Weighing In

I weigh myself every day.  Now before I get hundreds of comments and emails telling me that I shouldn't for this reason or that, let me tell you why I do it.

I feel it's a way for me to answer for my yesterday.

I am a big believer that people are more apt to do something when they have to answer for it.  I  don't know about you, but when I realize that I have a dentist check-up coming up in a week or so, I start flossing religiously.  Sure, I may have flossed a few times in the prior six months, but all of a sudden flossing becomes my number one priority.  That way, when my dentist asks, "Are you flossing every day?" I can look him in the eye and say, "Yes."  (He doesn't need to know that I mean, "Yes, every day since last Thursday.")

The same goes for the scale.  If I know that I'll be getting on the scale tomorrow morning, I tend to make better choices in the food I eat and the exercise I do today.

I do realize that weight fluctuates every day - sometimes dramatically - but it still give me a good idea of where I'm going.  (Besides I don't believe the scale until I have seen the same weight at least two days in a row.)

I have a spreadsheet that I use daily to track my weight and then I will usually log the result on MFP on Wednesday.  (It's a few days past the weekend so I don't have to pay for weekend crimes.)

A few things to remember when you weigh-in: 

• Use the bathroom first.  You will weigh less if your bladder is empty.
• Weigh-in at the same time.
• Weigh-in with the least amount of clothes possible.  You would be surprised how much weight clothes add.  (I realize that some of you weigh-in at a public place, so stripping down is not an option.  Just wear the "lightest" clothes you have.)
• Don't be too hard on yourself.  Weight is going to fluctuate depending on water, sodium and other factors.  Just because the scale shows you gained two pounds since last time doesn't mean that you should give up and inhale a Double Bacon Cheeseburger on the way to work.
• Don't rely solely on the scale.  A lot of times you are building muscle, replacing the fat in your body.  Muscle is still going to weigh something, but that muscle will help you burn more calories.  If you see a change in your body or in the way your clothes fit, and the scale hasn't budged, step away from the scale and take your body's word for it.

Keep up the great work.  You are doing an amazing job!  Don't let anyone - especially yourself - tell you differently.

Born to Run

This is a picture of John Landy.  Landy was one of the three major contenders trying to be the first to break the 4-minute mile in the 1950's.  

Granted, Roger Bannister was the first one to break the barrier,  but I loved Landy's work ethic.  He ran as hard as he could every time he ran.  (For a great read about this, check out Neal Bascomb's "The Perfect Mile".)

In exactly one month - in honor of my 40th birthday - I will be participating in my first 5K.  I'm not going to lie, I am scared to death.  I don't feel ready for this at all, and I really don't want to walk the entire thing.  (Not saying that walking a 5K is a bad thing, but I have certain goals and walking the 5K isn't one of them.)

Since my exercise time is limited with school, work, family, etc. I will postpone my weights, boxing, etc. for the next month and do my very best to focus on my running.  (Loosely based on C25K.)

Any suggestions that you may have to help me prepare for this big day (from workout to diet to pre-run to post-run) I would love to hear it.

Thank you for your support!

Overeaters Anonymous

Hello, my name is Eric and I am addicted to food.

I've always known it.  After all, my entire life revolves around food.  Every birthday, holiday, sporting event, day the ends with "Y" is based around a menu.

My birthday is the worst, since I usually celebrate my birthday for a couple of days.  My co-workers would take me for lunch to the Chilean Deli for empanadas de pino & completos.  Then I would go to dinner with my family to Su Casa for a burrito smothered in chile verde.  Later that week, a few of my friends would take me to the Training Table for a Blue Bacon Burger & cheese fries.

Oh yeah, did I mention that my wife always makes a homemade German Chocolate cake that my kids don't like, so it was up to me to eat most of it?  (It goes great with Rocky Road ice cream.)

Since my birthday is coming up in a few weeks and since I have been trying to be good since July, I have decided to take the Steps of Overeaters Anonymous.  (www.oa.org)

They are based on the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps, but adapted for us overeaters.

I had no problem with the first few steps.  I believe in God and I believe that He will help me.  (NOTE: I respect your beliefs, please respect mine.  I'm not here to debate the existence of God, and I will delete any comments that want to start such arguments.) 

Where I ran into problems was the "searching & fearless moral inventory" and the list of all the people I have harmed, with the intent to make amends.  

Just how "searching & fearless" are we talking?  This could take me awhile.

Oh yeah, and then there's that part of Step 10 that states that I should continue with this personal inventory and admit promptly when I am wrong.  (I only admit when I'm wrong when I don't want to sleep on the couch.  This is going to be tough.)

Anyway, Step Twelve is to have "a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps" and try to "carry this message to compulsive overeaters".  That is the point of this blog post.  I plan to do these steps from beginning to end and, in return, I plan to see a mighty change in my life.  Not just in my health, but in the way I treat other people.

And I plan to help support any of you overcome your addictions to food as well.  Together we can do this.

Excuses, Excuses

I am awakened by a crying baby.  I look at the clock - 3:15.  I decide to get up and rock her back to sleep so my wife doesn't have to.  As soon as I stand up, I feel the effects of the kickboxing workout that I did yesterday.  My legs hurt, my arms hurt, even my toes hurt and I don't ever remember doing any sort of workout on my toes.

I slowly move my way towards the baby's room.  Even though I just woke up, my mind is filled with all of the things I need to do this morning before work: 1) Exercise  2) Finish and turn in the assignment for my Diversity & Inclusion class.  3) Write a chapter in my novel.  4) Write a blog about how much I want to kickbox Jillian Michaels for causing my body to hurt like this.  5) Study Greek.

I check the outside temperature: 22 degrees.  

