Entry #7 December 14,2007
When I closed out my last entry I indicated I would be slowing down until after Christmas. After reviewing my schedule, this will be the last entry until after New Years. At that time I will get serious about promoting the site and attracting readers. I will also empasize some recipes for a while. Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Entry #6 December 6, 2007
You don't have to be a cocktail lover to adhere to my weight loss theory, but if you are, consider doing what I plan to do tonight. I love my Manhattans, but they are full of empty calories, being pure liquor, and the sweet vermouth not only has calories, but possibly sugar (I'm not sure if the brewing process turns it all into alchohol or not) which might exacerbate my diabetes. If you drink something with a high calorie content like bourbon and coke, ginger, sprite tonic, etc. try changing to a diet substitute of the product though I know you will sacrifice taste.
Don't sacrifice everything. I have a longstanding tradition I love. Every Friday night I grill steaks - my favorite is a porterhouse and I love any bone-in steak. I serve it with fresh boiled artichokes dipped in garlic butter. I will not be giving up this tradition. I may reduce the the size of my steak as my stomach shrinks and I get used to eating less. If you have a similar tradition, unless it is completely glutinous, don't abandon it.
Another thing I recommend you not make yourself miserable for is travel and special occasions. Don't go totally wild, but don't sit in the corner eating a salad and diet dressing while everyone else is enjoying steak and lobster. Use common sense. You can always make up for a couple pound weight gain if you get back into your regimen rather than giving up and using the experience as an excuse to continue cheating.
Day eight of the program I weighed in at 259.5, a 4.5 pound loss for the week. Not bad at all considering that I was really pretty naughty over the weekend. I had my traditional steak and butter dipped artichokes Friday night with cocktails and a glass of wine. Breakfast Saturday was four Bloody Marys, and I celebrated more than I should have Sunday night. So I am really pretty satisfied.
The next item which will need attention is the exercise part of the program. I admit I have an aversion to exercise. I use the excuse that I am somewhat a workoholic and hate to try to create time for exercise - but I know I can if I try. So it will simply be a matter of how long I put it off until I start.
Earlier I mentioned that traditional wisdom requires dieters (as well as everybody else) to drink alot of water. Eight glasses a day is the usual recommendation. Recently however certain MD's have written articles questioning this practice. One suggested that the water requirement can be met not just with water, but juices,milk, coffee, tea and other liquids including water content of the foods you eat. A second report came out recently which actually contends that too much water can be harmful by "washing vitamins and nutrients out of your system." This report encourages substitution of coffee, tea and even alchoholic beverages for water. So, even the experts aren't going to agree on everything. I still take a small ice chest with water to work with me, but seldom get to the eight glass mark. I probably average three to five glasses a day.
The holidays can be a busy time, and I plan to do a little traveling and spend time with family. For this reason, the blog will probably have fewer posting on it between now and early January. Keep checking in with me though because the next entry will be a real treat. I will be discussing a very health, versitile and little known red meat. You'll be glad you tuned in.
You don't have to be a cocktail lover to adhere to my weight loss theory, but if you are, consider doing what I plan to do tonight. I love my Manhattans, but they are full of empty calories, being pure liquor, and the sweet vermouth not only has calories, but possibly sugar (I'm not sure if the brewing process turns it all into alchohol or not) which might exacerbate my diabetes. If you drink something with a high calorie content like bourbon and coke, ginger, sprite tonic, etc. try changing to a diet substitute of the product though I know you will sacrifice taste.
Don't sacrifice everything. I have a longstanding tradition I love. Every Friday night I grill steaks - my favorite is a porterhouse and I love any bone-in steak. I serve it with fresh boiled artichokes dipped in garlic butter. I will not be giving up this tradition. I may reduce the the size of my steak as my stomach shrinks and I get used to eating less. If you have a similar tradition, unless it is completely glutinous, don't abandon it.
Another thing I recommend you not make yourself miserable for is travel and special occasions. Don't go totally wild, but don't sit in the corner eating a salad and diet dressing while everyone else is enjoying steak and lobster. Use common sense. You can always make up for a couple pound weight gain if you get back into your regimen rather than giving up and using the experience as an excuse to continue cheating.
Day eight of the program I weighed in at 259.5, a 4.5 pound loss for the week. Not bad at all considering that I was really pretty naughty over the weekend. I had my traditional steak and butter dipped artichokes Friday night with cocktails and a glass of wine. Breakfast Saturday was four Bloody Marys, and I celebrated more than I should have Sunday night. So I am really pretty satisfied.
