Recipie for the week

So, the secret reason for having a garden. What makes it worth all the work and money to plant and tend... is Liz’s Garden Fresh Tomato Salad. It is the simplest recipe in the world, and for the life of me I cannot duplicate it. Liz is just a master when it comes to salad dressings.

Basically you take garden fresh tomatoes (as in “pick and bring into the kitchen” fresh), slice them and place them on a platter. Then in a small jelly jar, chop about a half cup of fresh basil or other herbs of your choice (also preferably picked within 5 minutes of serving). Half cover the herbs with olive or walnut oil, then add balsamic vinegar until the herbs are covered. This is where it gets tricky... somehow convince the oil and vinegar to mix, without using anything to stir (which might cause the herbs to wilt too much). A pinch of sugar here is optional... and probably necessary if you’re using store bought tomatoes.

Then pour the dressing on the tomatoes, being sure to spread out the herbs, and serve. It takes all of five minutes to make, plus the three months required to get the ingredients, of course.

Even if Tomatoes are not your very favorite food (I couldn’t stand them at all until college), the mix of the balsamic and the basil and the tomato in this is just heavenly. I recommend yellow tomatoes if you can get them.

This, of course, also satisfies the WW guideline of having healthy oils. It works out to quite a few points per serving, what with the oil, but they are healthy points.

freestyle dieting day

So yesterday was an interesting day in the greater scheme of my diet plans. It was the first day I didn't really have any way to count my points. We did a carry-in for work. I brought a veggie tray with humus, and managed to skip the obvious land mines (the brownies, muffins, even the fried chicken!) and stuck to a egg salad 1/2 sandwich and a little pasta-pesto salad (about half tortolini half tomato, and I tried to get mostly tomato)

So on one hand, I really have no idea if I was at all close on points, which is bad, and I strongly suspect I was low on fiber. On the other hand, I believe I made the best choices possible without offending anyone (I had a little of everything that was home made except for the muffins and brownies).

In the long run, if this is going to work as a life long change, I will need to learn how to make good choices and eat healthily by instinct and habit, not just because I have to face my spreadsheet when I get home. I can’t rely on it as a crutch forever. So here’s my plan. I will continue to use the spreadsheet for the 11 week challenge. Then when the challenge ends, I will go off the formal point system, and just try to “eat well.” If I am able to keep up the weight loss, I will stay off the spreadsheet until another challenge begins. Then I will go back on the formal system to see how close I was staying to the guidelines without checking every day.

Of course, if I go off the plan and find I’m gaining weight again, I will immediately jump back to the spreadsheet. Better to rely on a crutch and walk than be without and fall down.


For what it’s worth, I’m 1.1 down from yesterday. That’s bye bye to the 380's!

And that's round one

So today is the first Fabulous in Fall progress report day.

Status

Mood: Excited

Weight: 380.1

Change since challenge began: - 12.7

So I admit I am a little disappointed that I didn't actually break 380 this week. But, on the bright side, I know I won't be able to say I lost a dozen pounds in a single week ever again, so at least next week I can be sure of meeting one benchmark.

Got to go, the treadmill is waiting.

Begin Round 2!

a touch of pessimism

I can't point any any specific reason, but I feel as if I've lost ground since yesterday. Nothing specific, so in theory it could all be in my head. But, for lack of a better term, i feel fat today, where I didn't yesterday.

Could be that I just didn't sleep well or have the right sort of dreams. I've never had nyquil hit me like that before. I was fine for about an hour, and then all of a sudden I could barely make it up stairs and into bed before passing out. I don't even remember Liz coming home at all, though she says she woke me up enough to make me give her back her pillow.

And of course, this is the first day since the diet started that I haven't weighed myself, so it could just be paranoia setting in.

Because I really didn't do anything yesterday that would have caused me to gain weight back. I was well under on points, over my goal on fiber, and had plenty of water. (I was drinking water constantly yesterday to keep my throat from clogging up.) I did a treadmill workout both yesterday morning and today, plus a weight lifting workout last night.

So why are my clothes feeling tighter and why is getting out of the car feeling more difficult? Isn't it supposed to be going the opposite way?

Oddly enough, Liz actually commented on my shirt this morning, saying it was fitting me better. But then she's been known to give me positive feedback even where it is not in the strictest sense accurate.

Here's hoping for a better tomorrow.

new morning

So I got up and did my treadmill again today. This time it was only 15 minutes, but at 2.0 and 5 degree incline. I pushed the last minute up to 3.0 to see if I could do it. Wasn't exactly fun, but I'm not unconscious or anything, so that's a good sign. I'm really feeling it in my legs though.

I think my goal will be to be able to do a mile at 2.0 by the middle of October, and a mile at 3.0 by the end of one month after I reach 350. (I could probably do that a little sooner, but again, don't want to break the treadmill by pushing myself too hard too fast).

