I titled my last blog post "The Lost Month" and suggested that I had considered calling it the "Lost Summer." Since that post on August 5 was my only post for the month, maybe I should have.
Anyway, I started the month of August a half pound lighter than my one year anniversary of the diet on May 15, and ended August a pound heavier than that.
Proof we'd slipped into all sorts of bad habits was abounding. . . so the last week of August and the very first few days of September, we celebrated our return to being serious about the South Beach Diet by finishing off all of the carbohydrates in the house.
We returned to Phase I of the diet (basically eat only meat and vegetables) on Tuesday morning the 4th of September, and it's worked as advertised once again. As of this morning, I'm 215.8 pounds, which is down about 5 pounds from last weekend, down 5.2 pounds from "Day 1" of the second year of the diet and down 66.2 pounds from where I started in May 2011.
We're still not going to be as strict as we were last year, but we ARE still dieting. (For example, the boys have asked for Papa John's Pizza for tonight, as a reward for good behavior the first two weeks of school, so we're relenting and ordering.)
Here's a product plug, for those who've stuck with me. . .
We stumbled upon Jennie-O's "Turkey Ham" a few weeks ago and tried it. The boys not only didn't realize it wasn't the genuine article, but Joshua (my pickiest eater) actually asked during the meal if we could "have this again soon." It comes in about a 2.25 pound block and we roast it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and carve at the table like you would a normal ham.
A 58 gram slice is a proper serving, and 4.5 grams of fat with 2 grams of carbs. Works great for the diet.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The lost month
Or maybe I should title this "The Lost Summer." As I type, I have the spreadsheet on which I track our progress. On May 15, 2012, I reset the "Original weight" to my current weight of that day, the one year anniversary of the start of this little odyssey. . . Now, 82 days later, the "Total Weight Lost" is a mocking "-0.5"
Since May 15, my peak of weight loss (reached twice - June 4 and again June 25) has been 4.5 pounds. On July 1, I was actually down 1.6 pounds.
I'm consoled, however, by two facts: 1. my worst day this summer was July 25, when I was actually UP 3 pounds from May 15 and 2. Looking back last summer, I actually gained 9 pounds in July, so this summer's been a breeze comparatively.
Now, we're into August, and dealing with Vacation Bible School for the boys the next three evenings, and the Illinois State Fair starting Thursday. We're going to try to behave (I bought groceries through Thursday yesterday afternoon, and the only really bad behavior I anticipate is the pizza-and-chocolate-chip-cookies combo my younger son chose for Wednesday night. It's a product I've never seen, DiGiorno pizza with 12 chocolate chip cookies. Apparently you throw the cookies in the oven as you take the pizza out. Doesn't look promising for the scale on Thursday morning).
We're looking forward to the start of school for the boys in 3 weeks as a chance to get back onto a more regular schedule and get started back down the dial.
Since May 15, my peak of weight loss (reached twice - June 4 and again June 25) has been 4.5 pounds. On July 1, I was actually down 1.6 pounds.
I'm consoled, however, by two facts: 1. my worst day this summer was July 25, when I was actually UP 3 pounds from May 15 and 2. Looking back last summer, I actually gained 9 pounds in July, so this summer's been a breeze comparatively.
Now, we're into August, and dealing with Vacation Bible School for the boys the next three evenings, and the Illinois State Fair starting Thursday. We're going to try to behave (I bought groceries through Thursday yesterday afternoon, and the only really bad behavior I anticipate is the pizza-and-chocolate-chip-cookies combo my younger son chose for Wednesday night. It's a product I've never seen, DiGiorno pizza with 12 chocolate chip cookies. Apparently you throw the cookies in the oven as you take the pizza out. Doesn't look promising for the scale on Thursday morning).
We're looking forward to the start of school for the boys in 3 weeks as a chance to get back onto a more regular schedule and get started back down the dial.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Steady . . .
Every authority with which I'm familiar warns that major weight loss is a lifestyle change, and that at some point your progress will slow.
I think we've reached that point. This morning was my lowest weight since we started this process (218.6), but . . . it's only about a half pound less than I was a week ago. On the plus side, I've lost a half pound in a week that saw a couple of restaurant meals and a week that was so hot outdoors that my exercise was limited.
The next few weeks will be a bit of a challenge - Saturday is my 25th High School class reunion. I'm planning to eat, drink and make merry, with no regard for my weight. The Saturday after that is a 70th reunion for the Scout Troop I used to lead. I've been on the committee that's been planing this event for the last six months, and I have to say, the banquet looks excellent.
The full week after THAT reunion, the boys will be with my in-laws. We're not travelling this year, but we will take the opportunity to do some things we normally can't do, like eat out at restaurants that don't have crayons and paper place mats.
So . . . for the rest of July, being steady on my weight seems like a pretty good goal.
I think we've reached that point. This morning was my lowest weight since we started this process (218.6), but . . . it's only about a half pound less than I was a week ago. On the plus side, I've lost a half pound in a week that saw a couple of restaurant meals and a week that was so hot outdoors that my exercise was limited.
The next few weeks will be a bit of a challenge - Saturday is my 25th High School class reunion. I'm planning to eat, drink and make merry, with no regard for my weight. The Saturday after that is a 70th reunion for the Scout Troop I used to lead. I've been on the committee that's been planing this event for the last six months, and I have to say, the banquet looks excellent.
The full week after THAT reunion, the boys will be with my in-laws. We're not travelling this year, but we will take the opportunity to do some things we normally can't do, like eat out at restaurants that don't have crayons and paper place mats.
So . . . for the rest of July, being steady on my weight seems like a pretty good goal.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Updates
Sharing with Man's Best Friend. The first picture below is our 10 year old Boston Terrier, Lucy. A few weeks ago, Lucy developed a bit of a limp, so we took her to the vet. She was diagnosed as being overweight and out of shape! (Sound Familiar?) So she's had her diet changed up, and she was curious about all the pictures Karen and I were taking so she came to see what was going on . . . and I couldn't resist taking her picture.
I'm a little rough around the edges after working in the garden on the 4th of July, but I wanted a self picture at 219 pounds. The belt I'm wearing is a 32 inch belt that I bought in New Mexico in 1984.
This is my lovely wife after losing 31 pounds. We're both still losing weight.
For comparison, here's Karen at her peak weight in April 2011
We're pretty pleased with our progress, even if it has slowed some since the beginning of the diet.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Back on Track
We had a good week, diet wise. Both my wife and I lost significant amounts of weight this week, sticking strictly on our Phase II of the South Beach Diet until the weekend. Monday morning I was still on my "food hangover" from the weekend and had slipped back up to 223.5 pounds. By Saturday morning, I was hitting my lowest weight since the mid-1990's at 218.4.
We indulged yesterday at my nephew's birthday party (who can say no to Cake and Ice Cream with 3 year olds?), but overall behaved very well.
This weekend, we're sampling the bounty from our garden. Last night's dinner was a ginger-garlic pork stir-fry with fresh summer squash and zucchini from our garden. The squash and zucchini made an appearance this morning in a "Garden omlette" (one egg each for each of us, along with a quarter cup of the garden veggies and a single strip of turkey bacon cooked and crumbled into the veggies).
Ahh, but lunch. . . for lunch I got creative (actually it was all Karen's idea) and made a summer squash soup. Here's the recipie as done, and what I plan to do next time.
First version - the reality:
Two cups diced summer squash, plus a quarter cup of thinly sliced rounds of zucchini.
