I’ve been a bad boy.
I only worked out once last week. I ate 4 oz (112 g) of Planters Sweet ‘N Crunchy Peanuts, composed simply of peanuts, sugar, butter, and salt. Also two small “white chocolate” pretzels. At least I didn’t touch the pumpkin pie and lemon cake in our house.
Weight: 170 lb (77.3 kg). Unchanged from last week.
There’s always next week.
I’ve seen “process cheese food” on packages of apparent cheese or listed with other ingredients on food labels. Why don’t they just call it “cheese”?
If you’re curious, see what Vitruvius the Sagacious Iconoclast has to say about cheese production. It’s all processed to some degree. From the introduction:
I was recently involved in a discussion in which some folks were attempting to distinguish between what they were calling “processed” cheese and other (presumably non-processed) cheese, without defining what they mean by “processed” cheese. As I think that’s a less than optimal approach, I’d like to take a moment to sketch out why that is so; perhaps increasing, in the process, your enjoyment of cheese forever.
It’s a moderately lengthy article, but well worth it for the amusement and erudition. You’ll learn how cheese is made, starting with the photons.
Cheese is a time-honored component of the traditional Mediterranean diet. That’s one reason I left it in the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet. If you don’t like cheese but still desire the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, don’t fret. I’ve not found any important nutrients in cheese that you can’t get elsewhere.
I confess a few transgressions.
1) I had a handful of peanuts coated lightly with sugar crystals.
2) About 10 grams of white chocolate.
3) A piece of frosted chocolate cake. Hey, my wife insisted and I gotta keep her happy. When the wife’s not happy, nobody’s happy. (She’s not an unreasonable person.)
I did couple Core Performance workouts.
Weight at the end of week 2: 170 lb (77.3kg).
That’s down 2.5 lb over the week (a bit over a kg). I didn’t expect that. I have consciously been restricting my calories a bit, knowing I’d have to weigh-in and report here. And I want to fit into my suit pants again! It’s my version of hari hachi bu.
As I noted at the start of this experiment, I’m going “off plan” around Christmas. Wouldn’t be surprised if I gained a few pounds back. A good strategy would be to get in three workouts in the next week. Also, when I indulge my sweet tooth, perhaps I should skip a meal, instead of doing both a meal and dessert. I’m not going to sweat it. There’s always next year for a fresh start.
I don’t miss bread. I miss sweets.
If you’re serious about avoiding holiday weight-gain or a weight-loss stall, you need to commit to a specific plan before the holiday arrives.
I’m thinking lots about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to all my readers!
In truth, German character — so admired and feared in some 500 years of European literature and history — led to the present Germanization of Europe. These days we recoil at terms like “national character” that seem tainted by the nightmares of the past. But no other politically correct exegesis offers better reasons why a booming Detroit of 1945 today looks like it was bombed, and a bombed-out Berlin of 1945 now is booming.
- Victor Davis Hanson, writing at Townhall.com
Dr. Barry Sears (Ph.D., I think) recently wrote about a lecture he attended by a dietitian affiliated with “The Biggest Loser” TV show. She revealed the keys to weight-loss success on the show. Calorie restriction is a major feature, with the typical 300-pounder (136 kg) eating 1,750 calories a day. On my Advanced Mediterranean Diet, 300-pounders get 2,300 calories (men) or 1,900 calories (women).
Although not stressed by Dr. Sears, my impression is that contestants exercise a huge amount.
Go to the link above and you’ll learn that all contestants are paid to participate. In researching my Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes book, I learned that the actual Biggest Loser wins $250,000 (USD). Also, “The Biggest Loser” is an international phenomenon with multiple countries hosting their own versions, with different pay-off amounts. A former winner, Ali Vincent, lives in my part of the world and still has some celebrity status.
This TV show demonstrates that the calories in/calories out theory of body weight still applies. Including the fact that massive exercise can help significantly with weight loss. In real-world situations, exercise probably contributes only a small degree to loss of excess weight. The major take-home point of the show, for me, is that you can indeed make food and physical activity choices that determine your weight.
I know losing 50 to 10o pounds of fat (25–45 kg) and keeping it off for a couple years is hard; most folks can’t do it. Do you think you’d be more successful if I gave you $250,ooo for your success?
I had one inadvertent transgression. To go with chili, my wife made some cornbread from a box mix. I ate a muffin before reading the label. It’s cornbread; I figured it was made of corn.
Wrong.
Ingredients in order: bleached enriched wheat flour, sugar, corn, etc.
Even flour’s not flour any more. The flour had six or seven ingredients listed after it parenthetically: additives. What they took out in processing, they’re partially replacing.
