Well, it almost seems like publishing this blog is like a personal jinx. I seem to go on bounce backs. A typical bounce is anywhere from 3-6 pounds of water gain and then I lose it over the next 3 or 4 days. So if I said I lost a net of 0.2 pounds over the prior week to Friday that doesn't sound impressive. The whoosh did continue another 1.2 pounds yesterday to a new diet low by about 1.4 pounds, which isn't bad. But I bounced back a pound this morning, and based on interim weighting I wouldn't be surprised if I got another pound or two tomorrow. So the diet trend is like a ball bouncing down a staircase.
I have also joined a weight-loss Internet forum. I do my weigh-ins but what really annoys me are the little popups. If I type in, say, today's water gain of 1 pound, I'll get this nasty popup of the kind "At this rate, you're going to gain over 300 pounds over the coming year." Of course, many diet experts warn one against frequent weigh-ins precisely because daily fluctuations can be misleading.
I noted one of my exercise regimens in my flagship blog over the weekend: climbing the stairs of virtues. I'm still bringing a protein bar or cookie or two to work. My day shift colleagues often do the pizza thing once a week. I have to laugh when my colleagues, hearing my protest about pizza carbs, said, "Mmmm. Carbs... they're the BEST PART."
I finally got the certification I needed for my job, which had been my principal excuse for not joining a gym (which I stopped doing in late 2007). I was never a gym rat, but there was a time in the mid-90's I was working out at my fitness club in Lombard, IL (SW Chicago suburb) literally daily. I would usually rotate among Universal machines every 2 days (I could regularly bench press over 300 lbs.) and focus on cardio (step machines or stationary bikes) on other days. I was so fanatical about getting my workout in that I drove one early evening after work with light snow drifting down and unplowed streets. It wasn't that deep (I'm not insane), but I drove over a piece of black ice around a curb and into the meridian around the curb. (As I recall, around $2000 and 2-3 weeks in repairs.) Probably the most improbable detail: I still managed to drive to the fitness center that night with my limping car and got my workout in. I began to stop the daily deal when I developed heel spurs; my doctor was useless--luckily the heel spurs went away when I changed my routine every other day.
But workouts became harder when I did the road warrior bit in 1997-2002 and again in 2008, not to mention that I typically had hour or longer commutes (each way) when I lived in the greater Chicago and DC areas. A number of hotels now routinely have a fitness room available for guests, but it was hard to do it then (not to mention work/travel schedules that led to 4 or 5 hours of sleep nightly). I ironically moved to within a mile or so of the Bally Club I was working out of, but due to work, health, budget and other reasons, I never went to the club after I moved. Also I think when I did want to resume workout, Bally's had sold their location to LA Fitness--and the transaction did not grandfather in existing Bally's members. I didn't have the budget to join LA Fitness.
So I am looking to start up again here, but I need to buy new workout clothes first, and I need to get some additional information about the local club. But it's in process.
Some buys during my recent Sam's Club visit over the weekend:
- boneless leg of lamb (New Zealand--likely grassfed)
- grass-fed ground beef bricks
- New Zealand ground lamb bricks
- uncured nitrate-free bacon
- rotisserie chicken
- almond flour
- quinoa
- bagged shelled walnuts
- free-range chicken broth pack
- 12-lb sack of black beans
- kiwis, pears, and bananas
- bagged cole slaw
- grass-fed cheese (Gouda and sharp cheddar)
- protein bars
- chickpea pasta
- multiple packs of lower-carb tortillas
- marinated wild-caught salmon fillets
Is grass-fed meat worth $6 or more a lb.? It can be tough, especially when you see ribeye on sale for $8/lb, but I prepare most of my meals and seldom eat out when I'm not traveling: so I do have the budget to buy healthier meats. For me, the answer is a guarded yes; quality and price tend to correlate, and I do prefer the taste of grass-fed meat. The rotisserie chicken was not a premium (e.g., Heritage) variety, but rotisserie chicken is a lot healthier than breaded or fried chicken. I will still buy conventional meats (e.g., a recent ham I bought at a bargain price from Walmart), but I'm picky what I'll buy, like lean steaks.
