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.
Monday, August 26, 2019
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,
Saturday, December 8, 2018
A New Multi-Year Low and the Inevitable Rebound
Well, I actually hit a new low (by a couple of pounds even), probably the lowest since I had been on Nutrisystem back around 2011, only to rebound maybe 8 lbs. I've dropped a couple of inches on the waistline over the past year, but not nearly enough. I've had to go to the doctor a couple of times over the last few months, and the doctors aren't happy for a number of reasons (including blood sugar, despite a lower-carb diet). They finally did bloodwork on my thyroid (after I nagged multiple times); I got an almost frantic call from the nurse, telling me my readings were way out of control. You don't say; they took 6 vials of blood from me over the last 2 visits and they finally did the test. And this is after I specifically told them I had been taking a prescription for an underactive thyroid. I'm not crazy about the treatment because you routinely have to do a series of blood tests so they can set dosage. My late Dad and others in the family also took meds, but my dosage was like 4 times Dad's!
Now really it's my fault since I've worked nearly continuously for the last 2.5 years with company healthcare plans and so long as I was in good health, I didn't make the time to find and go to a new doctor. I knew that the thyroid issue wasn't going away, but I didn't want to go through another series of blood tests to set dosage. And I've paid a price with 2 recent infections probably the result for not taking better care of myself.
And I'm not going to excuse my obesity on a thyroid deficiency. I'm sure the slower metabolism makes it more difficult to lose weight, but I really need to step up my exercise regimen.
Nothing much on the dietary front except to note a couple of notes at Wal-Mart (at least my local one in north Maryland), both involving bread items. (I don't eat much bread, but...):
Now really it's my fault since I've worked nearly continuously for the last 2.5 years with company healthcare plans and so long as I was in good health, I didn't make the time to find and go to a new doctor. I knew that the thyroid issue wasn't going away, but I didn't want to go through another series of blood tests to set dosage. And I've paid a price with 2 recent infections probably the result for not taking better care of myself.
And I'm not going to excuse my obesity on a thyroid deficiency. I'm sure the slower metabolism makes it more difficult to lose weight, but I really need to step up my exercise regimen.
Nothing much on the dietary front except to note a couple of notes at Wal-Mart (at least my local one in north Maryland), both involving bread items. (I don't eat much bread, but...):
- Wal-Mart is FINALLY carrying Ezekiel bread (Food For Life). Probably for the lowest prices I've seen next to Trader Joe's, starting around $4.50/loaf. You'll find it in frozen foods like in many markets near frozen paleo bread, etc.
- Schmidt, a brand at least offered in the local region,in the fresh bread aisle, is carrying 647 varieties, with slices at 40 calories and 6 net (of fiber) carbs.
It's like Arnold's seems to be the only vendor selling the sandwich thins J used to prefer (or maybe it's the only brand Wal-Mart chooses to carry, priced between $2.50 (Sam's Club) to $3 for 6 thin buns. That's too pricey since you can buy loaves making 50% more sandwiches at lower or competitive prices. I'll now occasionally buy a twin pack of Pepperidge Farm 15-grain loaves at about $4.50, and I'll sometimes eat open-face sandwiches to cut down the bread.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Temporarily Revisiting Last Year's Low
"A watched pot never boils." It seems the more diligently I record my daily weight, the harder it seems to lose So more recently I skipped a series of weigh-ins, to find myself down 3-4 lbs. off my prior ongoing plateau. And then I weighed myself just before going to attend a family funeral in Massachusetts to find I had dropped back to last year's multi-year low, a similar recent drop. It had been a vicious bounce over multiple months, which ended up going up at one point over 20 pounds. And it wasn't like I was consciously overeating. I wouldn't say that that I was a spartan eater, but no radical changes in diet from when I was losing last year.
