Maintaining

From 24th October (my dad's birthday) through the 17th of February (my birthday), our calendar is blessed with 7 birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day and a couple of important wedding anniversaries, not to mention several 3-day-weekends which give mid-winter opportunities for a quick getaway.

I can tell that this is going to be a rough time for the diet, so we're working hard.  Yesterday, I hit a new peak with 45.5 pounds of total weight loss.  However, we celebrated the end of a stressful week and some good behavior at school with dinner out (and bad restaurant behavior from the very boys who'd been good at school).

With the exception of an occasional break like last night, we're pretty faithfully sticking with Phase II of the South Beach Diet, which limits Carbohydrates to "good carbs" of whole-wheat and only one or two servings a day, and pretty strictly limits portion sizes.

For example yesterday's pre-dinner menu.

Breakfast:  one slice of whole wheat toast and 4 oz skim milk + a very large cup of hot tea.
Mid-morning snack: one ounce baby carrots
Lunch:  one slice very lean smoked ham on whole wheat with a slice of low fat cheese and spinach.
Afternoon snack: one ounce mixed nuts.

We are planning dinner out next Thursday for my wife's birthday (just the two of us!) and my goal is to lose another 1.5 pounds from yesterday morning before then. 

That would put me under 230 pounds for the first time since about 1998.

For those keeping score, my peak weight was 278 and my long term goal is to be under 200 pounds.

Off the Wagon -- Thud

A little less than 3 weeks ago, we restarted Phase I, to try to get off of a "plateau" in our weight loss.   It worked like a champ.  In the first 10 days on Phase I, I dropped from 239 to 232 pounds.  Ahh, but then the flip side of the coin.  In a period of just 4 days . . . I experienced the dreaded "Snack Day" at work, a visit from my in-laws and a birthday party at "The Pizza Machine."   I tried to be healthy on snack day (I took grapes), and for the in-laws we had low-carb options at lunch, and dinner was pretty healthy too (chili with ground turkey replacing the ground beef, and more beans than meat).  And apparently "Pizza Machine" was a euphemism for "Eating Machine" -- which was ME.   At the end of our extended weekend of Gluttony -- I was back up to 236.  

I've mostly behaved this week, and I'm now back down to 233.  We'll see what this weekend does to me. . .

Back to Phase I

We're now a week into our third try on Phase I of the South Beach Diet.  As a refresher, this phase is the most restrictive.  We are not allowed to eat any carbohydrates and are limited to very low fat items.  So the question is:  "What CAN you eat?"   Well, here's an example.

This is my lunch today.  A spinach salad, carefully measured:  1.5 ounces of Spinach (about a cup); one ounce of baked ham, shredded; a teaspoon of diced raw shallot; a teaspoon of diced roasted red pepper from a jar; a half a teaspoon of shredded low fat Swiss cheese; a half teaspoon of low fat Newman's Own Raspberry Vinaigrette and a half ounce of unsalted mixed nuts for crunch.  (Planters has a new "Nut-trition" line: http://www.planters.com/varieties/nutrition.aspx -- although it's not shown on the website today, they have a "South Beach Mix")

Is it working?  You bet.  As of this morning, I've lost five and a half pounds since last Sunday morning.  (Although I've "cheated" 2 times -- once with crackers and cheese, twice with Dairy Queen, which we used to bribe boys into good behavior.)

Another week and we can introduce carbs back on Phase two.

On the downside -- the 40-inch waist-size jeans I bought last weekend -- they keep falling down.

More zeros

Labor day weekend, I blogged about about the power of zero.  On that occasion the "zero" in question was 240.0, my weight.   I've not gone back up to that point, but I have hit a slight plateau in the weight loss, bouncing back and forth between 236 and 238 pounds.    The 40 I want to talk about today is a different, but related milestone.

We went shopping after lunch.   For the first time since about 1997, I purchased two pairs of pants with 40 inch waist.   For comparison, the jeans I bought last January were a 48 inch waist.   I didn't buy any shirts or jackets today, but discovered I am now able to get into a size 46 regular suit coat.  (That's down from a size 52)

However, we've decided we're tired of being stuck at the weight where we are . . . so starting tomorrow morning, we're moving back to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet.   This is the most restrictive phase of the diet, being very lowfat, and totally eliminating carbs.   We'll stay on this phase for two weeks, and see how it goes.  Last time we did this I lost about 12 pounds in those two weeks.

Talking Turkey

OK, I'm sure that occasionally I type things in this blog that cause other home cooks to shake their heads and say "Duh!" -- and this is probably one of those posts.

The boys have been asking for Tacos again, and I'm sort of stuck at a plateau of just less than 40 pounds of weight loss. . .so whole wheat tortillas and I used Ground Turkey for the meat.  We had tried ground turkey for something once before, years ago (I think I made either turkey meatloaf or turkeyburgers) and it was awful.   But tonight it worked out very well.

And on the side black beans, and fresh veggies for the tacos, and fat free cheese and low fat sour cream.

Friday night we're going to try Turkey Kielbasa.   I'll let you know how it goes.

What does 38 pounds look like?

As of this morning, I've lost a total of 38 pounds since I started this process on May 15.  In the past I've commented on feeling like a kid playing "Dress up" wearing my older clothes.   Today, I thought it would be fun to show off a little bit.   So, here are a few pictures of me modeling a pair of dress pants I purchased in the Spring of 2010.  These were custom tailored by Men's Wearhouse, and I assure you, they fit when I brought them home.

The power of zero

Milestones are always fun, and Sunday morning, I hit another one.  Our month of August had been a bit rough on the diet, but we've been able to really crack down the last week of August and in September so far.

Sunday morning, I reached 240.0 pounds on the scale.  I'm lighter than I've been in several years now, and it feels wonderful.

Continuing to add a little variety to the diet with recipes from Hungry Girl on the food network (www.hungrygirl.com).   Yesterday lunch was her grilled cheese with roasted red peppers.

As things cool off this fall, I'm expecting to pick up the exercises routine a bit more and hoping to see 235 pretty soon, and 230 on the horizon.

Have a good Labor Day, everyone.