - I suffered with a headache from HELL all night long and into the wee hours of the morning.  It was horrible.  Hopefully it was horrible enough to prevent such relapses in judgement in the future. 

I've said it before but I'll say it again - the hardest part about a 'suburban' Survivor Diet Challenge is the fact that food of all shapes, sizes, smells and tastes is available all the time - everywhere you go.  You can't escape it so the real challenge is the challenge of will power.  I'm pretty good - but not quite perfect.  I do think it would help if some other people decided to do this challenge along with me - but I've tried to enlist people in the past and this year I just don't give a crap.

Put me on a deserted island in the tropics and I'd probably do fine.  I'd love to see a season of Survivor called Survivor - Dunkin Donuts.  16 people trapped in a DnD and unable to eat the donuts!  Who will win?  Not me.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Day 23 - Time to Ration

I picked up my loaf of bread reward today at Sickles Market in Little Silver.  I immediately had a piece and it was oh so good.  This will be a good reward for a variety of reasons.  First, while fresh, I can eat some slices with butter and salt for breakfast or maybe have a fish sandwich for lunch - that's a good idea.  Later, as it starts to get a little stale I can make bread crumbs out of it and also use it for bait for my killie trap.  One loaf should last a while I would think.  We'll see.
I am running dangerously low on fluke fillets now so I will try to eat that sparingly until I have an opportunity to catch some more.  This Saturday looks good so I will try to stretch my remaining 3 pieces to last until then.  I had a section of a piece for lunch today.  I think I have mastered the broiled fluke recipe.  It tastes so good with a very minimal amount of seasoning and preparation.
I drank lots of water today and for dinner I was not terribly hungry so I just picked on some nori sheets and saved my remaining fish for the rest of the week.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Day 22 - Wicked Weather

Day off today but guess what - wind and rain ALL DAY LONG.  No chance to replenish my dwindling fish supply.  I am running low but it is so good that I can't stop eating it.  I polished off the very last bit of smoked bluefish today and for dinner I had a pile of greens that I steamed from the garden - swiss chard, kale, and collard greens all mixed together.
Today is reward day and after three weeks of surviving my reward is a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread.  I enjoyed an egg for breakfast and I plan on getting my bread as soon as I'm able.  I have a big loaf in mind from Sickles Market.  I tried to get one in the evening today but they were all sold out.  Instead, I went to the garden area and purchased 2 fig tree plants.  I love figs and I will plant them in the back yard by the bee hive. Hopefully we will get some figs this summer but the first couple seasons with any fruit tree are just to get them going.
I stayed inside most of the day with Debbie healing from her knee surgery.  We watched a couple documentaries about bees - VERY interesting stuff!  I checked out the hive a couple times today and darned if those little buggers aren't constantly busy.  They are all clumped up on the inner roof of the hive and with my little viewing window I can now see the queen cage inside - still not sure if the queen is alive and well.  What a mystery.  Only time will tell.  Crossing my fingers that everything is ok.  Regarding the dead bees - the other workers do a fine job cleaning up the hive and pulling out the little dead bodies.  It's pretty amazing.  And I feel pretty good about it.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Day 21 - Busy Busy Bees

This morning I didn't have to go into work until 10 am.  My plan was to release the bees into their new home today - very excited about that.  Rather than explaining too much about it, I made a video of the process.  All in all it went pretty smoothly but the one (very important) thing that I am not 100% sure about is whether the queen bee survived the trip.  The queen comes in a little cage but within this cage were about 6 bees that all looked the same and possibly one dead one.  I placed this cage into the hive and I will give it about a week before I check it again.  There is a nice little viewing window in the side of the hive so I may be able to spy on them as they work and see if, in fact, the queen is alive.  I also made a bee feeder for them until they start to collect their own food.


I was a little late for work today.  Had a nice piece of fluke for lunch and dinner.  I have been off of rice for a few days in order to save and ration a little better.  So far so good.

Some broiled fluke at work

Monday, May 7, 2012

Day 20 - The Hive has Arrived

Back to work - Monday.  I am fully stocked with beautiful fluke fillets for the week and I'll probably try to catch some more on Wednesday if the weather is good.  I had so much that, instead of freezing it I decided to give some away to my co-workers.  I hope I don't regret that.  They will really enjoy it though - and I will catch more - right?
Guess what FINALLY arrived in the mail today after I got home from work? 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Day 19 - Burgers and Beer - What the hell???

Broiled fluke for breakfast today.
Get used to this photo - you will see it a lot!
 Softball Sunday morning.  2 games were scheduled but because of the NJ Marathon one got cancelled.  I rode my bike to Little Silver in the morning to get to my game and we played very well to beat the Rumson Fire Dept.  After the game, the team went over to the Little Silver Fire Dept and fired up the grill and opened up the bar.  I'd like to say I was a good survivor diet participant and politely declined the offer of cheeseburgers and beer but, in fact, I was NOT! 

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Day 18 - Fantastic Fluking

Saturday was the official opening day of Fluke season and I went out with Pat and Nick in the morning. Left dock at 6. Back home in my driveway by 9. Couldn't ask for a better morning tide for opening day. Only 3 shorts thrown back that were right at 17". The three of us were happy to take home 12 keepers - ALL over 20 inches! Biggest went 26 inches and fat. While the crowd of boats around us were pulling shorts and robins, we were getting three at a time big boys. It must be my special secret fluke rig. When the weather got chilly we were happy to head back to the barn after only a couple (very productive) hours fishing.

Fluke on May 5th - fantastic!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Day 17 - Preparations for the Weekend

It's Friday and I feel like I just need to get through it in order to get to Saturday - opening day of fluke season.  My stock of smoked bluefish is dwindling down and I am living primarily off rice, garden greens and a few fish that I caught on Wednesday.  Work has been a little slow and since the Friday afternoon Happy Hours are not part of the Survivor Diet I don't have that to look forward to.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Day 16 - Burnt to a Crisp

I decided that I would start to get ready for the weekend of fishing today by baiting and setting my killie trap first thing in the morning.  I will plan to check it each day a couple times a day in order to cull out the little killies in favor of the big ones.  I think the big ones are much better bait for the fluke I am after.  We'll see if my diligence pays off.
The sweet figs have been a huge bonus this week.  I love them - the only problem being that I can't stop gorging myself on them.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Day 15 - Flukey Morning

Day off today but the weather is still crap.  Dreary, overcast, drizzly.  Yuck.  I decided to take the boat out for a spin to scout out the local waters and maybe scare up a few bluefish or even better a bass.  It was cold out there again.  Wouldn't you know it, as I was jigging for bluefish in the main channel I hooked into a nice sized fluke.  And then another.  And another.  After about an hour I had no bluefish but I was having a ball because I managed to find a nice hole that produced 5 respectable sized fluke - all about 18 inches long.  Now fluke season doesn't officially open for 3 more days

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Day 14 - Mushrooms in the Future?

Storms all morning today.  Doesn't matter much because it's a workday.  Same old same old for my meals - sorry to be so boring but I'm trying.  This is the end of my second week and I will be entitled to a reward tomorrow.  Because these are my rules I can change them as I see fit - since no one else has decided to take on the SDC with me.  Anyway - I have been giving my weekly rewards some more thought and have made some changes.  Hopefully for the better.