I've sometimes run across monster bouncebacks of up to 15 pounds to some extent I've exacerbated issues with my diet about 3 weeks back I had a job offer that fell through (paperwork contingencies) itlooked as though I would be moving to Pennsylvania I had a lot of canned goods that I didn't want to move or throw out good food. So maybe salt intake led to higher water retention , etc. But finally this morning I'm about 2 off my recent low. maybe 3 lbs away my 2004 low. I'm still well above my healthy weight target--enough to be classified as morbidly obese at a recent hospital stay. But there is notable progress in the sense that I have run out of notches on my recent belt, and older pants are too baggy.
It used to be I could buy Australian grass-fed beef at ShopRite for about $3.99/lb vs. $5.50/lb at Walmart; I guess I hadn't shopped there in a while because on my last trip it was up a whopping $3 a lb; they were selling conventionally-finished T-bone steaks cheaper! (Yes, I bought the steak.)
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Progress is Slow But Sure; my Favorite Part of Nutrisystem Food
Well, I see interesting patterns in my weight loss journey; in putting in a new multi-year low last month, I almost immediately started a two-cycle bounce, including on one day, a discouraging 5-lb spike. Those are the days that can sap your enthusiasm. You just know that you didn't binge over the previous day, maybe somehow your body is trying to reset an equilibrium. (I also have a bad habit of weighing myself multiple times a day, beyond my usual weigh-in in the morning after a bathroom break) So early this week I woke up after a late afternoon nap to find out I had suddenly dropped 3 lbs. taking out my prior low by nearly a pound. And usually that's a good sign because my morning weigh-ins improve over prior afternoon weigh-ins.
So now I'm about 4 pounds below my prior September low. There are a couple of interesting things about my current weight; I'm about 7 pounds away from my 2004 low-carb diet low, just before my folks' anniversary, and so when I reach beyond that, it would be my lowest weight in at least 20 years. Second, I'm so used to say I'm over 100 lbs. overweight. But technically I'm now less than 100 pounds over my weight when I passed my Navy physical many years ago. Make no mistake--I still have a long way to go, at least 1-2 years away, even at an aggressive clip of 1-1.5 lbs. a week.
The current pattern is interesting--I've plateaued at nearly the same low weight for 4 days in a row. I'm used to seeing rebounds/bounces after putting in a new low. I've seen hints of an additional loss, but I'm intrigued by the changed pattern.
What do I like about Nutrisystem assortments? Well, first of all, I may not be on the same plan as others because I'm concerned about maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. So you don't see a lot of egg or meat entrees. I do recall in the past an eggs frittata entree, but maybe they've discontinued it or it's not on this plan. Much more emphasis (breakfast) on cereal, oatmeal and/or presumably higher protein pastries, like blueberry muffins. I never much cared for cereals; if and when I bought them in the past, I tended to gravitate towards original Shredded Wheat or Grapenuts (no, not Nutrisystem options--they are more like bran flakes). I'll tolerate occasional oatmeal. So I tend to prefer the pastry options; granted, no one is going to confuse Nutrisystem blueberry muffins for the oversized variety you'll buy at a bakery, but given I never buy muffins on my own, it's still a "treat"; among other things, what I'm getting from Nutrisystem is consistent quality healthy food and portion control.
I usually choose a fair proportion of protein bars, etc., which are convenient to carry and ready-to-eat. But in part, I particularly like the comfort food/pasta options, like lasagna and ravioli., and the wide variety of options (Nutrisystem allows you to adjust your options from some baseline bundle). Make no mistake--no one is going to compare Nutrisystem lasagna with Olive Garden's. And I'm not going to order 28 days of lasagna. But when you pick it out after 3 weeks of no lasagna, it's almost a treat.
So now I'm about 4 pounds below my prior September low. There are a couple of interesting things about my current weight; I'm about 7 pounds away from my 2004 low-carb diet low, just before my folks' anniversary, and so when I reach beyond that, it would be my lowest weight in at least 20 years. Second, I'm so used to say I'm over 100 lbs. overweight. But technically I'm now less than 100 pounds over my weight when I passed my Navy physical many years ago. Make no mistake--I still have a long way to go, at least 1-2 years away, even at an aggressive clip of 1-1.5 lbs. a week.
The current pattern is interesting--I've plateaued at nearly the same low weight for 4 days in a row. I'm used to seeing rebounds/bounces after putting in a new low. I've seen hints of an additional loss, but I'm intrigued by the changed pattern.
What do I like about Nutrisystem assortments? Well, first of all, I may not be on the same plan as others because I'm concerned about maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. So you don't see a lot of egg or meat entrees. I do recall in the past an eggs frittata entree, but maybe they've discontinued it or it's not on this plan. Much more emphasis (breakfast) on cereal, oatmeal and/or presumably higher protein pastries, like blueberry muffins. I never much cared for cereals; if and when I bought them in the past, I tended to gravitate towards original Shredded Wheat or Grapenuts (no, not Nutrisystem options--they are more like bran flakes). I'll tolerate occasional oatmeal. So I tend to prefer the pastry options; granted, no one is going to confuse Nutrisystem blueberry muffins for the oversized variety you'll buy at a bakery, but given I never buy muffins on my own, it's still a "treat"; among other things, what I'm getting from Nutrisystem is consistent quality healthy food and portion control.
I usually choose a fair proportion of protein bars, etc., which are convenient to carry and ready-to-eat. But in part, I particularly like the comfort food/pasta options, like lasagna and ravioli., and the wide variety of options (Nutrisystem allows you to adjust your options from some baseline bundle). Make no mistake--no one is going to compare Nutrisystem lasagna with Olive Garden's. And I'm not going to order 28 days of lasagna. But when you pick it out after 3 weeks of no lasagna, it's almost a treat.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Demoralizing Weight Gain Spikes
My Taylor scale is very sensitive to placement; I used to place it near my apartment entryway (no carpet) but even the slightest bump could affect the readings--like a sudden 20-lh. drop. After dieting for years, I knew that was wildly improbable, and I'm not going to lie to myself. It was fairly reliable; you could weight yourself 20 seconds later and yield the same result to a fifth of a pound. So when, all of a sudden I was getting 5 different readings over 5 minutes, I was convinced the floor wasn't quite level and changed to the kitchen, which seemed more level.
So all this is a preface when I weighed in, as my custom, early in the morning after my bathroom break. All of a sudden I registered a 5-lb spike; don't tell me I'm running into the hallway problem again. But no matter how I positioned the scale, the same result stared up in my face.
To say it was demoralizing is an understatement; I've routinely had up to 6 lb bouncebacks after hitting new lows, but usually it was more of steps up to 6 pounds; I don't ever remember a 5-lb spike before. Now this is not like I went on some carb binge the prior day. It's just that my body skipped the usual incremental bounceback to a more consolidated one. when all was said and done, the full bounceback was an above-average 8 pounds, demoralizing in part because it took me back out of that 50-lb. range I had cycled for most of my adult life, including the BMI target for my height used to deny individual healthcare coverage early in the Great Recession.
