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.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
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.
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