(The squash needs to be rough diced so all the pieces are close in size, so they all cook the same)
Olive oil
2 cups chicken stock (vegatable stock would work better, but I didn't have any)
Kosher salt
Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon basil (a purist would call for fresh leaves, I have dried)
1 tablespoon sour cream
Gently sweat the summer squash with a pinch of kosher salt in a half tablespoon of olive oil until soft (3-4 minutes)
Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and then cut the heat to low. Simmer gently uncovered for 10 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, saute the rounds of zucchini until soft and slightly carmelized. (If you don't want to brown them, sweat them at a lower heat instead)
Reserve six of the zuchhini rounds for garnish and add the rest to the soup.
Move the soup to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with three rounds of zucchini and a half tablespoon of sour cream per bowl. Sprinkle half of the basil over each bowl as an addional garnish.
Second version -- what I'll do next time.
The flavor was good, but the soup was too thin, and there were bits of zucchini peel floating in it, which were quite a distraction. So, for next time:
3 cups of diced summer squash, plus six thin rounds of zuchini for garnish and a half cup of peeled and diced zucchini.
Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
Kosher salt
Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/4 cup whole or 2% milk
Prepare as before, sweating the diced peeled zuchini with the summer squash.
The soup should be fairly thick, and pale yellow.
Next time I plan to prepare it the day before and serve cold, adding the milk as needed to thin it right before serving.
We indulged yesterday at my nephew's birthday party (who can say no to Cake and Ice Cream with 3 year olds?), but overall behaved very well.
This weekend, we're sampling the bounty from our garden. Last night's dinner was a ginger-garlic pork stir-fry with fresh summer squash and zucchini from our garden. The squash and zucchini made an appearance this morning in a "Garden omlette" (one egg each for each of us, along with a quarter cup of the garden veggies and a single strip of turkey bacon cooked and crumbled into the veggies).
Ahh, but lunch. . . for lunch I got creative (actually it was all Karen's idea) and made a summer squash soup. Here's the recipie as done, and what I plan to do next time.
First version - the reality:
Two cups diced summer squash, plus a quarter cup of thinly sliced rounds of zucchini.
(The squash needs to be rough diced so all the pieces are close in size, so they all cook the same)
Olive oil
2 cups chicken stock (vegatable stock would work better, but I didn't have any)
Kosher salt
Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon basil (a purist would call for fresh leaves, I have dried)
1 tablespoon sour cream
Gently sweat the summer squash with a pinch of kosher salt in a half tablespoon of olive oil until soft (3-4 minutes)
Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and then cut the heat to low. Simmer gently uncovered for 10 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, saute the rounds of zucchini until soft and slightly carmelized. (If you don't want to brown them, sweat them at a lower heat instead)
Reserve six of the zuchhini rounds for garnish and add the rest to the soup.
Move the soup to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with three rounds of zucchini and a half tablespoon of sour cream per bowl. Sprinkle half of the basil over each bowl as an addional garnish.
Second version -- what I'll do next time.
The flavor was good, but the soup was too thin, and there were bits of zucchini peel floating in it, which were quite a distraction. So, for next time:
3 cups of diced summer squash, plus six thin rounds of zuchini for garnish and a half cup of peeled and diced zucchini.
Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
Kosher salt
Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/4 cup whole or 2% milk
Prepare as before, sweating the diced peeled zuchini with the summer squash.
The soup should be fairly thick, and pale yellow.
Next time I plan to prepare it the day before and serve cold, adding the milk as needed to thin it right before serving.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Payin' the price
Last week was a pretty good week. My older son and I attended 3 days of Cub Scout Day Camp, and I managed to keep the weight stable through that. I slid through a snack day at work without causing too much distress. (Up two tenths of a pound, the smallest increment my scale will measure)
Then, came Friday. We spent a weekend in Southern Illinois visiting family. We had long ago decided that we wouldn't burden others with our dietary choices, but would instead try to fit our diets into their food framework. Ha!
Friday night was McDonald's in the car. They have some healthy foods, but the only South Beach compliant items on their menu are salads, which you can't eat while driving.
Saturday morning was reasonably healthy, but Saturday Lunch was with my boys, my father-in-law and brother-in-law at Buffalo Wild Wings. Again, there ARE a few items on their menu that fit the lean meat, low carb lifestyle that I'm supposed to be following. And my entree was one such (a grilled chicken wrap). But adding the giant basket of fried stuff that our table shared probably ruined any hope I had of staying healthy.
Dinner Saturday night was the sort of meal that was "almost" compliant (my father-in-law grilled)
Late Saturday night a few of us went to a Mexican restaurant late and had appetizers and desserts. Ouch.
Sunday breakfast, by request, I was very, very bad. I made homemade biscuits and gravy for my in-laws, and it was so good that I had two servings. With real pork sausage and not the turkey stuff I use at home. With real butter in the gravy, not light oil of some kind. (At least I held myself to 2% milk instead of whole or cream).
We skipped lunch, but dinner was Fried Chicken and a slice of pie.
Not only am I up several pounds this morning, but I spent a big chunk of the night being sick to my stomach. :-(
Serves me right.
On to the new week!
Then, came Friday. We spent a weekend in Southern Illinois visiting family. We had long ago decided that we wouldn't burden others with our dietary choices, but would instead try to fit our diets into their food framework. Ha!
Friday night was McDonald's in the car. They have some healthy foods, but the only South Beach compliant items on their menu are salads, which you can't eat while driving.
Saturday morning was reasonably healthy, but Saturday Lunch was with my boys, my father-in-law and brother-in-law at Buffalo Wild Wings. Again, there ARE a few items on their menu that fit the lean meat, low carb lifestyle that I'm supposed to be following. And my entree was one such (a grilled chicken wrap). But adding the giant basket of fried stuff that our table shared probably ruined any hope I had of staying healthy.
Dinner Saturday night was the sort of meal that was "almost" compliant (my father-in-law grilled)
Late Saturday night a few of us went to a Mexican restaurant late and had appetizers and desserts. Ouch.
Sunday breakfast, by request, I was very, very bad. I made homemade biscuits and gravy for my in-laws, and it was so good that I had two servings. With real pork sausage and not the turkey stuff I use at home. With real butter in the gravy, not light oil of some kind. (At least I held myself to 2% milk instead of whole or cream).
We skipped lunch, but dinner was Fried Chicken and a slice of pie.
Not only am I up several pounds this morning, but I spent a big chunk of the night being sick to my stomach. :-(
Serves me right.
On to the new week!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
When all the numbers changed.
Back on January 21, I blogged about my bathroom scale. (See - http://atrickleofrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-many-angels-can-dance-on-head-of.html)
One of the things we'd noticed was that my weight always was either an even pound or a half pound. . . 225.0 or 225.5 - and my wife's weight was always an even tenth of a pound 162.2 162.4 162.6 etc.
I wondered where the point was where the scale switched from rounding to the half pound and started rounding to the 5th of a pound. Well now I know.
My weight Thursday morning was 220.5, and Friday was 220.0. This morning . . .219.6.
So, for any weight under 220, the scale rounds to the nearest even tenth of a pound. Pretty cool.
On a side note, this morning's weight for Karen was 164.4, which is her lowest weight since the birth of our children. (Although, she emphasized, she is NOT to her pre-pregnancy weight yet)
We're easing back into Phase 2 this morning, so wish us luck. On Phase one for the last week we've experienced about a half pound to a pound of weight loss per day. Once we slip to phase 2, we typically look for a pound a week.