So, as I write, I'm back within 2 pounds of my low and about 3 pounds under that BMI target. My second Nutrisystem shipment arrived late yesterday. I'm somewhat confused about the monthly timing because I ran out a week ago and that was a 30-day shipment. It wasn't like I didn't have food in the apartment. (Among other things, I had a small stock of Hormel Complete shelf-stable entrees I have purchased during my recovery from eye surgery back in May). It's just I didn't even open up my first shipment my first few days, and it's not like I eat more my daily allotment.
I do allow myself an occasional indulgence. Walmart had a budget generic line Great Value. I've never really bought any chips, even before my low-carb days. I've been to Subway on occasion over the past few years (most often when moving or in temporary housing). I seem to recall they offered Frito-Lay Miss Vicky's Jalapeno Kettle Chips, which I developed a fondness for. I discovered that Walmart had 8 oz. bags in their budget line (almost hidden in their snack aisle near the popcorn section) which sells for about $1.32. During my occasional trips to Sam's Club, I'll often buy I think it's Wild Roots quinoa/chia tortilla chips. Occasionally I'll do microwave popcorn or a handful of unsalted mixed nuts (under Sam's Club Member Mark's brand).
It's hard to describe my approach to grocery shopping. I don't necessarily stick to a list. I'll sometimes walk down aisles looking for Walmart's rollbacks or clearance items.To give an example, I have a fondness for minestrone soup. So one day I noticed they had their Great Value canned minestrone soup marked down to $1/can (from maybe. $1.42/can). So I stocked up. I'm not happy they seem to be discontinuing carrying the item, but I'll take advantage of the opportunity.
I did notice in my last trip, Walmart seems to be now carrying Quest pizzas. I had heard Target is carrying them (I haven't shopped Target for years, but I was planning to just for that reason). A co-worker battling her own weight issues mentioned trying them. Now they are a bit pricey at nearly $7 for a medium-sized pie; to contrast, you can buy a large Tony's Supreme for about $2.50. (but that comes loaded with carbs).
My verdict: not bad. The toppings (I chose Supreme) are superior. Not much (if any) cheese on top. The crust came across as a little dry, crumbly and a bit bland. Nobody is going to confuse it with a slice of takeout. I've had more than my share of pizza over the years but I've almost never gone to a pizza joint, beyond an occasional work lunch with colleagues to Pizza Hut or Pizza Hut at an airport kiosk, mostly because it's an IT department staple for the very occasional work meeting or working (unpaid) overtime or upgrade activities. I've experimented a bit with cauliflower crusts, which do require a bit of an acquired taste.
But specialty food items, like low-carb, often come with a premium price. To give an example, I've sometimes ordered lower-carb bread from around $5/loaf from Netrition. I more recently discovered a lower-carb brand that Walmart stocks (I think it's Schmidt Old Tyme 647 at about 6 net carbs a slice) at just over $3/loaf. Not to mention, as I've mentioned in the past, Walmart now carries Food for Life's Ezekiel bread, in their frozen food specialty bread area, for about $5/loaf. But several weeks back, I discovered Walmart carries a Great Value 100% whole wheat bread (about 11 net carbs a slice), for about $1,50 a standard-sized loaf. The only problem? It seems half the time I go to Walmart I can't find it in stock. Now I almost never eat bread to speak of on a daily basis; I think Nutrisystem has some food items that require supplemental items, like a BBQ chicken spread, and I'll occasionally indulge in a favorite boiled-egg sandwich, a grass-fed burger, or maybe occasional turkey/chicken franks or chicken/seafood salad sandwich.
I also noticed Walmart was carrying a new selection of "RealGood" frozen entrees, priced at about $4/above. I used to buy their chicken enchiladas regularly in that price range, when Walmart added about a buck a package. They're good, but not as big or filling as "real" Mexican food. So I decided to sample their spicy Italian sausage entree at about 9 net carbs.
So all this is a preface when I weighed in, as my custom, early in the morning after my bathroom break. All of a sudden I registered a 5-lb spike; don't tell me I'm running into the hallway problem again. But no matter how I positioned the scale, the same result stared up in my face.
To say it was demoralizing is an understatement; I've routinely had up to 6 lb bouncebacks after hitting new lows, but usually it was more of steps up to 6 pounds; I don't ever remember a 5-lb spike before. Now this is not like I went on some carb binge the prior day. It's just that my body skipped the usual incremental bounceback to a more consolidated one. when all was said and done, the full bounceback was an above-average 8 pounds, demoralizing in part because it took me back out of that 50-lb. range I had cycled for most of my adult life, including the BMI target for my height used to deny individual healthcare coverage early in the Great Recession.
So, as I write, I'm back within 2 pounds of my low and about 3 pounds under that BMI target. My second Nutrisystem shipment arrived late yesterday. I'm somewhat confused about the monthly timing because I ran out a week ago and that was a 30-day shipment. It wasn't like I didn't have food in the apartment. (Among other things, I had a small stock of Hormel Complete shelf-stable entrees I have purchased during my recovery from eye surgery back in May). It's just I didn't even open up my first shipment my first few days, and it's not like I eat more my daily allotment.
I do allow myself an occasional indulgence. Walmart had a budget generic line Great Value. I've never really bought any chips, even before my low-carb days. I've been to Subway on occasion over the past few years (most often when moving or in temporary housing). I seem to recall they offered Frito-Lay Miss Vicky's Jalapeno Kettle Chips, which I developed a fondness for. I discovered that Walmart had 8 oz. bags in their budget line (almost hidden in their snack aisle near the popcorn section) which sells for about $1.32. During my occasional trips to Sam's Club, I'll often buy I think it's Wild Roots quinoa/chia tortilla chips. Occasionally I'll do microwave popcorn or a handful of unsalted mixed nuts (under Sam's Club Member Mark's brand).
It's hard to describe my approach to grocery shopping. I don't necessarily stick to a list. I'll sometimes walk down aisles looking for Walmart's rollbacks or clearance items.To give an example, I have a fondness for minestrone soup. So one day I noticed they had their Great Value canned minestrone soup marked down to $1/can (from maybe. $1.42/can). So I stocked up. I'm not happy they seem to be discontinuing carrying the item, but I'll take advantage of the opportunity.
I did notice in my last trip, Walmart seems to be now carrying Quest pizzas. I had heard Target is carrying them (I haven't shopped Target for years, but I was planning to just for that reason). A co-worker battling her own weight issues mentioned trying them. Now they are a bit pricey at nearly $7 for a medium-sized pie; to contrast, you can buy a large Tony's Supreme for about $2.50. (but that comes loaded with carbs).
