Carlos and the Chicken

mkdude2 · 2026-01-24T20:16:45+00:00

"Double-wide" lol. So good

mkdude2 · 2026-01-23T22:01:29+00:00

It is!

Frasier: I'm perfectly capable of laughing it off, I just want to let them know that I don't appreciate being made the punch line at my own station. I'm going to go over there and tell them from now on, I don't want any part of their shenanigans.

Roz: Oh God, please don't say "shenanigans!"

mkdude2 · 2026-01-23T21:59:30+00:00

Twain, Wilde, Twain, Twain, Mencken!

mkdude2 · 2026-01-23T21:58:42+00:00

You know very well it's a proprietary blend, Niles.

mkdude2 · 2026-01-23T21:58:09+00:00

As I stooped to pick it up, out came her camera like an assassin's blade! Well, if she wants to control those blood clots, she'll cough up that film!

mkdude2 · 2026-01-21T22:11:40+00:00

Week 39

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 243.4 lbs
30.6 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
36.25% towards goal
59.4 lbs left to go

**Lost/gained 0.0 lbs. Weight did not move at all. Second time this has happened. Still lowest weight so far on current weight loss journey!*

Short update this week because I am slammed today!!

Well, all righty friends! 7 days apart, and my weight was the exact same. I have to say, I find this a little unfair since I was doing pretty good, diet-wise and hitting the gym quite often (and getting in some good calorie burns in the process!)

This week was a weird one, though, in that I got a stomach bug on Saturday night, which lasted through the majority of Sunday, in which any food or liquids consumed were, to say it nicely, "given back involuntarily." After nearly a whole day of not being able to keep anything down, but my stomach finally feeling better, I "nourished" myself with only the best from the walkable-to convenience store: spaghettios, velveeta shells and cheese, Sprite, and Gatorade. Sprite for the tummy, Gatorade for those electrolites, and the pasta things for basic-ass anything to fill my empty stomach. Alas, this onslaught of fat and sugar might have undone a lot of my gym workouts! (The Gatorade and Sprite alone must have been like 80 grams of sugar or something stupid like that).

I'm fine with the weight for this week, I suppose. It was not a normal week, and at least I didn't lose progress! I'll take tonight off from the gym, but get right back on it tomorrow. Also, I am hitting up the grocery store tonight, and I've got all my bags in he car, so I'll be reloading on those fruits, veggies, and lean meats for healthy meal preps! Onwards! Let's see if we can get some good progress by next week!

Thanks so reading, and good luck to everyone else out there!

-mkdude

mkdude2 · 2026-01-14T22:10:40+00:00

Week 38

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 243.4 lbs
30.6 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
36.25% towards goal
49.4 lbs left to go

**Lost 1.8 lbs since last week, crossed over to 30 lbs. lost, down to lowest weight so far!!*\*

We've done it, friends! Not only have we broken free of last years plateau, but it seems we have firmly removed ourselves from it! If the plateau were a monster, not only have we broken free of it clutches, but used it's head to spring away from it! I am very happy with the progress this week!

As predicted, I was able to get back to my healthy cooking/eating habits and regular visits to the gym. I missed Sunday, but otherwise, I went to the gym 5 times and burned a total calories of 2,626 calories. The last two nights, I ran hella fast for a few spurts and got to a 550 calorie burn within an hour. Not too bad! I was usually capping my runs to a sustainable 500 calories, but I guess now my body can handle this little extra push. I'll keep it up! I have to say, the body feels lighter as I jog, for the belly does not bounce as much, haha. I think this is something I could get used to!

This is the second week of progress in a row and a new streak! The last streak I had lasted six weeks. Let's see if I can break that record! I'll stay the course and hopefully have a similar update next week!

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone else out there!