The next item which will need attention is the exercise part of the program. I admit I have an aversion to exercise. I use the excuse that I am somewhat a workoholic and hate to try to create time for exercise - but I know I can if I try. So it will simply be a matter of how long I put it off until I start.
Earlier I mentioned that traditional wisdom requires dieters (as well as everybody else) to drink alot of water. Eight glasses a day is the usual recommendation. Recently however certain MD's have written articles questioning this practice. One suggested that the water requirement can be met not just with water, but juices,milk, coffee, tea and other liquids including water content of the foods you eat. A second report came out recently which actually contends that too much water can be harmful by "washing vitamins and nutrients out of your system." This report encourages substitution of coffee, tea and even alchoholic beverages for water. So, even the experts aren't going to agree on everything. I still take a small ice chest with water to work with me, but seldom get to the eight glass mark. I probably average three to five glasses a day.
The holidays can be a busy time, and I plan to do a little traveling and spend time with family. For this reason, the blog will probably have fewer posting on it between now and early January. Keep checking in with me though because the next entry will be a real treat. I will be discussing a very health, versitile and little known red meat. You'll be glad you tuned in.
Monday, December 3, 2007
December 3,2007 Entry # 5
This blog is still in its infancey being not quite two weeks old. I am still learning about being a blogger. I am very technologically challenged, which is why I have a technical advisor to set it up and deal with computer matters. I have a confession to make. Before I became a blogger, I had never even read a blog, or know how to find one if I wanted to. So, I am slowly finding how to navigate this new world. One thing that overwhelmed me was the vast number of blogs out there. A few days ago I googled diet blogs and hundreds of pages come up. I tried scanning through them to find mine and before I could randomly locate it, the "system" shut me down because my rapid flipping through the pages made them think I was a robot.
So I now need to start a marketing program to guide people to my site. I don't know whether I have anyone out here who has accidentally stumbled upon it or not, and I have actually only told a couple of friends about it so far. So I would appreciate your help. If anyone has found it and is reading I would greatly appreciate your doing two things.
1. Please send me a comment to simply let me know you found it. Its OK for you to remain anonymous, I just want to know if anyone is reading at this time.
2. Please forward it to someone or (many someones). Even if you don't like it, maybe they will. And you don't have to forward only to those who might have an interest in weight loss. As you will see from future postings, I will be discussing lesser known foods which are healthy and tasty as well as including recipes which will be of interest to dieters and non-dieters alike.
Thank you all in advance for helping to get me started with this venture.
And now : The continuation of THE JOURNEY
At this point my snacks have consisted of yogurt for mid morning and for lunch yesterday. Mid-afternoon has been leftover Medi-Fast bars all three days, and probably will until I run out of them. Other snack options will include small amounts of nuts and fruits. If anything else comes up, I'll announce it chronologically.
So far lunches have been pretty simple, a small piece of leftover chicken, a cup of yogurt, and a boiled chicken hindquarter. I will probably diversify some as time goes on, but will probably still be fairly simple at lunch. I will probably have low fat cottage cheese fairly often because I like cottage cheese and find it filling. I realize many of you are probably totally grossed out by my menu choices, but I am trying to get you to think about what you do like which might have similar calories, fat and carbohydrates. My whole thing is not to dictate your choices, but to inspire your imagination. The main thing you need to either eliminate or drastically reduce from your diet are carbohydrates, transfats, sugar and most fried foods.
I had a pleasant surprise at dinner last night. I had planned to have soup left over from my Medi-Fast diet with a salad. Then my Ladyfriend came home with a product I had not seen before. It was a package of freeze-dried tuna. She fixed it with some frozen stir fry veggies which we beefed up (like we do almost all commercial products) by adding sliced red bell pepper, onion and fresh mushrooms. We did not make rice, even brown rice which would have been the kind to make if we had made any. We sauteed it in a small amount of omega oil. The tuna had sixty-five calories for each of us plus whever was in the veggies and oil; not a whole lot you can bet. I'll elaborate on the recipe in my recipe section.