And of course when I mention my treadmill workouts, the time doesn't include my 3 minute cool down.

Not going to weigh myself today - tomorrow is the first weigh-in!!

Good luck to everybody on the challenge!

entering final stretch

Only one day left before my first official progress report for the challenge.

One thing I need to work on more for next week is spacing my points out throughout the day. Without going over my points total, I'm eating far to much for dinner compared to the rest of the day.

Also I realized that I might be relying too heavily on the point reduction given (at least by my worksheet) when the food has fiber in it. Tonight I had a big bowl of frozen veggies. But because each serving calculates to 0 points, in theory I could eat an infinite amount and never go over points. Today it so happens that I stayed under on points even if I zeroed out all the fiber, but I haven't checked previous days.

Anyway, took some nyquil about an hour ago, and am now falling asleep at my computer. Must go to bed.

A pox upon all cold viruses!

Another hurtle crossed

So I'm feeling a lot better today. My head is still a little cloudy, and I've still got a nagging cough, but the breathing is much better.

To celebrate, I actually got up early today and did a treadmill workout. I managed to do 20 minutes at 4 degrees. Mostly at a fairly slow 1.5 mph, but its a start, right? I did move up to 2.0 for the last stretch. Of course, when I was done I was ready to go back to sleep for a few hours, and was probably as wet or wetter than when I got out of the shower a little later, but then all that means is that I got a good workout, right?

Today is also my day for a weightlifting workout, but I didn't think I had time for that this morning, plus Liz got to sleep in, so I didn't want to wake her up. Besides, I think I am going to try reversing my old schedule, and get up and do treadmill every am, and then do weights in the evenings after work on weight days. Grizzpyre made a comment about getting up and doing treadmill every morning to get his heart rate up and improve metabolism all day, and that made a lot of sense to me. So I will try that this week and see how it goes.

I also have a progress report, a little different than usual. Even though the scale is a big liar, and varies throughout the day and depending on how you stand on it, it is an easy way to report progress on here. The problem is that it seems more reliable because it is objective, a number that can easily be compared to something else. Real signs of progress are harder to relate over distances or in a blog, but I think they are all the more important to share. I will continue to post important weight measurements, especially the official week weigh-ins, but I will try to post some non-imperial data as well.

Today's progress report therefore is that my shirts are fitting a lot better than a week ago. I'm not to the point of trying on things I had declared unwearable, I've got another 10 pounds to go before I'm there, I think. But the last time I wore the shirt I'm wearing today it was tight enough, not that I was worried the buttons would break, but enough that the buttons would come undone several times during the day. And today, it fits me just fine. There isn't any strain on the buttons at all, I didn't have to tug even a little to get it buttoned in the first place.



Lastly, a big thank you to everyone who has sent me e-mails or posted comments here. Please keep them coming, the positive reinforcement is so vital to my being able to keep up my progress! Thank you also to Grizzpyre for the positive example to strive to emulate.

update

Well, a long afternoon nap helped, but I'm not cured. I doubt I will try to push myself into a workout this afternoon... but I feel as if I will be able to go to work tomorrow.

I looked through my hard drive, and I don't have any really recent photos except for those I took for my passport. I will have Liz take some shots of me tonight or tomorrow to post on here.

The upside of feeling sick all day is that I haven't felt any desire to eat at all, so my calories for the day are way down. But then I've been unusually inactive as well, so there you go.

I did spend a half an hour or so reading back posts of "The Voice of" If you read his story, its pretty obvious that I'm following along much in the same path he took ... I only hope that I can be as successful!

reintroducing the treadmill

So today is the day I reintroduce treadmill workouts to my routine. My goal to start will be 20 minutes. I can't jog on it . . . we have one rated for 350 lbs, which is the best we could find, but it makes unhappy sounds when I use it, so trying to run would just absolutely finish the darn thing off. My goal is to do longer and more intense walks until I reach 340, and then start adding in a jogging component. I will be doing angles, as the thing actually runs a lot better/quieter for me at a minimum of 4 degrees, and I like to work up from there.

I have been good about my strength training, which is good, but I think I'm giving myself too easy of a workout. I need to start pushing myself a little harder, and a couple of exercises to the routine.

I will also try to find a photo that I can post this evening as my "before" photo. I generally avoid having my picture taken wherever possible, because I'm fairly disgusted by how I look, but I'm sure Liz managed to take some. The first of the month is coming up, and seems like a good a time as any to start taking monthly-ish photos.

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update: ok, so maybe not. I was just dead at work today, so I came home early to try to sleep off this damn cold. Maybe after i crash for a few hours i'll feel up to a workout, maybe not.

Going on a fiber hunt....

