So why has it taken this long for me to post YESTERDAY’s healthy eating challenge? Well simply because the only thing I had was Orange juice and some yogurt. Well, that’s a partial truth. After I live tweeted that Toronto condo fire I went to make dinner, but instead played basketball… and then just went and grabbed some leftovers from my grandma’s house. That’s my slight cheat. She had homemade lasagna and I only had one piece. SO, in reality I stuck to the diet… just not really haha.

Anyway, I’ve been reading lots about the HST and started asking people this morning if they understood how bad the HST actually is. Few people know what it is at all! So here’s my ‘simple’ explanation of the whole debacle.

Right now we have two taxes… PST(provincial 8%) and GST(Canada wide 5%). Now what you may NOT know is that we don’t pay both on all items.

What the HST will do is COMBINE both, so you have to pay an additional 8% on MANY items. Basically it’s a way to extract more money from you and I without calling it a new tax… it’s just ‘harmonizing’… and everyone loves harmony!

Here’s some things to that will change..  Haircuts, dry cleaning, membership fees to gyms or golf courses, taxis, internet!, postage, shipping, accounting, legal services, home renovations and many more will be increased by the 8%!

For me personally, this is how I look at it…

$20 haircut, $20 memberships, $15 taxis, $30 dry cleaning, $50 internet and $5 postage/shipping.

What I currently pay $140 for, will cost me as of July on, $152! That’s no small increase in my opinion.

You’re free to make your own decision on the topic, but me personally, I’m done with provincial Liberals. I voted for you and you’ve bent me over and forced your lies into my ass for the last time. Fuck you Dalton McGuinty. Fuck you.

So if you haven’t already seen it, you HAVE to see the new MIA video for Born Free. And I know it’s a metaphor, but at the same time, we all know Gingers have no Soul… so it’s also based in reality. Haha.

This kid would disagree… which makes it even more funny.

Anyway… breakfast was (you guessed it!) OJ. But also had some Yogurt and Maple Syrup, which is quickly becoming my favourite snack.

For lunch I had my leftover chicken noodle soup as well as the remaining chicken.

And dinner I had a 6″ Sub from Subway. So at this point I know I’m coming close to hitting my budget.. and I know this is cheating on the unprocessed part of the diet.. but I went to Baskin Robbins for their $.31 cent scoops. I got two scoops which with tax came to $.65.

Then to put me further past my budget I had a pear.

In Recap

$.35 – Simply Orange Orange Juice
$.37 – Yogurt
$.24 – Maple Syrup
$.50 – Leftover Soup
$1.50 – Remaining Chicken
$2.50 – 6″ Vegetarian Sub (no cheese, no sauce.)
$.31 – 1 Pear
$.65 – 2 scoops Baskin Robbins

In total I ate for $6.42. Yes, I went over budget. It wasn’t really intentional. I just wasn’t thinking after I had the Sub. $.42 isn’t too bad, considering I’ve been under budget other days, but disappointing nonetheless.

Yesterday consisted of making homemade chicken broth, and I then turned into homemade chicken noodle soup and I would be lying if I said it wasn’t the tastiest thing ever!

For breakfast I had a pear and a glass of OJ. Lunch was some leftover chicken turned into a chicken salad sandwich with a little onion, lettuce and mayo.

I also had a snack of some Greek Natural Yogurt (it has no taste at all…. so I added a little organic maple syrup!)

And dinner of course, the chicken noodle soup. (No soda on the side.)

People commented that “Making soup is a big job!”, well in reality it’s not. It’s actually very easy.

Here’s how.

Fill a large pot with water.
Put the chicken carcass in the water. (bones, skin, any other chicken parts, not the good meat though.)
Throw in chunks of half an onion.
Throw in a chunks of celery.
Throw in chunks of carrot.
Throw in a few cloves of garlic.
Add Bay Leaves, Thyme, Salt and Pepper.

Cover, and get to a simmering boil, and cook until the volume of liquid is reduced to 1/3 the pot. Took 5 hours for me.

When that’s done, you just use a strainer to separate the liquid from the contents. I like to take out the pieces of celery and carrot and even some of the good meat that may have been left on the chicken and put that in the soup.

That’s it! You don’t need to stir it, don’t need to watch it, don’t need to do anything but let it slowly boil for hours!

(Oh and sidenote… I was a good boy! I didn’t eat anything bad at the Jays game yesterday!)

