billy's lean body quest

Onward, and downward.

2012-01-17T09:17:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 225.4

Pretty disappointed in the weigh-in today. Although I haven't been perfect, the last 8 days I've been pretty damn good, especially considering the fact that I've been eating dramatically less than I have been for the previous several months. I only worked out 2/3 times, but I need to ease my muscles back into things lest I become sore to the point where it impedes my daily functioning.

But I know this game well. Despite what the scale says, I know that I'm doing OK and on the right track. I can do better, too. Just gotta hang in there and not let the scale get me down...

Here I go again...

2012-01-09T15:30:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 224.8

Yeah, yeah. I know. I've said it before. Really trying to get back on track after putting on about 10 lbs since my last post over a year ago. I've got at least 25 lbs to lose so here we go again. Just wanted to provide you with an update in the spirit of honesty and transparency. I probably won't be posting very often but felt that my first weigh in in a long, long time warranted a post. Got a home gym setup now so let's do this.

-Billy

20 Pounds...

2010-09-13T08:24:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 215.6

In our quest to achieve and maintain our ideal weights, my girlfriend and I have tried lots of things. Contests, competition, compliments, criticism. None has worked very well. We really needed to figure out a way to make it work together. To stop being lazy and ordering pizzas, to get to the gym regularly, and to support each other rather than enable each other to cheat and otherwise get off track.

I came up with a new idea. Commitment. We agreed to make a Commitment to each other to lose 20 lbs by January 1. That's 20 lbs in 16 weeks, which is certainly a reasonable goal.

The idea is all about not letting the other person down. If January 1 rolls around and one of us (or both) haven't achieved our goal, it means that we've failed not only ourselves, but each other. Pretty good motivation in my book.

Anyway, I weighed in for the first time in a century this morning. I was expecting 220+, so I was somewhat relieved (although still not thrilled) with my weigh-in of 215.6. This is realistically about 30 lbs more than where I had been happily sitting in the mid 180's about a year (?) ago.

Anyway, here's to that first 20...

Puffy.

2010-08-17T12:40:00.002-05:00

Yep. It's what I'm becomin'.

Just thought I would drop by and say hello and give a quick update. It's been a while since I've officially weighed myself, but after some ups and downs, and a 3 week vacation in France, it's official: I'm puffy.

So, this week I'm re-dedicating myself. I'm not going all hard-core-gung-ho right out of the gate. Just making smarter eating decisions, and getting slowly back into the gym.

I'm hoping to slowly, but surely, deflate.

Hope you all are doing well!

Sardine-a-licious

2010-01-27T17:01:00.004-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 196.6

So the weight comes down steadily. She's a long, slow, but steady progress I be after.

A friend recently turned me on to the deliciousness of Sardines. These are one of those "superfoods" that are pretty much all benefit. High in protein, omega-3's, and one of the very few natural sources of vitamin D (which is severely lacking in america and europe. Learn more about the benefits of sardines here.

Anyway, at first I was like "gross" but I tried one. They come canned, packed in oil, like tuna. And as long as you get boneless/headless ones, it pretty much tastes like tuna too. Not sure why they have such a bad rap.

Anyway, here's a great recipe I found, courtesy of Alton Brown:

Alton Brown's Sardine-Avocado Sandwiches
Or the "sardicado" sandwich.

- makes 4 open-faced sandwiches -

Adapted from Good Eats

Ingredients

2 (3.75-ounce) tins sardines in olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Zest from one lemon, and the leftover (naked) lemon cut into 4 wedges
Freshly ground black pepper
4 slices good bread
1 ripe avocado
Sea salt

Procedure

1. Drain the oil from 1 tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside.

2. Drain the oil from the second tin into another small bowl and mix it with 1 tablespoon of parsley, vinegar, lemon zest, and black pepper. Add the sardines and stir. Let sit for a bit so the flavors marry.

3. Toast your bread in a normal toaster or, if you want to be all Alton-style fancy, heat the oven to the broiler setting on high and place oiled-swiped bread (using the remaining sardine oil) on the rack. Only keep them in there for 2 to 3 minutes, otherwise they will go from golden brown and crisp to charred and sad.

4. Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Smoosh the flesh in each half with a fork. Spread this green goodness evenly onto the toasted bread, then top with a nice scoop of the sardine mixture.

5. Pour any remaining sardine oil dressing on top and garnish with the remaining parsley. Season with sea salt and a nice big squeeze from the lemon wedges.

Welcome back

2010-01-12T08:35:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 198.6

Some good news today, as I finally dipped below the 200 mark. I was all over the place last week, starting at 200.4, going up somehow to 201.8, and yesterday I was at 200.2. I think my body was just fluctuating around and trying to find it's groove.

Anyway, things have been going well on the eating front. Nights are tough, and I find sometimes that going to bed early is the best defense against night/boredom eating. (getting IN bed, not sleeping). I know it's lame, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

On the gym front, I was only able to go once last week. I took it relatively easy, but ended up getting so sore that I couldn't go on Friday. Going back tonight with my friend Zach, I still need to solidify a routine for us to do. This is an area where things aren't moving as quickly. I really need to get used to going back to the gym.

Other big news, I reserved my RV for le Tour de France 2010. We're going from July 8th to the 26th so we'll have about a 2.5 week adventure which I'm super excited about. I was worried about availability for renting RVs, because if you watch the race, pretty much all of Europe is out there in RVs, and I wasn't sure how far in advance people were booking them. Well, we've got one now, and I've got about 6 months to get my French up to speed and get my ass back in shape!

Never buy bigger pants.

2010-01-08T13:40:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 200.8

Not too worried about the weigh-in today, yesterday I was 201.4. I think my body needs to "normalize". My diet and exercise has been pretty much right on.

Just something I wanted to share, and Brian's comment on my last post reminded me of it:

"I went up to a 36" pants from a 34" about a month or two ago and I'm not happy about it."

I'm in no way trying to call Brian out here, I am pretty much exactly where he's at right now. However, it reminded me of a rule I thought of long ago: That I will never buy myself a bigger pair of pants.

My waist size is (ahem... should be) between a 32-34, depending on brand and my own fluctuations. Right now I'm wearing 32 jeans, and yeah, they're tight. But if I buy bigger pants, what am I really saying? That it's ok? I'm making room for my new friend, fat?

No. I want fat to be uncomfortable. This is why I refuse to buy bigger than size 34 pants. If I stick with this one rule, either I'll always keep my weight to a certain level, or I'll simply be unable to wear pants. Either way, I think it's a good rule.

Over the line

2010-01-05T11:22:00.004-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 200.4
Analysis: Actually, I was prepared for 205+
Time since last weigh-in: 3+ months
Time since last gym-hitting: Same
Waistband status: Tight

Hello, if there's anyone out there who still reads this blog. Hope there are still a few of you, but that's not really too important. What IS important, is that this morning, I weighed in at over 200 lbs for the first time in a long time. The good news is, that I'll be back under 200 before weeks end.

Maintenance is a bitch.

You're doing great, working out regularly, eating well but not killing yourself, enjoying life. Slowly, imperceptibly, you start allowing little things. A pizza here, 10 beers there. Then you fall into a slump and things get worse. As you start eating like crap, you stop working out. Once you stop, it's VERY hard to get back in there. Especially for a person like me: someone who needs everything to be "perfect". (E.G., "what's the point of going to the gym if I'm eating like crap?") I know this is a bad attitude to have, but it's the way I am. In order for me to get into the mindset, I need to be immersed in my "character" of a healthy, fit person. It's like method acting. Strange, yes. But I do what I can, I know myself.

Anyway the bottom line is, I was going to the gym religiously with my friend Zach. It was great motivation, I was sort of training him, as he was new to the gym. (He's in good shape, but wanted to start lifting weights). Anyway, having a gym partner is a huge help. Not only does it motivate you to go in the first place, once you're there, your "man-stincts" kick in and you're constantly trying to outdo each other. Leads to killer workouts.

Well, 2 things happened.

1, I started hurting myself. Every couple of weeks I would be laid up with back pain. It started to become clear to me that I was overdoing it on the "big" exercises and that I needed to dial it back or try a different approach. This led to a gradual decline of me going to the gym. And 2, Zach also stopped going. Once that happened, I had no accountability, and I simply stopped going. Like I said, I haven't been there for 3 months or longer.

On the eating front, it's just been a disaster. I am in a relationship with a girl who, while great, unfortunately has pretty much the same eating disorder that I have/had. Emotional eating, bored eating, and eating absolute crap. Not that she doesn't battle it (albeit in a different way than I do), the bottom line is that when we're in a rut, we enable the hell out of each other and end up ordering pizza and crap just about every night. And drinking. The end result is that over the course of the last 4 months or so, between the holidays, winter depression/boredom, and a Parisian vacation, we managed to each pack on about 15 or so pounds.

So that's that. The good news is that I (we) are still here fighting the good fight. 15 pounds? That's nothing really. And while I don't want to live a life of yo-yo dieting, I see it more as a pendulum swinging. Hopefully with each swing the variance will decrease, and eventually I will reach a point of balance.

So my goals this January, in no particular order:

-Get back to eating only healthy, whole, natural foods in smaller amounts
-No alcohol during the week
-"No-drunk" rule means that on Friday or Saturday, I can have 3 or 4 drinks, but that's it
-Hit the gym 3x a week. I'm starting off a bit slower, and I need to figure out how to move forward and make progress without hurting myself. May add in some yoga.
-Limit television viewing. For now, this means trying not to turn it on until 9pm
-Work harder on dog training
-Reign in my spending and get back on budget.
-Do Rosetta Stone (French) every day

That's it. Thought I'd put it out there for y'all, but even more, for me. I'll try to post periodic updates, but probably not too much.

Bonne nouvelle année!

The Circle Game.

2009-08-10T09:37:00.002-05:00

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and dawn
Were captive on the carousel of time
We cant return we con only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game. -Joni Mitchell

Today's Weigh-in: 193.6

Well folks, here I am again. I took a month to lose about 8 or 9 pounds, then completely let go for about a month and a half. And here I sit again, having re-gained that 8 pounds.

First off, I'm not TOO upset about this. So many people lose weight, and then just gain it back. Or find themselves gaining back 20 or 30 pounds. While it's less than ideal that I've been bouncing around this same 10 pounds for a while now, it certainly isn't too bad either. In the bigger scheme of things, I'm doing pretty well. At least I'm catching it before it gets too out of hand and doing something about it.

But, the fact remains, I'm flabbier than I'd like and it pisses me off and annoys me. So, here we go again.

The good news is, I've been hitting the gym good and hard and consistently for about 3 weeks. A friend recently moved to town, and I've been training him. It's fun to have a gym protege, and it keeps us accountable for going 3 times a week. Not to mention, it pushes me while I'm there, which is huge.

The bad news is, it's summer, and all I want to do is drink beer, beer, beer, and eat burgers, burgers, burgers. This is my battle and I need to find some sort of place that allows me to get in shape and lose some fat/build some muscle, while at the same time not avoiding summertime activities, and more specifically, beer. I enjoy beer. I just need to try to confine it to the weekend, and try to limit the sheer volume.

So here we go again. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but it's also been a while since I've weighed myself. At least I manned up and stood on the scale this morning. It's a start.

Target achieved!

2009-06-18T11:06:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 185.8

Just wanted to check in and let you all know I'm doing great. As of yesterday, I achieved my June goal of 186 early, and this morning came in just under.

Seeing how there's still about a week and a half until June is over, I'm setting a new unofficial goal of 184 by months end.

My eating has been great, but I haven't been able to get to the gym as much as I'd like because my back was hurting a bit. However, I'm committed to getting there as much as possible, I went yesterday, and plan to go back either tomorrow or Saturday.

Hope everyone else out there is also on track this month.

Yellow Zone

2009-06-09T09:05:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 189.8

Well this morning I finally broke back into what I consider the "yellow zone". Here's how it breaks down for me:

Green zone: <185 lbs.
Yellow Zone: 185-190 lbs.
Red Zone: >190 lbs.

Since my original "Omaha" goal was 190, it kinda sucks to get back up above that, and feels good this morning to finally dip below it again. Good eating and exercise, and motivation to continue...

Add it up

2009-06-08T08:59:00.004-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 192.6

A disappointing weigh-in this morning, for a less than stellar weekend. I'll give myself some credit, I'm re-learning how to say "no" to food, but things still got me.

Friday I was good all day. Perfect, in fact. When I came home my lady (pictured above) wasn't feeling well, and asked that I go get her some Ramen noodles and pretzels at the store. You know how it is when you're sick, so I obliged. Unfortunately, they only had giant "One-pounder" bags of pretzels at the store, I had hoped to get her a small bag. Of course, when I got home with them, I started dipping them in mustard and polished off quite a few. Bad. Then I went out with some friends and had 5 beers. Now, lately on Friday nights I easily could have had more than that, I thought I was being "reasonable". I walked home past the cheesesteak places and fought temptation, and I won. Then I got home, and I saw the bag of pretzels (That I had asked my GF to hide from me) sitting there on the table. In my buzzed state, I made light work of the rest of the bag. :(

The next day I did well. I fasted until about 6pm at which point I had a pear, and then we went out to a Spanish-themed restaurant called "Mixto" (pictured above) Again, I was trying to be good. The GF insisted we order empanadas, of which I had one, then I had a reasonable meal of some steak/sausage/egg/bean thing, which I skipped the rice on. I had one beer. Then we went out with her friends, and I again had about 4 more beers. And a couple shots o' whiskey. :(

Next day I had been invited to a friends party at the Manayunk bike race. It started early, so I kicked the day off with some cereal. I was there for about 5 hours, during which time I consumed 4 beers, 1 small cheeseburger, and one chocolate chip cookie. When I got home, I had some vegetables and hummus, and then later a small bowl of chili.

So I felt I had restrained myself reasonably well this weekend, but the fact of the matter is I went out every day, and had a total of about 15 beers. Add my pretzel debacle to it and the whole weekend ends up pretty much being a wash, which was reflected on my scale this morning.

Well, I'm re-learning. It's harder when you're in a relationship, and are trying to still be social and have fun. Moderation for me is much harder to achieve than extreme focus in one way or the other.

I have a lot of work to do this month.

Avocado: Food of the Gods

2009-06-04T08:54:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 192.8

So, while today's weigh in looks bad on paper, I know I was good yesterday, so I'm not sweating it. Just need to keep pushing today.

I just wanted to give a big shout-out to one of my favorite healthy foods lately, the avocado. Tasty, versatile, and nutritious. And so easy to add to things.

I put half of one on a steak, spinach, blue cheese, blueberry, and balsalmic vinaigrette salad last night. yum.

This morning, I put the other half on my eggs with some tomato and goat cheese. Totally delicious. Where I used to put bacon or chicken sausage in my omelets, now I just throw some avocado on top.

At about 250 calories for a whole avocado they're a bit calorie dense for a fruit/vegetable. And at 21g of fat, also a lot of fat. However, it's mostly (15g) monounsaturated. Also packs a punch of fiber coming in at a huge 10g, especially out of only 12g of carbs. 3g of protein doesn't hurt either. Plus lots of other stuff like vitamins etc.

Plus they're delicious! I used to not love them, but as I got to know them better, I've really fallen in love. Great in sandwiches too! It's hard to think of a meal they wouldn't enhance. Bon apetit!

3 days in

2009-06-03T12:57:00.002-05:00

Weigh-in: 191.6

3 days in to the June Pledge and I'm going strong. I've already shed about 3 pounds of "BS Weight" (The extra weight you lose right at the beginning of a diet, some of which is simply water and stomach contents, etc), although I've probably started losing some fat too. I've been trying to keep just under 2000 calories a day, and I've been to the gym once, had a good workout.

Also, I just received a new book I ordered today, Tom Venuto's "The Body Fat Solution". Not that I don't know what I'm doing, but sometimes it helps my motivation to get sucked into a good fitness book. This one has a lot to do with ending emotional eating, and maintaining weight loss, so it promises to be a valuable resource. I'll let y'all know...

The June Pledge

2009-06-01T10:53:00.002-05:00

Weigh In: 194.6

If you look through my past few posts you'll see the theme emerging. Guy struggling to maintain, gains a bit of weight, vows to get it under control, fails, expresses frustration, starts cycle over.

Well, here we go again.

It's not that I've been doing so terribly, but I simply haven't been doing enough to actually LOSE weight, to get back down into my appropriate range of around 185. I've been "maintaining". And that's not enough.

It's not enough to eat a salad for lunch, and then overeat at dinner and after.

It's not enough to overeat every day, try to make up for it by skipping breakfast, then overeating at lunch and blowing your day.

It's not enough to drink a bunch of beers with friends several times a week, or have a few beers after work for no reason.

It's not enough to only go to the gym 1 or 2 times a week.

It's just not enough. Those things might be OK if I were maintaining around 185, but I'm not. I'm in the red zone and I need to get out of it, or before I know it, I'll be back over 200. Not going to happen.