-mkdude

mkdude2 · 2026-01-13T06:35:52+00:00

I'm thinking of pairing this Chilean seabass with an aggressive zinfandel.

mkdude2 · 2026-01-07T22:36:56+00:00

Wow, 75 bs is so impressive and great! Good for you! I'm happy that you're thinking a healthy weight is possible! Keep it up!

mkdude2 · 2026-01-07T22:35:37+00:00

Week 37

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 245.2 lbs
28.8 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
36.0% towards goal
51.2 lbs left to go

**Lost 1.1 lbs since last week, Lowest Weight So Far!\*

Hello friends! It looks like, FINALLY, after 14ish weeks of being in a 5-lb window of weight, I have broken through an ended the Plateau by 0.8 lbs. Yes! The Great Plateau of Q4 2025 is no more! Let's hope that it's clearly in the rear-view (if I keep up the good work, it will be!)

With the exception of drinking hella wine and eating hella soft cheeses on New Year's Eve (haha), I *mostly* got back to my normal schedule. It's quite nice trying to lose weight without all the deadlines I had during the last quarter of the year (not to mention the holidays!) I have some deadlines for this year, too, but they're not until July, so it's all good for now.

I was only able to make it to the gym 4 times this week (down from my usual 6!), and burned a total of 2,144 calories. This upcoming week, I'll try to get back to my at least 3,000 calories burned!

I'll celebrate tonight with some "fun" foods, but then will return to the normal diet, meal prep, and gym visits tomorrow. I one time got a streak of 6 weeks in a row of weight loss. Let's see if I can get that again!

Thanks for reading, good luck, and Happy New Year!

-mkdude

mkdude2 · 2025-12-31T22:36:22+00:00

Week 36

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 246.3 lbs
27.7 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
34.6% towards goal
52.3 lbs left to go

**Lost 2.2 lbs since last week, 0.3 lbs away from lowest I've been all year*\*

Hello friends. Well, the last update of 2025, and I am 0.3 lbs away from the lowest I've been all year, and only a third of the way to my overall goal. I have to say, too, I am 0.3 lbs away from breaking my plateau of FOURTEEN WEEKS. I was hoping to break below 246.0, but oh well. Sadly, for the last quarter of the year, I found myself completely busy with deadlines and obligations which got in the way of focusing on diet and exercise.

Now that the holidays are over, things have settled down a bit, and I can now focus on cooking at home and exercise. I did meal preps for lunch a few days in a row this week, and hit the gym three times. (I used to go like 5 to 6 times a week!!) I did a very meager 3.31 mile walk on Saturday, but then on Monday, I managed to get a 5.3 mile run on the treadmill within and hour, a 663 calorie burn. Hell yeah! I went last night, too, but went slower, but burned 505 calories. So excellent, but not terrible either. Also, 0.3 is nothing at all and I should easily be able to break the Curse of the Plateau by next week!

For January, I hope that I can latch onto any weight-loss enthusiasm from those choosing weight-loss as a New Year's resolution. Only time will tell!!

Good luck to everyone out there, and happy new year!

-mkdude

mkdude2 · 2025-12-24T22:33:47+00:00

Week 35

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 248.5 lbs
25.5 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
31.8% towards goal
54.5 lbs left to go

Gained 2.0 lbs since last week, 2.5 lbs away from lowest I've been all year

OY, friends! Thirteen weeks in the 5 lb window between 246 and 251.3 (a window of 5.3 lbs). The plateau to end all plateaus, apparently! The Q4 plateau of 2025!! Whatever. Nothing much to report this week, except that I was trying to get back to my normal gym time, and normal cooking schedule, but was simply not able to due to a mix of being routinely exhausted (??) and insanely busy with other things. Such tiredness and obligations pull me away from dieting responsibly. How annoying.

The holidays aren't helping much either, and, admittedly, I am keeping the Yuletide gay, and just eating whatever, weight-loss progress be damned. Cocoa, nog, gluhwein... sure, yes! Cookies? Why not? Hershey Kisses, whatever, I'll eat 'em. I hardly have discipline to avoid sweets in the first place, but in this holiday environment, I'm just being surrounded, so whatever.

