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.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
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.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Back to Trader Joe's
The weight gain spike continues to hold. I need to cut back on nuts, I think, and I really need to get back on a sustained exercise regimen.
I made a second trip to Weis and my first trip to a Trader Joe's probably in at least 4 years (no outlets in WV, SC, and AZ). First, I stocked up at Weis on grass-fed beef, and some venison and bison. I didn't find much on Weis' sources for grass-fed beef, but the some packages of bison and venison had labels I could search on. The bison steak (medallions) came from Great Range Bison, and venison bore a Durham Ranch brands. One thing I noticed about (American) bison from both brand: grass-raised but grain-finished. I'm not happy about grain-finished--that implies they are fattened up for slaughter, and the Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio is likely not as optimal, although I'm not sure the nature and extent; I would suspect it depends on the duration of the grain cycle. The venison was sourced from New Zealand (I hate to make generalizations, but I believe Australian and New Zealand meat is grass-fed and grass-finished. I know Butcher Box emphasizes its beef products are grass-finished.) I was mildly surprised that deer or elk were sourced from down under; I can remember when I worked in WV, there is an abundant deer population that has been known to reach the local interstate, and one proud papa showed off his 9-year-old daughter's first kill. I don't recall when I bought my first venison; I probably found it at a Trader Joe's, although I haven't found it in more recent trips. My boss in late 2004 was a strident Maryland Democrat, so unhappy over Bush's reelection that he went out and shot a deer. The smell of venison stew from his crock pot filled our office suite (although I didn't really sample it). I like to diversify my meat sources.
I know I've discussed Trader Joe's in past posts. I first discovered it (and other California signature businesses like the infamous In 'N Out Burgers) when I worked for Oracle on an Oakland project in 1998 and when I moved to California (for about 18 months) in late 1999 (not my idea: it's what I call the job offer by extortion: I had been commuting on a subcontract to Santa Clara; as I was preparing to leave for the airport back to Chicago, my client boss told me not to come back Monday unless I took his offer. I didn't think I could under the no-compete terms of my subcontract.)
I remember my first impression of going to Trader Joe's, seeing aging, silver-haired hippies exit the store. I've been in a few natural food stores before, and to be honest, never cared for those (I only went to those, e.g., to buy Ezekiel/Food For Life products.) I went a few times to a Whole Foods store within walking distance of where I worked for client USPTO in Alexandra back in 2009-2010, mostly with friends for some pricey lunch deals. I hate to make sweeping generalizations but Trader Joe's strike me as somewhere between a natural food/health store and an upscale Whole Foods. Trader Joe's mostly sells price-competitive private-label merchandise, with a few name brand foods in the mix. For example, I can buy Ezekiel bread for about $6 a loaf at Weis and around $4.50 at Trader Joe's. And its private-label merchandise is priced attractively; for instance, I can usually find one sandwich thin brand going about $2.50/package at WalMart, and Trader Joe's sells its packages for the same price.
I ended up spending about $200. There are a few things I particularly look for at Trader Joe's: an extensive selection of nuts and nut butters; meats and seafood; the bread selection; dark chocolate (I remember fondly barrels of dark chocolate pieces wrapped in cellophane; I didn't see those last week, but they have an extensive selection of dark chocolate/combination items, including very reasonably priced 1-lb. Belgian dark chocolate bars); various sauces (hot, BBQ, curry, etc.) They do have an excellent organic produce section, although I go there more for their high-quality branded items; almost any supermarket has a decent produce section. They do supply some sturdy grocery bags/double-bags with handles which one can easily appreciate given flimsy plastic bags elsewhere.
Although I did broadly hint at my shopping list in the last paragraph, here is a more specific listing (which is abridged, although I think it's fairly comprehensive):
I will say that I am annoyed I didn't find much about the sources of the meats, although I believe the lamb is sourced from New Zealand which is generally pasture-raised and finished. Generally the first few listed things ran at about $10 package or pound. Ground beef bricks (across retailers) tend to be $6-8/lb.