I also realize that while weight loss contests help motivate me, they often have me going to far, so that when they're over I rebound.

So here's the solution I came up with for June. The June Pledge.

My girlfriend and I sat down and came up with a realistic weight that we think we can achieve by July 1. For me, the number is 186. That might sound like a lot given that I weighed in at 194.6 this morning, but I suspect that after 1 day of light eating I'll be back around the 192.x mark, meaning that my June Pledge really only has me losing 6-7 lbs in 4+ weeks. Definitely doable.

I won't tell you what my girlfriend's pledge weight was, but the deal is that if one of us fails to reach our goal, we have to pay the other $100. Steep, yes, but hey, we're going for motivation here. Something I just thought of is that we should pledge to give our $100 to charity (or a cause that we are actually against!) should we both fail, otherwise we would just break even.

So, today is day 1. I'm happy to have a set goal that I really feel accountable to. I think that's what was missing before. Here's to the June Pledge.

Frustrated

2009-05-13T08:06:00.003-05:00

Weigh In: 192.4

As you can see, my weigh in this morning is the same as when I started. 2.4 pounds over my original weight loss goal, and almost 10 lbs more than where I want to be. Frustrating.

I'm not going to say I've been great, or that I deserve a lot of weight loss, but I feel like putting in the effort that I have, despite setbacks, should have netted something.

Yesterday I woke up and had 2 eggs with goat cheese and tomatoes for breakfast. Then for lunch I went out and had a tuna nicoise salad, which was a good choice, but I added a cup of cream of mushroom soup that I didn't need.

My big mistake was at dinner. I took a small bowl of my famous short rib chili (which is healthy and I eat in small quantities as a delicious, nutritious, low carb meal). Then on top of that I tossed cheese and sour cream (no good), and I opened a bag of tortilla chips that I bought for a Lost party we're having tonight and decided to eat my chili with those instead of a fork.

Oh and I forgot, while I was waiting for my chili to heat up in the microwave, I started dipping the chips in this greek "salsa" I bought which is really just feta cheese, olives, and some other stuff. Bottom line, I ended up eating almost the entire bag of tortilla chips (which I later estimated at about 800 calories), the chili/cheese/sour cream (probably another 700), and 3/4 of the container of feta cheese stuff (who knows, 500 calories?) Dude. That's close to 2000 calories in one sitting. And, I didn't even feel that full, like I had stuffed myself. All I knew was that I had just blown my day.

It was one of those perpetual motion munching scenarios. Once you get started with those chips, sitting in front of the tube, it's extremely hard to stop. I paid the price this morning.

I'm frustrated because I'm having a hard time this time around. I know that I know what to do, and how to do it, and I've done much harder before. I'm having a hard time in 2 areas:

1) although I'm going to the gym, I'm not really into it. I'm reluctant and somewhat forcing myself.

2) I'm finding it very difficult to go hungry. I know better than anyone that in order to lose weight, you need to accept being hungry sometimes. Hell, I used to go to bed early sometimes just because I was hungry at night and wanted to escape it. This time, I'm too quick to just eat every time I feel a little hungry, and that's just not working. Like last night, I guess I was hungry, and I went way overboard.

Well, it feels good to get it out. Here's to a better day today. Of course, people are coming over tonight to watch the Lost finale. It will be a challenge, I'm sure.

Checkin in

2009-05-12T08:22:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 191.2

Had not the greatest weekend. There have just been a million events, and I've been having trouble being moderate with the booze. It's like at every event, I have 10 beers. This is not helping. Because a) this causes weight gain from all the extra calories, b) it lowers testosterone levels, c) it causes me to eat while I'm drinking, and d) it makes it hard to eat right and/or exercise the following day.

So, I need to do better with that. I need to limit my alcohol to the weekends, and when I do drink, try to exercise some control. Have fun, but don't get drunk.

Other than that, I've been doing ok. Making it to the gym, although surprised at how much weaker I am than when I was going regularly. Annoying.

In other news, please visit Chris' blog, as he is just starting out.

Slow and Steady

2009-05-06T07:43:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 191.4

Not much to report today, little bit of weight loss, which is good. I have this nagging cough every morning when I wake up, then I'm pretty much fine all night, then it comes back at like 10pm. Odd.

Yesterday wasn't perfect but was not bad. I made reasonable decisions:

Breakfast: Omelet/Frittata thing with 2 eggs, spinach, tomato, goat cheese, garlic

Lunch: Grilled shrimp salad with walnuts, cranberries, Gorgonzola, balsamic vinaigrette

"Dinner": We had a Cinco De Mayo party at work at like 4pm, so I had some guacamole and chips, and 3 of these little chicken/cheese enchilada things (they were pretty small). Also allowed myself Uno Cervesa, which turned into Dos Cervesa, but it was OK because after that, I had absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.

Still going strong... Drinking a fruit smoothie this morning as I type.

The cold, hard, truth

2009-05-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 192.2

Well, this morning I pulled together the courage to finally step on the scale. Not good. I would say I've gained a solid 10 lbs from where I was, hovering in the 181-183 range for a while there.

That being said, I still say this isn't too bad. I can get this under control in a month. And NOT a crazy, insane month like January was. But a slow, steady, and sane approach should get me where I'd like to be by June 1st, and that is below 185.

Yesterday was pretty good despite some less than ideal circumstances. I skipped breakfast because I had eaten plenty the day before and wasn't even hungry. For lunch I had a pizza meeting, but I did pretty well, only had one slice of tomato pesto pizza, and that was it. Later I had a handful of prunes and a small bag of peanuts. Came home, went to the gym and did a half decent workout considering I haven't been there for like 3 weeks. After that, I had some leftovers of my girlfriends vietnamese food; some sort of noodles with chicken and chinese broccoli. Not too much, probably around 700 cals.

Then later I did something that has become somewhat of a bad habit. Feeling hungry and with nothing much in the house to eat, I grabbed the jar of peanut butter and scooped some with a knife and ate it. Yeah, kinda gross, but delicious, and not unhealthy, although it can be highly caloric. Probably another 200 calories or so there. All told, I'd say I had about 1700 calories yesterday. My target moving forward is around 2000.

This morning I had an omelet with spinach, garlic, tomato, and goat cheese. Pretty delicious, under 500 cals. Here's to another good day. One day at a time...

Recession

2009-05-04T07:55:00.002-05:00

On the heels of my last post about the "Economics of weight management", I must confess that for the last several months, I've fallen into what could be called a Weight Management Recession.

For most of February, March, and April, I've been experiencing quite the downturn. It started with the end of the January Challenge, where I got down to about 177 or so, then gained a bunch back, then lost a little. Since then, I've been trending towards where I've been for the last 3 or 4 weeks: Not going to the gym, eating pretty much whatever, going out drinking at every chance.

I haven't weighed myself out of sheer terror, so I'll do what I usually do: wait until I've been good for a day or 2 and then weigh in. I can tell, just looking at my face and stomach in the mirror, and seeing pictures of myself, that I've gained a bit. If I had to guess I'd say I probably weigh in around 194 or so.

Well, Mayday came and went, and reminded me that I needed to put out a distress call, and here it is. I need to get my head out of my ass and turn it around. I know that what I shouldn't do is go all opposite and super strict, but rather commit to getting back into the gym, and eating less and smart. Also, I need to keep the drinking to a minimum. I know what I gotta do, just have to do it. Far better to stop the bleeding after gaining 10 lbs than waiting until I've gained 25, or 50.

Here we go again.

The Economics of Weight Management

2009-03-15T21:15:00.005-05:00

So I've been reading this book called "Naked Economics" and it's a pretty interesting read. I couldn't help but draw some parallels between the principles of economics and the mechanics and psychology of successful weight loss and maintenance.

On the surface, the basic equation of fat loss is simple: it's calories in vs. calories out. Sure there are other factors, like hormonal effects of certain types of food and feeding schedules, but for the most part fat is stored when there's a surplus of energy (calories), and it's burned when the body needs more energy than it's getting.

But there's another important equation that bears looking at. It's the relationship between the psychological benefit of short-term, instantly gratified pleasure, and the psychological benefit of long-term health and positive body image provided by denying the former. Of course, there's also the positive physical feelings that can come from eating well and getting regular physical exercise. And for me, at least, there was (and to some extent still is) the positive feelings I got from immersing myself in learning and writing about nutrition and health.

For me, all of the benefits I just described were sufficiently positive to enable me to forgo the short-term pleasures that I have, for so long, derived from eating bad foods and being lazy. I was able to do it for long enough to lose the weight and to keep it off.

What starts to happen though, for me at least, is that some of those benefits begin to fade over time. For instance, I've about had my fill of learning about health and nutrition. I'm tired of blogging. I still feel good about working out, but laziness creeps in. I allow myself "forbidden" foods and I just want more.

I begin testing the waters to see how much short-term pleasure I can allow myself without losing the benefit of a lean, healthy physique. How many times can I over-eat without gaining substantial fat? How many times can I skip the gym and still be muscular and feel strong?

I'm not sure that this is a complete thought, but what the hell, I wrote it down anyway. I've been pretty shaky the last few weeks, going between working out and being restrained to being lazy and stuffing my face. I guess the bottom line is I'm constantly struggling to find a balance. A balance between being "normal" (as in, eating like normal people and not gaining weight), and between either dieting or eating like shit. A balance between being lazy and being a dedicated gym-goer. A balance between not doing enough, doing just enough, going too far. I've been at every point in the spectrum.

I haven't weighed myself in a few weeks, but I plan on an official weigh-in, as well as a renewed focus, tomorrow morning. Yet another battle, in a never-ending war. I'll let you know how it goes.

Update: Today's weigh-in: 183.6 (not bad!)

Normalized

2009-02-10T09:58:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 181.4

OK, after a few days of normal healthy eating (not perfect but good), my weight has dropped back down not to where it was in the final days of January, but at least to a place I am OK with. My weigh in when I posted last was close to 189, hence my freak out. It's amazing how much your weight can fluctuate when you eat like total, absolute crap.

Just wanted to check in with y'all.

Disappointed

2009-02-05T10:53:00.003-05:00

So, I'm not going to post what I weighed today, because I suspect it was artificially high. But sufficed to say, it was a disgrace.

For the past 5 days, after chalking up an 11.9 pound loss in January, I decided to "celebrate" by eating whatever the hell I wanted just because I "could". Chocolate, cookies, ice cream, booze, hoagies, whatever. And work out? Hell no.

Of course, instead of doing it for a day or 2, I did it for 5 days. Finally my girlfriend made me step on the scale this morning, which I had been avoiding. It was a disaster. I was prepared for bad, but I wasn't far from where I was on Jan 1.

Yeah, I know, a bunch of it is not "real fat" it's more stomach contents, water retention, etc. But I'm sure SOME of it is fat. I can't help but feel like I really let myself down.

Anyway, I'm really bummed out. After being so proud of myself I now feel like a failure.

I guess the bottom line is that January had some good things for me, but there was also a "crash diet" element to it, especially at the end. And what happens with crash diets is that when you go off them there's a mental and a physical backlash.

I really didn't want to post this today but I felt I owed it to all of you to chronicle the truth of my experiences, so here it is. All I can do now is work at being healthy (not crash-dieting), working out, and eating right. I have 7 days before I go to Jamaica to re-establish some sort of control.

Just typing this out makes me feel better, so thanks for that.

Judgement Day

2009-01-31T08:14:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 177.6
5-day average: 178.08
Weight lost since 1/1: 11.92

Well today's the day- the day Jay and I agreed would be our final weigh-in for the January Challenge (AKA No-Joke January).

I can only guess that I've taken the trophy, after Jay all but conceded yesterday and this morning's weigh-in took my average down another half pound plus. But I can't be sure until Jay posts his results this morning.

Regardless of who won, I think we both performed phenomenally. I lost almost 12 lbs, and Jay, last time I checked almost 11. That's incredible results in one month and I credit to our stubborn sense of competition. I was happily gliding along having lost 8 or 9 pounds when I saw Jay cruising ahead and it inspired me to kick things into mega-high gear. This past week I've been in the gym a lot, and I've been eating very minimally. At any rate, I think our challenge really motivated both of us, which was really the point.

So, goodbye, No Joke January. I'll be going out for dinner, (AND DRINKS!!) this evening. And I will NOT be weighing in tomorrow morning ;)

Although I will be working out today...

One day left...

2009-01-30T12:17:00.004-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 177.2
5-day average: 178.76
Weight lost since 1/1: 11.24

As you can see, my 5 day is looking quite strong. Although I don't doubt Jay's is as well. We shall see. One day to go. One more weigh-in to rule them all...

Man, I want ice cream.

I caught a glimpse of some abs in the mirror this morning so I thought I'd share...

Damn you Jay

2009-01-29T17:08:00.002-05:00

You always have to be one step ahead...

Today's weigh-in: 177.8
5-day average: 179.76
Weight lost since 1/1: 10.24

PS, this is the first time my 5-day has ever reached the 170's!

Playing catch-up

2009-01-28T11:40:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 178.6
5-day average: 180.8
Weight lost since 1/1: 9.2

Ah competition. What else could have inspired me to kick things into high gear but the fact that my brother was kickin' my ass?? So here I am playing catch-up. The fact is however that I need to kick some serious ass over the next couple of days if I want to have a shot of winning this thing. I can only hope that Jay hasn't lost even MORE weight since his last post...

The final stretch

2009-01-26T11:16:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 181
5-day average: 182.08
Weight lost since 1/1: 7.92

Things are looking troublesome dear readers. My 5-day average hasn't been budging while my brother, who I can only surmise is giving himself enemas, has dropped 1.5 lbs off of his average in the last 3 days. Which puts him almost a half pound ahead of me going into this final week.

All I can do is my best. We've both lost a good amount of weight this month. It would suck to lose $50 to my brother (again), but realistically we both win. So here's to just doing the best I can this week and finishing strong. Final weigh-in is Saturday morning...

8 lbs.

2009-01-22T13:54:00.001-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 182.00
5-day average: 182.00
Weight lost since 1/1: 8

That's it. Lost 8 lbs in 22 days. Pretty good, I think it might be the most I've ever lost so far in a month...

My brother has been mysteriously quiet...

A quick inventory

2009-01-21T13:51:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 182.2
5-day average: 182.04
Weight lost since 1/1: 7.96

I was looking around my kitchen and I realized how many more fresh fruits and vegetables I have in stock compared the average single guy. (Or compared to myself a couple of years ago!) Having these things on hand makes it nearly impossible for me to get hungry and not have anything healthy on hand. I also try to include fruits or veggies every time I eat in a big way. Let's take a look around my kitchen and list what I have:

Fruits:
-Fresh Blueberries
-White Grapes
-2 Anjou Pears
-2 Golden delicious apples
-3 bananas
-Frozen strawberries
-Frozen blueberries
-Frozen raspberries
-100% pomegranite juice

Vegetables:
-Baby spinach
-String beans
-cherry tomatoes
-whole carrots
-chopped broccoli and carrots (for dipping in hummus)
-Crimini Mushrooms

Herbs:
-Fresh rosemary
-Fresh Thyme
-Fresh Tarragon
-Fresh flat-leaf parsley

I've been a lot more careful about paying attention to what I have and cooking at home, and eating everything without letting things go bad. As you can see, I'm getting plenty of my fill of fruits and veggies!

Hangin in

2009-01-15T11:52:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 183.6
5-day average weight: 183.52
Weight lost so far: 6.48 lb.

It's interesting how many social events involve drinking, or would seemingly be much more fun if they did involve drinking. My girlfriend suggested having "game night" with some friends. I dunno, maybe I'm just a grump, or a complete alcoholic, but it sounds like something that would just be way more fun with a few beers...

Oh well, if it were easy, I wouldn't have to resolve to stick with it for a month.

A New Week

2009-01-12T09:56:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 183.2
5-day average: 184.12
Lost since 1/1: 5.88

Not a whole lot to say here. Been eating totally clean, my biggest "slip-up" was going out for sushi with friends on Friday night, but I didn't drink and ate a reasonable amount.

Eagles won yesterday, woohoo!

The only reason...

2009-01-07T15:12:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 185.2
5-day average: 185.48
Lost since 1/1: -4.52

...I'm posting right now is because I need something to distract me from the ice cream party that is currently going on all around me at work right now. Sigh... Ice cream party. Man, I want some effin' ice cream. Oh well. It's not happening. Maybe I'll eat my 4:00 apple at 3:15... Yay.

Workout: November?

2009-01-05T20:45:00.004-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 185.2
5-day average: 185.64
Lost since 1/1: -4.36

Will asked to see my workout so I'll post it here. This is just something I totally made up, so buyer beware. I just did the first one yesterday so I'll put in numbers for those.

I did these in supersets, so I alternate the first 2 exercises, then the next 2, and so on.