The morning of my third day after the menu just described I weighed in at 262.5 pounds, no loss. This is a good argument for not weighing every day. As I mentioned earlier there are many reasons for this. In spite of my very limited intake of basically healthy foods I didn't lose any weight. The reasons could include 1. Water retention - I drink a lot of water as the general dieting wisdom suggests (I will discuss more about water later). 2. Scale inaccuracy - I have a pretty good quality scale, but I can step on it twice sometimes and come up with up to a two pound difference. 3. Metabolism - when the body thinks hard times may be upon it as when a person starts a diet, it will sometimes refuse to burn fat reserves. 4. Habit change- I mentioned earlier I always weighed first thing in the morning - this morning I went outside to check on the livestock. Dogs had killed several of our goats in the last few days and I wanted to be sure they weren't around this morning. After making my rounds, I read the paper and drank a couple cups of black coffee before going back and completing my routine, including weighing. 5. While any of these reasons or a combination could be the culpret, the real reason might be that I cheated at happy hour last night and had three Manhattans instead of one or two.
This blog is still in its infancey being not quite two weeks old. I am still learning about being a blogger. I am very technologically challenged, which is why I have a technical advisor to set it up and deal with computer matters. I have a confession to make. Before I became a blogger, I had never even read a blog, or know how to find one if I wanted to. So, I am slowly finding how to navigate this new world. One thing that overwhelmed me was the vast number of blogs out there. A few days ago I googled diet blogs and hundreds of pages come up. I tried scanning through them to find mine and before I could randomly locate it, the "system" shut me down because my rapid flipping through the pages made them think I was a robot.
So I now need to start a marketing program to guide people to my site. I don't know whether I have anyone out here who has accidentally stumbled upon it or not, and I have actually only told a couple of friends about it so far. So I would appreciate your help. If anyone has found it and is reading I would greatly appreciate your doing two things.
1. Please send me a comment to simply let me know you found it. Its OK for you to remain anonymous, I just want to know if anyone is reading at this time.
2. Please forward it to someone or (many someones). Even if you don't like it, maybe they will. And you don't have to forward only to those who might have an interest in weight loss. As you will see from future postings, I will be discussing lesser known foods which are healthy and tasty as well as including recipes which will be of interest to dieters and non-dieters alike.
Thank you all in advance for helping to get me started with this venture.
And now : The continuation of THE JOURNEY
At this point my snacks have consisted of yogurt for mid morning and for lunch yesterday. Mid-afternoon has been leftover Medi-Fast bars all three days, and probably will until I run out of them. Other snack options will include small amounts of nuts and fruits. If anything else comes up, I'll announce it chronologically.
So far lunches have been pretty simple, a small piece of leftover chicken, a cup of yogurt, and a boiled chicken hindquarter. I will probably diversify some as time goes on, but will probably still be fairly simple at lunch. I will probably have low fat cottage cheese fairly often because I like cottage cheese and find it filling. I realize many of you are probably totally grossed out by my menu choices, but I am trying to get you to think about what you do like which might have similar calories, fat and carbohydrates. My whole thing is not to dictate your choices, but to inspire your imagination. The main thing you need to either eliminate or drastically reduce from your diet are carbohydrates, transfats, sugar and most fried foods.
I had a pleasant surprise at dinner last night. I had planned to have soup left over from my Medi-Fast diet with a salad. Then my Ladyfriend came home with a product I had not seen before. It was a package of freeze-dried tuna. She fixed it with some frozen stir fry veggies which we beefed up (like we do almost all commercial products) by adding sliced red bell pepper, onion and fresh mushrooms. We did not make rice, even brown rice which would have been the kind to make if we had made any. We sauteed it in a small amount of omega oil. The tuna had sixty-five calories for each of us plus whever was in the veggies and oil; not a whole lot you can bet. I'll elaborate on the recipe in my recipe section.
The morning of my third day after the menu just described I weighed in at 262.5 pounds, no loss. This is a good argument for not weighing every day. As I mentioned earlier there are many reasons for this. In spite of my very limited intake of basically healthy foods I didn't lose any weight. The reasons could include 1. Water retention - I drink a lot of water as the general dieting wisdom suggests (I will discuss more about water later). 2. Scale inaccuracy - I have a pretty good quality scale, but I can step on it twice sometimes and come up with up to a two pound difference. 3. Metabolism - when the body thinks hard times may be upon it as when a person starts a diet, it will sometimes refuse to burn fat reserves. 4. Habit change- I mentioned earlier I always weighed first thing in the morning - this morning I went outside to check on the livestock. Dogs had killed several of our goats in the last few days and I wanted to be sure they weren't around this morning. After making my rounds, I read the paper and drank a couple cups of black coffee before going back and completing my routine, including weighing. 5. While any of these reasons or a combination could be the culpret, the real reason might be that I cheated at happy hour last night and had three Manhattans instead of one or two.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Entry #4, November 29, 2007
STARTING WHERE WE LEFT OFF
YESTERDAY
My significant other is a workaholic attorney and usually comes home between 7:30 and 9:00 P. M. So while I'm waiting for her instead of having one or two cocktails, I usually have three or four, sometimes five. While this does not render me "knee walking" drunk, it is probably a couple more than I should have. I also prepare a large semi-gourmet evening meal which we consume between 9:30 and 10:00.
