Day 88 - Sticking it to myself

GOALS

• Goal date:                      April 23, 2011
• Weight goal:                  198.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         117.75 inches

  Today's Weight:        210.4 

  Yesterday's Weight:    209.8 

  +Gain/-Loss:           + 0.6 

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Yesterday, I wrote: "File this in the "Maybe Someday, I'll Learn" category: Eating right before bed is not good for weight loss."

Doh!

I am feeling very much in the self-sabotage mode. Maybe, I can't handle my home-made cole slaw. Because last night, for no reason, I went nuts on the cole slaw again. Now, it is good. It is, in fact, my favorite cole slaw. Made from scratch (everything except growing the ingredients myself), it is delicious and unique.

But really - last night, I had a serving for dinner, and when dinner was over, I was completely full and satisfied. 3 hours later, I had a little more, with some beans I had prepared earlier. An hour later, I took the container out of the refrigerator and sat down in front of the tv. I distinctly remember thinking, "Put it back, now" three more times - but I didn't. And then, the whole 1-1/2 pounds of cabbage plus dressing... was gone.

Tired and bored. Deadly combination.

As Harry Nillsson said, "Gotta get back."

That's the ticket.

Here's today's chart:

... and today's food:

 Breakfast  

Spinach and eggs (2 whites, 1 whole) with "refried" lentils. Mmmm-good.

Lunch

Spring Mix greens with roast turkey and white beans in balsamic vinaigrette. 

Dinner

Dinner at Chipotle: Chicken Burrito Bowl with black beans, grilled chicken, sauteed vegetables (mostly peppers and onions), tomatoes, guacamole, and lettuce.

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Day 87

GOALS

• Goal date:                      April 23, 2011
• Weight goal:                  198.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         117.75 inches

  Today's Weight:        209.8 

  Yesterday's Weight:    210.4 

  +Gain/-Loss:           - 0.6 

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File this in the "Maybe Someday, I'll Learn" category: Eating right before bed is not good for weight loss. Even when, as in last night, it is perfectly good food, totally 'Slow-carb Diet'-approved food, it still slows, stops or, in a few cases of excess, reverses weight loss.

So, I now have a mental stop in place for late-night snacking. Also, a behavioral note: Those cravings signal that I should have gone to bed already.

Here's today's chart:

... and today's food:

 Breakfast  

Navy beans with spinach and eggs (2 whites, 1 whole) in coconut oil and topped with salsa.



Lunch

Tuna, navy beans, mayonnaise over Spring Mix greens.

Dinner

Chili with veggies (grass-fed beef, chick peas, navy beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and tomato paste, and spices, broccoli and cauliflower) and cole slaw.

Midnight Snack

Made cole slaw, ate it all. Plus a cup of lentils.

As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.



Day 86

GOALS

• Goal date:                      April 23, 2011
• Weight goal:                  198.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         117.75 inches

  Today's Weight:        210.4 

  Yesterday's Weight:    211.8 

  +Gain/-Loss:           - 1.4 

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Well, it is nice to start losing weight again. I hate it when I gain two days in a row. At least now I'm below the weight I put on this last free day. Think where I might have been if I hadn't eaten a pound-and-a-half of cabbage coated in fat (aka cole slaw)! Alright, it was all healthy fat, but still, calorie-dense, right?

What does the chart tell me? The trend line starts to form a declining (losing) line when I get back to last Saturday's weight. Only 4 pounds to go on that, 6 to this week's goal... It seems like a lot, but it really isn't, since most of it is weight put on in one free day, last Saturday. Here's that chart:

... and today's food:

 Breakfast  

Spinach, eggs (2 whites, 1 whole), black beans in coconut oil with salsa.



Lunch

Spring Mix greens with cabbage topped with ham off the bone, black beans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Mashed black beans and wild-caught salmon burger, with broccoli and cauliflower.

Late night snack (no pic)

Two hard-boiled eggs with guacamole and a navy bean salad.

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Day 85 - The day that got away.