My verdict: not bad. The toppings (I chose Supreme) are superior. Not much (if any) cheese on top. The crust came across as a little dry, crumbly and a bit bland. Nobody is going to confuse it with a slice of takeout. I've had more than my share of pizza over the years but I've almost never gone to a pizza joint, beyond an occasional work lunch with colleagues to Pizza Hut or Pizza Hut at an airport kiosk, mostly because it's an IT department staple for the very occasional work meeting or working (unpaid) overtime or upgrade activities. I've experimented a bit with cauliflower crusts, which do require a bit of an acquired taste.
But specialty food items, like low-carb, often come with a premium price. To give an example, I've sometimes ordered lower-carb bread from around $5/loaf from Netrition. I more recently discovered a lower-carb brand that Walmart stocks (I think it's Schmidt Old Tyme 647 at about 6 net carbs a slice) at just over $3/loaf. Not to mention, as I've mentioned in the past, Walmart now carries Food for Life's Ezekiel bread, in their frozen food specialty bread area, for about $5/loaf. But several weeks back, I discovered Walmart carries a Great Value 100% whole wheat bread (about 11 net carbs a slice), for about $1,50 a standard-sized loaf. The only problem? It seems half the time I go to Walmart I can't find it in stock. Now I almost never eat bread to speak of on a daily basis; I think Nutrisystem has some food items that require supplemental items, like a BBQ chicken spread, and I'll occasionally indulge in a favorite boiled-egg sandwich, a grass-fed burger, or maybe occasional turkey/chicken franks or chicken/seafood salad sandwich.
I also noticed Walmart was carrying a new selection of "RealGood" frozen entrees, priced at about $4/above. I used to buy their chicken enchiladas regularly in that price range, when Walmart added about a buck a package. They're good, but not as big or filling as "real" Mexican food. So I decided to sample their spicy Italian sausage entree at about 9 net carbs.
Friday, September 13, 2019
How Much Credit Should I Give to Nutrisystem?
It's been almost one month since I resumed Nutrisystem. I've set a new low, almost 5 pounds inside my 50-lb. weight range since the 1980's and about 10 pounds away from my 2004 low-carb diet low. Make no mistake; I'm unambiguously obese, and even losing the rest of the 45 pounds in the range would probably leave another 45 pounds to get within a healthy range. If a healthy loss rate is 1.5 lbs/week, it would require more than a year to achieve that objective, and plateaus are a fact of life for every dieter. It took me literally months over the past year to break my last plateau. It still demoralizes me to remember how almost effortlessly I lost weight on my initial low-carb diet--almost 3.5 lbs/week until a horrible plateau. It does seem I've regained a more persistent loss track since finally cracking through the prior plateau.
I will say that I haven't lost the heavily promoted 11-13 pound first month loss, and to be honest I've occasionally strayed from the diet because the food is limited, for example, an occasional serving of pork rinds, popcorn, or canned soup. But we are talking maybe an occasional 200-300 calories, not like I'm binging on carbs or open buffet.
So do I credit Nutrisystem for my weight loss over the past month? Yes and no. Yes, I've been mostly eating their food, but I had been losing before resuming Nutrisystem, and it's not like I was eating that much more on my prior DIY diet. What's particularly good about Nutrisystem is its simplicity and variety. In particular, they offer nice comfort food twists like pizza and various pastas. Granted, no one will confuse them with takeout pizza or Olive Garden. And (at least in my specialty diet) I have a surprisingly high number of non-meat meals. (E.g., the pizza toppings are mostly packets of pizza sauce and cheese.) Not one egg-based breakfast. I'll admit my DIY diet was more generous with meat and eggs.
I'll probably stick with Nutrisystem for a few more months because I think a change of diet can benefit weight loss, and I do recall dropping up to 40 lbs. in the first few months my last go-round. (I eventually gained in all back, but that was post-Nutrisystem.
I will say that I haven't lost the heavily promoted 11-13 pound first month loss, and to be honest I've occasionally strayed from the diet because the food is limited, for example, an occasional serving of pork rinds, popcorn, or canned soup. But we are talking maybe an occasional 200-300 calories, not like I'm binging on carbs or open buffet.
So do I credit Nutrisystem for my weight loss over the past month? Yes and no. Yes, I've been mostly eating their food, but I had been losing before resuming Nutrisystem, and it's not like I was eating that much more on my prior DIY diet. What's particularly good about Nutrisystem is its simplicity and variety. In particular, they offer nice comfort food twists like pizza and various pastas. Granted, no one will confuse them with takeout pizza or Olive Garden. And (at least in my specialty diet) I have a surprisingly high number of non-meat meals. (E.g., the pizza toppings are mostly packets of pizza sauce and cheese.) Not one egg-based breakfast. I'll admit my DIY diet was more generous with meat and eggs.
I'll probably stick with Nutrisystem for a few more months because I think a change of diet can benefit weight loss, and I do recall dropping up to 40 lbs. in the first few months my last go-round. (I eventually gained in all back, but that was post-Nutrisystem.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Unusual 3-step whoosh to a new low
So almost immediately after publishing my last update where I described nearing a 50-lb. range I had been in for several years since the 80's, I dropped in (barely) with the third of 3-lb whooshes finally taking out my prior multi-year low for months. I've been enduing the usual 2-3 lb bounce back since then, but if you told me 2 months ago I would be where I am today, I would have been thrilled.
It's still not that much noticeable in the clothes I wear, other than I'm having to tighten up my belt a loop or two. I'm cautiously ordering new clothes/underwear down an even waist size.
As I mentioned in my recent main blog, I made a first visit to my local Sam's Club (more like 20-odd miles away). My shopping list has changed given my going back to Nutrisystem (although I made an exception for a rotisserie chicken for this holiday weekend). They've reorganized the store since my last visit months ago, including a cooled separate produce section. I didn't really do much grocery shopping, but I did notice for the first time they were carrying a mixed-flavor Quest protein bar pack and Bumble Bee flavored tuna pouch packs.
It's still not that much noticeable in the clothes I wear, other than I'm having to tighten up my belt a loop or two. I'm cautiously ordering new clothes/underwear down an even waist size.
As I mentioned in my recent main blog, I made a first visit to my local Sam's Club (more like 20-odd miles away). My shopping list has changed given my going back to Nutrisystem (although I made an exception for a rotisserie chicken for this holiday weekend). They've reorganized the store since my last visit months ago, including a cooled separate produce section. I didn't really do much grocery shopping, but I did notice for the first time they were carrying a mixed-flavor Quest protein bar pack and Bumble Bee flavored tuna pouch packs.