As I am rocking the baby back to sleep I keep telling myself that I don't really need to go to the gym this morning.  "You worked hard yesterday", the voice in my head says.  (It sounds a little like Elvis.)  "You're tired, you're cold and your muscles hurt.  Why don't you go back to your warm bed and sleep a little longer, then get up and finish your paper before work?"

What the voice is saying makes sense, but I decide that I really need to exercise today.  I start rearranging my schedule in my mind and decide to do away with the blog about kickboxing Jillian Michaels.  (She'd kick my butt anyway.)

The baby finally goes back to sleep and I slowly waddle my way back into my bedroom.  As I stand in the doorway, I argue mentally with "Elvis" as he tries to get me to get back into bed - where my wife is sleeping all toasty and warm.  Meanwhile, I walk to the dresser and pull out my sweats and slowly put them on.  (I never realized how many muscles I use to put on clothes.  I am quite aware of their presence this morning.)

I lace up my shoes, open the front door and the 22 degrees smacks me in the face.

"It's not too late to go back to bed," says the mental Elvis.

I take a deep breath, hit play on my MP3 player and step out into the cold darkness, closing the door behind me.

Appetite for Suppression

Before I started my current "diet", one of the only diets that ever really worked for me was The Shangri-La Diet (SLD), by Seth Roberts.  (I am not affiliated with Seth Roberts, nor am I trying to get you to purchase his book.)

The basics of SLD is that you take flavorless calories - either in oil or sugar - and it causes you to lose weight.  (That is the very basic version of it.  There's a whole science behind it that Seth explains in the book, but it went way over my head.  All I understood was "Take oil, lose weight.")

As odd as it sounds, I did this every single day for quite a few months, taking a couple of tablespoons of canola oil an hour before breakfast and then an hour after dinner.   It worked wonders.  The pounds came off, but more importantly, I really just didn't have an appetite.  (It surprised my wife when we'd go out to dinner and I'd eat maybe half a burger and no fries.)  I only ate when I was hungry and I loved it!

Once I decided to really watch my calorie intake, I stopped with SLD - and the additional 120 calories per tablespoon of canola oil - and my appetite came back with a vengeance.

It has now been about six months since I started my journey to lose more weight than I ever have before and I still haven't been able to supress my appetite the way that I did with SLD.  I am able to ignore the temptations, but I really want to get back to where I eat only when I'm hungry.

I realize that a lot of this has to do with emotional eating.  When I get stressed or bored, I feel like I need to be eating something.  I am trying to overcome this.

I am just looking for some natural, healthy appetite suppressors.  (I mean, besides the obvious ones like water or fiber.)  Do you eat or drink anything that causes you ward off daily temptations?

A Vegetarian in the Works

BEFORE I BEGIN: I'm not here to argue about the ethics of eating meat.  If you have an agenda that you believe in - on either side - take it someplace where people who care can read it.  Thanks.  

I eat meat on a fairly regular basis.  That's an understatement.  I have a 2 grills, a smoker and a firepit in my backyard, all of which I use to cook meat in one way or another.

Having said that, I have come to the realization that I really need to cut back on my meat intake.

This started a few months ago when I became a "weekday vegetarian".  I figured I did most of my BBQ on weekends, so I tried to limit the amount of meat I ate during the week.  

I have now decided that I want to take it a step further.

I'm not going vegan nor am I going entirely vegetarian.  I am just going to limit the amount of beef & pork from my diet.  (Maybe once a week.)

I will and also watch the intake of poultry and fish.

So far, I've been doing well.  I went to Texas Roadhouse on Saturday night for my mother-in-law's birthday dinner.  Instead of ordering a rack of ribs or a juicy steak, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich.  (It was great, by the way.)

Last night, I made meatballs & spaghetti for the family, but did not eat any of the meatballs.  (Trust me, that is a huge step.)

And so it will continue.  

I know that it will be difficult more days than others, but I know that I can do this. 

If any of you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.  (But once again, please keep your politics to yourself.) 

Why Wait?

As you know, I'm a sucker for a good burger.  My favorite burger of all-time is Fuddruckers' Works: bacon, grilled mushrooms and cheese.  (I special order it with Swiss cheese.) 

Unfortunately, they closed all the Fuddruckers here in Utah, so I had to find another tasty burger to eat on special occasions.   That's when I found the Red Robin Burnin' Love Burger™: a cayenne-seasoned burger, topped with Pepper Jack cheese, served on a jalapeño-cornmeal kaiser roll, with chipotle mayo, salsa and fried jalapeño coins.  My mouth is watering just thinking of it.

As much as I love that burger, I hate going to Red Robin for lunch.  First I have to drive there, get out of the car and go into the  restaurant, wait in line to be seated, get seated and wait for the server to give me their spiel about today's specials, order my food and then wait for what seems like an eternity for them to cook a burger.  (I won't even mention the whole waiting for the check.)

It's so much easier to just drive across the street to the In-N-Out and get a Double-Double (Animal Style) and snarf it down in the comfort of my truck.  (Who cares if half of it ends up on my shirt &/or the car seat?)

I hate to wait, especially for something I really like.

I have found, however, that I have no problem waiting for things I don't like: the day after a three-day weekend, the doctor, the next Julia Roberts film.

You, probably, are in that same category.  In fact, some of you right now may be thinking, "I really need to stop reading this and go to the gym."  And then the mini you dressed as a devil shows up and says, "Ah, what the heck!  You can go to the gym later."

My question to you is, "Why wait?"

Perhaps, you've been psyched to workout, but you have decided to wait to start your new plan on Monday.

Why wait?

Maybe you're saying, "Tomorrow I will stop smoking."

Why wait?

Haven't we all waited long enough to change our lives?  There is no better time to start than right now!

So stop reading this blog and get moving! 

Why wait?