MONDAY:

Deadlift with Trap Bar: 225 lb - 10/9/9
(I used the trap bar here because I sort of hurt my back last week doing 300x6 Barbell Deadlifts. The trap bar is way easier on your back and the higher reps/lower weight is a great change-up.)
Bent Over Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 30 lb - 10/10/10

Pullup/Chinup/Neutral Grip-up: 8/7/5
Pullthrough: 80 lbs. - 12/12/12

Seated Wide-grip Row: 130 lbs - 10/9/9
Barbell Curl: 75 lbs - 7/7/7

WEDNESDAY:

Dumbbell Flat Press
Cable Crossover

Single Arm DB Shoulder Press
Overhead DB Tricep Press (the one with one dumbbell and both hands behind the head)

Clean and Press
Decline Pushups

FRIDAY:

Front Squat
Incline Crunch

DB lunges
Swiss Ball Pike

Single leg Squats
Barbell Good Morning

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do ;)

Cheggin in

2009-01-05T10:07:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 185.8

Day 5.

Not much to report. Ever since my initial 4 lb drop, I've been holding pretty steady between 185.6-185.8. My eating has been pretty much perfect, and I start my new self-designed workout today. It's basically a strength/hypertrophy workout. I think my philosophy is going to be workout for muscle, eat for fat loss. I still think I'm going to stick to the 3x a week model. Adding in intervals or additional workouts will serve more to make my life miserable than to help shed additional pounds, but we shall see. If my plan needs to be adjusted, so be it. Tonight: deadlift workout.

Like it's hot

2009-01-02T11:27:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in 186.0

Day 2.

Well, I must say I was thrilled with this morning's weigh-in, a full 4 pounds less than yesterday's. The odd thing is, it's not like yesterday's was artificially inflated or anything either. In fact, 2 days before that I weighed in at 190.4 (haven't been weighing in every single day). And New Years Eve wasn't even that bad, I went out for a nice dinner with the lady to a place that serves very small portions, I had onion rosemary soup and Salmon with haricot verts and lentils. Then I had some champagne, we stayed in (my first NYE staying in- it was too cold to deal with cabs).

Regardless, I did something right yesterday. I had a steak and blue cheese salad for lunch (no breakfast), then for dinner a bit of leftover turkey and a side of Green Beans with garlic and tomatoes. A Harry and David pear for dessert. (mmmm) Went to bed hungry, that old feeling I remember so well, that for me, tells me I did well that day.

So, big initial drop. I know for a fact it ain't gonna be easy from here...

No Joke January

2009-01-01T18:04:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 190.0

Day 1

Well fellow crusaders, today marks the official end of the holiday season. The parties,the excessive drinking, the snacks, the seemingly instinctual drive to fatten up for a long winter. And when the dust had all settled, I put on about 7 lbs.

Not that I'd been terrible, I'd still been working out (although not religiously), and trying to at least compensate for when I was bad, but it wasn't enough.

OK. Fine. Here's what's going to happen.

I will be celebrating (to use the term VERY loosely) what I'm calling "No Joke January". During the month of January I will be abstaining from alcoholic beverages (which I did 2 years back). In addition, I will be entering another $50 contest with my brother to see who can lose more weight in January. Yeah, he won last time, but realistically, we both won. It's good incentive for fighting off cravings and laziness.

So that's it. No big speeches. Just plain old keeping at it. It's just what you have to do to avoid a one way ticket back to Fatassville.

Aftermath

2008-12-02T11:19:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: ~~286.4~~ 186.4

I was doing great until Wednesday night.

Working out, eating right, for about 3 days. Then, of course, Wednesday night came. I even skipped an early happy hour with coworkers to go home and workout and eat a healthy dinner. So I did. Then I went out later.

I'll spare you the details, but from Wednesday night at about midnight until Monday morning, I had a stretch of holiday-related nutritional debauchery that I am not proud of.

It's a difficult time of year. Did I put on 10 lbs? No. I'm keeping myself in check. All I can do is pick myself up, dust myself off, and do the best I can until the next inevitable holiday slip-up. Hit the gym and cut the calories.

Keep it real people...

A series of small battles.

2008-11-25T11:32:00.004-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 185.5

A few posts ago, I talked about giving up. For those who have not yet wanted to lose all the weight they need to lose, that is simply not an option. Giving up is defeat. And often, if it leads to re-gaining lost weight, then all of your victories are surrendered. Not a good situation to be in.

Those of us who have reached our desired weight fight different battles. It's about finding balance. I have not yet achieved that perfect zen-like state of eating healthy and working out most of the time and also enjoying splurges here and there. I'm not far off, but not quite there. For the last 2 weeks I've only been to the gym a couple of times, and my eating has been fairly bad. But I have my moments of clarity. Moments when I work out, moments when I eat healthy and moments where I control myself.

My weight is relatively stable, although I fear that I've lost a wee bit of muscle and gained a wee bit of fat. But the fact remains that we are talking about a window of about 5 pounds here. This is a window that I see as being "normal", as in I would expect that most normal, in shape, healthy people also bounce around within a window like this. I hesitate to even say "normal" because these days, more and more, "normal" is overweight and obesity. Maybe I strive to be better than that.

And as of yesterday, I once again re-committed to slapping myself in the face and getting back to healthy ways. And so far, so good.

Anyway, it's a series of small battles. You win some, you lose some. You try to break even and you try not to lose ground. And if you do, you don't have far to go to regain it. That's what maintenance has been for me lately.

Happy Holidays. Try not to go crazy.

Rebirthday II

2008-11-13T10:34:00.002-05:00

11/13/08 Weigh-in: 183.2

'Twas 2 years ago today dear friends that I set out on my journey to transform my life. 2 years have come and gone, and as I set out to do, I am different now, for the better.

Not much else to say, other than to reflect back on where I came from, and think about where I'm going...

Giving up?

2008-11-11T09:27:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 183

None of us are perfect. We all fall off the wagon sometimes. Things come up. Life gets in the way. But goddammit, it seems like many of you out there have just given up. Come on. The only way to succeed is to keep going even though shit happens.

You can still eat healthy through stress.

You can still exercise when you're busy.

I know, you don't feel like it. That's why most people fail at weight loss.

Are you most people? Are you willing to fail?

Think about it.

Turning the tide

2008-11-04T09:58:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 185.2 (nice, -4.4 lbs from yesterday!)

Just wanted to report in on a successful day yesterday diet-wise. Everything went perfectly except I wasn't able to get to the gym due to a personal distraction. No worry, I'll get there tonight. Can't complain about losing 4.4 in one day! (We all know it's not quite real but it feels good to know all that weight wasn't fat that I had gained).

Hope y'all get out to vote today, of course I hope that you're voting for my candidate, who's name rhymes with "Yo' Mama".

Here is an interesting article by Michael Pollan addressed to our next "Farmer in Chief". I don't know about you, but I'd like to see him appointed Secretary of Agriculture.

Vote for Change...

2008-11-03T11:01:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 189.6 (yuck)

Today marks a renewed effort (yeah, again) to get my shit together and under control. As you can see, I've gained some, not a lot, but some weight. Even though in my last post I talked some smack about getting in top shape for my Halloween costume (I was "Green Man" from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, basically just me in a spandex body suit), I slacked off.

In the last few weeks, my stomach problem has been bothering me, fall blues have been setting in, the Phillies won the world series, and basically just a bunch of stuff that has made me not feel like working out or being healthy. I haven't been to the gym for about 2 weeks, and although I snuck a few pushup workouts in there just to avoid atrophy, I need to do better.

So, my vote for change begins today. For the next 2 weeks I am not drinking any alcohol. I think this will help to jumpstart me because I feel recently that alcohol has kept me in a downward spiral of poor nutrition and gym habits.

So that's it for today. Pictures of me in the Green Man costume may follow...

A new hope.

2008-10-01T10:38:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 183.6

Well the first thing I want to talk about today is that I have a new "goal". It's not something I planned so much but something I realized. Halloween is in 4 weeks and I, being the sadist that I am have an idea for a costume that, well, I need to be in good shape for. I don't want to give away any details because I'm not sure who reads this blog. Suffice it to say it will be hilarious, and at the same time somewhat revealing of my physique. So, I definitely have motivation over the next few weeks to get in shape.

Another thing is that I've been struggling with some health issues. Nothing very serious, but I've had this dull ache in my side for a while now, and I had a CT scan done and my doctor says I have Diverticulosis, which basically just means I have these little pockets that form in my intestine that can become inflamed or infected. I'm not convinced that is what is causing my discomfort, but nevertheless I'm going to continue to look into it. One thing that sucks about it is I'm not supposed to eat nuts or seeds, which, for me, blows. I'm really trying to keep my chin up and not let it get me down. It's kept me out of the gym a few times but I'm not going to let it derail me.

The third thing is that I'm learning how to cook. I know how to cook some, but I really wanted to learn the basics, how to cook from scratch, etc. So I got some cookbooks, a slow cooker, and signed up for some classes with my girlfriend. The second one is tonight. It's pretty cool and it's one of those things that will be valuable for the rest of my life.

The FOURTH thing is that I've embarked on somewhat of a financial diet. I've done this in the past and given the economic climate of the day, I'm doing it again. This time I've made budgets for the categories of Eating Dinners out, Lunches out, Groceries, Drinking/Misc. entertainment, and Discretionary for each week. I got a little iphone app called "Spend" and I enter transactions as I go. This is really helping me be mindful of how much I spend on each category and budget accordingly.

That's pretty much it for now. Hope everyone is well.

Eating to Enjoy

2008-09-23T15:02:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 185.4

I read this great article in the New York Times today. I copied and pasted it here because I figured you'd be more likely to read it. This is the way of "dieting" I tried to adhere to. It was more about adding healthy things and exploring flavors than restricting or limiting (although that of course plays a part).

Instead of Eating to Diet, They’re Eating to Enjoy

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Published: September 16, 2008

AFTER decades of obsessing about fat, calories and carbs, many dieters have made the unorthodox decision to simply enjoy food again.

That doesn’t mean they’re giving up on health or even weight loss. Instead, consumers and nutritionists say they are seeing a shift toward “positive eating” — shunning deprivation diets and instead focusing on adding seasonal vegetables, nuts, berries and other healthful foods to their plates.

For 32-year-old Rina Gonzalez-Echandi of Los Angeles, giving up calorie counting and packaged foods and adding real food back into her diet has helped her maintain her weight and even be happier. She used to watch fat and calories so obsessively she would sometimes avoid socializing.

“You forget how wonderful it is to have a meal with friends and family,” said Ms. Gonzalez-Echandi, a special-education aide and mother of a 10-year-old daughter. “I realize I had taken that joy away from myself.”

Now she focuses on the pleasure of eating fresh, home-cooked food. She has started cooking with olive oil and occasionally butter, and has increased her consumption of nuts and peanut butter. She even got to know her grocer to find out which fruits and vegetables are in season and grown locally.

The market research firm NPD Group gets a glimpse of national eating habits through the food diaries it has collected from 5,000 consumers since 1980. The percentage of those consumers who are on a diet is lower than at any time since information on dieting was first collected in 1985. At the peak in 1990, 39 percent of the women and 29 percent of the men were dieting. Today, that number has dropped to 26 percent of women and 16 percent of men.

The diarists also report eating more organic foods and whole grains, said Harry Balzer, an NPD vice president.

“Instead of trying to avoid things, they’ve started adding things,” Mr. Balzer said.

Even the Calorie Control Council, which represents makers of commercial diet foods, notes the percentage of people who are dieting has declined — to 29 percent in 2007 from 33 percent in 2004.

And there are other indicators of a shift in eating habits. In May, the market research firm Information Resources reported that 53 percent of consumers say they are cooking from scratch more than they did just six months ago, in part, no doubt, because of the rising cost of prepared foods.

Sales of organic foods have surged, and the number of farmers’ markets has more than doubled since the mid-1990s.

Nutrition experts and consumers say positive eating trends are being fueled in part by the failures of the past. A national epidemic of obesity suggests that the spread of diet foods, sugar-free soft drinks and low-fat snacks hasn’t helped people manage their weight.

Cynthia Sass, a New York dietitian and author who was a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association from 2001 to 2007, said many clients embrace positive eating after years of failed dieting. “They would much rather focus on what to eat instead of what not to eat,” Ms. Sass said. “Most people I have encountered have a track record of trying different things that didn’t work for them.”

Meanwhile, books like Gary Taubes’s “Good Calories, Bad Calories” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007) and Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” (Penguin, 2008) have prompted a rethinking of Americans’ eating habits and dependence on processed and refined foods.

Martha McClintock, 46, of Riverdale, in the Bronx, said she was more focused these days on adding healthful foods like avocados, blueberries and walnuts to her plate. She said she tries to improve the quality of food she eats, such as switching to blue corn chips as a snack rather than potato chips.

“If something is high in calories, I try to look at the big picture,” said Ms. McClintock, a photo service account executive. “If you’re going to indulge in something, just try and walk it off or limit it to once a week.”

Some former dieters say they’ve been influenced by the international Slow Food movement, a 10-year-old group that encourages locally grown, unprocessed food. Over the Labor Day weekend an estimated 60,000 people attended the Slow Food Nation festival in San Francisco.

Alice Waters, of the restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., and a prominent supporter of the Slow Food movement, said food habits change when a person begins to cook at home more. Her efforts to encourage home cooking include a new campaign of Internet cooking videos from the Slow Food Nation event, such as one from the chef Bryant Terry, who showed how to strip corn from the cob and sauté it with chili.

“We need to demystify cooking,” Ms. Waters said. “It creates feelings about food that make you feel cared for, and that’s the kind of food that really changes habits.”

The cookbook author and television personality Rachael Ray has attracted both loyal followers and harsh critics for creating food that doesn’t focus on calories, fat, carbohydrates or even portion control. She intentionally doesn’t include calorie information with her cookbook recipes.

“I think that puts your head into science and away from what I think the experience of food should be,” Ms. Ray said. “If you take the time to cook and provide yourself with a balanced diet, you can cook freely and eat pretty freely and in pretty large amounts without worrying so much about the nutritional intake or the calories or your pant size.”

Some nutritionists aren’t convinced that the positive eating trend will catch on with time-strapped families. Others worry that people will wrongly interpret positive eating as over-indulging, rather than adding moderate amounts of healthful foods into the diet.

“If everyone ate more plant-based and more whole foods and unprocessed foods, that would be major,” said Arlene Spark, associate professor of nutrition at Hunter College in New York. “But that would mean people going back to cooking, and what we’ve lost is people’s ability and knowledge of how to cook.”

The real question, is whether better eating can translate into weight loss.

Last year, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported on a study of 97 obese women, all of whom were avoiding high-fat foods. Half the women were instructed to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables. By the end of a year, the women who were focused on adding vegetables lost an average of 17 pounds, 20 percent more than the women who were just paying attention to fat consumption.

Also, the more time people spend on tasks like food shopping, cooking and kitchen cleanup, the more likely they are to be of average weight. The Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture found that people of normal weight spend more time on meal-related tasks than people who are overweight or underweight.

Marion Nestle, the New York University nutritionist whose book “What To Eat” (North Point Press, 2006) focuses on sensible eating, said she thinks people view food as the enemy, when the real problem is that they have forgotten how to enjoy food in a healthful way.

“If you’re eating something you really like, maybe you won’t feel like you need to eat so much of it,” she said. “If you want a muffin, then eat a gorgeous muffin with marvelous blueberries that’s moist and crispy on the outside with a little sugar on it. Yum.”

Thirty-Two, and throwing your hat over the wall

2008-09-11T09:16:00.003-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 182.2

The number 32 holds a two-fold significance this week. First, tomorrow is my 32nd Birthday, my 2nd birthday since reaching my goal weight. Of course, there are a bunch of food-related events upcoming that I will have to navigate through. Somehow I'll manage ;)

Second, I've been looking for a pair of jeans to replace my old ones for a while now. The other day I set out fall shopping once again looking for jeans. After running around and not really finding anything for a while, I walked into a store called "Lucky Jeans". I tried on a pair of 33's that were really comfortable, but a bit too big, so the lady suggested 32's. I have never, ever worn 32's. In fact, size 32 has always represented to me an unreachable nirvana of fitness. I never thought I would fit into 32's. Lo and behold, they fit perfectly. Not perfectly as in they're a little too tight but I'm buying them because I can fit into 32's, but perfectly perfectly.

Now, I know that I'm really a 34 when buying "real" pants, like for suits, etc. I usually wear 33's in jeans and casual pants. Still, it feels good to finally be walking around in size 32 jeans.

Oh yes, the other thing I wanted to talk about.

There's an old irish saying, "If you want to climb a wall, first throw your hat over it". I thought this was a great quote and related to fitness as well.

One of the things I did in that I really feel is helping my fitness lifestyle is getting rid of my car. Now, some criminals got rid of it for me, but I decided not to get a new one and instead ride my bicycle everywhere. I feel like this is a good example of throwing your hat over the wall. Now, I don't have a choice. If I want to go somewhere, I'm riding my bike.