Monday, August 26, 2019
A New Multi-Year Low and a Zigzag Double Whoosh
For a few months now I've mostly been cycling above my existing multi-year low, rather annoying to say the least. Finally, two weekends ago I finally broke through with a 3-lb loss, to set a new low, just to "gain it all back" last week. And then a new a renewed whoosh that had me down another net 3-lb. loss. I haven't seen that happen since my 2003-2004 initial low-carb diet. So now I'm slightly above the BMI max for my height used by individual health insurance plans. Ir's also the top of a 50-lb. range or so I cycled between as a young to early middle age adult. So it's been a longstanding objective to get to that range. I don't know if the current whoosh has legs or whether it'll be another 1 or 2 week bounce back from here.
Where I had gone over that specified range was when I accepted my "job offer extortion" from California, a big mistake. I had been happily commuting from Chicago on weekends for over 3 months when my client boss told me either I accept his job offer or I don't come back Monday as I was getting to head back to SFO. I've always hated California, bur I hated being unemployed more, and I wasn't in the market. God knows how long it would have taken for me to find a new job. It turned out my fitness club at the time (Bally's) didn't have a location near San Jose, I was working 70-hour weeks as a perm employee, and I probably stress-ate my way to record weight; I still remember the utter shock when I randomly weighed myself and found myself at 300 lbs. So most of the last 20 years I've been fighting to get back to my original range.
The next objective? The low of my 2003-2004 diet was just before going to my folk's golden anniversary, about 15 pounds more. The weight plateaued and the diet was monotonous. It's not like I went nuts on carbs, but relaxing the diet led to stealth weight gain.
I decided to return to Nutrisystem for a while. I was shocked when I discovered the default option included frozen foods; I have problem getting my apartment managers to replace a broken refrigerator. I think Nutrisystem had been floating the idea of frozen food around the time I had left. Anyway I called and got my order switched to a more economical shelf-stable "core" system. One of the reasons I decided to go back was given my refrigerator issues I had basically gone to shelf-stable already.
Where I had gone over that specified range was when I accepted my "job offer extortion" from California, a big mistake. I had been happily commuting from Chicago on weekends for over 3 months when my client boss told me either I accept his job offer or I don't come back Monday as I was getting to head back to SFO. I've always hated California, bur I hated being unemployed more, and I wasn't in the market. God knows how long it would have taken for me to find a new job. It turned out my fitness club at the time (Bally's) didn't have a location near San Jose, I was working 70-hour weeks as a perm employee, and I probably stress-ate my way to record weight; I still remember the utter shock when I randomly weighed myself and found myself at 300 lbs. So most of the last 20 years I've been fighting to get back to my original range.
The next objective? The low of my 2003-2004 diet was just before going to my folk's golden anniversary, about 15 pounds more. The weight plateaued and the diet was monotonous. It's not like I went nuts on carbs, but relaxing the diet led to stealth weight gain.
I decided to return to Nutrisystem for a while. I was shocked when I discovered the default option included frozen foods; I have problem getting my apartment managers to replace a broken refrigerator. I think Nutrisystem had been floating the idea of frozen food around the time I had left. Anyway I called and got my order switched to a more economical shelf-stable "core" system. One of the reasons I decided to go back was given my refrigerator issues I had basically gone to shelf-stable already.
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Still maintaining my weight loss
It's been some time since my last post; the good news is that I'm still pretty much near my multi-year low; in fact, there has been exasperating vacillation. When I had eye surgery in early May, I weighed 20 pounds over this morning's weigh-in. In part, I'm back to doing the protein bar thing since my return to work, but that 20 pounds was mostly, if not all, temporary water gain, not a rebound weight gain. I had to do another weigh-in as my doctor seemed to balk at extending my 3 prescriptions without more blood tests. They had replaced the traditional physician scale (you know, where you manual raise or drop notches and then adjust the amount between notches until the scale balances) with an oversize digital type that seems to take 40 seconds to warm up. This one resulted in a weight about 3 lbs more than my weight-in this morning.
I shattered my last home Taylor scale (mostly glass) and being cheap, replaced it with an old-fashioned scale which is hard to read. So I recently bought a Taylor digital scale replacement. The only issue with the Taylor scale is that it is highly sensitive to placement. I normally weigh in in the hallway, but it seemed to indicate I dropped 15 pounds out of sync with the manual scale. So I put it on my kitchen floor (more level) and got an expected weight. It always annoyed me in the past because if I merely bumped into the scale in the hallway, it would throw off the scale validity--did I really lose 5 pounds or is the scale out of balance?
Still, I'm worried I'm not drinking enough during these hot summer months (in which case weight loss is somewhat misleading and may indicate poor health). In part, I've had an issue with my apartment refrigerator, and my landlord has not replaced it. My freezer is somewhat functional, but I haven't had a cold drink for months, nor salads, etc. I'm close to buying a compact refrigerator.
I have since the surgery relied more on shelf-stable (e.g., Hormel Compleats (e.g., turkey or chicken breast, meatloaf, etc.) entrees), canned meat/fish, canned soup/chili, etc. I think I've kept carbs in check, although no doubt I should be worried about sodium, processed meat, etc.
I may soon reinstate my Nutrisystem subscription, if I'm going to resort to eating shelf-stable food. Nutrisystem's food items are generally healthier alternatives.
I did get involved on a food topic, introduced on a tweet from Congressman Massie. Familiar readers to my foundation political blog know I'm a libertarian. Massie was responding to a Democrat senator's reflection on a recent ICE bust of meat packing plants, suggesting legislation which provides liberalization of USDA inspection rules which make it hard for smaller farms and ranches to compete. (I'm in favor of this deregulation.) My first brother-in-law's father owns a ranch where he owns a few head of cattle. I remember visiting them early in their marriage, and my sister served a cut from "Blue Eyes".
So I remember maybe 10-15 years back my brother-in-law was looking at selling grass-fed beef and the family had set up a website, with my sister providing cooking tips for grass-fed meats, when all of a sudden things changed. He repackaged a business reselling premium steaks from presumably conventionally finished cattle. To this day my brother-in-law and sister don't talk about what happened (I think they basically shut down their new business years later, basically breaking even but no profits), but they were implying itt's almost impossible for smaller operations to comply with USDA operations. Of course, Walmart sells grass-fed roasts at just over $6/lb, and ShopRite also sells Australian ground beef for about $4/lb. Butcher Box still wants me to reinstate my monthly subscription, but it made more sense when I didn't have any options in Arizona.
I shattered my last home Taylor scale (mostly glass) and being cheap, replaced it with an old-fashioned scale which is hard to read. So I recently bought a Taylor digital scale replacement. The only issue with the Taylor scale is that it is highly sensitive to placement. I normally weigh in in the hallway, but it seemed to indicate I dropped 15 pounds out of sync with the manual scale. So I put it on my kitchen floor (more level) and got an expected weight. It always annoyed me in the past because if I merely bumped into the scale in the hallway, it would throw off the scale validity--did I really lose 5 pounds or is the scale out of balance?
