Banjo's Diet - Some interesting new information

My diet, which is modeled after information provided by the USDA and Alton Brown (of Food Network's TV show Good Eats, where he's lost 50 lbs), has increased the consumption of nuts.

This recent Harvard Medical study indicates that nuts are superior to assisting with keeping weight off.  Other superior foods includes yogurt.  It also notes the amount of weight added by eating potatoes.

My diet, based on the USDA's suggestion for reducing protein and increasing fiber rich foods, includes:

• Eating 3 meals per day, each with 500 calories.  This is 7 days per week, or 21 meals per week total.
• 1 meal per week that includes beef
• 1 meal per week that includes fish (not fried or breaded)
• 1 meal per week  that includes pork
• 1 meal per week  that includes chicken (not fried)
• 7 meals (breakfast) per week of steel-cut oatmeal.
• 14 meals per week containing vegetables (2 meals per day)
• a daily snack of nuts (about a handful); pecans, walnuts, pistachios (shelled), sunflower.
• high fiber foods such as beans.  This really helps with hunger.
• fruits
• 3 cups per day of fat-free milk
• 3 meals per week are all-vegetable, supplemented by nuts.

So far, following this plan, I've lost 1 pound per week, with a total of 13 lbs lost so far.  My blood pressure and cholesterol have both dropped.  However, it appears the sarcasm remains.

Please see other 'Diet' listings to the right of this post.

Diet - Review after 60 days - 441 days to go!

Starting Date: April 18, 2011.
Time on diet: 2 months
Starting Weight: 261 lbs
Current Weight: 248 lbs

Target weight: 185

Weight lost: 13 lbs

Remaining Weight to lose: 63 lbs

Estimated remaining weeks to reach target weight: 63

Estimated remaining days to reach target weight: 441 days

Estimated remaining years to reach target weight: 1.2 years

I'm proud to say I'm still on my diet!  I started on April 18, 2011, so I've been on it for a little longer than 60 days or 2 months.  I've made an adjustment to my target weight, setting it at 185 so this has changed the remaining time for the diet.

So far I've lost 13 lbs.  That may not sound like a lot, but here's a comparison: a gallon jug of milk or water weights 8 lbs, and you know how heavy that feels?  Well, I'm not lugging it around now.  I left it behind.  So every step I take, I'm not carrying that gallon jug of water around!

This is not a fast diet, nor was it my goal.  My goal was to lose about 1 lb per week.  The first week is always a lot more weight loss than subsequent weeks.  I now appear to be losing about the 1 lb of weight per week that was my goal, although recently the rate of loss has slowed a little, as it has taken me two (2) weeks to lose the last pound.  I think this has been caused by gradual inattention, so I'm going to redouble my efforts to make sure I don't go over my caloric limit each day.

I'm targeting a loss of 500 calories per day.  Normal caloric consumption for a man in my classification (low energy output) is about 2,000 calories per day.  So I'm targeting about 1,500 calories per day, which is a net loss of 500 calories per day.  7 days at 500 calories lost per day is 3,500 calories, which is the amount of energy in 1 lb of fat.  So 3,500 calories lost per week is 1 lb of weight lost per week.

Faster weight loss is harder on our bodies.  I would be dealing with a lot fewer calories, feeling a lot more hungry and have a lot less energy.  And, a slow weight loss means I'm not on a hunger strike and thus it's a lot easier to stay with the weight loss diet.

My diet (please see posts from April 2011 for insight) uses recommendations from the USDA for a man my age, and incorporates their recommendations on increased fiber, increased fruits and vegetables, decreased fat, decreased protein.

I think the high fiber is helping to keep me from getting hungry.  Hunger has not been an issue, which makes this a stress-free diet, and one that I am confidant I can stay on for the next 1.5 years that it will take me to lose all 76 lbs of weight that I want to drop.  That would be the same as 9.5 gallon jugs of water that I would not be lugging around with each step I take.  I can't imagine what it will be like to not have those strapped to me!  I sometimes imagine that the jugs of water are in my backpack, and every 2 months I get to take one out and leave it behind.