One of the things we'd noticed was that my weight always was either an even pound or a half pound. . . 225.0 or 225.5 - and my wife's weight was always an even tenth of a pound 162.2 162.4 162.6 etc.
I wondered where the point was where the scale switched from rounding to the half pound and started rounding to the 5th of a pound. Well now I know.
My weight Thursday morning was 220.5, and Friday was 220.0. This morning . . .219.6.
So, for any weight under 220, the scale rounds to the nearest even tenth of a pound. Pretty cool.
On a side note, this morning's weight for Karen was 164.4, which is her lowest weight since the birth of our children. (Although, she emphasized, she is NOT to her pre-pregnancy weight yet)
We're easing back into Phase 2 this morning, so wish us luck. On Phase one for the last week we've experienced about a half pound to a pound of weight loss per day. Once we slip to phase 2, we typically look for a pound a week.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Continuing On . . .
I didn't expect to just STOP blogging when I reached the one year anniversary of my start on a healthier path. . . but my schedule got a little full and it just sort of happened.
Same way with the weight loss. On May 15, I weighed 221 pounds, a loss of 61 for the previous 12 months. So . . . with great fanfare I created a new spreadsheet with our weights, and put the starting weight at 221 instead of 282. Perhaps I jumped the gun a bit. In the last 31 days, we've travelled a little bit, we've been to a couple of parties, a church pot luck. We've adjusted to a summer schedule that sometimes means meals on the run . . .
The end result, of course, is that weight loss stopped also. In fact, weight gain commenced. Most of the last four weeks we've been on our various plateaus with me up about 2 pounds and my wife up about a pound. The peak came 10 days ago, when we returned from a weekend professional development course my wife took. . .7 weekend meals all out and about (2 of them were picnics with healthy food, but the others -- the worst kind of restaurant meals). I peaked at 226 pounds, up 5 from my "beginning" weight.
Since then, we've gotten strict again. Correct portion sizes, no junk food. We rediscovered fresh seafood. And for the last 5 days, we've been back on Phase 1 -- no carbs.
So, at 31 days in to year two, I'm back to 220.0 pounds -- exactly one pound less than a month ago.
My wife, providing a great example for me, is down almost two pounds from a month ago. (And her peak weight was only about 2 pounds up from her May 15 start)
Wish us luck, as we continue on!
Same way with the weight loss. On May 15, I weighed 221 pounds, a loss of 61 for the previous 12 months. So . . . with great fanfare I created a new spreadsheet with our weights, and put the starting weight at 221 instead of 282. Perhaps I jumped the gun a bit. In the last 31 days, we've travelled a little bit, we've been to a couple of parties, a church pot luck. We've adjusted to a summer schedule that sometimes means meals on the run . . .
The end result, of course, is that weight loss stopped also. In fact, weight gain commenced. Most of the last four weeks we've been on our various plateaus with me up about 2 pounds and my wife up about a pound. The peak came 10 days ago, when we returned from a weekend professional development course my wife took. . .7 weekend meals all out and about (2 of them were picnics with healthy food, but the others -- the worst kind of restaurant meals). I peaked at 226 pounds, up 5 from my "beginning" weight.
Since then, we've gotten strict again. Correct portion sizes, no junk food. We rediscovered fresh seafood. And for the last 5 days, we've been back on Phase 1 -- no carbs.
So, at 31 days in to year two, I'm back to 220.0 pounds -- exactly one pound less than a month ago.
My wife, providing a great example for me, is down almost two pounds from a month ago. (And her peak weight was only about 2 pounds up from her May 15 start)
Wish us luck, as we continue on!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
One year and counting
Today I had my annual physical with my doctor. We're not going to dwell on blood chemistry, other than to say my LDL "Bad" Cholesterol is the lowest level it's been since I started seeing this doctor 6 years ago. And to say that my HDL "Good" Cholesterol is better than it was at the start of the process, but not as good as six months ago.
The big news, of course, is that on April 29, 2011 I weighed 282.5 on my doctor's scale and today I weighed 221.0 on my doctor's scale. 61 and a half pounds in 12 months. I have another 21 pounds to go to hit my final goal weight.
That's the good news. The bad news is that my weight has hit somewhat of a plateau. On March 23, I was 222.0 on my scale. The lowest I've had since then was last Sunday, May 13, when I was 220.0. The doctor and I discussed my diet, and potentially tweaking it a little . . . but he says I've reached the point of diminishing returns on my diet. So now it's time to exercise more . . . I was afraid he'd say that.
I'm already walking three miles a day, most days. On those occasions when I've tried to run, I've deeply regretted it the next day. However, I'm assured that with ice, Tylenol and icy-hot, I should be able to lumber my way through a mile run a few times a week. We'll see.
I'd much rather reflect on what I've learned on 366 days (Leap year!) on the diet. . . which is not what Dr. Agaston wanted me to learn. The ACTUAL South Beach Diet focuses on lots of vegetables and on "good carbohydrates" and lean meat. What I REALLY discovered was that even the bad foods are OK if you deal with proper portion sizes.
Tonight's dinner, for an example. I had 4 oz of lean beef, a half cup of steamed broccoli and 2.5 oz of New Potatoes (boiled, not fried). The potatoes are a "V" in the South Beach book, meaning "Very Rarely." 367 days ago, I would have had twice as much meat, and either twice as many potatoes, or maybe some pasta. And definitely some bread. And dessert.
The other fun thing is that the diet has forced me to change the way I cook. Yes, we occasionally fail just a little bit, and give the boys something less healthy and more kid-friendly. But if you'd told me at the beginning of April last year that the end of this week I'll be enjoying roasted fish and vegetables for dinner. I would have laughed at you. I ALSO wouldn't have believed you if you had told me that every so often we're vegetarians for a day, or that we'd have a garden to grow our own fruit and vegetables. (It's true! Planted last Saturday, with Tomatoes, Eggplant, Squash, Zucchini, Peas, Pumpkin, Cucumbers and Watermelon)
Tomorrow morning, I'll get up, weigh myself -- and hope it's less than the 220 that my scale reported this morning. And then I'll make the first entry into a new spreadsheet. . . and instead of telling me that I've lost 57 pounds (MY official first day weight on my home scale was 277) . . .it's going to say weight lost = 0.
For the OTHER big number -- my BMI at the start of this process was 39.74, which is defined as the medical community as "Severely Obese." (40.0 is "Morbidly Obese) Today it's 31.56, which is listed as Moderately Obese. My next serious goal is 209 -- which will bring my BMI to 29.9, which is the highest BMI to be listed as "Overweight."
My lovely wife, in sticking with MY diet, has also lost 30 pounds, and she wants to lose another 30 -- which would get her to her pre-kids weight.
So, on to year two!
The big news, of course, is that on April 29, 2011 I weighed 282.5 on my doctor's scale and today I weighed 221.0 on my doctor's scale. 61 and a half pounds in 12 months. I have another 21 pounds to go to hit my final goal weight.
That's the good news. The bad news is that my weight has hit somewhat of a plateau. On March 23, I was 222.0 on my scale. The lowest I've had since then was last Sunday, May 13, when I was 220.0. The doctor and I discussed my diet, and potentially tweaking it a little . . . but he says I've reached the point of diminishing returns on my diet. So now it's time to exercise more . . . I was afraid he'd say that.