Still, I'm worried I'm not drinking enough during these hot summer months (in which case weight loss is somewhat misleading and may indicate poor health). In part, I've had an issue with my apartment refrigerator, and my landlord has not replaced it. My freezer is somewhat functional, but I haven't had a cold drink for months, nor salads, etc. I'm close to buying a compact refrigerator.
I have since the surgery relied more on shelf-stable (e.g., Hormel Compleats (e.g., turkey or chicken breast, meatloaf, etc.) entrees), canned meat/fish, canned soup/chili, etc. I think I've kept carbs in check, although no doubt I should be worried about sodium, processed meat, etc.
I may soon reinstate my Nutrisystem subscription, if I'm going to resort to eating shelf-stable food. Nutrisystem's food items are generally healthier alternatives.
I did get involved on a food topic, introduced on a tweet from Congressman Massie. Familiar readers to my foundation political blog know I'm a libertarian. Massie was responding to a Democrat senator's reflection on a recent ICE bust of meat packing plants, suggesting legislation which provides liberalization of USDA inspection rules which make it hard for smaller farms and ranches to compete. (I'm in favor of this deregulation.) My first brother-in-law's father owns a ranch where he owns a few head of cattle. I remember visiting them early in their marriage, and my sister served a cut from "Blue Eyes".
So I remember maybe 10-15 years back my brother-in-law was looking at selling grass-fed beef and the family had set up a website, with my sister providing cooking tips for grass-fed meats, when all of a sudden things changed. He repackaged a business reselling premium steaks from presumably conventionally finished cattle. To this day my brother-in-law and sister don't talk about what happened (I think they basically shut down their new business years later, basically breaking even but no profits), but they were implying itt's almost impossible for smaller operations to comply with USDA operations. Of course, Walmart sells grass-fed roasts at just over $6/lb, and ShopRite also sells Australian ground beef for about $4/lb. Butcher Box still wants me to reinstate my monthly subscription, but it made more sense when I didn't have any options in Arizona.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Slow But Sure Weight Loss
It has become a ritual when I've gone on a series of office visits over the past few months--height and weight measurements. I understood the latter, although it always annoyed me I seem to weigh in about 4 or 5 more pounds than my early weight-in on my Taylor scale at home, which measures within 0.2 pounds of accuracy. Granted, I had eaten since then and was wearing clothes, a wallet, keys. On last visit, I finally weighed in 3 pounds lighter on their scales. My thyroid readings are significantly better (although still high). It's probably made a difference but not much.
I find the height measurements odd--after all, I probably stopped growing by early high school, decades ago. I know people might shrink a bit as they get older but over a follow-up visit days later? I was always a little bit sensitive about my height growing up, with my folks each 3-4 inches shorter than average. In sixth grade I remember being called a "shorty" by the tallest female student in class (actually tallest person in class), a full head taller (and inches taller than both parents). Over the next 2-3 years I grew to pass my Dad by about 2.5 inches and, of course, most women, although with a good pair of heels many are nearly as tall or taller.
Still, I don't feel all that tall. To give a minor example, I was having to wait in line to get a pass to a federal facility, just behind a fifth grade girl accompanied by her mother. (I think she needed paperwork to attend some summer camp. I overheard the mother conversing to others in line.) I was barely taller than the girl, who had a good 2 or 3 inches on her mother.
I suspect the real story is the calculated BMI measurement And every visit I get handed this paper tape ragging me over my excessive numbers. Yes, I'm very aware of my BMI numbers. They disqualified me from getting reasonably priced health insurance during the Great Recession. (I'm still about 15 pounds away from the relevant target. I haven't been able to shop normal men's clothing for years. I've shopped Internet and specialty (Big & Tall Men's) shops for years. There are some anecdotal signs of progress; I can't wear some older underwear; my one decent suit needs to be taken in, and over the holidays I ordered clothes and belts in smaller sizes--but nothing like diet pills or programs seem to promise mere days or weeks away.
I will say I got down to a new multi-year low (every new pound is another multi-year low) by about 2.5 lbs--and one subsequent informal weigh-in hinted a couple of pounds more, but basically I rebounded to basically a 4 to 5 pound range.
I find my tastes have somewhat changed over the years. I've almost never eaten at national pizza places over the past 20 years. (I have on a few occasions picked up one of those small individual pies at an airport, occasional (way back) visits to a Pizza Hut lunch buffet, or a slice or two, but almost all I have bought over the past few years have been frozen. Of course, pizza is often a staple in the IT profession (not that often--maybe 2 or 3 rimes over the last year and a half). We had one recently, and I could barely eat 2 slices--too doughy. There was a time I enjoyed pan/thick crust pizza, but I no longer do. I guess I'm just a thin-crust guy now. I sample pizza maybe once every 2 weeks or so. But even a Lean Cuisine serving will grab some 50 carbs. I'll probably go back to Atkins, about $3.50 each at WalMart. I'll probably make some other adjustments over the next few weeks, phasing out frozen burritos, nuts, etc., not to mention protein bars for work lunches.
The most interesting diet post I've recently read argued that diabetics should eat within a limited time period (like 6 hours starting around noon) fasting otherwise, that eating several small meals over a longer period actually exacerbates insulin issues. I haven't seen the data, but it's an intriguing idea and I may test it out.
I find the height measurements odd--after all, I probably stopped growing by early high school, decades ago. I know people might shrink a bit as they get older but over a follow-up visit days later? I was always a little bit sensitive about my height growing up, with my folks each 3-4 inches shorter than average. In sixth grade I remember being called a "shorty" by the tallest female student in class (actually tallest person in class), a full head taller (and inches taller than both parents). Over the next 2-3 years I grew to pass my Dad by about 2.5 inches and, of course, most women, although with a good pair of heels many are nearly as tall or taller.
Still, I don't feel all that tall. To give a minor example, I was having to wait in line to get a pass to a federal facility, just behind a fifth grade girl accompanied by her mother. (I think she needed paperwork to attend some summer camp. I overheard the mother conversing to others in line.) I was barely taller than the girl, who had a good 2 or 3 inches on her mother.
I suspect the real story is the calculated BMI measurement And every visit I get handed this paper tape ragging me over my excessive numbers. Yes, I'm very aware of my BMI numbers. They disqualified me from getting reasonably priced health insurance during the Great Recession. (I'm still about 15 pounds away from the relevant target. I haven't been able to shop normal men's clothing for years. I've shopped Internet and specialty (Big & Tall Men's) shops for years. There are some anecdotal signs of progress; I can't wear some older underwear; my one decent suit needs to be taken in, and over the holidays I ordered clothes and belts in smaller sizes--but nothing like diet pills or programs seem to promise mere days or weeks away.
