I finally broke through my diet low--not by much, maybe a half pound, but I was almost motivated to publish a celebratory post. Over the past 4 mornings, I've been within that half-pound range (right at my old low this morning). Considering over the past 5 weeks I've spent getting no closer than a pound above the old low, it has been a relief to finally see progress, but hopefully things will pick up from here to meet my goal of an additional 10-pound drop by New Year's.
I'm slowly transitioning to a more Paleo style diet--I'm down to my last loaf and two packages of wraps, maybe another two weeks away. I've cut all dairy except maybe the equivalent of a slice of cheese to my daily omelette, and I'm almost done with legumes. I'm not convinced maybe 10% of my caloric intake is responsible for my sluggish progress over the past 2 months, but I'm willing to experiment.
I purchased an inexpensive Chinese digital weight scale a time back, mostly for a higher capacity that hopefully I'll never need again (40-odd pounds ago). The only drawback is that it measures in tenths of kilograms. I've made the necessary conversions in my daily weight spreadsheet.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Diet Update: 11/09/13 Following the Bouncing Ball
In the early 1960's Mitch Miller had a signature show on NBC, directing a men's group of singers and encouraging viewers to sing along, as lyrics appeared on screen and a bouncing ball kept pace with the singers. (I saw a canned holiday show one Christmas season while I attended high school in south Texas.) I find watching the results of my early morning weigh-in to be similar.
Today marks the one-month anniversary of my big 5-pound gap down and I have only come within a pound of that diet low twice since.then; the only positive thing is that the tops of the bounces are declining. I may have prolonged it when I bought a few small tins of heart-healthy nuts when I went to pick up my latest prescriptions; the paleo diet gurus recommend a handful of nuts with meals. I hadn't eaten nuts in a while and wasn't as disciplined. They weren't salted, and some diet gurus advocate "cheat days" to counteract the body slowing metabolism to accommodate dietary reductions. My weight didn't really surge during my nut days but the change to my diet probably didn't help. The last few weekends I've been between bubbles, and this week I'm at a peak.
As I mentioned in my last post, I had a doctor's appointment this week. What is it about weigh-ins at doctor offices? Granted, I'm not weighing in nude, I had a burger for breakfast after my own weigh-in on a digital scale, but 8 pounds? Still, I think even with a consistent scale bias, my weight was down another 16 pounds since my last visit earlier in the summer, and he was pleased with the progress.
Nevertheless, I am unhappy with no net loss over the past month although there were other signs of progress, like having to take in my belt another couple of notches. I'm continuing to phase out grains, although I still have a couple of loaves and packages of flatbreads in the freezer. I'm also trying to phase in more veggies. My latest Internet order focused on low-carb salad dressings and yam (shirataki low-carb, high soluble fiber) noodles. But obviously I need to up the nature and extent of my daily exercise. I wanted to phase it in; I can still remember when I resumed my jogging routine as a graduate student at Texas, I was nauseated and felt a bit dizzy my first day back on schedule, and I weigh more now. I finally feel ready to take it up a notch. I'm setting a new target of dropping 10 pounds by New Year's.
Today marks the one-month anniversary of my big 5-pound gap down and I have only come within a pound of that diet low twice since.then; the only positive thing is that the tops of the bounces are declining. I may have prolonged it when I bought a few small tins of heart-healthy nuts when I went to pick up my latest prescriptions; the paleo diet gurus recommend a handful of nuts with meals. I hadn't eaten nuts in a while and wasn't as disciplined. They weren't salted, and some diet gurus advocate "cheat days" to counteract the body slowing metabolism to accommodate dietary reductions. My weight didn't really surge during my nut days but the change to my diet probably didn't help. The last few weekends I've been between bubbles, and this week I'm at a peak.
As I mentioned in my last post, I had a doctor's appointment this week. What is it about weigh-ins at doctor offices? Granted, I'm not weighing in nude, I had a burger for breakfast after my own weigh-in on a digital scale, but 8 pounds? Still, I think even with a consistent scale bias, my weight was down another 16 pounds since my last visit earlier in the summer, and he was pleased with the progress.
