Dog Days of Summer

Here it is August and I see that then entire month of July evaporated with out a post. Between enjoying the outdoors during our brief New England summer and vacations, posting has not been on my mind.

On the exercise front I started jogging during part of my walking route. About 1/3 of the way is a slow to moderate jog while the rest is "recovery" walking. Although I had great hopes for this in early June, July's heat wave forced me from this new routine. I hope to get back into walking/jogging more regularly when the weather starts to cool again.

On the weight side I'm down to about 290 (give or take a pound or 2 - darn scale). That's 7 lbs in about 6 weeks or so. Not bad for summer time, traveling and out door gatherings. I feel pretty good about a pound a week.

That mark also (finally) puts me past the 50 lb loss mark! So I guess I need a new goal - I'm thinking 280 would be a good target. I've got a 5 lb head start on the goal and hitting it would be 65 lbs gone! My target date is Oct 31. That gives me some padding in case I plateau out.

As far as eating patterns go, I'm getting a little tired of my current lunch rotation - salad with either fruit/avocado or sardines. I'm going to try using tuna instead of sardines and work the avocado in some other way. 6 months of salads is about to drive me nuts!

The Process Continues

Not much to report this week. I'm down to 297 lbs this week. I seem to have gotten past the 30x weigh-point.

I think picking up my daily walking helped move me past that point. I'm trying to walk for 1 hour every evening if it's not raining out. So far I've only missed 1 night in 10 days. On Saturday's I end up walking in the AM and route myself so I end up at the Farmer's Market toward the end of my walk. I end up doing some veggie shopping and bring home local produce. Not a bad way to get in both exercise and healthy eating at the same time.

There and Reconciled

The other week when I was at the Dr's office I weighed myself on their scales - 310 lbs. That morning at home in nothing but a smile I weighed 304. That evening when I got home I weighed myself again in the same atire I had on at the Dr's office and low and behold weighed 310.5! So my scale is nearly dead on with the Dr's scale. It also means that loosing 50 lbs means I'll need to be at about 295 or so when wearing only my smile since that 351 was fully clothed. What's an extra 6 lbs? Ug!

No matter, I'm only 3.5 lbs away from that mark now. Yes loyal fan base I've hit 298.5 lbs and pushed through my latest goal of 299 - Huzzah!! I think the next goal is a "reconciliation" goal to get the weigh loss goals alined with reality. Next stop 294. That'll be 51 lbs lost no matter which scale and what clothes I'm wearing. Hopefully I can hit that before July 4th!

Numbers

There's really one number that I've been concentrating on during this odyssey and that's the one that shows up on the scale - 303.5 lbs. this week. However there are another set of numbers that need watching - cholesterol, triglycerides, HDLs, LDLs, etc.

I've been on Lipitor for a long time and it's been managing my levels, but they were never really great. Just marginal. The last time I had those numbers checked was about when I started this blog. Although I don't recall what my cholesterol levels were I do remember that my triglycerides were 417! Naturally the Dr told me I need to make a change and suggested banding - that went nowhere.

In order to renew my Lipitor and blood pressure medications I need to have the blood fat levels run each year. So this year I was really anxious to see the results. After reading them I feel like a kid with a great report card!

• cholesterol - 110, should be less than 200
• triglycerides - 136, should be less than 150
• HDL cholesterol - 34, under 40 is low, however this is primarily a function of genetics
• LDL cholesterol - 49, under 100 is best

So, with the exception of the HDL cholesterol levels things are looking rather outstanding. I can't believe the change in diet has had such a dramatic effect on the other numbers that my Dr and I care about. Ya the bottom weight/waist line is important too, but knowing that the eating I'm doing has such a positive impact on my blood chemistry is a nice bonus.

Weight To Believe

I don't know if I've written about this yet but I've been experiencing some mild to sever GI distress over the last 4-6 weeks. 'Nuf said. At any rate I finally decided to see my physician about it, but while I was in the office I took the opportunity to weigh myself on their scale - just for grins and giggles. 314 lbs. I was fully clothed, carrying my wallet, keys, and wearing boots not to mention it was late in the day. Somehow I don't think all that weights 8 lbs - 4 perhaps but certainly not 8.

Also that day I weighted myself at home early in the morning wearing nothing but a smile - 299 lbs. WHAT! Wait, that can't be right. Off and on for a couple of minutes and it really only varied by 1 lb, call it 299.5 lbs. I could not have lost 6 lbs in 1 week. No way, no how (have I mentioned I hate my home scale?).