What other ways can you throw your hat over the wall? Signing up for a gym membership (many people do this and then just give up on the hat!), getting rid of your car, throwing away all your junk food, getting rid of pizza menus. I'm sure there are many more.

In a way, talking about your goals with an "I will" rather than an "I'm trying" attitude is throwing your hat over the wall. When you say things like that to people, you're putting yourself out there in a way that cuts off escape routes to failure, if you're the type of person who has conviction and wouldn't want to let yourself down in the eyes of yourself or others.

Just something to think about...

The Answer?

2008-09-10T16:04:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 182.4

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the question, "Why do people fail at weight loss?"

If you look to just about every weight loss book ever written, you would think the answer is because people aren't eating the right things at the right times or exercising correctly.

Personally, I think that's hooey.

Everyone knows to eat less. To limit sugar and eat more fruits and vegetables. Everyone knows that doing some exercise will help too. The problem is that people can't stick with it long enough to see real results.

While I might not have figured out exactly "why" this happens to most people, I think I've at least pinpointed the moment when failure occurs. If we can recognize it, maybe we can do something to turn it around.

I think it's simply this: You start your program, and you're doing great. Then at some point weakness hits and you fall off the wagon. Maybe you fall off a little, or maybe you fall off hard. This is the fork in the road.

Many times, in previous weight loss attempts, this has happened to me. And for whatever reason, I used it as an excuse to justify giving up. Either I felt bad about myself, or I felt that I screwed up so badly it was insurmountable, or maybe it just felt so good to eat all the crap I'd been denying myself, I just wanted to keep going. And I did so for a day, then 2, then a week, then 2, and by that point, there was no turning back.

I truly believe that this time the difference wasn't that I didn't fall off the wagon (surely I did, many times). The difference was that the next day, or the following Monday, or whatever, I got up, dusted myself off, cut my losses, and got back on the horse. Usually, it didn't take more than a day or 2 to get back in the swing of things and regain the inertia and good healthy feeling I had before I fell off.

This seems like a revelation to me. It may not be, but I suspect it is. I think that this is a universal pattern that you will see in failed vs. successful weight loss attempts.

The next question we need to find the answer to is "How do I achieve a mental state that will help me behave that way, instead of the quitting mentality?"

But I think the take away here is to just know this. Like GI Joe said "Knowing is half the battle". That way when you find yourself in this situation you know what you need to do if you really want to succeed.

Stacking

2008-09-08T08:43:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 186.2

A few things to talk about today.

I had a not-so-great day of eating yesterday. Basically I was out in the city all day and went out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By the time we had dinner at this trendy sushi place (that serves gigantic sushi rolls with all kinds of sauce, etc.), I was stuffed to the gills.

So, this morning, I decided to skip breakfast. This is a method I've been using during maintenance. It probably won't help you lose much weight, but it seems to minimize the damage. Basically, the theory behind it is that you aren't "Stacking" energy. It's my theory that when you eat too much and then continue to eat, these are the times your body develops that energy surplus that we all know leads to fat storage. Therefore, had I eaten breakfast this morning even though all my body's energy reserves were likely full, I may have gained some fat. Instead, I listened to my body and thought "hey, I'm not really hungry, my energy reserves are no doubt full, so I might as well wait till I'm empty."

Think about it like a gas tank. You don't buy a full tank of gas when your tank is 1/2 full. That extra 1/2 tank will end up on your car's ass and thighs.

Anyway, it's a simple concept. It just makes sense. It's not "punishment" for a mistake the night before, more just intelligent compensation.

The other thing is, dammit, I'm flip-flopping again. Remember how I wanted to get down to 175, then starved myself, then decided that I was being obsessive, and that I should chill and try to be more "relaxed" about losing/maintaining? Well, I feel like I could still lose 10 lbs and that there's no such thing as "losing/maintaining". There's either losing, or there's maintaining. And my mental state right now is, if I'm being honest with you all, weak.

I should be better about my choices. I should stop giving in to urges here and there, and just barely hanging on. There's no reason I shouldn't be doing better. I guess it's harder because the motivation isn't really there. I already am pretty happy with my weight, and I know that I can get away with eating crap here and there without gaining. So, it's easy to fall back into less-than-ideal eating patterns and less than 100% gym compliance.

I also feel that I'm setting a bad example for my girlfriend, who is still trying to lose some weight. It's hard to be around me because I'm always like "lets go out to eat" and I can get away with being a lot worse than she can, because A. I'm a guy, and B. I'm ok with just maintaining. As a girl who's trying to lose, I don't see how she can really do it while spending a lot of time with me, the way I am right now...

OK, done venting for now.

Going All the Way

2008-08-27T19:33:00.004-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 184

I was working on an outline for my book and I had an interesting insight on maintenance.

I remember reading in the "Phoenix Theory" article that successful weight loss maintenance depended on fear. Fear of losing all the great things that happened when you lost the weight. The confidence, the attention from the opposite sex (or same sex, to each their own), the respect. That shit feels good, and it's worth hanging on to. It's worth the continued effort to keep the weight off.

That's not the insight though. The insight is this:

We all know that most people who lose weight end up gaining it all back, plus some, right? Well, I'm willing to bet that that statistic is much lower among people who have lost all the weight they wanted to lose.

Why, you might ask?

Say Jack weighs 300 lbs. Jack's ideal weight is around 180. Jack loses 50 lbs. Great, right? Well, somewhere along the line Jack stalls out. Jack feels pretty good about being 250, but, well, he's still 250. He's not where he wants to be, and he's not experiencing enough of the positive effects of weight loss to have that fear of regression. He still lacks confidence. The ladies aren't paying as much attention as he'd like. He still hates shopping for clothes. He still feels bad about himself. So, it's much easier for him to regress.

In fact, Jack is caught in the perilous limbo between feeling satisfied enough to stop trying so hard, yet not happy enough to keep him motivated to do more. This is why it can be so dangerous to rest on your laurels before you're done. The danger of regression is very real during this time.

Then you have Sam. Sam weighed 300 and did get down to 180. His world is upside-down. He looks good, the ladies are taking notice, and he feels great about himself. He almost loves clothes shopping more than any self-respecting man should. He walks around feeling awesome about himself all day long. He's not going to give that up for the world.

I don't think it takes a neuroscientist to understand why he's motivated to keep up with his healthy lifestyle. He is deathly afraid of going back and losing everything that he has now.

I just thought I'd share this insight with y'all. All the more reason to set your goals big and follow them through all the way. Do that, and I think it will go a long way to making sure you are not just another casualty in the war on fat.

P.S. I just went through my blogroll and added a few people I'd been missing, and listed a few MIA-ers as "Inactive". If you have a blog that isn't listed there and you would like to be listed, just lemme know!

Case Closed.

2008-08-26T10:33:00.006-05:00

First let me remind you to please check out my previous post and leave feedback, it's helping me a great deal. Thank you to those who have already commented.

Today's weigh-in: 181.6

2 Gold medal olympians. Both runners. 2 VERY different physiques. What gives?

Above is a side-by-side comparison of Olympic Gold Medalist in the Men's Marathon Sammy Wanjiru (left), and Olympic Gold Medalist and World Record Holder in Men's Sprinting Usain Bolt (right).

I just thought this is such a great example of the different physiques that someone who trains in endurance running has vs. someone who does sprints. And what are sprints, really? Oh, right. Intervals.

That's right. If you want to look like Wanjiru, go ahead and run your ass off for miles and miles of endurance cardio.

But if you'd rather have the muscular, ripped look of Bolt, I'd recommend Interval Training (and probably some weight lifting too).

Of course, finding a middle ground would probably be good for most of us. Maybe run for distance one day, do intervals another, and keep lifting weights. I like to go for a more balanced, holistic approach.

But I thought this was an eye-opening, un-arguable example of why so many experts recommend Intervals vs. Endurance cardio for lasting physique change and weight loss.

Back to me. I'm still struggling a little bit going through Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training 2k8 workout. I think I mentioned before how I was having a really hard time transitioning from doing low rep, heavy lifts with plenty of rest to doing quick-paced circuit training type lifts. Let me outline yesterday's workout for you.

After the warmup, I went on to my first circuit. It involved:

Dumbbell Squats 3x12 with 80 lb. dumbbells, then with no rest right to:
Dumbbell Triple Press 3x6x3 with 55 lb. dumbbells. (The Triple press is where you have the bench set at 3 different inclines, almost totally upright, incline press level, and then flat level. You do 6 reps at each level right in a row. Buh-rutal!) Then, rest 1 minute and repeat for 3 total sets.

Let me tell you, as soon as I was done the 12 reps of dumbbell squats I was already dripping with sweat going into the triple press. I had a miserable time getting through this circuit and probably took a bit more rest than I should have. Then, I moved on to:

Inverted Row with feet on swiss ball 3x15 (these are hard as hell!), then with no rest right to:
Plank with elbows on swiss ball 30 seconds. This is pretty easy. My breaks kept getting longer...

Then, it was time for:

Dumbbell close grip Floor Press 3x10 with 45 lb. dumbbells. It's so frustrating how light the weights you use for all these exercises end up being. But with little to no rest you run out of gas QUICK! Then with no rest right to:
Dumbbell Pullover 3x8 with 45 lb. Dumbbell. At this point my breaks are WAY longer than 1 minute. I simply don't have it in me to go any faster.

THEN, it's time for 1-arm kettlebell swings, 5 sets of 15 with a 25 lb. dumbbell. I got through 2 sets of these, felt like I was going to throw up, and left the gym.

I've done tougher circuit-style workouts than these. It's just what you're conditioned for. I've been doing the same type of slow lifting for so long that my muscular endurance and ability to do this kind of fast-paced lifting is in the shitter. All the more evidence that this is what I need to be doing right now.

Help me, you're my only hope...

2008-08-21T21:36:00.003-05:00

To everyone who reads this blog, those who just started and those who've been reading for years, I need your help.

I'm toying with the idea of writing an ebook about my weight loss experience. Sort of like taking some of my best blog posts and expounding on them. I've realized that over the course of my quest many people have expressed to me finding inspiration on this blog, and I know of several people in particular, (Brian, BrotherJay) who were directly inspired to lose life-changing weight once they found it.

I want to inspire more people. I want to explore something that I feel passionately about and compile everything I've learned, and in the process, learn some more.

I think that the aspect of weight loss in particular that I want to focus on is the mental battle. The emotional issues. The behavioral patterns. Keeping up the motivation, having the right attitude, developing discipline and confidence. And dealing with the emotional and social battles along the way. I feel that these are areas that most weight loss literature glosses over completely. Everyone knows what to eat. Everyone knows how to exercise. Everyone is still having a hard time.

Here's what I need from you:
I need you to tell me what it is about my blog that keeps you coming back. What part of my particular experience or point of view interests you? Which posts of mine inspired you, and why? What draws you to this blog?

If you had to sum up my weight loss philosophy in a catchy title, or a descriptive thesis statement, what would that be?

Finally, what sort of book do you wish you had starting out a weight loss journey of your own? What kind of information do you have a hard time finding? What would your "ultimate guide to losing weight and keeping it off" look like?

Please do me a big favor and lay it on me. I need the help. And for those of you who maybe read and don't comment, here's your chance, you might have the best insights of all!

Thanks everyone in advance.

Pendulum swings

2008-08-18T09:18:00.004-05:00

So first I was dead set on getting to 175 and I dieted my ass off.

Then I said "Eff it" and went crazy for about a week. Ate pretty shittily with little restraint.

Now that the pendulum has swung to both sides of the extreme, I'm ready to fall once again into the middle.

I've decided that what I need to do is not "crash diet". It's also not "just barely hang on" and maintain by going on mini-diets trying to counteract dietary indiscretions.

It's time for me to focus on making what we always talk about. What is that again? Oh yeah, right... "Lifestyle Change".

Yep, I've decided that instead of focusing on losing weight at all costs, what I want to focus on now is slowly but surely getting in better and better shape. This will involve focusing my attention on eating appropriate amounts of real, natural, healthy foods; and making time to exercise and be active, and keeping that interesting and challenging.

I know this probably sounds like a no-brainer but I feel like I've sorta had a diet mentality for a while now.

I went camping this weekend, marking a year from the last time I went on this trip, right around when I reached my Omaha goal. I realized that when compared to other "normal" guys in their 30's, I'm in above average shape. I saw lots of guts and saggy bellies and guys with practically no musculature.

It made me feel good about where I'm at. Sure I'm not perfect, maybe I never will be. Especially when you compare yourself to guys in the movies or in magazines. But those guys are in that kind of shape because it's their livelihood, and they devote their lives to it. For me, I just want to be in good shape.

It was kinda cool to be the guy everyone asked to lift a heavy log when they couldn't. Let me tell you, the experience doing deadlifts, etc., helps immensely.

Anyway, here's to a new week. Trying to do what's best for me in the long run. Still fighting the mental battle, it's the hardest one to win.

What's your REAL weight?

2008-08-13T09:41:00.004-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 183.8

The other day when I weighed in at 179 I was thrilled, first time I'd weighed in in the 170's ever. In order to get there I had been practically starving myself though, taking in about 1800 calories a day for a week plus. After a few days of "normal" eating though, I find myself today at 183.8.

This brings me to the point about your "real" weight. When you're really dieting, and have been going at it for a while, your weight will be artificially low by a few pounds. This is due to lack of intestinal contents, etc. Ever notice how you can gain 2-4 lbs overnight after one night of "cheating"? It's not like you gained any fat (maybe you gained a tiny bit, but likely less than .25 pounds). What you gained was the water retention, intestinal contents, liver and muscle glycogen, etc. that goes with being properly nourished.

So the conclusion is that your "real weight" is probably 2-4 lbs. heavier than your lowest weigh-in.

This is sort of why I had wanted to get down to 175, so that my "Real weight" would still be just under 180.

I know this is a hard concept to accept, nobody wants to see that scale jump, but I've found that it's just a fact of life...

Clarity

2008-08-12T08:34:00.003-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 182.8

Thanks to all who responded to my post yesterday. I have a few more points of clarification I wanted to make.

Fat and genetics

We've all heard the people who say "I can't be in good shape, I don't have the genes for it." We all (should) know that's bullshit. Anyone who's willing to work hard and exercise some control and restraint can get in good shape.

However the fact of the matter is that it is most certainly our genetics that determine how readily we store fat, build muscle, etc. Our genetics also play a part in our appetite. The point I was trying to make was that so many people look at those who are naturally thin and imagine that they eat all sorts of crap and never gain a pound. While that may be true for some, what I've noticed in my travels is that those people often don't eat all sorts of crap. Often they just naturally don't have as much of an appetite as other people, people like myself. Of course, metabolism plays a part as well. My roommate, Mike, has always been lean and works hard with the weights and running to be muscular and in shape. When he goes on vacation he doesn't gain weight like most of us do, he loses weight. His last week-long vacation he lost 8 pounds. He loses muscle or whatever kind of weight because he's not eating as much, not working out. Whereas most of us gain weight on vacation because we stop exercising and eat everything in sight.

The bottom line is that you play the hand you're dealt. You accept the fact that you are not one of those people who stay lean naturally, and that you need to pay more attention and work a little harder if you want to be lean and healthy. You don't bitch and whine about it, you just accept it. And you do what needs to be done.

So it's not that genetics don't play a part, they just shouldn't keep you from achieving your potential. Nobody's full potential is being a fatass.

Where do your goals come from?

The other point I really wanted to hammer home was this. I realize I set a goal for myself and now I'm thinking of "giving up" on it. The reason for that isn't that I "can't" do it, it's that I'm wondering if that goal makes sense for me. What is the reasoning behind that goal. Hell, I could set a goal to weigh 130 pounds and be a little twiggy boy but why would I do that? If I "gave up" on that goal people would commend me for being sensible.

I'm not saying that my goal of 175 is completely loony or anything. It's not even that far off really. And frankly, I suspect that I'll get there and realize that I STILL don't look the way I want to. And then what? Do I keep chasing some bullshit vision of what I want? Do I let it drive me nuts and consume me? What if I get there? What if I'm still not satisfied?

People are never really satisfied. The things we think will make us happy, things like fame, fortune, abs, whatever, rarely do. They are just distractions that keep us occupied and keep us missing out on the things in life that are really important.

Anyway, I think I've just decided to slow down on this whole thing and stop making myself miserable. I'm not giving up, I'm not really sure what my goal is, other than to be happy and healthy. I think I've just decided that if I need to make myself miserable and go to extremes like eating 1800 calories for weeks on end, it's just not worth it to me.

Why?

2008-08-11T14:01:00.007-05:00

Today's weigh-in: ???

I just got back from NYC finishing up about 4 consecutive days and nights of eating, drinking, and general revelry.

I've been really having second thoughts about this whole trying to get down to 175 thing. It's just that I have to eat so little it's ridiculous, and I'm trying to figure out if it really makes sense to fight my body so hard for something that really isn't necessary.