I'm already walking three miles a day, most days. On those occasions when I've tried to run, I've deeply regretted it the next day. However, I'm assured that with ice, Tylenol and icy-hot, I should be able to lumber my way through a mile run a few times a week. We'll see.
I'd much rather reflect on what I've learned on 366 days (Leap year!) on the diet. . . which is not what Dr. Agaston wanted me to learn. The ACTUAL South Beach Diet focuses on lots of vegetables and on "good carbohydrates" and lean meat. What I REALLY discovered was that even the bad foods are OK if you deal with proper portion sizes.
Tonight's dinner, for an example. I had 4 oz of lean beef, a half cup of steamed broccoli and 2.5 oz of New Potatoes (boiled, not fried). The potatoes are a "V" in the South Beach book, meaning "Very Rarely." 367 days ago, I would have had twice as much meat, and either twice as many potatoes, or maybe some pasta. And definitely some bread. And dessert.
The other fun thing is that the diet has forced me to change the way I cook. Yes, we occasionally fail just a little bit, and give the boys something less healthy and more kid-friendly. But if you'd told me at the beginning of April last year that the end of this week I'll be enjoying roasted fish and vegetables for dinner. I would have laughed at you. I ALSO wouldn't have believed you if you had told me that every so often we're vegetarians for a day, or that we'd have a garden to grow our own fruit and vegetables. (It's true! Planted last Saturday, with Tomatoes, Eggplant, Squash, Zucchini, Peas, Pumpkin, Cucumbers and Watermelon)
Tomorrow morning, I'll get up, weigh myself -- and hope it's less than the 220 that my scale reported this morning. And then I'll make the first entry into a new spreadsheet. . . and instead of telling me that I've lost 57 pounds (MY official first day weight on my home scale was 277) . . .it's going to say weight lost = 0.
For the OTHER big number -- my BMI at the start of this process was 39.74, which is defined as the medical community as "Severely Obese." (40.0 is "Morbidly Obese) Today it's 31.56, which is listed as Moderately Obese. My next serious goal is 209 -- which will bring my BMI to 29.9, which is the highest BMI to be listed as "Overweight."
My lovely wife, in sticking with MY diet, has also lost 30 pounds, and she wants to lose another 30 -- which would get her to her pre-kids weight.
So, on to year two!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Just In Time
I've had a pretty good week on South Beach "Phase 1" -- it's in quotes because carbs sort of crept back into my diet in both weeks we were supposed to be avoiding them (Including lunch in a few minutes and dinner tonight).
However, we've been pretty well behaved, and I've hit the excercise hard (including as soon as I finish this post, and before lunch -- the boys are pretty excited about getting to help walk the dog)
The good news is . . . next weekend is the Boy Scouts "Lincoln Pilgrimage." Every year since 1946, the Scouts have assembled in Springfield. For the first several years they gathered at the State Capitol Building and paraded to Lincoln's Tomb. Then for many years it was reversed. Nowadays we walk from Lincoln's Tomb to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Next Sunday will be my 21st Lincoln Pilgrimage (I was a participant for 20 consecutive years, 1981 to 2001, and haven't been back since). . . and to celebrate, I've managed to reduce to the point where I can wear yet more old clothes.
My dark green uniform trousers now fit, and I'll be wearing them for Sunday's parade. My long sleeved uniform shirt is a size L, and it's slightly tighter than I wish it was. But if the weather is cool enough for long sleeves. . . the shirt fits, and I'm going to wear it.
Alas, my beloved 24-year-old "Red Jac-shirt" is still awfully tight. It is possible to wear it, but it looks awfully tight.
I tried it on this morning and the boys each reacted strongly. John said "Wow, look at all the patches! What do they mean, Dad?" and Joshua said "Dad! That's too small!"
So progress remains to be made.
However, we've been pretty well behaved, and I've hit the excercise hard (including as soon as I finish this post, and before lunch -- the boys are pretty excited about getting to help walk the dog)
The good news is . . . next weekend is the Boy Scouts "Lincoln Pilgrimage." Every year since 1946, the Scouts have assembled in Springfield. For the first several years they gathered at the State Capitol Building and paraded to Lincoln's Tomb. Then for many years it was reversed. Nowadays we walk from Lincoln's Tomb to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Next Sunday will be my 21st Lincoln Pilgrimage (I was a participant for 20 consecutive years, 1981 to 2001, and haven't been back since). . . and to celebrate, I've managed to reduce to the point where I can wear yet more old clothes.
My dark green uniform trousers now fit, and I'll be wearing them for Sunday's parade. My long sleeved uniform shirt is a size L, and it's slightly tighter than I wish it was. But if the weather is cool enough for long sleeves. . . the shirt fits, and I'm going to wear it.
Alas, my beloved 24-year-old "Red Jac-shirt" is still awfully tight. It is possible to wear it, but it looks awfully tight.
I tried it on this morning and the boys each reacted strongly. John said "Wow, look at all the patches! What do they mean, Dad?" and Joshua said "Dad! That's too small!"
So progress remains to be made.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Doughnut Disaster
Ugh. I've spent the last two weeks proving that stress + opportunity = overeating.
Since Easter, I've theoretically been on "phase 1" the most restrictive part of the South Beach Diet. In practice, not so much. We abandoned Phase 1 entirely over the weekend (pancakes Saturday morning and Pizza for dinner tonight), and that was the BEST part of the week.
We had a couple of minor problems at the office this week, both of which were coincidentally on the days when someone brought goodies. So in a work week when I was supposed to be avoiding carbohydrates completely, I managed to eat four doughnuts and a slice of cake.
And the scale shows it. . . on March 23, I hit 222 pounds. The next day, 221. By the Monday after Easter I was back to 224. Phase 1 was good to me the first half of the week, bringing me back down to 222 by Wednesday . . . but then the doughnut disaster happened, and by Friday I was back to 225. Other than pizza crust and pancakes, I've behaved over the weekend, and Friday was pretty good.
And, most importantly, I exercised hard over the weekend.
And so I was back down to 223 this morning. Hoping next week is better than last.
Since Easter, I've theoretically been on "phase 1" the most restrictive part of the South Beach Diet. In practice, not so much. We abandoned Phase 1 entirely over the weekend (pancakes Saturday morning and Pizza for dinner tonight), and that was the BEST part of the week.
We had a couple of minor problems at the office this week, both of which were coincidentally on the days when someone brought goodies. So in a work week when I was supposed to be avoiding carbohydrates completely, I managed to eat four doughnuts and a slice of cake.
And the scale shows it. . . on March 23, I hit 222 pounds. The next day, 221. By the Monday after Easter I was back to 224. Phase 1 was good to me the first half of the week, bringing me back down to 222 by Wednesday . . . but then the doughnut disaster happened, and by Friday I was back to 225. Other than pizza crust and pancakes, I've behaved over the weekend, and Friday was pretty good.
And, most importantly, I exercised hard over the weekend.
And so I was back down to 223 this morning. Hoping next week is better than last.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Visible Progress
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Call me "Slim"
A few weeks ago, we bought new clothes for the boys for Easter. Last weekend, the wife added a new dress for her. I pointed out this morning that 1) the various men's clothing stores were having sales (including a buy one get one free deal at Men's Wearhouse), and none of my clothes fit. . . so we did a little bit of shopping today. Mostly to get proper sizes so I can order online when the sales are really extreme, but also to get a couple of those BOGO dress shirts. Turns out I've lost enough weight to wear SLIM FIT size 17 by 34/35 shirts. I celebrated by buying two pairs of dress pants with a 38 inch waist. And, for the first time in recent memory (certainly the first time since the late 90's), they are flat front pants instead of pleated.