This AM I weighed myself again - 304.5 lbs which is closer to reality for my home scale. So I guess I'll go with what got me here - using my home scale. And while I'm sure that my clothing and on-person paraphernalia add a few pounds and that I gain some weight during the day, I'm not prepared to believe that it's in the 8-10 lbs range.

Have I really lost weight? My physician's nurse noticed the weight loss and asked me about it, but I already knew I looked different. The real question is how much. At a minimum I've lost 24.5 lbs since I've been able so see my weight on my home scale. I had to loose some to get there however. The last "official" weight I had was 351 lbs on the Dr's scale. That's the upper bound. At 314 lbs on the office scale I've lost 37 lbs - nothing to sneeze at but not the 46.5 lbs that I believe I've lost according to the 351 upper bound and my current home scale reading of 304.5. There's a difference of 9.5 lbs somewhere (did I mention I hate my home scale).

My long term goal is to loose 100 lbs. I feel I'm close to 1/2 way according to my home scale but I can't account for the nearly 10 lbs I saw the other day on my Dr's scale. Even if I'm a little further away from the 1/2 way point I still feel good about where I'm at, what I've accomplished and how the process is going.

It's all good!

Calorie Sampling

Breakfast - 209 calories

• Fruit Smoothie - 200 calories (3 oz each of blueberries, strawberries, berry mix, 1/2 banana, and 4 fl oz each of light soy milk, V8 fusion light)
• Green Tea - 4 calories (16 oz loose leaf brewed in tap water)
• Psyllium Husk Fiber Supplement - 5 calories (1 tsp in 8 oz of tap water)
• Vitamin/Mineral Supplement - 0

Lunch - 565 calories

• 2 cups spring mix greens - 10 calories
• 1 cup baby arugula - 10 calories
• 1 red pear - 100 calories
• 1 orange - 69 calories 
• 1 avocado - 276 calories
• 2 tbsp Key Lime-Dijon Vinaigrette dressing - 100 calories

Total - 774 calories

Weight Honesty

To be honest I think I was more passionate about the weigh issue when I couldn't see my weight on the scale. Since then I've been doing nothing but (*gasp*) loosing weight every week. To be fair I've not been entirely honest about my progress. I did start out writing what I weighed every week and to be fair to myself there isn't a weigh there that wasn't on the scale. My fudging has actually been on the under-reporting side - ya, I actually tend to weigh a little less than what I've been saying on a weekly basis.

My "reasoning", if you can call it that, was so I could "feel" I made weight loss progress even if I didn't for a given week. Turns out so far I haven't needed that under-padding. Every week I've lost about 1-2 lbs but now there's a large gap - like 5.5 lbs worth that will be hard to report on. Better just own up to whatever the scale says instead of fudging a higher weight - sounds silly.

In that spirit the scale said 306.5 lbs this morning. I don't believe that's actually correct since it's also said 308 but repeated weighting kept saying 306.5 so I guess I'll have to go with that. Hopefully I won't find out the scale lied to me and I'm actually 308 and change. I hate and am afraid not to loose something per week. I don't want to plateau and have to debug what's going on.

So, we're nearly at 45 lbs. lost and I'm really proud of myself for that. I may need to get a new belt soon, not to mention more new pants, since I'm also closing in on 4 inches off my waste line. I stared out as a snug 46 and am now a loose 44. I have a pair of old corduroys size 42 that I want to be able to comfortably slip on. They are really out of style but it's a clothing goal.

Old Clothes, New Feelings

Reaching in the back of the closet the other morning I discovered a pile of my clothes that I had not seen in ages. Evidently my wife put some "too small" pants and a few "too narrow" shirts away for safe keeping as I moved up the scale. For kicks I decided to give them a whirl and found that a couple of the pants and most of the shirts were now wearable, although horribly out of style. It made me feel really good that I'm making progress despite the fact that they are headed to the textile recycling bin at the dump next week.

Also as I look at myself in the mirror I see that my face is no longer as round as it was, but square to angular. I recognize the eyes looking back at me, but the face seems strange. There are other parts of my upper anatomy that look strangely new to me as well; my neck, shoulder muscles, arms and hand are showing definition (and age) that was hidden. It makes me wonder about the body that will emerge over time. I'm not going as far as the butterfly in the cocoon but that's the image that pops in to my head.

All this is getting me paranoid that I'll hit some plateau and not loose any more weigh, give up and regain it all. That's my greatest fear at this point. Still at 312 lbs. this week - 39 lbs total in just 4+ months! - I would be happy to maintain this status for a time. I don't want to sound satisfied but I am happy/ecstatic with my progress. Never the less I want to hit that next milestone of 299! It feels close and reachable now.