A couple of side notes:
I made a second trip to Weis and my first trip to a Trader Joe's probably in at least 4 years (no outlets in WV, SC, and AZ). First, I stocked up at Weis on grass-fed beef, and some venison and bison. I didn't find much on Weis' sources for grass-fed beef, but the some packages of bison and venison had labels I could search on. The bison steak (medallions) came from Great Range Bison, and venison bore a Durham Ranch brands. One thing I noticed about (American) bison from both brand: grass-raised but grain-finished. I'm not happy about grain-finished--that implies they are fattened up for slaughter, and the Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio is likely not as optimal, although I'm not sure the nature and extent; I would suspect it depends on the duration of the grain cycle. The venison was sourced from New Zealand (I hate to make generalizations, but I believe Australian and New Zealand meat is grass-fed and grass-finished. I know Butcher Box emphasizes its beef products are grass-finished.) I was mildly surprised that deer or elk were sourced from down under; I can remember when I worked in WV, there is an abundant deer population that has been known to reach the local interstate, and one proud papa showed off his 9-year-old daughter's first kill. I don't recall when I bought my first venison; I probably found it at a Trader Joe's, although I haven't found it in more recent trips. My boss in late 2004 was a strident Maryland Democrat, so unhappy over Bush's reelection that he went out and shot a deer. The smell of venison stew from his crock pot filled our office suite (although I didn't really sample it). I like to diversify my meat sources.
I know I've discussed Trader Joe's in past posts. I first discovered it (and other California signature businesses like the infamous In 'N Out Burgers) when I worked for Oracle on an Oakland project in 1998 and when I moved to California (for about 18 months) in late 1999 (not my idea: it's what I call the job offer by extortion: I had been commuting on a subcontract to Santa Clara; as I was preparing to leave for the airport back to Chicago, my client boss told me not to come back Monday unless I took his offer. I didn't think I could under the no-compete terms of my subcontract.)
I remember my first impression of going to Trader Joe's, seeing aging, silver-haired hippies exit the store. I've been in a few natural food stores before, and to be honest, never cared for those (I only went to those, e.g., to buy Ezekiel/Food For Life products.) I went a few times to a Whole Foods store within walking distance of where I worked for client USPTO in Alexandra back in 2009-2010, mostly with friends for some pricey lunch deals. I hate to make sweeping generalizations but Trader Joe's strike me as somewhere between a natural food/health store and an upscale Whole Foods. Trader Joe's mostly sells price-competitive private-label merchandise, with a few name brand foods in the mix. For example, I can buy Ezekiel bread for about $6 a loaf at Weis and around $4.50 at Trader Joe's. And its private-label merchandise is priced attractively; for instance, I can usually find one sandwich thin brand going about $2.50/package at WalMart, and Trader Joe's sells its packages for the same price.
I ended up spending about $200. There are a few things I particularly look for at Trader Joe's: an extensive selection of nuts and nut butters; meats and seafood; the bread selection; dark chocolate (I remember fondly barrels of dark chocolate pieces wrapped in cellophane; I didn't see those last week, but they have an extensive selection of dark chocolate/combination items, including very reasonably priced 1-lb. Belgian dark chocolate bars); various sauces (hot, BBQ, curry, etc.) They do have an excellent organic produce section, although I go there more for their high-quality branded items; almost any supermarket has a decent produce section. They do supply some sturdy grocery bags/double-bags with handles which one can easily appreciate given flimsy plastic bags elsewhere.
Although I did broadly hint at my shopping list in the last paragraph, here is a more specific listing (which is abridged, although I think it's fairly comprehensive):
- meat and seafood: seasoned rack of lamb; 2 pounds of ground (1/3 lb) buffalo patties; a pound of wild-caught sockeye salmon; a grass-fed ground beef brick; multiple tins of branded sardines, uncured bacon
- dark chocolate: power berries (2), chocolate almonds (2), mega-bars of dark chocolate (4)
- breads: Food for Life Ezekiel bread (2), flatbreads, lavashes (2), and sandwich thins (2)
- seeds and nuts: sunflower (2), macadamia (2)
- sauces and condiments: various flavors of BBQ sauce (4); spicy mustard; Sriracha ranch dressing (2); hot sauces (2) and curry sauce (2), free-range chicken broth
I will say that I am annoyed I didn't find much about the sources of the meats, although I believe the lamb is sourced from New Zealand which is generally pasture-raised and finished. Generally the first few listed things ran at about $10 package or pound. Ground beef bricks (across retailers) tend to be $6-8/lb.
A couple of side notes:
- If you haven't noticed, there is a glut on the market of eggs. WSJ and others have pointed out the average price per dozen is down to about $1.33. (I've even seen occasional bargains at 39 to 49 cents a carton.) At these prices, eggs are a no-brainer (including the highly nutritious yolk) for superior nutrition at a low price. I like to scramble a couple, add some sliced onions, mushrooms, and peppers (maybe some ham if I have leftover), toss in some cheese, put in the microwave for 2.5 minutes (your mileage may vary; I have a cheap, small microwave), put onto a large whole wheat tortilla (optional) and cover with salsa. Eatthis, one of my favorite nutritional sources, has pointed out the hype on brown vs. white eggs; basically, brown eggs cost more because they are laid by larger birds which are more expensive to keep. (Incidentally Eatthis did a critical piece on Trader Joe's here; among other things, yup, they don't like the buffalo burgers because of the fat content. (Ask me if I care; I cook my burgers on a Foreman grill with a drip tray.)