I saw plenty of metrosexual men in NYC, running around with their shirts off and rippling abs and waxed chests. I'm not them. I'm not the guy on the Abercrombie billboards I saw everywhere. I'm not the guys at my gym all super-huge and lifting 400 lbs. I'm not the guy ordering salads when I'm out with my girlfriend (at least not all the time).

All I'm saying is that the bottom line is, I'm a normal dude. I like being healthy and in shape (which I am). I'm not crazy about the fact that I still have a little fat on my belly or my flanks, but at the same time I'm just not sure if I need to or want to be obsessed with getting rid of it. And where I am now, it seems like obsession is what will be required to get rid of it. Sacrifice, obsession, and misery.

And for what? So I can look like some douche from a magazine? I don't even think it would make sense for me, with my personality (non-douche, laid back, funny, party-guy) to have that look anyway. What am I trying to say? That I'm insecure and have nothing to offer but glistening abs?

The other thing I realized is that there are 3 types of people. There are people who are naturally thin. I hang out with a lot of these people and you know what? It's not always about them having a high metabolism. Often, it's about the fact that they just don't have a very big appetite. They don't eat breakfast, they don't finish meals, they aren't always hungry. Then there are fat people. Much like me, they are always hungry. In addition, often they have psychological and emotional issues with food, and use it like a drug to alleviate these issues. Then there are people who have the tendency to store fat, but they keep it under control. This is the group I fall into right now. And I'm willing to bet that there are very, very, very few people that fall into that group who maintain levels of leanness below 10% BF.

I dunno people. Part of me feels like I'm just saying "I give up, it's too hard." Which to some extent is true. But the reality of the situation is that what I'm really saying is "Maybe it just isn't worth it to me". Especially when you consider how difficult it will be to maintain extremely low levels of body fat. I don't want to do that. I like food. I like hanging out. I like drinking. I'm willing to put some work and effort into staying in shape, I'm just not willing to devote my life to it, at least not anymore.

Look, I haven't really made up my mind about what I want to do, I just wanted to vent and let y'all know what I'm thinking and get your input. Thanks as always for listening...

PS Saturday marked my 1 year anniversary since I hit my OMAHA goal of 190. I've officially kept the weight off for one year. Go me!

Life Happens

2008-08-07T08:50:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 182.2

A disappointing weigh-in today considering yesterday's break through. But you know what? Who cares.

I know I'm no fatter today than I was yesterday.

Some friends were in from out of town yesterday and so I wasn't able to maintain my strict regime. So be it. Life happens.

I came home from work and there they were. I had forgotten they were coming in so I needed to scramble. I still wanted to go work out, so I did. But I skipped my chocolate milk as I realized we were probably going to be going out to dinner instead of me eating my perfectly portioned leftovers as I had planned.

I did my new TT workout and MAN, was it brutal. It's amazing the difference in the amount of weight you can lift when you are doing circuits with no rest. It's much, much less. And my body was ready to explode. I was drenched in sweat. It was hard. It sucked. But it also convinced me that I had been doing heavy weights/low reps/ lots of rest for too long. I think switching it up will be good.

Anyway we went out for Vietnamese and I ate too much. More accurately, I ate like I was a normal person. It was good. It felt good. Then we went to a bar and I had 2 beers, then bed. I calculated that I probably had somewhere around 2300 calories yesterday.

Then I weigh in this morning 2.5 lbs heavier. I started to feel really bad when I realized: Screw it. I'm doing well here. The body will gain and lose 3-5 pounds due to food volume and it happens. You're going to weigh your lowest when you're hardly eating and then when you re-feed your weight will pop up a few pounds. Not like it's fat. Not to mention, Goddammit, I should be able to eat like a normal human every now and then. I didn't go hog-wild last night.

I'm facing a few challenging days with lots of happy-hours, visiting with friends and traveling. I'm gonna do the best I can. I'm not going to obsess. And in the long run I think I'll be better off for it.

The 70's

2008-08-06T09:55:00.004-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 179.6

Well, it finally happened. I finally weighed in in the 170's today, for the first time probably since Junior High. I've been working really hard and cutting the calories and it's starting to pay off I guess. Still have 5 lbs. to go to reach my goal, and it's not going to be an easy 5 at all.

I've been sluggish and not having much energy lately due to the low calories I guess. I'm not really in a "healthy lifestyle change" section of my diet, I'm more like in the "last 10 lbs. Battle Royale". Not that I feel that I'm being unhealthy, but I am limiting calories to between 1800-2100 a day and it feels low.

Here's to hoping I can get in a good workout today. Anyway, it feels good to have reached this new low. A full 10 pounds below my original "Omaha" goal. And almost one year later to the day...

I just realized something crazy. I saw a statistic in an article about the book "Eat This, not That" that said something to the effect of:

Not only will you reshape your body and enjoy greater physical well-being, says he, you will also gain the respect of your coworkers and bosses, potentially earning 20% or more than you currently do.

Well, I did some figuring. I looked up what I earned at the beginning of my quest, (11/13/06), and today. What did I find?

In that time, my base salary from my employer has increased by 21.3%

Crazy.

Surrender

2008-08-05T08:22:00.001-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 181.2

Can't say I'm thrilled with the weigh-in after a perfect day of eating yesterday (prob around 1800 cals). Oh well, I dunno exactly what's happening. All I can do is keep my head down and push through.

I had an awful gym experience yesterday. I was a bit hungover all day with a nagging headache, still I wanted to hit the gym and try my new Turbulence Training workout. I should have known something was up when my head was throbbing during the warmup exercises. Let's just say I got through 1 set of dumbbell lunges, and was to move to incline dumbbell presses without resting. I sat down, hoisted the dumbbells up and tried to lift them. I couldn't. My head was pounding. I put the dumbbells away and left the gym. I had to give up.

Oh well, I'll live to fight another day...

Inflation

2008-08-04T09:41:00.003-05:00

Alls I'm sayin' is this:

7/28/08 - 181
7/29/08 - 180.2
7/30/08 - 180.6
7/31/08 - 180.8
8/1/08 - 181
8/2/08 - 180
8/3/08 - 180.2
8/4/08 - 183.2

What the Eff.

Granted, I went out to dinner and had some drinks last night, but 3 pounds? As you can see, it wasn't like my 180's were artificially low, I had been pretty consistent... I did eat a bit too much but nothing too bad.

Oh well, I'm sure it's nothing. Just a fluke. But still pretty annoying.

OK I'm done bitching. Today I'm planning on starting a new workout, and I'm going with one of Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training ones. Not quite sure which one yet, I'm still deciding.

I've been creating my own workouts for a while now, and they've been great. They've been based around the 3 big movements (Squat, Deadlift, Bench), and have been focused on low-ish reps (6-8) and heavy weights (to failure). I thought it would be good to switch it up. First, I decided I need a break from Deadlifting. It's a great exercise, but it's demanding, and my back has been hurting a little lately. So, I'm gonna take 4 weeks off from it and do some other things. Also, the TT workout will have me adding in some interval work, which I've not been doing. So, I think it'll be a good thing.

New LOW!

2008-07-29T13:30:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 180.2 (NEW LOW!)

That's all. Just wanted to post that. It was pretty damn nice to see that number on the scale this morning, I was fully expecting to bounce back up into the 182s, not because I did anything wrong, but just because that's how it usually goes.

Had a really hard time trudging through my workout yesterday but I made it all the way through. I think it was because I was doing my squat/leg workout, and my legs were STILL sore from doing sprints on Friday. Plus I just didn't have a lot of energy, so I didn't outdo my previous workout like I usually try to do (by reps or pounds). But, I did ok. Definitely feeling it today.

Onward I march into the 170's...

The Lowest...

2008-07-28T09:17:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 181

Well, I'm the thinnest I've been. This morning I thought I had a new low weigh in, but as it turns out, it's a tie. I also weighed in at 181.0 on 3/18/08.

It's all due to the fact that I had a great weekend.

I was worried on Friday because my lower back was hurting and I was supposed to do my squats/leg workout that night. I decided putting 250+ pounds on my shoulders and doing squats wasn't the best idea considering, so instead I decided to run wind sprints. For any of you who run or do intervals solely on the treadmill, I urge you to try doing them on land. 8 50-yard sprints, the only rest being walking back to the starting point each time. By the end I was dying, and all weekend (and still today!) my legs are killing me, especially like the tops of my quads. I never feel any soreness on the treadmill, there's a BIG difference.

On Friday night, I made a salad with chicken, strawberries, spinach, goat cheese, and balsalmic dressing for the Lady and I. we had about 2 glasses of wine then hit the sack.

Saturday morning I had 2 eggs and bacon. We walked around the city a bit, and got some lunch. We decided to hit up this Indian food stand, where we got a little bit of Chicken Masala and some veggie stuff, and just didn't really eat the rice. A reasonable portion. Then for dinner we went to a sushi place. This was a sort of Americanized sushi place though, with BIG rolls that had lots of creamy sauces and stuff on top, so, not quite as light as I was hoping the sushi would be. But it was OK because I made up for it on Sunday. Sunday I skipped breakfast, had about 400 calories for lunch and then about 600 calories for dinner. So, a really good day yesterday made up for a less than perfect Saturday.

I'm really stoked to be starting off the week on a Monday with such a good weigh-in. If I play my cards right, I could be dipping below 180 by the end of the week!!

It's hard.

2008-07-25T08:58:00.004-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 182.6

Today's weigh-in was pretty good, the lowest I've been since 3/20/08. My lowest weigh-in ever was 181, and I've only weighed in less than 182 three times total, and those during a time I was doing a fast every week. No fasting now, so I'm doing pretty well.

Man, last night was hard. It can just be so hard, as I'm sure so many of you know, to eat no more than 2000 calories a day, especially for a pretty big muscular guy who lifts weights. I was sitting around, pretty bored last night, after eating my meager dinner. I ate half of an 8 oz NY strip steak. That's 4 ounces. It's pretty small. Ever hear how a "normal" serving of meat is supposed to be the size of a deck of cards? Well, that's 4 oz. And let me tell you, I was about to ask for a re-deal. I had that with some mushrooms and corn on the cob.

Now, this isn't how I would be eating on maintenance, it's what I need to do to shred that last goddamn 10 pounds of fat that's clinging to my flanks for dear life. And, well, it's just freakin' hard, that's all.

I opened the freezer and my roommates gallon of chocolate iced cream was flirting mercilessly with me. My only recourse: sit down in front of the tube, and fire up "I eat 33,000 calories a day" on my DVR. It's a documentary about 4 extremely obese people who have no control over their eating. It worked in deterring me from diving head first into the iced cream.

I got in bed around 10 and watched TV from bed. Once I get in bed I know I won't eat anything, so sometimes if I'm feeling particularly hungry, I'll go up to the 3rd floor where my bedroom is and get in bed. It definitely works. Plus, I got a little extra sleep last night.

It's just hard. We all know it. That's why some people are unable to get it under control. It's also why it's so rewarding for those of us who do.

Marketing Infection

2008-07-23T09:29:00.003-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 183.6

I was reading Susie's Blog this morning and she said something that struck a chord with me:

I had frozen yogurt with berries for dessert tonight but it was organic, non-fat and within the calorie budget so I think it was OK.

Now, I certainly am not picking on Susie, and it's not so much what she ate that bothered me as why she ate it.

I'm beginning to realize just how far and deep the tentacles of marketing and advertising have reached in our society when it comes to food and nutrition. Results of shaky scientific studies take hold and become nutritional dogma. That dogma is reinforced exponentially through mainstream media and in particular food marketing.

Take the phrase "Low-Fat" for example. I for one am not convinced of the nutritional evils of fat. Sure, trans fats are unhealthy. But fats, in general, have a place in our diet. Yes, even saturated fat. But "balance" and "moderation" are not easy concepts to sell. So we had to demonize something. So, it was Fat. Why not? Sounds good. Fat makes you fat. So, food scientists learned how to suck the fat out of foods and replace the missing flavor with sugar and other un-natural ingredients. And most of us who are concerned about nutrition, health, and weight loss know this. And yet still, sometimes we get duped into something because it's "Low-Fat".

This is what I liked so much about Michael Pollen's book "In Defense of Food". Basically, he talks about eating "Food" again. Things that don't come in packages or make health claims. Fruits, vegetables, meats. Things your great-grandmother would recognize as food. Whole milk. Raw cheese. Butter. Olive Oil.

And conveniently, eating this way takes you off the "marketing grid". Suddenly, you aren't being jerked around anymore by the latest food trends. You aren't confused or stressed out about eating anymore. Now, the only thing you need to worry about is eating the appropriate amount to lose weight, or to avoid weight gain. You won't be a part of our "National Eating Disorder". You won't be an "obsessive-compulsive eater". You won't need a degree in biochemistry to rationalize why you're eating what you're eating. You're eating what people have eaten for hundreds or thousands of years. You're relying on tradition and culture to make your food decisions. Remember all that talk espousing the "Mediterranean Diet" as the ultimate diet? Or perhaps the Traditional Japanese Diet? Or basically, and traditional diet pre-westernization? What do all those diets have in common?

The reliance on tradition and culture, rather than science and marketing, to make your eating decisions.

I was also reading an article in the Times about the growing trend of eating locally. That's great, but it mentioned something about the fact that just like with the "Organic" trend, food marketers are looking to re-package their food to play up any local angle. It made my heart sink a little. Like a little kid who suddenly realizes that there is no Santa Claus, I'm realizing that there's no escaping food marketing. I'm starting to imagine that the hippies in straw hats and Amish people at my local Farmer's Market are really just actors hired by corporations to dress the part and sell the illusion.

It certainly is not easy to escape the food marketing in our society, aside from having your own farm, it may be impossible. And the realization that once something starts becoming a trend, corporations are not far behind in catching up and capitalizing on it, often compromising it's integrity.

Weekend Report

2008-07-21T12:07:00.004-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 184.2

My strategy as of late has been kick ass during the week, and control the damage over the weekend. If I can just remain steady over the weekend, maybe not losing but at least not gaining, and then focus my effort during the week, the pounds should be coming off. That's pretty much what I did this weekend. So, we'll have to see what this week holds in store...

This weekend I went out to dinner 3 times and had one night of drinking. Let's see what I ate over the weekend:

Friday night dinner out with friends: We split a cheese plate between 4 people, I had a tuna steak with green beans and potato wedges. Pretty small portion, grade: C+

Saturday morning I cooked eggs with spinach and feta cheese. Didn't have lunch but instead had a small popcorn with butter at the movies and some sparkling water we smuggled in (we saw Dark Knight-pretty good). Then went out to dinner and split mussels and fries with my lady, and had a sausage sandwich, mostly I just ate the sausage. Grade: D

Sunday I skipped breakfast. We walked to the farmers market and in the early afternoon I made us a Caprese salad: prosciutto, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil in balsamic vinagrette/olive oil dressing. Then for dinner we went out and split some mushroom balls, one bun, and then I had a steak and blue cheese salad, and one beer. Grade: B-

So, overall I didn't do great, but not terribly either. Good enough to be starting this week roughly where I left off, so that's pretty good.

iHealth

2008-07-17T09:19:00.009-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 183.6

As you may or may not know, I recently purchased a brand spankin' new iPhone 3G. After a long time of waiting, I finally pulled the trigger.

The new iPhones come with the ability to download applications, and, as you may have guessed, there is a whole wave of health and fitness apps you can download for your iPhone.

I downloaded 2 (free ones) that looked useful. The first one is called "Restaurant Nutrition". This is an interesting little app that has nutrition info for dishes you can order at popular chain restaurants, like McDonalds, Chili's, etc. It's pretty cool, although I really never eat at those places anyway, so it isn't that helpful for me. But hey, if I ever find myself stranded at a Chick-Fil-A, I'll know what to order.

The second one is called "Weight Tracker". This one allows you to enter your weigh-in each day right on your iphone. Apparently, it synchs up with some sort of online service. The drawback is that it only does whole pounds, no decimals, so I think I'm going to stick with my current method.

There are tons of others, most of which cost money. Lots of "food journal" type stuff and calorie counters. I never really did much of that so I have very little interest.

While these apps are neat and could be handy, I worry that they contribute to what Michael Pollen would call our "National Eating Disorder", and what Nutritionist Brad Pilon would refer to as "Obsessive-Compulsive Eating".

Food and nutrition is something to think about, but focusing too much on calories or macronutrients can take the enjoyment out of it. It's all about balancing being healthy and enjoying the food you eat, and the people you eat it with.

The Ritual

2008-07-16T15:25:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 183.4

I hear the alarm go off and I hit snooze until I'm feeling a little more coherent. After a while I drag myself out of bed and shuffle off to the bathroom to drain the old bladder. I walk around the corner and into the closet. I tap the scale once with my toe and step on.

This is the moment.

In the last couple years I've done it 529 times. I've seen numbers ranging from 258 to 181. I've felt joy, horror, disappointment, pride. But one thing remains the same.

