Riding with the window down…

I have a history of posting on foods I find interesting. No brand has done more (well, maybe Mt. Dew) to try new things than Cheetos. Here is one of the latest from the fine folks at Lays - Wild Habanero Cheetos!

Alright, I didn’t try them (I know I am letting you down there) but found them interesting enough to snap a quick pic.   Although the original crunch treat is still going strong after its introduction in 1948, my favorite all-time Cheetos flavors were Crunchy Nachos Cheetos from back in the late 90’s and the Cool Ranch Cheetos that died out almost instantly in 2003.  Want to see what they have created in the US over the years?  Check out this Wikipedia link.

Okay, they didn’t solve hunger or do anything to promote world peace, but Dr. Pepper did their part today by doing the right thing - no matter how small it is.

I have been playing “Twist a Pepper” for years - you know the bottle of DP with “Sorry Try Again” or “Free 20 oz Dr Pepper” written on the underside of the caps. Advertisements on the bottles claim a 1 in 6 chance of winning. This promotion has been delighting prune juice fans for years.

Lately however, something has changed about the promotion - namely that retailers refuse to accept the bottle caps. Yes, the last dozen times I have tried to turn one in at a convenience store, the clerk has said something along the lines of, “oh we don’t accept those anymore.” These are the same stores with their shelves loaded down with the Twist a Pepper bottles!

I called Dr. Pepper’s customer service today and they first tried to stonewall me. “I’m sorry, but that is a local promotion, we don’t handle those.”

After a few minutes the rep was able to find out that Coca-Cola was the local bottler for Dr. Pepper in this part of Central Texas. Seriously? Okay. She was unable to provide any contact information for the Coca-Cola bottler running the Twist A Pepper promotion, but then offered, “I would like to send you out two coupons for a free 20 oz Dr. Pepper and apologize for the inconvenience.”

I am not sure what I learned from this other than, even if you won something, it doesn’t mean you can collect. Or maybe it is that the Cola Wars are as made up as the drama on reality TV shows. Coke bottling Dr. Pepper? Perhaps it is just that despite marketing once again promising great things and not delivering, you really can get people to do the right thing - if you’re willing to gripe a bit.

Why is it wrong for Camel cigarettes to use a cartoon character and not for junk food companies to do the same? Think about it. Obesity is a much larger (pun intended) threat to the lives of America’s children than cigarettes.

In 2008, an article reported by the BBC stated that of the 19 cartoon characters used to sell food to kids, not one of them promoted healthy food. All of these were junk food products. That doesn’t even touch on promotional marketing such as Spider-man, Shrek, and the numerous movie and television tie-in licensing. In fact, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, less than 3% of the total food ads are for healthy products.

Sure, kill Joe Camel - but how about a little protection against Ronald McDonald and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while we are at it?

That is the exact question that Dawn and I pondered each time we took the small trip along Ranch Road 12 between San Marcos and Wimberley. Surely, THIS is just good marketing? What the heck makes a tamale ‘gourmet?’ Yes, this is Jean’s Antique Mall & Gourmet Tamales.

Well, after a few months of saying “hmmm… we should check that out sometime,” I stopped in on the way home from work today. At first blush - it looks like these are NOT just any old tamales.

When you take a look at normal tamales (which I love) you have a roll of masa with a portion of meat in the center. Rather than a thin line of meat surrounded by all that starch, THESE tamales are a huge wad of meat with a thin layer of masa spread around. That, in itself, seems to make these better tamales. I haven’t tasted them yet, but I picked up a half dozen chicken and another half dozen pork variety. Their menu lists more than a dozen varieties such as beef, chipotle, etc.

I will have to let you know how they taste after we get a chance to put them on the table - but my first impression is that they are going to be pretty good.

I am pleased to report that the weight loss continues. Just a few short weeks ago, I reported reaching 216lbs (my lowest since this effort began) and I am happy to report that I weighed in at 211 this morning. That’s 29 pounds lost since I made that a goal.