- As you may know from my signature political blog, I have an aversion to political correctness, and this extends to various fads, including the anti-GMO movement, organics, gluten-free, free range and other assorted distinctions. I realize some readers may feel the same thing about my focus on grass-fed/finished meats, but I assure you I can taste the differences (and I've been intentionally focused on more Omega-3's in my diet, particularly in their more natural food form (e.g., oily fish)), although I will occasionally buy leaner ("loin") conventional steaks. There are obvious exceptions, and if you have certain rare allergies or medical conditions where you have been instructed to avoid certain foods, I don't intend to suggest abandoning professional advice based on specific knowledge of your health. But, for instance, minor nutritional variances can be offset by changes in your diet. I'm not willing to pay twice the price for produce because of minor alleged nutritional improvements (keep in mind there is also a trade-off in nutritional decay from the point of harvest). Trader Joe's was particularly promoting Angus beef. This distinction is largely marketing hype. Angus is more of a common breed of American cattle, not some genetically, nutritionally superior super-breed.
Sunday, July 9, 2017
The Super Spike Continues
I had started an unpublished post at the end of April, a month after my last post:
And eating during a 2700-mile move with a U-Haul towing my car tends to be difficult--usually I ate at a gas convenience store or adjoining fast feed place for lunch and maybe a diner or fast food place near a hotel for the night. (I did eat some protein cookies I had brought in the truck cab for dinner in a WV hotel stay.) The "free breakfasts" at hotels were mostly a joke; the closest I had to a hot breakfast was a buffet pan of dried out cheese omelettes and bland sausages. Most of the time it was like the ubiquitous packaged blueberry or banana nut muffins. Why not go through a drive-through? It's almost impossible to thread a truck towing a car through many of these things. You have to find ways of turnarounds with right angles. Maybe shopping centers with lots of empty parking. I remember stopping at my first hotel, not sure if there was a path around the back of the hotel.
I'm now getting back to more of a routine and will likely publish on a more frequent basis (of course, I maintain a daily publication schedule on my flagship political blog).
I do have some notes on my core diet options. Butcher Box has rolled out a new custom option since I suspended my account about 3 months back. But returning to the Maryland area has resulted in some updated options, although I live in a smaller town not big enough for a Sam's Club and the nearest one is about a 30-minute drive away. It appears there are some nuanced offerings between the current and last Sam's Club, e.g., they don't carry some of the cheeses and grass-fed offerings in my current one. (My AZ one also carried ground lamb and grass-fed ground beef.) I usually end up buying a (grass-fed) boneless leg of lamb for $20-30 every other visit. Neither carried sandwich thins ( for God knows what reason) which I had been buying for years.
I have discovered more grass-fed options at my local vs. AZ WalMart, including steaks and roasts. One day I even found the grass-fed burger packs on sale for about 1/3 off--still far more expensive than conventional grain-finished beef. I also visited the Weis supermarket chain (there was one near where I went to MVA to revert to my MD drivers license, auto tags, etc.) I also found them stocking a variety of grass-fed meats at competitive prices--including venison (listed as $10/lb ground--I found some discounted packages). I like to vary my meat sources; I recall buying ostrich and buffalo at BJ's in the past. One of the reasons I went to Weis is that Food for Life listed them as a local vendor of their sprouted grain products. (Just like when Safeway stocked it, I found a few loaves stored near other, e.g., gluten-free bread in frozen foods.) Given the current options at Weis and WalMart, I may defer resuming my ButcherBox subscription.
I have yet to return to Trader Joe's for the first time in nearly 4 years, maybe a 40-minute drive away.
Not to promote WalMart (I get no incentive of any kind from any vendor I've mentioned in my blog, also ncluding Amazon, Netrition, Vitacost, etc.; I spend my own money across a number of vendors) But after doing a search on Food For Life's Ezekiel bread, I noticed browser ads for jet.com, a relatively recent WalMart acquisition. If you do a search on the website, you'll find that they do carry grass-fed meats and Food for Life products (shipped frozen) for a flat $5 or so handling charge and shipment is purportedly free for orders at least $35. (This is similar to how Netrition handles some low-carb bread loaves.) Now granted the loaves aren't cheap (you should expect something in the $5-8/loaf), but I recall Amazon and/or its partners were also adding shipping charges nearly doubling the cost. I haven't tried jet.com yet, so I can't vouch for them, but I'll probably try them over the next couple of months. (Usually ground beef ranges $5-8/lb., roasts about $7.50/lb., cheaper cuts like stew meat about $10-12, and steaks $12-24/lb., depending on the cut.)
