Finally: A Long-Awaited Whoosh

I'm now at my lowest since I started my WV job in late 2013. I remember charting my weight at the time; I had been regularly walking around the Maryland apartment complex and maintaining my diet. I had to live in a hotel (my expense) for a week before moving in. I had finally stopped Nutrisystem some time earlier and brought some food with me for the small hotel refrigerator, but I abandoned the idea. I recall eating lunch across the street from the federal facility with my boss who was escorting me my first day; it wasn't an all-you-care-to-eat spot, but it was a carby comfort food type of place. It was particularly cold and windy that winter, and I remember frequenting a Subway shop and a diner in a mall just up the street from the hotel for dinner the rest of the week. My new work colleagues used to eat lunch at a sports bar a couple of blocks around the corner, and I joined them. I quickly signed a lease on a one-bedroom apartment but had to wait a week before the cable company would start my service. The small apartment complex really didn't have any flat, walking surface, and I quickly dropped the idea of maintaining my walking regimen in sub-zero, snowy, icy weather. It wasn't so much that I exploded in size, but I steadily gained about a dozen pounds, then more, and I've been fighting ever since then to lose it.

So in the 3 days since my last post, I've had about a 3.5 lb whoosh through a weeks-long floor. It wouldn't surprise me if I bounced off today's low, but there are a number of signs when you're on a whoosh: for example, I make notably more frequent trips to the bathroom to pee.

I'm just a few pounds away from a symbolic weight target. I'm probably 15 pounds away from where I bottomed during my Nutrisystem days and 35 pounds away from some BMI heuristic that health insurers would stipulate as a cutoff for underwriting purposes. (I was unemployed for some time during the recession and mostly wanted to insure for catastrophic health risks; they told me I could join the assigned risk market, but I couldn't afford the $600-800/month cost.) So I'm fully aware that losing 35 pounds is easier said than done, at least months away. But it would bring me to a range I had been in for years while working out regularly at a health club, which stopped when Bally's sold their local location in the Baltimore suburbs. (I think LA Fitness bought it but stupidly would not grandfather in existing members. My fitness club costs would spike dramatically, and I was in a strict budget at the time.) I think I bottomed out in the 2000's during my low-carb phase shortly before my folks' milestone anniversary. I remember finding my suit tight going to a job interview ironically to Baltimore in 2003 (I was living in the Chicago suburbs at the time).  I think I dropped something like 90 pounds over the coming year, and it amazed me that I was dropping 3 lbs. and change a week without breaking a sweat or feeling hungry all the time. I never got back to that point, in part because my weight seemed to plateau at that point and the monotony of the diet had gotten to me. I wouldn't say that I went on a feeding frenzy but I abandoned the diet for the family celebration and the rest of the holidays. I think my regular gym workouts kept me within a 20 lb range of that low. So, revisiting that 2004 low is my real objective over the coming year.

I have to study for an important industry certification, which is delaying plans to join a local fitness club, but I'm getting good exercise at work going up and down stairwells.

The Diet Continues; Newer Food Buys

I'm used to seeing rebounds off lows, so most of the past week saw my weight surge up about 4 lbs and work its way back down, to a new low by about half a pound this morning, although an interim weigh-in (yes, I'm a bit obsessed) suggested that I might go down another pound. Maybe tomorrow.

I hadn't really shopped at Sam's Club for the past 2-3 years--in fact, didn't even go to the North Charleston club in the year-plus I lived in SC. Plus, Walmart now sells a limited number of economy sizes, like the big jars of jalapeno pepper slices I love. (I eat peppers on burger, eggs, salads, etc.) I had come close to closing my account, because for example, a single person really doesn't need gallon jars of mayonnaise. In most cases, Walmart offers more selection and usually had a closer, more convenient address. There were always good buy options, though; I think I've written a couple of related posts. The $1.98/lb chicken breasts and $5 rotisserie chickens are always a good buy (at both store concepts). I've often found that economy sizes of things like virgin olive oil, seedless cucumbers and baby spinach are a good deal.

I visited the Sam's Club in Yuma, which was maybe a half mile or so from an extended stay housing (awaiting delivery of household goods). I didn't really shop food because I was eating out at the time and had no place to store my purchases (other than a good deal on fresh blueberries, which I kept in the small refrigerator). So I went yesterday, and it does seem there are differences (or I just must have skipped past them; for instance I used to purchase Lean Cuisine/like multi-packs).