I still need some help coming up with a suitable self-reward for reaching 200 pounds. Originally, I was thinking of something like skydiving or similar, but I’m not sure. I had sorta narrowed to down finding something that was much easier at 200 pounds than 240 pounds, but hell - everything is.

I do have a pretty significant event coming up in about five weeks so if I pick up the pace a little, I could reach my goal around the same time. Maybe I could combine the two into some super celebration - who knows.

I celebrated today’s weigh in with finally being able to wear a shirt I bought when I first got to town.

They didn’t have it in my size (2XL) so I bought the XL figuring I would be able to fit in at some point.

Anyway, wish me luck and be sure to kick me in butt if you see pigging out or being lazy. Thanks for coming along on the journey.

Recently, after trips to the grocery store, I really don’t want to eat any of the stuff I just bought. It used to be such a task trying to figure out what to start with when you unload. (Usually, the junk food would win out.)

I don’t know if it’s because I am just not buying as much crap or what - but that mad dash to eat all the cool stuff I bought just doesn’t hit anymore.

Maybe ALL food is getting boring? I still try tons of new and interesting junk food, but nothing seems to stick.

The tag line on the new Cherry Dr. Pepper is “amazingly smooth.” I am here to say that this soft drink is so smooth that you can’t even taste it. I took a swig and swirled it around to get my reaction to the new drink and immediately came to a conclusion. I kept it to myself until Blake took a drink of his (not wanting to influence his opinion.) I simply asked him, “So what do think about it?”

He said almost to the word what my impression was, “It’s okay, it doesn’t really have much flavor.”

“Yes! Thank you,” I told him. The thing tastes like carbonated water with a distant hint of cherry in the aftertaste. There is absolutely no hint of Dr. Pepper in there. It is just carbonated water.

I wouldn’t waste your time with this one.

I know junkier is not a word, but trust me - it applies.

I just had to snap a pic after I saw this at the checkout of my local 7-11.  You are looking at a Butterfinger BUZZ!

Yes, you read that right “With as much caffeine as the leading energy drink!”  So take the sugar bomb and add a boatload of caffeine - nice.  It’s a wonder our species is still alive considering the stuff we are talked into putting in our bodies.

Trust me - I am as guilty as anyone of eating crapola, but this one caught even me off guard.

I tried something a little different with my diet today.  I was tired of the quick, unhealthy lunches so I decided to have a PowerBar (Peanut Butter) and some beef jerky for lunch.  I didn’t feel a hint of hunger throughout the day.

The problem was it worked too well.  Not only wasn’t I hungry, but I was waaay under for my caloric consumption and my level of fat intake was too low.  Seriously, this sort of diet extremely high in protein and absent of fat is not healthy.

So, I fixed things when I got home by making some Queso con Bambi.  (hehe)  My brother is an avid deer hunter and always supplies me with plenty of deer meat.  Not only is it darn tasty, but it isn’t pumped full of all those steroids and chemicals in beef.  With it, I make the most amazing dip with Velveeta, deer, Rotel, and a nip of beer.

The cheese took care of getting my fat intake higher, but this stuff sure was filling - and, the deer is also high in protein.

Here is what I did today:
Total Calories: (under 2,100) 1,887
% Fat: (25-35%) 16%
% Carbohydrates: (40-50%) 34%
% Protein: (20-30%) 50%
Minutes of exercise: (30-60) 15

In the end, I lost another couple hundred calories, but went waaay overboard on the protein side.  Overall, it is fine as I have gone overboard on the carb side plenty of times.

Here is what I did yesterday:
Total Calories: 1,825
% Fat: 17%
% Carbohydrates: 61%
% Protein: 21%
Minutes of exercise: 0

I continue to come in low in the area of fat and although you would think that would be good, if it drops too much farther, it could be unhealthy.  I overdid the carbs by 6% yesterday so I will need to watch that - and of course, the exercise was bad as well.