My first resolutions concerning my quest to become healthier is to eat something for breakfast, to have a healthy but small mid-morning snack, a fairly Spartan lunch, a mid afternoon snack, and a light dinner after no more than one or two cocktails. I also plan to explore an excercise program (more on this later). It will be interesting to see how my ideas change through the program.
My breakfast plans are rather simple as I don't want alot of hassle before I leave for work. I may add an option later, but for now I plan for weekday breakfasts to consist of either a bowl of whole grain cereal with a banana and low fat milk or a dietary supplement product. I know everyone be they layman or nutritionist has their own ideas about supplements. I simply found this particular one interesting and decided to try it. It is advertised to contain the vitamins and nutrients in four servings of fruit and vegetables. Directions offer the option of mixing with either water or juice. I tried it first simply with water. It was all I could do to gag it down, and the goat puke green color didn't help. Next time I used orange juice as a mixer, added a banana and blended. Pretty good, despite the color.
At the time of this writing I am on day three of my program. Day one I had Greens for breakfast, forgot my mid day snack, ate a small piece of fried chicken breast left over from Sunday brunch for lunch (my bad), an energy bar left over from my Medi-Fast diet (almost two years old) and two boiled chicken wings and a liver for dinner from a helf chicken I boiled; and yes, I had two Manhattans before dinner and a glass of wine with the chicken.
Boiled chicken is very versatile. You can do so many things with it. Personally I like to just eat it. You can also shred or chop it and add to soup or make chicken salad. Of course it can also be an ingredient in many non-diet dishes such as dumplings and casseroles. I also have a chicken bias. I know "experts" tell us to skin the chicken and discard the skin because that is where the fat is. That is also where most of the flavor is. I have never tasted a boneless skinless chicken breast that was fit to eat, regardless of how creative the chef may be. If it takes me a couple extra weeks to reach my goal because I eat a little bit of chicken skin then so be it.
There is a school of thought that says you should not weigh every day while on a diet. No matter how "good" you are being, the human body likes to play games with your weight. Sometimes your body retains water and you fail to lose, or even gain no matter how little you ate. Sometimes there is a freak metabolic reaction I don't think even doctors can explain, and sometimes we just cheat and often don't even admit it to ourselves. I normally do weigh every morning after I have performed all my morning ablutions and while wearing only only a T-shirt (more information than you wanted to know I'm sure). First day I lost 1&1/2 pounds.
Just one more thought on supplements before I move on; on the days when I don't have greens, I take a supplement containing omega 3. I also take a vitamin almost every day. I do not lay any claim on being a vitamin and supplement expert and don't want to get into arguments with anyone. There are literally thousands available so use whatever you, your doctor, your best friend, or your bookie recommends or you are comfortable with. I doubt that any will help you lose weight better than another. The only thing I want to caution is that you take a quality vitamin as you will more than likely have some deficiencies unless a totally qualified nutritionist designs your diet. If so, that will totally defeat the premise of my theory. If what you are doing does not fit you, it probably won't work.
Signing off for today, join you again later.
STARTING WHERE WE LEFT OFF
YESTERDAY
My significant other is a workaholic attorney and usually comes home between 7:30 and 9:00 P. M. So while I'm waiting for her instead of having one or two cocktails, I usually have three or four, sometimes five. While this does not render me "knee walking" drunk, it is probably a couple more than I should have. I also prepare a large semi-gourmet evening meal which we consume between 9:30 and 10:00.
My first resolutions concerning my quest to become healthier is to eat something for breakfast, to have a healthy but small mid-morning snack, a fairly Spartan lunch, a mid afternoon snack, and a light dinner after no more than one or two cocktails. I also plan to explore an excercise program (more on this later). It will be interesting to see how my ideas change through the program.