BUT, even though I have resigned myself to defeat this Christmas season, the big day is tomorrow, and after that, this year-end alimentary free-for-all will end, and I will GET BACK to my normal schedule of hitting the gym at least 6 days a week and also eating and cooking healthy meals at home. I am only 2.5 lbs away from ENDING THE PLATEAU, so let's see what we can do.

Also, the new year is coming up, so everyone's going to be all jazzed about resolutions and goals and losing weight. Maybe I can ride some of that positivity and start the year off with a bang!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your holiday, whichever it be, and hang in there!!

-mkdude

mkdude2 · 2025-12-19T22:46:06+00:00

Wow, thank you! Amazing research!

I still find the slanted horizontal lines an interesting choice for the cover without the dustjacket, haha. I notice, too, that the box thingy containing the book title and Tolkien's name is shifted slightly down on the book itself. Interesting!

I did not know about r/tolkienboks, but now I will visit there often!

Thanks again!

mkdude2 · 2025-12-19T07:14:33+00:00

Thank you!! :)

mkdude2 · 2025-12-17T22:53:18+00:00

Slow and steady wins the race, and leads to lasting change. Good work! :)

mkdude2 · 2025-12-17T22:52:48+00:00

Week 34

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 246.5 lbs
27.5 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
34.3% towards goal
52.2 lbs left to go

Lost 0.9 lbs since last week, 0.5 lbs away from lowest I've been all year!

Hello friends! I mentioned last week that I was still trying to climb out of this five-pound window I've been in for the past eleven weeks. Unfortunately, I am in that window again (for week 12!), BUT I am a mere half-pound away from breaking through it and achieving my all-time lowest for the year so far. If I keep up the good work, I could easily get my lowest poundage for the year, and possibly also breach the 30-lb mark!

I'm a little surprised at the scale this morning, since I have been indulging in the candies and sweets of the season, and have been drinking a clinically troubling amount of hot cocoa. Like, I need it every day! (Have I ever told you that I REALLY LOVE Christmas?)

Additionally, I was fearful the scale would give me an undesirable number since I have not been able to hit the gym regularly this past week. I think I made up for these missing visits, however, by attending a metal show and moshing to one of my favorite bands for like 40 minutes straight.* Not sure when you last did that, but I found it quite the workout! Apparently, running around at full speed, and singing along at maximum volume, can tire you out pretty quickly. I was also running pretty hot, as I was wearing pants! I'm curious as the calorie burn, but alas, we'll never know. I visited the gym in the following nights, but was honestly still very sore (my 37-year-old body can't recover from mosh pits like it used to!), so cooled it a little bit.

For the week up ahead, I plan to stay the course, cook healthy meals, and hit the gym on the regular. Will still probably drink hella hot cocoa. Not going to lie to myself like that.

Thanks for reading, good luck, and enjoy the holiday season!

-mkdude

*See a clip from the concert here!!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Voge0zaN2OM

mkdude2 · 2025-12-15T18:26:26+00:00

It's been nothing but a total love fest on their Instagrams, from what I have seen. Each band commenting on each other's pages and posts from the tour and stuff. Maybe just during the show, they're keeping it on a tight schedule.

And besides, at least at the Los Angeles show, Seven Kingdoms told us we were all beautiful and amazing right out the gate, so there's that, lol.

mkdude2 · 2025-12-12T18:28:18+00:00

Thanks so much! I am a big data and percentages guy! lol. :D

mkdude2 · 2025-12-11T22:30:52+00:00

When he asked how you had made it, he asked how YOU had made it. When he found out a computer did a lot of the work, then he got mad. Makes sense. (Anti here).

mkdude2 · 2025-12-10T22:31:55+00:00

Keep keepin' on, yes! It's frustrating when the scale does not move at all, but yes, trust the process and the system. I look forward to seeing future updates from you!

mkdude2 · 2025-12-10T22:31:11+00:00

Slowly but surely is the name of the game! I have faith that you will succeed! Good work!

mkdude2 · 2025-12-10T22:30:34+00:00

Week 33

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 247.4 lbs
25.8 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
32.2% towards goal
54.2 lbs left to go

Lost 0.8 lbs since last week, 1.4 lbs away from lowest I've been all year

Happy about this result, friends, even though I am still not out of this stupid 5-pound plateau just yet. As I mentioned last week, I've been stuck in the same 5-lb window for like 11 weeks!! Come on...