I drove up on a July Friday, roughly a 360 mile drive away up I-95 until Providence where I split off a loop that connects to Fall River (my destination), and I returned after a post-funeral luncheon on Saturday. I don't like to drink too much coffee or soda on my drives because of rest stops along the way. Friday night we had a family reunion at a favorite local restaurant (not that I had visited my folks' birth place all that often, especially since my military nuclear family stayed briefly with my grandfather while I was in sixth grade, maybe a half-dozen visits since then. I have a fondness for the cultural signature claim boils. (My granduncle, my grocer grandfather's partner/butcher, made the tastiest sausage links I've ever tasted, unlike any I've ever had since then.) A clam boil special was on the restaurant specials, and I think everyone (my mom, 6 siblings and myself) ordered it. Not as good as the ones I remember as a kid (my Dad was stationed at relatively nearby Otis on the cape from the time I was a Texas newborn to early primary school), but a rare treat. If I stayed longer, no doubt some lobster; when I've been at Shoprite lately, I've seen them promoting their live lobsters at roughly $7/lb., which is an amazing value. Oddly enough, for all the time I've spent in the Baltimore area since 2004, I haven't had the crabs.
I probably needed more refreshments (I did buy a couple of soft drinks on the way home) driving back on a hot Saturday afternoon through stop-and-go driving through Connecticut and NYC, but I was still stunned to find an interim weigh-in shortly after getting home to find myself at a point 2.5 pounds below the Friday weigh-in, but maybe as a result of a late dinner and lots of ice tea, I reverted back over the bottom.
I had a wound that opened while I was in Fall River, and I had to go to a local clinic to get some antibiotics prescribed. I ended up making two follow-up appointments (during a period of Sunday through Friday). It always annoys me how the weigh-ins at a doctor's office seem to be a few pounds over my morning weigh-ins: really, are clothes and shoes, or a modest breakfast/lunch really adding 4-6 lbs? But here's the real point: even though the doctor scale had me at 4 lbs. over my low. 2 days later on the same scale, my weight had gone up another 7 lbs! Maybe I should have been relieved that my Friday weigh-in was the same as my Tuesday one!
The important thing is consistency on weigh-ins of the same type. So that 7-lb. surge also seemed to transfer to my morning weigh-ins. And so while my weigh-ins were 3-4 pounds less than at the clinic, it seemed like for most of the last 3 weeks I plateaued at the higher rate, roughly 7-8 lbs. over the low. It looks like I'm finally whooshing back down, to maybe 1.5 lbs. over that low in an informal weigh-in after a hot drive home from Sam's Club on a flex day off. So I'm hopeful I'll be back at the low next week.
Some new favorites at Sam's Club. I love these Lipton's gallon ice-tea bags. It's like I run a cycle in my 5-cup coffeemaker, and fill the rest of my gallon pitcher with a small handful of stevia to sweeten. I'll usually stock up on KerryGold butter and cheeses. I wanted to replenish my sliced gouda slices I put on my grass-fed burgers; I don't know if it's discontinued, but I decided on baby swiss as an alternative. (The sliced cheeses aren't grass-fed, but I'll often use grass-fed with my omelettes.) I haven't seen cheap blueberries this summer, but currently you can buy a 2 lb. carton for just over $4. And I bought my first carton of fresh raspberries in a while, not cheap but reasonable. I've added watermelon to this summer's fruits. I like the fresh cilantro salsa; a current breakfast favorite is a 2-egg omelette with cheese, pepper strips and mushrooms, folded into a lower-carb tortilla and topped with fresh salsa. Buying a $5 rotisserie chicken is a no-brainer, as are sub $2/lb boneless chicken breasts. I'll sometimes add a bag of quinoa chips, and I'll usually stock up on nuts (almonds, walnuts, and pistachio nuts, mixed nut jars).
Around last-year's low, I bought, via the Internet, black and grey dress jeans at a daring 4-inch smaller waist size than my regular pants and jeans (along with smaller belt sizes. I was too demoralized to even open my purchase bag after the monster bounce. I recently tried on the black jeans--a bit snug, especially when I sit, but wearable. I probably want to lose another 5-10 lbs.
Even my mom noticed that my suit coat that I bought I think around 2003 looked big on me, at my uncle's funeral. So at least I'm making progress, but I need to drop another 20 lbs to get into the weight range I had during the 1980's and 1990's.