Every day, with a few exceptions, I try to eat 3 meals of 500 calories each.  That has several benefits:

• I get used to the same portion size for reference.  Since all the meals are about the same caloric size, I find that it's much easier to estimate how much to put onto my plate.
• My body is only anticipating 500 calories, so when I've had that much, it's not yearning for more calories.
• Three meals a day are keeping me from getting hungry and preventing the urge to over eat when I do eat.
• My energy level stays pretty constant, as there aren't big dips.
• I don't short-cut myself and deny myself a 500 calorie meal.  When I've done that because of some interruption in my day, rather than over eat on the subsequent meals I've just ended up more negative for the day.  On that particular day it's not a problem, but I've notice the next day that I'm much more hungry and it's much more difficult to stay with the diet on that next day, so when that happens, I might have a small snack of nuts later that evening to help out with the next day, and return my daily intake back closer to the 1,500 daily target.
• Our food bill has gone down since we have cut out a lot of prepackaged meals and are cooking more vegetables and fruits and a lost less protein.
• Frozen vegetables, when fresh is not available, are pretty good now.  Some brands are better than others, so try some different brands.  I think these are better than canned.
• Since I'm not eating special foods, like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, I'm confident that when I do come off of the diet I will be successful eating normal food.  I'm also not paying their premium prices for food, and I have the whole world of foods to choose from.
• I'm only drinking 2 alcoholic drinks per week, as those are a big source of calories, and I'd rather have the food.

I don't avoid any foods, with a few exceptions:

• I don't eat French Fries.
• I don't eat biscuits.
• I don't eat fried chicken.
• I don't add butter to anything.
• I cut the fat away from all meats.
• No gravies.

Some rules of thumb when eating out:

• I try to be sensitive to what I'm choosing and keep in mind that I'm on a diet, so I look for things that are lower in calories.
• I avoid all chips at Mexican restaurants, except for 2 or 3 to sample.
• I ask for a take-home-box to be delivered when my food is delivered, and I place 1/2 into the box when the meal is delivered so I'm not tempted to over eat.
• If possible and the restaurant posts their calories for each meal, then I use that information to help make a choice.
• I typically don't eat bread with the meal, even if its part of the meal, so I can avoid those calories when I don't know what the meal calories are going to be.
• I don't buy any alcoholic beverages, which leaves me more calories for food and reduces the cost of my meal.

So far, I've been very pleased!

See you next month!

Diet - Review after 30 days - 500 days to go!

I'm proud to say I'm still on my diet!  I started on April 18, 2011, so I've been on it for a little longer than 30 days or 1 month.

So far I've lost 9 lbs.  That may not sound like a lot, but here's a comparison: a gallon jug of milk or water weights 8 lbs, and you know how heavy that feels?  Well, I'm not lugging it around now.  I left it behind.  So every step I take, I'm not carrying that gallon jug of water around!

This is not a fast diet, nor was it my goal.  My goal was to lose about 1 lb per week.  The first week is always a lot more weight loss than subsequent weeks.  I now appear to be losing about the 1 lb of weight per week that was my goal.

I'm targeting a loss of 500 calories per day.  Normal caloric consumption for a man in my classification (low energy output) is about 2,000 calories per day.  So I'm targeting about 1,500 calories per day, which is a net loss of 500 calories per day.  7 days at 500 calories lost per day is 3,500 calories, which is the amount of energy in 1 lb of fat.  So 3,500 calories lost per week is 1 lb of weight lost per week.

Faster weight loss is harder on our bodies.  I would be dealing with a lot fewer calories, feeling a lot more hungry and have a lot less energy.  And, a slow weight loss means I'm not on a hunger strike and thus it's a lot easier to stay with the weight loss diet.

My diet (please see posts from April 2011 for insight) uses recommendations from the USDA for a man my age, and incorporates their recommendations on increased fiber, increased fruits and vegetables, decreased fat, decreased protein.

I think the high fiber is helping to keep me from getting hungry.  Hunger has not been an issue, which makes this a stress-free diet, and one that I am confidant I can stay on for the next 1.5 years that it will take me to lose all 76 lbs of weight that I want to drop.  That would be the same as 9.5 gallon jugs of water that I would not be lugging around with each step I take.  I can't imagine what it will be like to not have those strapped to me!  I sometimes imagine that the jugs of water are in my backpack, and every 2 months I get to take one out and leave it behind.

Every day, with a few exceptions, I try to eat 3 meals of 500 calories each.  That has several benefits:

• I get used to the same portion size for reference.  Since all the meals are about the same caloric size, I find that it's much easier to estimate how much to put onto my plate.
• My body is only anticipating 500 calories, so when I've had that much, it's not yearning for more calories.
• Three meals a day are keeping me from getting hungry and preventing the urge to over eat when I do eat.
• My energy level stays pretty constant, as there aren't big dips.
• I don't short-cut myself and deny myself a 500 calorie meal.  When I've done that because of some interruption in my day, rather than over eat on the subsequent meals I've just ended up more negative for the day.  On that particular day it's not a problem, but I've notice the next day that I'm much more hungry and it's much more difficult to stay with the diet on that next day, so when that happens, I might have a small snack of nuts later that evening to help out with the next day, and return my daily intake back closer to the 1,500 daily target.
• Our food bill has gone down since we have cut out a lot of prepackaged meals and are cooking more vegetables and fruits and a lost less protein.
• Frozen vegetables, when fresh is not available, are pretty good now.  Some brands are better than others, so try some different brands.  I think these are better than canned.
• Since I'm not eating special foods, like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, I'm confident that when I do come off of the diet I will be successful eating normal food.  I'm also not paying their premium prices for food, and I have the whole world of foods to choose from.
• I'm only drinking 2 alcoholic drinks per week, as those are a big source of calories, and I'd rather have the food.