I've occasionally encountered the super-spike; I think about a year or 2 back I got a 12-lb or so surge that literally took weeks to drop, almost as if I had to lose the same weight a second time. I feared the same would happen again when in my last post I noted a quick 6-point bounceback, and that extended in the days that followed up to 12-15 pounds. Since then I've slowly lost back to the 10-12 lb. level, which means basically 10 points net gain over the past month.I'm currently cycling between 15-20 pounds over my annual low. A lot has happened over the past 3-4 months, including changing jobs and relocating across the country. I've been fairly lax over watching the diet, including eating some frozen burritos and pizza. (I even did the ultimate cheat--I bought a pint of Blue Bell Cookies and Creme ice cream--I discovered by accident that my WalMart in Yuma was selling Blue Bell, a legendary Texas-based ice cream as I passed an aisle end display case and caught out of the corner of my eye. I probably hadn't had Blue Bell in 8 years.) I suspended my ButcherBox subscription, mostly because of uncertainty over the timing of my move. (I had a lot of grass-fed meat in my freezer back in Arizona but finished it off.) I usually don't keep to a diet during stressful circumstances during my job changes.
And eating during a 2700-mile move with a U-Haul towing my car tends to be difficult--usually I ate at a gas convenience store or adjoining fast feed place for lunch and maybe a diner or fast food place near a hotel for the night. (I did eat some protein cookies I had brought in the truck cab for dinner in a WV hotel stay.) The "free breakfasts" at hotels were mostly a joke; the closest I had to a hot breakfast was a buffet pan of dried out cheese omelettes and bland sausages. Most of the time it was like the ubiquitous packaged blueberry or banana nut muffins. Why not go through a drive-through? It's almost impossible to thread a truck towing a car through many of these things. You have to find ways of turnarounds with right angles. Maybe shopping centers with lots of empty parking. I remember stopping at my first hotel, not sure if there was a path around the back of the hotel.
I'm now getting back to more of a routine and will likely publish on a more frequent basis (of course, I maintain a daily publication schedule on my flagship political blog).
I do have some notes on my core diet options. Butcher Box has rolled out a new custom option since I suspended my account about 3 months back. But returning to the Maryland area has resulted in some updated options, although I live in a smaller town not big enough for a Sam's Club and the nearest one is about a 30-minute drive away. It appears there are some nuanced offerings between the current and last Sam's Club, e.g., they don't carry some of the cheeses and grass-fed offerings in my current one. (My AZ one also carried ground lamb and grass-fed ground beef.) I usually end up buying a (grass-fed) boneless leg of lamb for $20-30 every other visit. Neither carried sandwich thins ( for God knows what reason) which I had been buying for years.
I have discovered more grass-fed options at my local vs. AZ WalMart, including steaks and roasts. One day I even found the grass-fed burger packs on sale for about 1/3 off--still far more expensive than conventional grain-finished beef. I also visited the Weis supermarket chain (there was one near where I went to MVA to revert to my MD drivers license, auto tags, etc.) I also found them stocking a variety of grass-fed meats at competitive prices--including venison (listed as $10/lb ground--I found some discounted packages). I like to vary my meat sources; I recall buying ostrich and buffalo at BJ's in the past. One of the reasons I went to Weis is that Food for Life listed them as a local vendor of their sprouted grain products. (Just like when Safeway stocked it, I found a few loaves stored near other, e.g., gluten-free bread in frozen foods.) Given the current options at Weis and WalMart, I may defer resuming my ButcherBox subscription.
I have yet to return to Trader Joe's for the first time in nearly 4 years, maybe a 40-minute drive away.
Not to promote WalMart (I get no incentive of any kind from any vendor I've mentioned in my blog, also ncluding Amazon, Netrition, Vitacost, etc.; I spend my own money across a number of vendors) But after doing a search on Food For Life's Ezekiel bread, I noticed browser ads for jet.com, a relatively recent WalMart acquisition. If you do a search on the website, you'll find that they do carry grass-fed meats and Food for Life products (shipped frozen) for a flat $5 or so handling charge and shipment is purportedly free for orders at least $35. (This is similar to how Netrition handles some low-carb bread loaves.) Now granted the loaves aren't cheap (you should expect something in the $5-8/loaf), but I recall Amazon and/or its partners were also adding shipping charges nearly doubling the cost. I haven't tried jet.com yet, so I can't vouch for them, but I'll probably try them over the next couple of months. (Usually ground beef ranges $5-8/lb., roasts about $7.50/lb., cheaper cuts like stew meat about $10-12, and steaks $12-24/lb., depending on the cut.)
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