My breakfast plans are rather simple as I don't want alot of hassle before I leave for work. I may add an option later, but for now I plan for weekday breakfasts to consist of either a bowl of whole grain cereal with a banana and low fat milk or a dietary supplement product. I know everyone be they layman or nutritionist has their own ideas about supplements. I simply found this particular one interesting and decided to try it. It is advertised to contain the vitamins and nutrients in four servings of fruit and vegetables. Directions offer the option of mixing with either water or juice. I tried it first simply with water. It was all I could do to gag it down, and the goat puke green color didn't help. Next time I used orange juice as a mixer, added a banana and blended. Pretty good, despite the color.
At the time of this writing I am on day three of my program. Day one I had Greens for breakfast, forgot my mid day snack, ate a small piece of fried chicken breast left over from Sunday brunch for lunch (my bad), an energy bar left over from my Medi-Fast diet (almost two years old) and two boiled chicken wings and a liver for dinner from a helf chicken I boiled; and yes, I had two Manhattans before dinner and a glass of wine with the chicken.
Boiled chicken is very versatile. You can do so many things with it. Personally I like to just eat it. You can also shred or chop it and add to soup or make chicken salad. Of course it can also be an ingredient in many non-diet dishes such as dumplings and casseroles. I also have a chicken bias. I know "experts" tell us to skin the chicken and discard the skin because that is where the fat is. That is also where most of the flavor is. I have never tasted a boneless skinless chicken breast that was fit to eat, regardless of how creative the chef may be. If it takes me a couple extra weeks to reach my goal because I eat a little bit of chicken skin then so be it.
There is a school of thought that says you should not weigh every day while on a diet. No matter how "good" you are being, the human body likes to play games with your weight. Sometimes your body retains water and you fail to lose, or even gain no matter how little you ate. Sometimes there is a freak metabolic reaction I don't think even doctors can explain, and sometimes we just cheat and often don't even admit it to ourselves. I normally do weigh every morning after I have performed all my morning ablutions and while wearing only only a T-shirt (more information than you wanted to know I'm sure). First day I lost 1&1/2 pounds.
Just one more thought on supplements before I move on; on the days when I don't have greens, I take a supplement containing omega 3. I also take a vitamin almost every day. I do not lay any claim on being a vitamin and supplement expert and don't want to get into arguments with anyone. There are literally thousands available so use whatever you, your doctor, your best friend, or your bookie recommends or you are comfortable with. I doubt that any will help you lose weight better than another. The only thing I want to caution is that you take a quality vitamin as you will more than likely have some deficiencies unless a totally qualified nutritionist designs your diet. If so, that will totally defeat the premise of my theory. If what you are doing does not fit you, it probably won't work.
Signing off for today, join you again later.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Entry #3, November 28,2007
Its good to be back on. Sorry its so late in the week. When I took Thanksgiving off, I meant to be back on Monday, but this is a new blog, and I'm somewhat technologically challenged and tech problems cost me a couple days.
I had a comment or two already, and am happy to say they were positive. One of them had a question. I will try to answer any questions you send in the comments option and will also consider any suggestions you have.
The question was, " Are you going to tell how to use this diet?" The answer is yes. Everyday I post will give you a little more information that will hopefully be of help to you.
So we are now ready to start
THE JOURNEY
There really is no secret about losing weight. It is very simple. Unless someone has a metabolic problem all you have to do is burn more calories over the long run than you consume. The way to do this is with a combination of diet and exercise. While the theory is simple enough, the problem is human nature. Such things as will power and cravings come into play along with discouragment when we hit "plateaus" and the best laid plans go awry.
I am really sticking my neck out by revealing my plans before I fully test them. I know I will probably have to alter some of my intentions, and I also know my will power will probably not always be up to the challenge.
I am not an MD or a nutritionist, but neither am I totally ignorant of nutrition and health principles. I entered college many years ago in a pre-med curriculum and while I later changed my major I did take courses in nutrition, chemistry and biology. Over the years I have also read many articles and books by MD's, nutritionists, and other "experts" on health and weight loss. It is amazing how widely their ideas differ and how contradictory one program can be from another.
Thus I formed my own theory about weight loss. There are many paths to the truth. There may be some that are so far out as to be considered "wrong." There are some so common sense and practical that most people consider them "right." The bottom line probably is there so many, maybe even hundreds or thousands out there that will work; the secret is to adjust your attitude (will power) to make them work for you. This is much easier if you chose a program you don't think will deprive you to the point of being miserable. Also, unless you are by personality a very rigid person, chose a program you can alter yourself to increase your chances of success. This is exactly the kind of program I'm attempting to design.