I don't avoid any foods, with a few exceptions:

• I don't eat French Fries.
• I don't eat biscuits.
• I don't eat fried chicken.
• I don't add butter to anything.
• I cut the fat away from all meats.
• No gravies.

Some rules of thumb when eating out:

• I try to be sensitive to what I'm choosing and keep in mind that I'm on a diet, so I look for things that are lower in calories.
• I avoid all chips at Mexican restaurants, except for 2 or 3 to sample.
• I ask for a take-home-box to be delivered when my food is delivered, and I place 1/2 into the box when the meal is delivered so I'm not tempted to over eat.
• If possible and the restaurant posts their calories for each meal, then I use that information to help make a choice.
• I typically don't eat bread with the meal, even if its part of the meal, so I can avoid those calories when I don't know what the meal calories are going to be.
• I don't buy any alcoholic beverages, which leaves me more calories for food and reduces the cost of my meal.

So far, I've been very pleased!

See you next month!

Banjo's Fruit Smoothie

I know some of you enjoy fruit smoothies, so we thought you might enjoy this.

I got the basis for this from an Alton Brown show (GoodEats) on Foodtv. I've made a few changes.

I've made some smoothies in the past, but they took a while and were somewhat expensive. However, the Alton Brown approach has made it much easier and less expensive at the same time, and produces a really good smoothie.

We have been making 2 or so a week using our blender primarily for breakfast. We buy frozen fruits in the plastic bags, from Publix - they are the Publix brand. We get Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, and Cherries. Since they are frozen, we don't have to worry about fresh fruit going bad if we don't use all of it at once; we can just use how much we want and meanwhile keep the frozen bags in the freezer for the next batch.

The night before, I put about 1/2 cup of each into our blender. I then pour in 1.5 cups of fatfree milk, 1 container of fruit yogart (ours are Publix too, and about 5 oz or so), and a banana cut into 1/4s. Most times I also add 1/2 cup of grapes. Put the lid on and place into the refrigerator over night. This will give the fruit time to thaw out before we blend.

This will pretty much fill up our blender. Overnight, once the fruit has thawed, it will slide down further into the blender so there will be more space at the top than when you first put it in.

This will make about 4 servings of 1 cup each. We each drink 1, so that's 2 day's worth. I wouldn't hold it in the refrigerator longer than that as the yogart, fruits and grapes may start to dance on ya.

Next morning we blend until smooth.

Then we pour and party party party till our lips are purple!

Meals for a weekly diet

The USDA says we need to concentrate more on a weekly view of food intake, or our weekly diet, rather than a daily view.

So, from a food portion viewpoint, my diet is now meal based, but from an overall perspective, it's weekly based.

Weekly Meals
4 days a week, a meat meal. 2 of those days are for fish, 1 day for beef or pork, and 1 day for chicken. These meals are for a single meal. So, out of a total of 3x7, or 21 meals, 4 meals are include meat, and 17 include no meat.

Every day, 3 glasses of fat free milk. These are taken with a meal, or otherwise. I sometimes take a glass of milk as a snack, so don't always have it with a meal.

Every lunch and dinner meal includes vegetables.

Every breakfast meal includes either steel cut oats, or a selection of fruit, sometimes raw or sometimes in the form of a smoothie.

I try to use fresh vegetables as opposed to canned, because of the additional sodium that is frequently added to the canned.

I try to eat higher fiber, lower fat foods, lower sugar foods in my food selection, so the bulk of my calories are from vegetables and fruits. This means cutting down on cheese, pasta and other high starch (high in sugars) foods such as white rice. On the cheese,I use lower fat, but it's preferred to intake fat free milk instead. If I'm eating cheese, then I drop a milk for the meal.

I'm targeting 1500 calories a day intake. I think one of my problems has been skipping breakfast, eating too big a lunch, and way too big a dinner. I think that kept me from getting a full feeling as the sizes were inconsistent. So now I'm also targeting similar size (bulk) for each meal, in general terms, and always includes breakfast. So 500 calories, more or less, for each meal, gives me the 1500 for a day. That seems to be helping, and I find that I'm feeling more full after each meal now than in the past.

I only weigh once per week. Hopefully, I see a drop of about 1 pound per week, but maybe not. That's OK; I'm still going to be losing weight as opposed to adding weight.

