David Lat

Project Truman Show: June 11, 2008

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, a bowl of low-fat organic cereal (Mango Passion) with soy milk (about 300 calories); coffee with milk; a small vanilla bean scone. For lunch: hummus, whole wheat pita, arugula, chocolate chip cookie.

For dinner: chips and some Oreos, at a bowling outing. Yes, not the healthiest dinner. I didn't mean for this to be my dinner. But I ate so many chips and Oreos that I couldn't justify eating a dinner after that.

But I was still naughty enough to have two vanilla bean scones for dessert. God I love those things. And they're so small, it's so easy to rationalize them away as "de minimis."

2. What exercise did you do today? Ran 4.6 miles (40:00, pace: 8:42). Walked about 2 miles.

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A.

4. What is your personal email backlog? N/A.

5. Additional comments: Getting better, little by little.

Project Truman Show: June 10, 2008

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, a bowl of low-fat organic cereal (Mango Passion) with soy milk (about 300 calories), and coffee with milk. For lunch, a whole wheat pita, hummus, arugula. A bottle of Kombucha (70 calories) -- nasty at first, but then you get used to it, and it's supposed to be super-healthy. Snack: a chocolate chip cookie. For dinner: tofu rancheros (380 calories). A third of a beer, with friends.

2. What exercise did you do today? Still wasn't feeling great; a symptom of shingles is fatigue. So no running. Walked 1.75 miles.

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A (= not available; I didn't check).

4. What is your personal email backlog? N/A.

5. Additional comments: I don't like being sick.

Project Truman Show: June 9, 2008 (Week 2)

For background on Project Truman Show, if you're not familiar with it, click here.

I have completed Week 2 of Project Truman Show. The weekly question:

How much do you weigh? 162 pounds (last week: 165 pounds; change: -3 pounds). My weekly shirtless photo appears above (thumbnail; click to enlarge).

The daily questions:

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, half of a Starbucks pumpkin loaf (215 calories); coffee with milk. For lunch, a whole wheat pita with hummus and arugula. For afternoon snack, the other half of the Starbucks pumpkin loaf (215 calories).

That afternoon, I got diagnosed with shingles. It made me want to eat more robustly. So I did.

For dinner, I took my cousin out to Marrakesh Palace for dinner, to celebrate her graduation. I pigged out. I had a few pieces of bread with olives; one and a half "beef cigars"; one and a half lamb sausages; some salad; and the chicken kebab dinner with couscous (relatively healthy). I was also virtuous because we stopped to check out a crepe place on P Street after dinner, but I didn't order anything.

2. What exercise did you do today? Walked about 3 miles.

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A.

4. What is your personal email backlog? 300.

5. Additional comments: Learning that I had shingles sucked. It was a relatively mild case (a small rash on my back), but it was still not the greatest news.

Also, the doctor prescribed Valtrex. It's more commonly known as the drug used to treat genital herpes, which I do NOT have. But I still thought to myself I should hide the bottle of medication, lest a visitor see it in my bathroom and mistakenly conclude that I have genital herpes.

Project Truman Show: June 8, 2008

1. What did you eat today? Brunch with a friend at Firefly: chicken cobb salad; dressing on the side; one piece of regular bread, with butter; one slice of banana bread (ridiculously delicious). Food definitely tastes better when you're dieting.

Snack: iced coffee with milk, a small vanilla bean scone. Dinner: Amy's tofu scramble (320 calories). A chocolate chip cookie.

2. What exercise did you do today? Ran 4.0 miles (40:00, 10:00 pace). Walked 2.0 miles.

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A (= not available; I didn't check).

4. What is your personal email backlog? 325 (est.).

5. Additional comments: Another pretty good day. The chicken cobb salad was superb. I'm really starting to enjoy salads. I need to remember to order the dressing on the side -- 90 percent of the time, salads are overdressed (which is not only less healthy, but less good tasting; the dressing overwhelms the ingredients).

Project Truman Show: June 7, 2008

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, a munchkin donut hole, coffee with milk. For brunch (at Bistrot Du Coin w/a friend), a mushroom omelette, salad, fries. For snack, a small vanilla bean scone. For dinner, Ethnic Gourmet pad thai (420 calories).

2. What exercise did you do today? Ran 6 miles (60:00, 10:00 pace). Brutally hot; my friend and I thought we were going to pass out. Had to intersperse some walking. Walked 3 miles (2 in course of run, plus one additional mile during the rest of the day).

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A (= not available; I didn't check).

4. What is your personal email backlog? 375 (est.).

5. Additional comments: Good day overall (and needed to atone for the prior day's indulgences).

Project Truman Show: June 6, 2008

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, some Vanilla Almond Crisp with soy milk (400 calories). Coffee with milk. For lunch, Starbucks fruit and cheese plate (400 calories). So far, so good.