Nevertheless, I am unhappy with no net loss over the past month although there were other signs of progress, like having to take in my belt another couple of notches. I'm continuing to phase out grains, although I still have a couple of loaves and packages of flatbreads in the freezer. I'm also trying to phase in more veggies. My latest Internet order focused on low-carb salad dressings and yam (shirataki low-carb, high soluble fiber) noodles. But obviously I need to up the nature and extent of my daily exercise. I wanted to phase it in; I can still remember when I resumed my jogging routine as a graduate student at Texas, I was nauseated and felt a bit dizzy my first day back on schedule, and I weigh more now. I finally feel ready to take it up a notch. I'm setting a new target of dropping 10 pounds by New Year's.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Diet Update: 11/02/13 Descending Triangle
Not much progress to report; I once again bounced off last weekend's relative low; it's rather odd that over the last few weeks, I've been at bounce points on weekends, but I'm still a couple of pounds higher than last month's gap down low and I've only come to within a pound of the low over the past 3 weeks--but the pattern of lower bubble peaks has the appearance, using my financial analysis analogy, of a descending triangle, which could break through to a new low. Still, I've been frustrated by the slow pace of weight loss over the past 2 months.
I do have a doctor's appointment in the near future. The only thing that bothers me about the inevitable weight check-in is that the scale usually puts my weight about 5 lbs. more than my digital home scale. Of course, I have clothes and shoes on, wallet, keys and maybe ate earlier. Still, my doctor should be pleased with my progress, although I'm still more than 40 pounds off his target. I would like to chop off a third of that by New Year's.
I may resort to a meal replacement regimen (with one regular dinner) for an upcoming week, just to see if my body has become accustomed to my diet over the past few weeks. I also subscribe to Tom Woods' podcasts (Woods is an historian with a libertarian political philosophy). He recently had on Mark Sisson of the Primal Blueprint, which the Woods have followed, and, separately, Robb Wolf of the rival Paleo diet. I haven't fully contrasted the approaches; both approaches seem to emphasize protein (especially lean grass-fed meats and wild-caught oily fish, which are regular parts of my diet--and I rotate in organ meats), primal is more liberal on dairy and fats, and generally grains and legumes are eliminated. The latter are the major differences with my current regimen, but I'm working through (and will not replace) my remaining whole grain tortillas and breads (although I rarely eat more than 30 net carb grams daily in daily servings); I have also included a daily serving of beans lately, but other than a small supply of dried black beans, I'm almost out and will not replace them.
I do have a doctor's appointment in the near future. The only thing that bothers me about the inevitable weight check-in is that the scale usually puts my weight about 5 lbs. more than my digital home scale. Of course, I have clothes and shoes on, wallet, keys and maybe ate earlier. Still, my doctor should be pleased with my progress, although I'm still more than 40 pounds off his target. I would like to chop off a third of that by New Year's.
I may resort to a meal replacement regimen (with one regular dinner) for an upcoming week, just to see if my body has become accustomed to my diet over the past few weeks. I also subscribe to Tom Woods' podcasts (Woods is an historian with a libertarian political philosophy). He recently had on Mark Sisson of the Primal Blueprint, which the Woods have followed, and, separately, Robb Wolf of the rival Paleo diet. I haven't fully contrasted the approaches; both approaches seem to emphasize protein (especially lean grass-fed meats and wild-caught oily fish, which are regular parts of my diet--and I rotate in organ meats), primal is more liberal on dairy and fats, and generally grains and legumes are eliminated. The latter are the major differences with my current regimen, but I'm working through (and will not replace) my remaining whole grain tortillas and breads (although I rarely eat more than 30 net carb grams daily in daily servings); I have also included a daily serving of beans lately, but other than a small supply of dried black beans, I'm almost out and will not replace them.
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