GOALS

• Goal date:                      April 23, 2011
• Weight goal:                  198.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         117.75 inches

  Today's Weight:        211.8 

  Yesterday's Weight:    210.6 

  +Gain/-Loss:           + 4.0 

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As has happened a few times before, my weight is up after a semi-fast. In this case, I suspect two causes for this:  The first is that, although I ate a reduced number of calories, I ate it all at the same time - this was approximately two meals' worth of calories at one sitting. The second was that I, once again, got an insufficient amount of sleep - only 4 hours.

As to the first: I know that when you consume a large number of calories like that, your insulin spikes. That means that your body goes into fat storage mode. That is the reason many diets insist you 'graze' - eat your daily quota of calories in small quantities, spread evenly throughout the day. The fact that this is a very unnatural way for people to eat does not reflect on the validity of avoiding consuming large numbers of calories (regardless their source) at a sitting. So, reason number one: My break-fast meal was too large.

As for the second, I was having a great time playing last night, and stayed up later than is good for weight loss (or day-time performance). That is the price for pursuing something I love. I am unrepentent.

I am also confident that I will resume my weight loss when I start eating regularly (not like today).

This day should have been fine. I did some things I wanted to do, a little cooking after work... but I should have made dinner. Instead, I made some mayonnaise, some hard-boiled eggs, then some of my home-made cole slaw. And, by then, I was really hungry. And I ended up overeating. Nothing off-plan, just too much. Much too much. You can see the report at dinner. I didn't even check the pic of the food, and it was messed up. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

Here's the first chart for the new goal period. I know, not pretty, but I've added weight the first 2 days, so what could you expect?

... and today's food:

 Breakfast  

Let's see: Spinach, black beans, 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg. Nothing different. Wait! Fried up in macadamia nut oil! Topped with a new salsa! Bold! Very daring indeed, I must say.



Lunch

Smoked Ham off the bone with black beans and balsamic vinaigrette over Spring Mix greens.

Dinner

I took a pic, but started eating without checking, and it didn't come out. What I had was: smoked turkey and cole slaw. A lot of cole slaw. In this case, a lot means more than a pound (in fact, the whole batch that I made). And broccoli and cauliflower sauteed with onion and egg white (left over from making mayonnaise). All delicious. If I'd stopped with the portion of cole slaw I originally set out for myself, no problem with this dinner. But I didn't. Sigh.

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Day 84

GOALS

• Goal date:                      April 23, 2011
• Weight goal:                  198.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         117.75 inches

 Today's Weight:        210.6  
 Yesterday's Weight:    206.6  
 +Gain/-Loss:           + 4.0  

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This is the 84th day, the exact 12-week mark for this blog. It began Monday, January3, with an estimated weight of 243.5 and a bunch of body measurements, but no actual weight, because my scale was broken. I estimated that weight based on a (then) recent doctor's scale weight, and the assumption that I probably weighed a bit more, if anything, than that. I have since revised that weight down, to 239.6 pounds, base on getting on a scale 5 days later, January 6, to find an actual weight of 236.4 pounds.

Based on my latest measurements, here's what I achieved at the 12-week mark:

• A weight loss of 33 pounds.
• A reduction in body fat % (as measured on my admittedly not-too-accurate impedance-measuring scale) of almost 6%.
• A reduction in my chest measurement of almost 3 inches.
• A reduction in my waist of more than 5 inches
• A reduction in my hip measurement of about 4 inches.

No chart today, There's only one day of data.

As I usually do after a free day, today I ate only one meal, although, it was a large one. This is how I broke my semi-fast:

 Break-fast  

Salad with Spring Mix greens, smoked ham off the bone, black beans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Chili (grass-fed beef, mushrooms, black beans, tomatoes, spices) over a cauliflower and broccoli mix, with hemp seeds.



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Day 83 - Measurement Day, Goal Day and Free Day

GOALS

• Goal date:                    March 26, 2011
• Weight goal:                206.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:        120.9

 Today's Weight:        206.6 

 Yesterday's Weight:    208.8 

 Gain/Loss:             - 2.2 

Here are the numbers for this week's official weigh-in and measure-up:

            Last Week      Today       Difference

Weight        208.2        206.6        -1.6 lbs

Chest          41.25        40.75       -0.5"

Waist          40.25        39.5        -0.25"   

Hips           38.0         38.0        -0.0"   

Total "       119.5        118.25       -1.25"

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After another odd week, at least as regards to my daily scale weight, I have reached the end of my 4-week goal period having lost (drum roll, please...) 9.4 pounds, and 3-1/2 total inches. Yes, I'm doing the happy dance.