I'm trying to fit a diet into my day, not fit my day into my diet. Taking a weekly view on foods helps in many ways. For instance, we might be out on the road traveling, and fitting my diet into my day means we may be stopping at a fast food joint. On that day, I may be able to hit my target meal allocation, more or less, for the calories, but I may be over allocated on the sodium. On a weekly view, since I'm rarely not eating a home prepared meal and thus am in control of the sodium placed onto my food, I'm always low on sodium, thus the meal at the fast food restaurant doesn't cause me any issues about getting more sodium on this meal - I'm under on sodium on all other meals throughout the week.

Diet Supplements
Since foods high in Omega-3 are considered by the USDA to be beneficial, I take 2 1000mg tables of fish oil every day. I also take 2 1000mg tablets of flax seed oil to help with keeping my skin pores open, as I have an issue with this. I also take a daily multi-vitamin high in B12. I looked into taking a vitamin high in potassium, but in analyzing my meals, by increasing my vegetables and fruits I'm getting enough potassium now, but was definitely low this before.

Diet - Final Daily Post

Well, if you are paying attention, you'll see that I didn't log data for days 11 and 12. I thought about catching this up, but decided not to.

You didn't miss much! I'm still on the diet, I didn't break the diet, and I just did more of the same.

I don't plan on posting any more about this as a daily log, as it is a lot of the same, and will be for the next year and a half. It was getting dull to post, and dull to read.

I may do weekly weight updates, or monthly updates. I'll have to see.

If something interesting comes up, like a new recipe or some special insight, then I may make a special post.

Diet Day 10 - 522 (75 Weeks) to go!

Went out to dinner tonight with our daughter H and her boyfriend S. We had Thai food. I'm not going to attempt to guess at the calories, as what would be the point of putting in a guess? I'll just say that I had a taste of the coconut soup, a couple of spoonfuls of rice, and about 75% of the chicken with vegetables. It was good, and I wanted more, but I was good.

I was quite the chow-hound at breakfast!

Breakfast: 688 Calories
1/4 cup almonds
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup Steel Cut Oats
1/4 cup Kirkland dried blueberries
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 serving V-8 Spicy Hot juice

Lunch: 432 Calories
1 serving Sardines - King Oscar
1 cup servings baby cut carrots
1 cup Snap Beans
2 Tbsp Sweet & Sour 3 Bean mix (yumma!)

Dinner: - not sure
about 3 oz boneless skinless chicken
assorted vegetables
2 Tbsp white rice

Daily Total (Breakfast and Lunch today only): ??? Calories
Total Percentages (Breakfast and Lunch only, so all will be below actual, but which is higher)
> 75% calories
> 46% fat
> 53% carbs
> 98% fiber
> 28% potassium
> 58% sodium
> 8% sat fat
> 40% cholesterol

Exercise
None today.

Diet Day 8 - 524 (75 Weeks) to go!

Well, I'm happy! I managed to get through Easter, with family over and big meals, without blowing my diet!

Today at lunch I had a can of sardines. I'm mentioning this because it's a different brand than I had the other week, and this one was surprisingly good! So I wanted to mention the brand: "King Oscar, Finest Brisling Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, two layers". They were about half the size of the previous can and had a much better flavor. I will be eating more of those! I've come across sardines several times now, from entities such as Alton Brown, USDA, and other web locations, and I agree it supplies a lot of good nutrition.

Breakfast: 210 Calories
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup my smoothie
1 slice Whole Wheat Bread, double Fiber, Nature's Own
1 can V-8 Spicy Hot juice

Lunch: 664 Calories
2 cups kidney beans
1/4 cup almonds
1 can Sardines - King Oscar

Dinner: 614 Calories
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, roasted
1 serving sugar snap peas
1 salad w/o dressing
1 cup fat free milk
1 serving almonds

Daily Totals: 1488 Calories
Total Percentages
99% Calories
75% Fat
51% Carbs
120% Fiber
86% Potassium
95% Sodium
18% Sat Fat
81% Cholesterol

Exercise
Walked at 2 mph for 1 hour: 2 miles

Diet Day 7 - 525 (75 Weeks) to go!

I walked 4 miles yesterday. That really left me tired. It may be a mile too far yet. I was getting pretty tired, and my wife was too.

Last night we had tenderloin steak. A 7 oz serving came in at 221 calories....that's a lot lower than I was expecting, but its what the USDA specifies. It was very lean, with no visible fat anywhere.

I also put salt on the steak. This is the first additional salt I've put on anything since starting the diet.