I feel as if I've crossed some threshold on the way down that I can loose as much as I want by managing how much and what I eat, and feel that I can manage it. I feel good about the food I'm putting in me, even as I feel I can eat less of it. It feels somewhat like when I kicked smoking - a feeling that I could manage it from here on out. I don't feel as "attached" to food as I used to be. Its there to nourish, provide some "spice" to life, a setting to enjoy with others but not something I'm focused on as I once was. It's a much better feeling!

Moving On Down

After a week at my moms and a bout with what appears to be an intestinal virus, I'm somewhere between 314 and 316 lbs - I hate my bathroom scale! We'll call it 316 lbs and be done with it. I'm quite sure having the intestinal virus helped with the weigh loss since I ate more than I needed to on vacation - Krystal's (only 4 during the entire trip though) and Red Pig BBQ (I can never resist).

Still, I was able to stay away from McDonald's while on the road and when we ate out at Fatz. I had fish, rice and veggies instead of beef and potatoes. I mostly stuck to my breakfast smoothie and salads for lunch. Dinner was almost like being at home - fish, pasta, chicken, etc. I think I only had beef one night (well except for the Krystal's). I made sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast for mom and I a couple of mornings. For snacking in the car I took Kashi granola bars, watter, and redskin peanuts. All in all not too bad - I didn't gain any and ended up loosing 2.5 lbs since my last weigh-in.

So at 316 lbs - 35 total pounds lost - I'm ready for my next goal - 299 lbs. That would put me 52 lbs down. Looking back I see that it's taken me a bit longer than a month to loose 10 lbs. Perhaps I can hit 299 by July 4th (sooner would be better!)

Close Enough to Taste It

This week finds me at 318.5 lbs. If I were not visiting my mother next week, I would think that the next goal was within reach. Alas, my mother always goes out of her way to feed me well while I'm there, but she also has plenty for me to do - help in the garden, with the lawn, the odd chores around the house, etc.

On the bright side, I let her know that I've lost 30 lbs so we've been talking about "AB's lists". Perhaps that'll help with the food intake. That and I got her a IngenuiTea tea pot with a green tea sampler for her birthday. I do have ulterior gift giving motives at times - I didn't want to have to take mine with me.

There's another factor at play here - I'm driving down with my wife and son. Long Drives = Snack Food. It's 18+ hours from where I live here in the north east to where she is in the south. I'm planning on making a healthy dinner to eat on the road for Friday evening as we leave but that leaves all day Saturday to fight the snacking urge. Nothing to do but drive and snack. Besides the obvious choice of nuts and granola bars, what else can I find to snack on? I also dread the "fast food" for lunch (and maybe breakfast). All in all I'll need to do some advance planning for Saturday not to mention the return trip home.

My goal is to maintain the weight I have and not get sucked into having high sugar snacks, fast food, cookies and pies, which is what usually happens when I visit Mom - she's a great cook!

Calorie Sampling

Breakfast - 209 calories

• Fruit Smoothie - 200 calories (3 oz each of blueberries, strawberries, berry mix, 1/2 banana, and 4 fl oz each of light soy milk, V8 fusion light)
• Green Tea - 4 calories (16 oz loose leaf brewed in tap water)
• Psyllium Husk Fiber Supplement - 5 calories (1 tsp in 8 oz of tap water)
• Vitamin/Mineral Supplement - 0

Morning Snack - 140 calories

• Kashi Trail Mix granola bar - 140 calories (1 bar)

Lunch - 457 calories

• 2 cups spring mix greens - 10 calories
• 1 cup baby arugula - 10 calories
• 1 kiwi - 25 calories
• 2 clementines - 46 calories 
• 1 avocado - 276
• 2 tbsp balsamic dressing - 90 calories

Dinner - 458 calories

• Steelhead Trout w/butter and wine - 215 calories
• orange glazed carrots -  199
• 1/4 cup couscous - 44

Evening Snack - 170 calories

• redskin peanuts - 170 calories

Total - 1434 calories

Trac Check

I'm creping up on 4 months since I changed my eating habits. As I've noted, 4 months on any "new thing" is about all I can sustain before lapsing back into old ways. In some ways I can feel this pulling at me. I've drifted away somewhat from trying to maintain the "everyday" list and even unconsciously ordered fast food when the family decided to have Taco Bell - I did try one of the burritos from the "drive through diet" menu. That by itself violated 2 of the "don't eat" list items - fast food and any item with the word "diet" in it.

