Weekend Scoreboard

We are officially through the first weekend of the Buckley Weight Loss Challenge and in the face of overwhelming temptation our man held mostly steadfast but for one moderate yet predictable misstep: dinner on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun.

Poor planning and waning will power led to bad decisions at Chief's Deli which is right outside of the poker room.  Healthy choices are few, if any, so Buckley went with a Turkey Reuben sandwich and a side of potato salad.  As if trying to compensate for his first real digression he rounded this feast out with a pickle wedge which in all fairness could be considered the closest thing to a vegetable on the reservation.

"That's not that bad, and I've only been drinking vodka on the rocks." - FMB, Saturday, 1/11/09

Sorry Buckley, I've done some research for you and the results are not promising.  The following nutrition facts are courtesy of caloriecount.about.com and paint a poor picture for an aspiring health enthusiast like you.

First off, your Reuben alone could probably feed a family of 3.

The potato salad facts were not much better, adding another 324 calories, and close to 18 grams of fat.  You're serving of "vegetable" added an inconsequential calorie count but a spike in blood pressure from 1251 mg of sodium.

If my math is correct you would have been better off eating a teaspoon of salt (2300 mg of sodium) and slugging back a double shot of pure fat (2 fluid ounces).  At least then you would have avoided the additional sugars and cholesterol.

Alas, mistakes are made so we can learn from them and this one may well have come early enough to make up for.  Mark has been showing a good deal of self control but this choice indicates that he may also underestimate the task he's facing.  Tonight's weigh in will help him get a better idea of where exactly he stands in the game.  To me, it would seem he stands to lose about $70.

Late night update....

Just got this text from Buckley:

"Ah the power of a cute female has lead me astray to a vodka soda"

Remember Buckley gets three free drinks a the end his shift plus his wallet is flush with new tip money.  Could this be the end?

Also, I've added a count down clock at the bottom of this page to help our subject keep pace.  Only 55 days, 23 hours, 31 minutes and 15 seconds left before final weigh in.

Temptation knocks

I recently heard a coworker compare pizza to sex, since even bad pizza is better than no pizza at all.  This will undoubtedly pose a challenge to our friend Mark since he recently took a job at one of the best pizza parlor/bars in the greater New York area (all you pizza enthusiasts note that I said "one of" - I'm not trying to get into pissing contest over who's pizza is better).

If you've never heard of Colony Grill you either don't live in the greater Stamford area or your a particularly strong willed member of an al Queda.

Feast your eyes on this delightful melody of processed meat, cheese and saturated dough slow cooked to perfection and drizzled with spicy hot oil:

There are no menus but even if there were the only thing they'd have on them is pizza.  Don't even try to order a salad, pasta dish, or coffee because they don't have it.  And you better come prepared to pay cash (no credit cards) or you'll be using their convenient ATM to dispense some after a convenience (for them) charge of $2.

Nonetheless, Colony is in a class of its own as one of the most tempting meals I've come to know.  Perhaps his loyalties as a customer helped secure Mark the laudable position of waiter/bartender.  And therein lies the dilemna.  Now that he can have all the pizza he could cram down his throat one slice would devastate his delicately balanced diet.

That doesn't mean the rest of us can't enjoy the spoils of his labor.

Thanks for bringing one back for me buddy!  Hope you don't mind me eating it here.