Goal Result

It was my goal to hit 179 by Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, I only got to 187. However, I decided that I didn't want to maintain until after Lent anyway. I decided to give up eating out. I love to eat out, but I realize that restaurant food is always going to be more caloric and have bigger portions that what I would make it at home. So my new and improved goal is to hit 174 by Easter. That also means that I will be maintaining during my trip to Europe - which is a big perk.

If you have a half an hour I would recommend watching this talk by Jamie Oliver (and by talk I mean rant)

He's not very articulate, but he is very passionate. He also has the advantage of being right.

Water

I was recently asked, "I heard a teacher that I work with say the you couldn't (sic) drink water with your meals. She said that it causes the fat in your food to stay in your body. She said that you should drink a glass of water 1/2 hour before and after meals to flush out the fat. Is this as crazy as it sounds?????"

I say, listen to your bullshit detector when it goes off, it's probably right.

The Mayo Clinic says, "There's no concern that water will dilute the digestive juices or interfere with digestion. In fact, drinking water during or after a meal can actually improve digestion. Water and other liquids help break down the food in your stomach and keep your digestive system on track."

In my opinion, this is just another trick people use try to avoid doing real weight loss. Real weight loss is hard. You have to work at it. Rearrange how you are drinking your water is something to do if you feel guilty about not changing your calorie intake.

That is different from using water as a tool. Many people will try and drink a glass of water before a meal to make them feel fuller and so they eat fewer calories. Ta da! You're on the road to weight loss. Otherwise you're tricking yourself into believing that you can eat a higher calorie diet and still lose weight.

However, there is also a lot of misinformation about how much water a person should drink. I know we've all heard the 8 x 8 number (Eight 8-oz glasses). That is not true. I found the best explanation of the misinformation in Scienceagogo.com (love the name)

I copied the pertinent passage:

"The 8 x 8 rule is slavishly followed. Everywhere, people carry bottles of water, constantly sipping from them; it is acceptable to drink water anywhere, anytime. A pamphlet distributed at one southern California university even counsels its students to "carry a water bottle with you. Drink often while sitting in class..."

How did the obsession start? Is there any scientific evidence that supports the recommendation? Does the habit promote good health? Might it be harmful?

Valtin thinks the notion may have started when the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council recommended approximately "1 milliliter of water for each calorie of food," which would amount to roughly two to two-and-a-half quarts per day (64 to 80 ounces). Although in its next sentence, the Board stated "most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods," that last sentence may have been missed, so that the recommendation was erroneously interpreted as how much water one should drink each day."

The bottom line is to drink when you're thirsty, preferably water.

It's Toasted!

I've heard a lot about Taco Bell's new commercial about how you can lose weight on the "Drive-Thru Diet". That sound you hear in the distance is my brain exploding. Not having seen them I decided to check out them out on the ol' Internet. (What did we do as a species before YouTube?)

In the spirit of full disclosure I feel I should mention that I worked at Taco Bell for about three years right out of high school. I don't have any animosity about my time there. I learned a lot and enjoyed many aspects of the job. Really. Even before I started my weight loss I rarely ate at fast food places, but that is the subject of another post.

If you don't get the reference of the "It's Toasted" title, it is from the first episode of Mad Men. (What aren't you watching Mad Men!?!). In it the ad team is stymied on how they can market cigarettes with the new medical findings about the health impact of cigarettes. Their clients cigarettes are just as unhealthy as their competitors - and legally can't claim otherwise. Don has one of his flashes of brilliance and realizes that although they can't make any unique claims - they can capitalize on saying something all of the their competitors say. Hence they claim their tobacco is toasted, which it is, but so is the tobacco in all cigarettes.

This brings me back to the commercial. I'll spare you the need to pause it, here is the fine print that scrolls as the commercial airs:

• Her exceptional experience based on average 1250 cal/day
• 150-340 calories, Not a low calorie food
• Her exceptional experience based on average 1250 cal/day. Average reduction of 500 cal/day over two years with sensible food choices.
• Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet is not a weight loss program. Pay attention to total calorie and fat intake and regular exercise.

I have three words for that No. Shit. Sherlock.

I can actually reduce that to two words. It's toasted.