I will say I got down to a new multi-year low (every new pound is another multi-year low) by about 2.5 lbs--and one subsequent informal weigh-in hinted a couple of pounds more, but basically I rebounded to basically a 4 to 5 pound range.
I find my tastes have somewhat changed over the years. I've almost never eaten at national pizza places over the past 20 years. (I have on a few occasions picked up one of those small individual pies at an airport, occasional (way back) visits to a Pizza Hut lunch buffet, or a slice or two, but almost all I have bought over the past few years have been frozen. Of course, pizza is often a staple in the IT profession (not that often--maybe 2 or 3 rimes over the last year and a half). We had one recently, and I could barely eat 2 slices--too doughy. There was a time I enjoyed pan/thick crust pizza, but I no longer do. I guess I'm just a thin-crust guy now. I sample pizza maybe once every 2 weeks or so. But even a Lean Cuisine serving will grab some 50 carbs. I'll probably go back to Atkins, about $3.50 each at WalMart. I'll probably make some other adjustments over the next few weeks, phasing out frozen burritos, nuts, etc., not to mention protein bars for work lunches.
The most interesting diet post I've recently read argued that diabetics should eat within a limited time period (like 6 hours starting around noon) fasting otherwise, that eating several small meals over a longer period actually exacerbates insulin issues. I haven't seen the data, but it's an intriguing idea and I may test it out.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Jealous of My Nephew's Success
I have a nephew who is earning his master's in meteorology at Texas A&M. He proudly announced in a recent Facebook post that over the past year he's lost something like 27 pounds (from 192 to 165). I wrote an unacknowledged lengthy response (advice, but maybe I'm subconsciously jealous of his success, his youth. No doubt his more active lifestyle--he's a member of his college's bowling team--also makes a difference.
My Mom will tell you that I was never fat as a youth growing up (I left for a residential college over 100 miles away at the age of 16). I don't really recall pigging out on college cafeteria food (which really wasn't that good), but I definitely gained more than the infamous "freshman 15". At one point, I became so alarmed at my weight gain that I sent away for a liquid protein mix; my friends intervened at that point, worried about the health risks of the diet at the time. But I have distinct memories of losing 75 pounds, which means I was well over 200 lbs when I started..
My weight continued to fluctuate, probably in the 160-175 range until I joined the Navy as a math instructor officer after getting my UT MA. I know I was in an acceptable range when I entered the Navy. The first thing I did was go to Officer Indoctrination School in Newport, RI. And the chow was fairly decent, compared to what I find elsewhere, e.g., in my Orlando assignment, with rubbery fried eggs where you might douse it with Tabasco in a search for flavor. (We junior officers generally avoided the Orlando chow hall unless it was "steak night".)
Now as a kid, I wasn't that picky about food, except for a few things I absolutely detested (and still dislike) like creamed corn, canned boneless chicken, and cold cuts. (My Mom and I can both be stubborn, and she would sometimes make me a sandwich for school that I didn't like (like in this one case some sliced sausage I think my Dad liked but I found disgusting). I was hungry, but just one bite of that sandwich nauseated me--and I tossed the remainder in the trash.) So here's the point--there was this place on base where we could order grinders (or what people call submarine sandwiches elsewhere). I remember being more of a skeptic when I joined other ensigns going there one day. I don't know if it was the crusty bread, the generous veggies (tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, etc.) and/or oil, etc., but it seemed the same sliced meats I would loathe in a plain white bread sandwich were tasty in this context. I wouldn't say I went to the shop daily during my 3 weeks or so of training, but I probably went there 3 or more times a week, sometimes on my own.
What I particularly remember about OIS was we got hit by a monster snowstorm during the last week of training, and flights out of Providence were a problem to go to our assignments, in my case Orlando. Sometimes when you're in the military, you end up dealing with unfair circumstances. For example, I was told that any delays (for reasons beyond my control) in getting to Orlando would come out of my annual leave. I remember how bad it was going out of our residential quarters to grab a bite to eat. The wind was so cold coming off the water it literally made my eyes ache. And I recall walking through unplowed, knee-deep snow to get something to eat. A normal 3-minute walk took like 20-30 minutes.
Now we did do some group exercises, like coed volleyball, and one weekend my paternal aunt from Fall River picked me up for the weekend, and I know I ate well. (In particular, there was a Chinese-American restaurant, no longer in business, where we always went when we visited; in fact, my Dad regularly bought chow mein noodles from them mail order.) But to be honest, I don't really recall myself overeating. Maybe I had put on a few pounds since my physical during the holidays.
[That is another telling example of military life. I was living in Austin at the time, and I had to take a bus to San Antonio. They would put us in a hotel overnight for an early morning physical, the expected urine drug tests, etc. So I finally got my turn with one of the physicians, apparently checking on my hearing, and found ear wax buildup obstructing his view of my eardrum. He scraped off a chunk of wax to show me, went to the other ear, found the same, threw up his hands, and told me to go home and take care of it, come back again. I thought the whole situation was absurd. It would have taken maybe 5-10 seconds to clear the other ear. Instead, the government would pay for a second trip, and I had to walk to an Austin ears, nose, throat clinic and spend $30-35 (this was several years back, a lot of money for an unemployed person with no health insurance). They had some water-jet gizmo that cleared both ears in mere seconds. The doctor couldn't figure out why one ear had more max than the other.]
Now I don't recall when they checked my weight after my arrival in Orlando, but the military is fanatical about personal appearance. I recall getting yelled at over my belt buckle not gleaming shiny enough. I had a good friend and colleague, Joe D., and we ate out a few times. So I weighed in at 193, and the military went apeshit. (Granted, 193 is definitely overweight for a guy about 5'9".) The military has its own form of fat shaming; in this case, I was ordered to attend the "fat boy program" after work (the 4 PM hour), an open-air exercise program, in full view of sailors going off work, walking by. Of course, it was humiliating. I think I was only there for 2-3 weeks, and I quickly resumed my jogging regimen I had started as a UT graduate student.
Roughly a year later I remember adding swimming at my apartment complex pool, working my weight down to 164, 34-inch waist jeans, probably the best shape of my life. This is before I started doing some weight training, particularly during my graduate studies at UH to about a decade ago. so to some extent the weight is somewhat misleading. Most people would think I weigh 20-30 lbs lower than I am. That does not mean I'm in a state of denial over my obesity. I know I have a long way to go.
So my nephew's weight loss is remarkably similar to mine (192-165) vs (193-164) at similar heights. I think he wants to drop another 15. My message to him was to keep up the good faith, not to be discouraged if his weight plateaus. I crept up from 164 to over 200 lbs, and I've rarely seen south of 200 since my UH days (mid-20s-30). I don't think I've jogged since then, although I did do cardio (bikes, steppers, etc.) at fitness centers, and I've had stationary bikes for much of my adult years (not now). My nephew didn't respond to my comment; maybe he thought I was raining on his parade.
