He Shoots, He Scores!

Soccer goal
Originally uploaded by ewiemann

So while I normally don't like to toot my own horn or boast, I would like to announce that for the first time in my weight loss journey, I've met one of my goals! I wanted to lose ten pounds in January and I did it! I weight from 400.8lbs to 390.4lbs, even with a few bad weekends. I could lose more if I stuck to my eating plan 100%, but I know myself and I know that my weight loss chart will always look more like a series of hills than a water slide.

I'm sure that one of my sources of motivation this past month has been this blog. Even if only a few people are reading it, I know that someone is keeping tabs on me. Sharing your goals means that if you fail, you have to tell someone!

Here we go again! February is a little shorter than January, so it will be a little harder, but I'm aiming for 380lbs by the end of the month. I've also added a Flickr photo album to my blog with the charts of my weight loss since I started. I use the tools over at the Hacker's Diet Online to track my weight because I really like the trend line. Even if I have one bad day, it lets me know that over all, I'm still losing.

Candy Canes to the Rescue!

Illusion!
Originally uploaded by *PaysImaginaire*

I've been having trouble this weekend with the holiday goodies. Between the cookie potluck at work and all the things my wife has baked, my waist got a few gifts of it's own. Thankfully it seems that one treat may offer some help surviving the holiday season.

A study at the Wheeling Jesuit University recently revealed that the scent of peppermint may help control appetite. Results from the research indicated that participants who inhaled peppermint consumed significantly few calories and also rated their hunger lower. Bryan Raudenbush, Ph.D., the author of the study, gave a possible explanation for these results.

Smelling or eating peppermint seems to increase activity in the area of the brain responsible for alertness so you won't experience a slump that prompts you to seek out a snack.

While being full of peppermint, candy canes aren't exactly health food. A one ounce candy cane has a little more than one hundred calories, so it seems best to get a small candy cane to appease the holiday cravings.

Two Week Update

Sop Kacang Merah
Originally uploaded by ^-^liz

As promised, here is my two week update on how I'm doing on the How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise eating plan. I'd like to start off by saying that I am exercising, even if I'm just doing a modest amount of walking each day. I set my initial goal at 100 minutes per week, but I've actually done more than that and need to reassess my goal.

Breakfast
This is the meal that is really killing me. Eggs and peppers for breakfast is not big deal, but a cup of beans too? I've tried mixing them in to the omelet, but it just doesn't come naturally. Tim, the eating plan's author, mentioned this problem on his blog.

Breakfast is usually the hardest meal for most to modify, as we’re a country of toast and cereal-eating junkies. Moving to slow carbs and protein requires a more lunch-like meal for breakfast.

He also mentioned that its important for your breakfast calories to be atleast 30% protein. I'm seriously considering making a protein shake that I saw in this month's issue of Men's Health magazine that includes blueberries, peanut butter and whey protein. A shake for breakfast would fit more with my routine then a huge omelet.

Lunch
I've found that eating one cup of broccoli with one cup of kidney beans for lunch every day (with whatever meat I cooked that Sunday) is really working for me. It keeps me full way in to the evening and I don't even need the snack I used to crave at about three in the afternoon every day.

Dinner
Eating a large salad with beans and meat for dinner has really been making my evenings as well. I haven't tried Tim's suggestions for wine and an orange at bed time, because frankly, I'm not hungry (and I don't care for wine). Dinner time also gives me a chance to experiment with other beans. I've tried pinto, buttered, roman and garbanzo beans now. My favorite are habichuelas coloradas guisadas (Puerto Rican stewed dry red beans) that my mother-in-law graciously made for me in bulk when she visited this month. Since they have some tomato-based sauce, it makes a good salad dressing as well.

Cheat Day
I really feel this part of the eating plan was killing my progress. I'd work all week to get the scale down and then Sunday morning, it would jump back up to near where it was the week before. This week, instead of dedicating a whole day to cheating, I set aside one meal to eating junk food. I got the idea to treat, not cheat, from an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

All in all, I'm really enjoying this eating plan. This is the first time that I've stuck to a diet and not found my stomach grumbling in protest. I still look at bread longingly, but thats only because my wife isn't following the same plan. It is hard to eat a specific way like this when your house is full of things you can't eat. Ah, c'est la vie.

Cheat Day at the Wachovia Center

Yesterday was my cheat day and I spent the evening watching the Flyers game. Things didn't go very well for me or the team.

Although I was excited to eat cheese steak and cookies while drinking a cold beer, my stomach didn't seem to appreciate the sudden glut of refined carbs. Like the Flyers, I spent the second period fighting a losing battle while my stomach waged war on the vile intruders. The third period went better and by the time I got home, I felt fine. I did stop to enjoy a Coffee Coolatta which was exceptionally delicious. I may make that a permanent part of my cheat days.

I wasn't prepared for the dramatic increase in my weight this morning though. I went from 405 to 411 in one day, but I have to imagine that it is a combination of water retention and undigested mass. I did some research today and couldn't find anyone else mentioning a drastic difference due to a cheat day. I'm confident I didn't ingest 21,000 calories yesterday, so most of that weight shouldn't be sticking around.