But I didn't shoot myself over it. I acknowledged what happened decided that it wasn't catastrophic and went on. Eating that "diet" burrito wasn't "wrong" or "bad" it was just something I ate. I enjoyed it, we had a great family evening meal together and that was better than sticking 100% to any plan.

Still I'm finding more variations that I'd like as I get closer to the 4 month line. I'm making measurable progress and now that it is warmer out I've added walking back into the mix - as long as it's above 40 and not raining, I'll walk for an hour in the evening.

On the plus side I'm getting used to the avocado, fruit and greens for lunch, but at the expense of everyday carrots in a salad. Broccoli is become at least a once a week thing. Still no soda, I'm eating breakfast every day, I'm spending more time and money in the fruit and veggies section of the store, sweets are way down. I feel best about the "no more than once per week list".

I think it is time to watch the "Live and Let Diet" episode again to refresh my memory - I have it saved on DVR. It's also time to remind myself that I have lost enough weight to see myself on the scale, which is a huge accomplishment for me. My weight loss continues at about 1-2 lbs per week - this week I'm at 321.5 lbs. I've  lost nearly 30 lbs and have 4.5 to go to hit my next goal of 317.

I'm trying to look past the 4 month line to see myself as a "thin-er" person. So far it's looking better than it has in a long time.

Downward Trend Side Effects

Another aspect of the new eating pattern is I’ve been able to impose parts of the lists on my family. Since I do the meal planning and grocery shopping I inflict the “1 meat and 1 pasta per week” rule on my family as well as putting more healthy food in their way – veggies, nuts, better snack foods, etc.

Obviously I can’t control what happens for breakfast and lunch, but by stocking the pantry with the foods I’m eating, they can either eat what I am or go out of their way to ask for special food.  My son for instance has started eating the Kashi Honey Flax Granola bars, yogurt, and drinking V8 Fusion Lite. He doesn’t need to lose any weight but I’m feeling better knowing he’s eating more than pizza, canned soup and Beefaroni. My daughter, who’s skinny as a rail, is also eating the yogurt and more fresh veggies. She doesn’t always like what I’m making for a main course, however.

The most interesting change is my wife who, while still drinking her daily dose of Diet Pepsi (can’t get her to give that up), is eating the same dinner I’m eating. Again, lunch is up to her, but it’s easier to “go with the flow” than against it. She’s cut out the frozen pizza she was having for lunch and taking leftovers. And while she has dessert more than once per week, it’s down from what it was mainly because I force her to share my left over weekend concoctions with her co-workers.

The result of that is her weight is down 10 pounds or so and she’s not “dieting”. Yesterday she showed me that she was able to wear pants that had become “too small” for her at some point – pants that were her favorite. She said “whatever that thing is that you’re doing with the food, it's working”.

So it’s nice to know that my family is eating more healthy items, and that the new regimen is having a positive effect on my wife’s waistline. It was getting kind of lonely there on this eating change all by my lonesome.

Oh and before I let “Weigh in Wednesday” get away from me, the scale indicated I’m at 323 this morning – 28 pounds down, 6 to go to the next goal of 317!

Say "Less" to Sugar

I attribute at least some of the weight loss progress I'm making to watching my sugar intake. I try to eat things that are low in refined sugar. I also stay away from high fructose corn syrup (and derivatives) as well.

This morning I ran across this post on the Sugar Content of Common Food Products.  About the only thing on that list that is even close to being in my repertoire is the Tropicana orange juice. I don't have it often but it is in my refrigerator and my son and daughter drink it.

I drink at least 4 oz of V8 Fusion every day. It has no added sugar or high fructose corn syrup but the sugar content per 8 oz is a whopping 26 grams! Perhaps I'll switch to the "light" version which only has 10 grams of sugar per 8 oz serving . The "light" version only has 50 calories instead of 110. Bonus!

Mini Milestone

317 I'm not but the scale provided a nice way-point this morning. I've lost a total of 25 lbs. now - I hit 326 today! Perhaps I'll call it Weigh-in-Wednesday and just keep track and post my weight - gain or loss - each week.

As an added progress marker, I tried on some of my size 42 pants the other day. They went on fine and did not bind when sitting or squatting. I'll look forward to having an expanded wardrobe this spring.

Back in the Saddle

A little more than a week later and I'm at 328.5 lbs. My intent is not to start logging my weight per week, but reflect a bit on what happened over the intervening 8 days. It certainly was a lesson on my lifestyle changes and also of a willingness to keep at it.