Anyway on to other matters:
-- I actually broke to a new multi-year low this week, not by much: a half-pound, but in one post-work unofficial weigh-in, I dropped another 2 pounds from that. For the past couple of weeks I've been in a 3-lb range from the old low.
-- My favorite new dietary toy: a Dash egg cooker Amazon had priced around $15. Boiling up to a half dozen eggs is as easy as it gets; you add a small amount of water to a steaming plate below, put the egg tray on top, cover, push a button--and you get perfect boiled eggs, easy to peel, about 15 minutes later (the gizmo buzzes when it's done).
-- A few food tips:
Realgoodfoods. Some nice lower-carb frozen entrees. I found enchiladas and snack-size pizzas (roughly $3.50-5) at my local Walmart (near the gluten-free section. I thought the chicken enchiladas were tasty; I looked for them again at my last trip to Walmart. They seemed out.
Caulipower. Lots of companies (even Oprah) are promoting cauliflower-based, lower carb pizza. I found marguerita pizza at ShopRite recently (they had a store promotion for about $4/pizza). (I forget how I came across marguerita pizzas--I think it was Lean Cuisine, probably in my pre-low carb days: basically it's a meatless pizza, typically with tomato bits, cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, etc.) You definitely taste the cauliflower, which may put off pizza lovers used to traditional flour crusts, but it's a taste I could acquire. Not bad in terms of half a pizza for carbs and calories.
Quest (I've eaten their protein bars, chips and cookies) is selling its pizzas via Target. I'll probably try them when my freezer has room. It's been a while since I've been to target--I didn't even know they carried frozen foods.
Utz has a multigrain tortilla chip (quinoa, chia, etc.), about 15 net carbs, 140 calories a 1 one ounce serving. (ShopRite).
Barilla has some chickpea and lentil pastas (ShopRite). Nor low-carb at about 24 net carbs a serving but a huge improvement over other regular pastas. I haven't seen Walmart carry any, even though Sam's Club used to stock chickpea pasta at my clubs maybe 1-2 years back. ShopRite also carries Banza chickpea pastas.
ShopRite also has a paleo food vendor Birch Benders pancake mix at about 11 net carbs a 2-pancake serving. I bought a package but haven't opened it yet. It also carries no-calorie Clear Sparkling waters at about 59 cents/liter. Now Walmart's store brand diet ginger ale, cola, cream, and root beer 2-liter/quart bottles at about 62 cents a bottle. Now of course you have to be careful with artificial sweeteners; for example, my Mom's body doesn't tolerate aspartame. Some argue that the calories saved by artificial sweeteners may be offset by adverse effects on hormones, etc., involved in metabolizing the food we eat. I do use artificial sweeteners but on a limited basis. I even drink the coffee I bring to work without sweeteners or even a dash of almond milk.
I enjoy bargain-hunting at supermarkets and the strategy differs by supermarket. Let me give an example using soups which I've used as a tactic to stave off hunger by filling the stomach with more water volume. (Yes, I'm aware dietitians are critics of salt and other additives in commercial soups.) Walmart usually has lower everyday prices. I think, for example, Progresso Light varieties are about $1.58 a can, and Campbell Chunky maybe 20-30 cents more. ShopRite regularly sells these around $2.89 each. However. ShopRite often offers a special where you can buy up to say 4 cans at $1-1.67. In addition, today they were offering their deli soups at half price a container (about $2.50). I really enjoyed some lobster bisque tonight. When I looked at my cash register tape, it read $117.58--and totaled my savings (coupons, store specials, etc.) at $85.73. It would take forever to explain my opportunistic shopping, but to give a telling example, I don't buy many commercial salad dressings, but I noticed a sale on Wishbone extra-virgin olive oil red pepper dressing at 99 cents a bottle. Maybe a bag of Starbucks ground coffee is on sale for under $6.
ShopRite usually offers Australian grass-fed meats at better prices than Walmart. I sometimes can buy ground beef at as low as $3.50/lb and certain steak at under $7/lb (I didn't see any today; hopefully they're temporarily out of stock). They often offer a wider selection of seafood like clam meat, mussels, and scallops at reasonable prices. I can find sliced Gouda cheese,
My Mom will tell you that I was never fat as a youth growing up (I left for a residential college over 100 miles away at the age of 16). I don't really recall pigging out on college cafeteria food (which really wasn't that good), but I definitely gained more than the infamous "freshman 15". At one point, I became so alarmed at my weight gain that I sent away for a liquid protein mix; my friends intervened at that point, worried about the health risks of the diet at the time. But I have distinct memories of losing 75 pounds, which means I was well over 200 lbs when I started..
My weight continued to fluctuate, probably in the 160-175 range until I joined the Navy as a math instructor officer after getting my UT MA. I know I was in an acceptable range when I entered the Navy. The first thing I did was go to Officer Indoctrination School in Newport, RI. And the chow was fairly decent, compared to what I find elsewhere, e.g., in my Orlando assignment, with rubbery fried eggs where you might douse it with Tabasco in a search for flavor. (We junior officers generally avoided the Orlando chow hall unless it was "steak night".)
Now as a kid, I wasn't that picky about food, except for a few things I absolutely detested (and still dislike) like creamed corn, canned boneless chicken, and cold cuts. (My Mom and I can both be stubborn, and she would sometimes make me a sandwich for school that I didn't like (like in this one case some sliced sausage I think my Dad liked but I found disgusting). I was hungry, but just one bite of that sandwich nauseated me--and I tossed the remainder in the trash.) So here's the point--there was this place on base where we could order grinders (or what people call submarine sandwiches elsewhere). I remember being more of a skeptic when I joined other ensigns going there one day. I don't know if it was the crusty bread, the generous veggies (tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, etc.) and/or oil, etc., but it seemed the same sliced meats I would loathe in a plain white bread sandwich were tasty in this context. I wouldn't say I went to the shop daily during my 3 weeks or so of training, but I probably went there 3 or more times a week, sometimes on my own.
What I particularly remember about OIS was we got hit by a monster snowstorm during the last week of training, and flights out of Providence were a problem to go to our assignments, in my case Orlando. Sometimes when you're in the military, you end up dealing with unfair circumstances. For example, I was told that any delays (for reasons beyond my control) in getting to Orlando would come out of my annual leave. I remember how bad it was going out of our residential quarters to grab a bite to eat. The wind was so cold coming off the water it literally made my eyes ache. And I recall walking through unplowed, knee-deep snow to get something to eat. A normal 3-minute walk took like 20-30 minutes.