Just for comparison, a year ago I wore a size 52 Suit coat, last July a size 48. Today a 46 athletic cut (although I didn't buy one). My waist has gone from 48 in May, to 45 in July to 40 in September to 38 now. Even my neck has dropped from a 19 inch collar in May to an 18 inch in July to a 17 inch today (I could wear a 16 1/2, but 17 was more comfortable)
Believe me, if you'd told me a year ago that I'd be buying ANYTHING with the word "slim" in it, I would have laughed in your face.
Just for comparison, a year ago I wore a size 52 Suit coat, last July a size 48. Today a 46 athletic cut (although I didn't buy one). My waist has gone from 48 in May, to 45 in July to 40 in September to 38 now. Even my neck has dropped from a 19 inch collar in May to an 18 inch in July to a 17 inch today (I could wear a 16 1/2, but 17 was more comfortable)
Believe me, if you'd told me a year ago that I'd be buying ANYTHING with the word "slim" in it, I would have laughed in your face.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Deuces
I've usually recognized numbers ending in zero as "milestones" in my weight loss journey, but it felt pretty fun this morning to see the scale come to 222. That's happened once before, the last day of our most recent "phase I" experience, but this time I've drifted down to it while eating "normally." Normal, in this case means we're still following the South Beach diet and limiting carbs.
I'm still getting to walk 3 miles outside most days -- yesterday I squeezed in a mile outside between rain showers and two miles inside the building.
I sense more new clothes in my future . . . trousers that have already been taken in don't fit any more, nor do the new clothes I bought last summer when I was celebrating being at 240 pounds.
So my next intermediate goal is 220, and that's only 2 pounds away. I'm hoping to make it by April first or so. Wish me luck!
I'm still getting to walk 3 miles outside most days -- yesterday I squeezed in a mile outside between rain showers and two miles inside the building.
I sense more new clothes in my future . . . trousers that have already been taken in don't fit any more, nor do the new clothes I bought last summer when I was celebrating being at 240 pounds.
So my next intermediate goal is 220, and that's only 2 pounds away. I'm hoping to make it by April first or so. Wish me luck!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Exercise
I've mostly written about food in this blog . . . but exercise is part of the process as well.
My employer has a neat website: http://www.standingupforillinois.org/walk/default.php
The Governor of Illinois (I work in the Executive branch, so he's the top of the food chain in my organization) has challenged citizens of Illinois to walk 167 miles this year. That's the distance from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan.
I'd been walking around the office last fall, but in January, we got logs to officially track our walks. With measured distances. (6 laps around the first floor hallway is a mile, 4 laps around the sidewalk on the outside of the building is a mile, once around the parking lot is mile.) In January, I walked 77 miles. In February only 62 (work kept me from walking as much). With the nicer weather in March, most days, I get in 3 miles. I have a mandated 15 minute break in the morning and afternoon, and an hour for lunch. And a 15 minute mile works pretty well . . . I could go faster, but I don't want to be sitting at my desk looking like I need a shower.
I got a surprise earlier in the week. Since I am over 100 miles already for the year, the Secretary of Transportation's office wanted to put my picture on their "Walkers Wall of Fame." Nice to be recognized for something I would have done anyway.
By the way, since 167 miles turned out to be so easy . . . I'm now trying for 367 miles for the year. According to Google Maps, that is the distance from Fort Defiance State Park at the very southern tip of Illinois to Navy Pier in Chicago. Sounds like a good goal to me.
Although . . . I should point out that three miles a day on pavement has taken a bit of getting used to. And I am writing this while sitting with an ice pack on my right Achilles tendon. . . ow.
My employer has a neat website: http://www.standingupforillinois.org/walk/default.php
The Governor of Illinois (I work in the Executive branch, so he's the top of the food chain in my organization) has challenged citizens of Illinois to walk 167 miles this year. That's the distance from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan.
I'd been walking around the office last fall, but in January, we got logs to officially track our walks. With measured distances. (6 laps around the first floor hallway is a mile, 4 laps around the sidewalk on the outside of the building is a mile, once around the parking lot is mile.) In January, I walked 77 miles. In February only 62 (work kept me from walking as much). With the nicer weather in March, most days, I get in 3 miles. I have a mandated 15 minute break in the morning and afternoon, and an hour for lunch. And a 15 minute mile works pretty well . . . I could go faster, but I don't want to be sitting at my desk looking like I need a shower.
I got a surprise earlier in the week. Since I am over 100 miles already for the year, the Secretary of Transportation's office wanted to put my picture on their "Walkers Wall of Fame." Nice to be recognized for something I would have done anyway.
By the way, since 167 miles turned out to be so easy . . . I'm now trying for 367 miles for the year. According to Google Maps, that is the distance from Fort Defiance State Park at the very southern tip of Illinois to Navy Pier in Chicago. Sounds like a good goal to me.
Although . . . I should point out that three miles a day on pavement has taken a bit of getting used to. And I am writing this while sitting with an ice pack on my right Achilles tendon. . . ow.
Monday, March 12, 2012
300 days
As of Sunday, my wife and I have been losing weight for 300 days. It's a mind-boggling number, but we're keeping our sense of humor about it.
Essentially, this weekend was a "lost weekend" for the diet. My in-laws came to visit us on Saturday, and we had a Sunday lunch meeting. So Saturday lunch was turkey brats (on whole wheat buns), baked beans and regular potato chips. Dinner, we let the boys make homemade pizza for us. . . again a "little" healthy -- whole wheat crust and turkey sausage, but regular pepperoni and cheese.
Yesterday we ate out for lunch, as I said, during a meeting. We tried to be healthy, but . . . sometimes if you live in Springfield IL, you have to have a horseshoe sandwich. (Or in this case, the smaller portion "Pony Shoe"
During our meeting, someone commented on the weight loss, and Karen hit on a great description: we've now lost nearly 90 pounds between us -- so she says we've "lost a fifth grader!"
Essentially, this weekend was a "lost weekend" for the diet. My in-laws came to visit us on Saturday, and we had a Sunday lunch meeting. So Saturday lunch was turkey brats (on whole wheat buns), baked beans and regular potato chips. Dinner, we let the boys make homemade pizza for us. . . again a "little" healthy -- whole wheat crust and turkey sausage, but regular pepperoni and cheese.
Yesterday we ate out for lunch, as I said, during a meeting. We tried to be healthy, but . . . sometimes if you live in Springfield IL, you have to have a horseshoe sandwich. (Or in this case, the smaller portion "Pony Shoe"
During our meeting, someone commented on the weight loss, and Karen hit on a great description: we've now lost nearly 90 pounds between us -- so she says we've "lost a fifth grader!"
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Upon the subject of legality.
Milestones are where you find them. Last Wednesday, my wife passed a real one -- she's now lost 30 pounds.
Since I don't have any real progress to report, I had to find some.
And here it is -- for the first time in YEARS, my driver's license is telling the truth about my weight.
I got a new driver's license in the February of 1999, and had just shaved off the mustache I'd had for most of my 20's, plus I had a new address. So . . . I went down to the Driver's License Facility and got a license with my new picture, new address, and current weight -- 225.