So I think the hardest rule I've set for myself thus far is managing to get at least 25g of fiber every day. I've been taking fiber supplements (mix in water), but I can only do that so often. I did just discover that a banana has 3g of fiber, but with its 105 calories it still works out to 1.5 points each. I also found a fruit leather which is pretty good, helps with sweet cravings, and has 6g fiber, so I think I will be buying more of those.

Anyway, the first few pounds (what I've heard called water weight... honestly don't know whether that's accurate or not...) have continued to drop off at an exciting rate. I'm now down 9.4 from Thursday, with three whole days left to go in the week. I'm expecting my shrink rate to level off at around 11 or 12 down, so next week may not be so much fun. But I am enjoying this while it lasts!

In order to have a more challenging challenge, I think I may reset my goal upwards a bit. Basically I'll say that my goal is to lose 25 lbs plus whatever I shed this first week.

Current status

mood: optimistic, though it is Monday and I do have Court first thing :(
Weight: 383.4
Progress: 9.4 lbs.

honeymoon period

I got a good bit of exercise in the form of yard work, cleaning our office back patio for our upcoming open house. Between pulling weeds, sweeping up dirt, planting, and hauling stuff away I probably did about four hours of physical labor, which is a lot for me.

I am still in something of a honeymoon period with this new diet. I currently feel like this is the easiest thing in the world, like I can't imagine why I haven't been living my life this way all along. Mostly I can't imagine why I would go back to the way I was before.

Now I only have to figure out how to keep this level of excitement and optimism going when I hit a plateau. Right now I'm feeling a little better each day than the day before, but I know that sensation won't last forever.

On the down side, I've developed somewhat of a sinus cold the last couple of days. Which I guess isn't all bad... I can't become tempted by smelling foods I'm not allowed :)

first test passed

So I passed my first serious test today. We had a three hour meeting this morning at work, and my boss brought doughnuts, monkey bread, and baby carrots.


And I had baby carrots.


I did go out for a drink after work, and had to figure out my points as best I could estimate. I ended up about a point over for the day.

All in all, a successful day. 10 weeks and 5 days left to go.

second day

There's one thing I really hate about starting a new diet. The first pounds fall off so quickly, that I actually get worried that I might be going "too fast." And then, of course, the brakes get applied and I move nowhere for weeks on end.

I also need to hide my scale during the middle of the week, as there is no way I will pass it by in the morning and not want to check on my progress. I recognize that checking every day (or actually multiple times a day) is entirely unhealthy, but there you go.

Anyway, with the caveat that it is just those first pounds that are frustratingly easy to lose when I put any effort into it, and that I am fully aware that I'll have fluxuations up and down each day, my scale does report me at 3 pounds down from yesterday.

More importantly, I found my morning workout a little easier than Wednesday's, and I'm finding cravings a little easier to suppress.

As to workouts: When I am "on task", I do a weight training every other morning (just dumbbells for now, though I want to get a weight bench this fall) and an aroebic workout every evening (usually either treadmill or DDR, though if I mow I count that as my evening workout). This week I am 3 for 3 on weight training, but have not been doing my evening workouts, so hopefully I can turn that around starting next week.


Current status

Mood: realistically optimistic
weight: 389.8

end of first official day

So I ended up having a good day, diet wise. I used about 4/5 of the points I was allowed for the day, but felt more or less full all day.

I also made a trip to the grocery store tonight to stock up for the first week of the challenge. For lazy cooking, I have been a big fan of the lean cuisine spa classics for some time (averaging 3-5 points each), and I found some low sodium versions of the progresso type canned soup which only have about 5 points per can. Though of course "low sodium" here means 20% dv per serving, with 2 servings in a can... so they'll have to be a "last resort before going out for fast food" kind of item. But it's good to know I have some options like that.


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One recipe (if it can be called that) that will likely get me through this period: my homemade slowcooker mexican beans.

I started with dried beans (slightly under two points per cup), soak them in the slowcooker overnight, then drain, rinse, and add fresh water. Then they are cooked along with an assortment of fresh peppers for three-three and a half hours on high. Then they are blended or mashed with some garlic, tobasco, balsemic vinegar, chilli powder, and cumin.

As best as I can figure out based on the ingredients I used, this works out to about 150 calories per half cup, with about 1g fat and 5g fiber. Though my next batch will have a good bit more fat in it, because I think it may have needed some olive oil.

I've been serving them over a bed of lettuce with chopped onions and chopped tomatoes (the tomatoes, like the peppers are from my garden), a sprinkling of light grated cheese, and a couple servings worth of salsa.

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I really like cooking with dried beans now that I have the slowcooker... canned and even frozen have so much sodium in them that it's ridiculous. I haven't quite gotten the knack of getting them cooked through but not falling apart, such that so far they end up as mexican beans. But I'm sure that's just a matter of practice.


All in all, a very promising start. 10 weeks and 6 days left to go.

And in this corner ...