Now we did do some group exercises, like coed volleyball, and one weekend my paternal aunt from Fall River picked me up for the weekend, and I know I ate well. (In particular, there was a Chinese-American restaurant, no longer in business, where we always went when we visited; in fact, my Dad regularly bought chow mein noodles from them mail order.) But to be honest, I don't really recall myself overeating. Maybe I had put on a few pounds since my physical during the holidays.
[That is another telling example of military life. I was living in Austin at the time, and I had to take a bus to San Antonio. They would put us in a hotel overnight for an early morning physical, the expected urine drug tests, etc. So I finally got my turn with one of the physicians, apparently checking on my hearing, and found ear wax buildup obstructing his view of my eardrum. He scraped off a chunk of wax to show me, went to the other ear, found the same, threw up his hands, and told me to go home and take care of it, come back again. I thought the whole situation was absurd. It would have taken maybe 5-10 seconds to clear the other ear. Instead, the government would pay for a second trip, and I had to walk to an Austin ears, nose, throat clinic and spend $30-35 (this was several years back, a lot of money for an unemployed person with no health insurance). They had some water-jet gizmo that cleared both ears in mere seconds. The doctor couldn't figure out why one ear had more max than the other.]
Now I don't recall when they checked my weight after my arrival in Orlando, but the military is fanatical about personal appearance. I recall getting yelled at over my belt buckle not gleaming shiny enough. I had a good friend and colleague, Joe D., and we ate out a few times. So I weighed in at 193, and the military went apeshit. (Granted, 193 is definitely overweight for a guy about 5'9".) The military has its own form of fat shaming; in this case, I was ordered to attend the "fat boy program" after work (the 4 PM hour), an open-air exercise program, in full view of sailors going off work, walking by. Of course, it was humiliating. I think I was only there for 2-3 weeks, and I quickly resumed my jogging regimen I had started as a UT graduate student.
Roughly a year later I remember adding swimming at my apartment complex pool, working my weight down to 164, 34-inch waist jeans, probably the best shape of my life. This is before I started doing some weight training, particularly during my graduate studies at UH to about a decade ago. so to some extent the weight is somewhat misleading. Most people would think I weigh 20-30 lbs lower than I am. That does not mean I'm in a state of denial over my obesity. I know I have a long way to go.
So my nephew's weight loss is remarkably similar to mine (192-165) vs (193-164) at similar heights. I think he wants to drop another 15. My message to him was to keep up the good faith, not to be discouraged if his weight plateaus. I crept up from 164 to over 200 lbs, and I've rarely seen south of 200 since my UH days (mid-20s-30). I don't think I've jogged since then, although I did do cardio (bikes, steppers, etc.) at fitness centers, and I've had stationary bikes for much of my adult years (not now). My nephew didn't respond to my comment; maybe he thought I was raining on his parade.
Anyway on to other matters:
-- I actually broke to a new multi-year low this week, not by much: a half-pound, but in one post-work unofficial weigh-in, I dropped another 2 pounds from that. For the past couple of weeks I've been in a 3-lb range from the old low.
-- My favorite new dietary toy: a Dash egg cooker Amazon had priced around $15. Boiling up to a half dozen eggs is as easy as it gets; you add a small amount of water to a steaming plate below, put the egg tray on top, cover, push a button--and you get perfect boiled eggs, easy to peel, about 15 minutes later (the gizmo buzzes when it's done).
-- A few food tips:
Realgoodfoods. Some nice lower-carb frozen entrees. I found enchiladas and snack-size pizzas (roughly $3.50-5) at my local Walmart (near the gluten-free section. I thought the chicken enchiladas were tasty; I looked for them again at my last trip to Walmart. They seemed out.
Caulipower. Lots of companies (even Oprah) are promoting cauliflower-based, lower carb pizza. I found marguerita pizza at ShopRite recently (they had a store promotion for about $4/pizza). (I forget how I came across marguerita pizzas--I think it was Lean Cuisine, probably in my pre-low carb days: basically it's a meatless pizza, typically with tomato bits, cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, etc.) You definitely taste the cauliflower, which may put off pizza lovers used to traditional flour crusts, but it's a taste I could acquire. Not bad in terms of half a pizza for carbs and calories.
Quest (I've eaten their protein bars, chips and cookies) is selling its pizzas via Target. I'll probably try them when my freezer has room. It's been a while since I've been to target--I didn't even know they carried frozen foods.
Utz has a multigrain tortilla chip (quinoa, chia, etc.), about 15 net carbs, 140 calories a 1 one ounce serving. (ShopRite).
Barilla has some chickpea and lentil pastas (ShopRite). Nor low-carb at about 24 net carbs a serving but a huge improvement over other regular pastas. I haven't seen Walmart carry any, even though Sam's Club used to stock chickpea pasta at my clubs maybe 1-2 years back. ShopRite also carries Banza chickpea pastas.
ShopRite also has a paleo food vendor Birch Benders pancake mix at about 11 net carbs a 2-pancake serving. I bought a package but haven't opened it yet. It also carries no-calorie Clear Sparkling waters at about 59 cents/liter. Now Walmart's store brand diet ginger ale, cola, cream, and root beer 2-liter/quart bottles at about 62 cents a bottle. Now of course you have to be careful with artificial sweeteners; for example, my Mom's body doesn't tolerate aspartame. Some argue that the calories saved by artificial sweeteners may be offset by adverse effects on hormones, etc., involved in metabolizing the food we eat. I do use artificial sweeteners but on a limited basis. I even drink the coffee I bring to work without sweeteners or even a dash of almond milk.
I enjoy bargain-hunting at supermarkets and the strategy differs by supermarket. Let me give an example using soups which I've used as a tactic to stave off hunger by filling the stomach with more water volume. (Yes, I'm aware dietitians are critics of salt and other additives in commercial soups.) Walmart usually has lower everyday prices. I think, for example, Progresso Light varieties are about $1.58 a can, and Campbell Chunky maybe 20-30 cents more. ShopRite regularly sells these around $2.89 each. However. ShopRite often offers a special where you can buy up to say 4 cans at $1-1.67. In addition, today they were offering their deli soups at half price a container (about $2.50). I really enjoyed some lobster bisque tonight. When I looked at my cash register tape, it read $117.58--and totaled my savings (coupons, store specials, etc.) at $85.73. It would take forever to explain my opportunistic shopping, but to give a telling example, I don't buy many commercial salad dressings, but I noticed a sale on Wishbone extra-virgin olive oil red pepper dressing at 99 cents a bottle. Maybe a bag of Starbucks ground coffee is on sale for under $6.
ShopRite usually offers Australian grass-fed meats at better prices than Walmart. I sometimes can buy ground beef at as low as $3.50/lb and certain steak at under $7/lb (I didn't see any today; hopefully they're temporarily out of stock). They often offer a wider selection of seafood like clam meat, mussels, and scallops at reasonable prices. I can find sliced Gouda cheese,
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