There are a lot more "green" (literally) buys than I remember. There are a number of green signs to attract the attention of "healthy shoppers" to organics or other healthy brands/goods. . I mean, they've offered organic fresh foods (e.g., salads) for some time, but it's more the nature and the extent. For example, when I was in the vegetable oil aisle, I noticed walnut oil and multiple brands of extra virgin olive oil. In the soup aisle, I noticed multi-packs of canned lentil soup and Amy's organic soups. I thought packaged walnuts were a good deal and noticed a decent price on a brand of almond butter. Usually there are multi-packs of sandwich thins, which have become a staple on my shopping list. (Okay, in my flirtation with the paleo diet, I haven't completely eliminated breads or tortillas. To make my heresy even worse, I bought a twin-pack of organic super grain bread loaves.) I still wish I could find  Ezekiel bread at Walmart or an alternative supermarket (according to Food For Life, the nearest location is something like a 20-mile drive to some obscure health food store. I have an aversion to most health food stores. The shipping costs for Ezekiel bread, even via Amazon, are ludicrously expensive.)

They also carried 3-lb packs of grass-fed beef (roughly $6/lb); my nearby Walmart carries a different brand of similarly priced beef bricks. I know it sounds expensive when you can buy conventional ground beef at half the price, but you can taste the difference and it's now a staple of my diet. For a long time I was hesitant to buy it not only because of the premium price but hefty shipping costs. Walmart's prices are competitive with the vendors I've researched, without the high shipping costs.

Another category I think is well-priced is protein bars. I'm fairly picky here, because I've adopted a rule where I won't look twice at a frozen dinner or protein bar which is over 20 net carbs. Sam's Club has good deals on KIND bars and Nature Valley protein packs.

On the fruit side, I like the big sacks of frozen mango chunks and mixed berries. With respect to fresh fruit, lately I've bought strawberries and Bartlett pears.

I've become much tougher on pasta and pizza, even the healthier frozen foods, under my 20-carb rule. One brand that meets my rule is California Pizza Kitchen (at least for a couple of individual twin-pack flatbread varieties). Make no mistake--the slices are smaller and more spartan than what you'll get from a fast food place or in numerous NYC restaurants, but I enjoy them and am forced to be more disciplined than when IT companies I've worked for occasionally bring in multiple pies for business meetings or project/maintenance periods. I may try experimenting with do-it-yourself flatbreads making my carb rule; I bought a couple of packages which I hope to experiment with (a sack of pepperoni slices was on my shopping list).

Pasta is more difficult, but I've bought shirataki noodles, a bit pricey (maybe $1 or more a serving) with a negligible carb count. I've ordered from Miracle Noodles; Another vendor I've used is Vitacost; I particularly like the fettuccine variety. (If you are not familiar, they are usually packed in water, which you drain before preparing the noodles, typically in 2 or more serving bags.) I've sometimes included them with leftover chicken breasts in a bowl of chicken or turkey broth, with a dose of Sriracha sauce.

Speaking of vendors, I have been a huge fan of Wild Planet tuna and Blue Galleon/Bela-Olhao sardines. Blue Galleon ran into business issues and seemed to disappear for a while, and I'm not sure what happened with Wild Planet: I think at some point they suspended direct sales because I was trying to reorder another 24 cans and ran into issues. But in the interim, Wild Planet has diversified its offering of good oily fish, including mackerel and sardines. (You can order directly from Wild Planet, and as I write, their water-packed sardines are at a good sales discount at Vitacost.) I bought a pack of Blue Galleon sardines in hot sauce via Amazon.com (Vitacost also carries Blue Galleon).

Each New Pound Off, An Annual Low

I'm now about 3 pounds below my prior annual low and about 3 pounds off a new multi-annual low since late 2013.  I actually got here recently but as usual spent a few days bouncing off the low. So I'm hopeful I'll drop another couple of pounds over the coming week.

I hadn't looked at newer nutritional studies over the past decade and recently came aware of the benefits of resistant starch (e.g., cold cooked potatoes). I also bought a paleo diet pack from Thrive Market, which includes a jar of ghee. I have to think of how to use that because I don't really fry entrees, but I may try cooking eggs in a very limited amount. (I also have bottles of extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil in my pantry, which I usually use for salads.) I ordered some potato starch with that order. I'm also doing a daily drink with dashes of apple cider vinegar and lemon juice and put a limited amount of coconut oil and cinnamon in my daily cup of coffee. I don't know to what effect these will have on my diet, but we'll see.