But dinner was indulgent: Westend Bistro, with friends. I had four slices of bread (three before the meal, with butter, and one with my salad); the Eastern Market salad (fresh ingredients, but overdressed; I should have asked for dressing on the side); and halibut for my entree (amazing and delicious, and one of the healthier offerings on the menu).

Then, dessert. Four of us shared three desserts, all excellent: rice pudding, the pineapple upside-down cake, and the brown sugar-walnut tart. This sounds rather sinful -- and it was. But in my defense, the dessert portions were fairly small (especially the diminutive tart).

Also, beverages: a gin and tonic, with dinner; coffee with milk, after dinner; and half a mojito, at the bar at Citronelle, which we walked to after leaving Westend Bistro.

2. What exercise did you do today? Gym (standard workout). Run: 2.2 miles / 20:00 minutes / 9:05 pace. Shorter than I intended because I was pressed for time. Walk: 3.3 miles (2.8 miles from my apartment to Citronelle and back, and another 0.5 miles of walking in the neighborhood).

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A.

4. What is your personal email backlog? N/A.

5. Additional comments: Dinner at Westend Bistro was fantastic. On the one hand, I feel guilty about it; on the other hand, I feel entitled to the occasional splurge. And I was fairly virtuous in my ordering (salad and halibut).

Project Truman Show: June 5, 2008

1. What did you eat today?  A few bowls of Vanilla Almond Crisp with soy milk (800 calories; this was impulse eating). Coffee with milk. Two bags of Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos (340 calories). Pad thai with tofu, by Ethnic Gourmet (420 calories).

2. What exercise did you do today? Run: 4.6 miles / 41:00 minutes / 8:54 pace. Post-work run with two friends; good pace.

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A.

4. What is your personal email backlog? N/A.

5. Additional comments: Disappointed in myself for scarfing down all that cereal over the course of the morning. What got into me?

Project Truman Show: June 4, 2008

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, a bowl of organic cereal (Vanilla Almond Crisp) with soy milk (about 300 calories). Two miniature vanilla bean scones from Starbucks (post-run). Coffee with milk. For lunch, Starbucks cheese and fruit plate (400 calories). Indulgent dinner at Matchbox: shared three sliders with a friend to start, then had a rare tuna salad (delicious). Also had two yummy, berry-flavored alcoholic concoctions.

2. What exercise did you do today? Run: 3.8 miles / 33:30 minutes / 8:49 pace. Morning run up 16th Street; went well for a morning run. Also walked 2.3 miles.

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A.

4. What is your personal email backlog? N/A.

5. Additional comments: Dinner at Matchbox was excellent. Sure, it was on the caloric side; but at least I had a salad for my entree (instead of pizza, a burger, or steak frites -- what I would have ordered if not on a diet). Also, I did get in a fair amount of exercise.

Tonight I saw the "Sex and the City" movie, which I enjoyed thoroughly.

Project Truman Show: June 3, 2008

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, a bowl of organic cereal (Vanilla Almond Crisp) with soy milk (about 300 calories). Coffee with milk. For the rest of the day, Amy's Tofu Rancheros (380 calories) and a bag of Veggie Booty (520 calories).

2. What exercise did you do today? Gym (standard workout).

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A.

4. What is your personal email backlog? N/A.

5. Additional comments: Not a great day on the exercise front. I meant to walk home from the Scalia talk (at the Wardman Park Marriott), but it was raining when I stepped out of the hotel, so I took a cab home.

Project Truman Show: June 2, 2008 (Week 1)

For background on Project Truman Show, if you're not familiar with it, click here.

I have completed Week 1 of Project Truman Show. The weekly question:

How much do you weigh? 165 pounds (last week: 169 pounds; change: -4 pounds). My weekly shirtless photo appears above (thumbnail; click to enlarge).

The daily questions:

1. What did you eat today? For breakfast, a bowl of low-fat organic cereal (Mango Passion) with soy milk (about 300 calories), and coffee with milk. For lunch, Amy's Mattar Paneer (320 calories). Afternoon snack: two chocolate chip cookies. For dinner, half a bag of Pirate Booty (260 calories). Late evening: some sort of lemon-flavored cocktail at Fox & Hound.

2. What exercise did you do today? Run: 5.0 miles / 46:00 minutes / 9:12 per mile. Swam for five minutes. (I realize that five minutes sounds lame, but swimming is hard!)

3. What is your ATL email backlog? N/A (alas, I failed to take note of this at the end of the day).

4. What is your personal email backlog? N/A.

5. Additional comments: This was a good day. Learning that I lost four pounds since last Tuesday got the week off on the right foot.