The "seeing myself" mark gave me a great feeling of euphoria - it was a goal I had been after for a year. I felt so good in fact that I rewarded myself with some of those Girl Scout cookies that were still hanging around. In fact I ate a lot of them - binged I did.

Add to it that there were some rather emotional events going on within the family and familiar comfort food (and lots of it) became an emotional outlet. By Saturday I really started to feel the additional consumption but didn't want to stop the process. Funny enough, my body wouldn't let me continue down that path.

On the weekends I usually don't have my breakfast smoothie yet by Saturday night, that's exactly what I wanted for breakfast on Sunday. No eggs, not bacon or sausage but my fruit smoothie - a new comfort food? Perhaps but what does it say about the power of change when the craving isn't for the old familiar comfort foods but the new one? I didn't resist the urge since I knew it was right. Sunday AM I had my new familiar breakfast and was able to better control my eating binges. By Monday I was back in the groove again and starting to add my evening hour walks again, as the New England weather permits.

Loosing 1.5 lbs over the course of 8 days won't set the world on fire but it's progress and good progress at that. Overcoming emotional eating with new comfort food is comforting indeed.

Seeing Myself

I've arrived at a point in the journey that I've been after for nearly a year now. My first post was on March 22, 2009. At that point I weighed 351 lbs. Since then I've read, researched, walked, gone without food, counted calories, logged what I eat, given up, started over and more. Through all of that I've had a single initial objective - I wanted to see my weight on my home scale.

There have been a number of "almost" moments, only to discover that my heals or toes or sides of my feet were off the scale. As a result I've taken to weighing myself 3 or 4 times in a row just to check that I'm not getting a false reading. I've tried to limit my weight check to once or twice per week so I don't get to fixated on it. 

For nearly a year the scale has said "E" - too much weight. Well today is said 330, 329, 330, 330, 329. No matter how I stood or where I put the scale it never said "E"! I have to tell you that I smiled and despite the rough day at work, I kept on smiling! I'd finally hit my initial objective - I see myself, as I am and can measure change. 

Now, I have no idea where I was weight-wise when I restarted this time, but I know where I was when I first started and that was 351 lbs. I'm at 330 now - so put me down for 21 pounds.

I need another objective now, besides just staying below 330. I'm not sure what it'll be yet - I'm still thinking about it. I want it to be achievable but far enough out there that it'll be challenging to get to. My initial thoughts are:

• 309, basically another 21 lbs (would be a good theme, another 21)
• 300, a nice "round" number
• some non-weight target, like see how far I can get in 6 weeks (probably too much pressure)
• below 317 - the lowest weight I've been at in the last 3-4 years (I'm liking this one).

The below 317 is interesting - it's personal, has no time limit and since I can now track weight gain/loss I can see how long it takes to get there. Humm..

I do want to remind myself of a few things:

• I'm still eating what I enjoy/like, just less of it (hot dogs, tacos, burgers, meat loaf)
• I've changed a lot at once - quantity, timing of types (1 meat, 1 pasta, etc)
• I'm eating some new things - sardines/fish, avocados, green tea
• I'm eating healthy things - lots more fruits and veggies
• I'm conscious about my sugar intake - sweets are limited, but still enjoyable (and home made)
• My alcohol consumption is way down.

This is the path that I've wanted - better diet but I can still eat the things I like, e.g. hot dogs, pizza, meat loaf, etc. I just don't eat them all in the same week and week after week. I'm eating them spread out over time. I see my biggest change as eating less red meat - 1 time per week as a main dish. And now that it's getting warmer, it's time to start walking again.

Calorie Sampling

Breakfast - 259 calories

• Fruit Smoothie - 250 calories (3 oz each of blueberries, strawberries, berry mix, 1/2 banana, and 4 fl oz each of light soy milk, V8 fusion)
• Green Tea - 4 calories (16 oz loose leaf brewed in tap water)
• Flax seed Fiber Supplement - 5 calories (1 tsp in 8 oz of tap water) 
• Vitamin/Mineral Supplement - 0

Snack - 140 calories

• Kashi Honey Almond Flax Granola Bar - 140 calories

Lunch - 457 calories

• Salad - 457 calories (2 cups Romain lettuce, 1/3 cup each of cucumbers, carrots, croutons, grape tomatoes, scallions, 1 whole avocado, 2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette dressing)

Dinner - 1115

• Flax seed Fiber Supplement - 5 calories (1 tsp in 8 oz of tap water) 
• Stir Fry ~ 500 calories (vegatables in oyster sauce,  6 pcs of fried extra firm tofu )
• Rice ~ 350 calories (long grain cooked in chicken broth w/green onions and garlic)
• Egg Roll - 260 calories (2 total)

Snack - 4

• Green Tea - 4 calories (16 oz loose leaf brewed in tap water)

Daily Total: 1975 calories, give or take, but certainly less than 2500!! That's a win in my book.

