New Diet – Week 1

I started a new diet last week, and I’ve been dropping pounds daily! I started the “prep” diet on Tuesday and by my weigh-in on Saturday, I was down 6 pounds.  On the unofficial scale at home, I was down a couple more this morning.

The biggest thing to get used to for me is eating SO MUCH FOOD!  I know it doesn’t make sense, but I’m actually eating more food now than I was before.  Granted, it’s better food – and a lot more veggies, but it’s a TON of food.  For example, last night I had beef roast, mushrooms, a salad, raspberries, and a glass of milk. This morning, a two egg omlete with onions and peppers and toast.

Add that to 80 oz. of water a day and it seems to be working.  The cool thing is, it’s food I make, not meal plan food I have to buy.  I’m hearing from some of you who are working on shedding some pounds as well. Good luck and stick to it!

Here we go again…

As many of you know, I’ve been quasi-dieting for the past oh… 9 months.  I’ve managed to drop from around 205 to 195, but the scale hasn’t moved much below that.  Well, starting today, I’m trying a new program.  I’ve never done a nutrition plan before, but I’m excited about it.  They seem to feel I can lose 3-5 pounds a week and be down to my goal weight in 7 weeks.  At 5′ 10″, I should weigh around 170-175. 

The cool thing is its a nutrition and lifestyle based program, so I won’t have to stay on any miracle pills or live off of special food forever.  They put you on a program to take off the weight, then they teach you how to keep it off.

To get started, you have to do a three day preparation diet – which I started today.  Two eggs and an apple for breakfast and EIGHTY oz. of water a day!  For lunch and dinner, I can eat any meat I like (no breading, sauce or condiments) and as much raw veggies as I like.  Once I do that for three days, I’ll keep you posted as to what comes next.

Giving up my Diet Coke, McDonalds, and Jamba Juice will be the toughest.  Wish me luck.

Don’t Be a Prude

We talk to our guy in Nashville, Jimmy Carter, every weekday morning and he had news of a couple of my favorite guys getting in trouble over the weekend.  Both in my humble opinion… are ridiculous.

First, Toby Keith gets some fan complaints for dropping the f-bomb a few times at a recent show.  Remember when considering bringing your children to any concert, it’s an adult putting on shows for other adults.  There is always a chance for PG-13 language.  Toby’s comments were in regards to the need for support of our troops fighting overseas.

Then, there’s the final Kenny Chesney show of the tour.  The acoustics were terrible as they can very often be in the big arenas, so people want refunds?  Are you kidding me?  And the complaints that there was too much drinking?  This happens at ALL shows.  With all due respect, join in or stay home.  There was actually a person who said, “Gary Allan drinking Jack Daniels on stage broke my heart.  He was the person I came to see.”  OMG!  Are you for real?  So he takes a swig of JD in celebration on the last night of the tour, big deal!  These performers are not there to be the moral compass for America.  They are simply there to entertain people by singing their hit songs… and they did just that.

I took my daughters to go see The Turtles when they were in concert last summer here in Denver.  We left after 3 songs partly because of the language and mostly because of the numerous drug references.  I was not personally offended, but it was not the place for my kids.  People need to lighten up.

Best Country Songs of all time?

I’m a big fan of Country music!  I love Carrie and Kenny and Tim, and I also love the classic stuff.  That’s why I wanted to share this list with you.  Bilboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and I have listed the Top 50 Country songs of their first 50 years.  There’s some great ones on this list!

1  THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS
Johnny Horton

2  LADY
Kenny Rogers
 
3  YOU’RE STILL THE ONE
Shania Twain 
 
4  ARE YOU LONESOME TO-NIGHT?
Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires 
 
5  RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD
B.J. Thomas
 
6  RHINESTONE COWBOY
Glen Campbell
 
7  BREATHE
Faith Hill 
 
8  TOM DOOLEY
The Kingston Trio
 
9  BIG BAD JOHN
Jimmy Dean
 
10  HE’LL HAVE TO GO
Jim Reeves 
 
11  ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton
 
12  HONEY
Bobby Goldsboro 
 
13  THE STREAK
Ray Stevens
 
14  STUCK ON YOU
Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires 
 
15  THE THREE BELLS
The Browns
 
16  IT’S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE
Conway Twitty
 
17  ODE TO BILLIE JOE
Bobbie Gentry
 
18  THE BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS
SSgt Barry Sadler U.S. Army Special Forces
 
19  EL PASO
Marty Robbins
 
20  BIRD DOG
The Everly Brothers
 
21  BEFORE THE NEXT TEARDROP FALLS
Freddy Fender 
 
22  9 TO 5
Dolly Parton
 
23  I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT
Eddie Rabbitt
 
24  LAST DATE
Floyd Cramer
 
25  THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL
Charlie Rich
 
26  THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA
Vicki Lawrence
 
27  AMAZED
Lonestar
 
28  DON’T IT MAKE MY BROWN EYES BLUE
Crystal Gayle 
 
29  BABY DON’T GET HOOKED ON ME
Mac Davis
 
30  ANNIE’S SONG
John Denver
 
31  (HEY WON’T YOU PLAY) ANOTHER SOMEBODY DONE SOMEBODY WRONG SONG
B.J. Thomas
 
32  QUEEN OF HEARTS
Juice Newton
 
33  HARPER VALLEY P.T.A.
Jeannie C. Riley
 
34  LET YOUR LOVE FLOW
Bellamy Brothers
 
35  SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS
John Denver
 
36  YOU NEEDED ME
Anne Murray
 
37  I CAN HELP
Billy Swan
 
38  I HONESTLY LOVE YOU
Olivia Newton-John
 
39  PLEASE MR. PLEASE
Olivia Newton-John
 
40  HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW
Olivia Newton-John
 
41  NORTH TO ALASKA
Johnny Horton
 
42  CONVOY
C.W. McCall
 
43  SPIDERS & SNAKES
Jim Stafford
 
44  SOUTHERN NIGHTS
Glen Campbell
 
45  THE WAY YOU LOVE ME
Faith Hill
 
46  BLUE BAYOU
Linda Ronstadt
 
47  WHEN WILL I BE LOVED
Linda Ronstadt
 
48  WICHITA LINEMAN
Glen Campbell
 
49  THANK GOD I’M A COUNTRY BOY
John Denver
 
50  LET ME BE THERE
Olivia Newton-John

To see the list and even hear some clips of the songs, click HERE.  I’m not sure how they compiled the list and I think they may have a left a few great songs out.  Feel free to comment and add your favorites to the list.

Home Improvement

I recently had a realtor friend of ours come over and look at the house to see how it would shape up for selling.  She had good news and bad news.

The good news was that the house has a lot of amenities people want, like air conditioning, tile floors, lawn sprinkler system, etc.  It’s also in a good price range.  The bad news was that due to the lousy housing market in Denver and the fact that there are so many houses in foreclosure, we would definitely be selling it for less than we paid and hoping for the best.

The one thing we don’t have at this point is a finished basement, so I decided to get busy getting that done.  It’s a 17×22 area that I’m turning into a laundry room, bathroom, and bedroom.  I’ve got a couple buddies helping me get the majority of the work done and I hope to have it mostly rocking by the end of the month.

I’m a little nervous because I’m going to attempt the taping and texture myself.  I haven’t done it before, but I bought a book and I think I can do it.

Hopefully with the housing market back on the upswing and a finished basement, I may be able to at least get what I paid for my house back out of it.

By the way, if you like taping and mudding and want to do my basement, let me know… I can get concert tickets! LOL.  Just kidding of course.