I'm pretty sure I held that weight for at least a few years -- the purchase of my house both caused and allowed me to cut down on restaurant meals, and the first few years in the house I was doing a lot of finishing work and landscaping. So I got a lot of exercise. But somewhere along the line the exercise quit, and overeating started.
Anyway, I'm glad to be back down to what my license says. Which marks 52 pounds of total weight loss.
Since I don't have any real progress to report, I had to find some.
And here it is -- for the first time in YEARS, my driver's license is telling the truth about my weight.
I got a new driver's license in the February of 1999, and had just shaved off the mustache I'd had for most of my 20's, plus I had a new address. So . . . I went down to the Driver's License Facility and got a license with my new picture, new address, and current weight -- 225.
I'm pretty sure I held that weight for at least a few years -- the purchase of my house both caused and allowed me to cut down on restaurant meals, and the first few years in the house I was doing a lot of finishing work and landscaping. So I got a lot of exercise. But somewhere along the line the exercise quit, and overeating started.
Anyway, I'm glad to be back down to what my license says. Which marks 52 pounds of total weight loss.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Round and round
Sometimes, a change in lifestyle feels like a merry-go-round. It's wise at those times to take a step back. As of January 1, 2012, I had lost 37 pounds from my starting point. (Up some from what was then my peak weight loss). January was a pretty good month . . . we had a long weekend mid-month; and that included some culinary misbehavior. But February 1, saw me 7.5 pounds lighter than January 1.
Febraury 1, I stepped onto the merry-go-round. I managed to get down to my intermediate target of 50 pounds lost on Febraury 8, but then a series of full schedules and family celebrations sent me back five pounds up the scale.
I know these things, because I read through my "weight spreadsheet" where we record daily readings from the scale. . . right before I created a new version of it.
The new version is a reminder that as of this morning, we're back to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. For the next 13 days, the grown-ups in our house will be free of any complex carbohydrates. (We're expecting company on March 10, so carbs will be back on our table for lunch and dinner.)
Hoping for good results again, the last time we were on Phase 1, I shed 12 pounds in 14 days.
I'll keep you posted.
Febraury 1, I stepped onto the merry-go-round. I managed to get down to my intermediate target of 50 pounds lost on Febraury 8, but then a series of full schedules and family celebrations sent me back five pounds up the scale.
I know these things, because I read through my "weight spreadsheet" where we record daily readings from the scale. . . right before I created a new version of it.
The new version is a reminder that as of this morning, we're back to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. For the next 13 days, the grown-ups in our house will be free of any complex carbohydrates. (We're expecting company on March 10, so carbs will be back on our table for lunch and dinner.)
Hoping for good results again, the last time we were on Phase 1, I shed 12 pounds in 14 days.
I'll keep you posted.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Of Scales and Swaps
It's been almost two weeks since my last blog post, but it's been a busy two weeks.
I wanted to reflect on a couple of really important tools on this weight loss journey.
First, the "other" scale. I didn't own a kitchen scale until last May, when we added this. At first, we kept it safe and sound in its box, but eventually realized we were using it so often that it now sits full time on the counter next to the microwave. The South Beach diet is pretty serious about eliminating certain foods and limiting others -- but what I've found to be the most important part of losing weight has been strict portion control.
I wanted to reflect on a couple of really important tools on this weight loss journey.
First, the "other" scale. I didn't own a kitchen scale until last May, when we added this. At first, we kept it safe and sound in its box, but eventually realized we were using it so often that it now sits full time on the counter next to the microwave. The South Beach diet is pretty serious about eliminating certain foods and limiting others -- but what I've found to be the most important part of losing weight has been strict portion control.
This little guy cost all of 19.99 at a local discount store. It reads both grams and ounces, and the button on the right allows a "Tare" setting. That is to say, I can put a plate on top of the scale, hit that button and the scale resets to zero, so I measure only the food, and not the container. The scale is used a couple of times a day, almost every day.
The other tool is the swap. We're regularly swapping ingredients for healthier alternatives.
The perfect example of both of these was dinner last Wednesday night. A local "Signature Dish" is called the "Horseshoe Sandwich." In its original form it's a slice from a bone-in ham (shaped like a horseshoe, hence the name) served over a slice of bread with cheese sauce drizzled over it, and a scattering of french fries around it to represent the horseshoe nails. In its modern form at most of the restaurants in town it's half a pound of meat of some sort, on Texas toast, with a giant pile of fries drenched in cheese.
My "swap" version on Wednesday was 4 ounces of ground turkey formed into a patty and fried, served on a slice of whole wheat bread, with 3 ounces of fries, and 1/8 cup of cheddar sauce with low fat cheddar cheese. Still not the healthiest of foods, but the boy who requested horseshoes for dinner didn't notice the difference, and the dieters still managed to maintain weights that day.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Paying the Piper
Longtime readers of this blog may remember that what started this successful effort to lose weight was the unsuccessful previous attempt to lose weight. In the summer of 2010 I had tried to exercise more and ended up with a lot of pain in my knees and ankles, which was later diagnosed as bursitis.
When I started the South Beach Diet in May, my doctor cautioned me not to try to exercise beyond walking briskly, until after I had lost 20 pounds or so, and I managed to do very well at that.
Saturday, we had a small family gathering, in which I spent a lot of time pushing children in swings or following them around. So far, so good. But . . . on Saturday afternoon, we broke out a football. We didn't really play football; rather four of us in the "over 40" set tossed the ball around, throwing occasionally to my cousin's 4th grader or my Kindergartner. But once . . . I caught a pass at the edge of the yard, and 9 year old Seth was coming for me -- so I broke and ran, dodging left and right and stretching out to really run for the first time in a long long time. It felt great. The comment was even made (and not by me) that I could really run without that extra 50 pounds.
Of course, by 10:00 that night both Achilles tendons were so swollen and tender that I could hardly walk. By morning my left knee had joined the chorus of complaints.
However, I'm happy to report that repeated applications of ice, heat and Tylenol have allowed me to walk well enough to exercise at least this morning at work. (I'll see how my morning walk goes before I commit to walking at lunch).
When I started the South Beach Diet in May, my doctor cautioned me not to try to exercise beyond walking briskly, until after I had lost 20 pounds or so, and I managed to do very well at that.
Saturday, we had a small family gathering, in which I spent a lot of time pushing children in swings or following them around. So far, so good. But . . . on Saturday afternoon, we broke out a football. We didn't really play football; rather four of us in the "over 40" set tossed the ball around, throwing occasionally to my cousin's 4th grader or my Kindergartner. But once . . . I caught a pass at the edge of the yard, and 9 year old Seth was coming for me -- so I broke and ran, dodging left and right and stretching out to really run for the first time in a long long time. It felt great. The comment was even made (and not by me) that I could really run without that extra 50 pounds.
Of course, by 10:00 that night both Achilles tendons were so swollen and tender that I could hardly walk. By morning my left knee had joined the chorus of complaints.
However, I'm happy to report that repeated applications of ice, heat and Tylenol have allowed me to walk well enough to exercise at least this morning at work. (I'll see how my morning walk goes before I commit to walking at lunch).
Saturday, January 21, 2012
How many angels can dance on the head of a scale?
OK, I know the question is really "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" But I don't have much use for pins at the moment. . .
Anyway, one of the countless people who have "Lose weight" as a New Year's Resolution was talking to me about our various progress at work this week and she was complaining about her scale. I thought our conversation was important enough to write down . . .