Every time I do it, I'm making a choice. I'm choosing to care about my weight. I'm choosing not to live in denial. And I'm making a commitment that for today, I'm going to try. I might succeed, I might not. But the very first thing I did in my day was to reinforce my commitment to being a lean, healthy individual. A tribute to all my hard work, and a reminder of my failures.

This is my morning weigh in.

License to ill

2008-07-15T15:18:00.004-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 184.4

Well, as you can see, I finally went to the DMV and updated my license. I was tired of carrying around that chubby old picture of myself and for some odd reason, I feel like this makes the new me somehow more... permanent. Pretty good feeling, I'd been waiting for this. Plus my correct address and motorcycle endorsement are on there so that helps too.

Not too much else to report. Did pretty well this weekend eating-wise, had some drinks but managed to keep the eating under control. I missed my deadlift workout yesterday so I'll have to do it tomorrow. I don't think I posted my chest workout like I posted the others, so here it is:

Decline Dumbbell Press: 75 lb. Dummbells x8 x3 sets
Overhead one arm dumbbell tricep press: 25 lb. dumbbells x8 x3 sets

One arm flat dumbbell press: 75 lb. Dumbbells x8 x3 sets (same as DB press but do one arm at a time - tough!)
Dips 10 reps x3

Standing overhead barbell press: 95 lbs. x6 x 3 sets
Lying dumbbell tricep extension: 25 lb dumbbells x8 x3 sets

Narrow grip bench press: 45 lbs x 30 (cool down/exhaustion set)

Kryptonite

2008-07-11T08:13:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: None

Alcohol is officially my kryptonite.

I had 3.75 perfect days. Then I had a double-whammy work party and football team banquet last night. The more I drink, the more I eat. It's that simple. There were all kinds of Hors D'ouvres at the work party, and at the football banquet there were all kinds of hoagies and chips. I didn't completely shit the bed, but I could have done better. The bottom line is if I drink, and there's food in front of me, it's a bad scenario to be in.

Anyway, I tried waiting in line for a new iphone this morning, but I gave up when I realized it was a futile effort. Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to wait until the hubub dies down a bit...

My legs are still sore from working them on Wednesday. Here's my leg workout:

Squat: 250x8 3 sets
Decline twisting situps: 12 reps 3 sets

Barbell Split Squat: 155x8 each leg 3 sets
Lying Swiss Ball Exchange: 10 reps 3 sets

1 leg Romanian Deadlift: 85x8 each leg, 3 sets
Standing barbell calf raise: 375x8 3 sets

Narrow Squat (feet together) 85x20 1 set

Back in the black

2008-07-09T11:35:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 185.6

Well, it's been an ugly couple of weeks. But after 2 absolutely perfect days, my weight dipped back down below my initial Oceans 11 weigh-in of 186.

Great. I've lost .4 lbs in a few weeks. Well, at least I pulled off some damage control. Now, it's time to get back to work. Get my weight under 185 (which is supposed to be my over/under anyway, NOT 190), and keep going from there. My lowest weigh in ever was 181, and that was on 3/18.

I'm having some trouble balancing weight loss and my relationship lately. My girlfriend and I aren't really on the same page as far as our weight loss efforts. Her philosophy is more of a "you have to enjoy life" approach, and mine is more of a "you need to make sacrifices to lose weight, you can 'enjoy life' more when you're maintaining" approach.

This conflict is what is keeping us from losing weight right now I think, because we've been mostly defaulting to her "enjoy life" approach. And guess what? We're pretty much nowhere despite "trying" to lose weight for months now.

I've resolved to stop telling her what to do in order to lose weight (which has caused many arguments) and let her do her thing and only give advice when she asks. But when she's sitting there drinking beers, she wants me to drink beer, and I need to stand my ground. I need to stick to my guns and do what I need to do.

I was single when I lost all my weight. It was a boatload easier because of that, I think. Everyone knows that relationships can cause weight gain. People end up enabling one another and overindulging, going out to eat and drink all the time. Unless both people are both totally on board with being healthy it can be tough to still reach your goals.

I don't know what I need to do to fix this situation but the one thing I definitely need to do is re-learn how to say no to not only myself, but to her too. Not like she's always pressuring me or anything, but I need to be the one responsible for my own success. And if that makes me a boring boyfriend, well, so be it...

Recovery.

2008-07-08T09:18:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 187

OK, I had a perfect day of eating and exercise yesterday. And luckily for me, the scale recognized it.

I skipped breakfast because I wasn't even hungry from stuffing myself the night before. Then for lunch I rode my bike to whole foods and got a salad with chicken, eggs and cheese and oil/vinegar dressing. Came home, drank my chocolate milk, went to the gym and had a kick-ass deadlift workout. If anyone is curious, here is my deadlift workout. I do supersets, meaning I group exercises in 2 and alternate:

Deadlift: 3x8 255 lbs.
Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3x8 50 lbs.

Behind neck pulldown: 3x8 135 lbs.
Reverse grip barbell curl: 3x8 65 lbs.

Bent over Barbell Row: 3x8 145 lbs.
Barbell Shrug: 3x8 255 lbs.

Then I usually have a "cooldown" set, in this case, an unloaded barbell curl 45lbsx25 reps, just to complete my fatigue.

I then went home and made some sausage and peppers for dinner, ate not quite as much as I wanted to, hung out with my roommate (drinking seltzer, not beer!), and went to bed.

My goal is to string together 5 perfect days.

Disaster.

2008-07-07T08:29:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 191.4

As you can see, I had an absolute disaster of a weekend.

For 4+ days, I pretty much reverted to Old Billy. Ate whatever I wanted, no matter how poor my decisions. Drank like a fish. Sat around on the couch watching episodes of "Dexter".

I got in a post-vacation funk and tried to parlay my 4-day holiday weekend into an extension of my vacation. Ever since I got back from Alaska I've been having a hard time getting back into, well, my life. It's really sort of depressing after experiencing a beautiful and majestic place, fending for yourself in the wilderness, to return to the petty bullshit of day-to-day life. It started to make me question my life and I got depressed.

So, I used food to escape. And as a result, I gained about 6 pounds in as many days.

Granted, most of those pounds probably aren't fat and will go as quickly as they came, but still. The fact is that Old Billy is not dead, he is merely in remission. And apparently it doesn't take all that much to allow him to slip through.

I'm pretty disappointed in myself for completely shitting the bed on the Ocean's Eleven challenge. I'm glad my initial enthusiasm inspired a few people who are currently kicking some ass, but the fact is that I'm not an inspiration to anyone right now.

I came to the realization that I really haven't accomplished anything for months now. Not that I've been trying to the whole time, but I realized that I accomplished something great, and I've been riding that accomplishment for some time now. If I can't step up now and lose 11 pounds (what, now it's 16?) then I'm just yet another clod who can't get it together enough to accomplish his goals. Another one of those "All talk no action" dieters that get on my nerves.

Today I need to restart. I know you've heard this a million times from a million different people, but what can I say, it's what I need to do. I need to reach deep down for that fire that helped me to succeed the first time, and pull from that. Re-ignite that flame. I'm not going to rest on my laurels anymore. More importantly, I need to figure out what's going on in my head, and in my life, and fix that up.

Changes

2008-07-01T08:39:00.006-05:00

Weigh-in: 185.2

So, I've made a few tweaks in my program that I thought I'd share with y'all.

After reading books like Michael Pollen's The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, I started looking at my giant tubs of Whey Protein Isolate, Maltodextrin, and Dextrose that I use for my post-workout shakes with a grain of disgust. I mean,what was all this unnatural crap I was putting in my body on a daily basis? Has anyone ever read the ingredients of "Designer Whey"? Allow me:

APT Full Spectrum Whey Peptides [modified molecular weight and partially pre-digested (hydrolyzed) Whey Protein Concentrate (incl. 14% glycomacropeptides [MW 6,700D]), 100% non-denatured Whey Protein Isolate (98% pure protein dry basis), Whey Glutamine Peptides (incl. natural glutamine peptides), L-taurine, L-leucine, L-phenylalanine], Glutasynth (D-glucose, L-glutamine, oligofructose, glutamine peptides), natural and artificial strawberry flavoring, Lecithin, ZinMag-6 (magnesium oxide, magnesium aspartate, zinc aspartate, pyridoxine), cellulose gum, beet powder (natural food coloring), adipic acid, malic acid, citric acid, dried cream extract, xanthan gum, sodium alginate, acesulfame-K, sucralose, sodium chloride, vanillin, natural vitamin E, lactoperoxidase.

That's a whole lotta bullshit that I just don't know about. Does it taste good? Meh, not really. If it's gonna be 1/7 of my total daily intake, I want to enjoy it. And I want to be damn sure it's good for me, natural, and nutritious.

So, here's the big change I made. My new and improved workout drink is: Chocolate Milk. That's right, good ol' fashioned chocolate milk. And by "Good ol' fashioned", I'm not talking about store-bought stuff, or mixing in high-fructose corn syrup Hershey's syrup. I bought this all natural powder at Whole Foods, the only 2 ingredients:

Cocoa, Sugar

I mix that stuff with a cup of the Raw milk I get the farmer's market, and I've got a delicious, nutritious Pre/post workout drink. (I drink half before I go to the gym and half after. I need the sugar and calories beforehand just to make sure I have energy to get through the workout.)

Although it conflicts with some of the research I've read about fats interfering with the quick absorption of the sugar and protein, I also know that Craig Ballantyne uses Chocolate milk as a PWO drink, and I've heard it's a good option. Hell, if you can't find a food in nature that does what you need, something's wrong.

Another interesting thing happened to me at the gym yesterday. There's this Asian dude there who I sometimes talk to a bit. He's lean, and his upper body and arms look very muscular. He saw me doing squats yesterday and we got to talking. Now, my squats are nothing to brag about, I do 250 lbs about 8 times. Nevertheless, he was impressed by this and started asking me about it. We got into talking about it and I was surprised to discover his stats. Now, my squat and deadlift are about the same, for both I do 250 lbs about 8 times. My bench, however, I always felt needed work (I don't always do the bench press, but do a lot of dumbbell work instead). My flat bench has been stuck around 200 lbs. 5 times for a long time now. Although I suspect my dumbbell numbers are slightly better, maybe it's due to my shoulder issues.

Regardless, This dude was saying that his bench was 275 5 times, which is impressive. BUT, he was saying his squat was like 200x1 and his deadlift was 185x1! I immediately realized that this is a guy who overtrains his upper body at the expense of everything else. Your squat and deadlift are supposed to be more than your bench. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting how different everyone is. And how the type of training you do really can cause imbalances if you let it.

I decided that while I wasn't thrilled with my bench, I was at least training my body equally, and in a balanced way that will serve me well in the future. I also decided that I'm going to start working a bit harder on my chest workouts.

Just a little bit harder...

2008-06-30T09:58:00.002-05:00

Weigh-in: 187.4

Well team, in my head, I'm still on vacation apparently. Looking at how my weight hasn't really budged, it's easy to see.

I'm not going to say I've been trying so hard and am surprised at how I haven't lost any weight since I got back, because it isn't true. Just about every night since I've gotten back has been a beerfest of some sort, and several trips out to eat. I'm not thrilled, but I'm not giving up.

I feel like I'm still battling the effects of LGS (Lame-Guy Syndrome). LGS is common in men and women who go on extended bouts of weight loss. Symptoms include social isolation, skipping social functions, drinking water at parties, not going out to dinner, and going to bed early to avoid cravings. I did that for so long people started to count me out of stuff.

It's summer now, and there are lots of things going on. And frankly, I'm sick of missing out on everything. I told myself I would sacrifice for a year to lose the weight. With so much going on, I'm trying to get back in the loop and once again be the fun guy I once was, someone who people don't simply write off as the guy who never comes out.

However, I have a job to do, and it's losing 11 pounds. It's not going to be easy, with the July 4th weekend (a 4-day weekend) coming up. Parties, drinking, and general debauchery are sure to ensue.

All I can really say is I'm going to try.

Could be worse

2008-06-26T09:05:00.003-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 187.8

So the official weigh in this morning wasn't so bad, considering. But, the fact of the matter is, I'm now looking at losing 12.8 pounds, in less time than I had originally allowed for.

But hey, all you can do is put your head down and keep moving.

Not too much else to say. I did pretty well yesterday, made it through my chest workout despite having some annoying itchy rash on my torso of an unknown origin. I almost used it as an excuse to not workout, but instead, I used it as an excuse to skip my very last set. That works.

My best friend/house mate it a little bummed out and having some issues with his girl, which has made it difficult for me to avoid hanging around drinking beers with him. Some things just trump weight loss a little.

Coming Down

2008-06-25T15:38:00.004-05:00

Check out photos from my trip here...

Well friends, I'm back from Alaska. The good news is, I didn't get eaten by a Bear. The bad news is, I'm afraid my "Oceans 11 Challenge" has been dealt a setback.

Not a major setback, just the kind where you go on vacation for 10 days and end up reversing your progress. I haven't weighed in yet, saving that for tomorrow. I wanted to get in one good day of eating right and working out before weighing in again.

I kayaked for 3 days, and worked HARD at it. During that time I don't think I put on any weight. But in the many days bookending that part of the trip, I enjoyed a bit too much fine Alaskan fare and drink.

First, allow me to say this. I find that my justification (I'm on vacation, and part of vacation is relaxing, letting go, and enjoying yourself, especially with food and drink) is a valid one. I'm not one to make justifications, but this is one I do make. I enjoy good food and drink, and I don't often get a vacation. When I do, I am allowed to enjoy myself. It's unfortunate that it will probably set me back on my challenge, but so be it.

Second, there is something programmed in my brain that will not allow me to diet while traveling. I don't know what it is, but when I'm traveling, something in my brain says "EAT" and doesn't give up until I'm home. Maybe it's the stress of travel, of not knowing when and where the next food will come from, but I have noticed it consistently every time I travel.

Anyway, I'm not trying to make excuses. Just being honest and letting y'all know I'm ready to jump back in this thing with you. Tomorrow I'll see what the damage is...

Items consumed over vacation:

-Airplane snack box
-Several coca-colas, which I can't resist when on the airplane
-several bowls of clam chowder
-a couple salmon dinners
-King crab legs w/ butter
-Backpacking meals/oatmeal/power bars
-reindeer sausage
-reindeer chowder
-battered halibut and fries
-battered calamari and fries
-just fries
-elk burger
-blueberry cobbler with ice cream
-chocolate milkshake
-salmon chowder
-many beers...

Heading North

2008-06-15T21:50:00.002-05:00

Today's Weigh in: 186.6

OK, not a great weigh-in. Not a great weekend either but all is not lost. I ran into some Billy Kryptonite in the form of a drunken Pat's cheesesteak on Friday, but have been making up for it. Made a nice Filet Mignon dinner tonight as a nice meal to see me off on my Northern Expedition.

So, I'm heading out ridiculously early tomorrow. I'm going to do my best, we'll see. I actually considered packing less food than I needed to go kayaking with but I thought better of it. That's just foolish. So, I'm off, and you won't hear from me for a solid week. Lots of luck to everyone this week. Well, not so much luck, as strength and smarts.

Awesomest thing ever.

2008-06-14T22:43:00.003-05:00

I'm sure by now you've checked out the animation up top. Turned out pretty well I think, made taking all those pictures worthwhile! Much better than my previous animation I'd say. You can really see the flab meltin' away!

Out of the Darkness...

2008-06-12T09:40:00.003-05:00

Day 3 Weigh-in: 184.8
1.2 lbs. down, 9.8 lbs. to go

...and into the light.

It's been a long time since I did my photo ritual. So this morning I dusted off the old Sony Digital Camera that has been my eye of truth throughout my quest, and snapped a few shots. After all, these will be my new "before" pictures (although I'm already a few days in). I thought it would be nice to have a comparison for the "Ocean's 11 Challenge".

So, here you go:
I look about the same as the last picture I took which was in February. But that's all about to change...

One person I forgot to call out yesterday was Swankywanker. If you're reading this, consider yourself challenged!

I'm calling you out.

2008-06-11T12:41:00.003-05:00

Day 2 Weigh-in: 185.2
.8 lbs. down, 10.2 lbs. to go

Rob Tucker.
Weighing in somewhere around 281 lbs, this master of motivation has been spinning his wheels for months. Will he step up to face the "Ocean's 11" challenge? Or will he recede into the background, yet another weight-loss "could-have been"?

Kevin Antcliff.
Weighing in somewhere in the 280's, this guy lost 90-some pounds, but has since done a little back-sliding. His fire seems to be re-ignited however, so what say ye!?

Beck Antcliff.
She just quit her job. What better time to focus on fitness? Ready to step in the ring?

BrotherJay.
Do you even have 11 more pounds to lose? If so, lay your belly on the chopping block!

Let's use this as a springboard to spark some life back into the coalition. Remember the monthly challenges? We all did well during those. Let's bring back the FAT fire.

Uprising

2008-06-10T08:41:00.005-05:00

Today's Weigh-in: 186

The time has come.