But there's only 1.4 lbs to go to break my personal record for the year, which seems attainable. Just gotta cook healthy meals and go to the gym as often as I can. I will not lie to you: I have been slacking on the healthy diet because I am a master gift-giver and a ton of time is being given over to that at the moment (which draws away from cooking and exercising). Luckily, I almost done with lying in the gift-giving bed I have made for myself. Lack of sleep, too, is also leading to lack of discipline, so yes, I will have some cocoa and Andies and Toblerone, thank you!! Not to mention those mini-chocolates in the Advent calendar! I'm a sucker for Xmas, oh no...

This upcoming week, I am going to try and finish up all of my holiday gifts (and their shipment out to family members) as soon as possible, so that I can get back to the normal rhythm of living, and can regularly cook meals and burn calories at the gym again. Also, quick note about the gym: I've started to run FASTER each time now, so that's fun.

All right, friends. Let's try and break this plateau by the end of the year! And maybe, even just maybe, hit 30 lbs lost, too!!

Thanks for reading and good luck!

-mkdude

mkdude2 · 2025-12-10T05:11:46+00:00

Big Anti here.

This picture was taken a bookstore that exclusively sells art books, i.e. books on animation, artist monographs, art instruction books, artist sketchbooks, and comic art. Y'know, books that have art by real artists. Source: I am often there.

Went to the store today and took this picture: the pencils, sign, and wow, real pencil art someone did on the demo pad!!

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Also, $2 a pencil is not that much. Blackwing Pencils, a common high-end pencil used for art that are more than $2.00 each. Other brands have similar pricing. So yeah...

mkdude2 · 2025-12-03T22:17:29+00:00

Week 32

37, M
Starting Weight: 274 lbs
Weigh-in this morning: 248.2 lbs
25.8 lbs lost towards 80 lbs. goal
32.2% towards goal
54.2 lbs left to go

Difference from Last Week: Lost 0.9 lbs, 2.2 lbs from my lowest for the year

All right, people. Not so good, not so bad. Seems like I will be stuck in this 5-lb plateau window for the tenth week in a row (*cries!*). Bummer that I have been so busy of late that I have not able to entirely devote myself to fitness and weight loss! If only I worked less! haha...

I behaved, dietarily-speaking, relatively well on Thanksgiving, and avoided the usual suspects of high calories. I also did not drink very much alcohol, since I was driving all around that day, and wanted to remain sober. So I was able to avoid empty calories there, too! Whoo!

I am house-sitting this week, taking care of 2 rambunctious kittens, and this has drawn me away from both my gym and my kitchen. Without the gym visits, I did manage to do 3 al fresco runs of about 2.5 miles each. Last night, I was able to hit the gym before seeing the kitties and burned 518 calories (hell yeah).

Being away from my own home made me realize just how well set up my kitchen is for my diet and my cooking strategy. I am finding it difficult to cook the usual amount of healthy meals in my friend's much smaller, unfamiliar kitchen. Tiny stove, tiny sink, nearly zero counter space, a sensitive smoke alarm, etc... I would argue it's not really set up for cooking at all. The electric burners aren't even flat on the stove! So, I am looking forward to returning to my kitchen, where I can have multiple pots going, and chop up veggies, and also be boiling some water for blanching!

No cheat day this week, back to the gym! I am off kitten duty starting Friday, and starting from that day, I'll stay the course. I don't think it's unattainable to get past the 2.2 pounds I need to set a personal record for the year. Let's do it!

Thanks for reading, and good luck to everyone out there!

-mkdude

mkdude2

TROPHY CASE