I drove up on a July Friday, roughly a 360 mile drive away up I-95 until Providence where I split off a loop that connects to Fall River (my destination), and I returned after a post-funeral luncheon on Saturday. I don't like to drink too much coffee or soda on my drives because of rest stops along the way. Friday night we had a family reunion at a favorite local restaurant (not that I had visited my folks' birth place all that often, especially since my military nuclear family stayed briefly with my grandfather while I was in sixth grade, maybe a half-dozen visits since then. I have a fondness for the cultural signature claim boils. (My granduncle, my grocer grandfather's partner/butcher, made the tastiest sausage links I've ever tasted, unlike any I've ever had since then.) A clam boil special was on the restaurant specials, and I think everyone (my mom, 6 siblings and myself) ordered it. Not as good as the ones I remember as a kid (my Dad was stationed at relatively nearby Otis on the cape from the time I was a Texas newborn to early primary school), but a rare treat. If I stayed longer, no doubt some lobster; when I've been at Shoprite lately, I've seen them promoting their live lobsters at roughly $7/lb., which is an amazing value. Oddly enough, for all the time I've spent in the Baltimore area since 2004, I haven't had the crabs.
I probably needed more refreshments (I did buy a couple of soft drinks on the way home) driving back on a hot Saturday afternoon through stop-and-go driving through Connecticut and NYC, but I was still stunned to find an interim weigh-in shortly after getting home to find myself at a point 2.5 pounds below the Friday weigh-in, but maybe as a result of a late dinner and lots of ice tea, I reverted back over the bottom.
I had a wound that opened while I was in Fall River, and I had to go to a local clinic to get some antibiotics prescribed. I ended up making two follow-up appointments (during a period of Sunday through Friday). It always annoys me how the weigh-ins at a doctor's office seem to be a few pounds over my morning weigh-ins: really, are clothes and shoes, or a modest breakfast/lunch really adding 4-6 lbs? But here's the real point: even though the doctor scale had me at 4 lbs. over my low. 2 days later on the same scale, my weight had gone up another 7 lbs! Maybe I should have been relieved that my Friday weigh-in was the same as my Tuesday one!
The important thing is consistency on weigh-ins of the same type. So that 7-lb. surge also seemed to transfer to my morning weigh-ins. And so while my weigh-ins were 3-4 pounds less than at the clinic, it seemed like for most of the last 3 weeks I plateaued at the higher rate, roughly 7-8 lbs. over the low. It looks like I'm finally whooshing back down, to maybe 1.5 lbs. over that low in an informal weigh-in after a hot drive home from Sam's Club on a flex day off. So I'm hopeful I'll be back at the low next week.
Some new favorites at Sam's Club. I love these Lipton's gallon ice-tea bags. It's like I run a cycle in my 5-cup coffeemaker, and fill the rest of my gallon pitcher with a small handful of stevia to sweeten. I'll usually stock up on KerryGold butter and cheeses. I wanted to replenish my sliced gouda slices I put on my grass-fed burgers; I don't know if it's discontinued, but I decided on baby swiss as an alternative. (The sliced cheeses aren't grass-fed, but I'll often use grass-fed with my omelettes.) I haven't seen cheap blueberries this summer, but currently you can buy a 2 lb. carton for just over $4. And I bought my first carton of fresh raspberries in a while, not cheap but reasonable. I've added watermelon to this summer's fruits. I like the fresh cilantro salsa; a current breakfast favorite is a 2-egg omelette with cheese, pepper strips and mushrooms, folded into a lower-carb tortilla and topped with fresh salsa. Buying a $5 rotisserie chicken is a no-brainer, as are sub $2/lb boneless chicken breasts. I'll sometimes add a bag of quinoa chips, and I'll usually stock up on nuts (almonds, walnuts, and pistachio nuts, mixed nut jars).
Around last-year's low, I bought, via the Internet, black and grey dress jeans at a daring 4-inch smaller waist size than my regular pants and jeans (along with smaller belt sizes. I was too demoralized to even open my purchase bag after the monster bounce. I recently tried on the black jeans--a bit snug, especially when I sit, but wearable. I probably want to lose another 5-10 lbs.
Even my mom noticed that my suit coat that I bought I think around 2003 looked big on me, at my uncle's funeral. So at least I'm making progress, but I need to drop another 20 lbs to get into the weight range I had during the 1980's and 1990's.
Sunday, April 22, 2018
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:
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.
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