For the last 3 months I've been resting on my laurels. Not really gaining, not really losing, but more like gaining a couple pounds here, losing a few there, and hovering around the mid-high 180's. Which is OK, I was living my life, doing my thing, keeping an eye on it.

But the time has come, faithful coalition, for yours truly to once again pick up the torch and press on. The fat-burning torch, that is.

Much like an underground resistance, the forces of Fat, having been once beaten back into submission, begin rumbling. Before you know it, there's an uprising. If you aren't careful, a full-blown coup. So every once in a while, it's necessary for the reigning regime to set in motion a show of force. To beat back the offending forces and set an example for the others. To reestablish control and maintain order.

And that's exactly what I plan to do. Through a series of planned strikes and skirmishes, I am going to exterminate 11 pounds of offending flab. This will take me into uncharted territory. I will be sittin' pretty at 175 pounds.

My girlfriend and I are doing a "race" to see who can lose 11 lbs first. The reason we're doing 11 lbs is because since we're not using the 5-day average, this will assure that we've lost 10 lbs. definitively. Also, it puts me at a nice, even 175, thanks to my 186 weigh-in this morning. We're probably going to have some sort of prize, but I don't know what yet. She's not very competitive, which makes it hard, because I'm VERY competitive. I'm motivated by fear of failure and wanting to be the best. She's much different. We'll see...

As you can see I've updated my goals. I'm calling this one "Ocean's Eleven" as it represents the weight I'd like to be at the beach, and it's 11 pounds. And it's clever. Also, I was going to shoot for 8/20, which would make it about 10 weeks, but I wanted to continue being clever so I'm shooting for the 11th. That's 9 weeks to lose 11 lbs, or about 1.2 lbs. per week. At my level, I'd say that's aggressive, but doable.

Anybody want in on this action? Let's get it done.

Into the Wild

2008-06-03T09:38:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 186

I'm planning an upcoming trip to Alaska from June 16-22. I'm really looking forward to it. Basically, my friend Jeff and I are going to fly into anchorage, then head out to Prince Williams Sound and go on a kayaking/hiking/camping adventure type thing.

It's gonna be awesome. And the thing is, before I lost this weight, I wouldn't have been able to do it.

I remember trying to kayak with some friends one time when I was fat. I kayaked for about 10 minutes before deciding I needed to give up and turn around. I wasn't able to sit up and support my own weight and I decided to bag it. It was embarrassing, and it sucked. Yet another example of excess lard weighing me down, literally.

Now I'm excited for the challenge of a physically intense adventure. I'm no longer scared that I won't be able to do it. It should be a blast.

Not much else to report. Still dancing that fine line between gaining and losing that I call "maintenance". It really is about moderation and it's about going overboard sometimes, but then doing really well other days. It's a lifelong thing. The fact that I've trained myself to enjoy healthy foods has helped immensely.

Still hitting the weights 3 times a week. Each workout is based around one of the "Big Movements", the bench press (chest, shoulders, triceps), Squat (legs and core), and Deadlift (Core, back, biceps).

I've decided to let my supplement supply dwindle down and start eating more naturally. No more protein shakes, etc. for this guy once my big tubs run out. Maybe some chocolate milk instead. No reason to keep wasting money and ingesting unnatural concoctions that probably aren't doing much anyway. The one thing I will definitely keep up with is the Fish oil.

And Rob and Kevin, let's go guys. I still read your blogs every once in a while and I'm tired of you still being around 280 (as I'm sure you are). Get the fire back! C'mon!

Funny things

2008-05-20T16:34:00.003-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 188.6

I went to a party over the weekend with my girlfriend, and ran into a bunch of people I hadn't seen since before I started my quest. It's funny because by now everyone is used to my transformation, and I don't really get many comments anymore. But I did the other night.

3 girls literally didn't recognize me until they were told who I was. They politely greeted me when I said hello, but apparently didn't know it was me until later in the night. This I find hilarious.

Everyone kept saying "It's the beard..." It's funny how people won't even call you fat in retrospect. I mean, yeah, the beard is part of it, but mostly it's the shedding 75 lbs of fat and building a lean, healthy physique that makes me look so different. But I laughed and nodded along. My girlfriend never knew me fat, and still has a hard time picturing it.

I also didn't shy away from the buffet table at the party. I ate 4 deviled eggs in about a minute, and my friend's girlfriend commented "I thought you never ate anymore!" Apparently she thought that I had to keep constantly depriving myself in order to keep the weight off. Granted, I've gained about 5 pounds (some of which is muscle), but generally, I can maintain without the constant rigor that was needed during the losing phase (caveat: I could be doing better). It's more about choosing your dietary battles and hitting the gym.

Today I was directing a photo shoot, and the photographer, out of nowhere, commented: "You look like you're in good shape, how do you do it?" This floored me. I'm amazed that I'm a guy that people not only look at as "not fat", but actually in "good shape", enough to comment on out of the blue (he had no idea about my weight loss until I told him after his comment).

Just a few random things I find funny...

Win or Lose

2008-05-14T10:16:00.002-05:00

Today's weigh-in: 187

So I went to the Flyers game last night to watch them lose (4-1) game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Pittsburg Penguins. Now they're down 3 games to 0. Welcome to the wonderful world of being a Philadelphia sports fan. The loss hurt. It was a big, crucial game. And frankly, they stunk.

I mentioned I've been floundering a little bit and becoming a little too accustomed to making "allowances" in my diet. Last night I had a few small victories of my own in that battle. I think I'm finally wrapping my brain back around that idea of sacrifice.

Sure, I had a few drinks at the game, and that's usually when I'm at my weakest. But I made sure I ate a healthy, minimal dinner before going. I rode my bike there instead of taking the subway. I managed to resist the buckets of delicious crab fries. I looked the other way when my buddy sat next to me with an aromatic provolone cheesesteak. And most importantly, deflated and tipsy riding my bike home after the game, I resisted the little thought that often creeps in my head at times like this: "Stop by Pat's and get a cheesesteak..."

I didn't. I went home and went to bed. And this morning my weigh in was pretty good. (Yesterday's was 188, the day before 189.4).

So, I'm finding my groove again. It's all about being consistent and learning to say "No" to yourself when you're at your weakest.

Spring Cleaning

2008-05-04T19:15:00.003-05:00

FACT: over the last few months I've gone soft.

In the gym I still work pretty hard. And at the grocery store, I'm still making good choices. But man, I've been drinking beers, going out for brunches/lunches/dinners, eating chocolate, cheesesteaks, and all sorts of other stuff that has been slipping in.

And it shows. I've gained a few pounds. I've been bouncing between 186 and 190.4 (yes, I weighed in over 190 one day). Last night I went to a buddies party, had quite a few beers, stopped off for a late night cheesesteak, and then this morning I went out for brunch, ate some potato chips, and then had about the biggest mexican food fiesta you could imagine. And I realized: it needs to stop.

This is why many people see maintaining as being the hardest part. Realistically, it's much easier. You can be a little more relaxed and a little more "normal". But psychologically, it's tough. You let yourself slip a little at a time and before you know it you're stuffing your face at an Indian food buffet (yup, did that too.) And you get used to eating more shitty food. It's the whole inertia thing.

Work has been CRAZY busy and stressful, and that plays a part. And the fact that there's a Flyers playoff game every other night isn't helping either. These are factors, but I won't let them be excuses.

Anyway, I need to wrangle it in here people. Starting right now, I'm re-engaging and setting my sights once again for 180.

This is a lifelong war. It needs to be won battle by battle. I won the big one. Now I need to keep on top of every little skirmish that arises.

Update: This morning I weighed in at 191.4. So, there's that.

Whoah!

2008-04-21T08:01:00.001-05:00

Weigh-in: 189

Just wanted to check in and register my horror with my weigh-in this morning. This is why I weigh myself (almost) every day. I had a pretty bad weekend eating and drinking-wise, and it's put me teetering on the brink of cracking Omaha once again. That will not happen, so time to tighten up the slack!

Organic Farming

2008-04-08T08:55:00.005-05:00

Weigh-in: 184

That's right, I'm now an organic farmer.

If, by "Organic Farmer", you mean a young urban professional who walked into the Home Depot to get a key made, and walked out with 4 planters, 2 bags of organic soil, some basil seeds, and blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, spinach, tomato, and broccoli plants, a new hose, and a spade.

And, if by "Farm", you mean a 12'x12' concrete patio behind a South Philly rowhouse.

Yep. I'm farmin'.

It's my first time undertaking such an adventure and I'm excited to see how it turns out. Obviously I've been inspired by The Omnivore's Dilemma, and I thought it would be cool to grow my own food, whatever I could manage at least. So, I'll keep you updated.

In other news, I finally dipped back under my 185 over/under with a 184 today, after about a week of weighing in around 186-187.

Just checkin' in.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

2008-04-02T08:33:00.003-05:00

Weigh in: 187.4

First off, I'd like to say about my weigh-in "yikes". I'd been holding pretty steady in the 184's, just south of my 185 Over/Under mark, then suddenly I shot up 3 pounds. So, evasive action is in order.

But this post is really meant to review the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. Fresh on the heels of reading his In Defense of Food, I must say, and I don't say this often: the man is brilliant.

This book is more about taking a look at a bigger view of various food chains, from the omnipresent industrial food chain where we get the vast majority of our food (He traces it from a genetically modified, chemically fertilized cornfield in Iowa, through an unsettling look into various Factory Farms where we get our meat - by forcing cows, who have specialized stomachs to digest grasses, to eat corn instead, along with rendered fat of other cows and "urea", to a Mcdonalds meal being eaten in a car traveling down the road.) At the other end of the spectrum, there's the meal he hunts and forages for himself, and inbetween, there's the "organic" meal from Whole Foods, and the all-natural meal from Polyface Farms, a mega-sustainable farm in Virginia, where the sun feeds the grass, the grass feeds the cows, the cows help the fields, the fields sustain the chickens and pigs, and it forms a marvelously intricate symbiotic circle, remarkably like, well, the way things were meant to be.

Along the way we look at ourselves as the Omnivore, the fact that we developed such a large brain and such a complex society around the question of, you guessed it, what to eat.

It's one of those books that changes the way you think about things in a big way. I can't recommend these two books enough. I now sort of look at the "scientific" way that we are so used to qualifying food with as inaccurate and inadequate. I'm starting to think less in terms of Protein, Fats, Carbs, and Vitamins, and more in terms of the food chain. Because when the food chain is short, and natural, all of the nutrients that we need will find their way to us. Along with, and especially, the stuff we haven't yet been able to isolate and identify that benefits our health. When it's long, and processed, and unnatural, unsustainable, cruel, and thoughtless, we are going to need to worry about it in a big way.

I've been looking into local farmers markets, that get foods directly from farms. Researching how those farms raise their food. And making informed decisions about what I eat, based more on what I know about the food chain than what the label is telling me.

I know many of you will say "sounds neat, but I don't have time to read that, much less change the way I think about food." I urge you to reconsider. Take the time, it will be worth it many times over.

Over/Under

2008-03-30T16:04:00.003-05:00

Weigh-in: 184.6

Well loyal readers, I apologize for the extreme lack of blogging over the last few weeks. Bottom line is, I've been away on vacation, sick, and really busy at work.

Between all that, I've gained a couple (about 2) pounds (hey, we were in vegas). I've also been sick for weeks and just trying to get better. Just went to the gym again for the first time in weeks. Overall I'm doing OK though, keeping things in check. The key is stepping on that scale every day, and having what I call an "over/under".

Right now, my over/under is 185. As long as I'm under that, I'm ok, but over that, something needs to be done. Ultimately I'd like my O/U to be 180, but I'm not worrying about that today.

As for the blog, well, perhaps I'll blog more when I'm actively losing again. I also have another book review coming up for "Omnivore's Dilemma". But right now, I'm just sorta living/maintaining, and I'm ok with that. For now...

In Defense of Food

2008-03-10T07:47:00.004-05:00

Weigh-in: 182

Some of you might remember a while back I posted an article called "Unhappy Meals" that was published in The Times by a man named Michael Pollan. This article, as it turned out, was the seed for a book called "In Defense of Food: an Eater's Manifesto". I just finished this book last night, and I can honestly say, it has already changed the way I think about my relationship to the foods that I eat.

Briefly, Pollan explains that we have become caught up in an age of "Nutritionism". To quote the Wikipedia entry I created for the word (that's right, I create Wikipedia entries!);

Nutritionism is an ideology that assumes that it is the scientifically identified nutrients in foods that determine their value in the diet.

Originally credited to Gyorgy Scrinis, the notion was popularized by Michael Pollan. Pollan's stance was that humans have become disconnected from the natural food chain in such a way as to disrupt instincts relating to food intake, thus necessitating the reliance on nutritionism to make food choices. Because science has an incomplete understanding of how food affects the human body, Pollan argues, relying solely on nutritionism to make dietary decisions may be fallacious.

The book starts out with the simple statement "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He then goes on to expound on this nugget of nutritional wisdom by explaining the importance of the food chain (more specifically, a short one is best), and the dangers of the industrialization of our current food chain (resulting in "food-like-products, that aren't actually food).

I don't have too much time right now to write a full review or synopsis, but suffice it to say, he's a brilliant writer, and his ideas make so much sense it's really eye-opening. I highly, highly recommend this book. I think that next I'll tackle his "Omnivore's Dilemma". I've also heard that "The Botany of Desire" is a good read.

Normal Dissatisfaction

2008-03-06T10:16:00.003-05:00

Weigh-in: 183.4
5-day average weight: 184

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past week, regarding some of the things I talked about in my last blog. Thanks for all of your thoughts and input.

The fact of the matter is that my journey is not over, my journey will probably never be over. It's just going to go through different phases. I also don't consider myself to be in "Maintenance" right now either, as I'd still like to lose that last 10 lbs. or so that I'm sure will continue to dog me for a while.

But I sort of realized something. When I was fat, I would always see people who I considered normal or in pretty good shape, who were watching what they ate, or exercising, or talking about losing 5 or 10 lbs. When I looked at them, I was like "You're crazy, you don't need to lose any weight." I realize that now, I'm in their position.

So, I don't need to be gung-ho all the time. But I do need to work at it still. If I really want to lose this extra weight, which I do, I will need to do some hard work. But, since there's no urgency, I can still go out and do things normal people do without feeling guilty.

I dunno. This is probably just more rambling. But hey, that's what blogging is all about!

To What End?

2008-03-03T22:37:00.004-05:00

Weigh-in: 184.8
5-day average weight: N/A

I was talking to Brian today about how I've been doing some thinking lately about just what the hell exactly it is that I'm doing. I've been singularly focused over the last 15 months on that one singular goal of being lean and ripped.

When I started out this quest, I was a borderline disaster. Technically obese, out of shape, just a mess. I needed to get my life under control.

So, the pendulum swung in the other direction. Extreme health, fitness, discipline. There were times along the way I felt I'd lost something. Something of myself.

I think about how I don't want to be one of those guys who shaves their chest. I'm not that guy, and I don't want to be that guy. I also don't want to be the guy who's always obsessed with what he's eating and his bodyfat levels. Aware? Conscious? Yes. But not obsessed.

I've reached a point where I'm in pretty good shape. To the casual observer, I am a normal size and shape. Hell, even to the intimate observer. Even a little buff some might say. Not a lot, just a little. My fat levels? Well, sometimes I feel that they could be lower, but they don't need to be. The only reason for them to be, is realistically, vanity.

I don't really know what I'm trying to say. I guess there's just a part of me that's ready to normalize. A part that's tired of being unsatisfied. A part that frankly, thinks it's douchey to obsess over your body and your appearance. That there are much more important things in life to focus your energy on. I said I'd sacrifice a year-sacrifice-to getting in shape. Meaning putting all else aside. I did. So where does it leave me? How much am I willing to continue to sacrifice, and to what end?

I realize that I'll always need to devote a certain amount of effort and attention to being healthy and fit. That goes without saying. But do I really need to be reading on bodybuilding sites about how to lose that last bit of fat?

I think part of this might be precipitated by the fact that I have a little bit of saggy skin happening on my belly area. It made me realize that I'll probably never look like a Men's Health model with my shirt off. It made me realize that... I'm human. I came from a very obese place, and I can't erase that altogether. There are scars and battlewounds. Visible remnants of my past. At first I was pissed about it, but now I'm starting to accept it. All I can be is the best I can be, whatever that is. It's not some waxed-chested mimbo walking around with rippling abs and a speedo. Nor do I want it to be.

So what does this mean for me? I dunno. It's just something to think about. Yet another thought along this quest. Take it for what it's worth...

Avalanche

2008-03-01T15:09:00.002-05:00

Weigh-in: 184.2
5-day average weight: N/A

Well, I'm back from Utah. It was a fun vacation. I snowboarded, skied, fell down a lot, oh and one other thing.

I ate. And drank.

I won't go in to what I ate exactly or how much, but sufficed to say it was a lot, and not the stuff I would usually eat for the most part. I did try to balance things out by skipping a few breakfasts. But still. The booze-soaked nights didn't help, either...