Basically, we tend to think of a scale as showing a super-accurate, unvarying weight. But I know better . . . and in fact, I know that my scale actually rounds off the weights. So, you might ask yourself, where do the suspiciously accurate weight loss claims in this blog originate? I figure that the trend is the thing, rather than the actual number -- that is to say, if the scale's a little off now, it probably was then. So here's a bit on the care and feeding of MY scale. Your results may differ.
First, confession time . . . I was a wrestler in Junior High and High School. Wrestlers are segregated out by weight class, and weight makes a difference. So wrestlers set a goal to get to the lowest weight they possibly can . . . and learn how to lean and shift their center of gravity to make the scale read as light as possible. (Tip: for the old fashioned Doctor's office Scale, standing with your feet wide and pushing down hard with one foot or the other tends to make it read anywhere from 1/2 pound to 2 pounds light.) I try to restrain these habits on my home scale.
Second, I live in a house that was relatively cheaply built in the mid 1970's . . . so there's all sorts of soft spots in the floor. I discovered by accident once that sliding the scale about 18 inches to the right of where we normally keep it in our bathroom will cause you to lose about 7 pounds. . . so we put the scale on the same place in the patterned tile every time. Even with that, both my wife and I tend to weigh ourselves multiple times and try to pick the most reasonable and/or the one that the scale "settles on." This morning, for example, I weighed four times, with a four pound swing between them. The first was clearly unreasonable, a loss of 5 pounds since yesterday, the second showing a half pound loss, the third and fourth were equal at a pound and a half down, so that's what I recorded.
Third, as I mentioned, our scale rounds things off. On our spreadsheet, my wife's weight frequently ends with .2 or .4 or any other even number, but never any odd numbers. My weight, invariably, comes to either an even pound or half pound.
Finally, my home scale reads at least a little bit heavier than my doctor's scale. Even though I'm wearing substantially less clothes on my home scale, and I weigh myself before I eat anything in the morning . . . and I'm fully clothed at the doctor's, and usually have had two meals and two snacks before I see him, plus most of a liter of water. . . I'm lighter at the doctor's office than I was that morning at home.
So you see, the weight that we record each day is a bit of an educated guess.
Anyway, one of the countless people who have "Lose weight" as a New Year's Resolution was talking to me about our various progress at work this week and she was complaining about her scale. I thought our conversation was important enough to write down . . .
Basically, we tend to think of a scale as showing a super-accurate, unvarying weight. But I know better . . . and in fact, I know that my scale actually rounds off the weights. So, you might ask yourself, where do the suspiciously accurate weight loss claims in this blog originate? I figure that the trend is the thing, rather than the actual number -- that is to say, if the scale's a little off now, it probably was then. So here's a bit on the care and feeding of MY scale. Your results may differ.
First, confession time . . . I was a wrestler in Junior High and High School. Wrestlers are segregated out by weight class, and weight makes a difference. So wrestlers set a goal to get to the lowest weight they possibly can . . . and learn how to lean and shift their center of gravity to make the scale read as light as possible. (Tip: for the old fashioned Doctor's office Scale, standing with your feet wide and pushing down hard with one foot or the other tends to make it read anywhere from 1/2 pound to 2 pounds light.) I try to restrain these habits on my home scale.
Second, I live in a house that was relatively cheaply built in the mid 1970's . . . so there's all sorts of soft spots in the floor. I discovered by accident once that sliding the scale about 18 inches to the right of where we normally keep it in our bathroom will cause you to lose about 7 pounds. . . so we put the scale on the same place in the patterned tile every time. Even with that, both my wife and I tend to weigh ourselves multiple times and try to pick the most reasonable and/or the one that the scale "settles on." This morning, for example, I weighed four times, with a four pound swing between them. The first was clearly unreasonable, a loss of 5 pounds since yesterday, the second showing a half pound loss, the third and fourth were equal at a pound and a half down, so that's what I recorded.
Third, as I mentioned, our scale rounds things off. On our spreadsheet, my wife's weight frequently ends with .2 or .4 or any other even number, but never any odd numbers. My weight, invariably, comes to either an even pound or half pound.
Finally, my home scale reads at least a little bit heavier than my doctor's scale. Even though I'm wearing substantially less clothes on my home scale, and I weigh myself before I eat anything in the morning . . . and I'm fully clothed at the doctor's, and usually have had two meals and two snacks before I see him, plus most of a liter of water. . . I'm lighter at the doctor's office than I was that morning at home.
So you see, the weight that we record each day is a bit of an educated guess.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Love/Hate Weekends
It's 12:20 as I write this, and I'm getting ready to go make lunch. (Grilled cheese for the kids, salads for the dieters). We've got laundry going, the dog has been walked and bathed, beds are made, kitchen is clean. We're even mostly unpacked from our trip. (True confession, the office is a mess, but it was just too tempting to write in my blog instead of cleaning)
I love weekends like this (3 day weekend for adults and kids alike).
But . . .the piper must be paid. Saturday morning, before we left on our trip to visit an old friend of my wife and her new baby, I hit my latest intermediate goal, and then a little bit. Saturday morning, I weighed 226 pounds, which is 51 pounds less on my scale than Sunday morning May 15, 2011.
The first part of the day, I behaved very well . . . a little bit of yogurt with fruit for breakfast, a snack in the car of whole wheat crackers and light cheese. Starting at lunch, the misbehavior began. :-) Karen's friend made tacos, and refried beans, and Karen contributed sugar cookies (cut into snowflakes -- how appropriate). The tacos were good, and I had two. The cookies were good too, and I had two of them also. For dinner, we had homemade pizza. The "Grownup" pizza was meatless, with red beans as a substitute. And we came away with the recipe -- something to try later. The "kids" pizza was chicken and cheese -- and I had to sample that too. We had a small snack in the evening.
Sunday, we were back to behaving, kinda. . . breakfast was at a Hampton Inn, and we tried to behave. (Honestly, a much much lighter breakfast than I would have had a year ago, but probably a full day's worth of South Beach Diet meals.) Lunch was finally something appropriate -- 97% lean smoked ham on whole wheat, with a slice of fat-free cheese. Dinner, as a reward for children's good behavior involved golden arches, and SERIOUS lapses in the diet.
Anyway, TODAY we're being strict again, but the damage has been done. In 48 hours, I added 5 pounds to my weight. My wife, having much better willpower than I, managed to contain the damage to her waistline at 1 pound.
So, with some exercise and good eating today and through the week, I'm hoping to be back down to 226.
Of course, my brother-in-law is coming to visit tomorrow, and later this evening the boys will be helping me make chili for dinner tomorrow night. (We'll be pretty healthy, ground turkey and all, but still probably not a lot of weight loss tomorrow)
I still think it was worth it. . .
I love weekends like this (3 day weekend for adults and kids alike).
But . . .the piper must be paid. Saturday morning, before we left on our trip to visit an old friend of my wife and her new baby, I hit my latest intermediate goal, and then a little bit. Saturday morning, I weighed 226 pounds, which is 51 pounds less on my scale than Sunday morning May 15, 2011.
