New End Date

Since I've been doing so well and are ahead a schedule I've decided to change the deadline for this 10% up two weeks.

So now I have to hit 232 by Easter.

Now I just have to recover from being bad this weekend. I had a piece of cake and potato skins on Saturday and another piece of cake today (damn birthday celebrations, it was just too rude of my brother to have been born 25 years ago - just to subvert me).

Back to being good - but the cake was pretty fucking delicious. 

In Defense of Food

I just read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (he also wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma).  He says the the key to eating healthfully can be summed up in seven words. "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants". 

On the whole I quite liked it. I thought it was sensible. With the glaring exception of the anti-science mentality he seems to espouse. He blames science for developing food that is unhealthy (although in most cases they were trying to develop food to help people). It was annoying.

Otherwise, I liked what he said about trying to eat real food - not stuff that has been processed beyond all recognition. And of course I liked the bit about the plants. Plants are yummy.

Finally!

It seems like I've been trying to roll over to the 230's for the past two weeks. Today I finally did it (238.7 thank you very much) So that means I have lost over 60 pounds and only have 6 pounds until I finish this 10%. It seems I will do it well before my April 30th due date.

So things are looking up.

Good Advice

An 86 year old Japanese man struck up a conversation with me at the gym while we were working out on nearby machines.

He told me about a saying they have in Japan; Hara hachi bunme. It means to eats until you are 80% full. 

I think that is very good advice. I tried it at dinner tonight, and it worked really well. 

I'm going to keep it up.

Measuring Up

I have also been taking my measurements so can track my progress that way too. I lost the damn tape measure, so I haven't measured myself in a while.

So as of last night, I have lost 6 inches off my waist. I thought that was pretty fucking cool.

French Women Don't Get Fat

I just read French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. I had heard lost of great things about it, so I was pretty excited to read it. I must admit I was rather disappointed.  The author moved to America for a year when she was a teenager and gained about 30 pounds (she never says for sure). When she returns to France, with the help of a family doctor, she loses the weight and is set on the path of good eating and good living. 

Many of the ideas she espouses are good; eating a varied diet, drinking lots of water, treating yourself. But I was disturbed by a few things - particularly her recommendation that when you are starting out to only have leek soup for a weekend. A liquid diet, really?

Also the lifestyle and food habits she recommends are really only available to people who are well-off.  I can see her ideas working better for people who only need to lose 30 pounds - not people like me who need to lose a lot.

Although I did really make me want to go to France - but of course I already wanted to go to France.

So on the whole, I'm going to give it a 'meh'.