Happy New Year

...and happy birthday to me.

The holidays were nice. Spent a lot of time with the family, and got a ton of rest.

After some brutal December beats, finally a cash game win at Dave's on Saturday. Got crippled in the tourney after some moron shoved with Q9 on the hand before break (always bad for me) I had pocket 10's, and knew he had junk, as he ALWAYS does. I've taken a ton of money off this guy over the past few years, and he mentioned one instance where I sucked out on him for $200. Whatever. He says "I thought you were making a move", after I'd shown nothing but great hands all night. He goes runner-runner straight after I hit a set on the turn. Oh well, I played good. Can't beat dumb luck, as usual. I just wish my hands would hold up after getting my money in way ahead.

Nearly doubled up on the first hand of the cash game after flopping a set of 5's, then just played conservative poker the rest of the night. Was up about $270 at my peak, and cashed out up $240.

December notes...lost $420 at Adam's just before Christmas and about $350 at Dave's way back in the middle of the month. 2 Sets cracked at Adam's, along with a flush beaten by a straight flush. I was down to my last $30 at Adam's, built it back to over $800, was gonna cash out, but didn't want to break up the game, and lost it all in about 20 minutes over 3 hands. Ouch. I'll go broke with a set EVERY time.

So I am hoping to play a bit more over the coming months. My dad is doing much better (but back to smoking like a chimney), so I don't have to be there every day to take care of him and Grandpa. I still stop by a few times a week to drop off containers of chow (lots of homemade goodness), and take them to the store/pharmacy. I want to play some more tourneys to sharpen up. Probably Nautica during the week.

I am also making a serious attempt to lose weight. I have lost about 8 lbs so far, but it has not been easy. I am probably eating about 1/3 to half of what I normally stuff down my throat, so it's a shock to the system. Major withdrawals for a few days.

I am however learning to appreciate food again. I hadn't realized it until now, but I can't remember the last time I got hungry between meals. I REALLY look forward to dinner. My basic plan is to stick with around 2000 calories a day (until I drop to 180 lbs, then go to 2500/day) by eating smaller portions and by cutting way down on sugar, fat, and dairy. No snacking, no eating out of boredom. So far so good.