The first part of the day, I behaved very well . . . a little bit of yogurt with fruit for breakfast, a snack in the car of whole wheat crackers and light cheese. Starting at lunch, the misbehavior began. :-) Karen's friend made tacos, and refried beans, and Karen contributed sugar cookies (cut into snowflakes -- how appropriate). The tacos were good, and I had two. The cookies were good too, and I had two of them also. For dinner, we had homemade pizza. The "Grownup" pizza was meatless, with red beans as a substitute. And we came away with the recipe -- something to try later. The "kids" pizza was chicken and cheese -- and I had to sample that too. We had a small snack in the evening.
Sunday, we were back to behaving, kinda. . . breakfast was at a Hampton Inn, and we tried to behave. (Honestly, a much much lighter breakfast than I would have had a year ago, but probably a full day's worth of South Beach Diet meals.) Lunch was finally something appropriate -- 97% lean smoked ham on whole wheat, with a slice of fat-free cheese. Dinner, as a reward for children's good behavior involved golden arches, and SERIOUS lapses in the diet.
Anyway, TODAY we're being strict again, but the damage has been done. In 48 hours, I added 5 pounds to my weight. My wife, having much better willpower than I, managed to contain the damage to her waistline at 1 pound.
So, with some exercise and good eating today and through the week, I'm hoping to be back down to 226.
Of course, my brother-in-law is coming to visit tomorrow, and later this evening the boys will be helping me make chili for dinner tomorrow night. (We'll be pretty healthy, ground turkey and all, but still probably not a lot of weight loss tomorrow)
I still think it was worth it. . .
Thursday, January 12, 2012
More milestones
Today, there's a fun number staring me in the face as I look at the spreadsheet where I track my weight. In Column F, the bottom number is "49". As in 49 pounds lighter than May 15. To celebrate, on Tuesday night I went through my closet and pulled out all of the "fat" clothes I've replaced. . . . and my wife took them to Goodwill. No turning back now.
My wife and I are in this process for the long haul, but it's been interesting to see how perspectives change. I read through every entry of this blog last night, and my file of notes from doctor's visits. In May, when I started, I hoped to lose 30 pounds the first year, and maybe 30 more the year after that, then we'd re-evaluate. In June, I blogged several times about breaking through the "20 Pound barrier". In July, I commented that the belt I wore yesterday evening was a goal of mine -- and as it was a size 40, I needed to lose 5 more inches to get there. (I was measured for sizes on July 5, and bought some clothes. My waist size in May was 48 (if I inhaled a bit) and July 5 it was 45. This morning I'm wearing dockers with a 40 inch waist, and they're loose.
My current goal is to reach 50 pounds of weight loss in the next couple of days and then surpass it next week. (Monday the 16th is a State Holiday, and we're entertaining over the weekend and again on Tuesday night, so it will probably be late next week before I can truly say I've lost 50 pounds and kept it off.)
Last May, I told the doctor that a long term goal was to be 200 pounds, fully clothed, when my son John is old enough to move from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. . . the doctor laughed and said "I don't think it will take that long." Now I'm wondering if 200 pounds by Christmas 2012 is a reasonable goal.
My wife and I are in this process for the long haul, but it's been interesting to see how perspectives change. I read through every entry of this blog last night, and my file of notes from doctor's visits. In May, when I started, I hoped to lose 30 pounds the first year, and maybe 30 more the year after that, then we'd re-evaluate. In June, I blogged several times about breaking through the "20 Pound barrier". In July, I commented that the belt I wore yesterday evening was a goal of mine -- and as it was a size 40, I needed to lose 5 more inches to get there. (I was measured for sizes on July 5, and bought some clothes. My waist size in May was 48 (if I inhaled a bit) and July 5 it was 45. This morning I'm wearing dockers with a 40 inch waist, and they're loose.
My current goal is to reach 50 pounds of weight loss in the next couple of days and then surpass it next week. (Monday the 16th is a State Holiday, and we're entertaining over the weekend and again on Tuesday night, so it will probably be late next week before I can truly say I've lost 50 pounds and kept it off.)
Last May, I told the doctor that a long term goal was to be 200 pounds, fully clothed, when my son John is old enough to move from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. . . the doctor laughed and said "I don't think it will take that long." Now I'm wondering if 200 pounds by Christmas 2012 is a reasonable goal.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Holiday Hangover
The Holiday Hangover is officially over. . . on November 10 I weighed in at 231 pounds. November 10 is my wife's birthday, and we went out for dinner. Since then, we've had 3 more family birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my wedding anniversary and a few retirement receptions at work. My weight "peaked" at 241.5 on the morning of December 28 and I've been losing ever since.
This morning, after a weekend of being very well behaved food-wise and getting lots of exercise . . . the scale revealed 231 once again. Now it's back to weight loss.
This is down about 9 pounds since January 1, which was our last full day not being at least somewhat strict about the diet.
This weekend we've been rediscovering the joys of fresh seafood.
Last night, as an example: I baked two four ounce tillapia fillets with just salt and pepper and a little brush of olive oil. When they were done (15 minutes at 400 degrees), they went down on a small plate, and I covered them with sauteed vegetables. This was from a mix we got from Schwann's but was just roasted red peppers, onions and tomatoes. I added a few olives to the plate as a garnish. While I was handling fish and vegetables, Karen made us salads. These were 3 ounces of raw spinach, a half ounce each of dry roasted peanuts and fat free grated cheddar cheese, a half strip of turkey bacon cooked until very crisp and broken into pieces and a sesame oil dressing (Newman's own -- low fat and low calorie). This would have been great with a nice white wine, but alcohol is off limits on Phase One of the diet, so we had iced tea.
The boys got mac n' cheese, because they've had strong negative reactions to baked fish. :-)
Hope you're all doing well on your diets also.
This morning, after a weekend of being very well behaved food-wise and getting lots of exercise . . . the scale revealed 231 once again. Now it's back to weight loss.
This is down about 9 pounds since January 1, which was our last full day not being at least somewhat strict about the diet.
This weekend we've been rediscovering the joys of fresh seafood.
Last night, as an example: I baked two four ounce tillapia fillets with just salt and pepper and a little brush of olive oil. When they were done (15 minutes at 400 degrees), they went down on a small plate, and I covered them with sauteed vegetables. This was from a mix we got from Schwann's but was just roasted red peppers, onions and tomatoes. I added a few olives to the plate as a garnish. While I was handling fish and vegetables, Karen made us salads. These were 3 ounces of raw spinach, a half ounce each of dry roasted peanuts and fat free grated cheddar cheese, a half strip of turkey bacon cooked until very crisp and broken into pieces and a sesame oil dressing (Newman's own -- low fat and low calorie). This would have been great with a nice white wine, but alcohol is off limits on Phase One of the diet, so we had iced tea.
The boys got mac n' cheese, because they've had strong negative reactions to baked fish. :-)
Hope you're all doing well on your diets also.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Progress
We went back on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet starting 5 days ago (we were going to on January 2, but still had a few "forbidden foods" and I'm too cheap to throw away things which will spoil while we're in Phase 1). We've made lots of progress - Karen's lost 3 1/2 pounds and I have lost 7.
While dressing for church this morning I got out one of my "fat suits" -- I bought two suits on a buy one get one free sale before teaching a class for Accenture in April of 2009. I weighed about 275 when I bought them. With a belt, they are still passable at 232. . .
But just barely. I think it's time to have them taken in.
While dressing for church this morning I got out one of my "fat suits" -- I bought two suits on a buy one get one free sale before teaching a class for Accenture in April of 2009. I weighed about 275 when I bought them. With a belt, they are still passable at 232. . .
But just barely. I think it's time to have them taken in.
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