I felt OK about it though. I thought to myself I'm on vacation. Not that it should give me a license to go all out (which I did once or twice), but I wanted to enjoy myself. I also felt like this is where the line is drawn between healthy lifestyle, and unhealthy obsession with weight loss. If I can't go on vacation and indulge a bit, then maybe I am that "un-fun" person that anonymous poster alluded to a while back. So that's that.

THEN, the last day of my vacation I got sick. Had a hellish return flight, and learned that I had strep throat. The fever, chills, whole 9 yards. So, for the next 3 or 4 days I continued to eat like crap to make myself feel better. Again, though, I balanced things out a little by skipping breakfasts and doing partial fasts.

Where I really went wrong was that I stopped weighing myself for a bit there. Only today did I weigh in, for the first time since 2/21. I was shocked. 184.2. Only up .6 lbs from all of that. We'll see how it levels out, but I got off easy. Also, though, I credit some of the measures I took, like skipping meals and doing partial fasts. Sometimes, I guess, it helps to just do something to counter your bad decisions, as opposed to doing nothing.

So, I'm on the mend, back on the scale, and back on track. It's good to be back, although it was fun to be gone, too.

Everybody always thinks they are right.

2008-02-20T17:14:00.002-05:00

Weigh-in: 182.6
5-day average weight: 183.92

Well, I'm about to head to Utah to do some skiing/snowboarding, but I wanted to write a quick blog before I left.

I was reading some article on a "Paleo diet" site, about how bad whole grains are for you, and I just got to thinking how ridiculously closed minded people can be. See the shirt-monkey. (I actually ordered this shirt). Every comment was someone claiming to know for a fact that whole grains are just about the worst thing on the planet someone could eat.

I also was thinking about the debate my last post started, and the trouble I found myself in when I tried to express my views on that low-carb blog.

It's a real shame that there's so much confusion and so many warring factions among the diet and fitness world. The vegetarians, the vegans, the low-fat camp, the low-carb camp, the paleo diet, the intermittent fasters, the raw diet people, the fruitarians, the macrobiotic people, the no-dairy people, the grazers, the gluten-free. The list goes on, I'm sure. The thing they all have in common? They all think that they're diet is the best one and that all the other ones are wrong. Sound like religion?

Well, much like religion, each of these factions has the same goal. To eat in a way that is the healthiest for us. (Some, like vegetarians and vegans also have ethical and environmental reasons as well). And much like religion, there is much fighting to determine the one true dogma. Everyone points to studies that show this, and studies that show that.

The unfortunate truth is that there are studies that support all of these different ideas, as well as studies that prove them all wrong.

What does this mean to me? Well, I guess it means that studies are useless to me. We can all sit around all day debating which diet is the best, and pointing to this and that study. We can tell each other we're doing everything wrong.

We can pretend we know everything. We can listen to someone who thinks they know everything. We can refute the ideas of others who claim to know everything.

Or, we can shut the fuck up and go out there and try some shit and see what works for us. We can talk about that and share our experiences. We can figure it out for ourselves. We can accept that we don't know, and that our understanding of eating for optimum health and fitness is an ongoing journey of learning and growing. As for me:

I've tried cutting calories... it worked.
I've tried cutting carbs... it worked.
I've tried eating 7 meals a day... it worked.
I've tried eating 3 meals a day... it worked.
I've tried fasting for 24 hours... it worked.
I've tried eating meat... it worked.
I've tried eating vegetables... it worked.
I've tried protein shakes... it worked.
I've tried eating whole grains... it worked.
I've tried taking fish oil... it worked.

Everything I've tried, has to some extent worked, and helped me get closer to my goal. The real key, then, seems to just be persistence, in striving for the best and being open to new ideas. To adjusting and adapting so that you continue to see results.

The "Evolutionary Fitness" I wrote about yesterday? It will work. It's not the only way to get good results. But it's where I am right now, it's interesting to me, and it feels right. It makes me feel good to think about things that way, and when I feel good, it's easy for me to keep up my motivation. The motivation to keep going.

Isn't that really what's important?

Evolutionary Fitness

2008-02-19T10:21:00.002-05:00

Weigh-in: 183
5-day average weight: 184.12
Weight lost since 1/2/08: 8.38 lbs

If you spend a lot of time digging around the fitness world for info, as I do, you will undoubtedly come across a lot of talk about eating and exercising "the way humans were designed to". So what does that mean? What are humans "designed" to eat? How are we "designed" to function?

Personally, I believe in the theory of evolution. A long time ago, I wrote a blog entry called "Adaptation" that started to get into some of these topics. Basically what I talked about was that evolution is a long, drawn out process. It can take thousands of years and many generations for any physiological shifts to occur in a species that will allow it to thrive in a changing environment. The thing is, our environment has changed dramatically in just the past 200 years, and that's not nearly enough time for our bodies to adapt to these changes.

From a food standpoint, we are eating foods that never existed in amounts never imagined. Foods like sugar, flour, HFCS, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, you name it. From a lifestyle standpoint, we have a constant overabundance of food available, and we don't need to do any physical work to obtain it.

I am not an expert in the history of the human animal, but I do know this: not all that long ago (from an evolutionary standpoint), humans were hunter-gatherers. We hunted animals, and we occasionally ate plants, fruits, nuts, berries, seeds, eggs, and the occasional grain. When food was available, great. We feasted. We didn't have any refrigerators, so we ate as much as we could while food was around. We wanted to store fat. Then there were times when there was no food around. These were lean times. We lived off the fat that we stored up during our feasts.

Does it make sense, if we had fat stores, that we would burn up our own muscle tissue when food supplies were low for a day or two? It doesn't make sense to me. We needed to be able to function, and function well if we were to go out and hunt and make a kill. This says to me that our bodies are designed not only to survive, but to function with a high level of physical prowess even when we haven't eaten for days. Think about lions in the wild. Do you think that they can't hunt when they're hungry? Or that they're laying around wasting away muscle mass because they didn't eat today?

When I think about things in these terms, many of the current fitness recommendations seem silly. It seems to me that we weren't meant to eat 3 square meals a day, much less 7 small meals spread evenly across the day. It says to me that skipping breakfast won't make you fat (unless you overcompensate the rest of the day).

It also means to me that maybe we'll be OK if we hit the gym on an empty stomach. Maybe we don't need post-workout shakes in order to conserve our muscle mass. Maybe all we need is the release of Growth Hormone and other hormones that naturally kick in in a fasted state.

So, what the hell am I getting at you might ask?

The point I'm trying to make is that our bodies are amazingly resilient. I know many of us sit around worrying about eating enough calories, and not missing a meal, etc., or metabolic catastrophe will set in and we will somehow gain fat. That we'll hit "starvation mode" and our bodies will for some illogical reason try to retain useless fat and burn useful muscle. That if we don't eat every 2-3 hours we'll get woozy and pass out. That God-forbid we go a little hungry or go without, or step outside of our comfort zones in a world which we have designed so that we have no need to.

That's a crock of shit, in my opinion.

This is one reason I've been looking a little closer at the concept of intermittent fasting, as introduced to me by Brad Pilon and his e-book, Eat Stop Eat. The more I look into it, the more sense it makes to me, and I haven't been able to find any information anywhere about it not being effective or safe. Everything I read about it points to studies that have shown that it shifts our hormonal balance into a place where burning fat, preserving muscle, and feeling mentally sharp are the norm. It achieves this by reducing insulin (the fat-storing hormone that is released when we eat, especially when we eat carbs) and increasing glucagon (with the opposite hormonal effect of insulin). It achieves this by spiking Human Growth Hormone levels several times during a fast, as opposed to one time (at night) that a normally-fed person would get (HGH plays a huge role in burning fat and building/maintaining muscle). And it achieves this by reducing overall calories. Finally, another thing I like about it is that it builds self-discipline and character. Proving to yourself that you can go 24 hours without eating is a good feeling. And every time you do it, you feel good that you can do it, and it gets easier. It just starts to feel "right". Humans were meant to go without food sometimes. Period.

Another aspect is the types of food we were "designed" to eat. Here, all evidence points to (what else): meat, nuts, berries, fruits, vegetables, seeds, legumes, eggs, and other whole, natural foods. These, ideally, should be the majority of the diet. Hey, we live in a day and age where it's not always easy to eat just that stuff, and that's fine. But if you base most of your dietary decisions on what you could hunt and forage, you'd be in much better shape than most.

Then, of course, is exercise. In my opinion, humans weren't meant to sit behind a desk all day or drive around in cars. On the other hand, I don't think we were meant to run for 26 miles or go to the gym and lift ungodly amounts of weight. What did we do? We walked a lot, did sprints (chasing animals, being chased, etc), climbed trees and rocks, and lifted and carried large carcasses, rocks, and wood to build things. I have only begun to think about how Evolutionary Fitness can and should translate to exercise, so I will probably write more about that as I think of it.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Evolutionary Fitness is NOT my idea. Many people have developed theories and philosophies around these thoughts. The term "Evolutionary Fitness" can be credited to Art DeVany. DeVany is almost 70 years old and is in ridiculous shape. He's been practicing his idea of "Evolutionary Fitness" for 25 years, and as you can see from the picture of him below, I think it's working.

So, bottom line, I continue to evolve in my thinking about health and fitness and I think you should to. I will probably continue doing some intermittent fasting, and eating whole, natural foods. My workouts will probably evolve as well. Stay tuned...

Backlash

2008-02-18T09:05:00.003-05:00

Weigh-in: 184.8
5-day average weight: 184.12
Weight lost since 1/2/08: 8.38 lbs

This weekend was not so great.

After losing the contest to Jay, I decided I could ease up just a little because I had been very strict for over a month. So, at lunch on Friday, I had a cheesesteak and fries at a local pub. OK, not so terrible.

That night, I went to workout. Since my shoulder had been hurting, and it was upper body night, I decided to do a bodyweight circuit instead of benchpresses, etc. So I did 3 circuits of pushups, inverted rows, medicine ball woodchoppers, pullups, and jacknifes. An OK workout, but not ideal.

After working out, I decided to get Vietnamese food. The dish I like is beef cubes with veggies and rice. I sorta planned on eating half, but then I just felt hungry, so I finished it. Not ideal, but not the end of the world...

That night, I had a few beers with my friends, probably 5 or 6. This was important to me because I felt like I'd been avoiding this kind of stuff for a while, and I didn't want to be "that guy".

It got really bad when, after beers, I stopped off at Pat's King of Steaks and had another cheesesteak and fries, at like 2am. D'oh.

Waking up in the morning next to a beer bottle and a Pat's steaks wrapper is like waking up next to a strange, ugly woman. Instant regret sets in. I didn't even weigh in because I knew it would be bad.

So, the plan for Saturday: not eat anything until dinner at 5:30. We were heading out for dinner and I wanted to enjoy it, and since I had just eaten a huge meal at 2am (plus all the other stuff I had Friday), I figured this was reasonable.

We went to this place called Ansill, an upscale Philly Tapas place. We had some wine, and ordered a good deal of food. Afterwards we went out and had a few beers. The next morning I weighed in: 185.6. OUCH!

On Sunday morning I cooked my special cream chipped beef recipe as a brunch for the lady and I. Anyone who is familiar with that dish knows it's not very healthy. Even though we used whole wheat flour and multigrain bread. But, as it was Sunday, I was planning an intermittent fasting day, and so I just thought what the hell. It was good. But this morning, after much of my fast, I weighed in at 184.8. Not what I wanted.

So, this weekend was littered with bad decisions and trying to make up for it. Not the best. However, I guess it's better than bad decisions and NOT trying to make up for it, which has been my MO for years...

Onto making this a good week.

The Fat Lady Sings

2008-02-15T14:42:00.003-05:00

Weigh-in: 183.6
5-day average weight: 182.96
Weight lost since 1/2/08: 9.54 lbs

Well, my 9.54 pounds was not enough to beat Jay's 10 lb. loss. And by "Jay" I mean "Captain fasts on Valentine's Day".

Well done.

And I really did just have a cheese steak for lunch. With fries. Sometimes a man needs a cheese steak and fries.

my .02

2008-02-14T15:00:00.003-05:00

Weigh-in: 183.6
5-day average weight: 183.2
Weight lost since 1/2/08: 9.3 lbs

.02 lbs.

That's how much of a lead Jay has on me in our race to lose 10 lbs. We're both knocking on the door, but he's fasting today. I'm not fasting today. I'm cooking dinner for my lady tonight because it's Valentine's Day. So, Jay will probably win. But then again, Jay should win. He has a higher percentage of body fat still so he should be able to lose a bit easier than I am right now. But I still gave him a good run for his money.

This week has not been ideal circumstances for me to lose weight either. I had a work party last night. I under-ate for the day in order to make up for the alcohol I would inevitably consume. Needless to say, I got somewhat sloshed, but between my dietary restrictions yesterday and skipping breakfast today, hopefully the damage was limited.

Then of course, there's tonight. "Lost" night. Oh, yeah, and it's Valentine's Day, too. So I'm cooking up some Awesome Baked Sea Scallops on a bed of Roasted Asparagus with Mushrooms. Not the most healthy thing in the world but as long as we keep the portions reasonable, it should be ok. Plus we'll probably have some wine as well. Not a diet-breaking evening, but coupled with the fact that I'm missing a workout today as well, and it doesn't exactly help.

Also, apparently there's this Mexican party we're going to on Sunday, which promises I'm sure to encompass much food and drink. I can do the best that I can, but I'm not really able to exercise the monastic self control I would need to in order to actually win this thing.

Oh, one other thing. I'd like to use this opportunity to call out any member of the FAT Coalition with a higher bodyfat percentage than me who has lost less than 9.3 pounds since 1/2. You have no excuse for not beating me. Get to work!

The Chisel takes longer than The Sledge

2008-02-13T10:41:00.006-05:00

Weigh-in: 183
5-day average weight: 183.68
Weight lost since 1/2/08: 8.82 lbs

134 days.

Take a look at Brian's blog. For a while now, Brian has been in a phase of his transformation that I like to call "The Sledge". It's the phase where, through diet and exercise, you turn your body from a big fat do-nothing machine into one that's much thinner, more athletic, and able to function normally. And as such, progress can be achieved relatively quickly if, like he has been, you are dedicated and consistent in your approach. Just like me though, Brian's time in "The Sledge" phase is coming to an end, and he's about to learn something that I'm learning now.

The Chisel takes longer than The Sledge.

"The Chisel" is the part of the fitness journey that takes you from being in "OK" or "Pretty Good" shape into "Very good" or "Enviable" shape. Many people are only in the game to get in OK shape, and that's fine. But for guys like Brian and I, we face a long road ahead in "The Chisel" phase.

Take a look at the picture below. The one on the left was taken right around my lowest weight, at the end of Sept. '07. The one on the right was taken just the other day. Between those 2 pictures was 134 days of hard work. My "Gaintain" cycle where I put on 10 pounds, trying to build muscle. And over a month of cutting to get back near the weight I was before that cycle.

Click image to enlarge
The difference is subtle, but noticeable. I'm a little leaner, a little more muscular, a little more defined. But not much. The amount of noticeable progress you can make in 134 days of "The Sledge" phase is far greater than you can achieve in "The Chisel" phase.

Skin Deep

2008-02-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

Weigh-in: 182 ;)
5-day average weight: 184
Weight lost since 1/2/08: 8.5 lbs

So my last 2 weigh-ins were awesome, a 182.6 yesterday (after the fast, which was expected), and then a glorious 182 today, which was unexpected. Here's hoping I can hold on to this range, because if I can, I may be able to salvage this contest that Jay has been running away with after all. So that's the good thing.

The bad thing is there have been 2 things annoying me lately. The first is my shoulder, which has been hurting for some reason. Jay suggested it might be tendinitis, but I'm not sure what triggered it, or what that feels like, vs. some other cause. Between that and a bunch of scheduling conflicts this week (valentine's day being one of them), I'm only going to be able to work out 2 times this week, and I'm not even sure what exercises I'll be able to do with my shoulder hurting. We shall see...

The other thing that's annoying me is this. I installed some new overhead lights in my walk-in closet the other day, and I moved my "weigh station" in there. (My scale and my full-length mirror that hangs front of it for my daily ritual). Since doing that, I've noticed something disturbing. The overhead light is lighting me in a way that is allowing me to notice a subtle sagging beginning to occur at the bottom of my stomach. It's barely noticeable now, and hopefully it continues to shrink as I continue to lose. It just has me worried that as I venture into lower and lower body fat, I might have to deal with some dreaded loose skin on the belly. Not a lot, but enough to keep me from looking like I had hoped.

I guess all I can do is wait and see. I'm sure that even if initially there is some saggage, that eventually the skin will tighten up. It just bummed me out a little bit, because it would seem that I might have to wait even longer than I had thought before I really, truly, look good with no shirt...

And yes, I realize that for some of you, this is a problem you'd be happy to have right now. But I felt justified in bitching about it regardless...