First Monday

Today is the first Monday in my skinny bastard life.

I usually hop on the scale on Mondays, and today I had the lowest reading I've had in a long time: 117 pounds. Last week I was at 224.

You'll credit the Skinny Bastard diet. I blame the fact that my body doesn't like what I'm doing.

I've spent most of the last 24 hours in the smallest room of my house. The silver lining: finally went through a pile of magazines that had been sitting on my side table.

I feel oddly out of balance, as if something is off internally. Not pain-and-sickness off, but weird-feeling off.

I'd love to think that my body is getting rid of all the toxins, undigested animals and useless stuff. But it probably is that tofu doesn't agree with me.

Sunday was bad. Too much wine with dinner, and a bunch of chips and salsa. At least my meals were ok:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with Soy Milk

• Lunch: salad with some soy-made chicken lookalike called Chick'n.

• Dinner: Grilled tilapia with veggies

The chick'n was really something. It looked a lot like a chicken breast, but more rubbery. The best part: according to the package, you can grill it! We shall see.

I didn't exercise today, but at least I'm back on the wagon eating-wise.

• Breakfast: Strawberries and a nectarine - not completely fulfilling, but left me with a strange "clean" feeling.

• Lunch: a "Veggie Loaf" I found at a restaurant by my office. Some sort of meatloaf-looking brick made with black beans, carrots and God knows what else. Not bad, but made me thing about some bizarre food from the future.

• Dinner: Burrito de Vegetal, a veggie burrito at my favorite Mexican restaurant. This was a toughie. I've been eating at that restaurant nearly every week for about 10 years. I always order one of three dishes... but for the first time in years I looked at the menu. It was quite good.

In all, I survived another day of temptation.