My original salad included almonds and a honey-lime vinaigrette dressing. With everything else the same that came in at a whopping 778 calories. By substituting tomatoes for almonds and going to a balsamic dressing, I saved 321 calories. I added in the Kashi bar since it helps with my "daily list" (nuts and whole grains) and still came out ahead by 181 calories!

Originally I made the stir fry with tofu (my first time) and after about 6 pcs I gave up. Texture was all wrong for me. I probably cooked it wrong but chicken, shrimp or even plain veggies would be better than the draining hassle coupled with learning the cooking technique. ICK!

I'm glad I'm not doing this every day, but occasionally will help me understand where I can cut and where I can eat more.

At this point in the day I'm still full and not really hungry for anything. Time to make tomorrow's smoothie!

Progress, but..

I'm doing reasonably well with keeping to the 4 lists. I'm doing very good on the "don't eat" and "once per week" lists, and a little better on the "at least 3x" since I've incorporated avocados. The "every day" I'm still not 100% on. Still I and others (mainly my spouse) have noticed some differences:

• I definitely have more energy
• My pants and shirts are not as binding as they used to be. In fact I've had to move down a notch on my belt to keep my pants on
• My midsection doesn't protrude as much as it used to
• Bending over at the waist to pick items up from the floor isn't as difficult
• Tying my shoes can be done without having to strain

I try to reflect on those when I feel there's not enough progress being made, a state that I find myself in right now. I'd really like to be able to see what my weight is on my home scale, but it still registers "E" despite all the above being true. I could just get one that will register at least 350 and be done with it but it would be nice to know I've crossed that threshold. I feel I'm close - perhaps within 5 or 6 pounds. 

I know I'm eating less and eating better foods but one thing I don't know is what my caloric intake is on a daily basis. I'm not really interested in keeping track every day but once a week or once every other week would give me a good indicator of what I'm consuming. I believe I'm consuming somewhere between 2000 and 2500 calories per day but without counting I'll never know.

Today will be a counting day.

How Long Can I Resist

It's Girl Scout cookie time, again and I've got 5 boxes staring at me from the top of my book shelf here at work. I purchased them before I started on this new eating habit routine and I'm reluctant to break any of them open for fear that I'll consume all 5 boxes, or at least all of the Thin Mints.

Couple of options:

• Give them away (daughter, son who don't seem to gain weight)
• Make a dessert out of them and share it
• eat them slowly - don't think I can do this
• eat at least some of each of them - more likely but I'll need to control my access to them

I'm liking the dessert option - perhaps using the thin mints as a crust.

New Experience

Monday to Friday I eat lunch pretty much on schedule - sometime between 12 - 1:30 PM. I'm usually hungry at that point, even when I wasn't on a eating plan/system. It's rarely the case that I don't finish what ever I've brought or purchased.

Today I tossed out better than half the salad I got for lunch. After eating on it for 20 or so minutes (and adding the sardines into it) I didn't really want any more. I can't recall the last time I tossed out part of my lunch. Certainly not earth shattering but new for me.

For a while I considered pushing through and eating it all but decided that I'd just give up on it. I'm not certain if I've just had one too many salads with fish over the last several weeks or was truly full. I think it's more the later since I'm not ravenously hungry at the moment. I did have a Kashi bar at 12 during a meeting since I didn't want to get to the point of being really hungry at lunch. Perhaps that had something to do with it.

Emerging Pattern

After being on this "4 list" idea for a few weeks I've started to settle into a new pattern.

• breakfast smoothie (up to 10 oz of fruit) w/a multi-vitamin
• 8-10 oz of water with 1 tsp flax seed fiber added
• green tea - 16 oz
• usually salad for lunch (2 cups lettuce, w/onions, carrots, cucumbers, tomatos, almonds)
• 3x/week add sardines in salad
• sometime left over home-made soup
• 1 Kashi Honey Almond Flax granola bar either right after lunch or around 3ish
• 8-10 oz of water with 1 tsp flax seed fiber added while preparing dinner - some cocktail
• Dinner - more on that below, trying to stay to 1.5-2 helpings of whatever we're having
• green tea - 16 oz, right after dinner or around 9 PM
• snack around 10 PM or so - either almonds or low-fat, no sugar added yogurt.