Breakfast: 185 Calories
1 cup My Smoothie
1 cup Fat Free Milk
1 Banana

Lunch: 473 Calories
4 oz salmon baked
1 cup cowpeas
1 cup kidney beans
2 slices whole wheat bread, special double fiber

Dinner: 675 Calories
1 slice ham
1 boiled egg
1 cup green beans
1 cup fat free milk
1 small slice cake

Daily Total: 1335 Calories
Percentage Totals
89% calories
79% fats
45% carbs
113% fiber
82% potassium
156% sodium
54% saturated fat
150% cholesterol


Exercise
We have family coming over today to spend the day and have dinner with us, so I may no walk today. Besides - I'm still tired from yesterday's 4 mile hike!

Weight - a perspective

As noted in my diet blogs, I've got to lose 76 pounds.

That's almost 80 pounds. Assume it is 80 pounds I've got to lose.

What are some common things you might find around the house that represent 80 pounds?

Let's start with a gallon of milk. It weights about 8 pounds. Imagine you place 10 of those 1 gallon containers of milk into a sack and start going up the stairs.....that's what I've been faced with.

Here's another example.

You know those big jugs of water that they sell in the stores that go into water dispensers? Like the ones in some offices? Those are 5 gallons each. They weight 40 pounds. So imagine you place 2 of those into a sack and start moving around. That's what 80 pounds represents.

You know those concrete building blocks, they are gray, about 8x8x16. On average, they weigh about 32 pounds. If you carry 2 of those around plus 2 gallons of water, you have about 80 pounds.

Man - that's a lot of dead weight to have to lug around every where I go!

I sure will be glad when it's gone! I'll be so light I'll just float up stairs! It will mean climbing stairs without the weight of 10 gallons of water going along with me!

Diet Day 6 - 526 Days (75 weeks) to Go!

Diet Explained: Patterned from USDA web information
Selected Messages
Pamplet

Weight Goal:
Reduce weight from 261 pounds to 185 pounds, which is 76 pounds.

Assumptions:
My caloric daily balance is 2000 calories. Reducing by 500 calories per day leaves me with a 1500 calorie per day goal.
Since 1 pound of fat contains 3,500 calories, and I want to lose 76 pounds, then the total calories I need to lose is 76 x 3,500 = 266,000 calories. 266,000 / 500 calorie per day loss, = 532 days.

A short cut for this is, since I'm losing 500 calories per day, and thus in 7 days (1 week) I'll lose 7 x 500 = 3,500 calories (which is one pound by definition), then it is more simple to determine how many weeks it will take: 76 pounds / 1 pound-per-week = 76 weeks. 76 weeks x 7 days in a week = 532.

In other words, at 500 calories loss per day, if I want to lose 76 pounds it will take 76 weeks.

Daily Nutritional goal:
Reduce calories by 500 calories per day while eating balanced nutritional meals per USDA guidelines. Reduce fat, sodium, cholesterol and sugars while increasing potassium and dietary fiber.

Daily Exercise Goal
Walk for one hour each day.

Weekly Totals:
Week 1: 6 lbs loss.

Total since start
261 start, 255 today, 6 pounds


Breakfast: 438 calories
1 cup Breakfast Smoothie #1
1 cup Steel Cut Oats
1/4 cup Kirkland Dried Blueberries
1/4 Publix Golden Raisins

Lunch: 471 Calories
1 cup cowpeas
1 cup pinto beans
1 cup corn
4 oz salmon

Dinner: 481 Calories
7.75 oz Tenderloin Steak
4 oz Spinach
1 corn on cob

Daily Total: 1390 Calories
Percent Totals
93% Calories
48% Fat
60% Carbs
114% Fiber
65% Potassium
100% Sodium
47% Saturated Fat
33% Cholesterol

Exercise
Walked 4 miles, 2 hours
For my weight, that could be as much as 600 calories, but I don't subtract that from my daily intake.

Diet Day 5 - 527 Days to go!

Breakfast: 428 Calories
1 cup steel cut oats
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup dried golden raisens
1/2 red grapefruit

Lunch: 537 Calories
Lean Cuisine Apple Cranberry Chicken
1 cup Kidney Beans
1 cup FatFree Milk

Dinner: 507 Calories
10 oz Salmon (baked)
7 oz Squash (steamed)
4.5 oz Broccoli (steamed)
.5 oz grapes
1 cup fat free milk

Daily Total: 1472 Calories
Daily Percents
98% Calories
46% Fat
70% Carbs
90% Fiber
86% Potassium
65% Sodium
32% Saturated Fat
47% Cholesterol

Diet Day 4 - 528 Days to go!

Having some issues with my back, not sure where this came from; don't usually have any issues with my back. Feels like a muscle strained, may from bringing in luggage from return from Edisto Beach SC. Was supposed to help cook at church tonight (we feed 500 on a weekly basis), but took to bed instead.