To a large extent, I plan to sort of make it up as I go, although I do have pre-conceived ideas; and I will share my failures and successes with my readers as I go and you can decide for yourselves which of my ideas you want to try, which to alter, and which to totally discard. I will also provide you with recipes you may or may not find tempting.
Even though legitimate nutritionists tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I have not eaten breakfast on a regular basis in many years except for weekends when I'm not working as an auctioneer and we enjoy a few Bloody Marys before partaking of a large brunch. I am a believer in the theory that in order to successfully lose weight, it is most effective to eat four or five times a day, having snacks or small meals rather than the two or three meals most of us have. Traditional wisdom also holds it is best not to eat your major meal of the day late in the evening. This is a habit of which I am guilty; however, I recently read a statement from a well respected nutritionist that a calorie is a calorie whether consumed at 7:00 AM or 10:00 PM.
I hope to be able to continue tomorrow. See you then.
Its good to be back on. Sorry its so late in the week. When I took Thanksgiving off, I meant to be back on Monday, but this is a new blog, and I'm somewhat technologically challenged and tech problems cost me a couple days.
I had a comment or two already, and am happy to say they were positive. One of them had a question. I will try to answer any questions you send in the comments option and will also consider any suggestions you have.
The question was, " Are you going to tell how to use this diet?" The answer is yes. Everyday I post will give you a little more information that will hopefully be of help to you.
So we are now ready to start
THE JOURNEY
There really is no secret about losing weight. It is very simple. Unless someone has a metabolic problem all you have to do is burn more calories over the long run than you consume. The way to do this is with a combination of diet and exercise. While the theory is simple enough, the problem is human nature. Such things as will power and cravings come into play along with discouragment when we hit "plateaus" and the best laid plans go awry.
I am really sticking my neck out by revealing my plans before I fully test them. I know I will probably have to alter some of my intentions, and I also know my will power will probably not always be up to the challenge.
I am not an MD or a nutritionist, but neither am I totally ignorant of nutrition and health principles. I entered college many years ago in a pre-med curriculum and while I later changed my major I did take courses in nutrition, chemistry and biology. Over the years I have also read many articles and books by MD's, nutritionists, and other "experts" on health and weight loss. It is amazing how widely their ideas differ and how contradictory one program can be from another.
Thus I formed my own theory about weight loss. There are many paths to the truth. There may be some that are so far out as to be considered "wrong." There are some so common sense and practical that most people consider them "right." The bottom line probably is there so many, maybe even hundreds or thousands out there that will work; the secret is to adjust your attitude (will power) to make them work for you. This is much easier if you chose a program you don't think will deprive you to the point of being miserable. Also, unless you are by personality a very rigid person, chose a program you can alter yourself to increase your chances of success. This is exactly the kind of program I'm attempting to design.
To a large extent, I plan to sort of make it up as I go, although I do have pre-conceived ideas; and I will share my failures and successes with my readers as I go and you can decide for yourselves which of my ideas you want to try, which to alter, and which to totally discard. I will also provide you with recipes you may or may not find tempting.
Even though legitimate nutritionists tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I have not eaten breakfast on a regular basis in many years except for weekends when I'm not working as an auctioneer and we enjoy a few Bloody Marys before partaking of a large brunch. I am a believer in the theory that in order to successfully lose weight, it is most effective to eat four or five times a day, having snacks or small meals rather than the two or three meals most of us have. Traditional wisdom also holds it is best not to eat your major meal of the day late in the evening. This is a habit of which I am guilty; however, I recently read a statement from a well respected nutritionist that a calorie is a calorie whether consumed at 7:00 AM or 10:00 PM.
I hope to be able to continue tomorrow. See you then.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Happy Hour Diet
Introduction
I have had a weight problem since I was about eight years old. At that age I went from a skinny kid to a chubby kid, primarily we surmised, as a result of having my tonsils removed. It may have been coincidental, but soon after the operation, my general health improved and I began gaining weight. Being a "fat kid" can be a real downer. You get teased a lot. I remember as a teenager there was a group of wits that whenever I appeared would chant, "A Neff, enough, too much", and laugh gleefully. That hurt!