In Recap
$2.50 – Leftover Chicken
$.18 – Two slices of bread
$.24 – Onion
$.05 – One piece of lettuce
$.25 – 1 tablespoon organic, preservative mayonnaise
$.31 – 1 Pear
$.09 – Celery
$.10 – Carrot
$.05 – Garlic
$.10 – Assorted Spices
$.25 – Homemade Pasta (Courtesy of my Grandma!)
$.37 – Natural Yogurt
$.24 – Pure Maple Syrup

So today I ate healthy for $4.73!

This is going to be a short blog as the video I want to add to it is taking longer than I expected to edit haha. Always does!

How can you tell you ate too much OR you ate unhealthy? Simple. When you calories count when eating crappy you STILL don’t lose weight. And when you DO eat healthy, you don’t lose weight if you eat too much.

I woke up dizzy this morning (which obviously is never good) and decided to check my weight… down 6lbs in 3 days… uhhh, not good.

Here’s the thing though, I’ve checked my calorie intake, protein and carb intakes too… and those are in good ranges… for the first time, I’m actually eating normal portions! I don’t eat to feel full, I eat to feel sufficient.

Anyway…

Breakfast (as I was feeling dizzy) was just 2 glasses of orange juice and 2 kiwis.

Lunch, I had a slice of bread, a can of tuna and a cup of Tomato juice. (I intentionally ate light because I knew dinner was going to be good!)

Dinner was my glorious Roast Chicken with stuffing and potato + sweet potato home fries. I’m working on a video right now that should be posted by the morning… so be sure to come back and check it out!

In Recap
$.70 – 2 Glasses of Orange Juice
$.42 – 2 Kiwis
$.23 – Tomato Juice
$.69 – Can of Tuna
$.36 – 4 Slices of Bread (1 for lunch, 3 in Stuffing)
$.50 – 2 Small Potatoes
$.30 – 1/3 Sweet Potato
$.56 – 1/3 Sweet Onion
$.08 – 1tbsp Unsalted Butter
$.08 – Olive Oil
$.15 – Assorted Spices
$.09 – Celery
$1.50 – 1/4 of Roast Chicken

Today, despite having a ROAST CHICKEN DINNER… I ate for $5.66!

So I had a physical the other day… I walked to the counter, signed in and waited a couple minutes. They called my name and in I go to the other little waiting room. My usual doctor wasn’t in today (vacation apparently, but I always assume they are sick lol).

So I’m there waiting for this other doctor ‘Dr. Alex Mayer’. Well, in walks the doctor… 5’7, 110lbs, blonde hair, green eyes, gorgeous smile, I’d say about 36C breasts… wearing a somewhat low cut top. She was sexy as hell… so yes I got turned on…

Anyway, she asked me to remove my pants as they usually do during physicals.

So a couple minutes later she stops her examination and says “Zach… I’m afraid you’re going to have to stop masturbating.”

Terrified I ask “Why?!” worried about my penile health… did I break it? Is it dying? What’s going on?

She replies “Because I’m trying to give you a physical and it’s making it very difficult to do my job.”

Hahahaha. Yes so it’s a joke. :P

Onto other things!

Breakfast I had my usual glass of OJ, and a bowl of Vanilla Shreddies. Now if you haven’t had them, they are effing amazing! So delicious and yet healthy! Grabbed a box on special for $2.99, and has about 10 bowls worth in it I figure. But really, try Vanilla Shreddies!

Lunch/Dinner was late… I just had a bagel (pretty pricey at $.60) and the leftover chickpea stew. I also had 6 pieces of Sushi my dad had brought me ($2.99, ouch.) No soy sauce or wasabi or ginger with them though.

The only other thing I ate was carrots and celery, without any kind of dip.

A strange thing though… my celery acted weird… maybe they are evolving or something… but check it out!

I dunno what’s going on with them… oh well. Oh, and I had an Orange as a snack as I’m writing this… $.31

In Recap
$.35 - Simply Orange Orange Juice
$.27 – Skim Milk
$.30 – Vanilla Shreddies
$.60 – 1 Bagel
$.75 – Leftover Chickpea Stew (Guesstimate)
$2.99 – 6 Pieces of Sushi
$.20 – Carrots
$.18 – Celery
$.31 – Orange

So to eat today.. even with the Sushi binge… I still managed to eat for only $5.95!

PS. I think Tuesday, I might cheat and take the evening off… I’m going to a Jays game with @hvt, @browntowngirl, @gecko85 and @mikel33. So I expect to have a hot dog or something. But will stay away from Beer and drink water! :)