Resuming After a Long Break

Weight scales drive me up the wall. It goes beyond the fact you can weight in at the doctors 6 pounds more: really, do your shoes, clothes, maybe one or 2 meals account for that much? And if you complain, it's like, "These scales are more accurate." My Taylor scale is highly reliable--five minutes later, I will weigh the same to a fifth of a pound assuming the scale hasn't moved. But is it valid? I don't know if it's an issue of uneven flooring somehow, but sometimes just relocating the scale elsewhere in the apartment can mean a difference of up to 5 pounds--which is discouraging when you think you finally dropped those 5 pounds.

No, I haven't fully dropped up that up to 25 lb surge after last year's low mark. I have made progress, but I'm still about 11-12 pounds over last year's low. I still have to up my fitness regimen and find a Maryland doctor (given my sluggish hypothyroidism).

Some basic tips/notes:

• Try shopping at different supermarkets. Note that the following discussion doesn't constitute an endorsement but just an example of actual shopping. For example, at Sam's Club, the rotisserie chicken at $5 is a must; if you're lucky, you can find trays of cold rotisserie chicken parts (dark or white meat) for maybe $4. I'll usually grab the bulk-packaged produce like mushrooms, spinach or romaine lettuce, Roma tomatoes, maybe a bunch of bananas or a bag of grapefruit (last trip, plums for the first time in years), KerryGold 1-lb tubs of (grass-fed) butter and cheeses. They also sell Gouda cheese slices (I'll stick my Foreman grill burger with a slice and zap it for about 20 seconds). Grass-fed leg of lamb at least every other visit. I finally saw Arnold's sandwich thins (new recipe, tray of 6 (not 8 SC notes)), not cheap at $2.50/package. Some other decent deals here and there; they sell protein bars with decent net carbs at a good price and I picked up a good 2 bottle pack of apple cider vinegar with the mother at a good price (not to mention these jars of roasted red peppers insanely priced at 91 cents a jar. Another staple are these garlic/jalapeno stuffed olives (I eat a couple daily). Bags of almonds, walnuts and pecans. Walmart is my main grocer with probably the best selection and pricing of grass-fed ground beef, roasts and steaks. I'll occasionally find Wild Planet canned seafood at good prices, low-calorie drink mixes, etc.  At Shoprite, I'll find ground buffalo and grass-fed ground lamb, good place to buy sandwich thins, they have sriracha-packed sardines (I'll sometimes eat sardines as a late-night snack), A&W root beer low-cal drink "sticks" (I recently bought a selzer soda siphon) and loaves of Ezekiel bread in the freezer. Oh, I finally tried the chickpea pasta which used to be stocked at my Arizona Sam's Club, not carried locally, but the Eat This website has recommended the Banza brand, which is also carried by Shoprite. I haven't shopped at Weiss in a while, but I found soon after my arrival here it stocks ground venison and also carries Ezekiel bread in the frozen food aisles.
• I recommend the eatthis.com website. They have changed my mind on a number of topics, including the use of artificial sweeteners (negative), eating potatoes, even pasta and underripe bananas (especially if chilled before eating: resistant starch) and more fiber-rich. I'm particularly interested in the satiating effects of potatoes, eggs, beans and meat.