Ended up with no meat today. Didn't really plan it that way, just the way it ended up. In reviewing todays totals, it's clear that no meat and all vegetables has moved the fiber up (good), potassium up (good), cholesterol down (good), total fat way down (good), sodium down (good). So everything is moving in the right direction!

Not sure that I've said this, but I'm trying to stay with fresh fruits and vegetables instead of canned. In looking at the labels vs USDA specs for a vegetable, there has frequently additional sugar and salt (sodium). That has been a real eye-opener, particularly with the amount of added salt.

I'm not adding any salt to anything. For right now, my wife is avoiding using it in any cooking, and I'm not adding any at the table.

We picked up a couple of steaks tonight to cook on Saturday. We plan on having beef once per week. USDA guidelines call for 1.8 oz per day, which can be consumed on a weekly event basis, which would mean 12.5 ounces. I don't typically eat more than 10 ounces, so I'll be under the USDA beef allocation for the week. I also picked up a bottle of wine for that steak dinner, which when shared with my wife, will result in 2 glasses for each of us, or in line with Alton Brown's Diet 2 alcohol servings per week.

Breakfast: 488 Calories
1 cup steel cut oats
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup dried golden raisens
1 cup FatFreee Milk

Lunch: 236 Calories
1 cup Smoothie #1 (see post -2 days back for composition)
1 cup Pinto Beans
1 plate (1 lb by weight) of equal portions of spinach, squash, zucchini, asparagus

Dinner: 597 Calories
1/2 cup candied yams
1.5 cups corn
1 cup lima beans
1 cup kidney beans
1 cup fatfree milk

Daily Total: 1321 Calories
Daily percents
88% calories (target 1500)
14% Total fat
85% carbs
154% fiber
100% potassium
31% sodium
4.6% cholesterol

So far, I'm still staying with a full feeling, which to me is totally odd. I think the inclusion of milk is doing this, even though it is fat free. So far, I have not had any temptations to snack or over eat.

Saturday, I plan on weighting, and posting weekly results. I plan on doing this every week. I also plan on adding a blood pressure reading at that time, as I want to see if this will bring down my blood pressure any (I'm on medication for this problem right now).

Diet Day 3 - 529 Days to go!

Third day. Went out to breakfast with a friend, thought I would keep it simple by having an omelet....man, 3 eggs sure blows the cholesterol! Will have to find something else next time.

Breakfast: 656 Calories
3 egg omelet with cheese. 645 calories! 1217 mg cholesterol!

Lunch: 320 Calories
Fruit Smoothie. This sort of came from an Alton Brown recipe, but I didn't have all of his ingredients, so I just winged it. Per his suggestion, I obtained frozen prepackaged fruits, then took out the correct amount for the smoothie and left it in the refrigerator to thaw. 4 oz Whole Strawberries, 4 oz Blueberries, 4 oz Blackberries, 4 oz Cherries, 6 oz FatFree Milk, 1 container (5.5 oz) of yogurt (orange). Blended for a few minutes - not bad! Poured 8 oz (about 1/3) About 40 calories for the cup.

Tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat bread: 190 calories
FatFree Milk: 90 calories

Dinner: 402 Calories
Went for vegetables only: 1 cup of Corn, 1 cup of Cowpeas, 1 cup of lima beans. Calories: 312
FatFree Milk, 1 cup: 90 calories


Daily Total: 1367 Calories
I ended up with 443% of my cholesterol daily allowance because of the eggs!

Diet Day 2 - 530 days to go!

Man - the days are really clicking off now! Not!

Thought I would have issues with being hungry last night, but never was. Instead, I actually felt full. Not sure what is going on.

I walked for 50 minutes again today. Per the USDA site, that's worth 330 calories at my weight at a slow pace.

Breakfast: 480 Calories
This morning, I had steel cut oatmeal, raisins and dried blueberries, 2 cups of coffee and 1 cup of milk. I left off the V-8 Spicy Hot Juice.


Lunch: 470 Calories
I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch, 280 calories, unsweetened ice tea. Also, per Alton Brown, I decided to try sardines in olive oil. I didn't do his recipe, I just had them straight out of the can. Not too bad....a little on the dull side. When I was a child, I went fishing with my father once, and we had sardines out of the can, placed onto saltine crackers. I only went fishing with him 3 times, so that's a big memory to me. My wife doesn't like them, so I never eat them, but will probably do so now for the diet. High in omega-3, 180 calories, no sodium, so not a bad item.

Dinner: 536 Calories
Alton Brown has divided his 'diet' into 4 categories; things to eat every day, things to eat 3 times a week, things to eat once per week, and things to never eat. We will be having Chicken for tonight for dinner. It doesn't directly show up in his categories, however, the USDA actually gives it less weight (oz) per week than it does for Beef, so it's probably a once-per-week item. Anyway, that's what we're having tonight.