So far I’m having no trouble bypassing the ever-present cookies, bagels, cinnamon rolls, and blueberry muffins in the doctors’ lounge at the hospital. My public commitment in this blog improves my will power. (You can get a free blog from Wordpress.)
Over the last week I’ve had a few servings of beans and potatoes. I’m eating mostly meat, chicken, fish, salads with fatty dressing, low-carb vegetables, berries, and an occasional glass of wine. Blackberries are very afforable in Arizona right now.
I shoehorned a couple workouts into the week, 45 minutes each.
Weight Loss Progress Thus Far
Weight: 172.5 lb (78.4 kg) so down a half pound (0.2 kg) in first week. Had hoped for more, but not too bad. At least I didn’t gain! Weight yesterday was actually 170 lb but higher today.
I may yet fit back into those suit pants. But I have a long way to go.
I just learned that rapper 50 Cent is co-authoring a fitness and nutrition book, Formula 50: A Six-Week Total Body Transformation Plan.
“Total body transformation” sounded familiar.
A quick search at Amazon.com revealed at least 10 books with that phrase in the title; nearly all are fitness or weight-loss books. Looks like the trend-setter is Hot Point Fitness: The Revolutionary New Program for Fast and Total Body Transformation, by Steve Zim and Mark Laska, published in 2000.
In case you didn’t know, you can’t copyright a book or song title, at least in the U.S.
I’m starting to think my books are titled too modestly.
Steve Parker, M.D., author of The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer and Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes: The Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet
A Paleolithic diet improved metabolic status with respect to cardiovascular and carbohydrate physiology, according to a 2009 study at the University of California San Francisco.
The Paleolithic diet is also referred to as the paleo diet, Stone Age diet, and caveman diet.
Here are the research specifics, all statistically significant unless otherwise noted:
Methodology
This was a small, preliminary study: only 11 participants (six male, three female, all healthy (non-diabetic), average age 38, average BMI 28, sedentary, mixed Black/Caucasian/Asian).
Baseline diet characteristics were determined by dietitians, then all participants were placed on a paleo diet, starting with a 7-day ramp-up (increasing fiber and potassium gradually), then a 10-day paleo diet.
The paleo diet: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, canola oil [?], mayonnaise [?], and honey. No dairy legumes, cereals, grains, potatoes. Caloric intake was adjusted to avoid weight change during the study, and participants were told to remain sedentary. They ate one meal daily at the research center and were sent home with the other meals and snacks pre-packed.
Compared with baseline diets, the paleo diet reduced salt consumption by half while doubling potassium and magnesium intake. Baseline diet macronutrient calories were 17% from protein, 44% carbohydrate, 38% fat. Paleo diet macronutrients were 30% protein, 38% carb, 32% fat. Fiber content wasn’t reported.
I’m guessing there were no adverse effects.
Comments
This study sounds like fun, easy, basic science: “Hey, let’s do this and see what happens!”
I don’t know a lot about canola oil, but it’s considered one of the healthy oils by folks like Walter Willett. It sounds nicer than rapeseed oil.
I agree with the investigators that this tiny preliminary study is promising; the paleo diet has potential benefits for prevention and treatment for metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke.
The researchers mentioned their plans to study the paleo diet in patients with type 2 diabetes. Any results yet?
Are you working with a physician on a medical issue that may improve or resolve with the paleo diet? Most doctors don’t know much about the paleo diet yet. You may convince yours to be open-minded by trying the diet—not always a safe way to go—and showing her your improved clinical results. Or show her studies such as this.
Reference: Frassetto, L.A., et al. Metabolic and physiologic improvements from consuming a paleolithic, hunter-gatherer type diet. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, advance online publication, February 11, 2009. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2009.4
I’m NOT going to buy a new suit.
I don’t wear suits very often, but I had a meeting with a lawyer recently and wanted to make a good first impression. You only get one chance to make a first impression. So I put on a suit I hadn’t worn in a couple years.
The waistline of the suit pants had shrunk about two inches since the last time I wore it. Very uncomfortable.
I’m not going to have a seamstress let out the waist so they’ll fit, either.
What Happened?
For most of the last two years, I’ve been eating 20 to 100 grams of carbohydrate daily. And exercising pretty regularly. The last two months have been different.
A little before Halloween, I started eating more carbohydrates and slacking off on my exercise program. Why? I’ve been working feverishly on two books that will be out in January. That cut into my exercise. Plus, I have a sweet tooth that gets the better of me periodically. It’s no secret I have a weakness for Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, cookies, candy bars, pie, cake, ice cream, muffins, etc. I’ve been indulging. You could call it “carb creep” or just lack of discipline and will power.