. . . Weighing in at 392.8 pounds . . .

Welcome to the main event :) The challenge starts today for eleven weeks.

My official goal for this challenge is 25 pounds, taking me to a total goal of 367.8. My goal for the end of the calender year is 350.

Starting so high, there is a good chance that I will be able to meet this pace. My previous experience with dieting showed me that the first 30 of my weight dropped off pretty easily, it was anything under 350 that gave me a real struggle.


And there's the bell, round one has begun.

new scale

So I got my new scale in the mail today. The problem is that it varies by as much as two pounds each time I use it. I think it has something to do with how I stand on it. Anyway, I have a rough idea of where I'm starting from, hopefully Thursday morning I can get a more official (ie consistent) reading.

Today is my first day counting points. I've only used about a quarter of my points for the day. I think I have been overly paranoid about foods. This is, I believe a common problem in starting a diet... I'll be so self contained for one day, eating nothing but the most healthy options, and then I rebel by binging.

Here's hoping that labeling your faults really is half the battle ;)

why, yet another new blog

So I've had at least five blogs now that I can think of, and am currently updating the one at myspace. I don't know if i will continue on there, or if I will reopen one of my other blogger blogs.

But this is a little different. Having been inspired by Becky and encouraged by Gauri, I have decided to join a weightloss group. I've tried to diet several times, and twice have actually made significant progress before failing miserably. But I've never had the opportunity to do group dieting, and I think that it might just work.

So apparently we're starting in a couple of days, using the "points" system. Gauri has been good enough to explain what that means to me, and given me some cool spreadsheets to play with. I bought a scale (via amazon) that actually will have a high enough capacity to tell me my weight, which I may or may not have the confidence to post on here. What I will try to post here are the deltas... hopefully all showing reductions . . . and try to vent any frustrations or share any optimistic moments, things of that sort. I can't guarantee frequent updates, but I will do my best.

So, in starting a new diet, I can't help but consider what has gone well and what has gone wrong in previous attempts. The most effective diet I have ever done was right after I graduated from Lawschool. I hit a emotional low one day during Professional Responsibility class, recognizing in myself and in my behavior all of the classic symptoms of addiction. I broke down and had a horible night full of tears and self loathing. I was all but ready to go report myself to _____, the name of which I can't remember this second, but the addiction counseling service for lawyers, although I was pretty sure that doing so would mean I wouldn't be allowed to take the bar that summer. Liz talked me out of that, and helped me design a diet, (based heavily on the Abs Diet) on which I lost fifty pounds over the course of two months.

But then, of course, I started working, and especially started commuting. I found myself with a lot more in the way of income, and a lot less in the way of time. This is a bad combination for me. It suddenly seemed so much more efficient to stop for food on the way home, or to have breakfast on the road, or to go out for lunch instead of packing something healthy. And by the time we moved to Chillicothe, and I didn't have the hour long commute, but I had redeveloped all these unhealthy habits. I wasn't recording in my food blog, I wasn't taking time to do my exercises regularly. I was eating very tasty fast food. And try as I might, I haven't managed to recapture that routine that had worked so well for a brief time.

So, Why am I Overweight?

In broad terms, I think i have a Hedonistic problem. I don't have much in the way of "oh wait, let's consider the long term consequences/costs" attitude towards just about anything. So I missed a lot of classes, I put off studying, homework, and now actual work to the last minute, and my house looks a little like it should belong to a pair of frat brothers.

But where this tendency is most pronounced is in my dietary habits. Hmm, a salad sounds good, but requires chopping veggies, a hamburger requires going through the drive through. I'll go through the drive through. And that's the thing. For the most part, I actually like healthy food... I even love to cook (in theory)... I just hate to take the time to cook for myself on a regular basis.

Now, there are some big exceptions to the idea that I'm just as happy eating healthy food as unhealthy food. I have far too much love for 1) Mountain Dew 2) Fried Chicken and 3) Macaroni and cheese. I quit mountain dew for the most part when I finished law school, though of late I've been slipping back into the habit occasionally. But deep fried foods, most especially fried chicken will suck up all of my money and good intentions if I am not extremely careful.



All in all, I think that dieting makes sense, that on a rational level it should be really easy. But it isn't rationality that has gotten me to the state I am in.

What does this attempt at weight loss have that none of the others did? Well three things. First, I feel as if I am not alone. Liz is always very supportive and willing to do things like cooking to help out.... but she doesn't really get why it is so hard for me to stay focused. I can't really explain it to her, and she's never really had any addictions at all. Second, I know know that someone has done it. Someone I know, a real life person, has lost over three digits of weight. It isn't abstract, it isn't potentially a hoax... it's a real person and a real story of hope. Third, I'm competitive. I'm not going to want to be the only person who can't report progress at the end of the week/month/whatever.

So, for better or for worse, here we go.

I