6.5 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, roasted
4 oz zucchini steamed
4 oz asparagus steamed
1 cup milk fatfree
1 oz almonds

Total for Day: 1494 Calories

Other
I bought some dried lentils today. I don't really have any experience cooking them, as we usually do canned peas and beans, so I've got to go find out how long to cook them. I just pored 1 lb of pinto beans into a quart mason jar (canning) and filled it to the top with water to let it soak till tomorrow - see how that does.

Diet - Day 1, 531 to go

April 18 2011 - Day 1! Looks like (see below) I only have 531 days to go!

Yeah! I've done it! I've reached my goal of a start date!

Think I'll go have a beef steak as a reward.

Dang.

Just 531 days to go :-(

I weighed in this morning: 261.
I want to weigh 185 when I'm done. That's a loss of 76 pounds.

Worse than I hoped, better than I feared.

I'm having my usual breakfast: Steel Cut Oatmeal, 1 serving, topped with about 1/3 cup of while dried blueberries, and about the same green dried grapes.

I also had 2 cups black coffee, and 1 can (5.5 ounces) of Spicy Hot V8 juice.

For lunch, I had a Lean Cuisine, Beef & Broccoli. It came in at about 280 calories.

For dinner, I had (thanks to my wife - I did the dishes): Baked Salmon (7 oz), Spinach (1 cup), Yellow Squash (1 cup), for a total of 500 calories.

The USDA stresses how important milk is for someone in my age bracket - says I'm supposed to drink fat free milk, 3 cups per day. I almost never drink milk, so this is a new add. That will also be 90 calories x 3, or 270 per day. I only had one today, after dinner.

My total for the day is 1273 calories. I'm a little low on the fiber stuff as well as calories, so if I get hungry, I may add another serving or two of Oats.

I'm keeping a log, and it has a lot more stuff in it, like the 'daily recommended percentages' that I compile for each food that I eat, but I think that would be too detailed for this blog.

Diet Research

Just 531 days to go :-(

I weighed in this morning: 261. Per the USDA, for my height 6'0", that's a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35, or obese.

I want to weigh 185 when I'm done. That's a loss of 76 pounds.

From the USDA: A calorie deicit of 500 calories or more per day is a common initial goal for weight loss for adults.

Assuming that is correct, and that I can quantify my current caloric needs (which is different than what I consume), then since 1 pound of fat represents 3500 calories, in order to lose 76 pounds, I need to lose (76 * 3500 calories) 266,000 calories. At a loss of 500 calories per day, then I'm talking about 532 days. Since there are 365 days in a year, then 532 / 365 is 1.45 years, or about 1.5 years.

Let me see - since this is about 1/3 of a year today on 4/18, then that would mean I can add back 500 calories per day beginning about Thanksgiving, 2012!

Yeah! Looking forward to Thanksgiving, 2012!

Per the USDA, since I'm in the 51+ age category, and am retired, I would say that I'm in the Sedentary group. They give the estimated calories needed to balance weight (no gain, no loss) as being 2,000 - 2,200 calories per day. So let's assume I'm at the bottom end of that, at 2000 calories per day. That means my caloric intake per day, in order to produce a 500 calorie deficit, should be 2,000 - 500 => 1,500 per day.

I'm reading the USDA's 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans in order to see what our governments research on diet might yield.

One new term I have recently come across (originally from Alton Brown regarding his loss of 50 pounds), from the USDA: Nutrient-dense foods and beverages provide vitamins, minerals, and other substances that may have positive health effects with relatively few calories. The term “nutrient dense” indicates that the nutrients and other beneicial substances in a food have not been “diluted” by the addition of calories from added solid fats, added sugars, or added reined starches, or by the solid fats naturally present in the food. Nutrient-dense foods and beverages are lean or low in solid fats, and minimize or exclude added solid fats, sugars, starches, and sodium. Ideally, they also are in forms that retain naturally occurring components, uch as dietary iber. All vegetables, fruits, whole grains, seafood, eggs, beans and peas, unsalted nuts and seeds, fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products, and lean meats and poultry—when prepared without adding solid fats or sugars—are nutrient-dense foods.

Alcohol
I can really see that I'm going to have to reduce my intake of alcohol. Alton Brown has a good approach - about 2 servings once per week. Think I'll try that approach. Since being retired, I've noted that my intake of alcohol has increased considerably, so a reduction was probably in order anyway. Not really sure why it had increased, guess it was just the increase in leisure time.


Fast Food
Since we don't eat much fast food, that's not really a problem. We typically eat a Chic-Filet sausage biscuit about once every 3 weeks, and a chicken sandwich about once per week. Think I'll cut those out except for an occasional treat of the chicken sandwich. So that's the biggest fast food change.