This marks 12 weeks since the beginning of the year, 11 weeks since my first weigh-in day. The results since 1/8:

• A weight loss of 26.2 pounds (about 32 since my 1/1 estimated weight)
• A loss of 3-1/4" around my chest
• A loss of 5" around my waist
• A loss of 3-1/2" around my hips.

Slammin'.

These results make the fact that I missed my weight goal by 1/2 a pound seem insignificant. And I've spoken before about the meaningfulness (or, more properly, meaninglessness - but I don't think that's an actual word ) of weight tracking.

Now it is time to set new goals for the final 4-week period of this initial dietary phase (I say that as if I expect the next one to be different - it won't be, except maybe for reduced expectations on weight loss. More on that, then).

• Goal date:              April 23, 2011
• Weight goal:            198.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:      117.7

If all goes well, I will break 200 around in the last week of this goal period.

Here's the story with graphics. First, my overall (weekly) weight chart:

Next, this goal period's daily chart:

Free day food:

Breakfast

Eggs with onions, peppers and hemp seed, natural pork sausage, bagel with ricotta cheese.

Lunch 

A coupla slices of Gianni's Bronx-style pizza, heavy on the peppers, and a Diet Pepsi



Dinner

The "World-famous Philly Steak Sandwich" from Limp Lizard, with cole slaw and mac and cheese. 

From the Wegman's next door to Limp Lizard, some chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons for dessert. Yes, I ate them all. On the way home after the show.

Late Night Snack (no pic)

I had some tablespoons of Naturally More almond butter.

As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.

Day 82

GOALS

• Goal date:                     March 26, 2011
• Weight goal:                 206.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         120.9 inches

 Today's Weight:        208.8 

 Yesterday's Weight:    210.4 

 +Gain/-Loss:           - 1.6 

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A big step in the right direction. I feel like I'm in one of those tv reality shows I try to like but never do: cue the melodramatic music, close focus, speak my anxiety... cut to commercial. Tomorrow's weigh-in will be the last of this 4-week period. I am not as far away from my goal as I was this time last week, but I will have to lose almost 3 pounds to make this month's goal. Doable? I did more than that last week... But it is crazy, and there's no real drama. This 4-week period, I have had to change pants-sizes. Woo-hoo! That's what I'm talking about. That's real success. And more to come, whatever tomorrow's measurements show.

Here's the chart for today:

... and today's food:

 Breakfast  

A whole egg and 2 egg whites with black beans and spinach sauteed in coconut oil and topped with salsa.



Lunch

Roast turkey on the bone with black beans and a balsamic vinaigrette over Spring Mix greens.

Dinner

Wild-caught salmon 'burger' over red beans and "not rice" - cauliflower and broccoli. The red beans are Kokomo Slim's special prep: sauteed vegetables, ham-hocks, smoked ham, Andouille and Polish sausages. And, of course, red beans.

As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.



Day 81

GOALS

• Goal date:                     March 26, 2011
• Weight goal:                 206.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         120.9 inches

 Today's Weight:        210.4 

 Yesterday's Weight:    210.4 

 +Gain/-Loss:           - 0.0 

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Somewhat predictably, eating a few handfuls of walnuts (about 300 claories worth, maybe more) right before bedtime put the kibosh on the day's weight loss. Gotta stop doing that! Also, beginning to wonder about the source of those cravings... I wonder if Slim's red beans was made with roux - that would mean I was eating flour (off-plan). Or maybe when I stay up more than 4 hours after eating (like when I eat before 7pm, like last night) I just get hungry... I'm going to have to watch that. Anyway...

I skipped breakfast today. I was rushed this morning because I had to take my car in for servicing. Plus, I just wasn't hungry; I think all those stored calories from less than 6 years ago are still sticking to me.