I'm doing pretty well on the "eat every day" list with the exception of carrots. If I don't eat a salad I usually don't eat carrots. Occasionally I'll make them with dinner. On the 3x per week list I'm really struggling with broccoli, sweet potatoes and avocados. I may have to try including broccoli in a salad, same with avocados and I'm just not into sweet potatoes. I'll probably look into comparable super food substitutes.

I think I'm most proud of staying away from the "never eat" list. I've had no soda for nearly 3 weeks. I've had only 1 meal containing pre-processed food - some frozen boneless buffalo wing-lets that I warmed, ran through the food processor and made a passable chicken salad sandwich out of. Interesting idea, didn't live up taste-wise. No canned soup, no "diet" anything and no fast food!

I use the no more than 1x per week as my dinner guide. Each week I plan 1 red meat centered meal, 1 pasta centered meal, and at least 1 vegetarian and 1 chicken meal. I have enough on hand to make salads for lunch on the weekends and perhaps a small cheese pizza.

Desserts, well there was that spice cake that I had on 2 successive days, as well as the butterscotch pie, but that's pretty good! But I only prepare 1 dessert for the week and after a couple of days take what remains out of the house - sent it with my wife to where she works. Alcohol - this is were I figured I have the most problems. I love to have a couple of drinks on Friday and Saturday - sometimes more than a couple. So far I've been able to have a single (albit large) Scotch and soda on Friday and sometimes a single beer on Saturday. I don't know that I can get down to 1/week, but that I'm down to 2 for a number of weeks in a row is a good thing.

.. and I'm eating breakfast every day! Monday-Friday it's the smoothie. Weekend I play fry cook - eggs or pancakes/waffles, with a side of either hash browns, sausage or bacon. Occasionally I'll make biscuits and saw mill gravy. Mind you I'm watching the portions but after drinking my breakfast Monday-Friday I look forward to a fry cook breakfast.

I feel better. I can tell I've lost a little around the middle - may be just water wait but who cares. I have more energy and I feel good about what I'm putting in my system . I'm reading the sugar content of things and am more aware of how the sugar cycle effects my eating. I get discouraged at times that I'm not making faster progress but that I'm making a little progress - whether in keeping to the list or in bodily changes -  is keeping me going right now. I really want this to work!

Super Foods

I was intrigued by the contents of those lists and wanted to know more about why those and what traits they shared. Some internet spelunking revealed that a number of them are classified as "Super Foods" 

• Avocado - fiber, folate, potassium, vitamin E, and magnesium
• Broccoli - fiber, folate, calcium, ascorbic Acid
• Low Fat Yogurt - protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc
• Soy - folate, iron, potassium, vitamin E
• Sweet Potato - fiber, potassium, magnesium, 
• Tea - no calories, helps with blood sugar level
• Fish - omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, selenium, potassium, cartenoids

I also went back and watched again the "Live and Let Diet" episode and realized that AB says why they are on (or not on as the case may be). They are nutrient dense as opposed to energy dense. Most sugary foods (well those contained refined sugar and derivatives) have lots of energy but little in the way of substance. The body quickly digests that stuff and stores it as fat - assuming it doesn't need it right away as energy.


Hence while the eating methodology (I'm not going to call it a diet) is naturally low in sugar, not all sugar is outlawed. Sugar from fruits, veggies, and even soy milk are OK. A natural consequence is that the blood sugar levels naturally come down and as a consequence the vicious refined sugar cycle binge is easier to manage.

Is It The Sugar?

While looking up "blood sugar control", I ran across a number of articles that listed either foods to avoid or include in order to help with blood sugar levels. A suprising number of them were on the list in one way or another, e.g:

• herbal tea (Green Tea)
• lots of fiber (whole grains, fruits, veggies)
• limited alcohol intake
• limited pasta
• and on and on

 I do know that when I tried the Atkins diet, sugar intake was limited and that I did loose a bunch of weight on it. Trouble was, I couldn't stay on it and it was harder to get my entire family to buy into it. I wonder if AB's list are an attempt to limit sugar intake? I bet cutting back on sugar intake would be more do-able from a family standpoint than a super restrictive Atkins diet. Adding more fiber (either through supliments and/or natural whole grains) would be easier too. Humm.....

List Progress

I've been trying to introduce AB's "4 lists" into my daily diet. Not all at once mind you but as I discover how they can fit in. The smoothie was pretty easy and fit right in with my eating habits - quick breakfast fare for the work week.