Dining Out
That's going to be a bigger problem on what to choose, but it's manageable, so I'll just have to be be more careful on what I choose, what I eat, and how much of it I eat.

I've been eating breakfast with a neighbor once every other week. Think I'll continue with that since I enjoy it, but will change what I'm eating. Have been having 2 eggs, 2 pieces of buttered toast, 1 serving of grits with butter. Will switch to egg omelette with cheese. Since I don't really know how the local cafe prepares their omelettes, I'll just have to go with some research I found for averages - about 500 calories.

Diet Guidelines
From the USDA: One aspect of these patterns that has been researched is the concept of calorie density, or the amount of calories provided per unit of food weight. Foods high in water and/or dietary iber typically have fewer calories per gram and are lower in calorie density, while foods higher in fat are generally higher in calorie density. A dietary pattern low in calorie density is characterized by a relatively high intake of vegetables, fruit, and dietary iber and a relatively low intake of total fat, saturated fat, and added sugars. Strong evidence shows that eating patterns that are low in calorie density improve weight loss and weight maintenance, and also may be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in adults.

So, it looks like 'caloric low density' foods actually help make a diet that is trying to result in a weight loss is an important component. So, need to avoid things like alcohol and fat for sure, as those are high calorie items: alcohol is 7 calories per gram, and fat is 9 calories per gram (a gram is about the weight of a regular asperin tablet), while high carb items are just 4 calories per gram! From an energy punch, nothing appears to beat fat at 9 calories per gram, not even sugar at 4 calories per gram! So, from a caloric density viewpoint, fat is BIG!

Physical Activity
While on vacation at Edisto Beach SC, we walked at least 1 hour every day (weather permitting). I did this at a very leisurely pace, probably lower than most people. It averaged about 2 miles per hour.

At least while I'm so obese, I'm going to just keep it at that level - walk one hour per day. However, there's a big difference here where I live vs the beach - we have a lot of steep hills! So I won't be able to walk as far, but I can walk for as long. In other words, I won't be able to maintain 2 mph for 1 hour; it will be much slower for 1 hour. Hopefully, after I've dumped some weight it will be much easier to do and I can go further and faster.

Per the USDA, for ages 18 - 64:
For substantial health beneits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes, and preferably, it should be spread throughout the week. Also, Adults should also include muscle-strengthening activities that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.

Not sure where walking comes into play with the above, but I'm going to stick with my walking. Assuming some interruptions from weather and other conflicts, I'm going to assume 1 hour 4 times a week, for a total of about 4 hours or 240 minutes. It also looks like I've got to add something for my upper torso, so guess I'll need to lift some weights a couple of times per week.

Weight Monitoring
In the past, I weighed myself daily when trying to lose weight. I think this backfired - when I went several days with no weight loss, I got discouraged. I think I'll go with a weekly weight monitoring to start with, and if no real change, I'll go to monthly. If I don't see something on monthly, than somethings wrong with the diet.

When I do weigh, I will do it at the same time each day, dressed the same way in order to be consistent. So, for me, that will be first thing in the morning after rising, after a fast trip to the bathroom, wearing undercloths only. I'll record that weight, and it will be consistent with respect to samples.

Diet - a dirty word

Well, I'm going to have to go on a diet.

Yup.

I'm not sure what I weigh, but it's probably around 260 - I hope it isn't more!

I'm going to weigh myself in the morning to find out for sure, as tomorrow I'm going to start to lose weight.

I think it will probably take 1.5 to 2 years of lowered consumption intake to get my weight down.

I want to do it slow like this because:
1 - I think slow is better for my health
2 - I think it will allow me to get a better grip on portion control.
3 - It's not as scary!

I lost about 50 pounds one time in the 90s. I did it by counting every calorie. I kept reducing my food caloric intake until at the end I was only consuming 500 - 700 calories. At the end, I had a melt down and couldn't seem to quit eating stuff. It was almost like I was watching someone else start eating. It scared me, and I came off of that approach. I don't intend to go through anything that difficult again.

It may take more than 2 years - who knows! I don't really care. I just want to take the weight off and not be adding it on.

So tomorrow, Monday, April 18th, I start reducing my intake. Not sure really how I'm going to go about it yet. I've started some research, but in the meantime, I'm reducing several things:
1 - red meat
2 - alcohol
3 - cats

I just threw the 'cats' in to see if you were paying attention! Hah!

I've taken a look at some work on dieting that Alton Brown of Foodnetwork has done for himself. He's dropped about 50 pounds over the past year.

I think I probably need to drop at least 70.

Tomorrow, the weigh in!