For years, I have been a member of the "breakfast-is-the-most-important-meal-of-the-day" club. Recently, I have been re-thinking this. The evidence support that idea focuses on the need for the body to replenish energy stores on a regular basis.

If you finish dinner by 7:30pm, and eat breakfast before 8am (I typically eat at 7:30am), then the 12-hour gap has left you nutritionally depleted, and probably functioning sub-optimally. The rest of the story is pretty interesting, though. It has been found that people who skip breakfast get irritable by mid-morning, and prone to snacking on unhealthy (sugary) foods; that they are so hungry at lunch-time they frequently make bad choices for lunch. These three things seem to be held up as the reasons behind the statistical fact that people who eat breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight. That's the case for eating breakfast. About a third of that makes perfect sense in my case. The two other parts, not so much, at least, not in my case.

Whether I eat breakfast or not, I don't make those same bad snack and lunch choices; in part, because during the work-week they aren't available to me, in part because I actually can exercise the required self-control during the day. So what happens if you're maintaining a good diet, you have good nutrition, and then skip breakfast? I couldn't find ANY data on this.

Also, my 'guide' (the chapters on weight loss in Tim Ferris' book, "The 4-hour Body" by the way) suggests that if you don't eat breakfast within an hour of waking (ideally, within a 1/2-hour) you are impeding your weight loss. I never do that. (I have my reasons, and they're pretty good ones).

In my case, I generally skip breakfast (and sometimes lunch) after a calorie surplus the day before (like after my free day, when I deliberately splurge dietarily, and consume excess calories) or when I have eaten very late in the evening. During these times, I am in no danger of running short on fuel for my morning activities and, so far, on this diet, I am never hungry.

In fact, this way of eating - feast, followed by fast - imitates the more typical style of pre-agricultural human eating - which is to say, the way people ate for hundreds of thousands (arguably, millions?) of years, the style of eating that marked the history of humans until relatively recent times. I'm just saying...

Here's the chart for today:

... and today's food:

Breakfast  

Skipped!

Lunch

 Roast turkey off the bone, lentils, and balsamic vinaigrette over  Spring Mix greens,

Dinner

Chili (grass-fed beef, black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, spice), over broccoli and cauliflower with a  hard-boiled egg,

As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.



Day 80

GOALS

• Goal date:                     March 26, 2011
• Weight goal:                 206.0 pounds
• Total Inches goal:         120.9 inches

 Today's Weight:        210.4 

 Yesterday's Weight:    211.4 

 +Gain/-Loss:           - 1.0 

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One pound in the right direction! We'll take it!

Ruminations: March 26 is the 12-week mark for the diet, and the 11th weekly weigh-in. If everything goes to plan, I will have lost approximately 37 pounds from the beginning of the diet, most of which (21 pounds) will have been lost in the last 8 weeks. But the weight is... well, let's put it this way, it is the easiest measurement to track, but not really meaningful. And tracking it every day is a bit silly. The Saturday weekly measurements are really the only meaningful ones. And even they are not the most important measure. That distinction belongs to my wardrobe. Since I started this diet, I have dropped a couple of inches in my "waist" (that's in quotes because, until my girth goes down quite a bit, I have no waist. That will come... meanwhile, my pants are worn below the line I measure my waist at). I need to buy new pants. That is the simple fact. That is success.

Today's chart:

... and today's food:

Breakfast  

Big changeup! 2 whole eggs, and 2 egg whites along with my lentils and spinach. Typically, sauteed in coconut oil and topped with salsa.



Lunch

Smoked ham off the bone and black beans marinated in balsamic vinaigrette over Spring Mix greens.

Dinner

Chili (grass-fed beef, black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, spice) over French-cut beans with some of Kokomo Slim's amazing red beans (made for red beans and rice, but wonderful without the rice).  This contains red beans, sausage of some kind, tomatoes, garlic, onions and spices, and probably a whole lot of other stuff I don't know anything about. Not shown: 1 hard-boiled egg.

Midnight Snack

OK - so this is a screwup - I ate an unknown quantity - certainly hundreds of calories worth - of walnuts right before bed. Need to go to sleep before the cravings start.

As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.