Following those strictures anyone would lose weight! A body could have a hot fudge/french fry sundae diet and as long as they ate about 1250 calories a day and reduced their calories by 500 a day they would lose weight. Speaking of that since there are a 3500 calories in a pound, a reduction of 500 calories a day would mean it would take 7 days to lose a pound. (That's well within the healthy range. I can't complain about that). But that's about 50 pounds a year. So why did it take her two years? Maybe because she was eating fucking at Taco Bell! Jesus Christ!

I hate to judge (that's not true, I love to judge) and I hate to brag (also not true, I love to brag) but I've lost 54 pounds...twice...in less than two years.

I'm going to recommend an alternative to the "Drive-Thru Diet" it's called the "Walk Past Diet" and I won't need any small print.

The End of Overeating

I just read The End of Overeating by David Kessler, MD. In it he attempts to explain why so many people have problem with overeating. While I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book, I didn't feel it was very cohesive. He seemed to jump around and I never really felt he was focused. However, I loved the last 1/3. Although it is not a diet book, I think he gives the best advice on how to approach weight loss (probably since I've been using many of the tools he suggests).

He addresses overeating as a conditioned response to various stimuli, which is of course different for everyone. To treat overeating he says that one has to recondition themselves. I have found that to be absolutely true. He writes:

"Planned eating calls upon you to replace chaos with structure... It tells you what is permissible and what is not, taking away the need to for you to make decisions about food at vulnerable moments... The rules that support that structure must be simple enough to fit with your busy life, but specific enough to remove uncertainly from the food equation."

That really resonated with me. I also like his quotes from Richard Rawson of UCLA who says;

"You're not helpless about this; you can make a decision, but you have to make a decision quickly." Kessler adds, "The more seconds you spend thinking about what to do in the face of an urge, the greater the chance that you'll ultimately give in to it. Once you begin the debate "Should I or shouldn't I?" you've lost the battle".

In my experience, that is 100% true. It's refreshing to read something like that. Therefore, I would have to recommend it.

Holiday Fall-Out

Christmas was rough. I got over 200 again - to my extreme self-disgust. So I am off sweets and fried foods until I hit 189. I really wanted to be done with the 200's in December (that means never see it on the scale, especially on the night weigh-in). I took it for granted that 2010 would be completely 200-free, so now I am going to work really hard to ensure that is true. I've been doing well. Last night I was at 199.7 so I have made a lot of headway. We'll see how it goes tonight; hopefully I will be even further away.

But one thing is for damn sure - I am going to be the skeleton at the feast on New Year's Eve.

Making it through the Holidays

It's almost Christmas, which I know is going to be a challenge. It's hard to balance the desire to maintain/lose this week with the desire to enjoy the holidays and all the delicious things that go along with it. It doesn't help that I am dealing with the dual frustration an abbreviated and interrupted work-out schedule.

It's abbreviated because I've had to go easy on my work-outs since I fainted for no apparent reason at the gym last week. I haven't wanted to overdo it, in case that was the reason.

It's interrupted because those bastards at 24-Hour Fitness want to be with their families at Christmas. Between their holiday schedule and my crazy work schedule I won't be able to go to the gym Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. I'm going to have to find other ways to burn calories, I guess.

It's not the end of the world and it won't kill me to integrate other work-out methods into my routine. But I am a creature of habit and like my regimen.

I think I'm just being crazy and the anticipation is worse than it actually will be. I think I need to give myself more credit.

Truth be told, I am doing quite well. I'm at 191 so I only have 12 more pounds to lose by February 14th. Or as it amuses to say it, "My goal is to be overweight by Valentine's Day."

The Biggest Loser

This is the first season I watched The Biggest Loser. I suppose since I watched the whole season I can say I like it (not love it). In fact, the con list might be longer than the pro list. Let's see shall we?

LIKES:

1. I like the exertion challenges. I like seeing the contestants find what they are physically capable of.
2. I like the weigh-ins
3. I like the gym sequences
4. I like Bob
5. I like seeing them succeed at losing weight
6. I like the before and after photos

DISLIKES:

1. I dislike all of the product placement and staged conversations about the sponsors
2. I dislike all the angst-ridden decisions about who they are going to vote for
3. I dislike Jillian's therapy talk (or as she is known on the forums, Dr. Phil-lian) - shut up already!
4. I dislike their dismay at 'only losing 5 pounds'. It's 5 pounds less, be happy!

I suppose the bottom line is that I wouldn't watch The Biggest Loser if I didn't have a DVR. I can't watch it without fast-forward. But since I have DVR, I guess I'll watch the next season