Beyond the smoothie, eating greens every day is pretty easy since I enjoy salads. They are available from a "made to order" shop where I work. I can get them with a variety of add ons - carrots, cucumbers, almonds, etc. and have that for lunch. 

I also decided to tackle the "at least 3 time per week oily fish" item. AB suggested sardines and some web surfing shows them to be good for you. However, I'm not a sardines fan. Still, I figured I'd try adding it to the salad and see how I felt about it. I started off adding 1/2 a can and just today managed to dump in a full can (less the oil) int the salad. Between the lime vinaigrette dressing, the add-ons and the romaine lettuce, I don't notice the fishy taste to much. Truth be told, they are not that bad. I figure at least 3 times per week I can eat a full can in a salad for lunch.

I think I'll tackle the yogurt part next. Since I like to snack in the late evening and like something creamy and sweet perhaps that'll work vs. a bowl of cold cereal or a snack cake.

Smoothie Facts

I've been intrigued by Alton Brown's "4 lists" and how it applies to diet and daily nutrition, in particular his smoothie recipe. I'm sure the entire list works together but I don't think I can digest the entirety of it all at once (if you'll excuse the pun). BTW the liquid measurements in the recipe are by volume not weight.

Right now I'm using a variation on AB's recipe:

• 4 oz (by volume) Soy Milk - the "fat included variety"
• 4 oz (by volume) V8 Fusion Pomegranate and Blueberry Juice
• 3 oz (by weight) mixed berries (blue, raz and strawberry)
• 1 oz (by weight) banana

The FDA food pyramid indicates that as a male I need 2 cups of fruit per day or 4 servings since the FDA considers 0.5 cups to be a single "serving". I measured out 3 oz by weight of the berries and that was nearly 1 cup. Adding in 1 oz by weight of banana and the cup measure looked full. Adding in 4 oz of the juice and that's an additional 0.5 servings of fruit (figuring that a full 8 oz by volume is 1 serving of fruit and veggies each). Doing the math my smoothie contains 1.5 servings of fruit and 0.5 servings of veggies.

The soy milk is new to me (and kinda tasty I might add) and according to the FDA and AHA may have benefits in the cardiovascular and cholesterol areas (soy milk has zero cholesterol). Right now I'm using the "full fat" version but will try the "low fat" kind for comparison.

Adding my variation together for calories I'm at 50 each for the soy and juice, 22 for the 1/4 of a banana, and about 53 for the fruit. Total 175 calories for 12 oz of food. I may try adding another 1/4 of banana to the recipe and perhaps another oz of berries. At that point I think I'm consuming all of my fruit requirements and 0.5 of a veggie at breakfast.

Thanks AB!

AB's Lists

Being that it's cold outside now I've given up walking and I can tell I've put back on some of the weight that allowed me to get into a smaller size. Story of my life - take a little off for a while and then put it back on.

Also being that it's the new year I decided not to make any new years resolutions regarding weight. That said, I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows the other day, Good Eats with Alton Brown, and he looked extremely thin - like he lost about 50 lbs. Amazing! Now I'm not much on diets but this was less about what not to eat than a set of 4 lists about eating. Here they are:

Eat Daily

• Fruits
• Whole Grains
• Leafy Greens
• Nuts
• Carrots
• Green Tea

Eat At Least 3x per week:

• Oily Fish
• Yogurt
• Broccoli
• Sweet Potato
• Avocado

No More than 1x per week:

• Red Meat
• Pasta
• Dessert
• Alcohol

Don't Eat:

• Fast Food
• Soda (soda water is OK)
• Processed meals/frozen dinners
• Canned soup
• "Diet" anything

Primary Rule: Eat Breakfast Every Day!

The "eat breakfast" thing was something I've been told before by a nutritionist I saw for a while. AB suggested a fruit smoothy for breakfast, except he made this huge "by volume/weight" thingie that I'd be consuming all day! I pared it back to what I would consider to be a single serving and used V8 Fusion juice instead of Acai juice. It wasn't bad even with the soy milk. I actually enjoy liquid breakfasts so I may try this for a while. If nothing else I can get more fruit into my diet and not have to eat it as a separate item at meals. It have 4oz of fruit in it plus the V8 Fusion Juice so I may be getting close to my daily fruit servings. That's been a struggle for me.

It might be interesting to see how many of those can be combined into a delicious meal. Certainly the leafy greens, nuts and carrots could be used in salads. Yogurt could be had in a smoothy too. Sweet potatoes and broccoli I am not wild about so I'll have to investigate those for alternatives. Oily fish - meh.. not to wild on that either, but I may give it a shot. Does tuna qualify?