My Current Stats
Weight: 173 lb (78.6 kg)
Height: 5-feet, 11.5 inches tall (181 cm)
BMI: 23.8 (in the healthy range)
Waist circumference: 37.25 inches (95 cm) when upright, 35.5 inches supine (90 cm)
If you saw me, you’d agree I just look like a normal-weight, healthy guy.
Prior Stats
Weight on March 6, 2010: 156 lb (70.7 kg)
Waist circumference on October 21, 2009: 34.25 inches (upright?) (87 cm)
What’s My Plan For Fitting Back Into My Pants?
Note that this is not a health issue; it’s vanity and stubbornness. It’s also easier to get around if I’m not hauling any excess weight. I’ve no doubt some of my weight gain from 2010 is muscle mass, thanks to Mark Verstegen’s Core Performance fitness program. I have to think the majority of the extra weight, however, is fat (adipose tissue).
My Weight Goal: 162 lb (73.4 kg). So just 11 lb (5 kg).
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there. Then I’ll decide if that’s too skinny for me.
Two or three times a week, I’ll do a Verstegen-style workout.
Did you notice that my favorite fattening foods are all sweet and most contain refined wheat? They have a fair amount of fat, too, but I don’t think that’s the main problem. They are not protein powerhouses, so protein’s not a culprit.
I think my problem is concentrated sugar and refined starches. Wheat in particular. Many folks - probably a majority of the overweight population - have this same problem. But not everybody.
Could my slacking off on exercise be the primary issue? Yeah, could be, but I don’t think so.
I fully expect I’d lose the weight without exercise if I just went back on the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet. But I want the long-term health benefits of exercise. The Advanced Mediterranean Diet would do the trick, too, but I want to try something different, a more laid-back approach than I’ve ever used in the past.
What’s the best way to eat, in general? Consider this: Eat Natural Food. That would pretty much eliminate concentrated sugars and refined starches. (I don’t consider the sugars in most fruits to be equivalent to the concentrated sugar in table sugar, cookies, muffins, and pies, but it’s debatable.)
Other than physical activity, the other component of my weight-loss effort is to eliminate concentrated sugars and refined wheat products. The concentrated sugars I turn into fat are in man-made products, not God-made or from nature. All of my personal fattening foods are seem to be man-made.
I’m keeping fruit on the menu, although probably not more than one serving a day, if that much. I don’t eat much now in the way of legumes, potatoes, corn, or peas. I’ll keep these starches on the menu, too, in low amounts. They’re nature-made. I’ll eat cheese but not milk. No limit on low-carbohydrate fruits and vegetables.
I bet eating this way will get my carb consumption back below 100 g/day. But I don’t have time to keep a careful record. Remember that most people in the U.S. eat 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrate daily.
I’m planning to cheat already: a couple days around Christmas.
This is an experiment I just cooked up today. Those tight pants were a real eye-opener. It may turn out I need to get compulsive: keep a food diary, count calories or carb grams, set firm rules, etc. We’ll see.
Thanks for reading.
Update December 8, 2011
My household bathroom scale December 7 showed my weight at 175 lb (79.5 kg) compared to 172 lb (78 kg) December 6. Today, December 8, the scale says 172 lb again (78 kg).This is either normal weight variation or my scale is innacurate. The average of the three weights is 173 lb (78.6 kg). It’s typical for weight to vary by 2-3 lb over 24 hours, depending on stomach and intestine contents and state of hydration. My original post on this topic listed 172 pounds as my current baseline weight. I changed that today to 173 lb.
Update December 12, 2011
Weight 172.5 lb (78.4 kg)
I’m very excited about a brand new cookbook for folks limiting their consumption of carbohydrates, wheat, and gluten. It’s a unique collaboration among five chefs (Jennifer Eloff, Maria Emmerich, Carolyn Ketchum, Lisa Marshall, and Kent Altena) and other low-carb luminaries like Jimmy Moore and Dana Carpender. I was honored to contribute a couple pages myself. The book is Low-Carbing Among Friends, volume 1. All 325 recipes limit digestible carbohydrates to a maximum of 10 grams; many have five or fewer grams. This should be great for people with diabetes and anyone trying to manage excess weight with low-carb eating. All recipes are gluten-free, wheat-free, and sugar-free.
I can’t wait for my copy. I’m “online friends” with several of the contributors, so I’m familiar with the great quality of their work. You can get the book at Amazon.com, but I ordered mine from the book’s website, figuring the authors make more profit there. (If we want good books, we have to support authors.) It’s not too late to order this as a Christmas present. Don’t you know someone who could use it?
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