I have had a weight problem since I was about eight years old. At that age I went from a skinny kid to a chubby kid, primarily we surmised, as a result of having my tonsils removed. It may have been coincidental, but soon after the operation, my general health improved and I began gaining weight. Being a "fat kid" can be a real downer. You get teased a lot. I remember as a teenager there was a group of wits that whenever I appeared would chant, "A Neff, enough, too much", and laugh gleefully. That hurt!
By the time I was a High School Junior, I had started taking off weight, seemingly naturally. When I was fifteen I weighed 215 pounds ( but I was almost 5’11") Again it may have been coincidence, or it may have been age and hormones, but between my sophomore and junior year I went on a three day fast, ingesting only water and chewing gum during this period. Immediately afterward I started to melt away pounds without changing anything about my lifestyle.
By the time I was a senior I was very fit. After graduation I entered the Army for a six month active duty stint. I came home in great physical shape weighing about 160 pounds and actually looking a little on
the thin side for my 5’11" big boned frame.
the thin side for my 5’11" big boned frame.
I maintained my weight pretty well throughout college, perhaps gaining 10-15 pounds which I could stand to put on. Then, when I got out in the real world, living the good life with expense accounts and cocktails I began my gradual ascent toward obesity. Oh, when I hit certain milestones, like 215, 225, 230, and 250 I would start an effort to lose weight. Yes, it would usually be successful but inevitably I would regain the weight with interest. If you are reading this you have experienced the same phenomenon.
Within the past 3-4 years I have had two success stories, but in each case I regained my hard earned losses with a vengeance. The first success was the Atkins diet. I lost twenty something pounds in a reasonable period of time, then off the wagon. The second was a program called Medi-Fast whereby you purchase certain food items from them and eat one "lean and green" meal per day on your own. At first, I had no problem with either one, but strayed from the flock in both cases for two reasons. One, I got tired of the rigidity of the programs; and when I rebelled, I couldn’t go back. Two both programs required an initial alcohol-free period (or perhaps a total ban on alcohol, I forget right now). I felt the need for a flexible program I could design myself and change as I wanted.
I don’t consider myself an alcoholic, or even a problem drinker; but I enjoy Happy Hour. There may be physiological reasons why alcohol consumption slows weight loss. If so, I will be content to lose a little more slowly and have a better chance of ultimate success.
When I made the decision to go on Medi-fast, I weighed 272 pounds. I lost down to 242 before I went to Spain and off the wagon. For the reasons before mentioned, I have not been able to get back on it. I gained back up to 268 before taking a cruise to Alaska this summer. The motivating factor behind my decision at this time is that a couple of years ago I was diagnosed as diabetic. Until now I have been able to control it with pills. Just before I left for my Alaska adventure, my Doctor told me to enjoy the trip because when I got back I would have to make a decision to either try to control my condition with diet and exercise or go on insulin. So I am calling on my will power to avoid insulin.
One of the ironic things concerning this is that I just knew I would come back from Alaska several pounds heavier than I started since I would be eating three meals a day complete with dessert which I hardly ever do at home. I left home weighing 268. When I got home I was 264 and after 24 hours on my program, I’m 262.5. The only thing I can figure is I was active enough in Alaska to burn off a few pounds despite the fact I was eating more.
So now its time to embark on my journey toward better health. I wish me luck. I plan to take Thanksgiving weekend off. See you next week.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
November 20,2007
Entry #1 November 20, 2007
Welcome to my blog. The primary purpose of this blog is to help people who want to lose weight to do so without feeling deprived and as if they have given up their life. I have titled it The Happy Hour Diet because I have proven myself that one can lose weight and still enjoy cocktail hour in moderation.
Even if you never take a drink however, you can still benefit from the information I will be publishing as I will be including diet and exercise tips; information on healthy foods, and recipes (some more "diet" than others).
In addition I plan to vary the content with entertaining information, and occasionally business tips from my vastly varied career experience. Stay tuned for continuing information and entertainment.
Welcome to my blog. The primary purpose of this blog is to help people who want to lose weight to do so without feeling deprived and as if they have given up their life. I have titled it The Happy Hour Diet because I have proven myself that one can lose weight and still enjoy cocktail hour in moderation.
Even if you never take a drink however, you can still benefit from the information I will be publishing as I will be including diet and exercise tips; information on healthy foods, and recipes (some more "diet" than others).
In addition I plan to vary the content with entertaining information, and occasionally business tips from my vastly varied career experience. Stay tuned for continuing information and entertainment.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)